London (England) -- Fiction; Theater -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
Late on the afternoon of the funeral Maggy managed to evade Woolf and go
to Albert Place, thinking to find Alexandra there. The blinds had not
yet been drawn up, but the front door was open. Feeling an aversion
from disturbing the silence of a house of mourning she went in without
ringing and ascended to the room Alexandra had used. Finding it empty
she came down and looked into the drawing room. It was in the green
gloom of a closed jalousie and she thought it unoccupied. In that room
she had spent such a pleasant half-hour with Lord Chalfont not so very
long ago. Since then, disaster had befallen its owner, and she herself
had been very near to death. The three events seemed associated in her
mind.
She was about to draw back when a movement arrested her. At the far end
she made out Chalfont. He was sitting at an escritoire with his head
bent over it. After a moment of hesitation she went up to him and
timidly touched him on the shoulder. Dazed by grief and with his
thoughts far away he did not at first recognize her. Seeing how it was
with him she gently said:
"I’m Maggy. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I was looking for Lexie....
Now that I’m here I’d like to say how dreadfully sorry I am."
After he had thanked her there was a pause. His ease had temporarily
left him. Maggy felt she was intruding.
"Do you know where she has gone? Lexie, I mean," she went on.
"She wrote down her address." Chalfont searched for and found it among
the papers on the escritoire. "109, Sidey Street."
"Then she’s gone back. That’s where we used to live together."
There was another silence. Then Chalfont said:
"Will you let me know if there is anything I can do for her? Mrs.
Lambert was very interested in her—and yourself. Indeed—" here he
hesitated a little—"the last word she spoke was your name. That is why
I—"
The color came into Maggy’s face. She did not let him finish.
"Did she—did she say anything else?"
"No; only your name. She seemed to be concerned about you."
Maggy nodded.
"She knew all about me," she said in an explanatory tone. "She was
worried because I had been ill, I expect. She was like that, I know....
And she knew I—I wasn’t married."
Her meaning was quite plain, as plain as the wedding-ring on her
ungloved hand. In her honesty she thought the admission was due to
Chalfont after he had apprized her of Mrs. Lambert’s interest in her.
His manner of doing so had implied friendship. She did not want to
accept that under false pretenses.
Chalfont was quick to appreciate her motive in making the confession.
If possible it raised her in his estimation. But it filled him with a
curious sense of disappointment. In spite of the absence of a legal
bond between Mrs. Lambert and himself he had a strong distaste for free
alliances. He had chafed against circumstances in his own case, and he
was far from sitting in judgment on Maggy’s. Still, he could not help
the shock they had on his feelings.
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