The Silent Shore: A RomanceBloundelle-Burton, John
General
The Silent Shore: A Romance
Bloundelle-Burton, John
English fiction -- 19th century
As for him, he hardly knew what to do on that night. He walked back to
his house in Grosvenor Place (he was too uneasy to sit in his
carriage), and, letting himself in went to his library, where he
passed some hours pacing up and down it. Once he muttered a quotation
from the Old Testament, and once he flung himself into a chair and
buried his head in his hands, and wept as strong men only weep in
their darkest hour. Afterwards, when he was calmer, he went to a large
_écritoire_, and, unlocking it, took out a bundle of papers and read
them. They were a collection of several old letters, a tress of hair
in an envelope, which he kissed softly, and two slips of paper which
he seemed to read particularly carefully. Then he put them away and
said to himself: "It must be done, there is no help for it. My
happiness is gone for ever, and, God knows, I would not wreck the
happiness of others! but, in this case, my sin would be beyond recall
if I hesitated." And, again, after a pause, he said to himself: "It
must be done."
He rose in the morning at his usual time, though it was nearly six
before he flung himself wearily on his bed to snatch some troubled
rest, and when he went downstairs to his breakfast he found his
secretary, Mr. Stuart, waiting for him. The young fellow had been
telegraphed for on his employer's return, and had torn himself away
from the charms of Brighton to come back to his duties. After they had
exchanged greetings, the secretary said:
"West told me that I should find you looking better than ever, Mr.
Cundall, but I cannot honestly say that I do. You look pale and worn."
"I am perfectly well, nevertheless. But I went to a bail last night,
and, what with that and travelling all day, I am rather knocked up.
But it is nothing. Now, let us get to work on the correspondence, and
then we must go into the City."
They began on the different piles of letters, Mr. Cundall throwing
over to Stuart all those the handwriting of which he did not
recognise, and opening those which he did know himself.
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