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19 - Gadfly by Ethel Lilian Voynich · Gadfly

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Speaker 1: The Gadfly by Ethel Lilian Voyache, Part three, Chapter one.
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Speaker 1: The next five weeks were spent by Gemma and the
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Speaker 1: Gadfly in a whirl of excitement and over work, which
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Speaker 1: left them little time or energy for thinking about their
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Speaker 1: personal affairs. When the arms had been safely smuggled into
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Speaker 1: Papal territory, there remained a still more difficult and dangerous task,
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Speaker 1: that of conveying them unobserved, from the secret stores in
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Speaker 1: the mountain caverns and ravines, to the various local centers,
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Speaker 1: and thence to the separate villages. The whole district was
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Speaker 1: swarming with spies and Dominiqino, to whom the Gadfly had
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Speaker 1: entrusted the ammunition, sent into Florence a messenger with an
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Speaker 1: urgent appeal for either help or extra time. The Gadfly
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Speaker 1: had insisted that the work should be finished by the
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Speaker 1: middle of June, and what with the difficulty of conveying
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Speaker 1: heavy transports over bad roads and the endless hindrances and
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Speaker 1: delays caused by the necessity of continually evading observation, Dominichino
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Speaker 1: was growing desperate. I am between Cila and Charybdis. He wrote,
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Speaker 1: I dare not work quickly for fear of detection, and
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Speaker 1: I must not work slowly if we are to be
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Speaker 1: ready to either send me efficient help at once, or
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Speaker 1: let the Venetians know that we shall not be ready
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Speaker 1: till the first week in July. The gat fly carried
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Speaker 1: the letter to Gemma, and while she read it, sat
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Speaker 1: frowning at the floor and stroking the cat's fur the
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Speaker 1: wrong way. This is bad, she said. We can hardly
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Speaker 1: keep the Venetians waiting for three weeks. Of course we can't.
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Speaker 1: The thing is absurd. Dominikino, Mum might under sustand that
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Speaker 1: we must follow the lead of the Venetians, not they ours.
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Speaker 1: I don't see that Dominicino is to blame. He has
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Speaker 1: evidently done his best, and he can't do impossibilities. It's
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Speaker 1: not in Dominicino that the fault lies. It's in the
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Speaker 1: fact of his being one person instead of two. We
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Speaker 1: ought to have at least one responsible man to guard
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Speaker 1: the store and another to see the transptse off. He
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Speaker 1: is quite right must have efficient help. But what help
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Speaker 1: are we going to give him. We have no one
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Speaker 1: in Florence to send. Then I, Mum must go myself.
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Speaker 1: She leaned, back in her chair and looked at him
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Speaker 1: with a little frown. No, that won't do. It's too risky.
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Speaker 1: It will have to do. If we can't find any
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Speaker 1: other way out of the difficulty, then we must find
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Speaker 1: another way. That's all. It's out of the question for
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Speaker 1: you to go again. Just now, an obstinate line appeared
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Speaker 1: at the corners of his underlip. I don't see that.
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Speaker 1: It's out of the question. You will see if you
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Speaker 1: think about the thing calmly for a minute. It is
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Speaker 1: only five weeks since you got back. The police are
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Speaker 1: on the scent about that pilgrim business and scouring the
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Speaker 1: country to find a clue. Yes, I know you are
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Speaker 1: clever at disguises, but remember what a lot of people
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Speaker 1: saw you, both as Diego and as the countrymen, and
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Speaker 1: you can't disguise your lameness or the scar in your face.
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Speaker 1: There are plenty of lame people in the world, yes,
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Speaker 1: but there are not plenty of people in the Romagna
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Speaker 1: with a lame foot and a saber cut across the
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Speaker 1: cheek and a left arm injured like yours, and the
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Speaker 1: combination of blue eyes with such dark coloring. The eyes
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Speaker 1: don't matter. I can alter them with Belladonna, you can't
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Speaker 1: alter the other things. No, it won't do for you
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Speaker 1: to go there just now, with all your identification marks,
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Speaker 1: would be to walk into a trap with your eyes open.
