The Fate of the Jury/Part 4
IV
As Merival was preparing to receive
Aunt Cynthia and Arielle, letters came
From both; from Arielle that she was ill,
And vexed with many things; from Cynthia
That she was worried over Arielle,
Whose nerves were troubled by anxieties
Touching her lawyers, agents, properties;
Saying that it were better he should come
To Madison this time; another time
They'd visit him; that Arielle would write
When she was free and better. Much perturbed
Merival went riding up and down
His many acres, overseeing work.
Thereafter letters every day from Arielle.
There were two ways: silence from him or write;
And Merival wrote. There were two other ways:
A trip to Europe, silence, utter breach
Of this relationship, that or go to her.
And Merival went to her—to Cynthia
Who housed him.
Aunt Cynthia and Arielle, letters came
From both; from Arielle that she was ill,
And vexed with many things; from Cynthia
That she was worried over Arielle,
Whose nerves were troubled by anxieties
Touching her lawyers, agents, properties;
Saying that it were better he should come
To Madison this time; another time
They'd visit him; that Arielle would write
When she was free and better. Much perturbed
Merival went riding up and down
His many acres, overseeing work.
Thereafter letters every day from Arielle.
There were two ways: silence from him or write;
And Merival wrote. There were two other ways:
A trip to Europe, silence, utter breach
Of this relationship, that or go to her.
And Merival went to her—to Cynthia
Who housed him.
It was June. The flaming dawns
Seemed like a universe afire, with skies
Of noonday cool and blue which sped soft winds
Among the poplars and the bridal blooms.
At sundown walking over the yearning hills
They saw a subtle haze of vaporous air
Drift with the lights of evening. Hand in hand
They stood once more by the log across the creek,
In a long embrace, where Merival's heart in tide
With streams of life too full to wish away
Flowed over his will, and drowned his self-regard,
His prudence. Arielle resting in his strength
And needing him as lover, friend, and help
Found calm content. Her spirits rose to songs
Of happiness, live color flushed her cheeks,
And in her eyes again the wonder came
Of flame within a sunglass.
Seemed like a universe afire, with skies
Of noonday cool and blue which sped soft winds
Among the poplars and the bridal blooms.
At sundown walking over the yearning hills
They saw a subtle haze of vaporous air
Drift with the lights of evening. Hand in hand
They stood once more by the log across the creek,
In a long embrace, where Merival's heart in tide
With streams of life too full to wish away
Flowed over his will, and drowned his self-regard,
His prudence. Arielle resting in his strength
And needing him as lover, friend, and help
Found calm content. Her spirits rose to songs
Of happiness, live color flushed her cheeks,
And in her eyes again the wonder came
Of flame within a sunglass.
Of flame within a sunglass.Then at last
In a long evening Arielle disclosed
Her troublous secrets. First she brought the will
Made by her husband a month before he died,
By which the husband gave to Arielle
The income of his property for life,
And at her death his sisters should have all.
Nothing in fee to Arielle. Why so?
Not even this house. "Why was this, Arielle?"
He asked her, and she answered, "Further read."
The next page was a codicil, by which
He gave her title to one-third of all
His property, and at her death two-thirds
Of all to sisters. Strange the selfsame day
Should see this will and codicil. Merival
Noted the dates and looked at Arielle.
"This will and codicil were made together,
Just hours apart," he said. And Arielle
Returned a quiet "Yes." Then she went on.
"Here is the trouble: Bonds and stocks compose
The whole estate besides this house. I can't
Have any homestead, any dower set off
To me without the notoriety
Of going into court. I feel them wait,
These sisters silent, hoping for my death.
Meantime I live just like a tenant here
Without a lease. That's not the worst of it.
I hold in my possession all the stocks,
The bonds, and now they say I might dispose
Of them and so defeat the will which gives
These sisters all when I am dead. I won't,
But that's their cunning talk to circumvent
My widow's rights. They plan to have trustees
Appointed who will take these stocks and bonds,
And hold them, pay the interest to me. What
But a poor pensioner am I, if that
Is done? No less. I am a prisoner,
And dare not go away for any time
Lest I shall lose by some abandonment
My homestead—so I'm told. Of course the will,
My life estate; but they are pressing me
That to renounce and let them pay my dower
And value of the homestead set apart.
