“Billy, you bad boy, come here!”
“Oh, you baby! You have got to grow up into a responsible dog, and look after my house.”
She laughed, just because she was happy, and, kneeling on the window-seat, began a flirtation8 with Master Billy, who was showing off like any small boy.
“Now, I’m sure I’m more interesting than that shoe.”
A bright eye twinkled at her.
“I suppose it is very wrong of me to let you gnaw9 slippers10. I am sure Mrs. Baxter is harder hearted. But you are so young, little Billy, and too soon you will be old.”
The door opened, and a large woman with a broad and comfortable face sailed in with a tray.
“Good morning, miss!”
“Good morning, Mrs. Baxter! Whose shoe has Billy got?”
“I’m thinking it’s one of mine, miss.”
“I gave it him, miss. It’s only an old one.”
“There, miss, he’s only a puppy.”
“But think of our responsibilities!”
“But think of the whackings afterwards.”
“I don’t think it does no harm. I’ve no sympathy with the mollycoddles16. I do hold with a boy getting a good tanning regular. If he deserves it, it’s all right. If he’s too goody to deserve it, he ought to get it for not deserving of it.”
Eve laughed, and Mrs. Baxter put the tea-pot and a dish of sardines17 on toast on the table. She was a local product, and an excellent one at that, and being a widow, had been glad of a home.
“I’ve made you the China tea, miss. And the telephone man, he wants to know when he can come and fix the hinstrument.”
“Any time this morning.”
“Thank you, miss.”
The panelled room was full of warm, yellow light, and Eve sat down at the gate-legged table with a sense of organic and spiritual well being. There were roses on the table, and her sensitive mouth smiled at them expressively19. In one corner stood her easel, an old mahogany bureau held her painting kit20, palettes, brushes, tubes, boards, canvases. It was delightful21 to think that she could put on her sun-hat, wander out into the great gardens, and express herself in all the colours that she loved. Lynette’s glowing head would come dancing to her in the sunlight. The Wilderness22 was still a fairy world, where mortals dreamed dreams.
There were letters beside her plate. One was from Canterton, who had gone north to plan a rich manufacturer’s new garden. She had not seen him since that drive to London, for he had been away when she had arrived at “Rock Cottage” to settle the furniture and begin her new life with Mrs. Baxter and the puppy.
She read Canterton’s letter first.
“Carissima,—I shall be back to-morrow, early, as I stayed in town for a night. Perhaps I shall find you at work. It would please me to discover you in the rosery. I am going to place Guinevere among the saints, and each year I shall keep St. Guinevere’s feast day.
“I hope everything pleases you at the cottage. I purposely left the garden in an unprejudiced state. It may amuse you to carry out your own ideas.—A rivederci.”
She smiled. Yes, she would go and set up her easel in the rosery, and be ready to enter with him upon their spiritual marriage.
Under a furniture-dealer’s catalogue lay a pamphlet in a wrapper with the address typed. Eve slit23 the wrapper and found that she held in her hand an anti-suffrage pamphlet, written by Gertrude Canterton.
She was a little surprised, not having heard as yet a full account of that most quaint24 and original of interviews. But she read the pamphlet while she ate her toast, and there was a glimmer12 of light in her eyes that told of amusement.
“A woman’s sphere is the home!” “A woman who is busy with her children is busy according to Nature! No sensible person can have any sympathy with those restless and impertinent gadabouts who thrust themselves into activities for which they are not suited. Sex forbids certain things to women. The eternal feminine is a force to be cherished!” “Woman is the sympathiser, the comforter. She is the other beam of the balance. She should strive to be opposite to man, not like him. A sweet influence in the home, something that is dear and sacred!”
Eve asked herself how Gertrude Canterton could write like this. It was so extraordinarily25 lacking in self-knowledge, and suggested the old tale of the preacher put up to preach, the preacher who omitted to do the things he advocated, because he was so busy telling other people what they should do. How was it that Gertrude Canterton never saw her real self? How did she contrive26 to live with theories, and to forget Lynette?
Yet in reading the pamphlet, Eve carried Gertrude Canterton’s contentions27 to their logical conclusion.
“Motherhood, and all that it means, is the natural business of woman.
“Therefore motherhood should be cherished, as it has never yet been cherished.
“Therefore, every healthy woman should be permitted to have a child.”
After breakfast she went into the garden, played with Billy for five minutes, and then wandered to and fro and up and down the stone paths of the rock garden. There were scores of rare plants, all labelled, but the labels were turned so that the names were hidden. Eve had been less than a week in the cottage, but from the very first evening she had put herself to school, to learn the names of all these rock plants. After three days’ work she had been able to reverse the labels, and to go round tagging long names to various diminutive29 clumps30 of foliage and flowers, and only now and again had she to stretch out a hand and look at a label.
