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-Project Gutenberg's The Mystery of Lincoln's Inn, by Robert Machray
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-Title: The Mystery of Lincoln's Inn
-
-Author: Robert Machray
-
-Release Date: August 9, 2012 [EBook #40464]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERY OF LINCOLN'S INN ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Darleen Dove, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
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-
-                      THE MYSTERY OF LINCOLN'S INN
-
-                           BY ROBERT MACHRAY
-
-           AUTHOR OF "GRACE O'MALLEY," "THE VISION SPLENDID,"
-                     "A BLOW OVER THE HEART," ETC.
-
-
-    TORONTO
-    THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
-    1910
-
-    PRINTED BY
-    WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
-    LONDON AND BECCLES.
-
-
-
-
-THE MYSTERY OF LINCOLN'S INN
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I
-
-
-It was at half-past ten in the forenoon of a Saturday in July that Mr.
-Cooper Silwood, precise in attire, composed in appearance, and punctual
-as usual to the minute, walked into his room on the first floor of 176
-New Square, Lincoln's Inn, where were the offices of Eversleigh, Silwood
-and Eversleigh, the well-known and long-established firm of solicitors
-of which he was a partner.
-
-He was met, as was customary, on his entrance by the head-clerk, John
-Williamson, who had already opened and sorted out methodically the
-letters received over-night. An admirable specimen of his class,
-Williamson generally wore an air of great imperturbability, but this
-morning his face had a troubled expression.
-
-"Anything special, Mr. Williamson?" asked Silwood quietly, putting away
-his hat and gloves.
-
-"There are two or three important matters to attend to, sir," replied
-the man quickly. "The most important is a letter from Mr. Morris
-Thornton," he continued, but in a markedly different tone; at the same
-time, he looked at his principal with an anxiety he tried hard but just
-failed to dissemble.
-
-"From Mr. Thornton," observed Silwood, calmly; he noticed, but was in no
-wise disconcerted by, the head-clerk's manner.
-
-"Yes, sir; he writes from Vancouver."
-
-"And what does he say?" inquired Silwood.
-
-"He states that he is coming home immediately," answered Williamson, and
-now there was unmistakable anxiety in his voice as well as in his face.
-
-"Indeed!" exclaimed Silwood, who had given a slight yet perceptible
-start on hearing the news. "It's surely very sudden," he went on after a
-pause of a few seconds. "In his last letter--let me see; we got it about
-a fortnight ago--he said nothing about returning soon to England."
-
-"He did not mention it at all, sir, I am certain. But you will see from
-this last letter of his that he has a very strong reason for leaving
-British Columbia; he is seriously ill--so ill that he has been warned by
-his doctor to set his affairs in order. One knows what that means--he is
-in a critical condition."
-
-And again Williamson scanned his master's face apprehensively.
-
-"Ah, very sad," said Silwood, but he spoke in a strange, hollow tone,
-glancing the while at Williamson with a curious glittering light in his
-eyes that was sinister and menacing. It suddenly faded away, however,
-and he asked quite evenly, "Does he say when he is coming?"
-
-"Oddly enough, sir, he gives no precise date. But here is his letter,"
-said Williamson, picking it out from the pile on Silwood's table.
-
-Silwood, knowing Williamson was watching him narrowly, and conscious
-that it was necessary to preserve an aspect of calmness, read Thornton's
-letter with the utmost deliberation and with no more concern than was
-natural in the pitiful circumstances of the case.
-
-"Very sad, very sad," he said, when he had perused the letter, which he
-put down in front of him with elaborate carelessness; "very
-distressing!" he added, shaking his head.
-
-There was a moment of silence, and then Silwood remarked to Williamson
-that he might go, but as the head-clerk was withdrawing he called him
-back.
-
-"Has Mr. Eversleigh come in yet?" he asked.
-
-"Yes, sir; a few minutes ago."
-
-"Have you told him about this letter from Mr. Thornton?"
-
-"No, sir."
-
-"That's right, Mr. Williamson. I'll tell him about it myself."
-
-Silwood nodded Williamson's dismissal, and the clerk, who had
-undoubtedly been studying his principal intently and wonderingly during
-their conversation, bowed and went out.
-
-"It's plain that Williamson has his suspicions," said Silwood to
-himself, after the door had closed upon the head-clerk. "He is inclined
-to think there's something wrong--I could see it in his manner--it
-suggested he was afraid there was some trouble impending. But he knows
-nothing--he can know nothing."
-
-He assured himself, however, that what Williamson knew or suspected did
-not matter much.
-
-But what did matter, what did matter enormously, was this letter of
-Thornton's.
-
-Taking it up again, he read it over very carefully twice or thrice;
-then, still holding it in his hand, he walked up and down the floor many
-times, absorbed in thought. His small, hard, keen eyes gleamed angrily,
-the lines of his cold, pale, clean-shaven face seemed to become deeper,
-and his hands opened and shut convulsively as he paced his room. Now and
-again he looked at a large japanned box which stood in one corner. With
-a quick, nervous movement peculiar to him in moments of doubt, he
-stopped and pushed up the heavy brown wig which he always wore by day,
-and sat down at his table. Once more he re-read Thornton's letter.
-
-"Thornton's coming back in this unexpected way," he said to himself,
-"upsets my plan--that is quite clear; my hand is forced. What is to be
-done now? The worst of it is that Thornton does not say when he is
-coming--which is more than a little strange. He is well on his way, no
-doubt, by this time; he may drop in upon us any day. I must prepare for
-it. I never looked for his return--at least, not for a long time. His
-coming precipitates the crisis. Well, it was bound to come sooner or
-later. I must consider my position coolly."
-
-He knew he would not be disturbed for an hour, as it was a fixed rule of
-the office that no one was to be shown in to him till half-past eleven.
-He thought best, pen in hand, seated at his table, and there he sat, a
-still, immovable figure, save when he jotted something on his
-blotting-pad, for several minutes. But his was a nimble brain, and his
-mind was soon made up.
-
-"I must see Eversleigh," he told himself, "and acquaint him
-with--everything." As he thought this, he half smiled, and his eyes for
-an instant had in them the same threatening gleam that had flashed upon
-Williamson.
-
-Next he went to the large japanned box that stood in the corner, and
-touching a spring cleverly concealed in the moulding round its base,
-gained access to a narrow, shelf-like cavity at the bottom, which was
-stuffed with papers. From this secret place he extracted a folio sheet
-covered with figures, against which were various initials, "M.T." being
-conspicuous from their frequency amongst them.
-
-He went over this document very carefully, added up the figures opposite
-the "M.T."s, and put down the total on his pad.
-
-"A quarter of a million," he whispered almost aloud. "It's an immense
-sum. What a thing to have to tell Eversleigh!"
-
-Then he folded up and replaced the sheet of figures in the receptacle
-hidden at the bottom of the big box, but when he tried to close up the
-aperture he experienced great difficulty in getting the spring to act;
-finally, however, he succeeded.
-
-"I ought to see to that at once," he said with decision, "but I dare
-not."
-
-He now proceeded to skim over the rest of his correspondence with
-extraordinary rapidity but with little real attention; at the back of
-his mind he was still occupied with the return of Morris Thornton.
-
-All at once a thought struck him.
-
-"I wonder if Kitty Thornton has heard from her father by the same post?
-If so, she may know the date on which to expect him," was what he said
-to himself, adding, "if she knows, Eversleigh will know." For Miss
-Kitty Thornton lived practically as a member of the family of Francis
-Eversleigh, the senior partner of the firm.
-
-Silwood went to the door of his room, opened it quietly, and looked out.
-A young and handsome man was springing lightly up the stairs; the two
-men exchanged somewhat cold nods.
-
-"Good morning, Gilbert," said Silwood, but without much cordiality.
-
-"Good morning," returned the other, with a distant air.
-
-"Going up to see your father, I suppose?" asked Silwood.
-
-"Yes. Mr. Williamson, whom I met in the square, told me he was in,"
-replied Gilbert Eversleigh, and with another nod went on upstairs.
-
-"I'll just give you five minutes," said Silwood, under his breath,
-addressing the back of the unconscious Gilbert, who knocked at a door on
-the second floor and was admitted.
-
-"I thought I'd look in, sir, to ask how they all are at home," said
-Gilbert to his father, Francis Eversleigh. Gilbert had his own chambers
-in the Temple, of which he was a member, and for the past three years
-had not lived at his father's house in Surbiton.
-
-Francis Eversleigh gazed at his son before answering the implied
-question, and a father's pride expressed itself clearly in his face. The
-son was dear to the father's heart.
-
-"They're all very well at home--your mother and your sister and Kitty,"
-responded Francis Eversleigh, lingering somewhat on the last word.
-Glancing away from his son to the window, he remarked casually,
-"Really, I think Miss Kitty grows prettier and more charming every day."
-
-"She is lovely," cried Gilbert, with rising colour.
-
-"By the way," observed the father, pointedly, "Harry Bennet came in last
-evening, and it was not hard to see the attraction."
-
-"Miss Kitty?"
-
-"Yes."
-
-"But Harry Bennet!" said Gilbert, in a voice of protest.
-
-"Yes. He stayed quite late."
-
-"But you know, sir," objected Gilbert, with a frown, "that Harry is said
-to be going the pace--making the sparks fly furiously."
-
-Francis Eversleigh did not reply. He thought he had given his son a
-plain enough hint; besides, Bennet was a client of his own, and he did
-not wish to pursue the subject further. Gilbert walked over to the
-window and stood there, while his father covertly watched him. Presently
-he faced round; the frown had disappeared; his expression was confident
-and eager.
-
-Father and son looked at each other. Seen thus together, the family
-likeness between them was pronounced; seen apart, the differences became
-prominent.
-
-Francis Eversleigh was a tall, stout, florid, handsome man; genial,
-easy-going, unsuspicious, self-indulgent--not a typical solicitor in
-appearance or character. Inheriting early in life a fine business, he
-had gradually allowed himself to give way to a constitutional indolence,
-a fatality of temperament which Gilbert happily had escaped. Gilbert was
-tall and fair and good-looking, but he was more slimly made than his
-father, and was charged with far more vitality and force. He was alert,
-active, resolute. In brief, he was strong and keen where his father was
-weak and slack.
-
-"It's a glorious day, sir," said Gilbert, "and as it's a Saturday and I
-have nothing on of importance, I think I'll run over to Surbiton and
-spend the afternoon and evening. I'll wire mother I'm coming."
-
-"What! No work to do!" the father made laughing demur. But he
-immediately followed with the words, "Well, well, my boy, go and enjoy
-yourself. It's fine to be young!"
-
-What he really meant, of course, was, "Go and see Kitty, you lucky young
-dog, and good fortune go with you." He knew that Gilbert loved the girl,
-and there was nothing in all the world he desired more than that Gilbert
-should succeed in his court to her.
-
-As Gilbert turned to leave the room, Cooper Silwood entered it, carrying
-an open letter in his hand. After Gilbert had withdrawn, Silwood took
-care to see the door was shut.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II
-
-
-"Here is a letter from Morris Thornton," said Silwood, shooting a keen,
-swift glance at his partner, but it escaped the other's notice.
-
-Francis Eversleigh's thoughts, in fact, played pleasantly around his son
-Gilbert and Kitty Thornton, or if he had seen that look it might have
-startled him out of the complacent musings which forecast a fortunate
-ending only.
-
-"Yes," he said, rather apathetically. For though the mention of the name
-of Kitty's father chimed in agreeably with his reflections, the firm
-received communications frequently from Morris Thornton--which was only
-natural, as he was by far the most important client it possessed, and
-therefore the arrival of this particular letter excited no special
-interest in his breast. "Is it more money for investment?" he inquired,
-tranquilly.
-
-But Silwood did not answer the question. Instead of doing so, he scanned
-the letter with those little, sharp eyes of his, while his smooth,
-pallid face was as void of expression as a block of stone.
-
-"What does Morris say?" asked Eversleigh, after a pause.
-
-"Did you see Miss Kitty this morning?" Silwood queried, ignoring the
-other's words; moreover, he spoke in such a tone as was significant of
-the relations between the two partners--it suggested the idea that he
-was accustomed to direct Eversleigh, and not to be directed by him.
-
-"Certainly, I saw her this morning," replied Eversleigh, beginning to
-wonder a little.
-
-"Did she have nothing to tell you about her father?"
-
-"She did not allude to him at all."
-
-"Do you happen to know if she received a letter from him this morning?"
-
-"I'm pretty sure she did not; if she had, she would doubtless have
-mentioned it," said Eversleigh, looking blankly at the questioner. "But
-what are you driving at, Cooper?" he asked.
-
-"Morris Thornton informs us in this letter that he is coming back to
-England----"
-
-"Indeed!" cried Eversleigh, breaking in; "that's good news. I shall be
-very glad to see him again."
-
-And there was a pleasant smile on Eversleigh's face.
-
-"Yes, he's coming home," Silwood went on; "but he doesn't state exactly
-when. I thought he probably would write Miss Kitty about the same time
-that he wrote us, giving the precise date--say, of his sailing from New
-York; he generally comes by that route."
-
-"I should think he has written her," said Francis Eversleigh, "but she
-had not received a letter this morning up to the time of my leaving
-Surbiton, so far as I know. Did the letter to us come by the first
-delivery or the second? If it came by the latter, then most likely she
-would get her letter, if there was one for her, by it also. But that
-would be after I had left Surbiton."
-
-"That's it, I believe," observed Silwood, who had been examining the
-postmarks on the envelope in which Thornton's letter had been enclosed;
-"our letter came by the second delivery. I am convinced that when you
-return to Surbiton you will find Miss Kitty has heard from her father.
-He will certainly have told her when to expect him, and we must get to
-know the exact date he specifies; it is most important."
-
-"It is certainly very odd," remarked Eversleigh, leisurely and without
-much curiosity, "that so business-like a man as Morris does not give a
-positive date either for leaving New York or for arriving here; but I
-don't know, after all, that it is so particularly important. The
-important thing, of course, is that he is coming back again, and I'm
-heartily pleased to hear it. He's been away a long time without a
-holiday at home--seven years, isn't it? Kitty was only fourteen,"
-continued Eversleigh, in a vein of reminiscence, "when he left her in my
-wife's charge, and now she is twenty-one. How happy the news will make
-the child! Strange he doesn't mention a date--strange, as you say,
-Cooper. But can't you make a pretty fair guess at the approximate date
-from his letter? You haven't yet told me what he says in it. What does
-he say?"
-
-Cooper Silwood glanced at the letter as if to refresh his memory, yet he
-knew its contents so perfectly that he could have repeated it word for
-word.
-
-"He tells us," said Silwood, deliberately, "that the reason for his
-returning to England is the state of his health, which is now most
-precarious."
-
-"Dear me!" interrupted Eversleigh, with lively concern.
-
-"He says he is subject to exceedingly serious heart-trouble, and has
-been warned by his doctor that he may not have long to live."
-
-"Good Heavens!" ejaculated Eversleigh, his face suddenly grown grave.
-The friendship between him and Morris Thornton had lasted many years;
-indeed, they had been boys together at Rugby, and the sad tidings pained
-him greatly. "Poor Morris!" he said, in a low, hushed voice; "how
-dreadful! I thought I should be so glad to see him once more, but--but
-this is too terrible--too terrible!"
-
-Silwood had been almost as much of a friend to the doomed man as his
-partner, but he uttered no words of regret, far less of sorrow. While
-Eversleigh was speaking, he turned away, with a slight gesture of
-impatience, and fixed his eyes on some shelves filled with law-books.
-
-There was a short silence, and then Eversleigh, still in that small,
-hushed voice, asked if there was anything more in Thornton's letter.
-
-"He intends to consult Sir Anthony Mortimer, the great heart specialist,
-but he has no real hope of recovery," replied Silwood, with another
-glance at the letter. "Then he goes on to say that he will devote the
-whole of the time left him to putting all his affairs in thorough order,
-so that Miss Kitty will have no trouble in the future. He thanks us for
-the care and judgment we have shown in investing the sums of money he
-has from time to time remitted us from Canada, and, as a matter of form,
-he would like to check over the securities, certificates of shares,
-etc., we hold for him. He concludes by stating that when his agents have
-realized the remainder of his estate in British Columbia the proceeds
-will be placed in our hands, and that he will leave instructions to this
-effect."
-
-Though Eversleigh had asked for the information Silwood thus gave him,
-his mind was so stunned by the grave news concerning the condition of
-his friend that he hardly took in what his partner said. Silwood saw
-that Eversleigh was not following him. He now spoke sharply and
-abruptly, so that Eversleigh was compelled to listen.
-
-"Morris, I take it," said he, "wishes to make an examination into his
-affairs--an investigation, one might call it; _that_ is the meaning of
-his desire to check over the securities, certificates of shares, etc.,
-in our hands."
-
-"Well, it's very natural in the circumstances," observed Eversleigh.
-"Poor Morris! Poor fellow! To have fought all these long years for his
-fortune--to have won--and now to be robbed of the fruits of the
-struggle; it must be bitter--bitter! Such a fine fortune, too! Thanks to
-your financial ability, Cooper," continued Eversleigh, with returning
-complacency, "his estate is in a highly satisfactory condition;
-everything is in apple-pie order; he will be delighted with your
-admirable management. It's a great fortune," he added, meditatively.
-"What we hold of it, Cooper, is something like a quarter of a million,
-is it not?"
-
-"Yes, yes," assented Silwood, speaking rapidly. "Francis," he went on,
-his manner for the first time showing a trace of nervousness, his speech
-a touch of incoherence, "that's what I must talk to you about--there's a
-very good reason why I am so anxious as to the date of Morris Thornton's
-arrival--something must be done at once."
-
-"What do you mean, Cooper?" asked Eversleigh, his attention aroused; "I
-don't understand you."
-
-Silwood had up to this point been standing; he now seated himself and
-gazed fixedly at his partner, on whose face was to be seen some
-uneasiness but no great alarm--rather a vague wonder.
-
-"Frank," said Silwood, steadily, and now master of himself, "prepare
-yourself--I have something to say--I have a confession to make."
-
-As he heard these words, Eversleigh, with a sudden movement, pushed his
-chair back from the table. Fearful of what was coming, he stared at
-Silwood, his mild eyes big with surprise and terror.
-
-"What is it?" he stammered, in increasing agitation--"what is it?" And
-he jumped up to his feet excitedly, exclaiming, "A confession to make!
-You! Am I going out of my senses? My God! What do you mean, Cooper?"
-
-"What I mean is this," said Silwood, keeping his eyes fastened
-snake-like on Eversleigh as if to magnetize him: "when Morris Thornton
-comes to look into his affairs and ask for the securities and so forth
-we are supposed to hold----"
-
-"Supposed to hold!" cried Eversleigh, in tremulous accents.
-
-"When he asks us for his property he will discover----"
-
-"No, no, no--never that, Cooper!" interrupted Eversleigh, at last
-perceiving the other's drift.
-
-"He will discover that his estate has vanished; it does not exist," said
-Silwood.
-
-"What!" ejaculated Eversleigh, staring wildly at his partner, and still
-only half believing his ears, still only half comprehending the sweep
-of the calamity in which he was involved.
-
-"The truth is, Frank, that, unknown to you, I've been speculating on the
-Stock Exchange, and I've lost everything, or practically everything. If
-we were called upon to-day," Silwood went on in a hard, penetrating tone
-which forced conviction on the mind of the miserable man to whom he
-spoke, "to produce our clients' securities, bonds, shares and monies, we
-should have very little to give them--the bulk has disappeared."
-
-"We are defaulters," moaned Eversleigh, in accents of horror. And as he
-spoke, realizing and overwhelmed by the disaster that had overtaken him,
-the big, soft man seemed to shrivel and shrink up. With a pitiful sound,
-plaintive, appealing, like the cry of a hurt child, he covered his face
-with his hands and sank into his seat.
-
-"Some years ago," Silwood resumed, "I was tempted to speculate. It
-appeared to be a certainty, but I lost. To gain back what I had
-ventured, I speculated again, with no better result. And this happened
-over and over again. I did not always lose, or I might have become
-discouraged. So I kept hoping and hoping to right myself, but I only
-sank deeper and deeper in the mire."
-
-While Silwood was speaking, a dark painful flush overspread Eversleigh's
-face, then the blood ebbed slowly away from it, and left the cheeks
-deathly pale.
-
-"I have put off telling you of our position," continued Silwood, in the
-same measured, monotonous, curiously callous voice that he had spoken in
-during most of the interview, "but the early coming--he may be here any
-day--of Morris Thornton compels me to state exactly how we stand. You
-see now why I am so anxious to know the date of his return to England."
-
-Eversleigh slowly raised his head and looked at Silwood the reproach,
-anger, and rage he felt but could not express--he was so overcome, so
-dazed, that his tongue could not find words. He saw with appalling
-clearness, as in a flash of lightning, all that Silwood's disclosure
-meant--dishonour, ruin, and the convict's cell for himself, the brand of
-shame and infamy for his family. He had blindly trusted Silwood all
-these years, and, though he himself had taken not a penny of the
-clients' funds, the law would hold him equally guilty with his partner.
-
-"Something must be done," urged Silwood.
-
-"There is only one thing to do," said Eversleigh, finding words at last;
-"we must make the truth known at once."
-
-"No," said Silwood, emphatically; "that would be sheer folly; it will be
-soon enough to act in that way when we must. Besides, is there no scheme
-that we can devise to----"
-
-"What scheme could be devised?"
-
-"I have thought of one," said Silwood, and for several minutes he spoke
-to Eversleigh in low tones of persuasion, but Eversleigh refused to
-agree to what he proposed.
-
-"No," said Eversleigh, finally; "I'll never consent to that--never, come
-what may."
-
-"Think it over, Frank," Silwood pressed him--"think it over calmly; and,
-in any case, there is no need for precipitancy."
-
-"If I did my duty," said Eversleigh, with a groan, "I should hand you
-and myself over to the police!"
-
-"That would be madness," replied Silwood. "Think of it, man! You will
-never be such a fool."
-
-Eversleigh rose to his feet with a sudden pathetic dignity.
-
-"Leave me!" he commanded Silwood; "I can bear no more."
-
-And Cooper Silwood hesitated, then obeyed. When he was gone out of the
-room, Eversleigh sat staring, staring at the door.
-
-It seemed to him incredible, impossible, that a few brief minutes could
-work such havoc, such disaster, such irremediable ruin. Only a short
-time before, that fine young man, that handsome and debonair son of his,
-of whom he was so proud, had stood in this room, and had gone away
-smiling and hopeful; and now----
-
-Eversleigh felt like one in a nightmare falling through immeasurable
-depths.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III
-
-
-That afternoon Gilbert Eversleigh went over, as he had intended, to
-Ivydene, his father's residence in Surbiton, a large and commodious
-villa standing among trees and shrubs in its own grounds on the road
-from Kingston to Thames Ditton, about three-quarters of a mile from the
-market-place of the former. From its upper windows there were to be got
-pleasant glimpses of the river and of the Home Park beyond. The
-Eversleighs were very fond of their house, and, in an unassertive way,
-proud of it. Certainly it was the centre of as sweet and well-ordered a
-home-life as any in England.
-
-Gilbert's telegram to his mother had prepared her for his coming, and
-when he arrived he was warmly greeted by her and his sister Helen, a
-fair girl with the family good-looks, who inquired if he was going to
-spend the rest of the day with them. Gilbert replied that he did not
-purpose returning to town till the last train, and suggested it would be
-"very nice on the river."
-
-While he was speaking, Miss Kitty Thornton made her appearance, and as
-she shook hands with him his eyes sparkled with admiration--and small
-wonder!
-
-For Miss Kitty was a splendid piece of flesh and blood, full of life and
-the joy and the spirit of youth. A little over twenty-one, she was old
-enough to be a woman and young enough to be a girl. She was not too tall
-nor too slim. She belonged to the dark type. She had black hair and
-plenty of it, and big black expressive eyes which often spoke her
-thoughts when her tongue was silent; on each cheek glowed a spot of
-bright colour as large as a half-opened wild rose, but of a deeper
-shade; her lips were of a deeper shade still; her skin was of a warm
-dusky tint.
-
-It was a strikingly brilliant face, but it had a delicacy of feature, a
-fineness of line not common in dark women. When it was in repose it was
-beautiful, yet somehow it hinted sorrow, melancholy, unhappy love,
-tragedy; but it was seldom in repose, and when it was lit up with
-animation, with feeling or laughter, as it usually was, it was as
-radiantly lovely as mortal man could wish to see.
-
-There was a great heart in her too, but it had not yet been tried and
-proved. Hitherto she had moved in a sheltered world; of evil, and the
-unending struggle and strife of men and women outside, she had only a
-faint conception; the din of life had never clashed upon her ears.
-
-Her father, on the death of her mother, had brought her over from Canada
-to Mrs. Eversleigh, begging the wife of his old friend to take care of
-her for him. And Mrs. Eversleigh, a gracious woman, had gladly assented
-to his request. Kitty thus became a member of the family, and was
-educated along with Helen both in England and on the continent. The
-girls were like sisters. Kitty was deeply attached to Mrs. Eversleigh,
-and, in a less degree, to Francis Eversleigh. She was very happy with
-the Eversleighs.
-
-"Have they told you the good news, Gilbert?" asked Kitty, a note of
-rejoicing in her voice.
-
-"Not yet," interposed Helen Eversleigh; "there hasn't been time."
-
-"Tell me," said Gilbert, with a smile. "What is it?"
-
-"I got a letter from my father this morning, and he says that he is
-returning to England very soon," said Kitty, gleefully.
-
-"That is indeed good news for you," Gilbert agreed. "I thought you
-looked very much pleased about something," he added.
-
-"Pleased! I should say I am!"
-
-"And when is he coming?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"He says he will be here very soon," answered Kitty--"in a few days
-after his letter. He does not say quite when, but he writes, 'I will pop
-in and surprise you some day in the week next after that in which you
-receive this.' The very uncertainty as to the date," remarked the girl,
-brightly, "gives a keener edge to one's pleasure."
-
-"I dare say that is what he intended," said Mrs. Eversleigh.
-
-The three ladies looked delighted--as indeed they were. Gilbert seemed
-delighted also, but inwardly the news made him feel downcast.
-
-Passionately as he loved Kitty Thornton, the thought of the large
-fortune she would inherit, which Morris Thornton's approaching visit
-brought home to him afresh, had been a check upon him; so, too, was the
-fact that she was the ward, in a measure, of his father. These
-considerations had imposed upon him silence and a certain self-control;
-still he had an idea that Kitty could not be altogether unconscious of
-his love for her. He knew she liked him, and it was his fond hope that
-he might "drive this liking to the name of love." But so far he had not
-ventured to voice his hope in words. And now he wondered if her father's
-return would make a difference, and what her father would think of him
-and his suit.
-
-"He will think I am not good enough for her," he said to himself, "and
-of course I'm not. Besides, as she's a great heiress, he will expect her
-to make some splendid match--and I am only a young barrister with my
-career just beginning."
-
-All this passed through his mind on hearing Kitty's "good news," which
-he felt might not be equally good news so far as he was concerned, but
-he strove to look as happy over it as she was.
-
-"We shall all be very glad to see him," said he to the girl,
-mendaciously.
-
-"What shall we do with ourselves this afternoon?" asked Kitty, changing
-the topic. "Now you are here, Gilbert, we must make some use of you."
-
-"He was talking of going on the river," remarked Helen.
-
-"Yes, yes," said Kitty, eagerly. "I never tire of the river."
-
-"Will you come, mother?" inquired Gilbert of Mrs. Eversleigh.
-
-But Mrs. Eversleigh declined on the plea of having some household
-matters to attend to.
-
-"I can't go with you," she said, "but I'll tell you what to do. You two
-girls can take your cycles, and Gilbert can borrow his brother Ernest's
-wheel, and ride to Molesey."
-
-"And get a punt there. The very thing," said Gilbert, in the mood to
-welcome hard exercise, and so to work off his trouble. "I suppose," he
-said to his mother, "I'll find some of Ernie's boating things in his
-room?"
-
-"Oh yes," said Mrs. Eversleigh, and he went off to change his clothes.
-
-Presently the three young people were cycling to Molesey, which they
-soon reached. A punt was quickly procured, and, in a few seconds more,
-Gilbert was poling it up-stream with remarkable vigour considering the
-heat of the day.
-
-"You are working hard," said Kitty, noting his extraordinary exertions.
-
-"Oh, never mind him," sweetly remarked his sister. "It's good for him."
-
-"But won't you over-heat yourself, Gilbert?" asked Kitty. And though he
-replied with thanks that he was all right, she insisted after a short
-while that he must take an easy, and moor the punt under a shady bank.
-
-He obeyed her, and then Kitty, to his secret discomfiture, must needs
-talk about the coming of her father, her heart being full of the
-subject. And as she talked his trouble seemed to melt away, for she
-spoke of the happy times they all would have when Morris Thornton was in
-England, and obviously included Gilbert in her notion of these happy
-times. The three chatted gaily for an hour, and then they set off
-down-stream.
-
-They had gone several hundred yards, perhaps, when they met, moving at
-top speed, a racing-skiff, the occupant of which bowed to them with a
-rapid inclination of his head, but did not stop.
-
-"It's Harry Bennet," said Helen Eversleigh, gazing after him, and waving
-her hand.
-
-"How are you, Harry?" Gilbert had shouted, as the boat went past.
-
-Bennet, now some distance away, rested on his oars, and waved his hand
-to Helen, who was still regarding him, as was also Kitty; but it was the
-latter at whom he looked. However, he did not seek to talk, but watched
-the punt until it disappeared round a bend of the stream. His face
-thereupon expressed mingled feelings--a tremendous admiration of Kitty
-Thornton, and an intense hatred of Gilbert Eversleigh, whom he proceeded
-to curse aloud when out of sight, being the chief.
-
-"He's a fine oarsman, a fine athlete," observed Helen, as the punt went
-on down-stream. She referred to Harry Bennet, whom she had known all her
-life, and for whom she had a liking. "I can't believe he is the bad lot
-they say he is. If only he was not so keen on racing and betting! It's
-said that he is losing all his money and ruining himself. It seems such
-a pity!" And she sighed.
-
-"Yes," said Kitty, glancing at her friend; but she did not continue the
-conversation. She knew of Helen's feeling for Bennet, but it was a
-feeling she herself did not share.
-
-As for Gilbert, he said nothing at all either good or bad about the man
-whom he understood very well was his rival. But he had heard what was
-being said about Bennet quite openly, the sum and substance of which was
-that Harry had become a reckless and inveterate gambler.
-
-The girls had heard something of this too, but only in the most general
-way. All three, however, were cognisant of the main facts of Bennet's
-life: how his father had died when he was a child, and how he had been
-petted, spoiled, and indulged by a foolish doting mother; how he had
-consequently grown into a wilful, headstrong, intractable boy; how, as
-he neared man-hood, he showed a gift of marvellous physical strength, in
-the development of which there for a time lay an illusory hope of his
-improvement; how, in his first year at the university, he had been a
-member of the crew which, after a long series of Oxford triumphs, had at
-last given a victory to the light blues; and how, on coming into his
-property a few months later, he had forthwith left Cambridge and taken
-to racing with frantic zest.
-
-"It is such a pity," Helen went on; "but I think that so long as he
-keeps up his rowing there is a chance for him."
-
-But now they were back at Molesey, and nothing more was said of Bennet
-at the time. At dinner in the evening, however, Helen spoke of their
-having seen him on the river, and repeated what she had said about it
-being a hopeful sign that he kept up his rowing.
-
-"I think he doesn't row very much now," said her brother Ernest, who was
-a solicitor like his father, and expected soon to be a partner in the
-Lincoln's Inn firm. "He simply can't have the time. His stable and his
-horses and his betting-book absorb him entirely. I wonder what that new
-horse of his--he calls it 'Go Nap'--will do for him. He's sure to back
-it heavily."
-
-"'Go Nap'!" said Gilbert. "That's rather suggestive of a plunge."
-
-"Isn't it? Harry is a terrific plunger anyway."
-
-"Oh, don't let us talk about Harry Bennet," said Francis Eversleigh,
-from the head of the table, where he had been sitting in moody silence.
-He was so utterly unlike himself, indeed, that his wife was alarmed, but
-when she asked what ailed him he said he had "a rather bad headache"--a
-statement which scarcely reassured her, as she knew he never had
-headaches; and when she pressed him further, he replied sharply and
-irritably. But the wretched man hardly knew what he was saying or doing.
-
-One part of Silwood's advice he had made up his mind to accept and act
-upon, and this was that he would do nothing to forestall the fate which
-must over-take the firm, but to let things drift till the crash came.
-And, having come to this conclusion, the unfortunate solicitor told
-himself that he must try to behave as usual in his family circle. But he
-found it impossible. The tragic swiftness and completeness of the stroke
-dealt him by Silwood was too much for him. Now, as he thought of his
-home, and of his wife and children, and of the frightful secret he
-carried in his breast of the ruin hanging over them, a bitterness worse
-than that of death possessed him. Generally full of easy agreeable
-small-talk, that night he was gloomy and dumb.
-
-He made one effort only to talk.
-
-Kitty mentioned having had a letter from her father, whereupon he stated
-that the firm had also had one from Mr. Thornton.
-
-"By the way," he said, striving to speak in his ordinary tones, "your
-father made a curious omission in his letter to us; he does not specify
-when he is coming--gives no precise date. I dare say it was an
-oversight. I suppose he tells you in your letter just when to expect
-him, Kitty?"
-
-"No, he doesn't, Mr. Eversleigh--at least, not very precisely. He says
-he'll come soon after his letter, but he does not fix any date, as he
-wants to give me a little surprise. Still, I think he'll be here some
-day next week."
-
-"Next week!" said Eversleigh, slowly and painfully. To him it was the
-voice of doom, and he relapsed into silence again.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV
-
-
-Dinner over, Francis Eversleigh retired to his room, again excusing
-himself on the plea of headache, adding in a very uncertain voice that
-he would no doubt be better in the morning; but he looked harassed,
-worn, and ill. His wife concealed her consternation at his state as well
-as she could, and mentally tried to assign some cause for it; on
-reflection she thought that his reference at table to Harry Bennet,
-whose affairs, now much involved, she knew to be in the hands of the
-firm, probably suggested the correct explanation. Anxious to minister to
-her husband, and to find out if possible what distressed him so sorely,
-she wished to be alone with him, and she urged the others to go out for
-a stroll by the river.
-
-As the young people, nothing loth, went out, the two brothers exchanged
-a few words, Gilbert asking Ernest if he knew of anything in the office
-that had upset their father.
-
-"I saw him in the forenoon," he remarked, "and he was looking as well as
-could be then. I hope he's not going to have an illness."
-
-"I know of nothing particularly worrying in the office," returned
-Ernest. "How should there be? I fancy it is just as he says--he's got a
-bad headache, perhaps from the heat. I don't fancy that there is
-anything else the matter with him. He'll be all right to-morrow, you'll
-see."
-
-Now, when Gilbert was at Surbiton, there was an unwritten law that when
-they took their walks abroad he should pair off with Kitty, and Ernest
-with Helen. This arrangement was so well understood that Ernest never
-thought of even grumbling at it. So Gilbert and Kitty led the way to the
-terrace or esplanade on that side of the Thames, where they found a
-sequestered seat. And there they were left by the other two, who walked
-on towards the waterworks.
-
-It was a delightful summer evening. The air was soft, balmy, sweet; a
-light breeze whispered delicate suggestions, and wooed to pleasant
-thoughts and tender fancies; a crescent moon, shining low over the trees
-on to the water, brought to the scene that touch of sentiment which is
-the very breath of poetry and romance. It was a night for lovers! Love,
-passion, sighs, smiles, fond hopes, fervent vows, eloquent prayers, the
-gentle rain of happy tears--all were in the enchanted atmosphere of the
-place that night.
-
-It was one of those magical nights on which the heart is likely to be
-easily and perhaps profoundly stirred, and Gilbert Eversleigh, with the
-woman he loved by his side, was in a frame of mind to respond only too
-quickly to its influence. He longed to speak to Kitty, to tell her that
-he loved her, to ask her to unite her life with his, to press her dear
-hand, to taste the sweetness of her lips; but he forced himself to
-silence, though the restraint he imposed on his desire for utterance
-made it but gain the greater strength.
-
-It may be that Kitty suspected she was on the edge of a crisis, for she
-too was quiet, and for the first time in her life somehow felt shy with
-Gilbert. Of course she did not require any one to tell her that he loved
-her, and more than once she had asked herself if she loved him, and she
-had answered "Yes." Thus, though words of love had never passed between
-them, she was none the less conscious of the existence of their love.
-And this made life joy, even if there was at the back of her mind a
-tremulous maidenly sensitiveness which made her half afraid of her
-happiness. An instinct of reserve now warned her to say or do nothing
-which could be taken by Gilbert as an opening.
-
-Therefore a sort of constraint fell upon them, but still there was a
-sweetness about it; for was there not a nearness and an intimacy in the
-dreamy brooding silence, the outward sign of this constraint, which was
-only possible between true lovers?
-
-And thus they sat for some minutes, apart and yet together.
-
-It was Kitty herself who spoke first. Her thought of Gilbert associated
-itself with that other subject about which she was also so glad--the
-coming of her father, and it was of him she spoke.
-
-"Do you remember my father, Gilbert?" she asked.
-
-"Perfectly," replied Gilbert. "I had just come back from school for the
-last time, and--he was very kind to me. Of course, I remember him quite
-well. And--and--it was then that he brought you to our house."
-
-"That was seven years ago," said Kitty. "Seven years! I haven't seen him
-for all these years. I wonder if he is much changed? He will see a great
-change in me. I was only a girl, a little girl, then, and now I am a
-woman."
-
-As she uttered the last words she glanced a little apprehensively at her
-companion, for she felt she had perhaps given him an opportunity. She
-saw his face was clouded; his eyes were fixed on a point in the
-distance, and he did not speak.
-
-"Your father's return," at length said he, with a sigh, "will make a
-difference, I fear."
-
-"In what way?" inquired Kitty, not at once following hard on the track
-of what was passing in his mind.
-
-"He will take you from us," said Gilbert; and then he added,
-inconsequently and involuntarily, "I wonder if he will like me?"
-
-And the girl now understood.
-
-"Like you! Of course he will," she exclaimed, in a tone which made him
-proud and happy.
-
-There was an emphasis in her voice which seemed to assert that it would
-be impossible for her father to criticise him--at all events adversely.
-
-"It would mean so much to me," he exclaimed, turning towards her.
-
-Kitty stole a glance at him, and she observed that his face was no
-longer clouded, but bore a grave, questioning expression like that of a
-man in doubt with regard to some deeply serious matter.
-
-"It would mean all the world to me," he said, meeting her glance.
-
-"Why?" rose to Kitty's lips, but the words went no further. For as
-Gilbert kept his gaze fastened upon her, a subtle change was worked in
-his eyes; they were no longer shaded with doubt or anxious inquiry; they
-searched and challenged her with passionate appeal; they unmistakably
-asked the question of questions man can put to woman.
-
-And though no sound passed Kitty Thornton's lips, she made no pretence
-of misunderstanding him. All the woman in her instantaneously rose up in
-quick response. All the love in her heart suddenly surged up in a great
-wave of feeling which flooded her eyes, now deep pools of light, with an
-unmistakable answer to the unmistakable question in his, thus bent upon
-her. Yet she trembled slightly, for she felt herself in the grasp of
-something new and strange and delightful, but just a little terrible and
-alarming.
-
-And when Gilbert Eversleigh saw what he saw in Kitty's eyes,
-self-control became impossible, and he could restrain himself no longer.
-
-"Kitty, Kitty," he said, in a deep earnest voice which thrilled the girl
-as she listened--"Kitty, my darling, I love you, I love you!"
-
-Kitty trembled still more, and lowered her eyes shyly--perhaps to hide
-the light that glowed in them.
-
-"Kitty," he said, his voice somewhat uncertain for an instant as he
-looked at her downcast face--"Kitty, my dear, you must know that I love
-you. Now that I have said it, I should like to go on for ever saying 'I
-love you, I love you!' You are everything to me--everything to me," he
-repeated, with a lover's fond iteration. "Oh, my dear, tell me that you
-love me!"
-
-Kitty raised her eyes.
-
-"Listen to me a moment, Kitty," said Gilbert, who had seen the message
-she flashed to him, and was greatly encouraged thereby. "Let me tell you
-all that is in my heart."
-
-The girl now looked at him, some wonder in her glance, as she asked
-herself if he had not said already all that was in his heart, but as he
-went on she saw what he meant.
-
-"I love you better than life," he began, "but I am not sure that I have
-done right in saying to you what I have said. I had not intended----I
-was carried away ..." And he paused.
-
-"What is it?" asked Kitty, and there was such childlike trust and
-innocence in the way she made this inquiry that he had to put strong
-compulsion on himself to keep from placing his arm round her waist and
-drawing her toward him.
-
-"You have spoken two or three times to-day about your father," replied
-Gilbert, "and each time you gave me, without knowing it, a pang,
-because, Kitty dear, I am afraid that he may not think me good enough
-for you, not rich enough, not placed high enough, for you. I had
-intended to wait until he came before speaking to you--I suppose I ought
-to have asked his permission to address you first. Do you see, Kitty?
-But to-night--well, I found I could wait no longer, and so must tell you
-all that was in my heart. Your father may blame me, Kitty. He might say
-that you should see far more of life than you have before even thinking
-of marriage. Yet, Kitty, after all it rests with you. Kitty, Kitty, what
-do you say, my darling? I cannot help loving you--I can never cease to
-love you. Tell me, do you love me? Say you love me!"
-
-And he put forth his hand with a gesture of entreaty.
-
-Long before this Kitty's shyness had fallen from her, her maidenly
-hesitation had disappeared. She had a feeling that Gilbert Eversleigh
-had been fore-ordained her lover before the foundations of the earth
-were laid--so vast was the certainty that filled her mind. The very
-statement of the difficulty in which he found himself with regard to her
-father helped her inevitably to this conclusion. It was noble of him,
-she thought, to take this attitude, and if he had not been able to stick
-to it, was she the one to condemn him for it? No, indeed.
-
-"You are more to me, Gilbert," she said, quietly but firmly, "than my
-father--than all the fathers in the world. You are everything to me,
-just as I am everything to you."
-
-As she spoke, she inclined towards him with a beautiful movement of
-surrender and invitation.
-
-He caught her in his arms and strained her yielding form in his embrace;
-their lips met and met again; a sweet agitation which grew into an
-ecstasy possessed them both; they seemed to reach and stand on a
-pinnacle of brightness and delight far removed from the grey levels on
-which moved ordinary men and women through the shadows of life; they
-murmured to each other the sweet foolish things that lovers always
-murmur, and in their ears never was diviner music.
-
-And as for Morris Thornton--why, Kitty said that he would be proud of
-Gilbert, and the very first thing she would do on his arrival would be
-to tell him that she was engaged.
-
-"Of course," added Kitty, "he will be pleased, because I am pleased."
-
-"Are you still here?" asked Ernest Eversleigh, who with his sister now
-walked up to the bench where the lovers were sitting. "We thought you
-were coming on after us, and we waited for you for some time, but as you
-did not turn up we came back again."
-
-And thus were the lovers brought down to the everyday world.
-
-"Is it time to go in?" asked Gilbert, who was unamiably wishing his
-brother at Jericho.
-
-"I should think it is--particularly if you intend to catch a train to
-town to-night," replied Ernest.
-
-"Let us go in," said Kitty, rising from the seat and linking her arm
-with that of Helen, somewhat to Gilbert's astonishment, until it
-occurred to him that she might wish to tell the other girl what had
-happened.
-
-The party--the girls first, the brothers in the rear--now returned to
-Ivydene, where on their entrance into the house they encountered Francis
-Eversleigh, looking haggard and ghastly; he had felt too unutterably
-wretched to stay in his room where his wife in vain sought to tend and
-soothe him, and had come downstairs to see if he could not find some
-distraction.
-
-Gilbert moved up to Kitty's side, and, as the two stood together, their
-faces were tell-tale.
-
-"Father," said Gilbert, blushing furiously, "Kitty has promised to be my
-wife."
-
-Helen Eversleigh rushed forward and threw her arms round Kitty's neck,
-exclaiming, "Oh, you dear!" while Ernest warmly shook his brother's
-hand, but their father stood stock-still. He tried to speak, but the
-words were choked in his throat. Again he essayed to say something, but
-could not. With a groan he suddenly turned from them and fled upstairs.
-
-"Father!" exclaimed Gilbert, calling after him. "What can be the matter
-with him, I wonder?" he said to Ernest, who merely answered that he
-could not tell.
-
-And then the two lovers looked at each other. They both felt that
-Francis Eversleigh had behaved very strangely.
-
-"I'm afraid Mr. Eversleigh is not at all well," said Kitty. "I am so
-sorry."
-
-"Yes, father must be ill," agreed Gilbert; "still, I think it can't be
-anything very serious. And now, I suppose I must go," he added with a
-sigh.
-
-The lovers bade each other good-bye in the porch. Absorbed in their
-happiness, they thought no more of Francis Eversleigh.
-
-And when Gilbert spent the following day, which was a Sunday, at
-Surbiton, it was only to be expected that the lovers, after the
-immemorial manner of lovers, should concern themselves with themselves
-and their own affairs.
-
-Francis Eversleigh remained in his room the whole day; he could not bear
-to see any one.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V
-
-
-On the Monday morning Francis Eversleigh did not appear at breakfast.
-
-Mrs. Eversleigh told Ernest that his father was asleep after having
-passed a wakeful night, and she was sure he would not feel equal to
-going to the office. When Ernest inquired, as was natural, if she
-intended sending for a doctor, she replied that a suggestion she had
-made in the night to that effect had been peremptorily negatived by her
-husband, who maintained that he was suffering from a slight attack for
-which it was absurd to call in a physician.
-
-"I am very anxious, however, about him," she said. She paused and looked
-meditatively at her son. "Do you know, Ernest," she continued, "if your
-father has on hand some exceptionally difficult business just now, or if
-there is some client who is giving him cause for unusual anxiety?" She
-was thinking of Bennet.
-
-"I am quite certain there is absolutely nothing of such gravity as to
-make him ill," replied Ernest, with conviction. "Why, work goes on at
-the office from day to day and from month to month with the ease and
-regularity of machinery. But why do you ask this, mother?"
-
-"Because it has occurred to me that there is something on your father's
-mind, and it is that which is making him ill."
-
-"Indeed! Oh, I think you must be mistaken, mother."
-
-"I hope so," she rejoined, but not in a really hopeful tone. "One of the
-things which perplex me is that he seems to take very little pleasure in
-the engagement of Kitty and Gilbert--that is strange, is it not? Then
-again, you would suppose he would be looking forward with interest to
-seeing his old friend Morris Thornton once more, yet, when I referred to
-it, he spoke in such a queer way. I can't understand him at all."
-
-As Ernest was about to speak Miss Kitty Thornton entered the room, and
-conversation passed to other topics. And as for Kitty herself, her
-brilliant beauty appeared to have been enhanced by the happy event of
-her engagement, for never had she looked so lovely as she did that
-morning, and there was on her face a light of happiness which was good
-to see.
-
-"Is there anything I can do for you?" Ernest asked Kitty. "Can I carry a
-message, for instance," he went on, with a grin, rising to leave the
-room, "to a certain barrister in the Temple?"
-
-But Miss Kitty merely smiled and shook her pretty head.
-
-"I won't have her teased," said Mrs. Eversleigh; but the offender had
-already vanished.
-
-When Silwood reached his room in New Square he found not only Williamson
-waiting as usual, but also Ernest Eversleigh.
-
-"I am sorry to have to tell you," said Ernest, "that my father is
-indisposed. He will not be here to-day."
-
-"Mr. Eversleigh ill!" exclaimed Silwood, and stopped; inwardly he
-termed Eversleigh a poor weak fool without a particle of grit. Aloud he
-said, clicking out the words stiffly, "I am very sorry to hear it. What
-is the trouble?"
-
-"I don't think it is anything serious; he'll be all right by to-morrow."
-
-"He did not send me any message?"
-
-"He was asleep when I left the house. Mother told me he had been awake
-most of the night, but had dozed off towards morning."
-
-"I see. There was something I expected to hear from him, but it's
-possible you can tell me. It's just this. We received a letter on
-Saturday from Mr. Morris Thornton, in which he informed us that he was
-leaving Canada for England. Well, though he spoke of being here very
-soon, he did not give us any exact date. Of course, it is no great
-matter, but it seems just a little curious."
-
-"It must have been an oversight," said Williamson.
-
-"Perhaps so," assented Silwood.
-
-"I am not certain of that," remarked Ernest.
-
-"You have heard something?" queried Silwood.
-
-"Miss Thornton has heard from her father----"
-
-"I had an idea she might have definite word as to the date of her
-father's arrival," interposed Silwood. "Not, as I told you before, that
-it matters; it is only that one likes to satisfy one's curiosity
-sometimes."
-
-Thus carefully did Silwood minimize the interest he took in the date of
-Thornton's arrival in London. Certainly, Ernest Eversleigh had no
-suspicion of the vital importance the subject possessed, and Silwood's
-manner was so natural that even Williamson was put off the scent.
-
-"Miss Thornton," said Ernest, "had a letter also on Saturday; but her
-father did not specify the date of his coming to her either, the reason
-being, he told her, that he wishes to give her a pleasant surprise by
-dropping in on her when she isn't expecting him. Still, he said enough
-to make her expect him some day next week."
-
-"Some day next week!" repeated Silwood, with an indrawing of the breath.
-Then he continued in an ordinary tone, "He wishes to give her a
-surprise; that seems to me rather odd."
-
-"It is," agreed Ernest; and then he smiled.
-
-"There is something more," suggested Silwood, seeing the smile.
-
-"I was thinking," rejoined Ernest, laughing a little, "that the surprise
-will not be all on one side. Miss Kitty has prepared a surprise for him
-too."
-
-"Indeed!"
-
-"Yes. Kitty and Gilbert are engaged to be married."
-
-"Oh! Since when?"
-
-"Saturday night. I wonder what Mr. Thornton will say about it!"
-
-"I wonder!" echoed Silwood; but this subject did not concern him
-greatly, and he turned to his letters.
-
-Ernest took the hint, and left Silwood with Williamson. After a short
-talk about current business, Silwood sent away the head-clerk, having
-given him instructions to attend to any urgent matter in Francis
-Eversleigh's department which required immediate attention.
-
-"So Morris Thornton comes next week," he said to himself when
-alone--"next week--next week. The time is short--very short--and there
-is much to do."
-
-Silwood, to all appearance, went on with his work as usual, but in
-reality he was thinking out the situation. What, he asked, did Francis
-Eversleigh mean by absenting himself from the office--the plea of
-illness was transparently absurd; and did he intend to go on absenting
-himself? That could not be allowed, thought Silwood; it would never do.
-And Thornton was to be in London next week! Silwood, therefore, resolved
-to go to Surbiton that afternoon to see Eversleigh.
-
-His resolve did not need any strengthening, but something occurred which
-would have supplied it had it been required.
-
-This was the receipt of a telegram from Harry Bennet, telling the firm
-that he had passed a demand draft on it for two thousand pounds.
-
-Silwood, having explained to Ernest that he particularly wished to see
-his father, not only to see how he was, but also to consult him with
-respect to Bennet's affairs, accompanied the young man to Ivydene.
-
-Silwood had not seen Francis Eversleigh since he had made his confession
-to him on the Saturday forenoon, and even his phlegm was disturbed by
-the change worked in twenty-four hours on Francis, who looked broken and
-seriously ill. The meeting was an intensely painful one to Eversleigh;
-indeed, he thought at first of declining to see Silwood, but changed his
-mind.
-
-Silwood saw Eversleigh in the latter's bedroom.
-
-"Francis," said he, in a stiff, formal tone, "I am very sorry to see you
-like this. You take things too much to heart. It's a bad blow, I know--a
-terrible blow. I can't tell you how bitterly I regret what I've
-done--how I repent of it."
-
-Eversleigh looked at him strangely. Ever since Silwood had confessed his
-guilt there had been moments when Eversleigh felt he could murder
-Silwood. And now that Silwood was before him, he fiercely asked himself
-why he should not kill like a rat this man whom he had trusted so
-implicitly, and who had betrayed that trust so shamefully. Did the man
-not deserve death? Was anything too bad for him? And these questions
-were in his eyes as they fixed themselves on Silwood.
-
-"I don't suppose you came here," he said, in a strained voice that had a
-curious hissing sound about it, "to tell me this."
-
-"To tell you this, Frank," observed Silwood, meeting fully the other's
-gaze, "and other things too."
-
-"What other things?" he asked hoarsely, glancing away from Silwood.
-Already his impulse of murder was passing away from his wavering mind;
-he was telling himself that if he killed Silwood the lot of his wife and
-family would only be the more desperate.
-
-Silwood all the while was regarding him intently. He was trying to read
-Eversleigh's mind, and he came to the conclusion that Eversleigh was
-capable of committing suicide or some other rash act.
-
-"Before speaking of these, Frank," replied Silwood, "let me beg of you
-not to fret too much. What is the use of dwelling on what is past and
-cannot now be mended?"
-
-"How can I help it?"
-
-"You must try. For one thing, you must come to the office. It is surely
-better to attend to your work at the office----"
-
-"To attend to my work!" broke in Eversleigh. "How can I, when all my
-thoughts are centred on one thing--the ruin that is coming upon me and
-those innocent ones who must suffer? To attend to my work is
-impossible!"
-
-"Surely not."
-
-"You know--no one better--that for years I have never attended to my
-work properly. Do not think that I consider myself free from blame. I
-ought never to have allowed you to get control of the whole finances of
-the firm. It was my duty to have made inquiry, and to have seen that
-everything belonging to our clients was in perfect order. I have been
-criminally neglectful--I see that very clearly;" and as he spoke his own
-condemnation there was a sob in his throat.
-
-"Yes; but how does all this prevent you from coming to the office? Is it
-not just the other way? And for a short time there is no reason to be
-afraid. What we have to dread most is the coming of Morris Thornton, and
-that, I hear, will not be till some time next week. That gives us a
-little breathing-space."
-
-"Till some time next week!" said Eversleigh. "That's not much of a
-respite."
-
-"Still, it's something. But there is another thing I have to tell you."
-
-"What's that?" dully asked Eversleigh, telling himself that at any rate
-he knew the worst.
-
-"We got a telegram from Bennet saying he was drawing on us for two
-thousand pounds."
-
-"Well, can't we pay it?"
