"Tomorrow?" she said, smiling. "Everything comes if you wait long enough!... The best of success to you, senor deputy."
And bringing the fragrant fruit to her lips, she sank her white, glistening teeth into the golden pulp, closing her eyes rapturously, to sense the full warm sweetness of the juice.
Rafael stood there pale and trembling, as if something desperate were in his mind.
"Leonora! Leonora!... Surely you are not going to send me away like this?"
And then suddenly, carried away by a pa.s.sion so long restrained, so long crushed under timidity and fear, he ran up to her, seized her hands and hungrily sought her lips.
"Oh! What in the world are you up to, Rafael?... How dare you!" she cried. And with one thrust of her powerful arms she threw him back, staggering, against the orange-tree. The young man stood there with lowered head, humiliation and shame written on every line of his face.
"You see, I"m a strong woman," said Leonora, in a voice quivering with anger. "None of your foolish tricks, or you"ll be sorry!"
She glared at him for a long time; but then gradually recovered her equanimity, and began to laugh at the pitiable spectacle before her.
"But what a child you are, Rafael!... Is that what you call a friendly good-bye?... How little you know me, silly! You force matters, you do, I see. Well just understand, I"m impregnable, unless I choose to be otherwise. Why, men have died without being able to kiss so much as the tip of my fingers. It"s time you were going, Rafael. We"ll still be friends, of course.... But in case we are to see each other again, don"t forget what I tell you. We are through with such nonsense once and for all. Don"t waste your time. I cannot be yours. I"m tired of men; perhaps I hate them. I have known the handsomest, the most elegant, the most famous of them all. I have been almost a queen; queen "on the left hand side," as the French say, but so much mistress of the situation that, had I cared to get mixed up in such vulgarity, I could have changed ministries and overturned thrones. Men renowned in Europe for their elegance--and their follies--have grovelled at my feet, and I have treated them worse than I have treated you. The most celebrated women have envied me and hated me--copying my dresses and my poses. And when, tired of all that brilliancy and noise, I said "Good-bye" and came to this retreat, do you think it was to give myself to a village _senorito_, though a few hundred country b.u.mpkins think he is a wonder?... Oh, say, Rafael, really...."
And she laughed a cruel, mocking laugh--that cut Rafael to the quick.
The young man bowed his head and his chest heaved painfully, as if the tears that could not find issue through his eyes were stifling, choking him. He seemed on the point of utter collapse.
Leonora repented of her cruelty.
She stepped up to the boy until she was almost touching him. Then taking his chin in her two hands, she made him raise his head.
"Oh, I have hurt you, haven"t I! What mean things I said to the poor child! Let me see now. Lift that head up! Look me straight in the eye!
Say that you forgive me.... That cursed habit I have of never holding my tongue! I have offended you; but please, don"t pay any attention to that! I was joking! What a fine way of repaying you for what you did that night!... No; Rafael, you are a very handsome chap indeed ... and very distinguished ... and you will make a great name for yourself, up in Madrid!... You"ll be what they call a "personage," and you"ll marry--oh my--a very stylish, elegant, society girl! I can see all that.... But, meanwhile, my dear boy, don"t depend on me. We are going to be friends, and nothing more than friends, ever! Why, there are tears in your eyes! Well, here. Come ... kiss my hand, I will let you ... as you did that night--there, like that! I could be yours only if I loved you; but alas! I shall never fall in love with the dashing Rafaelito!
I"m an old woman, already, and I"ve been so lavish with my heart, spent it so freely, I"m afraid I have none left.... Poor, poor little Rafael!
I"m so sorry ... but, you see, you came so late ... so late ...!"
PART TWO
I
Hidden in the tall, thick rose-bushes that bounded the _plazoleta_ in front of the Blue House, and under four old dead palms that drooped their branches dry and melancholy under the vigorous tufts of younger trees, were two rubblework benches, white-washed, the backs and armrests of ancient Valencian tiles, the glazed surfaces flecked with arabesques and varicolored fancies inherited from days of Saracen rule--st.u.r.dy, but comfortable seats, with the graceful lines of the sofas of the Eighteenth Century; and in them Leonora liked to spend her time in late afternoons especially, when the palm trees covered the little square with a cool, delightful shade.
On that warm March day, dona Pepa was sitting in one of them, her silver-rimmed spectacles on her nose, reading the "Life" of the day"s saint. At her side was the maid. A true daughter of the _campagna_ of Rome, Beppa had been trained to piety from her earliest years; and she was listening attentively so as not to miss a word.
On the other bench were Leonora and Rafael. The actress, with lowered head, was following the movements of her hands, busily engaged on some embroidery.
Rafael found Leonora much changed after his months of absence.
