CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
_Nan Surrenders_
It was all over at last, and Gabriel found himself seated in thecarriage, side by side with the demurest and the quietest young lady hehad ever seen. He had shaken hands until his arm was sore, and he hadhunted for Nan everywhere; and finally, when he had given up the search,he heard her calling him and saw her beckoning him from a carriage.There was not much of a greeting between them, and he saw at once that,while this was the Nan he had known all his life, she had changedgreatly. What he didn't know was that the change had taken place whilehe was in the midst of his speech. She was just as beautiful as ever; infact, her loveliness seemed to be enhanced by some new light in hereyes--or was it the way her head drooped?--or a touch of new-bornhumility in her attitude? Whatever it was, Gabriel found it verycharming.
To his surprise, he found himself quite at ease in her presence. Thechange, if it could be called such, had given him an advantage. "Youused to be afraid of me, Gabriel," said Nan, "and now I am afraid ofyou. No, not afraid; you know what I mean," she explained.
"If I thought you were afraid of me, Nan, I'd get out of the carriageand walk home," and then, as the carriage rolled and rocked along thefirm clay road, Gabriel sat and watched her, studying her face wheneverhe had an opportunity. Neither seemed to have any desire to talk.Gabriel had forgotten all about his sufferings in the sweat-boxes ofFort Pulaski; but those experiences had left an indelible mark on hischaracter, and on his features. They had strengthened him everyway--strengthened and subdued him. He was the same Gabriel, and yetthere was a difference, and this difference appealed to Nan in a waythat astonished her. She sat in the carriage perfectly happy, and yetshe felt that a good cry would help her wonderfully.
"I had something I wanted to say to you, Nan," he remarked after awhile."I've wanted to say it for a long time. But, honestly, I'm afraid----"
"Don't say you are afraid, Gabriel. You used to be afraid; but now I'mthe one to be afraid. I mean I should be afraid, but I'm not."
"I was feeling very bold when I was mouthing to those people; and everytime I looked into your eyes, I said to myself, 'You are mine; you aremine! and you know it!' And I thought all the time that you could hearme. It was a very queer impression. Please don't make fun of me to-day;wait till to-morrow."
"I couldn't hear you," said Nan, "but I could feel what you said."
"That was why you were looking so uneasy," remarked Gabriel. "Perhapsyou were angry, too."
"No, I was very happy. I didn't hear your speech, but I knew from theactions of the people around me that it was a good one. But, somehow, Icouldn't hear it. I was thinking of other things. Did you think I wasbold to send for you?"
"Why, I was coming to you anyway," said Gabriel.
"Well, if you hadn't I should have come to you," said Nan with a sigh."Since I received your letter, I haven't been myself any more."
"Did I send you a letter?" asked Gabriel.
"No; you wrote part of one," answered Nan. "But that was enough. I foundit among your papers. And then when I heard you had been arrested--well,it is all a dream to me. I didn't know before that one could beperfectly happy and completely miserable at the same time."
Then, for the first time since he had entered the carriage she looked athim. Her eyes met his, and--well, nothing more was said for some time.Nan had as much as she could do to straighten her hat, and get her hairsmoothed out as it should be, so that people wouldn't know that she andGabriel were engaged. That was what she said, and she was so cute andlovely, so sweet and gentle that Gabriel threatened to crush the hat andget the hair out of order again. And they were very happy.
When they arrived at Shady Dale, Gabriel insisted that Nan go home withhim, and he gave what seemed to the young woman a very good reason. "Youknow, Nan, my grandmother has been Bethuning me every time I mentionedyour name, and I have heard her Bethuning you. We'll just go in hand inhand and tell her the facts in the case."
"Hand in hand, Gabriel? Wouldn't she think I was very bold?"
"No, Nan," replied Gabriel, very emphatically. "There are two things mygrandmother believes in. She believes in her Bible, and she believes inlove."
"And she believes in you, Gabriel. Oh, if you only knew how much sheloves you!" cried Nan.
They didn't go in to the dear old lady hand in hand, for when theyreached the Lumsden Place, they found Miss Polly Gaither there, and theyinterrupted her right in the midst of some very interesting gossip. MissPolly, after greeting Gabriel as cordially as her lonely nature wouldpermit, looked at Nan very critically. There was a question in her eyes,and Nan answered it with a blush.
"I thought as much," said Miss Polly, oracularly. "I declare I believethere's an epidemic in the town. There's Pulaski Tomlin, Silas Tomlin,Paul Tomlin, and now Gabriel Tolliver. Well, I wish them well,especially you, Gabriel. Nan is a little frivolous now, but she'llsettle down."
"She isn't frivolous," said Gabriel, speaking in the ear-trumpet; "sheis simply young."
"Is that the trouble?" inquired Miss Polly, with a smile, "well, she'llsoon recover from that." And then she turned to Gabriel's grandmother,and took up the thread of her gossip where it had been broken by thearrival of Nan and Gabriel.
"I declare, Lucy, if anybody had told me, and I couldn't see formyself, I never would have believed it. Why, Silas Tomlin is a changedman. He looks better than he did twenty-five years ago. He goes aboutsmiling, and while he isn't handsome--he never could be handsome, youknow--he is very pleasant-looking. Yes, he is a changed man. He wasgoing into the house just now as I came out, and he stopped and shookhands with me, and asked about my health, something he never did before.Honestly I don't know what to make of it; I'm clean put out. Why, theman had two or three quarrels with Ritta Claiborne when she first camehere, and now he is going to marry her, or she him--I don't know whichone did the courting, but I'll never believe it was old Silas. I amreally and truly sorry for Ritta Claiborne. We who know Silas Tomlinbetter than she does ought to warn her of the step she is about to take.I have been on the point of doing so several times; but really, Lucy, Ihaven't the heart. She is one of the finest characters I ever knew--sheis perfectly lovely. She is all heart, and I am afraid Silas Tomlin hasimposed on her in some way. But she is perfectly happy, and so is Silas.If I thought such a thing was possible, I'd say they were very much inlove with each other."
"Possible!" cried Gabriel's grandmother; "why, love is the only thingworth thinking about in this world. Even the Old Testament is full ofit, and there is hardly anything else in the New Testament. Read it,Polly, and you'll find that all the sacrifice and devotion are based onlove--real love, and unselfish because it is real."
"It may be so, Lucy; I'll not deny it," and then, after some more gossipless interesting, Miss Polly Gaither took her leave, saying, "I'llleave you with your grand-children, Lucy."
When she was gone, Gabriel stood up and beckoned to Nan, and she went tohim without a word. He placed his arm around her, and then called theattention of his grandmother.
"You've been Bethuning Nan and me for ever so long, grandmother: what doyou think of this?"
"Why, I think it is very pretty, if it is real. I have known it allalong; I mean since the night you were carried away. Nan told me."
"Why, Grandmother Lumsden! I never said a word to you about it; Iwouldn't have dared."
"I knew it when you came in the door that day--the day that MeriwetherClopton was here. Do you suppose I would have sat by you on the sofa,and held your hand if I had not known it?"
"I'm glad you knew it," said Nan. "I wanted you to know it, but I didn'tdare to tell you in so many words. I am going home now, Gabriel, and youmustn't call on me to-day or to-night. I want to be alone. I am sohappy," she said to Mrs. Lumsden, as she kissed her, "that I don't wantto talk to any one, not even to Gabriel."
And this was Gabriel's thought too. He saw none of his friends that day,and when night fell he went out to the old Bermuda hill, and lay uponthe warm damp gr
ass, the happiest person in the world.
THE END
Gabriel Tolliver: A Story of Reconstruction Page 35
