Page:Romance & Reality 3.pdf/13

Rh "Cæsar will direct you—and you will take care of my mother," she said to Lorraine, with rather more earnestness of manner than seemed necessary. The old negro led the way, and, with a most ostentatious care, cleared the path, which wound very like a labyrinth, till it opened on a small space no one could have found without a guide. Entirely surrounded by ilex and oak trees, it was like an island of sunshine; the soft thick grass only broken by plots of many-coloured flowers. In the midst of each was a wooden stand, on which was a straw bee-hive—every one of those Cortez of the insect world were out upon their golden search, and the murmur of their wings was like an echo to the falling fountain in the midst. The basin had once been carved like a lotus-leaf; the edges were now rough and broken, but the water fell clear and sweet as ever. His companion delightedly pointed out the flowers and the bees; and, whether it was the contagion of her gladness, the open air, or the sunshine, his spirits awoke from the depression of his morning melancholy. Her peculiarly sweet laugh rose like music; and he gradually began to draw a parallel between