第22章

"Ientirelyagreewithyou，"heanswered，withoutaninstant’shesitation。"Mrs。Beaulyisaninnocentwoman。ThedefenseattheTrialwastherightdefenseafterall。"

Hefoldedhisarmscomplacently；helookedperfectlysatisfiedtoleavethematterthere。

Iwasnotofhismind。Tomyownamazement，Inowfoundmyselftheleastreasonablepersonofthetwo！

MiserrimusDexter（tousethepopularphrase）hadgivenmemorethanIhadbargainedfor。HehadnotonlydoneallthatIhadanticipatedinthewayoffalsifyingMr。Playmore’sprediction——hehadactuallyadvancedbeyondmylimits。IcouldgothelengthofrecognizingMrs。Beauly’sinnocence；butatthatpointIstopped。IftheDefenseattheTrialweretherightdefense，farewelltoallhopeofassertingmyhusband’sinnocence。IheldtothathopeasIheldtomyloveandmylife。

"Speakforyourself，"Isaid。"MyopinionoftheDefenseremainsunchanged。"

Hestarted，andknithisbrowsasifIhaddisappointedanddispleasedhim。

"Doesthatmeanthatyouaredeterminedtogoon？"

"Itdoes。"

Hewasdownrightangrywithme。Hecasthiscustomarypolitenesstothewinds。

"Absurd！impossible！"hecried，contemptuously。"YouhaveyourselfdeclaredthatwewrongedaninnocentwomanwhenwesuspectedMrs。Beauly。Isthereanyoneelsewhomwecansuspect？

Itisridiculoustoaskthequestion。Thereisnoalternativeleftbuttoacceptthefactsastheyare，andtostirnofurtherinthematterofthepoisoningatGleninch。Itischildishtodisputeplainconclusions。Youmustgiveup。"

"Youmaybeangrywithmeifyouwill，Mr。Dexter。Neitheryourangernoryourargumentswillmakemegiveup。"

Hecontrolledhimselfbyaneffort——hewasquietandpoliteagainwhenhenextspoketome。

"Verywell。PardonmeforamomentifIabsorbmyselfinmyownthoughts。IwanttodosomethingwhichIhavenotdoneyet。"

"Whatmaythatbe，Mr。Dexter？"

"IamgoingtoputmyselfintoMrs。Beauly’sskin，andtothinkwithMrs。Beauly’smind。Givemeaminute。Thankyou。"

Whatdidhemean？whatnewtransformationofhimwaspassingbeforemyeyes？Wasthereeversuchapuzzleofamanasthis？

Whothatsawhimnow，intentlypursuinghisnewtrainofthought，wouldhaverecognizedhimasthechildishcreaturewhohadawokesoinnocently，andhadastonishedBenjaminbytheinfantinenonsensewhichhetalked？Itissaid，andsaidtruly，thattherearemanysidestoeveryhumancharacter。Dexter’smanysidesweredevelopingthemselvesatsucharapidrateofprogressthattheywerealreadybeyondmycounting。

Heliftedhishead，andfixedalookofkeeninquiryonme。

"IhavecomeoutofMrs。Beauly’sskin，"heannounced。"AndI

havearrivedatthisresult：Wearetwoimpetuouspeople；andwehavebeenalittlehastyinrushingataconclusion。"

Hestopped。Isaidnothing。Wastheshadowofadoubtofhimbeginningtoriseinmymind？Iwaited，andlistened。

"IamasfullysatisfiedaseverofthetruthofwhatLadyClarindatoldyou，heproceeded。"ButIsee，onconsideration，whatIfailedtoseeatthetime。Thestoryadmitsoftwointerpretations——oneonthesurface，andanotherunderthesurface。Ilookunderthesurface，inyourinterests；andIsay，itisjustpossiblethatMrs。Beaulymayhavebeencunningenoughtoforestallsuspicion，andtosetupanAlibi。"

IamashamedtoownthatIdidnotunderstandwhathemeantbythelastword——Alibi。HesawthatIwasnotfollowinghim，andspokeoutmoreplainly。

"Wasthemaidsomethingmorethanhermistress’spassiveaccomplice？"hesaid。"WasshetheHandthathermistressused？

Wassheonherwaytogivethefirstdoseofpoisonwhenshepassedmeinthiscorridor？DidMrs。BeaulyspendthenightinEdinburgh——soastohaveherdefenseready，ifsuspicionfelluponher？"

MyshadowydoubtofhimbecamesubstantialdoubtwhenIheardthat。HadIabsolvedhimalittletooreadily？WashereallytryingtorenewmysuspicionsofMrs。Beauly，asMr。Playmorehadforetold？ThistimeIwasobligedtoanswerhim。Indoingso，I

unconsciouslyemployedoneofthephraseswhichthelawyerhadusedtomeduringmyfirstinterviewwithhim。

