"You're surprised to see me, Mr. Yeldham," said Thacker, as, after a quick survey of the apartment, he sat himself calmly down in a chair by Yeldham's desk.
"Well--if you ask the question--yes," said Charley with perfect coolness.
"And not too well pleased, perhaps?"
"I should have left you to say that, in any case, Mr. Thacker. I presume you come to me on business. Have the goodness to explain its nature."
Charley Yeldham had not been gifted by nature with great powers of making himself disagreeable, but on this occasion he exerted all he possessed1.
"I always heard you were a cool hand, Mr. Yeldham," said Thacker, in admiration2, "and I find they did not say a bit too much. You don't mind my smoking a cigar, do you, while I stop?"
"Not in the least," replied Mr. Yeldham, with immovable gravity, "if you find smoking conducive3 to the despatch4 of business."
Mr. Thacker looked at him with an unmoved expression of countenance5, and Yeldham began to experience a strong inclination6 to kick him. He restrained it, however, and kept his seat and his countenance, while Mr. Thacker lighted a peculiarly fine cigar by the aid of a peculiarly fine light-box which hung from his prodigious7 watch-chain.
"I allow all that," said Mr. Yeldham; "so, Mr. Thacker, fire away."
"You wonder what brings me here," said Thacker, settling himself into his chair; "but you'll wonder a great deal more when I tell you. I suppose you think I'm not particularly friendly to your friend Streightley, eh?"
"I didn't think about it one way or the other," said the imperturbable8 Yeldham.
"But you knew that I held the mortgages on most part of his property--that place down in the country where the Freres are living, and his town-house--you knew I held those, and that it was I who mainly helped to sell him up?"
"Yes, I knew that; but as I also knew that gentlemen in your profession were men of business, and not usually swayed by sentiment, I did not see much to wonder at in the proceeding9. I imagine any one else would have done the same."
"You're complimentary10 to what you call my profession--you are, by George! but that's neither here nor there. Suppose--I only say suppose--that I've had little or nothing to do with any of Streightley's money transactions; that though I've conducted them and carried them out; though he has had my cheques for the cash, and I've had his signature to the deeds--suppose all the time that I've not been acting12 for myself, but merely as agent to a third party, who wanted to lay their claws on R.S. What do you think of that? Ah! I thought I'd make you look interested at last."
"As true as that I'm sitting before you at this present moment."
"Then I must ask why, having kept up the delusion15 so long, you come here now to disclose it? The motive16 requires a little elucidation17, Mr. Thacker. It's not spontaneous penitence18, I suppose?"
"Of course I know you'll want to know the motive," replied Mr. Thacker, daintily removing the cigar from his full red lips, and as daintily replacing it, wholly unmoved by Yeldham's observation; "and I'll tell you. Because I've been badly treated by my principal--ah, you smile and shrug19 your shoulders! the usual 'discharged servant's' tactics, you think. Only understand, I discharged myself."
"I must ask you to be more explicit21, Mr. Thacker. I have no time for circumlocution22. In the first place, who is your principal?"
"That's coming home at once," said Mr. Thacker; "but I don't mind. Miss Hester Gould that was--Mrs. Gordon Frere that is."
Even Charles Yeldham's placid23 equanimity24--placid by nature, more placid by training--gave way under his astonishment25 at this revelation, and Thacker's quick ears heard him mutter "The devil!" under his breath.
"Ah! I thought that would astonish you," he said triumphantly26. "You're not one of those that have much to learn, Mr. Yeldham; but there are very few people of my acquaintance that I couldn't wake up one way or another, I fancy. Yes, sir, that lady is my principal. Her husband don't know or care much about business, I daresay, and so much the better--a good fellow, I daresay; but soft, sir--soft."
"And so Mrs. Frere is your principal, Mr. Thacker," said Yeldham, after a moment's pause, to recover his equanimity, "and was her friend's principal creditor27, eh? Well, well, that's strange enough. And you and she don't put your horses together now? What can have made you agree to differ?"
"You've a very insinuating28 manner, Mr. Yeldham. It's a pity you're not in the courts instead of in chamber29 practice. You'd get it out of them wonderfully there. But it's only due to myself to tell you that I see your every move, and that I should not tumble to it in the least if I had not previously30 made up my mind to have it all out."
Charles Yeldham smiled and bowed, and Mr. Thacker proceeded.
