Read Online A Bloodsmoor Romance by Joyce Carol Oates - Free Book Online Page A

and elsewhere, that the courtship betwixt you and Father was exceedingly romantic—or, at any rate, not characterized by excessive formality—which is to say—I mean—there have been allusions in my hearing—as to—as to—”
    But here the fiercely blushing young lady lost her courage, and her words trailed off into shamed silence; and Mrs. Zinn drew herself up to her full height, so that she might stare her impertinent daughter in the eye, and, in a ringing voice, speak in this wise: “That Mr. Zinn and I were agreeably impress’d with each other, upon the occasion of our first meeting, in my godfather Dr. Bayard’s home, is hardly to be denied, since, of course, the first meeting did precipitate a second; and the second, a third. But beyond that, my dear daughter, you have not the privilege to speculate; for I cannot but think it unwholesome, as well as unseemly, for you to concern yourself o’ermuch with such matters,” whereupon the chasten’d young woman murmured her apologies, and withdrew.
    (There is mystery hidden in my parents’ lives, and, doubtless, romance as well, Constance Philippa bethought herself, and yet, how straining to the imagination, to envision!—for they are, now, so very settled in their lives; and so very proper.)
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    CONSTANCE PHILIPPA’S MUCH-HERALDED engagement to the Baron was the result of a series of negotiations presided over not by Mr. Zinn (who, necessarily immersed in his work, possessed neither the time, nor the spirit, to oversee his daughters’ matrimonial prospects), but by Grandfather Kidde­master, aided by one or two legal advisors, and, of course, Mrs. Zinn, who applied herself to this task with all the more zeal, in that it had been long-awaited, and, for a time, despaired of—for Constance Philippa had reached an advanced age before a worthy suitor stepped forth: and how many anxious hours had been passed, by Mrs. Zinn, in secret shamed worry, that her Kidde­master cousins should be marrying off their daughters with such ease, and opulent ceremony, whilst the Zinns of Bloodsmoor had yet to celebrate a wedding!
    Now it had come about, however; and all was well; or would shortly be well, when the contractual agreement was settled, and the Baron’s demands met, and the date firmly fixed. From time to time Mr. Zinn amiably inquired as to the proceedings, and was met by a blank startl’d expression on his daughter’s face, followed by a severe blush, and an immediate warm response from his wife: “My dear John, all is moving ahead with agreeable alacrity, and you should not trouble yourself, any more than Constance Philippa should trouble herself, with vexing details.”
    â€œSo long as the young persons are happy, and the Baron is conscious of his good fortune, in such wise as Tennyson discerned,” Mr. Zinn benignly observed, pausing, and drawing breath, that he might recite, with near-shut eyes and an expression, directed toward Constance Philippa, of such abstracted love, that the poor girl blushed all the more fiercely!—these lyric words, of the great Poet Laureate:
    Indeed I know
    Of no more subtle master under Heaven
    Than is the maiden passion for a maid,
    Not only to keep down the base in man,
    But teach high thought, and amiable words,
    And courtliness, and the desire of Fame,
    And love of Truth, and all that makes a man.
    Whilst in secret, the unhappy daughter suffered these curious—nay, maddening—words to tumble through her brain, as if they possessed a volition of their own, and an energy, proportionate to Mr. Zinn’s: The little ones picked the bones O! The bones O! The bones O! And the little ones picked the bones O!

FIVE
    A las, to be gifted with the semblance of omniscience, in thus recording the history of the Zinn family, yet not with omnipotence! —for though I can foresee the numerous vicissitudes of fortune, and the several tragedies,