"Thatsoundsratherfar—fetched，Mr。Dexter，"Isaid。

Tomyrelief，hemadenoattempttodefendthenewviewthathehadadvanced。

"Itisfar—fetched，"headmitted。"WhenIsaiditwasjustpossible——thoughIdidn’tclaimmuchformyidea——Isaidmoreforitperhapsthanitdeserved。Dismissmyviewasridiculous；whatareyoutodonext？IfMrs。Beaulyisnotthepoisoner（eitherbyherselforbyhermaid），whois？Sheisinnocent，andEustaceisinnocent。Whereistheotherpersonwhomyoucansuspect？Have_I_poisonedher？"hecried，withhiseyesflashing，andhisvoicerisingtoitshighestnotes。"Doyou，doesanybody，suspectMe？Ilovedher；Iadoredher；Ihaveneverbeenthesamemansinceherdeath。Hush！Iwilltrustyouwithasecret。（Don’ttellyourhusband；itmightbethedestructionofourfriendship。）Iwouldhavemarriedher，beforeshemetwithEustace，ifshewouldhavetakenme。Whenthedoctorstoldmeshehaddiedpoisoned——askDoctorJeromewhatIsuffered；_he_cantellyou！AllthroughthathorriblenightIwasawake；watchingmyopportunityuntilIfoundmywaytoher。Igotintotheroom，andtookmylastleaveofthecoldremainsoftheangelwhomI

loved。Icriedoverher。Ikissedher。forthefirstandlasttime。Istoleonelittlelockofherhair。Ihaveworniteversince；Ihavekisseditnightandday。Oh，God！theroomcomesbacktome！thedeadfacecomesbacktome！Look！look！"

Hetorefromitsplaceofconcealmentinhisbosomalittlelocket，fastenedbyaribbonaroundhisneck。HethrewittomewhereIsat，andburstintoapassionoftears。

Amaninmyplacemighthaveknownwhattodo。Beingonlyawoman，Iyieldedtothecompassionateimpulseofthemoment。

Igotupandcrossedtheroomtohim。Igavehimbackhislocket，andputmyhand，withoutknowingwhatIwasabout，onthepoorwretch’sshoulder。"Iamincapableofsuspectingyou，Mr。

Dexter，"Isaid，gently。"Nosuchideaeverenteredmyhead。I

pityyoufromthebottomofmyheart。"

Hecaughtmyhandinhis，anddevoureditwithkisses。Hislipsburnedmelikefire。Hetwistedhimselfsuddenlyinthechair，andwoundhisarmaroundmywaist。Intheterrorandindignationofthemoment，vainlystrugglingwithhim，Icriedoutforhelp。

Thedooropened，andBenjaminappearedonthethreshold。

Dexterletgohisholdofme。

IrantoBenjamin，andpreventedhimfromadvancingintotheroom。InallmylongexperienceofmyfatherlyoldfriendIhadneverseenhimreallyangryyet。Isawhimmorethanangrynow。

Hewaspale——thepatient，gentleoldmanwaspalewithrage！I

heldhimatthedoorwithallmystrength。

"Youcan’tlayyourhandonacripple，"Isaid。Sendforthemanoutsidetotakehimaway。

IdrewBenjaminoutoftheroom，andclosedandlockedthelibrarydoor。Thehousekeeperwasinthedining—room。Isentherouttocallthedriverofthepony—chaiseintothehouse。

Themancamein——theroughmanwhomIhadnoticedwhenwewereapproachingthegardengate。Benjaminopenedthelibrarydoorinsternsilence。Itwasperhapsunworthyofme，butIcould_not_

resistthetemptationtolookin。

MiserrimusDexterhadsunkdowninthechair。Theroughmanliftedhismasterwithagentlenessthatsurprisedme。"Hidemyface，"IheardDextersaytohim，inbrokentones。Heopenedhiscoarsepilot—jacket，andhidhismaster’sheadunderit，andsowentsilentlyout——withthedeformedcreatureheldtohisbosom，likeawomanshelteringherchild。

CHAPTERXXXVI。

ARIEL。

IPASSEDasleeplessnight。

Theoutragethathadbeenofferedtomewasbadenoughinitself。

Butconsequenceswereassociatedwithitwhichmightaffectmemoreseriouslystill。InsofarastheattainmentoftheoneobjectofmylifemightyetdependonmypersonalassociationwithMiserrimusDexter，aninsurmountableobstacleappearedtobenowplacedinmyway。Eveninmyhusband’sinterests，oughtItopermitamanwhohadgrosslyinsultedmetoapproachmeagain？

AlthoughIwasnoprude，Irecoiledfromthethoughtofit。

Iaroselate，andsatdownatmydesk，tryingtosummonenergyenoughtowritetoMr。Playmore——andtryinginvain。

Towardnoon（whileBenjaminhappenedtobeoutforalittlewhile）thehousekeeperannouncedthearrivalofanotherstrangevisitoratthegateofthevilla。

"It’sawomanthistime，ma’am——orsomethinglikeone，"saidthisworthyperson，confidentially。"Agreat，stout，awkward，stupidcreature，withaman’shatonandaman’sstickinherhand。Shesaysshehasgotanoteforyou，andshewon’tgiveittoanybody_but_you。I’dbetternotletherin——hadI？"

Recognizingtheoriginalofthepicture，Iastonishedthehousekeeperbyconsentingtoreceivethemessengerimmediately。

Arielenteredtheroom——instolidsilence，asusual。ButI

noticedachangeinherwhichpuzzledme。Herdulleyeswereredandbloodshot。Tracesoftears（asIfancied）we