peared to him light as air while she lay
there, like a feather which the slightest breath would blow away? In her
sleep, her suffering and her patient resignation were clearly seen. He
in fact would have known her only by her lily-like grace, the delicate
outlines of her neck, her drooping shoulders, and her oval face,
transfigured like that of a youthful virgin mounting towards heaven.
Her exquisite hair was now only a mass of light, and her pure soul shone
under the soft transparency of her skin. She had all the ethereal
beauty of the saints relieved from their bodies. He was both dazzled
and distressed; the violent shock rendered him incapable of moving,
and, with hands clasped, he remained silent. She did not awake as he
continued to watch her.

A little air from the half-closed lips of Felicien must have passed
across Angelique's face, as all at once she opened her great eyes. Yet
she did not start, but in her turn looked at him with a smile, as if he
were a vision. Yes, it was he! She recognised him well, although he was
greatly changed. But she did not think she was awake, for she often saw
him thus in her dreams, and her trouble was increased when, rousing from
her sleep, she realised the truth.

He held his hands out towards her and spoke:

"My dearest, I love you. I was told that you were ill, and came to you
immediately. Look at me! Here I am, and I love you."

She straightened herself up quickly. She shuddered, as with a mechanical
movement she passed her fingers over her eyes.

"Doubt no longer, then. See me at your feet, and realise that I love you
now, as I have ever done."

Then she exclaimed:

"Oh! is it you? I had given up expecting you, and yet you are here."

With her feeble, trembling hands, she had taken his, thus assuring
herself that he was not a fanciful vision of her sleep.

He continued:

"You have always loved me, and I love you for ever. Yes, notwithstanding
everything; and more deeply even than I should have ever thought it
possible to do."

It was an unhoped-for excess of happiness, and in this first minute of
absolute joy they forgot everything else in the world, giving themselves
up to the delightful certainty of their mutual affection, and their
ability to declare it. The sufferings of the past, the obstacles of
the future, had disappeared as if by magic. They did not even think of
asking how it was that they had thus come together. But there they were,
mingling their tear