seem to doubt. The dread of Sir Roland's displeasure had receded to the
back of her mind. Surely there was indeed magic abroad that night! It
seemed diffused in the very air she breathed. In silence they moved
along the dim grass path. From far away there came to them fitfully the
sound of music, remote and wonderful, like straying echoes of paradise.
A soft wind stirred above them, lingering secretly among opening leaves.
There was a scent of violets almost intoxicatingly sweet.

The silence seemed magnetic. It held them like a spell. Through it,
vague and intangible as the night at first, but gradually taking
definite shape, strange thoughts began to rise in the girl's heart.

She had consented to this adventure from sheer lack of purpose. But
whither was it leading her? She was a married woman, with her shackles
heavy upon her. Yet she walked that night with a stranger, as one who
owned her freedom. The silence between them was intimate and wonderful,
the silence which only kindred spirits can ever know. It possessed her
magically, making her past life seem dim and shadowy, and the present
only real.

And yet she knew that she was not free. She trespassed on forbidden
ground. She tasted the forbidden fruit, and found it tragically sweet.

Suddenly and softly he spoke:

"Does the magic begin to work?"

She started and tried to stop. Surely it were wiser to go back while she
had the will! But he drew her forward still. The mist overhead was
faintly silver. The moon was rising.