The thought shocked me. I ceased to walk up and down my study, and
stopped whistling. I think my face must have flushed; I know my pulse
beat faster. My eyes fell upon the body of him who I believed had been
my friend. I felt like crushing his remains with my fist. He had been my
enemy! He had shown me what I had to lose, and he had made me lose it.
Even in the midst of my agitation this thought made me smile. How much I
was making of this affair of my secretary. What difference, after
all--But I did not continue the latter question. It did make a
difference, and it was of no use to reason about it. What was I to do
about it? That was more to the point.
At this instant, my nun, followed by Sister Sarah, entered the adjoining
room. The latter merely bowed to me, went out, and locked the door
behind her. I was very glad she did not speak to me, for the sudden
revulsion of feeling produced by the appearance of the two would have
prevented my answering her coherently. I do not know whether my nun
bowed or not. If she did, the motion was very slight. She took her seat
and prepared for work. I did not say anything, for I did not know what
to say. The proper thing to do, in order to relieve my embarrassment and
hers,--that is, if she had any,--was to begin work at once; but for the
life of me I could not remember whether my dictation of the day before
concerned Sicily or Egypt.
Pages:
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91