with him.' He shrugged his shoulders. 'He does conscientious, mediocre work. No more.'
'There are birds that cannot sing in captivity.' said Hilary. 'Perhaps there are scientists who cannot attain creative thought under certain circumstances. You, must admit that that is a reasonable possibility.'
'It may be so. I do not deny it'
'Then write off Thomas Betterton as one of your failures. Let him return to the outer world.'
'That would hardly do. Madame. I am not yet prepared to have knowledge of this place broadcast to the globe.'
'You could swear him to secrecy. He would swear never to breathe a word.'
'He would swear – yes. But he would not keep that word.'
'He would! Oh, indeed, he would!'
'There speaks a wife! One cannot take the word of wives on this point. Of course,' he leaned back in his chair, and brought the tips of his yellow fingers together, 'of course, he might leave a hostage behind him, and that might tie his tongue.'
'You mean?'
'I mean you, Madame… If Thomas Betterton went, and you remained as a hostage, how would that bargain strike you? Would you be willing?'
Hilary stared past him into the shadows. Mr. Aristides could not know the pictures that rose before her eyes. She was back in a hospital room, sitting by a dying woman. She was listening to Jessop and memorising his instructions. If there was a chance, now, that Thomas Betterton might go free, whilst she remained, would not that be the best way to fulfill her mission? For she knew (what Mr. Aristides did not), that there would be no hostage in the usual meaning of the word, left behind. She herself meant nothing to Thomas Betterton. The wife he had loved was already dead.
She raised her head and looked across at the little old man on the divan.
'I should be willing,' she said.
'You have courage, Madame, and loyalty and devotion. They are good qualities. For the rest -' He smiled. 'We will talk of it again some other time.'
'Oh no, no!' Hilary suddenly buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook. 'I can't bear it! I can't bear it! It's all too inhuman.'
'You must not mind so much, Madame.' The old man's voice was tender, almost soothing. 'It has pleased me tonight to tell you my aims and my aspirations. It has been interesting to me to see the effect upon a mind totally unprepared. A mind like yours, well balanced, sane and intelligent You are horrified. You are repulsed. Yet I think that to shock you in this way is a wise plan. At first you repel the idea, then you think of it, you reflect on it, and in the end it will seem to you natural; as though it has always existed, a commonplace.'
'Never that!' cried Hilary. 'Never that! Never! Never!'
'Ah,' said Mr. Aristides. 'There speaks the passion and the rebellion that go with red hair. My second wife,' he added reflectively, 'had red hair. She was a beautiful woman, and she loved me. Strange, is it not? I have always admired red-haired women. Your hair is very beautiful. There are other things I like about you. Your spirit, your courage; the fact that you have a mind of your own.' He sighed. 'Alas! Women as women interest me very little nowadays. I have a couple of young girls here who please me sometimes, but it is the stimulus of mental companionship that I now prefer. Believe me, Madame, your company has refreshed me greatly.'
'Supposing I repeat all that you have told me to my husband?'
Aristides smiled indulgently.
'Ah yes, supposing you do? But will you?'
'I don't know. I – oh, I don't know.'
'Ah!' said Mr. Aristides. 'You are wise. There is some knowledge women should keep to themselves. But you are tired – and upset. From time to time, when I pay my visits here, you shall be brought to me, and we will discuss many things.'
'Let me leave this place -' Hilary stretched her hands out to him. 'Oh, let me go away. Let me leave with you when you go. Please! Please!'
He shook his head gently. His expression was indulgent, but there was a faint touch of contempt behind it.
'Now you are talking like a child,' he said reprovingly. 'How could I let you go? How could I let you spread the story round the world of what you have seen here?'
'Wouldn't you believe me if I swore I wouldn't say a word to anyone?'
'No indeed, I should not believe you,' said Mr. Aristides. 'I should be very foolish if I believed anything of the kind.'
'I don't want to be here. I don't want to stay here in this prison. I want to get out.'
'But you have your husband. You came here to join him, deliberately, of your own free will.'
'But I didn't know what I was coming to. I'd no idea.'
'No,' said Mr. Aristides, 'you had no idea. But I can assure you this particular world you have come to is a much pleasanter world than the life beyond the Iron Curtain. Here you have everything you need! Luxury, a beautiful climate, distractions…'
He got up and patted her gently on the shoulder.
'You will settle down,' he said, confidently. 'Ah yes, the red-headed bird in the cage will settle down. In a year, in two years certainly, you will be very happy! Though possibly,' he added thoughtfully, 'less interesting.'
Chapter 19
I
Hilary awoke the following night with a start. She raised herself on her elbow, listening.
'Tom, do you hear?'
'Yes. Aircraft – flying low. Nothing in that. They come over from time to time.'
'I wondered -' She did not finish her sentence.
She lay awake thinking, going over and over that strange interview with Aristides.
The old man had got some kind of capricious liking for her.
Could she play upon that?
Could she in the end prevail upon him to take her with him, out into the world again?
Next time he came, if he sent for her, she would lead him on to talk of his dead red-haired wife. It was not the lure of the flesh that would captivate him. His blood ran too coldly now in his veins for that. Besides he had his 'young girls.' But the old like to remember, to be urged on to talk of times gone by…
Uncle George, who had lived at Cheltenham…
Hilary smiled in the darkness, remembering Uncle George.
Were Uncle George and Aristides, the man of millions, really very different under the skin? Uncle George had had a housekeeper – 'such a nice safe woman, my dear, not flashy or sexy or anything like that. Nice and plain and safe.' But Uncle George had upset his family by marrying that nice plain woman. She had been a very good listener…
What had Hilary said to Tom? 'I'll find a way of getting out of here?' Odd, if the way should prove to be Aristides…
II
'A message,' said Leblanc. 'A message at last.'
