But it set me talking about the
firm of Stryke & Wigram; and for once I got her really angry. It did
me good. Yet, you know, she really believed it; she believed that she
was acting for the best."
"Of course," said Lord Crosland thoughtfully, "she didn't know Miss
Vane, I mean Lady Beauleigh, your wife. It would have made all the
difference."
"I've made that excuse for her often enough," said Sir Tancred. "But
it doesn't carry very far. Just look at the cold-bloodedness of it:
there was I, a helpless cripple, in a good deal of pain most of the
time, mad for a word of my wife; and that damned woman kept back her
letters. Talk about the cruelty of the Chinese--an ordinary woman can
give them points, and do it cheerfully!"
"They are terrors," said Lord Crosland with conviction.
"Well, there I lay; and I had to grin and bear it. But, well, I don't
want to talk about it. The only relief was that once a week my
stepmother seemed to feel bound to come and tell me that it was all for
my good; and I could talk to her about the manners and customs of the
banking classes. Then, after five and a half months of it, when I was
looking forward to getting free and to my wife, she came and told me
that Pamela was dead.
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