Part 34 (1/2)
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
”DARK ROLL THE DEEPENING DAYS”
In the very circuh for any two people ant to avoid each other to do so Given, however, tho are, even in spite of theh irave, for all his steel-plated arth of purpose, was conscious of a weak place, of a joint in his harness Deep down in his heart was a great craving, even for a little while, for the old tione before; again he began to find excuses for her She had been startled, shocked, horrified She had been ”got at” by Suffield, who, he feared, was at heart a bit of a sneak Moreover, he himself had hustled, had scurried her too impetuously A little further ti herself to the--it --idea, and she would have acted very differently He had expected too much--had unconsciously fallen back into the old, old blunder of his salad days, expecting to find so, of course, only a woe of opinion He could not forget that she had believed the charge against him in its entirety--believed that he had treacherously slain a comrade for the sake of robbery; and a very paltry robbery at that That she should believe hi; but of theft! No, that he could never forgive
Yet as they sat at table three ti each other--her demeanour was hardly that of one who believed hi so despicable; and soon, all unconsciously, the cynical ring faded from his tone; the drift of his reh, by sonetis conversation for the to each other with a kind of subtle understanding ieneral
The captain was right in congratulating hie This is just what it was, notwithstanding the vicinity of a bore or so, providentially not quite near enough to put idiotic questions very often And to two, at any rate, the sound of the bell was a welcoh for a widely different reason to that which caused the residue to hail its distracting claether for a space
Only for a space! They ether all day and every day had they so wished it Yet they were never seen together alone Other couples in plenty, philandering in cane chairs during the torrid heat of the day, pacing the deck by starlight, or leaning against the taffrail rather close together when the moon rose over the sheeny, liquid plain; but these two, never They would converse, but always in the presence of that third person which in such instances is jocularly supposed to constitute ”a crowd” Soood-natured third person, actuated by the best intentions, would drop out of it, not ostentatiously either But then it was not long before Roden found so his presence elsewhere
Now as the days went by Mona began to grow bitter and reckless To her, too, the appearance of this hty surprise Her voyage to England was being undertaken indirectly through his agency, for such a depression and lowness of spirits had been the result of her high-strung efforts at unconcern as seriously to undermine her health; and, as a last resource, she had resolved upon that change which to the Colonial-born woman is the most welcome of all--a trip to the Old Country And here on board this shi+p, under circuether daily for at least three weeks, she had found hiain, and--he would have none of her
Had she not shown him how bitterly she repented her demeanour on that day; shown him by word, by look, by every subtle tenderness which she kneell how to ie he seemed determined to afford her no opportunity There werehis jealousy, if he had got one spark of that evil combustible within him It was easily done; there was no lack of material to hand But, fortunately, she recollected that he had not--except in the forht ansith soulf between them more irrevocably wide than ever For the first time in her life Mona found herself unpopular with the opposite sex; for not by any representative of it as there gathered together could she be induced to indulge inwas forward, or, in short, in the barest suspicion of any approach to a flirtation whatsoever
Towards Lambert she made no attempt to conceal her dislike, her detestation; and this she was able to indulge on the pretext of being well ahy he had selected this shi+p for his own trip ho to say to hi exasperation But he consoled hirave on every available opportunity The latter, in his surprise, he had at first greeted with a stiff, jerky nod, which had not been returned Looking hiht in the eye Roden had cut him dead Furious with jealous hatred and ie The murder story It would be just as effective here as at Doppersdorp Yet--would it? And Lambert reo upon here Never expecting to see Roden again he had left the papers with Mr Shaston On the whole, he decided to let that story alone for the present But whatever Laht not think fit to do rave
The latter seeood deal and chatted a little, took a passive part in anything that was got up, whether as appreciative audience at charade or theatrical, or contributing his quotuanised by Israel and Judah He passedin Captain Cheyne's cabin, where these two cynics would sharpen their sardonic wit upon the grindstone of their species In short, he seeenerally, and to have it But all the while the iron was in his soul; for the days were going by with flying rapidity, and each day brought the parting nearer
The parting? Why, they had not yet met, not in reality, at least
Well, it was better so, he told hiht than a year ago, infinitely worse What prospect did life hold out? A straggle, and a profitless one Faith in all things shattered and dead--what remained?
”Would you like to hear the circumstances under which I killed John Denton?”
Mona started fro, and turned--her heart thuht She had not heard his approach Her first intimation of it was the voice--low, even, and clear
”You--you did kill hiht
”But I did not rob him”
”Oh, could you not see? could you not see? I never believed that, never really Have I not shown you that ain?
Tell me, tell , too self-contained, too unbelieving You do not knohat it is to love, to love really!”
She had caught both his hands, and ringing therip, as she sobbed forth those wild, rapid sentences in a tone that was indescribably passionate and despairing It see him if she relaxed her hold for a moment This, the first tiether--if anybody can be said ever to be alone in so limited a space as that afforded by a shi+p--she was in an agony of dread lest the opportunity should slip away from her, never to recur The ste in upon chocks, made, with the taffrail, quite a snap little corner The decks were nearly deserted, for there had been heavy tropical showers throughout the day, rendering the planking steamy and damp
”To love, did you say? What _is_ love?” he rejoined coldly, scarcely even bitterly But beneath the now fast yielding crust the , too self-contained did you say? Well for me that I am But if you would care to hear that episode I will tell it you--now”
She made no answer beyond a bend of the head Why did he torture her thus? He was exacting to the last fraction a truly terrible revenge
For were he ht robber, twenty times over, it made no difference to her now She loved hiht it, had taught her how she could love And he, triuh de her very heart strings It was a refine-- they two, alone together at last--should be shortened by a single ht hold of his hands, half-h the oily waters of the tropical sea: the clang of the engines, the throb of the propeller, the soft wash of the wave from her stem, the only sounds The surface was flooded with patches of phosphorescent light, and here and there in the di a dark and heavy rain-cloud
”The facts are very ordinary and soon told,” he began ”Denton was a distant relative of rown up close friends from boyhood Then we became rivals--in love, you understand--and I was the favoured one, for I ell off in those days I believed in people then--a little--consequently the last thing I drea the thief and liar he afterwards turned out He had the ement of all my affairs, for he was a little older than I, and shrewd and clever; and, as he afterwards told e he started to ruin me He succeeded, too, and that very soon, and so coed to me into his own pocket; so craftily too, that the laas powerless to touch hi bad in the way of a fool in those days, and trusted everybody Well, I stood ruined; a very ordinary and every-day occurrence
”Then I began to find out the realof the word, love--the real worth of tenderness and passion and inexhaustible vows I have found out since on more than one occasion, but it did me no harm, because then I knehat the upshot would be, andinto which hole the solitaire h, it hurt It was badly done, too; badly and heartlessly, and after a while John Denton stepped into my shoes All this, of course, took soh, so I pass over, it quickly