All the night her brain had been busy. Now it did not slumber, but it
brooded, like the mist that had so lately left the sea. It brooded
upon the thought of Ruffo.
The light grew. Over the mountains the sky spread scarlet banners. The
sea took, with a quiet readiness that was happily submissive, its
burnished gift of gold. The gray was lost in gold.
And Hermione watched, and drank in the delicate air, but caught
nothing of the delicate spirit of the dawn.
Presently the boat that lay not far beyond the rocks moved. A little
black figure stood up in it, swayed to and fro, plying tiny oars. The
boat diminished. It was leaving the fishing-ground. It was going
towards Mergellina.
"To-day I am going to Mergellina."
Hermione said that to herself as she watched the boat till it
disappeared in the shining gold that was making a rapture of the sea.
She said it, but the words seemed to have little meaning, the fact
which they conveyed to be unimportant to her.
And she leaned out of the window, with a weary and inexpressive face,
while the gold spread ever more widely over the sea, and the Pagan
spirit surely stirred from its brief repose to greet the brilliant
day.
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