The Lady Paramount

by Henry Harland

  XV

  And then the weather changed again. The clouds drifted away, the suncame back, the sunshine was like gold that had been washed andpolished. The landscape smiled with a new radiance, gay as if it hadnever gloomed. The grass was greener, the flowers were brighter, thebirds sang louder and clearer. The sea, with its shimmer and sheen,was like blue silk; the sky was like blue velvet. The trees lifted uptheir arms, greedy for the returned light and warmth, the sweeter air.

  Susanna, at noon-day, in her pine grove, by her brookside, was bendingdown, peering intently into the transparent water.

  Anthony, seeking, found her there.

  "Books in the running brooks. I interrupt your reading?" he suggested,as one ready, at a hint, to retire.

  "No," said she, looking up--giving, for a second, her eyes to his, herdark, half-laughing eyes. "It is not a book--it is the genius of theplace."

  She pointed to where, at her feet, the hurrying stream rested aninstant, to take breath, in a deep, dusky little pool, overhung by atangle of eglantine.

  "See how big he is, and how old and grey and grim, and how motionlessand silent. It seems almost discourteous of him, almost contemptuous,not to show any perturbation when one intrudes upon him, does n't it?"

  The genius of the place, floating in the still water, his fixed smallbeady eyes just above the surface, was a big grey frog.

  "Books in the running brooks indeed, none the less," Susanna went on,meditating. "Brooks--even artificial ones--are so mysterious, are n'tthey? They are filled with so many mysterious living things--frogs andtadpoles and newts and strange water-insects, nixies and pixies.Undines and Sabrinas fair and water-babies; and such strange plantsgrow in them; and who can guess the meaning of the tales they tell, inthat never-ceasing, purling tongue of theirs? . . . And SignorRanocchio? What do you suppose he is thinking of, as he floats there,so still, so saturnine, so indifferent to us? He is plainly in a deep,deep reverie. How wise he looks--a grey, wise old water-hermit, withhis head full of strange, unimaginable water-secrets, and strange,ancient water-memories. Perhaps he is--what was his name?--the god ofstreams himself, the old pagan god of streams, disguised as a frog forsome wicked old pagan-godish adventure. Perhaps that 's why he is n'tafraid of us--mere mortals. You 'd expect a mere frog to leap away orplunge under, would n't you?"

  Again, for a second, she gave Anthony her eyes. They were filled withpensiveness and laughter.

  In celebration of the sun's return, she wore a white frock (some filmycrinkled stuff, crepe-de-chine perhaps), and carried a white sunshade,a thing all frills and furbelows. This she opened, as, leaving theshadow of the pines, she moved by the brook-side, down the lawn, wherethe unimpeded sun shone hot, towards the pond.

  "The eighth wonder of the world--an olive-tree that bears roses," sheremarked.

  Her glance directed his to a gnarled old willow, growing by the pond.Indeed, with the wryness of its branches, the grey-green of its leaves,you might almost have mistaken it for an olive-tree. A rose-vine hadclambered up to the topmost top of it, and spread in all directions, sothat everywhere, vivid against the grey-green, hung red roses.

  "And now, if you will come, I 'll show you the ninth wonder of theworld," she promised. She led him down a long wide pathway, borderedon each side by hortensias in full blossom, two swelling hedges offire, where purple dissolved into blue and crimson, blue into a hundredgreen, mauve, and violet overtones and undertones of blue, and crimsoninto every palest, vaguest, most elusive, and every intensest red thebroken sunbeam bleeds upon the spectrum.

  "But this," she said, "though you might well think it so, is not theninth wonder of the world."

  "I think the ninth wonder of the world, as well as the first and last,is walking beside me," said Anthony, in silence, to the sky.

  The path ended in an arbour, roofed and walled with rose-vines; andherein were garden-chairs and a table.

  "Shall we sit here a little?" proposed Susanna.

  She put down her sunshade, and they established themselves under theroof of roses. On the table stood a Chinese vase, red and gold, with adragon-handled cover.

  "Occasion 's everything, beyond a doubt," thought Anthony. "But therub is to know an occasion when you see it. Is _this_ an occasion?"

