第102章

“What’stherowabout，Crawley，myboy？”saidtheoldwarrior。”Nomoregamblingbusiness，hay，likethatwhenweshotCaptainMarker？”

“It’sabout——aboutmywife。”Crawleyanswered，castingdownhiseyesandturningveryred。

Theothergaveawhistle。”Ialwayssaidshe’dthrowyouover。”hebegan——indeedtherewerebetsintheregimentandattheclubsregardingtheprobablefateofColonelCrawley，solightlywashiswife’scharacteresteemedbyhiscomradesandtheworld；butseeingthesavagelookwithwhichRawdonansweredtheexpressionofthisopinion，Macmurdodidnotthinkfittoenlargeuponitfurther。

“Istherenowayoutofit，oldboy？”theCaptaincontinuedinagravetone。”Isitonlysuspicion，youknow，or——orwhatisit？Anyletters？Can’tyoukeepitquiet？

Bestnotmakeanynoiseaboutathingofthatsortifyoucanhelpit。”“Thinkofhisonlyfindingheroutnow。”theCaptainthoughttohimself，andrememberedahundredparticularconversationsatthemess-table，inwhichMrs。

Crawley’sreputationhadbeentorntoshreds。

“There’snowaybutoneoutofit。”Rawdonreplied——

“andthere’sonlyawayoutofitforoneofus，Mac——doyouunderstand？Iwasputoutoftheway——arrested——I

found’emalonetogether。Itoldhimhewasaliarandacoward，andknockedhimdownandthrashedhim。”

“Servehimright。”Macmurdosaid。”Whoisit？”

RawdonanswereditwasLordSteyne。

“Thedeuce！aMarquis！theysaidhe——thatis，theysaidyou——“

“Whatthedevildoyoumean？”roaredoutRawdon；

“doyoumeanthatyoueverheardafellowdoubtaboutmywifeanddidn’ttellme，Mac？”

“Theworld’sverycensorious，oldboy。”theotherreplied。”Whatthedeucewasthegoodofmytellingyouwhatanytom-foolstalkedabout？”

“Itwasdamnedunfriendly，Mac。”saidRawdon，quiteovercome；and，coveringhisfacewithhishands，hegavewaytoanemotion，thesightofwhichcausedthetougholdcampaigneroppositehimtowincewithsympathy。

“Holdup，oldboy。”hesaid；“greatmanornot，we’llputabulletinhim，damnhim。Asforwomen，they’reallso。”

“Youdon’tknowhowfondIwasofthatone。”

Rawdonsaid，half-inarticulately。”Damme，Ifollowedherlikeafootman。IgaveupeverythingIhadtoher。I’mabeggarbecauseIwouldmarryher。ByJove，sir，I’vepawnedmyownwatchinordertogetheranythingshefancied；

andsheshe’sbeenmakingapurseforherselfallthetime，andgrudgedmeahundredpoundtogetmeoutofquod。”Hethenfiercelyandincoherently，andwithanagitationunderwhichhiscounsellorhadneverbeforeseenhimlabour，toldMacmurdothecircumstancesofthestory。Hisadvisercaughtatsomestrayhintsinit。

“Shemaybeinnocent，afterall。”hesaid。”Shesaysso。Steynehasbeenahundredtimesalonewithherinthehousebefore。”

“Itmaybeso。”Rawdonansweredsadly，“butthisdon’tlookveryinnocent“：andheshowedtheCaptainthethousand-poundnotewhichhehadfoundinBecky’spocket-book。”Thisiswhathegaveher，Mac，andshekepitunknowntome；andwiththismoneyinthehouse，sherefusedtostandbymewhenIwaslockedup。”TheCaptaincouldnotbutownthatthesecretingofthemoneyhadaveryuglylook。

Whilsttheywereengagedintheirconference，RawdondispatchedCaptainMacmurdo’sservanttoCurzonStreet，withanordertothedomestictheretogiveupabagofclothesofwhichtheColonelhadgreatneed。Andduringtheman’sabsence，andwithgreatlabourandaJohnson’sDictionary，whichstoodtheminmuchstead，Rawdonandhissecondcomposedaletter，whichthelatterwastosendtoLordSteyne。CaptainMacmurdohadthehonourofwaitingupontheMarquisofSteyne，onthepartofColonelRawdonCrawley，andbeggedtointimatethathewasempoweredbytheColoneltomakeanyarrangementsforthemeetingwhich，hehadnodoubt，itwashisLordship’sintentiontodemand，andwhichthecircumstancesofthemorninghadrenderedinevitable。CaptainMacmurdobeggedLordSteyne，inthemostpolitemanner，toappointafriend，withwhomhe(CaptainM’M。)

mightcommunicate，anddesiredt