OVER THE GARDEN WALL
Miss Mivvins was very full of thought of the man who had left her; he
was full to the point of over-brimming of thought of her. They were
soulful thoughts, which lasted them both till sleep closed the windows
of their souls.
In the case of the man the eyelids remained wide open till the grey dawn
flushed rosily before the rising sun. Even then he dreamt: of her.
Later, when he awoke, it was evident that a halo of success would
surround his weather prophecy. His prediction of wet turned out correct:
it rained nearly all day. But Cupid must have bribed Pluvius; the rain
ceased to fall as the grey of evening closed down on the day.
Then they met again. It was a walk only; a walk up and down the front.
She did not feel equal to trusting herself on that seat again. Did not
trust him--or herself.
A moonlight night, a murmuring sea and a man with eyes of greater
eloquence than his tongue possessed--decidedly she thought it was best
to avoid sitting down.
Miss Mivvins did not altogether seem herself; was nothing like so bright
as she had been before. The sweet mouth never parted in laughter once
during all the walk. It was a new mood to him; one in which he could
find no pleasantness.
He taxed her with it; something was worrying her. He would have liked to
plainly ask what, that he might lighten or at least share the trouble.
She, not admitting it, endeavoured to shake off the depression.
As their good-byes were uttered, he exhibited a surprising fertility in
the invention of hints of meetings again. She, for reasons known to
herself, did not take them.
The weather afforded her a shield; she switched the conversation on to
that. Clouds were shaping ominously; there was a prospect of more foul
weather on the breaking of the morrow. So was avoided any open reference
to another evening walk when they parted.
Clouds, of another kind, seemed to envelop him. He had counted so on the
meeting; had watched the ticking away of the hours till the fall of
eventide: and after, till eight o'clock came.
All the warmth of the previous evening, all his delicious anticipation,
was eclipsed by the frigidity of to-night. He felt like one for whom the
sun has set while it is yet day.
He worried himself to the point of haggardness: being a man possessed of
strong emotions. Walked home mind-laden with fear that he had done or
said something to offend her. Racking his brain, yet failed to find a
record; could not imagine what had been his sin.
His slumber was not of the peaceful kind. Although his dreams were of
her--the woman his waking thoughts were so full of--they were not of the
pleasant kind of yesternight. Again, too, he saw the red fringe in the
east grow into dawn before he slept.
A warm, drizzling rainy day; so he found the weather on awaking. So warm
that at breakfast he had his window open; his landlady referred to the
condition of things as being muggy. That was not the only speech of hers
he heard that morning.
The proverb about listeners and the good things they hear occurred to
him. By reason of the open window he was unable to avoid overhearing a
conversation. It was carried on between the next door landlady and his
own.
Masters would have scorned a suggestion of eavesdropping. He was aroused
from the depths of the morning paper, in the columns of which he was
immersed, by hearing his own name spoken. That is usually a call to
attention to most of us. The voice of the neighbour reached him:
"Yes. My Liza saw 'em walking together, so to speak. Lord, 'e don't look
a gent like that, do 'e? But you never know, do you? As I was only
sayin' to Mrs. Robinson this very mornin', quiet ones is always the
wust. She's a 'ot lot, and no mistake!"
"Are you sure it was my lodger?"
The inquiry was from his own landlady. He recognized her voice, low
pitched as it was: there were top notes in it she could never eliminate.
The answer came over the garden wall:
"My Liza ain't a fool, I give you my word! There, as I says, you never
know, do you? It don't always do to judge by 'pearances. Your ground
floor looks as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, as the sayin' is.
But she--there! You can tell with 'alf-an-eye what she is."
"Yes. I s'pose there ain't no mistake about that. Fine feathers don't
always make fine birds."
"She's going about, in a manner of speaking, plainly dressed too, just
now. Ev you noticed it? I see her with my own eyes in Juggins' shop
without a single ring on her finger! She as used to ev a 'alf-dozen
sparkling di'monds on each 'and."
"Pawned 'em, perhaps."
"No fear! She knows your lodger's well-to-do, and she's working 'im for
all 'es wuth, as the sayin' is. Lor! She's up to snuff, I can tell you.
As I was sayin' to Mrs. Smith, them kind of women is up to every thing."
A voice, presumably the tones of the afore-mentioned Liza, broke in. The
next door neighbour was being called; some one was enquiring about
lodgings. The conversation ended with the suddenness of an eye's
twinkling.
Little as Masters had heard, he was the whole day trying to digest it.
