June roses overflowed1 the veranda2 rail of Baron3 von Marhof's cottage at Storm Springs. The Ambassador and his friend and counsel, Judge Hilton Claiborne, sat in a cool corner with a wicker table between them. The representative of Austria-Hungary shook his glass with an impatience4 that tinkled6 the ice cheerily.
"He comes by it honestly. I can imagine his father doing the same thing under similar circumstances."
"What! This rot about democracy! This light tossing away of an honest title, a respectable fortune! My dear sir, there is such a thing as carrying democracy too far!"
"I suppose there is; but he's of age; he's a grown man. I don't see what you're going to do about it."
"Neither do I! But think what he's putting aside. The boy's clever—he has courage and brains, as we know; he could have position—the home government is under immense obligations to him. A word from me to Vienna and his services to the crown would be acknowledged in the most generous fashion. And with his father's memory and reputation behind him—"
"There's one thing I haven't dared to ask him: to take his own name—to become Frederick Augustus von Stroebel, even if he doesn't want his father's money or the title. Quite likely he will refuse that, too."
"It is possible. Most things seem possible with Armitage."
"It's simply providential that he hasn't become a citizen of your republic. That would have been the last straw!"
They rose as Armitage called to them from a French window near by.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen! When two diplomats11 get their heads together on a summer afternoon, the universe is in danger."
He came toward them hatless, but trailing a stick that had been the prop12 of his later convalescence13. His blue serge coat, a negligée shirt and duck trousers had been drawn14 a few days before from the trunks brought by Oscar from the bungalow15. He was clean-shaven for the first time since his illness, and the two men looked at him with a new interest. His deepened temples and lean cheeks and hands told their story; but his step was regaining16 its old assurance, and his eyes were clear and bright. He thrust the little stick under his arm and stood erect17, gazing at the near gardens and then at the hills. The wind tumbled his brown newly-trimmed hair, and caught the loose ends of his scarf and whipped them free.
"Sit down. We were just talking of you. You are getting so much stronger every day that we can't be sure of you long," said the Baron.
"You have spoiled me,—I am not at all anxious to venture back into the world. These Virginia gardens are a dream world, where nothing is really quite true."
"Something must be done about your father's estate soon. It is yours, waiting and ready."
Armitage shook his head slowly, and clasped the stick with both hands and held it across his knees.
"No,—no! Please let us not talk of that any more. I could not feel comfortable about it. I have kept my pledge to do something for his country—something that we may hope pleases him if he knows."
The three were silent for a moment. A breeze, sweet with pine-scent of the hills, swept the valley, taking tribute of the gardens as it passed. The Baron was afraid to venture his last request.
"But the name—the honored name of the greatest statesman Austria has known—a name that will endure with the greatest names of Europe—surely you can at least accept that."
The Ambassador's tone was as gravely importunate19 as though he were begging the cession20 of a city from a harsh conqueror21. Armitage rose and walked the length of the veranda. He had not seen Shirley since that morning when the earth had slipped from under his feet at the bungalow. The Claibornes had been back and forth22 often between Washington and Storm Springs. The Judge had just been appointed a member of the Brazilian boundary commission which was to meet shortly in Berlin, and Mrs. Claiborne and Shirley were to go with him. In the Claiborne garden, beyond and below, he saw a flash of white here and there among the dark green hedges. He paused, leaned against a pillar, and waited until Shirley crossed one of the walks and passed slowly on, intent upon the rose trees; and he saw—or thought he saw—the sun searching out the gold in her brown hair. She was hatless. Her white gown emphasized the straight line of her figure. She paused to ponder some new arrangement of a line of hydrangeas, and he caught a glimpse of her against a pillar of crimson23 ramblers. Then he went back to the Baron.
"How much of our row in the hills got into the newspapers?" he asked, sitting down.
"Nothing,—absolutely nothing. The presence of the Sophia Margaret off the capes24 caused inquiries25 to be made at the embassy, and several correspondents came down here to interview me. Then the revenue officers made some raids in the hills opportunely26 and created a local diversion. You were hurt while cleaning your gun,—please do not forget that!—and you are a friend of my family,—a very eccentric character, who has chosen to live in the wilderness27."
The Judge and Armitage laughed at these explanations, though there was a little constraint28 upon them all. The Baron's question was still unanswered.
"You ceased to be of particular interest some time ago. While you were sick the fraudulent Von Kissel was arrested in Australia, and I believe some of the newspapers apologized to you handsomely."
"That was very generous of them;" and Armitage shifted his position slightly. A white skirt had flashed again in the Claiborne garden and he was trying to follow it. At the same time there were questions he wished to ask and have answered. The Baroness29 von Marhof had already gone to Newport; the Baron lingered merely out of good feeling toward Armitage—for it was as Armitage that he was still known to the people of Storm Springs, to the doctor and nurses who tended him.
