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He walked about the room; he worked a little and walked, andwalked a little and
worked. Hehad wanted to be kind to Adela; it was Adelas obstinate follywhich
now outraged him. He was awake in his sleep,and the moon was pouring itself
over him. Parrys voice carefully enunciating a grand ducal speech to
HughPrescott. But she couldnt,watching the play, refrain from applying it to
Stanhope.
She came towards him softly, reached her hand tohim, smiled at him,
put up her mouth to him. But here in the mists under the trees,with this woman,
it was all clear.
Certainly I meant it like that, he said, more like
that,anyhow. It was a remote translation of a thing, for thedawn began.
It was
the equivalent of her worldlyaffairs, and it lasted little longer; in a second
it had gone. The noises were so faint that in the air ofearth they would have
been lost.
He loomedbehind the glass, a heavy bulk of monstrous greed.
She had
heard, inold tales of magic, of the guardian of the threshold.
Stanhope paused,
and in the silence there came to them Mrs.
And as if she hated herself for
sayingit, she turned sharply on him. She was free to watchthe other performers,
and to consider the play once more. Minutely she knew that the public clock of
theHill had struck one. Why had he been so longcontent to have things
wrong?
The contention was the onlyequilibrium of that haunter of the Hill, and
was pain. I have a trick, she said steadily, of meeting an exact likenessof
myself in the street. Parrys, where they had nochance to speak. They found the
item by the name in black type for theirconvenience: Aston Moffatt. Helooked at
the woman opposite and felt a stirring of freedom inhim.
She wanted the
designs, and she would have them. Hehad wanted to be kind to Adela; it was
Adelas obstinate follywhich now outraged him.
It was the one thing whichcould
abolish his anger; it did.
Itsdistance was not merely in space, though it
seemed that also, butin some other dimension.
The steps went on through him;
double steps. His was not worse than any others, though the hastening oftime to
its end made it more strange. You have friends;havent you asked one of them to
carry your fear?
He hadnever understood that simplicity before. And as if she
hated herself for sayingit, she turned sharply on him.
Itwas very silent; only
small sounds came up to her as if someonewas climbing below. Wentworth had
never acknowledged theunity. Parrys voice carefully enunciating a grand ducal
speech to HughPrescott. The two neared eachother, the gate still between them,
and began to talk.
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