“Darling, I was scared out of my wits. We got crossways on some questions we were discussing, and he snorted at me once, and every time I tried to screw up my courage to speak, a lump got in my throat and I gave it up. I thought I’d wait a day or two until he should be in a better humour.”
“He’s gone away to-day,” she said with disappointment.
“I’m glad of it, I ’ll write him a letter.”
“If you had asked him yesterday it would have been all right. He told me so when he left this morning, with a very tender tremor1 in his voice.”
“But it will be all right, sweetheart, when I write.”
“I wanted my ring,” she whispered.
“You shall have it,” he said, as he seized her hand and led her to a seat.
“Have you got it with you?” she asked with excitement. “Let me see it quick.”
He drew the little box from his pocket, withdrew the ring, concealing2 it in his hand, slipped it on her finger and kissed it. She threw her hand up into the light to see it.
“Oh! it is glorious! It’s the big green diamond Hiddenite I saw at the Exposition! It is the most beautiful stone I ever saw, and the only one of its kind in size and colour in the world. Professor Hidden told me so. I tried to get Papa to buy it for me. But he laughed at me, and said it was childish extravagance. Charlie dear, how could you get it?”
“That’s a little secret. But there are to be no secrets between us any more. I had a little hoard3 saved from my mother’s estate for the greatest need of my life. I confess my extravagance.”
“You are a matchless lover. I’m the proudest and happiest girl that breathes.”
“Nothing is too good for you, I wish I could make a greater sacrifice.”
“Wait, till I show it to Mama,” and she flew to her mother’s room. She returned immediately, looking at the ring and kissing it.
“Couldn’t show it to her, she had company,” she said. “Allan is talking to her.”
“Let’s get out of the house, dear. I hate that man like a rattlesnake.”
“Don’t be silly, I never cared a snap for him.”
“I know you didn’t, but there is a poison about him that taints4 the air for me. Get your horse and let’s go to our place at the old mill.”
They soon reached the spot, and with a laugh she sprang upon the rock and took her seat against the tree.
“Now, dear, humour this whim5 of mine. I’ve grown superstitious6 since you’ve made me happy. I have a presentiment7 of evil because that man was in the house. I am going to take the ring off and put it on your hand again out here where only the eyes of our birds will see, and the river we love will hear.”
“That will be nicer. I somehow feel that my life is built on this dear old rock,” she answered soberly.
He took the ring off her finger, dipped it in the white foam8 of the river, kissed it, and placed it on her hand.
“Now the spell is broken, isn’t it?” she cried, holding it out in the sunlight a moment to catch the flash of its green diamond depth.
“I’ve another token for you. This, you will not even show to your mother or father.” She bent9 low over a tiny package he unfolded.
“This is the first medal I won at college,” he continued—“the first victory of my life. It was the force that determined10 my character. It gave me an inflexible11 will. I worked at a tremendous disadvantage. Others were two years ahead of me in study for the contest. I locked myself up in my room day and night for ten months, and took just enough food and sleep for strength to work. I worked seventeen hours a day, except Sundays, for ten months without an hour of play. I won it brilliantly. Every line cut on its gold surface stands for a thousand aches of my body. Every little pearl set in it, grew in a pain of that struggle which set its seal on my inmost life. I came out of those ten months a man. I have never known the whims12 of a boy since.”
“And you engraved13 something on the back to me!”
“Yes, can’t you read it?”
“My eyes are dim,” she whispered.
“It is this—In the hand of manhood’s tenderest love I bring to thee my boyhood’s brightest dream. I was a man when I woke, but I have never lived till you taught me. Keep this as a pledge of eternal love. It’s the only little trinket I ever possessed14. The world will see our ring. Don’t let them see this. It is the seal of your sovereignty of my soul in life, in death, and beyond. Will you make me this eternal pledge?”
“Unto the uttermost!” she murmured.
“Unto the uttermost!” he solemnly echoed.
“And now, what can I say or do for you when you show me in this spirit of prodigal15 sacrifice how dear I am in your eyes?”
“Those words from your lips are enough,” he declared.
“I ’ll give you more. I’m going to give you just a little bit of myself. I haven’t asked Mama, but we are engaged now—come closer.”
She placed her beautiful arms around his neck and pressed her lips upon his in the first rapturous kiss of love.
“No,—no more. It is enough,” she protested.
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1
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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2
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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3
hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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4
taints
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| n.变质( taint的名词复数 )；污染；玷污；丑陋或腐败的迹象v.使变质( taint的第三人称单数 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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5
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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6
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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7
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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8
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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9
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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10
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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11
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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12
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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13
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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14
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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15
prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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