The sound of
rumbling explosions came to them as the rocks were blasted: she watched
the men running back with picks over their shoulders; she loved to see
their enormous bull-like strength as they quarried the great boulders.
They stayed at Mrs. King's, and went to a theatre the first night. Louis
grew more hungry for England every moment as he came into touch with
civilization. Marcella sat in a dream; the music that would once have
delighted her to ecstasy was muted; the people were things moving
without life or meaning; she answered Louis every time he spoke to her,
but her mind was drawn in upon itself by a gnawing anxiety.
The next day, leaving Louis to his own resources, she and Mrs. King went
out.
He was a little inclined to chaff them about their air of mystery, but,
taking Marcella's tiredness and whiteness into account, he was expecting
them to say they had been buying baby clothes, though it was rather
unlike Marcella to keep anything secret.
Her tragic face and Mrs. King's eyes, red with weeping, froze the gay
words on his lips when they came in just before lunch, where he was
playing a slow game of nap with some of the boys in the kitchen.
They went upstairs to their old room. When the door was closed she said
to him: "Louis, I've been to a doctor. He says I'm not well.
Pages:
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530