Noorna

“ When this was done, Noorna went with Luloo to her chamber, attended by slave-girls, and arrayed herself in the first dress of blue, and swayed herself before the mirror, and rattled the gold pieces in her hair and on her neck with laughter. And Luloo was bewildered, and forgot her tears to watch the gaiety of her mistress; and lo! Noorna made her women take off one set of ornaments with every dress, and with every dress she put on another set ”

“ Shibli Bagarag cried, 'At thy bidding, O Noorna! Care I for dangers? I'm on fire to wield the Sword, and master the Event.'
Thereupon, Noorna bin Noorka arose instantly, and took him by the cheeks a tender pinch, and praised him. Then drew she round him a circle with her forefinger that left a mark like the shimmering of evanescent green flame, saying, 'White was the day I set eyes on thee!' Round the Vizier, her father, she drew a like circle ”

“ I, the beloved of Noorna, destined Master of the Event!' and he thought, 'Of a surety, if these sitters could but laugh at themselves, there would be a release for them, and the crown would topple off which getteth the homage of asses and monkeys!' He would have spoken to them, but the sons of Aklis said, 'They have seen the flashing of the Sword, and 'twere well they wake not.' As they went from the hall the seven youths said, 'Reflect upon the age of these sitters, that have been sitting in the chairs from three to eleven generations back! ”

“ Beside the cushion was a vacant throne, radiant as morning in the East, ablaze with devices in gold and gems, a seat to fill the meanest soul with sensations of majesty and tempt dervishes to the sitting posture. Shibli Bagarag was intoxicated at the sight, and he thought, 'Wah! but if I sit on this throne and am a king, with that crown I can command men and things! and I have but to say, Fetch Noorna, my betrothed, from yonder pillar in the midst of the uproarious sea!—Let the hairy Shagpat be shaved! ”

“ And Noorna said, 'Not only an entire city, but other cities affected by him, as witness Oolb, whither thou wilt go; and there be governments and states, and conditions of men remote, that hang upon him, Shagpat. 'Tis even so; I swell not his size. When thou hast mastered the Event, and sent him forth shivering from thy blade like the shorn lamb, 'twill be known how great a thing has been achieved, and a record for the generations to come ”

“ How is power to come? You remember about the horrible old woman who asks Bagarag to kiss her, and when he kisses her she becomes young and divinely beautiful. We may suppose that Noorna really represents Science. Scientific study seems very ugly, very difficult, very repellent at first sight, but if you have the courage and the capacity to master it, if you can bravely kiss it, as Bagarag kissed the old woman, it [Pg 382] becomes the most delightful mistress ”

“ He bestrode the neck of Koorookh and sat with dangling feet, till she cried, 'Rise!' and the bird spread its wings and flapped them wide, rising high in the silver rays, and flying rapidly forward with the three on him from the mountain in front of Aklis, and the white sea with its enchanted isles and wonders; flying and soaring till the earth was as what might be held in the hollow of the hand, and the kingdoms of the earth a mingled heap of shining dust in the midst. ”

“ Nora. No, indeed you mustn’t. Of course you must come and go as you’ve always done. You know very well that Torvald can’t do without you.
Rank. Yes, but you?
Nora. Oh, you know I always like to have you here.
Rank. That is just what led me astray. You are a riddle to me. It has often seemed to me as if you liked being with me almost as much as being with Helmer.
Nora. Yes; don’t you see? There are people one loves, and others one likes to talk to. ”

“ He won’t die, Nora; but still I’ll break his confidence, darling, and tell it you this evening.—O Nora, Nora! you say you wish to goodness you hadn’t got all these dreadful, wicked, West Indian feelings. You’re brave enough—I know that—no woman braver. Why don’t you have the courage to break through them, then, and come away with Edward and me to England, and accept poor Mr Noel, who would gladly give his very life a thousand times over for you, darling?’
Nora burst into tears once more, and nestled, sobbing, closer and closer upon Marian’s shoulder. ”

“ At the sound of her name, so uttered by Harry Noel’s lips, Nora rose and stood confronting him with crimson face and trembling fingers. ‘Because, Mr Noel,’ she answered slowly and with emphasis, ‘an impassable barrier stands for ever fixed and immovable between us!’
‘Can she mean,’ Harry thought to himself hastily, ‘that she considers my position in life too far above her own to allow of her marrying{423} me?—O no; impossible, impossible! A lady’s a lady wherever she may be; and nobody could ever be more of a lady, in every action and every movement, than Nora, my Nora. She shall be my Nora. ”

