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Calculus
Third Edition
Gujarat Technological University 2017
About the Authors
Ravish R Singh is presently Academic Advisor at Thakur Educational
Trust, Mumbai. He obtained a BE degree from University of Mumbai
in 1991, an MTech degree from IIT Bombay in 2001, and a PhD
degree from Faculty of Technology, University of Mumbai, in 2013.
He has published several books with McGraw Hill Education (India)
on varied subjects like Engineering Mathematics, Applied
Mathematics, Electrical Networks, Network Analysis and Synthesis,
Basic, Electrical Engineering, Basic Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, etc., for all-India curricula as well as regional curricula of some universities
like Gujarat Technological University, Mumbai University, Pune University, Jawaharlal
Nehru Technological University, Anna University, Uttarakhand Technical University,
and Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Technical University. Dr Singh is a member of IEEE, ISTE,
and IETE, and has published research papers in national and international journals. His
fields of interest include Circuits, Signals and Systems, and Engineering Mathematics.

Mukul Bhatt is presently Assistant Professor, Department of


Humanities and Sciences, at Thakur College of Engineering and
Technology, Mumbai. She obtained her MSc (Mathematics) degree
from H N B Garhwal University in 1992, and a PhD degree from
Faculty of Science, PAHER University, Udaipur, Rajasthan in 2017.
She has published several books with McGraw Hill Education (India)
Private Limited on Engineering Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
for all-India curricula as well as regional curricula of some universities like Gujarat
Technological University, Mumbai University, Pune University, Jawaharlal Nehru
Technological University, Anna University, Uttarakhand Technical University, and
Uttar Pradesh Technical University. Dr. Bhatt has twenty six years of teaching
experience at various levels in engineering colleges and her fields of interest include
Integral Calculus, Complex Analysis, and Operation Research. She is a member of
ISTE.
Calculus
Third Edition
Gujarat Technological University 2017

Ravish R Singh
Academic Advisor
Thakur Educational Trust
Mumbai, Maharashtra

Mukul Bhatt
Assistant Professor
Department of Humanities and Sciences
Thakur College of Engineering and Technology
Mumbai, Maharashtra

McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited


Chennai

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Calculus, 3e, GTU–2017
Copyright © 2018, 2017, 2015 by McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited.
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Dedicated

to

My Mother

Late Shrimati Premsheela Singh

(Ravish R Singh)

to

My Sister

Vijay Luxmi Hemdan

(Mukul Bhatt)
Contents
Preface xi
Roadmap to the syllabus xv

Unit i infinite SeqUenCeS And SerieS

1. Sequences and Series 1.1–115


1.1 Introduction 1.1
1.2 Sequence 1.1
1.3 Infinite Series 1.8
1.4 The nth Term Test for Divergence 1.9
1.5 Geometric Series 1.10
1.6 Standard Limits 1.16
1.7 Comparison Test 1.17
1.8 D’Alembert’s Ratio Test 1.36
1.9 Cauchy’s Root Test 1.63
1.10 Cauchy’s Integral Test 1.71
1.11 Alternating Series 1.77
1.12 Absolute Convergence of a Series 1.84
1.13 Uniform Convergence of a Series 1.91
1.14 Power Series 1.94
Points to Remember 1.109
Multiple Choice Questions 1.111

2. taylor's and Maclaurin's Series 2.1–70


2.1 Introduction 2.1
2.2 Taylor’s Series 2.1
2.3 Maclaurin’s Series 2.27
Points to Remember 2.67
Multiple Choice Questions 2.68

Unit 2 CUrVe SKetCHinG

3. Curve Sketching 3.1–46


3.1 Introduction 3.1
3.2 Monotonic Functions 3.1
3.3 Concavity, Convexity and Points of Inflection of a Curve 3.1
viii Contents

3.4 Maxima and Minima 3.2


3.5 Tracing of Cartesian Curves 3.4
3.6 Tracing of Parametric Curves 3.24
3.7 Tracing of Polar Curves 3.31
Multiple Choice Questions 3.43

Unit 3 indeterMinAte forMS & iMproper inteGrAlS

4. indeterminate forms 4.1–81


4.1 Introduction 4.1
4.2 L’Hospital’s Rule 4.1
0
4.3 Type 1 : Form 4.2
0

4.4 Type 2: Form 4.24

4.5 Type 3 : 0 × • Form 4.31
4.6 Type 4 : • − • Form 4.38
4.7 Type 5 : 1•, • 0, 0 0 Form 4.46
4.8 Solving Indeterminate Forms Using Expansion 4.68
Points to Remember 4.79
Multiple Choice Questions 4.79

5. improper integrals 5.1–24


5.1 Introduction 5.1
5.2 Improper Integrals 5.1
5.3 Improper Integrals of the First Kind 5.1
5.4 Improper Integrals of the Second Kind 5.9
5.5 Improper Integral of the Third Kind 5.16
5.6 Convergence and Divergence of Improper Integrals 5.17
Multiple Choice Questions 5.22

Unit 4 AppliCAtionS of inteGrAtion

6. Applications of integration 6.1–43


6.1 Introduction 6.1
6.2 Volume by Slicing 6.1
6.3 Volume of Solid of Revolution 6.6
6.4 Volume by Cylindrical Shells 6.33
Multiple Choice Questions 6.41
Contents ix

Unit 5 pArtiAl deriVAtiVeS

7. partial derivatives 7.1–169


7.1 Introduction 7.1
7.2 Functions of Two or More Variables 7.1
7.3 Limit and Continuity of Functions of Several Variables 7.2
7.4 Partial Derivatives 7.11
7.5 Higher-Order Partial Derivatives 7.11
7.6 Variables to be Treated as Constants 7.55
7.7 Total Derivatives 7.70
7.8 Implicit Differentiation 7.105
7.9 Euler’s Theorem for Homogeneous Functions 7.114
Points to Remember 7.162
Multiple Choice Questions 7.163

