第14章

Hehadonlytofinishthesentence，andthethingwasdone。Butthetenderpassionperverselydelightsinraisingobstaclestoitself。AsuddentimidityseizedonArnoldexactlyatthewrongmoment。Hestoppedshort，inthemostawkwardmannerpossible。

Blancheheardfromthelawntheblowofthemalletontheball，andthelaughterofthecompanyatsomeblunderofSirPatrick’s。

Theprecioussecondswereslippingaway。ShecouldhaveboxedArnoldonbothearsforbeingsounreasonablyafraidofher。

“Well，“shesaid，impatiently，“ifIdidlookinyourface，whatshouldIsee？“

Arnoldmadeanotherplunge。Heanswered：“YouwouldseethatI

wantalittleencouragement。“

“From_me？_“

“Yes——ifyouplease。“

Blanchelookedbackoverhershoulder。Thesummer-housestoodonaneminence，approachedbysteps。Theplayersonthelawnbeneathwereaudible，butnotvisible。Anyoneofthemmightappear，unexpectedly，atamoment’snotice。Blanchelistened。Therewasnosoundofapproachingfootsteps——therewasageneralhush，andthenanotherbangofthemalletontheballandthenaclappingofhands。SirPatrickwasaprivilegedperson。Hehadbeenallowed，inallprobability，totryagain；andhewassucceedingatthesecondeffort。Thisimpliedareprieveofsomeseconds。

BlanchelookedbackagainatArnold。

“Consideryourselfencouraged，“shewhispered；andinstantlyadded，withtheineradicablefemaleinstinctofself-defense，“withinlimits!“

Arnoldmadealastplunge——straighttothebottom，thistime。

“Consideryourselfloved，“heburstout，“withoutanylimitsatall。“

Itwasallover——thewordswerespoken——hehadgotherbythehand。Againtheperversityofthetenderpassionshoweditselfmorestronglythanever。TheconfessionwhichBlanchehadbeenlongingtohear，hadbarelyescapedherlover’slipsbeforeBlancheprotestedagainstit!Shestruggledtoreleaseherhand。

SheformallyappealedtoArnoldtolethergo。

Arnoldonlyheldherthetighter。

“Dotrytolikemealittle!“hepleaded。“Iamsofondof_you!_“

Whowastoresistsuchwooingasthis？——whenyouwereprivatelyfondofhimyourself，remember，andwhenyouwerecertaintobeinterruptedinanothermoment!Blancheleftoffstruggling，andlookedupatheryoungsailorwithasmile。

“Didyoulearnthismethodofmakingloveinthemerchant-service？“sheinquired，saucily。

Arnoldpersistedincontemplatinghisprospectsfromtheseriouspointofview。

“I’llgobacktothemerchant-service，“hesaid，“ifIhavemadeyouangrywithme。“

Blancheadministeredanotherdoseofencouragement。

“Anger，Mr。Brinkworth，isoneofthebadpassions，“sheanswered，demurely。“Ayoungladywhohasbeenproperlybroughtuphasnobadpassions。“

Therewasasuddencryfromtheplayersonthelawn——acryfor“Mr。Brinkworth。“Blanchetriedtopushhimout。Arnoldwasimmovable。

“SaysomethingtoencouragemebeforeIgo，“hepleaded。“Onewordwilldo。Say，Yes。“

Blancheshookherhead。Nowshehadgothim，thetemptationtoteasehimwasirresistible。

“Quiteimpossible!“sherejoined。“Ifyouwantanymoreencouragement，youmustspeaktomyuncle。“

“I’llspeaktohim，“returnedArnold，“beforeIleavethehouse。“

Therewasanothercryfor“Mr。Brinkworth。“Blanchemadeanotherefforttopushhimout。

“Go!“shesaid。“Andmindyougetthroughthehoop!“

Shehadbothhandsonhisshoulders——herfacewasclosetohis——shewassimplyirresistible。Arnoldcaughtherroundthewaistandkissedher。Needlesstotellhimtogetthroughthehoop。Hehadsurelygotthroughitalready!Blanchewasspeechless。Arnold’slasteffortintheartofcourtshiphadtakenawayherbreath。Beforeshecouldrecoverherselfasoundofapproachingfootstepsbecameplainlyaudible。Arnoldgaveheralastsqueeze，andranout。

