is voice choked by sobs, his eyes
fixed upon the three crosses of Calvary, where writhed the gaunt pallid
bodies of the crucified. Albine placed herself in front of the paintings
in order that he might no longer see them.

'One evening,' she said, 'I lay through the long gloaming with my head
upon your lap. It was in the forest, at the end of that great avenue of
chestnut-trees, through which the setting sun shot a parting ray. Ah!
what a caressing farewell He bade us! He lingered awhile by our feet
with a kindly smile, as if saying "Till to-morrow." The sky slowly grew
paler. I told you merrily that it was taking off its blue gown, and
donning its gold-flowered robe of black to go out for the evening.
And it was not night that fell, but a soft dimness, a veil of love and
mystery, reminding us of those dusky paths, where the foliage arches
overhead, one of those paths in which one hides for a moment with the
certainty of finding the joyousness of daylight at the other end.

'That evening the calm clearness of the twilight gave promise of a
splendid morrow. When I saw that it did not grow dark as quickly as you
wished, I pretended to fall asleep. I may confess it to you now, but
I was not really sleeping while you kissed me on the eyes. I felt your
kisses and tried to keep from laughing. And then, when the darkness
really came, it was like one long caress. The trees slept no more than
I did. At night, don't you remember, the flowers always breathed a
stronger perfume.'

Then, as he still remained on his knees, while tears streamed down his
face, she caught him by the wrists, and pulled him to his feet, resuming
passionately:

'Oh! if you knew you would bid me carry you off; you would fasten your
arms about my neck, lest I should go away without you.... Yesterday I
had a longing to see the garden once more. It seems larger, deeper,
more unfathomable than ever. I discovered there new scents, so sweetly
aromatic that they brought tears into my eyes. In the avenues I found a
rain of sunbeams that thrilled me with desire. The roses spoke to me
of you. The bullfinches were amazed at seeing me alone. All the garden
broke out into sighs. Oh! come! Never has the grass spread itself out
more softly. I have marked with a flower the hidden nook whither I
long to take you. It is a nest of greenery in the midst of a tangle of
brushwood. And there one can hear all the teeming life of the garden, of
the trees and the streams and the