Трек 02_02

«Very well,» he said. «I have neither cash nor chequebook with me.»

«You shall find one or the other,» said Richard lightly, «and this gentleman»-indicating the child’s father-»and I will keep you company until you have done so.»

So it was arranged. In another moment or so, Mr. Hyde was leading Richard and the long-nosed man-who seemed greatly cheered at the thought of his hundred pounds-through the streets in the first pale light of morning. Not one of them said anything; they were all too busy with their thoughts.

They had walked for almost an hour, when Mr. Hyde turned into a quiet side street in a busy quarter of London. The street, though small, and in an unlovely neighbourhood, had a well-cared-for look, so that it shone out in the morning sunlight like a fire in a forest, with its freshly painted doors and windows, its well-polished brasses, and its general air of cleanliness.

Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east, the line of neat houses was broken, however, by the opening into a little court. Just at that point, a certain sinister block of buildings hung forward over the street. It showed no window; nothing but a door on the ground level and a blind forehead of dirty wall above it. The door, which had neither bell nor knocker, was stained and unpainted, and looked as if it had not been opened for many years past.

It was before this door that Mr. Hyde came to a stop.

«If you will wait,» he said, in his strangely broken voice, «I will enter and find you what you want.»

The child’s father started, and Richard saw a suspicious look enter the man’s eyes. He put a hand on his arm.

«There will be no trickery,» he told the man. «Mr. Hyde knows better, I am sure, than to attempt to fool us at this stage.»

Hyde gave the pair of them a long, cold look, and curled his lip in scorn.

«You will be paid!» he said, in a voice like a dog’s snarl, then took a key from his pocket and went into the house.

He returned in a matter of minutes with ten pounds in gold which he handed over to the child’s father without a word. To Richard he handed a cheque.

«You had better deal with this,» he said. «This fellow, as like as not, has no knowledge of such things, and will immediately suspect a trick.»

Richard took the cheque and studied it. It was for the balance of the hundred pounds, to be drawn on Coutts’s Bank, and made payable to bearer. So far, so good. But at sight of the signature, Richard stiffened, and looked up, a suspicious light in his own eyes. The cheque had been signed-Henry Jekyll; a name that Richard, and most of London, knew very well indeed. The great Dr. Jekyll was famous in the city, and his name was often in print. Could it be that the cheque was forged?

Mr. Hyde had read Richard’s thoughts.

«Set your mind at rest,» he said in his sneering way. «I will stay with you till the banks open, and cash the cheque myself.»

Richard nodded.

«Perhaps it will be as well,» he said, «if we go to my rooms, and wait there until the banks open.»

Again, it was agreed. Richard managed to find a cab that carried them all to his rooms, where Mrs. Parker, his housekeeper, provided them with breakfast. When the time came, a second cab carried them to Coutts’s Bank.

The three entered and waited, while Mr. Hyde presented the cheque at the counter. There could be no doubt that it was genuine. The money was paid in gold, and Mr. Hyde handed the bag containing it to the child’s father, who took it in a kind of dream.

Mr. Hyde turned to Richard.

«I trust,» he said, baring his teeth in that snarling dog’s way he had, «that you are satisfied with the part you have played in this affair. I shall know you, if we meet again.»

He turned then, and walked away; watching him go, Richard felt once more that strong feeling of hate which the man seemed to stir in all whom he met. And it occurred to Richard then, for the first time, that in all that had passed Mr. Hyde had spoken no word of sorrow and shown no sign of pity for the terrible thing that he had done.