The Shadow of the Rope

premature and so abrupt. Nor was the deeper emotion very difficult to analyze. Here at last was a logical explanation of

ough of respect in his tone, yet none the less with the

in of the ancient saw which she had quoted to herself the night before, only to dismiss it finally from her mind. This man was no fool, nor was he old. He might

he was so confident, so quiet, so sure of himself, if not of Rachel. At last she told him she could not think

you mean being 'in love,'

great ease and irony, but wit

th a smile as indulgent as his tone. "It might, perhaps, be no m

ot," returned Rachel, speaking hotly

a person whom one does no

uchsafed

y-but tremend

here was no insult in his tone. She raised her

y no excuse for a proposal of marriage, if i

n it had been before; "moreover," he added, "since I have already insulted you, let me tell you that it is an exceedingly commonplace saying, into the bargain. It depends, you must admit, upon

prospect! Rachel made an acid little note of this; but there was no a

l this business of the shipwrecked daughter was of course a crude device enough; but I had very little time to think, and my first care was that you should not be recognized here or elsewhere in my society. That was essential, if there was the slightest chance of your even listening to my proposition, as indeed you are doing now. Last night I told you nothing, because that's always easier than telling only a little; moreover, you were so distraught that you would possibly have gone right away without benefiting even to the slight extent of the comfortable night's rest you so badly needed; but this morning I am prepared to put it to the touch.

longer than this lengthy speech. And through it all

east, in the bona

oking in his eyes, m

om the ordinary offer of the kind; also, that I have

wil

y was withdrawn, a distinct spell as distinct

in danger of flying to the other extreme. Well, you know which is the common extreme in such cases; and at all events we shall avoid the usual pitfall.

st angry with herself for not feeling angrier still. She had heard qui

extraordinary-but I owe you too much already to be your critic. Still, I do think I am e

sure yo

r once he kept those mesmeric eyes to hims

n country," she began

in the question. Rachel herself was unawa

aid; "what I meant wa

here i

nthorpe House is the rather historic old seat of the family of that name; but they have so many vastly superior and more modern places, and the last fifty years have so ruined the surroundings, that I was able to induce the Duke to take a price for it a year or two ago. He had hardly slept a night there in his life, and I got

er lap; she was looking straight a

y rich," she

if you like, but I had to scrape together to pay him what w

l was not

him; and there was a strange finality in her tone, as though all was over betwee

he went on, with his simplest smile; "is it as diffi

otive alone was she uncertain, unconvinced. In all else she felt instinctively that he was telling

ength, "but-somehow-if you had been compara

t candor, as it

dred a year! But you shall know the worst. I meant you to know it when

heaf of newspapers, and he handed it to Rachel, open at an a

my hands. But it's no use pretending it isn't quite the place it was. I took over the wh

would once more have suspected a pose. But already she was deep in the articl

-piece," "A Corner of the Chinese Room," "A Portion of the Grand Staircase"-of such were the titles underne

ind of the place, when I was looking about for one. And now," he added, "I suppo

d very little fault to find. And Rachel was critical enough; but her experience was still un

y she lo

should have to gain. B

esaw the pretty speech which was its obvious ans

would be unaltered, but the Delverton mothers would cease from troubling, and at the head of my establishment there would be a lady of whom I should be most justly proud. And even in my own life I should, I hope, be the more than occasional gainer by her society; may I also add, by her sympathy, by her advice? Mrs. Minchin," cried Steel, with sudden feeling, "the conditions shall be very rigid; my lawyer shall see to that; nor shall

even in her thoughts. She believed in this man, and in his promises; moreover, she began to focus the one thing about him in which she disbe

ll along; but there was something deeper than admiration. He could

se behind her; nay, though mystery and suspicion encompassed

There was the personal factor, too; there was the fascination which this man had

or herself, and by herself, Rachel rose at last,

uddy street, well-dressed women picking their way home from church-shabby women hurrying in shawls-hurrying as R

f upon the writing-table. Steel had moved into the body of the room; she could not even see

resentment. It was not so much what they said; it was what they were obviously afraid to say. It was their circumlocution, their innuendo, their mild surprise, their perfunctory congratulations, their assumption of chivalry and

ed, but on the second not even you shall stand in my way. Nor in that event would I attempt to rob you of the independence which you value so highly; on the other hand, I would point the way to an independence worth having. I am glad you have seen those papers, though to-morrow they may be worse. Well, you

ink her guilty if they liked, but that the case should breed other cases, and thus drag on and on

oughts, Mr.

she could never show her face there again, or anywhere else whe

ore so than the injustice of it, from the very beginning.

pers had driven her to desperation, as, p

ied, "that they would

should see to that; and, besides, we sh

hel to herself, but aloud, in a way that made n

, his hand lying lightly but kindly upon her quivering shoulder. How strong

nay, if it were possible, even in your own mind also! I, for my part, would undertake never to ask you on

st," owned Rachel; "yes, I

mine, too," he said. "I was nev

t," said Rachel, "

nd dried. I ask you nothing; you ask me nothing; and there is to be no question of l

restive of her very faculties, to say nothing of her will. She could o

you going?"

has all to be drawn up; and there is the question of a settlement; and other