An Unknown Lover - Mrs George de Horne Vaizey (microsoft ebook reader TXT) š
- Author: Mrs George de Horne Vaizey
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Without, in the garden, Grizel was flitting from tree to tree like a big gold moth, bending her head to drink in the heavy perfume. The curve of the neck, the curve of the cheek half hidden against the leaves, the reed-like figure bent low from the waist, they were the very epitome of grace.
āMartin! Martin! I must have some of these to take up to my room. Thereās magic in the scent of red roses... real country roses, living on their own stems. It has something different from all other scents. These are the trees which little Juliet planted? How sweet she was that day, when they were planted, and she was so happy, so dirty, like a pretty child in her big pinafore! They ought to be sweet!ā
Martin winced. He did not reply, but taking a knife from his pocket cut off one or two of the best blooms, carefully pruning the thronged stems. For the first months after Julietās death her name had been continually on his lips, he had loved to talk about her, to hear her discussed; later on the reference had become rarer, more strained; now for years it had been avoided as elaborately as though it had belonged to a criminal, a prodigal. The young fair face still hung on the walls, but in the house where she had lived no one mentioned Julietās name. Only Grizel, an outsider, talked of her still, naturally, simply, with a transparent pleasure in the remembrance.
Martin was not sure whether the reference more pleased or jarred. Yes! he remembered! He should never forget that bright autumn day, the laughing crowd of spectators, the picture of his girl wife in her short garden skirt, waving her spade in triumph. He could never forget, but the personal significance had faded. There seemed little connection between himself and that boyish bridegroom; it was an effort to realise that that sweet child had truly been his wife.
The present moment seemed far more real, more vital. Himself, the man, occupied with the matured work of life; Grizel, the woman, instinct with the lure of her sex. He held the roses towards her that she might enjoy their fragrance, and for a minute they stood in silence, side by side. Then Grizel raised her head, and looked into his face with a long, penetrating glance. This was the real moment of their meeting, and both silently recognised it as such.
āHow goes it, Martin?ā she asked in her soft rich voice. āHow goes it?ā
āHaltingly, Grizel, haltingly!ā his smile flickered, and died out. āWeāll talk of that presently; you are the one person to whom I can talk on that subject, but first of all there is something else. Prisoner at the Bar.āWhy donāt you like my book?ā
His voice was gentle, bantering, almost tender in tone. There was not the faintest touch of offence, but Grizelās discomfiture was as naĆÆve and undisguised as that of a child.
āMartin! you said that we were not to discussāā
āNot in public; not at meals, not even before Katrine, but certainly when we are alone. Thereās no getting out of it, Grizel. You said nothing, it was only a tone, but as it happens I understand your tones. The book may run through a dozen editions, but for you it has failed. Why?ā
She stood before him, slim and straight, her face puckered in thought.
āIādonātāknow! Everything,āor was it nothing, Martin?ā
āCan I help you to find out? A few leading questions perhaps... Is it clever?ā
āVery clever.ā
āOriginal?ā
āOriginal!ā
āInteresting?ā
āQuite interesting.ā
āClever, original, and interesting, and already in its third edition! What would you have more, Mistress Critic?ā
Grizel lifted her right hand, and lightly tapped her heart.
āClever, interesting, original, but it didnāt touch! The craft is good, Martin; you are a skilful workmanāI think you grow more and more skilful, butāā
āGo on, Grizel; donāt be afraid. Tell me the whole truth.ā
Grizel faced him in silence. It was not often that so grave and thoughtful an air was seen upon her sparkling face. Her eyes gazed past his, far away into the night.
āOnce,ā she said dreamily, āthere was a painter. He painted marvellous pictures, but it was the depth and tone of his colouring which made him celebrated over all the world. And of all his colours there was one in particular which appeared in all his pictures, and the secret of which his fellow-artists tried in vain to discover. It was a red, Martin, a red so rich, so warm, so kindled, that all who beheld it felt warmed in their souls, and his fellow-artists questioned and pondered, and tried in vain to produce the same glow upon their own canvasesāand the years passed, and they grew old and weary, and still they failed. At last one day the great man died, and those who tended him for his burial were amazed to find a wound, an open wound, above his heart. And then at last they understood. The red of his pictures, the glow which had warmed the world, had been painted with his own blood!ā
There was silence in the garden. The scent of roses hung heavy upon the air.
āAnd I,ā said Martin slowly. āI write in ink.ā
Grizel made no reply. She turned from the rose-bed, and passed along a winding path which led round the herbaceous border to the slope of the orchard beyond. It was a narrow path, too narrow for two to walk in line, so that Martin, following, could not see her face. It was like Grizel, he reflected, to have chosen that path at this moment. She divined that he could speak more openly unseen.
āAnd even, Grizel, if I wrote in your painterās medium, my reds would have no glow! One cannot give out what one does not possess. While I am cold myself, how can I give out warmth? It is so long, Grizel, since my heart was warm!ā
A sigh floated back to his ears.
