The Man from Home by Harry Leon Wilson (book series to read .TXT) 📕
- Author: Harry Leon Wilson
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[making a deep curtsy]
Monseigneur!
[to ETHEL]
Not you! You see, I must fly to some place where an incognito will be respected. If I stay here it will be—what you call—fuss and [pg 160] feathers and revolutionary agents. I have come to make my adieu to your guardian. Incognito or out of it, he is my very good friend—no matter if he is an egoist.
An egoist! That is the last thing in the world he should be called.
Ah, so; what do you call him?
I? I call him—
[She begins bravely, but at a keen glance from him stops abruptly, blushing.]
Bravo! I call him an egoist because he is so content to be what he is he will not pretend to be something else! I respect your country in him, my dear young lady; and he cares nothing whether I am a king or a commoner. Everywhere the people bow and salaam half on their knees to me; but he—
No, I can't quite imagine him doing that.
[Enter PIKE from the grove, followed by IVANOFF.]
[to PIKE]
I have come to bid you goodbye, my friend. Life is a service of farewells, they say; but if you ever come to St. Petersburg when I am there you will be made welcome. Your ambassador will tell you where to find me.[pg 161]
I know I'd be welcome; and if you ever get out as far as Indiana, don't miss Kokomo—the depot hackman will tell you where to find me, and the boys will help me show you a good time. You'd like it, Doc—
[He stops, horrified at his slip of the tongue.]
I know that.
I don't know how to call you by name, but I reckon you'll understand I do think an awful lot of you.
[as they shake hands]
My friend, I have confided to you that you are a great man. But a great man is sure to be set upon a pedestal by some pretty lady.
[ETHEL turns away.]
It is a great responsibility to occupy a pedestal. On that account I depart in some anxiety for you.
What do you mean?
Ah, you do not understand? Then, my friend—what is it you have taught me to say?—ah, yes—then there is sand in your gear-box.
[VASILI gives his hand to IVANOFF quietly, bows deeply to ETHEL, and goes quickly into the hotel.]
[turning to ETHEL]
Dear, kind young lady, your guardian has known how to make me accept [pg 162] the help you granted. He has known how because his heart is like yours, full of goodness. I shall go to London and teach the languages. There I shall be able to repay you—at least what you have given me in money.
Professor Ivanoff, are you following Lord Hawcastle and your wife?
My wife exists no longer for me.
But Lord Hawcastle? Do you mean to follow him?
[with great feeling]
No, no, no! I could not hurt his body—I could not. The suffering of a man is here—here! What is it he has of most value in this world? It is that name of his. Except for that, he is poor, and that I shall destroy. He shall not go in his clubs; he shall not go among his own class, and in the streets they will point at him. His story and mine shall be made—ah, but too well known! And that name of which he and all his family have been so proud, it shall be disgrace and dishonor to bear.
[sadly]
Already it is that.
But I forget myself. I talk so ugly.
It is not in my heart to blame you. Your wrongs have given you the right.
[kissing her hand]
God bless you always!
"MY FRIEND, THERE IS SAND IN YOUR GEAR-BOX"
"MY FRIEND, THERE IS SAND IN YOUR GEAR-BOX"
[pg 163][He takes PIKE'S hand, tries to speak, but chokes up and cannot. He goes into the hotel.]
There are some good people over here, aren't there?
When you're home again I hope you will remember them.
I will.
And I hope you will forget everything I've ever said.
Somehow it doesn't seem as if I very likely would.
[coming toward him]
Oh yes, you will! All those unkind things I've said to you—
Oh, I'll forget those easy!
[going on eagerly, but almost tearfully]
And the other things, too, when you're once more among your kind, good home folks you like so well—and probably there's one among them that you'll be so glad to get back to you'll hardly know you've been away—an unworldly girl—
[she falters]
—one that doesn't need to be cured—oh! of all sorts of follies—a kind girl, one who's been always sweet to you.
[Turns away from him.]
I can see her—she wears a white muslin and waits by the gate for you at twilight
[turns to him again]
—isn't she like that?[pg 164]
[shaking his head gravely]
No; not like that.
But there is some one there?—some one that you've cared for?
[sadly]
Well, she's only been there in a way. I've had her picture on my desk for a good while. Sometimes when I go home in the evening she kind of seems to be there. I bought a homey old house up on Main Street, you know; it's the house you were born in. It's kind of lonesome sometimes, and then I get to thinking that she's there, sitting at an old piano, that used to be my mother's, and singing to me—
[smiling sorrowfully]
Singing "Sweet Genevieve"?
Yes—that's my favorite. But then I come to and I find it ain't so, no voice comes to me, and I find there ain't anybody but me,
[swallows painfully]
and it's so foolish that even Jim Cooley can write me letters making fun of it!
You'll find her some day—you'll find some one to fulfil that vision—and I shall think of you in your old house among the beech-trees. I shall think of you often with her, listening to her voice in the twilight. And I shall be far away from that sensible, kindly life—keeping the promise that I have made,
[falters]
and living out—my destiny.[pg 165]
[gravely]
What destiny?
I am bound to Almeric in his misfortune, I am bound to him by his misfortune.
[She goes on with a sorrowful eagerness.]
He has to bear a name that will be a by-word of disgrace, and it is my duty to help him bear it, to help him make it honorable again; to inspire him in the struggle that lies before him to rise above it by his own efforts, to make a career for himself; to make the world forget the disgrace of his father in his own triumphs—in the product of his own work—
[aghast]
Work!
Oh, I am all American to-day. No matter how humbly he begins, it will be a beginning, and no matter what it costs me I must be by his side helping him, with all my energy and strength. Can you challenge that? Isn't it true?
I can't deny it—that's what any good and brave woman ought to feel.
And since it has to be done, it must be done at once. I haven't seen Almeric since last night; I must see him now.
[grimly]
He's not here just now.
[HORACE enters; stands in the doorway unobserved, listening.][pg 166]
I've shirked facing him to-day. He has always been so light and gay, I have dreaded to see him bending under this blow, shamed and overcome. Now it is my duty to see him, to show him how he can hold up his head in spite of it!
I agree, it's your duty—
[eagerly, but tremulously]
That means that you—as my guardian—think I am right?
I agree to it, I said.
[excited]
Then that must mean that you consent—
It does—I give my consent to your marriage.
[shocked and frightened]
You do?
I place it in your hands.
[vehemently interrupting]
I protest against this. She's talking like a romantic schoolgirl. And I for one won't bear it—and I won't allow it!
Too late—he's consented.
[With a half-choked, sudden sob she runs into the hotel.]
[turning furiously on PIKE]
I tell you I shall not permit her to throw herself away!
Look here, who's the guardian of this girl?
A magnificent guardian you are! You [pg 167] came here to protect
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