The Princess Passes Volume 56, Alice Muriel Williamson, Charles Norris Williamson [primary phonics txt] 📗

I Asked, Pausing. But The Boy

Hurried On. "No, No," He Said, "I Should Feel As If I Had Been Spying

On The Dead Through A Keyhole. I Want To Buy Something At The Shops."

 

"And I Want To See The Statue Of Horace De Saussure, The First Man Who

Ever Got To The Top Of Mont Blanc," Said I, With Reproachful Meaning

In My Tone.

 

The Shops Were Almost As Attractive As Those Of Lucerne, And Gave An

Air Of Modernity And Civilisation To The Little Place, Which Would

Have Been Out Of The Picture, Had It Not Contrived To Suggest The

Piquancy Of Contrast. The Boy Spent A Hundred Francs For A Silver

Chamois Poised Upon The Apex Of A Perilous Peak Of Uncut Amethysts,

Mounted On Ebony, And I Was Witty At The Expense Of His Purchase,

Likening It To The White Elephant Of Instantaneous Breakfasts Et Cie.,

Which I Had Long Ago Cast Behind Me.

 

"You Will Be Throwing Your Chamois Away In A Day Or Two," I

Prophesied, "Or Sending It Back To Our Landlord To Add To His

Collection Of Animals."

 

"You Will See That I Shan't Throw It Away," The Boy Returned, And

Insisted Upon Carrying The Parcel In His Hand, Instead Of Having It

Sent From The Shop To The Hotel. When We Had Learned Something Of The

Chapter 18 (Rank Tyranny) Pg 138

Town We Sauntered Homeward; And Seated In The _Vaste Parc_ With A

Novel And A Red Silk Parasol, We Found Gaetà. "Where Have You Been So

Early?" She Asked.

 

"To Find A Burnt-Offering For Your Shrine," Said The Boy; And Tearing

Off The White Wrappings, He Gave Her The Silver Chamois.

Chapter 19 (The Little Rift Within The Lute) Pg 139

"There Comes A Mist, And A Weeping Rain,

     And Nothing Is Ever The Same Again;

                                       Alas!"

                           --George Macdonald.

 

 

We Devoted Three Days To Some Exquisite Excursions, Which More Than

Half Consoled Me For Sacrificing Mont Blanc To Make A Tyrant's

Holiday, And Then Decided To Push On To Aix-Les-Bains, Stopping On The

Way For A Glimpse Of Annecy.

 

The Contessa Had Planned To Go From Chamounix To Aix By Rail With Her

Friends, But She Had Either Fallen In Love With Our Mode Of Travelling

Or Pretended It. A Hint To The Boy, And Fanny-Anny Was Placed At Her

Disposal For A Ride From Chamounix To Annecy, A Lady's Saddle Being

Easily Picked Up In A Town Of Shops Which Miss No Opportunities. As

For The Baron And Baronessa, It Was Plain To See The Drift Of Their

Minds. So Angry Were They At The Change Of Programme, That It Would

Have Been A Satisfaction To Quarrel With Gaetà, And Leave Her In A

Huff. But Their Devotion To Paolo, Which Was Almost Pathetic, Forbade

Them This Form Of Self-Indulgence. They Curbed Their Annoyance With

The Bit Of Common-Sense, Though It Galled Their Mouths, And Consented

To Drive To Annecy In A Carriage Provided By Gaetà For Their

Accommodation. They Even Constrained Themselves To Be Civil To The Boy

And Me, Though Their Heavy Politeness Had The Electrical Quality Of A

Lull Before A Storm. How That Storm Would Break I Could Not Foresee,

But That It Would Presently Burst Above Our Heads I Was Sure.

 

There Was No Longer A Question That Boy Was Hot Favourite In The Race

For Gaetà's Smiles. There Might Have Been Betting On Me For "Place,"

But It Would Have Been Foolish To Put Money On My Chances As Winner.

The Young Wretch Scarcely Gave Me A Chance For A Word With The

Contessa, For If I Walked On The Left He Walked On The Right Of Her As

She Rode, His Little Brown Hand On The New Saddle, Which Had Taken The

Place Of The Old One Sent On To Annecy By _Grande Vitesse_. I Would

Have Surrendered, Being Too Lazy For A Struggle, Had I Not Been

Somewhat Piqued By The Boy's Behaviour. He Had Affected Not To Care

Chapter 19 (The Little Rift Within The Lute) Pg 140

For Gaetà At First, And Had Even Feigned Annoyance At The Temporary

Addition To Our Party, While In Reality He Could Have Had Little

Genuine Wish For My Society, Or He Would Not Now Betray Such Eagerness

In The Game He Was Playing. The Vague Sense Of Wrong I Suffered Gave

Me A Wish For Reprisal Of Some Sort, And The Only One Convenient At

The Moment Was To Prevent The Offender From Having A Clear Course. I

Found A Certain Mean Pleasure In Stirring The Boy To Jealousy By

Reviving, When I Could, Some Half-Dead Ember Of Gaetà's Former

Interest In Me, And His Face Showed Sometimes That My Assiduity

Displeased Him.