Shesankonthenearestchair，andclosedhereyesinaflutterofdeliciousconfusion。

Thefootstepsascendingtothesummer-housecamenearer。Blancheopenedhereyes，andsawAnneSilvester，standingalone，lookingather。Shesprangtoherfeet，andthrewherarmsimpulsivelyroundAnne’sneck。

“Youdon’tknowwhathashappened，“shewhispered。“Wishmejoy，darling。Hehassaidthewords。Heismineforlife!“

Allthesisterlyloveandsisterlyconfidenceofmanyyearswasexpressedinthatembrace，andinthetoneinwhichthewordswerespoken。Theheartsofthemothers，inthepasttime，couldhardlyhavebeenclosertoeachother——asitseemed——thantheheartsofthedaughterswerenow。Andyet，ifBlanchehadlookedupinAnne’sfaceatthatmoment，shemusthaveseenthatAnne’smindwasfarawayfromherlittlelove-story。

“Youknowwhoitis？“shewenton，afterwaitingforareply。

“Mr。Brinkworth？“

“Ofcourse!Whoelseshoulditbe？“

“Andyouarereallyhappy，mylove？“

“Happy？“repeatedBlanche“Mind!thisisstrictlybetweenourselves。Iamreadytojumpoutofmyskinforjoy。Ilovehim!

Ilovehim!Ilovehim!“shecried，withachildishpleasureinrepeatingthewords。Theywereechoedbyaheavysigh。BlancheinstantlylookedupintoAnne’sface。“What’sthematter？“sheasked，withasuddenchangeofvoiceandmanner。

“Nothing。“

Blanche’sobservationsawtooplainlytobeblindedinthatway。

“There_is_somethingthematter，“shesaid。“Isitmoney？“sheadded，afteramoment’sconsideration。“Billstopay？Ihavegotplentyofmoney，Anne。I’lllendyouwhatyoulike。“

“No，no，mydear!“

Blanchedrewback，alittlehurt。AnnewaskeepingheratadistanceforthefirsttimeinBlanche’sexperienceofher。

“Itellyouallmysecrets，“shesaid。“Whyare_you_keepingasecretfrom_me？_Doyouknowthatyouhavebeenlookinganxiousandoutofspiritsforsometimepast？Perhapsyoudon’tlikeMr。

Brinkworth？No？you_do_likehim？Isitmymarrying，then？I

believeitis!Youfancyweshallbeparted，yougoose？AsifI

coulddowithoutyou!Ofcourse，whenIammarriedtoArnold，youwillcomeandlivewithus。That’squiteunderstoodbetweenus——isn’tit？“

Annedrewherselfsuddenly，almostroughly，awayfromBlanche，andpointedouttothesteps。

“Thereissomebodycoming，“shesaid。“Look!“

ThepersoncomingwasArnold。ItwasBlanche’sturntoplay，andhehadvolunteeredtofetchher。

Blanche’sattention——easilyenoughdistractedonotheroccasions——remainedsteadilyfixedonAnne。

“Youarenotyourself，“shesaid，“andImustknowthereasonofit。Iwillwaittillto-night；andthenyouwilltellme，whenyoucomeintomyroom。Don’tlooklikethat!You_shall_tellme。

Andthere’sakissforyouinthemeantime!“

ShejoinedArnold，andrecoveredhergayetythemomentshelookedathim。

“Well？Haveyougotthroughthehoops？“

“Nevermindthehoops。IhavebrokentheicewithSirPatrick。“

“What!beforeallthecompany!“

“Ofcoursenot!Ihavemadeanappointmenttospeaktohimhere。“

Theywentlaughingdownthesteps，andjoinedthegame。

Leftalone，AnneSilvesterwalkedslowlytotheinneranddarkerpartofthesummer-house。Aglass，inacarvedwoodenframe，wasfixedagainstoneofthesidewalls。Shestoppedandlookedintoit——looked，shuddering，atthereflectionofherself。

“Isthetimecoming，“shesaid，“whenevenBlanchewillseewhatIaminmyface？“

Sheturnedasidefromtheglass。Withasuddencryofdespairsheflungupherarmsandlaidthemheavilyagainstthewall，andrestedherheadonthemwithherbacktothelight。Atthesamemomentaman’sfigureappeared——standingdarkinthefloodofsunshineattheentrancetothesummer-house。ThemanwasGeoffreyDelamayn。