The Man by Bram Stoker (best book reader TXT) đ
- Author: Bram Stoker
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He walked on through the woodland path, his pace slower than before. âHow pretty she had looked!â Here he touched his little moustache. âGad! Stephen was a fine girl anyhow! If it wasnât for all that red hair ⊠I like âem dark better! ⊠And her being such an infernal boss!â⊠Then he said unconsciously aloud:
âIf I was her husband Iâd keep her to rights!â
Poor Stephen!
âSo thatâs what the governor meant by telling me that fortune was to be had, and had easily, if a man wasnât a blind fool. The governor is a starchy old party. He wouldnât speak out straight and say, âHereâs Stephen Norman, the richest girl you are ever likely to meet; why donât you make up to her and marry her?â But that would be encouraging his son to be a fortune-hunter! Rot! ⊠And now, just because she didnât tell me what she wanted to speak about, or the governor didnât give me a hint so that I might be prepared, I have gone and thrown away the chance. After all it mightnât be so bad. Stephen is a fine girl! ⊠But she mustnât ever look at me as she did when I spoke about her not obeying. I mean to be master in my own house anyhow!
âA man mustnât be tied down too tight, even if he is married. And if thereâs plenty of loose cash about it isnât hard to cover up your tracks ⊠I think Iâd better think this thing over calmly and be ready when Stephen comes at me again. Thatâs the way with women. When a woman like Stephen fixes her cold grey on a man she does not mean to go asleep over it. I daresay my best plan will be to sit tight, and let her work herself up a bit. Thereâs nothing like a little wholesome neglect for bringing a girl to her bearings!â âŠ
For a while he walked on in satisfied self-complacency.
âConfound her! why couldnât she have let me know that she was fond of me in some decent way, without all that formal theatrical proposing? Itâs a deuced annoying thing in the long run the way the women get fond of me. Though itâs nice enough in some ways while it lasts!â he added, as if in unwilling recognition of fact. As the path debouched on the highroad he said to himself half aloud:
âWell, sheâs a mighty fine girl, anyhow! And if she is red Iâve had about enough of the black! ⊠That Spanish girl is beginning to kick too! I wish I had never come across ⊠â
âShut up, you fool!â he said to himself as he walked on.
When he got home he found a letter from his father. He took it to his room before breaking the seal. It was at least concise and to the point:
âThe enclosed has been sent to me. You will have to deal with it yourself. You know my opinion and also my intention. The items which I have marked have been incurred since I spoke to you last about your debts. I shall not pay another farthing for you. So take your own course!
âJASPER EVERARD.â
The enclosed was a jewellerâs bill, the length and the total of which lengthened his face and drew from him a low whistle. He held it in his hand for a long time, standing quite still and silent. Then drawing a deep breath he said aloud:
âThat settles it! The halter is on me! Itâs no use squealing. If itâs to be a red head on my pillow! ⊠All right! I must only make the best of it. Anyhow Iâll have a good time to-day, even if it must be the last!â
That day Harold was in Norcester on business. It was late when he went to the club to dine. Whilst waiting for dinner he met Leonard Everard, flushed and somewhat at uncertain in his speech. It was something of a shock to Harold to see him in such a state.
Leonard was, however, an old friend, and man is as a rule faithful to friends in this form of distress. So in his kindly feeling Harold offered to drive him home, for he knew that he could thus keep him out of further harm. Leonard thanked him in uncertain speech, and said he would be ready. In the meantime he would go and play billiards with the marker whilst Harold was having his dinner.
At ten oâclock Haroldâs dogcart was ready and he went to look for Leonard, who had not since come near him. He found him half asleep in the smoking-room, much drunker than he had been earlier in the evening.
The drive was fairly long, so Harold made up his mind for a prolonged term of uneasiness and anxiety. The cool night-air, whose effect was increased by the rapid motion, soon increased Leonardâs somnolence and for a while he slept soundly, his companion watching carefully lest he should sway over and fall out of the trap. He even held him up as they swung round sharp corners.
After a time he woke up, and woke in a nasty temper. He began to find fault in an incoherent way with everything. Harold said little, just enough to prevent any cause for further grievance. Then Leonard changed and became affectionate. This mood was a greater bore than the other, but Harold managed to bear it with stolid indifference. Leonard was this by time making promises to do things for him, that as he was what he called a âgooâ fellâ,â he might count on his help and support in the future. As Harold knew him to be a wastrel, over head and ears in debt and with only the succession to a small estate, he did not take much heed to his maunderings. At last the drunken man said something which startled him so much that he instinctively drew himself together with such suddenness as to frighten the horse and almost make him rear up straight.
