“Lockit!“sheimplored。
Heturneddownthelatchanddrewthebolt。Thesoundseemedtogiveheralittlecourage。Herfingerswenttoherthroatforamoment。
“Givemesomewater。“
Hepouredoutsomesoda-water。Shedrankonlyosipandputitdownagain。Hebegantobealarmed。Shehadtheappearanceofonewhohassuddenlylosthersenses。
“Pleasetellmejustwhathashappened?“hebegged。“IfIcanhelpinanyway,youknowIwill。Butyoumusttellme。Doyourealisethatitisthreeo’clock?Ishouldhavebeeninbed,onlyIwenttosleepoverthefirehere。“
“Iknow,“sheanswered。“Itisjustthewindthathastakenawaymybreath。Itwasahardstruggletogethere。Listen-youareourfriend,Mr。Hamel-Esther’sandmine?Swearthatyouareourfriend?“
“Uponmyhonour,Iam,“heassuredher。“Youshouldknowthat。“
“Foreightyears,“shewenton,hervoiceclearenoughnow,althoughitseemedchargedwithacuriousmetallicvibration,“foreightyearswe’veborneit,allthreeofus,slaves,boundhandandfoot,lashedwithhistongue,drivenalongthepathofhisdesires。Wehaveseenevilthings。Wehavebeenonthepointofrebellion,andhe’scomealittlenearerandhe’spointedback。Hehastakenmebythehand,andIhavewalkedbythesideofhischair,loathingit,loathingmyself,outontotheterraceanddownbelow,justwhereithappened。Youknowwhathappenedthere,Mr。Hamel?“
“YoumeanwhereMr。Fentolinmetwithhisaccident。“
“Itwasnoaccident!“shecried,glancingforamomentaroundher。
“Itwasnoaccident!Itwasmyhusbandwhotookhimupandthrewhimovertheterrace,downbelow;myhusbandwhotriedtokillhim;
Esther’sfather-Gerald’sfather!MileswasintheForeignOfficethen,andhedidsomethingdisgraceful。HesoldasecrettoAustria。
Hewasalwaysagreatgambler,andhewasindebt。Seymourfoundoutaboutit。Hefollowedhimdownhere。Theymetupontheterrace。
I-Isawit!“
Hewassilentforamoment。
“Noonehasknownthetruth,“hemurmured。
“Noonehaseverknown,“sheassented,“andourbrokenliveshavebeentheprice。ItwasMileshimselfwhomadethebargain。We-wecan’tgoon,Mr。Hamel。“
“Ibegintounderstand,“Hamelsaidsoftly。“YousuffereverythingfromMilesFentolinbecausehekeptthesecret。Verywell,thatbelongstothepast。Somethinghashappened,somethingto-night,whichhasbroughtyouhere。Tellmeaboutit?“
Oncemorehervoicebegantoshake。
“We’veseen-terriblethings-horriblethings,“shefaltered。
“We’veheldourpeace。Perhapsit’sbeennearlyasbadbefore,butwe’veclosedoureyes;wehaven’twantedtoknow。Now-wecan’thelpit。Mr。Hamel,Estherisn’tatLordSaxthorpe’s。
Sheneverwentthere。Theydidn’taskher。AndDunster-themanDunster-“
“’WhereisEsther?“Hamelinterruptedsuddenly。
“Lockedupawayfromyou,lockedupbecausesherebelled!“
“AndDunster?“
Sheshookherhead。Hereyeswerefilledwithhorror。
“ButhelefttheHall-Isawhim!“
Sheshookherhead。
“Itwasn’tDunster。ItwasthemanMilesmakesuseof-Ryan,thelibrarian。Hewasonceanactor。“
“WhereisDunster,then?“Hamelaskedquickly。“Whathasbecomeofhim?“
Sheopenedherlipsandclosedthemagain,struggledtospeakandfailed。Shesatthere,breathingquickly,butsilent。Thepowerofspeechhadgone。
Hamel,forthenextfewminutes,forgoteverythingelseinhiseffortstorestoretoconsciousnesshisunexpectedvisitor。Herebuiltthefire,heatedsomewateruponhisspiritlamp,andforcedsomehotdrinkbetweenthelipsofthewomanwhowasnowalmostinastateofcollapse。Thenhewrappedherroundinhisownulsteranddrewherclosertothefire。Hetriedduringthosefewmomentstoputawaythememoryofallthatshehadtoldhim。Graduallyshebegantorecover。Sheopenedhereyesanddrewalittlesigh。Shemadenoeffortatspeech,however。Shesimplylayandlookedathimlikesomewoundedanimal。Hecameovertohersideandchafedoneofhercoldhands。
