On the morning following the proposal Stephen strolled out into a
beech grove, some little distance from the house, which from
childhood had been a favourite haunt of hers. It was not in the
immediate road to anywhere, and so there was no occasion for any of
the household or the garden to go through it or near it. She did not
put on a hat, but took only a sunshade, which she used in passing
over the lawn. The grove was on the side of the house away from her
own room and the breakfast-room. When she had reached its shade she
felt that at last she was alone.
The grove was a privileged place. Long ago a great number of young
beeches had been planted so thickly that as they grew they shot up
straight and branchless in their struggle for the light. Not till
they had reached a considerable altitude had they been thinned; and
then the thinning had been so effected that, as the high branches
began to shoot out in the freer space, they met in time and
interlaced so closely that they made in many places a perfect screen
of leafy shade. Here and there were rifts or openings through which
the light passed; under such places the grass was fine and green, or
the wild hyacinths in due season tinged the earth with blue. Through
the grove some wide alleys had been left: great broad walks where
the soft grass grew short and fine, and to whose edges came a
drooping of branches and an upspringing of undergrowth of laurel and
rhododendron. At the far ends of these walks were little pavilions
of marble built in the classic style which ruled for garden use two
hundred years ago. At the near ends some of them were close to the
broad stretch of water from whose edges ran back the great sloping
banks of emerald sward dotted here and there with great forest trees.
The grove was protected by a ha-ha, so that it was never invaded from
without, and the servants of the house, both the domestics and the
gardeners and grooms, had been always forbidden to enter it. Thus by
long usage it had become a place of quiet and solitude for the
members of the family.
To this soothing spot had come Stephen in her pain. The long spell
of self-restraint during that morning had almost driven her to
frenzy, and she sought solitude as an anodyne to her tortured soul.
The long anguish of a third sleepless night, following on a day of
humiliation and terror, had destroyed for a time the natural
resilience of a healthy nature. She had been for so long in the
prison of her own purpose with Fear as warder; the fetters of
conventional life had so galled her that here in the accustomed
solitude of this place, in which from childhood she had been used to
move and think freely, she felt as does a captive who has escaped
from an irksome durance. As Stephen had all along been free of
movement and speech, no such opportunities of freedom called to her.
The pent-up passion in her, however, found its own relief. Her voice
was silent, and she moved with slow steps, halting often between the
green tree-trunks in the cool shade; but her thoughts ran free, and
passion found a vent. No stranger seeing the tall, queenly girl
moving slowly through the trees could have imagined the fierce
passion which blazed within her, unless he had been close enough to
see her eyes. The habit of physical restraint to which all her life
she had been accustomed, and which was intensified by the experience
of the past thirty-six hours, still ruled her, even here. Gradually
the habit of security began to prevail, and the shackles to melt
away. Here had she come in all her childish troubles. Here had she
fought with herself, and conquered herself. Here the spirits of the
place were with her and not against her. Here memory in its second
degree, habit, gave her the full sense of spiritual freedom.
As she walked to and fro the raging of her spirit changed its
objective: from restraint to its final causes; and chief amongst
them the pride which had been so grievously hurt. How she loathed
the day that had passed, and how more than all she hated herself for
her part in it; her mad, foolish, idiotic, self-importance which gave
her the idea of such an act and urged her to the bitter end of its
carrying out; her mulish obstinacy in persisting when every fibre of
her being had revolted at the doing, and when deep in her inmost soul
was a deterring sense of its futility. How could she have stooped to
have done such a thing: to ask a man ... oh! the shame of it, the
shame of it all! How could she have been so blind as to think that
such a man was worthy! ...
In the midst of her whirlwind of passion came a solitary gleam of
relief: she knew with certainty that she did not love Leonard; that
she had never loved him. The coldness of disdain to him, the fear of
his future acts which was based on disbelief of the existence of that
finer nature with which she had credited him, all proved to her
convincingly that he could never really have been within the charmed
circle of her inner life. Did she but know it, there was an even
stronger evidence of her indifference to him in the ready manner in
which her thoughts flew past him in their circling sweep. For a
moment she saw him as the centre of a host of besetting fears; but
her own sense of superior power nullified the force of the vision.
She was able to cope with him and his doings, were there such need.
And so her mind flew back to the personal side of her trouble: her
blindness, her folly, her shame.
In truth she was doing good work for herself. Her mind was working
truly and to a beneficent end. One by one she was overcoming the
false issues of her passion and drifting to an end in which she would
see herself face to face and would place so truly the blame for what
had been as to make it a warning and ennobling lesson of her life.
She moved more quickly, passing to and fro as does a panther in its
cage when the desire of forest freedom is heavy upon it.
That which makes the irony of life will perhaps never be understood
in its casual aspect by the finite mind of man. The 'why' and
'wherefore' and the 'how' of it is only to be understood by that All-
wise intelligence which can scan the future as well as the present,
and see the far far-reaching ramifications of those schemes of final
development to which the manifestation of completed character tend.
