half-conscious wonder that there were no sorrows great enough to stay
Nature's punctual recurrences--that to-day and to-morrow there would
still be dawns and sunsets, whatever happened to the souls of men.

In the silver line that etched the dark mountain crests against the pale
monotone of the sky, single firs stood forth saliently, while dim in the
distance, vast shapes, clothed in perpetual snows, held wraith-like
watch over the smiling plains below, where life and bloom were possible.

Athwart the low, confused twittering of bird-notes which had infused the
solemn silence with a vague hint of life, strident sounds grew
dominant--a crow calling to his mate from tree to tree--a short, sharp
symphony of swallows--a cock announcing the coming of the dawn.

Then motion broke in upon the majesty; hurried rushes of flight across
the sky--beatings of wings--pulsings and ecstasies and triumphs of
bird-life--and the Day was new.

Faint twitterings in the copses deepened to melody--to canticles of
rejoicing; tints of turquoise and opal crept into the shadows and gold
into the greens: the night-dews gleamed upon the firs and grasses, while
a luminous haze dimmed the dark glint of the waters to pearly gray,
softened the grimness of the mountain-faces and wrapped them--sea and
mountains, as soul and body in a vision of mystery, a prelude to the
blaze of golden glory that was suddenly outpoured on land and sea.

Yet the heavenly splendor was but for a moment; it faded in sudden
gloom, as a bell from the inner chamber called the Lady of the
Bernardini to attend the Queen.

* * * * *

When at early morning, the Chamberlain was summoned to the Queen's
presence, the change in her beautiful face smote him to the heart: every
line had been chiselled by pain--ennobled by a high resolve--by a strong
new-born will, rendered selfless; and in her eyes a soul--tried by fire
and suddenly grown to a great height--looked forth, luminous.

Instinctively, he dropped his eyes and fell upon his knees, as if in the
presence of some heavenly spirit, his hot tears falling upon the fragile
hand she held out to him, which he clasped, unconsciously, in both his
own, with a grasp so like a vise that it would have smitten her with
sharp pain had she been capable at that moment of any physical emotion.

"Beloved Cousin and Queen!" he cried, when he could find his voice, "we
love and revere you; we would give our _lives_