Againsheplayedalittlemoreloudlyforafewmoments。Thenthemusicdiedawayoncemore。
“Whatreasondidhegiveforkeepingpossessionofthat?“
“Anotherbobby,“Hamelreplied。“Heisaninventor,itseems。Hehasthemodelofsomethingthere;hewouldnottellmewhat。“
Sheshiveredalittle,andhermusicdriftedaway。Shebentoverthekeys,herfacehiddenfromhim。
“Youwillnotgoawayjustyet?“sheaskedsoftly。“Youaregoingtostayforafewdays,atanyrate?“
“Withoutadoubt,“heassuredher。“Iamaltogethermyownmaster。“
“ThankGod,“shemurmured。
Heleanedwithhiselbowagainstthetopofthepiano,lookingdownather。Sincedinnertimeshehadfastenedalargeredroseinthefrontofhergown。
“Doyouknowthatthisisallrathermysterious?“hesaidcalmly。
“’Whatismysterious?“shedemanded。
“Theatmosphereoftheplace:youruncle’squeeraversiontomyhavingtheTower;yourvisitorupstairs,whofightswiththeservantswhileweareatdinner;yourunclehimself,whosewillseemstobelawnotonlytoyoubuttoyourbrother,whomustbeofage,Ishouldthink,andwhoseemstohaveplentyofspirit。“
“Welivehere,bothofus,“shetoldhim。“Heisourguardian。“
“Naturally,“Hamelreplied,“andyet,itmayhavebeenmyfancy,ofcourse,butatdinnertimeIseemedtogetaqueerimpression。
“Tellitme?“sheinsisted,herfingersbreakingsuddenlyintoaliveliermelody。“Tellitmeatonce?Youwerethereallthetime。
Icouldseeyouwatch-ng。Tellmewhatyouthought?“
Shehadturnedherheadnow,andhereyeswerefixeduponhis。Theywerelargeandsoft,capable,heknew,ofinfiniteexpression。Yetatthatmomentthelightthatshonefromthemwassimplyoneoffear,halfcurious,halfshrinking。
“Myimpression,“hesaid,“wasthatbothofyoudislikedandfearedMr。Fentolin,yetforsomereasonorotherthatyouwerehisabjectslaves。“
Herfingersseemedsuddenlyinspiredwithdiabolicalstrengthandenergy。Strangechordscrashedandbrokebeneaththem。Sheplayedsomeunfamiliarmusicwithtenseandfierceenergy。Suddenlyshepausedandrosetoherfeet。
“Comeoutontotheterrace,“sheinvited。“Youarenotafraidofcold?“
Hefollowedherwithoutaword。SheopenedtheFrenchwindows,andtheysteppedoutontothelong,broadstonepromenade。Thenightwasdark,andtherewaslittletobeseen。Thelightwasburningattheentrancetothewaterway;afewlightsweretwinklingfromthevillage。Thesoftmoaningoftheseawasdistinctlyaudible。
Shemovedtotheedgeofthepalisading。Hefollowedherclosely。
“Youareright,Mr。Hamel,“shesaid。“IthinkthatIammoreafraidofhimthananywomaneverwasofanymaninthisworld。“
“Thenwhydoyoulivehere?“heprotested。“Youmusthaveotherrelationstowhomyoucouldgo。Andyourbrother-whydoesn’thedosomething-gointooneoftheprofessions?Hecouldsurelyleaveeasilyenough?“
“Iwilltellyouasecret,“sheansweredcalmly。“Perhapsitwillhelpyoutounderstand。Youknowmyuncle’scondition。Youknowthatitwastheresultofanaccident?“
“Ihaveheardso,“herepliedgravely。
Sheclutchedathisarm。
“Come,“shesaid。
Sidebysidetheywalkedtheentirelengthoftheterrace。Whentheyreachedthecorner,theyweremetwithafiercegustofwind。
Shebattledalong,andhefollowedher。Theywerelookinginlandnow。Therewerenolightsvisible-nothingbutdark,chaoticemptiness。Fromsomewherebelowhimhecouldhearthewindinthetree-tops。
“Thisway,“shedirected。“Becareful。“
Theywalkedtotheveryedgeofthepalisading。Itwasscarcelymorethanacoupleoffeethigh。Shepointeddownwards。
“Canyousee?“shewhispered。
Bydegreeshiseyesfaintlypenetratedthedarkness。Itwasasthoughtheywerelookingdownaprecipice。Thedescentwasperfectlysheerfornearlyahundredfeet。Atthebottomwerethepinetrees。
“Comehereagaininthemorning,“shewhispered。“Youwillseethen。
Ibroughtyouheretoshowyoutheplace。Itwasherethattheaccidenthappened。“
“Whataccident?“
“Mr。Fentolln’s,“shecontinued。“Itwasherethathewentover。
Hewaspickedupwithbothhislegsbroken。Theyneverthoughtthathewouldlive。“
