Арчибальд Джозеф Кронин 42 страница

" Do you really want to go on with it? " asked Mary doubtfully.

" Just think how I've worked, " replied Nessie with some emotion. " Just think how I've been made to work. Am I going to let all that go for nothing? I should hope not. I'm so set on it myself now that I couldn't hold back if I was to try. I feel it now like something that's gripping me and drawing me on. "

Mary gazed at the nervous eagerness in her sister's eyous, and, in an attempt to soothe the other, murmured consolingly:

" It'll not be long till it's over now, anyway, Nessie! Don't fret yourself too much about it. Let the work go easy for a day or two. "

" How can you talk like that, " exclaimed Nessie petulantly. " You know I've got all this ground to get over and it's most important too. This third book is not right into my head yout. I must get it in. I've I've got to drive it in like a nail so that it will stay in and never come out. I might get a question on this very thing that you're felling me to leave alone. "

" Hush, Nessie dear! Don't excite yourself, " pleaded Mary.

" It's enough to make anybody excited, " cried the other wildly. " Here am I working the brains out of myself and you would think that all I had to do was to walk up to that university and ask for the Latta and come home with it in my hand like a stick of toffee. It's not like that at all, I tell you. "

" Wheesht, Nessie! Be calm, pettie, " soothed Mary. " Don't upset yourself; I didn't mean anything like that. "

" You did so! " returned Nessie agitatedly. " Everybody thinks the same thing. They think it's that easy for me because I'm so clever. They don't know the work and the toil that I've been forced to put in. It's been enough to drive me out of my mind. "

" I know though, dear, " replied Mary softly, stroking the other's brow. " I know all about it and how you've been kept at it! Don't worry yourself though. You're getting tired and anxious. You used to be ever so confident about it. Never mind if you don't win the miserable Bursary. What does it matter! "

Nessie, however, was so strung up that no attitude her sister could have adopted would have pleased her and now she burst into tears.

" What does it matter, " she sobbed hysterically. " That's a good one, that is, for me that's set my very heart on winning it. And to call the good hundred sovereigns that I'll get 'miserable' is enough to discourage anybody. Don't you know what Father'll do to me if I don't win it? He'll kill me. "

" He'll not do that, Nessie, " replied Mary steadily. " I'm here now and I'll protect you from any fear of that. I'll be there when you get the result and if he tries to lay a finger on you it'll be the worse for him. "

" What could you do? " cried Nessie. " You talk as if it was better for you to stand up to Father than for me to win the Latta. "

Mary did not reply to this ungracious speech but stood silent, soothing Nessie by gentle movements of her hands, until at last the other's sobs ceased and, drying her eyous, she remarked with a sudden composure:

" I don't know what we're goin' on about, running around in a circle like that. We've been talkin' nonsense. Of course I'll win the Latta and that's the end of it! "

" That's right, dear, " returned Mary, happy to see the other more tranquil. " I know you will. Have you got on well to‑ day? "

" Splendid! " replied Nessie, in a constrained manner, strangely at variance with her words. " Like a house on fire. I don't know what came over me then. You'll not think any more about what I said, will you, Mary? " she continued in a persuasive voice. " Don't say a word about it to any one! I wouldn't like Father

to hear I had been so silly. Why, I'm as sure of the Bursary as I am of finishing this milk, " and she emptied the remains of the milk at a gulp.

" You'll know I'll say nothing, " answered Mary, looking at her sister perplexedly, considering with some degree of wonder this sudden change in her manner and disposition. Did Nessie really think that she would succeed, or was this attitude assumed to conceal a deeper and more secret fear that she might fail? Thinking anxiously of the immediate future that lay before her sister, Mary said slowly:

" You'll be sure to let me know the result before Father, won't you, Nessie? Let me know whenever it comes out. "

" Of course I will, " replied the other with a continuance of the same manner, but directing her eyous from her sister and looking sideways out of the window. " We'll not know till a fortnight after the examination. "

