Desiderius George Dery

“ It was, indeed, a Providence that had sent her nurse to her at this juncture; for Count Rondell’s death had left Helène practically alone in the world. It is not well to linger over such agonies as the poor girl endured. They are the common lot of our humanity. Happy are they whom they leave unbroken in spirit—it is those they strike down who are to be pitied. Helène was of the sterner stuff, and she was helped by her nurse. Nothing softens sorrow as love does—and of love Anna’s motherly bosom was filled abundantly. ”

“ And Margaret kissed her affectionately.
Helène knew that her friend had only her good at heart and thought it wisest to say nothing more. She went to her room, though not to dress. Her mind had been so disturbed by the sudden meeting with Morton and she was so excited over it, that she felt she must regain her composure. She took out her box of treasures containing the dried leaves of flowers and a few letters and sat fingering them thoughtfully. What passed through her mind it would be too curious to inquire. The thoughts of a girl are sacred to herself. ”

“ Helène scarcely dared to look.
A soft rug was laid across her lap, and John stood beside her. “Is it not fascinating to watch a mountain stream straining and speeding towards its future? I love it, and it is so long since I have been near one. A glorious day, Miss Helène, and all the elements in our favor. May I sit down?”
Helène looked up. “Certainly, Mr. Morton.”
Her gaze sank again and rested on her shoes. How clumsy the boots were! Looking up she met John’s questioning eyes.
“I am glad your feet are resting on a dry spot, Miss Helène; you must guard yourself against catching cold.” ”

“ Poor, lonely Margaret, she thought, God had made her to be a mother. The revelation into her friend’s soul was too sacred to speak about. With instinctive courtesy she changed her tone covering what she had seen with a veil of light words:
“I’m sure, Margy dear, there are men who are not what you call ‘wobblers.’ I haven’t known many, but I’m convinced there are loyal and true men. My father was one.”
“I have no answer to that, Helen. I believe it. But as there are not many girls like you, there cannot be many men like your father was. Well, dear, it’s getting late and we ought to be in bed. ”

“ A subdued whirr drew Helène’s eyes idly to a tall plant swaying in blossom in the glaring sunshine; above it was the most exquisite of little creatures floating in a haze produced by the rapid motion of its delicate wings, its thread-like bill seemingly resting within the flower. Whirr—it had vanished!
Was this an enchanted glade or a fairy’s retreat?
Yes—even if she had done wrong in running away, she had learned to know something of life, life as it was to the vast majority of humankind. She had come to know this great Western world—his own land. ”

“ When I want my wife, you are fussing with the ‘gracious Comtesse’; when I ask you to come for a walk, you tell me ‘Lady Helène needs me’; when I want to talk with her, you tell me I don’t know how to talk to a noble lady. What do you think I am—a stone, a fool, or a man? I’m sick of it all. I want our old life back again—I want my wife—my home.”
“Anton, you are beside yourself. Don’t you know the poor girl has no one except us to help her?”
“Well, let her do as other girls do—let her marry a decent fellow and have her own home. I don’t mind her visiting us—but I don’t keep a hotel!” ”

“ Rachel’s face had grown pale. Her hands kept crossing and uncrossing convulsively, and a look of deep fear came into her eyes.
“God of my people,” she whispered in an awed voice, “this is terrible! You are right, Herr Morton, the ladies must be taken away. Oh, Herr Morton—our peasants and our townspeople here are so good and obedient if only they are left to their own good natures. So happy and contented! They love their homes, they love peace and adore their king! Unhappy land—the football of ambitious villains! Yes, yes, Herr Morton, the ladies must be rescued. ”

“ Margaret, seeing Helène’s happiness, was happy herself. Sunshine without and contentment within, with not a cloud on the horizon of their lives!
Petty incidents like these may seem unworthy of record; but life is made up of such small happenings. Most of us come into this world and flit more or less swiftly and pleasantly through the playground of our childhood and youth as though it were but the antechamber to some richly furnished parlor. When we enter the longed-for parlor, we find in it labor and sorrow in plenty. ”

“ He broke off with an assumption of impatience. “Your father, dear lady, felt it was his duty to do all he could to protect Miss Marie—of course, you were in his thoughts also. It has been my happiness to be of service to the Count. Please, Miss Helène, do not live in the past, but look ahead! The world is beautiful, you are young. All happiness is before you. In a few days you will have forgotten these dark weeks. You will then be restored to your father. Tell me now about yourself, Miss Helène. What kind of a life does a lady of a court, a petted and admired Comtesse, lead?” ”