All this with you,"—she put her arms about him—
"Have almost made me ill. You see that house?
That's where those sisters live. They know about you;
They watch me so. It was not wise to let
You visit me again. But if I went
To visit you, they'd know it. Cynthia
Is indiscreet, being so innocent,
So proud of you, so worshipful of me.
Our friendship is a triumph in her eyes;
And one must talk of triumphs." Arielle sank
Into a chair closing in weariness
Her eyes. And Merival said, "I'll manage this;
Why should your lawyer help me? Don't you see?
That would enrage them. They would say what right,
I'll get my lawyer." "No, that cannot be;
Upon what basis does his lawyer come
To intermeddle here?—It cannot be.
Your lawyer is yourself, and what's your right
To take a hand?" "To take it as your friend."
Arielle was silent. Soon he spoke again:
"Show me a picture of your mother, dear."
"I have no picture, why, what made you ask?"
"Do you look like her? I have wondered." "Yes,"
She lisped a whisper keeping eyes still closed.
After a silence Merival spoke up:
"Strange that your husband made that codicil
On the same day he made the will." But she
Vouchsafing no reply, he pressed, "Why so?"
And Arielle said, "That day he was at home
Sick, and he typed his will out of my view.
Two men came in to witness it for him;
That's how I knew. When he was back in bed
I searched and found the will. I got him up,
And after a talk he wrote this codicil.
The men returned to witness it again.
All this came out in court inevitably;
And that's what makes his sisters hate me so—
Though what did I get beyond the law's allowance?"
Merival's lips were framed to say the words,
"He did not love you." But instead he said,
"Shame on these sisters! You are in the right."
But Merival kept asking to himself
Why Arielle's husband had it in his heart
To make his will so; and why he'd fare away
To haunts of vice and leave this beautiful
Woman to loneliness. Was his the fault
Wholly, or hers in part, some secret fault
Which lay concealed from Merival?
In a long evening Arielle disclosed
Her troublous secrets. First she brought the will
Made by her husband a month before he died,
By which the husband gave to Arielle
The income of his property for life,
And at her death his sisters should have all.
Nothing in fee to Arielle. Why so?
Not even this house. "Why was this, Arielle?"
He asked her, and she answered, "Further read."
The next page was a codicil, by which
He gave her title to one-third of all
His property, and at her death two-thirds
Of all to sisters. Strange the selfsame day
Should see this will and codicil. Merival
Noted the dates and looked at Arielle.
"This will and codicil were made together,
Just hours apart," he said. And Arielle
Returned a quiet "Yes." Then she went on.
"Here is the trouble: Bonds and stocks compose
The whole estate besides this house. I can't
Have any homestead, any dower set off
To me without the notoriety
Of going into court. I feel them wait,
These sisters silent, hoping for my death.
Meantime I live just like a tenant here
Without a lease. That's not the worst of it.
I hold in my possession all the stocks,
The bonds, and now they say I might dispose
Of them and so defeat the will which gives
These sisters all when I am dead. I won't,
But that's their cunning talk to circumvent
My widow's rights. They plan to have trustees
Appointed who will take these stocks and bonds,
And hold them, pay the interest to me. What
But a poor pensioner am I, if that
Is done? No less. I am a prisoner,
And dare not go away for any time
Lest I shall lose by some abandonment
My homestead—so I'm told. Of course the will,
My life estate; but they are pressing me
That to renounce and let them pay my dower
And value of the homestead set apart.
All this with you,"—she put her arms about him—
"Have almost made me ill. You see that house?
That's where those sisters live. They know about you;
They watch me so. It was not wise to let
You visit me again. But if I went
To visit you, they'd know it. Cynthia
Is indiscreet, being so innocent,
So proud of you, so worshipful of me.
Our friendship is a triumph in her eyes;
And one must talk of triumphs." Arielle sank
Into a chair closing in weariness
Her eyes. And Merival said, "I'll manage this;
Why should your lawyer help me? Don't you see?
