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Master of the Vineyard

<h2 class="gap3 chaphead">XIII</h2> <h2 class="chaphead">The Stain of the Rose</h2> <div class="sidenote">Put Aside</div> Alden had put Rosemary aside as though in a mental pigeon-hole. If vague thoughts of her came now and then to trouble him, he showed no sign of it. As weeks and months had sometimes passed without a meeting, why should it be different now? Moreover, he was busy, as she must know, with the vineyard and school, and a guest. He had ordered several books on the subject of vine-culture, and was reading a great deal, though a close observer might have noted long intervals in which he took no heed of the book, but stared dreamily into space. He saw Edith at the table, and in the evenings, and occasionally at afternoon tea—a pleasant custom which she and Madame never failed to observe,—but she seemed to make it a point not to trespass upon his daylight hours. The apple blossoms had gone, blown in fragrant drifts afar upon field and meadow. The vineyard lay lazily upon its southern slope, basking in the sun. Sometimes a wan[Pg 186]dering wind brought a fresh scent of lusty leaves or a divine hint of bloom. <div class="sidenote">Alden's Feast</div> The old-fashioned square piano, long silent, was open now, and had been put in order. In the evenings, after dinner, Edith would play, dreamily, in the dusk or by the light of one candle. The unshaded light, shining full upon her face, brought out the delicacy of her profile and allured stray gleams from the burnished masses of her hair. In the soft shadows that fell around her, she sat like St. Cecilia, unconscious of self, and of the man who sat far back in a corner of the room, never taking his eyes from her face. Wistfulness was in every line of her face and figure, from the small white-shod foot that rested upon the pedal to the glorious hair that shimmered and shone but still held its tangled lights safely in its silken strands. The long line from shoulder to wrist, the smooth, satiny texture of the rounded arm, bare below the elbow, the delicate hands, so beautifully cared-for, all seemed eloquent with yearning. Alden, from his safe point of observation, feasted his soul to the full. The ivory whiteness of her neck shaded imperceptibly into the creamy lace of her gown. Underneath her firm, well rounded chin, on the left side, was a place that was almost a dimple, but not quite. There was a real dimple in her[Pg 187] chin and another at each corner of her mouth, where the full scarlet lips drooped a little from sadness. Star-like, her brown eyes searched the far shadows and sometimes the flicker of the candle brought a dancing glint of gold into their depths. And as always, like a halo, stray gleams hovered about her head, bent slightly forward now and full into the light, throwing into faint relief the short straight nose, and the full, short upper lip. <div class="sidenote">Edith at the Piano</div> Smiling, and wholly unconscious, it was as though she pleaded with the instrument to give her back some half-forgotten melody. Presently the strings answered, shyly at first, then in full soft chords that sang and crooned through the dusk. Alden, in his remote corner, drew a long breath of rapture. The ineffable sweetness of her pervaded his house, not alone with the scent of violets, but with the finer, more subtle fragrance of her personality. She wore no jewels, except her wedding ring—not even the big, blazing diamond with which her husband had sealed their betrothal. She had a string of pearls and a quaint, oriental necklace set with jade, and sometimes she wore one or two turquoises, or a great, pale sapphire set in silver, but that was all. Out of the world of glitter and sparkle, she had chosen these few things that suited her, and was content.[Pg 188] <div class="sidenote">Madame in the Moonlight</div> From another corner came the sound of slow, deep breathing. Outside the circle of candlelight, Madame had fallen asleep in her chair. The full June moon had shadowed the net curtain upon the polished floor and laid upon it, in silhouette, an arabesque of oak leaves. It touched Madame's silvered hair to almost unearthly beauty as she leaned back with her eyes closed, and brought a memory of violets and sun from the gold-tasselled amethyst that hung on her breast. The small slender hands lay quietly, one on either arm of her chair. A white crêpe shawl, heavy with Chinese embroidery, lay over her shoulders,—a gift from Edith. A Summer wind, like a playful child, stole into the room, lifted the deep silk fringe of the shawl, made merry with it for a moment, then tinkled the prisms on the chandelier and ran away again. The fairy-like sound of it, as though it were a far, sweet bell, chimed in with Edith's dreamy chords and brought her to herself with a start. She turned quickly, saw that Madame was asleep, and stopped playing. "Go on," said Alden, in a low tone. "Please do." "I mustn't," she whispered, with her finger on her lips. "Your mother is asleep and I don't want to disturb her." "Evidently you haven't," he laughed. "Hush!" Edith's full, deep contralto took[Pg 189] on an affected sternness. "You mustn't talk." <div class="sidenote">Edith's Room</div> "But I've got to," he returned. "Shall we go outdoors?" "Yes, if you like." "Don't you want a wrap of some sort?" "Yes. Wait a moment, and I'll get it." "No—tell me where it is, and I'll go." "It's only a white chiffon scarf," she said. "I think you'll find it hanging from the back of that low rocker, near the dressing-table." He went up-stairs, silently and swiftly, and paused, for a moment, at Edith's door. It seemed strange to have her permission to turn the knob and go in. He hesitated upon the threshold, then entered the sweet darkness which, to him, would have meant Edith, had it been blown to him across the wastes of