"Welcome to Villa Romani!" The words fell strangely on my ears.

Was I dreaming, or was I actually standing on the smooth green lawn of my own garden, mechanically saluting my own wife, who, smiling sweetly, uttered this cordial greeting?
For a moment or two my brain became confused; the familiar veranda with its clustering roses and jasmine swayed unsteadily before my eyes; the stately house, the home of my childhood, the scene of my past happiness, rocked in the air as though it were about to fall.

A choking sensation affected my throat.

Even the sternest men shed tears sometimes.

Such tears too! wrung like drops of blood from the heart.
And I--I could have wept thus.