It would be an hour yet before the sun should rise; and a maid
came to light my fire and bring me my tea and my bath-water. But I was
too excited to sleep, so I got up and dressed myself in the half light,
and when I was ready I put on my outdoor things and went down the
stairs. I met only a young maid sweeping the stairs with her brush and
dustpan, and she looked at me as though she thought the joy had driven
me mad.
"I shall be back to breakfast, Katty," I said. "It is a beautiful frosty
morning for a walk."
"You're not going to walk in the dark, Miss Bawn?" she said, and stood
staring after me over the banisters when I answered her that the sun
would soon be up.
I liked the frosty keenness of the air, and this morning my heart was
very light. Although it had rained so heavily in the night the frost had
turned everything hard and stiff; but as I ran on my way down the long
avenue, and heard the sleepy twittering of the birds, I could have sung
for the new, healthy life that was in my veins. I had not gone far
before the sun sent his golden rays above the horizon, and the blue came
out in the sky overhead and it was day, and all at once the robins began
to sing.
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