The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 05Stevenson, Robert Louis
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The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 05
Stevenson, Robert Louis
English literature -- 19th century; Fiction
The streets were scarcely awake; there was little to amuse the eye; and
the young man's attention centred on the dumb companion of his drive. A
card was nailed upon one side, bearing the superscription: "Miss Doolan,
passenger to Dublin. Glass. With care." He thought with a sentimental
shock that the fair idol of his heart was perhaps driven to adopt the
name of Doolan; and, as he still studied the card, he was aware of a
deadly black depression settling steadily upon his spirits. It was in
vain for him to contend against the tide; in vain that he shook himself
or tried to whistle: the sense of some impending blow was not to be
averted. He looked out; in the long, empty streets, the cab pursued its
way without a trace of any follower. He gave ear; and over and above the
jolting of the wheels upon the road, he was conscious of a certain
regular and quiet sound that seemed to issue from the box. He put his
ear to the cover; at one moment, he seemed to perceive a delicate
ticking; the next, the sound was gone, nor could his closest hearkening
recapture it. He laughed at himself; but still the gloom continued; and
it was with more than the common relief of an arrival, that he leaped
from the cab before the station.
Probably enough on purpose, Teresa had named an hour some thirty minutes
earlier than needful; and when Harry had given the box into the charge
of a porter, who set it on a truck, he proceeded briskly to pace the
platform. Presently the bookstall opened; and the young man was looking
at the books when he was seized by the arm. He turned and, though she
was closely veiled, at once recognised the Fair Cuban.
"Where is it?" she asked; and the sound of her voice surprised him.
"It?" he said. "What?"
"The box. Have it put on a cab instantly. I am in fearful haste."
He hurried to obey, marvelling at these changes, but not daring to
trouble her with questions; and when the cab had been brought round, and
the box mounted on the front, she passed a little way off upon the
pavement and beckoned him to follow.
"Now," said she, still in those mechanical and hushed tones that had at
first affected him, "you must go on to Holyhead alone; go on board the
steamer; and if you see a man in tartan trousers and a pink scarf, say
to him that all has been put off: if not," she added, with a sobbing
sigh, "it does not matter. So, good-bye."
"Teresa," said Harry, "get into your cab, and I will go along with you.
You are in some distress, perhaps some danger; and till I know the
whole, not even you can make me leave you."
"You will not?" she asked. "Oh, Harry, it were better!"
"I will not," said Harry stoutly.
She looked at him for a moment through her veil; took his hand suddenly
and sharply, but more as if in fear than tenderness; and, still holding
him, walked to the cab-door.
"Where are we to drive?" asked Harry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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