He took up his book again, and she turned to leave the grove. But in
those few moments, the world had all changed for her. She walked out of
the vine grove, and sat down by the edge of the lake, trying to live
every second of those few minutes over again.
What was that face like? Dark, beautiful, noble--the face of a king,
with royal brows, and firm, grave, yet sweet lips--a face that in her
girlish dreams she would have given to the heroes she loved--to King
Arthur--to the Chevalier Bayard--to Richard the Lion Heart--the face of
a man born to command, born to rule.
She had looked at it for perhaps only two minutes, but she could have
sketched it accurately from memory. The dark hair was thrown back in
masses--not in effeminate curls, but in the same waving lines that may
be seen on the heads of famous Grecian statues; the forehead was white,
broad, well-developed, rounded at the temples, full of ideality, of
genius, of poetry, of thought; the brows were dark and straight as those
of a Greek god; the eyes luminous and bright--she could not tell what
they were like--they had dazzled her. The dark mustache did not hide a
beautiful mouth that had nothing effeminate in it.
It was a face that filled her mind with thoughts of beauty. She mused
over it. There was nobility, power, genius, loyalty, truth, in every
feature. The voice had filled her ears with music.
"I wish," she thought, "he had given me some other command; I should
like to obey him; I would do anything he told me; he has the face and
the voice of a king. I have read of god-like men; now I have seen one.
Shall I ever see him again? I can imagine that face flashing with
indignation, eloquent with pleading, royal in command, softened in
tenderness, eloquent in speech."
Her reverie was interrupted by the sound of a bell. "That must be for
breakfast," she thought, and she hurried back to the house. She did not
see the stranger follow her, with a smile still on his face.
Lady Vaughan was unusually gracious.
"You have been out in the gardens, my dear," she said to the young girl,
who evidently expected a reproof. "That is right. You are looking very
well this morning."
She spoke coldly; but in her heart she marvelled at the girl's wonderful
beauty. She had seen nothing so fair, so dainty, so brilliant as the
bloom that overspread her lovely face. "I have had a note from Mr.
Darcy," continued her ladyship, "and he will be with us before noon."
During breakfast Lady Vaughan was more gracious than ever Hyacinth
remembered to have seen her. When it was over, she said to the girl:
"I should like you to look your best, Cynthy, when Mr. Darcy comes. Make
a fresh toilet, and then amuse yourself as you like until I send for
you."
Over the glowing dream of the morning the name of Adrian Darcy seemed to
fall like the breath of a cold east wind over flowers. She had for the
time almost forgotten him, and at the sound of his name a whole host of
disagreeable memories arose.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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