[Pg 168]
Then he pulled himself together; she was out on the grounds, of course. When the game began, his inattention and wretched play fairly lost the day, until the wrath8 of the captain called and kept him to the work in hand. He stayed the night in Richmond, went to the play, loitered about the shopping streets next day, and saw only strangers or those who had come down from the mountains with them.
Late that afternoon, tired, disgusted, self-scornful, he took a train for home. When he passed the professor's house he saw a beam of light shine out on the quadrangle on a spot where no gleam had shone for many a night.
He walked deliberately9 out on the sward and looked up. He cared not who saw him or who chaffed him, and a University man has to order his life with care if he wishes it not to become a burden to him. Fortunately it was late, and there were no men about corridor or campus. He stood watching; it might be the old negress there for all he knew.
[Pg 169]
The curtains were pulled aside, the casement10 opening on the balcony was flung open, and a tall supple11 figure stood outlined sharply against the flood of light behind her. His heart seemed pulsing in his throat and choking him. Then Frances stepped lightly out on the porch and began to unfasten the heavy shutters13 from the clasps holding them back to the brick wall.
He walked quickly across till he stood under the balcony's edge; the vine climbing the pillar was bare, its dry branches rustling14 in the night wind.
"Frances!" he called softly.
There was no answer, and he heard a light footstep across the porch and a rattling15 at the other shutter12.
"Miss Holloway!" he called distinctly.
"Who is there? Where—"
The voice called again; she leaned over the railing and saw a tall figure below looming16 in the star-lit dusk. "Who is it?" she asked, a quick catch in her breath.
"Do you not know me?" reproachfully.
"Mr. Lawson?" the voice was low and full,[Pg 170] and the intonation17 gracefully18 easy, with the old ring of cheer in it. Hard riding, hard thinking, hot scorning, and firm resolving had made many changes in Frances; best of all it had restored her old manner of gay ease.
"Where have you been?" questioned the voice below.
"Ever so many places."
"When did you come back?" If there was any tender reproach in the voice, the young woman up there did not heed19 it.
"Yesterday."
Yesterday! when he was searching for her, longing20 for her,—and she was here. "Why didn't you stay for the game?"
"I couldn't; I am expecting some friends from Richmond. I had to come home and see that Susan had the house in order."
There was a second's silence. The young man below stood motionless: "I want to see you," he said firmly.
"Can't you? What a pity it's so dark!"
"To-morrow?"
"I shall not have a minute's time."
"Soon?" he insisted.
[Pg 171]
"Of course!" as if it were a matter of no consequence whatever.
"I shall expect to," and then there was silence again.
"I am glad you won!" called the girl. "Good night!"
"Oh, yes, we won!" he said, a trifle bitterly, as he strode away.
Frances leaned faintly against the rail. It was over, the moment she had dreaded21 unspeakably, and she was in her rightful place again. She knew it; she blessed the night whose darkness had given her assurance. She blessed the unexpected meeting when there was no time for awkward confusion. She tapped her finger-tips on the rail and smiled to herself as she stood there, but the icy touch of the frost already forming roused her to a sense of the cold and chill. She hurried in, locked the shutters and then went running down the stairs.
"Father," she said with a happy laugh, "father, I am so glad to be at home." She leaned over his chair and put her arms about his neck.
"Are you?" there was a sparkle of joy in the professor's dark eyes; "so am I!" He slipped his arm about her and pulled her down on the arm of the chair. "You mustn't run away again; I don't know what to do without you; you must never run away again, too far!"
Lawson, though he was not given to poetical22 comparisons, was remembering with keen pain the first hour when he stood beneath the balcony and Frances had talked with him. It was morning then, it was night now; the sunlight was in the sky, only the cold stars now; she had come down to him blithely23 that warm, bright day when the world was a flood of sunshine and color; he had gone alone now, and it was cold and dark, and the color had drifted from the outside world and the joy from his heart.
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1
orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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2
sere
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| adj.干枯的；n.演替系列 | |
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3
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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4
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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5
glum
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| adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的 | |
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6
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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7
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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8
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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9
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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10
casement
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| n.竖铰链窗；窗扉 | |
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11
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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12
shutter
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| n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置 | |
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13
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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14
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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15
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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16
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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17
intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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18
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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19
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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20
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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21
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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22
poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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23
blithely
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| adv.欢乐地，快活地，无挂虑地 | |
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