212
ived at the house.
Did this trim maid-servant know? Was there anything of welcome in the demure smile? He followed her; his face was pale, though he knew it not; in the dusk of the room he was left alone.
But what was this on the table? He almost uttered a cry as his bewildered eyes fixed themselves on it. The very bouquet he had sent the previous evening; and behold--behold!--the red rose wanting! And then, at the same moment, he turned; and there was a vision of something all in white--that came to him timidly--all in white but for the red star of love shining there. And she did not speak at all; but she buried her head in his bosom; and he held her hands tight.
And now what will Ulva say--and the lonely shores of Fladda--and the distant Dutchman roused from his winter sleep amidst the wild waves? Far away over the white sands of Iona--and the sunlight must be shining there now--there is many a sacred spot fit for the solemn plighting of lovers' vows; and if there is any organ wanted, what more noble than the vast Atlantic rollers booming into the Bourg and Gribun caves? Surely they must know already; for the sea-birds have caught the cry; and there is a sound all through the glad rushing of the morning seas like the sound of wedding-bells. There is a bride coming to Castle Dare--the islands listen; and the wild sea calls again; and the green shores of Ulva grow greener still in the sunlight. There is a bride coming to Castle Dare; and the bride is dressed all in white--only she wears a red rose.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ENTHUSIASMS.
She was seated alone, her arms on the table, her head bent down. There was no red rose now in the white morning-dress, for she had given it to him when he left. The frail November sunshine streamed into the room and put a shimmer of gold on the soft brown of her hair.
It was a bold step she had taken, without counsel of any one. Her dream was now to give up everything t