-
-"Certainly; but it is inconvenient. The withdrawal of this sum from our
-bank account seriously reduces our balance."
-
-"What is our balance?"
-
-"About six thousand. With care, and if it were not for the coming of
-Thornton, we might be able to carry on for a long time."
-
-"I have been thinking over our affairs," said Eversleigh, "since you
-spoke to me yesterday, and it seems to me we ought to call in a
-first-class accountant to make a thorough investigation."
-
-"And what would be the inevitable result?" asked Silwood, drily.
-
-"We should know--I should know--how we stand."
-
-"But I know quite well."
-
-"I suppose so. What is the amount of your--of our, I suppose I must
-say--defalcations?"
-
-"About four hundred thousand. That would be a nice thing for an
-accountant to discover, to certify to! No, Francis, it is absurd to call
-in an accountant. It would not be long before he found out we were
-insolvent, and--defaulters. What service would that be to you or to the
-firm? None whatever."
-
-"No, perhaps it would not do," acquiesced Eversleigh, weakly. "You said
-four hundred thousand. How could you have been such a fool as to lose so
-much money? Four hundred thousand!"
-
-"I was a fool, Frank. But it's easy enough for a wise man to lose more
-than that on the Stock Exchange."
-
-"Well," sighed Eversleigh, hopelessly, "I don't know what's to be done."
-
-"Why, nothing at present. And perhaps, Francis, your personal position
-is not so bad. Ernest told me of the engagement of Miss Thornton to
-Gilbert. That, surely, is an excellent thing for you. When her father
-finds out the state of affairs he will be silent. He will certainly not
-care to prosecute the father of his daughter's accepted husband, will
-he?"
-
-"He will insist on the engagement being broken off."
-
-"Perhaps, but perhaps not. Leaving that aside, have you thought of the
-scheme I mentioned----?"
-
-"Yes, yes; I have considered it," replied Eversleigh; then he looked at
-Silwood wonderingly, and said, "You take our position--my position--very
-coolly, Cooper. One would think you had no real conception of what you
-have done."
-
-"Well," rejoined Silwood, hardily, "you see, it is all new to you,
-Francis, but it is no novelty to me. I have been familiar with our
-position for a long time--for years. But this is quite beside the point.
-Let us come to business. Do you intend to adopt my scheme?"
-
-"I do not," said Eversleigh, firmly. "It is preposterous."
-
-"If you will be advised by me----"
-
-"Not in this," Eversleigh cried excitedly, "not in this. Would to God I
-had never been born!" he exclaimed. And he begged Silwood to leave him,
-promising to be at the office, however, next day.
-
-As Silwood travelled back to town there was a singular and enigmatic
-expression on his face; he was thinking that Eversleigh's consent to
-what he had proposed was not essential, and, this being so, that he
-would act alone.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI
-
-
-Francis Eversleigh returned to the office in Lincoln's Inn next day, and
-strove to take up his work again, but with indifferent success; the
-shadow of his impending ruin never lifted itself from his mind. On the
-other hand, Cooper Silwood, having determined to act alone, began to
-make preparations for carrying out his scheme.
-
-All that day Silwood was incessantly occupied with the ordinary business
-of that department of the office which was his special care. No man
-could have told from his aspect, or from the manner in which he did his
-business, that anything pressed heavily upon him; he seemed in no way
-different from the imperturbable, shrewd, capable lawyer people believed
-him always to be. But what he purposed doing was never absent from his
-thoughts.
-
-According to custom, at six o'clock Williamson brought him the letters
-for signature. This signing of the letters served as a sort of signal,
-for shortly afterwards the clerks left and the office was closed, though
-it was not an uncommon thing for Silwood to stay on by himself for
-another hour or two. The Eversleighs went earlier in order to catch the
-fast five-o'clock suburban train.
-
-At six o'clock Williamson went into Silwood's room with the letters; he
-placed them silently before his master, who read them over rapidly, and
-then affixed the firm's signature in his careful, small handwriting.
-Williamson stood waiting, while he tried to read his master's face, but
-Silwood's air was perfectly inscrutable.
-
-"I shall not go at once," said Silwood. "I have not quite finished; but
-there is no need for any one to stay."
-
-He gathered the letters together in a bunch, and passed them on to
-Williamson.
-
-"By the way," he asked, looking at the clerk with a sharp glance, "how
-does Mr. Eversleigh strike you? I'm afraid he's not very well."
-
-"I thought he seemed poorly--very poorly," replied Williamson. "I felt
-very sorry for him, and I ventured to suggest--having been with the firm
-so many years, sir--to him that he needed a holiday."
-
-"You did! That was good. It's my own idea, too. And what did he say?"
-
-"He said he was all right, or soon would be; there was nothing much the
-matter with him. Said it was the heat."
-
-"But about taking a holiday?"
-
-"He said it was not at all necessary."
-
-"Well, I agree with you, Mr. Williamson. It seems to me that he does
-need a change. I told him that also. I urged him to take a month off,
-but he won't hear of it. He keeps on saying he is not ill really--only a
-bit out of sorts owing to the hot weather. And it is hot, isn't it? I
-must confess I feel this frightful heat very much; the office is
-horribly close. Unless the weather becomes cooler, I declare I shall
-require a holiday myself. And if Mr. Eversleigh still persists in
-refusing a holiday--well, I believe I shall take one. I haven't had a
-real vacation for a very long time. But I had much rather he went."
-
-"You certainly have had no holiday, Mr. Silwood, for a long time--three
-or four years, it must be," said Williamson, immensely surprised at the
-turn the conversation had taken. "When would you think of going, sir?"
-
-"Oh, I haven't thought much about it all," replied Silwood; "my taking a
-holiday is only a possibility. Still, if this heat does not moderate, I
-should not wonder if I did go. But it's not settled."
-
-"I understand, sir," said Williamson, who, as a matter of fact, was
-completely mystified. "What's up now?" he asked himself. Still, on
-reflection, he had to admit there was no reason why Silwood should not
-take a holiday if he wished to do so.
-
-"That's all, I think," said Silwood; and with a nod he dismissed the
-head-clerk.
-
-Silwood waited for half an hour, so as to allow plenty of time for all
-the clerks to have left the office, and then he took a look into the
-various rooms to see if there was any one still there; but they were all
-empty. Satisfied on this point, he returned to his own room and shut
-himself in.
-
-Next he went to the large japanned box in the corner, touched the
-concealed spring, and laid open the secret chamber, from which he took a
-number of papers, including the sheet of figures against which were
-placed initials. He pored over these papers, studying them with the
-intentness of one who is committing a subject to memory. He made two or
-three alterations in the figures, and then put all the documents back
-in their hiding-place. He tried to close up the chamber, but the spring
-would not work properly. He tried again and again, but he did not
-succeed.
-
-With each failure his manner showed a rapidly rising agitation, an
-increasing apprehension, his usual impassivity dropping away from him
-completely. He examined the mechanism of the arrangement, but he could
-find nothing wrong with it; so far as he could see, it appeared to be in
-perfect order. As he struggled with it, his pale face became
-extraordinarily livid, his lips twitched convulsively, the perspiration
-stood in beads on his forehead. For he knew that if the box would not
-shut, then his scheme would tumble to pieces.
-
-He had almost given it up in despair when the accidental pressure of his
-knee against one of the sides of the box caused the spring to act, and
-the opening suddenly closed up of itself.
-
-Trembling and gasping, Silwood sat down and looked at the box as if it
-were some hateful living thing.
-
-"It ought to be seen to," he said to himself, "but I cannot permit any
-one to touch it. No one but myself must know of the secret chamber--that
-is vital. And yet--no, I must run the risk."
-
-He went on looking darkly at the box.
-
-"Oh, what a fright you gave me!" he said aloud to it, and then glanced
-about fearfully at the sound of his own voice. "How absurd!" he said to
-himself, reassuringly. "I must not let the thing get on my nerves like
-this."
-
-It was now not far from eight o'clock, which was the hour for Silwood's
-dinner. In a few minutes more, therefore, he betook himself to the
-restaurant in Holborn which he was in the habit of patronizing. A
-little after nine he walked back to Lincoln's Inn, which he entered by
-the small door at the side of the fine gateway opening into Lincoln's
-Inn Fields. He spoke to the porter for some seconds, and then went on to
-his private chambers in Stone Buildings, his rooms being on the top
-floor of the north-east corner building overlooking Chancery Lane. He
-had lived here for several years.
-
-After he had let himself in he locked the door, filled a black clay pipe
-and lit it, took an armchair and sat down. And there he sat for a long
-while very still and quiet, save for the puff--puff--puffing of the
-smoke from his lips. The pipe burnt itself out, and he looked at his
-watch.
-
-"It is too soon," he said to himself; and he filled a second black clay
-pipe. And this too he smoked out.
-
-With a leisurely movement he at length rose and went to the window,
-threw up the sash, and peered out into the half-darkness of the street.
-He ran his eye up and down Chancery Lane, and noted that all the lights
-except the street-lamps were out, and that the pavements were bare of
-human forms, save for one or two dark-flitting, shadowy beings.
-
-"It will soon be time," he thought; and he closed the window.
-
-He sat down again, and proceeded to smoke a third pipe. All the while he
-had been going over the details of his scheme; now he was thinking
-whether he had not been too abrupt in making the suggestion that he
-might take a holiday to Williamson.
-
-"What does it matter?" he concluded; "he knows nothing."
-
-He smoked on until twelve boomed through the air--the strokes came in a
-great volume of sound from the clocks in the Strand and from far and
-near. When it had died away, he put down his pipe, and walked into his
-bedroom.
-
-But it was not to go to bed.
-
-For, a few minutes later, a figure emerged from Cooper Silwood's
-bedroom--the figure of a man of the height and general build of Cooper
-Silwood, but otherwise not like him in the least. Yet it was he, though
-changed beyond recognition.
-
-His mien was that of a respectable workman in his everyday clothes. They
-were such clothes as might be worn by men of half a dozen different
-trades with equal appropriateness, so little distinctive of any one
-trade were they, and yet they stamped themselves unmistakably as a
-workman's clothes. Silwood wore them like one who was thoroughly at home
-in them; he moved at ease in them. To all appearance he was a workman,
-and from his bearing it might be guessed that the part he was playing
-was no new one. To be in this disguise was no novelty to him.
-
-That it was no new _rôle_ for him to assume was also manifest from the
-skill and success with which his face was made up. To begin with, the
-heavy brown wig he usually had on his head had disappeared, and he was
-now quite bald, with the exception of a narrow fringe of dark-grey hair
-round the base of the skull. He was no longer clean-shaven; an untidy
-blackish moustache covered his upper lip. A dark line had been pencilled
-on either side of his nose, these lines alone imparting to the face a
-marvellous change in its expression. Besides, the skin of the face had
-been slightly stained, as had also been that of the hands.
-
-His disguise was absolute. His own mother, as the phrase goes, would not
-have known him. He looked to the life the part he was playing. Mr.
-Cooper Silwood, the eminent solicitor, had disappeared, and a sober,
-respectable workman had taken his place.
-
-Could Francis Eversleigh now have seen this partner of his he would have
-had much food for thought; if he could have followed him he would have
-had much more.
-
-The night was now very still--the roar of London was hushed. Silwood
-opened his door gently, and listened. The stairs were lit, but no sound
-came from any of the chambers. Locking his door softly, he stole down
-into the court of Stone Buildings; they, too, were wrapped in silence.
-For a moment he stood still and strained his ears to catch the slightest
-noise, but there was not a breath. Taking from his pocket a key, he
-unlocked a small iron gate at the north-east corner of the court, and
-passed through it and went along a short narrow footway closed on the
-Chancery Lane side by another iron gate, which he opened, and so reached
-Chancery Lane. All this he did without hurry or confusion. It was plain
-that he had got out of Lincoln's Inn by this footway many times before.
-Yet it was believed to be shut up every evening by the porter, who was
-supposed to be the only person possessing the keys of the gates.
-
-From this footway--which is not much used even in the day-time, and is
-hardly to be noticed at all in the night-time--to Holborn is but a step.
-Silwood found Chancery Lane deserted; no one saw him emerge from the
-Inn. He was quickly in Holborn, and set out eastwards at a rapid pace.
-And on he went, mile after mile, stepping out briskly, through the city
-proper, and on, on beyond it until he reached one of the great districts
-of East-End London, where in small humble houses, huddled together in a
-wilderness of mean streets, thousands upon thousands live out their
-obscure and uneventful lives.
-
-Silwood went on like a man who knows his way well. Never once did he
-pause until he reached the end of his journey. He halted at a door in
-Douglas Street, Stepney, and knocked a peculiar knock. Two or three
-minutes passed, and then a light was shown at the window, whereupon
-Silwood knocked in the same way a second time.
-
-"Is it you, James?" asked a woman's voice, as the door was partially
-opened.
-
-"Yes, Meg; let me in," said Silwood.
-
-"I did not expect you," she said, while Silwood embraced her
-affectionately. "Is anything the matter?"
-
-The woman who put the question was a plump, personable woman of about
-forty, with kindly brown eyes and a tender mouth. She loved but was
-rather afraid of this man, who yet was always good and kind to her. But
-he had told her very little about himself. She knew he was engaged in
-some mysterious business which necessitated long absences from her, and
-the wearing of a disguise; she had tried to guess the nature of his
-business, and had come to the conclusion that it was some kind of secret
-police work.
-
-Any romance there was in Silwood's life was connected with this woman,
-of whom he was sincerely fond, though he was still fonder of their
-child. Some years before, an accident one evening in the street led to
-his meeting her, and he took a fancy to her. The thing jumping well
-with other things he followed her up and married her, though he was
-careful not to let her know who he was.
-
-When with her and the child Silwood was another man; he seemed to have
-shed like a skin the cold formality which characterized him in Lincoln's
-Inn; his very nature appeared changed.
-
-"Is anything the matter?" she asked.
-
-"No, Meg, though there's news. But how is Davy?"
-
-"Poor lamb! He's as usual. He's asleep just now."
-
-"Let me see him," said Silwood.
-
-They went into a bedroom, and in a cot was their child. The boy was a
-cripple--he had been born a cripple, and the parents were all the more
-attached to him on that account. There is no explaining the workings of
-human nature; Silwood, who had confessed himself a criminal to his
-partner, Eversleigh, was deeply attached to the boy. He now gazed at the
-sleeping child, and the love that shone in his eyes was as pure as an
-angel's.
-
-"Poor lad! dear lad!" he said, and there were tears in his voice.
-
-Then the father and mother tip-toed out of the room.
-
-"You said there was news, James," suggested the wife.
-
-"Yes, I think you won't live here much longer. My business will take me
-abroad, and I dare say I will by-and-by--it may be very soon--send for
-you. I may be away from England for a long time."
-
-"Away from England!" she murmured. "Oh, James! Where is it you are
-going?"
-
-"I don't know," he answered; "I am not quite sure yet. I'll let you know
-in a few days, and meanwhile I want you to get ready, so that you can
-travel at a minute's notice."
-
-"Yes, James; it's rather sudden, but I'll do what you tell me."
-
-"Now I must leave you," he said.
-
-She was accustomed to these abrupt partings, but as he was going she
-hung upon his neck while he kissed her repeatedly.
-
-The following day he was at his office at half-past ten, looking as if
-it were impossible for such a man as he to lead a double life.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII
-
-
-The day on which Harry Bennet wired that he had drawn on Eversleigh,
-Silwood and Eversleigh, for two thousand pounds, was the first day of
-the Goodwood meeting.
-
-Bennet was a man who lost and won large sums on the turf, and it was not
-in the least unusual for him to wager several thousands on a single
-event, especially if it were one of the greater races. With him betting
-was a disease, a mania, so strong and uncontrolled ran the gambling
-fever in his blood.
-
-His love for Kitty Thornton was genuine, but it had to take a second
-place to this appalling madness.
-
-When he saw her and Helen and Gilbert Eversleigh in the punt on the
-river, he told himself as he rowed up-stream that he must lose no time
-in declaring himself to the girl. He cursed Gilbert in his thoughts, but
-believed his chance was at least as good as his rival's. And if it had
-not been for some racing business he was compelled to attend to that
-evening, he would have gone to Ivydene. If he had, the probability is
-that Kitty and Gilbert would not have been left alone that night under
-the white magic of the moon, and their engagement would not have taken
-place--at least, not at that particular time.
-
-If he had gone to Ivydene that evening it is more than possible that the
-life-current of their lives would have changed its course.
-
-In any case, that evening of fate passed, and next day, being the
-opening at Goodwood, saw Harry on the course plunging wildly and losing
-heavily. Nor had he any luck that afternoon--hence the draft for two
-thousand on the solicitors, after he had exhausted his ready money.
-
-The second day at Goodwood brought him a little better fortune, and he
-came out of it without positive disaster. It was not necessary to call
-for more funds.
-
-In the first race on the third day his own horse, Go Nap, ran. It was
-known that the animal had done fairly well in its trials, and there was
-a good deal of outside money on it. Harry, of course, backed it. Go Nap
-won handsomely, and from that moment Harry's luck changed. Plunging more
-recklessly than ever, he more than succeeded in recovering himself. At
-the end of the day he was a heavy winner.
-
-He made his biggest coup on a horse which lost. Harry had laid against
-it, although it was a hot favourite. It should have won on its form
-quite easily, everybody said, and there were rumours of foul play. An
-investigation was talked of and eventually was held, but nothing came of
-it. The impression, however, was that there had been some "crooked work"
-in the matter. None was more forward in denying it than Bennet.
-Fortunately for him, it was not known that he had won a large sum, or
-there might have been suspicions of his good faith. And presently the
-disputings, the angry arguments, the murmurings, the bickerings, died
-away, but what had happened was not forgotten.
-
-On the fourth day of the meeting Bennet was again a winner, though the
-total of his gains was not so great as that of the day before. Taken
-altogether, however, it had been an excellent Goodwood for him, and he
-was correspondingly elated.
-
-His home was at Hampton Court, and he returned to it in high feather.
-The first thing he did next morning was to go to Ivydene. He had made up
-his mind to speak to Kitty of his passion, and to ask her to be his
-wife. Being away at the races he had not heard of her engagement, and
-intoxicated with his success at Goodwood he felt himself a conquering
-hero, who had only to come, and be seen, to triumph instantly.
-
-He found Kitty at home and alone, nor did the maiden seem displeased to
-see him. She had no suspicion, however, of the nature of his errand.
-
-He was so full of his good fortune at the races, that, as soon as the
-customary greetings were over, he forthwith launched out into the story
-of his four days' campaign. Kitty had a pretty natural gift of listening
-sympathetically, and the young man was greatly pleased with the interest
-she manifested in his narrative--so much so that his spirit glowed
-within him. And, of course, Kitty congratulated him on the victory of
-his horse, Go Nap, and on his other successes.
-
-As he looked at the beautiful girl, a strong desire came upon him to
-speak to her at once of his passion, but a certain novel bashfulness,
-arising from the very reality of the love he felt for her, restrained
-him at the moment. Instead of going to the point at once, he began by
-asking in the most banal fashion if she had any news.
-
-Now, Kitty had two great pieces of news--one of them a very great piece
-of news indeed; one was the coming of her father, the other her
-engagement to Gilbert Eversleigh. It was of the first she chose to
-speak.
-
-"News? Yes," said Kitty, eagerly, "great news. Have you heard that my
-father is expected here from Canada next week?--but, perhaps, you have
-heard of it."
-
-"No, I have not heard of it. Rather sudden, is it not?" asked Bennet.
-"You did not know of it, I think, Miss Kitty, when I saw you some days
-ago."
-
-"I had a letter from my father the very next morning."
-
-"He arrives next week, you say? On what day do you look for him?"
-
-"That I can't tell you, for he has not mentioned any fixed day; but he
-will be here very soon. And, oh! I shall be glad to see him!"
-
-"Yes. It will be a great pleasure to you to see him again."
-
-"It will make me very happy," said Kitty, simply, who was now counting
-the days and finding them somewhat long.
-
-While the girl was speaking, Bennet was thinking that it would be better
-for him to declare himself before the arrival of her father. Did he put
-it off till afterwards, it was probable that Morris Thornton would make
-some inquiries about him--in which case his infatuation for betting and
-horse-racing would be bound to come out, and Thornton might take a
-severe view of his conduct. But the matter would appear in a different
-light if he were engaged to Kitty before her father's appearance on the
-scene.
-
-They had been sitting in the drawing-room of Ivydene quite near each
-other. Suddenly, to Kitty's surprise, Bennet rose, and with outstretched
-hands stood in front of her. He gave her no time to check him--his words
-flowed like a torrent.
-
-"Miss Kitty, your father will make you happy; will you not make me happy
-too? You can make me the happiest of men. I love you, you darling Kitty!
-Tell me that you do not regard me with indifference! Tell me that you
-will not refuse my love, Kitty! Do not send me away from your sweet
-presence. I love you, I adore you for your beauty, for your sweetness,
-for yourself. Kitty, do you love me? I will do anything and everything a
-man can to show you I love you. Kitty, dearest, tell me----"
-
-Springing a step forward, he tried to clasp her in his arms, but she
-retreated and then waved him back.
-
-Bennet had spoken well, and with a rough sincerity which the girl could
-not but feel. She tried to stop him, but he would not be stopped. As he
-had gone on, her face had paled and her eyes had grown full of trouble
-and distress. She now blamed herself for not putting her second piece of
-news before the other. Trouble and distress also showed themselves in
-the agitation with which she replied to him.
-
-"Harry, I'm so sorry. What you ask is impossible!"
-
-"Impossible! You don't mean it, Kitty, surely," exclaimed Bennet. "Oh,
-say you don't mean it!"
-
-He was so cocksure of himself and of her that he could not believe she
-was in earnest. His self-confidence was so great that it blinded him,
-otherwise he must have seen that she had no such answer to give him as
-he wished.
-
-"Yes, it is impossible," she said, quietly and firmly. "I am very sorry
-to pain you, Harry, very sorry indeed; you may be quite sure of that."
-
-The young man's eyes filled with an angry light while the hot colour
-flushed his cheeks.
-
-"It is your love I want, not your sorrow," he said roughly.
-
-"That I cannot give you," said Kitty. "Wait a moment, Harry. A few
-minutes ago you asked me if I had any news. Well, I did not tell you all
-the news. There was one piece of news I felt a certain reticence about.
-I wish now I had mentioned it to you. For, if I had done so you would
-not have said--what you have said. It is that I am engaged to be
-married."
-
-"Oh, Kitty!" cried Bennet, in a voice that seemed to ask her how she
-dared become engaged to any one but himself. "You are engaged! This is
-news indeed ... I wish I had known ... engaged!" And Bennet, who was not
-able to contain his rage and mortification, glowered at the girl, as
-these words came brokenly from him. Then he looked at her for some
-seconds in silence, and his look was not pleasant.
-
-"I am sorry," said Kitty once more, but her accent was cold. She thought
-he was not behaving prettily, and that it was time for him to go.
-
-"May I ask who is the lucky man?" he inquired, his face dark with
-wrath; but in his heart he had already guessed that Gilbert Eversleigh
-was his successful rival.
-
-"I do not know that you have any right to address me as you are doing,"
-said Kitty with dignity. "You asked a question and you have had your
-answer." But as she looked at Bennet she relented a little. "I am sorry
-to disappoint you, Harry," she went on, "but there is nothing more to be
-said."
-
-"I suppose it is Gilbert," said Bennet.
-
-Kitty nodded assent.
-
-Bennet gazed at her gloomily; there was something threatening in the
-black gleams he shot at her.
-
-"Have you no good wishes for me?" she asked, making an effort to remind
-him that he should at least try to play the part of a gentleman.
-
-But Bennet only glared at her speechlessly.
-
-At length, muttering some words so incoherently that the girl could not
-catch them, he turned and left the room abruptly.
-
-And he kept muttering the same words over and over again as he returned
-to his home; they made an infernal chorus in his thoughts, the burden of
-which was, "She shall never marry you, Master Gilbert, never, never, if
-I can prevent her. She shall marry me, me, me, nobody but me." And yet,
-even while he kept on saying this to himself, he could not conceal from
-his innermost soul that he was powerless. Kitty and Gilbert were
-engaged; there was the bitter fact. Still, he whispered in his heart,
-they were not married, and until Kitty was actually united to Gilbert
-there was always room for a little hope.
-
-Of Gilbert Eversleigh he thought with burning hatred, and longed for an
-opportunity of doing him an injury. In his first rage he had an idea
-that he would withdraw all his business from Eversleigh, Silwood and
-Eversleigh, but after he had somewhat cooled he came to the conclusion
-not to do so. The firm, he argued, was far too big and well-established
-and wealthy to be hurt much by the loss of a single client like him.
-Bennet's opinion of the standing of the firm was the same as that held
-by everybody else. Besides, there was another reason for continuing with
-the Lincoln's Inn solicitors. He told himself that if he placed his
-affairs in the hands of other lawyers, Francis Eversleigh would
-inevitably be displeased, and this would lead to a coolness between them
-which would make it impossible for him to visit at Ivydene. But while
-Kitty remained beneath the roof of Francis Eversleigh, Bennet had no
-desire to cut himself off from seeing her there. And he meant to go on
-seeing her. For, so long as she was unmarried he did not altogether
-despair. He said to himself that he would wait and see if chance did not
-throw something in his way.
-
-As for Kitty, she thought it best to say not a word to Gilbert of Harry
-Bennet's proposal, but she took an opportunity of cautioning her lover
-to beware of him.
-
-To say that Kitty was amazed and dismayed at the presumptuousness, the
-boorishness, the bad manners Bennet had exhibited, would give but a
-faint indication of what she felt. She considered his behaviour, with
-its unconcealed menace, little short of an outrage. Yet, at the same
-time, an alarmed instinct in her apprised her that the man was
-dangerous, and that vigilance was necessary in dealing with him.
-
-Gilbert was rather inclined gently to laugh down the warning Kitty gave
-him; in his abounding happiness he smiled at her fears, but she insisted
-none the less that Bennet was a man to be watched.
-
-"You must always be on your guard with him," she said.
-
-"What can he do, my darling?" asked Gilbert. "Nothing," he said, with
-reassuring caresses.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII
-
-
-It was now approaching the end of the week, and still there was no sign
-of Morris Thornton, to the intense disappointment of his daughter Kitty,
-who was all impatience to see him.
-
-As each day in that week of terror to Francis Eversleigh went past, he
-sank further and further into a slough of despond, and became a prey to
-deep melancholy. The routine of his office work, with its appeal to
-long-established habit, and the pressure to keep up appearances so far
-as it was possible, helped him a little during the day; but in the
-evenings, when his family were around him, and in the long, broken
-nights, when his wife lay asleep by his side, he abandoned himself to
-the deepest dejection.
-
-Going to his office each morning, he speculated drearily, with aching
-heart, whether this day or the next would see Morris Thornton walk in,
-bringing ruin with him. "How am I to meet him?" Eversleigh asked himself
-over and over again, but saw no answer.
-
-Silwood had not spoken to him again except on such items of business as
-had to be discussed by them together. These consultations would have had
-something farcical in them for him if the situation had not been so
-wholly tragical. He marvelled at the matter-of-fact way Silwood went
-about these and other affairs.
-
-Very quietly and methodically Silwood went on maturing his plans, nor
-did he refer to them any more when talking to Eversleigh; but he had
-paid another visit in disguise to Douglas Street, Stepney, and had
-warned his wife to be ready to move when he gave the word. He had also
-intimated, but more plainly, to Williamson, that he would take a holiday
-very soon--his reason, he alleged for taking it, being the great heat
-which still continued. Never had there been known so hot a July.
-Williamson admitted in his thoughts that the reason was an excellent
-one, but wondered why Mr. Eversleigh, who continued to look very ill,
-did not talk of taking a vacation instead of his partner, who seemed to
-be very much in his usual health.
-
-On the Saturday of that week, Cooper Silwood, whose punctuality had
-hitherto been invariable, did not appear at the office when half-past
-ten came round, and Williamson waited for him in vain for some time. A
-little after eleven, however, the head-clerk received a note from him,
-saying that he had gone to the Continent, and intended making for the
-north of Italy, where he had been some years before. He went on to say
-he was not certain how long he would be away, but it would be for two or
-three weeks, perhaps a month.
-
-Carefully as Silwood had prepared the way, Williamson could not but be
-surprised at the suddenness with which, in the end, his principal had
-departed, and naturally his suspicions of there being something wrong
-were increased; but they remained indefinite and vague, for he could
-fasten on nothing tangible.
-
-In the course of the morning, Francis Eversleigh, for the purpose of
-asking Silwood a question, went into the latter's room, and found it
-empty. It was evident, too, from the state in which it was, that
-Silwood had not been there that day. He at once leapt to the conclusion
-that Silwood had gone away--in plain terms, had absconded--an
-eventuality for which he was not altogether unprepared, as it had been
-part of the scheme Silwood had mooted to him after the confession of the
-defalcations, and also on the occasion of their interview at Ivydene.
-
-Still, this might not be the explanation, and Eversleigh, after a few
-seconds' thought, put on his hat and walked up to Silwood's private
-chambers in Stone Buildings. Here he found the door locked, and a sheet
-of paper pinned to it, on which was written, "Out of Town."
-
-His conjecture thus confirmed, it was none the less a terrible shock to
-Francis Eversleigh; even though he had anticipated it, it was
-nevertheless hard to bear.
-
-"He has left me to stand it all alone," he thought, but even as he said
-this to himself, his common sense reasserted itself. "But what will his
-flight benefit him? Ultimately he will be hunted down; he cannot escape
-the law; no one can."
-
-Then, hardly knowing what he was doing, he tried the door again, pulling
-at the handle with all his might, but it was to no purpose. He stood
-gazing gloomily at the closed door.
-
-"I have a great mind to have it broken open," he muttered. "I can easily
-frame some excuse for doing so--say he has forgotten something. But if I
-did have the door opened, what would be the use? What good would it do?
-It would not bring him back; it would not bring the money back. No, best
-leave it alone."
-
-Moving with slow, halting steps down the stairs, he kept asking himself
-the question, "What am I to do now?" His agony of mind was almost beyond
-human endurance as this question incessantly hammered on his brain,
-obscuring and dulling his powers. Then, in a muddled sort of way, he
-began to reason.
-
-First, he might go to the authorities and incriminate himself; but no
-one, he told himself, was required to do that; it was too much to expect
-any one to do.
-
-Second, he might destroy himself, and so make an end. Was this not the
-best course to pursue? With this idea in his mind, he remembered a shop
-in the Strand, in the window of which he had seen revolvers for sale.
-Why not buy one and be done with it all? "Why not?" he asked himself,
-and turned his face towards the Strand. But he had only gone a few paces
-when the thought of his wife and children was too poignant to allow him
-to proceed further with his desperate purpose, and so he faced about and
-returned to New Square, thinking, thinking of what he was to do.
-
-There was only one thing to do, he concluded, and that was to continue
-doing his work at the office as best he could till the crash came. It
-could not be long in coming, he reflected with indescribable bitterness,
-for was not Morris Thornton already overdue?
-
-He had scarcely got seated in his own room when his son Ernest came in,
-and remarked that Mr. Silwood had gone for a holiday.
-
-"I had not heard that he intended going," he went on; "in fact, I was
-astonished to hear of his taking a holiday just now. Mr. Williamson
-tells me he has left for the Continent."
-
-"Yes," said Francis Eversleigh, somewhat vacantly, "he has gone for a
-holiday. I suppose I have forgotten to mention to you that he was going
-abroad for a while," he continued, pulling himself together. "He has not
-had a holiday for some years."
-
-"I see. By-the-way," said Ernest, "who in his absence is to look after
-his department?"
-
-"I'll do so myself," observed the other, quietly.
-
-"But, father," objected Ernest, "you are not well enough----"
-
-"Oh, yes, I am," protested Eversleigh. "I'll attend to it myself, my
-boy."
-
-"Why not let me do it?"
-
-"I had rather not," answered his father, sharply; "I prefer to do it
-myself."
-
-Eversleigh knew very well that it would never do to let any one but
-himself look after Silwood's department.
-
-The day of Silwood's disappearance wore to its end; the next day,
-Sunday, passed. It saw the lovers at Ivydene much engrossed with
-themselves, but not to such an extent as to prevent many comments on the
-delay in Morris Thornton's coming, and some surmises as to its cause,
-the chief of which was that he was carrying out his idea of giving Kitty
-a "surprise"--carrying it a little further than she had expected. Though
-she was disappointed, she was not alarmed.
-
-On the Monday of that week, Francis Eversleigh, looking more haggard and
-wretched than before, was again at 176, New Square.
-
-"Will Thornton come to-day?" he asked himself, despairingly.
-
-He strove to keep calm and hide his sufferings from the world, but every
-moment was torture. Yet Monday went the way of all former Mondays, and
-still Morris Thornton did not come. And so it was with Tuesday, and
-Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday; the week was gone,
-and Thornton had not appeared!
-
-Pondering this fact, Eversleigh, who remembered what Thornton had said
-about his ill-health, was inclined to the conclusion that somewhere on
-the road his old friend had had an attack, and had broken down. But, if
-this were the case, why had he not sent, or caused to be sent, a message
-to the firm or to his daughter? Eversleigh knew she had not heard
-anything further from her father, nor had the firm heard from Thornton.
-
-In one sense, the non-appearance of Thornton was a relief to Francis
-Eversleigh--it put the day of judgment off; but in another, the
-prolonging of the suspense intensified his mental agony.
-
-Thornton's silence was as terrible as it was really inexplicable.
-
-Kitty, who was not aware of her father's serious condition, and hence
-could not frame from that circumstance a possible explanation of his not
-coming, was greatly perplexed.
-
-At first she felt no fear, and kept saying to herself and to Gilbert--to
-whom, of course, she talked of all that was in her heart--that she would
-see her father to-morrow or next day; but to-morrow became to-day, and
-next day to-morrow, and yet he did not appear. And there was nothing
-from him--not a single line!
-
-Gilbert, lover-like, did his utmost to cheer her, saying what was
-obviously probable--her father had been unexpectedly delayed, but would
-be here very soon, and so on--and he spoke with such cheeriness that
-she gained some confidence from his. But as the days sped by, and Morris
-Thornton came not nor sent word, her apprehensions increased, and all
-Gilbert's loving speeches could not allay them. Gilbert, too, began to
-wonder not a little what it all meant.
-
-It at length became evident to him that there was something peculiarly
-significant in the non-appearance and silence of Morris Thornton. He
-spoke what was in his mind to his father, who, in reply, told him the
-only hypothesis he could form was that Thornton had fallen ill at some
-point in the course of the journey, though that did not account for
-nothing being heard of him. Gilbert now learned for the first time of
-the precarious state of Thornton's health. He agreed with his father
-that nothing should be said about it to Kitty, as it could not but add
-to her anxiety.
-
-But what Gilbert had heard made him comply all the more eagerly with a
-suggestion Kitty offered on the next Sunday, when they were talking on
-this subject, which temporarily had assumed more importance almost than
-their love.
-
-This was that a cablegram should be sent to Vancouver to Morris
-Thornton, asking when she was to expect to see him in London.
-
-Gilbert despatched the cablegram for her from the Central Telegraph
-Office in the Strand, on his return to town late that evening.
-
-No answer was received by the girl till far on in the afternoon of
-Monday.
-
-The first thing she noticed on looking at the reply message was that it
-was not signed by her father, but by his local agent.
-
-Then she read the whole cablegram, which ran--
-
-"Your father sailed from New York for Southampton by _St. Louis_, July
-21. No further advices. Wallace."
-
-"July 21," said Kitty to herself. "Why, he ought to have been here a
-week ago at least."
-
-For it was now Monday, August 9th!
-
-Eighteen days had elapsed since the sailing of the _St. Louis_ from New
-York, on July 21st!
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX
-
-
-What was the explanation? Kitty wondered, much perplexed.
-
-Her father had left Vancouver and had gone to New York--so she gathered
-from the cablegram. And as he had not been to see her she concluded that
-he could not be in England, and that meant in the circumstances that he
-had not sailed from New York on the 21st of July as he had intended.
-Gilbert had suggested to her that her father had been unexpectedly
-detained, and at first, as this seemed a probable solution of the
-problem, she was inclined to think this was what had occurred.
-
-But, as she reflected further, it did not seem so likely. For supposing
-he had been forced to delay his journey for a whole week, and had
-exchanged his berth on the _St. Louis_ for one on the boat of the same
-line sailing a week later, that is, on the 28th, there would still have
-been plenty of time for him to have arrived in England and to have seen
-her, as he would have reached Southampton by the 3rd of August, or by
-the 4th at latest. And it was now the 9th!
-
-As Kitty tried to puzzle the matter out, her fears, vague, but none the
-less distressing, were greatly increased, and she began to suspect that
-something, she knew not what, had happened to her father.
-
-Gilbert, now as anxious as Kitty was, was at Surbiton in the evening to
-hear what news she had received from Vancouver, and he was as much
-bewildered as she by the cablegram from Wallace, Morris Thornton's
-agent. All he could do was to remind her, as he had done before, that
-the delay in her father's coming, as well as his silence, might all be
-part of his scheme to "surprise" her. But Kitty replied that this made
-her father out as unkind in the extreme; she was sure he would never
-willingly put such a strain upon her affection.
-
-"I can't make it out at all," she said, wrinkling her pretty brows. "It
-seems very singular that he does not write."
-
-Then an idea struck her. It was that there might be, on a careful
-re-reading of the letter she had received from her father, in which he
-had said he was returning to England, some words which would afford a
-clue.
-
-"I shall look at his letter again," she said to Gilbert, and went up to
-her room to fetch it.
-
-"He writes," remarked the girl, when she had brought it down, "quite
-positively 'I will come in a few days after you receive this.' 'A few
-days,' he says. If he had sailed on the 21st of July and came here
-to-morrow--why, it would be nearly three weeks, and you can't call that
-a few days."
-
-"No," assented Gilbert; "but, Kitty, it's hardly three weeks. If he had
-sailed on the 21st he would have been here about the 28th or the 29th.
-You see what's left is more like ten days than three weeks. But what is
-the date of your father's letter?"
-
-"July 11th."
-
-"And when did you get it, dear?"
-
-"Oh, Gilbert, don't you know, don't you remember?" asked Kitty, with
-some reproach in her voice. "Surely, you cannot have forgotten that I
-got it on the very day you told me that you loved me!"
-
-"Ah, sweetheart," quickly replied Gilbert, taking her hand and pressing
-it tenderly, "I've been so happy that I have lost all count of time--I
-forget everything but you, my darling!"
-
-"A pretty speech," exclaimed Kitty, smiling upon him while her hand
-returned the pressure of his, "and I suppose I must forgive you,
-Gilbert. But about this letter of father's. Well, it came just sixteen
-days ago to-day. Now, sixteen days are not exactly a few days, are
-they?" she asked, sticking to her point.
-
-"It was on the 24th that his letter came," said Gilbert.
-
-"So you have remembered the date, sir?" cried Kitty.
-
-"I had not really forgotten, dear; but thinking about your father had,
-for the moment, put it out of mind."
-
-"Oh, yes, I know, Gilbert," she said, a little absently.
-
-He devoured her with eyes of love, but he noticed that her thoughts were
-not with him. They had reverted to her father.
-
-"I think I see how it all fits in," she said, after a long pause, "for
-his sailing on the 21st. He wrote me on the 11th; that gave him ten days
-to wind up his business in Vancouver, so far as he could wind it up, and
-to get to New York in--five days in Vancouver, and five days for the
-journey to New York. If he had sailed on the 21st, as he said to his
-agent he would, he would have been here on the 28th or 29th, that is, in
-three or four days after his letter. Now three, four, or even let us say
-five days, would be a few days--just as he says in his letter. I can
-see he had planned it all out, so as to fit everything in. Don't you see
-that, Gilbert?"
-
-"It certainly looks like it, dear."
-
-"Yes, it does. It is very strange that he did not carry out his
-intention. I cannot understand it. There is some mystery about it I
-cannot fathom."
-
-"It seems singular," observed Gilbert; "but I dare say that, if we knew
-all the circumstances, there would be a perfectly natural explanation,
-sweetheart. Pray do not give way, my darling," he besought her, but his
-own manner was not reassuring.
-
-"I cannot help being anxious," replied Kitty. Then she looked again at
-the cablegram from Wallace, and said, "The agent wires, 'Your father
-sailed from New York by _St. Louis_ on 21st.' That is quite definite, is
-it not? And he adds, 'No further advices.' Does that mean that father
-had advised Mr. Wallace that he had sailed? Oh, Gilbert, I am afraid, I
-am afraid! We imagine that the agent knew only of father's intention--an
-intention, we suppose, he was prevented from carrying out. But think
-what it means if we are wrong in imagining this altogether! Suppose that
-father did sail on the 21st! Gilbert, I am afraid," said Kitty, in a low
-tone; "I am afraid," she repeated, and the girl's voice suddenly fell
-into a whisper. She shivered slightly, and the tears stood in her eyes
-as she clung to her lover.
-
-Gilbert took her in his arms, soothed and caressed her. In the course of
-their conversation he had tried to put the best construction on Morris
-Thornton's non-appearance, but at heart he felt, like Kitty, that there
-was good ground for misgiving. And to have told the girl what he knew,
-but she did not know, of the serious condition of her father, would be
-only to add to her trouble. As for himself, that knowledge made him
-appreciate the gravity of the matter even more than she did. He
-resolved, therefore, to set inquiries on foot at once, and furthermore
-to set to work vigorously himself to probe the thing to the bottom.
-
-Next morning, accordingly, he went to the office of the American Line in
-London--the line of steamships to which the _St. Louis_ belonged--and
-asked the clerk who waited on him for a list of the passengers who had
-sailed from New York by that vessel, on July 21st.
-
-The list was handed to him immediately. A cursory glance showed him that
-the name of Morris Thornton was on it.
-
-Dumfounded, he stared at the list, saying nothing. His surprise was so
-marked that the clerk could not help noticing it, and was surprised in
-his turn.
-
-"It does not mean," said Gilbert at length, "at least, always, I
-suppose, that because an individual's name is on the steamer list he
-must necessarily have sailed, does it? I mean that he might be detained
-at the last moment."
-
-"That, of course, is possible," replied the clerk. "The list is printed
-some little while before the ship sails. But I can tell you if there was
-any one on the list who in the end did not sail, if that is what you
-wish to know."
-
-"That is very kind of you," said Gilbert, but he paused, reflecting that
-a question of this kind was a somewhat delicate one. And he was aware
-that the clerk was eyeing him curiously, almost suspiciously.
-
-"Perhaps," said the clerk, "it would be simpler and better if you told
-me about whom you desire to ask. Is there any name on the list in which
-you are particularly interested?"
-
-Gilbert noticed that the clerk was studying his face with marked
-intentness, and he wondered why; he understood later.
-
-"I see on the list," said Gilbert at length, "the name of Mr. Morris
-Thornton."
-
-"Mr. Morris Thornton!" exclaimed the clerk, whose tone was such as
-showed there was something out of the common attaching to the name.
-
-"Yes, Mr. Thornton," Gilbert went on. "Can you tell me if he sailed by
-the _St. Louis_ on the 21st?"
-
-"Are you a friend of Mr. Thornton's?" inquired the clerk, in an eager
-voice.
-
-"In a sense, yes," replied Gilbert. "But you have not answered my
-question."
-
-"In a sense," said the clerk, repeating Gilbert's first words; then he
-continued, "I have a most special reason for asking if you are a friend
-of his. What do you mean, sir, by saying that you are a friend of his in
-a sense?"
-
-"Well, I am engaged to his daughter. She expected to see her father some
-days ago, but he has not arrived. She knew he intended sailing from New
-York on the 21st, though she only knew of it yesterday. She became
-alarmed on not seeing him or hearing from him, and she cabled to his
-agent in Vancouver, and in that way learned that her father was to have
-sailed on the 21st. She asked me to make inquiries. I shall be glad if
-you can help me. Can you tell me if Mr. Thornton sailed on the _St.
-Louis_ or not?"
-
-"Mr. Thornton," answered the clerk, in a queer, half-frightened voice,
-"did sail by the _St. Louis_!"
-
-"What! Are you sure of that?"
-
-"Absolutely."
-
-Gilbert had a staggering sense that he was on the edge of some
-extraordinary affair, and he gazed earnestly at the clerk, who looked at
-him with corresponding intentness.
-
-"Have you anything more to tell me?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"I think it would be better if you spoke to the manager," said the
-clerk. "Would you mind coming in to see him?"
-
-"Not at all; but why?"
-
-"Well, you are not the only one who has been making inquiries about Mr.
-Thornton--I may tell you that; but, please come into the manager's
-room."
-
-Gilbert saw the manager, and explained his errand.
-
-"I am afraid," said the manager, speaking in an impressive voice, "that
-something may have happened to Mr. Thornton; indeed, I have very little
-doubt of it."
-
-"Why?"
-
-"Mr. Thornton did sail from New York as he intended; not only so, he
-landed at Southampton in due course, and came on to London on the 29th
-of last month. On that day he took a room at the Law Courts Hotel in
-Holborn. These are the facts."
-
-"How do you know he went to the Law Courts Hotel, may I ask?"
-
-"I have it from the hotel people themselves, and why they told me of it
-you will presently understand. It appears that Mr. Thornton was a good
-deal of an invalid; at any rate, shortly after he got to his hotel he
-was taken very seriously ill--he had a violent heart-attack of the most
-alarming character. He fell down in the hall of the hotel and became
-unconscious. He was immediately conveyed to his bed and a doctor was
-summoned."
-
-"Ah," said Gilbert, interrupting him, "I knew that he had a weak heart.
-But, pardon me, pray continue."
-
-"Mr. Thornton was successfully treated by the doctor, and after some
-hours recovered, but he remained in bed for the rest of that day and
-most of the next."
-
-"He got better," said Gilbert, beginning to breathe more freely. "That
-is good news."
-
-"Oh, but wait," said the manager. "I have not finished yet. He stopped
-in bed at his hotel most of the next day, as I have already told
-you--that was the 30th, you will remember. He improved so much that he
-told the attendant who had been detailed to look after his comfort, that
-he felt quite equal to getting up, and though the attendant remonstrated
-with him he persisted and did get up. You follow me, Mr. Eversleigh?"
-
-"Perfectly," replied Gilbert, who saw that something very unusual was
-coming, and was most eager to hear the end of the story.
-
-"Mr. Thornton had dinner at the _table d'hôte_--he was as well as that,
-you understand. After dinner he sat for quite a time chatting with two
-or three of the other guests, and, rather late in the evening, he
-announced his intention of going out for a short stroll; he said the
-fresh air would do him good. And he did go out."
-
-The manager paused, and looked at Gilbert significantly.
-
-"He went out," he resumed, "but he has never returned."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X
-
-
-"What?" cried Gilbert; he felt as if some one had struck him a sudden
-blow.
-
-"He has never returned to the hotel," said the manager, very seriously.
-
-"Ah! to the hotel, but where----" Gilbert stopped without completing the
-question, while excitement struggled with anxiety within his breast. He
-gazed imploringly at the other.
-
-"He did not return to the Law Courts Hotel that evening," the manager
-went on, "and nothing has been seen or heard of him since."
-
-Gilbert smothered an ejaculation. What a thing, he thought, to have to
-tell Kitty!
-
-"That was the state of the case up to yesterday," continued the manager.
-"I have had no communication on the subject this morning, but if you
-like, I will ring up the hotel on the 'phone--there may be fresh news."
-
-"Thanks; but one moment, please. You had what you have just told me from
-the hotel people?"
-
-"Yes, and also from the police who are now moving in the matter, though
-I am not aware of their having found out anything."
-
-"The police!" exclaimed Gilbert, almost protestingly, but even as he
-spoke he knew it was a fit and proper case for the police to take up.
-"Please go on," he said.
-
-"Of course," resumed the manager, "the police had to be called in.
-Between ourselves I think they should have been called in sooner than
-they were, but at the same time it must be acknowledged that the hotel
-authorities were in a difficult position; people in their business are
-always anxious not to interfere with the freedom of their guests, so
-they make allowance for eccentricities and what might be considered
-rather erratic movements."
-
-"I understand," said Gilbert. "Perhaps you will now tell me just what
-action the hotel people took--you can ring them up later."
-
-"Very well. Mr. Thornton went out from the hotel late that Friday
-night--the 30th of July was a Friday--and on his way out he spoke to the
-porter, saying he would go along Holborn and take a turn, it might be,
-up and down Chancery Lane, if it was pretty quiet."
-
-"The porter remembered that distinctly, I presume?"
-
-"Yes, perfectly. He did not see Mr. Thornton return, but he thought
-nothing of this, imagining that Mr. Thornton had gone back into the
-hotel when he, the porter, happened to be away for a minute from the
-door."
-
-"I must see that porter," Gilbert broke in. Was he, he wondered, the
-last man to see Thornton alive? For, already, a conviction was springing
-up within him that Thornton was no more, and that this was the mournful
-intelligence he would have to carry to Kitty.
-
-"Certainly you must," assented the manager.
-
-"Well, next day a chambermaid, on going into Mr. Thornton's room, found
-that his bed had not been slept in; she reported it, but nothing beyond
-taking a note of the circumstance was done at the moment by the hotel
-people. They supposed, naturally enough, that Mr. Thornton would turn up
-in the course of the day."
-
-"But surely," said Gilbert, "they should have felt some alarm seeing
-that they knew how frightfully ill he had been two days before, don't
-you think?"
-
-"You must bear in mind, in fairness to them, that they do not care to
-appear to limit in any way the liberty of their guests--and also, Mr.
-Eversleigh, that they never suspected anything was wrong; it is easy to
-be wise after the event."
-
-"Yes, yes," Gilbert agreed, but he spoke with some impatience.
-
-"At first," the manager went on, "they were under no apprehension as to
-his safety, but when he did not return that day at all, nor the next,
-they began to think it a little strange; they thought it very singular,
-too, that they did not hear from him. They waited, however, till the
-Tuesday, and then they communicated with the police, and the affair is
-now in the latter's hands. A detective-inspector came to see if I could
-throw any light on the mystery. Of course, I was greatly interested, as
-you may imagine, but I could tell him nothing. I went round to the hotel
-in Holborn, and there learned what I have told you. I am afraid there is
-nothing more known at present."
-
-"But have the police discovered no trace of him?"
-
-"I don't think they have. I believe they are completely baffled--at
-their wits' end. They have no clue, none at all, so far as I can hear.
-No; the fact is that Mr. Thornton has vanished, you might say, from off
-the face of the earth. It is as if he had never been!"
-
-"What a terrible thing!" said Gilbert, in a voice of gloom. "Is there
-really nothing more?"
-
-"I fear there is absolutely nothing more."
-
-"Have you made any guess as to what has happened?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"No. You will see the police, Mr. Eversleigh?"
-
-"At once. But perhaps you will ring up the Law Courts Hotel; there's
-just a chance they may have something fresh."
-
-The manager immediately telephoned, and was told there were no further
-developments to be reported; Mr. Thornton was still missing, and nothing
-had been heard of him.
-
-Gilbert thanked the manager for the information he had given, and with a
-heavy heart went off to Scotland Yard. He thought of the loving girl who
-had looked forward with such keen pleasure to the coming of her father,
-and who was now so anxious about him. How was he to tell her what he had
-heard? And he feared that the worst had happened to Morris Thornton; he
-felt his conviction growing that the man was dead. Still, he must not
-say so to Kitty, so long as there was any uncertainty.
-
-Gilbert was seen at the "Yard" by Detective-inspector Gale, an officer
-of great experience, and a man of considerable ability. In introducing
-himself Gilbert mentioned that he was the son of Francis Eversleigh, of
-the firm of Eversleigh, Silwood, and Eversleigh, thinking that they must
-be known to Gale, who bowed respectfully as he listened. Coming to the
-matter of the disappearance of Morris Thornton, he also said that the
-firm were the solicitors of the missing man. Then he explained how it
-was he himself came into the case.
-
-"Mr. Thornton has a daughter here?" said Gale, making notes. "I did not
-know that. Indeed, I know very little about Mr. Thornton. I shall be
-glad if you will tell me all you know of him."
-
-And Gilbert did so.
-
-The detective-inspector asked several questions about the letter
-Thornton had addressed to his daughter, and dwelt upon the sentence in
-it which spoke of Thornton's intention to "surprise" Kitty.
-
-"I should like to see that letter," he said.
-
-"Certainly. You think it important?"
-
-"It may be--one can never tell," said the officer, diplomatically, "but
-the word 'surprise'--the idea--seems to suggest a certain whimsicalness
-on the part of Mr. Thornton."
-
-"It was merely his humour, I imagine," remarked Gilbert; "but I can't
-for an instant suppose that Mr. Thornton carried his whimsicalness, as
-you term it, or his humour to such a prodigious degree as to disappear
-from his hotel in the way he did."
-
-Gale nodded. Then he shut his note-book.
-
-"You would think so, Mr. Eversleigh," he observed, referring to
-Gilbert's last sentences; "but you would be surprised how often men
-disappear intentionally."
-
-"One hears of such things, but not frequently."
-
-"These disappearances are much more common than the public have any
-notion of, I can assure you. I am speaking now of what I have called
-intentional disappearances, and I don't mean what you might term
-criminal disappearances either. Men make up their minds to cut away
-completely from their surroundings, to begin a new life, to turn over a
-fresh leaf, and so on; do you see?"
-
-"Yes; but there could be nothing of the kind in the case of Mr.
-Thornton."
-
-"I do not say there was," said Gale, but his voice was non-committal.
-
-"May I ask if you have formed any theory regarding Mr. Thornton's
-disappearance?"
-
-"I have not; the facts are too few."
-
-"Have you any hope?"
-
-"Do you mean hope of finding where he is gone or what has become of
-him?"
-
-"Yes. And do you think he is alive? I have a haunting dread that he is
-dead."
-
-"Dead? Perhaps so; I cannot say, but I think it is too soon to come to
-that conclusion. Hundreds, yes thousands of people, disappear in London
-every year, and many of them are never heard of again. But you cannot
-say that of the majority. I would not be surprised to discover that Mr.
-Thornton is alive, and I would be as little surprised to find out that
-he is dead."
-
-"It has occurred to me," said Gilbert, who felt that the officer took up
-a safe but scarcely a sympathetic position, "that it is possible Mr.
-Thornton had another sudden heart-attack, and was taken into a house
-near at hand by some kind person----"
-
-"But suppose he had an attack and had been taken in as you suggest,"
-interrupted Gale; "surely it is impossible to suppose that such a
-circumstance would not be reported somewhere? Mr. Thornton would have
-sent word to the hotel sooner or later, don't you think?"