All that was feminine and expressive18 in her opened to the sun that morning. She went in about nine and changed her frock, putting on a simple white dress with a low-cut collar that showed her throat. Looking in her mirror with the tender carefulness of a woman who is beloved, it pleased her to think that she needed one fleck31 of colour, a red rosebud32 over the heart. She touched her dark hair with her fingers, and smiled mysteriously into her own eyes.
She knew that she was ambitious, that her pride in her comrade challenged the pride in herself. His homage33 should not be fooled. It was a splendid spur, this love of his, and the glow at her heart warmed all that was creative and compassionate34 in her. This very cottage betrayed how his thoughts had worked for her. A big cupboard recessed35 behind the oak panelling held several hundred books, the books she needed in her work, and the books that he knew would please her. There was a little studio built out at the back of the cottage, but he had left it bare, for her own self to do with it what she pleased. It was this restraint, this remembering of her individuality that delighted her. He had given her so much, but not everything, because he had realised that it is a rare pleasure to a working woman to spend her money in accumulating the things that she desires.
On her way through the plantations36 she met Lavender, and she and Lavender were good friends. The enthusiast37 in him approved of Eve. She had eyes to see, and she did not talk the woolly stuff that he associated with most women. Her glimpses of beauty were not adjectival, but sharp and clear-cut, proof positive that she saw the things that she pretended to see.
He offered to carry her easel, and she accepted the offer.
“Yes, I am going to paint them this afternoon. Whose idea was it massing that golden alyssum and blue lithospermum on the rocks behind them? It’s a touch of genius.”
Lavender’s nose curved when he smiled.
“That was one of my flashes. It looks good, doesn’t it?”
“One of the things that make you catch your breath.”
He swung along with his hawk’s profile in the air.
“I fancy we’re going to do some big things in the future. If I were a rich man and wanted the finest garden in England, I’d give Mr. Canterton a free hand. And, excuse me saying it, miss, but I’m glad you’ve joined us.”
He gave her a friendly glare from a dark and apprizing eye.
“I’m keen, keen as blazes, and I wouldn’t work with people who didn’t care! Mr. Canterton showed me those pictures of yours. I should like to have them to look at in the winter, when everything’s lying brown and dead. If you want to know anything, Miss Carfax, at any time, I’m at your service.”
His manners were of the quaintest39, but she understood him, that he was above jealousy40, and that he looked on her as a fellow enthusiast.
“I shall bother you, Mr. Lavender, pretty often, I expect. I want to know everything that can be known.”
“That’s the cry! But isn’t it a rum thing, Miss Carfax, how nine people out of ten knock along as though there were nothing fit to make them jump out of their skins with curiosity. Why I was always like a terrier after a rat. ‘What’s this?’ ‘What’s that?’ That’s my leitmotiv. But most people don’t ask Nature any questions. No wonder she despises them, the dullards, just as though they hadn’t an eye to see that she’s a good-looking woman!”
Eve sought out Guinevere and sat herself down before the prospective43 saint, only to find that she was in no mood for painting. Her glance flitted from rose to rose, and the music of their names ran like a poem through her head. Moreover, the June air was full of their perfume, a heavy, somnolent44 perfume that lures45 one into dreaming.
Suddenly she found that he was standing46 in one of the black arches cut in the yew hedge. She knew that the blood went to her face, and she remembered telling herself that she would have to overcome these too obvious reactions.
“You have found out Guinevere?”
“Yes. We are old friends now.”
“I am not going to market this rose. She is to be held sacred to Fernhill. How are you getting on at the cottage?”
Her eyes glimmered to his.
“Thank you for everything.”
“And Billy pleases you?”
“He has a sense of humour.”
“And Mrs. Baxter?”
“Has what they call a motherly way with her.”
“I want to talk.”
“Talk to me here. I want to know how——”
“How she accepted it?”
“Yes.”
“She laughed. Thought it ridiculous. And I had been ready for a possible tragedy!”
“What an amusing world it is.”
He moved a little restlessly.
“I want to get away from that. Let’s walk through the plantations. I can’t keep still to-day. I want to see you everywhere, to realise you everywhere.”
They wandered off together, walking a little apart. All about them rose the young trees, cedars49, cypresses50, junipers, yews51, pines, glimmering52 in the June sunlight and sending out faint, balsamic perfumes. Men were hoeing the alleys53 between the maples54 and limes, their hoes flashing when a beam of sunlight struck through the foliage of the young trees.
Canterton stopped and spoke55 to the men. Also he spoke to Eve as to a partner and a fellow-expert who understood.
