“What money?” he drawled.
She jerked her head impatiently.
“His own money, the estate money, the rents of Castle Fergus. What he—what we have always lived on. Why can’t he manage on that?”
“Because the Castle Fergus rents are paid to me,” replied her husband shortly. She looked at him blankly, putting her hand to her head with a gesture of bewilderment.
“To you,” she faltered, “the Castle Fergus rents are paid to you? But why—what have you to do with Castle Fergus? Oh, Clyde, I don’t know what you mean, truly I don’t.”
Lord Geradine heaved himself sideways in his chair and poured out a whisky with slow deliberation. “You knew your brother was in a hole when I married you,” he said at last, with a certain irritation in his voice. She winced, and the blood rushed into her white face. “I knew that,” she said shakily, “but I didn’t know it had anything to do with money. I thought it was something—something horrible he had done,” she added with a shiver, her voice breaking pitifully.
Geradine emptied the glass and pushed it from him with a hard laugh. “The one sometimes follows from the other,” he said contemptuously, “it was so with Denis. He ran through a very tidy fortune in an uncommonly short space of time, and then he did what you are pleased to call ‘something horrible’. I don’t set up to be a model of virtue myself but there are some things I jib at, and I’m damned if I’d soil my hands with the dirty game he played. But he played it once too often when I came on the scenes. He landed himself in the devil of a mess and jolly nearly ended in jail. But for my own reasons that didn’t suit me, and he was dam’ glad to take the terms I offered him. He wanted his liberty and money enough to make it amusing—I wanted you. And there you have it,” he concluded with brutal candour.
She sat quite still, looking at him fixedly her face colourless, trying to realize the meaning of what he had told her. At the moment she hardly knew which she hated most, the brother who had held his sister so cheaply or the man who had been content to drive so shameful a bargain to obtain what he wanted.
“He sold me to you,” she said at last. And the scorn in her voice sent him out of his chair with an oath that made her shudder, “Oh, for God’s sake don’t make a tragedy out of it,” he cried angrily. “In any case it’s ancient history. You knew that Denis had a reason for pressing our marriage. I don’t know what fancy tale he told you, and I don’t care. We are married and there’s an end of it. And there’s no earthly need to cut up so rough about it. You didn’t do so badly for yourself, you blessed little innocent—and I’m not complaining. Don’t be a little fool, Marny. I mayn’t be a saint but I’m dam’ fond of you. I wanted you the first minute I laid eyes on you, and I generally get what I want,” he added with a complacent laugh, dropping down on the sofa beside her. Then his voice changed as he slid his hand slowly up the soft cool arm under the loose sleeve of her teagown. “I’ve been wanting you pretty badly this last fortnight,” he whispered thickly, and flung his arms around her with sudden violence. For a moment he held her, trembling and helpless in his fierce embrace, and she felt the heavy beating of his heart as he stared down at her with hot desire flaming in his red flecked eyes. Then he laughed again, a laugh that made her want to shriek, that made every nerve in her body quiver with passionate revolt, and pushed her from him.
“Run along,” he said quickly, “and don’t keep me waiting the infernal age you usually do. Tell that old woman to clear out in double quick time if she values her place.”