When she went across the hall and into "the chamber2" he was gone by the other way; Mrs. Randall and her father were deep in a discussion of his affairs, farm and household. Frances was left to her own reflections; they held a vague feeling of having stumbled somewhere and failed to measure to a greatness. She was quiet for the rest of their visit, beyond the custom of that cheerful young woman. As there was more time for thought she became conscience-stricken; she felt she knew where she had offended, she had derided3 the home of which young Montague was so proud and that while a guest within it; she strove to make her peace, but he gave her no chance, until[Pg 125] they waited on the steps in the moonlight for the trap.
Mrs. Randall was down on the walk, the professor was looking anxiously to Starlight's harness; Frances had lingered purposely.
The road home was rough, ruts and steep hills darkened by thick woods. Mr. Holloway was looking carefully to the fastenings of Starlight's harness, unwilling4 to trust too much to the hands of the boy who had brought him to the door. Mrs. Randall waited near him, Frances lingered purposely on the broad high steps of the porch.
The moonlight flooded the world; its white light gleamed on the drive about the circle where the tangled5 shrubbery cast weird6 shadowings; the dusk under the trees on the further lawn lay heavy and black; far-off loomed7 the oaks above the graves of those who had lived and died in the old house on whose steps they stood. The air of the autumn night was chill and still, save for the restless movements of Starlight. With the shadowed, unreal face of the night a feeling of awe8 touched Frances. She made[Pg 126] a step nearer to the young man standing9 by her, his tall figure towering above her, his fair face shadowed by his big soft hat.
"We have had a lovely visit," she said softly.
"I am glad."
"And it's such a beautiful old place—beautiful; you must trim up your roses and—"
"I know nothing of flowers," coldly.
"But I do; I will show you when we come again."
There was no answer, and the young woman began to realize this was not a case for cajolery, but for open candid10 speech.
"You must think me very, very—" she could not bring herself to say "flippant" no matter what self-accusation said. "You know I was only jesting, and we have thoroughly11 enjoyed our visit. I want to come again if you wish us," plainly throwing herself on his mercy and bidding for kind speech.
"If I wish you—" began the young man hurriedly.
[Pg 127]
"We will come and show you about the flowers in the spring," briskly.
"The spring!"
"Frances," called her father.
"You are not angry?" she questioned quickly and softly, as they went down the steps.
"No!" was all he said, yet Frances was quite satisfied with his friendliness12 as he put them in the trap and tucked the robes about them.
"Mind the old hill," he cautioned her father; "there's a new road through the wood to the left now—"
"I remember."
"And a tree is cut down across the old way; but it's dark in there and you might get into it."
"No danger!" assured the professor; "but Edward," as if in sudden remembrance, "there's another danger in the road to town—the freshet."
"Freshet?"
"Has no one cautioned you? The streams flood the country after a heavy rain. The[Pg 128] one below the big hill is especially dangerous. Don't forget it when the heavy rains set in, and don't be venturesome; there have been some dreadful accidents there."
"I had not heard," said Edward carelessly.
"Then you had better heed13," declared the professor sententiously, as he stepped into the vehicle, "and when the water is out over the bridge, stay on the side you happen to be caught on."
"I'll remember, thank you."
"All right! Good night! When are you coming in?"
"Not for a day or two," owned the young man reluctantly, as he stood, his hand still on the wheel; "there's the ploughing for spring wheat."
"It's time that was done!"
"But I have had so much else."
"Yes, yes." Starlight was twisting restlessly across the drive from one side to the other. "Good night, we've enjoyed it immensely."
"Good night!" called the women, and they left him there in the circling drive, the great[Pg 129] empty house looming14 behind him, a light in one window—the window of his own room. He went up the wide, high steps slowly. The evening had not been all he dreamed it might be, nor had it been a failure; and they were coming again. She had said she wished it.
He threw himself into the chair the professor had lounged in and began to live over again the hours of her visit, leaving out the bitter and hugging to his memory the sweet. He recalled her supple15 figure, her gay words as they wandered about the old place; he remembered their tour of the house and reddened at the thought of his rudeness. It was only a careless speech, she could not have known how it jarred upon other deeper feelings. He recalled with a wave of tenderness, the subdued16 young woman of the evening, and smiled at the memory; it was a mood he had never seen before, and it won upon his heart; and dwelling17 on the thought of it, he began once more to dream what the old house would be were it full of life, to plan what could be done here and there,[Pg 130] without and within, for cheer and comfort and beautiful living.
