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Show - 122 - I was going to be her messenger and would deliver a letter to Dirk, by'way of Chang Lin. She knew that he always went to the truck gardens for reasons that, you're already familiar with. If I could get the note to the old man, she was confident that he would give it to Dirk. Believe me, to this day when I think of venturing out there in the dead of the night and making my way down that hill I'm terrified, because, as you know,, it wasn't safe. Also, knowing that Andre' could follow just made me sick with fear. "I begged Claudine not to do this, but she was almost crazed with fear of having to be Andre' wife and also of losing Dirk." It was a little late for that,"sniffed Maddie, but went on. "In the moments after the wedding when she realized what she had done, her tolerance of Andre' turned to loathing, I am sure. In the note to Dirk, she begged him to forgive her and make .arrangements for them to meet, if he still loved her. Somehow, she would get put of the house without Andre's knowledge and they could run off together. I know, the whole scheme sounds impossible, but she behaved': like a;person whose actions were beyond their control. "Well, I delivered the note to Chang Lin and he promised, not without a struggle, to give it to Dirk. His deep affection for Claudine had by marrying Andre , turned to distrust and hate because she had betrayed his adopted son but after I begged him he agreed. As another shipment of liquor would not be arriving from Mexico for at least three or four more days, there was no way he could contact Dirk, but he promised to give the letter to him as soon as he came to the gardens. Waiting to hear from Dirk was a time of deep anxiety for Claudine and myself. Especially so, since I had to go to the gardens after dark, when the house was quiet late at night, to check if Dirk was there. Also, Claudine's parents were besides themselves. Andre's threats were getting uglier as time passed. He was drinking heavily and I could see that these events were leading to some terrible climax. |
