He ceases, in his relief, his
present schemes; he has "no need to worry now." Or came to her as
comes a sail to one shipwrecked and adrift, painfully calculating
out his final dregs of food and water. He ceases, at that emblem,
his desperate plans to stretch his days. He's all right now.
It was like that with Rosalie.
While only she had realised her resentment of this baby's claims,
and only now her contrite yielding to them; before she had conjectured
deeply on all the problem thus revealed; there came to her, like
way of escape to one imprisoned, like instantaneous lifting of a
fog to one therein occluded, the thought, "I can give up the work."
Of course she could! At any moment; by a word; by the mere formulation
of the step within her mind, she could abandon her career. Not now.
It was not necessary now. But if or when--she used that phrase, in
set terms propounding her resolution to herself--if or when the
call of her children, of her home, came and was paramount, she
could give up everything and respond to it. Oh, happy! Oh, glad
discharge of her remorse! When the children wanted her she could
just--come back. Field and Company, her career, her successes--what
of them? She had done well in her career, she still would do well.
Let the claim of home and children once come into the scale against
the claim of those ambitions and--she would just come back!
Oh, happy!
"Come back"? Who was it had said something about that, something
about "come back" for a woman, making the expression thus dimly
familiar in her mind? Who? Laetitia? No, Laetitia was always
associated with another phrase: striking because in terms identical
with accusation previously delivered against her.
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