We dined as best we could without him,
waited all the evening, and sat up till eleven, when we heard him at
the door. I went out and took down the chain to let him in. It was
a wet misty night, and he was soaked through. I begged him to come
in and warm himself, and have something hot, but he shook his head,
as if he could not speak, took his candle, and went upstairs.
I made the tea, for which I had kept the kettle boiling all this
time, and Prometesky took his great cup in to him, presently
returning to say, "He is calm. He has done wisely, he has exhausted
himself so that he will sleep. He says he will see me at once to my
retreat in Normandy. I think it will be best for him."
Count Stanislas was, in fact, on the eve of departure, and in a
couple of days more Harold went away with him, having only broached
the matter to me to make me understand that the break had been his,
not Viola's; and that I must say no more about it.
Dermot had come over and raged against his mother, and even against
Harold, declaring that if the two had "stood out" they would have
prevailed, but that he did not wonder Harold was tired of it.
Harold's look made him repent of that bit of passion, but he was
contemptuous of the "for her sake," which was all Harold uttered as
further defence. "What! tell him it was for her sake when she was
creeping about the house like a ghost, looking as if she had just
come out of a great illness?"
Dermot meant to escort his mother and sister to Florence, chiefly in
order to be a comfort to the latter, but he meant to return to
Ireland as soon as they had joined the St.
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