id. Her smile amongst many other things seemed to have mea

ging on to you like a drowning man . . . But perhaps I had better

mind. W

ion of great solidity. I'll a

that I was made to la

same thing," I went on. "G

t. The woman of granite, built to last for ever, continued to look at the glowing logs which made a sort of fiery ruin on the white pile of ashes. "I will tell you how it is," I said. "When I have you before my eyes there is such a projection of my whole being towards you that I fail to see you distinctly. It was like that from the beginning. I may say that I neve

. "It's too much for me. And ther

that eternal thing which is in you, which is your heirloom. And is it my fault that what I had to give was real flame, and not a mystic's incense? It is neither your fault

om her lips that hardly moved came the quietest possibl

ration. How dare you offer me this charlatanism of passion? What has it got to do between you and me who are the only two beings in the world that may safely say that we have no need of shams between ourselves? Is it possible tha

g," she ec

to be a sham-that

ear, I feel neither an evil nor a sham. I have got to be what I am, and that, amigo, is not so easy;

ed bending over her. She didn't seem to be awar

ave too much reverence in me to invoke the name of a God of whom clever men have robbed me a long time ago. How could I help it? For the talk was clever

. "You are af

ut not

moil of white ashes and sparks. The tiny crash seemed to wake her

was here and then telling me that you can't very well go out of the room. That sounds funny. I wouldn't have been angry if you h

fraid for your sake to come within a hair's breadth of what to all the world would have been a squalid crime. Note that y

se horrors to m

d this room meditating resolutely on the ways of murder, calculating possibilities and chances without the slightest

d because for a time she couldn

me!" she falt

o me that you remained in the world? I never expected to see you again. I even compo

ges of the fur cloak fell apart. A wave of the f

it," she said

never have been written. But what a farewell! And now I suppose we shall say good-bye without even a h

ravine; or go to the Devil in his own way, as long as he lost the track of Do?a Rita completely. He then, probably, would get mad and get shut up, or else get cured, forget all about it, and devote himself to

not out of

this room," I said wi

n? This is most extraordinary! Stay in this room? And

m not so much now. But you know very well, Do?a Rita

of scorn which bewitched me so completely fo

a, I shall go through life without as much as a switch in my hand. It's no use you being angry. A

a most unusual expression for h

ovely animation, "I insist up

. But Therese say

through the air spouting cigarettes as it went. Rosy all over, cheeks, neck, shoulders, she see

ou mean I will go outside and shout up the stairs to make her co

ting my Jacobin. There is

y, made an involuntary movement before I, too, became as still as death. We strained our ears; but that peculiar metallic rattle had been so slight and the silence now was so perfect that it was very difficult to believe one's

lf . . . I almost

ith me. It was a

thing

ngs that fall by themselves? Who is that

whatever. I broug

at

at white-haired humbug of yours. He is a genuine article. There must be plenty like him about. He has sc

d you bring

from sudden af

wonderful contrast with the white lace on her breast. All I was thinking of was that she was adorable and too lovely for words! I cared for nothing but that sublimely aesthetic impression. It summed up all life, all joy, all poetry! It had a divine strain. I am certain that I was not in my right mind. I suppose I was not quite s

r touched me profoundly. I suppose my love was too great for madness to get hold of me. I can

he love of you that I brought him here. That

might well have been. Then resigned to the incomprehensi

to bed in t

depicted in the turn of her head and in her whole face

r a moment. That's what a short twelvemonth has brought me to. Don't think I am reproaching you, O blin

emed to me that everything had been said now that mattered in the world; and that the world itself had reached its ultimate stage, had reached its appointed end o

the fencing-ro

The door is locked and Therese has the key.

een Therese

ving. "I left her making up the

said in a peculiar tone as i

For myself I had no longer any doubt as to the man and I hoped she would reach the correct conclusion herself. But I believe she was too distracted and worri

the sleeves. She was muttering all the time, "No, no, no." She abandoned herself to me just for an instant during which I got her back to the middle of the room. There she attempted to free herself and I let her go at once. With her face very close to mine, but apparently not knowing what she was looking at she repeated again twice, "No-No," with an intonation which might well have brought dampness to my eyes but which only made me regret that I didn't kill the honest Ortega at sight. Suddenly Do?a Rita swung round and seizing her loose hair with both hands started twisting it up before one of the sumptuous mirrors. The wide fur sleeves slipped down her white arms. In a brusque movement like a downward stab she transfixed the whole ma

d depth of a child's emotion. It tugged at one's heart-strings in the same direct way. But what could one do? How could one soothe her? It was impossible to

at of it?" I whispered