"The news from Vienna seems tranquil30 enough," remarked Armitage. He had not yet answered the Baron's question, and the old gentleman grew restless at the delay. "I read in the Neue Freie Presse a while ago that Charles Louis is showing an unexpected capacity for affairs. It is reported, too, that an heir is in prospect31. The Winkelried conspiracy32 is only a bad dream and we may safely turn to other affairs."
"We have a saying that a miss is as good as a mile," remarked Judge Claiborne. "We have never told Mr. Armitage that we found the papers in the safety box at New York to be as he described them."
"They are dangerous. We have hesitated as to whether there was more risk in destroying them than in preserving them," said the Baron.
A messenger appeared with a telegram which the Baron opened and read.
"It's from the commander of the Sophia Margaret, who is just leaving Rio Janeiro for Trieste, and reports his prisoners safe and in good health."
"It was a happy thought to have him continue his cruise to the Brazilian coast before returning homeward. By the time he delivers those two scoundrels to his government their fellow conspirators38 will have forgotten they ever lived. But"—and Judge Claiborne shrugged his shoulders and smiled disingenuously—"as a lawyer I deplore39 such methods. Think what a stir would be made in this country if it were known that two men had been kidnapped in the sovereign state of Virginia and taken out to sea under convoy40 of ships carrying our flag for transfer to an Austrian battle-ship! That's what we get for being a free republic that can not countenance41 the extradition42 of a foreign citizen for a political offense43."
Armitage was not listening. Questions of international law and comity44 had no interest for him whatever. The valley breeze, the glory of the blue Virginia sky, the far-stretching lines of hills that caught and led the eye like sea billows; the dark green of shrubbery, the slope of upland meadows, and that elusive45, vanishing gleam of white,—before such things as these the splendor46 of empire and the might of armies were unworthy of man's desire.
The Baron's next words broke harshly upon his mood.
Vienna and begin where most men leave off! Strong hands are needed in
Austria,—you could make yourself the younger—the great Stroebel—"
The mention of his name brought back the Baron's still unanswered question. He referred to it now, as he stood before them smiling.
"I have answered all your questions but one; I shall answer that a little later,—if you will excuse me for just a few minutes I will go and get the answer,—that is, gentlemen, I hope I shall be able to bring it back with me."
He turned and ran down the steps and strode away through the long shadows of the garden. They heard the gate click after him as he passed into the Claiborne grounds and then they glanced at each other with such a glance as may pass between two members of a peace commission sitting on the same side of the table, who will not admit to each other that the latest proposition of the enemy has been in the nature of a surprise. They did not, however, suffer themselves to watch Armitage, but diplomatically refilled their glasses.
Through the green walls went Armitage. He had not been out of the Baron's grounds before since he was carried thence from the bungalow; and it was pleasant to be free once more, and able to stir without a nurse at his heels; and he swung along with his head and shoulders erect, walking with the confident stride of a man who has no doubt whatever of his immediate48 aim.
At the pergola he paused to reconnoiter, finding on the bench certain vestigia that interested him deeply,—a pink parasol, a contrivance of straw, lace and pink roses that seemed to be a hat, and a June magazine. He jumped upon the bench where once he had sat, an exile, a refugee, a person discussed in disagreeable terms by the newspapers, and studied the landscape. Then he went on up the gradual slope of the meadow, until he came to the pasture wall. It was under the trees beneath which Oscar had waited for Zmai that he found her.
"They told me you wouldn't dare venture out for a week," she said, advancing toward him and giving him her hand.
"That was what they told me," he said, laughing; "but I escaped from my keepers."
"You will undoubtedly49 take cold,—without your hat!"
"Yes; I shall undoubtedly have pneumonia50 from exposure to the Virginia sunshine. I take my chances."
"You may sit on the wall for three minutes; then you must go back. I can not be responsible for the life of a wounded hero."
"Please!" He held up his hand. "That's what I came to talk to you about."
"About being a hero? You have taken an unfair advantage. I was going to send for the latest designs in laurel wreaths to-morrow."
She sat down beside him on the wall. The sheep were a grayish blur51 against the green. A little negro boy was shepherding them, and they scampered53 before him toward the farther end of the pasture. The faint and vanishing tinkle5 of a bell, and the boy's whistle, gave emphasis to the country-quiet of the late afternoon. They spoke54 rapidly and impersonally55 of his adventures in the hills and of his illness. When they looked at each other it was with swift laughing glances. Her cheeks and hands were-already brown,—an honest brown won from May and June in the open field,—not that blistered56, peeling scarlet57 that marks the insincere devotee of racket, driver and oar58, who jumps into the game in August, but the real brown conferred by the dear mother of us all upon the faithful who go forth to meet her in April. Her hands interested him particularly. They were long, slender and supple59; and she had a pretty way of folding them upon her knees that charmed him.
