DEADLOCK THE WORK OF DOROTHY M. RICHARDSON “In the ordinary novel, the novelist stands on the banks of the river of life chronicling how and when people arise, and how it is that things happen to them. But Miriam (the central figure of Dorothy Richardson’s work) pulls us with her into the yielding water.”--_Nation._ “The style grows upon one with familiarity; it is continually illumined by passages of brilliant insight, and its half-subconscious revelation of personality is wonderfully attractive.”--_Daily Telegraph._ POINTED ROOFS BACKWATER HONEYCOMB THE TUNNEL INTERIM DEADLOCK REVOLVING LIGHTS (in preparation) DUCKWORTH & CO. 3 HENRIETTA STREET, LONDON, W.C. DEADLOCK BY DOROTHY M. RICHARDSON LONDON DUCKWORTH & CO. 3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN First Published 1921 DEADLOCK CHAPTER I Miriam ran upstairs narrowly ahead of her thoughts. In the small enclosure of her room they surged about her, gathering power from the familiar objects silently waiting to share her astounded contemplation of the fresh material. She swept joyfully about the room ducking and doubling to avoid arrest until she should have discovered some engrossing occupation. But in the instant’s pause at each eagerly opened drawer and cupboard, her mind threw up images. It was useless. There was no escape up here. Pelted from within and without, she paused in laughter with clasped restraining hands ..... the rest of the evening must be spent with people ... the nearest; the Baileys; she would go down into the dining-room and be charming with the Baileys until to-morrow’s busy thoughtless hours were in sight. Half-way downstairs she remembered that the forms waiting below, for so long unnoticed and unpondered, might be surprised, perhaps affronted by her sudden interested reappearance. She rushed on. She could break through that barrier. Mrs. Bailey’s quiet withholding dignity would end in delight over a shared gay acknowledgment that her house was looking up.