第21章

"SupposeyougobacktoDexter，"heproceeded。"Andsupposethatthedoctor’sopinionexaggeratestheperilinhiscase。Whatareyoutodo？Thelasttimeyousawhim，youhadtheimmenseadvantageoftakinghimbysurprise。Thosesensitivenervesofhisgaveway，andhebetrayedthefearthatyouarousedinhim。

Canyoutakehimbysurpriseagain？Notyou！Heispreparedforyounow；andhewillbeonhisguard。Ifyouencounternothingworse，youwillhavehiscunningtodealwithnext。Areyouhismatchatthat？ButforLadyClarindahewouldhavehopelesslymisledyouonthesubjectofMrs。Beauly。"

Therewasnoansweringthis，either。Iwasfoolishenoughtotrytoanswerit，forallthat。

"Hetoldmethetruthsofarasheknewit，"Irejoined。"HereallysawwhathesaidhesawinthecorridoratGleninch。"

"Hetoldyouthetruth，"returnedMr。Playmore，"becausehewascunningenoughtoseethatthetruthwouldhelphiminirritatingyoursuspicions。Youdon’treallybelievethathesharedyoursuspicions？"

"Whynot？"Isaid。"HewasasignorantofwhatMrs。BeaulywasreallydoingonthatnightasIwas——untilImetLadyClarinda。

ItremainstobeseenwhetherhewillnotbeasmuchastonishedasIwaswhenItellhimwhatLadyClarindatoldme。"

ThissmartreplyproducedaneffectwhichIhadnotanticipated。

Tomysurprise，Mr。Playmoreabruptlydroppedallfurtherdiscussiononhisside。Heappearedtodespairofconvincingme，andheowneditindirectlyinhisnextwords。

"WillnothingthatIcansaytoyou，"heasked，"induceyoutothinkasIthinkinthismatter？"

"Ihavenotyourabilityoryourexperience，"Ianswered。"IamsorrytosayIcan’tthinkasyouthink。"

"AndyouarereallydeterminedtoseeMiserrimusDexteragain？"

"Ihaveengagedmyselftoseehimagain。"

Hewaitedalittle，andthoughtoverit。

"Youhavehonoredmebyaskingformyadvice，"hesaid。"I

earnestlyadviseyou，Mrs。Eustace，tobreakyourengagement。I

goevenfurtherthanthat——I_entreat_younottoseeDexteragain。"

Justwhatmymother—in—lawhadsaid！justwhatBenjaminandMajorFitz—Davidhadsaid！Theywereallagainstme。AndstillIheldout。

Iwonder，whenIlookbackatit，atmyownobstinacy。IamalmostashamedtorelatethatImadeMr。Playmorenoreply。Hewaited，stilllookingatme。Ifeltirritatedbythatfixedlook。

Iarose，andstoodbeforehimwithmyeyesonthefloor。

Hearoseinhisturn。Heunderstoodthattheconferencewasover。

"Well，well，"hesaid，withakindofsadgood—humor，"Isupposeitisunreasonableofmetoexpectthatayoungwomanlikeyoushouldshareanyopinionwithanoldlawyerlikeme。Letmeonlyremindyouthatourconversationmustremainstrictlyconfidentialforthepresent；andthenletuschangethesubject。

IsthereanythingthatIcandoforyou？AreyoualoneinEdinburgh？"

"No。Iamtravelingwithanoldfriendofmine，whohasknownmefromchildhood。"

"Anddoyoustayhereto—morrow？"

"Ithinkso。"

"Willyoudomeonefavor？Willyouthinkoverwhathaspassedbetweenus，andwillyoucomebacktomeinthemorning？"

"Willingly，Mr。Playmore，ifitisonlytothankyouagainforyourkindness。"

Onthatunderstandingweparted。Hesighed——thecheerfulmansighed，asheopenedthedoorforme。Womenarecontradictorycreatures。Thatsighaffectedmemorethanallhisarguments。I

feltmyselfblushformyownhead—strongresistancetohimasI

tookmyleaveandturnedawayintothestreet。

CHAPTERXXXIV。

GLENINCH。

"AHA！"saidBenjamin，complacently。"Sothelawyerthinks，asI

do，thatyouwillbehighlyimprudentifyougobacktoMr。

Dexter？Ahard—headed，sensiblemanthelawyer，nodoubt。YouwilllistentoMr。Playmore，won’tyou，thoughyouwouldn’tlistentome？"

（IhadofcourserespectedMr。Playmore’sconfidenceinmewhenBenjaminandImetonmyreturntothehotel。Notawordrelatingtothelawyer’shorriblesuspicionofMiserrimusDexterhadpassedmylips。）

