The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes (english novels to improve english .TXT) đ
- Author: Marie Belloc Lowndes
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Mrs. Bunting once more opened out each of the tiny drawers below the looking-glass, each delicately fashioned of fine old mahogany. Mr. Sleuth kept his money in the centre drawer.
The glass had only cost seven-and-sixpence, and, after the auction a dealer had come and offered her first fifteen shillings, and then a guinea for it. Not long ago, in Baker Street, she had seen a looking-glass which was the very spit of this one, labeled âChippendale, Antique. ïżœ21 5s 0d.â
There lay Mr. Sleuthâs moneyâthe sovereigns, as the landlady well knew, would each and all gradually pass into herâs and Buntingâs possession, honestly earned by them no doubt but unattainableâin act unearnableâexcepting in connection with the present owner of those dully shining gold sovereigns.
At last she went downstairs to await Mr. Sleuthâs return.
When she heard the key turn in the door, she came out into the passage.
âIâm sorry to say Iâve had an accident, sir,â she said a little breathlessly. âTaking advantage of your being out I went up to dust the drawing-room, and while I was trying to get behind the chiffonnier it tilted. Iâm afraid, sir, that a bottle of ink that was inside may have got broken, for just a few drops oozed out, sir. But I hope thereâs no harm done. I wiped it up as well as I could, seeing that the doors of the chiffonnier are locked.â
Mr. Sleuth stared at her with a wild, almost a terrified glance. But Mrs. Bunting stood her ground. She felt far less afraid now than she had felt before he came in. Then she had been so frightened that she had nearly gone out of the house, on to the pavement, for company.
âOf course I had no idea, sir, that you kept any ink in there.â
She spoke as if she were on the defensive, and the lodgerâs brow cleared.
âI was aware you used ink, sir,â Mrs. Bunting went on, âfor I have seen you marking that book of yoursâI mean the book you read together with the Bible. Would you like me to go out and get you another bottle, sir?â
âNo,â said Mr. Sleuth. âNo, I thank you. I will at once proceed upstairs and see what damage has been done. When I require you I shall ring.â
He shuffled past her, and five minutes later the drawing-room bell did ring.
At once, from the door, Mrs. Bunting saw that the chiffonnier was wide open, and that the shelves were empty save for the bottle of red ink which had turned over and now lay in a red pool of its own making on the lower shelf.
âIâm afraid it will have stained the wood, Mrs. Bunting. Perhaps I was ill-advised to keep my ink in there.â
âOh, no, sir! That doesnât matter at all. Only a drop or two fell out on to the carpet, and they donât show, as you see, sir, for itâs a dark corner. Shall I take the bottle away? I may as well.â
Mr. Sleuth hesitated. âNo,â he said, after a long pause, âI think not, Mrs. Bunting. For the very little I require it the ink remaining in the bottle will do quite well, especially if I add a little water, or better still, a little tea, to what already remains in the bottle. I only require it to mark up passages which happen to be of peculiar interest in my Concordanceâa work, Mrs. Bunting, which I should have taken great pleasure in compiling myself had not thisâahâthis gentleman called Cruden, been before.â
******
Not only Bunting, but Daisy also, thought Ellen far pleasanter in her manner than usual that evening. She listened to all they had to say about their interesting visit to the Black Museum, and did not snub either of themâno, not even when Bunting told of the dreadful, haunting, silly-looking death-masks taken from the hanged.
But a few minutes after that, when her husband suddenly asked her a question, Mrs. Bunting answered at random. It was clear she had not heard the last few words he had been saying.
âA penny for your thoughts!â he said jocularly. But she shook her head.
Daisy slipped out of the room, and, five minutes later, came back dressed up in a blue-and-white check silk gown.
âMy!â said her father. âYou do look fine, Daisy. Iâve never seen you wearing that before.â
âAnd a rare figure of fun she looks in it!â observed Mrs. Bunting sarcastically. And then, âI suppose this dressing up means that youâre expecting someone. I should have thought both of you must have seen enough of young Chandler for one day. I wonder when that young chap does his workâthat I do! He never seems too busy to come and waste an hour or two here.â
But that was the only nasty thing Ellen said all that evening. And even Daisy noticed that her stepmother seemed dazed and unlike herself. She went about her cooking and the various little things she had to do even more silently than was her wont.
Yet under that still, almost sullen, manner, how fierce was the storm of dread, of sombre anguish, and, yes, of sick suspense, which shook her soul, and which so far affected her poor, ailing body that often she felt as if she could not force herself to accomplish her simple round of daily work.
After they had finished supper Bunting went out and bought a penny evening paper, but as he came in he announced, with a rather rueful smile, that he had read so much of that nasty little print this last week or two that his eyes hurt him.
âLet me read aloud a bit to you, father,â said Daisy eagerly, and he handed her the paper.