-
-"Yes; that is reasonable."
-
-"I had thought of that idea myself, but, on consideration I dismissed it
-as quite untenable. Mr. Thornton, I have come to the conclusion, has
-either disappeared intentionally, or he is dead. Now I can see nothing
-to indicate an intentional disappearance: the state of his health would
-seem absolutely to forbid it."
-
-"Then you think he is dead?" asked Gilbert, as Gale paused.
-
-"I can't say, please remember, but it looks rather like it."
-
-"But what about the body?"
-
-"Oh, bodies can be made to disappear."
-
-"Do you mean that you think he has been murdered?"
-
-"I won't go so far," said Gale, cautiously, "but Mr. Thornton was a rich
-man, and probably had valuables about him; he was in a weak, feeble
-state, and so would fall an easy victim. And it was late in the evening
-when he went out. I am afraid it is possible--I will not say probable,
-for there is no evidence--that he was murdered the night he left the
-hotel."
-
-"Is it not dreadful? I've been thinking much the same. But how did you
-know he was rich?"
-
-"We took possession of what property he had at the hotel. It was not
-much, but what there was hinted pretty plainly at wealth. There was one
-extraordinary thing--we could not find his address, I mean the address
-of the place he lived in."
-
-"That was odd, and I cannot explain it," said Gilbert. "You know now he
-lived in Vancouver?"
-
-"Yes, you have told me so, but I did not know it before. We made
-inquiries by cable in New York--the label on his luggage showed he had
-come from that city--but he was unknown to the police there, nor could
-they find out anything about him. Now we shall make inquiries in
-Vancouver."
-
-"I hope you will let me know if you hear of anything," said Gilbert,
-rising to leave, after thanking the inspector for his courtesy. "Miss
-Thornton is very anxious about her father, and she will be more anxious
-than ever after she has heard what I have to tell her."
-
-"Certainly."
-
-Gilbert was just about leaving, when it struck him as very desirable
-that the officer should communicate with his father, Francis Eversleigh.
-He had already told Mr. Gale that his father's firm were Morris
-Thornton's solicitors, and now he suggested to the inspector-detective
-to accompany him, if he had the time, to see his father, and tell him
-exactly how the case stood.
-
-Gale thought for a moment, and then said that if he would wait for a
-short while until he had finished a memorandum he had been engaged on
-when Gilbert had been shown in, he would go with him to his father.
-
-"I really ought to see him in the circumstances," said Gale. "He may be
-able to give us some clue."
-
-But when Gale and Gilbert put the facts before Francis Eversleigh, he
-had no suggestion to make. Indeed, the solicitor was perfectly
-thunderstruck by the intelligence they brought him, and acted in such an
-extraordinary way as to cause Gilbert to fear that the news had affected
-his brain. Eversleigh, in fact, could hardly believe it; but when he
-did, it, too, seemed part and parcel of that hideous waking nightmare
-in which he now lived. Yet, somewhere in the darkening depths of his
-mind, there shot up a tiny ray of hope. For if Morris Thornton were
-dead, or if it were only that he had disappeared, was not that to
-postpone the day of reckoning?
-
-Gilbert's most difficult and painful task was to disclose to the girl he
-loved all he had come to know that day. With infinite gentleness and
-delicacy he told her the truth, and wound up by declaring she must not
-lose hope of seeing her father again; it was far too soon, he urged, and
-the circumstances were far too obscure to admit of any definite
-conclusion being arrived at.
-
-But Kitty, crying and sobbing bitterly in her lover's arms, would say
-nothing. Gilbert knew, however, from her passion of weeping, that she
-already mourned her father as dead. Very tenderly he sought to console
-her, but at first her grief would have its way, albeit she clung to him
-as if she would never let him go.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI
-
-
-Whether to keep a matter to themselves, or to take the public into their
-confidence, is a question to which the police never seem able to give a
-decided answer. There are occasions, of course, in which secrecy is
-plainly indicated, but with respect to the majority of cases they are
-too much inclined to the same course of procedure.
-
-Touching the disappearance of Morris Thornton they had hitherto
-deliberately kept any statement about it from the newspapers, and the
-facts were known only to a few. And Detective-inspector Gale was of
-opinion that it was better to go on with his inquiries as quietly as
-possible. But Gilbert Eversleigh could not agree with him.
-
-"I am for giving his disappearance the widest publicity," said Gilbert,
-in conversation with the officer, on the day subsequent to that on which
-he first saw him. "It is probable that we will hear something in this
-way. You must confess that up to the present you have accomplished
-nothing, Mr. Gale. Is it not so?"
-
-"Yes, that is quite true; but I have not given up the hope of doing
-something soon."
-
-"That's all very well, but you must pardon me if I tell you I am not
-satisfied. I have consulted Miss Thornton, and she is with me in
-thinking that the occurrence should be made public."
-
-"That is Miss Thornton's wish?"
-
-"Yes; and she also desires my father's firm to offer a large reward to
-any one who can furnish the information we want. Still, they will hardly
-like to act in that way if you have any substantial objection to offer."
-
-Gale reflected for a few moments.
-
-"You are sure that Miss Thornton will not mind?" he asked, the question
-showing the direction of his thoughts. "It will not be exactly pleasant
-for her to see her father's name in the papers."
-
-"She is suffering intensely as it is," replied Gilbert, "but the affair
-is too serious for her to give way to personal feelings of that sort;
-indeed, if the papers give great prominence to it, she will be pleased
-rather than the reverse, for she thinks, and so do I, that something may
-come of it."
-
-"What reward does she think of offering?"
-
-"A thousand pounds."
-
-"A large sum! It might tempt some one."
-
-"Tempt some one?" repeated Gilbert. "What do you mean?"
-
-"Well," returned the officer, speaking slowly and thoughtfully, "let us
-consider the case. You know that I think Mr. Thornton either disappeared
-intentionally----"
-
-"I thought you had rather given that idea up," interposed Gilbert.
-
-"Still, it's a possibility, though there is a good argument on the
-surface--on the surface, mind, I say--against it in the state of his
-health. A man in his precarious condition was not likely to embark on
-such an adventure as an intentional disappearance implies. Still, as I
-said, it is a possibility. Now, if his disappearance was intentional, he
-must be living somewhere, and must be in contact with other human
-beings. That is so, is it not?"
-
-"Yes."
-
-"While offering the large reward you mentioned, you would at the same
-time give a full description of him. That description might be seen by
-one or more of those with whom he associates. In this manner information
-might be obtained. There is another point, too, and it is that if after
-a time no such information was forthcoming, then the other hypothesis
-will be vastly strengthened."
-
-"By the other hypothesis you intend the idea that he was murdered, I
-suppose?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"Yes. As I have already told you, I fear that will turn out to be the
-true reading of the mystery. The more I think of it, the more certain I
-feel about it. There is, however, a third hypothesis, but it seems so
-highly improbable that it is hardly worth mentioning. It is that Mr.
-Thornton committed suicide."
-
-"Suicide! Impossible!"
-
-"It is very highly improbable," said Gale, "but, pardon me, not
-impossible. I wonder how many things are really impossible?" he
-continued, on what was a favourite theme of his. "If you knew but a
-tithe of the things ordinarily called impossible that I have found not
-to be impossible at all! But I digress. Well, with regard to his having
-committed suicide, it was no great distance from his hotel to the
-river."
-
-"Oh, Mr. Gale, this is absurd. Why should he commit suicide?"
-
-"The only reason that can give the slightest colour to such a
-supposition is that he suffered terribly from his heart--the pain in
-these attacks is usually frightful--and he might have felt that rather
-than stand another he would prefer to die; or again, it might be that he
-was slightly out of his mind because of the pain. But I don't really put
-this hypothesis forward as one that is probable. No. I am afraid he was
-murdered. Still, even in that case, the large sum you offer might tempt
-some one--some one who perhaps saw the deed done, or had his suspicions
-about something he saw--to come forward with useful information."
-
-"It might even tempt an accomplice--that is, if there were an
-accomplice, might it not?" asked Gilbert eagerly.
-
-"It might, though it's not at all likely."
-
-"But you withdraw your opposition to making public the disappearance of
-Mr. Thornton?"
-
-"Yes, though I do not advise it. I hope it will not annoy Miss Thornton
-very much, but I fear she may be troubled with newspaper reporters."
-
-"Cannot you refer them to me or to my father?"
-
-"I shall do so, but if they can ferret her out they will, you may be
-sure."
-
-"Oh, I dare say I shall be able to baffle them," declared Gilbert. "Now,
-will you assist me in drawing up a statement for publication?"
-
-Before Gilbert left Scotland Yard a brief but succinct account of the
-disappearance of Morris Thornton was put into writing. Then followed a
-description of Thornton, taken from the detective-inspector's
-note-book, who, in his turn, had got the particulars from certain
-members of the staff of the Law Courts Hotel. Further, Mr. Gale drafted
-what he thought should go into the advertisement, offering the reward of
-a thousand pounds, and this Gilbert took to his father. On his way to
-Lincoln's Inn he stopped at a typewriting establishment, and gave
-instructions to have copies made of the account of the disappearance,
-and to send one to each of the London papers.
-
-"This will be enough," thought he, "to set the ball rolling."
-
-Next he saw Francis Eversleigh, who, he found to his surprise, was
-against inserting the advertisement. The older man, who had his own
-bitter, gnawing, consuming anxieties of which the younger guessed
-nothing, had a glimmering notion that to advertise the reward was
-somehow likely to precipitate a crisis in his affairs and bring about
-exposure. But, backboneless as usual, he was easily over-ruled by his
-son. The advertisement was made out, typewritten, manifolded, and also
-sent to all the London journals.
-
-The day following, Gilbert had ample proof that he had set the ball
-rolling with a vengeance. Pressmen, it seemed to him, descended upon him
-from every quarter of the town, eager, clamorous, importunate,
-determined not to be sent empty away. But, after all, Gilbert had not
-much to tell them. They managed, notwithstanding, to write sensational
-and, for the most part, highly over-coloured articles round the missing
-man. One or two of the evening papers wrote leaders on the subject, and
-in many ways the public interest in Thornton's disappearance was excited
-to the highest pitch. For one thing, his wealth was exaggerated to such
-an extent that he was represented as a sort of colonial Croesus, and
-in London, and throughout the country, people talked of and speculated
-about the man now everywhere described as "The Missing Millionaire."
-Indeed, the reward of a thousand pounds was hardly needed to stimulate
-public curiosity and sympathy and activity.
-
-High and low, rich and poor, the man of Mayfair and the man of
-Whitechapel, conversed about it with the same relish, the same wonder.
-The man in the street, shopmen, clerks, labourers, even beggars and
-outcasts, all heard of the mysterious disappearance of Thornton, and
-were all anxious to know the explanation of so extraordinary a thing. In
-brief, it was the one topic of the moment.
-
-And the offer of the large reward was not without a certain effect.
-
-It had become a matter of general knowledge that Morris Thornton, on
-leaving the Law Courts Hotel, told the porter there that he was going
-for a stroll along Holborn and probably up and down Chancery Lane. From
-this it fell out that many people of the amateur detective variety
-investigated this quarter, especially at night, but without being much
-or any the wiser. Yet, indirectly, one of them did better than he knew,
-for from him a certain human wreck, to whom a doorway in Chancery Lane
-was a frequent refuge, learned of the disappearance of Morris Thornton.
-Inquiring with great earnestness what was the date of Thornton's
-disappearance, he was informed that it was Friday, July 30th. It was now
-Friday, August 13th.
-
-"That is exactly a fortnight ago," said the wreck, with an unmistakable
-note of exultation in his voice. "The very night--the very night," he
-muttered, but so indistinctly that the other could not catch the words.
-
-"What is it you say?" he asked, but the wreck declined to satisfy his
-curiosity.
-
-"Oh, nothing--nothing at all," he replied.
-
-"Did you happen to be here in this street that night?" inquired the
-other, suspiciously.
-
-"Yes, I was."
-
-"And did you see any thing or any one?"
-
-"I saw nothing--I saw nobody," said the wreck, promptly.
-
-But next morning he had a different story to tell.
-
-He had very good reasons for not going to Scotland Yard, so he betook
-himself to the office of Eversleigh, Silwood, and Eversleigh, whose name
-appeared at the foot of the advertisement offering the thousand pounds
-reward. He told his tale to Francis Eversleigh, with whom at that time
-was Gilbert. The latter had been hurriedly sent for by his father on a
-matter of the most urgent importance. They were anxiously discussing it,
-when Williamson had come in and announced that there was a man below who
-had called in answer to the advertisement respecting Thornton's
-disappearance.
-
-"He says he has information, but he would not disclose it to me,"
-remarked Williamson, in an injured tone.
-
-The head-clerk felt hurt that morning. He knew that Francis Eversleigh
-had received a letter from Italy, and he suspected it had something to
-do with Mr. Cooper Silwood. He had even ventured to put an indirect
-question about it to Francis Eversleigh, but with no success. Instead,
-that gentleman had told him to go and fetch Gilbert at once from the
-Temple, or if he was not there to hunt him up and bring him.
-
-He now saw from Gilbert's face, as well as from Francis Eversleigh's,
-that something very grave was being discussed. On the table lay two
-papers, one of which was partly printed, while the other was a long,
-closely-written letter. Before withdrawing, Williamson tried to see what
-was on the former, but could not.
-
-"I suppose we must have this man in," said Gilbert to his father.
-
-"Yes, yes," assented Francis. He said it with the air of one to whom
-nothing could ever much matter again.
-
-"I cannot bear it--I cannot bear it!" he exclaimed suddenly, after
-Williamson had left the room. "It is too much!"
-
-"Bear up, father--bear up!" cried Gilbert, little understanding all that
-was in his father's mind.
-
-But the wreck was at the door.
-
-Ragged, tattered, with patched boots and a greasy cap, with pinched
-features and a general appearance of having gone irremediably to the
-bad, the wreck yet bore himself well, and when he spoke his language and
-accent were those of a gentleman. He looked at the two Eversleighs, and
-addressing the older asked if he were Mr. Eversleigh.
-
-Francis Eversleigh bowed to the wreck, who had once been a gentleman.
-
-"I am Francis Eversleigh," he said; "this is my son Gilbert. You have
-something to tell us?" he suggested.
-
-"Yes; but first I wish to say that my information by itself may not be
-of much use. Still, I think it may put you on the track. If that is the
-case, I wish you to promise me that I shall have some share of the
-reward."
-
-"That will be only fair."
-
-"Mr. Thornton," said the wreck, without further preface, "disappeared on
-the night of Friday, July 30th. He went out for a stroll in Holborn, and
-was to go into Chancery Lane. I was in Chancery Lane that night, and I
-saw something that struck me as very curious."
-
-The wreck paused impressively.
-
-"What was it you saw?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"I saw a man," responded the wreck--"some sort of workman he appeared to
-be from his dress--come out of the iron gate, the small iron gate at the
-north-east corner of this Inn--Lincoln's Inn."
-
-"But it's always kept locked at night," objected Francis Eversleigh.
-
-"It was unlocked that night, at any rate," observed the wreck. "I heard
-the sound--it was a low sound, but the night was very still--of the
-unlocking. I saw the man lock the gate again, and he looked round him
-like a man afraid of being spied upon. He did not see me, for I was in
-the shadow of a doorway. He seemed to me to be rather flurried.
-Presently he walked rapidly away. I thought it very strange that a
-workman should have the key of the gate and at such an hour. I wondered
-what it could mean, but I might have forgotten all about it if the same
-man had not returned. He had not been gone for more than half an hour
-when back he came, unlocked the gate, and passed on within. I spent the
-night in the doorway, but he did not appear again. Very remarkable, was
-it not?" asked the wreck.
-
-"Very remarkable indeed!" said Gilbert, drily.
-
-"Don't you believe me?" inquired the wreck.
-
-"I do not see the bearing of what you have told us on the disappearance
-of Mr. Thornton. Of course, what you saw was very strange, and should be
-communicated to the authorities of the Inn, but I can see no connection
-between the man who came out of the gate and Mr. Thornton. Do you think
-there was?"
-
-"I told you at the beginning that what I had to communicate might not be
-of much use. I thought, however, it might perhaps fit in with something
-you knew, or that it might give you a hint," said the wreck, in a tone
-of dejection.
-
-"We shall not forget what you have told us," said Gilbert, as the wreck
-prepared to leave the room. "You should report what you saw to the
-authorities of Lincoln's Inn, who will, no doubt, reward you for your
-trouble."
-
-Gilbert followed him to the door, and put some silver into his hand as
-he went out. Then Gilbert closed the door, and sat down beside his
-father.
-
-"It looks," said he, "as if there were some uncommonly queer goings-on
-in this old Inn."
-
-But his father scarcely noticed what he said. Francis Eversleigh's gaze
-was fastened on the paper lying before him on his table--the paper which
-was partly printed, partly written on.
-
-It was an official certificate from the Syndic of Camajore in Italy,
-duly signed and sealed, of the death of Cooper Silwood.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII
-
-
-The certificate of Cooper Silwood's death and the accompanying letter
-had come that morning in a long, queer-looking envelope, plastered
-half-over with stamps and pitted with postmarks, amongst them being that
-which showed the packet had been registered. It was addressed to Francis
-Eversleigh personally: hence it had not been touched by any one prior to
-his coming to the office.
-
-When he first saw the packet he thought there was something ominous
-about it, and a sure prescience that it contained bad news deterred him
-from opening it immediately; he therefore allowed it to lie on his table
-for some time. Such a want of courage had now become characteristic of
-the tortured man. At last, however, he screwed himself up to the point
-of looking into it. As it happened, he took out and glanced at the
-letter first; it was in a language he did not know, but he guessed it
-was Italian. It was written in a minute, cramped hand, difficult, in any
-case, to decipher, and he put it aside. Then he scanned the certificate.
-Here the printed words and his Latin helped him, and he had little
-trouble in understanding what it was.
-
-But in his shattered state it did not come home fully to him at once.
-When it did, the effect on him was terrible--his head swam
-distressingly, his heart fluttered painfully, as he fell back gasping in
-his chair.
-
-Cooper Silwood dead!
-
-It seemed impossible to him, as his brain, caught in strange tangles,
-like water-weeds in an eddy, whirled this way and that.
-
-Dead!
-
-The thing at last impressed itself upon his consciousness so as to blot
-out everything else for the time.
-
-"What next? What next?" he cried aloud, in a voice that was hardly
-recognizable as his; it was the protest of a man goaded beyond the limit
-of endurance.
-
-Then his brain clouded.
-
-"Cooper Silwood dead--dead--dead--dead!" he babbled to himself, looking
-at the spots in the wall opposite him, and noting mechanically the
-shapes and sizes of them. "Dead--dead--dead!" he mumbled, till the words
-lost all meaning.
-
-Something sub-conscious whispered to him this was madness, and with a
-mighty effort he sought to recover himself. The effort saved him.
-
-The first force of the shock at length passed; its recoil passed off
-too, and he came to something like his senses. Desiring instinctively to
-lean on some one stronger than himself, his impulse was to send for his
-son Gilbert immediately, and accordingly, when he had pulled himself
-still further round, he summoned Williamson, and dispatched him to find
-and bring the young man to Lincoln's Inn. He had hardly done so, when
-his vacillating mind swung round again, and he regretted it. But by the
-time Gilbert arrived his mood had changed once more.
-
-When Gilbert appeared in his father's room he found Francis Eversleigh
-in tears. They were the tears of weakness, of indecision, of self-pity;
-but when Gilbert heard what his father had to tell him he thought, of
-course, they were the tears of one who mourns. They could not but seem
-natural in the circumstances. He had always disliked Silwood; but his
-father and Silwood had been associated in business for many years, and
-though he was rather surprised that his father should be in tears over
-Silwood's death, he was not at a loss altogether to account for it: his
-father, he thought, had a good heart, and was overcome with sorrow. He
-supposed that a long acquaintance with Silwood had shown his father some
-excellent qualities in the man now dead--qualities which he himself
-could not see.
-
-"His death will be a great loss to you, father," said Gilbert; "you
-must--and will--feel it very much, I fear."
-
-"Yes," said Francis Eversleigh, in a harsh, strained voice, staring
-straight before him.
-
-"Have you told Ernest about it, or Mr. Williamson?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"Not yet; but, of course, they must be told. First of all, however, I
-should prefer to learn something of the circumstances attending Mr.
-Silwood's death. I must have this letter translated," said Francis
-Eversleigh, pointing to the communication in the small, cramped
-handwriting; "I think it will tell us exactly what has happened."
-
-"I can get you a man," said Gilbert, "from a College of Languages near
-here, if you like. Shall I go and bring him? Or shall I take the letter
-with me and get it translated?"
-
-"Bring him here," said Eversleigh, who wished to keep everything
-connected in any way with Silwood as much in the office as possible.
-
-"The other way would be the quicker, perhaps," Gilbert suggested.
-
-"Perhaps; but I had rather he came here," rejoined Eversleigh, with some
-firmness.
-
-In about half an hour Gilbert was back again in his father's room with
-an interpreter, who quickly made himself master of the contents of the
-letter, and afterwards read it out aloud to the two Eversleighs.
-
-It was from Ugo Ucelli, Syndic of Camajore, which place, the interpreter
-explained, was in the north of Tuscany, a few miles from the coast, and
-no great distance from Leghorn, but the nearest town of importance was
-Lucca.
-
-The Syndic stated that he had been given instructions by Mr. Silwood to
-communicate with Mr. Francis Eversleigh should the illness from which
-he, Mr. Silwood, was suffering at the time have a fatal termination, as
-appeared to be likely. And the illness had, unfortunately, resulted in
-the death of Mr. Silwood, as had been feared.
-
-Mr. Silwood had said he was a partner of Mr. Eversleigh's. He, the
-Syndic, now hastened to write in accordance with the command of the
-deceased gentleman; he regretted that he had to give Mr. Eversleigh the
-pain of hearing the sad news, but he had a sacred duty to the dead to
-perform, and he must discharge it.
-
-Mr. Eversleigh had probably seen from the newspapers, said the Syndic,
-that cholera was that summer--one of the hottest on record--epidemic all
-along the Gulf of Genoa and southward as far as Leghorn. Mr. Silwood had
-fallen a victim to this plague--alas! its victims were numbered by
-hundreds and thousands; it was the greatest calamity that had visited
-Italy for many years!
-
-In Mr. Silwood's case there had been little hope from the commencement
-of his sickness, to which he succumbed after about twenty-four hours.
-Everything had been done for him that could be done; he had been
-attended by a doctor of skill and experience, nor had the tendance of
-competent nurses been wanting. Ah! It was evidently the will of God! The
-usual certificate of death was enclosed.
-
-Owing to the requirements of the law, concluded the Syndic, the body was
-buried early on the morning of the day following that on which the death
-took place. The deceased had left some effects about which he had not
-given directions. These were now in his, the Syndic's possession, and he
-asked what was to be done with them. As Mr. Eversleigh would doubtless
-know what was proper in the circumstances, he, the Syndic, would be glad
-to hear from him at his earliest convenience.
-
-Such was the letter of Ugo Ucelli, Syndic of Camajore.
-
-The interpreter was asked to write out a translation both of the letter
-and of the death certificate; this he did, received his fee, and
-withdrew.
-
-Death is perhaps the only thing which commands universal respect: all
-render involuntary homage to the King of Terror. It was this that caused
-Gilbert, who had no love for Silwood, yet to say with sincerity when the
-interpreter had gone, "Poor fellow! Poor fellow!" and then he was
-silent.
-
-Francis Eversleigh had listened in a sort of heavy stupor to the
-reading of the Syndic's letter. The feeling which emerged most
-prominently from out of the chaos of his thoughts was one of envy; he
-envied Silwood, inasmuch as he was finally beyond the reach of the
-law--he had gone where its long arm could not go--he was safe!
-Eversleigh then tried to think what was his position now Silwood was
-dead, and Morris Thornton was dead, most probably, also; but the man's
-brain was tired and sick and torpid from the frightful blows it had
-already been called upon to sustain. With a deep sigh, he confessed his
-impotence to himself, and abandoned the attempt.
-
-"We must tell the others at once," he said, feeling it was easier to do
-something than to think, "and have an announcement of the death drawn
-up. We must take the usual steps."
-
-"Yes, yes," said Gilbert, "we must do so."
-
-But Gilbert also had been thinking during the few minutes in which he
-had been silent.
-
-"What a strange place," he observed, "for Mr. Silwood to have been at!
-Perhaps, though, he was just passing through. Still, at this time of the
-year, it was an odd place to choose for a holiday. He must have known,
-too, about the cholera, surely. I never heard of Camajore! Did you?"
-
-"I believe Mr. Silwood spent a holiday a few years ago in the north of
-Italy, probably at this very place, or somewhere in its neighbourhood,
-but I do not remember exactly," rejoined the other, dully.
-
-Francis Eversleigh sat in his chair, inert, without initiative; he
-seemed to be incapable of action. It was Gilbert who took the lead.
-
-"I suppose it is pretty certain that Mr. Silwood has left a will,"
-remarked Gilbert. "Of course letters of administration will have to be
-taken out, and his estate looked after generally. You will do that, I
-presume?"
-
-"Oh, about his will. I don't believe," returned Eversleigh, "that his
-will is in the office--indeed, I am not aware there is a will at all."
-He had very good reasons for imagining there would be no will, for had
-not Silwood told him that he had no money?
-
-"Mr. Silwood must have left a will, father," said Gilbert, confidently;
-"a man of his business habits would be certain to make a will. If it's
-not in the office here, then I should think it will be in his chambers
-in Stone Buildings."
-
-"Perhaps so."
-
-"Well, that's what I should say. In any case, father, you will have to
-go across to his chambers, see what there is in them, and have
-everything taken care of. I wonder who is his heir, or if he has one? He
-never seemed to have any relations or friends--but then I did not know
-him very well."
-
-"Relations, so far as I know, he had none," replied Francis Eversleigh;
-"and I scarcely think he had many friends. He always lived a very lonely
-life."
-
-"He was so engrossed in his business!"
-
-"Yes, yes--quite so. As regards his chambers, I know he left them locked
-up."
-
-"Still, don't you think you ought to examine them, considering present
-circumstances? If you like, I will go over there with you now."
-
-Eversleigh shrank from the thing. However, he looked at his strong
-handsome son, and thought that if he must go to Stone Buildings--and he
-knew that he had better go as soon as possible--it was with Gilbert
-that he would choose to go.
-
-"I think, first," he said, "it will be as well to tell Ernest and Mr.
-Williamson what has occurred; afterwards you and I will proceed to Mr.
-Silwood's chambers and examine them."
-
-Ernest Eversleigh and Williamson, therefore, were sent for. Eversleigh
-announced to them that Silwood was dead, and asked Gilbert to read to
-them the translation of the Syndic's letter. Both were profoundly
-surprised; Ernest, who appeared genuinely concerned, expressed his
-regret at the news, while Williamson, who was astonished beyond measure,
-looked utterly aghast, and as if he thought the end of the world was
-about to come.
-
-"We--Gilbert and I--are going over to Mr. Silwood's rooms in Stone
-Buildings," said Francis Eversleigh. "I must consider what is necessary
-to do in the circumstances, but I can say nothing at present."
-
-"Perhaps Mr. Williamson can tell us," said Gilbert, as his father
-stopped, "if there is a will?"
-
-"No, Mr. Gilbert, I do not know of one," replied the head-clerk. "Mr.
-Silwood never mentioned the subject to me."
-
-"I think that is all," said Francis Eversleigh, after a moment's pause,
-and Ernest and Williamson withdrew.
-
-"Well, Gilbert, I suppose we had better go at once and get it over,"
-observed Eversleigh to his elder son. "We will call one of the porters,
-and get him to go with us to open the door."
-
-On their way they met a porter of the Inn, and told him of Silwood's
-death, and that they wished to gain admittance to the chambers in Stone
-Buildings.
-
-"Sorry to hear about Mr. Silwood," said the man; "must ha' been very
-sudden, surely. Dear me, dear me! But about opening the door o' his
-rooms, I'm none so certain that I can do it. Mr. Silwood had a lock and
-key of his own--a special Yale, which he'd had fitted on himself.
-However, I'll try."
-
-But the lock of the door, on which still was pinned the piece of paper
-with "Out of Town" written upon it, resisted all his efforts. He tried
-on it every key in his bunch, but without effect.
-
-"This is a job for a locksmith, that's what it is," said he at last.
-"Shall I go and fetch one? I can bring a man here in a few seconds who
-has the proper tools, and he'll soon do the business."
-
-"Yes, please get a locksmith at once," said Francis Eversleigh.
-
-In about five minutes the porter returned with a locksmith, who set to
-work and forced the lock, but not without a considerable expenditure of
-time and labour.
-
-As the door was opened, a foetid, noisome odour rushed out and filled
-the landing. The locksmith involuntarily stepped back.
-
-"Whiff, whiff, what's that?" cried he, while the others exclaimed about
-the horrible smell.
-
-It was the locksmith who entered the room first, a few feet in advance
-of the others. Instantly he uttered a loud shout of terrified surprise.
-The others now pressed in after him, Francis Eversleigh the last.
-
-There lay the body of a man, face downwards, on the floor.
-
-Eversleigh, with a countenance as white as chalk, looked from the body
-to his son, and back to the body again. Gilbert was as white as his
-father. The other men looked mutely at the figure lying on the floor; it
-seemed to fascinate them. No one spoke a word. A great question shaped
-itself in the stillness of that room, but none of them was eager, for
-the moment, to find the answer.
-
-Who was the man--the man who lay dead?
-
-Other questions came into their minds, but this was first.
-
-"We must see the man's face," said Gilbert, and his voice broke the
-spell which seemed to hold them powerless.
-
-The porter and the locksmith turned the body over.
-
-Though the features had partially become decomposed, the face was still
-recognisable on close inspection.
-
-"It's a stranger, I think, leastways in the Inn," said the porter.
-
-Eversleigh gazed at the dead face, peering into it. Suddenly he trembled
-as with ague, while he vainly struggled to speak.
-
-Gilbert, too, had been closely scrutinizing the dead face, and he
-thought that he recognized it. Looking at his father and seeing his
-evident emotion, he felt certain.
-
-"It is Morris Thornton!" said he, in a hoarse unnatural voice.
-
-"Morris Thornton!" echoed Francis Eversleigh, and fell in a heap across
-the body of his old friend.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII
-
-
-"Morris Thornton!"
-
-Both the porter and the locksmith had heard the name distinctly before
-Eversleigh swooned away, and both understood who the dead man was. They
-were so astounded that they stood looking at each other with startled
-faces and mouths agape, while Gilbert bent over the unconscious form of
-his father.
-
-"Morris Thornton at last!" cried the porter; "it's the gentleman as was
-missing."
-
-"Morris Thornton--yes," said the locksmith; "the missing
-millionaire--the man wot was advertised for in all the papers."
-
-And then both men were silent, thinking of the reward of a thousand
-pounds offered for information about this very man.
-
-"I was the first as found him," remarked the locksmith, coming to his
-wits, to the porter.
-
-"We all found him together, didn't we?" asked the porter, in an
-aggrieved tone.
-
-Gilbert, meanwhile, had moved his father from off the dead body of
-Morris Thornton on to the floor, and sought to bring him to by
-unfastening his collar and tie and opening his shirt. The son felt that
-his first concern was with his father, not with Morris Thornton--with
-the living rather than the dead. And now, as he tried to bring back to
-the inanimate frame the spark of life, he noticed, as he had not done
-before, how changed, how shrunken were the face and figure of his
-father. He knew his father had been ailing for some time, but he had not
-realised how far the mischief had gone. And on the top of this illness
-had come, first the death of Silwood, and now the discovery of Morris
-Thornton lying dead in Silwood's chambers! Small wonder was it, he
-thought, that the shock of this last circumstance, combined with all
-that had preceded it, had proved too much for his father.
-
-For some minutes he continued his efforts to re-animate Francis
-Eversleigh, but without avail. The porter and the locksmith gave him
-what assistance they could; finally the former suggested that a doctor
-should be sent for.
-
-"Yes," agreed Gilbert; "go round to King's College Hospital. I know one
-or two of the doctors there; take my card, and get one of them if you
-can. Say the case is urgent."
-
-But the porter, who by this time was swelling with the importance of the
-affair--an importance in which he saw himself included--had another
-suggestion to make.
-
-"After I get a doctor," he said to Gilbert, whom he knew to be Francis
-Eversleigh's son, "don't you think it would be well if I fetched a
-policeman? There's the dead body," he added significantly, "and of
-course there will have to be an inquest."
-
-"Quite right," replied Gilbert; "but get the doctor first."
-
-And the porter withdrew, more important than ever.
-
-"Shall I stay, sir?" asked the locksmith.
-
-"Yes, please, until the police come; they will want your evidence."
-
-"Very well, sir."
-
-While he was trying to resuscitate his father, Gilbert's mind had been
-in a whirl; now that he had desisted from the attempt his thoughts
-shaped themselves more clearly. Here, before him, lay Kitty's father
-dead--Kitty's father, that was his first thought--and his heart bled for
-her. He knew that, though she had said and felt that Morris Thornton was
-no more, she would still suffer terribly on hearing positively that he
-was dead.
-
-Then the strangeness of the thing--the body being found in Silwood's
-room, and Silwood his own father's partner!--took hold of him. Silwood
-dead! Morris Thornton dead! What did this conjunction indicate? That
-there was something extraordinary about it did not admit of any doubt
-whatever when it was coupled with the fact that Thornton's body had been
-found in Silwood's chambers. How had Morris Thornton come to be there at
-all? And in what way had he met his death? What connection was there
-between that death and Cooper Silwood? What had Silwood to do with it?
-Had he anything to do with it? For what reason? With what end in view?
-Had Thornton been murdered? If so, it could not have been by Silwood,
-for what motive could he have had for killing Thornton?--Silwood, a
-member of one of the most respectable firms in London. And yet there
-must be some connection and some explanation. What was it? What could it
-be?
-
-As these questionings flashed through Gilbert's mind, he stood gazing
-upon the dead man's face, as if from its sightless eyes and from its
-dumb lips there might come some solution of the mystery.
-
-And then his thoughts took a fresh turn. Still gazing at the face of
-Morris Thornton, he wondered if the man had come to his death by being
-shot, if upon the body would be found the marks of the lethal weapon
-that had slain him, if the murderer had left behind him some sign which
-in the end would lead to his detection and conviction. But this was to
-presume Thornton had been murdered, and there was no certainty as to
-that.
-
-While he was thus musing, his father showed some indications of
-reviving. His eyelids fluttered and his lips worked slightly. Gilbert
-bent down and raised his father's head. With a deep sigh, Francis
-Eversleigh opened his eyes and stared at his son as at some stranger.
-But reviving still more, a light of recognition came into his face, and
-he moved his head.
-
-"Are you better, father?" asked Gilbert.
-
-Eversleigh made an effort to speak, but it failed; then he looked
-piteously at his son.
-
-"I wish I had some brandy to give you," said Gilbert. "A doctor will be
-here in a few minutes."
-
-At the mention of the word "doctor," Francis Eversleigh struggled to
-raise himself, and, with Gilbert's help, managed to get into a sitting
-position. Glancing about him in a weak and uncertain way, his eyes fell
-upon the body of Thornton; a frightful spasm seemed to shake him to
-pieces; then his eyes all at once blazed with light and life, but in an
-instant they became clouded and overcast.
-
-"Morris Thornton--I remember," he said, speaking with great slowness,
-as though speech were exceedingly difficult to him.
-
-He shut his eyes, as if he would shut out the sight of the dead man,
-while Gilbert watched him anxiously and supported him with his strong
-young arms.
-
-Presently he opened his eyes again, looked at the body, and then at
-Gilbert. On his face was a great solemn interrogation which his son
-could scarcely fail to understand. Eversleigh was asking what did it all
-portend, but Gilbert did not speak; he himself could see no way out of
-the darkness surrounding the scene.
-
-"What has happened?" asked the older man, but even as he spoke Gilbert
-felt his father's form was beginning to press more heavily on him.
-
-"I do not know," the son replied.
-
-Francis Eversleigh now fixed his gaze on Thornton's body once more.
-
-"Murder!" he suddenly cried in a piercing voice, and dropped back
-unconscious again.
-
-"Murder!"
-
-Gilbert told himself that he could follow the mind of his father
-perfectly. His father thought Morris Thornton had been murdered. It was
-to all intents what was in his own mind.
-
-But if Thornton had been murdered, who, then, was the murderer?
-
-The piercing cry of "Murder!" which Francis Eversleigh had raised before
-swooning again had not been heard by Gilbert only. The locksmith, who
-was still in the room, heard it for one, and it filled him with fresh
-excitement. He had been endeavouring to puzzle out the thing in his own
-way, and was not exactly surprised to find the idea of murder imported
-into it. That cry of "Murder!" was the echo of his own thoughts, and
-from that moment he was so convinced that Thornton had been murdered
-that nothing would disabuse him of the notion.
-
-The cry was heard by three others, who were only a few steps away from
-the door of Silwood's chambers when Francis Eversleigh gave utterance to
-it. They were the doctor from King's College Hospital, a policeman from
-Lincoln's Inn Fields, and the Inn porter, all arriving together. On
-hearing it, they ran forward into the room.
-
-The porter had already told both the doctor and the policeman his own
-version of the finding of the body of Thornton and of the fainting fit
-of Mr. Eversleigh.
-
-"What was that cry I heard?" demanded the policeman, who was the first
-to speak.
-
-As he spoke he threw searching glances about and around the room. But
-Gilbert paid no heed to his question. He knew the doctor, thanked him
-for coming so promptly, and asked him to try to revive his father.
-
-"It is the second time he has fainted," said Gilbert.
-
-It was the locksmith that answered the policeman's query.
-
-"The sick gentleman," said he, "him that's in the swound, called out
-loud 'Murder!'--he'd been looking at the body--and then he dropped off
-again. That was the second time he swounded."
-
-"Oh, it was he," said the policeman. Then he advanced to Gilbert, having
-been prompted thereto by the porter, who whispered to him, "He's young
-Mr. Eversleigh," and said, "Will you tell me from the beginning the
-whole story, sir?"
-
-By this time his father was in the capable hands of the doctor, so that
-Gilbert was able to give his whole attention to the policeman. As
-succinctly as possible, he narrated the circumstances which had led to
-his father and himself going to Silwood's chambers, how the door was
-broken open, and the body of Thornton found lying on the floor. Next the
-policeman listened to what the porter and the locksmith had seen, and by
-the time he had heard what they had to tell him, Francis Eversleigh had
-come to himself, though he looked shattered and frightfully ill. Him,
-too, the policeman questioned.
-
-"Mr. Thornton was a client of yours, I believe?" remarked the policeman,
-after many other queries.
-
-"Yes, an old schoolfellow, and one of my greatest friends," replied
-Eversleigh. "His daughter is engaged to marry my son Gilbert, here."
-
-"This gentleman?" asked the policeman, pointing to Gilbert.
-
-"Yes."
-
-"And these are the private apartments of your partner, Mr. Cooper
-Silwood?"
-
-"Yes."
-
-"And the dead body of Mr. Thornton, your friend, is found in the private
-apartments of your partner, Mr. Silwood?"
-
-"Yes."
-
-"And Mr. Silwood is dead?"
-
-"Yes."
-
-"Most extraordinary thing I ever heard of!" exclaimed the policeman.
-"There's something very strange here."
-
-"My father, as you can see for yourself," interposed Gilbert, "is ill;
-he is in no fit state to stay here a moment longer than is necessary.
-But if I can help you, I shall be glad to do so."
-
-"Mr. Eversleigh ought to go home at once," said the doctor.
-
-"That is all right," said the policeman.
-
-"Do you report to Inspector Gale?" asked Gilbert of the policeman; "I
-know him very well."
-
-"Yes; I shall report to him. And in the mean time these chambers must be
-closed up and sealed. The inspector will no doubt come and examine
-everything in them. This is the usual procedure. And of course there
-will be a coroner's inquest. Nothing more can be done at present, I
-think. Please sir, do not touch the body," he added, speaking to the
-doctor, who was scrutinizing it carefully.
-
-"If I went to Scotland Yard, should I find the inspector in?" asked
-Gilbert.
-
-"You'll find him there at 2.30."
-
-"And there is nothing more that can be done just now?"
-
-"Nothing."
-
-Leaving Silwood's chambers in the charge of the policeman, who had now
-been reinforced by the arrival of two other constables, the two
-Eversleighs, the doctor, the locksmith, and the porter filed out of the
-chamber of mystery and death. As they entered the court of Stone
-Buildings, they saw that little knots of people had collected, who were
-discussing something that evidently was unusually interesting. The fact
-was that the porter, on his way for the doctor and the policeman, had
-let fall hints of what had been found. The Eversleighs were asked by
-some gentlemen of the long robe, whom they knew, what was the truth of
-the matter, and they put before them the bare facts. But the porter and
-the locksmith were not so reticent. The former gossiped freely, but not
-without a fitting sense of the greatness of the occasion. The latter
-went into Chancery Lane by the iron-gated footway leading from the court
-of Stone Buildings and saw a crowd gathered on the pavement opposite the
-windows of Cooper Silwood's chambers. Already it had been spread abroad
-that these chambers had been the scene of some astounding tragedy. The
-locksmith, on being asked by some one in the crowd if he could throw any
-light on the subject, forthwith poured forth all he knew, declaring that
-undoubtedly Morris Thornton, whose dead body had been discovered in
-Silwood's room, had been foully murdered. And when the rumour ran that
-it was the body of the Missing Millionaire, of whom everybody had heard,
-the excitement rose to fever heat in the crowd.
-
-A passing reporter, on the staff of one of the evening papers, saw the
-crowd, and was soon in possession of the pith of the news, but desirous
-of getting the fullest particulars, he sought out the locksmith, who
-told him the whole story, again reiterating his conviction that there
-had been a murder of the blackest kind.
-
-Thus it was the locksmith's idea of what had happened that coloured the
-tone of the papers that evening, all of whom made the most of "THE
-MYSTERY OF LINCOLN'S INN" and "THE MURDER OF THE MISSING MILLIONAIRE,"
-as they entitled it on their bills in the largest of capitals.
-
-And the affair quickly created an extraordinary sensation.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV
-
-
-It was nearly two o'clock that Saturday afternoon when Francis
-Eversleigh, supported by Gilbert and the doctor, left Silwood's chambers
-in Stone Buildings. He stopped on his way to his office, as has been
-said, to gratify the curiosity of some of his acquaintances; but he was
-so weak and unsteady that the doctor soon forbade him, and rightly, to
-exert himself even to talk.
-
-On the arrival of the little party at 176, New Square, they were met by
-Ernest Eversleigh and Williamson the head-clerk, who were anxiously
-awaiting them, as a rumour had already reached them of the discovery of
-the body in Silwood's rooms; the report, however, had been so vague that
-they could not believe it. Williamson, in particular, was sceptical.
-
-Ernest eagerly pressed his father and brother for information; the
-doctor, however, would not allow Francis Eversleigh to speak, and
-Gilbert said that he would presently tell them all, but that he must
-first attend to his father, who was far from well.
-
-"Just one word, Mr. Gilbert," said Williamson. "Is it true that the body
-of Mr. Morris Thornton was found in Mr. Silwood's sitting-room?--that is
-the rumour."
-
-"Yes, it is quite true."
-
-Williamson, on hearing this, fell back, with a look of the profoundest
-astonishment on his face. Up to this time he had not believed it,
-because, if it were true, then the suspicions which he had for some time
-entertained appeared to be more than confirmed, but he had not looked
-for so startling a confirmation.
-
-"I was right," he told himself. "I wish I could get to the bottom of
-it."
-
-Francis Eversleigh meanwhile went up to his room on the second floor,
-and now the doctor insisted that he must remain quiet. Further, the
-doctor said that he himself would go out to obtain some suitable
-nourishment for him. As he withdrew from the room, he beckoned to
-Gilbert.
-
-"Do not leave your father," he said to Gilbert, in the passage. "I am
-afraid he is ill--of what I cannot say, but it is easy to see that his
-vitality is very low. Has he suffered from some severe illness--some bad
-attack recently?"
-
-"No. He has been ailing slightly for a few weeks past--that is all."
-
-"He seems to me to be very much run down," the doctor went on. "You must
-make a point of getting him to see his own physician--the family doctor.
-In the mean time, I'll fetch him a strong pick-me-up and some light,
-nourishing food of which he stands much in need. After he has had it, he
-should be taken home at once, and put to bed as soon as possible."
-
-"Very well," agreed Gilbert; and the doctor went on his way down the
-stairs. Gilbert returned to his father's room.
-
-Father and son, now left alone for the first time since the discovery of
-Morris Thornton's body, looked at each other strangely. Gilbert's gaze
-seemed to ask the question, "What is the meaning of all this?" His
-father understood him but darkly, for he was suffering from a frightful
-obsession which numbed his brain. He was powerless to think coherently;
-all that he could fix his mind upon was merely what was nearest him, or
-what was immediately happening. It was this which explained his next
-words.
-
-"What was the doctor saying to you, Gilbert?" he asked.
-
-"Well, he said you were run down, and wanted bracing up," replied
-Gilbert.
-
-"Was that it?"
-
-"Yes; and I must say that it is not surprising you're ill, after two
-such shocks as you have received to-day."
-
-Then there was silence between them. Strange thoughts, half-formed
-suspicions crowded upon Gilbert in that pause. He glanced at his father,
-uncertain whether to speak to him or not.
-
-"Father," he said at last, "I do not like to press the subject on you
-when you are so far from strong; but how do you account for Morris
-Thornton's body being found in Mr. Silwood's chambers--have you formed
-any theory?"
-
-"I know no more about it than you," cried Francis Eversleigh, wildly;
-"and I do not know what to think.... I cannot think about it at all ...
-my brain refuses to act.... I have no idea ... it is all a terrible and
-horrible mystery to me!"
-
-And then he flung up his hands, as if he were throwing off some weight
-which oppressed him.
-
-"Oh, it is dreadful, dreadful, dreadful!" he cried; then burst into a
-passion of sobs, the sound and sight of which moved and distressed
-Gilbert exceedingly.
-
-"Father! Father!" said the son, soothingly, in accents of deepest
-sympathy.
-
-In a few moments Eversleigh grew calmer, and became a little more like
-his usual self.
-
-"There is just one thing I'd like to ask you, father," said Gilbert;
-"that is, if it is not too painful for you."
-
-"What is it, my son?"
-
-"You uttered one word in that room over there," returned Gilbert,
-nodding in the direction of Stone Buildings.
-
-"What?"
-
-"The one word was 'Murder!' Do you think Mr. Thornton was murdered?"
-
-Francis Eversleigh stared about him with dilated eyes, as might some
-being who was persecuted and hunted.
-
-"I don't know what to think," he said at length.
-
-"But you did exclaim 'Murder!' That was the idea in your mind, was it
-not?"
-
-"Ah, Gilbert, my mind was utterly confused.... I had suffered a
-tremendous blow.... Surely I can't be held responsible for what I said
-in my condition at the time."
-
-"True, father. Still, there was the idea of murder in your mind,"
-persisted Gilbert.
-
-"I tell you that I know nothing--nothing."
-
-"Of course, you know nothing, father; but your thought on seeing the
-body--your suspicion--was that there had been murder. Was it not so?"
-
-"I can't say anything about it," replied Eversleigh, fretfully. "I know
-as much and as little as you do how it was that Thornton came to be in
-Silwood's chambers. Pray do not tease me--do not worry me--I cannot
-stand it; it is cruel of you to torture me in this fashion."
-
-Gilbert stared at his father, wondering what was meant by the expression
-"torture"--he could not understand it. He was glad that the doctor
-returned at this moment, bringing with him wine and a light lunch for
-the invalid. Leaving his father to the doctor's care, he went down to
-the next floor, where he saw his brother Ernest, who was all agog to
-hear the story. When Ernest had listened to Gilbert's narrative, his
-sole commentary upon it was--
-
-"Of course, everybody will say that Morris Thornton was murdered by
-Silwood; what other conclusion can there be?"
-
-"But why?" urged Gilbert. "What motive could Silwood have? No, I don't
-think that can be the explanation. I confess, however, the thing baffles
-me completely."
-
-"Still," said Ernest, "you may be quite sure that it's what the world
-will say. In any case, it can't fail to do us a lot of mischief."
-
-"Oh, that will depend on circumstances when the mystery is cleared up,
-as I imagine it soon must be."
-
-Then Gilbert spoke of their father's condition, and suggested that
-Ernest should take Francis Eversleigh to Surbiton as soon as the doctor
-gave permission. As for himself, he was going on to Scotland Yard to see
-Inspector Gale.
-
-"What am I tell Kitty?" asked Ernest.
-
-"I'll write her a note, which you will give her. Of course, I should
-have liked to have broken the sad news to her myself; but from what I
-know of her, I am sure that she would prefer me to lose no opportunity
-of unravelling the mystery of her father's death. Besides, she has
-always believed, since she knew of Mr. Thornton's disappearance, that he
-was dead."
-
-And Gilbert sat down and wrote his love a letter, full of the tenderest
-feeling, in which he told her of the discovery which had been made that
-day, and of which his brother Ernest would give her more complete
-details. Then he went on to say that he would not spare himself in
-trying to elucidate the whole strange business, nor would he lose any
-time; therefore, he would see Inspector Gale that very afternoon; he
-would go to Scotland Yard, in fact, immediately after sealing the letter
-to her. But he would be at Surbiton in the evening.
-
-When Gilbert did reach Scotland Yard, he found Gale expecting him.
-
-"I was waiting for you, Mr. Gilbert," said the inspector.
-
-"Yes?"
-
-"One of the constables told me you asked when I would be in, and he
-replied at half-past two; it is a quarter-past three now. By the way,
-how is your father? I hear he was so shocked that he fainted twice."
-
-"He is better now, but still very much shaken. I left him in the
-doctor's charge, and when he is able to go my brother Ernest will take
-him home."
-
-"I think his home is in Surbiton?"
-
-"Yes; I told you that when we were discussing the disappearance of Mr.
-Thornton."
-
-"Quite so. A day or two's rest will pull your father round. Of course, I
-must see him. Do you think he will be fit to see me to-morrow?"
-
-"I should think so. And he must be as anxious as anybody--indeed, more
-anxious than anybody--to have this extraordinary affair cleared up."
-
-"Certainly. Now, Mr. Gilbert, let me hear everything from the beginning.
-Take your own time about it, and try not to forget anything. Don't leave
-out the slightest touch that may have any bearing on the subject."
-
-"I will do my best," said Gilbert. "My father, on learning of the death
-of Mr. Silwood, sent for me this morning."
-
-"Excuse me," interrupted the inspector, "but I must ask you questions as
-you go along. Was it this morning your father heard of Mr. Silwood's
-death, and how did he hear of it?"
-
-"By letter this morning. The letter was from Ugo Ucelli, the Syndic of
-Camajore, with the usual certificate of death. The letter gave the
-particulars of Mr. Silwood's death. Cholera is epidemic along the Gulf
-of Genoa, and Mr. Silwood fell a victim to it. The body was buried
-twenty-four hours after death. Of course, the news affected my father
-very much--it was totally unexpected."
-
-"What was Mr. Silwood doing in Italy?" asked Gale.
-
-"He was on a holiday."
-
-"Had he been long away from the office, from Lincoln's Inn?"
-
-"A week or two only, I think."
-
-"You cannot say exactly?"
-
-"No, but you will easily find out at the office."
-
-"I thought you might know, but, as you say, I can ascertain the date at
-the office. You see, of course, that it is necessary to get to know Mr.
-Silwood's movements?" The last sentence was put interrogatively.
-
-"This means, I imagine, that you connect Mr. Silwood with the death of
-Mr. Thornton?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"That is the obvious thing," replied the inspector; "but it is so
-obvious that I distrust it. I always doubt the obvious in these cases.
-Here, however, it is my duty to neglect nothing. And I must make it my
-business to find out everything I can about Mr. Silwood, and with regard
-to that I count with confidence on your father's assistance. Well, to go
-back, your father, on learning of Mr. Silwood's death, sent for you;
-what came next?"
-
-"He showed me the certificate signed by the Syndic; it was in Italian, a
-language neither my father nor I understand, but a large part of the
-certificate was printed, and from our Latin we made out pretty well what
-it said. The letter, however, we could make nothing of, so I went and
-got a man to translate it."
-
-Gilbert broke off suddenly with a sharp ejaculation.
-
-"You have thought of something, Mr. Gilbert?" suggested the inspector,
-giving him a keen look of inquiry.
-
-"Yes, I have, and a very important thing it may prove too. It has been
-completely driven out of my mind by the dreadful discovery in Stone
-Buildings. Now I remember it, and I believe it may give us the key to
-the mystery."
-
-"What is it?" asked Gale, as Gilbert paused, his face aglow with
-excitement.
-
-"Before I went out to bring the interpreter something happened," said
-Gilbert. "Strange that I should have forgotten it so utterly! While my
-father and I were talking about Mr. Silwood's death, we were interrupted
-by a man, who had come in answer to the advertisement in the hope of
-getting the reward of a thousand pounds. The man was as hopeless-looking
-a waster and vagabond as any I ever saw, but he spoke like a man of
-education. And he told us that late on the night of the disappearance of
-Morris Thornton he was in Chancery Lane, and saw a workman coming out of
-the iron gate at the north-east corner of Lincoln's Inn."
-
-"That is just where Mr. Silwood's chambers are, are they not?" asked
-Gale.
-
-"Precisely; his rooms are on the top floor of the house at that very
-corner. Well, this workman behaved in a suspicious manner, and then
-disappeared. But he returned in about half an hour, and let himself into
-the Inn again by the iron gate."
-
-"Wait a minute," said Gale. "You said a workman. What was a workman
-doing in the Inn at that time of night? And with a key which unlocked
-that gate?"
-
-"These are puzzles, are they not?"
-
-"You have certainly given me something to think over. Have you anything
-more to tell me about this workman?"
-
-"No; our informant did not see him again."
-
-Gilbert now resumed the thread of his narrative, telling the inspector
-all that took place when he and his father went to Silwood's chambers.
-
-The inspector, as Gilbert proceeded, compared his statement with the
-report made by the policeman who had been summoned by the porter.
-
-"What you tell me," said Gale, when Gilbert had finished, "bears out
-exactly what my subordinate has set forth. The coroner has been sent
-for, and we must wait till we hear from him. I shall accompany him when
-he makes his examination of the body, and I expect a message from him
-every minute."
