第33章

Sheleantforwardoverthetable，staringblankly。Butpresentlyherhalf-avertedfacebegantohauntmeasshehadsatatthetable，andherarmandthelongdroopofhershoulder。

ThenextdayIdidanunexampledthing。Isentatelegramtomyuncle，“Badtempernotcomingtobusiness。”andsetoffforHighgateandEwart。Hewasactuallyatwork——onabustofMillie，andseemedverygladforanyinterruption。

“Ewart，youoldFool。”Isaid，“knockoffandcomeforaday’sgossip。I’mrotten。There’sasympatheticsortoflunacyaboutyou。Let’sgotoStainesandpaddleuptoWindsor。”

“Girl？”saidEwart，puttingdownachisel。

“Yes。”

ThatwasallItoldhimofmyaffair。

“I’vegotnomoney。”heremarked，toclearupambiguityinmyinvitation。

Wegotajarofshandy-gaff，somefood，and，onEwart’ssuggestion，twoJapanesesunshadesinStaines；wedemandedextracushionsattheboathouseandwespentanenormouslysoothingdayindiscourseandmeditation，ourboatmooredinashadyplacethissideofWindsor。IseemtorememberEwartwithacushionforward，onlyhisheelsandsunshadeandsomeblackendsofhairshowing，avoiceandnomore，againsttheshining，smoothly-streamingmirrorofthetreesandbushes。

“It’snotworthit。”wastheburthenofthevoice。“You’dbettergetyourselfaMillie，Ponderevo，andthenyouwouldn’tfeelsoupset。”

“No。”Isaiddecidedly，“that’snotmyway。”

AthreadofsmokeascendedfromEwartforawhile，likesmokefromanaltar。

“Everything’samuddle，andyouthinkitisn’t。Nobodyknowswhereweare——because，asamatteroffactwearen’tanywhere。

Arewomenproperty——oraretheyfellow-creatures？Orasortofproprietarygoddesses？They’resoobviouslyfellow-creatures。

Youbelieveinthegoddess？”

“No。”Isaid，“that’snotmyidea。”

“Whatisyouridea？”

“Well“

“H’m。”saidEwart，inmypause。

“Myidea。”Isaid，“istomeetonepersonwhowillbelongtome——towhomIshallbelong——bodyandsoul。Nohalf-gods！Waittillshecomes。Ifshecomesatall。Wemustcometoeachotheryoungandpure。”

“There’snosuchthingasapurepersonoranimpureperson。

Mixedtobeginwith。”

Thiswassomanifestlytruethatitsilencedmealtogether。

“Andifyoubelongtoherandshetoyou，Ponderevo——whichend’sthehead？”

Imadenoanswerexceptanimpatient“oh！”

Foratimewesmokedinsilence。

“DidItellyou，Ponderevo，ofawonderfuldiscoveryI’vemade？”

Ewartbeganpresently。

“No。”Isaid，“whatisit？”

“There’snoMrs。Gru