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Speaker 1: It would certainly be taken. But some one must help Dominicino.
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Speaker 1: It will be no help to him to have you
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Speaker 1: caught at a critical moment like this. Your arrest would
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Speaker 1: mean the failure of the whole thing. But the Gadfly
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Speaker 1: was difficult to convince, and the discussion went on and
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Speaker 1: on without coming nearer to any settlement. Gemma was beginning
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Speaker 1: to realize how nearly inexhaustible was the fund of quiet
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Speaker 1: obstinacy in his character, and had the matter not been
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Speaker 1: one about which she felt strongly, she would probably have
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Speaker 1: yielded for the sake of peace. This, however, was a
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Speaker 1: case in which she could not conscientiously give way. The
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Speaker 1: practical advantage to be gained from the proposed journey seemed
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Speaker 1: to her not sufficiently important to be worth the risk,
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Speaker 1: and she could not help suspecting that his desire to
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Speaker 1: go was prompted less by a conviction of grave political
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Speaker 1: necessity than by a mormid craving for the excitement of danger.
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Speaker 1: He had gotten into the habit of risking his neck,
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Speaker 1: and his tendency to run into unnecessary perils seemed to
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Speaker 1: her a form of intemperance which should be quietly but
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Speaker 1: steadily resisted. Finding all her arguments unavailing against his dogged
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Speaker 1: resolve to go his own way, she fired her last shop.
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Speaker 1: Let us be honest about it anyway, she said, and
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Speaker 1: call things by their true names. It is not Dominichino's
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Speaker 1: difficulty that makes you so determined to go. It is
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Speaker 1: your own personal passion. For It's not true, he interrupted vehemently.
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Speaker 1: He is nothing to me. I don't care if I
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Speaker 1: never see him again. He broke off, seeing in her
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Speaker 1: face that he had betrayed himself. Their eyes met for
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Speaker 1: an instant and dropped, and neither of them uttered the
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Speaker 1: name that was in both their minds. It it is
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Speaker 1: not Dominikino I want to save, he stammered at last,
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Speaker 1: with his face half buried in the cat's fur. It
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Speaker 1: is that I I understand the danger of the work
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Speaker 1: failing if he has no help. She passed over the
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Speaker 1: feeble little subterfuge and wanon as if there had been
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Speaker 1: no interruption. It is your passion for running into danger,
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Speaker 1: which makes you want to go there. You have the
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Speaker 1: same craving for danger when you are worried that you
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Speaker 1: had for opium when you were ill. It was not
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Speaker 1: I that asked for the euopium, he said, defiantly. It
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Speaker 1: was the others who insisted on giving it to me.
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Speaker 1: I dare say you plume yourself a little on your
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Speaker 1: stoicism and ask for physical relief. Would have hurt your pride,
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Speaker 1: but it is rather flattered than otherwise, when you risk
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Speaker 1: your life to relieve the irritation of your nerves. And yet,
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Speaker 1: after all, the distinction is a merely conventional one. He
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Speaker 1: drew the cat's head back and looked down into the
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Speaker 1: round green eyes. Is it true, pasht? He said? Are
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Speaker 1: all these unkind things true that your mistress's is saying
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Speaker 1: about me? Is it a case of mea culpa may
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Speaker 1: m maxima culpa? You wise beast, You never ask for opium,
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Speaker 1: do you? Your ancestors were gods in Egypt, and no
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Speaker 1: man to trod on their tails. I wonder, though, what
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Speaker 1: would become of your calm superiority to earth the ills
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Speaker 1: if I were to take this paw of yours and
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Speaker 1: hold it in the candle. Would you ask me for opium, then,
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Speaker 1: would you? Or perhaps for death? No pussy, We have
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Speaker 1: no right to die for our personal convenience. We may
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Speaker 1: spit and swear a bit if it consoles us, but
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Speaker 1: we mustn't pull the paw away. Hush. She took the
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Speaker 1: cat off his knee and put it down on a footstool.
