IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN. 133 



days together, found time to take long walks with 

 me, to watch the birds and the clouds, and talk by 

 the hour about all manner of pleasant trifles. I 

 came to feel after a time that just what I antici 

 pated would happen in Arden had happened. I 

 was fast becoming acquainted with her. We spent 

 days together in the most delightful half-vocal and 

 half-silent fellowship ; leaving everything to the 

 mood of the hour and the place. Our walks took 

 us sometimes into lovely recesses, where mutual 

 confidences seemed as natural as the air ; some 

 times into solitudes where talk seemed an imper 

 tinence, and we were silent under the spell of 

 rustling leaves and thrilling melodies coming from 

 we knew not what hidden minstrelsy. But whether 

 silent or speaking, we were fast coming to know 

 each other. I saw many traits in her, many charac 

 teristic habits and movements which I had never 

 noted before ; and I was conscious that she was 

 making similar discoveries in me. These mutual 

 revelations absorbed us during our first days in the 

 Forest ; and they confirmed the impression which 

 I brought with me that half the charm of people is 

 lost under the pressure of work and the irritation 

 of haste. We rarely know our best friends on their 

 best side ; our vision of their noblest selves is 

 constantly obscured by the mists of preoccupation 

 and weariness. 



In Arden life is pitched on the natural key ; no 

 body is ever hurried ; nobody is ever interrupted ; 



