第33章

"Oh，myGod！"hesaid。Butthenextinstanthisheadlifteditself。"Itisthemysteryoftheworld——thisthing。Atidalwavegatheringitselfmountainhighandcrashingdownuponone’shelplessnessmightbeaseasilydefied。Itissupposedtodisperse，Ibelieve。Thathasbeensaidsooftenthattheremustbetruthinit。Intwentyorthirtyorfortyyearsoneistoldonewillhavegotoverit。Butonemustlivethroughtheyears——onemustLIVEthroughthem——andthechieffeatureofone’smadnessisthatoneisconvincedthattheywilllastforever。"

"Goon，"saidMr。Penzance，becausehehadpausedandstoodbitinghislip。"Sayallthatyoufeelinclinedtosay。

Itisthebestthingyoucando。Ihavenevergonethroughthismyself，butIhaveseenandknowntheamazingnessofitformanyyears。Ihaveseenitcomeandgo。"

"Canyouimagine，"MountDunstansaid，"thatthemostdamnablethoughtofall——whenamanispassingthroughit——

isthepossibilityofitsGOING？Anythingelseratherthantheknowledgethatyearscouldchangeordeathcouldendit！

Eternityseemsonlytoofferspaceforit。Oneknows——butonedoesnotbelieve。Itdoessomethingtoone’sbrain。"

"Noscientist，howsoeverprofound，haseverdiscoveredwhat，"thevicarmusedaloud。

"TheBookofRevelationshasshowntomehow——howMAGNIFICENTlifemightbe！"MountDunstanclenchedandunclenchedhishands，hiseyesflashing。"Magnificent——thatistheword。Togotoheronequalgroundtotakeherhandsandspeakone’spassionasonewould——ashereyesanswered。

Oh，onewouldknow！Tobringherhometothisplace——havingmadeitasitoncewas——tolivewithherhere——tobeWITH

herasthesunroseandsetandtheseasonschanged——withthejoyoflifefillingeachofthem。SHEisthejoyofLife——theveryheartofit。YouseewhereIam——yousee！"

"Yes，"Penzanceanswered。Hesaw，andbowedhishead，andMountDunstanknewhewishedhimtocontinue。

"Sometimes——oflate——ithasbeentoomuchformeandI

havegivenfreereintomyfancy——knowingthattherecouldneverbemorethanfancy。IwasdoingitthisafternoonasI

watchedhermoveaboutamongthepeople。AndMaryLithcombegantotalkabouther。"Hesmiledagrimsmile。

"Perhapsitwasaninterventionofthegodstodragmedownfrommyimpiousheights。Shewasquiteunconsciousthatshewasdrivinghomefactslikenails——thefactsthateverymanwhowantedmoneywantedReubenS。Vanderpoel’sdaughter——andthattheyounglady，notbeingdull，wasnotunawareoftheobvioustruth！Andthatmenwithprizestoofferwerereadytooffertheminapropermanner。Alsothatshewasonlyabrilliantbirdofpassage，who，inafewmonths，wouldbecaughtinthedazzlingnetofthegreatworld。AndthatevenLordWestholtandDunholmCastlewerenotquitewhatshemightexpect。LadyMarywassincerelyinterested。Shedroveithomeinherardour。ShetoldmetoLOOKather——toLOOK

athermouthandchinandeyelashes——andtomakenoteofwhatshestoodforinacrowdofordinarypeople。Icouldhavelaughedaloudwithrageandself—mockery。"

Mr。Penzancewasrestinghisforeheadonhishand，hiselbowonhischair’sarm。

"Thisisprofoundunhappiness，"hesaid。"Itisprofoundunhappiness。"

MountDunstanansweredbyabrusquegesture。

"Butitwillpassaway，"wentonPenzance，"andnotasyoufearitmust，"inanswertoanothergesture，fiercelyimpatient。"Notthatway。Someday——ornight——youwillstandheretogether，andyouwilltellherallyouhavetoldme。IKNOWitwillbeso。"

"What！"MountDunstancriedout。Butthewordshadbeenspokenwithsuchabsoluteconvictionthathefelthimselfbecomepale。

ItwaswiththesameconvictionthatPenzancewenton。

"Ihavespentmyquietlifeinthinkingoftheforcesforwhichwefindnoexplanation——ofthecausesofwhichweonlyseetheeffects。LongagoinlookingatyouinoneofmyponderingmomentsIsaidtomyselfthatYOUwereofthePrimevalForcewhichcannotloseitsway——whichsweepsaclearpathwayforitselfasitmoves——andwhichcannotbeheldback。Isaidtoyoujustnowthatbecauseyouareastrongmanyoucannotbesurethatawomanyouare——eveninspiteofyourself——

makingmadloveto，isunconsciousthatyouaredoingit。Youdonotknowwhatyourstrengthliesin。Idonot，thewomandoesnot，butwemustallfeelit，whetherwecomprehenditorno。Yousaidofthisfinecreature，sometimesince，thatshewasLife，andyouhavejustsaidagainsomethingofthesamekind。Itisquitetrue。SheisLife，andthejoyofit。Youaretwostrongforces，andyouaredrawingtogether。"

