第5章

’Whendidyoup-p-partfromhim？’sheasked，hernetherlipstartingoffquiveringsomuchthatitwaslikeatremolo-stopopenedinherspeech。Shelongedtorunawayfromthisdreadfulboreandcryhereyesout。

’Justnow，intheturnpikeroadyonderthere。’

’What！hehasactuallygonepastmygates？’

’Yes。Whenwegottothem——handsomegatestheyare，too，thefinestbitofmodernwrought-ironworkIhaveseen——whenwecametothemwestopped，talkingtherealittlewhile，andthenhewishedmegood-

byeandwenton。Thetruthis，he’salittlebitdepressedjustnow，anddoesn’twanttoseeanybody。He’saverygoodfellow，andawarmfriend，butalittleuncertainandgloomysometimes；hethinkstoomuchofthings。Hispoetryisrathertooeroticandpassionate，youknow，forsometastes；andhehasjustcomeinforaterribleslatingfromthe——Reviewthatwaspublishedyesterday；hesawacopyofitatthestationbyaccident。Perhapsyou’vereadit？’

’No。’

’Somuchthebetter。O，itisnotworththinkingof；justoneofthosearticleswrittentoorder，topleasethenarrow-mindedsetofsubscribersuponwhomthecirculationdepends。Buthe’supsetbyit。Hesaysitisthemisrepresentationthathurtshimso；that，thoughhecanstandafairattack，hecan’tstandliesthathe’spowerlesstorefuteandstopfromspreading。That’sjustTrewe’sweakpoint。Helivessomuchbyhimselfthatthesethingsaffecthimmuchmorethantheywouldifhewereinthebustleoffashionableorcommerciallife。Sohewouldn’tcomehere，makingtheexcusethatitalllookedsonewandmonied——ifyou’llpardon——’

’But——hemusthaveknown——therewassympathyhere！Hasheneversaidanythingaboutgettinglettersfromthisaddress？’

’Yes，yes，hehas，fromJohnIvy——perhapsarelativeofyours，hethought，visitinghereatthetime？’

’Didhe——likeIvy，didhesay？’

’Well，Idon’tknowthathetookanygreatinterestinIvy。’

’Orinhispoems？’

’Orinhispoems——sofarasIknow，thatis。’

RobertTrewetooknointerestinherhouse，inherpoems，orintheirwriter。Assoonasshecouldgetawayshewentintothenurseryandtriedtoletoffheremotionbyunnecessarilykissingthechildren，tillshehadasuddensenseofdisgustatbeingremindedhowplain-lookingtheywere，liketheirfather。

Theobtuseandsingle-mindedlandscape-painterneveronceperceivedfromherconversationthatitwasonlyTreweshewanted，andnothimself。Hemadethebestofhisvisit，seemingtoenjoythesocietyofElla’shusband，whoalsotookagreatfancytohim，andshowedhimeverywhereabouttheneighbourhood，neitherofthemnoticingElla’smood。

Thepainterhadbeengoneonlyadayortwowhen，whilesittingupstairsaloneonemorning，sheglancedovertheLondonpaperjustarrived，andreadthefollowingparagraph:-

’SUICIDEOFAPOET

’Mr。RobertTrewe，whohasbeenfavourablyknownforsomeyearsasoneofourrisinglyrists，committedsuicideathislodgingsatSolentseaonSaturdayeveninglastbyshootinghimselfintherighttemplewitharevolver。ReadershardlyneedtoberemindedthatMr。

Trewehasrecentlyattractedtheattentionofamuchwiderpublicthanhadhithertoknownhim，byhisnewvolumeofverse，mostlyofanimpassionedkind，entitled“LyricstoaWomanUnknown，“whichhasbeenalreadyfavourablynoticedinthesepagesfortheextraordinarygamutoffeelingittraverses，andwhichhasbeenmadethesubjectofasevere，ifnotferocious，criticisminthe——Review。Itissupposed，thoughnotcertainlyknown，thatthearticlemayhavepartiallyconducedtothesadact，asacopyofthereviewinquestionwasfoundonhiswriting-table；andhehasbeenobservedtobeinasomewhatdepressedstateofmindsincethecritiqueappeared。’

Thencamethereportoftheinquest，atwhichthefollowingletterwasread，ithavingbeenaddressedtoafriendatadistance:-

