willwait。“
“Itseemsapityforyoutodothat,“Hamelremarked。“Yousee,Imightstayhereforsometime。“
Mr。Fentolin’sfacedarkened。Helookedattheyoungmanwithasortofpensivewrath。
“If,“thelatterwenton,“yousay’yes’tosomethingIamgoingtoaskyou,Imightevenstay-intheneighbourhood-forlongerstill。“
Mr。Fentolinsatquitemotionlessinhischair;hiseyeswerefixeduponHamel。
“Whatisitthatyouaregoingtoaskme?“bedemanded。
“Iwanttomarryyourniece。
Mr。Fentolinlookedattheyoungmaninmildsurprise。
“Asuddendecisiononyourpart,Mr。Hamel?“hemurmured。
“Notatall,“Hamelassuredhim。“Ihavebeentenyearslookingforher。“
“Andtheyounglady?“Mr。Fentolinenquired。“Whatdoesshesay?“
“Ibelieve,sir,“Hamelreplied,“thatshewouldbewilling。“
Mr。Fentolinsighed。
“Oneisforcedsometimes,“heremarkedregretfully,“torealisetheselfishnessofouryoungpeople。Formanyyearsonedevotesoneselftoprovidingthemwithallthecomfortsandluxuriesoflife。Then,inasingleday,theyturnaroundandgiveeverythingtheyhavetogivetoastranger。SoyouwanttomarryEsther?“
“Ifyouplease。“
“Shehasaverymoderatefortune。“
“Sheneedhavenoneatall,“Hamelreplied;“Ihaveenough。“
Mr。Fentolinglancedtowardsthehouse。
“Then,“hesaid,“Ithinkyouhadbettergoandtellherso;inwhichcase,Ishallbeabletopaint。“
“Ihaveyourpermission,then?“Hamelasked,risingtohisfeeteagerly。
“Negatively,“Mr。Fentolinagreed,“youhave。Icannotrefuse。
Estherisofage;thethingisreasonable。Idonotknowwhethershewillbehappywithyouornot。Ayoungmanofyourdispositionwhodeclinestostudythewhimsofanunfortunatecreaturelikemyselfisscarcelylikelytobepossessedofmuchsensibility。However,perhapsyourviewsastoasolitaryresidenceherewillchangewithyourengagementtomyniece。“
Hameldidnotreplyforamoment。Hewastryingtoaskhimselfwhy,eveninthemidstofthisrushofanticipatoryhappiness,heshouldbeconsciousofacertainreluctancetoleavetheTower-andMr。Fentolin。HewaslookinglonginglytowardstheHall。Mr。
Fentolinwavedhimaway。
“Goandmakelove,“heordered,“andleavemealone。Wearebothinpursuitofbeauty-onlyourmethodsdiffer。“
Hamelhesitatednolongerbutwalkedupthenarnowpathwithswift,buoyantfootsteps。Everywhereheseemedtobesurroundedbythegloriousspringsunshine。Itglitteredinthelittlepoolsandcreeksbyhisside。Itdrewanewcolourfromthedun-colouredmarshes,themassesofemeraldseaweed,theshimmeringsands。ItflashedinthelongrowofwindowsoftheHall。Ashedrewnearer,hecouldseethebanksofyellowcrocusesintheslopinggardensbehind。Therewereodoursofspringintheair。Heranlightlyuptheterracesteps。Therewasaneasy-chairdrawnintoherfavouritecorner,andabookuponthetable,butnosignofEsther。
Hehesitatedforamoment,andthen,retracinghisstepsalongtheterrace,enteredthehousebythefrontdoor,whichstoodwideopen。Therewasnooneinthehall,scarcelyasoundabouttheplace。Agreatclocktickedsolemnlyfromthefootofthestairs。
Therewasnotevenaservantinsight。Hamelwanderedaround,aalosswhattodo。Heopenedthedoorofthedrawing-roomandlookedin。Itwasempty。Heturnedaway,meaningtoringabell。
Onhiswayacrossthehallhepaused。Acuriouslysuggestivesoundreachedhimfaintlyfromtheendofoneofthepassages。
Itwastheclickofatypewriter。
Hamelstoodforamomentperfectlystill。HehadhurreduptotheHall,filledwiththeoneselfishjoycommontoallmankind。
