Thefirstsoundsthatreachedmefrombelowwerecausedbytheopeningorclosingmostprobablythelatterofthreedoorsinsuccession——thedoors，nodoubt，leadingintothehallandintotheroomsoneachsideofthelibrary，whichtheCounthadpledgedhimselftoexamine。ThefirstobjectthatIsawwastheredsparkagaintravellingoutintothenightfromundertheverandah，movingawaytowardsmywindow，waitingamoment，andthenreturningtotheplacefromwhichithadsetout。
`Thedeviltakeyourrestlessness！Whendoyoumeantositdown？’growledSirPercival’svoicebeneathme。
`Ouf！howhotitis！’saidtheCount，sighingandpuffingwearily。
Hisexclamationwasfollowedbythescrapingofthegardenchairsonthetiledpavementundertheverandah——thewelcomesoundwhichtoldmetheyweregoingtositcloseatthewindowasusual。Sofarthechancewasmine。Theclockintheturretstruckthequartertotwelveastheysettledthemselvesintheirchairs。IheardMadameFoscothroughtheopenwindowyawning，andsawhershadowpassoncemoreacrossthewhitefieldoftheblind。
Meanwhile，SirPercivalandtheCountbegantalkingtogetherbelow，nowandthendroppingtheirvoicesalittlelowerthanusual，butneversinkingthemtoawhisper。Thestrangenessandperilofmysituation，thedread，whichIcouldnotmaster，ofMadameFosco’slightedwindow，madeitdifficult，almostimpossible，forme，atfirst，tokeepmypresenceofmind，andtofixmyattentionsolelyontheconversationbeneath。ForsomeminutesIcouldonlysucceedingatheringthegeneralsubstanceofit。IunderstoodtheCounttosaythattheonewindowalightwashiswife’s，thatthegroundfloorofthehousewasquiteclear，andthattheymightnowspeaktoeachotherwithoutfearofaccidents。Sirpercivalmerelyansweredbyupbraidinghisfriendwithhavingunjustifiably-slightedhiswishesandneglectedhisinterestsallthroughtheday。TheCountthereupondefendedhimselfbydeclaringthathehadbeenbesetbycertaintroublesandanxietieswhichhadabsorbedallhisattention，andthattheonlysafetimetocometoanexplanationwasatimewhentheycouldfeelcertainofbeingneitherinterruptednoroverheard。`Weareataseriouscrisisinouraffairs，Percival，’hesaid，`andifwearetodecideonthefutureatall，wemustdecidesecretlytonight’
ThatsentenceoftheCount’swasthefirstwhichmyattentionwasreadyenoughtomasterexactlyasitwasspoken。Fromthispoint，withcertainbreaksandinterruptions，mywholeinterestfixedbreathlesslyontheconversation，andIfolloweditwordforword。
`Crisis？’repeatedSirPercival。`It’saworsecrisisthanyouthinkfor，Icantellyou。’
`SoIshouldsuppose，fromyourbehaviourforthelastdayortwo，’
returnedtheothercoolly。`Butwaitalittle。BeforeweadvancetowhatIdonotknow，letusbequitecertainofwhatIdoknow。LetusfirstseeifIamrightaboutthetimethatispast，beforeImakeanyproposaltoyouforthetimethatistocome。’
`StoptillIgetthebrandyandwater。Havesomeyourself。’
`Thankyou，Percival。Thecoldwaterwithpleasure，aspoon，andthebasinofsugar。Eausucré；e，myfriend——nothingmore。’
`Sugar-and-waterforamanofyourage！——There！mixyoursicklymess。
Youforeignersareallalike。’
`Nowlisten，Percival。Iwillputourpositionplainlybeforeyou，asIunderstandit，andyoushallsayifIamrightorwrong。YouandIbothcamebacktothishousefromtheContinentwithouraffairsveryseriouslyembarrassed——’
`Cutitshort！Iwantedsomethousandsandyousomehundreds，andwithoutthemoneywewerebothinafairwaytogotothedogstogether。There’sthesituation。Makewhatyoucanofit。Goon。’
`Well，Percival，inyourownsolidEnglishwords，youwantedsomethousandsandIwantedsomehundreds，andtheonlywayofgettingthemwasforyoutoraisethemoneyforyourownnecessitywithasmallmarginbeyondformypoorlittlehundredsbythehelpofyourwife。WhatdidItellyouaboutyourwifeonourwaytoEngland？——andwhatdidItellyouagainwhenwehadcomehere，andwhenIhadseenformyselfthesortofwomanMissHalcombewas？’
`HowshouldIknow？Youtalkednineteentothedozen，Isuppose，justasusual。’
`Isaidthis：Humaningenuity，myfriend，hashithertoonlydiscoveredtwowaysinwhichamancanmanageawoman。Onewayistoknockherdown——amethodlargelyadoptedbythebrutallowerordersofthepeople，bututterlyabhorrenttotherefinedandeducatedclassesabovethem。Theotherwaymuchlonger，muchmoredifficult，butintheendnotlesscertain
