- 9 лет ago
- Published в: Last winner ethereum
- 2
- Автор: Tebei
A few hundred steps more brought me to the foot of the steep ascent, where I had counted on overtaking her. I was too late for that, but the dry, baked soil had surely been crumbled and dislodged, here and there, by a rapid foot. I followed, in reckless haste, snatching at the laurel-branches right and left, and paying little heed to my footing. About one third of the way up I slipped, fell, caught a bush which snapped at the root, slid, whirled over, and before I fairly knew what had happened, I was lying doubled up at the bottom of the slope.
I rose, made two steps forward, and then sat down with a groan of pain; my left ankle was badly sprained, in addition to various minor scratches and bruises. There was a revulsion of feeling, of course,—instant, complete, and hideous.
I fairly hated the Unknown. But, no! I dared not sit still, lest a sun-stroke should be added, and there was no resource but to hop or crawl down the rugged path, in the hope of finding a forked sapling from which I could extemporize a crutch. With endless pain and trouble I reached a thicket, and was feebly working on a branch with my penknife, when the sound of a heavy footstep surprised me.
A brown harvest-hand, in straw hat and shirtsleeves, presently appeared. He grinned when he saw me, and the thick snub of his nose would have seemed like a sneer at any other time. I was binding oats, in the field over the ridge; but I haven't lost no time in comin' here. Then, taking me by the other arm, he set me in motion toward the village. Grateful as I was for the man's help, he aggravated me by his ignorance.
When I asked if he knew the lady, he answered: "It's more'n likely you know her better. Down from the hill, he guessed, but it might ha' been up the road. How did she look? There, now, I was too much for him. When a woman kept one o' them speckled veils over her face, turned her head away and held her parasol between, how were you to know her from Adam? I declare to you, I couldn't arrive at one positive particular. Even when he affirmed that she was tall, he added, the next instant: "Now I come to think on it, she stepped mighty quick; so I guess she must ha' been short.
I was glad to escape the worry of questions, and the conventional sympathy expressed in inflections of the voice which are meant to soothe, and only exasperate. The next morning, as I lay upon my sofa, restful, patient, and properly cheerful, the waiter entered with a bouquet of wild flowers. Maybe there's a card; yes, here's a bit o' paper.
Fool, again! I noiselessly kissed, while pretending to smell them, had them placed on a stand within reach, and fell into a state of quiet and agreeable contemplation. Tell me, yourself, whether any male human being is ever too old for sentiment, provided that it strikes him at the right time and in the right way! What did that bunch of wild flowers betoken? Knowledge, first; then, sympathy; and finally, encouragement, at least.
Of course she had seen my accident, from above; of course she had sent the harvest laborer to aid me home. It was quite natural she should imagine some special romantic interest in the lonely dell, on my part, and the gift took additional value from her conjecture.
Four days afterward there was a hop in the large dining-room of the hotel. Early in the morning a fresh bouquet had been left at my door. I was tired of my enforced idleness, eager to discover the fair unknown she was again fair, to my fancy! The fact was, the sympathy was much too general and effusive.
Everybody, it seemed, came to me with kindly greetings; seats were vacated at my approach, even fat Mrs. Huxter insisting on my taking her warm place, at the head of the room. But Bob Leroy—you know him—as gallant a gentleman as ever lived, put me down at the right point, and kept me there. He only meant to divert me, yet gave me the only place where I could quietly inspect all the younger ladies, as dance or supper brought them near.
One of the dances was an old-fashioned cotillon, and one of the figures, the "coquette," brought every one, in turn, before me. I received a pleasant word or two from those whom I knew, and a long, kind, silent glance from Miss May Danvers. Where had been my eyes? She was tall, stately, twenty-five, had large dark eyes, and long dark lashes! Again the changes of the dance brought her near me; I threw or strove to throw unutterable meanings into my eyes, and cast them upon hers.
