Therefore luncheon waited for a few moments, to Alden"s secret impatience, until Edith came down with her note. She offered it to Madame, doubtfully. "Want to see it?"
"No, dear. I"ll trust you."
She sealed it with shamefaced gladness that Madame had not availed herself of the opportunity. She was quite sure that her counsellor would not approve of the few formal lines which were all she had been able to make herself write.
[Sidenote: On the Way to the Post-Office]
After luncheon, when Alden a.s.sisted her into Madame"s decrepit phaeton, and urged the superannuated horse into a wildly exciting pace of three miles an hour, she asked to be driven to the post-office.
"Thank you," said Alden, "for alluding to it as a drive. It"s more like a walk."
"It isn"t exactly like going out in a touring car," she admitted, "but it"s very pleasant, nevertheless. It gives you time to look at the scenery."
"Also to photograph it if you should so desire. You don"t even need to limit yourself to snap-shots. A time-exposure is altogether possible."
When they reached the post-office, Alden took her note, and went through the formality of tying the horse. He glanced at the superscription, not because he was interested in her unknown correspondent, but because the handwriting claimed his attention. Through the delicate angular tracery he made out the address: "Mr. William G. Lee." The street and number were beyond his skill in the brief time he had at his command.
"So," he said, when he came back, "you"re Mrs. William G. I trust you don"t call him "William"?"
[Sidenote: Mrs. William G.]
"No--he"s the sort of William who is always known as "Billy.""
"Good! That speaks well for him."
Alden began to wonder, as he alternately coaxed and threatened the horse toward the river-road, what manner of man she had married. Someone, undoubtedly, with the face and figure of Apollo, the courtesy of Chesterfield, and the character of a saint. "It was good of him," he said, gratefully, "to let you come to us."
Edith bit her lips and turned her face away. "I was glad to come," she answered, after a pause. For a moment she trembled upon the verge of a confidence, then summoned all her conversational powers to the rescue.
She began with the natural beauty of the country through which they were driving, observed that the roads were better adapted to a horse than to an automobile, noted the pleasant situation of the Marsh house on the river sh.o.r.e, veered for a moment to the subject of good roads in France, came back to the blue reflection of the sky upon the smooth surface of the river, admired the situation of the vineyard, said that Madame"s phaeton was extremely comfortable, and concluded by asking if it wasn"t almost time for apple-blossoms.
[Sidenote: "I Just Knew!"]
"All of which means," said Alden, quietly, "that you"re unhappily married."
"How do you know?" demanded Edith, crimson with surprise and mortification. "Did--did your mother tell you?"
"No, she didn"t--most decidedly she didn"t. I just know, that"s all."
"How? Do I betray myself so completely as that?"
He answered her question by another. "How did you know, the night you came, that I was surprised and not altogether pleased by the fact that you had brought a trunk? Were my manners as bad as all that?"
"Why, no--I just knew."
"And how did you know, this morning, when we were sitting on the window-seat, that I was wondering whether or not you wore false hair?"
"Why--I just knew."
"That"s it, exactly."
"How long have you--known?"
"Ask me something easier than that," he laughed, endeavouring to relieve a situation that threatened to become awkward. Following his lead, she began to ask questions about the vineyard, and, when he told her he feared he knew very little about his work, suggested that he should read up on vine-culture and make it the best-paying vineyard in the State.
[Sidenote: An Afternoon Drive]
"Has mother been talking to you?" he demanded, turning to her quickly.
"About the vineyard? No. But, if it"s your work, why not do it better than anybody else does it?"
Alden looked at her long and earnestly. The golden lights of her eyes were thrown into shadow now, for it was afternoon and they were driving east. Her answering smile gave him confidence, courage. Moreover, it challenged him in some subtle way he could not a.n.a.lyse. It dared him, as it were, to make the best of the vineyard--and himself.
"Thank you," he said, at length. "I believe--I will."
The divine moment pa.s.sed, and, for the remainder of the drive, they talked commonplaces. But the fresh air from the hills, the freedom of the wind-swept s.p.a.ces, the steady aspiration of everything that lived, brought the colour to Edith"s cheeks, the sparkle to her eyes, and ministered secretly to her soul. When she went in, she looked happier than she had since she came. Madame saw it and was glad, but wisely said nothing.
She came down at dinner-time in a black lace gown trimmed with spangles that glittered when she moved. It was cut away slightly from the rounded, ivory throat, and the white arms were bare to the elbow. The upper parts of the sleeves were made of black velvet ribbon, latticed into small diamond-shaped openings through which the satin texture of the skin showed in the candlelight. She wore no rings, except the slender circlet of gold that had been put on her finger at the altar, six years ago.
[Sidenote: A Sense of Foreboding]
Conversation at dinner proceeded slowly, but on pleasant lines. Edith seemed preoccupied, and, at times, Alden relapsed into long silences.
Madame noted that they scarcely spoke to each other, and was vaguely troubled, for she liked Edith, and wanted Alden to like her too.
After dinner, Edith played cribbage with Madame and Alden read the paper. When Madame had won three games, in rapid succession, Edith said good-night. Alden, from the depths of his paper, murmured the conventional response.
That night he started from his sleep with a sense of foreboding. He sat up and listened, but there was no sound. Not even the wind moving a shutter, nor a swaying branch tapping at his window--not a footfall, nor an echo, nor a breath.
The tall clock on the landing struck four. The silvery strokes died away into a silence that was positive, rather than negative. The sense of foreboding still persisted; moreover, he was conscious that someone else was awake also.
[Sidenote: A Mysterious Perception]
Was it his mother? Was she ill? No--he was sure of that. Was it Edith?
Yes, that was it. She was awake, and had been awake all night. Moreover, she was crying.
His heart throbbed with tender pity. He yearned to comfort her, to a.s.sure her that whatever was wrong must eventually be made right. Why, from the crown of her beautiful head to the turned-up toe of her blue Chinese slipper, Edith had been made for joy--and for love.
Out of the darkness came a sudden mysterious perception. She knew she had awakened him, and had smiled at the knowledge. A sense of weariness quickly followed, then a restful silence which carried no thought with it.
He lay back on his pillow and waited, with his eyes closed, until he felt that she was asleep. Then he slept also.
X
A Little Brown Mouse