The next Day: Earlier Lucy and I sat here a while, and the view was all so beautiful that we took hands as we sat. She told me again all about Arthur and their coming marriage. That upset me just a little, for I haven't heard from Jonathan for a whole month.

Now I have come up here alone, for I am very sad. There was no letter for me. I hope that there is nothing wrong with Jonathan. Here the clock has just struck nine. I see the lights in windows all over the town. Sometimes they are in rows where the streets are, and sometimes singly. The lights run right up the river Esk and vanish with the curve of the valley. To my left the view is cut off by the black line of the roof of the old house next to the abbey. The sheep and lambs are bleating in the fields away behind me, and I can hear donkeys' hoofs up the paved road below.

The band on the pier is playing a waltz, and further along the quay another band is playing at a religious meeting in a back street. Neither of the bands hears the other, but up here I hear and see them both. I wonder where Jonathan is and if he is thinking of me! I wish he were here.

Vocabulary:

Took hands: Held each other's hand
Struck: The bell has rung nine times for nine o'clock
Singly: In singles - separate, just one
Bleat: The 'baaa' noise made by sheep
Waltz: Dance music
Quay: Where ships load and unload
Back street: A small street away from a main road

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