She seemed startled, looked suddenly away, looked back to me, and—blushed. I knew her for what is called "a nice girl"—that is, tolerably frank, gently feminine, and not dangerously intelligent. Was it possible that I had overlooked so much character and intellect?
As the cotillon closed, she was again in my neighborhood, and her partner led her in my direction. I was rising painfully from my chair, when Bob Leroy pushed me down again, whisked another seat from somewhere, planted it at my side, and there she was!
She knew who was her neighbor, I plainly saw; but instead of turning toward me, she began to fan herself in a nervous way and to fidget with the buttons of her gloves. I grew impatient. Then she turned, with wide, astonished eyes, coloring softly up to the roots of her hair. My heart gave a sudden leap. I was then quite sure. She cut me short by rising from her seat; I felt that she was both angry and alarmed. Fisher, of Philadelphia, jostling right and left in his haste, made his way toward her.
She fairly snatched his arm, clung to it with a warmth I had never seen expressed in a ball-room, and began to whisper in his ear. It was not five minutes before he came to me, alone, with a very stern face, bent down, and said: "If you have discovered our secret, you will keep silent. You are certainly a gentleman. There was a draft from the open window; my ankle became suddenly weary and painful, and I went to bed. Can you believe that I didn't guess, immediately, what it all meant?
In a vague way, I fancied that I had been premature in my attempt to drop our mutual incognito, and that Fisher, a rival lover, was jealous of me. This was rather flattering than otherwise; but when I limped down to the ladies' parlor, the next day, no Miss Danvers was to be seen. I did not venture to ask for her; it might seem importunate, and a woman of so much hidden capacity was evidently not to be wooed in the ordinary way. So another night passed by; and then, with the morning, came a letter which made me feel, at the same instant, like a fool and a hero.
It had been dropped in the Wampsocket post-office, was legibly addressed to me, and delivered with some other letters which had arrived by the night mail. Here it is; listen! In a day or two more you will discover your mistake, which, so far as I can learn, has done no particular harm.
If you wish to find me, there is only one way to seek me; should I tell you what it is, I should run the risk of losing you,—that is, I should preclude the manifestation of a certain quality which I hope to find in the man who may—or, rather, must—be my friend. This sounds enigmatical, yet you have read enough of my nature, as written in these random notes in my sketch-book, to guess, at least, how much I require. Only this let me add: mere guessing is useless.
If you find me, I shall be justified; if not, I shall hardly need to blush, even to myself, over a futile experiment. This may be the end; if so, I shall know it soon. I shall also know whether you continue to seek me. Trusting in your honor as a man, I must ask you to trust in mine, as a woman.
There had been a secret betrothal between Fisher and Miss Danvers; and singularly enough, the momentous question and answer had been given in the very ravine leading to my upper dell! The two meant to keep the matter to themselves, but therein, it seems, I thwarted them; there was a little opposition on the part of their respective families, but all was amicably settled before I left Wampsocket.
The letter made a very deep impression upon me. What was the one way to find her? What could it be but the triumph that follows ambitious toil—the manifestation of all my best qualities, as a man? Be she old or young, plain or beautiful, I reflected, hers is surely a nature worth knowing, and its candid intelligence conceals no hazards for me.
I have sought her rashly, blundered, betrayed that I set her lower, in my thoughts, than her actual self: let me now adopt the opposite course, seek her openly no longer, go back to my tasks, and, following my own aims vigorously and cheerfully, restore that respect which she seemed to be on the point of losing. For, consciously or not, she had communicated to me a doubt, implied in the very expression of her own strength and pride.
She had meant to address me as an equal, yet, despite herself, took a stand a little above that which she accorded to me. I came back to New York earlier than usual, worked steadily at my profession and with increasing success, and began to accept opportunities which I had previously declined of making myself personally known to the great, impressible, fickle, tyrannical public.
