Thefirstsoundsthatreachedmefrombelowwerecausedbytheopeningorclosingmostprobablythelatterofthreedoorsinsuccession——thedoors,nodoubt,leadingintothehallandintotheroomsoneachsideofthelibrary,whichtheCounthadpledgedhimselftoexamine。ThefirstobjectthatIsawwastheredsparkagaintravellingoutintothenightfromundertheverandah,movingawaytowardsmywindow,waitingamoment,andthenreturningtotheplacefromwhichithadsetout。
`Thedeviltakeyourrestlessness!Whendoyoumeantositdown?’growledSirPercival’svoicebeneathme。
`Ouf!howhotitis!’saidtheCount,sighingandpuffingwearily。
Hisexclamationwasfollowedbythescrapingofthegardenchairsonthetiledpavementundertheverandah——thewelcomesoundwhichtoldmetheyweregoingtositcloseatthewindowasusual。Sofarthechancewasmine。Theclockintheturretstruckthequartertotwelveastheysettledthemselvesintheirchairs。IheardMadameFoscothroughtheopenwindowyawning,andsawhershadowpassoncemoreacrossthewhitefieldoftheblind。
Meanwhile,SirPercivalandtheCountbegantalkingtogetherbelow,nowandthendroppingtheirvoicesalittlelowerthanusual,butneversinkingthemtoawhisper。Thestrangenessandperilofmysituation,thedread,whichIcouldnotmaster,ofMadameFosco’slightedwindow,madeitdifficult,almostimpossible,forme,atfirst,tokeepmypresenceofmind,andtofixmyattentionsolelyontheconversationbeneath。ForsomeminutesIcouldonlysucceedingatheringthegeneralsubstanceofit。IunderstoodtheCounttosaythattheonewindowalightwashiswife’s,thatthegroundfloorofthehousewasquiteclear,andthattheymightnowspeaktoeachotherwithoutfearofaccidents。Sirpercivalmerelyansweredbyupbraidinghisfriendwithhavingunjustifiably-slightedhiswishesandneglectedhisinterestsallthroughtheday。TheCountthereupondefendedhimselfbydeclaringthathehadbeenbesetbycertaintroublesandanxietieswhichhadabsorbedallhisattention,andthattheonlysafetimetocometoanexplanationwasatimewhentheycouldfeelcertainofbeingneitherinterruptednoroverheard。`Weareataseriouscrisisinouraffairs,Percival,’hesaid,`andifwearetodecideonthefutureatall,wemustdecidesecretlytonight’
ThatsentenceoftheCount’swasthefirstwhichmyattentionwasreadyenoughtomasterexactlyasitwasspoken。Fromthispoint,withcertainbreaksandinterruptions,mywholeinterestfixedbreathlesslyontheconversation,andIfolloweditwordforword。
`Crisis?’repeatedSirPercival。`It’saworsecrisisthanyouthinkfor,Icantellyou。’
`SoIshouldsuppose,fromyourbehaviourforthelastdayortwo,’
returnedtheothercoolly。`Butwaitalittle。BeforeweadvancetowhatIdonotknow,letusbequitecertainofwhatIdoknow。LetusfirstseeifIamrightaboutthetimethatispast,beforeImakeanyproposaltoyouforthetimethatistocome。’
`StoptillIgetthebrandyandwater。Havesomeyourself。’
`Thankyou,Percival。Thecoldwaterwithpleasure,aspoon,andthebasinofsugar。Eausucré;e,myfriend——nothingmore。’
`Sugar-and-waterforamanofyourage!——There!mixyoursicklymess。
Youforeignersareallalike。’
`Nowlisten,Percival。Iwillputourpositionplainlybeforeyou,asIunderstandit,andyoushallsayifIamrightorwrong。YouandIbothcamebacktothishousefromtheContinentwithouraffairsveryseriouslyembarrassed——’
`Cutitshort!Iwantedsomethousandsandyousomehundreds,andwithoutthemoneywewerebothinafairwaytogotothedogstogether。There’sthesituation。Makewhatyoucanofit。Goon。’
`Well,Percival,inyourownsolidEnglishwords,youwantedsomethousandsandIwantedsomehundreds,andtheonlywayofgettingthemwasforyoutoraisethemoneyforyourownnecessitywithasmallmarginbeyondformypoorlittlehundredsbythehelpofyourwife。WhatdidItellyouaboutyourwifeonourwaytoEngland?——andwhatdidItellyouagainwhenwehadcomehere,andwhenIhadseenformyselfthesortofwomanMissHalcombewas?’
`HowshouldIknow?Youtalkednineteentothedozen,Isuppose,justasusual。’
`Isaidthis:Humaningenuity,myfriend,hashithertoonlydiscoveredtwowaysinwhichamancanmanageawoman。Onewayistoknockherdown——amethodlargelyadoptedbythebrutallowerordersofthepeople,bututterlyabhorrenttotherefinedandeducatedclassesabovethem。Theotherwaymuchlonger,muchmoredifficult,butintheendnotlesscertain
isnevertoacceptaprovocationatawoman’shands。Itholdswithanimals,itholdswithchildren,anditholdswithwomen,whoarenothingbutchildrengrownup。Quietresolutionistheonequalitytheanimals,thechildren,andthewomenallfailin。Iftheycanonceshakethissuperiorqualityintheirmaster,theygetthebetterofhim。Iftheycanneversucceedindisturbingit,hegetsthebetterofthem。Isaidtoyou,Rememberthatplaintruthwhenyouwantyourwifetohelpyoutothemoney。Isaid,Rememberitdoublyandtreblyinthepresenceofyourwife’ssister,MissHalcombe。Haveyourememberedit?
