第20章

"I did absolutely nothing to give me any claim to your gratitude, Mrs.Irwin, and I do not really believe that your husband would have so far forgot himself as to commit such a silly and desperate deed.At the last moment, a thought of you would certainly have restrained him from taking such a step."He was surprised at the expression of disdain which the face of the young wife assumed as he said this, and at the hard ring in her voice, when she replied--"Thoughts of me? No! how little you know my husband.He is not wont to make the smallest sacrifice for me, and, maybe, his voluntary death would not, after all, be the worst misery he is capable of inflicting on me."She saw the look of utter surprise in his eyes, and therefore quickly added--"You will, I know, consider me the most heartless woman in the world because I can talk to a stranger like this; but is not in your country loss of honour regarded as worse than death?""Under certain circumstances--yes; but your husband's position is not, I hope, to be viewed in this tragic light.Judging from the impression that Captain McGregor's personality has made upon me, Ishould say that he is not the man to drive Mr.Irwin to take an extreme course on account of a recklessly incurred debt at cards.""Oh no! you judge of that honourable man quite correctly.He would be best pleased to forego the whole amount, and with the intention of bringing about such an arrangement he called here this afternoon.But the foolish pride and unbounded vanity of Irwin brought all his good intentions to naught.The result of McGregor's well-meant endeavours was only a violent scene, which made matters a thousand times worse.My husband is determined to pay his debt at any price.""And--pardon me the indiscreet question--is he capable of doing so?""If he uses my fortune for the purpose--certainly! and I have at once placed it at his disposal; and I further told him that he could take everything, even the last penny, if this sacrifice on my part would suffice to get rid of him for ever."Heideck could scarcely believe his ears.He was prepared for anything on earth except to hear such confessions.He began to doubt this woman, who hitherto had seemed to him to be the paragon of all feminine virtues, and he sought an opportunity of escaping from further confessions of the kind, which, as he told himself, she would repent of in the course of an hour or so.

"Nobody can expect of you, Mrs.Irwin, that for a criminal recklessness, a hasty action on the part of your husband, who was probably deep in his cups, you should make such a tremendous sacrifice; but, as you have now done me the honour to consult me on these matters, it is perhaps not unbecoming on my part if I tell you that your husband should, in my opinion, be forced to bear the consequences of his action.You need not be at all apprehensive that these consequences will be very serious.McGregor will certainly not press him; and as we seem to be on the threshold of a war, his superior officers are not likely to be too severe upon him in this matter.He will, perhaps, either find an opportunity to rehabilitate his compromised honour or will find his death on the battlefield.Within a few weeks, or months, all these matters which at present cause you so much trouble will present quite a different aspect.""You are very kind, Mr.Heideck, and I thank you for your friendly intentions; but I would not have invited you here at this unusual hour had it been solely my intention to enlist your kind sympathy.

I am in a most deplorable plight--doubly so, because there is no one here to whom I can turn for advice and assistance.That in my despair I thought of you has, no doubt, greatly surprised you; and now I can myself hardly understand how I could have presumed to trouble you with my worries.""If you would only, Mrs.Irwin, show me how I can be of service to you, I would pray you to make any use you will of me.I am absolutely and entirely at your disposal, and your confidence would make me exceedingly happy.""As a gentleman, you could not, of course, give any other answer.

But, in your heart of hearts, you probably consider my conduct both unwomanly and unbecoming, for it is true that we hardly know each other.Over in England, and certainly in your German fatherland quite as well, such casual meetings as ours have been could not possibly give me the right to treat you as a friend, and I do not really know how far you are influenced by these European considerations.""In Germany, as in England, every defenceless and unhappy woman would have an immediate claim upon my assistance," he seriously replied."If you give me the preference over your friends here, I, on my part, have only to be grateful, and need not inquire further into your motives.""But, of course, I will tell you what my motives are.My friends in this place are naturally my husband's comrades, and I cannot turn to them if I do not intend to sign Irwin's death warrant.Not a single man amongst them would allow that a man of my husband's stamp should remain an hour longer a member of the corps of officers in the British Army.""I do not quite understand you, Mrs.Irwin.The gambling debt of your husband is, after all, no longer a secret to his comrades.""That is not the point.How do you judge of a man who would sell his wife to pay his gambling debts?"This last sentence struck Heideck like a blow.With dilated eyes he stared at the young wife who had launched such a terrible indictment against her husband.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.