Sinister NIGHT .sx In the Gun-room of a GREAT HOUSE , the Epitome of Stately History looked down on a Drama of MODERN LIFE .sx AS I got into my taxi outside the Guards' Club , to pick up Nick Railton from a probable sentence of death , the irony of the situation struck me .sx You see , I was in love with his wife and , on exactly the same day a year before , I had left the Club and gone to Claridge's to take her away from Railton .sx She had refused even to listen to me .sx I might have known she would , for she was not the sort of woman to throw everything overboard just because her husband did .sx For the matter of that it had gone against my own grain to make the attempt , but Railton's treatment of her had made me desperate .sx All the same , I took a nasty knock , for I'd been in love with her for years and in it was no use blinking the fact that , codes or no codes , if she had had any love for me , she would at least have admitted the fact in the circumstances .sx Now , here I was , functioning by chance at quite a different kind of release for her .sx There was no sign of the doomed man about Railton as he came down the steps .sx outside Sir James Glynn's consulting rooms .sx He was punctual to the minute and as unruffled as if he'd just been cashing a cheque or visiting his tailor .sx " Paddington Station , " he instructed the driver , as I opened the taxi door for him .sx Sitting down beside me , he closed the door , hitched up his trousers at the knees before crossing his long legs and selecting a cigarette from his case .sx The hand which held the match was as steady as the brass handle on the cab door and his darkly handsome face was just as expressionless .sx Leaning back , he remarked on the stolid aplomb with which our driver held up the limousine stream of Harley Street while he turned his old taxi .sx Then he proceeded to devote his attention to the manner in which that sportsman subverted most of the rules of the road in manoeuvring us through the miscellaneous traffic of Wigmore Street .sx He said nothing more until we got wedged in a block on the Edgware Road between three towering omnibuses and a crowded pavement .sx Here he lit a second cigarette , turned to me and said :sx " Harding you've a good nerve .sx There are darned few people who'd have collected a man from a consultation of that sort without being infernally chatty .sx " " The boot's on the other leg , if you ask me , " I rejoined .sx " But , now you've mentioned it , what's the verdict ?sx " .sx " The sphere of my activities has been enlarged , " he stated , as if he were quoting a political article .sx " What do you mean by that ?sx " I questioned .sx " D'you mean there's a loophole the other specialist was wrong ?sx Slowly he turned , with what I believe is called a sardonic grin , and as slowly answered :sx " Not a ghost of a one .sx With care , I shall be a dead man in six months .sx Without care , I'll be cold meat in two .sx " In the middle of the bustling life and movement of a busy London street the finality of this verdict was a bit of a shock , though it was no more surprising than Railton's manner of delivering it .sx He'd burned the candle , at both ends and in the middle , from the time he left Harrow .sx " Well , we've all got to come to it sooner or later , " I said , for want of something better .sx " At any rate , you have the advantage of a few months' warning .sx " Railton grinned , as though my effort tickled him .sx " I'm not complaining .sx Another two months will do me excellently .sx They should be damned interesting .sx " He paused and then said , with deliberate and peculiar emphasis :sx " A definite date of dissolution gives a man quite a lot of latitude .sx He can be his own law .sx " " You're an extraordinary devil , Railton , " I commented .sx " You've never been anything else but your own law .sx I should have thought it was up to you to use the time you've got left in considering Frances .sx " He turned his incongruous violet eyes on me and showed his teeth in a smile that was no smile .sx " That , my friend , is exactly what I propose doing , " he said .sx In Praed Street he resumed the conversation by inquiring amusedly , " As a matter of curiosity , Harding , how would you suggest that I consider Frances ?sx In the circumstances , an outside view of my matrimonial obligations would be interesting .sx " " You've heard mine often enough , " I told him .sx " Frances has played the game by you when ninety-nine women out of a hundred would have divorced you years ago and left you to stew in your own juice .sx She'd have let you and your responsibilities rip , the same as you left her to rip , if she'd been anybody else but Frances .sx Damn it , man " I was nettled by his rising amusement , " you were in love with her once .sx Love her now , if you've any sense of values left .sx " " My dear Harding , you are talking more like a shop-girl than a hard-bitten Guardee .sx You've forgotten I was a millionaire when I came down from Oxford .sx That , and a couple of years' experience in the great world , showed me the trade mark on the bottom of the love fetish .sx Like those brass jujus the niggers worship on the West Coast .sx Turn 'em upside down and you see ' made in Birmingham ' on the bottom .sx " " That's a pretty rotten thing to say of any decent woman , especially Frances .sx You're talking through your hat .sx " " Sentimental rubbish , my dear fellow .sx Every woman has her price .sx I may have been an indifferent husband but I've been a remarkably good investment .sx " " A remarkable liability , you mean , " I retorted .sx WHEN we reached Paddington Station , under cover of getting some papers , I made a bee-line for the telegraph office .sx There I wired to a woman friend and