WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>The Return by Robert Murray Gilchrist five minutes ago. I

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<v Speaker 1>drew the window curtain aside, and let the mellow sunset

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<v Speaker 1>light contend with the glare from the girandols. Below lay

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<v Speaker 1>the orchard of Vernon Garth, rich and heavily flowered fruit trees.

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<v Speaker 1>Yonder a meddler, here a pair, next a quince. As

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<v Speaker 1>my eyes, unaccustomed to the day, blinked rapidly, the recollection

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<v Speaker 1>came of a scene forty five years past, And once more,

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<v Speaker 1>beneath the oldest tree stood the girl I loved, mischievously

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<v Speaker 1>plucking yarrow, and, despite its evil omen twining the snowy

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<v Speaker 1>clusters in her black hair. Again, her coquettish words rang

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<v Speaker 1>in my ears. Make me thy lady, make me the

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<v Speaker 1>richest woman in England, And I promise thee Brian we

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<v Speaker 1>shall be the happiest of God's creatures. And I remembered

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<v Speaker 1>how the mad thirst for gold filled me, how I

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<v Speaker 1>trusted in her fidelity, and without reasoning or even telling

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<v Speaker 1>her that I would conquer fortune for her sake, I

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<v Speaker 1>kissed her sadly and passed into the world. Then followed

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<v Speaker 1>a complete silence until the star of Europe the greatest

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<v Speaker 1>diamond discovered in modern times lay in my hand, a rough,

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<v Speaker 1>unpolished stone, not unlike the lumps of spar I had

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<v Speaker 1>often seen lying on the sandy lanes of my native county.

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<v Speaker 1>This should be Rose's own, and all the others that

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<v Speaker 1>clanked so melodiously in their leather bulse should go towards

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<v Speaker 1>fulfilling her ambition. Rich and happy, I should be soon,

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<v Speaker 1>and should I not marry an untitled gentlewoman sweet in

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<v Speaker 1>her prime. The twenty years interval of work and sleep

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<v Speaker 1>was like a fading dream, for I was going home.

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<v Speaker 1>The knowledge thrilled me so that my nerves were strung

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<v Speaker 1>tight as iron ropes, and I laughed like a young boy.

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<v Speaker 1>And it was all because my home was to be

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<v Speaker 1>in Rose Pascal's arms. I crossed the sea and posted

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<v Speaker 1>straight for Halkton Village. The old hostelry was crowded. Jane Hopgarth,

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<v Speaker 1>whom I remembered a ruddy faced child, stood on the

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<v Speaker 1>box edged terrace courtesying in matronly fashion to the departing

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<v Speaker 1>mail coach. A change in the sign board drew my eye.

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<v Speaker 1>The white lilies had been painted over with a miter,

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<v Speaker 1>and the name changed from the Pascal arms to the

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<v Speaker 1>Lord Bishop. Angrily, aghast at this disloyalty, I cross questioned

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<v Speaker 1>the ostlers, who hurried to and fro, but failing to

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<v Speaker 1>obtain any coherent reply, I was fain to content myself

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<v Speaker 1>with a mental denunciation of the times. At last I

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<v Speaker 1>saw bow legged Jeffreys, now bent double with age, sunning

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<v Speaker 1>himself at his favorite place, the side of the horse trough.

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<v Speaker 1>As of old, he was chewing a straw. No sign

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<v Speaker 1>of recognition came over his face as he gazed at me,

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<v Speaker 1>and I was shocked. Because I wished to impart some

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<v Speaker 1>of my gladness to a fellow creature. I went to him, and,

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<v Speaker 1>after trying in vain to make him speak, held forth

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<v Speaker 1>a gold coin. He rose instantly, grasped it with palsied fingers,

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<v Speaker 1>and muttering that the hounds were starting. Hurried from my presence.

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<v Speaker 1>Feeling half sad, I crossed to the churchyard and gazed

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<v Speaker 1>through the grated window of the Pascal burial chapel at

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<v Speaker 1>the recumbent and undisturbed effigies of Geoffrey Pascal, gentlemen of

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<v Speaker 1>Breton Hall, and Margot Maltravero, his wife, with their quaint

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<v Speaker 1>epitaph about a perfect marriage enduring forever. Then, after noting

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<v Speaker 1>the rankness of the docks and nettles, I crossed the

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<v Speaker 1>worn stile, and with footsteps surprising fleet, passed towards the

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<v Speaker 1>stretch of moorland, at whose further end stands Breton Hall.

