Page 424 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

cident had brought to a point all the consequences involved
in his line of conduct, with its conscious and subconscious
intentions. There must be an end now of this silent reserve,
of that air of impenetrability behind which he had been
safeguarding his dignity. It was the least ignoble form of
dissembling forced upon him by that parody of civilized in-
stitutions which offended his intelligence, his uprightness,
and his sense of right. He was like his father. He had no
ironic eye. He was not amused at the absurdities that pre-
vail in this world. They hurt him in his innate gravity. He
felt that the miserable death of that poor Decoud took from
him his inaccessible position of a force in the background.
It committed him openly unless he wished to throw up the
game—and that was impossible. The material interests re-
quired from him the sacrifice of his aloofness—perhaps his
own safety too. And he reflected that Decoud’s separation-
ist plan had not gone to the bottom with the lost silver.
The only thing that was not changed was his position to-
wards Mr. Holroyd. The head of silver and steel interests
had entered into Costaguana affairs with a sort of pas-
sion. Costaguana had become necessary to his existence;
in the San Tome mine he had found the imaginative sat-
isfaction which other minds would get from drama, from
art, or from a risky and fascinating sport. It was a special
form of the great man’s extravagance, sanctioned by a mor-
al intention, big enough to flatter his vanity. Even in this
aberration of his genius he served the progress of the world.
Charles Gould felt sure of being understood with precision
and judged with the indulgence of their common passion.