As the misty pink flash of the upper limb of the rising sun struck the
skylight, and made a very prison of the little cabin, with its mirrors
and silver lamp, and glass and brass ornamentation, Grace opened her
eyes. She opened them straight upon me, and, whilst I might have
counted ten, she continued to stare as though she were in a trance;
then the blood flooded her pale cheeks, her eyes grew brilliant with
astonishment, and she sat erect, bringing her hands to her temples as
though she struggled to recollect her wits. However, it was not long
before she rallied, though for some few moments her face remained empty
of intelligence.
"Why, Grace, my darling," I cried, "do not you know where you are?"
"Yes, now I do," she answered, "but I thought I had gone mad when I
first awoke and looked around me."
"You have slept soundly, but then you are a child," said I.
"Whereabouts are we, Herbert?"
"I cannot tell for sure," I answered, "out of sight of land anyway.
But where you are, Grace, you ought to know. Now, don't sigh. We are
not here to be miserable."
A few caresses, and then her timid glances began to show like the old
looks in her. I asked her if the movement of the yacht rendered her
uneasy, and after a pause, during which she considered with a grave
face, she answered no: she felt better, she must try to stand--and so
saying she stood up on the swaying deck, and, smiling with her fine
eyes fastened upon my face, poised her figure in a floating way full of
a grace far above dancing, to my fancy. Her gaze went to a mirror, and
I easily interpreted her thoughts, though, for my part, I found her
beauty improved by her roughened hair.
"There is your cabin," said I; "the door is behind those curtains.
Take a peep, and tell me if it pleases you?"
There were flowers in it to sweeten the atmosphere, and every
imaginable convenience that it was possible for a male imagination to
hit upon in its efforts in a direction of this sort. She praised the
little berth, and closed the door with a smile at me that made me
conjecture I should not hear much more from her about our imprudence,
the impropriety of our conduct, what mam'selle would think, and what
the school girls would say.
Though she was but a child, as I would tell her, I too was but a boy
for the matter of that, and her smile and the look she had given me,
and her praise of the little berth I had fitted up for her made me feel
so boyishly joyous that, like a boy as I was, though above six feet
tall, I fell a whistling out of my high spirits, and then kissed the
feather in her hat, and her gloves, which lay upon the table,
afterwards springing, in a couple of bounds, on deck, where I stood
roaring out for Bobby Allett.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account