Part 12 (1/2)
As Gilbert helped her into his buggy he looked at her wonderingly. Was she really content with her homely tasks, or could it be possible that she was making this sacrifice voluntarily?
”Can you be quite content to settle down here in Elmbrook, when you might be making fame for yourself in a big city?” he asked. ”I don't believe you realize that you might some day move throngs with your voice.”
She smiled, with a tinge of sadness. ”Well, you see, I am quite sure of my work here,” she said half playfully, ”and one could never be certain of a steady supply of 'moved throngs.'”
”You could,” he cried earnestly. ”You are wasting your talents.”
She shook her head. ”It is better to waste one's talents than something better.”
”What, for instance?”
”One's life.”
”How could it be better employed, in your case, than by giving the world your voice? You need to be more ambitious,” he added bluntly.
She turned upon him that steady, scrutinizing glance that, from the first, had made him conscious of inner unworthiness. Her eyes were bright, and had lost the tired look; the cool breeze had brought back the rose-leaf tints to her face, and had blown one bronze curl across her forehead.
”You ought to hear Uncle Hughie on that subject,” she said, with apparent irrelevance. ”He is always 'rastlin'' out some problem for other people. One cannot live with him and be in doubt of one's duty.”
”And he has taught you that it is your duty to remain at home?”
”Perhaps,” she said, looking away into the ma.s.s of greenery by the roadside. It was evident that she did not care to pursue the subject.
”Duty is generally the thing a fellow doesn't want to do,” he remarked, by way of making the conversation less personal.
”It's Uncle Hughie's pet hobby. He lost the chance of a college education, and many other privileges, through adhering to it, and says he has never regretted his action for a moment.”
Gilbert was silent. The unbelievable thing must be true, then. This girl was sacrificing her own chance of advancement for the sake of her brother and sister. He looked at her with a feeling of reverence. To give up so much was commendable, but to give it up quietly, without a murmur, without even the chance of commendation--that was splendid.
”'You are in line with the universe,'” he quoted.
She glanced at him as if in alarm, and quickly changed the subject.
Gilbert understood; he was tacitly informed that her sacrifice was to remain a secret.
He stifled a sigh. He could not help remembering, just then, that he had acted quite a different part when duty had called to one path, and ambition and pleasure to another. He had merely postponed the duty, of course; that was not really s.h.i.+rking it, for he intended to perform it to the last jot. Nevertheless, he wished that it had been done years ago; and then he recalled the words of the dark watchman, and felt himself grow hot again.
They turned another curve, and came out of the cool, green silence into the hard, white, sunlit road that ran straight up to Elmbrook.
”I wonder if the telescope's on us!” cried the doctor, with a boyish desire to get away from his uncomfortable reflections. He checked himself, abashed, and glanced at his companion. Her stately gravity made him half afraid of her. He thought of Rosalie's irresistible gaiety, and longed for her radiant companions.h.i.+p. To his surprise, Miss Cameron's eyes twinkled. Apparently, she had a sense of humor, after all.
”That shows how thoroughly un-Elmbrooked you still remain. It's been resting in the northeast window ever since you drove away, and Granny Long has been wheeled in there to watch for your return.” Gilbert felt vastly more at his ease.
”You make me feel as if I were a new constellation.”
”Or a rising star--I hope you are.”
”Thank you. When you get to be the second Albani----”
”And you the greatest consulting physician in Canada----”
”Of course I shall remember that you encouraged me.”