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Speaker 1: You and I will have time for thinking about those
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Speaker 1: things later on. What we have to think of now
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Speaker 1: is how to get Dominicino out of his difficulty. What
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Speaker 1: is it, katy a visitor? I am busy. Miss Wright
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Speaker 1: has sent you this, ma'am by hand. The packet, which
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Speaker 1: was carefully sealed, contained a letter addressed to miss Wright,
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Speaker 1: but unopened and with a papal stamp. Jemma's old school
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Speaker 1: friends still lived in Florence, and her more important letters
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Speaker 1: were often received for safety at their address. It is
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Speaker 1: Michel's mark, she said, glancing quickly over the letter, which
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Speaker 1: seemed to be about the summer terms at a boarding
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Speaker 1: house in the Apennines, and pointing to two little blots
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Speaker 1: on a corner of the page. It is in chemical ink.
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Speaker 1: The regent is in the third drawer of the writing table. Yes,
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Speaker 1: that is it. He laid the letter open on the
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Speaker 1: desk and passed a little brush over its edges. When
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Speaker 1: the real message stood out of the paper in a
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Speaker 1: brilliant blue line, he leaned back in his chair and
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Speaker 1: burst out laughing. What is it, she asked hurriedly. He
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Speaker 1: handed her the page. Dominikino has been arrested. Come at once.
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Speaker 1: She sat down with a paper in her hand and
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Speaker 1: stared hopelessly at the gadfly. Well well, he said at last,
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Speaker 1: with a soft, ironical drawl. Are you satisfied now that
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Speaker 1: I must go? Yes? I suppose you must, she answered, sighing,
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Speaker 1: And I too, he looked up with a little start.
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Speaker 1: You too. But of course it will be very awkward,
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Speaker 1: I know, to be left without anyone here in Florence.
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Speaker 1: But everything must go to the wall now, except the
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Speaker 1: providing of an extra pair of hands. There are plenty
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Speaker 1: of hands to be got there. They don't belong to
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Speaker 1: people whom you can trust thoroughly. Though. You set yourself
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Speaker 1: just now that there must be two responsible persons in charge.
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Speaker 1: And if Dominikino couldn't manage alone, it is evidently impossible
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Speaker 1: for you to do so. A person as desperately compromised
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Speaker 1: as you are, as very much handicapped to remember in
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Speaker 1: work of that kind, and more dependent on help than
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Speaker 1: any one else would be. Instead of you and Dominikino,
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Speaker 1: it must be you and I, he considered for a moment, frowning. Yes,
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Speaker 1: you are quite right, he said, and the sooner we
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Speaker 1: go the better. But we must not start together. If
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Speaker 1: I go off to night, you can take, say the
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Speaker 1: afternoon coach tomorrow. Where to that we must discuss. I
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Speaker 1: think I had better go straight in to Faenza. If
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Speaker 1: I start late to night and ride to Borgo San Lorenzo,
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Speaker 1: I can get my disguise arranged there and go straight on.
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Speaker 1: I don't see what else we can do, she said,
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Speaker 1: with an anxious little frown. But it is very risky.
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Speaker 1: You are going off in such a hurry and trusting
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Speaker 1: to the smugglers finding you a disguise at Borgo. You
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Speaker 1: ought to have at least three clear days to double
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Speaker 1: on your trace before you cross the frontier. You needn't
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Speaker 1: be afraid, he answered, smiling. I may get taken further on,
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Speaker 1: but not at the frontier. Once in the hills, I
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Speaker 1: am as safe as here. There's not a smuggler in
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Speaker 1: the Appennines that would betray me. What I am not
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Speaker 1: quite sure about is how you are to get across. Oh,
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Speaker 1: that is very simple. I shall take louisa Rights passport
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Speaker 1: and go for a holiday. No one knows me and Romagna,
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Speaker 1: but every spy knows you. Fortunately, so does every smuggler.
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Speaker 1: She took out her watch. Half past two. We have
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Speaker 1: the afternoon and evening. Then, if you are to start
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Speaker 1: to night, then the best thing will be for me
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Speaker 1: to go home and settle everything now and arrange about
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Speaker 1: a good horse. I shall ride in to San Lorenzo.