To any mortal it would seem a pity that to Stephen in her solitude,
when her passion was working itself out to an end which might be
good, should come an interruption which would throw it back upon
itself in such a way as to multiply its malignant force. But again
it is a part of the Great Plan that instruments whose use man's
finite mind could never predicate should be employed: the seeming
good to evil, the seeming evil to good.
As she swept to and fro, her raging spirit compelling to violent
movement, Stephen's eyes were arrested by the figure of a man coming
through the aisles of the grove. At such a time any interruption of
her passion was a cause for heightening anger; but the presence of a
person was as a draught to a full-fed furnace. Most of all, in her
present condition of mind, the presence of a man--for the thought of
a man lay behind all her trouble, was as a tornado striking a burning
forest. The blood of her tortured heart seemed to leap to her brain
and to suffuse her eyes. She 'saw blood'!
It mattered not that the man whom she saw she knew and trusted.
Indeed, this but added fuel to the flame. In the presence of a
stranger some of her habitual self-restraint would doubtless have
come back to her. But now the necessity for such was foregone;
Harold was her alter ego, and in his presence was safety. He was, in
this aspect, but a higher and more intelligent rendering of the trees
around her. In another aspect he was an opportune victim, something
to strike at. When the anger of a poison snake opens its gland, and
the fang is charged with venom, it must strike at something. It does
not pause or consider what it may be; it strikes, though it may be at
stone or iron. So Stephen waited till her victim was within distance
to strike. Her black eyes, fierce with passion and blood-rimmed as a
cobra's, glittered as he passed among the tree-trunks towards her,
eager with his errand of devotion.
Harold was a man of strong purpose. Had he not been, he would never
have come on his present errand. Never, perhaps, had any suitor set
forth on his quest with a heavier heart. All his life, since his
very boyhood, had been centred round the girl whom to-day he had come
to serve. All his thought had been for her: and to-day all he could
expect was a gentle denial of all his hopes, so that his future life
would be at best a blank.
But he would be serving Stephen! His pain might be to her good;
ought to be, to a certain extent, to her mental ease. Her wounded
pride would find some solace ... As he came closer the feeling that
he had to play a part, veritably to act one, came stronger and
stronger upon him, and filled him with bitter doubt as to his power.
Still he went on boldly. It had been a part of his plan to seem to
come eagerly, as a lover should come; and so he came. When he got
close to Stephen, all the witchery of her presence came upon him as
of old. After all, he loved her with his whole soul; and the chance
had come to tell her so. Even under the distressing conditions of
his suit, the effort had its charm.
Stephen schooled herself to her usual attitude with him; and that,
too, since the effort was based on truth came with a certain ease to
her. At the present time, in her present frame of mind, nothing in
the wide world could give her pleasure; the ease which came, if it
did not change her purpose, increased her power. Their usual
salutation, begun when she was a little baby, was 'Good morning,
Stephen!' 'Good morning, Harold!' It had become so much a custom
that now it came mechanically on her part. The tender reference to
childhood's days, though it touched her companion to the quick, did
not appeal to her since she had no special thought of it. Had such a
thought come to her it might have softened her even to tears, for
Harold had been always deep in her heart. As might have been
expected from her character and condition of mind, she was the first
to begin:
'I suppose you want to see me about something special, Harold, you
have come so early.'
'Yes, Stephen. Very special!'
'Were you at the house?' she asked in a voice whose quietness might
have conveyed a warning. She was so suspicious now that she
suspected even Harold of--of what she did not know. He answered in
all simplicity:
'No. I came straight here.'
'How did you know I should be here?' Her voice was now not only
quiet but sweet. Without thinking, Harold blundered on. His
intention was so single-minded, and his ignorance of woman so
complete, that he did not recognise even elementary truths:
'I knew you always came here long ago when you were a child when you
were in--' Here it suddenly flashed upon him that if he seemed to
expect that she was in trouble as he had purposed saying, he would
give away his knowledge of what had happened and so destroy the work
to which he had set himself. So he finished the sentence in a lame
and impotent manner, which, however, saved complete annihilation as
it was verbally accurate: 'in short frocks.' Stephen needed to know
little more. Her quick intelligence grasped the fact that there was
some purpose afoot which she did not know or understand. She
surmised, of course, that it was some way in connection with her mad
act, and she grew cooler in her brain as well as colder in her heart
as she prepared to learn more. Stephen had changed from girl to
woman in the last twenty-four hours; and all the woman in her was now
awake. After a moment's pause she said with a winning smile:
'Why, Harold, I've been in long frocks for years. Why should I come
here on this special day on that account?' Even as she was speaking
she felt that it would be well to abandon this ground of inquiry. It
had clearly told her all it could. She would learn more by some
other means. So she went on in a playful way, as a cat--not a
kitten--does when it has got a mouse:
'That reason won't work, Harold. It's quite rusty in the joints.
But never mind it! Tell me why you have come so early?' This seemed
to Harold to be a heaven-sent opening; he rushed in at once:
'Because, Stephen, I wanted to ask you to be my wife! Oh! Stephen,
don't you know that I love you? Ever since you were a little girl!
When you were a little girl and I a big boy I loved you. I have
loved you ever since with all my heart, and soul, and strength.
