'Come,' he said feverishly, 'show me how you managed to get to my dome.'
And he threw open the easternmost window, and she stepped with him out
on to the balcony.
They looked down across Hugo's little private garden, into the
blackness of the court of fountains, whose balconies were vaguely
disclosed here and there by the reflection from lit interiors. On the
other side of the deep pit of the court was the vast expanse of flat
roof containing the famous roof garden. Amid dwarf trees and festoons of
coloured lights, the figures of men and women who counted themselves the
cream of London could dimly be seen walking about or sitting at tables;
and the wild strain of the Tsigane musicians, as they swayed to and fro
in their red coats on the bandstand, floated towards the dome through
the heavy summer air. In the near distance the fantastic shapes of
chimney-cowls raised themselves against the starry but moonless sky, and
miles away the grandiose contours of a dome far greater than Hugo's--the
dome of St. Paul's--finished the prospect in solemn majesty. It was a
scene well calculated to intensify a man's emotions, especially when a
man stands to view it, as Hugo stood, on a lofty balcony, with a
beautiful and loved woman by his side.
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