Phyl

“ Phyl, as she sat now at the dining-table with the dead and gone Mascarene men and women looking at her from the canvases on the wall, felt ever so slightly hurt.
Youth calls to youth irrespective of sex. She felt as a young person feels when another young person shows indifference. Then came the thought: was he avoiding her? Was he angry still about the affair at Kilgobbin, or was it just that he did not want to be bothered talking to her, looked on her as a nuisance in the house, a guest of no interest to him and yet to whom he had to be polite? ”

“ Gale had been thinking over what Phyllis told her last night. What a struggle had been going on in Phyllis’ mind these past weeks and none of them had guessed! Just those few words on the night before had brought home to Gale the knowledge of what Phyllis was up against. The girl was afraid—terribly afraid that the miracle Doctor Elton had performed would not hold. Something must be done! The girls must do something to bring back Phyl’s self-confidence. But what? Only Phyllis herself could really go through this trial. She must try her own strength. ”

“ Phyl forgot her resentment.
The faint idea that Colonel Grangerson and Maria Pinckney had perhaps been more than friends in long gone days, had strayed across her mind, to be dismissed as a fancy. It interested her to find Silas confirming it.
“Of course, I can’t say for certain,” he went on, lighting a cigarette. “I only judge by the way they go on when they’re together, and the way he talks of her. Say, do you ever want to grow old?”
“No, I don’t—ever.”
“Neither do I. I hope I’ll be kicked to death by a horse, or drowned or shot before I’m forty. ”

“ It seemed to Phyl’s vision—now thoroughly distorted—that the eyes of the stranger were everywhere, cool, critical, and amused; so obsessed was her mind with this idea that it could take no hold upon the conversation. Pinckney was talking of the States; he might just as well have been talking about 22 Timbuctoo for all the impression he made on her with her unfortunate head filled with cracked dishes, chickens’ black legs, Byrne’s awkwardness and the suddenly remembered crumb-brush. ”

“ Phyllis explained when she stood up. “We flew up last night. Your parents, Dr. Miller, and Brent and I. Antoinette is an angel! This morning when you were missing was almost as bad as—when the plane crashed. Then when Brent and I saw you fall from the ledge—my heart nearly stopped!”
“It was sweet of you to come all the way up here, Phyl,” Gale said, “to help me.”
Phyllis colored uncomfortably. “I’ll tell the others you are awake. We’ve been worried all day.” ”

“ Phyl, staring over the horses’ heads as though she were staring at some black prospect, set her teeth. Then she spoke and her voice was like the voice of a person who speaks under mesmerism.
“I cared for him before he was born and I’ll care for him after I’m dead and there’s no use in 268 bothering a bit about it now. You couldn’t understand. No one can understand, not even he.”
The road here bordered a stretch of waste land; Silas gazed over it, his face was drawn and hard. ”

“ The ninth and tenth chapters of Phyl’s serial were there—“The Master of Malbrook Court.” There were quotations at the head of both chapters, a couple from Browning, one from Tennyson. The prose too was broken up in several parts with verses; when the heroine, for instance, went to the piano and sang For Ever and For Ever—the words of all the verses were given, and never did the hero grow agitated or impassioned, but he flung a few lines of Whitman or Heine, or whatever last poet the authoress had been reading, at the head of the person to whom he was speaking. ”

“ My mind was a mad whirlpool, my pulse beat as the fleet wings of a dove; and when she stood upon the eyot I flung myself at her feet in the bracken.
'Phyllis,' I cried, 'be with me always as upon this passage. The world is planned upon this principle of dependence, Phyllis.'
She started and turned pale and red. ”

“ She sat down in a rocker by the window and with her hands on her knees contemplated Phyl. “I’m your only female relative, and Lord knows I’m far enough off, anyhow I’m something with a skirt on it, and brains in its head, and that’s what a girl most wants when she comes to your age. You’ll be asked to parties and things here and you’ll find that tail in the way; it’s good enough for a schoolgirl, but you aren’t 137 that any longer. I’ll get Dinah to do your hair, something simple and not too grown-up—you don’t mind an old woman telling you this—do you?” ”

