"I don"t follow."
"Would you still take half my share from me?"
"What"s the good of talking about it?" And he looked at her thoughtfully. "Jane, the devil is driving me. I"m not the man I was. I funk dangers. My health is broken.... You"ll be all right. You have friends. I have none. It"s vital to me to know that we--that I shall have enough to rub along with out there."
Mrs. Marsden said no more.
"Yes, you"ll be all right, old girl. Never fear!" And he got up, and stretched himself. "But I say! We"ve been jawing such a deuce of a time that it"ll be too late to do anything to-day, unless we look sharp....
Will you give me a letter to Hyde & Collins, saying you accept?"
"No, I"ll go there, and tell them by word of mouth."
"May I go with you?"
"No, that"s unnecessary."
"But you _will_ go, Jane? I mean, at once. You do intend to go--and no rot?"
"I have told you I am going."
"Yes, but hurry up then. They don"t keep open all night."
"I"ll tell them within an hour."
Within an hour she had spoken to Mr. Bence"s solicitors and gone on to the office of Mr. Prentice.
"Now," she said to her old friend, "you see me in my need. The time has come. Help me with all your power."
Then very rapidly she told him all that had happened.
"So there goes the end of an old song," said Mr. Prentice. "Mind you, I don"t tell you that you are doing wrong. It may be--probably it _is_--the only thing to do.... Six thousand pounds!" It was obvious that Mr. Prentice had been astonished by the largeness of this sum. But he would not admit the fact. He spoke cautiously.
"It is more than anyone else would have given."
"Possibly! But I might have got you better terms from Bence. Let me take up the negotiations now. If he will give as much as six thousand, he may give more."
"No, I have told Hyde & Collins that we accept."
"That was premature. But you referred them to me?"
"No. I told them to prepare the conveyance at once."
"But--good gracious--they can"t act for both sides."
"Of course they can. It will save time--it will save money. There is no difficulty _there_. We sell all we have. A child could carry it through."
"Oh, but really, I don"t know. Your interests must be guarded."
"No, no." She was nervous and excited, and she spoke piteously and yet irritably. "I have instructed them. They must attend to the sale. And _you_ must attend to the deed of separation. Concentrate your mind--all your mind on it.... Don"t you understand, don"t you see that this is everything and the sale is nothing?"
"No, I don"t see that at all."
"It is what I have been praying for night and day--it is my escape. And he is granting it to me of his own consent--he consents to give me unmolested freedom."
And she implored Mr. Prentice to use his skill and sagacity to their uttermost extent.
"I want it to be a renunciation of all possible claims. It must be absolutely clear that this is the end of our partnership."
"Oh, as to that," said Mr. Prentice, "the partnership ends automatically with the sale of the business."
"But put it in the deed--explicitly. Make him surrender every claim--even if it seems to you only the shadow of a claim."
Then, without saying that she was to pay a price for Marsden"s acquiescence, she repeated the agreed conditions of the separation. She became agitated when Mr. Prentice a.s.sured her that he would easily draft the deed.
"No, don"t treat it as an easy task. Get counsel"s opinion--the best counsel. Spare no expense--in this case. It is life and death to me....
Oh, Mr. Prentice, don"t fail me _now_. Make the deed strong--make it so binding that he can never slip out of it."
"I won"t fail you," said Mr. Prentice earnestly. "We"ll make your deed as strong--as effective--as is humanly possible--a deed that the Courts will be far more inclined to support than to upset."
"Yes, yes," she said, as if now satisfied. "That"s all I ask for--as strong as is humanly possible."
XXVIII
It was a bright May morning and the sunshine streamed into Mr.
Prentice"s room gaily and warmly, lighting up the old panelled walls, flickering on the bunch of keys that hung from the lock of the open safe, and making the tin boxes show queer reflections of the windows, the tops of houses on the other side of Hill Street, and even of the blue sky above the chimney-pots.
A large table had been brought in for the occasion; a clerk had furnished it with newly-filled ink-stands and nice clean blotting paper; another clerk was ready to receive the visitors as they came upstairs.
Mr. Prentice moved his armchair to the head of the table. He would sit here, and preside over the meeting. He glanced at the clock.--A quarter to twelve!
At noon Mr. Archibald Bence or his representative was to complete the purchase of Marsden & Thompson"s by handing over cash; and at the same time the domestic affairs of Mrs. Marsden were to be wound up forever.
Mrs. Marsden was the first of the interested parties to arrive on the scene. She looked careworn and nervous; and, as she shook hands, Mr.
Prentice noticed that her fingers trembled.
"Now, my dear," he said kindly, "there"s nothing to worry about. You sit by my side here, and take things quietly."
Mrs. Marsden, however, preferred to sit away from the table, on a chair between the windows, with her back to the light.
"Nothing to worry about now," repeated Mr. Prentice, confidently and cheerily. "It"ll soon be over."
"But it won"t be over without some unpleasantness."
"Why? Mr. Marsden has been quite pleasant so far--really quite easy to deal with."