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Speaker 1: It will be safer, but it won't be safe at
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Speaker 1: all to hire a horse the owner will I shan't
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Speaker 1: hire one. I know a man that will lend me
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Speaker 1: a horse, and that can be trusted. He has done
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Speaker 1: things for me before. One of the shepherds will bring
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Speaker 1: it back in a fortnight. I shall be here again
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Speaker 1: by five or half past then, and while I am gone,
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Speaker 1: I will want you to go and find Martini and
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Speaker 1: explain everything to him. Martini, she turned round and looked
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Speaker 1: at him in astonishment. Yes, we must take him into confidence.
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Speaker 1: Unless you can think of any one else. I don't
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Speaker 1: quite understand what you mean. We must have some one
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Speaker 1: here whom we can trust in case of any special difficulty.
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Speaker 1: And of all the set here, Martini is the man
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Speaker 1: in whom I have most confidence. Ricardo would do anything
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Speaker 1: he could for us, of course, but I think Martin
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Speaker 1: has a steadier head. Still, you know him better than
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Speaker 1: I do. It is as you think. I have not
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Speaker 1: the slightest doubt as to Martini's trustworthiness and efficiency in
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Speaker 1: every respect. And I think you would probably consent to
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Speaker 1: give us any help he could. But he understood at once, Gemma,
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Speaker 1: what would you feel if you found out that a
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Speaker 1: comrade and bitter need had not asked you for help
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Speaker 1: you might have given for fear of hurting or distressing you.
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Speaker 1: Would you say there was any true kindness in that?
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Speaker 1: Very well? She said, after a little pause. I will
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Speaker 1: send Katy round at once and ask him to come,
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Speaker 1: And while she is gone, I will go to Louisa
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Speaker 1: for her passport. She promised to lend it whenever I
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Speaker 1: want one. What about money? Shall I draws him out
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Speaker 1: of the bank. No, don't waste time on that. I
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Speaker 1: can draw enough for my account to last us for
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Speaker 1: a bit. We will fall back on yours later on.
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Speaker 1: If my balance runs short till half past five, then
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Speaker 1: I shall be sure to find you here. Of course,
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Speaker 1: Oh yes, I shall be back long before then. Half
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Speaker 1: an hour after the appointed time, he returned and found
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Speaker 1: Gemma and Martini sitting on the terrace together. He saw
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Speaker 1: at once that their conversation had been a distressing one.
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Speaker 1: The traces of agitation were visible in both of them,
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Speaker 1: and Martini was unusually silent and glum. Have you arranged everything?
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Speaker 1: She asked, looking up, Yes, and I have brought you
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Speaker 1: some money for the journey. The horse will be ready
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Speaker 1: for me at the pont Rosso barrier at one in
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Speaker 1: the night. Isn't that rather late? You ought to get
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Speaker 1: into San Lorenzo before the people are up in the morning,
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Speaker 1: so I shall. It's a very fast horse, and I
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Speaker 1: don't want to leave here when there's a chance of
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Speaker 1: anyone noticing me. I shan't go home any more. There's
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Speaker 1: a spy watching at the door, and he thinks me in.
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Speaker 1: How did you get out without his seeing you? Out
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Speaker 1: of the kitchen window, into the back garden and over
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Speaker 1: the neighbor's orchard wall. That's what makes me so late.
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Speaker 1: I had to dodge him. I left the owner of
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Speaker 1: the horse to sit and study all the evening with
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Speaker 1: the lamp lighted. When the spy sees the light in
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Speaker 1: the window and a shadow on the blind, he will
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Speaker 1: be quite satisfied that I am riding at home this evening.
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Speaker 1: Then you will stay here till it is time to
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Speaker 1: go to the barrier. Yes, I don't want to be
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Speaker 1: seen in the street any more. To night, have a cigar, Martini.
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Speaker 1: I know, Signorabola doesn't mind smoke. I sha'n't be here
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Speaker 1: to mind. I must go downstairs and help Katy with
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Speaker 1: the dinner. When she had gone, Martini got up and
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Speaker 1: began to pace to and fro with his hands behind
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Speaker 1: his back. The gadfly sat smoking and looking silently out
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Speaker 1: at the drizzling rain. Revarre is Martini began, stopping in
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Speaker 1: front of him, but keeping his eyes on the ground.