neighbour of the Railtons to warn Lady Frances of the news .sx I knew that , when we left Montsaye two days before , she had no more idea than I had that there was anything wrong with her husband or that he was making a trip to Harley Street .sx He'd spring the verdict on her , probably at the dinner-table , to see what effect it would have , just as he had sprung the probability on me in the luncheon car on the upward journey .sx I had accompanied him to town in preference to stopping down at Montsaye Castle , with Frances and no other guest , because I knew what a rotten mind he'd got .sx After sending off the telegram , I rejoined Railton in a first-class smoker he'd reserved , When the train moved out of the station he settled himself along one seat , with one of the snob weeklies and an apparent indifference to anything but whiling away the tedium of a railway journey .sx My own detachment had evaporated .sx Railton was not the kind of fellow to talk for effect .sx What the devil did he mean by his peculiar chat about Frances and having a lot of latitude and being his own law ?sx What on earth did he propose doing , that he hadn't already done with his money and his absolute disregard for public opinion ?sx Taking an appraising squint , at him over the top of my Telegraph , as he lay there , long -limbed and unobtrusively self-efficient , I was not surprised that Frances fell for him in the first place .sx But it would be amazing if her subsequent loyalty was due to , anything but her high sense of duty .sx Watching him rattle over the pages of his paper , casual and imperturbable , I recalled my first meeting with him at Harrow .sx I had rescued him from a severe ragging .sx He had asked for it , as I found out afterwards , but the incident established a sort of link between us .sx I never liked him .sx He was so infernally selfish ; but he had pluck and was good at games , and always had a queer sort of attraction .sx I heard of him occasionally after I went to Sandhurst but never met him again until several years later .sx Then I came across him in London during that season when Frances's father , the Earl of Montsaye known generally as " Mortgage Monty " annoyed all his creditors by giving an extravagant ball for the debut of his only daughter .sx We were all crazy about her .sx Railton was the lucky one .sx He married her .sx Presumably his dash and good looks , and a reputation of having done everything on three continents that was to be done , no Iess than his expert wooing , made him an attractive figure to a young girl of her type .sx His money certainly opened old Monty's doors very wide .sx Four years later I was coming down the Niger in a stern-wheeler from an expedition on Lake Chad , when a native dugout from a riverside village brought a message that there was a white boss " plenty sick " in the Chief's house .sx We went ashore and found Railton , down with blackwater fever .sx Our doctor got him over the danger line in a few days and ordered him home at once unless he wanted to die in West Africa .sx Railton told the doctor to go to hell .sx The doctor and the expedition continued their journey to the coast and I , for Frances's sake , stopped behind with Railton and a medicine chest .sx A week later I paid off RaiIton's " bearers " and got him on board his launch by force .sx On the way down river , he amused himself by sitting in the bows of the boat with a small-bore repeating rifle , shooting birds .sx Once I saw him fetch down , at a hundred yards' range , a bird that was not much bigger than the palm of my hand .sx I mention this to show his marvellous physical control as a sick man , more than to note his skill with firearms .sx Finally , just over a week ago , I accepted Frances's and his invitation to stop with them at their place in Devon .sx Just before we reached Exeter , Railton woke from a sleep , sat up , and asked :sx " How long have you known Chuffleigh ?sx " .sx " Chuffleigh !sx " I repeated .sx " What a question !sx Why , he was at Harrow with us !sx " " I know that , " he rejoined .sx " Call it , ' What do you know of him,' as an individual .sx " " What do I know of him ?sx I know him inside out , of course .sx We soldiered together in the Brigade for several years and , as kids , we used to exchange visits in the holidays .sx You heard us talking about it round your own gun-room fire a few days ago .sx " As he said nothing to this and didn't explain the odd question , I added facetiously , " If you are thinking of offering Chuff a job , ' Who's Who ' will tell you all about him .sx And maybe one of these papers'll tell you he is now knocking spots off the professional politicians .sx In fact I believe he's in the running for the next War Secretaryship .sx " " On the surface a very attractive person by comparison with myself , " Railton commented drily .sx " But I've an idea I can put a stop to his political ambitions and a few others .sx " " What the deuce are you talking about ?sx " .sx " The Right Honourable the Viscount Chuffleigh , D.S.O. , M.P. , etc. my wife's " " What's that ?sx " I cried .sx " I thought that would surprise you , " he said coolly .sx " You've got such ingenuous ideas about your fellow men and women .sx " I jumped up and stood over him .sx " It's a damned lie , " I said .sx " It happens to be the truth or near enough , my friend .sx " " Truth be damned .sx You're off your head .sx Frances is the last woman in the world to accuse of that sort of thing the very last .sx " He met my gaze squarely and laughed , his expression changing to one of cynical speculation .sx " From the fervour of your championship of Lady Frances , " he remarked slowly , " one might imagine you had more in common with Chuffleigh than the qualities you enumerated .sx "