yet more reluctant farewell than that
lately gone through at the barracks. But we hoped to meet again. This
must not be our only visit to Gerona; and here Anselmo wished to live
and die. He had no ambition for a higher destiny, though even this, it
has lately been whispered to us, may one day come to him without change
of scene.

We parted as friends part, not mere acquaintances of a day. There is, we
have said, a magnetic power that bridges over time and conventionality.
As in dreams we sometimes live a lifetime in a moment, so in friendship
an hour may do the work of years. Again the clock struck twelve;
Anselmo's signal. History repeats itself. To-day he went alone, leaving
us standing amidst the ruins. We watched him as he climbed the rugged
heights of the cathedral, a tall, dark, graceful figure upon the
landscape. At the north doorway he turned, gazed steadily at us for a
few moments, raised his hands as though in benediction, and the next
moment was lost to sight.

A glory appeared to depart; the spot seemed emptier without him; there
was less brightness in the sunshine. We hastened to change the scene,
and in the lively streets of the fair, to disperse the sad current of
our thoughts. For our hours in Gerona the beautiful were numbered.

CHAPTER XII.

A MINISTERING SPIRIT.

Sweet illusions--Everything seen and done--True devotion--In the
vortex--Sunshine and blue skies--Less demon-like pit--Lights and
shadows--Arcades lose their gloom--Rosalie--Charm of
Anselmo--Romance not dead--H. C. in ecstasy--Escorting an
angel--Cathedral steps--San Filiu--A lovely spot--Ancient
house--Mullions and latticed windows--Passing away--Rosalie's
ministrations--Resignation--Rosalie's farewell--"Consuelo"--Taken
from the evil to come--The door closed--Ernesto's world
topsy-turvy--Ernesto turns business-like--The catapult again--Up
the broad staircase--Not the ghostly hour--Madame in her
bureau--Posting ledger--Balance on right side--Madame
philosophises--Shrieks to the rescue--"My dear daughter"--Our host
and the nightingales--Waiting for next year's leaves--The Senorita
Costello--Delormais on the wing--Another vigil--Promise
given--Departure--Inspector quails--H. C. collapses--The
susceptible age--Lady Maria alters her will--Possession nine-tenths
of the law.

It was not an unmixed sorrow. At sunrise the next morning preparations