“The night is calm and cloudless,And still as still can be,The stars come forth to listenTo the music of the sea.”
“The night is calm and cloudless,And still as still can be,The stars come forth to listenTo the music of the sea.”
“The night is calm and cloudless,And still as still can be,The stars come forth to listenTo the music of the sea.”
She loved all the sounds of Nature, but especially that “music of the sea.” Its chords were deep and resonant; and full of meaning to those who had ears to listen to its ever-changing harmonies. All around was mystery; mystery in the impenetrable height of the starry heavens; mystery in the great depth of the moving waters. What was beyond and below?—she wondered with reverential awe; and realizing—if ever so slightly—the majestic grandeur of the great Creator’s handiwork, an overpowering sense of her own littleness overcame her, until, with a sudden longing for human companionship, she turned to continue her walk.
“‘In maiden meditation, fancy free,’”quoted a familiar voice close behind her. “Star-gazing is a pleasant occupation for two, but rather lonesome for one in solitude. May I join you, Celia dear?”
It was nearly four years since she had last seen him, but even in the darkness, she recognized his stalwart form.
“Geoffrey!” she exclaimed. “At last!” And tryas she would, she could not keep the joy out of her voice.
There was nobody about, and he took possession of her arm as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And the funny part about it was that she did not feel the least surprise that he should do so. How he came to be there she had not the faintest idea; she did not even wonder about it. She only knew that his coming filled her with a delicious sense of happiness, and that the song of the sea sounded sweeter than it had done before.
“I arrived at your hotel just after you had gone,” Geoffrey explained. “So Herbert sent me on to meet you. I was in church, quite near you, all the time; but you looked so absorbed that I didn’t like to bring you down from heaven to earth until it was absolutely necessary. Celia, has Lady Marjorie said anything to you about me lately?”
“She told me that somebody I knew was staying at Cliff Terrace and intended coming to see me; but she did not say it was you. I was expecting the somebody all day.”
“Were you? Oh, if I had only known that you were here, I would have come round early this morning. Lady Marjorie has been very good to me; she has made me see what a timid ass I’ve been. It was not entirely my fault, though. Stannard would have it that you were engaged to Lord Bexley; and I was so busy looking after my poor aunt and Miss Thornton that——”
“Miss Thornton!” interpolated the girl, suddenly shrinking away from him. “I had forgotten Miss Thornton.”
Her sky was overcast again.
“You don’t know her, do you?” asked Geoffrey, wonderingly. “She is Stannard’sfiancée.”
Celia drew a deep sigh.Stannard’s fiancée!That made all the difference. But how foolish she had been to have made such a mistake!
“She used to be subject to fits,” her lover went on to explain. “But fortunately I have been able to effect a complete cure. She has been under my supervision for some months.”
“And she is going to marry Dick Stannard?” Celia asked, anxious to hear a corroboration of the statement.
“Yes, she is going to marry Dick,” he replied with satisfaction. “But I don’t want to speak about Miss Thornton just now. Oh, you dear, sweet girl, how nice it is to be talking to you like this after such a long time!” This with an affecting pressure of her hand. “You do love me just a wee bit, don’t you, dear?”
“I love you more than a wee bit, Geoffrey,” she answered, in the tone of one who makes a great confession. “I have loved you ever since that night when——”
“When I kissed you under the mistletoe? I remember. I’ve been living on that kiss for four years. I am just aching and hungering for another one. I am going to have it here and now.”
“Geoffrey!” she protested. “In the open street!”
“I don’t care,” he answered with determination. “There is nobody to see except Nature, and Nature keeps her secrets well. Ah”—as he put his desire into execution—“that was beautiful. But tell me,darling, if you really loved me all that time ago, why did you become engaged to another fellow?”
“Because you—you—didn’t——”
“Because I didn’t come forward and claim you?” he suggested, finishing the sentence for her. “But your brother made me promise not to speak: he thought it might hinder your career. He told me he did not approve of mixed marriages either, although he has not practised what he preached. Lady Marjorie is a Christian.”
“Herbert says now that love is more powerful than race and creed,” the girl said softly. “Love breaks all barriers down.”
“Yes, he is right,” her lover rejoined with deepening earnestness. “But there is no barrier of creed ’twixt you and me, now, darling; no barrier of any kind. Did you notice the text of the sermon, to-night, Celia: ‘Neither Jew nor Greek’? Oh, it seemed to me as if the clergyman must have chosen it because he knew we were in the church. ‘Neither Jew nor Greek’ ... united, made one in Christ. No difference between the Jew and the Gentile, for the same God is God of both!”