8. Applications of partial derivatives 8.1–121


8.1 Introduction 8.1
8.2 Tangent Plane and Normal to a Surface 8.1
8.3 Linear Approximation or Linearization 8.10
8.4 Errors and Approximations 8.13
8.5 Maximum and Minimum Values by Second Derivative Test 8.21
8.6 Maximum and Minimum Values with Constrained Variables 8.38
8.7 Method of Lagrangian Multipliers 8.49
8.8 Taylor’s Formula For Two Variables 8.81
8.9 Jacobians 8.97
Points to Remember 8.115
Multiple Choice Questions 8.117

Unit 6 MUltiple inteGrAlS

9. Multiple integrals 9.1–194


9.1 Introduction 9.1
9.2 Double Integrals Over Rectangles 9.1
9.3 Change of Order of Integration 9.31
9.4 Double Integrals in Polar Coordinates 9.66
9.5 Change of Variables 9.77
9.6 Triple Integrals 9.109
9.7 Area as Double Integral 9.141
9.8 Volume as Triple Integral 9.169
Points to Remember 9.188
Multiple Choice Questions 9.190
x Contents

Appendix 1 Differential Formulae A1.1


Appendix 2 Integral Formulae A2.1–A2.3
Appendix 3 Standard Curves A3.3–A3.5

GTU Solved Question Paper – Winter 2016 SQP.1–SQP.7


GTU Solved Question Paper – Summer 2017 SQP.1–SQP.7

Index I.1–I.3
preface
Calculus is a key area of study in any engineering course. A sound knowledge of this
subject will help engineering students develop analytical skills, and thus enable them
to solve numerical problems encountered in real life, as well as apply mathematical
principles to physical problems, particularly in the field of engineering.

Users
This book will be useful for first-year engineering students of Gujarat Technological
University (GTU). It covers the complete GTU syllabus for the course on Calculus,
which is common to all the engineering branches.

Objective
Crisp, complete explanations of concepts seek to enable students to easily understand,
and thereby build a strong foundation in Calculus and its applications. The tutorial
approach followed in this text will help them develop a logical perspective to solving
problems. Solved question papers will help students understand the patterns of
examinations.

FeatUres
Each topic has been explained from the examination point of view, wherein the theory
is presented in an easy-to-understand student-friendly style. Full coverage of concepts
is supported by numerous solved examples with varied complexity levels. The
solutions of examples are set following a ‘tutorial’ approach, which will make it easy
for students from any background to easily grasp the concepts. Exercises with answers
immediately follow the solved examples enforcing a practice-based approach. We
hope that the students will gain logical understanding from solved problems and then
reiterate it through solving similar exercise problems themselves. The unique blend of
theory and application caters to the requirements of both the students and the faculty.

HigHligHts
∑ Crisp content strictly as per the latest GTU syllabus of Calculus
∑ Excellent coverage with lucid presentation style
∑ New! Multiple Choice Questions are incorporated within each chapter as per
GTU paper style
∑ Solutions of GTU examination papers from 2010 to 2017 are present
appropriately within the chapters
xii Preface

∑ Solution to latest Summer 2017 and Winter 2016 GTU question paper are
placed at the end of the book
∑ Rich exam-oriented pedagogy:
 180+ Enhanced New Multiple Choice Questions
 475+ Solved Examples within chapters
 150+ Exam oriented Solved GTU Questions tagged within chapters
 1450+ Unsolved Exercises

cHapter OrganisatiOn
The content spans the following nine chapters which wholly and sequentially cover
each module of the syllabus.
∑ Chapter 1 explains Sequences and Series.
∑ Chapter 2 presents Taylor’s and Maclaurin’s Series.
∑ Chapter 3 discusses Curve Tracing.
∑ Chapter 4 presents Indeterminate Forms.
∑ Chapter 5 covers Improper Integrals.
∑ Chapter 6 deals with Applications of Integration.
∑ Chapter 7 presents Partial Derivatives.
∑ Chapter 8 explains Applications of Partial Derivatives.
∑ Chapter 9 discusses Multiple Integrals.
∑ Appendices 1, 2, and 3 provide Differential Formulae, Integral Formulae,
and Standard Curves, respectively.

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to the reviewers mentioned here for providing encouraging comments and
valuable suggestions regarding improvement of manuscript.
Manokamna Agrawal Silver Oak College of Engineering and Technology,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Prakash Kumar Patel Babaria Institute of Technology, Vadodara, Gujarat
Hiren Bhatt Marwadi Education Foundation Group of Institutions, Rajkot,
Gujarat
Bhavini Pandya Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Anand,
Gujarat
Usha Bag Shree L R Tiwari College of Engineering, Maharashtra.
We would also like to thank all the staff at McGraw Hill Education (India), especially
Vibha Mahajan, Shalini Jha, Sahil Thorpe, Satinder Singh Baveja, Taranpreet Kaur
and Anuj Shriwastava for coordinating with us during the editorial, copyediting, and
production stages of this book.
Preface xiii

Our acknowledgements would be incomplete without a mention of the contribution of


all our family members. We extend a heartfelt thanks to them for always motivating and
supporting us throughout the project.
Constructive suggestions for the improvement of the book will always be welcome.
Ravish R Singh
Mukul Bhatt

publisher’s note
Remember to write to us. We look forward to receiving your feedback, comments and
ideas to enhance the quality of this book.You can reach us at info.india@mheducation.com.
Please mention the title and authors’ name as the subject. In case you spot piracy of
this book, please do let us know.
roadmap to the Syllabus
This text is useful for: Calculus (2110014)
as taught in Gujarat Technological University

