"
"I am not afraid for myself, Philippa," he told her. "I took a
false step in life when I came here. What it was that attracted me
I do not know. I think it was the thought of that wild ride amongst
the clouds, and the starlight. It seemed such a wonderful beginning
to any enterprise. And, Philippa, for one part of my adventure, the
part which concerns you, it was a gorgeous prelude, and for the
other--well, it just does not count because I have no fear. I have
faith in my fortune, do you know that? I believe that I shall leave
this place unharmed, but I believe that if I leave it without you, I
shall go back to the worst hell in which a man could ever . . ."
"Bertram," she pleaded, "think of it all. Even if I cared enough--
and I don't--there is something unnatural about it. Doesn't it
strike you as horrible? My brother, my cousins, my father, are all
fighting the men of the nation whose cause you have espoused! There
is a horrible, eternal cloud of hatred which it will take generations
to get rid of, if ever it disappears. How can we two speak of love!
What part of the world could we creep into where people would not
shrink away from us? I may have lost a little of my heart to you,
Bertram, I may miss you when you go away, I may waste weary hours
thinking, but that is all. Oh, you know that it must be all!"
"I do not," he answered stubbornly.
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