“ I turn to my—to Marmaduke.
"It is true?" I ask.
"It is true," he replies, and as he speaks I can scarcely believe the man who stands before me, crushed and aged and heart-broken, is the same gay, handsome young man who entered the room all smiles a few minutes ago.
"If she is your wife, what am I?" I ask, with unnatural calmness.
"Phyllis! Phyllis! my life! forgive me!" he cries, in an anguished tone; and then the room grows suddenly dark; I fall heavily forward into the blackness, and all is forgotten. ”

“ Philip told her with a fine assumption of sternness.
“But everyone does, you know,” Phyllis answered, as if stating an everyday fact of no particular importance.
“You don’t know Dan as I do,” Philip hammered away. “He is apt to become very much in earnest. He thinks you are free. It is not fair to him, Phyllis.”
“You always lecture me,” Phyllis said; “yet I like you, and it is to you I bring my worries.”
Philip laughed. Worries? What did this small person—this captivating little bride of weeks—know of worries? It struck him that she did not worry a great deal about her absent husband. ”

“ Chapter LVII. Conclusion of the Story of a Naiad and of a Dryad.
“Phyllis,” said Saint-Aignan, with a glance of defiance at Montalais, such as a fencing-master would give who invites an antagonist worthy of him to place himself on guard, “Phyllis is neither fair nor dark, neither tall nor short, neither too grave nor too gay; though but a shepherdess, she is as witty as a princess, and as coquettish as the most finished flirt that ever lived. Nothing can equal her excellent vision. Her heart yearns for everything her gaze embraces. ”

“ Felix exclaimed to Rose-Ann, after an evening spent in the company of the two others, “doesn’t Phyllis make up her mind about Clive, one way or the other. Why should she keep on tormenting him this way?”
“Why doesn’t Clive make up his own mind?” Rose-Ann retorted. “It’s he that’s torturing her. I understand Phyllis’s attitude perfectly.” ”

“ There are always faults on both sides. And now, Phyllis, as we are on the subject, let me say one word. You know I am fond of you—that I think you the dearest little sister-in-law in the world. Therefore you will hear me patiently. Have nothing more to say to Mark Gore. He is very—unfortunate in his—friendships. I do not wish to say anything against him, but no good ever came of being too intimate with him. Are you offended with me? Have I gone too far Phyllis? ”

“ He commenced to drink recklessly. Phyllis refused contemptuously to speak to him. And then suddenly he disappeared.
Phyllis came home with Felix and Rose-Ann. At the studio they made coffee, and talked about the ball and their costumes. At last Felix told them about the actor-manager and his offer.
“Well,” Phyllis asked, “how does it feel to have everything you want?”
“It feels,” Felix said, “unreal—disturbing. It can’t be true. Do you remember the story of Polycrates?”
“No,” said Phyllis.
“Herodotus tells about it—and I was thinking about it only today, and I made up a little rhyme about it. ”

“ Then suddenly putting his arms round me and drawing me down to him, he whispers, with deep feeling, "Phyllis, my darling, darling girl, don't you know it? Must I tell it you over and over again? Cannot you see every hour of your life how fondly I love you, just for what you are? And you, Phyllis, tell me—do you—-" He stops abruptly and regards me with a curious earnestness for a minute, then, laughing rather constrainedly, puts me gently back from him and goes on: "What other guests shall we name? Mark Gore; would you care for him?"
"Yes; I liked what I saw of him. And Dora, Marmaduke." ”

“ It was Phyllis who discovered that there was a narrow veranda, with iron-work covered with creepers, running halfway round the house from window to window; and when he suggested to her that they might drink their coffee on this veranda, she hailed the suggestion as a very happy one. How did it come that none of the rest of the people had thought of that? she wondered.
In another instant they were standing together at the space between the windows outside, the long-leaved creepers mingling with the decorations of her hat, and making a very effective background for his well-shaped head. ”

“ You grow younger and fresher every day. It is wonderful how little the agony of your mind preys upon your body."
"Phyllis," regardless of this taunt, "let me take you to the south of France."
"Oh, why can't I be let alone?" I cry, pettishly. "Why am I to be tormented every hour of the day? I hate dirty, foreign towns; and besides, I know all the journeys I could take would do me no good; but if I am to get no peace until I consent to leave the only place that pleases me, I may as well do so at once. I will go back to Strangemore."
"You mean it darling?" ”

