第34章

Iamsincerelysorrytosaythatitwasseriouslymade。Phillotsonlookedmoredisturbedthanbefore，andthemeeting-placeofhisbrowstwitchedagain。Intenminuteshecalledupthechildhehadjustsenttoher，anddispatchedanothermissive：

GodknowsIdon’twanttothwartyouinanyreasonableway。

Mywholethoughtistomakeyoucomfortableandhappy。ButIcannotagreetosuchapreposterousnotionasyourgoingtolivewithyourlover。Youwouldloseeverybody’srespectandregard；andsoshouldI！Afteranintervalasimilarpartwasenactedintheclass-room，andananswercame：

Iknowyoumeanmygood。ButIdon’twanttoberespectable！

Toproduce`Humandevelopmentinitsrichestdiversity’(toquoteyourHumboldt)istomymindfaraboverespectability。Nodoubtmytastesarelow-inyourview-hopelesslylow！Ifyouwontletmegotohim，willyougrantmethisonerequest-allowmetoliveinyourhouseinaseparateway？Tothishereturnednoanswer。

Shewroteagain：

Iknowwhatyouthink。Butcannotyouhavepityonme？Ibegyouto；Iimploreyoutobemerciful！IwouldnotaskifIwerenotalmostcompelledbywhatIcan’tbear！NopoorwomanhaseverwishedmorethanIthatEvehadnotfallen，sothat(astheprimitiveChristiansbelieved)

someharmlessmodeofvegetationmighthavepeopledParadise。ButIwon’ttrifle！Bekindtome-eventhoughIhavenotbeenkindtoyou！Iwillgoaway，goabroad，anywhere，andnevertroubleyou。Nearlyanhourpassed，andthenhereturnedananswer：

Idonotwishtopainyou。HowwellyouknowIdon’t！

Givemealittletime。Iamdisposedtoagreetoyourlastrequest。Onelinefromher：

Thankyoufrommyheart，Richard。Idonotdeserveyourkindness。AlldayPhillotsonbentadazedregarduponherthroughtheglazedpartition；

andhefeltaslonelyaswhenhehadnotknownher。

Buthewasasgoodashisword，andconsentedtoherlivingapartinthehouse。Atfirst，whentheymetatmeals，shehadseemedmorecomposedunderthenewarrangement；buttheirksomenessoftheirpositionworkedonhertemperament，andthefibresofhernatureseemedstrainedlikeharp-strings。

Shetalkedvaguelyandindiscriminatelytopreventhistalkingpertinently。

JudetheObscureChapter32IV-ivPhillotsonwassittinguplate，aswasoftenhiscustom，tryingtogettogetherthematerialsforhislong-neglectedhobbyofRomanantiquities。

Forthefirsttimesincerevivingthesubjecthefeltareturnofhisoldinterestinit。Heforgottimeandplace，andwhenherememberedhimselfandascendedtorestitwasnearlytwoo’clock。

Hispreoccupationwassuchthat，thoughhenowsleptontheothersideofthehouse，hemechanicallywenttotheroomthatheandhiswifehadoccupiedwhenhefirstbecameatenantofOld-GrovePlace，whichsincehisdifferenceswithSuehadbeenhersexclusively。Heentered，andunconsciouslybegantoundress。

Therewasacryfromthebed，andaquickmovement。BeforetheschoolmasterhadrealizedwherehewasheperceivedSuestartinguphalf-awake，staringwildly，andspringingoutupontheflooronthesideawayfromhim，whichwastowardsthewindow。Thiswassomewhathiddenbythecanopyofthebedstead，andinamomentheheardherflingingupthesash。Beforehehadthoughtthatshemeanttodomorethangetairshehadmounteduponthesillandleaptout。Shedisappearedinthedarkness，andheheardherfallbelow。

Phillotson，horrified，randownstairs，strikinghimselfsharplyagainstthenewelinhishaste。Openingtheheavydoorheascendedthetwoorthreestepstotheleveloftheground，andthereonthegravelbeforehimlayawhiteheap。Phillotsonseizeditinhisarms，andbringingSueintothehallseatedheronachair，wherehegazedatherbytheflappinglightofthecandlewhichhehadsetdowninthedraughtonthebottomstair。

Shehadcertainlynotbrokenherneck。Shelookedathimwitheyesthatseemednottotakehimin；andthoughnotparticularlylargeingeneraltheyappearedsonow。

Shepressedhersideandrubbedherarm，asifconsciousofpain；

thenstoodup，avertingherface，inevidentdistressathisgaze。

`ThankGod-youarenotkilled！Thoughit’s