Material for thought was there: a pregnancy of horrible suggestions.
As to his work, he did not write a line; could not read a paragraph.
After the manner of a caged beast walked up and down the room. When at
last he sat, sheer exhaustion was the compelling force.
His mid-day meal was turned over on his plate; any idea of eating it was
out of the question; it was taken away practically untouched. He had no
room for physical food; he was so very full just then of mental
provender. One dominating thought reigned over all others. What
should--what could he do?
His habit was to drink a cup of tea in the early afternoon. His landlady
entered bearing a little tray. Whilst she was spreading its contents,
the thoughts consuming him found vent. He said:
"Don't go away--for a moment. I want to ask you something."
"Yes, sir?"
"You know Ivy Cottage--on the front? Do you know who lives there?"
She looked at him for a moment before answering. An autumn bird needs
careful handling; if it takes flight the nest remains empty till the
following summer. She passed her tongue over the thin lips which framed
it; said warily:
"No, sir. That is to say, not their present names."
Memory's finger pointed out the conversation of the morning over the
garden wall; this woman's share in it. He knew she was lying. His anger
against things in general was smouldering; something to let it loose on
would be a relief. Why this deceit and mystery?
The wisdom of keeping his foot on the brake was known to him. He was
wise enough, too, to grasp the fact that a man in a temper weakens his
armour. There was battle to be done; he meant having it out before the
woman left his room.
"Is that altogether correct?" he inquired. "Surely you must, living in
this place, have heard?"
"Oh!"
Exclamation with a vinegary shake of her head. She was standing now with
her mittened hands crossed, prepared evidently for a long talk;
continued:
"We hear plenty about them, sir!"
"You know the master of the house?"
"Not the present one, sir--if there is one just now!"
In shaping the deep lines round her mouth his satanic majesty had surely
held the graver! Masters thought the meaning smile with which she let
loose the innuendo positively hideous in its suggestiveness. His
inflammable emotions rendered it difficult for him to get proper control
of his voice as he enquired:
"The mistress, then?"
Impatience in the tone of his voice. He had hoped to elicit replies
without this direct inquiry. Felt ashamed of himself the while he
probed. It was not a feeling the woman shared. She answered:
"Oh, yes, sir."
The readiness of her answer was apparent. She was the kind of woman to
whom slander was a dainty morsel to be tongue-rolled. Her own tongue
became as the pen of a ready writer. It sickened the questioner, but he
continued:
"And the governess?"
Vigorous shaking of the woman's head again. In the same
redolent-of-sourness style, too, as she answered:
"There is no governess there, sir. The only servints is the cook and
'ousemaid and the odd boy."
He knew that to be a lie! Hope, that he had thought entombed, rose
again. One thing incorrect, why not all? He said sharply:
"You are mistaken!"
"I don't think so, sir."
Again that hideous smile. Accompanied this time by a pitying expression;
pity for his simplicity! He was like the generality of men--writhed
under pity. It acted on him with the irritation of a rasp. He, however,
controlled himself sufficiently to enquire:
"A tall, fair, blue-eyed young lady?"
The description elicited a second edition of the pity--third of the head
shaking--as the woman answered:
"That's the mistress, sir."
It is difficult to keep a watchful eye ever on the safety valve. The
indignation within him was seething to boiling point. He was getting up
steam so rapidly as to create the impression that his emotions were
arranged on the principle of the tubular boiler. He blurted out:
"I tell you, you are wrong! Her name is Miss Mivvins!"
Combination of every unpleasant wrinkle that the human face is capable
of assuming, as she replied, with the incisiveness of a knife cut:
"Very likely that's one of her names, sir! Now I come to remember, I did
once in a shop 'ear her called so--called so by her own child."
That was the last straw! the safety valve was discarded. He blurted out:
"Her--own--child!"
"Yes. The little girl who's always with her. The one with the carity
'air as some people calls orebin."
Amazement! Consternation! Disappointment! A combination of these
feelings, and many other indescribable ones, made him break out with:
"Then--then she is married?"
All the subtle devilish suggestions in her came to the surface. To
emphasize the point of her answer, slow head-shaking was necessary:
"I couldn't say as to that, sir."
She smiled too that horrible smile again! The desire to speak evil of
others assails some natures irresistibly. She really could not
resist--October lodger or no lodger.
"Thank you. That will do."
He managed to dismiss her so, and the landlady left the room. She was
fearful of having gone a little too far; yet was filled with the
complacency with which such utterances--to such natures--is fruitful.
Yes, he was alone--but such a loneliness!