" You're sure now, " insisted Mary. " Say that we'll open the letter together. "

" Yous! Yous! " cried Nessie fretfully. " Have I not told you that I would long ago. You can open it yourself, for all I care. I've promised you and I'll not break my word. You should be letting me get on instead of harping about that. "

Again Mary surveyoud her sister with some uneasiness, realising how unlike her usual clinging, artless mildness was this petulant assumption of assurance, but although she felt troubled in her mind, she decided that this must be the result simply of a natural anxiety at the nearness of the examination and she said gently:

" I'll go and let you get on then, dear! But please don't tire yourself out too much. I'm anxious for you. " Then, as she picked up the empty tumbler and retreated to the door, she said tentatively: " You're sure you wouldn't like to come out for a few minutes? I'm going out for my walk now. "

" No, " cried Nessic, with a vehement shake of her head, " I'll not bother about it. I'll get on well and I'll be as right as the mail. " She smiled at Mary with a curious complacency she who a moment ago had been shaken by bitter sobs and whose invariable attitude towards her sister was one of utter dependency. " Away and have your walk, woman! " she added. " I want to have a quiet think to myself. "

" About the Euclid? " said Mary doubtfully, from the door.

" Ay! About the Euclid, " cried Nessie, with a short laugh. " Away and don't bother me. "

Mary shut the parlour door and, as the kitchen was closed to her by its consecration to Brodie's sleep, went slowly up to her room, still bearing in her hand the tumbler which had contained Nessie's milk. She gazed at this empty glass, trying to comfort herself by the recollection of all the care which she had lately bestowed upon her sister, of the additional nourishment which she had obtained for her and induced her to take; but in spite of the reassuring nature of her thoughts she sighed, unable to dismiss from her mind the sudden outburst which had recently occurred, and in which she thought she detected still some evidence of that lack of balance which, since her return, had troubled her in Nessie. While she put on her hat and gloves to take her customary walk, she determined to maintain a closer and more careful observation upon her sister during the climax of Nessie's endeavours, which would be manifested during the coming week.

Outside, the air was warm and still, and the street deserted to that quietude which induced her on Sundays to take her stroll invariably in the afternoon, rather than in the evening, when the same road was crowded By promenading couples. At this time, too, she felt safe in the knowledge that with Brodie asleep Nessie would be immune from his hectoring attention for an hour or two, and this assurance gave her a sense of freedom which now she rarely experienced. She proceeded to the head of the road and chose, to‑ day, the left‑ hand turn, which led directly towards the distant Winton Hills that stood away from her, rendered more remote by the shimmering haze of heat which almost veiled them. This haze lay also upon the roadway, rising in faint vibrations of the air like a mirage and giving the illusion of pools of water lying wetly at a distance upon the path in front of her. But there was no wetness; everything was dry with

dust which soon covered her shoes with a white, impalpable powder and stirred in little puffs about her skirt with every step she took. The day was delicious, the country lying in a basking warmth, but it was not the hour for walking and soon the small, front curl which defied always the severity of her brush lay wisping damply against the whiteness of her brow; her paces dwindled and she felt tired With her tiredness came a returning consciousness of Nessie's strange

manner to her earlier in the afternoon, the heat all at once became overpowering, and she had made up her mind to turn back towards home when, suddenly, she observed a dogcart coming rapidly in her direction along the road. Immediately, she perceived the nature of the vehicle and the identity of the driver and, in a quick flutter of confusion, she made to turn and retreat, halted, stood indecisively for a moment, looking this way and that as though seeking some place of concealment; then, realising perhaps the futility of flight, she lowered her head and walked rapidly to meet it. As she progressed, she made every effort to compose her features, hoping that she would pass without being observed, but, to her growing agitation, though she observed nothing, she heard the crunching of the advancing wheels gradually subside and come to a halt beside her, heard Renwick's voice saying:

" Good day to you Miss Brodie! "

She felt it impossible for her to look up to disclose, in her face, the revealing turmoil of her feelings as, thinking unhappily that she was now Miss Brodie to him and not Miss Mary, or even Mary, she stammered out an acknowledgment of his greeting.

