The troubled vision cleared from his brain, and
his sleep grew calmer; he breathed more easily, and flitting glimpses
of fair scenes passed before his dreaming eyes,--scenes in some
peaceful and beautiful world, where never a shadow of sorrow or trouble
darkened the quiet contentment of happy and innocent lives. He smiled
in his sleep, and heaved a deep sigh of pleasure,--and so, gently
awoke, to feel a light touch on his shoulder, and to see Gloria
standing before him. A smile was on her face,--the fragrance of the
woodlands and the sea clung about her garments,--she held a few roses
in her hand, and there was something in her whole appearance that
struck him as new, commanding, and more than ever beautiful.
"You have returned alone?" he said wonderingly.
"Yes. I have returned alone! I have much to tell you, dear! Let us go
in!"
CHAPTER XIX
OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE STATE
The large gaunt building, which was dignified by the name of the
'People's Assembly Rooms,' stood in a dim unfashionable square of the
city which had once been entirely devoted to warehouses and storage
cellars. It had originally served a useful purpose in providing
temporary shelter for foreign-made furniture, which was badly
constructed and intrinsically worthless,--but which, being cheaply
imported and showy in appearance, was patronized by some of the upper
middle-classes in preference to goods of their own home workmanship.
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