She stopped.
"It brings a lump into my throat," she said, after a little pause. "It's too beautiful and too still to-night."
"I love being here," he said.
They ate their dinner in silence for some time. Presently Maurice began to crumble his bread.
"Hermione," he said. "Look here—"
"Yes, Maurice."
"I've been thinking—of course I scarcely know Artois, and I could be of no earthly use, but I've been thinking whether it would not be better for me to come to Kairouan with you."
For a moment Hermione's rugged face was lit up by a fire of joy that made her look beautiful. Maurice went on crumbling his bread.
"I didn't say anything at first," he continued, "because I—well, somehow I felt so fixed here, almost part of the place, and I had never thought of going till it got too hot, and especially not now, when the best time is only just beginning. And then it all came so suddenly. I was still more than half asleep, too, I believe," he added, with a little laugh, "when you told me. But now I've had time, and—why shouldn't I come, too, to look after you?"
As he went on speaking the light in Hermione's face flickered and died out. It was when he laughed that it vanished quite away.