Page:Arthur Machen - The Hill of Dreams.djvu/85

THE HILL OF DREAMS 'Annie, dear, dear Annie, what are you saying to me? I have never heard such beautiful words. Tell me, Annie, what do they mean?'

She laughed, and said it was only nonsense that the nurses sang to the children.

'No, no, you are not to call me Master Lucian any more,' he said, when they parted, 'you must call me Lucian; and I, I worship you, my dear Annie.'

He fell down before her, embracing her knees, and adored, and she allowed him, and confirmed his worship. He followed slowly after her, passing the path which led to her home with a longing glance. Nobody saw any difference in Lucian when he reached the rectory. He came in with his usual dreamy indifference, and told how he had lost his way by trying the short cut. He said he had met Dr. Burrows on the road, and that he had recommended the path by the fields. Then, as dully as if he had been reading some story out of a newspaper, he gave his father the outlines of the Beit case, producing the pretty little book called The Chorus in Green. The parson listened in amazement. 'You mean to tell me that you wrote this book?' he said. He was quite roused. 75