Fiction > Book editions > London, 1885 - Dynamiter

16 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.
desire to lieip her. He spoke at first unheeded ; but
gradually it appeared that she began to comprehend his
words ; she moved a little, and drew herself upright ;
and finally, as wdtli a sudden movement of forgiveness,
turned on the young man a countenance in which
reproach and gratitude were mingled. ' Ah, madam,' he
cried, ' use me as you will ! ' And once more, but now
with a great air of deference, he offered her the conduct
of his arm. She took it with a sigh that struck him to the
heart ; and they began once more to trace the deserted
streets. But now her steps, as though exhausted by
emotion, began to linger on the way ; she leaned the
more heavily upon his arm ; and he, like the parent
bird, stooped fondly above his drooping convoy. Her
physical distress was not accompanied by any failing of
her spirits ; and hearing her strike so soon into a play-
ful and charming vein of talk, Challoner could not suffi-
ciently admire the elasticity of his companion's nature.
* Let me forget,' she had said, ' for one half hour, let me
forget ; ' and sure enough, with the very word, her
sorrows appeared to be forgotten. Before every house she
paused, invented a name for the proprietor, and sketched
his character : here lived the old general whom she was
to marry on the fifth of the next month, there was the
mansion of the rich widow who had set her heart on
Challoner ; and though she still hung wearily on the
young man's arm, her laughter sounded low and pleasant
in his ears. ' Ah,' she sighed, by way of commentary,
* in such a life as mine I must seize tight hold of any
happiness that I can find.'
When they arrived, in this leisurely manner, at the
head of Grosvenor Place, the gates of the park were
opening and the bedraggled company of night-walkers
Avere being at last admitted into that paradise of lawns.
Challoner and his companion followed the movement,
and walked for awhile in silence in that tatterdemalion
crowd ; but as one after another, weary with the night's
patrolling of the city pavement, sank upon the benches
or wandered into separate paths, the vast extent of the
park had soon utterly swallowed up the last of these