Unit 1: Infinite Sequences and Series


∑ Introduction of convergence, divergence of sequences and infinite series
∑ The nth term test for divergence; Integral test
∑ Comparison test, Ratio test, Root test
∑ Alternating series, Absolute convergence, Conditional convergence
∑ Power series and Radius of convergence
∑ Taylor’s series
∑ Maclaurin’s series

Go to:
CHApter 1. Sequences and Series
CHApter 2. taylor's and Maclaurin's series

Unit 2: Curve Sketching


∑ Concavity
∑ Curve sketching
∑ Polar coordinates, Relation between polar and Cartesian coordinates
∑ Graphs in polar coordinates

Go to:
CHApter 3. Curve Sketching

Unit 3:
indeterminate forms:
∑ Indeterminate form: (0/0, •/•, • ◊ 0, • - •)
∑ Indeterminate form: (00, •0, 1•)
improper integral:
∑ Improper integrals of Type-I and Type-II
∑ Convergence and divergence of improper integrals

Go to:
CHApter 4. indeterminate forms
CHApter 5. improper integrals
xvi Roadmap to the Syllabus

Unit 4: Applications of integration


∑ Volume by slicing
∑ Volume of solids of revolution by disk method
∑ Volume of solids of revolutions by washer method
∑ Volume by cylindrical shell

Go to:
CHApter 6. Applications of integration

Unit 5: partial derivatives


∑ Function of two variables, graphs, level curves
∑ Limit, continuity of function of several variables
∑ Partial derivatives and Clairaut's theorem
∑ Tangent plane, Normal line
∑ Linear approximation, Total differential
∑ Chain rule, Implicit differentiation
∑ Euler’s theorem for homogeneous function
∑ Maximum and minimum values by second derivative test
∑ Lagrange multipliers
∑ Taylor’s formula for two variables

Go to:
CHApter 7. partial derivatives
CHApter 8. Applications of partial derivatives

Unit 6: Multiple integrals


∑ Double integrals over rectangles and Fubini’s theorem, Properties of double
integrals
∑ Double integrals over general region
∑ Double integrals in polar coordinates
∑ Triple Integrals, Triple integrals in cylindrical coordinates
∑ Triple integrals in spherical coordinates
∑ Change of order of integration
∑ Jacobian of several variables, Change of variable in multiple integrals

Go to:
CHApter 9. Multiple integrals
Unit 1
Infinite Sequences
and Series
CHAPTER
Sequences
1
and Series
1.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we will learn about the convergence and divergence of sequence and
series. There are various methods to test the convergence and divergence of an infinite
series. We will study Comparison Test, D’Alembert’s ratio test, Cauchy’s root test
and Cauchy’s integral test. We will also study alternating series, absolute and uniform
convergence of the series and power series.

1.2 SEQUENCE

An ordered set of real numbers as u1, u2, u3, ……..un, …… is called a sequence and
is denoted by {un}. If the number of terms in a sequence is infinite, it is said to be an
infinite sequence, otherwise it is a finite sequence and un is called the nth term of the
sequence.

1.2.1 Limit of a Sequence


A sequence {un} tends to a finite number l as n Æ • if for every Œ > 0 there exists an
integer m such that, | un - l | < Πfor all n > m, i.e., lim un = l.
n Æ•

1.2.2 Convergence, Divergence and Oscillation of a


Sequence
(i) If the sequence {un} has a finite limit, i.e., lim un is finite, the sequence is said
n Æ•
to be convergent.
Ï ¸
Ô 1 Ô
e.g. {{un } = Ì ˝
Ô1 + 1 Ô
Ó n˛
lim un = 1
n Æ•

Since limit is finite, the sequence is convergent.


1.2 Chapter 1 Sequences and Series

(ii) If the sequence {un} has infinite limit, i.e., lim un is infinite, the sequence is said
n Æ•
to be divergent.
e.g. {un} = {{22 n + 1}
lim un = •
n Æ•

Since limit is infinite, the sequence is divergent.


(iii) If the limit of the sequence {un} is not unique, the sequence is said to be
oscillatory.
1
e.g. {{un} = ( -1)n +
2n
lim un = 1, if n is even
n Æ•
= –1, if n is odd
Since limit is not unique, the sequence is oscillatory.

1.2.3 Monotonic Sequence


A sequence is said to be monotonically increasing if unn++1 ≥ un for each value of n and
is monotonically decreasing if unn++1 £ un for each value of n. The sequence is called
alternating sequence if the terms are alternate positive and negative.
e.g. (i) 1, 2, 3, 4, … is a monotonically increasing sequence.
1 1 1
(ii) 1, , , , … is a monotonically decreasing sequence.
2 3 4
(iii) 1, –2, 3, – 4, … is an alternating sequence.

