第41章

"Youshallnotsayit，"sheinterruptedher。"Iwill。Thereisareasonnowwhyyoucannotstayhere——whyyoushallnotstayhere。ThatwaswhyIbeggedyoutogo。Youmustgo，evenifIstaybehindalone。"

NeverhadthebeautifulMissVanderpoel’seyeswornsofullytheirlookofbeingbluebellsunderwater。Thatthistimidcreatureshouldsostandatbaytodefendherwasmoremovingthananythingelsecouldhavebeen。

"Thankyou，Rosy——thankyou，"sheanswered。"Butyoushallnotbeleftalone。Youmustgo，too。Thereisnootherway。Difficultieswillbemadeforus，butwemustfacethem。Fatherwillseethesituationfromapracticalman’sstandpoint。Menknowthethingsothermencannotdo。

Womendon’t。Generallytheyknownothingaboutthelawandcanbebulliedintofeelingthatitisdangerousandcompromisingtoinquireintoit。Nigelhasalwaysseenthatitwaseasytomanagewomen。Astrongbusinessmanwhohasmoreexactlegalinformationthanhehashimselfwillbeanewfactortodealwith。Andhecannotmakeobjectionablelovetohim。Itisbecauseheknowsthesethingsthathesaysthatmysendingforfatherwillbeadeclarationofwar。"

"Didhesaythat？"alittlebreathlessly。

"Yes，andItoldhimthatitneednotbeso。Buthewouldnotlisten。"

"Andyouaresurefatherwillcome？"

"Iamsure。Inaweekortwohewillbehere。"

LadyAnstruthers’lipsshook，hereyesliftedthemselvestoBetty’sinatouchinglydistressedappeal。Hadhermomentarycouragefledbeyondrecall？Ifso，thatwouldbetheworstcomingtotheworst，indeed。Yetitwasnotordinaryfearwhichexpresseditselfinherface，butadeeperpiteousness，asuddenhopelesspain，bafflingbecauseitseemedanewemotion，orperhapstheupheavalofanoldonelongandcarefullyhidden。

"Youwillbebrave？"Bettyappealedtoher。"Youwillnotgiveway，Rosy？"

"Yes，Imustbebrave——Iamnotillnow。Imustnotfailyou——Iwon’t，Betty，but————"

Sheslippedupontheflooranddroppedherfaceuponthegirl’sknee，sobbing。

Bettybentoverher，puttingherarmsroundtheheavingshoulders，andpleadingwithhertospeak。Wastheresomethingmoretobetold，somethingshedidnotknow？

"Yes，yes。Oh，Ioughttohavetoldyoulongago——butI

havealwaysbeenafraidandashamed。Ithasmadeeverythingsomuchworse。Iwasafraidyouwouldnotunderstandandwouldthinkmewicked——wicked。"

ItwasBettywhonowlostashadeofcolour。Butsheheldtheslimlittlebodycloserandkissedhersister’scheek。

"Whathaveyoubeenafraidandashamedtotellme？Donotbeashamedanymore。Youmustnothideanything，nomatterwhatitis，Rosy。Ishallunderstand。"

"IknowImustnothideanything，nowthatallisoverandfatheriscoming。Itis——itisaboutMr。Ffolliott。"

"Mr。Ffolliott？"repeatedBettyquitesoftly。

LadyAnstruthers’face，liftedwithdesperateeffort，waslikeaweepingchild’s。Somuchsoinitstear—wetsimplenessandutterlackofanyeffortatconcealment，thatafteronequicklookatitBetty’shastenedpulsesceasedtobeatatdouble—quicktime。

"Tellme，dear，"shealmostwhispered。

"Mr。Ffolliotthimselfdoesnotknow——andIcouldnothelpit。HewaskindtomewhenIwasdyingofunkindness。Youdon’tknowwhatitwasliketobedrowninginlonelinessandmisery，andtoseeonegoodhandstretchedouttohelpyou。

Beforehewentaway——oh，Betty，IknowitwasawfulbecauseIwasmarried！——Ibegantocareforhimverymuch，andI

havecaredforhimeversince。Icannotstopmyselfcaring，eventhoughIamterrified。"

Bettykissedheragainwithapassionoftenderpity。Poorlittle，simpleRosy，too！Thetidehadcreptaroundheralso，andhadsweptheroffherfeet，tossingheruponitssurflikeawispofseaweedandbearinghereachdayfartherfromfirmshore。

"Donotbeterrified，"shesaid。"Youneedonlybeafraidif——ifyouhadtoldhim。"

"Hewillneverknow——never。Onceinthemiddleofthenight，"therewasanguishinthedelicateface，pureanguish，"astrangeloudcrywakenedme，anditwasImyselfwhohadcriedout——becauseinmysleepithadcomehometomethattheyearswouldgoonandon，andatlastsomedayhewoulddieandgooutoftheworld——andIshoulddieandgooutoftheworld。Andhewouldneverknow——evenKNOW。"

