"Loke who that ... most intendeth ay
To do the generous deedes that he can,
And take _him_ for the greatest gentleman."
--CHAUCER.
"Anne! Is it you?" repeated Dexter.
"Yes," she replied, having seen that it was impossible to escape, since
he was standing directly in her path. Then she tried to smile. "I should
not have thought you would have known me in this twilight."
"I believe I should know you anywhere, even in total darkness. But where
are you going? I will accompany you."
"I am on my way to X station, to take a train."
"Let me carry those books for you. X station? That is at some distance;
would it not be better to have a carriage? Here, boy, run and call a
carriage. There will be a half-dollar for you if you make haste."
He was the same as ever, prompt, kind, and disposed to have his own way.
But Anne, who on another occasion might have objected, now stood beside
him unopposing. She _was_ weary, cold, and disheartened, and she was
glad he was there. He had made her take his arm immediately, and even
that small support was comforting. The carriage came, they rolled away,
Anne leaning back against the cushions, and breathing in the grateful
sense of being cared for and protected, taken from the desolate and
darkening streets which otherwise she must have traversed alone.
"I only arrived in town to-day," Dexter was saying; "and, on my way to a
friend's house where I am to dine, I intended calling upon Mrs.
Heathcote. I was going there when I met you. I should have inquired
about you immediately, for I have but just seen the account of the
disposal of Miss Vanhorn's estate, and was thinking of you. I supposed,
Miss Douglas, that you were to be her heir."
"No."
"She certainly allowed me to suppose so."
"I do not think she ever had any such intention," replied Anne.
"You are living near the city?"
"Yes; at Lancaster. I give lessons in town."
"And you come in and out on these freezing days, and walk to and from
the station?"
"It is not always so cold."
"Very well; I am going as far as Lancaster with you," said Dexter. "I
hope I shall be welcome."
"Mr. Dexter, please do not."
But he simply smiled and threw back his head in his old dictatorial way,
helped her from the carriage, bought tickets, secured for her the best
seat in the car, and took his place beside her; it seemed to Anne that
but a few minutes had passed when they heard "Lancaster," and stepping
out on the little platform, found the faithful Li in waiting, his
comforter tied over his ears, and jumping up and down to keep himself
warm. Anne had not ordered the red wagon, and he was not therefore
allowed to bring it out; but the little freckled knight-errant had
brought himself instead as faithful escort homeward.
"Is there no carriage here, or any sort of a vehicle?" said Dexter, in
his quick, authoritative way. "Boy, bring a carriage."
"There ain't none; but you can have the red wagon. Horse good, and wagon
first-rate. It'll be a dollar," answered Li.
"Go and get it, then."
The boy was gone like a dart, and in less time than any one else would
have taken, he was back with the wagon, and Mr. Dexter (in spite of her
remonstrance) was accompanying Anne homeward in the icy darkness. "But
you will lose the return train," she said.
"I intend to lose it."
When they stopped at the gate, no light was visible; Anne knocked, but
crippled old Nora was long in coming. When she did open the door, it was
a room nearly as cold as the air outside into which the guest was
ushered. As Li was obliged to return with the horse, his willing hands
were absent, and the young mistress of the house went out herself,
brought in candles and kindling-wood, and was stooping to light the
fire, when Dexter took the wood from her, led her to a chair, seated her
despotically, and made the fire himself. Then, standing before it, he
looked all round the room, slowly and markedly and in silence; afterward
his eyes came back to her. "So this is where you live--all the home you
have!"
"It is but a temporary home. Some day I hope to go back to the island,"
replied Anne.
"When you have, by teaching, made money enough to live upon, I suppose.
It looks like it _here_," he said, with sarcastic emphasis.
"It has not been so cold before," answered Anne. "The house has an empty
look, I acknowledge; that is because I supposed it was furnished; but
finding it bare, I decided to purchase only necessary articles. What is
the use of buying much for a temporary home?"
"Of course. So much better to do without, especially in this weather!"
"I assure you we have not been uncomfortable until, perhaps, to-night."
"May I ask the amount, Miss Douglas, of your present income?"
"I do not think you ought to ask," said the poverty-stricken young
mistress, bravely.
"But I do ask. And you--will answer."
