|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 54
"How can I trust a man who deliberately tells me that he holds a secret
and a document over a woman's head?" demanded Nesta. "You've admitted a
previous hold on my mother. You say you're in possession of a secret
that would ruin her--quite apart from recent events. Is that honest?"
"It was none of my seeking," retorted Pratt. "I gained the knowledge by
accident."
"You're giving yourself away," said Nesta. "Or you've some mental twist
or defect which prevents you from seeing things straight. It's not how
you got your knowledge, but the use you're making of it that's the
important thing! You're using it to force my mother to----"
"Excuse me!" interrupted Pratt with a queer smile. "It's you who don't
see things straight. I'm using my knowledge to protect--all of you. Let
your mind go back to what was said at first--to what I said at first. I
said that I'd discovered a secret which, if revealed, would ruin your
mother and injure--you! So it would--more than ever, now. So, you see,
in keeping it, I'm taking care, not only of her interests, but
of--yours!"
Nesta rose. She realized that there was no more to be said--or done. And
Pratt rose, too, and looked at her almost appealingly.
"I wish you'd try to see things as I've put them, Miss Mallathorpe," he
said. "I don't bear malice against your mother for that scheme she
contrived--I'm willing to put it clear out of my head. Why not accept
things as they are? I'll keep that secret for ever--no one shall ever
know about it. Why not be friends, now--why not shake hands?"
He held out his hand as he spoke. But Nesta drew back.
"No!" she said. "My opinion is just what it was when I came here."
Before Pratt could move she had turned swiftly to the door and let
herself out, and in another minute she was amongst the crowds in the
street below. For a few minutes she walked in the direction of Robson's
offices, but when she had nearly reached them, she turned, and went
deliberately to those of Eldrick & Pascoe.
CHAPTER XVI
A HEADQUARTERS CONFERENCE
By the time she had been admitted to Eldrick's private room, Nesta had
regained her composure; she had also had time to think, and her present
action was the result of at any rate a part of her thoughts. She was
calm and collected enough when she took the chair which the solicitor
drew forward.
"I called on you for two reasons, Mr. Eldrick," she said. "First, to
thank you for your kindness and thoughtfulness at the time of my
brother's death, in sending your clerk to help in making the
arrangements."
"Very glad he was of any assistance, Miss Mallathorpe," answered
Eldrick. "I thought, of course, that as he had been on the spot, as it
were, when the accident happened, he could do a few little things----"
"He was very useful in that way," said Nesta. "And I was very much
obliged to him. But the second reason for my call is--I want to speak to
you about him."
"Yes?" responded Eldrick. He had already formed some idea as to what was
in his visitor's mind, and he was secretly glad of the opportunity of
talking to her. "About Pratt, eh? What about him, Miss Mallathorpe?"
"He was with you for some years, I believe?" she asked.
"A good many years," answered Eldrick. "He came to us as office-boy, and
was head-clerk when he left us."
"Then you ought to know him--well," she suggested.
"As to that," replied Eldrick, "there are some people in this world whom
other people never could know well--that's to say, really well. I know
Pratt well enough for what he was--our clerk. Privately, I know little
about him. He's clever--he's ability--he's a chap who reads a good
deal--he's got ambitions. And I should say he is a bit--subtle."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|