Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

From Jest to Earnest by Edward Payson Roe
page 65 of 522 (12%)

"I am so glad I came!" she said. "We see nothing like this in the
city. Look at those snowy mountains. How vast and white they are!"

"And look at that little tree with its red berries gleaming against
the snowy foil. They look like those rulsy ear-rings against the
whiteness of your neck."

She looked at him quickly and humorously, asking, "Where did you
learn the art of complimenting?"

"I had no thought of trivial compliment in the presence of a scene
like this," he answered gravely; "I was awed by the beauty I saw,
and it seemed as if the Great Artist must be near. I wished to
call your attention to the truth that, like all His work, the least
thing is perfect. That little tree with its red berries is beautiful
as well as the mountain. I now am glad too that you came, though
I dreaded any one's coming before, and the necessity of returning
to common-place life. But suddenly, and as silently as one of those
snow-flakes, you appear, and I am startled to find you in keeping
with the scene, instead of an intrusion."

"And do I seem to you like a snow-flake--as pure and as cold?" she
asked, bending upon him her brilliant eyes.

"Not as cold, I trust, and if you were as pure you would not be
human. But your beauty seemed to me as marvellous as that of the
scene I had been wondering at. I am not versed in society's disguises,
Miss Marsden, and can better express my thoughts than hide them.
You know you are very beautiful. Why should I not say so as well
DigitalOcean Referral Badge