The shadow between them; $b or, A blighted name — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The shadow between them; $b or, A blighted name
John Stuart Mill · en
How beautiful those eyes were, deeply blue, now grave, now laughing.
And the broad, white forehead, the arched, finely drawn, dark brows,
the brown, curly hair, the regular features, the red lips, and
beautiful white teeth--all were very much to Eva’s liking.
She further considered that his tall, straight figure was quite to her
liking, and his hands and feet small and well-shaped.
“He would look younger with his hair short. Perhaps I shall mention
that to him some day,” she reflected, adding: “Seems to me I have known
some one like him, only with shorter hair, and very likely a small
mustache. It puzzles me, that resemblance. It must be as he suggests,
that we knew each other in a former period of existence. Heigho! were
we indeed soul-mates?”
How beautiful it was out there in the balmy sunshine among the flowers!
She wished that he could come back to her presently and talk again, or
even sit silent by her side, so that she could shyly feast her eyes on
his dear face--yes, dear already, she owned it to her heart.
Alas! he could not come. He must consult with the other doctors over
the dangerous case in Ward H. Then he must go his rounds among the
patients. The superintendent, too, stuck to him like a burr, determined
to cut short, if possible, the incipient flirtation with Eva. He
thought there was too much courting going on at the hospital among the
marriageable men and maids. They should attend more strictly to their
duties.
So Eva did not see her lover again that day, not even at meals, for
she did not eat at the same table with the doctors and officers of the
institution.
But the day slipped away very rapidly because of the thoughts nestling
sweetly in her heart, and late that evening, just as she was retiring
to the new room that had been assigned her, an attendant brought her a
bunch of spicy white carnations, with a little note:
“The superintendent has sent me away on a business trip for a
week or two. I shall think often of what we talked about last,
and you must not forget me while I am gone, little Eva.
“RUPERT.”
She shut her door and dropped into a chair, kissing the sweet white
flowers and murmuring happily:
“As if I could forget!”
She kept reading the words over and over till she knew them all with
her eyes shut, then a sudden remorseful memory pierced her heart.
Was she untrue to her first love?
Just so had she read and dreamed over the anonymous verses that had
given her such deep pleasure, vowing in a girl’s romantic rashness that
she loved him and would marry no one else.
The memory of him was still dear, the verses were written on her heart;
but here she was dwelling on another with her mind full of his blue
eyes, and soft words, and ringing laughter. She was indeed fickle,
untrue!
For a moment little Eva began to despise herself, then came a lightning
thought, a hope:
“If they should prove to be the same?”