The Bird has got wings - стр. 41

– My sister will take care of her," Jane whispered quietly, but the determination on her face was replaced by a shadow of worry. – Miss Vivian, all I need from you is a little 'yes,' and then your life… yours and Richard's… will be a Paradise on earth!

– Listen to me carefully: I forbid you even to think about it! – Vivian said in a stern tone, looking into her friend's eyes. – Get these absurd thoughts out of your head! Now! Jeremy is terrible, yes! He is a monster, and I hate him! But he doesn't deserve to die… Although, who am I trying to fool? – she suddenly grinned.

– You see! A few drops of poison in his evening brandy, and…

– No. I'll say it again, "No." He'll die one day without our help. From alcohol, from an accident, from illness… A year from now, two years from now, five years from now, ten years from now… But he will die. And I'll outlive him. I will. – Vivian put her arms round Jane, and she clung to her as if she were her own sister. – We'll get through this, my dear. We'll get through it all.

– As you say, Miss Vivian," said the maid, in a slightly displeased tone. – As you say! But if you should change your mind…

– 'That won't happen,' she said firmly.

'Who knows! – Jane thought to herself. – I'll never let him whip you again, my dear Miss Vivian!"

– Did my consort say you were in love? – Jeremy asked after the young hunters had eaten a hearty lunch, hiding from the rain in a small wooden hut built in the thick of the forest for stranded travellers.

– In love," Anthony confirmed, and drew the smoke of a large, expensive cigar into his lungs.

– In love with whom? – Jeremy clarified and took a puff.

– Let it be a secret.

– Why the overtures?

– I want my engagement to this girl to be as big a surprise to you as your wedding to my cousin was to me," Anthony smiled good-naturedly. – But, my friend, confess: has it made you happy?

– Oh, I am happier than anyone else. – Jeremy looked at his friend carefully and, squinting his eyes, asked: – Why the curiosity? Was it a conversation with Vivian that prompted you to ask?

– Vivian? Of course not. She is content and happy," Anthony waved him away.

– Did she say so herself? – Mr. Wington asked again.

– 'Yes.

– Do you think she loves me?

– We didn't talk about that," Anthony lied lightly, twirling his cigar in his fingers. Jeremy's strange, inappropriate questions made him uncomfortable, but he was not going to give away Vivian and her true attitude to her husband, so he hurried to change the subject unobtrusively. – But what are you? "Has the The House become a thing of the past? Or are you still enjoying?

– I'm a family man now, and hopefully I'll be a father soon," Jeremy said instead. – To hell with old troubles. To hell with prostitutes when I have such a gorgeous wife. And you, brother monk, I take it you haven't been to our pleasure house in almost six months.

– That's right. You're right: we've wised up, so to speak, and realised that reputations are hard to earn but so easy to lose. And I need my good reputation so that my bride-to-be won't feel uncomfortable knowing what kind of life I led before I met her. – Anthony thought for a moment, puffed on his cigar, and then, exhaling a thick white smoke, added quietly: "Yes, and, I should say, our behaviour at the Den could be called boyish. By the way, did I tell you that I've found a small but cosy home?