No, it was
no use asking him anything. Yet something should be said to break the
spell, to call down again this man to the earth. But it was Lingard who
spoke first. "Where has Mrs. Travers gone?"
"She has gone . . . where naturally she would be anxious to go first of
all since she has managed to come to us," answered d'Alcacer, wording
his answer with the utmost regard for the delicacy of the situation.
The stillness of Lingard seemed to have grown even more impressive. He
spoke again.
"I wonder what those two can have to say to each other."
He might have been asking that of the whole darkened part of the globe,
but it was d'Alcacer who answered in his courteous tones.
"Would it surprise you very much, Captain Lingard, if I were to tell you
that those two people are quite fit to understand each other thoroughly?
Yes? It surprises you! Well, I assure you that seven thousand miles from
here nobody would wonder."
"I think I understand," said Lingard, "but don't you know the man is
light-headed? A man like that is as good as mad."
"Yes, he had been slightly delirious since seven o'clock," said
d'Alcacer. "But believe me, Captain Lingard," he continued, earnestly,
and obeying a perfectly disinterested impulse, "that even in his
delirium he is far more understandable to her and better able to
understand her than .
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