"'Night of south winds--night of the large few stars! Still nodding
night--'"
She made no reply to this apostrophe to the night, which, indeed, was
not addressed to her.
Gouvernail was in no sense a diffident man, for he was not a
self-conscious one. His periods of reserve were not constitutional,
but the result of moods. Sitting there beside Mrs. Baroda, his silence
melted for the time.
He talked freely and intimately in a low, hesitating drawl that was not
unpleasant to hear. He talked of the old college days when he and
Gaston had been a good deal to each other; of the days of keen and blind
ambitions and large intentions. Now there was left with him, at least,
a philosophic acquiescence to the existing order--only a desire to be
permitted to exist, with now and then a little whiff of genuine life,
such as he was breathing now.
Her mind only vaguely grasped what he was saying. Her physical being
was for the moment predominant. She was not thinking of his words, only
drinking in the tones of his voice. She wanted to reach out her hand in
the darkness and touch him with the sensitive tips of her fingers
upon the face or the lips. She wanted to draw close to him and whisper
against his cheek--she did not care what--as she might have done if she
had not been a respectable woman.
The stronger the impulse grew to bring herself near him, the further, in
fact, did she draw away from him. As soon as she could do so without an
appearance of too great rudeness, she rose and left him there alone.
Before she reached the house, Gouvernail had lighted a fresh cigar and
ended his apostrophe to the night.
Mrs. Baroda was greatly tempted that night to tell her husband--who
was also her friend--of this folly that had seized her. But she did not
yield to the temptation. Beside being a respectable woman she was a very
sensible one; and she knew there are some battles in life which a human
being must fight alone.
When Gaston arose in the morning, his wife had already departed. She
had taken an early morning train to the city. She did not return till
Gouvernail was gone from under her roof.
There was some talk of having him back during the summer that followed.
That is, Gaston greatly desired it; but this desire yielded to his
wife's strenuous opposition.
However, before the year ended, she proposed, wholly from herself,
to have Gouvernail visit them again. Her husband was surprised and
delighted with the suggestion coming from her.