"Nancy," repeated Bob, "you know what is in my heart, don't you? Know
I've loved you for years?"
"You've never told me so," and there was a suggestion of a laugh in
Nancy's voice.
"Because I was afraid. How could I dare to--to tell you--when--when
you never gave a sign, and when--you seemed to like others better?
Others have wanted you, I know that; fellows--better looking than I,
more--more attractive than I, and with far better prospects. I am not
your sort of fellow--I know that; but--you've known all along that I
loved you. I've been afraid to tell you so, but I would willingly shed
my life's blood for you."
"I hate a coward!" cried the girl.
"Yes, I've known that; but then, how dared I speak when a fellow like
Trevanion, heir to a title, and captain in a crack regiment, would give
his life to get you? What chance had I?"
"Then why do you tell me this now?"
"Because I can't help myself. Because--Nancy, is there any chance? I
know your father would be mad, but I wouldn't mind that a bit. Nancy,
is there any hope for me?"
Again the girl's lips became tremulous as she looked at the waves
lashing themselves to foam on the great black rocks, while the
sea-birds soared overhead. It was easy to see she was greatly moved,
although it was her nature to hide her feelings.
"I don't know, Bob."
It did not seem like Nancy's voice at all. It was almost hoarse, and
she had a difficulty in speaking.
"Don't know?" he repeated. "Then--then----"
"I want to speak plainly. Bob. I may hurt you, although--I'll try not
to. Yes, I have believed that--you cared for me. I suppose I've seen
it, and I expect I've been vexed that you've never told me. I--I
wanted you to."
"Wanted me to!" cried Bob. "You have never given me a chance.
And--and you always seemed to care for--for those other fellows."
"I wanted you to make your chances. If--if a man loves a girl, he
should dare anything to get her. Anything. What do I care about
Hector Trevanion? He hasn't a thought in his head above his latest
horse and his newest uniform. But how could I help being friendly with
him, when you--have always on the slightest pretext been ready to leave
me with him."
"And you wanted me all the time!" There was a note of joy and triumph
in his voice.
"I don't know," replied the girl. "I'll be absolutely frank with you,
Bob. You are not the sort of man I wanted to love. Yes, I'll admit
it--I wanted to love a soldier, a sailor, a man of action. I can never
admire a man who will be content to spend his days in a library poring
over old dusty books. That's why I have been angry when I've heard you
glorifying these useless old fossils. And yet--oh, Bob!" and the girl
concluded with a sob.
"Do you mean," and Bob's voice was tremulous, "that you cared for me
all the time, although you--you didn't like my plans for my future?
That you preferred me to Trevanion? Oh, Nancy!"
"As though a girl must care for six feet of flesh without brains
because she isn't a blue-stocking. Why--why--couldn't you see, Bob?"
"And I say--oh, Nancy, does this mean that you care for me--love me?"
"I'm afraid I do," she half-laughed, half-sobbed.
"Afraid?"
"Yes, don't you see? You are not in the least like the man I wanted to
love. You could have won your blue as a cricketer, but you wouldn't
take the trouble to get it. A man in Oxford told me that you could be
the best three-quarter in the 'Varsity Rugby team, but that you were
too lazy to play. You've been a sort of negative creature, while I
love a man of action. What are old shrivelled manuscripts worth to the
world to-day? Who cares about the sayings of some old dead and
forgotten German, or some obscure passages in _Bede's Ecclesiastical
History_, when there's a great surging life all around us to-day?
History is only a record of what took place in the past; I love the
thought of a man who wants to make history, who sets his ideas to
action. And you, Bob, you have told me again and again that you want
to spend your life in historical research, or some such useless thing."
