'My father died the next year,' she continued, after a few thoughtful
minutes, 'and my sister married, and I came to live in this little
house. I had it fixed over to suit me, so that it was as simple and
convenient as possible; and I set myself to learn it by heart. I did a
lot of my housework after dark. Inside a year, I was so independent that
I knew I need never worry about having to get anybody to help me. By
taking plenty of time, I managed to learn some books by heart too; and I
found it was much more interesting to sit and think about one paragraph
for an hour than to read twenty pages. Even a few words are enough.
Take, "Be still, and know that I am God"; or, "Acquaint now thyself with
Him, and be at peace." There's no end to those sentences.
'Well,'--She touched her third finger, and then, for the first time, she
came to a full pause, as if she were not sure about going on. Her face
grew shy and reserved and reluctant.
I looked away--not for anything would I have urged her further
confidence. But she went on presently. She had committed herself to the
stream of this confession, and she would not refuse to be carried by it
wherever it might wind.
'After a while I had a lover. He was a man from the city, and I met him
in the woods. We were never introduced; and, for a long time, I didn't
know anything about him--except that I loved him and he loved me. We
couldn't help it, for we felt the same way about the woods. I had never
known any one like him before, and never expected to, because I'm so
different from most folks. He made me understand how lonely it is to be
different. I--we--'
But, after all, she could not dwell on this experience, and I did not
want her to. The poignant beauty of the relation was already
sufficiently apparent to my imagination.
'One day he told me that he had a wife at home,' she concluded; 'and I
never saw him again. I think it was then that I really knew and
understood.'
Knew what? Understood what? She had an air of having said all that was
necessary, of having come to the end of her story; and I shrank from
putting any crude questions to her. But it seemed to me that, if she did
not tell me something more of her secret, I should just miss the most
significant revelation I had ever caught a glimpse of.