The violet waters of the bay had darkened, and, like the separating
banners of a homeward-moving procession, the colours of the sky went
east and west. The girdle of rubies had melted, had become the pale red
lining of a falling mantle; the large spaces of gold grew dim; orange
and yellow streamers blended; lilac and blue pennons faded to deep
greys; dark hoods and dark veils were drawn closer; purple was gathered
like garments about the loins; the night fell, and the sky, now
decorated with a crescent moon and a few stars, was filled with
stillness and adoration. The day's death was exquisite, even human; and
as she gazed on the beautiful corpse lowered amid the fumes of a
thousand censers into an under-world, even Violet's egotism began to
dream.

'The evening is lovely. I am glad; it is the last we shall pass here,'
said the girl pensively, 'and all good-byes are sad.'

'Yes, we have been happy,' said May, 'and I too am sorry to leave; but
then we couldn't spend our lives here. There are plenty of things to be
done at home; and I suppose we shall all get married one of these days?
And there will be balls and parties before we get married. I don't think
that I'd care to get married all at once. Would you, Violet?'

'I don't know. Perhaps not, unless it was to someone very grand indeed.'

'Oh, would you do that? I don't think I could marry a man unless I loved
him,' said May.

'Yes, but you might love someone who was very grand as well as someone
who wasn't.'