-
-"Will you let me go with you?" asked Gilbert. "You must remember that I
-am engaged to Mr. Thornton's daughter, and so am, therefore, in a
-measure her representative."
-
-"I have not forgotten that, and I do not know that there is any
-objection. If you will tell me where I can find you, I'll let you know.
-I must send you away just now, for I wish to be alone to think--and
-there is a great deal to think of."
-
-"Very well. I'll stay in the waiting-room outside," and Gilbert left the
-inspector to his thoughts.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV
-
-
-"As strange a case as any I ever heard of," said Inspector Gale to
-himself, after Gilbert had withdrawn. "Now, what do I know about it
-exactly? Let me see."
-
-Gale was a shrewd man, with an abundance of sound common sense and an
-extensive experience in criminal matters. He also had a certain degree
-of imagination, which is the quality the ordinary detective lacks.
-
-From a cabinet he took some sheets of blue paper which were fastened
-together; they were the memoranda he had made of the facts connected
-with the disappearance of Morris Thornton. Gale read them over rapidly
-but carefully. Putting them down on his desk, he reflected.
-
-"Morris Thornton, a rich colonial," he thought, "came to London on July
-29th, and put up at the Law Courts Hotel in Holborn. Late in the evening
-of the next day, July 30th, he left the hotel for a walk in Holborn or
-perhaps in Chancery Lane--so he said to the porter. To-day, August 14th,
-his body is found in a room at the top of a house in Stone Buildings,
-Lincoln's Inn, that is, on the Chancery Lane side of the Inn. That looks
-as if he had carried out his intention of taking a stroll in Chancery
-Lane. This fits in well enough. What next?
-
-"How did he get up to the room at that time of night? The Inn would be
-closed; the night porter of the Inn must have let him in. I must make a
-note of that. And what took him there? He must have had some object in
-view. And the room was in the set of chambers occupied by Mr. Cooper
-Silwood, one of the most respectable solicitors in London, and a member
-of the very firm of solicitors with whom Mr. Thornton transacted his
-business. Could it be that Mr. Thornton had gone to see Mr. Silwood
-about some matter? But surely not at that hour--it hardly seems
-possible. Still I must not neglect that phase of the case.
-
-"As regards Mr. Silwood. As he is now dead, the thing looks like leading
-up to a blind wall. He had been for some time away on a holiday. I must
-get the date when he left London. If he was in London on July 30th, or
-on the next day, the case would appear pretty black for him. Then there
-is the locked door. The door of the room in which the body was found had
-a special lock, and of course a special key, which Mr. Silwood carried.
-Some one locked the door on the dead man; the only one, presumably, who
-had the key to lock it was Mr. Silwood. This also looks pretty black for
-him.
-
-"But the motive? Suppose Silwood did kill Morris Thornton, what would be
-his reason? It must have been some very strong reason indeed that would
-make a respectable solicitor murder an important client. Most
-improbable--impossible, one would have said; but nothing is impossible,
-nothing in the world. Yet everything points to the deed having been
-done by Silwood. The conclusion is obvious."
-
-At this point in his reflections Gale took a turn up and down the floor.
-He was saying to himself, as he had said to Gilbert, that when a
-conclusion was obvious, then it was necessary to beware of it. His long
-experience had taught him that obvious conclusions rarely turned out to
-be correct.
-
-"Well, where are we?" Gale mused, sitting down again. "Let us say
-Silwood had a motive for murdering Thornton, and did actually kill him,
-and having committed the murder, fled the country on the pretence of
-taking a holiday--suppose all this; where does it land us?"
-
-Here a curious idea came into Gale's mind. He considered it doubtfully
-for two or three minutes; then, reminding himself of his favourite
-theory that nothing was impossible, he gave it tentatively a place in
-his thoughts.
-
-"Suppose," he said to himself, "that Silwood is not dead, and that all
-this palaver about the certificate of death from the Italian magistrate
-is a skilfully manufactured affair, a mere pretence, in fact, with the
-object of defeating justice? If this were so, it would complete the case
-with a vengeance. Still, why shouldn't Silwood be dead? Well, I must
-look into it, though the idea that he is alive seems rather
-far-fetched."
-
-Far-fetched or not, the idea fascinated the inspector as it appealed to
-his imagination; it haunted him so that he could not drive it out of his
-mind.
-
-"Suppose," he kept saying to himself over and over again, "Silwood is
-not dead. If he is not dead, what does that imply? Does it mean that
-there is some conspiracy, a conspiracy in which the Eversleighs are
-involved?"
-
-Gale pondered deeply. He had the feeling that somehow he was on the
-verge of a great discovery; but, as he thought still further, he was not
-so sure. It seemed absurd to connect the Eversleighs with anything of
-the sort. Finally, he came to a decision. Rising from his chair, he
-pressed an electric bell, and told a man who instantly appeared in
-answer to his call to ask Mr. Gilbert Eversleigh to step into the room.
-
-Gilbert, expecting that the coroner had been heard from, came in
-eagerly.
-
-"The coroner?" he asked.
-
-"No, Mr. Gilbert. I wished you to tell me again the name of the place in
-Italy where Mr. Silwood died."
-
-"Camajore, in the province of Tuscany--it is in the north of Italy, on
-the west coast or a few miles inland."
-
-"Camajore?" repeated Gale. "How is it spelt?"
-
-Gilbert spelt the word.
-
-"Do you know the place?" asked the officer.
-
-"Not at all."
-
-"Do you happen to know the best and quickest way of getting to it?"
-
-"You would take the train for Genoa, I fancy. Camajore is only a short
-distance from Genoa. But why do you ask me this?"
-
-"It will be necessary, I think, for us to have the death of Mr. Silwood
-confirmed."
-
-"I understand," said Gilbert, but he had only a glimmering of the
-inspector's meaning. "It will be as well--as a matter of form."
-
-"Quite so," said Gale. "All sorts of inquiries will be made, and we
-must be in a position to answer them. By the way, Mr. Gilbert, would you
-mind telling me if Mr. Silwood was on terms of intimacy with Mr.
-Thornton--would you say that Mr. Silwood was as much of a friend of Mr.
-Thornton as your father was?"
-
-"Mr. Thornton certainly knew Mr. Silwood very well, though perhaps he
-was hardly on the same terms of intimate friendship as my father was."
-
-"Still there was a considerable acquaintance?"
-
-"Undoubtedly."
-
-"Do you think Mr. Thornton knew Mr. Silwood well enough to go to the
-latter's rooms at midnight or thereabouts?"
-
-"I should scarcely have thought so. It's rather an extreme thing to go
-to a man's rooms at that time of night."
-
-"But if there was some pressing reason?"
-
-"Of course, necessity knows no law, but I can't suppose for one instant
-there was such a necessity. I believe that Mr. Thornton's relations with
-both Mr. Silwood and my father were of the most cordial character;
-indeed, I am certain they were. There was absolutely no hint of anything
-else. I know that for many years past Mr. Thornton reposed the greatest
-confidence in my father's firm."
-
-"So I understand," assented Gale. "Now, Mr. Gilbert, I must ask you to
-leave me. I shall tell you the instant I hear from the coroner."
-
-And Gilbert went out once more.
-
-As soon as he had gone, Gale rang his bell again.
-
-"I cannot go myself," he mused; "I must be present at the inquest--that
-is necessary. I must send Brydges."
-
-Brydges was the detective who ranked next to himself in Scotland Yard.
-In a moment or two more Brydges was in the presence of the chief.
-
-"You have heard about the Lincoln's Inn case?" asked Gale.
-
-"Yes, something, but not accurately--just what they are saying in the
-Yard."
-
-"And that is?"
-
-"That the body of the missing millionaire has been found in a room at
-the top of a house in Stone Buildings, the said room being the
-sitting-room of a Mr. Cooper Silwood, a solicitor, a member, in fact, of
-the firm of solicitors who did the dead man's legal business. A very
-curious position, is it not?" commented Brydges.
-
-"Very curious indeed. All the more so because Mr. Silwood too is dead."
-
-"Yes, I heard that also."
-
-"It is with reference to Silwood's death that I want you just now. I
-wish you to go to Italy, to a place called Camajore, some miles from
-Genoa, and find out everything you can about his death."
-
-"Ah!" exclaimed Brydges; "I see. You think his death may be a fake; is
-that it?"
-
-"Well, it occurred to me that it might be so; at any rate, I think it
-well worth inquiring further into. You can leave to-night for Genoa?"
-
-"Yes, certainly."
-
-"And you will wire the results of your mission in cipher to me as soon
-as possible," said Gale.
-
-"Am I to consult the local authorities?"
-
-"Yes; I'll have a letter of credentials prepared for you. You will
-present it to the police at Genoa, and I do not imagine you will find
-any difficulty. Now, go and make your preparations."
-
-Left alone once again, Gale took up the thread of his musings.
-
-"There is one other point," he thought, "and that is the presence in
-Chancery Lane, on the night when Thornton disappeared, of that
-mysterious workman, who possessed the key to the iron gates of the small
-footway communicating with the court of Stone Buildings and Chancery
-Lane itself.
-
-"What was it I was told? A workman, or a man dressed as a workman, let
-himself out of the iron gate late at night; the man appeared to be
-flurried, to act in a suspicious manner. In about half an hour he
-returned, and let himself in again. He was seen no more that night. And
-it was _the_ night--the night presumably of the murder.
-
-"This assuredly must be followed up; it looks like a clue. I must get
-hold of the waster who told the story, and hear for myself what he has
-to say. I wonder if he spoke the truth, or if he invented the whole
-thing. And if this story is true, and if this workman had something to
-do with Thornton's death, how is he to be connected with Cooper Silwood?
-If this workman committed the murder, how did he get possession of the
-key to Silwood's chambers? Perhaps, during Silwood's absence, he got
-into the room. Well, it comes back to getting the date on which Silwood
-left London for his holiday--that's what I must ascertain."
-
-The inspector had reached this conclusion when there was a knock at his
-door, and a constable entered and informed him that the coroner had sent
-a message to the effect that he was waiting for him in Silwood's
-chambers.
-
-Gale called Gilbert, who had been sitting outside wearily and
-impatiently, and the two men got into a cab and drove to the scene of
-the discovery of the body. On their way thither Gale put a question.
-
-"I am very anxious to get to know the day on which Mr. Silwood left
-London," said the officer; "do you think you could find that out for me
-this afternoon?"
-
-"I think the office will be closed, but I'll go and see, if you like."
-
-"I wish you would. Suppose you go round to New Square while I go on to
-Mr. Silwood's chambers?"
-
-Gilbert agreed, and presently was in the office of Eversleigh, Silwood
-and Eversleigh, where, to his great surprise, he found Williamson still
-on the premises, apparently hard at work.
-
-"What a day this has been, Mr. Gilbert!" cried Williamson. "I thought
-I'd wait to see if there was any more news. Your father and Mr. Ernest
-have just gone home. I'm afraid your father, Mr. Gilbert, is very
-poorly--not that that is strange, after what has happened."
-
-"No, indeed," said Gilbert. "Can you tell me, Mr. Williamson," he went
-on, "the day on which Mr. Silwood left for his holiday?"
-
-"A fortnight ago, exactly, to-day I had a note from him, saying he was
-off to Italy. I don't know whether he went by the night mail on the
-evening of the Friday or by the continental express on the Saturday
-morning; he did not mention which train he was going by."
-
-"A fortnight ago to-day? That was July 31st. And Friday was the 30th."
-
-"Precisely," said Williamson, with a touch of malice, "and that is the
-very day--that Friday--on which Mr. Thornton disappeared. It has a
-strange look, Mr. Gilbert; I can make nothing of it--nothing at all."
-
-"You are sure of the date?" asked Gilbert, sharply.
-
-"As I said, it was either on the Friday night or on the Saturday morning
-that Mr. Silwood left."
-
-Gilbert, as he went to tell Inspector Gale what he had learned, could
-not but confess to himself that the matter did wear a very strange look
-indeed.
-
-When he got to Stone Buildings, he saw the inspector, the coroner, an
-assistant, and two constables. It was Gale who spoke.
-
-"The coroner," he remarked, "is having the body taken to the nearest
-mortuary, Mr. Gilbert, and he will report later. Meanwhile, I have made
-an examination of these apartments, and I am bound to say that
-everything in them appears to be in good order. I see no sign of
-disorder, no indication of a struggle. And I have looked into the
-bedroom, and there also I can see nothing to take hold of. Mr. Silwood,
-I should say, prepared in the most leisurely fashion for his trip; not a
-thing betokens hurry or flurry--this is all satisfactory enough, so far
-as it goes."
-
-Gale addressed a few words to the coroner, and then the body was
-removed. As Gilbert turned to leave the room, Gale put his arm on his
-sleeve.
-
-"What about the date?" he asked.
-
-"Mr. Silwood left either that Friday night or next morning--which, is
-not certain."
-
-Gale looked at Gilbert, earnestly, but he did not speak; his silence was
-eloquent enough.
-
-"You think," said Gilbert, slowly, "that Silwood murdered----?"
-
-He did not complete the sentence.
-
-"I say nothing definite, Mr. Gilbert; but don't you think it looks that
-way?"
-
-"It is impossible--impossible!" said Gilbert.
-
-But Gale shook his head.
-
-When Gilbert got to Waterloo, on his way to see Kitty, he heard at the
-bookstall people eagerly asking for the latest editions of the evening
-papers. On the placards he saw in big black letters--
-
-     "THE BODY OF THE MISSING MILLIONAIRE DISCOVERED."
-
-     "IS IT MURDER?"
-
-How was he to tell Kitty, his darling? What could he say to her?
-
-But when he arrived at Surbiton, he was surprised to find that Kitty
-showed considerable calmness in the circumstances.
-
-"I was sure my father was dead," she said to him, as they talked over
-the discovery of the body. "I was certain that if he had been alive he
-would have come to me. I never had any hope. And, Gilbert, I do not
-believe that Mr. Silwood killed him. Why should he have done so? I
-wonder if the darkness which surrounds my father's death will ever be
-cleared away?"
-
-"It is shrouded in mystery at present, my darling," said Gilbert,
-immensely relieved that Kitty was bearing up so well; "but perhaps some
-evidence will be forthcoming at the inquest. It is to take place on
-Tuesday."
-
-"I think I should like to be present," said Kitty, after a long pause.
-
-"It may be very painful for you, and I do not believe you will be called
-on."
-
-"It is my duty, I suppose, and I must not shrink from it."
-
-"My own brave little girl," said Gilbert, kissing her fondly.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI
-
-
-All the newspapers had published as full accounts as they could compile
-of the Lincoln's Inn Mystery, dwelling on and emphasizing the
-extraordinary features of the case. Determined now to give it the utmost
-publicity, Inspector Gale had supplied them with most of the information
-at his command, but he took good care to say not a word about the
-mission on which he had despatched Brydges. What he did communicate to
-the Press was sufficient, however, to arouse the public to a still
-higher pitch of excitement regarding the whole strange story of Morris
-Thornton. As a natural consequence, the room in which the inquest was
-held was packed as densely as it could be.
-
-In the mean time Gale had been exceedingly active. He had not yet
-received any message from Brydges; he did not, in fact, expect to hear
-from him for a day or two, if so soon. But he had interviewed Miss Kitty
-Thornton and Francis Eversleigh.
-
-From the former he had obtained her father's letter announcing his
-coming to England, but he saw the missive was of no particular
-importance in itself. From the latter person he had been able to learn
-nothing fresh, but he had a feeling that Francis Eversleigh's state of
-collapse was much more complete than the occasion, sad and painful as
-it was, quite accounted for, and he asked himself if it were possible
-that the solicitor was holding back something from him.
-
-Both Miss Kitty and Eversleigh had somewhat puzzled the detective, but
-for entirely different reasons. Both of them were present in the room at
-the inquest--indeed, they sat side by side; and Gale, secretly watching
-them, found himself puzzled again by what had puzzled him before.
-
-What puzzled him was, on the one hand, the quiet strength shown by the
-girl; and on the other, the superlative weakness exhibited by the man.
-He was astounded by the firm, composed demeanour of Miss Thornton, but
-he was even more astounded by the nervous, perturbed, and almost
-hysterical condition of Eversleigh. Gale thought that if the positions
-of the two had been reversed, he would have understood it better.
-
-The truth was, so far as Kitty was concerned, that having concluded some
-time before that her father was dead, and also, after hearing the
-details of the finding of the body in Stone Buildings, that it was in
-the highest degree improbable that he had been murdered by Cooper
-Silwood, she had made up her mind, in spite of her grief, to take a
-certain stand. For she saw that, as the case stood, Francis Eversleigh,
-her lover Gilbert, and the rest of the Eversleighs, to all of whom she
-occupied almost the relation of a member of their family, must rest
-under a heavy cloud until such time as the darkness should be lifted.
-Therefore, she nerved herself to face this crisis in her and their
-affairs with all the courage and determination she possessed, and to
-demonstrate by her attitude that she, the daughter of Morris Thornton,
-had every confidence in them. Gilbert, who knew what was in her mind,
-thanked and blessed her, and admired and loved her more than ever.
-
-Highly intelligent, she did not fail to know that popular opinion
-pronounced Cooper Silwood, the partner of Francis Eversleigh, the
-murderer of her father, and she was set on making it plain to all the
-world that she did not take that view. As she sat by the side of Francis
-Eversleigh she took his hand, and tried to assure him of her sympathy
-and support.
-
-As for Francis Eversleigh, his lamentable state was so evident that no
-one could behold him without pity. His face was full of suffering, his
-eyes were heavy and dull, his frame was bent and bowed. He tried to
-concentrate his thoughts, to fix his wandering wits on some definite
-idea, but the slightest effort exhausted him. All that he was really
-conscious of was that he was the victim of an incredibly cruel and
-malicious destiny that was slowly grinding the life out of him. In a
-blurr of emotions he hazily wondered how he was to get through the
-ordeal of the day. And further, he had a faint suspicion--he was not
-able to formulate it clearly--that, when Gale had spoken to him about
-the date on which Cooper Silwood had left for his Italian holiday, he
-had said something unguardedly--he could not remember exactly what--to
-the inspector, which that officer had regarded as peculiar. He was
-trying, with such strength as was left him, to recall it when the
-coroner took his seat.
-
-When the jury had been impanelled and sworn, they, according to custom,
-went to view the remains--now hardly recognizable, but in the dead man's
-clothes had been found letters which further identified him, had there
-been any doubt. But there was no doubt whatever that the remains were
-the remains of Morris Thornton.
-
-Thereafter evidence was given.
-
-Inspector Gale, between whom and the coroner there chanced to be a tacit
-feud, on account of former differences--a circumstance which later was
-to have its effect on the inquest--followed every word with the closest
-attention.
-
-First came the tale of the finding of the body.
-
-The locksmith was called, and he recounted his share in the discovery in
-Stone Buildings, as already set forth in this narrative. But he was
-particularly questioned about the difficulty he had experienced in
-opening the door of Silwood's chambers. In reply, he described the Yale
-lock which he had forced to gain admission to the rooms; it was a lock
-of a special kind, and could only be opened and locked by a special key.
-
-The lock was now produced and identified by the locksmith.
-
-A clerk from the makers was then put in the box. He stated that the lock
-bore a number in addition to the name of the firm to which he belonged,
-and by tracing the number in their books, they were able to state that
-the lock had been supplied to Mr. Cooper Silwood some four years before,
-and he mentioned the precise date. And with the lock they had supplied
-two keys; they had not retained a triplicate. One of their men, he said,
-had fixed the lock on the door of Mr. Silwood's chambers. Asked by the
-coroner if the lock was of the kind that would shut of itself on the
-swinging-to of the door, he answered that it was not; it could neither
-be opened nor locked without the proper key being used. The door was
-locked, witness volunteered, after Mr. Thornton was dead.
-
-"I don't know that you can say that!" exclaimed the coroner, sharply.
-"The door was certainly locked by some one on Mr. Thornton, alive or
-dead; a key was used, it is plain, but you do not know that Mr. Thornton
-was dead at the time; you have no right to say that."
-
-"Perhaps not," said the clerk, humbly; "but it occurred to me, sir, that
-if Mr. Thornton had been alive when he was locked in, he would have
-tried to get out. When he found he could not get out by the door, would
-he not have broken one of the windows? Or maybe he would not have had
-more to do than lift a window and cry for help to some one without."
-
-The coroner agreed that there was something in what the clerk had said,
-but he did not pursue this branch of inquiry further.
-
-"You said," remarked the coroner, "that your firm supplied Mr. Silwood
-with two keys?"
-
-"Yes."
-
-"He never told you that he had lost one of the keys?"
-
-"I am positive he never did. If he had lost one, he would have sent to
-us for another, surely; and then I must have heard of it, for it is my
-duty to keep the record of the keys. We have a regular registry."
-
-"On the other hand, he might lose a key and say nothing about it; is
-that not so?"
-
-"Certainly, sir."
-
-Inspector Gale wondered not a little at the unusual line the coroner was
-taking in his questions.
-
-The clerk was now dismissed, and the Lincoln's Inn porter summoned. The
-porter corroborated in the main the evidence of the locksmith, the only
-new point he made being to state that he had been sent for by Mr.
-Francis Eversleigh to open Silwood's door. He was aware that this
-particular door had a special lock, and he had informed Mr. Eversleigh
-of the fact.
-
-Then Francis Eversleigh was called, and as he was plainly very ill, he
-was given a chair.
-
-The coroner, who knew him perfectly, invited him to make a statement,
-and in a weak, halting, hesitating manner he did so. When it was
-finished he was asked a few questions.
-
-"You were aware that Mr. Thornton intended coming to London?"
-
-"He wrote to us to that effect, but he specified no date on which we
-might look for him."
-
-"You did not know of his arrival in London--until when?"
-
-"Until my son, Gilbert, who had been making inquiries, told me of Mr.
-Thornton's coming to the Law Courts Hotel, and of the subsequent
-disappearance. Thereafter my firm offered a reward for any information
-which might lead us to know what had become of him."
-
-"Your son Gilbert had been making inquiries--why?"
-
-Francis Eversleigh, stumbling at every second or third word, gave an
-account of the circumstances which had resulted in the discovery that
-Morris Thornton had come to London, and had thereafter disappeared.
-
-"I was naturally very anxious," said Eversleigh. "Mr. Thornton was an
-old and dear friend, and his only child, a daughter, had lived with us
-for some years."
-
-"Was Mr. Silwood also a friend of the deceased?"
-
-"Almost as much as I was."
-
-"There was no ill feeling between them?"
-
-"I am quite sure there was not."
-
-"Have you any explanation to offer, or any suggestion to make, regarding
-the finding of Mr. Thornton's body in your partner's private
-apartments?"
-
-"I can account for it in no way. It is a profound mystery to me. No one
-was more surprised than I was when the body was discovered in Mr.
-Silwood's sitting-room. The shock was so great, indeed, that I fainted
-away."
-
-"What was the date on which Mr. Silwood departed for his holiday--I
-understand he went to Italy?"
-
-"He went on the very night that Mr. Thornton disappeared, or the
-following morning. A note was received from him on the Saturday morning
-saying he was off--that was the day after Mr. Thornton's disappearance."
-
-Here Inspector Gale interposed, and said it would be proved that Mr.
-Silwood left on the Saturday morning.
-
-The words caused an immense sensation in the room; the feeling was
-general that this had an important bearing on the case; in the breast of
-almost every one present there was the impression that the dead man had
-been murdered by Silwood. Black despair clutched at Francis Eversleigh's
-heart-strings.
-
-Gilbert was next called, and said what he had to say in a manly,
-straightforward manner.
-
-Inspector Gale now came upon the stand, and put before the jury the
-facts as he knew them. In brief, he said the facts were that Mr.
-Thornton, on the Friday night in question, left his hotel with the
-declared intention of going for a walk in Holborn or in Chancery Lane;
-that he did not return; and that his body, fifteen days later, was found
-in Stone Buildings, which was a part of Lincoln's Inn, practically in
-Chancery Lane. Also, that the room in which the body was discovered
-belonged to Mr. Silwood, who had left London the morning next after the
-disappearance of Mr. Thornton. The conclusion was obvious; yet, on the
-other hand, there were two considerations to which importance must be
-attached: one was the absence of motive on the part of Silwood, the
-other was that on the very night of the disappearance, a man, dressed as
-a workman, had been seen to issue from Lincoln's Inn, from the Stone
-Buildings end of the Inn, and that he had not been able to find out
-anything about this workman. In these circumstances he suggested that
-the jury should return an open verdict.
-
-Gale's reference to the mysterious workman was the first intimation the
-public had received of that person; it had the effect somewhat of
-casting doubt on the certainty of Silwood's guilt.
-
-"An open verdict," said the coroner, with a curious inflection of voice.
-"Wait till we have heard the medical evidence."
-
-Dr. Gilson, an eminent man, called and sworn, said that he had made an
-autopsy on the body, according to instructions from the coroner.
-
-"With what result?" asked the coroner.
-
-"I found no trace of violence on the body; there was absolutely nothing
-to indicate Mr. Thornton came by his death by foul means. On the
-contrary, my examination showed conclusively that death came from the
-bursting of an aneurism. Mr. Thornton undoubtedly died of heart-disease.
-In other words, he died from natural causes."
-
-"From natural causes!"
-
-The thing seemed beyond belief.
-
-The coroner, who had been prepared for what was coming, glanced at Gale,
-and on his face was the ghost of a smile.
-
-Every one in the room looked at every one else with blank amazement.
-
-"From natural causes!" they repeated to each other. Then Morris Thornton
-had not been murdered after all. But on reflection they saw that the
-mystery was not solved, and now they inquired, how had he come to die
-"from natural causes" _in Cooper Silwood's rooms_?
-
-When Francis Eversleigh heard the doctor's words, a light of gladness
-came upon his face. For the first time for days he seemed to breathe
-more like a man; but like the rest he was astonished and asked the same
-question all were asking.
-
-A second doctor, of equal eminence with the other expert, confirmed the
-statement of his colleague.
-
-"There is not the faintest shadow of doubt," said he, "that Mr. Thornton
-died from the bursting of an aneurism. He was not murdered, he died from
-natural causes--so much is absolutely certain."
-
-After this there was very little to be done.
-
-The jury brought in a verdict that Morris Thornton died from natural
-causes.
-
-But the Lincoln's Inn Mystery was as great as ever.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII
-
-
-Never had there been a more baffling mystery.
-
-Morris Thornton, the missing millionaire, had not been murdered either
-by Cooper Silwood or the mysterious workman, either of whom might have
-been thought guilty of the crime; medical testimony, based on the
-scientific accuracy of an autopsy, was conclusive on this point. The man
-had fallen a victim to heart-disease, and there was no getting away from
-the fact. But a great deal about the case called loudly for explanation.
-
-Amongst others were such queries being put as: How did Thornton come to
-be in Silwood's rooms? Had he gone there of his own volition? If so,
-with what object? And once there, what had taken place prior to his
-death? And who had locked the door upon him? And did any one besides
-Silwood have a key to the rooms?
-
-It was a curiously tangled skein: would it ever be unravelled? or would
-it take its place among the many unsolved mysteries of London? The
-Thornton Mystery continued to be the talk, the question, of the day, and
-many keen brains set to work upon it. The popular imagination, too, was
-powerfully impressed by the pathos of the idea of Thornton, after years
-of striving and success in the land of his exile, coming home only to
-meet his death in this strange fashion in the midst of such
-extraordinary surroundings.
-
-As for the inquest itself, its wholly unexpected result filled the
-general public with astonishment. In some minds it excited a feeling of
-alarm, because it showed how possible it was for a man to pass out of
-sight, to be lost and swallowed up, even to die, and all this take place
-without the police, the guardians of the great city's peace and safety,
-being aware of it.
-
-Both the amazement and the alarm were evident in that unerring reflex
-and register of opinion, the Press of the country. Not a newspaper
-throughout the land but commented at length on the subject. They were at
-tremendous pains to set forth the whole dark story with the utmost
-minuteness. Some even attempted a solution of the problems it disclosed.
-And in one instance, at least, this led to a further development.
-
-The _Morning Call_, a well-known London journal, had secretly changed
-hands; it had a new editor and for the most part a new staff; every man
-on it tingled and burned to distinguish himself and cover his paper with
-glory. The general line taken by the _Call_ was the sensational, and the
-Thornton Mystery was just the sort of thing out of which it calculated
-to make fresh capital. From its point of view, the tame finding of the
-jury at the inquest was overwhelmingly disappointing. Westgate, a member
-of its staff, who had been present at it, told his chief, that the
-result was "simply disgusting." And his chief, with a smile, had
-sympathized with him.
-
-Westgate had come from a rival paper known as the _Morning Light_, and
-was a very smart and capable journalist. From his natural bent, as well
-as from his training, he had made himself an expert of no mean standing
-on all matters connected with crime. He would have been an excellent
-detective, but the detective service, which is not recruited from the
-most intelligent classes in the world, gave no sufficient salary for a
-man of his stamp. As a journalist, he earned twelve hundred a year, and
-was well worth every penny of it. Inspector Gale, the best detective in
-England, did not get five pounds a week.
-
-Westgate's chief, who had been editor of the _Morning Light_, knew and
-appreciated the speciality of his subordinate. Discussing the case after
-the verdict, he asked him what he thought of it.
-
-"I don't know quite what to think," replied Westgate, "but I am not
-satisfied. There is something in the affair that does not meet the eye;
-there is something behind it all. For one thing, I feel as certain as I
-am of being alive that the solution of the mystery rests with Cooper
-Silwood. It turns on him as on a pivot. I take no stock in the tramp's
-story of his seeing a workman coming out of Lincoln's Inn on the night
-of Thornton's disappearance. If the tramp was in Chancery Lane at the
-time he said he was, how was it he saw nothing of Morris Thornton?
-Morris Thornton was undoubtedly in the Lane--at least it is altogether
-likely--at or about the time the tramp said he was there. But, in any
-case, who would trust the story of a tramp by itself? Why, you can pick
-up a waster of the same kind any night of the year you like, and he'll
-pitch you any yarn he thinks you want. No, the case turns on Silwood."
-
-"Well, suppose I grant you that, what then? If the solution lies with
-Silwood, it will continue to rest with him, as he is dead. You run your
-head up against a stone wall, Westgate. Silwood's death ends the thing
-pretty finally."
-
-"Silwood dead!" cried Westgate, pursuing his own train of thought. "Just
-think of it! Isn't it the strangest thing in the world? In the way of
-coincidence it beats anything I ever heard of. Consider, for a second.
-Suppose, for the sake of argument, it had been proved that Thornton was
-murdered, and that the murder was committed by Silwood, what a fortunate
-event Silwood's dying at this precise juncture would be for Silwood! You
-see that, don't you?"
-
-"Of course, the coincidence is remarkable, but what more can you say
-about it? Silwood is dead, and that settles everything--so far as it can
-be settled. There does not seem to be much more to say."
-
-"Though it does not appear to be much good," persisted Westgate, "still,
-the key of the situation, as I said before, lies with Silwood. I wish I
-knew more about that man. Personally, I feel certain that Silwood, when
-he went off for his holiday that Saturday morning, locked the door on
-the dead body of Thornton."
-
-"How you harp on this, Westgate! You have no evidence for what you say,
-either."
-
-"There is a strong presumption, however."
-
-"The exact time of Thornton's death is not known, yet you are arguing as
-if it was. You cannot say for certain that Thornton was dead that
-morning at all."
-
-"The doctors agreed that Thornton had been dead about fifteen days when
-the body was found. That brings his death pretty well, or, at any rate,
-very close, to the time of his disappearance."
-
-"Still there might be a gap of a good many hours."
-
-"I doubt it," said Westgate, stubbornly. "Let me tell you what happened,
-as it seems to me. On leaving the Law Courts Hotel, Thornton went to
-Chancery Lane, got somehow or other into Silwood's rooms, and died there
-suddenly a short while afterwards. I am convinced that he saw Silwood
-when he got into the room, and that something occurred between him and
-Silwood--I don't even attempt to guess what it was--which produced such
-an effect upon his weak heart that he dropped dead from the shock."
-
-"Your explanation is plausible, but it suffers from your not being
-certain that Silwood was there with Thornton at the time of the latter's
-death. In assuming Silwood's presence, you assume too much. But go on
-with your mapping out of what happened. Suppose we take your
-suppositions as certainties, what next?"
-
-"When Silwood saw that Thornton was dead, he would ask himself what he
-was to do," Westgate resumed. "There was the body in the room, and its
-being there had to be accounted for somehow. Silwood, I am positive,
-shrank from saying anything about it--shrank to such an extent that he
-made up his mind to fly rather than appear to have any connection
-whatever with it."
-
-The chief of the _Call_ shook his head.
-
-"This," said he, "is just where your building up of the case tumbles to
-pieces. Suppose Thornton died in Silwood's presence, why on earth should
-not Silwood have said so boldly? Why should he have run away as you
-conjecture he did? Would it not have been far easier, safer, better for
-him to have at once summoned a policeman and told him what had
-happened?"
-
-"But he didn't call a policeman!" exclaimed Westgate, eagerly; "don't
-you see where that lands you? Why did he not call a policeman--why?
-Because he had some strong reason for not doing so. If everything had
-been absolutely all right, he would, as a matter of course, have
-summoned a policeman, and there would be no Thornton Mystery at
-all--only the pathos of the story of a man's career ending in such swift
-tragedy; that would have been all. No! Again I say that, for some reason
-or other, Silwood did not care to face the world and tell it what took
-place in his room that night. Instead of staying to face the music as an
-honest man would, he resolved on flight, and did accordingly fly the
-country the following morning. Mind you, I do not say that Silwood knew
-Thornton died from heart failure--that is another aspect of the thing;
-he may have believed that he had something to do physically with
-bringing about the death of Thornton. Still, that is not the main thing.
-The main thing is that he had some good reason for flight, and that he
-did fly."
-
-The chief said nothing, though a pause on Westgate's part gave him an
-opportunity of speaking.
-
-"It is absurd," said the chief at last. "Silwood belongs to one of the
-best firms in London. His partner, Eversleigh, stands at the head of his
-profession. You saw him at the inquest."
-
-"Yes; he sat beside Miss Thornton. I thought it rather strange that she
-should be present at the inquest, but it was evident she was much
-attached to Mr. Eversleigh in a daughterly way. They say she is engaged
-to his son."
-
-"Well, Westgate, how does that fit in with your theories about Silwood,
-Eversleigh's partner?"
-
-"Not very well, I admit, but we are only making guesses and trying to
-piece things out a bit. And I have not yet told you all that is in my
-mind."
-
-"Go on," said the editor, as Westgate looked at him for permission.
-
-"I paid very careful attention to the statement made by Inspector Gale.
-Now, he's not a great detective, but he's shrewd."
-
-The chief nodded assent.
-
-"In his statement, Gale never once spoke as if he thought Silwood was
-dead."
-
-"What do you say?" cried the other, aroused at last. "Did not speak as
-if he thought Silwood was dead! By Jove, that's a horse of another
-colour."
-
-In a flash he saw that, if Silwood was not dead, then the theories of
-Westgate were likely to become substantialities.
-
-"Gale wanted an open verdict; he actually recommended the jury to bring
-one in. He spoke of the murder being the work of either Silwood or the
-mysterious workman--that was before the medical men knocked the idea of
-murder into thin air--Gale was not prepared for that, I'll swear--but he
-never once spoke of Silwood as if he thought of Silwood as dead. I
-noticed that most particularly. Now, to go on with our supposings," said
-Westgate, with even greater eagerness than he already exhibited, "let us
-see where we are. Silwood is announced to have died of cholera at some
-outlandish place in the north of Italy. Perhaps he did, and perhaps he
-didn't. Say he did not, and that the whole thing is a plant, a put-up
-job?"
-
-Westgate paused abruptly, and looked at his chief.
-
-"Of course, I see your point," responded the editor. "You would say,
-following out your theories, that after locking the dead body of
-Thornton into his room, Silwood went to Italy, and has somehow or other
-had a false announcement of his death sent to England, hoping in this
-way to cover up his tracks effectually. But, once more, Westgate, my
-boy, where is the motive for all this astonishing business?"
-
-"That, I confess, I do not know. But if Silwood is alive, why then, he
-is to be found----"
-
-He broke off and gazed suggestively at the other.
-
-"And you are the man to find him! Eh, is that it?" asked the editor, as
-quick as lightning.
-
-"If you say the word!"
-
-Perceval, chief of the _Call_, leaned back in his chair, lost in debate
-within himself for a minute. As a rule, it did not take nearly so long
-as that for him to make up his mind.
-
-"All right," he said. "You can go. First, of course, you will go to this
-place in Italy and ascertain if Silwood died, was buried, and all the
-rest of it. That may be the end of your search; but if it is not, why
-then go ahead, Westgate. You'll start without delay, and let me know as
-soon as possible what you are doing."
-
-And Westgate went from the presence of his chief, rejoicing exceedingly
-on being sent on a mission after his own heart.
-
-It was therefore more than annoying that almost the first person he saw
-on his arrival in Genoa was Sub-inspector Brydges, Gale's under-study at
-Scotland Yard. As soon as he saw him he guessed that Gale had despatched
-his subordinate to Italy, to make inquiries about Silwood's death, and
-a brief conversation with the officer, whom he often met and knew
-perfectly, made this a certainty.
-
-Brydges made no secret of his errand. He had already wired Gale that he
-was satisfied Silwood was dead, and had been buried at Camajore, just as
-the inspector had been informed by the Eversleighs. And he saw no reason
-for concealing this from Westgate, after they had had some talk together
-in which both of them, metaphorically speaking, put their cards, or most
-of them, on the table.
-
-"You can take it from me," concluded Brydges, "that Mr. Silwood is as
-dead--as dead as Queen Anne."
-
-But Westgate was not satisfied.
-
-So he went to Camajore, saw the Syndic, the doctor, the nurses, and
-every one besides from whom he could get any information. The result was
-always the same. Silwood had died. The polite Syndic even took him to
-see the mound of earth under which lay Silwood's remains.
-
-"It was no good?" asked the chief of Westgate on his return to the
-office of the _Call_.
-
-"No good at all," said Westgate, much crestfallen.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII
-
-
-Upon the Eversleighs the verdict at the inquest had various effects.
-
-Mrs. Eversleigh had been completely upset by the discovery of the body
-of Morris Thornton in the private rooms of Silwood, her husband's
-partner, but she recovered quickly after the verdict, which dispelled a
-great multitude of nameless fears that had sprung up within her mind.
-
-The presence of Kitty at the inquest had been entirely her own idea, and
-it had required courage of an almost desperate sort to carry it out. Her
-lover, seeing the strain the girl was putting on herself, tried to
-dissuade her from going, but she bravely persisted. When the verdict was
-given, and she witnessed the relief it afforded her friends, she felt
-far more than repaid. At the same time, the tragedy which closed her
-father's life lay heavy upon her. What helped her most to bear it was
-Gilbert's love and unfailing sympathy. And on the girl herself all these
-strange and painful events resulted in materially deepening and
-strengthening her character. Hitherto anything of the kind had been far
-removed from her.
-
-With regard to Gilbert Eversleigh, he knew not what to conclude, as all
-attempts on his part to reason out the mystery of Stone Buildings
-invariably ended in confusion. He told himself that the secret of the
-affair was never likely to be revealed, and was not sure if he were glad
-or sorry this should be the case. Yet at times he had an uneasy feeling
-that perhaps, after all, there was more to come.
-
-On the benumbed mind, on the half-paralyzed faculties, of Francis
-Eversleigh the verdict for a while acted like a charm; for a short time
-its effect on him was little short of magical.
-
-He had believed that Cooper Silwood had murdered Morris Thornton; what
-he alone knew made the deed only too probable. To find, then, that there
-had been no murder was a relief to him beyond all words to describe. For
-a few days it nearly made a man of him. He saw that much was dark
-regarding the death of his old friend and client, and he was absolutely
-certain that in some way or other Silwood was mixed up in it; but to
-know that his partner had not actually been guilty of the blackest crime
-in the calendar had a beneficial influence on him.
-
-The sanguine side of his nature, long overshadowed, now began to assert
-itself; he even whispered to himself that it was possible his ruin might
-be averted after all.
-
-At first he feared that the standing of the firm might be so gravely
-compromised by the events which had taken place that its position would
-be rendered hopeless by the withdrawal of their business by its clients;
-but, when then they took no steps in this direction, the elasticity of
-his mind asserted itself more and more. As a matter of fact, a great
-deal of sympathy was expressed for him; several of his clients, indeed,
-went out of their way to assure him of their undiminished confidence
-and regard. No one for an instant suspected there was anything wrong
-with the firm. The death of Thornton was looked upon as an inexplicable
-fatality, that of Silwood as another.
-
-In these reassuring circumstances he took heart of grace, plucked up
-courage, and said to himself that he must make a decided change in his
-own habits and methods, and must no longer be easy-going, careless, and
-unsystematic, but must work doubly hard, and do whatever lay in his
-power to save the situation. But a man's character is not changed in a
-day, and Francis Eversleigh, despite his brave resolutions, was, at
-bottom, the same Francis Eversleigh. And with all the heart in the world
-to retrieve lost ground, it was hardly possible for him to do it, even
-if his affairs had been in a different position.
-
-His most pressing duty, he knew, was to make that examination into the
-business of his firm which he had purposed making earlier. One morning
-towards the end of the week in which the verdict was given, he came to
-his office determined to commence a thorough overhauling of his
-accounts, but his innate weakness prevented him from persevering. And,
-in addition to the slackness habitual to him, there was another reason
-that kept him back. And this reason was Williamson.
-
-Had Eversleigh been a strong man, he would have made the death of his
-partner an excuse for this examination--so natural an excuse, in truth,
-that Williamson would have thought nothing of it. But he had not got
-very far in examining the books when he became aware that the head-clerk
-was following all he did with suspicious interest. The mere fact that
-Eversleigh was manifesting unusual activity was enough to excite
-surprise in Williamson. The first shock which the returning complacency
-of the solicitor received came from the thought that perhaps Williamson
-had a glimmering of the truth.
-
-Then Eversleigh could not do much in the way of investigation without
-referring to Williamson for information. In any case, Eversleigh saw
-with fatal distinctness, that if this process were continued, the result
-could be no other than to put Williamson in possession of the whole
-circumstances of the firm. Conscious of this, his good resolves suffered
-eclipse, and he once more fell back on the desperate policy of letting
-things drift whither they would. But, for a week or two, matters at 176,
-New Square, Lincoln's Inn, went on as if nothing out of the common had
-happened, or was likely to happen. Francis Eversleigh, his son Ernest,
-the head-clerk Williamson, and the other clerks, occupied their
-accustomed seats in their accustomed rooms. People came and went as
-usual; deeds were prepared, documents drawn up, and all the machinery of
-the office seemed to be in excellent running order. No shadow of
-approaching doom darkened the firm's doors.
-
-Still, Eversleigh knew that he could not continue his policy of drifting
-beyond a certain point. It was part of his unescapable misfortune that
-the severest pressure on him came in one way or another from members of
-his own unsuspecting family.
-
-In the first place, it was necessary to get another partner in place of
-Silwood. This, on various pretexts, which gave him delay, he put off. He
-knew that Ernest must expect to be taken into partnership at this
-juncture when a suitable opportunity presented itself. But to make
-Ernest a partner meant involving the young man in the ruin of the
-firm--if ruin came, and Eversleigh in his heart now believed that it was
-inevitable--and he was minded not to do this if it could be helped. But
-it was difficult for him to resist the pressure brought to bear upon
-him. His wife spoke to him of Ernest, but he managed to quiet her with
-the promise that before long the matter would be satisfactorily
-arranged. And this was the easier, inasmuch as the poor lady, who had
-seen the improvement in her husband's state of health after the verdict,
-believed Ernest had only to wait a few weeks and all would be well.
-
-But the improvement in Francis Eversleigh's bodily and mental health was
-only, could be only temporary. Already drifting like a rudderless ship,
-he might any moment founder on the rocks. Deeply involved in a course of
-equivocation and deceit, to which there could be but one end, unless
-some miracle occurred, the necessity of continuing in it, added to the
-other circumstances of his situation, soon changed the transient
-brightness of his spirits into the gloom of that settled and terrible
-melancholy which had descended upon him before. In vain he strove to
-fight against it, to overcome it; his efforts were utterly useless.
-
-The most serious things he had to consider were the Thornton Estate and
-the Silwood Estate.
-
-With regard to the latter, he well knew there was no such thing as a
-Silwood Estate at all, but he deemed it essential for the sake of
-keeping up appearances to make a pretence that there was such an
-estate--at least, until it became evident there was none. Here the
-"law's delays," of which he took full advantage, assisted him; but then
-there was Williamson endlessly curious and prying. Some of the
-questions he put to his principal were hard to answer, and drove
-Eversleigh to the verge of madness.
-
-Silwood's room in the office, the japanned box--always excepting the
-secret cavity of which no one knew--the whole office, and finally
-Silwood's chambers in Stone Buildings, now free from the embargo of the
-law, had been carefully searched for the will of the dead solicitor; but
-no will had been found. Williamson openly said that the absence of a
-will in the case of a man who must have been rich, and who was a lawyer
-to boot, was a most singular thing. Undoubtedly it was this that
-suggested to the head-clerk something of the actual fact, namely, that
-there was a screw loose with respect to the financial position of the
-firm. But, as before, he had nothing definite to go on, and he never
-dreamed that the affairs of the house were in the desperate condition
-they really were.
-
-But it was the Thornton Estate which troubled Eversleigh most of all.
-
-Gilbert, as the affianced husband of Kitty, spoke to his father soon
-after the inquest about Morris Thornton's property, and asked him if
-Thornton's will was deposited in the office, or if the agents in Canada
-had it.
-
-Francis knew there was a will in the office, and was tolerably sure no
-other was in existence, but Gilbert's query gave him a chance of
-standing him off on the whole subject for a considerable time. He
-snatched at it eagerly.
-
-"We have a will of his," he said to his son, "but it was executed a good
-many years ago. I am, in the circumstances in which you stand towards
-Kitty, betraying no confidence when I tell you that by that will he
-left everything of which he was possessed to her. But it is quite
-possible there may be a later will. That is a matter for inquiry. It
-will certainly be necessary for us to wait till we hear from the agents
-in British Columbia. They have been apprized by cable and by letter of
-Mr. Thornton's death, and they must have seen something of it in the
-papers--the noise of it has gone round the world. But we must not move
-until we have heard from them. In the event of its being reasonably sure
-that there is no other will, we will, of course, submit the one we have
-to probate as soon as may be. I don't think we can do more at present."
-
-"I understand," said Gilbert; "you will just observe the usual routine.
-I suppose it will be some weeks, perhaps a month or two, before anything
-further can be done. Still, I imagine you can get all the affairs of his
-that are in your hands into the best order."
-
-"Oh," said Eversleigh, with an attempt at lightness, "that is all right.
-Mr. Silwood had charge of them, and now I have."
-
-"I have no doubt, sir, they are all right," said Gilbert,
-unsuspiciously.
-
-"Yes, yes. I should say in a month or six weeks we can go to probate,
-but it will depend, of course, upon what we hear from Vancouver. You may
-be sure there will be no unnecessary delay."
-
-"I am certain of that," assented Gilbert, readily, unvisited by the
-slightest inkling of his father's state of mind.
-
-Similar pretexts were used by Eversleigh in dealing with Ernest and
-Williamson. And so a little time was gained, but it was to very small
-purpose. Once more the strain on him was fast becoming past endurance.
-
-A fortnight, three weeks, went by, and Eversleigh had relapsed
-altogether into his former condition of deepest dejection, to the alarm
-of his wife and relatives, who wondered what in the world could account
-for it. But though he had gained respites in the matters that disquieted
-him most seriously, he knew that at most and best they were but
-respites, and likely to be short ones. He saw the day of reckoning
-drawing nearer and nearer; that it should come in all probability
-through his son Gilbert and Kitty, whom he loved as his own child, was
-an aggravation of his sufferings.
-
-It had been the custom of the Eversleighs to betake themselves to the
-seaside during the month of August, but this year, because of all that
-had happened, it had not been observed. Francis Eversleigh was entreated
-by his family to take a brief holiday, but he declined on the plea there
-was too much work at the office. He, on the other hand, besought his
-wife to go away for a change, but she would not, with the result that
-the Eversleighs and Kitty stayed on at Surbiton.
-
-It was now that Kitty, more than all the rest, showed her affection for
-him by devoting herself assiduously to his comfort in the most marked
-manner. The girl was fond of him for his own sake, and was he not
-Gilbert's father? In many little ways she tried to cheer him, and to
-drive away the dark shadow that enveloped him. And all these loving
-attentions were so many fresh stabs to the miserable man.
-
-As the days ran on, Eversleigh was a prey to constant apprehensions; he
-was haunted by the dread, from moment to moment, of something happening
-which would lead to exposure.
-
-And come it did, but from an unexpected quarter.
-
-It came in the form of a demand for a large sum of money, and it came
-from Harry Bennet, a man whom Eversleigh had almost forgotten,
-particularly as Harry had for some time been a stranger at Ivydene.
-
-This demand meant ruin.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX
-
-
-The demand from Bennet was contained in a short letter, and the sum he
-asked for was ten thousand pounds.
-
-With a curt explanation that a horse on which he had put a great deal of
-money had disappointed him, he said it was now necessary for him to have
-this amount immediately. He went on to say that he knew they, his
-solicitors, had no ready money of his in their hands, but they would
-undoubtedly be able to advance it on the security of Beauclerk Mansions,
-which he directed them to sell. However, to sell them to the best
-advantage might take some time. Would they, therefore, anticipate the
-proceeds of the sale to the extent of the sum asked for, and repay
-themselves afterwards when the sale was effected? He was sure that the
-Mansions would fetch far more than ten thousand pounds.
-
-Though the period had been marked by events so important as to cause it
-to seem of considerable length, but a few weeks in reality had elapsed
-since Harry Bennet had proposed to and been rejected by Kitty Thornton.
-Like all the world, Bennet was not ignorant of what had happened in the
-Eversleigh circle, but he was completely absorbed by his turf
-speculations. He had not quite forgotten his purpose of being revenged
-on Gilbert, but for the time it slumbered.
-
-After Goodwood, all through the month of August, Bennet followed the
-round of race-meetings with unimpaired zest; sometimes he was successful
-in his bets, but far more frequently he was a heavy loser. He had soon
-spent the considerable sum he had made during his Goodwood campaign, and
-now was hard pressed for funds. He had already managed to dissipate the
-whole of his once extensive patrimony, with the exception of the large
-block of flats called Beauclerk Mansions, which he now told his
-solicitors to put on the market.
-
-In ordinary circumstances there would have been no difficulty in getting
-an immediate advance on the property, which was worth far more than ten
-thousand pounds, as Bennet said. But Cooper Silwood had changed all
-that.
-
-Williamson, who now watched, as a cat a mouse, Eversleigh as he had
-watched Silwood, had put the letter into his principal's hand with the
-remark that it was such a pity Mr. Bennet was ruining himself; he seemed
-bent on going headlong to destruction!
-
-Francis Eversleigh merely nodded, read the letter, and said dully that
-he would attend to the matter himself presently.
-
-At first he was not without hope that all was well, and that the advance
-could be procured. But a brief examination showed him that Beauclerk
-Mansions no longer stood in Bennet's name--they had been sold during the
-preceding year, as he shortly discovered, by Silwood. Amongst other
-things, this of course meant that Silwood had forged Bennet's signature.
-But, at the moment, Eversleigh did not stop to think of it; the one
-damning fact which stood forth with frightful distinctness was that
-Beauclerk Mansions were already sold.
-
-"What am I to do?" groaned Eversleigh.
-
-He considered if there was any way by which he could raise the money;
-but ten thousand pounds is a large sum, even to a rich man, when it has
-to be put down in cold cash. Still, the credit of the firm was
-unimpaired, and for a few brief moments Eversleigh permitted himself the
-luxury of imagining his bankers would advance the amount. But he knew
-they would not do so without security, and he was certain he had none to
-offer. Silwood had taken care of that.
-
-"What am I to do? In Heavens name, what am I to do?" Eversleigh asked
-himself, while his heart seemed to be contracting under the unrelenting
-grip of a hand of iron.
-
-Ruin, black ruin!
-
-It was coming very near, very near!
-
-And worse than ruin.
-
-Infamy!
-
-Again, as often before, he saw the convict's cell, the desolate home,
-the wife and children whom he loved for ever disgraced.
-
-The cold sweat of terror, of despair, stood on the brows of the wretched
-man, who shook and trembled as with palsy. He had a swooning sense that
-he was standing in the midst of a dissolving world, a wreck amidst a
-myriad of wrecks all whirling on to some dark abyss. He felt as if his
-brain were giving way under these repeated shocks; then a merciful
-blankness and vacuity of thought and impression suddenly descended upon
-him.
-
-Williamson, coming into the room later, found Eversleigh in a faint
-stretched across the table.
-
-The head-clerk regarded his principal curiously; then he proceeded,
-before attempting to resuscitate Eversleigh, to look carefully over the
-papers lying on the table. Amongst them, however, he saw nothing that
-was of a specially suspicious character, unless it was Bennet's letter.
-Having satisfied himself on this point, Williamson next endeavoured to
-revive his master.
-
-"I am afraid you're trying to do too much," he observed to Eversleigh,
-when the latter had recovered. "Now that Mr. Silwood is gone, your work
-is doubled."
-
-"Oh, I'm all right now; it was just a passing weakness," replied
-Eversleigh. Then he noticed Bennet's letter and glancing from it to
-Williamson, said, "I must not forget to see about getting the money as
-soon as possible for Mr. Bennet. I don't suppose there will be much
-trouble about getting it. But it will take a day or two to arrange."
-
-"In the mean time," asked Williamson, "shall I look out the deeds of the
-property?"
-
-"No," replied Eversleigh, with a shiver, which he tried to hide
-successfully; "there will be time enough for that when I have got the
-advance arranged for."
-
-"Yes, sir; but should not a notice of the sale be drawn up at once, and
-the matter otherwise put in shape?"
-
-"I am not without hope," said Eversleigh, slowly, "that there may, after
-all, be no necessity to sell the Mansions. It's a fine property, and it
-would be a good thing if Mr. Bennet could keep it. A mortgage for the
-ten thousand may be sufficient. I'll mention that when I write Mr.
-Bennet to-day."