  He looked at her, and his heart trembled, and held him back.

  "Oh, the fragrance of the roses," said Susanna. "How do they do it? Apinch of sunshine, a drop or two of dew, a puff of air, a handful ofbrown earth--and out of these they distil what seems as if it were thevery smell of heaven."

  But she spoke in tones noticeably hushed, as if fearing to be overheard.

  Anthony looked round.

  A moment ago there had not been a bird in sight (though, of course, theday was thridded through and through with the notes of those who wereout of sight). But now, in the path before the arbour, all facingtowards it, there must have been a score of birds--three or foursparrows, a pair of chaffinches, and then greenfinches, greenfinches,greenfinches. They were all facing expectantly towards the arbour,hopping towards it, hesitating, hopping on again, coming nearer, nearer.

  Susanna, moving softly, lifted the dragon-handled cover from theChinese vase. It was full of birdseed.

  "Ah, I see," said Anthony. "Pensioners. But I suppose you havereflected that to give alms to the able-bodied is to pauperise them."

  "Hush," she whispered, scorning his economics. "Please make yourselfinvisible, and be quiet."

  Then, taking a handful of seed, and leaning forward, softly, softly shebegan to intone--

  "Tu-ite, tu-ite, Uccelli, fringuelli, Passeri, verdonelli, Venite, venite!"

  and so, da capo, over and over again.

  And the birds, hesitating, gaining confidence, holding back, hoppingon, came nearer, nearer. A few, the boldest, entered the arbour . . .they all entered . . . they hesitated, hung back, hopped on. Now theywere at her feet; now three were in her lap; others were on the table.On the table, in her lap, at her feet, she scattered seed. Then shetook a second handful, and softly, softly, to a sort of lullaby tune,

  "Perlino, Perlino, Perlino Piumino, Where is Perlino? Come, Perlino,"

  she sang, her open hand extended.

  A greenfinch new up to the table, flew down to her knee, flew up to hershoulder, flew down to her hand, and, perching on her thumb, began tofeed.

  And she went on with her soft, soft intoning.

  "This is Perlino, So green, oh, so green, oh. He is the bravest heart, The sweetest singer, of them all. I 'm obliged to impart my information In the form of a chant; For if I were to speak it out, prose-wise, They would be frightened, they would fly away. But I hope you admire My fine contempt for rhyme and rhythm. Is this not the ninth wonder of the world? Would you or could you have believed, If you had n't seen it? That these wild birds, Not the sparrows only, But the shy, shy finches, Could become so tame, so fearless? Oh, it took time--and patience. One had to come every day, At the same hour, And sit very still, And softly, softly, Monotonously, monotonously, Croon, croon, croon, As I am crooning now. At first one cast one's seed At a distance-- Then nearer, nearer, Till at last-- Well, you see the result."

  Her eyes laughed, but she was very careful not to move. Anthony,blotted against the leafy wall behind him, sat as still as a statue.Her eyes laughed. "Oh, such eyes!" thought he. Her red lips, smiling,took delicious curves. And the hand on which Perlino perched, with itsslender fingers, its soft modelling, its warm whiteness, was like athing carved of rose-marble and made alive.

  "And Perlino," she resumed her chant--

  "Perlino Piumino Is the bravest of them all. And now that he has made an end Of his handful of seed, I hope he will be so good As to favour us with a little music. Sometimes he will, And sometimes he just obstinately won't. Tu-ite, tu-ite, tu-ite, Andiamo, Perlino, tu-ite! Canta, di grazia, canta."

  And after some further persuasion,--you will suspect me of romancing,b
ut upon my word,--Perlino Piumino consented. Clinging to Susanna'sthumb, he threw back his head, opened his bill, and poured forth hiscrystal song--a thin, bright, crystal rill, swift-flowing, winding indelicate volutions. And mercy, how his green little bosom throbbed.

  "Is n't it incredible?" Susanna whispered. "It is wonderful to feelhim. His whole body is beating like a heart."

  And when his song was finished, she bent towards him, and--never, neverso softly--touched the top of his green head with her lips.