"You know these women don't understand business; and because it had suited my book, for other than mere13 monetary31 reasons"--and here he settled his cravat32 and looked conscious--"to do work for Miss Gould, she began to look upon me as a mere clerk. She forgot, tins young woman, that while she was a poor governess, glad enough to come up to Hampstead and have tea with my sisters, I was one of the leading financiers of the West-end. She forgot that in my bureau I had the names of half the peerage on stamped paper; that I dined here, and lunched there; and was hand-and-glove with some of the best men in London. She forgot that--I see you grinning, Yeldham; and all this time that I'm swaggering you're waiting to get at the story. Well, I'll tell it you as shortly as I can. You're too well posted up in these matters not to know that a tremendous smash like that in the City two years ago could not have passed over without touching33 most of us at the West-end. We've been all of us under the harrow, more or less, ever since; and I found it hard work to pull up the losses of that time. I just did that, however, and no more. But there are two or three affairs in which I'm largely interested, which have been excellent, and which will be better still, only just at this particular moment they want a little bolstering34. All I could do for them I have done; but a lot of my money was still locked up, and I knew that these things only wanted backing to be splendid investments. So, a short time ago, I went to our friend Mrs. F., and told her all about it; took her a sheet of paper full of figures--women always like that; most of 'em can't understand 'em, but she can--and went thoroughly35 into it with her; proved that it would be a good thing for her, and urged it as a personal favour to myself. Damme, sir, she refused to have any thing to do with it!"
Mr. Thacker brought down his fist upon the table with a bang. Then, seeing Mr. Yeldham was not particularly moved, he went on. "I was not to be beaten at the first go off; so, after she had spoken, I asked her, if she would not go into the matter herself, whether she would let me have the money--of course on unexceptionable security. She refused point-blank; and when pressed to give her reasons, said she did not want to go into any more speculations37. I never saw a woman so altered in my life. I don't know what the devil has come over her--gone mad on her money, I suppose. I don't know what induced me to say it,--I can generally manage to take these things quietly enough,--but I was a little bit annoyed, I suppose; but, at all events, I did say, 'This is not quite the manner in which you answered me when I proposed to you to take that mortgage on Middlemeads, Mrs. Frere.' The words were hardly out of my mouth when she turned round on me as quick as lightning, and said, 'You think of nothing but the interest on your money. I had another motive in that investment.' 'And that was--?' I asked. 'To serve my--my own purposes,' she replied. 'I had a long-standing account to settle with Robert Streightley, and that was the method I chose of doing it.' You would not have liked the expression of my lady's face when she said this. For the first time in her life she seemed to drop the mask. I saw her eyes glowing, her lips livid; and then I felt certain of what I had always suspected."
"And that was--?"
"That when she was down on her luck, and intimate with his people, she had really intended to make Robert Streightley marry her; and that when she found he did not care for her, and eventually married Miss Guyon, she determined38 to be revenged on them both."
"Certainly, Mr. Thacker, your boast of being able to tell strange things is fulfilled in the present instance. I had no idea of this."
"How should you have? But it's fact, nevertheless; take my word for it. I suppose I let on by the expression of my face--for she is as downy as a cat--that I had spotted39 her game; for she tried in every possible way to wriggle40 out of what she had said. 'Middlemeads was such a good investment.' 'Money wasn't so scarce then.' 'In these times one ought to be particularly careful,' &c. &c. But I wasn't to be put off with any such humbug41 as that; I just asked her plainly once more, whether she would make the advances I suggested, on the security I offered; and when she again decidedly refused, I took up my hat and wished her good morning. And I took my oath, as I crossed her hall-mat, that I'd go out of my way to do her a bad turn; and, as luck would have it, now I'm able to do it without going out of my way."
"That is splendid! we're really coming to it!"
"You're still chaffing me, Mr. Yeldham. I might have told you that interest in Streightley was the sole motive for my coming here to tell you what I am going to tell you presently, whereas I don't disguise for a minute that the hope of doing Mrs. Frere a bad turn entirely43 governs me in the matter. I thought at first that what would annoy her most would be to see Streightley's business doing well again. And, mind you, that could be very easily managed. He came out of his troubles with a high character, and money is getting plenty. There are heaps of fellows who, from old respect and friendship, would come forward to help to put Robert Streightley on his legs again. I'd do my little share--from another motive. I thought of that plan; I've got it all down in detail at home; it may be of use some day; but in the mean time something else has turned up which looks infinitely44 more promising45, in the way of sticking a dagger46 into my lady's breast."
