Pauline's Passion and Punishment - Chapter 4

The work of weeks is soon recorded, and when another month was gone these were the changes it had wrought¹. The four so strangely bound together by ties of suffering and sin went on their way, to the world's eye, blessed with every gracious gift, but below the tranquil² surface rolled that undercurrent whose mysterious tides ebb³ and flow in human hearts unfettered by race or rank or time. Gilbert was a good actor, but, though he curbed⁴ his fitful temper, smoothed his mien⁵, and sweetened his manner, his wife soon felt the vanity of hoping to recover that which never had been hers. Silently she accepted the fact and, uttering no complaint, turned to others for the fostering warmth without which she could not live. Conscious of a hunger like her own, Manuel could offer her sincerest sympathy, and soon learned to find a troubled pleasure in the knowledge that she loved him and her husband knew it, for his life of the emotions was rapidly maturing the boy into the man, as the fierce ardors of his native skies quicken the growth of wondrous⁸ plants that blossom in a night. Mrs. Redmond, as young in character as in years, felt the attraction of a nature generous and sweet, and yielded to it as involuntarily as an unsupported vine yields to the wind that blows it to the strong arms of a tree, still unconscious that a warmer sentiment than gratitude⁹ made his companionship the sunshine of her life. Pauline saw this, and sometimes owned within herself that she had evoked¹⁰ spirits which she could not rule, but her purpose drove her on, and in it she found a charm more perilously¹¹ potent¹² than before. Gilbert watched the three with a smile darker than a frown, yet no reproach warned his wife of the danger which she did not see; no jealous demonstration¹³ roused Manuel to rebel against the oppression of a presence so distasteful to him; no rash act or word gave Pauline power to banish¹⁴ him, though the one desire of his soul became the discovery of the key to the inscrutable expression of her eyes as they followed the young pair, whose growing friendship left their mates alone. Slowly her manner softened¹⁵ toward him, pity seemed to bridge across the gulf¹⁶ that lay between them, and in rare moments time appeared to have retraced¹⁷ its steps, leaving the tender woman of a year ago. Nourished by such unexpected hope, the early passion throve and strengthened until it became the mastering ambition of his life, and, only pausing to make assurance doubly sure, he waited the advent¹⁸ of the hour when he could "put his fortune to the touch and win or lose it all."

 

"Manuel, are you coming?"

 

He was lying on the sward at Mrs. Redmond's feet, and, waking from the reverie that held him, while his companion sang the love lay he was teaching her, he looked up to see his wife standing¹⁹ on the green slope before him. A black lace scarf lay over her blonde hair as Spanish women wear their veils, below it the violet eyes shone clear, the cheek glowed with the color fresh winds had blown upon their paleness, the lips parted with a wistful smile, and a knot of bright-hued leaves upon her bosom²⁰ made a mingling²¹ of snow and fire in the dress, whose white folds swept the grass. Against a background of hoary²² cliffs and somber²³ pines, this figure stood out like a picture of blooming womanhood, but Manuel saw three blemishes²⁴ upon it - Gilbert had sketched²⁵ her with that shadowy veil upon her head, Gilbert had swung himself across a precipice²⁶ to reach the scarlet²⁷ nosegay for her breast, Gilbert stood beside her with her hand upon his arm; and troubled by the fear that often haunted him since Pauline's manner to himself had grown so shy and sad, Manuel leaned and looked forgetful of reply, but Mrs. Redmond answered blithely²⁸:

 

"He is coming, but with me. You are too grave for us, so go your ways, talking wisely of heaven and earth, while we come after, enjoying both as we gather lichens²⁹, chase the goats, and meet you at the waterfall. Now señor, put away guitar and book, for I have learned my lesson; so help me with this unruly hair of mine and leave the Spanish for today."

 

They looked a pair of lovers as Manuel held back the long locks blowing in the wind, while Babie tied her hat, still chanting the burthen of the tender song she had caught so soon. A voiceless sigh stirred the ruddy leaves on Pauline's bosom as she turned away, but Gilbert embodied³⁰ it in words, "They are happier without us. Let us go."

 

Neither spoke³¹ till they reached the appointed tryst³². The others were not there, and, waiting for them, Pauline sat on a mossy stone, Gilbert leaned against the granite³³ boulder³⁴ beside her, and both silently surveyed a scene that made the heart glow, the eye kindle³⁵ with delight as it swept down from that airy height, across valleys dappled with shadow and dark with untrodden forests, up ranges of majestic³⁶ mountains, through gap after gap, each hazier³⁷ than the last, far out into that sea of blue which rolls around all the world. Behind them roared the waterfall swollen³⁸ with autumn rains and hurrying to pour itself into the rocky basin that lay boiling below, there to leave its legacy³⁹ of shattered trees, then to dash itself into a deeper chasm⁴⁰, soon to be haunted by a tragic⁴¹ legend and go glittering away through forest, field, and intervale to join the river rolling slowly to the sea. Won by the beauty and the grandeur⁴² of the scene, Pauline forgot she was not alone, till turning, she suddenly became aware that while she scanned the face of nature her companion had been scanning hers. What he saw there she could not tell, but all restraint had vanished from his manner, all reticence⁴³ from his speech, for with the old ardor⁷ in his eye, the old impetuosity in his voice, he said, leaning down as if to read her heart, "This is the moment I have waited for so long. For now you see what I see, that both have made a bitter blunder, and may yet repair it. Those children love each other; let them love, youth mates them, fortune makes them equals, fate brings them together that we may be free. Accept this freedom as I do, and come out into the world with me to lead the life you were born to enjoy."

