Presently, as he stood looking at the sunshine through the open door, a young girl came into the lane of light, waved her hand, with a little laugh, to some one in the distance, and stepped inside. At first she did not see him. Her glances were still cast back the way she had come. The young man could not follow her glance, nor was he anything curious. Young as he was, he could enjoy a fine picture. There was a pretty demureness9 in the girl’s manner, a warm piquancy10 in the turn of the neck, and a delicacy11 in her gestures, which to him, fresh from hard hours in the woods, was part of some delightful12 Arcady—though Arcady was more in his veins13 than of his knowledge. For the young seigneur of New France spent far more hours with his gun than with his Latin, and knew his bush-ranging vassal14 better than his tutor; and this one was too complete a type of his order to reverse its record. He did not look to his scanty15 lace, or set himself seemingly; he did but stop flicking the scarf held loose in his fingers, his foot still on the bench. A smile played at his lips, and his eyes had a gleam of raillery. He heard the girl say in a soft, quaint16 voice, just as she turned towards him, “Foolish boy!” By this he knew that the pretty picture had for its inspiration one of his own sex.
She faced him, and gave a little cry of surprise. Then their eyes met. Immediately he made the most elaborate bow of all his life, and she swept a graceful17 courtesy. Her face was slightly flushed that this stranger should have seen, but he carried such an open, cordial look that she paused, instead of hurrying into the governor’s room, as she had seemed inclined to do.
In the act the string of her hat, slung18 over her arm, came loose, and the hat fell to the floor. Instantly he picked it up and returned it. Neither had spoken a word. It seemed another act of the light pantomime at the door. As if they had both thought on the instant how droll19 it was, they laughed, and she said to him naively20: “You have come to visit the governor? You are a Frenchman, are you not?”
To this in slow and careful English, “Yes,” he replied; “I have come from Canada to see his excellency. Will you speak French?”
“If you please, no,” she answered, smiling; “your English is better than my French. But I must go.” And she turned towards the door of the governor’s room.
“Do not go yet,” he said. “Tell me, are you the governor’s daughter?”
She paused, her hand at the door. “Oh no,” she answered; then, in a sprightly21 way—“are you a governor’s son?”
“I wish I were,” he said, “for then there’d be a new intendant, and we’d put Nick Perrot in the council.”
“What is an intendant?” she asked, “and who is Nick Perrot?”
“Bien! an intendant is a man whom King Louis appoints to worry the governor and the gentlemen of Canada, and to interrupt the trade. Nicolas Perrot is a fine fellow, and a great coureur du bois, and helps to get the governor out of troubles to-day, the intendant to-morrow. He is a splendid fighter. Perrot is my friend.”
He said this, not with an air of boasting, but with a youthful and enthusiastic pride, which was relieved, by the twinkle in his eyes and his frank manner.
“Who brought you here?” she asked demurely22. “Are they inside with the governor?”
He saw the raillery; though, indeed, it was natural to suppose that he had no business with the governor, but had merely come with some one. The question was not flattering. His hand went up to his chin a little awkwardly. She noted23 how large yet how well-shaped it was, or, rather, she remembered afterwards. Then it dropped upon the hilt of the rapier he wore, and he answered with good self-possession, though a little hot spot showed on his cheek: “The governor must have other guests who are no men of mine; for he keeps an envoy from Count Frontenac long in his anteroom.”
The girl became very youthful indeed, and a merry light danced in her eyes and warmed her cheek. She came a step nearer. “It is not so? You do not come from Count Frontenac—all alone, do you?”
“I’ll tell you after I have told the governor,” he answered, pleased and amused.
“Oh, I shall hear when the governor hears,” she answered, with a soft quaintness24, and then vanished into the governor’s chamber4. She had scarce entered when the door opened again, and the servant, a Scotsman, came out to say that his excellency would receive him. He went briskly forward, but presently paused. A sudden sense of shyness possessed25 him. It was not the first time he had been ushered26 into vice-regal presence, but his was an odd position. He was in a strange land, charged with an embassy which accident had thrust upon him. Then, too, the presence of the girl had withdrawn27 him for an instant from the imminence28 of his duty. His youth came out of him, and in the pause one could fairly see him turn into man.
He had not the dark complexion29 of so many of his race, but was rather Saxon in face, with rich curling brown hair. Even in that brave time one might safely have bespoken30 for him a large career. And even while the Scotsman in the doorway31 eyed him with distant deprecation, as he eyed all Frenchmen, good and bad, ugly or handsome, he put off his hesitation32 and entered the governor’s chamber. Colonel Nicholls came forward to greet him, and then suddenly stopped, astonished. Then he wheeled upon the girl. “Jessica, you madcap!” he said in a low voice.
