"They are shadows. Listen to yourself. Be true to yourself."
"I have no self. It seems so selfish to have one. I am anything--a
fay, a sprite, an elf." She freed her hands with a sudden twist and
ran laughing up the mountain.
"To the sunrise!" she cried. "To the sunrise!"
He gave chase: "To the sunrise! To the symbol!"
X
But the next morning the symbolic sunrise they rose to see was hidden
by fog and rain.
And--what was still more disappointing to Lassalle--Mrs. Arson
insisted on escaping with her charges from this depressing climate and
re-descending to Wabern, the village near Berne, where they had been
staying.
Not even Lassalle's fascinations and persuasions could counteract the
pertinacious plash-plash of-the rain, and the chilling mist, and
perhaps the uneasy pricks of her awakening chaperon-conscience. Nor
could he extract a decisive "Yes" from his fluttering volatile
enchantress. At Kaltbad, where they said farewell, he pressed her
hands with passion. "For a little while! Be prudent and strong! You
have the goodness of a child--and a child's will. Oh, if I could pour
into these blue veins"--he kissed them fiercely--"only one drop of my
giant's will, of my Titanic energy. Grip my hands; perhaps I can do it
by magnetism. I will to join our lives. You must will too. Then there
are no difficulties. Only say 'Yes'--but definitely, unambiguously, of
your own free will--and I answer for the rest."
The thought of Janko resurged painfully when his giant's will was left
behind on the heights. How ill she would be using him--her pretty
delicate boy!
The giant's will left behind her? Never had Helene been more mistaken.
The very reverse! It went before her all day like a pillar of fire. At
the first stopping-place a letter already awaited her, brought by a
swift courier; lower down a telegram; as she got off her horse another
letter; at her hotel two copious telegrams; as she stepped on board
the lake steamer a final letter--all breathing passion,
encouragement, solicitous instructions to wrap up well.
Wrap up well! He wrapped one up in himself!
Half fascinated, half panting for free air, but wholly flattered and
enamoured, she wrote at once to break off with Janko and surrender to
her Satanic Ferdinand.
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