What were once gardens surrounding the building were now a wilderness of cultivated plants turned to weeds. The flagged paths almost lost their identity below the drooping greenstuff; a mournful Mercury, chipped and yellow, no longer poured out a cascade of pure water into the fountain beneath, but stood up desolate and useless. He had seen it before, but it seemed to him that its atmosphere was more doleful than ever, an unwritten epitaph on the straits to which the unhappy aristocrats had fallen. He wondered what effect it had upon its present occupiers. His question was to be answered immediately, for even as he watched three people issued from within, and he started slightly as he recognized two of them. In the middle was Terhune, with Elizabeth on his right, and on his left one who could only be Cecile; for it was as if he were gazing at her photograph, so vivid had been Arnold's many descriptions of her. Eagerly he watched Elizabeth, noting every fleeting expression of her face, every movement of her graceful body, and his heart sang a pæan of joy as he realized that she more than fulfilled his picture of her, built up from that brief period during which she had lain unconscious in his arms. For some few minutes his eyes followed her, till the vision of her as he saw her now, her beauty emphasized vividly by the misted background of the _château_, was engraven into his memory. Not until then, not until he was satisfied that as often as he wished in the future he would be able to visualize her so, did he turn his attention to the other two. Soon he smiled. Even if he had not been previously aware of the romance which had quickly budded in the hearts of Cecile and his lieutenant, he could not have remained unaware of it now. They were both so palpably in love; both so absurdly young. Even from the distance at which he was, decreasing every second as they moved in his direction, he could see the smile which lighted up their eyes as they turned to one another, and the alert, eager glance which hovered upon their faces whenever the other spoke, eager to drink in every word. They reached the edge of the woods; much further and they might have come face to face with Wenzel; but they turned in time. He let them get back to the doorway, then he rounded his lips, and the next moment the harsh cry of an owl floated through the air. The effect on the trio was humorous. Terhune stopped suddenly as he realized the significance of the call, and Elizabeth and Cecile turned toward him in surprise. Wenzel saw him listening, uncertain whether he had heard aright; so he hooted again, and the next moment saw and heard Terhune replying to him.