How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms. (2.19)
Despite the danger of the storm currently raging around them, with its "crashing torrents," the two lovers feel invincible. In fact, the glow of their bond is so great that Calixta can "laugh" at the "roar of the elements" from the safe distance of Alcée's arms. While earlier she escaped his "encircling arms," here she is content to rest there – she feels protected and brave. The "torrents" might sound frightening to someone else, but not to them.
Quote #8
The growl of the thunder was distant and passing away. The rain beat softly upon the shingles, inviting them to drowsiness and sleep. But they dared not yield. (2.21)
Here Calixta and Alcée have to resist their urges to mirror what's happening outside in the natural world. The storm is "passing away," the "rain" has become "soft." The outside world is suggesting that after all the tumult and excitement – both in terms of raging weather and sexual appetite – that they succumb to "drowsiness and sleep." But sleep would put them in even more danger than the storm did: they would risk being discovered.
Quote #9
The rain was over; and the sun was turning the glistening green world into a palace of gems. Calixta, on the gallery, watched Alcée ride away. He turned and smiled at her with a beaming face; and she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed aloud. (3.21)
In the afterglow of their sexual encounter and the end of the storm, the whole "world" seems to have changed for Calixta and Alcée. Instead of a scary place full of lightning and "rain," they're looking out into a "glistening green world" that has become "a palace of gems." Calixta and Alcée, too, have been transformed (momentarily at least) into a pair of smiling people who "beam" and "laugh aloud." For a time, they're as beautiful and refreshed as the world around them.