Nobody came by that way at so early an hour; I
had been seen by nobody except that one time, when Thorold and
his companion passed me; and I felt quite safe. It was
pleasanter down there than can be told. However sultry the air
on the heights above, so near the water there was always a
savour of freshness; or else I fancied it, in the hearing of
the soft liquid murmur of the little wavelets against the
shore. But sometimes it was so still I could hear nothing of
that; then birds and insects, or the faint notes of a bugle
call, were the only things to break the absolute hush; and the
light was my refreshment, on river and tree and rock and hill;
one day sharp and clear, another day fairyland- like and
dreamy through golden mist.
It was a good retiring place in any case, so early in the day.
I could read and pray there better than in a room, I thought.
The next morning after my second dancing party, I was there as
usual. It was a sultry July morning, the yellow light in the
haze on the hills threatening a very hot day.
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