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diff --git a/old/65850-0.txt b/old/65850-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c32e048..0000000 --- a/old/65850-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12642 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The House of Spies, by Warwick Deeping - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The House of Spies - -Author: Warwick Deeping - -Illustrator: A. C. Michael - -Release Date: July 16, 2021 [eBook #65850] -[Most recently updated: October 16, 2021] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Laura Natal Rodrigues at Free Literature (Images generously - made available by Hathi Trust Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE OF SPIES *** - -THE -HOUSE OF SPIES - - - - -BY - -WARWICK DEEPING - - - - -With Frontispiece in color by - -A. C. MICHAEL - - - - -New York - -Cassell & Company, Limited - -1913 - - - - -Copyright, 1913, by -CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited - - - - -CONTENTS -CHAPTER I -CHAPTER II -CHAPTER III -CHAPTER IV -CHAPTER V -CHAPTER VI -CHAPTER VII -CHAPTER VIII -CHAPTER IX -CHAPTER X -CHAPTER XI -CHAPTER XII -CHAPTER XIII -CHAPTER XIV -CHAPTER XV -CHAPTER XVI -CHAPTER XVII -CHAPTER XVIII -CHAPTER XIX -CHAPTER XX -CHAPTER XXI -CHAPTER XXII -CHAPTER XXIII -CHAPTER XXIV -CHAPTER XXV -CHAPTER XXVI -CHAPTER XXVII -CHAPTER XXVIII -CHAPTER XXIX -CHAPTER XXX -CHAPTER XXXI -CHAPTER XXXII -CHAPTER XXXIII -CHAPTER XXXIV -CHAPTER XXXV -CHAPTER XXXVI -CHAPTER XXXVII -CHAPTER XXXVIII -CHAPTER XXXIX -CHAPTER XL - - - - -The House of Spies - - -I - - -Jasper Benham tumbled out of bed, with the crack of a pistol-shot -splitting the silence of the night. Before him ran the long casement -window, each diamond pane a silver lozenge set in a frame of jet. -Moonlight came through and lay patterned upon the floor. - -"Master Jasper--Master Jasper----!" - -It was a plaintive howl from under the window, the voice of a man who -was afraid. - -"Master Jasper--horse-thieves in t' yard!" - -The lattice opened, and a pair of broad shoulders caught the moonlight. - -"What's this--Jack----?" - -John Bumpstead, the groom, was squeezing himself against the wall. - -"Dear Lord--sir--they've bruk into t' stable. Me and Jim Burgess tumbled -up to see what was wrong. We couldn't face pistols, sir. They be there -still, sir----" - -"What! The infernal rogues! Here, take the blunderbuss, Jack, and have a -blaze----" - -"Master Jasper--I dursn't----" - -"You're not man enough to scare rooks!" - -The figure disappeared from the window, and from the moonlit room came -the sounds of an active young man plunging furiously for his clothes. -Anything served; a frilled shirt, the red coat of a lieutenant of -volunteers thrown over a chair, a pair of riding-breeches and rough -boots. A hanger hung from the bed-post, and there was the blunderbuss in -the corner. Jasper Benham went down the oak stairs with the clattering -impetuosity of a boy playing hide-and-seek. He drew back the bolts of -the heavy porch door, and ran the oak bar out of its socket. - -Jack Bumpstead waited in the porch, with little coquettish flirts of -something white swaying in the draught. He had been valorously quick in -dressing, but his teeth chattered behind his thin beard. - -"Take the oak bar, Jack; it's a good cudgel. How many of them?" - -"May be a dozen." - -"Fudge! Where's Jim Jenner?" - -"I shouldn't like t' say, sir." - -"No doubt back in bed and under the sheets by this time! Shout--if you -can't fight, Jack; make a noise--anything. Come along." - -They skirted along the terrace, turned down by the yew hedge, and so by -the stone-paved passage between the bake-house and the great brick barn. -The passage was in deep shadow, and Jasper had no notion that a man was -lurking there till the yellow spurt of the powder in the priming-pan of -a pistol made him throw himself against the wall. The piece missed fire, -and the clatter of heavy boots over the stones betrayed what had become -of the man who had pulled the trigger. There was some shouting in the -stable yard, and the stamping of horses. One deep voice sent oaths -flying, the savage and impatient oaths of a man in a fluster. - -Jack Bumpstead had thrown himself flat on his face. He caught young -Benham by the ankle. - -"You shan't go for to be shot, master; they be some of Dan Stunt's -gang." - -"Let go--you fool!" - -"They don't mind God or devil, sir. Better for 'em to have the nags----" - -"Let go, Jack, or by Jove----" - -He twisted free and ran on into the yard in time to see a hustle of -horses crowding through the gateway into the moonlight. One fellow was -still lying across his horse's back with his legs dangling. Another sat -gaunt and erect, pistol raised, ready, like a big forefinger. - -Jasper's blunderbuss came up. He fired high, because of the horses, and -the belching mouth of the blunderbuss stabbed the night with flame. -Smoke hung for a moment, drifting away in wisps. The gateway had emptied -as though by magic, and in the place of the black knot of men and -horses, a strip of moonlit road was guarded by the two black, brick -pillars with their two stone balls. - -Jasper ran for the gate, shouting to Jack Bumpstead as he ran. - -"Get a lantern--get a lantern." - -Nothing lay in the roadway beyond the gate, no dark thing that squirmed -with leaden slugs burning in its body. A dark blur that moved broke the -white road across the paddock. Jasper watched it a moment with jaws set, -and then turned back into the yard. He was in an ugly temper, and even -the tail of Jack Bumpstead's shirt, flickering in doleful whiteness by -the stable door, flapped no laughter from him. A tinder-box was kept on -a window-ledge close to where the cord that held the great stable -lantern sloped down to a hook in the wall. The groom had groped for the -tinder-box and was trying to get a light, though his hands were shaking -so that he struck the flint with his knuckles more often than he struck -it with the steel. - -"The deuce, Jack! Here, give me the things!" - -From the loose-box at the far end of the stable came the whimpering of a -horse and the clatter of hoofs on the brick floor. - -"Why, they've left Devil Dick!" - -"Sure, Master Jasper, sure!" - -"That's luck, indeed!" - -John Bumpstead managed to get one of the sulphur-tipped matches alight. -Benham had lowered the great lantern and it dangled close by. The groom -put the match to the candle, and the yellow rays shooting between the -black bars showed four empty stalls littered with trampled straw. - -Benham pulled a wry face. - -"Confound the blackguards! Two cart-horses, and Peggy, and Brown Bob -gone. And they have left Devil Dick, the best of the whole bunch!" - -He went to the loose-box, and a warm nose was thrust over the door. The -horse's lips nibbled affectionately at his hand. - -"Jack, light that other lantern there. Run into the house and get me a -brace of pistols. You'll find them in the case on the oak chest in my -room. Run, man, run. I'll saddle Dick." - -"Sir----?" - -"Don't stand and stare, you fool! Do you think I'm going to let these -gentry go without a gallop! I may follow them up if I can't bring them -to action." - -In ten minutes Devil Dick was prancing sideways through the gateway, -carrying a bare-headed, bare-legged man with a pistol in each pocket. A -good square jaw, blue eyes, and a firm mouth are the points of a -youngster who does not fawn upon fate. Jasper Benham had been an -impudent young cub, a little laughing, keen-eyed imp who had been -whacked and cuffed into a sturdy, determined, brown-faced man. - -Jasper drew Devil Dick on to the grass and listened. The night was -still, with a gibbous moon sailing away up yonder, and a vague, -inconstant breeze murmuring occasionally in the trees and hedgerows. -Rush Heath House stood black and huge at Jasper's back. He listened to a -faint galloping rhythm coming like the noise of a stream running in the -distance. The moonlight shone on the deep-set eyes under the square -brows. - -"Tsst--Dick--on--lad." - -They started away through the paddock, and over the furze-covered slopes -of Rush Heath, the big black horse swinging smoothly between Jasper's -knees. Stones clinked in the road. The stunted thorns rushed by, -stretching out warning hands. In the damp places the rush tufts -splintered the moonlight like silver wires. The further woods were very -black upon the hillsides, and the fresh smell of the spring night was -tinged with the scent of the sea. - -Jasper galloped through Polecat Wood, on over Stubb's Common, and past -Flanders Farm into Lavender's Hole. At the top of the further hill he -drew in to listen, and heard something that heartened him and set his -blood a-spinning. There was good turf along the track over Stonehanger -Heath, and by the light of the moon he could see the fresh marks left by -the horses ahead. A lively imagination is needed for the making of a -coward, and Jasper Benham's shoulders were too sturdy to form a -squatting-place for fear. Devil Dick at a gallop was made for audacity, -pistol-shots, and the clashing of swords. - -"Scurvy thieves----!" - -The land was very wild here, rough wood and heathland rising toward -uplands that overlooked the sea. Stunted oaks and firs hung in black -tangles against the moon. Desolate furze-covered knolls heaved this way -and that, and the track plunged, twisted, and burrowed through thickets. -Even higher ground lay up yonder under the moon, a bluff ridge where the -trees had been blown all one way by the wind, and the furze rolled like -green breakers. - -Jasper saw the roof and chimneys of a house rising black against the -sky. He lost sight of it for a moment as the track curved under a rocky -bank where dwarf trees and brushwood broke the moonlight. Then the house -reappeared again upon the hilltop, a bleak house, parapeted, -square-windowed, with massive chimneys built for the roar of the wind. -Tattered thorns, oaks, and firs sheltered it on the north and the -south-west, and held out their arms to it as though it had tormented -them for years with some strange secret. The furze broke upon the very -walls of its terrace and garden. - -Jasper drew in, like a man challenged in the darkness. - -"Stonehanger! I had forgotten the old place!" - -He looked up at it, frowningly, as though it roused grim thoughts, -ghostly drifts of gossip that made folk draw nearer to the fire. - -"Who's there now? Bless me if I know! These horse-thieves----!" - -He took a pistol from his pocket and let Devil Dick advance at a walk. -The black house up yonder oppressed him. Such things had happened there. -It was as though it threw a shadow across his heart. - -What was that? Horses galloping! By George--what a fool he was to be -shying at a dark house like a nervous horse, while the gentry yonder -were going over the hill. Jasper urged Devil Dick to a trot. The track -was steep here, and littered with loose stones. - -But in chasing blackguards a man may forget to be on his guard against -the blackguards' tricks. At the spot where the grey stone wall of the -Stonehanger garden began a great yew threw its shadow across the road. -And a man leaning round the trunk of the tree, flashed a pistol at -Jasper, and then jumped into the road. - -"Take that--for being obstinate, and be darned to you!" - -Jasper was down in the road as quickly as the man, simply because Devil -Dick had swerved and thrown him, and left him lying on his back. The -horse-thief bent over Jasper with the butt-end of his pistol ready. A -superfluous precaution. Benham of Rush Heath lay as still as a stone, -and his horse had bolted down the road. - -The man spat, and nodded. - -"You lie nice and quiet there, lad. I should have liked your nag, but -the beast's bolted. Good-night to ye----" - -And he went off with a wave of the hat. - - - - -II - - -There was a light in Stonehanger House. It had flashed out suddenly in -one of the side windows, as though the black house had raised an eyelid -and looked out on the world with a sinister, yellow eye. - -The light disappeared from the window, and left the eastern side of the -house a mere dark surface. At the same moment a gust of wind came over -the hill from the sea. The stunted trees shook their fists at the house, -cursing it and bidding it beware. - -Then a door opened, and the light came out into the paved yard at the -back of Stonehanger. It flickered across toward the stable whose stone -roof was brushed by the boughs of a clump of firs. There was the sound -of some one hammering at a door, a hollow sound like blows struck with -the hilt of a sword upon the panelling covering some secret -hiding-place. - -The light approached the road, shooting yellow rays among the overgrown -laurels and hollies of the shrubbery inside the stone wall. There was a -gate here, with an arched stone bridge leading over the ditch to the -road. The gate was thrust open and the lantern held out at the end of a -white forearm. Ten yards away Jasper Benham lay flat on his back, one -arm flung out, the other twisted as though it were broken. The lantern -swayed uncertainly at the gate and then came down into the road. It -showed the white face and the slight figure of a girl, a red cloak flung -over her shoulders, her dress open at the throat. - -She stood and looked at the figure in the road as though she were -shrewdly afraid, and ready to reason with herself for being so. - -"Don't be a coward, Nance. You won't help any one by being afraid." - -She spoke the words aloud, in a mood to be reassured by the sound of her -own voice. - -"Can't you see that the man has a soldier's coat? The French may have -landed at last. You heard horses go by, and the sound of a pistol-shot." - -She moved forward and, holding the lantern shoulder-high, bent over the -man in the road. It was a pure coincidence that Benham opened his eyes -at the same moment, and blinked at the light that was within two feet of -his face. - -"Hallo!--O--my head!" - -He stirred, turned on one elbow, and fell back with a savage start of -pain. - -"Damnation, what's this? What have they done to my arm? Who--? I say--I -beg your pardon----!" - -Sudden sanity came into his eyes, and he lay and stared at the girl's -face. It seemed that these two were fascinated momentarily by each -other's eyes. Benham moistened his lips, and made an effort to explain -himself. - -"I must have had a crack on the head. Of course, what am I thinking of! -The scoundrel shot at me from behind a tree. Where's Dick? Can you see -anything of a horse?" - -She looked up and down the lane, and her eyes returned slowly to his -face. They were very solemn eyes, big and dark, like the eyes of a -southern woman. - -"I can't see any horse. Have the French landed----?" - -"The French?" - -"Yes." - -"Nothing so respectable. I was chasing horse-thieves, and one of them -shot me from behind that yew-tree. I'm Benham of Rush Heath." - -Her solemnity took the colour of compassion. - -"I'm sorry. And your poor arm there! No, don't move. I'm Nance Durrell, -and this is Stonehanger Lane." - -"Durrell! H'm. That fellow's bullet must have broken my right arm." - -"I heard horses galloping, and the sound of a pistol-shot. You see, I -was watching for father. And I couldn't wake David; he's stone deaf." - -"You live here then?" - -"Yes, at Stonehanger. Don't you know?" - -Jasper looked discomfited by his ignorance. - -"It's my head; this tumble has knocked my wits to pieces. I wonder if I -can get up." - -She put the lantern down, and they regarded each other with great -seriousness. - -"I don't know. There's your arm! And it has been bleeding." - -"Has it?" - -"Sssh--it must hurt!" - -"Well, I can't lie here in the road, can I?" - -"No." - -"I must get up--and home--somehow." - -She looked at him as though considering what was best to do. - -"I know. You ought to have your arm fastened to your side. I had my arm -broken once. I'll go in and get a scarf." - -She picked up the lantern and disappeared through the gate with beams of -light swinging about her in the darkness. As for Jasper Benham, his head -had cleared sufficiently to admit some measure of astonished curiosity. -Who were the Durrells, and how had they come to Stonehanger House, and -how was it he could not remember ever having heard the name? - -"Nance Durrell--Nance Durrell." - -He repeated it to himself as he lay under the shadow of the yew-tree, as -though the uttering of the name might help him to realise that he was -not dreaming in his bed at Rush Heath. No; the ground was solid, the yew -bough above him was solid, the pain in his arm was very real. And the -girl who called herself Nance Durrell? He found himself waiting -impatiently for her return, and watching the foliage of the shrubs for -the shine of her lantern. - -She was back again in the road, carrying a red scarf in one hand. - -"I had to hunt for it, or I should not have been so long." - -She put the lantern down, and knelt beside him, her lips parted, her -eyes full of her purpose. It struck Benham of a sudden that she must -have led a free and rather lonely life. She seemed ready to rely upon -herself, to meet responsibilities with the frank self-reliance of a girl -who has had to trust to her own hands. - -"Do you think you can sit up?" - -"Of course I can." - -"Wait; I'll help you. Hold your arm with your other hand." - -She drew herself behind him, and put her hands under his shoulders. - -"Now." - -He was up, with her hands still holding him, and her breath touching his -cheek. - -"Can you bear it?" - -"Yes." - -"Draw the arm across--so." - -"Phew--confound it! I'm sorry; it's nothing." - -"I know how it must hurt." - -The frank impulse