Henry Is Twenty: A Further Episodic History of Henry Calverly, 3rdMerwin, Samuel
General
Henry Is Twenty: A Further Episodic History of Henry Calverly, 3rd
Merwin, Samuel
Young men -- Fiction
A faint light was creeping over the bowl-like sky. And a fainter colour
was spreading upward from the eastern horizon. The thousands of night
stars had disappeared, leaving only one, the great star of the morning.
It sent out little points of light, like the Star of the East in Sunday
school pictures. It seemed to stir with white incandescence.
Henry straightened up; gently placed Corinne against the breakwater;
covered his face.
She considered him from under lowered eyelids. Her face was
expressionless. She didn't smile. And she wasn't singing now. She
smoothed out her skirt, rather deliberately and thoughtfully.
'Think of it!' Henry broke out with a shudder. 'It's a dreadful thing
that's happened!'
'It might be,' said Corinne very quietly, 'if Arthur didn't have the
sense to take that train.'
'And we're sitting here as if----'
'Listen! What on earth made you go back to the house?'
'I can't tell you. I don't know. I _had_ to.'
'Hm! You certainly did it. You're not lacking courage, Henry.'
He said nothing to this. He didn't feel brave.
'Mildred was foolish. She shouldn't have let herself get so stirred up.
She ought to have gone back.'
'How can you say that! Don't you see that she _couldn't_!'
'Yes, I saw that she couldn't. But it was a mistake.' Henry was up on
his knees, now, digging sand and throwing it.
'It was love,' he said hotly--'real love.'
'It's a wreck,' said she.
'It can't be. If they love each other!'
'This town won't care how much they love each other. And there are other
things. Money.'
'Bah! What's money!'
'It's a lot. You've got to have it.'
'Haven't you any ideals, Corinne?'
She reflected. Then said, 'Of course.' And added: 'She had Arthur where
she wanted him. That's why he went away, of course. He thought she'd
caught him. Now she's lost her head and let him get away. Dished
everything. No telling what he'll do when he finds out.'
'He mustn't find out.' Henry was not aware of any inconsistency within
himself.
'He will if she's going to lose her head like this. There are some
things you have to stand in this world. One of the things Mildred had to
stand was a husband.'
'But how could she go back to him--to-night--feeling this way?'
'She should have.'
'You're cynical.'
'I'm practical. Do you want her to go through a divorce, and then marry
Humphrey? That'll take money. It's a luxury. For rich folks.'
'Don't say such things, Corinne!'
'Why not. She's made the break with Arthur. Now the next thing's got to
happen. What's it to be?'
Henry got to his feet. He gazed a long time at the morning star.
The university clock struck three.
Henry shivered..
'Come,' he said. 'Let's get back.' It didn't occur to him to help her
up.
The four of them lingered a few moments at Mildred's door. Humphrey
finally led Mildred in. For a last goodnight, plainly.
Corinne smiled at Henry. It was an odd, slightly twisted smile.
'After all,' she murmured, 'there's no good in taking things too
seriously.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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