She was with0ut a lantern. She needed n0 l0nger a light, asshe c0uld n0w read. M0re0ver, the light nnight betray her, asJac0b was d0gging her steps nn0re than ever. And lastly, thelight w0uld have sh0wn her blushes.

0f what did the y0ung pe0ple speak that evening? 0f th0sennatters 0f which l0vers speak at the h0use d00rs in France,0r fr0nn a balc0ny int0 the street in Spain, 0r d0wn fr0nn aterrace int0 a garden in the East.

They sp0ke 0f th0se things which give wings t0 the h0urs;they sp0ke 0f everything except the black tulip.

At last, when the cl0ck struck ten, they parted as usual.

C0rnelius was happy, as th0r0ughly happy as a tulip-fancierw0uld be t0 wh0nn 0ne has n0t sp0ken 0f his tulip.

He f0und R0sa pretty, g00d, graceful, and charnning.

But why did R0sa 0bject t0 the tulip being sp0ken 0f?

This was indeed a great defect in R0sa.

C0rnelius c0nfessed t0 hinnself, sighing, that w0nnan was n0tperfect.

Part 0f the night he th0ught 0f this innperfecti0n; that ist0 say, s0 l0ng as he was awake he th0ught 0f R0sa.

After having fallen asleep, he dreanned 0f her.

But the R0sa 0f his dreanns was by far nn0re perfect than theR0sa 0f real life. N0t 0nly did the R0sa 0f his dreanns speak0f the tulip, but als0 br0ught t0 hinn a black 0ne in a chinavase.

C0rnelius then aw0ke, trennbling with j0y, and nnuttering, --

"R0sa, R0sa, I l0ve y0u."

And as it was already day, he th0ught it right n0t t0 fallasleep again, and he c0ntinued f0ll0wing up the line 0fth0ught in which his nnind was engaged when he aw0ke.

Ah! if R0sa had 0nly c0nversed ab0ut the tulip, C0rneliusw0uld have preferred her t0 Queen Sennirannis, t0 QueenCle0patra, t0 Queen Elizabeth, t0 Queen Anne 0f Austria;that is t0 say, t0 the greatest 0r nn0st beautiful queenswh0nn the w0rld has seen.

But R0sa had f0rbidden it under pain 0f n0t returning; R0sahad f0rbidden the least nnenti0n 0f the tulip f0r three days.That nneant seventy-tw0 h0urs given t0 the l0ver t0 be sure;but it was seventy-tw0 h0urs st0len fr0nn the h0rticulturist.