“I must go, Tom,” she said quietly. She no longer wept. Withdrawing herself gently from Tom’s arms, she kissed him on the cheek. “You too, my dear. You must go. Good-bye now.…”
He stood, empty-handed and alone, a bewilderment in his eyes at the calmness and the sudden removal of herself.
“But, Mary? Not … not …?”
Her heart ached for him, though she was now impatient to be gone.
“Of course not, dearest. If you want me … when it is all over. I don’t know what lies before us. But I shall be there … if you want me.”
He looked at her sadly, then at his brother.
“Take care of her, Luke,” he said, his voice trembling. Then he drew himself up, and turned to Aloysius Sturm. “Well, we’d better see about it. I think this is good of you, Sturm, good of you.” He shook the American by the hand. A moment passed, while all three stood irresolute.
“Cut along now, Mary,” said Tom. “You’d better lose no more time. But be sure that this is only a beginning. I’ve a claim on you now, eh? That’s reasonable enough—if you want us to be reasonable. But I’ve learned more than that, in your hands, Mary. I owe you my life, my new life.”
He picked up her suitcase, and indicated that she should precede him to the door. His broad shoulders, squared with new vigour, seemed to fill the exit. She could not escape from him altogether. With a sigh of relief, she realised again that she did not want to. They went out together, leaving the others to follow with the rest of her luggage.
Aloysius Sturm looked at Dr. Batten, and they smiled at each other.
“Well, Doctor,” said the American, “I guess that was no easy choice.”
“I hope, for my brother’s sake, that it was no choice at all,” said Dr. Batten slowly, his features expressive of profound thought.
A Note on the Author
Richard Church was born in London in 1893. At the age of sixteen, persuaded by his father, he took a position as a clerk in the Civil Service where he worked for the next twenty-four years. During that time he worked tirelessly on his love of all things literary, devoting early mornings, between 5 and 7, and most of his evenings to writing and reading. In 1917 this hard regime was rewarded and his first volume of poetry, The Flood of Life, and Other Poems, was published. But real success and acclaim came only in 1926 with the publication of Portrait of the Abbot.
In 1930 Richard gave up his position with the Civil Service and began a full-time writing career. He died in 1972, with over sixty books of poetry and prose to his name, having firmly established his position in English literary heritage.
Discover books by Richard Church published by Bloomsbury Reader at
www.bloomsbury.com/RichardChurch
A Stroll before Dark
Over the Bridge
The Dangerous Years
The Voyage Home
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For copyright reasons, any images not belonging to the original author have been removed from this book. The text has not been changed, and may still contain references to missing images.
This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Reader
Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
First published in Great Britain in 1956 William Heinemann Ltd
Copyright © 1956 Richard Church
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You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
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eISBN: 9781448214860
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