Page:Gilbert Parker--The Lane that had No Turning.djvu/138

122 soul, some to buy things for—for our home; and the rest to keep till he came back."

"Yes, yes," said Pomfrette, his eyes fixed painfully on her face—"yes, yes."

"The day after Luc went away John Dicey the Protestant come to me. I’d always liked him; he could talk as Luc couldn’t, and it sounded nice. I listened and listened. He knew about Luc and about the money and all. Then he talked to me. I was all wild in the head, and things went round and round, and oh, how I hated to marry Luc—then! So after he had talked a long while I said yes, I would go with him and marry him—a Protestant—for I loved him. I don’t know why or how."

Pomfrette trembled so that Parpon and the Little Chemist made him sit down, and he leaned against their shoulders, while Junie went on:

"I gave him Luc’s money to go and give to Parpon here, for I was too ashamed to go myself. And I wrote a little note to Luc, and sent it with the money. I believed in John Dicey, of course. He came back, and said that he had seen Parpon and had done it all right; then we went away to Montreal and got married. The very first day at Montreal, I found out that he had Luc’s money. It was awful; I went mad, and he got angry and left me alone, and didn’t come back. A week afterwards he was killed, and I didn’t know it for a long time. But I began to work, for I wanted to pay back Luc’s money. It was very slow, and I worked hard. Will it never be finished? I say. At last Parpon find me, and I tell him all—all except that John Dicey was dead, and I did not know that. I made him promise to tell nobody; but he knows all about my life since then. Then I find out one day that John Dicey is dead,