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<v Speaker 1>Chapter two of The Feasting Dead by John Metcalf. This

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<v Speaker 1>LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Ben Tucker,

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<v Speaker 1>Chapter two. There were black days that followed. I cannot

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<v Speaker 1>convey how black. Though with the exit of Denis's sinister playfellow,

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<v Speaker 1>the worse seemed over. I felt in my heart chilly

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<v Speaker 1>that this was only an uneasy breathing space, and that

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<v Speaker 1>the story yet was far from done breathing space. No,

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<v Speaker 1>it was not really even that Raoul, I hoped, was banished,

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<v Speaker 1>but his work remained. Dennis was ill, staring at me

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<v Speaker 1>with horror and aversion, as if I were the sole

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<v Speaker 1>author of his misery. He could scarcely bear that I

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<v Speaker 1>should speak to him or go near his bed. The

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<v Speaker 1>loss I recognized with anguish of his frightful parasite and

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<v Speaker 1>paramour had virtually prostrated him, and he had ceased to

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<v Speaker 1>be the boy cecil and I had loved. As to

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<v Speaker 1>the eerie lummacks who had plagued us, I concluded that

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<v Speaker 1>he had succeeded somehow in wriggling free from me and fleeing,

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<v Speaker 1>that he would probably make his way back to France,

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<v Speaker 1>and that at least in person, if he were a person,

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<v Speaker 1>he would trouble us no more. Or rather, this was

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<v Speaker 1>what I tried to tell myself. I had concluded truth

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<v Speaker 1>is not necessarily or always sober, and there was something

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<v Speaker 1>here I realized inwardly, of which all ordinary sane explanations

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<v Speaker 1>and conjectures failed to take account. Dennis, when I had

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<v Speaker 1>re entered the house after Raoul's flight had been in

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<v Speaker 1>a half faint. The servants, roused by my running footsteps

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<v Speaker 1>along the Verandah had found him lying by the chair

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<v Speaker 1>and carried him to his room. Reviving. He had set

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<v Speaker 1>up a low, continuous moaning, which did not abate till Godderic,

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<v Speaker 1>whom I had at once rung up, had given him

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<v Speaker 1>a sedative that had secured him a night's sleep. But

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<v Speaker 1>next day, as I have said, he would hardly suffer

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<v Speaker 1>my approach, and once had even barricaded his door against me.

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<v Speaker 1>I was at my wits end, and terrified lest he

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<v Speaker 1>should do himself an injury. Godderiic shared my anxiety. Have

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<v Speaker 1>you discovered any more about this unholy creature? Now he's gone?

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<v Speaker 1>He asked? Any more? Why? How I mean that now

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<v Speaker 1>he has gone? Tongues might wag a bit more freely

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<v Speaker 1>your servants, for instance. Oh yes, I agreed, yes, plenty

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<v Speaker 1>of that. It was a fact that Jenny and Clara

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<v Speaker 1>had unbosomed themselves to me of a good deal as

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<v Speaker 1>to Raoul, and their sentiments towards him, which they had

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<v Speaker 1>hitherto repressed, though without adding materially to my actual information.

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<v Speaker 1>I told Godderick, so, how did you explain the fellow's

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<v Speaker 1>sudden disappearance to them? I didn't in any detail. They

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<v Speaker 1>must have guessed that I well chased him off. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't think they cared how he went, as long as

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<v Speaker 1>he went. Hum Well, honestly, I feel I can't do much.

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<v Speaker 1>I wish you would try a psychiatrist, but I was

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<v Speaker 1>not ready for that yet. And was there possibly an

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<v Speaker 1>ever so slightly hurt a reproachful tone in my friend's voice.

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<v Speaker 1>If so, it must have been because he could divine

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<v Speaker 1>that with him too. In my description of the final scene,

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<v Speaker 1>I had been reticent of what I had called details.

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<v Speaker 1>Dennis recovered to the extent of leaving his bed and

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<v Speaker 1>room and occasionally loitering alone about the orchard and meadow.

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<v Speaker 1>But we were strangers to each other. My acquaintance or

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<v Speaker 1>partial acquaintance with his dreadful secret made me a terror

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<v Speaker 1>to him, And there seemed something pathetically horrible in the

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<v Speaker 1>evident efforts of this child to rest the situation to

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<v Speaker 1>his own partisan, extenuating view of it, to digest, modify,

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<v Speaker 1>or soften it so as to render it more tolerable

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<v Speaker 1>to him and to me, not Raoul as his enemy.

