Angels and Women (1924)

90 ANGELS AND WOMENnot be Aloma’s place of rest. Then I forgotfatigue in the sense of danger, and remaineda long time absorbed in thought.Upon one side of the chamber a tall screenof ivory lace-work stood before a broadarched door, opening upon a balcony. Theair of the chamber had suddenly grown oppressive,and I went forth into the silentnight.Beneath was a garden of exceedingbeauty; thickets of trees and parterres offlowers interspersed lawns where gleamedalabaster vases, marble images, and jets ofwater rising misty and ghost-like as theywere swayed by the night wind. All was secludedand dusky, save the light from anextraordinary fountain in the midst of thegarden, where, instead of water, were bubblingwaves of fire. As these occasionallyshot upward in flame, the unnatural lightpenetrated to the recesses of the grove, andby the fitful flash I perceived a stately figurepacing the dim aisles, whose grand propor-