He lowered his eyes, then raised them again.
The _Cashmere_ was quite near.
The rock in which the rains had hollowed out the Gild-Holm-"Ur seat was so completely vertical, and there was so much water at its base, that in calm weather vessels were able to pa.s.s without danger within a few cables" lengths.
The _Cashmere_ was abreast of the rock. It rose straight upwards as if it had grown out of the water; or like the lengthening out of a shadow.
The rigging showed black against the heavens and in the magnificent expanse of the sea. The long sails, pa.s.sing for a moment over the sun, became lighted up with a singular glory and transparence. The water murmured indistinctly; but no other noise marked the majestic gliding of that outline. The deck was as visible as if he had stood upon it.
The steersman was at the helm; a cabin-boy was climbing the shrouds; a few pa.s.sengers leaning on the bulwarks were contemplating the beauty of the scene. The captain was smoking; but nothing of all this was seen by Gilliatt.
There was a spot on the deck on which the broad sunlight fell. It was on this corner that his eyes were fixed. In this sunlight were Deruchette and Caudray. They were sitting together side by side, like two birds, warming themselves in the noonday sun, upon one of those covered seats with a little awning which well-ordered packet-boats provided for pa.s.sengers, and upon which was the inscription, when it happened to be an English vessel, "For ladies only." Deruchette"s head was leaning upon Caudray"s shoulder; his arm was around her waist; they held each other"s hands with their fingers interwoven. A celestial light was discernible in those two faces formed by innocence. Their chaste embrace was expressive of their earthly union and their purity of soul. The seat was a sort of alcove, almost a nest; it was at the same time a glory round them; the tender aureola of love pa.s.sing into a cloud.
The silence was like the calm of heaven.
Caudray"s gaze was fixed in contemplation. Deruchette"s lips moved; and, amidst that perfect silence, as the wind carried the vessel near sh.o.r.e, and it glided within a few fathoms of the Gild-Holm-"Ur seat, Gilliatt heard the tender and musical voice of Deruchette exclaiming:
"Look yonder. It seems as if there were a man upon the rock."
The vessel pa.s.sed.
Leaving the promontory of the Bu de la Rue behind, the _Cashmere_ glided on upon the waters. In less than a quarter of an hour, her masts and sails formed only a white obelisk, gradually decreasing against the horizon. Gilliatt felt that the water had reached his knees.
He contemplated the vessel speeding on her way.
The breeze freshened out at sea. He could see the _Cashmere_ run out her lower studding-sails and her staysails, to take advantage of the rising wind. She was already clear of the waters of Guernsey. Gilliatt followed the vessel with his eyes.
The waves had reached his waist.
The tide was rising: time was pa.s.sing away.
The seamews and cormorants flew about him restlessly, as if anxious to warn him of his danger. It seemed as if some of his old companions of the Douvres rocks flying there had recognised him.
An hour had pa.s.sed.
The wind from the sea was scarcely felt in the roads; but the form of the _Cashmere_ was rapidly growing less. The sloop, according to all appearance, was sailing fast. It was already nearly off the Casquets.
There was no foam around the Gild-Holm-"Ur; no wave beat against its granite sides. The water rose peacefully. It was nearly level with Gilliatt"s shoulders.
Another hour had pa.s.sed.
The _Cashmere_ was beyond the waters of Aurigny. The Ortach rock concealed it for a moment; it pa.s.sed behind it, and came forth again as from an eclipse. The sloop was veering to the north upon the open sea.
It was now only a point glittering in the sun.
The birds were hovering about Gilliatt, uttering short cries. Only his head was now visible. The tide was nearly at the full. Evening was approaching. Behind him, in the roads, a few fishing-boats were making for the harbour.
Gilliatt"s eyes continued fixed upon the vessel in the horizon. Their expression resembled nothing earthly. A strange l.u.s.tre shone in their calm and tragic depths. There was in them the peace of vanished hopes, the calm but sorrowful acceptance of an end far different from his dreams. By degrees the dusk of heaven began to darken in them, though gazing still upon the point in s.p.a.ce. At the same moment the wide waters round the Gild-Holm-"Ur and the vast gathering twilight closed upon them.
The _Cashmere_, now scarcely perceptible, had become a mere spot in the thin haze.
Gradually, the spot, which was but a shape, grew paler.
Then it dwindled, and finally disappeared.
At the moment when the vessel vanished on the line of the horizon, the head of Gilliatt disappeared. Nothing was visible now but the sea.