I could
not tell what her companion was saying; but, as they approached, I
fancied them acknowledged lovers, on whom fortune, friends, and
circumstances smiled alike. A glance aside told me that even Neb was
struck by the being before him, and that he had ceased looking at the
sable Venuses, to gaze at this.
I could not keep my gaze off the face of this lovely creature, who did
not let me get a good look of her dark-blue eyes, however, until I was
quite near, when they were naturally turned towards the form that
approached. For a few seconds, while in the very act of passing, we
looked intently at each other, and the charm said to be possessed by
certain animals, was not more powerful than was our mutual gaze. In
this manner we had actually passed each other, and I was still in a
sort of mystified prance, when I heard suddenly, in a voice and tone
that caused every nerve to thrill within me, the single word--
"Miles!"
Turning, and taking another look, it was impossible any longer to
mistake. Lucy Hardinge stood before me, trembling, uncertain, her face
now pale as death, now flushed to scarlet, her hands clasped, her look
doubting, eager, shrinking, equally denoting hope and fear, and all so
blended, as to render her the most perfect picture of female truth,
feeling, diffidence, and natural modesty, I had ever beheld.
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