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diff --git a/old/166-h.htm.2021-01-28 b/old/166-h.htm.2021-01-28 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5dd0791 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/166-h.htm.2021-01-28 @@ -0,0 +1,7324 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Summer, by Edith Wharton + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Summer, by Edith Wharton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Summer + +Author: Edith Wharton + +Release Date: March 12, 2006 [EBook #166] +Last Updated: March 8, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUMMER *** + + + + +Produced by Meredith Ricker, John Hamm and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + SUMMER + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + by Edith Wharton + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + 1917 + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> XIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> XV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> XVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> XVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> XVIII </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + I + </h2> + <p> + A girl came out of lawyer Royall's house, at the end of the one street of + North Dormer, and stood on the doorstep. + </p> + <p> + It was the beginning of a June afternoon. The springlike transparent sky + shed a rain of silver sunshine on the roofs of the village, and on the + pastures and larchwoods surrounding it. A little wind moved among the + round white clouds on the shoulders of the hills, driving their shadows + across the fields and down the grassy road that takes the name of street + when it passes through North Dormer. The place lies high and in the open, + and lacks the lavish shade of the more protected New England villages. The + clump of weeping-willows about the duck pond, and the Norway spruces in + front of the Hatchard gate, cast almost the only roadside shadow between + lawyer Royall's house and the point where, at the other end of the + village, the road rises above the church and skirts the black hemlock wall + enclosing the cemetery. + </p> + <p> + The little June wind, frisking down the street, shook the doleful fringes + of the Hatchard spruces, caught the straw hat of a young man just passing + under them, and spun it clean across the road into the duck-pond. + </p> + <p> + As he ran to fish it out the girl on lawyer Royall's doorstep noticed that + he was a stranger, that he wore city clothes, and that he was laughing + with all his teeth, as the young and careless laugh at such mishaps. + </p> + <p> + Her heart contracted a little, and the shrinking that sometimes came over + her when she saw people with holiday faces made her draw back into the + house and pretend to look for the key that she knew she had already put + into her pocket. A narrow greenish mirror with a gilt eagle over it hung + on the passage wall, and she looked critically at her reflection, wished + for the thousandth time that she had blue eyes like Annabel Balch, the + girl who sometimes came from Springfield to spend a week with old Miss + Hatchard, straightened the sunburnt hat over her small swarthy face, and + turned out again into the sunshine. + </p> + <p> + “How I hate everything!” she murmured. + </p> + <p> + The young man had passed through the Hatchard gate, and she had the street + to herself. North Dormer is at all times an empty place, and at three + o'clock on a June afternoon its few able-bodied men are off in the fields + or woods, and the women indoors, engaged in languid household drudgery. + </p> + <p> + The girl walked along, swinging her key on a finger, and looking about her + with the heightened attention produced by the presence of a stranger in a + familiar place. What, she wondered, did North Dormer look like to people + from other parts of the world? She herself had lived there since the age + of five, and had long supposed it to be a place of some importance. But + about a year before, Mr. Miles, the new Episcopal clergyman at Hepburn, + who drove over every other Sunday—when the roads were not ploughed + up by hauling—to hold a service in the North Dormer church, had + proposed, in a fit of missionary zeal, to take the young people down to + Nettleton to hear an illustrated lecture on the Holy Land; and the dozen + girls and boys who represented the future of North Dormer had been piled + into a farm-waggon, driven over the hills to Hepburn, put into a way-train + and carried to Nettleton. + </p> + <p> + In the course of that incredible day Charity Royall had, for the first and + only time, experienced railway-travel, looked into shops with plate-glass + fronts, tasted cocoanut pie, sat in a theatre, and listened to a gentleman + saying unintelligible things before pictures that she would have enjoyed + looking at if his explanations had not prevented her from understanding + them. This initiation had shown her that North Dormer was a small place, + and developed in her a thirst for information that her position as + custodian of the village library had previously failed to excite. For a + month or two she dipped feverishly and disconnectedly into the dusty + volumes of the Hatchard Memorial Library; then the impression of Nettleton + began to fade, and she found it easier to take North Dormer as the norm of + the universe than to go on reading. + </p> + <p> + The sight of the stranger once more revived memories of Nettleton, and + North Dormer shrank to its real size. As she looked up and down it, from + lawyer Royall's faded red house at one end to the white church at the + other, she pitilessly took its measure. There it lay, a weather-beaten + sunburnt village of the hills, abandoned of men, left apart by railway, + trolley, telegraph, and all the forces that link life to life in modern + communities. It had no shops, no theatres, no lectures, no “business + block”; only a church that was opened every other Sunday if the state of + the roads permitted, and a library for which no new books had been bought + for twenty years, and where the old ones mouldered undisturbed on the damp + shelves. Yet Charity Royall had always been told that she ought to + consider it a privilege that her lot had been cast in North Dormer. She + knew that, compared to the place she had come from, North Dormer + represented all the blessings of the most refined civilization. Everyone + in the village had told her so ever since she had been brought there as a + child. Even old Miss Hatchard had said to her, on a terrible occasion in + her life: “My child, you must never cease to remember that it was Mr. + Royall who brought you down from the Mountain.” + </p> + <p> + She had been “brought down from the Mountain”; from the scarred cliff that + lifted its sullen wall above the lesser slopes of Eagle Range, making a + perpetual background of gloom to the lonely valley. The Mountain was a + good fifteen miles away, but it rose so abruptly from the lower hills that + it seemed almost to cast its shadow over North Dormer. And it was like a + great magnet drawing the clouds and scattering them in storm across the + valley. If ever, in the purest summer sky, there trailed a thread of + vapour over North Dormer, it drifted to the Mountain as a ship drifts to a + whirlpool, and was caught among the rocks, torn up and multiplied, to + sweep back over the village in rain and darkness. + </p> + <p> + Charity was not very clear about the Mountain; but she knew it was a bad + place, and a shame to have come from, and that, whatever befell her in + North Dormer, she ought, as Miss Hatchard had once reminded her, to + remember that she had been brought down from there, and hold her tongue + and be thankful. She looked up at the Mountain, thinking of these things, + and tried as usual to be thankful. But the sight of the young man turning + in at Miss Hatchard's gate had brought back the vision of the glittering + streets of Nettleton, and she felt ashamed of her old sun-hat, and sick of + North Dormer, and jealously aware of Annabel Balch of Springfield, opening + her blue eyes somewhere far off on glories greater than the glories of + Nettleton. + </p> + <p> + “How I hate everything!” she said again. + </p> + <p> + Half way down the street she stopped at a weak-hinged gate. Passing + through it, she walked down a brick path to a queer little brick temple + with white wooden columns supporting a pediment on which was inscribed in + tarnished gold letters: “The Honorius Hatchard Memorial Library, 1832.” + </p> + <p> + Honorius Hatchard had been old Miss Hatchard's great-uncle; though she + would undoubtedly have reversed the phrase, and put forward, as her only + claim to distinction, the fact that she was his great-niece. For Honorius + Hatchard, in the early years of the nineteenth century, had enjoyed a + modest celebrity. As the marble tablet in the interior of the library + informed its infrequent visitors, he had possessed marked literary gifts, + written a series of papers called “The Recluse of Eagle Range,” enjoyed + the acquaintance of Washington Irving and Fitz-Greene Halleck, and been + cut off in his flower by a fever contracted in Italy. Such had been the + sole link between North Dormer and literature, a link piously commemorated + by the erection of the monument where Charity Royall, every Tuesday and + Thursday afternoon, sat at her desk under a freckled steel engraving of + the deceased author, and wondered if he felt any deader in his grave than + she did in his library. + </p> + <p> + Entering her prison-house with a listless step she took off her hat, hung + it on a plaster bust of Minerva, opened the shutters, leaned out to see if + there were any eggs in the swallow's nest above one of the windows, and + finally, seating herself behind the desk, drew out a roll of cotton lace + and a steel crochet hook. She was not an expert workwoman, and it had + taken her many weeks to make the half-yard of narrow lace which she kept + wound about the buckram back of a disintegrated copy of “The Lamplighter.” + But there was no other way of getting any lace to trim her summer blouse, + and since Ally Hawes, the poorest girl in the village, had shown herself + in church with enviable transparencies about the shoulders, Charity's hook + had travelled faster. She unrolled the lace, dug the hook into a loop, and + bent to the task with furrowed brows. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly the door opened, and before she had raised her eyes she knew that + the young man she had seen going in at the Hatchard gate had entered the + library. + </p> + <p> + Without taking any notice of her he began to move slowly about the long + vault-like room, his hands behind his back, his short-sighted eyes peering + up and down the rows of rusty bindings. At length he reached the desk and + stood before her. + </p> + <p> + “Have you a card-catalogue?” he asked in a pleasant abrupt voice; and the + oddness of the question caused her to drop her work. + </p> + <p> + “A WHAT?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, you know——” He broke off, and she became conscious that + he was looking at her for the first time, having apparently, on his + entrance, included her in his general short-sighted survey as part of the + furniture of the library. + </p> + <p> + The fact that, in discovering her, he lost the thread of his remark, did + not escape her attention, and she looked down and smiled. He smiled also. + </p> + <p> + “No, I don't suppose you do know,” he corrected himself. “In fact, it + would be almost a pity——” + </p> + <p> + She thought she detected a slight condescension in his tone, and asked + sharply: “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Because it's so much pleasanter, in a small library like this, to poke + about by one's self—with the help of the librarian.” + </p> + <p> + He added the last phrase so respectfully that she was mollified, and + rejoined with a sigh: “I'm afraid I can't help you much.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” he questioned in his turn; and she replied that there weren't many + books anyhow, and that she'd hardly read any of them. “The worms are + getting at them,” she added gloomily. + </p> + <p> + “Are they? That's a pity, for I see there are some good ones.” He seemed + to have lost interest in their conversation, and strolled away again, + apparently forgetting her. His indifference nettled her, and she picked up + her work, resolved not to offer him the least assistance. Apparently he + did not need it, for he spent a long time with his back to her, lifting + down, one after another, the tall cob-webby volumes from a distant shelf. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I say!” he exclaimed; and looking up she saw that he had drawn out + his handkerchief and was carefully wiping the edges of the book in his + hand. The action struck her as an unwarranted criticism on her care of the + books, and she said irritably: “It's not my fault if they're dirty.” + </p> + <p> + He turned around and looked at her with reviving interest. “Ah—then + you're not the librarian?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course I am; but I can't dust all these books. Besides, nobody ever + looks at them, now Miss Hatchard's too lame to come round.” + </p> + <p> + “No, I suppose not.” He laid down the book he had been wiping, and stood + considering her in silence. She wondered if Miss Hatchard had sent him + round to pry into the way the library was looked after, and the suspicion + increased her resentment. “I saw you going into her house just now, didn't + I?” she asked, with the New England avoidance of the proper name. She was + determined to find out why he was poking about among her books. + </p> + <p> + “Miss Hatchard's house? Yes—she's my cousin and I'm staying there,” + the young man answered; adding, as if to disarm a visible distrust: “My + name is Harney—Lucius Harney. She may have spoken of me.” + </p> + <p> + “No, she hasn't,” said Charity, wishing she could have said: “Yes, she + has.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well——” said Miss Hatchard's cousin with a laugh; and + after another pause, during which it occurred to Charity that her answer + had not been encouraging, he remarked: “You don't seem strong on + architecture.” + </p> + <p> + Her bewilderment was complete: the more she wished to appear to understand + him the more unintelligible his remarks became. He reminded her of the + gentleman who had “explained” the pictures at Nettleton, and the weight of + her ignorance settled down on her again like a pall. + </p> + <p> + “I mean, I can't see that you have any books on the old houses about here. + I suppose, for that matter, this part of the country hasn't been much + explored. They all go on doing Plymouth and Salem. So stupid. My cousin's + house, now, is remarkable. This place must have had a past—it must + have been more of a place once.” He stopped short, with the blush of a shy + man who overhears himself, and fears he has been voluble. “I'm an + architect, you see, and I'm hunting up old houses in these parts.” + </p> + <p> + She stared. “Old houses? Everything's old in North Dormer, isn't it? The + folks are, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + He laughed, and wandered away again. + </p> + <p> + “Haven't you any kind of a history of the place? I think there was one + written about 1840: a book or pamphlet about its first settlement,” he + presently said from the farther end of the room. + </p> + <p> + She pressed her crochet hook against her lip and pondered. There was such + a work, she knew: “North Dormer and the Early Townships of Eagle County.” + She had a special grudge against it because it was a limp weakly book that + was always either falling off the shelf or slipping back and disappearing + if one squeezed it in between sustaining volumes. She remembered, the last + time she had picked it up, wondering how anyone could have taken the + trouble to write a book about North Dormer and its neighbours: Dormer, + Hamblin, Creston and Creston River. She knew them all, mere lost clusters + of houses in the folds of the desolate ridges: Dormer, where North Dormer + went for its apples; Creston River, where there used to be a paper-mill, + and its grey walls stood decaying by the stream; and Hamblin, where the + first snow always fell. Such were their titles to fame. + </p> + <p> + She got up and began to move about vaguely before the shelves. But she had + no idea where she had last put the book, and something told her that it + was going to play her its usual trick and remain invisible. It was not one + of her lucky days. + </p> + <p> + “I guess it's somewhere,” she said, to prove her zeal; but she spoke + without conviction, and felt that her words conveyed none. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well——” he said again. She knew he was going, and wished + more than ever to find the book. + </p> + <p> + “It will be for next time,” he added; and picking up the volume he had + laid on the desk he handed it to her. “By the way, a little air and sun + would do this good; it's rather valuable.” + </p> + <p> + He gave her a nod and smile, and passed out. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II + </h2> + <p> + The hours of the Hatchard Memorial librarian were from three to five; and + Charity Royall's sense of duty usually kept her at her desk until nearly + half-past four. + </p> + <p> + But she had never perceived that any practical advantage thereby accrued + either to North Dormer or to herself; and she had no scruple in decreeing, + when it suited her, that the library should close an hour earlier. A few + minutes after Mr. Harney's departure she formed this decision, put away + her lace, fastened the shutters, and turned the key in the door of the + temple of knowledge. + </p> + <p> + The street upon which she emerged was still empty: and after glancing up + and down it she began to walk toward her house. But instead of entering + she passed on, turned into a field-path and mounted to a pasture on the + hillside. She let down the bars of the gate, followed a trail along the + crumbling wall of the pasture, and walked on till she reached a knoll + where a clump of larches shook out their fresh tassels to the wind. There + she lay down on the slope, tossed off her hat and hid her face in the + grass. + </p> + <p> + She was blind and insensible to many things, and dimly knew it; but to all + that was light and air, perfume and colour, every drop of blood in her + responded. She loved the roughness of the dry mountain grass under her + palms, the smell of the thyme into which she crushed her face, the + fingering of the wind in her hair and through her cotton blouse, and the + creak of the larches as they swayed to it. + </p> + <p> + She often climbed up the hill and lay there alone for the mere pleasure of + feeling the wind and of rubbing her cheeks in the grass. Generally at such + times she did not think of anything, but lay immersed in an inarticulate + well-being. Today the sense of well-being was intensified by her joy at + escaping from the library. She liked well enough to have a friend drop in + and talk to her when she was on duty, but she hated to be bothered about + books. How could she remember where they were, when they were so seldom + asked for? Orma Fry occasionally took out a novel, and her brother Ben was + fond of what he called “jography,” and of books relating to trade and + bookkeeping; but no one else asked for anything except, at intervals, + “Uncle Tom's Cabin,” or “Opening of a Chestnut Burr,” or Longfellow. She + had these under her hand, and could have found them in the dark; but + unexpected demands came so rarely that they exasperated her like an + injustice.... + </p> + <p> + She had liked the young man's looks, and his short-sighted eyes, and his + odd way of speaking, that was abrupt yet soft, just as his hands were + sun-burnt and sinewy, yet with smooth nails like a woman's. His hair was + sunburnt-looking too, or rather the colour of bracken after frost; his + eyes grey, with the appealing look of the shortsighted, his smile shy yet + confident, as if he knew lots of things she had never dreamed of, and yet + wouldn't for the world have had her feel his superiority. But she did feel + it, and liked the feeling; for it was new to her. Poor and ignorant as she + was, and knew herself to be—humblest of the humble even in North + Dormer, where to come from the Mountain was the worst disgrace—yet + in her narrow world she had always ruled. It was partly, of course, owing + to the fact that lawyer Royall was “the biggest man in North Dormer”; so + much too big for it, in fact, that outsiders, who didn't know, always + wondered how it held him. In spite of everything—and in spite even + of Miss Hatchard—lawyer Royall ruled in North Dormer; and Charity + ruled in lawyer Royall's house. She had never put it to herself in those + terms; but she knew her power, knew what it was made of, and hated it. + Confusedly, the young man in the library had made her feel for the first + time what might be the sweetness of dependence. + </p> + <p> + She sat up, brushed the bits of grass from her hair, and looked down on + the house where she held sway. It stood just below her, cheerless and + untended, its faded red front divided from the road by a “yard” with a + path bordered by gooseberry bushes, a stone well overgrown with + traveller's joy, and a sickly Crimson Rambler tied to a fan-shaped + support, which Mr. Royall had once brought up from Hepburn to please her. + Behind the house a bit of uneven ground with clothes-lines strung across + it stretched up to a dry wall, and beyond the wall a patch of corn and a + few rows of potatoes strayed vaguely into the adjoining wilderness of rock + and fern. + </p> + <p> + Charity could not recall her first sight of the house. She had been told + that she was ill of a fever when she was brought down from the Mountain; + and she could only remember waking one day in a cot at the foot of Mrs. + Royall's bed, and opening her eyes on the cold neatness of the room that + was afterward to be hers. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Royall died seven or eight years later; and by that time Charity had + taken the measure of most things about her. She knew that Mrs. Royall was + sad and timid and weak; she knew that lawyer Royall was harsh and violent, + and still weaker. She knew that she had been christened Charity (in the + white church at the other end of the village) to commemorate Mr. Royall's + disinterestedness in “bringing her down,” and to keep alive in her a + becoming sense of her dependence; she knew that Mr. Royall was her + guardian, but that he had not legally adopted her, though everybody spoke + of her as Charity Royall; and she knew why he had come back to live at + North Dormer, instead of practising at Nettleton, where he had begun his + legal career. + </p> + <p> + After Mrs. Royall's death there was some talk of sending her to a + boarding-school. Miss Hatchard suggested it, and had a long conference + with Mr. Royall, who, in pursuance of her plan, departed one day for + Starkfield to visit the institution she recommended. He came back the next + night with a black face; worse, Charity observed, than she had ever seen + him; and by that time she had had some experience. + </p> + <p> + When she asked him how soon she was to start he answered shortly, “You + ain't going,” and shut himself up in the room he called his office; and + the next day the lady who kept the school at Starkfield wrote that “under + the circumstances” she was afraid she could not make room just then for + another pupil. + </p> + <p> + Charity was disappointed; but she understood. It wasn't the temptations of + Starkfield that had been Mr. Royall's undoing; it was the thought of + losing her. He was a dreadfully “lonesome” man; she had made that out + because she was so “lonesome” herself. He and she, face to face in that + sad house, had sounded the depths of isolation; and though she felt no + particular affection for him, and not the slightest gratitude, she pitied + him because she was conscious that he was superior to the people about + him, and that she was the only being between him and solitude. Therefore, + when Miss Hatchard sent for her a day or two later, to talk of a school at + Nettleton, and to say that this time a friend of hers would “make the + necessary arrangements,” Charity cut her short with the announcement that + she had decided not to leave North Dormer. + </p> + <p> + Miss Hatchard reasoned with her kindly, but to no purpose; she simply + repeated: “I guess Mr. Royall's too lonesome.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Hatchard blinked perplexedly behind her eye-glasses. Her long frail + face was full of puzzled wrinkles, and she leant forward, resting her + hands on the arms of her mahogany armchair, with the evident desire to say + something that ought to be said. + </p> + <p> + “The feeling does you credit, my dear.” + </p> + <p> + She looked about the pale walls of her sitting-room, seeking counsel of + ancestral daguerreotypes and didactic samplers; but they seemed to make + utterance more difficult. + </p> + <p> + “The fact is, it's not only—not only because of the advantages. + There are other reasons. You're too young to understand——” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no, I ain't,” said Charity harshly; and Miss Hatchard blushed to the + roots of her blonde cap. But she must have felt a vague relief at having + her explanation cut short, for she concluded, again invoking the + daguerreotypes: “Of course I shall always do what I can for you; and in + case... in case... you know you can always come to me....” + </p> + <p> + Lawyer Royall was waiting for Charity in the porch when she returned from + this visit. He had shaved, and brushed his black coat, and looked a + magnificent monument of a man; at such moments she really admired him. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said, “is it settled?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, it's settled. I ain't going.” + </p> + <p> + “Not to the Nettleton school?” + </p> + <p> + “Not anywhere.” + </p> + <p> + He cleared his throat and asked sternly: “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “I'd rather not,” she said, swinging past him on her way to her room. It + was the following week that he brought her up the Crimson Rambler and its + fan from Hepburn. He had never given her anything before. + </p> + <p> + The next outstanding incident of her life had happened two years later, + when she was seventeen. Lawyer Royall, who hated to go to Nettleton, had + been called there in connection with a case. He still exercised his + profession, though litigation languished in North Dormer and its outlying + hamlets; and for once he had had an opportunity that he could not afford + to refuse. He spent three days in Nettleton, won his case, and came back + in high good-humour. It was a rare mood with him, and manifested itself on + this occasion by his talking impressively at the supper-table of the + “rousing welcome” his old friends had given him. He wound up + confidentially: “I was a damn fool ever to leave Nettleton. It was Mrs. + Royall that made me do it.” + </p> + <p> + Charity immediately perceived that something bitter had happened to him, + and that he was trying to talk down the recollection. She went up to bed + early, leaving him seated in moody thought, his elbows propped on the worn + oilcloth of the supper table. On the way up she had extracted from his + overcoat pocket the key of the cupboard where the bottle of whiskey was + kept. + </p> + <p> + She was awakened by a rattling at her door and jumped out of bed. She + heard Mr. Royall's voice, low and peremptory, and opened the door, fearing + an accident. No other thought had occurred to her; but when she saw him in + the doorway, a ray from the autumn moon falling on his discomposed face, + she understood. + </p> + <p> + For a moment they looked at each other in silence; then, as he put his + foot across the threshold, she stretched out her arm and stopped him. + </p> + <p> + “You go right back from here,” she said, in a shrill voice that startled + her; “you ain't going to have that key tonight.” + </p> + <p> + “Charity, let me in. I don't want the key. I'm a lonesome man,” he began, + in the deep voice that sometimes moved her. + </p> + <p> + Her heart gave a startled plunge, but she continued to hold him back + contemptuously. “Well, I guess you made a mistake, then. This ain't your + wife's room any longer.” + </p> + <p> + She was not frightened, she simply felt a deep disgust; and perhaps he + divined it or read it in her face, for after staring at her a moment he + drew back and turned slowly away from the door. With her ear to her + keyhole she heard him feel his way down the dark stairs, and toward the + kitchen; and she listened for the crash of the cupboard panel, but instead + she heard him, after an interval, unlock the door of the house, and his + heavy steps came to her through the silence as he walked down the path. + She crept to the window and saw his bent figure striding up the road in + the moonlight. Then a belated sense of fear came to her with the + consciousness of victory, and she slipped into bed, cold to the bone. + </p> + <p> + A day or two later poor Eudora Skeff, who for twenty years had been the + custodian of the Hatchard library, died suddenly of pneumonia; and the day + after the funeral Charity went to see Miss Hatchard, and asked to be + appointed librarian. The request seemed to surprise Miss Hatchard: she + evidently questioned the new candidate's qualifications. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I don't know, my dear. Aren't you rather too young?” she hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “I want to earn some money,” Charity merely answered. + </p> + <p> + “Doesn't Mr. Royall give you all you require? No one is rich in North + Dormer.” + </p> + <p> + “I want to earn money enough to get away.” + </p> + <p> + “To get away?” Miss Hatchard's puzzled wrinkles deepened, and there was a + distressful pause. “You want to leave Mr. Royall?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes: or I want another woman in the house with me,” said Charity + resolutely. + </p> + <p> + Miss Hatchard clasped her nervous hands about the arms of her chair. Her + eyes invoked the faded countenances on the wall, and after a faint cough + of indecision she brought out: “The... the housework's too hard for you, I + suppose?” + </p> + <p> + Charity's heart grew cold. She understood that Miss Hatchard had no help + to give her and that she would have to fight her way out of her difficulty + alone. A deeper sense of isolation overcame her; she felt incalculably + old. “She's got to be talked to like a baby,” she thought, with a feeling + of compassion for Miss Hatchard's long immaturity. “Yes, that's it,” she + said aloud. “The housework's too hard for me: I've been coughing a good + deal this fall.” + </p> + <p> + She noted the immediate effect of this suggestion. Miss Hatchard paled at + the memory of poor Eudora's taking-off, and promised to do what she could. + But of course there were people she must consult: the clergyman, the + selectmen of North Dormer, and a distant Hatchard relative at Springfield. + “If you'd only gone to school!” she sighed. She followed Charity to the + door, and there, in the security of the threshold, said with a glance of + evasive appeal: “I know Mr. Royall is... trying at times; but his wife + bore with him; and you must always remember, Charity, that it was Mr. + Royall who brought you down from the Mountain.” Charity went home and + opened the door of Mr. Royall's “office.” He was sitting there by the + stove reading Daniel Webster's speeches. They had met at meals during the + five days that had elapsed since he had come to her door, and she had + walked at his side at Eudora's funeral; but they had not spoken a word to + each other. + </p> + <p> + He glanced up in surprise as she entered, and she noticed that he was + unshaved, and that he looked unusually old; but as she had always thought + of him as an old man the change in his appearance did not move her. She + told him she had been to see Miss Hatchard, and with what object. She saw + that he was astonished; but he made no comment. + </p> + <p> + “I told her the housework was too hard for me, and I wanted to earn the + money to pay for a hired girl. But I ain't going to pay for her: you've + got to. I want to have some money of my own.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall's bushy black eyebrows were drawn together in a frown, and he + sat drumming with ink-stained nails on the edge of his desk. + </p> + <p> + “What do you want to earn money for?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “So's to get away when I want to.” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you want to get away?” + </p> + <p> + Her contempt flashed out. “Do you suppose anybody'd stay at North Dormer + if they could help it? You wouldn't, folks say!” + </p> + <p> + With lowered head he asked: “Where'd you go to?” + </p> + <p> + “Anywhere where I can earn my living. I'll try here first, and if I can't + do it here I'll go somewhere else. I'll go up the Mountain if I have to.” + She paused on this threat, and saw that it had taken effect. “I want you + should get Miss Hatchard and the selectmen to take me at the library: and + I want a woman here in the house with me,” she repeated. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall had grown exceedingly pale. When she ended he stood up + ponderously, leaning against the desk; and for a second or two they looked + at each other. + </p> + <p> + “See here,” he said at length as though utterance were difficult, “there's + something I've been wanting to say to you; I'd ought to have said it + before. I want you to marry me.” + </p> + <p> + The girl still stared at him without moving. “I want you to marry me,” he + repeated, clearing his throat. “The minister'll be up here next Sunday and + we can fix it up then. Or I'll drive you down to Hepburn to the Justice, + and get it done there. I'll do whatever you say.” His eyes fell under the + merciless stare she continued to fix on him, and he shifted his weight + uneasily from one foot to the other. As he stood there before her, + unwieldy, shabby, disordered, the purple veins distorting the hands he + pressed against the desk, and his long orator's jaw trembling with the + effort of his avowal, he seemed like a hideous parody of the fatherly old + man she had always known. + </p> + <p> + “Marry you? Me?” she burst out with a scornful laugh. “Was that what you + came to ask me the other night? What's come over you, I wonder? How long + is it since you've looked at yourself in the glass?” She straightened + herself, insolently conscious of her youth and strength. “I suppose you + think it would be cheaper to marry me than to keep a hired girl. Everybody + knows you're the closest man in Eagle County; but I guess you're not going + to get your mending done for you that way twice.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall did not move while she spoke. His face was ash-coloured and his + black eyebrows quivered as though the blaze of her scorn had blinded him. + When she ceased he held up his hand. + </p> + <p> + “That'll do—that'll about do,” he said. He turned to the door and + took his hat from the hat-peg. On the threshold he paused. “People ain't + been fair to me—from the first they ain't been fair to me,” he said. + Then he went out. + </p> + <p> + A few days later North Dormer learned with surprise that Charity had been + appointed librarian of the Hatchard Memorial at a salary of eight dollars + a month, and that old Verena Marsh, from the Creston Almshouse, was coming + to live at lawyer Royall's and do the cooking. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III + </h2> + <p> + It was not in the room known at the red house as Mr. Royall's “office” + that he received his infrequent clients. Professional dignity and + masculine independence made it necessary that he should have a real + office, under a different roof; and his standing as the only lawyer of + North Dormer required that the roof should be the same as that which + sheltered the Town Hall and the post-office. + </p> + <p> + It was his habit to walk to this office twice a day, morning and + afternoon. It was on the ground floor of the building, with a separate + entrance, and a weathered name-plate on the door. Before going in he + stepped in to the post-office for his mail—usually an empty ceremony—said + a word or two to the town-clerk, who sat across the passage in idle state, + and then went over to the store on the opposite corner, where Carrick Fry, + the storekeeper, always kept a chair for him, and where he was sure to + find one or two selectmen leaning on the long counter, in an atmosphere of + rope, leather, tar and coffee-beans. Mr. Royall, though monosyllabic at + home, was not averse, in certain moods, to imparting his views to his + fellow-townsmen; perhaps, also, he was unwilling that his rare clients + should surprise him sitting, clerkless and unoccupied, in his dusty + office. At any rate, his hours there were not much longer or more regular + than Charity's at the library; the rest of the time he spent either at the + store or in driving about the country on business connected with the + insurance companies that he represented, or in sitting at home reading + Bancroft's History of the United States and the speeches of Daniel + Webster. + </p> + <p> + Since the day when Charity had told him that she wished to succeed to + Eudora Skeff's post their relations had undefinably but definitely + changed. Lawyer Royall had kept his word. He had obtained the place for + her at the cost of considerable maneuvering, as she guessed from the + number of rival candidates, and from the acerbity with which two of them, + Orma Fry and the eldest Targatt girl, treated her for nearly a year + afterward. And he had engaged Verena Marsh to come up from Creston and do + the cooking. Verena was a poor old widow, doddering and shiftless: Charity + suspected that she came for her keep. Mr. Royall was too close a man to + give a dollar a day to a smart girl when he could get a deaf pauper for + nothing. But at any rate, Verena was there, in the attic just over + Charity, and the fact that she was deaf did not greatly trouble the young + girl. + </p> + <p> + Charity knew that what had happened on that hateful night would not happen + again. She understood that, profoundly as she had despised Mr. Royall ever + since, he despised himself still more profoundly. If she had asked for a + woman in the house it was far less for her own defense than for his + humiliation. She needed no one to defend her: his humbled pride was her + surest protection. He had never spoken a word of excuse or extenuation; + the incident was as if it had never been. Yet its consequences were latent + in every word that he and she exchanged, in every glance they + instinctively turned from each other. Nothing now would ever shake her + rule in the red house. + </p> + <p> + On the night of her meeting with Miss Hatchard's cousin Charity lay in + bed, her bare arms clasped under her rough head, and continued to think of + him. She supposed that he meant to spend some time in North Dormer. He had + said he was looking up the old houses in the neighbourhood; and though she + was not very clear as to his purpose, or as to why anyone should look for + old houses, when they lay in wait for one on every roadside, she + understood that he needed the help of books, and resolved to hunt up the + next day the volume she had failed to find, and any others that seemed + related to the subject. + </p> + <p> + Never had her ignorance of life and literature so weighed on her as in + reliving the short scene of her discomfiture. “It's no use trying to be + anything in this place,” she muttered to her pillow; and she shrivelled at + the vision of vague metropolises, shining super-Nettletons, where girls in + better clothes than Belle Balch's talked fluently of architecture to young + men with hands like Lucius Harney's. Then she remembered his sudden pause + when he had come close to the desk and had his first look at her. The + sight had made him forget what he was going to say; she recalled the + change in his face, and jumping up she ran over the bare boards to her + washstand, found the matches, lit a candle, and lifted it to the square of + looking-glass on the white-washed wall. Her small face, usually so darkly + pale, glowed like a rose in the faint orb of light, and under her rumpled + hair her eyes seemed deeper and larger than by day. Perhaps after all it + was a mistake to wish they were blue. A clumsy band and button fastened + her unbleached night-gown about the throat. She undid it, freed her thin + shoulders, and saw herself a bride in low-necked satin, walking down an + aisle with Lucius Harney. He would kiss her as they left the church.... + She put down the candle and covered her face with her hands as if to + imprison the kiss. At that moment she heard Mr. Royall's step as he came + up the stairs to bed, and a fierce revulsion of feeling swept over her. + Until then she had merely despised him; now deep hatred of him filled her + heart. He became to her a horrible old man.... + </p> + <p> + The next day, when Mr. Royall came back to dinner, they faced each other + in silence as usual. Verena's presence at the table was an excuse for + their not talking, though her deafness would have permitted the freest + interchange of confidences. But when the meal was over, and Mr. Royall + rose from the table, he looked back at Charity, who had stayed to help the + old woman clear away the dishes. + </p> + <p> + “I want to speak to you a minute,” he said; and she followed him across + the passage, wondering. + </p> + <p> + He seated himself in his black horse-hair armchair, and she leaned against + the window, indifferently. She was impatient to be gone to the library, to + hunt for the book on North Dormer. + </p> + <p> + “See here,” he said, “why ain't you at the library the days you're + supposed to be there?” + </p> + <p> + The question, breaking in on her mood of blissful abstraction, deprived + her of speech, and she stared at him for a moment without answering. + </p> + <p> + “Who says I ain't?” + </p> + <p> + “There's been some complaints made, it appears. Miss Hatchard sent for me + this morning——” + </p> + <p> + Charity's smouldering resentment broke into a blaze. “I know! Orma Fry, + and that toad of a Targatt girl and Ben Fry, like as not. He's going round + with her. The low-down sneaks—I always knew they'd try to have me + out! As if anybody ever came to the library, anyhow!” + </p> + <p> + “Somebody did yesterday, and you weren't there.” + </p> + <p> + “Yesterday?” she laughed at her happy recollection. “At what time wasn't I + there yesterday, I'd like to know?” + </p> + <p> + “Round about four o'clock.” + </p> + <p> + Charity was silent. She had been so steeped in the dreamy remembrance of + young Harney's visit that she had forgotten having deserted her post as + soon as he had left the library. + </p> + <p> + “Who came at four o'clock?” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Hatchard did.” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Hatchard? Why, she ain't ever been near the place since she's been + lame. She couldn't get up the steps if she tried.” + </p> + <p> + “She can be helped up, I guess. She was yesterday, anyhow, by the young + fellow that's staying with her. He found you there, I understand, earlier + in the afternoon; and he went back and told Miss Hatchard the books were + in bad shape and needed attending to. She got excited, and had herself + wheeled straight round; and when she got there the place was locked. So + she sent for me, and told me about that, and about the other complaints. + She claims you've neglected things, and that she's going to get a trained + librarian.” + </p> + <p> + Charity had not moved while he spoke. She stood with her head thrown back + against the window-frame, her arms hanging against her sides, and her + hands so tightly clenched that she felt, without knowing what hurt her, + the sharp edge of her nails against her palms. + </p> + <p> + Of all Mr. Royall had said she had retained only the phrase: “He told Miss + Hatchard the books were in bad shape.” What did she care for the other + charges against her? Malice or truth, she despised them as she despised + her detractors. But that the stranger to whom she had felt herself so + mysteriously drawn should have betrayed her! That at the very moment when + she had fled up the hillside to think of him more deliciously he should + have been hastening home to denounce her short-comings! She remembered + how, in the darkness of her room, she had covered her face to press his + imagined kiss closer; and her heart raged against him for the liberty he + had not taken. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'll go,” she said suddenly. “I'll go right off.” + </p> + <p> + “Go where?” She heard the startled note in Mr. Royall's voice. + </p> + <p> + “Why, out of their old library: straight out, and never set foot in it + again. They needn't think I'm going to wait round and let them say they've + discharged me!” + </p> + <p> + “Charity—Charity Royall, you listen——” he began, getting + heavily out of his chair; but she waved him aside, and walked out of the + room. + </p> + <p> + Upstairs she took the library key from the place where she always hid it + under her pincushion—who said she wasn't careful?—put on her + hat, and swept down again and out into the street. If Mr. Royall heard her + go he made no motion to detain her: his sudden rages probably made him + understand the uselessness of reasoning with hers. + </p> + <p> + She reached the brick temple, unlocked the door and entered into the + glacial twilight. “I'm glad I'll never have to sit in this old vault again + when other folks are out in the sun!” she said aloud as the familiar chill + took her. She looked with abhorrence at the long dingy rows of books, the + sheep-nosed Minerva on her black pedestal, and the mild-faced young man in + a high stock whose effigy pined above her desk. She meant to take out of + the drawer her roll of lace and the library register, and go straight to + Miss Hatchard to announce her resignation. But suddenly a great desolation + overcame her, and she sat down and laid her face against the desk. Her + heart was ravaged by life's cruelest discovery: the first creature who had + come toward her out of the wilderness had brought her anguish instead of + joy. She did not cry; tears came hard to her, and the storms of her heart + spent themselves inwardly. But as she sat there in her dumb woe she felt + her life to be too desolate, too ugly and intolerable. + </p> + <p> + “What have I ever done to it, that it should hurt me so?” she groaned, and + pressed her fists against her lids, which were beginning to swell with + weeping. + </p> + <p> + “I won't—I won't go there looking like a horror!” she muttered, + springing up and pushing back her hair as if it stifled her. She opened + the drawer, dragged out the register, and turned toward the door. As she + did so it opened, and the young man from Miss Hatchard's came in + whistling. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + He stopped and lifted his hat with a shy smile. “I beg your pardon,” he + said. “I thought there was no one here.” + </p> + <p> + Charity stood before him, barring his way. “You can't come in. The library + ain't open to the public Wednesdays.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it's not; but my cousin gave me her key.” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Hatchard's got no right to give her key to other folks, any more'n I + have. I'm the librarian and I know the by-laws. This is my library.” + </p> + <p> + The young man looked profoundly surprised. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I know it is; I'm so sorry if you mind my coming.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you came to see what more you could say to set her against me? + But you needn't trouble: it's my library today, but it won't be this time + tomorrow. I'm on the way now to take her back the key and the register.” + </p> + <p> + Young Harney's face grew grave, but without betraying the consciousness of + guilt she had looked for. + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand,” he said. “There must be some mistake. Why should I + say things against you to Miss Hatchard—or to anyone?” + </p> + <p> + The apparent evasiveness of the reply caused Charity's indignation to + overflow. “I don't know why you should. I could understand Orma Fry's + doing it, because she's always wanted to get me out of here ever since the + first day. I can't see why, when she's got her own home, and her father to + work for her; nor Ida Targatt, neither, when she got a legacy from her + step-brother on'y last year. But anyway we all live in the same place, and + when it's a place like North Dormer it's enough to make people hate each + other just to have to walk down the same street every day. But you don't + live here, and you don't know anything about any of us, so what did you + have to meddle for? Do you suppose the other girls'd have kept the books + any better'n I did? Why, Orma Fry don't hardly know a book from a + flat-iron! And what if I don't always sit round here doing nothing till it + strikes five up at the church? Who cares if the library's open or shut? Do + you suppose anybody ever comes here for books? What they'd like to come + for is to meet the fellows they're going with if I'd let 'em. But I + wouldn't let Bill Sollas from over the hill hang round here waiting for + the youngest Targatt girl, because I know him... that's all... even if I + don't know about books all I ought to....” + </p> + <p> + She stopped with a choking in her throat. Tremors of rage were running + through her, and she steadied herself against the edge of the desk lest he + should see her weakness. + </p> + <p> + What he saw seemed to affect him deeply, for he grew red under his + sunburn, and stammered out: “But, Miss Royall, I assure you... I assure + you....” + </p> + <p> + His distress inflamed her anger, and she regained her voice to fling back: + “If I was you I'd have the nerve to stick to what I said!” + </p> + <p> + The taunt seemed to restore his presence of mind. “I hope I should if I + knew; but I don't. Apparently something disagreeable has happened, for + which you think I'm to blame. But I don't know what it is, because I've + been up on Eagle Ridge ever since the early morning.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know where you've been this morning, but I know you were here in + this library yesterday; and it was you that went home and told your cousin + the books were in bad shape, and brought her round to see how I'd + neglected them.” + </p> + <p> + Young Harney looked sincerely concerned. “Was that what you were told? I + don't wonder you're angry. The books are in bad shape, and as some are + interesting it's a pity. I told Miss Hatchard they were suffering from + dampness and lack of air; and I brought her here to show her how easily + the place could be ventilated. I also told her you ought to have some one + to help you do the dusting and airing. If you were given a wrong version + of what I said I'm sorry; but I'm so fond of old books that I'd rather see + them made into a bonfire than left to moulder away like these.” + </p> + <p> + Charity felt her sobs rising and tried to stifle them in words. “I don't + care what you say you told her. All I know is she thinks it's all my + fault, and I'm going to lose my job, and I wanted it more'n anyone in the + village, because I haven't got anybody belonging to me, the way other + folks have. All I wanted was to put aside money enough to get away from + here sometime. D'you suppose if it hadn't been for that I'd have kept on + sitting day after day in this old vault?” + </p> + <p> + Of this appeal her hearer took up only the last question. “It is an old + vault; but need it be? That's the point. And it's my putting the question + to my cousin that seems to have been the cause of the trouble.” His glance + explored the melancholy penumbra of the long narrow room, resting on the + blotched walls, the discoloured rows of books, and the stern rosewood desk + surmounted by the portrait of the young Honorius. “Of course it's a bad + job to do anything with a building jammed against a hill like this + ridiculous mausoleum: you couldn't get a good draught through it without + blowing a hole in the mountain. But it can be ventilated after a fashion, + and the sun can be let in: I'll show you how if you like....” The + architect's passion for improvement had already made him lose sight of her + grievance, and he lifted his stick instructively toward the cornice. But + her silence seemed to tell him that she took no interest in the + ventilation of the library, and turning back to her abruptly he held out + both hands. “Look here—you don't mean what you said? You don't + really think I'd do anything to hurt you?” + </p> + <p> + A new note in his voice disarmed her: no one had ever spoken to her in + that tone. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, what DID you do it for then?” she wailed. He had her hands in his, + and she was feeling the smooth touch that she had imagined the day before + on the hillside. + </p> + <p> + He pressed her hands lightly and let them go. “Why, to make things + pleasanter for you here; and better for the books. I'm sorry if my cousin + twisted around what I said. She's excitable, and she lives on trifles: I + ought to have remembered that. Don't punish me by letting her think you + take her seriously.” + </p> + <p> + It was wonderful to hear him speak of Miss Hatchard as if she were a + querulous baby: in spite of his shyness he had the air of power that the + experience of cities probably gave. It was the fact of having lived in + Nettleton that made lawyer Royall, in spite of his infirmities, the + strongest man in North Dormer; and Charity was sure that this young man + had lived in bigger places than Nettleton. + </p> + <p> + She felt that if she kept up her denunciatory tone he would secretly class + her with Miss Hatchard; and the thought made her suddenly simple. + </p> + <p> + “It don't matter to Miss Hatchard how I take her. Mr. Royall says she's + going to get a trained librarian; and I'd sooner resign than have the + village say she sent me away.” + </p> + <p> + “Naturally you would. But I'm sure she doesn't mean to send you away. At + any rate, won't you give me the chance to find out first and let you know? + It will be time enough to resign if I'm mistaken.” + </p> + <p> + Her pride flamed into her cheeks at the suggestion of his intervening. “I + don't want anybody should coax her to keep me if I don't suit.” + </p> + <p> + He coloured too. “I give you my word I won't do that. Only wait till + tomorrow, will you?” He looked straight into her eyes with his shy grey + glance. “You can trust me, you know—you really can.” + </p> + <p> + All the old frozen woes seemed to melt in her, and she murmured awkwardly, + looking away from him: “Oh, I'll wait.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V + </h2> + <p> + There had never been such a June in Eagle County. Usually it was a month + of moods, with abrupt alternations of belated frost and mid-summer heat; + this year, day followed day in a sequence of temperate beauty. Every + morning a breeze blew steadily from the hills. Toward noon it built up + great canopies of white cloud that threw a cool shadow over fields and + woods; then before sunset the clouds dissolved again, and the western + light rained its unobstructed brightness on the valley. + </p> + <p> + On such an afternoon Charity Royall lay on a ridge above a sunlit hollow, + her face pressed to the earth and the warm currents of the grass running + through her. Directly in her line of vision a blackberry branch laid its + frail white flowers and blue-green leaves against the sky. Just beyond, a + tuft of sweet-fern uncurled between the beaded shoots of the grass, and a + small yellow butterfly vibrated over them like a fleck of sunshine. This + was all she saw; but she felt, above her and about her, the strong growth + of the beeches clothing the ridge, the rounding of pale green cones on + countless spruce-branches, the push of myriads of sweet-fern fronds in the + cracks of the stony slope below the wood, and the crowding shoots of + meadowsweet and yellow flags in the pasture beyond. All this bubbling of + sap and slipping of sheaths and bursting of calyxes was carried to her on + mingled currents of fragrance. Every leaf and bud and blade seemed to + contribute its exhalation to the pervading sweetness in which the pungency + of pine-sap prevailed over the spice of thyme and the subtle perfume of + fern, and all were merged in a moist earth-smell that was like the breath + of some huge sun-warmed animal. + </p> + <p> + Charity had lain there a long time, passive and sun-warmed as the slope on + which she lay, when there came between her eyes and the dancing butterfly + the sight of a man's foot in a large worn boot covered with red mud. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, don't!” she exclaimed, raising herself on her elbow and stretching + out a warning hand. + </p> + <p> + “Don't what?” a hoarse voice asked above her head. + </p> + <p> + “Don't stamp on those bramble flowers, you dolt!” she retorted, springing + to her knees. The foot paused and then descended clumsily on the frail + branch, and raising her eyes she saw above her the bewildered face of a + slouching man with a thin sunburnt beard, and white arms showing through + his ragged shirt. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you ever SEE anything, Liff Hyatt?” she assailed him, as he stood + before her with the look of a man who has stirred up a wasp's nest. + </p> + <p> + He grinned. “I seen you! That's what I come down for.” + </p> + <p> + “Down from where?” she questioned, stooping to gather up the petals his + foot had scattered. + </p> + <p> + He jerked his thumb toward the heights. “Been cutting down trees for Dan + Targatt.” + </p> + <p> + Charity sank back on her heels and looked at him musingly. She was not in + the least afraid of poor Liff Hyatt, though he “came from the Mountain,” + and some of the girls ran when they saw him. Among the more reasonable he + passed for a harmless creature, a sort of link between the mountain and + civilized folk, who occasionally came down and did a little wood cutting + for a farmer when hands were short. Besides, she knew the Mountain people + would never hurt her: Liff himself had told her so once when she was a + little girl, and had met him one day at the edge of lawyer Royall's + pasture. “They won't any of 'em touch you up there, f'ever you was to come + up.... But I don't s'pose you will,” he had added philosophically, looking + at her new shoes, and at the red ribbon that Mrs. Royall had tied in her + hair. + </p> + <p> + Charity had, in truth, never felt any desire to visit her birthplace. She + did not care to have it known that she was of the Mountain, and was shy of + being seen in talk with Liff Hyatt. But today she was not sorry to have + him appear. A great many things had happened to her since the day when + young Lucius Harney had entered the doors of the Hatchard Memorial, but + none, perhaps, so unforeseen as the fact of her suddenly finding it a + convenience to be on good terms with Liff Hyatt. She continued to look up + curiously at his freckled weather-beaten face, with feverish hollows below + the cheekbones and the pale yellow eyes of a harmless animal. “I wonder if + he's related to me?” she thought, with a shiver of disdain. + </p> + <p> + “Is there any folks living in the brown house by the swamp, up under + Porcupine?” she presently asked in an indifferent tone. + </p> + <p> + Liff Hyatt, for a while, considered her with surprise; then he scratched + his head and shifted his weight from one tattered sole to the other. + </p> + <p> + “There's always the same folks in the brown house,” he said with his vague + grin. + </p> + <p> + “They're from up your way, ain't they?” + </p> + <p> + “Their name's the same as mine,” he rejoined uncertainly. + </p> + <p> + Charity still held him with resolute eyes. “See here, I want to go there + some day and take a gentleman with me that's boarding with us. He's up in + these parts drawing pictures.” + </p> + <p> + She did not offer to explain this statement. It was too far beyond Liff + Hyatt's limitations for the attempt to be worth making. “He wants to see + the brown house, and go all over it,” she pursued. + </p> + <p> + Liff was still running his fingers perplexedly through his shock of + straw-colored hair. “Is it a fellow from the city?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. He draws pictures of things. He's down there now drawing the Bonner + house.” She pointed to a chimney just visible over the dip of the pasture + below the wood. + </p> + <p> + “The Bonner house?” Liff echoed incredulously. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. You won't understand—and it don't matter. All I say is: he's + going to the Hyatts' in a day or two.” + </p> + <p> + Liff looked more and more perplexed. “Bash is ugly sometimes in the + afternoons.” + </p> + <p> + She threw her head back, her eyes full on Hyatt's. “I'm coming too: you + tell him.” + </p> + <p> + “They won't none of them trouble you, the Hyatts won't. What d'you want a + take a stranger with you though?” + </p> + <p> + “I've told you, haven't I? You've got to tell Bash Hyatt.” + </p> + <p> + He looked away at the blue mountains on the horizon; then his gaze dropped + to the chimney-top below the pasture. + </p> + <p> + “He's down there now?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + He shifted his weight again, crossed his arms, and continued to survey the + distant landscape. “Well, so long,” he said at last, inconclusively; and + turning away he shambled up the hillside. From the ledge above her, he + paused to call down: “I wouldn't go there a Sunday”; then he clambered on + till the trees closed in on him. Presently, from high overhead, Charity + heard the ring of his axe. + </p> + <p> + She lay on the warm ridge, thinking of many things that the woodsman's + appearance had stirred up in her. She knew nothing of her early life, and + had never felt any curiosity about it: only a sullen reluctance to explore + the corner of her memory where certain blurred images lingered. But all + that had happened to her within the last few weeks had stirred her to the + sleeping depths. She had become absorbingly interesting to herself, and + everything that had to do with her past was illuminated by this sudden + curiosity. + </p> + <p> + She hated more than ever the fact of coming from the Mountain; but it was + no longer indifferent to her. Everything that in any way affected her was + alive and vivid: even the hateful things had grown interesting because + they were a part of herself. + </p> + <p> + “I wonder if Liff Hyatt knows who my mother was?” she mused; and it filled + her with a tremor of surprise to think that some woman who was once young + and slight, with quick motions of the blood like hers, had carried her in + her breast, and watched her sleeping. She had always thought of her mother + as so long dead as to be no more than a nameless pinch of earth; but now + it occurred to her that the once-young woman might be alive, and wrinkled + and elf-locked like the woman she had sometimes seen in the door of the + brown house that Lucius Harney wanted to draw. + </p> + <p> + The thought brought him back to the central point in her mind, and she + strayed away from the conjectures roused by Liff Hyatt's presence. + Speculations concerning the past could not hold her long when the present + was so rich, the future so rosy, and when Lucius Harney, a stone's throw + away, was bending over his sketch-book, frowning, calculating, measuring, + and then throwing his head back with the sudden smile that had shed its + brightness over everything. + </p> + <p> + She scrambled to her feet, but as she did so she saw him coming up the + pasture and dropped down on the grass to wait. When he was drawing and + measuring one of “his houses,” as she called them, she often strayed away + by herself into the woods or up the hillside. It was partly from shyness + that she did so: from a sense of inadequacy that came to her most + painfully when her companion, absorbed in his job, forgot her ignorance + and her inability to follow his least allusion, and plunged into a + monologue on art and life. To avoid the awkwardness of listening with a + blank face, and also to escape the surprised stare of the inhabitants of + the houses before which he would abruptly pull up their horse and open his + sketch-book, she slipped away to some spot from which, without being seen, + she could watch him at work, or at least look down on the house he was + drawing. She had not been displeased, at first, to have it known to North + Dormer and the neighborhood that she was driving Miss Hatchard's cousin + about the country in the buggy he had hired of lawyer Royall. She had + always kept to herself, contemptuously aloof from village love-making, + without exactly knowing whether her fierce pride was due to the sense of + her tainted origin, or whether she was reserving herself for a more + brilliant fate. Sometimes she envied the other girls their sentimental + preoccupations, their long hours of inarticulate philandering with one of + the few youths who still lingered in the village; but when she pictured + herself curling her hair or putting a new ribbon on her hat for Ben Fry or + one of the Sollas boys the fever dropped and she relapsed into + indifference. + </p> + <p> + Now she knew the meaning of her disdains and reluctances. She had learned + what she was worth when Lucius Harney, looking at her for the first time, + had lost the thread of his speech, and leaned reddening on the edge of her + desk. But another kind of shyness had been born in her: a terror of + exposing to vulgar perils the sacred treasure of her happiness. She was + not sorry to have the neighbors suspect her of “going with” a young man + from the city; but she did not want it known to all the countryside how + many hours of the long June days she spent with him. What she most feared + was that the inevitable comments should reach Mr. Royall. Charity was + instinctively aware that few things concerning her escaped the eyes of the + silent man under whose roof she lived; and in spite of the latitude which + North Dormer accorded to courting couples she had always felt that, on the + day when she showed too open a preference, Mr. Royall might, as she + phrased it, make her “pay for it.” How, she did not know; and her fear was + the greater because it was undefinable. If she had been accepting the + attentions of one of the village youths she would have been less + apprehensive: Mr. Royall could not prevent her marrying when she chose to. + But everybody knew that “going with a city fellow” was a different and + less straightforward affair: almost every village could show a victim of + the perilous venture. And her dread of Mr. Royall's intervention gave a + sharpened joy to the hours she spent with young Harney, and made her, at + the same time, shy of being too generally seen with him. + </p> + <p> + As he approached she rose to her knees, stretching her arms above her head + with the indolent gesture that was her way of expressing a profound + well-being. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to take you to that house up under Porcupine,” she announced. + </p> + <p> + “What house? Oh, yes; that ramshackle place near the swamp, with the + gipsy-looking people hanging about. It's curious that a house with traces + of real architecture should have been built in such a place. But the + people were a sulky-looking lot—do you suppose they'll let us in?” + </p> + <p> + “They'll do whatever I tell them,” she said with assurance. + </p> + <p> + He threw himself down beside her. “Will they?” he rejoined with a smile. + “Well, I should like to see what's left inside the house. And I should + like to have a talk with the people. Who was it who was telling me the + other day that they had come down from the Mountain?” + </p> + <p> + Charity shot a sideward look at him. It was the first time he had spoken + of the Mountain except as a feature of the landscape. What else did he + know about it, and about her relation to it? Her heart began to beat with + the fierce impulse of resistance which she instinctively opposed to every + imagined slight. + </p> + <p> + “The Mountain? I ain't afraid of the Mountain!” + </p> + <p> + Her tone of defiance seemed to escape him. He lay breast-down on the + grass, breaking off sprigs of thyme and pressing them against his lips. + Far off, above the folds of the nearer hills, the Mountain thrust itself + up menacingly against a yellow sunset. + </p> + <p> + “I must go up there some day: I want to see it,” he continued. + </p> + <p> + Her heart-beats slackened and she turned again to examine his profile. It + was innocent of all unfriendly intention. + </p> + <p> + “What'd you want to go up the Mountain for?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, it must be rather a curious place. There's a queer colony up there, + you know: sort of out-laws, a little independent kingdom. Of course you've + heard them spoken of; but I'm told they have nothing to do with the people + in the valleys—rather look down on them, in fact. I suppose they're + rough customers; but they must have a good deal of character.” + </p> + <p> + She did not quite know what he meant by having a good deal of character; + but his tone was expressive of admiration, and deepened her dawning + curiosity. It struck her now as strange that she knew so little about the + Mountain. She had never asked, and no one had ever offered to enlighten + her. North Dormer took the Mountain for granted, and implied its + disparagement by an intonation rather than by explicit criticism. + </p> + <p> + “It's queer, you know,” he continued, “that, just over there, on top of + that hill, there should be a handful of people who don't give a damn for + anybody.” + </p> + <p> + The words thrilled her. They seemed the clue to her own revolts and + defiances, and she longed to have him tell her more. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know much about them. Have they always been there?” + </p> + <p> + “Nobody seems to know exactly how long. Down at Creston they told me that + the first colonists are supposed to have been men who worked on the + railway that was built forty or fifty years ago between Springfield and + Nettleton. Some of them took to drink, or got into trouble with the + police, and went off—disappeared into the woods. A year or two later + there was a report that they were living up on the Mountain. Then I + suppose others joined them—and children were born. Now they say + there are over a hundred people up there. They seem to be quite outside + the jurisdiction of the valleys. No school, no church—and no sheriff + ever goes up to see what they're about. But don't people ever talk of them + at North Dormer?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know. They say they're bad.” + </p> + <p> + He laughed. “Do they? We'll go and see, shall we?” + </p> + <p> + She flushed at the suggestion, and turned her face to his. “You never + heard, I suppose—I come from there. They brought me down when I was + little.” + </p> + <p> + “You?” He raised himself on his elbow, looking at her with sudden + interest. “You're from the Mountain? How curious! I suppose that's why + you're so different....” + </p> + <p> + Her happy blood bathed her to the forehead. He was praising her—and + praising her because she came from the Mountain! + </p> + <p> + “Am I... different?” she triumphed, with affected wonder. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, awfully!” He picked up her hand and laid a kiss on the sunburnt + knuckles. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” he said, “let's be off.” He stood up and shook the grass from his + loose grey clothes. “What a good day! Where are you going to take me + tomorrow?” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI + </h2> + <p> + That evening after supper Charity sat alone in the kitchen and listened to + Mr. Royall and young Harney talking in the porch. + </p> + <p> + She had remained indoors after the table had been cleared and old Verena + had hobbled up to bed. The kitchen window was open, and Charity seated + herself near it, her idle hands on her knee. The evening was cool and + still. Beyond the black hills an amber west passed into pale green, and + then to a deep blue in which a great star hung. The soft hoot of a little + owl came through the dusk, and between its calls the men's voices rose and + fell. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall's was full of a sonorous satisfaction. It was a long time since + he had had anyone of Lucius Harney's quality to talk to: Charity divined + that the young man symbolized all his ruined and unforgotten past. When + Miss Hatchard had been called to Springfield by the illness of a widowed + sister, and young Harney, by that time seriously embarked on his task of + drawing and measuring all the old houses between Nettleton and the New + Hampshire border, had suggested the possibility of boarding at the red + house in his cousin's absence, Charity had trembled lest Mr. Royall should + refuse. There had been no question of lodging the young man: there was no + room for him. But it appeared that he could still live at Miss Hatchard's + if Mr. Royall would let him take his meals at the red house; and after a + day's deliberation Mr. Royall consented. + </p> + <p> + Charity suspected him of being glad of the chance to make a little money. + He had the reputation of being an avaricious man; but she was beginning to + think he was probably poorer than people knew. His practice had become + little more than a vague legend, revived only at lengthening intervals by + a summons to Hepburn or Nettleton; and he appeared to depend for his + living mainly on the scant produce of his farm, and on the commissions + received from the few insurance agencies that he represented in the + neighbourhood. At any rate, he had been prompt in accepting Harney's offer + to hire the buggy at a dollar and a half a day; and his satisfaction with + the bargain had manifested itself, unexpectedly enough, at the end of the + first week, by his tossing a ten-dollar bill into Charity's lap as she sat + one day retrimming her old hat. + </p> + <p> + “Here—go get yourself a Sunday bonnet that'll make all the other + girls mad,” he said, looking at her with a sheepish twinkle in his + deep-set eyes; and she immediately guessed that the unwonted present—the + only gift of money she had ever received from him—represented + Harney's first payment. + </p> + <p> + But the young man's coming had brought Mr. Royall other than pecuniary + benefit. It gave him, for the first time in years, a man's companionship. + Charity had only a dim understanding of her guardian's needs; but she knew + he felt himself above the people among whom he lived, and she saw that + Lucius Harney thought him so. She was surprised to find how well he seemed + to talk now that he had a listener who understood him; and she was equally + struck by young Harney's friendly deference. + </p> + <p> + Their conversation was mostly about politics, and beyond her range; but + tonight it had a peculiar interest for her, for they had begun to speak of + the Mountain. She drew back a little, lest they should see she was in + hearing. + </p> + <p> + “The Mountain? The Mountain?” she heard Mr. Royall say. “Why, the + Mountain's a blot—that's what it is, sir, a blot. That scum up there + ought to have been run in long ago—and would have, if the people + down here hadn't been clean scared of them. The Mountain belongs to this + township, and it's North Dormer's fault if there's a gang of thieves and + outlaws living over there, in sight of us, defying the laws of their + country. Why, there ain't a sheriff or a tax-collector or a coroner'd + durst go up there. When they hear of trouble on the Mountain the selectmen + look the other way, and pass an appropriation to beautify the town pump. + The only man that ever goes up is the minister, and he goes because they + send down and get him whenever there's any of them dies. They think a lot + of Christian burial on the Mountain—but I never heard of their + having the minister up to marry them. And they never trouble the Justice + of the Peace either. They just herd together like the heathen.” + </p> + <p> + He went on, explaining in somewhat technical language how the little + colony of squatters had contrived to keep the law at bay, and Charity, + with burning eagerness, awaited young Harney's comment; but the young man + seemed more concerned to hear Mr. Royall's views than to express his own. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you've never been up there yourself?” he presently asked. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I have,” said Mr. Royall with a contemptuous laugh. “The wiseacres + down here told me I'd be done for before I got back; but nobody lifted a + finger to hurt me. And I'd just had one of their gang sent up for seven + years too.” + </p> + <p> + “You went up after that?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir: right after it. The fellow came down to Nettleton and ran + amuck, the way they sometimes do. After they've done a wood-cutting job + they come down and blow the money in; and this man ended up with + manslaughter. I got him convicted, though they were scared of the Mountain + even at Nettleton; and then a queer thing happened. The fellow sent for me + to go and see him in gaol. I went, and this is what he says: 'The fool + that defended me is a chicken-livered son of a—and all the rest of + it,' he says. 'I've got a job to be done for me up on the Mountain, and + you're the only man I seen in court that looks as if he'd do it.' He told + me he had a child up there—or thought he had—a little girl; + and he wanted her brought down and reared like a Christian. I was sorry + for the fellow, so I went up and got the child.” He paused, and Charity + listened with a throbbing heart. “That's the only time I ever went up the + Mountain,” he concluded. + </p> + <p> + There was a moment's silence; then Harney spoke. “And the child—had + she no mother?