Last Ride Together, The by James Kenneth Stephen — Stanza

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Last Ride Together, The

by James Kenneth Stephen

From Her Point Of View

When I had firmly answered "No,"

And he allowed that that was so,

I really thought I should be free

For good and all from Mr. B.,

And that he would soberly acquiesce.

I said that it would be discreet

That for awhile we should not meet;

I promised that I would always feel

A kindly interest in his weal;

I thanked him for his amorous zeal;

In short, I said all I could but "yes."

I said what I'm accustomed to;

I acted as I always do.

I promised he should find in me

A friend, a sister, if that might be;

But he was still dissatisfied.

He certainly was most polite;

He said exactly what was right,

He acted very properly,

Except indeed for this, that he

Insisted on inviting me

To come with him for "one more last ride."

A little while in doubt I stood:

A ride, no doubt, would do me good;

I had a habit and a hat

Extremely well worth looking at;

The weather was distinctly fine.

My horse, too, wanted exercise,

And time, when one is riding, flies;

Besides, it really seemed, you see,

The only way of ridding me

Of pertinacious Mr. B.;

So my head I graciously incline.

I won't say much of what happened next;

I own I was extremely vexed.

Indeed I should have been aghast

If any one had seen what passed;

But nobody need ever know

That, as I leaned forward to stir the fire,

He advanced before I could well retire;

And I suddenly felt, to my great alarm,

The grasp of a warm, unlicensed arm,

An embrace in which I found no charm;

I was awfully glad when he let me go.

Then we began to ride; my steed

Was rather fresh, too fresh indeed,

And at first I thought of little, save

The way to escape an early grave,

As the dust rose up on either side.

My stern companion jogged along

On a brown old cob both broad and strong.

He looked as he does when he's writing verse,

Or endeavoring not to swear and curse,

Or wondering Where he has left his purse;

Indeed it was a sombre ride.

I spoke of the weather to Mr. B.,

But he neither listened nor spoke to me.

I praised his horse, and I smiled the smile

Which was wont to move him once in a while.

I said I was wearing his favorite flowers,

But I wasted my words on the desert air,

For he rode with a fixed and gloomy stare.

I wonder what he was thinking about.

As I don't read verse, I shan't find out.

It was something subtle and deep, no doubt,

A theme to detain a man for hours.

Ah! there was the corner where Mr. S.

So nearly induced me to whisper "yes";

And here it was that the next but one

Proposed on horseback, or would have done,

Had his horse not most opportunely shied;

Which perhaps was due to the unseen flick

He received from my whip; 'twas a scurvy trick,

But I never could do with that young man,

I hope his present young woman can.

Well, I must say, never, since time began,

Did I go for a duller or longer ride.

He never smiles and he never speaks;

He might go on like this for weeks;

He rolls a slightly frenzied eye

Towards the blue and burning sky,

And the cob bounds on with tireless stride.

If we aren't home for lunch at two

I don't know what papa will do;

But I know full well he will say to me,

"I never approved of Mr. B.;

It's the very devil that you and he

Ride, ride together, forever ride."