MAGIC The scent of the gorse in the evening dew was as incense offered to the stars.

To Juliet, wandering forth in the twilight after supper with Columbus, the exquisite fragrance was almost intoxicating.

It seemed to drug the senses.

She went along the path at the top of the cliff as one in a dream.
The sea was like a dream-sea also, silver under the stars, barely rippling against the shingle, immensely and mysteriously calm.

She went on and on, scarcely feeling the ground beneath her feet, moving through an atmosphere of pure magic, all her pulses thrilling to the wonder of the night.
Suddenly, from somewhere not far distant among the gorse bushes, there came a sound.