The Talleyrand Maxim - J. S. Fletcher (best ebook reader ubuntu txt) š
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a solid door. Weāre as safe here as we were in your study last night.ā
Mrs. Mallathorpe sat down in the chair which Pratt politely drew near
his fire. She raised her veil and looked at him, and the clerk saw at
once how curious and eager she was.
āThatāwill!ā she said, in a low voice. āLet me see itāfirst.ā
āOne moment,ā answered Pratt. āFirstāyou understand that Iām not going
to let you handle it. Iāll hold it before you, so you can read it.
Secondāyou give me your promiseāIām trusting youāthat youāll make no
attempt to seize it. Itās not going out of my hands.ā
āIām only a womanāand youāre a strong man,ā she retorted sullenly.
āQuite so,ā said Pratt. āBut women have a trick of snatching at things.
Andāif you pleaseāyouāll do exactly what I tell you to do. Put your
hands behind you! If I see you make the least movement with themāback
goes the will into my pocket!ā
If Pratt had looked more closely at her just then, he would have taken
warning from the sudden flash of hatred and resentment which swept
across Mrs. Mallathorpeās faceāit would have told him that he was
dealing with a dangerous woman who would use her wits to circumvent and
beat himāif not now, then later. But he was moving the gas bracket over
the mantelpiece, and he did not see.
āVery wellābut I had no intention of touching it,ā said Mrs.
Mallathorpe. āAll I want is to see itāand read it.ā
She obediently followed out Prattās instructions, and standing in front
of her he produced the will, unfolded it, and held it at a convenient
distance before her eyes. He watched her closely, as she read it, and he
saw her grow very pale.
āTake your timeāread it over two or three times,ā he said quietly. āGet
it well into your mind, Mrs. Mallathorpe.ā
She nodded her head at last, and Pratt stepped back, folded up the will,
and turning to a heavy box which lay open on the table, placed it
within, under lock and key. And that done, he turned back and took a
chair, close to his visitor.
āSafe there, Mrs. Mallathorpe,ā he said with a glance that was both
reassuring and cunning. āBut only for the night. I keep a few securities
of my own at one of the banks in the townānever mind whichāand that
will shall be deposited with them tomorrow morning.ā
Mrs. Mallathorpe shook her head.
āNo!ā she said. āBecauseāyouāll come to terms with me.ā
Pratt shook his head, too, and he laughed.
āOf course I shall come to terms with you,ā he answered. āBut theyāll be
my termsāand they donāt include any giving up of that document. Thatās
flat, Mrs. Mallathorpe!ā
āNot if I make it worth your while?ā she asked. āListen!āyou donāt know
what ready money I can command. Ready money, I tell youācash down, on
the spot!ā
āIāve a pretty good notion,ā responded Pratt. āItās generally understood
in the town that your sonās a mere figure-head, and that youāre the real
boss of the whole show. I know that youāre at the mill four times a
week, and that the managers are under your thumb. I know that you manage
everything connected with the estate. So, of course, I know youāve lots
of ready money at your disposal.ā
āAnd I know that you donāt earn more than four or five pounds a week, at
the outside,ā said Mrs. Mallathorpe quietly. āCome, nowājust think what
a nice, convenient thing it would be to a young man of your age to
haveāa capital. Capital! It would be the making of you. You could go
right awayāto London, say, and start out on whatever you liked. Be
sensibleāsell me that paperāand be done with the whole thing.ā
āNo!ā replied Pratt.
Mrs. Mallathorpe looked at him for a full moment. She was a shrewd judge
of character, and she felt that Pratt was one of those men who are hard
to stir from a position once adopted. But she had to make her
effortāand she made it in what she thought the most effective way.
āIāll give you five thousand poundsācashāfor it,ā she said. āMeet me
with it tomorrowāanywhere you like in the townāany time you likeāand
Iāll hand you the moneyāin notes.ā
āNo!ā said Pratt. āNo!ā
Once more she looked at him. And Pratt looked backāand smiled.
āWhen I say no, I mean no,ā he went on. āAnd I never meant āNoā more
firmly than I do now.ā
āI donāt believe you,ā she answered, affecting a doubt which she
certainly did not feel. āYouāre only holding out for more money.ā
āIf I were holding out for more money, Mrs. Mallathorpe,ā replied Pratt,
āif I meant to sell you that will for cash payment, I should have stated
my terms to you last night. I should have said precisely how much I
wantedāand I shouldnāt have budged from the amount. Mrs.
Mallathorpe!āitās no good. Iāve got my own schemes, and my own
ideasāand Iām going to carry āem out. I want you to appoint me steward
to your property, your affairs, for life.ā
āLife!ā she exclaimed. āLife!ā
āMy life,ā answered Pratt. āAnd let me tell youāyouāll find me a
first-class manāa good, faithful, honest servant. Iāll do well by you
and yours. Youāll never regret it as long as you live. Itāll be the best
dayās work youāve ever done. Iāll look after your sonās
interestsāeverybodyās interestsāas if they were my own. As indeed,ā he
added, with a sly glance, āthey will be.ā
Mrs. Mallathorpe realized the finality, the resolve, in all thisābut
she made one more attempt.
