第138章

’Becausethehouseisfullofmysteriesandsecrets；becauseit’sfullofwhisperingsandcounsellings；becauseit’sfullofnoises。

Thereneverwassuchahousefornoises。Ishalldieof’em，ifJeremiahdon’tstranglemefirst。AsIexpecthewill。’

’Ihaveneverheardanynoiseshere，worthspeakingof。’

’Ah!Butyouwould，though，ifyoulivedinthehouse，andwasobligedtogoaboutitasIam，’saidAffery；’andyou’dfeelthattheywassowellworthspeakingof，thatyou’dfeelyouwasnighburstingthroughnotbeingallowedtospeakof’em。Here’sJeremiah!You’llgetmekilled。’

’MygoodAffery，IsolemnlydeclaretoyouthatIcanseethelightoftheopendooronthepavementofthehall，andsocouldyouifyouwoulduncoveryourfaceandlook。’

’Idurstn’tdoit，’saidAffery，’Idurstn’tnever，Arthur。I’malwaysblind-foldedwhenJeremiahan’talooking，andsometimesevenwhenheis。’

’Hecannotshutthedoorwithoutmyseeinghim，’saidArthur。’Youareassafewithmeasifhewasfiftymilesaway。’

(’Iwishhewas!’criedAffery。)

’Affery，Iwanttoknowwhatisamisshere；Iwantsomelightthrownonthesecretsofthishouse。’

’Itellyou，Arthur，’sheinterrupted，’noisesisthesecrets，rustlingsandstealingsabout，tremblings，treadsoverheadandtreadsunderneath。’

’Butthosearenotallthesecrets。’

’Idon’tknow，’saidAffery。’Don’taskmenomore。Youroldsweetheartan’tfaroff，andshe’sablabber。’

Hisoldsweetheart，beinginfactsonearathandthatshewasthenrecliningagainsthiminaflutter，averysubstantialangleofforty-fivedegrees，hereinterposedtoassureMistressAfferywithgreaterearnestnessthandirectnessofasseveration，thatwhatsheheardshouldgonofurther，butshouldbekeptinviolate，’ifonnootheraccountonArthur’s——sensibleofintrudinginbeingtoofamiliarDoyceandClennam’s。’

’Imakeanimploringappealtoyou，Affery，toyou，oneofthefewagreeableearlyremembrancesIhave，formymother’ssake，foryourhusband’ssake，formyown，foralloursakes。Iamsureyoucantellmesomethingconnectedwiththecominghereofthisman，ifyouwill。’

’Why，thenI’lltellyou，Arthur，’returnedAffery——’Jeremiah’scoming!’

’No，indeedheisnot。Thedoorisopen，andheisstandingoutside，talking。’

’I’lltellyouthen，’saidAffery，afterlistening，’thatthefirsttimeheevercomeheheardthenoiseshisownself。“What’sthat？“

hesaidtome。“Idon’tknowwhatitis，“Isaystohim，catchingholdofhim，“butIhavehearditoverandoveragain。“WhileI

saysit，hestandsalookingatme，allofashake，hedo。’

’Hashebeenhereoften？’

’Onlythatnight，andthelastnight。’

’Whatdidyouseeofhimonthelastnight，afterIwasgone？’

’Themtwocleveroneshadhimallalonetothemselves。Jeremiahcomeadancingatmesideways，afterIhadletyouout(healwayscomesadancingatmesidewayswhenhe’sgoingtohurtme)，andhesaidtome，“Now，Affery，“hesaid，“Iamacomingbehindyou，mywoman，andagoingtorunyouup。“Sohetookandsqueezedthebackofmyneckinhishand，tillitmademeopenMYmouth，andthenhepushedmebeforehimtobed，squeezingalltheway。That’swhathecallsrunningmeup，hedo。Oh，he’sawickedone!’

’Anddidyouhearorseenomore，Affery？’

’Don’tItellyouIwassenttobed，Arthur!Hereheis!’

’Iassureyouheisstillatthedoor。Thosewhisperingsandcounsellings，Affery，thatyouhavespokenof。Whatarethey？’

’HowshouldIknow？Don’taskmenothingabout’em，Arthur。Getaway!’

’ButmydearAffery；unlessIcangainsomeinsightintothesehiddenthings，inspiteofyourhusbandandinspiteofmymother，ruinwillcomeofit。’

’Don’taskmenothing，’repeatedAffery。’Ihavebeeninadreamforeversolong。Goaway，goaway!’

’Yousaidthatbefore，