Mrs. Dorriman: A Novel. Volume 2 of 3Chetwynd, Henry Wayland, Mrs.
General
Mrs. Dorriman: A Novel. Volume 2 of 3
Chetwynd, Henry Wayland, Mrs.
Fiction
He was afraid of making things worse for her, and yet he could not bear
going without giving and receiving a sign from her.
"Is that not your wife?" he asked suddenly. "Will you not introduce me
to her?"
"Quite impossible, sir--quite impossible. My wife is not all there; she
is mad, poor thing, very mad."
"Is she indeed? Well, all the same I should like to speak to her, I
should like to make sure that this is not another of your...." He
stopped short.
"Another of my----! Finish, pray finish, my dear sir;" and Mr. Drayton
spoke in a tone of suppressed fury.
"Delusions," said the young man, calmly, trying to remember all the
various theories about subduing a madman by the expression of the eye,
and staring at him hard, conscious all the time of failure.
With sudden fury Mr. Drayton turned upon him, "I believe you to be an
impostor, an impostor, sir, do you hear? and you have come here to do me
an injury;" he moved towards him threateningly.
"Sir," answered Paul, understanding directly that it was no moment for
trifling, "I shall go and I shall tell all the world that Mr. Sandford
is right; you understand nothing of business; you are abusive--and, in
short, no one can make anything of you."
As he spoke Mr. Drayton nearly grasped him, but he had youth and
activity on his side, and he slipped away from him and stood by the
window, having thrown down all the chairs.
"Now, sir," he said, "I intend seeing for myself if Mrs. Drayton is
mad." Before Mr. Drayton could get round the obstructions he had opened
the window, which was not many feet from the ground, and alighted on the
lawn close to where Margaret, with deadly anxiety lest the packet should
never come into her possession, paced to and fro--she had her child
still with her.
"Your husband is mad," said Paul in a hurried whisper, "I hold proofs,
and you will be rescued." He stooped and picked up the child, anxious to
try and pacify Mr. Drayton now he had spoken those few words to poor
Margaret, and forgetting that the child, unaccustomed to any strangers,
might be frightened.
The little one, who had been unusually fretful all the morning, which
was the reason Margaret tried to amuse it in the fresh air for a longer
time than usual, uttered the most piercing shrieks, and just as Mr.
Drayton came up to them almost foaming at the mouth. She struggled, and
kicked, and clutched hold of the wig, which had made Paul Lyons
unrecognisable, even to Margaret, and tore it off, revealing his curly
hair.
A perfect roar burst from Mr. Drayton.
Margaret, soothing her child in her arms, watched with terror-stricken
eyes the terrible struggle that then ensued. The one man, heavier and
stronger with rage, and the other, lithe and pliable, keeping him at
times at bay, and at others closing with his adversary. As they neared
the little side door, Margaret saw it open slowly, and saw the
man-servant there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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