第99章
They ascended to the daylight,Knight taking no further notice of Elfrides manner,which,as usual,he attributed to the natural shyness of a young woman at being discovered walking with him on terms which left not much doubt of their meaning.Elfride stepped a little in advance,and passed through the churchyard.
You are changed very considerably,Smith,said Knight,and I suppose it is no more than was to be expected.However,dont imagine that I shall feel any the less interest in you and your fortunes whenever you care to confide them to me.I have not forgotten the attachment you spoke of as your reason for going away to India.A London young lady,was it not?I hope all is prosperous?
No:the match is broken off.
It being always difficult to know whether to express sorrow or gladness under such circumstances--all depending upon the character of the match--Knight took shelter in the safe words:I trust it was for the best.
I hope it was.But I beg that you will not press me further:no,you have not pressed me--I dont mean that--but I would rather not speak upon the subject.
Stephens words were hurried.
Knight said no more,and they followed in the footsteps of Elfride,who still kept some paces in advance,and had not heard Knights unconscious allusion to her.Stephen bade him adieu at the churchyard-gate without going outside,and watched whilst he and his sweetheart mounted their horses.
Good heavens,Elfride,Knight exclaimed,how pale you are!I suppose I ought not to have taken you into that vault.What is the matter?
Nothing,said Elfride faintly.I shall be myself in a moment.
All was so strange and unexpected down there,that it made me unwell.
I thought you said very little.Shall I get some water?
No,no.
Do you think it is safe for you to mount?
Quite--indeed it is,she said,with a look of appeal.
Now then--up she goes!whispered Knight,and lifted her tenderly into the saddle.
Her old lover still looked on at the performance as he leant over the gate a dozen yards off.Once in the saddle,and having a firm grip of the reins,she turned her head as if by a resistless fascination,and for the first time since that memorable parting on the moor outside St.Launces after the passionate attempt at marriage with him,Elfride looked in the face of the young man she first had loved.He was the youth who had called her his inseparable wife many a time,and whom she had even addressed as her husband.Their eyes met.Measurement of life should be proportioned rather to the intensity of the experience than to its actual length.Their glance,but a moment chronologically,was a season in their history.To Elfride the intense agony of reproach in Stephens eye was a nail piercing her heart with a deadliness no words can describe.With a spasmodic effort she withdrew her eyes,urged on the horse,and in the chaos of perturbed memories was oblivious of any presence beside her.The deed of deception was complete.
Gaining a knoll on which the park transformed itself into wood and copse,Knight came still closer to her side,and said,Are you better now,dearest?
Oh yes.She pressed a hand to her eyes,as if to blot out the image of Stephen.A vivid scarlet spot now shone with preternatural brightness in the centre of each cheek,leaving the remainder of her face lily-white as before.
Elfride,said Knight,rather in his old tone of mentor,you know I dont for a moment chide you,but is there not a great deal of unwomanly weakness in your allowing yourself to be so overwhelmed by the sight of what,after all,is no novelty?Every woman worthy of the name should,I think,be able to look upon death with something like composure.Surely you think so too?
Yes;I own it.
His obtuseness to the cause of her indisposition,by evidencing his entire freedom from the suspicion of anything behind the scenes,showed how incapable Knight was of deception himself,rather than any inherent dulness in him regarding human nature.
This,clearly perceived by Elfride,added poignancy to her self-reproach,and she idolized him the more because of their difference.Even the recent sight of Stephens face and the sound of his voice,which for a moment had stirred a chord or two of ancient kindness,were unable to keep down the adoration re-
existent now that he was again out of view.
She had replied to Knights question hastily,and immediately went on to speak of indifferent subjects.After they had reached home she was apart from him till dinner-time.When dinner was over,and they were watching the dusk in the drawing-room,Knight stepped out upon the terrace.Elfride went after him very decisively,on the spur of a virtuous intention.
Mr.Knight,I want to tell you something,she said,with quiet firmness.
And what is it about?gaily returned her lover.Happiness,I hope.Do not let anything keep you so sad as you seem to have been to-day.
I cannot mention the matter until I tell you the whole substance of it,she said.And that I will do to-morrow.I have been reminded of it to-day.It is about something I once did,and dont think I ought to have done.
This,it must be said,was rather a mild way of referring to a frantic passion and flight,which,much or little in itself,only accident had saved from being a scandal in the public eye.
Knight thought the matter some trifle,and said pleasantly:
Then I am not to hear the dreadful confession now?
No,not now.I did not mean to-night,Elfride responded,with a slight decline in the firmness of her voice.It is not light as you think it--it troubles me a great deal.Fearing now the effect of her own earnestness,she added forcedly,Though,perhaps,you may think it light after all.
But you have not said when it is to be?
To-morrow morning.Name a time,will you,and bind me to it?I want you to fix an hour,because I am weak,and may otherwise try to get out of it.She added a little artificial laugh,which showed how timorous her resolution was still.
Well,say after breakfast--at eleven oclock.
Yes,eleven oclock.I promise you.Bind me strictly to my word.