toward sympathy in her voice sent a start of emotion -through him. He set his teeth as she bound the broken arm to his side -with the red scarf. There was a kind of pleasure in the pain. - -"What gentle hands you have." - -"Have I? There! How does that feel?" - -"Splendid." - -"Now I'll help you up." - -Whatever a man's pluck may be it cannot raise him above nature, or make -him independent of the ills of the flesh. Jasper Benham scrambled to his -feet to be smothered by a sudden fog of faintness that blotted out the -moonlight and set him groping with his hands. - -"I can't help it--but----" - -She understood what ailed him, and was practical in her compassion. - -"You're faint." - -Her hands steadied him. - -"Put your head down--just for a moment." - -He felt the grip of her strong young hands, and the thrill of it may -have helped his heart. - -"That's better." - -"Are you sure?" - -"Yes." - -She picked up the lantern and, holding it high, looked at him with frank -concern. - -"You can't get back to Rush Heath to-night." - -"I am afraid that's the truth." - -"You must come in here. I'll wake David somehow. He can go over to Rush -Heath as soon as it is light, and tell them to send a cart." - -"What a friend you are." - -She stood there in sudden forceful contrast to all the things feminine -that he had ever known. There was a sweet and brave directness about her -that challenged his manhood. Simple, chivalrous homage; some women win -such service with a word or a look. He bowed to her, and his heart bowed -with his body. - -"You are very good to me." - -"Good! What else could one do!" - -Everything about the grey, upland house seemed fashioned out of stone. -The paths and yard were paved with rough stones from the quarry; the -hall and passages floored with flagstones. Jasper Benham found himself -lying on a long couch under the window in a room that might have been -part of an old religious house. It was walled and vaulted with stone, -and the fireplace was a great yawning recess with carved pillars on each -side of it. - -Nance Durrell had gone to wake David Barfoot, the servant, who slept in -a room by the stable. Benham lay back with his head on the round squab, -and looked about him with the consenting curiosity of a man who dreams. -Who were the Durrells, and how had they come to Stonehanger, this grey -house, that for thirty years had been spoken of as a house of horror? -Benham was not an imaginative man, but this grey room with the huge yawn -of its fireplace filled him with a vague sense of eeriness and mystery. - -He heard footsteps crossing the paved hall. Nance reappeared with an -armful of wood. Her big, brown eyes ran over with laughter, the -mischievous and sparkling laughter of perfect health. - -"I have managed to wake David. We make him leave his window open, -because there is only one way of waking him." - -"Throwing stones----?" - -"I could only find the stable bucket--and I'm afraid I dropped it on -David's head." - -She put her wood down and, kneeling, stirred the heap of grey ash in the -fireplace. Her breath roused it to redness, and the twigs that she threw -on crackled with flame. Benham watched her as though the kindling of -that fire was one of the most wonderful things that he had ever seen. -The burning wood threw a warmth upon her, and made her black hair gleam. - -"Don't you love making a fire?" - -"Yes, when it is not at six o'clock on a winter morning." - -"Oh, I love that, too. It is so glorious to get warm." - -To Benham the whole adventure had been incredibly delightful. Only by -degrees did he become conscious of himself, of his bare legs, and the -general precipitation of his dress. But somehow these things did not -seem to matter. The girl had picked up the incidents of the night as -naturally as she would have gathered wind-blown apples out of the grass. - -"There's David." - -Sounds came from some far-off corner of the house. Nance disappeared, to -return with a skillet full of milk, a cup, and some bread and cheese on -a plate. - -"I am going to heat this milk for you." - -"You are taking too much trouble." - -"I should have to sit up--anyway. Father may return to-night. He was -coming by the night coach, and meant to walk from Battle." - -Jasper was seized with a desire to ask questions, but his finer -instincts smothered the desire. And in another minute she was holding -out the cup of milk to him with that solemn and intent look in her eyes. - -"You must get some sleep now. I shall have to keep awake by the fire, -and listen." - -"For Mr. Durrell? He will have a long tramp from Battle." - -"Yes. David never hears anything." - -"A useful man on occasions." - -"Does the arm hurt you much?" - -"No, nothing to speak of." - -She brought a rug from somewhere and threw it over him, and took the cup -when he had finished the milk. - -"I will put out the lantern. The firelight will do for me." - -She drew an arm-chair before the hearth, took some logs from the oak -log-box and piled them against the fire-back. Benham lay and watched her -out of the corners of his eyes. She sat herself down with the firelight -playing upon her black dress, and touching her throat and face. Perhaps -she had outwatched her own wakefulness, for presently she fell asleep, -her head resting against the chair back, her face turned toward the -window. - -Jasper Benham could not sleep. The aching of his broken arm, and a -feeling of restlessness kept him awake. Moreover, he was very conscious -of the nearness of the girl sleeping in the chair; and the alluring -strangeness of her white face seemed sharpened by his own pain. He -became feverish and nervously alert, unable to master the thoughts and -conjectures that made a whirligig of his brain. He began to question the -history of Stonehanger as a sick man busies himself with patterns on a -wall. Was it true that Inchbold had killed his wife here fifty years -ago? Was it true that two men had fought a duel to the death in this -very room? What of the tales told of the haunting horror of the house, a -horror that had emptied it and kept it empty for twenty years? Nance -Durrell, sleeping before the fire, seemed to contradict all this. The -ebbing and flowing of her breath between the red lips of youth might -exorcise such ghost tales. - -But Benham was very restless. The flicker of the firelight through the -vaulted room made a grim, fantastic shadow-play. There was a listening -silence about the house that made wakeful ears tingle with imaginary -sounds. Sometimes a log settled, and sent up a scattering of sparks. -More than once a gust of wind rattled the windows. - -Suddenly Benham turned his head. He had heard, or thought he had heard, -the ring of a horse's hoofs upon the stones of the court-yard. He -wondered for the moment whether he ought to wake Nance Durrell. - -Benham's eyes were turned toward the fire. He did not see something -white glide up toward the window. A face seemed to flatten itself -against the panes, and to be distorted by the crinkles in the glass. It -remained there for a few seconds, and then melted back into the night. - - - - -III - - -Two men were waiting in the stone porch that sheltered the yard-door at -Stonehanger. A third man crossed the yard with long, silent strides, and -joined the two who were waiting. He took one of them by the arm. - -"Over here--among the shrubs." - -They moved away into the moonlight, and along under the shadow of a -stone wall toward the wild tangle of the neglected garden. The man who -had spoken carried himself with a grand air that was spoilt by a -suggestion of swagger. He had restless eyes that threw rapid glances -from side to side. The man whom he held by the elbow had white hair and -a thin, sharp, eager face. The third fellow was a little tub of a -Frenchman, frog-faced, blue-chinned, and very fat. - -"Here, this path will do. Anthony Durrell, what shall you say if we are -trapped?" - -"What do you mean?" - -"For God's sake, sir, keep that squeaky voice of yours down in your -shoes! Pardon me, I am somewhat excited. There is a red-coat officer -lying at his ease upon your couch. He had covered himself with a rug, -but I got a glimpse of his red jacket. And Mademoiselle Nance is asleep -before the fire." - -The three men stood close together under the laurels and hollies, -whispering with their heads close, and speaking sometimes in French and -sometimes in English. The tall man seemed to take the lead. - -"Pest on it, Durrell; I have a mind to go back and shoot the man through -the window." - -"No--no--I will not countenance----" - -"There, there, am I a fool! The house may be full of red-coats. We have -got to find that out. Your daughter expects you?" - -"Yes." - -"Well, then, you must go and knock as boldly as any corporal. Jerome and -I can stay in the shadow by the porch. If the red-coat is alone, and -means mischief, we can deal with him. If he has men with him, they will -catch nothing but a respectable scholar returning after a journey to -London. It is lucky I left the horses in the quarry." - -Anthony Durrell fingered a prominent and bony chin. - -"I think you are right, Chevalier." - -"Tut, tut, it is plain as the moon. Jerome and I know where to bolt to -in case of trouble. Go and embrace your most charming daughter." - -Nance Durrell woke with a start, and her eyes met the eyes of Jasper -Benham. - -"I've been asleep!" - -"There is some one knocking." - -She was up instantly, and kindling a piece of stick at the fire she lit -the lantern. - -"It must be father." - -Nance went out, and Benham heard her shooting back the bolts of the -door. A man's cheery and exclamatory voice told of a home-coming. - -"Why, child, here we are--at last." - -"I am so glad you have come." - -"All well, all well?" - -"Yes. But we have had an adventure." - -"What--what!" - -"Let me take your cloak. Yes; a gentleman was shot at and wounded by -horse-thieves--in the lane. I had to help him in here. He is in the -parlour." - -"Bless my soul!" - -"Come in and see him." - -Benham sat up, the rug falling from him, as Nance Durrell and her father -entered the room. He saw a thin, narrow-shouldered man in black -regarding him with weak and red-lidded eyes. Anthony Durrell had one of -those narrow, hungry, aspiring faces, the face of a man whose desires -would never be satisfied. He might have been a bookman, a fanatic, or a -dreamer of dreams. - -He came in smiling, and the smile spoilt the dignity of his face. It -lifted the angles of the mouth too markedly, showed the gaps between the -teeth, and was too reminiscent of a snarl. - -"Good evening to you, sir." - -Benham had risen. He had the watchful look one sees in the eyes of a -young man who is brought into sudden contact with a personality that is -new and strange. - -"Miss Durrell has told you? Yes. I must say, sir, that I am vastly -grateful----" - -"Common courtesy, common kindness, Mr.----" - -"Benham of Rush Heath." - -"Mr. Benham. I hope you are not badly hurt." - -He rubbed his hands, and smiled with a sympathy that seemed ill at ease. - -"A broken arm, sir." - -"Indeed! That's bad." - -He looked fixedly at Benham, and then turned to Nance. - -"I commend you, my dear child. I am glad that we have been able to be of -service to Mr. Benham. What does the clock say? What, gone two! It seems -to me that it will be kinder to leave Mr. Benham undisturbed. You can -get me some supper in the kitchen, Nance. And then I think bed will be -very welcome." - -He stood a moment staring at the fire. The smile had died from his face -and left it cold and preoccupied. When he turned once more toward -Benham, the smile spread again over his face, unspontaneously, forced up -from within. - -"Mr. Benham, sir, I will not disturb you further. Make what use you -please of this room. Shall we decide to meet again in the morning?" - -He gave Jasper a stiff and constrained bow, and walked slowly from the -room. Nance followed him, but turned at the door. - -"Good night. Is there anything else you would like?" - -"No; only to thank you again." - -Her brown eyes smiled kindly at him as she closed the door. - -"Nance, dear." - -"Yes, father. David is in the kitchen." - -"Ah, send him to bed, and get me some supper. I have left my bag in the -porch. I had almost forgotten it." - -"I'll fetch it for you." - -"No, no; get me some milk heated. I feel rather chilled." - -And he left her with irritable precipitation. Durrell had no more than a -few hurried words with the two men who waited in the yard. He had closed -the door behind him, and spoke in a half-whisper. - -"No danger--I hope. It's a young man who was shot in the arm while -chasing horse-thieves. I will send the girl to bed, and then come back -for you." - -"Who is the man?" - -"A young Benham of Rush Heath." - -"Psst--damnably awkward----!" - -"I mustn't stay now." - -"Yes, get back." - -Half an hour passed before Nance took one of the brass candlesticks from -the mantelpiece and went up to bed, yawning behind her hand. David -Barfoot had been sent back to his room, and Anthony Durrell had -Stonehanger House to himself. - -The first thing he did was to take off his shoes, and go very cautiously -along the passage leading from the kitchen to the hall. A faint line of -light showed under the door of the room where Jasper Benham of Rush -Heath sat on the couch, swinging his heels. Durrell went softly to the -door and listened. The key was on the outside. He felt for it, and -turned it with the utmost caution. Yet the lock gave a faint click as -the catch shot home, and Durrell stood for three minutes, listening for -any sound in the room within. - -Durrell's ears satisfied him that all was quiet, though he would have -felt far from satisfied had he been able to see through the panels of -the door. Jasper had heard the click of the lock. He was sitting on the -couch, and staring intently at the door. Presently he crossed the room, -sliding his feet silently over the stones, and tried the door, only to -find it locked. - -"That's funny!" he said to himself; "it seems that the old fellow -doesn't trust me. What has he to be anxious about?" - -He turned and sat down in the chair in which Nance had fallen asleep. - -Anthony Durrell had opened the porch door, and was whispering to the men -in the porch. - -"Go round to the kitchen entry. Don't make a noise. Nance has only just -gone to her room." - -They disappeared into the darkness, and Durrell felt his way back toward -the kitchen, shutting the door that closed the passage from the hall. -Entering the kitchen, he drew the heavy stuff curtains across the -windows, and then let the two men in. - -"Don't talk too loud. The old house is solid--but I don't want Nance to -hear." - -Jerome the Frenchman glanced greedily at the bread and cheese on the -table, and drawing up a chair he pulled out a bottle of schnapps, and -began to eat and drink. The taller man smiled, and laid his cloak and -hat on a dresser. He stood six feet, held himself arrogantly, and looked -down at Durrell out of a pair of hard, brown, closely set eyes. He was -clean-shaven, and the skin of his face was harsh and red. His long, -straight nose had a curiously drooping tip, and two deep, vertical -furrows where it joined his forehead. The man had the air of an -aristocrat, and the easy and contemptuous manner of one who has seen too -much of life. - -"Durrell, I don't like this interlude. What's the fellow's tale?" - -"He says that he was chasing horse-thieves, and that one of them shot -him down yonder in the lane. Nance found him and brought him in." - -"A plague on the women! Pity is the devil! Where was he hit?" - -"In the arm." - -"Sure?" - -"It was bound up with a scarf, De Rothan." - -The Chevalier straightened himself, and gave a toss of the head. - -"I tell you what I think, Durrell--the man's a spy. I know young Benham. -He is just the man they would choose to play a bluff, downright part. -They may have suspicions. Who tied up the arm?" - -"Nance." - -"The devil! There you are! What do you mean by having a pretty daughter! -Even if this is no spying trick, the booby may give us trouble. David -should have had the job. You never know what a pair of soft eyes and -hands will do." - -Durrell looked troubled. - -"But, Chevalier----" - -"Yes, yes; it is accursedly awkward whichever way we look." - -Jerome, his mouth full of bread, threw a suggestion into the air. - -"Shoot the dog." - -De Rothan laughed, sat on the edge of the table, and reached for -Jerome's bottle of schnapps. - -"You are a wise fellow, Jerome, always loading up against emergencies. -But you are a little too rough in your methods. Strategy does it. I -shall have my eyes on Mr. Benham." - -"A snap of the fingers for him, then," said the Frenchman with a grin. - -Durrell brooded, staring at the fire. - -"The boat will not come ashore till to-morrow after dark, and then only -if we give the signal." - -"Yes; you will have to pack us in the attics, and get that fellow out of -the house." - -"Early." - -"And take a ramble to the quarry." - -"Yes, yes; no doubt." - -Durrell answered irritably, like a man oppressed by a crowd of cares. - -"The girl must be asleep by now." - -"Very well. Away to the rookery. Bring that bread and cheese along with -you, Jerome. I have only talked as yet." - -Durrell took the lantern and went out into the passage. He was away for -about five minutes. Then they saw him standing in the doorway, -beckoning. - -The two men drew off their boots and gathered their belongings. They -followed Anthony Durrell up the oak stairs to the attic story of -Stonehanger House. - - - - -IV - - -Jasper Benham lay on the couch under the window and watched the dawn -come up over the sea. - -It was a stealthy