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‘What do you suppose is her game, then?’ ‘If Castorley knows he’s been had, it’ll kill him. She’s at me all the time, indirectly, to let it out. I’ve told you she wants to make it a sort of joke between us …It slips out when they talk. They say “He was,” not “He is.” Both of ’em know it. But she wants him finished sooner. |
This is from ““Dayspring Mishandled,” a dark tale of hatred, deceit, and long-planned revenge. Castorley is a vain vindictive unpleasant man. A leading Chaucer scholar, he has achieved fame and distinction through his identification of a previously unknown manuscript. He does not know that this is a fake, painstakingly created by Manallace, a fellow scholar, who has long hated him for his cruelty towards a dying woman. Manallace plans to reveal the forgery and destroy his reputation. Castorley’s wife, an ‘unappealing ash-coloured woman”, who has guessed the truth, cannot wait for Manallace to spring his trap. Castorley is seriously ill, and she has a lover, his doctor. But Manallace cannot bear to be her instrument, and has lost his taste for revenge. Castorley goes to his grave with his pride intact. |
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