An Unknown Lover by Mrs George de Horne Vaizey (hardest books to read TXT) đ
- Author: Mrs George de Horne Vaizey
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âEngaged people are a bore to outsiders, but for themselves it must be a good time. To be able to speak out, after bottling it all in; to be left alone in peace, instead of living on odd snatches of conversation in the midst of crowds; to feel sure; to be done with âIâ,âand become for ever âWe.ââIt must feel so warm, and restful, and rich! It isnât so much the mere happiness that impresses me; itâs the rest. I wish it were possible to get engaged without being married, then I should arrange it with indecent haste, with an orphan, with a motor car, and we would be happy! He should be clean shaven, and rather plain, but it must be just my special fad in the way of plainnessâa trim, slim, sinewy sort. Nothing flabby, anâ you love me!
âIâve thought of his name sometimes; names count for a good deal. There are moods when I dream of Ralph and feel a fascination for Peter; moods when I have a secret hankering for Guy; moods again when he could not possibly be any one but Jack. People say that if you really love a man, his name does not matter. Iâve known a woman to settle down with âPercy,â and live happily ever after. Iâve heard of another who espoused a âSamuel,â and was apparently content. It is conceivable that I might do the same, but âAlfredâ gives me a crawl. It is settled, firm, as the everlasting hills, that I can never belong to Alfred!
âIf there is one thing more than another for which I bless my parents, and praise them in the gate, it is that they called me by a durable Christian name. Katherine! It is not beautiful; it is not poetic, but it is at least seemly and discreet. You may take liberties with Katherine, and it will never disgrace you. When you are small and curly-headed you can pose as âKitty Cloverâ with beguiling effect. I did myself, for quite a long run. Later on, dropping the Clover, you may be known to schoolmates as Kitty or Kate. Thereâs a snap about Kate which keeps Pearls and Rubies in their place. Katrine is, as you observe, quite attractive for the days of youth; Katherine is a refuge for old age. Can you imagine anything more appropriate for a spinster lady in a country town?
âThe only married couple whom I have studied from the inside was my brother and his wife during that little six months. It seemed quite a perfect thing at the time, but looking back from the sober height of twenty-six, it seems more like a play, than real, serious life. She was only nineteen; a pretty thing; such a babe; poor little, happy Juliet! and Martin was a boy with her. Now, as you say, he is a man. I wonder sometimesâ
âWe have a visitor staying with us just now. Her name is Grizel Dundas, and she is twenty-eight, and very beautiful or rather plain, according to the hour of the day, and her own mood and intention. Sometimes I suspect that she deliberately makes herself plain, for the fun of confounding people with her beauty an hour later on. Also she may probably turn out to be one of the greatest heiresses in London, or be left with a few hundreds a year, and she is very lazy, and very energetic, and talks like a schoolboy, and looks like a fay, and dresses, oh, Lonely Man! in the most ra-vishing clothes! And she knocks at the door of Martinâs study in his writing hours, and walks bang in. And he doesnât turn her out!
âThatâs Grizel. And if I tried a hundred years I couldnât describe her better. We were at school together, and she is my most intimate friend, next to Dorothea, butâ
âI wish I were a generous, humble-minded person who liked standing aside, and seeing other people succeed where I have failed, and being praised where Iâm snubbed, and run after when Iâm ignored, but Iâm not, and if you think I am, youâd better know once for all that youâre mistaken. There have been times this last week when Iâve hated Grizel, and her works!
âYesterday we went to a garden party, she, Martin, and I, and they schemed to send me off with a snuffy old man, so that they could be alone. I saw them look at each other, a quick, signalling look, which meant, âGet rid of her!â and he was the first person who came along. Poor, snuffy person, with a termagant on his hands! If you were sitting here, face to faceâI should be too proud to tell you this; even to write it to Dorothea would hurt, but to a ghostly shape whom one has never seen, and probably never shall see, it is a relief to blurt out oneâs woes!
âMartin looks at Grizel with a look in his eyes which,âwhich is not like a sorrowing widower! and when I see it I am filled with seventeen contending emotions, like the heroines in the newspaper feuilletons. Jealousyâhideous, aching jealousy, for Juliet, and the past, for myself and the future; disillusionment, in the breaking of an ideal, which, if impracticable, was still beautiful and sweet, the illusion of a lifelong loyalty and devotion; also, and this is worst of all,âsomething horribly approaching contempt! My love for Martin is as great as ever, but he is no longer the hero, the strong, silent man who loved once and for ever, and went through life waiting patiently for a reunion. He has stepped down from his pedestal and become flesh and blood, and Iâoh, Lonely Man!âI am trying to be glad, but itâs a big, big effort! Self looms so large; the self that will intrude into every question. I wanted him to be happy, but in my own way!
