noon
It was something , too , as they advanced in life , to feel the chains that bound him to Lucille strengthening daily , and to cherish in his overflowing heart the sweetness of increasing gratitude ; it was something that he could not see years wrinkle that open brow , or dim the tenderness of that touching smile ; it was something that to him she was beyond the reach of time , and preserved to the verge of a grave -LRB- which received them both within a few days of each other -RRB- in all the bloom of her unwithering affection , in all the freshness of a heart that never could grow old ! Gertrude , who had broken in upon Trevylyan 's story by a thousand anxious interruptions , and a thousand pretty apologies for interrupting , was charmed with a tale in which true love was made happy at last , although she did not forgive St. Amand his ingratitude , and although she declared , with a critical shake of the head , that `` it was very unnatural that the mere beauty of Julie , or the mere want of it in Lucille , should have produced such an effect upon him , if he had ever _ really _ loved Lucille in his blindness . '' As they passed through Malines , the town assumed an interest in Gertrude 's eyes to which it scarcely of itself was entitled . She looked wistfully at the broad market-place , at a corner of which was one of those out-of-door groups of quiet and noiseless revellers , which Dutch art has raised from the Familiar to the Picturesque ; and then glancing to the tower of St. Rembauld , she fancied , amidst the silence of noon , that she yet heard the plaintive cry of the blind orphan , `` Fido , Fido , why hast thou deserted me ? '' OUR travellers arrived at Rotterdam on a bright and sunny day . There is a cheerfulness about the operations of Commerce , -- a life , a bustle , an action which always exhilarate the spirits at the first glance . Afterwards they fatigue us ; we get too soon behind the scenes , and find the base and troublous passions which move the puppets and conduct the drama .