AndyetIcannothonestlysaythatmyownmoralconvictionswerestrongenoughtodecidethestruggleinmebythemselves。TheywerehelpedbymyremembranceofSirPercival’sdeath。Howawfully,atthelastmoment,hadtheworkingoftheretributiontherebeensnatchedfrommyfeeblehandsIWhatrighthadItodecide,inmypoormortalignoranceofthefuture,thatthisman,too,mustescapewithimpunitybecauseheescapedme?
Ithoughtofthesethings——perhapswiththesuperstitioninherentinmynature,perhapswithasenseworthierofmethansuperstition。Itwashard,whenIhadfastenedmyholdonhimatlast,toloosenitagainofmyownaccord——butIforcedmyselftomakethesacrifice。Inplainerwords,IdeterminedtobeguidedbytheonehighermotiveofwhichIwascertain,themotiveofservingthecauseofLauraandthecauseofTruth。
`Iacceptyourconditions,’Isaid。`Withonereservationonmypart。’
`Whatreservationmaythatbe?’heasked。
`Itreferstothesealedletter,’Ianswered。`Irequireyoutodestroyitunopenedinmypresenceassoonasitisplacedinyourhands。’
MyobjectinmakingthisstipulationwassimPlytopreventhimfromcarryingawaywrittenevidenceofthenatureofmycommunicationwithPesca。
Thefactofmycommunicationhewouldnecessarilydiscover,whenIgavetheaddresstohisagentinthemorning。Buthecouldmakenouseofitonhisownunsupportedtestimony——evenifhereallyventuredtotrytheexperiment——whichneedexciteinmetheslightestapprehensiononPesca’saccount。
`Igrantyourreservation,’hereplied,afterconsideringthequestiongravelyforaminuteortwo。`Itisnotworthdispute——thelettershallbedestroyedwhenitcomesintomyhands。’
Herose,ashespoke,fromthechairinwhichhehadbeensittingoppositetomeuptothistime。Withoneeffortheappearedtofreehismindfromthewholepressureonitoftheinterviewbetweenusthusfar。`Ouf!’hecried,stretchinghisarmsluxuriously,`theskirmishwashotwhileitlasted。Takeaseat,MrHartright。Wemeetasmortalenemieshereafter——letus,likegallantgentlemen,exchangepoliteattentionsinthemeantime。
Permitmetotakethelibertyofcallingformywife。’
Heunlockedandopenedthedoor。`Eleanor!’hecalledoutinhisdeepvoice。Theladyoftheviperishfacecamein。`MadameFosco——MrHartright,’
saidtheCount,introducinguswitheasydignity。`Myangel,’hewenton,addressinghiswife,`willyourlaboursofpackingupallowyoutimetomakemesomenicestrongcoffee?IhavewritingbusinesstotransactwithMrHartright——andIrequirethefullpossessionofmyintelligencetodojusticetomyself。’
MadameFoscobowedherheadtwice——oncesternlytome,oncesubmissivelytoherhusband——andglidedoutoftheroom。
TheCountwalkedtoawriting-tablenearthewindow,openedhisdesk,andtookfromitseveralquiresofpaperandabundleofquillpens。Hescatteredthepensaboutthetable,sothattheymightliereadyinalldirectionstobetakenupwhenwanted,andthencutthepaperintoaheapofnarrowslips,oftheformusedbyprofessionalwritersforthepress。
`Ishallmakethisaremarkabledocument,’hesaid,lookingatmeoverhisshoulder。`Habitsofliterarycompositionareperfectlyfamiliartome。Oneoftherarestofalltheintellectualaccomplishmentsthatamancanpossessisthegrandfacultyofarranginghisideas。Immenseprivilege!
Ipossessit。Doyou?’
Hemarchedbackwardsandforwardsintheroom,untilthecoffeeappeared,hummingtohimself,andmarkingtheplacesatwhichobstaclesoccurredinthearrangementofhisideas,bystrikinghisforeheadfromtimetotimewiththepalmofhishand。TheenormousaudacitywithwhichheseizedonthesituationinwhichIplacedhim,andmadeitthepedestalonwhichhisvanitymountedfortheonecherishedpurposeofself-display,masteredmyastonishmentbymainforce。SincerelyasIloathedtheman,theprodigiousstrengthofhischaracter,eveninitsmosttrivialaspects,impressedmeinspiteofmyself。
ThecoffeewasbroughtinbyMadameFosco。Hekissedherhandingratefulacknowledgment,andescortedhertothedoor;returned,pouredoutacupofcoffeeforhimself,andtookittothewriting-table。
`MayIofferyousomecoffee,MrHartright?’hesaid,beforehesatdown。
Ideclined。
`What!youthinkIshallpoisonyou?’hesaidgaily。`TheEnglishintellectissound,sofarasitgoes,’hecontinued,seatinghimselfatthetable:
`butithasonegravedefect——itisalwayscautiousinthewrongplace。’
Hedippedhispenintheink,placedthefistslipofpaperbeforehimwithathumpofhishandonthedesk,clearedhisthroat,andbegan。Hewrotewithgreatnoiseandrapidity,insolargeandboldahand,andwithsuchwidespacesbetweenthelines,thathereachedthebottomoftheslipinnotmorethantwominutescertainlyfromthetimewhenhestartedatthetop。Eachslipashefinisheditwaspaged,andtossedoverhisshoulderoutofhiswayonthefloor。Whenhisfirstpenwaswornout,thatwentoverhisshouldertoo,andhepouncedonasecondfromthesupplyscatteredaboutthetable。Slipafterslip,bydozens,byfifties,byhundreds,flewoverhisshouldersoneithersideofhimtillhehadsnowedhimselfupinpaperallroundhischair。Hourafterhourpassed——andthereIsatwatching,therehesatwriting。Heneverstopped,excepttosiphiscoffee,andwhenthatwasexhausted,tosmackhisforeheadfromtimetotime。Oneo’clockstruck,two,three,four——andstilltheslipsflewaboutallroundhim;stilltheuntiringpenscrapeditswayceaselesslyfromtoptobottomofthepage,stillthewhitechaosofpaperrosehigherandhigherallroundhischair。Atfouro’clockIheardasuddensplutterofthepen,indicativeoftheflourishwithwhichhesignedhisname。`Bravo!’hecried,springingtohisfeetwiththeactivityofayoungman,andlookingmestraightinthefacewithasmileofsuperbtriumph。
`Done,MrHartright!’heannouncedwithaself-renovatingthumpofhisfistonhisbroadchest。`Done,tomyownprofoundsatisfaction——toyourprofoundastonishment,whenyoureadwhatIhavewritten。Thesubjectisexhausted:theman——Fosco——isnot。Iproceedtothearrangementofmyslips——totherevisionofmyslips——tothereadingofmyslips——
addressedemphaticallytoyourprivateear。Fouro’clockhasjuststruck。
Good!Arrangement,revision,reading,fromfourtofive。Shortsnoozeofrestorationformyselffromfivetosix。Finalpreparationsfromsixtoseven。Affairofagentandsealedletterfromseventoeight。Ateight,enroute。Beholdtheprogramme!’
