It was long after midnight when Mrs. Sewell reached the Priory. She
dismissed her cab at the gate lodge, and was slowly walking up the
avenue when Sewell met her.
“I was beginning to think you did n't mean to come back at all,” cried
he, in a voice of mingled taunt and irritation,--“it is close on one
o'clock.”
“He had dined in town, and I had to wait till he returned,” said she, in
a low, faint tone.
“You saw him, however?”
“Yes, we met at the station.”
“Well, what success?”
“He gave me some money,--he promised me more.”
“How much has he given you?” cried he, eagerly.
“Two hundred, I think; at least I thought he said there was two
hundred,--he gave me his pocket-book. Let me reach the house, and have a
glass of water before you question me more. I am tired,--very tired.”
“You seem weak, too; have you eaten nothing?”
“No, nothing.”
“There is some supper on the table. We have had guests here. Old
Lendrick and his daughter came up with Beattie. They are not above half
an hour gone. They thought to see the old man, but Beattie found him so
excited and irritable he advised them to defer the visit.”
“Did you see them?”
“Yes; I passed the evening with them most amicably. The girl is
wonderfully good-looking; and she has got rid of that shy, half-furtive
way she had formerly, and looks at one steadfastly, and with such a pair
of eyes too! I had no notion she was so beautiful.”
“Were they cordial in manner,--friendly?”
“I suppose they were. Dr. Lendrick was embarrassed and timid, and with
that fidgety uneasiness as if he wanted to be anywhere else than where
he was; but she was affable enough,--asked affectionately about you and
the children, and hoped to see you to-morrow.”
She made no reply, but, hastening her steps, walked on till she entered
the house, when, passing into a small room off the hall, she threw off
her bonnet, and, with a deep-drawn sigh, said, “I am dead tired; get me
some water.”
“You had better have wine.”
“No, water. I am feverish. My head is throbbing painfully.”
“You want food and support. Come into the dining-room and eat something.
I 'll keep you company, too, for I could n't eat while those people
were here. I felt, all the time, that they had come to turn us out; and,
indeed, Beat-tie, with a delicate tact quite his own, half avowed it, as
he said, 'It is a pity there is not light enough for you to see your
old flower-garden, Lucy, for I know you are impatient to be back in it
again.'”
“I 'll try and eat something,” said Mrs. Sewell, rising, and with weary
steps moving into the dining-room.
Sewell placed a chair for her at the table, helped her, and filled her
glass, and, telling the servant that he need not wait, sat down opposite
her. “From what Beattie said I gather,” said he, “that the Chief is
out of danger, the crisis of the attack is over, and he has only to be
cautious to come through. Is n't it like our luck?”
“Hush!--take care.”
“No fear. They can't hear even when they try; these double doors puzzle
them. You are not eating.”
“I cannot eat; give me another glass of wine.”
“Yes, that will do you good; it's the old thirty-four. I took it out in
honor of Lendrick, but he is a water-drinker. I 'm sure I wish Beattie
were. I grudged the rascal every glass of that glorious claret which he
threw down with such gusto, telling me the while that it was infinitely
finer than when he last tasted it.”
“I feel better now, but I want rest and sleep. You can wait for all I
have to tell you till to-morrow,--can't you?”
“If I must, there 's no help for it; but considering that my whole
future in a measure hangs upon it, I 'd rather hear it now.”
“I am well nigh worn out,” said she, plaintively; and she held out her
glass to be filled once more; “but I 'll try and tell you.”
Supporting her head on both her hands, and with her eyes half closed,
she went on in a low monotonous tone, like that of one reading from
a book: “We met at the station, and had but a few minutes to confer
together. I told him I had been at his house; that I came to see him,
and ask his assistance; that you had got into trouble, and would have to
leave the country, and were without means to go. He seemed, I thought,
to be aware of all this, and asked me, 'Was it only now that I had
learned or knew of this necessity?' He also asked if it were at your
instance, and by your wish, that I had come to him? I said, Yes; you had
sent me.” Sewell started as if something sharp had pierced him, and she
went on: “There was nothing for it but the truth; and, besides, I know
him well, and if he had once detected me in an attempt to deceive him,
he would not have forgiven it. He then said, 'It is not to the wife I
will speak harshly of the husband, but what assurance have I that he
will go out of the country?' I said, 'You had no choice between that and
jail. 'He nodded assent, and muttered, 'A jail--and worse; and _you_,'
said he, 'what is to become of you?' I told him 'I did not know; that
perhaps Lady Lendrick would take me and the children.'”
