第51章

Catherine asked herself.Was it to startle her suddenly into a retraction- to take an advantage of her by dread? Dread of what? The place was ugly and lonely, but the place could do her no harm.There was a kind of still intensity about her father which made him dangerous, but Catherine hardly went so far as to say to herself that it might be part of his plan to fasten his hand- the neat, fine, supple hand of a distinguished physician- in her throat.

Nevertheless, she receded a step."I am sure you can be anything you please," she said; and it was her simple belief.

"I am very angry," he replied, more sharply.

"Why has it taken you so suddenly?"

"It has not taken me suddenly.I have been raging inwardly for the last six months.But just now this seemed a good place to flare out.

It's so quiet, and we are alone."

"Yes, it's very quiet," said Catherine, vaguely looking about her.

"Won't you come back to the carriage?"

"In a moment.Do you mean that in all this time you have not yielded an inch?""I would if I could, Father; but I can't."The doctor looked round him too."Should you like to be left in such a place as this, to starve?""What do you mean?" cried the girl.

"That will be your fate- that's how he will leave you."He would not touch her, but he had touched Morris.The warmth came back to her heart."That is not true, Father," she broke out, "and you ought not to say it.It is not right, and it's not true."He shook his head slowly."No, it's not right, because you won't believe it.But it is true.Come back to the carriage."He turned away, and she followed him; he went faster, and was presently much in advance.But from time to time he stopped, without turning round, to let her keep up with him, and she made her way forward with difficulty, her heart beating with the excitement of having for the first time spoken to him in violence.By this time it had grown almost dark, and she ended by losing sight of him.But she kept her course, and after a little, the valley making a sudden turn, she gained the road, where the carriage stood waiting.In it sat her father, rigid and silent; in silence, too, she took her place beside him.

It seemed to her, later, in looking back upon all this, that for days afterward not a word had been exchanged between them.The scene had been a strange one, but it had not permanently affected her feeling toward her father, for it was natural, after all, that he should occasionally make a scene of some kind, and he had let her alone for six months.The strangest part of it was that he had said he was not a good man; Catherine wondered a good deal what he had meant by that.The statement failed to appeal to her credence, and it was not grateful to any resentment that she entertained.Even in the utmost bitterness that she might feel, it would give her no satisfaction to think him less complete.Such a saying as that was a part of his great subtlety- men so clever as he might say anything and mean anything; and as to his being hard, that surely, in a man, was a virtue.

He let her alone for six months more- six months during which she accommodated herself without a protest to the extension of their tour.

But he spoke again at the end of this time: It was at the very last, the night before they embarked for New York, in the hotel at Liverpool.They had been dining together in a great, dim, musty sitting room; and then the cloth had been removed, and the doctor walked slowly up and down.Catherine at last took her candle to go to bed, but her father motioned her to stay.

"What do you mean to do when you get home?" he asked, while she stood there with her candle in her hand.

"Do you mean about Mr.Townsend?"

"About Mr.Townsend."

"We shall probably marry."

The doctor took several turns again while she waited."Do you hear from him as much as ever?""Yes, twice a month," said Catherine, promptly.

"And does he always talk about marriage?""Oh yes; that is, he talks about other things too, but he always says something about that.""I am glad to hear he varies his subjects; his letters might otherwise be monotonous.""He writes beautifully," said Catherine, who was very glad of a chance to say it.

"They always write beautifully.However, in a given case that doesn't diminish the merit.So, as soon as you arrive, you are going off with him?"This seemed a rather gross way of putting it, and something that there was of dignity in Catherine resented it."I cannot tell you till we arrive," she said.

"That's reasonable enough," her father answered."That's all I ask of you- that you do tell me, that you give me definite notice.When a poor man is to lose his only child, he likes to have an inkling of it beforehand.""Oh, Father, you will not lose me," Catherine said, spilling her candle wax.

"Three days before will do," he went on, "if you are in a position to be positive then.He ought to be very thankful to me, do you know.I have done a mighty good thing for him in taking you abroad;your value is twice as great, with all the knowledge and taste that you have acquired.A year ago, you were perhaps a little limited- a little rustic; but now you have seen everything, and appreciated everything, and you will be a most entertaining companion.We have fattened the sheep for him before he kills it." Catherine turned away, and stood staring at the blank door."Go to bed," said her father, "and as we don't go aboard till noon, you may sleep late.We shall probably have a most uncomfortable voyage."