Five minutes later, the woman whom Celia had seen in the corridor

entered the room. She was a pretty, graceful woman, little more than a

girl; but the beauty of the face was marred by a weak mouth and chin.

She was exquisitely dressed, her fingers were covered with rings, and

diamonds glittered on her snowy neck. Her face was pale, and her eyes

were swollen with weeping; and it was with something like a sob that she

said, as she stood at the table and looked down at the sullen, ghastly

face of her husband:-"Someone has been here--just gone; I heard a footstep; I know it.

Derrick has been here."

He would have lied to her if he had thought she would have believed the

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lie.

"Yes," he said. "He has just gone. He--he came to say good-bye."

"Good-bye!" she repeated, her brows knitting with perplexity and

trouble. "Is he going? Where? Why? Didn't you tell him that Mr. Brand,

the lawyer, had--had paid the money and settled everything? Oh, if I had

only known it when I went to Derrick; if the letter had only come

before, so that I could have told him there was no need for him to fear

any--any trouble! But you told him, Percy?"

"Yes, of course I told him," he said, staring at his boots; "but he had

made up his mind to go abroad; and--and, 'pon my soul, I think it's the

best thing he could do."

She looked down on him with a face still showing trouble and doubt.

"But--but, Percy, he hadn't any money; he admitted as much to me. And I

couldn't give him any."

"That's all right," he said, clearing his throat. "I--I saw to that. I

couldn't give him much, unfortunately; but I scraped together all I'd

got. It will leave us pretty short of coin for a bit, Miriam."

She went to him quickly, put her arm round his shoulder, and, bending,

kissed him. "You did! That was good of you; it was like you,

Percy--after all that he has done, and the trouble he might have got you

into. I'm glad you gave him all you'd got; and I don't mind running

short."

Her cheeks were wet and wetted his; he drew his hand across his face

with barely-concealed impatience and annoyance.

"That's all right," he said. "Of course, I had to do the best I could

for him, poor devil! for the sake of--of old times. I didn't forget that

you were once fond of him--well, rather taken with him; that you were

old friends. Look here, Miriam, we don't want to harp upon this affair;

it's a beastly bad business, and the sooner we forget it the better. For

Heaven's sake, let's drop it here and now. I shan't refer to it, shan't

mention Derrick Dene's name again; and don't you. Just push that tray

over, will you? I've had a deuced unpleasant scene with him, I can tell

you; and it's upset me deucedly. But there!" he added, with a jerk of

the head, as he mixed a stiff soda and whisky, "there's an end of him,

so far as we're concerned. What?"




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