  "And, now--fly away, birdlings--back to your affairs," she said."Good-bye until to-morrow."

  She rose, and there was an instant whir of fluttering wings.

  "Shall we walk?" she said to Anthony. She shook her frock, to dust thelast grains of birdseed from it. "If we stay here, they will thinkthere is more to come. And they 've had quite sufficient for one day."

  She put up her sunshade, and they turned back into the alley ofhortensias.

  "You find me speechless," said Anthony. "Of course, it has n't reallyhappened. But how--how do you produce so strong an illusion ofreality? I could have sworn I saw a greenfinch feeding from your hand,I could have sworn I saw him cling there, and heard him sing his song.I could have sworn I saw you kiss him."

  Susanna, under her white sunshade, laughed, softly, victoriously.

  "Speaking with all moderation," he declared, "it is the most marvellousperformance I have ever witnessed. If it had been a sparrow--or apigeon--but--a greenfinch--!"

  "There are very few birds that can't be tamed," she said. "You 'veonly got to familiarise them with your presence at a certain spot at acertain hour, and keep very still, and be very, very gentle in yourmovements, and croon to them, and bring them food. I have tamed wilderbirds than greenfinches, in Italy--I have tamed goldfinches, blackcaps,and even an oriole. And if you have once tamed a bird, and made himyour friend, he never forgets you. Season after season, when hereturns from his migration, he recognises you, and takes up thefriendship where it was put down. Until at last"--her voice sank, andshe shook her head--"there comes a season when he returns no more."

  They had strolled beyond the hortensias, into a shady avenue of elms.Round the trunk of one of these ran a circular bench. Susanna satdown. Anthony stood before her.

  "I trust, at any rate," she said, whimsically smiling, "that the moralof my little exhibition has not been lost upon you?"

  "A moral? Oh?" said he. "No. I had supposed it was beauty forbeauty's sake."

  "Ah, but beauty sometimes points a moral in spite of itself. The veryobvious moral of this is that where there 's a will there 's a way."

  She looked up, making her eyes grave; then smiled again.

  "We must resume our plotting. I think I have found the way by whichthe Conte di Sampaolo can regain his inheritance."

  Anthony laughed.

  "There are exactly two ways by which he can do that," he said. "One isto equip an army, and go to war with the King of Italy, and--a meredetail--conquer him. The other is to procure a wishing-cap and wishit. Which do you recommend?"

  "No," said Susanna. "There is a third and simpler way."

  She was tracing patterns on the ground with the point of her parasol.

  "There is the way of marriage."

  She completed a circle, and began to draw a star within it.

  "You should go to Sampaolo, and marry your cousin. So"--her eyes onher drawing, she spoke slowly, with an effect supremely impersonal--"soyou would come to your own again; and so a house divided againstitself, an ancient noble house, would be reunited; and an ancienthistoric line, broken for a little, would be made whole."

  She put the fifth point to her star.

  Anthony stood off, half laughing, and held up his hands, in admiringprotest.

  "Dear lady, what a programme!" was his laughing ejaculation.

  "I admit," said she, critically regarding the figure at her feet, "thatat first blush it may seem somewhat fantastic. But it is really worthserious consideration. You are the heir to a great name, which hasbeen separated from the estates that are its appanage, and to a greattradition, which has been interrupted. But the heir to such a name, tosuch a tradition, is heir also to great duties, to great obligations.He has no right to be passive, or to think only of himself. Thethirty-fourth Count of Sampaolo owes it to his thirty-threepredecessors--the descendant of San Guido owes it to San Guido--tobestir himself, to do the very utmost in his power to revive andmaintain the tradition. He is a custodian, a trustee. He has no rightto sit down, idle and contented, to the life of a country gentleman inEngland. He is the banner-bearer of his race. He has no right toleave the banner folded in a dark closet. He must unfurl his banner,and bear it bravely in the sight of the world. That is thejustification, that is the mission, of _noblesse_. A great noblemanshould not evade or hide his nobility--he should bear it nobly in thesight of the world. That is the mission of the Conte di Sampaolo--thatis the work he was born to do. It seems to me that at present he ispretty thoroughly neglecting his work."

