The arithmetical operation on which we were embarked took
long, and it might have been tedious to others; not to me nor to my
helper.
'Ten thousand pounds!' I announced at last.
'Ten thousand!' echoed Mr. Rowley.
And we gazed upon each other.
The greatness of this fortune took my breath away. With that sum
in my hands, I need fear no enemies. People are arrested, in nine
cases out of ten, not because the police are astute, but because
they themselves run short of money; and I had here before me in the
despatch-box a succession of devices and disguises that insured my
liberty. Not only so; but, as I felt with a sudden and
overpowering thrill, with ten thousand pounds in my hands I was
become an eligible suitor. What advances I had made in the past,
as a private soldier in a military prison, or a fugitive by the
wayside, could only be qualified or, indeed, excused as acts of
desperation. And now, I might come in by the front door; I might
approach the dragon with a lawyer at my elbow, and rich settlements
to offer. The poor French prisoner, Champdivers, might be in a
perpetual danger of arrest; but the rich travelling Englishman,
St.-Ives, in his post-chaise, with his despatch-box by his side,
could smile at fate and laugh at locksmiths. I repeated the
proverb, exulting, Love laughs at locksmiths! In a moment, by the
mere coming of this money, my love had become possible--it had come
near, it was under my hand--and it may be by one of the curiosities
of human nature, but it burned that instant brighter.
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