Notonceinallthecomplicationsthathavetwistedthemselvesaboutusinthishouse。Everyprovocationthatyourwifeandhersistercouldoffertoyou,youinstantlyacceptedfromthem。Yourmadtemperlostthesignaturetothedeed,lostthereadymoney,setMissHalcombewritingtothelawyerforthefirsttime——’
`Firsttime!Hasshewrittenagain?’
`Yes,shehaswrittenagaintoday。’
Achairfellonthepavementoftheverandah——fellwithacrash,asifithadbeenkickeddown。
ItwaswellformethattheCount’srevelationrousedSirPercival’sangerasitdid。OnhearingthatIhadbeenoncemorediscoveredIstartedsothattherailingagainstwhichIleanedcrackedagain。Hadhefollowedmetotheinn?DidheinferthatImusthavegivenmyletterstoFannywhenItoldhimIhadnoneforthepost-bag。Evenifitwasso,howcouldhehaveexaminedtheletterswhentheyhadgonestraightfrommyhandtothebosomofthegirl’sdress?
`Thankyourluckystar,’IheardtheCountsaynext,`thatyouhavemeinthehousetoundotheharmasfastasyoudoit。ThankyourluckystarthatIsaidNowhenyouweremadenoughtotalkofturningthekeytodayonMissHalcombe,asyouturneditinyourmischievousfollyonyourwife。Whereareyoureyes?CanyoulookatMissHalcombeandnotseethatshehastheforesightandtheresolutionofaman?WiththatwomanformyfriendIwouldsnapthesefingersofmineattheworld。Withthatwomanformyenemy,I,withallmybrainsandexperience——I,Fosco,cunningasthedevilhimself,asyouhavetoldmeahundredtimes——Iwalk,inyourEnglishphrase,uponegg-shells!Andthisgrandcreature——Idrinkherhealthinmysugar-and-water——thisgrandcreature,whostandsinthestrengthofherloveandhercourage,firmasarock,betweenustwoandthatpoor,flimsy,prettyblondewifeofyours——thismagnificentwoman,whomIadmirewithallmysoul,thoughIopposeherinyourinterestsandinmine,youdrivetoextremitiesasifshewasnosharperandnobolderthantherestofhersex。Percival!Percival!youdeservetofail,andyouhavefailed。’
Therewasapause。Iwritethevillain’swordsaboutmyselfbecauseIMeantorememberthem——becauseIhopeyetforthedaywhenImayspeakoutonceforallinhispresence,andcastthembackonebyoneinhisteeth。
SirPercivalwasthefirsttobreakthesilenceagain。
`Yes,yes,bullyandblusterasmuchasyoulike,’hesaidsulkily;
`thedifficultyaboutthemoneyisnottheonlydifficulty。Youwouldbefortakingstrongmeasureswiththewomenyourself——ifyouknewasmuchasIdo。’
`Wewillcometothatseconddifficultyallingoodtime,’rejoinedtheCount。`Youmayconfuseyourself,Percival,asmuchasyouplease,butyoushallnotconfuseme。Letthequestionofthemoneybesettledfirst。HaveIconvincedyourobstinacy?haveIshownyouthatyourtemperwillnotletyouhelpyourself?——OrmustIgoback,andasyouputitinyourdearstraightforwardEnglishbullyandblusteralittlemore?’
`Pooh!It’seasyEnoughtogrumbleatme。Saywhatistobedone——
that’salittleharder。’
`Isit?Bah!Thisiswhatistobedone:Yougiveupalldirectioninthebusinessfromtonight——youleaveitforthefutureinmyhandsonly。
IamtalkingtoaPracticalBritishman——ha?Well,Practical,willthatdoforyou?’
`WhatdoyouproposeifIleaveitalltoyou?’
`Answermefirst。Isittoainmyhandsornot?’
`Sayitisinyourhands——whatthen?’
`Afewquestions,Percival,tobeginwith。Imustwaitalittleyet,toletcircumstancesguideme,andImustknow,ineverypossibleway,whatthosecircumstancesarelikelytobe。Thereisnotimetolose。I
havetoldyoualreadythatMissHalcombehaswrittentothelawyertodayforthesecondtime。’
`Howdidyoufinditout?Whatdidshesay?’
`IfItoldyou,Percival,weshouldonlycomebackattheendtowherewearenow。EnoughthatIhavefounditout——andthefindinghascausedthattroubleandanxietywhichmademesoinaccessibletoyouallthroughtoday。Now,torefreshmymemoryaboutyouraffairs——itissometimesinceItalkedthemoverwithyou。Themoneyhasbeenraised,intheabsenceofyourwife’ssignature,bymeansofbillsatthreemonths——raisedatacostthatmakesmypoverty-strickenforeignhairstandonendtothinkofit!Whenthebillsaredue,istherereallyandtrulynoearthlywayofpayingthembutbythehelpofyourwife?’
`None。’
`What!Youhavenomoneyatthebankers?’
`Afewhundreds,whenIwantasmanythousands。’