He
approached the house with an awe akin to that with which an old poetic
Egyptian drew near to the chamber of the goddess Isis.
He entered, and his Isis was laughing merrily.
In the morning, great sun-crested clouds with dark sides hung overhead;
and while they sat at breakfast, one of those glorious showers, each of
whose great drops carries a sun-spark in its heart, fell on the walks
with a tumult of gentle noises, and on the grass almost as silently as
if it had been another mossy cloud. The leaves of the ivy hanging over
the windows quivered and shook, each for itself, beneath the drops; and
between the drops, one of which would have beaten him to the earth,
wound and darted in safety a great humble bee.
Kate and Alec went to the open window and looked out on the rainy
world, breathing the odours released from the grass and the ground.
Alec turned from the window to Kate's face, and saw upon it a keen, yet
solemn delight. But as he gazed, he saw a cloud come over it. The
arched upper lip dropped sadly upon the other, and she looked troubled
and cold. Instinctively he glanced out again for the cause. The rain
had become thick and small, and a light opposing wind disordered its
descent with broken and crossing lines.
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