Chapter 14
CHAPTER XIV. THE TIGER SHOWS HER CLAWS. After this very chilling reception at the hands of the object of his affection, Edward Cossey, as may be imagined, continued his drive in an even worse temper than before. He reached his rooms, had some luncheon, and then, in pursuance of a previous engagement, went over to the Oaks to see Mrs. Quest. He found her waiting for him in the drawing-room.
She was standing at the window, with her hands behind her, a favourite attitude of hers. As soon as the door was shut, she turned, came up to him, and grasped his hand affectionately between her own. It is an age since I've seen you, Edward, she said. One whole day. Really, when I do not see you, I do not live. I only exist. He freed himself from her clasp with a quick movement. Really, Belle, he said impatiently, you might be a little more careful than to go
through that sort of performance in front of an open window, especially as the gardener must have seen the whole thing. I don't care much if he did, she said defiantly. What does it matter? My husband is certainly not in a position to make a fuss about other people. What does it matter? he said, stamping his foot. What does it not matter?
If you have no care for your good name, do you suppose that I am indifferent to mine? Mrs. Quest opened her large, violet eyes to the fullest extent, and a curious light was reflected from them. You have grown wonderfully careful all of a sudden, Edward, she said meaningly. What is the use of being careful when you are so reckless?
i tell you what it is bella we are talked of all over this gossiping town and i don't like it and what is more once and for all i won't have it if you will not be more careful i will break with you altogether and that is the long and short of it where have you been this morning she asked in the same ominously calm tone i have been to honham castle on a matter of business oh and yesterday you were there on a matter of pleasure now did you happen to see ida in the course of your business yes he answered looking her full in the face i did see her what about it by appointment i suppose no not by appointment have you done your catechism yes and now i'm going to preach a homily on it i see through you perfectly edward you are getting tired of me and want to get rid of me i tell you plainly that you are not going the right way to work about it no woman especially if she be in my unfortunate position can tamely bear herself to see herself discarded for another certainly i cannot and i caution you i caution you to be careful because when i think of such a thing i am not quite myself
and suddenly and without the slightest warning for her face had been hard and cold as stone she burst into a flood of tears now edward cossey being but a man was somewhat broken down at this sight of course he did his best to console her though with no great results for she was sobbing bitterly when suddenly there came a knock at the door mrs quest turned her face toward the wall and pretended to be reading a letter and he tried to look as unconcerned as possible a telegram for you sir said the girl with a sharp glance at her mistress the telegraph boy brought it on here when he found you were not at home because he said he would be sure to find you here and please sir he hopes that you will give him sixpence for bringing it round as he thought it might be important edward felt in his pocket and gave the girl a shilling telling her to say that there was no answer as soon as she was gone he opened the telegram and started it was from his sister in london and ran as follows come up to town at once father has had a stroke of paralysis shall expect you by the seven o'clock train what is it said mrs quest noting the alarm on his face why my father is very ill he has had a stroke of paralysis and i must go to town by the next train
shall you be long away i do not know how can i tell good-bye bella i am sorry that we should have had this scene just as i am going but i can't help it oh edward she said catching him by the arm and turning her tear-stained face up towards his own you are not angry with me are you do not let us part in anger how can i help being jealous when i love you so tell me that you do not hate me or i shall be wretched all the time that you are away no no of course not but i must say that i wish that you would not make such shocking scenes good-bye good-bye she answered as she gave him her shaking hands good-bye my dear if only you knew what i feel here she pointed to her breast he would make excuses for me almost before she had finished her sentence he was gone she stood near the door listening to his retreating footsteps till they had quite died away and then flung herself in the chair and rested her head upon her hands i shall lose him she said to herself in the bitterness of her heart i know i shall what chance have i against her he already cares for ida a great deal more than he does for me in the end he will break from me and marry her some time oh i had rather see him dead and myself too
half an hour later mr quest came in where is cossey he asked mr croz's father has had a stroke of paralysis and he has gone up to london to look after him oh said mr quest well if the old gentleman dies your friend will be one of the wealthiest men in england well so much the better for him i am sure money is a great blessing it protects one from so much yes said mr quest with emphasis so much the better for him and all connected with him why have you been crying because cossey has gone away or have you quarrelled with him how do you know that i have been crying if i have it's my affair at any rate my tears are my own certainly they are i do not wish to interfere with your crying cry when you like it will be lucky for cossey if that old father of his dies just now because he wants money what does he want money for because he has undertaken to pay off the mortgages of the castle estates why has he done that as an investment no it is a rotten investment i believe that he has done it because he is in love with miss de la molle and is naturally anxious to ingratiate himself with her
