Don't smile at him! he was so young; so impassioned, yet gentle;
and then he loved so utterly with the whole of his great, sore heart.
By and by the time came to go, and eager, yet fearful, he went. It was
a fresh, beautiful day in early June; and when the city, with its heat,
and dust, and noise, was left behind, and all the leafy greenness--the
soothing quiet of country sights and country sounds--met his ear and
eye, a curious peace took possession of his soul. It was less the
whisper of hope than the calm of assured reality. For the moment,
unreasonable as it seemed, something made him blissfully sure of her
love, spite of the rebuffs and coldness she had compelled him to endure.
"This is the place, sir!" suddenly called his driver, stopping the
horses in front of a stately avenue of trees, and jumping down to open
the gates.
"You need not drive in; you may wait here."
This, then, was her home. He took in the exquisite beauty of the place
with a keen pleasure. It was right that all things sweet and fine should
be about her; he had before known that they were, but it delighted him
to see them with his own eyes. Walking slowly towards the
house,--slowly, for he was both impelled and retarded by the conflicting
feelings that mastered him,--he heard her voice at a little distance,
singing; and directly she came out of a by-path, and faced him. He need
not have feared the meeting; at least, any display of emotion; she gave
no opportunity for any such thing.
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