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes: there was a mother. But she was glad enough to have her go. + She'd have given her to anybody. They ain't half human up there. I guess + the mother's dead by now, with the life she was leading. Anyhow, I've + never heard of her from that day to this.” + </p> + <p> + “My God, how ghastly,” Harney murmured; and Charity, choking with + humiliation, sprang to her feet and ran upstairs. She knew at last: knew + that she was the child of a drunken convict and of a mother who wasn't + “half human,” and was glad to have her go; and she had heard this history + of her origin related to the one being in whose eyes she longed to appear + superior to the people about her! She had noticed that Mr. Royall had not + named her, had even avoided any allusion that might identify her with the + child he had brought down from the Mountain; and she knew it was out of + regard for her that he had kept silent. But of what use was his + discretion, since only that afternoon, misled by Harney's interest in the + out-law colony, she had boasted to him of coming from the Mountain? Now + every word that had been spoken showed her how such an origin must widen + the distance between them. + </p> + <p> + During his ten days' sojourn at North Dormer Lucius Harney had not spoken + a word of love to her. He had intervened in her behalf with his cousin, + and had convinced Miss Hatchard of her merits as a librarian; but that was + a simple act of justice, since it was by his own fault that those merits + had been questioned. He had asked her to drive him about the country when + he hired lawyer Royall's buggy to go on his sketching expeditions; but + that too was natural enough, since he was unfamiliar with the region. + Lastly, when his cousin was called to Springfield, he had begged Mr. + Royall to receive him as a boarder; but where else in North Dormer could + he have boarded? Not with Carrick Fry, whose wife was paralysed, and whose + large family crowded his table to over-flowing; not with the Targatts, who + lived a mile up the road, nor with poor old Mrs. Hawes, who, since her + eldest daughter had deserted her, barely had the strength to cook her own + meals while Ally picked up her living as a seamstress. Mr. Royall's was + the only house where the young man could have been offered a decent + hospitality. There had been nothing, therefore, in the outward course of + events to raise in Charity's breast the hopes with which it trembled. But + beneath the visible incidents resulting from Lucius Harney's arrival there + ran an undercurrent as mysterious and potent as the influence that makes + the forest break into leaf before the ice is off the pools. + </p> + <p> + The business on which Harney had come was authentic; Charity had seen the + letter from a New York publisher commissioning him to make a study of the + eighteenth century houses in the less familiar districts of New England. + But incomprehensible as the whole affair was to her, and hard as she found + it to understand why he paused enchanted before certain neglected and + paintless houses, while others, refurbished and “improved” by the local + builder, did not arrest a glance, she could not but suspect that Eagle + County was less rich in architecture than he averred, and that the + duration of his stay (which he had fixed at a month) was not unconnected + with the look in his eyes when he had first paused before her in the + library. Everything that had followed seemed to have grown out of that + look: his way of speaking to her, his quickness in catching her meaning, + his evident eagerness to prolong their excursions and to seize on every + chance of being with her. + </p> + <p> + The signs of his liking were manifest enough; but it was hard to guess how + much they meant, because his manner was so different from anything North + Dormer had ever shown her. He was at once simpler and more deferential + than any one she had known; and sometimes it was just when he was simplest + that she most felt the distance between them. Education and opportunity + had divided them by a width that no effort of hers could bridge, and even + when his youth and his admiration brought him nearest, some chance word, + some unconscious allusion, seemed to thrust her back across the gulf. + </p> + <p> + Never had it yawned so wide as when she fled up to her room carrying with + her the echo of Mr. Royall's tale. Her first confused thought was the + prayer that she might never see young Harney again. It was too bitter to + picture him as the detached impartial listener to such a story. “I wish + he'd go away: I wish he'd go tomorrow, and never come back!” she moaned to + her pillow; and far into the night she lay there, in the disordered dress + she had forgotten to take off, her whole soul a tossing misery on which + her hopes and dreams spun about like drowning straws. + </p> + <p> + Of all this tumult only a vague heart-soreness was left when she opened + her eyes the next morning. Her first thought was of the weather, for + Harney had asked her to take him to the brown house under Porcupine, and + then around by Hamblin; and as the trip was a long one they were to start + at nine. The sun rose without a cloud, and earlier than usual she was in + the kitchen, making cheese sandwiches, decanting buttermilk into a bottle, + wrapping up slices of apple pie, and accusing Verena of having given away + a basket she needed, which had always hung on a hook in the passage. When + she came out into the porch, in her pink calico, which had run a little in + the washing, but was still bright enough to set off her dark tints, she + had such a triumphant sense of being a part of the sunlight and the + morning that the last trace of her misery vanished. What did it matter + where she came from, or whose child she was, when love was dancing in her + veins, and down the road she saw young Harney coming toward her? + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall was in the porch too. He had said nothing at breakfast, but + when she came out in her pink dress, the basket in her hand, he looked at + her with surprise. “Where you going to?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Why—Mr. Harney's starting earlier than usual today,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Harney, Mr. Harney? Ain't Mr. Harney learned how to drive a horse + yet?” + </p> + <p> + She made no answer, and he sat tilted back in his chair, drumming on the + rail of the porch. It was the first time he had ever spoken of the young + man in that tone, and Charity felt a faint chill of apprehension. After a + moment he stood up and walked away toward the bit of ground behind the + house, where the hired man was hoeing. + </p> + <p> + The air was cool and clear, with the autumnal sparkle that a north wind + brings to the hills in early summer, and the night had been so still that + the dew hung on everything, not as a lingering moisture, but in separate + beads that glittered like diamonds on the ferns and grasses. It was a long + drive to the foot of Porcupine: first across the valley, with blue hills + bounding the open slopes; then down into the beech-woods, following the + course of the Creston, a brown brook leaping over velvet ledges; then out + again onto the farm-lands about Creston Lake, and gradually up the ridges + of the Eagle Range. At last they reached the yoke of the hills, and before + them opened another valley, green and wild, and beyond it more blue + heights eddying away to the sky like the waves of a receding tide. + </p> + <p> + Harney tied the horse to a tree-stump, and they unpacked their basket + under an aged walnut with a riven trunk out of which bumblebees darted. + The sun had grown hot, and behind them was the noonday murmur of the + forest. Summer insects danced on the air, and a flock of white butterflies + fanned the mobile tips of the crimson fireweed. In the valley below not a + house was visible; it seemed as if Charity Royall and young Harney were + the only living beings in the great hollow of earth and sky. + </p> + <p> + Charity's spirits flagged and disquieting thoughts stole back on her. + Young Harney had grown silent, and as he lay beside her, his arms under + his head, his eyes on the network of leaves above him, she wondered if he + were musing on what Mr. Royall had told him, and if it had really debased + her in his thoughts. She wished he had not asked her to take him that day + to the brown house; she did not want him to see the people she came from + while the story of her birth was fresh in his mind. More than once she had + been on the point of suggesting that they should follow the ridge and + drive straight to Hamblin, where there was a little deserted house he + wanted to see; but shyness and pride held her back. “He'd better know what + kind of folks I belong to,” she said to herself, with a somewhat forced + defiance; for in reality it was shame that kept her silent. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly she lifted her hand and pointed to the sky. “There's a storm + coming up.” + </p> + <p> + He followed her glance and smiled. “Is it that scrap of cloud among the + pines that frightens you?” + </p> + <p> + “It's over the Mountain; and a cloud over the Mountain always means + trouble.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I don't believe half the bad things you all say of the Mountain! But + anyhow, we'll get down to the brown house before the rain comes.” + </p> + <p> + He was not far wrong, for only a few isolated drops had fallen when they + turned into the road under the shaggy flank of Porcupine, and came upon + the brown house. It stood alone beside a swamp bordered with alder + thickets and tall bulrushes. Not another dwelling was in sight, and it was + hard to guess what motive could have actuated the early settler who had + made his home in so unfriendly a spot. + </p> + <p> + Charity had picked up enough of her companion's erudition to understand + what had attracted him to the house. She noticed the fan-shaped tracery of + the broken light above the door, the flutings of the paintless pilasters + at the corners, and the round window set in the gable; and she knew that, + for reasons that still escaped her, these were things to be admired and + recorded. Still, they had seen other houses far more “typical” (the word + was Harney's); and as he threw the reins on the horse's neck he said with + a slight shiver of repugnance: “We won't stay long.” + </p> + <p> + Against the restless alders turning their white lining to the storm the + house looked singularly desolate. The paint was almost gone from the + clap-boards, the window-panes were broken and patched with rags, and the + garden was a poisonous tangle of nettles, burdocks and tall swamp-weeds + over which big blue-bottles hummed. + </p> + <p> + At the sound of wheels a child with a tow-head and pale eyes like Liff + Hyatt's peered over the fence and then slipped away behind an out-house. + Harney jumped down and helped Charity out; and as he did so the rain broke + on them. It came slant-wise, on a furious gale, laying shrubs and young + trees flat, tearing off their leaves like an autumn storm, turning the + road into a river, and making hissing pools of every hollow. Thunder + rolled incessantly through the roar of the rain, and a strange glitter of + light ran along the ground under the increasing blackness. + </p> + <p> + “Lucky we're here after all,” Harney laughed. He fastened the horse under + a half-roofless shed, and wrapping Charity in his coat ran with her to the + house. The boy had not reappeared, and as there was no response to their + knocks Harney turned the door-handle and they went in. + </p> + <p> + There were three people in the kitchen to which the door admitted them. An + old woman with a handkerchief over her head was sitting by the window. She + held a sickly-looking kitten on her knees, and whenever it jumped down and + tried to limp away she stooped and lifted it back without any change of + her aged, unnoticing face. Another woman, the unkempt creature that + Charity had once noticed in driving by, stood leaning against the + window-frame and stared at them; and near the stove an unshaved man in a + tattered shirt sat on a barrel asleep. + </p> + <p> + The place was bare and miserable and the air heavy with the smell of dirt + and stale tobacco. Charity's heart sank. Old derided tales of the Mountain + people came back to her, and the woman's stare was so disconcerting, and + the face of the sleeping man so sodden and bestial, that her disgust was + tinged with a vague dread. She was not afraid for herself; she knew the + Hyatts would not be likely to trouble her; but she was not sure how they + would treat a “city fellow.” + </p> + <p> + Lucius Harney would certainly have laughed at her fears. He glanced about + the room, uttered a general “How are you?” to which no one responded, and + then asked the younger woman if they might take shelter till the storm was + over. + </p> + <p> + She turned her eyes away from him and looked at Charity. + </p> + <p> + “You're the girl from Royall's, ain't you?” + </p> + <p> + The colour rose in Charity's face. “I'm Charity Royall,” she said, as if + asserting her right to the name in the very place where it might have been + most open to question. + </p> + <p> + The woman did not seem to notice. “You kin stay,” she merely said; then + she turned away and stooped over a dish in which she was stirring + something. + </p> + <p> + Harney and Charity sat down on a bench made of a board resting on two + starch boxes. They faced a door hanging on a broken hinge, and through the + crack they saw the eyes of the tow-headed boy and of a pale little girl + with a scar across her cheek. Charity smiled, and signed to the children + to come in; but as soon as they saw they were discovered they slipped away + on bare feet. It occurred to her that they were afraid of rousing the + sleeping man; and probably the woman shared their fear, for she moved + about as noiselessly and avoided going near the stove. + </p> + <p> + The rain continued to beat against the house, and in one or two places it + sent a stream through the patched panes and ran into pools on the floor. + Every now and then the kitten mewed and struggled down, and the old woman + stooped and caught it, holding it tight in her bony hands; and once or + twice the man on the barrel half woke, changed his position and dozed + again, his head falling forward on his hairy breast. As the minutes + passed, and the rain still streamed against the windows, a loathing of the + place and the people came over Charity. The sight of the weak-minded old + woman, of the cowed children, and the ragged man sleeping off his liquor, + made the setting of her own life seem a vision of peace and plenty. She + thought of the kitchen at Mr. Royall's, with its scrubbed floor and + dresser full of china, and the peculiar smell of yeast and coffee and + soft-soap that she had always hated, but that now seemed the very symbol + of household order. She saw Mr. Royall's room, with the high-backed + horsehair chair, the faded rag carpet, the row of books on a shelf, the + engraving of “The Surrender of Burgoyne” over the stove, and the mat with + a brown and white spaniel on a moss-green border. And then her mind + travelled to Miss Hatchard's house, where all was freshness, purity and + fragrance, and compared to which the red house had always seemed so poor + and plain. + </p> + <p> + “This is where I belong—this is where I belong,” she kept repeating + to herself; but the words had no meaning for her. Every instinct and habit + made her a stranger among these poor swamp-people living like vermin in + their lair. With all her soul she wished she had not yielded to Harney's + curiosity, and brought him there. + </p> + <p> + The rain had drenched her, and she began to shiver under the thin folds of + her dress. The younger woman must have noticed it, for she went out of the + room and came back with a broken tea-cup which she offered to Charity. It + was half full of whiskey, and Charity shook her head; but Harney took the + cup and put his lips to it. When he had set it down Charity saw him feel + in his pocket and draw out a dollar; he hesitated a moment, and then put + it back, and she guessed that he did not wish her to see him offering + money to people she had spoken of as being her kin. + </p> + <p> + The sleeping man stirred, lifted his head and opened his eyes. They rested + vacantly for a moment on Charity and Harney, and then closed again, and + his head drooped; but a look of anxiety came into the woman's face. She + glanced out of the window and then came up to Harney. “I guess you better + go along now,” she said. The young man understood and got to his feet. + “Thank you,” he said, holding out his hand. She seemed not to notice the + gesture, and turned away as they opened the door. + </p> + <p> + The rain was still coming down, but they hardly noticed it: the pure air + was like balm in their faces. The clouds were rising and breaking, and + between their edges the light streamed down from remote blue hollows. + Harney untied the horse, and they drove off through the diminishing rain, + which was already beaded with sunlight. + </p> + <p> + For a while Charity was silent, and her companion did not speak. She + looked timidly at his profile: it was graver than usual, as though he too + were oppressed by what they had seen. Then she broke out abruptly: “Those + people back there are the kind of folks I come from. They may be my + relations, for all I know.” She did not want him to think that she + regretted having told him her story. + </p> + <p> + “Poor creatures,” he rejoined. “I wonder why they came down to that + fever-hole.” + </p> + <p> + She laughed ironically. “To better themselves! It's worse up on the + Mountain. Bash Hyatt married the daughter of the farmer that used to own + the brown house. That was him by the stove, I suppose.” + </p> + <p> + Harney seemed to find nothing to say and she went on: “I saw you take out + a dollar to give to that poor woman. Why did you put it back?” + </p> + <p> + He reddened, and leaned forward to flick a swamp-fly from the horse's + neck. “I wasn't sure——” + </p> + <p> + “Was it because you knew they were my folks, and thought I'd be ashamed to + see you give them money?” + </p> + <p> + He turned to her with eyes full of reproach. “Oh, Charity——” + It was the first time he had ever called her by her name. Her misery + welled over. + </p> + <p> + “I ain't—I ain't ashamed. They're my people, and I ain't ashamed of + them,” she sobbed. + </p> + <p> + “My dear...” he murmured, putting his arm about her; and she leaned + against him and wept out her pain. + </p> + <p> + It was too late to go around to Hamblin, and all the stars were out in a + clear sky when they reached the North Dormer valley and drove up to the + red house. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII + </h2> + <p> + SINCE her reinstatement in Miss Hatchard's favour Charity had not dared to + curtail by a moment her hours of attendance at the library. She even made + a point of arriving before the time, and showed a laudable indignation + when the youngest Targatt girl, who had been engaged to help in the + cleaning and rearranging of the books, came trailing in late and neglected + her task to peer through the window at the Sollas boy. Nevertheless, + “library days” seemed more than ever irksome to Charity after her vivid + hours of liberty; and she would have found it hard to set a good example + to her subordinate if Lucius Harney had not been commissioned, before Miss + Hatchard's departure, to examine with the local carpenter the best means + of ventilating the “Memorial.” + </p> + <p> + He was careful to prosecute this inquiry on the days when the library was + open to the public; and Charity was therefore sure of spending part of the + afternoon in his company. The Targatt girl's presence, and the risk of + being interrupted by some passer-by suddenly smitten with a thirst for + letters, restricted their intercourse to the exchange of commonplaces; but + there was a fascination to Charity in the contrast between these public + civilities and their secret intimacy. + </p> + <p> + The day after their drive to the brown house was “library day,” and she + sat at her desk working at the revised catalogue, while the Targatt girl, + one eye on the window, chanted out the titles of a pile of books. + Charity's thoughts were far away, in the dismal house by the swamp, and + under the twilight sky during the long drive home, when Lucius Harney had + consoled her with endearing words. That day, for the first time since he + had been boarding with them, he had failed to appear as usual at the + midday meal. No message had come to explain his absence, and Mr. Royall, + who was more than usually taciturn, had betrayed no surprise, and made no + comment. In itself this indifference was not particularly significant, for + Mr. Royall, in common with most of his fellow-citizens, had a way of + accepting events passively, as if he had long since come to the conclusion + that no one who lived in North Dormer could hope to modify them. But to + Charity, in the reaction from her mood of passionate exaltation, there was + something disquieting in his silence. It was almost as if Lucius Harney + had never had a part in their lives: Mr. Royall's imperturbable + indifference seemed to relegate him to the domain of unreality. + </p> + <p> + As she sat at work, she tried to shake off her disappointment at Harney's + non-appearing. Some trifling incident had probably kept him from joining + them at midday; but she was sure he must be eager to see her again, and + that he would not want to wait till they met at supper, between Mr. Royall + and Verena. She was wondering what his first words would be, and trying to + devise a way of getting rid of the Targatt girl before he came, when she + heard steps outside, and he walked up the path with Mr. Miles. + </p> + <p> + The clergyman from Hepburn seldom came to North Dormer except when he + drove over to officiate at the old white church which, by an unusual + chance, happened to belong to the Episcopal communion. He was a brisk + affable man, eager to make the most of the fact that a little nucleus of + “church-people” had survived in the sectarian wilderness, and resolved to + undermine the influence of the ginger-bread-coloured Baptist chapel at the + other end of the village; but he was kept busy by parochial work at + Hepburn, where there were paper-mills and saloons, and it was not often + that he could spare time for North Dormer. + </p> + <p> + Charity, who went to the white church (like all the best people in North + Dormer), admired Mr. Miles, and had even, during the memorable trip to + Nettleton, imagined herself married to a man who had such a straight nose + and such a beautiful way of speaking, and who lived in a brown-stone + rectory covered with Virginia creeper. It had been a shock to discover + that the privilege was already enjoyed by a lady with crimped hair and a + large baby; but the arrival of Lucius Harney had long since banished Mr. + Miles from Charity's dreams, and as he walked up the path at Harney's side + she saw him as he really was: a fat middle-aged man with a baldness + showing under his clerical hat, and spectacles on his Grecian nose. She + wondered what had called him to North Dormer on a weekday, and felt a + little hurt that Harney should have brought him to the library. + </p> + <p> + It presently appeared that his presence there was due to Miss Hatchard. He + had been spending a few days at Springfield, to fill a friend's pulpit, + and had been consulted by Miss Hatchard as to young Harney's plan for + ventilating the “Memorial.” To lay hands on the Hatchard ark was a grave + matter, and Miss Hatchard, always full of scruples about her scruples (it + was Harney's phrase), wished to have Mr. Miles's opinion before deciding. + </p> + <p> + “I couldn't,” Mr. Miles explained, “quite make out from your cousin what + changes you wanted to make, and as the other trustees did not understand + either I thought I had better drive over and take a look—though I'm + sure,” he added, turning his friendly spectacles on the young man, “that + no one could be more competent—but of course this spot has its + peculiar sanctity!” + </p> + <p> + “I hope a little fresh air won't desecrate it,” Harney laughingly + rejoined; and they walked to the other end of the library while he set + forth his idea to the Rector. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles had greeted the two girls with his usual friendliness, but + Charity saw that he was occupied with other things, and she presently + became aware, by the scraps of conversation drifting over to her, that he + was still under the charm of his visit to Springfield, which appeared to + have been full of agreeable incidents. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, the Coopersons... yes, you know them, of course,” she heard. “That's + a fine old house! And Ned Cooperson has collected some really remarkable + impressionist pictures....” The names he cited were unknown to Charity. + “Yes; yes; the Schaefer quartette played at Lyric Hall on Saturday + evening; and on Monday I had the privilege of hearing them again at the + Towers. Beautifully done... Bach and Beethoven... a lawn-party first... I + saw Miss Balch several times, by the way... looking extremely + handsome....” + </p> + <p> + Charity dropped her pencil and forgot to listen to the Targatt girl's + sing-song. Why had Mr. Miles suddenly brought up Annabel Balch's name? + </p> + <p> + “Oh, really?” she heard Harney rejoin; and, raising his stick, he pursued: + “You see, my plan is to move these shelves away, and open a round window + in this wall, on the axis of the one under the pediment.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose she'll be coming up here later to stay with Miss Hatchard?” Mr. + Miles went on, following on his train of thought; then, spinning about and + tilting his head back: “Yes, yes, I see—I understand: that will give + a draught without materially altering the look of things. I can see no + objection.” + </p> + <p> + The discussion went on for some minutes, and gradually the two men moved + back toward the desk. Mr. Miles stopped again and looked thoughtfully at + Charity. “Aren't you a little pale, my dear? Not overworking? Mr. Harney + tells me you and Mamie are giving the library a thorough overhauling.” He + was always careful to remember his parishioners' Christian names, and at + the right moment he bent his benignant spectacles on the Targatt girl. + </p> + <p> + Then he turned to Charity. “Don't take things hard, my dear; don't take + things hard. Come down and see Mrs. Miles and me some day at Hepburn,” he + said, pressing her hand and waving a farewell to Mamie Targatt. He went + out of the library, and Harney followed him. + </p> + <p> + Charity thought she detected a look of constraint in Harney's eyes. She + fancied he did not want to be alone with her; and with a sudden pang she + wondered if he repented the tender things he had said to her the night + before. His words had been more fraternal than lover-like; but she had + lost their exact sense in the caressing warmth of his voice. He had made + her feel that the fact of her being a waif from the Mountain was only + another reason for holding her close and soothing her with consolatory + murmurs; and when the drive was over, and she got out of the buggy, tired, + cold, and aching with emotion, she stepped as if the ground were a sunlit + wave and she the spray on its crest. + </p> + <p> + Why, then, had his manner suddenly changed, and why did he leave the + library with Mr. Miles? Her restless imagination fastened on the name of + Annabel Balch: from the moment it had been mentioned she fancied that + Harney's expression had altered. Annabel Balch at a garden-party at + Springfield, looking “extremely handsome”... perhaps Mr. Miles had seen + her there at the very moment when Charity and Harney were sitting in the + Hyatts' hovel, between a drunkard and a half-witted old woman! Charity did + not know exactly what a garden-party was, but her glimpse of the + flower-edged lawns of Nettleton helped her to visualize the scene, and + envious recollections of the “old things” which Miss Balch avowedly “wore + out” when she came to North Dormer made it only too easy to picture her in + her splendour. Charity understood what associations the name must have + called up, and felt the uselessness of struggling against the unseen + influences in Harney's life. + </p> + <p> + When she came down from her room for supper he was not there; and while + she waited in the porch she recalled the tone in which Mr. Royall had + commented the day before on their early start. Mr. Royall sat at her side, + his chair tilted back, his broad black boots with side-elastics resting + against the lower bar of the railings. His rumpled grey hair stood up + above his forehead like the crest of an angry bird, and the leather-brown + of his veined cheeks was blotched with red. Charity knew that those red + spots were the signs of a coming explosion. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he said: “Where's supper? Has Verena Marsh slipped up again on + her soda-biscuits?” + </p> + <p> + Charity threw a startled glance at him. “I presume she's waiting for Mr. + Harney.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Harney, is she? She'd better dish up, then. He ain't coming.” He + stood up, walked to the door, and called out, in the pitch necessary to + penetrate the old woman's tympanum: “Get along with the supper, Verena.” + </p> + <p> + Charity was trembling with apprehension. Something had happened—she + was sure of it now—and Mr. Royall knew what it was. But not for the + world would she have gratified him by showing her anxiety. She took her + usual place, and he seated himself opposite, and poured out a strong cup + of tea before passing her the tea-pot. Verena brought some scrambled eggs, + and he piled his plate with them. “Ain't you going to take any?” he asked. + Charity roused herself and began to eat. + </p> + <p> + The tone with which Mr. Royall had said “He's not coming” seemed to her + full of an ominous satisfaction. She saw that he had suddenly begun to + hate Lucius Harney, and guessed herself to be the cause of this change of + feeling. But she had no means of finding out whether some act of hostility + on his part had made the young man stay away, or whether he simply wished + to avoid seeing her again after their drive back from the brown house. She + ate her supper with a studied show of indifference, but she knew that Mr. + Royall was watching her and that her agitation did not escape him. + </p> + <p> + After supper she went up to her room. She heard Mr. Royall cross the + passage, and presently the sounds below her window showed that he had + returned to the porch. She seated herself on her bed and began to struggle + against the desire to go down and ask him what had happened. “I'd rather + die than do it,” she muttered to herself. With a word he could have + relieved her uncertainty: but never would she gratify him by saying it. + </p> + <p> + She rose and leaned out of the window. The twilight had deepened into + night, and she watched the frail curve of the young moon dropping to the + edge of the hills. Through the darkness she saw one or two figures moving + down the road; but the evening was too cold for loitering, and presently + the strollers disappeared. Lamps were beginning to show here and there in + the windows. A bar of light brought out the whiteness of a clump of lilies + in the Hawes's yard: and farther down the street Carrick Fry's Rochester + lamp cast its bold illumination on the rustic flower-tub in the middle of + his grass-plot. + </p> + <p> + For a long time she continued to lean in the window. But a fever of unrest + consumed her, and finally she went downstairs, took her hat from its hook, + and swung out of the house. Mr. Royall sat in the porch, Verena beside + him, her old hands crossed on her patched skirt. As Charity went down the + steps Mr. Royall called after her: “Where you going?” She could easily + have answered: “To Orma's,” or “Down to the Targatts'”; and either answer + might have been true, for she had no purpose. But she swept on in silence, + determined not to recognize his right to question her. + </p> + <p> + At the gate she paused and looked up and down the road. The darkness drew + her, and she thought of climbing the hill and plunging into the depths of + the larch-wood above the pasture. Then she glanced irresolutely along the + street, and as she did so a gleam appeared through the spruces at Miss + Hatchard's gate. Lucius Harney was there, then—he had not gone down + to Hepburn with Mr. Miles, as she had at first imagined. But where had he + taken his evening meal, and what had caused him to stay away from Mr. + Royall's? The light was positive proof of his presence, for Miss + Hatchard's servants were away on a holiday, and her farmer's wife came + only in the mornings, to make the young man's bed and prepare his coffee. + Beside that lamp he was doubtless sitting at this moment. To know the + truth Charity had only to walk half the length of the village, and knock + at the lighted window. She hesitated a minute or two longer, and then + turned toward Miss Hatchard's. + </p> + <p> + She walked quickly, straining her eyes to detect anyone who might be + coming along the street; and before reaching the Frys' she crossed over to + avoid the light from their window. Whenever she was unhappy she felt + herself at bay against a pitiless world, and a kind of animal + secretiveness possessed her. But the street was empty, and she passed + unnoticed through the gate and up the path to the house. Its white front + glimmered indistinctly through the trees, showing only one oblong of light + on the lower floor. She had supposed that the lamp was in Miss Hatchard's + sitting-room; but she now saw that it shone through a window at the + farther corner of the house. She did not know the room to which this + window belonged, and she paused under the trees, checked by a sense of + strangeness. Then she moved on, treading softly on the short grass, and + keeping so close to the house that whoever was in the room, even if roused + by her approach, would not be able to see her. + </p> + <p> + The window opened on a narrow verandah with a trellised arch. She leaned + close to the trellis, and parting the sprays of clematis that covered it + looked into a corner of the room. She saw the foot of a mahogany bed, an + engraving on the wall, a wash-stand on which a towel had been tossed, and + one end of the green-covered table which held the lamp. Half of the + lampshade projected into her field of vision, and just under it two smooth + sunburnt hands, one holding a pencil and the other a ruler, were moving to + and fro over a drawing-board. + </p> + <p> + Her heart jumped and then stood still. He was there, a few feet away; and + while her soul was tossing on seas of woe he had been quietly sitting at + his drawing-board. The sight of those two hands, moving with their usual + skill and precision, woke her out of her dream. Her eyes were opened to + the disproportion between what she had felt and the cause of her + agitation; and she was turning away from the window when one hand abruptly + pushed aside the drawing-board and the other flung down the pencil. + </p> + <p> + Charity had often noticed Harney's loving care of his drawings, and the + neatness and method with which he carried on and concluded each task. The + impatient sweeping aside of the drawing-board seemed to reveal a new mood. + The gesture suggested sudden discouragement, or distaste for his work and + she wondered if he too were agitated by secret perplexities. Her impulse + of flight was checked; she stepped up on the verandah and looked into the + room. + </p> + <p> + Harney had put his elbows on the table and was resting his chin on his + locked hands. He had taken off his coat and waistcoat, and unbuttoned the + low collar of his flannel shirt; she saw the vigorous lines of his young + throat, and the root of the muscles where they joined the chest. He sat + staring straight ahead of him, a look of weariness and self-disgust on his + face: it was almost as if he had been gazing at a distorted reflection of + his own features. For a moment Charity looked at him with a kind of + terror, as if he had been a stranger under familiar lineaments; then she + glanced past him and saw on the floor an open portmanteau half full of + clothes. She understood that he was preparing to leave, and that he had + probably decided to go without seeing her. She saw that the decision, from + whatever cause it was taken, had disturbed him deeply; and she immediately + concluded that his change of plan was due to some surreptitious + interference of Mr. Royall's. All her old resentments and rebellions + flamed up, confusedly mingled with the yearning roused by Harney's + nearness. Only a few hours earlier she had felt secure in his + comprehending pity; now she was flung back on herself, doubly alone after + that moment of communion. + </p> + <p> + Harney was still unaware of her presence. He sat without moving, moodily + staring before him at the same spot in the wall-paper. He had not even had + the energy to finish his packing, and his clothes and papers lay on the + floor about the portmanteau. Presently he unlocked his clasped hands and + stood up; and Charity, drawing back hastily, sank down on the step of the + verandah. The night was so dark that there was not much chance of his + seeing her unless he opened the window and before that she would have time + to slip away and be lost in the shadow of the trees. He stood for a minute + or two looking around the room with the same expression of self-disgust, + as if he hated himself and everything about him; then he sat down again at + the table, drew a few more strokes, and threw his pencil aside. Finally he + walked across the floor, kicking the portmanteau out of his way, and lay + down on the bed, folding his arms under his head, and staring up morosely + at the ceiling. Just so, Charity had seen him at her side on the grass or + the pine-needles, his eyes fixed on the sky, and pleasure flashing over + his face like the flickers of sun the branches shed on it. But now the + face was so changed that she hardly knew it; and grief at his grief + gathered in her throat, rose to her eyes and ran over. + </p> + <p> + She continued to crouch on the steps, holding her breath and stiffening + herself into complete immobility. One motion of her hand, one tap on the + pane, and she could picture the sudden change in his face. In every pulse + of her rigid body she was aware of the welcome his eyes and lips would + give her; but something kept her from moving. It was not the fear of any + sanction, human or heavenly; she had never in her life been afraid. It was + simply that she had suddenly understood what would happen if she went in. + It was the thing that did happen between young men and girls, and that + North Dormer ignored in public and snickered over on the sly. It was what + Miss Hatchard was still ignorant of, but every girl of Charity's class + knew about before she left school. It was what had happened to Ally + Hawes's sister Julia, and had ended in her going to Nettleton, and in + people's never mentioning her name. + </p> + <p> + It did not, of course, always end so sensationally; nor, perhaps, on the + whole, so untragically. Charity had always suspected that the shunned + Julia's fate might have its compensations. There were others, worse + endings that the village knew of, mean, miserable, unconfessed; other + lives that went on drearily, without visible change, in the same cramped + setting of hypocrisy. But these were not the reasons that held her back. + Since the day before, she had known exactly what she would feel if Harney + should take her in his arms: the melting of palm into palm and mouth on + mouth, and the long flame burning her from head to foot. But mixed with + this feeling was another: the wondering pride in his liking for her, the + startled softness that his sympathy had put into her heart. Sometimes, + when her youth flushed up in her, she had imagined yielding like other + girls to furtive caresses in the twilight; but she could not so cheapen + herself to Harney. She did not know why he was going; but since he was + going she felt she must do nothing to deface the image of her that he + carried away. If he wanted her he must seek her: he must not be surprised + into taking her as girls like Julia Hawes were taken.... + </p> + <p> + No sound came from the sleeping village, and in the deep darkness of the + garden she heard now and then a secret rustle of branches, as though some + night-bird brushed them. Once a footfall passed the gate, and she shrank + back into her corner; but the steps died away and left a profounder quiet. + Her eyes were still on Harney's tormented face: she felt she could not + move till he moved. But she was beginning to grow numb from her + constrained position, and at times her thoughts were so indistinct that + she seemed to be held there only by a vague weight of weariness. + </p> + <p> + A long time passed in this strange vigil. Harney still lay on the bed, + motionless and with fixed eyes, as though following his vision to its + bitter end. At last he stirred and changed his attitude slightly, and + Charity's heart began to tremble. But he only flung out his arms and sank + back into his former position. With a deep sigh he tossed the hair from + his forehead; then his whole body relaxed, his head turned sideways on the + pillow, and she saw that he had fallen asleep. The sweet expression came + back to his lips, and the haggardness faded from his face, leaving it as + fresh as a boy's. + </p> + <p> + She rose and crept away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII + </h2> + <p> + SHE had lost the sense of time, and did not know how late it was till she + came out into the street and saw that all the windows were dark between + Miss Hatchard's and the Royall house. + </p> + <p> + As she passed from under the black pall of the Norway spruces she fancied + she saw two figures in the shade about the duck-pond. She drew back and + watched; but nothing moved, and she had stared so long into the lamp-lit + room that the darkness confused her, and she thought she must have been + mistaken. + </p> + <p> + She walked on, wondering whether Mr. Royall was still in the porch. In her + exalted mood she did not greatly care whether he was waiting for her or + not: she seemed to be floating high over life, on a great cloud of misery + beneath which every-day realities had dwindled to mere specks in space. + But the porch was empty, Mr. Royall's hat hung on its peg in the passage, + and the kitchen lamp had been left to light her to bed. She took it and + went up. + </p> + <p> + The morning hours of the next day dragged by without incident. Charity had + imagined that, in some way or other, she would learn whether Harney had + already left; but Verena's deafness prevented her being a source of news, + and no one came to the house who could bring enlightenment. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall went out early, and did not return till Verena had set the + table for the midday meal. When he came in he went straight to the kitchen + and shouted to the old woman: “Ready for dinner——” then he + turned into the dining-room, where Charity was already seated. Harney's + plate was in its usual place, but Mr. Royall offered no explanation of his + absence, and Charity asked none. The feverish exaltation of the night + before had dropped, and she said to herself that he had gone away, + indifferently, almost callously, and that now her life would lapse again + into the narrow rut out of which he had lifted it. For a moment she was + inclined to sneer at herself for not having used the arts that might have + kept him. + </p> + <p> + She sat at table till the meal was over, lest Mr. Royall should remark on + her leaving; but when he stood up she rose also, without waiting to help + Verena. She had her foot on the stairs when he called to her to come back. + </p> + <p> + “I've got a headache. I'm going up to lie down.” + </p> + <p> + “I want you should come in here first; I've got something to say to you.” + </p> + <p> + She was sure from his tone that in a moment she would learn what every + nerve in her ached to know; but as she turned back she made a last effort + of indifference. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall stood in the middle of the office, his thick eyebrows beetling, + his lower jaw trembling a little. At first she thought he had been + drinking; then she saw that he was sober, but stirred by a deep and stern + emotion totally unlike his usual transient angers. And suddenly she + understood that, until then, she had never really noticed him or thought + about him. Except on the occasion of his one offense he had been to her + merely the person who is always there, the unquestioned central fact of + life, as inevitable but as uninteresting as North Dormer itself, or any of + the other conditions fate had laid on her. Even then she had regarded him + only in relation to herself, and had never speculated as to his own + feelings, beyond instinctively concluding that he would not trouble her + again in the same way. But now she began to wonder what he was really + like. + </p> + <p> + He had grasped the back of his chair with both hands, and stood looking + hard at her. At length he said: “Charity, for once let's you and me talk + together like friends.” + </p> + <p> + Instantly she felt that something had happened, and that he held her in + his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Where is Mr. Harney? Why hasn't he come back? Have you sent him away?” + she broke out, without knowing what she was saying. + </p> + <p> + The change in Mr. Royall frightened her. All the blood seemed to leave his + veins and against his swarthy pallor the deep lines in his face looked + black. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't he have time to answer some of those questions last night? You was + with him long enough!” he said. + </p> + <p> + Charity stood speechless. The taunt was so unrelated to what had been + happening in her soul that she hardly understood it. But the instinct of + self-defense awoke in her. + </p> + <p> + “Who says I was with him last night?” + </p> + <p> + “The whole place is saying it by now.” + </p> + <p> + “Then it was you that put the lie into their mouths.—Oh, how I've + always hated you!” she cried. + </p> + <p> + She had expected a retort in kind, and it startled her to hear her + exclamation sounding on through silence. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know,” Mr. Royall said slowly. “But that ain't going to help us + much now.” + </p> + <p> + “It helps me not to care a straw what lies you tell about me!” + </p> + <p> + “If they're lies, they're not my lies: my Bible oath on that, Charity. I + didn't know where you were: I wasn't out of this house last night.” + </p> + <p> + She made no answer and he went on: “Is it a lie that you were seen coming + out of Miss Hatchard's nigh onto midnight?” + </p> + <p> + She straightened herself with a laugh, all her reckless insolence + recovered. “I didn't look to see what time it was.” + </p> + <p> + “You lost girl... you... you.... Oh, my God, why did you tell me?” he + broke out, dropping into his chair, his head bowed down like an old man's. + </p> + <p> + Charity's self-possession had returned with the sense of her danger. “Do + you suppose I'd take the trouble to lie to YOU? Who are you, anyhow, to + ask me where I go to when I go out at night?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall lifted his head and looked at her. His face had grown quiet and + almost gentle, as she remembered seeing it sometimes when she was a little + girl, before Mrs. Royall died. + </p> + <p> + “Don't let's go on like this, Charity. It can't do any good to either of + us. You were seen going into that fellow's house... you were seen coming + out of it.... I've watched this thing coming, and I've tried to stop it. + As God sees me, I have....” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, it WAS you, then? I knew it was you that sent him away!” + </p> + <p> + He looked at her in surprise. “Didn't he tell you so? I thought he + understood.” He spoke slowly, with difficult pauses, “I didn't name you to + him: I'd have cut my hand off sooner. I just told him I couldn't spare the + horse any longer; and that the cooking was getting too heavy for Verena. I + guess he's the kind that's heard the same thing before. Anyhow, he took it + quietly enough. He said his job here was about done, anyhow; and there + didn't another word pass between us.... If he told you otherwise he told + you an untruth.” + </p> + <p> + Charity listened in a cold trance of anger. It was nothing to her what the + village said... but all this fingering of her dreams! + </p> + <p> + “I've told you he didn't tell me anything. I didn't speak with him last + night.” + </p> + <p> + “You didn't speak with him?” + </p> + <p> + “No.... It's not that I care what any of you say... but you may as well + know. Things ain't between us the way you think... and the other people in + this place. He was kind to me; he was my friend; and all of a sudden he + stopped coming, and I knew it was you that done it—YOU!” All her + unreconciled memory of the past flamed out at him. “So I went there last + night to find out what you'd said to him: that's all.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall drew a heavy breath. “But, then—if he wasn't there, what + were you doing there all that time?—Charity, for pity's sake, tell + me. I've got to know, to stop their talking.” + </p> + <p> + This pathetic abdication of all authority over her did not move her: she + could feel only the outrage of his interference. + </p> + <p> + “Can't you see that I don't care what anybody says? It's true I went there + to see him; and he was in his room, and I stood outside for ever so long + and watched him; but I dursn't go in for fear he'd think I'd come after + him....” She felt her voice breaking, and gathered it up in a last + defiance. “As long as I live I'll never forgive you!” she cried. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall made no answer. He sat and pondered with sunken head, his + veined hands clasped about the arms of his chair. Age seemed to have come + down on him as winter comes on the hills after a storm. At length he + looked up. + </p> + <p> + “Charity, you say you don't care; but you're the proudest girl I know, and + the last to want people to talk against you. You know there's always eyes + watching you: you're handsomer and smarter than the rest, and that's + enough. But till lately you've never given them a chance. Now they've got + it, and they're going to use it. I believe what you say, but they + won't.... It was Mrs. Tom Fry seen you going in... and two or three of + them watched for you to come out again.... You've been with the fellow all + day long every day since he come here... and I'm a lawyer, and I know how + hard slander dies.” He paused, but she stood motionless, without giving + him any sign of acquiescence or even of attention. “He's a pleasant fellow + to talk to—I liked having him here myself. The young men up here + ain't had his chances. But there's one thing as old as the hills and as + plain as daylight: if he'd wanted you the right way he'd have said so.” + </p> + <p> + Charity did not speak. It seemed to her that nothing could exceed the + bitterness of hearing such words from such lips. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall rose from his seat. “See here, Charity Royall: I had a shameful + thought once, and you've made me pay for it. Isn't that score pretty near + wiped out?... There's a streak in me I ain't always master of; but I've + always acted straight to you but that once. And you've known I would—you've + trusted me. For all your sneers and your mockery you've always known I + loved you the way a man loves a decent woman. I'm a good many years older + than you, but I'm head and shoulders above this place and everybody in it, + and you know that too. I slipped up once, but that's no reason for not + starting again. If you'll come with me I'll do it. If you'll marry me + we'll leave here and settle in some big town, where there's men, and + business, and things doing. It's not too late for me to find an + opening.... I can see it by the way folks treat me when I go down to + Hepburn or Nettleton....” + </p> + <p> + Charity made no movement. Nothing in his appeal reached her heart, and she + thought only of words to wound and wither. But a growing lassitude + restrained her. What did anything matter that he was saying? She saw the + old life closing in on her, and hardly heeded his fanciful picture of + renewal. + </p> + <p> + “Charity—Charity—say you'll do it,” she heard him urge, all + his lost years and wasted passion in his voice. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, what's the use of all this? When I leave here it won't be with you.” + </p> + <p> + She moved toward the door as she spoke, and he stood up and placed himself + between her and the threshold. He seemed suddenly tall and strong, as + though the extremity of his humiliation had given him new vigour. + </p> + <p> + “That's all, is it? It's not much.” He leaned against the door, so + towering and powerful that he seemed to fill the narrow room. “Well, then + look here.... You're right: I've no claim on you—why should you look + at a broken man like me? You want the other fellow... and I don't blame + you. You picked out the best when you seen it... well, that was always my + way.” He fixed his stern eyes on her, and she had the sense that the + struggle within him was at its highest. “Do you want him to marry you?” he + asked. + </p> + <p> + They stood and looked at each other for a long moment, eye to eye, with + the terrible equality of courage that sometimes made her feel as if she + had his blood in her veins. + </p> + <p> + “Do you want him to—say? I'll have him here in an hour if you do. I + ain't been in the law thirty years for nothing. He's hired Carrick Fry's + team to take him to Hepburn, but he ain't going to start for another hour. + And I can put things to him so he won't be long deciding.... He's soft: I + could see that. I don't say you won't be sorry afterward—but, by + God, I'll give you the chance to be, if you say so.” + </p> + <p> + She heard him out in silence, too remote from all he was feeling and + saying for any sally of scorn to relieve her. As she listened, there + flitted through her mind the vision of Liff Hyatt's muddy boot coming down + on the white bramble-flowers. The same thing had happened now; something + transient and exquisite had flowered in her, and she had stood by and seen + it trampled to earth. While the thought passed through her she was aware + of Mr. Royall, still leaning against the door, but crestfallen, + diminished, as though her silence were the answer he most dreaded. + </p> + <p> + “I don't want any chance you can give me: I'm glad he's going away,” she + said. + </p> + <p> + He kept his place a moment longer, his hand on the door-knob. “Charity!” + he pleaded. She made no answer, and he turned the knob and went out. She + heard him fumble with the latch of the front door, and saw him walk down + the steps. He passed out of the gate, and his figure, stooping and heavy, + receded slowly up the street. + </p> + <p> + For a while she remained where he had left her. She was still trembling + with the humiliation of his last words, which rang so loud in her ears + that it seemed as though they must echo through the village, proclaiming + her a creature to lend herself to such vile suggestions. Her shame weighed + on her like a physical oppression: the roof and walls seemed to be closing + in on her, and she was seized by the impulse to get away, under the open + sky, where there would be room to breathe. She went to the front door, and + as she did so Lucius Harney opened it. + </p> + <p> + He looked graver and less confident than usual, and for a moment or two + neither of them spoke. Then he held out his hand. “Are you going out?” he + asked. “May I come in?” + </p> + <p> + Her heart was beating so violently that she was afraid to speak, and stood + looking at him with tear-dilated eyes; then she became aware of what her + silence must betray, and said quickly: “Yes: come in.” + </p> + <p> + She led the way into the dining-room, and they sat down on opposite sides + of the table, the cruet-stand and japanned bread-basket between them. + Harney had laid his straw hat on the table, and as he sat there, in his + easy-looking summer clothes, a brown tie knotted under his flannel collar, + and his smooth brown hair brushed back from his forehead, she pictured + him, as she had seen him the night before, lying on his bed, with the + tossed locks falling into his eyes, and his bare throat rising out of his + unbuttoned shirt. He had never seemed so remote as at the moment when that + vision flashed through her mind. + </p> + <p> + “I'm so sorry it's good-bye: I suppose you know I'm leaving,” he began, + abruptly and awkwardly; she guessed that he was wondering how much she + knew of his reasons for going. + </p> + <p> + “I presume you found your work was over quicker than what you expected,” + she said. + </p> + <p> + “Well, yes—that is, no: there are plenty of things I should have + liked to do. But my holiday's limited; and now that Mr. Royall needs the + horse for himself it's rather difficult to find means of getting about.” + </p> + <p> + “There ain't any too many teams for hire around here,” she acquiesced; and + there was another silence. + </p> + <p> + “These days here have been—awfully pleasant: I wanted to thank you + for making them so,” he continued, his colour rising. + </p> + <p> + She could not think of any reply, and he went on: “You've been wonderfully + kind to me, and I wanted to tell you.... I wish I could think of you as + happier, less lonely.... Things are sure to change for you by and by....” + </p> + <p> + “Things don't change at North Dormer: people just get used to them.” + </p> + <p> + The answer seemed to break up the order of his prearranged consolations, + and he sat looking at her uncertainly. Then he said, with his sweet smile: + “That's not true of you. It can't be.” + </p> + <p> + The smile was like a knife-thrust through her heart: everything in her + began to tremble and break loose. She felt her tears run over, and stood + up. + </p> + <p> + “Well, good-bye,” she said. + </p> + <p> + She was aware of his taking her hand, and of feeling that his touch was + lifeless. + </p> + <p> + “Good-bye.” He turned away, and stopped on the threshold. “You'll say + good-bye for me to Verena?” + </p> + <p> + She heard the closing of the outer door and the sound of his quick tread + along the path. The latch of the gate clicked after him. + </p> + <p> + The next morning when she arose in the cold dawn and opened her shutters + she saw a freckled boy standing on the other side of the road and looking + up at her. He was a boy from a farm three or four miles down the Creston + road, and she wondered what he was doing there at that hour, and why he + looked so hard at her window. When he saw her he crossed over and leaned + against the gate unconcernedly. There was no one stirring in the house, + and she threw a shawl over her night-gown and ran down and let herself + out. By the time she reached the gate the boy was sauntering down the + road, whistling carelessly; but she saw that a letter had been thrust + between the slats and the crossbar of the gate. She took it out and + hastened back to her room. + </p> + <p> + The envelope bore her name, and inside was a leaf torn from a + pocket-diary. + </p> + <p> + DEAR CHARITY: + </p> + <p> + I can't go away like this. I am staying for a few days at Creston River. + Will you come down and meet me at Creston pool? I will wait for you till + evening. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX + </h2> + <p> + CHARITY sat before the mirror trying on a hat which Ally Hawes, with much + secrecy, had trimmed for her. It was of white straw, with a drooping brim + and cherry-coloured lining that made her face glow like the inside of the + shell on the parlour mantelpiece. + </p> + <p> + She propped the square of looking-glass against Mr. Royall's black leather + Bible, steadying it in front with a white stone on which a view of the + Brooklyn Bridge was painted; and she sat before her reflection, bending + the brim this way and that, while Ally Hawes's pale face looked over her + shoulder like the ghost of wasted opportunities. + </p> + <p> + “I look awful, don't I?” she said at last with a happy sigh. + </p> + <p> + Ally smiled and took back the hat. “I'll stitch the roses on right here, + so's you can put it away at once.” + </p> + <p> + Charity laughed, and ran her fingers through her rough dark hair. She knew + that Harney liked to see its reddish edges ruffled about her forehead and + breaking into little rings at the nape. She sat down on her bed and + watched Ally stoop over the hat with a careful frown. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you ever feel like going down to Nettleton for a day?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + Ally shook her head without looking up. “No, I always remember that awful + time I went down with Julia—to that doctor's.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Ally——” + </p> + <p> + “I can't help it. The house is on the corner of Wing Street and Lake + Avenue. The trolley from the station goes right by it, and the day the + minister took us down to see those pictures I recognized it right off, and + couldn't seem to see anything else. There's a big black sign with gold + letters all across the front—'Private Consultations.' She came as + near as anything to dying....” + </p> + <p> + “Poor Julia!” Charity sighed from the height of her purity and her + security. She had a friend whom she trusted and who respected her. She was + going with him to spend the next day—the Fourth of July—at + Nettleton. Whose business was it but hers, and what was the harm? The pity + of it was that girls like Julia did not know how to choose, and to keep + bad fellows at a distance.... Charity slipped down from the bed, and + stretched out her hands. + </p> + <p> + “Is it sewed? Let me try it on again.” She put the hat on, and smiled at + her image. The thought of Julia had vanished.... + </p> + <p> + The next morning she was up before dawn, and saw the yellow sunrise + broaden behind the hills, and the silvery luster preceding a hot day + tremble across the sleeping fields. + </p> + <p> + Her plans had been made with great care. She had announced that she was + going down to the Band of Hope picnic at Hepburn, and as no one else from + North Dormer intended to venture so far it was not likely that her absence + from the festivity would be reported. Besides, if it were she would not + greatly care. She was determined to assert her independence, and if she + stooped to fib about the Hepburn picnic it was chiefly from the secretive + instinct that made her dread the profanation of her happiness. Whenever + she was with Lucius Harney she would have liked some impenetrable mountain + mist to hide her. + </p> + <p> + It was arranged that she should walk to a point of the Creston road where + Harney was to pick her up and drive her across the hills to Hepburn in + time for the nine-thirty train to Nettleton. Harney at first had been + rather lukewarm about the trip. He declared himself ready to take her to + Nettleton, but urged her not to go on the Fourth of July, on account of + the crowds, the probable lateness of the trains, the difficulty of her + getting back before night; but her evident disappointment caused him to + give way, and even to affect a faint enthusiasm for the adventure. She + understood why he was not more eager: he must have seen sights beside + which even a Fourth of July at Nettleton would seem tame. But she had + never seen anything; and a great longing possessed her to walk the streets + of a big town on a holiday, clinging to his arm and jostled by idle crowds + in their best clothes. The only cloud on the prospect was the fact that + the shops would be closed; but she hoped he would take her back another + day, when they were open. + </p> + <p> + She started out unnoticed in the early sunlight, slipping through the + kitchen while Verena bent above the stove. To avoid attracting notice, she + carried her new hat carefully wrapped up, and had thrown a long grey veil + of Mrs. Royall's over the new white muslin dress which Ally's clever + fingers had made for her. All of the ten dollars Mr. Royall had given her, + and a part of her own savings as well, had been spent on renewing her + wardrobe; and when Harney jumped out of the buggy to meet her she read her + reward in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + The freckled boy who had brought her the note two weeks earlier was to + wait with the buggy at Hepburn till their return. He perched at Charity's + feet, his legs dangling between the wheels, and they could not say much + because of his presence. But it did not greatly matter, for their past was + now rich enough to have given them a private language; and with the long + day stretching before them like the blue distance beyond the hills there + was a delicate pleasure in postponement. + </p> + <p> + When Charity, in response to Harney's message, had gone to meet him at the + Creston pool her heart had been so full of mortification and anger that + his first words might easily have estranged her. But it happened that he + had found the right word, which was one of simple friendship. His tone had + instantly justified her, and put her guardian in the wrong. He had made no + allusion to what had passed between Mr. Royall and himself, but had simply + let it appear that he had left because means of conveyance were hard to + find at North Dormer, and because Creston River was a more convenient + centre. He told her that he had hired by the week the buggy of the + freckled boy's father, who served as livery-stable keeper to one or two + melancholy summer boarding-houses on Creston Lake, and had discovered, + within driving distance, a number of houses worthy of his pencil; and he + said that he could not, while he was in the neighbourhood, give up the + pleasure of seeing her as often as possible. + </p> + <p> + When they took leave of each other she promised to continue to be his + guide; and during the fortnight which followed they roamed the hills in + happy comradeship. In most of the village friendships between youths and + maidens lack of conversation was made up for by tentative fondling; but + Harney, except when he had tried to comfort her in her trouble on their + way back from the Hyatts', had never put his arm about her, or sought to + betray her into any sudden caress. It seemed to be enough for him to + breathe her nearness like a flower's; and since his pleasure at being with + her, and his sense of her youth and her grace, perpetually shone in his + eyes and softened the inflection of his voice, his reserve did not suggest + coldness, but the deference due to a girl of his own class. + </p> + <p> + The buggy was drawn by an old trotter who whirled them along so briskly + that the pace created a little breeze; but when they reached Hepburn the + full heat of the airless morning descended on them. At the railway station + the platform was packed with a sweltering throng, and they took refuge in + the waiting-room, where there was another throng, already dejected by the + heat and the long waiting for retarded trains. Pale mothers were + struggling with fretful babies, or trying to keep their older offspring + from the fascination of the track; girls and their “fellows” were giggling + and shoving, and passing about candy in sticky bags, and older men, + collarless and perspiring, were shifting heavy children from one arm to + the other, and keeping a haggard eye on the scattered members of their + families. + </p> + <p> + At last the train rumbled in, and engulfed the waiting multitude. Harney + swept Charity up on to the first car and they captured a bench for two, + and sat in happy isolation while the train swayed and roared along through + rich fields and languid tree-clumps. The haze of the morning had become a + sort of clear tremor over everything, like the colourless vibration about + a flame; and the opulent landscape seemed to droop under it. But to + Charity the heat was a stimulant: it enveloped the whole world in the same + glow that burned at her heart. Now and then a lurch of the train flung her + against Harney, and through her thin muslin she felt the touch of his + sleeve. She steadied herself, their eyes met, and the flaming breath of + the day seemed to enclose them. + </p> + <p> + The train roared into the Nettleton station, the descending mob caught + them on its tide, and they were swept out into a vague dusty square + thronged with seedy “hacks” and long curtained omnibuses drawn by horses + with tasselled fly-nets over their withers, who stood swinging their + depressed heads drearily from side to side. + </p> + <p> + A mob of 'bus and hack drivers were shouting “To the Eagle House,” “To the + Washington House,” “This way to the Lake,” “Just starting for Greytop;” + and through their yells came the popping of fire-crackers, the explosion + of torpedoes, the banging of toy-guns, and the crash of a firemen's band + trying to play the Merry Widow while they were being packed into a + waggonette streaming with bunting. + </p> + <p> + The ramshackle wooden hotels about the square were all hung with flags and + paper lanterns, and as Harney and Charity turned into the main street, + with its brick and granite business blocks crowding out the old + low-storied shops, and its towering poles strung with innumerable wires + that seemed to tremble and buzz in the heat, they saw the double line of + flags and lanterns tapering away gaily to the park at the other end of the + perspective. The noise and colour of this holiday vision seemed to + transform Nettleton into a metropolis. Charity could not believe that + Springfield or even Boston had anything grander to show, and she wondered + if, at this very moment, Annabel Balch, on the arm of as brilliant a young + man, were threading her way through scenes as resplendent. + </p> + <p> + “Where shall we go first?” Harney asked; but as she turned her happy eyes + on him he guessed the answer and said: “We'll take a look round, shall + we?” + </p> + <p> + The street swarmed with their fellow-travellers, with other excursionists + arriving from other directions, with Nettleton's own population, and with + the mill-hands trooping in from the factories on the Creston. The shops + were closed, but one would scarcely have noticed it, so numerous were the + glass doors swinging open on saloons, on restaurants, on drug-stores + gushing from every soda-water tap, on fruit and confectionery shops + stacked with strawberry-cake, cocoanut drops, trays of glistening molasses + candy, boxes of caramels and chewing-gum, baskets of sodden strawberries, + and dangling branches of bananas. Outside of some of the doors were + trestles with banked-up oranges and apples, spotted pears and dusty + raspberries; and the air reeked with the smell of fruit and stale coffee, + beer and sarsaparilla and fried potatoes. + </p> + <p> + Even the shops that were closed offered, through wide expanses of + plate-glass, hints of hidden riches. In some, waves of silk and ribbon + broke over shores of imitation moss from which ravishing hats rose like + tropical orchids. In others, the pink throats of gramophones opened their + giant convolutions in a soundless chorus; or bicycles shining in neat + ranks seemed to await the signal of an invisible starter; or tiers of + fancy-goods in leatherette and paste and celluloid dangled their insidious + graces; and, in one vast bay that seemed to project them into exciting + contact with the public, wax ladies in daring dresses chatted elegantly, + or, with gestures intimate yet blameless, pointed to their pink corsets + and transparent hosiery. + </p> + <p> + Presently Harney found that his watch had stopped, and turned in at a + small jeweller's shop which chanced to still be open. While the watch was + being examined Charity leaned over the glass counter where, on a + background of dark blue velvet, pins, rings, and brooches glittered like + the moon and stars. She had never seen jewellry so near by, and she longed + to lift the glass lid and plunge her hand among the shining treasures. But + already Harney's watch was repaired, and he laid his hand on her arm and + drew her from her dream. + </p> + <p> + “Which do you like best?” he asked leaning over the counter at her side. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know....” She pointed to a gold lily-of-the-valley with white + flowers. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you think the blue pin's better?” he suggested, and immediately she + saw that the lily of the valley was mere trumpery compared to the small + round stone, blue as a mountain lake, with little sparks of light all + round it. She coloured at her want of discrimination. + </p> + <p> + “It's so lovely I guess I was afraid to look at it,” she said. + </p> + <p> + He laughed, and they went out of the shop; but a few steps away he + exclaimed: “Oh, by Jove, I forgot something,” and turned back and left her + in the crowd. She stood staring down a row of pink gramophone throats till + he rejoined her and slipped his arm through hers. + </p> + <p> + “You mustn't be afraid of looking at the blue pin any longer, because it + belongs to you,” he said; and she felt a little box being pressed into her + hand. Her heart gave a leap of joy, but it reached her lips only in a shy + stammer. She remembered other girls whom she had heard planning to extract + presents from their fellows, and was seized with a sudden dread lest + Harney should have imagined that she had leaned over the pretty things in + the glass case in the hope of having one given to her.... + </p> + <p> + A little farther down the street they turned in at a glass doorway opening + on a shining hall with a mahogany staircase, and brass cages in its + corners. “We must have something to eat,” Harney said; and the next moment + Charity found herself in a dressing-room all looking-glass and lustrous + surfaces, where a party of showy-looking girls were dabbing on powder and + straightening immense plumed hats. When they had gone she took courage to + bathe her hot face in one of the marble basins, and to straighten her own + hat-brim, which the parasols of the crowd had indented. The dresses in the + shops had so impressed her that she scarcely dared look at her reflection; + but when she did so, the glow of her face under her cherry-coloured hat, + and the curve of her young shoulders through the transparent muslin, + restored her courage; and when she had taken the blue brooch from its box + and pinned it on her bosom she walked toward the restaurant with her head + high, as if she had always strolled through tessellated halls beside young + men in flannels. + </p> + <p> + Her spirit sank a little at the sight of the slim-waisted waitresses in + black, with bewitching mob-caps on their haughty heads, who were moving + disdainfully between the tables. “Not f'r another hour,” one of them + dropped to Harney in passing; and he stood doubtfully glancing about him. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well, we can't stay sweltering here,” he decided; “let's try + somewhere else—” and with a sense of relief Charity followed him + from that scene of inhospitable splendour. + </p> + <p> + That “somewhere else” turned out—after more hot tramping, and + several failures—to be, of all things, a little open-air place in a + back street that called itself a French restaurant, and consisted in two + or three rickety tables under a scarlet-runner, between a patch of zinnias + and petunias and a big elm bending over from the next yard. Here they + lunched on queerly flavoured things, while Harney, leaning back in a + crippled rocking-chair, smoked cigarettes between the courses and poured + into Charity's glass a pale yellow wine which he said was the very same + one drank in just such jolly places in France. + </p> + <p> + Charity did not think the wine as good as sarsaparilla, but she sipped a + mouthful for the pleasure of doing what he did, and of fancying herself + alone with him in foreign countries. The illusion was increased by their + being served by a deep-bosomed woman with smooth hair and a pleasant + laugh, who talked to Harney in unintelligible words, and seemed amazed and + overjoyed at his answering her in kind. At the other tables other people + sat, mill-hands probably, homely but pleasant looking, who spoke the same + shrill jargon, and looked at Harney and Charity with friendly eyes; and + between the table-legs a poodle with bald patches and pink eyes nosed + about for scraps, and sat up on his hind legs absurdly. + </p> + <p> + Harney showed no inclination to move, for hot as their corner was, it was + at least shaded and quiet; and, from the main thoroughfares came the + clanging of trolleys, the incessant popping of torpedoes, the jingle of + street-organs, the bawling of megaphone men and the loud murmur of + increasing crowds. He leaned back, smoking his cigar, patting the dog, and + stirring the coffee that steamed in their chipped cups. “It's the real + thing, you know,” he explained; and Charity hastily revised her previous + conception of the beverage. + </p> + <p> + They had made no plans for the rest of the day, and when Harney asked her + what she wanted to do next she was too bewildered by rich possibilities to + find an answer. Finally she confessed that she longed to go to the Lake, + where she had not been taken on her former visit, and when he answered, + “Oh, there's time for that—it will be pleasanter later,” she + suggested seeing some pictures like the ones Mr. Miles had taken her to. + She thought Harney looked a little disconcerted; but he passed his fine + handkerchief over his warm brow, said gaily, “Come along, then,” and rose + with a last pat for the pink-eyed dog. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles's pictures had been shown in an austere Y.M.C.A. hall, with + white walls and an organ; but Harney led Charity to a glittering place—everything + she saw seemed to glitter—where they passed, between immense + pictures of yellow-haired beauties stabbing villains in evening dress, + into a velvet-curtained auditorium packed with spectators to the last + limit of compression. After that, for a while, everything was merged in + her brain in swimming circles of heat and blinding alternations of light + and darkness. All the world has to show seemed to pass before her in a + chaos of palms and minarets, charging cavalry regiments, roaring lions, + comic policemen and scowling murderers; and the crowd around her, the + hundreds of hot sallow candy-munching faces, young, old, middle-aged, but + all kindled with the same contagious excitement, became part of the + spectacle, and danced on the screen with the rest. + </p> + <p> + Presently the thought of the cool trolley-run to the Lake grew + irresistible, and they struggled out of the theatre. As they stood on the + pavement, Harney pale with the heat, and even Charity a little confused by + it, a young man drove by in an electric run-about with a calico band + bearing the words: “Ten dollars to take you round the Lake.” Before + Charity knew what was happening, Harney had waved a hand, and they were + climbing in. “Say, for twenny-five I'll run you out to see the ball-game + and back,” the driver proposed with an insinuating grin; but Charity said + quickly: “Oh, I'd rather go rowing on the Lake.” The street was so + thronged that progress was slow; but the glory of sitting in the little + carriage while it wriggled its way between laden omnibuses and trolleys + made the moments seem too short. “Next turn is Lake Avenue,” the young man + called out over his shoulder; and as they paused in the wake of a big + omnibus groaning with Knights of Pythias in cocked hats and swords, + Charity looked up and saw on the corner a brick house with a conspicuous + black and gold sign across its front. “Dr. Merkle; Private Consultations + at all hours. Lady Attendants,” she read; and suddenly she remembered Ally + Hawes's words: “The house was at the corner of Wing Street and Lake + Avenue... there's a big black sign across the front....” Through all the + heat and the rapture a shiver of cold ran over her. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + X + </h2> + <p> + THE Lake at last—a sheet of shining metal brooded over by drooping + trees. Charity and Harney had secured a boat and, getting away from the + wharves and the refreshment-booths, they drifted idly along, hugging the + shadow of the shore. Where the sun struck the water its shafts flamed back + blindingly at the heat-veiled sky; and the least shade was black by + contrast. The Lake was so smooth that the reflection of the trees on its + edge seemed enamelled on a solid surface; but gradually, as the sun + declined, the water grew transparent, and Charity, leaning over, plunged + her fascinated gaze into depths so clear that she saw the inverted + tree-tops interwoven with the green growths of the bottom. + </p> + <p> + They rounded a point at the farther end of the Lake, and entering an inlet + pushed their bow against a protruding tree-trunk. A green veil of willows + overhung them. Beyond the trees, wheat-fields sparkled in the sun; and all + along the horizon the clear hills throbbed with light. Charity leaned back + in the stern, and Harney unshipped the oars and lay in the bottom of the + boat without speaking. + </p> + <p> + Ever since their meeting at the Creston pool he had been subject to these + brooding silences, which were as different as possible from the pauses + when they ceased to speak because words were needless. At such times his + face wore the expression she had seen on it when she had looked in at him + from the darkness and again there came over her a sense of the mysterious + distance between them; but usually his fits of abstraction were followed + by bursts of gaiety that chased away the shadow before it chilled her. + </p> + <p> + She was still thinking of the ten dollars he had handed to the driver of + the run-about. It had given them twenty minutes of pleasure, and it seemed + unimaginable that anyone should be able to buy amusement at that rate. + With ten dollars he might have bought her an engagement ring; she knew + that Mrs. Tom Fry's, which came from Springfield, and had a diamond in it, + had cost only eight seventy-five. But she did not know why the thought had + occurred to her. Harney would never buy her an engagement ring: they were + friends and comrades, but no more. He had been perfectly fair to her: he + had never said a word to mislead her. She wondered what the girl was like + whose hand was waiting for his ring.... + </p> + <p> + Boats were beginning to thicken on the Lake and the clang of incessantly + arriving trolleys announced the return of the crowds from the ball-field. + The shadows lengthened across the pearl-grey water and two white clouds + near the sun were turning golden. On the opposite shore men were hammering + hastily at a wooden scaffolding in a field. Charity asked what it was for. + </p> + <p> + “Why, the fireworks. I suppose there'll be a big show.” Harney looked at + her and a smile crept into his moody eyes. “Have you never seen any good + fireworks?” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Hatchard always sends up lovely rockets on the Fourth,” she answered + doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + “Oh——” his contempt was unbounded. “I mean a big performance + like this, illuminated boats, and all the rest.” + </p> + <p> + She flushed at the picture. “Do they send them up from the Lake, too?” + </p> + <p> + “Rather. Didn't you notice that big raft we passed? It's wonderful to see + the rockets completing their orbits down under one's feet.” She said + nothing, and he put the oars into the rowlocks. “If we stay we'd better go + and pick up something to eat.” + </p> + <p> + “But how can we get back afterwards?” she ventured, feeling it would break + her heart if she missed it. + </p> + <p> + He consulted a time-table, found a ten o'clock train and reassured her. + “The moon rises so late that it will be dark by eight, and we'll have over + an hour of it.” + </p> + <p> + Twilight fell, and lights began to show along the shore. The trolleys + roaring out from Nettleton became great luminous serpents coiling in and + out among the trees. The wooden eating-houses at the Lake's edge danced + with lanterns, and the dusk echoed with laughter and shouts and the clumsy + splashing of oars. + </p> + <p> + Harney and Charity had found a table in the corner of a balcony built over + the Lake, and were patiently awaiting an unattainable chowder. Close under + them the water lapped the piles, agitated by the evolutions of a little + white steamboat trellised with coloured globes which was to run passengers + up and down the Lake. It was already black with them as it sheered off on + its first trip. