The Dead Lake and Other Tales Part 24

He waited some time for an answer. Suddenly the door was noiselessly opened, and she stood before him smiling, but with tears in her eyes.

"One kiss freely given you, as a token of forgiveness for all you have made me suffer," she said.

He folded her in his arms and she softly pa.s.sed her hand across his brow, saying: "Here, there are many lines, but our hearts are still fresh and youthful, and to-morrow we will begin life anew where we left it off fourteen years ago."

She pressed her lips to his, and with his arm round her waist, he led her to the window. The moon had dispersed the fog, and a gentle autumnal breeze wafted the scent of the grapes through the open cas.e.m.e.nt.

"Let US drive back to-night, my darling," she said. "I could not sleep now, and the air is quite mild. Go, while you order the carriage, I will write a few lines to the doctor, and tell him not to expect us to-morrow: Is it true, Valentine, can it be true, that we have at last told each other what we knew years ago?"--

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: A part of Switzerland on the frontiers of Italy.--The Translator.]

[Footnote 2: Not the Lombardy poplar, but the populus Alba, or Abele tree, which is wide spreading.--The Translator.]

[Footnote 3: Name of a promenade at Meran.--The Translator.]

[Footnote 4: Lauben. A provincial term for arcades.--The Translator.]

[Footnote 5: This is an old custom at the German universities when a new comer enters the Fellows.h.i.+p--they call it "Bruderschaft trinken."--The Translator.]

THE END.