Hisfacewastroubled。
“MissFentolin,“hesaid,“IwilltellyoufranklythatuptonowIhavenotsucceededinsolvingtheproblemofyouruncle’scharacter。Tomepersonallyhehasbeenmostcourteous。Helivesapparentlyastudiousandanunselfishlife。Ihaveheardhimevenspokenofasaphilanthropist。Andyetyouthree-you,yourmother,andyourbrother,whoarenearesttohim,wholiveinhishouseandunderhisprotection,havetheairofpassingyourdaysinmortalfearofhim。“
“Mr。Hamel,“sheexclaimednervously,“youdon’tbelievethat!Heisalwaysverykind。“
“Apparently,“Hamelobserveddrily。“Andyetyoumustrememberthatyou,too,areafraidofhim。Ineednotremindyouofourconversations,buttherethetruthis。Youpraisehisvirtuesandhischarities,youpityhim,andyetyougoaboutwithaloadoffear,and-forgiveme-ofsecretterrorinyourheart,youandGerald,too。Asforyourmother-“
“Don’t!“sheinterruptedsuddenly。“Whydoyoubringmeheretotalklikethis?Youcannotalterthings。Nothingcanbealtered。“
“Can’tit!“hereplied。“Well,Iwilltellyoutherealreasonofmyhavingbroughtyouhereandofmyhavingmadethisconfession。
IbroughtyouherebecauseIcouldnotbeartogoonliving,ifnotunderyourroof,atanyrateintheneighbourhood,withouttellingyouthetruth。Nowyouknowit。IamheretowatchMr。Fentolin。
Iamgoingonwatchinghim。Youcanputhimonhisguard,ifyoulike;Ishan’tcomplain。Oryoucan-“
Hepausedsolongthatshelookedathim。Hemovedalittleclosertoher,hisfingerssuddenlygrippedherhand。
“Oryoucanmarrymeandcomeawayfromitall,“heconcludedquietly。“Forgiveme,please-Imeanit。“
Foramomentthestartledlightinhereyeswasfollowedbyadelicioussoftness。Herlipswereparted,sheleanedalittletowardshim。Thensuddenlysheseemedtoremember。Sherosewithswiftalertnesstoherfeet。
“Ithink,“shesaid,“thatwehadbetterplaygolf。“
“ButIhaveaskedyoutomarryme,“heprotested,ashescrambledup。
“Yourcaddyhasfoundyourballalongtimeago,“shepointedout,walkingswiftlyonahead。
Heplayedhisshotandcaughtherup。
“MissFentolin-Esther,“hepleadedeagerly,“doyouthinkthatI
amnotinearnest?BecauseIam。Imeanit。EvenifIhaveonlyknownyouforafewdays,ithasbeenenough。IthinkthatIknewitwascomingfromthemomentthatyousteppedintomyrailwaycarriage。“
“Youknewthatwhatwascoming?“sheasked,raisinghereyessuddenly。
“ThatIshouldcareforyou。“
“It’sthefirsttimeyou’vetoldmesheremindedhim,withaqueerlittlesmile。“Oh,forgiveme,please!Ididn’tmeantosaythat。
Idon’twanttohaveyoutellmeso。It’salltooridiculousandimpossible。“
“Isit?Andwhy?“
“Ihaveonlyknownyouforthreedays。“
“Wecanmakeupforthat。“
“ButIdon’t-careaboutyou。Ihaveneverthoughtofanyoneinthatway。Itisabsurd,“shewenton。
“You’llhaveto,sometimeorother,“hedeclared。“I’lltakeyoutravellingwithme,showyoutheworld,newworlds,unnamedrivers,untroddenmountains。Ordoyouwanttogoandseewherethelittlebrownpeopleliveamongthemimosaandthecherryblossoms?I’lltakeyousofarawaythatthisplaceandthislifewillseemlikeadream。“
Herbreathcaughtalittle。
“Don’t,please,“shebegged。“Youknowverywell-orratheryoudon’tknow,perhaps,butImusttellyou-thatIcouldn’t。Iamhere,tiedandbound,andIcan’tescape。“
“Ah!dear,don’tbelieveit,“hewentonearnestly。“Thereisn’tanybondsostrongthatIwon’tbreakitforyou,noknotIwon’tuntie,ifyougivemetheright。“
Theywereclimbingslowlyontothetee。Hesteppedforwardandpulledherup。Herhandwascold。Hereyeswereraisedtohis,verysoftlyyetalmostpleadingly。
“Pleasedon’tsayanythingmore,“shebegged。“Ican’t-quitebearitjustnow。Youknow,youmustremember-thereismymother。DoyouthinkthatIcouldleavehertostrugglealone?“
Hiscaddy,whohadteedtheball,andwhohadregardedtheproceedingswithamoderatelytolerantair,feltcalleduponatlasttointerfere。
“We’dbestgeton,“heremarked,pointingtotwofiguresinthedistance,“orthey’llsaywe’vecutin。“
Hamelsmotehisballfarandtrue。Onamoremoderatescaleshefollowedhisexample。Theydescendedthestepstogether。
“Love-makingisn’tgoingtospoilourgolf,“hewhispered,smiling,ashetouchedherfingersoncemore。
Shelookedathimalmostshyly。
“Isthislove-making?“sheasked。
Theywalkedtogetherfromtheeighteenthgreentowardstheclub-house。Acurioussilenceseemedsuddenlytohaveenvelopedthem。Hamelwasconsciousofastrangeexhilaration,aqueerupheavalofideas,anexcitementwhichnothinginhispreviouslifehadyetbeenabletoyieldhim。Thewonderofitamazedhim,kepthimsilent。Itwasnotuntiltheyreachedthesteps,indeed,thathespoke。
“Onourwayhome-“hebegan。
Sheseemedsuddenlytohavestiffened。Helookedather,surprised。
Shewasstandingquitestill,herhandgrippingthepost,hereyesfixeduponthewaitingmotor-car。Thedelicatesoftnesshadgonefromherface。Oncemorethatlookofpartlyveiledsufferingwasthere,sufferingmingledwithfear。
“Look!“shewhispered,underherbreath。“Look!ItisMr。Fentolin!
