"But the Priests and the Levites, people of his own country--Frenchmen--
passed him by. They were infamous in falsehood, cruel to him and to me.
--You are an Englishman; you have heart and kindness."
He hesitated, then he gravely said: "Do not trust Englishmen more than
you trust your own countrymen. We are selfish even in our friendships
often. We stick to one person, and to benefit that one we sacrifice
others. Have you found all Englishmen--and WOMEN unselfish?" He looked
at her steadily; but immediately repented that he had asked the question,
for he had in his mind one whom they both knew, too well, perhaps; and he
added quickly: "You see, I am not kind."
They were standing now in the sunlight just outside the house. His hands
were thrust down in the pockets of his linen coat; her hands opening and
shutting her parasol slightly. They might, from their appearance, have
been talking of very inconsequent things.
Her eyes lifted sorrowfully to his. "Ah, monsieur," she rejoined, "there
are two times when one must fear a woman." She answered his question
more directly than he could have conjectured. But she felt that she must
warn him.
"I do not understand," he said.
"Of course you do not. Only women themselves understand that the two
times when one must fear a woman are when she hates, and when she loves--
after a kind. When she gets wicked or mad enough to hate, either through
jealousy or because she cannot love where she would, she is merciless.
She does not know the honour of the game. She has no pity. Then,
sometimes when she loves in a way, she is, as you say, most selfish.
I mean a love which--is not possible. Then she does some mad act--all
women are a little mad sometimes. Most of us wish to be good, but we are
quicksilver. . . ."
Roscoe's mind had been working fast. He saw she meant to warn him
against Mrs. Falchion. His face flushed slightly. He knew that Justine
had thought well of him, and now he knew also that she suspected
something not creditable or, at least, hazardous in his life.
"And the man--the man whom the woman hates?"
"When the woman hates--and loves too, the man is in danger."
"Do you know of such a man?" he almost shrinkingly said.
"If I did I would say to him, The world is wide. There is no glory in
fighting a woman who will not be fair in battle. She will say what may
appear to be true, but what she knows in her own heart to be false--false
and bad."
Roscoe now saw that Justine had more than an inkling of his story.
He said calmly: "You would advise that man to flee from danger?"
"Yes, to flee," she replied hurriedly, with a strange anxiety in her
eyes; "for sometimes a woman is not satisfied with words that kill. She
becomes less than human, and is like Jael."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account