The Philanderers

drawing-room all the light there was came from the fire leaping upon the hearth and from the two recessed windows which faced it. In the farthest of these windows Drake sa

ng it; he could not distinguish a single feature, but none the less, as she stood facing hi

onging that she would move again, forwards, within the focu

e seen m

lked to the fireplace,

d. 'He told me what the question

ou to answer i

ft the cho

' she

s still standing in the shadow, and his desire that she should move out of it and within the circle of light grew upon him until it seemed almost

n, 'which made you ask me here at first.

self by the side of it, bent forwards towards its glow, her elbows upon her knees, her hands propping her chin. Drake gave a sigh of reli

f its changing expressions, of the ebb and flow of the blood from time to time flushing her cheeks and temples, and of the vivid play of lights and shadows upon them as the flames danced and sank on the hearth. He noticed, too, with an observation new to him, and quite involuntary, the details of the room in which he

oice of one who relates a fable of which, through frequent repetition, he is tired. Instinctively, in order to make the truth of his story palpable, he began to corroborate it with particulars which he would otherwise have spared his auditor, but with the same impersonal accent. He told Clarice of the cond

y the incident grew more unsubstantial the further he

ions testified to the justice of his trial-and

ray eyes. At his elbow the clock ticked upon the mantelshelf spacing the seconds, an

alled him t

cident or-well, I couldn't conceive what it was and I grew curious, I suppose. When you came back to England I thought you might be able to tell me. Lately, however, I began to fancy that you were concerned

to their meetings, their intimate conversations. This man, in whose hand her hands had lain, whose lips had pressed hers, been pressed by hers, this man had been convicted of a

she repeated, and the w

doggedly, 'and it seemed to me

t! What right had I to know?

and confronted Drake. He looked into her ey

, and his simplicity appealed to her by it

se he himself was implicated in it as the instrument of Gorley's punishment?' Either reason was sufficient to appea

er, lay her hand upon the mantelshelf and support her forehead upon it. Aft

ld not know that there was anyt

hould I, for I did not know you?

rnestness, and Clarice l

y duty so much harder

the couch. She had given him the opportunity to escape from his position and he refused to make use

n us'; she emphasised the words deliberately.

aimed, 'at the time? I d

esur

icable, and yet his very impracticability aroused in a measure her a

sked Drake al

es

your pardon. I didn't shoo

e more because of the dull, seemingly ca

opping the words one by one, as tho

ing the prestige of the white man. The argument bothered me, I confess, but I think they were

at him with eyes dilating in horror, almost in fear. 'You can di

s. On the instant Drake woke to a full comprehension of all that he had

fingers pressed lightly on her eyes, while n

p, but she made no movement. An emerald ring upon her finger caught the light and winked at him maliciousl

arted out of her chair. Standing thus she heard Drake's footsteps descending the stairs, and after a pause the sl

ion of it!' s