第34章

"See，"shesaid，"see，itislikethat——whatwegive。Itislikethat。"Andshetossedtheearthaway。

"Itdoesnotseemlikethattothoseothers。"

"No，thankGod，itdoesnot。Buttoone’sselfitisthemereluxuryofself—indulgence，andtherealisationofitsometimestemptsonetobeevenatriflemorbid。Don’tyousee，"asuddenthrillinhervoicestartledhim，"theyareontheroadsideeverywhereallovertheworld。"

"Yes。Allovertheworld。"

"OncewhenIwasachildoftenIreadamagazinearticleaboutthesufferingmillionsandthemonstrouslyrich，whowereobviouslytoblameforeverystarvedsobandcry。Italmostdrovemeoutofmychildishsenses。Iwenttomyfatherandthrewmyselfintohisarmsinaviolentfitofcrying。Iclungtohimandsobbedout，`Letusgiveitallaway；letusgiveitallawayandbelikeotherpeople！’"

"Whatdidhesay？"

"Hesaidwecouldneverbequitelikeotherpeople。Wehadacertainloadtocarryalongthehighway。Itwasthethingthewholeworldwantedandwhichweourselveswantedasmuchastherest，andwecouldnotsanelythrowitaway。ItwasmyfirstlessoninpoliticaleconomyandIabhorredit。I

wasapassionatechildandbeatfuriouslyagainstthestonewallsenclosingpresentsuffering。Itwashorribletoknowthattheycouldnotbetorndown。Icriedout，`WhenIseeanyonewhoismiserablebytheroadsideIshallstopandgivehimeverythinghewants——everything！’Iwastenyearsold，andthoughtitcouldbedone。"

"Butyoustopbytheroadsideevennow。"

"Yes。Thatonecando。"

"Youaretwostrongcreaturesandyoudraweachother，"

Penzancehadsaid。"Perhapsyoudreweachotheracrossseas。

Whoknows？"

ComingtoWestWaysonachanceerrandhehad，asitwere，foundherawaitinghimonthethreshold。Onherpartshehadcertainlynotanticipatedseeinghimthere，but——whenoneridesfarafieldinthesunthereareroadstowardswhichoneturnsasifansweringasummoningcall，andasherhorsehadobeyedacertaintouchofthereinatacertainpointhercheekhadfeltmomentarilyhot。

Untillater，whenthe"picking"hadfairlybegun，thekilnswouldnotbeatwork；buttherewassomeinterestevennowingoingoverthegroundforthefirsttime。

"Ihaveneverbeeninsideanoasthouse，"shesaid；"Bolterisgoingtoshowmehis，andexplaintechnicalities。"

"MayIcomewithyou？"heasked。

Therewasachangeinhim。Somethinghadlightedinhiseyessincethedaybefore，whenhehadtoldherhisstoryofRedGodwyn。Shewonderedwhatitwas。Theywenttogetherovertheplace，escortedbyBolter。Theylookedintothegreatcircularovens，onwhosefloorsthehopswouldbelaidfordrying，theymountedladder—likestepstotheupperroomwhere，whendried，thesamehopswouldlieinsoft，lightpiles，untilpushedwithwoodenshovelsintothelong"pokes"

tobepressedandpackedintoasolidmarketablemass。Bolterwasallowedtoexplainthetechnicalities，butitwasplainthatMountDunstanwasfamiliarwithallofthem，anditwashewho，withasentencehereandthere，gaveherthecolourofthings。

"Whenitisbeingdonethereisnearlyalwaysoutsideatouchofthesharpsweetnessofearlyautumn，"hesaid"Thesunslantingthroughthelittlewindowfallsonthepaleyellowheaps，andthereisapungentscentofhopsintheairwhichisratherintoxicating。"

"Iamcominglatertoseetheentireprocess，"sheanswered。

Itwasamerematterofseeingcommonthingstogetherandexchangingcommonspeechconcerningthem，buteachwassostronglyconsciousoftheotherthatnosentencecouldseemwhollyimpersonal。Therearetimeswhenthewholeworldispersonaltoamoodwhoseintensityseemsareasonforallthings。Wordsareofsmallmomentwhenthemeresoundofavoicemakesanunreasonablejoy"Therewasthattouchofsharpautumnsweetnessintheairyesterdaymorning，"shesaid。"Andthechapletsofbrionyberriesthatlookasiftheyhadbeenthrownoverthehedgesarebeginningtochangetoscarlethereandthere。Thewildrose—hawsarereddening，andsoaretheclustersofberriesonthethorntreesandbushes。"

