第27章 Gild at the Gate

Gild came to the yard at two in the morning on the ninety-fifth day, and he came with the mud on his boots, and he came to the gate, and he did not come in, and he sat on the wheel, and Kessin woke in the room at the back and heard the wheel, and she put on her boots, and she went out to the yard, and he was on the wheel, and he did not look at her. "He is back," she said. "He is back," said Gild. "He is back," said Kessin, and she sat on the wheel beside him, and the yard was quiet, and the vapour was coming up off the grass, and the moon was over the hedge, and the road went out of the yard and under the hedge and to the bridge at Gillanwick, and the road was dark, and the road was mud. "Have you stayed," said Kessin. "I have stayed," said Gild. "Where," said Kessin. "At the old farm," said Gild. "At the old farm," said Kessin. "With the Trellicks." "With the Trellicks," said Gild. "They have a fence, and the fence needs watching, and the fence needs watching at night, and the night is the night." "The night is the night," said Kessin. "I will come back to the hall at two," said Gild. "And I will walk the road at four, and I will come back at seven, and I will eat the bread, and I will drink the coffee, and I will not say where I was." "I will not ask," said Kessin. "I will not say," said Gild. "He has a card," said Kessin. "The card is on the board." "The card is on the board," said Gild. "The card is blank," said Kessin. "The card is blank," said Gild. "I will not write on it," said Kessin. "Then the card will be blank," said Gild. "Then the card will be blank," said Kessin. At four he got up and he took his hat and he put it on, and he stood at the foot of the wheel, and he looked at the road, and he did not say anything, and Kessin stood at the foot of the yard wall with the ledger, and the lamp was on the table inside, and the vapour was coming up off the grass, and the road was dark, and the moon was over the hedge. "At four," said Kessin. "At four," said Gild. Kessin stood at the foot of the yard wall with the ledger, and she held the pen, and she did not write anything, because there was nothing to write that did not come from asking, and asking was the wrong thing, and she put the pen in the cup, and she watched him go, and the yard was quiet, and the vapour came up off the grass in low sheets, and the donkey slept at the gate with his head on his front knees. Peth came out to the yard at half five, because the boy had been sitting at the hall table with the lamp and the book the miller had given him, and he had been reading, and then he had looked at the road, and the road had been empty, and he had gone out, and he had walked to the end of the lane, and he had stood at the first corner, and he had watched the road, and he had come back, and he had told Kessin what he had seen, and what he had seen was nothing. "I have watched the road," said Peth. "I have watched the road," said Kessin. "The road is dark," said Peth. "The road is dark," said Kessin. "The road is mud," said Peth. "The road is mud," said Kessin. "Then the road is the road," said Peth. "Then the road is the road," said Kessin. He walked the road, and he walked the road to the crossing and the road to the bridge, and he walked the road back to the yard, and he came back at seven, and he sat on the wheel, and he put his hat on the wheel, and Kessin came out to the yard, and the vapour was gone, and the grass was wet, and the road was clear, and the hedge stood under the moon, and the road was the road. "Did you see anything," said Kessin. "I saw the road," said Gild. "Did you see anything on the road," said Kessin. "I saw the road and the mud and the hedge and the crossing and the bridge," said Gild. "And I saw nothing else, because there was nothing else." "There was nothing else," said Kessin. "There was nothing else," said Gild. "And that is the watch." "That is the watch," said Kessin. "Turrel," said Kessin. "Turrel, the watch is here." Turrel came out from the kitchen with the lamp and the cloth and a pot of coffee, and she looked at Gild on the wheel, and she said, "He is here." "He is here," said Kessin. "He is here," said Turrel. "And he will stay." "He will stay," said Kessin. "He will stay," said Turrel. "And the hall will have the watch." "Then the hall will have the watch," said Kessin. Gild got up at half eight, and he put his hat on, and he went in to the hall, and he sat at the table, and Kessin put the bread on the table, and Turrel put the coffee on, and he ate the bread, and he drank the coffee, and he did not say anything, and the boy came in at eight with his case and he sat down across from him, and he ate the bread, and he drank the coffee, and he did not speak, and neither of them spoke to the other. "I have met the Trellicks," said Peth, to no one. "I have met the Trellicks," said Kessin. "The Trellicks have a fence," said Peth. "The Trellicks have a fence," said Kessin. "And the fence needs watching," said Peth. "The fence needs watching," said Kessin. "And the watch is the watch," said Peth. "The watch is the watch," said Kessin. Gild stood up and he put his hat on and he went out through the gate, and the gate opened and closed behind him, and the sound of it went out into the lane, and the vapour was off the grass, and the moon was going down behind the mill, and the road was dark, and the yard was the yard, and the board had twelve cards on it, and the tenth was white, and the hall had the watch. "She did not ask him," said Peth, at the table, with the lamp going low. "She did not ask him," said Kessin. "And he did not say," said Peth. "He did not say," said Kessin. "Then the hall has the watch," said Peth. "Then the hall has the watch," said Kessin. "And the watch has the road," said Peth. "The watch has the road," said Kessin. "And the road has the hall," said Peth. "The road has the hall," said Kessin. Turrel put the cup on the table and took the cloth from her apron, and she wiped the wood, and the lamp went out at ten, and the donkey slept at the gate, and the yard was quiet, and the night was long, and the road went away down the hill. ---