But where to go? Oh yes, this dock--a placid sheet of
water close at hand. But there was that old man with whom she had walked
hand in hand on the parade by the sea. She seemed to see him coming to
meet her, pitiful, a little greyer, with an appealing look and an
extended, tremulous arm. It was for her now to take the hand of that
wronged man more helpless than a child. But where could she lead him?
Where? And what was she to say to him? What words of cheer, of courage
and of hope? There were none. Heaven and earth were mute, unconcerned
at their meeting. But this other man was coming up behind her. He was
very close now. His fiery person seemed to radiate heat, a tingling
vibration into the atmosphere. She was exhausted, careless, afraid to
stumble, ready to fall. She fancied she could hear his breathing. A
wave of languid warmth overtook her, she seemed to lose touch with the
ground under her feet; and when she felt him slip his hand under her arm
she made no attempt to disengage herself from that grasp which closed
upon her limb, insinuating and firm.
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