 

With the first words he uttered Pauline felt that the time had come, and in the drawing of a breath was ready for it, with every sense alert, every power under full control, every feature obedient to the art which had become a second nature. Gilbert had seized her hand, and she did not draw it back; the sudden advent of the instant which must end her work sent an unwonted color to her cheek, and she did avert⁴⁴ it; the exultation⁴⁵ which flashed into her eyes made it unsafe to meet his own, and they drooped⁴⁶ before him as if in shame or fear, her whole face woke and brightened with the excitement that stirred her blood. She did not seek to conceal⁴⁷ it, but let him cheat himself with the belief that love touched it with such light and warmth, as she softly answered in a voice whose accents seemed to assure his hope.

 

"You ask me to relinquish⁴⁸ much. What do you offer in return, Gilbert, that I may not for a second time find love's labor⁴⁹ lost?"

 

It was a wily speech, though sweetly spoken, for it reminded him how much he had thrown away, how little now remained to give, but her mien inspired him, and nothing daunted⁵⁰, he replied more ardently⁵¹ than ever:

 

"I can offer you a heart always faithful in truth though not in seeming, for I never loved that child. I would give years of happy life to undo⁵² that act and be again the man you trusted. I can offer you a name which shall yet be an honorable one, despite the stain an hour's madness cast upon it. You once taunted⁵³ me with cowardice⁵⁴ because I dared not face the world and conquer it. I dare do that now; I long to escape from this disgraceful servitude, to throw myself into the press, to struggle and achieve for your dear sake. I can offer you strength, energy, devotion - three gifts worthy⁵⁵ any woman's acceptance who possesses power to direct, reward, and enjoy them as you do, Pauline. Because with your presence for my inspiration, I feel that I can retrieve⁵⁶ my faultful past, and with time become God's noblest work - an honest man. Babie never could exert this influence over me. You can, you will, for now my earthly hope is in your hands, my soul's salvation⁵⁷ in your love."

 

If that love had not died a sudden death, it would have risen up to answer him as the one sincere desire of an erring⁵⁸ life cried out to her for help, and this man, as proud as sinful, knelt down before her with a passionate⁵⁹ humility⁶⁰ never paid at any other shrine⁶¹, human or divine. It seemed to melt and win her, for he saw the color ebb and flow, heard the rapid beating of her heart, felt the hand tremble in his own, and received no denial but a lingering doubt, whose removal was a keen satisfaction to himself.

 

"Tell me, before I answer, are you sure that Manuel loves Babie?"

 

"I am; for every day convinces me that he has outlived the brief delusion⁶², and longs for liberty, but dares not ask it. Ah! that pricks⁶³ pride! But it is so. I have watched with jealous vigilance and let no sign escape me; because in his infidelity to you lay my chief hope. Has he not grown melancholy⁶⁴, cold, and silent? Does he not seek Babie and, of late, shun⁶⁵ you? Will he not always yield his place to me without a token of displeasure or regret? Has he ever uttered reproach, warning, or command to you, although he knows I was and am your lover? Can you deny these proofs, or pause to ask if he will refuse to break the tie that binds⁶⁶ him to a woman, whose superiority in all things keeps him a subject where he would be a king? You do not know the heart of man if you believe he will not bless you for his freedom."

 

Like the cloud which just then swept across the valley, blotting⁶⁷ out its sunshine with a gloomy shadow, a troubled look flitted over Pauline's face. But if the words woke any sleeping fear she cherished, it was peremptorily⁶⁸ banished⁶⁹, for scarcely had the watcher seen it than it was gone. Her eyes still shone upon the ground, and still she prolonged the bittersweet delight at seeing this humiliation⁷⁰ of both soul and body by asking the one question whose reply would complete her sad success.

 

"Gilbert, do you believe I love you still?"

 

"I know it! Can I not read the signs that proved it to me once? Can I forget that, though you followed me to pity and despise, you have remained to pardon and befriend? Am I not sure that no other power could work the change you have wrought in me? I was learning to be content with slavery, and slowly sinking into that indolence of will which makes submission⁷¹ easy. I was learning to forget you, and be resigned to hold the shadow when the substance was gone, but you came, and with a look undid⁷² my work, with a word destroyed my hard-won peace, with a touch roused the passion which was not dead but sleeping, and have made this month of growing certainty to be the sweetest in my life - for I believed all lost, and you showed me that all was won. Surely that smile is propitious⁷³! and I may hope to hear the happy confirmation⁷⁴ of my faith from lips that were formed to say 'I love!'"

 

She looked up then, and her eyes burned on him, with an expression which made his heart leap with expectant joy, as over cheek and forehead spread a glow of womanly emotion too genuine to be feigned⁷⁵, and her voice thrilled with the fervor⁷⁶ of that sentiment which blesses life and outlives death.