It would be several days he had said, before he could come to town again; it was ten. The Sabbath had been promised to a neighbor back in the country. The ploughing took longer than he thought. A field which had been allowed to run to waste must be burned over; and while the weather held fair and windless, the undergrowth encroaching from the woodland must be cut and burned. The fodder18 was not yet stacked, and all the work was pressing upon him. Good hard work in the clear, pure air, sound sleep, and contented19 thoughts made the days speed by.
When the Sabbath, his holiday, came again, he was abroad in the red frosty dawn, hurrying from stable to breakfast and away. When he rode into town he still had time to go up to the University before the service. He left his horse at the stable and hastened up Main street. The town was yet quiet. On the bridge above the railroad he paused a second looking down at the station below.[Pg 131] A train was pulling out. The shriek20 of the locomotive echoed shrilly21 among the hills, the smoke hung in billowy clouds close about the smoke-stack, and the tops of the coaches gliding22 away were white and glistering with frost. Edward had a comfortable feeling of home and cheer as, standing there, he looked down and beyond on spires23 and housetops and chimney-tops smoke-wreathed; but as he turned to hasten on, he saw, coming slowly along the platform, the professor. Edward hurried back to the flight of steps sunk in the hillside.
The very look of Mr. Holloway gave him a feeling of dismay. His coat collar was turned high about his face, and the pallor of his clear white skin, bitten into purple and red by the chill of the morning, showed clearly framed against it and by his thick black hair streaked24 with gray. His dark eyes looked solemnly thoughtful. He had an air altogether desolate25 and distraught. Edward called to him. He started, looked up, and brightened wonderfully.
"Ah! I am glad to see you." He had[Pg 132] reached the head of the stairway. "Frances," he added dolefully, "has gone away; I have just been to see her off."
Fool! While he had been standing there happy with dreaming of seeing her, she had been slipping away from him in the glistening26 coaches he had watched so idly.
He had not a word to say.
"Don't know what possessed27 her. It was a sudden fancy. Last night she took it into her head all at once. It isn't like Frances to do such things! She was going this morning, she said, and she had us up by daybreak; she was bent28 on making this early train."
"Where has she gone?" asked Edward, dully.
"Keswick! Her cousin, you know; she can telephone to the store near his farm and have them send out for her. But," he repeated, "I can't think what possessed her."
Had the professor been able to think, to know what sent his daughter running away from him, his wrath29 had been hard for some one that day.
The day before had been the match game.[Pg 133] Frances, though some vague, half-delicious instinct of fear and distrust had made her keep from the old friendly footing with Lawson, had grown wildly enthusiastic at each day's practice. At three o'clock of that afternoon she had been driving out towards the ground. An orange and blue rosette was pinned in the breast of her smart brown jacket, and an orange and blue pennant30 lay at her feet in the trap.
Carriage after carriage was winding31 up the road already in the enclosure. The wind was soft, the sunshine of Indian Summer brooding over the land; the blue haze32 of the mountains, intensified33, hung about their slopes and peaks. Here and there the late leaves still clung, blackberry and sumach flaunted34 their scarlet35 in the fence corners, and on the bit of rock-fence bordering a field the poison oak and ivy36 flecked the dull hue37 with red and bronze. Far below, where the land dipped to the valley, the country shimmered38 in the sunlight.
Inside the grounds, Frances pulled up close beside the ropes. The grand stand[Pg 134] had scarce an occupant, but all the enclosure outside the ropes about the arena39 was filled with carriages, the young women calling from one to the other. The University men were crowded close on the other sides of the ropes, calling, hurrahing40, yelling, or, more sociably41 inclined, lounging around the barriers and talking to the young women in the carriages.
One of them came up to Frances and imperturbably42 possessed himself of the seat by her side. It was far more fun in his code, to be sitting by a pretty young woman, than to be crowded with the fellows over there. They were envying him he knew, and he leaned back in enjoyment43 of his unlooked-for position.
Frances was giving him scant44 heed.