HehadhadnothoughtsavethethoughtofseeingEsther。Theclickofthatmachinebroughthimhacktothesternrealitiesoflife。HerememberedhistalktoKinsley,hispromise。Onthehalltablehecouldseefromwherehewasstandingthegreatheadlineswhichannouncedthenation’sanxiety。Hewasinthehouseofasuspectedspy。Theclickofthetypewriterwasanaccompanimenttohisthought。Helookedaroundoncemoreandlistened。Thenhemadehiswayquietlyacrossthehailanddownthelongpassage,attheendofwhichtheroomwhichMr。Fentolincalledhisworkroomwassituated。Heturnedthehandleofthedoorandentered,closingitimmediatelybehindhim。Thewomanwhowastypingpausedwithherfingersuponthekeys。Hereyesmethiscoldly,withoutcuriosity。
Shehadpausedinherwork,butshetooknoothernoticeofhiscoming。
“HasMr。Fentolinsentyouhere?“sheaskedatlast。
Hecameovertothetypewriter。
“Mr。Fentolinhasnotsentme,“hesaidslowly。“Iamhereonmyownaccount。IdaresayyouwillthinkthatIamalunatictocometoyoulikethis。Nevertheless,pleaselistentome。“
Herfingersleftthekeys。Shelaidherhandsuponthetableinfrontofher。Hedrewalittlenearer。Shecoveredoverthesheetsofpaperwithwhichshewassurroundedwithapadofblotting-paper。
Hepointedsuddenlytothem。
“Whydoyoudothat?“hedemanded。“WhatisthereinyourworkthatyouareafraidImightsee?“
Sheansweredhimwithouthesitation。
“TheseareprivatepapersofMr。Fentolin’s。Noonehasanybusinesstoseethem。Noonehasanybusinesstoenterthisroom。
Whyareyouhere?“
“IcametotheHalltofindMissFentolin,“hereplied。“Iheardtheclickofyourtypewriter。Icametoyou,IsupposeIshouldsay,onimpulse。“
Hereyesresteduponhis,filledwithacoldandquestioninglight。
“There’sanimpressionupinLondon,“Hamelwenton,“thatMr。
Fentolinhasbeeninteferingbymeansofhiswirelessinaffairswhichdon’tconcernhim,andgivingawayvaluableinformation。
ThismanDunster’sdisappearanceisasyetunexplained。Ifeelmyselfjustifiedinmakingcertaininvestigations,andamongthefirstofthemIshouldlikeyoutotellmeexactlythenatureoftheworkforwhichMr。Fentolinfindsasecretarynecessary?“
Sheglancedtowardsthebell。Hemovedtotheedgeofthetableasthoughtointercepther。
“Inanyordinarycase,“hecontinued,“Iwouldnotaskyoutobetrayyouremployer’sconfidence。Asthingsare,IthinkIamjustified。YouareEnglish,areyounot?Yourealise,Isuppose,thatthecountryisonthebrinkofwar?“
Shelookedathimfromthedepthsofherstill,lusterlesseyes。
“Youmustbeaveryfoolishperson,“sheremarked,“ifyouexpecttoobtaininformationinthismanner。“
“PerhapsIam,“heconfessed,“butmyfollyhasbroughtmetoyou,andyoucangivemetheinformationifyouwill。“
“WhereisMr。Fentolin?“sheasked。
“DownattheTower,“hereplied。“Ilefthimthere。HesentmeuptoseeMissFentolin。Iwaslookingforherwhentheclickofyourtypewriterremindedmeofotherthings。“
Sheturnedcomposedlybacktoherwork。
“Ithink,“shesaid,“thatyouhadbettergoandfindMissFentolin。“
“Don’ttalknonsense!Youcan’tthinkIhaveriskedgivingmyselfawaytoyoufornothing?Imeantosearchthisroom,toreadthepaperswhichyouaretyping。“
Sheglancedaroundheralittlecontemptuously。
“Youarewelcome,“sheassuredhim。“Prayproceed。“
Theyexchangedtheglancesofduelists。Herplainblackfrockwasbuttoneduptoherthroat。Hercolourlessfaceseemedsetinexactandexpressionlesslines。Hereyeswerelikewindowsofglass。Hefeltonlytheirscrutiny;nothingofthereasonforit,orofthethoughtswhichstirredbehindinherbrain。Therewasnothingaboutherattitudewhichseemedinanywaythreatening,yethehadthefeelingthatinthisinterviewitwasshewhopossessedtheupperhand。