  She shot a smile at him, then lowered her eyes again upon her encircledstar.

  "You preach a very eloquent sermon," said Anthony, "and in principle Iacknowledge its soundness. But in practice--there is just absolutelynothing the Conte di Sampaolo can do."

  "He can go to Vallanza, and marry his cousin," reiterated she. "Thusthe name and the estates would be brought together again, and thetradition would be renewed."

  She had slipped a ring from her finger, and was vaguely playing with it.

  Anthony only laughed.

  "Does n't my proposition deserve better than mere laughter?" said she.

  "I should laugh," said he, with secret meaning, "on the wrong side ofmy mouth, if I thought you wished me to take it seriously." ("If Ithought she seriously wished me to marry another woman!" he breathed,shuddering, to his soul.)

  "Why should n't I wish you to take it seriously?" she asked, studyingher ring.

  "The marriage of cousins is forbidden by Holy Church," said he.

  "She 's only your second or third cousin. The nearest Bishop wouldgive you a dispensation," answered Susanna, twirling her ring round inthe palm of her hand.

  "There would, of course, be no question of the lady rejecting me," helaughed.

  "You would naturally endeavour to make yourself agreeable to her, andto capture her affections," she retorted, slipping the ring back uponits finger, and clasping her hands. "Besides, she could hardly beindifferent to the circumstance that you have it in your power toregularise her position. She calls herself the Countess of Sampaolo.She could do so with a clear conscience if she were the wife of thelegitimate Count."

  "She can do so with a clear conscience as it is," said Anthony. "Shehas the patent of the Italian King."

  "Pinchbeck to gold," said Susanna. "A title improvised yesterday--anda title dating from 1104! The real thing, and a tawdry imitation. Goto Sampaolo, make her acquaintance, fall in love with her, persuade herto fall in love with you, marry her,--and there will be the grand oldHouse of Valdeschi itself again."

  Her eyes glowed.

  But Anthony only laughed.

  "You counsel procedures incompatible," he said. "If I am the custodianof a tradition, which you would have me maintain, how better could Iplay it false, than by marrying, of all women, the granddaughter, theheiress and representative, of the man who upset it?"

  "You would heal a family feud, and blot out a wrong," said she, drawingpatterns again with her sunshade. "Magnanimity should be _part_ ofyour tradition. You would not visit the sins of the fathers upon thechildren? You don't hold your cousin personally responsible?"

  She looked up obliquely at him.

  "Personally," he answered, "my cousin may be the most innocent soulalive. She is born to a ready-made situation, and accepts it. But itis a situation which I, if I am to be loyal to my tradition, cannotaccept. It is the negation of my tradition. I am obliged to submit toit, but I can't accept
it. My cousin is the embodiment of theanti-tradition. You say--marry her. That is like inviting the Pope toally himself with the Antipope."

  "No, no," contended Susanna, arresting her sunshade in the midst of anintricate vermiculation. "For the Antipope must be in wilful personalrebellion; while your cousin is what she is, quite independently of herown will--perhaps in spite of it. Imagine me, for instance, in herplace--me," she smiled, "the sole legitimist in Sampaolo. What could Ido? I find myself in possession of stolen goods. I would, if I could,restore them at once to their rightful owner. But I can't--because Iam only the tenant for life. I can't sell them, nor give them away,nor even, dying, dispose of them by will. I am only the tenant forlife. After me, they must pass to the next heir. So, if I wish torestore them to their rightful owner, there 's but a single means ofdoing so open to me--I must induce the rightful owner to make me hiswife."

  She smiled again, mirthfully, but with conviction, with conclusiveness,as who should say, "I have proved my point."

  "Ah," pronounced Anthony, with stress, though perhaps a trifleambiguously, "if it were you, it would be different."

  "In your cousin's case, to be sure," pursued Susanna, "there is oneother means. You happen to be, on the Valdeschi side, her nearestkinsman, and therefore, until she marries and has children, you are herheir presumptive. Well, if she were to retire into a convent, takingvows of celibacy and poverty, then what they call the usufruct of herproperties could be settled upon her heir presumptive for her lifetime,the properties themselves passing to him at her death."

