Page:Walpole - Fortitude.djvu/351

 heart in his mouth, a world of devils and that he was cognisant of all of them. The thing was conscious—that was the awful thing about it. I could swear that he was seeing far beyond all of us, that he was hurling his happiness at something that he had there before him as clearly as I have you before me now. It was defiance and I believe the minute after uttering it he would have liked to have rushed upstairs to see that his baby was safe

“Be that as it may, we all felt it—every one of us. The party was clouded. Cards and Clare did their best to brighten things up again, and Peter and Tony and Janet Gale played silly games and made a great deal of noise—but the spirit was gone.

“I left very early. Miss Monogue came away at the same time. She spoke to me before she said good-night: ‘know that you are an old friend of Peter's. I am so fond of him—we all are at Brockett's, it isn't often that we see him—I know that you will be his true friend in every sense of the word—and help him—as he ought to be helped. It is so little that I can do’

“Her voice was sad. I am afraid she suffers a great deal. She is evidently greatly attached to Peter—I liked her.

“Well, you in your sober way will say that this is all a great deal of nonsense. Why shouldn't Peter, if he wishes, say that he is happy? All I can say is that if you yourself had been there”