第14章

’Areyoualone？’saidGertrude。SheseemedtobenolessharassedandanxiousthanBrookherself。

’Yes，’saidRhoda。

’Theplaceonmyarmseemsworse，andtroublesme！’theyoungfarmer’swifewenton。’Itissomysterious！Idohopeitwillnotbeanincurablewound。IhaveagainbeenthinkingofwhattheysaidaboutConjurorTrendle。Idon’treallybelieveinsuchmen，butI

shouldnotmindjustvisitinghim，fromcuriosity——thoughonnoaccountmustmyhusbandknow。Isitfartowherehelives？’

’Yes——fivemiles，’saidRhodabackwardly。’IntheheartofEgdon。’

’Well，Ishouldhavetowalk。Couldnotyougowithmetoshowmetheway——sayto-morrowafternoon？’

’O，notI——thatis，’themilkwomanmurmured，withastartofdismay。

Againthedreadseizedherthatsomethingtodowithherfierceactinthedreammightberevealed，andhercharacterintheeyesofthemostusefulfriendshehadeverhadberuinedirretrievably。

Mrs。Lodgeurged，andRhodafinallyassented，thoughwithmuchmisgiving。Sadasthejourneywouldbetoher，shecouldnotconscientiouslystandinthewayofapossibleremedyforherpatron’sstrangeaffliction。Itwasagreedthat，toescapesuspicionoftheirmysticintent，theyshouldmeetattheedgeoftheheathatthecornerofaplantationwhichwasvisiblefromthespotwheretheynowstood。

BythenextafternoonRhodawouldhavedoneanythingtoescapethisinquiry。Butshehadpromisedtogo。Moreover，therewasahorridfascinationattimesinbecominginstrumentalinthrowingsuchpossiblelightonherowncharacteraswouldrevealhertobesomethinggreaterintheoccultworldthanshehadeverherselfsuspected。

Shestartedjustbeforethetimeofdaymentionedbetweenthem，andhalf-an-hour’sbriskwalkingbroughthertothesouth-easternextensionoftheEgdontractofcountry，wherethefirplantationwas。Aslightfigure，cloakedandveiled，wasalreadythere。Rhodarecognized，almostwithashudder，thatMrs。Lodgeboreherleftarminasling。

Theyhardlyspoketoeachother，andimmediatelysetoutontheirclimbintotheinteriorofthissolemncountry，whichstoodhighabovetherichalluvialsoiltheyhadlefthalf-an-hourbefore。Itwasalongwalk；thickcloudsmadetheatmospheredark，thoughitwasasyetonlyearlyafternoon；andthewindhowleddismallyoverthehillsoftheheath——notimprobablythesameheathwhichhadwitnessedtheagonyoftheWessexKingIna，presentedtoafter-agesasLear。GertrudeLodgetalkedmost，Rhodareplyingwithmonosyllabicpreoccupation。Shehadastrangedisliketowalkingonthesideofhercompanionwherehungtheafflictedarm，movingroundtotheotherwheninadvertentlynearit。Muchheatherhadbeenbrushedbytheirfeetwhentheydescendeduponacart-track，besidewhichstoodthehouseofthemantheysought。

Hedidnotprofesshisremedialpracticesopenly，orcareanythingabouttheircontinuance，hisdirectinterestsbeingthoseofadealerinfurze，turf，’sharpsand，’andotherlocalproducts。

Indeed，heaffectednottobelievelargelyinhisownpowers，andwhenwartsthathadbeenshownhimforcuremiraculouslydisappeared——whichitmustbeownedtheyinfalliblydid——hewouldsaylightly，’O，Ionlydrinkaglassofgrogupon’em——perhapsit’sallchance，’andimmediatelyturnthesubject。

Hewasathomewhentheyarrived，havinginfactseenthemdescendingintohisvalley。Hewasagray-beardedman，withareddishface，andhelookedsingularlyatRhodathefirstmomenthebeheldher。Mrs。Lodgetoldhimhererrand；andthenwithwordsofself-disparagementheexaminedherarm。

