DESBOROUGH'S ADVENTURE
_THE BROWN BOX_
Mr. Harry Desborough lodged in the fine and grave old quarter ofBloomsbury, roared about on every side by the high tides of London, butitself rejoicing in romantic silences and city peace. It was in QueenSquare that he had pitched his tent, next door to the Children'sHospital, on your left hand as you go north: Queen Square, sacred tohumane and liberal arts, whence homes were made beautiful, where the poorwere taught, where the sparrows were plentiful and loud, and where groupsof patient little ones would hover all day long before the hospital, ifby chance they might kiss their hand or speak a word to their sickbrother at the window. Desborough's room was on the first floor andfronted to the square; but he enjoyed besides, a right by which he oftenprofited, to sit and smoke upon a terrace at the back, which looked downupon a fine forest of back gardens, and was in turn commanded by thewindows of an empty room.
On the afternoon of a warm day, Desborough sauntered forth upon thisterrace, somewhat out of hope and heart, for he had been now some weekson the vain quest of situations, and prepared for melancholy and tobacco.Here, at least, he told himself that he would be alone; for, like mostyouths, who are neither rich, nor witty, nor successful, he rathershunned than courted the society of other men. Even as he expressed thethought, his eye alighted on the window of the room that looked upon theterrace; and to his surprise and annoyance, he beheld it curtained with asilken hanging. It was like his luck, he thought; his privacy was gone,he could no longer brood and sigh unwatched, he could no longer sufferhis discouragement to find a vent in words or soothe himself withsentimental whistling; and in the irritation of the moment, he struck hispipe upon the rail with unnecessary force. It was an old, sweet,seasoned briar-root, glossy and dark with long employment, and justlydear to his fancy. What, then, was his chagrin, when the head snappedfrom the stem, leaped airily in space, and fell and disappeared among thelilacs of the garden?
He threw himself savagely into the garden chair, pulled out thestory-paper which he had brought with him to read, tore off a fragment ofthe last sheet, which contains only the answers to correspondents, andset himself to roll a cigarette. He was no master of the art; again andagain, the paper broke between his fingers and the tobacco showered uponthe ground; and he was already on the point of angry resignation, whenthe window swung slowly inward, the silken curtain was thrust aside, anda lady, somewhat strangely attired, stepped forth upon the terrace.
'Senorito,' said she, and there was a rich thrill in her voice, like anorgan note, 'Senorito, you are in difficulties. Suffer me to come toyour assistance.'
With the words, she took the paper and tobacco from his unresistinghands; and with a facility that, in Desborough's eyes, seemed magical,rolled and presented him a cigarette. He took it, still seated, stillwithout a word; staring with all his eyes upon that apparition. Her facewas warm and rich in colour; in shape, it was that piquant triangle, soinnocently sly, so saucily attractive, so rare in our more northernclimates; her eyes were large, starry, and visited by changing lights;her hair was partly covered by a lace mantilla, through which her arms,bare to the shoulder, gleamed white; her figure, full and soft in all thewomanly contours, was yet alive and active, light with excess of life,and slender by grace of some divine proportion.
'You do not like my cigarrito, Senor?' she asked. 'Yet it is better madethan yours.' At that she laughed, and her laughter trilled in his earlike music; but the next moment her face fell. 'I see,' she cried. 'Itis my manner that repels you. I am too constrained, too cold. I amnot,' she added, with a more engaging air, 'I am not the simple Englishmaiden I appear.'
'Oh!' murmured Harry, filled with inexpressible thoughts.
'In my own dear land,' she pursued, 'things are differently ordered.There, I must own, a girl is bound by many and rigorous restrictions;little is permitted her; she learns to be distant, she learns to appearforbidding. But here, in free England--oh, glorious liberty!' she cried,and threw up her arms with a gesture of inimitable grace--'here there areno fetters; here the woman may dare to be herself entirely, and the men,the chivalrous men--is it not written on the very shield of your nation,_honi soit_? Ah, it is hard for me to learn, hard for me to dare to bemyself. You must not judge me yet awhile; I shall end by conquering thisstiffness, I shall end by growing English. Do I speak the languagewell?'
'Perfectly--oh, perfectly!' said Harry, with a fervency of convictionworthy of a graver subject.
'Ah, then,' she said, 'I shall soon learn; English blood ran in myfather's veins; and I have had the advantage of some training in yourexpressive tongue. If I speak already without accent, with my thoroughEnglish appearance, there is nothing left to change except my manners.'
'Oh no,' said Desborough. 'Oh pray not! I--madam--'
'I am,' interrupted the lady, 'the Senorita Teresa Valdevia. The eveningair grows chill. Adios, Senorito.' And before Harry could stammer out aword, she had disappeared into her room.
He stood transfixed, the cigarette still unlighted in his hand. Histhoughts had soared above tobacco, and still recalled and beautified theimage of his new acquaintance. Her voice re-echoed in his memory; hereyes, of which he could not tell the colour, haunted his soul. Theclouds had risen at her coming, and he beheld a new-created world. Whatshe was, he could not fancy, but he adored her. Her age, he durst notestimate; fearing to find her older than himself, and thinking sacrilegeto couple that fair favour with the thought of mortal changes. As forher character, beauty to the young is always good. So the poor ladlingered late upon the terrace, stealing timid glances at the curtainedwindow, sighing to the gold laburnums, rapt into the country of romance;and when at length he entered and sat down to dine, on cold boiled muttonand a pint of ale, he feasted on the food of gods.