creeping of tawny light into the sky, a rising of blue -hills and headlands, dim, huge, and distant against the broadening East. -The vague grey sea became a sheet of amethyst crossed by a band of gold. -Birds were piping in the ragged thorn-trees upon Stonehanger Hill. A -sense of wonder seemed to sweep across the land, touching the hills with -splendour, and leaving the valleys full of a shadowy awe. - -The breaking of the day was a relief to Jasper after a restless and -pain-haunted night. He had come by odd snatches of sleep, but the -starting of the broken arm had always awakened him, and left him at the -mercy of his thoughts. The great, grey room, lit by the faint glow of -the dying fire, had filled him with restless and unreasoning distrust. - -He raised himself slowly on the couch, and his head swam with the fall -of the previous night when Devil Dick had thrown him in the lane. Yet -faint and dizzy as he was, the view from the window astonished him. From -the Stonehanger uplands, wild, furze-clad slopes melted into the -green-tinged browns of the April woods. Nearly the whole coast from -Hastings to Beachy Head was visible. Pevensey Bay was a great half-moon -of silver cutting into the green flats of the Level. The dim blue sky -met the dim blue sea. Along the rim of Pevensey Bay were dotted little -round pillars, the distant martello towers with the black mouths of -their twenty-four-pounders waiting for Napoleon and the French. - -Benham knelt on the couch and gazed. He had heard vague movements about -the house. A door had opened somewhere, and footsteps descended the -stairs. - -Then a girl's voice sounded out yonder amid the furze. - -"Coop--coop--come along." - -Jasper saw her drifting against the dawn, her black hair doubly black, -her forearms bare to the elbow, her short skirt showing her feet and -ankles. A kind of rough terrace garden, half grass, half paved path, ran -along the front of the house. There were rose-beds in the grass, and the -two old yews rose blackly above the parapet of the terrace wall. Nance -was on the furze-land beyond, where the ground fell away toward the -south. - -A brown cow came into view. It passed Nance, and, like a creature of -habit, followed a path that led to the yard. The girl had turned, and -was looking at the windows of Stonehanger. A flight of rough steps went -up to the terrace. She mounted them, and crossed the grass toward the -windows of the parlour. - -Benham, kneeling there, unfastened the lattice and thrust it open. Nance -Durrell was quite close, and a kind of warmth went over her face. Her -eyes had the dewiness of the dawn. - -"You are awake." - -"The morning is worth it." - -She rested her hands on the window-ledge, and looked in at him with -frank intentness. - -"I'm sorry." - -"Sorry!" - -"You have had a bad night of it. I can see that. The arm has been -hurting you." - -"A little." - -"More than a little. Perhaps I did not bind it up tightly enough." - -To Jasper Benham her compassion seemed very wonderful. What did it -matter to her that he had suffered. - -"You could not have done more for me. To tell the truth, I am glad that -fellow shot me under the yew." - -"How do you manage to be glad?" - -"Well--otherwise, I should not have spent a night at Stonehanger, and -come by such a friend." - -Her red mouth smiled at him, and her eyes were the eyes of a tease. - -"If you set out to make all your friends by being shot at--or getting -hurt----!" - -"I should not go as far as that--for most people." - -He laughed, to carry off his rush of earnestness. - -"You see, some things are worth bearing. I am not a fool. I say what I -mean." - -Nance looked at him as though she were puzzled. She dropped her hands -from the window-ledge, but her eyes did not avoid Benham's. - -"We have sent David off to Rush Heath. I must go and milk Jenny." - -He was about to ask her to let him join her when he remembered the -locked door. The memory jarred the impulsive delight of the moment. -Nance had turned, and he saw her clear profile against the sky. He could -find nothing to say to her, and that short silence seemed the fatal -break between an enchanted dawn and the prosaic day. - -Overhead the lattice of an attic window had been opened noiselessly, and -a man's head thrust out. He had been listening to Nance Durrell and -Jasper talking at the window below. Nor had the incident pleased him, to -judge by the stiff and cynical smile upon his face. - -Jasper Benham was still kneeling on the couch when he heard footsteps in -the hall, and the sound of the key being turned cautiously in the lock. -The door opened, and Anthony Durrell's white head and thin, visionary -face appeared in the opening. - -"Good morning, Mr. Benham." - -Jasper had turned with a queer feeling of distaste. - -"Good morning, sir." - -Durrell moved in, glancing about the room, and rubbing his hands -together. - -"I hope that you have had a passable night?" - -"I am obliged by all your kindness." - -"Do not speak of it, Mr. Benham. In half an hour we will bring you some -breakfast. My man has gone off to Rush Heath. If you will excuse me, I -will light the fire." - -He disappeared, and returned with a bundle of wood, a lighted candle, -and some paper. Benham sat on the edge of the couch and watched him. He -had grown intensely curious about Mr. Anthony Durrell. The man seemed -part and parcel of Stonehanger, with his restless reserve and his -sidelong glances. - -Durrell knelt down by the hearth. - -"A scholar, Mr. Benham, has to do many things with his hands. We who are -wedded to knowledge have to serve as menials, not only as priests." - -Jasper eyed him reflectively. - -"You find Stonehanger a quiet place?" - -Durrell glanced over his shoulder, and his pointed chin looked sharp and -forbidding. - -"Exquisitely quiet, sir, for me and my books. And the rent is low, a -matter of consideration to a scholar. I have tried many places in my -time--towns, villages, watering-places. Pah! Distractions everywhere. -One of the most difficult things in the world, sir, is to get away from -noise and from fools." - -He had lit the fire when Nance came in carrying a tray full of breakfast -things. Anthony Durrell looked at her with a morose hardening of the -face. - -"Nance, I will set the table. Go and look after the milk and eggs." - -He wanted Nance and Jasper Benham apart. The Chevalier de Rothan's hint -had been sufficient. - -It was nine o'clock when Jack Bumpstead brought the light wagon into -Stonehanger yard, with two of Farmer Crowhurst's horses borrowed for the -morning. David Barfoot climbed out. The bottom of the wagon was littered -with straw. - -When Jasper appeared in the yard, with Durrell walking beside him, Jack -Bumpstead joggled his hat, and grinned like a man who had had the best -of a bargain. - -"Mornin', master; glad I be to see ye alive!" - -They had helped Benham into the wagon when Nance came into the yard, -carrying a faded, chintz-covered cushion. Jack Bumpstead's blue eyes -fixed her with the true Sussex stare. - -"You must take this cushion. You can put it under your head when you are -lying down." - -She tossed it into the wagon, and Jasper caught a glimpse of her -father's sulky face. - -"I'll take the cushion, and return it." - -"It's not very new." - -"A piece of rubbish, sir. Never waste a man's time sending it back to -Stonehanger." - -"I may bring it back myself, some day; and this scarf, too." - -Durrell looked at him with a grim twinkle. - -"I am a bit of a character, Mr. Benham. When I am among my books I -sometimes stay among them for days. I have a prejudice against being -interrupted, nor can I promise you my company if you call." - -It was a blunt hint, bluntly given. Durrell was not fool enough to -pretend that a young man would ride five miles to chop logic with a -scholar. Nor was Benham fool enough to miss the elder man's meaning. - -Jack Bumpstead turned the horses, and the wagon jolted over the stones -of the yard. Benham leaned forward as he sat in the straw, and looked at -Nance over the lowered tail-board of the wagon. Her eyes seemed to -follow his, and she was smiling. - -"Good-bye. I shall always be grateful." - -He could say no more, because of the sour face of her father. - -A dormer window projected from the northern slope of the roof of -Stonehanger, and at the window, whose dusty glass rendered anything -inside it invisible from without, stood the Chevalier de Rothan. He had -cleansed one diamond pane with the tip of a long forefinger, and was -looking down with cynical amusement at the scene in the yard. He watched -Nance Durrell and he watched Benham, and the ends of his mouth lifted -contemptuously. - -"Good-day, Mr. Jasper Benham. It may be an unlucky chance that brought -you to Stonehanger. Well, we shall see!" - -He took a silver snuff-box from his pocket, lifted the lid, and took -snuff with elaborate unction, flickering his fingers under his nose. - -"If young fools get in a great man's way, they must suffer. Stuck like a -lark on a spit, eh! Be damned to you, my Sussex squireling! My pretty -Nance, too! I had my eyes on her long before you, my friend. You know -me, and yet you do not know me. You may know me better some day, not far -hence!" - -The man Jerome rose from the edge of a truckle-bed, and came yawning to -the window. - -"I wonder when the old philosopher will be able to smuggle us up some -breakfast. What's all the talk about, monsieur?" - -"Jerome, you are a greedy animal. One seldom has a chance to talk to a -genius in this world. That is why I so often talk to myself." - -"What's that? A wagon going out of the gate." - -The Frenchman had spat upon the window, and was cleaning a peep-hole -with his thumb. - -"Yes; taking a calf home. Do you like veal, Jerome? I have an idea that -the calf yonder will never make good beef!" - - - - -V - - -Parson Goffin and old Christopher Benham had dined together, and sat -facing each other on either side of the fire. - -Kit Benham was past sixty, and had drunk himself into premature dotage. -A pursy, ponderous, florid man, he could do little more than sit in his -padded chair, smoke interminable pipes, and drink perpetual beer. He was -a gross man, who could hardly speak without uttering all manner of -quaint and ingenious oaths. Already his legs were swollen with dropsy, -and they were propped on a joint stool as he fumed and pulled at his -pipe. - -"Four horses, Parson; four blazing, burning, heaven-forsaken beasts -pinched by eternally accursed, skunk-livered, black-mouthed thieves! My -lad shot in the arm, too, and abed, with old Blister of Battle running -up a bill! Tell me to be an addle-brained, pond-waterweed of a -Christian! Grrrh!" - -The great thing about Parson Goffin was his gout. He was a knobbly man, -the colour of leather, and he always sat with his knees drawn up and his -bumpy feet tucked away under his chair as though he dreaded having them -trodden on. Goffin might have been in the habit of using Cayenne pepper -in place of snuff, for his nose looked so angry. Gout had made him -explosive, yet this explosiveness suited the neighbourhood. It threw him -into sympathy with his surroundings, and made him popular with the -hot-tongued squires and farmers. Goffin was the very man for a -grievance. He took it as a dog takes a rat, crunched it, shook it to and -fro, not indeed to kill, but out of sympathy for the aggrieved friend. - -"They will catch the rogues, sir; catch them and hang them." - -Kit Benham flourished his pipe. - -"By old Nick's bones, Parson, that's just what they won't do. We are -driven clear crazy by these infernal French. All the oafs in the county -are standing and gaping all day at the sea. And all the flea-bitten -scoundrels in the county rob and do just as they please." - -"Yes, sir; perhaps in this world, sir. But think how they will burn in -the next!" - -"I should like to see it, Goffin, by all the lies of Ananias--I should -like to see it!" - -"They'll all sizzle, sir--just like apples." - -Christopher Benham expanded his nostrils. - -"To smell 'm singeing! Dear heart--I'd be ready to go there myself, -surely! Thank God, sir, there is a hell." - -"Thank God, sir, indeed. Think of all the thieves there ever were going -up in glorious black smoke." - -"Don't, sir--don't--Goffin! The thought of it makes me too infernally -excited." - -"Happy, you mean, sir. Hallo now, I hear wheels on the drive." - -A green curricle had swept up past the cedars on the lawn, and drawn up -outside the house. Jack Bumpstead came running from somewhere, pulling -an eager forelock. A young woman with a rather sallow face, and a short, -upturned nose, threw Jack the reins. She had blue eyes that stared, and -a quick, masterful manner. A prim little bonnet caressed the neat plaits -of her reddish hair. - -"Lucky there are any springs left to the carriage, Jack! These -by-roads!" - -"Ah, miss, you oughtn't to take her off t' main road, sure-ly!" - -"Squire Christopher in? And Master Jasper? Yes, I have heard all about -it, Jack--all, thank you." - -"Parson Goffin be with the squire in the oak parlour." - -"Oh, is he! I thought I saw flames coming out of the chimney!" - -Into the oak parlour marched this brisk and urgent young woman with her -queer blending of piety and worldliness. Parson Goffin rose stiffly and -made her a formal bow. Mr. Christopher Benham pointed with his pipe stem -at the legs reposing on the stool. - -"Laid up, see. Can't move. Goffin can do the bowing. Well, young woman, -you look too fat." - -"Mr. Goffin, do you agree with my uncle?" - -"I never interfere between relatives, Miss Benham." - -"Oh, don't you! So Jasper has been getting into the wars. Four horses, -was it? Lucky that Devil Dick came back. I hear some people at -Stonehanger took pity on Jasper. Durrell or Darrell or Barrell or -something. Who are they?" - -Christopher Benham looked at her irritably. - -"Just like her mother; talks like a water-wheel. Don't ask me, girl, how -should I know? Ask the parson, he knows everybody's business." - -Mr. Goffin grinned, and showed his tobacco-blackened teeth. - -"Durrell is the name, Miss Benham. They are queer folk, I hear. The man -is a bookworm, deist, encyclopædist, atheist, anything you like. I -don't know much about them. No one does. This Durrell put it about that -he wanted to be left alone. He is." - -Mr. Goffin took snuff and sneezed, turning his angry nose toward the -fire. - -"Then it was the girl who picked Jasper out of the road?" - -"The girl! Thunder and cabbages, the lad never told us that." - -Kit Benham heaved with laughter. - -"A girl, was there? Oh, the rogue! I know nothing about it. You had -better ask Jasper. May old Nick boil my marrow-bones----" - -Rose Benham had her Methodist face--for the moment. - -"Uncle Christopher, when will you learn to be clean in your speech?" - -"What!" - -"It is contemptible, at your age." - -"Thunder and lightning, can't I swear in my own house? Here's Goffin, -too; he's a good judge of language. You go and see Jasper. He's in bed." - -"I will." - -She left Parson Goffin and her uncle staring at each other. Then Squire -Kit spluttered: - -"If that girl hadn't got a thousand a year of her own, hang, draw, and -quarter me if I'd----" - -"Ssh, sir; ssh! She is your brother's daughter." - -"Bah, she's not! She's his cat-faced wife's cat-clawed daughter! They -killed poor Nat between 'em with their little goody books and their -snuffle." - -Rose Benham had climbed the broad stairs, noticing a number of trivial -things, such as dust on the bannister rail, and cobwebs in some of the -corners. Jasper was lying asleep in the oak four-poster when his cousin -knocked at the door. - -He woke out of the thick of a dream, to hear Rose's metallic voice -calling: - -"Jasper, can I come in?" - -They had been children together, but no such thing as false modesty -would have kept Rose Benham out of her cousin's room. She entered -breezily, without a fleck of colour on her cheeks, her blue eyes full of -a frank, intimate interest. Three years older than Jasper, she still -treated him as a boy. - -"This is a nice affair! Getting shot when you are wanted to drill your -volunteers on the green of a Sunday. Not that I can call them anything -but a lot of waddling ducks. And you have had old Blister Doddington, -have you? I hope he was sober. And you are sure he has set your arm -properly?" - -Her pale-blue eyes and her reddish hair seemed to tone with her brisk -self-confidence. Rose Benham knew what she expected of life, and she -meant life to satisfy her expectations. Whisking a rush-bottomed chair -from a corner, she sat down beside the bed, talking the whole time. She -was one of those women who overwhelm the world with words. - -"Well, what an adventure! And how does it feel to be picked up out of -the road by a young woman? Yes, I have heard all about it." - -She laughed her quick, harsh laugh. - -"Don't look at me as if such things happened every day! You men, you -take everything for granted. And here am I dying to hear all about it. -Cousin Rose has a right to know, hasn't she?" - -There was a subtle suggestion of ownership in the way she put out a hand -and smoothed the pillow. Jasper was not wholly the boy cousin to her. He -was the man she had determined to marry. - -Jasper looked bothered. Rose had such a way of driving people into a -corner. - -"There is nothing to tell. One of the rogues waited for me in the dark, -and shot me in Stonehanger Lane. They just helped me into the house, and -I spent the night there. Jack fetched me in the wagon yesterday -morning." - -She grew caressing, and a caressing mood never suited her. She was too -thin, too hard about the eyes. - -"Now, Jasper, you