“Oh,itisn’texactlythat,“shesaidquietly。“Iamquitewillingtoadmitwhatallthetouristsandchancevisitorscallthefascinationoftheseplaces。Ihappentodislikethem,thatisall。
PerhapsitisbecauseIlivehere,becauseIseethemdaybyday;
perhapsbecausethesightofthemandthethoughtofthemhavebecomewovenintomylife。“
Shewastalkinghalftoherself。Foramoment,eventheknowledgeofhispresencehadescapedher。Hamel,however,didnotrealisethatfact。Hewelcomedherconfidenceasasignofrelaxationfromthefrigidityofherearlierdemeanour。
“Thatseemshard,“heobservedsympathetically。“Itseemsoddtohearyoutalklikethat,too。Yourlife,surely,oughttobepleasantenough。“
Shelookedawayfromtheseaintohisface。Althoughthegenuineinterestwhichshesawthereandthekindlyexpressionofhiseyesdisarmedannoyance,shestillstiffenedslightly。
“Whyoughtit?。“
Thequestionwasalittlebewildering。
“Why,becauseyouareyoungandagirl,“hereplied。“It’snaturaltobecheerful,isn’tit?“
“Isit?“sheansweredlistlessly。“Icannottell。Ihavenothadmuchexperience。“
“Howoldareyou?“heaskedbluntly。
Thistimeitcertainlyseemedasthoughherreplywouldcontainsomerebukeforhiscuriosity。Sheglancedoncemoreintohisface,however,andtheinstinctivedesiretoadministerthatwell-deservedsnubpassedaway。Hewassoobviouslyinterested,hisquestionwasaskedsonaturally,thatitsspiceofimpertinencewasasthoughithadnotexisted。
“Iamtwenty-one,“shetoldhim。
“Andhowlonghaveyoulivedhere?
“SinceIleftboarding-school,fouryearsago。“
“AnywherenearwhereIamgoingtoburymyselfforatime,Iwonder?“
hewenton。
“Thatdepends,“shereplied。“OuronlyneighboursaretheLorneybrookesofMarketBurnham。Areyougoingthere?“
Heshookhishead。
“I’vegotalittleshantyofmyown,“heexplained,“quiteclosetoSt。David’sStation。I’veneverevenseenityet。“
Shevouchsafedsomeslightshowofcuriosity。
“Whereisthisshanty,asyoucallit?“sheaskedhim。
“Ireallyhaven’tthefaintestidea,“hereplied。“Iamlookingforitnow。AllIcantellyouisthatitstandsjustoutofreachofthefulltides,onapieceofrock,deadonthebeachandaboutamilefromthestation。Itwasbuiltoriginallyforacoastguardstationandmeanttoholdalifeboat,buttheyfoundtheycouldneverlaunchthelifeboatwhentheyhadit,sothemantowhomalltheforeshoreandmostofthelandaroundherebelongs-aMr。
Fentolin,Ibelieve-soldittomyfather。Iexpecttheplacehastumbledtopiecesbythistime,butIthoughtI’dhavealookatit。“
Shewasgazingathimsteadfastlynow,withpartedlips。
“Whatisyourname?“shedemanded。
“RichardHamel。“
“Hamel。“
Sherepeateditlingeringly。Itseemedquiteunfamiliar。
“WasyourfatheragreatfriendofMr。Fentolin’s,then?“sheasked。
“Ibelieveso,inasortofway,“heanswered。“MyfatherwasHameltheartist,youknow。TheymadehimanR。A。sometimebeforehedied。Heusedtocomeouthereandliveinatent。ThenMr。
Fentolinlethimusethisplaceandfinallysoldittohim。Myfatherusedoftentospeaktomeaboutitbeforehedied。“
“Tellme,“sheenquired,“Idonotknowmuchaboutthesematters,buthaveyouanypaperstoprovethatitwassoldtoyourfatherandthatyouhavetherighttooccupyitnowwhenyouchoose?“
Hesmiled。
“OfcourseIhave,“heassuredher。“Asamatteroffact,asnoneofushavebeenhereforsolong,IthoughtI’dbetterbringthetitle-deed,orwhatevertheycallit,alongwithme。It’swiththerestofmytrapsatNorwich。Oh,theplacebelongstome,rightenough!“hewenton,smiling。“Don’ttellmethatanyone’spulleditdown,orthatit’sdisappearedfromthefaceoftheearth?“
