W. Somerset Maugham

“ She was convinced that he would forget everything if Margaret came back to him. But she chid herself for the bitterness of the thought. After all she loved him, and she was glad to be able to do anything for him.
She returned to the hotel, changed her frock, and walked slowly to the Chien Noir. It always exhilarated her to come back to Paris; and she looked with happy, affectionate eyes at the plane-trees, the yellow trams that rumbled along incessantly, and the lounging people. ”

“ The landlady roundly called him insane, and as an instance of his queerness told Arthur, to his great dismay, that Haddo would have no servants to sleep in the house: after dinner everyone was sent away to the various cottages in the park, and he remained alone with his wife. It was an awful thought that Margaret might be in the hands of a raving madman, with not a soul to protect her. But if he learnt no more than this of solid fact, Arthur heard much that was significant. ”

“ She glanced at the doctor, but spoke to Arthur. “Just before you came in, our friend was talking of that book of Paracelsus in which he speaks of feeding the monsters he had made on human blood.”
Arthur gave a horrified cry.
“The most significant thing to my mind is that fact about Margaret which we are certain of,” said Dr. Porhoët. “All works that deal with the Black Arts are unanimous upon the supreme efficacy of the virginal condition.”
“But what is to be done?” asked Arthur in desperation. “We can’t leave her in the hands of a raving madman.” He turned on a sudden deathly white. ”

“ As soon as he could do so naturally Arthur asked after Margaret. The woman shrugged her shoulders. No one knew anything about her. She never came out of the park gates, but sometimes you could see her wandering about inside by herself. She saw no one. Haddo had long since quarrelled with the surrounding gentry; and though one old lady, the mother of a neighbouring landowner, had called when Margaret first came, she had not been admitted, and the visit was never returned.
“She’ll come to no good, poor lady,” said the hostess of the inn. “And they do say she’s a perfect picture to look at.” ”

“ Porhoët. The doctor went thoughtfully to his bookcase.
“What is it you want me to tell you?” he asked.
“I think the man is mad,” said Arthur. “I found out at what asylum his mother was, and by good luck was able to see the superintendent on my way through London. He told me that he had grave doubts about Haddo’s sanity, but it was impossible at present to take any steps. I came straight here because I wanted your advice. Granting that the man is out of his mind, is it possible that he may be trying some experiment that entails a sacrifice of human life?” ”

“ You can do no good, here or in London. Perhaps when you are calm you will be able to think of something practical.”
Dr. Porhoët saw what her plan was, and joined his entreaties to hers that Arthur should spend a day or two in a place that had no associations for him. Arthur was too much exhausted to argue, and consented from sheer weariness. Next day Susie took him to Chartres. Mrs. Bloomfield was no trouble to them, and Susie induced him to linger for a week in that pleasant, quiet town. ”

“ He was sure that a great danger threatened Margaret. He could not tell what it was, nor why the fear of it was so persistent, but the idea was there always, night and day; it haunted him like a shadow and followed him like remorse. His anxiety increased continually, and the vagueness of his terror made it more tormenting. He felt quite certain that Margaret was in imminent peril, but he did not know how to help her. Arthur supposed that Haddo had taken her back to Skene ”

“ A small freeholder in the neighborhood had refused to sell the land which would have rounded off the estate of Skene, and a disease had attacked every animal on his farm so that he was ruined. Arthur was impressed because, though she reported these rumours with mock scepticism as the stories of ignorant yokels and old women, the innkeeper had evidently a terrified belief in their truth. No one could deny that Haddo had got possession of the land he wanted ”

“ But Nature with difficulty allows her secrets to be wrested from her. In vain they lit their furnaces, and in vain they studied their crabbed books, called up the dead, and conjured ghastly spirits. Their reward was disappointment, and wretchedness, poverty, the scorn of men, torture, imprisonment, and shameful death. ”

“ And when I’m dead you must marry Susie. She loves you with all her heart, and she deserves your love.”
“Margaret, don’t go. Come with me.”
“And take care. He will never forgive you for what you did. If he can he will kill you.”
She started violently, as though she heard a sound. Her face was convulsed with sudden fear.
“For God’s sake go, go!”
She turned from him quickly, and, before he could prevent her, had vanished. With heavy heart he plunged again into the bracken.
When Arthur had given his friends some account of this meeting, he stopped and looked at Dr. ”

“ Porhoët.
“And if we wait too long, we may be faced by a terrible catastrophe.”
“Fortunately we live in a civilised age. Haddo has a great care of his neck. I hope we are frightened unduly.”
It seemed to Susie that the chief thing was to distract Arthur, and she turned over in her mind some means of directing his attention to other matters. ”

“ He found himself in a dense wood. There was no sign of a path, and he advanced cautiously. The bracken was so thick and high that it easily concealed him. Dead owners had plainly spent much care upon the place, for here alone in the neighbourhood were trees in abundance ”