Some night she
will provoke him when they are alone, till she has reached his utmost
limit of endurance--and then," she drew one hand across her dove-like
throat, "it will be all finished."
"You think so?"
"I am sure of it. We human beings go straight like sheep to our natural
destiny."
"But--that is fatalism."
"No, not fatalism: insight into temperament. Fatalists believe that your
life is arranged for you beforehand from without; willy-nilly, you MUST
act so. I only believe that in this jostling world your life is mostly
determined by your own character, in its interaction with the characters
of those who surround you. Temperament works itself out. It is your own
acts and deeds that make up Fate for you."
For some months after this meeting neither Hilda Wade nor I saw anything
more of the Le Geyts. They left town for Scotland at the end of the
season; and when all the grouse had been duly slaughtered and all the
salmon duly hooked, they went on to Leicestershire for the opening of
fox-hunting; so it was not till after Christmas that they returned to
Campden Hill. Meanwhile, I had spoken to Dr. Sebastian about Miss Wade,
and on my recommendation he had found her a vacancy at our hospital.
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