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly Charity heard a woman's laugh behind her. The sound was familiar, + and she turned to look. A band of showily dressed girls and dapper young + men wearing badges of secret societies, with new straw hats tilted far + back on their square-clipped hair, had invaded the balcony and were loudly + clamouring for a table. The girl in the lead was the one who had laughed. + She wore a large hat with a long white feather, and from under its brim + her painted eyes looked at Charity with amused recognition. + </p> + <p> + “Say! if this ain't like Old Home Week,” she remarked to the girl at her + elbow; and giggles and glances passed between them. Charity knew at once + that the girl with the white feather was Julia Hawes. She had lost her + freshness, and the paint under her eyes made her face seem thinner; but + her lips had the same lovely curve, and the same cold mocking smile, as if + there were some secret absurdity in the person she was looking at, and she + had instantly detected it. + </p> + <p> + Charity flushed to the forehead and looked away. She felt herself + humiliated by Julia's sneer, and vexed that the mockery of such a creature + should affect her. She trembled lest Harney should notice that the noisy + troop had recognized her; but they found no table free, and passed on + tumultuously. + </p> + <p> + Presently there was a soft rush through the air and a shower of silver + fell from the blue evening sky. In another direction, pale Roman candles + shot up singly through the trees, and a fire-haired rocket swept the + horizon like a portent. Between these intermittent flashes the velvet + curtains of the darkness were descending, and in the intervals of eclipse + the voices of the crowds seemed to sink to smothered murmurs. + </p> + <p> + Charity and Harney, dispossessed by newcomers, were at length obliged to + give up their table and struggle through the throng about the + boat-landings. For a while there seemed no escape from the tide of late + arrivals; but finally Harney secured the last two places on the stand from + which the more privileged were to see the fireworks. The seats were at the + end of a row, one above the other. Charity had taken off her hat to have + an uninterrupted view; and whenever she leaned back to follow the curve of + some dishevelled rocket she could feel Harney's knees against her head. + </p> + <p> + After a while the scattered fireworks ceased. A longer interval of + darkness followed, and then the whole night broke into flower. From every + point of the horizon, gold and silver arches sprang up and crossed each + other, sky-orchards broke into blossom, shed their flaming petals and hung + their branches with golden fruit; and all the while the air was filled + with a soft supernatural hum, as though great birds were building their + nests in those invisible tree-tops. + </p> + <p> + Now and then there came a lull, and a wave of moonlight swept the Lake. In + a flash it revealed hundreds of boats, steel-dark against lustrous + ripples; then it withdrew as if with a furling of vast translucent wings. + Charity's heart throbbed with delight. It was as if all the latent beauty + of things had been unveiled to her. She could not imagine that the world + held anything more wonderful; but near her she heard someone say, “You + wait till you see the set piece,” and instantly her hopes took a fresh + flight. At last, just as it was beginning to seem as though the whole arch + of the sky were one great lid pressed against her dazzled eye-balls, and + striking out of them continuous jets of jewelled light, the velvet + darkness settled down again, and a murmur of expectation ran through the + crowd. + </p> + <p> + “Now—now!” the same voice said excitedly; and Charity, grasping the + hat on her knee, crushed it tight in the effort to restrain her rapture. + </p> + <p> + For a moment the night seemed to grow more impenetrably black; then a + great picture stood out against it like a constellation. It was surmounted + by a golden scroll bearing the inscription, “Washington crossing the + Delaware,” and across a flood of motionless golden ripples the National + Hero passed, erect, solemn and gigantic, standing with folded arms in the + stern of a slowly moving golden boat. + </p> + <p> + A long “Oh-h-h” burst from the spectators: the stand creaked and shook + with their blissful trepidations. “Oh-h-h,” Charity gasped: she had + forgotten where she was, had at last forgotten even Harney's nearness. She + seemed to have been caught up into the stars.... + </p> + <p> + The picture vanished and darkness came down. In the obscurity she felt her + head clasped by two hands: her face was drawn backward, and Harney's lips + were pressed on hers. With sudden vehemence he wound his arms about her, + holding her head against his breast while she gave him back his kisses. An + unknown Harney had revealed himself, a Harney who dominated her and yet + over whom she felt herself possessed of a new mysterious power. + </p> + <p> + But the crowd was beginning to move, and he had to release her. “Come,” he + said in a confused voice. He scrambled over the side of the stand, and + holding up his arm caught her as she sprang to the ground. He passed his + arm about her waist, steadying her against the descending rush of people; + and she clung to him, speechless, exultant, as if all the crowding and + confusion about them were a mere vain stirring of the air. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” he repeated, “we must try to make the trolley.” He drew her along, + and she followed, still in her dream. They walked as if they were one, so + isolated in ecstasy that the people jostling them on every side seemed + impalpable. But when they reached the terminus the illuminated trolley was + already clanging on its way, its platforms black with passengers. The cars + waiting behind it were as thickly packed; and the throng about the + terminus was so dense that it seemed hopeless to struggle for a place. + </p> + <p> + “Last trip up the Lake,” a megaphone bellowed from the wharf; and the + lights of the little steam-boat came dancing out of the darkness. + </p> + <p> + “No use waiting here; shall we run up the Lake?” Harney suggested. + </p> + <p> + They pushed their way back to the edge of the water just as the gang-plank + lowered from the white side of the boat. The electric light at the end of + the wharf flashed full on the descending passengers, and among them + Charity caught sight of Julia Hawes, her white feather askew, and the face + under it flushed with coarse laughter. As she stepped from the gang-plank + she stopped short, her dark-ringed eyes darting malice. + </p> + <p> + “Hullo, Charity Royall!” she called out; and then, looking back over her + shoulder: “Didn't I tell you it was a family party? Here's grandpa's + little daughter come to take him home!” + </p> + <p> + A snigger ran through the group; and then, towering above them, and + steadying himself by the hand-rail in a desperate effort at erectness, Mr. + Royall stepped stiffly ashore. Like the young men of the party, he wore a + secret society emblem in the buttonhole of his black frock-coat. His head + was covered by a new Panama hat, and his narrow black tie, half undone, + dangled down on his rumpled shirt-front. His face, a livid brown, with red + blotches of anger and lips sunken in like an old man's, was a lamentable + ruin in the searching glare. + </p> + <p> + He was just behind Julia Hawes, and had one hand on her arm; but as he + left the gang-plank he freed himself, and moved a step or two away from + his companions. He had seen Charity at once, and his glance passed slowly + from her to Harney, whose arm was still about her. He stood staring at + them, and trying to master the senile quiver of his lips; then he drew + himself up with the tremulous majesty of drunkenness, and stretched out + his arm. + </p> + <p> + “You whore—you damn—bare-headed whore, you!” he enunciated + slowly. + </p> + <p> + There was a scream of tipsy laughter from the party, and Charity + involuntarily put her hands to her head. She remembered that her hat had + fallen from her lap when she jumped up to leave the stand; and suddenly + she had a vision of herself, hatless, dishevelled, with a man's arm about + her, confronting that drunken crew, headed by her guardian's pitiable + figure. The picture filled her with shame. She had known since childhood + about Mr. Royall's “habits”: had seen him, as she went up to bed, sitting + morosely in his office, a bottle at his elbow; or coming home, heavy and + quarrelsome, from his business expeditions to Hepburn or Springfield; but + the idea of his associating himself publicly with a band of disreputable + girls and bar-room loafers was new and dreadful to her. + </p> + <p> + “Oh——” she said in a gasp of misery; and releasing herself + from Harney's arm she went straight up to Mr. Royall. + </p> + <p> + “You come home with me—you come right home with me,” she said in a + low stern voice, as if she had not heard his apostrophe; and one of the + girls called out: “Say, how many fellers does she want?” + </p> + <p> + There was another laugh, followed by a pause of curiosity, during which + Mr. Royall continued to glare at Charity. At length his twitching lips + parted. “I said, 'You—damn—whore!'” he repeated with + precision, steadying himself on Julia's shoulder. + </p> + <p> + Laughs and jeers were beginning to spring up from the circle of people + beyond their group; and a voice called out from the gangway: “Now, then, + step lively there—all ABOARD!” The pressure of approaching and + departing passengers forced the actors in the rapid scene apart, and + pushed them back into the throng. Charity found herself clinging to + Harney's arm and sobbing desperately. Mr. Royall had disappeared, and in + the distance she heard the receding sound of Julia's laugh. + </p> + <p> + The boat, laden to the taffrail, was puffing away on her last trip. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XI + </h2> + <p> + AT two o'clock in the morning the freckled boy from Creston stopped his + sleepy horse at the door of the red house, and Charity got out. Harney had + taken leave of her at Creston River, charging the boy to drive her home. + Her mind was still in a fog of misery, and she did not remember very + clearly what had happened, or what they said to each other, during the + interminable interval since their departure from Nettleton; but the + secretive instinct of the animal in pain was so strong in her that she had + a sense of relief when Harney got out and she drove on alone. + </p> + <p> + The full moon hung over North Dormer, whitening the mist that filled the + hollows between the hills and floated transparently above the fields. + Charity stood a moment at the gate, looking out into the waning night. She + watched the boy drive off, his horse's head wagging heavily to and fro; + then she went around to the kitchen door and felt under the mat for the + key. She found it, unlocked the door and went in. The kitchen was dark, + but she discovered a box of matches, lit a candle and went upstairs. Mr. + Royall's door, opposite hers, stood open on his unlit room; evidently he + had not come back. She went into her room, bolted her door and began + slowly to untie the ribbon about her waist, and to take off her dress. + Under the bed she saw the paper bag in which she had hidden her new hat + from inquisitive eyes.... + </p> + <p> + She lay for a long time sleepless on her bed, staring up at the moonlight + on the low ceiling; dawn was in the sky when she fell asleep, and when she + woke the sun was on her face. + </p> + <p> + She dressed and went down to the kitchen. Verena was there alone: she + glanced at Charity tranquilly, with her old deaf-looking eyes. There was + no sign of Mr. Royall about the house and the hours passed without his + reappearing. Charity had gone up to her room, and sat there listlessly, + her hands on her lap. Puffs of sultry air fanned her dimity window + curtains and flies buzzed stiflingly against the bluish panes. + </p> + <p> + At one o'clock Verena hobbled up to see if she were not coming down to + dinner; but she shook her head, and the old woman went away, saying: “I'll + cover up, then.” + </p> + <p> + The sun turned and left her room, and Charity seated herself in the + window, gazing down the village street through the half-opened shutters. + Not a thought was in her mind; it was just a dark whirlpool of crowding + images; and she watched the people passing along the street, Dan Targatt's + team hauling a load of pine-trunks down to Hepburn, the sexton's old white + horse grazing on the bank across the way, as if she looked at these + familiar sights from the other side of the grave. + </p> + <p> + She was roused from her apathy by seeing Ally Hawes come out of the Frys' + gate and walk slowly toward the red house with her uneven limping step. At + the sight Charity recovered her severed contact with reality. She divined + that Ally was coming to hear about her day: no one else was in the secret + of the trip to Nettleton, and it had flattered Ally profoundly to be + allowed to know of it. + </p> + <p> + At the thought of having to see her, of having to meet her eyes and answer + or evade her questions, the whole horror of the previous night's adventure + rushed back upon Charity. What had been a feverish nightmare became a cold + and unescapable fact. Poor Ally, at that moment, represented North Dormer, + with all its mean curiosities, its furtive malice, its sham + unconsciousness of evil. Charity knew that, although all relations with + Julia were supposed to be severed, the tender-hearted Ally still secretly + communicated with her; and no doubt Julia would exult in the chance of + retailing the scandal of the wharf. The story, exaggerated and distorted, + was probably already on its way to North Dormer. + </p> + <p> + Ally's dragging pace had not carried her far from the Frys' gate when she + was stopped by old Mrs. Sollas, who was a great talker, and spoke very + slowly because she had never been able to get used to her new teeth from + Hepburn. Still, even this respite would not last long; in another ten + minutes Ally would be at the door, and Charity would hear her greeting + Verena in the kitchen, and then calling up from the foot of the stairs. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly it became clear that flight, and instant flight, was the only + thing conceivable. The longing to escape, to get away from familiar faces, + from places where she was known, had always been strong in her in moments + of distress. She had a childish belief in the miraculous power of strange + scenes and new faces to transform her life and wipe out bitter memories. + But such impulses were mere fleeting whims compared to the cold resolve + which now possessed her. She felt she could not remain an hour longer + under the roof of the man who had publicly dishonoured her, and face to + face with the people who would presently be gloating over all the details + of her humiliation. + </p> + <p> + Her passing pity for Mr. Royall had been swallowed up in loathing: + everything in her recoiled from the disgraceful spectacle of the drunken + old man apostrophizing her in the presence of a band of loafers and + street-walkers. Suddenly, vividly, she relived again the horrible moment + when he had tried to force himself into her room, and what she had before + supposed to be a mad aberration now appeared to her as a vulgar incident + in a debauched and degraded life. + </p> + <p> + While these thoughts were hurrying through her she had dragged out her old + canvas school-bag, and was thrusting into it a few articles of clothing + and the little packet of letters she had received from Harney. From under + her pincushion she took the library key, and laid it in full view; then + she felt at the back of a drawer for the blue brooch that Harney had given + her. She would not have dared to wear it openly at North Dormer, but now + she fastened it on her bosom as if it were a talisman to protect her in + her flight. These preparations had taken but a few minutes, and when they + were finished Ally Hawes was still at the Frys' corner talking to old Mrs. + Sollas.... + </p> + <p> + She had said to herself, as she always said in moments of revolt: “I'll go + to the Mountain—I'll go back to my own folks.” She had never really + meant it before; but now, as she considered her case, no other course + seemed open. She had never learned any trade that would have given her + independence in a strange place, and she knew no one in the big towns of + the valley, where she might have hoped to find employment. Miss Hatchard + was still away; but even had she been at North Dormer she was the last + person to whom Charity would have turned, since one of the motives urging + her to flight was the wish not to see Lucius Harney. Travelling back from + Nettleton, in the crowded brightly-lit train, all exchange of confidence + between them had been impossible; but during their drive from Hepburn to + Creston River she had gathered from Harney's snatches of consolatory talk—again + hampered by the freckled boy's presence—that he intended to see her + the next day. At the moment she had found a vague comfort in the + assurance; but in the desolate lucidity of the hours that followed she had + come to see the impossibility of meeting him again. Her dream of + comradeship was over; and the scene on the wharf—vile and + disgraceful as it had been—had after all shed the light of truth on + her minute of madness. It was as if her guardian's words had stripped her + bare in the face of the grinning crowd and proclaimed to the world the + secret admonitions of her conscience. + </p> + <p> + She did not think these things out clearly; she simply followed the blind + propulsion of her wretchedness. She did not want, ever again, to see + anyone she had known; above all, she did not want to see Harney.... + </p> + <p> + She climbed the hill-path behind the house and struck through the woods by + a short-cut leading to the Creston road. A lead-coloured sky hung heavily + over the fields, and in the forest the motionless air was stifling; but + she pushed on, impatient to reach the road which was the shortest way to + the Mountain. + </p> + <p> + To do so, she had to follow the Creston road for a mile or two, and go + within half a mile of the village; and she walked quickly, fearing to meet + Harney. But there was no sign of him, and she had almost reached the + branch road when she saw the flanks of a large white tent projecting + through the trees by the roadside. She supposed that it sheltered a + travelling circus which had come there for the Fourth; but as she drew + nearer she saw, over the folded-back flap, a large sign bearing the + inscription, “Gospel Tent.” The interior seemed to be empty; but a young + man in a black alpaca coat, his lank hair parted over a round white face, + stepped from under the flap and advanced toward her with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “Sister, your Saviour knows everything. Won't you come in and lay your + guilt before Him?” he asked insinuatingly, putting his hand on her arm. + </p> + <p> + Charity started back and flushed. For a moment she thought the evangelist + must have heard a report of the scene at Nettleton; then she saw the + absurdity of the supposition. + </p> + <p> + “I on'y wish't I had any to lay!” she retorted, with one of her fierce + flashes of self-derision; and the young man murmured, aghast: “Oh, Sister, + don't speak blasphemy....” + </p> + <p> + But she had jerked her arm out of his hold, and was running up the branch + road, trembling with the fear of meeting a familiar face. Presently she + was out of sight of the village, and climbing into the heart of the + forest. She could not hope to do the fifteen miles to the Mountain that + afternoon; but she knew of a place half-way to Hamblin where she could + sleep, and where no one would think of looking for her. It was a little + deserted house on a slope in one of the lonely rifts of the hills. She had + seen it once, years before, when she had gone on a nutting expedition to + the grove of walnuts below it. The party had taken refuge in the house + from a sudden mountain storm, and she remembered that Ben Sollas, who + liked frightening girls, had told them that it was said to be haunted. + </p> + <p> + She was growing faint and tired, for she had eaten nothing since morning, + and was not used to walking so far. Her head felt light and she sat down + for a moment by the roadside. As she sat there she heard the click of a + bicycle-bell, and started up to plunge back into the forest; but before + she could move the bicycle had swept around the curve of the road, and + Harney, jumping off, was approaching her with outstretched arms. + </p> + <p> + “Charity! What on earth are you doing here?” + </p> + <p> + She stared as if he were a vision, so startled by the unexpectedness of + his being there that no words came to her. + </p> + <p> + “Where were you going? Had you forgotten that I was coming?” he continued, + trying to draw her to him; but she shrank from his embrace. + </p> + <p> + “I was going away—I don't want to see you—I want you should + leave me alone,” she broke out wildly. + </p> + <p> + He looked at her and his face grew grave, as though the shadow of a + premonition brushed it. + </p> + <p> + “Going away—from me, Charity?” + </p> + <p> + “From everybody. I want you should leave me.” + </p> + <p> + He stood glancing doubtfully up and down the lonely forest road that + stretched away into sun-flecked distances. + </p> + <p> + “Where were you going?' + </p> + <p> + “Home.” + </p> + <p> + “Home—this way?” + </p> + <p> + She threw her head back defiantly. “To my home—up yonder: to the + Mountain.” + </p> + <p> + As she spoke she became aware of a change in his face. He was no longer + listening to her, he was only looking at her, with the passionate absorbed + expression she had seen in his eyes after they had kissed on the stand at + Nettleton. He was the new Harney again, the Harney abruptly revealed in + that embrace, who seemed so penetrated with the joy of her presence that + he was utterly careless of what she was thinking or feeling. + </p> + <p> + He caught her hands with a laugh. “How do you suppose I found you?” he + said gaily. He drew out the little packet of his letters and flourished + them before her bewildered eyes. + </p> + <p> + “You dropped them, you imprudent young person—dropped them in the + middle of the road, not far from here; and the young man who is running + the Gospel tent picked them up just as I was riding by.” He drew back, + holding her at arm's length, and scrutinizing her troubled face with the + minute searching gaze of his short-sighted eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Did you really think you could run away from me? You see you weren't + meant to,” he said; and before she could answer he had kissed her again, + not vehemently, but tenderly, almost fraternally, as if he had guessed her + confused pain, and wanted her to know he understood it. He wound his + fingers through hers. + </p> + <p> + “Come let's walk a little. I want to talk to you. There's so much to say.” + </p> + <p> + He spoke with a boy's gaiety, carelessly and confidently, as if nothing + had happened that could shame or embarrass them; and for a moment, in the + sudden relief of her release from lonely pain, she felt herself yielding + to his mood. But he had turned, and was drawing her back along the road by + which she had come. She stiffened herself and stopped short. + </p> + <p> + “I won't go back,” she said. + </p> + <p> + They looked at each other a moment in silence; then he answered gently: + “Very well: let's go the other way, then.” + </p> + <p> + She remained motionless, gazing silently at the ground, and he went on: + “Isn't there a house up here somewhere—a little abandoned house—you + meant to show me some day?” Still she made no answer, and he continued, in + the same tone of tender reassurance: “Let us go there now and sit down and + talk quietly.” He took one of the hands that hung by her side and pressed + his lips to the palm. “Do you suppose I'm going to let you send me away? + Do you suppose I don't understand?” + </p> + <p> + The little old house—its wooden walls sun-bleached to a ghostly gray—stood + in an orchard above the road. The garden palings had fallen, but the + broken gate dangled between its posts, and the path to the house was + marked by rose-bushes run wild and hanging their small pale blossoms above + the crowding grasses. Slender pilasters and an intricate fan-light framed + the opening where the door had hung; and the door itself lay rotting in + the grass, with an old apple-tree fallen across it. + </p> + <p> + Inside, also, wind and weather had blanched everything to the same wan + silvery tint; the house was as dry and pure as the interior of a + long-empty shell. But it must have been exceptionally well built, for the + little rooms had kept something of their human aspect: the wooden mantels + with their neat classic ornaments were in place, and the corners of one + ceiling retained a light film of plaster tracery. + </p> + <p> + Harney had found an old bench at the back door and dragged it into the + house. Charity sat on it, leaning her head against the wall in a state of + drowsy lassitude. He had guessed that she was hungry and thirsty, and had + brought her some tablets of chocolate from his bicycle-bag, and filled his + drinking-cup from a spring in the orchard; and now he sat at her feet, + smoking a cigarette, and looking up at her without speaking. Outside, the + afternoon shadows were lengthening across the grass, and through the empty + window-frame that faced her she saw the Mountain thrusting its dark mass + against a sultry sunset. It was time to go. + </p> + <p> + She stood up, and he sprang to his feet also, and passed his arm through + hers with an air of authority. “Now, Charity, you're coming back with me.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at him and shook her head. “I ain't ever going back. You don't + know.” + </p> + <p> + “What don't I know?” She was silent, and he continued: “What happened on + the wharf was horrible—it's natural you should feel as you do. But + it doesn't make any real difference: you can't be hurt by such things. You + must try to forget. And you must try to understand that men... men + sometimes...” + </p> + <p> + “I know about men. That's why.” + </p> + <p> + He coloured a little at the retort, as though it had touched him in a way + she did not suspect. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then... you must know one has to make allowances.... He'd been + drinking....” + </p> + <p> + “I know all that, too. I've seen him so before. But he wouldn't have dared + speak to me that way if he hadn't...” + </p> + <p> + “Hadn't what? What do you mean?” + </p> + <p> + “Hadn't wanted me to be like those other girls....” She lowered her voice + and looked away from him. “So's 't he wouldn't have to go out....” + </p> + <p> + Harney stared at her. For a moment he did not seem to seize her meaning; + then his face grew dark. “The damned hound! The villainous low hound!” His + wrath blazed up, crimsoning him to the temples. “I never dreamed—good + God, it's too vile,” he broke off, as if his thoughts recoiled from the + discovery. + </p> + <p> + “I won't never go back there,” she repeated doggedly. + </p> + <p> + “No——” he assented. + </p> + <p> + There was a long interval of silence, during which she imagined that he + was searching her face for more light on what she had revealed to him; and + a flush of shame swept over her. + </p> + <p> + “I know the way you must feel about me,” she broke out, “...telling you + such things....” + </p> + <p> + But once more, as she spoke, she became aware that he was no longer + listening. He came close and caught her to him as if he were snatching her + from some imminent peril: his impetuous eyes were in hers, and she could + feel the hard beat of his heart as he held her against it. + </p> + <p> + “Kiss me again—like last night,” he said, pushing her hair back as + if to draw her whole face up into his kiss. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XII + </h2> + <p> + ONE afternoon toward the end of August a group of girls sat in a room at + Miss Hatchard's in a gay confusion of flags, turkey-red, blue and white + paper muslin, harvest sheaves and illuminated scrolls. + </p> + <p> + North Dormer was preparing for its Old Home Week. That form of sentimental + decentralization was still in its early stages, and, precedents being few, + and the desire to set an example contagious, the matter had become a + subject of prolonged and passionate discussion under Miss Hatchard's roof. + The incentive to the celebration had come rather from those who had left + North Dormer than from those who had been obliged to stay there, and there + was some difficulty in rousing the village to the proper state of + enthusiasm. But Miss Hatchard's pale prim drawing-room was the centre of + constant comings and goings from Hepburn, Nettleton, Springfield and even + more distant cities; and whenever a visitor arrived he was led across the + hall, and treated to a glimpse of the group of girls deep in their pretty + preparations. + </p> + <p> + “All the old names... all the old names....” Miss Hatchard would be heard, + tapping across the hall on her crutches. “Targatt... Sollas... Fry: this + is Miss Orma Fry sewing the stars on the drapery for the organ-loft. Don't + move, girls... and this is Miss Ally Hawes, our cleverest needle-woman... + and Miss Charity Royall making our garlands of evergreen.... I like the + idea of its all being homemade, don't you? We haven't had to call in any + foreign talent: my young cousin Lucius Harney, the architect—you + know he's up here preparing a book on Colonial houses—he's taken the + whole thing in hand so cleverly; but you must come and see his sketch for + the stage we're going to put up in the Town Hall.” + </p> + <p> + One of the first results of the Old Home Week agitation had, in fact, been + the reappearance of Lucius Harney in the village street. He had been + vaguely spoken of as being not far off, but for some weeks past no one had + seen him at North Dormer, and there was a recent report of his having left + Creston River, where he was said to have been staying, and gone away from + the neighbourhood for good. Soon after Miss Hatchard's return, however, he + came back to his old quarters in her house, and began to take a leading + part in the planning of the festivities. He threw himself into the idea + with extraordinary good-humour, and was so prodigal of sketches, and so + inexhaustible in devices, that he gave an immediate impetus to the rather + languid movement, and infected the whole village with his enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + “Lucius has such a feeling for the past that he has roused us all to a + sense of our privileges,” Miss Hatchard would say, lingering on the last + word, which was a favourite one. And before leading her visitor back to + the drawing-room she would repeat, for the hundredth time, that she + supposed he thought it very bold of little North Dormer to start up and + have a Home Week of its own, when so many bigger places hadn't thought of + it yet; but that, after all, Associations counted more than the size of + the population, didn't they? And of course North Dormer was so full of + Associations... historic, literary (here a filial sigh for Honorius) and + ecclesiastical... he knew about the old pewter communion service imported + from England in 1769, she supposed? And it was so important, in a wealthy + materialistic age, to set the example of reverting to the old ideals, the + family and the homestead, and so on. This peroration usually carried her + half-way back across the hall, leaving the girls to return to their + interrupted activities. + </p> + <p> + The day on which Charity Royall was weaving hemlock garlands for the + procession was the last before the celebration. When Miss Hatchard called + upon the North Dormer maidenhood to collaborate in the festal preparations + Charity had at first held aloof; but it had been made clear to her that + her non-appearance might excite conjecture, and, reluctantly, she had + joined the other workers. The girls, at first shy and embarrassed, and + puzzled as to the exact nature of the projected commemoration, had soon + become interested in the amusing details of their task, and excited by the + notice they received. They would not for the world have missed their + afternoons at Miss Hatchard's, and, while they cut out and sewed and + draped and pasted, their tongues kept up such an accompaniment to the + sewing-machine that Charity's silence sheltered itself unperceived under + their chatter. + </p> + <p> + In spirit she was still almost unconscious of the pleasant stir about her. + Since her return to the red house, on the evening of the day when Harney + had overtaken her on her way to the Mountain, she had lived at North + Dormer as if she were suspended in the void. She had come back there + because Harney, after appearing to agree to the impossibility of her doing + so, had ended by persuading her that any other course would be madness. + She had nothing further to fear from Mr. Royall. Of this she had declared + herself sure, though she had failed to add, in his exoneration, that he + had twice offered to make her his wife. Her hatred of him made it + impossible, at the moment, for her to say anything that might partly + excuse him in Harney's eyes. + </p> + <p> + Harney, however, once satisfied of her security, had found plenty of + reasons for urging her to return. The first, and the most unanswerable, + was that she had nowhere else to go. But the one on which he laid the + greatest stress was that flight would be equivalent to avowal. If—as + was almost inevitable—rumours of the scandalous scene at Nettleton + should reach North Dormer, how else would her disappearance be + interpreted? Her guardian had publicly taken away her character, and she + immediately vanished from his house. Seekers after motives could hardly + fail to draw an unkind conclusion. But if she came back at once, and was + seen leading her usual life, the incident was reduced to its true + proportions, as the outbreak of a drunken old man furious at being + surprised in disreputable company. People would say that Mr. Royall had + insulted his ward to justify himself, and the sordid tale would fall into + its place in the chronicle of his obscure debaucheries. + </p> + <p> + Charity saw the force of the argument; but if she acquiesced it was not so + much because of that as because it was Harney's wish. Since that evening + in the deserted house she could imagine no reason for doing or not doing + anything except the fact that Harney wished or did not wish it. All her + tossing contradictory impulses were merged in a fatalistic acceptance of + his will. It was not that she felt in him any ascendancy of character—there + were moments already when she knew she was the stronger—but that all + the rest of life had become a mere cloudy rim about the central glory of + their passion. Whenever she stopped thinking about that for a moment she + felt as she sometimes did after lying on the grass and staring up too long + at the sky; her eyes were so full of light that everything about her was a + blur. + </p> + <p> + Each time that Miss Hatchard, in the course of her periodical incursions + into the work-room, dropped an allusion to her young cousin, the + architect, the effect was the same on Charity. The hemlock garland she was + wearing fell to her knees and she sat in a kind of trance. It was so + manifestly absurd that Miss Hatchard should talk of Harney in that + familiar possessive way, as if she had any claim on him, or knew anything + about him. She, Charity Royall, was the only being on earth who really + knew him, knew him from the soles of his feet to the rumpled crest of his + hair, knew the shifting lights in his eyes, and the inflexions of his + voice, and the things he liked and disliked, and everything there was to + know about him, as minutely and yet unconsciously as a child knows the + walls of the room it wakes up in every morning. It was this fact, which + nobody about her guessed, or would have understood, that made her life + something apart and inviolable, as if nothing had any power to hurt or + disturb her as long as her secret was safe. + </p> + <p> + The room in which the girls sat was the one which had been Harney's + bedroom. He had been sent upstairs, to make room for the Home Week + workers; but the furniture had not been moved, and as Charity sat there + she had perpetually before her the vision she had looked in on from the + midnight garden. The table at which Harney had sat was the one about which + the girls were gathered; and her own seat was near the bed on which she + had seen him lying. Sometimes, when the others were not looking, she bent + over as if to pick up something, and laid her cheek for a moment against + the pillow. + </p> + <p> + Toward sunset the girls disbanded. Their work was done, and the next + morning at daylight the draperies and garlands were to be nailed up, and + the illuminated scrolls put in place in the Town Hall. The first guests + were to drive over from Hepburn in time for the midday banquet under a + tent in Miss Hatchard's field; and after that the ceremonies were to + begin. Miss Hatchard, pale with fatigue and excitement, thanked her young + assistants, and stood in the porch, leaning on her crutches and waving a + farewell as she watched them troop away down the street. + </p> + <p> + Charity had slipped off among the first; but at the gate she heard Ally + Hawes calling after her, and reluctantly turned. + </p> + <p> + “Will you come over now and try on your dress?” Ally asked, looking at her + with wistful admiration. “I want to be sure the sleeves don't ruck up the + same as they did yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + Charity gazed at her with dazzled eyes. “Oh, it's lovely,” she said, and + hastened away without listening to Ally's protest. She wanted her dress to + be as pretty as the other girls'—wanted it, in fact, to outshine the + rest, since she was to take part in the “exercises”—but she had no + time just then to fix her mind on such matters.... + </p> + <p> + She sped up the street to the library, of which she had the key about her + neck. From the passage at the back she dragged forth a bicycle, and guided + it to the edge of the street. She looked about to see if any of the girls + were approaching; but they had drifted away together toward the Town Hall, + and she sprang into the saddle and turned toward the Creston road. There + was an almost continual descent to Creston, and with her feet against the + pedals she floated through the still evening air like one of the hawks she + had often watched slanting downward on motionless wings. Twenty minutes + from the time when she had left Miss Hatchard's door she was turning up + the wood-road on which Harney had overtaken her on the day of her flight; + and a few minutes afterward she had jumped from her bicycle at the gate of + the deserted house. + </p> + <p> + In the gold-powdered sunset it looked more than ever like some frail shell + dried and washed by many seasons; but at the back, whither Charity + advanced, drawing her bicycle after her, there were signs of recent + habitation. A rough door made of boards hung in the kitchen doorway, and + pushing it open she entered a room furnished in primitive camping fashion. + In the window was a table, also made of boards, with an earthenware jar + holding a big bunch of wild asters, two canvas chairs stood near by, and + in one corner was a mattress with a Mexican blanket over it. + </p> + <p> + The room was empty, and leaning her bicycle against the house Charity + clambered up the slope and sat down on a rock under an old apple-tree. The + air was perfectly still, and from where she sat she would be able to hear + the tinkle of a bicycle-bell a long way down the road.... + </p> + <p> + She was always glad when she got to the little house before Harney. She + liked to have time to take in every detail of its secret sweetness—the + shadows of the apple-trees swaying on the grass, the old walnuts rounding + their domes below the road, the meadows sloping westward in the afternoon + light—before his first kiss blotted it all out. Everything unrelated + to the hours spent in that tranquil place was as faint as the remembrance + of a dream. The only reality was the wondrous unfolding of her new self, + the reaching out to the light of all her contracted tendrils. She had + lived all her life among people whose sensibilities seemed to have + withered for lack of use; and more wonderful, at first, than Harney's + endearments were the words that were a part of them. She had always + thought of love as something confused and furtive, and he made it as + bright and open as the summer air. + </p> + <p> + On the morrow of the day when she had shown him the way to the deserted + house he had packed up and left Creston River for Boston; but at the first + station he had jumped on the train with a hand-bag and scrambled up into + the hills. For two golden rainless August weeks he had camped in the + house, getting eggs and milk from the solitary farm in the valley, where + no one knew him, and doing his cooking over a spirit-lamp. He got up every + day with the sun, took a plunge in a brown pool he knew of, and spent long + hours lying in the scented hemlock-woods above the house, or wandering + along the yoke of the Eagle Ridge, far above the misty blue valleys that + swept away east and west between the endless hills. And in the afternoon + Charity came to him. + </p> + <p> + With part of what was left of her savings she had hired a bicycle for a + month, and every day after dinner, as soon as her guardian started to his + office, she hurried to the library, got out her bicycle, and flew down the + Creston road. She knew that Mr. Royall, like everyone else in North + Dormer, was perfectly aware of her acquisition: possibly he, as well as + the rest of the village, knew what use she made of it. She did not care: + she felt him to be so powerless that if he had questioned her she would + probably have told him the truth. But they had never spoken to each other + since the night on the wharf at Nettleton. He had returned to North Dormer + only on the third day after that encounter, arriving just as Charity and + Verena were sitting down to supper. He had drawn up his chair, taken his + napkin from the side-board drawer, pulled it out of its ring, and seated + himself as unconcernedly as if he had come in from his usual afternoon + session at Carrick Fry's; and the long habit of the household made it seem + almost natural that Charity should not so much as raise her eyes when he + entered. She had simply let him understand that her silence was not + accidental by leaving the table while he was still eating, and going up + without a word to shut herself into her room. After that he formed the + habit of talking loudly and genially to Verena whenever Charity was in the + room; but otherwise there was no apparent change in their relations. + </p> + <p> + She did not think connectedly of these things while she sat waiting for + Harney, but they remained in her mind as a sullen background against which + her short hours with him flamed out like forest fires. Nothing else + mattered, neither the good nor the bad, or what might have seemed so + before she knew him. He had caught her up and carried her away into a new + world, from which, at stated hours, the ghost of her came back to perform + certain customary acts, but all so thinly and insubstantially that she + sometimes wondered that the people she went about among could see her.... + </p> + <p> + Behind the swarthy Mountain the sun had gone down in waveless gold. From a + pasture up the slope a tinkle of cow-bells sounded; a puff of smoke hung + over the farm in the valley, trailed on the pure air and was gone. For a + few minutes, in the clear light that is all shadow, fields and woods were + outlined with an unreal precision; then the twilight blotted them out, and + the little house turned gray and spectral under its wizened + apple-branches. + </p> + <p> + Charity's heart contracted. The first fall of night after a day of + radiance often gave her a sense of hidden menace: it was like looking out + over the world as it would be when love had gone from it. She wondered if + some day she would sit in that same place and watch in vain for her + lover.... + </p> + <p> + His bicycle-bell sounded down the lane, and in a minute she was at the + gate and his eyes were laughing in hers. They walked back through the long + grass, and pushed open the door behind the house. The room at first seemed + quite dark and they had to grope their way in hand in hand. Through the + window-frame the sky looked light by contrast, and above the black mass of + asters in the earthen jar one white star glimmered like a moth. + </p> + <p> + “There was such a lot to do at the last minute,” Harney was explaining, + “and I had to drive down to Creston to meet someone who has come to stay + with my cousin for the show.” + </p> + <p> + He had his arms about her, and his kisses were in her hair and on her + lips. Under his touch things deep down in her struggled to the light and + sprang up like flowers in sunshine. She twisted her fingers into his, and + they sat down side by side on the improvised couch. She hardly heard his + excuses for being late: in his absence a thousand doubts tormented her, + but as soon as he appeared she ceased to wonder where he had come from, + what had delayed him, who had kept him from her. It seemed as if the + places he had been in, and the people he had been with, must cease to + exist when he left them, just as her own life was suspended in his + absence. + </p> + <p> + He continued, now, to talk to her volubly and gaily, deploring his + lateness, grumbling at the demands on his time, and good-humouredly + mimicking Miss Hatchard's benevolent agitation. “She hurried off Miles to + ask Mr. Royall to speak at the Town Hall tomorrow: I didn't know till it + was done.” Charity was silent, and he added: “After all, perhaps it's just + as well. No one else could have done it.” + </p> + <p> + Charity made no answer: She did not care what part her guardian played in + the morrow's ceremonies. Like all the other figures peopling her meagre + world he had grown non-existent to her. She had even put off hating him. + </p> + <p> + “Tomorrow I shall only see you from far off,” Harney continued. “But in + the evening there'll be the dance in the Town Hall. Do you want me to + promise not to dance with any other girl?” + </p> + <p> + Any other girl? Were there any others? She had forgotten even that peril, + so enclosed did he and she seem in their secret world. Her heart gave a + frightened jerk. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, promise.” + </p> + <p> + He laughed and took her in his arms. “You goose—not even if they're + hideous?” + </p> + <p> + He pushed the hair from her forehead, bending her face back, as his way + was, and leaning over so that his head loomed black between her eyes and + the paleness of the sky, in which the white star floated... + </p> + <p> + Side by side they sped back along the dark wood-road to the village. A + late moon was rising, full orbed and fiery, turning the mountain ranges + from fluid gray to a massive blackness, and making the upper sky so light + that the stars looked as faint as their own reflections in water. At the + edge of the wood, half a mile from North Dormer, Harney jumped from his + bicycle, took Charity in his arms for a last kiss, and then waited while + she went on alone. + </p> + <p> + They were later than usual, and instead of taking the bicycle to the + library she propped it against the back of the wood-shed and entered the + kitchen of the red house. Verena sat there alone; when Charity came in she + looked at her with mild impenetrable eyes and then took a plate and a + glass of milk from the shelf and set them silently on the table. Charity + nodded her thanks, and sitting down, fell hungrily upon her piece of pie + and emptied the glass. Her face burned with her quick flight through the + night, and her eyes were dazzled by the twinkle of the kitchen lamp. She + felt like a night-bird suddenly caught and caged. + </p> + <p> + “He ain't come back since supper,” Verena said. “He's down to the Hall.” + </p> + <p> + Charity took no notice. Her soul was still winging through the forest. She + washed her plate and tumbler, and then felt her way up the dark stairs. + When she opened her door a wonder arrested her. Before going out she had + closed her shutters against the afternoon heat, but they had swung partly + open, and a bar of moonlight, crossing the room, rested on her bed and + showed a dress of China silk laid out on it in virgin whiteness. Charity + had spent more than she could afford on the dress, which was to surpass + those of all the other girls; she had wanted to let North Dormer see that + she was worthy of Harney's admiration. Above the dress, folded on the + pillow, was the white veil which the young women who took part in the + exercises were to wear under a wreath of asters; and beside the veil a + pair of slim white satin shoes that Ally had produced from an old trunk in + which she stored mysterious treasures. + </p> + <p> + Charity stood gazing at all the outspread whiteness. It recalled a vision + that had come to her in the night after her first meeting with Harney. She + no longer had such visions... warmer splendours had displaced them... but + it was stupid of Ally to have paraded all those white things on her bed, + exactly as Hattie Targatt's wedding dress from Springfield had been spread + out for the neighbours to see when she married Tom Fry.... + </p> + <p> + Charity took up the satin shoes and looked at them curiously. By day, no + doubt, they would appear a little worn, but in the moonlight they seemed + carved of ivory. She sat down on the floor to try them on, and they fitted + her perfectly, though when she stood up she lurched a little on the high + heels. She looked down at her feet, which the graceful mould of the + slippers had marvellously arched and narrowed. She had never seen such + shoes before, even in the shop-windows at Nettleton... never, except... + yes, once, she had noticed a pair of the same shape on Annabel Balch. + </p> + <p> + A blush of mortification swept over her. Ally sometimes sewed for Miss + Balch when that brilliant being descended on North Dormer, and no doubt + she picked up presents of cast-off clothing: the treasures in the + mysterious trunk all came from the people she worked for; there could be + no doubt that the white slippers were Annabel Balch's.... + </p> + <p> + As she stood there, staring down moodily at her feet, she heard the triple + click-click-click of a bicycle-bell under her window. It was Harney's + secret signal as he passed on his way home. She stumbled to the window on + her high heels, flung open the shutters and leaned out. He waved to her + and sped by, his black shadow dancing merrily ahead of him down the empty + moonlit road; and she leaned there watching him till he vanished under the + Hatchard spruces. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIII + </h2> + <p> + THE Town Hall was crowded and exceedingly hot. As Charity marched into it + third in the white muslin file headed by Orma Fry, she was conscious + mainly of the brilliant effect of the wreathed columns framing the + green-carpeted stage toward which she was moving; and of the unfamiliar + faces turning from the front rows to watch the advance of the procession. + </p> + <p> + But it was all a bewildering blur of eyes and colours till she found + herself standing at the back of the stage, her great bunch of asters and + goldenrod held well in front of her, and answering the nervous glance of + Lambert Sollas, the organist from Mr. Miles's church, who had come up from + Nettleton to play the harmonium and sat behind it, his conductor's eye + running over the fluttered girls. + </p> + <p> + A moment later Mr. Miles, pink and twinkling, emerged from the background, + as if buoyed up on his broad white gown, and briskly dominated the bowed + heads in the front rows. He prayed energetically and briefly and then + retired, and a fierce nod from Lambert Sollas warned the girls that they + were to follow at once with “Home, Sweet Home.” It was a joy to Charity to + sing: it seemed as though, for the first time, her secret rapture might + burst from her and flash its defiance at the world. All the glow in her + blood, the breath of the summer earth, the rustle of the forest, the fresh + call of birds at sunrise, and the brooding midday languors, seemed to pass + into her untrained voice, lifted and led by the sustaining chorus. + </p> + <p> + And then suddenly the song was over, and after an uncertain pause, during + which Miss Hatchard's pearl-grey gloves started a furtive signalling down + the hall, Mr. Royall, emerging in turn, ascended the steps of the stage + and appeared behind the flower-wreathed desk. He passed close to Charity, + and she noticed that his gravely set face wore the look of majesty that + used to awe and fascinate her childhood. His frock-coat had been carefully + brushed and ironed, and the ends of his narrow black tie were so nearly + even that the tying must have cost him a protracted struggle. His + appearance struck her all the more because it was the first time she had + looked him full in the face since the night at Nettleton, and nothing in + his grave and impressive demeanour revealed a trace of the lamentable + figure on the wharf. + </p> + <p> + He stood a moment behind the desk, resting his finger-tips against it, and + bending slightly toward his audience; then he straightened himself and + began. + </p> + <p> + At first she paid no heed to what he was saying: only fragments of + sentences, sonorous quotations, allusions to illustrious men, including + the obligatory tribute to Honorius Hatchard, drifted past her inattentive + ears. She was trying to discover Harney among the notable people in the + front row; but he was nowhere near Miss Hatchard, who, crowned by a + pearl-grey hat that matched her gloves, sat just below the desk, supported + by Mrs. Miles and an important-looking unknown lady. Charity was near one + end of the stage, and from where she sat the other end of the first row of + seats was cut off by the screen of foliage masking the harmonium. The + effort to see Harney around the corner of the screen, or through its + interstices, made her unconscious of everything else; but the effort was + unsuccessful, and gradually she found her attention arrested by her + guardian's discourse. + </p> + <p> + She had never heard him speak in public before, but she was familiar with + the rolling music of his voice when he read aloud, or held forth to the + selectmen about the stove at Carrick Fry's. Today his inflections were + richer and graver than she had ever known them: he spoke slowly, with + pauses that seemed to invite his hearers to silent participation in his + thought; and Charity perceived a light of response in their faces. + </p> + <p> + He was nearing the end of his address... “Most of you,” he said, “most of + you who have returned here today, to take contact with this little place + for a brief hour, have come only on a pious pilgrimage, and will go back + presently to busy cities and lives full of larger duties. But that is not + the only way of coming back to North Dormer. Some of us, who went out from + here in our youth... went out, like you, to busy cities and larger + duties... have come back in another way—come back for good. I am one + of those, as many of you know....” He paused, and there was a sense of + suspense in the listening hall. “My history is without interest, but it + has its lesson: not so much for those of you who have already made your + lives in other places, as for the young men who are perhaps planning even + now to leave these quiet hills and go down into the struggle. Things they + cannot foresee may send some of those young men back some day to the + little township and the old homestead: they may come back for good....” He + looked about him, and repeated gravely: “For GOOD. There's the point I + want to make... North Dormer is a poor little place, almost lost in a + mighty landscape: perhaps, by this time, it might have been a bigger + place, and more in scale with the landscape, if those who had to come back + had come with that feeling in their minds—that they wanted to come + back for GOOD... and not for bad... or just for indifference.... + </p> + <p> + “Gentlemen, let us look at things as they are. Some of us have come back + to our native town because we'd failed to get on elsewhere. One way or + other, things had gone wrong with us... what we'd dreamed of hadn't come + true. But the fact that we had failed elsewhere is no reason why we should + fail here. Our very experiments in larger places, even if they were + unsuccessful, ought to have helped us to make North Dormer a larger + place... and you young men who are preparing even now to follow the call + of ambition, and turn your back on the old homes—well, let me say + this to you, that if ever you do come back to them it's worth while to + come back to them for their good.... And to do that, you must keep on + loving them while you're away from them; and even if you come back against + your will—and thinking it's all a bitter mistake of Fate or + Providence—you must try to make the best of it, and to make the best + of your old town; and after a while—well, ladies and gentlemen, I + give you my recipe for what it's worth; after a while, I believe you'll be + able to say, as I can say today: 'I'm glad I'm here.' Believe me, all of + you, the best way to help the places we live in is to be glad we live + there.” + </p> + <p> + He stopped, and a murmur of emotion and surprise ran through the audience. + It was not in the least what they had expected, but it moved them more + than what they had expected would have moved them. “Hear, hear!” a voice + cried out in the middle of the hall. An outburst of cheers caught up the + cry, and as they subsided Charity heard Mr. Miles saying to someone near + him: “That was a MAN talking——” He wiped his spectacles. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall had stepped back from the desk, and taken his seat in the row + of chairs in front of the harmonium. A dapper white-haired gentleman—a + distant Hatchard—succeeded him behind the goldenrod, and began to + say beautiful things about the old oaken bucket, patient white-haired + mothers, and where the boys used to go nutting... and Charity began again + to search for Harney.... + </p> + <p> + Suddenly Mr. Royall pushed back his seat, and one of the maple branches in + front of the harmonium collapsed with a crash. It uncovered the end of the + first row and in one of the seats Charity saw Harney, and in the next a + lady whose face was turned toward him, and almost hidden by the brim of + her drooping hat. Charity did not need to see the face. She knew at a + glance the slim figure, the fair hair heaped up under the hat-brim, the + long pale wrinkled gloves with bracelets slipping over them. At the fall + of the branch Miss Balch turned her head toward the stage, and in her + pretty thin-lipped smile there lingered the reflection of something her + neighbour had been whispering to her.... + </p> + <p> + Someone came forward to replace the fallen branch, and Miss Balch and + Harney were once more hidden. But to Charity the vision of their two faces + had blotted out everything. In a flash they had shown her the bare reality + of her situation. Behind the frail screen of her lover's caresses was the + whole inscrutable mystery of his life: his relations with other people—with + other women—his opinions, his prejudices, his principles, the net of + influences and interests and ambitions in which every man's life is + entangled. Of all these she knew nothing, except what he had told her of + his architectural aspirations. She had always dimly guessed him to be in + touch with important people, involved in complicated relations—but + she felt it all to be so far beyond her understanding that the whole + subject hung like a luminous mist on the farthest verge of her thoughts. + In the foreground, hiding all else, there was the glow of his presence, + the light and shadow of his face, the way his short-sighted eyes, at her + approach, widened and deepened as if to draw her down into them; and, + above all, the flush of youth and tenderness in which his words enclosed + her. + </p> + <p> + Now she saw him detached from her, drawn back into the unknown, and + whispering to another girl things that provoked the same smile of + mischievous complicity he had so often called to her own lips. The feeling + possessing her was not one of jealousy: she was too sure of his love. It + was rather a terror of the unknown, of all the mysterious attractions that + must even now be dragging him away from her, and of her own powerlessness + to contend with them. + </p> + <p> + She had given him all she had—but what was it compared to the other + gifts life held for him? She understood now the case of girls like herself + to whom this kind of thing happened. They gave all they had, but their all + was not enough: it could not buy more than a few moments.... + </p> + <p> + The heat had grown suffocating—she felt it descend on her in + smothering waves, and the faces in the crowded hall began to dance like + the pictures flashed on the screen at Nettleton. For an instant Mr. + Royall's countenance detached itself from the general blur. He had resumed + his place in front of the harmonium, and sat close to her, his eyes on her + face; and his look seemed to pierce to the very centre of her confused + sensations.... A feeling of physical sickness rushed over her—and + then deadly apprehension. The light of the fiery hours in the little house + swept back on her in a glare of fear.... + </p> + <p> + She forced herself to look away from her guardian, and became aware that + the oratory of the Hatchard cousin had ceased, and that Mr. Miles was + again flapping his wings. Fragments of his peroration floated through her + bewildered brain.... “A rich harvest of hallowed memories.... A sanctified + hour to which, in moments of trial, your thoughts will prayerfully + return.... And now, O Lord, let us humbly and fervently give thanks for + this blessed day of reunion, here in the old home to which we have come + back from so far. Preserve it to us, O Lord, in times to come, in all its + homely sweetness—in the kindliness and wisdom of its old people, in + the courage and industry of its young men, in the piety and purity of this + group of innocent girls——” He flapped a white wing in their + direction, and at the same moment Lambert Sollas, with his fierce nod, + struck the opening bars of “Auld Lang Syne.”... Charity stared straight + ahead of her and then, dropping her flowers, fell face downward at Mr. + Royall's feet. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIV + </h2> + <p> + NORTH DORMER'S celebration naturally included the villages attached to its + township, and the festivities were to radiate over the whole group, from + Dormer and the two Crestons to Hamblin, the lonely hamlet on the north + slope of the Mountain where the first snow always fell. On the third day + there were speeches and ceremonies at Creston and Creston River; on the + fourth the principal performers were to be driven in buck-boards to Dormer + and Hamblin. + </p> + <p> + It was on the fourth day that Charity returned for the first time to the + little house. She had not seen Harney alone since they had parted at the + wood's edge the night before the celebrations began. In the interval she + had passed through many moods, but for the moment the terror which had + seized her in the Town Hall had faded to the edge of consciousness. She + had fainted because the hall was stiflingly hot, and because the speakers + had gone on and on.... Several other people had been affected by the heat, + and had had to leave before the exercises were over. There had been + thunder in the air all the afternoon, and everyone said afterward that + something ought to have been done to ventilate the hall.... + </p> + <p> + At the dance that evening—where she had gone reluctantly, and only + because she feared to stay away, she had sprung back into instant + reassurance. As soon as she entered she had seen Harney waiting for her, + and he had come up with kind gay eyes, and swept her off in a waltz. Her + feet were full of music, and though her only training had been with the + village youths she had no difficulty in tuning her steps to his. As they + circled about the floor all her vain fears dropped from her, and she even + forgot that she was probably dancing in Annabel Balch's slippers. + </p> + <p> + When the waltz was over Harney, with a last hand-clasp, left her to meet + Miss Hatchard and Miss Balch, who were just entering. Charity had a moment + of anguish as Miss Balch appeared; but it did not last. The triumphant + fact of her own greater beauty, and of Harney's sense of it, swept her + apprehensions aside. Miss Balch, in an unbecoming dress, looked sallow and + pinched, and Charity fancied there was a worried expression in her + pale-lashed eyes. She took a seat near Miss Hatchard and it was presently + apparent that she did not mean to dance. Charity did not dance often + either. Harney explained to her that Miss Hatchard had begged him to give + each of the other girls a turn; but he went through the form of asking + Charity's permission each time he led one out, and that gave her a sense + of secret triumph even completer than when she was whirling about the room + with him. + </p> + <p> + She was thinking of all this as she waited for him in the deserted house. + The late afternoon was sultry, and she had tossed aside her hat and + stretched herself at full length on the Mexican blanket because it was + cooler indoors than under the trees. She lay with her arms folded beneath + her head, gazing out at the shaggy shoulder of the Mountain. The sky + behind it was full of the splintered glories of the descending sun, and + before long she expected to hear Harney's bicycle-bell in the lane. He had + bicycled to Hamblin, instead of driving there with his cousin and her + friends, so that he might be able to make his escape earlier and stop on + the way back at the deserted house, which was on the road to Hamblin. They + had smiled together at the joke of hearing the crowded buck-boards roll by + on the return, while they lay close in their hiding above the road. Such + childish triumphs still gave her a sense of reckless security. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless she had not wholly forgotten the vision of fear that had + opened before her in the Town Hall. The sense of lastingness was gone from + her and every moment with Harney would now be ringed with doubt. + </p> + <p> + The Mountain was turning purple against a fiery sunset from which it + seemed to be divided by a knife-edge of quivering light; and above this + wall of flame the whole sky was a pure pale green, like some cold mountain + lake in shadow. Charity lay gazing up at it, and watching for the first + white star.... + </p> + <p> + Her eyes were still fixed on the upper reaches of the sky when she became + aware that a shadow had flitted across the glory-flooded room: it must + have been Harney passing the window against the sunset.... She half raised + herself, and then dropped back on her folded arms. The combs had slipped + from her hair, and it trailed in a rough dark rope across her breast. She + lay quite still, a sleepy smile on her lips, her indolent lids half shut. + There was a fumbling at the padlock and she called out: “Have you slipped + the chain?” The door opened, and Mr. Royall walked into the room. + </p> + <p> + She started up, sitting back against the cushions, and they looked at each + other without speaking. Then Mr. Royall closed the door-latch and advanced + a few steps. + </p> + <p> + Charity jumped to her feet. “What have you come for?” she stammered. + </p> + <p> + The last glare of the sunset was on her guardian's face, which looked + ash-coloured in the yellow radiance. + </p> + <p> + “Because I knew you were here,” he answered simply. + </p> + <p> + She had become conscious of the hair hanging loose across her breast, and + it seemed as though she could not speak to him till she had set herself in + order. She groped for her comb, and tried to fasten up the coil. Mr. + Royall silently watched her. + </p> + <p> + “Charity,” he said, “he'll be here in a minute. Let me talk to you first.” + </p> + <p> + “You've got no right to talk to me. I can do what I please.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. What is it you mean to do?” + </p> + <p> + “I needn't answer that, or anything else.” + </p> + <p> + He had glanced away, and stood looking curiously about the illuminated + room. Purple asters and red maple-leaves filled the jar on the table; on a + shelf against the wall stood a lamp, the kettle, a little pile of cups and + saucers. The canvas chairs were grouped about the table. + </p> + <p> + “So this is where you meet,” he said. + </p> + <p> + His tone was quiet and controlled, and the fact disconcerted her. She had + been ready to give him violence for violence, but this calm acceptance of + things as they were left her without a weapon. + </p> + <p> + “See here, Charity—you're always telling me I've got no rights over + you. There might be two ways of looking at that—but I ain't going to + argue it. All I know is I raised you as good as I could, and meant fairly + by you always except once, for a bad half-hour. There's no justice in + weighing that half-hour against the rest, and you know it. If you hadn't, + you wouldn't have gone on living under my roof. Seems to me the fact of + your doing that gives me some sort of a right; the right to try and keep + you out of trouble. I'm not asking you to consider any other.” + </p> + <p> + She listened in silence, and then gave a slight laugh. “Better wait till + I'm in trouble,” she said. He paused a moment, as if weighing her words. + “Is that all your answer?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “Well—I'll wait.” + </p> + <p> + He turned away slowly, but as he did so the thing she had been waiting for + happened; the door opened again and Harney entered. + </p> + <p> + He stopped short with a face of astonishment, and then, quickly + controlling himself, went up to Mr. Royall with a frank look. + </p> + <p> + “Have you come to see me, sir?” he said coolly, throwing his cap on the + table with an air of proprietorship. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall again looked slowly about the room; then his eyes turned to the + young man. + </p> + <p> + “Is this your house?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + Harney laughed: “Well—as much as it's anybody's. I come here to + sketch occasionally.” + </p> + <p> + “And to receive Miss Royall's visits?” + </p> + <p> + “When she does me the honour——” + </p> + <p> + “Is this the home you propose to bring her to when you get married?” + </p> + <p> + There was an immense and oppressive silence. Charity, quivering with + anger, started forward, and then stood silent, too humbled for speech. + Harney's eyes had dropped under the old man's gaze; but he raised them + presently, and looking steadily at Mr. Royall, said: “Miss Royall is not a + child. Isn't it rather absurd to talk of her as if she were? I believe she + considers herself free to come and go as she pleases, without any + questions from anyone.” He paused and added: “I'm ready to answer any she + wishes to ask me.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall turned to her. “Ask him when he's going to marry you, then——” + There was another silence, and he laughed in his turn—a broken + laugh, with a scraping sound in it. “You darsn't!” he shouted out with + sudden passion. He went close up to Charity, his right arm lifted, not in + menace but in tragic exhortation. + </p> + <p> + “You darsn't, and you know it—and you know why!” He swung back again + upon the young man. “And you know why you ain't asked her to marry you, + and why you don't mean to. It's because you hadn't need to; nor any other + man either. I'm the only one that was fool enough not to know that; and I + guess nobody'll repeat my mistake—not in Eagle County, anyhow. They + all know what she is, and what she came from. They all know her mother was + a woman of the town from Nettleton, that followed one of those Mountain + fellows up to his place and lived there with him like a heathen. I saw her + there sixteen years ago, when I went to bring this child down. I went to + save her from the kind of life her mother was leading—but I'd better + have left her in the kennel she came from....” He paused and stared darkly + at the two young people, and out beyond them, at the menacing Mountain + with its rim of fire; then he sat down beside the table on which they had + so often spread their rustic supper, and covered his face with his hands. + Harney leaned in the window, a frown on his face: he was twirling between + his fingers a small package that dangled from a loop of string.... Charity + heard Mr. Royall draw a hard breath or two, and his shoulders shook a + little. Presently he stood up and walked across the room. He did not look + again at the young people: they saw him feel his way to the door and + fumble for the latch; and then he went out into the darkness. + </p> + <p> + After he had gone there was a long silence. Charity waited for Harney to + speak; but he seemed at first not to find anything to say. At length he + broke out irrelevantly: “I wonder how he found out?” + </p> + <p> + She made no answer and he tossed down the package he had been holding, and + went up to her. + </p> + <p> + “I'm so sorry, dear... that this should have happened....” + </p> + <p> + She threw her head back proudly. “I ain't ever been sorry—not a + minute!” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + She waited to be caught into his arms, but he turned away from her + irresolutely. The last glow was gone from behind the Mountain. Everything + in the room had turned grey and indistinct, and an autumnal dampness crept + up from the hollow below the orchard, laying its cold touch on their + flushed faces. Harney walked the length of the room, and then turned back + and sat down at the table. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” he said imperiously. + </p> + <p> + She sat down beside him, and he untied the string about the package and + spread out a pile of sandwiches. + </p> + <p> + “I stole them from the love-feast at Hamblin,” he said with a laugh, + pushing them over to her. She laughed too, and took one, and began to eat. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't you make the tea?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” she said. “I forgot——” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well—it's too late to boil the water now.” He said nothing + more, and sitting opposite to each other they went on silently eating the + sandwiches. Darkness had descended in the little room, and Harney's face + was a dim blur to Charity. Suddenly he leaned across the table and laid + his hand on hers. + </p> + <p> + “I shall have to go off for a while—a month or two, perhaps—to + arrange some things; and then I'll come back... and we'll get married.” + </p> + <p> + His voice seemed like a stranger's: nothing was left in it of the + vibrations she knew. Her hand lay inertly under his, and she left it + there, and raised her head, trying to answer him. But the words died in + her throat. They sat motionless, in their attitude of confident + endearment, as if some strange death had surprised them. At length Harney + sprang to his feet with a slight shiver. “God! it's damp—we couldn't + have come here much longer.” He went to the shelf, took down a tin + candle-stick and lit the candle; then he propped an unhinged shutter + against the empty window-frame and put the candle on the table. It threw a + queer shadow on his frowning forehead, and made the smile on his lips a + grimace. + </p> + <p> + “But it's been good, though, hasn't it, Charity?... What's the matter—why + do you stand there staring at me? Haven't the days here been good?” He + went up to her and caught her to his breast. “And there'll be others—lots + of others... jollier... even jollier... won't there, darling?” + </p> + <p> + He turned her head back, feeling for the curve of her throat below the + ear, and kissing here there, and on the hair and eyes and lips. She clung + to him desperately, and as he drew her to his knees on the couch she felt + as if they were being sucked down together into some bottomless abyss. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XV + </h2> + <p> + That night, as usual, they said good-bye at the wood's edge. + </p> + <p> + Harney was to leave the next morning early. He asked Charity to say + nothing of their plans till his return, and, strangely even to herself, + she was glad of the postponement. A leaden weight of shame hung on her, + benumbing every other sensation, and she bade him good-bye with hardly a + sign of emotion. His reiterated promises to return seemed almost wounding. + She had no doubt that he intended to come back; her doubts were far deeper + and less definable. + </p> + <p> + Since the fanciful vision of the future that had flitted through her + imagination at their first meeting she had hardly ever thought of his + marrying her. She had not had to put the thought from her mind; it had not + been there. If ever she looked ahead she felt instinctively that the gulf + between them was too deep, and that the bridge their passion had flung + across it was as insubstantial as a rainbow. But she seldom looked ahead; + each day was so rich that it absorbed her.... Now her first feeling was + that everything would be different, and that she herself would be a + different being to Harney. Instead of remaining separate and absolute, she + would be compared with other people, and unknown things would be expected + of her. She was too proud to be afraid, but the freedom of her spirit + drooped.... + </p> + <p> + Harney had not fixed any date for his return; he had said he would have to + look about first, and settle things. He had promised to write as soon as + there was anything definite to say, and had left her his address, and + asked her to write also. But the address frightened her. It was in New + York, at a club with a long name in Fifth Avenue: it seemed to raise an + insurmountable barrier between them. Once or twice, in the first days, she + got out a sheet of paper, and sat looking at it, and trying to think what + to say; but she had the feeling that her letter would never reach its + destination. She had never written to anyone farther away than Hepburn. + </p> + <p> + Harney's first letter came after he had been gone about ten days. It was + tender but grave, and bore no resemblance to the gay little notes he had + sent her by the freckled boy from Creston River. He spoke positively of + his intention of coming back, but named no date, and reminded Charity of + their agreement that their plans should not be divulged till he had had + time to “settle things.” When that would be he could not yet foresee; but + she could count on his returning as soon as the way was clear. + </p> + <p> + She read the letter with a strange sense of its coming from immeasurable + distances and having lost most of its meaning on the way; and in reply she + sent him a coloured postcard of Creston Falls, on which she wrote: “With + love from Charity.” She felt the pitiful inadequacy of this, and + understood, with a sense of despair, that in her inability to express + herself she must give him an impression of coldness and reluctance; but + she could not help it. She could not forget that he had never spoken to + her of marriage till Mr. Royall had forced the word from his lips; though + she had not had the strength to shake off the spell that bound her to him + she had lost all spontaneity of feeling, and seemed to herself to be + passively awaiting a fate she could not avert. + </p> + <p> + She had not seen Mr. Royall on her return to the red house. The morning + after her parting from Harney, when she came down from her room, Verena + told her that her guardian had gone off to Worcester and Portland. It was + the time of year when he usually reported to the insurance agencies he + represented, and there was nothing unusual in his departure except its + suddenness. She thought little about him, except to be glad he was not + there.... + </p> + <p> + She kept to herself for the first days, while North Dormer was recovering + from its brief plunge into publicity, and the subsiding agitation left her + unnoticed. But the faithful Ally could not be long avoided. For the first + few days after the close of the Old Home Week festivities Charity escaped + her by roaming the hills all day when she was not at her post in the + library; but after that a period of rain set in, and one pouring + afternoon, Ally, sure that she would find her friend indoors, came around + to the red house with her sewing. + </p> + <p> + The two girls sat upstairs in Charity's room. Charity, her idle hands in + her lap, was sunk in a kind of leaden dream, through which she was only + half-conscious of Ally, who sat opposite her in a low rush-bottomed chair, + her work pinned to her knee, and her thin lips pursed up as she bent above + it. + </p> + <p> + “It was my idea running a ribbon through the gauging,” she said proudly, + drawing back to contemplate the blouse she was trimming. “It's for Miss + Balch: she was awfully pleased.” She paused and then added, with a queer + tremor in her piping voice: “I darsn't have told her I got the idea from + one I saw on Julia.” + </p> + <p> + Charity raised her eyes listlessly. “Do you still see Julia sometimes?” + </p> + <p> + Ally reddened, as if the allusion had escaped her unintentionally. “Oh, it + was a long time ago I seen her with those gaugings....” + </p> + <p> + Silence fell again, and Ally presently continued: “Miss Balch left me a + whole lot of things to do over this time.” + </p> + <p> + “Why—has she gone?” Charity inquired with an inner start of + apprehension. