Nostromo - A Tale of the Seaboard.pdf - Planet eBook

CHAPTER THIRTEENON THE day Mrs. Gould was going, in Dr. Monygham’swords, to ‘give a tertulia,’ Captain Fidanza went downthe side of his schooner lying in Sulaco harbour, calm, unbending,deliberate in the way he sat down in his dinghyand took up his sculls. He was later than usual. The afternoonwas well advanced before he landed on the beach ofthe Great Isabel, and with a steady pace climbed the slopeof the island.From a distance he made out Giselle sitting in a chairtilted back against the end of the house, under the windowof the girl’s room. She had her embroidery in her hands, andheld it well up to her eyes. The tranquillity of that girlish figureexasperated the feeling of perpetual struggle and strifehe carried in his breast. He became angry. It seemed to himthat she ought to hear the clanking of his fetters—his silverfetters, from afar. And while ashore that day, he had met thedoctor with the evil eye, who had looked at him very hard.The raising of her eyes mollified him. They smiled intheir flower-like freshness straight upon his heart. Then shefrowned. It was a warning to be cautious. He stopped somedistance away, and in a loud, indifferent tone, said—‘Good day, Giselle. Is Linda up yet?’‘Yes. She is in the big room with father.’He approached then, and, looking through the window