“Iunderstand,“shesaid,“thatyouhavesomeparticularreasonfornotwishingMr。HameltoleaveSt。David’sHall。“
Hesmiledbenignly。
“Youdomyhospitableimpulsesfulljustice,dearEsther,“hedeclared。“SometimesIthinkthatyouunderstandmealmostaswellasyourdearmother。If,byanychance,Mr。HamelshouldchangehismindastotakinguphisresidenceattheTower,Ithinkyouwouldnotfindmeinanysenseofthewordanobdurateorexactingguardian。Comealong,Mr。Hamel。Thatseatoppositetousisquitecomfortable。Yousee,Iresignmyselftotheinevitable。Ihavecometofetchgolfershometoluncheon,andIcomposemyselftolisten。Whichofyouwillbegintheepicofmissedputtsandbrasseyshotswhichfailedbyafoottocarry?“
Hamelsataloneupontheterrace,hisafternooncoffeeonasmalltableinfrontofhim。HiseyeswerefixeduponablackspeckattheendofthelevelroadwaywhichledtotheTower。Onlyafewminutesbefore,Mr。Fentolin,inhislittlecarriage,badshotoutfromthepassagebeneaththeterrace,onhiswaytotheTower。
BehindhimcameMeekins,bendingoverhisbicycle。Hamelwatchedthembothwiththoughtfuleyes。Therewereseverallittleincidentsinconnectionwiththeirexpeditionwhichhescarcelyunderstood。
Thentherecameatlastthesoundforwhichhehadbeenlistening,therustleofaskirtalongtheterracedway。Hamelturnedquicklyaround,halfrisingtohisfeet,andconcealinghisdisappointmentwithdifficulty。ItwasMrs。SeymourFentolinwhostoodthere,alittledogundereacharm;alargehat,gaywithflowers,uponherhead。Sheworepatentshoeswithhighheels,andwhitesilkstockings。Shehad,indeed,theairofbeingdressedforluncheonatafashionablerestaurant。Asshestoopedtosetthedogsdown,astrongwaftofperfumewasshakenfromherclothes。
“Areyouentirelydeserted,Mr。Hamel?“sheasked。
“Iam,“hereplied。“MissEstherwent,Ithink,tolookforyou。
Myhost,“headded,pointingtotheblackspeckinthedistance,“beggedmetodefermyoccupationoftheTowerforanhourorso,andhasgonedowntheretocollectsomeofhistrifles。“
Hereyesfollowedhisoutstretchedhand。Sheseemedtohimtoshiverforamoment。
“Youreallymean,then,thatyouaregoingtoleaveus?“sheasked,acceptingthechairwhichhehaddrawnupclosetohis。
Hesmiled。
“Well,IscarcelycameonavisittoSt。David’sHall,didI?“heremindedher。“IthasbeendelightfullyhospitableofMr。Fentolintohaveinsisteduponmystayingonhereforthesefewdays,butI
couldnotpossiblyinflictmyselfuponyouallforanunlimitedperiod。“
Mrs。Fentolinsatquitestillforatime。Inabsoluterepose,ifonecouldforgethermassofunnaturallygoldenhair,theforcedandconstantsmile,thetooliberaluseofrougeandpowder,thenervousmotionsofherhead,itwaseasilytoberealisedthattherewerestillneglectedattractionsaboutherfaceandfigure。
Only,inthesemomentsofrepose,anintenseandageingwearinessseemedtohavecreptintohereyesandface。Itwasasthoughshehaddroppedthemaskofincessantgaietyandpermittedaglimpseofherrealselftostealtothesurface。
“Mr。Hamel,“shesaidquietly,“IdaresaythatevenduringthesefewdaysyouhaverealisedthatMr。Fentolinisaverypeculiarman。“
“Ihavecertainlyobserved-eccentricities,“Hamelassented。
“Mylife,andthelivesofmytwochildren,“shewenton,“isdevotedtothetaskofministeringtohishappiness。“
“Isn’tthatratheraheavysacrifice?“heasked。Mrs。SeymourFentolinlookeddownthelong,narrowwayalongwhichMr。Fentolinhadpassed。Hewasoutofsightnow,insidetheTower。Somehoworother,thethoughtseemedtogivehercourageanddignity。Shespokedifferently,withoutnervousnessorhurry。
“Toyou,Mr。Hamel,“shesaid,“itmayseemso。Wewhomakeitknowofitsnecessity。“
