But we must be off. A delightful evening, cousin Anne; a
delightful evening, Howard. I feel quite rejuvenated--such a lot to
ponder over."
Howard went to the door to see them off, and was rewarded by a
parting smile from Maud, which made him feel curiously elated. He
went back to the drawing-room with that faint feeling of flatness
which comes of parting with lively guests; and yet it somehow gave
him a pleasant sense of being at home.
"Well," said Mrs. Graves, "so now you have seen the Sandys
interior. Dear Frank, how he does chatter, to be sure! but he is
all alive too in his own way, and that is what matters. What did
you think of Maud? I want you to like her--she is a great friend of
mine, and really a fine creature. Not very happy just now, perhaps.
But while dear old Frank never sees past the outside of things--
what a lot of things he does see!--she sees inside, I think. But I
am tired to death. I always feel after talking to Frank as if I had
been driving in a dog-cart over a ploughed field!"
VII
COUNTRY LIFE
Howard woke early, after sweet and wild dreams of great landscapes
and rich adventures; as his thoughts took shape, he began to feel
as if he had passed some boundary yesterday; escaped, as a child
escapes from a familiar garden into great vague woodlands. There
was his talk with Mrs. Graves first--that had opened up for him a
new region, indeed, of the mind and soul, and had revealed to him
an old force, perhaps long within his grasp, but which he had never
tried to use or wield.
Pages:
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83