 

"Yes, I love; not as of old, with a girl's blind infatuation, but with the warmth and wisdom of heart, mind, and soul - love made up of honor, penitence⁷⁷ and trust, nourished in secret by the better self which lingers in the most tried and tempted⁷⁸ of us, and now ready to blossom and bear fruit, if God so wills. I have been once deceived, but faith still endures, and I believe that I may yet earn this crowning gift of a woman's life for the man who shall make my happiness as I make his - who shall find me the prouder for past coldness, the humbler for past pride - whose life shall pass serenely⁷⁹ loving. And that beloved is - my husband." If she had lifted her white hand and stabbed him, with that smile upon her face, it would not have shocked him with a more pale dismay than did those two words as Pauline shook him off and rose up, beautiful and stern as an avenging⁸⁰ angel. Dumb with an amazement⁸¹ too fathomless⁸² for words, he knelt there motionless and aghast. She did not speak. And, passing his hand across his eyes as if he felt himself the prey⁸³ to some delusion, he rose slowly, asking, half incredulously, half imploringly⁸⁴, "Pauline, this is a jest?"

 

"To me it is; to you - a bitter earnest."

 

A dim foreboding of the truth fell on him then, and with it a strange sense of fear; for in this apparition⁸⁵ of human judgment⁸⁶ he seemed to receive a premonition of the divine. With a sudden gesture of something like entreaty⁸⁷, he cried out, as if his fate lay in her hands, "How will it end? how will it end?"

 

"As it began - in sorrow, shame and loss." Then, in words that fell hot and heavy on the sore heart made desolate⁸⁸, she poured out the dark history of the wrong and the atonement wrung⁸⁹ from him with such pitiless patience and inexorable will. No hard fact remained unrecorded, no subtle act unveiled, no hint of her bright future unspared to deepen the gloom of his. And when the final word of doom⁹⁰ died upon the lips that should have awarded pardon, not punishment, Pauline tore away the last gift he had given, and dropping it to the rocky path, set her foot upon it, as if it were the scarlet badge of her subjection to the evil spirit which had haunted her so long, now cast out and crushed forever.

 

Gilbert had listened with a slowly gathering⁹¹ despair, which deepened to the blind recklessness that comes to those whose passions are their masters, when some blow smites⁹² but cannot subdue⁹³. Pale to his very lips, with the still white wrath⁹⁴, so much more terrible to witness than the fiercest ebullition of the ire that flames and feeds like a sudden fire, he waited till she ended, then used the one retaliation⁹⁵ she had left him. His hand went to his breast, a tattered⁹⁶ glove flashed white against the cliff as he held it up before her, saying, in a voice that rose gradually till the last words sounded clear above the waterfall's wild song:

 

"It was well and womanly done, Pauline, and I could wish Manuel a happy life with such a tender, frank, and noble wife; but the future which you paint so well never shall be his. For, by the Lord that hears me! I swear I will end this jest of yours in a more bitter earnest than you prophesied⁹⁷. Look; I have worn this since the night you began the conflict, which has ended in defeat to me, as it shall to you. I do not war with women, but you shall have one man's blood upon your soul, for I will goad⁹⁸ that tame boy to rebellion by flinging this in his face and taunting⁹⁹ him with a perfidy¹⁰⁰ blacker than my own. Will that rouse him to forget your commands and answer like a man?"

 

"Yes!"

 

The word rang through the air sharp and short as a pistol shot, a slender brown hand wrenched¹⁰¹ the glove away, and Manuel came between them. Wild with fear, Mrs. Redmond clung to him. Pauline sprang before him, and for a moment the two faced each other, with a year's smoldering¹⁰² jealousy¹⁰³ and hate blazing in fiery¹⁰⁴ eyes, trembling in clenched¹⁰⁵ hands, and surging through set teeth in defiant¹⁰⁶ speech.

 

"This is the gentleman who gambles his friend to desperation, and skulks¹⁰⁷ behind a woman, like the coward he is," sneered¹⁰⁸ Gilbert.

 

"Traitor¹⁰⁹ and swindler, you lie!" shouted Manuel, and, flinging his wife behind him, he sent the glove, with a stinging blow, full in his opponent's face.

 

Then the wild beast that lurks¹¹⁰ in every strong man's blood leaped up in Gilbert Redmond's, as, with a single gesture of his sinewy¹¹¹ right arm he swept Manuel to the verge¹¹² of the narrow ledge⁶, saw him hang poised¹¹³ there one awful instant, struggling to save the living weight that weighed him down, heard a heavy plunge¹¹⁴ into the black pool below, and felt that thrill of horrible delight which comes to murderers alone.

 

So swift and sure had been the act it left no time for help. A rush, a plunge, a pause, and then two figures stood where four had been - a man and woman staring dumbly at each other, appalled¹¹⁵ at the dread¹¹⁶ silence that made high noon more ghostly than the deepest night. And with that moment of impotent horror, remorse¹¹⁷, and woe¹¹⁸, Pauline's long punishment began.

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