Kate made the long drive back to Storm, which was to have been her
wedding journey, with Philip beside her. They rarely spoke. Conversation
was never necessary between them, and now both were busy with their
thoughts. She drove, sitting erect as was her custom, her hands very
light upon the lines, steadying the young horses now and then with a
word, never urging or hurrying them; yet after a few coltish alarms and
excursions they settled down to their work with a long, steady trot that
ate up the miles like magic.--It was always a pleasure to Philip to see
her drive. It was her great gift, he thought, settling men and horses
alike to their stride.
They stopped for the nooning at a farmhouse where they were expected,
and where their hostess met them eagerly at the gate. But when she saw
who was Kate's companion, her face fell, and she hurried to her
dining-room to remove from the table a large cake, decorated in candy
roses. She asked no questions. There was that in the Madam's face which
made questioning impossible.
After the meal and a brief rest for the horses, they drove on, still in
silence, the colts trotting steadily now like old, sedate roadsters.
Philip's thoughts were still too chaotic for speech. Disappointment,
sorrow for his father, admiration, struggled with an unwilling relief, a
secret gladness that made him sick with shame.
"Poor father! What am I thinking of!" he said to himself, angrily. "He
may be ill, he may be without money. Why did I not ask more questions?
Oh, I must find him somehow, I must! And yet--What a solution! She is
here beside me. He will not take her from me. How did he know? I shall
never have to call her 'mother.' He gives her to me. His whole life has
been a sacrifice. What was it he wrote--'We must consider nothing now
except her happiness, you and I, except her greatest good.' I wonder, I
wonder--"
He dared not look at her often, but sat quite still through the long
miles, thrilling to the touch of her skirts when they blew against his
knees. The thoughts within him clamored so that sometimes he feared she
must be aware of them.
But Kate had forgotten that he was there. Her eyes gazed straight before
her down the white road, over which yellow August butterflies hovered
like drifting flowers; across the dappled, fragrant fields of the wide
valley they crossed to the hills, whose vanguard, Storm, was already to
be distinguished by the pennant of smoke flying from its tip. She longed
for her home with a great longing, as children who have been hurt yearn
for the comfort of their mother's arms.
Her mind was too bruised, too weary for consecutive thought. Sometimes
the dream she had at dawn came back to her.--How broken he was, how
frail! It did not seem to her that she had seen only a vision. It was
Jacques himself. She understood now what promise he had made her. He was
indeed never so far away that any need of hers could fail to reach him.
He was giving her back her child, giving her back the land she loved,
the work she loved; he was giving her what he could of happiness. But he
was taking with him the hope that had kept her young.
Storm stood out clearly now against its background of hills, and a cloud
of dust approached down the road, which presently revealed the galloping
figure of Jacqueline, waving a large bouquet.
"Your wedding bouquet, Mummy," she cried from afar off, with rather
tremulous gaiety. "Welcome home! Welcome home!"
Then, as her eyes made out the second figure in the phaeton, her
expressive face changed. "Why--it's only you, Philip? Where is _he_?"
Philip said huskily, "We do not know."
"You don't know! You--you haven't _lost_ him?"
Philip nodded. To his surprise he found that he was sobbing, crying as
he had not cried since he was a boy.
"Oh--_oh_!" gasped Jacqueline. Then, "Stop, please, Mummy. I want to get
in and comfort Phil."
She turned her horse loose with a slap on the flank, and clambered in
between them.
Jacqueline knew a great deal about comforting people. It was a knowledge
that had been given to her with her warm lips, and her crooning voice,
and her clinging, caressing hands. She said nothing, because she could
think of nothing to say; but for the rest of the way Philip was aware of
a young arm wound tight about his shoulders, and more than once of lips
fluttering against his cheek. Jacqueline's kisses were like the dew from
heaven, which falls alike upon the just and the unjust; none the less
blessed, perhaps, for that.
Philip had more than his share of these attentions, because Kate did not
seem to need them. She still drove silently, sitting upright, staring
straight before her.
Once the girl leaned far out of the phaeton, and waved a handkerchief
three times, as if she were signaling. There was an answering flutter
from beneath the juniper-tree.
"Who is that in the eyrie?" It was the first time Kate had spoken for
hours, and her voice seemed to come with a great effort.
"Why, it's the Blossom, Mother. She hasn't gone yet. She was waiting
till the last possible moment, to be sure whether--whether Philip's
father was with you. I promised to signal her yes or no."
Kate turned suddenly and looked at her. "Why did Jemima think he might
not be with me?"
The girl answered very low, "Because--because she wrote to him."
The colts with a last gallant effort breasted the hill at a trot. At the
door a wagon was waiting with a trunk in it, and Jemima stood beside it,
dressed for traveling. But as they appeared, she dropped the satchel out
of her hand and ran toward the phaeton.
"Bring brandy, Mag--be quick!" she called over her shoulder as she ran.
She had seen what the others had failed to notice: that her mother,
still sitting upright with the lines in her hands, was quite
unconscious.