Member-only story
How a Fall into Flowers Became Lucy’s First True Awakening
"Leave them alone," Mr. Emerson begged the chaplain, of whom he stood in no awe. "Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there? To be driven by lovers—A king might envy us, and if we part them it's more like sacrilege than anything I know."
Here, the voice of Miss Bartlett was heard saying that a crowd had begun to collect.
Mr. Eager, who suffered from an overfluent tongue rather than a resolute will, was determined to make himself heard. He addressed the driver again. Italian in the mouth of Italians is a deep-voiced stream, with unexpected cataracts and boulders to preserve it from monotony. In Mr. Eager's mouth, it resembled nothing so much as an acid whistling fountain which played ever higher and higher, and quicker and quicker, and more and more shrilly, till abruptly it was turned off with a click.
"Signorina!" said the man to Lucy, when the display had ceased. Why should he appeal to Lucy?
"Signorina!" echoed Persephone in her glorious contralto. She pointed at the other carriage. Why?
For a moment, the two girls looked at each other. Then Persephone got down from the box.
"Victory at last!" said Mr. Eager, smiting his hands together as the carriages started…
