Chapter 13 Chapter Twelve

Arthur Burden struggled for the next two or three days, but at last the urgency of his mind prevailed—and he went to Carleton to see Margaret.He had learned from the porter that Haddo was away, and he looked forward to seeing Margaret alone.With a little trickery, he easily concealed his name.He entered the room and saw Marguerite sitting, neither reading nor drawing. "Last time you said I could come and see you," Arthur said. She stood without answering, pale as death. "Can I sit down?" he asked. She nodded.They stared at each other in silence.Arthur suddenly forgot everything he was about to say, and sat abruptly.His sudden visit was momentarily unacceptable.

"Why did you come?" Her voice was very hoarse. At this time, the conventional etiquette was useless to the two of them, and it could not alleviate the embarrassing situation in the slightest. "I thought I might be able to help you," he said gravely. "I don't need help. I'm perfectly happy. There's nothing to say between us." She spoke quickly, with nervousness in her tone.She stared at the door, as if afraid of someone breaking in suddenly. "I think we have a lot to say," he insisted. "If it's not convenient to talk here, why don't you come to me?"

"He'll know!" she cried suddenly, as if the words had come out of their own accord. "Do you think there's anything you can hide from him?" Arthur glanced at her and saw the deep fear in her eyes, which made Arthur startled.Under the bright sunlight, he could clearly see the changes on her face.She was very haggard and sickly, and her eyes were dodging as if frightened.Arthur turned away. "I just want you to know that I don't blame you at all. Nothing can take away my love for you." "God, why did you come! Why do you torture me with these words?"

She burst into tears suddenly, and walked up and down the room excitedly. "If you want me to be punished for causing you pain, then I tell you, you win. Susie said she wants me to suffer for me. She doesn't know anything!" Margaret laughed hysterically.She fell suddenly to the ground, knelt by Arthur's legs, and squeezed his hand. "Did she think I didn't see it? When I saw your pale face and pained eyes, my heart was bleeding. You have changed so much. I never thought that a person can change in just a few months." So much has changed in the time. It's all my fault. Arthur, Arthur, forgive me, have pity on me."

"Honey, you haven't done anything for me to forgive," he yelled. She looked at him calmly, her eyes were firm and bright. "Although you say that, you don't actually think that way. Do you know that all the suffering I have suffered is because of you." She tried to calm herself down. "What do you mean?" Arthur said. "He never loved me. He would never have thought of marrying me if it wasn't for hurting you by taking away what was most precious to you. He hates you. He made me what I am just to make you miserable ...all of this is the work of the demon inside me, not me. It's not me who lied to you, left you, and caused you so much pain."

She stood up and sighed deeply. "Once I thought he was dying, so I saved him. I took him into the studio and gave him a glass of water. He cast a terrible spell on me and turned me into a doll in his hands. Myself His will is gone, and I have to obey him. If I try to resist..." Her face convulsed with pain and fear. "Then I found out what the whole thing was about. He was just pretending to be dying that day to set me up for me. He saw the name of one of Susie's friends on a photo and gave him a letter in that person's name. Susie sent a telegram, and that did the trick. He was so proud of his cleverness that I heard him laugh about it."

She stopped suddenly, and a look of terrible pain flashed across her face. "For all I know, it may be his will that I tell you this at this moment. To hear from me that he doesn't love me at all will make you more miserable. Now that you know I'm living in hell, his Revenge has been completely successful." "Why revenge?" "Remember when you beat him up once? You gave him a hard time. I know him so well now that he could have killed you, but hated you so much that he figured out a way to torture us. This Makes him happier than killing you." Margaret's agitated appearance was very unbearable to watch.For so long, this was the first time she had confessed these things to a living person, and the emotions that had been suppressed for a long time rushed out of her brain like a river bursting a bank.Arthur tried to comfort her.