Herosefromhischair，andgoingtoMountDunstanputhishandonhisshoulder，hisfineoldfacesingularlyraptandglowing。

"Sheisdrawingyouandyouaredrawingher，andeachistoostrongtoreleasetheother。Ibelievethattobetrue。

Bothbodiesandsoulsdoit。Theyarenotseparatethings。Theymoveontheirwayasthestarsdo——theymoveontheirway。"

Ashespoke，MountDunstan’seyeslookedintohisfixedly。

Thentheyturnedasideandlookeddownuponthemantelagainstwhichhewasleaning。Heaimlesslypickeduphispipeandlaiditdownagain。Hewaspalerthanbefore，buthesaidnosingleword。

"Youthinkyourreasonsforholdingalooffromherarethereasonsofaman。"Mr。Penzance’svoicesoundedtohimremote。"Theyarethereasonsofaman’spride——butthatisnotthestrongestthingintheworld。Itonlyimaginesitis。Youthinkthatyoucannotgotoherasaluckiermancould。Youthinknothingshallforceyoutospeak。Askyourselfwhy。Itisbecauseyoubelievethattoshowyourheartwouldbetoplaceyourselfinthehumiliatingpositionofamanwhomightseemtoherandtotheworldtobeabasefellow。"

"Animpudent，pushing，basefellow，"thrustinMountDunstanfiercely。"Oneofavulgarlot。Athingfancyingevenitsbeggaryworthbuying。Whathasaman——whoseverynameishungwithtatteredugliness——tooffer？"

Penzance’shandwasstillonhisshoulderandhislookathimwaslong。

"Hisverypride，"hesaidatlast，"hisveryobstinacyandhaughty，stubborndetermination。Thosebrokenbecausetheotherfeelingisthestrongerandovercomeshimutterly。"

AflushleapedtoMountDunstan’sforehead。Hesetbothelbowsonthemantelandlethisforeheadfallonhisclenchedfists。AndthesavageBritonroseinhim。

"No！"hesaidpassionately。"ByGod，no！"

"Yousaythat，"saidtheolderman，"becauseyouhavenotyetreachedtheendofyourtether。Unhappyasyouare，youarenotunhappyenough。Ofthetwo，youloveyourselfthemore——yourprideandyourstubbornness。"

"Yes，"betweenhisteeth。"IsupposeIretainyetasortofrespect——andaffection——formypride。MayGodleaveittome！"

Penzancefelthimselfcuriouslyexalted；heknewhimselfunreasoninglypassingthroughanoddlyunpractical，upliftedmoment，inwhoseimpellinghesingularlybelieved。

"Youaredrawingherandsheisdrawingyou，"hesaid。

"Perhapsyoudreweachotheracrossseas。Youwillstandheretogetherandyouwilltellherofthis——onthisveryspot。"

MountDunstanchangedhispositionandlaughedroughly，asiftorousehimself。Hethrewouthisarminabig，uneasygesture，takingintheroom。

"Oh，come，"hesaid。"Youtalklikeaseer。Lookaboutyou。Look！Iamtobringherhere！"

"Ifitistheprimevalthingshewillnotcare。Whyshouldshe？"

"She！Bringalifelikeherstothis！Orperhapsyoumeanthatherownwealthmightmakehersurroundingsbecoming——

thatamanwouldendurethat？"

"Ifitistheprimevalthing，YOUwouldnotcare。Youwouldhaveforgottenthatyoutwohadeverlivedanhourapart。"

Hespokewithadeep，movedgravity——almostasifhewerespeakingofthefirstTitanbuildingoftheearth。MountDunstanstaringathisdelicate，insistent，elderlyface，triedtolaughagain——andfailedbecausetheeffortseemedactuallyirreverent。

Itwasasingularhypnoticmoment，indeed。Hehimselfwashypnotised。Aflashlightofnewvisionblazedbeforehimandlefthimdumb。Hetookuphispipehurriedly，andwithstillunsteadyfingersbegantorefillit。Whenitwasfilledhelightedit，andthenwithoutawordofanswerleftthehearthandbegantotrampupanddowntheroomagain——outofthedimlightintotheshadows，backoutoftheshadowsandintothedimlightagain，hisbrowworkingandhisteethholdinghardhisambermouthpiece。

Themorningawakeningofanormalhealthyhumancreatureshouldbeajoyousthing。Afterthesoul’slonghoursofreleasefromtheburdenofthebody，itslonghoursspent——

onecanonlysayinaweatthemysteryofit，"away，away"——

inflight，perhaps，onbroad，tirelesswings，beatingsoftlyinfair，farskies，breathingpurelife，tobebroughtbacktorenewthestrengthofeachdawningday；afterthesehoursofquiescenceoflimbandnerveandbrain，themorninglifereturningshouldunsealforthebodycleareyesofpeaceatleast。Intimetocomethiswillbeso，whenth

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