1.2.4 Bounded Sequence


A sequence {un} is said to be a bounded sequence if there exists numbers m and M
such that m < un < M for all n.
Note 1: Every convergent sequence is bounded but the converse is not true.
Note 2: A monotonic increasing sequence converges if it is bounded above and
diverges to + • if it is not bounded above.
Note 3: A monotonic decreasing sequence converges if it is bounded below and
diverges to – • if it is not bounded below.
Note 4: If sequence {un} and {vn} converges to l1 and l2 respectively then
(i) Sequence {un + vn} converges to l1 + l2
(ii) Sequence {un . vn} converges to l1◊ l2
Ïu ¸ l
(iii) Sequence Ì n ˝ converges to 1 provided l2 π 0
v
Ó n˛ l2
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“Yes?”
“Well, it’s like this—​by the way, what’s your name?”
“Hopford—​Harry Hopford.”
“Come and sit down, Hopford—​here, have a cigar. Now then, I am
in a position to be able to do you a good turn now and again, in other
words, to benefit you pecuniarily, if in return you will do as I suggest
and at the same time keep absolutely silent about it. Don’t think I am
going to ask you to do anything terrible. I am not,” and he smiled.
“I dare say it could be managed,” Hopford answered dreamily, as
he began to enjoy the cigar. “Hadn’t you better tell me exactly what it
is you want me to do, then I shall be able to give you a
straightforward answer at once. Anything you may tell me I shall, of
course, consider confidential.”
“That’s the spirit; that’s the way I like to hear a young fellow talk.
Well now, listen.”
Stapleton glanced towards the door to see that it was shut, then
continued:
“There are several things you may be able to do for me from time
to time, and the first is this. I am practically certain I know who took
the diamonds and the notes, and the rest of the stuff stolen that
night, and though naturally I don’t intend to mention the lady’s name,
I can hint at it. I believe the thief—​yes, thief—​to be a young widow
whose husband died in tragic circumstances nine or ten months ago
—​he was found dead in his bath one morning; possibly you recollect
the affair.”
“I ought to, seeing that I was sent to the house the same day to
obtain particulars of the tragedy. The house is not far from Portland
Place—​am I right?”
“Quite.”
“So the widow was among Mrs. Mervyn-Robertson’s guests at
supper that night?”
“She was not. She was not even invited. Yet I have a good reason
for supposing she was admitted, though the hostess never saw her.”
“Would that have been possible?”
“Certainly. There was a great crush. At one time during the night
one could hardly force one’s way through it, and it was then the
widow was admitted, the footman believing her to be an invited
guest.”
“Could you get me an interview with the footman?”
“Quite impossible, my dear fellow. Besides, it may not have been
the footman who admitted her. That was merely my conjecture. It
may have been one of the other servants.”
“The butler, for instance.”
“No, not the butler.”
“And you are sure that she was there? You saw her?”
“No, no; don’t jump at conclusions. I didn’t see her—​myself.”
“Then who did?”
“That I must not tell you. It would be unwise.”
“I have promised to respect your confidence.”
“Quite so, or I should not have told you what I have. But names,
you know, are sacred things. If I mentioned names it would be
impossible for me afterwards to swear I had not done so, should an
occasion for taking the oath, by some unforeseen chance, arise.”
“I see your point. Well, can you, without committing yourself, hint
to me the reason you believe the lady, whose identity you have
practically revealed to me, ransacked Mrs. Mervyn-Robertson’s
safe? Was it, should you say, for the intrinsic value of the things
stolen, or was there some deeper reason?”
“Such as?”
“Documents, compromising letters, anything of that sort?”
“I am afraid I must not answer that either. You see, one has to be
so careful. My idea in telling you as much as I have is that you
should, without, of course, making any definite statement, hint in
your paper that the crime was committed by a young widow well
known in Society; you might go so far as to say the widow lost her
husband in tragic circumstances comparatively recently, and you
might also work in some fancy padding of your own. You could add
that you had obtained your information from a trustworthy source.”
“Meaning you.”
“Of course. Who else?”
“And what terms do you propose?”
“That I must leave to you to suggest.”
“I would sooner the offer came from you, Mr. Stapleton.”
Stapleton hesitated a moment, then:
“Would a ten-pound note about meet the case? You see, you
score by getting what I believe you call a ‘scoop’ for your paper.”
“And run the risk of being fired if the lady hinted at should think fit
to bring an action against my paper. Oh, no, Mr. Stapleton, I am not
out to take sporting chances for the sake of pocketing a tenner. If
you had said eighty or a hundred pounds I might—​I say might—​have
felt tempted to take a chance, but a tenner—​—”
He rose, preparatory to leaving.
“Wait a minute, Hopford, wait a minute,” Stapleton exclaimed,
trying to conceal his eagerness as he laid a hand on the lad’s
shoulder to detain him. “I asked you to name a sum, remember—​I
have no idea what terms are usual in such cases. Sit down again
and I may, after all, be able to meet your wishes.”
With assumed reluctance the reporter sank back into the chair
from which he had just risen, and for another ten minutes he and
Stapleton continued to converse. And when, finally, the former left
the house, he carried in his breast-pocket five new ten-pound notes,
and chuckled as he thought of Stapleton’s promise to hand him five
more notes on the publication of the scoop.
CHAPTER X.

A PARAGRAPH FOR THE PAPERS.