“He did not offer you a home with himself?” said Sewell, with a
diabolical grin.
“No,” said she, calmly; “but he objected to our being separated. He said
that it was to sacrifice our children, and we had no right to do this;
and that, come what might, we ought to live together. He spoke much on
this, and asked me more than once if our hard-bought experiences had not
taught us to be more patient, more forgiving towards each other.”
“I hope you told him that I was a miracle of tolerance, and that I bore
with a saintly submission what more irritable mortals were wont to go
half mad about,--did you tell him this?”
“Yes; I said you had a very practical way of dealing with life, and
never resented an unprofitable insult.”
“How safe a man's honor always is in a good wife's keeping!” said
he, with a savage laugh. “I hope your candor encouraged him to more
frankness; he must have felt at ease after that?”
“Still he persisted in saying there must be no separation.”
“That was hard upon you; did you not tell him that was hard upon _you?_”
“No; I avoided mixing myself up in the discussion. I had come to treat
for you, and you alone.”
“But you might have said that he had no right to impose upon you a life
of--what shall I call it?--incompatibility or cruelty.”
“I did not; I told him I would repeat to you whatever he told me as
nearly as I could. He then said: 'Go abroad and live together in some
cheap place, where you can find means to educate the children. I,' said
he, 'will take the cost of that, and allow you five hundred a year for
your own expenses. If I am satisfied with your husband's conduct, and
well assured of his reformation, I will increase this allowance. '”
“He said nothing about you nor _your_ reformation,--did he?”
“Not a word.”
“How much will he make it if we separate?”
“He did not say. Indeed, he seemed to make our living together the
condition of aiding us.”
“And if he knew of anything harder or harsher he 'd have added it. Why,
he has gone about the world these dozen years back telling every one
what a brute and blackguard you had for a husband; that, short of
murder, I had gone through every crime towards you. Where was it I beat
you with a hunting-whip?”
“At Rangoon,” said she, calmly.
“And where did I turn you into the streets at midnight?”
“At Winchester.”
“Exactly; these were the very lies--the infernal lies--he has been
circulating for years; and now he says, 'If you have not yet found
out how suited you are to each other, how admirably your tastes and
dispositions agree, it's quite time you should do so. Go back and live
together, and if one of you does not poison the other, I 'll give you a
small annuity.'”
“Five hundred a year is very liberal,” said she, coldly.
“I could manage on it for myself alone, but it 's meant to support a
family. It 's beggary, neither more nor less.”
“We have no claim upon him.”
“No claim! What! no claim on your godfather, your guardian, not to say
the impassioned and devoted admirer who followed you over India just
to look at you, and spent a little fortune in getting portraits of you!
Why, the man must be a downright impostor if he does not put half his
fortune at your feet!”
“I ought to tell you that he annexed certain conditions to any help
he tendered us. 'They were matters,' he said, 'could best be treated
between you and himself; that I did not, nor need not, know any of
them.'”
“I know what he alluded to.”
“Last of all, he said you must give him your answer promptly, for he
would not be long in this country.”
“As to that, time is fully as pressing to me as to him. The only
question is, Can we make no better terms with him?”
“You mean more money?”.
“Of course I mean more money. Could you make him say one thousand, or at
least eight hundred, instead of five?”
“It would not be a pleasant mission,” said she, with a bitter smile.
“I suppose not; a ruined man's wife need not look for many 'pleasant
missions,' as you call them. This same one of to-day was not
over-gratifying.”
“Less even than you are aware,” said she, slowly.
“Oh, I can very well imagine the tone and manner of the old fellow;
how much of rebuke and severity he could throw into his voice; and how
minutely and painstakingly he would dwell upon all that could humiliate
you.”
“No; you are quite wrong. There was not a word of reproach, not a
syllable of blame; his manner was full of gentle and pitying kindness,
and when he tried to comfort and cheer me, it was like the affection of
a father.”
“Where, then, was this great trial and suffering of which you have just
said I could take no full measure?”
