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diff --git a/22705-h/22705-h.htm b/22705-h/22705-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a66ecc4 --- /dev/null +++ b/22705-h/22705-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1191 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!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> + A Summer Evening's Dream, by Edward Bellamy + </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 A Summer Evening's Dream, by Edward Bellamy + +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: A Summer Evening's Dream + 1898 + +Author: Edward Bellamy + +Release Date: September 21, 2007 [EBook #22705] +Last Updated: December 17, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SUMMER EVENING'S DREAM *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + A SUMMER EVENING'S DREAM + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Edward Bellamy <br /> <br /> 1898 + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + It is a village street, with great elms on either side, while along the + middle stands another row set in a narrow strip of grassy common, so that + the street and roadway are in reality double. The dwellings on either side + are not only widely parted by the broad street, but are still further + isolated, each in its large garden of ancient fruit trees. It is four + o'clock of a sunny August afternoon, and a quiet, Sabbath-like but for its + lazy voluptuousness, broods over the scene. No carriage, or even + pedestrian, has passed for an hour. The occasional voices of children at + play in some garden, the latching of a gate far down the street, the dying + fall of a drowsy chanticleer, are but the punctuation of the poem of + summer silence that has been flowing on all the afternoon. Upon the + tree-tops the sun blazes brightly, and between their stems are glimpses of + outlying meadows, which simmer in the heat as if about to come to a boil. + But the shadowed street offers a cool and refreshing vista to the eye, and + a veritable valley of refuge to the parched and dusty traveler along the + highway. + </p> + <p> + On the broad piazza of one of the quaint old-fashioned houses, behind a + needless screen of climbing woodbine, two girls are whiling away the + afternoon. One of them is lounging in a lassy rocking-chair, while the + other sits more primly and is industriously sewing. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose you 'll be glad enough to see George when he comes to-night to + take you back to the city? I'm afraid you find it pretty dull here," said + the latter, with an intonation of uneasy responsibility sufficiently + attesting that the brilliant-looking girl opposite was a guest. + </p> + <p> + That young lady, when addressed, was indulging in a luxurious country + yawn, an operation by no means to be hurried, but to be fully and lazily + enjoyed in all its several and long-drawn stages, and as thus practiced a + wonderfully calming and soporific relaxation wholly unknown to the fretted + denizens of cities, whose yawn is one of irritation and not of rest. "I do + so enjoy your Plainfield yawns, Lucy," she said when she had quite + finished. "Were you saying that it was a little dull? Well, perhaps it is, + but then the trees and things seem to be' enjoying themselves so hugely + that it would be selfish to make a fuss, even if it is n't exactly my kind + of fun." + </p> + <p> + "Your kind of fun is due by the six-o'clock stage, I believe." + </p> + <p> + The other laughed and said, "I wish you would n't make another allusion to + George. I think of him so much that I 'm ashamed, as it is. I 'm sure this + is a very aggravating place for an engaged girl to be at. One gets so + dreadfully sentimental with nothing to take up the mind, especially with + such monstrous moons as you have. I got fairly frightened of the one last + night. It drew me out through my eyes like a big plaster." + </p> + <p> + "Mabel French!" + </p> + <p> + "I don't care; it did. That was just the feeling." + </p> + <p> + There was no hurry about talking, for the rich, mellow summer silence had + a body to it that prevented pauses from seeming empty, and it might have + been half an hour afterward that Mabel suddenly leaned forward, putting + her face close to the vine-trellis, and cried in a low voice, "Who's that? + Po tell me! They're the very first persons who have gone by this + afternoon, I do believe." + </p> + <p> + A pretty phaeton was slowly passing, containing an elderly gentleman and + lady. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, that is only Lawyer Morgan and old Miss Rood," replied Lucy, just + glancing up, and then down again. "They go out driving once a week + regularly, and always at about this time in the afternoon." + </p> + <p> + "They look like afternoon sort of people," said Mabel. "But why does n't + Lawyer Morgan take out his wife?" + </p> + <p> + "He has n't got any. Miss Rood comes nearest to that. Oh, no, you needn't + open your eyes; there's not a properer old maid in town, or old bachelor + either, for that matter." + </p> + <p> + "Are they relatives?" + </p> + <p> + "No, indeed." + </p> + <p> + "How long has this Platonic romance been going on, pray?