’DEAR-，——BeforetheselinesreachyourhandsIshallbedeliveredfromtheinconveniencesofseeing，hearing，andknowingmoreofthethingsaroundme。IwillnottroubleyoubygivingmyreasonsforthestepIhavetaken，thoughIcanassureyoutheyweresoundandlogical。PerhapshadIbeenblessedwithamother，orasister，orafemalefriendofanothersorttenderlydevotedtome，Imighthavethoughtitworthwhiletocontinuemypresentexistence。Ihavelongdreamtofsuchanunattainablecreature，asyouknow，andshe，thisundiscoverable，elusiveone，inspiredmylastvolume；theimaginarywomanalone，for，inspiteofwhathasbeensaidinsomequarters，thereisnorealwomanbehindthetitle。Shehascontinuedtothelastunrevealed，unmet，unwon。Ithinkitdesirabletomentionthisinorderthatnoblamemayattachtoanyrealwomanashavingbeenthecauseofmydeceasebycruelorcavaliertreatmentofme。TellmylandladythatIamsorrytohavecausedherthisunpleasantness；butmyoccupancyoftheroomswillsoonbeforgotten。Thereareamplefundsinmynameatthebanktopayallexpenses。R。TREWE。’

Ellasatforawhileasifstunned，thenrushedintotheadjoiningchamberandflungherselfuponherfaceonthebed。

Hergriefanddistractionshookhertopieces；andshelayinthisfrenzyofsorrowformorethananhour。Brokenwordscameeverynowandthenfromherquiveringlips:’O，ifhehadonlyknownofme——

knownofme——me！……O，ifIhadonlyoncemethim——onlyonce；andputmyhanduponhishotforehead——kissedhim——lethimknowhowI

lovedhim——thatIwouldhavesufferedshameandscorn，wouldhavelivedanddied，forhim！Perhapsitwouldhavesavedhisdearlife！……Butno——itwasnotallowed！GodisajealousGod；andthathappinesswasnotforhimandme！’

Allpossibilitieswereover；themeetingwasstultified。Yetitwasalmostvisibletoherinherfantasyevennow，thoughitcouldneverbesubstantiated-

’Thehourwhichmighthavebeen，yetmightnotbe，Whichman’sandwoman’sheartconceivedandbore，Yetwhereoflifewasbarren。’

ShewrotetothelandladyatSolentseainthethirdperson，inassubduedastyleasshecouldcommand，enclosingapostalorderforasovereign，andinformingMrs。HooperthatMrs。Marchmillhadseeninthepapersthesadaccountofthepoet’sdeath，andhavingbeen，asMrs。Hooperwasaware，muchinterestedinMr。TreweduringherstayatCoburgHouse，shewouldbeobligedifMrs。Hoopercouldobtainasmallportionofhishairbeforehiscoffinwascloseddown，andsenditherasamemorialofhim，asalsothephotographthatwasintheframe。

Bythereturn-postaletterarrivedcontainingwhathadbeenrequested。Ellaweptovertheportraitandsecureditinherprivatedrawer；thelockofhairshetiedwithwhiteribbonandputinherbosom，whenceshedrewitandkissediteverynowandtheninsomeunobservednook。

’What’sthematter？’saidherhusband，lookingupfromhisnewspaperononeoftheseoccasions。’Cryingoversomething？Alockofhair？

Whoseisit？’

’He’sdead！’shemurmured。

’Who？’

’Idon’twanttotellyou，Will，justnow，unlessyouinsist！’shesaid，asobhangingheavyinhervoice。

’O，allright。’

’Doyoumindmyrefusing？Iwilltellyousomeday。’

’Itdoesn’tmatterintheleast，ofcourse。’

Hewalkedawaywhistlingafewbarsofnotuneinparticular；andwhenhehadgotdowntohisfactoryinthecitythesubjectcameintoMarchmill’sheadagain。

He，too，wasawarethatasuicidehadtakenplacerecentlyatthehousetheyhadoccupiedatSolentsea。Havingseenthevolumeofpoemsinhiswife’shandoflate，andheardfragmentsofthelandlady’sconversationaboutTrewewhentheywerehertenants，heallatoncesaidtohimself；’Whyofcourseit’she！Howthedevildidshegettoknowhim？Whatslyanimalswomenare！’