"You're sick. Don't get too nervous, take it easy. Anyway, Haddo is just a human, just like us." "Yes, you always laughed at him and didn't believe what he said. But I knew it! God, I don't know how to explain it, but I did see some incredible things with my own eyes, and I dare say, they completely deviated from the Common sense. I tell you, he has very terrible powers. The first time I was alone with him, he took me to a feast of demons, I don't know what, but I saw terrible, terrible Evil, horrific things. They festered in my mind, and they plagued me like poison for days to come. Then we went to his home in Staffordshire and I recognized him immediately. The scene. The barren rocks, the dry trees, and the rough terrain were all the same as I saw that afternoon. You have to believe me! I have always been in deep fear, and sometimes I feel like this Really going crazy."

Arthur didn't speak.Margaret's words made horrible guesses flash through his mind, and he could hardly help himself.He guessed she must have been hit so badly that her brain was damaged as a result.She buried her face in her hands. "Listen," he said, "you must get out of here at once. You can't live with him anymore, and you can't go back to Schene." "I can't leave him. We're tied together." "This is ridiculous. Nothing will stop you from leaving him. Go to Susie and she will take good care of you and make you forget all the pain."

"It's useless, you can't help me with anything." "why?" "Because, no matter what, my soul loves him dearly." "Margaret!" "I hate him, and I also repel and hate him very much. But there is something inexplicable in my blood, against my will, pulling me closer to him. My body needs him." Arthur turned his head away in embarrassment, and couldn't help taking a small step back. "Did I make you sick?" she said. His face flushed slightly, not knowing what to say. "You really don't understand it all!" she said.