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, ever since they were young,—forty years, perhaps. I only know + by tradition, you see. It began ages before my day. They say she was very + pretty once. Old Aunty Perkins remembers that she was quite the belle of + the village as a girl. It seems strange, does n't it?" + </p> + <p> + "Tell me the whole story," said Mabel, turning round so as to face Lucy as + the phaeton passed out of sight. + </p> + <p> + "There's not much to tell. Mr. Morgan has always lived here, and so has + Miss Rood. He lives alone with a housekeeper in that fine house at the end + of the street, and she entirely alone in that little white house over + there among the apple-trees. All the people who knew them when they were + young are dead, gone away, or moved off. They are relics of a past + generation, and are really about as much shut up to each other for + sympathy as an old married couple." + </p> + <p> + "Well, why on earth are n't they married?" + </p> + <p> + "People hereabouts got tired of asking that full thirty years ago," + replied Lucy, with a little shrug. "Even the gossips long since wore out + the subject, and I believe we have all of us forgotten that there is + anything peculiar about their relations. He calls on her two or three + times a week, and takes her out driving on pleasant days; escorts her to + places of amusement or social gatherings when either of them cares to go, + which is n't often; and wherever they are, people take it for granted they + will pair off together. He is never seen with any other lady." + </p> + <p> + "It's very strange," said Mabel thoughtfully, "and I'm sure it's very + romantic. Queer old couple! I wonder how they really feel toward each + other, and whether they would n't like to be married?" + </p> + <p> + Awhile after she suddenly demanded, "Don't you think Miss Rood looks like + me?" + </p> + <p> + Lucy laughed at first, but upon closer inspection of the fair questioner + admitted that there might be some such resemblance as the shriveled apples + brought up from the cellar in spring bear to the plump, rosy-cheeked + beauties that went down in October. + </p> + <p> + If Mr. Morgan and Miss Rood, as they rode past, had chanced to overhear + Mabel's question why they had not married, it would have affected them + very differently. He would have been startled by the novelty of an idea + that had not occurred to him in twenty years, but the blush on her cheek + would have been one of painful consciousness. + </p> + <p> + As boy and girl they had been each other's chosen companion, and as young + man and maiden their childish preference had bloomed into a reciprocal + love. Thanks to the freedom and simplicity of village life, they enjoyed + as lovers a constant and easy familiarity and daily association almost as + complete in sympathy of mind and heart as anything marriage could offer. + There were none of the usual obstacles to incite them to matrimony. They + were never even formally engaged, so wholly did they take it for granted + that they should marry. It was so much a matter of course that there was + no hurry at all about it; and besides, so long as they had it to look + forward to, the foreground of life was illuminated for them: it was still + morning. Mr. Morgan was constitutionally of a dreamy and unpractical turn, + a creature of habits and a victim of ruts; and as years rolled on he + became more and more satisfied with these half-friendly, half-loverlike + relations. He never found the time when it seemed an object to marry, and + now, for very many years, the idea had not even occurred to him as + possible; and so far was he from the least suspicion that Miss Rood's + experience had not been precisely similar to his own, that he often + congratulated himself on the fortunate coincidence. + </p> + <p> + Time cures much, and many years ago Miss Hood had recovered from the first + bitterness of discovering that his love had become insensibly transformed + into a very tender but perfectly peaceful friendship. No one but him had + ever touched her heart, and she had no interest in life besides him. Since + she was not to be his wife, she was glad to be his lifelong, tender, + self-sacrificing friend. So she raked the ashes over the fire in her + heart, and left him to suppose that it had gone out as in his. Nor was she + without compensation in their friendship. It was with a delightful thrill + that she felt how fully in mind and heart he leaned and depended upon her, + and the unusual and romantic character of their relations in some degree + consoled her for the disappointment of womanly aspirations by a feeling of + distinction. She was not like other women: her lot was set apart and + peculiar. She looked down upon her sex. The conventionality of women's + lives renders their vanity peculiarly susceptible to a suggestion that + their destiny is in any respect unique, —a fact that has served the + turn of many a seducer before now. To-day, after returning from his drive + with Miss Rood, Mr. Morgan had walked in his garden, and as the evening + breeze arose, it bore to his nostrils that first indescribable flavor of + autumn which warns us that the soul of Summer has departed from her yet + glowing body. He was very sensitive to these changes of the year, and, + obeying an impulse that had been familiar to him in all unusual moods his + life long, he left the house after tea and turned his steps down the + street. As he stopped at Miss Rood's gate, Lucy, Mabel, and George Hammond + were under the apple-trees in the garden opposite. + </p> + <p> + "Look, Mabel! There's Mr. Morgan going to call on Miss Rood," said Lucy + softly. