In her new room at the Hôtel d'Angleterre, Marjory dismissed Marie and
buried her hot face in her hands. She felt like a cornered thing--a
shamed and cornered thing. She should not have given the name of the
hotel. She should have sought Monte and ordered him to take her away.
Only--she could not face Monte himself. She did not know how she was
going to see him to-morrow--how she was ever going to see him again.
"Monsieur and Madame Covington," he had signed the register. Beatrice
must have seen it, but Peter had not. He must never see it, because he
would force her to confess the truth--the truth she had been struggling
to deny to herself.
She had trifled with a holy thing--that was the shameful truth. She
had posed here as a wife when she was no wife. The ceremony at the
English chapel helped her none. It only made her more dishonest. The
memory of Peter Noyes had warned her at the time, but she had not
listened. She had lacked then some vision which she had since
gained--gained through Monte. It was that which made her understand
Peter now, and the wonder of his love and the glory and sacredness of
all love. It was that which made her understand herself now.
She got to her feet, staring into the dark toward the seashore.
"Monte, forgive me--forgive me!" she choked.
She had trifled with the biggest thing in his life and in her life.
She shouldered the full blame. Monte knew nothing either of himself or
of her. He was just Monte, honest and four-square, living up to his
bargain. But she had seen the light in his eyes--the eyes that should
have led him to the Holy Grail. He would have had to go such a little
way--only as far as her outstretched arms.
She shrank back from the window, her head bowed. It had been her
privilege as a woman to be wiser than he. She should have known!
Now--the thought wrenched like a physical pain--there was nothing left
to her but renunciation. She must help him to be free. She must force
him free. She owed that to him and to herself. It was only so that
she might ever feel clean again.
Moaning his name, she flung herself upon the bed. So she lay until
summoned back to life by Marie, who brought her the card of Miss
Beatrice Noyes.
Marjory took the time to bathe her dry cheeks in hot water and to do
over her hair before admitting the girl; but, even with those
precautions, Beatrice paused at the entrance as if startled by her
appearance.
"Perhaps you do not feel like seeing any one to-night," she suggested.
"I do want to see you," answered Marjory. "I want to hear about Peter.
But my head--would you mind if we sat in the dark?"
"I think that would be better--if we are to talk about Peter."
The phrase puzzled Marjory, but she turned out the lights and placed
two chairs near the open windows.
"Now tell me from the beginning," she requested.
"The beginning came soon after you went away," replied Beatrice in a
low voice.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account