Hehascomeforushimself;heisthereinthecar。“
Mr。Fentolin,astrangelittlefigurelyingbackamongthecushionsofthegreatDaimler,raisedhishatandwavedittothem。
“Comealong,children,“hecried。“Yousee,Iamheretofetchyoumyself。Thesunshinehastemptedme。Whataheavenlymorning!
Comeandsitbymyside,Esther,andfightyourbattlealloveragain。Thatisoneofthejoysofgolf,isn’tit?“heasked,turningtoHamel。“Youneednotbeafraidofboringme。To-dayisoneofmybrightdays。Isupposethatitisthesunshineandthewarmwind。Onthewayherewepassedsomefields。IcouldswearthatIsmeltviolets。Whereareyougoing,Esther?
“Totakemyclubstomylockerandpaymycaddy,“shereplied。
“Mr。Hamelwilldothatforyou,“Mr。Fentolindeclared。“Comeandtakeyourseatbymyside,andletuswaitforhim。Iamtiredofbeingalone。“
Shegaveupherclubsreluctantly。Allthelifeseemedtohavegonefromherface。
“Whydidn’tmothercomewithyou?“sheaskedsimply。
“Totellyouthetruth,dearEsther,“heanswered,“whenIstarted,Ihadafancytobealone。Ithink-infactIamsure-thatyourmotherwantedtocome。Thesunshine,too,wastemptingher。Perhapsitwasselfishofmenottobringher,butthen,thereisagreatdealtobeforgivenme,isn’tthere,Esther?“
“Agreatdeal,“sheechoed,lookingsteadilyaheadofher。
“Icame,“hewenton,“becauseitoccurredtomethat,afterall,Ihadmydutiesasyourguardian,dearEsther。Iamnotsurethatwecanpermitflirtations,youknow。Letmesee,howoldareyou?“
“Twenty-one,“shereplied。
“InamagazineIwasreadingtheotherday,“hecontinued,“Iwasinterestedtoobservethatthemodernideaasregardsmarriageisachangedone。Awoman,theysay,shouldnotmarryuntilsheistwenty-sevenortwenty-eight-averyexcellentidea。Ithinkweagree,dowenot,onthat,Esther?“
“Idon’tknow,“shereplied。“Ihaveneverthoughtaboutthematter。“
“Then,“hewenton,“wewillmakeupourmindstoagree。
Twenty-sevenortwenty-eight,letussay。Averyexcellentage!
Agirlshouldknowherownmindbythen。Andmeanwhile,dearEsther,woulditbewise,Iwonder,toseealittlelessofourfriendMr。
Hamel?Heleavesusto-day,Ithink。Heisveryobstinateaboutthat。Ifhewerestayingstillinthehouse,well,itmightbedifferent。Butifhepersistsinleavingus,youwillnotforget,dear,thatassociationwithaguestisonething;associationwithayoungmanlivingoutofthehouseisanother。AgreatdeallessofMr。HamelIthinkthatwemustsee。“
Shemadenoreplywhatever。Hamelwascomingnowtowardsthem。
“Reallyaverypersonableyoungman,“Mr。Fentolinremarked,studyinghimthroughhiseyeglass。“Isitmyfancy,Iwonder,asanobservantperson,orishejustalittle-justalittletakenwithyou,Esther?Apityifitisso-agreatpity。“
Shesaidnothing,butherhandwhichrestedupontherugwastremblingalittle。
“Ifyouhaveanopportunity,“Mr。Fentolinsuggested,droppinghisvoice,“youmightverydelicately,youknow-girlsaresocleveratthatsortofthing-conveymyviewstoMr。Hamelasregardshisleavingusanditseffectuponyourcompanionship。Youunderstandme,Iamsure?“
Forthefirsttimesheturnedherheadtowardshim。