selves alone in the dead city,
and they did not speak.

At length they came to a canal gliding towards the sea; they followed it
inland, and here the darkness was equal to the silence. Great trees that
had been planted when William of Orange was king in England threw their
shade over the water, shutting out the stars. They wandered along on the
soft earth, they could not hear themselves walk--and they did not speak.

They came to a bridge over the canal and stood on it, looking at the
water and the trees above them, and the water and the trees below
them--and they did not speak.

Then out of the darkness came another darkness, and gradually loomed
forth the heaviness of a barge. Noiselessly it glided down the stream,
very slowly; at the end of it a boy stood at the tiller, steering; and
it passed beneath them and beyond, till it lost itself in the night, and
again they were alone.

They stood side by side, leaning against the parapet, looking down at
the water.... And from the water rose up Love, and Love fluttered down
from the trees, and Love was borne along upon the night air. Ferdinand
did not know what was happening to him; he felt Valentia by his side,
and he drew closer to her, till her dress touched his legs and the silk
of her sleeve rubbed against his arm. It was so dark that he could not
see her face; he wondered of what she was thinking. She made a little
movement and to him came a faint wave of the scent she wore. Presently
two forms passed by on the bank and they saw a lover with his arm round
a girl's waist, and then they too were hidden in the darkness. Ferdinand
trembled as he spoke.

'Only Love is waking!'

'And we!' she said.

'And--you!'

He wondered why she said nothing. Did she understand? He put his hand on
her arm.

'Valentia!'

He had never called her by her Christian name before. She turned her
face towards him.

'What do you mean?'

'Oh, Valentia, I love you! I can't help it.'

A sob burst from her.

'Didn't you understand,' he said, 'all those hours that I sat for you
while you painted, and these long nights in which we wandered by the
water?'

'I thought you were my friend.'

'I thought so too. When I sat before you and watched you paint, and
looked at your beautiful hair and your eyes, I thought I was your
friend. And I looked at the lines of your body beneath your dress. And
when it pleased me to carry your easel and walk with you, I thought it
was friendship. Only