"That Streightley is ruined--partly by her act--is nuts to her, but nothing like such nuts as that his wife has left him. She and that old cat Lady What-do-you-call her--Marsh something--have talked that poor girl over ever since,--regular old Tabby that Lady Thingammy,--and so I changed my mind, and thought to myself, 'No; nothing would make Mrs. Frere so wild as to see Mrs. Streightley restored to, and happy with, her husband;' and I determined I'd do my best to carry that idea into effect."
"My good fellow, you only determined what all of us have determined and tried, but without the smallest possible result."
Mr. Thacker settled his elbows comfortably on the table, and replied in a tone of easy confidence:
"Ye-es; that's exactly the difference between me and 'all of us.' But listen to me, and I will show you I have come here on no fool's errand. You know that, pending48 the great gathering49 together of all of us at Jerusalem, our people are spread over the whole face of the earth. Thus those among us who are well known, or who take a leading part, have ramifications50 and correspondents in every large city in the world. I myself am in this position; and it was my intention to have set the whole of the machinery51 in motion, with the view of discovering where Mrs. Streightley lay hidden, when, by a most fortunate accident, I believe I have been spared the trouble, and have at once accomplished52 my end."
"God grant it!" said Yeldham earnestly. "But how? how?"
"You must let me tell my story in my own way, and this part of it involves rather a lengthened53 explanation. When I was a lad, my bosom-friend was a boy of my own age named Hartmann. He was of German origin; but his family had been for a long time settled in this country, and he and I were sworn chums. I do not know why; I never could make out why, except perhaps"--and here Mr. Thacker set his teeth, while the colour mounted into his cheeks--"except perhaps that we were both Jews; and the other boys stood aloof54 from us, and used to chaff42 and call us names. D--n 'em! I've made some of 'em pay for that fun since. There was nothing else in common between young Hartmann and me. I was always pushing and energetic, looking to the main chance, and doing all I could to make something out of every body; while he was a dreamy, quiet kind of fellow, with no interest for any thing in the world but music. He was a wonderful musician. By George! sometimes even now, when I'm in a quiet mood, and get thinking of him, I fancy I hear the sounds that he used to draw out of his violin. There he would sit, scraping away hour after hour in play-time; so that when we left school, which we did about the same time, he'd had great practice for such a young chap, and was quite a proficient55. His friends talked about getting him into a house of business; but I knew how much that would do. When you've got what your friends call artistic56, and your enemies Bohemian tendencies, you had better give way to 'em at once, for they'll prevent your settling down to any thing else, and they're sure to claim you in the end. Poor Nat Hartmann prayed so hard to be allowed to follow his bent57, that his friends never attempted to struggle with him; and he went off, very soon after leaving school, to some connections of his family at Vienna, where he was to finish his musical education. He was not long absent before we had news of him. He was in the highest spirits, making excellent progress. Then he wrote that he had been noticed by the Emperor, and taken into the Imperial private band, of which, in about three years, he became leader. His name began to be known in musical circles, and his arrival in England was announced for the approaching season. Then suddenly there came a rumour58 that he was under a cloud--how or why we could never ascertain59. I wrote to him twice or thrice; but my letters were unanswered, and I gave it up in despair.
"It must have been ten years after this, that, one night as I was coming out of the Opera, I felt a gentle pull at my coat, and, turning round, I saw Nat Hartmann. I knew him in an instant, though he was utterly60 changed from my friend of years before. All his colour was gone; his face was thin and pinched and haggard; his eyes sunk deep in his head; his lips, which had been so full and ruddy, were now thin and pallid61. I stepped aside to satisfy myself that it was he; then I made him get into my brougham, and drove him to my rooms. To my dying day I shall never forget that man's appearance as he stood in his thin, wretched clothes, under the lamplight; I shall never forget the manner in which he rushed to the fireplace, knelt down on the rug, and spread out his transparent62 hands to the blaze; I shall never forget the manner in which he gulped63 down the wine which I handed to him, or the ravenous64 way in which he tore at the food. When he had eaten and drank, had warmed himself, and nature seemed revived within him, I talked to him, and bit by bit managed to drag from him his story. He was a long time telling it, and it was disconnected and jerky to a degree, interspersed65 with loud railing at fortune, with sighs and tears, and dolorous66 ejaculations, and I had a hard task to follow him; but I gleaned67 from him this: His first downward step had been caused by his having married a Christian68 girl, a singer at the Grand Opera in Vienna, with whom he fell desperately69 in love. This had so exasperated70 his relatives, that after trying, by every means in their power, to prevent the marriage, when they found it had actually taken place, they repudiated71 him, and did every thing possible to ruin him and his wife. One of the principal Jewish bankers, who had originally introduced Hartmann to the Imperial notice, now became his bitterest enemy, used the influence which had formerly72 been exerted in the young man's favour to debase him, and finally, under some pretext73, got him removed from his position as leader of the Emperor's private band. From that time onward74 misfortune seemed to have seized him; his wife, after a long illness, died in childbirth, leaving him with one little girl. In his misery75 he took to drinking, and sunk from bad to worse. One night, while drunk, he struck an officer who had mocked his playing, and, to save his life, fled with his little child to England. He had been in London a week, and had haunted the streets in the hope of meeting me; and the meeting was only just in time, by George! for he and his little child were nearly starved.
