How does this sound?--I shall
have a double suspension there.--Ah, that is good.--Hark; now can you
hear the melody running through the minor?--Yes, the violoncellos come
in there,--so it must be.--More ink; quick, quick,--there is so much to
write and so little time."

He sank down again, exhausted, and fell into a deep sleep. After an hour
he again awoke, the flush had left his cheek; he was very calm, and had
perfectly regained his senses.

"I have been dreaming of my brother Ronald," he said. "I thought he was
here. Can you tell me what time it is?"

"I think," replied Anna, "by the position of the moon, it must be an
hour past midnight."

"I have been ill," he said, "but I feel better, much better; almost well
again. I want to thank you ladies for so much kind care of me; both Mrs.
Carleton and you, but I do not know what to call you. I did not hear
your name."

"I do not wish you to thank me now," said Anna, "because you are too
weak to talk at present, but I will tell you my name. It is Anna
Vyvyan."

"Vyvyan," he repeated. "I know that name; I will tell you all about it
to-morrow--I feel faint.--There is a great oppression at my
heart.--Those timbers crushed my chest.--I cannot breathe.--Raise me
up."

Anna knelt on the ground beside him and raised him up as he desired.

"Yes," he said, "tired, tired."

The next moment a wonderful far-away look of rapture came over his
beautiful face, and then a pale shadow such as might be caused by the
passing flight of a bird;--his head fell upon her shoulder;--he was
dead. Anna laid his lifeless body gently down and watched beside it
through the silent hours of the night, gazing from time to time at the
finely-formed features. They had a fascination for her, and she could
not dispossess her mind of the thought that she had seen them before.

The first few streaks of dawn came creeping over land and sea, and the
sun arose and shed a shimmering light on the surrounding islands, the
forest and the misty mountain tops. With daylight, the howling of the
wolves ceased, and the only signs of life were the sea gulls that
floated about near the shore or ran screaming along the beach devouring
their prey, and a pair of eagles which constantly hovered near and
swooped down close to where the dead man was lying. Anna covered the
cold, pale face and went nearer to protect it from any attack.

The sun had not long risen when Mrs. Carleton with little Cora left the
castle.