"Therearemillionsofthem，"MountDunstansaid，"andinafewweeks’timetheywilllooklikebunchesofcrimsoncoral。Whenthesunshinesonthemtheywillbewonderfultosee。"

Whatwasthereinsuchspeechesasthesetodrawanytwonearerandnearertoeachotherastheywalkedsidebyside——

tofillthemorningairwithanintensityoflife，toseemtocausetheworldtodropawayandbecomeasnothing？AstheyhadbeenisolatedduringtheirwaltzinthecrowdedballroomatDunholmCastle，sotheywereisolatednow。Whentheystoodinthenarrowgreengrovesofthehopgarden，talkingsimplyoftheplacingofthebinsandthestrippingandmeasuringofthevines，theremighthavebeennohumanthingwithinahundredmiles——withinathousand。Forthefirsttimehisheightandstrengthconveyedtoheranimpressionofphysicalbeauty。Hiswalkandbearinggaveherpleasure。

Whenheturnedhisred—browneyesuponhersuddenlyshewasconsciousthatshelikedtheircolour，theirshape，thepowerofthelookinthem。Onhispart，he——forthetwentiethtime——

foundhimselfnewlymovedbythedowernaturehadbestowedonher。Hadtheworldeverheldbeforeawomancreaturesomuchtobelongedfor？——abnormalwealth，NewYorkandFifthAvenuenotwithstanding，amancouldonlythinkoffoldingarmsroundherandwhisperinginherlovelyear——follies，oaths，prayers，gratitude。

AndyetastheywentabouttogethertherewasgrowinginBettyVanderpoel’smindacertainrealisation。Itgrewinspiteoftherecognitionofthechangeinhim——thenewthinglightedinhiseyes。Whatsoeverhefelt——ifhefeltanything——

hewouldneverallowhimselfspeech。Howcouldhe？Inhisplaceshecouldnotspeakherself。Becausehewasthestrongthingwhichdrewherthoughts，hewouldnotcometoanywomanonlytocastatherfeetaburdenwhich，inthenatureofthings，shemusttakeup。AndsuddenlyshecomprehendedthatthemereobstinateBritoninhim——evenapartfromgreaterthings——hadanimmenseattractionforher。Asshelikednowthered—browncolourofhiseyesandsawbeautyinhisruggedfeatures，soshelikedhisBritishstubbornnessandthepridewhichwouldnotbebeaten。

"Itistheunconquerablething，whichleadsthemintheirbattlesandmakesthembearanyhorrorratherthangivein。

Theyhavetakenhalftheworldwithit；theyarelikebulldogsandlions，"shethought。"And——andIamgloryinginit。"

"Doyouknow，"saidMountDunstan，"thatsometimesyousuddenlyflingoutthemostmagnificentflagofcolour——asifsomesplendidflameofthoughthadsentupablaze？"

"Ihopeitisnotahabit，"sheanswered。"Whenonehasasplendidflareofthoughtoneshouldbemodestaboutit。"

Whatwasthereworthrecordinginthewholehourtheyspenttogether？Outwardlytherehadonlybeenachancemeetingandamerepassingby。Buteachleftsomethingwiththeotherandeachlearnedsomething；andtherecordmadewasdeep。

Atlastshewasonherhorseagain，ontheroadoutsidethewhitegate。

"Thismorninghasbeensomuchtothegood，"hesaid。"I

hadthoughtthatperhapswemightscarcelymeetagainthisyear。Ishallbecomeabsorbedinhopsandyouwillnodoubtgoaway。YouwillmakevisitsorgototheRiviera——ortoNewYorkforthewinter？"

"Idonotknowyet。ButatleastIshallstaytowatchthethorntreesloadthemselveswithcoral。"Toherselfshewassaying："Hemeanstokeepaway。Ishallnotseehim。"

AssherodeoffMountDunstanstoodforafewmoments，notmovingfromhisplace。Atashortdistancefromthefarmhousegateasidelaneopeneduponthehighway，andasshecanteredinitsdirectionahorsemanturnedinfromit——

amanwhowasyoungandwelldressedandwhosatwellaspiritedanimal。HecameoutupontheroadalmostfacetofacewithMissVanderpoel，andfromwherehestoodMountDunstancouldseehisdelightedsmileasheliftedhishatinsalute。ItwasLordWestholt，andwhatmorenaturalthanthatafteranexchangeofgreetings

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