"
Wingrave gave vent to a little gesture of annoyance.
"My dear sir," he said, "surely I have been explicit enough. I have
told you that, within a week from now, I shall be practically dead. I
shall never return to England--you will never see me again. I have
given life here a fair trial, and found it a failure. I am going to
make a new experiment--and it is going to be in an unexplored country.
You could not reach me there through the post. You, I think, would
scarcely care to follow me. Let it go at that."
Mr. Pengarth took up his bag with a sigh.
"Sir Wingrave," he said, "I am a simple man, and life with me has
always been a very simple affair. I recognize the fact, of course,
that I am not in a position to judge or to understand the mental
attitude of one who, like yourself, has suffered and passed through
great crises. But I cannot help wishing that you could find it
possible to try, for a time, the quiet life of a countryman in this
beautiful home of yours."
Wingrave shrugged his shoulders.
"Mr. Pengarth," he said, "no two men are born alike into this world.
Some are blessed with a contented mind, some are wanderers by destiny.
You will forgive me if I do not discuss the matter with you more
fully. My journey, wherever and whatever it is, is inevitable."
Mr. Pengarth was braver than he had ever been in his life.
"Sir Wingrave," he said, "there is one journey which we must all take
in God's good time.
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