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Speaker 1: What sort of thing are you going to drive her into?
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Speaker 1: The gadfly took the cigar from his mouth and blew
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Speaker 1: away a long trail of smoke. She has chosen for herself,
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Speaker 1: he said, without compulsion on any one's part. Yes, yes,
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Speaker 1: I know, but tell me, he stopped. I will tell
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Speaker 1: you anything. I can well, then I don't know much
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Speaker 1: about the details of these affairs in the hills. Are
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Speaker 1: you going to take her into any very serious danger?
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Speaker 1: Do you want the truth? Yes? Then yes. Martini turned
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Speaker 1: away and went on pacing up and down. Presently, he
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Speaker 1: stopped again. I want to ask you another question. If
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Speaker 1: you don't choose to answer it, you needn't, of course.
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Speaker 1: But if you do answer, then answer honestly. Are you
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Speaker 1: in love with her? The gadfly deliberately knocked the ash
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Speaker 1: from his cigar and went on smoking in silence. That
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Speaker 1: means that you don't choose to answer, no, only that
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Speaker 1: I think I have a right to know why you
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Speaker 1: asked me that. Why? Good God man, can't you see why? Ah?
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Speaker 1: He laid down his cigar and looked steadily at Martini. Yes,
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Speaker 1: he said at last, slowly and softly, I am in
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Speaker 1: love with her. But you needn't think I'm going to
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Speaker 1: make love to her or worry about it. I am
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Speaker 1: only going to His voice died away in a strange,
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Speaker 1: faint whisper. Martini came a step nearer, only going to
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Speaker 1: to die. He was staring straight before him with a cold,
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Speaker 1: fixed look, as if he were dead. Already. When he
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Speaker 1: spoke again, his voice was curiously lifeless. And even you
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Speaker 1: needn't worry her about it beforehand, he said. But there's
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Speaker 1: not the ghost of a chance for me. It's dangerous
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Speaker 1: for everyone that she knows as well as I do.
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Speaker 1: But the smugglers will do their best to prevent her
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Speaker 1: getting taken. They are good fellows, though they are a
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Speaker 1: bit rough. As for me. The rope is around my neck,
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Speaker 1: and when I crossed the frontier, I pulled the noose. Bravarres.
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Speaker 1: What do you mean. Of course, it's dangerous, and particularly
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Speaker 1: so for you. I understand that, But you have often
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Speaker 1: crossed the frontier before and always been successful. Yes, and
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Speaker 1: this time I shall fail. Why how can you know?
14:23
Speaker 1: The gadfly smiled drearily. Do you remember the German legend
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Speaker 1: of the man that died when he met his own
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Speaker 1: double No, it appeared to him at night in a
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Speaker 1: lonely place, wringing its hands in despair. Well, I met
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Speaker 1: mine the last time. I was in the hills, and
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Speaker 1: when I crossed the frontier again, I shan't come back.
14:40
Speaker 1: Martini came up to him and put a hand on
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Speaker 1: the back of his chair. Listen Rivarre's I don't understand
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Speaker 1: a word of all this metaphysical stuff, but I do
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Speaker 1: understand one thing. If you feel about it that way,
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Speaker 1: you are not in a fit state to go. The
14:52
Speaker 1: surest way to get taken is to go with the
14:53
Speaker 1: conviction that you will be taken. You must be ill
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Speaker 1: or out of sorts somehow, to get maggots of that
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Speaker 1: kind into your head as I go instead of you,
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Speaker 1: I can do any practical work there is to be done,
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Speaker 1: and you can send a message to your men explaining
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Speaker 1: and let you get killed instead. That would be very clever. Oh,
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Speaker 1: I'm not likely to get killed. They don't know me
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Speaker 1: as they do you. And besides, even if I did.
