"Why, my promise to--to Mr. Rivers."
"D--n Mr. Rivers!" growled Brooke, turning away.
"That," said Talbot, mildly, "is not an answer to my question."
"But how do I know?" said Brooke, in a voice like a wailing child.
"But how can I? how can I?" cried Talbot. "And when _you_ are here--_you_, Brooke, who know all my heart! Can I give you up? I cannot! You may give me up, if you like."
"Why don"t you say, if I _can_?" said Brooke.
"Oh--any way," said Talbot, wearily.
There was another silence.
"Marry _him_!" cried Talbot, at last, breaking the silence with vehement abruptness. "I cannot! I cannot! It would be wicked. I should desecrate the holy sacrament. I could not utter that vow before the holy altar.
Never! Yet I can"t stay here where _he_ is. He will be wishing to see me.
He will be coming soon--he may be coming now. I will not see him. I will _not_ speak with him again. I will write to him. I will leave this place, and at once."
"Leave this place!" repeated Brooke. "Where can you go?"
"Why, I"ll go home," said Talbot, firmly.
"Home?"
"Yes."
"How can you? You don"t know the way."
"I know one place where I can go--to that tower--that sweet tower; it is not far away; it must be easy to get there. I will go there--there, Brooke, where I first became acquainted with you; and then--"
Here Talbot paused, and turned away her head.
"But you can"t live there," said Brooke, in a harsh voice.
"I can find my way back to the road," said Talbot, in a tremulous tone--"to the road where I first met you, Brooke; and then--why, then I shall be no worse off than when you found me and a.s.sisted me."
"It"s all nonsense," said Brooke; "you can"t go alone."
"Yes, I can."
"You"ll be taken prisoner."
"I don"t care."
"Or, if not, you"ll die of starvation."
"Very well," said Talbot, in a calm voice, and looking at Brooke out of serene eyes, with a face from which all traces of emotion had departed--"very well; I have already showed that I am not afraid of death; and death by starvation is not more terrible than death by bullets."
Brooke looked at her for a moment in silence, and then said,
"You are not in earnest?"
"I am in earnest," said Talbot, looking at him fixedly, and speaking in a resolute tone--"I am in earnest, and I mean to go this very night."
Brooke looked away, drew a long breath, and subsided into silence.
"How can you find the way?" he asked at length, in a gruff voice, and without looking up.
"I don"t know," said Talbot; "I can try again, as I tried before."
Brooke looked up hastily, then looked away, and finally said,
"I think, Talbot, you might ask me to show you the way."
At this Talbot"s face flushed, and all her expression was suddenly changed from one of dull dejection to animation and delight.
"Will you?" she asked, breathlessly.
"Oh yes," said Brooke, "that isn"t much to do. Oh yes, I can easily show you the way to the tower. After all, it is as safe there as here; and if you are determined to go, why, we can start, you know--at any time, you know."
"But will you--can you--will you, really?" said Talbot, who seemed quite overwhelmed at this unexpected offer. "Then you have your human weakness, after all, have you, Brooke? You will not sacrifice me to a punctilio, will you? you will not let your poor Talbot go away all alone?"
[Ill.u.s.tration: "They Retreated To A Rude Bench, Upon Which They Seated Themselves."]
"No," said Brooke, softly, "I will not let my Talbot go away all alone."
Talbot cast a swift glance at him, as if to read his soul. Brooke"s eye met hers, but only for an instant. Then he looked away. Again there was quick and active within him that old vigilant feeling that kept him on guard against being surprised and overpowered by pa.s.sion. Within his heart there had already been a fierce struggle between love and honor. Love had once conquered, and that completely; but the appearance of Dolores had roused his conscience, and made him once more aware of the bond that lay in his plighted word. Could he again break that word? Could he sacrifice his honor for good almost in the very presence of her whom he supposed to be his loving and faithful Dolores? Could he do such a deed as this, and sully his soul even for Talbot? Yet, on the other hand, how could he bring himself to give her up? Give her up--the "lad Talbot," whom he loved as he had never loved any other human being! How could he? And thus love drew him impetuously in one direction, while duty sternly and imperiously drove him back; and so there went on in the breast of this newspaper correspondent a struggle the like of which does not often come within the experience of gentlemen of the press.
"You will see me as far as the tower?" said Talbot, pathetically.
"Yes," murmured Brooke.
"And there," continued Talbot, in the same tone, "we can say to one another our last farewells."
Brooke said nothing. The struggle still raged within him, and was as far from a decisive end as ever. The prospect of parting with Talbot filled him with a sense of horrible desolation, and the one idea now in his mind was that of accompanying her wherever she might go. He did not look far into the future. His plans were bounded by that tower to which Talbot was going. This much he might do without any hesitation. It seemed to him no more than Talbot"s due. She only wanted to go as far as that. She wished to be out of the reach of Rivers. She didn"t know the way there. He could certainly help her thus far; in fact, it would be impossible for him not to do that much. If Dolores herself were present, he thought, she could not object; in fact, she could do nothing else but approve.
Silence now followed, which lasted for some time, and at length Talbot said, with a heavy sigh,
"How strange it is, and how sad! isn"t it, Brooke?"
"What?" said Brooke.
"To bid good-bye."
Brooke was silent.
"To bid good-bye," repeated Talbot, "and never meet again!"