Next day when he returned to the terrace, the window was a little ajar,and he enjoyed a view of the lady's shoulder, as she sat patiently sewingand all unconscious of his presence. On the next, he had scarce appearedwhen the window opened, and the Senorita tripped forth into the sunlight,in a morning disorder, delicately neat, and yet somehow foreign,tropical, and strange. In one hand she held a packet.
'Will you try,' she said, 'some of my father's tobacco--from dear Cuba?There, as I suppose you know, all smoke, ladies as well as gentlemen. Soyou need not fear to annoy me. The fragrance will remind me of home. Myhome, Senor, was by the sea.' And as she uttered these few words,Desborough, for the first time in his life, realised the poetry of thegreat deep. 'Awake or asleep, I dream of it: dear home, dear Cuba!'
'But some day,' said Desborough, with an inward pang, 'some day you willreturn?'
'Never!' she cried; 'ah, never, in Heaven's name!'
'Are you then resident for life in England?' he inquired, with a strangelightening of spirit.
'You ask too much, for you ask more than I know,' she answered sadly; andthen, resuming her gaiety of manner: 'But you have not tried my Cubantobacco,' she said.
'Senorita,' said he, shyly abashed by some shadow of coquetry in hermanner, 'whatever comes to me--you--I mean,' he concluded, deeplyflushing, 'that I have no doubt the tobacco is delightful.'
'Ah, Senor,' she said, with almost mournful gravity, 'you seemed sosimple and good, and already you are trying to pay compliments--andbesides,' she added, brightening, with a quick upward glance, into asmile, 'you do it so badly! English gentlemen, I used to hear, could befast friends, respectful, honest friends; could be companions,comforters, if the need arose, or champions, and yet never encroach. Donot seek to please me by copying the graces of my countrymen. Beyourself: the frank, kindly, honest English gentleman that I have heardof since my childhood and still longed to meet.'
Harry, much bewildered, and far from clear as to the manners of the Cubangentlemen, strenuously disclaimed the thought of plagiarism.
'Your national seriousness of bearing best becomes you, Senor,' said thelady. 'See!' marking a line with her dainty, slippered foot, 'thus farit shall
be common ground; there, at my window-sill, begins thescientific frontier. If you choose, you may drive me to my forts; butif, on the other hand, we are to be real English friends, I may join youhere when I am not too sad; or, when I am yet more graciously inclined,you may draw your chair beside the window and teach me English customs,while I work. You will find me an apt scholar, for my heart is in thetask.' She laid her hand lightly upon Harry's arm, and looked into hiseyes. 'Do you know,' said she, 'I am emboldened to believe that I havealready caught something of your English aplomb? Do you not perceive achange, Senor? Slight, perhaps, but still a change? Is my deportmentnot more open, more free, more like that of the dear "British Miss" thanwhen you saw me first?' She gave a radiant smile; withdrew her hand fromHarry's arm; and before the young man could formulate in words theeloquent emotions that ran riot through his brain--with an 'Adios, Senor:good-night, my English friend,' she vanished from his sight behind thecurtain.
The next day Harry consumed an ounce of tobacco in vain upon the neutralterrace; neither sight nor sound rewarded him, and the dinner-hoursummoned him at length from the scene of disappointment. On the next itrained; but nothing, neither business nor weather, neither prospectivepoverty nor present hardship, could now divert the young man from theservice of his lady; and wrapt in a long ulster, with the collar raised,he took his stand against the balustrade, awaiting fortune, the pictureof damp and discomfort to the eye, but glowing inwardly with tender anddelightful ardours. Presently the window opened, and the fair Cuban,with a smile imperfectly dissembled, appeared upon the sill.
'Come here,' she said, 'here, beside my window. The small verandah givesa belt of shelter.' And she graciously handed him a folding-chair.
As he sat down, visibly aglow with shyness and delight, a certainbulkiness in his pocket reminded him that he was not come empty-handed.
'I have taken the liberty,' said he, 'of bringing you a little book. Ithought of you, when I observed it on the stall, because I saw it was inSpanish. The man assured me it was by one of the best authors, and quiteproper.' As he spoke, he placed the little volume in her hand. Her eyesfell as she turned the pages, and a flush rose and died again upon hercheeks, as deep as it was fleeting. 'You are angry,' he cried in agony.'I have presumed.'
'No, Senor, it is not that,' returned the lady. 'I--' and a flood ofcolour once more mounted to her brow--'I am confused and ashamed becauseI have deceived you. Spanish,' she began, and paused--'Spanish is, ofcourse, my native tongue,' she resumed, as though suddenly takingcourage; 'and this should certainly put the highest value on yourthoughtful present; but alas, sir, of what use is it to me? And howshall I confess to you the truth--the humiliating truth--that I cannotread?'
As Harry's eyes met hers in undisguised amazement, the fair Cuban seemedto shrink before his gaze. 'Read?' repeated Harry. 'You!'
She pushed the window still more widely open with a large and noblegesture. 'Enter, Senor,' said she. 'The time has come to which I havelong looked forward, not without alarm; when I must either fear to loseyour friendship, or tell you without disguise the story of my life.'
It was with a sentiment bordering on devotion, that Harry passed thewindow. A semi-barbarous delight in form and colour had presided overthe studied disorder of the room in which he found himself. It wasfilled with dainty stuffs, furs and rugs and scarves of brilliant hues,and set with elegant and curious trifles-fans on the mantelshelf, anantique lamp upon a bracket, and on the table a silver-mounted bowl ofcocoa-nut about half full of unset jewels. The fair Cuban, herself a gemof colour and the fit masterpiece for that rich frame, motioned Harry toa seat, and sinking herself into another, thus began her history.
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