The Little Lady of the Big House / Маленькая хозяйка большого дома. Книга для чтения на английском языке

She denied Dar Hyal’s statement that woman was nature’s failure to make a man; but again and again came to her Wilde’s, “Woman attacks by sudden and strange surrenders.” Had she so attacked Graham? she asked herself. Sudden and strange, to her, were the surrenders she had already made. Were there to be more? He wanted to go. With her, or without her, he wanted to go. But she held him – how? Was there a tacit promise of surrenders to come? And she would laugh away further consideration, confine herself to the fleeting present, and make her body more beautiful, and mood herself to be more fascinating, and glow with happiness in that she was living, thrilling, as she had never dreamed to live and thrill.

Chapter XXVII

But it is not the way for a man and a woman, in propinquity, to maintain a definite, unwavering distance asunder. Imperceptibly Paula and Graham drew closer. From lingering eye-gazings and hand-touchings the way led to permitted caresses, until there was a second clasping in the arms and a second kiss long on the lips. Nor this time did Paula flame in anger. Instead, she commanded:

“You must not go.”

“I must not stay,” Graham reiterated for the thousandth time. “Oh, I have kissed behind doors, and been guilty of all the rest of the silly rubbish,” he complained. “But this is you, and this is Dick.”

“It will work out, I tell you, Evan.”

“Come with me then and of ourselves work it out[456]. Come now.”

She recoiled.

“Remember,” Graham encouraged, “what Dick said at dinner the night Leo fought the dragons – that if it were you, Paula, his wife, who ran away, he would say ‘Bless you, my children.’”

“And that is just why it is so hard, Evan. He is Great Heart. You named him well. Listen – you watch him now. He is as gentle as he said he would be that night – gentle toward me, I mean. And more. You watch him —”

“He knows? – he has spoken?” Graham broke in.

“He has not spoken, but I am sure he knows, or guesses. You watch him. He won’t compete against you —”

“Compete!”

“Just that. He won’t compete. Remember at the rodeo yesterday. He was breaking mustangs when our party arrived, but he never mounted again. Now he is a wonderful horse-breaker. You tried your hand. Frankly, while you did fairly well, you couldn’t touch him. But he wouldn’t show off against you. That alone would make me certain that he guesses.”

“Listen. Of late haven’t you noticed that he never questions a statement you make, as he used to question, as he questions every one else. He continues to play billiards with you, because there you best him. He fences and singlesticks with you – there you are even. But he won’t box or wrestle with you.”

“He can out-box and out-wrestle me,” Graham muttered ruefully.

“You watch and you will see what I mean by not competing. He is treating me like a spirited colt, giving me my head to make a mess of things[457] if I want to. Not for the world would he interfere. Oh, trust me, I know him. It is his own code that he is living up to. He could teach the philosophers what applied philosophy is.”

“No, no; listen,” she rushed over Graham’s attempt to interrupt. “I want to tell you more. There is a secret staircase that goes up from the library to Dick’s work room. Only he and I use it, and his secretaries. When you arrive at the head of it, you are right in his room, surrounded by shelves of books. I have just come from there. I was going in to see him when I heard voices. Of course it was ranch business, I thought, and they would soon be gone. So I waited. It was ranch business, but it was so interesting, so, what Hancock would call, illuminating, that I remained and eavesdropped. It was illuminating of Dick, I mean.

“It was the wife of one of the workmen Dick had on the carpet[458]. Such things do arise on a large place like this. I wouldn’t know the woman if I saw her, and I didn’t recognize her name. She was whimpering out her trouble when Dick stopped her. ‘Never mind all that,’ he said. ‘What I want to know is, did you give Smith any encouragement?’

“Smith isn’t his name, but he is one of our foremen and has worked eight years for Dick.

“‘Oh, no, sir,’ I could hear her answer. ‘He went out of his way from the first to bother me. I’ve tried to keep out of his way, always. Besides, my husband’s a violent-tempered man, and I did so want him to hold his job here. He’s worked nearly a year for you now, and there aren’t any complaints, are there? Before that it was irregular work for a long time, and we had real hard times. It wasn’t his fault. He ain’t a drinking man. He always – ’