"This is a long story, but it's pretty nearly over now. Of course I did what was possible to be done for this poor fellow; I gave him money and clothes, and sent him to the doctor, and all that; but he was very proud in all his misery, and would not accept what he called 'charity,' but insisted upon working for his living. Poor Nat, poor fellow! the drink had ruined him, mind and body--all his crisp touch, all his wonderful execution, gone, sir, gone never to return; but he could still play the fiddle76 very decently, better than most, at any rate; so I spoke36 to Wuff and some operatic people I knew, and got him playing at concerts and theatres, and that sort of thing. But it didn't last long; the drink had done its work, and he could not get on without stimulants77; when he got ill again, and broke up suddenly, sending for me when he was on his death-bed, and imploring78 me to take care of his little girl--his little Louise. I promised readily enough, for she was a sweet little child, and I had always been fond of her; and as soon as we had buried the poor fellow, I sent the girl over to a school in Paris, intending to have her brought up as a governess; but with a splendid violinist for her father, and a first-rate opera-singer for her mother, it wasn't to be expected that she'd go in for steady respectability, though she's as good a girl as ever breathed; moreover she inherits her mother's voice, and I believe--from what I hear from friends of mine over there, who know all about this kind of thing--that she'll some day be a splendid singer, and astonish the world. So, when all these representations were made to me, I could not hold out any longer; and when Louise left school, eighteen months ago, I got her admitted as a pupil at the Conservatoire; and there she is working away, and I'm told is getting on gloriously. Was getting on gloriously, I should say, up to within the last month; but she has been very ill, poor child, and that has pulled her down, and put her back; and--that's exactly what I'm coming to. I daresay you've been horribly bored up to this point, Mr. Yeldham; but I think when I've finished, you'll say it was worth your listening to."
"Only you carry out the hopes you've raised, Mr. Thacker, and you may depend upon it I won't complain," said Yeldham.
"Well, I had been wondering that I had not heard from this girl. She must be sixteen or seventeen now, and she writes most capital letters. I assure you, when I'm regularly dry and stoney with business, feel as if I was stuccoed all over like, one of this girl's letters refreshes me and cheers me up, and makes me remember there is something else in the world to live for besides money-getting. I had been wondering I had not heard from Louise, when this morning a letter came. In it she told me that she had been very ill with a fever, which had completely prostrated79 her, and that--but I may as well read this part out to you."