“Fifty pounds easily earned,” Hopford murmured as he strolled
along Maida Vale, looking about him for a taxi. “I thought all along
that fellow was hot stuff, in spite of the way the papers cocker him
up. And so he wants people to think Mrs. Hartsilver committed, or at
any rate had a hand in, that theft? What a blackguard! Now, I wonder
why he owes her a grudge? Yes, he must owe her a grudge, and a
pretty bad one, or he would never go so far as that.”
Quickly his train of thought ran on. There was not an empty taxi in
sight, so he decided to walk part of the way. One thought led to
another. Solutions to the problem which puzzled him suggested
themselves, only to be dismissed one after another as improbable.
Then suddenly an idea occurred to him. Could there be another
woman in the case? Some woman who was jealous of Mrs.
Hartsilver?
Instantly the name Jessica Robertson rose to his lips. Why, of
course, that must be it! At a loss to suspect any of her guests of
having robbed her safe, she would take the opportunity, if
opportunity occurred, of casting suspicion on the widow who lived in
Park Crescent, and whose beauty and personality rivaled her own.
Stapleton’s partiality for Mrs. Mervyn-Robertson was common talk.
She, no doubt, had hinted her desire to him, and he had happened
to remember it while being interviewed on the subject of the
approaching ball.
So far, so good. A mystery to a newspaper reporter is like red
meat to a tiger. Hopford felt that he had struck a mystery now which
might develop later into a scandal. Then he remembered that at the
Chelsea Flower Show he had met Mrs. Hartsilver. He must become
friendly with her, and then he would play his cards.
He entered his office with a light heart. Those five ten-pound
notes would be most useful, but what gratified him most was the
thought of the news “story” he felt he was on the track of. Not the
“story” Stapleton had hinted at. From the first he had not had the
slightest intention of using that. Even if it possessed a grain of truth,
which he doubted, that was not the sort of stuff he wanted for his
paper, while to set out deliberately to wreck a woman’s good name
on no evidence in return for payment, was not to be countenanced
for a moment.
No, he would never see that second fifty pounds. And, so thinking,
he sighed.
“Hullo, what’s up?” asked a colleague who sat near him. “Got the
hump or something?”
“Oh, shut it!” Hopford snapped. “I’m dog tired.”
“For that matter so am I, but I don’t groan over it,” his neighbor
rapped back. “And yet I well might, after reporting two inquests and a
cremation in one afternoon.”
Hopford laughed.
“Never mind,” he said. “Yesterday you attended two parades of
mannequins, one in swimming suits. You told me so yourself, so you
haven’t much to grumble at.”
For some minutes both went on writing, turning out their “copy” at
a great pace.
“Odd thing this suicide—​what?” Hopford’s friend remarked as he
laid down his fountain pen at last and pinned his sheets of copy
together.
“What suicide?” Hopford inquired, while his pen ran swiftly on.
“You haven’t heard? Everybody is talking about it in the clubs,
though none of the evening papers has the story. I got details at the
Junior Carlton, where I dined to-night. Lord Froissart belongs there.”
“Froissart! You don’t mean that Lord Froissart has committed
suicide!” Hopford exclaimed, stopping in his work and looking up.
“Why, yes. His body was found at the foot of the cliffs at
Bournemouth about six o’clock this evening. Nobody saw him go
over, apparently, but while I was at the Junior Carlton the man I was
dining with, a friend of Froissart’s, got a telegram from a friend in
Bournemouth saying that an open letter had just been found in the
dead man’s pocket, in which he confessed that he was about to take
his life. My friend says Froissart never really got over the shock of
his daughter’s suicide—​it was suicide in her case, too, of course. He
also said that of late Froissart had been looking terribly ill and
worried. It’s a good story, anyhow, and I think I have more facts than
any other morning paper will get hold of. Lucky I happened to be
dining with a man who knew Froissart intimately—​what?”
Next day the papers were full of the tragedy. Lord Froissart had, it
seemed, left his house in Queen Anne’s Gate about eleven o’clock in
the morning, the time he usually went out. He had called to see his
lawyers, in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, shortly before noon, and remained
there about three quarters of an hour. From there he had gone,
apparently on foot, to the Metropolitan Secret Agency, “the house
with the bronze face,” and after interviewing Mr. Alix Stothert, head of
that concern, had lunched alone at Frascati’s. He had caught the
three thirty-seven train to Bournemouth, and after that nothing more
was known until his body had been found at the foot of the cliffs by
some children, who had at once run home and told their parents,
who, in turn, had notified the police. All this the newspapers had
succeeded in ferreting out before their late editions went to press.
The report written by Hopford contained certain intimate and
exclusive details, however. Lord Froissart had stayed late at the
Junior Carlton the night before, writing one letter after another. A
waiter of whom he had inquired at what times fast trains left for
Bournemouth said he had thought his lordship seemed “excitable
and nervy.” Before leaving the club, he added, deceased had
pressed a five pound note into his hand, greatly to his surprise, for
he had never before known Lord Froissart to infringe the club rules.
In addition this report stated that the writer knew for a fact that
Lord Froissart had on several occasions recently spoken about
suicide, a subject in which he appeared suddenly to evince a deep
interest. Further, he had asked a friend of the writer’s, two days
previously, if he had any idea what height the highest cliffs at
Bournemouth were, and if he had ever heard of any one committing
suicide by jumping off them. A sealed letter found on the body was
addressed in deceased’s handwriting to his elder and only surviving
child, the Honorable Mrs. Ferdinand-Westrup, then living in Ceylon
with her husband, who was a tea planter. No motive could be
assigned for Lord Froissart’s having taken his life, though the shock
of his daughter’s death the year before might have unhinged his
mind.
Some days later the usual verdict was returned—​“Suicide whilst
temporarily insane,” and within a fortnight the tragedy had been
virtually forgotten.
By all except one or two people. Captain Charles Preston
remembered it; so did Cora Hartsilver, and so did Yootha Hagerston.
And the reason they remembered it was this.
Lord Froissart died quite a rich man. His sole heir ought by rights
to have been his daughter, Mrs. Ferdinand-Westrup. Instead, the
bulk of his fortune and property were left to an individual of whom
nobody, apparently, had ever heard—​a Mrs. Timothy Macmahon,
described as the widow of Timothy Macmahon of Cashel, Co.
Tipperary, and the will, which was not yet proved, had been executed
on the morning of the very day of the tragedy, at the offices of
Messrs. Eton, West and Shrubsole, solicitors, of Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
Now those solicitors, as Preston happened to have heard from his
servant, whose brother was a clerk in Eton, West and Shrubsole’s
office, were solicitors also to Jessica Mervyn-Robertson. A
coincidence, perhaps, as Preston said to Cora Hartsilver a day or
two after Froissart’s death, yet in his opinion a curious coincidence.
And when, ten days later, Hopford succeeded in obtaining an
interview with Cora Hartsilver, and told her of his interview with
Aloysius Stapleton, and what Stapleton had tried to induce him to
hint at in the newspaper—​feeling it his duty to tell her, he had no
hesitation in breaking faith with Stapleton—​events in the life of
Aloysius Stapleton began to look peculiar.
But still Stapleton and his intimate friends, Archie La Planta and
Jessica Mervyn-Robertson, were to be met everywhere. Still their
movements were chronicled almost daily in the social columns of the
London press, while their portraits appeared frequently in the weekly
periodicals.
But perhaps nowhere was Jessica so much noticed as at Ascot.
The daily and the weekly papers had apparently laid themselves out
to give her as much publicity there as possible. She was seen in her
car arriving on the course, accompanied by half a dozen friends,
among them of course Stapleton and La Planta. She was seen
walking on the course; she was seen in the paddock congratulating
the owner of the winner of the Gold Cup; she was seen smiling at a
duchess and shaking hands with a peer; she was seen conversing
with a foreign premier.
Then the fashion papers “featured” her costumes—​the gown she
wore on the first day of the meeting, on the second day, and so on;
the gowns she wore on different nights at the opera; the gowns she
wore at Hurlingham, at Ranelagh, at the Military Tournament at
Olympia, at the Richmond Show, on her houseboat above Henley
until at last even her friends began seriously to ask one another who
this woman was who, coming from nowhere, and unknown, had thus
conquered London Society by her charm, her personality, and her
beauty, but most of all, perhaps, by her lavish display and her
extravagance.
And naturally people who were not her friends, women more
especially, whispered. Others, when her name was mentioned,
would smile significantly; smiles which did more harm than the
whispers. For though nothing could be openly said against her, yet
her would-be detractors were glad to insinuate evil.
That friend of hers, for instance, Aloysius Stapleton, why was he
always at her heels? There might, of course, be no harm in the
relationship; but on the other hand there might be harm, and as there
might be there probably was. That was the attitude many adopted
towards her who nevertheless accepted her hospitality and were
glad to be invited to her receptions—​receptions which certainly were
the talk of all the town. Yet, curiously enough, she had refused to act
as hostess at the great ball to take place at the Albert Hall; more,
she had declined to be included among the society hostesses who
would receive the three thousand or more guests that night.
Why was that?
It was Hopford who asked the question, and he put it to Captain
Preston. In short, while the social world of London for the most part
worshiped at the shrine of the mysterious Jessica Mervyn-
Robertson, Captain Preston, Hopford, Cora Hartsilver, Yootha
Hagerston and George Blenkiron were banding themselves together
—​a little group of skeptics determined to find out who Jessica
actually was, and who her friends were.
Perhaps had they known the sensation the approaching great ball
at the Albert Hall held in store for them they would have hesitated
before meddling with the affairs of Jessica Mervyn-Robertson, the
idol of London Society.
CHAPTER XI.