Hebowedhishead。Itwasnotasubjectforhimtodiscusswithher。
“Mr。Fentolinhaswhims,“shewenton,“violentwhims。Wealltrytohumourhim。HehashisownideasaboutGerald’sbringingup。
Idonotagreewiththem,butwesubmit。Esther,too,suffers,perhapstoalessextent。Asforme,“-hervoicebrokealittle-“
Mr。Fentolinlikespeoplearoundhimwhoarealwayscheerful。Heprefersevenacertainstyle-ofdress。I,too,havetodomylittleshare。“
Hamel’sfacegrewdarker。
“Hasiteveroccurredtoyou,“hedemanded,“thatMr。Fentolinisatyrant?“
Sheclosedhereyesforamoment。
“Therearereasons,“shedeclared,“whyIcannotdiscussthatwithyou。Hehasthesestrongfancies,anditisourtaskinlifetohumourthem。HehasonenowwithregardtotheTower,withregardtoyou。Youare,ofcourse,yourownmaster。Youcandoasyouchoose,andyouwilldoasyouchoose。NeitherInormychildrenhaveanyclaimuponyourconsideration。But,Mr。Hamel,youhavebeensokindthatIfeelmovedtotellyouthis。Itwouldmakeitverymucheasierforallofusifyouwouldgiveupthisschemeofyours,ifyouwouldstayonhereinsteadofgoingtoresideattheTower。“
Hamelthrewawayhiscigarette。Hewasdeeplyinterested。
“Mrs。Fentolin,“hesaid,“Iamgladtohaveyouspeaksoplainly。
Letmeansweryouinthesamespirit。IamleavingthishousemainlybecauseIhaveconceivedcertainsuspicionswithregardtoMr。Fentolin。Idonotlikehim,Idonottrusthim,Idonotbelieveinhim。Therefore,Imeantoremovemyselffromtheburdenofhishospitality。Therearereasons,“hewenton,“whyIdonotwishtoleavetheneighbourhoodaltogether。TherearecertaininvestigationswhichIwishtomake。ThatiswhyIhavedecidedtogototheTower。“
“Mileswasright,then!“shecriedsuddenly。“Youareheretospyuponhim!“
Heturnedtowardsherswiftly。
“Tospyuponhim,Mrs。Fentolin?Forwhatreason?Why?Isheacriminal,then?“
Sheopenedherlipsandclosedthemagain。Therewasaslightfrownuponherforehead。Itwasobviousthatthewordhadunintentionallyescapedher。
“Ionlyknowwhatitisthathecalledyou,whathesuspectsyouofbeing,“sheexplained。“Mr。Fentolinisveryclever,andheisgenerallyatworkuponsomething。Wedonotenquireintothepurposeofhislabours。TheonlythingIknowisthathesuspectsyouofwantingtostealoneofhissecrets。“
“Secrets?Butwhatsecretshashe?“Hameldemanded。“Isheaninventor?“
“Youaskmeidlequestions,“shesighed。“Wehavegone,perhaps,alittlefurtherthanIintended。Icametopleadwithyouforalloursakes,ifIcould,tomakethingsmorecomfortablebyremaininghereinsteadofinsistinguponyourclaimtotheTower。“
“Mrs。Fentolin,“Hamelsaidfirmly。“IliketodowhatIcantopleaseandbenefitmyfriends,especiallythosewhohavebeenkindtome。Iwillbequitefrankwithyou。ThereisnothingyoucouldaskmewhichIwouldnotdoforyourdaughter’ssake-ifIwereconvincedthatitwasforhergood。“
Mrs。SeymourFentolinseemedtobetremblingalittle。Herhandswerecrosseduponherbosom。
“Youhaveknownherforsoshortatime,“shemurmured。
Hamelsmiledconfidently。
“Iwillnotwearyyou,“hesaid,“withtheusualtriteremarks。I
willsimplytellyouthatthetimehasbeenlongenough。Iloveyourdaughter。“
Mrs。Fentolinsatquitestill。Onlyinhereyes,fixedsteadilyseawards,therewasthelightofsomethingnew,asthoughsomenewthoughtwasstirringinherbrain。Herlipsmoved,althoughthesoundwhichcamewasalmostinaudible。
“Whynot?“shemurmured,asthougharguingwithsomeunseencriticofherthoughts。“Whynot?“
“Iamnotarichman,“Hamelwenton,“butIamfairlywelloff。
Icouldaffordtobemarriedatonce,andIshouldlike-
Sheturnedsuddenlyuponhimandgrippedhiswrist。
“Listen,“sheinterrupted,“youareatraveller,areyounot?Youhavebeentodistantcountries,wherewhitepeoplegoseldom;