Standing thus, conscious only of the wound that bled in that high heart
of hers, and the longing that gradually took shape and deepened to a
purpose, an alien presence changed the tragic atmosphere of that still
room and woke her from her dangerous mood. A wonderfully winning guise
this apparition wore, for youth, hope, and love endowed it with the
charm that gives beauty to the plainest, while their reign endures. A
boy in any other climate, in this his nineteen years had given him the
stature of a man; and Spain, the land of romance, seemed embodied in
this figure, full of the lithe slenderness of the whispering palms
overhead, the warm coloring of the deep-toned flowers sleeping in the
room, the native grace of the tame antelope lifting its human eyes to
his as he lingered on the threshold in an attitude eager yet timid,
watching that other figure as it looked into the night and found no
solace there.
"Pauline!"
She turned as if her thought had taken voice and answered her, regarded
him a moment, as if hesitating to receive the granted wish, then
beckoned with the one word.
"Come!"
Instantly the fear vanished, the ardor deepened, and with an imperious
"Lie down!" to his docile attendant, the young man obeyed with equal
docility, looking as wistfully toward his mistress as the brute toward
her master, while he waited proudly humble for her commands.
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