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Cheating the gallows. They say that
a union of opposites make the happiest marriage.

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And perhaps it is on the same
principle that men who jump together are

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always so oddly assorted. You shall
find a man of letters sharing diggings with

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an auctioneer, and a medical student
pigging a stockbroker's clerk. Perhaps each thus

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escapes the temptation to talk shop in
his hours of leisure, while he supplements

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his own experiences of life by his
companions. There could not be an odd

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order couple than Tom Peters and Everett
G. Rockstill. The contrast began with

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their names and ran through the entire
chapter. They had a bedroom and a

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sitting room in common, but it
would not be easy to find what else

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to his landlady worthy missus seekin.
Tom Peters's profession was little wig, But

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everybody knew that Rockstille was the manager
of the City and Suburban bank, and

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it puzzled her to think why a
bank manager should live with such a seedy

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looking person who smoked clay pipes and
sipped whisky and water all evening when he

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was at home. For Rockstill was
as spruce and erect as his fellow Lodger

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was round shouldered and shabby. He
never smoked, and he confined himself to

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a small class of claret at dinner. It is possible to live with a

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man and see very little of him. Where each of the partners lives his

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own life in his own way,
with his own circle of friends and external

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amusements, days may go by without
the men having five minutes together. Perhaps

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this explains why these partnerships jog along
so much more peacefully than marriages, where

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the chain is drawn so much tighter
and galls the partners rather than links them

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diverse. However, as were the
hours and habits of the chums, they

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often breakfasted together, and they agreed
in one thing. They never stayed out

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at night for the rest. Peters
sought his diversions in the company of journalists

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and frequented debating rooms, where he
propounded the more iconoclastic views, while rockstill

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had highly respectable houses open to him
in the suburbs, and was in fact

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engaged to be married to Clara Nowell, the charming daughter of a retired corn

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merchant. A widower with no other
child, Clara naturally took up a good

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deal of Roxtelle's time, and he
often dressed to go to the play with

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her, while Peters stayed at home
in a faded dressing gown and loose slippers.

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Missus Seekin liked to see gentlemen about
the house and evening dress, and

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made comparisons not favorable to Peters,
and this in spite of the fact that

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he gave her infinitely less trouble than
the younger man. It was Peters who

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first took the apartments, and it
was characteristic of his easy going temperament that

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he was so openly and naively delighted
with a view of the Thames obtainable from

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the bedroom window that Missus Seekin was
emboldened to ask twenty five cent more than

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she had intended. She soon returned
to her normal terms. However, when

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his friend Rockstoe called the next day
to inspect the rooms and overwhelmed her with

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a demonstration of their numerous shortcomings.
He pointed out that their being on the

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ground floor was not an advantage but
a disadvantage, since they were nearer to

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the noises of the street. In
fact, the house being a corner one

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the noises of two streets. Rockstal
continued to exhibit the same finicking temperament in

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the petty details of the minaj His
shirt fronts was never sufficiently starched, nor

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his boots sufficiently polished. Tom Peters, having no regard for rigid linen,

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was always good tempered and satisfied,
and never acquired the respect of his landlady.

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He wore blue check shirts and loose
ties. Even on Sundays. It

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is true he did not go to
church, but slept on till Rockstal returning

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from the morning service, and even
then it was difficult to get him out

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of bed or to make him hurry
up his toilet operations. Often the midday

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meal would be smoking on the table
while Peters would smoke in the bed,

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and rockstill with his head thrust through
the fold doors that separated the bedroom from

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the sitting room, would be adjuring
the sluggard to our eyes and shake off

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his slumbers, and threatening to sit
down without him lest the dinner be spoilt.

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In revenge, Tom was usually up
first on week days, sometimes at

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such unearthly hours that Polly had not
yet removed the boots from the outside the

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bedroom door, and would bawl down
to the kitchen for a shaving water for

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Tom. Lazy and indolent, as
he was shaved with an unfailing regularity of

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a man to whom shaving had become
an instinct. If he had not kept

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fairly regular hours, Missus Seekin would
have set him down as an actor.

