CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Tibby, who was in his last year of university, was in his dormitory looking through a Chinese language study book, when Helen suddenly came in looking terribly upset.

"I was just at Oniton House," she said, "Something very bad has happened with Meg and I don't want to see her anytime soon. I'm going to Germany, to get away. Tell her I love her when you see her. As for my furniture at Wickham Place, you can just sell it. I have no need for it." And then she began to cry.

"What happened?" Tibby asked, eating his lunch and still looking through the pages of his book.

"Mr Wilcox had a lover in the past! Oh, it's so shameful! I don't think Meg knows about it yet. And that's not all ... He's just destroyed the lives of two very poor and helpless people, and he feels no sense of responsibility or guilt! When we went to ask for his help he had Margaret send us letters of refusal. Cold letters! I guess that he got angry because Mrs Bast spoke to him at the party ... I don't know."

"Yes, it all sounds quite bad," he said, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"So, I've decided to help the Basts myself. I'm giving them five thousand pounds a year to live on, and I want you to make sure that my money is transferred to their account every month."

"Are you crazy? That's half of your money!"

"I've got plenty to live on. The second thing that I ask you to do, and I leave this totally up to you to handle as you wish ... Margaret needs to know the truth about her husband. Now ... will you do this for me?"

"I guess that I haven't any choice."

The next day, Tibby met Margaret at Wickham Place, and much to his surprise and relief, he found that she already knew about Mr Wilcox's former lover. He then carried out Helen's second request, and had money delivered to the Basts' address, but that very same day it was returned to him with a note that read: we do not need your money. Helen, after receiving the news, sent a telegram demanding that Tibby force them to accept her money. He went to the Basts' address himself only to find that they were no longer living there, for they had been thrown out for not paying their rent.

(end of section)