Love stories; Nobility -- Great Britain -- Fiction; Switzerland -- Fiction
The mere idea made him feel cold down the back. He felt sure that Madame
would believe the worst of him; to judge from their conversations,
ladies, good as they all were, invariably did seem to believe the worst
in such affairs. Should he throw himself upon the mercy of the Pasteur?
Again, no. It would be so hard to make him comprehend. Also, if he did,
he might suggest that the altar was the only possible expiation.
And—and, oh! he must confess it, she was very nice and sweet, but he
did _not_ wish to marry Juliette and live with her all his life.
No, there was but one thing to be done: keep the burden of his secret
locked in his own breast, though, unfortunately, it was locked as well
in those of Juliette and of two uninvited observers, and probably would
soon also be locked in the capacious bosom of Madame Riennes. For the
rest, towards Juliette in the future, he would observe an attitude of
strictest propriety; never more should she have occasion to complain of
his conduct, which henceforth would be immaculate. Alas! how easy it is
for the most innocent to be misjudged, and apparently, not without
reason.
This reflection brought something to Godfrey’s mind which had escaped
it in his first disturbance, also connected with a flower. There came
before him the vision of a London square, and of a tall, pale girl, in
an antique dress, giving a rose to a man in knight’s armour, which
rose both of them kissed simultaneously. Of course, when he saw it he
had ruled out the rose and only thought of the kisses, although, now
that he came to think of it, a rose is of a much thicker texture than a
lily. As he had witnessed that little scene, and drawn his own
conclusions, so others had witnessed another little scene that
afternoon, and made therefrom deductions which, in his innocent soul, he
knew to be totally false. Suppose, then, that _his_ deductions were
also false. Oh! it was not possible. Besides, a barrier built of rose
leaves was not sufficient, which again, with perfect justice, he
remembered was exactly what Brother Smith and Professor Petersen had
thought of one composed of lily petals.
There for the time the matter ended. Juliette reappeared on the morrow
quite cured of her headache, and as gay and charming as ever. Possibly
she had confided in her mamma, who had told her that after all things
were not so terrible, even if they _had_ been seen.
At any rate, the equilibrium was restored. Godfrey acted on his solemn
resolutions of haughtiness and detachment for quite an hour, after which
Juliette threw a kitten at him and asked what was the matter, and then
sang him one of her pretty _chansonettes_ to the accompaniment of a
guitar with three strings, which closed the incident. Still there were
no more flower hunts and no new adventures. Tacitly, but completely,
everything of the sort was dropped out of their relationship. They
remained excellent friends, on affectionate terms indeed, but that was
all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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