Dost murmur that 'twixt thee and truth
Dark shadows intervene ?
'T was thine own heart that gave them birth I
Wages and fruit of sin.
Idalia thought she had never been so happy in her
whole life as she now found herself. The domestic oc-
cupations to which she devoted herself with much zeal,
perhaps the more from being unaccustomed to them,
had a greater charm, even a fascination for her, from
the singularity of her situation and the circumstances
of her stay on the island. Love had called forth in
her bosom, where once there was only room for the
thoughtlessness of a vain girl, the idea of true woman-
hood and a conception of the dignity of a matron. At
the same time she knew that in this very way she most
pleased him by whom she desired to be loved. She did
not make use of all the means which her father's
wealth afforded to provide those comforts and conven-
iences which were in accordance with her social posi-
tion, and which otherwise were not attainable on the
hallig, but she conformed at once to the simplicity and
frugality of her present home, and made a thousand
