The Turmoil Booth Tarkington (best reads .txt) đ
- Author: Booth Tarkington
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Bibbs had forgotten himself long ago; his heart broke for her. âCouldnât youâ âIsnât thereâ âWonât youâ ââ he stammered. âMary, Iâm going with father. Isnât there some way you could use the money withoutâ âwithoutâ ââ
She gave a choked little laugh.
âYou gave me something to live for,â he said. âYou kept me alive, I thinkâ âand Iâve hurt you like this!â
âNot youâ âoh no!â
âYou could forgive me, Mary?â
âOh, a thousand times!â Her right hand went out in a faltering gesture, and just touched his own for an instant. âBut thereâs nothing to forgive.â
âAnd you canâtâ âyou canâtâ ââ
âCanât what, Bibbs?â
âYou couldnâtâ ââ
âMarry you?â she said for him.
âYes.â
âNo, no, no!â She sprang up, facing him, and, without knowing what she did, she set her hands upon his breast, pushing him back from her a little. âI canât, I canât! Donât you see?â
âMaryâ ââ
âNo, no! And you must go now, Bibbs; I canât bear any moreâ âpleaseâ ââ
âMaryâ ââ
âNever, never, never!â she cried, in a passion of tears. âYou mustnât come any more. I canât see you, dear! Never, never, never!â
Somehow, in helpless, stumbling obedience to her beseeching gesture, he got himself to the door and out of the house.
XXXSibyl and Roscoe were upon the point of leaving when Bibbs returned to the New House. He went straight to Sibyl and spoke to her quietly, but so that the others might hear.
âWhen you said that if Iâd stop to think, Iâd realize that no one would be apt to care enough about me to marry me, you were right,â he said. âI thought perhaps you werenât, and so I asked Miss Vertrees to marry me. It proved what you said of me, and disproved what you said of her. She refused.â
And, having thus spoken, he quitted the room as straightforwardly as he had entered it.
âHeâs so queer!â Mrs. Sheridan gasped. âWho on earth would thought of his doinâ that?â
âI told you,â said her husband, grimly.
âYou didnât tell us heâd go over there andâ ââ
âI told you she wouldnât have him. I told you she wouldnât have Jim, didnât I?â
Sibyl was altogether taken aback. âDo you supose itâs true? Do you suppose she wouldnât?â
âHe didnât look exactly like a young man that had just got things fixed up fine with his girl,â said Sheridan. âNot to me, he didnât!â
âBut why wouldâ ââ
âI told you,â he interrupted, angrily, âshe ainât that kind of a girl! If you got to have proof, well, Iâll tell you and get it over with, though Iâd pretty near just as soon not have to talk a whole lot about my dead boyâs private affairs. She wrote to Jim she couldnât take him, and it was a good, straight letter, too. It came to Jimâs office; he never saw it. She wrote it the afternoon he was hurt.â
âI remember I saw her put a letter in the mailbox that afternoon,â said Roscoe. âDonât you remember, Sibyl? I told you about itâ âI was waiting for you while you were in there so long talking to her mother. It was just before we saw that something was wrong over here, and Edith came and called me.â
Sibyl shook her head, but she remembered. And she was not cast down, for, although some remnants of perplexity were left in her eyes, they were dimmed by an increasing glow of triumph; and she departedâ âafter some further fragmentary discourseâ âvisibly elated. After all, the guilty had not been exalted; and she perceived vaguely, but none the less surely, that her injury had been copiously avenged. She bestowed a contented glance upon the old house with the cupola, as she and Roscoe crossed the street.
When they had gone, Mrs. Sheridan indulged in reverie, but after a while she said, uneasily, âPapa, you think it would be any use to tell Bibbs about that letter?â
âI donât know,â he answered, walking moodily to the window. âI been thinkinâ about it.â He came to a decision. âI reckon I will.â And he went up to Bibbsâs room.
âWell, you goinâ back on what you said?â he inquired, brusquely, as he opened the door. âYou goinâ to take it back and lay down on me again?â
âNo,â said Bibbs.
âWell, perhaps I didnât have any call to accuse you of that. I donât know as you ever did go back on anything you said,
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