Page:Frank Owen - The Actress.djvu/78

64 As he willingly complied with her unspoken request, he said, "A compliment ceases to be a compliment when it is well merited. Therefore, 'twas not a compliment I spoke, but the simplest of facts—the truth."

"I have always wished," he continued fondly, "to meet a girl who sees beauty in simplicity. One who understands the meaning of pathos. So long have I searched for such an one that I had commenced to think she did not walk the earth, till here at Constantine I find her, pure as a lily, lovely as a rose. Simplicity in dress is the greatest exponent of a woman's beauty. One seldom sees a really great painting in which the dress is not a minor feature of the picture."

"I see thou art a dreamer."

"Yes, a dreamer of beautiful dreams."

The wind sighed softly through the trees; a nightingale in the distance broke wildly into song and for several moments Berenice and the American sat in silence, listening to the weird sounds of the waters of the gulf breaking sonorously upon the beach.

Finally Anniston spoke. "When I came to you just now, you appeared sad. Would I be presuming to question the cause?"

"I was thinking what a pity it is that an island so entrancing, so charming should be without fresh water."

"It seems very strange in view of the fact that verdure is so plentiful," he interjected.

"Vegetation thrives because of the dense humidity of the atmosphere in the early morning," explained