“I was thinking of what occurred before I met Sir Brook,” said she,
looking up, and with her eyes now widely opened, and a nostril distended
as she spoke. “I was thinking of an incident of the morning. I have
told you that when I reached the cottage where Sir Brook lived, I found
that he was absent, and would not return till a late hour. Tired with my
long walk from the station, I wished to sit down and rest before I had
determined what to do, whether to await his arrival or go back to town.
I saw the door open, I entered the little sitting-room, and found myself
face to face with Major Trafford.”
“Lionel Trafford?”
“Yes; he had come by that morning's packet from England, and gone
straight out to see his friend.”
“He was alone, was he?”
“Alone! there was no one in the house but ourselves.”
Sewell shrugged his shoulders, and said, “Go on.”
The insult of his gesture sent the blood to her face and forehead, and
for an instant she seemed too much overcome by anger to speak.
“Am I to tell you what this man said to me? Is _that_ what you mean?”
said she, in a voice that almost hissed with passion.
“Better not, perhaps,” replied he, calmly, “if the very recollection
overcame you so completely.”
“That is to say, it is better I should bear the insult how I may than
reveal it to one who will not resent it.”
“When you say resent, do you intend I should call him out?--fight him?”
“If I were the husband instead of the wife, it is what I should
do,--ay,” cried she, wildly, “and thank Fortune that gave me the
chance.”
“I don't think I'm going to show any such gratitude,” said he, with a
cold grin. “If he made love to you, I take it he fancied you had given
him some encouragement When you showed him that he was mistaken, he
met his punishment. A woman always knows how to make a man look like a
confounded fool at such a moment.”
“And is that enough?”
“Is _what_ enough?”
“I ask, is it enough to make him look like a confounded fool? Will
_that_ soothe a wife's insulted pride, or avenge a husband's injured
honor?”
“I don't know much of the wife's part; but as to the husband's share
in the matter, if I had to fight every fellow who made up to you, my
wedding garment ought to have been a suit of chain-armor.”
“A husband need not fight for his wife's flirtations; be-. sides, he can
make her give these up if he likes. There are insults, however, that a
man”--; and she said the word with a fierce emphasis--“resents with the
same instinct that makes him defend his life.”
“I know well enough what he 'd say; he 'd say that there was nothing
serious in it, that he was merely indulging in that sort of larking
talk one offers to a pretty woman who does not seem to dislike it. The
chances are he 'd turn the tables a bit, and say that you rather led him
on than repressed him.”
“And would these pleas diminish your desire to have his heart's blood?”
cried she, wild with passion and indignation together.
“Having his heart's blood is very fine, if I was sure--quite sure--he
might not have mine. The fellow is a splendid shot.”
“I thought so. I could have sworn it,” cried she, with a taunting laugh.
“I admit no man my superior with a pistol,” said Sewell, stung far more
by her laughter than her words; “but what have I to gain if I shoot him?
His family would prosecute me to a certainty; and it went devilish close
with that last fellow who was tried at Newgate.”
“If you care so little for my honor, sir, I 'll show you how cheaply I
can regard yours. I will go back to Sir Brook to-morrow, and return
him his money. I will tell him, besides, that I am married to one
so hopelessly lost to every sentiment and feeling, not merely of the
gentleman, but of the man, that it is needless to try to help him; and
that I will accept nothing for him,--not a shilling; that he may deal
with you on those other matters he spoke of as he pleases; that it will
be no favor shown me when he spares you. There, sir, I leave you now to
compute whether a little courage would not have served you better than
all your cunning.”
“You do not leave this room till you give me that pocket-book,” said he,
rising, and placing his back to the door.
“I foresaw this, sir,” said she, laughing quietly, “and took care to
deposit the money in a safe place before I came here. You are welcome to
every farthing I have about me.”
“Your scheme is too glaring, too palpable by half. There is a vulgar
shamelessness in the way you 'make your book,' standing to win whichever
of us should kill the other. I read it at a glance,” said he, as
he threw himself into a chair; “but I 'll not help to make you an
interesting widow. Are you going? Good-night.”
She moved towards the door? and just as she reached it he arose and
said, “On what pretext could I ask this man to meet me? What do I charge
him with? How could I word my note to him?”
“Let _me_ write it,” said she, with a bitter laugh. “You will only have
to copy it.”
“And if I consent will you do all the rest? Will you go to
Fossbrooke and ask him for the increased allowance?”
“I will.”
