Chapter 120 Chapter 120

Philip, who had slept like a dead man, woke up suddenly from his dream to find that Harold was tickling his face with a feather in his hand.The moment he opened his eyelids, laughter erupted around him.At this moment, Philip was still sleepy and dazed, as if drunk. "Get up, you lazybones," Gene yelled, "Sally says you don't get up, she won't wait for you." When Gene yelled, Philip realized what was going on.His heart sank involuntarily, and his body, which had just gotten out of the bed, suddenly became motionless, worrying in his heart how he would have the face to see Sally.Immediately, his heart was filled with a feeling of self-reproach, and he kept regretting that he had done such a thing.What would Sally say to him this morning?He was afraid of seeing Sally, and he couldn't help asking himself why he was so stupid.But the children didn't give him time to think about it, Edward had already brought him towels and drawers, and Athelstan had thrown the covers off him.Three minutes later they all thumped down the stairs and out into the open air.Sally smiled at him, that smile was as sweet and pure as usual.

"You take such time getting dressed," said Sally, "I thought you wouldn't be coming." There was nothing strange about her attitude.Philip had expected a subtle change in her attitude, or a 180-degree turn; he had imagined that Sally would be shy, or angry, or perhaps more affectionate when she saw him. Some, but her demeanor was exactly the same as before, without any change.Together they walked to the beach; talking and laughing all the way.Sallie, however, said nothing, but she was always so reserved and demure, and Philip never saw her otherwise.Sally neither initiates the conversation nor avoids it when others speak to her.This frightened Philip.He had hoped that what had happened between them the night before would always make a difference to Sally, but it looked as if nothing had happened between them.He seemed to feel himself in a fog.Philip walked forward, took a girl with one arm, and took a boy's hand with the other, trying to look as indifferent as he could for an answer.He was tossing in his mind, wondering if Sally had completely forgotten what happened between the two of them.Perhaps Sally, like him, did the stupid thing in a moment of emotional overwhelm, only to treat it as a sudden accident in special circumstances, and now she might make up her mind to put it away from her. Clear it from your mind.It could only be attributed to a willpower and a precocious wit quite out of proportion to her age and character.Philip realized that he knew nothing about Sally, and that she always seemed to hold a mystery.

They played jumping back in the sea, the children kept clamoring and playing, and the lively scene was the same as the day before.But Sally was like a mother to them, watching over them vigilantly, calling them back when they swam too far.While the other children were having fun, she swam unhurriedly in the water by herself, lying on her back and floating along the water.In a little while she climbed onto the beach, began to dry herself, and called the children out of the water one by one commandingly, until Philip remained in the water.Philip took the opportunity to have a good swim.It's been the second day since he came here, and he's gotten used to the cold sea water; he feels genuine joy in being in the sea that exudes a salty fresh air.He felt unspeakably happy for his limbs to be able to writhe freely in the blue waves, so he kept paddling and swimming in the water with strong and powerful movements.However, at this time Sally wrapped a towel around her body and came to the beach.

"Come up to me at once, Philip," cried Sally, as if Philip were a little child in her care. Philip, not amused by her air of authority, swam up to her, smiling.At this time, Sally said reproachfully: "You are so naughty. You have been in the water for so long. Your lips are purple. Look at your teeth. You are shivering with cold." "Okay, listen to you, I'll go ashore right now." Sally had never spoken to him in this manner before.It seemed that what had happened between them seemed to give her a right over him.She treated Philip exactly as a child in her care.After a few minutes, they all got dressed and walked back together.Sally looked at Philip's hands.

"Look, your hands are purple with cold." "Oh, it's okay. It's just a blood circulation problem. It won't be long before it's back to normal." "Give me your hand." Sally took Philip's hands in her palms, and rubbed them on each of his hands until his hands turned blood.Philip was moved, but bewildered, and looked at her intently.Because there were other children around him, he couldn't say anything, and he didn't meet her eyes.But he knew in his heart that her eyes definitely didn't avoid his gaze on purpose, but they just didn't meet.There was nothing in Sally's actions that day that suggested an iota of awareness of what was going on between the two of them.If anything, she talked a little more than usual.As they sat together in the hop meadow, Sally told her mother that Philip was so naughty that he didn't come ashore until he was blue with the cold.It was just unbelievable.However, it seemed that what happened the night before had only inspired her to protect Philip everywhere.She had the same motherly instinct toward him as toward her brothers and sisters.

