“Some of the people on the next farm, coming home from church,” said Morrison as the car was passing. “Watch that the wheels don’t catch you. The lane is very narrow.... There!”
He caught hold of her by the waist, drawing her close to him and pressing her very tightly.
“The car was almost running over you,” he said.
“Don’t!” she cried, striving to get free. “Don’t now; it’s not right.”
“The wheel ...” he said in a husky voice. “The lane is so narrow.” He knew that he was telling a lie, but at the same time he felt very pleased with himself. He had dropped the cigarette, which could be seen glowing red on the dark ground. He released the girl, but would have liked to catch her in his arms again. The vehicle went rumbling off into the distance. “It is so very dark, too,” he muttered under his breath.
They walked along together, both busy with their own thoughts, the girl hot and ashamed, but curiously elated; the young man in some way angry with himself for what he had done, but at the same time desirous of clasping Norah again in his arms.
“If I had someone to tell me what to do,” she said under her breath, but knew instinctively that there was no one but herself to determine what action should be pursued in an event like this. Even if advice were proffered to her she knew that it would be useless. Something was driving her to the brink of an unknown which she feared, and from which there was no retreat and no escape.
“You are stumbling,” said Morrison, and again caught hold of her. She had not stumbled; it was a pretext on his part; he merely wanted an excuse to hold her in his arms. She could see his hand on her sleeve and noticed the gold ring sparkling in the darkness.
In man there are two beings, the corporal and the spiritual; one striving after that happiness which ministers to the passion of the individual to the detriment of the race; the other which seeks for happiness according to divine laws, a happiness that is good for all. Yesterday, to-day, ten minutes before, this spiritual being presided over Morrison’s destiny; now as he walked along the crooked lane, a lone wind sighing in the hazel bushes and a few stars out above him, he felt the animal man come and take possession of him. The rustling of Norah’s petticoats as she walked beside him, the slight pressure of her little rough fingers on his large smooth hand filled him with an insatiable animal desire which held him captive.
This was no new experience, and it possessed for him a certain charm which in his saner moments he loathed, but now he could neither conquer nor drive it away.