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Speaker 1: He stopped, and the gadfly looked up with a slow,
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Speaker 1: inquiring gaze. Martini's hand dropped by his side. She very
15:22
Speaker 1: likely wouldn't miss me as much as she would you,
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Speaker 1: he said, in his most matter of fact voice. And then, besides, Rvarres,
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Speaker 1: this is a public business, and we have to look
15:31
Speaker 1: at it from the point of view of utility. The
15:33
Speaker 1: greatest good of the greatest number. Your final value, isn't
15:37
Speaker 1: that what the economists call it? Is higher than mine.
15:40
Speaker 1: I have brains enough to see that. Though I haven't
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Speaker 1: any cause to be particularly fond of you, you are
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Speaker 1: a bigger man than I am. I'm not sure that
15:47
Speaker 1: you are a better one, but there's more of you,
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Speaker 1: and your death would be a greater loss than mine.
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Speaker 1: From the way he spoke, he might have been discussing
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Speaker 1: the value of shares on the exchange. The gadfly looked up,
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Speaker 1: shivering as if with cold. Would you have me weight
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Speaker 1: till my grave opens of itself to swallow me up.
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Speaker 1: If I must die, I will encounter darkness as a bride.
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Speaker 1: Look here, Martini, you and I are talking nonsense. You are, certainly,
16:11
Speaker 1: said Martini gruffly, yes, and so are you. For heaven's sake,
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Speaker 1: don't let's go in for romantic self sacrifice like Don
16:18
Speaker 1: Carlo's and Marquiposa. This is the nineteenth century. And if
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Speaker 1: it's my business to die, I have got to do it.
16:25
Speaker 1: And if it's my business to live, I've got to
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Speaker 1: do that. I suppose you are the lucky one, revares, yes.
16:32
Speaker 1: The gadfly assented laconically, I was always lucky. They smoked
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Speaker 1: in silence for a few minutes, and then began to
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Speaker 1: talk of business details. When Jemma came up to call
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Speaker 1: them to dinner, neither of them betrayed in face or
16:44
Speaker 1: manner that their conversation had been in any way unusual.
16:47
Speaker 1: After dinner, they sat discussing plans and making necessary arrangements
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Speaker 1: till eleven o'clock, when Martini rose and took his hat.
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Speaker 1: I will go home and fetch that writing cloak of mine, Revarres.
16:58
Speaker 1: I think you will be less recognizable in it then
17:00
Speaker 1: in your light suit. I want to Reakonnoisterra a bit too,
17:03
Speaker 1: and make sure there are no spies about before we start.
17:07
Speaker 1: Are you coming with me to the barrier. Yes, it's
17:10
Speaker 1: safer to have four eyes than two in case of
17:12
Speaker 1: anyone following you. I'll be back by twelve. Be sure
17:15
Speaker 1: you don't start without me. I'd better take the key, Gemma,
17:17
Speaker 1: so as not to wake any one by ringing. She
17:21
Speaker 1: raised her eyes to his face as he took the keys.
17:23
Speaker 1: She understood that he had invented a pretext in order
17:25
Speaker 1: to leave her alone with a gadfly. You and I
17:28
Speaker 1: will talk tomorrow, she said. We shall have time in
17:31
Speaker 1: the morning when my packing is finished. Oh, yes, plenty
17:34
Speaker 1: of time. There are two or three little things. I
17:36
Speaker 1: want to ask you about Ravari's, but we can talk
17:39
Speaker 1: them over on our way to the barrier. You had
17:40
Speaker 1: better send Katy to bed, Jemma, and be as quiet
17:43
Speaker 1: as you can. Both of you good bye till twelve.
17:45
Speaker 1: Then he went away with a little nod and smile,
17:49
Speaker 1: banging the door after him to let the neighbors hear
17:51
Speaker 1: that Signora Bola's visitor was gone. Jemma went out into
17:55
Speaker 1: the kitchen to say good night to Katy and came
17:57
Speaker 1: back with black coffee on a tray. Would you like
18:00
Speaker 1: to lie down a bit? She said, You won't have
18:02
Speaker 1: any sleep the rest of the night, Oh dear, no,
18:05
Speaker 1: I shall sleep at San Lorenzo while the men are
18:07
Speaker 1: getting my disguise ready. Then have some coffee. Wait a minute,
18:11
Speaker 1: I will get you out the biscuits. As she knelt
18:14
Speaker 1: down at the sideboard, he suddenly stooped over her shoulder.
