We stopped playing, and John stood looking out of the window across the sea, where the sky was clearing low down under the clouds.

The sun went down behind Portland in a fiery glow which cheered us after a long day's rain.

I had taken the copy of Graziani's suites off the desk, and was holding it on my lap turning over the old foxed and yellow pages.

As I closed it a streak of evening sunlight fell across the room and lighted up a coat of arms stamped in gilt on the cover.

It was much faded and would ordinarily have been hard to make out; but the ray of strong light illumined it, and in an instant I recognised the same shield which Mr.
Gaskell had pictured to himself as hanging on the musicians' gallery of his phantasmal dancing-room.