Eline Vere Read Free Page B

sonorous laugh.
    â€˜You and your nerves! Come now, little sister, it’s time you cheered up. You’re such good company when you’re not in one of your moods; you really shouldn’t give in to them.’
    Feeling insufficiently eloquent to persuade her of this, he grinned and changed the subject:
    â€˜Care for a nightcap, Sis?’
    â€˜Thank you. Yes, I’ll just have a sip of yours.’
    She turned to face him, and he, chuckling beneath his blond moustache, raised the steaming glass to her lips. Then he noted the glint of a tear in her hooded eyes, and with brusque determination set down the glass and caught her hands in his.
    â€˜There, there now, tell me what happened. Was it something between you and Betsy? Go on, you know you can tell me everything.’
    He cast her a look of reproof with his uncomprehending, trusting eyes like those of a good-natured Newfoundland dog.
    . . .
    Only then, in a voice broken with sobs, did she let loose a torrent of misery, for no apparent reason other than the prompting of his voice and his eyes. The urge to pour her heart out was too strong to resist. What was she living for? What use could she be to anyone? She wandered about the room, wringing her hands and lamenting without pause. She didn’t care if she died within the hour, she didn’t care about anything at all, it was just that her existence was so futile, so useless, without anything she could wholeheartedly devote herself to, and it was all becoming too much to bear.
    Henk sputtered in protest, discomfited by the scene, which was no more than a repetition of so many previous ones. He began to talk about Betsy and Ben, their little boy, and about himself, and he was on the point of mentioning that she too would be mistress of her own home one day, but then thought that might be indiscreet. She for her part shook her head like a stubborn child refusing to be distracted after not getting its way, and then, in desperation, hid her face against his shoulder and sobbed there, with her arm entwined around his sturdy neck. Her nerves were frayed from the lonely hours spent in an overheated room, and she resumed her halting tirade, bemoaning the pointlessness of her existence, the wretched burden life was to her, and in her tone he detected a hint of reproach directed at him, her brother-in-law, for being the cause of all her woes. He was much confused, and also touched by the warmth of her fragrant embrace, which he could hardly return with equaltenderness. All he could do to stem the flow of disjointed sentences was murmur trite words of consolation.
    Slowly, slowly, to the soft tones of his sonorous voice, she cast off her melancholy mood, as though scattering rose petals on a stream.
    She fell silent at last and took a deep breath, but continued to rest her head on his shoulder. Now that she had calmed down, he thought it incumbent on him to chide her for her foolishness. What nonsense it all was, to be sure! A lot of fiddlesticks! Because, dash it all, there was no call for such a fuss, now, was there?
    â€˜But Henk, truly–’ she began, raising her moist eyes to his.
    â€˜My dear girl, all this talk about there being no sense to your life – whatever gave you that idea? You know we all love you dearly.’
    And, recalling his earlier, unspoken consideration of her eventual marriage, he added:
    â€˜Fancy a young girl like you complaining of the futility of life! My dear sis, you must be quite mad!’
    Tickled by this thought, and feeling there had been enough philosophy for now, he gave her arms a firm shake and tweaked her sad lips into a smile. She resisted, laughing, and it was as though the balance in her mind had been restored by her outburst. When a few moments later they started up the stairs together, she could barely suppress a shriek of laughter as he suddenly swept her off her feet and carried her the rest of the way while she, fearing a fall, half-ordered and