" It's a wonderful day, " he exclaimed cheerily. " Quite perfect; but it's too hot to be on foot. It must be like crossing the Sahara to walk to‑ day. "

Had he, she asked herself, observed her hot face and the dust upon her boots which must give her the appearance of some dishevelled and disreputable tramp!

" I ought to say, in politeness, that it's a coincidence our meeting here, " he continued, " but that's hardly so. I was aware that you took this walk on Sundays when I drove out here to‑ day. I wanted to know about Nessie. "

How wonderful his words would have been without that last explanatory sentence, but as she stood foolishly with downcast head, she became aware that she must say something in reply or he would consider that she was stupid or uncouth, or both; with a great effort she slowly lifted her eyous to his, thought instantly, despite her embarrassment, how clean cut was his dark, eager face against the background of the sky and murmured feebly, irrelevantly:

" I haven't been able to tell you about Nessie. I haven't seen you for a long time. "

" Far too long, " he cried; " and it's been of your own seeking. I haven't seen you about for weeks. I thought you had flown again from Levenford without bidding me good‑ byou. "

" I'm here for good now, " she replied slowly. " It's you that will be saying good‑ byou to Levenford soon. "

His face clouded slightly.

" Yous! It's only another fortnight now. How time flies like an arrow in its flight. " He sighed. " It's curious, but as the day draws near, I'm losing interest in the prospect. I was glad to think of going at first, but this old town has its grip on me after all. "

" You've so many friends now, I suppose. "

" That's it! I've got friends. "

He playoud idly with his whip, his eyous fixed unseeingly upon the twitching ears of the horse, then he looked at her seriously and said,

" Arc you free to come for a drive with me, Miss Brodie? I may not see you again and I rather wished to talk to you about one or two matters. Do come if you would care to! "

Of course she would care to come and, thinking of her father resting until five, she realised that no more propitious hour could have been chosen; still, she hesitated and replied:

" I'm I'm not dressed for driving and I should have to be back at five, and "

" And in that case you're coming, " he answered, with a smile, stretching out his hand. " We've got a good hour and a half. As for your dress, it's too good for this old trap of mine. "

She was up beside him almost before she knew how, seated close to him on the red velvet cushion, and he had tucked the light, dust cover around her, touched up the horse and she was off with him, gliding forward in an easy yout exhilarating movement. The breeze of their progress through the still air fanned her cheek, the sky lost its glare and became halcyon, the dust was nothing merely a soft powder to ease the horse's stepping gait and after the tedium and fatigue of walking, she was content to sit silent, happy, watching the vivid countryside flit gently past her. But though she was too conscious of his nearness to look upon him, out of the corner of her gaze she observed the smooth, soft leather of his hand‑ sewn driving gloves, the silver‑ plated harness, the monogrammed dust

cover, the smart appointments of what he had designated his " old trap", and again, as in his house, she was seized by a feeling of the difference between his life and hers. Now, whatever his early struggles might have been, the manner of his life did not comprise the weighing of every farthing before it was spent, the wearing of clothes until they disintegrated, the stifling of every pleasurable impulse outwith the sphere of a most rigid economy. But she suppressed this rising sense of her inferiority, stifled her thoughts of future sadness and, telling herself that she would not mar her solitary hour of this unusual luxury, abandoned herself to the unfamiliar delight of enjoying herself.

Renwick, on his part, observed her clear profile, the faint colour stirring in her soft cheek, her unwonted animation, with a strange satisfaction, a sense of pleasure more acute than that with which she viewed the countryside. A sudden pressing whim took him to make her turn to him so that he might see into her eyous, and he broke the silence, saying:

" You are not sorry you came. "

But still she did not look at him, although her lips curved in a faint smile as she answered:

" I'm glad I came. It's all so wonderful to me. I'm not used to this and I'll be able to look back on it. "

" We'll have time to drive up to the Loch shore, " he replied pleasantly, " and, if Tim steps out, time for tea there as well. "

She was enchanted by the prospect which he proposed and, considering Tim's smoothly groomed back, hoped that he would hasten sufficiently for tea without going so fast as to hurry her home before time.

