'Why don't you jump?' whispered Mrs Danvers.
'Why don't you try?'
The fog came thicker than before and the terrace was hidden from me.
I could not see the flower tubs any more, nor the smooth paved stones.
There was nothing but the white mist about me, smelling of seaweed dank and chill.
The only reality was the window-sill beneath my hands and the grip of Mrs Danvers on my left arm.
If I jumped I should not see the stones rise up to meet me, the fog would hide them from me.
The pain would be sharp and sudden as she said.
The fall would break my neck.
It would not be slow, like drowning.
It would soon be over.
And Maxim did not love me.
Maxim wanted to be alone again, with Rebecca.
'Go on,' whispered Mrs Danvers.
'Go on, don't be afraid.'
I shut my eyes.
I was giddy from staring down at the terrace, and my fingers ached from holding to the ledge.
The mist entered my nostrils and lay upon my lips rank and sour.
It was stifling, like a blanket, like an anaesthetic.
I was beginning to forget about being unhappy, and about loving Maxim.
I was beginning to forget Rebecca.
Soon I would not have to think about Rebecca any more…
As I relaxed my hands and sighed, the white mist and the silence that was part of it was shattered suddenly, was rent in two by an explosion that shook the window where we stood.
The glass shivered in its frame.
I opened my eyes.
I stared at Mrs Danvers.
The burst was followed by another, and yet a third and fourth.
The sound of the explosions stung the air and the birds rose unseen from the woods around the house and made an echo with their clamour.
'What is it?' I said stupidly.
'What has happened?'
Mrs Danvers relaxed her grip upon my arm.
She stared out of the window into the fog.
'It's the rockets,' she said; 'there must be a ship gone ashore there in the bay.'
We listened, staring into the white fog together.
And then we heard the sound of footsteps running on the terrace beneath us.
Chapter nineteen
It was Maxim.
I could not see him but I could hear his voice.
He was shouting for Frith as he ran.
I heard Frith answer from the hall and come out on the terrace.
Their figures loomed out of the mist beneath us.
'She's ashore all right,' said Maxim.
'I was watching her from the headland and I saw her come right into the bay, and head for the reef.
They'll never shift her, not with these tides.
She must have mistaken the bay for Kerrith harbour.
It's like a wall out there, in the bay.
Tell them in the house to stand by with food and drink in case these fellows want anything, and ring through to the office to Mr Crawley and tell him what's happened.
I'm going back to the cove to see if I can do anything.
Get me some cigarettes, will you?'
Mrs Danvers drew back from the window.