She put her hands on his shoulders and looked up with glowing eyes and cheeks that burned. As he watched her a picture flashed over him of what it meant. He thought of the vast country, with its richness, its possibilities, its contrasts. He thought of its vitality and force; its energy and nervousness and daring. And for a brief instant he felt himself a part of it. A sudden wave swept over him of that strange, irrational, romantic love of fatherland which is fundamental underneath the polish, underneath the wickedness, in every man in every land. For a second he thrilled with it too; and then, as his eye wandered to the great plain beneath them, the old love—his first love—rushed back. He bent over and kissed her with sudden tears in his eyes. ‘Some day, Marcia, I will tell you that I’m proud to be an American. Don’t ask me just yet.’ And as they stood there, hand in hand, there was borne to them from the mountain-top above the sweet, prophetic sound of the bells of Castel Vivalanti ringing the Angelus; while below them on the horizon, like a great, far-reaching sea, stretched the Campagna, haunting, mysterious, insatiable—the Roman Campagna, that has demanded as sacrifice the lives of so many miserable peasants, that has lured from distant homes so many strangers and held them prisoners to its spell—the beautiful, deadly, desolate land that has inspired more passionate love than any land on earth. PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s Notes: Punctuation errors repaired. Varied hyphenation was retained. Page 12, “Father” changed to “Farther” (Farther away than) Page 41, “Vhandeliers” changed to “chandeliers” (chandeliers of the latter) Page 49, “isesta” changed to “siesta” (siesta at noon) Page 105, “peeple” changed to “people” (stirring up the people) Page 119, ‘“Jammo ncappa, jammo, já . . . Funiclui—funiculá.”’ changed to ‘“Jammo ‘ncoppa, jammo jà . . . Funiculì—funiculà.”’ Page 150, “Heathcliffe” changed to “Heathcliff” (he’s exactly like Heathcliff) Page 248, “other’s” changed to “other” (other people’s troubles) Page 254, “mind” changed to “mind” (of mine in Lucca) End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wheat Princess, by Jean Webster