Chapter 9 Chapter nine

"It is a dreadful thing," said the colonel, as soon as we were in the street. That's when I realized he was coming with me to discuss the matter with me again, which he had apparently been discussing with his wife and sister for hours. "We don't know who that woman is, you know," he said, "we just know that scoundrel went to Paris." "I thought they were a very good couple." "That's right. Well, just before you came, Amy said they never blushed since they got married. You know Amy, the best woman in the world." Now that I've been told these secrets, I thought I might as well ask a few more questions.

"You mean she didn't suspect anything beforehand?" "Not at all, he was on holiday in Norfolk with her and the kids in August. He was the same as usual, and my wife and I stayed with them for two or three days, and I fought with him. What about golf. He's back in town in September to replace his partner and let the family go on vacation too. Amy and the kids are still in the country because they're renting a house for six weeks and when the lease is up Amy wrote to him, telling her the date of her return to London. He wrote back from Paris, saying that he had made up his mind not to live with her any more."

"Did he explain why?" "My dear chap, he didn't explain anything. I read the letter, and it doesn't exceed ten lines." "This is really strange." We happened to have to cross the road at this time, and the passing vehicles interrupted our conversation.What Colonel MacAndrew said to me seemed incredible, and I suspected that Mrs. Strickland, for personal reasons, had concealed some of the truth from the Colonel.Obviously, a man who has been married for seventeen years will not abandon his wife and run away from home for no reason. There must be something that makes Mrs. Strickland suspect that their married life is not satisfactory.The colonel caught up with me at this moment.

"Of course, he couldn't explain it at all, except that he admitted to eloping with a woman. I think he thought Amy would find out for herself, that's what he was." "What is Mrs. Strickland going to do?" "Well, first we need to find evidence. I plan to go to Paris myself." "What about his business?" "This is the place where his city is very deep. Over the past year, he has gradually shrunk his business down." "Did he tell his partner he was going to leave?" "Not a word." Colonel MacAndrew knew only a rough idea of ​​business matters, and I knew nothing about it.So I don't quite understand the conditions under which Strickland left his business and walked away.What I learned was that the dumped partner was furious and threatened a lawsuit.When the matter was settled, it seemed that the partner was going to spend four or five hundred pounds out of his pocket.

"Fortunately, the furniture in this house is all in Amy's name, and she can still leave something anyway." "Is it true that you said she didn't get a penny?" "Of course it is true. She has two or three hundred pounds in her own hands, and these furniture." "Then what does she live on?" "Only God knows." Things seemed to get more and more complicated, and the colonel's swearing and rage confused me instead of making the situation clearer.To my delight, when he saw the hands of the Army and Navy shop clock, he remembered an appointment to play cards at the club, and he parted ways with me and took a short cut across St. James's Park.