She was leaning against a tall chair, both hands grasping the back of it, her chin just level with the top. She had told the governor that Count Frontenac had sent him a lame33 old man, and that, enemy or none, he ought not to be kept waiting, with arm in sling34 and bandaged head. Seated at the table near her was a grave member of the governor’s council, William Drayton by name. He lifted a reproving finger at her now, but with a smile on his kindly35 face, and “Fie, fie, young lady!” he said, in a whisper.
Presently the governor mastered his surprise, and seeing that the young man was of birth and quality, extended his hand cordially enough, and said: “I am glad to greet you, sir;” and motioned him to a seat. “But, pray, sit down,” he added, “and let us hear the message Count Frontenac has sent. Meanwhile we would be favoured with your name and rank.”
The young man thrust a hand into his doublet and drew forth36 a packet of papers. As he handed it over, he said in English—for till then the governor had spoken French, having once served with the army of France, and lived at the French Court: “Your excellency, my name is Pierre le Moyne of Iberville, son of Charles le Moyne, a seigneur of Canada, of whom you may have heard.” (The governor nodded.) “I was not sent by Count Frontenac to you. My father was his envoy: to debate with you our trade in the far West and our dealings with the Iroquois.”
“Exactly,” said old William Drayton, tapping the table with his forefinger37; “and a very sound move, upon my soul.”
“Ay, ay,” said the governor, “I know of your father well enough. A good fighter and an honest gentleman, as they say. But proceed, Monsieur le Moyne of Iberville.”
“I am called Iberville,” said the young man simply. Then: “My father and myself started from Quebec with good Nick Perrot, the coureur du bois—”
“I know him too,” the governor interjected—“a scoundrel worth his weight in gold to your Count Frontenac.”
“For whose head Count Frontenac has offered gold in his time,” answered Iberville, with a smile.
“A very pretty wit,” said old William Drayton, nodding softly towards the girl, who was casting bright, quizzical glances at the youth over the back of the chair.
Iberville went on: “Six days ago we were set upon by a score of your Indians, and might easily have left our scalps with them; but, as it chanced, my father was wounded, I came off scot-free, and we had the joy of ridding your excellency of half a dozen rogues38.”
The governor lifted his eyebrows39 and said nothing. The face of the girl over against the back of the chair had become grave.
“It was in question whether Perrot or I should bear Count Frontenac’s message. Perrot knew the way, I did not; Perrot also knew the Indians.”
“But Perrot,” said the governor bluffly40, “would have been the letter-carrier; you are a kind of ambassador. Upon my soul, yes, a sort of ambassador!” he added, enjoying the idea; for, look at it how you would, Iberville was but a boy.
“That was my father’s thought and my own,” answered Iberville coolly. “There was my father to care for till his wound was healed and he could travel back to Quebec, so we thought it better Perrot should stay with him. A Le Moyne was to present himself, and a Le Moyne has done so.”
The governor was impressed more deeply than he showed. It was a time of peace, but the young man’s journey among Indian braves and English outlaws41, to whom a French scalp was a thing of price, was hard and hazardous42. His reply was cordial, then his fingers came to the seal of the packet; but the girl’s hand touched his arm.
“I know his name,” she said in the governor’s ear, “but he does not know mine.”
The governor patted her hand, and then rejoined: “Now, now, I forgot the lady; but I cannot always remember that you are full fifteen years old.”
Standing43 up, with all due gravity and courtesy, “Monsieur Iberville,” he said, “let me present you to Mistress Jessica Leveret, the daughter of my good and honoured and absent friend, the Honourable44 Hogarth Leveret.”
So the governor and his councillor stood shoulder to shoulder at one window, debating Count Frontenac’s message; and shoulder to shoulder at another stood Iberville and Jessica Leveret. And what was between these at that moment—though none could have guessed it—signified as much to the colonies of France and England, at strife45 in the New World, as the deliberations of their elders.
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1
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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envoy
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| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
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insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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5
flicking
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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6
manliness
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| 刚毅 | |
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7
droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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8
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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9
demureness
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| n.demure（拘谨的，端庄的）的变形 | |
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piquancy
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| n.辛辣，辣味，痛快 | |
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11
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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14
vassal
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| n.附庸的；属下；adj.奴仆的 | |
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15
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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16
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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18
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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19
droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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naively
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| adv. 天真地 | |
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sprightly
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| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
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demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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23
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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quaintness
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| n.离奇有趣，古怪的事物 | |
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25
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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imminence
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| n.急迫，危急 | |
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29
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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30
bespoken
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| v.预定( bespeak的过去分词 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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32
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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36
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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38
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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39
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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40
bluffly
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| 率直地，粗率地 | |
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41
outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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42
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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43
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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45
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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