Emerson's Wife and Other Western StoriesKelly, Florence Finch
General
Emerson's Wife and Other Western Stories
Kelly, Florence Finch
Western stories
Adams slept little that night, but lay with his head on his interlocked
hands, staring out of his window at the fleeting shadows of the summer
night, thinking of Elizabeth, remembering what Elizabeth had said
during the day, seeing Elizabeth's face and eyes and the bit of white
throat that showed above her collar, hearing Elizabeth's voice, and
longing to touch, with even a finger-tip, the sweep of soft brown hair
that rippled away from her neck. It seemed to him that morning would
never come. He looked at his watch a score of times, and, finally,
rose at the first flush of dawn.
For a while he moved restlessly back and forth between his section and
the smoking-room, like an uneasy ghost of murdered sleep. But at last
it occurred to him that he ought to stay out until Miss Black was ready
for breakfast, lest he might embarrass her by being near when she
should emerge from behind her curtains in morning dishabille. So he
retired to the smoker, gave the porter a goodly fee to tell him when
the lady in Number 8 arose, and sat down resolutely at the window with
his elbows on the sill and his chin in his hands. He sat there
determinedly, not allowing himself even to turn around, through what
seemed hours and hours of time. Now and then he dozed a little, and
awoke with a start, dreaming he had heard her voice beside him or had
felt the ripple of her dress against his hand.
When at last the porter brought the welcome news, he went back to his
seat and waited for Elizabeth to reappear from the dressing-room. It
seemed to him that it must be near noon, although it was only eight
o'clock, when finally he saw her coming down the aisle. He quickly
bent his head over some memoranda with which he had been trying to
occupy himself, and pretended to be writing very busily as she moved
toward her section. But afterwards, when he looked at the paper he
found on it only some meaningless scrawls. Elizabeth's color deepened
as she saw him and a dark crimson wave swept to his brow as he felt her
draw near.
That day Adams rarely left her side. In his tones, his looks, his
manner, she was able to read his love as plainly as if it had been put
into words. "And of course," she thought, with an inward smile, "he
thinks he is concealing it all from me, and he would be surprised to
find that I know anything about it."
Her own heart throbbed in response so exultantly and so gladly that it
carried her feeling beyond the doors of expression and transformed it
into irradiating feminine charm. It sparkled in her eyes, gave a new
winsomeness to her smile, a softer grace to her movements, and a
penetrating sweetness to her voice.
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