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.