She, interpreting his question by her feelings at the moment, a.s.sumed himself to be the object of fear, if any. "I don"t think I am," she stammered.
He seemed to know that she thought in that sense.
"Of the thunder, I mean," he said; "not of myself."
She must turn to him now. "I think it is going to rain," she remarked for the sake of saying something.
He could not conceal his surprise and admiration of her face and bearing. He said courteously, "It may possibly not rain before you reach the House, if you are going there?"
"Yes, I am,"
"May I walk up with you? It is lonely under the trees."
"No." Fearing his courtesy arose from a belief that he was addressing a woman of higher station than was hers, she added, "I am Miss Aldclyffe"s companion. I don"t mind the loneliness."
"O, Miss Aldclyffe"s companion. Then will you be kind enough to take a subscription to her? She sent to me this afternoon to ask me to become a subscriber to her Society, and I was out. Of course I"ll subscribe if she wishes it. I take a great interest in the Society."
"Miss Aldclyffe will be glad to hear that, I know."
"Yes; let me see--what Society did she say it was? I am afraid I haven"t enough money in my pocket, and yet it would be a satisfaction to her to have practical proof of my willingness. I"ll get it, and be out in one minute."
He entered the house and was at her side again within the time he had named. "This is it," he said pleasantly.
She held up her hand. The soft tips of his fingers brushed the palm of her glove as he placed the money within it. She wondered why his fingers should have touched her.
"I think after all," he continued, "that the rain is upon us, and will drench you before you reach the House. Yes: see there."
He pointed to a round wet spot as large as a nasturtium leaf, which had suddenly appeared upon the white surface of the step.
"You had better come into the porch. It is not nearly night yet. The clouds make it seem later than it really is."
Heavy drops of rain, followed immediately by a forked flash of lightning and sharp rattling thunder compelled her, willingly or no, to accept his invitation. She ascended the steps, stood beside him just within the porch, and for the first time obtained a series of short views of his person, as they waited there in silence.
He was an extremely handsome man, well-formed, and well-dressed, of an age which seemed to be two or three years less than thirty. The most striking point in his appearance was the wonderful, almost preternatural, clearness of his complexion. There was not a blemish or speck of any kind to mar the smoothness of its surface or the beauty of its hue. Next, his forehead was square and broad, his brows straight and firm, his eyes penetrating and clear. By collecting the round of expressions they gave forth, a person who theorized on such matters would have imbibed the notion that their owner was of a nature to kick against the p.r.i.c.ks; the last man in the world to put up with a position because it seemed to be his destiny to do so; one who took upon himself to resist fate with the vindictive determination of a Theomachist.
Eyes and forehead both would have expressed keenness of intellect too severely to be pleasing, had their force not been counteracted by the lines and tone of the lips. These were full and luscious to a surprising degree, possessing a woman-like softness of curve, and a ruby redness so intense, as to testify strongly to much susceptibility of heart where feminine beauty was concerned--a susceptibility that might require all the ballast of brain with which he had previously been credited to confine within reasonable channels.
His manner was rather elegant than good: his speech well-finished and unconstrained.
The pause in their discourse, which had been caused by the peal of thunder was unbroken by either for a minute or two, during which the ears of both seemed to be absently following the low roar of the waterfall as it became gradually rivalled by the increasing rush of rain upon the trees and herbage of the grove. After her short looks at him, Cytherea had turned her head towards the avenue for a while, and now, glancing back again for an instant, she discovered that his eyes were engaged in a steady, though delicate, regard of her face and form.
At this moment, by reason of the narrowness of the porch, their dresses touched, and remained in contact.
His clothes are something exterior to every man; but to a woman her dress is part of her body. Its motions are all present to her intelligence if not to her eyes; no man knows how his coat-tails swing.
By the slightest hyperbole it may be said that her dress has sensation.
Crease but the very Ultima Thule of fringe or flounce, and it hurts her as much as pinching her. Delicate antennae, or feelers, bristle on every outlying frill. Go to the uppermost: she is there; tread on the lowest: the fair creature is there almost before you.
