She was amazed to find that on this night, in this place,
there could be no adequate answer to the searching naiveness of that
question.
"I didn't ask for much," Lingard began again. "Did I? Only that you all
should come on board my brig for five days. That's all. . . . Do I
look like a liar? There are things I could not tell him. I couldn't
explain--I couldn't--not to him--to no man--to no man in the world--"
His voice dropped.
"Not to myself," he ended as if in a dream.
"We have remained unmolested so long here," began Mrs. Travers a little
unsteadily, "that it makes it very difficult to believe in danger, now.
We saw no one all these days except those two people who came for you.
If you may not explain--"
"Of course, you can't be expected to see through a wall," broke in
Lingard. "This coast's like a wall, but I know what's on the other side.
. . . A yacht here, of all things that float! When I set eyes on her I
could fancy she hadn't been more than an hour from home. Nothing but the
look of her spars made me think of old times. And then the faces of the
chaps on board. I seemed to know them all. It was like home coming to me
when I wasn't thinking of it. And I hated the sight of you all."
"If we are exposed to any peril," she said after a pause during which
she tried to penetrate the secret of passion hidden behind that man's
words, "it need not affect you.
Pages:
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187