"It's no use your looking like that. I told you yesterday."
"Fifteen, I think you said you might require."
"Well, I find it must be eighteen. My London dressmaker's bill has come to more than I expected."
"I hope the cows and swallows admire results," murmured the Doctor.
"I don't wish to be a scarecrow, if there is no one to see, in this horrible place." Theodosia was offended still about the bracelet, and when offended, she was always tart.
"Certainly not," assented Dr. Bryant. He opened his purse, took out a £20 Bank of England note, and placed it in her hand. "That will cover your necessities," he said.
"Thanks. I shall manage now."
The two extra pounds were perhaps meant as a peace-offering, and Theodosia was grateful for them; yet she could not recover her equilibrium. Each time that her thoughts recurred to the exquisite bracelet, "flung away on that stupid girl," as she phrased it, her anger flamed up afresh—partly against her husband, and much more against Lettice. Evidently Lettice had an increasing hold upon Dr. Bryant's affections, and who could say what this might lead to, in the matter of will-making?
Theodosia had given in to jealous and bitter moods, until they had complete mastery over her. Worse, she had given way to habits of not entire truth, not perfect straightforwardness, till there too her powers of resistance were weak. As she sat in the drawing room, discontentedly fingering the bank-note, and weighing her grievances, a sudden thought came, a suggestion of evil, sharp and clear as a flash of lightning—or rather a string of suggestions, in quick succession, flash after flash.
First, a distinct longing to do something to separate those two—her husband and Lettice. Then, a recollection of the words which she had overheard Lettice utter that morning, from outside the breakfast room, "It is all I have . . . just five pounds. I wish I had twenty pounds to give you!" Thirdly—the idea, was Felix in debt? And had he appealed to Lettice for help? Fourthly—suppose such a bank-note to be left carelessly in the way of Lettice, was it certain that the girl's principles could be strong enough to withstand sudden temptation? Might she not be led to possess herself of it, for the sake of Felix? She was very young, and perhaps she would not fully realise what the deed meant.