“Come,“hesaidatlast,“youbegintolookmorelikeyourselfnow。
Youarequitesafeinhere,and,forEsther’ssakeaswellasyourown,youknowthatIamyourfriend。“
Shenodded,andherfingersgentlypressedhis。
“Iamsureofit,“shemurmured。
“Nowletusseewhereweare,“hecontinued。“TellmeexactlywhyyouriskedsomuchbyleavingSt。David’sHallto-nightandcomingdownhere。Isn’tthereanychancethathemightfindout?“
“Idon’tknow,“sheanswered。“ItwasLucyPricewhosentme。ShecametomyroomjustasIwasundressing。“
“LucyPrice,“herepeated。“Thesecretary?“
“Yes!Shetoldmethatshehadmeanttocometoyouherself。Shesentmeinstead。Shethoughtitbest。ThismanDunsterisbeingkeptalivebecausethereissomethingMileswantshimtotellhim,andhewon’t。Butto-night,ifheisstillalive,ifhewon’ttell,theymeantomakeawaywithhim。Theyareafraid。“
“MissPricetoldyouthis?“Hamelaskedgravely。
Mrs,Fentolinnodded。
“Yes!Shesaidso。Sheknows-sheknowseverything。Shehasbeenliketherestofus。She,too,hassuffered。She,too,hasreachedthebreakingpoint。Shelovedhimbeforetheaccident。
Shehasbeenhisslaveeversince。Listen!“
Shesuddenlyclutchedhisarm。Theywerebothsilent。Therewasnothingtobeheardbutthewind。Sheleanedalittleclosertohim。
“LucyPricesentmehereto-nightbecauseshewasafraidthatitwasto-nighttheymeanttotakehimfromhishiding-placeandkillhim。ThepolicehaveleftoffsearchingforMr。DunsterinYarmouthandatTheHague。Thereisadetectiveintheneighbourhoodandanotheroneonhiswayhere。Theyareafraidtokeephimaliveanylonger。“
“WherewasMr。Fentolinwhenyouleft?“Hamelasked。
“IaskedLucyPricethat,“shereplied。“Whenshecametomyroom,therewerenosignsofhisleaving。Shetoldmetocomeandtellyoueverything。DoyouknowwhereMr。Dunsteris?“
Hamelshookhishead。
“Withinafewyardsofhere,“shewenton。“Heisintheboat-house,theplacewhereMilestoldyouhekeptamodelofhisinvention。TheybroughthimherethenightbeforetheyputhisclothesonRyanandsenthimoffdisguisedasMr。Dunster,inthecartoYarmouth。“
Hamelstartedup,butsheclutchedathisarmandpulledhimback。
“No,“shecried,“youcan’tbreakin!Therearedoubledoorsandawonderfullock。Theboat-houseisyours;thebuildingisyours。
Inthemorningyoumustdemandthekeys-ifhedoesnotcometo-night!“
“Andhowarewetoknow,“Hamelasked,“ifhecomesto-night?“
“Gooutside,“shewhispered。“LooktowardsSt。David’sHallandtellmehowmanylightsyoucansee。“
Hedrewbackthebolt,unlatchedthedoor,andsteppedoutintothedarkness。Thewindandthedrivingrainbeatagainsthisface。A
cloudofsprayenvelopedandsoakedhim。Likelampshunginthesky,thelightsofSt。David’sHallshoneoutthroughtheblackgulf。Hecountedthemcarefully;thenhesteppedback。
“Thereareseven,“hetoldher,closingthedoorwithaneffort。
Shecounteduponherfingers。
“Imustcomeandsee,“shemuttered。“Imustbesure。Helpme。“
Heliftedhertoherfeet,andtheystaggeredouttogether。
“Look!“shewenton,grippinghisarm。“Youseethatrowoflights?
Ifanythinghappens,ifMr。FentolinleavestheHallto-nighttocomedownhere,alightwillappearontheleftinthefarcorner。