Phyllis of Philistia [61]
grasped her hands with both of her own and drew her into the drawing room without a word. Then with a cry,--a laugh and a cry mingled,--she literally flung herself into the girl's arms and kissed her convulsively a dozen times, on the throat, on the neck, on the shoulder whereon her head lay.
"My darling, my darling!" she cried,--and now and again her voice was broken with a sob,--"my darling Phyllis! I have come to you--I want to be with you--to be near you--to keep my arms about you, so tightly that no one can pluck us asunder. Oh, you don't know what men are-- they would pluck us asunder if they could; but they can't now. With you I am safe--that is why I have come to you, my Phyllis. I want to be safe--indeed I do!"
She had now raised her head from Phyllis' shoulder, but was still holding her tightly--a hand on each of her arms, and her face within an inch of the girl's face.
Phyllis kissed her softly on each cheek.
"My poor dear!" she said, "what can have happened to you?"
"Nothing--nothing! I tell you that nothing has happened to me," cried Ella, with a vehemence that almost amounted to fierceness in her voice. "Would I be here with you now if anything had happened to me? tell me that. I came to you--ah! women have no guardian angels, but they have sisters who are equally good and pure, and you are my sister --my sister--better than all the angels that ever sang a dirge over a lost soul that they put forth no hand to save. You will not let me go, darling Phyllis, you will not let me go even if I tell you that I want to go. Don't believe me, Phyllis; I don't want to go--I don't want to be lost, and if I leave you I am lost. You will keep me, dear, will you not?"
"Until the end of the world," said Phyllis. "Come, dearest Ella, tell me what is the matter--why you have come to me in that lovely costume. You look as if you were dressed for a bridal."
"A bridal--a bridal? What do you mean by that?" said Ella, with curious eagerness--a suggestion of suspicion was in her tone. She had loosed her hold upon the girl's arms.
Phyllis laughed. She put a hand round Ella's waist and led her to a sofa, saying:
"Let us sit down and talk it all over. That is the lace you told me you picked up at Munich. What a design--lilies!"
"The Virgin's flower--the Virgin's flower! I never thought of that," laughed Ella. "It is for you--not me, this lace. I shall tear it off and--"
"You shall do nothing of the kind," cried Phyllis. "I have heaps of lace--more than I shall ever wear. What a lovely idea that is of yours,--I'm sure it is yours,--sewing the diamonds around the cup of the lilies, like dewdrops. I always did like diamonds on lace. Some people would have us believe that diamonds should only be worn with blue velvet. How commonplace! Where have you been to-night?"
"Where have I been? I have been at home. Where should a good woman be in the absence of her husband, but at home--his home and her home?"
Ella laughed loud and long with her head thrown back on the cushion of the sofa, and the diamonds in her hair giving back flash for flash to the electric candles above her head. "Yes; I was at home--I dined at home, and, God knows why, I conceived a sudden desire to go to the opera,--Melba is the /Juliet/,--and forgetting that you were engaged to the Earlscourts--you told me last week that you were going, but I stupidly forgot, I drove across here to ask you to be my companion. Oh, yes, I have been here since--since nine, mind that! nine--nine-- ask the servants. When I heard that you were dining out I thought that I was lost--one cannot drive about the streets all night, can one? Ah! I thought that God was against me now, as he ever has been; and as for my guardian angel--ah! our guardian angels are worse than the servants of nowadays who have no sense of responsibility. Thompson, your butler, is worth a whole heavenful of angels, for it was he who asked me if I would come in and wait for your return--ask him, if you doubt my word."
"Good Heavens, Ella, what do you say? Doubt your word--I doubt your
"My darling, my darling!" she cried,--and now and again her voice was broken with a sob,--"my darling Phyllis! I have come to you--I want to be with you--to be near you--to keep my arms about you, so tightly that no one can pluck us asunder. Oh, you don't know what men are-- they would pluck us asunder if they could; but they can't now. With you I am safe--that is why I have come to you, my Phyllis. I want to be safe--indeed I do!"
She had now raised her head from Phyllis' shoulder, but was still holding her tightly--a hand on each of her arms, and her face within an inch of the girl's face.
Phyllis kissed her softly on each cheek.
"My poor dear!" she said, "what can have happened to you?"
"Nothing--nothing! I tell you that nothing has happened to me," cried Ella, with a vehemence that almost amounted to fierceness in her voice. "Would I be here with you now if anything had happened to me? tell me that. I came to you--ah! women have no guardian angels, but they have sisters who are equally good and pure, and you are my sister --my sister--better than all the angels that ever sang a dirge over a lost soul that they put forth no hand to save. You will not let me go, darling Phyllis, you will not let me go even if I tell you that I want to go. Don't believe me, Phyllis; I don't want to go--I don't want to be lost, and if I leave you I am lost. You will keep me, dear, will you not?"
"Until the end of the world," said Phyllis. "Come, dearest Ella, tell me what is the matter--why you have come to me in that lovely costume. You look as if you were dressed for a bridal."
"A bridal--a bridal? What do you mean by that?" said Ella, with curious eagerness--a suggestion of suspicion was in her tone. She had loosed her hold upon the girl's arms.
Phyllis laughed. She put a hand round Ella's waist and led her to a sofa, saying:
"Let us sit down and talk it all over. That is the lace you told me you picked up at Munich. What a design--lilies!"
"The Virgin's flower--the Virgin's flower! I never thought of that," laughed Ella. "It is for you--not me, this lace. I shall tear it off and--"
"You shall do nothing of the kind," cried Phyllis. "I have heaps of lace--more than I shall ever wear. What a lovely idea that is of yours,--I'm sure it is yours,--sewing the diamonds around the cup of the lilies, like dewdrops. I always did like diamonds on lace. Some people would have us believe that diamonds should only be worn with blue velvet. How commonplace! Where have you been to-night?"
"Where have I been? I have been at home. Where should a good woman be in the absence of her husband, but at home--his home and her home?"
Ella laughed loud and long with her head thrown back on the cushion of the sofa, and the diamonds in her hair giving back flash for flash to the electric candles above her head. "Yes; I was at home--I dined at home, and, God knows why, I conceived a sudden desire to go to the opera,--Melba is the /Juliet/,--and forgetting that you were engaged to the Earlscourts--you told me last week that you were going, but I stupidly forgot, I drove across here to ask you to be my companion. Oh, yes, I have been here since--since nine, mind that! nine--nine-- ask the servants. When I heard that you were dining out I thought that I was lost--one cannot drive about the streets all night, can one? Ah! I thought that God was against me now, as he ever has been; and as for my guardian angel--ah! our guardian angels are worse than the servants of nowadays who have no sense of responsibility. Thompson, your butler, is worth a whole heavenful of angels, for it was he who asked me if I would come in and wait for your return--ask him, if you doubt my word."
"Good Heavens, Ella, what do you say? Doubt your word--I doubt your