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Page 12
"That is a hint for your Uncle Tom," said Gordon laughingly.
"I never hint," said Clemency. "It is just a plain statement. Men are
walking animals. They could travel as well as horses in the course of
time if they only put their minds to it."
"Well, your old uncle's bones must be saved, even at the expense of the
horse's," said Doctor Gordon.
"Bones are improved by use," said Clemency severely, as she took her
seat at the dinner-table. They all laughed. The girl herself relaxed her
pretty face with a whimsical smile. It was quite evident that Clemency
was the spoiled and petted darling of the house, and that she traded
innocently upon the fact. The young doctor, although his first
impression of the elder woman was still upon him, yet realized the
charm of the young girl. The older woman was, as it were, crowned with
an aureole of perfection, but the young girl was crowned with
possibilities which dazzled with mystery. She looked prettier, now that
her outer garments were removed, and her thick crown of ash-blonde hair
was revealed. The lamp lit her eyes into bluer flame. She was a darling
of a young girl, and more a darling because she had the sweetest
confidence in everybody thinking her one.
However, James Elliot, sitting in the well-appointed dining-room, which
was more like a city house than a little New Jersey dwelling, did not
for a second retreat from his first impression of Mrs. Ewing. Behind the
coffee-urn sat the woman with whom he had not fallen in love, that was
too poor a term to use. He had become a worshipper. He felt himself,
body and soul, prostrate before the Divinity of Womanhood itself. He
realized the grandeur of the abstract in the individual. What was any
spoiled, sweet young girl to that? And Mrs. Ewing was, in truth, a
wonderful creature. She was a large woman with a great quantity of
blue-black hair, which had the ripples one sees in antique statues. Her
eyes, black at first glance, were in reality dark blue. Her face gave
one a never-ending surprise. James had not known that a woman could be
so beautiful. Vague comparisons with the Greek Helen, or Cleopatra, came
into his head. Now and then he stole a glance at her. He dared not
often. She did not talk much, but he was rather pleased with that fact,
although her voice was so sweet and gracious. Speech in a creature like
that was not an essential. It might even be an excrescence upon a
perfection. It did not occur to the dazed mind of her worshipper that
Mrs. Ewing might have very simple and ordinary reasons for not
talking--that she might be tired or ill, or preoccupied. But after a
number of those stolen glances, James discovered with a great pang, as
if one should see for the first time that the arms of the Venus were
really gone, when his fancy had supplied them, that the woman did not
look well. In spite of her beauty, there was ill-health evident in her
face. James was a mere tyro in his profession as yet, but certain
infallible signs were there which he could not mistake. They were the
signs of suffering, possibly of very great suffering. She ate very
little, James noticed, although she made a pretense of eating as much
as any one. James saw that Doctor Gordon also noticed it. When the maid
was taking away Mrs. Ewing's plate, he spoke with a gruffness which
astonished the young man. "For Heaven's sake, why don't you eat your
dinner, Clara?" said he. "Emma, replace Mrs. Ewing's plate. Now, Clara,
eat your dinner." To James's utter astonishment, Mrs. Ewing obeyed like
a child. She ate every morsel, although she could not restrain her
expression of loathing. When the salad and dessert were brought on she
ate them also.
Doctor Gordon watched her with what seemed, to the young man, positive
brutality. His mouth under his heavy beard quivered perceptibly whenever
he looked at his sister eating, his forehead became corrugated, and his
deep-set eyes sparkled. James was heartily glad when dinner was over,
and, at Doctor Gordon's request, he followed him into his office.
Doctor Gordon's office was a small room at the back of the house. It had
an outer door communicating with a path which led to the stable. Two
sides of the room were lined with medical books, and two with bottles
containing diverse colored mixtures. A hanging lamp was over the center
of a long table in the middle of the room. Around it dangled prisms,
which cast rainbow colors over everything. The first thing which struck
one on entering the room was the extraordinary color scheme: the dull
gleams of the books, the medicine bottles which had lights like jewels,
and over all the flickers of prismatic hues. The long table was covered
with corks, empty bottles, books, a medicine-case, and newspapers,
besides a mighty inkstand and writing materials. There were also a box
of cigars, a great leather tobacco pouch, and, interspersed among all, a
multitude of pipes. The doctor drew a chair beside this chaotic table
lit with rainbow lights, and invited James to sit down. "Sit down a
moment," he said. "Will you have a pipe or a cigar?"
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