Valeria and I stepped out with our horses away from the house, the stars twinkling overhead. We spoke no words but we were contented with the intermittent sounds produced by the horses’ shoes on the earth, and the whispering of the leaves every now and then. It was a glorious silver light which fell on the earth; the shadows were long and flickering.

We came across a small stream and water was falling down the hillside through the night. The sound of the stream and the gurgling was a small ...