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, do look, George!" said Mabel eagerly. "That old gentleman has been + paying court to an old maid over in that little house for forty years. And + to think," she added in a lower tone, intended for his private ear, "what + a fuss you make about waiting six months!" + </p> + <p> + "Humph! You please to forget that it's easier to wait for some things than + for others. Six months of my kind of waiting, I take it, require more + patience than forty years of his—or any other man's," he added, with + increased emphasis. + </p> + <p> + "Be quiet, sir!" replied Mabel, answering his look of unruly admiration + with one of half pique. "I 'm not a sugar-plum, that's not enjoyed till + it's in the mouth. If you have n't got me now, you 'll never have me. If + being engaged isn't enough, you don't deserve to be married." And then, + seeing the blank expression with which he looked down at her, she added + with a prescient resigned-ness, "I 'm afraid, dear, you 'll be so + disappointed when we 're married, if you find this so tedious." + </p> + <p> + Lucy had discreetly wandered away, and of how they made it up there were + no witnesses. But it seems likely that they did so, for shortly after they + wandered away together down the darkening street. + </p> + <p> + Like most of the Plainfield houses, that at which Mr. Morgan turned in + stood well back from the street. At a side window, still further sheltered + from view by a gyringa-bush at the house corner, sat a little woman with a + small, pale face, the still attractive features perceptibly sharpened by + years, of which the half-gray hair bore further testimony. The eyes, just + now fixed absently upon the dusking landscape, were light gray and a + little faded, while around the lips there were crow's-feet, especially + when they were pressed together, as now, in an unsatisfied, almost + pathetic look, evidently habitual to her face when in repose. There was + withal something in her features that so reminded you of Mr. Morgan that + any one conversant with the facts of his life-romance would have at once + inferred—though by just what logic he might not be able to explain—that + this must be Miss Eood. It is well known that long-wedded couples often + gain at length a certain resemblance in feature and manner; and although + these two were not married, yet their intimacy of a lifetime was perhaps + the reason why her face bore when in repose something of that seer-like + expression which communion with the bodiless shapes of memory had given to + his. + </p> + <p> + The latching of the gate broke up her depressing reverie, and banished the + pinched and pining look from her features. Among the neighbors Miss Rood + was sometimes called a sour old maid, but the face she kept for Mr. Morgan + would never have suggested that idea to the most ill-natured critic. + </p> + <p> + He stopped at the window, near which the walk passed to the doorway, and + stood leaning on the sill,—a tall, slender figure, stooping a + little, with smooth, scholarly face, and thin iron-gray hair. His only + noticeable feature was a pair of eyes whose expression and glow indicated + an imaginative temperament. It was pleasant to observe the relieved + restlessness in the look and manner of the two friends, as if at the mere + being in each other's presence, though neither seemed in any haste to + exchange even the words of formal greeting. + </p> + <p> + At length she said, in a tone of quiet satisfaction, "I knew you would + come, for I was sure this deathly autumn's flavor would make you restless. + Is n't it strange how it affects the nerves of memory, and makes one sad + with thinking of all the sweet, dear days that are dead?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, yes," he answered eagerly; "I can think of nothing else. Do they not + seem wonderfully clear and near to-night? To-night, of all nights in the + year, if the figures and scenes of memory can be reëmbodied in visible + forms, they ought to become so to the eyes that strain and yearn for + them." + </p> + <p> + "What a fanciful idea, Robert!" