Her nickname was "Lilly with the eyes." Her schoolmates declared such
eyes were absolutely improbable, such eyes _could_ not exist. "Cat
eyes," "nixie eyes," are samples of the epithets bestowed upon them.
Some maintained they were violet, some knew for sure she penciled her
lids. However that may be, he who looked at her face saw eyes and
nothing but eyes, and was content to look no further.
When fifteen and a half years old Lilly passed from the first-year class
into the Selecta, the class for advanced pupils, for it had been decided
that she was to earn her living as a governess.
With this came a change in many respects; new teachers, new subjects of
study, new companions and a new tone in intercourse. Nobody was
addressed by the first name; the throwing of paper balls ceased, and no
one on going home found bits of paper stuck in her hair. Phrases like
"sacredness of a vocation" and "consecration of life" were cheapened by
repetition; but so also were love episodes and secret betrothals.
For the first time Lilly experienced a slight feeling of envy--she was
neither engaged, nor did the least love affair come her way. Such
trivialities as anonymous bouquets or verses bearing the superscription,
"Thine forever," with two initial letters intertwined, were, of course,
not to be counted.
But her time came. Her love was compounded of marble statues and temple
pillars, of evergreen cypresses and a sky eternally blue, of pity and
yearning for the far-off, of a pupil's adoration for her teacher, and of
a desire to save.
He was assistant instructor in science in the girls' high school, and
taught in the lower grades, where the ruler is still used on pupils'
knuckles and tongues are stuck out behind the teacher's back in revenge.
He gave no instruction whatever in the higher classes, but delivered
lectures on the history of art to the Selecta.
"History of art." The very words are enough to send a shiver of ecstasy
through a maiden's soul. How much greater the charm when a suffering
young man with deep-set, burning eyes and a lily-white forehead expounds
the subject!
His first name was Arpad.
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