第72章

Notwithstanding that he had concocted a great deal of paper theory on social amenities and modern manners generally,the special ounce of practice was wanting,and now for his life Knight could not recollect whether it was considered correct to give a young lady personal ornaments before a regular engagement to marry had been initiated.But the day before leaving Dublin he looked around anxiously for a high-class jewellery establishment,in which he purchased what he considered would suit her best.

It was with a most awkward and unwonted feeling that after entering and closing the door of his room he sat down,opened the morocco case,and held up each of the fragile bits of gold-work before his eyes.Many things had become old to the solitary man of letters,but these were new,and he handled like a child an outcome of civilization which had never before been touched by his fingers.A sudden fastidious decision that the pattern chosen would not suit her after all caused him to rise in a flurry and tear down the street to change them for others.After a great deal of trouble in reselecting,during which his mind became so bewildered that the critical faculty on objects of art seemed to have vacated his person altogether,Knight carried off another pair of ear-rings.These remained in his possession till the afternoon,when,after contemplating them fifty times with a growing misgiving that the last choice was worse than the first,he felt that no sleep would visit his pillow till he had improved upon his previous purchases yet again.In a perfect heat of vexation with himself for such tergiversation,he went anew to the shop-door,was absolutely ashamed to enter and give further trouble,went to another shop,bought a pair at an enormously increased price,because they seemed the very thing,asked the goldsmiths if they would take the other pair in exchange,was told that they could not exchange articles bought of another maker,paid down the money,and went off with the two pairs in his possession,wondering what on earth to do with the superfluous pair.He almost wished he could lose them,or that somebody would steal them,and was burdened with an interposing sense that,as a capable man,with true ideas of economy,he must necessarily sell them somewhere,which he did at last for a mere song.Mingled with a blank feeling of a whole day being lost to him in running about the city on this new and extraordinary class of errand,and of several pounds being lost through his bungling,was a slight sense of satisfaction that he had emerged for ever from his antediluvian ignorance on the subject of ladiesjewellery,as well as secured a truly artistic production at last.During the remainder of that day he scanned the ornaments of every lady he met with the profoundly experienced eye of an appraiser.

Next morning Knight was again crossing St.Georges Channel--not returning to London by the Holyhead route as he had originally intended,but towards Bristol--availing himself of Mr.and Mrs.

Swancourts invitation to revisit them on his homeward journey.

We flit forward to Elfride.

Womans ruling passion--to fascinate and influence those more powerful than she--though operant in Elfride,was decidedly purposeless.She had wanted her friend Knights good opinion from the first:how much more than that elementary ingredient of friendship she now desired,her fears would hardly allow her to think.In originally wishing to please the highest class of man she had ever intimately known,there was no disloyalty to Stephen Smith.She could not--and few women can--realize the possible vastness of an issue which has only an insignificant begetting.

Her letters from Stephen were necessarily few,and her sense of fidelity clung to the last she had received as a wrecked mariner clings to flotsam.The young girl persuaded herself that she was glad Stephen had such a right to her hand as he had acquired (in her eyes)by the elopement.She beguiled herself by saying,Perhaps if I had not so committed myself I might fall in love with Mr.Knight.

All this made the week of Knights absence very gloomy and distasteful to her.She retained Stephen in her prayers,and his old letters were re-read--as a medicine in reality,though she deceived herself into the belief that it was as a pleasure.

These letters had grown more and more hopeful.He told her that he finished his work every day with a pleasant consciousness of having removed one more stone from the barrier which divided them.

Then he drew images of what a fine figure they two would cut some day.People would turn their heads and say,What a prize he has won!She was not to be sad about that wild runaway attempt of theirs (Elfride had repeatedly said that it grieved her).

Whatever any other person who knew of it might think,he knew well enough the modesty of her nature.The only reproach was a gentle one for not having written quite so devotedly during her visit to London.Her letter had seemed to have a liveliness derived from other thoughts than thoughts of him.

Knights intention of an early return to Endelstow having originally been faint,his promise to do so had been fainter.He was a man who kept his words well to the rear of his possible actions.The vicar was rather surprised to see him again so soon:

Mrs.Swancourt was not.Knight found,on meeting them all,after his arrival had been announced,that they had formed an intention to go to St.Leonards for a few days at the end of the month.