[CHAPTER XXVI.]
VAE VICTIS.
"Those who went forth in brave array
Return again at the close of day,
With tattered banners that flaunted gay,
And swords now broken that once could slay;
Their march is sad and slow.
"Oh, sorrow for those who could not die,
Who, lion-hearted, were forced to fly,
And now for ever in chains must lie;
For hark, there rises the terrible cry--
'Woe to the vanquished, woe.'"
When Mrs. Belswin received a letter from Mr. Dombrain asking her to call, she was considerably astonished, as she had thought her last interview with him would have pretty well resigned him to the loss of her society. But evidently he was now throwing down the gage of battle, so Mrs. Belswin, like an old war-horse at the sound of a trumpet, felt a certain exultation at the thought of the coming fight, and lost no time in assenting to the request of the solicitor.
What he wanted to see her about she could not imagine, unless it was to make another offer for the Pole Star shares, and as she had already set his mind at rest on that point, it seemed ridiculous to think that he would waste his time in trying to encompass the impossible. She was now quite at ease in her own mind regarding money matters, as the hundred pounds she had obtained from Silas, together with what she already had in the bank, would enable her and Kaituna to live in comfort for the next three or four months in an economical way. Of course, she quite expected to be in possession of the other four hundred the next week, which would place them in affluence until the report of Toby came home about the Pole Star shares, and judging from the offer made by Dombrain, Mrs. Belswin, with feminine acuteness, guessed that the shares were more valuable than they now appeared to be, so that their sale in a few months would realise a decent sum for Kaituna. If this turned out to be the case, Mrs. Belswin intended to persuade Kaituna to marry Archie at once, and the future of her child being thus secured, she cared little for herself. She could certainly marry herself, as both Ferrari and Belk were devoted to her, but she despised the first for his cowardice in the matter of removing her husband, and the latter, in spite of his good looks, was of too lowly a station for her to think seriously of in any way.
Since her departure from Thornstream, Belk had written to her several times--ardent, passionate letters, which showed plainly how deeply in love he was with her; and Mrs. Belswin could not but feel a thrill of pride at the thought of her own attractions, even at the mature age of forty-five. At present, however, she had more important things to think of than marriage, and drove along to Dombrain's office in a puzzled state of mind, trying to think of the reason why he wanted to see her, so that she could be prepared to hold her own.
That Silas had stolen a march on her she never for a moment dreamed; and had she guessed the real object of the interview sought by Mr. Dombrain, she would doubtless have felt somewhat ill at ease. As it was, however, she knew nothing; and thus, ignorance being bliss, she walked boldly into the dingy office, and took her accustomed seat with her usual defiant air.
Dombrain himself was rather nervous, although he now assumed a bullying manner towards the woman he was afraid of. She had held a power over him which had hitherto precluded him from talking to her as he would have wished; but now he had discovered something about her life which gave him the advantage, and he determined to use his power to insult, sneer, and crush her; in fact, treat her in the same way as she had hitherto treated him.