Complete Works of Wilkie Collins (2025 page)

(He pauses, with the card in his hand.
MADAME FOSCO
points to it.)

Madame F.
There is writing on the card. Look!

Fosco (reading).
“On business of serious importance to the count.”
(He considers for a moment.)
Where is Mr. Hartright?

The Servant.
At the garden-gate, sir.

Fosco.
Show him in.

(He crosses the room to the chimney-piece.)

Madame F.
Are you running any risk, count? Mr. Hartright is your enemy.

Fosco.
Mr. Hartright is a fly that buzzes about my ears. If it is necessary, I shall brush the fly away — that is all.
(He takes a pistol from the chimney-piece, unnoticed by
MADAME FOSCO,
who is looking towards the door on the right, in expectation of
WALTER’S
appearance.
FOSCO
rapidly examines the pistol to see if it is capped, and then puts it in the drawer of the table, saying to himself as he closes the drawer)
: Medicine for Mr. Hartright. To be taken if required.

(WALTER
enters by the door on the right, shown in by the Servant. He bows to
MADAME FOSCO
and to the
COUNT.)

Fosco (gravely).
You wish to see me, Mr. Hartright?

Wal.
I have something to say to you —
(he points to the portmanteau)
— before you take your journey.

Fosco.
Is your business connected with my journey?

Wal.
In some degree.

Fosco.
Is it private business?

Wal.
If Madame Fosco will excuse me — yes.

Fosco.
Madame Fosco accepts your excuses.
(To
MADAME FOSCO.) My angel, I have no further need of your services. Leave me with Mr. Hartright, and try to sleep.
(He opens the door on the right.)

Madame F.
If I can’t sleep, count, may I come down again to you?

Fosco.
Knock at the door first. I may be engaged on private matters. (MADAME FOSCO
goes out.
FOSCO,
after closing the door, turns, and addresses
WALTER,
who has crossed to the fireplace.
FOSCO
stands at the table)
In what way is your business connected with my journey? Do you know where I am going to?

Wal.
No. I only know why you are leaving London.

(FOSCO
suddenly turns back to the door on the right, locks it, and puts the key in his pocket.)

Fosco.
When you came to this house, Mr. Hartright, did it by any chance occur to you that I was not a man to be trifled with?
(He seats himself at the table, with his hand over the drawer.
WALTER,
steadily observing him, remains standing at the fireplace.)
You know why I am leaving London. Tell me the reason, if you please.
(He slowly opens the drawer.)

Wal.
I can show you the reason, if you like.

Fosco.
How can you show it?
(He drops his hand into the drawer.)

Wal.
You have your coat off. Turn up the shirt-sleeve on your left arm. You will see the reason there.
(A pause.
FOSCO
is heard moving the pistol in the drawer. He slowly raises it into view just above the level of the drawer, with his eyes fixed thoughtfully on
WALTER. WALTER
resumes in the low steady tones in which he has spoken from the first.)
Wait a little! You see I don’t move. You see my hands are empty. I have something more to say to you.

Fosco (steadily on his side).
You have said enough. I want one moment for my own thoughts. Do you guess what I am thinking about?

Wal.
Perhaps I do.

Fosco (very quietly).
I am thinking whether I shall add to the disorder in this room, by scattering your brains about that fireplace.

Wal.
I advise you to read two lines of writing which I have about me before you decide the question.

Fosco (holding out his left hand).
Let me see the writing. (WALTER
takes a morsel of paper from his pocket, and hands it open, at arm’s length, to
FOSCO. FOSCO
reads it aloud.)
“Your letter is received. If I don’t hear from you before the time you mention, I will break the seal when the clock strikes.”
(He looks up at
WALTER.) What does your sealed letter tell the person who has written this?

Wal.
My letter tells him that I have failed in the purpose which has brought me here to-night, and that I have died by your hand. The man I have written to has the means of making you answer for my life with yours. If you use that pistol, he will open my letter, and employ those means, before you can leave England to-morrow. Are you answered?

Fosco.
I am answered.
(He takes his right hand out of the drawer, and alters his tone.)
I am a just man, Mr. Hartright, even to my enemy. I don’t say I may not scatter your brains about the fireplace yet. I only acknowledge they are cleverer brains than I thought them. Take a seat, sir.
(He rises, and points to a chair.)
I have been packing. With your permission I will resume my coat.
(He puts on his coat, and takes his seat again by the table.)
Come to the point! You want something of me?

