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"I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it."
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Chapter 42 - Page 2
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a€˜God knows,a€™ rejoined the locksmith, a€˜many that I knew above it five years ago, have their beds under the grass now. And the world is a wide place. Ita€™s a hopeless attempt, sir, believe me. We must leave the discovery of this mystery, like all others, to time, and accident, and Heavena€™s pleasure.a€™
a€˜Varden, my good fellow,a€™ said Mr Haredale, a€˜I have a deeper meaning in my present anxiety to find them out, than you can fathom. It is not a mere whim; it is not the casual revival of my old wishes and desires; but an earnest, solemn purpose. My thoughts and dreams all tend to it, and fix it in my mind. I have no rest by day or night; I have no peace or quiet; I am haunted.a€™
His voice was so altered from its usual tones, and his manner bespoke so much emotion, that Gabriel, in his wonder, could only sit and look towards him in the darkness, and fancy the expression of his face.
a€˜Do not ask me,a€™ continued Mr Haredale, a€˜to explain myself. If I were to do so, you would think me the victim of some hideous fancy. It is enough that this is so, and that I cannota€"no, I can nota€"lie quietly in my bed, without doing what will seem to you incomprehensible.a€™
a€˜Since when, sir,a€™ said the locksmith after a pause, a€˜has this uneasy feeling been upon you?a€™
Mr Haredale hesitated for some moments, and then replied: a€˜Since the night of the storm. In short, since the last nineteenth of March.a€™
As though he feared that Varden might express surprise, or reason with him, he hastily went on, a€˜You will think, I know, I labour under some delusion. Perhaps I do. But it is not a morbid one; it is a wholesome action of the mind, reasoning on actual occurrences. You know the furniture remains in Mrs Rudgea€™s house, and that it has been shut up, by my orders, since she went away, save once a-week or so, when an old neighbour visits it to scare away the rats. I am on my way there now.a€™
a€˜For what purpose?a€™ asked the locksmith.
a€˜To pass the night there,a€™ he replied; a€˜and not to-night alone, but many nights. This is a secret which I trust to you in case of any unexpected emergency. You will not come, unless in case of strong necessity, to me; from dusk to broad day I shall be there. Emma, your daughter, and the rest, suppose me out of London, as I have been until within this hour. Do not undeceive them. This is the errand I am bound upon. I know I may confide it to you, and I rely upon your questioning me no more at this
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