"It has been, although not large, sufficient for our needs," replied
Anne, who, in spite of her desire to hide the truth from him, was yet
unable to put the statement into the present tense; but she hoped that
he would not notice it.
On the contrary, however, Dexter answered instantly: "Has been? Then it
is not now?"
"I have recently lost my place in a church choir; but I hope soon to
obtain another position."
"And in the mean time you live on--hope? Forgive me if I seem
inquisitive and even harsh, Miss Douglas; but you do not realize how all
this impresses me. The last time I saw you you were richly dressed, a
favorite in a luxurious circle, the reputed heiress of a large fortune.
Little more than a year passes, and I meet you in the street at
twilight, alone and desolate; I come to your home, and find it cold and
empty; I look at you, and note your dress. You can offer me nothing,
hardly a fire. It hurts me, Anne--hurts me deeply--to think that all
this time I have had every luxury, while _you_ have suffered."
"No, not suffered," she replied. But her voice trembled. This strong
assertive kindness touched her lonely heart keenly.
"Then if you have not suffered as yet--and I am thankful to hear you say
it--you will suffer; or rather you might have suffered if I had not met
you in time. But never again, Anne--never again. Why, my child, do you
not remember that I begged you to be my wife? Shall she who, if she had
willed it, would now have been so near and dear to me, be left to
encounter toil and privation, while _I_ have abundance? Never,
Anne--never!"
He left his place, took her hand, and held it in his warm grasp. There
was nothing save friendly earnestness in his eyes as they met her upward
look, and seeing this, she felt herself leaning as it were in spirit
upon him: she had indeed need of aid. He smiled, and comprehended all
without another word.
"I must go on the ten-o'clock train," he said, cheerfully, coming back
to daily life again. "And before I go, in some way or another, that good
Irish goblin of yours must manufacture a supper for me; from
appearances, I should say she had only to wave her broom-stick. When I
met you I was on my way to dine with some friends. What their estimation
of me is at this moment I am afraid to think; but that does not make me
any the less hungry. With your permission, therefore, I will take off
this heavy overcoat, and dine here." As he spoke he removed his large
shaggy overcoat--a handsome fur-lined Canadian garment, suited to his
strong figure and the bitter weather, appearing in evening dress, with a
little spray of fern in his button-hole. "Now," he said, "I am going out
to plead with the goblin in person."
"I will go," said Anne, laughing, won from her depression by his buoyant
manner.
"On the contrary, you will stay; and not only that, but seated precisely
where I placed you. I will encounter the goblin alone." He opened the
door, went through, and closed it behind him. Soon Anne heard the sound
of laughter in the kitchen, not only old Nora's hearty Irish mirth, but
Li's shriller voice added to it. For the faithful Li had hastened back,
after the old horse was housed, in order to be in readiness if Miss
Douglas, owing to her unexpected visitor, required anything. What Dexter
said and did in that bare, dimly lighted kitchen that night was never
known, save from results. But certainly he inspired both Nora, Li, and
the stove. He returned to the parlor, made up the fire with so much
skill that it shone out brightly, and then sat down, allowing Anne to
do nothing save lean back in the low chair, which he had cushioned for
her with his shaggy coat. Before long Li came in, first with four
lighted candles in new candlesticks, which he disposed about the room
according to his taste, and then, later, with table-cloth and plates for
the dining-table. The boy's face glowed with glee and exercise; he had
already been to the store twice on a run, and returned loaded and
breathless, but triumphant. After a while pleasant odors began to steal
in from the kitchen, underneath all the inspiring fragrance of coffee.
At last the door opened, and Nora herself hobbled in, bringing a covered
dish, and then a second, and then a third, Li excitedly handing them to
her from the kitchen entrance. When her ambition was aroused, the old
Irishwoman was a good cook. It had been aroused to-night by Dexter's
largess, and the result was an appetizing although nondescript repast,
half dinner, half high-tea. The room was now brightly illuminated; the
fire-light danced on the bare floor. Dexter, standing by the table, tall
and commanding, his face full of friendliness, seemed to Anne a
personification of kindly aid and strength. She no longer made any
objection, but obeyed him smilingly, even as to where she should sit,
and what she should eat. His sudden appearance, at the moment of all
others when everything seemed to have failed, was comfort too
penetrating to be resisted. And why should it be resisted? There was no
suggestion in his manner of a return to the old subject; on the
contrary, he had himself spoken of it as a thing of the past. He would
not repeat his old request--would not wish to repeat it.
