第21章 Another Feminine Problem.(2)

"Was there ever such a gad-fly as this artist!He pesters me from morning till night.""Pesters you!I never saw a lady so severely let alone as you are by him.Whatever is the cause of your spite it seems to harm only yourself,and I should judge from your remark that it disturbs you much more than you would have it appear--certainly far more than it does him."There was no soothing balm in these words,as may well be supposed;and yet the impression grew upon Ida that the artist would be friendly if he could;and the belief strengthened with him also that she took far too much pains to manifest what she would have others think to be mere indifference and dislike,and he intercepted besides,with increasing frequency,furtive glances towards himself.

So much ice had accumulated between them,however that neither knew how it was to be broken.

One day,about the middle of the week,Van Berg found a stranger seated opposite to him at the dinner table.His first impression was,that the lady was not very young and that her features were quite plain;but before the meal was over he concluded that her face was decidedly interesting,and that the suggestion of age had been made by maturity of character and the impress which some real and deep experience gives to the countenance,rather than by the trace of years.

While yet a stranger,the expression of her blue eyes,as she glanced around,was so kindly that she at once won the good-will of all who encountered them.This genial,friendly light in her eyes seemed a marked characteristic.It was so different from the obtrusive,forward manner with which some seek to make acquaintances,that it would not have suggested a departure from modest reserve,even to the most cynical.It rather indicated a heart aglow with gentle feeling and genial good-will,like a maple-wood fire on a hospitality hearth,that warms all who come within the sphere of its influence.

Van Berg was naturally reserved,and slow to make new acquaintances.

But before he had stolen many glances of the face opposite him he began to wish for the privilege of speaking to her--a wish that was increased by the fact that they were alone at the table,the other guests who usually occupied the chairs not having returned from their morning drive.she did not look at him in particular,nor appear to be in the least struck by his "distingue"air,as Ida had been before she was blinded by prejudice;but she looked out upon the world at large with such a friendly aspect that he was sure she had something pleasant to say.He was therefore well pleased when at last the landlord bustled up in his brusque way and said:

"Mr.Van Berg,permit me to make you acquainted with Miss Burton.

She has had the faith to put herself under my charge for a few weeks,and I shall reward her by sharing the responsibility with you,who seem blessed with the benevolent desire of giving us all a good time,"and then he bustled off to look after some other matter which required his attention during the critical hour of dinner.

Miss Burton acknowledged the young man's bow without a trace of affectation or reserve.

"I shall try not to prove a burden to either of you,"she said,with a smile.

"I have already discovered that you will not be,"said Van Berg,"and was wishing for an introduction.""I hope your wishes may always find so ready a fulfillment.""That's a kindly wish,Miss Burton,but a vain one.""Were we misanthropical people,Mr.Van Berg,we might sigh,'and such are human wishes generally.'""One is often tempted to do that anyway,even when not especially prone to look askance at fortune.""There is an easy way of escaping that temptation.""How?"

"Do not form many wishes."

"Have you very few wishes?"

With a slight and piquant motion of her head she replied,"I was only giving a bit of trite advice.It's asking a great deal to require that one should both preach and practice.""I think you are possessed by one wish which swallows up most others,"said Van Berg,a little abruptly.

A visible pallor overspread her face,and she drew back perceptibly as one might shrink from a blow.

"You know how strong first impressions are,"resumed Van Berg hastily,"and the thought has passed through my mind that you might be so preoccupied in wishing good things for others as to quite forget yourself.""If one could be completely occupied in that way,"she said,with a faint smile which suggested rather than revealed a vista of her past experience,"one might have little occasion to wish for anything for self.But,Mr.Van Berg,only we poor unreasoning women put much faith in first impressions;and you know how often they mislead even us,who are supposed to have safe instincts.""Do they often mislead you?"

"Indeed,sir,"she replied,with a merry twinkle in her eye,"Ithink you must have learned the questions in the catechism,if not the answers."Van Berg bit his lip.Here was a suggestion of a thorn in the sweetbrier he believed he had discovered.

"Now see how far I am astray,"she resumed with a frankness which had in it no trace of familiarity."It is my impression you are a lawyer."At this Van Berg laughed outright and said:"You are indeed mistaken.I have no connection with the influential class whose business it is to make and evade the laws.I am only one among the humble masses who aim to obey them.But perhaps you think your intuition goes deeper than surface facts and that I OUGHT to have been a cross-questioner.""I am quite sure my intuition is correct in thinking that you would not be very cross about it.""Perhaps not,if disarmed by so smiling a face as yours."The others,who had been delayed by a longer ride than usual,now entered and took the vacant chairs around the table.Van Berg felt sufficiently acquainted with them to introduce Miss Burton,for he was curious to observe whether she would make the same impression on them as he had been conscious of himself.