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know that it is; I don't feel sure. Nobody understands the + mystery of this Past, or what are the conditions of existence in that + world. These memories, these forms and faces, that are so near, so almost + warm and visible that we find ourselves smiling on the vacant air where + they seem to be, are they not real and living?" + </p> + <p> + "You don't mean you believe in ghosts?" + </p> + <p> + "I am not talking of ghosts of the dead, but of ghosts of the past,— + memories of scenes or persons, whether the persons are dead or not— + of our own selves as well as others. Why," he continued, his voice + softening into a passionate, yearning tenderness, "the figure I would give + most to see just once more is yourself as a girl, as I remember you in the + sweet grace and beauty of your maidenhood. Ah, well! ah, well!" + </p> + <p> + "Don't!" she cried involuntarily, while her features contracted in sudden + pain. + </p> + <p> + In the years during which his passion for her had been cooling into a + staid friendship, his imagination had been recurring with constantly + increasing fondness and a dreamy passion to the memory of her girlhood. + And the cruelest part of it was that he so unconsciously and + unquestioningly assumed that she could not have identity enough with that + girlish ideal to make his frequent glowing references to it even + embarrassing. Generally, however, she heard and made no sign, but the + suddenness of his outburst just now had taken her off her guard. + </p> + <p> + He glanced up with some surprise at her exclamation, but was too much + interested in his subject to take much notice of it. "You know," he said, + "there are great differences in the distinctness with which we can bring + up our memories. Very well! The only question is, What is the limit to + that distinctness, or is there any? Since we know there are such wide + degrees in distinctness, the burden of proof rests on those who would + prove that those degrees stop short of any particular point. Don't you + see, then, that it might be possible to see them?" And to enforce his + meaning he laid his hand lightly on hers as it rested on the window-seat. + </p> + <p> + She withdrew it instantly from the contact, and a slight flush tinged her + sallow cheeks. The only outward trace of her memory of their youthful + relations was the almost prudish chariness of her person by which she + indicated a sense of the line to be drawn between the former lover and the + present friend. + </p> + <p> + "Something in your look just now," he said, regarding her musingly, as one + who seeks to trace the lineaments of a dead face in a living one, "reminds + me of you as you used to sit in this very window as a girl, and I stood + just here, and we picked out stars together. There! now it's gone;" and he + turned away regretfully. + </p> + <p> + She looked at his averted face with a blank piteousness which revealed all + her secret. She would not have had him see it for worlds, but it was a + relief just for a moment to rest her features in the sad cast which the + muscles had grown tired in repressing. The autumn scent rose stronger as + the air grew damp, and he stood breathing it in, and apparently feeling + its influence like some Delphian afflatus. + </p> + <p> + "Is there anything, Mary,—is there anything so beautiful as that + light of eternity that rests on the figures of memory? Who that has once + felt it can care for the common daylight of the present any more, or take + pleasure in its prosaic groups?" + </p> + <p> + "You'll certainly catch cold standing in that wet grass; do come in and + let me shut the blinds," she said, for she had found cheerful lamplight + the best corrective for his vagaries. + </p> + <p> + So he came in and sat in his special arm-chair, and they chatted about + miscellaneous village topics for an hour. The standpoint from which they + canvassed Plainfield people and things was a peculiarly outside one. Their + circle of two was like a separate planet from which they observed the + world. Their tone was like, and yet quite unlike, that in which a + long-married couple discuss their acquaintances; for, while their + intellectual intimacy was perfect, their air expressed a constant mutual + deference and solicitude of approbation not to be confounded with the + terrible familiarity of matrimony; and at the same time they constituted a + self-sufficient circle, apart from the society around them, as man and + wife cannot. Man and wife are so far merged as to feel themselves a unit + over against society. They are too much identified to find in each other + that sense of support and countenance which requires a feeling of the + exteriority of our friend's life to our own. If these two should marry, + they would shortly find themselves impelled to seek refuge in conventional + relations with that society of which now they were calmly independent. + </p> + <p> + At length Mr. Morgan rose and threw open the blinds. The radiance of the + full harvest-moon so flooded the room that Miss Eood was fain to blow out + the poor lamp for compassion. "Let us take a walk," he said. + </p> + <p> + The streets were empty and still, and they walked in silence, spelled by + the perfect beauty of the evening. The dense shadows of the elms lent a + peculiarly rich effect to the