Finch's Fortune by Mazo de la Roche

Author:Mazo de la Roche
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC019000
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Published: 2014-09-08T00:00:00+00:00

XIV

EDEN AND FINCH

THE STARS had never seemed to hang so low in the sky as they did that night. The various heavenly patterns which they formed stood out in burning brightness. The full moon, when it swung clear of the hills, appeared to be too large for the earth which lay flooded in its light. The earth dwindled beneath the moon, overflowing with brightness, as a green goblet held beneath the foam of a cascade. The moorside fields were almost white, and, in contrast, the intricate design of the hedges and copses was black as ebony. The silence was so deep that Finch, standing on the dew-drenched lawn, could hear the murmur of the stream beyond the orchard, the movement of sleepy birds on the bough.

Down below he could see the church tower rising out of the trees, and about it clustering the village. Down there was Ralph’s mother in her cottage. Down there was Ralph in his grave. From the tower sounded the four quarters, then slowly came eleven strokes. Soon the orange squares of the drawing-room windows were darkened.

A white figure appeared out of the park and came toward him. It was Eden. Since Mrs. Court had left he had come several times to the house. But Augusta had not asked him to bring Minny. What she was really afraid of was that if Eden once got Minny inside the house he and she would settle down for a visit. Eden had remarked more than once that he was tired of Minny’s attempts at cooking.

On the one hand Augusta felt that it was her duty to force the young couple into marriage by forbidding her house to them. On the other hand she feared the responsibility of pushing Eden into a permanent union for which he seemed by his temperament to be unfitted. Every time Eden came near her he put his arm about her long sloping waist and remarked:

“Darling Auntie, you are the only one who understands me!”

“What about Minny?” Augusta had asked once, somewhat sternly.

And he had replied: “Minny is not intellectual. She is natural. She doesn’t need to understand. But you are both intellectual and natural.”

She had looked dubious, but it was hard for her to resist him.

Now he asked:

“What are you looking so tragic about, Brother Finch?”

“Strange if I wouldn’t,” answered Finch heavily.

“You mean because of that boy who killed himself. But why feel tragic about him? Sooner be envious of him. How much better off he is than we are! He’ll never get tired. His hair will never get thin and grey or the sap dry up in his bones. He won’t see his girl turn into a sloven or a shrew, and his children turn out wrong. He’s as bright and fixed as one of those stars. Let’s choose a star for him and name it Ralph Hart.”

Finch raised his eyes to the stars. “Do you believe in life after death, Eden? Do you believe that somewhere Ralph is conscious?”

“I shouldn’t be surprised.

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