Long and black rows of cypresses cast their shadows to the east, lengthening, as the sun departs; then, hark! the red evening guns peal from the strong tower of the Seraskier; the ships of war reply, and the muezzins, from a thousand mosques, shout the shrill cry 'to prayer!' while over tower and temple, cypress-grove and guarded ship, over the Seven Towers, the giant façade of the Seraglio, and over all the sparkling sea the sunlight dies away.
We were at anchor off the city, and stretched upon a cushioned sofa, I gazed languidly at all this from the stern windows, as the yacht swung round with the stream.
Laura was beside me; Sir Horace had gone ashore to confer with the ambassador; Fanny was with Jack Belton in the outer cabin, as the tinkling of a piano informed me—and, as Laura timidly seated herself by my side, Callum Dhu, my constant, my kind and faithful attendant, retired on deck.
I felt happy; for after a separation so long and so hopeless, and having the certainty of a separation before us again, to be with her was to enjoy perfect happiness.
'Laura,' said I, 'I feel as if in a dream—while addressing you, and when uttering your name.'
'A dream?'
'From which I fear to waken.'
'Dream on, then, dear Allan, if it delights you.'
'My life at home was all an agony of suspense and continued mortifications, even while hope, however faint and slender, lasted; but how shall I describe the torture that life became, after hope itself faded away, and I lost you—lost you for ever!'
Laura answered only with her tears, and a long pause, filled up by tender smiles and mute caressing glances or a pressure of the hand ensued. All was forgiven and forgotten.