Man-woman relationships -- England -- Fiction; Married people -- England -- Fiction; Psychological fiction
Well, I knew within the minute that I was moved by it as by an
extraordinary tenderness; so that this is the name I must leave it to
make the best of. It had already been my impression that I was sorry for
her, but it was marked for me now that I was sorrier than I had
reckoned. All her story seemed at once to look at me out of the fact of
her present lonely prowl. I met it without demur, only wanting her to
know that if I struck her as waylaying her in the wood, as waiting for
her there at eventide with an idea, I shouldn't in the least defend
myself from the charge. I can scarce clearly tell how many fine strange
things I thought of during this brief crisis of her hesitation. I wanted
in the first place to make it end, and while I moved a few steps toward
her I felt almost as noiseless and guarded as if I were trapping a bird
or stalking a fawn. My few steps brought me to a spot where another
perspective crossed our own, so that they made together a verdurous
circle with an evening sky above and great lengthening, arching recesses
in which the twilight thickened. Oh, it was quite sufficiently the
castle of enchantment, and when I noticed four old stone seats, massive
and mossy and symmetrically placed, I recognised not only the influence,
in my adventure, of the grand style, but the familiar identity of this
consecrated nook, which was so much of the type of all the bemused and
remembered. We were in a beautiful old picture, we were in a beautiful
old tale, and it wouldn't be the fault of Newmarch if some other green
_carrefour_, not far off, didn't balance with this one and offer the
alternative of niches, in the greenness, occupied by weather-stained
statues on florid pedestals.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account