“ThankGod!“theboymurmured。
“Lookhere,“Hamelcontinued,“whatareyoudoinginthisbusiness,anyway?Youareoldenoughtoknowyourownmindandtogoyourownway。“
“Yousaythatbecauseyoudon’tknow,“Geralddeclaredbitterly。
“InasenseIdon’t,“Hameladmitted,“andyetyoursisterhintedtomeonlythisafternoonthatyouandshe-“
“Oh,Iknowwhatshetoldyou!“theboyinterrupted。“We’vewornthechainsforthelasteightyears。Theyarebreakingher。
They’vebrokenmymother。SometimesIthinktheyarebreakingme。
But,youknow,therecomesatime-therecomesatimewhenonecan’tgoon。I’veseensomestrangethingshere,somethatI’vehalfunderstood,somethatIhaven’tunderstoodatall。I’veclosedmyeyes。I’vekeptmypromise。I’vedonehisbidding,whereeverithasledme。Butyouknowthereisatime-thereisalimittoallthings。Ican’tgoon。IspiedonthismanDunster。Ibroughthimhere。ItisIwhoamresponsibleforanythingthatmayhappentohim。It’sthelasttime!“
Gerald’sfacewaswhitewithpain。Hamellaidhishanduponhisshoulder。
“Myboy,“hesaid,“thereareworsethingsintheworldthanbreakingapromise。Whenyougaveit,theconditionswhichwereexistingatthetimemadeit,perhaps,arightandreasonableundertaking,butsometimesthewholeoftheconditionsunderwhichapromisewasgiven,change。Thenonemusthavecourageenoughtobefalseeventoone’sword。“
“Haveyoutalkedtomysisterlikethat?“Geraldaskedeagerly。
“IhaveandIwillagain,“Hameldeclared。“To-morrowmorningI
leavethishouse,butbeforeIgoImeantohavetheaffairofthismanDunsterclearedup。Yourunclewillbeveryangrywithme,withoutadoubt。Idon’tcare。ButIdowantyoutotrustme,ifyouwill,andyoursister。Ishouldliketobeyourfriend。“
“Godknowsweneedone!“theboysaidsimply。“Goodnight!“
Oncemorethehousewasquiet。Hamelpushedhiswindowwideopenandlookedoutintothenight。Theairwasabsolutelystill,therewasnowind。Theonlysoundwasthefallingofthelowwavesuponthestonybeachandthefaintscrunchingofthepebblesdrawnbackbytheebb。Helookedalongtherowofwindows,alldarkandsilentnow。Arushofpleasantfanciessuddenlychasedawaythegrimdepressionofthelastfewminutes。Outofallthissordidnessandmysterythereremainedatleastsomethinginlifeforhimtodo。A
certainaimlessnessnofpurposewhichhadtroubledhimduringthelastfewmonthshaddisappeared。Hehadfoundanobjectinlife。
“To-day,“Hameldeclared,ashestoodatthesideboardthefollowingmorningatbreakfast-timeandhelpedhimselftobaconandeggs,“I
ampositivelygoingtobeginreading。IhaveacasefullofbooksdownattheTowerwhichIhaven’tunpackedyet。“
Esthermadealittlegrimace。
“Lookatthesunshine,“shesaid。“Thereisn’tabreathofwind,either。Ithinkto-daythatIcouldplayfromthemen’stees。“
Hamelsighedashereturnedtohisplace。
“Mygoodintentionsarealreadyhalfdissipated,“headmitted。
Shelaughed。
“Howcanweattacktheotherhalf?“sheasked。
Gerald,whowasalsoonhiswaytothesideboard,suddenlystopped。
“Hullo!“heexclaimed,lookingoutofthewindow。“Who’sgoingawaythismorning,Iwonder?There’stheRolls-Royceatthedoor。“
Hamel,too,roseoncemoretohisfeet。Thetwoexchangedswiftglances。Movedbyacommonthought,theybothstartedforthedoor,onlytofinditsuddenlyopenedbeforethem。Mr。Fentolinglidedintotheroom。
“Uncle!“Geraldexclaimed。
Mr。Fentolinglancedkeenlyaroundtheroom。
“Goodmorning,everybody,“hesaid。“Myappearanceatthishourofthemorningnaturallysurprisesyou。Asamatteroffact,Ihavebeenupforquitealongtime。Estherdear,givemesomecoffee,willyou,andbesurethatitishot。Ifanyofyouwanttosaygood-bytoMr。JohnP。Dunster,you’dbetterhurryout。“
“Youmeanthatheisgoing?“Hamelaskedincredulously。
“Heisgoing,“Mr。Fentolinadmitted。“Iwashmyhandsoftheman。
Hehasgivenusaninfiniteamountoftrouble,hasmonopolisedDoctorSarsonwhenheoughttohavebeenattendinguponme-alittlemorehotmilk,ifyouplease,Esther-andnow,althoughhereallyisnotfittoleavehisroom,heinsistsuponhurryingofftokeepanappointmentsomewhereontheContinent。Thelittleoperationwespokeoflastnightwassuccessful,asDoctorSarsonprophesied,andMr。Dunsterwasquiteconsciousandabletositupearlythismorning。Wetelephonedatsixo’clocktoNorwichforasurgeon,whoisnowonhiswayoverhere,buthewillnotwaiteventoseehim。Whatcanyoudowithamansoobstinate!“
NeitherHamelnorGeraldhadresumedtheirplaces。Theformer,afteramoment’shesitation,turnedtowardsthedoor。
“Ithink,“hesaid,“thatIshouldliketoseethelastofMr。
Dunster。“
“Praydo,“Mr。Fentolinbegged。“Ihavesaidgood-bytohimmyself,andallthatIhopeisthatnexttimeyouofferawayfarerthehospitalityofSt。David’sHall,Gerald,hemaybeamoretractableperson。ThismorningIshallgivemyselfatreat。Ishalleatanold-fashionedEnglishbreakfast。Closethedoorafteryou,ifyouplease,Gerald。“
Hamel,withGeraldbyhisside,hurriedoutintothehall。JustastheycrossedthethresholdtheysawMr。Dunster,wrappedfromheadtofootinhislongulster,asofthatuponhisheadandoneofMr。Fentolin’scigarsinhismouth,stepfromthebottomstairintothehallandmakehiswaywithsomewhatuncertainfootstepstowardsthefrontdoor。DoctorSarsonwalkedononeside,andMeekinsheldhimbythearm。HeglancedtowardsGeraldandhiscompanionandwavedthehandwhichheldhiscigar。
“Solong,myyoungfriend!“heexclaimed。Yousee,I’vegotthemtoletmemakeastart。Nexttimewegoaboutthecountryinasalooncartogether,Ihopewe’llhavebetterluck。Say,butI’mgroggyabouttheknees!“
“You’dbettersaveyourbreath,“DoctorSarsonadvisedhimgrimly。
“Youhaven’tanytosparenow,andyou’llwantmorethanyouhavebeforeyougettotheendofyourjourney。Carefullydownthesteps,mind。“
Theyhelpedhimintothecar。HamelandGeraldstoodunderthegreatstoneportico,watching。
“Well,I’mjiggered!“theboyexclaimed,underhisbreath。
Hamelwaswatchingtheproceedingswithapuzzledfrown。Tohissurprise,neitherDoctorSarsonnorMeekinswereaccompanyingthedepartingman。
“He’soff,rightenough,“Hameldeclared,asthecarglidedaway。
“Doyouunderstandit?Idon’t。“