-
-Williamson bowed and retired, mutely asking himself what was the
-particular thing or reason that had so affected his principal as to
-cause him to faint. Could it be, in any way, he wondered, connected with
-Bennet? No; on reflection, he thought it could not be that, for
-Eversleigh's references to the matter had been quite natural. Yet the
-head-clerk opined there must be some reason.
-
-"I believe," he told himself, after long consideration, "the best course
-for me to pursue would be to resign and get out of it all."
-
-But he did not resign.
-
-That afternoon Eversleigh wrote Bennet a reply in which he stated the
-loan Bennet required would doubtless be obtained very soon, but two or
-three days might elapse before the preliminaries were concluded. Then he
-expressed the hope that a mortgage on the Mansions for ten thousand
-pounds might be enough to extricate Bennet from his difficulties, and in
-that case the sale need not be proceeded with. But if the Mansions must
-be sold, he trusted plenty of time for advertising would be allowed,
-otherwise they might have to be disposed of at a considerable sacrifice.
-
-In a word, it was exactly the kind of letter a solicitor who had nothing
-behind in his mind, would write a client in Bennet's position.
-
-Here, again, Eversleigh was playing for a respite; but here, again, he
-did not deceive himself--he knew that the end was fast approaching.
-
-The bitterness of death took hold of him. When he went home that evening
-he scarcely touched any food. As soon as dinner was over, he rose from
-the table, and, saying he would go out for a walk by the river, left
-Ivydene. For a long time he paced up and down in a great agony of mind.
-Three courses were open to him. One was to go on as long as
-possible--till the crash came. The second was to file his petition in
-bankruptcy, in which case exposure was inevitable. The third lay before
-him--in the broad bosom of the river gliding past him; a plunge, and all
-would be over.
-
-The last, as a final solution of all his difficulties, had a strong
-attraction. It seemed so easy, and called for so small an effort. There
-was a fascination in the flowing water, in its softly murmurous motion.
-He looked at the river, and then dared not look longer. It seemed to cry
-to him, "Come to me! come to me!" Then he strode away from it into the
-high-road; but it drew him back again, for still he heard it calling,
-calling, "Come to me! come to me!"
-
-Moving out of the shadows of the trees on the terrace, he walked slowly,
-listening to that sinister voice, while he looked at the dark spaces of
-the water where the river lay in its deepest pools.
-
-But as he walked, still within the shadows, he came upon a pair of
-lovers, and he stopped to watch them.
-
-The lovers were his son Gilbert and Kitty Thornton.
-
-Their faces looked forward along the path, and they did not see the man
-standing in the shadows. The girl leaned lightly on Gilbert's arm, and
-was speaking low and softly to him. As she uttered the words, Gilbert
-patted the little hand that rested on his arm.
-
-On Kitty's face was something that had not been there a month or two
-before, and which now imparted to it a touch of gravity. Perhaps her
-face was just a little sad. And yet she was not feeling sad, for the man
-in the shadows heard her say--
-
-"Oh, Gilbert, it is good to be in love! Life now would not be worth
-living without love."
-
-A passing boat attracted the attention of the pair, and they stood to
-observe it. Behind them was Francis Eversleigh.
-
-"I feel as if I could not exist without you now, Gilbert," said the
-girl, moving on again.
-
-"Nor I without you, darling," answered Gilbert, tenderly.
-
-Then in silence they went on their way.
-
-When they were out of hearing, Francis Eversleigh heaved a great sigh,
-and followed them with tottering steps. The siren voice of the river had
-died out from his ears; it called him no longer.
-
-"I must struggle on to the end," he said, and returned to his house.
-
-About noon next day, Bennet, who had pressing reasons for getting at
-once the ten thousand pounds he had asked for, looked in at 176, New
-Square, Lincoln's Inn, and requested to see Francis Eversleigh.
-
-"How are you, Harry?" inquired Eversleigh, when he saw him.
-
-Bennet had not seen the other for a considerable time, and he was
-immensely struck by the altered appearance of the solicitor, so he
-answered that he was very well, but regretted to notice that Mr.
-Eversleigh appeared to be in poor health.
-
-"Well," said Eversleigh; "you have no doubt heard I've had much of a
-painful nature--Mr. Silwood's death and Mr. Thornton's--to try me
-recently. I have felt these blows very keenly."
-
-"Of course you would," responded Bennet. "About this money, Mr.
-Eversleigh, I am sorry to trouble you, but I must have it at once."
-
-"At once!"
-
-"Yes, to-day if possible."
-
-"It's not possible."
-
-"Then to-morrow. I should like you to push on with the sale of Beauclerk
-Mansions. I do not desire a mortgage on the property. It must be sold
-out-right."
-
-"But, Harry----"
-
-"Pray spare me, Mr. Eversleigh. I know you wish to expostulate with me,
-and I know the kindness which inspires you to do so, but I have quite
-made up my mind. Can I have the money to-morrow?"
-
-"I'm afraid not, Harry. It's not so very easy to raise so large a sum in
-a day or two--there are all sorts of formalities, you know."
-
-"It ought not to be difficult, surely. These Kensington properties are
-first-rate and should find ready purchasers. And Beauclerk Mansions are
-in the best situation too. I am certain they must be in splendid order,
-for I never receive complaints now from the tenants. You remember that
-two or three years ago the tenants often sent me complaints direct
-instead of writing to you. Well, there has been nothing of the sort for
-a long while. I know Mr. Silwood was a splendid manager. What a pity it
-is you lost him! I haven't been near Beauclerk Mansions for many a
-month--no need, you know, thanks to Mr. Silwood's ability. I am sorry to
-lose the property, but go it must. I suppose it will realize thirty or
-forty thousand, won't it?"
-
-"I dare say it will."
-
-"Then an advance of ten thousand should be easy to get."
-
-"Yes, yes," agreed Eversleigh; "but it will take a few days."
-
-"I must have it to-morrow, sir--to-morrow. I cannot wait any further
-than that."
-
-"Well, I'll do what I can," said Eversleigh, with a choking gasp; "I'll
-do what I can."
-
-"I'm certain you will be able to manage it," said Bennet, rising and
-going to the door. There he stopped and turned to Eversleigh. "Do you
-know," he said; "I think I'll run down on the Underground to High
-Street, and take a look at Beauclerk Mansions--a last fond look," he
-added with a grin and disappeared.
-
-At four o'clock in the same day he was back again at Lincoln's Inn, and
-there was a strange expression on his face as he climbed the stairs to
-Francis Eversleigh's room.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX
-
-
-As Bennet entered the room, Eversleigh looked at him and forced a smile,
-but he turned livid when he observed the other's aspect. There was no
-smile on Bennet's face, but something disquieting and even threatening
-appeared upon it. Eversleigh, seeing it, said to himself that the
-expected day of reckoning had indeed come. His first feeling was almost
-one of relief, but that soon gave way to a determination to make as much
-of a stand as he could. He tried to encourage himself by thinking that
-Bennet had always been a friend of his and of his family. Unaware that
-Kitty had preferred Gilbert to Bennet, and of the sentiments Bennet now
-had with respect to his son, he had some hope that it might be possible
-to "do something with Harry," as he phrased it vaguely to himself.
-
-"Well, Harry, back again?" he said, trying with a prodigious effort to
-speak calmly. "I did not anticipate seeing you so soon."
-
-"Yes, Mr. Eversleigh," remarked Bennet, bluntly; "I have returned pretty
-quickly, because I desired to see you immediately with a view to asking
-you for an explanation of a circumstance which puzzles me extremely.
-Still, I dare say you can clear the matter up. It is about Beauclerk
-Mansions. I have just come from them this very minute."
-
-As Bennet had come in Eversleigh had stood up; he now sank into his
-chair. Harry remained on his feet, gazing at the solicitor, and there
-was a note of anger in his voice as he addressed Eversleigh.
-
-"An explanation, Harry," said Eversleigh, waving Bennet to take a seat
-beside him. "About what?"
-
-"Well, Mr. Eversleigh," said Bennet, drily, "when I left you this
-morning I told you I would take a run down to the Mansions to have a
-last look at them; do you remember?"
-
-"You made some little jest of it," returned Eversleigh, nervously.
-
-"Yes; I was trying to appear light-hearted about it. I was not
-light-hearted really. But that does not matter in the slightest degree.
-I did go to the Mansions----"
-
-Bennet stopped, as he was in doubt what to say next.
-
-"You went to Beauclerk Mansions?" said Eversleigh; "and----"
-
-"I'll tell you as exactly as I can what took place. On the pretext of
-inquiring if there was a flat to be let, I got into conversation with
-one of the porters. I saw the man did not know who I was. He told me
-there were two or three desirable flats vacant; would I care to look
-over them? I don't know quite why I did it, but I thought I would take a
-glance at the vacant flats, keeping the porter in talk the while. You
-follow me?" asked Harry, breaking off as he saw the eyes of the
-solicitor wandered over the room.
-
-Eversleigh was listening, but not carefully; he guessed well enough what
-Bennet would tell him, and he was casting about for some appeal that
-would touch Bennet and induce him to stay his hand.
-
-"Oh yes," he responded; "I am following you perfectly, Harry."
-
-"As I went over the flats with the porter," Bennet resumed, "I noticed
-the property was in very good order, and I remarked to the man that it
-must be well managed and be very valuable. The porter replied that the
-property was well managed, especially since the new management had taken
-it up. I was surprised, as you may imagine, to hear of a new management,
-but I naturally supposed that you or rather Mr. Silwood, had made the
-change. I asked how long the new management had been in power, and was
-told it had been for about a year."
-
-Bennet paused, gazed at Eversleigh, and repeated, "About a year."
-
-"About a year," said Eversleigh, mechanically.
-
-"The porter went on to say," continued Bennet, "that he understood the
-property had been in new hands for that time, and that was why it was in
-such good order--the new broom was sweeping cleaner than the old. When
-he spoke of the property being in new hands, I thought it more than a
-bit odd, and I asked him in whose hands the property now was. He gave me
-the name of a firm of house-agents of whom I have heard before, but not
-in connection with your firm, Mr. Eversleigh. This surprised me again,
-and I put the question if he knew who was the owner of the property, and
-he answered that it belonged to a company, named 'Modern Mansions,
-Limited.' When he said this, I looked at him in amazement, but I saw
-that he was in earnest, and stated what he believed to be true."
-
-Again Bennet stopped and fixed his gaze on Eversleigh, but the
-solicitor said not a word--he opened his lips as if to speak, but
-remained silent.
-
-"You do not speak, Mr. Eversleigh!" cried Bennet. "Well, let me finish
-my story. He had told me that the property belonged to 'Modern Mansions,
-Limited,' and he so surprised me that I blurted out that I thought he
-must be wrong, and that I had understood it was owned by a Mr. Bennet,
-whose father had been the original proprietor. 'No,' said the man; 'it
-did belong to him, but he sold it to the company just about twelve
-months ago!'"
-
-Bennet paused once more, as if to give Eversleigh an opportunity of
-making a remark, but he did not avail himself of it.
-
-"Still you do not speak!" cried Bennet. "But to finish with my yarn. I
-felt positively certain that the porter was making a big mistake, as I
-knew I had not sold Beauclerk Mansions, but I thought I would carry my
-inquiries a step further. Therefore, keeping up the pretence of wanting
-a flat, I asked the porter if he could get me a copy of the agreement or
-form of lease for a flat; no doubt, I said, there was a regular form to
-be had in the office of the company. That was so, he thought; would I go
-with him to the manager's office? Well, I did go, and I got the form;
-here it is," said Bennet, taking a printed paper from his pocket and
-placing it before Eversleigh.
-
-"Not that there was any need of that as proof the Mansions were mine no
-longer," Bennet continued. "I had a short talk with the manager, and I
-soon had no doubt about it. Now, Mr. Eversleigh, you have heard what I
-have said. I demand an explanation from you. What have you to say?"
-
-Eversleigh looked at Bennet, then at the ceiling, then at the floor, but
-could not find speech.
-
-"Have you nothing to say? What meaning, Mr. Eversleigh, am I to place on
-your silence? Why don't you speak?"
-
-Hitherto Bennet, believing like all the rest of the world that there
-could be nothing wrong with so eminent a firm as Eversleigh, Silwood and
-Eversleigh, had supposed there might be some explanation of these
-curious circumstances; he was suspicious, but imagined there might be a
-possible justification. What he could not understand was why Eversleigh
-had written and spoken to him as if the Mansions were still his.
-Eversleigh's silence now told him quite unmistakably there was something
-very wrong about the whole matter.
-
-"Why don't you speak, Mr. Eversleigh?" he asked, roughly, springing from
-his chair and towering over the solicitor.
-
-"Harry," began Eversleigh, brokenly, shrinking before the angry eyes of
-his client, "Harry, your property, as you know, was in Mr. Silwood's
-department of the office. Mr. Silwood----"
-
-But Eversleigh paused tongue-tied; there was a slackening of the muscles
-of his face. He seemed on the point of collapse.
-
-As Bennet regarded the solicitor the expression of his face become
-horrible; all the evil of his life seemed suddenly stamped upon it; it
-was cruel, fierce, brutal, devilish. He saw that Eversleigh had no
-explanation to offer; he realized that he had been the victim of fraud,
-and that his property was gone--it had been stolen from him by his
-solicitors! As this came home to him, his mood was little short of
-murderous, and it must be admitted there was some excuse for him.
-
-"Silwood's death," he said harshly, "does not matter to me in the least.
-He is dead, and it is you that I have to deal with. What has become of
-my property?"
-
-Harry's rough tones made Eversleigh shrink still more, but he managed to
-speak.
-
-"Mr. Silwood is dead," he quavered, wishing the while that he was dead
-too. "But his death is so recent that there has not been sufficient time
-to go into all his affairs."
-
-"I care nothing for his affairs. What has become of my property? Tell me
-that."
-
-"You must know, Harry, that Mr. Silwood's death has made a great
-difference to me."
-
-"It has nothing to do with me. What has become of my property?"
-
-"It is possible," said Eversleigh, weakly, "that there may have been
-things in his department that are slightly irregular. No doubt," he went
-on more firmly, "he thought he was acting in your best interests when he
-sold your property."
-
-"Sold my property," repeated Bennet, with a fierce snarl. "If he sold
-it, what did he sell it for? And where is the money?"
-
-Eversleigh was mute.
-
-"Again you have nothing to say! Now I ask you just one question. Did you
-know, or did you not know, when you wrote me yesterday that you would
-procure the advance of ten thousand pounds on the property, that it had
-been sold already? Answer me!"
-
-Bennet's eyes blazed with rage and menace as he thundered the last words
-at Eversleigh.
-
-Eversleigh partly rose from his chair, clutching as he did so at his
-collar; then he sat down with a loud groan, covered his face with his
-hands, and broke into sobs.
-
-Bennet stood over him and shook him violently.
-
-"You did know," he shouted. "You knew all the while that my flats had
-been sold. Do you know what you are? You are a thief and a
-swindler--that's what you are!"
-
-"Harry," pleaded Eversleigh, feebly.
-
-"Don't call me 'Harry,'" replied Bennet. "You have lied to me and stolen
-from me. I must think," he wound up, as he released his hold of the
-other and walked up and down the floor.
-
-Meanwhile Eversleigh's sobs subsided, and he ventured to look at Bennet.
-Bennet noticed the glance at once.
-
-"I believe," said he, "if I did what I ought to do, I should have you
-arrested at once for fraud; but I don't see that that would do me any
-good."
-
-"Harry," said Eversleigh, haltingly, "I was your father's friend, and I
-was never unkind to you."
-
-"Never unkind to me! What have you done with my money?"
-
-"I never had a penny of it."
-
-"Oh, you put the blame on Silwood! He is dead, and cannot deny the
-charge."
-
-"I never had anything to do with selling your property, Harry. I did not
-know it had been sold until a day or two ago--until yesterday, in fact."
-
-"But you did know when you wrote me. You lied about it."
-
-"I did," acknowledged Eversleigh. "I could not help it. Consider how I
-was situated!"
-
-"You were to get me the ten thousand pounds, and to pretend to sell the
-Mansions?"
-
-"That was it."
-
-"You can get me the ten thousand?"
-
-"No; that was a pretence too. I cannot get you the money."
-
-"Worse and worse!" exclaimed Bennet. "What has been done with the
-money?"
-
-"Mr. Silwood might have told you, I cannot. I had none of it, I again
-assure you," protested Eversleigh.
-
-Bennet now sat down.
-
-"Let us understand each other," he said. "So far as I make the matter
-out, the position is this: you state Mr. Silwood disposed of my property
-and appropriated the proceeds--is that it?"
-
-Eversleigh bowed.
-
-"What do you intend doing?"
-
-"Nothing. What can I do?"
-
-Bennet sat very still, thinking what was the best course for him to
-take.
-
-"Do you suppose," he asked at length, "that Mr. Silwood was guilty of
-other--irregularities?"
-
-"How can I tell? For many years Mr. Silwood attended to all the
-financial business of the firm, and I never concerned myself with it at
-all. And now I can only find out very slowly and gradually how matters
-stand."
-
-"Have you no capital? No means of your own?"
-
-"No. I have always lived up to my income--you know how I have lived,
-Harry, for you have often shared my hospitality," said Eversleigh,
-appealingly.
-
-"Oh, your hospitality be ----!" cried Bennet, rudely. "How does that
-help either you or me now? If anything, it makes matters worse. What I
-ought to do is just what I said. I should go to another solicitor, tell
-him how the case stands, and in a short time you would be in prison. But
-what good will that be to me? I must think everything over very
-carefully. I shall not be precipitate."
-
-Eversleigh held up his head a little.
-
-"Thank you, Harry," he said.
-
-"I'm not thinking of you," rejoined Harry, brutally. "One word, however.
-How many people know about my property being disposed of--in this
-irregular manner by Silwood?" asked Bennet, sarcastically.
-
-"No one but myself."
-
-"Can I depend on that statement?"
-
-"Absolutely."
-
-"Well, I shall take no action to-day. I am going home now, and to-night
-I'll make up my mind. I shall see you again to-morrow, and tell you what
-is my intention."
-
-And Bennet strode out of the room. As he descended the stairs he almost
-cannoned against Gilbert Eversleigh, who was going up to see his father.
-Bennet hardly returned the salute Gilbert gave him, but the sight of his
-successful rival had given him an idea.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXI
-
-
-"I shall see you again to-morrow, and tell you what is my intention,"
-were the words with which Bennet had left Eversleigh, and they rang in
-the ears of the solicitor like a knell. He knew he was in Bennet's
-power, and as he thought of Harry and the character of the young man he
-told himself it was useless to expect mercy or even consideration of any
-kind.
-
-"The day of reckoning," he moaned, "has indeed come."
-
-He asked himself if there was any one to whom he could appeal for
-assistance in his extremity; but he could think of no one, and even if
-such a friend had existed, it would now be too late to appeal to him for
-help, because Bennet knew enough--and more than enough--to send him to
-prison.
-
-This was in his mind when Gilbert, passing up the stairs on which he had
-encountered Bennet, came into his father's room. For one moment he had a
-wild notion to tell his son everything, but quickly decided against it.
-
-"I met Harry Bennet just now," remarked Gilbert, "and he seemed in a bad
-humour, to judge from the glance with which he favoured me. I suppose
-you have been giving him a lecture?"
-
-Giving Bennet a lecture!
-
-The irony of the thing smote Francis Eversleigh. Again he wondered if he
-should tell Gilbert everything, and put some of the burden on the strong
-shoulders of his son; but no, he could not do it. And what could Gilbert
-do to help him?
-
-"Oh no," said Eversleigh, in reply to Gilbert's question; "I did not
-lecture him. He wanted money at a moment's notice, and I told him he
-must wait a little."
-
-"I see," responded Gilbert, and the conversation passed to other topics.
-
-When Francis Eversleigh went home to Ivydene that evening he believed it
-more than probable that he was going to it for the last time for many
-years, as he felt certain Bennet would have him arrested next day. After
-a sleepless night of agony and remorse, he took a mute but infinitely
-pathetic farewell of the place and the loved ones whose abode it was,
-before leaving it.
-
-"D'you think you are well enough to go to the office to-day?" asked his
-wife, doubtfully.
-
-"Yes, dear," he replied, with more than usual tenderness in his voice.
-"I'm quite well, and perhaps since Mr. Silwood's death, I give in too
-much to business worries; but there is nothing really the matter."
-
-And he embraced her very fondly after he had said this, wondering in his
-heart what she would think of him when she knew the truth, as she likely
-would that very day.
-
-Then he went to meet his fate.
-
-His fate proved to be better and worse than he had expected.
-
-The solicitor had scarcely arrived at 176, New Square, Lincoln's Inn,
-when Bennet made his appearance.
-
-"Well, Harry," said Eversleigh, timidly, on seeing him.
-
-"I have thought this business over," Bennet declared, "and I have come
-to a determination. I shall not prosecute you. I shall take no action in
-the matter, but there's a condition."
-
-Francis Eversleigh could hardly believe his ears when he heard Bennet's
-words, "I shall not prosecute you."
-
-Involuntarily he gave a great sigh of relief.
-
-But then there was a condition, Bennet had said. What was it? He was
-thunderstruck when he heard what it was.
-
-"I am willing not to prosecute you," continued Bennet, coolly, "on one
-condition, and on one condition alone. You have acknowledged your guilt,
-but there is one way in which you may make good your--debt, let us call
-it--to me."
-
-"Yes?" asked Eversleigh, as Harry stopped for an instant.
-
-"It is the case," said Harry, speaking sharply, "is it not, that your
-son Gilbert is engaged to Miss Thornton?"
-
-"Certainly," replied Eversleigh, in a puzzled tone.
-
-"You have a great deal of influence with your son?"
-
-"Naturally."
-
-"You and he are on the best of terms--many fathers and sons are not--but
-you and Gilbert are very good friends."
-
-"Undoubtedly."
-
-"If I prosecute you, you will be convicted and sentenced?"
-
-Eversleigh did not answer.
-
-"Your conviction," Bennet went on remorselessly, "will infallibly cover
-Gilbert with disgrace, to say nothing of the other members of your
-family; his career at the Bar will be blighted. Is that not the case?"
-
-Dry-lipped Eversleigh heard, but he could not trust himself to answer.
-
-"Gilbert will be ruined--you know that is so. Now, do you think, with
-this hanging over him, he is a proper person to marry Miss Thornton? Of
-course, he is not."
-
-Eversleigh groaned.
-
-"Harry, spare me!" he cried.
-
-But Bennet had no idea of sparing him.
-
-"Your son Gilbert must not marry Miss Thornton; you must prevent him
-from doing so. Do you understand?"
-
-"But this is monstrous, Harry," protested Eversleigh; "my influence over
-Gilbert is not great enough for this."
-
-"If that is so, then so much the worse for you. But not only must you
-use your influence with Gilbert, you must also bring it to bear on Miss
-Thornton. You must tell her that she must not marry Gilbert. Now, do you
-understand?"
-
-"I understand," returned Eversleigh, speaking for the first time during
-the conversation with some firmness; "but what you wish is impossible.
-Gilbert and Miss Thornton love each other. Gilbert is a man, he is not
-a child, and Miss Thornton is a woman and not a child either. Is it
-likely that anything I said to them would make them break off their
-engagement?"
-
-"Gilbert and Miss Thornton love each other!"
-
-These words were gall and wormwood to Bennet.
-
-The sight of Gilbert the previous afternoon had revived his dormant
-desire for revenge, and after much thought he had come to the conclusion
-to tell Francis Eversleigh that the price of his silence with regard to
-the fraudulent sale of Beauclerk Mansions was that the solicitor must
-use pressure to get the match broken off, and not only that, but also to
-induce the girl to marry him. It was rather a mad scheme, and if Bennet
-had really considered it fully he would probably have decided against
-suggesting it. It never struck him that he was conniving at fraud; if it
-had, he would not have been deterred. He was a headstrong, reckless man,
-determined to get his own way, rightly or wrongly, and to get it
-whatever happened.
-
-"Wait," he said; "I have not finished yet. You must break off the match.
-How it is to be done I leave to you. You will find some means of doing
-it. The main point is that it be done. There must be no misunderstanding
-on that head. But there is more to be said: you must not only break off
-the match, but you must forward my suit with Miss Thornton."
-
-"Your suit with Miss Thornton!" cried Eversleigh.
-
-"Yes; perhaps you were not aware that I proposed to her, but I was too
-late. She had already accepted your son. You never heard that she
-rejected me?"
-
-"I did not know it."
-
-Eversleigh's thoughts went back to that day--the awful, fateful day in
-which Silwood had confessed his embezzlements--on which he had given
-Gilbert a hint of Bennet's advances to Kitty, and how, at the time he
-had given it, life stretched before him bright and fair. He shuddered as
-he recalled all that had happened since.
-
-Bennet, watching him intently, saw the shudder that shook the frame of
-the solicitor, and, not knowing what was passing through the other's
-mind, misinterpreted it.
-
-"The idea of my proposing to Miss Thornton makes you shudder, is that
-it?" he asked fiercely and angrily. "It becomes you well--you, the
-cheat, the embezzler, the swindler."
-
-Eversleigh looked at Bennet helplessly.
-
-"You disapprove of me, you dare to disapprove of me for her!" Bennet
-continued. "Surely I am as good as your son!" he exclaimed with
-violence, "the son of a thief!"
-
-"Gilbert is as honest as the day," said Eversleigh, stung into speech.
-
-"I know nothing about that," cried Bennet, scornfully. "But this is all
-beside the mark. Gilbert is nothing to me; why should I consider him? He
-stands between me and Kitty Thornton, and it will be your part to remove
-him from my path."
-
-"How am I to do it? How am I to do it?" wailed Eversleigh.
-
-Bennet regarded him with contempt.
-
-"That lies with you," he said pitilessly. "I have already made that
-quite clear. And you must speak to Miss Thornton and tell her--oh, tell
-her anything, but tell her that she must marry me."
-
-"Suppose I did tell her that, do you imagine that it would weigh with
-her, if it was not backed by some very strong, some overwhelming
-reason?" asked Eversleigh, struggling to speak calmly with the young
-man. "And what reason can I give? I cannot perform impossibilities.
-Surely you must admit that?"
-
-"I admit nothing," snarled Bennet viciously.
-
-The two men looked at each other; Eversleigh's face bore a hopeless and
-beaten expression, Bennet's was savage and implacable.
-
-For a space there was silence between them.
-
-On Bennet Eversleigh's last words had made a certain impression, and he
-was asking himself if, after all, his scheme would not work: he felt not
-the least pity or compassion; but what if he had indeed set Eversleigh a
-task beyond his powers to accomplish? As he conversed with Eversleigh,
-he saw that what in his own home the previous evening had seemed a
-simple enough thing, was not simple at all. He saw that if Eversleigh,
-at his bidding, told the lovers that the match must be broken off, it
-did not at all follow they would consent--unless they were told that in
-this way, and this only, Eversleigh would be delivered from some great
-and imminent danger. "Well," he thought, "that is what Eversleigh must
-do, and for the same reason Kitty must be brought to consent to marry
-me."
-
-"You will speak to your son and Miss Thornton to-night?" Bennet said
-aloud.
-
-"To-night!"
-
-"Why not? The sooner the better, surely!"
-
-"Harry," said Eversleigh, making a last effort, "just consider the
-position."
-
-"What else am I doing?" Bennet broke out rudely.
-
-"Have patience a moment, if not for my sake, then for your own. You wish
-me to tell Gilbert, whom by the way I shall not see to-night, that he
-must have his engagement with Miss Thornton cancelled. Gilbert knows
-perfectly that his marriage with Miss Thornton is the thing next my
-heart, and he will require from me an explanation. Am I to tell him the
-truth? And it is the same in Miss Thornton's case. Am I to tell her the
-truth also?"
-
-"Certainly. Why not, pray?" asked Bennet, ruthlessly.
-
-"I do not believe Gilbert will consent."
-
-"He will, fast enough, to save you; for in saving you is he not saving
-himself and his career?"
-
-"But Miss Thornton," argued Eversleigh, "is not my child. She is of age.
-She is her own mistress. I have no power over her. How can I compel her
-to marry you?"
-
-Bennet stood in sullen silence.
-
-"She would marry me to save you from a convict's cell," he said at last.
-"But as I understand you to mean that you will not speak to her on this
-matter, I tell you what I'll do. I shall go to her myself, and tell her
-all I know. If she consents to marry me, then I shall spare you; if she
-refuses--you can guess for yourself what will take place. And this is my
-last word," added Bennet, and stalked out of the room.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXII
-
-
-On leaving Francis Eversleigh, whose feelings at the turn events had
-taken were poignant beyond description, Harry Bennet went as fast and as
-straight to Surbiton as the train could carry him. As he neared Ivydene,
-he was visited by some slight compunctions, but these he soon overcame
-and thrust out of his mind.
-
-On inquiring if Miss Thornton was at home, he was told by the maid, to
-whom Bennet was no stranger, that Miss Thornton and Miss Helen
-Eversleigh were out, but were expected in very shortly. Mrs. Eversleigh,
-however, was in; would he not come in and see her? But Bennet, who had
-no wish to see Mrs. Eversleigh, excused himself and withdrew. He did not
-go far away, but hung about the house waiting till the two young ladies
-should appear. And presently, when they came into view, Bennet at once
-went to meet them.
-
-When the girls saw him, they beheld him with very different emotions.
-There was a smile of welcome on Helen's face, which showed she was glad
-to see him again, and that perhaps also she still, in her heart, was not
-ill disposed towards him; at the same time, she wondered why he had not
-been near Ivydene for so long a time, and this imparted a certain
-eagerness to her greeting of him. But Kitty received him coldly. Both
-the girls were in deep mourning, and Bennet thought he had never seen
-Kitty look better. The coldness of his reception he put down to the
-grief she must be feeling for her father, and for an instant he was
-inclined to doubt if this were the proper time to speak to her on the
-subject which had brought him to Surbiton, but his hesitation was soon
-over.
-
-There was something strange and unnatural in Bennet's manner as he
-saluted the girls. So marked was it that even Helen Eversleigh could not
-help noticing it. Kitty observed it instantly, and she drew an augury of
-evil from it. Since her rejection of the young man she had almost
-forgotten his existence, so much had happened in the interval. Now, as
-she looked at him, her distrust of him returned.
-
-Yet his first words somewhat disarmed her, though the tone in which they
-were uttered was hardly what she would have expected. She saw he was
-labouring under some strong excitement.
-
-"I have not seen you, Miss Thornton," he said, hoarsely, "for some time,
-and I had meant to write you a note of sympathy, but--but--I was so----"
-
-"I understand," said Kitty, as Bennet paused, embarrassed.
-
-"It was very sad for you," remarked Bennet.
-
-"Yes," said Kitty, simply.
-
-The three were now close to Ivydene, and Helen Eversleigh invited him to
-come in. Bennet stopped in the road, and did not at once reply; the
-others stopped, too, regarding him curiously.
-
-Then, to the surprise of the girls, Bennet said, addressing Helen
-Eversleigh--
-
-"Would you mind leaving us, Miss Eversleigh; there is something I wish
-to say to Miss Thornton?" Then he turned to Kitty and observed, gruffly,
-"It is something very important. Miss Thornton, or I should not trouble
-you. Indeed, I have come on purpose to tell you of it."
-
-Kitty bowed gravely, and Helen, greatly astonished, retired to the
-house, saying as she went--
-
-"Come in when you have had your talk. You won't be long, I suppose."
-
-But neither of the others answered.
-
-"Is it something you have to tell me about my father?" asked Kitty, who
-at once supposed that Bennet had in some way or other obtained
-information respecting Morris Thornton.
-
-"No, Miss Thornton," answered Bennet, bluntly. "It is about something
-quite different that I wish to speak to you."
-
-"But if I do not wish to listen to you?" asked Kitty, suddenly alarmed.
-
-"You must," insisted Bennet.
-
-"Must!" cried Kitty. "You take a very strange tone. I shall not listen
-to you, Mr. Bennet."
-
-And she moved a step from him.
-
-He strode beside her, and put his hand roughly on her arm.
-
-"I am in earnest," he said, his eyes gleaming balefully. "You must hear
-me unless you wish the worst to happen to those people in there."
-
-He waved his hand toward Ivydene.
-
-"Miss Thornton," Bennet went on, more calmly when he saw the girl gave
-heed to him, "it is in your power, and in yours alone, to save your
-friends, the Eversleighs, from the gravest disaster."
-
-Kitty stared at him, thinking the man must have gone mad.
-
-"I repeat," Bennet continued, "that it is in your power. Miss
-Thornton--do you understand?--in your power, to avert a great danger, a
-terrible disaster, from the Eversleighs."
-
-"I do not understand you in the least," said Kitty. "Will you please
-explain yourself?"
-
-"You will listen, then?" asked Bennet, tauntingly. "And you will do well
-to listen, if you have any regard for these people."
-
-"Will you explain, please?" asked Kitty, impatiently.
-
-"Yes; but I shall have to trouble you to hear rather a long story, but
-without it you would not understand."
-
-"Go on," Kitty answered.
-
-"I must commence by speaking of myself," said Bennet. "I had need of a
-sum of money--ten thousand pounds, and I directed my solicitors,
-Eversleigh, Silwood and Eversleigh, to get it for me by selling a
-property in Kensington called Beauclerk Mansions, which belonged to
-me--at least, I believed it belonged to me. I knew that the sale of the
-property was not likely to be effected immediately; it had to be
-advertised, and so on. But I did want that ten thousand in a hurry. So I
-wrote the Eversleighs, and, knowing the Mansions were worth far more
-than the sum I asked, requested them to make or procure me an advance of
-the money, and to repay the loan from the proceeds of the sale. Do you
-understand, Miss Thornton?"
-
-"Perfectly; though I do not see why you should imagine it is interesting
-or important to me," replied Kitty.
-
-"I am coming very quickly now to that," returned Bennet. "I wrote the
-firm as I have told you, and received a communication in reply from Mr.
-Eversleigh, Mr. Francis Eversleigh, who said that he could not get me
-the money at once, but would do so in the course of a few days. But
-there were reasons for my having it without delay, so I went to see Mr.
-Eversleigh, and I saw him this morning."
-
-Bennet paused, and looked meaningly at Kitty; he saw that she was
-following him closely.
-
-"You saw Mr. Eversleigh, you were saying," she observed.
-
-"I saw him, told him I must have the money, and he put me off, but said
-there would be as little delay as possible. With that I had to be
-content, though I was disappointed. I had nothing particular to do for
-the rest of the day, and it occurred to me to go to Beauclerk Mansions,
-and take a last look at them. I was in a bad humour, and the thing fell
-in with my mood. When I got to the Mansions, can you guess what I
-discovered?"
-
-"How can I?" inquired Kitty, wonderingly.
-
-"The discovery was an accidental one," Bennet resumed, "but there was no
-room for doubt about the matter. I found out that Beauclerk Mansions no
-longer belonged to me. They had been sold some twelve months before to a
-company named 'Modern Mansions, Limited.'"
-
-And now Kitty began to see something of what Bennet was about to tell
-her, and she gazed at him apprehensively.
-
-"The property had been sold!" she exclaimed.
-
-"Yes; without my authority, and by my own solicitors, Eversleigh,
-Silwood and Eversleigh."
-
-"Surely, there was some mistake," suggested the girl.
-
-"I thought so myself, at first," responded Bennet, "and I promptly went
-to Mr. Eversleigh and asked for an explanation. But, Miss Thornton," he
-went on, impressively, "there was no mistake. Mr. Eversleigh put the
-blame of the sale on his dead partner, Silwood--that may be true, or it
-may not, in either case it is nothing to me--but he confessed that the
-property had been sold. No account was ever rendered to me--in a word,
-the sale was a fraudulent one. Out of his own mouth, Eversleigh stood
-convicted of fraud."
-
-"I cannot believe it!" cried Kitty, "there must be some dreadful
-mistake."
-
-"The law, Miss Thornton, will not call it a mistake. It will call it a
-crime. I have but to say the word, and Francis Eversleigh will be
-arrested, in due course, tried, and convicted."
-
-Kitty stood and faced the man, her eyes full of indignation.
-
-"Mr. Bennet," she said, "I have known Mr. Eversleigh for years, and I
-cannot credit what you say."
-
-"It is quite natural for you to say so. I could hardly take the thing in
-myself at first, but there is not the slightest doubt of the truth of
-what I have told you. Francis Eversleigh is in my power, and I make no
-scruple in telling you so."
-
-Bennet's air, Kitty acknowledged to herself, was not that of a man who
-spoke falsely, whatever else it was; she was afraid that he did in very
-deed speak the truth.
-
-"You do not scruple to tell me this," she said; "why do you tell me
-about it at all?"
-
-Bennet looked at the beautiful girl, and her beauty maddened him.
-
-"It is because I love you," he said boldly.
-
-"Because you love me! You take a strange way of showing your love. What
-do you mean?"
-
-"I said that Eversleigh's fate was in my hands; I should have said it
-was in yours, Kitty."
-
-"In mine?"
-
-"Yes, in yours, in your pretty hands, Kitty. You have but to command me,
-and, so far as I am concerned, Eversleigh remains a free man. I will not
-seek to have him arrested if you tell me not to do so."
-
-"And what more, Mr. Bennet? Is it that your love for me dictates this
-generosity? Oh, if that be so, I thank you with all my heart."
-
-"I do not want your gratitude, Kitty. I want you. I will only stay my
-hand on condition that you promise to marry me. There, is that plain
-enough?"
-
-"To marry you!" exclaimed Kitty. "You know very well that I am engaged
-to Gilbert Eversleigh."
-
-"Oh, Gilbert!" said Bennet, contemptuously. "After what I have told you
-about his father you would never dream of marrying him!"
-
-Kitty's eyes suddenly blazed.
-
-"Take care what you say!" she cried.
-
-The passion in her eyes did not daunt him; on the contrary, he admired
-her spirit, and his desire to marry her waxed stronger.
-
-"Am I to understand, then," he asked deliberately, "that you prefer to
-see Gilbert Eversleigh disgraced, for disgraced he will be when his
-father is a convicted felon?"
-
-Kitty started; she felt as if she were in a trap.
-
-Bennet saw he had at last made an impression.
-
-"You can ruin Gilbert, too, if you like," he continued; "the fate of
-both father and son rests with you."
-
-He thought he had said enough, and so was silent. The girl walking by
-his side was also silent. If what this man said was true, and she was
-afraid it was, what a frightful calamity had suddenly come upon her! Her
-heart sank within her, all the sweetness of life and love were on the
-instant turned to bitterness and gall.
-
-"You can ruin Gilbert," Bennet had said; she could ruin the man she
-loved! And Francis Eversleigh, the kindly man, who had been a father to
-her! And Mrs. Eversleigh and the others! She could ruin them or save
-them--so Bennet had said. Her word would save them!
-
-Bennet fancied he knew the debate which was going on within the girl's
-breast. At length Kitty came to a decision.
-
-"Do you want an answer now?" she asked.
-
-"At once; yes or no?"
-
-"You know that I do not love you?"
-
-"I love you, and you will come to love me."
-
-"Never, never!" she cried wildly.
-
-Bennet frowned heavily.
-
-"You will, you shall, you must," he vowed.
-
-"You cannot force love," said the girl.
-
-"Now, Miss Kitty," said Bennet, roughly; "I do not wish to discuss that
-with you. Give me your answer! Will you marry me, yes or no? Or is
-Francis Eversleigh to go to prison?"
-
-"If I marry you, how will that protect Mr. Eversleigh?"
-
-"I will give him a receipt in full for whatever his firm owes me. I
-will give you the receipt, if you like, and you can give it to him."
-
-"Mr. Bennet," said Kitty, "I shall tell you what I am willing to do. You
-have told me some strange things; they are so strange that I find a
-difficulty in believing them. Yet I am afraid," went on the girl,
-honestly, "that they are true. But surely I have a right to ask that
-these statements of yours be confirmed. If you will give me till
-to-morrow--if you will come then, I will give you my answer."
-
-"And pray what will you do in the mean time?"
-
-"I shall speak to Mr. Eversleigh."
-
-"Very well," said Bennet, after a moment's thought. "He will not deny
-the truth of what I have told you. I agree. I will be here at noon
-to-morrow for your decision. Only remember that the fate of the
-Eversleighs is in your hands, as I have said, and in yours alone."
-
-And he turned and left her.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIII
-
-
-On entering the house, Kitty went at once to her own room, though she
-knew Helen Eversleigh would think it strange, perhaps even unkind. "But
-she will never imagine why it is," thought the girl; "she will suppose
-Bennet had something painful to tell me about my father."
-
-Kitty Thornton was a brave woman, and she had brains as well as courage;
-she sat down in her room, and deliberately set herself to consider the
-situation in which she now found herself. The conversation with Bennet
-had occupied but a short while, and she had hardly realized all it meant
-for her. Now, sitting there quietly, she went over it again. On the face
-of it, what he had told her about Eversleigh seemed improbable in the
-extreme, but she recalled the positiveness of his assertions and the air
-of truthfulness and certainty with which he had made them. It was clear
-to her that Bennet believed he did hold the fate of Eversleigh in his
-hands.
-
-Then she thought of Francis Eversleigh. In her mind's eye she saw him as
-he had appeared to her in her girlhood--handsome, generous,
-large-hearted, kindness itself. Her instinct told her that he was not
-formed of the stuff out of which the thief and the swindler were made.
-And she recalled Bennet's words, "Mr. Eversleigh put the blame of the
-sale on his dead partner Silwood"--Silwood, the man in whose chambers
-her father's body had been found; yes, Kitty had no doubt whatever that
-if any one was guilty, he was the criminal. She remembered Silwood's
-appearance very well, and she contrasted it with that of Eversleigh, to
-the great advantage of the latter. It was incredible that Eversleigh was
-a bad man. But though not actually guilty, was he a party to the guilt
-of Silwood all along, and therefore guilty in that sense? Or had he
-discovered what Silwood had done only after Silwood's death? Well, she
-must wait until she had heard what Francis Eversleigh had to say.
-
-For, after all, these were minor points. In all likelihood, she
-concluded, Eversleigh would confirm Bennet's statements. If so, what
-then?
-
-And, now, Kitty Thornton had need of all her courage.
-
-The fate of the Eversleighs was in her hands; she could save them, but
-at what a price!
-
-The sacrifice of her own happiness.
-
-She could save them, but only by condemning herself to misery for the
-rest of her life.
-
-As she sat thinking, thinking of the wretchedness that must be hers as
-the wife of Bennet, the poor girl closed her eyes, as if thus she could
-shut out that blank and dreary prospect. She had no illusions as to the
-nature of the man. In her heart she called him a bully and a brute, and
-she knew he was a desperate gambler. Her life with him could be nothing
-but one long horror.
-
-"I cannot marry him," she said, rebelling against the harshness and
-bitterness of the dilemma thrust upon her.
-
-"But what then?" she asked herself.
-
-She knew Bennet would keep his word did she refuse to marry him; Francis
-Eversleigh would be arrested, and he and his family overwhelmed in one
-common ruin.
-
-"How can I permit it?" she said.
-
-Hitherto she had striven to keep the thought of her lover, Gilbert, out
-of her mind, so as to be able to reason more clearly, but in its
-background Gilbert had always been. She loved him with her whole heart,
-and it was seldom that, consciously or unconsciously, she was not
-thinking about him. She had looked forward with pride and joy to being
-his wife. And now?
-
-Bennet had declared that Gilbert's father's ruin would be Gilbert's ruin
-too.
-
-And she could save him.
-
-"I must, I must," said Kitty, bravely, but her heart was cold as ice.
-"Cost me what it may, I must save him from ruin."
-
-She told herself that it was her duty to make this sacrifice for her
-lover's sake, and she tried to steel herself to the idea. But when she
-thought of the long and bitter years that lay before her as the wife of
-Harry Bennet, her courage grew less and less.
-
-"I must not think of _that_," she said; "if I do, I shall break down. I
-must think, and think only, of saving them from the ruin which threatens
-them all."
-
-Still the tears would come into her eyes. She wiped them away, however,
-and when she went down to dinner showed no traces of them. Her eyes were
-suspiciously bright, and the spots of colour on her cheeks were less
-brilliant than usual, but her aspect was so little different from what
-it generally was that even Helen Eversleigh, who looked at her
-inquiringly when they met, did not observe any change in her appearance.
-
-Francis Eversleigh was at the head of the table, and from time to time
-he shot a quick glance at her. He had heard from his daughter, Helen,
-that Bennet had called that afternoon, and he felt sure Bennet had told
-the girl all. He expected she would speak to him on the subject after
-dinner, and he dreaded it. What would she say to him? What would she do?
-What had she said to Bennet?
-
-Kitty had always been fond of Francis Eversleigh, and as she caught one
-or two of these glances of his, and knew the secret of his anxiety, she
-pitied him and smiled at him encouragingly. Like the other members of
-the Eversleigh household, she had noticed for weeks how poorly he had
-looked. Now, as she sat at table with him she told herself she knew why
-it was--he had been carrying in his breast the knowledge of his
-partner's crime. She felt so sorry for him, that for a time she almost
-forgot how black her own future was likely to be.
-
-After dinner she and Eversleigh withdrew from the dining-room together,
-and went into the library. This move excited no surprise in the others,
-who supposed it accounted for by there being some fresh development with
-regard to her late father's affairs which required immediate attention.
-
-Eversleigh left it to Kitty to begin the conversation.
-
-"Mr. Bennet was here this afternoon," she said, steadily; "and he told
-me something which astonished and pained me more than I can express."
-
-Kitty stopped, expecting Eversleigh to speak, but he only looked at her
-sorrowfully.
-
-"He told me," said Kitty after a pause, "that some house property of
-his, which was entrusted to your firm, had been sold without his consent
-or knowledge, and that the money had been misappropriated. Is it true?"
-
-"I regret to have to answer, Kitty, that it is too true," replied
-Eversleigh, falteringly. "It is only too true," he repeated, shaking his
-head sadly, "too true."
-
-"Won't you tell me all about it?" asked the girl. "I do so wish to help
-you if I can," she cried earnestly.
-
-"Kitty, you are, as you always have been, a dear sweet girl," responded
-Eversleigh, with twitching lips and tears standing in his eyes; "but I
-am afraid you can do nothing."
-
-"Perhaps I can. But let me know, will you not, how this frightful thing
-has come about?" she urged.
-
-"It is a dreadful story, a shameful story, Kitty. I have tried to act
-for the best----"
-
-He broke off with a sob.
-
-"I shall never believe you were guilty of anything criminal!" she
-exclaimed.
-
-"I did not steal the money; you are right, if that is what you mean,
-dear; but the law will hold me guilty."
-
-"I did not imagine for a single instant that you had taken any one's
-money wrongfully. Mr. Bennet said that you told him the money was taken
-by Mr. Silwood."
-
-"Yes, yes," returned Eversleigh; "that is true."
-
-"Besides yourself and Mr. Bennet and me, does any other person know
-about this--trouble?"
-
-"No, not a soul."
-
-"Then it is only Mr. Bennet you have to fear?"
-
-"Yes; but is that not sufficient?"
-
-"I am afraid it is. Still, if there was to be found a way of satisfying
-him, would that release you from further worries of the same kind?"
-
-"Kitty," said Eversleigh, speaking with much emotion; "Kitty, I shall
-not pretend not to understand what you refer to when you talk of finding
-a way to satisfy Bennet. He told me what he intended doing--how he was
-to disclose to you that my fate was in his hands, and to declare to you
-he would not prosecute me if you would promise to marry him. It seems to
-me a monstrous proposition--that you should sacrifice yourself for me.
-No, Kitty, you must not marry him. You must leave us to our fate."
-
-As Eversleigh said these words, there was a ring in his voice that had
-long been absent from it. He really meant what he said.
-
-"I shall not leave you and the others to their fate," cried Kitty; "you
-are all dear to me--and then," she said shyly, "there is Gilbert. Mr.
-Bennet declares Gilbert will be involved in your ruin; that is," she
-added gently, "if you were found to be a party to--irregularities; then,
-in that case he would be compelled to give up the Bar."
-
-Eversleigh nodded gloomily.
-
-"I fear that would be so," he said with a gasp.
-
-"Gilbert is dearer to me than myself," Kitty went on, blushing a little,
-"and I must save him if I can."
-
-Neither spoke for a few minutes.
-
-"You are a brave, heroic woman," said Eversleigh, at last. "But Gilbert
-will never consent to your sacrificing yourself in this way."
-
-"Gilbert need not know until you are safe out of Bennet's grasp,"
-suggested Kitty. "And do you not see that I am between two fires," she
-continued; "so that I must yield myself? If the worst befall you, then
-you, dear Mrs. Eversleigh who has been a mother to me, your sons and
-your daughter, will be made miserable for ever! Oh, I cannot think of
-it! And then there is my love for Gilbert! No," she sighed in a whisper;
-"I cannot ruin him."
-
-"You are a noble girl," said Eversleigh, with deep feeling; "but I,
-we--even Gilbert--have no right to expect such a sacrifice from you,
-Kitty."
-
-The girl did not at once reply. Instead she gazed thoughtfully at him.
-
-"I wonder if there is no other way of satisfying Mr. Bennet?" she asked.
-
-"I do not know of any."
-
-"Could you not take the money you owe him out of my fortune? Oh, I would
-give him the half of all I possess--nay, the whole of it, if that would
-satisfy him."
-
-"Kitty," said Eversleigh, in so despairing a voice, that it made her
-start in a sudden terror that he was about to do something desperate.
-"Kitty, I see I must tell you everything. Indeed, I should have told you
-everything sooner, but I am a weak, cowardly wretch. For nearly two
-months I have endured tortures every hour and every moment, ever since
-the day Silwood told me that he had embezzled--that is the bitter
-word--and appropriated to his own use for speculations on the Stock
-Exchange the money and property of our clients--yours, Kitty, along
-with the rest. And I, fool that I was, never knew anything of it! I
-suspected nothing. It was the expected coming of your father which made
-Silwood speak out. Kitty, the part of your fortune which was in our
-charge has gone--it does not exist."
-
-Kitty was silent.
-
-"Why do you not reproach me?" inquired Eversleigh. "There is nothing you
-would say that I should not deserve."
-
-And then he saw she was crying quietly. But it was not for the loss of
-the greater part of her fortune.
-
-"How you must have suffered!" she said, through her tears.
-
-And now the man broke down helplessly and wept like a child.
-
-"I must save him," she said to herself with determination. "If there is
-no other way, then I must marry Mr. Bennet."
-
-But even while she felt strong enough to carry out her purpose, there
-was a great cry of desolation in her heart; she tried to still it with
-the thought that there was something in the world even higher than
-love.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIV
-
-
-After Kitty had left Francis Eversleigh she would have preferred to
-retire to the seclusion of her bedroom, but she knew that if she did so
-it would cause surprise to her friends and lead them to guess something
-was amiss. Anxious to spare them, she forced herself to join them in the
-drawing-room, and sat for an hour, taking her part in the general talk.
-Then, saying she was rather tired, she withdrew.
-
-Between the making of a heroic resolve likely to cost the maker dear,
-and the carrying out heroically of all the resolve entails, there is,
-unless resolve and deed go swift together, room for many changes of
-feeling not unlike the rising and the falling of waves. Within Kitty's
-breast the waves rose and fell that night, now bearing her aloft so that
-the sacrifice of herself seemed easy, now burying her in depths which
-made it appear impossible.
-
-She did not really waver in her determination; her mind was made up to
-save the Eversleighs from the calamity which threatened them. What
-troubled her most was the way in which she should communicate her
-decision to Gilbert. She knew that he loved her with all the strength
-and passion of a strong nature, and he knew that she loved him. And now
-she must tell him that she was not going to marry him, but Bennet, the
-very man, in fact, against whom she had warned her lover, and whom, she
-was well aware, he detested. How was she to break the news to him? How
-tell him so that he would understand her decision was irrevocable?
-
-For one thing, he must not know why she was breaking off their
-engagement. Francis Eversleigh had assured her that Gilbert was
-unconscious of Silwood's frauds; indeed, she had not required any such
-assurance. And she was determined that he should not know from her. She
-saw, then, that she could give him no explanation. She must just tell
-him bluntly she had changed her mind. But, in that case, what would he
-think of her? what must he think of her? And that she should choose
-Bennet of all men! Gilbert could not but misunderstand her. He must
-think her deceit itself.
-
-It was this thought, more than any other, that sunk her deep in gulfs of
-despair.
-
-And then she told herself that this, too--this renunciation of the good
-opinion of her lover, this misunderstanding she must subject herself
-to--was part of the price she had agreed to pay to save him and his
-father from ruin. "And Gilbert," she said in her heart, "will never know
-what I have done for him. He will deem me fickle, false, base, a cheat
-and a lie!"
-
-And then a sort of rage came upon her, and she asked why this fate had
-been thrust upon her; what had she done to be made the victim of such
-outrageous fortune?
-
-"Why should I suffer thus cruelly?" she cried rebelliously. "Is there no
-escape?"
-
-She thought of what she had said to Francis Eversleigh--how she would
-gladly give up her wealth to Bennet if that would satisfy him. And now
-she remembered that the whole of her fortune was not lost, for there was
-still a considerable portion of it in Canada. Could she not make a
-bargain with Bennet? She resolved to try, but she did not believe she
-would succeed.
-
-If she failed, and she felt she would, and was compelled to agree to
-marry Bennet, then it would be impossible to stay any longer with the
-Eversleighs; she must make arrangements for leaving them at once. They,
-too, would think her hateful and detestable. It was all very bitter!
-
-"Yet they must never know," said Kitty, pondering darkly all these
-things through the long blank hours.
-
-In the morning she saw Francis Eversleigh alone for a few moments.
-
-"Kitty," he said, in a shaking voice, "you must not sacrifice yourself.
-It is not right. Tell Bennet to do his worst. We must bear it as best we
-can."
-
-There was a brave smile in the girl's eyes as she answered him.
-
-"I have decided," she responded. "You need have no fear. If there is no
-other way, I'll marry Mr. Bennet."
-
-Then she stopped and looked at him earnestly.
-
-"It may not be necessary," she remarked. "Perhaps the money and property
-I have in Canada will be enough to satisfy him."
-
-"Kitty, Kitty," cried Eversleigh, "I do not know what to say--do not
-know how to tell you, but I so love and admire you! But you must not
-blight all your sweet young life for me--it is not right. As it is, you
-suffer enough at my hands in the loss of the greater part of the fortune
-your father worked so hard for."
-
-The girl took his hand and pressed it gently.
-
-"I have made up my mind," she said gravely.
-
-Eversleigh, unable to speak, raised her hand to his lips, and kissed it.