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't you know? She went off the morning after they had the celebration + at Hamblin. I seen her drive by early with Mr. Harney.” + </p> + <p> + There was another silence, measured by the steady tick of the rain against + the window, and, at intervals, by the snipping sound of Ally's scissors. + </p> + <p> + Ally gave a meditative laugh. “Do you know what she told me before she + went away? She told me she was going to send for me to come over to + Springfield and make some things for her wedding.” + </p> + <p> + Charity again lifted her heavy lids and stared at Ally's pale pointed + face, which moved to and fro above her moving fingers. + </p> + <p> + “Is she going to get married?” + </p> + <p> + Ally let the blouse sink to her knee, and sat gazing at it. Her lips + seemed suddenly dry, and she moistened them a little with her tongue. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I presume so... from what she said.... Didn't you know?” + </p> + <p> + “Why should I know?” + </p> + <p> + Ally did not answer. She bent above the blouse, and began picking out a + basting thread with the point of the scissors. + </p> + <p> + “Why should I know?” Charity repeated harshly. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't know but what... folks here say she's engaged to Mr. Harney.” + </p> + <p> + Charity stood up with a laugh, and stretched her arms lazily above her + head. + </p> + <p> + “If all the people got married that folks say are going to you'd have your + time full making wedding-dresses,” she said ironically. + </p> + <p> + “Why—don't you believe it?” Ally ventured. + </p> + <p> + “It would not make it true if I did—nor prevent it if I didn't.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so.... I only know I seen her crying the night of the party + because her dress didn't set right. That was why she wouldn't dance + any....” + </p> + <p> + Charity stood absently gazing down at the lacy garment on Ally's knee. + Abruptly she stooped and snatched it up. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I guess she won't dance in this either,” she said with sudden + violence; and grasping the blouse in her strong young hands she tore it in + two and flung the tattered bits to the floor. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Charity——” Ally cried, springing up. For a long interval + the two girls faced each other across the ruined garment. Ally burst into + tears. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, what'll I say to her? What'll I do? It was real lace!” she wailed + between her piping sobs. + </p> + <p> + Charity glared at her unrelentingly. “You'd oughtn't to have brought it + here,” she said, breathing quickly. “I hate other people's clothes—it's + just as if they was there themselves.” The two stared at each other again + over this avowal, till Charity brought out, in a gasp of anguish: “Oh, go—go—go—or + I'll hate you too....” + </p> + <p> + When Ally left her, she fell sobbing across her bed. + </p> + <p> + The long storm was followed by a north-west gale, and when it was over, + the hills took on their first umber tints, the sky grew more densely blue, + and the big white clouds lay against the hills like snow-banks. The first + crisp maple-leaves began to spin across Miss Hatchard's lawn, and the + Virginia creeper on the Memorial splashed the white porch with scarlet. It + was a golden triumphant September. Day by day the flame of the Virginia + creeper spread to the hillsides in wider waves of carmine and crimson, the + larches glowed like the thin yellow halo about a fire, the maples blazed + and smouldered, and the black hemlocks turned to indigo against the + incandescence of the forest. + </p> + <p> + The nights were cold, with a dry glitter of stars so high up that they + seemed smaller and more vivid. Sometimes, as Charity lay sleepless on her + bed through the long hours, she felt as though she were bound to those + wheeling fires and swinging with them around the great black vault. At + night she planned many things... it was then she wrote to Harney. But the + letters were never put on paper, for she did not know how to express what + she wanted to tell him. So she waited. Since her talk with Ally she had + felt sure that Harney was engaged to Annabel Balch, and that the process + of “settling things” would involve the breaking of this tie. Her first + rage of jealousy over, she felt no fear on this score. She was still sure + that Harney would come back, and she was equally sure that, for the moment + at least, it was she whom he loved and not Miss Balch. Yet the girl, no + less, remained a rival, since she represented all the things that Charity + felt herself most incapable of understanding or achieving. Annabel Balch + was, if not the girl Harney ought to marry, at least the kind of girl it + would be natural for him to marry. Charity had never been able to picture + herself as his wife; had never been able to arrest the vision and follow + it out in its daily consequences; but she could perfectly imagine Annabel + Balch in that relation to him. + </p> + <p> + The more she thought of these things the more the sense of fatality + weighed on her: she felt the uselessness of struggling against the + circumstances. She had never known how to adapt herself; she could only + break and tear and destroy. The scene with Ally had left her stricken with + shame at her own childish savagery. What would Harney have thought if he + had witnessed it? But when she turned the incident over in her puzzled + mind she could not imagine what a civilized person would have done in her + place. She felt herself too unequally pitted against unknown forces.... + </p> + <p> + At length this feeling moved her to sudden action. She took a sheet of + letter paper from Mr. Royall's office, and sitting by the kitchen lamp, + one night after Verena had gone to bed, began her first letter to Harney. + It was very short: + </p> + <p> + I want you should marry Annabel Balch if you promised to. I think maybe + you were afraid I'd feel too bad about it. I feel I'd rather you acted + right. Your loving CHARITY. + </p> + <p> + She posted the letter early the next morning, and for a few days her heart + felt strangely light. Then she began to wonder why she received no answer. + </p> + <p> + One day as she sat alone in the library pondering these things the walls + of books began to spin around her, and the rosewood desk to rock under her + elbows. The dizziness was followed by a wave of nausea like that she had + felt on the day of the exercises in the Town Hall. But the Town Hall had + been crowded and stiflingly hot, and the library was empty, and so chilly + that she had kept on her jacket. Five minutes before she had felt + perfectly well; and now it seemed as if she were going to die. The bit of + lace at which she still languidly worked dropped from her fingers, and the + steel crochet hook clattered to the floor. She pressed her temples hard + between her damp hands, steadying herself against the desk while the wave + of sickness swept over her. Little by little it subsided, and after a few + minutes she stood up, shaken and terrified, groped for her hat, and + stumbled out into the air. But the whole sunlit autumn whirled, reeled and + roared around her as she dragged herself along the interminable length of + the road home. + </p> + <p> + As she approached the red house she saw a buggy standing at the door, and + her heart gave a leap. But it was only Mr. Royall who got out, his + travelling-bag in hand. He saw her coming, and waited in the porch. She + was conscious that he was looking at her intently, as if there was + something strange in her appearance, and she threw back her head with a + desperate effort at ease. Their eyes met, and she said: “You back?” as if + nothing had happened, and he answered: “Yes, I'm back,” and walked in + ahead of her, pushing open the door of his office. She climbed to her + room, every step of the stairs holding her fast as if her feet were lined + with glue. + </p> + <p> + Two days later, she descended from the train at Nettleton, and walked out + of the station into the dusty square. The brief interval of cold weather + was over, and the day was as soft, and almost as hot, as when she and + Harney had emerged on the same scene on the Fourth of July. In the square + the same broken-down hacks and carry-alls stood drawn up in a despondent + line, and the lank horses with fly-nets over their withers swayed their + heads drearily to and fro. She recognized the staring signs over the + eating-houses and billiard saloons, and the long lines of wires on lofty + poles tapering down the main street to the park at its other end. Taking + the way the wires pointed, she went on hastily, with bent head, till she + reached a wide transverse street with a brick building at the corner. She + crossed this street and glanced furtively up at the front of the brick + building; then she returned, and entered a door opening on a flight of + steep brass-rimmed stairs. On the second landing she rang a bell, and a + mulatto girl with a bushy head and a frilled apron let her into a hall + where a stuffed fox on his hind legs proffered a brass card-tray to + visitors. At the back of the hall was a glazed door marked: “Office.” + After waiting a few minutes in a handsomely furnished room, with plush + sofas surmounted by large gold-framed photographs of showy young women, + Charity was shown into the office.... + </p> + <p> + When she came out of the glazed door Dr. Merkle followed, and led her into + another room, smaller, and still more crowded with plush and gold frames. + Dr. Merkle was a plump woman with small bright eyes, an immense mass of + black hair coming down low on her forehead, and unnaturally white and even + teeth. She wore a rich black dress, with gold chains and charms hanging + from her bosom. Her hands were large and smooth, and quick in all their + movements; and she smelt of musk and carbolic acid. + </p> + <p> + She smiled on Charity with all her faultless teeth. “Sit down, my dear. + Wouldn't you like a little drop of something to pick you up?... No.... + Well, just lay back a minute then.... There's nothing to be done just yet; + but in about a month, if you'll step round again... I could take you right + into my own house for two or three days, and there wouldn't be a mite of + trouble. Mercy me! The next time you'll know better'n to fret like + this....” + </p> + <p> + Charity gazed at her with widening eyes. This woman with the false hair, + the false teeth, the false murderous smile—what was she offering her + but immunity from some unthinkable crime? Charity, till then, had been + conscious only of a vague self-disgust and a frightening physical + distress; now, of a sudden, there came to her the grave surprise of + motherhood. She had come to this dreadful place because she knew of no + other way of making sure that she was not mistaken about her state; and + the woman had taken her for a miserable creature like Julia.... The + thought was so horrible that she sprang up, white and shaking, one of her + great rushes of anger sweeping over her. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Merkle, still smiling, also rose. “Why do you run off in such a hurry? + You can stretch out right here on my sofa....” She paused, and her smile + grew more motherly. “Afterwards—if there's been any talk at home, + and you want to get away for a while... I have a lady friend in Boston + who's looking for a companion... you're the very one to suit her, my + dear....” + </p> + <p> + Charity had reached the door. “I don't want to stay. I don't want to come + back here,” she stammered, her hand on the knob; but with a swift + movement, Dr. Merkle edged her from the threshold. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, very well. Five dollars, please.” + </p> + <p> + Charity looked helplessly at the doctor's tight lips and rigid face. Her + last savings had gone in repaying Ally for the cost of Miss Balch's ruined + blouse, and she had had to borrow four dollars from her friend to pay for + her railway ticket and cover the doctor's fee. It had never occurred to + her that medical advice could cost more than two dollars. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't know... I haven't got that much...” she faltered, bursting into + tears. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Merkle gave a short laugh which did not show her teeth, and inquired + with concision if Charity supposed she ran the establishment for her own + amusement? She leaned her firm shoulders against the door as she spoke, + like a grim gaoler making terms with her captive. + </p> + <p> + “You say you'll come round and settle later? I've heard that pretty often + too. Give me your address, and if you can't pay me I'll send the bill to + your folks.... What? I can't understand what you say.... That don't suit + you either? My, you're pretty particular for a girl that ain't got enough + to settle her own bills....” She paused, and fixed her eyes on the brooch + with a blue stone that Charity had pinned to her blouse. + </p> + <p> + “Ain't you ashamed to talk that way to a lady that's got to earn her + living, when you go about with jewellery like that on you?... It ain't in + my line, and I do it only as a favour... but if you're a mind to leave + that brooch as a pledge, I don't say no.... Yes, of course, you can get it + back when you bring me my money....” + </p> + <p> + On the way home, she felt an immense and unexpected quietude. It had been + horrible to have to leave Harney's gift in the woman's hands, but even at + that price the news she brought away had not been too dearly bought. She + sat with half-closed eyes as the train rushed through the familiar + landscape; and now the memories of her former journey, instead of flying + before her like dead leaves, seemed to be ripening in her blood like + sleeping grain. She would never again know what it was to feel herself + alone. Everything seemed to have grown suddenly clear and simple. She no + longer had any difficulty in picturing herself as Harney's wife now that + she was the mother of his child; and compared to her sovereign right + Annabel Balch's claim seemed no more than a girl's sentimental fancy. + </p> + <p> + That evening, at the gate of the red house, she found Ally waiting in the + dusk. “I was down at the post-office just as they were closing up, and + Will Targatt said there was a letter for you, so I brought it.” + </p> + <p> + Ally held out the letter, looking at Charity with piercing sympathy. Since + the scene of the torn blouse there had been a new and fearful admiration + in the eyes she bent on her friend. + </p> + <p> + Charity snatched the letter with a laugh. “Oh, thank you—good-night,” + she called out over her shoulder as she ran up the path. If she had + lingered a moment she knew she would have had Ally at her heels. + </p> + <p> + She hurried upstairs and felt her way into her dark room. Her hands + trembled as she groped for the matches and lit her candle, and the flap of + the envelope was so closely stuck that she had to find her scissors and + slit it open. At length she read: + </p> + <p> + “DEAR CHARITY: + </p> + <p> + “I have your letter, and it touches me more than I can say. Won't you trust + me, in return, to do my best? There are things it is hard to explain, much + less to justify; but your generosity makes everything easier. All I can do + now is to thank you from my soul for understanding. Your telling me that + you wanted me to do right has helped me beyond expression. If ever there + is a hope of realizing what we dreamed of you will see me back on the + instant; and I haven't yet lost that hope." + </p> + <p> + She read the letter with a rush; then she went over and over it, each time + more slowly and painstakingly. It was so beautifully expressed that she + found it almost as difficult to understand as the gentleman's explanation + of the Bible pictures at Nettleton; but gradually she became aware that + the gist of its meaning lay in the last few words. “If ever there is a + hope of realizing what we dreamed of...” + </p> + <p> + But then he wasn't even sure of that? She understood now that every word + and every reticence was an avowal of Annabel Balch's prior claim. It was + true that he was engaged to her, and that he had not yet found a way of + breaking his engagement. + </p> + <p> + As she read the letter over Charity understood what it must have cost him + to write it. He was not trying to evade an importunate claim; he was + honestly and contritely struggling between opposing duties. She did not + even reproach him in her thoughts for having concealed from her that he + was not free: she could not see anything more reprehensible in his conduct + than in her own. From the first she had needed him more than he had wanted + her, and the power that had swept them together had been as far beyond + resistance as a great gale loosening the leaves of the forest.... Only, + there stood between them, fixed and upright in the general upheaval, the + indestructible figure of Annabel Balch.... + </p> + <p> + Face to face with his admission of the fact, she sat staring at the + letter. A cold tremor ran over her, and the hard sobs struggled up into + her throat and shook her from head to foot. For a while she was caught and + tossed on great waves of anguish that left her hardly conscious of + anything but the blind struggle against their assaults. Then, little by + little, she began to relive, with a dreadful poignancy, each separate + stage of her poor romance. Foolish things she had said came back to her, + gay answers Harney had made, his first kiss in the darkness between the + fireworks, their choosing the blue brooch together, the way he had teased + her about the letters she had dropped in her flight from the evangelist. + All these memories, and a thousand others, hummed through her brain till + his nearness grew so vivid that she felt his fingers in her hair, and his + warm breath on her cheek as he bent her head back like a flower. These + things were hers; they had passed into her blood, and become a part of + her, they were building the child in her womb; it was impossible to tear + asunder strands of life so interwoven. + </p> + <p> + The conviction gradually strengthened her, and she began to form in her + mind the first words of the letter she meant to write to Harney. She + wanted to write it at once, and with feverish hands she began to rummage + in her drawer for a sheet of letter paper. But there was none left; she + must go downstairs to get it. She had a superstitious feeling that the + letter must be written on the instant, that setting down her secret in + words would bring her reassurance and safety; and taking up her candle she + went down to Mr. Royall's office. + </p> + <p> + At that hour she was not likely to find him there: he had probably had his + supper and walked over to Carrick Fry's. She pushed open the door of the + unlit room, and the light of her lifted candle fell on his figure, seated + in the darkness in his high-backed chair. His arms lay along the arms of + the chair, and his head was bent a little; but he lifted it quickly as + Charity entered. She started back as their eyes met, remembering that her + own were red with weeping, and that her face was livid with the fatigue + and emotion of her journey. But it was too late to escape, and she stood + and looked at him in silence. + </p> + <p> + He had risen from his chair, and came toward her with outstretched hands. + The gesture was so unexpected that she let him take her hands in his and + they stood thus, without speaking, till Mr. Royall said gravely: “Charity—was + you looking for me?” + </p> + <p> + She freed herself abruptly and fell back. “Me? No——” She set + down the candle on his desk. “I wanted some letter-paper, that's all.” His + face contracted, and the bushy brows jutted forward over his eyes. Without + answering he opened the drawer of the desk, took out a sheet of paper and + an envelope, and pushed them toward her. “Do you want a stamp too?” he + asked. + </p> + <p> + She nodded, and he gave her the stamp. As he did so she felt that he was + looking at her intently, and she knew that the candle light flickering up + on her white face must be distorting her swollen features and exaggerating + the dark rings about her eyes. She snatched up the paper, her reassurance + dissolving under his pitiless gaze, in which she seemed to read the grim + perception of her state, and the ironic recollection of the day when, in + that very room, he had offered to compel Harney to marry her. His look + seemed to say that he knew she had taken the paper to write to her lover, + who had left her as he had warned her she would be left. She remembered + the scorn with which she had turned from him that day, and knew, if he + guessed the truth, what a list of old scores it must settle. She turned + and fled upstairs; but when she got back to her room all the words that + had been waiting had vanished.... + </p> + <p> + If she could have gone to Harney it would have been different; she would + only have had to show herself to let his memories speak for her. But she + had no money left, and there was no one from whom she could have borrowed + enough for such a journey. There was nothing to do but to write, and await + his reply. For a long time she sat bent above the blank page; but she + found nothing to say that really expressed what she was feeling.... + </p> + <p> + Harney had written that she had made it easier for him, and she was glad + it was so; she did not want to make things hard. She knew she had it in + her power to do that; she held his fate in her hands. All she had to do + was to tell him the truth; but that was the very fact that held her + back.... Her five minutes face to face with Mr. Royall had stripped her of + her last illusion, and brought her back to North Dormer's point of view. + Distinctly and pitilessly there rose before her the fate of the girl who + was married “to make things right.” She had seen too many village + love-stories end in that way. Poor Rose Coles's miserable marriage was of + the number; and what good had come of it for her or for Halston Skeff? + They had hated each other from the day the minister married them; and + whenever old Mrs. Skeff had a fancy to humiliate her daughter-in-law she + had only to say: “Who'd ever think the baby's only two? And for a seven + months' child—ain't it a wonder what a size he is?” North Dormer had + treasures of indulgence for brands in the burning, but only derision for + those who succeeded in getting snatched from it; and Charity had always + understood Julia Hawes's refusal to be snatched.... + </p> + <p> + Only—was there no alternative but Julia's? Her soul recoiled from + the vision of the white-faced woman among the plush sofas and gilt frames. + In the established order of things as she knew them she saw no place for + her individual adventure.... + </p> + <p> + She sat in her chair without undressing till faint grey streaks began to + divide the black slats of the shutters. Then she stood up and pushed them + open, letting in the light. The coming of a new day brought a sharper + consciousness of ineluctable reality, and with it a sense of the need of + action. She looked at herself in the glass, and saw her face, white in the + autumn dawn, with pinched cheeks and dark-ringed eyes, and all the marks + of her state that she herself would never have noticed, but that Dr. + Merkle's diagnosis had made plain to her. She could not hope that those + signs would escape the watchful village; even before her figure lost its + shape she knew her face would betray her. + </p> + <p> + Leaning from her window she looked out on the dark and empty scene; the + ashen houses with shuttered windows, the grey road climbing the slope to + the hemlock belt above the cemetery, and the heavy mass of the Mountain + black against a rainy sky. To the east a space of light was broadening + above the forest; but over that also the clouds hung. Slowly her gaze + travelled across the fields to the rugged curve of the hills. She had + looked out so often on that lifeless circle, and wondered if anything + could ever happen to anyone who was enclosed in it.... + </p> + <p> + Almost without conscious thought her decision had been reached; as her + eyes had followed the circle of the hills her mind had also travelled the + old round. She supposed it was something in her blood that made the + Mountain the only answer to her questioning, the inevitable escape from + all that hemmed her in and beset her. At any rate it began to loom against + the rainy dawn; and the longer she looked at it the more clearly she + understood that now at last she was really going there. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVI + </h2> + <p> + THE rain held off, and an hour later, when she started, wild gleams of + sunlight were blowing across the fields. + </p> + <p> + After Harney's departure she had returned her bicycle to its owner at + Creston, and she was not sure of being able to walk all the way to the + Mountain. The deserted house was on the road; but the idea of spending the + night there was unendurable, and she meant to try to push on to Hamblin, + where she could sleep under a wood-shed if her strength should fail her. + Her preparations had been made with quiet forethought. Before starting she + had forced herself to swallow a glass of milk and eat a piece of bread; + and she had put in her canvas satchel a little packet of the chocolate + that Harney always carried in his bicycle bag. She wanted above all to + keep up her strength, and reach her destination without attracting + notice.... + </p> + <p> + Mile by mile she retraced the road over which she had so often flown to + her lover. When she reached the turn where the wood-road branched off from + the Creston highway she remembered the Gospel tent—long since folded + up and transplanted—and her start of involuntary terror when the fat + evangelist had said: “Your Saviour knows everything. Come and confess your + guilt.” There was no sense of guilt in her now, but only a desperate + desire to defend her secret from irreverent eyes, and begin life again + among people to whom the harsh code of the village was unknown. The + impulse did not shape itself in thought: she only knew she must save her + baby, and hide herself with it somewhere where no one would ever come to + trouble them. + </p> + <p> + She walked on and on, growing more heavy-footed as the day advanced. It + seemed a cruel chance that compelled her to retrace every step of the way + to the deserted house; and when she came in sight of the orchard, and the + silver-gray roof slanting crookedly through the laden branches, her + strength failed her and she sat down by the road-side. She sat there a + long time, trying to gather the courage to start again, and walk past the + broken gate and the untrimmed rose-bushes strung with scarlet hips. A few + drops of rain were falling, and she thought of the warm evenings when she + and Harney had sat embraced in the shadowy room, and the noise of summer + showers on the roof had rustled through their kisses. At length she + understood that if she stayed any longer the rain might compel her to take + shelter in the house overnight, and she got up and walked on, averting her + eyes as she came abreast of the white gate and the tangled garden. + </p> + <p> + The hours wore on, and she walked more and more slowly, pausing now and + then to rest, and to eat a little bread and an apple picked up from the + roadside. Her body seemed to grow heavier with every yard of the way, and + she wondered how she would be able to carry her child later, if already he + laid such a burden on her.... A fresh wind had sprung up, scattering the + rain and blowing down keenly from the mountain. Presently the clouds + lowered again, and a few white darts struck her in the face: it was the + first snow falling over Hamblin. The roofs of the lonely village were only + half a mile ahead, and she was resolved to push beyond it, and try to + reach the Mountain that night. She had no clear plan of action, except + that, once in the settlement, she meant to look for Liff Hyatt, and get + him to take her to her mother. She herself had been born as her own baby + was going to be born; and whatever her mother's subsequent life had been, + she could hardly help remembering the past, and receiving a daughter who + was facing the trouble she had known. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly the deadly faintness came over her once more and she sat down on + the bank and leaned her head against a tree-trunk. The long road and the + cloudy landscape vanished from her eyes, and for a time she seemed to be + circling about in some terrible wheeling darkness. Then that too faded. + </p> + <p> + She opened her eyes, and saw a buggy drawn up beside her, and a man who + had jumped down from it and was gazing at her with a puzzled face. Slowly + consciousness came back, and she saw that the man was Liff Hyatt. + </p> + <p> + She was dimly aware that he was asking her something, and she looked at + him in silence, trying to find strength to speak. At length her voice + stirred in her throat, and she said in a whisper: “I'm going up the + Mountain.” + </p> + <p> + “Up the Mountain?” he repeated, drawing aside a little; and as he moved + she saw behind him, in the buggy, a heavily coated figure with a familiar + pink face and gold spectacles on the bridge of a Grecian nose. + </p> + <p> + “Charity! What on earth are you doing here?” Mr. Miles exclaimed, throwing + the reins on the horse's back and scrambling down from the buggy. + </p> + <p> + She lifted her heavy eyes to his. “I'm going to see my mother.” + </p> + <p> + The two men glanced at each other, and for a moment neither of them spoke. + </p> + <p> + Then Mr. Miles said: “You look ill, my dear, and it's a long way. Do you + think it's wise?” + </p> + <p> + Charity stood up. “I've got to go to her.” + </p> + <p> + A vague mirthless grin contracted Liff Hyatt's face, and Mr. Miles again + spoke uncertainly. “You know, then—you'd been told?” + </p> + <p> + She stared at him. “I don't know what you mean. I want to go to her.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles was examining her thoughtfully. She fancied she saw a change in + his expression, and the blood rushed to her forehead. “I just want to go + to her,” she repeated. + </p> + <p> + He laid his hand on her arm. “My child, your mother is dying. Liff Hyatt + came down to fetch me.... Get in and come with us.” + </p> + <p> + He helped her up to the seat at his side, Liff Hyatt clambered in at the + back, and they drove off toward Hamblin. At first Charity had hardly + grasped what Mr. Miles was saying; the physical relief of finding herself + seated in the buggy, and securely on her road to the Mountain, effaced the + impression of his words. But as her head cleared she began to understand. + She knew the Mountain had but the most infrequent intercourse with the + valleys; she had often enough heard it said that no one ever went up there + except the minister, when someone was dying. And now it was her mother who + was dying... and she would find herself as much alone on the Mountain as + anywhere else in the world. The sense of unescapable isolation was all she + could feel for the moment; then she began to wonder at the strangeness of + its being Mr. Miles who had undertaken to perform this grim errand. He did + not seem in the least like the kind of man who would care to go up the + Mountain. But here he was at her side, guiding the horse with a firm hand, + and bending on her the kindly gleam of his spectacles, as if there were + nothing unusual in their being together in such circumstances. + </p> + <p> + For a while she found it impossible to speak, and he seemed to understand + this, and made no attempt to question her. But presently she felt her + tears rise and flow down over her drawn cheeks; and he must have seen them + too, for he laid his hand on hers, and said in a low voice: “Won't you + tell me what is troubling you?” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head, and he did not insist: but after a while he said, in + the same low tone, so that they should not be overheard: “Charity, what do + you know of your childhood, before you came down to North Dormer?” + </p> + <p> + She controlled herself, and answered: “Nothing only what I heard Mr. + Royall say one day. He said he brought me down because my father went to + prison.” + </p> + <p> + “And you've never been up there since?” + </p> + <p> + “Never.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles was silent again, then he said: “I'm glad you're coming with me + now. Perhaps we may find your mother alive, and she may know that you have + come.” + </p> + <p> + They had reached Hamblin, where the snow-flurry had left white patches in + the rough grass on the roadside, and in the angles of the roofs facing + north. It was a poor bleak village under the granite flank of the + Mountain, and as soon as they left it they began to climb. The road was + steep and full of ruts, and the horse settled down to a walk while they + mounted and mounted, the world dropping away below them in great mottled + stretches of forest and field, and stormy dark blue distances. + </p> + <p> + Charity had often had visions of this ascent of the Mountain but she had + not known it would reveal so wide a country, and the sight of those + strange lands reaching away on every side gave her a new sense of Harney's + remoteness. She knew he must be miles and miles beyond the last range of + hills that seemed to be the outmost verge of things, and she wondered how + she had ever dreamed of going to New York to find him.... + </p> + <p> + As the road mounted the country grew bleaker, and they drove across fields + of faded mountain grass bleached by long months beneath the snow. In the + hollows a few white birches trembled, or a mountain ash lit its scarlet + clusters; but only a scant growth of pines darkened the granite ledges. + The wind was blowing fiercely across the open slopes; the horse faced it + with bent head and straining flanks, and now and then the buggy swayed so + that Charity had to clutch its side. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles had not spoken again; he seemed to understand that she wanted to + be left alone. After a while the track they were following forked, and he + pulled up the horse, as if uncertain of the way. Liff Hyatt craned his + head around from the back, and shouted against the wind: “Left——” + and they turned into a stunted pine-wood and began to drive down the other + side of the Mountain. + </p> + <p> + A mile or two farther on they came out on a clearing where two or three + low houses lay in stony fields, crouching among the rocks as if to brace + themselves against the wind. They were hardly more than sheds, built of + logs and rough boards, with tin stove-pipes sticking out of their roofs. + The sun was setting, and dusk had already fallen on the lower world, but a + yellow glare still lay on the lonely hillside and the crouching houses. + The next moment it faded and left the landscape in dark autumn twilight. + </p> + <p> + “Over there,” Liff called out, stretching his long arm over Mr. Miles's + shoulder. The clergyman turned to the left, across a bit of bare ground + overgrown with docks and nettles, and stopped before the most ruinous of + the sheds. A stove-pipe reached its crooked arm out of one window, and the + broken panes of the other were stuffed with rags and paper. + </p> + <p> + In contrast to such a dwelling the brown house in the swamp might have + stood for the home of plenty. + </p> + <p> + As the buggy drew up two or three mongrel dogs jumped out of the twilight + with a great barking, and a young man slouched to the door and stood there + staring. In the twilight Charity saw that his face had the same sodden + look as Bash Hyatt's, the day she had seen him sleeping by the stove. He + made no effort to silence the dogs, but leaned in the door, as if roused + from a drunken lethargy, while Mr. Miles got out of the buggy. + </p> + <p> + “Is it here?” the clergyman asked Liff in a low voice; and Liff nodded. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles turned to Charity. “Just hold the horse a minute, my dear: I'll + go in first,” he said, putting the reins in her hands. She took them + passively, and sat staring straight ahead of her at the darkening scene + while Mr. Miles and Liff Hyatt went up to the house. They stood a few + minutes talking with the man in the door, and then Mr. Miles came back. As + he came close, Charity saw that his smooth pink face wore a frightened + solemn look. + </p> + <p> + “Your mother is dead, Charity; you'd better come with me,” he said. + </p> + <p> + She got down and followed him while Liff led the horse away. As she + approached the door she said to herself: “This is where I was born... this + is where I belong....” She had said it to herself often enough as she + looked across the sunlit valleys at the Mountain; but it had meant nothing + then, and now it had become a reality. Mr. Miles took her gently by the + arm, and they entered what appeared to be the only room in the house. It + was so dark that she could just discern a group of a dozen people sitting + or sprawling about a table made of boards laid across two barrels. They + looked up listlessly as Mr. Miles and Charity came in, and a woman's thick + voice said: “Here's the preacher.” But no one moved. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles paused and looked about him; then he turned to the young man who + had met them at the door. + </p> + <p> + “Is the body here?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + The young man, instead of answering, turned his head toward the group. + “Where's the candle? I tole yer to bring a candle,” he said with sudden + harshness to a girl who was lolling against the table. She did not answer, + but another man got up and took from some corner a candle stuck into a + bottle. + </p> + <p> + “How'll I light it? The stove's out,” the girl grumbled. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles fumbled under his heavy wrappings and drew out a match-box. He + held a match to the candle, and in a moment or two a faint circle of light + fell on the pale aguish heads that started out of the shadow like the + heads of nocturnal animals. + </p> + <p> + “Mary's over there,” someone said; and Mr. Miles, taking the bottle in his + hand, passed behind the table. Charity followed him, and they stood before + a mattress on the floor in a corner of the room. A woman lay on it, but + she did not look like a dead woman; she seemed to have fallen across her + squalid bed in a drunken sleep, and to have been left lying where she + fell, in her ragged disordered clothes. One arm was flung above her head, + one leg drawn up under a torn skirt that left the other bare to the knee: + a swollen glistening leg with a ragged stocking rolled down about the + ankle. The woman lay on her back, her eyes staring up unblinkingly at the + candle that trembled in Mr. Miles's hand. + </p> + <p> + “She jus' dropped off,” a woman said, over the shoulder of the others; and + the young man added: “I jus' come in and found her.” + </p> + <p> + An elderly man with lank hair and a feeble grin pushed between them. “It + was like this: I says to her on'y the night before: if you don't take and + quit, I says to her...” + </p> + <p> + Someone pulled him back and sent him reeling against a bench along the + wall, where he dropped down muttering his unheeded narrative. + </p> + <p> + There was a silence; then the young woman who had been lolling against the + table suddenly parted the group, and stood in front of Charity. She was + healthier and robuster looking than the others, and her weather-beaten + face had a certain sullen beauty. + </p> + <p> + “Who's the girl? Who brought her here?” she said, fixing her eyes + mistrustfully on the young man who had rebuked her for not having a candle + ready. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles spoke. “I brought her; she is Mary Hyatt's daughter.” + </p> + <p> + “What? Her too?” the girl sneered; and the young man turned on her with an + oath. “Shut your mouth, damn you, or get out of here,” he said; then he + relapsed into his former apathy, and dropped down on the bench, leaning + his head against the wall. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles had set the candle on the floor and taken off his heavy coat. He + turned to Charity. “Come and help me,” he said. + </p> + <p> + He knelt down by the mattress, and pressed the lids over the dead woman's + eyes. Charity, trembling and sick, knelt beside him, and tried to compose + her mother's body. She drew the stocking over the dreadful glistening leg, + and pulled the skirt down to the battered upturned boots. As she did so, + she looked at her mother's face, thin yet swollen, with lips parted in a + frozen gasp above the broken teeth. There was no sign in it of anything + human: she lay there like a dead dog in a ditch. Charity's hands grew cold + as they touched her. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles drew the woman's arms across her breast and laid his coat over + her. Then he covered her face with his handkerchief, and placed the bottle + with the candle in it at her head. Having done this he stood up. + </p> + <p> + “Is there no coffin?” he asked, turning to the group behind him. + </p> + <p> + There was a moment of bewildered silence; then the fierce girl spoke up. + “You'd oughter brought it with you. Where'd we get one here, I'd like ter + know?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles, looking at the others, repeated: “Is it possible you have no + coffin ready?” + </p> + <p> + “That's what I say: them that has it sleeps better,” an old woman + murmured. “But then she never had no bed....” + </p> + <p> + “And the stove warn't hers,” said the lank-haired man, on the defensive. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles turned away from them and moved a few steps apart. He had drawn + a book from his pocket, and after a pause he opened it and began to read, + holding the book at arm's length and low down, so that the pages caught + the feeble light. Charity had remained on her knees by the mattress: now + that her mother's face was covered it was easier to stay near her, and + avoid the sight of the living faces which too horribly showed by what + stages hers had lapsed into death. + </p> + <p> + “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” Mr. Miles began; “he that believeth + in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.... Though after my skin + worms destroy my body, yet in my flesh shall I see God....” + </p> + <p> + IN MY FLESH SHALL I SEE GOD! Charity thought of the gaping mouth and stony + eyes under the handkerchief, and of the glistening leg over which she had + drawn the stocking.... + </p> + <p> + “We brought nothing into this world and we shall take nothing out of it——” + </p> + <p> + There was a sudden muttering and a scuffle at the back of the group. “I + brought the stove,” said the elderly man with lank hair, pushing his way + between the others. “I wen' down to Creston'n bought it... n' I got a + right to take it outer here... n' I'll lick any feller says I ain't....” + </p> + <p> + “Sit down, damn you!” shouted the tall youth who had been drowsing on the + bench against the wall. + </p> + <p> + “For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; he + heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall gather them....” + </p> + <p> + “Well, it ARE his,” a woman in the background interjected in a frightened + whine. + </p> + <p> + The tall youth staggered to his feet. “If you don't hold your mouths I'll + turn you all out o' here, the whole lot of you,” he cried with many oaths. + “G'wan, minister... don't let 'em faze you....” + </p> + <p> + “Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them + that slept.... Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but + we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the + last trump.... For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this + mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruption shall have put on + incorruption, and when this mortal shall have put on immortality, then + shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up + in Victory....” + </p> + <p> + One by one the mighty words fell on Charity's bowed head, soothing the + horror, subduing the tumult, mastering her as they mastered the + drink-dazed creatures at her back. Mr. Miles read to the last word, and + then closed the book. + </p> + <p> + “Is the grave ready?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + Liff Hyatt, who had come in while he was reading, nodded a “Yes,” and + pushed forward to the side of the mattress. The young man on the bench who + seemed to assert some sort of right of kinship with the dead woman, got to + his feet again, and the proprietor of the stove joined him. Between them + they raised up the mattress; but their movements were unsteady, and the + coat slipped to the floor, revealing the poor body in its helpless misery. + Charity, picking up the coat, covered her mother once more. Liff had + brought a lantern, and the old woman who had already spoken took it up, + and opened the door to let the little procession pass out. The wind had + dropped, and the night was very dark and bitterly cold. The old woman + walked ahead, the lantern shaking in her hand and spreading out before her + a pale patch of dead grass and coarse-leaved weeds enclosed in an + immensity of blackness. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles took Charity by the arm, and side by side they walked behind the + mattress. At length the old woman with the lantern stopped, and Charity + saw the light fall on the stooping shoulders of the bearers and on a ridge + of upheaved earth over which they were bending. Mr. Miles released her arm + and approached the hollow on the other side of the ridge; and while the + men stooped down, lowering the mattress into the grave, he began to speak + again. + </p> + <p> + “Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live and is full of + misery.... He cometh up and is cut down... he fleeth as it were a + shadow.... Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and + merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal + death....” + </p> + <p> + “Easy there... is she down?” piped the claimant to the stove; and the + young man called over his shoulder: “Lift the light there, can't you?” + </p> + <p> + There was a pause, during which the light floated uncertainly over the + open grave. Someone bent over and pulled out Mr. Miles's coat——(“No, + no—leave the handkerchief,” he interposed)—and then Liff + Hyatt, coming forward with a spade, began to shovel in the earth. + </p> + <p> + “Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of His great mercy to take unto + Himself the soul of our dear sister here departed, we therefore commit her + body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust...” + Liff's gaunt shoulders rose and bent in the lantern light as he dashed the + clods of earth into the grave. “God—it's froze a'ready,” he + muttered, spitting into his palm and passing his ragged shirt-sleeve + across his perspiring face. + </p> + <p> + “Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body that it may + be like unto His glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby + He is able to subdue all things unto Himself...” The last spadeful of + earth fell on the vile body of Mary Hyatt, and Liff rested on his spade, + his shoulder blades still heaving with the effort. + </p> + <p> + “Lord, have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, Lord have mercy upon + us...” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles took the lantern from the old woman's hand and swept its light + across the circle of bleared faces. “Now kneel down, all of you,” he + commanded, in a voice of authority that Charity had never heard. She knelt + down at the edge of the grave, and the others, stiffly and hesitatingly, + got to their knees beside her. Mr. Miles knelt, too. “And now pray with me—you + know this prayer,” he said, and he began: “Our Father which art in + Heaven...” One or two of the women falteringly took the words up, and when + he ended, the lank-haired man flung himself on the neck of the tall youth. + “It was this way,” he said. “I tole her the night before, I says to + her...” The reminiscence ended in a sob. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles had been getting into his coat again. He came up to Charity, who + had remained passively kneeling by the rough mound of earth. + </p> + <p> + “My child, you must come. It's very late.” + </p> + <p> + She lifted her eyes to his face: he seemed to speak out of another world. + </p> + <p> + “I ain't coming: I'm going to stay here.” + </p> + <p> + “Here? Where? What do you mean?” + </p> + <p> + “These are my folks. I'm going to stay with them.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Miles lowered his voice. “But it's not possible—you don't know + what you are doing. You can't stay among these people: you must come with + me.” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head and rose from her knees. The group about the grave had + scattered in the darkness, but the old woman with the lantern stood + waiting. Her mournful withered face was not unkind, and Charity went up to + her. + </p> + <p> + “Have you got a place where I can lie down for the night?” she asked. Liff + came up, leading the buggy out of the night. He looked from one to the + other with his feeble smile. “She's my mother. She'll take you home,” he + said; and he added, raising his voice to speak to the old woman: “It's the + girl from lawyer Royall's—Mary's girl... you remember....” + </p> + <p> + The woman nodded and raised her sad old eyes to Charity's. When Mr. Miles + and Liff clambered into the buggy she went ahead with the lantern to show + them the track they were to follow; then she turned back, and in silence + she and Charity walked away together through the night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVII + </h2> + <p> + CHARITY lay on the floor on a mattress, as her dead mother's body had + lain. The room in which she lay was cold and dark and low-ceilinged, and + even poorer and barer than the scene of Mary Hyatt's earthly pilgrimage. + On the other side of the fireless stove Liff Hyatt's mother slept on a + blanket, with two children—her grandchildren, she said—rolled + up against her like sleeping puppies. They had their thin clothes spread + over them, having given the only other blanket to their guest. + </p> + <p> + Through the small square of glass in the opposite wall Charity saw a deep + funnel of sky, so black, so remote, so palpitating with frosty stars that + her very soul seemed to be sucked into it. Up there somewhere, she + supposed, the God whom Mr. Miles had invoked was waiting for Mary Hyatt to + appear. What a long flight it was! And what would she have to say when she + reached Him? + </p> + <p> + Charity's bewildered brain laboured with the attempt to picture her + mother's past, and to relate it in any way to the designs of a just but + merciful God; but it was impossible to imagine any link between them. She + herself felt as remote from the poor creature she had seen lowered into + her hastily dug grave as if the height of the heavens divided them. She + had seen poverty and misfortune in her life; but in a community where poor + thrifty Mrs. Hawes and the industrious Ally represented the nearest + approach to destitution there was nothing to suggest the savage misery of + the Mountain farmers. + </p> + <p> + As she lay there, half-stunned by her tragic initiation, Charity vainly + tried to think herself into the life about her. But she could not even + make out what relationship these people bore to each other, or to her dead + mother; they seemed to be herded together in a sort of passive promiscuity + in which their common misery was the strongest link. She tried to picture + to herself what her life would have been if she had grown up on the + Mountain, running wild in rags, sleeping on the floor curled up against + her mother, like the pale-faced children huddled against old Mrs. Hyatt, + and turning into a fierce bewildered creature like the girl who had + apostrophized her in such strange words. She was frightened by the secret + affinity she had felt with this girl, and by the light it threw on her own + beginnings. Then she remembered what Mr. Royall had said in telling her + story to Lucius Harney: “Yes, there was a mother; but she was glad to have + the child go. She'd have given her to anybody....” + </p> + <p> + Well! after all, was her mother so much to blame? Charity, since that day, + had always thought of her as destitute of all human feeling; now she + seemed merely pitiful. What mother would not want to save her child from + such a life? Charity thought of the future of her own child, and tears + welled into her aching eyes, and ran down over her face. If she had been + less exhausted, less burdened with his weight, she would have sprung up + then and there and fled away.... + </p> + <p> + The grim hours of the night dragged themselves slowly by, and at last the + sky paled and dawn threw a cold blue beam into the room. She lay in her + corner staring at the dirty floor, the clothes-line hung with decaying + rags, the old woman huddled against the cold stove, and the light + gradually spreading across the wintry world, and bringing with it a new + day in which she would have to live, to choose, to act, to make herself a + place among these people—or to go back to the life she had left. A + mortal lassitude weighed on her. There were moments when she felt that all + she asked was to go on lying there unnoticed; then her mind revolted at + the thought of becoming one of the miserable herd from which she sprang, + and it seemed as though, to save her child from such a fate, she would + find strength to travel any distance, and bear any burden life might put + on her. + </p> + <p> + Vague thoughts of Nettleton flitted through her mind. She said to herself + that she would find some quiet place where she could bear her child, and + give it to decent people to keep; and then she would go out like Julia + Hawes and earn its living and hers. She knew that girls of that kind + sometimes made enough to have their children nicely cared for; and every + other consideration disappeared in the vision of her baby, cleaned and + combed and rosy, and hidden away somewhere where she could run in and kiss + it, and bring it pretty things to wear. Anything, anything was better than + to add another life to the nest of misery on the Mountain.... + </p> + <p> + The old woman and the children were still sleeping when Charity rose from + her mattress. Her body was stiff with cold and fatigue, and she moved + slowly lest her heavy steps should rouse them. She was faint with hunger, + and had nothing left in her satchel; but on the table she saw the half of + a stale loaf. No doubt it was to serve as the breakfast of old Mrs. Hyatt + and the children; but Charity did not care; she had her own baby to think + of. She broke off a piece of the bread and ate it greedily; then her + glance fell on the thin faces of the sleeping children, and filled with + compunction she rummaged in her satchel for something with which to pay + for what she had taken. She found one of the pretty chemises that Ally had + made for her, with a blue ribbon run through its edging. It was one of the + dainty things on which she had squandered her savings, and as she looked + at it the blood rushed to her forehead. She laid the chemise on the table, + and stealing across the floor lifted the latch and went out.... + </p> + <p> + The morning was icy cold and a pale sun was just rising above the eastern + shoulder of the Mountain. The houses scattered on the hillside lay cold + and smokeless under the sun-flecked clouds, and not a human being was in + sight. Charity paused on the threshold and tried to discover the road by + which she had come the night before. Across the field surrounding Mrs. + Hyatt's shanty she saw the tumble-down house in which she supposed the + funeral service had taken place. The trail ran across the ground between + the two houses and disappeared in the pine-wood on the flank of the + Mountain; and a little way to the right, under a wind-beaten thorn, a + mound of fresh earth made a dark spot on the fawn-coloured stubble. + Charity walked across the field to the ground. As she approached it she + heard a bird's note in the still air, and looking up she saw a brown + song-sparrow perched in an upper branch of the thorn above the grave. She + stood a minute listening to his small solitary song; then she rejoined the + trail and began to mount the hill to the pine-wood. + </p> + <p> + Thus far she had been impelled by the blind instinct of flight; but each + step seemed to bring her nearer to the realities of which her feverish + vigil had given only a shadowy image. Now that she walked again in a + daylight world, on the way back to familiar things, her imagination moved + more soberly. On one point she was still decided: she could not remain at + North Dormer, and the sooner she got away from it the better. But + everything beyond was darkness. + </p> + <p> + As she continued to climb the air grew keener, and when she passed from + the shelter of the pines to the open grassy roof of the Mountain the cold + wind of the night before sprang out on her. She bent her shoulders and + struggled on against it for a while; but presently her breath failed, and + she sat down under a ledge of rock overhung by shivering birches. From + where she sat she saw the trail wandering across the bleached grass in the + direction of Hamblin, and the granite wall of the Mountain falling away to + infinite distances. On that side of the ridge the valleys still lay in + wintry shadow; but in the plain beyond the sun was touching village roofs + and steeples, and gilding the haze of smoke over far-off invisible towns. + </p> + <p> + Charity felt herself a mere speck in the lonely circle of the sky. The + events of the last two days seemed to have divided her forever from her + short dream of bliss. Even Harney's image had been blurred by that + crushing experience: she thought of him as so remote from her that he + seemed hardly more than a memory. In her fagged and floating mind only one + sensation had the weight of reality; it was the bodily burden of her + child. But for it she would have felt as rootless as the whiffs of + thistledown the wind blew past her. Her child was like a load that held + her down, and yet like a hand that pulled her to her feet. She said to + herself that she must get up and struggle on.... + </p> + <p> + Her eyes turned back to the trail across the top of the Mountain, and in + the distance she saw a buggy against the sky. She knew its antique + outline, and the gaunt build of the old horse pressing forward with + lowered head; and after a moment she recognized the heavy bulk of the man + who held the reins. The buggy was following the trail and making straight + for the pine-wood through which she had climbed; and she knew at once that + the driver was in search of her. Her first impulse was to crouch down + under the ledge till he had passed; but the instinct of concealment was + overruled by the relief of feeling that someone was near her in the awful + emptiness. She stood up and walked toward the buggy. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall saw her, and touched the horse with the whip. A minute or two + later he was abreast of Charity; their eyes met, and without speaking he + leaned over and helped her up into the buggy. + </p> + <p> + She tried to speak, to stammer out some explanation, but no words came to + her; and as he drew the cover over her knees he simply said: “The minister + told me he'd left you up here, so I come up for you.” + </p> + <p> + He turned the horse's head, and they began to jog back toward Hamblin. + Charity sat speechless, staring straight ahead of her, and Mr. Royall + occasionally uttered a word of encouragement to the horse: “Get along + there, Dan.... I gave him a rest at Hamblin; but I brought him along + pretty quick, and it's a stiff pull up here against the wind.” + </p> + <p> + As he spoke it occurred to her for the first time that to reach the top of + the Mountain so early he must have left North Dormer at the coldest hour + of the night, and have travelled steadily but for the halt at Hamblin; and + she felt a softness at her heart which no act of his had ever produced + since he had brought her the Crimson Rambler because she had given up + boarding-school to stay with him. + </p> + <p> + After an interval he began again: “It was a day just like this, only + spitting snow, when I come up here for you the first time.” Then, as if + fearing that she might take his remark as a reminder of past benefits, he + added quickly: “I dunno's you think it was such a good job, either.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I do,” she murmured, looking straight ahead of her. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said, “I tried——” + </p> + <p> + He did not finish the sentence, and she could think of nothing more to + say. + </p> + <p> + “Ho, there, Dan, step out,” he muttered, jerking the bridle. “We ain't + home yet.—You cold?” he asked abruptly. + </p> + <p> + She shook her head, but he drew the cover higher up, and stooped to tuck + it in about the ankles. She continued to look straight ahead. Tears of + weariness and weakness were dimming her eyes and beginning to run over, + but she dared not wipe them away lest he should observe the gesture. + </p> + <p> + They drove in silence, following the long loops of the descent upon + Hamblin, and Mr. Royall did not speak again till they reached the + outskirts of the village. Then he let the reins droop on the dashboard and + drew out his watch. + </p> + <p> + “Charity,” he said, “you look fair done up, and North Dormer's a goodish + way off. I've figured out that we'd do better to stop here long enough for + you to get a mouthful of breakfast and then drive down to Creston and take + the train.” + </p> + <p> + She roused herself from her apathetic musing. “The train—what + train?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall, without answering, let the horse jog on till they reached the + door of the first house in the village. “This is old Mrs. Hobart's place,” + he said. “She'll give us something hot to drink.” + </p> + <p> + Charity, half unconsciously, found herself getting out of the buggy and + following him in at the open door. They entered a decent kitchen with a + fire crackling in the stove. An old woman with a kindly face was setting + out cups and saucers on the table. She looked up and nodded as they came + in, and Mr. Royall advanced to the stove, clapping his numb hands + together. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Mrs. Hobart, you got any breakfast for this young lady? You can see + she's cold and hungry.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Hobart smiled on Charity and took a tin coffee-pot from the fire. + “My, you do look pretty mean,” she said compassionately. + </p> + <p> + Charity reddened, and sat down at the table. A feeling of complete + passiveness had once more come over her, and she was conscious only of the + pleasant animal sensations of warmth and rest. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Hobart put bread and milk on the table, and then went out of the + house: Charity saw her leading the horse away to the barn across the yard. + She did not come back, and Mr. Royall and Charity sat alone at the table + with the smoking coffee between them. He poured out a cup for her, and put + a piece of bread in the saucer, and she began to eat. + </p> + <p> + As the warmth of the coffee flowed through her veins her thoughts cleared + and she began to feel like a living being again; but the return to life + was so painful that the food choked in her throat and she sat staring down + at the table in silent anguish. + </p> + <p> + After a while Mr. Royall pushed back his chair. “Now, then,” he said, “if + you're a mind to go along——” She did not move, and he + continued: “We can pick up the noon train for Nettleton if you say so.” + </p> + <p> + The words sent the blood rushing to her face, and she raised her startled + eyes to his. He was standing on the other side of the table looking at her + kindly and gravely; and suddenly she understood what he was going to say. + She continued to sit motionless, a leaden weight upon her lips. + </p> + <p> + “You and me have spoke some hard things to each other in our time, + Charity; and there's no good that I can see in any more talking now. But + I'll never feel any way but one about you; and if you say so we'll drive + down in time to catch that train, and go straight to the minister's house; + and when you come back home you'll come as Mrs. Royall.” + </p> + <p> + His voice had the grave persuasive accent that had moved his hearers at + the Home Week festival; she had a sense of depths of mournful tolerance + under that easy tone. Her whole body began to tremble with the dread of + her own weakness. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I can't——” she burst out desperately. + </p> + <p> + “Can't what?” + </p> + <p> + She herself did not know: she was not sure if she was rejecting what he + offered, or already struggling against the temptation of taking what she + no longer had a right to. She stood up, shaking and bewildered, and began + to speak: + </p> + <p> + “I know I ain't been fair to you always; but I want to be now.... I want + you to know... I want...” Her voice failed her and she stopped. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall leaned against the wall. He was paler than usual, but his face + was composed and kindly and her agitation did not appear to perturb him. + </p> + <p> + “What's all this about wanting?” he said as she paused. “Do you know what + you really want? I'll tell you. You want to be took home and took care of. + And I guess that's all there is to say.” + </p> + <p> + “No... it's not all....” + </p> + <p> + “Ain't it?” He looked at his watch. “Well, I'll tell you another thing. + All I want is to know if you'll marry me. If there was anything else, I'd + tell you so; but there ain't. Come to my age, a man knows the things that + matter and the things that don't; that's about the only good turn life + does us.” + </p> + <p> + His tone was so strong and resolute that it was like a supporting arm + about her. She felt her resistance melting, her strength slipping away + from her as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + “Don't cry, Charity,” he exclaimed in a shaken voice. She looked up, + startled at his emotion, and their eyes met. + </p> + <p> + “See here,” he said gently, “old Dan's come a long distance, and we've got + to let him take it easy the rest of the way....” + </p> + <p> + He picked up the cloak that had slipped to her chair and laid it about her + shoulders. She followed him out of the house, and then walked across the + yard to the shed, where the horse was tied. Mr. Royall unblanketed him and + led him out into the road. Charity got into the buggy and he drew the + cover about her and shook out the reins with a cluck. When they reached + the end of the village he turned the horse's head toward Creston. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVIII + </h2> + <p> + They began to jog down the winding road to the valley at old Dan's languid + pace. Charity felt herself sinking into deeper depths of weariness, and as + they descended through the bare woods there were moments when she lost the + exact sense of things, and seemed to be sitting beside her lover with the + leafy arch of summer bending over them. But this illusion was faint and + transitory. For the most part she had only a confused sensation of + slipping down a smooth irresistible current; and she abandoned herself to + the feeling as a refuge from the torment of thought. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Royall seldom spoke, but his silent presence gave her, for the first + time, a sense of peace and security. She knew that where he was there + would be warmth, rest, silence; and for the moment they were all she + wanted. She shut her eyes, and even these things grew dim to her.... + </p> + <p> + In the train, during the short run from Creston to Nettleton, the warmth + aroused her, and the consciousness of being under strange eyes gave her a + momentary energy. She sat upright, facing Mr. Royall, and stared out of + the window at the denuded country. Forty-eight hours earlier, when she had + last traversed it, many of the trees still held their leaves; but the high + wind of the last two nights had stripped them, and the lines of the + landscape' were as finely pencilled as in December. A few days of autumn + cold had wiped out all trace of the rich fields and languid groves through + which she had passed on the Fourth of July; and with the fading of the + landscape those fervid hours had faded, too. She could no longer believe + that she was the being who had lived them; she was someone to whom + something irreparable and overwhelming had happened, but the traces of the + steps leading up to it had almost vanished. + </p> + <p> + When the train reached Nettleton and she walked out into the square at Mr. + Royall's side the sense of unreality grew more overpowering. The physical + strain of the night and day had left no room in her mind for new + sensations and she followed Mr. Royall as passively as a tired child. As + in a confused dream she presently found herself sitting with him in a + pleasant room, at a table with a red and white table-cloth on which hot + food and tea were placed. He filled her cup and plate and whenever she + lifted her eyes from them she found his resting on her with the same + steady tranquil gaze that had reassured and strengthened her when they had + faced each other in old Mrs. Hobart's kitchen. As everything else in her + consciousness grew more and more confused and immaterial, became more and + more like the universal shimmer that dissolves the world to failing eyes, + Mr. Royall's presence began to detach itself with rocky firmness from this + elusive background. She had always thought of him—when she thought + of him at all—as of someone hateful and obstructive, but whom she + could outwit and dominate when she chose to make the effort. Only once, on + the day of the Old Home Week celebration, while the stray fragments of his + address drifted across her troubled mind, had she caught a glimpse of + another being, a being so different from the dull-witted enemy with whom + she had supposed herself to be living that even through the burning mist + of her own dreams he had stood out with startling distinctness. For a + moment, then, what he said—and something in his way of saying it—had + made her see why he had always struck her as such a lonely man. But the + mist of her dreams had hidden him again, and she had forgotten that + fugitive impression. + </p> + <p> + It came back to her now, as they sat at the table, and gave her, through + her own immeasurable desolation, a sudden sense of their nearness to each + other. But all these feelings were only brief streaks of light in the grey + blur of her physical weakness. Through it she was aware that Mr. Royall + presently left her sitting by the table in the warm room, and came back + after an interval with a carriage from the station—a closed “hack” + with sun-burnt blue silk blinds—in which they drove together to a + house covered with creepers and standing next to a church with a carpet of + turf before it. They got out at this house, and the carriage waited while + they walked up the path and entered a wainscoted hall and then a room full + of books. In this room a clergyman whom Charity had never seen received + them pleasantly, and asked them to be seated for a few minutes while + witnesses were being summoned. + </p> + <p> + Charity sat down obediently, and Mr. Royall, his hands behind his back, + paced slowly up and down the room. As he turned and faced Charity, she + noticed that his lips were twitching a little; but the look in his eyes + was grave and calm. Once he paused before her and said timidly: “Your + hair's got kinder loose with the wind,” and she lifted her hands and tried + to smooth back the locks that had escaped from her braid. There was a + looking-glass in a carved frame on the wall, but she was ashamed to look + at herself in it, and she sat with her hands folded on her knee till the + clergyman returned. Then they went out again, along a sort of arcaded + passage, and into a low vaulted room with a cross on an altar, and rows of + benches. The clergyman, who had left them at the door, presently + reappeared before the altar in a surplice, and a lady who was probably his + wife, and a man in a blue shirt who had been raking dead leaves on the + lawn, came in and sat on one of the benches. + </p> + <p> + The clergyman opened a book and signed to Charity and Mr. Royall to + approach. Mr. Royall advanced a few steps, and Charity followed him as she + had followed him to the buggy when they went out of Mrs. Hobart's kitchen; + she had the feeling that if she ceased to keep close to him, and do what + he told her to do, the world would slip away from beneath her feet. + </p> + <p> + The clergyman began to read, and on her dazed mind there rose the memory + of Mr. Miles, standing the night before in the desolate house of the + Mountain, and reading out of the same book words that had the same dread + sound of finality: + </p> + <p> + “I require and charge you both, as ye will answer at the dreadful day of + judgment when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if either + of you know any impediment whereby ye may not be lawfully joined + together...” + </p> + <p> + Charity raised her eyes and met Mr. Royall's. They were still looking at + her kindly and steadily. “I will!” she heard him say a moment later, after + another interval of words that she had failed to catch. She was so busy + trying to understand the gestures that the clergyman was signalling to her + to make that she no longer heard what was being said. After another + interval the lady on the bench stood up, and taking her hand put it in Mr. + Royall's. It lay enclosed in his strong palm and she felt a ring that was + too big for her being slipped on her thin finger. She understood then that + she was married.... + </p> + <p> + Late that afternoon Charity sat alone in a bedroom of the fashionable + hotel where she and Harney had vainly sought a table on the Fourth of + July. She had never before been in so handsomely furnished a room. The + mirror above the dressing-table reflected the high head-board and fluted + pillow-slips of the double bed, and a bedspread so spotlessly white that + she had hesitated to lay her hat and jacket on it. The humming radiator + diffused an atmosphere of drowsy warmth, and through a half-open door she + saw the glitter of the nickel taps above twin marble basins. + </p> + <p> + For a while the long turmoil of the night and day had slipped away from + her and she sat with closed eyes, surrendering herself to the spell of + warmth and silence. But presently this merciful apathy was succeeded by + the sudden acuteness of vision with which sick people sometimes wake out + of a heavy sleep. As she opened her eyes they rested on the picture that + hung above the bed. It was a large engraving with a dazzling white margin + enclosed in a wide frame of bird's-eye maple with an inner scroll of gold. + The engraving represented a young man in a boat on a lake over-hung with + trees. He was leaning over to gather water-lilies for the girl in a light + dress who lay among the cushions in the stern. The scene was full of a + drowsy midsummer radiance, and Charity averted her eyes from it and, + rising from her chair, began to wander restlessly about the room. + </p> + <p> + It was on the fifth floor, and its broad window of plate glass looked over + the roofs of the town. Beyond them stretched a wooded landscape in which + the last fires of sunset were picking out a steely gleam. Charity gazed at + the gleam with startled eyes. Even through the gathering twilight she + recognized the contour of the soft hills encircling it, and the way the + meadows sloped to its edge. It was Nettleton Lake that she was looking at. + </p> + <p> + She stood a long time in the window staring out at the fading water. The + sight of it had roused her for the first time to a realization of what she + had done. Even the feeling of the ring on her hand had not brought her + this sharp sense of the irretrievable. For an instant the old impulse of + flight swept through her; but it was only the lift of a broken wing. She + heard the door open behind her, and Mr. Royall came in. + </p> + <p> + He had gone to the barber's to be shaved, and his shaggy grey hair had + been trimmed and smoothed. He moved strongly and quickly, squaring his + shoulders and carrying his head high, as if he did not want to pass + unnoticed. + </p> + <p> + “What are you doing in the dark?” he called out in a cheerful voice. + Charity made no answer. He went up to the window to draw the blind, and + putting his finger on the wall flooded the room with a blaze of light from + the central chandelier. In this unfamiliar illumination husband and wife + faced each other awkwardly for a moment; then Mr. Royall said: “We'll step + down and have some supper, if you say so.” + </p> + <p> + The thought of food filled her with repugnance; but not daring to confess + it she smoothed her hair and followed him to the lift. + </p> + <p> + An hour later, coming out of the glare of the dining-room, she waited in + the marble-panelled hall while Mr. Royall, before the brass lattice of one + of the corner counters, selected a cigar and bought an evening paper. Men + were lounging in rocking chairs under the blazing chandeliers, travellers + coming and going, bells ringing, porters shuffling by with luggage. Over + Mr. Royall's shoulder, as he leaned against the counter, a girl with her + hair puffed high smirked and nodded at a dapper drummer who was getting + his key at the desk across the hall. + </p> + <p> + Charity stood among these cross-currents of life as motionless and inert + as if she had been one of the tables screwed to the marble floor. All her + soul was gathered up into one sick sense of coming doom, and she watched + Mr. Royall in fascinated terror while he pinched the cigars in successive + boxes and unfolded his evening paper with a steady hand. + </p> + <p> + Presently he turned and joined her. “You go right along up to bed—I'm + going to sit down here and have my smoke,” he said. He spoke as easily and + naturally as if they had been an old couple, long used to each other's + ways, and her contracted heart gave a flutter of relief. She followed him + to the lift, and he put her in and enjoined the buttoned and braided boy + to show her to her room. + </p> + <p> + She groped her way in through the darkness, forgetting where the electric + button was, and not knowing how to manipulate it. But a white autumn moon + had risen, and the illuminated sky put a pale light in the room. By it she + undressed, and after folding up the ruffled pillow-slips crept timidly + under the spotless counterpane. She had never felt such smooth sheets or + such light warm blankets; but the softness of the bed did not soothe her. + She lay there trembling with a fear that ran through her veins like ice. + “What have I done? Oh, what have I done?” she whispered, shuddering to her + pillow; and pressing her face against it to shut out the pale landscape + beyond the window she lay in the darkness straining her ears, and shaking + at every footstep that approached.... + </p> + <p> + Suddenly she sat up and pressed her hands against her frightened heart. A + faint sound had told her that someone was in the room; but she must have + slept in the interval, for she had heard no one enter. The moon was + setting beyond the opposite roofs, and in the darkness outlined against + the grey square of the window, she saw a figure seated in the + rocking-chair. The figure did not move: it was sunk deep in the chair, + with bowed head and folded arms, and she saw that it was Mr. Royall who + sat there. He had not undressed, but had taken the blanket from the foot + of the bed and laid it across his knees. Trembling and holding her breath + she watched him, fearing that he had been roused by her movement; but he + did not stir, and she concluded that he wished her to think he was asleep. + </p> + <p> + As she continued to watch him ineffable relief stole slowly over her, + relaxing her strained nerves and exhausted body. He knew, then... he + knew... it was because he knew that he had married her, and that he sat + there in the darkness to show her she was safe with him. A stir of + something deeper than she had ever felt in thinking of him flitted through + her tired brain, and cautiously, noiselessly, she let her head sink on the + pillow.... + </p> + <p> + When she woke the room was full of morning light, and her first glance + showed her that she was alone in it. She got up and dressed, and as she + was fastening her dress the door opened, and Mr. Royall came in. He looked + old and tired in the bright daylight, but his face wore the same + expression of grave friendliness that had reassured her on the Mountain. + It was as if all the dark spirits had gone out of him. + </p> + <p> + They went downstairs to the dining-room for breakfast, and after breakfast + he told her he had some insurance business to attend to. “I guess while + I'm doing it you'd better step out and buy yourself whatever you need.” He + smiled, and added with an embarrassed laugh: “You know I always wanted you + to beat all the other girls.” He drew something from his pocket, and + pushed it across the table to her; and she saw that he had given her two + twenty-dollar bills. “If it ain't enough there's more where that come from—I + want you to beat 'em all hollow,” he repeated. + </p> + <p> + She flushed and tried to stammer out her thanks, but he had pushed back + his chair and was leading the way out of the dining-room. In the hall he + paused a minute to say that if it suited her they would take the three + o'clock train back to North Dormer; then he took his hat and coat from the + rack and went out. + </p> + <p> + A few minutes later Charity went out, too. She had watched to see in what + direction he was going, and she took the opposite way and walked quickly + down the main street to the brick building on the corner of Lake Avenue. + There she paused to look cautiously up and down the thoroughfare, and then + climbed the brass-bound stairs to Dr. Merkle's door. The same bushy-headed + mulatto girl admitted her, and after the same interval of waiting in the + red plush parlor she was once more summoned to Dr. Merkle's office. The + doctor received her without surprise, and led her into the inner plush + sanctuary. + </p> + <p> + “I thought you'd be back, but you've come a mite too soon: I told you to + be patient and not fret,” she observed, after a pause of penetrating + scrutiny. + </p> + <p> + Charity drew the money from her breast. “I've come to get my blue brooch,” + she said, flushing. + </p> + <p> + “Your brooch?” Dr. Merkle appeared not to remember. “My, yes—I get + so many things of that kind. Well, my dear, you'll have to wait while I + get it out of the safe. I don't leave valuables like that laying round + like the noospaper.” + </p> + <p> + She disappeared for a moment, and returned with a bit of twisted-up tissue + paper from which she unwrapped the brooch. + </p> + <p> + Charity, as she looked at it, felt a stir of warmth at her heart. She held + out an eager hand. + </p> + <p> + “Have you got the change?” she asked a little breathlessly, laying one of + the twenty-dollar bills on the table. + </p> + <p> + “Change? What'd I want to have change for? I only see two twenties there,” + Dr. Merkle answered brightly. + </p> + <p> + Charity paused, disconcerted. “I thought... you said it was five dollars a + visit....” + </p> + <p> + “For YOU, as a favour—I did. But how about the responsibility and + the insurance? I don't s'pose you ever thought of that? This pin's worth a + hundred dollars easy. If it had got lost or stole, where'd I been when you + come to claim it?” + </p> + <p> + Charity remained silent, puzzled and half-convinced by the argument, and + Dr. Merkle promptly followed up her advantage. “I didn't ask you for your + brooch, my dear. I'd a good deal ruther folks paid me my regular charge + than have 'em put me to all this trouble.” + </p> + <p> + She paused, and Charity, seized with a desperate longing to escape, rose + to her feet and held out one of the bills. + </p> + <p> + “Will you take that?