Doubtless the vaults of the great
families of the neighborhood were down there. She wondered if the spite of
the Huns had driven them to demolish the very bones of the race they were
unable to conquer.
IV
Suddenly she stiffened. A chill ran up her spine. She had an overwhelming
sense of impending danger and stepped swiftly away from the edge of the
aperture; then turned about, and faced Gora Dwight.
CHAPTER XIV
I
"Oh," she said calmly, although her nerves still shuddered. "You must walk
like a fairy. I didn't hear you."
"One must pick one's way through rubbish."
"Ghastly ruin, isn't it?"
"Life is ghastly."
Alexina made no reply lest she deny this assertion out of the wonder of her
own experience. She guessed what Gora had come for and that she was feeling
as elemental as she looked. She herself had recovered from that sudden
access of horror but she moved still further from, that black and waiting
hole.
"Are you going to marry Gathbroke?"
The gauntlet was down and Alexina felt a sharp sense of relief. She was in
no mood for the subtle evasion and she had not the least inclination to
turn up her eyes. She made up her mind however to save Gora's pride as far
as possible.
"Yes," she said.
"You dare say that to me?"
Alexina raised her low curved eyebrows. She seldom raised them but when she
did she looked like all her grandmothers.
Pages:
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432