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<v Speaker 1>Twilight had fallen. Ere I reached the cottage at the

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<v Speaker 1>entrance of the park. This was in a ruinous condition.

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<v Speaker 1>Here and there sheaves in the thatched roof had parted

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<v Speaker 1>and formed crevices through which smoke filtered. Some of the

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<v Speaker 1>tiny windows had been walled up, and even where the

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<v Speaker 1>glass remained, snake like ivy hindered any light from falling

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<v Speaker 1>into their thick recesses. The door stood open, although the

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<v Speaker 1>evening was chill. As I approached, the heavy autumnal dew

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<v Speaker 1>shook down from the furs and fell upon my shoulders.

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<v Speaker 1>A bat, swooping in an undulation, struck between my eyes

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<v Speaker 1>and fell to the grass, moaning querulously. I entered. A

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<v Speaker 1>withered woman sat beside the peat fire. She held a

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<v Speaker 1>pair of steel knitting needles, which she moved without cessation.

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<v Speaker 1>There was no thread upon them, and when they clicked

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<v Speaker 1>her lips twitched as if she had counted. Some time

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<v Speaker 1>passed before I recognized Rose's foster mother, Elizabeth Carloss. The

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<v Speaker 1>russet color of her cheeks had faded and left a

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<v Speaker 1>sickly gray. Those sunken, dimmed eyes were utterly unlike the

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<v Speaker 1>bright black orbs that had danced so mirthfully. Her stature

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<v Speaker 1>too had shrunk. I was struck with wonder. Elizabeth could

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<v Speaker 1>not be more than fifty six years old. I had

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<v Speaker 1>been away twenty years. Rose was fifteen when I left her,

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<v Speaker 1>and I had heard Elizabeth say that she was only

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<v Speaker 1>twenty one at the time of her darling's weening. But

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<v Speaker 1>what a change. She had, such an air of weary

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<v Speaker 1>grief that my heart grew sick. Advancing to her side,

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<v Speaker 1>I touched her arm. She turned, but neither spoke nor

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<v Speaker 1>seemed aware of my presence. Soon, however, she rose, and,

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<v Speaker 1>helping herself along by grasping the scanty furniture, tottered to

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<v Speaker 1>a window and peered out. Her right hand crept to

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<v Speaker 1>her throat. She untied the string of her gown and

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<v Speaker 1>took from her bosom a pamanda set in a battered

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<v Speaker 1>silver care I cried out. Rose had loved that toy

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<v Speaker 1>in her childhood. Thousands of times had we played ball

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<v Speaker 1>with it. Elizabeth held it to her mouth and mumbled

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<v Speaker 1>it as if it were a baby's hand. Maddened with impatience,

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<v Speaker 1>I caught her shoulder and roughly bade her say where

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<v Speaker 1>I should find rose. But something awoke in her eyes,

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<v Speaker 1>and she shrank away to the other side of the

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<v Speaker 1>house place I followed. She cowered on the floor, looking

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<v Speaker 1>at me with a strange horror. Her lips began to move,

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<v Speaker 1>but they made no sound. Only when I crossed to

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<v Speaker 1>the threshold did she rise, And then her head moved

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<v Speaker 1>wildly from side to side, and her hands pressed close

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<v Speaker 1>to her breast, as if the pain there were too

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<v Speaker 1>great to endure. I ran from the place, not daring

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<v Speaker 1>to look back. In a few minutes I reached the

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<v Speaker 1>balustraded wall of the whole garden. The vegetation there was

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<v Speaker 1>wonderfully luxuriant as of old. The great blue and white

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<v Speaker 1>Canterbury bells grew thickly, and those curious flowers to which

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<v Speaker 1>tradition has given the name of Marie's Heart still spread

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<v Speaker 1>their creamy tendrils and blood colored bloom on every hand.

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<v Speaker 1>But Pascal's dribble. The tiny spring, whose water pulsed so

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<v Speaker 1>fiercely as it emerged from the earth, had long since

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<v Speaker 1>burst its bounds and converted the winter garden into a swamp,

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<v Speaker 1>where a miniature forest of Queen of the Meadow filled

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<v Speaker 1>the air with melancholy sweetness. The house looked as if

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<v Speaker 1>no careful hand had touched it for years. The elements

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<v Speaker 1>had played havoc with its orioles, and many of the

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<v Speaker 1>latticed frames hung on single hinges. The curtain of the

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<v Speaker 1>blue blue parlor hung outside, draggled and faded, and half