After the repast was over, and Nora and Li were joyously feasting in the
kitchen, he drew his chair nearer to hers, and said, "Now tell me about
yourself, and what your life has been since we parted." For up to this
time, after those few strong words in the beginning, he had spoken only
on general topics, or at least upon those not closely connected with
herself.
Anne, however, merely outlined her present life and position, clearly,
but without explanation.
"And Mrs. Heathcote does not know you are here?"
"She does not know, and she must not know. I have your promise, Mr.
Dexter, to reveal nothing."
"You have my promise, and I will keep it. Still, I do not comprehend--"
"It is not possible that you should comprehend. And in addition to
keeping my secret, Mr. Dexter, you must tell _me_ nothing of her, or of
any of the people who were at Caryl's."
"It is a great gulf fixed?"
"Yes."
He looked at her in silence; she was quiet and thoughtful, her gaze
resting on the fire. After a while she said again, "You will remember?"
"Yes. I never had the talent of forgetting."
Soon afterward he went away, with Li as guide. As he took her hand at
parting, he said, "Are you coming in to the city to-morrow?"
"Yes; I must see Herr Scheffel."
"Will you let me meet you somewhere?"
After a moment's hesitation, she answered, "I would rather not."
"As you please. But I shall come and see you on Wednesday, then.
Good-night." He went out in the intense country darkness, preceded by
Li, who had disposed his comforter about him in such a manner as to look
as much as possible like the shaggy overcoat, which, in his eyes, was
fit for the Czar of all the Russias in his diamond crown.
The next day was even colder. Anne went in to the city, gave one lesson,
and then faced the bitter wind on her way down to Herr Scheffel's
lodgings. Her heart was not so heavy, in spite of the cold, as it had
been the day before, since between that time and this she had heard the
cordial voice of a friend.
The musical instrument maker's window was entirely frozen over, the
frost was like a white curtain shutting him out from the world; it was
to be hoped that he found comfort in playing on his tambourine within.
This time Herr Scheffel was at home, and he had a hope concerning a
place in another choir. Anne returned to Lancaster cheered. As she
walked homeward from the railway station down the hard country road,
darkness was falling, and she wondered why the faithful Li was not there
as usual to meet her. When she came within sight of the half-house, it
was blazing with light; from every window radiance streamed, smoke
ascended from the chimneys, and she could see figures within moving
about as if at work. What could it mean? She went up the steps, opened
the door, and entered. Was this her barren home?
Workmen were putting the finishing touches to what seemed to have been
an afternoon's labor; Li, in a fever of excitement, was directing
everybody. Through the open door Nora could be seen moving to and fro
amid barrels, boxes, and bags. The men had evidently received their
orders, for as soon as the young mistress of the house appeared they
hastily concluded their labors, and, taking their tools, vanished like
so many genii of the ring. Anne called them back, but they were already
far down the road. Li and Nora explained together that the men and two
wagon-loads of furniture had arrived at the door of the half-house at
two o'clock, and that the head workman, showing Mr. Dexter's card, had
claimed entrance and liberty to carry out his orders; he had a rough
plan of the rooms, sketched by Dexter, and was to follow his directions.
Li and Nora, already warm adherents, entered into the scheme with all
their hearts, and the result was that mademoiselle's little house was
now carpeted, and warmed, and filled from top to bottom. The bare
store-room was crowded, the cupboards garnished; there were easy-chairs,
curtains, pictures, and even flowers--tea-roses in a vase. The furniture
was perhaps too massive, the carpets and curtains too costly for the
plain abode; Dexter always erred on the side of magnificence. His
lavishness had been brought up at Caryl's as a testimony against him,
for it was a decided evidence of newness. But on this gloomy freezing
winter night no one could have the heart to say that the rich fabrics
were not full of comfort both to the eye and touch, and Anne, sinking
into one of the easy-chairs, uncertain what to do, was at least not at
all uncertain as to the comfort of the cushioned back; it was luxurious.