-
-Punctually at twelve Bennet made his appearance at Ivydene. He found
-Kitty waiting for him in the shrubbery in front of the house.
-
-"I have come for your answer," he said, without prelude. "Is it Yes or
-No, Miss Thornton," he asked excitedly.
-
-"Will you listen to me first--just a moment," she pleaded, as she saw
-the impatient working of his face; "only a moment?"
-
-"Well," Harry replied grudgingly; "what is it?"
-
-"If you will tell me how much Mr. Eversleigh owes you, I will pay it to
-you--every farthing," replied Kitty.
-
-Bennet shook his head with an almost savage gesture.
-
-"Miss Thornton," said he, "you will not understand me. I have told you
-that I love you. And all's fair in love and war. I am glad to have this
-hold on you--glad to think that if it is even against your will I have
-such a chance of making you marry me, and I shall not relinquish it.
-Don't you see, Kitty, I should be a fool to give you up?"
-
-"I will give you twice the amount Mr. Eversleigh owes you, if you like."
-
-"It is useless, quite useless, to make any proposition of that kind,"
-said Bennet, who, of course, thought that the girl's money would come to
-him in any case. "Will you marry me, yes or no?"
-
-"But you know, Mr. Bennet, that I do not love you. You know that I am
-engaged to Gilbert Eversleigh?"
-
-"Gilbert Eversleigh!" cried Bennet, with a fierce, scowling, threatening
-expression. "Why should I consider him? He took you from me; if it had
-not been for him, perhaps you would have loved me. I hate and loathe the
-very sound of his name. I should like to see him disgraced and ruined,
-but I am foregoing that gratification because I love you. I would rather
-marry you than wreak my vengeance on him, and to give up this
-opportunity of revenge is no slight thing for me to do."
-
-"He has given you no cause for such feelings!"
-
-"Cause enough," said Bennet. "But all this is stupid. For the last time,
-I tell you that the fate of the Eversleighs is in your power. Will you
-send Francis Eversleigh to prison, or will you marry me? That is the
-issue. And you must answer at once; I will be trifled with no longer."
-
-Kitty, however, did not speak.
-
-There was a sudden panic in the girl's heart. She was asking how could
-she bring herself to marry this man, with his coarseness and brutality.
-
-"It is No, then!" exclaimed Bennet. "You doom your friends to hopeless
-ruin and infamy."
-
-"Mr. Bennet, the answer is Yes," said Kitty, her voice quivering, but
-her heart once more steadfast.
-
-"You will marry me?" asked Bennet, a note of joy in his rough tones.
-
-"Yes, to save the Eversleighs."
-
-"You will marry me soon?"
-
-"Mr. Bennet, you must remember that my father has only been dead a few
-weeks."
-
-"Kitty, now you have promised to marry me," said Bennet, and he spoke
-with an accent of sincerity, "I will remember anything you like to ask
-me to remember, for I do love you. But you will not keep me waiting too
-long?"
-
-Having gained his object, Bennet tried to drop the bully and to become
-the lover.
-
-"You do love me," said Kitty, scanning his face.
-
-"With all my soul!"
-
-"And yet your love is not strong enough to make you give me up--even
-when you know I do not love you, and that my love is another's?"
-
-"Oh, I am not that sort of man; I am uncommonly human. When I see my
-chance I go for it with all my might; and here is my chance come by
-wonderful luck, and I take it. What an ass I should be not to take it!
-Do you blame me so much for doing so, when you, Kitty, are the prize to
-be won?"
-
-Confident now that he had carried the day, Bennet spoke quite
-pleasantly. He even attempted to put his arm round the girl, but she
-would not let him.
-
-"Mr. Bennet," she said, the colour burning in her cheeks, "I have
-promised to marry you, and I shall not break my word, but I do not love
-you. Pray spare me until--until----" And she stopped with a slight
-choke.
-
-Bennet swore under his breath.
-
-Aloud he said, "As you please, Kitty," and stood frowning at her
-heavily.
-
-"My promise to you," Kitty reminded him, "is conditional on your giving
-Mr. Eversleigh a full discharge from all his indebtedness to you."
-
-"Yes. You shall have the necessary document from me on the day of our
-marriage; that is fair, is it not?"
-
-"Will you not let me have it now, or very soon?"
-
-"I'm to give everything and get nothing?" asked Bennet. But even as he
-put this question he told himself there was no danger of the girl going
-back from her promise, and that he might safely let her have the
-discharge. Still, if he did so, it must be on terms. So he continued,
-"I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you that discharge the first time
-you kiss me."
-
-Kitty, though her heart felt like breaking all the while, smiled a wan
-assent.
-
-"Is it a bargain?" he inquired.
-
-And she nodded.
-
-"You shall have the discharge," cried Bennet, "as soon as it can be
-prepared. Does that content you?"
-
-"Yes," said Kitty, and there was a pause.
-
-"My proposed marriage to you," said Kitty, speaking again, "will bring
-about some changes. It is quite plain that I can stay no longer at
-Ivydene with the Eversleighs--they will not understand why I am acting
-as I am doing, and, indeed, they must not suspect why it is. I shall
-have to invent some plea--some excuse. Until I have gone--for I must
-go--I do not wish them to know that I am to marry you. Francis
-Eversleigh will know, but none of the rest need know until I have left
-Surbiton."
-
-"Where do you think of going?" inquired Bennet. "You must not go far
-away."
-
-"I have a distant relative--a second cousin of my father's--in
-Yorkshire. She is an elderly lady, and has more than once asked me to
-pay her a visit. It is to her that I shall go. Indeed, there is no other
-to whom I could go; she is the only relative that I have in the world."
-
-"Yorkshire is a long way off," said Bennet.
-
-"I can think of nothing else," she said.
-
-"You will let me know what you decide," said Bennet, after an interval
-of silence.
-
-"Yes. I'll write you. And now good-bye," said Kitty; "I feel tired and
-worn out."
-
-When Bennet had gone, Kitty braced herself for the painful tasks which
-lay before her. First of all, she told Mrs. Eversleigh that she was
-going to Yorkshire next day, and though Mrs. Eversleigh said very
-little, the girl saw that she was hurt, offended, and greatly mystified.
-And Helen Eversleigh, Kitty could not but notice, thought her conduct
-strange. But neither of the Eversleigh ladies pressed her for an
-explanation, for which Kitty was thankful.
-
-But infinitely the hardest thing was what she should say to Gilbert. She
-sat down in her room with a sheet of paper before her, but for a long
-while she could not bring herself to touch her pen. How she wished she
-could tell him something of the truth--tell him that she was not the
-false, fickle light o' love he must think her!
-
-Again she had to fight the battle with herself, and again she
-triumphed.
-
-It was a very short letter, but it was written in her heart's blood.
-
-     "Dear Gilbert," it ran, "I have changed my mind. Our engagement
-     must be broken off. I intend marrying Mr. Bennet.--KITTY."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXV
-
-
-Ever since the discovery of Morris Thornton's body in Silwood's rooms,
-in Stone Buildings, Gilbert Eversleigh had constantly felt that he moved
-in an atmosphere of mystery, which affected him so closely that he could
-not but be very uncomfortable. He attempted in various ways to get
-further light, but without success. Another thing which worried him not
-a little was the poor health of his father, and the increasing
-disinclination the latter showed to attend to business. Over against
-these disquieting circumstances there were to be set Kitty's love for
-him, and his love for her, which far over-balanced them.
-
-That morning Gilbert, when he awoke, first thought of Kitty, and
-promised himself that, as he and she had arranged, they would have a
-long splendid time together that very day.
-
-When he went in to breakfast, a small pile of letters lay on the table
-beside his plate. He took them up and scanned the writing of the
-addresses. Of course, he at once recognized Kitty's writing. For a
-moment he held her letter in his hand, a happy smile on his face, and
-was about to open it, but he put it down again, saying to himself that
-he would keep it to the last as a special treat. So he went through the
-rest of his correspondence, and read it rather slowly, to put off the
-moment of delight which should be his when he came to the girl's letter.
-
-At last he opened her letter.
-
-"Dear Gilbert," he read. Instantly he was alarmed, for this was not the
-way she generally began her letters to him. "I have changed my mind,"
-ran the words; his alarm increased. But when he next came to the words,
-"Our engagement must be broken off. I intend marrying Mr. Bennet," a
-feeling of stupefaction overcame him. He read the short letter over and
-over again in a mechanical sort of way, hardly taking in its meaning.
-
-"'I have changed my mind,'" he repeated to himself. "'Our engagement
-must be broken off. I intend marrying Mr. Bennet.'"
-
-The thing was so sudden that at first it stunned him--he could not
-believe it.
-
-But there it was in black and white, in Kitty's own writing.
-
-"I have changed my mind!"
-
-There was no mistaking that.
-
-"Our engagement must be broken off. I intend marrying Mr. Bennet," she
-wrote.
-
-These were her words, and there was no getting away from them.
-
-So everything was at an end between them!
-
-More than that, Kitty was to marry Bennet!
-
-With a sudden movement of anguish and rage, Gilbert crumpled the letter
-in his hand and threw it from him. He sat for a while staring out of his
-window, while his mind began to work with incredible swiftness.
-
-Kitty had jilted him--for Bennet!
-
-But Gilbert knew the girl very well, and the first movements of grief,
-anger, pain, and amazement past, he tried to think the matter out
-calmly, with the result that he passionately told himself Kitty was no
-jilt, and there must be something astounding behind her letter. Then he
-picked up the crumpled sheet of paper from the floor, smoothed it out,
-and read its contents once more. But there was neither light nor comfort
-to be got from them.
-
-What could be the explanation of her extraordinary conduct? he wondered,
-for of course there must be some explanation. Kitty was no shallow
-flirt, no woman of mere caprice. Why had she done this?
-
-But did her letter afford no hint?
-
-She had not only thrown him over, but she announced she was to marry
-Bennet--Bennet, of all people in the world! Had she not warned him
-against this very man? And now she was to marry him!
-
-Why?
-
-As Gilbert sat in his room endeavouring to solve this problem, it seemed
-to him that he heard Kitty's rich voice saying in low and sincere
-accents the words--almost the last she had uttered when they were
-together by the river-side three evenings before, "I feel as if I could
-not exist without you now, Gilbert."
-
-What could have brought about this mighty change? What sinister, malign
-influence had cast its spell over her?
-
-As he thought and thought, it appeared to him plain enough that the
-girl's change of mind must associate itself in some way with Bennet.
-
-"Yet," said he to himself, "I know she loves me even as I love her. She
-does not love Bennet, whom she declares she now intends to marry. What
-pressure, in Heaven's name, can Bennet have brought to bear on her?
-Pressure there must have been, and of the strongest kind, otherwise she
-would never dream of marrying him. What can it be?"
-
-A little longer he sat asking questions to which he could furnish no
-answers.
-
-"I shall go to Surbiton," he said at last, "and ask her what she means.
-She has not forbidden me to see her, and I shall go at once."
-
-But when he reached Ivydene, Kitty was not to be seen; she had left
-Surbiton by an early train that morning.
-
-He found the house in some confusion, and in answer to his inquiries, he
-could discover no more than that Miss Thornton had departed for
-Yorkshire. He saw both his mother and his sister, but could glean very
-little from them. Both, he noticed, were greatly excited and distressed,
-but they told him that, beyond saying it was necessary for her to leave,
-Kitty had offered no explanation.
-
-"I cannot understand it at all," said Mrs. Eversleigh. "Have you no idea
-of what has occurred to cause her to act in this strange manner,
-Gilbert?" she asked her son.
-
-"I have not the slightest idea," replied Gilbert. "I got a short note
-this morning from her. It said nothing about leaving you. She said she
-had changed her mind with regard to our engagement, and that she was
-going to marry Mr. Bennet."
-
-"Marry Mr. Bennet?" exclaimed Mrs. Eversleigh, her eyes wide with
-astonishment. "She did not tell me that. Oh, Gilbert, what does it all
-mean? My heart misgives me, there is something frightfully wrong! She
-told us last night, without any warning, that she was leaving us. Of
-course I did not like to question her--I had no right, and her manner
-was forbidding. But the poor girl looked very sad and unhappy. I spoke
-to your father about her, but he was too ill and miserable to discuss
-the subject, or, indeed, any subject. I did not wish him to go to town
-to-day; but he said it was most important he should go, and he went."
-
-"Did he appear surprised at Miss Thornton's decision?"
-
-"I cannot say he did. When she told him she was going, he only nodded."
-
-"Do you think he knows why she has gone, and why she is going to marry
-Mr. Bennet?"
-
-"I asked him these very questions, Gilbert; but he said he could not
-tell me anything. It is all very strange!"
-
-"Very strange!" cried Gilbert. "It is perfectly maddening!"
-
-"Perhaps you had better see your father," suggested Mrs. Eversleigh.
-
-"Yes; I'll go to him at once," said Gilbert.
-
-"You will be gentle and careful, Gilbert!" urged his mother. "More than
-once lately I have been forced to think the troubles through which your
-father has recently passed have been almost too much for him. He is all
-the time in a state of fever both of body and mind. You will not forget
-that, my son!"
-
-"Certainly not, mother," replied Gilbert.
-
-Eversleigh had expected Gilbert would come to him, but, up to the
-moment of seeing him, was uncertain how to act.
-
-Gilbert, when he met his father, began by stating he had received an
-extraordinary letter from Miss Thornton, in which she broke off her
-engagement with him, and announced her intention of marrying Bennet.
-
-"As soon as I got the letter," Gilbert continued, "I went over to
-Surbiton to see her, but when I went there I found she had left the
-house and gone to a friend in Yorkshire. Mother could tell me nothing,
-so I have come to you to see if you can help me to some understanding of
-the matter."
-
-"Did Kitty give you no reason?"
-
-"She merely said she had changed her mind."
-
-"Changed her mind! A woman's reason," said Eversleigh, with a dreary
-smile.
-
-"Kitty was not that kind of woman," declared Gilbert. "There must have
-been some powerful reason to make her act in this way."
-
-The young man, his face working, strode up and down the room.
-
-Presently he turned to his father and asked, almost fiercely--
-
-"Can you tell me why this has happened? Do you know why she has broken
-off with me, and why she is to marry Bennet?"
-
-Eversleigh moved uneasily in his chair, looked at his son with a glance
-of entreaty, but remained silent.
-
-"Father," said Gilbert, "you do know something! Will you not tell me of
-it? Have I not a right to know? I appeal to you to tell me everything."
-
-Eversleigh glanced this way and that, like a man seeking some path of
-escape.
-
-"Father," said Gilbert again; "you must tell me! I love Kitty with my
-whole soul--she is dearer to me than life, and I cannot resign her
-without a struggle! I must know what has come between her and me. Can
-you not help me?"
-
-"Why don't you write Miss Thornton?" asked Eversleigh.
-
-"I shall do so, though the tone of her letter is not encouraging. But do
-you mean to say you do not know what has made her change her mind?"
-
-Eversleigh tried to speak. A frightful struggle was going on within him.
-Should he tell Gilbert the whole truth or not? Suddenly he made up his
-mind, as Gilbert said beseechingly--
-
-"Oh father, will you not tell me what you know?"
-
-"Yes, I'll tell you what I know--all that I know. But how am I to tell
-it? You will not forget, Gilbert, that I am your father, your most
-unhappy father, and you must not condemn me utterly."
-
-Condemn!
-
-The word had an ominous sound, and Gilbert felt himself grow cold as he
-heard his father's words.
-
-"What is it?" he asked, in a hoarse voice.
-
-"Can you cast your thoughts back," said Eversleigh, in a weak and
-quavering tone, "to a certain Saturday in July, when you were in this
-office? I had spoken to you of the presence of Mr. Bennet at
-Ivydene----"
-
-"Remember that day!" broke in Gilbert. "Shall I ever forget it? It was
-on the evening of that day I proposed to Kitty, and she accepted me. I
-have more cause than ever now to remember it!"
-
-"That was the day, Gilbert. It was also the day, you will remember, on
-which we heard that Mr. Thornton was coming back to England. The whole
-trouble begins with his letter," said Eversleigh, and stopped with a
-gulp and a choke.
-
-"With Mr. Thornton's letter?"
-
-"Yes," said Eversleigh, trying to fight down his emotion. "Gilbert," he
-went on more calmly, "I am very sorry to tell you that on the day we
-received the letter intimating Mr. Thornton's return, I received from
-Mr. Silwood a confession that he had been speculating with the funds and
-the property of our clients, and that all had been lost--Mr. Thornton's
-with the rest."
-
-"What!" cried Gilbert, doubting his senses.
-
-"It is true."
-
-"Father, do you know what you are saying?"
-
-"Alas, yes, only too well! Thornton's letter spoke of making a formal
-examination of the securities we held of his, and it was this which led
-Silwood to confess his embezzlements."
-
-"But you had nothing to do with them, father!"
-
-"No; but I need not tell you that in the eye of the law, I, as Silwood's
-partner, was equally guilty. What I have suffered, what I have endured
-from that moment, you can never guess; I have lived in a hell of
-torture. When I knew the truth, I did not know what to do; but I just
-let myself drift and drift and drift, hoping against hope that somehow
-or other there might be a way out of the difficulties that beset me. But
-there has been no way out. Things have gone from bad to worse. There was
-first Silwood's death, and then the death of Morris Thornton."
-
-Gilbert uttered a sharp cry.
-
-"You thought Silwood murdered Thornton because of the money?" he said.
-
-"Before the inquest I did, but not afterwards. I know no more about that
-mystery than you. Well, the effect of these two deaths was to give me a
-respite--I knew it could be at best but a short one, for at any moment
-some other client might make a demand which, owing to Silwood's
-defalcations, we should not be able to meet. And, by a devilish chance
-of fate, Bennet was the man to make that demand. He told us to sell a
-block of flats belonging to him, and asked us to advance him ten
-thousand pounds pending the sale."
-
-"And you couldn't!" exclaimed Gilbert, whose head was whirling with what
-he had heard.
-
-"There was no possibility of getting the money. But that was not the way
-in which Bennet came to know of our--embarrassments. He took it into his
-head to go and see the flats--out of a sort of bravado, I think, and
-there he discovered the flats had been sold a year ago. He came to me,
-and I was compelled to tell him the flats had been sold without my
-knowledge by Silwood. You see that placed me in his power; he could have
-denounced me at once, and I expected nothing else. But he did not act at
-once; instead, he said he would take a night to think over it. Next day
-he returned and announced he would not prosecute me, provided I brought
-about the breaking off the match between you and Kitty, and got Kitty to
-marry him."
-
-Eversleigh, who had spoken rapidly, now paused; while Gilbert, with
-swimming eyes, gazed at his father.
-
-"I protested to Bennet," Eversleigh resumed, "that it was impossible for
-me to do this; my influence was not strong enough. And then he said he
-would tell Kitty everything, and leave my fate to her. He did tell her
-everything, and Kitty, to save me from prison, and you and the rest from
-ignominy, consented to marry him."
-
-Gilbert drew a deep breath.
-
-"So that is how it is?" he said, his voice full of pain. "She has
-sacrificed herself for us!"
-
-"It is very noble of her," said Eversleigh.
-
-"Noble, yes; it is heroic. But we have no right to expect such a
-sacrifice from her."
-
-"None whatever. Indeed, I told her so. I urged her to leave us to our
-fate; but she would not."
-
-Eversleigh looked at his son anxiously.
-
-The young man's face had a strange hopeless expression; but he had taken
-his father's statement much more quietly than the latter had
-anticipated. Gilbert made no frantic moan, the calamity of which he had
-just been apprised went far beyond anything of the kind. It now
-literally struck him dumb, both with surprise and grief. Kitty gone from
-him for ever! Kitty, his darling, his wife that was to be! And she had
-gone in order to save him and his father; and his father was a
-defaulter!
-
-"I must think over what you have told me, sir," he said at length, and
-went across to his chambers in the Temple.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXVI
-
-
-Gilbert Eversleigh walked out of his father's office, and finding an
-unoccupied bench in the neighbouring Lincoln's Inn Fields, sat down to
-ponder this terrible and altogether unexpected situation.
-
-First, he tried to grasp the facts which had just been thrust upon him,
-and to see them in all their bearings.
-
-There was no question now but he must relinquish all thoughts of Kitty
-Thornton. The sacrifice the girl was making for him and his father
-filled him with a feeling of worship of her into which there entered
-something sacred. In his mind he placed her on an altar, as it were, and
-could have fallen down before her in adoring homage of that lofty spirit
-of loyalty she had shown. Now that he knew all, he determined to write
-to thank her for what she had done. So far as he was concerned, it must
-be his part, he told himself, to make her sacrifice no harder. Therefore
-he must abide by her decision and accept it.
-
-Gilbert was a young man, with all the high hopes and the hot passions of
-youth, and it was not without the deepest pain that he thought of her
-and his vanished happiness. It was natural that he should first think of
-her and of his own loss. But once he accepted her decision, he resolved
-to lock away her image in his heart, and to cherish it there in secret.
-Having got himself into this frame of mind, he passed on to consider his
-father's position.
-
-The greatness and importance of the firm of Eversleigh, Silwood and
-Eversleigh, solicitors, had never for a single instant been doubted by
-Gilbert, until his father's declaration had swept away that greatness
-and importance for ever. All his life Gilbert had believed his father's
-firm was as enduringly established as the Bank of England; he regarded
-it as a permanent institution. It was difficult for him to realize it
-was nothing now but a bankrupt concern. When he did realize it, and
-remembered the obligations of the firm which must exist over and above
-those arising out of the Thornton and Bennet Estates, he saw with fatal
-clearness Kitty's sacrifice might very well be made in vain, and that
-some other client might, and almost certainly would, bring about the
-exposure and ruin of the firm she had tried to save.
-
-Then, he asked himself, what was his own duty? Without doubt, he must
-stand by his father, and do what he could to help him. But how?
-
-The cause of all this disaster and calamity was Silwood, the man whom he
-had instinctively disliked and distrusted. It was Silwood who had ruined
-the firm. It was through Silwood, indirectly, that he had lost Kitty.
-And Silwood was dead! From his grave he defied them all to touch him;
-there was nothing to be done to a dead man, Gilbert reflected, drearily.
-
-But was that altogether true? The lips of the dead man were for ever
-sealed; but had he left nothing behind him? The Eversleigh firm had been
-a great one, and to make away with all its funds and properties could
-have been no small business, but one which involved a large number of
-transactions. Surely there must be notes, traces, indications of these
-transactions somewhere. Thousands and thousands of pounds from sales of
-shares, and house or land property could not be got or disposed of
-without leaving some mark.
-
-So Gilbert reasoned.
-
-And he resolved to urge his father, therefore, to have everything
-connected with Silwood's department thoroughly investigated at once. And
-then he thought of his father. "Cast your mind back to that Saturday,"
-his father had said. Measured by what his father must have suffered,
-that Saturday seemed ages ago. Poor unhappy father! A great wave of pity
-for him flooded the heart of the son, who now reproached himself
-bitterly for having spoken no word of sympathy.
-
-"I must go to him," he said, rising from the bench, "and ask him to let
-me help him."
-
-A few moments later Gilbert stood once more in his father's room, his
-face no longer dark, but full of purpose.
-
-"When you told me what you did just now, father," said he, "I am afraid
-I did not behave very well. I was so taken up with myself that I had no
-consideration for you. It was wrong of me. I should have known you must
-have passed through a dreadful time, in which you have suffered agonies.
-And now, sir, I come to request you to permit me to assist you in every
-way I can."
-
-"Gladly, my boy; but how can you? What is there that any one can do? I
-am like a sinking ship," said Eversleigh, mournfully.
-
-"Will you tell me if you have overhauled Mr. Silwood's books and
-papers?"
-
-"No, I have not. I began, but desisted."
-
-"Why, father?"
-
-"Because I thought Williamson was suspicious. I felt sure that he was
-watching me. So I stopped, and allowed things to drift."
-
-"But, father, the only chance you have lies in making this
-investigation. If Williamson is in the way, he must be got rid of."
-
-"Would not that in itself excite remark?"
-
-"Not necessarily, surely. But if his going does cause remark, we shall
-just have to put up with it. Besides, we can give him an excellent
-character and a gratuity--these will salve his feelings."
-
-"But what excuse can I make?"
-
-"Can you not say you are going to make extensive changes, owing to Mr.
-Silwood's death?"
-
-"He has been such a long time with us," objected Eversleigh.
-
-"Yes, I know; but you cannot afford to keep a man who suspects you. At
-any cost, he must go."
-
-"He is a good clerk," began Eversleigh.
-
-"I wonder if he really is!" exclaimed Gilbert. "If he was such a good
-clerk, how was it that he did not know of Silwood's defalcations?"
-
-"Perhaps he does know."
-
-"If he does, it would be well to be sure of it. Have him in now, and
-tell him he is to go. If he knows anything he will speak out."
-
-"You are so impetuous," said Eversleigh, feebly.
-
-"I have a strong feeling," replied Gilbert, "that your safety lies in
-immediate action."
-
-"And what would be your next step?"
-
-"I should get in an accountant familiar with legal work, and have him go
-over all Silwood's books and papers. Silwood cannot have disposed of all
-the moneys and properties of the firm without leaving some indication of
-how he did it; and perhaps an investigation may reveal that things are
-not so bad as you think. He cannot have disposed of everything. For
-instance, there must be certain trusts and other matters with which he
-could not tamper. Suppose we try to look into them all, father."
-
-A spark of hope shone for a moment in Eversleigh's eyes, but it speedily
-went out.
-
-"I am quite willing, Gilbert, but I am afraid it will not be any use,"
-he said, dejectedly. "Whom would you think of getting to examine the
-books and papers?"
-
-"I fancy I know the very man. Young Archer Martin, of Roscoe and
-Martin."
-
-"Could you depend on his discretion?"
-
-"Absolutely."
-
-Eversleigh was silent. His impulse was to surrender himself to the
-guidance of his son; but he was sore afraid. Gilbert saw from his
-father's face that he was hesitating.
-
-"There is no other way, father," he cried, with decision.
-
-"Then be it so," agreed Eversleigh.
-
-"And what about Williamson?"
-
-"Can you not let him remain, at least, for a time?"
-
-"I think not, sir."
-
-"Well, well. I am not sure it is wise."
-
-But Gilbert had no doubts, and in the end Williamson received a note
-saying that after that week his services would not be required. At the
-same time, the head-clerk was given a handsome cheque as a solatium.
-
-Gilbert next set out for the office of Roscoe and Martin, where he was
-fortunate to find Archer Martin. As briefly as possible, Gilbert told
-him that he had reason to believe there had been some irregularities in
-his father's office, and that his father had deputed him to invite the
-accountant to make a searching investigation immediately, if that fitted
-in with his engagements.
-
-"As it happens, it does; I can set to work to-morrow," said Martin.
-
-"Of course," said Gilbert, "it is a confidential investigation--that is
-understood."
-
-"Certainly," said the accountant, who had no idea that he might
-innocently be making himself a party to a fraud.
-
-Archer Martin, accordingly, went to 176, New Square, the following day,
-and began his inquiries. Without referring to any one except Gilbert, he
-went on his way, steadily plodding through the books and papers of the
-firm. His labours extended over several days, but he had not gone very
-far when he saw the true character of the work he was engaged on. He
-knew there was being disclosed bit by bit a gigantic system of fraud
-which involved huge sums of money, and that the system had been
-practised remorselessly and with diabolical cunning and ingenuity for
-years. He saw that Cooper Silwood, by one means or another, had
-appropriated many thousands of pounds, though what he had done with the
-cash did not appear. It was plain he had stopped at nothing; there were
-false entries everywhere and many forgeries.
-
-He wondered at the ability Silwood had manifested in keeping up
-appearances so long. It was evident to him, from various sums of
-interest being paid to clients at the proper time, as if their
-investments still remained, that Silwood had kept a strict account of
-his robberies, but though he searched in Silwood's room, throughout the
-rest of the office, and even in Silwood's apartments in Stone Buildings,
-for some book or memoranda relating to these robberies, he could not
-find it. He came to the conclusion that Silwood had either destroyed it
-or taken it with him. He had heard of Silwood's death as well as of the
-death of Morris Thornton, and now saw pretty clearly how matters stood.
-
-Failing to light upon Silwood's memoranda, he tried to see what could be
-done by tracking out some of the larger transactions of the defaulting
-solicitor, which necessarily involved the names of other persons.
-
-And this led him to make an extraordinary discovery, though he did not
-think it so extraordinary as it really was.
-
-Amongst the names of persons having large transactions with Silwood,
-there occurred that of James Russell, described as of 99, Douglas
-Street, Stepney. In the aggregate, Silwood's dealings with this man came
-to a vast sum, and Archer Martin thought Douglas Street, Stepney, was a
-curious address for one who presumably must be very well off indeed.
-
-All through his investigation he had been in close contact with Gilbert
-Eversleigh, and he now suggested some inquiries be made about Mr. James
-Russell, of 99, Douglas Street, Stepney. This Gilbert undertook to do
-himself.
-
-Gilbert had some difficulty in finding Douglas Street, but eventually
-did find it. No. 99 turned out to be a humble house--not at all the kind
-of dwelling in which a man dealing with large sums of money was likely
-to reside. He discovered also that it was no longer occupied by Russell,
-that individual with his wife and crippled child having left it some
-time before; but he learned that they were poor people, living in a very
-poor way. And much more he could not learn.
-
-"What, then, was the connection between Cooper Silwood and James
-Russell?" he asked himself. "Was Russell a confederate?"
-
-But he could get no further than this supposition. He had to content
-himself with putting a private detective on the trail of James Russell,
-and awaiting results.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXVII
-
-
-It was now the second week of September. Kitty Thornton was staying at
-Buckhurst House, near Selby, in Yorkshire, not many miles from
-Doncaster, with her relative, Mrs. Joicey, a widow lady.
-
-The girl, though she felt as if her heart was broken and there never
-could be any happiness in the world for her again, still adhered firmly
-to her determination to do what she considered her duty. Since she had
-come to Yorkshire she had heard but once from the Eversleighs. The
-message came in a short note from Gilbert, which ran--
-
-"My father has told me all. God bless you and keep you."
-
-The words were brief, but Kitty read into them a depth of meaning. She
-pictured to herself Gilbert writing this letter in much the same spirit
-of renunciation of joy and acceptance of inevitable evil, as had
-inspired her own action. And again she told herself, as she had had to
-tell herself very often, that in life there were higher things than
-love. But she treasured up Gilbert's words and even the piece of paper
-on which they were written.
-
-Meanwhile she had another interview with Bennet, who, following the
-round of the races, as usual, had gone down to Yorkshire for the great
-Doncaster September meeting, in which his horse, Go Nap, was expected to
-cut no small figure.
-
-Although Bennet had not been able to get the ten thousand pounds from
-Francis Eversleigh which he had asked him for, he yet had experienced
-very little difficulty in obtaining all the funds he wanted for his
-purposes. More than once before this time he had had recourse to a
-certain Jew, Joel Levy by name, for loans, which Bennet had always
-heretofore repaid punctiliously; he was therefore in excellent credit
-with this money-lender.
-
-When Bennet told Levy he was engaged to marry Kitty Thornton, the
-daughter of Thornton, the Missing Millionaire, whose remarkable story
-was known to everybody, Levy offered no objection when he was asked for
-a fresh loan. He merely inquired when the marriage was to take place,
-and was satisfied on hearing it was arranged for an early date--as soon,
-in fact, as the lady's mourning for her father would decently permit.
-
-Levy congratulated Bennet on his good fortune, wished him equal luck in
-his racing, and, having obtained his signature to bills carrying
-interest at fifty per cent., wrote out a cheque.
-
-Thereafter Bennet liquidated his most pressing liabilities, and with the
-balance, still a considerable sum, set off in high spirits for
-Yorkshire.
-
-But before going north he had seen Francis Eversleigh, been told the
-exact sum for which Beauclerk Mansions had been sold by Silwood, and had
-had prepared a discharge to the firm for the same. This he took with him
-unsigned, and when he presented himself at Buckhurst House, and asked
-for Miss Thornton, he had the document in his pocket.
-
-He had made a bargain with the girl for it, and his pulses beat fiercely
-as he thought he would at last hold her in his arms and embrace her. He
-knew well enough that her response was likely to be of the coldest, but
-assured himself that from the moment he touched her lips, he should
-begin to dominate and bend her to his will.
-
-Kitty received him much more graciously than he expected, but this was
-merely because she felt that, with a man of Bennet's character and
-disposition, the Eversleighs would not be safe until her sacrifice was
-complete. She was afraid, too, that in some way she might be tricked by
-him.
-
-When he handed her the document which was to cancel the obligations of
-Eversleigh's firm, he was careful to tell her it had been drawn up by
-Francis Eversleigh himself, who had also sent with it a covering letter,
-expressing its effect in formal terms.
-
-"I think," said he to her, "I have done exactly what you would have
-wished me to do. Nothing remains now except for me to sign it and
-transfer it to you."
-
-Kitty nodded gravely, and brought him pen and ink, that he might affix
-his signature to the discharge.
-
-He signed his name with a flourish.
-
-"I would do a great deal more than this for you, Kitty," he cried, as,
-holding the paper in his hand, he advanced towards her.
-
-Giving it to her, he said, eagerly, "You remember the bargain we made?"
-
-"Yes," she replied, and unresistingly allowed him to take her in his
-arms. He clutched her to his breast in an almost savage embrace, while
-he showered kisses on her lips. Passively she submitted to his caresses,
-though she loathed them and him from the bottom of her soul. By a strong
-effort of will, she managed to control herself so as not to show the
-repulsion with which he filled her.
-
-"And I have promised to marry this man!" she thought. "How shall I ever
-be able to live with him!"
-
-As she gently disengaged herself from him, he saw that she was deathly
-white.
-
-"Oh, Kitty!" he exclaimed. "If you would only love me!"
-
-"Love was not in our compact," she said, with a tremor.
-
-"You shall love me," he responded. "When we are married, you must love
-me."
-
-But the girl said nothing.
-
-Then he asked if she would not accompany him to the races. "You are sure
-to bring me luck," he cried.
-
-Reminding him that she was still in the deepest of mourning, she
-declined, wondering how the man should be so unfeeling.
-
-"For the moment I had forgotten," he returned, apologetically. "It was
-very thoughtless of me--pray forgive me; but wish me luck all the same,
-will you not, Kitty?"
-
-Kitty, however, was hurt, and would give him no answer. Bennet regarded
-her for an instant or two, a heavy frown gathering on his face.
-
-"You refuse to wish me luck!" he cried. "I do everything you ask me to
-do, and yet you won't wish me good luck! For your sake I have forgone
-my claim on the Eversleighs, and you haven't one good word for me!
-Kitty, I warn you not to cross me, not to make me angry. Thanks to you,
-the Eversleighs owe me no money--that is true, but remember that if I
-were to whisper in certain quarters what I know about the firm, its
-credit would not last very long."
-
-"What! You would do such a thing!"
-
-"It depends on you, Kitty, and on you alone. Be my friend--I know you
-cannot, perhaps, love me all at once, but be my friend; in our
-circumstances surely this is not much to ask from you."
-
-"What would you have me do?"
-
-"Wish me luck, Kitty--that's a very little thing!"
-
-"I have always heard, Mr. Bennet," the girl said, looking at him
-steadily, "that this racing is your ruin."
-
-"Oh, you preach, do you!" ejaculated Bennet, with a scowl, and, without
-another word, turned on his heel and left her, while Kitty bitterly
-asked herself if her sacrifice was to go for nothing.
-
-An hour or two later, Bennet was at Doncaster, in close confabulation
-with Bob Deans, the jockey who was to ride Go Nap.
-
-"You understand thoroughly?" inquired Bennet, as he was going back to
-his hotel.
-
-"Yes, guv'nor, I understand perfectly," replied the jockey. "You can
-depend on me."
-
-But Bob Deans made a face behind the other's back.
-
-"He's a daisy," he said to himself, "that's what he is!"
-
-The first day of the Doncaster September meeting passed by without
-special incident. Bennet had several bets on the different events, but
-at the end his book nearly balanced; it was a trifle against him.
-
-"It will be all right to-morrow," he said to an acquaintance, with whom
-he was discussing the fortunes of the day. "I expect that Go Nap will
-pull me through handsomely."
-
-"You believe he'll win?"
-
-"I feel absolutely confident of it," said Bennet, with emphasis.
-
-"You are not alone in that," remarked the other. "I noticed your horse
-is going up in the betting; it now stands at five to one against; a few
-days ago it was ten to one."
-
-Bennet smiled; indeed, his face showed every sign of pleasure.
-
-"You might do worse," said he, "than put a bit on him."
-
-"Yes, I think I shall," responded the other; "it looks pretty good."
-
-And to all whom he met Bennet spoke well of his horse, and took any
-small bets that were offered, but, contrary to his usual practice, he
-would not risk any large sum. And all the while, secretly, through
-agents he thought he could trust, he was laying heavily against Go Nap,
-until he stood to win £20,000 if the horse _lost_.
-
-Bright sunshine, a cool breeze, and a perfect track combined to make the
-second day of the races peculiarly enjoyable to the devotees of the
-turf. The race in which Bennet's horse was to run was the third on the
-list. The fine appearance of the animal that morning as he went for a
-short gallop had gained for him many supporters, and an immense amount
-of money was forthcoming on him, with the result that he farther
-improved his position in the betting. When the flag fell, the price was
-only three to two against him.
-
-To the huge delight of his backers, Go Nap won easily. Taking the lead
-from the start, he was never seriously challenged, and reached the post
-"with plenty to spare."
-
-Bennet, who was watching the race from one of the stands, had followed
-his horse from start to finish with anxious eyes. He had given Bob Deans
-certain instructions, and he believed they would be obeyed implicitly by
-the jockey. Bennet saw the horse leading at the beginning. That was
-nothing, he said to himself, as Deans knew what to do, and was the best
-judge of when to do it. But as Go Nap sailed along steadily in front,
-apparently without effort, Bennet commenced to see the race as through a
-mist. When his horse won, and his friends were offering him their
-congratulations, he could scarcely speak for rage. His passion
-completely blinded him to the impolicy of his behaviour, and everything
-that was worst in the man came to the surface. Hardly noticing what was
-said to him, he rushed from the stand.
-
-"He takes it queerly," said a bystander.
-
-"His head's a bit turned, though that's perhaps not to be wondered at,"
-said a second.
-
-As for Bennet, he literally saw red.
-
-"Deans has sold me!" was the savage cry in his heart.
-
-Thrusting those aside who happened to be in his path, he made his way to
-the jockey, who saw him coming. Bob Deans viewed with alarm the fury
-and despair in Bennet's face, and turned to run away, but with two or
-three quick bounds Bennet was upon him.
-
-Grasping the jockey by the shoulder, Bennet, who had utterly lost
-control of himself, and was wholly blind to consequences, shook him as a
-terrier shakes a rat. Bennet was a tall, athletic man, and the tiny
-figure of Bob Deans was as nothing to him.
-
-Instantly several of those standing about tried to interfere and
-separate the two men.
-
-But Bennet, who was now to all intents and purposes a madman, shook them
-off fiercely, without letting go his hold on Deans.
-
-"Leave me alone," the jockey spluttered, "or I'll give you away! Let me
-go!"
-
-"Let you go, you hound!" cried Bennet in a terrible voice, and, his face
-hideously distorted, he shouted, "By ----, I'll kill you!"
-
-The onlookers again strove to pull the two men apart, and succeeded
-sufficiently for Bob Deans to cry so that every one heard him--
-
-"He wished me to pull the horse; he offered me a big bribe, but I would
-do nothing crooked."
-
-Bennet heard the words as well as the others.
-
-Putting forth all his strength, and quite beside himself, he sprang
-forward with uplifted fist, and catching the unfortunate jockey a
-frightful blow under the chin, felled him to the ground.
-
-Many now ran up to the group. Bob Deans was a popular jockey, and the
-victory of Go Nap had been popular. Soon there was a great crowd.
-
-A short examination showed that Bob Deans was dead.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXVIII
-
-
-The little jockey had ridden his last race!
-
-The blow which had struck him down had been delivered by one who had
-been a first-class athlete, and who was still in splendid physical
-condition. There had been the stark madness, too, of blind rage behind
-Bennet's arm, and the blow had proved fatal.
-
-When the truth was known, there instantly was a great commotion. Bennet
-made no effort to get away; if he had attempted to fly he would not have
-succeeded, for he was ringed round by hostile and stern faces that
-plainly spoke of vengeance. In a moment more hands were laid upon him by
-those of the crowd nearest him, but he offered no resistance. Instead,
-he stood staring at the motionless body of his victim, and appeared not
-to realize what he had done, and the position in which his act had
-placed him.
-
-Suddenly from somewhere in the crowd a loud cry went up of "Murder!
-Murder!"
-
-The cry seemed to break the fit of stupor in which Bennet was, for his
-face was seen to quiver, while a shudder shook his frame.
-
-"What have I done? What have I done?" he said, as if he had just become
-conscious of the deed he had committed.
-
-"You have killed him," replied one of those standing by.
-
-"He is not dead?" asked Bennet, wildly.
-
-"Dead! yes; he is dead, and you killed him!" answered the same man.
-
-"I never meant to kill him," said Bennet, looking once more at the
-little figure that lay on the ground.
-
-"Why," said a voice, "I heard you say to him, 'I'll kill you!'--I heard
-you say those very words!"
-
-"I was in a passion," Bennet declared, "and did not know what I was
-doing. I never thought of killing him."
-
-"Then why did you say to him--I heard the words distinctly--'I'll kill
-you'?"
-
-But Bennet made no reply. He now comprehended fully the position in
-which he stood, and he thought silence his best policy. Those about him,
-however, were far from silent. He could not help hearing what was being
-said, and he understood that nothing but detestation and execration were
-being expressed. The crowd had no sympathy whatever for him. On the
-contrary, had the crowd not been composed of Englishmen, accustomed to
-abide by the law of the land, Bennet would have been given a short
-shrift. If what he had done had been perpetrated in America, he would
-undoubtedly have been immediately lynched out of hand. But the crowd
-waited for the police to come upon the scene.
-
-The crowd, however, talked excitedly, vehemently. The words which had
-passed between Bennet and the jockey were repeated from lip to lip. The
-statement of Bob Deans that Bennet had tried to bribe him to pull Go
-Nap, and that he had refused to do so, was soon known to all; in the
-minds of most was the thought that Bennet, in suggesting this course to
-the jockey, was guilty of a crime even greater perhaps than murder, and
-that no punishment was too heavy for it. Many of them would have
-maintained that hanging was too good for him; some of them even said so.
-
-Presently the police came up, and Bennet was arrested and charged with
-the murder of Bob Deans.
-
-The affair, as was to be expected, made a tremendous sensation, not only
-throughout the world of the turf, but everywhere.
-
-At Doncaster itself reports of what had taken place spread like wildfire
-through the place; nothing else was talked of, and but little interest
-was taken in the remaining races on the programme that afternoon.
-
-In the whole history of racing never had there been anything so
-extraordinary.
-
-The popular victory of Go Nap, the murder of the victorious jockey by
-the owner of the horse, the revelation which had been given by the
-unfortunate Deans of the reason why Bennet had killed him,--these and
-other particulars, which grew and grew as they passed from mouth to
-mouth, formed as sensational a set of incidents as could well be
-imagined. Brief but lurid accounts of what had occurred at Doncaster
-appeared in the London evening papers the same day, and caused the
-greatest excitement.
-
-Gilbert Eversleigh, walking about seven o'clock from the Temple to his
-club for dinner, his mind occupied and distressed by the difficult
-problem of how his father was to escape ruin, received his first
-intimation of the tragedy from the placard of one of these journals. In
-large, solid black letters he read--
-
-    "VICTORY OF GO NAP AT DONCASTER.
-    MURDER OF ITS JOCKEY, BOB DEANS,
-    BY ITS OWNER, HENRY BENNET."
-
-"What new calamity is this?" he asked himself, as his thoughts flew to
-Kitty. As soon as possible, he procured all the evening papers and read,
-with feverish haste, their narratives of the terrible event, from which
-the main facts stood out clearly enough.
-
-"What will happen next?" he cried in his heart, overcome with amazement
-and horror.
-
-Owing to its being the holiday season of the year, there were but few
-men at the Club when Gilbert reached it, but such as were there were
-conversing about the murder. Bennet was well known to several of them;
-it was recalled that he was a Varsity oar, but what was principally
-talked of was his monstrous passion for gambling, which it was guessed
-was responsible for his present terrible situation. Gilbert listened,
-but took only a small part in the conversation; it was an immense relief
-to him to find no reference was made by anybody to Bennet's engagement
-to Kitty. He hoped it might be possible to keep the girl's name out of
-the business altogether, but in this he was speedily disappointed.
-
-Next morning the papers were full of the affair. Descriptions of what
-had taken place at Doncaster were given the utmost prominence, and
-nothing was left untold that could be put together about Bennet in a
-short space of time. What was known of his career was published; and
-amongst other things mention was made of his recent engagement to Miss
-Kitty Thornton, daughter of the man whose body had been found a few
-weeks ago in such strange circumstances in the rooms of the late Mr.
-Cooper Silwood, and much sympathy was expressed for her. This was the
-first public announcement of Kitty's engagement to Bennet, and Gilbert,
-who noticed it with the greatest pain, wondered how this piece of news
-had been conveyed to the Press. He could not know that Joel Levy, the
-big money-lender, had talked about it among his friends, through whom it
-had got to the ears of the reporters.
-
-The same morning, that is the morning after the death of Bob Deans,
-Kitty saw a long account of it in the columns of the Yorkshire paper
-that was delivered every morning at Buckhurst House. Prior to reading
-this statement, Kitty had deemed herself as unhappy as it was possible
-for any one to be, but when she knew what had happened, she was plunged
-into deeper misery still. Bennet a murderer, and she engaged to him! It
-was the last unkindest stroke of fortune. And yet while she was sorry
-for herself, and much as she detested Bennet, she could not help feeling
-sorry for him. It did not at first occur to her that he had, by his rash
-act, if not crime, put an end, in all probability, to their engagement.
-When that thought did come, as it was bound to come, she drearily
-speculated what the wretched man in his despair would do; in other
-words, she feared that the bargain she had entered into with Bennet for
-the salvation of the Eversleighs was a bargain which in these new
-circumstances he would not keep.
-
-The papers had announced an inquest was to be held that day, and she
-awaited the verdict with sickening apprehension. And what might there
-not appear in these journals in addition to the account of the inquest?
-Of course, she told herself, it was quite improbable that Bennet would
-say anything about the Eversleigh matter at the inquest; but what might
-he not say, might he not already have said, to others--to the police,
-for instance? She was not long left in doubt as to the line Bennet
-intended to take.
-
-The inquest was held in a crowded court which was entirely hostile to
-Bennet. And that the jury took the darkest view of Bennet's action soon
-was manifest. A local solicitor, called Deakin, had been retained for
-him, and he did his best to get a verdict of manslaughter returned, but
-even if the evidence had been less convincing than it was, the general
-feeling would still have been too strong for him.
-
-There were plenty of witnesses who agreed, with only small verbal
-discrepancies which are always a feature of such cases, and confirm
-rather than detract from the value of the main volume of testimony, as
-to what had passed between Bennet and Bob Deans. The words used by the
-two men were quoted by several witnesses with substantial accuracy;
-particularly the threat of Bennet to the jockey, "I'll kill you!" was
-brought forward by them all, and practically settled in the minds of
-coroner and jury the degree of Bennet's guilt.
-
-Bennet, they concluded, had intended killing Bob Deans, and had killed
-him. The cause of the murder made Bennet's crime blacker and blacker
-still.
-
-His solicitor tried to show there had not been, there could not be, any
-premeditation on Bennet's part, and that the deed was done in the heat
-of passion without there being any real intention to kill the man. He
-urged that the death of the jockey was of the nature of an accident; his
-client had certainly struck the blow, but could not know it was likely
-to be fatal. The most and worst Bennet was guilty of, Deakin contended,
-was manslaughter.
-
-But the jury were of another mind. Without retiring to consider their
-verdict, they at once found Bennet guilty of the wilful murder of the
-jockey.
-
-It was a verdict which met with general approval. The coroner, in
-accepting it, said the case was one of the most painful nature, but as
-it would doubtless form matter for the consideration of a higher court,
-he would make no further comment upon it.
-
-Like hundreds of thousands of people who were following this dark story
-of the turf with the most absorbing interest, both Kitty and Gilbert saw
-the finding of the jury, and later that Bennet had been committed for
-trial at the next assizes on the capital charge. Kitty, wondering
-miserably what Bennet would do, thereafter received from him a letter,
-in which he asked her to visit him in prison without delay. By this time
-he had been removed from Doncaster to York, and thither Kitty went,
-accompanied by her relative, Mrs. Joicey, that very day, though it was
-not until the next that she saw him.
-
-Prison life had already told on Bennet, and she observed a marked change
-in his appearance, which filled her with pity; but the man was in a
-black, reckless, defiant humour, as she soon noticed; even the near
-presence of a warder did not deter him from expressing what was in his
-mind.
-
-"I'm very, very sorry for you, Harry," she said, and there was the sound
-of tears in her voice. It was the first time, too, since their
-engagement that she had called him "Harry."
-
-"Sorry!" he cried. "Do you think I believe that? Don't be a hypocrite.
-You are glad, you must be glad of my misfortune. You think it will set
-you free!"
-
-"Oh, Harry, do not think of me; think of yourself!"
-
-"Think of myself!" said Bennet, fiercely, implacably. "Can I not think
-of myself and of others too?"
-
-The girl involuntarily shrank from him.
-
-"Oh, Harry, Harry!" she said piteously.
-
-"I sent for you," Bennet went on without heeding her appeal, "to tell
-you that I will not release you. I do not believe that I shall be found
-guilty of murder--it was no murder, and I shall not release you from
-your engagement to me. But if I am found guilty, you may be sure I shall
-not go out of the world without letting it know the truth about Francis
-Eversleigh. There! That is all! And now you can go."
-
-"Harry, Harry!" cried Kitty; "how can I touch your heart?"
-
-"Touch my heart! The day has gone past for that. Now go--and go at once;
-the sight of you is torture. Go!"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIX
-
-
-Though Bennet had said to Kitty Thornton that the sight of her was
-torture to him, yet, when she had departed, her pleading face remained
-present for a short time in his thoughts and temporarily softened him.
-But this frame of mind quickly passed, leaving him a prey to hatred,
-malignity, and the darkest passions.
-
-His devilish humour now prompted him to an act of hideous malice. The
-idea came to him that if he had Gilbert Eversleigh as his counsel at the
-forthcoming trial, he would inflict on Gilbert, as well as on Kitty, the
-most exquisite pain. It was the idea of a fiend rather than of a human
-being, and showed, as perhaps nothing else could have done, how Bennet's
-whole nature had been warped to the side of evil. He gloated over this
-monstrous idea, telling himself that in this way, whatever happened, he
-would glut his desire for revenge. He knew that, in ordinary
-circumstances, Gilbert would never consent to appear for him if he could
-avoid doing so; but a threat to expose Francis Eversleigh would be
-enough, Bennet believed, to settle the matter. Whether Gilbert would or
-would not be a good counsel counted for little with him in comparison
-with the gratification he expected and promised himself, from seeing
-the man he had always hated placed in this position.
-
-It was much the same thing as if Bennet had said to Gilbert--
-
-"If you succeed in getting me off from the capital charge, I shall not
-release Kitty from her engagement, but will marry her after my term of
-imprisonment has expired. Though I shall be a convict, I shall compel
-her to marry me, for the same reason that made her engage herself to me.
-
-"Or, if you don't succeed, and I am sentenced to death, and there is no
-Kitty for me, then you shall not have her; for I will not quit this
-world without exposing your father and bringing disgrace on you, in
-which case you will not seek to marry her."
-
-No matter the result of the trial, Bennet assured himself, with
-diabolical satisfaction, that he would cause Gilbert's heart to suffer
-the most horrible agony.
-
-He at once took the necessary steps by instructing the local solicitor,
-Deakin, to have Gilbert Eversleigh retained for his defence. He gave a
-certain plausibility to this, when discussing it with the lawyer, by
-representing that Gilbert was well known to him, being the son of the
-head of the London firm of solicitors who transacted his legal business,
-as well as that of his father before him. When Deakin, in reply,
-suggested it might be better, in view of the seriousness of the charge,
-to employ a more eminent barrister, Bennet peremptorily declined to do
-so, saying his mind was made up.
-
-Deakin, therefore, put himself in communication with Gilbert, and he
-naturally did so in this particular case through Eversleigh, Silwood and
-Eversleigh, though they were not his own London agents.
-
-When Francis Eversleigh received his letter, he instantly perceived the
-malice and hatred that inspired Bennet's proposal; it was a fresh and
-bitter blow to himself, but he understood its ingenuity of cruelty was
-specially aimed at his son. As for himself, he was helpless; all he
-could do was to send for Gilbert, and lay the letter before him.
-
-Gilbert at first was dumbfounded. He could hardly believe that Bennet at
-such a time could make such a proposition seriously; but he, too, soon
-perceived what lay behind it.
-
-"It is infamous!" he cried; "or the man must be out of his head. To
-select me of all people!"
-
-Then he looked at his father, whose weakness and loss of power were more
-and more evident every day.
-
-"What am I to do?" he asked. "How can I defend this man?"
-
-"He holds me in the hollow of his hand," observed Francis Eversleigh,
-with a pathetic shake in his voice.
-
-"I know, I know," said Gilbert. "And I suppose I must appear for him.
-But the thing is an outrage----"
-
-Gilbert was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door of his father's
-room--it was no ordinary knocking, but a knocking that spoke of some
-strong emotion on the part of the person who knocked.
-
-Gilbert strode to the door and opened it. The clerk who had replaced
-Williamson was standing there, and on his face was a terrified
-expression.
-
-"I must speak to Mr. Eversleigh immediately," he said hurriedly.
-
-"What is it, Mr. Whittaker?" asked Eversleigh, with a quick agitation.
-
-"I should like, begging Mr. Gilbert's pardon, to see you in private,
-sir," returned Whittaker, confusedly. "Please come into Mr. Silwood's
-room; there is no need for Mr. Gilbert to go from here. It is something
-I must show you personally in Mr. Silwood's room."
-
-"But of what nature is it?"
-
-"That I can scarcely tell, but you may be able to do so."
-
-Francis Eversleigh said no more, but went with Whittaker into Silwood's
-room. In a few moments he came back alone, looking so shattered that as
-soon as his son saw him he rushed forward to assist him. When Gilbert
-offered him his arm, he took it at once, and Gilbert could feel how his
-father shook and trembled.