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So clean shaven was he, Rockstill
did not shave. He wore a full

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beard, and, being a fine
figure of a man to boot, no

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uneasy investor could look upon him without
being reassured as to the stability of the

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bank he managed so successfully, and
thus the two men lived in an economical

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comradeship, all the firmer, perhaps
for their mutual incongruities. It was on

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a Sunday afternoon in the middle of
October, ten days after Rockstill had settled

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in his new rooms, that Clara
Nowell paid her first visit to him.

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There, she enjoyed a good deal
of liberty and did not mind accepting his

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invitation to tea. The corn merchant, himself indifferently educated, had an exaggerated

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sense of the value of culture,
and so Clara, who had artistic tastes,

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thought much actual talent had gone in
for painting and might be seen in

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pretty toilettes copying pictures in the museum. At one time it looked as if

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she might be reduced to working seriously
at her art. For Satan, who

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finds mischief still for idle hands to
do, had persuaded her father to embark

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the fruits of years of toil in
bubble companies. However, things turned out

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not so bad as they might have
been. A little was saved from the

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wreck, and the appearance of a
suitor in the person of Everett J.

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Rockstall, ensured her a future of
competence, if not of the luxury she

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had been entitled to expect. She
had a good deal of affection for Everett,

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who was unmistakably a clever man as
well as a good looking one.

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The prospect seemed fair and cloudless.
Nothing presaged the terrible storm that was about

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to break over these two lives.
Nothing had ever, for a moment come

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to vex their mutual contentment till this
Sunday afternoon. The October sky, blue

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and sunny with an Indian summer sultriness, seemed an exact image of a life

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with its aftermath, of a happiness
that had once seemed blighted. Everard had

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always been so attentive, so solicious
that she was much surprised as chagrined to

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find that he had apparently forgotten the
appointment. Hearing her astonished interrogation of Pollyine

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the passage, Tom shambled from the
sitting room in his loose slippers and his

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blue check shirt, with his eternal
clay pipe in his mouth, and informed

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her that Rockstall had gone out suddenly
earlier in the afternoon. Gone out,

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stammered poor Clara, all confused.
But he asked me to come to tea.

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Oh you, miss Noel, I
suppose, said Tom. Yes,

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I am Miss Noell. He has
told me a great deal about you.

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But I wasn't able honestly to congratulate
him on his choice till now. Clara

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blushed uneasily under the compliment and under
the ardor of his admiring gaze. Instinctively

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she distrusted the man. The very
first tone of his deep bass voice gave

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her a peculiar shudder, and then
his impoliteness in smoking that wild clay was

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so gratuous. Oh then you must
be mister Peters, she said. In

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return. He has often spoken to
me of you, ah, said Tom,

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laughingly. I suppose he told you
all my wisest her had accounts for.

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You are not being surprised at my
Sunday attire. She smiled a little,

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showing a row of pearly teeth.
Everett ascribes to you all the virtues,

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she said. Now that's what I
call a friend. He cried ecstatically.

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But won't you come He must be
back in a moment. He surely

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would not break an appointment with you. The admiration latent in the accentuation of

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the last pronoun was almost offensive.
She shook her head. She had a

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just grievance against Everard and would punish
him by going away indignantly. Do let

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me give you a cup of tea, Tom pleaded. You must be awfully

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thirsty this sultry weather. There.
I'll make a bargain with you if you

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will come in now. I promise
to clear out the moment Everard returns,

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and not spoil your tete a tete. But Clara was obstinate. She did

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not at all relish this man's society, and besides, she was not going

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to throw away her grievance against Everard. I know Everard will slang me dreadfully

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when he comes in. If I
let you go, Tom urged, tell

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me at least where he can find
you. I'm going to take the bus

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at Charing Cross and I'm going straight
home, Clara announced determinedly. She put

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up a parasol in a pet and
went up the street into the strand.

