"
"Hush! that was your word: it was not true; you were even then in my
foolish girl's heart. Don't speak of that to me now; surely you must
have known that that was all a mistake."
"And you always loved me? How wonderful that we should meet here and
to-day!" he said, unable to take his eyes from her.
"You know the place and remember the day? Is it more marvellous, than
that we should have been here before? I never knew how you found me
then, and I am as much puzzled about your being here now. Father wrote
us that you would come down with him to-morrow."
"Tell me how _you_ come to be here, to-day, of all the things in the
world?" said Bart.
"Am I to tell first? Well, you see, I wanted to see Mrs. Wilder and
Rose; I have not been to their house since last fall, and so, having
nothing else to do, I rode over, and just thought we would come down
here--didn't we, Prince?"
"And so you call him Prince?" said Bart, who had recognized the horse.
"Yes, and I will sometime tell you why, if you will tell me how you
came here to-day."
"I came on purpose, because I wanted to. Because you had hallowed the
place, I knew that I should find your haunting presence in it. Oh,
when that case was over, and I got out, all the old dreams, and
visions, and memories, and voices came to me. And your face never
absent, not with the old look of scorn that it seemed to wear, but
sweet, and half reproachful, haunted me, and made me half believe
what poor Henry's smitten love said to me of you, when I told her my
story.
Pages:
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336