A Witch of the Hills, v. 1-2

very fair bag for my morning's work, and being tired with my exertions, I was inclined to think that th

e more of the character of mentor towards me than I cared about, had seated himself on the ground beside me; but I had fo

and there had been a reserve between us for the whole of the evening, which Edgar somewhat unwisely interfered to break. Looking upon myself as the injured person, I had resented the homily he felt himself called upon to administer, and though I made my peace with Helen next day,

party, leaning lazily back on

amended; 'it's mo

now, Maude,' said some one, glancing mischievously at Edgar, whose so

"The Ladies" we must bow down to creatures lower than ourselves, whose beauty deceives us, whose frivolity degrades us, and whom not

hment, and Edgar's red healthy

y better qualified to judge that other class which he has t

to find mercy for vic

with the ponderous dign

little earlier, Mr. Maude, I should never have

cklessness had carried me, I was not ready to submit to the didactic rough-riding of the m

too dearly bought if I had known that it involved my

thrusting my gun under my arm, he literally carried me off, and marching me to a covert on the slope of a hill whe

take life more seriously, that I discovered my fiancée to be a fool, my most honoured friend a bore, and myself capable of undreamt-of depths of bad taste and ill-temper? I would go back to my old life of languid chatter and irresponsible dissipation, I would content myself again

gap in a hedge, my gun was caught by a briar as I mounted to the higher ground on the other side; I tried to free it, and handling it incautiously, a sudden shock to my face and right s

growing dizzy, I soon found myself on the ground, filled with one wish-that I might live long enough for some one to

suddenly more acute as I was moved; all the time I could see nothing, and I had only just time to understand

t side of my face was also bound up. I passed the night in some pain, and must have been for part of it light-headed, as I discovered two or three days later, when Edgar, much moved, told me that

ook advantage of my enforced silence to let him joke on unheeded, while my own thoughts wandered dreamily away to my life of the past few years, and to the odd, quickly discovered mistake in which it had lately culminated. I was surprised by the persistency with which Helen's placid silliness tormented me, fresh instances of it coming every hour into my mind until I began to ask myself whethe

breath upon my cheek, even to feel the touch of her lips upon my ear, as she told me my illness had taught her how much she loved me. I thought

called ou

m a little way off, 'Yes

thank

pa

ments later, 'nobody has be

wn. 'At least, I may have

aving been removed for the first time the evening before, I had liberty of speech again, of which I s

s,

still keep the bandages over my eyes? I know they were a

ly. He added hastily, 'I suppose the doctor

ye

s part of a sick nurse's duty when the patient showed signs of rest

'isn't my face a good deal ba

a little clash of glasses. The

ore it gets all right. But you've no internal inju

t was not difficult for me to gather that my fac

f the plain after this; I must cultivate my intellect and my virtues, like the poor g

,' answered Edgar, wit

me if she could see me now?' I

en times better now you were disfigured than she did when you we

d the idea that my injuries would leave permanent marks. In the second place, it led me to ask myself whether,

ke, came nearer to the bed, and said so

me to do her i

fatuated about her I listened to your rhapsodies in silence because I couldn't endorse your opinion that she was an angel. But I was glad you had taken a fancy to the child, and I knew that you might have done much worse. Well, my opinions have undergone no transformation. The women of the middle class, whom it is now the fashion to educate, the women of the lower class, who have to work, may be considered as reasoning creatures, varying, as m

gical, you may end b

ould be thrown away in the ridiculous and empty existence led by our wives! How she would laugh at the shallow interests of the women around her, and despise her do-nothi

the whole,

fool of my own class, who will have the u

less well-regulated than yours. I want something in my wife that you would not want fr

ating Edgar, who naturally resented the idea of a

l and mental inferior, powers equal to our own,

ured face without horror, when I am by no means sure that I could hav

. Beauty-of some sort-is a duty with them, while every one knows tha

of progress with them my ugliness is l

that my face was still unhealed, and the bandages must not be moved. And

ndow-blinds were down, and as evening was coming on there was only light enough to distinguish dimly the objects in the room by the help of the flickering flame of the fire. I got out of bed and walked to the toilet-table, but the looking-glass had been taken away; to the mantelpiece, with the same result. I grew impatient, angry, and rather anxious. There was a hand-glass in my dressing-bag, if I could only

e of the face, from forehead to chin, was a puckered drawn mass of blackened shrivelled skin, distorted into grotesque seams and furr

horror. In the first shock of my discovery, no reflection that I was looking upon the fearful sight at its wors

or, and perhaps Edgar, had seen my face in its present condition, and that no description could give to others any idea of its appearance. I felt that my bodily health and strength were all that they had ever been, and that nothing but the wish to keep the knowledge of my disfigurement from me as long as possible had prompted the doctor's orders to me to remain in bed and to retain the bandages. It now, too, occurred to me that delay might bring some slight modification of my hideousness, and I resolved to let nature do what little she could, and not to set o

o rush back to bed, put on the bandages round my face, and