"At last he consented to take the course suggested, on the condition that I did not leave until his return, and the following morning he started for Liverpool. "I was left practically alone with Vera, her mother being still confined nearly all day to her room. I decided to let my powers, as far as possible, lie dormant, and to watch her only as I should have done before the development of my new sense; to see her as any other man might, and endeavour to judge how much of her inner character was obvious to those who came in contact with her in ordinary life. "It is always easy thus to throw off a possession that has been recently acquired, and it is often a relief to do so. My animal nature gained in strength the moment it was released from the new spiritual bondage. Moreover, my companion seemed conscious of a similar relief; I had never seen her so bright and happy; she became at once a merry, playful child, recklessly mischievous and fascinatingly coquettish. "In the afternoon, the day after my arrival, we walked together over the moors to a little village by the sea. Though the autumn was now far advanced, it was one of those Indian summer days in which each act of breathing becomes a separate joy, when every soft breath of wind helps to intoxicate the brain. I felt as if with every mile I walked a year of life dropped from me, till, when we reached the seashore, I had arrived at boyhood and had cast away all care, all thoughts of the past. "The girl beside me was no longer the wife of an enemy, but my child-playfellow; our spirits acted and reacted upon each other. We were alone with the seagulls and the waves. The cries of the former and the music of the latter harmonized with the reckless exultation that overwhelmed us. Barefooted we waded in the chilly water, or chased each other over the warm sand with laughter and shouting. Among the rocks and caves we hunted for curious sea-creatures, sadly missing our childhood’s buckets in which to place the captives. Near at hand was a rocky basin, which became our aquarium; hither we brought, with mingling sounds of exultation and fear, the wriggling captives, pride in each new treasure demanding appreciation from the less fortunate. "The clear pool was soon teeming with live creatures thus reluctantly brought into close contact, and through the forest of delicate seaweed we watched some fierce and deadly battles; whilst the more lymphatic species lay around, allowing their bodies with equal complacency to be made the stepping-stones to victory or the shelter from defeat. "Thus in childish pleasure the hours went by, till, tired out with our play, we sat down side by side to rest. "’Whatever would people think if they could see us?’ Vera said, covering up her bare feet in the warm sand.