DOI article:
Harland, Henry: Flower o' the Clove
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25498#0111
By Henry Harland
107
VII
Will left the house early the next morning, and went out into
the garden. The sun was shining, the dew sparkled on the grass,
the air was keen and sweet with the odours of the earth. A mile
away the sea glowed blue as larkspur ; and overhead innumerable
birds gaily piped and twittered. But oh, the difference, the
difference ! His eyes could see no colour, his ears could hear no
music. His brain felt as if it had been stretched and strained, like
a thing of india-rubber ; a lump ached in his throat ; his heart was
abject and sick with the suspense of waiting, with the futile
questionings, the fears, suspicions, the dreading hopes, that had
beset and tortured it throughout the night.
“ Will ! ” Johannah’s voice called behind him.
He turned.
“ Thank God ! ” the words came without conscious volition on
his part. “ I thought I was never going to see you again.”
“ I have been waiting for you,” said she.
She wore her garden-hat and her white frock ; but her face was
pale, and her eyes looked dark and anxious.
He had taken her hand, and was clinging to it, pressing it, hard,
so hard that it must have hurt her, in the violence of his emotion.
“ Oh, wait, Will, wait,” she said, trying to draw her hand
away ; and her eyes filled with sudden tears.
He let go her hand, and looked into her tearful eyes, helpless,
speechless, longing to speak, unable, in the confusion of his
thoughts and feelings, to find a word.
“ I must tell you something, Will. Come with me somewhere
—where we can be alone. I must tell you something.”
She moved off, away from the house, he keeping beside her.
The Yellow Book—Vol. XII. g They
107
VII
Will left the house early the next morning, and went out into
the garden. The sun was shining, the dew sparkled on the grass,
the air was keen and sweet with the odours of the earth. A mile
away the sea glowed blue as larkspur ; and overhead innumerable
birds gaily piped and twittered. But oh, the difference, the
difference ! His eyes could see no colour, his ears could hear no
music. His brain felt as if it had been stretched and strained, like
a thing of india-rubber ; a lump ached in his throat ; his heart was
abject and sick with the suspense of waiting, with the futile
questionings, the fears, suspicions, the dreading hopes, that had
beset and tortured it throughout the night.
“ Will ! ” Johannah’s voice called behind him.
He turned.
“ Thank God ! ” the words came without conscious volition on
his part. “ I thought I was never going to see you again.”
“ I have been waiting for you,” said she.
She wore her garden-hat and her white frock ; but her face was
pale, and her eyes looked dark and anxious.
He had taken her hand, and was clinging to it, pressing it, hard,
so hard that it must have hurt her, in the violence of his emotion.
“ Oh, wait, Will, wait,” she said, trying to draw her hand
away ; and her eyes filled with sudden tears.
He let go her hand, and looked into her tearful eyes, helpless,
speechless, longing to speak, unable, in the confusion of his
thoughts and feelings, to find a word.
“ I must tell you something, Will. Come with me somewhere
—where we can be alone. I must tell you something.”
She moved off, away from the house, he keeping beside her.
The Yellow Book—Vol. XII. g They