“Do you think we make enough use of maples in England?”
“Isn’t there a doubt about some of them colouring well over here?”
“They give us a very fair show. The spring tints are almost as good as the autumn ones in some cases. I want to see what you think of a new philadelphus I have over here.”
They walked on, and when their eyes met again hers smiled into his.
“Thank you for that seriousness.”
“It was genuine enough. I am going to expect a very great deal from you.”
“I’m glad. I’ll rise to it. It will make me very happy. Do you know I have learnt nearly all the names of the plants in my rock garden!”
“Have you, already!”
They came to a grove57 of black American spruces that were getting beyond the marketable age, having grown to a height of fifteen or twenty feet. The narrow path was in the shade, a little secret path that cut through the black glooms like a river through a mountainous land.
Canterton was walking behind her.
“Hold out your hand!”
Without turning her head she held her hand out palm upwards58, and felt something small dropped into it.
“Wear it—under your dress.”
It was a little gold ring, the token of their spiritual marriage.
They came out into the sunshine, and Eve’s eyes were mistily59 bright. She had not spoken, but her lips were quivering sensitively. She had slipped the ring on to her finger.
She turned to him with an indescribable smile.
“I am Lynette’s fairy mother. Oh, how good!”
“For her?”
“And for me.”
“I have a formal invitation to deliver from Lynette. She hailed me out of the window. We are to have tea in the Wilderness, and Billy is asked.”
“The Wilderness! That is where we forget to be clever.”
“I am going on with my book. Your name will be added to it.”
“May I sign the plates?”
“Oh, we’ll have you on the title-page, ‘Paintings by Eve Carfax.’ And I shall ask you to go pilgrimaging again, as you went to Latimer.”
She drew in her breath sharply.
“Ah, Latimer! I shall be dreaming dreams. But I want some of them to be real.”
“Tell me them!”
“I want to help other women; help them over the rough places.”
“You can do it. I mean you to have a name and a career.”
“I don’t want to live only for self.”
“First make ‘self’ a strong castle, then think of helping63 the distressed64. We are only just at the beginning of things, you and I. We’ll have a rest home for tired workers. I know of a fine site in my pine woods. And you will become a woman of affairs.”
“I shall never rush about and make speeches!”
“No, I don’t think you will do that.”
They turned towards the white gate, and heard the voice of Lynette—Lynette who had been giving chase.
“Daddy! Miss Eve!”
She came on them, running; glowing hair tossing in the sunlight, red mouth a little breathless.
“Oh, Miss Eve, the fairies have asked you to tea!”
“I know. I have heard!”
“I am going to be a fairy, one of your fairies, for ever and ever.”
“Be the Queen Fairy!”
“Yes, yes.”
“For ever and ever. I think God is very kind. I did ask Him so hard.”
“Dear!”
Lynette had never been kissed as she was kissed at that moment.
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1
demolishing
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| v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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yew
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| n.紫杉属树木 | |
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3
blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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hybrid
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| n.(动，植）杂种，混合物 | |
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tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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8
flirtation
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| n.调情，调戏，挑逗 | |
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gnaw
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| v.不断地啃、咬；使苦恼，折磨 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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12
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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13
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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15
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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16
mollycoddles
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| v.娇养，宠坏( mollycoddle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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17
sardines
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| n. 沙丁鱼 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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19
expressively
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| ad.表示(某事物)地；表达地 | |
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20
kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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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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23
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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24
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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contentions
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| n.竞争( contention的名词复数 )；争夺；争论；论点 | |
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28
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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30
clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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31
fleck
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| n.斑点，微粒 vt.使有斑点，使成斑驳 | |
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32
rosebud
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| n.蔷薇花蕾，妙龄少女 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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recessed
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| v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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irises
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| n.虹( iris的名词复数 )；虹膜；虹彩；鸢尾（花） | |
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39
quaintest
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| adj.古色古香的( quaint的最高级 )；少见的，古怪的 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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41
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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42
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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43
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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44
somnolent
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| adj.想睡的，催眠的；adv.瞌睡地；昏昏欲睡地；使人瞌睡地 | |
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45
lures
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| 吸引力，魅力（lure的复数形式） | |
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46
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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47
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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48
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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49
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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50
cypresses
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| n.柏属植物，柏树( cypress的名词复数 ) | |
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51
yews
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| n.紫杉( yew的名词复数 ) | |
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52
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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53
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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54
maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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55
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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56
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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57
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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58
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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59
mistily
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| adv.有雾地，朦胧地，不清楚地 | |
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60
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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61
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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62
larches
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| n.落叶松（木材）( larch的名词复数 ) | |
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63
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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spasm
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| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
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