Hamelshiveredalittle。Ashiseyesgrewaccustomedtothedarkness,hesawmoredistinctlythaneverthesheerfall,thetopsofthebendingtreesbelow。
“Whatahorriblething!“heexclaimed。
“Itwasmorehorriblethanyouknow,“shecontinued,droppinghervoicealittle,almostwhisperinginhisear。“IdonotknowwhyItellyouthis-you,astranger-butifIdonottellsomeone,Ithinkthatthememoryofitwilldrivememad。Itwasnoaccidentatall。Mr。Fentolinwasthrownover!“
“Bywhom?“heasked。
Sheclungtohisarmforamoment。
“Ah,don’taskme!“shebegged。“Nooneknows。Myunclegaveout,assoonashewasconscious,thatitwasanaccident。“
“That,atanyrate,wasfineofhim,“Hameldedared。
Sheshivered。
“Hewasproud,atleast,ofourfamilyname。Whatevercredithedeservesforit,hemusthave。Itwasowingtothataccidentthatwebecamehisslaves:nothingbutthat-hisabsoluteslaves,towaituponhim,ifhewould,handandfoot。Yousee,hehasneverbeenabletomarry。Hislifewas,ofcourse,ruined。Sotheburdencametous。Wetookitup,littlethinkingwhatwasinstoreforus。
Fiveyearsagowecameheretolive。Geraldwantedtogointothearmy;Iwantedtotravelwithmymother。Geraldhasdonealltheworksecretly,buthehasneverbeenallowedtopasshisexaminations。
IhaveneverleftEnglandexcepttospendtwoyearsatthestrictestboarding-schoolinParis,towhichIwastakenandfetchedawaybyoneofhiscreatures。Welivehere,withtheshadowofthisthingalwayswithus。Wearehispuppets。Ifwehesitatetodohisbidding,heremindsus。Sofar,wehavebeenhiscreatures,bodyandsoul。Whetheritwillgoon,Icannotsay-oh,Icannotsay!
Itisbadforus,but-thereismother,too。Hemakesherlifeaperfecthell!“
Aroarofwindcameboomingoncemoreacrossthemarshes,bendingthetreeswhichgrewsothicklybeneaththemandwhichascendedprecipitatelytothebackofthehouse。TheFrenchwindowsbehindrattled。Shelookedaroundnervously。
“Iamafraidofhimallthetime,“shemurmured。“Heseemstooverheareverything-heorhiscreatures。Listen!“
Theyweresilentforseveralmoments。Hewhisperedinherearsocloselythatthroughthedarknesshecould,seethefireinhereyes。
“Youaretellingmehalf,“hesaid。“Tellmeeverything。Whothrewyouruncleovertheparapet?
Shestoodbyhisside,motionlessandtrembling。
“Itwasthepassionofamoment,“shesaidatlast,speakinghoarsely。“Icannottellyou。Listen!Listen!“
“Thereisnoonenear,“Hamelassuredher。“Itisthewindwhichshakesthewindows。Iwishthatyouwouldtellmeeverything。I
wouldliketobeyourfriend。Believeme,Ihavethatdesire,really。TherearesomanythingswhichIdonotunderstand。Thatitisdullhereforyou,ofcourse,isnatural,butthereissomethingmorethanthat。Youseemalwaystofearsomething。Youruncleisaselfishman,naturally,althoughtolookathimheseemstohavethedispositionofanangel。Butbeyondthat,isthereanythingofwhichyouareafraid?Youseemallthetimetoliveinfear。“
Shesuddenlyclutchedhishand。Therewasnothingofaffectioninhertouch,andyethefeltathrillofdelight。
“Therearestrangethingswhichhappenhere,“shewhispered,“thingswhichneitherGeraldnorIunderstand。Yettheyterrifyus。I
thinkthatverysoontheendwillcome。Neitherofuscanstanditverymuchlonger。Wehavenofriends。Somehoworother,heseemstomanagetokeepusalwaysisolated。“
“Ishallnotgoawayfromhere,“Hamelsaidfirmly,“atpresent。
Mind,Iamnotatallsurethat,livingthissolitarylifeasyoudo,youhavenotbecomealittleover-nervous;thatyouhavenotexaggeratedthefearofsomethings。Tomeyouruncleseemsmerelyquixoticandegregiouslyselfish。Howeverthatmaybe,I
amgoingtoremain。“Sheclutchedonce,moreathisarm,herfingerwasupraised。Theylistenedtogether。Fromsomewherebehindthemcametheclear,lowwailingofaViolin。
“ItisMr。Fentolin,“shewhispered。“Pleasecomein;letusgoinatonce。Heonlyplayswhenheisexcited。Iamafraid!Oh,Iamafraidthatsomethingisgoingtohappen!“
Shewasalreadyroundthecornerandonherwaytothemainterrace。
Hefollowedherclosely。