第88章

RED ROSES

The garden of the little house was a haunt beloved of bees and reddened by late roses that August. The little house folk lived much in it, and were given to taking picnic suppers in the grassy corner beyond the brook and sitting about in it through the twilights when great night moths sailed athwart the velvet gloom.

One evening Owen Ford found Leslie alone in it. Anne and Gilbert were away, and Susan, who was expected back that night, had not yet returned.

The northern sky was amber and pale green over the fir tops. The air was cool, for August was nearing September, and Leslie wore a crimson scarf over her white dress. Together they wandered through the little, friendly, flower-crowded paths in silence.

Owen must go soon. His holiday was nearly over.

Leslie found her heart beating wildly. She knew that this beloved garden was to be the scene of the binding words that must seal their as yet unworded understanding.

" Some evenings a strange odor blows down the air of this garden, like a phantom perfume," said Owen. "Ihave never been able to discover from just what flower it comes. It is elusive and haunting and wonderfully sweet. I like to fancy it is the soul of Grandmother Selwyn passing on a little visit to the old spot she loved so well. There should be a lot of friendly ghosts about this little old house.""I have lived under its roof only a month," said Leslie, "but I love it as I never loved the house over there where I have lived all my life.""This house was builded and consecrated by love," said Owen. "Such houses, MUST exert an influence over those who live in them. And this garden--it is over sixty years old and the history of a thousand hopes and joys is written in its blossoms. Some of those flowers were actually set out by the schoolmaster's bride, and she has been dead for thirty years. Yet they bloom on every summer. Look at those red roses, Leslie--how they queen it over everything else!""I love the red roses," said Leslie. "Anne likes the pink ones best, and Gilbert likes the white. But Iwant the crimson ones. They satisfy some craving in me as no other flower does.""These roses are very late--they bloom after all the others have gone--and they hold all the warmth and soul of the summer come to fruition," said Owen, plucking some of the glowing, half-opened buds.

"The rose is the flower of love--the world has acclaimed it so for centuries. The pink roses are love hopeful and expectant--the white roses are love dead or forsaken--but the red roses--ah, Leslie, what are the red roses?""Love triumphant," said Leslie in a low voice.

"Yes--love triumphant and perfect. Leslie, you know--you understand. I have loved you from the first. And I KNOW you love me--I don't need to ask you. But I want to hear you say it--my darling-- my darling!"Leslie said something in a very low and tremulous voice. Their hands and lips met; it was life's supreme moment for them and as they stood there in the old garden, with its many years of love and delight and sorrow and glory, he crowned her shining hair with the red, red rose of a love triumphant.

Anne and Gilbert returned presently, accompanied by Captain Jim. Anne lighted a few sticks of driftwood in the fireplace, for love of the pixy flames, and they sat around it for an hour of good fellowship.

"When I sit looking at a driftwood fire it's easy to believe I'm young again," said Captain Jim.

"Can you read futures in the fire, Captain Jim?" asked Owen.

Captain Jim looked at them all affectionately and then back again at Leslie's vivid face and glowing eyes.

"I don't need the fire to read your futures," he said.

"I see happiness for all of you--all of you--for Leslie and Mr. Ford--and the doctor here and Mistress Blythe--and Little Jem--and children that ain't born yet but will be. Happiness for you all--though, mind you, I reckon you'll have your troubles and worries and sorrows, too. They're bound to come--and no house, whether it's a palace or a little house of dreams, can bar 'em out. But they won't get the better of you if you face 'em TOGETHER with love and trust. You can weather any storm with them two for compass and pilot."The old man rose suddenly and placed one hand on Leslie's head and one on Anne's.

"Two good, sweet women," he said. "True and faithful and to be depended on. Your husbands will have honor in the gates because of you--your children will rise up and call you blessed in the years to come."There was a strange solemnity about the little scene.