'You know, I felt as if I were the first man to discover things: like
Adam when he opened the first eyes in the world.'

'I saw the sunshine in you,' repeated Helena quietly, looking at him
with her eyes heavy with meaning.

He laughed again, not understanding, but feeling she meant love.

'No, but you have altered everything,' he said.

The note of wonder, of joy, in his voice touched her almost beyond
self-control. She caught his hand and pressed it; then quickly kissed
it. He became suddenly grave.

'I feel as if it were right--you and me, Helena--so, even righteous. It
is so, isn't it? And the sea and everything, they all seem with us. Do
you think so?'

Looking at her, he found her eyes full of tears. He bent and kissed her,
and she pressed his head to her bosom. He was very glad.



_Chapter 9_


The day waxed hot. A few little silver tortoises of cloud had crawled
across the desert of sky, and hidden themselves. The chalk roads were
white, quivering with heat. Helena and Siegmund walked eastward
bareheaded under the sunshine. They felt like two insects in the niche