Page 609 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

into the bedroom for fear of being detected by Linda re-
turning there for some reason, he said, moving only his
lips—
‘You love me?’
‘More than my life.’ She went on with her embroidery un-
der his contemplating gaze and continued to speak, looking
at her work, ‘Or I could not live. I could not, Giovanni. For
this life is like death. Oh, Giovanni, I shall perish if you do
not take me away.’
He smiled carelessly. ‘I will come to the window when
it’s dark,’ he said.
‘No, don’t, Giovanni. Not-to-night. Linda and father have
been talking together for a long time today.’
‘What about?’
‘Ramirez, I fancy I heard. I do not know. I am afraid. I
am always afraid. It is like dying a thousand times a day.
Your love is to me like your treasure to you. It is there, but I
can never get enough of it.’
He looked at her very still. She was beautiful. His desire
had grown within him. He had two masters now. But she
was incapable of sustained emotion. She was sincere in what
she said, but she slept placidly at night. When she saw him
she flamed up always. Then only an increased taciturnity
marked the change in her. She was afraid of betraying her-
self. She was afraid of pain, of bodily harm, of sharp words,
of facing anger, and witnessing violence. For her soul was
light and tender with a pagan sincerity in its impulses. She
murmured—
‘Give up the palazzo, Giovanni, and the vineyard on the

0 Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard