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lived today, she did not want to look beyond. It was such a very happy day.
She moved several times during the course of the day between the village and the park and house,
sometimes with her husband, sometimes alone. She wanted to be everywhere at once. She wanted to
miss nothing. She judged the ladies' and the children'scontests, then smiled and applauded while her
husband presented the prizes. She switched roles with him during the races and complained to him that
judging races was very much easier than judging who had baked the best currant cakes.
She even joined in one of the races, when therewas an odd number of children wishing to participate in
the three-legged race. She partnered a thin, timid little girl, and they narrowly won the race when the
leaders-by-a-mile fell in a tangled heap just before the finish line and could not untanglethemselves in
time. Stephanie hugged her partner, laughing helplessly, and waved cheerfully to the rather large crowd
that had suddenly gathered. She threw a half-laughing, half-defiant glance at her husband, and realized
that just a month before she would have been horrified by her own behavior and would have been
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vowing never to behave thus again.
She coaxed her husband into buying her six lengths of gaudy ribbon from a peddler's stall in the village
and then tied them into the newly washed, newly combed hair of the six young daughters of one of the
poorer tenants. She drew him toward the tent of a gypsy, whom she suspected was no gypsy at all,
insisting that they have their fortunes told. But at the last moment, after he had acquiesced, she changed
her mind.
"No," she said, "not the future. This is today, and it is such an enjoyable day. Let us not find out about
the future, even in fun."
"No," he agreed. "Let us enjoy today, my dear."
He too knew that tomorrow all might change.
She watched the cricket game and cheered unashamedly and partially for her husband's team. He was a
talented player, as she soon discovered with interest. His steward, who came to stand beside her for a
few minutes, informed her that His Grace had been on the first eleven while atOxfordUniversity. That was
one thing about himself he had not told her.
"You should have played atRichmondthat day," she said accusingly when the game was over.
But he merely smiled and drew her arm through his. "When our children reach a suitable age," he said,
"we will scrape together enough children from the neighborhood to make up two teams and we can
captain one each."
"Mine will humiliate yours," she said.
"Yes, probably," he agreed pleasantly. "Itishumiliating to know that one has completely annihilated
another team and made them feel quite inept."
She looked sidelong at him to find that he was doing the same to her. She did not miss the assumption
they had both made about the future. She wondered, as she had done several times during the past
week, if she was with child. There was a definite chance, though she was always so irregular that it was
impossible to know for sure. It would be foolish to hope yet or to dread.
Usually after the cricket match, most people relaxed or strolled in the park until it was time for the feast
to begin. Only the young people headed back to the village for the maypole dancing. But this year word
had somehow spread that the Duke of Bridgwater and his new bride were not only planning to attend the
event, but werethemselves intending to dance.
No one had ever seen a Duke of Bridgwater or his duchess or any of his family dancing about the
maypole. No one could quite imagine it. Everyone needed visual evidence to believe that it could possibly
happen. And so late in the afternoon the main street of the village was crowded with people, and the
village green was surrounded by a milling, curious, laughing throng.
Stephanie took off her bonnet and her gloves and set them aside with her parasol. There was a
smattering of applause, and one brave anonymous soul whistled. Her husband took off his hat and his
coat, as he had done for the cricket match, and rolled up his shirt sleeves to the elbows. He eyed the
maypole and its many-colored ribbons with some misgiving, Stephanie saw.
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But he knew the steps, as he proved as soon as they and the other dancers had all taken a ribbon in
hand and the violins began to play. The crowd ringing the green clapped and stamped in time to the
music. Only once did the ribbons become snarled and the musicpause for a few moments. The crowd
jeered good-naturedly. Stephanie smiled as her husband laughed, apologized abjectly, untangled the
ribbons, and laughed again.
If she closed her eyes, she thought, as she performed the intricate patterns of the dance, concentrating
on both her steps and the movements of her hand with its green ribbon, she could almost imagine herself
back in her girlhood, in that golden time before all the harsher realities of life had intruded. She could
picture her mother smiling, her father clapping to the rhythm and nodding encouragement to her. She
could picture Tom whooping with enthusiasm and catching the nearest pretty girl about the waist when
the dancing was finished and twirling her about.
But this was not her girlhood. She turned her head to watch her husband, who was grinning and lifting his
arm higher as one of his tenant's young daughters stepped with her ribbon beneath his and around him.
Stephanie was doing the same thing with the man closest to her. She smiled at the man, and he smiled
back a smile of warmth and admiration and respect.
This was not wrong, she thought. It was not undignified. She was glad she had decided to do things her
way, though she would always be grateful for the training her mother-in-law had given her. She was glad
she was free. She was glad she had found out in time that she need be no slave to an obligation that could [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
lived today, she did not want to look beyond. It was such a very happy day.