She was dressed simply, like any young lady of the city; her face and hands, so white and marble-like before, had taken on the golden transparency of ripened grain under the continued caress of the Valencian sun. Her slender fingers were bare of all rings, and her pink ears were not, as formerly, a-gleam with thick cl.u.s.ters of diamonds.
"I"ve become a regular peasant, haven"t I?" she said, as if she could read in Rafael"s eyes his astonishment at the transformation she had undergone. "It"s life in the open that works such miracles: today one frill, tomorrow another, and a woman eventually gets rid of everything that was once a part of her body almost. I feel better this way....
Would you believe it? I"ve actually deserted my dressing-table, and the perfume I used lies all forsaken and forlorn. Fresh water, plenty of fresh water ... that"s what I like. I"m a long way from the Leonora who had to paint herself every night like a clown before she could appear before an audience. Take a good look at me! Well ... what do you think?
You might mistake me for one of your va.s.sals almost, eh? I"ll bet that if I had gone out this morning to join your demonstration at the station you wouldn"t have recognized me in the crowd."
Rafael was going to say--and quite seriously, too--that he thought her more beautiful than ever. Leonora seemed to have descended from her height and drawn closer to him. But she guessed what was coming, and to forestall any compliments, hastened to resume control of the conversation.
"Now don"t say you like me better this way. What nonsense! Remember, you come from Madrid, from real elegance, a world you did not know before!... But, to tell the truth, I like this simplicity; and the important thing in life is to please yourself, isn"t it? It was a slow transformation, but an irresistible one; this country life gradually filled me with its peace and calm; it went to my head like a bland delicious wine. I just sleep and sleep, living the life of a human animal, free from every emotion, and quite willing never to wake up again. Why, Rafaelito! If nothing extraordinary happens and the devil doesn"t give an unexpected tug at my sleeve, I can conceive of staying on here forever. I think of the outer world as a sailor must of the sea, when he finds himself all cosy at home after a voyage of continuous tempest."
"That"s right, do stay," said Rafael. "You can"t imagine how I worried up in Madrid wondering whether or not I"d find you here on my return."
"Don"t go telling any fibs," said Leonora, gently, smiling with just a suggestion of gratification. "Do you think we haven"t been following your doings in Madrid? Though you never were a friend, exactly, of good old Cupido, you"ve been writing him frequently--and all sorts of nonsense; just as a pretext for the really important thing--the postscript, with your regards to the "ill.u.s.trious artist," sure to provoke the consoling reply that the "ill.u.s.trious artist" was still here. How those letters made me laugh!"
"Anyway, that will prove I wasn"t lying that day when I a.s.sured you I would not forget, in Madrid. Well, Leonora; I didn"t! The separation has made me worse, much worse, in fact."
"Thanks, Rafael," Leonora answered, quite seriously, as if she had lost mastery over the irony of former days. "I know you"re telling the truth. And it saddens me, because it really is too bad. You understand, of course, that I can"t love you.... So--if you don"t mind--let"s talk of something else."
And hastily, to shift the conversation from such dangerous ground, she began to chat about her rustic pleasures.
"I have a hen-coop that"s too charming for anything. If you could only see me mornings, in a circle of cackling feathers, throwing fusillades of corn about to keep the roosters away. You see they get under my skirts and peck at my feet. It"s hard to realize I can be the same woman who, just a few months ago, was brandishing a stage lance and interpreting Wagner"s dreams, no less, as finely as you please! You"ll soon see _my_ va.s.sals. I have the most astonishing layers you ever saw; and every morning I rummage around in the straw like a thief to get the eggs, and when I find them, they are still warm.... I"ve forgotten the piano. I hadn"t opened it for more than a week, but this afternoon--I don"t know why--I just felt like spending a little while in the society of the geniuses. I was thirsty for music ... one of those moody whims of the olden days. Perhaps the presentiment that you were coming: the thought of those afternoons when you were upstairs, sitting like a b.o.o.by in the corner, listening to me.... But don"t jump to the conclusion, my dear deputy, that everything here is mere play--just chickens and the simple life. No, sir! I have turned my leisure to serious account. I have done big things to the house. You would never guess! A bathroom, if you please! And it just scandalizes poor auntie; while Beppa says it"s a sin to give so much thought to matters of the body. I could give up many of my old habits, but not my bath; it"s the one luxury I have kept, and I sent to Valencia for the plumbers, the marble, and the wood and...
well ... it"s a gem. I"ll show it to you, by and by. If some fine day I should suddenly take it into my head to fly away, that bath will remain here, for my poor aunt to preach about and show how her madcap niece squandered a mint of money on sinful folly, as she calls it."
And she laughed, with a glance at the innocent dona Pepa, who, there on the other bench, was for the hundredth time explaining to the Italian maid the prodigious miracles wrought by the patron of Alcira, and trying to persuade the "foreigner" to transfer her faith to that saint, and waste no more time on the second or third raters of Italy.
