第46章

“Oh，that’saffectation。”saidGrace，shakingherhead。“Itisnouse——youlovehim。Icanseeinyourfacethatinthismatterofmyhusbandyouhavenotletyouractsbelieyourfeelings。Duringtheselastfourorsixmonthsyouhavebeenterriblyindiscreet；

butyouhavenotbeeninsincere，andthatalmostdisarmsme。”

“IHAVEbeeninsincere——ifyouwillhavetheword——ImeanIHAVE

coquetted，anddoNOTlovehim！”

ButGraceclungtoherpositionlikealimpet。“Youmayhavetrifledwithothers，buthimyouloveasyouneverlovedanotherman。”

“Oh，well——Iwon’targue。”saidMrs。Charmond，laughingfaintly。

“Andyoucometoreproachmeforit，child。”

“No。”saidGrace，magnanimously。“Youmaygoonlovinghimifyoulike——Idon’tmindatall。You’llfindit，letmetellyou，abittererbusinessforyourselfthanformeintheend。He’llgettiredofyousoon，astiredascanbe——youdon’tknowhimsowellasI——andthenyoumaywishyouhadneverseenhim！”

Mrs。Charmondhadgrownquitepaleandweakunderthisprophecy。

ItwasextraordinarythatGrace，whomalmosteveryonewouldhavecharacterizedasagentlegirl，shouldbeofstrongerfibrethanherinterlocutor。“Youexaggerate——cruel，sillyyoungwoman。”shereiterated，writhingwithlittleagonies。“Itisnothingbutplayfulfriendship——nothing！Itwillbeprovedbymyfutureconduct。Ishallatoncerefusetoseehimmore——sinceitwillmakenodifferencetomyheart，andmuchtomyname。”

“Iquestionifyouwillrefusetoseehimagain。”saidGrace，dryly，aswitheyesaskanceshebentasaplingdown。“ButIamnotincensedagainstyouasyouareagainstme。”sheadded，abandoningthetreetoitsnaturalperpendicular。“BeforeIcameIhadbeendespisingyouforwantoncruelty；nowIonlypityyouformisplacedaffection。WhenEdgarhasgoneoutofthehouseinhopeofseeingyou，atseasonablehoursandunseasonable；whenI

havefoundhimridingmilesandmilesacrossthecountryatmidnight，andriskinghislife，andgettingcoveredwithmud，togetaglimpseofyou，Ihavecalledhimafoolishman——theplaythingofafinishedcoquette。Ithoughtthatwhatwasgettingtobeatragedytomewasacomedytoyou。ButnowIseethattragedyliesonYOURsideofthesituationnolessthanonMINE，andmore；thatifIhavefelttroubleatmyposition，youhavefeltanguishatyours；thatifIhavehaddisappointments，youhavehaddespairs。Heavenmayfortifyme——Godhelpyou！”

“Icannotattempttoreplytoyourravingeloquence。”returnedtheother，strugglingtorestoreadignitywhichhadcompletelycollapsed。“Myactswillbemyproofs。Intheworldwhichyouhaveseennothingof，friendshipsbetweenmenandwomenarenotunknown，anditwouldhavebeenbetterbothforyouandyourfatherifyouhadeachjudgedmemorerespectfully，andleftmealone。AsitisIwishnevertoseeorspeaktoyou，madam，anymore。”

Gracebowed，andMrs。Charmondturnedaway。Thetwowentapartindirectlyoppositecourses，andweresoonhiddenfromeachotherbytheirumbrageoussurroundingsandbytheshadowsofeve。

Intheexcitementoftheirlongargumenttheyhadwalkedonwardandzigzaggedaboutwithoutregardingdirectionordistance。Allsoundofthewoodcuttershadlongsincefadedintoremoteness，andevenhadnottheintervalbeentoogreatforhearingthemtheywouldhavebeensilentandhomewardboundatthistwilighthour。

ButGracewentonhercoursewithoutanymisgiving，thoughtherewasmuchunderwoodhere，withonlythenarrowestpassagesforwalking，acrosswhichbrambleshung。Shehadnot，however，traversedthisthewildestpartofthewoodsinceherchildhood，andthetransformationofoutlineshadbeengreat；oldtreeswhichoncewerelandmarkshadbeenfelledorblowndown，andthebusheswhichthenhadbeensmallandscrubbywerenowlargeandoverhanging。Shesoonfoundthatherideasastodirectionwerevague——thatshehadindeednoideasastodirectionatall。Iftheeveninghadnotbeengrowingsodark，andthewindhadnotputonitsnightmoansodistinctly，Gracewouldnothaveminded；butshewasratherfrightenednow，andbegantostrikeacrosshitherandthitherinrandomcourses。

Densergrewthedarkness，moredevelopedthewind-voices，andstillnorecognizablespotoroutletofan