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Chapter 23 · Idols

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  Chapter twenty three of Idols by William John Locke. This LibriVox recording is in
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  the public domain recording by Simon Evers, Chapter twenty three. Why Minna sent
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  the note of acquiescence, she herself could not tell. Her caprices were past
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  accounting, for vanity had its share. The man, whom she regarded as
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  the most contemptuous and remote of a prigish society was now at her feet.
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  Revenge prompted her to pay her ancient grudge against that society by kicking him as
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  he groveled again. Desperate satiety drove her to new sensations, and lastly,
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  a reaction from her expansiveness of the night before set her obstinately. Counter to
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  Missus Delamere's somewhat injudicious advice to remain within doors, she kept him waiting in
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  the lodger for half an hour while the ponies stamped and rattled their bits below.
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  At last, she appeared, dressed in her flaring deaf Aduliello costume,
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  which had not worn since her original encounter with him. She met him somewhat
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  defiantly, without apology for her delay. Do I look decent? She inquired,
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  nonstinantly, of Missus Delomere, who be keeping Gerard company. You a
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  ripping, said Gerard. She signed to him that she was ready to start.
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  He picked up his hat and gloves from the balustrade and followed her downstairs.
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  Helped her into the high Phaeton, took the reins from the man at
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  the horses heads, and turned out of the front gate. Then a cut
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  of the whip sent the ponies at a dashing pace down the Simie's Road,
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  through the town towards the sea. We'll go on tiebway along the coast,
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  said Gerard, anywhere except the Corniche Road, replied Benna, I'm sick of
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  it. You seem to be sick of most things. Why so you've got
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  money and beauty and independence. What more can you want? Suppose? I
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  said? I wanted somebody to want to stand me, some one whom I
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  could meet soul to soul, she said, sarcastically. Don't you ever feel
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  that? He laughed, as he piloted the ponies past a company of bicyclists,
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  at whose machines they seemed disposed to shy. I've heard too much of
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  that jargon, he answered. I've been cured of a belief in souls,
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  or if they do exist, said Minna, people only talk of them as
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  they do of their livers when they are diseased. You began talking of yours?
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  Is it out of order? You tried a bit, don't you?
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  Hardened as manner was, and readily as she would have laughed at the speech
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  coming from the lips of another man, Yet in the remorseful bitterness of her
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  heart, which this sudden association with him seemed to have swelled to sensitive tenseness,
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  she felt his words jar through her body. One's own self mockery is
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  enough, she replied coldly. Oh come, he cried, with a laugh.
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  We're not going to turn ourselves inside out, as if we were at
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  a London afternoon tea an anatomy crush. It's rough on the ponies. You
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  haven't even admirred them. As they turned on the smooth white road between the
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  public gardens and the sea and dashed down the long promenade des Anglais with great
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  clatter of hoofs and tossing of impatient heads, Gerard felt the man's pride and
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  association with respectable horseflesh. He was in luck. Such a turnout is not
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  to be met with in every rivie or livery stable, and the elemental pride
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  in temporary possession of female beauty added to his satisfaction. Yet the fact that
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  he was driving the notorious Queen of Sheba before the eyes of all nice brought
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  a satirical smile to his lips. There would be a nice little scandal about
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  if either of us were attached, he said. It is comfortable not to
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  have to bother about the proprieties. I consider this bays watery and his conventionality,
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  replied Minna. If you look upon this as an adventure, I wonder
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  what you think of anything really audacious. I am ready to commit any audacity
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  name one. She kneed back and twisted her parasol languishly. To see her
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  face. He had to turn his head. I will kiss you now if
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  you like coramne publico. You're bewitching enough, he said, in his rough
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  fashion. The idea is unimaginative and repulsive, replied Minna, and she began
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  to look idly at the sea. It was at its loveliest that afternoon,
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  melting through all gradations from cobbolt to pale turquoise, flecked with the rich tones
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  of the brown Mediterranean sails and meeting far ahead in a sapphire haze the dreamy
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  stretch of the Cap d'antibe. But Minna's thoughts were far from its intoxicating beauty.
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  She wished she had not come for this drive. This man was getting
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  upon her nerves. She had half intended to lash him with ridicule and set
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  him adrift, but she lacked courage. In his last admiring glance, she
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  read that which made her fear. Her nervousness began to grow hysterical, especially
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  after the lapse of some minutes during which he had not spoken. Do say
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  something, she said, at last, irritably, I thought you were absorbed
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  in the poetry of nature, he replied, You Englishmen are so heavy.
