A. E. W. Mason

Name: The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs. Adair Makes Her Apology
Author: A. E. W. Mason

The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

Summary

“The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs. Adair Makes Her Apology”, published in 1902, is a work by A. E. W. Mason. It explores elements such as Ethne, Durrance and Adair.

Quotes from The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (A. E. W. Mason)

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ Adair had to walk fast to keep up with him. That quickening of the pace was a sort of answer, but Mrs. Adair was not deterred by it. Her madness had taken hold of her.
"I do not think I would have minded so much," she continued, "if Ethne had really cared for you; but she never cared more than as a friend cares, just a mere friend. And what's friendship worth?" she asked scornfully.
"Something, surely," said Durrance.
"It does not prevent Ethne from shrinking from her friend," cried Mrs. Adair. "She shrinks from you. Shall I tell you why? Because you are blind. She is afraid. ”

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A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ Adair went from her. She recognised the futility of all that she had said, of her boastings of courage, of her detractions of Ethne. Her words might be true or not, they could achieve nothing. Durrance was always in the room with Ethne, never upon the terrace with Mrs. Adair. She became conscious of her degradation, and she fell to excuses.
"I am a bad woman, I suppose. But after all, I have not had the happiest of lives. Perhaps there is something to be said for me." It sounded pitiful and weak, even in her ears; but they had reached the stile, and Durrance had turned towards her. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ Mrs. Adair stood by that stile for a long while after he had gone. She had shot her bolt and hit no one but herself and the man for whom she cared.
She realised that distinctly. She looked forward a little, too, and she understood that if Durrance did not, after all, keep Ethne to her promise and marry her and go with her to her country, he would come back to Guessens. That reflection showed Mrs. Adair yet more clearly the folly of her outcry. If she had only kept silence, she would have had a very true and constant friend for her neighbour, and that would have been something. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ But you see—Ethne came, too, and you turned to her. At once—oh, at once! If you had only been a little less quick to turn to her! In a very short while I was sad and sorry that you had ever come into my life."
"I knew nothing of this," said Durrance. "I never suspected. I am sorry."
"I took care you should not suspect," said Mrs. Adair. "But I tried to keep you; with all my wits I tried. No match-maker in the world ever worked so hard to bring two people together as I did to bring together Ethne and Mr. Feversham, and I succeeded."
The statement came upon Durrance with a shock. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ I wanted to hurt you. I am a bad, bad woman, I suppose. There were you and she in the room talking together in the darkness; there was I alone upon the terrace. It was the same again to-day. You and Ethne in the room, I alone upon the terrace. I wonder whether it will always be so. But you will not say—you will not say." She struck her hands together with a gesture of despair, but Durrance had no words for her. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ Adair, and left Ethne standing upon the terrace. The last scene of pretence had been acted out, the months of tension and surveillance had come to an end, and both were thankful for their release. Durrance showed that he was glad even in the briskness of his walk, as he crossed the lawn at Mrs. Adair's side. She, however, lagged, and when she spoke it was in a despondent voice.
"So you are going," she said. "In two days' time you will be at Wiesbaden and Ethne at Glenalla. We shall all be scattered. It will be lonely here." ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ Do you know the little back streets in a manufacturing town? Rows of small houses, side by side, with nothing to relieve them of their ugly regularity, each with the self-same windows, the self-same door, the self-same door-step. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ The sort of street whence any crazy religious charlatan who can promise a little colour to their grey lives can get as many votaries as he wants. Well, when I thought over my life, one of those little streets always came into my mind. There are women, heaps of them, no doubt, to whom the management of a big house, the season in London, the ordinary round of visits, are sufficient. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ But it was still, of course, denied to me. However, in spite of that I felt happier. I thought that I should be quite content to have you for a friend, to watch your progress, and to feel pride in it. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXIII: Mrs… (1902)

“ She had had her way; she had separated Ethne and Durrance for a time at all events; she was no longer to be tortured by the sight of them and the sound of their voices; but somehow her interference had brought her little satisfaction. "The house will seem very empty after you are all gone," she said; and she turned at Durrance's side and walked down with him into the garden.
"We shall come back, no doubt," said Durrance, reassuringly.
Mrs. Adair looked about her garden. The flowers were gone, and the sunlight ”

A. E. W. Mason

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