HUSH MONEY!
You would think, judging by the newspapers, that the great balls
which take place periodically in London at the Albert Hall and
elsewhere presented scenes of wild delight approaching revelry.
Many, in reality, are deadly dull affairs, and respectable beyond
words, while others are so crowded that dancing becomes an
impossibility. Of course there are always people who like to be “seen
everywhere” in order to give their friends the impression that they are
“in the swim” of London life, fashionable and otherwise. Such folk
you will usually find to be poseurs of a peculiarly unintelligent type,
the sort of men and women who are never natural, never
“themselves” as it is called, and who act and talk always to impress
those who may see or hear them.
Among the three thousand or more men and women who had
bought tickets for the great ball organized and ostensibly to be given
by Aloysius Stapleton and young Archie La Planta, were hundreds of
people of that type, the class of individual who, before the war, loved
to squander money and still more to let folk see how recklessly they
squandered it. Stapleton, who knew his world, had purposely
advertised his ball with a view to what he called “roping in” these
people by making a great to do regarding the many well-known
social representatives who would be present, in addition to theatrical
stars and other more or less Bohemian folk.
What he went nap on, however, were the social representatives.
Like most people who move about he had noticed that since the war
the glamor which in pre-war days enveloped well-advertised stage
folk had faded considerably, and that, owing possibly to the sudden
rise to affluence of profiteers and their wives and other beings of
common origin and snobbishly inclined, men and women of birth and
breeding and real distinction now held the limelight almost entirely.
“I think I can say without conceit that it will be the most talked of
event of its sort, not only of the present season, but of any season
for years past,” he observed complacently to Jessica, some days
before the great night, “and I will admit that for that I am largely
indebted to you, Jessica. By the way, I wish you would tell me what
your dress is to be.”
“Why waste time trying to make me tell you what I have already
told you I am not going to tell you?” Jessica asked, as she lay back
in a great soft fauteuil and blew a cloud of smoke into the middle of
the room. “You will see enough of it on the night, I can assure you.
Our supper party ought to be a great success,” she added, changing
the subject.
The telephone on the escritoire rang, and she went over to
answer it.
“It is the Metropolitan Secret Agency,” she said a moment later.
“They want to speak to you.”
Stapleton picked up the receiver, and as he did so the door
opened and a middle-aged little man with a semitic cast of
countenance was shown in.
It was the Hebrew, Levi Schomberg, who, Stapleton had told La
Planta some weeks before, “lent money to his friends.” He had told
him at the same time that Schomberg had warned him against
“Hartsilver’s widow” on the ground that she was a designing woman.
Stapleton had difficulty in concealing his annoyance at Levi’s
arrival just as he was on the point of conversing with the house with
the bronze face, and after replying to one or two questions which the
Agency put to him he hung up the receiver and went across to
Schomberg, with whom he shook hands.
“I need an extension to this house badly,” he said pointedly to
Jessica. “You might remind me to-morrow to see about it.”
But Levi did not, or pretended that he did not note the point of that
observation.
“And to what do I owe the honor of this visit?” Stapleton asked as
he pushed an arm-chair towards Schomberg. “Is it business this
time, or pleasure? And why have you come here instead of to my
flat?”
“Some of each, and a little of both,” the little man answered with a
grin. “You guess what I come about, no doubt?”
“Not being mentally incapacitated as yet, I do,” Stapleton
answered, biting his lip. “I think you might have waited until after the
ball on Thursday night,” he added in a tone of annoyance.
“Several thought that when I approached them to-day,” the Jew
said slyly. “But, as I ask them, why after the ball instead of now?
What is the matter with now? Isn’t now good enough?”
“Well, out with it. How much do you want this time?”
“Eight thousand. Only eight thousand—​this time.”
Stapleton glared at him, and had anybody caught sight of Jessica
at that moment he would have had difficulty in believing her to be the
same woman, so distorted with fury had her face become.
“Eight thousand!” Stapleton exclaimed. “It’s preposterous—​I
haven’t the money.”
Levi Schomberg made a little click with his tongue, which might
have meant anything.
“I am sorry to hear that, Louie,” he said carelessly. “Is it not
strange that though you appear always to have unlimited cash to
fling about, yet whenever I call to see you the cupboard is bare? Still,
I need that sum, and you know that what I need I always end by
getting, even if in order to get it I am forced to tighten the screw.
Come now, when can you hand it to me? Shall we say to-morrow at
twelve, at the same place as before?”
Stapleton had begun to pace the floor. Jessica, her fingers
twitching nervously, watched him with an evil expression. It was easy
to see that for some reason the man and the woman, usually so self-
possessed, were in their visitor’s power.
Thus a minute or two passed. Then, all at once, Stapleton came
to a halt and, turning sharply, faced Levi Schomberg.
“If I give you that sum, say on Friday—​to-day is Tuesday—​will you
undertake, in writing, to stop this persecution?”
“In writing? Oh, no. Besides, I could not, in any case, promise to
stop what you are pleased to call ‘this persecution,’ for where else
should I go for the money? My demands are not exorbitant, Louie,
judged by the length of your purse. Were you less rich, my requests
would be moderated in proportion to your income. That, as I think
you know, is my invariable rule. I find out exactly what my ‘client’s’
income is from all sources, and I regulate my tariff accordingly. That
is only fair and just. May I take it then that on—​Friday—​—”
“Get out of my sight!”
