He had never married her. At least, that was her belief at the
time. During his first drunken bout he had flung it in her face
that the form they had gone through was mere bunkum. Unfortunately
for her, this was a lie. He had always been coolly calculating. It
was probably with the idea of a safe investment that he had seen to
it that the ceremony had been strictly legal.
Her life with him, so soon as the first novelty of her had worn off,
had been unspeakable. The band that she wore round her neck was to
hide where, in a fit of savagery, because she had refused to earn
money for him on the streets, he had tried to cut her throat. Now
that she had got back to England she intended to leave him. If he
followed and killed her she did not care.
It was for her sake that young Hepworth eventually offered to help
his brother again, on the condition that he would go away by
himself. To this the other agreed. He seems to have given a short
display of remorse. There must have been a grin on his face as he
turned away. His cunning eyes had foreseen what was likely to
happen. The idea of blackmail was no doubt in his mind from the
beginning. With the charge of bigamy as a weapon in his hand, he
might rely for the rest of his life upon a steady and increasing
income.
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