Mr. Thacker then produced a letter from his pocket-book, and read the following passage:
"You know, my dear guardian80, notwithstanding my foreign extraction and half-foreign bringing-up, the horror I have always had of French doctors; and it is certain I should have been left to the mercy of some of these dreadful creatures, if it had not been for Lucy Elliott, who is a fellow-pupil of mine at the Conservatoire, and who knew Dr. Hudson, who is our great English physician over here. She came and saw me when I was first taken ill, and promised to send Dr. Hudson to me. Within an hour he was by my bedside; and I can never express to any one his kindness and attention. He asked me, without the smallest impertinent curiosity, about myself; and when I told him that I was all alone in Paris, and had no relations on whom I could depend, he shook his head, and said it was absolutely necessary that I should have some one to nurse me. I suggested Sister Agatha, who used to come and see us so often at the pension, and who, I know, is a skilled and practised nurse; but Dr. Hudson said he thought he could do better than Sister Agatha for me, and that he would try to get an English widow lady of his acquaintance to come and nurse me."--("Ah, ha! you start, Yeldham, my friend! Hold on a bit, my boy; the scent's only just warming yet; hold on a bit longer.")--"I went to sleep after Dr. Hudson left me; and when I woke that evening I found a stranger sitting by my side. A tall elegant young woman, very young still, but looking as though she had seen a great deal of sorrow; for her beautiful face--I can't explain to you how wonderfully beautiful it is, so calm and classical and statuesque--is marked here and there with deep lines, and there is a gravity about her which I am sure has been brought on by mental suffering. She motioned me to keep silent, and then told me, in O such a sweet voice, that I was to be quite quiet, and that she had come to nurse me and attend upon me, and under God's help get me well again. From that night until now--she has only just gone away, and she will be back this evening, though I scarcely require any assistance now--she has been my best and dearest friend, my nurse, my consoler, my sister. In all that dreadful fever I had the sense of her constant presence, knew the touch of her cool hands to my hot head, recognised the cheering tone of her voice, when, in my pain and misery, I could scarcely see her. To her and my kind Dr. Hudson I owe my life; and as I know, my dear guardian, that you are good enough to prize that life, I am sure you will be grateful to these good friends. And here I come to a point where I require your advice and assistance. I told Dr. Hudson that though I was only a struggling pupil at the Conservatoire, I had connections in England who, I was sure, would take care that his kindness to me was not forgotten. I presumed so much, my dear guardian; for I felt certain that your goodness of heart"--("That's nothing," said Mr. Thacker abruptly81; "hem11! hem! here it is")--"but now I don't know what to say about Madame Sidney. She is evidently not rich, though a thorough lady born and bred; and I'm sure you will think with me that some recompense should be made her, though what it is to be, and how it is to be managed, I must leave to your better sense and knowledge of the world to suggest. One thing I have discovered, and that is, that this is one of the most trying, if not the most trying, occasions on which Madame Sidney has acted in the capacity of sick nurse; and that discovery I made in this way. When I was first coming into convalescence82, when I first had a glimmering83 of what was passing round me, I heard the doctor say to her, 'Well, I knew I was not mistaken; the child owes her recovery, under Providence84, to your care and ceaseless attention. It's your greatest experience; it's the opportunity which you have so much wished for, of showing that you possessed the patience, the energy, and the long-suffering for which you have so long fervently85 prayed; but all of which I knew were your attributes, when, under different circumstances, neither you nor I thought you would ever be called upon to employ them, for they were not wanted then for others, but they were wanted for yourself,--I mean during that week's illness at Martigny.'"
"Stop!" cried Charley Yeldham, bringing his hand down heavily on the table, and then rising and pacing hurriedly up and down the room; "stop! that seems to me to be conclusive86."
"Ah, ha!" cried Thacker, in exultation87; "we're hot at last; we're burning now, ain't we? When I came to that passage in Louise's letter, the whole thing flashed across me. I recollected88 having heard Streightley talk of his wife's illness at Martigny. I said to myself, 'Here's a go; the lost bird's found!' And in an instant I saw my way--I confess it; I don't go in for any high moral dodges--I saw my way to being revenged on Mrs. Gordon Frere, and to shooting a bolt between the joints89 of her armour90, and hitting her in the very place where she was most vulnerable, and would least like to be hit." And Mr. Thacker looked up in Yeldham's face, and rubbed his hands with the greatest glee.
"By Jove, Thacker, I think there's very little doubt about the co-identity of Mrs. Streightley and Madame Sidney," said Yeldham, after a few minutes' deliberation. "It will be a wonderful thing if it turns out so. I never thought that--" and Yeldham stopped.
"Never thought that I should be the means of furnishing you with such pleasant information? Never thought that the Jew-discounter could ever do a man a good turn without an ulterior view to his own advantage? That's it, eh? Don't be bashful; speak out."
"Not exactly that," said Charley Yeldham. "I am in the habit of speaking out, and so I'll say that I never thought--how could I?--that the man whom we have all regarded as the active agent in Robert Streightley's financial ruin would probably turn out to be the means of securing his domestic happiness."
"I hope to God I may!" said Thacker earnestly. "Look here. I don't pretend to be a particularly moral or a strait-laced kind of person; and I acknowledge, as I have done from the first, that my promptings in this matter have been to be revenged on Hester Gould--Mrs. Frere, I mean. But if by any act of mine I could do a good turn to Streightley, whom I believe to be an honourable91 man and a devilish clever fellow, and to his wife, who is certainly the handsomest woman I know, I--well, it would be a deuced pleasant thing to think over by and by, and I wouldn't let money be any obstacle to my carrying it out."