-
-"What has happened?" he asked, after helping his father into a chair.
-
-"Yes, in a minute," stammered the other; "I am horribly upset, and I can
-stand so little now! In a minute I'll tell you all."
-
-He lay back in his chair with his eyes closed--the mere wreck of the
-handsome man he once had been.
-
-"A very strange thing has taken place, Gilbert," he said after a
-while--"a very strange thing indeed!"
-
-Eversleigh stopped, and Gilbert patiently waited till his father spoke
-again, his heart full of compassion and sorrow. For the moment, he
-forgot Bennet, and could think of nothing save the pitiable state of his
-father.
-
-At length Francis Eversleigh recovered himself sufficiently to stand up.
-
-"Come with me," he said to Gilbert, "to Mr. Silwood's room--that will be
-the simplest way of making you acquainted with what has happened."
-
-And Gilbert, with mingled feelings of curiosity and alarm, followed his
-father to the next floor. Halfway down the stairs, Eversleigh halted.
-
-"Whittaker thinks it's a burglary," he whispered mysteriously in
-Gilbert's ear.
-
-"A burglary! In the office!" said Gilbert, incredulously in a low voice.
-
-"Wait," cautioned Eversleigh. "Wait until you see."
-
-And now they were in Silwood's room, which was still known as Silwood's,
-though it knew Silwood no more. It was changed, however, but little
-since he had sat in it and worked his wicked will.
-
-"Close the door, Gilbert," said Eversleigh.
-
-The son obeyed, and then glanced about him. He could see no sign of
-disturbance, nothing that indicated specially the burglary of which his
-father had given a suggestion on the stairs. There were in the room, as
-of yore, the same table, chair, book-cases, deed-boxes; all were
-arranged in the way that was familiar enough to him. The large japanned
-box stood by itself in the usual corner. There appeared to be absolutely
-no hint of anything out of the ordinary. This rapid scrutiny over,
-Gilbert looked at his father inquiringly.
-
-"You don't notice anything particularly?" asked Eversleigh.
-
-"No; that is, at a superficial glance."
-
-"I wish you to examine the bottom of that box," said Eversleigh,
-pointing to the large japanned box in the corner. "You and Mr. Archer
-Martin have recently had constant access to it for the purpose of going
-over Mr. Silwood's books and papers; you therefore know it well. Now you
-will see something I am sure you know nothing of. I did not know of it
-myself--not until Whittaker showed me it."
-
-While Eversleigh was speaking, his son was looking at the foot of the
-box, from which he saw there protruded a narrow strip of metal.
-
-"What do you make of _that_?" asked the father, huskily.
-
-"I should say it was a sort of secret chamber--you can't exactly call it
-a drawer," Gilbert replied, after a study of the box. "I knew nothing of
-it; you are right there. How has it been discovered? What was found in
-it?" he inquired eagerly, while other questions came thronging into his
-mind. "When was this discovery made?" he went on.
-
-"It was made this morning," replied Eversleigh. "Whittaker tells me he
-had occasion to come into the room a few minutes ago to get a paper
-which he thought he'd find here. He could not lay his hand on it
-quickly, and had to hunt for it. Quite by accident, as he was searching,
-he happened to observe a strip of metal at the foot of the box sticking
-out. Naturally, he went and examined the box, and then saw the secret
-chamber, which he declares was empty, and I don't doubt it. Now he is
-positive that when he saw the box yesterday this secret chamber was
-closed."
-
-"Positive! In what way?"
-
-"It seems that he and one of the other clerks required to move the box
-yesterday. And he maintains that one or other of them, or both, must
-have seen the secret chamber if it had been open then. He concludes, of
-course, that it has been opened since he saw it last. His theory is that
-it was opened last night by a burglar. I don't know whether he really
-believes that; it appears preposterous and beyond possibility that any
-ordinary burglar would be acquainted with this secret chamber."
-
-Gilbert nodded his agreement. He had listened carefully to his father,
-but at the same time had been trying to understand how the mechanism was
-worked by which the chamber was opened and closed. It baffled him,
-however, and he desisted from the attempt.
-
-"What do you make of it?" asked the father.
-
-"Do you believe Whittaker right in thinking the chamber was opened last
-night?" inquired Gilbert.
-
-"I do."
-
-"But that he was wrong in putting it down to a burglar?"
-
-"Yes. Do burglars break into lawyer's rooms? I don't mean to say that
-such a thing is impossible, for valuable documents have been stolen--you
-can imagine that."
-
-"Of course. But if the secret chamber was not opened by a burglar, then
-by whom was it opened?"
-
-"That is the question," said Eversleigh, gazing earnestly at his son.
-
-"Whoever opened the secret chamber knew of its existence," Gilbert went
-on, thinking the matter out aloud.
-
-"Undoubtedly. He knew of its existence, and he also had the means of
-opening it."
-
-Gilbert suddenly started, for an extraordinary notion had come into his
-mind. His father saw the start, and thought he knew its meaning. The two
-men looked at each other strangely.
-
-"Only two men in the world, I feel certain, knew of that chamber,"
-Eversleigh resumed. "One was the mechanic who devised and made it, the
-other was----"
-
-"Cooper Silwood!" exclaimed Gilbert.
-
-"Yes, Cooper Silwood."
-
-"But Silwood is dead, so you would say that it was the other? That seems
-absurd."
-
-"It is absurd. What would the mechanic who made the box care about
-taking anything out of the secret chamber? Once his job of making the
-thing was finished, he would be finished with it altogether. No, it was
-not the mechanic."
-
-Gilbert was silent.
-
-"Don't you see?" asked Eversleigh.
-
-"Silwood!"
-
-"Precisely."
-
-"But that is impossible. Dead men do not open secret chambers," said
-Gilbert, but there was something curious and suggestive in the manner of
-his saying it.
-
-"No. Dead men do not open secret chambers, but living ones do. Silwood
-is not dead! He is alive!"
-
-Eversleigh's voice rose into a shout and then cracked.
-
-"It seems inconceivable."
-
-"Yet there is no other conclusion. The maker of the box being out of the
-question, it follows that it must have been Silwood. I believe he was
-here last night and removed from the secret chamber something of
-particular value to him."
-
-"Silwood might have told some one of it," objected Gilbert.
-
-"Is it likely? You know he was the least communicative of men."
-
-"What about Williamson?"
-
-"I feel confident he knew nothing of it either. Don't you see this
-secret chamber was a receptacle in which Silwood hid papers or other
-things he had an object in concealing? You may be certain he told no one
-of it. If he had told any one, would he not have told me? No, Gilbert;
-from the moment I knew of Whittaker's discovery I suspected the truth."
-
-"But the certificate of his death?"
-
-"It was a false certificate."
-
-"Strange I had not thought of that before, once I knew the kind of man
-he was!"
-
-"Silwood is alive," Eversleigh once more, but with less vigour,
-declared, after a pause of some duration.
-
-All through the conversation up to this point he had carried himself,
-supported by excitement, with some degree of his former buoyancy, but
-now he seemed to sink rapidly into a state of apathy, while Gilbert
-regarded him anxiously.
-
-"I don't know what's to be done next," murmured Eversleigh, feebly.
-
-"Some one must go to Italy," said Gilbert, emphatically, "and find out
-the truth--that's what must be done!"
-
-"Then," said his father, "you must go!"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXX
-
-
-"I?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"Yes," Francis Eversleigh replied, with some decision. "I can do
-nothing. In fact, I am physically and mentally unfit to do anything of
-importance at present. The discovery of the secret chamber, indicating
-as it must that Silwood is alive, supplied me with a sort of stimulus,
-but that is passing off, and I feel as weak and helpless as a child. I
-feel," he went on, while he slowly put his hand to his forehead, "as if
-I were going mad. It is an awful feeling!"
-
-"Father!"
-
-"Oh," cried Eversleigh, "this business will be the death of me! I know
-it!"
-
-These words, Gilbert told himself, were caused by the reaction to which
-his father had alluded, and were not to be taken literally, but he gazed
-solicitously at the other.
-
-"No wonder you are depressed, father," he said, in a sympathetic tone.
-"Well, I'll go to Italy," he added in another voice.
-
-"That's right! Don't mind me! You must go at once, my boy."
-
-"Yes, but what about Bennet? We have rather lost sight of him, have we
-not?"
-
-"I think we need not consider Bennet at the moment. I shall answer his
-lawyer and say you are willing to be retained for Bennet's defence."
-
-"You deem that best?"
-
-"What choice have I, Gilbert?"
-
-Gilbert shrugged his shoulders.
-
-"There is no alternative," continued Eversleigh. "But some time must
-pass before the trial; indeed, you will have a good many weeks to come
-and go upon. Surely that will give you plenty of room for making your
-inquiries. Still, there is no saying--the task may be very difficult."
-
-Eversleigh paused, lost in thought.
-
-"You would not bring the police into the thing?" Gilbert asked
-suggestively.
-
-"Not at first. Later, perhaps, but I don't know; it must depend on
-circumstances one can neither foresee nor control. I shall certainly say
-not a word at this juncture to the police."
-
-"What about the Foreign Office people?"
-
-"Yes, that is a good idea. I think your best plan is to go and see, if
-you can, Sir John Manners, the Under-Secretary, whom I know very well.
-I'll give you a note to him, and request him to make your path as smooth
-as possible. If you see him personally, I should be inclined to tell him
-in confidence what we now believe about Silwood--that is, if he is at
-all encouraging in his manner. You must judge for yourself."
-
-"I understand," said Gilbert.
-
-"I should ask him for an introduction to the British Ambassador at Rome.
-It might prove very useful. Arm yourself with the best credentials you
-can get; but of course you must be guided largely by what Sir John
-says."
-
-"Yes," assented Gilbert. "But suppose he is not at the Foreign Office?
-At this time of the year so many officials are away on holiday."
-
-"You can see, at any rate, the man next to him; still, it would be far
-better to see Sir John."
-
-"I had better set off for Downing Street immediately," said Gilbert, but
-he did not at once move. Instead, he looked very thoughtful; at length
-he spoke, "You have no doubt about Silwood being alive, sir?"
-
-"None whatever."
-
-"You believe he was here last night--here, in London, in this office?"
-
-"Certainly."
-
-"Then should we not look for him in London?"
-
-"A natural question; but does not that mean bringing in the police?"
-
-"There are private detectives to be got. I have one at this moment on
-the track of Russell, who bought so much from Silwood."
-
-"I do not object to having a private detective employed, but I have a
-strong impression--it amounts really to a certainty--that the clue is to
-be picked up in Camajore, where Silwood was reported to have died. On
-the face of the certificate, which we now believe to be a false one,
-there is written, plain as if it had been in ink, collusion between
-Silwood and the Syndic. They were, you may be sure, in league, and they
-may be so still. Be that as it may, you can make investigations, which I
-am positive will have valuable results."
-
-Eversleigh leaned back wearily, fatigued with so much speaking.
-
-"Will you try and find Sir John at the Foreign Office, then return and
-let me know? Meanwhile I'll rest a little," said Eversleigh.
-
-In a couple of hours Gilbert was back again in Lincoln's Inn. He had
-been lucky enough in his errand. He had seen the Under-Secretary, who
-had given him the introduction he had wanted to the Ambassador at the
-Quirinal.
-
-"I did not think it necessary to tell Sir John," said Gilbert, relating
-what had taken place at the Foreign Office, "anything regarding what we
-now know about Silwood. On the way to Downing Street I went over the
-circumstances carefully, and I came to the conclusion that it might
-serve our purpose well enough merely to say to him that, as Silwood had
-died in Italy, you desired me to make inquiries, to see the body had
-been buried decently, to have a tombstone put up, and so on. And that it
-would, or might be, of great service if he would give me a note to the
-Ambassador, to be presented, however, only if an occasion arose for
-doing so."
-
-"And Sir John was satisfied?"
-
-"Perfectly. He was very nice about it, and said he was delighted to be
-of use to you."
-
-Eversleigh smiled wanly. Then he spread out on his table some papers,
-which Gilbert saw were the certificate of Silwood's death, the letter of
-Ugo Ucelli, the Syndic of Camajore, that had accompanied it, and the
-envelope in which both had been enclosed.
-
-"It occurred to me," observed Eversleigh, "that it would be well for you
-to take these with you."
-
-He handed them to his son.
-
-"Do you recall the contents of the Syndic's letter?" he went on.
-"Perhaps you had better have the translation."
-
-"I remember what he said in a general sort of way, but the translation
-might be a help," replied Gilbert.
-
-"Well, here it is," said Eversleigh, drawing a folded sheet from a
-packet.
-
-Gilbert read the translation rapidly, and asked--
-
-"Did you ever answer the letter?"
-
-"Not beyond sending a formal acknowledgment."
-
-"The letter speaks of Silwood having left certain effects, which the
-Syndic says are in his possession; he asks you what is to be done with
-them."
-
-"I know, I know," remarked Eversleigh. "Of course, if the circumstances
-had been normal, I should have attended to the Syndic's letter fully.
-But I was in no state to do so. The letter, you must remember, came on
-the day of the discovery of Morris Thornton's body--was, indeed, the
-immediate cause of the discovery. Before that--ever since Silwood's
-confession--I was too upset to give my mind to business properly, and
-since that I have been able to attend to nothing as it ought to be
-attended to."
-
-And Eversleigh sighed painfully.
-
-"I would not brood on that, sir," observed Gilbert.
-
-"I cannot help it; but never mind me just now. I suppose you will leave
-to-night for Genoa; you ought to be there in thirty-six hours or so.
-Therefore you should see the Syndic, if he is at the place still, in two
-days from now. His letter to me gives you an opening. You can tell him I
-asked you to find out what effects Silwood left."
-
-"That will do very well indeed," said Gilbert.
-
-A few minutes later he bade his father good-bye, and left that evening
-for the Continent. In forty-eight hours he was in Camajore, and lost no
-time in hunting up Ugo Ucelli, its Syndic, or Chief Magistrate.
-
-Ucelli, a medium-sized man of characteristically Italian appearance,
-received him with extreme politeness. When the Syndic understood Gilbert
-did not know Italian, he conversed with him in French, a language both
-were proficient in.
-
-Gilbert made known who he was, and the errand on which, ostensibly, he
-had come.
-
-"Ah! that poor Monsieur Silwood," said Ucelli. "His was an extremely sad
-case. But what would you? It was the will of God."
-
-Gilbert kept his eyes fixed on the man, and studied his face closely, as
-if he could in that way penetrate its inmost secrets.
-
-"The cholera was everywhere," continued Ucelli, "and many died besides
-M. Silwood. It has been a great calamity. Alas! but it is the will of
-God! the will of God!"
-
-The repetition of the phrase irritated Gilbert.
-
-"A pestilence is always terrible," he said, but somewhat bluntly. "You
-did all you could, I am sure, for Mr. Silwood."
-
-"The best doctors, nurses, care--everything. But, alas! it was the will
-of God."
-
-"What a consummate hypocrite the man must be!" thought Gilbert. Aloud he
-said, "Was the body buried near here?"
-
-"In the churchyard. Come, let me show you his tomb."
-
-As they went together down the single street of which Camajore consists,
-towards the church, Gilbert said his father had specially charged him to
-discuss with Ucelli what was to be done with the effects Silwood had
-left behind him, and which were now in the Syndic's possession.
-
-"Yes; when we return to my house I will show you them. There is not
-much--some letters, a pocket-book containing a few pounds in notes, and
-some gold and silver, the money amounting in all to about twenty pounds
-English. There is also a watch, and I believe that is all. As Syndic I
-have kept them, but, of course, am very willing to hand them over to the
-proper authority. Indeed, I shall be very glad to do so."
-
-By this time the two men had reached the grave-yard. On entering it,
-Ucelli pointed to the numerous mounds on which the earth was
-comparatively fresh.
-
-"The cholera," he said; "it was the cholera! Alas! it was the will of
-God!"
-
-Gilbert nodded, his face set and stern.
-
-"See," said the Syndic, when they had advanced a few steps, pointing to
-a mound, "that is where the body of M. Silwood lies."
-
-In appearance this mound differed in no respect from the rest.
-
-"Do you think of erecting a monument to M. Silwood?" asked Ucelli. "If
-so, I can have it made for you here."
-
-"No," replied Gilbert, shortly. "What I intend to do is to remove the
-body to England."
-
-"The body removed to England!" said the Syndic, who had given a great
-start on hearing Gilbert's statement.
-
-"Yes; that seems best," remarked Gilbert, watching Ucelli keenly, and
-noticing his surprise.
-
-"But think! he died of cholera! The law will forbid--it does
-forbid--the body of one who has died of cholera from being removed. It
-is therefore impossible, I regret to tell you, for you to carry out your
-intention. I am very sorry, for your idea is a natural one; but the law,
-monsieur, the law will not permit it."
-
-"There's a good deal of cleverness about this plot," thought Gilbert.
-But he said to Ucelli, "I am very sorry to hear this. Is there no way of
-getting over the difficulty?"
-
-"No way, monsieur, none whatever. It is impossible. It is the law. And
-it is also common sense," he added, smoothly and courteously. "On
-reflection you must admit it."
-
-"Suppose the law did not forbid it," asked Gilbert, "what should I have
-to do in order to be allowed to remove the body?"
-
-"The authorities must give permission."
-
-"What authorities?"
-
-"At Rome. I can do nothing in such a matter; it is too high for me."
-
-"Then to Rome I must go," said Gilbert to himself. But he talked no more
-on this subject with the Syndic, who accordingly thought Gilbert was
-satisfied, and had abandoned any idea he might have had of removing the
-body to England.
-
-Then they went to the office of the Syndic, and there Gilbert was shown
-the effects to which allusion had already been made. In addition to the
-articles and sums of money mentioned by Ucelli, there were two leather
-valises and some clothing. The Syndic explained that it had been
-necessary to burn most of the clothes that had belonged to Silwood.
-
-"If you would like to examine or look into anything," said Ucelli, "you
-are at liberty to do so. It is, perhaps, slightly irregular, as you are
-not a relative of the deceased, but I make no objection."
-
-"Everything has been carefully planned," thought Gilbert, as he mentally
-took note of the various objects. "They have succeeded in making the
-thing look perfectly natural and what would be expected in the
-circumstances. The watch, the clothes, the money, the letters, the
-travelling-bags, are just what one would expect to find as the dead
-man's effects, if he had been a dead man."
-
-"To give you these, I shall require to have an order from the
-Government," said Ucelli.
-
-"The Government at Rome?"
-
-"Yes."
-
-"I suppose, then," said Gilbert, "I had better go on to Rome?"
-
-"That is your best course," agreed Ucelli, without suspicion, and he
-bade Gilbert _bon-voyage_.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXI
-
-
-While Ucelli, Syndic of Camajore, was congratulating himself he had
-played his part so well that he had as little to fear from Gilbert
-Eversleigh as from the detective Brydges, or the journalist Westgate,
-who had come to make inquiries respecting the death of Cooper Silwood,
-Gilbert, on the other hand, was congratulating himself that, owing to
-the final turn of their conversation, his going on to Rome seemed to the
-Syndic the right and proper thing to be done.
-
-If Ucelli had suspected Gilbert had a twofold object in view, he would
-have taken all the means in his power to prevent him from attaining it;
-but he thought Gilbert had dropped any idea he might have entertained of
-opening Silwood's grave, and now had no other end than to obtain the
-necessary authorization by which Silwood's effects would be handed to
-him. The Syndic's mind, therefore, was at ease.
-
-On his way to the Italian capital, Gilbert considered the situation. He
-did not doubt that the law with regard to the removal of a
-cholera-infected body was what Ucelli stated, and he foresaw it might be
-difficult, perhaps impossible, for him to accomplish his purpose. He
-hoped, however, that he might put such stress on his belief that in
-Silwood's grave was no body at all, as would lead the British Ambassador
-to make strong representations that in this case there could be no
-danger in opening the grave.
-
-On his arrival in Rome, Gilbert called at the Embassy immediately, only
-to be told that Lord Prestonkirk, the Ambassador, was not in the city,
-but was staying at a house he had in the mountains many miles away.
-Thither, accordingly, Gilbert went, the journey involving the loss of a
-day, at which he fretted not a little.
-
-The kindness of his reception by Lord Prestonkirk speedily caused him to
-forget his vexation.
-
-Lord Prestonkirk was one of the ablest and most experienced diplomatists
-in the English service. He had spent a great many years at the Foreign
-Office in London, becoming eventually the Permanent Under-Secretary, a
-position he had occupied with great distinction until the Prime
-Minister, who was also Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, had
-offered him the Embassy at Rome.
-
-Gilbert presented his letter of introduction from Sir John Manners, the
-Ambassador's successor as Permanent Under-Secretary, to Lord
-Prestonkirk, who at once said he would be very glad to do anything in
-his power to assist him.
-
-"I have come to your Excellency," said Gilbert, after thanking the
-Ambassador for his courteous reception, "to consult you confidentially
-on a very serious matter. I must unfold to you a strange story, and ask
-for your assistance, or, at least, advice. It is connected with the
-death of Mr. Silwood, my father's partner."
-
-"I remember hearing of Mr. Silwood's death," said Lord Prestonkirk, "in
-the north of Italy some weeks ago. Cholera, was it not?"
-
-"So it was said," replied Gilbert. "My father received the intelligence
-in a letter from the Syndic of Camajore, the place of Mr. Silwood's
-death; a certificate of the death accompanied the letter. Here they
-are," Gilbert continued, taking them from his pocket, and placing them
-before the Ambassador. "Please read them."
-
-"The certificate is in the usual form," said Lord Prestonkirk, "and the
-Syndic's letter shows that everything was done for the unfortunate man
-that could be done. That is satisfactory."
-
-"I have just come from Camajore," remarked Gilbert, "where I saw the
-Syndic. You will notice that in his letter he speaks of Mr. Silwood
-having left certain effects; they will be handed over to me on my
-obtaining the proper authority."
-
-"And you wish my help in the matter?"
-
-"Yes, your Excellency; but this is only the beginning. I told you I had
-a strange story to unfold," said Gilbert. "To put the matter as briefly
-as possible, I--or rather, I should say, my father and I--have reason to
-believe that the certificate of Mr. Silwood's death is a false
-certificate, that the letter of the Syndic is nothing but a clever piece
-of fiction, and that Silwood is alive."
-
-"What!" exclaimed the Ambassador. "Are you quite serious in making these
-statements?"
-
-He looked at Gilbert incredulously.
-
-"I certainly should not make them," answered Gilbert, gravely, "unless
-there was good ground for them. And as I do not believe that Silwood is
-dead, it follows that I do not believe his body lies buried at Camajore.
-It is regarding this that I beseech your Excellency's assistance."
-
-The Ambassador was silent, but his face wore a perplexed expression.
-
-"What you have said suggests, Mr. Eversleigh," remarked Lord
-Prestonkirk, after a lengthy pause, "something criminal, that is, if you
-are right in your belief. I am afraid that I am not the proper person
-exactly to come to. But tell me succinctly what you thought you would
-ask me to do in the case."
-
-"I wished you to help me with the Italian Government by getting, or by
-putting me in the way of getting, authority to have the alleged grave of
-Silwood opened up."
-
-"I see. But supposing I did try to do this for you, it must be obvious
-to you that I should have to bring forward some very convincing
-argument. Graves are not opened except for special reasons."
-
-"I know," responded Gilbert. "I was prepared for what you urge, and I
-must tell you all. But in doing so, I am placing the honour of my father
-in your hands."
-
-The Ambassador bowed.
-
-"Mr. Eversleigh," he said, somewhat stiffly, "you must please yourself
-as to what you tell me."
-
-"I beg your Excellency's pardon," cried Gilbert; "but it is not too much
-to say that it is a matter of life and death to my father and myself.
-Pardon me, I beg of you."
-
-"Well, I'm ready to listen," said Lord Prestonkirk, more graciously.
-"Indeed, I am a good deal interested. You have said enough to show me
-that there is some strange story, as you stated, and if I can be of any
-service to you, you may count upon me."
-
-Then Gilbert told him all.
-
-The Ambassador listened with great attention, asking a question now and
-again as Gilbert proceeded with his tale. When it was finished, Lord
-Prestonkirk remarked that he had never heard a stranger story.
-
-"You believe," he asked, "that the testimony of the secret chamber is
-absolutely convincing of Silwood's being alive?"
-
-"Yes."
-
-"Was there no one else who could have opened it?"
-
-"No one but the maker, and he is out of the question. Who, beside
-Silwood, would have any object in opening it?"
-
-"The conclusion is just," acknowledged the Ambassador; "and I believe,
-with you and your father, that the man is alive; everything undoubtedly
-points that way. But as I hinted, I think, to you already, it is really
-a case for the police."
-
-"Later it will in all probability be," said Gilbert; speaking with great
-earnestness. "But at present my strong desire and hope is that I may be
-able to trace Silwood, lay hands on him, and get from him, in some way
-or other, an explanation of certain transactions which he negotiated in
-the course of his defalcations. If I were to have him arrested when
-found, it would most likely be impossible to get him to say anything."
-
-"I understand," said the Ambassador, but he looked at Gilbert dubiously.
-
-"I believe he had a confederate," Gilbert went on, as he saw Lord
-Prestonkirk did not altogether follow him. "Let me explain a little more
-fully. The accountant who went over his books and papers found that
-large transactions had taken place between Silwood and a certain James
-Russell. Inquiries were made about this Russell, and it turned out he
-was quite a poor man, or, at all events, a man living in a very poor way
-in Stepney--not in the least the sort of man to engage in large
-financial operations. I fancy he was a man of straw over whom, perhaps,
-Silwood may have had some hold, and that Silwood made use of him when a
-man of straw was needed. We found that this man had recently left
-Stepney, and I have employed a private detective to hunt him down."
-
-"What did you say his name was?"
-
-"James Russell."
-
-"Ah!" exclaimed Lord Prestonkirk.
-
-"Is it possible your Excellency knows anything of him?"
-
-"Perhaps. Do you happen to know what he was like in appearance?"
-
-"We could get no accurate description of the man. His neighbours said he
-was seldom at home; they thought he was a workman."
-
-"Well, it may only be a case of coincidence," said the Ambassador; "but
-the man's connection with Silwood suggests it may be something more than
-a coincidence. It happened one day last month, August, that there was a
-person giving the name of James Russell, and described as a workman, a
-British subject, stabbed in the streets of Genoa. He was wounded in the
-side, but not severely. Though he refused to prosecute the person who
-knifed him, and the thing was hushed up, the affair was reported to me,
-as it might have led to trouble. There was no prosecution, however, and
-I took very little interest in it, but the man's name comes back to me."
-
-"It is more than a trifle curious," said Gilbert, musingly, "and I
-shall not forget what you have told me."
-
-This he said aloud, but inwardly he was asking himself if it might not
-be that, after all, Silwood had communicated to James Russell the method
-of opening the secret chamber. If that were the case, then the proof on
-which they built the idea of Silwood's being alive was not so convincing
-as they had thought. He kept this, however, to himself.
-
-"I should say it was the same man," remarked the Ambassador. "As I tell
-you, I attached no importance to the matter at the time, since it led to
-no trouble. Now, it seems very odd that this workman, James Russell, did
-not try to get compensation for his injury--that looks strange in an
-ordinary workman. Then there is the fact that Silwood was in the same
-neighbourhood."
-
-Lord Prestonkirk gazed at Gilbert.
-
-"Your story grows upon me, Mr. Eversleigh," continued the Ambassador. "I
-am immensely interested, and I'll see what I can do. But once more I
-must tell you that it is a case for the police."
-
-"I admit that it would be so under ordinary circumstances. But, your
-Excellency, I must think of my father. I must try to save him. I do not
-see how I am to do it, I confess; but while there is the slightest
-chance of getting fuller information than we now possess of what Silwood
-did, I cannot abandon all hope. You see my position?"
-
-"And sympathize with it; but still--still, it is all very irregular."
-
-"But you will help me?"
-
-"There will be difficulties. You see, I cannot tell the Italian
-authorities what you have told me. I cannot use the same arguments with
-them that you have used with me. Still, I am going to try what I can do.
-There is a detective in all of us, and you have excited the detective in
-me, and if I can get that grave opened for you, it shall be opened."
-
-Gilbert thanked the Ambassador warmly.
-
-"I shall be in Rome the day after to-morrow," said Lord Prestonkirk, as
-he shook hands with Gilbert. "Come and see me in the afternoon."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXII
-
-
-Gilbert returned to Rome, well content with his success so far. He felt
-that Lord Prestonkirk was genuinely interested, and therefore would do
-all he possibly could to help him. But, at the same time, what he had
-heard concerning James Russell filled his mind with disquiet and
-uncertainty.
-
-The presence of James Russell in Northern Italy at or about the date of
-Silwood's reported death was in itself startling. True, there were many
-James Russells in the world, and this particular James Russell who had
-been wounded in the streets of Genoa, might not be the James Russell
-whom he regarded as Silwood's confederate or accomplice; but Gilbert had
-little or no doubt that he was the man he wanted so much to find.
-
-And if this were the case, what then? What was this man doing in
-Northern Italy, a few miles from Camajore? The answer evidently was that
-he had been in touch with Silwood.
-
-Again Gilbert was forced to ask himself, Might not Silwood, after all,
-be dead and buried at Camajore, as the Syndic had said? If that were so,
-then Silwood must have communicated a knowledge of the secret chamber to
-Russell before his death, and the secret chamber must have been opened
-by Russell. On a review of all the circumstances, Gilbert was compelled
-to acknowledge that this might be the explanation. If it were, it was
-obvious that he must try harder than ever to lay James Russell by the
-heels. But he was still determined to have the grave opened. For if
-Silwood's body were in it, then there was no more to be said on that
-head, and Cooper Silwood would disappear finally from the story, leaving
-the mystery of Lincoln's Inn for ever unsolved.
-
-Gilbert wrote to his father, Francis Eversleigh, an account of what he
-had done and of what he had heard with regard to James Russell. He also
-communicated with the private detective he was employing to track
-Russell down.
-
-At the time fixed, Gilbert went to see the Ambassador, but it was only
-to meet with disappointment.
-
-"I must ask you," said Lord Prestonkirk, "to exercise a little patience,
-as it may be a day or two before the matter can be settled one way or
-the other. I saw the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and told him what you
-wished. Of course I did not tell him what you told me, but I said I
-believed there were good reasons for my supporting your application for
-having the grave opened. I dare say he thinks that it has something to
-do with politics. Be that as it may, we are on excellent terms, and he
-promised to see about it, but said it was outside his department, and he
-must speak to the Minister of Justice, as such affairs were under his
-control."
-
-"I am greatly obliged to you," said Gilbert, earnestly. "Can you give me
-any idea when you will hear from the Minister again?"
-
-"Very soon, I think. I urged that the matter was most important, and
-said that I should deem it a personal favour if there was as little
-delay as possible."
-
-"You are most kind," said Gilbert, "and I don't know how I am to thank
-you sufficiently."
-
-"Pray do not try, Mr. Eversleigh. You see," continued the Ambassador
-with a smile, "you have aroused my curiosity, and I must say I am quite
-keen to know the truth. Come again to-morrow, and perhaps I may have
-something definite to tell you."
-
-Gilbert called at the Embassy the following day, scarcely expecting to
-hear the "something definite" of which Lord Prestonkirk had spoken, but
-to his joy he did.
-
-"I have to tell you," said the Ambassador, cordially, "of a most
-unexpected piece of good fortune."
-
-"You have succeeded!" cried Gilbert, excitedly.
-
-"Yes; but let me tell you how it came about. It appears that Ucelli, the
-Syndic of Camajore, has been for a long time in the black books of his
-superior, the Minister of Justice. This is the piece of good fortune so
-far as you are concerned. As soon as he heard that Ucelli was suspected
-of having issued a false death certificate, he instantly said that such
-a charge must be immediately investigated. So far as I can make out, the
-Minister was delighted with the opportunity of making things
-particularly unpleasant for Ucelli, on whom he has had an eye for
-months. I imagine he is anxious to find a sufficient reason for removing
-him from his position. You will get the benefit of the Minister's being
-in this frame of mind. It is a lucky thing for you, and I hope it is a
-good omen of your success."
-
-"Thank you again and again," said Gilbert. "I am infinitely indebted to
-your Excellency. What can I do to show how thankful I am?"
-
-"There is one way," replied the Ambassador, kindly. "I wish you to keep
-me informed of what takes place--I want to know the sequel to this
-strange story into which you have brought me."
-
-"Oh, I shall be very glad to let you know what happens; I should have
-done that in any case. Now, your Excellency, what is the next move?"
-
-"The Minister of Justice is determined that the matter shall be probed
-to the bottom," rejoined Lord Prestonkirk. "He is therefore sending to
-Camajore no less a person than his Deputy-Minister. I was rather
-surprised to hear it, for the Deputy-Minister is quite a great man, but
-it indicates the importance the Minister attaches to the investigation,
-and you may be sure it will be thorough."
-
-"I am very glad to hear it," said Gilbert, but he had hardly uttered
-these words when a sort of dread came over him that Silwood's body might
-be found in the grave. He steadily refused, however, to let his mind
-dwell on this idea.
-
-"All that remains for me to do now, Mr. Eversleigh," said the
-Ambassador, "is to give you a line to the Minister of Justice by way of
-introduction; you had better go and call on him at once."
-
-"Yes, I will do so."
-
-Lord Prestonkirk wrote a short note, and handing it to Gilbert, wished
-him good-bye and good luck.
-
-"Don't forget to let me know--eh--the sequel," smiled the Ambassador, as
-he shook hands with Gilbert.
-
-Arrived, within a few minutes of his leaving the Embassy, at the
-Ministry of Justice, Gilbert was almost immediately ushered into the
-presence of Signor Fava, the Minister. Finding that Gilbert did not know
-Italian, Signor Fava conversed with him in English.
-
-"You believe Ucelli to be in a plot," said the Minister, after some
-discussion, "to screen this Mr. Silwood? Yes; but there is one question
-I must ask: Why has he tried to screen Mr. Silwood? What was, or is, the
-consideration?"
-
-"I do not know what was, or is, the connection between the two," replied
-Gilbert.
-
-"Ucelli must have been offered some strong inducement."
-
-"That is probable, most probable."
-
-"It must be inquired into, it must!"
-
-The Minister touched an electric bell, and his Secretary entered the
-room.
-
-"Please request Signor Vinci to come to me," the Minister said in
-Italian to his subordinate, who forthwith withdrew.
-
-"Signor Vinci," the Minister explained to Gilbert, "is my Deputy. I
-merely desire to introduce you to him. I have already asked him to
-arrange with you when to go to Camajore. When do you intend to go?"
-
-"I should like to go at once--that is, if it is convenient to Signor
-Vinci."
-
-"How would to-morrow do?"
-
-"Capitally."
-
-A tall, swarthy man, with a determined-looking face, now came in.
-
-"Mr. Eversleigh," said the Minister, "this is the Deputy-Minister,
-Signor Vinci. He has already received his instructions, and if you can
-go to-morrow, so can he. And you will find that he can speak English as
-well as or better than I."
-
-"Oh no, Excellency," protested the Deputy. "But I am certainly quite
-ready to go with Mr. Eversleigh to-morrow, if that suits him."
-
-And so it was arranged.
-
-Before setting out next morning, Gilbert received a telegram from his
-brother Ernest, which made him very sad. It ran--
-
-"Father seriously ill, but immediate danger not apprehended. He is
-unable to attend office. I opened your last letter to him, but am
-completely fogged as to its meaning."
-
-"My father seriously ill," thought Gilbert. "How he has suffered! If the
-worst happens, it will have been Silwood who has killed him! And the
-office! How long can it go on in my father's absence without something
-being discovered and a catastrophe precipitated? What a terrible
-situation! What am I to do?" he asked himself, greatly agitated. But a
-little reflection convinced him that it was his duty to proceed to
-Camajore. Still, his brother's message chilled and depressed his
-spirits.
-
-It was towards the middle of the afternoon when Gilbert and Signor Vinci
-walked up the single street of Camajore to the residence of Ucelli.
-
-The Syndic saw the Deputy-Minister with surprise, but was far from
-guessing the real cause of his appearance.
-
-"It is about the effects of that poor Signor Silwood you have come," he
-said to Signor Vinci in Italian, "along with Signor Eversleigh, is it
-not?"
-
-"The effects," said Vinci, diplomatically; "yes. Let me see them."
-
-The Syndic produced the money and the various articles which had
-belonged to Silwood.
-
-"I will give you a receipt for them," said the Deputy, "and take them
-with me to Rome. They will eventually be given to the person or persons
-who can show the best claim to them."
-
-"That is quite correct," agreed the Syndic, obsequiously. "Will your
-Excellency take them now?"
-
-"Yes."
-
-The Deputy-Minister, the look of determination on his face which it
-habitually wore suddenly becoming sharply accentuated, snapped out the
-"Yes" so harshly that Ucelli could not help noticing it; there was that
-in it which made him quake. He glanced at the Deputy to see if he could
-interpret the swift change in his manner.
-
-"Mr. Eversleigh," said Vinci, crisply, "has proffered a request to the
-Minister of Justice, and his Excellency will comply with it. This
-request was that the grave of Mr. Silwood should be opened, and the body
-removed to England. It is permitted."
-
-"But, Excellency," urged the Syndic, "pray consider the circumstances.
-Mr. Silwood died of cholera."
-
-"I am aware of it," said the Deputy. "Of course, every precaution
-science can suggest must be taken. But the command of the Minister
-admits of no discussion. The grave must be opened, and that to-day; now,
-or at any rate as soon as possible."
-
-"But, Excellency!" began Ucelli, "I----"
-
-"Say no more! The matter is settled, and I am here to see the grave is
-opened and the body given over to Mr. Eversleigh."
-
-"A thousand pardons, but, Excellency, I shall be able to get no one to
-dig. Everybody knows Mr. Silwood died of cholera; and who amongst the
-villagers will have the courage to face the pestilence?"
-
-"But with proper precautions?"
-
-"Alas! our simple people do not understand precautions; they do
-understand what death from cholera means by the way of infection."
-
-"I must say I do not comprehend the objection, if the necessary
-precautions are taken. No, signor, let us to work at once. I will go
-with you and procure disinfectants, and, thereafter, the grave-diggers,
-while Mr. Eversleigh rests here. Come!"
-
-The Syndic scanned the Deputy's face, but it was uncompromisingly
-resolute.
-
-"There is no need for your Excellency to put yourself to the trouble of
-going with me--I can easily see to all that is required," suggested
-Ucelli.
-
-"I prefer to go with you," replied the Deputy, with unmistakable
-decision. Then he added, "My authority may be of some use to you,
-signor, with the grave-diggers."
-
-And the voice of the Deputy was exceedingly grim, while Ucelli turned a
-sickly white and found nothing more to say.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXIII
-
-
-"Come!" said the Deputy-Minister peremptorily to Ucelli. "Meanwhile, Mr.
-Eversleigh, do you remain here till we return. I do not think you will
-have to wait very long."
-
-"Very well, signor," Gilbert replied, though he would have preferred
-accompanying the two Italians.
-
-"Come!" cried the Deputy once more to Ucelli.
-
-But the Syndic had now found his tongue. He begged the Deputy to give
-him a few moments' private conversation in the next room.
-
-"You can say what you have to say here, surely. If you speak in our own
-language, Mr. Eversleigh will not understand you, so you will be quite
-safe."
-
-Ucelli urged that Mr. Eversleigh was evidently a highly intelligent man,
-and must have picked up some knowledge of Italian. Therefore, with all
-respect to the Deputy-Minister, he ventured to think it possible Mr.
-Eversleigh might understand. And again he requested a private interview,
-which finally was granted to him.
-
-The Deputy and the Syndic retired to an adjoining room, and left Gilbert
-alone with his thoughts.
-
-His thoughts were a strange jumble. In the fore-ground of them were
-Silwood, James Russell, the Syndic, and the Deputy-Minister, but behind
-them were his father, Kitty, and Harry Bennet. As he sat there, they all
-presently seemed to mingle, to become obscure, as in some feverish
-dream, and then to stand out sharp and clear again.
-
-Perhaps half an hour had passed when there rang through the house the
-report of a revolver, immediately followed by the sounds of a struggle
-and the cries and shouts of those engaged in it.
-
-Gilbert sprang to his feet at once, and ran into the next room, from
-which the noise had come.
-
-There, on the floor, were Ucelli, and above him the Deputy-Minister
-holding him by the throat. A little distance away lay a revolver; there
-was the smell of burnt powder in the air, while the furniture of the
-apartment was in disorder.
-
-"Get something," panted the Deputy, "with which we can bind and secure
-him, Mr. Eversleigh. Take that table-cover and tear it up--that will
-do."
-
-Gilbert, who had of course easily grasped the situation, did as he was
-bid, and in two or three minutes the Syndic was bound hand and foot.
-
-"You are not hurt?" Gilbert inquired of the Deputy. "I heard the sound
-of a shot."
-
-"No; though it was not Ucelli's fault. He deliberately tried to kill me,
-but I was too quick for him," said the Deputy, still gasping. "I will
-tell you all when I have recovered a little."
-
-And breathing heavily, he seated himself on a chair. Gilbert glanced at
-Ucelli--the man's face was the colour of paper.
-
-"First of all," said Signor Vinci, after an interval, "he tried to bribe
-me, and failing in that, sought to kill me, though what he hoped to
-gain by killing me I cannot understand."
-
-"It was the act of a madman."
-
-"You would say he was driven to it by despair? That, perhaps, is the
-explanation; or it may be he expected to make good his escape. But you
-see what all this means? It means you are correct in what you have
-stated about Silwood. Ucelli has not made a confession--that is, a
-direct confession--but his conduct can bear no other interpretation."
-
-"Yes," assented Gilbert.
-
-"Our next step must be to get the grave opened, and then the case will
-be complete. But first I will give Ucelli the opportunity of making a
-full confession."
-
-The conversation between the Deputy-Minister and Gilbert had, up to this
-point, been in English. Turning to the Syndic, Signor Vinci asked him in
-his own language if he wished to make a statement.
-
-"What is the use?" asked Ucelli. "I have done for myself--the game is
-up!"
-
-"That being so, why not make a clean breast of everything?"
-
-"What good would that do me? You will, besides, lay a charge against me
-of trying to murder you, and I shall be condemned to a life-sentence."
-
-The Deputy thought for a few seconds.
-
-"You are determined to say nothing?" he asked Ucelli.
-
-"I will confess all--but only if you will promise me one thing on your
-honour," said Ucelli, who had been thinking too.
-
-"I cannot make terms with you."
-
-"In this instance you can."
-
-"To what do you refer?"
-
-"If you will waive the charge against me of trying to kill you, I will
-disclose everything. After all, I did not kill you; and if you will
-withhold the charge of attempt to murder, I will open my lips."
-
-"You ask a great deal!" cried Vinci, but he did not refuse the man. As
-rapidly as he could, he told Gilbert of Ucelli's proposal, and said he
-was disposed to accept it.
-
-"You may be surprised," he said to Gilbert, who was indeed astonished.
-"But I will tell you the reason. It is for your sake. If Ucelli makes a
-full confession, you will learn all you desire to know. Naturally, I
-have a desire that Ucelli should be punished for his attempt on my life,
-but I am willing to forego it. By so doing, and in this way obtaining
-the confession, I acknowledge and repay the obligation you have placed
-the Ministry of Justice under, for you have put into our hands the means
-of convicting Ucelli. I am sure this is what the Minister, His
-Excellency Signor Fava, would have me do."
-
-"It is noble of you," said Gilbert, warmly, "to give up wreaking
-vengeance on your own account."
-
-The Italian bowed and smiled pleasantly. He now addressed the Syndic,
-who had been watching the faces of the two others as they conversed,
-trying to gather from their expression what they were saying.
-
-"I agree to your proposal," he said to Ucelli. "I will make no personal
-charge against you. You, on your part, will tell us all--absolutely all
-without equivocation."
-
-"Yes, Excellency, absolutely all," replied the Syndic, a little colour
-of hope coming into his pallid cheeks. "With your permission, I will
-speak in French, which Mr. Eversleigh understands, as does your
-Excellency, I doubt not."
-
-"Let it be so," assented the Deputy. "Speak on!"
-
-"I must go back some years, four or five," said Ucelli; "it was then
-that Silwood first came to Camajore. He made a stay of several weeks, in
-the course of which he became intimate with me; he often spent the
-evenings here, playing chess, a game of which I am fond. His holiday at
-an end, he went back to England. I did not see him again till last July.
-I wondered at his coming when cholera was everywhere, but he had an
-object in view--a scheme, which compelled him to run the risk."
-
-Here the Syndic paused, as if to collect his thoughts.
-
-"You saw him again?" prompted the Deputy.
-
-"Alas, yes! He came to me and tempted me, and I succumbed. For a sum of
-money I agreed to assist him in his scheme. I knew I was doing a
-criminal act, but the bribe he offered me quieted all my scruples,"
-Ucelli resumed. "I am a poor man, and I fell!"
-
-"How much did he offer you?" demanded Vinci.
-
-"It was fifty thousand liras," replied Ucelli. "Imagine, Excellency, the
-temptation to a poor man like myself!"
-
-"Fifty thousand liras!" exclaimed the Deputy. "It is a large sum of
-money."
-
-"Fifty thousand liras," thought Gilbert; "how much is that in English
-money?" A mental calculation showed him that it was nearly two thousand
-pounds. Where, he wondered, had Silwood got such a sum? But Ucelli was
-speaking.
-
-"Yes, he offered me fifty thousand liras," repeated the Syndic, "and I
-swallowed the bait--like a fool. But I did not consent all at once. I
-knew the proceeding he proposed was dangerous in the extreme; but he
-allayed my fears by declaring it was impossible that it should ever be
-found out."
-
-The Syndic stopped, overcome with self-pity.
-
-"Well," cried Vinci; "what next?"
-
-"His proposal was that I should have him in my house here, and soon
-after he was to pretend to be ill of cholera. After a short interval it
-was to be given out that he had died, while I was to have an imaginary
-body buried. There were so many deaths here at the time, and
-consequently so much confusion, that there was no difficulty in carrying
-out his plan."
-
-"So you were right," said the Deputy to Gilbert.
-
-"I issued a false certificate, and at Silwood's dictation penned the
-letter sent to Mr. Eversleigh's father," went on the Syndic, now bent on
-leaving nothing untold. "And it was he who arranged I should have in my
-possession the letters, money, clothes, and other articles which
-belonged to him."
-
-"To give colour to the fiction of Silwood's death?" asked the Deputy.
-
-"Precisely. I thought we had foreseen everything, and that discovery was
-impossible. Alas! but we are blind fools! I hoped, when inquiries came,
-I should be able to satisfy them easily. The two men who came to make
-inquiries before Mr. Eversleigh, I had no difficulty with."
-
-It was Gilbert's turn to be amazed.
-
-"What?" he cried. "Two men before me! What do you mean?"
-
-"Ah, you did not know of them?" said the Syndic. "One was a detective of
-the English police, the other was a journalist, but they went empty
-away."
-
-"Do you know their names?"
-
-"Am I likely to forget anything or anybody connected with this affair?"
-asked Ucelli. "No; the name of the detective was Brydges, of Scotland
-Yard; that of the other was Westgate, a man on the staff of a London
-journal, the _Morning Call_."
-
-The names conveyed no meaning to Gilbert, but he was filled with wonder.
-Thinking it over later, he saw it must have been suspected by others
-that Silwood was not dead, and he guessed these inquiries had been made
-in connection with the finding of Thornton's body in Silwood's rooms in
-Lincoln's Inn. The knowledge that the detective and the journalist had
-been at Camajore, however, gave him a bad turn; he was afraid to think
-what might have happened to his father if either of them had stumbled on
-the truth.
-
-"I know neither of them," said Gilbert to the Syndic.
-
-"They got nothing from me," resumed Ucelli. "I felicitated myself on
-getting rid of them without trouble. And then you came, Mr. Eversleigh,
-and I imagined you were as satisfied as they had been. I was a blind
-fool, a blind fool!"
-
-"You see I was sure Silwood was not dead," remarked Gilbert.
-
-"Do you know where he is?" eagerly inquired the Syndic.
-
-"No, I don't; I hoped you would know."
-
-The Syndic shook his head.
-
-Signor Vinci darted an angry look at him.
-
-"I don't know," persisted Ucelli, seeing the look.
-
-"What occurred after the so-called death of Silwood?" asked the Deputy.
-"How did he get out of the country? It's plain he did not go as Silwood.
-If he had plenty of money, as I suppose his giving you fifty thousand
-liras shows, he would be able to procure disguises, have his own
-carriage, and journey as he liked."
-
-"Mr. Silwood," replied Ucelli, "is undoubtedly a very rich man, as you
-suggest. He had an abundance of money."
-
-Gilbert startled the other two men by suddenly rising from his chair
-with a vehement ejaculation.
-
-"Silwood a rich man?" he cried.
-
-"Beyond question, a very rich man."
-
-Here was a new idea to Gilbert--new with a vengeance! Silwood rich!
-
-Then what about Silwood's alleged losses on the Stock Exchange? he asked
-himself. Were they fictitious too? Or--what?
-
-"Silwood is rich," continued the Syndic, "but it took very little money
-to get him out of the country, as it happened. His scheme had taken
-account of that, and he brought with him a disguise--a disguise as
-complete as any I ever saw; no one could have recognized him in it. By
-taking off his wig, putting on a moustache, staining his face and hands,
-and touching up his cheeks with some paint, he became another man
-altogether. Then he had clothes with him--such clothes, he told me, as
-any British workman might wear--and these he wore. The disguise was
-perfect, and must have been carefully studied. In the night I guided him
-out of Camajore, and set him on the way to Lucca, which he reached;
-thence he went on to Genoa, where he took ship for England. But he was
-delayed at Genoa--there was an accident; how it came about is not known,
-but he was stabbed in the street."
-
-"Stabbed in the street!" exclaimed Gilbert, on whom the full light was
-now breaking.
-
-"Yes; he telegraphed for me to go to him, and I went. He said that to
-prosecute the man who had stabbed him would be fatal, and I arranged
-there should be no prosecution. Besides, his wound was not serious; he
-had merely to lie quiet for some days."
-
-"Under what name did Silwood go when he was thus disguised?" asked
-Gilbert, though he knew what the reply would be.
-
-"James Russell," said the Syndic.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXIV
-
-
-"James Russell! I thought so," said Gilbert, tingling with excitement.
-
-"Is this of importance to you?" the Deputy asked Gilbert.
-
-"Of the utmost importance."
-
-The Deputy smiled, and showed he was well pleased; but he asked no more
-questions, save one only.
-
-"Is there anything else about which you wish to interrogate Ucelli?" he
-inquired.
-
-"Yes. I should like to know if he is aware where Silwood, _alias_
-Russell, went to in England?"
-
-"London," said the Syndic; "but he intended going to America
-eventually."
-
-"That is all, I think, at present," said Gilbert to Signor Vinci.
-
-"Should some other point occur to you later," suggested the Deputy, "you
-will have an opportunity of putting it to him in Rome, whither we must
-proceed with all speed."
-
-"I had thought of setting out for London at once," said Gilbert. "The
-information I have obtained should be acted on without delay. Besides,
-my father is very ill."
-
-"If you could spare one day! You are a witness to the confession of
-Ucelli, and I desire you to make a deposition with respect to it before
-the Minister of Justice himself."
-
-"I certainly owe you as much as that," acquiesced Gilbert.
-
-Thereafter, the Deputy, leaving the bound man in Gilbert's charge, went
-out of the Syndic's house, to return in a short time with a couple of
-civil officers, who took Ucelli to prison. The Deputy now informed
-Gilbert that he had given orders to open up the reputed grave of
-Silwood, and late that evening they heard a coffin had been taken up and
-found to be filled with stones.
-
-Next day the Deputy and Gilbert were in Rome, recounting to the Minister
-of Justice what had taken place. A deposition was drawn up and signed by
-Gilbert; at the same time, he acknowledged very heartily his great
-obligations to the Minister and the Deputy.
-
-"Not at all," said the Minister; "you have really conferred a great
-favour on us. But there is one thing I should like to ask you, if it is
-not indiscreet."
-
-"And that is, signor?"
-
-"We know why Ucelli entered into this conspiracy with Silwood; it was
-because of the fifty thousand liras Silwood gave him. But we do not know
-what induced or compelled Silwood to act as he did. I can see, of
-course, that in all probability he is a great criminal. For that matter,
-the conspiracy itself was a crime of the gravest character. If I could
-arrest this Silwood, he would receive a heavy sentence, you may be
-sure."
-
-While his superior was speaking, the Deputy had a little smile on his
-grim face. He had wished to ask Gilbert the question now put to him by
-the Minister, but, feeling tolerably certain of the truth, had
-refrained. Still, he listened eagerly to Gilbert's reply.
-
-"Silwood is an absconder and a forger," said Gilbert. "To conceal his
-crimes, to cover up his tracks, he planned and carried out, with
-Ucelli's help, this infamous plot. There, that is all."
-
-"And more than enough!" exclaimed the Minister. "You will, as soon as
-you return to England, proceed to have this man hunted down?"
-
-"It will be the one object of my life until it is accomplished," said
-Gilbert, emphatically.
-
-On his way back to London, Gilbert pondered what he should next do, and
-reflected on the occurrences of the last two or three days. The whole
-scheme of Silwood was now tolerably plain. To begin with, it was evident
-Silwood had long been leading a double life. There were the wife and
-child and the house at Stepney on the one hand; and, on the other, the
-private chambers in Lincoln's Inn. In the latter he was Cooper Silwood,
-solicitor; in Stepney he was James Russell, workman. And now Gilbert
-recalled very vividly the story told by the waster, the poor human wreck
-who spoke like a gentleman, the story of the workman seen issuing in the
-dead of night from the iron gate of the Stone Buildings' end of Chancery
-Lane.
-
-"Of course, it was Silwood," argued Gilbert; "it must have been he. The
-waster said the workman was flurried, went away hurriedly, but returned
-in half an hour. What does that mean, taken in connection with the fact
-that next morning Silwood left London? It must have been no light thing
-which made _him_ flurried. He intended going to Stepney, started, and
-then changed his mind. Not like _him_ either, to change his mind in
-that way. Something must have happened."
-
-Then the thought came leaping into his mind which explained everything.
-
-"It must have been because Morris Thornton was lying dead in Silwood's
-room--that accounts for his agitation and indecision."
-
-After that he asked himself the inevitable question--
-
-"Had Silwood said or done anything to cause such a shock to Thornton as
-killed him? If so, what?"