One or two of my speeches in the hall of the Cooper Institute, on various occasions—as you may perhaps remember—gave me a good headway with the party, and were the chief cause of my nomination for the State office which I still hold. There, on the table, lies a resignation, written to-day, but not yet signed. We'll talk of it afterwards. Several months passed by, and no further letter reached me. I gave up much of my time to society, moved familiarly in more than one province of the kingdom here, and vastly extended my acquaintance, especially among the women; but not one of them betrayed the mysterious something or other—really I can't explain precisely what it was!
In fact, the more I endeavored quietly to study the sex, the more confused I became. At last I was subjected to the usual onslaught from the strong-minded. A small but formidable committee entered my office one morning and demanded a categorical declaration of my principles. What my views on the subject were, I knew very well; they were clear and decided; and yet, I hesitated to declare them!
It wasn't a temptation of Saint Anthony—that is, turned the other way—and the belligerent attitude of the dames did not alarm me in the least; but she! What was her position? How could I best please her? It flashed upon my mind, while Mrs.
So, I strove to be courteous, friendly, and agreeably non-committal; begged for further documents, and promised to reply by letter, in a few days. I was hardly surprised to find the well-known hand on the envelope of a letter, shortly afterwards. I held it for a minute in my palm, with an absurd hope that I might sympathetically feel its character, before breaking the seal.
Then I read it with a great sense of relief. It is not opinion in action, but opinion in a state of idleness or indifference, which repels me. I am deeply glad that you have gained so much since you left the country. If, in shaping your course, you have thought of me, I will frankly say that, to that extent, you have drawn nearer.
Am I mistaken in conjecturing that you wish to know my relation to the movement concerning which you were recently interrogated? In this, as in other instances which may come, I must beg you to consider me only as a spectator. The more my own views may seem likely to sway your action, the less I shall be inclined to declare them. If you find this cold or unwomanly, remember that it is not easy!
I felt that I had certainly drawn much nearer to her. And from this time on, her imaginary face and form became other than they were. She was twenty-eight—three years older; a very little above the middle height, but not tall; serene, rather than stately, in her movements; with a calm, almost grave face, relieved by the sweetness of the full, firm lips; and finally eyes of pure, limpid gray, such as we fancy belonged to the Venus of Milo.
I found her, thus, much more attractive than with the dark eyes and lashes—but she did not make her appearance in the circles which I frequented. Another year slipped away. As an official personage, my importance increased, but I was careful not to exaggerate it to myself. Many have wondered perhaps you among the rest at my success, seeing that I possess no remarkable abilities.
If I have any secret, it is simply this—doing faithfully, with all my might, whatever I undertake. Nine tenths of our politicians become inflated and careless, after the first few years, and are easily forgotten when they once lose place. I am a little surprised, now, that I had so much patience with the Unknown.
I was too important, at least, to be played with; too mature to be subjected to a longer test; too earnest, as I had proved, to be doubted, or thrown aside without a further explanation. Growing tired, at last, of silent waiting, I bethought me of advertising. A carefully-written "Personal," in which Ignotus informed Ignota of the necessity of his communicating with her, appeared simultaneously in the Tribune, Herald, World, and Times. I renewed the advertisement as the time expired without an answer, and I think it was about the end of the third week before one came, through the post, as before.
Ah, yes! I had forgotten. I don't know why the printed slip should give me a particular feeling of humiliation as I look at it, but such is the fact. What she wrote is all I need read to you: "I could not, at first, be certain that this was meant for me. If I were to explain to you why I have not written for so long a time, I might give you one of the few clews which I insist on keeping in my own hands.
In your public capacity, you have been so far as a woman may judge upright, independent, wholly manly: in your relations with other men I learn nothing of you that is not honorable: toward women you are kind, chivalrous, no doubt, overflowing with the usual social refinements, but—Here, again, I run hard upon the absolute necessity of silence.
The way to me, if you care to traverse it, is so simple, so very simple! Yet, after what I have written, I cannot even wave my hand in the direction of it, without certain self-contempt. When I feel free to tell you, we shall draw apart and remain unknown forever. I do not prohibit it.
