CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR Nan Surrenders

 It was all over at last, and Gabriel found himself seated in the carriage, side by side with the demurest and the quietest young lady he had ever seen. He had shaken hands until his arm was sore, and he had hunted for Nan everywhere; and finally, when he had given up the search, he heard her calling him and saw her beckoning¹ him from a carriage. There was not much of a greeting between them, and he saw at once that, while this was the Nan he had known all his life, she had changed greatly. What he didn't know was that the change had taken place while he was in the midst² of his speech. She was just as beautiful as ever; in fact, her loveliness seemed to be enhanced³ by some new light in her eyes—or was it the way her head drooped⁴?—or a touch of new-born humility⁵ in her attitude? Whatever it was, Gabriel found it very charming.

 

To his surprise, he found himself quite at ease in her presence. The change, if it could be called such, had given him an advantage. "You used to be afraid of me, Gabriel," said Nan, "and now I am afraid of you. No, not afraid; you know what I mean," she explained.

 

"If I thought you were afraid of me, Nan, I'd get out of the carriage and walk home," and then, as the carriage rolled and rocked along the firm clay road, Gabriel sat and watched her, studying her face whenever he had an opportunity. Neither seemed to have any desire to talk. Gabriel had forgotten all about his sufferings in the sweat-boxes of Fort⁶ Pulaski; but those experiences had left an indelible mark on his character, and on his features. They had strengthened him every way—strengthened and subdued⁷ him. He was the same Gabriel, and yet there was a difference, and this difference appealed to Nan in a way that astonished her. She sat in the carriage perfectly⁸ happy, and yet she felt that a good cry would help her wonderfully.

 

"I had something I wanted to say to you, Nan," he remarked after awhile. "I've wanted to say it for a long time. But, honestly, I'm afraid——"

 

"Don't say you are afraid, Gabriel. You used to be afraid; but now I'm the one to be afraid. I mean I should be afraid, but I'm not."

 

"I was feeling very bold when I was mouthing to those people; and every time I looked into your eyes, I said to myself, 'You are mine; you are mine! and you know it!' And I thought all the time that you could hear me. It was a very queer⁹ impression. Please don't make fun of me to-day; wait till to-morrow."

 

"I couldn't hear you," said Nan, "but I could feel what you said."

 

"That was why you were looking so uneasy," remarked Gabriel. "Perhaps you were angry, too."

 

"No, I was very happy. I didn't hear your speech, but I knew from the actions of the people around me that it was a good one. But, somehow, I couldn't hear it. I was thinking of other things. Did you think I was bold to send for you?"

 

"Why, I was coming to you anyway," said Gabriel.

 

"Well, if you hadn't I should have come to you," said Nan with a sigh. "Since I received your letter, I haven't been myself any more."

 

"Did I send you a letter?" asked Gabriel.

 

"No; you wrote part of one," answered Nan. "But that was enough. I found it among your papers. And then when I heard you had been arrested—well, it is all a dream to me. I didn't know before that one could be perfectly happy and completely miserable¹⁰ at the same time."

 

Then, for the first time since he had entered the carriage she looked at him. Her eyes met his, and—well, nothing more was said for some time. Nan had as much as she could do to straighten her hat, and get her hair smoothed out as it should be, so that people wouldn't know that she and Gabriel were engaged. That was what she said, and she was so cute and lovely, so sweet and gentle that Gabriel threatened to crush the hat and get the hair out of order again. And they were very happy.

 

When they arrived at Shady¹¹ Dale, Gabriel insisted that Nan go home with him, and he gave what seemed to the young woman a very good reason. "You know, Nan, my grandmother has been Bethuning me every time I mentioned your name, and I have heard her Bethuning you. We'll just go in hand in hand and tell her the facts in the case."

 

"Hand in hand, Gabriel? Wouldn't she think I was very bold?"

 

"No, Nan," replied Gabriel, very emphatically. "There are two things my grandmother believes in. She believes in her Bible, and she believes in love."

 

"And she believes in you, Gabriel. Oh, if you only knew how much she loves you!" cried Nan.

 

They didn't go in to the dear old lady hand in hand, for when they reached the Lumsden Place, they found Miss Polly Gaither there, and they interrupted her right in the midst of some very interesting gossip¹². Miss Polly, after greeting Gabriel as cordially¹³ as her lonely nature would permit, looked at Nan very critically. There was a question in her eyes, and Nan answered it with a blush¹⁴.

 

"I thought as much," said Miss Polly, oracularly. "I declare I believe there's an epidemic¹⁵ in the town. There's Pulaski Tomlin, Silas Tomlin, Paul Tomlin, and now Gabriel Tolliver. Well, I wish them well, especially you, Gabriel. Nan is a little frivolous¹⁶ now, but she'll settle down."

 

"She isn't frivolous," said Gabriel, speaking in the ear-trumpet; "she is simply young."

 

"Is that the trouble?" inquired Miss Polly, with a smile, "well, she'll soon recover from that." And then she turned to Gabriel's grandmother, and took up the thread of her gossip where it had been broken by the arrival of Nan and Gabriel.

