{"product_id":"2940013696549","title":"The Sinister Man","description":"\"You have beauty,\" said Mr. Maurice Tarn carefully, \"you have youth. You\u003cbr\u003ewill in all probability survive me by many years. I am not the kind of\u003cbr\u003eman who would object to your marrying again. That would be sheer\u003cbr\u003eselfishness, and I am not selfish. When I die you will have great\u003cbr\u003eproperty; whilst I live you shall enjoy my wealth to its full. Possibly\u003cbr\u003eyou have never looked upon me in the light of a husband, but it is not\u003cbr\u003eunusual for a guardian to marry his ward, and the disparity in our ages\u003cbr\u003eis not an insuperable obstacle.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe spoke like one who was reciting a carefully rehearsed speech, and Elsa\u003cbr\u003eMarlowe listened, stunned.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf the old-fashioned sideboard had of its own volition stood on end, if\u003cbr\u003eElgin Crescent had been suddenly transported to the suburbs of Bagdad,\u003cbr\u003eshe could not have been more astounded. But Elgin Crescent was in\u003cbr\u003eBayswater, and the gloomy dining-room of Maurice Tarn's maisonette\u003cbr\u003eremained undisturbed; and here was Maurice Tarn himself, sitting on the\u003cbr\u003eother side of the breakfast table, an unshaven, shabby man of fifty-six,\u003cbr\u003ewhose trembling hand, that went automatically to his shaggy grey\u003cbr\u003emoustache, was an eloquent reminder of his last night's carouse (there\u003cbr\u003ewere three empty bottles on the table of his study when she looked in\u003cbr\u003ethat morning), and he was proposing marriage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe could only gaze at him open-eyed, scarcely believing the evidence of\u003cbr\u003eher senses.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I suppose you think I am mad,\" he went on slowly. \"I've given a lot of\u003cbr\u003ethought to it, Elsa. You are heart-free, as I know. There is no reason in\u003cbr\u003ethe world, except--except the difference in our ages, why this should not\u003cbr\u003ebe.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But--but, Mr. Tarn,\" she stammered, \"I had no idea...of course it is\u003cbr\u003eimpossible!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWas he still drunk? she wondered, without a tremor of apprehension, for\u003cbr\u003efifteen years of association with Maurice Tarn had not tended to increase\u003cbr\u003eher awe for him; if she had not been so staggered by this proposal which\u003cbr\u003ehad come like a bolt from the blue, she might have been amused.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I don't want to marry you, I don't want to marry anybody. It is\u003cbr\u003every--very kind of you, and of course I feel\"--she could hardly bring her\u003cbr\u003elips to say the word--\"honoured. But it is too ridiculous!\" she burst\u003cbr\u003eforth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis tired eyes were watching her, and he did not even flinch at the word.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm going away to--somewhere. I've got to go away for--for my health.\u003cbr\u003eSince Major Amery has come into the firm it is impossible to continue.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Does Ralph know this--that you're going away?\" she asked, curiosity\u003cbr\u003eovercoming her amazement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No!\" He almost shouted the word. \"He doesn't, he mustn't know! You\u003cbr\u003eunderstand, Elsa? Under no circumstances must Ralph know--what I have\u003cbr\u003esaid to you is confidential. Think it over.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith a gesture he dismissed the subject, to her great relief. For fully\u003cbr\u003eten minutes she sat staring out of the window. Mr. Maurice Tarn's\u003cbr\u003edining-room looked out upon the garden of Elgin Crescent, a garden common\u003cbr\u003eto all the houses that backed upon it. It was not a garden in the\u003cbr\u003estrictest sense of the word, being no more than a stretch of worn grass,\u003cbr\u003eintersected by brown paths; and its chief value was best appreciated by\u003cbr\u003ethe parents of very young children. On sunny days the shade of the big\u003cbr\u003etree in the centre of the garden was a favourite resting-place for\u003cbr\u003enursemaids and their tiny charges. At this hour the garden was deserted.\u003cbr\u003eThe pale yellow sunlight, slanting through the big window, lit a diagonal\u003cbr\u003epatch on the table, and gave to the spring flowers that, by a movement of\u003cbr\u003eher chair, mercifully hid Mr. Maurice Tarn from her view, the glory which\u003cbr\u003ebelonged to them.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152692232432,"sku":"2940013696549","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013696549_p0.jpg?v=1763584659","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013696549","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}