Master of the Vineyard

ately M

Point

of the Muses, late in the afternoon. Instinctively, she sought the p

brown alpaca and the brown gingham as she did the sordid tasks of every day. That morning

ber. Their continual nagging had fretted her, their constant restraint had chafed

ght of Aunt Matilda, unloved and unsought. Nobody wanted her, she belonged to nobody, in all her lonely life she had had nothing. She sat and listened to Grandmother, she did the annual sewing, and day b

oy of

esolution, but a spontaneous desire to share her own gladness, and to lead the others, i

cool wind, and the peaceful river in the valley below sparkled and dimpled at the caress of the sun. The thousand sounds and fragrances of Spring thrilled h

e tiny dweller of the sea casts off his shell. The outworn habitation of the past was forev

e stately mansi

ift seaso

e, Yet

ad she not, by a single step, passed from the cell of self into comradeship with the whole world? Was she not a part of everything and had not

of the Muses for an occasional hour of friendly talk. Everything was the same, and yet subtly different, as though seen from another as

y had been not to see it before! Was she not the only woman he knew, and was he not the only man to whom she could say more

onted

upon the brown branches, and through them she could see the blue sky, deep as turquoise, without a single cloud. It seemed that she had al

d the signal, she had tied it in its accustomed place, and gone back, calmly to wait. The school bell echoed through the valley as she stood there, her

id to herself. "O

very day. Won and awakened though she was, her womanhood imperatively demanded now that she must be sought and never seek, that s

it

day that presently he should come to her, unsu

uired, reproachfully, when he

gs," she answer

ou want m

cour

idn't you h

e I wanted y

took her face between his hands and kissed her, hal

ble dream. I was glad t

ams were wakeful ones. You're

How could I e

want to be good to you, dear. If I'm ever

wa

-I won't

y n

never meant it." Rosemary's eyes were grave and sweet

brute not to be good to you,

ted," she comment

s long as you kn

inst his shoulder. "I'll always understand and I'll never fail you.

" he murmured; "you

after a pause, she asked the old, old question, first always f

st began to come here, only I

did yo

dn't keep it to

Shall

" she breathed,

want i

pon him. "Why should I want y

pplemented, "and all t

lying the word. "Yesterday was perfect, like a jewel that we can put

er go back to yesterday." Then, with a swift cha

hispered, her eyes downcas

grapes have been gathered a

ely hear her m

ops, art galleries, everything. If the crop is in early, we should be able to have two we

day, w

e saw unfathomed depths in her grey eyes, shining now, with the indescribable light that comes from within. She had been negative and colour

ill Th

ur Grandmother a

ow cou

e it hard for you, and I wouldn't

her beautiful secret was too sacred to put into wor

ed, you can just put on your hat and say: 'Grandmother, and Aunty, I'm go

idea filled her with consternation.

they say, as long as you

o herself. "I can't be marr

Diff

ning, catch the first train to town, you can shop all the afternoon to your hear

e continued, irrelevantly, "and Aunt Matilda

never co

k it could have

nt Matilda was foreorda

speak of her as an old maid

the diff

an old maid is a woman who never could have m

estion of o

lieve

old maids I've ever known have been married wo

" Rosemary sighed;

hy

n's

you. I'm sorry for every other woman in the world," she

mself of her hand, "don't forget th

think, because-" Her voice trail

he's glad. I told

ddenly tremulous and afr

m saying how much his mother had been surprised and how lon

and t

d always liked you and that the house wouldn't be so lonely after you came to live w

th worship, adoration, love. The mother-hunger made her faint with longing for

e's W

" Rosemary plead

termined to make the best of Alden's choice. Something in her stirred in answer to the infinite appeal in the girl's eyes. At the crowning moment of her li

mary went to her, laid her head upon the sweet, silken so

e, holding her close. "My d

iped her eyes. "It's only an April rain,"

"that I might be sure all the tears either of you are ever t

e

osemary's tears woke all his tenderness. He longed to shield and shelter her; t

tly, ringing a silver bell as she spoke

unging about the room with his hands in his poc

elative we are permitted to choose-we even have very little to say when it comes to a mother-in-law. With parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, an

ung man for her daughter. When she finally landed him, and the ceremony came off to the usual accompaniment of Mendelssohn and a crowded

ont

y, timidly, "she was only cr

e tears would indicate, it's a b

that moved so gracefully among the cups, and her heart contracted with a swift little pang of envy, of which she wa

" she said, kindly. "I'll show

. "Oh, thank you! Do you suppose tha

fond of saying that it took three generatio

d off into space, disappearing in the late afternoon sunshine like a wraith at dawn

p of

where men, women, and children, in little jackets of faded blue, pick it while their queues bob back and forth. Think of all the chatter tha

d scent of myrrh, the rustle of silks and the gleam of gold. Then the open sea, with infinite spaces of shining blue, and a wake of pearl and

ent from the battered metal tea-pot that always stood on the back of the stove at Grandmother's, to be boiled

ottom of

dear?" asked his mot

em," he laughed, "and I s

" she as

ourse

and trouble. What is ther

, with a smile, "but a little

k of her chair, he pressed his cheek to hers. "I hope, my dear, that whe

e her adieus awkwardly. "Come again ve

and thank you so much.

chfully. Some memory of her lost Virginia mad

ry faltered. "D

emary stooped and kissed her. "Mother," she said, fo