Going to the window which gave access to the terrace
outside, he unclosed the shutters, and threw open the glass doors. He
perceived that it had begun to rain, and that the night was darkening. He
stood drinking in the moist coolness of the air for a few seconds, and
then leaving the window open, and forgetting to extinguish the electric
light on his table he went out of the room.
He found Melrose in his chair, his aspect thunderous and excited.
"Was it by your plotting, sir, that that girl got in?" said the old man,
as he entered.
Faversham stood amazed.
"What girl?"
Melrose angrily described Felicia's visit, adding that if Faversham knew
nothing about it, it was his duty to know. Dixon deserved dismissal for
his abominable conduct; "and you, sir, are paid a large salary, not only
to manage--or mismanage--my affairs, but also to protect your employer
from annoyance. I expect you to do it!"
Faversham took the charge quietly. His whole relation to Melrose
had altered so rapidly for the worse during the preceding weeks that
no injustice or unreason surprised him. And yet there was something
strange--something monstrous--in the old man's venomous temper. After
all his bribes, after all his tyranny, did he still feel something
in Faversham escape him?--some deep-driven defiance, or hope,
intangible? He seemed indeed to be always on the watch now for fresh
occasions of attack that should test his own power, and Faversham's
submission.
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