{"product_id":"2940013761766","title":"The House of the Arrow","description":"MESSRS. FROBISHER \u0026amp; HASLITT, the solicitors on the east side of Russell\u003cbr\u003eSquare, counted amongst their clients a great many who had undertakings\u003cbr\u003eestablished in France; and the firm was very proud of this branch of its\u003cbr\u003ebusiness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It gives us a place in history,\" Mr. Jeremy Haslitt used to say. \"For it\u003cbr\u003edates from the year 1806, when Mr. James Frobisher, then our very\u003cbr\u003eenergetic senior partner, organized the escape of hundreds of British\u003cbr\u003esubjects who were detained in France by the edict of the first Napoleon.\u003cbr\u003eThe firm received the thanks of His Majesty's Government and has been\u003cbr\u003efortunate enough to retain the connection thus made. I look after that\u003cbr\u003eside of our affairs myself.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Haslitt's daily batch of letters, therefore, contained as a rule a\u003cbr\u003efair number bearing the dark-blue stamp of France upon their envelopes.\u003cbr\u003eOn this morning of early April, however, there was only one. It was\u003cbr\u003eaddressed in a spidery, uncontrolled hand with which Mr. Haslitt was\u003cbr\u003eunfamiliar. But it bore the postmark of Dijon, and Mr. Haslitt tore it\u003cbr\u003eopen rather quickly. He had a client in Dijon, a widow, Mrs. Harlowe, of\u003cbr\u003ewhose health he had had bad reports. The letter was certainly written\u003cbr\u003efrom her house, La Maison Grenelle, but not by her. He turned to the\u003cbr\u003esignature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Waberski?\" he said, with a frown. \"Boris Waberski?\" And then, as he\u003cbr\u003eidentified his correspondent, \"Oh, yes, yes.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe sat down in his chair and read. The first part of the letter was\u003cbr\u003emerely flowers and compliments, but half-way down the second page its\u003cbr\u003eobject was made clear as glass. It was five hundred pounds. Old Mr.\u003cbr\u003eHaslitt smiled and read on, keeping up, whilst he read, a one-sided\u003cbr\u003econversation with the writer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I have a great necessity of that money,\" wrote Boris, \"and--\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I am quite sure of that,\" said Mr. Haslitt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"My beloved sister, Jeanne-Marie--\" the letter continued.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sister-in-law,\" Mr. Haslitt corrected.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"-- cannot live for long, in spite of all the care and attention I give to\u003cbr\u003eher,\" Boris Waberski went on. \"She has left me, as no doubt you know, a\u003cbr\u003elarge share of her fortune. Already, then, it is mine--yes? One may say\u003cbr\u003eso and be favourably understood. We must look at the facts with the eyes.\u003cbr\u003eExpedite me, then, by the recommended post a little of what is mine and\u003cbr\u003eagree my distinguished salutations.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHaslitt's smile became a broad grin. He had in one of his tin boxes a\u003cbr\u003ecopy of the will of Jeanne-Marie Harlowe drawn up in due form by her\u003cbr\u003eFrench notary at Dijon, by which every farthing she possessed was\u003cbr\u003ebequeathed without condition to her husband's niece and adopted daughter,\u003cbr\u003eBetty Harlowe. Jeremy Haslitt almost destroyed that letter. He folded it;\u003cbr\u003ehis fingers twitched at it; there was already actually a tear at the\u003cbr\u003eedges of the sheets when he changed his mind.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No,\" he said to himself. \"No! With the Boris Waberskis one never knows,\"\u003cbr\u003eand he locked the letter away on a ledge of his private safe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was very glad that he had when three weeks later he read, in the\u003cbr\u003eobituary column of The Times, the announcement of Mrs. Harlowe's death,\u003cbr\u003eand received a big card with a very deep black border in the French style\u003cbr\u003efrom Betty Harlowe inviting him to the funeral at Dijon. The invitation\u003cbr\u003ewas merely formal. He could hardly have reached Dijon in time for the\u003cbr\u003eceremony had he started off at that instant. He contented himself with\u003cbr\u003ewriting a few lines of sincere condolence to the girl, and a letter to\u003cbr\u003ethe French notary in which he placed the services of the firm at Betty's\u003cbr\u003edisposal. Then he waited.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I shall hear again from little Boris,\" he said, and he heard within the\u003cbr\u003eweek. The handwriting was more spidery and uncontrolled than ever;\u003cbr\u003ehysteria and indignation had played havoc with Waberski's English; also\u003cbr\u003ehe had doubled his demand.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It is outside belief,\" he wrote. \"Nothing has she left to her so\u003cbr\u003eattentive brother. There is something here I do not much like. It must be\u003cbr\u003eone thousand pounds now, by the recommended post. 'You have always had\u003cbr\u003ethe world against you, my poor Boris,' she say with the tears all big in\u003cbr\u003eher dear eyes. 'But I make all right for you in my will.' And now\u003cbr\u003enothing! I speak, of course, to my niece--ah, that hard one! She snap\u003cbr\u003eher the fingers at me! Is that a behaviour? One thousand pounds, mister!\u003cbr\u003eOtherwise there will be awkwardnesses! Yes! People do not snap them the\u003cbr\u003efingers at Boris Waberski without the payment. So one thousand pounds by\u003cbr\u003ethe recommended post or awkwardnesses\"; and this time Boris Waberski did\u003cbr\u003enot invite Mr. Haslitt to agree any salutations, distinguished or\u003cbr\u003eotherwise, but simply signed his name with a straggling pen which shot\u003cbr\u003eall over the sheet.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145829630192,"sku":"2940013761766","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013761766_p0.jpg?v=1763589910","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013761766","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}