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A cold shadow seemed to have fallen
over all things. But just as she

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was getting into the bus, a
handsome dashed down Trafalgar Square, and a

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well known voice hailed her. The
hansom stopped, and Everett got out and

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held out his hand. I'm so
glad you're a bit late, he said,

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I was called out unexpectedly, and
having been trying to rush back in

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time. You wouldn't have found me
if you had been punctual. But I

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thought, he added, laughingly,
now I could rely on you as a

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woman. I was punctual, Clara
said angrily. I was not getting out

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of this puss, as you seemed
to imagine, but into it, and

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was going home, my darling,
He cried remorsefully a thousand apologies. The

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regret on his handsome face soothed her. He took the rose he was wearing

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in the buttonhole of his fashionably cut
coat and gave it to her. Why

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were you so cruel? He murmured, as she nestled against him in the

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hansom, Think of my despair.
If I had come home to hear you

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had come and gone, Why didn't
you wait? A moment a shudder traversed

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her fame. Not with that man
Peters, she murmured, Not with that

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man Peters, he echoed, sharply, What is the matter with Peters?

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I don't know, she said.
I don't like him, Clara, he

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said, half sternly, half cajolingly. I thought you were above these feminine

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weaknesses. You are punctual, strive
also to be reasonable. Tom is my

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best friend from boyhood. We have
been always together. There is nothing Tom

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would not do for me or I
for Tom. You must like him,

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Clara, You must, if only
for my sake, I'll try, Clara

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promised, and then he kissed her
in gratitude and broad daylight. You'll be

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very nice to him at tea,
won't you? He said, anxiously.

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I shouldn't like you two to be
bad friends. I don't want to be

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bad friends, Clara protested. Only
the moment I saw him, a strange

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repulsion and mistrust came over me.
You're quite wrong about him, quite wrong,

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he shut her. When you know
him better, you'll find him the

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best of fellows. Oh I know, he said suddenly, I suppose he

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was very untidy A you women goes
so much by appearances, not at all,

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Clara retorted, it's you men who
go by appearances. Yes, you

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do. That's why you care for
me, he said, smiling. She

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assured him it wasn't, and she
didn't care for him so much as he

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plumed himself. But he smiled on
his smile died away. However, when

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he entered his rooms and found Tom
nowhere, I dare say you've made him

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run about hunting for me, he
grumbled. Perhaps he knew I'd come back

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and went away to leave us together, she answered, He said he would

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when you came. And yet you
say you don't like him, She smiled

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reassuringly. Inwardly, however, she
felt pleased at the men's man's absence.

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If Clara Novell could have seen Tom
Peters carrying on with Polly in the passage,

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she might have felt justified in her
prejudice against him. It must be

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confessed, though, that Everard also
carried on with Polly. Alas it is

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to be feared that men are much
of a muchness where women are concerned shabby

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men and smart men, bank managers
and journalists, bachelors and semi detached to

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bachelors. Perhaps it was a mistake, after all to say that the chums

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had nothing patently in common. Everard, I'm afraid, kissed Polly rather more

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often than Clara, and although it
was because he respected her less, the

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reason would perhaps not have been sufficiently
consoling to his affianced wife. For Polly

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was pretty, especially on alternate Sunday
afternoons, and when at ten pm she

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returned from her routings, she was
generally met in the passage by one or

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other of the men. Polly liked
to receive homage of real gentlemen, and

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said a white cap at all indifferently. Thus, just before Clara knocked on

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the memorable Sunday afternoon, Polly,
was being confined to the house by unwritten

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code regulating the lives of servants,
was amusing herself by flirting with Peters.

