Initials Only

第26章

-Monsieur,doyouwanttoseethoseletters?”askedthegirl,withagulp。Evidentlyhisappearancefrightenedher-orhadheractingreachedthispointofextremefinish?”Ihadnevairethechancetoputthemback。And-andtheybelongtomonsieur。Theyarehis-allhis-andsobeautiful!Ah,justlikepoetry。””Idon’tconsiderthemmine。Ihaven’taparticleofconfidenceinyouorinyourstory。Youareathief-self-convicted;oryou’reanagentofthepolicewhosemotivesIneitherunderstandnorcaretoinvestigate。Takeupyourbagandgo。Ihaven’tacent’sworthofinterestinitscontents。”

Shestartedtoherfeet。Sweetwaterheardherchairgrateonthepaintedfloor,asshepusheditbackinrising。Thebrotherrosetoo,butmorecalmly。Brothersondidnotstir。Sweetwaterfelthishopesrapidlydyingdown-downintoashes,whensuddenlyhervoicebrokeforthinpants:”AndMariesaid-everybodysaid-thatyoulovedourgreatlady;

thatyou,ofthepeople,common,common,workingwiththehands,livingwithmenandwomenworkingwiththehands,thatyouhadsoul,sentiment-whatyouwillofthegoodandthegreat,andthatyouwouldgiveyoureyesforherwords,sifines,sispirituelles,solikedesversdepoete。False!false!allfalse!Shewasanangel。Youare-readthat!”shevehementlybrokein,openingherbagandwhiskingapaperdownbeforehim。”Readandunderstandmyproudandlovelylady。Shedidrighttodie。Youarehard-hard。Youwouldhavekilledherifshehadnot-””Silence,woman!Iwillreadnothing!”camehissingfromthestrongman’steeth,setinalmostungovernableanger。”Takebackthisletter,asyoucallit,andleavemyroom。””Nevaire!Youwillnotread?Butyoushall,youshall。Beholdanother!One,two,three,four!”Madlytheyflewfromherhand。

Madlyshecontinuedhervituperativeattack。”Beast!beast!Thatsheshouldpouroutherinnocenthearttoyou,you!Idonotwantyourmoney,Monsieurofthecommonstreet,ofthecommonhouse。Itwouldbedirt。Pierre,itwouldbedirt。Ah,bah!jem’oublietoutafait。Pierre,ilestbete。Ilrefusedelestoucher。Maisilfautqu’illestouche,sijeleslaissesurleplancher。Va-t’en!

Jememoquedelui。Canaille!L’hommedupeuple,toutafaitdupeuple!”

Aloudslam-theskurryingoffeetthroughthehall,accompaniedbytheslowerandheaviertreadoftheso-calledbrother,thensilence,andsuchsilencethatSweetwaterfanciedhecouldcatchthesoundofBrotherson’sheavybreathing。Hisownwassilencedtoagasp。Whatatreasureofagirl!Hownaturalherindignation!

Whataninstinctsheshowedandwhatcomprehension!Thishighandmightyhandlingofamostdifficultsituationandamostdifficultman,hadimposedonBrotherson,hadalmostimposeduponhimself。

Thoseletterssobeautiful,sospirituelle!Yet,theoddswerethatshehadneverreadthem,muchlessabstractedthem。Theminx!theready,resourceful,wily,daringminx!

ButhadsheimposedonBrotherson?Asthesilencecontinued,Sweetwaterbegantodoubt。Heunderstoodquitewelltheimportanceofhisneighbour’sfirstmovement。Werehetotearthoselettersintoshreds!Hemightbethustempted。Alldependedonthestrengthofhispresentmoodandtherealnatureofthesecretwhichlayburiedinhisheart。

Wasthatheartasflintyasitseemed?Wastherenoplacefordoubtorevenforcuriosity,initsimpenetrabledepths?Seemingly,hehadnotmovedfootorhandsincehisunwelcomevisitorshadleft。

Hewasdoubtlessstillstaringatthescatteredsheetslyingbeforehim;possiblybattlingwithunaccustomedimpulses;possiblyweighingdeedsandconsequenc

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