She shrank farther away from him, for she saw him struggling even then to open them.
It was this possibility which from that point on added a new terror to these daily drives. Marjory had told Monte that Peter"s recovery was something to which she looked forward; but when she said that she had been sitting alone and pouring out her heart to Monte. She had not then been facing this fact by the side of Peter. It was one thing to dream boldly, with all her thoughts of Monte, and quite another to confront the same facts actually and alone. If this crisis came now, it was going to hurt her and hurt Peter, and do no good to any one; while, if it could be postponed six months, perhaps it would not hurt so much. It was better for Peter to endure his blindness a little longer than to see too soon.
So the next day she decided she would not kiss his eyes. He came to her in the morning, and stood before her, waiting. She placed her hand upon his shoulder.
"Peter," she said as gently as she could, "I do not think I shall kiss you again for a little while."
She saw his lips tighten; but, to her surprise, he made no protest.
"No, dear heart," he answered.
"It is n"t because I wish to be unkind," she said. "Only, until you know the whole truth, I don"t feel honest with you."
"Come over by the window and sit down in the light," he requested.
With a start she glanced nervously at his eyes. They were closed. She took a chair in the sun, and he sat down opposite her.
For a moment they sat so, in silence. With her chin in her hand, she stared out across the blue waters of the Mediterranean, across the quay where Monte used to walk. It looked so desolate out there without him!
How many hours since he left she had watched people pa.s.s back and forth along the broad path, as if hoping against hope that by some chance he might suddenly appear among them. But he never did, and she knew that she might sit here watching year after year and he would not come.
By this time he was probably in England--probably, on such a day as this, out upon the links. She smiled a little. "d.a.m.n golf!" he had said.
She thought for a moment that she heard his voice repeating it. It was only Peter"s voice.
"You have grown even more beautiful than I thought," Peter was saying.
She sprang to her feet. He was looking at he--shading his opened eyes with one hand.
"Peter!" she cried, falling back a step.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "Peter!" she cried, falling back a step.]
"More beautiful," he repeated. "But your eyes are sadder."
"Peter," she said again, "your eyes are open!"
"Yes," he said. "It became necessary for me to see--so they opened."
Before them, she felt ashamed--almost like one naked. She began to tremble. Then, with her cheeks scarlet, she covered her face with her hands.
Peter rose and helped her back to a chair as if she, in her turn, had suddenly become blind.
"If I frighten you like this I--I must not look at you," he faltered.
Still she trembled; still she covered her face.
"See!" he cried. "I have closed them again."
She looked up in amazement. He was standing with his eyes tight shut.
He who had been in darkness all these long months had dared, to save her from her own shame, to return again to the pit. For a second it stopped her heart from beating. Then, springing to his side, she seized his hands.
"Peter," she commanded, "open your eyes!"
He was pale--ghastly pale.
"Not if it hurts you."
Swiftly leaning toward him, she kissed the closed lids.
"Will you open them--now?"
She was in terror lest he should find it impossible again--as if that had been some temporary miracle which, having been scorned, would not be repeated.
Then once again she saw his eyes flutter open. This time she faced them with her fists clenched by her side. What a difference those eyes made in him. Closed, he was like a helpless child; open, he was a man. He grew taller, bigger, older, while she who had been leading him about shrank into insignificance. She felt pettier, plainer, less worthy than ever she had in her life. By sheer force of will power she held up her head and faced him as if she were facing the sun.
For a moment he feasted upon her hungrily. To see her hair, when for months he had been forced to content himself with memories of it; to see her white forehead, her big, deep eyes and straight nose; to see the lips which he had only felt--all that held him silent. But he saw something else there, too. In physical detail this face was the same that he had seen before he was stricken. But something had been added. Before she had the features of a girl; now she had the features of a woman.
Something had since been added to the eyes and mouth--something he knew nothing about.
"Marjory," he said slowly, "I think there is a great deal you have left untold."
She tightened her lips. There was no further use of evasion. If he pressed her with his eyes open, he must know the truth.
"Yes, Peter," she answered.
"I can"t decide," he went on slowly, "whether it has to do with a great grief or a great joy."
"The two so often come together," she trembled.
"Yes," he nodded; "I think that is true. Perhaps they belong together."
"I have only just learned that," she said.
"And you"ve been left with the grief?"
"I can"t tell, Peter. Sometimes I think so, and then again I see the justice of it, and it seems beautiful. All I "m sure of is that I "m left alone."
"Even with me?"
"Even with you, Peter."
He pa.s.sed his hand over his eyes.
"This other--do I know him?" he asked finally.
"Yes."
"It--it is Covington?"