第29章

"Verywell，"Mrs。Traversassented，seriously。"Butinthatcasewehadbetternotremaintogether。"Sheasked，then，d’AlcacertogobelowandsitwithMr。Traverswhodidn’tliketobeleftalone。"Thoughhe，too，doesn’tseemtowanttobetoldanything，"sheadded，parenthetically，andwenton："ButImustaskyousomethingelse，Mr。d’Alcacer。Iproposetositdowninthischairandgotosleep——ifIcan。Willyoupromisetocallmeaboutfiveo’clock？Iprefernottospeaktoanyoneondeck，and，moreover，Icantrustyou。"

Hebowedinsilenceandwentawayslowly。Mrs。Travers，turningherhead，perceivedasteadylightatthebrig’syard—arm，verybrightamongthetarnishedstars。Shewalkedaftandlookedoverthetaffrail。Itwasexactlylikethatothernight。Shehalfexpectedtohearpresentlythelow，ripplingsoundofanadvancingboat。Buttheuniverseremainedwithoutasound。Whensheatlastdroppedintothedeckchairshewasabsolutelyattheendofherpowerofthinking。"Isupposethat’showthecondemnedmanagetogetsomesleeponthenightbeforetheexecution，"shesaidtoherselfamomentbeforehereyelidsclosedasifunderaleadenhand。

Shewokeup，withherfacewetwithtears，outofavividdreamofLingardinchain—mailarmourandvaguelyrecallingaCrusader，butbare—headedandwalkingawayfromherinthedepthsofanimpossiblelandscape。Shehurriedontocatchupwithhimbutathrongofbarbarianswithenormousturbanscamebetweenthematthelastmomentandshelostsightofhimforeverintheflurryofaghastlysand—storm。Whatfrightenedhermostwasthatshehadnotbeenabletoseehisface。Itwasthenthatshebegantocryoverherhardfate。Whenshewokeupthetearswerestillrollingdownhercheeksandsheperceivedinthelightofthedeck—lampd’Alcacerarrestedalittlewayoff。

"Didyouhavetospeaktome？"sheasked。

"No，"saidd’Alcacer。"Youdidn’tgivemetime。WhenIcameasfarasthisIfanciedIheardyousobbing。Itmusthavebeenadelusion。"

"Oh，no。Myfaceiswetyet。Itwasadream。Isupposeitisfiveo’clock。Thankyouforbeingsopunctual。Ihavesomethingtodobeforesunrise。"

D’Alcacermovednearer。"Iknow。Youhavedecidedtokeepanappointmentonthesandbank。Yourhusbanddidn’tuttertwentywordsinallthesehoursbuthemanagedtotellmethatpieceofnews。"

"Ishouldn’thavethought，"shemurmured，vaguely。

"Hewantedmetounderstandthatithadnoimportance，"statedd’Alcacerinaveryserioustone。

"Yes。Heknowswhatheistalkingabout，"saidMrs。Traversinsuchabittertoneastodisconcertd’Alcacerforamoment。"I

don’tseeasinglesoulaboutthedecks，"Mrs。Traverscontinued，almostdirectly。

"Theverywatchmenareasleep，"saidd’Alcacer。

"Thereisnothingsecretinthisexpedition，butIprefernottocallanyone。Perhapsyouwouldn’tmindpullingmeoffyourselfinoursmallboat。"

Itseemedtoherthatd’Alcacershowedsomehesitation。Sheadded："Ithasnoimportance，youknow。"

Hebowedhisassentandprecededherdownthesideinsilence。

Whensheenteredtheboathehadthescullsreadyanddirectlyshesatdownheshovedoff。Itwassodarkyetthatbutforthebrig’syard—armlighthecouldnothavekepthisdirection。Hepulledaverydeliberatestroke，lookingoverhisshoulderfrequently。ItwasMrs。Traverswhosawfirstthefaintgleamoftheuncoveredsandspitontheblack，quietwater。

"Alittlemoretotheleft，"shesaid。"No，theotherway……

"D’Alcacerobeyedherdirectionsbuthisstrokegrewevenslowerthanbefore。Shespokeagain。"Don’tyouthinkthattheuttermostfarthingshouldalwaysbepaid，Mr。d’Alcacer？"

D’Alcacerglancedoverhisshoulder，then："Itwouldbetheonlyhonourableway。Butitmaybehard。Toohardforourcommonfearfulhearts。"

"Iampreparedforanything。"

Heceasedpullingforamoment……"Anythingthatmaybefoundonasandbank，"Mrs。Traverswenton。"Onanarid，insignificant，anddesertedsandbank。"

D’Alcacergavetwostrokesandceasedagain。

"Thereisroomforawholeworldofsufferingonasandbank，forallthebitternessandresentmentahumansoulmaybemadetofeel。"

"Yes，Isupposeyouwouldknow，"shewhisperedwhilehegaveastrokeortwoandagainglancedoverhisshoulder。Shemurmuredthewords：

"Bitterness，resentment，"andamomentafterwardbecameawareofthekeeloftheboatrunninguponthesand。Butshedidn’tmove，andd’Alcacer，too，remainedseatedonthethwartwiththebladesofhisscullsraisedasifreadytodropthemandbackthedinghyoutintodeepwateratthefirstsign。

Mrs。Traversmadenosign，butsheasked，abruptly："Mr。

d’Alcacer，doyouthinkIshallevercomeback？"

Hertoneseemedtohimtolacksincerity。Butwhocouldtellwhatthisabruptnesscovered——sincerefearormerevanity？Heaskedhimselfwhethershewasplayingapartforhisbenefit，oronlyforherself。

"Idon’tthinkyouquiteunderstandthesituation，Mrs。Travers。

Idon’tthinkyouhaveaclearidea，eitherofhissimplicityorofhisvisionary’spride。"

Shethought，contemptuously，thattherewereotherthingswhichd’Alcacerdidn’tknowandsurrenderedtoasuddentemptationtoenlightenhimalittle。

"Youforgethiscapacityforpassionandthathissimplicitydoesn’tknowitsownstrength。"

Therewasnomistakingthesincerityofthatmurmur。"Shehasfeltit，"d’Alcacersaidtohimselfwithabsolutecertitude。Hewonderedwhen，where，how，onwhatoccasion？Mrs。Traversstoodupinthesternsheetssuddenlyandd’Alcacerleapedonthesandtohelpheroutoftheboat。

"Hadn’tIbetterhangaboutheretotakeyoubackagain？"hesuggested，asheletgoherhand。

"Youmustn’t！"sheexclaimed，anxiously。"Youmustreturntotheyacht。Therewillbeplentyoflightinanotherhour。IwillcometothisspotandwavemyhandkerchiefwhenIwanttobetakenoff。"

Attheirfeettheshallowwatersleptprofoundly，theghostlygleamofthesandsbaffledtheeyebyitslackofform。Faroff，thegrowthofbushesinthecentreraisedamassiveblackbulkagainstthestarstothesouthward。Mrs。Traverslingeredforamomentneartheboatasifafraidofthestrangesolitudeofthislonely