He dared not see her. He could not have concealed his anxiety and his trouble from her.
As the hours wore on and the time drew near when he would know the result of Preene’s attempt, he was like a madman. A feeling such as he had never known before came upon him. The room was too small for him. He flung the windows open, and still the big drops of perspiration came upon his face.
Gradually the excitement wore itself out and he became calmer. He passed from one extreme to the other. He sat in the arm-chair near the window, pale, calm, and motionless. It was the calmness of despair. He felt sure now that Preene would fail, and fail in such a way that Heckett would be converted into a deadly enemy. He wondered what he should do if Heckett grew reckless and turned informer. Should he run away, or should he shoot himself? Oh, the gold! the cursed gold! What was the weight of all those precious bars to the weight lying on his heart now?
He remembered strange things as he sat there thinking. He remembered that when he was a lad his mother read bits out of the Bible to him and sang him children’s hymns. He remembered something about conscience and the evil-doer, and he remembered there was a passage in the Bible about the way of transgressors being hard.
He was not repenting his evil deeds yet; they were only revenging themselves on him. He was only just beginning to find out that a man can’t put his sins behind his back, be good and live happy ever after, just when he takes it into his head. He had thought in winning Ruth’s love once more he was winning happiness, and the greatest misery he had ever known in his life had come upon him now he was her affianced husband.
The striking of the clock upon his mantelpiece broke in upon his reverie, One! two! three! four! five! six! seven! eight!
The hour had come!
He rose to his feet and listened for the sounds in the street.
The clock ticked away the seconds and still no Preene.
Five minutes past! ten minutes past! a quarter! At the quarter a sound. Footsteps coming hurriedly along the front path. He rushed into the hall and opened the door.