  "We will wish the young lady no such dreary fate," laughed Anthony."Fortunately for her, she is not troubled by your scruples."

  "How do you know she is n't?" asked Susanna.

  "We can safely take it for granted," said he. "Besides, you have toldme so yourself."

  "_I_ have told you so--?" she puzzled.

  "You have told me that there is but one legitimist in Sampaolo. If mycousin were troubled by your scruples, she would make a second. And ofthe whole population of the island, can you suggest a less probablesecond?"

  "They say that Queen Anne was at heart a Jacobite," Susanna remindedhim. "Your cousin is young. One could lay the case before her, onecould work upon her conscience. And, supposing her conscience to beonce roused, then, if you could n't be brought to offer her your hand,she 'd have no choice but renunciation and the Cloister."

  "Let us hope, therefore, that her conscience may remain comfortablyasleep," said he. "For even to save her from the Cloister, I could notoffer her my hand."

  Susanna, leaning back against the rugged trunk of her elm, gazed downthe long shaded avenue, and appeared to muse. Here and there, the sun,finding a way through the green cloud of leaves, a visible fillet oflight in the dim atmosphere, dappled the brown earth with rose. In herwhite frock, her dark hair loose about her brow, a faint colour in hercheeks, her dark eyes musing, musing but half smiling at the same time,I think she looked very charming, very interesting, very warmly andrichly feminine, I think she looked very lovely, very lovable; and Idon't wonder that Anthony--as his eyes rested upon her, fed uponher--felt something violent happen in his heart.

  "Occasion is everything--the occasion has come--the occasion has come,"a silent voice seemed to incite him. And as it were unseen handsseemed to push him on.

  The blood rushed tumultuously to his head.

  "I 'm going to risk it, I 'm going to risk everything," he decreed,suddenly, recklessly.

  "There are a thousand reasons why I could not offer her my hand," hesaid. "One reason is that I am in love with another woman."

  His throat was dry, his voice sounded strained. His heart beat hard.He had burned his first bridge. He kept his eyes on her.

  She continued to gaze down the avenue. I think she caught her breath,though.

  "Oh--?" she said, after an instant, on a tone that tried in vain to bea tone of conventional politeness. She had been perfectly aware, ofcourse, that it was bound to come. She had fancied herself perfectlyprepared to cope with it, when it should come. But she had notexpected it to come just yet. It took her off her guard.

  "Yes," said he; "and you know whom I am in love with."

  This time there could be no doubt that she caught her breath. She hadoverestimated her power of self-command, her talent for dissembling.She had known that it was bound to come; she had imagined that shecould meet it lightly, humorously, that she could parry it, and neverbetray herself. And here she was, catching her breath, whilst herheart trembled and sank and sang within her. She bit her lip, invexation; she closed her eyes, in ecstasy; she kept her face turneddown the avenue, in fear.

  Anthony's heart was leaping. A wild hope had kindled in it.

  "I am in love with _you_--with _you_," he cried, in a voice that shook.

  She did not speak, she did not look at him, but she caught her breathaudibly, a long tremulous breath.

  He knelt at her feet, he seized her hands. She did not withdraw them.

  "I love you, I love you. Don't keep your face turned from me. Look atme. Answer me. I love you. Will you marry me?"

  He felt her hands tremble in his. Her surrender of them--was it notfuel to the fire of his hope? He put his lips to them, he kissed them,he covered them with kisses. They were warm, and sweet to smell,faintly, terribly sweet to smell.

  At last she drew them away. She shrunk away herself, back along herbench. She bit her lip, in chagrin at her weakness, herself-indulgence. She knew that she was losing ground, precious,indispensable, to that deep-laid, secret, cherished plot of hers. Buther heart sang and sang, but a joy such as she had never dreamed offilled it. Oh, she had known that her heart would be filled with joy,when he should say, "I love you"; but she had never dreamed of a joysuch as this. This was a joy the very elements of which were new toher; different, not in degree only, but in kind, from any joy she hadexperienced before. She could not so soon put it by, she could not yetbid herself be stern.