They had arrived at the hotel, and Herbert Karne was looking out for them in the vestibule. Geoffrey’s buoyant manner and Celia’s happy face told him, before he asked, that their meeting had been a satisfactory one.
Lady Marjorie looked up from her book with a softened expression in her blue eyes, when they made their appearance at the door of the private drawing-room.
“So your visitor has come at last, girlie,” she said, as Celia bent down and kissed her. “I told him that I thought you would give him a hearty welcome. Was I right, Dr. Geoff?”
“Yes, quite right,” the young doctor replied, as he gripped her hand. “I can never be sufficiently grateful to you for your kindness, Lady Marjorie.”
“You really were the silliest pair of lovers I ever came across,” Marjorie said, as she glanced at them and thought what a well-matched couple they made. “I knew that each of you was just longing for the other; and yet you both held aloof, although there was no cause or just impediment why you should not have come together long ago. So I determined to intervene and make you happy. And, judging by the looks of you both, I think I have succeeded.”
“You have, indeed!” rejoined Geoffrey, as he drew his sweetheart closer to him; and Celia, whose heart was too full for words, expressed by her shining eyes, the great happiness which was hers at last.
* * * * *
On the deck of a channel-steamer bound for Calais stood a young girl, shading her eyes with her hand. She was watching the land as it receded from view, yet with no feeling of regret, for she was making the journey with the one she loved best in the world.
Less than twenty-four hours ago she had stood beside him at the altar, and made her marriage vows. The “Voice that breathed o’er Eden” was still ringing in her ears; the crashing chords of the Wedding March seemed interwoven with the throbbing of the ship’s engines; the very air seemed full of the far-off sound of wedding-bells.
It was a bright spring morning, a day fit for the renewing of energy and hope. All around was sunlight: on the shimmering waters, the polished deck, and on the girl’s bright hair. It seemed to her like a happy omen, symbolizing the sunshine on the sea of life. With a deep sigh of happiness she turned away; and, looking up, encountered the fond gaze of her lover-husband.
“Why such a sigh, sweet?” he asked, tenderly placing her hand within his own. “Of what were you thinking, my little wife?”
“Many things, Geoffrey,” she answered softly, her face lit up with a radiant smile. And then, as they both continued to gaze landwards, she added: “But—chiefly—that life is full of joy;—and God is good!”
THE ENDPRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
FOOTNOTES:[1]Bridegrooms.[2]Gentile.[3]Ritually clean.[4]Jewish holydays.[5]Pertaining to Judaism.[6]Confirmation.[7]Day of Atonement.[8]Festive.[9]Congratulation.[10]Bridegroom.[11]Sabbath.[12]Money.[13]Jews.[14]Smart wit.[15]Mourning.[16]Converted Jewess.[17]Sabbath.[18]Holy-days.[19]Converse with familiarity.[20]Bridegroom.
FOOTNOTES:
[1]Bridegrooms.
[1]Bridegrooms.
[2]Gentile.
[2]Gentile.
[3]Ritually clean.
[3]Ritually clean.
[4]Jewish holydays.
[4]Jewish holydays.
[5]Pertaining to Judaism.
[5]Pertaining to Judaism.
[6]Confirmation.
[6]Confirmation.
[7]Day of Atonement.
[7]Day of Atonement.
[8]Festive.
[8]Festive.
[9]Congratulation.
[9]Congratulation.
[10]Bridegroom.
[10]Bridegroom.
[11]Sabbath.
[11]Sabbath.
[12]Money.
[12]Money.
[13]Jews.
[13]Jews.
[14]Smart wit.
[14]Smart wit.
[15]Mourning.
[15]Mourning.
[16]Converted Jewess.
[16]Converted Jewess.
[17]Sabbath.
[17]Sabbath.
[18]Holy-days.
[18]Holy-days.
[19]Converse with familiarity.
[19]Converse with familiarity.
[20]Bridegroom.
[20]Bridegroom.
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:whether whether they be Jews or Gentiles=> whether they be Jews or Gentiles {pg 84}Jacob Strelitkzi=> Jacob Strelitzki {pg 107}Is was so quiet=> It was so quiet {pg 128}mental note or=> mental note of {pg 220}
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
whether whether they be Jews or Gentiles=> whether they be Jews or Gentiles {pg 84}
Jacob Strelitkzi=> Jacob Strelitzki {pg 107}
Is was so quiet=> It was so quiet {pg 128}
mental note or=> mental note of {pg 220}
[The image of the book's back cover is unavailable.]