āPauvre!ā breathed the deep voice, but she did not turn her head; the gleaming figure flitted before him down the darkening path.
āI flattered myself that I had made a brave pretence. It was a good enough sham to delude the world, but You have found me out. Donāt think that I regret itāI am thankful to Heaven that some one understands. To be praised for what one knows to be false is a bitter pill. Sometimes I wonder, shall I throw it all up? Settle down comfortably into the rut, andāgrow roses! I could grow good roses, Grizel; the best of their kind. There would be no need to be ashamed.ā
In the twilight he saw her shake her head. A fold of the golden robe escaped her hands, and trailed on the ground. They stooped together to lift it up, and she smiled up at him with her sweet gay smile.
āBut you couldnāt, Martin; you couldnāt do it! You might make a hundred resolutions, but youād begin again. Thereās no escape that way, dear man. You must write, as you must breathe, therefore it follows that you must get warm. Chills are depressing things, but they are dangerous only when they are allowed to settle. This old house of yours has its back to the sun.ā
āI can read your parable, Grizel, but circumstancesālike housesāare not easily turned round. Life has made chains for me from which I cannot escape. Katrineāā
āI ratherāsuspect,ā interrupted Grizel drawling, āthat Katrineās chains are slackening! Some one, or something, has been supplying the oil. Another creak or two and she will be breaking loose, and going off at a tangent which will surprise your innocent mind!ā
āSymbols again! I donāt follow so easily this time, but if the signs are good, I am uncommonly thankful. I can talk openly to you, Grizel, for you wonāt misunderstand. Katrine isāon my mind! Perhaps it would be more honest if I said on my nerves! Iāve a suspicion that Iām on her nerves also, and the mischief of it is, that things are growing worse. Thereās nothing definitely wrong, and yet thereāsāeverything! I feel an utter brute.ā
To his astonishment, to his relief, Grizel laughed; a blithe and comfortable laugh. They had reached the summit of the orchard by this time, and had paused to look down at the twinkling lights of the village before turning back to the house.
āPoor, dear, conventional brute! Am I expected to be shocked? Iām not one bit, and I canāt pretend to be. Itās not your fault, and itās not Katrineās. You have both done your laborious bests to accomplish something that has never been accomplished by effort since the world began, and you are both overcome with Remorse because it has failed. Iād like to present you with a putty medal apiece to the memory of a successful failure. You have lived together, two utter strangers, who happen to have been born brother and sister, for eight long years without once descending to violence. Itās magnificent, itās incredible! You ought to be intoxicated with pride! Itās the most unique quality on earth which enables two people to live in happiness and understanding, and what constitutes it, the dickens only knows. Weāve got it,āmy old Buddy and I. We are at opposite ends of the poles, we can on occasions quarrel like cats, but in the main we understand; we fit! You and Katrine donāt touch within miles. Thereās no credit, thereās no blame. Fate placed us together, not choice. I have succeeded becauseāplease realise this!āI didnāt need to try. You, poor lambs, have tried away what little chance you had. It is affectation to pretend that it is your fault. The only blame would be to go on living in a false condition.ā
āI know it, I know it! Iāve been feeling it more and more strongly. Itās not fair to Katrine; itās not fair to me or to my work. But what can I do? I brought her here, she has given up her youth to looking after me, thereās no other home open, to herāI donāt pretend that her happiness is bound up in mine, but she thinks that it is, and thatās virtually the same thing. She would feel desperately aggrievedāā
āOh, you unselfish people, thereās no dealing with you!ā Grizel shrugged impatiently. āLet her feel aggrieved! If itās a case of smarting for a week, or freezing for life, then let her smart! Canāt you make up your mind just for once in your life to speak the bold, blatant truth? āKatrine, my dear, we are getting sick of each otherāletās cut it, and part! Iāll give you an allowanceāgo off and pay visits, or set up a crib of your own, enjoy yourself in your own way, but for Heavenās sake let me be happy too!āā
Martin shook his head.
āI couldnāt, Grizel; I couldnāt! It may be the right thing to do, but Iām a coward. I canāt face it. Not that way!ā
Grizel looked at him whimsically. Menāthe best of men, were so apt to believe that so long as the words were not actually spoken, their feelings remained concealed. And woman,āthe pity of it!ācould read the meaning of a sign. This woman already had read the signs. Undoubtedly, inevitably, a change was at hand!
Despite her growing indifference towards neighbouring festivities, Katrine could not resist a thrill of excitement in preparing for the Barfield Garden Party, which was in truth no ordinary local function, but an important, almost a national, fĆŖte. Among the guests royalty itself might appear; foreign potentates, ambassadors, distinguished politicians, disciples of the arts and sciences would be on show on the wide lawns, and within the splendid rooms of the old Castle. It would be, as Katrine herself had said, a very Zoological Garden of lions, among whom an insignificant spinster from a country town must of necessity appear the smallest of small fry.
Martin, of course, owned a roar of his own, a minor roar, but still distinguishable among the rest, but his sister had no claim
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