Her tone became so peculiar that Arthur could not help but glance at her in surprise, and saw that her cheeks were flushed, and her chest was heaving up and down, as if she was about to burst into tears again. "For God's sake, don't look at me!" she yelled. She turned her back and continued to speak, her voice was full of shame, very unnatural. "If you've ever been to Monte Carlo, you've heard people say - God knows how they know - that his good luck at the poker tables was all because of me. He died for staining my soul. Self-satisfied. There is nothing pure in me, my soul is tainted. He has made me a wicked sinner. I hate myself, loathe myself, and shudder to think of myself like this. " Arthur broke out in a cold sweat, and his face became paler.He finds himself entangled in a mystery that he cannot solve.She couldn't wait to speak. "At dinner that day, I told a story and I noticed you were very ashamed. But it wasn't me talking, it was him calling me. I knew it was a bad story, but I told it with gusto. I Enjoyed telling that story, and enjoyed being able to bring you pain and make those women fidget. There seemed to be two people living inside me, and the old me, the one you knew and loved, was getting weaker and weaker by the day, Soon there will be complete death, and only a lustful soul will occupy this virgin body." Arthur thought intently, thinking that now, especially, he should stick to normal thinking. "Get away from him, for God's sake. You've said enough grounds for a divorce. It's horrible. That man is crazy and should be in a mental institution." "You can't help me with anything," she said. "If he doesn't love you, why does he want to possess you?" "I don't know, but I suspect I have some clues." She looked at Arthur calmly.Now she has regained her composure. "I think he's going to use me to cast a spell. I don't know if he's crazy, but I guess he's planning a horrible experiment and I'm somehow useful for it to work. It's my survival Assure." "What guarantee?" "Because he needs me for his experiments, he won't kill me. Maybe I can be free in the process." Arthur was shocked by the numbness with which she spoke.He walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me, Margaret, you have to pull yourself together. You are very delirious now, and if you don't pull yourself together, your normal thinking will be completely disturbed. You must come with me. After you leave his clutches , you will regain your rationality soon. You don’t need to see him again, if you are afraid, just hide and let the lawyer settle everything between you.” "I can not." "I assure you that coming with me won't do you any harm. Be sober! We're in London, and there are people everywhere, and I don't believe he can do you any harm while driving through the bustling streets. I Takes you straight to Susie's. In a week, you'll be laughing at this unwarranted fear as much as ever." "How do you know he's not hiding in the room to eavesdrop on us right now?" Arthur didn't expect Margaret to ask him like that at all, and was shocked for a moment, then looked around quickly. "You must be crazy, you saw it too, there was no one else in the room." "I'll tell you, you don't know what he's capable of. Remember the old story that the nanny used to scare the children, that the man who turns into a wolf at night searches the countryside for prey?" Her eyes widened. , looking at him stubbornly, "Sometimes, he only came back to Shane in the morning, his eyes were red, extremely tired and restless, every time I thought, he also..." She stopped, turned her head back, "Arthur, you're right, I must be crazy." He looked at her helplessly, not knowing what to do.Margaret continued, her voice shaking with pain. "When I first got married I reminded him that he had promised to take me to see his mother. He never mentioned her but I felt I had to meet her. Then one day he told me to get ready for a long trip and we walked for a long time , came to a place I did not know, then entered a village, walked for several miles, and finally came to a large house. The house was surrounded by high walls and the windows were tightly sealed. We were taken into a spacious It was as dark and cold as a station waiting room. A tall man walked towards us. He was wearing a long coat and gold-rimmed glasses. He called himself Dr. Taylor. Suddenly, I understood everything. " Margaret gasped for breath, her eyes widened, as if seeing the incomparably terrifying scene again. "It was a mental hospital, but Oliver hadn't said a word to me before. He led us up the wide staircase to a big dormitory—God! Do you know what I saw! I've never been in a place like that - it was a prison cell with mats all over the walls. I was terrified." Margaret put her hand to her forehead, trying to drive away the memory of the terrible scene. "Oh! I can still see that scene now, and I will never forget it." She clearly remembers that horrific scene.In the corner of the room was a strangely misshapen mass, which moved slightly as they entered, and she realized that it was a living being, a man in an unseemly brown flannel coat, A tall but disgustingly bloated woman.The woman turned around, revealing a large, numb face.The face was smooth and smooth, without a trace of wrinkles, so that it looked a bit childish and dull.Her hair was gray and unkempt, thinning on top of her head.But what scares Margaret the most is not the morbid appearance, but her resemblance to Oliver. "He told me it was his mother, who had been there for twenty-five years." The fear in Margaret's eyes was too much for Arthur to bear, and he didn't know what to say.After a while, she continued.She clasped her hands tightly, her voice was very soft, and she spoke very fast, as if she was talking