But then he stopped.

"Yes, Maurice!" she said, quickly.

"Where's Gaspare?" he asked. "We'll make him help with the packing. But

you won't take much, will you? It'll only be for a few days, I suppose."

"Who knows?"

"Gaspare! Gaspare!" he called.

"Che vuole?" answered a sleepy voice.

"Come here."

In a moment a languid figure appeared round the corner. Maurice explained

matters. Instantly Gaspare became a thing of quicksilver. He darted to

help Hermione. Every nerve seemed quivering to be useful.

"And the signore?" he said, presently, as he carried a trunk into the

room.

"The signore!" said Hermione.

"Is he going, too?"

"No, no!" said Hermione, swiftly.

She put her finger to her lips. Delarey was just coming into the room.

Gaspare said no more, but he shot a curious glance from padrona to

padrone as he knelt down to lay some things in the trunk.

By dinner-time Hermione's preparations were completed. The one trunk she

meant to take was packed. How hateful it looked standing there in the

white room with the label hanging from the handle! She washed her face

and hands in cold water, and came out onto the terrace where the

dinner-table was laid. It was a warm, still night, like the night of the

fishing, and the moon hung low in a clear sky.

"How exquisite it is here!" she said to Maurice, as they sat down. "We

are in the very heart of calm, majestic calm. Look at that one star over

Etna, and the outlines of the hills and of that old castle--"

She stopped.

"It brings a lump into my throat," she said, after a little pause. "It's

too beautiful and too still to-night."

"I love being here," he said.

They ate their dinner in silence for some time. Presently Maurice began

to crumble his bread.

"Hermione," he said. "Look here--"

"Yes, Maurice."

"I've been thinking--of course I scarcely know Artois, and I could be of

no earthly use, but I've been thinking whether it would not be better for

me to come to Kairouan with you."

For a moment Hermione's rugged face was lit up by a fire of joy that

made her look beautiful. Maurice went on crumbling his bread.

"I didn't say anything at first," he continued, "because I--well, somehow

I felt so fixed here, almost part of the place, and I had never thought

of going till it got too hot, and especially not now, when the best time

is only just beginning. And then it all came so suddenly. I was still

more than half asleep, too, I believe," he added, with a little laugh,

"when you told me. But now I've had time, and--why shouldn't I come, too,

to look after you?"




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