Later, in her own room, she sat looking at the unexpected gifts which
faced her from all sides. What should she do? It was not right to force
them upon her; and yet how like him was the lavish quick generosity! In
her poverty the gift seemed enormous; yet it was not. The little home
possessed few rooms, had seemed hardly more than a toy house to the city
workmen who had hastily filled it. But to Anne it seemed magical. Books
had been bought for her also, the well-proved standard works which
Dexter always selected for his own reading. In his busy life this
American had not had time to study the new writers; he was the one
person left who still quoted Addison. After looking at the books, Anne,
opening the closet door by chance, saw a long cedar case upon the floor;
it was locked, but the key was in an envelope bearing her name. She
opened the case; a faint fragrance floated out, as, from its wrappings,
she drew forth an India shawl, dark, rich, and costly enough for a
duchess. There was a note inside the case from Dexter--a note hastily
written in pencil:
* * * * *
"DEAR MISS DOUGLAS,--I do not know whether this is anything you can
wear, but at least it is warm. On the night I first met you you
were shivering, and I have thought of it ever since. Please accept
the shawl, therefore, and the other trifles, from your friend, G. D."
* * * * *
The trifles were furs--sable. Here, as usual, Dexter had selected the
costly; he knew no other way. And thus surrounded by all the new luxury
of the room, with the shawl and the furs in her hands, Anne stood, an
image of perplexity.
The next day the giver came out. She received him gravely. There was a
look in her eyes which told him that he had not won her approval.
"Of course I do not intend to trouble you often with visits," he said,
as he gave his furred overcoat to Li. "But one or two may be allowed, I
think, from such an old friend."
"And to such a desolate girl."
"Desolate no longer," he answered, choosing to ignore the reproach of
the phrase.
He installed himself in one of the new arm-chairs (looking, it must be
confessed, much more comfortable than before), and began to talk in a
fluent general way, approaching no topics that were personal. Meanwhile
old Nora, hearing from Li that the benefactor of the household was
present, appeared, strong in the new richness of her store-room, at the
door, and dropping a courtesy, wished to know at what hour it would
please him to dine. She said "your honor"; she had almost said "your
highness." Her homage was so sincere that Anne smiled, and Dexter
laughed outright.
"You see I am expected to stay, whether you wish it or not," he said.
"Do let me; it shall be for the last time." Then turning to Nora, he
said, "At four." And with another reverence, the old woman withdrew.
"It is a viciously disagreeable afternoon. You would not, I think, have
the heart to turn out even a dog," he continued, leaning back at ease,
and looking at his hostess, his eyes shining with amusement: he was
reading her objections, and triumphing over them. Then, as he saw her
soberness deepen, he grew grave immediately. "I am staying to-day
because I wish to talk with you, Anne," he said. "I shall not come
again. I know as well as you do, of course, that you can not receive me
while you have no better chaperon than Nora." He paused, looking at her
downcast face. "You do not like what I have done?"
"No."
"Why?"
"You have loaded me with too heavy an obligation."
"Any other reason?"
"I can never repay you."
"In addition?"
"It is not right that you should treat me as though I were a child."
"I knew you would object, and strongly; yet I hope to bring you over yet
to my view of the case," said Dexter. "You say that I have placed you
under too heavy an obligation. But pray consider what a slight affair
the little gift seems to me. The house is very small; I have spent but a
few hundreds; in all, with the exception of the shawl and furs, not much
over five. What is that to an income like mine? You say you can never
repay me. You repay me by accepting. It seems to me a noble quality to
accept, simply and generously accept; and I have believed that yours was
a noble nature. Accept, then, generously what it is such a pleasure to
me to give. On my own side, I say this: the woman Gregory Dexter once
asked to be his wife shall not suffer from want while Gregory Dexter
lives, and knows where to find her. This has nothing to do with you; it
is my side of the subject."
He spoke with much feeling. Anne looked at him. Then she rose, and with
quiet dignity gave him, as he rose also, her hand. He understood the
silent little action. "You have answered my expectation," he said, and
the subject was at an end forever.
After dinner, in the twilight, he spoke again. "You said, an hour or two
ago, that I had treated you as though you were a child. It is true; for
you were a child at Caryl's, and I remembered you as you were then. But
you are much changed; looking at you now, it is impossible that I should
ever think of you in the same way again."
She made no reply.
"Can you tell me nothing of yourself, of your personal life since we
parted? Your engagement, for instance?"