“No,“shesaid,“itstillremainsthere。Whenweareroundthenextcurve,IthinkIcanshowittoyou。Buteveryonehasforgotten,Ithink,thatitdoesn’tbelongtoMr。Fentolinstill。Heusesithimselfveryoften。“
“Whatfor?“
Shelookedatherquestionerquitesteadfastly,quitequietly,speechlessly。Acuriousuneasinesscreptintohisthoughts。Thereweremysterioustbingsinherface。Heknewfromthatmomentthatshe,too,directlyorindirectly,wasconcernedwiththosestrangehappeningsatwhichKinsleyhadhinted。Heknewthattherewerethingswhichshewaskeepingfromhimnow。
“Mr。Fentolinusesoneoftheroomsasastudio。Helikestopaintthereandbenearthesea,“sheexplained。“Butfortherest,Idonotknow。Inevergoneartheplace。“
“Iamafraid,“heremarked,afterafewmomentsofsilence,“thatI
shallbealittleunpopularwithMr。Fentolin。PerhapsIoughttohavewrittenfirst,butthen,ofcourse,Ihadnoideathatanyonewasmakinguseoftheplace。“
“Idonotunderstand,“shesaid,“howyoucanpossiblyexpecttocomedownlikethisandlivethere,withoutanypreparation。“
“Whynot?“
“Youhaven’tanyservantsnoranyfurniturenorthingstocookwith。“
Helaughed。
“Oh!Iamanoldcampaigner,“heassuredher。“Imeanttopickupafewoddmentsinthevillage。Idon’tsupposeIshallstayverylong,anyhow,butIthoughtI’dliketohavealookattheplace。
By-the-by,whatsortofamanisMr。Fentolin?“
Againtherewasthatcuriousexpressioninhereyes,anexpressionalmostofsecretterror,thistimenotwhollyconcealed。Hecouldhaveswornthatherhandswerecold。
“Hemetwithanaccidentmanyyearsago,“shesaidslowly。“Bothhislegswereamputated。Hespendshislifeinalittlecarriagewhichhewheelsabouthimself。“
“Poorfellow!“Hamelexclaimed,withastrongman’sreadysympathyforsuffering。“ThatisjustasmuchasIhaveheardabouthim。
Isheadecentsortoffellowinotherways?Isuppose,anyhow,ifhehasreallytakenafancytomylittleshanty,Ishallhavetogiveitup。“
Then,asitseemedtohim,forthefirsttimereallifeleapedintoherface。Sheleanedtowardshim。Hertonewashalfcommanding,halfimploring,hermannerentirelyconfidential。
“Don’t!“shebegged。“Itisyours。Claimit。Liveinit。Doanythingyoulikewithit,buttakeitawayfromMr。Fentolin!“
Hamelwasspeechless。Hesatalittleforward,ahandoneitherknee,hismouthungracefullyopen,anexpressionofblankandutterbewildermentinhisface。Forthefirsttimehebegantohavevaguedoubtsconcerningthisyounglady。Everythingaboutherhadbeensostrange:herquietentranceintothecarriage,herunusualmanneroftalking,andfinallythislastpassionate,inexplicableappeal。
“Iamafraid,“hesaidatlast,“Idon’tquiteunderstand。Yousaythepoorfellowhastakenafancytotheplaceandlikesbeingthere。Well,itisn’tmuchofacatchforme,anyway。I’mratherawanderer,andIdaresayIshan’tbebackinthesepartsagainforyears。Whyshouldn’tIlethimhaveitifhewantsit?It’snolosstome。I’mnotapainter,youknow,likemyfather。“
Sheseemedonthepointofmakingafurtherappeal。Herlips,even,wereparted,herheadalittlethrownback。Andthenshestopped。
Shesaidnothing。Thesilencelastedsolongthathebecamealmostembarrassed。
“YouwillforgivemeifIamalittledense,won’tyou?“hebegged。
“Totellyouthetruth,“hewenton,smiling,“I’vegotasortoffeelingthatI’dliketodoanythingyouaskme。Nowwon’tyoujustexplainalittlemoreclearlywhatyoumean,andI’llblowuptheoldplaceskyhigh,ifit’sanypleasuretoyou。“
Sheseemedsuddenlytohaverevertedtoherformerself-thecoldandcolourlessyoungwomanwhohadfirsttakentheseatoppositetohis。