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I was all on fire with expectation, and the ti; so I was additionally disappointed by the contrast when Idid not see ain--perhapsin theshadow of the Castle wallFrom where she was she could not be seen fromany point save that alone which I occupied; even from there it was onlyher white shroud that was conspicuous through the deep glooht that the shadoere almostunnaturally black

I rushed over towards her, and when close was about to say impulsively,"Why did you leave your tomb?" when it suddenly struckin , I said instead:

"It has been so long since I saw you!It has seemed an eternity to me!"Her answer came as quickly as even I could have wished; she spokeiht:

"It has been long to !I have asked you tocome out here because I wanted to see you so ry for a sight of you!"

Her words, her eager attitude, the ineffable so expression in her eyes as the fullold--for in hereagerness she had stepped out towards ht or a word--for it was Nature speaking in thelanguage of Love, which is a silent tongue--I stepped towards her andtook her in my armsShe yielded with that sweet unconsciousness whichis the perfection of Love, as if it was in obedience to so of the worldProbably without anyconscious effort on either side--I know there was none on mine--ourmouths met in the first kiss of love

At the ti struck ht, when I was alone and in darkness, whenever I thoughtof it all--its strangeness and its stranger rapture--I could not but besensible of the bizarre conditions for a loveand strong, and full of life and hope andah she was, a woly dead, clothed in the shroud in which she had been wrapped whenlying in her tomb in the crypt of the old church

Whilst ere together, anyhow, there was little thought of the kind; noreasoning of any kind on icUnder the flagstaff, where the Vissarion banner ont to flapin the breeze, she was inagainst my ownWhat need was there for reason at all?_Inter ares_--the voice of reason is silent in the stress ofpassionDead she may be, or Un-dead--a Vampire with one foot in Helland one on earthBut I love her; and come what may, here or hereafter,she is ether, whatsoever theend may be, or wheresoever our path may leadIf she is indeed to be wonfrom the nethermost Hell, then be mine the task!

But to go back to the recordWhen I had once started speaking to her inwords of passion I could not stopI did not want to--if I could; andshe did not appear to wish it eitherCan there be a woman--alive ordead--ould not want to hear the rapture of her lover expressed toher whilst she is enclosed in his arms?

There was no atterantedthat she knew all that I surmised, and, as she made neither protest norcomment, that she accepted my belief as to her indeterminate existenceSometimes her eyes would be closed, but even then the rapture of her facewas almost beyond beliefThen, when the beautiful eyes would open andgaze on me, the stars that were in theh they were forh the words were few, every syllable was fraught with love, andwent straight to the very core of my heart

By-and-by, when our transport had calhtnext see her, and how and where I ht find her when I should want toShe did not reply directly, but, holding me close in her arms, whisperedin my ear with that breathless softness which is a lover's rapture ofspeech:

"I have come here under terrible difficulties, not only because I loveyou--and that would be enough--but because, as well as the joy of seeingyou, I wanted to warn you"

"To warn me!Why?" I queriedHer reply cale in it, as of one who for some ulteriorreason had to pick her words:

"There are difficulties and dangers ahead of youYou are beset withtherio anywhere, look in any direction, doanything, say anything, but it erMy dear, itlurks everywhere--in the light as well as in the darkness; in the open aswell as in the secret places; from friends as well as foes; when you areleast prepared; when you may least expect itOh, I know it, and what itis to endure; for I share it for you--for your dear sake!"

"My darling!" was all I could say, as I drew her again closer tothis, I came back to thesubject that she had--in part, at all events--come to me to speak about:

"But if difficulty and danger hedge ly, and if I amto have no indication whatever of its kind or purpose, what can I do?God knoould willingly guard myself--not on my own account, but foryour dear sakeI have now a cause to live and be strong, and to keepall my faculties, since it may mean much to youIf you may not tell me