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。’