He could not dare to look a man straight in the
face, for like the king in the old fable he had lost his soul.
CHAPTER XIV
A GENTLEMAN IN STRAITS
The fall of the leaf found Etterick very full of people, and new
dwellers in Glenavelin. The invitations were of old standing, but Lewis
found their fulfilment a pleasant trick of Fortune's. To keep a
bustling household in good spirits leaves small room for brooding, and
he was famous for his hospitality. The partridges were plentiful that
year, and a rainless autumn had come on the heels of a fine summer. So
life went pleasantly with all, and the master of the place cloaked a
very sick heart under a ready good-humour.
His thoughts were always on Glenavelin, and when he happened to be near
it he used to look with anxious eyes for a slim figure which was rarely
out of his fancy. He had not seen Alice since the accident, save for
one short minute, when riding from Gledsmuir he had passed her one
afternoon at the Glenavelin gates. He had earnestly desired to stop,
but his curious cowardice had made him pass with a lifted hat and a
hasty smile. Could he have looked back, he might have seen the girl
watching him out of sight with tearful eyes. To himself he was the
hopeless lover, and she the scornful lady, while she in her own eyes was
the unhappy girl for whom the soldier in the song shakes his bridle
reins and cries an eternal adieu.
Pages:
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162