"But--but, Nancy, what does all that matter when I love you--love you
with all my life? Besides----"
"I come of a race of fighters," cried the girl. "When Philip of Spain
sent over his Great Armada, to rob us of our liberty, one of my
ancestors fought the Dons. He gave ships and men to our country, and
helped to save us from oppression. When Napoleon cast a shadow over
Europe, and threatened to destroy our country, men of my name were
among the foremost in fighting him. My grandfather represented St. Ia
in Parliament, and he roused the country. While you--oh, Bob, forgive
me, but your ideal seems to be to sit in a library in Oxford, wearing a
dirty old dressing-gown and iron-rimmed spectacles, reading or writing
books which will be of no use to any one! Is that a life for a man?"
"But if his mind is cast in that mould?"
"I haven't finished yet," went on the girl. "Forgive me, Bob, for
talking so much. I wouldn't only--oh, Bob, can't you see? Why, at our
last dance--when--when I had kept four for you, you never even asked
for them. And I--I wanted to dance them too; but--but I had to sit
them out, and when other men begged me to let them put their names down
on my card, I said I was tired. Then, when I heard afterwards that you
had gone into the library, and were reading some old book which hadn't
been opened for years, I just--cried."
"Oh, Nancy, I never dreamt of such a thing! I--I never thought you
wanted me. I was just aching for you all the time, but I thought--why,
you've always laughed at my dancing. But there, now I know, I can do
anything, be anything. And there's nothing I won't do for you?"
"You are not vexed with me, are you?"
"I couldn't be vexed with you, Nancy. I'd let myself be cut in bits
for you. And you love me, don't you? Oh, it's too good to be true!
but say you do, tell me that in spite of everything you love me?"
"Haven't I been telling you so all the time? And--and yet you haven't
asked me to--to----"
"What, Nancy?"
"Oh, I do hate a coward!"
"But what haven't I asked you?"
"Bob, isn't there something you want very much?"
"Yes, there is," replied Bob. "Something--that---- Nancy, you won't
be vexed with me if I ask you?"
"Risk my being vexed," laughed the girl.
"Then I want to take you in my arms, and kiss you--kiss you a hundred
times."
"Then, why don't you?"
Bob looked around him, like one afraid. They were beneath the shadow
of a great rock. At their feet was headland grass, wind-swept and
grey, but peeping through the grass were thousands upon thousands of
wild thyme, giving the little plateau a purple hue. They were hidden
from the gaze of any who might be on the great rock. His heart beat so
that his breath came with difficulty; he was trembling with a new-found
joy--a joy so great that it almost gave him pain.
"Oh, my love!--my love!" he cried, as he took her in his arms, and his
kisses were as pure as those with which a young mother lasses her
firstborn.
"What haven't I asked you?" he said, a few minutes later.
They were sitting beneath the shadow of the rock now, and Nancy was
rearranging her hat. She did not reply, but her eyes were full of
gladsome mischief as she looked at him.
"I mean just now, when--when you said you had been telling me that you
loved me, but I hadn't asked for something. What was it?"
"You've made up for it since," and there was a laugh in her voice.
"Do you mean that you wanted me to kiss you? Oh, you are right, Nancy,
I am an awful coward, but I'll make up for lost time now."
The sea continued to roll on the great rugged rock, which threw its
mighty head far out into its depths. Overhead the sea-birds hovered,
sailing with graceful motion over the silvery waters, and uttering
their mournful cry, while far out vessels ploughed their way up and
down the Atlantic; but neither noticed. They were happy in each
other's love. Nancy had forgotten the fact that Robert Nancarrow was
not the kind of man she had meant to love, while he was far too happy
to care for the lecture she had given him. Her kisses were warm upon
his lips, her words of love rung in his ears. They were in the
dreamland of happy lovers, while the sky of their lives was as free
from clouds as the great dome of blue overhead. He was the only man
she had ever loved, or ever could love, while to him the maid, wilful
and passionate though she might be, was perfect. What were books,
learning, and the fame of scholarship to him now? He had won the love
of the girl whom for years he had loved, and ever despaired of winning.
She, who had seemed so far away from him, so far above him, had come to
his arms, willingly, gladly. She, with her proud old name, and almost
lordly wealth, had chosen him, and forgotten everything in her choice.