’Medicinecan’tcureit，’hesaidpromptly。’’Tistheworkofanenemy。’

Rhodashrankintoherself，anddrewback。

’Anenemy？Whatenemy？’askedMrs。Lodge。

Heshookhishead。’That’sbestknowntoyourself，’hesaid。’Ifyoulike，Icanshowthepersontoyou，thoughIshallnotmyselfknowwhoitis。Icandonomore；anddon’twishtodothat。’

Shepressedhim；onwhichhetoldRhodatowaitoutsidewhereshestood，andtookMrs。Lodgeintotheroom。Itopenedimmediatelyfromthedoor；and，asthelatterremainedajar，RhodaBrookcouldseetheproceedingswithouttakingpartinthem。Hebroughtatumblerfromthedresser，nearlyfilleditwithwater，andfetchinganegg，prepareditinsomeprivateway；afterwhichhebrokeitontheedgeoftheglass，sothatthewhitewentinandtheyolkremained。Asitwasgettinggloomy，hetooktheglassanditscontentstothewindow，andtoldGertrudetowatchthemclosely。

Theyleantoverthetabletogether，andthemilkwomancouldseetheopalinehueoftheegg-fluidchangingformasitsankinthewater，butshewasnotnearenoughtodefinetheshapethatitassumed。

’Doyoucatchthelikenessofanyfaceorfigureasyoulook？’

demandedtheconjuroroftheyoungwoman。

Shemurmuredareply，intonessolowastobeinaudibletoRhoda，andcontinuedtogazeintentlyintotheglass。Rhodaturned，andwalkedafewstepsaway。

WhenMrs。Lodgecameout，andherfacewasmetbythelight，itappearedexceedinglypale——aspaleasRhoda’s——againstthesaddunshadesoftheupland’sgarniture。Trendleshutthedoorbehindher，andtheyatoncestartedhomewardtogether。ButRhodaperceivedthathercompanionhadquitechanged。

’Didhechargemuch？’sheaskedtentatively。

’Ono——nothing。Hewouldnottakeafarthing，’saidGertrude。

’Andwhatdidyousee？’inquiredRhoda。

’NothingI——caretospeakof。’Theconstraintinhermannerwasremarkable；herfacewassorigidastowearanoldenedaspect，faintlysuggestiveofthefaceinRhoda’sbed-chamber。

’Wasityouwhofirstproposedcominghere？’Mrs。Lodgesuddenlyinquired，afteralongpause。’Howveryodd，ifyoudid！’

’No。ButIamnotsorrywehavecome，allthingsconsidered，’shereplied。Forthefirsttimeasenseoftriumphpossessedher，andshedidnotaltogetherdeplorethattheyoungthingathersideshouldlearnthattheirliveshadbeenantagonizedbyotherinfluencesthantheirown。

Thesubjectwasnomorealludedtoduringthelonganddrearywalkhome。Butinsomewayorotherastorywaswhisperedaboutthemany-dairiedlowlandthatwinterthatMrs。Lodge’sgraduallossoftheuseofherleftarmwasowingtoherbeing’overlooked’byRhodaBrook。Thelatterkeptherowncounselabouttheincubus，butherfacegrewsadderandthinner；andinthespringsheandherboydisappearedfromtheneighbourhoodofHolmstoke。

Half-a-dozenyearspassedaway，andMr。andMrs。Lodge’smarriedexperiencesankintoprosiness，andworse。Thefarmerwasusuallygloomyandsilent:thewomanwhomhehadwooedforhergraceandbeautywascontortedanddisfiguredintheleftlimb；moreover，shehadbroughthimnochild，whichrendereditlikelythathewouldbethelastofafamilywhohadoccupiedthatvalleyforsometwohundredyears。HethoughtofRhodaBrookandherson；andfearedthismightbeajudgmentfromheavenuponhim。

