She thrust out her hand suddenly and grasped his. The fingers were very thin, almost bony, and covered with rings. Their grip was feverish and he felt them tremble.
"You are a brave man, Mr. Hamel," she declared speaking in a low, quick undertone. "Perhaps you are right. The shadow isn"t over your head. You haven"t lived in the terror of it. You may find a way. G.o.d grant it!"
She wrung his fingers and rose to her feet. Her voice suddenly changed into another key. Hamel knew instinctively that she wished him to understand that their conversation was over.
"Chow-Chow," she cried, "come along, dear, we must have our walk. Come along, Koto; come along, little dogs."
Hamel strolled down the terrace steps and wandered for a time in the gardens behind the house. Here, in the shelter of the great building, he found himself suddenly in an atmosphere of springtime. There were beds of crocuses and hyacinths, fragrant clumps of violets, borders of snowdrops, ma.s.ses of primroses and early anemones. He slowly climbed one or two steep paths until he reached a sort of plateau, level with the top of the house. The flowers here grew more spa.r.s.ely, the track of the salt wind lay like a withering band across the flower-beds. The garden below was like a little oasis of colour and perfume. Arrived at the bordering red brick wall, he turned around and looked along the narrow road which led to the sea. There was no sign of Mr. Fentolin"s return.
Then to his left he saw a gate open and heard the clamour of dogs.
Esther appeared, walking swiftly towards the little stretch of road which led to the village. He hurried after her.
"Unsociable person!" he exclaimed, as he caught her up. "Didn"t you know that I was longing for a walk?"
"How should I read your thoughts?" she answered. "Besides, a few minutes ago I saw you on the terrace, talking to mother. I am only going as far as the village."
"May I come?" he asked. "I have business there myself."
She laughed.
"There are nine cottages, three farmhouses, and a general shop in St.
David"s," she remarked. "Also about fifteen fishermen"s cottages dotted about the marsh. Your business, I presume, is with the general shop?"
He shook his head, falling into step with her.
"What I want," he explained, "is to find a woman to come in and look after me at the Tower. Your servant who valets me has given me two names."
Something of the lightness faded from her face.
"So you have quite made up your mind to leave us?" she asked slowly.
"Mother wasn"t able to persuade you to stay?"
He shook his head.
"She was very kind," he said, "but there are really grave reasons why I feel that I must not accept Mr. Fentolin"s hospitality any longer. I had," he went on, "a very interesting talk with your mother."
She turned quickly towards him. The slightest possible tinge of additional colour was in her cheeks. She was walking on the top of a green bank, with the wind blowing her skirts around her. The turn of her head was a little diffident, almost shy. Her eyes were asking him questions. At that moment she seemed to him, with her slim body, her gently parted lips and soft, tremulous eyes, almost like a child. He drew a little nearer to her.
"I told your mother," he continued, "all that I have told you, and more. I told her, dear, that I cared for you, that I wanted you to be my wife."
She was caught in a little gust of wind. Both her hands went up to her hat; her face was hidden. She stepped down from the bank.
"You shouldn"t have done that," she said quietly.
"Why not?" he demanded. "It was the truth."
He stooped forward, intent upon looking into her face. The mystic softness was still in her eyes, but her general expression was inscrutable. It seemed to him that there was fear there.
"What did mother say?" she whispered.
"Nothing discouraging," he replied. "I don"t think she minded at all. I have decided, if you give me permission, to go and talk to Mr. Fentolin this evening."
She shook her head very emphatically.
"Don"t!" she implored. "Don"t! Don"t give him another whip to lash us with. Keep silent. Let me just have the memory for a few days all to myself."
Her words came to him like numb things. There was little expression in them, and yet he felt that somehow they meant so much.
"Esther dear," he said, "I shall do just as you ask me. At the same time, please listen. I think that you are all absurdly frightened of Mr. Fentolin. Living here alone with him, you have all grown under his dominance to an unreasonable extent. Because of his horrible infirmity, you have let yourselves become his slaves. There are limits to this sort of thing, Esther. I come here as a stranger, and I see nothing more in Mr. Fentolin than a very selfish, irritable, domineering, and capricious old man. Humour him, by all means. I am willing to do the same myself.
But when it comes to the great things in life, neither he nor any living person is going to keep from me the woman I love."
She walked by his side in silence. Her breath was coming a little quicker, her fingers lay pa.s.sive in his. Then for a moment he felt the grip of them almost burn into his flesh. Still she said nothing.
"I want your permission, dear," he went on, "to go to him. I suppose he calls himself your guardian. If he says no, you are of age. I just want you to believe that I am strong enough to put my arms, around you and to carry you away to my own world and keep you there, although an army of Mr. Fentolin"s creatures followed us."
She turned, and he saw the great transformation. Her face was brilliant, her eyes shone with wonderful things.
"Please," she begged, "will you say or do nothing at all for a little time, until I tell you when? I want just a few days" peace. You have said such beautiful things to me that I want them to lie there in my thoughts, in my heart, undisturbed, for just a little time. You see, we are at the village now. I am going to call at this third cottage. While I am inside, you can go and make what enquiries you like. Come and knock at the door for me when you are ready."
"And we will walk back together?"
"We will walk back together," she promised him.
"I will take you home another way. I will take you over what they call the Common, and come down behind the Hall into the gardens."
She dismissed him with a little smile. He strolled along the village street and plunged into the mysterious recesses of the one tiny shop.
CHAPTER XXV
Hamel met Kinsley shortly before one o"clock the following afternoon, in the lounge of the Royal Hotel at Norwich.
"You got my wire, then?" the latter asked, as he held out his hand. "I had it sent by special messenger from Wells."
"It arrived directly after breakfast," Hamel replied. "It wasn"t the easiest matter to get here, even then, for there are only about two trains a day, and I didn"t want to borrow a car from Mr. Fentolin."
"Quite right," Kinsley agreed. "I wanted you to come absolutely on your own. Let"s get into the coffee-room and have some lunch now. I want to catch the afternoon train hack to town."
"Do you mean to say that you"ve come all the way down here to talk to me for half an hour or so?" Hamel demanded, as they took their places at a table.
"All the way from town," Kinsley a.s.sented, "and up to the eyes in work we are, too. d.i.c.k, what do you think of Miles Fentolin?"
"Hanged if I know!" Hamel answered, with a sigh.
"Nothing definite to tell us, then?"
"Nothing!"