第35章

”Whynot?”hesaid。”Justasasignthatyoudon’tbearmeill-feelinganylonger。””Icouldn’t。”

Soamestookitoutofthecase。”Letmejustseehowitlooks。”

Sheshrankback。

Hefollowed，thrustinghishandwiththebroochinitagainstthefrontofherdress。Sheshrankagain。

Soamesdroppedhishand。”Irene，”hesaid，”letbygonesbebygones。IfIcan，surelyyoumight。Let’sbeginagain，asifnothinghadbeen。Won’tyou?”

Hisvoicewaswistful，andhiseyes，restingonherface，hadinthemasortofsupplication。

She，whowasstandingliterallywithherbackagainstthewall，gavealittlegulp，andthatwasallheranswer。Soameswenton：”Canyoureallywanttoliveallyourdayshalf-deadinthislittlehole?Comebacktome，andI’llgiveyouallyouwant。Youshallliveyourownlife；Iswearit。”

Hesawherfacequiverironically。”Yes，”herepeated，”butImeanitthistime。I’llonlyaskonething。Ijustwant——Ijustwantason。Don’tlooklikethat！I

wantone。It’shard。”Hisvoicehadgrownhurried，sothathehardlyknewitforhisown，andtwicehejerkedhisheadbackasifstrugglingforbreath。Itwasthesightofhereyesfixedonhim，darkwithasortoffascinatedfright，whichpulledhimtogetherandchangedthatpainfulincoherencetoanger。”Isitsoveryunnatural?”hesaidbetweenhisteeth，”Isitunnaturaltowantachildfromone’sownwife?Youwreckedourlifeandputthisblightoneverything。Wegoononlyhalfalive，andwithoutanyfuture。IsitsoveryunflatteringtoyouthatinspiteofeverythingI——Istillwantyouformywife?Speak，forGoodness’sake！dospeak。”

Ireneseemedtotry，butdidnotsucceed。”Idon’twanttofrightenyou，”saidSoamesmoregently。”Heavenknows。IonlywantyoutoseethatIcan’tgoonlikethis。I

wantyouback。Iwantyou。”

Ireneraisedonehandandcoveredthelowerpartofherface，buthereyesnevermovedfromhis，asthoughshetrustedinthemtokeephimatbay。Andallthoseyears，barrenandbitter，since——

ah！when?——almostsincehehadfirstknownher，surgedupinonegreatwaveofrecollectioninSoames；andaspasmthatforhislifehecouldnotcontrolconstrictedhisface。”It’snottoolate，”hesaid；”it’snot——ifyou’llonlybelieveit。”

Ireneuncoveredherlips，andbothherhandsmadeawrithinggestureinfrontofherbreast。Soamesseizedthem。”Don’t！”shesaidunderherbreath。Buthestoodholdingontothem，tryingtostareintohereyeswhichdidnotwaver。Thenshesaidquietly：”Iamalonehere。Youwon’tbehaveagainasyouoncebehaved。”

Droppingherhandsasthoughtheyhadbeenhotirons，heturnedaway。Wasitpossiblethattherecouldbesuchrelentlessunforgiveness！Couldthatoneactofviolentpossessionbestillalivewithinher?Diditbarhimthusutterly?Anddoggedlyhesaid

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