isnevertoacceptaprovocationatawoman’shands。Itholdswithanimals，itholdswithchildren，anditholdswithwomen，whoarenothingbutchildrengrownup。Quietresolutionistheonequalitytheanimals，thechildren，andthewomenallfailin。Iftheycanonceshakethissuperiorqualityintheirmaster，theygetthebetterofhim。Iftheycanneversucceedindisturbingit，hegetsthebetterofthem。Isaidtoyou，Rememberthatplaintruthwhenyouwantyourwifetohelpyoutothemoney。Isaid，Rememberitdoublyandtreblyinthepresenceofyourwife’ssister，MissHalcombe。Haveyourememberedit？
Notonceinallthecomplicationsthathavetwistedthemselvesaboutusinthishouse。Everyprovocationthatyourwifeandhersistercouldoffertoyou，youinstantlyacceptedfromthem。Yourmadtemperlostthesignaturetothedeed，lostthereadymoney，setMissHalcombewritingtothelawyerforthefirsttime——’
`Firsttime！Hasshewrittenagain？’
`Yes，shehaswrittenagaintoday。’
Achairfellonthepavementoftheverandah——fellwithacrash，asifithadbeenkickeddown。
ItwaswellformethattheCount’srevelationrousedSirPercival’sangerasitdid。OnhearingthatIhadbeenoncemorediscoveredIstartedsothattherailingagainstwhichIleanedcrackedagain。Hadhefollowedmetotheinn？DidheinferthatImusthavegivenmyletterstoFannywhenItoldhimIhadnoneforthepost-bag。Evenifitwasso，howcouldhehaveexaminedtheletterswhentheyhadgonestraightfrommyhandtothebosomofthegirl’sdress？
`Thankyourluckystar，’IheardtheCountsaynext，`thatyouhavemeinthehousetoundotheharmasfastasyoudoit。ThankyourluckystarthatIsaidNowhenyouweremadenoughtotalkofturningthekeytodayonMissHalcombe，asyouturneditinyourmischievousfollyonyourwife。Whereareyoureyes？CanyoulookatMissHalcombeandnotseethatshehastheforesightandtheresolutionofaman？WiththatwomanformyfriendIwouldsnapthesefingersofmineattheworld。Withthatwomanformyenemy，I，withallmybrainsandexperience——I，Fosco，cunningasthedevilhimself，asyouhavetoldmeahundredtimes——Iwalk，inyourEnglishphrase，uponegg-shells！Andthisgrandcreature——Idrinkherhealthinmysugar-and-water——thisgrandcreature，whostandsinthestrengthofherloveandhercourage，firmasarock，betweenustwoandthatpoor，flimsy，prettyblondewifeofyours——thismagnificentwoman，whomIadmirewithallmysoul，thoughIopposeherinyourinterestsandinmine，youdrivetoextremitiesasifshewasnosharperandnobolderthantherestofhersex。Percival！Percival！youdeservetofail，andyouhavefailed。’
Therewasapause。Iwritethevillain’swordsaboutmyselfbecauseIMeantorememberthem——becauseIhopeyetforthedaywhenImayspeakoutonceforallinhispresence，andcastthembackonebyoneinhisteeth。
SirPercivalwasthefirsttobreakthesilenceagain。
`Yes，yes，bullyandblusterasmuchasyoulike，’hesaidsulkily；
`thedifficultyaboutthemoneyisnottheonlydifficulty。Youwouldbefortakingstrongmeasureswiththewomenyourself——ifyouknewasmuchasIdo。’
`Wewillcometothatseconddifficultyallingoodtime，’rejoinedtheCount。`Youmayconfuseyourself，Percival，asmuchasyouplease，butyoushallnotconfuseme。Letthequestionofthemoneybesettledfirst。HaveIconvincedyourobstinacy？haveIshownyouthatyourtemperwillnotletyouhelpyourself？——OrmustIgoback，andasyouputitinyourdearstraightforwardEnglishbullyandblusteralittlemore？’
`Pooh！It’seasyEnoughtogrumbleatme。Saywhatistobedone——
that’salittleharder。’
`Isit？Bah！Thisiswhatistobedone：Yougiveupalldirectioninthebusinessfromtonight——youleaveitforthefutureinmyhandsonly。
IamtalkingtoaPracticalBritishman——ha？Well，Practical，willthatdoforyou？’
`WhatdoyouproposeifIleaveitalltoyou？’
`Answermefirst。Isittoainmyhandsornot？’
`Sayitisinyourhands——whatthen？’
`Afewquestions，Percival，tobeginwith。Imustwaitalittleyet，toletcircumstancesguideme，andImustknow，ineverypossibleway，whatthosecircumstancesarelikelytobe。Thereisnotimetolose。I
havetoldyoualreadythatMissHalcombehaswrittentothelawyertodayforthesecondtime。’
`Howdidyoufinditout？Whatdidshesay？’
`IfItoldyou，Percival，weshouldonlycomebackattheendtowherewearenow。EnoughthatIhavefounditout——andthefindinghascausedthattroubleandanxietywhichmademesoinaccessibletoyouallthroughtoday。Now，torefreshmymemoryaboutyouraffairs——itissometimesinceItalkedthemoverwithyou。Themoneyhasbeenraised，intheabsenceofyourwife’ssignature，bymeansofbillsatthreemonths——raisedatacostthatmakesmypoverty-strickenforeignhairstandonendtothinkofit！Whenthebillsaredue，istherereallyandtrulynoearthlywayofpayingthembutbythehelpofyourwife？’
`None。’
`What！Youhavenomoneyatthebankers？’
`Afewhundreds，whenIwantasmanythousands。’