Sahara. How still it was! Only the cheery piping of a cricket broke the exquisite peace of the room; only a patch of moonlight, upon the polished floor, illumined the scented dusk. He struck a match, and lighted one of the candles upon the dressing-table. The place was eloquent of her, as though she had just gone out. The carved ivory toilet articles—he could have guessed that she would not have silver ones,—the crystal puff box, with a gold top ornamented only by a monogram; no, it was not a monogram either,[Pg 190] but interlaced initials trailing diagonally across it; the mirror, a carelessly crumpled handkerchief, and a gold thimble—he picked up each article with a delightful sense of intimacy. <div class="sidenote">A Man's Face</div> Face down upon the dressing-table was a photograph, framed in dull green leather. That, too, he took up without stopping to question the propriety of it. A man's face smiled back at him, a young, happy face, full of comradeship and the joy of life for its own sake. This, then, was her husband! Alden's heart grew hot with resentment at the man who had made Edith miserable. He had put those sad lines under her eyes, that showed so plainly sometimes when she was tired, made her sweet mouth droop at the corners, and filled her whole personality with the wistfulness that struck at his heart, like the wistfulness of a little child. This man, with the jovial countenance, and doubtless genial ways, had the right to stand at her dressing-table, if he chose, and speculate upon the various uses of all the daintiness that was spread before him. He had the right and cared nothing for it, while the man who did care, stood there shamefaced, all at once feeling himself an intruder in a sacred place. He put the photograph back, face down, as it had been, took the scarf, put out the light,[Pg 191] and went back down-stairs. He stopped for a moment in the hall to wonder what this was that assailed him so strangely, this passionate bitterness against the other man, this longing to shelter Edith from whatever might make her unhappy. <div class="sidenote">On the Veranda</div> The living-room was dark. In her moonlit corner, Madame still slept. From where he stood, he could see the dainty little lavender-clad figure enwrapped in its white shawl. There was no sign of Edith in the room, so he went out upon the veranda, guessing that he should find her there. She had taken out two chairs—a favourite rocker of her own, and the straight-backed, deep chair in which Alden usually sat when he was reading. The chairs faced each other, with a little distance between them. Edith sat in hers, rocking, with her hands crossed behind her head, and her little white feet stretched out in front of her. Without speaking, Alden went back for a footstool. Then he turned Edith, chair and all, toward the moonlight, slipped the footstool under her feet, laid the fluttering length of chiffon over her shoulders, and brought his own chair farther forward. "Why," she laughed, as he sat down, "do you presume to change my arrangements?" "Because I want to see your face."[Pg 192] <div class="sidenote">Effect of Moonlight</div> "Didn't it occur to you that I might want to see yours?" "Not especially." "My son," she said, in her most matronly manner, "kindly remember that a woman past her first youth always prefers to sit with her back toward the light." "I'm older than you are," he reminded her, "so don't be patronising." "In years only," she returned. "In worldly wisdom and experience and all the things that count, I'm almost as old as your mother is. Sometimes," she added, bitterly, "I feel as though I were a thousand." A shadow crossed his face, but, as his figure loomed darkly against the moon, Edith did not see it. The caressing glamour of the light revealed the sad sweetness of her mouth, but presently her lips curved upward in a forced smile. "Why is it?" she asked, "that moonlight makes one think?" "I didn't know it did," he replied. "I thought it was supposed to have quite the opposite effect." "It doesn't with me. In the sun, I'm sane, and have control of myself, but nights like this drive me almost mad sometimes." "Why?" he asked gently, leaning toward her. "Oh, I don't know," she sighed. "There's[Pg 193] so much I might have that I haven't." Then she added, suddenly: "What did you think of my husband's picture?" <div class="sidenote">Edith's Husband</div> The end of the chiffon scarf rose to meet a passing breeze, then fell back against the softness of her arm. A great grey-winged night moth fluttered past them. From the high bough of a distant maple came the frightened twitter of little birds, wakeful in the night, and the soft, murmurous voice of the brooding mother, soothing them. "How did you know?" asked Alden, slowly. "Oh, I just knew. You were looking at my dressing-table first, and you picked up the picture without thinking. Then, as soon as you knew who it was, you put it down, found the scarf, and came out." "Do you love him?" "No. That is, I don't think I do. But—oh," she added, with a sharp indrawing of her breath, "how I did love him!" "And he—" Alden went on. "Does he love you?" "I suppose so, in his way. As much as he is capable of caring for anything except himself, he cares for me." She rose and walked restlessly along the veranda, the man following her with his eyes, until she reached the latticed end, where a climbing crimson rose, in full bloom, breathed the fragrance of some far Persian garden.