He looked at the corpse as if it were his own
corpse lying cold in the snow.
When Payne saw one of them, he laughed with a
reaction of relief.
It seems to me your position is very
unreasonable.
I think that unconsciousness of mine will
always give me a shiver.
And it is simply a psychological fact that an
artist will betray himself by some sort of sincerity. He had already got into
Aylmer’s dressing - gown; he proceeded to get into Aylmer’s body and soul.
Payne looked at it as long as he dared; and he was to look at it a good deal
longer before he died.
This afternoon he needed it; but he rose to
the occasion.
He hung the corpse like a coat on one of the
hat pegs. I assumed it myself; but afterwards queer little things began to
happen.
When he did speak he threw himself on the
whole company like a statesman going to the country. Anybody can learn certain
phrases or state verbally that he holds certain views. And the eyes are even
more real than the face.
I assure you it occurred quite frequently to
me. It’s the wavering of the water that makes you think that. Is there any Doom
of the Darnaways or only a damned queer accident? But these things might
possibly have been fancies; the first real point was this. It was an utterly
bare room, obviously deserted; no bed, no anything. He could always produce
more Arabian Nights if ever his neck was in danger.
I don’t think there’s anything odd about
that.
He would have been a handsome old man if he
had had no teeth.