When he went out of the door of Mr. Redmain's study, he vanished
from the house and from London. Turning the first corner he came
to, and the next and the next, he stepped into a mews, the court
of which seemed empty, and slipped behind the gate. He wore a new
hat, and was clean shaved except his upper lip. Presently a man
came out of the mews in a Scotch cap and a full beard.
What had become of him Mr. Redmain did not care. He had no desire
to punish him. It was enough he had found him out, proved his
suspicion correct, and obtained evidence against Sepia. He did
not at once make up his mind how he would act on this last; while
he lived, it did not matter so much; and he had besides a certain
pleasure in watching his victim. But Hesper, free, rich, and
beautiful, and far from wise, with Sepia for counselor, was not
an idea to be contemplated with equanimity. Still he shrank from
the outcry and scandal of sending her away; for certainly his
wife, if it were but to oppose him, would refuse to believe a
word against her cousin.
For the present, therefore, the thing seemed to blow over. Mr.
Redmain, who had pleasure in behaving handsomely so far as money
was concerned, bought his wife the best sapphire he could find,
and, for once, really pleased her.
But Sepia knew that Mr. Redmain had now to himself justified his
dislike of her; and, as he said nothing, she was the more certain
he meant something.
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