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"Margaret"]
THE
EAGLE'S SHADOW
By
JAMES BRANCH CABELL
1904
To
Martha Louise Branch
_In trust that the enterprise may be judged less by the merits of itsfactor than by those of its patron_
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXXI.
XXXII.
XXXIII.
THE CHARACTERS
Colonel Thomas Hugonin, formerly in the service of Her Majesty theEmpress of India, Margaret Hugonin's father.
Frederick R. Woods, the founder of Selwoode, Margaret's uncle bymarriage.
Billy Woods, his nephew, Margaret's quondam fiance.
Hugh Van Orden, a rather young young man, Margaret's adorer.
Martin Jeal, M.D., of Fairhaven, Margaret's family physician.
Cock-Eye Flinks, a gentleman of leisure, Margaret's chanceacquaintance.
Petheridge Jukesbury, president of the Society for the Suppression ofNicotine and the Nude, Margaret's almoner in furthering the cause ofeducation and temperance.
Felix Kennaston, a minor poet, Margaret's almoner in furthering thecause of literature and art.
Sarah Ellen Haggage, Madame President of the Ladies' League for theEdification of the Impecunious, Margaret's almoner in furthering thecause of charity and philanthropy. Kathleen Eppes Saumarez, a lecturerbefore women's clubs, Margaret's almoner in furthering the cause oftheosophy, nature study, and rational dress.
Adele Haggage, Mrs. Haggage's daughter, Margaret's rival with Hugh VanOrden.
And Margaret Hugonin.
The other participants in the story are Wilkins, Celestine, The SpringMoon and The Eagle.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"Margaret"
"'Altogether,' says Colonel Hugonin, 'they strike me as being themost ungodly menagerie ever gotten together under one roof since Noahlanded on Ararat'"
"Then, for no apparent reason, Margaret flushed, and Billy ... thoughtit vastly becoming"
"Billy Woods"
"Billy unfolded it slowly, with a puzzled look growing in hiscountenance"
"'My lady,' he asked, very softly, 'haven't you any good news for meon this wonderful morning?'"
"Miss Hugonin pouted. 'You needn't, be such a grandfather,' shesuggested helpfully."
"Regarded them with alert eyes"
THE EAGLE'S SHADOW
I
This is the story of Margaret Hugonin and of the Eagle. And with yourpermission, we will for the present defer all consideration of thebird, and devote our unqualified attention to Margaret.
I have always esteemed Margaret the obvious, sensible, mostappropriate name that can be bestowed upon a girl-child, for it is aname that fits a woman--any woman--as neatly as her proper size ingloves.
Yes, the first point I wish to make is that a woman-child, oncebaptised Margaret, is thereby insured of a suitable name. Be she graveor gay in after-life, wanton or pious or sullen, comely or otherwise,there will be no possible chance of incongruity; whether she develop ataste for winter-gardens or the higher mathematics, whether she taketo golf or clinging organdies, the event is provided for. One has onlyto consider for a moment, and if among a choice of Madge, Marjorie,Meta, Maggie, Margherita, Peggy, and Gretchen, and countlessothers--if among all these he cannot find a name that suits her to aT--why, then, the case is indeed desperate and he may permissiblyfall back upon Madam or--if the cat jump propitiously, and at his ownperil--on Darling or Sweetheart.
The second proof that this name must be the best of all possible namesis that Margaret Hugonin bore it. And so the murder is out. You maysuspect what you choose. I warn you in advance that I have no partwhatever in her story; and if my admiration for her given name appearsomewhat excessive, I can only protest that in this dissentient worldevery one has a right to his own taste. I knew Margaret. I admiredher. And if in some unguarded moment I may have carried my admirationto the point of indiscretion, her husband most assuredly knows allabout it, by this, and he and I are still the best of friends. So youperceive that if I ever did so far forget myself it could scarcelyhave amounted to a hanging matter.
I am doubly sure that Margaret Hugonin was beautiful, for the reasonthat I have never found a woman under forty-five who shared myopinion. If you clap a Testament into my hand, I cannot affirm thatwomen are eager to recognise beauty in one another; at the utmost theyconcede that this or that particular feature is well enough. But whena woman is clean-eyed and straight-limbed, and has a cheery heart,she really cannot help being beautiful; and when Nature accords hera sufficiency of dimples and an infectious laugh, I protest she iswell-nigh irresistible. And all these Margaret Hugonin had.
And surely that is enough.
I shall not endeavour, then, to picture her features to you in anynicely picked words. Her chief charm was that she was Margaret.
And besides that, mere carnal vanities are trivial things; a grayeye or so is not in the least to the purpose. Yet since it is theimmemorial custom of writer-folk to inventory such possessions oftheir heroines, here you have a catalogue of her personal attractions.Launce's method will serve our turn.
Imprimis, there was not very much of her--five feet three, at themost; and hers was the well-groomed modern type that implies agrandfather or two and is in every respect the antithesis of thathulking Venus of the Louvre whom people pretend to admire. Item, shehad blue eyes; and when she talked with you, her head drooped forwarda little. The frank, intent gaze of these eyes was very flatteringand, in its ultimate effect, perilous, since it led you fatuously tobelieve that she had forgotten there were any other trousered beingsextant. Later on you found this a decided error. Item, she had a quiteincredible amount of yellow hair, that was not in the least like goldor copper or bronze--I scorn the hackneyed similes of metallurgicalpoets--but a straightforward yellow, darkening at the roots; and shewore it low down on her neck in great coils that were held in placeby a multitude of little golden hair-pins and divers corpulenttortoise-shell ones. Item, her nose was a tiny miracle of perfection;and this was noteworthy, for you will observe that Nature, who is anadept at eyes and hair and mouths, very rarely achieves a creditablenose. Item, she had a mouth; and if you are a Gradgrindian with ataste for hairsplitting, I cannot swear that it was a particularlysmall mouth. The lips were rather full than otherwise; one saw in thempotentialities of heroic passion, and tenderness, and generosity, and,if you will, temper. No, her mouth was not in the least like the pinkshoe-button of romance and sugared portraiture; it was manifestlydesigned less for simpering out of a gilt frame or the dribbling ofstock phrases over three hundred pages than for gibes and laughterand cheery gossip and honest, unromantic eating, as well as anotherpurpose, which, as a highly dangerous topic, I decline even tomention.
There you have the best description of Margaret Hugonin that I amcapable of giving you. No one realises its glaring inadequacy moreacutely than I.
Furthermore, I stipulate that if in the progress of our
comedy sheappear to act with an utter lack of reason or even common-sense--asevery woman worth the winning must do once or twice in alifetime--that I be permitted to record the fact, to set it down inall its ugliness, nay, even to exaggerate it a little--all to the endthat I may eventually exasperate you and goad you into crying out,"Come, come, you are not treating the girl with common justice!"
For, if such a thing were possible, I should desire you to rival evenme in a liking for Margaret Hugonin. And speaking for myself, I canassure you that I have come long ago to regard her faults with thesame leniency that I accord my own.