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“I’mnotfretting，butitdoesseemstrange。Icouldunderstandwhyoneshouldgo，perhaps，butnotboth。Didn’tGra——MissVanHornetellyouwhyshewent？“
“Well，now，Mr。Ellery，don’tlet’sworryaboutGracie。She’sagoodgirlwithlotsofcommonsenseand——“
“Iknowthat。Butthatdoesn’tanswerme。Whydidshego？“
“Keziahhadn’tbeentotheparsonagesencethatdaywhenyouwasfusttooksick，andIexpectlikelyshefeltthatshe’doughtto——“
“Please，Mrs。Higgins，tellmethetruth。I’mnotaskingaboutMrs。Coffin。Didn’tMissVanHornetellyouherreasonforleaving？“
“No，shedidn’t。“
“Butyouknowthereason？You’rekeepingsomethingfromme。Didshesaywhenshewouldcomeback？“
“No，notexactly，but，ofcourse——“
“Iknowyou’rekeepingsomethingfromme。Whathashappened？“
“Happened？Landsakes！doesanythingeverhappeninTrumet？“
“Ithinkagoodmanythingshavehappenedlately。AndthelongeryoukeepthetruthfrommethemoreIshallsuspect。“
“Mr。Ellery，yousetstillinthatchair，or，whenthedoctorcomes，he’llputyoutobed。I’vegotsomecookin’todoandI
can’tsetheregossipin’nolonger。Youbehaveyourselfandstopfrettin’。I’mskipperherenow——er——forawhile，anyhow——andyou’vegottotakeordersfromme。There！nowIcal’lateyou’rescared，ain’tyou？“
Hedidnotseemgreatlyfrightened，norinaweofhisnewskipper。
Instead，hewasevidentlypreparingtoaskmorequestions。Mrs。
Higginshurriedlyfledtothelivingroomandclosedthedoorbehindher。
Theministerheardherrattlingpansanddishesatagreatrate。
Thenoisemadehimnervousandhewishedshemightbemorequiet。
Hemovedtothechairnearestthewindowandlookedoutoverthedunesandthewidestretchoftumblingbluesea。Thesurfwasrollinguptheshore，themackerelgullswereswoopinganddippingalongthestrand，thebeachgrasswaswavinginthewind。A
solitaryfishboatwasbeatingoutpastthesparbuoy。ShewasalmostoverthespotwhentheSanJosehadfirstanchored。
Theviewwasafamiliarone。Hehadseenitinallweathers，duringastorm，atmorningwhenthesunwasrising，ateveningwhenthemooncameuptotipthewateryridgeswithfrostedsilver。Hehadlikedit，toleratedit，hatedit，andthen，aftershecame，lovedit。Hehadthoughtitthemostbeautifulsceneinalltheworldandonenevertobeforgotten。Thedingyoldbuilding，withitsbarewoodenwalls，hadbeenfirstahorror，thenaprison，andatlastapalaceofcontentment。Withthetwowomen，oneasecondmothertohim，andtheotherdearestofallonearth，hecouldhavelivedthereforever。Butnowtheoldprisonfeelingwascomingback。Hewastiredoftheviewandofthemeanlittleroom。Hefeltlonelyanddesertedanddespairing。
Hisnerveswerestillweakanditwaseasy，inhischildishcondition，tobecomedespondent。Hewentoverthewholesituationandfeltmoreandmoresurethathishopeshadbeenfalseonesandthathehadbuildedafool’sparadise。Afterall，heremembered，shehadgivenhimnopromise；shehadfoundhimillanddeliriousandhadbroughthimthere。Shehadbeenkindandthoughtfulandgracious，butthatshewouldbetoanyone，itwashernature。Andhehadbeencontent，weakashewas，tohavehernearhim，wherehewouldseeherandhearherspeak。Hermerepresencewassowonderfulthathehadbeensatisfiedwiththatandhadnotaskedformore。Andnowshehadgone。Mrs。Higginshadsaid“foradayortwo，“butthatwasindefinite，andshehadnotsaidshewouldreturnwhenthosetwodayshadpassed。Hewasbetternow，almostwell。Wouldshecomebacktohim？Afterall，conditionsinthevillagehadnotchanged。HewasstillpastoroftheRegularchurchandshewasaCome-Outer。Themanshehadpromisedtomarrywasdead——yes。Buttheotherconditionswerethesame。AndMrs。
Higginshadrefusedtotellhimthewholetruth；hewascertainofthat。Shehadruna
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