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<v Speaker 1>It could not, I would think, go on like this,

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<v Speaker 1>How if I live to be a hundred, could I

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<v Speaker 1>forget or he forget that I must still remember. I

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<v Speaker 1>would remind him always as he grew up, if not

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<v Speaker 1>already in a show aames so poignantly embarrassed, he would

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<v Speaker 1>wish my death. Thus, for a week or so matters continued.

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<v Speaker 1>My uncertainty as to what had really happened to Raoul

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<v Speaker 1>prevented my finding much consolation even in his absence, And

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<v Speaker 1>soon after his disappearance I had a visit from the

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<v Speaker 1>Winchester City Police privache. They said, at first I barely

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<v Speaker 1>recalled the fellow's surname, had failed to report at the

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<v Speaker 1>expiration of one month's residence, and was he with me still?

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<v Speaker 1>I could only reply, with a modicum of truth that

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<v Speaker 1>he had run off suddenly I had no notion where

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<v Speaker 1>run off. Yes, I explained that the defaulter was a

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<v Speaker 1>friend of my boys, of whom I had practically no knowledge,

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<v Speaker 1>And I could see that my worthy and to me

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<v Speaker 1>very respectful constable was dissatisfied and puzzled. He should have

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<v Speaker 1>checked out properly, he grumbled. If he went back to

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<v Speaker 1>France now, there'd be trouble and an itchiousy of some

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<v Speaker 1>kind of the port. Meanwhile, the improvement in Denis's condition

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<v Speaker 1>had been at least superficially maintained. That was he looked

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<v Speaker 1>a shade less pale and had a better appetite. The

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<v Speaker 1>nightly thumpings, hummings and a new ingredient derisive hootings, had however,

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<v Speaker 1>increased the racket, finally attaining such proportions that, out of

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<v Speaker 1>consideration for my domestics, rest I had his bedroom changed

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<v Speaker 1>to one as far from theirs as possible. To me,

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<v Speaker 1>his manner remained stubbornly hostile. I pleadingly attempted to get

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<v Speaker 1>him to speak openly, frankly, and give me his own

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<v Speaker 1>version of affairs, But quite in vain, it seemed, but

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<v Speaker 1>too apparent that he had suffered a veritable bereavement, and

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<v Speaker 1>was still pining for his vanished mate. Reluctantly, I was

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<v Speaker 1>beginning to resign myself to taking Godderic's advice and trying

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<v Speaker 1>a psychiatrist. This course would pretty evidently expose me, as

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<v Speaker 1>well as the patient proper, to a good deal of

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<v Speaker 1>awkwardness and incredulous, silly catechisings. But I must shirk no

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<v Speaker 1>measure that might restore my boy. The leaves were falling

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<v Speaker 1>in the October days, growing colder, when I happen and

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<v Speaker 1>to receive a note reminding me of the approaching anniversary

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<v Speaker 1>dinner of my old regiment. I had never missed attending it,

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<v Speaker 1>and the formal invitation card was enclosed, But now I

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<v Speaker 1>had no heart to go, and besides it would be

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<v Speaker 1>out of the question. On the other hand, it was

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<v Speaker 1>from Winchester, barely six miles away, that Mayfield, who had

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<v Speaker 1>been my adjutant and was organizing the affair this year,

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<v Speaker 1>had written me. He chanced. He told me to be

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<v Speaker 1>spending the insight of a week there on business, and

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<v Speaker 1>he was probably expecting I surmised that I should ask

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<v Speaker 1>him to stay with me instead of at his hotel

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<v Speaker 1>at any rate, for Saturday and Sunday. This too, as

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<v Speaker 1>matters were, was scarcely practicable, but the least I could do,

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<v Speaker 1>I thought, was to run over to Winchester and see him.

