The dismal shape of the old lunatic still glided behind them ; and for every spot that looked lovely in their eyes , he had some legend of human wrong or suffering , so miserably sad , that his auditors could never afterwards connect the idea of joy with the place where it had happened . Here , a heart-broken woman , kneeling to her child , had been spurned from his feet ; here , a desolate old creature had prayed to the Evil One , and had received a fiendish malignity of soul , in answer to her prayer ; here , a new-born infant , sweet blossom of life , had been found dead , with the impress of its mother 's fingers round its throat ; and here , under a shattered oak , two lovers had been stricken by lightning , and fell blackened corpses in each other 's arms . The dreary Gascoigne had a gift to know whatever evil and lamentable thing had stained the bosom of Mother Earth ; and when his funereal voice had told the tale , it appeared like a prophecy of future woe , as well as a tradition of the past . And now , by their sad demeanor , you would have fancied that the pilgrim lovers were seeking , not a temple of earthly joy , but a tomb for themselves and their posterity . `` Where in this world , '' exclaimed Adam Forrester , despondingly , `` shall we build our Temple of Happiness ? '' `` Where in this world , indeed ! '' repeated Lilias Fay ; and being faint and weary , the more so by the heaviness of her heart , the Lily drooped her head and sat down on the summit of a knoll , repeating , `` Where in this world shall we build our Temple ? '' `` Ah ! have you already asked yourselves that question ? '' said their companion , his shaded features growing even gloomier with the smile that dwelt on them ; `` yet there is a place , even in this world , where ye may build it . '' While the old man spoke , Adam Forrester and Lilias had carelessly thrown their eyes around , and perceived that the spot where they had chanced to pause possessed a quiet charm , which was well enough adapted to their present mood of mind . It was a small rise of ground , with a certain regularity of shape , that had perhaps been bestowed by art ; and a group of trees , which almost surrounded it , threw their pensive shadows across and far beyond , although some softened glory of the sunshine found its way there . The ancestral mansion , wherein the lovers would dwell together , appeared on one side , and the ivied church , where they were to worship , on another . Happening to cast their eyes on the ground , they smiled , yet with a sense of wonder , to see that a pale lily was growing at their feet . `` We will build our Temple here , '' said they , simultaneously , and with an indescribable conviction , that they had at last found the very spot . Yet , while they uttered this exclamation , the young man and the Lily turned an apprehensive glance at their dreary associate , deeming it hardly possible , that some tale of earthly affliction should not make those precincts loathsome , as in every former case . The old man stood just behind them , so as to form the chief figure in the group , with his sable cloak muffling the lower part of his visage , and his sombre list overshadowing his brows . But he gave no word of dissent from their purpose ; and an inscrutable smile was accepted by the lovers as a token that here had been no footprint of guilt or sorrow , to desecrate the site of their Temple of Happiness . In a little time longer , while summer was still in its prime , the fairy structure of the Temple arose on the summit of the knoll , amid the solemn shadows of the trees , yet often gladdened with bright sunshine . It was built of white marble , with slender and graceful pillars , supporting a vaulted dome ; and beneath the centre of this dome , upon a pedestal , was a slab of dark-veined marble , on which books and music might be strewn .
But there was a fantasy among the people of the neighborhood , that the edifice was planned after an ancient mausoleum , and was intended for a tomb , and that the central slab XXXXX dark-veined marble was to be inscribed with the names of buried ones .
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