The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne BrontĂ« (librera reader .txt) đ
- Author: Anne Brontë
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âI hope so,â replied I, taking his pawn that he had pushed into the way of my bishop with so careless an air that I thought it was an oversight, but was not generous enough, under the circumstances, to direct his attention to it, and too heedless, at the moment, to foresee the after-consequences of my move. âIt is those bishops that trouble me,â said he; âbut the bold knight can overleap the reverend gentlemen,â taking my last bishop with his knight; âand now, those sacred persons once removed, I shall carry all before me.â
âOh, Walter, how you talk!â cried Milicent; âshe has far more pieces than you still.â
âI intend to give you some trouble yet,â said I; âand perhaps, sir, you will find yourself checkmated before you are aware. Look to your queen.â
The combat deepened. The game was a long one, and I did give him some trouble: but he was a better player than I.
âWhat keen gamesters you are!â said Mr. Hattersley, who had now entered, and been watching us for some time. âWhy, Mrs. Huntingdon, your hand trembles as if you had staked your all upon it! and, Walter, you dog, you look as deep and cool as if you were certain of success, and as keen and cruel as if you would drain her heartâs blood! But if I were you, I wouldnât beat her, for very fear: sheâll hate you if you doâ âshe will, by heaven! I see it in her eye.â
âHold your tongue, will you?â said I: his talk distracted me, for I was driven to extremities. A few more moves, and I was inextricably entangled in the snare of my antagonist.
âCheck,â cried he: I sought in agony some means of escape. âMate!â he added, quietly, but with evident delight. He had suspended the utterance of that last fatal syllable the better to enjoy my dismay. I was foolishly disconcerted by the event. Hattersley laughed; Milicent was troubled to see me so disturbed. Hargrave placed his hand on mine that rested on the table, and squeezing it with a firm but gentle pressure, murmured, âBeaten, beaten!â and gazed into my face with a look where exultation was blended with an expression of ardour and tenderness yet more insulting.
âNo, never, Mr. Hargrave!â exclaimed I, quickly withdrawing my hand.
âDo you deny?â replied he, smilingly pointing to the board. âNo, no,â I answered, recollecting how strange my conduct must appear: âyou have beaten me in that game.â
âWill you try another, then?â
âNo.â
âYou acknowledge my superiority?â
âYes, as a chess-player.â
I rose to resume my work.
âWhere is Annabella?â said Hargrave, gravely, after glancing round the room.
âGone out with Lord Lowborough,â answered I, for he looked at me for a reply.
âAnd not yet returned!â he said, seriously.
âI suppose not.â
âWhere is Huntingdon?â looking round again.
âGone out with Grimsby, as you know,â said Hattersley, suppressing a laugh, which broke forth as he concluded the sentence. Why did he laugh? Why did Hargrave connect them thus together? Was it true, then? And was this the dreadful secret he had wished to reveal to me? I must know, and that quickly. I instantly rose and left the room to go in search of Rachel and demand an explanation of her words; but Mr. Hargrave followed me into the anteroom, and before I could open its outer door, gently laid his hand upon the lock. âMay I tell you something, Mrs. Huntingdon?â said he, in a subdued tone, with serious, downcast eyes.
âIf it be anything worth hearing,â replied I, struggling to be composed, for I trembled in every limb.
He quietly pushed a chair towards me. I merely leant my hand upon it, and bid him go on.
âDo not be alarmed,â said he: âwhat I wish to say is nothing in itself; and I will leave you to draw your own inferences from it. You say that Annabella is not yet returned?â
âYes, yesâ âgo on!â said I, impatiently; for I feared my forced calmness would leave me before the end of his disclosure, whatever it might be.
âAnd you hear,â continued he, âthat Huntingdon is gone out with Grimsby?â
âWell?â
âI heard the latter say to your husbandâ âor the man who calls himself soâ ââ
âGo on, sir!â
He bowed submissively, and continued: âI heard him sayâ ââI shall manage it, youâll see! Theyâre gone down by the water; I shall meet them there, and tell him I want a bit of talk with him about some things that we neednât trouble the lady with; and sheâll say she can be walking back to the house; and then I shall apologise, you know, and all that, and tip her a wink to take the way of the shrubbery. Iâll keep him talking there, about those matters I mentioned, and anything else I can think of, as long as I can, and then bring him round the other way, stopping to look at the trees, the fields, and anything else I can find to discourse of.âââ Mr. Hargrave paused, and looked at me.
Without a word of comment or further questioning, I rose, and darted from the room and out of the house. The torment of suspense was not to be endured: I would not suspect my husband falsely, on this manâs accusation, and I would not trust him unworthilyâ âI must know the truth at once. I flew to the shrubbery. Scarcely had I reached it, when a sound of voices arrested
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