Page:Orczy--the gates of Kamt.djvu/314

 There had been long silence between them while she, a trifle nervously, was fumbling with the flowers, and he was looking tenderly, longingly, at her.

"Ah, I know!" she said at last, "I must give thee white roses; they will look lovely beside the homely happiness. See! a beautiful cluster hangs just above thy head. Thou canst reach it quite easily and needst but to stretch out thy hand."

"A lovely cluster indeed, and the scent is delightfully sweet. Wilt tell me what white roses mean in Kamt?"

He was handing the drooping cluster of roses to her, and she stretched out her small hand for it; the other was already loaded with flowers.

"In Kamt white roses mean love," she whispered, as she took the flowers from him.

I could see that his fingers fastened upon hers, that his whole body trembled as if with a mighty effort. It was a cruel position for any man deeply in love with a very beautiful woman, to be alone with her in this vast and silent temple, with myriads of flowers round him, making the air fragrant and heavy. She did not try to disengage her hand, but stood a little while, with her great eyes meeting his, boldly and fearlessly.

It was only when, with sudden impulse, he tried to draw her closer to him, that she gently withdrew her hands and said lightly:

"Now we must have white rosemary. Wilt thou not gather it for me?" she added, as Hugh, inert and dazed, was looking at her with that weary longing, that infinite tenderness, which always made my heart ache for his pain. "Dost know that white rosemary spells remembrance?"

"Rosemary for remembrance!" he repeated, as quietly he turned and with loving care picked the humble