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<v Speaker 1>I decided to risk, leaving Denis and Jenny's and Clara's care,

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<v Speaker 1>and drove off after lunch. My chat with Mayfield, to

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<v Speaker 1>whom I explained the position, so far as necessary, was

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<v Speaker 1>as pleasant as anything could be in my state of

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<v Speaker 1>worry about Dennis. But I hurried home from it so

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<v Speaker 1>as to arrive by tea time. Clara and Jennie, to

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<v Speaker 1>my dismay, were both waiting for me at the porch,

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<v Speaker 1>and their words as I jumped out of the car

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<v Speaker 1>told me the worst Dennis had gone self reproach was

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<v Speaker 1>as useless as unavoidable. I had to act. When did

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<v Speaker 1>you miss him? I asked? It had been only twenty

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<v Speaker 1>minutes ago he had been on the verandah, and then

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<v Speaker 1>no longer, seeing him there and wishing to reassure themselves,

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<v Speaker 1>they had looked for him. His room was empty and

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<v Speaker 1>fairly tidy, but a small suit case was undiscoverable. Likewise

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<v Speaker 1>some socks and a shirt. The most conclusive piece of evidence, however,

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<v Speaker 1>which seemed to rule out hope that he had merely

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<v Speaker 1>set off for a walk. In my return was the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that Jenny's room also had been entered and her

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<v Speaker 1>money stolen. How much four pounds ten sir. I I

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<v Speaker 1>had it in a little china box and was going

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<v Speaker 1>to bank it Tuesday, expecting me at any moment. They

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<v Speaker 1>had not as yet given an alarm to the police,

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<v Speaker 1>and I decided, rather than telephone, to drive back again

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<v Speaker 1>myself to Winchester. Meanwhile, Jenny could ring me at the

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<v Speaker 1>police station. My poor truant did, after all return The

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<v Speaker 1>desk sergeant knew me well and listened attentively to my story.

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<v Speaker 1>It's early yet, he encouraged, and he may be just

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<v Speaker 1>just larking. But of course we'll notify it and alert

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<v Speaker 1>other stations round about five fifteen now he can't be

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<v Speaker 1>very far and watch the ports too, I reminded him.

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<v Speaker 1>My first thought, naturally, had been of Raoul, and my

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<v Speaker 1>first fear that Dennis was rejoining him. Oh, yes, we'll

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<v Speaker 1>do that as routine. Although he couldn't get across, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>without a passport. As to that I had privately my doubts.

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<v Speaker 1>Given sufficient determination, there were ways of doing it as

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<v Speaker 1>a recent instance happened to have shown. After a further consultation,

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<v Speaker 1>this time with the local superintendent in his adjoining sanctum,

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<v Speaker 1>I drove home no news, I suppose, Jenny, no, sir.

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<v Speaker 1>With what fortitude we could, we resigned ourselves as remorseful.

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<v Speaker 1>Empty hours passed to the wretched and in my case,

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<v Speaker 1>almost sleepless night. Feeling that the emergency had more than

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<v Speaker 1>justified my breaking any rule of silence, I sent a

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<v Speaker 1>wire of inquiry to Monsieur Viagnon. An answer arrived fairly promptly,

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<v Speaker 1>not here. Yet this left me more up in the

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<v Speaker 1>air than ever, and in vain did I strive to supply,

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<v Speaker 1>as it were, the real and untelegraphable intonation of that word.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet it sounded as if Monsieur Viagnon rather expected that

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<v Speaker 1>Dennis might come later, but I could not be sure.

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<v Speaker 1>I returned to the question of the passport. Dennis had

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<v Speaker 1>had a passport, an individual one to allow of his escort,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes by Flebaug and sometimes by myself. But I had

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<v Speaker 1>locked it up after his last trip, and had it

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<v Speaker 1>locked up still. In any case, I thought he must

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<v Speaker 1>have realized that before he could possibly reach the coast,

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<v Speaker 1>the dock police would have been warned so that the

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<v Speaker 1>document would be useless to him. The Winchester district, i

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<v Speaker 1>was told, had been combed thoroughly without result, and as

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<v Speaker 1>time passed it surprised me that a boy could elude

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<v Speaker 1>the police net for so long. It argued certainly either

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<v Speaker 1>a degree of ineptitude on the one side, or considerable

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<v Speaker 1>adroitness and resource upon the other. Perhaps, whatever official incredulity

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<v Speaker 1>might say, Dennis had succeeded by walking only at night

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<v Speaker 1>and spending each day up a tree in a manner

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<v Speaker 1>I had read of, and striking a place where French

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<v Speaker 1>fishing boats put in, and then bribed some sailor into