18:17
Speaker 1: Whatever have you got there? Chocolate creams and English toffee?
18:20
Speaker 1: Why this is a little luxury for a king. She
18:24
Speaker 1: looked up, smiling faintly at his enthusiastic tone. Are you
18:27
Speaker 1: fond of sweets? I always keep them for cesare? He
18:31
Speaker 1: is a perfect baby Over any kind of lollipops. Ruber
18:34
Speaker 1: really well, you must get him so some more tomorrow,
18:37
Speaker 1: and give me these to take with me. Now, let
18:39
Speaker 1: me put the toffee in my pocket. It will console
18:42
Speaker 1: me for all the lost joys of life. I do
18:45
Speaker 1: hope they'll give me a bit of toffee to suck
18:46
Speaker 1: the damn hanged Oh, do let me find a cardboard
18:49
Speaker 1: box for it, at least before you put it in
18:51
Speaker 1: your pocket. You will be so sticky. Shall I put
18:54
Speaker 1: the chocolates in two? No? I want to eat them
18:57
Speaker 1: now with you, but I don't like chocolate. I want
19:00
Speaker 1: you to come and sit down like a reasonable human being.
19:03
Speaker 1: You're very likely should have another chance to talk quietly
19:05
Speaker 1: before one or other of us is killed. And she
19:09
Speaker 1: d duh doesn't like chocolate, he murmured under his breath.
19:13
Speaker 1: Then I must be greedy all by myself. This is
19:15
Speaker 1: a case of the hangman's supper, isn't it. You are
19:17
Speaker 1: going to humor all my whims to night. First of all,
19:20
Speaker 1: I want you to sit on this easy chair, And
19:21
Speaker 1: as you said I might lie down, I shall lie
19:23
Speaker 1: here and be comfortable. He threw himself down on the
19:26
Speaker 1: rug at her feet, leaning his elbow on the chair
19:29
Speaker 1: and looking up into her face. How pale you are,
19:32
Speaker 1: he said, that's because you take life sadly and don't
19:35
Speaker 1: like chocolate. Do be serious for just five minutes, after all,
19:39
Speaker 1: it is a matter of life and death, not even
19:42
Speaker 1: for two minutes, dear, Neither life nor death is worth it.
19:46
Speaker 1: He had taken hold of both her hands and was
19:48
Speaker 1: stroking them with the tips of his fingers. Don't look
19:51
Speaker 1: so grave, Minerva. You'll make me cry in a minute,
19:53
Speaker 1: and then you'll be sorry. I do wish you'd smile again.
19:56
Speaker 1: You have such a delightfully unexpected smile there. Now, don't
20:01
Speaker 1: scold me, dear. Let us eat our biscuits together like
20:03
Speaker 1: two good children, without quarreling over them. For tomorrow we die.
20:08
Speaker 1: He took a sweet biscuit from the plate and carefully
20:10
Speaker 1: halved it, breaking the sugar when I met down the middle,
20:12
Speaker 1: with scrupulous exactness. This is a kind of sacrament, like
20:16
Speaker 1: what the goody goody people have in church. Take eat.
20:19
Speaker 1: This is my body, and we must drink the wine
20:21
Speaker 1: out of the same glass. You know, yes, that is right.
20:25
Speaker 1: Do this in remembrance. She put down the glass. Don't
20:29
Speaker 1: she said, with almost a sob. He looked up and
20:32
Speaker 1: took her hands again. Hush, then, let us be quiet
20:35
Speaker 1: for a little bit. When one of us dies, the
20:37
Speaker 1: other will remember this. We will forget this loud, insistent
20:40
Speaker 1: world that howls about our ears. We will go away together,
20:44
Speaker 1: hand in hand. We will go away into the secret
20:47
Speaker 1: halls of death and lie among the poppy flowers. Hush,
20:50
Speaker 1: we will be quite still. He laid his head down
20:53
Speaker 1: against her knee and covered his face. In the silence.
