Mallathorpe's attitude and manner suddenly changed. She caught
sight of the packet of papers in the woman's hand, and at once sprang to
her feet, white and trembling. Instinctively she held out her own hands
and moved a little nearer to the maid. And Esther quickly put the table
between them, and shook her head.
"No--no!" she exclaimed. "No handling of anything--yet! You keep your
hands off! You were ready enough to bargain with Pratt--now you'll have
to bargain with me. But I'm not such a fool as he was--I'll take cash
down, and be done with it."
Mrs. Mallathorpe rested her trembling hands on the table and bent
forward across it.
"Is it--is it--really--the will?" she whispered hoarsely.
Instead of replying in words, Esther, taking care to keep at a safe
distance behind the table, and with the door only a yard or two in her
rear, drew out the documents one by one and held them up.
"The will!" she said. "Your letter to Pratt. The power of attorney. Two
papers that he brought for you to sign. That's the lot! And now, as I
said, we'll bargain."
"Where is--he?" asked Mrs. Mallathorpe. "How--how did you get them? Does
he know--did he give them up?"
"If you want to know, he's safe and sound asleep in one of the rooms in
the old part of the house," answered Esther. "I drugged him. There's
something afoot--something gone wrong with his schemes--at Barford, and
he came here on his way--elsewhere.
Pages:
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283