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<v Speaker 1>smuggling him across. This notion was, if anything, strengthened by

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<v Speaker 1>a discovery made by Clara. When the hunt was six

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<v Speaker 1>days old. She ran excitedly to me in my study

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<v Speaker 1>one morning, crying, oh fo, we found something. It transpired

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<v Speaker 1>that in cleaning out the loft she had come upon

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<v Speaker 1>two loaves, two tins of sardines and a can opener,

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<v Speaker 1>a jar of marmalade, and the suit case, which was

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<v Speaker 1>empty a veritable cash. These objects, which I went with

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<v Speaker 1>her to inspect, had been hidden under sacking near a

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<v Speaker 1>back door giving on to a short outer stair by

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<v Speaker 1>which access could be gained the loft without first passing

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<v Speaker 1>through the coach house below. Close by I noticed with

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<v Speaker 1>aversion was a collection of the grotesque wooden dolls something

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<v Speaker 1>like nine pins, which Raoul had been used to whittle,

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<v Speaker 1>and most significantly, an empty open tin and scattered crumb

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<v Speaker 1>showed that one meal at least had been consumed up

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<v Speaker 1>there already. However, illogically, this find, and particularly the abandoned

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<v Speaker 1>suit case, established as an emotional certainty in my mind

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<v Speaker 1>the belief that Denis had managed to reach France, or

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<v Speaker 1>was upon his way there. He had been clever enough.

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<v Speaker 1>I told myself to lie hidden in the immediate vicinity

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<v Speaker 1>while the search was most intensive, and then to slip

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<v Speaker 1>off by night as I had supposed. Yes, that was it,

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<v Speaker 1>That must be it. I came to a prompt decision

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<v Speaker 1>that very afternoon, having wrong Godderic to tell him what

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<v Speaker 1>I contemplated, I set off for Southampton. Calling in at

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<v Speaker 1>the Winchester police station and route I could see that

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<v Speaker 1>my plan to pursue they would not admit that it

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<v Speaker 1>was that my boy to France had met with official

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<v Speaker 1>skepticism and disfaith. But though I did concur in the

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<v Speaker 1>suggestion that a watch would be set if all too

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<v Speaker 1>tardily around Aloft, I would not allow the cold water

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<v Speaker 1>thrown on it to weaken my resolve. And as it happened,

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<v Speaker 1>while I was not to know it, then I had only,

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<v Speaker 1>as it were, anticipated matters by a single night a

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<v Speaker 1>second wire from Monsieur Viaignon, I had learned later Denis

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<v Speaker 1>here arrived for me the morning after I had left

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<v Speaker 1>one morning, the prosaic and accustomed train, my gently having

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<v Speaker 1>bunk upon the almost as accustomed channel packet, and the

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<v Speaker 1>familiar harbor of Le Javre at misty dawn, the same, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>all the same, and yet how different many times had

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<v Speaker 1>I made this crossing, but with a heart unracked as now,

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<v Speaker 1>by care eating my petit de jo neis in the

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<v Speaker 1>station buffet. When I had passed through the customs, I

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<v Speaker 1>bought a newspaper and further supply of brioches, and again

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<v Speaker 1>boarded the train Paris and lunch, then southwards on to what.

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<v Speaker 1>As we began to breast the gradual ascent towards the

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<v Speaker 1>massif a vague but dreadful apprehension grew upon me. I

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<v Speaker 1>dashed off from England, I realized, largely because inaction had

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<v Speaker 1>become intolerable. Yet here in France I quailed. It was

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<v Speaker 1>as if while I approached that black and tortured landscape

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<v Speaker 1>of Auvergne, I were adventuring fool heartily into some citadel

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<v Speaker 1>of evil powers, pitting my puny strength against a host

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<v Speaker 1>of devils. I took up my newspaper and tried to

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<v Speaker 1>read in vain Denis, I thought, where are you? What

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<v Speaker 1>are you doing now? And why? With an effort, I

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<v Speaker 1>forced myself to re examine as critically and calmly as

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<v Speaker 1>I might the chain of circumstances that had led to

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<v Speaker 1>my being where I was. And upon such a quest

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<v Speaker 1>Fignon and Raoul, the whole business of the holiday exchanges

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<v Speaker 1>had been so casual, so benign. And yet yes, there

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<v Speaker 1>must be some connection beyond mere coincidence between the two.

