Page 614 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

rious and shameless innocence with kisses of pity and love.
And suddenly they became empty, gazing blankly at her, ex-
cept for a little fear not quite buried deep enough with all
the other emotions in Giselle’s heart.
Linda said, ‘Ramirez is boasting in town that he will car-
ry you off from the island.’
‘What folly!’ answered the other, and in a perversity born
of long restraint, she added: ‘He is not the man,’ in a jesting
tone with a trembling audacity.
‘No?’ said Linda, through her clenched teeth. ‘Is he not?
Well, then, look to it; because father has been walking about
with a loaded gun at night.’
‘It is not good for him. You must tell him not to, Linda.
He will not listen to me.’
‘I shall say nothing—never any more—to anybody,’ cried
Linda, passionately.
This could not last, thought Giselle. Giovanni must take
her away soon—the very next time he came. She would not
suffer these terrors for ever so much silver. To speak with
her sister made her ill. But she was not uneasy at her father’s
watchfulness. She had begged Nostromo not to come to the
window that night. He had promised to keep away for this
once. And she did not know, could not guess or imagine,
that he had another reason for coming on the island.
Linda had gone straight to the tower. It was time to light
up. She unlocked the little door, and went heavily up the spi-
ral staircase, carrying her love for the magnificent Capataz
de Cargadores like an ever-increasing load of shameful fet-
ters. No; she could not throw it off. No; let Heaven dispose

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