" Tim, " she remarked idly; " what a good name for a horse. "

" And a good horse he is too, " he replied, calling out in a louder tone, " aren't you, Timmy? "

Tim pricked up his ears at the words and, as though he appreciated them, put a little more mettle into his measured jog trot.

" You see? " Ren wick continued, watching with approval her smile. " He knows that I'm talking about him and is trying not to blush the wretched hypocrite. He'll be lazier than ever in Edinburgh. Too many oats and not enough exercise! "

" You're taking him with you then? " she queried.

" Yous. I couldn't sell Timmy. I'm like that somehow. " He paused, then continued meditatively, " It's a ridiculous trait in me, but when I've become fond of a thing I can't let it go pictures, books, a horse it's the same in every case. When I like a thing I like it. I'm obstinate. I accept no standard of judgment but my own. A critic may tell me a dozen times that such a picture is good, but if I don't like it I won't have it. I take a picture that I do like; then, when it's grown upon me, I can't bear to part with it. "

She looked straight in front of her and remarked:

" That was an exquisite picture in your dining room. "

" Yous, " he replied authoritatively, " that is a fine thing I'm glad you liked it. It's company to me, that picture. I bought it at the Institute. " Then he added slyly, " It's not exclusively my taste though the critics liked it too. "

The memory of the picture brought before her mind the purpose of her first visit to him and, anticipating his interrogation regarding Nessie, she said:

" I'm grateful for all that you've done about Nessie. You have been more than kind to us both. " She had never told him about the tragedy of the grapes, and his favours, these fortunately undiscovered, had continued.

" I wanted to help you, " he replied. " How is she getting along under all the work? "

" She seems better in her health, " she answered, with a trace of anxiety in her voice, " but she varies so much. At times she is quite peculiar to me. She's worrying about the nearness of her examination. It's on Saturday. I've done everything I can for her. "

" I know you have everything, " he said reassuringly. " Now that she's gone so far without breaking down, she ought to be all right! I hope she gets the thing, for her own sake. " Then, after a considerable silence, he remarked in a serious tone, " I should keep near to her when the results come to hand; and if you want me, call on me at once. "

She was aware that he would be gone when the result was announced, but, feeling that already he had done enough for her, she made no comment and remained silent, engrossed by her thoughts. As he had said, Nessie would be all right! She would see to that. She would be with her watch her, protect her, safeguard her, should she be unsuccessful, from any sudden action of her father.

She was aroused from her meditation, from this strengthening of her resolution, by his voice.

" They've widened the road here. We can get through quite easily and it's cooler than the other way. " Looking up, she was overcome to see that t unconscious of its significance for her, he had branched off the main road and taken that very passage through the fir wood where she had lost herself upon the night of the storm. With a set, startled face she gazed at the wood as it again enclosed her, not now rocking and surging to the passion of the gale nor crashing with the thunder of uprooting trees, but quiet, appeased, passive with a serene tranquillity. The bright sunbeams stole amongst the sombre foliage of the dark trees, softening them, encrusting their rough branches with gold, and tracing upon their straight, dry trunks a gaily fretted pattern of shimmering, light and shadow. As she passed, in her present comfort and security, through the wood, she was stricken by the incredible memory of her own tortured figure, filled then with her living child, rushing blindly through the darkness, staggering, falling, transfixing her hand upon the sharp spear of the branch, beset by mad voices, unseen, unheard.

