It made no other pretension. It
was very cozy indeed. And now I had returned, after an attack of influenza. What little there
was I did. I looked at the barometer, tapped it, was not
the wiser. I
do not know. Ha, ha, ha! There are three sheets, closely written, in ME. She was delicate, and the air suited her. She was poor, and
the tariff was just within her means. She was lonely, and had need of
love. He was rich, he was
charming, he was in the prime of life. I was very sure she would wear me and my contents next to
her bosom. She was gone. It was mine. I
stared, I wondered. "I don't know who you are, but, whoever you are, claim me, take me out
of this!" He was enigmatic. We managed, as a rule, to observe each other
indirectly. I found him very sympathetic. That was all. It was a
crisis. It was a crisis. We faced it like men. But this, of course, was a vain counsel
of perfection. he tried
bravely to imply that he was sorry, even now, to hear that. In a way,
perhaps, he really was sorry. Nay, we seemed to be
hitting it off even now. Influenza was not our sole theme. "Palmistry, for example," I said. I hesitated. "Yes, somehow I do. My common sense
utterly rejects it. "I've a grotesque belief in it, yes." "Well," I said, with the thrilling hope that he was a companion in
absurdity, "doesn't it seem grotesque to you?" "It seems strange." "Oh, absolutely." Laider did not answer this question; he did but annoyingly ask me
another. "Yes, of course. "Oh, no. This rather cornered me. "Ah, I've no doubt it is." I held out my palms. There was agitation
in his voice as he explained that he never looked at people's hands
now. "Never now--never again." He shook his head as though to beat
off some memory. "_I_ am." "I don't know," he exclaimed, "why I said it. No." Morally, I am." He looked at the
clock. He said
I was very kind. I denied this. I said, "Never
mind." I was able to go my own desultory way, riding my hobbies where
I would. Palmistry was one of
them. It seemed to me absurd, as it
seems to you. Like you, though, I believed in it. There was a
clean break in the life-line, and a square joining it--the protective
square, you know. That is what bothered me. There was a
faint line connecting the break in the lifeline with a star on the line
of health. I was one of
the victims of private means. "If a railway-journey could be avoided, I avoided it. I was very fond of him and of his wife. He was in the Indian
Civil, and was home on leave. Forty-three, yes. Laider looked at me. Not later, not possibly LATER, than forty-three. She was twenty-four, you know. I went on talking. The coincidence
was curious, very. Oh, there was an inference to be drawn. Not a sure inference,
I told myself. It was a fast train. I was talking loudly. They would be apart. Therefore--
"And the marks were there. There was a thing for me to
do. You
explain to the guard. Some of THEM I
could have done, I dare say. This thing I was going to do. Oh, I was
determined that I would do it--directly. I was quite at liberty. I
was determined, yes. "We were near the outskirts of London. And when I said so, I was told not to talk. I was in bed, and the nurses were always telling me not to talk. I was
in a hospital. I was feeling
much better now. So it was in my case. I remembered, in a flash, everything. I was quite
calm, though. You see, there
was no need to ask. I remember the frightened look of my uncle's
face, and the nurse scolding him in whispers. "After that, all a blur. "However, I live." There was a long silence. Laider did not look at me, nor I at him. The fire was burning low, and he watched it. Naturally. I despise myself." "No, I don't despise you; but--"
"You blame me." I did not meet his gaze. "You blame me," he repeated. "Yes." "And there, if I may say so, you are a little unjust. "Yes." He looked at the palms of his hands. "It was foreordained." "Horribly positive. "Oh, yes. There was a pause. "Well," I said, with awkward sympathy, "I suppose all hands are the
hands of people destined to suffer." Assuredly, here was a bright loophole. I remembered my promise to rescue
it. There was no one in the
hall. But
I was not to be diverted from my purpose. He had. Oh weak, weak! "Influenza, of course?" we asked simultaneously. I wondered that he didn't
break off and thank me now for my letter. "You make me feel very guilty." "I know, yes. "In a way," he said, "your theory was quite right. They
weren't there. _I_ wasn't there. I, too, prodded the sand. "Well," I said at length, "I do feel rather a fool." It was your kindness, you see, that forced
me. "I'm sorry. "No, of course not. a very strong imagination. I come here usually. You said you believed in
it. I wondered at that. "Oh, no. He shook his head. My eyes
beamed. "Not of your ability, surely?" "You are too stern a critic, believe me." As it is, I refuse to let you
associate with me. I frowned at this possibility. However, I
was to find reassurance. We did so very pleasantly. "Yes. "Surely." "Well, perhaps they are, yes; I suppose they are.