know----" - -"What do you want me to tell you, Rose?" - -"Why, everything. Dear lad, do you think it is nothing?" - -"I'm not dead, or likely to be." - -Their eyes met. There was something in Jasper's that repulsed the girl. -She stiffened, and withdrew her hand. - -"You know, Jasper, these things sometimes come to us from above. They -are messages, divine warnings." - -It was her doctrinal phase, and she had inherited it from her mother. -Jasper glanced at her uneasily, and then stared at the window. He had -never realised it so vividly before that Rose talked to him as though he -belonged to her. - -"It pulls a man up, and makes him think." - -"Yes; only men will put off the thinking. Though I don't believe you are -that sort of man, Jasper. You are steady, and sensible, and I know you -read your Bible." - -Jasper turned restlessly on the pillow. Her cool way of discussing him -to himself, of approving and disapproving as though she had a kind of -authority, had always rather amused him. Whether some new intelligence -had come to him in the course of two days, he could not tell. One thing -he did know. He had discovered a sudden new significance in his cousin's -attitude toward himself. - -"I'm afraid I'm a stupid fool, Rose. I still have a head from that bump -in the road." - -"Poor Jasper!" - -Her hand came out, and for the moment there was something very like -repulsion in Jasper's eyes. - -"Now, I won't chatter any longer. Go to sleep. I will draw the curtains. -There, lad. And now I will go and have a talk with Uncle Christopher." - -Said Squire Christopher to the parson when the green curricle had driven -off along the road across the paddock: "There's a hell-cat for you, -Goffin; preach at you or scratch your face--whichever you please. The -image of her dear mother. She means to marry lad Jasper." - -The parson refilled his pipe. - -"What have you to say to that, sir?" - -"If Jasper cares to be caught, I shan't meddle. What's more, one woman's -very like another. I don't believe in a man marrying the woman he's in -love with." - -"But, Mr. Benham--sir!" - -"What! You don't see how it works? Why, sir, marry a woman you dislike -and you will always be in love with some charmer who won't nag your head -off. A man ought to go out loving as he goes out hunting; it's a sour, -dull sport in your own yard. Poor Nat was ruled by his wife. But -Jasper's got grit. Maybe he'd tame Miss Rose. And don't you see, Goffin, -there's something in a thousand a year and more to come! You don't -expect good looks and a sweet temper when you get so much cash." - -As for the two people under discussion, Rose had driven off with a -tightly shut mouth and three lines of thought across her forehead, while -Jasper lay abed with a chafed and uneasy conscience. Generous men are -always inclined to be severe upon themselves, when some unforeseen clash -of the emotions makes them look at life very seriously. Jasper was -puzzled with regard to Rose, and angry with himself. Had he been blind, -and missed seeing things that had been very visible to others? - -One thing he did know. He was haunted perpetually by the face and voice -of Nance Durrell. - -As for Nance herself, the sun shone on her as she sat on the stone -parapet of the terrace garden at Stonehanger, and looked toward the sea. -Nance had developed a passion for gardening, and had adventurously set -herself to grow flowers in that wind-swept upland garden. She had made -old David dig her a broad border at the edge of the stone path, and she -had searched the overrun garden at the back of the house for stray -plants that had managed to survive the weeds. Old David had bought her a -few roots from some of the cottages at Rookhurst, and Nance had pansies, -sweetwilliams, pinks, foxgloves, lavender, and a few roses ready to -bloom in the coming summer. Several clumps of daffodils waved their -golden heads in the wind. A rake, a trowel, and a wooden trug lay on the -grass beside her. Her hands were brown with soil, and she sat and forgot -for a moment that such things as flowers existed. - -She was thinking of Jasper Benham, and wondering how he did with his -broken arm. His brown face, square jaw, and steady blue eyes had seemed -very pleasant to her. Something in him had called to her own youth. - -Her father's voice startled her from her reverie. He was looking out of -an upper window, the window of his study, the wind blowing his white -hair over his forehead. - -"Nance." - -"Yes, father." - -"What are you idling there for, child?" - -"I wasn't idling--I was thinking." - -"Oh, and what may these most serious thoughts be?" - -His morose and peering curiosity puzzled her, but she was quite frank in -her answering. - -"I was wondering how Mr. Benham is?" - -"Tssh--do you call that thinking! Go in and brew me some tea." - - - - -VI - - -Jasper Benham grew very restless those April days, though he moved in a -cool, green world, and saw the primroses starring the banks of the -paddock, and Squire Kit's Dutch tulips opening their cups of crimson and -gold. The "cuckoo's mate" had come, and called plaintively in the -oak-trees. The grass in the orchard was the colour of emeralds, and the -fruit-buds were opening against the blue. - -Jasper was restless, adventurous, obstinate, and Surgeon Doddington -protested. He was a little, purplish man with a huge, bald head, who -talked very fast and spluttered as he talked. A wag had once watched -Surgeon Doddington with extreme attention for fully five minutes, and -then explained that he had been waiting to see him blow up. - -"Stuff and nonsense, Mr. Benham, I'll not be responsible, not for a -moment, not for a moment. Ride that beast of a horse of yours, indeed! -Captain Curtiss can drill the men. Your arm's more important than the -way twenty bumpkins turn their toes out." - -"You are not a patriot, Mr. Doddington!" - -"Yes I am, sir--yes I am, sir; but I'm a surgeon, too, sir," and he -ended with a sizzle. - -It was of no avail. Possibly Jasper needed an excuse, and meant to have -one at all costs. Sunday saw him on Devil Dick's back, his arm slung in -a red sash, bound for Battle town and the Sabbath parade. - -There was quite a gay gathering on the green close to the Abbey gate. -The gentry were there, fresh from their pews in church; the "regulars" -quartered in the town were there; Captain Curtiss was there on his big -white horse. For with Napoleon's great army of invasion camped ready at -Boulogne, all Sussex was dotted with red-coats. Each town and townlet -had its gallant fellows ready with pikes and firelocks. There were the -camps at Brighton and at Eastbourne, and guns gaping everywhere, black -muzzles toward the sea. Red-coats were quartered at Hastings, Battle, -Pevensey, Hailsham, Lewes, Seaford, Worthing, Arundel, Chichester, and -at many places more. Hanoverians had held Bexhill. There were the -Yeomanry, the Sea Fencibles, the Fencible Cavalry, the Volunteer corps, -and in the west the Duke of Richmond's Volunteer Horse Artillery. All -eyes were on the Channel, and many people's hearts were in their mouths. - -That April Sunday the volunteers of Battle town and the neighbouring -villages were drawn up on the green facing the Abbey gate. An old -sergeant of regulars with a lame leg and a peppery red face was limping -to and fro. Captain Curtiss sat silently superb upon his big white -horse. The gentry chatted and looked important. The lesser folk bunched -together in groups and enjoyed themselves in a stolid, staring way. - -Near the old-timbered guest-house Rose Benham sat in her green curricle. -Dick Mumfit had drawn up his nag beside the curricle, and was showing -his teeth, which meant that he was making idiotic puns, and marching out -all the stale jokes that had lived a vagrant life for years in the -county of Sussex. - -"'Tention. Shoulder arms." - -Up went the muskets, one of them topped by a disreputable beaver hat. - -"Damn 'ee, Sam Mepham, this be t' second time yuv scraped m' noddle wid -yer musket. Sergeant! He'll be for shootin' me, sure-ly!" - -"Silence in the ranks!" - -"He fetched her under m' jaw time afore." - -"Silence! Lower that hat. Private Mepham, you're a dashed, flat-footed, -camel-backed clod, sir. D'yer hear? Now. Satan help me--did I say -'ground arms'? Of all the----! Now, what are ye all staring at? -Lieutenant Benham wid his arm in a sash? Hi, some one bring me a rattle, -to keep the poor babies to attention. Just look at the 'reg'lars.' -They're laughin' their belts undone." - -Patriotism or no patriotism, every one appeared to be laughing save the -much-tried sergeant and the stately Curtiss on his white horse. Jasper -caught Rose Benham's eyes. She beckoned him to come to her. - -"You wicked lad, how dare you be so rash----!" - -"Well, I was sick of Rush Heath." - -She challenged him with her shallow eyes. - -"Now--I know why you came." - -"Do you?" - -"Yes; but I shall not confess. Me--oh, no. Wouldn't you like to let one -of the men hold your horse, and come and rest in the carriage. You won't -have to drill the boobies. Look at Jeremy Curtiss. All he has to do is -to look grand. Poor old cock-a-doodle-do, there, with the lame foot, -does everything." - -Jasper was posed. He had no desire to place himself conspicuously beside -Cousin Rose. - -"I can see better here. I want to see how the men handle their muskets." - -"Oh you wicked deceiver. You want all the women to say: 'There's Jasper -Benham with his broken arm. Doesn't he look handsome?' I caught Kitty -Lavender--you know, the pretty, dark one--simply languishing at you just -now." - -Jasper said: "Confound Kitty Lavender!" - -Then some one intervened. A big bay horse drew up on the other side of -the curricle, and a man in black saluted Cousin Rose. - -"All the sunshine to you, Mees Benham." - -"Why, Chevalier, is it you? What a man for being here, there, and -everywhere. Jasper, you know the Chevalier de Rothan." - -The two men stared at each other. They had met before in a casual way. - -"Mr. Benham--a broken arm, I hear." - -His hard, handsome, insolent face had a look of amused tolerance. - -"I come to see your brave men drill. And to think that it is against my -France! Poor France. Some day I shall return to her. But picture my -château; a black shell in mourning. Yes; rightly in black." - -He looked grave and melancholy. Rose's eyes wandered over him. - -"Still in black, Chevalier?" - -"Ah, mam'selle, did I not put on black the day our King was butchered? I -wear it still. I shall wear it till the white flag of the Bourbons -returns to France. No bastard, upstart emperor for me. I know that even -now I might return to France. Honour and pride keep me here, an exile, -among charming Englishwomen." - -Jasper watched the man, and disliked him in the vague yet vigorous way -that one man may dislike another. De Rothan had the casual soaring air -that puts other men under his feet. He could be courteous, but there was -a taint about his courtesy. You could see the lines about mouth and -nostrils that muttered: "These boors of English!" Rose became even more -animated. - -"I think you are a wonderful man, Chevalier. And do you really wish us -to conquer France?" - -"Mam'selle, not to conquer, but to free her." - -"There is a difference." - -"I pray each day of my life that I may see King Louis at Versailles, -before I grow too old." - -"Too old?" - -"Ah, one is not the same at Court." - -The sergeant's voice became the dominating sound for the moment. - -"You tail-wagging lot of ducks! Stand up! Hup! Bay'nets? Dash me, I -wouldn't trust ye with a set of skewers. It 'ud be a bloody business. -Wanton damaging o' uniforms. Now we'll charge our pieces. Put some -pipe-clay into it." - -And so it went on, Captain Curtiss sitting his white horse like a great -soldier in a battle-picture, looking whole campaigns, and uttering never -a word. - -When Jasper took leave of Rose, the Chevalier de Rothan was still in -attendance. - -"Jasper--now--be careful. Do send us a word. Or come yourself in a few -days. I'll give Devil Dick lots of sugar." - -"It is very good of you, Rose." - -"Silly boy!" - -Her eyes flashed at him as he turned his horse. - -The Chevalier woke from a studied reverie. - -"Mr. Benham, sir, I ride a little your way." - -"You do?" - -"I will take the charm of your company. Mees Benham, your most devoted -servant." - -They had ridden no further than Battle church, grey in the midst of its -green grass and great elms, when De Rothan glanced significantly at -Jasper. - -"Mr. Benham, sir, you are a most fortunate young man. A most exquisite -lady, your cousin. I offer you my felicitations." - -"Sir?" - -"Ah, you think me too forward. We French, sir, are less difficult, less -reticent. Now in France, Mr. Benham----" - -"I don't know what you mean, Chevalier." - -"Ah--my good young man!" - -He shrugged, and smiled like a grandee. - -"These Sussex villages delight me, Mr. Benham. Such red brick, such -maturity. They live in the landscape. I assure you I never tire of -riding everywhere, and seeing your sweet villages." - -Jasper grunted, which was bad manners. - -Before long they parted company. And to part company with the Chevalier -de Rothan was a considerable event. It justified, even glorified, a -whole day's existence. - -"Mr. Benham, your very good friend. Au revoir, au revoir." - -There was a queer glint in his eyes. It puzzled Jasper like the subtle -flash of a clever enemy's sword. - -No sooner was he alone than De Rothan allowed himself to seem -desperately amused. - -"What a world of fools it is! They have swallowed me as the whale -swallowed Jonah. 'Ah, Chevalier, sweet Chevalier!' How the tradesmen run -after a title." - -There was as much Irish blood in him as there was French. In fact, his -great grandfather had been as boastful and swaggering a rogue as had -ever sailed from Ireland to use his wits and his tongue in France. The -Sussex folk knew him as the Chevalier de Rothan, aristocrat and -_émigré_, a wild partisan of the Bourbons, and a wearer of the white -cockade. He had taken the Brick House between the villages of Westfield -and Sedlescombe, ridden to hounds, entertained the notables, and served -them off plate marked with the De Rothan arms. The man seemed to have -money. - -"Ah, gentlemen," he would say, "I was more fortunate than many of my -friends. I not only saved my head, but my plate and my jewels. It is -also something to have money in English companies. But I am poor. I make -what show I can." - -And De Rothan was popular. He could be gay, quaint, and witty. He rode -here, there, and everywhere, a man who should have been mistrusted, and -yet was not. His French-Irish cleverness carried him along. He could -speak English perfectly when he chose, but for effect he played -picturesquely with the language, and out-Frenchified the vulgar notion -of a Frenchman when he was dealing with half-educated people. A little -quixotry was useful. He made much of his ostentation of wearing black, -and of his passionate devotion to the Royalist cause. Once he had been -seen to weep. He was ready to fight any man who had a good word for -Napoleon. - -On the outbreak of the war, and especially when the scare of an invasion -gripped the country, the French exiles had been compelled to live a -certain distance from the sea-coast. But the Chevalier de Rothan had -planted himself boldly within four miles of the sea, and no one had -interfered with him. He was on excellent terms with the gentlemen who -wore the King's uniform, dined with them, betted with them, abused -Bonaparte with them, and was allowed to ride in and out of camps and -barracks very much as he pleased. - -The Brick House lay in a lonely hollow where a stream wound through oak -woods, and narrow, secret meadows. A lane led to the house from a -by-road. It was a solid, Jacobean house with a brick-walled garden, a -big porch, and a stone horse-block at the gate. Two yews, clipped in the -shape of peacocks, grew on each side of the main path. De Rothan had -settled here with three French servants. He kept two horses, and devoted -himself to gardening. He was always ready to talk of his great garden -and his orangery in France. - -When he returned that Sunday, he left his horse in the stable-yard, and -entered the house by the back door. - -"Gaston--Gaston----!" - -A short, square man appeared in the passage. He had a solid, thundery -face, the nose flattened, a black patch over one eye. A red handkerchief -tied round his head, and a belt with pistols stuck in it, would have -made him an admirable buccaneer. - -"Monsieur?" - -"I shall sleep lightly to-night, Gaston. Be ready if I should want you." - -"I shall be ready." - -"Good. I will dine immediately." - -When he had dined De Rothan climbed the Jacobean staircase and passed -along a gallery to a room at the southern end of the house. It was a big -room with an undulating, oak-planked floor, great beams and struts -showing in the walls. There were books upon shelves, a reading-lamp and -writing-materials on an oak table, and a black wainscot chair with a red -cushion to soften the seat. - -De Rothan locked the door, and then went to the fireplace where the -bricked chimney stood out in the room like a great oven. He took off his -coat and laid it on the chair, rolled up the right sleeve of his shirt, -and, stooping, thrust his arm well up into the chimney. He took out a -brick, laid it on the hearth, wiped the soot from his hand, and groped -again. This time he brought out a little metal case. He opened it, and -drew out a roll of papers. - -Here, in cipher, were the results of his popularity, his wanderings to -and fro from village to village. The Chevalier was interested in farming -and in the