16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
Without the least hesitation Joselito took the
right-hand path, and Stephen was glad of it.
He respected the Dominicans' austere way of
life, but he knew just how far Spanish piety
could go and he had no wish to share their
severity tonight. 'It would not have seemed so
far, if I had not been so long at sea,' he said
aloud. 'But as it is, I am destroyed entirely.
What a delight to think of a good supper, a
glass of wine and a warm bed.' The mule
caught his cheerfulness if not his literal meaning
and pressed on with renewed energy.
It was still only twilight, but darkening fast,
when they came to the convent. Outside the
grey wall, before the gate, a tall solitary figure
was pacing to and fro, and the mule ran the
last hundred yards or so, uttering a feeble
hoarse noise – he could utter no more – and
nuzzled the Vicar-General's shoulder. Father
O'Higgins' particularly Irish clerical face, hu-