“Will you do your best--your very best--to obtain it? Will you use all
the power and influence you have over him to dissuade him from any act
that might injure _me?_ Will you get his pledge that he will not molest
me in any way?”
“I will promise to do all that I can with him.” “And when must this come
off,--this meeting, I mean?”
“At once, of course. You ought to leave this by the early packet for
Bangor. Harding or Vaughan--any one--will go with you. Trafford can
follow you by the midday mail, as your note will have reached him
early.”
“You seem to have a capital head for these sort of things; you arrange
all to perfection,” said he, with a sneer.
“I had need of it, as I have to think for two;” and the sarcasm stung
him to the quick. “I will go to your room and write the note. I shall
find paper and ink there?”
“Yes; everything. I'll carry these candles for you;” and he arose and
preceded her to his study. “I wish he would not mix old Fossbrooke in
the affair. I hope he'll not name him as his friend.”
“I have already thought of that,” said she, as she sat down at the
table and began to write. After a few seconds she said, “This will do, I
think:--
“'Sir,--I have just learned from my wife how grossly insulting was your
conduct towards her yesterday, on the occasion of her calling at Sir
Brook Fossbrooke's house. The shame and distress in which she returned
here would fully warrant any chastisement I might inflict upon you; but
for the sake of the cloth you wear, I offer you the alternative which I
would extend to a man of honor, and desire you will meet me at once with
a friend. I shall leave by the morning packet for Holyhead, and be found
at the chief hotel, Bangor, where, waiting your pleasure, I am your
obedient servant.
“'I hope it is needless to say that my wife's former guardian, Sir B.
F., should not be chosen to act for you on this occasion.'”
“I don't think I'd say that about personal chastisement. People don't
horsewhip nowadays.”
“So much the worse. I would leave it there, however. It will insult him
like a blow.”
“Oh, he's ready enough,--he'll not need poking to rouse his pluck. I'll
say that for him.”
“And yet I half suspect he 'll write some blundering sort of apology;
some attempt to show that I was mistaken. I know--I know it as well as
if I saw it--he 'll not fire at you.”
“What makes you think that?” “He could n't. It would be impossible for
him.” “I 'm not so sure of that. There's something very provocative in
the sight of a pistol muzzle staring at one a few paces off. _I'd_ fire
at my father if I saw him going to shoot at me.”
“I think _you_ would,” said she, dryly. “Sit down and copy that note. We
must send it by a messenger at once.”
“I don't think you put it strongly enough about old Foss-brooke. I 'd
have said distinctly,--I object to his acting on account of his close
and intimate connection with my wife's family.”
“No, no; leave it all as it stands. If we begin to change, we shall
never have an end of the alterations.”
“If I believed he would not fire at me, I'd not shoot him,” said Sewell,
biting the end of his pen.
“He 'll not fire the first time; but if you go on to a second shot, I'm
certain he will aim at you.”
“I'll try and not give him this chance, then,” said he, laughing.
“Remember,” added he, “I'm promising to cross the Channel, and I have
not a pound in my pocket.”
“Write that, and I 'll go fetch you the money,” said she, leaving the
room; and, passing out through the hall and the front door, she put her
arm and hand into a large marble vase, several of which stood on the
terrace, and drew forth the pocket-book which Sir Brook had given her,
and which she had secretly deposited there as she entered the house.
“There, that's done,” said he, handing her his note as she came in.
“Put it in an envelope and address it. And now, where are you to find
Harding, or whoever you mean to take with you?”
“That's easy enough; they 'll be at supper at the Club by this time.
I'll go in at once. But the money?”
“Here it is. I have not counted it; he gave me the pocket-book as you
see.”
“There's more than he said. There are two hundred and eighty-five
pounds. He must be in funds.”
“Don't lose time. It is very late already,--nigh two o'clock; these men
will have left the Club, possibly?”
“No, no; they play on till daybreak. I suppose I'd better put my traps
in a portmanteau at once, and not require to come back here.”
“I 'll do all that for you.”
“How amiable a wife can be at the mere prospect of getting rid of her
husband!”
“You will send me a telegram?”
“Very likely. Good-bye. Adieu.”
“_Adieu et bonne chance_,” said she, gayly.
“That means a good aim, I suppose,” said he, laughing.
She nodded pleasantly, kissed her hand to him, and he was gone.