Upon
his side was good that might be seen and handled; on mine was
only a dubious right and a not at all dubious danger. I do not think
it plagued me much. The going of those who had it in their heart to
wish to go left me content, and for those who fawned upon him
from the first, or for the rabble multitude who flung up their caps
and ran at his heels, I cared not a doit. There were still Rolfe and
West and the Governor, Jeremy Sparrow and Diccon.
My lord and I met, perforce, in the street, at the Governor's house,
in church, on the river, in the saddle. If we met in the presence of
others, we spoke the necessary formal words of greeting or
leave-taking, and he kept his countenance; if none were by, off
went the mask. The man himself and I looked each other in the
eyes and passed on. Once we encountered on a late evening among
the graves, and I was not alone. Mistress Percy had been restless,
and had gone, despite the minister's protests, to sit upon the river
bank. When I returned from the assembly and found her gone, I
went to fetch her. A storm was rolling slowly up. Returning the
long way through the churchyard, we came upon him sitting beside
a sunken grave, his knees drawn up to meet his chin, his eyes
gloomily regardful of the dark broad river, the unseen ocean, and
the ship that could not return for weeks to come.
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