-
-But this was a question he could not answer now. The key to the mystery
-lay with Silwood, and it was possible, even probable, he had made good
-his escape to America, if it was to America he was gone. America was a
-wide word, Gilbert mused, but the arm of Justice was long. Yet the
-search all over America--was that not like looking for a needle in a
-haystack? And the time which would almost certainly be occupied in the
-quest--what might not happen in the interim?
-
-With these questions, and such as these, Gilbert was distracted during
-his journey, and the news which met him on his arrival in London made
-his heart heavy as lead.
-
-His brother Ernest was at the station when his train steamed in. Gilbert
-observed he looked pale and sad.
-
-"How is father?" were Gilbert's first words.
-
-"Oh, it is terrible!" exclaimed Ernest.
-
-"Is he worse?"
-
-"Yes, he is worse. He will never be himself again, I fear. He is out of
-his mind."
-
-"Out of his mind!" cried Gilbert, but in his heart he was saying it was
-no wonder that his father had become insane, considering all he had
-borne during the past two months.
-
-"Isn't it dreadful?"
-
-"It may be only temporary," Gilbert suggested.
-
-"The doctors who have seen him do not give us much hope."
-
-"You have had specialists called in?"
-
-"Certainly."
-
-"What form does his trouble take?"
-
-"He is not at all violent; indeed, he is gentleness itself. But his
-memory seems a blank, and he does not speak except to say one sentence,
-and it breaks one's heart to hear him say it."
-
-"What does he say?"
-
-"He asks, 'What o'clock is it?' but he does not know what he says. If
-you tell him the time, he does not comprehend you. That was how mother
-found his trouble out. One night he had a sort of fit in bed; when it
-passed he asked, 'What o'clock is it?' and mother told him. He asked
-again, 'What o'clock is it?' and mother again told him. But he
-immediately inquired once more, 'What o'clock is it?' and then she began
-to surmise something was very wrong with him."
-
-"Poor mother!" exclaimed Gilbert. "How is she?"
-
-"She is a brave woman, and is bearing up wonderfully. Well, she waited
-till morning, and then sent me for a doctor, who, after seeing father,
-said his brain was affected. I got the best specialists to see him, and
-they declared his mind had given way, so far as they could judge, from
-overstrain. It seems that the gentle kind of melancholy madness which
-afflicts him is incurable. Isn't it sad?"
-
-"Very sad; but doctors are sometimes wrong, and we must hope for the
-best. Is he at Ivydene?"
-
-"Yes; with a nurse. The doctors thought it was prudent to have a nurse,
-though, really, he does not require one. He is just like a child. I have
-not allowed news of his trouble to get about."
-
-The brothers now got into a hansom, and drove to Gilbert's chambers in
-the Temple. Gilbert could see that Ernest had more to tell him, and half
-guessed what it was. In the circumstances, too, Gilbert thought Ernest
-must now be told the true position of the firm of Eversleigh, Silwood
-and Eversleigh.
-
-"When your letter to father came," continued Ernest, "he was already in
-the condition he now is, so I opened and read it. As I wired you, I was
-completely bewildered by what you wrote, but tried to puzzle out your
-meaning. Without the key, however, I could not succeed."
-
-"I'll disclose everything to you, Ernie," said Gilbert.
-
-"And, Gilbert, there is something more. The doctors said father's
-trouble came from his brain having been overstrained. I believe they are
-right, and I'll tell you why. I had to make out the position of our firm
-with respect to the securities of one of our clients, Mr. Archibald
-Johnstone, and, so far as I can see, we have not got these securities;
-at any rate, I cannot lay my hands on them anywhere in the office. I
-went to Archer Martin, the accountant, hoping he might throw some light
-on the subject; but he said I had better ask you, as you would know.
-Gilbert, Gilbert, I don't know what to think, but it looks to me as if
-there's something very serious in this business."
-
-"Yes, Ernie, there is," said Gilbert; "it is as serious as it can be.
-It is so serious that I can almost feel glad father is not in his right
-mind."
-
-"Gilbert!"
-
-"It is true. Now let me tell you all I know. The main thing is that
-Cooper Silwood robbed the firm of a large sum of money. He absconded to
-Camajore, in Italy, where, in collusion with the Syndic of the place he
-gave out that he was dead."
-
-Ernest stared at his brother wildly.
-
-"What are you saying?" he cried. "Silwood robbed the firm! absconded to
-Italy! pretended he was dead!"
-
-"Exactly. But I must begin at the beginning, and tell you the whole
-story in detail."
-
-When he had heard it all, Ernest was thunderstruck.
-
-"This Silwood must be a devil!" he cried.
-
-"Ay, a devil in cleverness, in ingenuity, in resource, in cunning, and
-we have to encounter and defeat these qualities in him. He must be
-found."
-
-"The police?"
-
-"Can we afford to let them know our affairs?"
-
-"No; I suppose not. Would you employ private detectives?"
-
-"Yes; there are very excellent private detective agencies in America,
-such as Pinkerton's. As I have already told you, I have a man in England
-following up the trail of Silwood, whom he knows only as James Russell.
-He may have something to report."
-
-There were several letters lying on Gilbert's table. Owing to the
-urgency of his talk with Ernest, he had not looked at them; he now did
-so, hoping that one of them was from the detective, and this hope proved
-well-founded.
-
-The detective wrote that he had discovered in the list of steerage
-passengers, kept by one of the Liverpool shipping firms, an entry of
-"James Russell, wife, and child." From inquiries he had made, he had
-learned that the child was a cripple; this fact, together with the name,
-James Russell, and the numbers in the party, agreed with what he had
-been told of the Russells who had lived in No. 99, Douglas Street,
-Stepney, so that he had very little doubt that he was on the right
-trail. He went on to state that the Russells had sailed for New York and
-had arrived there, as he had ascertained from his correspondent in that
-city. On landing, Russell had declared he was an immigrant, and having
-been informed that by American law it was necessary to show he was
-possessed of a certain stipulated sum of money, had produced it, and was
-allowed to enter the country. Russell had also declared his intention to
-go West, mentioning St. Paul in the State of Minnesota as his probable
-destination. These facts, the detective added, were communicated to him
-by cable, and he asked for further instructions.
-
-Gilbert handed the letter to Ernest, remarking here was some good news.
-
-"Oh, if we can only catch Silwood soon!" cried Ernest, after perusing
-the letter.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXV
-
-
-"To catch Silwood! Yes, that is the business we must press to a
-conclusion; everything must give way to it!" said Gilbert,
-energetically. "I shall wire the detective to cable his American
-correspondent to continue his search."
-
-Then Gilbert was silent for a while, meditating deeply.
-
-"Bennet's trial," he said at length, "is fixed for the middle of
-November, is it not, Ernie?"
-
-"Yes, November 15th, at York. North Eastern Circuit; Judge, Warrender,"
-replied Ernest, quickly.
-
-"That would give me six weeks," remarked Gilbert, thoughtfully.
-
-"What! Do you intend going to the United States after Silwood? Six weeks
-is rather a short period."
-
-"Of course it is, but it might be enough. I believe I ought to go, and I
-have a presentiment I shall succeed. St. Paul is a long way off,
-though."
-
-Gilbert now consulted an atlas.
-
-"I see," said he, "St. Paul is just about half-way across the American
-continent. Still, I should be able to reach it in ten days. Say twenty
-days for going and returning, that leaves twenty and odd days for
-hunting the man down. Yes, I'll go. Will you arrange about a steamer,
-while I run across to Surbiton to see father, mother, and Helen?"
-
-"Yes. But are you not counting too much on Silwood's being at St. Paul?
-You don't really know he is there at all."
-
-"I trust I'm not. My opinion is that Silwood was sure of the working of
-his scheme; so much so, he took no trouble to cover up his movements.
-When he said he was going to St. Paul, I imagine he stated the truth.
-Still, I may be wrong. But I shall soon know."
-
-"You think he was so confident he had obliterated the past, so to speak,
-that he took no further precautions?"
-
-"That's just my idea. Anyhow, I wish you would inquire about steamers,
-and secure a berth for me on the first one that goes out. Meanwhile I'll
-go over to Ivydene."
-
-"All right," said Ernest, and went across to the office in Lincoln's
-Inn. There he rang up the shipping companies on the telephone, and
-finally arranged for a passage on the _St. Louis_, which was leaving
-Southampton next morning.
-
-He remembered it was the _St. Louis_ by which Morris Thornton had
-returned to England, and it struck him as of good augury that his
-brother should sail on it in pursuit of Silwood, who had so marred the
-fortunes of Thornton and them all.
-
-The brothers met again late in the afternoon, and Ernest told Gilbert
-that he had taken a berth for him in this vessel, and, as it sailed on
-the morrow about noon, he must at once make preparations for leaving.
-
-"I am very glad that I start so soon," remarked Gilbert. "I feel as if
-I must be moving and doing something towards getting on Silwood's track.
-When I saw poor father, I longed with all my soul to slay this man, this
-villain, who has wrought us such terrible wrong, such irremediable
-mischief. I know now how a murderer must feel--though to kill such a
-miscreant as Silwood would not be murder; it would be like killing some
-poisonous reptile."
-
-"I understand your feelings," said Ernest; "but if you meet him you must
-not give way to your anger, just though it is. You must not forget that
-it is the money----"
-
-"You may be sure I won't forget it," interrupted Gilbert. "But it made
-my blood fairly boil when I saw father, and heard his parrot-like cry of
-'What o'clock is it?' He did not know me at all; he does not even know
-mother. It's frightfully sad for her, poor dear. And we owe this whole
-trouble to that devil, Silwood! It makes me savage to think of it!"
-
-"Yes, it's hard to bear. Now, is there anything more I can do for you?
-Any matter to attend to?"
-
-"You might see the detective, and tell him I have gone to New York,
-where I shall look up his correspondent."
-
-"He had better cable across that you are going--that will prepare the
-way for you."
-
-"Quite right," agreed Gilbert. "Are you coming to see me off to-morrow
-morning?"
-
-"From Waterloo? Yes. Did you say anything to mother about going to
-America?"
-
-"Yes, I told her of it. She was surprised; but I assured her I had no
-option, but hoped to bring back good news."
-
-"Pray Heaven you may!"
-
-"Has anything further been done in the case of Bennet?" asked Gilbert,
-after a minute's silence.
-
-"I went to York, and, along with the local solicitor, had a conversation
-with Bennet, but to no purpose. I never saw such an impracticable man.
-He seemed all the time in a state of suppressed rage and fury; indeed,
-they hardly were suppressed. He is more like a caged tiger than a man."
-
-"Does he know about father's condition?"
-
-"No. I have kept it quiet, as I told you before. But I fear we cannot
-keep it hid very long; it is bound to get out."
-
-"Are you to see Bennet again soon?"
-
-"I must, and he is pretty sure to ask why father has not come instead of
-me. He asked me that last time, and he was very rude when I told him
-father was too ill to go to York. I'll have to tell him the truth sooner
-or later. What do you think?"
-
-"I advise telling him the truth," said Gilbert. "Now, Ernie, there's one
-thing I wish to ask you, and then I will go on with my packing. I did
-not like to ask mother. Has she or Helen or any one heard how Miss
-Thornton is?"
-
-"All that I can tell you," replied Ernest, "is, I was told she had been
-to see Bennet in prison. Neither mother nor Helen has heard from or of
-her, I feel quite sure."
-
-Gilbert sighed heavily, but said nothing.
-
-Next day he was on board the _St. Louis_, and arrived, a week later, at
-New York. On the pier he was met by the detective's correspondent, a
-slim, sharp-faced man, called Matthews, who introduced himself.
-
-"I have news for you, Mr. Eversleigh," said Matthews, after they had
-exchanged a few words.
-
-"Good news, I hope?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"I reckon it is pretty good," was the reply. "James Russell, the man you
-want, is living in St. Paul with his wife and child. His house is in a
-poor quarter of the city, and he don't seem well off. He goes about
-quite openly, too, as if he had nothing to fear--I mean he don't try and
-hide himself. I have an agent in St. Paul, and what I've told you is
-what he wired me; you can depend on it."
-
-"This is indeed good news," said Gilbert, eagerly. "Now I must go on to
-St. Paul. How long will it take me to get there?"
-
-"Two days, more or less. You travel to Chicago first, and then on to St.
-Paul. So you will go straight there? Have you any acquaintances or
-friends in St. Paul?"
-
-"I know no one there."
-
-"Would you like a letter to my agent? He's as bright as a new dollar,
-and as sharp as a needle."
-
-"Much obliged to you; by all means give me a note to him. And now tell
-me about the trains, please; I am quite a stranger here."
-
-"D'you wish to leave to-day?"
-
-"I hate to think of losing a minute needlessly," said Gilbert,
-earnestly. "The matter is of the greatest importance."
-
-"So I guessed," observed Matthews. "I'll do the best I can for you."
-
-And he did. He made everything easy for Gilbert, so that the latter had
-no difficulty in reaching St. Paul well within two days after his
-arrival in New York.
-
-As he had calculated, he was in St. Paul ten days after leaving London.
-Putting up at the Merchant's Hotel, he at once tried to get into
-communication with Hankey, Matthew's agent, on the telephone, but was
-disappointed. From a directory he ascertained where Hankey's office was,
-and learning from the hotel clerk that it was only a few blocks away,
-and not difficult to find, he set out for it. But he did not reach it
-without having to ask his way several times from people he met in the
-streets.
-
-Stopping at the junction of two streets, and uncertain whether to go
-straight ahead or turn off, Gilbert consulted a policeman standing at
-the corner. As he spoke, the sound of his voice, or rather his accent,
-attracted the attention of a man who was passing by. Gilbert had his
-back to this pedestrian, so that he did not see him.
-
-The pedestrian paused to make certain that he did recognize Gilbert's
-voice; besides, he recognized Gilbert's figure. Then he walked on
-slowly, and watched Gilbert's movements from a distance, taking care to
-keep himself unobserved.
-
-The pedestrian was Cooper Silwood, _alias_ James Russell, but it was in
-the latter character he now appeared.
-
-"What is he doing here?" Silwood asked himself. "Is it a mere accident,
-or has he discovered something? I must follow him and see where he
-goes--that may afford an indication of his business here."
-
-And as he shadowed Gilbert from a safe distance, and pondered the reason
-for his being in St. Paul, his keen intelligence told him more and more
-insistently that Gilbert's visit to St. Paul was concerned with him.
-Any doubt he had was dissipated when he saw Gilbert enter the building
-in which were situated the offices of Hankey's Private Detective Agency.
-
-"How much does he know?" wondered Silwood. "How does he know it? What
-mistake have I made? what loophole left? I believed myself absolutely
-safe; but now.... Well, St. Paul is no place any longer for me. I must
-leave it at once, and go on to Winnipeg, and hide myself somewhere on
-the prairies of the North-West."
-
-After a very short time, Gilbert reappeared and retraced his steps to
-the Merchant's Hotel, whither Silwood, still at a safe distance,
-followed him.
-
-"This is where he is stopping," thought Silwood, as he observed Gilbert
-pass into the hotel.
-
-Then Silwood walked rapidly away.
-
-Gilbert had met with a second disappointment. On calling at Hankey's
-Agency, he had been told Hankey himself had that morning been summoned
-on urgent business to Minneapolis, and would not return till the
-evening, when he would make a point of coming round to the Merchant's.
-There was therefore nothing for it but to wait.
-
-Late in the evening Hankey came.
-
-"I am sorry I am so late, but I could not help it!" he exclaimed. "I
-have come straight to you from Minneapolis, without going to my office
-first, as I knew you must be anxious to see me. Sorry I could not come
-sooner, but it was an important case--defaulting bank president and
-cashier."
-
-Gilbert nodded that he quite understood.
-
-"About James Russell," continued Hankey. "I can put my hand on him at
-any time; he is kept under constant observation, though he has no idea
-of it. Yet it hardly seems necessary, for he walks about quite openly in
-the streets, sometimes alone, sometimes with his wife. They have a lame,
-crippled child, which they have taken out once or twice."
-
-"Is James Russell anything like this?" asked Gilbert, handing Hankey a
-photograph of Silwood.
-
-"About the same height, perhaps, but otherwise quite different."
-
-"Yet it is the same man," said Gilbert.
-
-"If so--and I don't doubt your word--what a splendid disguise he has
-assumed! Case of absconding?" asked Hankey. "Do you wish him arrested?"
-
-"By-and-by; but first I must try to get him to disgorge. He has
-absconded with a large sum of money."
-
-"Much?"
-
-"Between three and four hundred thousand pounds."
-
-"Nearly two million dollars!" exclaimed Hankey. "Mr. James Russell must
-be a pretty smart man. Two million! I confess to a certain admiration
-for a man who can rake in as big a pot as that. Well, I should say it
-would be very difficult to make a man of that calibre disgorge. How do
-you intend doing it?"
-
-"I thought you might be able to suggest some plan."
-
-"Well, I reckon that is possible. First thing is to get hold of
-Russell--and it'll have to be a tight hold, you bet."
-
-"Of course. I admit I don't see what to do; but it seems to me I
-remember reading of a case the Pinkertons had, in which they had the
-criminal seized--it was also a case of embezzlement--and kept in a room
-till he disgorged. They did not put him into prison; they kept him a
-prisoner in a room in a house of their own."
-
-"I guess something of the kind has happened," remarked Hankey; "but it
-sounds rather like a bit out of a dime novel. You suggest I should
-attempt the same game with James Russell, is that it?"
-
-"It is just an idea; I don't say you should act upon it. Is there any
-plan in your mind?"
-
-"Not at the moment. I'll sleep on it, and come round in the morning."
-
-"Very well. But of course you understand I wish the business concluded
-as speedily as possible."
-
-"Quite so. I'll be here early in the morning."
-
-Gilbert could not get to sleep easily that night. He was possessed by a
-feeling of intense excitement; but at last he fell into a restless
-slumber. It seemed to him that he had just closed his eyes when he was
-awakened by a loud knocking at his door.
-
-"What is it?" he cried.
-
-"It's Hankey. I must see you at once. Most urgent!"
-
-Gilbert sprang out of bed instantly, and admitted the detective.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXVI
-
-
-"Sorry to disturb you so unceremoniously," said Hankey, "but it is
-necessary. I bring you unexpected news of supreme moment. Please dress,
-and while you are dressing I will tell you of a very startling
-development in the Russell affair."
-
-"Is the news good or bad?"
-
-"Good, I think; but time alone will disclose that. But please dress as
-quickly as you can, for you will have to go on a journey immediately. I
-have taken the liberty of ordering something for you to eat, and it
-should be here in a minute or two. You have just half an hour in which
-to catch the train you must travel by."
-
-"What is the news?" asked Gilbert, going on dressing all the while.
-
-"Well, last night, after I left you, I went to my office, late as it
-was, and I found one of my subordinates waiting for me. It was the man
-whose duty it was to shadow Russell. He reported that he had kept sight
-of him until he went into his own house. My man then hung about, and
-after some time, a conveyance drove up, into which presently Russell,
-his wife and child got. He followed them to the railway depot, and
-finally saw them depart in the Northern Pacific Express for Winnipeg."
-
-"Gone!" exclaimed Gilbert; "and with a start of half-a-day! And James
-Russell leaves St. Paul the very day I arrive. That's curious. Had he
-got warning? But how?"
-
-"Perhaps he saw you in the streets yesterday--you were about a good
-deal, were you not?"
-
-"Yes; that may be it."
-
-"It does not matter much, anyhow; the fact remains that he went away
-last night."
-
-"And I must go after him at once. That's what you mean?"
-
-"That's part of it; but there is more to tell you, much more. For, this
-morning, about forty minutes ago--oh, I lost no time, you will
-perceive--one of my men who has to be on duty all night at my office,
-came to my house and woke me up. He was aware Russell was on board the
-Northern Pacific Express going to Winnipeg last night, and he had come
-hot-foot to show me an early edition of the _Pioneer Press_--that's our
-leading paper--in which there is a long account of a dreadful accident
-to this very express. It had collided with a freight train, both trains
-being wrecked and smashed to pieces. Many of the passengers have been
-killed, and most of the survivors are badly injured."
-
-"And Russell?" Gilbert inquired breathlessly.
-
-"He is not in the list of the dead; his name appears amongst those whose
-injuries are probably fatal. This is why I am hurrying you up. If you
-wish to see him alive, you must catch the first train. Now, do you see?
-Was not my knocking you up in this way justified?"
-
-"Yes, indeed. I am grateful to you for your zeal. How far up the line
-was the accident?"
-
-"A few miles south of Glyndon. You can be there in a comparatively short
-time."
-
-"I think I should like you to come with me," said Gilbert, after a brief
-silence; "that is, if you are disengaged."
-
-"I can manage to come all right, and I should like to know the end;
-though it's possible the man may recover. On the other hand, if he knows
-he is certain to die, there's just a chance he may be willing to own up
-and make restitution, if that's in his power."
-
-"A death-bed confession! Now, I should say," remarked Gilbert, "Russell
-is the last man on earth to make one."
-
-But now there appeared a waiter with a tray on which was some breakfast,
-and the conversation stopped.
-
-Ten minutes later, Gilbert and Hankey were speeding northwards on the
-Northern Pacific to the scene of the collision, where they arrived in
-due course. On the way up, every one was talking of the appalling
-disaster. Many in the train were relatives of the victims, and the whole
-atmosphere was charged with grief and sorrow. Gilbert Eversleigh was too
-young and too sensitive not to sympathize with and share these feelings.
-They made such an impression on him that the vengeance he cherished, and
-the hatred he felt for Silwood were decidedly modified, though he was
-scarcely aware of it himself.
-
-The express stopped some fifty yards away from the spot where the
-collision had taken place. When Gilbert and the detective alighted, they
-saw an enormous crowd had already gathered together, large numbers
-having flocked in from the surrounding country. For the most part, it
-was a quiet and silent crowd. The Shadow of Death lay heavy upon it;
-here and there, however, were little groups weeping and sobbing and
-wringing their hands. In the midst of one stood a woman, suddenly
-crazed, who alternately screamed and laughed.
-
-The scene was such, the circumstances were such, that they could not
-fail to make an ineffaceable impression on Gilbert's mind.
-
-It was an unparalleled scene of destruction.
-
-In the centre was the wreck of the two trains lying on the torn and
-twisted rails. The engines were piled high in the middle, with their
-colossal frames seamed, cracked, broken, burnt, and bent into queer
-shapes. Some of the coaches and carriages of the ill-fated express had
-been smashed into matchwood, others lay about in large pieces and
-dislocated sections, and the whole formed a confusion of wood, glass,
-and other materials, rendered more terrible from the fact that fire had
-swept its destroying torch over a large part of it.
-
-And it was whispered there were bodies, or what had once been bodies,
-lying somewhere in that chaos!
-
-Gangs of railroad men were struggling to bring some sort of order into
-it, but their progress was necessarily slow. Now and again a charred and
-blackened object, which had lost all semblance to anything human, was
-dug up and carried away.
-
-On one side of the wreck two large tents had been erected: one was used
-as a mortuary, to which the dead were carried; the other served as a
-hospital for the injured and wounded, where they were tended by doctors
-from the vicinity, who had volunteered their services.
-
-It was to the hospital tent that Gilbert and Hankey directed their
-steps, but they experienced considerable difficulty in gaining
-admission. However, at last they were allowed in, and a doctor, of whom
-they inquired, told them James Russell was still alive, was indeed
-likely to live for two days or perhaps longer, but that the nature of
-the injuries he had received made his recovery impossible. He was quite
-conscious, and knew he was dying.
-
-"He would be glad to see some one he knows," added the doctor.
-
-"How are his wife and child?"
-
-"Both are injured, but not seriously. I have not told them of Russell's
-condition."
-
-"Is there any objection, doctor," asked Gilbert, "to my speaking to him
-at once?"
-
-"None at all, I think," replied the physician, and he led them to the
-pallet on which lay Russell, his head and shoulders swathed in bandages,
-and his face, where visible, extraordinarily pinched and white. The
-false moustache which he had worn as part of his disguise was gone, the
-paint had been washed from his cheeks, and Gilbert had no difficulty
-whatever in identifying Cooper Silwood in "James Russell."
-
-"It is he," he whispered to Hankey.
-
-Hankey peered into the face.
-
-"He is now more like that photograph you showed me," said Hankey beneath
-his breath to Gilbert.
-
-Gilbert went and stood over Silwood, and looked him in the eyes. The
-dying man evinced no surprise at seeing him, but returned Gilbert's gaze
-calmly. He was the first to speak.
-
-"Gilbert Eversleigh," he said in a queer voice, that had no weakness in
-it. "I expected you to come, but not so soon. How is it you are here so
-quickly? The telegram I sent by the doctor to you at the Merchants'
-Hotel was despatched only two hours ago."
-
-"You sent me a telegram!" said Gilbert, astonished, but not so much so
-as not to note Silwood knew he had been stopping at the Merchants'. "I
-have not received it. The reason I am here is, I was aware you were on
-board the express, and hearing of the accident, I came at once on the
-chance of speaking to you."
-
-"You knew I was on the express?"
-
-"Yes; your movements yesterday were observed."
-
-"I see," said Silwood, thoughtfully. Then he added, "Well, it does not
-signify now--nothing signifies any more to me!"
-
-Silwood pronounced these words in a firm voice, though strongly tinged
-with regret. Gilbert stood by in silence, many feelings working within
-him.
-
-"Nothing matters any more to me personally," continued Silwood; "but
-there are others of whom I must think, for they are dear to me. It was
-because of them, it was for their sakes, that I sent you the telegram. I
-asked the doctor to tell me the truth, the whole truth, about my state;
-and when he told me that I should not last more than two or three days,
-I had to consider the best course to take. What helped me to make up my
-mind was the certainty you had made some discovery--otherwise, I
-reasoned, you would not have been in St. Paul yesterday. Had this
-accident not occurred, and if I had been alone, I should have succeeded
-in baffling you; even hampered by my wife and the boy, I believe I could
-have managed to escape pursuit. But now I am dying, and my wife and
-child would soon have been hunted down when left to themselves.
-Therefore I resolved to ask you to come to me."
-
-Silwood paused, his breath coming a little more quickly than before.
-
-"But why?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"I wished to make a bargain with you."
-
-"To make a bargain!"
-
-"Yes. I thought of offering to tell you the whole truth if you would
-consent to make provision for my wife and child. She is an uneducated
-woman, and the boy is a cripple. They are two helpless creatures, and
-they are absolutely innocent; they do not even know my real name. They
-believe I am----"
-
-"James Russell!"
-
-"Yes! You know that! That is what I thought, else you would not have
-been in St. Paul. Will you consent to make some provision for them, if I
-declare everything without concealment or reserve? I do not know how
-much you do know?" he added inquiringly.
-
-"I know a good deal, but not all. I know you did not lose the money on
-the Stock Exchange, as you told my father, but that you--appropriated it
-to your own use, and still have it, I imagine. Is it not so?"
-
-"Yes. That money shall be restored to you in trust for your father and
-the firm, if you will accede to my suggestion about my wife and child.
-What more do you know?"
-
-"I know you led a double life, and that you entered into a conspiracy
-with Ucelli, the Syndic of Camajore. But I do not know what passed
-between you and Morris Thornton the night he died."
-
-"I will tell you the whole story," said Silwood, "if you will agree to
-see my wife and child suitably provided for."
-
-"And if I refuse?"
-
-"Refuse! You will not refuse. Consider! In forty-eight or fifty hours I
-shall be dead. Nothing can alter that. I shall be where the hand of the
-law cannot touch me. What can you do against a dead man? Personal
-vengeance on me is impossible. On the other hand, if you will do what I
-wish, then I will tell you where the money is, so that you will have no
-difficulty in obtaining it. You have much to gain and nothing to lose by
-falling in with my desire."
-
-"But I shall be able to get at the money in any case."
-
-"No, that you never shall unless you get my help."
-
-Gilbert thought for a while. The coolness of Silwood's proposition
-startled him; yet there was much to recommend it.
-
-"Let me consider for a few moments what you have said," he remarked to
-Silwood; "and I will tell you my decision."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXVII
-
-
-Beckoning to Hankey, the detective, to follow him, Gilbert went from the
-hospital tent into the open air to consider quietly what he should do.
-He was not sorry to get out of the atmosphere of the tent, which reeked
-with iodoform; where also the sight of so many poor stricken and
-agonized wretches harrowed his feelings.
-
-Just outside the tent, he encountered the doctor who had conducted him
-to the bedside of Cooper Silwood, _alias_ James Russell.
-
-"Did you find him quite sensible, as I said?" asked the doctor.
-
-"Extraordinarily so," replied Gilbert, "His mind is perfectly clear,
-even his voice shows no weakness. One would scarcely think he is dying."
-
-"And yet nothing can save him. For two or three hours longer he will
-remain in much the same condition; thereafter a state of collapse must
-supervene, which will end in death--during that period he will become
-unconscious, and remain so to the last."
-
-"Of course, you must know," said Gilbert; "but from the strong, firm
-voice he speaks in, one would imagine he is not in this desperate case."
-
-"It is so, however. The principal mischief is internal, and does not
-admit of cure."
-
-Then the doctor hurried into the tent. What he had said had given fresh
-point to those words of Silwood's--"You can do nothing against a dead
-man. Personal vengeance upon me is impossible." The hand of Heaven,
-Gilbert reflected, already lay heavy on the man.
-
-Then he debated the offer made by Silwood. From the first he had
-inclined to accept it. What he had witnessed of the calamity had
-softened his heart; and to find Silwood cared for his wife and child in
-the way he evidently did, was a discovery of a side, entirely
-unsuspected, of this man's nature, which somehow appealed to Gilbert.
-These were sentimental influences, but became powerful reasons when
-added to the practical argument, the immediate recovery of the stolen
-money. Gilbert did not altogether believe that the money, or a large
-part of it, at any rate, could not be recovered without Silwood's help,
-but it might be a long and tedious business, involving, likely enough,
-considerable litigation, expense, and delay. Then there was the secret
-of Morris Thornton's death to be cleared up--a thing which Silwood alone
-could do.
-
-Gilbert quickly made up his mind that the best policy was to accept
-Silwood's offer. Rapidly outlining the main facts to Hankey, who
-listened with an ever-increasing wonder, Gilbert desired him to
-accompany him into the tent to act as witness to the statement of
-Silwood.
-
-"Well?" asked Silwood, as Gilbert bent over him.
-
-"I agree. You will hold nothing back?"
-
-"I am glad, for the sake of my wife and our child," said Silwood. "No,
-nothing shall be held back. But who is this man?" he asked, his eyes
-glancing at Hankey.
-
-"I asked him to come as a witness."
-
-"Very well; he'll be a witness to what you promise for my wife and
-child, as well as of what I tell you. So be it. What do you promise for
-them?"
-
-"What do you wish me to promise exactly?"
-
-"That you pay her three pounds a week for life, and that, should she die
-before the child, you will continue the payment to him for his life."
-
-"Yes, I promise that, contingent----"
-
-"Certainly, you mean contingent on your receiving the money? That is
-understood. Now, ask one of the doctors to come here?"
-
-One of the doctors was called up.
-
-"Doctor," said Silwood, "will you go and ask my wife, Mrs. James
-Russell, who is lying in the tent somewhere, to give you the key she has
-on the ribbon round her neck? Say that I sent you; give her my love, and
-tell her I am comfortable."
-
-There were tears in Silwood's eyes as he spoke the last words. Seeing
-them, Gilbert marvelled at the strange intricacies of the human soul,
-but held his peace.
-
-"Your wife sends her love to you," said the doctor, on his return, "and
-bids you not fret about her. Here is the key."
-
-"Thank you, doctor. Give the key to this gentleman here," and Silwood
-with his eyes indicated that it should be given to Gilbert. This done,
-the doctor retired.
-
-"That key," Silwood resumed, "is the key of a compartment in the
-Minnesota Safety Deposit Vaults, in which you will find not only all the
-money, in the form of bank-notes, bonds payable to bearer, and other
-easily negotiable securities, that I owe to the firm of Eversleigh,
-Silwood and Eversleigh, but a good deal more than I owe."
-
-"Where are these Safety Deposit Vaults?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"In St. Paul," whispered Hankey, bending towards him.
-
-"Yes, in St. Paul," said Silwood, who had overheard.
-
-"And all the money is there in bonds and so forth?" asked Gilbert.
-
-"That and more, for I have made money. Always, always, all my life, have
-I longed to possess a great store of money; it was my passion--money,
-money, always money; always more money," said Silwood, with a passing
-gleam in his eyes; then a deep sigh escaped him. "You will find there is
-far more than enough to recoup the firm."
-
-Gilbert listened in amazement, revolving what manner of man this was to
-have acted as he had done through all these silent years.
-
-"And more than enough to pay that annuity to my wife and child," Silwood
-went on. "Now promise me once more that you will pay them what I have
-asked, and then I will tell you the whole story. Do you promise?"
-
-"Yes, I promise," said Gilbert.
-
-"Then my mind is at rest, so far as they are concerned. And all is
-well," said Silwood, as if he had never done anything wrong in his life.
-Then he began--
-
-"I do not know quite when the idea came to me of making myself master of
-the clients' money, but, as I told you, I ever burned to be rich. Your
-father was so easy-going and unsuspecting, and he trusted me so fully,
-that when the idea came it found quick lodgment in my thoughts. But what
-helped more than anything else, was that I was already leading a double
-life. I had married beneath me, as people would say; but the only
-moments of happiness I have had in my life connect themselves with my
-wife and child. It matters not how I met and came to marry her. No one
-of our class dreamed I was other than Cooper Silwood, solicitor, of
-Lincoln's Inn. But I was also James Russell at Stepney. I experienced no
-difficulty in being both; I had my disguise, and having also the keys of
-the two iron gates opening into Chancery Lane, at the top of Stone
-Buildings, I was able to let myself out or in at pleasure. To lead this
-double life was easy, I say; I even liked it. When the thought came to
-me of enriching myself at the expense of the clients, it occurred to me
-to make use of James Russell to assist Cooper Silwood. Do you
-understand?"
-
-"Yes. You purposed to transfer the securities to yourself as James
-Russell? In fact, that is what you did do, at any rate in part."
-
-"Yes; Cooper Silwood sold to James Russell," assented Silwood. "The plan
-worked well--worked well for years. Gradually I got possession of
-everything--save what was impossible for me to touch. And all that money
-and property I had converted into first-class bonds and shares payable
-to bearer, with one exception, a very important exception, when the
-letter came from Morris Thornton, telling us he was returning to
-England, and would make a formal examination of the securities we held
-of his. I was not prepared for it; my hand was forced. I had not meant
-to disappear until I had completed a certain negotiation--the exception
-to which I have just referred. It was more than possible, I thought,
-that Thornton would come before that negotiation was complete, in which
-case I might be in great danger. The more I thought about it, the
-greater the danger seemed. It was this that drove me to tell your father
-of the position to which I, as Cooper Silwood, had brought the firm. Of
-course, I said nothing to him about James Russell."
-
-"I don't quite follow you," said Gilbert. "Why did you tell my father at
-all?"
-
-"Because I wished him, being so friendly with Thornton, to hold Morris
-off until that negotiation was complete. Do you not understand? Suppose
-Thornton had come before my plans were ripe and asked for that
-examination, I believed your father would have been able to have stood
-him off for some time--long enough for me to get that matter settled to
-my liking. Now, do you see?"
-
-"Yes," said Gilbert, dryly, any pity he had felt for Silwood
-disappearing as he listened to this heartless statement. "What was this
-important negotiation of which you speak?"
-
-"I had sold some acres of land to a contractor, who had paid a heavy
-price for them," said Silwood, now speaking with the indifference of a
-man who is telling a story that has no longer any interest for him; "but
-I had to be content with getting half the price in cash and half in the
-form of a bill. The total amount was thirty thousand pounds, the bill
-was for fifteen thousand, and when we heard from Thornton it still had
-some time to run. I did not discount the bill, but put it in a chamber
-in that large japanned box you may remember seeing in my room."
-
-"The secret chamber!" exclaimed Gilbert.
-
-"You know of it?"
-
-"Did you not go one night to New Square not long ago, and open it?"
-
-"Yes; you know that! I went to get the bill--it was due next day."
-
-"I see. Well, you left the secret chamber open, and that showed us you
-were not dead, and put us on your track."
-
-Silwood's eyes flickered.
-
-"The spring would not work," he said. "It had baffled me very nearly
-once or twice before, but that time it baffled me altogether. So! so! I
-understand now why you came to St. Paul--it was the secret chamber which
-gave me away, which has brought me here."
-
-"Yes; I went to Italy," said Gilbert, "and Ucelli confessed the
-conspiracy you and he had entered into. He it was who told me that you
-and James Russell were one. James Russell was tracked to Liverpool, then
-to New York, and then to St. Paul."
-
-"What a pity I did not leave that bill alone!" said Silwood, quite
-calmly. "But I could not think of leaving fifteen thousand pounds behind
-me. That," he added, "you will find with the rest."
-
-"Did you cash the bill?"
-
-"Certainly, as James Russell, to whom it was payable."
-
-"How in the world," interjected Gilbert, "shall we be able to put all
-these matters right?"
-
-"There will be plenty of money," said Silwood, "for everybody. But let
-me get on with my story while I am able. I told you I put the bill for
-the fifteen thousand into the secret chamber. Of course I hoped Thornton
-would not come before it matured, or, if he did, that your father would
-find means to delay the investigation of his account. But your father on
-this point was firm; he said he would not deceive Thornton, though I
-pressed him more than once. When I saw I could not move him, I prepared
-to act alone. I gave out I was about to take a holiday--it was a holiday
-from which I had no intention to return--at least, not as Cooper
-Silwood. I meant to leave on a Saturday evening--I actually went on the
-Saturday morning ... and it was because of Thornton."
-
-"Of Morris Thornton?"
-
-"It was past midnight," said Silwood, "and I was getting ready to go to
-Stepney, when I heard steps coming up the stairs towards my rooms in
-Stone Buildings; the steps stopped at my door; some one knocked. I had
-no wish to open the door, for I was in my disguise, so I paid no
-attention to the sound.
-
-"'Whoever you are,' said a voice, 'I warn you to open the door, or I
-shall tell the porter to call the police. I saw you from Chancery Lane.
-Come, open at once!'
-
-"I glanced at my window, the one looking into Chancery Lane. By some
-frightful carelessness I had neglected to pull down the blind, and thus
-it was possible enough for the man to have seen me. But what did he
-want, I wondered?
-
-"'Open at once!' said the voice again; 'or it will be the worse for
-you.'
-
-"I was in a fix, but my best course seemed to be to let the man in; so I
-asked him to wait a moment, saying I was only half dressed. I hastily
-donned my wig, tore off my false moustache, and put on my ordinary coat
-and waistcoat. Then I opened the door.
-
-"'What is the matter?' I asked.
-
-"The man walked right into the room without speaking, and looked all
-round it, as if he was searching for some one. Then I saw who it was. It
-was Morris Thornton!
-
-"'What is the matter?' he repeated after me. 'That is what I ask you to
-tell me, Cooper Silwood.... I arrived in London yesterday, and was taken
-ill. Feeling better this evening, I came out to get some fresh air, and
-strolled down this way. I remembered where your rooms were, and glancing
-up at the lighted window saw a figure passing and repassing. I was
-certain it was not you. This was a bald man with a moustache.... I
-watched him for some minutes. Then I went down to the lodge and was let
-in, as I said I wished to see you on urgent business. Now here I am, and
-here you are! Did you know about this man being here--the man I saw? He
-gave me quite a start.'
-
-"I did not speak immediately, being somewhat flurried by the sudden
-appearance of Thornton. He now came quite close to me, and peered into
-my face. I saw he looked ill and greatly changed, and his hands were
-shaking. He went on peering into my face, so that I wondered why.
-
-"'What are you doing with that paint on your cheeks?' he asked.
-
-"I had forgotten the stain on my face--the stain that was part of my
-disguise. This question disconcerted me.
-
-"'Was it you, Cooper Silwood, that I saw? It was! It was! What does this
-mean?' he demanded, visibly agitated. 'You are not the kind of man who
-goes to a masked ball. One would think you were practising, rehearsing
-some part ... a disguise ... seeing how it would do ... but why,
-Silwood, why? One would think there was something wrong--that you were
-about to abscond.'
-
-"All this he said in jerky sentences, while his cheeks turned a horrible
-bluish purple. I recalled he had written to us that he was suffering
-from heart-disease, and I was alarmed for him.
-
-"'Calm yourself, Morris,' I said to him, soothingly, but with the
-opposite effect.
-
-"'Explain, explain!' he cried, in tones of great excitement, his body
-trembling the while.
-
-"My wits by this time had come back to me, and I assured him I had
-promised a young friend to go to a masked ball to take care of him--that
-was all; and that I could not but feel sorry he had caught me in the
-manner he had. In fact, I tried to laugh the matter off; but I failed to
-disarm his suspicions, which evidently had been keenly aroused. He sat
-down on a chair, breathing very heavily. I entreated him to return to
-his hotel, but he declined.
-
-"'Cooper Silwood,' he said, 'I do not believe you are telling me the
-truth. I do not believe this invention of yours about the masked ball.
-Again I tell you, you are not that kind of man.'
-
-"'You do not know what you are saying,' I protested, 'your illness----'
-
-"'Enough, enough!' he cried, jumping up. Then he stood for a moment
-struggling with himself as it were, clutched at his throat, staggered,
-and fell in a heap on the floor. I rushed forward to raise him, but he
-was already dead. When I saw he was dead, I was distraught. First I put
-on my disguise once more, and went forth into the night, reeling like a
-blind man. But a few minutes' thought induced me to return. I resolved
-to leave London by the earliest train, and did leave next morning."
-
-Exhausted by this long effort, Silwood ceased speaking. Gilbert never
-doubted Silwood had spoken the truth. Besides, he had noticed how in
-several points his statements were confirmed by the evidence at the
-inquest on Morris Thornton. The explanation of the Mystery of Lincoln's
-Inn was, after all, curiously simple, once the facts were known in their
-entirety.
-
-"I believe I have told you all," said Silwood, as Gilbert stood silently
-by his bed. "Is there anything you wish to ask me? If there is, ask it
-now, for I feel a dreadful weakness coming over me."
-
-As the man spoke, a shiver shook him from head to foot.
-
-"No. I think there is nothing else," said Gilbert, gently, his heart
-again softened.
-
-"You will not forget your promise about my wife and child?" Silwood
-asked eagerly.
-
-"I shall not."
-
-"They need never know who Cooper Silwood was, need they?"
-
-"Perhaps not," agreed Gilbert, but doubtingly.
-
-"If you can, let them believe I am none other than the James Russell
-they love, and who loves----"
-
-But Silwood's voice failed him; his eyes overflowed.
-
-"Let us go," said Gilbert to Hankey.
-
-"What an extraordinary man!" exclaimed Hankey to Gilbert, when they were
-in the open air. "Wonderfully bright, too, but he chose to run crooked,
-not straight. Yet there was good in the man--I suppose there is in every
-man."
-
-"He was an evil, wicked man," said Gilbert, speaking of Silwood as one
-already dead, "but he was not all evil, all wicked."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXVIII
-
-
-"What do you now intend to do?" asked the detective, after they had
-emerged from the hospital tent.
-
-"Go back to St. Paul by the first train," Gilbert replied, "and see what
-are the contents of that compartment in the Minnesota Safety Deposit
-Vaults. I don't doubt Silwood told the truth, but I wish to have his
-statement confirmed."
-
-"Naturally," remarked Hankey. "And after that?"
-
-"I think of asking you, if you can manage it, to come with me to St.
-Paul to-day. I should prefer to have you with me when I go to the Safety
-Deposit Vaults, where you are probably well known----"
-
-The detective nodded.
-
-"----thereafter, I propose that you should return here, and await
-events."
-
-"Till Silwood is dead, I suppose you mean. And then?"
-
-"Take care of Mrs. Russell and the child. If they wish to return to
-England, be kind enough to carry out their desire. You shall have enough
-funds from me for all purposes. If they elect to stay in this country, I
-want you to find them a home, and I will see that the income promised is
-remitted to you quarterly."
-
-"Very good," said the detective. "My business in this matter is your
-business. I'll go and see if there's a train southwards soon."
-
-But they had to wait some hours, and it was the morning of another day
-when they arrived in St. Paul.
-
-Gilbert and the detective went to the Minnesota Safety Deposit Vaults,
-and on their representing they had received the key of the compartment
-from James Russell, no objection was made to their entering the place,
-and withdrawing the papers from the receptacle in which they were
-deposited. On inspection these papers were found to consist of Bank of
-England notes, of various values from £100 to £1000, amounting in all to
-£40,000; of gold bonds of half a dozen different American railroads,
-each bond of the value of a thousand dollars, coming in the aggregate to
-nearly a quarter of a million sterling; of bonds of the United States
-Government for more than £200,000; and of miscellaneous securities, the
-grand total being upwards of half a million sterling. One feature of all
-these certificates, bonds, and shares, was they were all payable to
-bearer, just as Silwood had said, as also, of course, were the Bank of
-England notes.
-
-Half a million sterling!
-
-Such was the vast sum Cooper Silwood had accumulated at the expense of
-the clients of Eversleigh, Silwood and Eversleigh.
-
-Gilbert knew that the amount, roughly speaking, for which the firm was
-responsible was about £400,000. Here, then, was sufficient, and more, to
-satisfy all claims in full, and leave a good deal over for Mrs. James
-Russell and her son. Gilbert resolved that after the obligations of the
-firm were discharged, the balance should be placed in trust for her and
-the boy.
-
-Having come to this conclusion, Gilbert sent Hankey back to the scene of
-the catastrophe. Then he despatched a brief cable to his brother Ernest,
-saying, "Russell found. Property recovered. Returning." He was afraid to
-put more than these few words into the message, lest by some mischance
-they should fall into the wrong hands.
-
-Without delay, Gilbert left St. Paul for Chicago and New York, reaching
-the latter city in about forty hours safely. The possession of the
-equivalent of half a million in a bag, which he never for a moment let
-out of his sight, made him extremely anxious and uneasy. During the
-journey from St. Paul to New York he did not allow himself to sleep, but
-kept a determined eye on the bag. But no one suspected he was the bearer
-of such an amount of riches, and he passed comparatively unnoticed from
-start to finish.
-
-On reaching New York, he at once went to the office of the line by which
-he had come from England, and was pleased to hear that there was a ship
-going out that very day at two o'clock in the afternoon, and that he
-could sail on her if he wished. He replied that it would suit him
-admirably. After paying for his passage, he produced the bag, and
-inquired if it could be placed in the ship's strong room, to which
-assent was given. Gilbert now felt his mind was at rest.
-
-Yet during the voyage he was visited now and again by misgivings, as he
-had heard that even the strong rooms of Atlantic greyhounds have not
-always been burglar-proof. Then the ship was struck by a tempest in
-mid-ocean, and Gilbert was afraid both he and the treasure might go to
-the bottom. But at length the ship sailed into port, and there, at the
-side of the dock, was Ernest waiting for him.
-
-After the two brothers had embraced, and Ernest, in reply to Gilbert's
-inquiry, had told him their father was in much the same condition as
-when Gilbert had seen him last, he produced a cablegram, addressed to
-Gilbert, which had been received at the office in Lincoln's Inn some
-five days before.
-
-"It is about Silwood, I think," said Gilbert.
-
-The cablegram was from Hankey; it ran as follows--
-
-"Russell dead. Wife desires return England. Writing."
-
-"Silwood is dead," said Gilbert, briefly.
-
-"Dead! I never thought to hear that!" exclaimed Ernest.
-
-"I have much to tell you, Ernie; but wait until we are in the train.
-Besides, I must get a bag out of the ship's strong room. There may be
-some little delay over it; come with me."
-
-Gilbert went back to the ship, whence, a short time afterwards, he
-issued, bearing the precious bag.
-
-"Do you see this bag?" he said to his brother in a whisper. "It is worth
-half a million of money."
-
-"Gilbert!"
-
-"It is the truth; it contains Silwood's hoard."
-
-In silence the brothers passed into the train for London. Once it was
-well under way, Gilbert told Ernest all that had happened.
-
-"Fancy Silwood being so attached to his wife and child!" cried Ernest.
-"What a strange mixture he was! And now he is dead--really dead this
-time! What a colossal failure he made of his life! And yet he could not
-have carried out his schemes with the success he did achieve had he not
-been a man of remarkable ability."
-
-"Yes; but he has made others suffer. Think of father!"
-
-"Yes; and yourself, indirectly, and Kitty."
-
-"Any news of her?" asked Gilbert, wistfully.
-
-"No."
-
-"Have you been again to York to see Bennet?"
-
-"No; but Deakin, the local solicitor, has arranged for me to see him on
-Tuesday next."
-
-Then there fell a silence between the brothers. Ernest was thinking over
-what he had heard from Gilbert about Silwood and the recovery of the
-money and the bonds; while Gilbert dwelt sadly on the image of Kitty,
-wondering how she was bearing up and passing the time while Bennet lay
-in prison. Then his mind shifted to the consideration of what still lay
-before Ernest and himself.
-
-"There will be much to think of, much to do," he said to Ernest. "I mean
-with respect to winding up the affairs of the firm."
-
-"Is it necessary, do you think, to wind up its affairs?"
-
-"We must do something. What I thought was, that a letter to the clients
-should be drawn up, stating that, as Silwood is dead and father
-incapacitated by ill-health, the firm must be wound up; but that you--a
-son of Francis Eversleigh, who had been for some time associated with
-him in the business--proposed to begin a new business under the style of
-Eversleigh and Eversleigh, and would be glad to have the same
-confidence extended to you by the clients of the old firm as they had
-shown to Eversleigh, Silwood and Eversleigh. Something of that
-kind--that's what I thought."
-
-"Yes. There is one point," said Ernest, thoughtfully. "The properties
-Silwood sold, such as house property and land property; what is to be
-done about them?"
-
-"I don't think we need try to replace them. In all such cases, I would
-go to the particular clients themselves, tell them the truth, and offer
-full compensation. You must remember Silwood's hoard amounts to far more
-than the firm owes, and you are perfectly entitled to make every
-necessary use of it."
-
-When the brothers arrived in London, their first care was to take the
-half-million bag to their bank, where they deposited the money and left
-the bonds in the care of the manager. Then they went to Lincoln's Inn,
-and proceeded to draft the letter Gilbert had suggested. The following
-day these letters were despatched. One of them had a singular result; it
-was that which was addressed to Harry Bennet.
-
-The brothers had discussed what was to be done in his case, and had
-decided that, though Bennet had given a discharge to the firm, yet he
-must be paid the value of the property, Beauclerk Mansions, which
-Silwood had sold. So a special note had been placed at the foot of the
-letter sent him, apprizing him of their intention.
-
-At the same time a letter was sent to Deakin, the York solicitor,
-informing him that as the firm of Eversleigh, Silwood and Eversleigh was
-being wound up, owing to the continued ill health of the sole remaining
-partner, the firm could no longer act with him for Bennet, and further,
-that Mr. Gilbert Eversleigh had returned to them his brief in this case.
-
-The first result of this was that Deakin came rushing up to London. He
-had seen Bennet, who, wild with rage and defeated spite, had ordered him
-to go and see what was the meaning of this change of front on the part
-of the Eversleighs.
-
-"Mr. Bennet," said Deakin, "is the most reckless man I ever saw. He
-behaves like a lunatic, and says the most mad things. He tells me--of
-course, I know it is absurd--that he can send Mr. Francis Eversleigh to
-prison for embezzlement, and he demands again that Mr. Gilbert
-Eversleigh appear for him at his trial."
-
-It was Ernest Eversleigh to whom Deakin spoke. Ernest, acting on the
-advice of Gilbert, told Deakin in confidence as much of the facts as was
-necessary, winding up by saying--
-
-"My father, no doubt, might still be proceeded against, but he is out of
-his mind. Besides, I offer the fullest compensation. Taking these two
-things together, is there need to say more?"
-
-"I should say not," replied Deakin, without a moment's hesitation.
-
-And back Deakin went to York, and acquainted Bennet with what he had
-learned. For a time Bennet refused to believe what Deakin had told him
-about the recovery of the money from Silwood, but when at last he was
-convinced of it, he fell into a great surly silence, from which he could
-not be drawn. When Deakin spoke of obtaining the services of an eminent
-counsel for his defence, Bennet made no reply. Instead of giving way to
-anger, as he usually did when he heard anything that displeased him, he
-sat gloomy and sullen. After trying for ten minutes to get a word out
-of him, and failing, Deakin left the prison.
-
-Next morning he received a hurried summons to the Governor of the
-Prison's room, and there he heard that Bennet, in spite of the fact that
-he was constantly watched night and day, had somehow managed to open a
-vein in his arm and had bled to death in the night.
-
-"The warder, who was guarding him at the time," said the Governor, "saw
-him lying on his bed fast asleep, as he supposed; when it was daylight
-blood was noticed on the floor, and then it was found that Bennet was
-dead."
-
-"But how did he get an instrument with which to open a vein in his arm?"
-asked Deakin, aghast.
-
-"The surgeon says," answered the Governor, "that the vein was bitten
-open. The act was done with great determination. You saw him yesterday,
-I believe; was there anything in what you told him to account for the
-deed?"
-
-"I brought him news that greatly disappointed him, but nothing to
-account for this. Poor devil!"
-
-But Deakin did not know all.
-
-When Bennet's death became public, there were many who said he had
-cheated the gallows, and few mourned for the lost life and the career
-gone fatally wrong.
-
-Even Kitty Thornton, in her kind heart, could not sincerely say she was
-sorry he was dead. Indeed, in the years that came after, she never
-thought of Harry Bennet without growing quiet and pensive far beyond her
-wont, as she reflected how, in one way and another, she had been saved
-from him.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Gilbert Eversleigh and Kitty Thornton did not come together at once
-again--the shadow of Bennet lay between them, but in the course of time
-they did, as was inevitable.
-
-"When thou doest well unto thyself," said the satirist, "all men will
-speak well of thee."
-
-And Gilbert Eversleigh, the rising barrister, backed by the beauty and
-wealth of his wife, is spoken well of by all the world.
-
-The other side of life's double shield is to be seen at Ivydene, where
-there may be beheld, nursed and tended by a wife's unchanging love, and
-a daughter's unalterable affection, a white-haired, bent figure, from
-whose loose lips there comes the question, over and over again, "What
-o'clock is it? What o'clock is it?"
-
-
-THE END
-
-
-PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
-
-
-
-
-
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