āTen thousand!ā she said. āCome, now!āthink what ten thousand pounds in
cash would mean to you!ā
āNoānor twenty thousand,ā replied Pratt. āIāve made up my mind. Iāll
have my own terms. Itās no useānot one bit of useāhaggling or
discussing matters further. Iām in possession of the willāand therefore
of the situation, Mrs. Mallathorpe, youāve just got to do what I tell
you!ā
He got up from his chair, and going over to a side-table took from it a
blotting-pad, some writing paper and a pencil. For the moment his back
was turnedāand again he did not see the look of almost murderous hatred
which came into his visitorās eyes; had he seen and understood it, he
might even then have reconsidered matters and taken Mrs. Mallathorpeās
last offer. But the look had gone when he turned again, and he noticed
nothing as he handed over the writing materials.
āWhat are these for?ā she asked.
āYouāll see in a moment,ā replied Pratt, reseating himself, and drawing
his chair a little nearer her own. āNow listenābecause itās no good
arguing any more. Youāre going to give me that stewardship and agency.
Youāll simply tell your son that itās absolutely necessary to have a
steward. Heāll agree. If he doesnāt, no matterāyouāll convince him.
Now, then, we must do it in a fashion that wonāt excite any suspicion.
Thusāin a few daysāsay next weekāyouāll insert in the Barford
papersāall three of themāthe advertisement Iām going to dictate to
you. Weāll put it in the usual, formal phraseology. Write this down, if
you please, Mrs. Mallathorpe.ā
He dictated an advertisement, setting forth the requirements of which he
had spoken, and Mrs. Mallathorpe obeyed him and wrote. She hated Pratt
more than ever at that momentāthere was a quiet, steadfast
implacability about him that made her feel helpless. But she restrained
all sign of it, and when she had done his bidding she looked at him as
calmly as he looked at her.
āI am to insert this in the Barford papers next week,ā she said.
āAndāwhat then?ā
āThen youāll get a lot of applications for the job,ā chuckled Pratt.
āThereāll be mine amongst them. You can throw most of āem in the fire.
Keep a few for formās sake. Profess to discuss them with Mr. Harperābut
let the discussion be all on your side. Iāll send two or three good
testimonialsāyouāll incline to me from the first. Youāll send for me.
Your interview with me will be highly satisfactory. And youāll give me
the appointment.ā
āAndāyour terms?ā asked Mrs. Mallathorpe. Now that her own scheme had
failed, she seemed quite placable to all Prattās proposalsāa sure sign
of danger to him if he had only known it. āBetter let me know them
nowāand have done with it.ā
āQuite so,ā agreed Pratt. āBut first of allācan you keep this secret to
yourself and me? The money part, any way?ā
āI canāand shall,ā she answered.
āGood!ā said Pratt. āVery well. I want a thousand a year. Also I want
two roomsāand a business roomāat the Grange. I shall not interfere
with you or your family, or your domestic arrangements, but I shall
expect to have all my meals served to me from your kitchen, and to have
one of your servants at my disposal. I know the GrangeāIāve been over
it more than once. Thereās much more room there than you can make use
of. Give me the rooms I want in one of the wings. I shanāt disturb any
of you. Youāll never see me except on businessāand if you want to.ā
Again the calm acquiescence which would have surprised some men. Why
Pratt failed to be surprised by it was because he was just then feeling
exceedingly triumphantāhe believed that Mrs. Mallathorpe was,
metaphorically, at his feet. He had more than a little vanity in him,
and it pleased him greatly, that dictating of terms: he saw himself a
conqueror, with his foot on the neck of his victim.
āIs that all, then?ā asked the visitor.
āAll!ā answered Pratt.
Mrs. Mallathorpe calmly folded up the draft advertisement and placed it
in her purse. Then she rose and adjusted her veil.
āThenāthere is nothing to be done until I get your answer to thisāyour
application?ā she asked. āVery well.ā
Pratt showed her out, and walked to the cab with her. He went back to
his rooms highly satisfiedāand utterly ignorant of what Mrs.
Mallathorpe was thinking as she drove away.
UNTIL NEXT SPRING
Within a week of his sudden death in Eldrickās private office, old
Antony Bartle was safely laid in the tomb under the yew-tree of which
Mrs. Clough had spoken with such appreciation, and his grandson had
entered into virtual possession of all that he had left. Collingwood
found little difficulty in settling his grandfatherās affairs.
Everything had been left to him: he was sole executor as well as sole
residuary legatee. He found his various tasks made uncommonly easy.
Another bookseller in the town hurried to buy the entire stock and
business, goodwill, book debts, everythingāCollingwood was free of all
responsibility of the shop in Quagg Alley within a few days of the old
manās funeral. And when he had made a handsome present to the
housekeeper, a suitable one to the shop-boy, and paid his grandfatherās
last debts, he was free to departāa richer man by some five-and-twenty
thousand pounds than when he hurried down to Barford in response to
Eldrickās telegram.
He sat in Eldrickās office one afternoon, winding up his affairs with
him. There were certain things that Eldrick & Pascoe would have to do;
as for himself it was necessary for him to get back to London.
āThereās something I want to propose to you,ā said Eldrick, when they
had finished the immediate business. āYouāre going to practise, of
course?ā
āOf course!ā replied Collingwood, with a laugh. āIf I get the chance!ā
āYouāll get the chance,ā
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