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You are fond of me a little
bit, the graceless Tom whispered, aren't

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you you know I am? Sir? Polly replied, you don't care for

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anyone else in the house, Oh
no, sir, and never let anyone

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kiss me but you. I wonder
how it is, sir, Polly replied,

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ingenuously, Give me another. Tom
answered, She gave him another,

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and tripped to the door to answer
Clara's knock, And that very evening,

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when Clara was gone and Tom still
out, Polly turned, without the faintest

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atom of scrupulosity or even jealousy,
to the more fascinating rock star and accepted

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his amorous advances. If it would
seem at first sight that Everett had less

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excuse for such frivility than his friend, perhaps the seriousness he showed in this

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interview may throw a different light upon
the complex character of the man. You're

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quite sure you don't care for anyone
but me, he asked, earnestly.

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Of course not, sir, Polly
replied, indignantly. How could I but

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you care for that soldier I saw
you out with last Sunday. Oh no,

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sir, he's only my young man, she said, apologetically. Would

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you give him up? He hearsed. Suddenly, Polly's pretty face took a

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look of terror. I couldn't,
sir, He'll kill me. He's such

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a jealous brute, you've no idea. Yes, but suppose I took you

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away from here, he whispered,
eagerly, somewhere he couldn't find you.

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South America, Africa, somewhere thousands
of miles across the sea. Oh,

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sir, you've frightened me, whispered
Polly, cowering before his ardent eyes,

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which shone in the dimly lit passage. Would you come with me, he

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hissed. She did not answer.
She shook herself free and ran into the

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kitchen, trembling with a vague fear. One morning earlier than his earliest hour

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of demanding a shaving water, Tom
rang the bell violently and asked the alarmed

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Polly what had become of mister Rockstill, how should I know, sir?

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She gasped. Ain't he been in? Sir? Apparently not? Tom answered

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anxiously, He never remains out.
We have been here for three weeks now,

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and I can't recall a single night. He hadn't been home before twelve.

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00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:42,799
I can't make it out. All
inquiries proved futile. Missus Seekin reminded

202
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:48,480
him of the thick fog that had
come on suddenly the night before. What

203
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:55,400
fog asked Tom, lord, didn't
you notice it, sir? No.

204
00:19:56,519 --> 00:20:00,680
I came in early, smout read
and went to bed about eleven. I

205
00:20:00,759 --> 00:20:07,400
never thought of looking out the window. It began about ten, said missus,

206
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:12,200
seekin and got thicker and thicker.
I couldn't see the lights of the

207
00:20:12,319 --> 00:20:18,200
river from my bedroom. The poor
gentleman has been and gone and walked into

208
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:26,279
the water. She began to whimper. Nonsense, nonsense, said Tom,

209
00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:32,000
though his expression bellied his words.
At the worst, I should think he

210
00:20:32,039 --> 00:20:34,960
couldn't find his way home and couldn't
get a cab, so put up for

211
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:41,000
the night at some hotel. I
dare say it'll be all right. He

212
00:20:41,079 --> 00:20:48,519
began to whistle, as if in
restored cheerfulness. At eight o'clock there came

213
00:20:48,519 --> 00:20:52,960
a letter from rockstill marked immediate,
But as he did not turn up for

214
00:20:53,039 --> 00:20:59,880
breakfast, Tom went round personally to
the City in Suburban Bank. He waited

215
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,720
half an hour there, but the
manager did not make his appearance. Then

216
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:10,759
he left the letter with the cashier
and went away with anxious countenance. That

217
00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:15,799
afternoon it was all over London that
the manager of the City in Suburban had

218
00:21:15,799 --> 00:21:21,880
disappeared, and that many thousands pounds
of gold and notes had disappeared with him.

219
00:21:22,759 --> 00:21:29,519
Scotland. Gayard opened the letter marked
immediate, and noted that there had

220
00:21:29,519 --> 00:21:33,480
been a delay in its delivery,
for the address had been obscure and an

221
00:21:33,519 --> 00:21:40,359
official alteration had been made. It
was written in feminine hand and said,

222
00:21:41,319 --> 00:21:45,279
on second thoughts, I cannot accompany
you. Do not try to see me

223
00:21:45,319 --> 00:21:52,039
again, forget me. I shall
never forget you. There was no signature.