Thus the touch of clothes, which was nothing to Manston, sent a thrill through Cytherea, seeing, moreover, that he was of the nature of a mysterious stranger. She looked out again at the storm, but still felt him. At last to escape the sensation she moved away, though by so doing it was necessary to advance a little into the rain.
"Look, the rain is coming into the porch upon you," he said. "Step inside the door."
Cytherea hesitated.
"Perfectly safe, I a.s.sure you," he added, laughing, and holding the door open. "You shall see what a state of disorganization I am in--boxes on boxes, furniture, straw, crockery, in every form of transposition. An old woman is in the back quarters somewhere, beginning to put things to rights.... You know the inside of the house, I dare say?"
"I have never been in."
"O well, come along. Here, you see, they have made a door through, here, they have put a part.i.tion dividing the old hall into two, one part is now my parlour; there they have put a plaster ceiling, hiding the old chestnut-carved roof because it was too high and would have been chilly for me; you see, being the original hall, it was open right up to the top, and here the lord of the manor and his retainers used to meet and be merry by the light from the monstrous fire which shone out from that monstrous fire-place, now narrowed to a mere nothing for my grate, though you can see the old outline still. I almost wish I could have had it in its original state."
"With more romance and less comfort."
"Yes, exactly. Well, perhaps the wish is not deep-seated. You will see how the things are tumbled in anyhow, packing-cases and all. The only piece of ornamental furniture yet unpacked is this one."
"An organ?"
"Yes, an organ. I made it myself, except the pipes. I opened the case this afternoon to commence soothing myself at once. It is not a very large one, but quite big enough for a private house. You play, I dare say?"
"The piano. I am not at all used to an organ."
"You would soon acquire the touch for an organ, though it would spoil your touch for the piano. Not that that matters a great deal. A piano isn"t much as an instrument."
"It is the fashion to say so now. I think it is quite good enough."
"That isn"t altogether a right sentiment about things being good enough."
"No--no. What I mean is, that the men who despise pianos do it as a rule from their teeth, merely for fashion"s sake, because cleverer men have said it before them--not from the experience of their ears."
Now Cytherea all at once broke into a blush at the consciousness of a great snub she had been guilty of in her eagerness to explain herself.
He charitably expressed by a look that he did not in the least mind her blunder, if it were one; and this att.i.tude forced him into a position of mental superiority which vexed her.
"I play for my private amus.e.m.e.nt only," he said. "I have never learned scientifically. All I know is what I taught myself."
The thunder, lightning, and rain had now increased to a terrific force. The clouds, from which darts, forks, zigzags, and b.a.l.l.s of fire continually sprang, did not appear to be more than a hundred yards above their heads, and every now and then a flash and a peal made gaps in the steward"s descriptions. He went towards the organ, in the midst of a volley which seemed to shake the aged house from foundations to chimney.
"You are not going to play now, are you?" said Cytherea uneasily.
"O yes. Why not now?" he said. "You can"t go home, and therefore we may as well be amused, if you don"t mind sitting on this box. The few chairs I have unpacked are in the other room."
Without waiting to see whether she sat down or not, he turned to the organ and began extemporizing a harmony which meandered through every variety of expression of which the instrument was capable. Presently he ceased and began searching for some music-book.
"What a splendid flash!" he said, as the lightning again shone in through the mullioned window, which, of a proportion to suit the whole extent of the original hall, was much too large for the present room.
The thunder pealed again. Cytherea, in spite of herself, was frightened, not only at the weather, but at the general unearthly weirdness which seemed to surround her there.
"I wish I--the lightning wasn"t so bright. Do you think it will last long?" she said timidly.
"It can"t last much longer," he murmured, without turning, running his fingers again over the keys. "But this is nothing," he continued, suddenly stopping and regarding her. "It seems brighter because of the deep shadow under those trees yonder. Don"t mind it; now look at me--look in my face--now."
He had faced the window, looking fixedly at the sky with his dark strong eyes. She seemed compelled to do as she was bidden, and looked in the too-delicately beautiful face.