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “No, I won't take that, my dear; but I'll take it with its mate, and hand + you over a signed receipt if you don't trust me.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, but I can't—it's all I've got,” Charity exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Merkle looked up at her pleasantly from the plush sofa. “It seems you + got married yesterday, up to the 'Piscopal church; I heard all about the + wedding from the minister's chore-man. It would be a pity, wouldn't it, to + let Mr. Royall know you had an account running here? I just put it to you + as your own mother might.” + </p> + <p> + Anger flamed up in Charity, and for an instant she thought of abandoning + the brooch and letting Dr. Merkle do her worst. But how could she leave + her only treasure with that evil woman? She wanted it for her baby: she + meant it, in some mysterious way, to be a link between Harney's child and + its unknown father. Trembling and hating herself while she did it, she + laid Mr. Royall's money on the table, and catching up the brooch fled out + of the room and the house.... + </p> + <p> + In the street she stood still, dazed by this last adventure. But the + brooch lay in her bosom like a talisman, and she felt a secret lightness + of heart. It gave her strength, after a moment, to walk on slowly in the + direction of the post office, and go in through the swinging doors. At one + of the windows she bought a sheet of letter-paper, an envelope and a + stamp; then she sat down at a table and dipped the rusty post office pen + in ink. She had come there possessed with a fear which had haunted her + ever since she had felt Mr. Royall's ring on her finger: the fear that + Harney might, after all, free himself and come back to her. It was a + possibility which had never occurred to her during the dreadful hours + after she had received his letter; only when the decisive step she had + taken made longing turn to apprehension did such a contingency seem + conceivable. She addressed the envelope, and on the sheet of paper she + wrote: + </p> + <p> + I'm married to Mr. Royall. I'll always remember you. CHARITY. + </p> + <p> + The last words were not in the least what she had meant to write; they had + flowed from her pen irresistibly. She had not had the strength to complete + her sacrifice; but, after all, what did it matter? Now that there was no + chance of ever seeing Harney again, why should she not tell him the truth? + </p> + <p> + When she had put the letter in the box she went out into the busy sunlit + street and began to walk to the hotel. Behind the plateglass windows of + the department stores she noticed the tempting display of dresses and + dress-materials that had fired her imagination on the day when she and + Harney had looked in at them together. They reminded her of Mr. Royall's + injunction to go out and buy all she needed. She looked down at her shabby + dress, and wondered what she should say when he saw her coming back + empty-handed. As she drew near the hotel she saw him waiting on the + doorstep, and her heart began to beat with apprehension. + </p> + <p> + He nodded and waved his hand at her approach, and they walked through the + hall and went upstairs to collect their possessions, so that Mr. Royall + might give up the key of the room when they went down again for their + midday dinner. In the bedroom, while she was thrusting back into the + satchel the few things she had brought away with her, she suddenly felt + that his eyes were on her and that he was going to speak. She stood still, + her half-folded night-gown in her hand, while the blood rushed up to her + drawn cheeks. + </p> + <p> + “Well, did you rig yourself out handsomely? I haven't seen any bundles + round,” he said jocosely. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I'd rather let Ally Hawes make the few things I want,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + “That so?” He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and his eye-brows + projected in a scowl. Then his face grew friendly again. “Well, I wanted + you to go back looking stylisher than any of them; but I guess you're + right. You're a good girl, Charity.” + </p> + <p> + Their eyes met, and something rose in his that she had never seen there: a + look that made her feel ashamed and yet secure. + </p> + <p> + “I guess you're good, too,” she said, shyly and quickly. He smiled without + answering, and they went out of the room together and dropped down to the + hall in the glittering lift. + </p> + <p> + Late that evening, in the cold autumn moonlight, they drove up to the door + of the red house. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Summer, by Edith Wharton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUMMER *** + +***** This file should be named 166-h.htm or 166-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/166/ + +Produced by Meredith Ricker, John Hamm and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + +SUMMER + +by Edith Wharton +1917 + + +I + + +A girl came out of lawyer Royall's house, at the end of +the one street of North Dormer, and stood on the +doorstep. + +It was the beginning of a June afternoon. The +springlike transparent sky shed a rain of silver +sunshine on the roofs of the village, and on the +pastures and larchwoods surrounding it. A little wind +moved among the round white clouds on the shoulders of +the hills, driving their shadows across the fields and +down the grassy road that takes the name of street when +it passes through North Dormer. The place lies high +and in the open, and lacks the lavish shade of the more +protected New England villages. The clump of weeping- +willows about the duck pond, and the Norway spruces in +front of the Hatchard gate, cast almost the only +roadside shadow between lawyer Royall's house and the +point where, at the other end of the village, the road +rises above the church and skirts the black hemlock +wall enclosing the cemetery. + +The little June wind, frisking down the street, shook +the doleful fringes of the Hatchard spruces, caught the +straw hat of a young man just passing under them, and +spun it clean across the road into the duck-pond. + +As he ran to fish it out the girl on lawyer Royall's +doorstep noticed that he was a stranger, that he wore +city clothes, and that he was laughing with all his +teeth, as the young and careless laugh at such mishaps. + +Her heart contracted a little, and the shrinking that +sometimes came over her when she saw people with +holiday faces made her draw back into the house and +pretend to look for the key that she knew she had +already put into her pocket. A narrow greenish mirror +with a gilt eagle over it hung on the passage wall, and +she looked critically at her reflection, wished for the +thousandth time that she had blue eyes like Annabel +Balch, the girl who sometimes came from Springfield to +spend a week with old Miss Hatchard, straightened the +sunburnt hat over her small swarthy face, and turned +out again into the sunshine. + +"How I hate everything!" she murmured. + +The young man had passed through the Hatchard gate, and +she had the street to herself. North Dormer is at all +times an empty place, and at three o'clock on a June +afternoon its few able-bodied men are off in the fields +or woods, and the women indoors, engaged in languid +household drudgery. + +The girl walked along, swinging her key on a finger, +and looking about her with the heightened attention +produced by the presence of a stranger in a familiar +place. What, she wondered, did North Dormer look like +to people from other parts of the world? She herself +had lived there since the age of five, and had long +supposed it to be a place of some importance. But +about a year before, Mr. Miles, the new Episcopal +clergyman at Hepburn, who drove over every other +Sunday--when the roads were not ploughed up by hauling-- +to hold a service in the North Dormer church, had +proposed, in a fit of missionary zeal, to take the +young people down to Nettleton to hear an illustrated +lecture on the Holy Land; and the dozen girls and boys +who represented the future of North Dormer had been +piled into a farm-waggon, driven over the hills to +Hepburn, put into a way-train and carried to Nettleton. + +In the course of that incredible day Charity Royall +had, for the first and only time, experienced railway- +travel, looked into shops with plate-glass fronts, +tasted cocoanut pie, sat in a theatre, and listened to +a gentleman saying unintelligible things before +pictures that she would have enjoyed looking at if his +explanations had not prevented her from understanding +them. This initiation had shown her that North Dormer +was a small place, and developed in her a thirst for +information that her position as custodian of the +village library had previously failed to excite. For a +month or two she dipped feverishly and disconnectedly +into the dusty volumes of the Hatchard Memorial +Library; then the impression of Nettleton began to +fade, and she found it easier to take North Dormer as +the norm of the universe than to go on reading. + +The sight of the stranger once more revived memories of +Nettleton, and North Dormer shrank to its real size. As +she looked up and down it, from lawyer Royall's faded +red house at one end to the white church at the other, +she pitilessly took its measure. There it lay, a +weather-beaten sunburnt village of the hills, abandoned +of men, left apart by railway, trolley, telegraph, and +all the forces that link life to life in modern +communities. It had no shops, no theatres, no +lectures, no "business block"; only a church that was +opened every other Sunday if the state of the roads +permitted, and a library for which no new books had +been bought for twenty years, and where the old ones +mouldered undisturbed on the damp shelves. Yet Charity +Royall had always been told that she ought to consider +it a privilege that her lot had been cast in North +Dormer. She knew that, compared to the place she had +come from, North Dormer represented all the blessings +of the most refined civilization. Everyone in the +village had told her so ever since she had been brought +there as a child. Even old Miss Hatchard had said to +her, on a terrible occasion in her life: "My child, you +must never cease to remember that it was Mr. Royall who +brought you down from the Mountain." + +She had been "brought down from the Mountain"; from the +scarred cliff that lifted its sullen wall above the +lesser slopes of Eagle Range, making a perpetual +background of gloom to the lonely valley. The Mountain +was a good fifteen miles away, but it rose so abruptly +from the lower hills that it seemed almost to cast its +shadow over North Dormer. And it was like a great +magnet drawing the clouds and scattering them in storm +across the valley. If ever, in the purest summer sky, +there trailed a thread of vapour over North Dormer, it +drifted to the Mountain as a ship drifts to a +whirlpool, and was caught among the rocks, torn up and +multiplied, to sweep back over the village in rain and +darkness. + +Charity was not very clear about the Mountain; but she +knew it was a bad place, and a shame to have come from, +and that, whatever befell her in North Dormer, she +ought, as Miss Hatchard had once reminded her, to +remember that she had been brought down from there, and +hold her tongue and be thankful. She looked up at the +Mountain, thinking of these things, and tried as usual +to be thankful. But the sight of the young man turning +in at Miss Hatchard's gate had brought back the vision +of the glittering streets of Nettleton, and she felt +ashamed of her old sun-hat, and sick of North Dormer, +and jealously aware of Annabel Balch of Springfield, +opening her blue eyes somewhere far off on glories +greater than the glories of Nettleton. + +"How I hate everything!" she said again. + +Half way down the street she stopped at a weak-hinged +gate. Passing through it, she walked down a brick path +to a queer little brick temple with white wooden +columns supporting a pediment on which was inscribed in +tarnished gold letters: "The Honorius Hatchard Memorial +Library, 1832." + +Honorius Hatchard had been old Miss Hatchard's great- +uncle; though she would undoubtedly have reversed the +phrase, and put forward, as her only claim to +distinction, the fact that she was his great-niece. +For Honorius Hatchard, in the early years of the +nineteenth century, had enjoyed a modest celebrity. As +the marble tablet in the interior of the library +informed its infrequent visitors, he had possessed +marked literary gifts, written a series of papers +called "The Recluse of Eagle Range," enjoyed the +acquaintance of Washington Irving and Fitz-Greene +Halleck, and been cut off in his flower by a fever +contracted in Italy. Such had been the sole link +between North Dormer and literature, a link piously +commemorated by the erection of the monument where +Charity Royall, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, +sat at her desk under a freckled steel engraving of the +deceased author, and wondered if he felt any deader in +his grave than she did in his library. + +Entering her prison-house with a listless step she took +off her hat, hung it on a plaster bust of Minerva, +opened the shutters, leaned out to see if there were +any eggs in the swallow's nest above one of the +windows, and finally, seating herself behind the desk, +drew out a roll of cotton lace and a steel crochet +hook. She was not an expert workwoman, and it had taken +her many weeks to make the half-yard of narrow lace +which she kept wound about the buckram back of a +disintegrated copy of "The Lamplighter." But there was +no other way of getting any lace to trim her summer +blouse, and since Ally Hawes, the poorest girl in the +village, had shown herself in church with enviable +transparencies about the shoulders, Charity's hook had +travelled faster. She unrolled the lace, dug the hook +into a loop, and bent to the task with furrowed brows. + +Suddenly the door opened, and before she had raised her +eyes she knew that the young man she had seen going in +at the Hatchard gate had entered the library. + +Without taking any notice of her he began to move +slowly about the long vault-like room, his hands behind +his back, his short-sighted eyes peering up and down +the rows of rusty bindings. At length he reached the +desk and stood before her. + +"Have you a card-catalogue?" he asked in a pleasant +abrupt voice; and the oddness of the question caused +her to drop her work. + +"A WHAT?" + +"Why, you know----" He broke off, and she became +conscious that he was looking at her for the first +time, having apparently, on his entrance, included her +in his general short-sighted survey as part of the +furniture of the library. + +The fact that, in discovering her, he lost the thread +of his remark, did not escape her attention, and she +looked down and smiled. He smiled also. + +"No, I don't suppose you do know," he corrected +himself. "In fact, it would be almost a pity----" + +She thought she detected a slight condescension in his +tone, and asked sharply: "Why?" + +"Because it's so much pleasanter, in a small library +like this, to poke about by one's self--with the help +of the librarian." + +He added the last phrase so respectfully that she was +mollified, and rejoined with a sigh: "I'm afraid I +can't help you much." + +"Why?" he questioned in his turn; and she replied that +there weren't many books anyhow, and that she'd hardly +read any of them. "The worms are getting at them," she +added gloomily. + +"Are they? That's a pity, for I see there are some good +ones." He seemed to have lost interest in their +conversation, and strolled away again, apparently +forgetting her. His indifference nettled her, and she +picked up her work, resolved not to offer him the least +assistance. Apparently he did not need it, for he +spent a long time with his back to her, lifting down, +one after another, the tall cob-webby volumes from a +distant shelf. + +"Oh, I say!" he exclaimed; and looking up she saw that +he had drawn out his handkerchief and was carefully +wiping the edges of the book in his hand. The action +struck her as an unwarranted criticism on her care of +the books, and she said irritably: "It's not my fault +if they're dirty." + +He turned around and looked at her with reviving +interest. "Ah--then you're not the librarian?" + +"Of course I am; but I can't dust all these books. +Besides, nobody ever looks at them, now Miss Hatchard's +too lame to come round." + +"No, I suppose not." He laid down the book he had been +wiping, and stood considering her in silence. She +wondered if Miss Hatchard had sent him round to pry +into the way the library was looked after, and the +suspicion increased her resentment. "I saw you going +into her house just now, didn't I?" she asked, with the +New England avoidance of the proper name. She was +determined to find out why he was poking about among +her books. + +"Miss Hatchard's house? Yes--she's my cousin and I'm +staying there," the young man answered; adding, as if +to disarm a visible distrust: "My name is Harney-- +Lucius Harney. She may have spoken of me." + +"No, she hasn't," said Charity, wishing she could have +said: "Yes, she has." + +"Oh, well----" said Miss Hatchard's cousin with a +laugh; and after another pause, during which it +occurred to Charity that her answer had not been +encouraging, he remarked: "You don't seem strong on +architecture." + +Her bewilderment was complete: the more she wished to +appear to understand him the more unintelligible his +remarks became. He reminded her of the gentleman who +had "explained" the pictures at Nettleton, and the +weight of her ignorance settled down on her again like +a pall. + +"I mean, I can't see that you have any books on the old +houses about here. I suppose, for that matter, this +part of the country hasn't been much explored. They +all go on doing Plymouth and Salem. So stupid. My +cousin's house, now, is remarkable. This place must +have had a past--it must have been more of a place +once." He stopped short, with the blush of a shy man +who overhears himself, and fears he has been voluble. +"I'm an architect, you see, and I'm hunting up old +houses in these parts." + +She stared. "Old houses? Everything's old in North +Dormer, isn't it? The folks are, anyhow." + +He laughed, and wandered away again. + +"Haven't you any kind of a history of the place? +I think there was one written about 1840: a book or +pamphlet about its first settlement," he presently said +from the farther end of the room. + +She pressed her crochet hook against her lip and +pondered. There was such a work, she knew: "North +Dormer and the Early Townships of Eagle County." She +had a special grudge against it because it was a limp +weakly book that was always either falling off the +shelf or slipping back and disappearing if one squeezed +it in between sustaining volumes. She remembered, the +last time she had picked it up, wondering how anyone +could have taken the trouble to write a book about +North Dormer and its neighbours: Dormer, Hamblin, +Creston and Creston River. She knew them all, mere lost +clusters of houses in the folds of the desolate ridges: +Dormer, where North Dormer went for its apples; Creston +River, where there used to be a paper-mill, and its +grey walls stood decaying by the stream; and Hamblin, +where the first snow always fell. Such were their +titles to fame. + +She got up and began to move about vaguely before the +shelves. But she had no idea where she had last put +the book, and something told her that it was going to +play her its usual trick and remain invisible. It was +not one of her lucky days. + +"I guess it's somewhere," she said, to prove her zeal; +but she spoke without conviction, and felt that her +words conveyed none. + +"Oh, well----" he said again. She knew he was going, +and wished more than ever to find the book. + +"It will be for next time," he added; and picking up +the volume he had laid on the desk he handed it to her. +"By the way, a little air and sun would do this good; +it's rather valuable." + +He gave her a nod and smile, and passed out. + + + +II + + +The hours of the Hatchard Memorial librarian were from +three to five; and Charity Royall's sense of duty +usually kept her at her desk until nearly half-past +four. + +But she had never perceived that any practical +advantage thereby accrued either to North Dormer or to +herself; and she had no scruple in decreeing, when it +suited her, that the library should close an hour +earlier. A few minutes after Mr. Harney's departure +she formed this decision, put away her lace, fastened +the shutters, and turned the key in the door of the +temple of knowledge. + +The street upon which she emerged was still empty: and +after glancing up and down it she began to walk toward +her house. But instead of entering she passed on, +turned into a field-path and mounted to a pasture on +the hillside. She let down the bars of the gate, +followed a trail along the crumbling wall of the +pasture, and walked on till she reached a knoll where a +clump of larches shook out their fresh tassels to the +wind. There she lay down on the slope, tossed off her +hat and hid her face in the grass. + +She was blind and insensible to many things, and dimly +knew it; but to all that was light and air, perfume and +colour, every drop of blood in her responded. She +loved the roughness of the dry mountain grass under her +palms, the smell of the thyme into which she crushed +her face, the fingering of the wind in her hair and +through her cotton blouse, and the creak of the larches +as they swayed to it. + +She often climbed up the hill and lay there alone for +the mere pleasure of feeling the wind and of rubbing +her cheeks in the grass. Generally at such times she +did not think of anything, but lay immersed in an +inarticulate well-being. Today the sense of well-being +was intensified by her joy at escaping from the +library. She liked well enough to have a friend drop in +and talk to her when she was on duty, but she hated to +be bothered about books. How could she remember where +they were, when they were so seldom asked for? Orma Fry +occasionally took out a novel, and her brother Ben was +fond of what he called "jography," and of books +relating to trade and bookkeeping; but no one else +asked for anything except, at intervals, "Uncle Tom's +Cabin," or "Opening of a Chestnut Burr," or Longfellow. +She had these under her hand, and could have found them +in the dark; but unexpected demands came so rarely that +they exasperated her like an injustice.... + +She had liked the young man's looks, and his short- +sighted eyes, and his odd way of speaking, that was +abrupt yet soft, just as his hands were sun-burnt and +sinewy, yet with smooth nails like a woman's. His hair +was sunburnt-looking too, or rather the colour of +bracken after frost; his eyes grey, with the appealing +look of the shortsighted, his smile shy yet confident, +as if he knew lots of things she had never dreamed of, +and yet wouldn't for the world have had her feel his +superiority. But she did feel it, and liked the +feeling; for it was new to her. Poor and ignorant as +she was, and knew herself to be--humblest of the humble +even in North Dormer, where to come from the Mountain +was the worst disgrace--yet in her narrow world she had +always ruled. It was partly, of course, owing to the +fact that lawyer Royall was "the biggest man in North +Dormer"; so much too big for it, in fact, that +outsiders, who didn't know, always wondered how it held +him. In spite of everything--and in spite even of Miss +Hatchard--lawyer Royall ruled in North Dormer; and +Charity ruled in lawyer Royall's house. She had never +put it to herself in those terms; but she knew her +power, knew what it was made of, and hated it. +Confusedly, the young man in the library had made her +feel for the first time what might be the sweetness of +dependence. + +She sat up, brushed the bits of grass from her hair, +and looked down on the house where she held sway. It +stood just below her, cheerless and untended, its faded +red front divided from the road by a "yard" with a path +bordered by gooseberry bushes, a stone well overgrown +with traveller's joy, and a sickly Crimson Rambler tied +to a fan-shaped support, which Mr. Royall had once +brought up from Hepburn to please her. Behind the +house a bit of uneven ground with clothes-lines strung +across it stretched up to a dry wall, and beyond the +wall a patch of corn and a few rows of potatoes strayed +vaguely into the adjoining wilderness of rock and fern. + +Charity could not recall her first sight of the house. +She had been told that she was ill of a fever when she +was brought down from the Mountain; and she could only +remember waking one day in a cot at the foot of Mrs. +Royall's bed, and opening her eyes on the cold neatness +of the room that was afterward to be hers. + +Mrs. Royall died seven or eight years later; and by +that time Charity had taken the measure of most things +about her. She knew that Mrs. Royall was sad and timid +and weak; she knew that lawyer Royall was harsh and +violent, and still weaker. She knew that she had been +christened Charity (in the white church at the other +end of the village) to commemorate Mr. Royall's +disinterestedness in "bringing her down," and to keep +alive in her a becoming sense of her dependence; she +knew that Mr. Royall was her guardian, but that he had +not legally adopted her, though everybody spoke of her +as Charity Royall; and she knew why he had come back to +live at North Dormer, instead of practising at +Nettleton, where he had begun his legal career. + +After Mrs. Royall's death there was some talk of +sending her to a boarding-school. Miss Hatchard +suggested it, and had a long conference with Mr. +Royall, who, in pursuance of her plan, departed one day +for Starkfield to visit the institution she +recommended. He came back the next night with a black +face; worse, Charity observed, than she had ever seen +him; and by that time she had had some experience. + +When she asked him how soon she was to start he +answered shortly, "You ain't going," and shut himself +up in the room he called his office; and the next day +the lady who kept the school at Starkfield wrote that +"under the circumstances" she was afraid she could not +make room just then for another pupil. + +Charity was disappointed; but she understood. It +wasn't the temptations of Starkfield that had been Mr. +Royall's undoing; it was the thought of losing her. He +was a dreadfully "lonesome" man; she had made that out +because she was so "lonesome" herself. He and she, +face to face in that sad house, had sounded the depths +of isolation; and though she felt no particular +affection for him, and not the slightest gratitude, she +pitied him because she was conscious that he was +superior to the people about him, and that she was the +only being between him and solitude. Therefore, when +Miss Hatchard sent for her a day or two later, to talk +of a school at Nettleton, and to say that this time a +friend of hers would "make the necessary arrangements," +Charity cut her short with the announcement that she +had decided not to leave North Dormer. + +Miss Hatchard reasoned with her kindly, but to no +purpose; she simply repeated: "I guess Mr. Royall's too +lonesome." + +Miss Hatchard blinked perplexedly behind her eye- +glasses. Her long frail face was full of puzzled +wrinkles, and she leant forward, resting her hands on +the arms of her mahogany armchair, with the evident +desire to say something that ought to be said. + +"The feeling does you credit, my dear." + +She looked about the pale walls of her sitting-room, +seeking counsel of ancestral daguerreotypes and +didactic samplers; but they seemed to make utterance +more difficult. + +"The fact is, it's not only--not only because of the +advantages. There are other reasons. You're too young +to understand----" + +"Oh, no, I ain't," said Charity harshly; and Miss +Hatchard blushed to the roots of her blonde cap. But +she must have felt a vague relief at having her +explanation cut short, for she concluded, again +invoking the daguerreotypes: "Of course I shall always +do what I can for you; and in case....in case....you +know you can always come to me...." + +Lawyer Royall was waiting for Charity in the porch when +she returned from this visit. He had shaved, and +brushed his black coat, and looked a magnificent +monument of a man; at such moments she really admired +him. + +"Well," he said, "is it settled?" + +"Yes, it's settled. I ain't going." + +"Not to the Nettleton school?" + +"Not anywhere." + +He cleared his throat and asked sternly: "Why?" + +"I'd rather not," she said, swinging past him on her +way to her room. It was the following week that he +brought her up the Crimson Rambler and its fan from +Hepburn. He had never given her anything before. + +The next outstanding incident of her life had happened +two years later, when she was seventeen. Lawyer +Royall, who hated to go to Nettleton, had been called +there in connection with a case. He still exercised +his profession, though litigation languished in North +Dormer and its outlying hamlets; and for once he had +had an opportunity that he could not afford to refuse. +He spent three days in Nettleton, won his case, and +came back in high good-humour. It was a rare mood with +him, and manifested itself on this occasion by his +talking impressively at the supper-table of the +"rousing welcome" his old friends had given him. He +wound up confidentially: "I was a damn fool ever to +leave Nettleton. It was Mrs. Royall that made me do +it." + +Charity immediately perceived that something bitter had +happened to him, and that he was trying to talk down +the recollection. She went up to bed early, leaving +him seated in moody thought, his elbows propped on the +worn oilcloth of the supper table. On the way up she +had extracted from his overcoat pocket the key of the +cupboard where the bottle of whiskey was kept. + +She was awakened by a rattling at her door and jumped +out of bed. She heard Mr. Royall's voice, low and +peremptory, and opened the door, fearing an accident. +No other thought had occurred to her; but when she saw +him in the doorway, a ray from the autumn moon falling +on his discomposed face, she understood. + +For a moment they looked at each other in silence; +then, as he put his foot across the threshold, she +stretched out her arm and stopped him. + +"You go right back from here," she said, in a shrill +voice that startled her; "you ain't going to have that +key tonight." + +"Charity, let me in. I don't want the key. I'm a +lonesome man," he began, in the deep voice that +sometimes moved her. + +Her heart gave a startled plunge, but she continued to +hold him back contemptuously. "Well, I guess you made +a mistake, then. This ain't your wife's room any +longer." + +She was not frightened, she simply felt a deep disgust; +and perhaps he divined it or read it in her face, for +after staring at her a moment he drew back and turned +slowly away from the door. With her ear to her keyhole +she heard him feel his way down the dark stairs, and +toward the kitchen; and she listened for the crash of +the cupboard panel, but instead she heard him, after an +interval, unlock the door of the house, and his heavy +steps came to her through the silence as he walked down +the path. She crept to the window and saw his bent +figure striding up the road in the moonlight. Then a +belated sense of fear came to her with the +consciousness of victory, and she slipped into bed, +cold to the bone. + + +A day or two later poor Eudora Skeff, who for twenty +years had been the custodian of the Hatchard library, +died suddenly of pneumonia; and the day after the +funeral Charity went to see Miss Hatchard, and asked to +be appointed librarian. The request seemed to surprise +Miss Hatchard: she evidently questioned the new +candidate's qualifications. + +"Why, I don't know, my dear. Aren't you rather too +young?" she hesitated. + +"I want to earn some money," Charity merely answered. + +"Doesn't Mr. Royall give you all you require? No one is +rich in North Dormer." + +"I want to earn money enough to get away." + +"To get away?" Miss Hatchard's puzzled wrinkles +deepened, and there was a distressful pause. "You want +to leave Mr. Royall?" + +"Yes: or I want another woman in the house with me," +said Charity resolutely. + +Miss Hatchard clasped her nervous hands about the arms +of her chair. Her eyes invoked the faded countenances +on the wall, and after a faint cough of indecision she +brought out: "The...the housework's too hard for you, I +suppose?" + +Charity's heart grew cold. She understood that Miss +Hatchard had no help to give her and that she would +have to fight her way out of her difficulty alone. A +deeper sense of isolation overcame her; she felt +incalculably old. "She's got to be talked to like a +baby," she thought, with a feeling of compassion for +Miss Hatchard's long immaturity. "Yes, that's it," she +said aloud. "The housework's too hard for me: I've +been coughing a good deal this fall." + +She noted the immediate effect of this suggestion. Miss +Hatchard paled at the memory of poor Eudora's taking- +off, and promised to do what she could. But of course +there were people she must consult: the clergyman, the +selectmen of North Dormer, and a distant Hatchard +relative at Springfield. "If you'd only gone to +school!" she sighed. She followed Charity to the door, +and there, in the security of the threshold, said with +a glance of evasive appeal: "I know Mr. Royall +is...trying at times; but his wife bore with him; and +you must always remember, Charity, that it was Mr. +Royall who brought you down from the Mountain." Charity +went home and opened the door of Mr. Royall's "office." +He was sitting there by the stove reading Daniel +Webster's speeches. They had met at meals during the +five days that had elapsed since he had come to her +door, and she had walked at his side at Eudora's +funeral; but they had not spoken a word to each other. + +He glanced up in surprise as she entered, and she +noticed that he was unshaved, and that he looked +unusually old; but as she had always thought of him as +an old man the change in his appearance did not move +her. She told him she had been to see Miss Hatchard, +and with what object. She saw that he was astonished; +but he made no comment. + +"I told her the housework was too hard for me, and I +wanted to earn the money to pay for a hired girl. But +I ain't going to pay for her: you've got to. I want to +have some money of my own." + +Mr. Royall's bushy black eyebrows were drawn together +in a frown, and he sat drumming with ink-stained nails +on the edge of his desk. + +"What do you want to earn money for?" he asked. + +"So's to get away when I want to." + +"Why do you want to get away?" + +Her contempt flashed out. "Do you suppose anybody'd +stay at North Dormer if they could help it? You +wouldn't, folks say!" + +With lowered head he asked: "Where'd you go to?" + +"Anywhere where I can earn my living. I'll try here +first, and if I can't do it here I'll go somewhere +else. I'll go up the Mountain if I have to." She +paused on this threat, and saw that it had taken +effect. "I want you should get Miss Hatchard and the +selectmen to take me at the library: and I want a woman +here in the house with me," she repeated. + +Mr. Royall had grown exceedingly pale. When she ended +he stood up ponderously, leaning against the desk; and +for a second or two they looked at each other. + +"See here," he said at length as though utterance were +difficult, "there's something I've been wanting to say +to you; I'd ought to have said it before. I want you +to marry me." + +The girl still stared at him without moving. "I want +you to marry me," he repeated, clearing his throat. +"The minister'll be up here next Sunday and we can fix +it up then. Or I'll drive you down to Hepburn to the +Justice, and get it done there. I'll do whatever you +say." His eyes fell under the merciless stare she +continued to fix on him, and he shifted his weight +uneasily from one foot to the other. As he stood there +before her, unwieldy, shabby, disordered, the purple +veins distorting the hands he pressed against the desk, +and his long orator's jaw trembling with the effort of +his avowal, he seemed like a hideous parody of the +fatherly old man she had always known. + +"Marry you? Me?" she burst out with a scornful laugh. +"Was that what you came to ask me the other night? +What's come over you, I wonder? How long is it since +you've looked at yourself in the glass?" She +straightened herself, insolently conscious of her youth +and strength. "I suppose you think it would be cheaper +to marry me than to keep a hired girl. Everybody knows +you're the closest man in Eagle County; but I guess +you're not going to get your mending done for you that +way twice." + +Mr. Royall did not move while she spoke. His face was +ash-coloured and his black eyebrows quivered as though +the blaze of her scorn had blinded him. When she +ceased he held up his hand. + +"That'll do--that'll about do," he said. He turned to +the door and took his hat from the hat-peg. On the +threshold he paused. "People ain't been fair to me-- +from the first they ain't been fair to me," he said. +Then he went out. + +A few days later North Dormer learned with surprise +that Charity had been appointed librarian of the +Hatchard Memorial at a salary of eight dollars a month, +and that old Verena Marsh, from the Creston Almshouse, +was coming to live at lawyer Royall's and do the +cooking. + + + +III + + +It was not in the room known at the red house as Mr. +Royall's "office" that he received his infrequent +clients. Professional dignity and masculine +independence made it necessary that he should have a +real office, under a different roof; and his standing +as the only lawyer of North Dormer required that the +roof should be the same as that which sheltered the +Town Hall and the post-office. + +It was his habit to walk to this office twice a day, +morning and afternoon. It was on the ground floor of +the building, with a separate entrance, and a weathered +name-plate on the door. Before going in he stepped in +to the post-office for his mail--usually an empty +ceremony--said a word or two to the town-clerk, who sat +across the passage in idle state, and then went over to +the store on the opposite corner, where Carrick Fry, +the storekeeper, always kept a chair for him, and where +he was sure to find one or two selectmen leaning on the +long counter, in an atmosphere of rope, leather, tar +and coffee-beans. Mr. Royall, though monosyllabic at +home, was not averse, in certain moods, to imparting +his views to his fellow-townsmen; perhaps, also, he was +unwilling that his rare clients should surprise him +sitting, clerkless and unoccupied, in his dusty office. +At any rate, his hours there were not much longer or +more regular than Charity's at the library; the rest of +the time he spent either at the store or in driving +about the country on business connected with the +insurance companies that he represented, or in sitting +at home reading Bancroft's History of the United States +and the speeches of Daniel Webster. + +Since the day when Charity had told him that she wished +to succeed to Eudora Skeff's post their relations had +undefinably but definitely changed. Lawyer Royall had +kept his word. He had obtained the place for her at +the cost of considerable maneuvering, as she guessed +from the number of rival candidates, and from the +acerbity with which two of them, Orma Fry and the +eldest Targatt girl, treated her for nearly a year +afterward. And he had engaged Verena Marsh to come up +from Creston and do the cooking. Verena was a poor old +widow, doddering and shiftless: Charity suspected that +she came for her keep. Mr. Royall was too close a man +to give a dollar a day to a smart girl when he could +get a deaf pauper for nothing. But at any rate, Verena +was there, in the attic just over Charity, and the fact +that she was deaf did not greatly trouble the young +girl. + +Charity knew that what had happened on that hateful +night would not happen again. She understood that, +profoundly as she had despised Mr. Royall ever since, +he despised himself still more profoundly. If she had +asked for a woman in the house it was far less for her +own defense than for his humiliation. She needed no +one to defend her: his humbled pride was her surest +protection. He had never spoken a word of excuse or +extenuation; the incident was as if it had never been. +Yet its consequences were latent in every word that he +and she exchanged, in every glance they instinctively +turned from each other. Nothing now would ever shake +her rule in the red house. + +On the night of her meeting with Miss Hatchard's cousin +Charity lay in bed, her bare arms clasped under her +rough head, and continued to think of him. She +supposed that he meant to spend some time in North +Dormer. He had said he was looking up the old houses in +the neighbourhood; and though she was not very clear as +to his purpose, or as to why anyone should look for old +houses, when they lay in wait for one on every +roadside, she understood that he needed the help of +books, and resolved to hunt up the next day the volume +she had failed to find, and any others that seemed +related to the subject. + +Never had her ignorance of life and literature so +weighed on her as in reliving the short scene of her +discomfiture. "It's no use trying to be anything in +this place," she muttered to her pillow; and she +shrivelled at the vision of vague metropolises, shining +super-Nettletons, where girls in better clothes than +Belle Balch's talked fluently of architecture to young +men with hands like Lucius Harney's. Then she +remembered his sudden pause when he had come close to +the desk and had his first look at her. The sight had +made him forget what he was going to say; she recalled +the change in his face, and jumping up she ran over the +bare boards to her washstand, found the matches, lit a +candle, and lifted it to the square of looking-glass on +the white-washed wall. Her small face, usually so +darkly pale, glowed like a rose in the faint orb of +light, and under her rumpled hair her eyes seemed +deeper and larger than by day. Perhaps after all it +was a mistake to wish they were blue. A clumsy band +and button fastened her unbleached night-gown about the +throat. She undid it, freed her thin shoulders, and saw +herself a bride in low-necked satin, walking down an +aisle with Lucius Harney. He would kiss her as they +left the church....She put down the candle and covered +her face with her hands as if to imprison the kiss. At +that moment she heard Mr. Royall's step as he came up +the stairs to bed, and a fierce revulsion of feeling +swept over her. Until then she had merely despised +him; now deep hatred of him filled her heart. He became +to her a horrible old man.... + + +The next day, when Mr. Royall came back to dinner, they +faced each other in silence as usual. Verena's +presence at the table was an excuse for their not +talking, though her deafness would have permitted the +freest interchange of confidences. But when the meal +was over, and Mr. Royall rose from the table, he looked +back at Charity, who had stayed to help the old woman +clear away the dishes. + +"I want to speak to you a minute," he said; and she +followed him across the passage, wondering. + +He seated himself in his black horse-hair armchair, and +she leaned against the window, indifferently. She was +impatient to be gone to the library, to hunt for the +book on North Dormer. + +"See here," he said, "why ain't you at the library the +days you're supposed to be there?" + +The question, breaking in on her mood of blissful +abstraction, deprived her of speech, and she stared at +him for a moment without answering. + +"Who says I ain't?" + +"There's been some complaints made, it appears. Miss +Hatchard sent for me this morning----" + +Charity's smouldering resentment broke into a blaze. "I +know! Orma Fry, and that toad of a Targatt girl and Ben +Fry, like as not. He's going round with her. The low- +down sneaks--I always knew they'd try to have me out! +As if anybody ever came to the library, anyhow!" + +"Somebody did yesterday, and you weren't there." + +"Yesterday?" she laughed at her happy recollection. "At +what time wasn't I there yesterday, I'd like to know?" + +"Round about four o'clock." + +Charity was silent. She had been so steeped in the +dreamy remembrance of young Harney's visit that she had +forgotten having deserted her post as soon as he had +left the library. + +"Who came at four o'clock?" + +"Miss Hatchard did." + +"Miss Hatchard? Why, she ain't ever been near the place +since she's been lame. She couldn't get up the steps +if she tried." + +"She can be helped up, I guess. She was yesterday, +anyhow, by the young fellow that's staying with her. He +found you there, I understand, earlier in the +afternoon; and he went back and told Miss Hatchard the +books were in bad shape and needed attending to. She +got excited, and had herself wheeled straight round; +and when she got there the place was locked. So she +sent for me, and told me about that, and about the +other complaints. She claims you've neglected things, +and that she's going to get a trained librarian." + +Charity had not moved while he spoke. She stood with +her head thrown back against the window-frame, her arms +hanging against her sides, and her hands so tightly +clenched that she felt, without knowing what hurt her, +the sharp edge of her nails against her palms. + +Of all Mr. Royall had said she had retained only the +phrase: "He told Miss Hatchard the books were in bad +shape." What did she care for the other charges against +her? Malice or truth, she despised them as she despised +her detractors. But that the stranger to whom she had +felt herself so mysteriously drawn should have betrayed +her! That at the very moment when she had fled up the +hillside to think of him more deliciously he should +have been hastening home to denounce her short-comings! +She remembered how, in the darkness of her room, she +had covered her face to press his imagined kiss closer; +and her heart raged against him for the liberty he had +not taken. + +"Well, I'll go," she said suddenly. "I'll go right +off." + +"Go where?" She heard the startled note in Mr. Royall's +voice. + +"Why, out of their old library: straight out, and never +set foot in it again. They needn't think I'm going to +wait round and let them say they've discharged me!" + +"Charity--Charity Royall, you listen----" he began, +getting heavily out of his chair; but she waved him +aside, and walked out of the room. + +Upstairs she took the library key from the place where +she always hid it under her pincushion--who said she +wasn't careful?--put on her hat, and swept down again +and out into the street. If Mr. Royall heard her go he +made no motion to detain her: his sudden rages probably +made him understand the uselessness of reasoning with +hers. + +She reached the brick temple, unlocked the door and +entered into the glacial twilight. "I'm glad I'll +never have to sit in this old vault again when other +folks are out in the sun!" she said aloud as the +familiar chill took her. She looked with abhorrence at +the long dingy rows of books, the sheep-nosed Minerva +on her black pedestal, and the mild-faced young man in +a high stock whose effigy pined above her desk. She +meant to take out of the drawer her roll of lace and +the library register, and go straight to Miss Hatchard +to announce her resignation. But suddenly a great +desolation overcame her, and she sat down and laid her +face against the desk. Her heart was ravaged by life's +cruelest discovery: the first creature who had come +toward her out of the wilderness had brought her +anguish instead of joy. She did not cry; tears came +hard to her, and the storms of her heart spent +themselves inwardly. But as she sat there in her dumb +woe she felt her life to be too desolate, too ugly and +intolerable. + +"What have I ever done to it, that it should hurt me +so?" she groaned, and pressed her fists against her +lids, which were beginning to swell with weeping. + +"I won't--I won't go there looking like a horror!" she +muttered, springing up and pushing back her hair as if +it stifled her. She opened the drawer, dragged out the +register, and turned toward the door. As she did so it +opened, and the young man from Miss Hatchard's came in +whistling. + + + +IV + + +He stopped and lifted his hat with a shy smile. "I beg +your pardon," he said. "I thought there was no one +here." + +Charity stood before him, barring his way. "You can't +come in. The library ain't open to the public +Wednesdays." + +"I know it's not; but my cousin gave me her key." + +"Miss Hatchard's got no right to give her key to other +folks, any more'n I have. I'm the librarian and I know +the by-laws. This is my library." + +The young man looked profoundly surprised. + +"Why, I know it is; I'm so sorry if you mind my +coming." + +"I suppose you came to see what more you could say to +set her against me? But you needn't trouble: it's my +library today, but it won't be this time tomorrow. I'm +on the way now to take her back the key and the +register." + +Young Harney's face grew grave, but without betraying +the consciousness of guilt she had looked for. + +"I don't understand," he said. "There must be some +mistake. Why should I say things against you to Miss +Hatchard--or to anyone?" + +The apparent evasiveness of the reply caused Charity's +indignation to overflow. "I don't know why you should. +I could understand Orma Fry's doing it, because she's +always wanted to get me out of here ever since the +first day. I can't see why, when she's got her own +home, and her father to work for her; nor Ida Targatt, +neither, when she got a legacy from her step-brother +on'y last year. But anyway we all live in the same +place, and when it's a place like North Dormer it's +enough to make people hate each other just to have to +walk down the same street every day. But you don't +live here, and you don't know anything about any of us, +so what did you have to meddle for? Do you suppose the +other girls'd have kept the books any better'n I did? +Why, Orma Fry don't hardly know a book from a flat- +iron! And what if I don't always sit round here doing +nothing till it strikes five up at the church? Who +cares if the library's open or shut? Do you suppose +anybody ever comes here for books? What they'd like to +come for is to meet the fellows they're going with if +I'd let 'em. But I wouldn't let Bill Sollas from over +the hill hang round here waiting for the youngest +Targatt girl, because I know him...that's all...even if +I don't know about books all I ought to...." + +She stopped with a choking in her throat. Tremors of +rage were running through her, and she steadied herself +against the edge of the desk lest he should see her +weakness. + +What he saw seemed to affect him deeply, for he grew +red under his sunburn, and stammered out: "But, Miss +Royall, I assure you...I assure you..." + +His distress inflamed her anger, and she regained her +voice to fling back: "If I was you I'd have the nerve +to stick to what I said!" + +The taunt seemed to restore his presence of mind. "I +hope I should if I knew; but I don't. Apparently +something disagreeable has happened, for which you +think I'm to blame. But I don't know what it is, +because I've been up on Eagle Ridge ever since the +early morning." + +"I don't know where you've been this morning, but I +know you were here in this library yesterday; and it +was you that went home and told your cousin the books +were in bad shape, and brought her round to see how I'd +neglected them." + +Young Harney looked sincerely concerned. "Was that +what you were told? I don't wonder you're angry. The +books are in bad shape, and as some are interesting +it's a pity. I told Miss Hatchard they were suffering +from dampness and lack of air; and I brought her here +to show her how easily the place could be ventilated. I +also told her you ought to have some one to help you do +the dusting and airing. If you were given a wrong +version of what I said I'm sorry; but I'm so fond of +old books that I'd rather see them made into a bonfire +than left to moulder away like these." + +Charity felt her sobs rising and tried to stifle them +in words. "I don't care what you say you told her. All +I know is she thinks it's all my fault, and I'm going +to lose my job, and I wanted it more'n anyone in the +village, because I haven't got anybody belonging to me, +the way other folks have. All I wanted was to put +aside money enough to get away from here sometime. +D'you suppose if it hadn't been for that I'd have kept +on sitting day after day in this old vault?" + +Of this appeal her hearer took up only the last +question. "It is an old vault; but need it be? That's +the point. And it's my putting the question to my +cousin that seems to have been the cause of the +trouble." His glance explored the melancholy penumbra +of the long narrow room, resting on the blotched walls, +the discoloured rows of books, and the stern rosewood +desk surmounted by the portrait of the young Honorius. +"Of course it's a bad job to do anything with a +building jammed against a hill like this ridiculous +mausoleum: you couldn't get a good draught through it +without blowing a hole in the mountain. But it can be +ventilated after a fashion, and the sun can be let in: +I'll show you how if you like...." The architect's +passion for improvement had already made him lose sight +of her grievance, and he lifted his stick instructively +toward the cornice. But her silence seemed to tell him +that she took no interest in the ventilation of the +library, and turning back to her abruptly he held out +both hands. "Look here--you don't mean what you said? +You don't really think I'd do anything to hurt you?" + +A new note in his voice disarmed her: no one had ever +spoken to her in that tone. + +"Oh, what DID you do it for then?" she wailed. He +had her hands in his, and she was feeling the smooth +touch that she had imagined the day before on the +hillside. + +He pressed her hands lightly and let them go. "Why, to +make things pleasanter for you here; and better for the +books. I'm sorry if my cousin twisted around what I +said. She's excitable, and she lives on trifles: I +ought to have remembered that. Don't punish me by +letting her think you take her seriously." + +It was wonderful to hear him speak of Miss Hatchard as +if she were a querulous baby: in spite of his shyness +he had the air of power that the experience of cities +probably gave. It was the fact of having lived in +Nettleton that made lawyer Royall, in spite of his +infirmities, the strongest man in North Dormer; and +Charity was sure that this young man had lived in +bigger places than Nettleton. + +She felt that if she kept up her denunciatory tone he +would secretly class her with Miss Hatchard; and the +thought made her suddenly simple. + +"It don't matter to Miss Hatchard how I take her. Mr. +Royall says she's going to get a trained librarian; and +I'd sooner resign than have the village say she sent me +away." + +"Naturally you would. But I'm sure she doesn't mean to +send you away. At any rate, won't you give me the +chance to find out first and let you know? It will be +time enough to resign if I'm mistaken." + +Her pride flamed into her cheeks at the suggestion of +his intervening. "I don't want anybody should coax her +to keep me if I don't suit." + +He coloured too. "I give you my word I won't do that. +Only wait till tomorrow, will you?" He looked straight +into her eyes with his shy grey glance. "You can trust +me, you know--you really can." + +All the old frozen woes seemed to melt in her, and she +murmured awkwardly, looking away from him: "Oh, I'll +wait." + + + +V + + +There had never been such a June in Eagle County. +Usually it was a month of moods, with abrupt +alternations of belated frost and mid-summer heat; this +year, day followed day in a sequence of temperate +beauty. Every morning a breeze blew steadily from the +hills. Toward noon it built up great canopies of +white cloud that threw a cool shadow over fields and +woods; then before sunset the clouds dissolved again, +and the western light rained its unobstructed +brightness on the valley. + +On such an afternoon Charity Royall lay on a ridge +above a sunlit hollow, her face pressed to the earth +and the warm currents of the grass running through her. +Directly in her line of vision a blackberry branch laid +its frail white flowers and blue-green leaves against +the sky. Just beyond, a tuft of sweet-fern uncurled +between the beaded shoots of the grass, and a small +yellow butterfly vibrated over them like a fleck of +sunshine. This was all she saw; but she felt, above +her and about her, the strong growth of the beeches +clothing the ridge, the rounding of pale green cones on +countless spruce-branches, the push of myriads of +sweet-fern fronds in the cracks of the stony slope +below the wood, and the crowding shoots of meadowsweet +and yellow flags in the pasture beyond. All this +bubbling of sap and slipping of sheaths and bursting of +calyxes was carried to her on mingled currents of +fragrance. Every leaf and bud and blade seemed to +contribute its exhalation to the pervading sweetness in +which the pungency of pine-sap prevailed over the spice +of thyme and the subtle perfume of fern, and all were +merged in a moist earth-smell that was like the breath +of some huge sun-warmed animal. + +Charity had lain there a long time, passive and sun- +warmed as the slope on which she lay, when there came +between her eyes and the dancing butterfly the sight of +a man's foot in a large worn boot covered with red mud. + +"Oh, don't!" she exclaimed, raising herself on her +elbow and stretching out a warning hand. + +"Don't what?" a hoarse voice asked above her head. + +"Don't stamp on those bramble flowers, you dolt!" she +retorted, springing to her knees. The foot paused and +then descended clumsily on the frail branch, and +raising her eyes she saw above her the bewildered face +of a slouching man with a thin sunburnt beard, and +white arms showing through his ragged shirt. + +"Don't you ever SEE anything, Liff Hyatt?" she +assailed him, as he stood before her with the look of a +man who has stirred up a wasp's nest. + +He grinned. "I seen you! That's what I come down for." + +"Down from where?" she questioned, stooping to gather +up the petals his foot had scattered. + +He jerked his thumb toward the heights. "Been cutting +down trees for Dan Targatt." + +Charity sank back on her heels and looked at him +musingly. She was not in the least afraid of poor Liff +Hyatt, though he "came from the Mountain," and some of +the girls ran when they saw him. Among the more +reasonable he passed for a harmless creature, a sort of +link between the mountain and civilized folk, who +occasionally came down and did a little wood cutting +for a farmer when hands were short. Besides, she knew +the Mountain people would never hurt her: Liff himself +had told her so once when she was a little girl, and +had met him one day at the edge of lawyer Royall's +pasture. "They won't any of 'em touch you up there, +f'ever you was to come up....But I don't s'pose you +will," he had added philosophically, looking at her new +shoes, and at the red ribbon that Mrs. Royall had tied +in her hair. + +Charity had, in truth, never felt any desire to visit +her birthplace. She did not care to have it known that +she was of the Mountain, and was shy of being seen in +talk with Liff Hyatt. But today she was not sorry to +have him appear. A great many things had happened to +her since the day when young Lucius Harney had entered +the doors of the Hatchard Memorial, but none, perhaps, +so unforeseen as the fact of her suddenly finding it a +convenience to be on good terms with Liff Hyatt. She +continued to look up curiously at his freckled weather- +beaten face, with feverish hollows below the cheekbones +and the pale yellow eyes of a harmless animal. "I +wonder if he's related to me?" she thought, with a +shiver of disdain. + +"Is there any folks living in the brown house by the +swamp, up under Porcupine?" she presently asked in an +indifferent tone. + +Liff Hyatt, for a while, considered her with surprise; +then he scratched his head and shifted his weight from +one tattered sole to the other. + +"There's always the same folks in the brown house," he +said with his vague grin. + +"They're from up your way, ain't they?" + +"Their name's the same as mine," he rejoined +uncertainly. + +Charity still held him with resolute eyes. "See here, +I want to go there some day and take a gentleman with +me that's boarding with us. He's up in these parts +drawing pictures." + +She did not offer to explain this statement. It was +too far beyond Liff Hyatt's limitations for the attempt +to be worth making. "He wants to see the brown house, +and go all over it," she pursued. + +Liff was still running his fingers perplexedly through +his shock of straw-colored hair. "Is it a fellow from +the city?" he asked. + +"Yes. He draws pictures of things. He's down there +now drawing the Bonner house." She pointed to a chimney +just visible over the dip of the pasture below the +wood. + +"The Bonner house?" Liff echoed incredulously. + +"Yes. You won't understand--and it don't matter. All +I say is: he's going to the Hyatts' in a day or two." + +Liff looked more and more perplexed. "Bash is ugly +sometimes in the afternoons." + +She threw her head back, her eyes full on Hyatt's. "I'm +coming too: you tell him." + +"They won't none of them trouble you, the Hyatts won't. +What d'you want a take a stranger with you though?" + +I've told you, haven't I? You've got to tell Bash +Hyatt." + +He looked away at the blue mountains on the horizon; +then his gaze dropped to the chimney-top below the +pasture. + +"He's down there now?" + +"Yes." + +He shifted his weight again, crossed his arms, and +continued to survey the distant landscape. "Well, so +long," he said at last, inconclusively; and turning +away he shambled up the hillside. From the ledge above +her, he paused to call down: "I wouldn't go there a +Sunday"; then he clambered on till the trees closed in +on him. Presently, from high overhead, Charity heard +the ring of his axe. + +She lay on the warm ridge, thinking of many things that +the woodsman's appearance had stirred up in her. She +knew nothing of her early life, and had never felt any +curiosity about it: only a sullen reluctance to explore +the corner of her memory where certain blurred images +lingered. But all that had happened to her within the +last few weeks had stirred her to the sleeping depths. +She had become absorbingly interesting to herself, and +everything that had to do with her past was illuminated +by this sudden curiosity. + +She hated more than ever the fact of coming from the +Mountain; but it was no longer indifferent to her. +Everything that in any way affected her was alive and +vivid: even the hateful things had grown interesting +because they were a part of herself. + +"I wonder if Liff Hyatt knows who my mother was?" she +mused; and it filled her with a tremor of surprise to +think that some woman who was once young and slight, +with quick motions of the blood like hers, had carried +her in her breast, and watched her sleeping. She had +always thought of her mother as so long dead as to be +no more than a nameless pinch of earth; but now it +occurred to her that the once-young woman might be +alive, and wrinkled and elf-locked like the woman she +had sometimes seen in the door of the brown house that +Lucius Harney wanted to draw. + +The thought brought him back to the central point in +her mind, and she strayed away from the conjectures +roused by Liff Hyatt's presence. Speculations +concerning the past could not hold her long when the +present was so rich, the future so rosy, and when +Lucius Harney, a stone's throw away, was bending over +his sketch-book, frowning, calculating, measuring, and +then throwing his head back with the sudden smile that +had shed its brightness over everything. + +She scrambled to her feet, but as she did so she saw +him coming up the pasture and dropped down on the grass +to wait. When he was drawing and measuring one of "his +houses," as she called them, she often strayed away by +herself into the woods or up the hillside. It was +partly from shyness that she did so: from a sense of +inadequacy that came to her most painfully when her +companion, absorbed in his job, forgot her ignorance +and her inability to follow his least allusion, and +plunged into a monologue on art and life. To avoid the +awkwardness of listening with a blank face, and also to +escape the surprised stare of the inhabitants of the +houses before which he would abruptly pull up their +horse and open his sketch-book, she slipped away to +some spot from which, without being seen, she could +watch him at work, or at least look down on the house +he was drawing. She had not been displeased, at first, +to have it known to North Dormer and the neighborhood +that she was driving Miss Hatchard's cousin about the +country in the buggy he had hired of lawyer Royall. +She had always kept to herself, contemptuously aloof +from village love-making, without exactly knowing +whether her fierce pride was due to the sense of her +tainted origin, or whether she was reserving herself +for a more brilliant fate. Sometimes she envied the +other girls their sentimental preoccupations, their +long hours of inarticulate philandering with one of the +few youths who still lingered in the village; but when +she pictured herself curling her hair or putting a new +ribbon on her hat for Ben Fry or one of the Sollas boys +the fever dropped and she relapsed into indifference. + +Now she knew the meaning of her disdains and +reluctances. She had learned what she was worth when +Lucius Harney, looking at her for the first time, had +lost the thread of his speech, and leaned reddening on +the edge of her desk. But another kind of shyness had +been born in her: a terror of exposing to vulgar perils +the sacred treasure of her happiness. She was not +sorry to have the neighbors suspect her of "going with" +a young man from the city; but she did not want it +known to all the countryside how many hours of the long +June days she spent with him. What she most feared was +that the inevitable comments should reach Mr. Royall. +Charity was instinctively aware that few things +concerning her escaped the eyes of the silent man under +whose roof she lived; and in spite of the latitude +which North Dormer accorded to courting couples she had +always felt that, on the day when she showed too open a +preference, Mr. Royall might, as she phrased it, make +her "pay for it." How, she did not know; and her fear +was the greater because it was undefinable. If she had +been accepting the attentions of one of the village +youths she would have been less apprehensive: Mr. +Royall could not prevent her marrying when she chose +to. But everybody knew that "going with a city fellow" +was a different and less straightforward affair: almost +every village could show a victim of the perilous +venture. And her dread of Mr. Royall's intervention +gave a sharpened joy to the hours she spent with young +Harney, and made her, at the same time, shy of being +too generally seen with him. + +As he approached she rose to her knees, stretching her +arms above her head with the indolent gesture that was +her way of expressing a profound well-being. + +"I'm going to take you to that house up under +Porcupine," she announced. + +"What house? Oh, yes; that ramshackle place near the +swamp, with the gipsy-looking people hanging about. +It's curious that a house with traces of real +architecture should have been built in such a place. +But the people were a sulky-looking lot--do you suppose +they'll let us in?" + +"They'll do whatever I tell them," she said with +assurance. + +He threw himself down beside her. "Will they?" he +rejoined with a smile. "Well, I should like to see +what's left inside the house. And I should like to +have a talk with the people. Who was it who was +telling me the other day that they had come down from +the Mountain?" + +Charity shot a sideward look at him. It was the first +time he had spoken of the Mountain except as a feature +of the landscape. What else did he know about it, and +about her relation to it? Her heart began to beat with +the fierce impulse of resistance which she +instinctively opposed to every imagined slight. + +"The Mountain? I ain't afraid of the Mountain!" + +Her tone of defiance seemed to escape him. He lay +breast-down on the grass, breaking off sprigs of thyme +and pressing them against his lips. Far off, above the +folds of the nearer hills, the Mountain thrust itself +up menacingly against a yellow sunset. + +"I must go up there some day: I want to see it," he +continued. + +Her heart-beats slackened and she turned again to +examine his profile. It was innocent of all unfriendly +intention. + +"What'd you want to go up the Mountain for?" + +"Why, it must be rather a curious place. There's a +queer colony up there, you know: sort of out-laws, a +little independent kingdom. Of course you've heard +them spoken of; but I'm told they have nothing to do +with the people in the valleys--rather look down on +them, in fact. I suppose they're rough customers; but +they must have a good deal of character." + +She did not quite know what he meant by having a good +deal of character; but his tone was expressive of +admiration, and deepened her dawning curiosity. It +struck her now as strange that she knew so little about +the Mountain. She had never asked, and no one had ever +offered to enlighten her. North Dormer took the +Mountain for granted, and implied its disparagement by +an intonation rather than by explicit criticism. + +"It's queer, you know," he continued, "that, just over +there, on top of that hill, there should be a handful +of people who don't give a damn for anybody." + +The words thrilled her. They seemed the clue to her +own revolts and defiances, and she longed to have him +tell her more. + +"I don't know much about them. Have they always been +there?" + +"Nobody seems to know exactly how long. Down at +Creston they told me that the first colonists are +supposed to have been men who worked on the railway +that was built forty or fifty years ago between +Springfield and Nettleton. Some of them took to drink, +or got into trouble with the police, and went off-- +disappeared into the woods. A year or two later there +was a report that they were living up on the Mountain. +Then I suppose others joined them--and children were +born. Now they say there are over a hundred people up +there. They seem to be quite outside the jurisdiction +of the valleys. No school, no church--and no sheriff +ever goes up to see what they're about. But don't +people ever talk of them at North Dormer?" + +"I don't know. They say they're bad." + +He laughed. "Do they? We'll go and see, shall we?" + +She flushed at the suggestion, and turned her face to +his. "You never heard, I suppose--I come from there. +They brought me down when I was little." + +"You?" He raised himself on his elbow, looking at her +with sudden interest. "You're from the Mountain? How +curious! I suppose that's why you're so different...." + +Her happy blood bathed her to the forehead. He was +praising her--and praising her because she came from +the Mountain! + +"Am I...different?" she triumphed, with affected +wonder. + +"Oh, awfully!" He picked up her hand and laid a kiss on +the sunburnt knuckles. + +"Come," he said, "let's be off." He stood up and shook +the grass from his loose grey clothes. "What a good +day! Where are you going to take me tomorrow?" + + + +VI + + +That evening after supper Charity sat alone in the +kitchen and listened to Mr. Royall and young Harney +talking in the porch. + +She had remained indoors after the table had been +cleared and old Verena had hobbled up to bed. The +kitchen window was open, and Charity seated herself +near it, her idle hands on her knee. The evening was +cool and still. Beyond the black hills an amber west +passed into pale green, and then to a deep blue in +which a great star hung. The soft hoot of a little owl +came through the dusk, and between its calls the men's +voices rose and fell. + +Mr. Royall's was full of a sonorous satisfaction. It +was a long time since he had had anyone of Lucius +Harney's quality to talk to: Charity divined that the +young man symbolized all his ruined and unforgotten +past. When Miss Hatchard had been called to +Springfield by the illness of a widowed sister, and +young Harney, by that time seriously embarked on his +task of drawing and measuring all the old houses +between Nettleton and the New Hampshire border, had +suggested the possibility of boarding at the red house +in his cousin's absence, Charity had trembled lest Mr. +Royall should refuse. There had been no question of +lodging the young man: there was no room for him. But +it appeared that he could still live at Miss Hatchard's +if Mr. Royall would let him take his meals at the red +house; and after a day's deliberation Mr. Royall +consented. + +Charity suspected him of being glad of the chance to +make a little money. He had the reputation of being an +avaricious man; but she was beginning to think he was +probably poorer than people knew. His practice had +become little more than a vague legend, revived only at +lengthening intervals by a summons to Hepburn or +Nettleton; and he appeared to depend for his living +mainly on the scant produce of his farm, and on the +commissions received from the few insurance agencies +that he represented in the neighbourhood. At any rate, +he had been prompt in accepting Harney's offer to hire +the buggy at a dollar and a half a day; and his +satisfaction with the bargain had manifested itself, +unexpectedly enough, at the end of the first week, by +his tossing a ten-dollar bill into Charity's lap as she +sat one day retrimming her old hat. + +"Here--go get yourself a Sunday bonnet that'll make all +the other girls mad," he said, looking at her with a +sheepish twinkle in his deep-set eyes; and she +immediately guessed that the unwonted present--the only +gift of money she had ever received from him-- +represented Harney's first payment. + +But the young man's coming had brought Mr. Royall other +than pecuniary benefit. It gave him, for the first +time in years, a man's companionship. Charity had only +a dim understanding of her guardian's needs; but she +knew he felt himself above the people among whom he +lived, and she saw that Lucius Harney thought him so. +She was surprised to find how well he seemed to talk +now that he had a listener who understood him; and she +was equally struck by young Harney's friendly +deference. + +Their conversation was mostly about politics, and +beyond her range; but tonight it had a peculiar +interest for her, for they had begun to speak of the +Mountain. She drew back a little, lest they should see +she was in hearing. + +"The Mountain? The Mountain?" she heard Mr. Royall say. +"Why, the Mountain's a blot--that's what it is, sir, a +blot. That scum up there ought to have been run in +long ago--and would have, if the people down here +hadn't been clean scared of them. The Mountain belongs +to this township, and it's North Dormer's fault if +there's a gang of thieves and outlaws living over +there, in sight of us, defying the laws of their +country. Why, there ain't a sheriff or a tax-collector +or a coroner'd durst go up there. When they hear of +trouble on the Mountain the selectmen look the other +way, and pass an appropriation to beautify the town +pump. The only man that ever goes up is the minister, +and he goes because they send down and get him whenever +there's any of them dies. They think a lot of +Christian burial on the Mountain--but I never heard of +their having the minister up to marry them. And they +never trouble the Justice of the Peace either. They +just herd together like the heathen." + +He went on, explaining in somewhat technical language +how the little colony of squatters had contrived to +keep the law at bay, and Charity, with burning +eagerness, awaited young Harney's comment; but the +young man seemed more concerned to hear Mr. Royall's +views than to express his own. + +"I suppose you've never been up there yourself?" he +presently asked. + +"Yes, I have," said Mr. Royall with a contemptuous +laugh. "The wiseacres down here told me I'd be done +for before I got back; but nobody lifted a finger to +hurt me. And I'd just had one of their gang sent up +for seven years too." + +"You went up after that?" + +"Yes, sir: right after it. The fellow came down to +Nettleton and ran amuck, the way they sometimes do. +After they've done a wood-cutting job they come down +and blow the money in; and this man ended up with +manslaughter. I got him convicted, though they were +scared of the Mountain even at Nettleton; and then a +queer thing happened. The fellow sent for me to go and +see him in gaol. I went, and this is what he says: +'The fool that defended me is a chicken-livered son of +a--and all the rest of it,' he says. 