第63章

”Doyoustillthinkthatinanycaseshecan’thaveanother?””Onecan’tbeabsolutelysure，butit’smostunlikely。””She’sstrong，”saidSoames；”we’lltaketherisk。”Thedoctorlookedathimverygravely。”It’sonyourshoulders，”

hesaid；”withmyownwife，Icouldn’t。”

Soames’chinjerkedupasifsomeonehadhithim。”AmIofanyuseupthere?”heasked。”No；keepaway。””Ishallbeinmypicture-gallery，then；youknowwhere。”

Thedoctornodded，andwentupstairs。

Soamescontinuedtostand，listening。’Bythistimeto-morrow，’hethought，’Imayhaveherdeathonmyhands。’No！itwasunfair——

monstrous，toputitthatway！Sullennessdroppedonhimagain，andhewentuptothegallery。Hestoodatthewindow。Thewindwasinthenorth；itwascold，clear；verybluesky，heavyraggedwhitecloudschasingacross；theriverblue，too，throughthescreenofgoldeningtrees；thewoodsallrichwithcolour，glowing，burnished-anearlyautumn。Ifitwerehisownlife，wouldhebetakingthatrisk?’Butshe’dtaketheriskoflosingme，’hethought，’soonerthanloseherchild！Shedoesn’treallyloveme！’

Whatcouldoneexpect——agirlandFrench?Theonethingreallyvitaltothemboth，vitaltotheirmarriageandtheirfutures，wasachild！’I’vebeenthroughalotforthis，’hethought，’I’llholdon——holdon。There’sachanceofkeepingboth——achance！’

Onekepttillthingsweretaken——onenaturallykept！Hebeganwalkingroundthegallery。Hehadmadeonepurchaselatelywhichheknewwasafortuneinitself，andhehaltedbeforeit——agirlwithdullgoldhairwhichlookedlikefilamentsofmetalgazingatalittlegoldenmonstershewasholdinginherhand。Evenatthistorturedmomenthecouldjustfeeltheextraordinarynatureofthebargainhehadmade——admirethequalityofthetable，thefloor，thechair，thegirl’sfigure，theabsorbedexpressiononherface，thedullgoldfilamentsofherhair，thebrightgoldofthelittlemonster。Collectingpictures；growingricher，richer！Whatuse，if……！Heturnedhisbackabruptlyonthepicture，andwenttothewindow。Someofhisdoveshadflownupfromtheirperchesroundthedovecot，andwerestretchingtheirwingsinthewind。Intheclearsharpsunlighttheirwhitenessalmostflashed。Theyflewfar，makingaflung-uphieroglyphicagainstthesky。Annettefedthedoves；itwasprettytoseeher。Theytookitoutofherhand；

theyknewshewasmatter-of-fact。Achokingsensationcameintohisthroat。Shewouldnot——couldnoddie！Shewastoo——toosensible；andshewasstrong，reallystrong，likehermother，inspiteofherfairpr

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