The kiss beneath the moon lasted a long time. Only after they had finally gone far away did Shade and Miss Lathers reveal themselves.
Miss Lathers watched their retreating figures, while Shade bent down to pick up the two pages on the ground. He carefully folded them and slipped them into his pocket. These two pages would still be very useful to him:
"By the standards of a play or opera, the tension and impact of the final scene were obviously lacking."
Shade commented.
"But real life isn't a performance. An ordinary, peaceful life is life's main theme. I rather like the ending of this story. I just never expected Maggie to have done that sort of thing in Wilundell."
Miss Lathers said as she watched them disappear into the distance.
"Let's go back. Margaret will probably be coming out soon."
Shade said. Miss Lathers nodded, but then suddenly asked:
"Come to think of it, I've been curious since just now. Why did you go to the stables? You said yourself that you arrived there first, and only afterward did Mr. Enriques suddenly appear."
Shade could have used Stone Osenfott to brush off the question, but he did not.
He stopped walking and looked at Miss Lathers's exquisite face beneath the gas lamp:
"I met a Guardian again just now. But not the Guardian's main body—just a Clay Avatar. He told me that something has gone terribly wrong with the Heart of the Earth. Once the banquet is over and we return to the manor, I'll explain it clearly to all of you. Also, the Guardian asked me to give this to you."
He took out the golden pebble:
"If you touch this pebble, you can obtain Earth Power."
When Miss Lathers had tried to help Shade extract the Time