第94章

“IforbidyourmarriagetoGeoffreyDelamayn!Iinsistonhisperformingthepromisehegaveme，tomakemehiswife!Ihavegotithereinhisownwords，inhisownwriting。Onhissoul，heswearsittome——hewillredeemhispledge。Hismistress，didyousay？Hiswife，Mrs。Glenarm，beforetheweekisout!“

Inthosewildwordsshecastbackthetaunt——withtheletterheldintriumphinherhand。

Dauntedforthemomentbythedoubtnowliterallyforcedonher，thatAnnemightreallyhavetheclaimonGeoffreywhichsheadvanced，Mrs。Glenarmansweredneverthelesswiththeobstinacyofawomanbroughttobay——witharesolutionnottobeconvincedbyconvictionitself。

“Iwon’tgivehimup!“shecried。“Yourletterisaforgery。Youhavenoproof。Iwon’t，Iwon’t，Iwon’tgivehimup!“sherepeated，withtheimpotentiterationofanangrychild。

Annepointeddisdainfullytotheletterthatsheheld。“Hereishispledgedandwrittenword，“shesaid。“WhileIlive，youwillneverbehiswife。“

“Ishallbehiswifethedayaftertherace。IamgoingtohiminLondon——towarnhimagainstYou!“

“YouwillfindmeinLondon，beforeyou——withthisinmyhand。Doyouknowhiswriting？“

Shehelduptheletter，open。Mrs。Glenarm’shandflewoutwiththestealthyrapidityofacat’spaw，toseizeanddestroyit。

Quickasshewas，herrivalwasquickerstill。Foraninstanttheyfacedeachotherbreathless——onewiththeletterheldbehindher；onewithherhandstillstretchedout。

Atthesamemoment——beforeawordmorehadpassedbetweenthem——theglassdooropened；andJuliusDelamaynappearedintheroom。

HeaddressedhimselftoAnne。

“Wedecided，ontheterrace，“hesaid，quietly，“thatyoushouldspeaktoMrs。Glenarm，ifMrs。Glenarmwishedit。Doyouthinkitdesirablethattheinterviewshouldbecontinuedanylonger？“

Anne’sheaddroopedonherbreast。Thefieryangerinherwasquenchedinaninstant。

“Ihavebeencruellyprovoked，Mr。Delamayn，“sheanswered。“ButIhavenorighttopleadthat。“Shelookedupathimforamoment。Thehottearsofshamegatheredinhereyes，andfellslowlyoverhercheeks。Shebentherheadagain，andhidthemfromhim。“TheonlyatonementIcanmake，“shesaid，“istoaskyourpardon，andtoleavethehouse。“

Insilence，sheturnedawaytothedoor。Insilence，JuliusDelamaynpaidherthetriflingcourtesyofopeningitforher。

Shewentout。

Mrs。Glenarm’sindignation——suspendedforthemoment——transferreditselftoJulius。

“IfIhavebeenentrappedintoseeingthatwoman，withyourapproval，“shesaid，haughtily，“Ioweittomyself，Mr。

Delamayn，tofollowherexample，andtoleaveyourhouse。“

“Iauthorizedhertoaskyouforaninterview，Mrs。Glenarm。IfshehaspresumedonthepermissionthatIgaveher