Then her deep love overpowered her quite,
and she said, her eyes suffused with tears, 'Henry, you can't think
how I love you. I'm sure I couldn't live even in heaven without you.'
Then came the shadow of a lich-owl, as it whisked past us towards the
apple-trees.
'Why, you'd be obliged to live without me, Winifred, if I were still
at Raxton.'
'No,' said she, 'I'm quite sure I couldn't. I should have to come in
the winds and play round you on the sands. I should have to peep over
the clouds and watch you. I should have to follow you about wherever
you went. I should have to beset you till you said, "Bother Winnie! I
wish she'd keep in heaven."'
I saw, however, that the owl's shadow had disturbed her, and I lifted
the latch of the cottage door for her. We were met by a noise so loud
that it might have come from a trombone.
'Why, what on earth is that?' I said. I could see the look of shame
break over Winifred's features as she said, 'Father.' Yes, it was the
snoring of Wynne in a drunken sleep: it filled the entire cottage.
The poor girl seemed to feel that that brutal noise had, somehow,
coarsened _her_, and she actually half shrank from me as I gave her
a kiss and left her.
Pages:
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165