Wal.
I want something of you before I leave this house.

Fosco.
On conditions?

Wal.
On no conditions.

Fosco.
My dear sir, we are travelling in a circle! Those clever brains of yours are in danger again. You have not got my lamented friend, Percival, to deal with now.
(He
takes up his hat from the table and points to the deep crape on it.)
See! I mourn his loss. Inwardly, in my soul: outwardly, on my hat.
(He puts the hat back.)
Sir! you are face to face with Fosco. Realise your position; and state plainly what you demand of me. Is it money?

Wal.
It is NOT money. You have been guilty of an infamous conspiracy. The object of it — so far as your personal interests are concerned — is the gain of ten thousand pounds. Keep your gain. (FOSCO
draws a breath of relief.)
I am not here to bargain for money which has passed through your hands, and which has been the price of a crime.

Fosco.
Gently, Mr. Hartright! Keep your moral claptraps for your own countrymen. They have no effect on me. The ten thousand pounds was a legacy left to my wife. I say no more. The subject is deplorably sordid! Once again, what do you demand of me?

Wal.
I demand the evidence which establishes Lady Glyde’s identity. I demand proofs which fix the date on which Lady Glyde left Blackwater Park, and travelled to London.

Fosco (coolly).
Aha! you can lay your finger, I see, on the weak place. Anything more?

Wal.
Nothing more.

Fosco.
Good. You have stated your position. I will state mine. Since I obtained my triumph over you, at the inquiry held in Cumberland this morning, circumstances have led me to alter my plans. I am about to leave England — never to return to it again. In this position, I have no consequences to fear for myself if I place the evidence of Lady Glyde’s identity in your hands. For Miss Halcombe’s sake, sir — not for yours or for Lady Glyde’s — I will do it! I offer you the proofs you want on three conditions.

Wal.
Name them.

Fosco.
First condition! you furnish my servant with a written order to the man who has got your letter to give it up — and you wait here with me till the letter is brought back. Before we go on, do you accept the first condition?

Wal.
I accept it with one reservation. I require you to destroy the sealed letter in my presence, unopened, as soon as it is placed in your hands.

Fosco (carelessly).
I am not curious about the letter. I agree to your reservation.
(He gives
WALTER
writing materials.)
Write the order at once — to save time. (WALTER
writes a few lines.)
Is it far from here?

Wal.
It is close by.

(He closes the envelope, addresses it, and hands it to
FOSCO.)

Fosco (looking at the address).
“Professor Pesca.” I thought so!
(He rings the bell, and unlocks the door on the right. The servant appears.)
Take this to the address, and wait for an answer.
(The servant goes out, and closes the door.
FOSCO
continues, addressing
WALTER.) Mr. Hartright, I proceed. Second condition! You make no use of the documents I place in your hands, until Madame Fosco and I have left England. Do you agree?

Wal.
Yes.

Fosco.
Third condition! After the language you have used here, you meet me abroad at the first convenient opportunity, and you give me the satisfaction of a gentleman. Agreed, again?

Wal.
I decline to discuss the third condition with a man who has just threatened me with assassination.

Fosco.
Another moral clap-trap! You English are incorrigible. While the servant is gone, I will look for the papers that you want.
(He goes to his portmanteau, takes out a bundle of papers, and looks over them.
WALTER
waits seated at the table, with his back towards the ante-chamber. Two men, in plain costume, appear noiselessly in the moonlit conservatory at the moment when
FOSCO
has ceased speaking. They listen at the glass door. After showing, by their gestures, that they can hear nothing, they disappear up the conservatory. The next moment they appear again stealthily in the ante-chamber. They look into the room. One points out
WALTER
to the other. They retire again out of sight.
FOSCO
selects two papers from the bundle, and places them in the breast-pocket of his coat — then turns abruptly towards the door on the right.)
Do I hear the servant?
(He opens the door, takes a note from the servant, closes the door again without locking it, and turns to
WALTER.) Is this your letter?

(The two men reappear in the conservatory, and wait behind the glass door.

Wal. (after looking at it).
That is my letter.

Fosco (holding the letter over the flame of the lamp).
I burn it as I promised.
(He takes the papers out of his pocket, and hands one to
WALTER.) Read that.