So it happened next morning that the
park-keeper, coming at his usual hour to unlock the gates, found a
man and a woman inside with their white faces pressed against the
railings, through which they glared like caged beasts. He set them
free, and they ran out, for his paradise was too big.
Now, facing west, they tramped for two days on the Bath road, leaving
the fog behind them, and drew near Reading. It was a clear night as
they approached it, and the sky studded with stars that twinkled
frostily. Eleven o'clock sounded from a tower ahead. On the
outskirts of the town they were passing an ugly modern villa with a
large garden before it, when an old gentleman came briskly up the
road and turned in at the gate.
Adam swung round on his heel and followed him up the path, begging.
Eve hung by the gate.
"No," said the old gentleman, fitting his latchkey into the door,
"I have no work to offer. Eh?--Is that your wife by the gate?
Hungry?"
Adam whispered a lie in his ear.
"Poor woman, and to be on the road, in such a state, at this hour!
Well, you shall share my supper before you search for a lodging.
Come inside," he called out to Eve, "and be careful of the step.
It's a high one."
He led them in, past the ground-floor rooms and up a flight of
stairs. After pausing on the landing and waiting a long time for Eve
to take breath, he began to ascend another flight.
"Are we going to have supper on the leads?" Adam wondered.
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