Read Online Silverbeach Manor by Margaret S. Haycraft - Free Book Online

only
one comfort -- he took little notice of her that day, being hurried
and impatient. "It is scarcely likely he will know me again in
festive attire, with my hair done quite a different way," thinks
Pansy, with consoling remembrance. But she has never been able to
forgive herself for the unwomanly vehemence with which she so
positively insisted upon the young man's guilt, and she very
sensibly decides never more to judge from first appearances, or to
accept circumstantial evidence as wholly infallible.
    Being a poet,
he is sure to be poor. Perhaps he was trying for some lucrative
employment when hurrying to Masden, where resides a well-known
editor and publisher. Perhaps he lost the appointment through the
delay occasioned by her persistence! Pansy resolves to question May
concerning Mr. Thornden's friend, and reflects somewhat impatiently
that she is not likely to obtain a confidential chat with the
new-made wife till the honeymoon is over and the pair have returned
to town. If indeed the poet lost a good appointment through her
folly, Pansy feels she would like to send him the ten pound note
which at present reposes within her desk.
    She rejoices
in the knowledge that Holme does not recognize her, as he politely
escorts her to the carriage, makes pleasant conversation, attends
to her requirements during the repast that is provided at
Willowtree. Her quick observation discerns that he drinks the
bride's health in the beverage wherein slices of lemon and lumps of
ice are floating within a goblet of amber hue. He is the only male
abstainer at the table, but that does not seem to discomfort him at
all. Marlow Holme looks like one who, having made up his mind that
a course is right, would stick to it though in the minority -- one
who would not be ashamed to show his colours in the face of all the
world.
    Pansy is quite
at her ease till they chance to find themselves alone in the inner
drawing room that evening, searching for a violin piece the bride's
father has requested.
    They are
turning over the contents of the music cabinet, when Marlow Holme
asks suddenly, "Have you had any more misfortunes with your purse
of late, Miss Adair?"
    "Oh," stammers
Pansy, "I thought you did not know me." And tears of vexation and
shame bedew her eyes. "Oh, Mr. Holme, I am so ashamed of myself. I
never can find my pocket in that dress!"
    "Why, I did
not think you would take the matter so to heart," he says gently,
"or I would never have made any reference to it. Let us bury it in
oblivion, Miss Adair. You were very much disturbed that day."
    "I will
have my pockets made differently," falters Pansy. "It was all the
fault of my dress. Mr. Holme, I have thought about it so often
since, and wished I could in some way make up to you for my
insults. Can you ever forgive my
accusations? "
    "Indeed I can,
and do. No lady before had ever honoured me with so much notice,"
he says, with a smile. "Well, as we recognized each other, perhaps
it was better to clear the air. Now let our unfortunate railway
journey together become a thing of the forgotten past."
    Several guests
sleep at Willowtree, and the next day there is a picnic at a
lovely, overhanging wood, where a great deal of climbing is
necessary, and where the poet's arm is frequently at Pansy's
disposal.
    "What a
handsome pair they make I" says May's mother, surveying Holme and
Pansy side by side. "But of course Mr. Holme would not satisfy Mrs.
Adair. A writer's earnings are so precarious, and I have heard
young Holme gives a great deal away. James Thornden thinks highly
of him, and I have never seen Pansy look so well content with an
escort. I hope we have not been imprudent in introducing one who is
only a writer to a girl with such prospects as Pansy's."
    Pansy thinks
she has never seen eyes smile so kindly before, as he holds out his
hand in token of the pardon she has asked. She says, "Mr. Holme,
before we forget my injustice I want you to let me make
reparation."
    "You can do so
fully," says