"Youmustforgiveme，myoldfriend，"Isaid，answeringBenjamin。

"Iamafraidithascometothis——tryasImay，Icanlistentonobodywhoadvisesme。OnourwayhereIhonestlymeanttobeguidedbyMr。Playmore——weshouldneverhavetakenthislongjourneyifIhadnothonestlymeantit。Ihavetried，triedhardtobeateachable，reasonablewoman。Butthereissomethinginmethatwon’tbetaught。IamafraidIshallgobacktoDexter。"

EvenBenjaminlostallpatiencewithmethistime。

"Whatisbredinthebone，"hesaid，quotingtheoldproverb，"willnevercomeoutoftheflesh。Inyearsgoneby，youwerethemostobstinatechildthatevermadeamessinanursery。Oh，dearme，wemightaswellhavestayedinLondon。"

"No，"Ireplied，"nowwehavetraveledtoEdinburgh，wewillseesomething（interestingto_me_atanyrate）whichweshouldneverhaveseenifwehadnotleftLondon。Myhusband’scountry—houseiswithinafewmilesofushere。To—morrow——wewillgotoGleninch。"

"Wherethepoorladywaspoisoned？"askedBenjamin，withalookofdismay。"Youmeanthatplace？"

"Yes。Iwanttoseetheroominwhichshedied；Iwanttogoalloverthehouse。"

Benjamincrossedhishandsresignedlyonhislap。"Itrytounderstandthenewgeneration，"saidtheoldman，sadly；"butI

can’tmanageit。Thenewgenerationbeatsme。"

IsatdowntowritetoMr。PlaymoreaboutthevisittoGleninch。

Thehouseinwhichthetragedyhadoccurredthathadblightedmyhusband’slifewas，tomymind，themostinterestinghouseonthehabitableglobe。TheprospectofvisitingGleninchhad，indeed（totellthetruth），stronglyinfluencedmyresolutiontoconsulttheEdinburghlawyer。IsentmynotetoMr。Playmorebyamessenger，andreceivedthekindestreplyinreturn。IfIwouldwaituntiltheafternoon，hewouldgettheday’sbusinessdone，andwouldtakeustoGleninchinhisowncarriage。

Benjamin’sobstinacy——initsownquietway，andoncertainoccasionsonly——wasquiteamatchformine。Hehadprivatelydetermined，asoneoftheoldgeneration，tohavenothingtodowithGleninch。NotawordonthesubjectescapedhimuntilMr。

Playmore’scarriagewasatthehoteldoor。AtthatappropriatemomentBenjaminrememberedanoldfriendofhisinEdinburgh。

"Willyoupleasetoexcuseme，Valeria？Myfriend’snameisSaunders；andhewilltakeitunkindlyofmeifIdon’tdinewithhimto—day。"

ApartfromtheassociationsthatIconnectedwithit，therewasnothingtointerestatraveleratGleninch。

Thecountryaroundwasprettyandwellcultivated，andnothingmore。Theparkwas，toanEnglisheye，wildandbadlykept。Thehousehadbeenbuiltwithinthelastseventyoreightyyears。

Outside，itwasasbareofallornamentasafactory，andasgloomilyheavyineffectasaprison。Inside，thedeadlydreariness，theclose，oppressivesolitudeofadeserteddwellingweariedtheeyeandweighedonthemind，fromtherooftothebasement。ThehousehadbeenshutupsincethetimeoftheTrial。

Alonelyoldcouple，manandwife，hadthekeysandthechargeofit。ThemanshookhisheadinsilentandsorrowfuldisapprovalofourintrusionwhenMr。Playmoreorderedhimtoopenthedoorsandshutters，andletthelightinonthedark，desertedplace。Fireswereburninginthelibraryandthepicture—gallery，topreservethetreasureswhichtheycontainedfromthedamp。Itwasnoteasy，atfirst，tolookatthecheerfulblazewithoutfancyingthattheinhabitantsofthehousemustsurelycomeinandwarmthemselves。Ascendingtotheupperfloor，IsawtheroomsmadefamiliartomebytheReportoftheTrial。Ienteredthelittlestudy，withtheoldbooksontheshelves，andthekeystillmissingfromthelockeddoorofcommunicationwiththebedchamber。IlookedintotheroominwhichtheunhappymistressofGleninchhadsufferedanddied。Thebedwasleftinitsplace；

thesofaonwhichthenursehadsnatchedherintervalsofreposewasatitsfoot；theIndiancabinet，inwhichthecrumpledpaperwiththegrainsofarsenichadbeenfound，stillhelditslittlecollectionofcuriosities。Imovedonitspivottheinvalid—tableonwhichshehadtakenhermealsandwrittenherpoems，poorsoul。Theplacewasdrearyan