She felt in his pockets and found it, all ready for use. The
lightning had begun to die down, and the light within the room was
dim. She turned the lamp higher, moving it so that its ray fell
upon Guy. And in that moment she saw Death in his face. . . .
She felt as if a quiet and very steady Hand had been laid upon her,
checking all agitation. Calmly she bent over the bared arm he
thrust forth to her. Unflinchingly she ran the needle into the
white flesh, noting with a detached sort of pity his emaciation.
He put his other arm about her like a frightened, dinging child.
"Stay with me! Don't leave me!" he muttered.
"All right," she made gentle answer. "Don't be afraid!"
He leaned against her, shuddering violently, his dark head bowed,
his spasmodic breathing painful to hear. She waited beside him for
the relief that seemed so slow in coming. Kieff's remedy did not
act so quickly now.
Gradually at last the distress began to lessen. She felt the
tension of his crouched body relax, the anguished breathing become
less laboured. He still clung to her, and her hand was on his head
though she did not remember putting it there. The dull echoes of
the thunder reverberated far away among the distant hills. The
night was passing.
Out of a deep silence there came Guy's voice. "I want--" he said
restlessly--"I want----"
She bent over him. Her arm went round his shoulders. Somehow she
felt as if the furnace of suffering through which he had come had
purged away all that was evil. His weakness cried aloud to her;
the rest was forgotten.
He turned his face up to her; and though the stamp of his agony was
still upon it, the eyes were pure and free from all taint of
passion.
"What do you want?" she asked him softly.
"I've been--horrible to you, Sylvia," he said, speaking rather
jerkily. "Sometimes I get a devil inside me--and I don't know what
I'm doing. I believe it's Kieff. I never knew what hell meant
till I met him. He taught me practically everything I know in that
line. He was like an awful rotting disease. He ruined everyone he
came near. Everything he touched went bad." He paused a moment.
Then, with a sudden boyishness, "There, it's done with, darling,"
he said. "Will you forget it all--and let me start afresh? I've
had such damnable luck always."
His eyes pleaded with her, yet they held confidence also. He knew
that she would not refuse.
And because of that which the lamplight had revealed to her, Sylvia
bent after a moment and kissed him on the forehead. She knew as
she did it that the devil, that had menaced her had been driven
forth.
So for a space they remained in a union of the spirit that was
curiously unlike anything that had ever before existed between
them. Then Guy's arm began to slip away from her. There came from
him a deep sigh.
She bent low over him, looking into his face. His eyes were
closed, but his lips moved, murmuring words which she guessed
rather than heard.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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