20:56
Speaker 1: She bent over him, her hand on the black head.
20:59
Speaker 1: So the time slipped on and on, and they neither
21:01
Speaker 1: moved nor spoke. Dear, it is almost twelve, she said.
21:05
Speaker 1: At last, he raised his head. We have only a
21:08
Speaker 1: few minutes more. Martini will be back presently. Perhaps we
21:12
Speaker 1: shall never see each other again. Have you nothing to
21:15
Speaker 1: say to me? He slowly rose and walked away to
21:18
Speaker 1: the other side of the room. There was a moment's silence.
21:22
Speaker 1: I have one thing to say, he began, in a
21:24
Speaker 1: hardly audible voice. One thing to tell you. He stopped
21:29
Speaker 1: and sat down by the window, hiding his face in
21:31
Speaker 1: both hands. You have been a long time deciding to
21:35
Speaker 1: be mercy, she said softly. I have not seen much
21:39
Speaker 1: mercy in my life. And I thought at first you
21:42
Speaker 1: wouldn't care. You don't think that now. She waited a
21:46
Speaker 1: moment for him to speak, and then crossed the room
21:48
Speaker 1: and stood beside him. Tell me the truth. At last,
21:52
Speaker 1: she whispered, Think if you are killed and I not,
21:55
Speaker 1: I should have to go through all my life and
21:57
Speaker 1: never know, never be quite sure. He took her hands
22:00
Speaker 1: and clasped them tightly. If I am killed, you see
22:04
Speaker 1: when I went to South America, Ah Martini. He broke
22:09
Speaker 1: away with a violent start and threw open the door
22:11
Speaker 1: of the room. Martini was rubbing his boots on the mat,
22:14
Speaker 1: punctual to them a minute as usual. You're in an
22:17
Speaker 1: addn animated chronometer, Brtini. Is that the riding cloak? Yes,
22:23
Speaker 1: and two or three other things. I have kept them
22:25
Speaker 1: as dry as I could, But it's pouring with rain.
22:27
Speaker 1: You will have a most uncomfortable ride, I'm afraid. Oh
22:30
Speaker 1: that's no matter. Is the street clear? Yes? All the
22:33
Speaker 1: spies seems to have gone to bed. I don't much
22:36
Speaker 1: wonder either, on such a villainous night. Is that coffee, Gemma?
22:39
Speaker 1: He ought to have something hot before he goes out
22:41
Speaker 1: into the wet or he will catch cold. It is
22:44
Speaker 1: black coffee and very strong. I will boil some milk.
22:48
Speaker 1: She went into the kitchen, passionately, clenching her teeth and
22:51
Speaker 1: hands to keep from breaking down. When she returned with
22:54
Speaker 1: the milk, the gadflife put on the riding cloak and
22:56
Speaker 1: was fastening the leather gaiters which Martini had brought. Drank
23:00
Speaker 1: a cup of coffee, standing and took up the broad
23:02
Speaker 1: brimmed riding hat. I think it's time to starve, Martini.
23:06
Speaker 1: We must make a round before we go to the barrier.
23:08
Speaker 1: In case of anything, good bye for the present, Signora,
23:11
Speaker 1: I shall meet you at four ley on Friday. Then,
23:13
Speaker 1: unless anything special turns up. Wait a minute. That this
23:17
Speaker 1: is the address. He tore a leaf out of his
23:20
Speaker 1: pocket book and wrote a few words in pencil. I
23:23
Speaker 1: have it already, she said, in a dull, quiet voice.
23:26
Speaker 1: Have you well there it is anyway, come Martini, sh
23:30
Speaker 1: sh dullow the door creak. They crept softly downstairs when
23:35
Speaker 1: the street door clicked behind them. She went back into
23:37
Speaker 1: the room and mechanically unfolded the paper he had put
23:39
Speaker 1: into her hand. Underneath the address was written, I will
23:44
Speaker 1: tell you everything there end of chapter one of the
23:47
Speaker 1: third part recording by Daria Labutna