Mrs. Bedge drew up her spare form and folded her hands. "I do not like slang, Mr. Vernon." Then, when he apologised, she continued: "Constantine wants to earn the money, and also, if he catches The Spider, Ida will surely marry him out of sheer gratitude."
"I think he has a stronger reason to catch The Spider," said Vernon drily.
Mrs. Bedge coloured and looked aside. "I guess what you mean, as I asked poor Martin to speak to you on the subject of that attempted blackmail. It was scandalous, was it not? However, I have heard no more from the wicked creature, and I don't think I shall. After committing this crime, it is not likely that The Spider will dare to continue in his wickedness."
"Well," said Vernon, standing up to take his leave. "I certainly have not heard of anyone being blackmailed lately. Perhaps The Spider thinks that he has gone too far, and is afraid. I suggested myself to Constantine that he should capture The Spider if he wished to become my partner in--that is," broke off Vernon in some confusion, "he might----"
"I understand," said Mrs. Bedge quietly; "I know that you are Nemo. Poor Martin revealed your private business when he suggested that he should consult you about The Spider's attempt to blackmail me. But you can be perfectly satisfied. I shall not betray your secret, having," she smiled faintly, "one of my own."
He looked at her inquiringly. "I don't understand."
"I refer to the accusation The Spider brought against me," went on Mrs. Bedge, her eyes glittering feverishly and her breath coming and going in gasps. "Oh, it was shameful that a man should dare to accuse me of immorality--yes, there is no need for us to mince words, Mr. Vernon--of immorality. Why, the only man I ever loved was Martin himself. Then he went to India and I was worried by my family into marrying Mr. Bedge; my sister married his partner, Constantine Mavrocordato."
"Maunders, I understood the name was."
"That was the English name he took, and that is why his son--my adopted boy, but really my nephew--comes to be called so. I never liked Mavrocordato, and to think that this Spider should accuse me--me----" She clenched her thin hand and all the primness fled. She was no longer a precise old lady of a precise epoch, but an angry and insulted woman. "If I could find this man, Mr. Vernon, I should strike him across the lips. I urged Constantine to hunt him down, both to gain the gratitude of Ida by punishing the murderer of her father and because I wish The Spider to be punished for the insult he put upon me. Should you find him, Mr. Vernon, don't spare him."
"I can promise you that," said Vernon very grimly, for the decoying still rankled in his breast. "Still, as yet we can find out nothing about him. If he blackmails you again, let me know. Then we can arrange a trap."