"He didn't forget me! He didn't forget me!" Ruth's heart sang in time
with her step as she went home. Late afternoon flooded all the earth
with gold, and from the other side of the hill came the gentle music of
the sea.
The doors were open, but there was no trace of Hepsey. She put the
roses in her water pitcher, and locked her door upon them as one hides a
sacred joy. She went out again, her heart swelling like the throat of
a singing bird, and walked to the brow of the cliff, with every sense
keenly alive. Upon the surface of the ocean lay that deep, translucent
blue which only Tadema has dared to paint.
"I must go down," she murmured.
Like a tawny ribbon trailed upon the green, the road wound down the
hill. She followed it until she reached the side path on the right, and
went down into the woods. The great boughs arched over her head like the
nave of a cathedral, and the Little People of the Forest, in feathers
and fur, scattered as she approached. Bright eyes peeped at her from
behind tree trunks, or the safe shelter of branches, and rippling bird
music ended in a frightened chirp, "Oh," she said aloud, "don't be afraid!"
Was this love, she wondered, that lay upon her eyes like the dew of a
Spring morning, that made the air vocal with rapturous song, and wrought
white magic in her soul? It had all the mystery ind freshness of the
world's beginning; it was the rush of waters where sea and river meet,
the perfume of a flower, and the far light trembling from a star. It was
sunrise where there had been no day, the ecstasy of a thousand dawns; a
new sun gleaming upon noon. All the joy of the world surged and beat in
her pulses, till it seemed that her heart had wings.
Sunset came upon the water, the colour on the horizon reflecting soft
iridescence upon the blue. Slow sapphire surges broke at her feet,
tossing great pearls of spray against the cliff. Suddenly, as if by
instinct, she turned--and faced Winfield.
"Thank you for the roses," she cried, with her face aglow.
He gathered her into his arms. "Oh, my Rose of All the World," he
murmured, "have I found you at last?"
It was almost dusk when they turned to go home, with their arms around
each other, as if they were the First Two, wandering through the shaded
groves of Paradise, before sin came into the world.
"Did you think it would be like this?" she asked, shyly.
"No, I didn't, darling. I thought it would be very prim and proper. I
never dreamed you'd let me kiss you--yes, I did, too, but I thought it
was too good to be true."