midnight before
But , as she looked upon the moonlight sea , undulating along the walls of St. Mark , and , lingering for a moment over those walls , caught the sweet and melancholy song of some gondolier as he sat in his boat below , waiting for his master , her softened mind returned to the memory of her home , of her friends , and of all that was dear in her native country . After walking some time , they sat down at the door of a Casino , and , while Cavigni was accommodating them with coffee and ice , were joined by Count Morano . He sought Emily with a look of impatient delight , who , remembering all the attention he had shown her on the preceding evening , was compelled , as before , to shrink from his assiduities into a timid reserve , except when she conversed with Signora Herminia and the other ladies of her party . It was near midnight before they withdrew to the opera , where Emily was not so charmed but that , when she remembered the scene she had just quitted , she felt how infinitely inferior all the splendour of art is to the sublimity of nature . Her heart was not now affected , tears of admiration did not start to her eyes , as when she viewed the vast expanse of ocean , the grandeur of the heavens , and listened to the rolling waters , and to the faint music that , at intervals , mingled with their roar . Remembering these , the scene before her faded into insignificance . Of the evening , which passed on without any particular incident , she wished the conclusion , that she might escape from the attentions of the Count ; and , as opposite qualities frequently attract each other in our thoughts , thus Emily , when she looked on Count Morano , remembered Valancourt , and a sigh sometimes followed the recollection .