 

This Was Encouragement To Persevere, And I Praised The Contessa To Him

When We Happened To Be Alone Together. "You Have A Short Memory It

Seems," Said He. "You Told Me Not So Long Ago That You'd Been In Love

With A Girl Who Jilted You. Have You Forgotten Her Already?"

 

I Winced Under This Thrust, But Hoped That The Boy Did Not See It.

His Stab Reminded Me That I Had Found Very Little Time Lately To

Regret Miss Blantock, Now Lady Jerveyson; And Molly Winston's Words

Recurred To Me: "If I Could Only Prove To You That You Aren't And

Never Have Been In Love With Helen." I Had Retorted That To Accomplish

This Would Be Difficult, And She Had Confidently Replied That She

Would Engage To Do It, If I Would "Take Her Prescription." I Had Taken

Her Prescription, And--Indisputably The Wound Had Become Callous,

Though I Was Not Prepared To Admit That It Had Healed. However, If I

Had Ceased Actively To Mourn The Grocer's Triumph, It Was Not Gaetà

Who Had Wrought The Magic Change. What Had Caused It I Was Myself At A

Loss To Understand, But I Did Not Wish To Argue The Matter With The

Boy. He Was Welcome To Think What He Chose.

 

"Hearts Are Caught In The Rebound Sometimes, If For Once A Proverb Can

Be Right," Said I Evasively; Though A Few Weeks Ago, When Molly Had

Been Constantly Alluding To Her Friend Mercédès, I Had Told Myself

That No One Could Achieve Such A Feat With Mine.

 

To This Suggestion The Boy Made No Response, Save To Tighten His Lips,

Resolving, I Supposed, That If Hearts Were Flying About Like

Shuttlecocks, His Battledore Should Be Ready To Catch The Contessa's.

 

Our Road From Chamounix To Annecy Led Us Past Gorges And Over High

Precipices And Among Noble Mountains, But My Mind Was No Longer In A

Condition To Receive Or Retain Strong Impressions Of Natural Beauty. I

Was Irritable And "Out Of Myself," Vainly Wishing Back The Days When

The Boy And I, Undisturbed By Feminine Society, Had Travelled

Tranquilly, Side By Side, Giving Each Other Thought For Thought.

 

    "Nothing Can Be As It Has Been;

     Better, So Call It, Only Not The Same,"

 

Browning Said; And So, I Feared, It Would Be After This With Me.

 

We Were All To Stay At Annecy For A Night And A Day, The Contessa

Having Announced That She And Her Friends Would Stop Too; Then Gaetà

Chapter 19 (The Little Rift Within The Lute) Pg 141

And The Others Were To Go On To Aix-Les-Bains By Rail, And The Boy And

I Were To Follow On Foot, Attended By Our Satellites. Later, We Were

To Spend A Few Days At The Contessa's Villa And Get Upon Our Way

Again, Journeying South. But It Did Not Seem To Me That My Little Pal

And I Would Ever Be As We Had Been Before, Even Though We Walked From

Aix-Les-Bains All The Way Down To The Riviera Shoulder To Shoulder. I

Had The Will To Be The Same, But He Was Different Now; And Though We

Left Gaetà In The Flesh At Her Villa, Entertaining Guests, Gaetà In

The Spirit Would Still Flit Between Us As We Went. The Boy Would Be

Thinking Of Her; I Should Know That He Was Thinking Of Her, And--There

Would Be An End Of Our Confidences.

 

The Way, Though Kaleidoscopic With Changing Beauties, Seemed Long To

Annecy. By The Time That We Arrived, After Two Days' Going, The

Contessa Had Eyes Or Dimples Or Laughter For No One But The Boy.

Sometimes He Was Seized With Sudden Moods Of Rebellion Against His New

Slavery, And Was Almost Rude To Her, Saying Things Which She Would Not

Have Forgiven Readily From Another, But The Child-Woman Appeared To

Find A Keen Delight In Forgiving Him. Seeing The Preference Bestowed

Upon The Young American, Paolo's Brother And Sister Were Inclined To

Make Common Cause With Me.

 

In The Garden Of The Old-Fashioned Hotel At Annecy Where We All Took

Up Our Headquarters, They Came And Encamped Beside Me, At A Table Near

Which I Sat Alone, Smoking, After Our First Dinner In The Place. A

Moment Later Gaetà Passed With The Boy, Pacing Slowly Under The

Interlacing Branches Of The Trees.

 

"I Believe That Youth To Be A Fortune-Hunter!" Exclaimed The Thin,

Dark Baron.

 

"You're Wrong There," Said I, "He's Very Rich."

 

"At All Events, It Is Ridiculous, This Flirtation," Exclaimed The

Plump Baronessa. "He Is A Mere Child. Gaetà Is Making A Fool Of

Herself. You Are Her Friend. You Should See This And Put A Stop To The

Affair In Some Way."

 

"As To That, Many Women Marry Men Younger Than Themselves," I Replied,

Willing To Tease The Lady, Though I Could Have Laughed Aloud At The

Bare Idea Of Marriage For The Boy. "Still," I Went On More

Consolingly, "I Hardly Think It Will Come To Anything Serious Between

Them."

 

"Ah, If You Say That, You Little Know Gaetà," Protested Gaetà's

Friend. "She