{"product_id":"2940013693371","title":"The Power of Darkness","description":"It was an enthusiastic send-off. Half the students from her atelier\u003cbr\u003ewere there, and twice as many more from other studios. She had been\u003cbr\u003ethe belle of the Artists' Quarter in Montparnasse for three golden\u003cbr\u003emonths. Now she was off to the Riviera to meet her people, and\u003cbr\u003eeveryone she knew was at the Gare de Lyon to catch the last glimpse of\u003cbr\u003eher. And, as had been more than once said late of an evening, \"to see\u003cbr\u003eher was to love her\". She was one of those agitating blondes, with the\u003cbr\u003enaturally rippled hair, the rounded rose-leaf cheeks, the large\u003cbr\u003eviolet-blue eyes, that looked all things and meant Heaven alone knew\u003cbr\u003ehow little. She held her court like a queen, leaning out of the\u003cbr\u003ecarriage window and receiving bouquets, books, journals, long last\u003cbr\u003ewords, and last longing looks. All eyes were on her, and her eyes were\u003cbr\u003efor all-and her smile. For all but one, that is. Not a single glance\u003cbr\u003ewent Edward's way, and Edward-tall, lean, gaunt, with big eyes,\u003cbr\u003estraight nose, and the mouth somewhat too small, too beautiful-seemed\u003cbr\u003eto grow thinner and paler before one's eyes. One pair of eyes at least\u003cbr\u003esaw the miracle worked, the paling of what had seemed absolute pallor,\u003cbr\u003ethe revelation of the bones of a face that seemed already covered but\u003cbr\u003eby the thinnest possible veil of flesh.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd the man whose eyes saw this rejoiced, for he loved her, like the\u003cbr\u003erest, or not like the rest, and he had had Edward's face before him\u003cbr\u003efor the last month, in that secret shrine where we set the loved and\u003cbr\u003ethe hated, the shrine that is lighted by a million lamps kindled at\u003cbr\u003ethe soul's flame, the shrine that leaps into dazzling glow when the\u003cbr\u003ecandles are out and one lies alone on hot pillows to outface the night\u003cbr\u003eand the light as best one may.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, goodbye; goodbye, all of you,\" said Rose. \"I shall miss you. Oh,\u003cbr\u003eyou don't know how I shall miss you all!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe gathered the eyes of her friends and her worshippers in a glance,\u003cbr\u003eas one gathers jewels on a silken string. The eyes of Edward alone\u003cbr\u003eseemed to escape her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"En voiture, messieurs et dames!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFolk drew back from the train. There was a whistle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd then at the very last little moment of all, as the train pulled\u003cbr\u003eitself together for the start, her eyes met Edward's eyes. And the\u003cbr\u003eother man saw the meeting, and he knew-which was more than Edward did.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo when, the light of life having been borne away in the retreating\u003cbr\u003etrain, the broken-hearted group dispersed, the other man-whose name,\u003cbr\u003eby the way, was Vincent-linked his arm in Edward's and asked,\u003cbr\u003echeerily:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Whither away, sweet nymph?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm off home,\" said Edward. \"The seven-twenty to Calais.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sick of Paris?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"One has to see one's people sometimes, don't you know, hang it all!\"\u003cbr\u003ewas Edward's way of expressing the longing that tore him for the old\u003cbr\u003ehouse among the brown woods of Kent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No attraction here now, eh?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The chief attraction has gone, certainly,\" Edward made himself say.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But there are as good fish in the sea-\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Fishing isn't my trade,\" said Edward.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The beautiful Rose!\" said Vincent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEdward raised hurriedly the only shield he could find. It happened to\u003cbr\u003ebe the truth as he saw it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh,\" he said, \"of course, we're all in love with her-and all\u003cbr\u003ehopelessly.\"","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47068913336560,"sku":"2940013693371","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013693371_p0.jpg?v=1763597293","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013693371","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}