occasional bars and patches of moonlight on + the street floor; the white houses gleamed among their orchards; and here + and there, between the dark tree-stems, there were glimpses of the shining + surface of the broad outlying meadows, which looked like a surrounding + sea. + </p> + <p> + Miss Rood was startled to see how the witchery of the scene possessed her + companion. His face took on a set, half-smiling expression, and he dropped + her arm as if they had arrived at the place of entertainment to which he + had been escorting her. He no longer walked with measured pace, but glided + along with a certain stealthiness, peering on this side and that down + moony vistas and into shadow-bowers, as if half-expecting, if he might + step lightly enough, to catch a glimpse of some sort of dream-people + basking there. + </p> + <p> + Nor could Miss Rood herself resist the impression the moony landscape gave + of teeming with subtle forms of life, escaping the grosser senses of human + beings, but perceptible by their finer parts. Each cosy nook of light and + shadow was yet warm from some presence that had just left it. The + landscape fairly stirred with ethereal forms of being beneath the + fertilizing moon-rays, as the earth-mould wakes into physical life under + the sun's heat. The yellow moonlight looked warm as spirits might count + warmth. The air was electric with the thrill of circumambient existence. + There was the sense of pressure, of a throng. It would have been + impossible to feel lonely. The pulsating sounds of the insect world seemed + the rhythm to which the voluptuous beauty of the night had spontaneously + set itself. The common air of day had been transmuted into the atmosphere + of reverie and Dreamland. In that magic medium the distinction between + imagination and reality fast dissolved. Even Miss Bood was conscious of a + delightful excitement, a vague expectancy. Mr. Morgan, she saw, was moved + quite beyond even his exaggerated habit of imaginative excitement. His + wet, shining, wide-opened eyes and ecstatic expression indicated complete + abandonment to the illusions of the scene. + </p> + <p> + They had seated themselves, as the concentration of the brain upon + imaginative activity made the nerves of motion sluggish, upon a rude bench + formed by wedging a plank between two elms that stood close together. They + were within the shadow of the trees, but close up to their feet rippled a + lake of moonlight. The landscape shimmering before them had been the + theatre of their fifty years of life. Their history was written in its + trees and lawns and paths. The very air of the place had acquired for them + a dense, warm, sentient feeling, to which that of all other places was + thin and raw. It had become tinctured by their own spiritual emanations, + by the thoughts, looks, words and moods of which it had so long received + the impression. It had become such vitalized air, surcharged with sense + and thought, as might be taken to make souls for men out of. + </p> + <p> + Over yonder, upon the playground, yet lingered the faint violet fragrance + of their childhood. Beneath that elm a kiss had once touched the air with + a fire that still warmed their cheeks in passing. Yonder the look of a + face was cut on the viewless air as on marble. Surely, death does but + touch the living, for the dead ever keep their power over us; it is only + we who lose ours over them. Each vista of leafy arch and distant meadow + framed in some scene of their youth-time, painted in the imperishable hues + of memory that borrow from time an ever richer and more glowing tint. It + was no wonder that to these two old people, sitting on the bench between + the elms, the atmosphere before them, saturated with associations, dense + with memories, should seem fairly quivering into material forms, like a + distant mist turning to rain. + </p> + <p> + At length Miss Rood heard her companion say, in a whisper of tremulous + exultation, "Do you know, Mary, I think I shall see them very soon." + </p> + <p> + "See whom?" she asked, frightened at his strange tone. + </p> + <p> + "Why, see us, of course, as I was telling you," he whispered,—"you + and me as we were young,—see them as I see you now. Don't you + remember it was just along here that we used to walk on spring evenings? + We walk here no more, but they do evermore, beautiful, beautiful children. + I come here often to lie in wait for them. I can feel them now; I can + almost, almost see them." His whisper became scarcely audible and the + words dropped slowly. "I know the sight is coming, for every day they grow + more vivid. It can't be long before I quite see them. It may come at any + moment." + </p> + <p> + Miss Rood was thoroughly frightened at the intensity of his excitement, + and terribly perplexed as to what she should do. + </p> + <p> + "It may come at any time; I can almost see them now," he murmured. "A—h! + look!" With parted lips and unspeakably intense eyes, as if his life were + flowing out at them, he was staring across the moonlit paths before them + to the point where the path