Hesatdowncross-leggedontheflooramonghispapers,strungthemtogetherwithabodkinandapieceofstring——revisedthem,wroteallthetitlesandhonoursbywhichhewaspersonallydistinguishedattheheadofthefirstpage,andthenreadthemanuscripttomewithloudtheatricalemphasisandprofusetheatricalgesticulation。Thereaderwillhaveanopportunity,erelong,offorminghisownopinionofthedocument。Itwillbesufficienttomentionherethatitansweredmypurpose。
Henextwrotemetheaddressofthepersonfromwhomhehadhiredthefly,andhandedmeSirPercival’sletter。ItwasdatedfromHampshireonthe25thofJuly,anditannouncedthejourneyof`LadyGlyde’toLondononthe26th。Thus,ontheverydaythe25thwhenthedoctor’scertificatedeclaredthatshehaddiedinStJohn’sWood,shewasalive,bySirPercival’sownshowing,atBlackwater——and,onthedayafter,shewastotakeajourney!Whentheproofofthatjourneywasobtainedfromtheflyman,theevidencewouldbecomplete。
`Aquarter-pastfive,’saidtheCount,lookingathiswatch。`Timeformyrestorativesnooze。IpersonallyresembleNapoleontheGreat,asyoumayhaveremarked,MrHartright——Ialsoresemblethatimmortalmaninmypowerofcommandingsleepatwill。Excusemeonemoment。IwillsummonMadameFosco,tokeepyoufromfeelingdull。’
Knowingaswellashedid,thathewassummoningMadameFoscotoensuremynotleavingthehousewhilehewasasleep,Imadenoreply,andoccupiedmyselfintyingupthepaperswhichhehadplacedinmypossession。
Theladycamein,cool,pale,andvenomousasever。`AmuseMrHartright,myangel,’saidtheCount。Heplacedachairforher,kissedherhandforthesecondtime,withdrewtoasofa,and,inthreeminutes,wasaspeacefulandhappilyasleepasthemostvirtuousmaninexistence。
MadameFoscotookabookfromthetable,satdown,andlookedatme,withthesteadyvindictivemaliceofawomanwhoneverforgotandneverforgave。
`Ihavebeenlisteningtoyourconversationwithmyhusband,’shesaid。
`IfIhadbeeninhisplace——Iwouldhavelaidyoudeadonthehearthrug。’
Withthosewordssheopenedherbook,andneverlookedatmeorspoketomefromthattimetillthetimewhenherhusbandwoke。
Heopenedhiseyesandrosefromthesofa,accuratelytoanhourfromthetimewhenhehadgonetosleep。
`Ifeelinfinitelyrefreshed,’heremarked。`Eleanor,mygoodwife,areyouallreadyupstairs?Thatiswell。Mylittlepackingherecanbecompletedintenminutes——mytravelling-dressassumedintenminutesmore。Whatremainsbeforetheagentcomes?’Helookedabouttheroom,andnoticedthecagewithhiswhitemiceinit。`Ah!’hecriedpiteously,`alastlacerationofmysympathiesstillremains。Myinnocentpets!mylittlecherishedchildren!whatamItodowiththem?Forthepresentwearesettlednowhere;forthepresentwetravelincessantly——thelessbaggagewecarrythebetterforourselves。Mycockatoo,mycanaries,andmylittlemice——whowillcherishthemwhentheirgoodPapaisgone?’
Hewalkedabouttheroomdeepinthought。Hehadnotbeenatalltroubledaboutwritinghisconfession,buthewasvisiblyperplexedanddistressedaboutthefarmoreimportantquestionofthedisposalofhispets。Afterlongconsiderationhesuddenlysatdownagainatthewriting-table。
`Anidea!’heexclaimed。`IwilloffermycanariesandmycockatootothisvastMetropolis——myagentshallpresenttheminmynametotheZoologicalGardensofLondon。TheDocumentthatdescribesthemshallbedrawnoutonthespot。’
Hebegantowrite,repeatingthewordsastheyflowedfromhispen。
`Numberone。Cockatoooftranscendentplumage:attraction,ofhimself,toallvisitorsoftaste。Numbertwo。Canariesofunrivalledvivacityandintelligence:worthyofthegardenofEden,worthyalsoofthegardenintheRegent’sPark。HomagetoBritishZoology。OfferedbyFosco。’