Page:Emily Climbs.pdf/219

 mer-house in exhilaration. Air such as I breathed then always makes me a little drunk, I verily believe. I laughed at myself for feeling badly over not being elected an Owl. An Owl! Why, I felt like a young eagle, soaring sunward. All the world was before me to see and learn, and I exulted in it. The future was mine—and the past, too. I felt as if I had been alive here always—as if I shared in all the loves and lives of the old house. I felt as if I would live always—always—always—I was sure of immortality then. I didn’t just believe it—I it.

“Dean found me there: he was close beside me before I was aware of his presence.

“‘You are smiling,’ said Dean. ‘I like to see a woman smiling to herself. Her thoughts must be innocent and pleasant. Has the day been kind to you, dear lady?’

“‘Very kind—and this evening is its best gift. I’m happy tonight, Dean—just to be alive makes me happy. I feel as if I were driving a team of stars. I wish such a mood could last, I feel so sure of myself tonight—so sure of my future. I’m not afraid of. At life’s banquet of success I may not be the guest of honor, but I'll be among those present.’

“‘You looked like a seeress gazing into the future as I came down the walk,’ said Dean, ‘standing here in the moonlight, white and rapt. Your skin is like a narcissus petal. You could dare to hold a white rose against your face—very few women can dare that. You aren’t really very pretty, you know, Star, but your face makes people think of beautiful things—and that is a far rarer gift than mere beauty.’

“I like Dean’s compliments. They are always different from anybody else’s. And I like to be called a woman.

“‘You’ll make me vain,’ I said.

“‘Not with your sense of humour,’ said Dean. ‘A woman with a sense of humour is never vain. The most malevolent bad fairy in the world couldn’t bestow two such drawbacks on the same christened babe.’