Audrey

His eyes and the smile upon his lips added, "and with me." From what he

had been upon a hilltop, one moonlight night eleven years before, he had

become a somewhat silent, handsome gentleman, composed in manner,

experienced, not unkindly, looking abroad from his apportioned mountain

crag and solitary fortress upon men, and the busy ways of men, with a

tolerant gaze. That to certain of his London acquaintance he was simply

the well-bred philosopher and man of letters; that in the minds of others

he was associated with the peacock plumage of the world of fashion, with

the flare of candles, the hot breath of gamesters, the ring of gold upon

the tables; that one clique had tales to tell of a magnanimous spirit and

a generous hand, while yet another grew red at mention of his name, and

put to his credit much that was not creditable, was perhaps not strange.

He, like his neighbors, had many selves, and each in its turn--the

scholar, the man of pleasure, the indolent, kindly, reflective self, the

self of pride and cool assurance and stubborn will--took its place behind

the mask, and went through its allotted part. His self of all selves, the

quiet, remote, crowned, and inscrutable I, sat apart, alike curious and

indifferent, watched the others, and knew how little worth the while was

the stir in the ant-hill.

But on a May Day, in the sunshine and the blossoming woods and the company

of Mistress Evelyn Byrd, it seemed, for the moment, worth the while. At

his invitation she had taken his hand and descended from the coach. The

great, painted thing moved slowly forward, bearing the unconscious

Colonel, and the two pedestrians walked behind it: he with his horse's

reins over his arm and his hat in his hand; she lifting her silken skirts

from contact with the ground, and looking, not at her companion, but at

the greening boughs, and at the sunlight striking upon smooth, pale beech

trunks and the leaf-strewn earth beneath. Out of the woods came a sudden

medley of bird notes, clear, sweet, and inexpressibly joyous.

"That is a mockingbird," said Haward. "I once heard one of a moonlight

night, beside a still water"-He broke off, and they listened in silence. The bird flew away, and they

came to a brook traversing the road, and flowing in wide meanders through

the forest. There were stepping-stones, and Haward, crossing first, turned

and held out his hand to the lady. When she was upon his side of the

streamlet, and before he released the slender fingers, he bent and kissed

them; then, as there was no answering smile or blush, but only a quiet

withdrawal of the hand and a remark about the crystal clearness of the

brook, looked at her, with interrogation in his smile.