Changing Winds: A NovelErvine, St. John G. (St. John Greer)
General
Changing Winds: A Novel
Ervine, St. John G. (St. John Greer)
Fiction
He had to wait until the procession of motor-ambulances had passed by,
and then he crossed the street and went to find the recruiting office.
"I'm excited," he said to himself. "I'm full of emotion. That's what I
am. I'm over-wrought. Those soldiers!..."
In his mind, he could see the woman in the motor-car, hugging her
wounded husband ... and a soldier, lying on a stretcher in an ambulance,
with his head swathed in bandages, near a little window ... feebly
trying to wave his hand to the crowd....
"It's no good being sloppy," he told himself. "One can't win a war by
... spilling over. One's got to keep one's head!"
He turned the corner of the Church and saw the recruiting office,
covered with posters, in a narrow lane. He walked towards it, slackening
his pace as he did so ... and then he walked past it.
"I can't go in now," he thought. "I must see Roger first ... and there's
the book to finish ... and Mary!..."
4
He had seen Roger and Rachel, and was now on his way back to
Boveyhayne.... Roger had agreed that he would not join without Henry. "I
can't go yet," he had said. "When I've saved a little more, I'll go in.
I want to leave Rachel and Eleanor as secure as I can!"
There was another boom in recruiting just then, following on another
German outrage.
"It'll take them some time to shape the crowd they're getting now,"
Roger had said, "so that we won't be hindering them if we hang back for
a while. I should have thought you'd want to go into an Irish regiment,
Quinny!"
"It doesn't very much matter, does it, what the regiment is?" Henry had
answered. "The labels are more or less meaningless now. And I'd like to
be with some one I know!"
He had given Mrs. Graham's invitation to Rachel, and Rachel had sent her
thanks to Mrs. Graham. She would be glad to go to Boveyhayne when
everything was settled.
Things were clearer now. In a little while, Mary and he would be
married. Then he could go with Roger. He would have to see his lawyers
in Dublin ... there would be a marriage settlement to make and business
connected with the estate to settle ... and that done, and his book
ready for the printers, he would be free.
"I wish the next two months were over," he said to himself.
He had to change at Salisbury, and while he was waiting for the slow
train to Exeter, he met Mullally. He had looked at him, vaguely
wondering who he was and why his face should seem familiar, until
recollection had come to him, and then, with a return of the old
aversion, he had turned away, hoping that Mullally had not seen or
recognised him. But Mullally had recognised him, and, unable as ever to
understand that his acquaintance was not wanted, he came to Henry and
held out his hand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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