224
00:21:53,960 --> 00:22:00,440
Clara Novelle distracted, disclaimed all knowledge
of this letter. Polly deposed,

225
00:22:00,839 --> 00:22:06,720
and the fugitive had proposed a flight
to her, and the routes to Africa

226
00:22:06,799 --> 00:22:14,960
and South America were especially watched.
Some months passed without result. Tom Peters

227
00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:21,880
went about, overwhelmed with grief and
astonishment. The police took possession of all

228
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:30,279
the missing man's effects. Gradually the
hue and cry dwindled, died. At

229
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:34,240
last, we meet, cried Tom
Peters, with his face lit up in

230
00:22:34,319 --> 00:22:42,279
joy. How are you, dear
Miss novel Clara greeted him coldly. Her

231
00:22:42,319 --> 00:22:48,400
face had an abiding pallor. Now
her lover's flight and the shame had prostrated

232
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:56,359
her for weeks. Her soul was
the arena of contending instincts, alone of

233
00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:02,039
all the world. She still believed
in Everett's innocence, felt that there was

234
00:23:02,079 --> 00:23:07,000
something more than met the eye divined, some devilish mystery behind it all.

235
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:14,960
And yet that damning letter from the
anonymous lady shook her sadly. Then,

236
00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:21,480
too, there was the deposition of
Polly. When she heard Peter's voice accosting

237
00:23:21,519 --> 00:23:27,039
her, all her old repugnance researched. It flashed upon her that this man

238
00:23:27,799 --> 00:23:33,759
Roxstall's boon companion must know far more
than he had told to the police.

239
00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:38,720
She remembered, however, it had
spoken of him with what affection and confidence?

240
00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:48,920
Was it likely he was utterly ignorant
of Everett's movements. Mastering her repugnance,

241
00:23:48,599 --> 00:23:53,480
she held out her hand. It
might be well to keep in touch

242
00:23:53,519 --> 00:24:00,640
with him. He was possibly the
clue to the mystery. She noticed that

243
00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:07,519
he was dressed a shade more trimly
and was smoking a meercham. He walked

244
00:24:07,559 --> 00:24:15,000
alongside her and made no offer to
put his pipe out. Have you not

245
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:21,319
heard from Everard, he asked?
She flushed. Do you think I am

246
00:24:21,319 --> 00:24:26,400
an accessory? After the fact,
she cried no, No, he said,

247
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:30,880
soothingly, pardon me. I was
thinking he might have written, giving

248
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:36,960
no exact address. Of course men
do sometimes dare to write to touch to

249
00:24:37,039 --> 00:24:41,880
woman. But of course he knows
you too well. You would have put

250
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:48,799
the police on his tracks, certainly, she exclaimed indignantly. Even if he

251
00:24:48,839 --> 00:24:56,119
is innocent, he must face the
charge. Do you still entertain the possibility

252
00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:03,160
of his innocence? I do,
she said boldly, and looked him full

253
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:11,279
in the face. His eyelids drooped
with a quiver. Don't you I have

254
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:18,240
hoped against hope, he replied,
in a voice faltering with emotion, poor

255
00:25:18,319 --> 00:25:25,160
old Everard. But I'm afraid there
is no room for doubt. Oh,

256
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:32,839
this wicked curse of money tempting the
noblest and the best of us. The

257
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:37,960
weeks rolled on, Gradually she found
herself seeing more and more of Tom Peter's

258
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:45,920
and gradually, strange to say,
he grew less repulsive from the talks they

259
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:51,920
had together. She began to see
there was really no reason to put faith

260
00:25:51,920 --> 00:26:00,720
in Everard. His criminality, his
faithlessness were too flagrant. Gradually she grew