Without you the world is a blank to me! For you and your happiness I
would do anything--anything!'
This was no acting. When once the barrier of beginning had been
broken, his soul seemed to pour itself out. The man was vibrant
through all his nature; and the woman's very soul realised its truth.
For an instant a flame of gladness swept through her; and for the
time it lasted put all other thought aside.
But suspicion is a hard metal which does not easily yield to fire.
It can come to white heat easily enough, but its melting-point is
high indeed. When the flame had leaped it had spent its force; the
reaction came quick. Stephen's heart seemed to turn to ice, all the
heat and life rushing to her brain. Her thoughts flashed with
convincing quickness; there was no time for doubting amid their rush.
Her life was for good or ill at the crossing of the ways. She had
trusted Harold thoroughly. The habit of her whole life from her
babyhood up had been to so look to him as comrade and protector and
sympathetic friend. She was so absolutely sure of his earnest
devotion that this new experience of a riper feeling would have been
a joy to her, if it should be that his act was all spontaneous and
done in ignorance of her shame. 'Shame' was the generic word which
now summarised to herself her thought of her conduct in proposing to
Leonard. But of this she must be certain. She could not, dare not,
go farther till this was settled. With the same craving for
certainty with which she convinced herself that Leonard understood
her overtures, and with the same dogged courage with which she
pressed the matter on him, she now went on to satisfy her mind.
'What did you do yesterday?'
'I was at Norcester all day. I went early. By the way, here is the
ribbon you wanted; I think it's exactly the same as the pattern.' As
he spoke he took a tissue-piper parcel from his pocket and handed it
to her.
'Thanks!' she said. 'Did you meet any friends there?'
'Not many.' He answered guardedly; he had a secret to keep.
'Where did you dine?'
'At the club!' He began to be uneasy at this questioning; but he did
not see any way to avoid answering without creating some suspicion.
'Did you see any one you knew at the club?' Her voice as she spoke
was a little harder, a little more strained. Harold noticed the
change, rather by instinct than reason. He felt that there was
danger in it, and paused. The pause seemed to suddenly create a new
fury in the breast of Stephen. She felt that Harold was playing with
her. Harold! If she could not trust him, where then was she to look
for trust in the world? If he was not frank with her, what then
meant his early coming; his seeking her in the grove; his proposal of
marriage, which seemed so sudden and so inopportune? He must have
seen Leonard, and by some means have become acquainted with her
secret of shame ... His motive?
Here her mind halted. She knew as well as if it had been trumpeted
from the skies that Harold knew all. But she must be certain . . .
Certain!
She was standing erect, her hands held down by her sides and clenched
together till the knuckles were white; all her body strung high--like
an over-pitched violin. Now she raised her right hand and flung it
downward with a passionate jerk.
'Answer me!' she cried imperiously. 'Answer me! Why are you playing
with me? Did you see Leonard Everard last night? Answer me, I say.
Harold An Wolf, you do not lie! Answer me!'
As she spoke Harold grew cold. From the question he now knew that
Stephen had guessed his secret. The fat was in the fire with a
vengeance. He did not know what to do, and still remained silent.
She did not give him time to think, but spoke again, this time more
coldly. The white terror had replaced the red:
'Are you not going to answer me a simple question, Harold? To be
silent now is to wrong me! I have a right to know!'
In his trouble, for he felt that say what he would he could only give
her new pain, he said humbly:
'Don't ask me, Stephen! Won't you understand that I want to do what
is best for you? Won't you trust me?' Her answer came harshly. A
more experienced man than Harold, one who knew women better, would
have seen how overwrought she was, and would have made pity the pivot
of his future bearing and acts and words while the interview lasted;
pity, and pity only. But to Harold the high ideal was ever the same.
The Stephen whom he loved was no subject for pity, but for devotion
only. He knew the nobility of her nature and must trust it to the
end. When her silence and her blazing eyes denied his request, he
answered her query in a low voice:
'I did!' Even whilst he spoke he was thankful for one thing, he had
not been pledged in any way to confidence. Leonard had forced the
knowledge on him; and though he would have preferred a million times
over to be silent, he was still free to speak. Stephen's next
question came more coldly still:
'Did he tell you of his meeting with me?'
'He did.'
'Did he tell you all?' It was torture to him to answer; but he was
at the stake and must bear it.
'I think so! If it was true.'
'What did he tell you? Stay! I shall ask you the facts myself; the
broad facts. We need not go into details ... '
'Oh, Stephen!' She silenced his pleading with an imperious hand.
'If I can go into this matter, surely you can. If I can bear the
shame of telling, you can at least bear that of listening. Remember
that knowing--knowing what you know, or at least what you have heard-
-you could come here and propose marriage to me!' This she said with
a cold, cutting sarcasm which sounded like the rasping of a roughly-
sharpened knife through raw flesh. Harold groaned in spirit; he felt
a weakness which began at his heart to steal through him. It took
all his manhood to bear himself erect. He dreaded what was coming,
as of old the once-tortured victim dreaded the coming torment of the
rack.