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  You was scandalized to meet a crowd of shady foreigners at my house last night.
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  They can talk amusingly. That's why an Englishman generally acts, which is
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  better, said Gerard. They pursued the theme for a while, then,
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  piqued by her disadvantageous comparison, he began to make love outright. As he
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  proceeded, her sense of loathing and of impotence increased. She scarcely spoke.
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  Gerard took her silence for assumption of modesty. The satirical smile deepened about his
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  lips. The ponies went down the white road and a spanking pace. They
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  reached the open country, and traffic was scanty. The road undulated between banks,
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  pundered with thyme and rosemary, now rose in full view of the sea,
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  and the great sweep of coast now skirted villas nestling in the slopes that
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  he heaved downwards to the shore. From the cool, gray maritime alps,
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  shimmering against the violet sky. Swarthy, bare legged children ran out from the
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  wayside cottages to stare at the wheels flashing amidst the cloud of dust. And
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  now then a great shovel hatted cure looked up from his greasy bravery as the
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  English couple dashed by. Suddenly, at the top of a steep incline,
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  a bicyclist word passed them and coasted swiftly down. The ponies shied, plunged.
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  The phaeton was not fitted with a breake gerrard deep in amorous schemes,
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  and taken off his guard slatched. The ponies tried to pull them up bungled,
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  with the result that they bolted furiously down the hill. Minner, physically
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  timid, shrieked and fastened a desperate clasp on Gerard's arm. All right,
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  hold on tight, not my arm, Nothing will happen, he said reassuringly.
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  The cyclist, hearing the frightened horses thundering behind him, set his feet
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  on the pedals, put on the brake, and drifted into the hedge.
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  The light carriage leapt and swung. Minner was terrified in her fright. She
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  left her parasol to the winds and clung to Gerard's body with both hands.
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  She was very near him for a second. He took his eyes from the
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  tossing manes and kissed her on her open mouth. She uttered a little cry
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  and turned aside her head, but excitement and warmed his blood. He kissed
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  her again. She could not get beyond his reach, dared not relax her
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  grasp for fear of instant death. He had her at his mercy. As
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  soon as he became aware of regained control of the animals. He let them
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  follow for a time their foolish course, and kissed the frenzied girl beside him
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  over and over again, heedless of her struggles. And at last came a
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  slight assent, and Gerard's powerful arms brought the ponies to their senses. They
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  broke into a moderate pace, and all danger being over, Minna relaxed her
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  hold and drew as far from Gerard as she could. You brute, she
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  cried tempestuously, You brute, you cowardly brute. With a mighty wrench,
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  he pulled up the ponies at the top of the rise, and they stood
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  trembling, spattering their chests with foam. He turned to reply to Minner,
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  but she rose suddenly, and before he could interfere, was clambering out of
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  the high phaeton. I shall not stay a moment longer with you. I
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  shall walk back if I die from it. She missed the step and fell
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  heavily to the ground. A peasant in a blue blouse, who was working
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  in a little patch of garden by the side of the road, ran up
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  and assisted her to rise. Then hailed by Gerard, he went to the
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  horses heads, and Gerard sprang to Minna's assistance. You haven't hurt yourself.
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  I've twisted, did my foot? She said, sullenly, Steadying herself by
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  the phaeton. She was pale with anger and pain. Her veil and hat
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  were awry. One of her gloves had split. The daffodil yellow costume was
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  white with dust. The consciousness of her aspect incensed her further. You're in
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  a great mess, he said, and clumsily he began to brush the dust
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  from her skirt, but she twitched it away from him with her free hand.
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  Don't touch me, she said angrily. He stood up, thrust his
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  hands in his pockets, and looked at her somewhat satirically. I'm awfully sorry,
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  but I'll have to do something for you. If you've twisted your foot,
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  you can't remain there all the afternoon. It's better, she declared,
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  Leave me go away. I can walk home. With the words, She
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  removed her supporting hand and put her weight upon the sprained foot. But she
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  uttered an involuntary little cry and would have fallen had not Gerard sprang forward and
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  caught her. I'm afraid you'll have to accept my escort back, he said.
