Barbara Lynn: A Tale of the Dales and Fells.Jenkinson, Emily J.
General
Barbara Lynn: A Tale of the Dales and Fells.
Jenkinson, Emily J.
Westmorland (England) -- Fiction
They walked on together, and he told her about his journey, and the life
he had been living since they last met.
But soon there befell a pause.
Lucy found it disconcerting.
"I'm going up to Greystones to spend the day with great-granny," she
said. "Barbara and Peter have both gone to the Shepherds' Meet in
Girdlestone Pass. You remember it, don't you?"
"Peter and I have wrestled there many a time," he replied. "I think I'll
go and look him up for the sake of old times."
They walked on in silence. Lucy wished that Joel would talk more. She
half wished he would treat the love they had once had for each other as
a forgotten dream. But, stealing a glance at him, she became aware of
his rising emotion; she seemed to hear it like the filling of a well
with water. It frightened her.
She hurried her steps. She wanted to be out of the forest, and away from
scenes that wakened sleeping memories. She knew that his eyes were upon
her now, and she wondered, with that attention to trifles which the mind
sometimes affects in times of great stress, whether or not he liked the
new way that she dressed her hair.
"You came very early this morning," she said. "You must be tired."
"How do you know I came early? Were you watching for me?"
"Of course. It's natural I should want to see you again--such old
friends as we are."
He laughed, glanced up and down the road, and seeing no one, took her
hand.
"It's pleasant to meet again after so many years. I came home to see
you."
"That was foolishness, Joel," she replied kindly.
"Perhaps! Through folly we get wisdom! Ah, here we are near our
trysting-place. Come and look at it, Lucy, for old time's sake."
They were passing the little track, almost effaced now by ferns and
moss, which led to the dell, where they had spent so many joyous hours.
He took her arm, and with a movement that was more of will than muscle,
drew her in that direction.
His face and eyes were waking with the old love. He had wondered if it
would stir again when he saw her. Now he knew that the intervening years
had only fallen like dead leaves upon it; that underneath, it lay green
and ready to burst into leaf, when they should be swept away.
The knowledge that she was Peter's wife angered him, but did not make
him pause to restrain his feelings.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account