"You said I didn't like you, and wasn't pleased to see you, when you came in," said Yeldham, taking Thacker's hand and wringing92 it. "Put that opinion to the test some day--you'll find yourself mistaken."
"That's the ticket," said Mr. Thacker. "And now good-bye, and God speed you! I swear all the notions of revenge on Mrs. F. with which I came here seem to have disappeared, and I can think of nothing now but the chance of having done a good turn to Streightley. Ah, old Shakespeare knew all about it: 'Hath not a Jew what's-his-names'--you remember the quotation93."
As may be readily supposed, Yeldham lost no time in communicating to Robert the main points of Mr. Thacker's valuable information. He kept that gentleman's revelation of the virtuous96 motives97 which had animated98 him strictly99 to himself; they did not bear upon Robert's interests, and a knowledge of them could only tend to distress100 him.
Robert's agitation101 was extreme when he learned the unmistakably reliable nature of the clue now placed so unexpectedly in their hands. He remembered the English doctor who had attended Katharine in her illness at Martigny perfectly102, and he was desperately vexed103 and impatient with himself that he had not remembered him sooner. Yeldham did not try to stem the tide of his self-reproach, but he did not set himself very seriously in opposition104 to Robert's determination, that the evening of the day then passing should see him en route for Paris.
"Suppose you find her--and you must remember, Robert, that though most probable, it is not certain--and she positively105 refuses to see you? What are you to do? You cannot force yourself into her presence. Suppose she learns your intention, and she is resolved to carry out her purpose, she will fly away again, and then we shall be worse off than before. Be guided by me, Robert; let me go in your stead. If I am to succeed, the pleasure will not be lessened106; if I am to fail, better I than you. You can trust me, I know; and you know, in the best case, I only precede you by a few hours; in the worst--well--we won't talk of that beyond saying that you'll bear it better coming through me."
These arguments and his own secret despondency induced Robert to consent. He was immeasurably grateful to Yeldham for undertaking107 the task for him; but he said little. He was "not strong," as he was accustomed to say, and easily upset; so Yeldham got up a great deal of unnecessary bustle108 and discussion to cover his emotion; and, indeed, on this and some other late occasions the lawyer displayed great womanish tact20 and affectionate cunning. Yeldham could not go that same evening, and the little delay tried Robert; but he strove to hide his impatience109; and his friend seconded the effort, and arranged to leave London on the morrow.
A short note from Yeldham to Gordon Frere had informed the latter that Charley was about to start for Paris. He had not time to enter into written explanations, and he greatly desired to secure for Robert during his absence the comfort of Gordon's cheerful companionship and invariably hopeful counsel. So he had merely said, "We have got a clue, a safe one this time, so far as finding the person we want goes, and I am off to follow it up. Can you come up for a day or two? I want to see you before I start."
Gordon Frere announced his intention of going to town for a few days, immediately after he received this note; but gave no explanation of its motive. He had dropped into habits of the sort of late; and he and his wife were quite a fashionable couple, independent of each other in all their arrangements, and models of courtesy.
Having reached the Temple, he found Yeldham in the midst of a vast confusion of books and papers, and, to his great satisfaction, alone. He had rather expected that Robert would be there to the last moment, clinging to his emissary, and urging upon him superfluous110 entreaties111 concerning speed and earnestness.
Yeldham explained to Gordon briefly112 and clearly what had happened, merely suppressing Hester's share in Thacker's revelation. He had no inclination to make mischief113 between Mrs. Frere and her husband, though he could not avoid thinking what a sufficient kind of punishment for her lay ready to his hand, had he chosen to use it. But Yeldham disdained114 to do so; the woman would be punished by the restoration of her innocent rival to her husband, if such a blessed event were indeed to be; and if it were not--he could not waste a thought on her meanness and her malice115. He knew Gordon would not ask for more information than he was disposed to give, and would not take the trouble of looking beneath the surface of any thing. So he told him as much as he thought proper; and Gordon, his first surprise and curiosity abated116, questioned him concerning his anticipations117 of success.
"What are the chances, Charley?" he asked, earnestly,--"what do you really think they are?"
