XXV.


LOVE.

"All loves around us: all around is heard,
Hard by the warbler's quivering kiss,
That voiceless song of flowers, which the lark,
by love distracted, to his mate translates."

EMILE DARIO (_Sonnets_).

He returned to the parsonage with a light step, hearing the birds singing
in the lime-trees the same joyous song which his own heart was singing. He
breakfasted with a good appetite, smiled at his servant, and gave pleasant
answers to her questions.

It seemed to him that a new world was opening. New ideas sprang up in him,
and he discovered sensations till then unknown.

He felt better; life smiled upon him, and all the things of life.

The past had altogether vanished; the present was radiant, the future was
laden with rosy dreams.

That same morning he had risen as usual, with no settled wish, aimless and