Life and Gabriella: The Story of a Woman's CourageGlasgow, Ellen Anderson Gholson
General
Life and Gabriella: The Story of a Woman's Courage
Glasgow, Ellen Anderson Gholson
Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Virginia -- Fiction
Then at the sight of Gabriella she had
surrendered completely. The girl was fine all through, this she could
see as soon as she looked at her. She liked her noble though not
beautiful face, with the broad clear forehead from which the soft dark
hair was brushed back so simply, and, most of all, she liked the charm
and sympathy in her voice. George had chosen well, and if she could
trust his choice, why could she not trust him to be true to it?
"I wonder if you would like to put on your hat and come with me?" she
asked, obeying an impulse. "I'm going to drive up to Patty's with some
curtains for her bedroom."
"Oh, I'd love to," replied Gabriella with eagerness, for she hated
inaction, and it was impossible to spend a whole afternoon merely
thinking about one's happiness. "It won't take me a minute to get
ready."
While she put on her hat and coat, Mrs. Fowler watched her thoughtfully,
saying once: "It is quite cool, you'd better bring your furs, dear."
When Gabriella answered frankly, "I haven't any, I never had any furs in
my life," a tender expression crept into the rather hard blue eyes of
her mother-in-law, and she said quickly: "Well, I've a set of white fox
that I am too old to wear, and you shall have it."
"But what of Patty?" asked Gabriella, for she had grown up thinking of
other people and she couldn't break the habit of twenty years in a
minute.
"Oh, Patty has all the furs she'll need for years. We spent every penny
we had on Patty before she married," answered Mrs. Fowler, but she was
saying to herself: "Yes, the girl is the right wife for him. I am sure
she is the right wife for him."
The Park was brilliant with falling leaves, and as they drove beneath a
perfect sky beside a lake which sparkled like sapphire, Gabriella,
lifting her chin above the white furs, said rapturously, "Oh, I am so
happy! Life is so beautiful!"
A shadow stole into the eyes with which Mrs. Fowler was watching the
passing carriages, and the fixed sweetness about her mouth melted into
an expression of yearning. Tears veiled the faces of the women who spoke
to her in passing, for she was thinking of her first drive in the Park
with her husband, and though her marriage had been a happy one, she felt
a strange longing as if she wanted to weep.
"I never saw such wonderful horses," said Gabriella. "Cousin Jimmy would
be wild about them;" and she added impetuously, "But the hats aren't in
the least like the one I am wearing." A misgiving seized her as she
realized that her dresses, copied by Miss Polly with ardent fidelity
from a Paris fashion book, were all hopelessly wrong. She wondered if
her green silk gown with the black velvet sleeves was different in style
from the gowns the other women were wearing under their furs? Had
sleeves of a different colour from the bodice, which Miss Polly
considered the last touch of elegance, really gone out of fashion?
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