âIâm going to stop this minute. Youâll be horrified at the length of this budget, but itâs your own fault. Give a woman an inch, and sheâll take an ell. Wade through it this time, and tell me what you think, but donât preach! Preaching does me such a lot of harm. Methinks I descry in you a latent tendency to preach; nevertheless, somehowâI canât think howâyouâve comforted me to-day and so Iâm grateful.
âMany happy returns of your twenty-fifth birthday. I am a year older, and feel pleasantly superior.
âYours sincerely,
âKatrine Beverley.
âPS.âPlease go on about âThe girl you would fancyâ ... I have a fancy to hear!â
It was a week after the garden party. A persistent rain was drenching the trees in the garden, and turning the gravel path into miniature torrents. The atmosphere in the low, panelled rooms was damp and chilly. Katrine, in a flannel shirt of her favourite rich blue, was busy with account books at the centre table. Grizel, in a white gown, and a red nose, was miserably rubbing her hands together, and drumming her small feet on the floor.
âKatrine!â
âYes.â
âIâm cold.â
Katrine glanced over the rim of the grocerâs book.
âNaturally! Who wouldnât be? A muslin gown, this morning! If youâd an ounce of sense, youâd go upstairs and change it at once.â
Grizelâs face fell, like that of a small disappointed child. She shivered, and her nose looked redder than ever.
âI was hinting,â she sighed softly, âfor a fire.â
âI know that, my dear, perfectly well, but you are not going to get it.â
âIf you were a kind, polite hostessââ
âNo, I shouldnât, because in an hourâs time the rain will stop, and the room would be close and stuffy all day. Besides, we are going out. If you will be quiet for ten minutes, I shall have finished these books, and weâll go out shopping. So youâll have to change.â
Grizel stared, a glimmer of interest struggling with dismay.
âWhat are you going to buy?â
âVegetables for dinner, and bacon, and pay the books.â
âYou expect me to walk out in a torrent for that! I wonât go. I wonât change my frock either. Iâll go to bed.â
There was not the least note of offence in Grizelâs voice. It preserved its deep note of good-nature, but it sounded obstinate, and her little face was fierce in its militance. Katrine, unabashed, went on checking off figures.
âNonsense. It will do you good. Rain is good for the complexion. Your face looks tartan, and your nose is red.â
âI like it red,â said Grizel serenely. She sat another moment nursing her cold hands. âAnd I wonât buy cabbages either,â she added defiantly. âItâs no use trying to brace me, for I wonât be braced. Iâll go upstairs, and complain to Martin.â
That threat roused Katrine to whole-hearted attention. She shut the little red bookâthe butcherâs book, this time, swept it and its companions into a neat pile, and sprang to her feet.
âYouâll do nothing of the sort. Nobody interrupts Martin when he is at work. We are forbidden even to knock at the door for anything short of a fire or an earthquake. It might spoil his work for the whole morning.â
Grizel stared at her thoughtfully.
âThat reminds me,â she soliloquised slowly. âI promised to help him, and itâs four whole days, and Iâve never been near! Itâs my duty to go at once, and Iâll tell him my brain canât work unless Iâm warm. Weâll light a fire and roast, while you swim home with the cabbage. Why on earth didnât I think of that before?â
She smiled into her hostessâs face with an easy assurance which brought a spark into the dark blue eyes. Katrine was honestly trying not to be angry. Before now she had had experience of Grizel in a perverse mood, and knew that it was not by force that one could move her from her purpose. She adopted an air of resignation, and approached the bell.
âVery well, then, you shall have your fire, and you can read comfortably beside it, or write letters, while Iâm away. And Iâll tell Mary to bring you a cup of chocolate. You are a spoiled baby, Grizel; when youâve taken it into your head to do a thing, one might as well give in first as last.â
âYes,â agreed Grizel calmly. âIâm going to Martin.â
She rose in her turn and strolled towards the door, while Katrine stood helpless, her hand on the bell.
âGrizel!â
âYes.â
âDonât go!â
There was a look on her face, a tone in her voice, which arrested Grizelâs attention. Half-way across the room she paused, and studied her hostess with those eyes which looked so lazy, but which saw so uncommonly well. There was dread as well as annoyance on Katrineâs face.
âWhat will happen if I do? What is it you are afraid of?â
âHeâll be furious. Terribly angry.â But in her heart Katrine knew that this
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