I would no more have
permitted myself, during our betrothal, to give her a very ardent
caress, the memory of which, however harmless it might seem to the
majority of affianced people, might cause her a troubled thought, than I
would have permitted a stranger to kiss my sister. Her maiden shyness
was a bloom which I did not wish to brush off. I took her hand in my own
as we turned to retrace our steps to the house, and stood looking down
at her in the wonderful September moonlight. She seemed a vestal virgin,
in her long, clinging dress of white wool, with a scarf thrown about her
head and throat.
Within, Kate had finished her selections from opera and bouffe, and out
into the soft evening drifted her rich contralto in the yearning strains
of the "Blumenlied."
"I long to lay in blessing
My hands upon thy hair,
Praying that God may preserve thee
So pure, so bright, so fair!"
I bent over and touched my lips to Amy's forehead reverently. "God keep
you, my snow-flower!" I whispered. And then we went silently in
together.
The next day was so fine that Mrs. Mershon decided to drive over to the
neighboring town in the afternoon for some shopping, and Hilyard,
needing some simple chemicals for an experiment, which he hoped to find
there at the chemist's, accompanied her. Kate and Amy and I had intended
to go to a friend's for tennis, but at luncheon I received a telegram
calling me to the city on urgent business.
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