That would enrage them. They would say what right,
I'll get my lawyer." "No, that cannot be;
Upon what basis does his lawyer come
To intermeddle here?—It cannot be.
Your lawyer is yourself, and what's your right
To take a hand?" "To take it as your friend."
Arielle was silent. Soon he spoke again:
"Show me a picture of your mother, dear."
"I have no picture, why, what made you ask?"
"Do you look like her? I have wondered." "Yes,"
She lisped a whisper keeping eyes still closed.
After a silence Merival spoke up:
"Strange that your husband made that codicil
On the same day he made the will." But she
Vouchsafing no reply, he pressed, "Why so?"
And Arielle said, "That day he was at home
Sick, and he typed his will out of my view.
Two men came in to witness it for him;
That's how I knew. When he was back in bed
I searched and found the will. I got him up,
And after a talk he wrote this codicil.
The men returned to witness it again.
All this came out in court inevitably;
And that's what makes his sisters hate me so—
Though what did I get beyond the law's allowance?"
Merival's lips were framed to say the words,
"He did not love you." But instead he said,
"Shame on these sisters! You are in the right."
But Merival kept asking to himself
Why Arielle's husband had it in his heart
To make his will so; and why he'd fare away
To haunts of vice and leave this beautiful
Woman to loneliness. Was his the fault
Wholly, or hers in part, some secret fault
Which lay concealed from Merival?
Which lay concealed from Merival?On a night
Lying embraced, when the fierce ardors swept
Into a blinding flame all pale ghost thoughts,
Reasons and cautions, in that ecstatic madness
When death is craved as means to greater life,
And the heart hurls forth for ordeals, suffering
To bear to the gate of ruin, if so it be,
He poured warm, sudden breath against her ear
About their marriage, a whisper out of a tumult
Of passion gusted about her receptive calm,
Which kept itself in crystalline repose
And did not answer. But when Merival came
Out of the sorcery, the fumes and lights
Of her spell whose wand transformed him to a slave,
A reckless Hercules to her Omphale charm,
He eyed with cool reflection what might be:
That he might spin and wear her woman's robes,
And she might rule and wear his lion's skin;
Or torture him with some Tantalean grief.
Like David Borrow, with a double self
Out of two hemispheres of brain, he lived
The metamorphosis from the life with wings
Back to the earth where the hump of back and lug
Of vermiform perspective crawled secure
To safety. Thus between these moods of flight
Among the scented blossoms, and the earth trail
Between the weeds, he settled nothing. Once more
Back to Starved Rock he turned. He would advise
Her course about her business; he would come
Whenever she desired him; he would bring
His lawyer. But this time their parting had
No privacy, for Helena dined with them,
And played for them, and joined them afterward
Remaining with them till he left. They stood
At the door of her boudoir with arms entwined
And waved farewells to him along the hall.
Lying embraced, when the fierce ardors swept
Into a blinding flame all pale ghost thoughts,
Reasons and cautions, in that ecstatic madness
When death is craved as means to greater life,
And the heart hurls forth for ordeals, suffering
To bear to the gate of ruin, if so it be,
He poured warm, sudden breath against her ear
About their marriage, a whisper out of a tumult
Of passion gusted about her receptive calm,
Which kept itself in crystalline repose
And did not answer. But when Merival came
Out of the sorcery, the fumes and lights
Of her spell whose wand transformed him to a slave,
A reckless Hercules to her Omphale charm,
He eyed with cool reflection what might be:
That he might spin and wear her woman's robes,
And she might rule and wear his lion's skin;
Or torture him with some Tantalean grief.
Like David Borrow, with a double self
Out of two hemispheres of brain, he lived
The metamorphosis from the life with wings
Back to the earth where the hump of back and lug
Of vermiform perspective crawled secure
To safety. Thus between these moods of flight
Among the scented blossoms, and the earth trail
Between the weeds, he settled nothing. Once more
Back to Starved Rock he turned. He would advise
Her course about her business; he would come
Whenever she desired him; he would bring
His lawyer. But this time their parting had
No privacy, for Helena dined with them,
And played for them, and joined them afterward
Remaining with them till he left. They stood
At the door of her boudoir with arms entwined
And waved farewells to him along the hall.