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  For reply, she called out in French to the man who is holding
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  the ponies. Is there an inn or cafe near by? The man broke
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  into polite smiles, showing his white teeth effectually. There was an inn just
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  at the turn of the road. Many visitors from me stopped there to eat
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  fruit and drink coffee. Madame had hurt herself, without doubt, and wanted
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  to rest. She would find herself quite comfortable there. I shall go to
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  the inn, she said, turning to Gerard. Perhaps you'll leave word at
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  my house to send me a comfortable carriage. You need not come back with
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  it. Oh nonsense, he replied. I can lift you into the phaeton
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  and lift you out again. It's idiotic to make this fuss. I'd you
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  not crawl than drive back with you, she flashed vindictively. Two sturdy and
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  swarthy peasants had meanwhile come up with the group, and, pausing by the
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  horse tender, received a voluble account of the situation. Gerard shrugged his shoulders.
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  How do you propose to get to the inn? These creatures will carry
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  me. I suppose you know you're making yourself supremely ridiculous. I am accustomed
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  to do what I choose, retorted Minna, didnt vous, she said to
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  the new arrivals. They hastened to her side. Gerard moved off a few
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  steps and lit a cigar. She explained her desires. The inborn gallantry of
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  the children of the SIUs manifested itself in expressions of delight. They made the
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  military ambulance seek for her with crossed hands, took her up and set off
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  at a brisk pace. Gerard marched behind them, sardonically, cursing under his
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  breath, and signed to the third man to follow. With the ponies and
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  phighten they formed a singular procession. At the turn of the road, the
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  little Inn came in sight upon the braw of an embankment overlooking the road.
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  It was a squat white building with ohiss is jeur du selais inscribed in enormous
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  letters across its facade. Front of it stood a ramshackle arbor of lattice work
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  covered with straggling vine, beneath which were rough tables and benches blistered by the
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  sun. Leaving the carriage in the road below, geronf followed the bearers up
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  the steep path to the door of the inn. The place was quite deserted,
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  save as some fowls, a goat tethered to a post, and the
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  buckxam Pathron, who was grinding coffee in the arbor. The bearers put Minna
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  to the ground, and she stood on one foot, supporting herself between them.
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  The landlady left her coffee and rushed out to meet her. I want
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  a room for an hour or two where I can lie down until a carriage
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  comes to me from Nice. This gentleman will fetch it, said Minna.
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  An interval of explanation and inquiry followed. Then the pathron entered the house to
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  look after the room. You need not wait, said Minna to Gerard coldly.
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  I want to satisfy myself that you are comfortable, he replied, sitting
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  down on one of the benches. The landlady reappeared in smiling bustle. The
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  room was quite ready, if Madame would deign to enter and occupy it.
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  The two peasants took up their charming daffodil bundle and vanished into the house,
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  from which they merged a moment or two afterwards. With glowing faces. Gerald
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  responded to their low bows and profuse acknowledgments of Monsieur Madame's generosity with an englishman's
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  impatient nod, and continued to swear softly to himself as he smoked. He
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  rose and walked to and fro before the inn, chafing of the ignominious position
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  in which Minner had placed him, Like most men of somewhat flaccid fiber,
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  he cursed now that it was too late his folly in yielding to her caprice.
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  If he had taken her up bodily and set her in the fighting,
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  and driven off with her, this tomfoolery would have been avoided. As for
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  Tameley going back for the carriage, it was out of the question. He
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  would see her at any rate before he started, and try to bring her
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  to a state of reason. He was not the man to slink off with
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  his tail between his legs after a slapped face, like a certain little kerd
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  of a Frenchman, whom he remembered. Her tantrums were preposterous. She the
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  queen of sheep, had put on the prude for a few snatched kisses.
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  He laughed disagreeably. His pride and his passions were armed allies. But he
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  was not free from some pricks of compunction with regard to her accident. He
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  not intended to behave brutally, and yet his solicitude had not been very tenderly
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  manifested, but confounded. It's her own fault, he exclaimed with a stamp
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  of his foot. Ten minutes passed, he waited for a glimpse of the
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  patrons. At last he caught sight of her in the public room of the
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  inn. She came at his summons to the door. In his bad French,
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  she explained his desire to see the invalid, nothing doubting as to his
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  right. The woman bustled before him, and, throwing open the door of
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  a room, bade him enter. He strode boldly. In the chamber was
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  rather dark going to the the shutters been closed against the westering sun. A
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  wooden table, a huge press, and a great four post bed with white
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  curtains took up most of the space. On the bed lay Minna, with
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  rumpled hair, her feet covered with a shawl. Her shoe and a stocking
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  lying on the table by her hat showed that her hurt had been tended.
