– I am proud of you, dear cousin! – The girl glowed. – It is high time you lived apart from your mother. But I have good news to share with you, too! Jeremy has allowed me to see Charlotte. And you.

– Me? Did he object to you and me seeing each other? – Mr. Cranford was unpleasantly surprised.

– No, you misunderstood… It's funny, but Jeremy is jealous of you," Vivian explained in a whisper. – But don't tell him that I told you about it.

– I won't, I promise. But, God, he's so funny! – Anthony laughed.

– He is. Terribly funny," said Vivian, smiling. – But I'm going inside: I hate drizzle. And you've heard that Charlotte's coming to see me today. So I certainly mustn't get ill again. I'd ask you to spare the animals, but I know you'd never do it-so I'll say, 'Good luck with your hunting, dear cousin. – "And please make me a widow," muttered the girl.

At this they said good-bye.

When they entered the house, on the stairs Vivian met her husband, who, carrying a large hunting rifle, was smiling so happily that she was sickened by his bloodthirsty smile, but she wished him a happy hunt and answered his passionate kiss. Having fulfilled her role as an obedient wife, she made her way to the bedroom.

She took off her damp shawl, hung it on the back of a chair by the blazing fireplace, pulled the cord to call Jane to her chamber, and sat down at the dressing table to make sure once again that the high collar of her morning dress concealed the bruises on her neck.

Jane appeared a few minutes later.

– You wanted to see me, Miss Vivian? – She asked readily.

– Sit beside me, my dear," Vivian smiled at her reflection.

The maid moved a soft chair to the dressing-table and complied with her friend's request.

The girls chatted quietly on diverse topics. Jane also happily informed her friend that her mother was now able to pick up objects and attend to herself again, but was still struggling with the effects of her burns.

– Miss Vivian, you forbid me to talk about this… But you are so unhappy. You don't want to tell me, but I understand, I understand everything. He beats you. And yesterday I saw him coming into your bedroom with a whip. And then I saw your hands, but only today I realised that he had beaten you with that damned whip! – Jane said in a quietly determined tone, and gently took her friend's red, swollen hands in her own.

– I knew you wouldn't get away with it," said Vivian, smiling sadly. – I think I was wrong, Jane. I was wrong to marry him. But I-I don't so much regret it. It was all for Richard. When you meet him, you'll realise I made the right choice. But when exactly you'll see him, I don't know. Soon, I hope.

– Miss Vivian, I am so sorry for you… Tell me, is there anything I can do for you? – Jane asked quietly.

– 'What can you do for me in my position, my dear? – Vivian grinned, touched by the devotion of her faithful Jane. – Make me a widow?

– It is a great sin, Miss Vivian! – The maid said firmly, furrowing her brow, and leaning down to her friend's face, whispered: – 'You have only to ask… Only to give me permission and I will free you from him!

– Jane! My sweet, kind Jane! – Vivian exclaimed quietly, and squeezed her friend's palms with force. – What are you saying?

– I know how to rid you of that dreadful man! Just put a little poison in his brandy! – Jane went on whispering unperturbedly. – Don't think I've poisoned anyone before, no! Only rats.

– My dear, wait! – Vivian interrupted gently but firmly. – I am very grateful to you for such loyalty and for wanting to protect me from him, but, believe me, this is not the way. I don't want you or I to take on such a sin. And it would be easy to find poison in his blood. And then we'd both be imprisoned, maybe even executed. No, Jeremy's not worth it!

– Miss Vivian, if it's discovered, I'll confess that I did it and that I wanted to do it. So what if I go to prison? But you'll be free of that monster! – exhaled the maid with emotion.

– You think only of me, my dear, but you forget your poor mother," Mrs. Wington reminded her friend. – What will she do without you? What will she do if she finds out that her daughter has become a murderer?

– 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?

– You didn't, but I congratulate you on it," Jeremy said with a smile. – But who encouraged you to take this step? Your caring, perhaps even overprotective mother?