E-text prepared by Christine Bell and Marc D'Hooghe
(http://www.freeliterature.org)
Dr. Adriaan is the fourth and last of the volumes forming The Booksof the Small Souls. In it the reader renews his acquaintance with allthe characters that survive from Small Souls, The Later Life and TheTwilight of the Souls.
ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS.
Chelsea, 30 March, 1918.
The afternoon sky was full of thick, dark clouds, drifting ponderouslygrey over almost black violet: clouds so dark, heavy and thick that theyseemed to creep laboriously upon the east wind, for all that it wasblowing hard. In its breath the clouds now and again changed theirwatery outline, before their time came to pour down in heavy straightstreaks of rain. The stiff pine-woods quivered, erect and anxious, alongthe road; and the tops of the trees lost themselves in a silver-grey airhardly lighter than the clouds and dissolving far and wide under allthat massive grey-violet and purple-black which seemed so close and low.The road ran near and went winding past, lonely, deserted and sad. Itwas as though it came winding out of low horizons and went on towardslow horizons, dipping humbly under very low skies, and only thepine-trees still stood up, pointed, proud and straight, when everythingelse was stooping. The modest villa-residence, the smaller poordwellings here and there stooped under the heavy sky and the gusty wind;the shrubs dipped along the road-side; and the few people who wentalong—an old gentleman; a peasant-woman; two poor children carrying abasket and followed by a melancholy, big, rough-coated dog—seemed tohang their heads low under the solemn weight of the clouds and thefierce mastery of the wind, which had months ago blown the smile fromthe now humble, frowning, pensive landscape. The soul of that landscapeappeared small and all forlorn in the watery mists of the drearywinter.
The wind came howling along, chill and cold, like an angry spite thatwas all mouth and breath; and Adeletje, hanging on her aunt's arm,huddled into herself, for the wind blew chill in her sleeves and on herback.
"Are you cold, dear?"
"No, Auntie," said Adeletje, softly, shivering.
Constance smiled and pressed Adeletje's arm close to her:
"Let's walk a little faster, dear. It'll warm you; and, besides, I'mafraid it's going to rain. It's quite a long way to the old lady's andback again.... I fear I've tired you."
"No, Auntie."
"You see, I didn't want to take the carriage. This way, we do the thingby ourselves; and otherwise everybody would know of it at once. And youmust promise me not to talk about it."
"No, Auntie, I won't."
"Not to anybody. Otherwise there'll be all sorts of remarks; and it's noconcern of other people's what we do."
"The poor old thing was very happy, Auntie. The beef-tea and the wineand chicken...."
"Poor little old woman...."
"And so well-mannered. And so discreet.... Auntie, will Addie be backsoon?"
"He's sure to telegraph."
"It's very nice of him to take such pains for Alex. We all of us giveAddie a lot of trouble.... When do you think he'll come back?"
"I do