'I've got a job +to be done for me up on the Mountain, and you're the +only man I seen in court that looks as if he'd do it.' +He told me he had a child up there--or thought he had-- +a little girl; and he wanted her brought down and +reared like a Christian. I was sorry for the fellow, +so I went up and got the child." He paused, and Charity +listened with a throbbing heart. "That's the only time +I ever went up the Mountain," he concluded. + +There was a moment's silence; then Harney spoke. "And +the child--had she no mother?" + +"Oh, yes: there was a mother. But she was glad enough +to have her go. She'd have given her to anybody. They +ain't half human up there. I guess the mother's dead +by now, with the life she was leading. Anyhow, I've +never heard of her from that day to this." + +"My God, how ghastly," Harney murmured; and Charity, +choking with humiliation, sprang to her feet and ran +upstairs. She knew at last: knew that she was the +child of a drunken convict and of a mother who wasn't +"half human," and was glad to have her go; and she had +heard this history of her origin related to the one +being in whose eyes she longed to appear superior to +the people about her! She had noticed that Mr. Royall +had not named her, had even avoided any allusion that +might identify her with the child he had brought down +from the Mountain; and she knew it was out of regard +for her that he had kept silent. But of what use was +his discretion, since only that afternoon, misled by +Harney's interest in the out-law colony, she had +boasted to him of coming from the Mountain? Now every +word that had been spoken showed her how such an origin +must widen the distance between them. + +During his ten days' sojourn at North Dormer Lucius +Harney had not spoken a word of love to her. He had +intervened in her behalf with his cousin, and had +convinced Miss Hatchard of her merits as a librarian; +but that was a simple act of justice, since it was by +his own fault that those merits had been questioned. He +had asked her to drive him about the country when he +hired lawyer Royall's buggy to go on his sketching +expeditions; but that too was natural enough, since he +was unfamiliar with the region. Lastly, when his +cousin was called to Springfield, he had begged Mr. +Royall to receive him as a boarder; but where else in +North Dormer could he have boarded? Not with Carrick +Fry, whose wife was paralysed, and whose large family +crowded his table to over-flowing; not with the +Targatts, who lived a mile up the road, nor with poor +old Mrs. Hawes, who, since her eldest daughter had +deserted her, barely had the strength to cook her own +meals while Ally picked up her living as a seamstress. +Mr. Royall's was the only house where the young man +could have been offered a decent hospitality. There +had been nothing, therefore, in the outward course of +events to raise in Charity's breast the hopes with +which it trembled. But beneath the visible incidents +resulting from Lucius Harney's arrival there ran an +undercurrent as mysterious and potent as the influence +that makes the forest break into leaf before the ice is +off the pools. + +The business on which Harney had come was authentic; +Charity had seen the letter from a New York publisher +commissioning him to make a study of the eighteenth +century houses in the less familiar districts of New +England. But incomprehensible as the whole affair was +to her, and hard as she found it to understand why he +paused enchanted before certain neglected and paintless +houses, while others, refurbished and "improved" by the +local builder, did not arrest a glance, she could not +but suspect that Eagle County was less rich in +architecture than he averred, and that the duration of +his stay (which he had fixed at a month) was not +unconnected with the look in his eyes when he had first +paused before her in the library. Everything that had +followed seemed to have grown out of that look: his way +of speaking to her, his quickness in catching her +meaning, his evident eagerness to prolong their +excursions and to seize on every chance of being with +her. + +The signs of his liking were manifest enough; but it +was hard to guess how much they meant, because his +manner was so different from anything North Dormer had +ever shown her. He was at once simpler and more +deferential than any one she had known; and sometimes +it was just when he was simplest that she most felt the +distance between them. Education and opportunity had +divided them by a width that no effort of hers could +bridge, and even when his youth and his admiration +brought him nearest, some chance word, some unconscious +allusion, seemed to thrust her back across the gulf. + +Never had it yawned so wide as when she fled up to her +room carrying with her the echo of Mr. Royall's tale. +Her first confused thought was the prayer that she +might never see young Harney again. It was too +bitter to picture him as the detached impartial +listener to such a story. "I wish he'd go away: I +wish he'd go tomorrow, and never come back!" she moaned +to her pillow; and far into the night she lay there, in +the disordered dress she had forgotten to take off, her +whole soul a tossing misery on which her hopes and +dreams spun about like drowning straws. + + + +Of all this tumult only a vague heart-soreness was left +when she opened her eyes the next morning. Her first +thought was of the weather, for Harney had asked her to +take him to the brown house under Porcupine, and then +around by Hamblin; and as the trip was a long one they +were to start at nine. The sun rose without a cloud, +and earlier than usual she was in the kitchen, making +cheese sandwiches, decanting buttermilk into a bottle, +wrapping up slices of apple pie, and accusing Verena of +having given away a basket she needed, which had always +hung on a hook in the passage. When she came out into +the porch, in her pink calico, which had run a little +in the washing, but was still bright enough to set off +her dark tints, she had such a triumphant sense of +being a part of the sunlight and the morning that +the last trace of her misery vanished. What did it +matter where she came from, or whose child she was, +when love was dancing in her veins, and down the road +she saw young Harney coming toward her? + +Mr. Royall was in the porch too. He had said nothing +at breakfast, but when she came out in her pink dress, +the basket in her hand, he looked at her with surprise. +"Where you going to?" he asked. + +"Why--Mr. Harney's starting earlier than usual today," +she answered. + +"Mr. Harney, Mr. Harney? Ain't Mr. Harney learned how +to drive a horse yet?" + +She made no answer, and he sat tilted back in his +chair, drumming on the rail of the porch. It was the +first time he had ever spoken of the young man in that +tone, and Charity felt a faint chill of apprehension. +After a moment he stood up and walked away toward the +bit of ground behind the house, where the hired man was +hoeing. + +The air was cool and clear, with the autumnal sparkle +that a north wind brings to the hills in early summer, +and the night had been so still that the dew hung on +everything, not as a lingering moisture, but in +separate beads that glittered like diamonds on the +ferns and grasses. It was a long drive to the foot of +Porcupine: first across the valley, with blue hills +bounding the open slopes; then down into the beech- +woods, following the course of the Creston, a brown +brook leaping over velvet ledges; then out again onto +the farm-lands about Creston Lake, and gradually up the +ridges of the Eagle Range. At last they reached the +yoke of the hills, and before them opened another +valley, green and wild, and beyond it more blue heights +eddying away to the sky like the waves of a receding +tide. + +Harney tied the horse to a tree-stump, and they +unpacked their basket under an aged walnut with a riven +trunk out of which bumblebees darted. The sun had +grown hot, and behind them was the noonday murmur of +the forest. Summer insects danced on the air, and a +flock of white butterflies fanned the mobile tips of +the crimson fireweed. In the valley below not a house +was visible; it seemed as if Charity Royall and young +Harney were the only living beings in the great hollow +of earth and sky. + +Charity's spirits flagged and disquieting thoughts +stole back on her. Young Harney had grown silent, +and as he lay beside her, his arms under his head, his +eyes on the network of leaves above him, she wondered +if he were musing on what Mr. Royall had told him, and +if it had really debased her in his thoughts. She +wished he had not asked her to take him that day to the +brown house; she did not want him to see the people she +came from while the story of her birth was fresh in his +mind. More than once she had been on the point of +suggesting that they should follow the ridge and drive +straight to Hamblin, where there was a little deserted +house he wanted to see; but shyness and pride held her +back. "He'd better know what kind of folks I belong +to," she said to herself, with a somewhat forced +defiance; for in reality it was shame that kept her +silent. + +Suddenly she lifted her hand and pointed to the sky. +"There's a storm coming up." + +He followed her glance and smiled. "Is it that scrap +of cloud among the pines that frightens you?" + +"It's over the Mountain; and a cloud over the Mountain +always means trouble." + +"Oh, I don't believe half the bad things you all +say of the Mountain! But anyhow, we'll get down to +the brown house before the rain comes." + +He was not far wrong, for only a few isolated drops had +fallen when they turned into the road under the shaggy +flank of Porcupine, and came upon the brown house. It +stood alone beside a swamp bordered with alder thickets +and tall bulrushes. Not another dwelling was in sight, +and it was hard to guess what motive could have +actuated the early settler who had made his home in so +unfriendly a spot. + +Charity had picked up enough of her companion's +erudition to understand what had attracted him to the +house. She noticed the fan-shaped tracery of the +broken light above the door, the flutings of the +paintless pilasters at the corners, and the round +window set in the gable; and she knew that, for reasons +that still escaped her, these were things to be admired +and recorded. Still, they had seen other houses far +more "typical" (the word was Harney's); and as he threw +the reins on the horse's neck he said with a slight +shiver of repugnance: "We won't stay long." + +Against the restless alders turning their white lining +to the storm the house looked singularly desolate. +The paint was almost gone from the clap-boards, the +window-panes were broken and patched with rags, and the +garden was a poisonous tangle of nettles, burdocks and +tall swamp-weeds over which big blue-bottles hummed. + +At the sound of wheels a child with a tow-head and pale +eyes like Liff Hyatt's peered over the fence and then +slipped away behind an out-house. Harney jumped down +and helped Charity out; and as he did so the rain broke +on them. It came slant-wise, on a furious gale, laying +shrubs and young trees flat, tearing off their leaves +like an autumn storm, turning the road into a river, +and making hissing pools of every hollow. Thunder +rolled incessantly through the roar of the rain, and a +strange glitter of light ran along the ground under the +increasing blackness. + +"Lucky we're here after all," Harney laughed. He +fastened the horse under a half-roofless shed, and +wrapping Charity in his coat ran with her to the house. +The boy had not reappeared, and as there was no +response to their knocks Harney turned the door-handle +and they went in. + +There were three people in the kitchen to which the +door admitted them. An old woman with a +handkerchief over her head was sitting by the +window. She held a sickly-looking kitten on her knees, +and whenever it jumped down and tried to limp away she +stooped and lifted it back without any change of her +aged, unnoticing face. Another woman, the unkempt +creature that Charity had once noticed in driving by, +stood leaning against the window-frame and stared at +them; and near the stove an unshaved man in a tattered +shirt sat on a barrel asleep. + +The place was bare and miserable and the air heavy with +the smell of dirt and stale tobacco. Charity's heart +sank. Old derided tales of the Mountain people came +back to her, and the woman's stare was so +disconcerting, and the face of the sleeping man so +sodden and bestial, that her disgust was tinged with a +vague dread. She was not afraid for herself; she knew +the Hyatts would not be likely to trouble her; but she +was not sure how they would treat a "city fellow." + +Lucius Harney would certainly have laughed at her +fears. He glanced about the room, uttered a general +"How are you?" to which no one responded, and then +asked the younger woman if they might take shelter till +the storm was over. + +She turned her eyes away from him and looked at +Charity. + +"You're the girl from Royall's, ain't you?" + +The colour rose in Charity's face. "I'm Charity +Royall," she said, as if asserting her right to the +name in the very place where it might have been most +open to question. + +The woman did not seem to notice. "You kin stay," she +merely said; then she turned away and stooped over a +dish in which she was stirring something. + +Harney and Charity sat down on a bench made of a board +resting on two starch boxes. They faced a door hanging +on a broken hinge, and through the crack they saw the +eyes of the tow-headed boy and of a pale little girl +with a scar across her cheek. Charity smiled, and +signed to the children to come in; but as soon as they +saw they were discovered they slipped away on bare +feet. It occurred to her that they were afraid of +rousing the sleeping man; and probably the woman shared +their fear, for she moved about as noiselessly and +avoided going near the stove. + +The rain continued to beat against the house, and in +one or two places it sent a stream through the +patched panes and ran into pools on the floor. +Every now and then the kitten mewed and struggled down, +and the old woman stooped and caught it, holding it +tight in her bony hands; and once or twice the man on +the barrel half woke, changed his position and dozed +again, his head falling forward on his hairy breast. As +the minutes passed, and the rain still streamed against +the windows, a loathing of the place and the people +came over Charity. The sight of the weak-minded old +woman, of the cowed children, and the ragged man +sleeping off his liquor, made the setting of her own +life seem a vision of peace and plenty. She thought of +the kitchen at Mr. Royall's, with its scrubbed floor +and dresser full of china, and the peculiar smell of +yeast and coffee and soft-soap that she had always +hated, but that now seemed the very symbol of household +order. She saw Mr. Royall's room, with the high-backed +horsehair chair, the faded rag carpet, the row of books +on a shelf, the engraving of "The Surrender of +Burgoyne" over the stove, and the mat with a brown and +white spaniel on a moss-green border. And then her +mind travelled to Miss Hatchard's house, where all was +freshness, purity and fragrance, and compared to which +the red house had always seemed so poor and plain. + +"This is where I belong--this is where I belong," she +kept repeating to herself; but the words had no meaning +for her. Every instinct and habit made her a stranger +among these poor swamp-people living like vermin in +their lair. With all her soul she wished she had not +yielded to Harney's curiosity, and brought him there. + +The rain had drenched her, and she began to shiver +under the thin folds of her dress. The younger woman +must have noticed it, for she went out of the room and +came back with a broken tea-cup which she offered to +Charity. It was half full of whiskey, and Charity +shook her head; but Harney took the cup and put his +lips to it. When he had set it down Charity saw him +feel in his pocket and draw out a dollar; he hesitated +a moment, and then put it back, and she guessed that he +did not wish her to see him offering money to people +she had spoken of as being her kin. + +The sleeping man stirred, lifted his head and opened +his eyes. They rested vacantly for a moment on Charity +and Harney, and then closed again, and his head +drooped; but a look of anxiety came into the woman's +face. She glanced out of the window and then came +up to Harney. "I guess you better go along now," she +said. The young man understood and got to his feet. +"Thank you," he said, holding out his hand. She seemed +not to notice the gesture, and turned away as they +opened the door. + +The rain was still coming down, but they hardly noticed +it: the pure air was like balm in their faces. The +clouds were rising and breaking, and between their +edges the light streamed down from remote blue hollows. +Harney untied the horse, and they drove off through the +diminishing rain, which was already beaded with +sunlight. + +For a while Charity was silent, and her companion did +not speak. She looked timidly at his profile: it was +graver than usual, as though he too were oppressed by +what they had seen. Then she broke out abruptly: +"Those people back there are the kind of folks I come +from. They may be my relations, for all I know." She +did not want him to think that she regretted having +told him her story. + +"Poor creatures," he rejoined. "I wonder why they came +down to that fever-hole." + +She laughed ironically. "To better themselves! It's +worse up on the Mountain. Bash Hyatt married the +daughter of the farmer that used to own the brown +house. That was him by the stove, I suppose." + +Harney seemed to find nothing to say and she went on: +"I saw you take out a dollar to give to that poor +woman. Why did you put it back?" + +He reddened, and leaned forward to flick a swamp-fly +from the horse's neck. "I wasn't sure----" + +"Was it because you knew they were my folks, and +thought I'd be ashamed to see you give them money?" + +He turned to her with eyes full of reproach. "Oh, +Charity----" It was the first time he had ever called +her by her name. Her misery welled over. + +"I ain't--I ain't ashamed. They're my people, and I +ain't ashamed of them," she sobbed. + +"My dear..." he murmured, putting his arm about her; +and she leaned against him and wept out her pain. + +It was too late to go around to Hamblin, and all the +stars were out in a clear sky when they reached the +North Dormer valley and drove up to the red house. + + + +VII + + +SINCE her reinstatement in Miss Hatchard's favour +Charity had not dared to curtail by a moment her hours +of attendance at the library. She even made a point of +arriving before the time, and showed a laudable +indignation when the youngest Targatt girl, who had +been engaged to help in the cleaning and rearranging of +the books, came trailing in late and neglected her task +to peer through the window at the Sollas boy. +Nevertheless, "library days" seemed more than ever +irksome to Charity after her vivid hours of liberty; +and she would have found it hard to set a good example +to her subordinate if Lucius Harney had not been +commissioned, before Miss Hatchard's departure, to +examine with the local carpenter the best means of +ventilating the "Memorial." + +He was careful to prosecute this inquiry on the days +when the library was open to the public; and Charity +was therefore sure of spending part of the afternoon in +his company. The Targatt girl's presence, and the +risk of being interrupted by some passer-by suddenly +smitten with a thirst for letters, restricted their +intercourse to the exchange of commonplaces; but there +was a fascination to Charity in the contrast between +these public civilities and their secret intimacy. + +The day after their drive to the brown house was +"library day," and she sat at her desk working at the +revised catalogue, while the Targatt girl, one eye on +the window, chanted out the titles of a pile of books. +Charity's thoughts were far away, in the dismal house +by the swamp, and under the twilight sky during the +long drive home, when Lucius Harney had consoled her +with endearing words. That day, for the first time +since he had been boarding with them, he had failed to +appear as usual at the midday meal. No message had +come to explain his absence, and Mr. Royall, who was +more than usually taciturn, had betrayed no surprise, +and made no comment. In itself this indifference was +not particularly significant, for Mr. Royall, in common +with most of his fellow-citizens, had a way of +accepting events passively, as if he had long since +come to the conclusion that no one who lived in North +Dormer could hope to modify them. But to Charity, +in the reaction from her mood of passionate exaltation, +there was something disquieting in his silence. It was +almost as if Lucius Harney had never had a part in +their lives: Mr. Royall's imperturbable indifference +seemed to relegate him to the domain of unreality. + +As she sat at work, she tried to shake off her +disappointment at Harney's non-appearing. Some +trifling incident had probably kept him from joining +them at midday; but she was sure he must be eager to +see her again, and that he would not want to wait till +they met at supper, between Mr. Royall and Verena. She +was wondering what his first words would be, and trying +to devise a way of getting rid of the Targatt girl +before he came, when she heard steps outside, and he +walked up the path with Mr. Miles. + +The clergyman from Hepburn seldom came to North Dormer +except when he drove over to officiate at the old white +church which, by an unusual chance, happened to belong +to the Episcopal communion. He was a brisk affable +man, eager to make the most of the fact that a little +nucleus of "church-people" had survived in the +sectarian wilderness, and resolved to undermine the +influence of the ginger-bread-coloured Baptist +chapel at the other end of the village; but he was kept +busy by parochial work at Hepburn, where there were +paper-mills and saloons, and it was not often that he +could spare time for North Dormer. + +Charity, who went to the white church (like all the +best people in North Dormer), admired Mr. Miles, and +had even, during the memorable trip to Nettleton, +imagined herself married to a man who had such a +straight nose and such a beautiful way of speaking, and +who lived in a brown-stone rectory covered with +Virginia creeper. It had been a shock to discover that +the privilege was already enjoyed by a lady with +crimped hair and a large baby; but the arrival of +Lucius Harney had long since banished Mr. Miles from +Charity's dreams, and as he walked up the path at +Harney's side she saw him as he really was: a fat +middle-aged man with a baldness showing under his +clerical hat, and spectacles on his Grecian nose. She +wondered what had called him to North Dormer on a +weekday, and felt a little hurt that Harney should have +brought him to the library. + +It presently appeared that his presence there was due +to Miss Hatchard. He had been spending a few days +at Springfield, to fill a friend's pulpit, and had been +consulted by Miss Hatchard as to young Harney's plan +for ventilating the "Memorial." To lay hands on the +Hatchard ark was a grave matter, and Miss Hatchard, +always full of scruples about her scruples (it was +Harney's phrase), wished to have Mr. Miles's opinion +before deciding. + +"I couldn't," Mr. Miles explained, "quite make out from +your cousin what changes you wanted to make, and as the +other trustees did not understand either I thought I +had better drive over and take a look--though I'm +sure," he added, turning his friendly spectacles on the +young man, "that no one could be more competent--but of +course this spot has its peculiar sanctity!" + +"I hope a little fresh air won't desecrate it," Harney +laughingly rejoined; and they walked to the other end +of the library while he set forth his idea to the +Rector. + +Mr. Miles had greeted the two girls with his usual +friendliness, but Charity saw that he was occupied with +other things, and she presently became aware, by the +scraps of conversation drifting over to her, that he +was still under the charm of his visit to +Springfield, which appeared to have been full of +agreeable incidents. + +"Ah, the Coopersons...yes, you know them, of course," +she heard. "That's a fine old house! And Ned Cooperson +has collected some really remarkable impressionist +pictures...." The names he cited were unknown to +Charity. "Yes; yes; the Schaefer quartette played at +Lyric Hall on Saturday evening; and on Monday I had the +privilege of hearing them again at the Towers. +Beautifully done...Bach and Beethoven...a lawn-party +first...I saw Miss Balch several times, by the +way...looking extremely handsome...." + +Charity dropped her pencil and forgot to listen to the +Targatt girl's sing-song. Why had Mr. Miles suddenly +brought up Annabel Balch's name? + +"Oh, really?" she heard Harney rejoin; and, raising his +stick, he pursued: "You see, my plan is to move these +shelves away, and open a round window in this wall, on +the axis of the one under the pediment." + +"I suppose she'll be coming up here later to stay with +Miss Hatchard?" Mr. Miles went on, following on his +train of thought; then, spinning about and tilting his +head back: "Yes, yes, I see--I understand: that +will give a draught without materially altering the +look of things. I can see no objection." + +The discussion went on for some minutes, and gradually +the two men moved back toward the desk. Mr. Miles +stopped again and looked thoughtfully at Charity. +"Aren't you a little pale, my dear? Not overworking? +Mr. Harney tells me you and Mamie are giving the +library a thorough overhauling." He was always careful +to remember his parishioners' Christian names, and at +the right moment he bent his benignant spectacles on +the Targatt girl. + +Then he turned to Charity. "Don't take things hard, my +dear; don't take things hard. Come down and see Mrs. +Miles and me some day at Hepburn," he said, pressing +her hand and waving a farewell to Mamie Targatt. He +went out of the library, and Harney followed him. + +Charity thought she detected a look of constraint in +Harney's eyes. She fancied he did not want to be alone +with her; and with a sudden pang she wondered if he +repented the tender things he had said to her the night +before. His words had been more fraternal than lover- +like; but she had lost their exact sense in the +caressing warmth of his voice. He had made her feel +that the fact of her being a waif from the Mountain was +only another reason for holding her close and soothing +her with consolatory murmurs; and when the drive was +over, and she got out of the buggy, tired, cold, and +aching with emotion, she stepped as if the ground were +a sunlit wave and she the spray on its crest. + +Why, then, had his manner suddenly changed, and why did +he leave the library with Mr. Miles? Her restless +imagination fastened on the name of Annabel Balch: from +the moment it had been mentioned she fancied that +Harney's expression had altered. Annabel Balch at a +garden-party at Springfield, looking "extremely +handsome"...perhaps Mr. Miles had seen her there at the +very moment when Charity and Harney were sitting in the +Hyatts' hovel, between a drunkard and a half-witted old +woman! Charity did not know exactly what a garden-party +was, but her glimpse of the flower-edged lawns of +Nettleton helped her to visualize the scene, and +envious recollections of the "old things" which Miss +Balch avowedly "wore out" when she came to North Dormer +made it only too easy to picture her in her splendour. +Charity understood what associations the name must +have called up, and felt the uselessness of struggling +against the unseen influences in Harney's life. + +When she came down from her room for supper he was not +there; and while she waited in the porch she recalled +the tone in which Mr. Royall had commented the day +before on their early start. Mr. Royall sat at her +side, his chair tilted back, his broad black boots with +side-elastics resting against the lower bar of the +railings. His rumpled grey hair stood up above his +forehead like the crest of an angry bird, and the +leather-brown of his veined cheeks was blotched with +red. Charity knew that those red spots were the signs +of a coming explosion. + +Suddenly he said: "Where's supper? Has Verena Marsh +slipped up again on her soda-biscuits?" + +Charity threw a startled glance at him. "I presume +she's waiting for Mr. Harney." + +"Mr. Harney, is she? She'd better dish up, then. He +ain't coming." He stood up, walked to the door, and +called out, in the pitch necessary to penetrate the old +woman's tympanum: "Get along with the supper, Verena." + +Charity was trembling with apprehension. Something +had happened--she was sure of it now--and Mr. Royall +knew what it was. But not for the world would she have +gratified him by showing her anxiety. She took her +usual place, and he seated himself opposite, and poured +out a strong cup of tea before passing her the tea-pot. +Verena brought some scrambled eggs, and he piled his +plate with them. "Ain't you going to take any?" he +asked. Charity roused herself and began to eat. + +The tone with which Mr. Royall had said "He's not +coming" seemed to her full of an ominous satisfaction. +She saw that he had suddenly begun to hate Lucius +Harney, and guessed herself to be the cause of this +change of feeling. But she had no means of finding out +whether some act of hostility on his part had made the +young man stay away, or whether he simply wished to +avoid seeing her again after their drive back from the +brown house. She ate her supper with a studied show of +indifference, but she knew that Mr. Royall was watching +her and that her agitation did not escape him. + +After supper she went up to her room. She heard Mr. +Royall cross the passage, and presently the sounds +below her window showed that he had returned to the +porch. She seated herself on her bed and began to +struggle against the desire to go down and ask him what +had happened. "I'd rather die than do it," she +muttered to herself. With a word he could have +relieved her uncertainty: but never would she gratify +him by saying it. + +She rose and leaned out of the window. The twilight +had deepened into night, and she watched the frail +curve of the young moon dropping to the edge of the +hills. Through the darkness she saw one or two figures +moving down the road; but the evening was too cold for +loitering, and presently the strollers disappeared. +Lamps were beginning to show here and there in the +windows. A bar of light brought out the whiteness of a +clump of lilies in the Hawes's yard: and farther down +the street Carrick Fry's Rochester lamp cast its bold +illumination on the rustic flower-tub in the middle of +his grass-plot. + +For a long time she continued to lean in the window. +But a fever of unrest consumed her, and finally she +went downstairs, took her hat from its hook, and swung +out of the house. Mr. Royall sat in the porch, Verena +beside him, her old hands crossed on her patched skirt. +As Charity went down the steps Mr. Royall called after +her: "Where you going?" She could easily have +answered: "To Orma's," or "Down to the Targatts'"; and +either answer might have been true, for she had no +purpose. But she swept on in silence, determined not +to recognize his right to question her. + +At the gate she paused and looked up and down the road. +The darkness drew her, and she thought of climbing the +hill and plunging into the depths of the larch-wood +above the pasture. Then she glanced irresolutely along +the street, and as she did so a gleam appeared through +the spruces at Miss Hatchard's gate. Lucius Harney was +there, then--he had not gone down to Hepburn with Mr. +Miles, as she had at first imagined. But where had he +taken his evening meal, and what had caused him to stay +away from Mr. Royall's? The light was positive proof of +his presence, for Miss Hatchard's servants were away on +a holiday, and her farmer's wife came only in the +mornings, to make the young man's bed and prepare his +coffee. Beside that lamp he was doubtless sitting at +this moment. To know the truth Charity had only to +walk half the length of the village, and knock at the +lighted window. She hesitated a minute or two longer, +and then turned toward Miss Hatchard's. + +She walked quickly, straining her eyes to detect +anyone who might be coming along the street; and before +reaching the Frys' she crossed over to avoid the light +from their window. Whenever she was unhappy she felt +herself at bay against a pitiless world, and a kind of +animal secretiveness possessed her. But the street was +empty, and she passed unnoticed through the gate and up +the path to the house. Its white front glimmered +indistinctly through the trees, showing only one oblong +of light on the lower floor. She had supposed that the +lamp was in Miss Hatchard's sitting-room; but she now +saw that it shone through a window at the farther +corner of the house. She did not know the room to +which this window belonged, and she paused under the +trees, checked by a sense of strangeness. Then she +moved on, treading softly on the short grass, and +keeping so close to the house that whoever was in the +room, even if roused by her approach, would not be able +to see her. + +The window opened on a narrow verandah with a trellised +arch. She leaned close to the trellis, and parting the +sprays of clematis that covered it looked into a corner +of the room. She saw the foot of a mahogany bed, an +engraving on the wall, a wash-stand on which a +towel had been tossed, and one end of the green-covered +table which held the lamp. Half of the lampshade +projected into her field of vision, and just under it +two smooth sunburnt hands, one holding a pencil and the +other a ruler, were moving to and fro over a drawing- +board. + +Her heart jumped and then stood still. He was there, a +few feet away; and while her soul was tossing on seas +of woe he had been quietly sitting at his drawing- +board. The sight of those two hands, moving with their +usual skill and precision, woke her out of her dream. +Her eyes were opened to the disproportion between what +she had felt and the cause of her agitation; and she +was turning away from the window when one hand abruptly +pushed aside the drawing-board and the other flung down +the pencil. + +Charity had often noticed Harney's loving care of his +drawings, and the neatness and method with which he +carried on and concluded each task. The impatient +sweeping aside of the drawing-board seemed to reveal a +new mood. The gesture suggested sudden discouragement, +or distaste for his work and she wondered if he too +were agitated by secret perplexities. Her impulse of +flight was checked; she stepped up on the verandah +and looked into the room. + +Harney had put his elbows on the table and was resting +his chin on his locked hands. He had taken off his +coat and waistcoat, and unbuttoned the low collar of +his flannel shirt; she saw the vigorous lines of his +young throat, and the root of the muscles where they +joined the chest. He sat staring straight ahead of +him, a look of weariness and self-disgust on his face: +it was almost as if he had been gazing at a distorted +reflection of his own features. For a moment Charity +looked at him with a kind of terror, as if he had been +a stranger under familiar lineaments; then she glanced +past him and saw on the floor an open portmanteau half +full of clothes. She understood that he was preparing +to leave, and that he had probably decided to go +without seeing her. She saw that the decision, from +whatever cause it was taken, had disturbed him deeply; +and she immediately concluded that his change of plan +was due to some surreptitious interference of Mr. +Royall's. All her old resentments and rebellions flamed +up, confusedly mingled with the yearning roused by +Harney's nearness. Only a few hours earlier she had +felt secure in his comprehending pity; now she was +flung back on herself, doubly alone after that moment +of communion. + +Harney was still unaware of her presence. He sat +without moving, moodily staring before him at the same +spot in the wall-paper. He had not even had the energy +to finish his packing, and his clothes and papers lay +on the floor about the portmanteau. Presently he +unlocked his clasped hands and stood up; and Charity, +drawing back hastily, sank down on the step of the +verandah. The night was so dark that there was not +much chance of his seeing her unless he opened the +window and before that she would have time to slip away +and be lost in the shadow of the trees. He stood for a +minute or two looking around the room with the same +expression of self-disgust, as if he hated himself and +everything about him; then he sat down again at the +table, drew a few more strokes, and threw his pencil +aside. Finally he walked across the floor, kicking the +portmanteau out of his way, and lay down on the bed, +folding his arms under his head, and staring up +morosely at the ceiling. Just so, Charity had seen him +at her side on the grass or the pine-needles, his eyes +fixed on the sky, and pleasure flashing over his face +like the flickers of sun the branches shed on it. +But now the face was so changed that she hardly knew +it; and grief at his grief gathered in her throat, rose +to her eyes and ran over. + +She continued to crouch on the steps, holding her +breath and stiffening herself into complete immobility. +One motion of her hand, one tap on the pane, and she +could picture the sudden change in his face. In every +pulse of her rigid body she was aware of the welcome +his eyes and lips would give her; but something kept +her from moving. It was not the fear of any sanction, +human or heavenly; she had never in her life been +afraid. It was simply that she had suddenly understood +what would happen if she went in. It was the thing +that did happen between young men and girls, and that +North Dormer ignored in public and snickered over on +the sly. It was what Miss Hatchard was still ignorant +of, but every girl of Charity's class knew about before +she left school. It was what had happened to Ally +Hawes's sister Julia, and had ended in her going to +Nettleton, and in people's never mentioning her name. + +It did not, of course, always end so sensationally; +nor, perhaps, on the whole, so untragically. Charity +had always suspected that the shunned Julia's fate +might have its compensations. There were others, worse +endings that the village knew of, mean, miserable, +unconfessed; other lives that went on drearily, without +visible change, in the same cramped setting of +hypocrisy. But these were not the reasons that held +her back. Since the day before, she had known exactly +what she would feel if Harney should take her in his +arms: the melting of palm into palm and mouth on mouth, +and the long flame burning her from head to foot. But +mixed with this feeling was another: the wondering +pride in his liking for her, the startled softness that +his sympathy had put into her heart. Sometimes, when +her youth flushed up in her, she had imagined yielding +like other girls to furtive caresses in the twilight; +but she could not so cheapen herself to Harney. She +did not know why he was going; but since he was going +she felt she must do nothing to deface the image of her +that he carried away. If he wanted her he must seek +her: he must not be surprised into taking her as girls +like Julia Hawes were taken.... + +No sound came from the sleeping village, and in the +deep darkness of the garden she heard now and then +a secret rustle of branches, as though some night-bird +brushed them. Once a footfall passed the gate, and she +shrank back into her corner; but the steps died away +and left a profounder quiet. Her eyes were still on +Harney's tormented face: she felt she could not move +till he moved. But she was beginning to grow numb from +her constrained position, and at times her thoughts +were so indistinct that she seemed to be held there +only by a vague weight of weariness. + +A long time passed in this strange vigil. Harney still +lay on the bed, motionless and with fixed eyes, as +though following his vision to its bitter end. At last +he stirred and changed his attitude slightly, and +Charity's heart began to tremble. But he only flung +out his arms and sank back into his former position. +With a deep sigh he tossed the hair from his forehead; +then his whole body relaxed, his head turned sideways +on the pillow, and she saw that he had fallen asleep. +The sweet expression came back to his lips, and the +haggardness faded from his face, leaving it as fresh as +a boy's. + +She rose and crept away. + + + +VIII + + +SHE had lost the sense of time, and did not know how +late it was till she came out into the street and saw +that all the windows were dark between Miss Hatchard's +and the Royall house. + +As she passed from under the black pall of the Norway +spruces she fancied she saw two figures in the shade +about the duck-pond. She drew back and watched; but +nothing moved, and she had stared so long into the +lamp-lit room that the darkness confused her, and she +thought she must have been mistaken. + +She walked on, wondering whether Mr. Royall was still +in the porch. In her exalted mood she did not greatly +care whether he was waiting for her or not: she seemed +to be floating high over life, on a great cloud of +misery beneath which every-day realities had dwindled +to mere specks in space. But the porch was empty, Mr. +Royall's hat hung on its peg in the passage, and the +kitchen lamp had been left to light her to bed. She +took it and went up. + +The morning hours of the next day dragged by +without incident. Charity had imagined that, in some +way or other, she would learn whether Harney had +already left; but Verena's deafness prevented her being +a source of news, and no one came to the house who +could bring enlightenment. + +Mr. Royall went out early, and did not return till +Verena had set the table for the midday meal. When he +came in he went straight to the kitchen and shouted to +the old woman: "Ready for dinner----" then he turned +into the dining-room, where Charity was already seated. +Harney's plate was in its usual place, but Mr. Royall +offered no explanation of his absence, and Charity +asked none. The feverish exaltation of the night +before had dropped, and she said to herself that he had +gone away, indifferently, almost callously, and that +now her life would lapse again into the narrow rut out +of which he had lifted it. For a moment she was +inclined to sneer at herself for not having used the +arts that might have kept him. + +She sat at table till the meal was over, lest Mr. +Royall should remark on her leaving; but when he stood +up she rose also, without waiting to help Verena. +She had her foot on the stairs when he called to her to +come back. + +"I've got a headache. I'm going up to lie down." + +"I want you should come in here first; I've got +something to say to you." + +She was sure from his tone that in a moment she would +learn what every nerve in her ached to know; but as she +turned back she made a last effort of indifference. + +Mr. Royall stood in the middle of the office, his thick +eyebrows beetling, his lower jaw trembling a little. +At first she thought he had been drinking; then she saw +that he was sober, but stirred by a deep and stern +emotion totally unlike his usual transient angers. And +suddenly she understood that, until then, she had never +really noticed him or thought about him. Except on the +occasion of his one offense he had been to her merely +the person who is always there, the unquestioned +central fact of life, as inevitable but as +uninteresting as North Dormer itself, or any of the +other conditions fate had laid on her. Even then she +had regarded him only in relation to herself, and had +never speculated as to his own feelings, beyond +instinctively concluding that he would not trouble +her again in the same way. But now she began to wonder +what he was really like. + +He had grasped the back of his chair with both hands, +and stood looking hard at her. At length he said: +"Charity, for once let's you and me talk together like +friends." + +Instantly she felt that something had happened, and +that he held her in his hand. + +"Where is Mr. Harney? Why hasn't he come back? Have you +sent him away?" she broke out, without knowing what she +was saying. + +The change in Mr. Royall frightened her. All the blood +seemed to leave his veins and against his swarthy +pallor the deep lines in his face looked black. + +"Didn't he have time to answer some of those questions +last night? You was with him long enough!" he said. + +Charity stood speechless. The taunt was so unrelated +to what had been happening in her soul that she hardly +understood it. But the instinct of self-defense awoke +in her. + +"Who says I was with him last night?" + +"The whole place is saying it by now." + +"Then it was you that put the lie into their +mouths.--Oh, how I've always hated you!" she cried. + +She had expected a retort in kind, and it startled her +to hear her exclamation sounding on through silence. + +"Yes, I know," Mr. Royall said slowly. "But that ain't +going to help us much now." + +"It helps me not to care a straw what lies you tell +about me!" + +"If they're lies, they're not my lies: my Bible oath on +that, Charity. I didn't know where you were: I wasn't +out of this house last night." + +She made no answer and he went on: "Is it a lie that +you were seen coming out of Miss Hatchard's nigh onto +midnight?" + +She straightened herself with a laugh, all her reckless +insolence recovered. "I didn't look to see what time +it was." + +"You lost girl...you...you...Oh, my God, why did you +tell me?" he broke out, dropping into his chair, his +head bowed down like an old man's. + +Charity's self-possession had returned with the sense +of her danger. "Do you suppose I'd take the +trouble to lie to YOU? Who are you, anyhow, to +ask me where I go to when I go out at night?" + +Mr. Royall lifted his head and looked at her. His face +had grown quiet and almost gentle, as she remembered +seeing it sometimes when she was a little girl, before +Mrs. Royall died. + +"Don't let's go on like this, Charity. It can't do any +good to either of us. You were seen going into that +fellow's house...you were seen coming out of it....I've +watched this thing coming, and I've tried to stop it. +As God sees me, I have...." + +"Ah, it WAS you, then? I knew it was you that sent +him away!" + +He looked at her in surprise. "Didn't he tell you so? +I thought he understood." He spoke slowly, with +difficult pauses, "I didn't name you to him: I'd have +cut my hand off sooner. I just told him I couldn't +spare the horse any longer; and that the cooking was +getting too heavy for Verena. I guess he's the kind +that's heard the same thing before. Anyhow, he took it +quietly enough. He said his job here was about done, +anyhow; and there didn't another word pass between +us....If he told you otherwise he told you an untruth." + +Charity listened in a cold trance of anger. It +was nothing to her what the village said...but all this +fingering of her dreams! + +"I've told you he didn't tell me anything. I didn't +speak with him last night." + +"You didn't speak with him?" + +"No....It's not that I care what any of you say...but +you may as well know. Things ain't between us the way +you think...and the other people in this place. He was +kind to me; he was my friend; and all of a sudden he +stopped coming, and I knew it was you that done it-- +YOU!" All her unreconciled memory of the past flamed +out at him. "So I went there last night to find out +what you'd said to him: that's all." + +Mr. Royall drew a heavy breath. "But, then--if he +wasn't there, what were you doing there all that time?-- +Charity, for pity's sake, tell me. I've got to know, +to stop their talking." + +This pathetic abdication of all authority over her did +not move her: she could feel only the outrage of his +interference. + +"Can't you see that I don't care what anybody says? +It's true I went there to see him; and he was in his +room, and I stood outside for ever so long and watched +him; but I dursn't go in for fear he'd think I'd +come after him...." She felt her voice breaking, and +gathered it up in a last defiance. "As long as I live +I'll never forgive you!" she cried. + +Mr. Royall made no answer. He sat and pondered with +sunken head, his veined hands clasped about the arms of +his chair. Age seemed to have come down on him as +winter comes on the hills after a storm. At length he +looked up. + +"Charity, you say you don't care; but you're the +proudest girl I know, and the last to want people to +talk against you. You know there's always eyes +watching you: you're handsomer and smarter than the +rest, and that's enough. But till lately you've never +given them a chance. Now they've got it, and they're +going to use it. I believe what you say, but they +won't....It was Mrs. Tom Fry seen you going in...and +two or three of them watched for you to come out +again....You've been with the fellow all day long every +day since he come here...and I'm a lawyer, and I know +how hard slander dies." He paused, but she stood +motionless, without giving him any sign of acquiescence +or even of attention. "He's a pleasant fellow to talk +to--I liked having him here myself. The young men up +here ain't had his chances. But there's one thing +as old as the hills and as plain as daylight: if he'd +wanted you the right way he'd have said so." + +Charity did not speak. It seemed to her that nothing +could exceed the bitterness of hearing such words from +such lips. + +Mr. Royall rose from his seat. "See here, Charity +Royall: I had a shameful thought once, and you've made +me pay for it. Isn't that score pretty near wiped +out?...There's a streak in me I ain't always master of; +but I've always acted straight to you but that once. +And you've known I would--you've trusted me. For all +your sneers and your mockery you've always known I +loved you the way a man loves a decent woman. I'm a +good many years older than you, but I'm head and +shoulders above this place and everybody in it, and you +know that too. I slipped up once, but that's no reason +for not starting again. If you'll come with me I'll do +it. If you'll marry me we'll leave here and settle in +some big town, where there's men, and business, and +things doing. It's not too late for me to find an +opening....I can see it by the way folks treat me when +I go down to Hepburn or Nettleton...." + +Charity made no movement. Nothing in his appeal +reached her heart, and she thought only of words to +wound and wither. But a growing lassitude restrained +her. What did anything matter that he was saying? She +saw the old life closing in on her, and hardly heeded +his fanciful picture of renewal. + +"Charity--Charity--say you'll do it," she heard him +urge, all his lost years and wasted passion in his +voice. + +"Oh, what's the use of all this? When I leave here it +won't be with you." + +She moved toward the door as she spoke, and he stood up +and placed himself between her and the threshold. He +seemed suddenly tall and strong, as though the +extremity of his humiliation had given him new vigour. + +"That's all, is it? It's not much." He leaned against +the door, so towering and powerful that he seemed to +fill the narrow room. "Well, then look here....You're +right: I've no claim on you--why should you look at a +broken man like me? You want the other fellow...and I +don't blame you. You picked out the best when you seen +it...well, that was always my way." He fixed his stern +eyes on her, and she had the sense that the +struggle within him was at its highest. "Do you want +him to marry you?" he asked. + +They stood and looked at each other for a long moment, +eye to eye, with the terrible equality of courage that +sometimes made her feel as if she had his blood in her +veins. + +"Do you want him to--say? I'll have him here in an hour +if you do. I ain't been in the law thirty years for +nothing. He's hired Carrick Fry's team to take him to +Hepburn, but he ain't going to start for another hour. +And I can put things to him so he won't be long +deciding....He's soft: I could see that. I don't say +you won't be sorry afterward--but, by God, I'll give +you the chance to be, if you say so." + +She heard him out in silence, too remote from all he +was feeling and saying for any sally of scorn to +relieve her. As she listened, there flitted through +her mind the vision of Liff Hyatt's muddy boot coming +down on the white bramble-flowers. The same thing had +happened now; something transient and exquisite had +flowered in her, and she had stood by and seen it +trampled to earth. While the thought passed through +her she was aware of Mr. Royall, still leaning +against the door, but crestfallen, diminished, as +though her silence were the answer he most dreaded. + +"I don't want any chance you can give me: I'm glad he's +going away," she said. + +He kept his place a moment longer, his hand on the +door-knob. "Charity!" he pleaded. She made no answer, +and he turned the knob and went out. She heard him +fumble with the latch of the front door, and saw him +walk down the steps. He passed out of the gate, and +his figure, stooping and heavy, receded slowly up the +street. + +For a while she remained where he had left her. She +was still trembling with the humiliation of his last +words, which rang so loud in her ears that it seemed as +though they must echo through the village, proclaiming +her a creature to lend herself to such vile +suggestions. Her shame weighed on her like a physical +oppression: the roof and walls seemed to be closing in +on her, and she was seized by the impulse to get away, +under the open sky, where there would be room to +breathe. She went to the front door, and as she did so +Lucius Harney opened it. + +He looked graver and less confident than usual, +and for a moment or two neither of them spoke. +Then he held out his hand. "Are you going out?" he +asked. "May I come in?" + +Her heart was beating so violently that she was afraid +to speak, and stood looking at him with tear-dilated +eyes; then she became aware of what her silence must +betray, and said quickly: "Yes: come in." + +She led the way into the dining-room, and they sat down +on opposite sides of the table, the cruet-stand and +japanned bread-basket between them. Harney had laid +his straw hat on the table, and as he sat there, in his +easy-looking summer clothes, a brown tie knotted under +his flannel collar, and his smooth brown hair brushed +back from his forehead, she pictured him, as she had +seen him the night before, lying on his bed, with the +tossed locks falling into his eyes, and his bare throat +rising out of his unbuttoned shirt. He had never +seemed so remote as at the moment when that vision +flashed through her mind. + +"I'm so sorry it's good-bye: I suppose you know I'm +leaving," he began, abruptly and awkwardly; she guessed +that he was wondering how much she knew of his reasons +for going. + +"I presume you found your work was over quicker +than what you expected," she said. + +"Well, yes--that is, no: there are plenty of things I +should have liked to do. But my holiday's limited; and +now that Mr. Royall needs the horse for himself it's +rather difficult to find means of getting about." + +"There ain't any too many teams for hire around here," +she acquiesced; and there was another silence. + +"These days here have been--awfully pleasant: I wanted +to thank you for making them so," he continued, his +colour rising. + +She could not think of any reply, and he went on: +"You've been wonderfully kind to me, and I wanted to +tell you....I wish I could think of you as happier, +less lonely....Things are sure to change for you by and +by...." + +"Things don't change at North Dormer: people just get +used to them." + +The answer seemed to break up the order of his +prearranged consolations, and he sat looking at her +uncertainly. Then he said, with his sweet smile: +"That's not true of you. It can't be." + +The smile was like a knife-thrust through her +heart: everything in her began to tremble and +break loose. She felt her tears run over, and stood +up. + +"Well, good-bye," she said. + +She was aware of his taking her hand, and of feeling +that his touch was lifeless. + +"Good-bye." He turned away, and stopped on the +threshold. "You'll say good-bye for me to Verena?" + +She heard the closing of the outer door and the sound +of his quick tread along the path. The latch of the +gate clicked after him. + +The next morning when she arose in the cold dawn and +opened her shutters she saw a freckled boy standing on +the other side of the road and looking up at her. He +was a boy from a farm three or four miles down the +Creston road, and she wondered what he was doing there +at that hour, and why he looked so hard at her window. +When he saw her he crossed over and leaned against the +gate unconcernedly. There was no one stirring in the +house, and she threw a shawl over her night-gown and +ran down and let herself out. By the time she reached +the gate the boy was sauntering down the road, +whistling carelessly; but she saw that a letter had +been thrust between the slats and the crossbar of +the gate. She took it out and hastened back to her +room. + +The envelope bore her name, and inside was a leaf torn +from a pocket-diary. + + +DEAR CHARITY: + +I can't go away like this. I am staying for a few days +at Creston River. Will you come down and meet me at +Creston pool? I will wait for you till evening. + + + +IX + + +CHARITY sat before the mirror trying on a hat which +Ally Hawes, with much secrecy, had trimmed for her. It +was of white straw, with a drooping brim and cherry- +coloured lining that made her face glow like the inside +of the shell on the parlour mantelpiece. + +She propped the square of looking-glass against Mr. +Royall's black leather Bible, steadying it in front +with a white stone on which a view of the Brooklyn +Bridge was painted; and she sat before her reflection, +bending the brim this way and that, while Ally Hawes's +pale face looked over her shoulder like the ghost of +wasted opportunities. + +"I look awful, don't I?" she said at last with a happy +sigh. + +Ally smiled and took back the hat. "I'll stitch the +roses on right here, so's you can put it away at once." + +Charity laughed, and ran her fingers through her rough +dark hair. She knew that Harney liked to see its +reddish edges ruffled about her forehead and breaking +into little rings at the nape. She sat down on her bed +and watched Ally stoop over the hat with a careful +frown. + +"Don't you ever feel like going down to Nettleton for a +day?" she asked. + +Ally shook her head without looking up. "No, I always +remember that awful time I went down with Julia--to +that doctor's." + +"Oh, Ally----" + +"I can't help it. The house is on the corner of Wing +Street and Lake Avenue. The trolley from the station +goes right by it, and the day the minister took us down +to see those pictures I recognized it right off, and +couldn't seem to see anything else. There's a big +black sign with gold letters all across the front-- +'Private Consultations.' She came as near as anything +to dying...." + +"Poor Julia!" Charity sighed from the height of her +purity and her security. She had a friend whom she +trusted and who respected her. She was going with him +to spend the next day--the Fourth of July--at +Nettleton. Whose business was it but hers, and what +was the harm? The pity of it was that girls like Julia +did not know how to choose, and to keep bad +fellows at a distance....Charity slipped down from the +bed, and stretched out her hands. + +"Is it sewed? Let me try it on again." She put the hat +on, and smiled at her image. The thought of Julia had +vanished.... + + + +The next morning she was up before dawn, and saw the +yellow sunrise broaden behind the hills, and the +silvery luster preceding a hot day tremble across the +sleeping fields. + +Her plans had been made with great care. She had +announced that she was going down to the Band of Hope +picnic at Hepburn, and as no one else from North Dormer +intended to venture so far it was not likely that her +absence from the festivity would be reported. Besides, +if it were she would not greatly care. She was +determined to assert her independence, and if she +stooped to fib about the Hepburn picnic it was chiefly +from the secretive instinct that made her dread the +profanation of her happiness. Whenever she was with +Lucius Harney she would have liked some impenetrable +mountain mist to hide her. + +It was arranged that she should walk to a point of +the Creston road where Harney was to pick her up and +drive her across the hills to Hepburn in time for the +nine-thirty train to Nettleton. Harney at first had +been rather lukewarm about the trip. He declared +himself ready to take her to Nettleton, but urged her +not to go on the Fourth of July, on account of the +crowds, the probable lateness of the trains, the +difficulty of her getting back before night; but her +evident disappointment caused him to give way, and even +to affect a faint enthusiasm for the adventure. She +understood why he was not more eager: he must have seen +sights beside which even a Fourth of July at Nettleton +would seem tame. But she had never seen anything; and +a great longing possessed her to walk the streets of a +big town on a holiday, clinging to his arm and jostled +by idle crowds in their best clothes. The only cloud +on the prospect was the fact that the shops would be +closed; but she hoped he would take her back another +day, when they were open. + +She started out unnoticed in the early sunlight, +slipping through the kitchen while Verena bent above +the stove. To avoid attracting notice, she carried her +new hat carefully wrapped up, and had thrown a long +grey veil of Mrs. Royall's over the new white +muslin dress which Ally's clever fingers had made for +her. All of the ten dollars Mr. Royall had given her, +and a part of her own savings as well, had been spent +on renewing her wardrobe; and when Harney jumped out of +the buggy to meet her she read her reward in his eyes. + +The freckled boy who had brought her the note two weeks +earlier was to wait with the buggy at Hepburn till +their return. He perched at Charity's feet, his legs +dangling between the wheels, and they could not say +much because of his presence. But it did not greatly +matter, for their past was now rich enough to have +given them a private language; and with the long day +stretching before them like the blue distance beyond +the hills there was a delicate pleasure in +postponement. + +When Charity, in response to Harney's message, had gone +to meet him at the Creston pool her heart had been so +full of mortification and anger that his first words +might easily have estranged her. But it happened that +he had found the right word, which was one of simple +friendship. His tone had instantly justified her, and +put her guardian in the wrong. He had made no allusion +to what had passed between Mr. Royall and himself, but +had simply let it appear that he had left because +means of conveyance were hard to find at North Dormer, +and because Creston River was a more convenient centre. +He told her that he had hired by the week the buggy of +the freckled boy's father, who served as livery-stable +keeper to one or two melancholy summer boarding-houses +on Creston Lake, and had discovered, within driving +distance, a number of houses worthy of his pencil; and +he said that he could not, while he was in the +neighbourhood, give up the pleasure of seeing her as +often as possible. + +When they took leave of each other she promised to +continue to be his guide; and during the fortnight +which followed they roamed the hills in happy +comradeship. In most of the village friendships +between youths and maidens lack of conversation was +made up for by tentative fondling; but Harney, except +when he had tried to comfort her in her trouble on +their way back from the Hyatts', had never put his arm +about her, or sought to betray her into any sudden +caress. It seemed to be enough for him to breathe her +nearness like a flower's; and since his pleasure at +being with her, and his sense of her youth and her +grace, perpetually shone in his eyes and softened +the inflection of his voice, his reserve did not +suggest coldness, but the deference due to a girl of +his own class. + +The buggy was drawn by an old trotter who whirled them +along so briskly that the pace created a little breeze; +but when they reached Hepburn the full heat of the +airless morning descended on them. At the railway +station the platform was packed with a sweltering +throng, and they took refuge in the waiting-room, where +there was another throng, already dejected by the heat +and the long waiting for retarded trains. Pale mothers +were struggling with fretful babies, or trying to keep +their older offspring from the fascination of the +track; girls and their "fellows" were giggling and +shoving, and passing about candy in sticky bags, and +older men, collarless and perspiring, were shifting +heavy children from one arm to the other, and keeping a +haggard eye on the scattered members of their families. + +At last the train rumbled in, and engulfed the waiting +multitude. Harney swept Charity up on to the first car +and they captured a bench for two, and sat in happy +isolation while the train swayed and roared along +through rich fields and languid tree-clumps. The +haze of the morning had become a sort of clear tremor +over everything, like the colourless vibration about a +flame; and the opulent landscape seemed to droop under +it. But to Charity the heat was a stimulant: it +enveloped the whole world in the same glow that burned +at her heart. Now and then a lurch of the train flung +her against Harney, and through her thin muslin she +felt the touch of his sleeve. She steadied herself, +their eyes met, and the flaming breath of the day +seemed to enclose them. + +The train roared into the Nettleton station, the +descending mob caught them on its tide, and they were +swept out into a vague dusty square thronged with seedy +"hacks" and long curtained omnibuses drawn by horses +with tasselled fly-nets over their withers, who stood +swinging their depressed heads drearily from side to +side. + +A mob of 'bus and hack drivers were shouting "To the +Eagle House," "To the Washington House," "This way to +the Lake," "Just starting for Greytop;" and through +their yells came the popping of fire-crackers, the +explosion of torpedoes, the banging of toy-guns, and +the crash of a firemen's band trying to play the Merry +Widow while they were being packed into a +waggonette streaming with bunting. + +The ramshackle wooden hotels about the square were all +hung with flags and paper lanterns, and as Harney and +Charity turned into the main street, with its brick and +granite business blocks crowding out the old low- +storied shops, and its towering poles strung with +innumerable wires that seemed to tremble and buzz in +the heat, they saw the double line of flags and +lanterns tapering away gaily to the park at the other +end of the perspective. The noise and colour of this +holiday vision seemed to transform Nettleton into a +metropolis. Charity could not believe that Springfield +or even Boston had anything grander to show, and she +wondered if, at this very moment, Annabel Balch, on the +arm of as brilliant a young man, were threading her way +through scenes as resplendent. + +"Where shall we go first?" Harney asked; but as she +turned her happy eyes on him he guessed the answer and +said: "We'll take a look round, shall we?" + +The street swarmed with their fellow-travellers, with +other excursionists arriving from other directions, +with Nettleton's own population, and with the +mill-hands trooping in from the factories on the +Creston. The shops were closed, but one would scarcely +have noticed it, so numerous were the glass doors +swinging open on saloons, on restaurants, on drug- +stores gushing from every soda-water tap, on fruit and +confectionery shops stacked with strawberry-cake, +cocoanut drops, trays of glistening molasses candy, +boxes of caramels and chewing-gum, baskets of sodden +strawberries, and dangling branches of bananas. Outside +of some of the doors were trestles with banked-up +oranges and apples, spotted pears and dusty +raspberries; and the air reeked with the smell of fruit +and stale coffee, beer and sarsaparilla and fried +potatoes. + +Even the shops that were closed offered, through wide +expanses of plate-glass, hints of hidden riches. In +some, waves of silk and ribbon broke over shores of +imitation moss from which ravishing hats rose like +tropical orchids. In others, the pink throats of +gramophones opened their giant convolutions in a +soundless chorus; or bicycles shining in neat ranks +seemed to await the signal of an invisible starter; or +tiers of fancy-goods in leatherette and paste and +celluloid dangled their insidious graces; and, in one +vast bay that seemed to project them into exciting +contact with the public, wax ladies in daring +dresses chatted elegantly, or, with gestures intimate +yet blameless, pointed to their pink corsets and +transparent hosiery. + +Presently Harney found that his watch had stopped, and +turned in at a small jeweller's shop which chanced to +still be open. While the watch was being examined +Charity leaned over the glass counter where, on a +background of dark blue velvet, pins, rings, and +brooches glittered like the moon and stars. She had +never seen jewellry so near by, and she longed to lift +the glass lid and plunge her hand among the shining +treasures. But already Harney's watch was repaired, +and he laid his hand on her arm and drew her from her +dream. + +"Which do you like best?" he asked leaning over the +counter at her side. + +"I don't know...." She pointed to a gold lily-of-the- +valley with white flowers. + +"Don't you think the blue pin's better?" he suggested, +and immediately she saw that the lily of the valley was +mere trumpery compared to the small round stone, blue +as a mountain lake, with little sparks of light all +round it. She coloured at her want of discrimination. + +"It's so lovely I guess I was afraid to look at +it," she said. + +He laughed, and they went out of the shop; but a few +steps away he exclaimed: "Oh, by Jove, I forgot +something," and turned back and left her in the crowd. +She stood staring down a row of pink gramophone throats +till he rejoined her and slipped his arm through hers. + +"You mustn't be afraid of looking at the blue pin any +longer, because it belongs to you," he said; and she +felt a little box being pressed into her hand. Her +heart gave a leap of joy, but it reached her lips only +in a shy stammer. She remembered other girls whom she +had heard planning to extract presents from their +fellows, and was seized with a sudden dread lest Harney +should have imagined that she had leaned over the +pretty things in the glass case in the hope of having +one given to her.... + +A little farther down the street they turned in at a +glass doorway opening on a shining hall with a mahogany +staircase, and brass cages in its corners. "We must +have something to eat," Harney said; and the next +moment Charity found herself in a dressing-room all +looking-glass and lustrous surfaces, where a party of +showy-looking girls were dabbing on powder and +straightening immense plumed hats. When they had gone +she took courage to bathe her hot face in one of the +marble basins, and to straighten her own hat-brim, +which the parasols of the crowd had indented. The +dresses in the shops had so impressed her that she +scarcely dared look at her reflection; but when she did +so, the glow of her face under her cherry-coloured hat, +and the curve of her young shoulders through the +transparent muslin, restored her courage; and when she +had taken the blue brooch from its box and pinned it on +her bosom she walked toward the restaurant with her +head high, as if she had always strolled through +tessellated halls beside young men in flannels. + +Her spirit sank a little at the sight of the slim- +waisted waitresses in black, with bewitching mob-caps +on their haughty heads, who were moving disdainfully +between the tables. "Not f'r another hour," one of them +dropped to Harney in passing; and he stood doubtfully +glancing about him. + +"Oh, well, we can't stay sweltering here," he decided; +"let's try somewhere else--" and with a sense of relief +Charity followed him from that scene of inhospitable +splendour. + +That "somewhere else" turned out--after more hot +tramping, and several failures--to be, of all things, a +little open-air place in a back street that called +itself a French restaurant, and consisted in two or +three rickety tables under a scarlet-runner, between a +patch of zinnias and petunias and a big elm bending +over from the next yard. Here they lunched on queerly +flavoured things, while Harney, leaning back in a +crippled rocking-chair, smoked cigarettes between the +courses and poured into Charity's glass a pale yellow +wine which he said was the very same one drank in just +such jolly places in France. + +Charity did not think the wine as good as sarsaparilla, +but she sipped a mouthful for the pleasure of doing +what he did, and of fancying herself alone with him in +foreign countries. The illusion was increased by their +being served by a deep-bosomed woman with smooth hair +and a pleasant laugh, who talked to Harney in +unintelligible words, and seemed amazed and overjoyed +at his answering her in kind. At the other tables +other people sat, mill-hands probably, homely but +pleasant looking, who spoke the same shrill jargon, and +looked at Harney and Charity with friendly eyes; and +between the table-legs a poodle with bald patches +and pink eyes nosed about for scraps, and sat up on his +hind legs absurdly. + +Harney showed no inclination to move, for hot as their +corner was, it was at least shaded and quiet; and, from +the main thoroughfares came the clanging of trolleys, +the incessant popping of torpedoes, the jingle of +street-organs, the bawling of megaphone men and the +loud murmur of increasing crowds. He leaned back, +smoking his cigar, patting the dog, and stirring the +coffee that steamed in their chipped cups. "It's the +real thing, you know," he explained; and Charity +hastily revised her previous conception of the +beverage. + +They had made no plans for the rest of the day, and +when Harney asked her what she wanted to do next she +was too bewildered by rich possibilities to find an +answer. Finally she confessed that she longed to go to +the Lake, where she had not been taken on her former +visit, and when he answered, "Oh, there's time for +that--it will be pleasanter later," she suggested +seeing some pictures like the ones Mr. Miles had taken +her to. She thought Harney looked a little +disconcerted; but he passed his fine handkerchief over +his warm brow, said gaily, "Come along, then," and +rose with a last pat for the pink-eyed dog. + +Mr. Miles's pictures had been shown in an austere +Y.M.C.A. hall, with white walls and an organ; but +Harney led Charity to a glittering place--everything +she saw seemed to glitter--where they passed, between +immense pictures of yellow-haired beauties stabbing +villains in evening dress, into a velvet-curtained +auditorium packed with spectators to the last limit of +compression. After that, for a while, everything was +merged in her brain in swimming circles of heat and +blinding alternations of light and darkness. All the +world has to show seemed to pass before her in a chaos +of palms and minarets, charging cavalry regiments, +roaring lions, comic policemen and scowling murderers; +and the crowd around her, the hundreds of hot sallow +candy-munching faces, young, old, middle-aged, but all +kindled with the same contagious excitement, became +part of the spectacle, and danced on the screen with +the rest. + +Presently the thought of the cool trolley-run to the +Lake grew irresistible, and they struggled out of the +theatre. As they stood on the pavement, Harney pale +with the heat, and even Charity a little confused +by it, a young man drove by in an electric run-about +with a calico band bearing the words: "Ten dollars to +take you round the Lake." Before Charity knew what was +happening, Harney had waved a hand, and they were +climbing in. "Say, for twenny-five I'll run you out to +see the ball-game and back," the driver proposed with +an insinuating grin; but Charity said quickly: "Oh, I'd +rather go rowing on the Lake." The street was so +thronged that progress was slow; but the glory of +sitting in the little carriage while it wriggled its +way between laden omnibuses and trolleys made the +moments seem too short. "Next turn is Lake Avenue," +the young man called out over his shoulder; and as they +paused in the wake of a big omnibus groaning with +Knights of Pythias in cocked hats and swords, Charity +looked up and saw on the corner a brick house with a +conspicuous black and gold sign across its front. "Dr. +Merkle; Private Consultations at all hours. Lady +Attendants," she read; and suddenly she remembered Ally +Hawes's words: "The house was at the corner of Wing +Street and Lake Avenue...there's a big black sign +across the front...." Through all the heat and the +rapture a shiver of cold ran over her. + + + +X + + +THE Lake at last--a sheet of shining metal brooded over +by drooping trees. Charity and Harney had secured a +boat and, getting away from the wharves and the +refreshment-booths, they drifted idly along, hugging +the shadow of the shore. Where the sun struck the +water its shafts flamed back blindingly at the heat- +veiled sky; and the least shade was black by contrast. +The Lake was so smooth that the reflection of the trees +on its edge seemed enamelled on a solid surface; but +gradually, as the sun declined, the water grew +transparent, and Charity, leaning over, plunged her +fascinated gaze into depths so clear that she saw the +inverted tree-tops interwoven with the green growths of +the bottom. + +They rounded a point at the farther end of the Lake, +and entering an inlet pushed their bow against a +protruding tree-trunk. A green veil of willows +overhung them. Beyond the trees, wheat-fields sparkled +in the sun; and all along the horizon the clear +hills throbbed with light. Charity leaned back in the +stern, and Harney unshipped the oars and lay in the +bottom of the boat without speaking. + +Ever since their meeting at the Creston pool he had +been subject to these brooding silences, which were as +different as possible from the pauses when they ceased +to speak because words were needless. At such times +his face wore the expression she had seen on it when +she had looked in at him from the darkness and again +there came over her a sense of the mysterious distance +between them; but usually his fits of abstraction were +followed by bursts of gaiety that chased away the +shadow before it chilled her. + +She was still thinking of the ten dollars he had handed +to the driver of the run-about. It had given them +twenty minutes of pleasure, and it seemed unimaginable +that anyone should be able to buy amusement at that +rate. With ten dollars he might have bought her an +engagement ring; she knew that Mrs. Tom Fry's, which +came from Springfield, and had a diamond in it, had +cost only eight seventy-five. But she did not know why +the thought had occurred to her. Harney would never +buy her an engagement ring: they were friends and +comrades, but no more. He had been perfectly fair to +her: he had never said a word to mislead her. She +wondered what the girl was like whose hand was waiting +for his ring.... + +Boats were beginning to thicken on the Lake and the +clang of incessantly arriving trolleys announced the +return of the crowds from the ball-field. The shadows +lengthened across the pearl-grey water and two white +clouds near the sun were turning golden. On the +opposite shore men were hammering hastily at a wooden +scaffolding in a field. Charity asked what it was for. + +"Why, the fireworks. I suppose there'll be a big +show." Harney looked at her and a smile crept into his +moody eyes. "Have you never seen any good fireworks?" + +"Miss Hatchard always sends up lovely rockets on the +Fourth," she answered doubtfully. + +"Oh----" his contempt was unbounded. "I mean a big +performance like this, illuminated boats, and all the +rest." + +She flushed at the picture. "Do they send them up from +the Lake, too?" + +"Rather. Didn't you notice that big raft we +passed? It's wonderful to see the rockets +completing their orbits down under one's feet." She +said nothing, and he put the oars into the rowlocks. +"If we stay we'd better go and pick up something to +eat." + +"But how can we get back afterwards?" she ventured, +feeling it would break her heart if she missed it. + +He consulted a time-table, found a ten o'clock train +and reassured her. "The moon rises so late that it +will be dark by eight, and we'll have over an hour of +it." + +Twilight fell, and lights began to show along the +shore. The trolleys roaring out from Nettleton became +great luminous serpents coiling in and out among the +trees. The wooden eating-houses at the Lake's edge +danced with lanterns, and the dusk echoed with laughter +and shouts and the clumsy splashing of oars. + +Harney and Charity had found a table in the corner of a +balcony built over the Lake, and were patiently +awaiting an unattainable chowder. Close under them the +water lapped the piles, agitated by the evolutions of a +little white steamboat trellised with coloured globes +which was to run passengers up and down the Lake. +It was already black with them as it sheered off on its +first trip. + +Suddenly Charity heard a woman's laugh behind her. The +sound was