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<v Speaker 1>I recalled Monsieur Vagnon's brooding and half guilty looks, and

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<v Speaker 1>that peculiar scrap of conversation I had overheard. It had

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<v Speaker 1>come again, it said then to Flaubert, What had come again?

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<v Speaker 1>Could it? Suddenly my mind snapped on something, and deliberately,

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<v Speaker 1>for a second I made it blank, as if afraid

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<v Speaker 1>of the light that threatened all at once to flood it.

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<v Speaker 1>I even grabbed my paper and feigned a furious engrossment

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<v Speaker 1>in its long columns of advertisements. Next morning, however, I

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<v Speaker 1>gave up the pretense, and a sigh escaped me, a

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<v Speaker 1>sort of cold sigh of recognition and admission. Could it Why, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>of course it could. The it of Monsieur Villon's terrified

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<v Speaker 1>lament was raoul. How this lurking, while fairly obvious conjecture

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<v Speaker 1>had managed to get itself hushed up in the recesses

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<v Speaker 1>of my brain, as I am sure it had for

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<v Speaker 1>such a time before issuing forth at last to startle me,

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<v Speaker 1>I did not know. But I found it now a

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<v Speaker 1>highly disturbing one, without as yet being able to appreciate

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<v Speaker 1>all its implications. I felt dimly a kind of spreading illumination,

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<v Speaker 1>as though the contours of some formidable truth would presently emerge.

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<v Speaker 1>To reach Faant, I had directly to change to a

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<v Speaker 1>slower train. With the number of stops. The country side

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<v Speaker 1>remained on the whole placidly pastoral. But I fancied I

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<v Speaker 1>began to detect in it here and there faint earnests

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<v Speaker 1>or intimations of that sinister quality which the Auverne whither

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<v Speaker 1>I traveled had always held for me. Monsieur Vignon would

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<v Speaker 1>be prepared for my coming, since I telegraphed him from

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<v Speaker 1>the Hafa. But what sort of welcome he would accord

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<v Speaker 1>me I had no idea. I had not, it must

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<v Speaker 1>be remembered, received a wire from him that would arrive

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<v Speaker 1>at Ashtoft the next morning. And I had nothing at

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<v Speaker 1>the moment but my impulsive intuition to leave me to

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<v Speaker 1>suppose Denis at the chateau. The sun was westering as

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<v Speaker 1>we slackened speed for fwant, and before that, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>the scenery had assumed the intimidating gigantism and cataclysmic look

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<v Speaker 1>of violence, which which every time I visited the place

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<v Speaker 1>had sent a shiver at my spine. Alighting, I stared

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<v Speaker 1>round me, but could see no one on my own

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<v Speaker 1>island platform, or on either of the other two, except

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<v Speaker 1>the ticket collector and a couple of peasant women. Perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>Monsieur Viallon was so indignant at my flat defiance of

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<v Speaker 1>his previous virtual prohibition that he was not sending any

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<v Speaker 1>one to meet me. Owing to his strange imposition of silence,

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<v Speaker 1>I had felt unable to write to him or question him,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe concerning Raoul, And though I now suspected him of

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<v Speaker 1>knowing more about it than he might confess, his official

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<v Speaker 1>state was one of ignorance, and he might not appreciate

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<v Speaker 1>the seriousness of the case. For a quarter of an

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<v Speaker 1>hour I waited impatiently in the little Salle d'attint. Had

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<v Speaker 1>Monsieur Villnon actually resolved to deny me his hospitality, But no,

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<v Speaker 1>he had answered my first wire, and surely in common

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<v Speaker 1>humanity he couldn't be sure a bear and such a brute.

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<v Speaker 1>I was, however, on the point either of telephoning the chateau,

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<v Speaker 1>or without doing so, of hiring, if I could, a taxi,

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<v Speaker 1>when a car hurtled furiously into the station yard. It

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<v Speaker 1>hurtled in so furiously that I experienced a curious start

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<v Speaker 1>of anticlimax at the sight of the form that crawled

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<v Speaker 1>feebly out of the driving seat. The figure advanced immediately

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<v Speaker 1>with a sort of frenzied, impetuous hobble towards me. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>it was Monsieur Vignon end of chapter two