It was not until evening that Philip had an opportunity to be alone with Sally.Sally was making supper while Philip was sitting on the grass by the fire.Mrs. Athelny had gone shopping in the village below, while the children were scattered here and there, playing their favorite games.Philip fidgeted and wanted to say something, but could not.Sally's attitude was serene, her hands and feet were busy.The silence made Philip root embarrassed, but she was indifferent.Unless there is something to be said or someone is talking to her, Sally seldom speaks on her own initiative.At last Philip could bear it no longer.

"Sally, are you mad at me?" he asked suddenly. Sally raised her eyelids silently, and looked at Philip expressionlessly. "Me? Not angry. Why should I be angry?" Philip was startled and speechless.Sally lifted the lid off the pot, smashed the contents, and then put the lid back on.There was a smell of food in the surrounding air.Sally glanced at Philip again, her lips parted slightly, and a faint smile appeared on her face.Instead, her eyes were full of smiles. "I've always liked you," she said. Philip's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt his cheeks flush.He smiled weakly.

"I didn't know that before." "That's because you're a fool." "I don't know why you like me." "I can't tell myself," she said, adding more wood to the fire. "Do you remember when you came to my house hungry after sleeping out for a few days? It was the day I knew I liked you. It was me and my mother who made Thorpe's bed For you to sleep." Philip blushed again, for he did not know that she was always thinking of it, and he himself was always filled with fear and shame when he thought of it. "That's why I've made up my mind not to have anything to do with anyone else. Do you remember when mother asked me to marry that young man? I let him come to my house because he was always begging for nothing." You're haunting me like hell, but I know in my heart that I don't agree with the marriage."

Philip was so astonished that he could not utter a word, and an indescribable emotion came over him, and he did not know what to call it, if not happiness.Sally pounded the food in the pot again. "Hope the kids come back for dinner soon. Don't know where they've slipped off. Supper's ready." "Shall I go and get them back?" Philip asked next. Philip felt less nervous at the chance to chat about family matters. "Well, that's a good idea of ​​yours, I gotta say... oh, Mom's back." Then Philip got up from the grass, and Sally looked at him with embarrassment.

"Would you like me to take you for a walk after I put the kids to bed tonight?" "OK." "Well, just wait by the ladder, and I'll find you as soon as I'm done." Under the starry sky, Philip sat on the step and waited quietly, his body hidden in the tall black grass that was about to mature on both sides.The soil exudes bursts of refreshing fragrance, surrounded by a quiet and elegant atmosphere.His heart was beating wildly.He didn't know much about what was happening in front of him.He usually associated love with cries and tears and fever, but in Sally there was not even a shadow of those things.Still, he couldn't figure out what could make Sally commit to him other than love?But does Sally love him?Her uncle, Peter Gann, was a tall, thin man with a straight back and a dark complexion. He walked with light steps and a wide span.Philip would not have wondered if she had fallen in love with her uncle.He couldn't help wondering what Sally was looking for in him.He wondered if Sally was in love with him as he understood love to mean.Otherwise what is it?He had no doubts about Sally's purity.He vaguely felt that many things came together, the intoxicating air, the hops, and the enchanted night, a woman's natural instinct of bodybuilding, full of tenderness and a kind of mother and sister. Emotions intertwined with love.Although Sally was not aware of all this, she really felt it.She was so full of love that she gave him all she had.

Philip heard footsteps on the road, and then a figure loomed out of the darkness. "Sally!" Philip called in a low voice. Sally stopped her steps and stood in front of the ladder.With her arrival, a sweet, fresh country atmosphere suddenly floated around.She seemed to smell of fresh-cut hay, of ripe hops, of fresh green grass.Her soft lips pressed against his, and her healthy and beautiful body lay flat in his arms. "Milk and honey," murmured Philip, "you are like that milk and honey." He made Sally close her eyes, and kissed her eyelids one after another.Her plump, strong arms were bare to the elbows, and Philip's hand was caressing them gently, and he gazed in wonder at the beauty of her arms.Her arms, glowing in the dark, were strangely white and translucent, as Rubens had painted them, with golden downy down on one side.This is the arm of a Saxon goddess, but no immortal has the grace and natural simplicity of hers.Philip thought of the cottage garden, with its lovely flowers blooming only in the heart of a man; Nigella, American dianthus, honeysuckle, delphinium and saxifrage. "What did you think of me?" said Philip. "I'm just an ordinary, insignificant cripple, and I'm ugly." Sally took Philip's face in her hands and kissed him on the lips. "You're a complete fool," Sally went on.