The Strand Magazine, Vol. 07, Issue 40, April, 1894: An Illustrated MonthlyVarious
General
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 07, Issue 40, April, 1894: An Illustrated Monthly
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
"There is time enough," he answered.
Finding he would not go away she tried to draw him into conversation,
but he was evidently not in the humour to make himself agreeable. His
answers were confined to monosyllables, and to some of Miss Farnham's
remarks he did not reply at all.
I confess that I began to think him an unmitigated bore.
A change was, however, quickly to take place in the situation--Randall,
the other lover, appeared on the scene, and his coming acted like a
flash of sunshine. He was a gay, handsome, debonair-looking young
fellow. He had good teeth, good eyes, a genial smile, a hearty manner.
His voice was musical, and he knew well how to use it. He nodded
carelessly to one or two acquaintances when he entered the room, and
then came straight to Miss Farnham's table.
She shook hands with him, and he nodded a cheerful good morning to
Carleton and me.
"That is right," he said, smiling brightly at the handsome girl; "you
promised to reserve a seat for me at this table, and I see you have
kept your word. Have you done breakfast, Carleton?"
"I had something an hour ago," replied Carleton.
Randall went to a sideboard to help himself to a generous portion of
a dish which was being kept hot with a spirit lamp. On his return our
conversation became gayer and more lively than ever.
I must confess that I saw nothing to object to in Miss Farnham's
manners. I could not imagine why Brabazon spoke of her as a dangerous
witch. She tried to be polite to both men--or rather, she was polite
without effort, but there was not a trace of the flippant in her manner
or bearing. Her beauty was undoubtedly of a remarkable order. Her eyes
were her most striking characteristic. There was a great deal of red
in their brown, which was further accentuated by the red brown of her
long eyelashes. The eyes were capable of every shade of expression, and
could be at times as eloquent and as full of meaning as those of that
bewitching creature, the collie. Her eyebrows were dark and delicately
pencilled. Her hair was tawny in shade--she had quantities of it, and
she wore it picturesquely round her stately, statuesque head. In some
lights that brilliantly coloured hair looked as if a sunbeam had been
imprisoned in it. Her complexion was of a warm, creamy whiteness. Her
figure was slight and graceful. But for her eyes she might have been
simply remarked as a handsome girl; but those eyes made her beautiful,
and lifted her completely out of the commonplace.
We had nearly finished breakfast, when I was startled by seeing Randall
suddenly press his hand to his eyes, and turn so white that I thought
he was going to lose consciousness. He recovered himself almost
immediately, however, and so completely, that no one else remarked the
circumstance. Miss Farnham rose from the breakfast-table.
"I am going to ride with you, Dr. Halifax," she said, nodding brightly
to me. "I shall come downstairs in my habit in half an hour."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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