debouched from the shadow. + </p> + <p> + Following his eyes, she saw what for a moment made her head swim with the + thought that she too was going mad. Just issuing from the shadows, as if + in answer to his words, were a young man and a girl, his arm upon her + waist, his eyes upon her face. At the first glance Miss Rood was impressed + with a resemblance to her own features in those of the girl, which her + excitement exaggerated to a perfect reproduction of them. For an instant + the conviction possessed her that by some impossible, indescribable, + inconceivable miracle she was looking upon the resurrected figures of her + girlish self and her lover. + </p> + <p> + At first Mr. Morgan had half started from his seat, and was between rising + and sitting. Then he rose with a slow, involuntary movement, while his + face worked terribly between bewilderment and abandonment to illusion. He + tottered forward a few steps to the edge of the moonlight, and stood + peering at the approaching couple with a hand raised to shade his eyes and + a dazed, unearthly smile on his face. The girl saw him first, for she had + been gazing demurely before her, while her lover looked only at her. At + sight of the gray-haired man suddenly confronting them with a look of + bedlam, she shrieked and started back in terror. Miss Rood, recalled to + her senses, sprang forward, and catching Mr. Morgan's arm endeavored with + gentle force to draw him away. + </p> + <p> + But it was too late for that. The young man, at first almost as much + startled as his companion at the uncanny apparition, naturally experienced + a revulsion of indignation at such an extraordinary interruption to his + tête-à-tête, and stepped up to Mr. Morgan as if about to inflict summary + chastisement. But perceiving that he had to do with an elderly man, he + contented himself with demanding in a decidedly aggressive tone what the + devil he meant by such a performance. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Morgan stared at him without seeing him, and evidently did not take in + the words. He merely gasped once or twice, and looked as if he had fainted + away on his feet. His blank, stunned expression showed that his faculties + were momentarily benumbed by the shock. Miss Rood felt as if she should + die for the pity of it as she looked at his face, and her heart was + breaking for grief as she sought to mollify the young man with some + inarticulate words of apology, meanwhile still endeavoring to draw Mr. + Morgan away. But at this moment the girl, recovering from her panic, came + up to the group and laid her hand on the young man's arm, as if to check + and silence him. It was evident that she saw there was something quite + unusual in the circumstances, and the look which she bent upon Mr. Morgan + was one of sympathy and considerate interrogation. But Miss Rood could see + no way out of their awkward situation, which grew more intolerable every + moment as they thus confronted each other. It was finally Mr. Morgan's + voice, quite firm, but with an indescribable sadness in the tones, which + broke the silence: "Young people, I owe you an apology, such as it is. I + am an old man, and the past is growing so heavy that it sometimes quite + overbalances me. My thoughts have been busy to-night with the days of my + youth, and the spell of memory has been so strong that I have not been + quite myself. As you came into view I actually entertained the incredible + idea for a moment that somehow I saw in you the materialized memories of + myself and another as we once walked this same path." + </p> + <p> + The young man bowed, as Mr. Morgan ended, in a manner indicating his + acceptance of the apology, although he looked both amazed and amused. But + the explanation had a very different effect upon the girl at his side. As + she listened, her eyes had filled with tears, and her face had taken on a + wonderfully tender, pitiful smile. When he ended speaking, she impulsively + said, "I 'm so sorry we were not what you thought us! Why not pretend we + are, to-night at least? We can pretend it, you know. The moonlight makes + anything possible;" and then glancing at Miss Rood, she added, as if + almost frightened, "Why, how much we look alike! I 'm not sure it isn't + true, anyway." + </p> + <p> + This was, in fact, an unusually marked example of those casual + resemblances between strangers which are sometimes seen. The hair of the + one was indeed gray and that of the other dark, but the eyes were of the + same color by night, and the features, except for the greater fullness of + the younger face, were cast in the same mould, while figure and bearing + were strikingly similar, although daylight would doubtless have revealed + diversities, enough that moonlight refused to disclose. + </p> + <p> + The two women looked at each other with an expression almost of suspicion + and fear, while the young man observed, "Your mistake was certainly + excusable, sir." + </p> + <p> + "It will be the easier to pretend," said the girl, as with a half-serious, + half-sportive imperiousness she laid her