Page:Richard Marsh--The goddess a demon.djvu/261

Rh apoplectic fit. Taking him by the shoulder I sent him spinning off the pavement.

"Leave him alone. The fellow will get his deserts elsewhere."

Lawrence clapped his hands like a child.

"Bravo! Twirl him round—roll him in the mud! She enjoys it; can't you hear how she's laughing?" He raised his hand in an attitude of attention.

"I can hear nothing."

"But I can." Miss Moore spoke from behind my shoulder. "I can hear It."

"What do you mean?"

"It which was present in the room; It which did it all; the sound which we heard in the Fulham Road just now. Listen! Can't you hear it, too?"

It might have been my imagination—probably was—but, as she spoke, I certainly did think that I recognised, as if it issued from the lips of some one who was within reach of where we stood, the woman's laughter which had in it so singular and disagreeable a quality. It had on me a most uncomfortable effect. I returned to Lawrence, fearful lest, if I was not careful, the proceedings might take a shape in which I might relish them less even than I did at present.

"Come. Let's be moving."

"With pleasure. Life is movement, and exercise is the thing for the liver."