In the meantime, you may find existence in these
wilds and away from that good company which is the soul of life
endurable, and perhaps pleasant. You may have daily sight of the
lady who is to become your wife, and that should count for much
with so ardent and determined a lover as your lordship hath shown
yourself to be. You may have the pleasure of contemplating your
rival's grave, if you kill him. If he kills you, you will care the less
about the date of the Santa Teresa's sailing. The land, too, hath
inducements to offer to a philosophical and contemplative mind
such as one whom his Majesty delighteth to honor must needs
possess. Beside these crystal rivers and among these odoriferous
woods, my lord, one escapes much expense, envy, contempt,
vanity, and vexation of mind.'"
The hoary sinner laughed and laughed. When he had gone away,
still in huge enjoyment of his own mirth, I, who had seen small
cause for mirth, went slowly indoors. Not a yard from the door, in
the shadow of the vines that draped the window, stood the woman
who was bringing this fate upon me.
"I thought that you were in your own room," I said harshly, after a
moment of dead silence.
"I came to the window," she replied. "I listened. I heard all." She
spoke haltingly, through dry lips. Her face was as white as her ruff,
but a strange light burned in her eyes, and there was no trembling.
Pages:
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119