"Yes," said Alden, quietly, "but all the life outside was made from death, and the death within had only gone on to life again. You cannot have one without the other, any more than you can have a light without a shadow somewhere."
"Nor a shadow," Edith continued, "without knowing that somewhere there must be light."
They stopped at the cleft between the hills, where they had been the other day, but this time no one waited, with breaking heart, behind the rustling screen of leaves. Against the rock, with some simple woodcraft of stones and dry twigs, Alden made a fire, while Edith spread the white cloth that covered Madame's basket and set forth the dainty fare.
At Sunset
They ate in silence, not because there was nothing to say, but because there was so much that words seemed empty and vain. Afterward, when the flaming tapestry in the West had faded to a pale web of rose and purple, faintly starred with exquisite lamps of gleaming pearl, he came to her, and, without speaking, took her into his arms.
For a long time they stood there, heart to heart, in that rapturous communion wholly transcending sense. To him it was not because she was a woman; it was because she was Edith, the mate of his heart and soul. And, to her, it was a subtle completion of herself, the best of her answering eagerly to the best in him.
At last, with a sigh, he pushed her gently away from him, and looked down into her eyes with a great sadness.
"Never any more, beloved. Have you thought of that?"
"Yes, I know," she whispered. "Never any more."
"I'll want you always."
"And I you."
"Sometimes my heart will almost break with longing for you, craving the dear touch of you, though it might be only to lay my hand upon your face."
The Day's Duty
"Yes, I know."
"And at night, when I dream that we're somewhere together, and I reach out my arms to hold you close, I'll wake with a start, to find my arms empty and my heart full."
"The whole world lies between us, dear."
"And heaven also, I think."
"No, not heaven, for there we shall find each other again, with no barriers to keep us apart."
"I shall live only to make myself worthy of finding you, dearest. I have nothing else to do."
"Ah, but you have."