Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-20
BY HENRY JAMES.
FIRST PART.
CHAPTER l.

CHAPTER l.
She was certainly a singular girl. and
If he felt al the end that he didn't know
her nor understand her, il is not surpris-
ing that he-shOuld have felt it at the be-
ginning. But he felt at the beginning
what he did not feel at the end, that her
sin-ularity took the form Of a charm
Which-Once circumstances had made
them so intimate-it was impossible to
resist or cOnjure away. He had a strange
impression lit amounted at times to posi-
tive distress, and shot through the sense
OF pleasure-mOrally speaking-with the
acuteness Of a sudden tWinge Of neuralgia
that II would be better for each Of them
that they should break of short and never
see each other again. In later years he
called this feeling tOrebOding, and re-
memDered two or three occasions when he
had been on the point Of expressing it to
G eOrgina. Of course, in fact, he never ex-
pressed It; there were plenty Of good
reasons for that. Happy love is not dis
posed 70 assume disagreeable duties. and
Raymond BenyOn's love was happy, in
spite Of grave presentiments, in spite Of
the singular1ty Of his mistress and the in
siderable Tudeness of her parents. She
was tall, far girl, with a beautiful cold
eve and a smile of which the perfect sweet
ness, proceeding from the lips, was full
Of compensation: she had auburn hair of
a hue that could be qualified as nothing
less than gorgeous, and she seemed to
move through life with a stately grace, as
she would have walked through an old
fashioned minuet. Gentlemen connected
with the navy have the advaHtage of see
ing many types of women; they are
able ID compare the ladies of New
York with those of Valparaiso, and those
OF Halifax with those of the Cape Of Good
Hope. Raymond BenyOn had had these ad-
vantages. and being very fond Of women he
mad learnt his lesson; he was in a posi-
tiOn 10 appreciate GeOrgina Gressie's fine
points. She looked like a duchess don't
mean that in foreign ports BenyOn had
associated with duchesses-and she took
everything so seriously. That was flat
tering for the young man, who was only a
Lieutenant. detailed for duty at the
BROOKLYN Navy Yard, without a penny
in the world but his pay, with set Of
plain, numerous, seaiaring, GOd-fearing
relations in New Hampshire, cOnsidera-
bic appearance Of talent, a teYerish,
disguised ambition, and slight impede
meut in MS speech. He was a spare,
tough young man, his dark hair was
straight and fine, and his face, trifle pale,
smooth and carefully drawn. He stam-
mered a little, blushing when he did so,
at long intervals. l scarcely know how
he appeared on shipbOard, but on shore,
in his civilians garb, which was Of the
neatest, he had as little as possible an
aroma Of winds and waves. He was
neither salt, nor brown, nor red, nor parti-
cularly hearty" He never twitched up
his trousers, nor, so far as we could see,
did he. with his modest, attentive man
ner, carry himself as one accustomed to
command. OF course, as a sUbalteTn, he
had more 10 do in the way Of Obeying. He
looked as If he followed some sedentary
calling, and was, indeed, supposed to be
decidedly intellectual. He was lamb with
women. to whose charms he was, as l have
limited, susceptible; but with men he was
different, and, believe, as much of wolf
as was necessary. He had a manner of
adOring the handsome, insolent queen Of
his affections { | will explain in a moment
why l call her insOlent); indeed, he looked
up TO her literally as well as sentiment
ally, for she was the least bit the taller of
the two. He had met her the summer be-
fore, on the piazza of a hotel at Fort Ham,
iltOn. 20 which, with a brother officer, in
a dusty buggy, he had driven over from
Brooklyn 10 spend 4 tremendously hot
Sunday-the kind of day when the navy
yard was lOathsOme; and the acquain-
tance had been renewed by his calling in
Twelfth street on New Years day-a con-
siderable time to wait for a preteXt, but
which proved the impression had not been
tTansitOry. The acquaintance ripened,
thanks 10 a Jealous cultivation Con his
part Of occasions which Providence, it
must be confessed. placed at his disposal
none too literally; so that now GeOrgina
took up all his thoughts and cOnsideTa-
bic part Of his time. He was in love
with her beyond doubt; but he could
not flarter himself that she was in love
with him, though she appeared willing
(what was so strange) to quarrel with
g.-- Il 10
she could really care for him-she seemed
marked cut by nature for so much greater
a fortunes; and he used TO say TO her:
"Ah. you dOn't-there's no use talking,
you dOn't-really care for me at ALP
To which she answered: Greatly You are
very particular. 1t seems to me it's real
enough il let you touch one of my finger
tipss" That was one of her ways Of being
insOlent. Another was simply her manner
OF looking at him or at other people when
they spoke TO herr, with her hard, divine
blue eye-lOOking quietly, amusedly, with
the air Of considering (whOlly from her
own point Of view what they might have
said. and then turning her head or her
back, while, without taking the trouble
to answer them. she broke into a short,
liquid. irrelevant laugh. This may seem
to contradict what l said just now about
her taking the young Lieutenant in the
navy seriously. What mean is that she
appeared TO take him more seriously than
she took anything else. She said to him
once: AT any rate you have the merit of
not being a shOpkeeper;" and II was by
this epithet she was pleased to designate
most OF the young men who at that time
hOurished in the best society Of New
York. Even if she had rather a free way
OF expressing general Indifference, a
young lady is supposed to be serious
enough when she consents to marry you.
For the rest. as regards a certain haughti-
ness that might be observed in GeOrgina
Gressie, my story VIII probably throw
sufficient light upon it. She remarked to
BenyOn once that it was none Of his busi-
ness why she liked him, but that, to please
herself, she didn't mind telling him she
thought the great Napoleon, before he
was celebrated. before he had command
of the army of Italy, must have looked
something like him; and she sketched in
a few words the sort Of figure she inn
agined the incipient BOnaparte 10 have
been-short, lean, pale, poor, intellectual,
and with tremendous future under his
hat. BenyOn asked himself whether he had
atremendOus future, and what in the world
Geergina expected of him in the coming
years. He was fiattered at the COM
parisOn, he was ambitious enough not to
be frightened at it, and he guessed that
she perceived certain analogy between
herself and the Empress Josephine. She
would make a very good Empress. That
was true; GeOrgina was remarkably i'm
perial. This may not at first seem to
make il more clear why she should take
into her favor an aspirant who, on the
face Of the matter, was not original, and
whose Corsica was a fat New England
seaport; but II afterward became plain
that he owed his brief happiness-it was
very brief-tO her fathers opposition; her