I said to myself: 'I am going to the
Derby. I will take the fifty pounds, and I'll put it on a horse for
Shiel.' He had talked so much to my brother about Flamingo, and I had
seen him go wrong so often, that I had a feeling if I put it on a horse
that Shiel particularly banned, it would probably win. He had been wrong
nearly every time for two years. It was his money, and if it won, it
would make him happy; and if it didn't win, well, he didn't know the
money existed--I was sure of that; and, anyhow, I could replace it. I put
it on a horse he condemned utterly, but of which one or two people spoke
well. You know what happened to Flamingo. While at Epsom I heard from
friends that Shiel was present at the race, though he had said he would
not go. Later I learned that he had lost heavily. Then I saw him in the
distance paying out money and giving bills to the bookmakers. It made me
very angry. I don't think I was quite sane. Most women are like that at
times."
"As I said," remarked the Young Doctor, his face mirthfully alive. Here
was a situation indeed.
"So I wrote him that letter," Mona went on. "I had forgotten all about
the money I put on the outsider which won the race. As you know, I was
called away to my sick sister that evening, and the money I won with
Shiel's fifty pounds was not paid to me till after Shiel had gone.
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