"I have thought that I
had sounded the shallow depths of her character several times, and
then some new and perplexing phase would present itself, and put
me all to sea again. It may seem ludicrous to you that her beauty
should irritate me so greatly because of its incongruous associations."
"Not at all," she replied, with a little nod. "I was not long in
discovering that you were a pagan, and that beauty was your divinity."
"Correct in all respects save the divinity," he answered promptly;
and he would have said more, but she passed into the parlor among
the other guests.
Ida found herself too weak and unnerved to walk far, but she
discovered a secluded nook into which the sunlight streamed with a
grateful warmth; for although the day was warm, she shivered with
cold as if the chill in her heart had diffused itself even to her
hands and feet. Dense shrubbery hid her from the path along which
she saw Stanton pass in his fruitless quest.
For a long time she sat in dreary apathy, almost as motionless as
the mossy rock beneath her, and was conscious only of her throbbing
forehead and aching heart. Gradually, however, nature's vital
touch began to revive her.
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