breeding of cattle! Listed here were most of the larger farms -in the rapes of Pevensey and Hastings, with a rough estimate of the -stock, and of the corn that might be found in the barns. Here were maps, -elaborate in detail, showing every road and lane, and points that might -have military importance. The number of troops stationed in each town -was recorded, and the number of guns in the various forts and batteries -along the coast. - -De Rothan glanced through these papers, making an alteration or an -addition here and there. He sat back in the chair, and smiled. - -"Nelson fooled, and a day's fog in the Channel! So little--and yet so -much!" - - - - -VII - - -It was stormy weather. The golden-budded oaks shook their branches -against a hurrying grey sky. Primroses shivered on the banks, and cold -glimmers of wind-swept over the bent grass. A few early swallows skimmed -against the stiff south-wester. Everywhere the woods looked gloomy and -black. - -Up at Stonehanger the furze rolled like a sea as Jasper and Devil Dick -climbed out of the valley. Jasper came slantwise up the hill, so that he -had a raking view of the terrace and the grey house with its bluff, -stern chimneys. The casements shook and glittered. One thin stream of -smoke was blown like a pennon from the nearest chimney. - -Jasper saw a figure on the terrace, outlined against the sky. It stood -there visible between two clumps of thorn-trees, and tossed its arms as -though they were blown about by the wind. Its gestures were so wild and -passionate that Jasper drew in under the shelter of a furze-covered -bank, and watched the distant figure over the tops of the bushes. - -It was Anthony Durrell. Benham could tell that by his thin, black figure -and white hair. The old man was like a mad poet in a frenzy, or a -prophet drunk with the spirit of prophecy. He strode up and down between -the thorn-trees, waving his arms, shaking his fists, pointing toward the -sea. The fragments of a voice were carried down to Jasper against the -blustering of the wind. - -"The man's mad!" - -He reconsidered the exclamation, out of respect to Nance. - -"A bit queer in the head, perhaps! Too much hanging over books. I wonder -what he is shouting about? Just like Mad George, the Methodist!" - -He rode on, drawing a little toward the left, so that the thorn-trees -were between him and Anthony Durrell. For Jasper had not ridden to -Stonehanger to waste time on a dry-as-dust scholar. He wanted to make -sure of seeing somebody before Anthony Durrell could interfere. - -Jasper found a five-barred gate closing the stable-yard from the common. -The gate was padlocked, but Jasper put Devil Dick at it, and was over in -style. In fact, the horse nearly trampled on old David Barfoot, who -bobbed out suddenly from the door of an outbuilding. - -"Where be ye a-coming to?" - -"Hallo! Good-day to you, Mr. Barfoot. Is your mistress at home?" - -David stared, and Benham remembered the old man's deafness. He felt in a -pocket, produced the red scarf, and also a silver crown. - -He spoke slowly, showed David the scarf, and pointed to the house. David -displayed utter stupidity. He held out a brown paw for the scarf. - -"No, you old fool! Do you think I have ridden five miles to hand this -over to you!" - -He pointed toward the house, and then gave David the silver crown. - -The man stared at it, scratched his chin, and then pocketed the money. -He threw up his hairy face suddenly, and shouted: - -"It's Miss Nance you be wanting?" - -"All right, all right, don't tell the whole county!" and he nodded. - -"She be'unt in." - -"Oh?" - -"She be gone over yonder, down to the oak wood for primroses." - -David was not such a cross-grained old fool, after all. - -"You'd better go round by t' lane. It'll take ye out on t' common." - -Jasper smiled at him, leapt Devil Dick over the gate again, struck round -by the grey wall of the garden at the back of the house, and found a gap -in the hedge leading through into the lane. - -"I am in David's debt," thought he. "Mr. Durrell can play the windmill -yonder so long as he pleases." - -The lane brought Jasper out on to the common where he could see the oak -wood as a brown and purplish mass beyond the tumbling green of the -wind-swept furze. Something red was moving along the edge of the wood -like a spark creeping along tinder. It was the red hood that covered -Nance's black curls. - -Jasper thrilled on the edge of an adventure. He rode down the hill, and -met Nance in a winding grass-way between the furze bushes. She was -carrying a rush basket full of primroses, with a bunch of purple orchids -thrust into one corner. - -"Mr. Benham!" - -The exclamation was as obvious as Jasper's satisfaction at seeing her. - -"David told me you were down in the wood." - -"David! How did you make him understand." - -"Oh, somehow. I have brought you back your scarf." - -He dismounted, looped Devil Dick's bridle over his sound arm, and set -himself beside Nance. Her eyes sent a hovering glance over his face. An -immense seriousness seemed to possess him. His square jaw, firm mouth, -and blue eyes might, have belonged to a man who was about to lead a -forlorn hope. Yet the whole truth of it was that he had been attacked by -violent and absurd shyness. - -"How is the arm?" - -"Mending. Surgeon Doddington admired the way you had bound it up." - -"Did he?" - -"Yes. By the way, I have forgotten that cushion. I must bring it back -some other time." - -He glanced at Nance, and the frank flash of laughter in her eyes helped -him to climb out of the slough of his own shy seriousness. - -"It sounds very simple, doesn't it?" - -"What?" - -"To make a cushion an excuse." - -"An excuse for what?" - -They looked at each other again, and laughed, with the incipient mystery -of the thing creeping into their blood. The wind blew the -golden-flowered furze against the grey sky. Even this stormy day seemed -glorious. - -"I wanted to come to Stonehanger." - -"Did you! Well, why not?" - -"Yes, why not! And just for the same reason I'm going to call -you--Nance." - -She looked straight before her with a sudden self-conscious stiffening -of the face. It was as though some strange new thought had touched her, -and startled her into introspective silence. - -"Is this your horse--Devil Dick?" - -"Yes." - -"And the other horses? Were the thieves caught?" - -"No. They got clean away. It is a rogue's country." - -"What a shame!" - -She looked past Benham toward the sea where faint white smudges showed -up against the greyness of the horizon. They were the sails of ships in -the Channel. The boom of a distant gun came to them on the wind. - -Nance stood at gaze. - -"Is anything happening out there?" - -"Only a signal-gun from somewhere." - -"I wonder if the French will ever come?" - -"I wonder!" - -They moved on again toward Stonehanger, Nance looking at Jasper a little -shyly. - -"You are a soldier, are you not?" - -"A lieutenant of volunteers. Nearly all the gentry are serving in one -way or another." - -"You wore a soldier's red-coat that night. If the French land it will be -a terrible thing for us all." - -"It may be more terrible for the French." - -"But Napoleon! Who have we to put against him? And they say the French -are such ruffians; think of having them quartered on us, and doing just -as they please. I sometimes start awake at night and think I hear the -sound of guns." - -"Do you?" - -"Stonehanger is such a windy old place. It is the sound of the wind in -the chimneys." - -Jasper looked at her gravely. - -"I can promise you and your father an early warning should the French -land. All the country folk will be hurried away inland with the cattle -and the corn." - -"I don't think I should be afraid when the danger actually came." - -"No, I know you wouldn't." - -"But it is the waiting, a tense feeling in the air like there is before -a thunderstorm." - -They came in sight of the terrace of Stonehanger. Anthony Durrell was -still there, pacing up and down, and waving his arms. Nance watched him -a moment, and then glanced at Jasper. - -"Father has his restless moods." - -"The times worry him?" - -"No, I don't think it is that. He just stares when I speak of Napoleon -and the French, as though I were telling him some absurd tale. He often -walks up and down the terrace and makes long speeches in Greek or in -Latin. I think the words are to him what music is to other people." - -Jasper's presence did not seem to trouble her. She took the path that -ran along the foot of the terrace, and Benham had no choice but to -follow her. He was too honest a man to think of shirking Anthony -Durrell. The scholar was standing by one of the yew-trees, one arm -raised, head thrown back, when he caught sight of Nance and Benham. He -remained thus for a moment, mouth open, eyes set in a stare. Then his -arm fell abruptly, and an irritable frown wiped the finer fervour from -his face. - -Jasper raised his hat to the old man. - -"Good day to you, Mr. Durrell." - -"Good day to you, sir." - -His face seemed to narrow with sharp severity, and with scorn. He stared -at Jasper as an eagle might eye a jay. - -"I rode over to return the scarf Miss Durrell lent me." - -"You might as well have kept the rubbish, Mr. Benham. Nance, I have been -waiting for you. There are several papers of notes to be copied into the -manuscript book." - -Nance looked at him questioningly. - -"Perhaps--Mr. Benham----" - -"Mr. Benham is waiting to be off. We must not keep him. It will rain in -half an hour; the wind is dropping." - -Nance went up the steps to the terrace, and turned to glance, -half-humourously, at Jasper. - -"It is one of father's whims," her eyes said to him. - -Jasper mounted his horse. He was angry, and a little puzzled. - -"Mr. Durrell, sir, I need hardly speak to you of the danger that -threatens all of us. As a friend I can promise you an early warning, and -a place in our wagons if the French should land." - -The elder man stared, and seemed to breathe through scornful nostrils. - -"Mr. Benham, I am obliged to you. But I have always managed my own -affairs. I wish you good day." - -He turned and followed Nance who was walking toward the house. Jasper -watched him, and saw his narrow, black figure disappear round the grey -angle of the house. Nor was he in the sweetest of tempers as he rode on -through the waving furze. - -The wind dropped somewhat toward nightfall, and howled less in the -Stonehanger chimneys. Nance went to bed early, her face troubled and a -little sad. Her father had been morose, reticent, and strange, and she -had caught him watching her from his chair beside the fire. - -It was near midnight when Anthony Durrell put down the book he was -reading, listened a moment, and then went to the porch door. He rapped -on it gently with his knuckles. The rap was answered from without. - -Durrell opened the door, and the Chevalier de Rothan stepped into the -hall. - -"Well, sir, any news?" - -"Only that young Benham has been here." - -"The devil! There will be trouble between me and that young man." - - - - -VIII - - -Anthony Durrell had brought the candle from the parlour. That stately -person De Rothan lowered his dignity to the cautious level of drawing -off his boots before following Durrell up the stairs. - -Nance's room was at the western end of the long upper gallery. De Rothan -and the scholar had to pass the door of the girl's room, for the -stairhead lay close to it. They were within three steps of the landing -when Durrell heard the lifting of a latch. - -Instantly he blew out the candle, and, reaching back in the darkness, -thrust De Rothan gently backward. - -"Is that you, father?" - -Nance had opened her door an inch or two, but no light showed. - -"Yes, child. Some one must have left the window open at the end of the -gallery. The draught has blown out my candle." - -"I thought I heard voices, and the sound of some one moving." - -"Rubbish! You ought to be asleep. I was reciting Virgil to myself. Go to -bed, child." - -"Shall I get you a light?" - -"No, no--go to bed. I know the house as well in the dark as I do in the -daylight. I can go downstairs if necessary, and get a light at the -fire." - -"Good night, father." - -"Good night, child." - -Nance's door closed, and the two men passed along the gallery, Durrell -holding De Rothan by the arm. The scholar's study was at the eastern end -of the house. There were three rooms between it and Nance's, all of them -empty and unfurnished, the keys rusting in the locks. - -Durrell opened the door of his study, and led De Rothan in. - -"What possessed the girl----?" - -"Lucky you blew out the light. It would have been uncommonly awkward. -Explanations--to women--always are awkward." - -They spoke in whispers, and Durrell closed the door. - -"I have a tinder-box on my table." - -"Good." - -There was the sound of some one moving cautiously about the room, and -the thud of books falling to the floor. The flint and steel rang against -each other, and sparks dropped on to the scorched linen in the -tinder-box. A minute passed before Durrell got one of the sulphur -matches alight. He shaded it with his hand, and carried the flame to the -candle. - -"That's better, Durrell. What a howling, wind-swept hell this house of -yours is! I suppose Miss Nance will play us no tricks? She suspects -nothing?" - -"Nothing." - -"Wakefulness! Shall we put it down to Mr. Benham?" - -Anthony Durrell's room was crowded with books. A truckle-bed stood in -one corner, looking meagre, thin, and austere. A mahogany washstand and -a Dutch high-boy were squeezed in between the bookcases. The brown -volumes possessed the place. They were laid like stepping-stones upon -the carpetless floor, massed like buttresses against the walls, even -stacked beneath the bed and table. Black curtains were drawn across the -window, and hung by two straps from the narrow sill was a seaman's -telescope. - -The Chevalier caught his toe against a huge brown rock of a book. - -"Pardon, fat fellow!--Have you read them all, Durrell? Books, books, -books! Heaven help us! What did a man ever get out of a book? Has any -book ever helped me to swagger, handle a sword, spend money, live -gallantly, love a woman? Books, sir, are for the poltroons. They are the -broken meats thrown to the wretches who stand outside the gate of life -and beg." - -Durrell gave one of his grim looks. - -"It is strange that such a chatterbox should be trusted with such -secrets." - -"Good--good for you.--What's the time?" - -He pulled out a watch and scanned it by the light of the candle. - -"Psst, Durrell; we are due to show our first flash in five minutes. -Where's the lamp? Hurry, hurry!" - -Durrell went to a cupboard in the wall, and brought out a brass lamp -fitted with an Argand burner. He set it on the table, lit it, and turned -the wick up cautiously. - -"Will they be out to-night? It's rough." - -"So much the better. Jerome is no fair-weather smuggler. You had better -put two or three of your precious books under the lamp. I will work the -curtain." - -Durrell busied himself with the lamp, and De Rothan walked to the -window. He kept his watch in one hand, and held the bottom of one of the -black curtains with the other. - -There was a short silence. Then De Rothan glanced sharply at the -scholar. - -"Ready?" - -"Yes." - -De Rothan drew the curtain aside, and left the window uncovered for -about twenty seconds. - -"Jerome will have been on the lookout for that. We must wait half an -hour for the next. No one is likely to pick up our signals when a window -happens to be lighted for twenty seconds at intervals of half an hour." - -"A mere casual flash of light. I have let people know that I work late -into the night." - -De Rothan looked round for a chair, and found a rush-bottomed stool by -one of the bookcases. - -"So Master Benham has been here? Dissolute young dog." - -Anthony Durrell lifted a scornful head. - -"Dissolute?" - -"One of the most profligate young rogues in the county. I hear all the -gossip. There's hardly a pretty wench--well, you know, Durrell. Engaged -to marry his cousin, too!" - -"Poor young woman." - -"She is no fool. Has a thousand a year of her own, and a mouth like a -man-trap. She will lead Mr. Benham a godly, straight-up-and-down life. -Meanwhile the youngster must not be allowed to hang round here." - -Durrell picked up a book, glanced at it, and then threw it back upon the -table. His austere face had a kind of hard pride. - -"A scholar need not be an owl, De Rothan." - -"My good sir, did I suggest it? But sweet Nance has a lonely life here. -Not much youth comes her way. And these young rakes, Durrell, have an -honest, stage-hero way with them." - -"I shall see to Mr. Benham." - -"You may need me, sir. Faith, it seems strange that I should be here in -this house once a week, and Miss Nance know nothing of it. Look you, -Durrell, I'm an old friend of yours; I might pay a few open and friendly -calls. I have a fatherly way with young women." - -Durrell looked at him ironically. De Rothan met his eyes, and laughed. - -"You think I might be as bad as young Benham? Tssh! Nance is a girl for -a man to marry, and to think himself a lucky dog. I tell you, Durrell, I -will pay a state call next week. Come now; we must keep an eye on the -time. Jerome should have news for us. I have a packet of cipher to give -him." - -Anthony Durrell appeared restless and preoccupied. He began sorting and -arranging some of the books that were piled against the wall. De Rothan -watched him with just the faintest glimmer of contempt. This fanatic, -filled with visions of a regenerated world state, was something of an -enigma to the Frenchman. Durrell was a man of Miltonic dreams, austere, -fervid, morose. In