The Inverted House
the wondrous Liane, in the green halls of soft fragrance. Until far into the night he still sat immobile by the door, like a statue, like a mummy, like a tree that had ceased to live.
The following few days were like a hideous dream. Ras Orla roamed about the island in a daze, like a man whose soul has been burned out. He neither ate nor slept although there were periods that verged on unconsciousness, periods of delirium when he imagined Liane was calling to him. Old Mee Num followed him about the island, keeping at sufficient distance so as not to intrude but at the same time watching him faithfully. He was very sad. He hated a story with an unhappy ending whether in a book or in life. At last he summoned up sufficient courage to speak to Ras Orla.
"Why continue to suffer?" he asked. "Why do you not go once more to the Inverted House?"
At the words of Mee Num, Ras Orla seemed to arouse from his lethargy. Why should he not? He had nothing to lose if he were turned away from the house. For having lost Liane, no other catastrophe could matter. So he returned to Canton, to the strange house in the neglected garden. Yuan Shi Kai greeted him with a warmth that was too sincere to have been assumed.
"I am glad you have come back," he murmured, "for Liane has been pining for you even as on the island she pined for her flowers. You must never leave
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