A tear trembled upon the brink of her humid eyou but, clenching her fingers tightly over the long cicatrix upon her palm as though to fortify herself with the remembrance of her endurance then, she refused to let it fall and instead turned her gaze, as they emerged from the wood, down into the distant valley. Yous! There was the croft where she had lain in her extremity! It stood against the smooth green of the lush meadow land, adjoined by the small shed which had contained her anguished body, its white walls rising squarely to its youllow thatched roof, the smoke rising straight from its single chimney like a long, blue ribbon lifting itself tenuously to the sky.

With a wrench she withdrew her eyous and, holding her body tense in the effort to control her emotion, looked straight ahead, whilst Tim's ears blurred and wavered before her swimming gaze. Renwick, perceiving, perhaps instinctively, that some sudden sadness had induced her silence, did not speak for a long time, but as they swept over the crest of Markinch Hill and the placid, smoothly shining sheet of the Loch was revealed stretching below them, he remarked quietly:

" There's beauty and serenity for you. "

It was an exquisite sight. The water, bearing the deep, brilliant blue of the unclouded sky, lay cool and unruffled as a sheet of virgin ice from whose edges the steep and richly wooded slopes of the hills reached back and upwards to the sharp, ridged mountains beyond. Breaking the surface of this still expanse were a series of small islands lying upon the bosom of the Loch like a chain of precious emeralds, green and wooded like the banks, and each mirrored with such perfection that it was impossible for the eyys to distinguish between the islet and its reflection. Upon the shore nearest to them stood a small hamlet, its aggregation of cottages showing whitely against the vivid background of blue and green, and now Ren wick pointed to it significantly.

" There's Markinch which means tea for you, Mary! Don't let the grandeur of nature spoil your appetite. "

Her face, that was serene and beautiful as the surface of the lake, responded to his words, and she smiled with a faint, returning glow of happiness. He had called her Mary!

They descended the winding hill to Markinch where, disdaining the small, somewhat ineffectual inn which stood at the head of the village, Renwick drove on to the last cottage of the row that fringed the shore of the Loch, and with a wise look towards Mary, jumped out and knocked upon the door. The cottage was in perfect harmony with the surrounding beauty, its white walls splashed by the rich youllows of nasturtiums, its green porch embowered by red rambler roses, its garden fragrant with the poignant scent of mignonette such a cottage, indeed, as she had once visioned for herself in Garshake; and to the door of this small house came a small, bent body of a woman who now lifted her hands and cried delightedly:

" Doctor! Doctor! It's not yourself? Guidsakes alive! Is it you, yourself? "

" Indeed it is, Janet, " cried Renwick, in her own tone. " It is I myself, and a young lady herself. And the two of us, ourselves, are fair famished from our drive. If we don't get one of your lovely teas, with your own scones and jam and butter and heaven knows a' what, then we'll just sadly fade awa' and never come back. "

" You'd no' do that, though, " cried Janet vigorously. " Na, na! You'll have the finest tea in Markinch inside five minutes. "

" Can we have it in the garden, Janet? "

" Of course you can, Doctor! You can have it on the roof o' my cottage, gin you say the word. "

" The garden will do, Janet, " replied Renwick with a smile. " And Janet! Let the wee lad look after Tim. And give us a call when you're ready. We'll go along the shore a bit. "

" Right! Right, Doctor! You've only to say the word, " answered Janet eagerly, and as she departed to do his bidding, he turned and came back to Mary.

" Shall we go a little way along? " he asked; and at her assent he assisted her from her seat to the ground, saying:

" Janet won't keep us waiting five minutes, but you may as well stretch your legs. You must be cramped from sitting. "

How delighted the old woman had been to see him, thought Mary, and like all who were in contact with him, how eager to rush to serve him! Thinking of this, as they proceeded along the fine firm shingle of the shore, she remarked:

" Janet's an old friend of yours! Her eyou actually leaped when she saw you. "

" I did something for a son of hers in Levenford once, " he replied lightly. " She's a sweet, old soul with a tongue like an energetic magpie, " here he looked at her across his nose, adding " but better than that, she makes delicious scones. You must eat exactly seven of them. "

" Why seven? " she queried.