"That they are terribly small. Small enough as to the finding of the lady, and smaller still as to getting her to return. However, I do think that in all respects it is better that Robert Streightley should not go himself. His wife would be much more likely to hear of his presence there than of mine."
"And do you think if she did hear of it she would avoid him?"
"She would go off somewhere else like a shot. She is just a temperament118 difficult to deal with. Smarting under the sense of a great wrong, she is capable of any thing.'"
"She was always strong-minded--I mean self-reliant, and that sort of thing," said Frere; "but she had plenty of common-sense."
"So I should imagine from what I saw of her. Of course I would not have dreamed of hinting such a thing before our poor friend; but the difficulty of arranging the matter will arise not so much from Mrs. Streightley's want of sense as from her want of heart. A woman who could see her husband suffering from the anxieties which beset119 Robert long before the crash came, and yet persist in a course of thoroughly reckless extravagance, is not very impressionable, you may depend upon it."
"Do you imagine that--"
"My dear Gordon, it's not a nice thing to say, but I imagine that, though she did not know the terms of the bargain, she felt that she had been purchased by her husband, and she was determined to have the entire price. Now, you know, dealing120 with such a woman as that, where questions of feeling are concerned, is difficult."
"It's but a poor look-out, I'm afraid," said Frere, rising from his chair; "and I don't envy you your mission, Charley, though I don't know any one who would do it so well; and if honesty and warm feeling are to win the day, you'll be successful. So, God bless you! Mind you let me know how you prosper121. Better write to me at the club, I think," added Mr. Frere, with a sudden recollection that news of Katharine Streightley was ever too welcome to the lady who was now his wife.
Yeldham shook hands warmly with him, grinning the while. None of these little evidences of character were thrown away on the old bachelor, who may have derived122 solace123 and instruction from them.
Robert was to accompany him to the station, and the hour of his arrival drew near. Yeldham's packing was quickly done, and he had a few minutes' leisure to think of the strangeness of the freak of fortune which was sending him in search of the only woman towards whom his heart had ever been attracted, with the object of winning her back to another. Perhaps he had censured124 her too harshly in talking to Gordon Frere--to that other man, who had also loved her, after his fashion. Then he heard Robert's step ascending125 the stairs, and sighed as he thought that it was hard indeed to look at his suffering face, and acquit126 Katharine of heartlessness and cruelty.
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1
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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complimentary
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| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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14
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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15
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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elucidation
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| n.说明，阐明 | |
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18
penitence
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| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
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19
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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20
tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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21
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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circumlocution
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| n. 绕圈子的话，迂回累赘的陈述 | |
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23
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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27
creditor
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| n.债仅人，债主，贷方 | |
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28
insinuating
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| adj.曲意巴结的，暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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29
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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31
monetary
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| adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的 | |
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32
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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33
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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34
bolstering
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| v.支持( bolster的现在分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助 | |
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35
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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36
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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37
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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38
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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40
wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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41
humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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42
chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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43
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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44
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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46
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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metaphor
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| n.隐喻，暗喻 | |
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48
pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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49
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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50
ramifications
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| n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 ) | |
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51
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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52
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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53
lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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55
proficient
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| adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家 | |
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56
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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57
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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58
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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59
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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60
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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61
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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62
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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63
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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64
ravenous
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| adj.极饿的，贪婪的 | |
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interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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66
dolorous
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| adj.悲伤的；忧愁的 | |
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67
gleaned
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| v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
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68
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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69
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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70
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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71
repudiated
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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72
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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73
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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75
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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76
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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77
stimulants
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| n.兴奋剂( stimulant的名词复数 )；含兴奋剂的饮料；刺激物；激励物 | |
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78
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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79
prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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80
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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81
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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82
convalescence
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| n.病后康复期 | |
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83
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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84
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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85
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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86
conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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87
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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88
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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89
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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90
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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91
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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92
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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93
quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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94
jauntily
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| adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地 | |
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95
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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96
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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97
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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98
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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99
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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100
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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101
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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102
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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103
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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104
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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105
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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106
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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107
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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108
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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109
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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110
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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111
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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112
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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113
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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114
disdained
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| 鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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115
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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116
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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117
anticipations
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| 预期( anticipation的名词复数 )； 预测； （信托财产收益的）预支； 预期的事物 | |
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118
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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119
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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120
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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121
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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122
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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123
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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124
censured
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| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
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125
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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126
acquit
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| vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出 | |
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