Ireland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Short stories, Irish
Her appearance I could describe to you: the close-bound black hair, the
face like some rain-washed flower, the dark luminous eyes and laughing
lips, the balanced neck, the body that was half boy's and half young
woman's. All that means nothing, but if I say that when she appeared
there was a chime like an old silver bell, such antique sweetness came
upon the air ... the feet that never seemed to touch the ground, her
long, white, quiet hands. How that old-world title fitted her,
described her! Not demure miss, not buxom mistress, but the Lady
Margery Kyteler.
How important it is for me to bring her back, to have her real for an
instant in the clear air! But not as a necromancer under the
glittering stars, with circle and acolyte, fire, sword, and crown,
saying terrible words--Here be the symbols of secret things, the flags
and banners of God the Conqueror, the weapons to compel the aerial
potencies--and have that sweet face come white and fearful in the gray
dawn. I would have her seen with her merry smile, her feet that moved
lightly, as to hidden music, her long quiet hands. For all her boyish
strong body, there was such harmony and light, one knew that beyond the
body was something that would not die with the years--no more than the
sun dies when it drops into the sea, or the sweet, friendly moon. To
see her was more than miracles; she convinced better than the fathers
of the church.
Very unconsciously she did all this. And very embarrassed she would
have been and a little mad she would have thought one, had she been
told she was an argument for eternity. Know her to be eternal, but see
her playing with a terrier, pulling its tail, its ears, and clipping it
deftly under the jaw as it snapped playfully. Or stroking the sleek
neck of a horse, and talking to it as horses love to be talked to, or
kneeling to comfort some crying child of the people, and wooing it back
to happiness by being very happy herself....
III
Now by the ordinance of time and nature the old earl was quietly
gathered to his forbears--to Gilles de Kyteler, who came over to
Ireland with Strongbow; to Piers Kyteler, who could run against a horse
for five miles; to Dame Alice Kyteler, whose name is still used to
frighten little children; to Fulke, or the bastard Kyteler, who joined
with Silken Thomas in rebellion; Hugh, who lost the family money in the
South Sea Bubble; to another Pierce, who backed Boxer Donelly, the
Irishman, against the English champion, Cooper, for a thousand
pounds--and won!--to Hugh, who grew rare tulips, and to Patrick, of
whom it was said he was the stupidest man in Ireland. Some one has
written a book about the family; possibly it's worth reading, probably
not.
And now of the family of the Earls of Mount Kyteler there was only one
left, the Lady Margery Kyteler, and she was alone in the world.
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