It seemed too wonderful to be true, and he looked at her again and
again in his wonder, proud beyond all words, yet almost afraid to
believe in his good fortune.
"Oh, Nancy, you are beautiful!"
The light of joy flashed from her eyes. What girl is there beneath the
all-beholding heavens who does not long to know that the man she loves
thinks her beautiful?--Who does not long for him to tell her?
"And what a lovely dress you are wearing."
"I've worn it three times since you came down from Oxford, and you've
never once mentioned it."
"I never saw it as I see it now. I never saw as I see you now. Nancy,
there's no one like. Bless you, my love, for loving me."
But I must not dwell on that happy hour, much as I would love to. We
who are older may laugh at "Love's young dream," and grow cynical about
its transitory nature. We may say that lovers live in a fool's
paradise, and that the dream of lovers ends in the tragedies of later
years. Still, there's nothing sweeter or purer on God's green earth
than the love of a clean-minded honest lad for the maid he has chosen
from all others. It keeps the world young and hopeful; humanly
speaking, it is life's greatest joy, and the man who can throw scorn
upon its joys and utter cynical words about its reality has himself
lost the pearl of great price. It is he who is to be pitied, and not
the lovers. They hear the birds of paradise singing in the bowers of
Eden, while he hears only the croaking of the raven.
They got back to realities presently. Bob's new-found joy had led him
to the realisation of the future.
"I'm going to speak to your father to-night, Nancy. I know he'll be
angry, but that I don't mind a bit."
"No, Bob, you must not speak to him--at least not yet."
"Why?"
"Because he'll refuse, and you mustn't speak to him until you can make
him consent."
"I don't understand, Nancy."
"You see, he has exactly the same feeling that I have about men. He
would never consent to my being the wife of a book-worm."
"Oh, I've thought that all out while I've been here," replied Bob
confidently. "Yes, I know I've been unpractical--a dreamer, in fact.
But I'm going to alter all that. Now you've told me--that--that you
love me, I feel I must become a man of action. You've wakened
something in me that I didn't know existed. I haven't been half alive.
I've imagined that only thoughts, ideas mattered; now I know
differently. I've lived only half-life. Mark you, I don't altogether
go back upon my faith--I only add a new element to it. I've always
said that we owe everything to thought. I've said that thoughts
covered the seas with floating cities, and converted the world into a
whispering-gallery. That thoughts have belted the globe with electric
currents, and given us untold blessings. Now I know that I've stated
only half a truth. The man who is simply a man of ideas, is like a
bird trying to fly with one wing. There must be action to put the
ideas into use. Oh, yes, I see it all."
"Yes, yes, Bob; and what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to study for the Bar. I'm going to set about it right away.
And then I'm going into Parliament. I've big ideas, Nancy--big ideas
about governments, and about reforms in our laws. There are great
things that want doing, and I'm going to do them. I'm going to get at
the helm of government, and destroy abuses. I am not going to be
content by writing books about what is needed; I'm going to see that my
ideas take shape in the laws of the country, and effect the betterment
of the world."
Please do not smile at Robert Nancarrow's somewhat highfalutin talk,
and set him down as a conceited prig. Every young fellow who has ever
done or been anything in the world, has at some time in his life had
such thoughts. Sad will it be for England as a nation when our boys do
not dream impossible dreams, and think thoughts which wiseacres call
foolishness.
"That's splendid, Bob!" cried Nancy, her eyes sparkling. "I should
love you to go into Parliament--love to hear you speak in the House of
Commons. Why, you might be elected for St. Ia! Dad has at great deal
of influence there too, and could get you nominated. But what things
would you advocate?"
"I know," cried Bob. "I am going to create a peace party in England.
Yes, I know some of your people have been soldiers, while my mother
glories in the fact that many of the Trelawneys have been and are in
the Army. But think of the horrors of war. Even now Europe is said to
be sitting on a powder-barrel. Every nation in Europe is being bled to
death, in order to pay war taxes, even although at present there isn't
a shadow of war in the sky. Money that might be spent, and should be
spent, on the betterment of the lives of the people and destroying, the
possibility of poverty and want, is spent in Dreadnoughts and weapons
to kill. Hundreds of millions are being spent on the Army and Navy,
while paltry sums are grudged for education and all those things which
go to make up the manhood of the nation."