don't you know that i thought perhaps that that's what you had been crying about it is not true she answered her lips quivering with pain mr quest laughed gently i think that you must have lost your power of observation which used to be sufficiently keen however of course it does not matter to you it will in many ways be a most suitable marriage and i am sure they will make a very handsome couple she made no answer and turned her back to hide the workings of her face for a few moments her husband stood looking at her with a gentle smile playing on his refined features then remarking that he must go round to the office but would be back in time for tea he went reflecting with satisfaction that he had given his wife something to think about which would be scarcely to her taste as for bella quest she waited till the door had closed and then turned round towards it and spoke aloud as though she were dressing her vanished husband i hate you she said with bitter emphasis i hate you you have ruined my life and now you torment me as though i were a lost soul oh how i wish i were dead i wish i were dead on reaching his office mr quest found two letters for him one of which had just arrived by the afternoon post
the first was addressed in the squire's handwriting and signed with a big seal and the other bore a superscription the sight of which made him turn momentarily faint taking up the last with a visible effort he opened it it ran as follows dear bill no answer this morning i hope you ain't up to any of your tricks about the tin because i won't stand it and that's all i told you that i had dropped all my oof and that i had not much out of you this year only five hundred and a beggarly twenty pound on my birthday and what i make at the birmingham four pound ten a week and hard work for that i'm cleaned out and that's all about it only just now a brute of a fellow came in with a summons for rates and i told him that my friend that means you bill dear was going to come down handsome in a day or two He would not believe it, just as though he knew what a mean lot you were. So I told him to bundle out double quick, or I'd heave the coal chute at his head.
And he went, you bet, but he'll be back before long with the summons. I say the coal chute, for there ain't no coals in it, and I can't afford any money to get a bit of fire to warm my bones with. Then there's the landlord, says he'll distrain for the rent unless it's paid up in double quick time. And so the long and short of it is that if I don't get about five hundred quid out of you,
in the course of next week. I'll know the reason why. And I'll just be plain with you, Bill, my old boy, if I don't see the colour of that money by this day week. Why, I tell you what I am going to do. I am going to take a little country air. My complexion wants it, and I think Boisingham would suit first rate. In fact, I shall come down and pay you a visit, old boy. So perhaps you'll ask the lovely Mrs. Quest to get a room ready for me. And when I get down there, if I don't tell all the
old respectables a thing or two about their beloved lawyer, and generally make them sit up and see stars. Why, I ain't I. And now there's the straight tip for you, from your affectionate tiger. But remember, she'd always rather purr than growl. It's only when the cash don't come down that her back goes up. All a question of money, my boy, like everything else in this wicked world. Your beloved, Edith. By the time Mr. Quest had finished reading this precious effusion,
the cold sweat was standing in beads on his forehead great heavens this woman will destroy me what a devil and she'd be as good as her word unless i found her the money i must go up to town at once i wonder how she got that idea into her head it makes me shudder to think of such a thing and he dropped his face upon his hands and groaned in the bitterness of his heart it is hard he thought to himself here i have for years and years been striving and toiling and labouring to become a respectable and respected member of society and always this old folly haunts my steps and drags me down and by heaven i believe that it will destroy me after all with a sigh he lifted his head and taking a sheet of paper wrote on it i have received your letter and will come and see you to-morrow or the next day this letter he placed in an envelope which he directed to the high-sounding name of mrs d'aubegne stanley street pimlico and put it in his pocket then with another sigh he took up the squire's letter and glanced through it its length was considerable but in substance it announced his acceptance of the arrangement proposed by mr edward and requested that he would prepare the necessary deeds to be submitted to his lawyers mr quest read the letter absently enough and threw it down with a little laugh
what a queer world it is he said to himself and what a ludicrous side it has to it all here is cosy advancing money to get hold over ida de la mole whom he means to marry if he can and who is probably playing her own hand here is bella madly in love with cossey who will break her heart here i am in love with bella who hates me and is playing everybody's game in order to advance my own and become a venerated member of society i am superior to here is the squire blundering about like a walrus in a horse-pond and fancying everything is being conducted for his sole advantage and that all the world revolves around honham castle and then here at the end of the chain is this female harpy edith jones otherwise alias the tiger gnawing at my vitals and holding my fortunes in her hand bah it is a queer world and full of combinations but the worst of it is that plot as we will the solution of them does not rest with us no not with us End of chapter 14
