"'Oh, dear me!' she sobbed. 'You shudder at the sight of me because I can vanish.'
"'I don't!' I cried.
"'Yes, you do! You abhor me—you shrink away! Oh, why did I ever see you?—why did you ever come into my life?—what have I done in ages past, that now, reborn, I suffer cruelly—cruelly?'
"'What do you mean?' I whispered. My voice trembled with happiness.
"'I?—nothing; but you think me a fabled monster.'
"'Wilhelmina—my sweet Wilhelmina,' I said, 'I don't think you a fabled monster. I love you; see—see—I am at your feet; listen to me, my darling—'
"She turned her blue eyes to mine. I saw tears sparkling on the curved lashes.
"'Wilhelmina, I love you,' I said again.
"Slowly she raised her hands to my head and held it a moment, looking at me strangely. Then her face grew nearer to my own, her glittering hair fell over my shoulders, her lips rested on mine.
"In that long, sweet kiss the beating of her heart answered mine, and I learned a thousand truths, wonderful, mysterious, splendid; but when our lips fell apart, the memory of what I learned departed also.