Silence and Foresight; Death the Skeleton
And Time the Shadow:--

For three yew trees of great age had grown together, forming a domed tent
of close, perennial leaf, beneath which all other vegetation had
disappeared. The floor, carpeted with "the pining members" of the yews,
was dry and smooth; Helena's light slippers scarcely sank in it. They
groped their way; and Helena's hand had slipped unconsciously into
Geoffrey's. In the velvety darkness, indeed, they would have seen
nothing, but for the fact that the moon stood just above the wood, and
through a small gap in the dome, where a rotten branch had fallen, a
little light came down.

"I've found the seat!" said Helena joyously, disengaging herself from her
companion. And presently a dim ray from overhead showed her to him seated
dryad-like in the very centre of the black interwoven trunks. Or, rather,
he saw the sparkle of some bright stones on her neck, and the whiteness
of her brow; but for the rest, only a suggestion of lovely lines; as it
were, a Spirit of the Wood, almost bodiless.

He stood before her, in an ecstasy of pleasure.

"Helena!--you are a vision--a dream: Don't fade away! I wish we could
stay here for ever."

"Am I a vision?" She put out a mischievous hand, and pinched him. "But
come here, Geoffrey--come up beside me--look! Anybody sitting here could
see a good deal of the lake!"

He squeezed in beside her, and true enough, through a natural parting in