"Pardon me,"he said,"but I left my sketchbook here some days since;and I especially wished to bid Mr.Eltinge good-by and to thank him with all the warmth and fulness that can be put into words."Mr.Eltinge was cordially and gravely kind in his reception,but Ida kept her face averted,for she knew that the traces of grief were too apparent.
After a few moments Mr.Eltinge said:"Since this is your last visit,I cannot think of letting either of you go back before dinner,and,if you will excuse me for a little time,I soon can see that our simple arrangements are made.""I shall be very glad to remain,"said Van Berg,so promptly that Ida turned and looked at him with surprise.She was still more surprised when,as soon as they were alone,he hobbled to the rustic seat and sat down beside her.
"Miss Ida,"he said,"you have always given me such admirable advice that I come to you again.Miss Burton refuses me absolutely and irrevocably,and in language that renders it impossible for me ever to address her again on the subject.You thus perceive what a forlorn object is before you--a rejected man and a cripple!""Miss Burton refused you!"exclaimed Ida in utter amazement."You were but a cold wooer,I imagine,"she added reproachfully,and she rose from the seat and stood aloof from him.
"You know well,Miss Ida,"he said earnestly,"that a falsehood would be impossible in this place,and I assure you I honestly did the best I could.We have plighted our faith in a friendship that will be a brother's love on my part,but she said solemnly that she would regard offers of marriage from me,now or at any future time,as an insult.In brief,she has at last told me her story.
Her lover is dead,and it was because she detected certain resemblances in my appearance to him that she looked at me sometimes in the way you described.I had surmised as much before,but at one time hoped that this accidental resemblance might give me a vantage-ground in winning her from a past that I knew must have been very sad indeed.My resemblance was only an outward one,the man himself was immeasurably my superior,and on the principle of contrast alone Jennie Burton could never think of me.But her love for Harrold Fleetwood is her life.It is a strange,unearthly devotion that time only increases.I felt weeks since that I could worship her as a saint far easier than I could love her as a woman,and I now know the reason.It would indeed be an insult for any man to speak to her of love and marriage,if he knew what I have learned to-day.""Then poor Cousin Ik has no chance either,"said Ida,with tears in her eyes.
"No,I do not think he has,although she has learned to appreciate him.She spoke of him as a 'true,noble-hearted gentleman,'and such terms from the lips of a woman like Jennie Burton are better than a king's title.As far as my complacent and deliberate wooing of last summer is concerned,I believe that when it did not pain and annoy her she was rather amused by it.She had seen the genuine thing,you know,and thus I was the only one imposed upon by a sentiment which at the time received the unqualified approval of my infallible reason and judgment.The very superior Mr.Harold Van Berg once declined your acquaintance,as you may remember.Take your full revenge upon him now,for you see to what a battered and dilapidated condition of body and mind he has been reduced.He has developed a genius for blundering and getting himself and other people into trouble,that is quite sublime.If ever a man needed daily advice and counsel,he does,and the incalculable service that you have rendered him in this respect leads him to come to you again.""Indeed,sir,"said Ida,turning away with a crimson face,"I have no further advice to give you.Mr.Eltinge will soon be back;take him as your counsellor.I'm going to gather some flowers for dinner."He at once was on his crutches and in close pursuit,but she flitted away before him till in despair he returned to the rustic seat.Then she shyly and hesitatingly began to approach,apparently absorbed in tying up her flowers.
"Haven't you observed that I am a cripple?"he asked.
"I have observed that you are a very nimble one.""I think you are very cruel to treat a helpless man in this style.""Indeed,sir,I have not taken away your crutches.When you spoke of a helpless man,to whom did you refer?""I thought you once said that mercy was 'twice bless'd.'""That's a truism that has become a little trite.Don't you think Mr.Eltinge will like my bouquet?""Here is a flower that to me is worth all that ever bloomed.Come and tell me if you still recognize it,"and he took out the little note-book in which was pressed the imperfect and emblematic rose-bud.
"Poor little thing!"Ida sighed,looking over his shoulder,"how faded it has become!"By a motion that was almost instantaneous he dropped the note-book and caught her hand."Yes,Ida,"he said eagerly,it is faded,but it grows dearer to me daily,as you will long after the exquisite color has faded from your face.Ida Mayhew,the brook has stopped now because it cannot help itself,nor will it ever go on again,even in spring or summer,unless it bears you away with it."She turned and looked him full in his eyes,in accordance with her custom when she felt that she must know the innermost thoughts of the speaker.
"Mr.Van Berg,"she said very gravely,"let that little emblem there remind you that you are speaking to a very faulty and ignorant girl.I cannot regain in a few weeks what I have lost in a wasted life.You may regret---""Hush,Ida;for once I will not listen to you.When I believed myself dying my chief thought was of you,and when I heard sounds near me,in my half unconscious state I called your name.""Oh,that it had been my privilege to answer,"she sighed.
"You saved me when I was in far worse peril,"he resumed in words that flowed like a torrent."You saved my honor,my manhood;you saved me from folly that would have blasted my life.I owe far more to you than to Jennie Burton,and I know at what cost to yourself.