"Yes, I know war is terrible, ghastly. But how can you stop it? You
wouldn't advocate the destruction of our Army and Navy. It would be
madness, it would----"
"Not yet," interrupted Bob eagerly. "I would labour for a great
European movement. Take Germany for example. The Germans are worse
taxed than we are to pay for armaments, but the people don't want war.
They are a peace-loving people. The Kaiser doesn't want war. He's
said so a hundred times. The Czar of Russia doesn't want war. And yet
hundreds upon hundreds of millions of money are being spent on war
implements, while the people want bread. Besides, a ghastly, warlike,
unchristian spirit is kept alive by this eternal talk about the
possibilities of war. What is wanted is an agreement among the
Governments of nations that there shall be no war. We want to create
an anti-war spirit in the hearts of the people, and so kill the
terrible thing at the fountain-head."
"Yes, yes," cried the girl, "if all the nations could be persuaded to
disarm, it would be splendid! But, but----"
"It can be done," cried Bob. "I will give my life to it. Everybody
hates war in the abstract, but no one seems to throw himself heart and
soul into a great peace crusade. Even the Peace Society is
half-hearted. The cause of Peace hasn't been voiced of late years.
That's it," and Bob rose to his feet excitedly; "I see my work, Nancy.
Neither your father nor any one else shall say that I'm unpractical, or
that I sit still and do nothing. Think of the glory of such a cause!
Think of destroying for ever the ghastly horrors of war, of helping to
bring about universal peace."
"Yes," replied Nancy, "it would be glorious, simply glorious. I was
only very little when the Boer War broke out, and when my eldest
brother Roger went away to it, father gave a dinner, and all our
friends came to bid him good-bye. Although I was only a kiddie, I was
allowed to sit up to it, and I remember some of the speeches that were
made. They promised him that he should be made a colonel and all that
sort of thing, and there was such laughing and shouting. Every one
imagined it would be over in a few weeks; it seemed such a little thing
to crush a few Boer farmers. After that I used to watch dad's face as
he read his newspaper, and wondered what he was so sad about. Then one
day some one brought him a letter which almost killed him. I shall
never forget it. He staggered as though some one had struck him a
blow, and groaned as if he were in agony. Roger was killed. It added
years to dad's life, and he's never been the same since."
"War is that kind of thing multiplied thousands of times," said Bob.
"There were unnumbered homes in England, yes, and in South Africa too,
desolated by that war, when--when it ought to have been avoided. Yes,
my mind's made up. I'm going into Parliament, and I'm going to make
war against war. The holiest and most Christlike work a man can
undertake. Shan't I tell your father to-night, Nancy?"
"No, no, not yet. I'm afraid he might---- I'll prepare him little by
little, and then, when the proper time comes, I'll tell you. But,
Bob," and the girl laughed gaily, "I had almost to propose to you,
hadn't I?"
"No," replied Bob. "I did the proposing, and you did the lecturing.
That's what it'll be all our lives, I expect; but what do I care, as
long as I have you?"
"I--I was afraid you were going to be a coward, though."
"And you don't like cowards?"
She became serious in a moment. "If there's anything I hate and
despise, it's cowardice," she cried. "I think I could forgive anything
but that. It's--it's beneath even contempt. Hark, what's that?"
They heard a rustling sound behind them, and saw, close by, a newspaper
blown towards them by the light summer breeze.
Bob put out his hand and caught it. "It's to-day's paper," he said.
"I haven't looked at mine to-day."
He read it almost mechanically. Neither dreamed that this paper,
carelessly dropped by a man who had come to see the famous rock,
contained news on which depended not only the future of their own
lives, but which altered the destinies of nations, and which turned a
great part of Europe into a shambles.