to herself. "You don't know what life is like for me! He goes out often, for long periods of time, and leaves me alone in Siennes from morning to night, with nothing but endless fear to accompany me. Sometimes he is as sudden as a sickness." Filled with an unquenchable longing for the slums, he would then go to Liverpool or Manchester and mingle with the meanest scum. He would hang out in dirty taverns from morning to night. Every fit he could make All depraved things. He liked to mingle with criminals and mobs. He used to smoke opium in stinking back rooms. Eventually he'd come back, filthy, tattered, and smelling of long carnivals , with kisses from port sluts on his lips. He can be very cruel when he gets angry, and I think he has a very cruel taste, and he takes pleasure in seeing others suffer!" Arthur couldn't listen anymore.A bold idea popped up in his mind.Seeing a bottle of whiskey and several glasses on the table, he poured the spirits into the glasses and handed them to Margaret. "Drink it," he said. "what is this?" "Don't worry about it, drink it quickly." She obediently brought the cup to her lips.He stood beside her, watching her finish her glass of wine.A blush suddenly appeared on her face. "follow me." He took her arm and led her down the stairs.They hurried across the hall.A carriage stopped just at the door, and he bade her get into it.Margaret was wearing tea party casual clothes without a hat, and two or three passers-by stared at her in surprise, unable to believe that a lady would walk out of such a luxurious hotel in such an indecent manner.He told the driver to go to where Susie lived, and then he checked Margaret carefully, only to find that she was drunk when she got into the car. When he arrived at Susie's residence, he carried Margaret upstairs and put her on the sofa.He told Susie the whole story and hoped that she would take care of Margaret.Looking at the seriously ill Margaret, dear Susie forgot everything and promised Arthur that he would live up to his expectations. Marguerite lay in bed for a whole week.Arthur rented a house in Hampshire, facing the Isle of Wight, in the hope that the enchanting tranquility of the scenery would help Margaret recover sooner.Whenever she had the chance, Susie would take Margaret for a walk.But Margaret has changed a lot, and the original firmness and happiness are gone.Her physical discomfort was not severe and did not last long, but she was exhausted physically and mentally as if she had been struggling with death for several months. She was not at all interested in the scene around her, not at all in the graceful woods and lawns, and the shady country lanes through which they ran.Her old passion for beauty was gone, and she cared nothing, not the flowers in the little garden in front of their house, or the birds singing on the branches.Arthur and Susie discuss Margaret's future with her.She acquiesced to all suggestions, and agreed to take the necessary measures to free herself from the clutches of Oliver Hadow.Hadow heard nothing and did not track down Margaret.However, although he didn't know where Margaret was, he could definitely guess that Arthur was behind it, and Arthur was easy to find.Haddo's absence makes Susie uneasy.She wished Arthur hadn't been stranded in London at this moment with work. In the end, they filed a divorce lawsuit. Two days later, Arthur received Hadow's business card when he was in the consulting room.Arthur gritted his teeth hard. "Please come in that gentleman," he ordered. Haddo came in.Arthur stood with his back to the fireplace and motioned for him to sit down. "Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked coldly. "My dear Borden, I have not come to resort to your surgical skills," said Hadow, smiling as he sat down awkwardly. "Then it seems I'm worrying too much." "I admire your resourcefulness. I received a very interesting subpoena yesterday, and I think it's probably your fault." "The reason why I allowed you in is to tell you that I have nothing to say to you, please contact my lawyer if you have anything to do." "My dear friend, why are you so rude to me? Isn't it true that you have taken my beloved wife? You should at least consider my rights as a husband when you invoke the civil law?" "I am not as patient as ever," said Arthur, "and I venture to remind you that I have lost my temper with you, and you know how it turned out." "Oh, Borden, I thought you regretted it now," replied Hadow, without the slightest shame. "I'm short on time," Arthur said. "Then I'll get right to the point. I intend to file a counterpetition against my wife with you as co-defendants." "You shameless scoundrel!" cried Arthur angrily. "You and I know she's innocent." "I just know that she left the hotel with you and has been in your care so far." Arthur turned blue with rage, and couldn't help wanting to beat Hado up.He gave a dry laugh. "Do what you want. I'm really not afraid." "Naive masses have no judgment. Don't worry, I will definitely be able to make up a moving story, ruin your career, and force you to resign from the position you are proud of in various hospitals." "You forget that there will be no public trial in this case," said Arthur. Haddo stared at him, unable to answer for a moment. "You're right," he finally said with a smile, "I forgot that." "That will not be far away." Oliver Hadow stood up and touched the huge face thoughtfully.Arthur looked at him with contempt, then rang the bell, and a servant came in immediately. "Take this gentleman out." Hadow walked towards the door calmly, without showing the slightest panic. Arthur was relieved by Hadow's show of cowardice.His lawyer had long asserted to him that Oliver dared not plead the case. Margaret gradually showed