The Clerk had set himself to decline pain and
ignorance.
Shelooked at Betty; she looked round the room; she
looked at Lester withoutseeing her.
The Clerk had set himself to decline pain and
ignorance. Lester still, in general,knew only one thing at a time, and knew them in
a temporal order.
A constriction passed across the Clerks face. But
it was not so deep after all, though it was round; it was awindow on a yard; an
empty yard? These others were no shadows orghostly emanations; they had solidity and
shape. Her second was that this was someone for whom she had beenwaiting. As far as
I can remember, you put up withme nobly.
Itwas still a door; it did not become thin or
shadowy.
She pushed thebedclothes back, swung out her legs,
and sat on the side of the bed.
He played on both nerves; he moved crowds,but also
he moved souls.
But he did think that itwas one of the lesser
creatures of that other world. He supposed this to be adim monstrosity of that
ghostly kind. The godsvoice continued: Well, we shall see.
It was this that the Clerk was removing; heturned,
or sought to turn, words into mere vibrations. She said: You might remember how I
did behaveto you, at school. Helooked round; his eyes fell on the window. From the
mirror three identical faces looked out, staring.
Lester looked back at her without interest; she was
remoteand irrelevant.
He went on calmly down the stairs, and opening
thedoor passed into the earthly night. He never even wished toread what she did;
except as a kind of menial, he never used her.
I know you didnt particularly wantme, but why
should you?
It looked on a yard, but it looked also on that
yard in itsinfinite relations.
He should have known what it was; he did not.
Bodyand visionary body were again alone together. The same space was
diverselyoccupied, but the two presences were separate still. Itmight be that he
himself-but that he could not visualize even tohimself.
He knew that, when hechose, that world was his for
the taking.
She had pushed Richard away; she had not gathered
Bettyin. He could not see in the dark as Lester could.
The door was gently opened, and a maid came in and
paused.
Obedience to a fabulous ruler of shadows was one
thing; obedienceto Richard was quite another. Such things had not come in human
form, and hedid not now expect human form.
But in some sense the night of the conception had
brought achange.