inaccessiblecountries,whereeventhearmofthelawseldomreaches。
Couldn’tyoutakeherawaythere,takeherrightaway,travelsofastthatnothingcouldcatchyou,andhide-hideforalittletime?“
Hamelstaredathiscompanion,foramoment,blankly。Herattitudewassounexpected,herquestioningsofierce。
“MydearMrs。Fentolin,“hebegan-
Shesuddenlyrelaxedhergripofhisarm。Somethingoftheoldhopelessnesswassettlingdownuponherface。Herhandsfellintoherlap。
“No,“sheinterrupted,“Iforgot!Imustn’ttalklikethat。She,too,ispartofthesacrifice。“
“Partofthesacrifice,“Hamelrepeated,frowning。“Isshe,indeed!
Idon’tknowwhatsacrificeyoumean,butEstheristhegirlwhomsoonerorlater,somehoworother,Iamgoingtomakemywife,andwhensheismywife,Ishallseetoitthatsheisn’tafraidofMilesFentolinorofanyothermanbreathing。“
Agleamofhopefulnessshonethroughthestonymiseryofthewoman’sface。
“DoesEsthercare?“sheaskedsoftly。
“HowcanItell?Icanonlyhopeso。Ifshedoesn’tyet,sheshallsomeday。Isuppose,“headded,withasigh,“itisrathertoosoonyettoexpectthatsheshould。Ifitisnecessary,IcanWait。“
Mrs。Fentolin’seyeswereoncemorefixedupontheTower。Thesunhadcaughtthetopofthetelephonewireandplayedaroundittillitseemedlikealong,thinshaftofsilver。
“Ifyougodownthere,“shesaid,“Estherwillnotbeallowedtoseeyouatall。Mr。Fentolinhasdecidedtotakeitasapersonalaffront。Youwillbeostracisedfromhere。“
“ShallI?“heanswered。“Well,itwon’tbeforlong,atanyrate。
AndastonotseeingEsther,youmustrememberthatIcomefromoutsidethislittledomain,andIseenothingmoreinMr。Fentolinthanabad-tempered,mischievous,tyrannicaloldinvalid,whoisfortunatelypreventedbyhisinfirmitiesfromdoingasmuchmischiefashemight。Iamnotafraidofyourbrother-in-law,orofthebullyhetakesaboutwithhim,andIamgoingtoseeyourdaughtersomehoworother,andIamgoingtomarryherbeforeverylong。“
Shethrustoutherhandsuddenlyandgraspedhis。Thefingerswereverythin,almostbony,andcoveredwithrings。Theirgripwasfeverishandhefeltthemtremble。
“Youareabraveman,Mr。Hamel,“shedeclaredspeakinginalow,quickundertone。“Perhapsyouareright。Theshadowisn’toveryourhead。Youhaven’tlivedintheterrorofit。Youmayfindaway。Godgrantit!“
Shewrunghisfingersandrosetoherfeet。Hervoicesuddenlychangedintoanotherkey。Hamelknewinstinctivelythatshewishedhimtounderstandthattheirconversationwasover。
“Chow-Chow,“shecried,“comealong,dear,wemusthaveourwalk。
Comealong,Koto;comealong,littledogs。“
Hamelstrolleddowntheterracestepsandwanderedforatimeinthegardensbehindthehouse。Here,intheshelterofthegreatbuilding,hefoundhimselfsuddenlyinanatmosphereofspringtime。
Therewerebedsofcrocusesandhyacinths,fragrantclumpsofviolets,bordersofsnowdrops,massesofprimrosesandearlyanemones。Heslowlyclimbedoneortwosteeppathsuntilhereachedasortofplateau,levelwiththetopofthehouse。Theflowersheregrewmoresparsely,thetrackofthesaltwindlaylikeawitheringbandacrosstheflower-beds。Thegardenbelowwaslikealittleoasisofcolourandperfume。Arrivedattheborderingredbrickwall,heturnedaroundandlookedalongthenarrowroadwhichledtothesea。TherewasnosignofMr。Fentolin’sreturn。Thentohislefthesawagateopenandheardtheclamourofdogs。
Estherappeared,walkingswiftlytowardsthelittlestretchofroadwhichledtothevillage。Hehurriedafterher。
“Unsociableperson!“heexclaimed,ashecaughtherup。“Didn’tyouknowthatIwaslongingforawalk?“
“HowshouldIreadyourthoughts?“sheanswered。“Besides,afewminutesagoIsawyouontheterrace,talkingtomother。Iamonlygoingasfarasthevillage。“
“MayIcome?“heasked。“Ihavebusinesstheremyself。“
Shelaughed。
“Thereareninecottages,threefarmhouses,andageneralshopinSt。David’s,“sheremarked。“Alsoaboutfifteenfishermen’scottagesdottedaboutthemarsh。Yourbusiness,Ipresume,iswiththegeneralshop?“