 

"I declare, Lucy, if anybody had told me, and I couldn't see for myself, I never would have believed it. Why, Silas Tomlin is a changed man. He looks better than he did twenty-five years ago. He goes about smiling, and while he isn't handsome—he never could be handsome, you know—he is very pleasant-looking. Yes, he is a changed man. He was going into the house just now as I came out, and he stopped and shook hands with me, and asked about my health, something he never did before. Honestly I don't know what to make of it; I'm clean put out. Why, the man had two or three quarrels with Ritta Claiborne when she first came here, and now he is going to marry her, or she him—I don't know which one did the courting, but I'll never believe it was old Silas. I am really and truly sorry for Ritta Claiborne. We who know Silas Tomlin better than she does ought to warn her of the step she is about to take. I have been on the point of doing so several times; but really, Lucy, I haven't the heart. She is one of the finest characters I ever knew—she is perfectly lovely. She is all heart, and I am afraid Silas Tomlin has imposed¹⁷ on her in some way. But she is perfectly happy, and so is Silas. If I thought such a thing was possible, I'd say they were very much in love with each other."

 

"Possible!" cried Gabriel's grandmother; "why, love is the only thing worth thinking about in this world. Even the Old Testament¹⁸ is full of it, and there is hardly anything else in the New Testament. Read it, Polly, and you'll find that all the sacrifice and devotion are based on love—real love, and unselfish because it is real."

 

"It may be so, Lucy; I'll not deny it," and then, after some more gossip less interesting, Miss Polly Gaither took her leave, saying, "I'll leave you with your grand-children, Lucy."

 

When she was gone, Gabriel stood up and beckoned¹⁹ to Nan, and she went to him without a word. He placed his arm around her, and then called the attention of his grandmother.

 

"You've been Bethuning Nan and me for ever so long, grandmother: what do you think of this?"

 

"Why, I think it is very pretty, if it is real. I have known it all along; I mean since the night you were carried away. Nan told me."

 

"Why, Grandmother Lumsden! I never said a word to you about it; I wouldn't have dared."

 

"I knew it when you came in the door that day—the day that Meriwether Clopton was here. Do you suppose I would have sat by you on the sofa, and held your hand if I had not known it?"

 

"I'm glad you knew it," said Nan. "I wanted you to know it, but I didn't dare to tell you in so many words. I am going home now, Gabriel, and you mustn't call on me to-day or to-night. I want to be alone. I am so happy," she said to Mrs. Lumsden, as she kissed her, "that I don't want to talk to any one, not even to Gabriel."

 

And this was Gabriel's thought too. He saw none of his friends that day, and when night fell he went out to the old Bermuda hill, and lay upon the warm damp grass, the happiest person in the world.
 

THE END

1 beckoning   

adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• An even more beautiful future is beckoning us on. 一个更加美好的未来在召唤我们继续前进。 来自辞典例句
• He saw a youth of great radiance beckoning to him. 他看见一个丰神飘逸的少年向他招手。 来自辞典例句

2 midst   

n.中部，中间，当中

参考例句：

• The hut is in the midst of the forest.小屋在森林深处。
• There is a thief in our midst.我们当中有小偷。

3 enhanced   

a.加强的

参考例句：

• Peak updraft strength is slightly enhanced with hodograph curvature. 山顶上升气流强度随速矢端迹曲率加大而稍有加强。
• The black wimple enhanced the whiteness of her skin. 黑色的包头巾使她的皮肤显得更加白皙。

4 drooped   

弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。
• The flowers drooped in the heat of the sun. 花儿晒蔫了。

5 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

6 fort   

n.要塞，堡垒，碉堡

参考例句：

• The fort can not be defended against an air attack.这座要塞遭到空袭时无法防御。
• No one can get into the fort without a pass.没有通行证，任何人不得进入要塞。

7 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

9 queer   

adj.奇怪的，异常的，不舒服的，眩晕的

参考例句：

• I heard some queer footsteps.我听到某种可疑的脚步声。
• She has been queer lately.她最近身体不舒服。

10 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

11 shady   

adj.成荫的，多荫的，可疑的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• This is a shady avenue.这是条林阴大道。
• He's a rather shady person.他是个相当靠不住的人。

12 gossip   

n.流言蜚语，爱说长道短的人；vi.传播流言

参考例句：

• She broadcast the gossip all over the town.她将这个流言传遍全镇。
• They spread a lot of tacky gossip about his love life.关于他的爱情生活，他们散播了许多不堪的闲言闲语。

13 cordially   

adv.亲切地

参考例句：

• You are cordially invited to a celebration for Mr Michael Brown on his retirement. 热诚邀请您参加为迈克尔?布朗先生退休举行的庆祝会。
• She greeted the visitor cordially,inviting her to stay for breakfast. 她亲切地招呼着客人，请她留下来吃早饭。

14 blush   

vi.脸红，羞愧，觉得难为情；n.脸红，难为情

参考例句：

• His remark brought a blush into the girl's cheeks.他的话使这姑娘两颊红晕。
• I have to blush to admit that thing.我不得不羞愧地承认了那件事。

15 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

16 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

17 imposed   

自己担负的

参考例句：

• The decree imposed strict censorship of the media. 这个法令强制实行严格的媒体审查制度。
• The army imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew. 军队强制实行黄昏至黎明的宵禁。

18 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

19 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》