The Princess Passes Volume 56 by Alice Muriel Williamson, Charles Norris Williamson (great book club books .txt) 📕

Alone, And There Was Nobody To Introduce Us, No One To Tell Me Who She

Was, But The Beautiful Face As So Marvellously Like One I Knew, That

I Jumped Up Instantly. The Boy's Sister! She Must Have Come, With

Friends, And Be Looking For Him. Then, He Was Here, Or Would Be!

I Have A Vague Remembrance Of Treading On Several Trains As I Went To

Meet Her, Intending To Introduce Myself, As Her Brother Had Not

Arrived. The Restaurant Seemed Suddenly To Have Become A Mile Long,

And She Was At The Other End Of It. So Was I, At Last, Holding Out My

Hand To The White Girl With A Large Black Hat, And Diamond Pins

Winking In The Curly Chestnut Hair Which They Held In Place.

She Was So Astonishingly Like Him! Now That I Had Come Closer, The

Resemblance Was Incredible. The Hair; The Soft Oval Of The Little

Face; The Eyes--The Great, Star-Eyes!

I Forgot Everything But That One Figure, Lily-White, And Swaying Like

A Lily, As It Stood. Luckily, There Was No One Near To See, Or Think

Of Us. The Diners Dined, As If This Were An Ordinary Night, As If

There Might Be Other Such Nights Again.

"Who Are You?" I Said As If In A Dream.

A Wave Of Colour Swept Up From The Small, Firm Chin, To The Rings Of

Chestnut Hair. "I--Why, I'm The Boy's Sister," A Low Voice Stammered.

"He--Sent Me. I've A Letter From Him. My Friends Are Outside. They

Will Be Here Soon, But I--I Came. You Are--I Suppose You Are Man----"

"And I Know You Are Boy, Boy Himself. I Mean, He Never Was--For

Heaven's Sake Tell Me--But No, I Don't Need To Ask. I've Got My Little

Pal Back Again, That's All."

"Oh, If I'd Been Sure You Would Guess--If I Had Known You Would Talk

To Me Like This, I Should Not Have Dared To Come."

"Yes, You Would. For You Are Brave; And You Owed Me This."

"I'm Ashamed To Look You In The Face. What Must You Think Of Me?"

"Think? I'm Past Thinking. I'm Thanking The Gods. If I Could Think At

All It Would Be Of Myself, That I Was A Fool Not To--And Yet, _Was_ I

A Fool? You _Were_ A Boy Then. Even The Contessa----"

"Oh, Don't! Where Can We Sit? I Must Tell You Everything--Explain

Everything. I Can't Wait. In A Few Minutes Molly And Jack Will Come."

"Good Heavens!"

"Yes. Didn't You Guess? I'm The Perpetual

Mushroom,--Mercédès--Roy--Laurence. Oh, Man, Man, How Have I Dared

Everything--And Most Of All This Meeting? To Fight That Duel Would

Have Been Easier. I Think I Would Never Have Ventured After All, I

Would Have Stayed A Mushroom Always, And Let The Boy Be Buried And

Forgotten; But Molly Wouldn't Let Me."

"God Bless Molly."

I Suppose I Must Have Led Her To My Table, For At This Juncture We

Found Ourselves There.

"Will Monsieur Have Dinner Served?" Breathed A Voice Out Of The Hazy

Unrealities That Shut Us Two In Alone Together.

"Dinner By-And-Bye," I Heard Myself Murmuring, As One Brushes Away A

Buzzing Insect. "Yes,--Dinner By-And-Bye--For Four."

"Man," The Girl Began; And Then Was Silent.

"Little Pal," I Answered, And She Visibly Gathered Courage.

"You Know What A Great Blow I Had, And How It Made Me Very Ill," She

Went On. "It Was Molly Randolph Who Persuaded Me That A Complete

Change, And Living In The Open Air--The Open Air Of Other Countries

Where No One Knew Me Or My Troubles--Would Cure My Heart, And Mind,

Too."

(Oh, What A Molly! What Might She Not Do For This Sad, Bad, Mad Old

World, If She Would But Set Up For A Specialist In The Mind And Heart

Line!)

"She Didn't Help Me Make The Plan That--I Finally Carried Out. You

See, She Had To Be Married, And Whisked Off To England, When She Had

Half Finished My Cure. One Night When I Was Lying Awake, The Thought

Came To Me--Of A Thing I Might Do. It Fascinated Me. It Wouldn't Let

Me Get Away From It. At First, It Was Only A Fantastic Dream; But It

Took Shape, And Reality, Till It Was Able To Plead Its Own Cause And

Argue Its Own Advantages. A Girl Is Handicapped. She Can't Have

Adventures; She Must Have A Chaperon. A Boy Is Free. Besides--I Wanted

To Get Away From Men. As A Boy, I Could Take Molly's Advice, And

Travel, And Be A Regular Gipsy If I Liked.

"My Hair Had Been Cut Short When I Was Ill. That Made Me Feel As If

The Thing Really Was To Be. One Day I Sent Out And Bought Some--Some

Clothes, Ready Made, And Put Them On. That Settled It, For I Was Sure

No One Would Ever Know Me, Or The Truth. One Thing Suggested Another.