“ Helmer. But to part!—to part from you! No, no, Nora, I can't understand that idea.
Nora (going out to the right) . That makes it all the more certain that it must be done. (She comes back with her cloak and hat and a small bag which she puts on a chair by the table.)
Helmer. Nora, Nora, not now! Wait till tomorrow.
Nora (putting on her cloak) . I cannot spend the night in a strange man's room.
Helmer. But can't we live here like brother and sister—?
Nora (putting on her hat) . You know very well that would not last long. (Puts the shawl round her.) Good-bye, Torvald. ”

“ Norah murmured, suddenly beginning to be Pat's champion in this wild adventure, though she had advised against it. “As for you—he thinks he can protect you, if you'll trust him. And, oh, Ourïeda, dear little rose, though I am very anxious, I believe you can trust him. He would rather die than live without you.”
“And I, rather than live without him. Oh, if we can but die together, for me it will be sweet! Norah, you give me courage and strength. I will try to do what he wishes.”
“I will help. Is there some door which leads into your father's part of the house—another as well as this grille?” ”

“ Nora. What do you consider my holiest duties?
Helmer. Do I need to tell you that? Your duties to your husband and your children.
Nora. I have other duties equally sacred.
Helmer. Impossible! What duties do you mean?
Nora. My duties towards myself.
Helmer. Before all else you are a wife and a mother.
Nora. That I no longer believe. I believe that before all else I am a human being, just as much as you are—or at least that I should try to become one. I know that most people agree with you, Torvald, 148and that they say so in books. ”

“ They both began to laugh. “The wretch is as handsome as—as a god,” sighed Helena.
“You’ve seen him?” eagerly questioned Norah; and the glimpse—that tantalising glimpse—on Sandy Nab was confessed to.
The Marchesa sprang up, clenching her fist. “Norah, I should like to have that man at my feet, and then to trample on him! Oh, it’s not only the path! I believe he’s laughing at me all the time!” ”

“ Nora—do you think he is the only one—?
Nora (with a slight start) . The only one—?
Rank. The only one who would gladly give his life for your sake.
Nora (sadly) . Is that it?
Rank. I was determined you should know it before I went away, and there will never be a better opportunity than this. Now you know it, Nora. And now you know, too, that you can trust me as you would trust no one else.
Nora (rises deliberately and quietly) . Let me pass.
Rank (makes room for her to pass him, but sits still) . Nora!
Nora (at the hall door) . Helen, bring in the lamp. (Goes over to the stove.) ”

“ The old man got up and came over to her. "Who is she? Where does she live? Where does he see her, Norah girl?" he asked.
She sprang to her feet. "Don't call me girl again," she cried. "I'm none o' that. I ought to have stayed with you. Shure, me spring was long since done. Me summer is that far gone 'tis but a memory, and me winter's here. And it's cold—God knows it's cold." she said drearily.
"Who is she?" urged her mother.
" 'Tis the sister of Jacques Charron, that keeps the tavern at Pardon's Drive. Nolan passes every day. ”

“ Unloveliness has come between us—thoughts of death and decay. We must seek to cast them off. Till then—we will remain apart.
Nora. [Her arms round his neck.] Torvald! Goodnight! good-night!
Helmer. [Kissing her forehead!] Good-night, my little song-bird. Sleep well, Nora. Now I shall go and read my letters.
[He goes with the letters in his hand into his room and shuts the door.
Nora. [With wild eyes, gropes about her, seizes Helmer’s domino, throws it round her, and whispers quickly, hoarsely, and brokenly.] Never to see him again. Never, never, never. [Throws her shawl over her head.] ”

“ What the last act might be for Norah the Arab girl did not know, or much care; or even whether the beloved brother's fate might be tragically affected or not. But she thought that she did know what it would be for Ourïeda: not marriage with a rich noble, but shame, and sorrow, and repudiation by father and lover.
Laila had told only the truth when she assured her sister that she had written to Miss Luck; but she had not told the truth about her letter, or Norah's answer to it. ”

