Won by the
beauty and the grandeur of the scene, Pauline forgot she was not alone,
till turning, she suddenly became aware that while she scanned the face
of nature her companion had been scanning hers. What he saw there she
could not tell, but all restraint had vanished from his manner, all
reticence from his speech, for with the old ardor in his eye, the old
impetuosity in his voice, he said, leaning down as if to read her heart,
"This is the moment I have waited for so long. For now you see what I
see, that both have made a bitter blunder, and may yet repair it. Those
children love each other; let them love, youth mates them, fortune makes
them equals, fate brings them together that we may be free. Accept this
freedom as I do, and come out into the world with me to lead the life
you were born to enjoy."
With the first words he uttered Pauline felt that the time had come, and
in the drawing of a breath was ready for it, with every sense alert,
every power under full control, every feature obedient to the art which
had become a second nature. Gilbert had seized her hand, and she did not
draw it back; the sudden advent of the instant which must end her work
sent an unwonted color to her cheek, and she did avert it; the
exultation which flashed into her eyes made it unsafe to meet his own,
and they drooped before him as if in shame or fear, her whole face woke
and brightened with the excitement that stirred her blood.
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