“ You're a slave to convention, Phyllis. You think breakfast ought to be hot, so you always have it hot. On occasion I prefer [192] mine cold. Mine is the truer wisdom. I have scoffed the better part, as the good Kipling has it. You can give the cook my compliments, Phyllis, and tell her—gently, for I don't wish the glad news to overwhelm her—that I enjoyed that cake. Say that I shall be glad to hear from her again. Care for a game of tennis, Garnet?"
"What a pity Norah isn't here," said Phyllis. ”

“ CHAPTER XIII. EVEN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS DOESN’T MATTER MUCH.
“I did not intend to stay for lunch,” said Phyllis, “but your overpowering will swept me along with it, Ella. But I hope you will let me say that I don’t think you should jest about what is—what some people at any rate think very serious.”
“Phyllis is of Philistia,” said Ella, “and Philistia was always given to ordeal by champions. She thinks the attack made upon you by two missionaries in their newspaper organ quite disgraceful. It doesn’t seem so disgraceful after all.” ”

“ Phyllis protested. "If any one saw you from one of the windows they'd know what you were doing and then all sorts of awful things might happen."
Chuck reluctantly agreed, and they all thought hard for the next few minutes.
"I think I have it," Phyllis said at last. "There are only two people in the house that we know of, the caretaker and Miss Pringle. Now if some one rang the bell when the caretaker was out, Miss Pringle would have to come to the door. That would leave the coast clear for you." ”

“ Not Felix. Somebody else would have kissed Phyllis long ago, and said nothing about it. If 327somebody else had thought of having a love-affair with Phyllis, the last person in the world he would have thought of discussing it with would have been his own wife. The world forgave people who kissed in corners, who had secret love-affairs while pretending to believe—while actually believing—in the ten commandments and the laws of the state of Illinois. If you accepted what everybody believed, you could have the same freedom as everybody else. ”

“ To Phyllis this praise of Aimée Le Breton was a pang, the reason for which she was then far from guessing.
“Philip talked to her a lot,” said Dan. “I envied him.”
“What! did Philip go?” asked Mrs. Barrimore. “Poor Philip! what a stoic he is! Why should he subject himself to the occasion of such sorrowful memories?”
“Philip seemed to like talking to her,” Dan assured Mrs. Barrimore. “He quite came out, and discussed his books.”
“He always does,” affirmed Uncle Robert, upon which he received a very reproachful look from his sister. ”

“ I don't think he's a very good driver,' replied Peggy.
'Oh, Wilkins always takes the middle of the road, and makes everyone else get out of the way,' said Phyllis calmly. 'Do you live at this side of Warford? I don't remember seeing you before.'
'We live at Gorswen Abbey,' answered Peggy.
'Oh, I know; that old farmhouse by the river. [80] We've often passed it on our way to Wyngates. Why, you're quite in the country! Do you go to school, or have you a governess?'
'I go to Warford High School. We drive in every day.'
'To the High School!' said Phyllis, with uplifted eyebrows. ”

“ Phyllis and Janet had liked him at once, much to Peter's relief and his own secret satisfaction. He always addressed them as, "You, Janet, or you, Phyllis," and then shut his eyes until the right one came, for he could not tell the one from the other.
"Was there ever such a day?" Phyllis demanded as she jumped on to the big sleigh with Peter's help.
"Never in all this world," he replied seriously.
They started off at a smart gait, stopping at the rectory for Alice and Mildred Blake and at the Waters' for Harry. Then away they went along an old back road that wound up into the hills. ”

“ Ella Linton’s laugh was smothered among the delicate floss of the feathers which she held up to her face.
CHAPTER X. IT IS THE PRICE OF BLOOD.
Phyllis had a good deal to think of after she had sat for half an hour with her father in the room where they worked together for the discomfiture of the opposite party, and had given him some account of the representation of the play at the Parthenon. Her father was delighted to find her in high spirits. ”

“ She hurried to the house on the next street and rang the bell violently, and waited; then she rang it again, three short rings.
"Perhaps I can make her think it's a telegram," she thought, and her scheme was rewarded, for after a little wait she heard some one scuffling downstairs. The door creaked as the bolt was drawn back, and then it opened a crack.
"What do you want?" Miss Pringle's voice quavered as she asked. Phyllis put her foot in the crack as she had seen villains do in the movies.
"Why, I just came around to see you for a minute, Miss Pringle," she said sweetly. ”