“No, don’t say that, don’t employ that tone,” the little Jew went on,
in no way disconcerted. “I have news to give you—​good news,
Louie, think of that!”
He crossed his legs, and lay back in his chair. Then, thrusting his
hands deep into his trousers pockets, he said:
“Louie—​and Jessica,” glancing at each in turn, “you will be happy
to hear that though secret inquiries are being made about you on all
sides, nothing, as the newspapers say, ‘has as yet transpired.’”
“Who has been making inquiries?” Jessica asked quickly.
“Why, who but the lady to whom you are so devoted—​Cora
Hartsilver, also her shadow, Yootha Hagerston, also a Captain
Preston, also a young journalist named Hopford, and lastly a friend
of the lot, whose name is Blenkiron. Those five have set themselves
the task of discovering all about both of you, and about Archie, and I
should not be surprised if presently they hit upon the right trail. If
they don’t hit it they won’t fail for want of trying, and if by some
mishap the douceur I have mentioned should go astray on Friday—​
—”
“Good heavens, Levi, you wouldn’t do that—​you couldn’t!”
Jessica had sprung to her feet and, abandoning her habitual
calm, seemed beside herself.
“Naturally I wouldn’t do it, though I disagree with you that I
couldn’t, Jessica,” the little man said in his even tones, partly closing
his eyelids as though to get her profile in better perspective.
Jessica looked relieved.
“Always supposing,” he went on, “you keep your part of the
bargain.”
“Bargain!” Stapleton exclaimed. “I never made a bargain. You
wanted me to, but I refused—​we both refused. You can’t have
forgotten that!”
“I forget everything I don’t wish to remember,” Levi replied, his
eyes now only slits. “Jessica, you look very beautiful to-day—​more
beautiful than you have ever looked, or than I have ever seen you
look. I am not surprised that London raves about you.”
He rose before she could reply, and extended his hand, which she
took reluctantly. He held it a moment longer than the occasion
seemed to warrant, then dropped it.
“On Friday, then,” he said, addressing Stapleton. “On Thursday
night we may not meet, you will both be so very busy, or should I say
so much in demand? Unless of course you invite me to join your
party. So good-by for the moment.”
Stapleton did not go down to see him out, nor did he ring for the
servant. Instead, he shut the door directly the little man had left the
room.
The front door slammed, and still the two sat in silence. At last
Jessica said in a metallic voice:
“What are we to do, Aloysius?”
“There is nothing to be done,” he answered. “We must go on
paying, and paying, until—​—”
“Until what?”
Suddenly his expression changed. Then, after a pause, he said:
“Supposing Levi were to die unexpectedly; how convenient it
would be, Jessica.”
Their eyes met, and he knew that the same thought had just
occurred to Jessica.
“People die suddenly of all sort of common complaints,” he went
on. “Heart failure, apoplexy, stoppage of the heart’s action, natural
causes—​—Supposing he died of a natural cause,” he added in an
undertone.
“Supposing! Well, it would mean one Hebrew less in the world.”
“And many thousands of pounds left in our pockets which, under
existing conditions, will have to come out of them.”
“It is worth considering.”
“Certainly.”
“As long as he remains alive, remember, we shall be subjected to
repetitions of the sort of visit he has just paid us.”
And, while they talked, Levi Schomberg, threading his way along
the crowded pavement of Oxford Street, had but one thought in his
mind.
Jessica.
He had always admired her, but now she had completely
bewitched him. Surely—​surely with the woman in his power, and with
Stapleton, too, in his power, anything and everything should be
possible? But how set about it? What would be his best and most
direct mode of attack?
Another thought came to him. Where was Mervyn-Robertson? He
knew the fellow was not dead, but what had become of him, and in
what corner of the world was he at that moment? If only he could find
out, Robertson himself might be employed in some capacity to
achieve his end. When he had last heard of Robertson, some years
before, the man had been in dire straits, and when a man of his type
and way of living came to be in dire straits, he reflected, he generally
remained in that state until the end of the chapter.
Then there was Mrs. Hartsilver. Hating Jessica, and striving all
she knew to find out all about her, she might serve sooner or later as
a useful lever. When two women, both beautiful, and both moving in
the same social circle, come to entertain a bitter enmity for each
other, anything may happen, or be made to happen, he reflected.
And Jessica had other enemies as well among “the people who
count,” he remembered. Yes, with the aid of a little tact, a little
ingenuity—​—
People passing glanced at him in astonishment, wondering why
he smiled.
He wandered into the Park at Marble Arch, for it was a beautiful
afternoon and the sight of the trees in full foliage always appealed to
his artistic eye. Scores of cars containing people obviously of leisure
kept rolling past, and as he watched them his imagination wove
romances round some of the occupants of the cars. Among the
faces many were familiar to him; he recognized two of his clients.
A self-satisfied smile parted his lips.
“Who would think, to look at them,” he said aloud, “they would not
have a shilling in the world if I chose to foreclose? Yet there are folk
who no doubt envy them, and tradesmen who would not hesitate to
give them credit—​big credit—​unlimited credit. Fools, oh, what fools
there are! Was it not Thackeray who wrote that ‘long customs, a
manly appearance, faultless boots and clothes and a happy
fierceness of manner’ would often help a man as much as a great
balance at his bankers?”
“How true!” he went on murmuring to himself. “Here in London a
man or a woman need only dress in the height of fashion in clothes
they never pay for, and hire a big car and pretend they own it, and be
seen in good society, and the world bows down before them and
craves to do them homage. Look at Stapleton and that young ass
Archie La Planta, and a dozen others—​to say nothing of Jessica.”
“Ah, Jessica!”
CHAPTER XII.

