C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

“ I had never imagined that life could be so glorious, and our future together, Jim's and mine, stretched before us like a dream of joy. We were going to live in the dear old Abbey which had been the home of the Courtenayes for hundreds and hundreds of years, and travel when we liked. Because we were so much in love and so perfectly happy, I yearned to make at least a few thousand other people happy also, though it did seem impossible that any one else on earth could be as happy as we were. ”

“ According to habit, therefore, my first thought was: what can be done for the man in the cushioned chair?
Maybe Jim was right! If he hadn't been young and almost better than good-looking, my interest might not have been so keen. He was the wreck of a gorgeous creature, one of those great, tall, muscular men you feel were born to adorn the guards.
The reason—the physical reason, not the psychic one—for thinking he hadn't been ill long was the color of the invalid's face. The pallor of illness hadn't had time to blanch the rich brown which life in the open gives. ”

“ As for the psychic reason, I found it in the dark eyes which met mine now and then. They were not black like those of my own Jim, which contrasted so strikingly with his auburn hair. Indeed, I couldn't tell whether the eyes were brown or deep gray, for they were set in shadowy hollows, and the brows and thick lashes were even darker than the hair, which was lightly silvered at the temples. Handsome, arresting eyes they must always have been; but what stirred me was the almost violent wish which seemed actually to speak from them. ”