human
I came to see if you'd had any news of Sonia, he began, as the door closed.
gpt
I've been on the look-out so far as my leg would let me. You see, in the old days, when we were together so much, I knew something of her haunts and habits. I haven't found a trace. At least, not of her.
human
What do you mean?
gpt
Do you remember the first and only time you honoured me with a call? he asked.
human
It was to say that the authorities were watching my articles very closely, one night when Sonia came to see me, and you _naturally_ assumed----
gpt
Appearances were against you, I said,
human
Well, well! He smiled with sardonic indulgence.
gpt
We won't waste time on that. Appearances have been pretty consistently against me before _and_ after, until the night when O'Rane tried to strangle me. Has it ever occurred to you that appearances were _fabricated_ against me? We know that Grayle let you all think--and Sonia, too, but she'd lost her head.... I find that the thing goes much further back. I never told you about my exploits when you were in America, did I? he went on, nursing his injured leg.
human
The first time they imprisoned me? There isn't much to tell, but it's illuminating. I'd been writing for weeks in the 'Watchman'--all above board and over my own name. You, no doubt, would call it pernicious stuff--or you would have then; people are coming round to my views a bit more now--I just told the truth.... His eyes suddenly flashed, reviving my sense that I was dealing with a man who might any day be certified insane.
gpt
The whole truth and nothing but the truth! The magistrate nearly choked when bits of my articles were read aloud in court.... Well, all copy has to be in by Tuesday morning, we go to press on Thursday, and the paper comes out on Friday. I had my usual two sets of proofs delivered on the Wednesday; I corrected one and sent it back, the other I tore in two and threw into the waste-paper basket. The next day----
human
Where did this take place?
gpt
At 'The Sanctuary.' Didn't I say that? The next day, when our housekeeper opened the office, he found an assortment of the police with the usual warrants to search the place and confiscate anything that took their fancy. By the time they'd taken our ledgers, our subscribers' register, our letter-books, file copies and the whole of that week's issue, there wasn't much for the delivery vans, when they turned up at nine, and literally nothing at all for the editor and me at half-past ten except two nice, kind gentlemen who put us under immediate arrest. Quick work, wasn't it? You'd have thought that not a soul outside that office could have known for certain that I was even writing that week, still less that I'd written anything stronger than the usual articles. I suspected at the time, but I couldn't bring myself to believe that Grayle would go to that length to get me out of the way; I knew it bored him to see Sonia talking to me, but he had a fair slice of her time, and I didn't think then that he was more than flirting with her. Well, that was the first step.
human
Go on,
gpt
Well, that broke down, because I did a hunger-strike, and they had to let me out. There was another misfire about the army----
human
I heard about that,
gpt
About the misfire? I wonder if you did--the early part, I mean. Do you know that I attested in the old voluntary days? Ah, I thought not. I kept that to myself--for fear of seeming patriotic, he added with a sneer.
human
Well, when the Derby recruiting scheme came on, there was enough hanky-panky to sicken you. I don't need to tell you that I'm not in love with war or the idea of driving people out like sheep to be slaughtered, but, if you have it, let it hit all classes alike. From the very first, anyone who was strong enough to resist could be sure of getting off. The miners said they'd strike, if anyone tried to conscribe _them_; the Civil Service decided for itself that no one could get on without it. Well, I thought this wanted shewing up, so I went along to Great Scotland Yard to collect evidence at first hand. I got it right enough. The first men I saw were a hulking lot with a crowd of papers in their hands to declare that they were indispensable to the satisfactory working of their departments--people like that young sot Maitland;--they'd been forbidden even to attest till that day, but the numbers weren't keeping up, so they were turned on to keep things going. (I believe the police and the Merchant Marine were dragged in, too, just to give the thing a fillip.) The doctors hardly troubled to look at me before I was rejected; which was a pity, because I wanted copy about the medical examination; but rejected I was, fair and square, with a certificate and, I suppose, some record on their books. In time the Military Service Bill was passed, and I found myself called up. Now, it may have been an honest blunder.... It's certainly a damned odd coincidence.
gpt
But the coincidences were only just beginning, he went on.
human
It was a coincidence that someone should have been nosing round among my papers--I don't know who it was, I hardly ever lock anything, least of all my own front door. But I _thought_ one night that things looked unusual. I have my own taste in untidiness. Then someone let out to O'Rane that I was being watched once more. (If I didn't seem grateful that night, it was because you were devilishly in the way and weren't telling me anything I didn't know before.) Then came another warrant, another search and another arrest. By one of these _curious_ coincidences it was all on the day when O'Rane was due back at Melton, the day when, by one last coincidence, Grayle got back from France earlier than he'd been expected. Beresford raised his hand and brought it resoundingly down on the table.
gpt
I can prove nothing! he cried.
human
I only say that this succession of coincidences--it's queer. And, if I was a nuisance to Grayle in the early days, he found me very useful later on. My God! what would I not do to get level with that man! Thank the Lord! there's no Christian forgiveness about me. I'll leave that to people with more time on their hands. I've a great deal to get through in a very short space and I'd like to do him in once for myself and three times for Sonia. Is O'Rane taking any steps?
gpt
There are limits to _his_ powers of forgiveness, I answered reassuringly.
human
I'm calling on Grayle to-night to suggest that he should retire from the House.
gpt
I'd give something to be there!