A Lover in Homespun | Page 6

at the house as though
meditating upon the advisability of returning, and actually did take a
few steps towards it, but again hesitated and looked back; the pathetic
droop of his shoulders affected her keenly, and she stole back to him
again. Bending her little head till it was near his, she said softly:
"Dreaming again, Vital?"
The foolish fellow turned and looked at her as though he had utterly
abandoned all faith in the veracity of his hitherto faithful eyes: "Katie!
Katie White!" he exclaimed.
She laughed outright. "Yes, Katie White. Did you think it was my ghost?
Of course, if you are not glad to see me, and would rather be alone, I

can go back to the house again."
Sly Katie!
It was marvellous the way the look of misery fled from his face, while
the sudden growth of his friendliness was nothing less than astounding.
Taking her little hand in his he shook it repeatedly, and impressed upon
her, over and over again, that he had never been more surprised in his
life.
Suddenly she put on a most serious look, and leaning back against the
fence, looked up into his face and said gravely: "Even if you don't
dance, Vital, I think it was a little rude of you to leave the house for so
long, and scarcely speak to anyone the whole evening. And the way
you acted, too, at dinner, Vital! I can't understand it."
In the happiness of having Katie near him, he had forgotten all about
the scene he had witnessed near the great birch tree, and the dreadful
words that had floated to him, and had almost stopped the beating of
his heart. Of course, she was his brother's now. How foolishly he had
been acting, and how painful to her must have been his extravagant joy
at seeing her. The reference she had made to the dinner made his
humiliation still keener to bear, for he thought she alluded to his
unhappy speech.
The sudden flight of happiness from his face made her own grow grave,
and she drew a little closer to him; but in his humiliation he did not
notice it. He thought she was haughtily waiting for him to speak. In his
quaint halting English he began to tell her that he feared he had been
most discourteous. The truth was he had "not meant to stay away so
long, but had got thinking of--of--"
"Thinking of what, Vital?"
Was he mistaken? Was not that a kindly ring in her voice? It was hard
to keep his eyes from her face. Then he thought of his brother, and he
was sure his ears had deceived him. After a painful pause, he answered
that he had been thinking of many things. Not for a moment did he

dream of letting her know that she had been the magnet around which
all his thoughts had revolved. Then he began to explain about that
speech. Hardly had he begun to apologize for his lack of oratorical
ability, when a pained expression swept across Katie's face, and she
was about to reproach him for thinking she would be so ungenerous as
to upbraid him for such a thing, when a spirit of mischief entered her
heart, and putting on a serious air she let him continue. He finally
wound up by praising his brother's wonderful gift of speech.
"Oh, yes," she replied warmly, "Zotique is a great speaker, and such a
dancer!" She stole a swift glance at him. His eyes were still fixed on the
trees in the distance. A queer little smile stole around the corners of her
mouth. He admitted, with a valiant effort to throw a little enthusiasm
into his voice, that Zotique was indeed a grand dancer. The smile,
which was in no way scornful, deepened on her face.
"And he is so polite to ladies, and takes such trouble to provide them
with seats at crowded tables," Katie went on reflectively.
He stole a hasty glance at her face, but quick as he was she was quicker;
the smile had vanished. He saw only a deeply thoughtful expression.
To think of Katie praising Zotique for providing her with a seat! If she
only knew how she was wounding him! but he was sure she did not. He
wondered what she would think if she only knew that the failure of his
speech had been largely due to not having had the privilege of
providing her with a seat. He thought of how anxiously he had watched
the door for her, and how Zotique had upset all his plans by going so
fearlessly up to her and taking her to the seat at his side. He wondered
she had not noticed how he had stood up all