Quotation from: The Arrow of Gold

Written by: Joseph Conrad


"Wait a moment," I said, and jumped up, upsetting my wine to run
upstairs as fast as I could. I lighted the gas, all the three jets
in the middle of the room, the jet by the bedside and two others
flanking the dressing-table. I had been struck by the wild hope of
finding a trace of Rita's passage, a sign or something. I pulled
out all the drawers violently, thinking that perhaps she had hidden
there a scrap of paper, a note. It was perfectly mad. Of course
there was no chance of that. Therese would have seen to it. I
picked up one after another all the various objects on the
dressing-table. On laying my hands on the brushes I had a profound
emotion, and with misty eyes I examined them meticulously with the
new hope of finding one of Rita's tawny hairs entangled amongst the
bristles by a miraculous chance. But Therese would have done away
with that chance, too. There was nothing to be seen, though I held
them up to the light with a beating heart. It was written that not
even that trace of her passage on the earth should remain with me;
not to help but, as it were, to soothe the memory. Then I lighted
a cigarette and came downstairs slowly. My unhappiness became
dulled, as the grief of those who mourn for the dead gets dulled in
the overwhelming sensation that everything is over, that a part of
themselves is lost beyond recall taking with it all the savour of
life.

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Old Dominion University CS Dept
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Created: 2007-2-22T12:35:29Z
Part of the CratePreservation Project
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Part of a series of experiments in web preservation under the direction of Michael L. Nelson, Ph.D.