Bonaparte he saw a foredestined Angel of Wrath who -should smite the crowns from the heads of tyrants. His work done, the -man Napoleon would disappear. Liberty would stand among the peoples, -holding her fiery sword aloft, her mouth full of prophetic and noble -words. The world would become a new world. Kings and princelings would -cease to strut and bully. The golden age of brotherhood and equality was -at hand. Anthony Durrell believed all this, and yearned so fervently for -its consummation that he was ready to whisper with spies in a corner. -For himself he desired nothing but the right to live, and speak and -write as he pleased. This disinterestedness of his made De Rothan -despise him a little. The Chevalier saw visions, but they were the -visions of a man who valued such material things as titles, and orders, -palaces, estates, the pride and pomp of power. Durrell's fanaticism was -useful to him. As for these broad English lands, he might find himself -choosing which he should own and enjoy. The earth for the -people--indeed! De Rothan knew better. He had no intention of sitting -down on the same bench with half a score born fools. - -De Rothan glanced at his watch, and returned to the window. - -"It is time for the second signal." - -The black curtain did its work once more. - -"Cover up the lamp--now, Durrell. I will see if I can catch Jerome's -answer." - -Durrell carried the lamp to the cupboard, turned the wick low, and shut -the door. De Rothan had opened the lattice, and was looking out into the -night, the wind blowing in and tossing the black curtains behind him. - -He spoke in a whisper. - -"He's yonder." - -"At sea?" - -"I caught the two flashes. Jerome will land when we show him a third -light. This smuggling game is accursedly useful." - -"A means to an end." - -"It makes half the county our dupes. Think of it, sir, all these greedy, -spirit-swindling fools helping us to bring in the French bayonets." - -Both men stood at the window and stared out into the windy darkness. -Intent upon watching the black horizon they had not heard the soft, -gliding tread of bare feet along the gallery. Nance had been standing -for some minutes outside her father's door, a dim, white figure that -faltered on the edge of a discovery. - -Once she had raised her hand to knock, but the sound of that other voice -had paralysed her. Who was the man who talked to her father? Why was he -there? How had he come into the house? The voice seemed vaguely -familiar. She had heard it before, but she could not remember where. - -Perplexed, and a little afraid, she crept back to her room, closed the -door gently, and, slipping back into bed, drew the clothes up over her -knees. For a while she sat there in the darkness, listening. The wind -blustered in the chimneys, and to Nance the grey house had become eerie -and cold. Questions that she could not answer importuned her in the -darkness. Her father was concealing something from her, and the thought -hurt her and filled her with vague unrest. - -Presently she lay down, and drew the clothes over, for she was beginning -to shiver with cold. As for sleep, it eluded her. She lay there in the -darkness, listening, till the old house became full of a hundred -imaginary sounds. - - -At Rush Heath Mr. Christopher Benham snored in his great Dutch chair -before the fire. Parson Goffin had talked the squire to sleep, and was -still cocking his long clay pipe alertly and holding forth to Jasper -Benham. His nose seemed to glow more angrily when he was in the heat of -an argument, or venting a grievance. He would sit forward with his feet -tucked under his chair, and emphasise each point with prodding movements -of the stem of his pipe. - -"I tell you, sir, the hangman is not kept busy enough in England. -Freethinkers, atheists,--what! I'd string up the whole lot! They should -have begun with Tom Paine, sir, and all scoundrels of that colour." - -Jasper was stifling yawns, and glancing at the clock. - -"Liberty indeed! Faugh, license, that's what liberty means. Right of -Man! Bosh, sir,--bosh. The right of the pig to be swinish! There are men -within ten miles of us who need hanging. Traitors, blasphemous -scoundrels. Take that man Durrell, now, of Stonehanger." - -Jasper straightened in his chair. - -"Durrell----?" - -"A Jacobin, sir, or I'm no parson. Tainted with all the sins of the -Revolution. The justices ought to order the house to be surprised and -searched. I warrant they would find seditious stuff enough at -Stonehanger." - -"What makes you think that, Parson?" - -Goffin looked shrewdly along the stem of his pipe. - -"Have I nose for a fox, sir! Not a few seditious pamphlets have come out -of Stonehanger House. I'd have that man in gaol, and his daughter too." - -"Nonsense, Goffin. Why, what harm can a girl do?" - -"Harm, sir, harm! Have you read your Bible,--or your history?" - -"You mean to say that Durrell may be a spy in the French service?" - -"I do, sir, I do. And the girl is as bad as her father." - -"It's a lie, Goffin, a damned lie." - -"Sir, you are the son of your father." - -The parson chuckled. - -"A hard head, and a soft heart. No offence, Master Jasper. But facts are -facts." - -The clock struck eleven, and Jasper proceeded to send Mr. Goffin home -with his lantern, and to get his father to bed. Squire Kit had to be -carried by the servants to his room on the ground floor. He would groan -and curse all the while Jack Bumpstead was undressing him, for Jack -acted as valet as well as groom. He would blow all the time while his -master was swearing, much to Squire Christopher's indignation. - -"Jack, you mud-faced, cockle-headed calf, do ye think you're rubbing -down a horse? Don't blow, I say! You make enough draught to give a man a -chill." - -These matters attended to, Jasper went to his own room, a frown on his -face and anger within him. - -"Nance Durrell a spy's daughter!" - -He refused to believe such a thing. Parson Goffin had been in his cups. - - - - -IX - - -Jasper woke very early, just as the day was breaking. A thrush was -singing on the topmost spires of one of the cedars. The woods beyond the -paddock thrilled with the orisons of the birds. - -Jasper left his bed, opened the lattice wide, and took in the dawn. A -mysterious ecstasy was in the air. A hundred bird voices were calling, -and, with the dew upon the grass, the world was still half asleep. There -were little golden rifts in the eastern sky. Here and there a cloud -nearer the zenith would burst suddenly into flame. - -Jasper's heart was stirred in him. The mystery of the dawn seemed for -him alone. Not a soul was stirring. The earth belonged to him and to the -birds. - -He could use his arm now a little, and he dressed with the haste of a -boy eager for a plunge in some still pool. The old house itself seemed -full of secrecy, and quiet charm. He went out noiselessly, though the -hinges of the stable door filled the court-yard with their creakings. -Devil Dick was alert as a dog. Jasper saddled and bridled him, and rode -out. - -"Which way shall I go?" - -The hypocrite. His heart laughed joyously at its own guile. - -"She will not be up at this hour. Yes, but they are early folk. Even a -glimpse of her! Why, Jasper, my man, you have seen her only twice." - -Parson Goffin's bibulous scepticism staggered like a dreary toper across -the stealthy joy of the morning. Jasper touched Devil Dick with his -switch. - -"Out--old crow!" - -He put his hand on the place where Nance's red scarf lay folded. And -immediately some perverse suggestion gave him the picture of Rose -Benham. - -"Faith! I never knew the woman was so plain. Jasper Benham, you are a -beast, sir. But her eyes, and that tart talkative mouth. Dick, my lad, -gallop; for God's sake, let's gallop." - -They swung through a green world, with the gold of the dawn above the -soft blues and greys of the horizon. Rabbits scuttled here and there. -Blackbirds sung deep-throated, and skimmed along the hedgerows. The -golden buds of the oaks were turning to green spray. Ash-trees, -black-tipped, stood straight and stiff in the thickets. The bloom was -waiting on the May trees, and blue-bells coloured the woods. - -Jasper saw Stonehanger Common dark against the dawn. His heart beat to -the rhythm of Devil Dick's hoofs. Nance might be standing and looking in -her mirror, and Jasper envied the mirror the reflection of her eyes. - -He came to the furze lands and had a glimpse of the sea. The -yellow-flowered furze was very still with grey gossamer upon it. Here -and there brown earth showed where rabbits had been scratching. - -Two hundred yards away a plover rose, crying plaintively, and circling -on heavy wings. Some one was down yonder among the furze. Jasper drew in -and stood in the stirrups. A black shape seemed to dodge down suddenly -behind a bank. - -"Some gipsy." - -He loitered a moment, and then rode on, not troubling to look behind -him. The furze swayed slightly as though something were pushing through -it. A man's head appeared for an instant, like the head of a swimmer -seen above the crest of a wave. The muzzle of a pistol was raised, -pointed, and held meaningly. But the man thought better of it. - -"Too great a risk. Some fool of a labourer may be about. And I might -have missed him." - -He dropped back amid the furze. - -Jasper rode on, ignorant of the fact that death had threatened him. The -sunlight struck the windows of Stonehanger. One of the lattices opened, -and a white arm showed for a moment. - -Jasper turned into the lane, passed the yew-tree where the horse-thief -had shot at him, pulled up at the gate, and left Devil Dick there with -the bridle over a post. Jasper went in through the gate, and was given a -choice of paths in the dark wilderness of the shrubbery. The path that -he chose brought him into the stable-yard and face to face with a -red-brown cow that was steering for the stable door. - -The cow stopped to stare, and then walked on. Jasper took off his hat to -her. - -"Good morning, madam." - -And it was Nance who caught the salutation. - -She had appeared in a side passage between two grass-grown walls, a -hazel stick in her hand, her hair tied up with ribbons, a red petticoat -showing her ankles. Frank astonishment was the mood of the moment. A -girl, surprised at such an hour, may look a sloven, but Nance seemed -part of the fresh life of the morning. - -For an instant she looked anxious. - -"You! Have you brought bad news?" - -"No. An early ride, nothing more." - -"I thought the French must have landed." - -"I have not heard of it. The other day, you know, I forgot to give you -that scarf." - -Her face and eyes lit up with amusement. - -"Oh, that scarf! It seems to lie heavily upon your conscience!" - -"It does." - -"Leave it--or keep it." - -"Then I'll keep it." - -"As you like." - -They stood and looked at each other, trembling upon the edge of laughter -that was part of the exquisite joy of the morning. Nance's eyes looked -dewy, her mouth alluring. She was the figure of May. - -"Do you often visit your friends so early?" - -"Sometimes." - -"You must often catch them before they are up." - -"I saw your window open as I came up the hill." - -"Did you?" - -"The end one toward the west. I woke early. Do you know how a spring -morning gets into one's blood? Devil Dick wanted a gallop and so did I." - -The horse's, and his own, impulses had carried him up to Stonehanger. -That was where youth, and the joy of it, led. The knowledge of it came -to Nance like wind from over the hills. It seemed to beat about her with -sudden emotion, making a strange, mysterious stir in all the ways of her -lonely life. - -"I have to milk Jenny." - -"Jenny and I said good morning to each other." - -"One has to do so many things in the country. I made David teach me." - -"May I come and watch?" - -"If you like." - -"Jenny won't object?" - -"You had better ask her." - -"It would be more polite!" - -Ironically serious he walked into the stable and took off his hat to the -cow. - -"Madam, may I be present at the ceremony?" - -Jenny turned a slow head and stared with solemn, violet eyes. Then she -gave a flick of the tail. - -"Jenny is agreeable. We shall be friends." - -Stool and milk-pail stood in the stall where the early sunlight streamed -through the doorway and fell upon the yellow straw. Nance set her stool -and sat down with one cheek against Jenny's flank. The white milk -frothed into the pail, the cow standing placid and trustful under the -girl's hands. - -Jasper Benham leant against the door-post, content to look at Nance as a -man may look at a girl. - -"Do you find it lonely here?" - -"Lonely? Well--sometimes. Father and I have always had a lonely life. -I'm used to it. Though I don't say that I might not be -discontented--if----" - -She glanced up and smiled. - -"If----" - -"If--I--had ever known gayer people. A girl likes to enjoy things just -as much as a man does. I love a new dress." - -"I don't know that I'm not proud of a new coat! Do you ever go to -Hastings, or Eastbourne, or Brighton?" - -"Hardly ever. We lived at Hastings for a while, in rooms under the -cliff. I used to like the sea and the fishing-boats, and the people. But -the house--! It was detestable. One long squabble with the woman, who -was always cheating us." - -"Yes, they are beasts. I had a season at Tunbridge Wells with the -squire. It made me quarrelsome. Are you fond of the country?" - -"I love it. I love finding the birds in their nests and watching -everything. There is so much to watch. But then--the winter----!" - -"The dull days. That is why we hunt and shoot and play cards, and why -some of us drink too much. Can you ride?" - -"A very little." - -"I should like to teach you to ride." - -"Should you! But I have no horse." - -"I think of buying a quiet nag. I could come over and give you lessons. -I know you could ride like a witch." - -Her eyes looked up at him. - -"How do you know that?" - -"Well, I just know it. You do things--so cleanly--with your hands. One -can always tell a bungler." - -The milking was at an end, and Nance lifted the pail aside, and set the -stool in a corner. - -"Let me carry the pail for you?" - -"It is quite light. Would you like to see my new garden?" - -"I should." - -"I must carry this in, and see to the fire. You must stay and take -breakfast with us." - -"That's good of you." - -"Go round to the terrace. I'll join you there soon." - -Nance ran up to her room, slipped into a simple white gown flowered with -pink roses, and did her hair, drawing it back in two black waves from -her forehead. Then she went to her father's room, and knocked, the gay -mood of the moment overshadowed suddenly by the memory of the night when -she had heard the voice of the stranger in that room. The incident might -have proved utterly trivial, and Nance had waited for something to -explain it. She had held her tongue, and asked no questions, but Anthony -Durrell had offered her no confidences. His silence troubled Nance. It -seemed that there might be something in his life that he did not desire -her to know. - -"Father----" - -"Yes, child." - -"Mr. Benham has ridden over." - -"What?" - -"Mr. Benham has ridden over. May I ask him to stay to breakfast?" - -There was the sound of a chair being moved. Then Anthony Durrell's voice -asked, "Where is Mr. Benham?" - -"On the terrace." - -"Keep him till I come. I have something to say to Mr. Benham." - -"You're not cross with him, father?" - -"Only fools and little people are cross, child. I shall not be ten -minutes." - -Nance went down, trying to reassure herself, and feeling that it was a -very innocent thing that she should be glad of this young man's coming. -She found Jasper standing by one of the yew-trees, looking out toward -the sea. She saw by his eyes how the flowered gown became her. - -"What a view you have here." - -"Isn't it splendid. I have told father you are here. He says that he -will be down in ten minutes." - -"I am glad you have told him. I want to get to know your father." - -"Yes, but that's so difficult." - -Her face fell, and she looked grave. It was sufficient for Jasper to -realise that Mr. Anthony Durrell had a perplexing personality. His -austerity was the austerity of a fanatic. As for courtesy, it seemed to -be absent. Nor did he appear to have any sympathy for this lonely, -dark-eyed child. - -"Your father leads a hard life." - -"Yes. Often he is up half the night, reading. You should see his books. -Sometimes I hate books. It has been like that since mother died." - -Jasper looked at her with secret compassion. - -"When was that?" - -"Twelve years ago. Father has never been the same since then." - -"No----" - -"I can remember him laughing and making jokes and tossing me up in his -arms. He grew so much older, as though something had died in him. He -became more taken up with his books." - -Throat, mouth, and eyes were tragic for an instant, and Jasper felt a -yearning to be very tender and gentle with this girl. He would have -liked to put his hands upon her shoulders, look in her eyes, and say -"Nance, I know you are lonely--very often." - -She smiled suddenly, and looked up at him with a flash of courage. - -"We always think our own troubles so important.