Lemorne Versus Huell | Page 4

charge," he said. "I try
to do my duty," and he held out a twisted pearl- colored glove, which
he had pulled off while talking. What white nervous fingers he had! I
thought they might pinch like steel.
"You suppose," he repeated.
"I do not look at Newport."
"Have you observed Waterbury?"
"I observe what is in my sphere."
"Oh!"
He was silent then. The second part of the concert began; but I could
not compose myself to appreciation. Either the music or I grew chaotic.
So many tumultuous sounds I heard--of hope, doubt, inquiry,
melancholy, and desire; or did I feel the emotions which these words
express? Or was there magnetism stealing into me from the quiet man
beside me? He left me with a bow before the concert was over, and I
saw him making his way out of the hall when it was finished.
I had been sent in the carriage, of course; but several carriages were in
advance of it before the walk, and I waited there for William to drive
up. When he did so, I saw by the oscillatory motion of his head, though
his arms and whiphand were perfectly correct, that he was inebriated. It
was his first occasion of meeting fellow-coachmen in full dress, and the
occasion had proved too much for him. My hand, however, was on the
coach door, when I heard Mr. Uxbridge say, at my elbow,

"It is not safe for you."
"Oh, Sir, it is in the programme that I ride home from the concert." And
I prepared to step in.
"I shall sit on the box, then."
"But your nieces?"
"They are walking home, squired by a younger knight."
Aunt Eliza would say, I thought, "Needs must when a lawyer drives";
and I concluded to allow him to have his way, telling him that he was
taking a great deal of trouble. He thought it would be less if he were
allowed to sit inside; both ways were unsafe.
Nothing happened. William drove well from habit; but James was
obliged to assist him to dismount. Mr. Uxbridge waited a moment at
the door, and so there was quite a little sensation, which spread its
ripples till Aunt Eliza was reached. She sent for William, whose only
excuse was "dampness."
"Uxbridge knew my carriage, of course," she said, with a complacent
voice. "He knew me," I replied.
"You do not look like the Huells."
"I look precisely like the young woman to whom he was introduced by
Mr. Van Horn."
"Oh ho!"
"He thought it unsafe for me to come alone under William's charge."
"Ah ha!"
No more was said on the subject of his coming home with me. Aunt
Eliza had several fits of musing in the course of the evening while I
read aloud to her, which had no connection with the subject of the book.

As I put it down she said that it would be well for me to go to church
the next day. I acquiesced, but remarked that my piety would not
require the carriage, and that I preferred to walk. Besides, it would be
well for William and James to attend divine service. She could not
spare James, and thought William had better clean the harness, by way
of penance.
The morning proved to be warm and sunny. I donned a muslin dress of
home manufacture and my own bonnet, and started for church. I had
walked but a few paces when the consciousness of being *free* and
*alone* struck me. I halted, looked about me, and concluded that I
would not go to church, but walk into the fields. I had no knowledge of
the whereabouts of the fields; but I walked straight forward, and after a
while came upon some barren fields, cropping with coarse rocks, along
which ran a narrow road. I turned into it, and soon saw beyond the
rough coast the blue ring of the ocean-- vast, silent, and splendid in the
sunshine. I found a seat on the ruins of an old stone-wall, among some
tangled bushes and briers. There being no Aunt Eliza to pull through
the surf, and no animated bathers near, I discovered the beauty of the
sea, and that I loved it.
Presently I heard the steps of a horse, and, to my astonishment, Mr.
Uxbridge rode past. I was glad he did not know me. I watched him as
he rode slowly down the road, deep in thought. He let drop the bridle,
and the horse stopped, as if accustomed to the circumstance, and pawed
the ground gently, or yawed his neck for pastime. Mr. Uxbridge folded
his arms and raised his head to look seaward. It seemed to me as if he
were about to address the jury. I had