"It is ended. Mr. Pronando is married; he married my sister. You did not
see the notice?" (Anne's thoughts were back in the West Virginia
farm-house now with the folded slip of newspaper.)
"No; I was in the far West until April. I did not come eastward until
the war broke out. Then you are free, Anne? Do not be afraid to tell me;
I remember every word you said in Miss Vanhorn's little red parlor, and
I shall not repeat my mistake. You are, then, free?"
"I can not answer you."
"Then I will not ask; it all belongs to the one subject, I suppose. The
only part intrusted to me--the secret of your being here--I will
religiously guard. As to your present life--you would rather let this
Herr Scheffel continue looking for a place for you?"
"Yes."
"I will not interfere. But I shall write to you now and then, and you
must answer. If at the end of a month you have not obtained this
position you are hoping for--in a church choir, is it not?--you must let
me know. Will you promise?"
"I promise."
"And bear in mind this: you shall never be left friendless again while I
am on earth to protect you."
"But I have no right to--"
"Yes, you have; you have been more to me than you know." Here he paused,
and looked away as if debating with himself. "I have always intended
that you should know it some time," he continued; "perhaps this is as
good a time as any. Will you listen?"
"Yes."
He settled himself anew in his chair, meditated a moment, and then, with
all his natural fluency, which nothing could abate, with the
self-absorption which men of his temperament always show when speaking
of themselves, and yet with a certain guarded look at Anne too all the
while, as if curious to see how she would take his words, he began:
"You know what my life has been--that is, generally. What I wish to tell
you now is an inner phase. When, at the beginning of middle age, at last
I had gained the wealth I always intended to have, I decided that I
would marry. I wished to have a home. Of course, during all those
toiling years, I had not been without what are called love affairs, but
I was far too intensely absorbed in my own purposes to spend much time
upon them. Besides, I had preserved an ideal.
"I do not intend to conceal or deny that I am ambitious: I made a
deliberate effort to gain admittance into what is called the best
society in the Eastern cities, and in a measure I succeeded. I enjoyed
the life; it was another world; but still, wherever I went it seemed to
me that the women were artificial. Beautiful, attractive, women I could
not help admiring, but--not like my ideal of what my wife must be. They
would never make for me that home I coveted; for while I stood ready to
surround that home with luxury, in its centre I wanted, for myself
alone, a true and loving heart, a heart absorbed in me. And then, while
I knew that I wanted this, while I still cherished my old ideal closely,
what did I do? I began to love Rachel Bannert!
"You look at me; you do not understand why I speak in that tone. It is
as well that you should not. I can only say that I worshipped her. It
was not her fault that I began to love her, but it was her fault that I
was borne on so far; for she made me believe that she loved me; she gave
me the privileges of a lover. I never doubted (how could I?) that she
would be my wife in the end, although, for reasons of her own, she
wished to keep the engagement, for the time being, a secret. I
submitted, because I loved her. And then, when I was helpless, because I
was so sure of her, she turned upon me and cast me off. Like a worn-out
glove!
"Anne, I could not believe it. We were in the ravine; she had strolled
off in that direction, as though by chance, and I had followed her. I
asked her what she meant: no doubt I looked like a dolt. She laughed in
my face. It seemed that she had only been amusing herself; that she had
never had any intention of marrying me; a 'comedy of the summer.' But no
one laughs in my face twice--not even a woman. When, at last, I
understood her, my infatuation vanished; and I said some words to her
that night which I think she will not soon forget. Then I turned and
left.
"Remember that this was no boy whose feelings she had played with, whose
respect she had forfeited; it was a man, and one who had expected to
find in this Eastern society a perfection of delicacy and refinement not
elsewhere seen. I scorned myself for having loved her, and for the
moment I scorned all women too. Then it was, Anne, that the thought of
_you_ saved me. I said to myself that if you would be my wife, I could
be happy with your fresh sincerity, and not sink into that unbelieving,
disagreeable cynicism which I had always despised in other men. Acting
on the impulse, I asked you.
"I did not love you, save as all right-minded men love and admire a
sweet young girl; but I believed in you; there was something about you
that aroused trust and confidence. Besides--I tell you this frankly--I
thought I should succeed. I certainly did not want to be repulsed twice
in one day. I see now that I was misled by Miss Vanhorn. But I did not
see it then, and when I spoke to you, I fully expected that you would
answer yes.