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  She rose indignantly to a sitting position as he entered, Why have you come
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  here for? Why haven't you gone for the carriage? I can't stay here
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  all night. I wanted to make friends first, he said mildly. Come,
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  let us forget this little episode. You are angry with me for kissing
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  you well, you know, Minna, I wouldn't have kissed you if I
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  hadn't cared for you, and if you hadn't been so lovely and so near
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  to me. Oh go, for goodness sake, she said, twining her
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  fingers together nervously. His presence seemed to suffocate her. No, I am
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  not going, he answered, with sudden temper. I am not the sort
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  of man to be all. I'm not going to stir a foot until we
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  literally kiss and make friends. You know perfectly well. I've fallen in love
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  with you. I wanted you to have you all by myself to day to
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  tell you so. So I tell you I love you, and I insist
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  on being heard. You love me, she said, with great contempt.
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  You look like it. She jerked herself backwards so as to find support against
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  the pillows as she sat. What do you propose to do, she asked
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  him, with an ugly look on her face. As a matter of fact,
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  he made no plans whatever, the role of theatrical liberty never having come
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  within his experience. But I question gave an opening for the brute that necessarily
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  lingers in most men. I'll stay here all night until you kiss me of
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  your own free will. I've always thought of you as a coward, she
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  said. I suppose that's a threat to compromise me. It won't do me
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  much harm, I assure you. He threw his hat and gloves on the
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  table and came close to the bedside. The brute led him on. Her
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  beauty had captivated him, her scorn angered him. His shifty blue eyes gleamed.
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  If you don't do what I ask, it's a very small thing.
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  I'll take by force, and I'll stay here all night, and I'll follow
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  you wherever you go and see you every day until you come to your senses.
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  I love you, and I'm not going to be trifled with. And
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  I'm damned if you can say you have given me no encouragement. He bent
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  forward. She thought he was going to throw his arms round her. All
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  the pent up hatred of him, all the fomenting elements of self loathing,
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  remorse and despair, all the agonizing recrudescence of hopeless, passionate love for the
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  man that was and was not her husband found vent in a hoarse, inarticulate
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  cry. And then she lost control of reason and burst into passionate invective.
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  You love me. You you think a woman who knows what you are would
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  have anything to do with you, save fool you and throw you aside,
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  You who threw away a wife or was worth ten million of me, and
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  a friend that was worth twenty million of you. I hate you. I
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  despise you. I despise you as much as I despise myself. And that's
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  saying a good deal. She spat the words at him. When you were
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  living smugly with your wife, you looked down upon me. Now you've got
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  rid of her, you come to me like a brute and a coward.
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  You'll kindly leave missus Merriam out of the discussion, said Gerard sodonically. She's
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  the whole question, cried Minna. She and nothing else. She who's been
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  my burning torture and shame for four years. Do you think because I live
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  recklessly like a wanton woman, that I can't feel degradation and you shall feel
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  it too, you fool? You worse than fool. She was as pure
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  as a saint, as one of your Christian saints in heaven, and I
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  am as jealous of her. I didn't know her then, but you do.
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  You know where Hugh combann was that night of the murder. He was
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  with me all night. The thieves came in by the window I had unbolted
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  for him. He'd been married to me for nearly a year. We had
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  quarreled. It was my fault. I thought I hated him. Oh God,
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  if you knew how much I love him now, then you would know
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  what love is. She paused for breath, which came pantingly. Gerard stood
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  stiff, his eyes fixed upon her, unmoving as if turned to stone.
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  He passed his tongue over his lips. The enormity of his folly paralyzed him.
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  At last, words came what kept him silent. Then, as if
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  you could understand, she cried in her passionate scorn, the honor of the
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  bravest man that ever lived. That night, he'd see my father's will,
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  all my money to go. If I married a Christian, we swore to
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  part forever and keep our marriage secret. I kept him to his promise.
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  I let him go through all that horror. I was coming to tell you
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  that awful night I must take an ill. Your wife saved his life,
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  not his, and I have been in hell far ever since, and there
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  I hope to God, you'll remain, said Gerard in a low voice.
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  You shall taste some of it with me. Go to her now and ask
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  her to forgive you. I shall order the carriage for you, said Gerard,
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  and without another word, he turned and walked out of the room.
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  He will order the carriage for me. Ah Ha, cried Minna. The
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  Buxam Pathron heard the laugh, picked up her ears and flew to the beautiful
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  lady's assistance. End of Chapter twenty three.