--I must go and get the -breakfast ready. Father will be here in a minute." - -Jasper watched her go, and then turned again toward the sea. The spring -morning was no longer filled with the sheer joy of living. It had a -sadness, an afterwards, a thinking voice beneath all the rhapsodies of -its awakened birds. - -"Mr. Benham----" - -Jasper turned with a sharp throw-back of the head. He saw Anthony -Durrell crossing the terrace toward him. The man's face was set like a -hard and narrow stone. The lips looked tucked away, the nose pinched and -thin. - -"Good morning, sir." - -"Mr. Benham, I have something of interest to show you. It is a thing -that is often met with, but it is not always treated with due respect. -Will you be so good as to follow me." - -He stalked round the house into the shrubbery. Jasper puzzled, wondering -whether Durrell had some rare herb, beetle, or bird to show him. -Eccentricity challenges all manner of conjectures. A man may be as rude -and sinister as he pleases if his force of character justifies these -peculiarities. - -Jasper found himself standing in the lane with Anthony Durrell. Devil -Dick eyed them restlessly and scraped the ground with a forefoot. -Durrell raised a hand, touched Jasper's shoulder, and pointed to the -gate. - -"You see that, sir?" - -"Yes." - -"It is a gate, is it not? I am not aware that I have asked you to see -the inside of it. You understand me, I hope. Sometimes one has to speak -plainly. Good morning." - -He gave Jasper one look, re-entered the gate, closed it, and walked off -under the hollies. Jasper stood like a rebuked schoolboy. He was too -astonished at first by Durrell's incomprehensible rudeness to feel the -anger that was rising in him. It rose none the less, with a fine head of -indignation. - -"What the devil--! Am I not gentleman enough----?" - -He mounted Devil Dick in a rage. - -"I have a mind to flout the old fool. There would be a scene. And Nance? -Confound it, these things need thinking out coolly. I'm too hot in the -head. I don't want to give Nance pain." - - - - -X - - -So often a man believes what he wishes to believe, and Anthony Durrell -was no less prejudiced in this respect than the most ignorant of his -neighbours. Jasper Benham's coming to Stonehanger threatened all manner -of complications, and was a menace to Durrell's schemings. De Rothan's -lies were exceedingly opportune and suggestive. They had worked upon -Durrell's austere and Puritanical nature, and his severity never doubted -its devotion. This young man was a danger, not only to Nance, but to all -his secret understanding with the French. - -Durrell returned to the house and found Nance busy in the parlour. She -had spread a new cloth and brought out the best china. Her father, alive -to these details now that they were of some significance, noticed her -rose-flowered gown and an old pearl necklace she was wearing. - -"That is not stuff for the day's work, Nance." - -"What, father?" - -"That dress. Go and change it." - -"But, father, breakfast is ready, and Mr. Benham----" - -"Mr. Benham has gone, child." - -"Gone?" - -"Yes. There will be no setting of caps this morning." - -Nance flushed with surprise and resentment, for to youth sarcasm is the -most hateful of all the methods of coercion, especially when it is petty -and unjust. - -"You should not speak to me like that, father." - -"What? Am I to choose my own words to please a foolish child? I shall -have more to say to you on this matter presently." - -Nance was humiliated, hurt, and angry. To generous and sensitive natures -cynicism seems a vulgar, shallow thing, like a coarse lout mocking at -what he does not understand. Nance went to her room and changed her -flowered gown for an old stuff dress. Her father had begun breakfast -when she returned. He had a book open beside his plate, and he seemed -absorbed in it, and disinclined to notice the girl. - -Nance watched him, and her pride rose in revolt. Her father had spoken -vulgar words, and thrown a contemptible accusation in her face. What -shame was there in her discovering pleasure in the pleasure with which -she inspired a man? She liked Jasper Benham, trusted him, and felt that -her instincts were not at fault. Was her life so full of sympathy that -she should be forbidden to make friends? - -Yet for the while she said nothing to Anthony Durrell. His face was the -colour of the pages of his book. And for once Nance noticed how narrow, -thin, and harsh he looked. - -She could not help remembering the night when he had brought some -strange man secretly to the house, and the thought of his secretiveness -and his dry reserve made her impatient. If he was to be tyrannical and -unsympathetic, had she not a right to be trusted? She was living this -lonely life for his sake, and yet when youth came to share with her the -glamour of a spring morning, he raised forbidding hands. - -Nance looked at her father, and felt compelled to speak to him. - -"Why did you send Mr. Benham away?" - -Durrell pushed the book aside. - -"Do not catch at conclusions, child." - -Nance was not to be put aside so easily. - -"Then, why did he go?" - -"Possibly because of something I said to him." - -"What did you say to him?" - -"Nance, I am not minded to be cross-questioned by my child." - -She flushed, and showed a frank impatience. - -"Am I to have no friends? What harm is there? You know, father, it is -dangerous, sometimes, to try and smother all that is in us." - -Durrell glanced at her sharply. He was man enough to be struck by the -undeniable truth that challenged him out of the mouth of this young -girl. - -"Nance, what I do I do because it is right." - -"But, have I no right to know?" - -His face hardened. - -"Very well, you shall know. I sent Mr. Benham away because he is not the -man I would admit into my house." - -"But why?" - -"Nance, you have seen very little of the world of men. This young man is -of bad repute. He is without honour, without morality." - -Nance sat very straight in her chair, her hands moving restlessly in her -lap. - -"You mean to say, father----?" - -"This Jasper Benham is a young man who lives a bad life. He is engaged -to marry his cousin, a Miss Benham. That has not prevented him from -dishonouring----" - -Nance had gone very white. Her eyes were the eyes of one who recoils -from something with sudden disgust. - -"Father!" - -"I tell you this for your own good, child. What do you know of Mr. -Jasper Benham? Nothing save that he seemed grateful to you--because you -were good to him, that he has a plausible tongue and an assumption of -honesty." - -She sat rigid, staring at the opposite wall. - -"Who told you this?" - -"Does that alter the truth? I will not have this young man in my house. -He shall work no treachery here." - -Nance was dumb. Something seemed to have been taken from life. The -breath of the morning was tainted. - -Durrell looked at her, not unkindly. - -"Now you can understand me, child. I have seen something of the world. I -do not want you to suffer pain." - -Nance tried to finish her meal, but she had no heart for it, and soon -left the table. She wanted to be alone, to set her little world in -order. Something had jarred it into momentary confusion. Yet surely it -was foolish that she should care at all. - -Nance went to her room and saw the flowered gown lying across a chair. -The sight of it woke a rush of anger in her. Was he that kind of man? -Had he thought her a vain fool who would dance to his piping? - -A voice within her cried out in denial: - -"An hour ago you trusted him! Are these things true?" - -A second voice replied: - -"Even if they are true, what does it matter to you? You have seen the -man only three times." - -She put the dress away, and looked at herself haughtily in the mirror. -What manner of woman was she to be so moved by a breath of scandal? If -true--well--there was an end of it. She would neither bend her head to -listen, nor open her mouth to speak. She had enough pride to carry her -past such an incident that had been enlarged by her own loneliness, and -touched with the delight of youth and of spring. - -Nance had work to keep her busy, though old David Barfoot took the heavy -jobs, and washed the crockery, and scrubbed the floors. At the midday -meal Nance and her father hardly spoke. She meant to spend the afternoon -in her piece of garden upon the terrace, planting out a few seedlings -and plucking up assertive weeds. David had promised to come round with -his scythe and cut the grass that was growing rank and long. - -But though her hands were busy, Nance could not win her thoughts away -from the revelation of the morning. She felt sore, mistrustful, -incredulous. What did she know of Jasper Benham? Was it true that he was -pledged to marry his cousin? She, Nance, had spoken of friendliness. -Perhaps he had thought of nothing but friendliness? Her heart told her -that it was not so. - -Anthony Durrell came out with a book in his hand, and began to pace up -and down the terrace. Sometimes he would break out into declamation, -waving the book, and throwing his head back like an orator sending words -to a distance. - -Nance planted her seedlings one by one, kneeling on an old sack, her -head bowed over the brown soil. - -"Salve, Domine. How go the elegiacs?" - -Nance looked up with a start. It was another voice, not her father's, -that had spoken, and the voice was the voice she had heard that night in -her father's room. - - - - -XI - - -Nance glanced over her shoulder as she knelt. A man had appeared round -the corner of the house and was walking toward her along the stone-paved -path. He was a tall man, dressed in black, with roguish, sinister eyes, -an arrogant mouth, and a haughty way of carrying his head and shoulders. - -Anthony Durrell turned and seemed nonplussed for the moment. - -"It is you, Chevalier----" - -De Rothan was a magnificent fool when a pretty woman held the stage. He -gave Nance one of his French-Irish bows, hat over his heart, the heels -of his shoes together. De Rothan had the reddish, raddled skin, and the -angry blue eyes of the Irishman. The refinements were French, the -cleverness, the subtlety, the love of intrigue. - -"Mr. Durrell, present a poor exile to your daughter." - -Nance had risen from her piece of sacking. Her hands were stained with -soil, and stooping had flushed her face. The stranger's magnificent -manners seemed out of place. She believed that the man was quizzing her. - -Durrell closed his book with a snap, courteous under compulsion. - -"Nance, this is the Chevalier de Rothan; an old friend of mine. I knew -him in France many years ago." - -De Rothan laughed, with his eyes on Nance. - -"Mees Durrell, your father would make me out an old man! But it is not -so. I can run and leap against any lad of twenty." - -There are some men whose vanity cannot be controlled when they are -brought into the presence of women. De Rothan was such a man. He was the -peacock on the instant, strutting, swaggering, not content unless he -outshone all other men. - -"Though an exile, the English women have almost made me forget my -France. Why is it, Mees Durrell, that the English women have such -beautiful skins? Roses and milk, roses and milk." - -Nance said nothing. The man's voice had driven her into a confusion of -conjectures. If he were an old friend of her father's, how was it she -had never heard of him before? And why all this midnight mystery, the -stealthy coming by night? - -She realised that both De Rothan and her father were watching her. It -was imperative that she should speak to him, or seem like a _gauche_ -child. - -"I am glad to see an old friend of my father's." - -"Mees Durrell, will you make me old!" - -"I don't think you are very young!" - -He laughed and bowed. - -"Mam'selle, your father is the cleverest of men. But to have such a -daughter! That was a stroke of genius." - -Nance smiled, but there was no pleasure in her smile. She supposed these -were French manners, but they made her feel foolish and ill at ease. - -"I am afraid father has never spoken to me of you." - -She noticed that the men exchanged glances. Durrell intervened. - -"Nance, child, the Chevalier will take tea with us." - -"Yes, father." - -She understood the hint and was glad to go. There was something puzzling -and unwholesome about the man. - -De Rothan followed her with his eyes. - -"Faith, sir, the child is charming, and so innocent." - -Durrell was not pleased. - -"Do not try your airs and graces here, my friend." - -"Psst--I am perfectly sincere. I pay homage to beauty----" - -"Curtail it. Shall we walk a little way over the common?" - -He glanced at the windows of the house, crossed the terrace and -descended the steps. De Rothan followed him, staring with a certain -whimsical contempt at Durrell's back. - -"Has the young squire been here again?" - -"This very morning--at six o'clock." - -"Youth is in a hurry!" - -"I have put a bridle upon his eagerness. I sent him packing. And Nance -knows." - -"Knows what?" - -"That young Benham is a reprobate, and a loose liver." - -"The devil she does! You told her?" - -"Certainly. I did not mean the friendship to develop." - -De Rothan looked half grave and half amused. - -"Well, you have given me your news without miserliness. I return you -news of my own. Villeneuve has got out of Toulon." - -"What!" - -"And has given Nelson the slip." - -Durrell's face shone with sudden exultation. - -"Man, is it true?" - -"True as news can be. But listen to this. He has picked up some of the -Spaniards, driven Orde's squadron out of the way, and is at sea. All -England is in a sweat, and cursing. They know nothing. They quake in the -dark." - -"Yes--but Nelson?" - -"Listen. This would be worth money in England. Villeneuve sails for the -West Indies. Don't breathe it. He cuts himself loose, see--disappears. -The English are left at blindman's-buff. Then the West Indies are -harried. Nelson is lured thither. Back bolts Villeneuve, drives the -blockading fleet from Brest, joins our ships there, and sails up the -Channel with close on forty sail of the line. The straits are ours. -Napoleon rushes his grenadiers across. After that--the deluge!" - -Durrell stood and stared towards the sea with a look of exultation. - -"And we shall help to bring in liberty." - -De Rothan sneered behind the visionary's back. - -"We shall show them where and how to strike. This house and hill of -yours, Durrell, will be the first point they will make safe. There will -be trenches and batteries here. The Emperor will stand upon your -terrace, sir, with all the gorgeous gentlemen of his staff. As for me, I -shall be the light-heeled Mercury. I know where the cattle and corn are -to be found. I know the powder-mills, the best wells, every road and -by-road. I shall be with the cavalry. God--these raw, red-coated -bumpkins! How we shall sabre them!" - -Durrell was like a man who had heard that his great enemy was to be -overwhelmed with ruin and shame. England had made him suffer, and, -fanatic and dreamer that he was, his enthusiasm did not lack a spice of -vengeance. He wanted to see England suffer in turn, to see her purged of -the poison of privilege, of the aristocrats, the lordlings, and the rich -commoners whom he hated. - -His mood came near to gaiety, if an austere and fanatical excitement can -be called gay. He forgave De Rothan his vanity, and went in holding the -arch-spy's arm as a man holds the arm of his dearest friend. De Rothan -had twinkles of cynical amusement in his eyes. What did a bookworm and a -dreamer expect from Napoleon and the French? He would be left to chant -rhapsodies in a corner, and to shout "Liberty! Liberty!" provided that -he did not turn round and shout it to the English. - -De Rothan took advantage of Durrell's good humour, and prepared to enjoy -himself with Nance. The girl's silence and reserve piqued him. He loved -conquests, and would boast that no woman could withstand him. - -His gallantry and his oglings worried Nance. She disliked the expression -of his quarrelsome blue eyes. He was too free, too familiar to please -her, nor was she in a mood for coquetry. Her opinion of De Rothan was -suggested by the fact that she had not changed her old stuff dress. - -"Ah, Mees Nance, your hands play with the cups and the sugar and the -milk as though you played the harpsichord. Have you music here? No? Your -father should buy you a harpsichord. It would show off your pretty -fingers." - -"I should not be able to play it." - -"No? Why, by the honour of Louis, I would teach you myself. So many of -us exiles have become music-masters. Durrell, my good friend, buy your -daughter a harpsichord, and I will teach her to play and to sing." - -Durrell gave them one of his austere smiles. He was happy, exultant, and -saw nothing sinister in De Rothan's playfulness. - -"All in good time--all in good time. Nance has not had all that she -might have had." - -"What, sir! And she has so much already! Most of the women would think -she had too much." - -He bowed to Nance. - -"One may not drink to beauty--in tea. The sparkling wine of France! I -imagine that I drink it to you, Mees Nance." - -The girl was silent and irresponsive. Perhaps De Rothan felt challenged; -perhaps she pleased him more than he had expected. Before the meal was -over some of the froth had been blown from his fooling. The man was more -than half in earnest. The expression of his eyes changed. They betrayed -a subtle, gloating, admiration that is seen at times in the eyes of men. - -De Rothan's leave-taking was half insolent, half tender. It had always -been his way to treat women with audacity. He attacked them with the -bold ferocity of his self-confidence. - -"Mees Nance, this is the first day of spring. I kiss your hands. I -felicitate your father. Never will he produce another such poem." - -His bold eyes thrust his admiration into her face. Durrell was still -living in dreams. - -"Must you go, my friend? Well, well, now that you are in these parts, we -shall see you more often." - -"Sir, could I help it? The sun shines at Stonehanger." - -Nance was silent and thoughtful when De Rothan had gone. She cleared the -tea things away, while Anthony Durrell sat on the