And anyhow he wouldnt care, hes got no pride in
HIM.
She staggered up to follow,and, as she did, caught
her foot in the coat, lying on the ground. Always ready to belittle herself and
herailments.
And oftenest what he heard wasone of a tossing sea,
sailed by a ship carrying lover back to lover.
Now, her hat too was off; and she felt the touch of
hands on her hair. It was all very jumbled and confused,I only got a word here and
there. But what if, some day, the old was shifted from Papa, andmaids took the place
of girls? Accidents terrified her; the sight of blood turned her sick. That hat, she
would have knownit anywhere.
She had read of such thingshappening under cover of
fog. Only sleep; the sleep of nothingness: an eternalforgetting
But there, thank goodness, came the train,
slithering round the bend likea sly brown serpent. Her business done, she entered a
crowded conveyance.
It was made the object of a religiouscare; untiring
were the endeavours to ward off the inevitable. What, if you were never out of doors
again? But even as she put the question, she too began to feel that time
wasflying.
A muddy pallor overspread her face;her breath came
snortingly; the pinched nose strained upwards. Did other young lips meet beneath
theflames of the evening sky? Her business done, she entered a crowded
conveyance.
It was deep night;the house was still, the room
sunk in shadow. She staggered up to follow,and, as she did, caught her foot in the
coat, lying on the ground.
But the lying down and folding of the hands is not
enough; it is no sucheasy matter as that to die. And as he turned away: My
dear,theyre not a patch on Anns!
Im in such trouble, Mother, such terrible trouble!
Perhaps hell rise to the head of it before hes done.
And ever since I married him Ive tricked him
anddone him.
And in a land, too, where women stood at a premium!
That hat, she would have knownit anywhere. Yes, he has promised to join us for
lunch.
No old Lister with his sideboards, no rows of cars
andtaxis.