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<v Speaker 1>hidden by a thick growth of bindweed. With an almost

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<v Speaker 1>savage force, I raised my arm high above my head

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<v Speaker 1>and brought my fist down upon the central panel of

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<v Speaker 1>the door. There was no need for such violence, for

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<v Speaker 1>the decayed fastenings made no resistance, and some of the

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<v Speaker 1>rotten boards fell to the ground. As I entered the

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<v Speaker 1>hall and saw the ancient furniture, once so fondly kept,

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<v Speaker 1>now mildewed and crumbling to dust, quick sobs burst from

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<v Speaker 1>my throat. Rose's spinnet stood beside the door of the

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<v Speaker 1>withdrawing room. How many carols had we sung to its music.

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<v Speaker 1>As I passed, my foot struck one of the legs,

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<v Speaker 1>and the rickety structure groaned as if it were coming

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<v Speaker 1>to pieces. I thrust out my hand to steady it,

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<v Speaker 1>but at my touch the velvet covering of the lid

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<v Speaker 1>came off, and the tiny gilt ornaments rattled downwards. The

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<v Speaker 1>moon was just rising, and only half her disc was

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<v Speaker 1>visible over the distant edge of the hell garden. The

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<v Speaker 1>light in the room was very uncertain, yet I could

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<v Speaker 1>see that the keys of the instrument were stained brown

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<v Speaker 1>and bound together with thick cobwebs. While I stood beside it,

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<v Speaker 1>I felt an overpowering desire to play a country ballad

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<v Speaker 1>with an overword of willow brow bound. The woods, in

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<v Speaker 1>strict accordance with the melody, are merry and sad by turns,

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<v Speaker 1>at one time filled with light happiness, at another bitter,

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<v Speaker 1>as the voice of one bereaved forever of joy. So

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<v Speaker 1>I cleared off the spiders and began to strike the

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<v Speaker 1>keys with my forefinger. Many were dumb, and when I

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<v Speaker 1>struck them, gave forth no sound save a peculiar sigh.

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<v Speaker 1>But still the melody rhythmed as distinctly as if a

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<v Speaker 1>low voice crooned it out of the darkness. Wearied with

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<v Speaker 1>the bitterness, I turned away. By now the full moonlight

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<v Speaker 1>pierced the window and quivered on the floor. As I

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<v Speaker 1>gazed on the tremulous pattern, it changed into quaint devices

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<v Speaker 1>of hearts, daggers, rings, and a thousand tokens more all

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<v Speaker 1>Suddenly another object glided amongst them, so quickly that I

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<v Speaker 1>wondered whether my eyes had been at fault. A tiny

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<v Speaker 1>satin shoe stained crimson across the lappets. A revulsion of

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<v Speaker 1>feeling came to my soul and drove away all my fear.

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<v Speaker 1>I had seen that self same shoe, white and unsoiled,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty years before, when rain Rose danced amongst her reapers

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<v Speaker 1>at the harvest home, and my voice cried out in ecstasy. Rose,

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<v Speaker 1>Heart of mine, delight of all the world's delights. She

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<v Speaker 1>stood before me, wondering, amazed, alas so changed. The red

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<v Speaker 1>and yellow silk shawl still covered her shoulders, her hair

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<v Speaker 1>still hung in those eldritch curls, but the beautiful face

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<v Speaker 1>had grown wan and tired, and across the forehead lines

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<v Speaker 1>were drawn like silver threads. She threw her arms around

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<v Speaker 1>my neck and pressing her bosom heavily on mine, sobbed

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<v Speaker 1>so piteously that I grew afraid for her, and drew

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<v Speaker 1>back the long masses of hair which had fallen forward,

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<v Speaker 1>and kissed again and again those lips that were too

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<v Speaker 1>lovely for simile. Never came a word of chiding from them, love,

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<v Speaker 1>she said, when she had regained her breath. The past

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<v Speaker 1>struggle was sharp and torturing. The future struggle will be

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<v Speaker 1>crueler still, What a great love yours was to wait

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<v Speaker 1>and trust for so long? Would that mine had been

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<v Speaker 1>as powerful, poor weak heart that could not endure the

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<v Speaker 1>tones of a wild fear. Throbbed through all her speech, strongly,

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<v Speaker 1>yet with insufficient power to prevent her feeling the tenderness

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<v Speaker 1>of those moments. Often timorously raising her head from my shoulder,

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<v Speaker 1>she looked about, and then turned with a soft, inarticulate

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<v Speaker 1>and glad murmur, to hide her face on my bosom.

