She laughed. "I knew you could do it! That's one of them. I found out
you had a soul. Souls show even in barn-yards. You looked at the peonies
one day and you played with the puppies the next. In one
way--Hugo--you're a failure as a farm hand."
"Failure?"
"A flop. You never make a grammatical mistake." She saw his surprise and
laughed again. "And your manners--and, then, you understood French.
See--the carpet is taking us higher and farther away. Isn't it fun!
You're the hired man and I'm the farmer's wife and all of a
sudden--we're--"
"A prince and princess?"
"That's exactly right. I won't pretend I'm not curious--morbidly
curious. But I won't ask questions, either, because that isn't what the
carpet is for."
"What is it for, Roseanne?"
"To get away from the world, silly. And now--there's a look about you.
When I was a little girl, my father was a great man, and many great men
used to come to our house. I know what the frown of power is and the
attitude of greatness. You have them--much more than any pompous old
magnate I ever laid eyes on. The way you touch things and handle them,
the way you square your shoulders. Sometimes I think you're not real at
all and just an imaginary knight come to storm my castle. And sometimes
I think you're a very famous man whose afternoon walk just has been
extended for a few months. The first thought frightens me, and the
second makes me wonder why I haven't seen your picture in the Sunday
rotogravures."
Hugo's shoulders shook. "Poor Princess Roseanne. And what do I think
about you, then--"
She held up her hand. "Don't tell me, Hugo. I should be sad. After all,
my life--"
"May be what it does not appear to be."
She took a brittle pine twig and dug in the mould of the needles until
it broke. "Ralph--was different once. He was a chemist. Then--the war
came. And he was there and a shell--"
"Ah," Hugo said. "And you loved him before?"
"I had promised him before. But it changed him so. And it's hard."
"The carpet," he answered gently. "The carpet--"
"I almost dropped off, and then I'd have been hurt, wouldn't I?"
"A favour for a favour. I'm not a great man, but I hope to be one. I
have something that I think is a talent. Let it go at that. The letters
come from my father and mother--in Colorado."
"I've never seen Colorado."
"It's big--"
"Like the nursery of the Titans, I think," she said softly, and Hugo
shuddered. The instinct had been too true.
Her eyes were suddenly stormy. "I feel old enough to mother you, Hugo.
And yet, since you came, I've been a little bit in love with you. It
doesn't matter, does it?"
"I think--I know--"
"Sit closer to me then, Hugo."
The sun had passed the zenith before they spoke connectedly again. "Time
for the magic carpet to come to earth," she said gaily.
"Is it?"
"Don't be masculine any longer--and don't be rudely possessive. Of
course it is. Aren't you hungry?"
"I was hungry--" he began moodily.
"All off at earth. Come on. Button me. Am I a sight?"
"I disregard the bait."
"You're being funny. Come. No--wait. We've forgotten the orchids. I
wonder if I really came for orchids. Should you be terribly offended if
I said I thought I did?"
"Extravagantly offended."
Cane returned late in the day. The cows had been sold--"I even made five
hundred clear and above the feeding and labour on the one with the off
leg. She'll breed good cattle." The barns were as clean as a park, and
Roseanne was singing as she prepared dinner.
Nothing happened until a hot night in August. The leaves were still and
limp, the moon had set. Hugo lay awake and he heard her coming quietly
up the stairs.
"Ralph had a headache and he took two triple bromides. Of course, I
could always have said that I heard one of the cows in distress and came
to wake you. But he's jealous, poor dear. And then--but who could resist
a couple of simultaneous alibis?"
"Nobody," he whispered. She sat down on his bed. He put his arm around
her and felt that she was in a nightdress. "I wish I could see you now."
"Then take this flashlight--just for an instant. Wait." He heard the
rustle of her clothing. "Now."
She heard him draw in his breath. Then the light went out.
* * * * *
With the approach of autumn weather Roseanne caught a cold. She
continued her myriad tasks, but he could see that she was miserable.
Even Cane sympathized with her gruffly. When the week of the cattle show
in New York arrived, the cold was worse and she begged off the long trip
on the trucks with the animals. He departed alone with his two most
precious cows, scarcely thinking of her, muttering about judges and
prizes.