interest in the details of the proceedings.Her heart was filled with an urgent longing to be free.She was not at all afraid of the rigmarole of a lawsuit, and she no longer paled with fear when talking about Haddo.Her body is getting stronger and stronger, and she is gradually cheerful.Her captivating laugh echoed in their cabin as it did in their studio in Paris.Her friends believed that it would not be long before the old Marguerite would return.The trial began at the end of July, followed by a long holiday, and Susie promised Margaret to travel abroad as soon as the case was over. But it didn't take long for Margaret's state to change again.As the trial date approached, she became restless.She frowns all day long, and always falls into melancholy silence for a long time.In a way, this is understandable, after all, she will be confessing the most intimate details of her married life to a cold and objective stranger.But then her nervousness was beyond the scope of common sense, so Susie had to write a letter to Arthur. Susie was so proud of her sanity that it hurt her pride to see herself so distraught.She was worried and unhappy.It was not easy for her to accept Margaret again as if nothing had happened.She is only human after all.Although she had done well enough, she couldn't help feeling angry that Arthur had rightfully sacrificed her interests.There was no room in his mind for anyone but Margaret, and it seemed to him that Susie should devote herself to Margaret's happiness. Susie returned to her room after posting the letter.The night was beautiful, the stars twinkling, calm and peaceful.The pleasant silence was like an elixir to soothe her troubles.She sat by the window for a long time, until she felt much more peaceful in her heart, and went to bed.She slept more soundly than any night these days.When she woke up in the morning, the sun had already entered the room.She took a deep breath and was in a good mood.She looked out the window and saw lush green trees and a blue sky.Seeing such a beautiful world made her troubles seem more bearable, and she was ready to laugh at the fears that haunted her. She got up and put on her dressing gown, and went into Margaret's room, but found no one there.The bed hadn't been moved, and there was a note on the pillow: Susie gasped.At once she thought of Arthur, and burst into tears of grief.The man she loved was about to suffer parting again, and it was she herself who brought him the terrible news.She quickly changed into the clothes she was going out in, and hurriedly swallowed some breakfast.There was no train until after eleven o'clock, so she had to wait patiently and anxiously.Finally, when it was time to set off, she hurriedly put on her gloves.Then the door opened and Arthur walked in. She was startled, screamed, and turned pale. "I was going to London to see you," she stammered. "Why are you here?" "Hadow sent me a box of chocolates this morning with a card attached to it that said: Repeat the old trick." Cruel revenge, plus laughing at the opponent who was defeated like a boy - typical Hadow style.Susie hands Arthur the note Margaret left in the room.After reading it, he pondered for a long time. "I'm afraid she's right," he said at last. "We're really doing the wrong thing. The man has a grip on her that we can't fight." Susie wondered whether Arthur's intense skepticism was slowly weakening too, but she herself felt strongly that there was a supernatural power in Oliver's hold on Margaret.She had no doubt that he could control his wife remotely, and believed that Margaret's previous restlessness was also due to this mysterious power.He was secretly using some strange means, Marguerite felt it, and finally she could not resist his call, and instinctively returned to his side.At that moment, her will was as involuntary as a small piece of steel flying towards a magnet. "In my heart, I don't hate anything for what she's done," said Susie. "She's a victim of this sad fate. I can't help but think what Hadow must have done to her." Spells, and directed it all. I don't blame her, I only regret her great misfortune." "Do you think of her life when she is back in the clutches of Hador?" cried Arthur. "You and I both know that he is a vengeful, cruel bastard, and the thought of what she will suffer , those perverted physical tortures, my heart is bleeding." He walked up and down the room in despair. "And there's nothing we can do without telling the cops that bastard put a spell on his wife!" "So you believe it?" said Susie. "I don't know what I believe," he cried. "Anyway, if she chooses to go back to her husband, there's nothing we can do about it. She's a legally independent person and can make her own decisions. He wrung his hands tightly, "what's more, I can't get away from London! I can't leave for a day! I shouldn't be here now, and I have to go back immediately. Although I know that Margaret is in dire straits , but I can't do anything." Susie froze for a minute or two.It hadn't occurred to her that Arthur would accept the speculation in her head. "You know, it doesn't seem to be possible to use conventional methods. The only way is to fight fire with fire. How about I go to Paris and find Dr. Bojoet? He knows every branch of the occult, and maybe he has a way." By this time Arthur had calmed down. "It's ridiculous. We can't give in to superstition. Hadow is just a braggart. He first stirred Marguerite's nerves, and now he's messing with us, that's all. He can't have more than ordinary The greater power of man." "Even if you see it with your own eyes, don't you believe it?" "If my eyes tell me that all the education I've had so far is wrong, then I can only say that my eyes have deceived me." "Anyway, I'm going back to Paris."