— 16 —Mrs. Sacret saw her instructions as clear and her task as easy. She had to persuade Martin Rue to allow his wife to divorce him in order that she might, after a decorous interval, marry Sir John Curle, and for this service she would demand a lifetime’s support, countenance and friendship from two wealthy people. She might also obtain a handsome gift from old Mrs. Rue for helping her son to his release and perhaps even from Mr. Rue himself for her delicate offices in this distressing affair. Whatever she gained she would share with the painter—this was as much as she knew as regards her master.
The missionary’s widow no longer thought of God, hardly of the upbringing that had hitherto formed her. The impact of a powerful personality—for so she thought of the painter—had shocked her o
