Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Part I - V
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
THE CONFESSION OF A FOOL 61
phenomenon, "how everything in the world is imagin-
ary. Colour does not exist in the abstract ; everything
depends on the nature of the light. Everything is
illusion."
"Everything?" she said softly, remaining standing
before me and gazing at me with eyes magnified by the
darkness.
"Everything, Baroness!" I lied, confused by this
living apparition of flesh and blood, which at the moment
terrified me by its unearthly loveliness.
The dishevelled golden hair formed a luminous aureole
round her pale, moonlit face ; her exquisitely proportion-
ate figure rose by my side, tall and straight and more
slender than ever in the striped dress, the colours of which
had changed to black and white.
The stocks breathed their voluptuous perfumes, the
crickets chirped in the grass, wet with the falling dew,
a gentle breeze rustled in the trees, twilight wrapped us
round with its soft mantle ; everything invited to love ;
nothing but the cowardice of respectability kept back the
avowal which trembled on my lips.
Suddenly an apple dropped from a wind-shaken bough
and fell at our feet. The Baroness stooped, picked, it up
and gave it to me, with a significant gesture.
"Forbidden fruit! " I murmured. "No, thank you."
And to efface the impression of this blunder, which I had
committed against my will, I hastened to improvise a
satisfactory, explanation of my words, hinting at the par-
simony of the owner. "What would the owner say if
he saw me? "
"That you are at least a knight without reproach,"
she replied disapprovingly, glancing at the shrubbery
whicli effectively screened the Baron and her cousin from
indiscreet observers.
When we rose from the supper-table the Baron pro-
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