She moved several times during the course of the day between the village and the park and house,
sometimes with her husband, sometimes alone. She wanted to be everywhere at once. She wanted to
miss nothing. She judged the ladies' and the children'scontests, then smiled and applauded while her
husband presented the prizes. She switched roles with him during the races and complained to him that
judging races was very much easier than judging who had baked the best currant cakes.
She even joined in one of the races, when therewas an odd number of children wishing to participate in
the three-legged race. She partnered a thin, timid little girl, and they narrowly won the race when the
leaders-by-a-mile fell in a tangled heap just before the finish line and could not untanglethemselves in
time. Stephanie hugged her partner, laughing helplessly, and waved cheerfully to the rather large crowd
that had suddenly gathered. She threw a half-laughing, half-defiant glance at her husband, and realized
that just a month before she would have been horrified by her own behavior and would have been
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
vowing never to behave thus again.
She coaxed her husband into buying her six lengths of gaudy ribbon from a peddler's stall in the village
and then tied them into the newly washed, newly combed hair of the six young daughters of one of the
poorer tenants. She drew him toward the tent of a gypsy, whom she suspected was no gypsy at all,
insisting that they have their fortunes told. But at the last moment, after he had acquiesced, she changed
her mind.
"No," she said, "not the future. This is today, and it is such an enjoyable day. Let us not find out about
the future, even in fun."
"No," he agreed. "Let us enjoy today, my dear."
He too knew that tomorrow all might change.
She watched the cricket game and cheered unashamedly and partially for her husband's team. He was a
talented player, as she soon discovered with interest. His steward, who came to stand beside her for a
few minutes, informed her that His Grace had been on the first eleven while atOxfordUniversity. That was
one thing about himself he had not told her.
"You should have played atRichmondthat day," she said accusingly when the game was over.
But he merely smiled and drew her arm through his. "When our children reach a suitable age," he said,
"we will scrape together enough children from the neighborhood to make up two teams and we can
captain one each."
"Mine will humiliate yours," she said.
"Yes, probably," he agreed pleasantly. "Itishumiliating to know that one has completely annihilated
another team and made them feel quite inept."
She looked sidelong at him to find that he was doing the same to her. She did not miss the assumption
they had both made about the future. She wondered, as she had done several times during the past
week, if she was with child. There was a definite chance, though she was always so irregular that it was
impossible to know for sure. It would be foolish to hope yet or to dread.
Usually after the cricket match, most people relaxed or strolled in the park until it was time for the feast
to begin. Only the young people headed back to the village for the maypole dancing. But this year word
had somehow spread that the Duke of Bridgwater and his new bride were not only planning to attend the
event, but werethemselves intending to dance.
No one had ever seen a Duke of Bridgwater or his duchess or any of his family dancing about the
maypole. No one could quite imagine it. Everyone needed visual evidence to believe that it could possibly
happen. And so late in the afternoon the main street of the village was crowded with people, and the
village green was surrounded by a milling, curious, laughing throng.
Stephanie took off her bonnet and her gloves and set them aside with her parasol. There was a
smattering of applause, and one brave anonymous soul whistled. Her husband took off his hat and his
coat, as he had done for the cricket match, and rolled up his shirt sleeves to the elbows. He eyed the
maypole and its many-colored ribbons with some misgiving, Stephanie saw.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
But he knew the steps, as he proved as soon as they and the other dancers had all taken a ribbon in
hand and the violins began to play. The crowd ringing the green clapped and stamped in time to the
music. Only once did the ribbons become snarled and the musicpause for a few moments. The crowd
jeered good-naturedly. Stephanie smiled as her husband laughed, apologized abjectly, untangled the
ribbons, and laughed again.
If she closed her eyes, she thought, as she performed the intricate patterns of the dance, concentrating
on both her steps and the movements of her hand with its green ribbon, she could almost imagine herself
back in her girlhood, in that golden time before all the harsher realities of life had intruded. She could
picture her mother smiling, her father clapping to the rhythm and nodding encouragement to her. She
could picture Tom whooping with enthusiasm and catching the nearest pretty girl about the waist when
the dancing was finished and twirling her about.
But this was not her girlhood. She turned her head to watch her husband, who was grinning and lifting his
arm higher as one of his tenant's young daughters stepped with her ribbon beneath his and around him.
Stephanie was doing the same thing with the man closest to her. She smiled at the man, and he smiled
back a smile of warmth and admiration and respect.
This was not wrong, she thought. It was not undignified. She was glad she had decided to do things her
way, though she would always be grateful for the training her mother-in-law had given her. She was glad
she was free. She was glad she had found out in time that she need be no slave to an obligation that could [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]