DOI article:
D'Arcy, Ella: The web of Maya
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27806#0298
294 The Web of Maya
for drink. Lily Le Mesurier, on the other hand, was spoken of
as the sweetest, the most long-suffering of God’s creatures, a
martyred angel, against whom, though she was young and pretty,
no worse fault could be alleged than that she was “ clever ” and
read “ deep ” books. A most devoted mother, it was only when
she at last realised that she must not expose her child to the daily
degradation of his father’s example, that she had finally deter-
mined upon a step so inexpressibly painful to her feelings as a
separation.
A few men shrugged their shoulders ; said they should like to
hear Le Mesurier’s side of the story ; but knew they would never
hear it, as he was much too proud to stoop to self-excusings.
The Seigneur of Saint Maclou was among those whose sym-
pathies went with Le Mesurier. They had a club acquaintance-
ship in Jersey. He welcomed him to Saint Maclou ; converted
the “ Barracks,” as the cottages on Le Tas were called, into a
single house, more or less convenient ; and hoped that during
the short time Le Mesurier would probably remain on the island,
he would come often to the Seigneurie.
The young man thanked him, sent over a little furniture, came
himself, with his guns and his fishing tackle, and took up his
residence in the Barracks. But he went very seldom to the
Seigneurie, where he ran the risk of meeting visitors from Jersey ;
and when this had happened a second time, he went there no more.
And he stayed on at Le Tas long after the reason he had given
for his presence—that he had come for a holiday, to sketch, to
shoot, to fish—had ceased to find credence. He stayed on
through the autumn, through the winter, through the spring ; he
neither fished, nor shot, nor painted ; he held no intercourse with
anyone ; he lived entirely alone. The only person with whom
he ever exchanged a word was Monsieur Chauchat, the French
pastor.
for drink. Lily Le Mesurier, on the other hand, was spoken of
as the sweetest, the most long-suffering of God’s creatures, a
martyred angel, against whom, though she was young and pretty,
no worse fault could be alleged than that she was “ clever ” and
read “ deep ” books. A most devoted mother, it was only when
she at last realised that she must not expose her child to the daily
degradation of his father’s example, that she had finally deter-
mined upon a step so inexpressibly painful to her feelings as a
separation.
A few men shrugged their shoulders ; said they should like to
hear Le Mesurier’s side of the story ; but knew they would never
hear it, as he was much too proud to stoop to self-excusings.
The Seigneur of Saint Maclou was among those whose sym-
pathies went with Le Mesurier. They had a club acquaintance-
ship in Jersey. He welcomed him to Saint Maclou ; converted
the “ Barracks,” as the cottages on Le Tas were called, into a
single house, more or less convenient ; and hoped that during
the short time Le Mesurier would probably remain on the island,
he would come often to the Seigneurie.
The young man thanked him, sent over a little furniture, came
himself, with his guns and his fishing tackle, and took up his
residence in the Barracks. But he went very seldom to the
Seigneurie, where he ran the risk of meeting visitors from Jersey ;
and when this had happened a second time, he went there no more.
And he stayed on at Le Tas long after the reason he had given
for his presence—that he had come for a holiday, to sketch, to
shoot, to fish—had ceased to find credence. He stayed on
through the autumn, through the winter, through the spring ; he
neither fished, nor shot, nor painted ; he held no intercourse with
anyone ; he lived entirely alone. The only person with whom
he ever exchanged a word was Monsieur Chauchat, the French
pastor.