The Romance of a Water-Lily. 99

 

she had reached by the path. The farm nestled into
the hillside above them—white walls and a thatched
roof secured by huge stones; it had a fringe of vine
before its door and a background of vines behind it.
He could hear the farm-servants call to one another,
the sound of the churning in the dairy, and the
poultry in the yard. But a little fir-covered knoll
hid them from sight, and he placed himself boldly in —
her path. The afterglow was fading, and the short
Southern twilight would soon be dusk. She started a
little, but stood still perforce,and hespoke without delay.
“Dear mistress,” said he, and his full, rich voice
quivered, and in his blue eyes was a prayer, “do not
send me from you thus! Do not tell me that there
is no way in which I can earn your forgiveness. Ah!
in what have I so deeply offended? Tell me, for the
love of Heaven!”
She did not look at him, but he could see that the
hand that steadied the copper vessel trembled a little.
“How dare you stop my way?” said she at last.
“Let me pass!”