261
00:26:00,759 --> 00:26:08,319
ashamed of her early mistrust of Peter's
remorse bred esteem, and esteem ultimately ripened

262
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:15,920
into feelings so warm that Tom gave
Frere went to the love that had been

263
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:22,759
visible to Clara from the first,
she did not repulse him. It is

264
00:26:22,799 --> 00:26:27,279
only in books that love lives for
ever. Clara, so her father thought,

265
00:26:29,079 --> 00:26:33,200
showed herself a sensible girl in plucking
out an unworthy affection and casting it

266
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:38,960
from her heart. He invited the
new lover to his house and took to

267
00:26:40,039 --> 00:26:47,920
him at once. Rockstill's somewhat supercilous
manner had always charged jarred upon the unsophisticated

268
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:53,880
corn merchant. With Tom, the
old man got on much better. While

269
00:26:53,920 --> 00:27:00,480
evidently quite as well informed and cultured
as his Wilhelm friend, Tom knew how

270
00:27:00,519 --> 00:27:06,440
to impart his superior knowledge, with
the accent on the knowledge rather than on

271
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:11,039
the superiority, while he had the
air of gaining much information in return,

272
00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:18,480
those who were most conscious of defects
of earn early education are most resentful of

273
00:27:18,559 --> 00:27:26,079
other people sharing their consciousness. Moreover, Tom's bonhamy was far more to the

274
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:33,680
old fellow's liking than the studied politeness
of his predecessor, so that on the

275
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,279
whole Tom met more of a conquest
of the father than of the daughter.

276
00:27:40,039 --> 00:27:47,440
Nevertheless, Clara was by no means
unresponsive to Tom's affection and when after one

277
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:52,279
of his visits to the house,
the old man kissed her fondly and spoke

278
00:27:52,319 --> 00:27:56,839
of the happy turn of things had
taken, and how for the second time

279
00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:03,559
in their lives things had mended when
they seemed at their blackest. Her heart

280
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:08,319
swelled with a gush of gratitude and
joy and tenderness, and she felt sobbing

281
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:15,279
into her father's arms. Tom calculated
that he had made a clear five hundred

282
00:28:15,279 --> 00:28:22,200
a year by occasional journalism, besides
possessing some profitable investments which he had inherited

283
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:27,759
from his mother, so that there
was no reason for delaying the marriage.

284
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:33,759
It was fixed for May day,
and the honeymoon was to be spent in

285
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:40,920
Italy. But Clara was not destined
to happiness. For the moment she had

286
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:45,200
promised herself, her first love's old
memories began to rise up and reproach her.

287
00:28:47,559 --> 00:28:51,960
Strange thoughts stirred in the depths of
her soul, and in the silent

288
00:28:52,039 --> 00:28:56,480
watches of the night she seemed to
hear Evrett's accents, charred with grief and

289
00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:04,960
upbraiding. Her uneasiness increased as her
wedding day drew nearer. One night,

290
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:11,920
after a pleasant afternoon spent in being
rowed by Tom among the upper reaches of

291
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:18,200
the Thames. She retired to rest, full of vague forebodings, and she

292
00:29:18,319 --> 00:29:23,359
dreamt a terrible drain. The dripping
form of Everard stood by her bedside,

293
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:30,000
staring at her with ghastly eyes.
Had he been drowned on the passage to

294
00:29:30,079 --> 00:29:38,000
his land of exile? Frozen with
horror, she put the question, I

295
00:29:38,039 --> 00:29:45,000
have never left England. The vision
answered her, tongue clove to the roof

296
00:29:45,039 --> 00:29:51,480
of her mouth. Never left England, she repeated, in tones which did

297
00:29:51,519 --> 00:29:56,599
not seem to be hers. The
great, stony eyes stared on her,

298
00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:00,920
but there was silence. Where have
you been? Then, she asked in

299
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:08,440
her dream? Very near you came
the answer, there has been foul play.

