Love under Will 359
us, now that you have discovered your true wills, in
the Vesper Ceremony of the Abbey, which we perform
every night in the Temple of my tower. Let us be
going |”
We followed, hand in hand, along the smooth, broad,
curving path that bordered the stream, cunningly
bended to run along the crest of the ridge so that its
power might be used to turn various mill-wheels. The
gathering shadows whispered subtle lyrics in our ears ;
the scents of spring conveyed superb imaginations to
our senses; the sunset squandered its last scarlet on
the sea, and the empurpled night began to burst into
blossom of starlight. Over the hill-top before us hung
the golden scimitar of the moon, and in the stillness
the faint heart-beat of the sea was heard, as if the
organ in some enchanted cathedral were throbbing
under the fingers of Merlin, and transmuting the
monotonous sadness of existence into a peaceful pzan
of inexpressible jubilance of triumph, the Te Deum of
mankind celebrating its final victory over the heathen
hordes of despair.
A turn in the path, and we came suddenly upon a
cauldron-shaped depression in the hillside ; at the bottom
a silver streak of foam darted among huge boulders
piled bombastically along the bed of the valley.
Opposite, jutting from the grassy slopes, there stood
three stark needles of red rock, glowing still redder
with some splash of crimson stolen from the storehouse
of the sunset; and above the highest of these there
sprang a sudden shaft of stone against the skyline.
A blind dome of marble rimmed with a balcony at the
base crowned the tower, circular, with many tall windows
Gothic in design, but capped with fleurs-de-lys; and
this was set upon eight noble pillars joined by arches
which carried out the idea of the windows on a larger
scale. When we reached tht tower, by a serpentine
series of steps, megalithic stones laid into the mountain
side, we saw that the floor of the vault was an
elaborate mosaic. At the four quarters were four
D.D.F. 2A