"Until your gowns arrive, I shall not see you again?" he asked.
She looked up quickly.
"Do you wish to?"
"Very much!" he blurted out, and then, aware of the undue fervor he had shown, repeated: "Very much--if you don"t mind," in a subdued but anxious voice.
Again she raised her eyes to his, doubtfully, perhaps a little wistfully.
"It wouldn"t be right, would it--until you are presented?"
He was silent.
"Still," she said, looking up into the sky, "I often come to the river below, usually after luncheon."
"I wonder if there are any gudgeon there?" he said; "I could bring a rod--"
"Oh, but are you coming? Is that right? I think there are fish there," she added, innocently, "and I usually come after luncheon."
"And when your gowns arrive from Paris--"
"Then! Then you shall see! Oh! I shall be a very different person; I shall be timid and silent and stupid and awkward, and I shall answer, "Oui, monsieur;" "Non, monsieur," and you will behold in me the jeune fille of the romances."
"Don"t!" he protested.
"I shall!" she cried, shaking out her scarlet skirts full breadth. "Good-by!"
In a second she had gone, straight away through the forest, leaving in his ears the music of her voice, on his finger-tips the touch of her warm hand.
He stood, leaning on his gun--a minute, an hour?--he did not know.
Presently earthly sounds began to come back to drown the delicious voice in his ears; he heard the little river Lisse, flowing, flowing under green branches; he heard a throstle singing in the summer wind; he heard, far in the deeper forest, something pa.s.sing--patter, patter, patter--over the dead leaves.
II
TELEGRAMS FOR TWO
Jack Marche tucked his gun under his arm and turned away along the overgrown wood-road that stretched from the De Nesville forests to the more open woods of Morteyn.
He walked slowly, puffing his pipe, pondering over his encounter with the chatelaine of the Chateau de Nesville. He thought, too, of the old Vicomte de Morteyn and his gentle wife, of the little house-party of which he and his sister Dorothy made two, of Sir Thorald and Lady Hesketh, their youthful and totally irresponsible chaperons on the journey from Paris to Morteyn.
"They"re lunching on the Lisse," he thought. "I"ll not get a bite if Ricky is there."
When Madame de Morteyn wrote to Sir Thorald and Lady Hesketh on the first of July, she asked them to chaperon her two nieces and some other pretty girls in the American colony whom they might wish to bring, for a month, to Morteyn.
"The devil!" said Sir Thorald when he read the letter; "am I to pick out the girls, Molly?"
"Betty and I will select the men," said Lady Hesketh, sweetly; "you may do as you please."
He did. He suggested a great many, and wrote a list for his wife.
That prudent young woman carefully crossed out every name, saying, "Thorald! I am ashamed of you!" and subst.i.tuted another list. She had chosen, besides Dorothy Marche and Betty Castlemaine, the two nieces in question, Barbara Lisle and her inseparable little German friend, Alixe von Elster; also the latter"s brother, Rickerl, or Ricky, as he was called in diplomatic circles. She closed the list with Cecil Page, because she knew that Betty Castlemaine, Madame de Morteyn"s younger niece, looked kindly, at times, upon this blond giant.
And so it happened that the whole party invaded three first-cla.s.s compartments of an east-bound train at the Gare de l"Est, and twenty-two hours later were trooping up the terrace steps of the Chateau Morteyn, here in the forests and fragrant meadows of Lorraine.
Madame de Morteyn kissed all the girls on both cheeks, and the old vicomte embraced his nieces, Betty Castlemaine and Dorothy Marche, and threatened to kiss the others, including Molly Hesketh. He desisted, he a.s.sured them, only because he feared Sir Thorald might feel bound to follow his example; to which Lady Hesketh replied that she didn"t care and smiled at the vicomte.
The days had flown very swiftly for all: Jack Marche taught Barbara Lisle to fish for gudgeon; Betty Castlemaine tormented Cecil Page to his infinitely miserable delight; Ricky von Elster made tender eyes at Dorothy Marche and rowed her up and down the Lisse; and his sister Alixe read sentimental verses under the beech-trees and sighed for the sweet mysteries that young German girls sigh for--heart-friendships, lovers, _Ewigkeit_--G.o.d knows what!--something or other that turns the heart to tears until everything slops over and the very heavens sob.
They were happy enough together in the Chateau and out-of-doors.
Little incidents occurred that might as well not have occurred, but apparently no scars were left nor any incurable pang. True, Molly Hesketh made eyes at Ricky von Elster; but she reproved him bitterly when he kissed her hand in the orangery one evening; true also that Sir Thorald whispered airy nothings into the sh.e.l.l-like ear of Alixe von Elster until that German maiden could not have repeated her German alphabet. But, except for the chaperons, the unmarried people did well enough, as unmarried people usually do when let alone.
So, on that cloudless day of July, 1870, Rickerl von Elster sat in the green row-boat and tugged at the oars while Sir Thorald smoked a cigar placidly and Lady Hesketh trailed her pointed fingers over the surface of the water.
"Ricky, my son," said Sir Thorald, "you probably gallop better than you row. Who ever heard of an Uhlan in a boat? Molly, take his oars away."
"Ricky shall row me if he wishes," replied Molly Hesketh; "and you do, don"t you, Ricky? Thorald will set you on sh.o.r.e if you want."
"I have no confidence in Uhlan officers," said her spouse, darkly.
Rickerl looked pleased; perspiration stood on his blond eyebrows and his broad face glowed.
"As an officer of cavalry in the Prussian army," he said, "and as an attache of the German Emba.s.sy in Paris, I suggest that we return to first principles and rejoin our base of supplies."
"He"s thirsty," said Molly, gravely. "The base of supplies, so long cut loose from, is there under the willows, and I see six feet two of Cecil Page carrying a case of bottles."
"Row, Ricky!" urged Sir Thorald; "they will leave nothing for Uhlan foragers!"
The boat rubbed its nose against the mossy bank; Lady Hesketh placed her fair hands in Ricky"s chubby ones and sprang to the sh.o.r.e.
"Cecil Page," she said, "I am thirsty. Where are the others?"
Betty and Dorothy looked out from their seat in the tall gra.s.s.
"Charles brought the hamper; there it is," said Cecil.
Barbara Lisle and sentimental little Alixe von Elster strolled up and looked lovingly upon the sandwiches.
Cecil Page stood and sulked, until Dorothy took pity and made room on the moss beside her.
"Can"t you have a little mercy, Betty?" she whispered; "Cecil moons like a wounded elephant."
So Betty smiled at him and asked for more salad, and Cecil brought it and basked in her smiles.
"Where is Jack Marche?" asked Molly Hesketh. "Dorothy, your brother went into the chase with a gun, and where is he?"