And presently--like a creature that has been sorely wounded--she also crept away, fleeing ashamed by another door, that no one might observe her going.
No, Jake was no fool. He saw only what he chose to see, believed only what he willed to believe. He had been generous to her--ay, generous past all understanding. But he was no fool. He had refused the mute offer of her lips only that morning. Wherefore? Wherefore?
The answer lay in Saltash's mocking words, and all her life she would remember them. The poison plant had borne its bitter fruit indeed, and she had been forced to eat thereof. It burned her now with a cruel intensity, consuming her like a darting flame. But she knew by its very fierceness that it could not last. Very soon her heart--her soul--would all be burnt away; and there would be only dead ashes left--only dead ashes from which no living spark could ever be kindled again.
No, Jake was no fool--no fool! He would not blame her, that was all; because she was a woman.
CHAPTER XXII
THE LOSER
"Why doesn't Maud come back?" said Bunny discontentedly. "It's beastly mean of her to stay away over the holidays."
"You can go to her if you like, my son," said Jake, between whiffs at his pipe.
"Oh, I know. But it isn't the same thing. And besides, I'm not going to leave you alone for Christmas, so there! Say, Jake, I wonder you put up with it. Why shouldn't we go--the two of us--and fetch her back?"
"She's better where she is," said Jake. "And as to my going away, it's out of the question. I'm a fixture--so long as there's anything left to do."