His voice made tremulous music, inaudible a few paces away; his
breath was on her cheek; his eyes, as she gazed into them, seemed to
envelop her in their glow.

'My fairest! Let me but touch your hand. Lay it for a moment in mine--a
pledge for ever!'

'You do not fear to love me, O lord of my life?'

The whisper made him faint with joy.

'What has fear to do with love, O thou with heaven in thine eyes!
what room is there for fear in the heart where thy beauty dwells?
Speak again, speak again, my beloved, and bless me above all men
that live!'

'Basil! Basil! Utter my name once more. I never knew how sweet it
could sound.'

'Nor I, how soft could be the sound of mine. Forgive me, O
Veranilda, that out of my love pain has come to you. You will not
ever be sad again? You will not think ever again of those bygone
sorrows?'

She bent her head low.

'Can you believe in my truth, O Basil? Can _you_ forget?'