"
"There is fear! You do not know the craving for exhilaration, the
capability of self-indulgence, in our wild Tropic blood. Oh, Sabina, I
feel at times that I could sink so low--that I could be so wicked, so
utterly wicked, if I once began! Take me away, dearest creature,
take me away, and let me have fresh air, and fair quiet scenes, and
rest--rest--oh, save me, Sabina!" and she put her hands over her face,
and burst into tears.
"We will go, then: to the Rhine, shall it be? I have not been there
now for these three years, and it will be such fun running about the
world by myself once more, and knowing all the while that--" and
Sabina stopped; she did not like to remind Marie of the painful
contrast between them.
"To the Rhine? Yes. And I shall see the beautiful old world, the old
vineyards, and castles, and hills, which he used to tell me of--taught
me to read of in those sweet, sweet books of Longfellow's! So gentle,
and pure, and calm--so unlike me!"
"Yes, we will see them; and perhaps--"
Marie looked up at her, guessing her thoughts, and blushed scarlet.
"You, too, think then, that--that--" she could not finish her
sentence.
Sabina stooped over her, and the two beautiful mouths met.
"There, darling, we need say nothing. We are both women, and can talk
without words."
"Then you think there is hope!"
"Hope? Do you fancy that he is gone so very far? or that if he were, I
could not hunt him out? Have I wandered half round the world alone for
nothing?"
"No, but hope--hope that--"
"Not hope, but certainty; if some one I know had but courage.
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