He removed it, and half raised himself, resting on
his elbow and preparing to taste, in another position, of a little more
of that exquisite rest of which mention has just been made. The world
about him was still amusing and charming; the chatter of his companions,
losing itself in the large sea-presence, the plash of the divers and
swimmers, the deep blue of the ocean and the silvery white of the cliff,
had that striking air of indifference to the fact that his mind had been
absent from them which we are apt to find in mundane things on emerging
from a nap. The same people were sitting near him on the beach--the
same, and yet not quite the same. He found himself noticing a person
whom he had not noticed before--a young lady, who was seated in a low
portable chair, some dozen yards off, with her eyes bent upon a book.
Her head was in shade; her large parasol made, indeed, an awning for
her whole person, which in this way, in the quiet attitude of perusal,
seemed to abstract itself from the glare and murmur of the beach. The
clear shadow of her umbrella--it was lined with blue--was deep upon her
face; but it was not deep enough to prevent Bernard from recognizing
a profile that he knew. He suddenly sat upright, with an intensely
quickened vision.
Pages:
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199