LightNovesOnl.com

The Squire Part 15

The Squire - LightNovelsOnl.com

You're reading novel online at LightNovelsOnl.com. Please use the follow button to get notifications about your favorite novels and its latest chapters so you can come back anytime and won't miss anything.

{Dormer.} I hope--no! Answer me one question honestly--do you love this young soldier whom I saw here to-day?

{Kate.} Suppose I say--"no."

{Dormer.} Then I _leave you_ without another word.

{Kate.} If I say--"yes?"

{Dormer.} Then I deliver to you a message.



{Kate.} A message! From whom?

{Dormer.} From the one who has returned to life.

Yes or No?

{Kate.} Heaven help me--I love Eric!

"There's a jingle,"

_(In the distance there is the faint sound of Fel's song, supposed to proceed from the room above through the open window. Dor. crosses at back and listens.)_

"Sun is s.h.i.+ning,"

{Dormer.} What is that? _(crosses behind table to c.)_

{Kate.} _(calmly)_ The child singing. She is happy.

Go on--I want the message. _(Dormer takes some papers from pocket-book)_

--"Hear the jingle,"

{Dormer.} It is here--in writing, _(at bureau)_

{Kate.} Addressed--to whom?

"--while you may."

{Dormer.} To the woman who loves Eric Thornd.y.k.e.

{Kate.} I am she--who sends it?

"--above her."

{Dormer.} The stranger at the White Lion.

{Kate.} _(after a pause)_ Who is the stranger at the White Lion?

"--lover."

{Dormer.} _(L. of table)_ Eric Thornd.y.k.e's wife.

_(Kate rises slowly, supporting herself upon the table; she and Dor. stand face to face. The song above ceases.)_

{Kate.} Eric--Thornd.y.k.e's--wife. Yes? _(falls back into chair)_

{Dormer.} Shall I read the message?

{Kate.} If you please.

_(Dormer goes up to the bureau, puts on his spectacles and by the light of the lamp arranges his papers.)_

{Dormer.} It is written in French. I have translated it faithfully, _(he places a paper before Kate)_ That is the original.

_(She takes it mechanically, looks at it, then lets it fall upon the floor. At the same moment the shadow of a man is seen at the window L., and the curtains move slightly.)_

Shall I read the translation to you? _(opens paper with one hand; pushes it off table)_

{Kate.} If you please, _(goes toward lamps)_

_(The movement of the curtain stops. Dor. reads slowly.)_

{Dormer.} _(reading)_ "I was a singer in Brussels, with a sweet voice. They called me La Sirene."

{Kate.} _(in a low tone)_ Stop--the Siren. Yes.

{Dormer.} _(continuing)_ "I am a Protestant, born at Chaudefontaine, five miles from Liege. My father was an Englishman, my mother a Belgian woman.

They died when I was a child."

{Kate.} An orphan, like me. _(touches lamp again)_

{Dormer.} _(continuing)_ "Three years ago a student, Eric Thornd.y.k.e--

_(Eric appears at L. C., holding back curtain.)_

married me secretly but legally at the Protestant church in the Rue de Sta.s.sart in Brussels." Are you listening?

{Kate.} Yes.

{Dormer.} _(continuing)_ "I married for money and station. I won neither. I found myself wedded to a man who was dependent on a wretched allowance, and who dared not disclose his marriage. We were never happy, and I grew to hate him. One terrible night he discovered me in a gaming house pledging his name to pay my losses. I feared him for the first time in my life, and I fled."

{Kate.} Is this--a woman?

{Dormer.} _(continuing)_ "The fatigue of my journey threw me into a fever. For many a day I lay at death's door, and throughout the country where the Siren's was a familiar voice I was thought dead."

{Kate.} Dead. I see.

{Dormer.} _(continuing)_ "When I recovered, my sweet voice and pretty face had gone from me forever.

I had nothing but a mad loathing for the man whom I had never loved, and I formed a plan to ruin him."

{Kate.} Oh!

Click Like and comment to support us!

RECENTLY UPDATED NOVELS

About The Squire Part 15 novel

You're reading The Squire by Author(s): Arthur Wing Pinero. This novel has been translated and updated at LightNovelsOnl.com and has already 592 views. And it would be great if you choose to read and follow your favorite novel on our website. We promise you that we'll bring you the latest novels, a novel list updates everyday and free. LightNovelsOnl.com is a very smart website for reading novels online, friendly on mobile. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or just simply leave your comment so we'll know how to make you happy.