Dime novels; England -- Fiction; Foundlings -- Fiction; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Popular literature
And now Margery was his wife--his very own; there was none to claim
her, none to share the treasure of her love. Was not this blessing
too great? His earnest eyes, dark with tenderness, were never tired
of watching her lovely, unconscious face as she sat buried in her
memories of the past, the look of unutterable sadness that had touched
him in their earlier acquaintance seeming to him now caused but by the
recollection of her childhood’s history, her mother’s death.
At last the sunshine died, the sea’s calm was gone, the tiny rippling
movement was changed into gigantic rolling waves, crested with white
foam, and dashing on to the beach in angry majesty, with a sound as of
thunder. Margery loved the sea in its fury; she would sit and watch it
for hours, her heart beating fast, and her nerves thrilling at the rage
in its fierce waves and dashing spray. The anger, the wildness of the
elements, relieved her overwrought mind, and the very tumult brought
her peace.
She stood at the window one afternoon gazing at the expanse of dull,
leaden-green water. There were no waves; it was as if a titanic
movement from below agitated the surface and caused the heavy, sudden
motion. As she stood thus, her husband approached her.
“Not tired of the sea yet, my darling?” he said, with a smile. “I shall
be afraid to suggest a migration if this devotion lasts much longer.”
“It is so wonderful,” Margery answered, dreamily. “I can see such
strange pictures, imagine such things, as I watch it. I have never seen
it as it is to-day.”
“There will be a storm to-night. I have just seen one of the fishermen,
and he says they expect very rough weather.”
“It looks an angry, discontented sea,” Margery said, still dreamily,
“as if its passion would be terrible when it did break forth.”
“Look at the foot of the Templar’s Rock! It is beginning already;
the foam is as white as snow. There is, as you say, Margery, sullen
discontent in its look; but there is also a wildness of despair. It
reminds me, looking at that whirling rush round the rock, of Tennyson’s
words:
“‘Break, break, break
At the foot of thy crags, O sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me!’”
With a little shudder Margery turned from the window.
“To-day has broken the spell,” she said, hurriedly, with forced
lightness. “I think I am tired of the sea at last.”
“You shall leave it when you will--to-night even, if you wish it, my
darling; it is still early afternoon. I will telegraph for rooms.
Pauline shall accompany you; the others can remain, with the exception
of my man, and follow to-morrow.”
“But it is so much trouble,” began Margery.
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