hand on Mr. Morgan's arm. "And + now it is thirty years ago, and we are walking together." He involuntarily + obeyed the slight pressure, and they walked slowly away, leaving the other + two, after an embarrassed pause, to follow them. + </p> + <p> + For some time they walked in silence. He was deliberately abandoning + himself to the illusion, supported as it was by the evidence of his + senses, that he was wandering in some of the mysterious be-tween-worlds + which he had so often dreamed of, with the love of his youth in her + youth-time charm. Did he really believe it to be so? Belief is a term + quite irrelevant to such a frame as his, in which the reflective and + analytical powers are for a time purposely held in abeyance. The + circumstances of her introduction to him had dropped from his mind as + irrelevant accidents, like the absurdities which occur in our sweetest and + most solemn dreams without marring their general impression in our + memories. Every glance he threw upon his companion, while on the one hand + it shocked his illusion in that she seemed not likely to vanish away, on + the other strengthened it with an indescribable thrill by the revelation + of some fresh trait of face or figure, some new expression, that + reproduced the Miss Rood of his youth. Not, indeed, that it is likely his + companion was thus perfectly the double of that lady, although so much + resembling her, but the common graces of maidenhood were in Mr. Morgan's + mind the peculiar personal qualities of the only woman he had ever much + known. + </p> + <p> + Of his own accord he would not have dared to risk breaking the charm by a + word. But his companion—who, as is tolerably evident by this time, + was Mabel French—had meanwhile formed a scheme quite worthy of her + audacious temper. She had at once recognized both Mr. Morgan and Miss + Rood, and had gone thus far from a mere romantic impulse, without definite + intentions of any sort. But the idea now came into her head that she might + take advantage of this extraordinary situation to try a match-making + experiment, which instantly captivated her fancy. So she said, while ever + so gently pressing his arm and looking up into his face with an arch smile + (she was recognized as the best amateur actress in her set at home), "I + wonder if the moon will be so mellow after we are married?" + </p> + <p> + His illusion was rudely disturbed by the shock of an articulate voice, + softly and low as she spoke, and he looked around with a startled + expression that made her fear her rôle was ended. But she could not know + that the eyes she turned to his were mirrors where he saw his dead youth. + The two Miss Roods—the girl and the woman, the past and the present—were + fused and become one in his mind. Their identity flashed upon him. + </p> + <p> + An artesian well sunk from the desert surface through the underlying + strata, the layers of ages, strikes some lake long ago covered over, and + the water welling up converts the upper waste into a garden. Just so at + her words and her look his heart suddenly filled, as if it came from afar, + with the youthful passion he had felt toward Miss Bood, but which, he knew + not exactly when or how, had been gradually overgrown with the dullness of + familiarity and had lapsed into an indolent affectionate habit. The warm, + voluptuous pulse of this new feeling—new, and yet instantly + recognized as old—brought with it a flood of youthful associations, + and commingled the far past with the present in a confusion more complete + and more intoxicating than ever. He saw double again. "Married!" he + murmured dreamily. "Yes, surely, we will be married." + </p> + <p> + And as he spoke, he looked at her with such a peculiar expression that she + was a little frightened. It looked like a more serious business than she + had counted on, and for a moment, if she could have cut and run, perhaps + she would have done so. But she had a strain of the true histrionic artist + about her, and with a little effort rose to the difficulty of the rôle. + "Of course we will be married," she replied, with an air of innocent + surprise. "You speak as if you had just thought of it." + </p> + <p> + He turned toward her as if he would sober his senses by staring at her, + his pupils dilating and contracting in the instinctive effort to clear the + mind by clearing the eyes. + </p> + <p> + But with a steady pressure on his arm she compelled him to walk on by her + side. Then she said, in a soft, low voice, as if a little awed by what she + were telling, while at the same time she nestled nearer his side, "I had + such a sad dream last night, and your strange talk reminds me of it. It + seemed as if we were old and white-haired and stooping, and went wandering + about, still together, but not married, lonely and broken. And I woke up + feeling you can't think how dreary and sad,— as if a bell had tolled + in my ears as I slept; and the feeling was so strong that I put my fingers + to my face to find if it was withered; and when I could not tell + certainly, I got up and lit my lamp and looked in the