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At

this

psychological

moment

,

as

the

afternoon

sun

was

already

beginning

to

wane

in

the

tall

,

narrow

courtroom

,

and

as

carefully

planned

by

him

beforehand

,

Mason

's

reading

all

of

Roberta

's

letters

,

one

by

one

,

in

a

most

simple

and

nondeclamatory

fashion

,

yet

with

all

the

sympathy

and

emotion

which

their

first

perusal

had

stirred

in

him

.

They

had

made

him

cry

.

He

began

with

letter

number

one

,

dated

June

eighth

,

only

three

days

after

her

departure

from

Lycurgus

,

and

on

through

them

all

down

to

letters

fourteen

,

fifteen

,

sixteen

and

seventeen

,

in

which

,

in

piecemeal

or

by

important

references

here

and

there

,

she

related

her

whole

contact

with

Clyde

down

to

his

plan

to

come

for

her

in

three

weeks

,

then

in

a

month

,

then

on

July

eighth

or

ninth

,

and

then

the

sudden

threat

from

her

which

precipitated

his

sudden

decision

to

meet

her

at

Fonda

.

And

as

Mason

read

them

,

all

most

movingly

,

the

moist

eyes

and

the

handkerchiefs

and

the

coughs

in

the

audience

and

among

the

jurors

attested

their

import

:

"

You

said

I

was

not

to

worry

or

think

so

much

about

how

I

feel

,

and

have

a

good

time

.

That

's

all

right

for

you

to

say

,

when

you

're

in

Lycurgus

and

surrounded

by

your

friends

and

invited

everywhere

.

Отключить рекламу

It

's

hard

for

me

to

talk

over

there

at

Wilcox

's

with

somebody

always

in

earshot

and

with

you

constantly

reminding

me

that

I

must

n't

say

this

or

that

.

But

I

had

so

much

to

ask

and

no

chance

there

.

And

all

that

you

would

say

was

that

everything

was

all

right

.

But

you

did

n't

say

positively

that

you

were

coming

on

the

27th

,

that

because

of

something

I

could

n't

quite

make

out

--

there

was

so

much

buzzing

on

the

wire

--

you

might

not

be

able

to

start

until

later

.

But

that

ca

n't

be

,

Clyde

.

My

parents

are

leaving

for

Hamilton

where

my

uncle

lives

on

the

third

.

And

Tom

and

Emily

are

going

to

my

sister

's

on

the

same

day

.

But

I

ca

n't

and

wo

n't

go

there

again

.

I

ca

n't

stay

here

all

alone

.

So

you

must

,

you

really

must

come

,

as

you

agreed

.

I

ca

n't

wait

any

longer

than

that

,

Clyde

,

in

the

condition

that

I

'm

in

,

and

so

you

just

must

come

and

take

me

away

.

Oh

,

please

,

please

,

I

beg

of

you

,

not

to

torture

me

with

any

more

delays

now

.

"

And

again

:

"

Clyde

,

I

came

home

because

I

thought

I

could

trust

you

.

You

told

me

so

solemnly

before

I

left

that

if

I

would

,

you

would

come

and

get

me

in

three

weeks

at

the

most

--

that

it

would

not

take

you

longer

than

that

to

get

ready

,

have

enough

money

for

the

time

we

would

be

together

,

or

until

you

could

get

something

to

do

somewhere

else

.

But

yesterday

,

although

the

third

of

July

will

be

nearly

a

month

since

I

left

,

you

were

not

at

all

sure

at

first

that

you

could

come

by

then

,

and

when

as

I

told

you

my

parents

are

surely

leaving

for

Hamilton

to

be

gone

for

ten

days

.

Of

course

,

afterwards

,

you

said

you

would

come

,

but

you

said

it

as

though

you

were

just

trying

to

quiet

me

.

It

has

been

troubling

me

awfully

ever

since

.

Отключить рекламу

"

For

I

tell

you

,

Clyde

,

I

am

sick

,

very

.

I

feel

faint

nearly

all

the

time

.

And

besides

,

I

am

so

worried

as

to

what

I

shall

do

if

you

do

n't

come

that

I

am

nearly

out

of

my

mind

.

"

"

Clyde

,

I

know

that

you

do

n't

care

for

me

any

more

like

you

did

and

that

you

are

wishing

things

could

be

different

.

And

yet

,

what

am

I

to

do

?

I

know

you

'll

say

that

it

has

all

been

as

much

my

fault

as

yours

.

And

the

world

,

if

it

knew

,

might

think

so

,

too

.

But

how

often

did

I

beg

you

not

to

make

me

do

what

I

did

not

want

to

do

,

and

which

I

was

afraid

even

then

I

would

regret

,

although

I

loved

you

too

much

to

let

you

go

,

if

you

still

insisted

on

having

your

way

.

"

"

Clyde

,

if

I

could

only

die

.

That

would

solve

all

this

.

And

I

have

prayed

and

prayed

that

I

would

lately

,

yes

I

have

.

For

life

does

not

mean

as

much

to

me

now

as

when

I

first

met

you

and

you

loved

me

.

Oh

,

those

happy

days

!

If

only

things

were

different

.

If

only

I

were

out

of

your

way

.

It

would

all

be

so

much

better

for

me

and

for

all

of

us

.

But

I

ca

n't

now

,

Clyde

,

without

a

penny

and

no

way

to

save

the

name

of

our

child

,

except

this

.

Yet

if

it

were

n't

for

the

terrible

pain

and

disgrace

it

would

bring

to

my

mother

and

father

and

all

my

family

,

I

would

be

willing

to

end

it

all

in

another

way

.

I

truly

would

.

"

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