Country life -- England -- Fiction; England -- Social conditions -- 19th century -- Fiction; Rural poor -- England -- Fiction
he looked, the fierce sensual features seemed to melt, and his flesh
came again to him like the flesh of a little child. The slave
forgot his fetters; little children clapped their hands; and the
toil-worn, stunted, savage woman sprung forward to kneel at her
feet, and see herself transfigured in that new and divine ideal of
her sex.
Descriptions of drawings are clumsy things at best; the reader must
fill up the sketch for himself by the eye of faith.
Entranced in wonder and pleasure, Argemone let her eyes wander over
the drawing. And her feelings for Lancelot amounted almost to
worship, as she apprehended the harmonious unity of the manifold
conception,--the rugged boldness of the groups in front, the soft
grandeur of the figure which was the lodestar of all their emotions-
-the virginal purity of the whole. And when she fancied that she
traced in those bland aquiline lineaments, and in the crisp ringlets
which floated like a cloud down to the knees of the figure, some
traces of her own likeness, a dream of a new destiny flitted before
her,--she blushed to her very neck; and as she bent her face over
the drawing and gazed, her whole soul seemed to rise into her eyes,
and a single tear dropped upon the paper. She laid her hand over
it, and then turned hastily away.
'You do not like it! I have been too bold,'--said Lancelot,
fearfully.
'Oh, no! no! It is so beautiful--so full of deep wisdom! But--but-
-You may leave it.'
Lancelot slipped silently out of the room, he hardly knew why; and
when he was gone, Argemone caught up the drawing, pressed it to her
bosom, covered it with kisses, and hid it, as too precious for any
eyes but her own, in the farthest corner of her secretaire.
And yet she fancied that she was not in love!
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