A. E. W. Mason

Name: The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See
Author: A. E. W. Mason

The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (1902)

Summary

“The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See”, published in 1902, is a work by A. E. W. Mason. It explores elements such as Durrance, Ethne and Harry Feversham.

Quotes from The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (A. E. W. Mason)

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (1902)

“ Ethne looked at him with apprehension.
"Yes?" she replied, and she strove to speak with unconcern. "Will you tell me it?"
Durrance assented, and began in the deliberate voice of a man who has thought out his subject, knows it by heart, and has decided, moreover, the order of words by which it will be most lucidly developed.
"I know what blindness means to all men—a growing, narrowing egotism unless one is perpetually on one's guard. And will one be perpetually on one's guard? Blindness means that to all men," he repeated emphatically. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (1902)

“ Marriage between a man crippled like myself, whose life is done, and a woman like you, active and young, whose life is in its flower, would be quite wrong unless each brought to it much more than friendship. It would be quite wrong if it implied a sacrifice for you."
"It implies no sacrifice," she answered firmly.
Durrance nodded. It was evident that the answer contented him, and Ethne felt that it was the intonation to which he listened rather than the words. His very attitude of concentration showed her that. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (1902)

“ Durrance had lost everything which made life to him worth living the moment he went blind—everything, except one thing. "What should I do if I were crippled?" he had said to Harry Feversham on the morning when for the last time they had ridden together in the Row. "A clever man might put up with it. But what should I do if I had to sit in a chair all my days?" Ethne had not heard the words, but she understood the man well enough without them. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (1902)

“ Or if that was impossible, she must be careful always that by no word let slip in a forgetful moment she betrayed that she had not forgotten.
"No," she said, "two lives shall not be spoilt because of me," and she turned towards Mrs. Adair.
"Are you quite sure, Ethne," said Mrs. Adair, "that the two lives will not be more surely spoilt by this way of yours—the way of marriage? Don't you think that you will come to feel Colonel Durrance, in spite of your will, something of a hindrance and a drag? Isn't it possible that he may come to feel that too? I wonder. I very much wonder." ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (1902)

“ They did no more than shake hands when they had spoken, and Ethne moved back into the room.
"I will give you some tea," she said, "then we can talk."
"Yes, we must have a talk, mustn't we?" Durrance answered seriously. He threw off his serious air, however, and chatted with good humour about the details of his journey home. He even found a subject of amusement in his sense of helplessness during the first days of his blindness; and Ethne's apprehensions rapidly diminished. They had indeed almost vanished from her mind when something in his attitude suddenly brought them back. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (1902)

“ Adair looked at the clock.
"Colonel Durrance is late," she said, and she turned curiously towards Ethne. It seemed to her that Ethne had spoken her "yes" with much more of suspense than eagerness; her attitude as she leaned forward at the window had been almost one of apprehension; and though Mrs. Adair was not quite sure, she fancied that she detected relief when the cab passed by the house and did not stop. "I wonder why you didn't go to the station and meet Colonel Durrance?" she asked slowly. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (1902)

“ She began to wonder whether it would be so easy after all to quiet his suspicions now that he was blind; she began to realise that it might possibly on that very account be all the more difficult.
"Then do you bring more than friendship?" he asked suddenly. "You will be very honest, I know. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (1902)

“ She had not heard his conversation with Calder in Cairo. She did not know that he believed there was no cure which could restore him to sight. She had no remotest notion that the possibility of a remedy might be a mere excuse. ”

A. E. W. Mason

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Quotes from The Four Feathers — XIII: Durrance Begins to See (A. E. W. Mason)

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