'
Before I could say another word, the girl had glided from me, with a wild
gesture of silence, and a shake of her head.
I can't at all account for the state in which I was. There are resources
both of energy and endurance in human nature which we never suspect until
the tremendous voice of necessity summons them into play. Petrified with a
totally new horror, but with something of the coldness and impassiveness of
the transformation, I stood, spoke, and acted--a wonder, almost a terror,
to myself.
I met Madame on my return as if nothing had happened. I heard her ugly
gabble, and looked at the fruits of her hour's shopping, as I might hear,
and see, and talk, and smile, in a dream.
But the night was dreadful. When Mary Quince and I were alone, I locked
the door. I continued walking up and down the room, with my hands clasped,
looking at the inexorable floor, the walls, the ceiling, with a sort
of imploring despair. I was afraid to tell my dear old Mary. The least
indiscretion would be failure, and failure destruction.
I answered her perplexed solicitudes by telling her that I was not very
well--that I was uneasy; but I did not fail to extract from her a promise
that she would not hint to mortal, either my suspicions about Dudley, or
our rencontre with Meg Hawkes.
Pages:
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665