d the piano, he touched the keys in a rambling
way. The tones he brought out were a few notes of an air he and
Rosabella had sung in that same room a few months before. He turned
abruptly from the instrument, and looked out from the window in the
direction of the lonely cottage, Nothing was visible but trees and a
line of the ocean beyond. But the chambers of his soul were filled
with visions of Rosa. He thought of the delightful day they had spent
together, looking upon these same scenes; of their songs and caresses
in the bower; of her letter, so full of love and glad surprise at the
bridal arrangements she supposed he had made for her, "I really hope
Lily won't insist upon staying here long," thought he; "for it is
rather an embarrassing position for me."

He seated himself at the piano and swept his hand up and down the
keys, as if trying to drown his thoughts in a tempest of sound. But,
do what he would, the thoughts spoke loudest; and after a while he
leaned his head forward on the piano, lost in revery.

A soft little hand touched his head, and a feminine voice inquired,
"What are you thinking of, Gerald?"

"Of you, my pearl," he replied, rising hastily, and stooping to
imprint a kiss on the forehead of his bride.

"And pray what were you thinking about _me_?" she asked.

"That you are the greatest beauty in the world, and that I love you
better than man ever loved woman," rejoined he. And so the game of
courtship went on, till it was interrupted by a summons to supper.

When they returned some time later, the curtains were drawn and
candles lighted. "You have not yet tried the piano," said he, as he
placed the music-stool.

She seated herself, and, after running up and down the keys, and
saying she liked the tone of the instrument, she began to play and
sing "Robin Adair." She had a sweet, thin voice, and her style of
playing indicated rather one who had learned music, than one whose
soul lived in its element. Fitzgerald thought of the last singing he
had heard at that piano; and without asking for another song, he began
to sing to her accompaniment, "Drink to me only with thine eyes." He
had scarcely finished the line, "Leave a kiss within the cup, and
I'll not ask for wine," when clear, liquid tones rose on the air,
apparently from the veranda; and the words they carried on their wings
were these:--

"Down in the meadow, 'mong the clover,
I walked with Nelly by my side.
Now all those happy day