I Thought Of Travelling With A Caravan--Then I Changed My Mind To

Donkeys, And That Led To Innocentina. I'd Gone Out With Her Up Into

The Mountains, Donkey-Back, Every Day From Mentone Two Years Ago. She

Had Talked To Me About Aosta. Her Mother's People Came From There.

Always Since, I Had Wanted To Go. I Wrote Her. I Began To Make

Preparations For A Long Journey."

"You Got The Bag!" I Exclaimed.

"Oh, That Bag! I Should Have _Died_ If Any English-Speaking Person Had

Found It, And Read My Diary, Which Was To Be Used--Partly--As Notes

For A Book--If I Should Ever Write It. I Would Have Offered Even A

Bigger Reward, If You Had Let Me. But I Must Go On:--They Will

Come--Molly And Jack. I Went Out To Lucerne, Where Innocentina Joined

Me With The Donkeys; But It Wasn't Till We Were Away In The Wilds

That--That The Boy Appeared. I Didn't Mean To Visit Any Very Big Towns

Afterwards, For It Wasn't Civilisation I Wanted; But--You Came Into

The Story, And I Did Lots Of Things I Hadn't Meant To Do--Because Of

You, Man."

"And I Did Lots Of Things I Hadn't Meant To Do--Because Of You, Boy."

"It Was Doing Different Things From What I Planned That Worked All The

Mischief. If We Hadn't Gone To Aix, We Wouldn't Have Gone Up Mont

Revard; And If We Hadn't Gone Up Mont Revard, The Prince Wouldn't Have

Had To Vanish."

"If He Hadn't, Would The Princess Have Appeared--For Me? Or Would She

Always Have Been Passing--Passing--I Not Dreaming Of Her Presence,

Though She Was By My Side?"

"Who Can Tell? Each Event In Life Seems To Be Propped Up Against All

The Others, Like A Tower Of Children's Bricks. Anyway, We Did Go, And

Something Had Sent Up To The Snowy Top Of That Mountain In Savoie The

Very Last Man In The World--Except One--I Would Have Chosen To Meet.

It Was--_His_ Brother--The Younger Brother Of The Man I Had Found Out.

He Wasn't Sure Of Me, I Could Tell: For He Had Never Seen Me With My

Hair Short; And I Had Got So Thin, And My Face So Brown; But He

Suspected, And He Is A Gossiping Sort Of Fellow. If He Had Had A

Chance To See Me By Daylight, He Would Have Been Sure, And Then There

Would Be Some Wild Story Flashing All Over America. That Is Why I Ran

Away. But It Hurt Me To Leave You Like That, Man."

"It Cut Off All My Arms And Legs, And My Head, And Left Me Only A

Trunk," I Murmured.

"I Couldn't Think What Else To Do; Indeed, I Could Hardly Think At

All. But I Knew Molly And Jack Were Going To Chambéry To Spend A Day,

And I Thought I Might Catch Them There, If I Hurried. You See, Molly

And I Wrote To Each Other Sometimes, Though I Never Said A Word About

You. I Didn't Dream You'd Knew Them, Until One Day You Announced

Things You'd Said To Molly In A Letter, Which--Which--Well, Things

Which Would Need A Lot Of Explanation, Too Difficult For Black And

White."

"By Jove!" I Exclaimed. "Now I Know Where I'd Seen Your Handwriting

Before. It Was In A Letter Which Molly Dropped Almost On My Head, From

A Balcony At Martigny, And There Was A Photograph----"

"Oh, You Didn't See It?"

"That's What Molly Asked. I Satisfied Her That I Hadn't."

"Suppose You _Had_--Before You Met Me! But Never Mind. I Did Find Them

At Chambéry. They'd Just Arrived, And I Told Molly Everything."

"What Did She Say?"

"Oh, She Just Lent Me Some Of Her Clothes, And Said They'd Take Me

With Them In The Automobile, Out Of Danger's Way Until We Could Decide

On A Plan. I Bought The Thing You Call A 'Mushroom' In A Shop, And We

Were Starting Off Next Morning When--You Came Along. Well----"

"Well?"

"Molly And Jack Were In A Very Awkward Position: For I Had Said To

Molly That I Felt I Could Never Face You Again--_Never_, Anyhow, As

The Boy, And That _He_ Had Gone Out Of Your Life Irrevocably. There I

Sat In The Motor Car, And There Were You In The Street. You Can't

Imagine How I Felt. It Would Have Been Horrid For Them--Your Best

Friends--To Leave You Stranded, And--_I_ Didn't Want That Either. I

Couldn't Help Feeling There'd Be A Tremendous Fascination In Being So

Near You, With My Face Hidden, You Not Knowing, If Only The Strain Of

It Needn't Last Too Long; And Molly Just Cut The Gordian Knot Of The

Scrape, As She Always Does. She Assured Me That Being In The Same Car

Need Commit Me To _No_ Decision As To What I Would Do In The End.

But--You Remember How She Drew You Out, About Your Feeling For The

Boy, How You Missed Him, And How You Were Going All The Way Down To

Monte Carlo On The Bare Chance Of His Being There? Well, She Meant Me

To Hear Every Word, And I Did. After That--After That--I--_Couldn't_

Give You Up. I Don't Believe I Could, Anyway, When I'd Straightened

Things Out In My Mind. I'd Told You That You Would Never See The Boy

Again, And You Never Will; But Molly Said That Was No Reason Why You

Shouldn't See The Boy's Sister. I Wrote