familiar, and she turned to look. A band of +showily dressed girls and dapper young men wearing +badges of secret societies, with new straw hats tilted +far back on their square-clipped hair, had invaded the +balcony and were loudly clamouring for a table. The +girl in the lead was the one who had laughed. She wore +a large hat with a long white feather, and from under +its brim her painted eyes looked at Charity with amused +recognition. + +"Say! if this ain't like Old Home Week," she remarked +to the girl at her elbow; and giggles and glances +passed between them. Charity knew at once that the +girl with the white feather was Julia Hawes. She had +lost her freshness, and the paint under her eyes made +her face seem thinner; but her lips had the same lovely +curve, and the same cold mocking smile, as if there +were some secret absurdity in the person she was +looking at, and she had instantly detected it. + +Charity flushed to the forehead and looked away. +She felt herself humiliated by Julia's sneer, and +vexed that the mockery of such a creature should affect +her. She trembled lest Harney should notice that the +noisy troop had recognized her; but they found no table +free, and passed on tumultuously. + +Presently there was a soft rush through the air and a +shower of silver fell from the blue evening sky. In +another direction, pale Roman candles shot up singly +through the trees, and a fire-haired rocket swept the +horizon like a portent. Between these intermittent +flashes the velvet curtains of the darkness were +descending, and in the intervals of eclipse the voices +of the crowds seemed to sink to smothered murmurs. + +Charity and Harney, dispossessed by newcomers, were at +length obliged to give up their table and struggle +through the throng about the boat-landings. For a +while there seemed no escape from the tide of late +arrivals; but finally Harney secured the last two +places on the stand from which the more privileged were +to see the fireworks. The seats were at the end of a +row, one above the other. Charity had taken off her +hat to have an uninterrupted view; and whenever she +leaned back to follow the curve of some +dishevelled rocket she could feel Harney's knees +against her head. + +After a while the scattered fireworks ceased. A longer +interval of darkness followed, and then the whole night +broke into flower. From every point of the horizon, +gold and silver arches sprang up and crossed each +other, sky-orchards broke into blossom, shed their +flaming petals and hung their branches with golden +fruit; and all the while the air was filled with a soft +supernatural hum, as though great birds were building +their nests in those invisible tree-tops. + +Now and then there came a lull, and a wave of moonlight +swept the Lake. In a flash it revealed hundreds of +boats, steel-dark against lustrous ripples; then it +withdrew as if with a furling of vast translucent +wings. Charity's heart throbbed with delight. It was +as if all the latent beauty of things had been unveiled +to her. She could not imagine that the world held +anything more wonderful; but near her she heard someone +say, "You wait till you see the set piece," and +instantly her hopes took a fresh flight. At last, just +as it was beginning to seem as though the whole arch of +the sky were one great lid pressed against her dazzled +eye-balls, and striking out of them continuous +jets of jewelled light, the velvet darkness settled +down again, and a murmur of expectation ran through the +crowd. + +"Now--now!" the same voice said excitedly; and Charity, +grasping the hat on her knee, crushed it tight in the +effort to restrain her rapture. + +For a moment the night seemed to grow more impenetrably +black; then a great picture stood out against it like a +constellation. It was surmounted by a golden scroll +bearing the inscription, "Washington crossing the +Delaware," and across a flood of motionless golden +ripples the National Hero passed, erect, solemn and +gigantic, standing with folded arms in the stern of a +slowly moving golden boat. + +A long "Oh-h-h" burst from the spectators: the stand +creaked and shook with their blissful trepidations. +"Oh-h-h," Charity gasped: she had forgotten where she +was, had at last forgotten even Harney's nearness. She +seemed to have been caught up into the stars.... + +The picture vanished and darkness came down. In the +obscurity she felt her head clasped by two hands: her +face was drawn backward, and Harney's lips were +pressed on hers. With sudden vehemence he wound his +arms about her, holding her head against his breast +while she gave him back his kisses. An unknown Harney +had revealed himself, a Harney who dominated her and +yet over whom she felt herself possessed of a new +mysterious power. + +But the crowd was beginning to move, and he had to +release her. "Come," he said in a confused voice. He +scrambled over the side of the stand, and holding up +his arm caught her as she sprang to the ground. He +passed his arm about her waist, steadying her against +the descending rush of people; and she clung to him, +speechless, exultant, as if all the crowding and +confusion about them were a mere vain stirring of the +air. + +"Come," he repeated, "we must try to make the trolley." +He drew her along, and she followed, still in her +dream. They walked as if they were one, so isolated in +ecstasy that the people jostling them on every side +seemed impalpable. But when they reached the terminus +the illuminated trolley was already clanging on its +way, its platforms black with passengers. The cars +waiting behind it were as thickly packed; and the +throng about the terminus was so dense that it +seemed hopeless to struggle for a place. + +"Last trip up the Lake," a megaphone bellowed from the +wharf; and the lights of the little steam-boat came +dancing out of the darkness. + +"No use waiting here; shall we run up the Lake?" Harney +suggested. + +They pushed their way back to the edge of the water +just as the gang-plank lowered from the white side of +the boat. The electric light at the end of the wharf +flashed full on the descending passengers, and among +them Charity caught sight of Julia Hawes, her white +feather askew, and the face under it flushed with +coarse laughter. As she stepped from the gang-plank +she stopped short, her dark-ringed eyes darting malice. + +"Hullo, Charity Royall!" she called out; and then, +looking back over her shoulder: "Didn't I tell you it +was a family party? Here's grandpa's little daughter +come to take him home!" + +A snigger ran through the group; and then, towering +above them, and steadying himself by the hand-rail in a +desperate effort at erectness, Mr. Royall stepped +stiffly ashore. Like the young men of the party, he +wore a secret society emblem in the buttonhole of +his black frock-coat. His head was covered by a new +Panama hat, and his narrow black tie, half undone, +dangled down on his rumpled shirt-front. His face, a +livid brown, with red blotches of anger and lips sunken +in like an old man's, was a lamentable ruin in the +searching glare. + +He was just behind Julia Hawes, and had one hand on her +arm; but as he left the gang-plank he freed himself, +and moved a step or two away from his companions. He +had seen Charity at once, and his glance passed slowly +from her to Harney, whose arm was still about her. He +stood staring at them, and trying to master the senile +quiver of his lips; then he drew himself up with the +tremulous majesty of drunkenness, and stretched out his +arm. + +"You whore--you damn--bare-headed whore, you!" he +enunciated slowly. + +There was a scream of tipsy laughter from the party, +and Charity involuntarily put her hands to her head. +She remembered that her hat had fallen from her lap +when she jumped up to leave the stand; and suddenly she +had a vision of herself, hatless, dishevelled, with a +man's arm about her, confronting that drunken +crew, headed by her guardian's pitiable figure. The +picture filled her with shame. She had known since +childhood about Mr. Royall's "habits": had seen him, as +she went up to bed, sitting morosely in his office, a +bottle at his elbow; or coming home, heavy and +quarrelsome, from his business expeditions to Hepburn +or Springfield; but the idea of his associating himself +publicly with a band of disreputable girls and bar-room +loafers was new and dreadful to her. + +"Oh----" she said in a gasp of misery; and releasing +herself from Harney's arm she went straight up to Mr. +Royall. + +"You come home with me--you come right home with me," +she said in a low stern voice, as if she had not heard +his apostrophe; and one of the girls called out: "Say, +how many fellers does she want?" + +There was another laugh, followed by a pause of +curiosity, during which Mr. Royall continued to glare +at Charity. At length his twitching lips parted. "I +said, 'You--damn--whore!'" he repeated with precision, +steadying himself on Julia's shoulder. + +Laughs and jeers were beginning to spring up from the +circle of people beyond their group; and a voice called +out from the gangway: "Now, then, step lively +there--all ABOARD!" The pressure of approaching and +departing passengers forced the actors in the rapid +scene apart, and pushed them back into the throng. +Charity found herself clinging to Harney's arm and +sobbing desperately. Mr. Royall had disappeared, and +in the distance she heard the receding sound of Julia's +laugh. + +The boat, laden to the taffrail, was puffing away on +her last trip. + + + +XI + + +AT two o'clock in the morning the freckled boy from +Creston stopped his sleepy horse at the door of the red +house, and Charity got out. Harney had taken leave of +her at Creston River, charging the boy to drive her +home. Her mind was still in a fog of misery, and she +did not remember very clearly what had happened, or +what they said to each other, during the interminable +interval since their departure from Nettleton; but the +secretive instinct of the animal in pain was so strong +in her that she had a sense of relief when Harney got +out and she drove on alone. + +The full moon hung over North Dormer, whitening the +mist that filled the hollows between the hills and +floated transparently above the fields. Charity stood +a moment at the gate, looking out into the waning +night. She watched the boy drive off, his horse's head +wagging heavily to and fro; then she went around to the +kitchen door and felt under the mat for the key. She +found it, unlocked the door and went in. The +kitchen was dark, but she discovered a box of matches, +lit a candle and went upstairs. Mr. Royall's door, +opposite hers, stood open on his unlit room; evidently +he had not come back. She went into her room, bolted +her door and began slowly to untie the ribbon about her +waist, and to take off her dress. Under the bed she +saw the paper bag in which she had hidden her new hat +from inquisitive eyes.... + + + +She lay for a long time sleepless on her bed, staring +up at the moonlight on the low ceiling; dawn was in the +sky when she fell asleep, and when she woke the sun was +on her face. + +She dressed and went down to the kitchen. Verena was +there alone: she glanced at Charity tranquilly, with +her old deaf-looking eyes. There was no sign of Mr. +Royall about the house and the hours passed without his +reappearing. Charity had gone up to her room, and sat +there listlessly, her hands on her lap. Puffs of +sultry air fanned her dimity window curtains and flies +buzzed stiflingly against the bluish panes. + +At one o'clock Verena hobbled up to see if she were not +coming down to dinner; but she shook her head, and +the old woman went away, saying: "I'll cover up, then." + +The sun turned and left her room, and Charity seated +herself in the window, gazing down the village street +through the half-opened shutters. Not a thought was in +her mind; it was just a dark whirlpool of crowding +images; and she watched the people passing along the +street, Dan Targatt's team hauling a load of pine- +trunks down to Hepburn, the sexton's old white horse +grazing on the bank across the way, as if she looked at +these familiar sights from the other side of the grave. + +She was roused from her apathy by seeing Ally Hawes +come out of the Frys' gate and walk slowly toward the +red house with her uneven limping step. At the sight +Charity recovered her severed contact with reality. She +divined that Ally was coming to hear about her day: no +one else was in the secret of the trip to Nettleton, +and it had flattered Ally profoundly to be allowed to +know of it. + +At the thought of having to see her, of having to meet +her eyes and answer or evade her questions, the whole +horror of the previous night's adventure rushed back +upon Charity. What had been a feverish nightmare +became a cold and unescapable fact. Poor Ally, at that +moment, represented North Dormer, with all its mean +curiosities, its furtive malice, its sham +unconsciousness of evil. Charity knew that, although +all relations with Julia were supposed to be severed, +the tender-hearted Ally still secretly communicated +with her; and no doubt Julia would exult in the chance +of retailing the scandal of the wharf. The story, +exaggerated and distorted, was probably already on its +way to North Dormer. + +Ally's dragging pace had not carried her far from the +Frys' gate when she was stopped by old Mrs. Sollas, who +was a great talker, and spoke very slowly because she +had never been able to get used to her new teeth from +Hepburn. Still, even this respite would not last long; +in another ten minutes Ally would be at the door, and +Charity would hear her greeting Verena in the kitchen, +and then calling up from the foot of the stairs. + +Suddenly it became clear that flight, and instant +flight, was the only thing conceivable. The longing to +escape, to get away from familiar faces, from places +where she was known, had always been strong in her in +moments of distress. She had a childish belief in +the miraculous power of strange scenes and new faces to +transform her life and wipe out bitter memories. But +such impulses were mere fleeting whims compared to the +cold resolve which now possessed her. She felt she +could not remain an hour longer under the roof of the +man who had publicly dishonoured her, and face to face +with the people who would presently be gloating over +all the details of her humiliation. + +Her passing pity for Mr. Royall had been swallowed up +in loathing: everything in her recoiled from the +disgraceful spectacle of the drunken old man +apostrophizing her in the presence of a band of loafers +and street-walkers. Suddenly, vividly, she relived +again the horrible moment when he had tried to force +himself into her room, and what she had before supposed +to be a mad aberration now appeared to her as a vulgar +incident in a debauched and degraded life. + +While these thoughts were hurrying through her she had +dragged out her old canvas school-bag, and was +thrusting into it a few articles of clothing and the +little packet of letters she had received from Harney. +From under her pincushion she took the library key, and +laid it in full view; then she felt at the back of +a drawer for the blue brooch that Harney had given her. +She would not have dared to wear it openly at North +Dormer, but now she fastened it on her bosom as if it +were a talisman to protect her in her flight. These +preparations had taken but a few minutes, and when they +were finished Ally Hawes was still at the Frys' corner +talking to old Mrs. Sollas.... + + + +She had said to herself, as she always said in moments +of revolt: "I'll go to the Mountain--I'll go back to my +own folks." She had never really meant it before; but +now, as she considered her case, no other course seemed +open. She had never learned any trade that would have +given her independence in a strange place, and she knew +no one in the big towns of the valley, where she might +have hoped to find employment. Miss Hatchard was still +away; but even had she been at North Dormer she was the +last person to whom Charity would have turned, since +one of the motives urging her to flight was the wish +not to see Lucius Harney. Travelling back from +Nettleton, in the crowded brightly-lit train, all +exchange of confidence between them had been +impossible; but during their drive from Hepburn to +Creston River she had gathered from Harney's snatches +of consolatory talk--again hampered by the freckled +boy's presence--that he intended to see her the next +day. At the moment she had found a vague comfort in +the assurance; but in the desolate lucidity of the +hours that followed she had come to see the +impossibility of meeting him again. Her dream of +comradeship was over; and the scene on the wharf--vile +and disgraceful as it had been--had after all shed the +light of truth on her minute of madness. It was as if +her guardian's words had stripped her bare in the face +of the grinning crowd and proclaimed to the world the +secret admonitions of her conscience. + +She did not think these things out clearly; she simply +followed the blind propulsion of her wretchedness. She +did not want, ever again, to see anyone she had known; +above all, she did not want to see Harney.... + +She climbed the hill-path behind the house and struck +through the woods by a short-cut leading to the Creston +road. A lead-coloured sky hung heavily over the +fields, and in the forest the motionless air was +stifling; but she pushed on, impatient to reach +the road which was the shortest way to the Mountain. + +To do so, she had to follow the Creston road for a mile +or two, and go within half a mile of the village; and +she walked quickly, fearing to meet Harney. But there +was no sign of him, and she had almost reached the +branch road when she saw the flanks of a large white +tent projecting through the trees by the roadside. She +supposed that it sheltered a travelling circus which +had come there for the Fourth; but as she drew nearer +she saw, over the folded-back flap, a large sign +bearing the inscription, "Gospel Tent." The interior +seemed to be empty; but a young man in a black alpaca +coat, his lank hair parted over a round white face, +stepped from under the flap and advanced toward her +with a smile. + +"Sister, your Saviour knows everything. Won't you come +in and lay your guilt before Him?" he asked +insinuatingly, putting his hand on her arm. + +Charity started back and flushed. For a moment she +thought the evangelist must have heard a report of the +scene at Nettleton; then she saw the absurdity of the +supposition. + +"I on'y wish't I had any to lay!" she retorted, +with one of her fierce flashes of self-derision; +and the young man murmured, aghast: "Oh, Sister, don't +speak blasphemy...." + +But she had jerked her arm out of his hold, and was +running up the branch road, trembling with the fear of +meeting a familiar face. Presently she was out of +sight of the village, and climbing into the heart of +the forest. She could not hope to do the fifteen miles +to the Mountain that afternoon; but she knew of a place +half-way to Hamblin where she could sleep, and where no +one would think of looking for her. It was a little +deserted house on a slope in one of the lonely rifts of +the hills. She had seen it once, years before, when +she had gone on a nutting expedition to the grove of +walnuts below it. The party had taken refuge in the +house from a sudden mountain storm, and she remembered +that Ben Sollas, who liked frightening girls, had told +them that it was said to be haunted. + +She was growing faint and tired, for she had eaten +nothing since morning, and was not used to walking so +far. Her head felt light and she sat down for a moment +by the roadside. As she sat there she heard the click +of a bicycle-bell, and started up to plunge back into +the forest; but before she could move the bicycle +had swept around the curve of the road, and Harney, +jumping off, was approaching her with outstretched +arms. + +"Charity! What on earth are you doing here?" + +She stared as if he were a vision, so startled by the +unexpectedness of his being there that no words came to +her. + +"Where were you going? Had you forgotten that I was +coming?" he continued, trying to draw her to him; but +she shrank from his embrace. + +"I was going away--I don't want to see you--I want you +should leave me alone," she broke out wildly. + +He looked at her and his face grew grave, as though the +shadow of a premonition brushed it. + +"Going away--from me, Charity?" + +"From everybody. I want you should leave me." + +He stood glancing doubtfully up and down the lonely +forest road that stretched away into sun-flecked +distances. + +"Where were you going?' + +"Home." + +"Home--this way?" + +She threw her head back defiantly. "To my home--up +yonder: to the Mountain." + +As she spoke she became aware of a change in his +face. He was no longer listening to her, he was only +looking at her, with the passionate absorbed expression +she had seen in his eyes after they had kissed on the +stand at Nettleton. He was the new Harney again, the +Harney abruptly revealed in that embrace, who seemed so +penetrated with the joy of her presence that he was +utterly careless of what she was thinking or feeling. + +He caught her hands with a laugh. "How do you suppose +I found you?" he said gaily. He drew out the little +packet of his letters and flourished them before her +bewildered eyes. + +"You dropped them, you imprudent young person--dropped +them in the middle of the road, not far from here; and +the young man who is running the Gospel tent picked +them up just as I was riding by." He drew back, holding +her at arm's length, and scrutinizing her troubled face +with the minute searching gaze of his short-sighted +eyes. + +"Did you really think you could run away from me? You +see you weren't meant to," he said; and before she +could answer he had kissed her again, not vehemently, +but tenderly, almost fraternally, as if he had +guessed her confused pain, and wanted her to know he +understood it. He wound his fingers through hers. + +"Come let's walk a little. I want to talk to you. +There's so much to say." + +He spoke with a boy's gaiety, carelessly and +confidently, as if nothing had happened that could +shame or embarrass them; and for a moment, in the +sudden relief of her release from lonely pain, she felt +herself yielding to his mood. But he had turned, and +was drawing her back along the road by which she had +come. She stiffened herself and stopped short. + +"I won't go back," she said. + +They looked at each other a moment in silence; then he +answered gently: "Very well: let's go the other way, +then." + +She remained motionless, gazing silently at the ground, +and he went on: "Isn't there a house up here somewhere-- +a little abandoned house--you meant to show me some +day?" Still she made no answer, and he continued, in +the same tone of tender reassurance: "Let us go there +now and sit down and talk quietly." He took one of the +hands that hung by her side and pressed his lips to the +palm. "Do you suppose I'm going to let you send +me away? Do you suppose I don't understand?" + + + +The little old house--its wooden walls sun-bleached to +a ghostly gray--stood in an orchard above the road. +The garden palings had fallen, but the broken gate +dangled between its posts, and the path to the house +was marked by rose-bushes run wild and hanging their +small pale blossoms above the crowding grasses. +Slender pilasters and an intricate fan-light framed the +opening where the door had hung; and the door itself +lay rotting in the grass, with an old apple-tree fallen +across it. + +Inside, also, wind and weather had blanched everything +to the same wan silvery tint; the house was as dry and +pure as the interior of a long-empty shell. But it +must have been exceptionally well built, for the little +rooms had kept something of their human aspect: the +wooden mantels with their neat classic ornaments were +in place, and the corners of one ceiling retained a +light film of plaster tracery. + +Harney had found an old bench at the back door and +dragged it into the house. Charity sat on it, +leaning her head against the wall in a state of +drowsy lassitude. He had guessed that she was hungry +and thirsty, and had brought her some tablets of +chocolate from his bicycle-bag, and filled his +drinking-cup from a spring in the orchard; and now he +sat at her feet, smoking a cigarette, and looking up at +her without speaking. Outside, the afternoon shadows +were lengthening across the grass, and through the +empty window-frame that faced her she saw the Mountain +thrusting its dark mass against a sultry sunset. It +was time to go. + +She stood up, and he sprang to his feet also, and +passed his arm through hers with an air of authority. +"Now, Charity, you're coming back with me." + +She looked at him and shook her head. "I ain't ever +going back. You don't know." + +"What don't I know?" She was silent, and he continued: +"What happened on the wharf was horrible--it's natural +you should feel as you do. But it doesn't make any +real difference: you can't be hurt by such things. You +must try to forget. And you must try to understand +that men...men sometimes..." + +"I know about men. That's why." + +He coloured a little at the retort, as though it +had touched him in a way she did not suspect. + +"Well, then...you must know one has to make +allowances....He'd been drinking...." + +"I know all that, too. I've seen him so before. But +he wouldn't have dared speak to me that way if he +hadn't..." + +"Hadn't what? What do you mean?" + +"Hadn't wanted me to be like those other girls...." She +lowered her voice and looked away from him. "So's 't +he wouldn't have to go out...." + +Harney stared at her. For a moment he did not seem to +seize her meaning; then his face grew dark. "The +damned hound! The villainous low hound!" His wrath +blazed up, crimsoning him to the temples. "I never +dreamed--good God, it's too vile," he broke off, as if +his thoughts recoiled from the discovery. + +"I won't never go back there," she repeated doggedly. + +"No----" he assented. + +There was a long interval of silence, during which she +imagined that he was searching her face for more +light on what she had revealed to him; and a flush of +shame swept over her. + +"I know the way you must feel about me," she broke out, +"...telling you such things...." + +But once more, as she spoke, she became aware that he +was no longer listening. He came close and caught her +to him as if he were snatching her from some imminent +peril: his impetuous eyes were in hers, and she could +feel the hard beat of his heart as he held her against +it. + +"Kiss me again--like last night," he said, pushing her +hair back as if to draw her whole face up into his +kiss. + + + + +XII + + + +ONE afternoon toward the end of August a group of girls +sat in a room at Miss Hatchard's in a gay confusion of +flags, turkey-red, blue and white paper muslin, harvest +sheaves and illuminated scrolls. + +North Dormer was preparing for its Old Home Week. That +form of sentimental decentralization was still in its +early stages, and, precedents being few, and the desire +to set an example contagious, the matter had become a +subject of prolonged and passionate discussion under +Miss Hatchard's roof. The incentive to the celebration +had come rather from those who had left North Dormer +than from those who had been obliged to stay there, and +there was some difficulty in rousing the village to the +proper state of enthusiasm. But Miss Hatchard's pale +prim drawing-room was the centre of constant comings +and goings from Hepburn, Nettleton, Springfield and +even more distant cities; and whenever a visitor +arrived he was led across the hall, and treated to +a glimpse of the group of girls deep in their pretty +preparations. + +"All the old names...all the old names...." Miss +Hatchard would be heard, tapping across the hall on her +crutches. "Targatt...Sollas...Fry: this is Miss Orma +Fry sewing the stars on the drapery for the organ-loft. +Don't move, girls....and this is Miss Ally Hawes, our +cleverest needle-woman...and Miss Charity Royall making +our garlands of evergreen....I like the idea of its all +being homemade, don't you? We haven't had to call in +any foreign talent: my young cousin Lucius Harney, the +architect--you know he's up here preparing a book on +Colonial houses--he's taken the whole thing in hand so +cleverly; but you must come and see his sketch for the +stage we're going to put up in the Town Hall." + +One of the first results of the Old Home Week agitation +had, in fact, been the reappearance of Lucius Harney in +the village street. He had been vaguely spoken of as +being not far off, but for some weeks past no one had +seen him at North Dormer, and there was a recent report +of his having left Creston River, where he was said to +have been staying, and gone away from the neighbourhood +for good. Soon after Miss Hatchard's return, +however, he came back to his old quarters in her house, +and began to take a leading part in the planning of the +festivities. He threw himself into the idea with +extraordinary good-humour, and was so prodigal of +sketches, and so inexhaustible in devices, that he gave +an immediate impetus to the rather languid movement, +and infected the whole village with his enthusiasm. + +"Lucius has such a feeling for the past that he has +roused us all to a sense of our privileges," Miss +Hatchard would say, lingering on the last word, which +was a favourite one. And before leading her visitor +back to the drawing-room she would repeat, for the +hundredth time, that she supposed he thought it very +bold of little North Dormer to start up and have a Home +Week of its own, when so many bigger places hadn't +thought of it yet; but that, after all, Associations +counted more than the size of the population, didn't +they? And of course North Dormer was so full of +Associations...historic, literary (here a filial sigh +for Honorius) and ecclesiastical...he knew about the +old pewter communion service imported from England in +1769, she supposed? And it was so important, in a +wealthy materialistic age, to set the example of +reverting to the old ideals, the family and the +homestead, and so on. This peroration usually carried +her half-way back across the hall, leaving the girls to +return to their interrupted activities. + +The day on which Charity Royall was weaving hemlock +garlands for the procession was the last before the +celebration. When Miss Hatchard called upon the North +Dormer maidenhood to collaborate in the festal +preparations Charity had at first held aloof; but it +had been made clear to her that her non-appearance +might excite conjecture, and, reluctantly, she had +joined the other workers. The girls, at first shy and +embarrassed, and puzzled as to the exact nature of the +projected commemoration, had soon become interested in +the amusing details of their task, and excited by the +notice they received. They would not for the world +have missed their afternoons at Miss Hatchard's, and, +while they cut out and sewed and draped and pasted, +their tongues kept up such an accompaniment to the +sewing-machine that Charity's silence sheltered itself +unperceived under their chatter. + +In spirit she was still almost unconscious of the +pleasant stir about her. Since her return to the +red house, on the evening of the day when Harney had +overtaken her on her way to the Mountain, she had lived +at North Dormer as if she were suspended in the void. +She had come back there because Harney, after appearing +to agree to the impossibility of her doing so, had +ended by persuading her that any other course would be +madness. She had nothing further to fear from Mr. +Royall. Of this she had declared herself sure, though +she had failed to add, in his exoneration, that he had +twice offered to make her his wife. Her hatred of him +made it impossible, at the moment, for her to say +anything that might partly excuse him in Harney's eyes. + +Harney, however, once satisfied of her security, had +found plenty of reasons for urging her to return. The +first, and the most unanswerable, was that she had +nowhere else to go. But the one on which he laid the +greatest stress was that flight would be equivalent to +avowal. If--as was almost inevitable--rumours of the +scandalous scene at Nettleton should reach North +Dormer, how else would her disappearance be +interpreted? Her guardian had publicly taken away her +character, and she immediately vanished from his +house. Seekers after motives could hardly fail to +draw an unkind conclusion. But if she came back at +once, and was seen leading her usual life, the incident +was reduced to its true proportions, as the outbreak of +a drunken old man furious at being surprised in +disreputable company. People would say that Mr. Royall +had insulted his ward to justify himself, and the +sordid tale would fall into its place in the chronicle +of his obscure debaucheries. + +Charity saw the force of the argument; but if she +acquiesced it was not so much because of that as +because it was Harney's wish. Since that evening in +the deserted house she could imagine no reason for +doing or not doing anything except the fact that Harney +wished or did not wish it. All her tossing +contradictory impulses were merged in a fatalistic +acceptance of his will. It was not that she felt in +him any ascendancy of character--there were moments +already when she knew she was the stronger--but that +all the rest of life had become a mere cloudy rim about +the central glory of their passion. Whenever she +stopped thinking about that for a moment she felt as +she sometimes did after lying on the grass and staring +up too long at the sky; her eyes were so full of +light that everything about her was a blur. + +Each time that Miss Hatchard, in the course of her +periodical incursions into the work-room, dropped an +allusion to her young cousin, the architect, the effect +was the same on Charity. The hemlock garland she was +wearing fell to her knees and she sat in a kind of +trance. It was so manifestly absurd that Miss Hatchard +should talk of Harney in that familiar possessive way, +as if she had any claim on him, or knew anything about +him. She, Charity Royall, was the only being on earth +who really knew him, knew him from the soles of his +feet to the rumpled crest of his hair, knew the +shifting lights in his eyes, and the inflexions of his +voice, and the things he liked and disliked, and +everything there was to know about him, as minutely and +yet unconsciously as a child knows the walls of the +room it wakes up in every morning. It was this fact, +which nobody about her guessed, or would have +understood, that made her life something apart and +inviolable, as if nothing had any power to hurt or +disturb her as long as her secret was safe. + +The room in which the girls sat was the one which had +been Harney's bedroom. He had been sent upstairs, +to make room for the Home Week workers; but the +furniture had not been moved, and as Charity sat there +she had perpetually before her the vision she had +looked in on from the midnight garden. The table at +which Harney had sat was the one about which the girls +were gathered; and her own seat was near the bed on +which she had seen him lying. Sometimes, when the +others were not looking, she bent over as if to pick up +something, and laid her cheek for a moment against the +pillow. + +Toward sunset the girls disbanded. Their work was +done, and the next morning at daylight the draperies +and garlands were to be nailed up, and the illuminated +scrolls put in place in the Town Hall. The first +guests were to drive over from Hepburn in time for the +midday banquet under a tent in Miss Hatchard's field; +and after that the ceremonies were to begin. Miss +Hatchard, pale with fatigue and excitement, thanked her +young assistants, and stood in the porch, leaning on +her crutches and waving a farewell as she watched them +troop away down the street. + +Charity had slipped off among the first; but at the +gate she heard Ally Hawes calling after her, and +reluctantly turned. + +"Will you come over now and try on your dress?" +Ally asked, looking at her with wistful admiration. "I +want to be sure the sleeves don't ruck up the same as +they did yesterday." + +Charity gazed at her with dazzled eyes. "Oh, it's +lovely," she said, and hastened away without listening +to Ally's protest. She wanted her dress to be as +pretty as the other girls'--wanted it, in fact, to +outshine the rest, since she was to take part in the +"exercises"--but she had no time just then to fix her +mind on such matters.... + +She sped up the street to the library, of which she had +the key about her neck. From the passage at the back +she dragged forth a bicycle, and guided it to the edge +of the street. She looked about to see if any of the +girls were approaching; but they had drifted away +together toward the Town Hall, and she sprang into the +saddle and turned toward the Creston road. There was +an almost continual descent to Creston, and with her +feet against the pedals she floated through the still +evening air like one of the hawks she had often watched +slanting downward on motionless wings. Twenty minutes +from the time when she had left Miss Hatchard's door +she was turning up the wood-road on which Harney +had overtaken her on the day of her flight; and a few +minutes afterward she had jumped from her bicycle at +the gate of the deserted house. + +In the gold-powdered sunset it looked more than ever +like some frail shell dried and washed by many seasons; +but at the back, whither Charity advanced, drawing her +bicycle after her, there were signs of recent +habitation. A rough door made of boards hung in the +kitchen doorway, and pushing it open she entered a room +furnished in primitive camping fashion. In the window +was a table, also made of boards, with an earthenware +jar holding a big bunch of wild asters, two canvas +chairs stood near by, and in one corner was a mattress +with a Mexican blanket over it. + +The room was empty, and leaning her bicycle against the +house Charity clambered up the slope and sat down on a +rock under an old apple-tree. The air was perfectly +still, and from where she sat she would be able to hear +the tinkle of a bicycle-bell a long way down the +road.... + +She was always glad when she got to the little house +before Harney. She liked to have time to take in every +detail of its secret sweetness--the shadows of the +apple-trees swaying on the grass, the old walnuts +rounding their domes below the road, the meadows +sloping westward in the afternoon light--before his +first kiss blotted it all out. Everything unrelated to +the hours spent in that tranquil place was as faint as +the remembrance of a dream. The only reality was the +wondrous unfolding of her new self, the reaching out to +the light of all her contracted tendrils. She had +lived all her life among people whose sensibilities +seemed to have withered for lack of use; and more +wonderful, at first, than Harney's endearments were the +words that were a part of them. She had always thought +of love as something confused and furtive, and he made +it as bright and open as the summer air. + +On the morrow of the day when she had shown him the way +to the deserted house he had packed up and left Creston +River for Boston; but at the first station he had +jumped on the train with a hand-bag and scrambled up +into the hills. For two golden rainless August weeks +he had camped in the house, getting eggs and milk from +the solitary farm in the valley, where no one knew him, +and doing his cooking over a spirit-lamp. He got up +every day with the sun, took a plunge in a brown pool +he knew of, and spent long hours lying in the +scented hemlock-woods above the house, or wandering +along the yoke of the Eagle Ridge, far above the misty +blue valleys that swept away east and west between the +endless hills. And in the afternoon Charity came to +him. + +With part of what was left of her savings she had hired +a bicycle for a month, and every day after dinner, as +soon as her guardian started to his office, she hurried +to the library, got out her bicycle, and flew down the +Creston road. She knew that Mr. Royall, like everyone +else in North Dormer, was perfectly aware of her +acquisition: possibly he, as well as the rest of the +village, knew what use she made of it. She did not +care: she felt him to be so powerless that if he had +questioned her she would probably have told him the +truth. But they had never spoken to each other since +the night on the wharf at Nettleton. He had returned +to North Dormer only on the third day after that +encounter, arriving just as Charity and Verena were +sitting down to supper. He had drawn up his chair, +taken his napkin from the side-board drawer, pulled it +out of its ring, and seated himself as unconcernedly as +if he had come in from his usual afternoon session +at Carrick Fry's; and the long habit of the household +made it seem almost natural that Charity should not so +much as raise her eyes when he entered. She had simply +let him understand that her silence was not accidental +by leaving the table while he was still eating, and +going up without a word to shut herself into her room. +After that he formed the habit of talking loudly and +genially to Verena whenever Charity was in the room; +but otherwise there was no apparent change in their +relations. + +She did not think connectedly of these things while she +sat waiting for Harney, but they remained in her mind +as a sullen background against which her short hours +with him flamed out like forest fires. Nothing else +mattered, neither the good nor the bad, or what might +have seemed so before she knew him. He had caught her +up and carried her away into a new world, from which, +at stated hours, the ghost of her came back to perform +certain customary acts, but all so thinly and +insubstantially that she sometimes wondered that the +people she went about among could see her.... + +Behind the swarthy Mountain the sun had gone down in +waveless gold. From a pasture up the slope a +tinkle of cow-bells sounded; a puff of smoke hung over +the farm in the valley, trailed on the pure air and was +gone. For a few minutes, in the clear light that is +all shadow, fields and woods were outlined with an +unreal precision; then the twilight blotted them out, +and the little house turned gray and spectral under its +wizened apple-branches. + +Charity's heart contracted. The first fall of night +after a day of radiance often gave her a sense of +hidden menace: it was like looking out over the world +as it would be when love had gone from it. She +wondered if some day she would sit in that same place +and watch in vain for her lover.... + +His bicycle-bell sounded down the lane, and in a minute +she was at the gate and his eyes were laughing in hers. +They walked back through the long grass, and pushed +open the door behind the house. The room at first +seemed quite dark and they had to grope their way in +hand in hand. Through the window-frame the sky looked +light by contrast, and above the black mass of asters +in the earthen jar one white star glimmered like a +moth. + +"There was such a lot to do at the last minute," Harney +was explaining, "and I had to drive down to +Creston to meet someone who has come to stay with my +cousin for the show." + +He had his arms about her, and his kisses were in her +hair and on her lips. Under his touch things deep down +in her struggled to the light and sprang up like +flowers in sunshine. She twisted her fingers into his, +and they sat down side by side on the improvised couch. +She hardly heard his excuses for being late: in his +absence a thousand doubts tormented her, but as soon as +he appeared she ceased to wonder where he had come +from, what had delayed him, who had kept him from her. +It seemed as if the places he had been in, and the +people he had been with, must cease to exist when he +left them, just as her own life was suspended in his +absence. + +He continued, now, to talk to her volubly and gaily, +deploring his lateness, grumbling at the demands on his +time, and good-humouredly mimicking Miss Hatchard's +benevolent agitation. "She hurried off Miles to ask +Mr. Royall to speak at the Town Hall tomorrow: I didn't +know till it was done." Charity was silent, and he +added: "After all, perhaps it's just as well. No one +else could have done it." + +Charity made no answer: She did not care what part +her guardian played in the morrow's ceremonies. Like +all the other figures peopling her meagre world he had +grown non-existent to her. She had even put off hating +him. + +"Tomorrow I shall only see you from far off," Harney +continued. "But in the evening there'll be the dance +in the Town Hall. Do you want me to promise not to +dance with any other girl?" + +Any other girl? Were there any others? She had +forgotten even that peril, so enclosed did he and she +seem in their secret world. Her heart gave a +frightened jerk. + +"Yes, promise." + +He laughed and took her in his arms. "You goose--not +even if they're hideous?" + +He pushed the hair from her forehead, bending her face +back, as his way was, and leaning over so that his head +loomed black between her eyes and the paleness of the +sky, in which the white star floated... + + + +Side by side they sped back along the dark wood-road to +the village. A late moon was rising, full orbed and +fiery, turning the mountain ranges from fluid gray +to a massive blackness, and making the upper sky so +light that the stars looked as faint as their own +reflections in water. At the edge of the wood, half a +mile from North Dormer, Harney jumped from his bicycle, +took Charity in his arms for a last kiss, and then +waited while she went on alone. + +They were later than usual, and instead of taking the +bicycle to the library she propped it against the back +of the wood-shed and entered the kitchen of the red +house. Verena sat there alone; when Charity came in +she looked at her with mild impenetrable eyes and then +took a plate and a glass of milk from the shelf and set +them silently on the table. Charity nodded her thanks, +and sitting down, fell hungrily upon her piece of pie +and emptied the glass. Her face burned with her quick +flight through the night, and her eyes were dazzled by +the twinkle of the kitchen lamp. She felt like a +night-bird suddenly caught and caged. + +"He ain't come back since supper," Verena said. "He's +down to the Hall." + +Charity took no notice. Her soul was still winging +through the forest. She washed her plate and tumbler, +and then felt her way up the dark stairs. When she +opened her door a wonder arrested her. Before going +out she had closed her shutters against the afternoon +heat, but they had swung partly open, and a bar of +moonlight, crossing the room, rested on her bed and +showed a dress of China silk laid out on it in virgin +whiteness. Charity had spent more than she could +afford on the dress, which was to surpass those of all +the other girls; she had wanted to let North Dormer see +that she was worthy of Harney's admiration. Above the +dress, folded on the pillow, was the white veil which +the young women who took part in the exercises were to +wear under a wreath of asters; and beside the veil a +pair of slim white satin shoes that Ally had produced +from an old trunk in which she stored mysterious +treasures. + +Charity stood gazing at all the outspread whiteness. It +recalled a vision that had come to her in the night +after her first meeting with Harney. She no longer had +such visions...warmer splendours had displaced +them...but it was stupid of Ally to have paraded all +those white things on her bed, exactly as Hattie +Targatt's wedding dress from Springfield had been +spread out for the neighbours to see when she married +Tom Fry.... + +Charity took up the satin shoes and looked at them +curiously. By day, no doubt, they would appear a +little worn, but in the moonlight they seemed carved of +ivory. She sat down on the floor to try them on, and +they fitted her perfectly, though when she stood up she +lurched a little on the high heels. She looked down at +her feet, which the graceful mould of the slippers had +marvellously arched and narrowed. She had never seen +such shoes before, even in the shop-windows at +Nettleton...never, except...yes, once, she had noticed +a pair of the same shape on Annabel Balch. + +A blush of mortification swept over her. Ally +sometimes sewed for Miss Balch when that brilliant +being descended on North Dormer, and no doubt she +picked up presents of cast-off clothing: the treasures +in the mysterious trunk all came from the people she +worked for; there could be no doubt that the white +slippers were Annabel Balch's.... + +As she stood there, staring down moodily at her feet, +she heard the triple click-click-click of a bicycle- +bell under her window. It was Harney's secret signal +as he passed on his way home. She stumbled to the +window on her high heels, flung open the shutters and +leaned out. He waved to her and sped by, his +black shadow dancing merrily ahead of him down the +empty moonlit road; and she leaned there watching him +till he vanished under the Hatchard spruces. + + + +XIII + + +THE Town Hall was crowded and exceedingly hot. As +Charity marched into it third in the white muslin file +headed by Orma Fry, she was conscious mainly of the +brilliant effect of the wreathed columns framing the +green-carpeted stage toward which she was moving; and +of the unfamiliar faces turning from the front rows to +watch the advance of the procession. + +But it was all a bewildering blur of eyes and colours +till she found herself standing at the back of the +stage, her great bunch of asters and goldenrod held +well in front of her, and answering the nervous glance +of Lambert Sollas, the organist from Mr. Miles's +church, who had come up from Nettleton to play the +harmonium and sat behind it, his conductor's eye +running over the fluttered girls. + +A moment later Mr. Miles, pink and twinkling, emerged +from the background, as if buoyed up on his broad white +gown, and briskly dominated the bowed heads in the +front rows. He prayed energetically and briefly +and then retired, and a fierce nod from Lambert Sollas +warned the girls that they were to follow at once with +"Home, Sweet Home." It was a joy to Charity to sing: it +seemed as though, for the first time, her secret +rapture might burst from her and flash its defiance at +the world. All the glow in her blood, the breath of +the summer earth, the rustle of the forest, the fresh +call of birds at sunrise, and the brooding midday +languors, seemed to pass into her untrained voice, +lifted and led by the sustaining chorus. + +And then suddenly the song was over, and after an +uncertain pause, during which Miss Hatchard's pearl- +grey gloves started a furtive signalling down the hall, +Mr. Royall, emerging in turn, ascended the steps of the +stage and appeared behind the flower-wreathed desk. He +passed close to Charity, and she noticed that his +gravely set face wore the look of majesty that used to +awe and fascinate her childhood. His frock-coat had +been carefully brushed and ironed, and the ends of his +narrow black tie were so nearly even that the tying +must have cost him a protracted struggle. His +appearance struck her all the more because it was the +first time she had looked him full in the face since +the night at Nettleton, and nothing in his grave +and impressive demeanour revealed a trace of the +lamentable figure on the wharf. + +He stood a moment behind the desk, resting his finger- +tips against it, and bending slightly toward his +audience; then he straightened himself and began. + +At first she paid no heed to what he was saying: only +fragments of sentences, sonorous quotations, allusions +to illustrious men, including the obligatory tribute to +Honorius Hatchard, drifted past her inattentive ears. +She was trying to discover Harney among the notable +people in the front row; but he was nowhere near Miss +Hatchard, who, crowned by a pearl-grey hat that matched +her gloves, sat just below the desk, supported by Mrs. +Miles and an important-looking unknown lady. Charity +was near one end of the stage, and from where she sat +the other end of the first row of seats was cut off by +the screen of foliage masking the harmonium. The +effort to see Harney around the corner of the screen, +or through its interstices, made her unconscious of +everything else; but the effort was unsuccessful, and +gradually she found her attention arrested by her +guardian's discourse. + +She had never heard him speak in public before, +but she was familiar with the rolling music of his +voice when he read aloud, or held forth to the +selectmen about the stove at Carrick Fry's. Today his +inflections were richer and graver than she had ever +known them: he spoke slowly, with pauses that seemed to +invite his hearers to silent participation in his +thought; and Charity perceived a light of response in +their faces. + +He was nearing the end of his address..."Most of you," +he said, "most of you who have returned here today, to +take contact with this little place for a brief hour, +have come only on a pious pilgrimage, and will go back +presently to busy cities and lives full of larger +duties. But that is not the only way of coming back to +North Dormer. Some of us, who went out from here in +our youth...went out, like you, to busy cities and +larger duties...have come back in another way--come +back for good. I am one of those, as many of you +know...." He paused, and there was a sense of suspense +in the listening hall. "My history is without +interest, but it has its lesson: not so much for those +of you who have already made your lives in other +places, as for the young men who are perhaps +planning even now to leave these quiet hills and go +down into the struggle. Things they cannot foresee may +send some of those young men back some day to the +little township and the old homestead: they may come +back for good...." He looked about him, and repeated +gravely: "For GOOD. There's the point I want to +make...North Dormer is a poor little place, almost lost +in a mighty landscape: perhaps, by this time, it might +have been a bigger place, and more in scale with the +landscape, if those who had to come back had come with +that feeling in their minds--that they wanted to come +back for GOOD...and not for bad...or just for +indifference.... + +"Gentlemen, let us look at things as they are. Some of +us have come back to our native town because we'd +failed to get on elsewhere. One way or other, things +had gone wrong with us...what we'd dreamed of hadn't +come true. But the fact that we had failed elsewhere +is no reason why we should fail here. Our very +experiments in larger places, even if they were +unsuccessful, ought to have helped us to make North +Dormer a larger place...and you young men who are +preparing even now to follow the call of ambition, and +turn your back on the old homes--well, let me say +this to you, that if ever you do come back to them it's +worth while to come back to them for their good....And +to do that, you must keep on loving them while you're +away from them; and even if you come back against your +will--and thinking it's all a bitter mistake of Fate or +Providence--you must try to make the best of it, and to +make the best of your old town; and after a while-- +well, ladies and gentlemen, I give you my recipe for +what it's worth; after a while, I believe you'll be +able to say, as I can say today: 'I'm glad I'm here.' +Believe me, all of you, the best way to help the places +we live in is to be glad we live there." + +He stopped, and a murmur of emotion and surprise ran +through the audience. It was not in the least what +they had expected, but it moved them more than what +they had expected would have moved them. "Hear, hear!" +a voice cried out in the middle of the hall. An +outburst of cheers caught up the cry, and as they +subsided Charity heard Mr. Miles saying to someone near +him: "That was a MAN talking----" He wiped his +spectacles. + +Mr. Royall had stepped back from the desk, and +taken his seat in the row of chairs in front of +the harmonium. A dapper white-haired gentleman--a +distant Hatchard--succeeded him behind the goldenrod, +and began to say beautiful things about the old oaken +bucket, patient white-haired mothers, and where the +boys used to go nutting...and Charity began again to +search for Harney.... + +Suddenly Mr. Royall pushed back his seat, and one of +the maple branches in front of the harmonium collapsed +with a crash. It uncovered the end of the first row +and in one of the seats Charity saw Harney, and in the +next a lady whose face was turned toward him, and +almost hidden by the brim of her drooping hat. Charity +did not need to see the face. She knew at a glance the +slim figure, the fair hair heaped up under the hat- +brim, the long pale wrinkled gloves with bracelets +slipping over them. At the fall of the branch Miss +Balch turned her head toward the stage, and in her +pretty thin-lipped smile there lingered the reflection +of something her neighbour had been whispering to +her.... + +Someone came forward to replace the fallen branch, and +Miss Balch and Harney were once more hidden. But to +Charity the vision of their two faces had blotted +out everything. In a flash they had shown her the bare +reality of her situation. Behind the frail screen of +her lover's caresses was the whole inscrutable mystery +of his life: his relations with other people--with +other women--his opinions, his prejudices, his +principles, the net of influences and interests and +ambitions in which every man's life is entangled. Of +all these she knew nothing, except what he had told her +of his architectural aspirations. She had always dimly +guessed him to be in touch with important people, +involved in complicated relations--but she felt it all +to be so far beyond her understanding that the whole +subject hung like a luminous mist on the farthest verge +of her thoughts. In the foreground, hiding all else, +there was the glow of his presence, the light and +shadow of his face, the way his short-sighted eyes, at +her approach, widened and deepened as if to draw her +down into them; and, above all, the flush of youth and +tenderness in which his words enclosed her. + +Now she saw him detached from her, drawn back into the +unknown, and whispering to another girl things that +provoked the same smile of mischievous complicity he +had so often called to her own lips. The feeling +possessing her was not one of jealousy: she was too +sure of his love. It was rather a terror of the +unknown, of all the mysterious attractions that must +even now be dragging him away from her, and of her own +powerlessness to contend with them. + +She had given him all she had--but what was it compared +to the other gifts life held for him? She understood +now the case of girls like herself to whom this kind of +thing happened. They gave all they had, but their all +was not enough: it could not buy more than a few +moments.... + +The heat had grown suffocating--she felt it descend on +her in smothering waves, and the faces in the crowded +hall began to dance like the pictures flashed on the +screen at Nettleton. For an instant Mr. Royall's +countenance detached itself from the general blur. He +had resumed his place in front of the harmonium, and +sat close to her, his eyes on her face; and his look +seemed to pierce to the very centre of her confused +sensations....A feeling of physical sickness rushed +over her--and then deadly apprehension. The light of +the fiery hours in the little house swept back on her +in a glare of fear.... + +She forced herself to look away from her guardian, +and became aware that the oratory of the Hatchard +cousin had ceased, and that Mr. Miles was again +flapping his wings. Fragments of his peroration +floated through her bewildered brain...."A rich harvest +of hallowed memories....A sanctified hour to which, in +moments of trial, your thoughts will prayerfully +return....And now, O Lord, let us humbly and fervently +give thanks for this blessed day of reunion, here in +the old home to which we have come back from so far. +Preserve it to us, O Lord, in times to come, in all its +homely sweetness--in the kindliness and wisdom of its +old people, in the courage and industry of its young +men, in the piety and purity of this group of innocent +girls----" He flapped a white wing in their direction, +and at the same moment Lambert Sollas, with his fierce +nod, struck the opening bars of "Auld Lang +Syne."...Charity stared straight ahead of her and then, +dropping her flowers, fell face downward at Mr. +Royall's feet. + + + +XIV + + +NORTH DORMER'S celebration naturally included the +villages attached to its township, and the festivities +were to radiate over the whole group, from Dormer and +the two Crestons to Hamblin, the lonely hamlet on the +north slope of the Mountain where the first snow always +fell. On the third day there were speeches and +ceremonies at Creston and Creston River; on the fourth +the principal performers were to be driven in buck- +boards to Dormer and Hamblin. + +It was on the fourth day that Charity returned for the +first time to the little house. She had not seen +Harney alone since they had parted at the wood's edge +the night before the celebrations began. In the +interval she had passed through many moods, but for the +moment the terror which had seized her in the Town Hall +had faded to the edge of consciousness. She had +fainted because the hall was stiflingly hot, and +because the speakers had gone on and on....Several +other people had been affected by the heat, and +had had to leave before the exercises were over. There +had been thunder in the air all the afternoon, and +everyone said afterward that something ought to have +been done to ventilate the hall.... + +At the dance that evening--where she had gone +reluctantly, and only because she feared to stay away, +she had sprung back into instant reassurance. As soon +as she entered she had seen Harney waiting for her, and +he had come up with kind gay eyes, and swept her off in +a waltz. Her feet were full of music, and though her +only training had been with the village youths she had +no difficulty in tuning her steps to his. As they +circled about the floor all her vain fears dropped from +her, and she even forgot that she was probably dancing +in Annabel Balch's slippers. + +When the waltz was over Harney, with a last hand-clasp, +left her to meet Miss Hatchard and Miss Balch, who were +just entering. Charity had a moment of anguish as Miss +Balch appeared; but it did not last. The triumphant +fact of her own greater beauty, and of Harney's sense +of it, swept her apprehensions aside. Miss Balch, in +an unbecoming dress, looked sallow and pinched, and +Charity fancied there was a worried expression in +her pale-lashed eyes. She took a seat near Miss +Hatchard and it was presently apparent that she did not +mean to dance. Charity did not dance often either. +Harney explained to her that Miss Hatchard had begged +him to give each of the other girls a turn; but he went +through the form of asking Charity's permission each +time he led one out, and that gave her a sense of +secret triumph even completer than when she was +whirling about the room with him. + +She was thinking of all this as she waited for him in +the deserted house. The late afternoon was sultry, and +she had tossed aside her hat and stretched herself at +full length on the Mexican blanket because it was +cooler indoors than under the trees. She lay with her +arms folded beneath her head, gazing out at the shaggy +shoulder of the Mountain. The sky behind it was full +of the splintered glories of the descending sun, and +before long she expected to hear Harney's bicycle-bell +in the lane. He had bicycled to Hamblin, instead of +driving there with his cousin and her friends, so that +he might be able to make his escape earlier and stop on +the way back at the deserted house, which was on +the road to Hamblin. They had smiled together at the +joke of hearing the crowded buck-boards roll by on the +return, while they lay close in their hiding above the +road. Such childish triumphs still gave her a sense of +reckless security. + +Nevertheless she had not wholly forgotten the vision of +fear that had opened before her in the Town Hall. The +sense of lastingness was gone from her and every moment +with Harney would now be ringed with doubt. + +The Mountain was turning purple against a fiery sunset +from which it seemed to be divided by a knife-edge of +quivering light; and above this wall of flame the whole +sky was a pure pale green, like some cold mountain lake +in shadow. Charity lay gazing up at it, and watching +for the first white star.... + +Her eyes were still fixed on the upper reaches of the +sky when she became aware that a shadow had flitted +across the glory-flooded room: it must have been Harney +passing the window against the sunset....She half +raised herself, and then dropped back on her folded +arms. The combs had slipped from her hair, and it +trailed in a rough dark rope across her breast. She +lay quite still, a sleepy smile on her lips, her +indolent lids half shut. There was a fumbling at the +padlock and she called out: "Have you slipped the +chain?" The door opened, and Mr. Royall walked into the +room. + +She started up, sitting back against the cushions, and +they looked at each other without speaking. Then Mr. +Royall closed the door-latch and advanced a few steps. + +Charity jumped to her feet. "What have you come for?" +she stammered. + +The last glare of the sunset was on her guardian's +face, which looked ash-coloured in the yellow radiance. + +"Because I knew you were here," he answered simply. + +She had become conscious of the hair hanging loose +across her breast, and it seemed as though she could +not speak to him till she had set herself in order. She +groped for her comb, and tried to fasten up the coil. +Mr. Royall silently watched her. + +"Charity," he said, "he'll be here in a minute. Let me +talk to you first." + +"You've got no right to talk to me. I can do what I +please." + +"Yes. What is it you mean to do?" + +"I needn't answer that, or anything else." + +He had glanced away, and stood looking curiously about +the illuminated room. Purple asters and red maple- +leaves filled the jar on the table; on a shelf against +the wall stood a lamp, the kettle, a little pile of +cups and saucers. The canvas chairs were grouped +about the table. + +"So this is where you meet," he said. + +His tone was quiet and controlled, and the fact +disconcerted her. She had been ready to give him +violence for violence, but this calm acceptance of +things as they were left her without a weapon. + +"See here, Charity--you're always telling me I've got +no rights over you. There might be two ways of looking +at that--but I ain't going to argue it. All I know is +I raised you as good as I could, and meant fairly by +you always except once, for a bad half-hour. There's +no justice in weighing that half-hour against the rest, +and you know it. If you hadn't, you wouldn't have gone +on living under my roof. Seems to me the fact of your +doing that gives me some sort of a right; the right to +try and keep you out of trouble. I'm not asking you to +consider any other." + +She listened in silence, and then gave a slight +laugh. "Better wait till I'm in trouble," she +said. He paused a moment, as if weighing her words. +"Is that all your answer?" + +"Yes, that's all." + +"Well--I'll wait." + +He turned away slowly, but as he did so the thing she +had been waiting for happened; the door opened again +and Harney entered. + +He stopped short with a face of astonishment, and then, +quickly controlling himself, went up to Mr. Royall with +a frank look. + +"Have you come to see me, sir?" he said coolly, +throwing his cap on the table with an air of +proprietorship. + +Mr. Royall again looked slowly about the room; then his +eyes turned to the young man. + +"Is this your house?" he inquired. + +Harney laughed: "Well--as much as it's anybody's. I +come here to sketch occasionally." + +"And to receive Miss Royall's visits?" + +"When she does me the honour----" + +"Is this the home you propose to bring her to when you +get married?" + +There was an immense and oppressive silence. Charity, +quivering with anger, started forward, and then +stood silent, too humbled for speech. Harney's eyes +had dropped under the old man's gaze; but he raised +them presently, and looking steadily at Mr. Royall, +said: "Miss Royall is not a child. Isn't it rather +absurd to talk of her as if she were? I believe she +considers herself free to come and go as she pleases, +without any questions from anyone." He paused and +added: "I'm ready to answer any she wishes to ask me." + +Mr. Royall turned to her. "Ask him when he's going to +marry you, then----" There was another silence, and he +laughed in his turn--a broken laugh, with a scraping +sound in it. "You darsn't!" he shouted out with sudden +passion. He went close up to Charity, his right arm +lifted, not in menace but in tragic exhortation. + +"You darsn't, and you know it--and you know why!" He +swung back again upon the young man. "And you know why +you ain't asked her to marry you, and why you don't +mean to. It's because you hadn't need to; nor any +other man either. I'm the only one that was fool +enough not to know that; and I guess nobody'll repeat +my mistake--not in Eagle County, anyhow. They all know +what she is, and what she came from. They all know her +mother was a woman of the town from Nettleton, +that followed one of those Mountain fellows up to his +place and lived there with him like a heathen. I saw +her there sixteen years ago, when I went to bring this +child down. I went to save her from the kind of life +her mother was leading--but I'd better have left her in +the kennel she came from...." He paused and stared +darkly at the two young people, and out beyond them, at +the menacing Mountain with its rim of fire; then he sat +down beside the table on which they had so often spread +their rustic supper, and covered his face with his +hands. Harney leaned in the window, a frown on his +face: he was twirling between his fingers a small +package that dangled from a loop of string....Charity +heard Mr. Royall draw a hard breath or two, and his +shoulders shook a little. Presently he stood up and +walked across the room. He did not look again at the +young people: they saw him feel his way to the door and +fumble for the latch; and then he went out into the +darkness. + +After he had gone there was a long silence. Charity +waited for Harney to speak; but he seemed at first not +to find anything to say. At length he broke out +irrelevantly: "I wonder how he found out?" + +She made no answer and he tossed down the package he +had been holding, and went up to her. + +"I'm so sorry, dear...that this should have +happened...." + +She threw her head back proudly. "I ain't ever been +sorry--not a minute!" + +"No." + +She waited to be caught into his arms, but he turned +away from her irresolutely. The last glow was gone +from behind the Mountain. Everything in the room had +turned grey and indistinct, and an autumnal dampness +crept up from the hollow below the orchard, laying its +cold touch on their flushed faces. Harney walked the +length of the room, and then turned back and sat down +at the table. + +"Come," he said imperiously. + +She sat down beside him, and he untied the string about +the package and spread out a pile of sandwiches. + +"I stole them from the love-feast at Hamblin," he said +with a laugh, pushing them over to her. She laughed +too, and took one, and began to eat + +"Didn't you make the tea?" + +"No," she said. "I forgot----" + +"Oh, well--it's too late to boil the water now." He +said nothing more, and sitting opposite to each other +they went on silently eating the sandwiches. Darkness +had descended in the little room, and Harney's face was +a dim blur to Charity. Suddenly he leaned across the +table and laid his hand on hers. + +"I shall have to go off for a while--a month or two, +perhaps--to arrange some things; and then I'll come +back...and we'll get married." + +His voice seemed like a stranger's: nothing was left in +it of the vibrations she knew. Her hand lay inertly +under his, and she left it there, and raised her head, +trying to answer him. But the words died in her +throat. They sat motionless, in their attitude of +confident endearment, as if some strange death had +surprised them. At length Harney sprang to his feet +with a slight shiver. "God! it's damp--we couldn't +have come here much longer." He went to the shelf, took +down a tin candle-stick and lit the candle; then he +propped an unhinged shutter against the empty window- +frame and put the candle on the table. It threw a +queer shadow on his frowning forehead, and made the +smile on his lips a grimace. + +"But it's been good, though, hasn't it, +Charity?...What's the matter--why do you stand there +staring at me? Haven't the days here been good?" He +went up to her and caught her to his breast. "And +there'll be others--lots of others...jollier...even +jollier...won't there, darling?" + +He turned her head back, feeling for the curve of her +throat below the ear, and kissing here there, and on +the hair and eyes and lips. She clung to him +desperately, and as he drew her to his knees on the +couch she felt as if they were being sucked down +together into some bottomless abyss. + + + +XV + + +That night, as usual, they said good-bye at the wood's +edge. + +Harney was to leave the next morning early. He asked +Charity to say nothing of their plans till his return, +and, strangely even to herself, she was glad of the +postponement. A leaden weight of shame hung on her, +benumbing every other sensation, and she bade him good- +bye with hardly a sign of emotion. His reiterated +promises to return seemed almost wounding. She had no +doubt that he intended to come back; her doubts were +far deeper and less definable. + +Since the fanciful vision of the future that had +flitted through her imagination at their first meeting +she had hardly ever thought of his marrying her. She +had not had to put the thought from her mind; it had +not been there. If ever she looked ahead she felt +instinctively that the gulf between them was too deep, +and that the bridge their passion had flung across it +was as insubstantial as a rainbow. But she seldom +looked ahead; each day was so rich that it absorbed +her....Now her first feeling was that everything would +be different, and that she herself would be a different +being to Harney. Instead of remaining separate and +absolute, she would be compared with other people, and +unknown things would be expected of her. She was too +proud to be afraid, but the freedom of her spirit +drooped.... + +Harney had not fixed any date for his return; he had +said he would have to look about first, and settle +things. He had promised to write as soon as there was +anything definite to say, and had left her his address, +and asked her to write also. But the address +frightened her. It was in New York, at a club with a +long name in Fifth Avenue: it seemed to raise an +insurmountable barrier between them. Once or twice, in +the first days, she got out a sheet of paper, and sat +looking at it, and trying to think what to say; but she +had the feeling that her letter would never reach its +destination. She had never written to anyone farther +away than Hepburn. + +Harney's first letter came after he had been gone about +ten days. It was tender but grave, and bore no +resemblance to the gay little notes he had sent her by +the freckled boy from Creston River. He spoke +positively of his intention of coming back, but named +no date, and reminded Charity of their agreement that +their plans should not be divulged till he had had time +to "settle things." When that would be he could not yet +foresee; but she could count on his returning as soon +as the way was clear. + +She read the letter with a strange sense of its coming +from immeasurable distances and having lost most of its +meaning on the way; and in reply she sent him a +coloured postcard of Creston Falls, on which she wrote: +"With love from Charity." She felt the pitiful +inadequacy of this, and understood, with a sense of +despair, that in her inability to express herself she +must give him an impression of coldness and reluctance; +but she could not help it. She could not forget that +he had never spoken to her of marriage till Mr. Royall +had forced the word from his lips; though she had not +had the strength to shake off the spell that bound her +to him she had lost all spontaneity of feeling, and +seemed to herself to be passively awaiting a fate she +could not avert. + +She had not seen Mr. Royall on her return to the +red house. The morning after her parting from Harney, +when she came down from her room, Verena told her that +her guardian had gone off to Worcester and Portland. +It was the time of year when he usually reported to the +insurance agencies he represented, and there was +nothing unusual in his departure except its suddenness. +She thought little about him, except to be glad he was +not there.... + +She kept to herself for the first days, while North +Dormer was recovering from its brief plunge into +publicity, and the subsiding agitation left her +unnoticed. But the faithful Ally could not be long +avoided. For the first few days after the close of the +Old Home Week festivities Charity escaped her by +roaming the hills all day when she was not at her post +in the library; but after that a period of rain set in, +and one pouring afternoon, Ally, sure that she would +find her friend indoors, came around to the red house +with her sewing. + +The two girls sat upstairs in Charity's room. Charity, +her idle hands in her lap, was sunk in a kind of leaden +dream, through which she was only half-conscious of +Ally, who sat opposite her in a low rush-bottomed +chair, her work pinned to her knee, and her thin lips +pursed up as she bent above it. + +"It was my idea running a ribbon through the gauging," +she said proudly, drawing back to contemplate the +blouse she was trimming. "It's for Miss Balch: she was +awfully pleased." She paused and then added, with a +queer tremor in her piping voice: "I darsn't have told +her I got the idea from one I saw on Julia." + +Charity raised her eyes listlessly. "Do you still see +Julia sometimes?" + +Ally reddened, as if the allusion had escaped her +unintentionally. "Oh, it was a long time ago I seen +her with those gaugings...." + +Silence fell again, and Ally presently continued: "Miss +Balch left me a whole lot of things to do over this +time." + +"Why--has she gone?" Charity inquired with an inner +start of apprehension. + +"Didn't you know? She went off the morning after they +had the celebration at Hamblin. I seen her drive by +early with Mr. Harney." + +There was another silence, measured by the steady tick +of the rain against the window, and, at intervals, by +the snipping sound of Ally's scissors. + +Ally gave a meditative laugh. "Do you know what +she told me before she went away? She told me she was +going to send for me to come over to Springfield and +make some things for her wedding." + +Charity again lifted her heavy lids and stared at +Ally's pale pointed face, which moved to and fro above +her moving fingers. + +"Is she going to get married?" + +Ally let the blouse sink to her knee, and sat gazing at +it. Her lips seemed suddenly dry, and she moistened +them a little with her tongue. + +"Why, I presume so...from what she said....Didn't you +know?" + +"Why should I know?" + +Ally did not answer. She bent above the blouse, and +began picking out a basting thread with the point of +the scissors. + +"Why should I know?" Charity repeated harshly. + +"I didn't know but what...folks here say she's engaged +to Mr. Harney." + +Charity stood up with a laugh, and stretched her arms +lazily above her head. + +"If all the people got married that folks say are +going to you'd have your time full making wedding- +dresses," she said ironically. + +"Why--don't you believe it?" Ally ventured. + +"It would not make it true if I did--nor prevent it if +I didn't." + +"That's so....I only know I seen her crying the night +of the party because her dress didn't set right. That +was why she wouldn't dance any...." + +Charity stood absently gazing down at the lacy garment +on Ally's knee. Abruptly she stooped and snatched it +up. + +"Well, I guess she won't dance in this either," she +said with sudden violence; and grasping the blouse in +her strong young hands she tore it in two and flung the +tattered bits to the floor. + +"Oh, Charity----" Ally cried, springing up. For a long +interval the two girls faced each other across the +ruined garment. Ally burst into tears. + +"Oh, what'll I say to her? What'll I do? It was real +lace!" she wailed between her piping sobs. + +Charity glared at her unrelentingly. "You'd oughtn't +to have brought it here," she said, breathing quickly. +"I hate other people's clothes--it's just as if they +was there themselves." The two stared at each other +again over this avowal, till Charity brought out, +in a gasp of anguish: "Oh, go--go--go--or I'll hate you +too...." + +When Ally left her, she fell sobbing across her bed. + +The long storm was followed by a north-west gale, and +when it was over, the hills took on their first umber +tints, the sky grew more densely blue, and the big +white clouds lay against the hills like snow-banks. The +first crisp maple-leaves began to spin across Miss +Hatchard's lawn, and the Virginia creeper on the +Memorial splashed the white porch with scarlet. It was +a golden triumphant September. Day by day the flame of +the Virginia creeper spread to the hillsides in wider +waves of carmine and crimson, the larches glowed like +the thin yellow halo about a fire, the maples blazed +and smouldered, and