"All these things I would do!" I answered--"All that is in the power of my soul to endure mortally or immortally, I will bear for Love's sake!"

Again the light flashed through its black garments. When it next spoke, its voice rang out harshly in ominous warning.

"Thy lover is dead!" it proclaimed--"He has pa.s.sed from this sphere to another, and ye shall not meet again for many cycles of time! DOST THOU BELIEVE IT?"

A cold agony gripped my breast, but I would not yield to it, and answered resolutely--

"No! I do not believe it! He could not die without my knowing and feeling the parting of his soul from mine!"

There was a pause, in which only the thunder of that invisible sea far down below us was audible. Then the voice went on,

"Thy lover is false!" it said--"His love for thee was a pa.s.sing mood--already he regrets--already he wearies in thought of thee and loves thee no more! DOST THOU BELIEVE IT?"

I took no time for thought, but answered at once without hesitation--

"No! For if he does not love me his Spirit lies!--and no Spirit CAN lie!"

Another pause. Then the voice put this question--

"Dost thou truly believe in G.o.d, thy Creator, the Maker of heaven and earth?"

Lifting my eyes half in hope, half in appeal to the starry deep sky above me, I replied fervently--

"I do believe in Him with all my soul!"

A silence followed which seemed long and weighted with suspense. Then the voice spoke once more--

"Dost thou believe in Love, the generator of Life and the moving Cause and Mind of all created things?"

And again I replied--

"With all my soul!"

The Figure now bent slightly towards me, and the light within its darkness became more denned and brilliant. Presently an arm and hand, white and radiant--a shape as of living flame--was slowly outstretched from the enfolding black draperies. It pointed steadily to the abyss below me.

"If thy love is so great"--said the voice--"If thy faith is so strong--if thy trust in G.o.d is sure and perfect--descend thither!"

I heard--but could not credit my own hearing. I gazed at the shrouded and veiled speaker--at the commanding arm that signed my mortal body to destruction. For a moment I was lost in wild terror and wilder doubt.

Was this fearful suggestion a temptation or a test? Should it be obeyed? I strove to find the centre-poise of my own self--to gather all my forces together,--to make myself sure of my own will and responsible for my own deeds,--and then--then I paused. All that was purely mortal in me shuddered on the brink of the Unknown. One look upward to the soft gloom of the purple sky and its myriad stars--one horrified glance downward at the dark depth where I heard the roaring of the sea! I clasped my hands in a kind of prayerful desperation, and looked once more at the solemn Shadow beside me.

"If thy love is so great!" it repeated, in slow and impressive tones--"If thy faith is so strong! If thy trust in G.o.d is so sure and perfect!"

There came a moment of tense stillness--a moment in which my life seemed detached from myself so that I held it like a palpitating separate creature in my hands, Suddenly the recollection of the last vision of all those I had seen among the dark mountains of Coruisk came back to me vividly--that of the woman who had knelt outside a barred gate in Heaven, waiting to enter in--"O leave her not always exiled and alone!" I had prayed then--"Dear G.o.d, have pity! Unbar the gate and let her in! She has waited so long!"

A sob broke unconsciously from my lips--my eyes filled with burning tears that blinded me. Imploringly I turned towards the relentless Figure beside me once more--its hand still pointed downwards--and again I seemed to hear the words--

"If thy love is so great! If thy faith is so strong! If thy trust in G.o.d is so sure and perfect!"

And then I suddenly found my own Soul's centre,--the very basis of my own actual being--and standing firmly upon that plane of imperishable force, I came to a quick resolve.

"Nothing can destroy me!" I said within myself--"Nothing can slay the immortal part of me, and nothing can separate my soul from the soul of my beloved! In all earth, in all heaven, there is no cause for fear!"

Hesitating no longer, I closed my eyes,--then extending my clasped hands I threw myself forward and plunged into the darkness!--down, down, interminably down! A light followed me like a meteoric shaft of luminance piercing the blackness--I retained sufficient consciousness to wonder at its brilliancy, and for a time I was borne along in my descent as though on wings. Down, still down!--and I saw ocean at my feet!--a heaving ma.s.s of angry waters flecked with a wool-like fleece of foam!

"The Change that is called Death, but which is Life!"

This was the only clear thought that flashed like lightning through my brain as I sank swiftly towards the engulfing desert of the sea!--then everything swirled into darkness and silence!

A delicate warm glow like the filtering of sunbeams through shaded silk and crystal--a fragrance of roses--a delicious sound of harp-like music--to these things I was gradually awakened by a gentle pressure on my brows. I looked up--and my whole heart relieved itself in a long deep sigh of ecstasy!--it was Aselzion himself who bent over me,--Aselzion whose grave blue eyes watched me with earnest and anxious solicitude. I smiled up at him in response to his wordless questioning as to how I felt, and would have risen but that he imperatively signed to me to lie still.

"Rest!" he said,--and his voice was very low and tender. "Rest, poor child! You have done more than well!"

Another sigh of pure happiness escaped me,--I stretched out my arms lazily like one aroused from a long and refreshing slumber. My sensations were now perfectly exquisite; a fresh and radiant life seemed pouring itself through my veins, and I was content to remain a perfectly pa.s.sive recipient of such an inflow of health and joy. The room I found myself in was new to me--it seemed made up of lovely colourings and a profusion of sweet flowers--I lay enshrined as it were in the centre of a little temple of beauty. I had no desire to move or to speak,--every trouble, every difficulty had pa.s.sed from my mind, and I watched Aselzion dreamily as he brought a chair to the side of my couch and sat down--then, taking my hand in his, felt my pulse with an air of close attention.

I smiled again.

"Does it still beat?" I asked, finding my voice suddenly--"Surely the great sea has drowned it!"

Still holding my hand, he looked full into my eyes.

"'Many waters cannot quench love'!" he quoted softly. "Dear child, you have proved that truth. Be satisfied!"

Raising myself on my pillows, I studied his grave face with an earnest scrutiny.

"Tell me,"--I half whispered--"Have I failed?"

He pressed my hand encouragingly.

"No! You have almost conquered!"

Almost! Only 'almost'! I sank back again on the couch, wondering and waiting. He remained beside me quite silent. After a little the tension of suspense became unbearable and I spoke again--

"How did I escape?" I asked--"Who saved me when I fell?"

He smiled gravely.

"There was nothing to escape from"--he answered--"And no one saved you since you were not in danger."

"Not in danger!" I echoed, amazed.

"No! Only from yourself!"

I gazed at him, utterly bewildered. He gave me a kind and rea.s.suring glance.

"Have patience!" he said, gently--"All shall be explained to you in good time! Meanwhile this apartment is yours for the rest of your stay here, which will not now be long--I have had all your things removed from the Probation room in the tower, so that you will no more be troubled by its scenic transformations!" Here he smiled again. "I will leave you now to recover from the terrors through which you have pa.s.sed so bravely;--rest and refresh yourself thoroughly, for you have nothing more to fear. When you are quite ready touch this"--and he pointed to a bell--"I shall hear its summons and will come to you at once."