Part 33 (1/2)
She is gazing before her and takes no notice of his remark.
”Copthorne!” she says at last. ”_What_ a long way off it seems.”
”Yes,” replies Quinton, ”rather fortunate under the circ.u.mstances.
Your good parents were eminently virtuous; I doubt if they would give me such a friendly welcome now. I say, Eleanor, don't you wish you had Giddy out here. She would wake us up. I should like to see her come in now, with that terrible purple hat, and the white c.o.c.k's feathers all awry. How full she would be of gossip, and how funny!”
He laughs at the recollection of her odd sayings.
”But I don't want waking up,” replies Eleanor. ”It would be like a douche of cold water thrown rudely over you in a dream to see any face that reminded me of the past. I am sure we don't want Giddy in our paradise. It is far pleasanter without her!”
”You prefer Elizabeth Kachin and her black Tombo!” laughs Carol. ”Do you know, Eleanor, you are the only white woman who would speak to her.”
”I like them both; they do not bother me with questions.”
”By the way, dear, I forgot to tell you Captain Stevenson and Major Short, two old pals of mine, are in these parts. They sent a mounted messenger to ask me to go and see them this afternoon. They don't know what I am doing here. Of course, I shall say 'sport,' that is only another word for 'love.'”
”The two make a bad combination, for some love is only sport to the fickle and untrue.”
”How different to yours and mine, Eleanor,” he murmurs tenderly. ”I wish I could take you with me this afternoon, but it is a long, rough road, and--and----”
”You would rather your friends did not see me, Carol. Don't be afraid to say it. It is very natural. Besides,” with a forced smile, ”I am so wonderfully pretty, they might become madly enamoured, and kidnap me in these wilds.”
There is no conceit in Eleanor's voice or manner as she speaks, but a spirit of cynicism which is new to her.
Quinton kisses her pa.s.sionately.
”You are beautiful,” he whispers.
”Yet you intend leaving me for several long hours! What are these men like?”
”Captain Stevenson is the dearest fellow on earth, and Major Short handsome enough to fascinate any woman. I a.s.sure you I am far too jealous to wish to introduce him. His eyes are soft and hazel, the sort that the feminine mind wors.h.i.+ps--adores! Hair dark and curling, with threads of grey. A smile that has worked destruction in the four quarters of the globe, and a heart so good and tender that he would not intentionally cause a fly a pang.”
”I _should_ like to meet him,” sighs Eleanor.
”To quote your own sentiments, darling, it is pleasanter alone; we want no one in our paradise, neither Giddy Mounteagle, nor the handsome Major Short.”
”Now you are vindictive and cross,” she declares, as he draws her head down on his shoulder.
”There is my horse. Good-bye, little woman. I shall be back before nightfall.”
She watches him ride away, waving from the verandah; he turns several times to kiss his hand.
Then she sinks back in a low chair, wondering how to kill time until he returns.
The sun sets when he is out of sight, and rises in all its glory at his presence. He is her idol. Her whole happiness and interest are absorbed in Quinton.
She sends her black servant Quamina to beg Mrs. Kachin to come and sit with her.
It will pa.s.s the afternoon to have someone to talk to.