Only the eyes of both dilated, straining towards the Infinite, and assumed that look of reverence and sadness which mirrors the thoughts that remain unspoken, the uncertain future, the dark portals which lead to God.

The bells became silent, and Signora Selva, fixing her blue eyes on her husband's eager gaze, offered him her lips.
The man's snowy head and the woman's fair face met in a long kiss which would have filled the world with astonishment.

Maria d'Arxel, at one and twenty, had fallen In love with Giovanni Selva after having read one of his books on religious philosophy, translated into French.

She wrote to the unknown author in such ardent words of admiration, that Selva, in answering, alluded to his fifty-six years and his white hair.

The girl replied that she was aware of both, that she neither offered nor asked for love, she only craved a few lines from time to time.