Theonceblithe-heartedandenlightenedGertrudewaschangingintoanirritable，superstitiouswoman，whosewholetimewasgiventoexperimentinguponherailmentwitheveryquackremedyshecameacross。Shewashonestlyattachedtoherhusband，andwaseversecretlyhopingagainsthopetowinbackhisheartagainbyregainingsomeatleastofherpersonalbeauty。Henceitarosethatherclosetwaslinedwithbottles，packets，andointment-potsofeverydescription——nay，bunchesofmysticherbs，charms，andbooksofnecromancy，whichinherschoolgirltimeshewouldhaveridiculedasfolly。

’Damnedifyouwon’tpoisonyourselfwiththeseapothecarymessesandwitchmixturessometimeorother，’saidherhusband，whenhiseyechancedtofalluponthemultitudinousarray。

Shedidnotreply，butturnedhersad，softglanceuponhiminsuchheart-swollenreproachthathelookedsorryforhiswords，andadded，’Ionlymeantitforyourgood，youknow，Gertrude。’

’I’llclearoutthewholelot，anddestroythem，’saidshehuskily，’andtrysuchremediesnomore！’

’Youwantsomebodytocheeryou，’heobserved。’Ioncethoughtofadoptingaboy；butheistoooldnow。AndheisgoneawayIdon’tknowwhere。’

Sheguessedtowhomhealluded；forRhodaBrook’sstoryhadinthecourseofyearsbecomeknowntoher；thoughnotawordhadeverpassedbetweenherhusbandandherselfonthesubject。NeitherhadsheeverspokentohimofhervisittoConjurorTrendle，andofwhatwasrevealedtoher，orshethoughtwasrevealedtoher，bythatsolitaryheath-man。

Shewasnowfive-and-twenty；butsheseemedolder。

’Sixyearsofmarriage，andonlyafewmonthsoflove，’shesometimeswhisperedtoherself。Andthenshethoughtoftheapparentcause，andsaid，withatragicglanceatherwitheringlimb，’IfIcouldonlyagainbeasIwaswhenhefirstsawme！’

Sheobedientlydestroyedhernostrumsandcharms；butthereremainedahankeringwishtotrysomethingelse——someothersortofcurealtogether。ShehadneverrevisitedTrendlesinceshehadbeenconductedtothehouseofthesolitarybyRhodaagainstherwill；

butitnowsuddenlyoccurredtoGertrudethatshewould，inalastdesperateeffortatdeliverancefromthisseemingcurse，againseekouttheman，ifheyetlived。Hewasentitledtoacertaincredence，fortheindistinctformhehadraisedintheglasshadundoubtedlyresembledtheonlywomanintheworldwho——asshenowknew，thoughnotthen——couldhaveareasonforbearingherill-will。

Thevisitshouldbepaid。

Thistimeshewentalone，thoughshenearlygotlostontheheath，androamedaconsiderabledistanceoutofherway。Trendle’shousewasreachedatlast，however:hewasnotindoors，andinsteadofwaitingatthecottage，shewenttowherehisbentfigurewaspointedouttoheratworkalongwayoff。Trendlerememberedher，andlayingdownthehandfuloffurze-rootswhichhewasgatheringandthrowingintoaheap，heofferedtoaccompanyherinherhomewarddirection，asthedistancewasconsiderableandthedayswereshort。Sotheywalkedtogether，hisheadbowednearlytotheearth，andhisformofacolourwithit。

’YoucansendawaywartsandotherexcrescencesIknow，’shesaid；

’whycan’tyousendawaythis？’Andthearmwasuncovered。

’Youthinktoomuchofmypowers！’saidTrendle；’andIamoldandweaknow，too。No，no；itistoomuchformetoattemptinmyownperson。Whathaveyetried？’

Shenamedtohimsomeofthehundredmedicamentsandcounterspellswhichshehadadoptedfromtimetotime。Heshookhishead。

’Someweregoodenough，’hesaidapprovingly；’butnotmanyofthemforsuchasthis。Thisisofthenatureofablight，notofthenatureofawound；andifyoueverdothrowitoff；itwillbeallatonce。’

’IfIonlycould！’