YOOTHA’S PRESENTIMENT.
Meanwhile Yootha Hagerston was secretly becoming more and
more enamored of Captain Preston. It was the first time in her life
she had ever really cared for any man; until now she had followed
the fashion prevalent among many women of pretending to consider
love and deep affection “all nonsense” and the hall-mark of a weak
intelligence. She had come to know his movements and had
discovered some of his haunts, with the result that she rarely missed
an opportunity of meeting him “by chance.”
And, though he would not have admitted it, even to himself,
Preston had for some weeks past been singularly attracted by
Yootha. He had liked her that day he had met her for the first time, at
lunch at the Ritz and afterwards at Jessica’s musical At Home,
though the woman who had most interested him then had been
Yootha’s friend, Cora Hartsilver. But now it was different. There was
something about the girl, apart from her looks, which appealed to
him. What it was he could not have explained. It might have been
her sympathetic nature, or her personality, or her temperament; in
any case he felt strangely drawn towards her every time they met.
On the lovely July afternoon Levi Schomberg had called to see
Jessica and Stapleton, and had afterwards wandered into the Park,
Yootha was on the river with Preston. A friend of his whose home
was at Pangbourne had, he had told her, on being suddenly ordered
abroad, told him he could, during his absence, make use of his punt
if ever he felt inclined to; though Preston had himself just rented a
house-boat which was moored close to Maidenhead. Until now he
had not felt inclined; punting alone is a dull form of amusement, and
Preston had comparatively few friends in London. Then one day,
while thinking of Yootha, the idea had occurred to him that she might
like a river picnic from time to time, and he had hinted as much to
her; Pangbourne was more solitary than Maidenhead he reflected.
They were in a narrow estuary—​it was not a backwater—​with the
punt moored to a tree, and for some moments neither had spoken.
No sound, save of birds singing in the woods around, broke the
almost perfect stillness. The air was sultry, as though thunder were
in the air.
“How fortunate I should have accepted La Planta’s invitation to
lunch at the Ritz that day last August,” Preston said suddenly. “I did
not want to lunch with him, I remember, but now I am glad I did.”
“Why are you glad?” she asked, looking across at him. She was
lying in the stern, propped up with cushions, and made a pretty
picture in her big hat and the becoming boating frock which revealed
her figure.
He gazed at her without answering. Then, as if to conceal his
embarrassment, he began to light his briar.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he replied awkwardly, tossing the match into
the water. “That was the first time I met you, if you remember.”
If she remembered! Could she ever forget? That was the thought
which flashed into her brain, but she did not utter it. Instead, she said
carelessly:
“So it was. And the first time you met Jessica, too, wasn’t it?”
He made an impatient movement.
“Please don’t remind me of that. Every time I think of that woman I
feel positively vicious.”
“I thought that day,” Yootha continued, after a pause, “that you
had eyes for nobody but Cora. You do like Cora, don’t you?”
“Of course I like her, though not, perhaps, as much as you like
her. Nobody could help liking her—​nobody who counts.”
“I am glad you say that. In my opinion she is the one woman in
the world. I simply worship her, and always have. She is so true, so
absolutely free from insincerity. You never met her husband, I think?”

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