"Loved YOU!--you, Clementina!--my daughter! Did he ever TELL you so?"
"Not in words. He used to walk up and down on the road when I was at the
back window or in the garden, and often hung about the bank of the creek
for hours, like some animal. I don't think the others saw him, and when
they did they thought it was Parmlee for Euphemia. Even Euphemia thought
so too, and that was why she was so conceited and hard to Parmlee
towards the end. She thought it was Parmlee that night when Grant and
Rice came; but it was 'Lige Curtis who had been watching the window
lights in the rain, and who must have gone off at last to speak to
you in the store. I always let Phemie believe that it was Parmlee,--it
seemed to please her."
There was not the least tone of mischief or superiority, or even of
patronage in her manner. It was as quiet and cruel as the fate that
might have led 'Lige to his destruction. Even her father felt a slight
thrill of awe as she paused. "Then he never really spoke to you?" he
asked hurriedly.
"Only once. I was gathering swamp lilies all alone, a mile below the
bend of the creek, and he came upon me suddenly. Perhaps it was that I
didn't jump or start--I didn't see anything to jump or start at--that he
said, 'You're not frightened at me, Miss Harcourt, like the other girls?
You don't think I'm drunk or half mad--as they do?' I don't remember
exactly what I said, but it meant that whether he was drunk or half mad
or sober I didn't see any reason to be afraid of him.
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