White Lies [116]
read to her in her room to-night. She will be waiting for me. Is it not tiresome?"
"Yes, it is."
"Well, we must not mind that, dear; in three weeks' time we are to have too much of one another, you know, instead of too little."
"Too much! I shall never have enough of you. I shall hate the night which will rob me of the sight of you for so many hours in the twenty-four."
"If you can't see me, perhaps you may hear me; my tongue runs by night as well as by day."
"Well, that is a comfort," said Edouard, gravely. "Yes, little quizzer, I would rather hear you scold than an angel sing. Judge, then, what music it is when you say you love me!"
"I love you, Edouard."
Edouard kissed her hand warmly, and then looked irresolutely at her face.
"No, no!" said she, laughing and blushing. "How rude you are. Next time we meet."
"That is a bargain. But I won't go till you say you love me again.
"Edouard, don't be silly. I am ashamed of saying the same thing so often--I won't say it any more. What is the use? You know I love you. There, I HAVE said it: how stupid!"
"Adieu, then, my wife that is to be."
"Adieu! dear Edouard."
"My hus--go on--my hus--"
"My huswife that shall be."
Then they walked very slowly towards the house, and once more Rose left quizzing, and was all tenderness.
"Will you not come in, and bid them 'good-night'?"
"No, my own; I am in heaven. Common faces--common voices would bring me down to earth. Let me be alone;--your sweet words ringing in my ear. I will dilute you with nothing meaner than the stars. See how bright they shine in heaven; but not so bright as you shine in my heart."
"Dear Edouard, you flatter me, you spoil me. Alas! why am I not more worthy of your love?"
"More worthy! How can that be?"
Rose sighed.
"But I will atone for all. I will make you a better--(here she substituted a full stop for a substantive)--than you expect. You will see else."
She lingered at the door: a proof that if Edouard, at that particular moment, had seized another kiss, there would have been no very violent opposition or offence.
But he was not so impudent as some. He had been told to wait till the next meeting for that. He prayed Heaven to bless her, and so the affianced lovers parted for the night.
It was about nine o'clock. Edouard, instead of returning to his lodgings, started down towards the town, to conclude a bargain with the innkeeper for an English mare he was in treaty for. He wanted her for to-morrow's work; so that decided him to make the purchase. In purchases, as in other matters, a feather turns the balanced scale. He sauntered leisurely down. It was a very clear night; the full moon and the stars shining silvery and vivid. Edouard's heart swelled with joy. He was loved after all, deeply loved; and in three short weeks he was actually to be Rose's husband: her lord and master. How like a heavenly dream it all seemed--the first hopeless courtship, and now the wedding fixed! But it was no dream; he felt her soft words still murmur music at his heart, and the shadow of her velvet lips slept upon his own.
He had strolled about a league when he heard the ring of a horse's hoofs coming towards him, accompanied by a clanking noise; it came nearer and nearer, till it reached a hill that lay a little ahead of Edouard; then the sounds ceased; the cavalier was walking his horse up the hill.
Presently, as if they had started from the earth, up popped between Edouard and the sky, first a cocked hat that seemed in that light to be cut with a razor out of flint; then the wearer, phosphorescent here and there; so brightly the keen moonlight played on his epaulets and steel scabbard. A step or two nearer, and Edouard gave a great shout; it was Colonel Raynal.
After the first warm greeting, and questions and answers, Raynal told him he was on his way to the Rhine with despatches.
"To the Rhine?"
I am allowed six days to get there. I made a calculation, and found I could give Beaurepaire half a day. I shall have to make
"Yes, it is."
"Well, we must not mind that, dear; in three weeks' time we are to have too much of one another, you know, instead of too little."
"Too much! I shall never have enough of you. I shall hate the night which will rob me of the sight of you for so many hours in the twenty-four."
"If you can't see me, perhaps you may hear me; my tongue runs by night as well as by day."
"Well, that is a comfort," said Edouard, gravely. "Yes, little quizzer, I would rather hear you scold than an angel sing. Judge, then, what music it is when you say you love me!"
"I love you, Edouard."
Edouard kissed her hand warmly, and then looked irresolutely at her face.
"No, no!" said she, laughing and blushing. "How rude you are. Next time we meet."
"That is a bargain. But I won't go till you say you love me again.
"Edouard, don't be silly. I am ashamed of saying the same thing so often--I won't say it any more. What is the use? You know I love you. There, I HAVE said it: how stupid!"
"Adieu, then, my wife that is to be."
"Adieu! dear Edouard."
"My hus--go on--my hus--"
"My huswife that shall be."
Then they walked very slowly towards the house, and once more Rose left quizzing, and was all tenderness.
"Will you not come in, and bid them 'good-night'?"
"No, my own; I am in heaven. Common faces--common voices would bring me down to earth. Let me be alone;--your sweet words ringing in my ear. I will dilute you with nothing meaner than the stars. See how bright they shine in heaven; but not so bright as you shine in my heart."
"Dear Edouard, you flatter me, you spoil me. Alas! why am I not more worthy of your love?"
"More worthy! How can that be?"
Rose sighed.
"But I will atone for all. I will make you a better--(here she substituted a full stop for a substantive)--than you expect. You will see else."
She lingered at the door: a proof that if Edouard, at that particular moment, had seized another kiss, there would have been no very violent opposition or offence.
But he was not so impudent as some. He had been told to wait till the next meeting for that. He prayed Heaven to bless her, and so the affianced lovers parted for the night.
It was about nine o'clock. Edouard, instead of returning to his lodgings, started down towards the town, to conclude a bargain with the innkeeper for an English mare he was in treaty for. He wanted her for to-morrow's work; so that decided him to make the purchase. In purchases, as in other matters, a feather turns the balanced scale. He sauntered leisurely down. It was a very clear night; the full moon and the stars shining silvery and vivid. Edouard's heart swelled with joy. He was loved after all, deeply loved; and in three short weeks he was actually to be Rose's husband: her lord and master. How like a heavenly dream it all seemed--the first hopeless courtship, and now the wedding fixed! But it was no dream; he felt her soft words still murmur music at his heart, and the shadow of her velvet lips slept upon his own.
He had strolled about a league when he heard the ring of a horse's hoofs coming towards him, accompanied by a clanking noise; it came nearer and nearer, till it reached a hill that lay a little ahead of Edouard; then the sounds ceased; the cavalier was walking his horse up the hill.
Presently, as if they had started from the earth, up popped between Edouard and the sky, first a cocked hat that seemed in that light to be cut with a razor out of flint; then the wearer, phosphorescent here and there; so brightly the keen moonlight played on his epaulets and steel scabbard. A step or two nearer, and Edouard gave a great shout; it was Colonel Raynal.
After the first warm greeting, and questions and answers, Raynal told him he was on his way to the Rhine with despatches.
"To the Rhine?"
I am allowed six days to get there. I made a calculation, and found I could give Beaurepaire half a day. I shall have to make