"You answered no, Anne, but you still saved me. I still believed in you.
And more than ever after that last interview. I went away from Caryl's
early the next morning, and two days later started for the West. I was
hurt through and through, angry with myself, disgusted with life. I
wanted to breathe again the freedom of the border. Yet through it all
your memory was with me as that of one true, pure, steadfast woman-heart
which compelled me to believe in goodness and steadfastness as
possibilities in women, although I myself had been so blindly befooled.
This is what you, although unconsciously, have done for me: it is an
inestimable service.
"I was not much moved from my disgust until something occurred which
swept me out of myself--I mean the breaking out of the war. I had not
believed in its possibility; but when the first gun was fired, I started
eastward at an hour's notice." Here Dexter rose, and with folded arms
walked to and fro across the floor. "The class of people you met at
Caryl's used to smile and shrug their shoulders over what is called
patriotism--I think they are smiling no longer."--(Here Anne remembered
"After that attack on Fort Sumter, it seemed to me the only thing to
do") "but the tidings of that first gun stirred something in _my_ breast
which is, I suppose, what that word means. As soon as I reached
Pennsylvania, I went up to the district where my mines are, gathered
together and equipped all the volunteers who would go. I have been doing
similar work on a larger scale ever since. I should long ago have been
at the front in person were it not that the Governor requires my
presence at home, and I am well aware also that I am worth twenty times
more in matters of organization than I should be simply as one more man
in the field."
This was true. Gregory Dexter's remarkable business powers and energy,
together with his wealth, force, and lavish liberality, made him the
strong arm of his State throughout the entire war.
He asked for no comment upon his story; he had told it briefly as a
series of facts. But from it he hoped that the listener would draw a
feeling which would make her rest content under his friendly aid. And he
succeeded.
But before he went away she told him that while accepting all the house
contained, she would rather return those of his gifts which had been
personal to herself.
"Why?"
"I would rather do it, but I do not know how to explain the feeling,"
she answered, frankly, although her face was one bright blush.
"If you do not, I do," said Dexter, smiling, and looking at her with the
beginnings of a new interest in his eyes. "As you please, of course,
although I _did_ try to buy a good shawl for you, Anne. Are you not very
poorly dressed?"
"Plainly and inexpensively. Quite warmly, however."
"But what am I to do with the things? I will tell you what I shall do: I
shall keep them just as they are, in the cedar box. Perhaps some day you
will accept them."
She shook her head. But he only smiled back in answer, and soon
afterward he went away.
The next day she sent the cedar case to his city address. She wrote a
note to accompany it, and then destroyed it. Why should she write? All
had been said.
Before the month was quite ended, Herr Scheffel succeeded in obtaining
for her a place in another church choir. It was a small church, and the
salary was not large, but she was glad to accept it, and more than glad
to be able to write to Mr. Dexter that she had accepted it. New pupils
came with the new year; she was again able to send money to Miss Lois,
for the household supplies, so lavishly provided, were sufficient for
the little family throughout the winter.
In February, being again in New York, Dexter came out to see her. It was
a wild evening; the wind whistled round the house, and blew the hail and
sleet against the panes. Most persons would have remained in the city;
but after one look at Dexter's face and figure, no one ever spoke to him
about the weather. Anne had received a long letter from Jeanne-Armande;
she showed it to him. Also one from Père Michaux. "I feel now," she
said, "almost as though you were my--"
"Please do not say father."
"Oh no."
"Brother, then?"
"Hardly that."
"Uncle?"
"Perhaps; I never had an uncle. But, after all, it is more like--" Here
she stopped again.
"Guardian?" suggested Dexter; "they are always remarkable persons, at
least in books. Never mind the name, Anne; I am content to be simply
your friend."
During the evening he made one allusion to the forbidden subject. "You
asked me to tell you nothing regarding the people who were at Caryl's,
but perhaps the prohibition was not eternal. I spent an hour with Mrs.
Heathcote this afternoon (never fear; I kept your secret). Would you not
like to hear something of her?"
Anne's face changed, but she did not swerve. "No; tell me nothing," she
answered. And he obeyed her wish. In a short time he took leave, and
returned to the city. During the remainder of the winter she did not see
him again.