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Page 100
"Later on I apologized to Mark for the reckless things I had said
to him, and he played the part of a magnanimous gentleman with
his accustomed skill, but, though outwardly we were as before to
each other, from that day forward, though his vanity would never
let him see it, I was his bitterest enemy. If that had been all,
I wonder if I should have killed him? To live on terms of
intimate friendship with a man whom you hate is dangerous work
for your friend. Because of his belief in me as his admiring and
grateful protege and his belief in himself as my benefactor, he
was now utterly in my power. I could take my time and choose my
opportunity. Perhaps I should not have killed him, but I had
sworn to have my revenge--and there he was, poor vain fool, at my
mercy. I was in no hurry.
"Two years later I had to reconsider my position, for my revenge
was being taken out of my hands. Mark began to drink. Could I
have stopped him? I don't think so, but to my immense surprise I
found myself trying to. Instinct, perhaps, getting the better of
reason; or did I reason it out and tell myself that, if he drank
himself to death, I should lose my revenge? Upon my word, I
cannot tell you; but, for whatever motive, I did genuinely want
to stop it. Drinking is such a beastly thing, anyhow.
"I could not stop him, but I kept him within certain bounds, so
that nobody but myself knew his secret. Yes, I kept him
outwardly decent; and perhaps now I was becoming like the
cannibal who keeps his victim in good condition for his own ends.
I used to gloat over Mark, thinking how utterly he was mine to
ruin as I pleased, financially, morally, whatever way would give
me most satisfaction. I had but to take my hand away from him
and he sank. But again I was in no hurry.
"Then he killed himself. That futile little drunkard, eaten up
with his own selfishness and vanity, offered his beastliness to
the truest and purest woman on this earth. You have seen her,
Mr. Gillingham, but you never knew Mark Ablett. Even if he had
not been a drunkard, there was no chance for her of happiness
with him. I had known him for many years, but never once had I
seen him moved by any generous emotion. To have lived with that
shrivelled little soul would have been hell for her; and a
thousand times worse hell when he began to drink.
"So he had to be killed. I was the only one left to protect her,
for her mother was in league with Mark to bring about her ruin.
I would have shot him openly for her sake, and with what
gladness, but I had no mind to sacrifice myself needlessly. He
was in my power; I could persuade him to almost anything by
flattery; surely it would not be difficult to give his death the
appearance of an accident.
"I need not take up your time by telling you of the many plans I
made and rejected. For some days I inclined towards an
unfortunate boating accident in the pond--Mark, a very
indifferent swimmer, myself almost exhausted in a gallant attempt
to hold him up. And then he himself gave me the idea, he and
Miss Norris between them, and so put himself in my hands; without
risk of discovery, I should have said, had you not discovered me.
"We were talking about ghosts. Mark had been even more vain,
pompous and absurd than usual, and I could see that Miss Norris
was irritated by it. After dinner she suggested dressing up as a
ghost and frightening him. I thought it my duty to warn her that
Mark took any joke against himself badly, but she was determined
to do it. I gave way reluctantly. Reluctantly, also, I told her
the secret of the passage. (There is an underground passage from
the library to the bowling-green. You should exercise your
ingenuity, Mr. Gillingham, in trying to discover it. Mark came
upon it by accident a year ago. It was a godsend to him; he
could drink there in greater secrecy. But he had to tell me
about it. He wanted an audience, even for his vices.)
"I told Miss Norris, then, because it was necessary for my plan
that Mark should be thoroughly frightened. Without the passage
she could never have got close enough to the bowling-green to
alarm him properly, but as I arranged it with her she made the
most effective appearance, and Mark was in just the state of rage
and vindictiveness which I required. Miss Norris, you
understand, is a professional actress. I need not say that to
her I appeared to be animated by no other feeling than a boyish
desire to bring off a good joke--a joke directed as much against
the others as against Mark.
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