âWoa! Woa! Steady, boy. Gently!â he said, quieting him. Then turning to his companion said in a voice hollow with emotion and vibrant with suppressed passion:
âWhat was it you said?â
Leonard, half awake, and not half of that half master of himself, answered:
âI said I will make you agent of Normanstand when I marry Stephen.â
Harold grew cold. To hear of any one marrying Stephen was to him like plunging him in a glacier stream; but to hear her name so lightly spoken, and by such a man, was a bewildering shock which within a second set his blood on fire.
âWhat do you mean?â he thundered. âYou marry Ste ⊠Miss Norman! Youâre not worthy to untie her shoe! You indeed! She wouldnât look on the same side of the street with a drunken brute like you! How dare you speak of her in such a way!â
âBrute!â said Leonard angrily, his vanity reaching inward to heart and brain through all the numbing obstacle of his drunken flesh. âWhoâs brute? Brute yourself! Tell you goinâ to marry Stephen, âcos Stephen wants it. Stephen loves me. Loves me with all her red head! Whaâre you doinâ! Wha!!â
His words merged in a lessening gurgle, for Harold had now got him by the throat.
âTake care what you say about that lady! damn you!â he said, putting his face close the otherâs with eyes that blazed. âDonât you dare to mention her name in such a way, or you will regret it longer than you can think. Loves you, you swine!â
The struggle and the fierce grip on his throat sobered Leonard somewhat. Momentarily sobbed him to that point when he could be coherent and vindictive, though not to the point where he could think ahead. Caution, wisdom, discretion, taste, were not for him at such a moment. Guarding his throat with both hands in an instinctive and spasmodic manner he answered the challenge:
âWho are you calling swine? I tell you she loves me. She ought to know. Didnât she tell me so this very day!â Harold drew back his arm to strike him in the face, his anger too great for words. But the other, seeing the motion and in the sobering recognition of danger, spoke hastily:
âKeep your hair on! You know so jolly much more than I do. I tell you that she told me this and a lot more this morning when she asked me to marry her.â
Haroldâs heart grew cold as ice. There is something in the sound of a voice speaking truthfully which a true man can recognise. Through all Leonardâs half-drunken utterings came such a ring of truth; and Harold recognised it. He felt that his voice was weak and hollow as he spoke, thinking it necessary to give at first a sort of official denial to such a monstrous statement:
âLiar!â
âIâm no liar!â answered Leonard. He would like to have struck him in answer to such a word had he felt equal to it. âShe asked me to marry her to-day on the hill above the house, where I went to meet her by appointment. Here! Iâll prove it to you. Read this!â Whilst he was speaking he had opened the greatcoat and was fumbling in the breast-pocket of his coat. He produced a letter which he handed to Harold, who took it with trembling hand. By this time the reins had fallen slack and the horse was walking quietly. There was moonlight, but not enough to read by. Harold bent over and lifted the driving-lamp next to him and turned it so that he could read the envelope. He could hardly keep either lamp or paper still, his hand trembled so when he saw that the direction was in Stephenâs handwriting. He was handing it back when Leonard said again:
âOpen it! Read it! You must do so; I tell you, you must! You called me a liar, and now must read the proof that I am not. If you donât I shall have to ask Stephen to make you!â Before Haroldâs mind flashed a rapid thought of what the girl might suffer in being asked to take part in such a quarrel. He could not himself even act to the best advantage unless he knew the truth ⊠he took the letter from the envelope and held it before the lamp, the paper fluttering as though in a breeze from the trembling of his hand. Leonard looked on, the dull glare of his eyes brightening with malignant pleasure as he beheld the otherâs concern. He owed him a grudge, and by God he would pay it. Had he not been struckâthrottledâcalled a liar! . .
.
As he read the words Haroldâs face cleared. âWhy, you infernal young scoundrel!â he said angrily, âthat letter is nothing but a simple note from a young girl to an old friendâplaymate asking him to come to see her about some trivial thing. And you construe it into a proposal of marriage. You hound!â He held the letter whilst he spoke, heedless of the outstretched hand of the other waiting to take it back. There was a dangerous glitter in Leonardâs eyes. He knew his man and he knew
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