ed; and her fair countenance was so adorable amid the
golden glory of the great flowers that I could not suppress a cry of
admiration. She came towards me smiling; and, to protect herself a
little from the blinding sunlight, she was holding both hands over her
head. Was it simply the curve of her raised arms that thus transfigured
her whole bearing, that reduced the unwieldiness of her figure and made
its lines freer? It was, no doubt; but it was also the soft breeze which
now blew against her and accentuated the movement of her limbs by
plastering her thin cotton skirt against them. And the heavy gait now
seemed stately; and the excessive stride appeared virile and bold. I
watched the humble worker in the fields, the poor farm-girl; and I
thought of the proud _Victory_ whom my mind pictured enfolding all the
beauties of the Louvre in her mighty wings!

CHAPTER VIII

1

We were lying in the long grass, looking up at the sky through the
branches of the apple-trees and watching the clouds drift past.

The light was fading slowly, the leaves became dim, the birds stopped
singing.

"Rose, I do nothing but think of you. Who are you? What will become of
you? I should like to anticipate everything, so as to save you every
pain. Had you been happy and well-cared-for, I would have wished you
trouble and grief. But, strengthened as you now are by many trials, you
will be able to find in sorrows avoided and only seen in the distance
all the good which we usually draw from them by draining them to the
dregs."

"I am not afraid, I expect to be unhappy."

"I hope that you will not be unhappy. The change will be quite simple if
it is wisely brought about; you will drop out of your present life like
a ripe fruit dropping from its stalk."

"How shall I prepare myself?"

"So far, your chief merit has been patience. But now rouse yourself,
look around you, judge, find out your good and bad qualities."

Rose interrupted me:

"My good qualities! Have I any?"

"Indeed you have: plenty of common sense, a great power of resistance,
shrewdness. By means of these, you have been able to subdue the tyranny
of others: can you not escape from that of your failings? Your life has
adapted itself to an evil and stupid environment; it must now adapt
itself to the environment of your own self."

2

From the neighbouring farms came the plaintive, monotonous cry calling
the cattle home. The drowsy sky became one universal grey,