Poor Demetria, she had been dreadfully nervous all night and almost
afraid to stop to rest anywhere, but now her fatigue had quite overcome
her. Her position against the tree was uncomfortable and insecure, so,
drawing her head very gently down until it rested on my shoulder, and
shading her eyes with her mantilla, I let her sleep on. Her face looked
strangely worn and pallid in that keen noonday light, and, gazing on
it while she slumbered, and remembering all the dark years of grief
and anxiety she had endured down to that last pain of which I had been
the innocent cause, I felt my eyes grow dim with compassion.
After sleeping for about two hours she woke with a start, and was
greatly distressed to learn that I had been supporting her all that
time. But after that refreshing slumber a change seemed to come over
her. Not only her great fatigue, but the tormenting apprehensions had
very nearly vanished. Out of the nettle Danger she had plucked the
flower Safety, and now she could rejoice in its possession and was
filled with new life and spirits. The unaccustomed freedom and exercise,
with constant change of scene, also had an exhilarating effect on mind
and body. A new colour came into her pale cheeks; the purple stains
telling of anxious days and sleepless nights faded away; she smiled
brightly and was full of animation, so that on that long journey,
whether resting in the noonday shade or swiftly cantering over the
green turf, I could not have had a more agreeable companion than
Demetria.
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