300
00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:15,240
Then she shrieked. The phantom shook
its head in doleful ascent. I

301
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:21,880
knew it, she shrieked, Tom
Peters, Tom Peters had done away with

302
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:30,079
you? Is it not he speak? Yes, it is he Tom Peters,

303
00:30:30,839 --> 00:30:37,319
whom I loved more than all the
world. Even in the terrible oppression

304
00:30:37,319 --> 00:30:42,359
of the dream, she could not
resist saying, woman like, did I

305
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:48,960
not warn you against him? The
phantom stared on silently and made no reply.

306
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:56,359
But what was his motive? She
asked at length, love of gold

307
00:30:57,279 --> 00:31:04,359
and you and you are giving yourself
to him? It said sternly, No,

308
00:31:04,359 --> 00:31:08,160
no, Everett, I will not, I will not. I swear

309
00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:17,480
it, forgive me. The spirit
shook its head skeptically. You love him?

310
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:25,519
Women are false as false as men. She trove, strove to protest

311
00:31:25,559 --> 00:31:32,720
again, but her tongue refused its
office. If you marry him, I

312
00:31:32,759 --> 00:31:38,720
shall always be with you. Where
the dripping figure vanished as suddenly as it

313
00:31:38,799 --> 00:31:45,599
came, and Clara awoke in cold
perspiration. Oh, it was horrible.

314
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,920
The man she had learnt to do
love, the murderer of the man she

315
00:31:51,960 --> 00:32:00,720
had learned to forget. How her
original prejudice had been justified. Distracted shaken

316
00:32:00,759 --> 00:32:04,480
to her debts, she would not
take counsel, even of her father,

317
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:10,000
but informed the police of her suspicion. A raid was made on Tom's rooms

318
00:32:10,759 --> 00:32:16,759
and lo the stolen notes were discovered
in a huge bundle. It was found

319
00:32:17,279 --> 00:32:22,200
that he had several banking accounts,
with a large recently paid amount in each

320
00:32:22,279 --> 00:32:30,039
bank. Tom was arrested. Attention
was now concentrated on the corpses washed up

321
00:32:30,079 --> 00:32:35,599
by the river. It was not
long before the body of Rockstill came to

322
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:43,880
shore, the face distorted almost beyond
recognition by long immersion by the clothes patently

323
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:49,440
his and a pocket book in the
breast pocket, removing the last doubt.

324
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:57,640
Missus Seekin and Polly and Clara Novell
all identified the body. Both juries returned

325
00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:02,119
a verdict of murder against Tom Peters, the recital of Clara's dream producing a

326
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:08,680
unique impression in the court and throughout
the country. The theory of the prosecution

327
00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:15,440
was that Rockstall had brought home money, whether to fly alone or to divide

328
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:21,400
it, or whether even for some
innocent purpose, as Clara believed was immaterial,

329
00:33:22,799 --> 00:33:25,480
that Peters determined to have it all, and that he had gone out

330
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:30,319
for a walk with the deceased,
and, taking advantage of the fog,

331
00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:34,880
had pushed him into the river,
and that he was further impelled to the

332
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,920
crime by love for Clara Novelle,
as was evident from his subsequent relations with

333
00:33:40,039 --> 00:33:47,519
her. The judge put on the
black cap. Tom Peters was duly hung

334
00:33:47,839 --> 00:33:54,359
by the neck till he was dead. Brief resume of the culprit's confession.

335
00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:00,839
When you all read this, I
shall be dead and laughing at you.

