noons
Strangely the figure entered into the pictures of his present and future ; strangely -LRB- and now it seemed sadly -RRB- their two lots had come in contact , hers narrowly personal , his charged with far-reaching sensibilities , perhaps with durable purposes , which were hardly more present to her than the reasons why men migrate are present to the birds that come as usual for the crumbs and find them no more . Not that Deronda was too ready to imagine himself of supreme importance to a woman ; but her words of insistence that he must `` remain near her -- must not forsake her '' -- continually recurred to him with the clearness and importunity of imagined sounds , such as Dante has said pierce us like arrows whose points carry the sharpness of pity , `` Lamenti saettaron me diversi Che di pieta ferrati avean gli strali '' . Day after day passed , and the very air of Italy seemed to carry the consciousness that war had been declared against Austria , and every day was a hurrying march of crowded Time toward the world-changing battle of Sadowa . Meanwhile , in Genoa , the noons were getting hotter , the converging outer roads getting deeper with white dust , the oleanders in the tubs along the wayside gardens looking more and more like fatigued holiday-makers , and the sweet evening changing her office -- scattering abroad those whom the midday had sent under shelter , and sowing all paths with happy social sounds , little tinklings of mule-bells and whirrings of thrumbed strings , light footsteps and voices , if not leisurely , then with the hurry of pleasure in them ; while the encircling heights , crowned with forts , skirted with fine dwellings and gardens , seemed also to come forth and gaze in fullness of beauty after their long siesta , till all strong color melted in the stream of moonlight which made the Streets a new spectacle with shadows , both still and moving , on cathedral steps and against the façades of massive palaces ; and then slowly with the descending moon all sank in deep night and silence , and nothing shone but the port lights of the great Lanterna in the blackness below , and the glimmering stars in the blackness above . Deronda , in his suspense , watched this revolving of the days as he might have watched a wonderful clock where the striking of the hours was made solemn with antique figures advancing and retreating in monitory procession , while he still kept his ear open for another kind of signal which would have its solemnity too : He was beginning to sicken of occupation , and found himself contemplating all activity with the aloofness of a prisoner awaiting ransom . In his letters to Mordecai and Hans , he had avoided writing about himself , but he was really getting into that state of mind to which all subjects become personal ; and the few books he had brought to make him a refuge in study were becoming unreadable , because the point of view that life would make for him was in that agitating moment of uncertainty which is close upon decision . Many nights were watched through by him in gazing from the open window of his room on the double , faintly pierced darkness of the sea and the heavens ; often in struggling under the oppressive skepticism which represented his particular lot , with all the importance he was allowing Mordecai to give it , as of no more lasting effect than a dream -- a set of changes which made passion to him , but beyond his consciousness were no more than an imperceptible difference of mass and shadow ; sometimes with a reaction of emotive force which gave even to sustained disappointment , even to the fulfilled demand of sacrifice , the nature of a satisfied energy , and spread over his young future , whatever it might be , the attraction of devoted service ; sometimes with a sweet irresistible hopefulness that the very best of human possibilities might befall him -- the blending of a complete personal love in one current with a larger duty ; and sometimes again in a mood of rebellion -LRB- what human creature escapes it ? -RRB-