The murmuring song of the little
fountain alone disturbed the stillness, and the rustle of her own
garments as she moved.
"Is it he? Is it he? Is it he?" she repeated again and again, in
varying tones, chiming the changes of hope and fear, of certainty
and vacillation, of sadness and of gladness, of eager passion and of
chilling doubt.
She stood still, staring at the pavement, her fingers clasped together,
the palms of her hands turned downward, her arms relaxed. She did not
see the dark red squares of marble, alternating with the white and
the gray, but as she looked a face and a form rose before her, in
the contemplation of which all her senses and faculties concentrated
themselves. The pale and noble head grew very distinct in her inner
sight, the dark gray eyes gazed sadly upon her, the passionate features
were fixed in the expression of a great sorrow.
"Are you indeed he?" she asked, speaking softly and doubtfully, and yet
unconsciously projecting her strong will upon the vision, as though to
force it to give the answer for which she longed.
And the answer came, imposed by the effort of her imagination upon the
thing imagined. The face suddenly became luminous, as with a radiance
within itself; the shadows of grief melted away, and in their place
trembled the rising light of a dawning love. The lips moved and the
voice spoke, not as it had spoken to her lately, but in tones long
familiar to her in dreams by day and night.
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