“ Love is said to give the lover almost supernatural powers of insight and vision, as if the mysterious force produced a psychical state which responded in harmony to the presence of the loved one. If this be true, then Morton must have been born of a different species. In all his concentrated thoughts of Helène he saw her either in some retired village in Germany, or in some nunnery, or sitting in tearful neglect in a dreary attic, or living with some high-born relative and walking the world a queen in grace and beauty, the cynosure of all eyes. ”

“ The avenue was crowded. Idle promenaders mingled with people hurrying to and from work, all exhibiting, in dress and manner, the many phases of life in the metropolis. A touch of crispness in the air gave warning of the change in the season.
Margaret, broad and commanding, walked by the side of Helène as though protecting the slender figure in black from the press about them. Bent on their important affairs they stepped briskly along regardless of those about them and arrived at the gunsmith’s at the very instant of Michael Sweeney’s mishap. ”

“ Seriously, mother, I feel it is time for me to cease wandering and to look for happiness and satisfaction in a home. It is time for me to be a true Morton (tempered, of course, with the blue blood of the Randolphs) and try my best to carry out father’s wishes and work with him.
I have seen and learned a great deal, but all that I have learned only confirms me in my conviction that all work is ennobling, that all true labor is equally honorable to a man. ”

“ Yes, the girl was worth admiring, he said to himself.
The fairy of the afternoon must have been near them all the time, for in spite of the salaaming manager at the exit and the cry of “Cab, sir?” from a waiting driver, Morton was compelled to turn his head away and look up at the big moon floating in the spangled blackness of the gorge’s roof. A voice seemed to whisper to him: “Make hay while the moon shines.” Instantly he had taken Helène by the arm and though his heart beat within him he said, in a most matter-of-fact tone: “Shall we walk? It’s a delightful evening.” ”

“ I have traveled five thousand kilometers—to get here. I have disobeyed the call of my loving parents, of a father who is ill, of a mother who has not seen me—her only son—in years. I have come here with other brave and loyal men, to bring you out of this dangerous land. Be just to me, dear lady. I may not have the fervor of loyalty for royalty, for I am an American—a republican. In my country kings and queens are but as other men and women. It is their worth that counts with us there. I wish I could have brought your dear father with me. ”

“ Why waste time on the dreamy fool who bartered a throne, the love and respect of a people, your friendship, Count, for the smiles of a false woman, a wanton? Have I not shown myself a coward? A man who after his first failure turned tail and ran off like a sulking boy? A good riddance I call it! Better to know the truth now than burden a hopeful land with so worthless a ruler. Do not weep; truly, I am not worth it!”
[11] Count Rondell, his cheeks wet with the tears that were freely coursing down his now deathly pale face, extended his hands imploringly. ”

“ Morton, sitting opposite Count Rondell, gratefully leaned back in his flattened steamer chair and remarked: “What a relief to be so far north and at last on the eve of leaving this insufferable quarter of the world! I am glad to see a town once more, glad to see lights and real streets and hear real human noises even if they are as hideous as these are. It is good to look up to the heavens of our own familiar constellations and find our polar star promising the arrival home. See, Count, there, for the first time, can be distinguished all the stars of the Big Dipper! ”

“ This cradle of humanity is still a couch of prodigious productiveness—and to our eternal shame be it confessed—these all-enduring, passive, gazelle-like creatures are really white—white like we are, of the same color as are the gay crowds of Hyde Park, or the Boulevards of Paris, Rome or Vienna, New York or Boston! And older as race and nearer to Eden than any of these. They pray to Brahma and many-armed Shiva, to Buddha and Mohammed, to the sun and fire of Zoroaster—and even to the cobra of the jungle; but forlorn and without hope as they seemingly are, they are still human beings. ”

“ Would he be deserving the name of a man if he had left these two helpless creatures to their fate? Two—nay, one! And his heart filled with tenderness as he thought of Helène—the beautiful child-woman; so lovely a being, so lovable a girl, so noble a woman. How brave she had been; how splendid in her self-sacrificing devotion to her friend, the Princess! ”

“ Man may intellectualize and reason; but woman knows, and she never questions how or why she knows.
Margaret, her head against Helène’s breast was crying softly and protesting that she would never leave her darling, never forsake her so long as Helène wanted her. Helène said nothing, but sat still and allowed the girl to kiss and embrace her. Her sympathetic silence had its beneficent influence, and when Margaret had quieted down, Helène said to her:
“Margy, dear, it is the best that could come to you. I have known it all along. You must think now only of your own happiness. ”