The reins45 were thrown across the dash-board, trusting Starlight's scant sagacity. In the whip-stand was thrust the stick of her pennant. It fluttered in the soft air, the first unfurled, and the boys beyond the barriers cheered it lustily. It was not destined46 to stay there. Before the game was half over,[Pg 135] Frances, standing on her feet, was waving it wildly above her head.
The home team was playing magnificently. The visiting eleven had beaten them the year before: they were not doing so now. The field was wild. Call after call, college yell, keen irony47, a cheer for this play, a jeer48 for that, urged on the University men. The visitors held stolidly49 to their work. The boys beyond the barriers were doing everything to rattle50 them, but the game went close. The home team made one score, the visitors had nothing, the field went wild with cheering; the visitors scored, there was silence. Once more the home team made a point; the umpire snapped his watch, called time; there was a pandemonium51 of yells.
Frances, standing, the pennant in her hand, watched the team jump the ropes, spent, worn, but happy with victory. Lawson was still in the arena, easing the defeat of the visitors by skilful52 flattery of their play, when she drove out. She watched the men, as she drove down the road, running along the field path through the sere53 grasses,[Pg 136] their arms close to their sides, their sweaters up to their chins, the hair on their foreheads heavy with sweat. Lawson overtook them just where the path came out into the road. He was the last. His play had gone far to winning the day. Frances with quick fingers unfastened the rosette on her breast and flung it to him as she went spinning by.
Lawson crushed it in his hand and ran on; his bath, his clothes, they cost him short time. He slipped from his room, down the quadrangle before the crowd was well back.
As it chanced, Frances, when he rang the bell of the professor's house, was half-way up the stair. An open door and drawn54 portière showed an empty room beyond, the firelight shining in the library darkened by the coming twilight55. The hall was dusky. Frances' supple figure leaned over the banister.
"Bravo!" she called gayly down to him.
Susan banged the door as she went through. She was not yet won to "fur-awayers."
"It was splendid, splendid!" cried Frances, coming slowly down, her hand slipping along the banister.
[Pg 137]
He stood at the foot, silent, looking up at her, his hair damp and tossed into heavy locks on his forehead, his face ruddy with work and haste—strong, alert, nerved to forgetfulness of everything save one feeling. His eyes, masterful, drew her to him, slowly, steadfastly56, step by step; on the last stair she paused, her hand trembling about the carving57 on the newel post, she could not look in his eyes, she saw instead her rosette in his button-hole.
For him, the cap he held in his hand fluttered to his feet; he held out both hands.
"Frances!" he whispered.
His eyes met hers. Her breast rose in a long breath. The dusky hall, his face shining there, the world empty save for themselves; it was the setting of fate. In one whirling thought the pages of all the old romances she had dreamed over held and impelled58 her, she was one of them. She was throbbing59, sentient60 with the spirit they rhymed. It was this that beat to suffocation61 in heart and pulse, and held her helpless. She leaned heavily against the banister. And[Pg 138] just below, his face on a level with hers, his eyes, with neither laughter nor triumph, but passionate62 pleading, searching her face, he stood. He put his arms about her gently, closed them around her passionately63, and kissed her,—a joy he had not dreamed he or any man could feel, surging through him; and then she had wrenched64 herself from him and sped upward.
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1
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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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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3
derided
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| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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6
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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7
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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8
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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9
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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10
candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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11
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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12
friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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13
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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14
looming
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| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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15
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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16
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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17
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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18
fodder
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| n.草料；炮灰 | |
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19
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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20
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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21
shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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22
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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23
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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24
streaked
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| adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
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25
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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26
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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27
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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28
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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29
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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30
pennant
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| n.三角旗；锦标旗 | |
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31
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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32
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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33
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
flaunted
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| v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的过去式和过去分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
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35
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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36
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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37
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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38
shimmered
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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40
hurrahing
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| v.好哇( hurrah的现在分词 ) | |
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41
sociably
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| adv.成群地 | |
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42
imperturbably
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| adv.泰然地，镇静地，平静地 | |
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43
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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44
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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45
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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46
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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47
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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48
jeer
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| vi.嘲弄，揶揄；vt.奚落；n.嘲笑，讥评 | |
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49
stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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50
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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51
pandemonium
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| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
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52
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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53
sere
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| adj.干枯的；n.演替系列 | |
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54
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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55
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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56
steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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57
carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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58
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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60
sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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61
suffocation
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| n.窒息 | |
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62
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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63
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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64
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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