'Made you what?' I said. 'What happened? What happened, you little tick?'
I got hold of him and shook him. He put his hands before his face.
'She got the letter off me and read it!' he said. 'Who did?'
'Miss Maud! Miss Maud!'
I looked at him in horror. 'She saw me,' he said, 'and she knew me. I did it all, just as you said. I gave the watch, and the tall man took it and opened its back. He thought my scarf was queer, and asked if I'd the toothache. I said I did. He showed me a pair of nippers, that he said were good for drawing teeth. I think he was teasing. The dark boy was there, burning paper. He called me a— a pigeon. The red-headed girl didn't 310
give me a look. But the lady, your ma, was sleeping; and I tried to reach her side, but Miss Maud saw the letter in my hand. Then she looked at me, and knew me. She said,
"Come here, boy, you've hurt your hand," and she got hold of me before the others could see. She had been playing cards at a table, and she held the letter under the table and read it, and she twisted my fingers so hard— '
His words began to dissolve, like salt in the water of his tears.
'Stop crying!' I said. 'Stop crying for once in your life, or I swear, I'll hit you! Tell me now, what did she do?'
He took a breath, and put his hand to his pocket, and brought something out.
'She did nothing,' he said. 'But she gave me this. She took it from the table where she sat. She gave it to me, as if it might be a secret; and then the tall man closed the watch up and she pushed me away. He gave me a pound, and I took it, and the red-headed girl let me
out. Miss Maud watched me go, and her eyes were like eyes on fire; but she never said a word. She only gave me this, and I think she must have meant it for you but, oh, miss! you can call me a fool, but God help me if I know what it's for!'
He handed it over. She had made it very small, and it took me a moment to unfold it and know what it was. When I did, I held it, and turned it, then turned it again; then I stood gazing stupidly at
it.
'Just this?' I said. Charles nodded.
It was a playing card. It was one of the playing cards from her old French deck at Briar. It was the Two of Hearts. It had got greasy, and was marked by the folds she had put in it; but it still had that crease, in the shape of her heel, across one of its painted red pips.
I held it, and remembered sitting with her in her parlour, springing the pack to tell her fortune. She had worn her blue gown. She had put her hand before her mouth. Now you are frightening me! she had said.
How she must have laughed about it, later!
'She's making game of me,' I said, my voice not perfectly steady. 'She has sent me this— you're sure there's no message on it, no mark or sign?— she has sent me this, to tease me. Why else?'
'Miss, I don't know. She took it from the table-top. She took it quick, and there was a— a wildness, about her eye.'
'What sort of a wildness?'
'I can't say. She looked, not like herself. She wore no gloves. Her hair was curled and queer. There was a glass beside her place— I don't like to say— I think it had gin in it.'
'Gin?'
We looked at each other.
'What shall we do?' he asked me.
I did not know.
'I must think,' I said, beginning to walk about. 'I must think what she'll do. She'll tell Gentleman— won't she?— and show him our letter. Then he'll move, very quick, to find us. They didn't see you come back here? Someone else might've, though. We 311
can't be sure. We've had luck on our side, so far; now our luck's turning. Oh, if only I'd never taken that woman's wedding- gown!— I knew it would make a bad fortune. Luck's like the tide: it turns, then gets faster and can't be stopped.'
'Don't say it!' cried Charles. He was wringing his hands. 'Send the lady her gown back, can't you?'
'You can't cheat luck like that. The best you can do is, try and outface it.' 'Outface it?'
I went to the window again, and gazed at the house. 'Mrs Sucksby is in there now,' I said. 'Won't one word from me do it? When did I ever let myself be frightened by John Vroom? Dainty I think won't harm me; nor Mr Ibbs. And Maud sounds muddled by gin. Charles, I've been a fool to wait at all. Give me my knife. We are going over.'
He stood, open-mouthed, and did nothing. I got the knife myself, then took him by his wrist and led him from the room, down the slippery staircase. A man and a girl stood at the bottom, quarrelling; but their voices faded and they turned their heads to watch us as we went by. Perhaps they saw my knife. I had nowhere to hide it. The street was blowing about with gusts of grit and paper, the night still hot. My head was bare.
Anyone who saw me now would know me for Susan Trinder; but it was too late to care. I ran with Charles to Mr Ibbs's door, knocked on it, then left him on the step while I stood aside with my back to the wall. The door was opened after a minute, just an inch.
'You've come too late.' It was Dainty's voice. 'Mr Ibbs says— Oh! It's you again. What now? Changed your mind?'
The door was opened a little further. Charles stood, and licked his mouth, his eyes on Dainty's. Then he looked at me; and when she saw him do that, she put out her head and also looked. Then she screamed.
'Mrs Sucksby!' I cried. I made a charge at the door, and Dainty went flying. I caught Charles's arm and pulled him into the shop. 'Mrs Sucksby!' I shouted again. I ran to the hanging baize curtain and knocked it back. The passage beyond was dark, and I stumbled, and Charles stumbled with me. Then I reached the door at the end, and threw it open. There came heat, and smoke, and light, that made me wink. I saw Mr Ibbs first. He had come half-way to the door, hearing all the shouting. When he saw me he stopped, and flung up his hands. Behind him was John Vroom, in his dog-skin coat; behind John Vroom— I saw her, and could have cried like a girl— was Mrs Sucksby. At the table, in Mrs Sucksby's great chair, was Maud.
Beneath the chair was Charley Wag. He had begun to bark at the commotion. Now, seeing me, he barked more wildly and beat his tail, then came and rose up before me to give me his paws. The row was awful. Mr Ibbs reached forward and seized his collar and quickly jerked it back. He jerked so hard, Charley was almost throttled. I flinched away and lifted my arms. The others all watched me. If they had not seen my knife before, they saw it now. Mrs Sucksby opened her mouth. She said,
'Sue, I— Sue— '
Then Dainty came running in behind me, from Mr Ibbs's shop.
'Where is she?' she cried. She had made her hands into fists. She pushed Charles aside, saw me, and stamped. 'You've got some cheek, coming.back here. You bitch! You have just about broke Mrs Sucksby's heart!'
312
'Keep off me,' I said, waving my knife. She looked at it in astonishment, then fell back.
I wished she hadn't; for there was something awful about it. She was only Dainty, after all. The knife began to shake.
'Mrs Sucksby,' I said, turning to her. 'They have told you lies. I never— They had me— him and her— locked up! And it has taken me all this time— all this time, since May!— to get back to you.'
Mrs Sucksby had her hand at her heart. She looked so surprised and afraid, it might have been her I was pointing the knife at. She looked at Mr Ibbs, and then she looked at Maud. Then she seemed to come to herself. She took two or three nimble steps across the kitchen and put her arms about me, tight.
'Dear girl,' she said.
She pressed my face against her bosom. Something hard struck my cheek. It was Maud's diamond brooch.
'Oh!' I cried, when I felt it. And I struggled away. 'She has taken you from me, with jewels! With jewels and lies!'
'Dear girl,' said Mrs Sucksby again.