The White Moll

第25章

RhodaGray’sface,underthegrimeofGypsyNan’sdisguise,grewtroubledandperplexed。Neitherhadthepapers,eventheeveningpapers,statedwhetherDanglarhadasyetbeenreleased-theyhaddevotedtherestoftheirspacetothevilificationoftheWhiteMoll。Theyhaddemandedinnouncertaintonesamoreconclusiveeffortonthepartoftheauthoritiestobringher,andwithhernowthemaninthecase,astheycalledtheAdventurer,tojustice,and……

ThethoughtoftheAdventurercausedhermindtoswervesharplyoffatatangent。Wherehehadpiquedandarousedhercuriositybefore,henow,sincelastnight,seemedmorecomplexacharacterthanever。

Itwasstrange,moststrange,thewaytheirlives,hisandhers,hadbecomeinterwoven!Shehadowedhimmuch;butlastnightshehadrepaidhimandsquaredaccounts。Shehadtoldhimso。Sheowedhimnothingmore。Ifasenseofgratitudehadoncecausedhertolookuponhimwith-with-Shebitherlips。Whatwastheuseofthat?

Haditbecomesomuchapartofherlife,somuchahabit,thisthrowingofdustintheeyesofothers,thisconstantpassingofherselfoffforsomeoneelse,thisconstantdeception,warrantedthoughitmightbe,thatshemustnowseektodeceiveherself!Whynotfranklyadmittoherownsoul,alreadyinthesecret,thatshecaredinspiteofherself-forathief?Whynotadmitthatagreathurthadcome,onethatnoonebutherselfwouldeverknow,ahurtthatwouldlastforalwaysbecauseitwasawoundthatcouldneverbehealed?

Athief!Shelovedathief。Shehadfoughtabitter,stubbornbattlewithhercommonsensetoconvinceherselfthathewasnotathief。Shehadsnatchedhungrilyattheincidentthatcenteredaroundthosehandcuffs,soopportunelyproducedfromtheAdventurer’spocket。Shehadtriedtoarguethatthosehandcuffsnotonlysuggested,butproved,hewasapoliceofficerindisguise,workingonsomecaseinwhichDanglarandtheganghadbeenmixedup;and,asshetriedtoargueinthiswise,shetriedtoshuthereyestothefactthatthesamepocketoutofwhichthehandcuffscamewasatexactlythesamemomenttherepositoryofasmanystolenbanknotesasitwouldhold。ShehadtriedtoarguethatthefactthathewassoinsistentlyatworktodefeatDanglar’splanswasinhisfavor;butthatargument,likeallothers,camequicklyandmiserablytogrief。Wherethe“leak“was,asDanglarcalledit,thatsuppliedtheAdventurerwithforeknowledgeofthegang’smovements,shehadnoidea,savethatperhapstheAdventurerandsometraitorinthegangwereincollusionfortheirownends-andthatcertainlydidnotlifttheAdventurertoanyhigherplane,orwashfromhimthestigmaofthief。

Sheclenchedherhands。Itwasallanattemptatargumentwithoutthebasisofasinglelogicalpremise。Itwassillyandchildish!

Whyhadn’tthemanbeenanordinary,plain,commonthiefandcriminal-andlookedlikeone?Shewouldneverhavebeenattractedtohimtheneventhroughgratitude!Whyshouldhehaveallthegracesandear-marksofbreeding?Whyshouldhehavealltheappearancesofgentleman?Itseemedaneedlesslycruelandadditionalblowthatfatehaddealther,whenalreadyshewaslivingthroughdaysandnightsoffear,ofhorror,oftrepidation,sogreatthatattimesitseemedshewouldliterallyloseherreason。Ifhehadnotlooked,yes,andattimes,acted,somuchlikeathorough-bredgentleman,

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