登陆注册
5362200000030

第30章

He glanced at his watch. It was just ten o'clock. The morning work would be done. She might come for a little stroll in the woods at the back of the manse, but he would say nothing to her to-day. He would wait and watch to read her heart. He sprang up the bank, that ran along beside the fence, to go on his way. A gleam of white through the snake fence against the pink of the clover caught his eye. Under the thorn tree--he knew the spot well--and upon the grass, lay a girl. "By Jove!" he whispered, his heart stopping, thumping, then rushing, "it is Margaret." He would creep up and surprise her. The deep grass deadened his footfalls. He was close to her. He held his breath. She lay asleep, one arm under her head, the other flung wide in an abandonment of weariness. He stood gazing down upon her. Pale she looked to him, and thin and weary. The lines about her mouth and eyes spoke of cares and of griefs, too. How much older she was than he had thought! "Poor girl! she has been having a hard time! It's a shame, a downright shame! And she's only a child yet!" At the thought of her long sacrifice for those three past years a great pity stole into his heart. At that touch of pity the love that had ever filled his heart, dammed back for so long by his regard for his brother's rights, suddenly finding its new channel, burst forth and swept like a torrent through his being. He lost grip of himself and, before he knew, he had bent over the sleeping girl and kissed her lips. A long shivering sigh shook her. "Barney," she murmured, a slight smile playing about her lips. She opened her eyes. A moment she lay looking up into Dick's face, then, suddenly wide awake, she sat upright.

"You! Dick!" she cried, surprise, indignation, shame, mingling in her voice. "You--you dare to--"

"Yes, Margaret," said Dick, aghast at what he had done, "I couldn't help it. You looked so sweet and so sad, and--and I love you so much."

"You," cried the girl again, as if she could find no other word.

"What did you say?"

"I said, Margaret," he replied, gathering his courage together, "that I love you so much."

"You love me?" she gasped.

"Yes, I love you. I never knew till last night."

"Last night?" she echoed, with her eyes upon his face, now grown pale, but illuminated with a light she had never seen there before.

"Yes, last night. It was always there, Margaret," he hurried to say, "but only last night I found out I might love you. I never let myself go. I thought I had no right. I mean I thought Barney--"

At the mention of his brother's name, the face that had been white with a look almost of horror flamed quickly with red. "Last night," continued Dick, wondering at the change in her, "I found out, and this morning, Margaret, the whole world is just humming with joy because I know I may love you all I want to. Oh, it's great! I never imagined a fellow could hold so much love or so much joy. Do you understand me, Margaret? Do you knew what I am talking about?" Margaret's face had grown pale and haggard, as with pain, and her eyes were wide open with pity.

"Yes, Dick," she said slowly, "I know. I have just been learning."

The brave lips quivered, but she kept firm hold of herself. "I know all the joy and--all the pain." She stopped short at the look in Dick's face. The buoyant, glad light flickered and went out.

A look of perplexity, of great fear, and then of desolation, like that on her own face, spread over his. He knew her too well to misunderstand her meaning. She leaned over to him, still kneeling in the grass. "Oh, Dick, dear!" she cried, taking his hand in hers with a mother-touch and tone, "must you suffer, too? Oh, don't say you must! Not with my pain, Dick! Not with my pain!" Her voice rose in a cry, broke into a sob, but still she held him with her eyes.

"Do you say I must?" he answered in a hoarse tone. "I love you with all my heart."

"Oh, don't Dick, dear," she pleaded, "don't say it!"

"Yes, I will," he said, recovering his voice, "because it's true.

And I'm glad it's true. I'm glad that I can at last let myself love you. It was only last night when Barney told me about Iola, you know."

同类推荐
  • 华严经感应略记

    华严经感应略记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • History of Animals

    History of Animals

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 玄灵转经早朝行道仪

    玄灵转经早朝行道仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 杨忠愍集

    杨忠愍集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说四十二章经

    佛说四十二章经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 太上元始天尊说续命妙经

    太上元始天尊说续命妙经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 二十三划

    二十三划

    多年前家长一些零零散散的琐事,是我的回忆。
  • 校园之恋爱复仇记

    校园之恋爱复仇记

    主要是女主顾雨宁,夜若喃两女主的复仇,,,,,第一次写
  • The Beldonald Holbein

    The Beldonald Holbein

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 悠悠田野记

    悠悠田野记

    惠小幽本和师傅在山里轮回观过着惬意的生活,一场暴雨引发的意外让她回到六十年前的农村,贫困的生活,自私势力的亲戚,让她和家人一贫如洗生活更加雪上加霜,越是压迫她,她越是要奋起反抗,且看她如何同她的小伙伴们摆脱欺辱,自力更生,在田野里自由的撒欢.
  • 不要和爱情玩游戏

    不要和爱情玩游戏

    你知道吗?这个世界上,三百六十行之外,曾经还有一个叫“垂青师”的行当。所谓垂青师,其实就是帮那些需要帮助的男人找老婆或情人。
  • 九天涅惜

    九天涅惜

    我原是现代一个正炙手可热的一个影后,哪曾想却掉入了一个异世!搅动风云,变换天地!!人生,我要掌握在自己手里!!!
  • 病毒来袭:天才少年少女

    病毒来袭:天才少年少女

    当智商195的她遇上智商200的他,当黑客天才遇上网络天才,当美国跆拳道空手道柔道黑道高手遇上全能高手,将碰撞出怎样的火花?冷酷如他,却莫名的对非常嚣张的她柔情似水。强势如她,却喜欢如小鸟般依偎在他的怀抱。齐心协力,揭露五大家族身后的秘密,共同抵抗病毒,对抗残酷BOSS。一路相陪,执子之手,与子偕老。
  • 青少年全程营养百科

    青少年全程营养百科

    青少年正处在不断的生长发育过程之中,他们大量地消耗着同时也在大量地补充着各种能量和营养,以建造自己日趋完善的体格。为了帮助青少年及广大家长朋友们了解并正确掌握有关营养与健康方面的知识,编者特别委请营养学界的专业人士编撰了此书。本书分别从营养知识初了解、健康饮食计划、成长的烦恼、营养与压力、青少年常见饮食问题五个方面阐述了营养饮食的重要性,告诉读者如何通过最佳的方式让青少年养成健康的体魄、时刻充满活力。为了方便广大家长给孩子营养配餐、便于计算孩子的营养是否充足及评价孩子的生长发育是否达标,及时调整饮食结构来补充所需营养,达到合理膳食、均衡营养的目的。
  • 诡神太子团

    诡神太子团

    全书内容包括:剧情,欢乐,恩仇,争霸,太子团,亲友情,爱情,位面,反穿越,都市,历史架空,钢铁机甲,神通、天赋、道果传承,种族血脉及纷争,异宇宙生物等,相看的元素这里都有,欢迎来阅!