336
00:34:01,519 --> 00:34:09,920
I have been hung for my own
murder. I am evere G Rockstill I

337
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:16,920
am also Tom Peters. We two
were one. When I was a young

338
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:22,320
man. My mustache and beard wouldn't
come. I bought false ones to improve

339
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:28,800
my appearance. One day, after
I had become manager of the city in

340
00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:34,159
the suburban Bank, I took off
my beard in mustache at home, and

341
00:34:34,199 --> 00:34:38,920
then the thought crossed my mind that
nobody would know me without them, I

342
00:34:39,119 --> 00:34:45,880
was another man. Instantly it flashed
upon me that if I ran away from

343
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:52,000
the bank, that the other man
could be left in London while the police

344
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:58,000
were scoring the world for a non
existent fugitive. But this was only the

345
00:34:58,039 --> 00:35:05,199
crude germ of the idea. Slowly
I matured my plan. The man who

346
00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:07,960
was going to be left in London
must be known to a circle of acquaintance

347
00:35:08,039 --> 00:35:14,599
beforehand. It would be easy enough
to masquerade in the evenings in my beardless

348
00:35:14,639 --> 00:35:20,760
condition, with the other disguise of
dress and voice. But this was not

349
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:28,119
brilliant enough. I conceived the idea
of living with him. It was box

350
00:35:28,199 --> 00:35:34,519
and Cox reversed. We shared the
rooms at missus Seekin's. It was a

351
00:35:34,559 --> 00:35:39,199
great strain, but it was only
for a few weeks. I had trick

352
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:45,599
clothes in my bedroom, like those
of quick change artists. In a moment,

353
00:35:45,199 --> 00:35:50,320
I could pass from Rockstill to Peters, and from Peter's to Rockstill.

354
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:54,960
Polly had to clean two pairs of
boots a morning, cook two dinners,

355
00:35:55,000 --> 00:36:00,280
et cetera, et cetera. She
and missus Seekin saw one or other of

356
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:07,239
us every moment. It never dawned
upon them. They never saw us both

357
00:36:07,519 --> 00:36:13,840
together. At meals, I would
not be interrupted, ate off two plates

358
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:20,199
and conversed with my friends in loud
tones. At other times we dined at

359
00:36:20,199 --> 00:36:25,639
different hours. On Sundays, he
was supposed to be asleep when I was

360
00:36:25,679 --> 00:36:31,400
in church. There is no landlady
in the world to whom the idea would

361
00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:37,719
have occurred that one man was troubling
himself to be two and to pay for

362
00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:44,679
two, including washing. I worked
up the idea of Rockstall's flight, asked

363
00:36:44,679 --> 00:36:49,480
Polly to go with me, manufactured
that feminine letter that arrived in the morning

364
00:36:49,599 --> 00:36:55,039
of my disappearance. As Tom Peters, I mixed with the journalistic set.

365
00:36:55,760 --> 00:37:00,559
I had another room where I kept
the golden notes till I mistakenly thought the

366
00:37:00,639 --> 00:37:07,199
thing had blown over. Unfortunately,
returning from here on the night of my

367
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:13,280
disappearance with Rockstill's clothes in a bundle, I intended to drop into the river.

368
00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,840
It was stolen from me in the
fog, and the man into whose

369
00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:25,800
possession it ultimately came appears to have
committed suicide. What perhaps ruined me was

370
00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:32,280
my desire to keep Clara's love and
to transfer it to the survivor. Everett

371
00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:37,119
told her I was the best of
fellows. Once married to her, I

372
00:37:37,159 --> 00:37:43,639
would not have had much fear even
if she had discovered the trick. Our

373
00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:47,639
wife cannot give evidence against her husband, and often does not want to.

374
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,840
I made none of the usual slips, but no man can guard against a

375
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:59,360
girl's nightmare. After a day up
the river and a supper at the Star

376
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:04,960
and Garter, I might have told
the judge he was an ass but then

377
00:38:05,639 --> 00:38:10,360
I should have had penal servitude for
bank robbery, and that is worse than

378
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:16,440
death. The only thing that puzzles
me, though, is whether the law

379
00:38:16,559 --> 00:38:24,719
has committed murder or I suicide.
The end of cheating the gallows