There was no word of reproach, no shadow of fretfulness at his long absence.
The past and future were gone, and for the moment the pure bliss of being together absorbed their beings.
She roused herself with a happy laugh, and kissed him, her face rosy with delight.
“I must tell the servants about dinner, and you will want to dress won’t you?”
She looked older, more self assured, but more beautiful than ever, he thought.
He had left his bag in the carriage, and went for it, and to pay the driver.
When he returned, she was waiting for him, and led him shyly to their room, fragrant with flowers, and the odours of the night.
She showed him everything with childish pleasure, all arranged for his return, and his dressing room on which she had lavished such care, overlooking the rose garden.
Dinner was laid in the loggia, and he seated himself with a sigh of contentment. The spotless linen and sparkling glass and silver added to his sense of happiness. She rose and filled his glass, and he made her sip from it first, the scent of her hair and the nearness of her warm body intoxicating him. He would have taken her into his arms, but that the servants were hovering near.
She was dressed in a soft evening gown, which showed the perfect lines of her young body, and he wondered at her beauty.