Scarcely had Daisy opened her lips when a loud ring and a knock echoed through the house.
It was only Joe. Somehow, even Bunting called him âJoeâ now, and no longer âChandler,â as he had mostly used to do.
Mrs. Bunting had opened the front door only a very little way. She wasnât going to have any strangers pushing in past her.
To her sharpened, suffering senses her house had become a citadel which must be defended; aye, even if the besiegers were a mighty horde with right on their side. And she was always expecting that first single spy who would herald the battalion against whom her only weapon would be her womanâs wit and cunning.
But when she saw who stood there smiling at her, the muscles of her face relaxed, and it lost the tense, anxious, almost agonised look it assumed the moment she turned her back on her husband and stepdaughter.
âWhy, Joe,â she whispered, for she had left the door open behind her, and Daisy had already begun to read aloud, as her father had bidden her. âCome in, do! Itâs fairly cold tonight.â
A glance at his face had shown her that there was no fresh news.
Joe Chandler walked in, past her, into the little hall. Cold? Well, he didnât feel cold, for he had walked quickly to be the sooner where he was now.
Nine days had gone by since that last terrible occurrence, the double murder which had been committed early in the morning of the day Daisy had arrived in London. And though the thousands of men belonging to the Metropolitan Policeâto say nothing of the smaller, more alert body of detectives attached to the Forceâ were keenly on the alert, not one but had begun to feel that there was nothing to be alert about. Familiarity, even with horror, breeds contempt.
But with the public it was far otherwise. Each day something happened to revive and keep alive the mingled horror and interest this strange, enigmatic series of crimes had evoked. Even the more sober organs of the Press went on attacking, with gathering severity and indignation, the Commissioner of Police; and at the huge demonstration held in Victoria Park two days before violent speeches had also been made against the Home Secretary.
But just now Joe Chandler wanted to forget all that. The little house in the Marylebone Road had become to him an enchanted isle of dreams, to which his thoughts were ever turning when he had a moment to spare from what had grown to be a wearisome, because an unsatisfactory, job. He secretly agreed with one of his pals who had exclaimed, and that within twenty-four hours of the last double crime, âWhy, âtwould be easier to find a needle in a rick oâ hay than thisâbloke!â
And if that had been true then, how much truer it was nowâafter nine long, empty days had gone by?
Quickly he divested himself of his greatcoat, muffler, and low hat. Then he put his finger on his lip, and motioned smilingly to Mrs. Bunting to wait a moment. From where he stood in the hall the father and daughter made a pleasant little picture of contented domesticity. Joe Chandlerâs honest heart swelled at the sight.
Daisy, wearing the blue-and-white check silk dress about which her stepmother and she had had words, sat on a low stool on the left side of the fire, while Bunting, leaning back in his own comfortable arm-chair, was listening, his hand to his ear, in an attitudeâas it was the first time she had caught him doing it, the fact brought a pang to Mrs. Buntingâwhich showed that age was beginning to creep over the listener.
One of Daisyâs duties as companion to her great-aunt was that of reading the newspaper aloud, and she prided herself on her accomplishment.
Just as Joe had put his finger on his lip Daisy had been asking, âShall I read this, father?â And Bunting had answered quickly, âAye, do, my dear.â
He was absorbed in what he was hearing, and, on seeing Joe at the door, he had only just nodded his head. The young man was becoming so frequent a visitor as to be almost one of themselves.
Daisy read out:
âThe Avenger: Aââ
And then she stopped short, for the next word puzzled her greatly. Bravely, however, she went on. âA the-o-ry.â
âGo inâdo!â whispered Mrs. Bunting to her visitor. âWhy should we stay out here in the cold? Itâs ridiculous.â
âI donât want to interrupt Miss Daisy,â whispered Chandler back, rather hoarsely.
âWell, youâll hear it all the better in the room. Donât think sheâll stop because of you, bless you! Thereâs nothing shy about our Daisy!â
The young man resented the tart, short tone. âPoor little girl!â he said to himself tenderly. âThatâs what it is having a stepmother, instead of a proper mother.â But he obeyed Mrs. Bunting, and then he was pleased he had done so, for Daisy looked up, and a bright blush came over her pretty face.
âJoe begs you wonât stop yet awhile. Go on with your reading,â commanded Mrs. Bunting quickly. âNow, Joe, you can go and sit over there, close to Daisy, and then you wonât miss a word.â
There was a sarcastic inflection in her voice, even Chandler noticed that, but he obeyed her with alacrity, and crossing the room he went and sat on a chair just behind Daisy. From there he could note with reverent delight the charming way her fair hair grew upwards from the nape of her slender neck.
âThe AVENGER: A THE-O-RYâ
began Daisy again, clearing her throat.
âDEAR SirâI have a suggestion to put forward for which I think there is a great deal to be said. It seems to me very probable that The Avengerâto give
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