第75章

“Thesun。”sheremarkedirrelevantly。”hasburntyou。I’mgettingdown。”

Sheswungherselfdownintomyarms，andstoodbesidemefacetoface。

“Where’sCothope？”sheasked。

“Gone。”

Hereyesflittedtothepavilionandbacktome。Westoodclosetogether，extraordinarilyintimate，andextraordinarilyapart。

“I’veneverseenthiscottageofyours。”shesaid，“andIwantto。”

Sheflungthebridleofherhorseroundtheverandapost，andI

helpedhertieit。

“DidyougetwhatyouwentfortoAfrica？”sheasked。

“No。”Isaid，“Ilostmyship。”

“Andthatlosteverything？”

“Everything。”

Shewalkedbeforemeintotheliving-roomofthechalet，andI

sawthatshegrippedherriding-whipverytightlyinherhand。

Shelookedaboutherforamoment，——andthenatme。

“It’scomfortable。”sheremarked。

Oureyesmetinaconversationverydifferentfromtheoneuponourlips。Asombreglowsurroundedus，drewustogether；anunwontedshynesskeptusapart。Sherousedherself，afteraninstant’spause，toexaminemyfurniture。

“Youhavechintzcurtains。Ithoughtmenweretoofecklesstohavecurtainswithoutawoman。But，ofcourse，yourauntdidthat！Andacouchandabrassfender，and——isthatapianola？

Thatisyourdesk。Ithoughtmen’sdeskswerealwaysuntidy，andcoveredwithdustandtobaccoash。”

Sheflittedtomycolourprintsandmylittlecaseofbooks。

Thenshewenttothepianola。Iwatchedherintently。

“Doesthisthingplay？”shesaid。

“What？”Iasked。

“Doesthisthingplay？”

Irousedmyselffrommypreoccupation。

“Likeamusicalgorillawithfingersallofonelength。Andasortofsoul。It’salltheworldofmusictome。”

“Whatdoyouplay？”

“Beethoven，whenIwanttoclearupmyheadwhileI’mworking。

Heis——howonewouldalwaysliketowork。SometimesChopinandthoseothers，butBeethoven。Beethovenmainly。Yes。”

Silenceagainbetweenus。Shespokewithaneffort。

“Playmesomething。”Sheturnedfrommeandexploredtherackofmusicrolls，becameinterestedandtookapiece，thefirstpartoftheKreutzerSonata，hesitated。“No。”shesaid，“that！”

ShegavemeBrahms’SecondConcerto，Op。58，andcurleduponthesofawatchingmeasIsetmyselfslowlytoplay。

“Isay。”hesaidwhenIhaddone，“that’sfine。Ididn’tknowthosethingscouldplaylikethat。I’mallastir。”

Shecameandstoodoverme，lookin