glass; and my face, + thank God! was fresh and young; but I sat on my bed and cried to think of + the poor old people I had left behind in my dream." + </p> + <p> + Mabel had so fallen into the spirit of her part that she was really crying + as she ended. Her tears completed Mr. Morgan's mental confusion, and he + absolutely did not know whom he was addressing or where he was himself, as + he cried, "No, no, Mary! Don't cry! It shall not be; it shall never be." + </p> + <p> + Lightly withdrawing her hand from his arm, she glided like a sprite from + his side, and was lost in the shadows, while her whispered words still + sounded in his ear, "Good-by for thirty years!" + </p> + <p> + A moment after, three notes, clear as a bird's call, sounded from the + direction whither she had vanished, and Miss Rood's companion, breaking + off short a remark on the excessive dryness of the weather, bowed + awkwardly and also disappeared among the shadows. + </p> + <p> + When Miss Rood laid her hand on Mr. Morgan's arm to recall him to the fact + that they were now alone together, he turned quickly, and his eyes swept + her from head to foot, and then rested on her face with an expression of + intense curiosity and a wholly new interest, as if he were tracing out a + suddenly suggested resemblance which overwhelmed him with emotion. And as + he gazed, his eyes began to take fire from the faded features on which + they had rested so many years in mere complacent friendliness, and she + instinctively averted her face. + </p> + <p> + Long intimacy had made her delicately sensitive to his moods, and when he + drew her arm in his and turned to walk, although he had not uttered a + word, she trembled with agitation. + </p> + <p> + "Mary, we have had an extraordinary experience to-night," he said. The old + dreaminess in his voice, as of one narcotized or in a trance, sometimes a + little forced, as of one trying to dream, to which she had become + accustomed, and of which in her heart of hearts she was very weary, was + gone. In its place she recognized a resonance which still further confused + her with a sense of altered relations. His polarity had changed: his + electricity was no longer negative, but positive. + </p> + <p> + Her feminine instinct vaguely alarmed, she replied, "Yes, indeed, but it + is getting late. Had n't we better go in?" What lent the unusual + intonation of timidity to her voice? Certainly nothing that she could have + explained. + </p> + <p> + "Not quite yet, Mary," he answered, turning his gaze once more fully upon + her. + </p> + <p> + Her eyes dropped before his, and a moment after fluttered up to find an + explanation for their behavior, only to fall again in blind panic. For, + mingling unmistakably with the curiosity with which he was still studying + her features, was a newborn expression of appropriation and passionate + complacency. Her senses whirled in a bewilderment that had a suffocating + sweetness about it. Though she now kept her eyes on the ground, she felt + his constant sidewise glances, and, desperately seeking relief from the + conscious silence that enveloped them like a vapor of intoxicating fumes, + she forced herself to utter the merest triviality she could summon to her + lips: "See that house." The husky tones betrayed more agitation than the + ruse concealed. + </p> + <p> + He answered as irrelevantly as she had spoken, "Yes, indeed, so it is." + That was their only attempt at conversation. + </p> + <p> + For a half hour—it might have been much more or much less—they + walked in this way, thrilling with the new magnetism that at once + attracted and estranged them with an extraordinary sense of strangeness in + familiarity. At length they paused under the little porch of Miss Rood's + cottage, where he commonly bade her good-evening after their walks. The + timidity and vague alarms that had paralyzed her while they were walking + disappeared as he was about to leave her, and she involuntarily returned + his unusual pressure of her hand. + </p> + <p> + A long time after, behold her still encircled in his arms, not blushing, + but pale and her eyes full of a soft, astonished glow! "Oh, Robert!" was + all she had said after one first little gasp. + </p> + <p> + They never met George or Mabel again. Mrs. Morgan learned subsequently + that two young people from the city answering their description had been + guests at the opposite house, and had left Plainfield the morning after + the events hereinbefore set forth, and drew her conclusions accordingly. + But her husband preferred to cherish the secret belief that his theory + that memories might become visible had proved true in one instance at + least. least. <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Summer Evening's Dream, by Edward Bellamy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SUMMER EVENING'S DREAM *** + +***** This file should be named 22705-h.htm or 22705-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/7/0/22705/ + +Produced by 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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