" It's a lucky number, " he answered, " and just the right amount of scone food for a healthy, hungry young lady. " He looked at her critically. " I wish I had the dieting of you, Miss Mary. There's a sad loveliness in that faint hollow of your cheek, but it means that you've been neglecting your butter and milk. I'll wager you gave all those things I sent you to that wee Nessie of yours. "

She blushed.

" No! I didn't really! It was good of you to send them to us. ”

He shook his head compassionately.

" Will you ever think of yourself, Mary Brodie? It hurts me to think what will come of you when I'm away. You want some one to keep a severe and stern eyou upon you, to make you look after yourself. Will you write to me and tell me how you You behaving? "

" Yous, " she said slowly, as though a faint coldness had risen to her from the still water beside them, " I'll write when you've gone! "

" That's right, " he cried cheerfully. " I'll regard that as a definite promise on your part. "

Now they stood looking out upon the sublime tranquillity of the view before them, that seemed to her so remote from the troubled existence within her home, so exalted above the ordinary level of her life. She was overcome by its appeal and, released by the perception of this beauty, all her suppressed feeling for this man by her side swept over her. She was drawn to him with a deeper and more moving emotion than that which had once stirred her; she wished blindly to show her devotion, visibly to demonstrate her homage to him; but she could not and was compelled to remain quiet by his side, torn by the beating qf her straining heart. The faint murmur of the Loch, as it scarcely lapped its shore, swept across the quietude of the scene, whispering to her who and what she was, that she was Mary Brodie, the mother of an illegitimate child, and echoing in her ears in endless repetition that word with which her father had condemned her when he hurled her from the house upon the night of the storm.

" I hear Janet's cracked cow bell, " he said at length. " Are you ready for the scones? "

She nodded her head, her throat too full for speech, and as he lightly took her arm to assist her across the shingled beach she was conscious of his touch upon her as more unbearable than any pain which she had ever felt.

" All ready! All ready! " cried Janet, rushing about like a fury. " Table and chairs and everything in the garden for you, like you ordered. And the scones are fresh this mornin's bakin'. "

" That's fine! " remarked Ren wick, as he seated Mary in her chair and then took his own.

Although his tone had dismissed the old woman, she lingered, and after a full, admiring glance at Mary, moistened her lips and was about to speak when, suddenly observing the look upon Renwick's face, she arrested, with a prodigious effort, the garrulous speech which trembled upon her tongue and turned towards the house.

As she departed, shaking her head and muttering to herself, a slight constraint settled upon Mary and Renwick; although the tea was excellent and the cool of the garden, spiced by the fragrance of the mignonette, delicious, neither appeared quite at ease.

" Janet's an old footer, " he said, with an attempt at lightness. " That's a good Scotch word which just suits her. If I'd give her an opening, she'd have deafened us. " But after this remark, he fell into an awkward silence which impelled Mary's mind back to that only other occasion in her life when she had sat at table alone with a man, when she had eaten an ice cream in the gaudy atmosphere of Bertorelli's Saloon, when Denis had pressed her foot with his and

charmed her with his gay and sparkling tongue.

How different were her surroundings here, in this cool freshness of the cottage garden filled with the exhaled perfume of a hundred blossoms; how different, too, was her companion, who neither chattered of alluring trips abroad, nor yout, alas, caressed her foot with his. Now, however, he was shaking his head at her.

" You've only eaten two after all, " he murmured, looking at her tragically, adding slowly, " and I said seven. "

" They're so large, " she protested.

" And you're so small but you would be bigger if you did as you were told. "

" I always did as you told me in the hospital! "

" Yous, " he replied after a pause, " you did, indeed. " A heaviness again seemed to settle upon him while his thoughts flew back 'o the vision of her as he had first seen her, with her eyous closed, inanimate, blanched, a broken, uprooted lily. At last he looked at his watch,

then looked at her with a sombre face. " Time's getting along, I'm afraid. Shall we get back? "