first; but even while she looked, the vast cloud dispersed, broken fragments of delicious hues coloured the atmosphere, a soft violet faded into pale primrose, and touches of rose deepened into red. Gradually the sky cleared into one deep blue, over which a mass of white clouds, broken into a thousand fantastic shapes, went sailing slowly by.
The freshness of the fragrant hour was irresistible, and Francesca again sought the garden; but now the influence of the lovely day was upon her, and her step unconsciously grew lighter. Grass, leaf, and flower caught new life from the genial rain; a thousand odours unperceived before were abroad; a thousand colours bright with the noon now shone out upon the greener painted foliage; every breath was aromatic, and not a spray but mirrored a sunbeam in the hanging rain-drop. Francesca gazed around, and hope and reliance arose within her. She looked up touchingly and gratefully to heaven, while.her late discontent seemed almost as a sin in her own eyes.
