Now it was probably too late . Nature had given her a royal birthright of beauty and talent , but their selfish and unpardonable neglect had made it of no account . What divine music she lured out of the old violin -- merry and sad , gay and sorrowful by turns , music such as the stars of morning might have made singing together , music that the fairies might have danced to in their revels among the green hills or on yellow sands , music that might have mourned over the grave of a dead hope . Then she drifted into a still sweeter strain . As he listened to it he realized that the whole soul and nature of the girl were revealing themselves to him through her music -- the beauty and purity of her thoughts , her childhood dreams and her maiden reveries . There was no thought of concealment about her ; she could not help the revelation she was unconscious of making . At last she laid her violin aside and wrote , `` I have done my best to give you pleasure . It is your turn now . Do you remember a promise you made me last night ? Have you kept it ? '' He gave her the two books he had brought for her -- a modern novel and a volume of poetry unknown to her . He had hesitated a little over the former ; but the book was so fine and full of beauty that he thought it could not bruise the bloom of her innocence ever so slightly . He had no doubts about the poetry . It was the utterance of one of those great inspired souls whose passing tread has made the kingdom of their birth and labour a veritable Holy Land . He read her some of the poems . Then he talked to her of his college days and friends . The minutes passed very swiftly . There was just then no world for him outside of that old orchard with its falling blossoms and its shadows and its crooning winds . Once , when he told her the story of some college pranks wherein the endless feuds of freshmen and sophomores figured , she clapped her hands together according to her habit , and laughed aloud -- a clear , musical , silvery peal . It fell on Eric 's ear with a shock of surprise .
He thought it strange XXXXX she could laugh like that when she could not speak .
As about for of on over that through to with