Unorna turned her head slowly towards him, and a very soft look stole
over her strange face.
“And you have brought me his message--this warning--to save me?” she
said.
“As I tried to save him from you an hour ago. But there is little time.
The man is desperate, whether mad or sane, I cannot tell. Make haste.
Determine where to go for safety, and I will take you there.”
But Unorna did not move. She only looked at him, with an expression he
could no longer misunderstand. He was cold and impassive.
“I fancy it will not be safe to hesitate long,” he said. “He is in
earnest.”
“I do not fear Israel Kafka, and I fear death less,” answered Unorna
deliberately. “Why does he mean to kill me?”
“I think that in his place most every human men would feel as he does,
though religion, or prudence, or fear, or all three together, might
prevent them from doing what they would wish to do.”
“You too? And which of the three would prevent you from murdering me?”
“None, perhaps--though pity might.”
“I want no pity, least of all from you. What I have done, I have done
for you, and for you only.”
The Wanderer’s face showed only a cold disgust. He said nothing.
“You do not seem surprised,” said Unorna. “You know that I love you?”
“I know it.”
A silence followed, during which Unorna returned to her former attitude,
turning her eyes away and resting her chin upon her hand. The Wanderer
began to grow impatient.
“I must repeat that, in my opinion, you have not much time to spare,”
he said. “If you are not in a place of safety in half an hour, I cannot
answer for the consequences.”
“No time? There is all eternity. What is eternity, or time, or life to
me? I will wait for him here. Why did you tell him what I did, if you
wished me to live?”
“Why--since there are to be questions--why did you exercise your cruelty
upon an innocent man who loves you?”
“Why? There are reasons enough!” Unorna’s voice trembled slightly. “You
do not know what happened. How should you? You were asleep. You may as
well know, since I may be beyond telling you an hour from now. You may
as well know how I love you, and to what depths I have gone down to win
your love.”
“I would rather not receive your confidence,” the Wanderer answered
haughtily. “I came here to save your life, not to hear your
confessions.”
“And when you have heard, you will no longer wish to save me. If you
choose to leave me here, I will wait for Israel Kafka alone. He may kill
me if he pleases. I do not care. But if you stay you shall hear what I
have to say.”
She glanced at his face. He folded his arms and stood still. Whatever
she had done, he would not leave her alone at the mercy of the desperate
man whom he expected every moment to enter the room. If she would not
save herself, he might nevertheless disarm Kafka and prevent the deed.
As his long sleeping energy revived in him the thought of a struggle was
not disagreeable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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