Heshookhishead,fallingintostepwithher。
“WhatIwant,“heexplained,“istofindawomantocomeinandlookaftermeattheTower。Yourservantwhovaletsmehasgivenmetwonames。
Somethingofthelightnessfadedfromherface。
“Soyouhavequitemadeupyourmindtoleaveus?“sheaskedslowly。
“Motherwasn’tabletopersuadeyoutostay?“
Heshookhishead。
“Shewasverykind,“hesaid,“buttherearereallygravereasonswhyIfeelthatImustnotacceptMr。Fentolin’shospitalityanylonger。Ihad,“hewenton,“averyinterestingtalkwithyourmother。“
Sheturnedquicklytowardshim。Theslightestpossibletingeofadditionalcolourwasinhercheeks。Shewaswalkingonthetopofagreenbank,withthewindblowingherskirtsaroundher。Theturnofherheadwasalittlediffident,almostshy。Hereyeswereaskinghimquestions。Atthatmomentsheseemedtohim,withherslimbody,hergentlypartedlipsandsoft,tremulouseyes,almostlikeachild。Hedrewalittlenearertoher。
“Itoldyourmother,“hecontinued,“allthatIhavetoldyou,andmore。Itoldher,dear,thatIcaredforyou,thatIwantedyoutobemywife。“
Shewascaughtinalittlegustofwind。Bothherhandswentuptoherhat;herfacewashidden。Shesteppeddownfromthebank。
“Youshouldn’thavedonethat,“shesaidquietly。
“Whynot?“hedemanded。“Itwasthetruth。“
Hestoopedforward,intentuponlookingintoherface。Themysticsoftnesswasstillinhereyes,buthergeneralexpressionwasinscrutable。Itseemedtohimthattherewasfearthere。
“Whatdidmothersay?“shewhispered。
“Nothingdiscouraging,“hereplied。“Idon’tthinkshemindedatall。Ihavedecided,ifyougivemepermission,togoandtalktoMr。Fentolinthisevening。“
Sheshookherheadveryemphatically。
“Don’t!“sheimplored。“Don’t!Don’tgivehimanotherwhiptolashuswith。Keepsilent。Letmejusthavethememoryforafewdaysalltomyself。“
Herwordscametohimlikenumbthings。Therewaslittleexpressioninthem,andyethefeltthatsomehowtheymeantsomuch。
“Estherdear,“hesaid,“Ishalldojustasyouaskme。Atthesametime,pleaselisten。IthinkthatyouareallabsurdlyfrightenedofMr。Fentolin。Livingherealonewithhim,youhaveallgrownunderhisdominancetoanunreasonableextent。Becauseofhishorribleinfirmity,youhaveletyourselvesbecomehisslaves。Therearelimitstothissortofthing,Esther。Icomehereasastranger,andIseenothingmoreinMr。Fentolinthanaveryselfish,irritable,domineering,andcapriciousoldman。
Humourhim,byallmeans。Iamwillingtodothesamemyself。
Butwhenitcomestothegreatthingsinlife,neitherhenoranylivingpersonisgoingtokeepfrommethewomanIlove。“
Shewalkedbyhissideinsilence。Herbreathwascomingalittlequicker,herfingerslaypassiveinhis。Thenforamomenthefeltthegripofthemalmostburnintohisflesh。Stillshesaidnothing。
“Iwantyourpermission,dear,“hewenton,“togotohim。I
supposehecallshimselfyourguardian。Ifhesaysno,youareofage。IjustwantyoutobelievethatIamstrongenoughtoputmyarms,aroundyouandtocarryyouawaytomyownworldandkeepyouthere,althoughanarmyofMr。Fentolin’screaturesfollowedus。“
Sheturned,andhesawthegreattransformation。Herfacewasbrilliant,hereyesshonewithwonderfulthings。
“Please,“shebegged,“willyousayordonothingatallforalittletime,untilItellyouwhen?Iwantjustafewdayspeace。
YouhavesaidsuchbeautifulthingstomethatIwantthemtoliethereinmythoughts,inmyheart,undisturbed,forjustalittltime。Yousee,weareatthevillagenow。Iamgoingtocallatthisthirdcottage。WhileIaminside,youcangoandmakewhatenquiriesyoulike。Comeandknockatthedoorformewhenyouareready。“
“Andwewillwalkbacktogether?“
“Wewillwalkbacktogether,“shepromisedhim。
“Iwilltakeyouhomeanotherway。IwilltakeyouoverwhattheycalltheCommon,andcomedownbehindtheHallintothegardens。
Shedismissedhimwithalittlesmile。Hestrolledalongthevillagestreetandplungedintothemysteriousrecessesoftheonetinyshop。