White Magic Page #2

"White Magic" is a collection of short stories by Lucy Maud Montgomery, known for her enchanting storytelling and vivid characters. The book explores themes of love, friendship, and the passage of time, often infused with a sense of wonder and magic. Each tale reflects Montgomery's ability to capture the beauty of everyday life while weaving in elements of the mystical and the extraordinary, showcasing her deep appreciation for nature and the human spirit. Through lyrical prose and memorable characters, Montgomery invites readers into a world where magic exists in the simplest moments.

• Short story

								


"Does Randall know you feel like this?" asked Janet in a low tone.

"No. Randall is like all men--vain and self-satisfied--and believes
I'm crazy about him. It's just as well to let him think so, until
we're safely married anyhow. Randall has some romantic notions too,
and I'm not sure that he'd marry me if he knew, in spite of his three
years' devotion. And I have no intention of being jilted three weeks
before my wedding day."

Avery laughed again, and tossed away the core of her apple.

Janet, who had been very pale, went crimson and lovely. She could not
endure hearing Randall criticized. "Vain and self-satisfied"--when
there was never a man less so! She was horrified to feel that she
almost hated Avery--Avery who did not love Randall.

"What a pity Randall didn't take a fancy to you instead of me, Janet,"
said Avery teasingly. "Wouldn't you like to marry him, Janet? Wouldn't
you now?"

"No," cried Janet angrily. "I just like Randall, I've liked him ever
since that day when I was a little thing and he came here and saved me
from being shut up all day in that dreadful dark closet because I
broke Aunt Matilda's blue cup--when I hadn't meant to break it. He
wouldn't let her shut me up! He is like that--he understands! I want
you to marry him because he wants you, and it isn't fair that
you--that you--"

"Nothing is fair in this world, child. Is it fair that I, who am so
pretty--you know I am pretty, Janet--and who love life and excitement,
should have to be buried on a P.E. Island farm all my days? Or else be
an old maid because a Sparhallow mustn't marry beneath her? Come,
Janet, don't look so woebegone. I wouldn't have told you if I'd
thought you'd take it so much to heart. I'll be a good wife to
Randall, never fear, and I'll keep him up to the notch of prosperity
much better than if I thought him a little lower than the angels. It
doesn't do to think a man perfection, Janet, because he thinks so too,
and when he finds someone who agrees with him he is inclined to rest
on his oars."

"At any rate, you don't care for anyone else," said Janet hopefully.

"Not I. I like Randall as well as I like anybody."

"Randall won't be satisfied with that," muttered Janet. But Avery did
not hear her, having picked up her basket of apples and gone. Janet
sat down on the lower rung of the ladder and gave herself up to an
unpleasant reverie. Oh, how the world had changed in half an hour! She
had never been so worried in her life. She was so fond of Randall--she
had always been fond of him--why, he was just like a brother to her!
She couldn't possibly love a brother more. And Avery was going to hurt
him; it would hurt him horribly when he found out she did not love
him. Janet could not bear the thought of Randall being hurt; it made
her fairly savage. He must not be hurt--Avery must love him. Janet
could not understand why she did not.

Surely everyone must love Randall. It had never occurred to Janet to
ask herself, as Avery had asked, if she would like to marry Randall.
Randall could never fancy her--a little plain, brown thing, only half
grown. Nobody could think of her beside beautiful, rose-faced Avery.
Janet accepted this fact unquestioningly. She had never been jealous.
She only felt that she wanted Randall to have everything he wanted--to
be perfectly happy. Why, it would be dreadful if he did not marry
Avery--if he went and married some other girl. She would never see
him then, never have any more delightful talks with him about all the
things they both loved so much--winds and delicate dawns, mysterious
woods in moonlight and starry midnights, silver-white sails going out
of the harbour in the magic of morning, and the grey of gulf storms.
There would be nothing in life; it would just be one great, unbearable
emptiness; for she, herself, would never marry. There was nobody for
her to marry--and she didn't care. If she could have Randall for a
real brother, she would not mind a bit being an old maid. And there
was that beautiful new frame house Randall had built for his bride,
which she, Janet, had helped him build, because Avery would not
condescend to details of pantry and linen closet and cupboards. Janet
and Randall had had such fun over the cupboards. No stranger must ever
come to be mistress of that house. Randall must marry Avery, and she
must love him. Could anything be done to make her love him?

"I believe I'll go and see Granny Thomas," said Janet desperately.

She thought this was a silly idea, but it still haunted her and would
not be shaken off. Granny Thomas was a very old woman who lived at
Burnley Cove and was reputed to be something of a witch. That is,
people who were not Sparhallows or Burnleys gave her that name.
Sparhallows or Burnleys, of course, were above believing in such
nonsense. Janet was above believing it; but still--the sailors along
shore were careful to "keep on the good side" of Granny Thomas, lest
she brew an unfavourable wind for them, and there was much talk of
love potions. Janet knew that people said Peggy Buchanan would never
have got Jack McLeod if Granny had not given her a love potion. Jack
had never looked at Peggy, though she was after him for years; and
then, all at once, he was quite mad about her--and married her--and
wore her life out with jealousy. And Peggy, the homeliest of all the
Buchanan girls! There must be something in it. Janet made a sudden
desperate resolve. She would go to Granny and ask her for a love
potion to make Avery love Randall. If Granny couldn't do any good, she
couldn't do any harm. Janet was a little afraid of her, and had never
been near her house, but what wouldn't she do for Randall?

       *       *       *       *       *

Janet never lost much time in carrying out any resolution she made.
The next afternoon she slipped away to visit Granny Thomas. She put on
her longest dress and did her hair up for the first time. Granny must
not think her a child. She rowed herself down the long pond to the row
of golden-brown sand dunes that parted it from the gulf. It was a
wonderful autumn day. There were wild growths and colours and scents
in sweet procession all around the pond. Every curve in it revealed
some little whim of loveliness. On the left bank, in a grove of birch,
was Randall's new house, waiting to be sanctified by love and joy and
birth. Janet loved to be alone thus with the delightful day. She was
sorry when she had walked over the stretch of windy weedy sea fields
and reached Granny's little tumbledown house at the Cove--sorry and a
little frightened as well. But only a little; there was good stuff in
Janet; she lifted the latch boldly and walked in when Granny bade.
Granny was curled up on a stool by her fireplace, and if ever anybody
did look like a witch, she did. She waved her pipe at another stool,
and Janet sat down, gazing a little curiously at Granny, whom she had
								Rate this book:0.0 / 0 votes