Their room, with the lift of the ceiling emphasized by the confined
space, was more engaging still: tall slatted doors opened on an iron
railed balcony, the bath-room was like a tunnel on end, and the floor
an expanse of polished mosaic in a pattern of yellow and grey. Lee
walked out on the balcony; directly below and across a narrow paved
street was a floridly impressive building obviously for the purpose of
varied assemblages, and on his left a park was laid in concrete walks,
royal palms on towering smooth dull trunks, unfamiliar trees with a
graceful dense foliage, and innumerable stacked iron chairs about the
marble statue of a man with a pointing hand. These details, however,
were slowly gathered from an effect the whole of which was
bewilderingly white, a whiteness intolerably luminous in the dazzling
bath of the sun.
It was a scene, a city, Lee recognized, more foreign to his own than
any he knew in western Europe; a difference that existed mainly in the
tropical heat, visible in languorous waves rising from blanched walls
and streets already--so early--fervent. Savina was filled with delight;
a positive color glowed in place of the customary uniform pallor of her
cheeks; she opened her bags with an irresistible youthful energy.
"Think what we have been missing," she called above the sound of the
water running into the tub; "and what we accepted so long for living.
Pages:
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303