"I didn't know, Miss Claiborne, that I was going to lose my mind that morning at the bungalow or I should have asked your brother to conduct you to the conservatory60 while I fainted. From what they told me I must have been a little light-headed for a day or two. If I had been in my right mind I shouldn't have let Captain Dick mix up in my business and run the risk of getting killed in a nasty little row. Dear old Dick! I made a mess of that whole business; I ought to have telegraphed for the Storm Springs constable61 in the beginning, and told him that if he wasn't careful the noble house of Schomburg would totter62 and fall."
"Yes; and just imagine the effect on our constable of telling him that the fate of an empire lay in his hands. It's hard enough to get a man arrested who beats his horse. But you must go back to your keepers. You haven't your hat—"
"Neither have you; you shan't outdo me in recklessness. I inspected your hat as I came through the pergola. I liked it immensely; I came near seizing it as spoil of war,—the loot of the pergola!"
"There would be cause for another war; I have rarely liked any hat so much. But the Baron will be after you in a moment. I can't be responsible for you."
"The Baron annoys me. He has given me a lot of worry. And that's what I have come to ask you about."
"Then I should say that you oughtn't to quarrel with a dear old man like
Baron von Marhof. Besides, he's your uncle."
"No! No! I don't want him to be my uncle! I don't need any uncle!"
He glanced about with an anxiety that made her laugh.
"I understand perfectly63! My father told me that the events of April in these hills were not to be mentioned. But don't worry; the sheep won't tell—and I won't."
He was silent for a moment as he thought out the words of what he wished to say to her. The sun was dipping down into the hills; the mellow64 air was still; the voice of a negro singing as he crossed a distant field stole sweetly upon them.
"Shirley!"
He touched her hand.
"Shirley!" and his fingers closed upon hers.
"I love you, Shirley! From those days when I saw you in Paris,—before the great Gettysburg battle picture, I loved you. You had felt the cry of the Old World, the story that is in its battle-fields, its beauty and romance, just as I had felt the call of this new and more wonderful world. I understood—I knew what was in your heart; I knew what those things meant to you;—but I had put them aside; I had chosen another life for myself. And the poor life that you saved, that is yours if you will take it. I have told your father and Baron von Marhof that I would not take the fortune my father left me; I would not go back there to be thanked or to get a ribbon to wear in my coat. But my name, the name I bore as a boy and disgraced in my father's eyes,—his name that he made famous throughout the world, the name I cast aside with my youth, the name I flung away in anger,—they wish me to take that."
She withdrew her hand and rose and looked away toward the western hills.
"The greatest romance in the world is here, Shirley. I have dreamed it all over,—in the Canadian woods, on the Montana ranch65 as I watched the herd52 at night. My father spent his life keeping a king upon his throne; but I believe there are higher things and finer things than steadying a shaking throne or being a king. And the name that has meant nothing to me except dominion66 and power,—it can serve no purpose for me to take it now. I learned much from the poor Archduke; he taught me to hate the sham67 and shame of the life he had fled from. My father was the last great defender68 of the divine right of kings; but I believe in the divine right of men. And the dome69 of the Capitol in Washington does not mean to me force or hatred70 or power, but faith and hope and man's right to live and do and be whatever he can make himself. I will not go back or take the old name unless,—unless you tell me I must, Shirley!"
There was an instant in which they both faced the westering sun. He looked down suddenly and the deep feeling in his heart went to his lips.
"It was that way,—you were just like that when I saw you first, Shirley, with the dreams in your eyes."
He caught her hand and kissed it,—bending very low indeed. Suddenly, as he stood erect, her arms were about his neck and her cheek with its warmth and color lay against his face.
"I do not know,"—and he scarcely heard the whispered words,—"I do not know Frederick Augustus von Stroebel,—but I love—John Armitage," she said.
Then back across the meadow, through the rose-aisled ways of the quiet garden, they went hand in hand together and answered the Baron's question
作者其它作品
The Poet
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1
overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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tinkle
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| vi.叮当作响；n.叮当声 | |
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tinkled
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| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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canvassed
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| v.（在政治方面）游说( canvass的过去式和过去分词 )；调查（如选举前选民的）意见；为讨论而提出（意见等）；详细检查 | |
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diplomats
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| n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人 | |
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prop
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| vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山 | |
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convalescence
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| n.病后康复期 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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importunate
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| adj.强求的；纠缠不休的 | |
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cession
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| n.割让，转让 | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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24
capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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opportunely
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| adv.恰好地，适时地 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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baroness
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| n.男爵夫人，女男爵 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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deplore
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| vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾 | |
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convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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extradition
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| n.引渡（逃犯） | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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comity
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| n.礼让，礼仪；团结，联合 | |
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elusive
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| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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pneumonia
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| n.肺炎 | |
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blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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53
scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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impersonally
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| ad.非人称地 | |
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56
blistered
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| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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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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conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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62
totter
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| v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子 | |
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63
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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64
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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67
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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68
defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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69
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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70
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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