The Coming Conquest of England [22]
Never had she looked to him so charming as in this moment, when a sensation of womanly shame had suffused her pale cheeks with a crimson blush. Never had he felt with such clearness what a precious treasure this charming creature would be to a man to whom she gave herself in love for his very own; and the less he doubted that she had just spoken the simple truth, the more did his heart rise in passionate wrath at the miserable reptile who was abandoned enough to drag this precious pearl in the mire. "I do not presume to connect your question with Captain Irwin," said Heideck, in a perceptibly tremulous voice, "for if he were really capable of doing so--" Edith interrupted him, pointing to a small case that lay on the little table beside her. "Would you kindly just look at this ring, Mr. Heideck?" He did as he was asked, and thought he recognised the beautiful diamond ring that he had yesterday seen sparkling on Irwin's finger. He asked whether it was so, and the young wife nodded assent. "I gave it to my husband on our wedding-day. The ring is an heirloom in my family. Jewellers value it at more than a thousand pounds." "And why, may I ask, does your husband no longer wear it?" "Because he intends to sell it. Of course, the Maharajah is the only person who can afford the luxury of such articles, and my husband wishes me to conclude the bargain with the Prince." "You, Mrs. Irwin? And why, pray, does he not do it himself?" "Because the Maharajah will not pay him the price he demands. My husband will not let the ring go under two lakhs." "But that is a tremendous sum! That would be paying for it twelve times over!" "My husband is, all the same, certain that the bargain would come off quite easily, provided I personally negotiated it." It was impossible to misunderstand the meaning of these words, and so great was the indignation they awoke in Heideck, that he sprang up in a bound from his chair. "No! that is impossible--it cannot be! He cannot possibly have suggested that! You must have misunderstood him. No man, no officer, no gentleman, could ever be guilty of such a low, mean action!" "You would be less surprised if you had had the opportunity to know him, as I have had, during the short time of our wedded life. There is practically no act or deed of his that would surprise me now. He has long since ceased to love me; and a wife, whose person has become indifferent to him, has, in his eyes, only a marketable value. It may be that some excuse can even be found for his way of regarding things. It is, possibly, an atavistic relapse into the views of his ancestors, who, when they were sick of their wives, led them with a halter round their necks into the marketplace and sold them to the highest bidder. They say it is not so long ago that this pretty custom has gone out of vogue." "No more, Mrs. Irwin," Heideck broke in; "I cannot bear to hear you speak like that. I must say that I still consider the Captain to have been out of his mind when he dared to expect such a thing of you." The young wife shook her head with a severe quiver of the lips. "Oh no! he was neither intoxicated nor especially excited when he asked me to do him this 'LITTLE' kindness; he probably considered that I ought to feel myself intensely flattered that His Indian Highness thought my insignificant person worth such a large price. I have certainly for some time past been quite conscious of the fact that, quite unwittingly, I have attracted the notice of the Maharajah. Immediately after our first meeting he began to annoy me with his attentions. I never took any notice, and never, for one moment, dreamt of the possibility that his--his--what shall I call it--his admiration could rise to criminal desires; but, after what I have experienced to-day, I cannot help believing that it is the case." "But this monstrosity, Mrs. Irwin, will be past and gone as soon as you indignantly repudiate the suggestion of your abandoned husband?" "Between him and me--yes, that is true. But I am not at all certain if the Maharajah's infatuation will then have