The Silver Lining Part 28

The two young people were returning from the concert that had been given in St. Julian's Hall. They were walking. It was a beautiful evening. Not a breath of wind, not a cloud in the sky. Both nature and humanity slumbered. A deep silence prevailed along the lane in which the young couple were walking.

'Twas a charming spot, these lanes, bordered on either side by high hedges of stone and earth, on which grew furze and gra.s.s, while here and there, a solitary primrose--it was the month of March,--was bending its slender stalk, loaded as it was with dew.

Conversation is an art. So is silence. The latter is even less known than the former.

Both the young people were now silent as they proceeded towards "Les Marches," but it was a silence which spoke. They knew each other's thoughts, one heart spoke to the other; they were both impressed with the supreme beauty of nature and filled with love, for that same evening they had plighted their troth.

It was Frank who first broke the silence: "How beautifully serene the sky is, Adele; almost as clear as your forehead."

"What an immense number of stars," she said, "astronomy must be a beautiful pursuit."

"It must be," he replied. "To soar far above this earth, to contemplate those worlds, to feel oneself lifted into s.p.a.ce, to visit the moon with its mountains and rivers, plateaux and lakes; to accompany Venus and Mars and all the other planets in their course; to float, as it were, amongst these gigantic masterpieces of the Creator, to calculate their dimensions, to measure their course, to weigh those monsters; to bring to light the treasures of metal which they contain, by the aid of Spectrum. a.n.a.lysis, all this and a great deal more which is a.s.sociated with the science must be indeed full of wonderful exhiliration."

"To hear you talk, one would imagine that you yearn to be amongst all those stars and planets," said Adele.

"It is not the case," he answered, "because--I'll tell you why--I am content to have Venus so near to me."

"I am afraid you will have to be Mars," she said somewhat anxiously.

"Not a bit of it," he replied cheerfully, "Mars is generally represented with a long beard, and look, I have but a slight moustache; have you ever noticed," he continued, "that all these planets move in circles. I think the circle is the ideal figure of the Creator. Man cannot measure a circle or sphere."

"I thought the heavenly bodies moved in ellipses," she interrupted.

"Yes, but ellipses are but a form of circles."

"Of course, I had never thought about it before, one has so much to learn in life. Nature's wonders are numerous and full of instruction for the thoughtful student. It seems to me sometimes that my soul converses with nature. A cloud obscures the sky, and I feel that cloud pa.s.sing over my heart; a ray of suns.h.i.+ne illumines the earth, and causes my flowers to open their petals and the dew-drops on the gra.s.s to s.h.i.+ne like millions of diamonds, and I smile."

"You have the soul of a poetess," he said.

She laughed a rippling laugh. "I do not know, but I think the study of nature, the proper study of man."

"Others,--with a less poetic soul, doubtless--seem to differ from you. I think Pope did. But you love nature, and do not care for man."

Her pearly teeth saw the light.

When Adele bade good-night to Frank that evening, a strange presentiment of coming evil overcame her.

She walked inside her father's house. When she entered the kitchen she was surprised at finding it empty. The lamp was on the table. It was lighted. Beside it was an empty mug. She lighted a candle, went into the parlour, and divested herself of her hat and jacket, thinking her father would soon return.

She did not feel at ease, however. Every other minute she turned round nervously, half afraid of finding someone in the room. Where could her father be? She grew anxious. Going at the foot of the stairs, she called out: "Father, father."

Not a sound, save that of her voice which sounded funereally.

She went to the door, opened it, and looked outside. Everything was still. All at once she heard something. It was not a shout, it was a scream, a shriek, an entreaty; it came again, much louder this time, she could distinctly hear the word: "Help."

She distinguished that voice; there was no mistaking it, she would have discerned its sound amongst ten thousand. This voice was Frank's. He had cried, he had implored, there was but one thing for her to do--to run to his aid.

Without even taking the trouble to fetch her hat, she hastily ran in the direction from whence the sound came.

Breathless, she arrived upon the scene. There, on the ground, lay the prostrate figure of a man, his head supported on the knee of another one.

The prostrate figure was her father's, the other man was Frank.

When he saw her with her hair dishevelled and her frantic look, Frank looked astonished. He then beckoned to her and said: "It is only a faint, and I hope only a slight bleeding of the nose. I think he will soon regain consciousness. Is there any water about here?"

"Not that I know of," she said, "but I will hasten home and bring some."

While she was gone, Mr. Rougeant opened his eyes. "Where am I?" he said, after in vain trying to recollect his thoughts.

"With a friend," answered Frank, bending over him.

The farmer closed his eyes, then opened them again and fixed them on Frank. He quickly shut them again, however. He had recognized the young man and a pang of remorse shot through his hard heart.

Adele soon came with a small can full of water; and a basin. Her father kept his eyes closed. He had not the courage to open them.

She poured the water in a basin and began to wash his face.

When she had finished, he opened his eyes resolutely and said: "Now that I am washed and the bleeding has ceased, I had better go home."

Without having the courage to look at Frank he said: "I think I can do with my daughter."

He tried to rise, but uttered a cry of pain. "My foot hurts me fearfully," he said, "I cannot move without your aid."

Thereupon they both helped him to his feet, while he kept a frowning look and a silent tongue.

"Do you think you can walk leaning on my shoulder?" said Frank.

"Perhaps," he replied, and, placing his hand on the preferred shoulder, he began to hobble along; stopping often and speaking seldom.

When the farmer was comfortably installed near the fire, his leg carefully placed on a footstool, Frank, knowing he was not wanted, took his leave, expressing a hope that the injured limb would soon be all right again.

The farmer shook his head sadly, and gave a look at Frank that was very significant.

Then he shrank for some time into a state of complete silence, but his face was clouded and his bushy eyebrows were more prominently drawn over his eyes than they had been for a long time.

He hardly spoke a word to Adele that evening, barely answering her questions.

How had the tables thus been turned? When Mr. Rougeant heard Frank pa.s.s by alone, he hastily vaulted over the hedge, intending to attack him, if not with his fists, at least with his tongue. But Providence directed otherwise. He miscalculated the height of the hedge on the side of the road,--for the field was higher than the road--and fell flat on his nose and face, one of his feet twisting under him and getting sprained.

The blow which he sustained in falling and the pain caused by his sprained ankle caused him to faint. Frank ran to his aid, lifted him carefully, and placed his head on his own knee.

It was in this position, as we have already seen, that Adele discovered them.

When Frank saw the farmer's nose bleeding so profusely, and the deathly paleness on his face, he cried for help. It was this cry which the young lady heard. The same cry aroused Tom, who was sleeping soundly, doubtless dreaming of his fair cousin. He looked carefully over the hedge, and when he saw how matters stood and how his uncle lay, he took to his heels and fled. Cowardice lent him wings.

CHAPTER XXII.