“ AN ARMISTICE LORD LYNBOROUGH walked down to the edge of the terrace; Lady Norah stood half hidden in the shrubbery.
“And that, I suppose, ought to end the matter?” he asked. “I ought at once to abandon all my pretensions and to give up my path?”
“I just thought you might like to know it,” said Norah.
“Actually I believe I do like to know it—though what Roger would say to me about that I really can’t imagine. You’re mistaking my character, Lady Norah. I’m not the hero of this piece. There are several gentlemen from among whom you can choose one for that effective part. ”

“ Nora obeyed willingly, and whilst the white, delicate hands were busy with the cups standing on the low tray, she had opportunity to study the woman upon whom the weal or woe of perhaps a whole long year depended. "She is not as beautiful as my mother," Nora thought, but the criticism was no disparagement. If Frau von Arnim was not actually beautiful, she at least bore on every feature marked refinement, and the expression of the whole face, pale and slightly haughty though it was, had a certain indefinable fascination which held Nora's attention riveted. ”

“ Martin, and Norah, who was waiting at the table, watched with interest to see the result.
"Worthless, every one of them!" cried Mr. Lowndes, first replacing the coins in their bag, and then the spectacles in their case. "It is well for your little maid there that she did not attempt to pass them, unless she could easily prove that she had nothing to do with Puller or any of his set."
Norah felt like a rider who has suddenly reined up on the brink of a dangerous precipice, and who looks down, shuddering but thankful, on the deep chasm into which he so nearly had fallen! ”

“ Norah, indeed, was the only person who did not look at the two quiet gentlemen before the blackboard, curiously, and wonder the same, since the voting-booth had become a firebrand menacing the peace of the parish. Norah was too busy with her own thoughts even to see them; she only wanted to get past her wellwishers and be alone with her perplexities. If she did not see her spiritual guides, they saw her, and Father Kelly’s tired face brightened. “You really can’t blame the boys,” he said, smiling; “and she’s as good a daughter and sister, and as good a girl, too, as ever stepped.” ”

“ And lo! between Norah and the window there suddenly appeared a little old woman in a long cloak, whose features were hidden by the large hood she wore.
"Oh!" exclaimed Norah, almost breathless in her astonishment and delight.
"I have come," said the stranger in cracked, quavering tones.
"I'm so glad to see you," replied Norah politely, too excited to feel shy.
"I—your fairy godmother—am here to test you and see if you are really worthy. See this slate which I have brought under my cloak. Every little lady should be able to do arithmetic right. Can you do this sum?" ”

“ But who are believers, Norah? Though heaven lie straight afore us all, I take it that few will be so bold as to say that all who are called Christians will get to heaven."
Norah did not answer for two or three minutes, and then said, "Are not believers those who love the Lord Jesus Christ?"
"Right again!" cried Ned Franks. "And now tell me, Norah, is it not true that when we love any one much, we are ready and glad to do something for his sake?" ”

“ Silent, and strangely sick at heart, Nora followed Frau von Arnim from the room into the passage. There the elder woman took the troubled young face between her hands and kissed it.
"Hildegarde loves you," she said gravely. "I perhaps know best how much; but she has lost a great deal that makes life worth living, Nora, and sometimes bitterness rises above every other feeling. When that happens you must have pity and understanding. ”

“ The lady had a beautiful face framed in white hair; she flashed a look on Nora in her shabby gown standing in the cruel sunlight—a wistful, pathetic little figure, with something worth remembering in her eager eyes. The young lady at her side was drawing on a long glove, and Nora saw the sparkle of her pretty rings. In spite of the lady's wan face, it all suggested comfort, and prosperity,' sunshine, warmth; the green things of life seemed to little Nora to be shut in, and to come out of that quaint old garden. ”

“ Why did Vita come up? There was no draft from any window. Was there even a window?
“I tell you, baby,” the woman began, as if answering Nora’s silent questions, “you be a very good little girl and go down to the pretty sun-gold room; yes?”
The big warm arm was cuddling the little form in the bed, and Cap was so happy he put both paws gingerly on the coverlet, snapping a very short bark of a question right into Nora’s face.
“Quiet, boy!” whispered Nora. “We are having a lovely party but we must not wake our neighbors.” ”