I have heretofore made no arrangement for hearing from you, in turn, because I could not discover that any advantage would accrue from it. But it seems only fair, I confess, and you dare not think me capricious. So, three days hence, at six o'clock in the evening, a trusty messenger of mine will call at your door. If you have anything to give her for me, the act of giving it must be the sign of a compact on your part, that you will allow her to leave immediately, unquestioned and unfollowed.
Well—that's a melancholy encouragement. Neither did I, at the time: it was plain that I had disappointed her in some way, and my intercourse with, or manner toward, women, had something to do with it. In vain I ran over as much of my later social life as I could recall. There had been no special attention, nothing to mislead a susceptible heart; on the other side, certainly no rudeness, no want of "chivalrous" she used the word! What, in the name of all the gods, was the matter?
In spite of all my efforts to grow clearer, I was obliged to write my letter in a rather muddled state of mind. I had so much to say! Rather, it is an alternative quarter with a faint flair of Amsterdam , with lots of street art, concert venues, and many international restaurants.
Le Marais is a cool, kind of hipster, neighborhood in Paris. There are a few popular stores in Le Marais that are worth checking out. Le BHV Marais is a luxury department store, and Merci is a super-trendy interiors concept store with amazing home goods. Otherwise, the best way to explore Le Marais is to stay off the main busy streets and get lost exploring the backstreets, searching for small independent and designer shops.
Avoid the main shopping street by the train station. At the main entrance to the garden is the Palais du Luxembourg, a palace where the French Senate meets. Notable features of the garden include a large basin where you can rent toy sailboats, cultivated flower beds, over statues situated throughout the garden, and the beautiful Medici Fountain.
There are some grassy areas or lots of park chairs throughout the garden to relax in. The park is popular with runners, especially during the early morning hours, and from midday on it is popular with locals and tourists alike, who enjoy a pleasant oasis where you can enjoy a picnic and spend time with family and friends. There is a cafe and a few stalls selling food and drink. The garden is free to the public and is open from roughly dawn to dusk.
Located in the 4th arrondissement, this tiny island lies in the middle of the Seine and is connected to the Left and Right banks by five bridges. The basilica was constructed in the year and has an interesting architectural style, including a lot of Romano-Byzantine elements. Because of that, you are treated to a wonderful view of Paris when visiting. You can also climb to the top of the basilica for an even better view of Paris.
If you take the steps, make sure to look for the famous sinking house on the right when you get near the top! The sinking house in Montmartre Immerse yourself in the City of Lights on a Paris Walking Tour Contributed by Jolayne from simplyjolayne Many Paris walking tours end at the Eiffel Tower Photo by Jolayne from simplyjolayne Whether this is your first time visiting Paris or your tenth, there is nothing like a walking tour through Paris to immerse yourself in the City of Lights and understand history as it comes to life.
The Wego Walking Paris tour highlights world-famous and iconic Parisian sights. Your guide is not only knowledgeable but personable and creates a fun-filled walking tour that is perfect for the whole family. Be sure to put on your walking shoes as you will be exploring throughout the city. You must book in advance as the tours fill quickly. This beautiful 17th century landscaped garden is located alongside the River Seine and next to the Louvre. Book your tickets online in advance to avoid the queues.
There are several cafes within the Jardin Des Tuileries, but if you are on a budget, head to one of the bakeries or shops on the outskirts of the park first and bring your own picnic to enjoy in beautiful surroundings. This iconic English bookstore opened in and has been a meeting place for English-speaking writers and readers since that time.
Originally called Le Mistral, the building the shop is located in was a monastery during the 17th century, but there is little of the monastery that remains today. Within the shop, you will find an eclectic mix of books, maps, and prints including fabulous guides to the castles of the Loire Valley , books on Parisian life and history, the wines of France, WWII history, and much more.
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