He had abandoned his
rights. What duties could she have towards a man who was frightened when
he looked at her? And indeed all the social and moral questions to which
the average woman of the world pays--because she must pay--attention had
suddenly ceased to exist for Lady Holme. She was no longer a woman of the
world. All worldly matters had sunk down beneath her feet with her lost
beauty. She had wanted to be free. Well, now she was surely free. Who
would care what she did in the future?
Robin said he was there.
She thought that, unless she could feel that in world there was one man
who wanted to take care of her, she must destroy herself. The thought
grew in her as she sat there, till she said to herself, "If it is true
what he says, perhaps I shall be able to live. If it is not true--" She
looked over the stone balustrade at the grey waters of the lake. Twilight
was darkening over them.
Late that evening, when she was sitting in the big drawing-room staring
at the floor, the butler came in with a telegram. She opened it and read:
"Sir Donald has told me you are at Casa Felice; arrive to-morrow
from Rome--ROBIN."
"No answer," she said.
So he was coming--to-morrow. The awful sense of desolation lifted
slightly from her. A human being was travelling to her, was wanting to
see her. To see her! She shuddered. Then fiercely she asked herself why
she was afraid. She would not be afraid.
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