[Pg 194] Reaching up, she picked one, on a long, slender stem. <div class="sidenote">The Crimson Rose</div> Alden appeared beside her, with his knife in his hand. "Shall I take off the thorns for you?" "No, I'm used to thorns. Besides, the wise ones are those who accept things as they are." She thrust the stem into her belt, found a pin from somewhere, and pinned the flower itself upon the creamy lace of her gown. "It's just over your heart," he said. "Is your heart a rose too?" "As far as thorns go, yes." She leaned back against one of the white columns of the porch. She was facing the moonlight, but the lattice and the rose shaded her with fragrant dusk. "Father and Mother planted this rose," Alden said, "the day they were married." "How lovely," she answered, without emotion. "But to think that the rose has outlived one and probably will outlive the other!" "Mother says she hopes it will. She wants to leave it here for me and my problematical children. The tribal sense runs rampant in Mother." "When are you and Miss Starr going to be married?" asked Edith, idly. Alden started. "How did you know?" he demanded, roughly, possessing himself of her[Pg 195] hands. "Who told you—Mother, or—Miss Starr?" <div class="sidenote">Mutual Understanding</div> "Neither," replied Edith, coldly, releasing herself. "I—just knew. I beg your pardon," she added, hastily. "Of course it's none of my affair." "But it is," he said, under his breath. Then, coming closer, he took her hands again. "Look here, Edith, there's something between you and me—do you know it?" "How do you mean?" She tried to speak lightly, but her face was pale. "You know very well what I mean. How do you know what I think, what I do, what I am? And the nights—no, don't try to get away from me—from that first night when I woke at four and knew you were crying, to that other night when you knew it was I who was awake with you, and all the nights since when the tide of time has turned between three and four! I've known your thoughts, your hopes, your dreams, as you've known mine! "And the next day," he went on, "when you avoid me even with your eyes; when you try to hide with laughter and light words your consciousness of the fact that the night before you and I have met somewhere, in some mysterious way, and known each other as though we were face to face! Can you be miserable, and I not know it? Can I be tormented by[Pg 196] a thousand doubts, and you not know it? Could you be ill, or troubled, or even perplexed, and I not know, though the whole world lay between us? Answer me!" <div class="sidenote">Oblivious of Time and Space</div> Edith's face was very white and her lips almost refused to move. "Oh, Boy," she whispered, brokenly. "What does it mean?" "This," he answered, imperiously. "It means this—and now!" He took her into his arms, crushing her to him so tightly that she almost cried out with the delicious pain of it. In the rose-scented shadow, his mouth found hers. Time and space were no more. At the portal of the lips, soul met soul. The shaded veranda, and even the house itself faded away. Only this new-born ecstasy lived, like a flaming star suddenly come to earth. Madame stirred in her sleep. Then she called, drowsily: "Alden! Edith!" No one answered, because no one heard. She got up, smothering a yawn behind her hand, wondered that there were no lights, waited a moment, heard nothing, and came to the window. The moon flooded the earth with enchantment—a silvery ocean of light breaking upon earth-bound shores. A path of it lay along the veranda—opal and tourmaline and pearl, sharply turned aside by the shadow of the rose. Madame drew her breath quickly. There[Pg 197] they stood, partly in the dusk and partly in the light, close in each other's arms, with the misty silver lying lovingly upon Edith's hair. <div class="sidenote">Pledges of Love</div> She sank back into a chair, remembering, with vague terror, the vision she had seen in the crystal ball. So, then, it was true, as she might have known. Sorely troubled, and with her heart aching for them both, she crept up-stairs. <hr style="width: 45%;" /> "Boy," whispered Edith, shrinking from him. "Oh, Boy! The whole world lies between you and me!" His only answer was to hold her closer still, to turn her mouth again to his. "Not to-night," he breathed, with his lips on hers. "God has given us to-night!" White and shaken, but with her eyes shining like stars, at last she broke away from him. She turned toward the house, but he caught her and held her back. "Say it,"he pleaded. "Say you love me!" "I do," she whispered. "Oh, have pity, and let me go!" "And I," he answered, with his face illumined, "love you with all my heart and soul and strength and will—with every fibre of my being, for now and for ever. I am yours absolutely, while earth holds me, and even beyond that."[Pg 198] <div class="sidenote">What Matters</div> Edith looked up quickly, half afraid. His eyes were glowing with strange, sweet fires. "Say it!" he commanded. "Tell me you are mine!" "I am," she breathed. "God knows I am, but no—I had forgotten for the moment!" She broke into wild sobbing, and he put his arm around her with infinite tenderness. "Hush," he said, as one might speak to a child. "What has been does not matter—nothing matters now but this. In all the ways of Heaven, you are mine—mine for always, by divine right!" "Yes," she said, simply, and lifted her tear-stained face to his. He kissed her again, not with passion, but with that same indescribable tenderness. Neither said a word. They went into the house together, he found her candle, lighted it, and gave it to her. She took it from him, smiling, though her hands trembled. Back in the shadow he watched her as she ascended, with a look of exaltation upon her face. Crimson petals were falling all around her, and he saw the stain of the rose upon her white gown, where he had crushed it against her heart. Neither slept, until the tide of the night began to turn. Swiftly, to her, through the throbbing, living darkness, came a question and a call.[Pg 199] <div class="sidenote">Peace</div> "Mine?" Back surged the unmistakable answer: "Thine." Then, to both, came dreamless peace. [Pg 200] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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