She walked swiftly, immersed in thought, along the October road, beneath
the splendid canopy, and over the gorgeous strewn carpet, of the dying
trees. She was going to call on Abbie, it having occurred to her that
perhaps the kind of information she wanted concerning Bressant might be
forthcoming there. Presently, the rapid rise in the road at the end of
the level stretch checked the current of her ideas, and threw them into
confusion. Out of the confusion rose unexpectedly one.
Cornelia stopped in her walk, with one foot advanced, her head thrown
up, her finger on her chin. She looked like a glorious young sibyl,
reading a divine prophecy upon the clouds. After a moment, she waved her
autumn banner over her head, with a gesture of triumph, and, turning on
her heel, began to walk back toward home.
The grandest discoveries are so simple! Cornelia laughed to think how
blind she had been--how stupid! What a sense of power and independence
was hers now! To turn homeward had been instinctive. So strong was the
sense of an end gained--a point settled--that, whatever may have been
the actual errand on which she had started, she felt that her work, for
that day, at least, was done.
She had been planning, and speculating, and worrying, to discover a safe
and sure method of separating Bressant and her sister.
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