"His arm broken by a fall on the sands last night—most probably on his way to see me, poor fellow! And in my angry resentment1 at my disappointment I have broken our engagement! How rash and foolish I am, and how much I regret it! I must make it up with him at once, my darling!" she cried repentantly, and hurried to her mother.
"Mamma, you were right last night. I regret my hasty action in dismissing Jesse without a hearing. How can I make it up with him?"
"You can send another note of explanation, asking his forgiveness," suggested Mrs. Clarke.
"Oh, mamma, if I could only go to him myself!" she cried, impatient for the reconciliation2.
"It would not be exactly proper, my dear."
"But we are engaged."
"You have broken the engagement."
[Pg 78]
Roma uttered a cry of grief and chagrin3 that touched her mother's heart.
"Poor dear, you are suffering, as I foreboded, for last night's folly," she sighed.
"Please don't lecture me, mamma. I'm wretched enough without that!"
"I only meant to sympathize with you, dear."
"Then help me—that is the best sort of sympathy. I suppose it wouldn't be improper4 for you to call on Jesse, at his hotel, would it?"
"No, I suppose not."
"Then I will write my note to him, and you can take it—will you?"
Mrs. Clarke assented5, and was on the point of starting when a messenger arrived with a note for Roma, replying to hers of the night before.
In spite of his broken right arm, Jesse Devereaux had managed a scrawl6 with his left hand, and Roma tore it open with a burning face and wildly beating heart, quickly mastering its contents, which read:
Mr. Devereaux accepts his dismissal with equanimity7, feeling sure from this display of Miss Clarke's hasty temper that he has had a lucky escape.
It was cool, curt8, airy, almost to insolence;[Pg 79] a fitting match for her own; and Roma gasped9 and almost fainted.
Where was all her boasting, now, that she would teach him a lesson; that he would be back in a day begging her to take back his ring?
She had met her match; she realized it now; remembering, all too late, how hard he had been to win; a lukewarm lover, after all, and perhaps glad now of his release.
Oh, if she could but have recalled that silly note, she would have given anything she possessed10, for all the heart she had had been lavished11 on him.
With a genuine sob12 of choking regret, she flung the humiliating note to her mother, and sank into a chair, her face hidden in her hands.
Mrs. Clarke read, and exclaimed:
"Really, he need not comment on your temper while displaying an equally hasty one so plainly. He must certainly be very angry, but I suppose his suffering adds to his impatience13."
"He—he—will forgive me when he reads my second note!" sobbed14 Roma.
"But you do not intend to send it now, Roma!" exclaimed Mrs. Clarke, with a certain resentment of her own at Jesse's brusqueness.
But Roma could be very inconsistent—overbearing[Pg 80] when it was permitted to her; humble15 when cowed.
She lifted up a miserable16 face, replying eagerly:
"Oh, yes, mamma, for I was plainly in the wrong, and deserve that he should be angry with me. But he will be only too glad to forgive me when he reads my note of repentance17. Please go at once, dear mamma, and make my peace with Jesse! You will know how to plead with him in my behalf! Oh, don't look so cold and disapproving18, mamma, for I love him so it would break my heart to lose him now. And—and—if he made love to any other girl, I should like to—to—see her lying dead at my feet! Oh, go; go quickly, and hasten back to me with my ring again and Jesse's forgiveness!"
She was half mad with anxiety and impatience, and she almost thrust Mrs. Clarke from the room in her eagerness for her return.
It mattered not that she could see plainly how distasteful it was to the gentle lady to go on such a mission; she insisted on obedience19, and waited with passionate20 impatience for her mother's return, saying to herself:
"He is certainly very angry, but she will coax[Pg 81] him to make up, and hereafter I will be very careful not to let him slip me again. I can be humble until we are married, and rule afterward21. Mamma will not dare leave him without getting his forgiveness for me. She knows my temper, and that I would blame her always if she failed of success."
But there are some things that even a loving, slavish mother cannot accomplish, even at the risk of a child's anger. Jesse Devereaux's reconciliation to Roma was one of them.
The mother returned after a time, pale and trembling, to Roma, saying nervously22:
"Call your pride to your aid, dear Roma, for Jesse was obdurate23, and would not consent to renew the engagement. I am indeed sorry that I humbled24 myself to ask it."
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1
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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2
reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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3
chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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4
improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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5
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
scrawl
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| vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写 | |
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7
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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8
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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9
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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10
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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11
lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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13
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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14
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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15
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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16
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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17
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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18
disapproving
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| adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 ) | |
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19
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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20
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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21
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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23
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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24
humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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