Page:Marie Corelli - the writer and the woman (IA mariecorelliwrit00coat).pdf/99

 situated four miles west of the Babylonian ruins. Alwyn decides on journeying thither, first sending the poem he had written to his London friend, Francis Villiers, with the request that as "Nourhàlma; a Love Legend of the Past," it shall be published in the usual way.

By the waters of Babylon we next find Theos Alwyn, who is soon housed in the Hermitage, near Hillah, with one Elzear of Malyana, to whom Heliobas has supplied the traveler with a letter of introduction. So impatient is this lover to prove the truth or falsity of his mystic vision at Dariel, that, on the first night of his arrival at the Hermitage, he proceeds shortly before midnight to search for the Field of Ardath which was known to the Prophet Esdras. He sets forth, and the wondrous story of his experiences immediately commences. "Kyrie eleison! Christe eleison! Kyrie eleison!" sung by full, fresh, youthful voices in clear and harmonious unison, greets his ears; though whence comes the sound, and from whom, there is nothing to show. "Was ever madman more mad than I," he murmurs. It is a sweet and fascinating madness none the less, for the angel-*lover is true to her promise. "Behold the field thou thoughtest barren, how great a glory hath the moon unveiled!" quoth the Prophet Esdras,