– 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?