Gleamed white amid the evergreens; the man
Her father called his chosen friend, this man,
Her senior by a score of years, and ill
Of feature, sought the maiden’s hand, nay, claimed
It by a compact with her father made
Before her mother’s death. But Maud, sweet Maud,
Who knew not how to hate, whom duty bound,
Whose only statute was her father’s will,
Thus far had viewed her marriage in the light
Of something that she might escape, a thing