The Woodlanders Part 2 by Thomas Hardy (best romantic books to read txt) 📕

Winterborne'S House Had Been Pulled down.  On This Account His

Face Had Been Seen But Fitfully In hintock; And He Would Probably

Have Disappeared from The Place Altogether But For His Slight

Business Connection With Melbury,  On Whose Premises Giles Kept His

Cider-Making apparatus,  Now That He Had No Place Of His Own To

Stow It In.  Coming here One Evening on His Way To A Hut Beyond

The Wood Where He Now Slept,  He Noticed that The Familiar Brown-

Thatched pinion Of His Paternal Roof Had Vanished from Its Site,

And That The Walls Were Levelled.  In present Circumstances He Had

A Feeling for The Spot That Might Have Been Called morbid,  And

When He Had Supped in the Hut Aforesaid He Made Use Of The Spare

Hour Before Bedtime To Return To Little Hintock In the Twilight

And Ramble Over The Patch Of Ground On Which He Had First Seen The

Day.

He Repeated this Evening visit On Several Like Occasions.  Even In

The Gloom He Could Trace Where The Different Rooms Had Stood;

Could Mark The Shape Of The Kitchen Chimney-Corner,  In which He

Had Roasted apples And Potatoes In his Boyhood,  Cast His Bullets,

And Burned his Initials On Articles That Did And Did Not Belong To

Him.  The Apple-Trees Still Remained to Show Where The Garden Had

Been,  The Oldest Of Them Even Now Retaining the Crippled slant To

North-East Given Them By The Great November Gale Of 1824,  Which

Carried a Brig Bodily Over The Chesil Bank.  They Were At Present

Bent To Still Greater Obliquity By The Heaviness Of Their Produce.

Apples Bobbed against His Head,  And In the Grass Beneath He

Crunched scores Of Them As He Walked.  There Was Nobody To Gather

Them Now.

It Was On The Evening under Notice That,  Half Sitting,  Half

Leaning against One Of These Inclined trunks,  Winterborne Had

Become Lost In his Thoughts,  As Usual,  Till One Little Star After

Another Had Taken Up A Position In the Piece Of Sky Which Now

Confronted him Where His Walls And Chimneys Had Formerly Raised

Their Outlines.  The House Had Jutted awkwardly Into The Road,  And

The Opening caused by Its Absence Was Very Distinct.

In The Silence The Trot Of Horses And The Spin Of Carriage-Wheels

Became Audible; And The Vehicle Soon Shaped itself Against The

Blank Sky,  Bearing down Upon Him With The Bend In the Lane Which

Here Occurred,  And Of Which The House Had Been The Cause.  He

Could Discern The Figure Of A Woman High Up On The Driving-Seat Of

A Phaeton,  A Groom Being just Visible Behind.  Presently There Was

A Slight Scrape,  Then A Scream.  Winterborne Went Across To The

Spot,  And Found The Phaeton Half Overturned,  Its Driver Sitting on

The Heap Of Rubbish Which Had Once Been His Dwelling,  And The Man

Seizing the Horses' Heads.  The Equipage Was Mrs. Charmond'S,  And

The Unseated charioteer That Lady Herself.

To His Inquiry If She Were Hurt She Made Some Incoherent Reply To

The Effect That She Did Not Know.  The Damage In other Respects

Was Little Or None: The Phaeton Was Righted,  Mrs. Charmond Placed

In It,  And The Reins Given To The Servant.  It Appeared that She

Had Been Deceived by The Removal Of The House,  Imagining the Gap

Caused by The Demolition To Be The Opening of The Road,  So That

She Turned in upon The Ruins Instead Of At The Bend A Few Yards

Farther On.

"Drive Home--Drive Home!" Cried the Lady,  Impatiently; And They

Started on Their Way.  They Had Not,  However,  Gone Many Paces

When,  The Air Being still,  Winterborne Heard Her Say "Stop; Tell

That Man To Call The Doctor--Mr. Fitzpiers--And Send Him On To The

House.  I Find I Am Hurt More Seriously Than I Thought."

Winterborne Took The Message From The Groom And Proceeded to The

Doctor'S At Once.  Having delivered it,  He Stepped back Into The

Darkness,  And Waited till He Had Seen Fitzpiers Leave The Door.

He Stood For A Few Minutes Looking at The Window Which By Its

Light Revealed the Room Where Grace Was Sitting,  And Went Away

Under The Gloomy Trees.

Fitzpiers Duly Arrived at Hintock House,  Whose Doors He Now Saw

Open For The First Time.  Contrary To His Expectation There Was

Visible No Sign Of That Confusion Or Alarm Which A Serious

Accident To The Mistress Of The Abode Would Have Occasioned.  He

Was Shown Into A Room At The Top Of The Staircase,  Cosily And

Femininely Draped,  Where,  By The Light Of The Shaded lamp,  He Saw

A Woman Of Full Round Figure Reclining upon A Couch In such A

Position As Not To Disturb A Pile Of Magnificent Hair On The Crown

Of Her Head.  A Deep Purple Dressing-Gown Formed an Admirable Foil

To The Peculiarly Rich Brown Of Her Hair-Plaits; Her Left Arm,

Which Was Naked nearly Up To The Shoulder,  Was Thrown Upward,  And

Between The Fingers Of Her Right Hand She Held A Cigarette,  While

She Idly Breathed from Her Plump Lips A Thin Stream Of Smoke

Towards The Ceiling.

