Norah made no comment. What was the good of all this talk? ... and, well, she preferred Archie's way of taking a knock. Couldn't Dick spare her this pitiful sight into his soul? Was she cursed to torture her husband and debase her lover?
'You don't seem to see, Norah,' he went on after a glance over his shoulder, 'if he turns us off, we've got food left for one day, for one day, till to-morrow. Then three, four, or five days more we'll suffer the tortures of starvation. About Sunday we'll die.' His voice was out of his control. 'Die, do you understand?' He paused, and his fingers twisted restlessly. 'By Tuesday, in a week's time, Norah, by Tuesday we'll be rotten. Don't you understand?'
'Always the little ray of sunshine,' said Norah.
His hands went up to his head. 'Oh! you must think me a beast to say these things to you, but don't you see, you must go to your husband and get him to ... to stay. He'll listen to you, if you beg him. He can't have the heart. Ask for time anyhow. Plead with him. If you must, promise him...'
'To go back?' Her voice was hard.
Dick averted his eyes. 'Afterwards, things will be different. Anything may happen ... provided we are alive.'
'Dick,' said Norah passionately, 'I may be a rotter and a whore: d'you want to make me a coward too?'
'But don't you see...'
'For Heaven's sake shut up; you're making me hate you!'
When Archie left his camp, he had wandered aimlessly in the forest until he noticed a boulder, and sat down. Below him lay the lake as blue as the Virgin's robe. He could see the mountains of the farther shore, their tops ruled straight by cloud. They reminded him of Table Mountain and his landing with Norah at Cape Town when hope was high.