Pagina 283 di 416

Though she did not know it, she expressed the whole fault in her

system. A man reared in a more complex community than a fishing

village would have divined her scheme, and the result would have

been a prolonged but most delightful duel of wits and hearts.

But Code, by the very directness of his honesty, and simplicity

of his nature, cut through the gauzy wrappings of this delectable

package and went straight to its heart. And there he found

nothing, because what little of the deeply genuine there lay in

this woman's restless nature was disguised and shifted at the

will of her caprice.

When Code had experienced the pleasure of lighting a genuine

clear Havana cigar after many months of abstinence, she leaned

across the table to him, her hands clasped before her.

"Code, what does loneliness represent to you?" she asked.