"Don"t imagine," the actress continued, "that I forgot you during all this time. I am a real friend, you see, and take an interest! I learned through Cupido, who ferrets out everything, just what you were doing in Madrid. I, too, figured among your admirers. That proves what friendship can do! ... I don"t know why, but when senor Brull is concerned, I swallow the biggest whoppers, though I know they"re lies. When you made your speech in the Chambers on that matter of flood protection, I sent to Alcira for the paper and read the story through I don"t know how many times, believing blindly everything said in praise of you. I once met Gladstone at a concert given by the Queen at Windsor Castle; I have known men who got to be presidents of their countries on sheer eloquence--not to mention the politicians of Spain. The majority of them I"ve had, one time or another, as hangers-on in my dressing-room--once I had sung at the "Real." Well, despite all that, I took the exaggerations your party friends printed about you quite seriously for some days, putting you on a level with all the solemn top-notchers I have known. And why, do you suppose? Perhaps from my isolation and tranquillity here, which do make you lose perspective; or perhaps it was the influence of environment! It is impossible to live in this region without being a subject of the Brulls!... Can I be falling in love with you unawares?"
And once more she laughed the gleeful, candid, mocking laugh of other days. At first she had received him seriously, simply, under the influence still of solitude, country life and the longing for rest and quiet. But once in actual contact with him again, the sight, again, of that lovesick expression in eyes which now, however, showed a trace of self-possession, the old teaser had reappeared in her; and her irony cut into the youth"s flesh like a steel blade.
"Stranger things than that have happened," Rafael snapped boldly, and imitating her sarcastic smile. "It"s humanly conceivable that even you should wind up by falling in love with even me--out of pity, of course!"
"No," answered Leonora bluntly. "It"s not even humanly conceivable. I"ll never fall in love with you ... And even if I should," she continued in a gentle, almost mothering tone, "you would never know about it. I should keep it jolly well to myself--so as to prevent your going crazy on finding your affections returned. All afternoon I have been trying to evade this explanation. I have brought up a thousand subjects, I have inquired about your life in Madrid--even going into details that haven"t the slightest interest for me--all to keep the talk off love. But with you, that"s impossible; you always come back to that sooner or later.
Very well, so be it ... But I"ll never love you--I must not love you. If I had made your acquaintance somewhere else, but under the same romantic circ.u.mstances, I don"t say it mightn"t have happened. But here!... My scruples may make you laugh, but I feel as though I"d be committing a crime to love you. It would be like entering a home and repaying the hospitality by purloining the silverware."
"That"s a new kind of nonsense you are talking," Rafael exclaimed. "Just what do you mean? I don"t think I understand, exactly."
"Well, you live here, you see, and you hardly realize what it"s all like. Love for love"s sake alone! That may happen in the world where I come from. There folks aren"t scandalized at things. Virtue is broad-minded and tolerant; and people, through a selfish desire to have their own weaknesses condoned, are careful not to censure others too harshly. But here!... Here love is the straight and narrow path that leads to marriage. Now let"s see how good a liar you are! Would you be capable of saying that you would marry me?..."
She gazed straight at the youth out of her green, luminous, mocking eyes, and with such frankness that Rafael bowed his head, stuttering as he started to speak.
"Exactly," she went on. "You wouldn"t, and you are right. For that would be a piece of solemn, deliberate barbarity. I"m not one of the women who are made for such things. Many men have proposed marriage to me in my time, to prove what fools they were, I suppose. More than once they"ve offered me their ducal crowns or the prestige of their marquisates, with the idea that t.i.tle and social position would hold me back when I got bored and tried to fly away. But imagine me married!
Could anything be more absurd?"
She laughed hysterically, almost, but with an undertone that hurt Rafael deeply. There was a ring of sarcasm, of unspeakable scorn in it, which reminded the young man of Mephisto"s mirth during his infernal serenade to Marguerite.
"Moreover," continued Leonora, recovering her composure, "you don"t seem to realize just how I stand in this community. Don"t imagine what"s said about me in town escapes me ... I just have to notice the way the women look at me the few times I go in there. And I know also what happened to you before you left for Madrid. We find out everything here, Rafaelito.
The gossip of these people carries--it reaches even this solitary spot.
I know perfectly well how your mother hates me, and I"ve even heard about the squabbles you"ve had at home over coming here. Well, we must put a stop to all that! I am going to ask you not to visit me any more.
I will always be your friend; but if we stop seeing each other it will be to the advantage of us both."
That was a painful thrust for Rafael. So she knew! But to escape from what he felt to be a ridiculous position, he affected an air of independence.
"Don"t you believe such bosh! It"s just election gossip spread by my enemies. I am of age, and I daresay I can go where I please, without asking mamma."