Betty’sclaspofherloosenedandshesatverystill，lookingstraightbeforeherintosomeunseenplace。

"Yes，"shesaidinvoluntarily。"Yes，_I_know——Iknow——I

know。"

LadyAnstruthersfellbackalittletogazeather。

"YOUknow？YOUknow？"shebreathed。"Betty？"

ButBettyatfirstdidnotspeak。Herlovelyeyesdweltonthefar—awayplace。

"Betty，"whisperedRosy，"doyouknowwhatyouhavesaid？"

Thelovelyeyesturnedslowlytowardsher，andthesoftcornersofBetty’smouthdeepenedinacuriousunsteadiness。

"Yes。Ididnotintendtosayit。Butitistrue。_I_know——

Iknow——Iknow。Donotaskmehow。"

Rosalieflungherarmsroundherwaistandforamomenthidherface。

"YOU！YOU！"shemurmured，butstoppedherselfalmostassheutteredtheexclamation。"Iwillnotaskyou，"shesaidwhenshespokeagain。"ButnowIshallnotbesoashamed。

Youareabeautyandwonderful，andIamnot；butifyouKNOW，thatmakesusalmostthesame。YouwillunderstandwhyIbrokedown。ItwasbecauseIcouldnotbeartothinkofwhatwillhappen。Ishallbesavedandtakenhome，butNigelwillwreakrevengeonHIM。AndIshallbetheshamethatisputuponhim——onlybecausehewaskind——KIND。Whenfathercomesitwillallbegin。"Shewrungherhands，becomingalmosthysterical。

"Hush，"saidBetty。"Hush！AmanlikethatCANNOT

behurt，evenbyamanlikeNigel。Thereisawayout——

thereIS。Oh，Rosy，wemustBELIEVEit。"

Shesoothedandcaressedherandledherontorelievingherlonglocked—upmiserybyspeech。Itwaseasytoseethewaysinwhichherfeelinghadmadeherlifehardertobear。Shewasasinexperiencedasagirl，andhadaccusedherselfcruelly。

WhenNigelhadtormentedherwithevil，carefullychosentaunts，shehadfelthalfguiltyandhadcolouredscarletorturnedpale，afraidtomeethissneeringlysmilingface。Shehadtriedtoforgetthekindvoice，thekindly，understandingeyes，andhadblamedherselfasacriminalbecauseshecouldnot。

"Ihadnothingelsetoremember——butunhappiness——anditseemedasifIcouldnothelpbutrememberHIM，"shesaidassimplyastheRosywhohadleftNewYorkatnineteenmighthavesaidit。"Iwasafraidtotrustmyselftospeakhisname。

WhenNigelmadeinsultingspeechesIcouldnotanswerhim，andheusedtosaythatwomenwhohadadventuresshouldtraintheirfacesnottobetraythemeverytimetheywerelookedat。

"Oh！"brokefromBetty’slips，andshestooduponthehearthandthrewoutherhands。"IwishthatforonedayImightbeaman——andyourbrotherinsteadofyoursister！"

"Why？"

Bettysmiledstrangely——asmilewhichwasnotamused——

whichwasperhapsnotasmileatall。Hervoiceassheansweredwasatoncelowandtense。

"Because，thenIshouldknowwhattodo。Whenamalecreaturecannotbereachedthroughmanhoodordecencyorshame，thereisonewayinwhichhecanbepunished。Aman——arealman——shouldtakehimbyhisthroatandlashhimwithawhip——whileotherslookon——lashhimuntilhehowlsaloudlikeadog。"

Shehadnotexpectedtosayit，butshehadsaidit。LadyAnstrutherslookedatherfascinated，andthenshecoveredherfacewithherhands，huddlingherselfinaheapasshekneltontherug，lookingsingularlysmallandfrail。

"Betty，"shesaidpresently，inanew，awfullittlevoice，"I——Iwilltellyousomething。IneverthoughtIshoulddaretotellanyonealive。Ihaveshudderedatitmyself。Therehavebeendays——awful，helplessdays，whenIwassuretherewasnohopeformeinalltheworld——whendeepdowninmysoulIunderstoodwhatwomenfeltwhentheyMURDEREDpeople——crepttothemintheirwickedsleepandSTRUCKthemagain——andagain——andagain。Likethat！"Shesatupsuddenly，asifshedidnotknowwhatshewasdoing，anduncoveringherlittleghastlyfacestruckdownwardthreefiercetimesatnothingness——butasifitwerenotnothingness，andasifsheheldsomethinginherhand。

Therewashorrorinit——

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