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<v Speaker 1>I spoke fervently, told of the years spent away from her,

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<v Speaker 1>How when working in the diamond fields she had ever

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<v Speaker 1>been present in my fancy, How at night her name

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<v Speaker 1>had fallen from my lips in my only prayer, how

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<v Speaker 1>I had dreamed of her amongst the greatest in the land,

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<v Speaker 1>the richest, and I dareswear the loveliest woman in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>I grew warmer still. All the gladness which had been

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<v Speaker 1>constrained for so long now burst wildly from my lips.

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<v Speaker 1>A myriad of rich ideas resolved into words, which, being spoken,

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<v Speaker 1>wove one long and delicious fit of passion. As we

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<v Speaker 1>stood together, the moon brightened and filled the chamber with

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<v Speaker 1>a light like the days. The ridges of the surrounding

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<v Speaker 1>moorland stood out in sharp relief. Rose drank in my

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<v Speaker 1>declarations thirstily, but soon interrupted me with a heavy sigh.

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<v Speaker 1>Come away, she said softly, I no longer live in

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<v Speaker 1>this house. You must stay with me to night. This

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<v Speaker 1>place is so wretched now, for time that in you

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<v Speaker 1>and me has only strength and love has wrought much

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<v Speaker 1>ruin here. Half leaning on me, she led me from

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<v Speaker 1>the precincts of Breton Hall. We walked in silence over

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<v Speaker 1>the waste that crowns the valley of the Whitelands, and,

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<v Speaker 1>being near the verge of the rocks, saw the great

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<v Speaker 1>pine wood sloping downwards, lighted near us by the moon,

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<v Speaker 1>but soon lost in density along the mysterious line where

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<v Speaker 1>the light changed into gloom. Intricate shadows of withered summer

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<v Speaker 1>bracken struck and receded in a mimic battle. Before us

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<v Speaker 1>lay the priest's cliff, the moon was veiled by a

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<v Speaker 1>grove of elms, whose ever swaying branches alternately increased and

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<v Speaker 1>lessened her brightness. This was a place of notoriety, a

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<v Speaker 1>veritable golgatha, a haunt fit only for demons. Murder and

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<v Speaker 1>theft had been punished here, and to this day, fireside

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<v Speaker 1>stories are told of evil women dancing round that druid circle,

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<v Speaker 1>carrying hearts plucked from gibbeted bodies. Rose, I whispered, why

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<v Speaker 1>have you brought me here? She made no reply, but

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<v Speaker 1>pressed her head more closely to my shoulder. Scarce had

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<v Speaker 1>my lips closed. Ere A sound like the hiss of

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<v Speaker 1>a half strangled snake vibrated amongst the trees. It grew

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<v Speaker 1>louder and louder. A monstrous shadow hovered above. Rose from

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<v Speaker 1>my bosom, murmured, Love is strong as death, Love is

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<v Speaker 1>strong as death. I locked her in my arms so

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<v Speaker 1>tightly that she grew breathless. Hold me, she panted, you

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<v Speaker 1>are strong. A cold hand touched our foreheads, so that benumbed,

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<v Speaker 1>we sank together to the ground, to fall instantly into

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<v Speaker 1>a dreamless slumber. When I awoke, the clear gray light

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<v Speaker 1>of the early morning had spread over the country beyond

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<v Speaker 1>the hell Garden. The sun was just bursting through the clouds,

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<v Speaker 1>and had already spread a long golden haze along the horizon.

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<v Speaker 1>The babbling of the streamlet that runs down to Holkton

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<v Speaker 1>was so distinct that it seemed almost at my side.

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<v Speaker 1>How sweetly the wild thyme smelt phil with the tender

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<v Speaker 1>recollections of the night. Without turning, I called Rose Pascal

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<v Speaker 1>from her sleep. Sweetheart, sweetheart, waken, Waken, Waken, See how

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<v Speaker 1>glad the world looks, see the omens of a happy future.

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<v Speaker 1>No answer came. I sat up, and looking round me,

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<v Speaker 1>saw that I was alone. A square stone lay near.

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<v Speaker 1>When the sun was high, I crept to read the

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<v Speaker 1>inscription carved thereon. Here at four cross paths lieth with

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<v Speaker 1>a stake through the bosom, the body of Rose Pascal, who,

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<v Speaker 1>in her sixteenth year wilfully cast away the life God gave.

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<v Speaker 1>End of the Return by Robert Murray Gilchrist