  "Look at me. Answer me. I love you. Will you marry me?" he cried.

  But she _must_ bid herself be stern. "I must, I must," she thought.She made a mighty effort.

  "No," she said, in a suffocated voice, painfully.

  "Oh, look at me," he pleaded. "Why do you keep your face turned away?Why do you say no? I love you. Will you marry me? Say yes, say yes."

  But she did not look at him.

  "No. I can't. Don't ask me," she said.

  "Why can't you? I love you. I adore you. Why should n't I ask you?"

  The palest flicker of a smile passed over her face.

  "I want you to marry your cousin," she said.

  "Is that the only reason?"

  "Is n't that a sufficient reason?"

  Again there was the flicker of a smile.

  "For heaven's sake, look at me. Don't keep your face turned away.Then you don't--you don't care for me--not an atom?"

  "I"--she could not deny herself one instant of weakness more, onesupreme instant; afterwards she would be stern in earnest, she woulddraw back--"I never meant to let you know I did."

  And for the first time between two heart-beats her eyes met his, stayedwith his.

  For the time between two heart-beats, Time stood still, the world stoodstill, Time and the world ceased to be. Her eyes stayed with his.There was nothing else in all created space but her two eyes, her softand deep, dark and radiant eyes. Far, far within them shone a light.Her soul came forth from its hiding place, and shining far, far withinher eyes, showed itself to his soul, yielded itself to his soul.

  "Then you do--you do," he cried. It was almost a wail. The universereeled round him.

  He had sprung to his feet. He threw himself on the bench beside her,facing her. He seized her hands again. He tried again to get her eyes.

  "No, no, no," she said, freeing her hands, shrinking from him. "No. Idon't--I don't."

  "But you do. You said you did. You--you showed that you did."r />
  He waited, triumphant, anxious, breathless.

  "No, no, no. I did n't say it--I did n't mean it."

  "But you did mean it. Your eyes . . ."

  But when he remembered her eyes, speech deserted him. He could onlygasp and tingle.

  "No, no, no," she said. "I meant nothing. Please--please don't comeso near. Stand up--there" (her hand indicated where), "and we willspeak of it--reasonably."

  Her hand remained suspended, enjoining obedience.

  Anthony, perplexed, dashed a little, obeyed, and stood before her.

  "We must be reasonable," she said. "I meant nothing. If I seemedmoved, it was because--oh, because I was so taken by surprise, Isuppose."

  She was getting herself in hand. She looked at him quite fearlesslynow, with eyes that pretended to forget they had ever been complaisant.

  "The Count of Sampaolo," she argued calmly, "is not free to marry whomhe will. He has his inheritance to regain, his mission to fulfil. Iwill never allow myself to be made an obstacle to that. He must marryno one but his cousin. I will never stand between him and her--betweenhim and what is equally his interest and his duty."

  But Anthony, too, was getting himself in hand.

  "Look here," he said, with some peremptoriness. "You may just once forall eliminate my cousin from your calculations. I beg you tounderstand that even if you did n't exist, there could be no questionof my cousin. No earthly consideration could induce me to make anysort of terms with that branch of my family--let alone a marriage.So!" A wave of the hand dismissed his cousin for ever to Crack-limbo."But as you do exist, and as I happen to love you, and as I happen tohave discovered--what I could never wildly have dared to hope--that youare not utterly indifferent to me, I may tell you that I intend tomarry _you--you--you_. You imperial, adorable woman! You!"

  Susanna hastily turned her eyes down the avenue.

  "In fact," Anthony added, with serene presumption, "I have the honourto apprise you of our engagement."

  She could n't repress a nervous little laugh. Then she rose.

  "They 'll be expecting me at the house," she said, and moved in thatdirection.

  "I 'm waiting for your congratulations," said he, walking beside her.

  She gave another little laugh. And neither spoke again until they hadreached the hall door, which he opened for her.

  "Well?" he asked.

  "Come back after luncheon," said she. "Come back at three o'clock--andI will tell you something."