"Why will you use such a word?--there is no sacrifice in what I do for the man I love."
"Remember I bring you nothing."
"You bring me yourself, that is all I want. Let the past be forgotten. When we are married you will forget all the troubles you have had."
He kissed her, smiling.
"You are my good angel," he said simply.
[CHAPTER XLII.]
THE DAWN OF A NEW LIFE.
On mount and mere the moonlight lies
Dim shadows veil the western skies,
On every stream the starlight gleams,
And all is mystery and dreams.
But now Night folds her sombre wings.
The lark his morning carol sings,
A rosy, light glows o'er the lawn,
And lo! in splendour breaks the dawn.
It was about a year since the marriage of Una with Reginald, and they were standing on the terrace of their hotel at Salerno, which overlooked the sea. Far below lay the blue ocean with its fringe of white waves breaking on a shore that extended in a curve round the base of the lofty mountains, the summits of which were clearly defined against the opaline sky. And what a wonderful sky it was, for the setting sun had irradiated the pure ether with most gorgeous colours. Great golden clouds in the west, forming a canopy over the intolerable brilliance of the sinking sun, melted into a delicate rose colour, which, rising towards the zenith, imperceptibly dissolved into a cold, clear blue, out of which peered a few stars. There were some boats on the sea with their broad sails, and the young couple on the terrace could hear every now and then the shrill voice of a minstrel singing a popular Italian air to the sharp notes of the mandolin.
It was a wonderfully picturesque scene, and one which would have enchanted the eye of an artist, but Mr. and Mrs. Garsworth, leaning over the terrace, were not looking at the splendours of sea and sky, being engaged one in reading and the other in listening to a letter which appeared to interest them deeply.