"
"I had no thought of impressing you," he said simply; "I only repeated
what came into my mind, what I mean. It would be a mistake for me to
take you to England, and make both of us miserable. Beside, there is
more to tend here than I'll ever accomplish." She objected, "But other
people, workmen, will do the actual labour. Surely you are not going to
keep on with anything so vulgar--" she indicated the office and desks.
Her features sharpened with contempt. "I'll not be a clerk," he told her
gravely. "But I am responsible for a great deal. You should understand
that for you showed it to me. Most of what I am now has been you." He
reached out his hands to her in a wave of tenderness, but she evaded
him. She stood irresolute for a moment and then abruptly turned and
disappeared.
A white rim of new moon grew visible at the edge of dusk, and he stood
gazing at it before he entered the dwelling. A dull unrest had become
part of his inner tumult, a premonition falling over him like an
advancing shadow. But above all his vague fears rose the knowledge that
he would never let Ludowika go from him; that was the root of his being.
Now she could never leave him. It was natural, he assured himself again,
that she should feel doubts at first; everything here was so different
from the life she had known; and women were variable.
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