They died, and were gathered
into the emptiness which receives and records all things, leaving him
broken.
She turned to him, smiling faintly, for the song had moved her also,
and he felt that he must speak.
"That is a beautiful song," he said; "sing it again if you do not
mind."
She made no answer, but once more she sang:
"O let the solid ground
Not fail beneath my feet
Before my life has found
What some have found so sweet;"
and then suddenly broke off.
"Why are you looking at me?" she said. "I can feel you looking at me
and it makes me nervous."
He bent towards her and looked her in the eyes.
"I love you, Ida," he said, "I love you with all my heart," and he
stopped suddenly.
She turned quite pale, even in that light he could see her pallor, and
her hands fell heavily on the keys.
The echo of the crashing notes rolled round the room and slowly died
away--but still she said nothing.
CHAPTER XIX
IN PAWN
At last she spoke, apparently with a great effort.
"It is stifling in here," she said, "let us go out." She rose, took up
a shawl that lay beside her on a chair, and stepped through the French
window into the garden.
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