I brought them
here, to Mortallone, to play with them; and as soon as they tired me,
they--went. It was power I wanted; power I achieved; and in power,
as I thought, lay the secret. The tools in this world say that a
poisoner is always a coward: it is one of the phrases with which
fools cheat themselves. For long I was sure of myself; and then,
when the thought began to haunt me that, after all, I had missed the
secret, I sought out the man who, in Europe, had made himself more
powerful than kings; and I found that _he_ had missed the secret too.
Then I guessed that the secret is beyond a man's power to achieve,
unless it be innate in him; that the gods themselves cannot help a
man born in bastardy, as I was, or born with a vulgar soul, as was
Napoleon. One chance of redemption he has--to mate with a woman who
has, and has known from birth, the secret which he has missed.
I guessed it--I that had wasted my days with singing-women, such as
poor 'Metta! Then I met you, and I knew. Yes, madam, you--you,
whose life to-night I had almost taken with a touch--taught me that I
had left women out of account. Ah, madam, if the world were twenty
years younger! . . . Will you do me the honour to touch glasses and
drink with me?"
"Not on any account," said Miss Belcher, rising.
Pages:
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373