The Doctor'S First Feeling was A Sense Of His Exaggerated

Prevision In having brought Appliances For A Serious Case; The

Next,  Something more Curious.  While The Scene And The Moment Were

New To Him And Unanticipated,  The Sentiment And Essence Of The

Moment Were Indescribably Familiar.  What Could Be The Cause Of

It? Probably A Dream.

Mrs. Charmond Did Not Move More Than To Raise Her Eyes To Him,  And

He Came And Stood By Her.  She Glanced up At His Face Across Her

Brows And Forehead,  And Then He Observed a Blush Creep Slowly Over

Her Decidedly Handsome Cheeks.  Her Eyes,  Which Had Lingered upon

Him With An Inquiring,  Conscious Expression,  Were Hastily

Withdrawn,  And She Mechanically Applied the Cigarette Again To Her

Lips.

For A Moment He Forgot His Errand,  Till Suddenly Arousing himself

He Addressed her,  Formally Condoled with Her,  And Made The Usual

Professional Inquiries About What Had Happened to Her,  And Where

She Was Hurt.

"That'S What I Want You To Tell Me," She Murmured,  In tones Of

Indefinable Reserve.  "I Quite Believe In you,  For I Know You Are

Very Accomplished,  Because You Study So Hard."

"I'Ll Do My Best To Justify Your Good Opinion," Said The Young

Man,  Bowing.  "And None The Less That I Am Happy To Find The

Accident Has Not Been Serious."

"I Am Very Much Shaken," She Said.

"Oh Yes," He Replied; And Completed his Examination,  Which

Convinced him That There Was Really Nothing the Matter With Her,

And More Than Ever Puzzled him As To Why He Had Been Fetched,

Since She Did Not Appear To Be A Timid Woman.  "You Must Rest A

While,  And I'Ll Send Something," He Said.

"Oh,  I Forgot," She Returned.  "Look Here." And She Showed him A

Little Scrape On Her Arm--The Full Round Arm That Was Exposed.

"Put Some Court-Plaster On That,  Please."

He Obeyed.  "And Now," She Said,  "Before You Go I Want To Put A

Question To You.  Sit Round There In front Of Me,  On That Low

Chair,  And Bring the Candles,  Or One,  To The Little Table.  Do You

Smoke? Yes? That'S Right--I Am Learning.  Take One Of These; And

Here'S A Light." She Threw A Matchbox Across.

Fitzpiers Caught It,  And Having lit Up,  Regarded her From His New

Position,  Which,  With The Shifting of The Candles,  For The First

Time Afforded him A Full View Of Her Face.  "How Many Years Have

Passed since First We Met!" She Resumed,  In a Voice Which She

Mainly Endeavored to Maintain At Its Former Pitch Of Composure,

And Eying him With Daring bashfulness.

"We Met,  Do You Say?"

She Nodded.  "I Saw You Recently At An Hotel In london,  When You

Were Passing through,  I Suppose,  With Your Bride,  And I Recognized

You As One I Had Met In my Girlhood.  Do You Remember,  When You

Were Studying at Heidelberg,  An English Family That Was Staying

There,  Who Used to Walk--"

"And The Young Lady Who Wore A Long Tail Of Rare-Colored hair--Ah,

I See It Before My Eyes!--Who Lost Her Gloves On The Great

Terrace--Who Was Going back In the Dusk To Find Them--To Whom I

Said,  'I'Ll Go For Them,' And You Said,  'Oh,  They Are Not Worth

Coming all The Way Up Again For.' I Do Remember,  And How Very Long

We Stayed talking there! I Went Next Morning while The Dew Was On

The Grass: There They Lay--The Little Fingers Sticking out Damp

And Thin.  I See Them Now! I Picked them Up,  And Then--"

"Well?"

"I Kissed them," He Rejoined,  Rather Shamefacedly.

"I Always Am Sad When I Come Here," She Said,  Dropping to A Low

Tone With A Sense Of Having been Too Demonstrative.

"Then May I Inquire Why You Came?"

"A Man Brought Me.  Women Are Always Carried about Like Corks Upon

The Waves Of Masculine Desires....I Hope I Have Not Alarmed you;

But Hintock Has The Curious Effect Of Bottling up The Emotions

Till One Can No Longer Hold Them; I Am Often Obliged to Fly Away

And Discharge My Sentiments Somewhere,  Or I Should Die Outright."

"There Is Very Good Society In the County For Those Who Have The

Privilege Of Entering it."

"Perhaps So.  But The Misery Of Remote Country Life Is That Your

Neighbors Have No Toleration For Difference Of Opinion And Habit.

My Neighbors Think I Am An Atheist,  Except Those Who Think I Am A

Roman Catholic; And When I Speak Disrespectfully Of The Weather Or

The Crops They Think I Am A Blasphemer."

She Broke Into A Low Musical Laugh At The Idea.

"You Don'T Wish Me To Stay Any Longer?" He Inquired,  When He Found

That She Remained musing.

"No--I Think Not."

"Then Tell Me That I Am To Be Gone."

"Why? Cannot You Go Without?"

"I May Consult My Own Feelings Only,  If Left To Myself."

"Well,  If You Do,  What Then? Do You Suppose You'Ll Be In my Way?"

"I Feared it Might Be So."

"Then Fear No More.  But Good-Night.  Come To-Morrow And See If I

Am Going on Right.  This Renewal Of Acquaintance Touches Me.  I

Have Already A Friendship For You."

"If It Depends Upon Myself It Shall Last Forever."

"My Best Hopes That It May.  Good-By."

Fitzpiers Went Down The Stairs Absolutely Unable To Decide