It is needless to give
all the details of the hospital service which occupied her till the
conclusion of the war set her free; and we will not seek to penetrate
into the retreat in the Far West where she is dwelling still. The gray
manor-house guards its secrets well, though it has witnessed in its time
sorrows and sins that might have wrung a voice from granite. Conscious
of many broken hearts and blasted hopes, is the home of the Tresilyans
of Tresilyan.
I confess to a certain regret, as that graceful figure vanishes from the
stage that never was worthy of her queen-like presence. Was it in
dream-land that I saw the original of the character and face that I have
endeavored, thus roughly, to portray? Perhaps so. But there are visions
so near akin to realities, that one's brain grows dizzy in trying to
disentangle the two.
It is unfortunate that the void created by any man's death is by no
means proportionate to his intrinsic merits. So it happened that the
loss of Royston Keene was felt more than he deserved. Far and wide over
the surface of the world's sea the circles spread from the spot where
his life went down.
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