the black hemlocks turned to indigo +against the incandescence of the forest. + +The nights were cold, with a dry glitter of stars so +high up that they seemed smaller and more vivid. +Sometimes, as Charity lay sleepless on her bed through +the long hours, she felt as though she were bound to +those wheeling fires and swinging with them around the +great black vault. At night she planned many +things...it was then she wrote to Harney. But the +letters were never put on paper, for she did not know +how to express what she wanted to tell him. So she +waited. Since her talk with Ally she had felt sure +that Harney was engaged to Annabel Balch, and that the +process of "settling things" would involve the breaking +of this tie. Her first rage of jealousy over, she felt +no fear on this score. She was still sure that Harney +would come back, and she was equally sure that, for the +moment at least, it was she whom he loved and not Miss +Balch. Yet the girl, no less, remained a rival, since +she represented all the things that Charity felt +herself most incapable of understanding or achieving. +Annabel Balch was, if not the girl Harney ought to +marry, at least the kind of girl it would be natural +for him to marry. Charity had never been able to +picture herself as his wife; had never been able to +arrest the vision and follow it out in its daily +consequences; but she could perfectly imagine Annabel +Balch in that relation to him. + +The more she thought of these things the more the sense +of fatality weighed on her: she felt the uselessness of +struggling against the circumstances. She had never +known how to adapt herself; she could only break +and tear and destroy. The scene with Ally had left her +stricken with shame at her own childish savagery. What +would Harney have thought if he had witnessed it? But +when she turned the incident over in her puzzled mind +she could not imagine what a civilized person would +have done in her place. She felt herself too unequally +pitted against unknown forces.... + +At length this feeling moved her to sudden action. She +took a sheet of letter paper from Mr. Royall's office, +and sitting by the kitchen lamp, one night after Verena +had gone to bed, began her first letter to Harney. It +was very short: + + +I want you should marry Annabel Balch if you promised +to. I think maybe you were afraid I'd feel too bad +about it. I feel I'd rather you acted right. + Your loving + CHARITY. + + +She posted the letter early the next morning, and for a +few days her heart felt strangely light. Then she +began to wonder why she received no answer. + +One day as she sat alone in the library pondering these +things the walls of books began to spin around her, and +the rosewood desk to rock under her elbows. The +dizziness was followed by a wave of nausea like that +she had felt on the day of the exercises in the Town +Hall. But the Town Hall had been crowded and +stiflingly hot, and the library was empty, and so +chilly that she had kept on her jacket. Five minutes +before she had felt perfectly well; and now it seemed +as if she were going to die. The bit of lace at which +she still languidly worked dropped from her fingers, +and the steel crochet hook clattered to the floor. She +pressed her temples hard between her damp hands, +steadying herself against the desk while the wave of +sickness swept over her. Little by little it subsided, +and after a few minutes she stood up, shaken and +terrified, groped for her hat, and stumbled out into +the air. But the whole sunlit autumn whirled, reeled +and roared around her as she dragged herself along the +interminable length of the road home. + +As she approached the red house she saw a buggy +standing at the door, and her heart gave a leap. But +it was only Mr. Royall who got out, his travelling-bag +in hand. He saw her coming, and waited in the porch. +She was conscious that he was looking at her intently, +as if there was something strange in her appearance, +and she threw back her head with a desperate +effort at ease. Their eyes met, and she said: "You +back?" as if nothing had happened, and he answered: +"Yes, I'm back," and walked in ahead of her, pushing +open the door of his office. She climbed to her room, +every step of the stairs holding her fast as if her +feet were lined with glue. + +Two days later, she descended from the train at +Nettleton, and walked out of the station into the dusty +square. The brief interval of cold weather was over, +and the day was as soft, and almost as hot, as when she +and Harney had emerged on the same scene on the Fourth +of July. In the square the same broken-down hacks and +carry-alls stood drawn up in a despondent line, and the +lank horses with fly-nets over their withers swayed +their heads drearily to and fro. She recognized the +staring signs over the eating-houses and billiard +saloons, and the long lines of wires on lofty poles +tapering down the main street to the park at its other +end. Taking the way the wires pointed, she went on +hastily, with bent head, till she reached a wide +transverse street with a brick building at the corner. +She crossed this street and glanced furtively up at the +front of the brick building; then she returned, +and entered a door opening on a flight of steep +brass-rimmed stairs. On the second landing she rang a +bell, and a mulatto girl with a bushy head and a +frilled apron let her into a hall where a stuffed fox +on his hind legs proffered a brass card-tray to +visitors. At the back of the hall was a glazed door +marked: "Office." After waiting a few minutes in a +handsomely furnished room, with plush sofas surmounted +by large gold-framed photographs of showy young women, +Charity was shown into the office.... + + + +When she came out of the glazed door Dr. Merkle +followed, and led her into another room, smaller, and +still more crowded with plush and gold frames. Dr. +Merkle was a plump woman with small bright eyes, an +immense mass of black hair coming down low on her +forehead, and unnaturally white and even teeth. She +wore a rich black dress, with gold chains and charms +hanging from her bosom. Her hands were large and +smooth, and quick in all their movements; and she smelt +of musk and carbolic acid. + +She smiled on Charity with all her faultless teeth. +"Sit down, my dear. Wouldn't you like a little +drop of something to pick you up?...No....Well, +just lay back a minute then....There's nothing to be +done just yet; but in about a month, if you'll step +round again...I could take you right into my own house +for two or three days, and there wouldn't be a mite of +trouble. Mercy me! The next time you'll know better'n +to fret like this...." + +Charity gazed at her with widening eyes. This woman +with the false hair, the false teeth, the false +murderous smile--what was she offering her but immunity +from some unthinkable crime? Charity, till then, had +been conscious only of a vague self-disgust and a +frightening physical distress; now, of a sudden, there +came to her the grave surprise of motherhood. She had +come to this dreadful place because she knew of no +other way of making sure that she was not mistaken +about her state; and the woman had taken her for a +miserable creature like Julia....The thought was so +horrible that she sprang up, white and shaking, one of +her great rushes of anger sweeping over her. + +Dr. Merkle, still smiling, also rose. "Why do you run +off in such a hurry? You can stretch out right here on +my sofa...." She paused, and her smile grew more +motherly. "Afterwards--if there's been any talk at +home, and you want to get away for a while...I have a +lady friend in Boston who's looking for a +companion...you're the very one to suit her, my +dear...." + +Charity had reached the door. "I don't want to stay. I +don't want to come back here," she stammered, her hand +on the knob; but with a swift movement, Dr. Merkle +edged her from the threshold. + +"Oh, very well. Five dollars, please." + +Charity looked helplessly at the doctor's tight lips +and rigid face. Her last savings had gone in repaying +Ally for the cost of Miss Balch's ruined blouse, and +she had had to borrow four dollars from her friend to +pay for her railway ticket and cover the doctor's fee. +It had never occurred to her that medical advice could +cost more than two dollars. + +"I didn't know...I haven't got that much..." she +faltered, bursting into tears. + +Dr. Merkle gave a short laugh which did not show her +teeth, and inquired with concision if Charity supposed +she ran the establishment for her own amusement? She +leaned her firm shoulders against the door as she +spoke, like a grim gaoler making terms with her +captive. + +"You say you'll come round and settle later? I've heard +that pretty often too. Give me your address, and if +you can't pay me I'll send the bill to your +folks....What? I can't understand what you say....That +don't suit you either? My, you're pretty particular for +a girl that ain't got enough to settle her own +bills...." She paused, and fixed her eyes on the brooch +with a blue stone that Charity had pinned to her +blouse. + +"Ain't you ashamed to talk that way to a lady that's +got to earn her living, when you go about with +jewellery like that on you?...It ain't in my line, and +I do it only as a favour...but if you're a mind to +leave that brooch as a pledge, I don't say no....Yes, +of course, you can get it back when you bring me my +money...." + + + +On the way home, she felt an immense and unexpected +quietude. It had been horrible to have to leave +Harney's gift in the woman's hands, but even at that +price the news she brought away had not been too dearly +bought. She sat with half-closed eyes as the train +rushed through the familiar landscape; and now the +memories of her former journey, instead of flying +before her like dead leaves, seemed to be ripening in +her blood like sleeping grain. She would never again +know what it was to feel herself alone. Everything +seemed to have grown suddenly clear and simple. She no +longer had any difficulty in picturing herself as +Harney's wife now that she was the mother of his child; +and compared to her sovereign right Annabel Balch's +claim seemed no more than a girl's sentimental fancy. + + + +That evening, at the gate of the red house, she found +Ally waiting in the dusk. "I was down at the post- +office just as they were closing up, and Will Targatt +said there was a letter for you, so I brought it." + +Ally held out the letter, looking at Charity with +piercing sympathy. Since the scene of the torn blouse +there had been a new and fearful admiration in the eyes +she bent on her friend. + +Charity snatched the letter with a laugh. "Oh, thank +you--good-night," she called out over her shoulder as +she ran up the path. If she had lingered a moment she +knew she would have had Ally at her heels. + +She hurried upstairs and felt her way into her +dark room. Her hands trembled as she groped for the +matches and lit her candle, and the flap of the +envelope was so closely stuck that she had to find her +scissors and slit it open. At length she read: + + +DEAR CHARITY: + +I have your letter, and it touches me more than I can +say. Won't you trust me, in return, to do my best? +There are things it is hard to explain, much less to +justify; but your generosity makes everything easier. +All I can do now is to thank you from my soul for +understanding. Your telling me that you wanted me to +do right has helped me beyond expression. If ever +there is a hope of realizing what we dreamed of you +will see me back on the instant; and I haven't yet lost +that hope. + + +She read the letter with a rush; then she went over and +over it, each time more slowly and painstakingly. It +was so beautifully expressed that she found it almost +as difficult to understand as the gentleman's +explanation of the Bible pictures at Nettleton; but +gradually she became aware that the gist of its meaning +lay in the last few words. "If ever there is a hope of +realizing what we dreamed of..." + +But then he wasn't even sure of that? She +understood now that every word and every reticence was +an avowal of Annabel Balch's prior claim. It was true +that he was engaged to her, and that he had not yet +found a way of breaking his engagement. + +As she read the letter over Charity understood what it +must have cost him to write it. He was not trying to +evade an importunate claim; he was honestly and +contritely struggling between opposing duties. She did +not even reproach him in her thoughts for having +concealed from her that he was not free: she could not +see anything more reprehensible in his conduct than in +her own. From the first she had needed him more than +he had wanted her, and the power that had swept them +together had been as far beyond resistance as a great +gale loosening the leaves of the forest....Only, there +stood between them, fixed and upright in the general +upheaval, the indestructible figure of Annabel +Balch.... + +Face to face with his admission of the fact, she sat +staring at the letter. A cold tremor ran over her, and +the hard sobs struggled up into her throat and shook +her from head to foot. For a while she was caught +and tossed on great waves of anguish that left her +hardly conscious of anything but the blind struggle +against their assaults. Then, little by little, she +began to relive, with a dreadful poignancy, each +separate stage of her poor romance. Foolish things she +had said came back to her, gay answers Harney had made, +his first kiss in the darkness between the fireworks, +their choosing the blue brooch together, the way he had +teased her about the letters she had dropped in her +flight from the evangelist. All these memories, and a +thousand others, hummed through her brain till his +nearness grew so vivid that she felt his fingers in her +hair, and his warm breath on her cheek as he bent her +head back like a flower. These things were hers; they +had passed into her blood, and become a part of her, +they were building the child in her womb; it was +impossible to tear asunder strands of life so +interwoven. + +The conviction gradually strengthened her, and she +began to form in her mind the first words of the letter +she meant to write to Harney. She wanted to write it +at once, and with feverish hands she began to rummage +in her drawer for a sheet of letter paper. But there +was none left; she must go downstairs to get it. +She had a superstitious feeling that the letter must be +written on the instant, that setting down her secret in +words would bring her reassurance and safety; and +taking up her candle she went down to Mr. Royall's +office. + +At that hour she was not likely to find him there: he +had probably had his supper and walked over to Carrick +Fry's. She pushed open the door of the unlit room, and +the light of her lifted candle fell on his figure, +seated in the darkness in his high-backed chair. His +arms lay along the arms of the chair, and his head was +bent a little; but he lifted it quickly as Charity +entered. She started back as their eyes met, +remembering that her own were red with weeping, and +that her face was livid with the fatigue and emotion of +her journey. But it was too late to escape, and she +stood and looked at him in silence. + +He had risen from his chair, and came toward her with +outstretched hands. The gesture was so unexpected that +she let him take her hands in his and they stood thus, +without speaking, till Mr. Royall said gravely: +"Charity--was you looking for me?" + +She freed herself abruptly and fell back. "Me? No----" +She set down the candle on his desk. "I wanted +some letter-paper, that's all." His face contracted, +and the bushy brows jutted forward over his eyes. +Without answering he opened the drawer of the desk, +took out a sheet of paper and an envelope, and pushed +them toward her. "Do you want a stamp too?" he asked. + +She nodded, and he gave her the stamp. As he did so +she felt that he was looking at her intently, and she +knew that the candle light flickering up on her white +face must be distorting her swollen features and +exaggerating the dark rings about her eyes. She +snatched up the paper, her reassurance dissolving under +his pitiless gaze, in which she seemed to read the grim +perception of her state, and the ironic recollection of +the day when, in that very room, he had offered to +compel Harney to marry her. His look seemed to say +that he knew she had taken the paper to write to her +lover, who had left her as he had warned her she would +be left. She remembered the scorn with which she had +turned from him that day, and knew, if he guessed the +truth, what a list of old scores it must settle. She +turned and fled upstairs; but when she got back to her +room all the words that had been waiting had +vanished.... + +If she could have gone to Harney it would have +been different; she would only have had to show herself +to let his memories speak for her. But she had no +money left, and there was no one from whom she could +have borrowed enough for such a journey. There was +nothing to do but to write, and await his reply. For a +long time she sat bent above the blank page; but she +found nothing to say that really expressed what she was +feeling.... + +Harney had written that she had made it easier for him, +and she was glad it was so; she did not want to make +things hard. She knew she had it in her power to do +that; she held his fate in her hands. All she had to +do was to tell him the truth; but that was the very +fact that held her back....Her five minutes face to +face with Mr. Royall had stripped her of her last +illusion, and brought her back to North Dormer's point +of view. Distinctly and pitilessly there rose before +her the fate of the girl who was married "to make +things right." She had seen too many village love- +stories end in that way. Poor Rose Coles's miserable +marriage was of the number; and what good had come of +it for her or for Halston Skeff? They had hated each +other from the day the minister married them; and +whenever old Mrs. Skeff had a fancy to humiliate her +daughter-in-law she had only to say: "Who'd ever think +the baby's only two? And for a seven months' child-- +ain't it a wonder what a size he is?" North Dormer had +treasures of indulgence for brands in the burning, but +only derision for those who succeeded in getting +snatched from it; and Charity had always understood +Julia Hawes's refusal to be snatched.... + +Only--was there no alternative but Julia's? Her soul +recoiled from the vision of the white-faced woman among +the plush sofas and gilt frames. In the established +order of things as she knew them she saw no place for +her individual adventure.... + +She sat in her chair without undressing till faint grey +streaks began to divide the black slats of the +shutters. Then she stood up and pushed them open, +letting in the light. The coming of a new day brought +a sharper consciousness of ineluctable reality, and +with it a sense of the need of action. She looked at +herself in the glass, and saw her face, white in the +autumn dawn, with pinched cheeks and dark-ringed eyes, +and all the marks of her state that she herself would +never have noticed, but that Dr. Merkle's diagnosis had +made plain to her. She could not hope that those +signs would escape the watchful village; even before +her figure lost its shape she knew her face would +betray her. + +Leaning from her window she looked out on the dark and +empty scene; the ashen houses with shuttered windows, +the grey road climbing the slope to the hemlock belt +above the cemetery, and the heavy mass of the Mountain +black against a rainy sky. To the east a space of +light was broadening above the forest; but over that +also the clouds hung. Slowly her gaze travelled across +the fields to the rugged curve of the hills. She had +looked out so often on that lifeless circle, and +wondered if anything could ever happen to anyone who +was enclosed in it.... + +Almost without conscious thought her decision had been +reached; as her eyes had followed the circle of the +hills her mind had also travelled the old round. She +supposed it was something in her blood that made the +Mountain the only answer to her questioning, the +inevitable escape from all that hemmed her in and beset +her. At any rate it began to loom against the rainy +dawn; and the longer she looked at it the more clearly +she understood that now at last she was really going +there. + + + +XVI + + +THE rain held off, and an hour later, when she started, +wild gleams of sunlight were blowing across the fields. + +After Harney's departure she had returned her bicycle +to its owner at Creston, and she was not sure of being +able to walk all the way to the Mountain. The deserted +house was on the road; but the idea of spending the +night there was unendurable, and she meant to try to +push on to Hamblin, where she could sleep under a wood- +shed if her strength should fail her. Her preparations +had been made with quiet forethought. Before starting +she had forced herself to swallow a glass of milk and +eat a piece of bread; and she had put in her canvas +satchel a little packet of the chocolate that Harney +always carried in his bicycle bag. She wanted above +all to keep up her strength, and reach her destination +without attracting notice.... + +Mile by mile she retraced the road over which she had +so often flown to her lover. When she reached the +turn where the wood-road branched off from the Creston +highway she remembered the Gospel tent--long since +folded up and transplanted--and her start of +involuntary terror when the fat evangelist had said: +"Your Saviour knows everything. Come and confess your +guilt." There was no sense of guilt in her now, but +only a desperate desire to defend her secret from +irreverent eyes, and begin life again among people to +whom the harsh code of the village was unknown. The +impulse did not shape itself in thought: she only knew +she must save her baby, and hide herself with it +somewhere where no one would ever come to trouble them. + +She walked on and on, growing more heavy-footed as the +day advanced. It seemed a cruel chance that compelled +her to retrace every step of the way to the deserted +house; and when she came in sight of the orchard, and +the silver-gray roof slanting crookedly through the +laden branches, her strength failed her and she sat +down by the road-side. She sat there a long time, +trying to gather the courage to start again, and walk +past the broken gate and the untrimmed rose-bushes +strung with scarlet hips. A few drops of rain were +falling, and she thought of the warm evenings when +she and Harney had sat embraced in the shadowy room, +and the noise of summer showers on the roof had rustled +through their kisses. At length she understood that if +she stayed any longer the rain might compel her to take +shelter in the house overnight, and she got up and +walked on, averting her eyes as she came abreast of the +white gate and the tangled garden. + +The hours wore on, and she walked more and more slowly, +pausing now and then to rest, and to eat a little bread +and an apple picked up from the roadside. Her body +seemed to grow heavier with every yard of the way, and +she wondered how she would be able to carry her child +later, if already he laid such a burden on her....A +fresh wind had sprung up, scattering the rain and +blowing down keenly from the mountain. Presently the +clouds lowered again, and a few white darts struck her +in the face: it was the first snow falling over +Hamblin. The roofs of the lonely village were only +half a mile ahead, and she was resolved to push beyond +it, and try to reach the Mountain that night. She had +no clear plan of action, except that, once in the +settlement, she meant to look for Liff Hyatt, and get +him to take her to her mother. She herself had +been born as her own baby was going to be born; and +whatever her mother's subsequent life had been, she +could hardly help remembering the past, and receiving a +daughter who was facing the trouble she had known. + +Suddenly the deadly faintness came over her once more +and she sat down on the bank and leaned her head +against a tree-trunk. The long road and the cloudy +landscape vanished from her eyes, and for a time she +seemed to be circling about in some terrible wheeling +darkness. Then that too faded. + +She opened her eyes, and saw a buggy drawn up beside +her, and a man who had jumped down from it and was +gazing at her with a puzzled face. Slowly +consciousness came back, and she saw that the man was +Liff Hyatt. + +She was dimly aware that he was asking her something, +and she looked at him in silence, trying to find +strength to speak. At length her voice stirred in her +throat, and she said in a whisper: "I'm going up the +Mountain." + +"Up the Mountain?" he repeated, drawing aside a little; +and as he moved she saw behind him, in the buggy, a +heavily coated figure with a familiar pink face +and gold spectacles on the bridge of a Grecian nose. + +"Charity! What on earth are you doing here?" Mr. Miles +exclaimed, throwing the reins on the horse's back and +scrambling down from the buggy. + +She lifted her heavy eyes to his. "I'm going to see my +mother." + +The two men glanced at each other, and for a moment +neither of them spoke. + +Then Mr. Miles said: "You look ill, my dear, and it's a +long way. Do you think it's wise?" + +Charity stood up. "I've got to go to her." + +A vague mirthless grin contracted Liff Hyatt's face, +and Mr. Miles again spoke uncertainly. "You know, +then--you'd been told?" + +She stared at him. "I don't know what you mean. I +want to go to her." + +Mr. Miles was examining her thoughtfully. She fancied +she saw a change in his expression, and the blood +rushed to her forehead. "I just want to go to her," +she repeated. + +He laid his hand on her arm. "My child, your mother is +dying. Liff Hyatt came down to fetch me....Get in and +come with us." + +He helped her up to the seat at his side, Liff +Hyatt clambered in at the back, and they drove off +toward Hamblin. At first Charity had hardly grasped +what Mr. Miles was saying; the physical relief of +finding herself seated in the buggy, and securely on +her road to the Mountain, effaced the impression of his +words. But as her head cleared she began to +understand. She knew the Mountain had but the most +infrequent intercourse with the valleys; she had often +enough heard it said that no one ever went up there +except the minister, when someone was dying. And now +it was her mother who was dying...and she would find +herself as much alone on the Mountain as anywhere else +in the world. The sense of unescapable isolation was +all she could feel for the moment; then she began to +wonder at the strangeness of its being Mr. Miles who +had undertaken to perform this grim errand. He did not +seem in the least like the kind of man who would care +to go up the Mountain. But here he was at her side, +guiding the horse with a firm hand, and bending on her +the kindly gleam of his spectacles, as if there were +nothing unusual in their being together in such +circumstances. + +For a while she found it impossible to speak, and he +seemed to understand this, and made no attempt to +question her. But presently she felt her tears rise +and flow down over her drawn cheeks; and he must have +seen them too, for he laid his hand on hers, and said +in a low voice: "Won't you tell me what is troubling +you?" + +She shook her head, and he did not insist: but after a +while he said, in the same low tone, so that they +should not be overheard: "Charity, what do you know of +your childhood, before you came down to North Dormer?" + +She controlled herself, and answered: "Nothing only +what I heard Mr. Royall say one day. He said he +brought me down because my father went to prison." + +"And you've never been up there since?" + +"Never." + +Mr. Miles was silent again, then he said: "I'm glad +you're coming with me now. Perhaps we may find your +mother alive, and she may know that you have come." + +They had reached Hamblin, where the snow-flurry had +left white patches in the rough grass on the roadside, +and in the angles of the roofs facing north. It was a +poor bleak village under the granite flank of the +Mountain, and as soon as they left it they began +to climb. The road was steep and full of ruts, and +the horse settled down to a walk while they mounted and +mounted, the world dropping away below them in great +mottled stretches of forest and field, and stormy dark +blue distances. + +Charity had often had visions of this ascent of the +Mountain but she had not known it would reveal so wide +a country, and the sight of those strange lands +reaching away on every side gave her a new sense of +Harney's remoteness. She knew he must be miles and +miles beyond the last range of hills that seemed to be +the outmost verge of things, and she wondered how she +had ever dreamed of going to New York to find him.... + +As the road mounted the country grew bleaker, and they +drove across fields of faded mountain grass bleached by +long months beneath the snow. In the hollows a few +white birches trembled, or a mountain ash lit its +scarlet clusters; but only a scant growth of pines +darkened the granite ledges. The wind was blowing +fiercely across the open slopes; the horse faced it +with bent head and straining flanks, and now and then +the buggy swayed so that Charity had to clutch its +side. + +Mr. Miles had not spoken again; he seemed to +understand that she wanted to be left alone. +After a while the track they were following forked, and +he pulled up the horse, as if uncertain of the way. +Liff Hyatt craned his head around from the back, and +shouted against the wind: "Left----" and they turned +into a stunted pine-wood and began to drive down the +other side of the Mountain. + +A mile or two farther on they came out on a clearing +where two or three low houses lay in stony fields, +crouching among the rocks as if to brace themselves +against the wind. They were hardly more than sheds, +built of logs and rough boards, with tin stove-pipes +sticking out of their roofs. The sun was setting, and +dusk had already fallen on the lower world, but a +yellow glare still lay on the lonely hillside and the +crouching houses. The next moment it faded and left +the landscape in dark autumn twilight. + +"Over there," Liff called out, stretching his long arm +over Mr. Miles's shoulder. The clergyman turned to the +left, across a bit of bare ground overgrown with docks +and nettles, and stopped before the most ruinous of the +sheds. A stove-pipe reached its crooked arm out of one +window, and the broken panes of the other were stuffed +with rags and paper. + +In contrast to such a dwelling the brown house in +the swamp might have stood for the home of plenty. + +As the buggy drew up two or three mongrel dogs jumped +out of the twilight with a great barking, and a young +man slouched to the door and stood there staring. In +the twilight Charity saw that his face had the same +sodden look as Bash Hyatt's, the day she had seen him +sleeping by the stove. He made no effort to silence +the dogs, but leaned in the door, as if roused from a +drunken lethargy, while Mr. Miles got out of the buggy. + +"Is it here?" the clergyman asked Liff in a low voice; +and Liff nodded. + +Mr. Miles turned to Charity. "Just hold the horse a +minute, my dear: I'll go in first," he said, putting +the reins in her hands. She took them passively, and +sat staring straight ahead of her at the darkening +scene while Mr. Miles and Liff Hyatt went up to the +house. They stood a few minutes talking with the man +in the door, and then Mr. Miles came back. As he came +close, Charity saw that his smooth pink face wore a +frightened solemn look. + +"Your mother is dead, Charity; you'd better come with +me," he said. + +She got down and followed him while Liff led the +horse away. As she approached the door she said +to herself: "This is where I was born...this is where I +belong...." She had said it to herself often enough as +she looked across the sunlit valleys at the Mountain; +but it had meant nothing then, and now it had become a +reality. Mr. Miles took her gently by the arm, and +they entered what appeared to be the only room in the +house. It was so dark that she could just discern a +group of a dozen people sitting or sprawling about a +table made of boards laid across two barrels. They +looked up listlessly as Mr. Miles and Charity came in, +and a woman's thick voice said: "Here's the preacher." +But no one moved. + +Mr. Miles paused and looked about him; then he turned +to the young man who had met them at the door. + +"Is the body here?" he asked. + +The young man, instead of answering, turned his head +toward the group. "Where's the candle? I tole yer to +bring a candle," he said with sudden harshness to a +girl who was lolling against the table. She did not +answer, but another man got up and took from some +corner a candle stuck into a bottle. + +"How'll I light it? The stove's out," the girl +grumbled. + +Mr. Miles fumbled under his heavy wrappings and drew +out a match-box. He held a match to the candle, and in +a moment or two a faint circle of light fell on the +pale aguish heads that started out of the shadow like +the heads of nocturnal animals. + +"Mary's over there," someone said; and Mr. Miles, +taking the bottle in his hand, passed behind the table. +Charity followed him, and they stood before a mattress +on the floor in a corner of the room. A woman lay on +it, but she did not look like a dead woman; she seemed +to have fallen across her squalid bed in a drunken +sleep, and to have been left lying where she fell, in +her ragged disordered clothes. One arm was flung above +her head, one leg drawn up under a torn skirt that left +the other bare to the knee: a swollen glistening leg +with a ragged stocking rolled down about the ankle. The +woman lay on her back, her eyes staring up unblinkingly +at the candle that trembled in Mr. Miles's hand. + +"She jus' dropped off," a woman said, over the shoulder +of the others; and the young man added: "I jus' come in +and found her." + +An elderly man with lank hair and a feeble grin +pushed between them. "It was like this: I says to her +on'y the night before: if you don't take and quit, I +says to her..." + +Someone pulled him back and sent him reeling against a +bench along the wall, where he dropped down muttering +his unheeded narrative. + +There was a silence; then the young woman who had been +lolling against the table suddenly parted the group, +and stood in front of Charity. She was healthier and +robuster looking than the others, and her weather- +beaten face had a certain sullen beauty. + +"Who's the girl? Who brought her here?" she said, +fixing her eyes mistrustfully on the young man who had +rebuked her for not having a candle ready. + +Mr. Miles spoke. "I brought her; she is Mary Hyatt's +daughter." + +"What? Her too?" the girl sneered; and the young man +turned on her with an oath. "Shut your mouth, damn +you, or get out of here," he said; then he relapsed +into his former apathy, and dropped down on the bench, +leaning his head against the wall. + +Mr. Miles had set the candle on the floor and taken off +his heavy coat. He turned to Charity. "Come and help +me," he said. + +He knelt down by the mattress, and pressed the +lids over the dead woman's eyes. Charity, trembling +and sick, knelt beside him, and tried to compose her +mother's body. She drew the stocking over the dreadful +glistening leg, and pulled the skirt down to the +battered upturned boots. As she did so, she looked at +her mother's face, thin yet swollen, with lips parted +in a frozen gasp above the broken teeth. There was no +sign in it of anything human: she lay there like a +dead dog in a ditch Charity's hands grew cold as they +touched her. + +Mr. Miles drew the woman's arms across her breast and +laid his coat over her. Then he covered her face with +his handkerchief, and placed the bottle with the candle +in it at her head. Having done this he stood up. + +"Is there no coffin?" he asked, turning to the group +behind him. + +There was a moment of bewildered silence; then the +fierce girl spoke up. "You'd oughter brought it with +you. Where'd we get one here, I'd like ter know?" + +Mr. Miles, looking at the others, repeated: "Is it +possible you have no coffin ready?" + +"That's what I say: them that has it sleeps +better," an old woman murmured. "But then she +never had no bed...." + +"And the stove warn't hers," said the lank-haired man, +on the defensive. + +Mr. Miles turned away from them and moved a few steps +apart. He had drawn a book from his pocket, and after +a pause he opened it and began to read, holding the +book at arm's length and low down, so that the pages +caught the feeble light. Charity had remained on her +knees by the mattress: now that her mother's face was +covered it was easier to stay near her, and avoid the +sight of the living faces which too horribly showed by +what stages hers had lapsed into death. + +"I am the Resurrection and the Life," Mr. Miles began; +"he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet +shall he live....Though after my skin worms destroy my +body, yet in my flesh shall I see God...." + +IN MY FLESH SHALL I SEE GOD! Charity thought of the +gaping mouth and stony eyes under the handkerchief, and +of the glistening leg over which she had drawn the +stocking.... + +"We brought nothing into this world and we shall take +nothing out of it----" + +There was a sudden muttering and a scuffle at the +back of the group. "I brought the stove," said the +elderly man with lank hair, pushing his way between the +others. "I wen' down to Creston'n bought it...n' I got +a right to take it outer here...n' I'll lick any feller +says I ain't...." + +"Sit down, damn you!" shouted the tall youth who had +been drowsing on the bench against the wall. + +"For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth +himself in vain; he heapeth up riches and cannot tell +who shall gather them...." + +"Well, it ARE his," a woman in the background +interjected in a frightened whine. + +The tall youth staggered to his feet. "If you don't +hold your mouths I'll turn you all out o' here, the +whole lot of you," he cried with many oaths. "G'wan, +minister...don't let 'em faze you...." + +"Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the +first-fruits of them that slept....Behold, I show you a +mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be +changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at +the last trump....For this corruptible must put on +incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. +So when this corruption shall have put on +incorruption, and when this mortal shall have put on +immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying +that is written, Death is swallowed up in Victory...." + +One by one the mighty words fell on Charity's bowed +head, soothing the horror, subduing the tumult, +mastering her as they mastered the drink-dazed +creatures at her back. Mr. Miles read to the last +word, and then closed the book. + +"Is the grave ready?" he asked. + +Liff Hyatt, who had come in while he was reading, +nodded a "Yes," and pushed forward to the side of the +mattress. The young man on the bench who seemed to +assert some sort of right of kinship with the dead +woman, got to his feet again, and the proprietor of the +stove joined him. Between them they raised up the +mattress; but their movements were unsteady, and the +coat slipped to the floor, revealing the poor body in +its helpless misery. Charity, picking up the coat, +covered her mother once more. Liff had brought a +lantern, and the old woman who had already spoken took +it up, and opened the door to let the little procession +pass out. The wind had dropped, and the night was very +dark and bitterly cold. The old woman walked +ahead, the lantern shaking in her hand and +spreading out before her a pale patch of dead grass and +coarse-leaved weeds enclosed in an immensity of +blackness. + +Mr. Miles took Charity by the arm, and side by side +they walked behind the mattress. At length the old +woman with the lantern stopped, and Charity saw the +light fall on the stooping shoulders of the bearers and +on a ridge of upheaved earth over which they were +bending. Mr. Miles released her arm and approached the +hollow on the other side of the ridge; and while the +men stooped down, lowering the mattress into the grave, +he began to speak again. + +"Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to +live and is full of misery....He cometh up and is cut +down...he fleeth as it were a shadow....Yet, O Lord God +most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and merciful +Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of +eternal death...." + +"Easy there...is she down?" piped the claimant to the +stove; and the young man called over his shoulder: +"Lift the light there, can't you?" + +There was a pause, during which the light floated +uncertainly over the open grave. Someone bent +over and pulled out Mr. Miles's coat----("No, no-- +leave the handkerchief," he interposed)--and then Liff +Hyatt, coming forward with a spade, began to shovel in +the earth. + +"Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of His great +mercy to take unto Himself the soul of our dear sister +here departed, we therefore commit her body to the +ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to +dust..." Liff's gaunt shoulders rose and bent in the +lantern light as he dashed the clods of earth into the +grave. "God--it's froze a'ready," he muttered, +spitting into his palm and passing his ragged shirt- +sleeve across his perspiring face. + +"Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our +vile body that it may be like unto His glorious body, +according to the mighty working, whereby He is able to +subdue all things unto Himself..." The last spadeful of +earth fell on the vile body of Mary Hyatt, and Liff +rested on his spade, his shoulder blades still heaving +with the effort. + +"Lord, have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, +Lord have mercy upon us..." + +Mr. Miles took the lantern from the old woman's +hand and swept its light across the circle of +bleared faces. "Now kneel down, all of you," he +commanded, in a voice of authority that Charity had +never heard. She knelt down at the edge of the grave, +and the others, stiffly and hesitatingly, got to their +knees beside her. Mr. Miles knelt, too. "And now pray +with me--you know this prayer," he said, and he began: +"Our Father which art in Heaven..." One or two of the +women falteringly took the words up, and when he ended, +the lank-haired man flung himself on the neck of the +tall youth. "It was this way," he said. "I tole her +the night before, I says to her..." The reminiscence +ended in a sob. + +Mr. Miles had been getting into his coat again. He +came up to Charity, who had remained passively kneeling +by the rough mound of earth. + +"My child, you must come. It's very late." + +She lifted her eyes to his face: he seemed to speak out +of another world. + +"I ain't coming: I'm going to stay here." + +"Here? Where? What do you mean?" + +"These are my folks. I'm going to stay with them." + +Mr. Miles lowered his voice. "But it's not +possible--you don't know what you are doing. You +can't stay among these people: you must come with me." + +She shook her head and rose from her knees. The group +about the grave had scattered in the darkness, but the +old woman with the lantern stood waiting. Her mournful +withered face was not unkind, and Charity went up to +her. + +"Have you got a place where I can lie down for the +night?" she asked. Liff came up, leading the buggy out +of the night. He looked from one to the other with his +feeble smile. "She's my mother. She'll take you +home," he said; and he added, raising his voice to +speak to the old woman: "It's the girl from lawyer +Royall's--Mary's girl...you remember...." + +The woman nodded and raised her sad old eyes to +Charity's. When Mr. Miles and Liff clambered into the +buggy she went ahead with the lantern to show them the +track they were to follow; then she turned back, and in +silence she and Charity walked away together through +the night. + + + +XVII + + +CHARITY lay on the floor on a mattress, as her dead +mother's body had lain. The room in which she lay was +cold and dark and low-ceilinged, and even poorer and +barer than the scene of Mary Hyatt's earthly +pilgrimage. On the other side of the fireless stove +Liff Hyatt's mother slept on a blanket, with two +children--her grandchildren, she said--rolled up +against her like sleeping puppies. They had their thin +clothes spread over them, having given the only other +blanket to their guest. + +Through the small square of glass in the opposite wall +Charity saw a deep funnel of sky, so black, so remote, +so palpitating with frosty stars that her very soul +seemed to be sucked into it. Up there somewhere, she +supposed, the God whom Mr. Miles had invoked was +waiting for Mary Hyatt to appear. What a long flight +it was! And what would she have to say when she reached +Him? + +Charity's bewildered brain laboured with the attempt to +picture her mother's past, and to relate it in any +way to the designs of a just but merciful God; but it +was impossible to imagine any link between them. She +herself felt as remote from the poor creature she had +seen lowered into her hastily dug grave as if the +height of the heavens divided them. She had seen +poverty and misfortune in her life; but in a community +where poor thrifty Mrs. Hawes and the industrious Ally +represented the nearest approach to destitution there +was nothing to suggest the savage misery of the +Mountain farmers. + +As she lay there, half-stunned by her tragic +initiation, Charity vainly tried to think herself into +the life about her. But she could not even make out +what relationship these people bore to each other, or +to her dead mother; they seemed to be herded together +in a sort of passive promiscuity in which their common +misery was the strongest link. She tried to picture to +herself what her life would have been if she had grown +up on the Mountain, running wild in rags, sleeping on +the floor curled up against her mother, like the pale- +faced children huddled against old Mrs. Hyatt, and +turning into a fierce bewildered creature like the girl +who had apostrophized her in such strange words. She +was frightened by the secret affinity she had felt +with this girl, and by the light it threw on her own +beginnings. Then she remembered what Mr. Royall had +said in telling her story to Lucius Harney: "Yes, there +was a mother; but she was glad to have the child go. +She'd have given her to anybody...." + +Well! after all, was her mother so much to blame? +Charity, since that day, had always thought of her as +destitute of all human feeling; now she seemed merely +pitiful. What mother would not want to save her child +from such a life? Charity thought of the future of her +own child, and tears welled into her aching eyes, and +ran down over her face. If she had been less +exhausted, less burdened with his weight, she would +have sprung up then and there and fled away.... + +The grim hours of the night dragged themselves slowly +by, and at last the sky paled and dawn threw a cold +blue beam into the room. She lay in her corner staring +at the dirty floor, the clothes-line hung with decaying +rags, the old woman huddled against the cold stove, and +the light gradually spreading across the wintry world, +and bringing with it a new day in which she would have +to live, to choose, to act, to make herself a +place among these people--or to go back to the life she +had left. A mortal lassitude weighed on her. There +were moments when she felt that all she asked was to go +on lying there unnoticed; then her mind revolted at the +thought of becoming one of the miserable herd from +which she sprang, and it seemed as though, to save her +child from such a fate, she would find strength to +travel any distance, and bear any burden life might put +on her. + +Vague thoughts of Nettleton flitted through her mind. +She said to herself that she would find some quiet +place where she could bear her child, and give it to +decent people to keep; and then she would go out like +Julia Hawes and earn its living and hers. She knew +that girls of that kind sometimes made enough to have +their children nicely cared for; and every other +consideration disappeared in the vision of her baby, +cleaned and combed and rosy, and hidden away somewhere +where she could run in and kiss it, and bring it pretty +things to wear. Anything, anything was better than to +add another life to the nest of misery on the +Mountain.... + +The old woman and the children were still sleeping +when Charity rose from her mattress. Her body was +stiff with cold and fatigue, and she moved slowly lest +her heavy steps should rouse them. She was faint with +hunger, and had nothing left in her satchel; but on the +table she saw the half of a stale loaf. No doubt it +was to serve as the breakfast of old Mrs. Hyatt and the +children; but Charity did not care; she had her own +baby to think of. She broke off a piece of the bread +and ate it greedily; then her glance fell on the thin +faces of the sleeping children, and filled with +compunction she rummaged in her satchel for something +with which to pay for what she had taken. She found +one of the pretty chemises that Ally had made for her, +with a blue ribbon run through its edging. It was one +of the dainty things on which she had squandered her +savings, and as she looked at it the blood rushed to +her forehead. She laid the chemise on the table, and +stealing across the floor lifted the latch and went +out.... + +The morning was icy cold and a pale sun was just rising +above the eastern shoulder of the Mountain. The houses +scattered on the hillside lay cold and smokeless under +the sun-flecked clouds, and not a human being was in +sight. Charity paused on the threshold and tried +to discover the road by which she had come the night +before. Across the field surrounding Mrs. Hyatt's +shanty she saw the tumble-down house in which she +supposed the funeral service had taken place. The +trail ran across the ground between the two houses and +disappeared in the pine-wood on the flank of the +Mountain; and a little way to the right, under a wind- +beaten thorn, a mound of fresh earth made a dark spot +on the fawn-coloured stubble. Charity walked across +the field to the ground. As she approached it she +heard a bird's note in the still air, and looking up +she saw a brown song-sparrow perched in an upper branch +of the thorn above the grave. She stood a minute +listening to his small solitary song; then she rejoined +the trail and began to mount the hill to the pine-wood. + +Thus far she had been impelled by the blind instinct of +flight; but each step seemed to bring her nearer to the +realities of which her feverish vigil had given only a +shadowy image. Now that she walked again in a daylight +world, on the way back to familiar things, her +imagination moved more soberly. On one point she was +still decided: she could not remain at North Dormer, +and the sooner she got away from it the better. +But everything beyond was darkness. + +As she continued to climb the air grew keener, and when +she passed from the shelter of the pines to the open +grassy roof of the Mountain the cold wind of the night +before sprang out on her. She bent her shoulders and +struggled on against it for a while; but presently her +breath failed, and she sat down under a ledge of rock +overhung by shivering birches. From where she sat she +saw the trail wandering across the bleached grass in +the direction of Hamblin, and the granite wall of the +Mountain falling away to infinite distances. On that +side of the ridge the valleys still lay in wintry +shadow; but in the plain beyond the sun was touching +village roofs and steeples, and gilding the haze of +smoke over far-off invisible towns. + +Charity felt herself a mere speck in the lonely circle +of the sky. The events of the last two days seemed to +have divided her forever from her short dream of bliss. +Even Harney's image had been blurred by that crushing +experience: she thought of him as so remote from her +that he seemed hardly more than a memory. In her +fagged and floating mind only one sensation had the +weight of reality; it was the bodily burden of her +child. But for it she would have felt as rootless as +the whiffs of thistledown the wind blew past her. Her +child was like a load that held her down, and yet like +a hand that pulled her to her feet. She said to +herself that she must get up and struggle on.... + +Her eyes turned back to the trail across the top of the +Mountain, and in the distance she saw a buggy against +the sky. She knew its antique outline, and the gaunt +build of the old horse pressing forward with lowered +head; and after a moment she recognized the heavy bulk +of the man who held the reins. The buggy was following +the trail and making straight for the pine-wood through +which she had climbed; and she knew at once that the +driver was in search of her. Her first impulse was to +crouch down under the ledge till he had passed; but the +instinct of concealment was overruled by the relief of +feeling that someone was near her in the awful +emptiness. She stood up and walked toward the buggy. + +Mr. Royall saw her, and touched the horse with the +whip. A minute or two later he was abreast of Charity; +their eyes met, and without speaking he leaned over and +helped her up into the buggy. + +She tried to speak, to stammer out some +explanation, but no words came to her; and as he drew +the cover over her knees he simply said: "The minister +told me he'd left you up here, so I come up for you." + +He turned the horse's head, and they began to jog back +toward Hamblin. Charity sat speechless, staring +straight ahead of her, and Mr. Royall occasionally +uttered a word of encouragement to the horse: "Get +along there, Dan....I gave him a rest at Hamblin; but I +brought him along pretty quick, and it's a stiff pull +up here against the wind." + +As he spoke it occurred to her for the first time that +to reach the top of the Mountain so early he must have +left North Dormer at the coldest hour of the night, and +have travelled steadily but for the halt at Hamblin; +and she felt a softness at her heart which no act of +his had ever produced since he had brought her the +Crimson Rambler because she had given up boarding- +school to stay with him. + +After an interval he began again: "It was a day just +like this, only spitting snow, when I come up here for +you the first time." Then, as if fearing that she +might take his remark as a reminder of past benefits, +he added quickly: "I dunno's you think it was such a +good job, either." + +"Yes, I do," she murmured, looking straight ahead of +her. + +"Well," he said, "I tried----" + +He did not finish the sentence, and she could think of +nothing more to say. + +"Ho, there, Dan, step out," he muttered, jerking the +bridle. "We ain't home yet.--You cold?" he asked +abruptly. + +She shook her head, but he drew the cover higher up, +and stooped to tuck it in about the ankles. She +continued to look straight ahead. Tears of weariness +and weakness were dimming her eyes and beginning to run +over, but she dared not wipe them away lest he should +observe the gesture. + +They drove in silence, following the long loops of the +descent upon Hamblin, and Mr. Royall did not speak +again till they reached the outskirts of the village. +Then he let the reins droop on the dashboard and drew +out his watch. + +"Charity," he said, "you look fair done up, and North +Dormer's a goodish way off. I've figured out that we'd +do better to stop here long enough for you to get +a mouthful of breakfast and then drive down to Creston +and take the train." + +She roused herself from her apathetic musing. "The +train--what train?" + +Mr. Royall, without answering, let the horse jog on +till they reached the door of the first house in the +village. "This is old Mrs. Hobart's place," he said. +"She'll give us something hot to drink." + +Charity, half unconsciously, found herself getting out +of the buggy and following him in at the open door. +They entered a decent kitchen with a fire crackling in +the stove. An old woman with a kindly face was setting +out cups and saucers on the table. She looked up and +nodded as they came in, and Mr. Royall advanced to the +stove, clapping his numb hands together. + +"Well, Mrs. Hobart, you got any breakfast for this +young lady? You can see she's cold and hungry." + +Mrs. Hobart smiled on Charity and took a tin coffee-pot +from the fire. "My, you do look pretty mean," she said +compassionately. + +Charity reddened, and sat down at the table. A feeling +of complete passiveness had once more come over +her, and she was conscious only of the pleasant animal +sensations of warmth and rest. + +Mrs. Hobart put bread and milk on the table, and then +went out of the house: Charity saw her leading the +horse away to the barn across the yard. She did not +come back, and Mr. Royall and Charity sat alone at the +table with the smoking coffee between them. He poured +out a cup for her, and put a piece of bread in the +saucer, and she began to eat. + +As the warmth of the coffee flowed through her veins +her thoughts cleared and she began to feel like a +living being again; but the return to life was so +painful that the food choked in her throat and she sat +staring down at the table in silent anguish. + +After a while Mr. Royall pushed back his chair. "Now, +then," he said, "if you're a mind to go along----" She +did not move, and he continued: "We can pick up the +noon train for Nettleton if you say so." + +The words sent the blood rushing to her face, and she +raised her startled eyes to his. He was standing on +the other side of the table looking at her kindly and +gravely; and suddenly she understood what he was +going to say. She continued to sit motionless, a +leaden weight upon her lips. + +"You and me have spoke some hard things to each other +in our time, Charity; and there's no good that I can +see in any more talking now. But I'll never feel any +way but one about you; and if you say so we'll drive +down in time to catch that train, and go straight to +the minister's house; and when you come back home +you'll come as Mrs. Royall." + +His voice had the grave persuasive accent that had +moved his hearers at the Home Week festival; she had a +sense of depths of mournful tolerance under that easy +tone. Her whole body began to tremble with the dread +of her own weakness. + +"Oh, I can't----" she burst out desperately. + +"Can't what?" + +She herself did not know: she was not sure if she was +rejecting what he offered, or already struggling +against the temptation of taking what she no longer had +a right to. She stood up, shaking and bewildered, and +began to speak: + +"I know I ain't been fair to you always; but I want to +be now....I want you to know...I want..." Her voice +failed her and she stopped. + +Mr. Royall leaned against the wall. He was paler +than usual, but his face was composed and kindly +and her agitation did not appear to perturb him. + +"What's all this about wanting?" he said as she paused. +"Do you know what you really want? I'll tell you. You +want to be took home and took care of. And I guess +that's all there is to say." + +"No...it's not all...." + +"Ain't it?" He looked at his watch. "Well, I'll tell +you another thing. All I want is to know if you'll +marry me. If there was anything else, I'd tell you so; +but there ain't. Come to my age, a man knows the +things that matter and the things that don't; that's +about the only good turn life does us." + +His tone was so strong and resolute that it was like a +supporting arm about her. She felt her resistance +melting, her strength slipping away from her as he +spoke. + +"Don't cry, Charity," he exclaimed in a shaken voice. +She looked up, startled at his emotion, and their eyes +met. + +"See here," he said gently, "old Dan's come a long +distance, and we've got to let him take it easy the +rest of the way...." + +He picked up the cloak that had slipped to her +chair and laid it about her shoulders. She +followed him out of the house, and then walked across +the yard to the shed, where the horse was tied. Mr. +Royall unblanketed him and led him out into the road. +Charity got into the buggy and he drew the cover about +her and shook out the reins with a cluck. When they +reached the end of the village he turned the horse's +head toward Creston. + + + +XVIII + + +They began to jog down the winding road to the valley +at old Dan's languid pace. Charity felt herself +sinking into deeper depths of weariness, and as they +descended through the bare woods there were moments +when she lost the exact sense of things, and seemed to +be sitting beside her lover with the leafy arch of +summer bending over them. But this illusion was faint +and transitory. For the most part she had only a +confused sensation of slipping down a smooth +irresistible current; and she abandoned herself to the +feeling as a refuge from the torment of thought. + +Mr. Royall seldom spoke, but his silent presence gave +her, for the first time, a sense of peace and security. +She knew that where he was there would be warmth, rest, +silence; and for the moment they were all she wanted. +She shut her eyes, and even these things grew dim to +her.... + +In the train, during the short run from Creston to +Nettleton, the warmth aroused her, and the +consciousness of being under strange eyes gave her +a momentary energy. She sat upright, facing Mr. +Royall, and stared out of the window at the denuded +country. Forty-eight hours earlier, when she had last +traversed it, many of the trees still held their +leaves; but the high wind of the last two nights had +stripped them, and the lines of the landscape' were as +finely pencilled as in December. A few days of autumn +cold had wiped out all trace of the rich fields and +languid groves through which she had passed on the +Fourth of July; and with the fading of the landscape +those fervid hours had faded, too. She could no longer +believe that she was the being who had lived them; she +was someone to whom something irreparable and +overwhelming had happened, but the traces of the steps +leading up to it had almost vanished. + +When the train reached Nettleton and she walked out +into the square at Mr. Royall's side the sense of +unreality grew more overpowering. The physical strain +of the night and day had left no room in her mind for +new sensations and she followed Mr. Royall as passively +as a tired child. As in a confused dream she presently +found herself sitting with him in a pleasant room, at a +table with a red and white table-cloth on which +hot food and tea were placed. He filled her cup and +plate and whenever she lifted her eyes from them she +found his resting on her with the same steady tranquil +gaze that had reassured and strengthened her when they +had faced each other in old Mrs. Hobart's kitchen. As +everything else in her consciousness grew more and more +confused and immaterial, became more and more like the +universal shimmer that dissolves the world to failing +eyes, Mr. Royall's presence began to detach itself with +rocky firmness from this elusive background. She had +always thought of him--when she thought of him at all-- +as of someone hateful and obstructive, but whom she +could outwit and dominate when she chose to make the +effort. Only once, on the day of the Old Home Week +celebration, while the stray fragments of his address +drifted across her troubled mind, had she caught a +glimpse of another being, a being so different from the +dull-witted enemy with whom she had supposed herself to +be living that even through the burning mist of her own +dreams he had stood out with startling distinctness. +For a moment, then, what he said--and something in his +way of saying it--had made her see why he had always +struck her as such a lonely man. But the mist of +her dreams had hidden him again, and she had forgotten +that fugitive impression. + +It came back to her now, as they sat at the table, and +gave her, through her own immeasurable desolation, a +sudden sense of their nearness to each other. But all +these feelings were only brief streaks of light in the +grey blur of her physical weakness. Through it she was +aware that Mr. Royall presently left her sitting by the +table in the warm room, and came back after an interval +with a carriage from the station--a closed "hack" with +sun-burnt blue silk blinds--in which they drove +together to a house covered with creepers and standing +next to a church with a carpet of turf before it. They +got out at this house, and the carriage waited while +they walked up the path and entered a wainscoted hall +and then a room full of books. In this room a +clergyman whom Charity had never seen received them +pleasantly, and asked them to be seated for a few +minutes while witnesses were being summoned. + +Charity sat down obediently, and Mr. Royall, his hands +behind his back, paced slowly up and down the room. As +he turned and faced Charity, she noticed that his +lips were twitching a little; but the look in his eyes +was grave and calm. Once he paused before her and said +timidly: "Your hair's got kinder loose with the wind," +and she lifted her hands and tried to smooth back the +locks that had escaped from her braid. There was a +looking-glass in a carved frame on the wall, but she +was ashamed to look at herself in it, and she sat with +her hands folded on her knee till the clergyman +returned. Then they went out again, along a sort of +arcaded passage, and into a low vaulted room with a +cross on an altar, and rows of benches. The clergyman, +who had left them at the door, presently reappeared +before the altar in a surplice, and a lady who was +probably his wife, and a man in a blue shirt who had +been raking dead leaves on the lawn, came in and sat on +one of the benches. + +The clergyman opened a book and signed to Charity and +Mr. Royall to approach. Mr. Royall advanced a few +steps, and Charity followed him as she had followed him +to the buggy when they went out of Mrs. Hobart's +kitchen; she had the feeling that if she ceased to keep +close to him, and do what he told her to do, the world +would slip away from beneath her feet. + +The clergyman began to read, and on her dazed mind +there rose the memory of Mr. Miles, standing the night +before in the desolate house of the Mountain, and +reading out of the same book words that had the same +dread sound of finality: + +"I require and charge you both, as ye will answer at +the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets of all +hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of you know +any impediment whereby ye may not be lawfully joined +together..." + +Charity raised her eyes and met Mr. Royall's. They +were still looking at her kindly and steadily. "I +will!" she heard him say a moment later, after another +interval of words that she had failed to catch. She +was so busy trying to understand the gestures that the +clergyman was signalling to her to make that she no +longer heard what was being said. After another +interval the lady on the bench stood up, and taking her +hand put it in Mr. Royall's. It lay enclosed in his +strong palm and she felt a ring that was too big for +her being slipped on her thin finger. She understood +then that she was married.... + +Late that afternoon Charity sat alone in a bedroom of +the fashionable hotel where she and Harney had +vainly sought a table on the Fourth of July. She had +never before been in so handsomely furnished a room. +The mirror above the dressing-table reflected the high +head-board and fluted pillow-slips of the double bed, +and a bedspread so spotlessly white that she had +hesitated to lay her hat and jacket on it. The humming +radiator diffused an atmosphere of drowsy warmth, and +through a half-open door she saw the glitter of the +nickel taps above twin marble basins. + +For a while the long turmoil of the night and day had +slipped away from her and she sat with closed eyes, +surrendering herself to the spell of warmth and +silence. But presently this merciful apathy was +succeeded by the sudden acuteness of vision with which +sick people sometimes wake out of a heavy sleep. As +she opened her eyes they rested on the picture that +hung above the bed. It was a large engraving with a +dazzling white margin enclosed in a wide frame of +bird's-eye maple with an inner scroll of gold. The +engraving represented a young man in a boat on a lake +over-hung with trees. He was leaning over to gather +water-lilies for the girl in a light dress who lay +among the cushions in the stern. The scene was +full of a drowsy midsummer radiance, and Charity +averted her eyes from it and, rising from her chair, +began to wander restlessly about the room. + +It was on the fifth floor, and its broad window of +plate glass looked over the roofs of the town. Beyond +them stretched a wooded landscape in which the last +fires of sunset were picking out a steely gleam. +Charity gazed at the gleam with startled eyes. Even +through the gathering twilight she recognized the +contour of the soft hills encircling it, and the way +the meadows sloped to its edge. It was Nettleton Lake +that she was looking at. + +She stood a long time in the window staring out at the +fading water. The sight of it had roused her for the +first time to a realization of what she had done. Even +the feeling of the ring on her hand had not brought her +this sharp sense of the irretrievable. For an instant +the old impulse of flight swept through her; but it was +only the lift of a broken wing. She heard the door +open behind her, and Mr. Royall came in. + +He had gone to the barber's to be shaved, and his +shaggy grey hair had been trimmed and smoothed. He +moved strongly and quickly, squaring his shoulders +and carrying his head high, as if he did not want to +pass unnoticed. + +"What are you doing in the dark?" he called out in a +cheerful voice. Charity made no answer. He went up to +the window to draw the blind, and putting his finger on +the wall flooded the room with a blaze of light from +the central chandelier. In this unfamiliar +illumination husband and wife faced each other +awkwardly for a moment; then Mr. Royall said: "We'll +step down and have some supper, if you say so." + +The thought of food filled her with repugnance; but not +daring to confess it she smoothed her hair and followed +him to the lift. + + + +An hour later, coming out of the glare of the dining- +room, she waited in the marble-panelled hall while Mr. +Royall, before the brass lattice of one of the corner +counters, selected a cigar and bought an evening paper. +Men were lounging in rocking chairs under the blazing +chandeliers, travellers coming and going, bells +ringing, porters shuffling by with luggage. Over Mr. +Royall's shoulder, as he leaned against the counter, a +girl with her hair puffed high smirked and nodded at a +dapper drummer who was getting his key at the desk +across the hall. + +Charity stood among these cross-currents of life as +motionless and inert as if she had been one of the +tables screwed to the marble floor. All her soul was +gathered up into one sick sense of coming doom, and she +watched Mr. Royall in fascinated terror while he +pinched the cigars in successive boxes and unfolded his +evening paper with a steady hand. + +Presently he turned and joined her. "You go right +along up to bed--I'm going to sit down here and have my +smoke," he said. He spoke as easily and naturally as +if they had been an old couple, long used to each +other's ways, and her contracted heart gave a flutter +of relief. She followed him to the lift, and he put +her in and enjoined the buttoned and braided boy to +show her to her room. + +She groped her way in through the darkness, forgetting +where the electric button was, and not knowing how to +manipulate it. But a white autumn moon had risen, and +the illuminated sky put a pale light in the room. By +it she undressed, and after folding up the ruffled +pillow-slips crept timidly under the spotless +counterpane. She had never felt such smooth sheets or +such light warm blankets; but the softness of the bed +did not soothe her. She lay there trembling with a +fear that ran through her veins like ice. "What have I +done? Oh, what have I done?" she whispered, shuddering +to her pillow; and pressing her face against it to shut +out the pale landscape beyond the window she lay in the +darkness straining her ears, and shaking at every +footstep that approached.... + +Suddenly she sat up and pressed her hands against her +frightened heart. A faint sound had told her that +someone was in the room; but she must have slept in the +interval, for she had heard no one enter. The moon was +setting beyond the opposite roofs, and in the darkness +outlined against the grey square of the window, she saw +a figure seated in the rocking-chair. The figure did +not move: it was sunk deep in the chair, with bowed +head and folded arms, and she saw that it was Mr. +Royall who sat there. He had not undressed, but had +taken the blanket from the foot of the bed and laid it +across his knees. Trembling and holding her breath she +watched him, fearing that he had been roused by her +movement; but he did not stir, and she concluded +that he wished her to think he was asleep. + +As she continued to watch him ineffable relief stole +slowly over her, relaxing her strained nerves and +exhausted body. He knew, then...he knew...it was +because he knew that he had married her, and that he +sat there in the darkness to show her she was safe with +him. A stir of something deeper than she had ever +felt in thinking of him flitted through her tired +brain, and cautiously, noiselessly, she let her head +sink on the pillow.... + +When she woke the room was full of morning light, and +her first glance showed her that she was alone in it. +She got up and dressed, and as she was fastening her +dress the door opened, and Mr. Royall came in. He +looked old and tired in the bright daylight, but his +face wore the same expression of grave friendliness +that had reassured her on the Mountain. It was as if +all the dark spirits had gone out of him. + +They went downstairs to the dining-room for breakfast, +and after breakfast he told her he had some insurance +business to attend to. "I guess while I'm doing it +you'd better step out and buy yourself whatever you +need." He smiled, and added with an embarrassed +laugh: "You know I always wanted you to beat all the +other girls." He drew something from his pocket, and +pushed it across the table to her; and she saw that he +had given her two twenty-dollar bills. "If it ain't +enough there's more where that come from--I want you to +beat 'em all hollow," he repeated. + +She flushed and tried to stammer out her thanks, but he +had pushed back his chair and was leading the way out +of the dining-room. In the hall he paused a minute to +say that if it suited her they would take the three +o'clock train back to North Dormer; then he took his +hat and coat from the rack and went out. + +A few minutes later Charity went out, too. She had +watched to see in what direction he was going, and she +took the opposite way and walked quickly down the main +street to the brick building on the corner of Lake +Avenue. There she paused to look cautiously up and +down the thoroughfare, and then climbed the brass-bound +stairs to Dr. Merkle's door. The same bushy-headed +mulatto girl admitted her, and after the same interval +of waiting in the red plush parlor she was once more +summoned to Dr. Merkle's office. The doctor +received her without surprise, and led her into the +inner plush sanctuary. + +"I thought you'd be back, but you've come a mite too +soon: I told you to be patient and not fret," she +observed, after a pause of penetrating scrutiny. + +Charity drew the money from her breast. "I've come to +get my blue brooch," she said, flushing. + +"Your brooch?" Dr. Merkle appeared not to remember. +"My, yes--I get so many things of that kind. Well, my +dear, you'll have to wait while I get it out of the +safe. I don't leave valuables like that laying round +like the noospaper." + +She disappeared for a moment, and returned with a bit +of twisted-up tissue paper from which she unwrapped the +brooch. + +Charity, as she looked at it, felt a stir of warmth at +her heart. She held out an eager hand. + +"Have you got the change?" she asked a little +breathlessly, laying one of the twenty-dollar bills on +the table. + +"Change? What'd I want to have change for? I only see +two twenties there," Dr. Merkle answered brightly. + +Charity paused, disconcerted. "I thought...you said it +was five dollars a visit...." + +"For YOU, as a favour--I did. But how about +the responsibility and the insurance? I don't s'pose +you ever thought of that? This pin's worth a hundred +dollars easy. If it had got lost or stole, where'd I +been when you come to claim it?" + +Charity remained silent, puzzled and half-convinced by +the argument, and Dr. Merkle promptly followed up her +advantage. "I didn't ask you for your brooch, my dear. +I'd a good deal ruther folks paid me my regular charge +than have 'em put me to all this trouble." + +She paused, and Charity, seized with a desperate +longing to escape, rose to her feet and held out one of +the bills. + +"Will you take that?" she asked. + +"No, I won't take that, my dear; but I'll take it with +its mate, and hand you over a signed receipt if you +don't trust me." + +"Oh, but I can't--it's all I've got," Charity +exclaimed. + +Dr. Merkle looked up at her pleasantly from the plush +sofa. "It seems you got married yesterday, up to the +'Piscopal church; I heard all about the wedding from +the minister's chore-man. It would be a pity, wouldn't +it, to let Mr. Royall know you had an account +running here? I just put it to you as your own mother +might." + +Anger flamed up in Charity, and for an instant she +thought of abandoning the brooch and letting Dr. Merkle +do her worst. But how could she leave her only +treasure with that evil woman? She wanted it for her +baby: she meant it, in some mysterious way, to be a +link between Harney's child and its unknown father. +Trembling and hating herself while she did it, she laid +Mr. Royall's money on the table, and catching up the +brooch fled out of the room and the house.... + +In the street she stood still, dazed by this last +adventure. But the brooch lay in her bosom like a +talisman, and she felt a secret lightness of heart. It +gave her strength, after a moment, to walk on slowly in +the direction of the post office, and go in through the +swinging doors. At one of the windows she bought a +sheet of letter-paper, an envelope and a stamp; then +she sat down at a table and dipped the rusty post +office pen in ink. She had come there possessed with a +fear which had haunted her ever since she had felt Mr. +Royall's ring on her finger: the fear that Harney +might, after all, free himself and come back to her. It +was a possibility which had never occurred to her +during the dreadful hours after she had received his +letter; only when the decisive step she had taken made +longing turn to apprehension did such a contingency +seem conceivable. She addressed the envelope, and on +the sheet of paper she wrote: + + +I'm married to Mr. Royall. I'll always remember you. + CHARITY. + + +The last words were not in the least what she had meant +to write; they had flowed from her pen irresistibly. +She had not had the strength to complete her sacrifice; +but, after all, what did it matter? Now that there was +no chance of ever seeing Harney again, why should she +not tell him the truth? + +When she had put the letter in the box she went out +into the busy sunlit street and began to walk to the +hotel. Behind the plateglass windows of the department +stores she noticed the tempting display of dresses and +dress-materials that had fired her imagination on the +day when she and Harney had looked in at them together. +They reminded her of Mr. Royall's injunction to go out +and buy all she needed. She looked down at her shabby +dress, and wondered what she should say when he +saw her coming back empty-handed. As she drew near +the hotel she saw him waiting on the doorstep, and her +heart began to beat with apprehension. + +He nodded and waved his hand at her approach, and they +walked through the hall and went upstairs to collect +their possessions, so that Mr. Royall might give up the +key of the room when they went down again for their +midday dinner. In the bedroom, while she was thrusting +back into the satchel the few things she had brought +away with her, she suddenly felt that his eyes were on +her and that he was going to speak. She stood still, +her half-folded night-gown in her hand, while the blood +rushed up to her drawn cheeks. + +"Well, did you rig yourself out handsomely? I haven't +seen any bundles round," he said jocosely. + +"Oh, I'd rather let Ally Hawes make the few things I +want," she answered. + +"That so?" He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment +and his eye-brows projected in a scowl. Then his face +grew friendly again. "Well, I wanted you to go back +looking stylisher than any of them; but I guess you're +right. You're a good girl, Charity." + +Their eyes met, and something rose in his that she +had never seen there: a look that made her feel ashamed +and yet secure. + +"I guess you're good, too," she said, shyly and +quickly. He smiled without answering, and they went +out of the room together and dropped down to the hall +in the glittering lift. + +Late that evening, in the cold autumn moonlight, they +drove up to the door of the red house. + + + +The End of Project Gutenberg etext of Summer by Edith Wharton + + + + + diff --git a/old/summr10.zip b/old/summr10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3acadf1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/summr10.zip |