Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
conduct, with its conscious and subconscious intentions. There must be an end now of this silent reserve, of that air of impenetrability behind which he
had been safeguarding his dignity. It was the least
ignoble form of dissembling forced upon him by that
parody of civilized institutions which offended his intelligence, his uprightness, and his sense of right. He
was like his father. He had no ironic eye. He was
not amused at the absurdities that prevail in this
world. They hurt him in his innate gravity. He felt
that the miserable death of that poor Decoud took
from him his inaccessible position of a force in the
background. It committed him openly unless he
wished to throw up the game; and that was impossible. The material interests required from him the
sacrifice of his aloofness-perhaps his own safety, too.
And he reflected that Decoud's separationist plan had
not gone to the bottom with the lost silver.
The only thing that was not changed was his position towards Mr. Holroyd. The head of the silver and steel interests had entered into Costaguana affairs with a sort of passion. Costaguana had become necessary to his existence; in the San Tomé mine he had found the imaginative satisfaction which other minds would get from draina, from art, or from a risky and fascinating sport. It was a special form of the great man's extravagance, sanctioned by a moral intention big enough to flatter his vanity. Even in this aberration of his genius he served the progress of the world. Charles Gould felt sure of being understood with precision and judged with the indulgence of their common passion. Nothing now could surprise or startle his
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