Page:The woman, the man, and the monster (IA womanmanmonster00dawe).pdf/329

 across the desert, and buried Thebes and lost Canopus resounded with royal revels. And there, along the Euphrates, where Babylon once blazed in splendour! He remembered a boatman’s hut by the great river, and a girl with grave dark eyes. There was always a girl in the picture. Truly he had been a mighty hunter of women. And a woman was still there, a woman with violet grey eyes and heavy creamy lids. And those eyes were flashing de- fiance at him even now. They had followed him across the world; they would follow him into hell. There was no escaping their mocking light, no charm that would dispel the memory of that scornful mouth. ‘Though he were to hide his secret from all other eyes, though he were to bury it deep down in the earth and pile the Himalayas upon it, yet would she find it out and taunt him with those mocking lips.

His secret! He started, not sure if he had uttered the word aloud. Then he flung a stealthy, furtive glance to right and left. His secret! Had he then a secret? Who said he had a secret? Who knew? Not you, or you! His eyes wandered round in search of the silent ghosts, eventually reaching the mirror. Again

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