She came close to him, and the moonlight shone on her fair face and white gown and waves of golden hair. Oh, how beautiful she was in evening dress, with her neck uncovered, and her perfect arms, so white and rounded, bare to the shoulders!
She saw the dark form sitting in the shadow so silently, and as the hem of her white gown brushed against his knee, she faltered:
“Who wants me?”
Dallas half rose, holding out impassioned arms, whispering:
“I want you, Daisie, darling! I want you to forgive my folly and madness! I want you to be my little love still, as you promised that day before I left you! I want——”
But then his arms closed around her yielding form, and his last words were smothered in the kiss he pressed on the top of her shining head.
Ah! what joy for little Daisie, what sudden rapture!
Dallas Bain drew her down to the seat beside him, and in the shadow of the rose vines he kissed her lips, and she kissed him back again, dear little Daisie, forgiving everything in a moment, forgetting all the past, thinking of nothing else on earth but that he was her own again.
CHAPTER XIV.
“LOVE IS HEAVEN.”
Inside the drawing-room, now that the last act of the entertainment was over, all was joyous confusion, people flitting about in merry converse, while over all rose low strains of music, now sad, now joyous, each finding an echo in some tender heart.