couch by the window -and filled the bowl of a long clay pipe. - -"Who is that man, father?" - -"De Rothan? An exile, a French aristocrat. He waits for the return of -King Louis." - -Durrell showed the Jesuitical spirit in his belief that the end -justified the means. - -"Has he been long in Sussex?" - -"No, not very long. Otherwise you would have seen him before." - -"Where does he live?" - -"He has rented an old house away yonder over the ridge?" - -It was on Nance's tongue to speak of that night when she had heard De -Rothan's voice in her father's room. But some impulse drove the words -back. She went put with the tray, leaving her father to dream impossible -dreams of an impossible future. - -She was thinking of Jasper Benham, nor was it very marvellous that -Jasper could keep her in countenance in the matter of thinking. He had -ridden home in no pleasant temper, puzzled and challenged by Anthony -Durrell's blunt prejudice against him. Nor could Jasper help remembering -Parson Goffin's insinuations. Durrell might not want strangers at -Stonehanger. And yet it seemed bad policy to be so frankly churlish. - -At Rush Heath Jasper found half-a-score red-coats drinking beer in the -stable-yard. Jack Bumpstead was watering their horses, and joining in -the gossip that flitted about the pewter pots. - -"Capt'n Jennison be in t' parlour, Master Jasper." - -And Jasper found Captain Jennison comfortably seated at breakfast, -making himself wholly at home in Squire Kit's chair. - -He was a grim-mouthed, swarthy little man, with massive limbs and a big -chest. His temper was abrupt and dangerous. - -"Morning to you, Benham. Time's precious, sir. Excuse me if I open my -mouth to eat and to talk. I have important orders, sir, but Captain -Curtiss was not to be found. God knows what the man has done with -himself!" - -Jasper drew a chair to the table, and helped himself to cold meat-pie. - -"I am at your service, captain." - -"The fact is, sir, that Villeneuve has got out of Toulon. Where Nelson -is, only the devil knows. Mischief is brewing, and we are most damnably -in the dark. They say that in London men have faces as long as -lamp-posts. We are to be on the alert, sir. I have been sent out to warn -all the volunteer officers to have their men ready for any emergency." - -"Then there is a chance of the French getting across?" - -"A confoundedly good chance, sir, and I can't say I have much faith in -our row of dove-cots and their pop-guns. We must have every man ready -who can carry a musket. Whip up all your men, billet 'em in Battle, -somewhere handy--here, if you like. Have your wagons ready. We are -waiting in the dark. Villeneuve may be coming up the Channel for all we -know." - -Jasper had the grave face of a man who took his duties very seriously. - -"It shall be done, Captain Jennison. I am to act for Captain Curtiss?" - -"Good Lord, sir, yes. That gentleman will be shaving himself when the -French cavalry are galloping past Tunbridge." - -Captain Jennison gathered his men and rode on, while Jasper sent Jack -Bumpstead to re-saddle Devil Dick, and went to spend five minutes with -his father. He was fond of the fiery, blasphemous old curmudgeon, and -Squire Kit was proud of Jasper, and very generous in his way. He was the -sort of man who cursed because it had become a habit with him, and ill -health had not sweetened his temper. - -"Well, Jasper, well, lad----?" - -"Captain Jennison has been here, father. It is likely that the French -may get across." - -"The French! Rot their teeth! Let 'em come, sir. What are we in such a -pest of a fear of the French for? We'll give 'em something to remember. -Let 'em come, I say." - -Jasper was at the door and ready to mount when a green curricle came -swinging up the road, with Rose Benham's plain face looking out from a -big straw bonnet. - -Jasper smothered a gust of impatience. Rose threw the reins to the -groom, and descended with an air of eager concern. - -"Jasper, what is the news? I have heard all sorts of rumours." - -"It seems likely that the French will get across." - -"The wretches!" - -"We have orders to bring our men together. I am off to whip them in." - -A gloved hand came out, and touched Jasper's sleeve. - -"O, Jasper, what will happen? I can't help being afraid." - -Rose was not at her best when she was sentimental. - -"Every one will be warned. You will have to go inland." - -"I was not thinking of myself, Jasper. I shall be praying to God for you -and our friends. But why should I be sent away? Women may be of use." - -"It may not come to that, Rose." - -Her hand still touched his sleeve, and her display of tenderness -irritated him. He could not return it, and his mouth felt stiff. - -"How grave you look. Does Uncle Kit know?" - -"Yes." - -"Poor, dear old man. I might go and comfort him." - -"I shouldn't, Rose." - -For Squire Kit was deep in one long, blasphemous soliloquy. - -There was a short, constrained silence, Jasper avoiding his cousin's -eyes. - -"Now, I know I am keeping you. Duty calls. But, O Jasper, it is -hard----" - -"The French are not here yet." - -"How brave and calm you look." - -She had tried very hard to make the man kiss her, but Jasper's face was -obstinate and cold. - - - - -XII - - -A labourer came running up to Rush Heath House about eleven o'clock that -night. He hammered at the yard-door, and bawled at the servants' -windows. - -"The beacon be burning, the beacon be burning." - -The men of Jasper's volunteer company were quartered at Rush Heath, and -red-coats came tumbling out of barns, stable, and kitchen. The maids -could be heard screaming in their attics, till Jack Bumpstead went up to -reassure them and to tell them to dress. The men had crowded to the high -field above the orchard, and were looking toward the sea. - -"Beachy Head--that's her." - -"Where's Captain Jasper?" - -"It be the French, sure." - -Jasper had been roused. He came up to the high field, and saw the -burning beacon like a huge star, low down upon the black horizon. The -flames were flinging their message through the night. It meant that the -French had landed, or were preparing to land. - -The whole household, save Squire Kit, were in the high field above the -orchard. The women were there, awed and frightened, and huddling close -for comfort. - -"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! They'll be cutting our throats." - -"Ye'll fight, lads, won't 'e? Don't let 'em terrify ye." - -"O, Bob, lad, I be sure you'll get a bullet in your heart." - -Jasper told the women to be quiet, and called his sergeant to him. -Captain Curtiss was still an absentee. Gossip said that he had a love -affair in London. - -"That's Beachy Head, Cochrane." - -"It is, sir." - -"Fairlight should be lighting up. The signal will go in to Flimwell and -Crowborough. Have the men had a meal?" - -"They have, sir." - -Jasper reflected a moment, with confused figures and a confused murmur -of voices about him in the darkness. Some one had brought a lantern, but -it was lost in the crowd. - -Squire Christopher had utterly refused to desert the house. - -"What! run away from a lot of beggarly French! Damn 'em, I'm a -gentleman; I don't put my King on a chopping-block. I stay here, Jasper. -If they come into my bedroom, sir, they'll hear how an English gentleman -can swear." - -Jasper had decided that Jack Bumpstead should be left to look after his -father. The maids, the cottagers, and their children were to be packed -into wagons and driven away inland. - -"Jack, saddle Devil Dick. Farmer Lavender promised to come up and see -after the wagons. Let the bullocks take the red wagon. The blue wagon -and the horses must not leave here before dawn. Remember that--not -before dawn. If any one comes bringing my gold ring, they are to have -places in the blue wagon." - -"Sure, Master Jasper." - -"Sergeant Cochrane!" - -"Sir?" - -"In an hour, you will march your men off on the Hastings road. I shall -rejoin you here, or else pick you up on the road. That's clear?" - -The sergeant saluted. - -"Clear, sir." - -Jasper rode out toward Stonehanger. - -"Durrell be hanged," he said to himself, "some one ought to warn them." - -It was a darkish night, and the woods made the night darker. The beacon -at Beachy Head showed its ominous yellow eye whenever Jasper was on high -ground, and looked back over his right shoulder. Fairlight Down was -invisible, but he believed that he could detect a faint glow in the -eastern sky. Fairlight beacon should be well ablaze. Far hills would -catch the signal, and blaze it on into the darkness. - -Stonehanger Hill appeared as a dim outline looming up against an -overcast sky. Jasper could see no light, in the house. He had to follow -the lane, since the path over the common was too uncertain by night. The -familiar yew-tree saluted him with its shadow. He left Devil Dick -fastened to the gate that Anthony Durrell had slammed so unceremoniously -in his face. - -Jasper made his way round to the front of the house. From the terrace he -seemed to look right away to the distant headland where the yellow -beacon blazed between sea and sky. A light breeze played through the -straggling thorns, and a lattice that was open creaked and rattled -against its hook. - -There was not a light to be seen in the house. Jasper looked for Nance's -window, and found that it was the one with the open lattice. He stood -looking up at it a moment, and then groped in one of the flower beds for -a few small stones. Stepping back across the grass he took aim at the -window, lobbing the stones up softly so as not to break the glass. - -Pebble after pebble rattled against the panes. Jasper stood and -listened. Nothing happened. He picked up more stones, and tossed them up -harder, more than one entering the window and rattling on the floor -within. - -Something white flickered behind the glass, and a face appeared at the -window. - -"Nance--Nance." - -"Who is it?" - -"Jasper Benham. The beacon has been fired on Beachy Head. You can see it -from your window." - -She stood at gaze, holding her hair back with one hand. - -"I thought you might be asleep and I rode over to warn you. It means -that the French are coming." - -Nance remained silent. Roused out of sleep to stare at that great yellow -eye out yonder, her consciousness was confused for the moment, nor did -the man's presence below her window help her toward tranquillity. The -things that her father had told her concerning him were as vivid as the -burning beacon. She felt numb and inarticulate, constrained to speak yet -knowing not what to say. - -"It was good of you to think of us." - -Her voice seemed to come from a distance. - -"I could not help coming." - -"Oh." - -"I have to join my men. There is room in one of our wagons for you and -your father. I have an hour to spare. I can take you to Rush Heath." - -A strange and obstinate contrariness seized her. She had a sense of a -dull and undeserved pain at the heart. - -"Father will not trouble----" - -"He must." - -"He is not afraid." - -"Is he asleep?" - -"I don't know." - -"For God's sake, go and wake him. You must not be left here." - -"It is quite useless, Mr. Benham. I know that father will not leave the -house." - -Her voice fell coldly on Jasper out of the darkness. It was not the -voice he knew. - -"Nance----" - -"Please don't call me Nance." - -It was as though she emptied her displeasure upon him. The rebuff was -too real to be ignored. - -"I shall have ridden ten miles when I ought to be with my men." - -"I did not ask you to come." - -Jasper was human, nor was he one of those soft fools who grovel. - -"Nance, I did not come for this. What has turned you against me?" - -"What do you mean?" - -"Confound it, didn't your father slam the gate in my face! I'm a -man--not a dog to be hallooed off down the road!" - -The passion in his voice moved her more than he imagined. - -"Please don't talk like this. Father----" - -"Well, what has your father against me?" - -"Why will you make it so difficult?" - -"Difficult! It is a new thing for a Benham to have a door slammed in his -face. Confound it. This is sheer nonsense. You must come to Rush Heath. -Every one is being sent inland. These devils of French----" - -He saw her arm come out. The hook of the lattice grated. She was closing -the window. - -"Nance----" - -The lattice clattered to, and he was left to his own emotions. - -Jasper's astonishment struck tragic attitudes. These people had been -kind to him that night when he had been shot in the arm. What had made -them change toward him? What had old Durrell told the girl that she -should treat him so unreasonably? - -Parson Goffin's accusation recurred to him. - -"Impossible. The parson's a gossiping toper!" - -Jasper stared up at the closed window, frowning and trying to put these -detestable thoughts away. - -"Either some one has been telling lies, or----" - -He stood stiffly alert, like a sentinel who has heard a suspicious sound -in the darkness. Some one was moving below the terrace. Footsteps -shuffled on the rough stone steps. Jasper turned very slowly, but could -see nothing. - -"Libertas--libertas!" - -Jasper's muscles quivered and hardened like the muscles of a horse that -is struck with a whip. It was Anthony Durrell's voice, but Jasper could -not see him. - -Away yonder shone the beacon on Beachy Head. For the moment it was a -clear and brilliantly yellow mass, the stone wall of the terrace showing -under it as a black line. Suddenly it was obscured. A black figure -interposed itself, a figure that stretched out its arms as a great bird -expands its wings. - -"Libertas--libertas! The destroyer comes. He shall winnow out the chaff -to the four winds. Hail, Napoleon, man of destiny!" - -Jasper stood stiff as a stone post. Durrell's black figure loomed across -his consciousness. And suddenly Jasper understood. The man was a -traitor, a spy! - -He had a sense of smothering at the heart. Anger, shame, bewilderment -had hold of him. He was thinking of Nance, and all that the closing of -that window signified. - -An impulse of anger drove him toward the figure outlined against the -beacon. Some other influence drove him back. He turned and began to move -away, sliding his feet cautiously over the grass. - -He threw one glance at Nance's window. - -"A spy, and the child of a spy!" - -Then he remembered the little wicket gate that led into the passage -opening into the stable-yard. Jasper turned to look at Durrell, and once -more stood tied to the spot. - -A second figure had joined the first. It was pointing with outstretched -arm toward the sea. - -A rush of anger and bitterness carried Jasper away. He fled from -Stonehanger, cursing it and himself. - -In two minutes he was galloping Devil Dick down the lane. - -"In the pay of the French! But Nance----? I'll not believe it!" - - - - -XIII - - -Strong language prevailed next day, and the eloquence of disgust. -Mounted men had gone galloping along the roads and lanes, overtaking -farm wagons laden with people and household gear, and stopping at inns -to drink and spread the news. - -"A false alarm. The French never showed their noses out of Boulogne." - -"Then who fired the beacon?" - -Angry-faced farmers asked each other this question outside the village -inns after they had returned their teams and rumbled back the way they -had come. Only fools and red-coats saw the humour of the thing. -Respectable citizens were angry. Shopkeepers who had sat up all night -behind locked doors were ironical and grieved. Women embraced their -children and scolded their husbands in the exuberance of their relief. -The whole community, like a man who has been scared out of his dignity -by boys playing "ghost" at night, flew into a rage, and tried to cover -the unseemliness of its panic by a display of valiant indignation. - -A big dragoon mounted on a bay horse was emptying a pewter pot outside -the principal inn at Hurstmonceux. The dragoon's face looked fat and -round and lazy under his heavy helmet. A fair crowd had gathered about -him. Beer and admiration are equally cheap. - -"How did that thur bonfire get alight?" - -"Go along with you trying to tap a King's trooper." - -The dragoon winked at a group of women. He was a fat, lusty, cheerful -dog, and the women giggled and were flattered. - -"The sergeant knows." - -"Just look at his wicked eye." - -"I like a chap to be red and healthy. They do say the French be the -colour o' tallow." - -"Now, sergeant, we were that terrified!" - -"Sure--you'll be for telling----" - -"Well, ladies, if old men will nip a little to keep out the cold! It all -came of old Daddy Tonks having a bottle of smuggled rum on him." - -"What, he set her alight while he was merry?" - -"That's it. Half Eastbourne went panting up to the Head when the beacon -started burning. What d'ye think they found? Old Daddy Tonks dancing -round the fire like mad and shouting that he was burning them as was -damned. The language! Some one knocked the old man's pins from under him -with the butt-end of a musket. And here were we sent galloping after all -the poor sheep as had stampeded, and all the death and glory boys -holding each other up for fear o' fainting with joy." - -The people grew confidential, crowding close about the dragoon's horse. - -"Do ye think t' French ull cross, sergeant?" - -"They do say as Nelson 'as lost hisself." - -"My ol' sow's just had a fine fam'ly. 'Taint no sense. What be a body to -do!" - -"It terrifies ye from sowing seeds. I ain't going to grow peas for -Johnny Crappo to pick!" - -The dragoon gazed profoundly at the bottom of the pot. - -"Bone manure may be cheap--French bones, hee-hee!" - -"Give me m'own mixen." - -"Who wants the Bonypart!" - -"Some of our fellows, too, thrown in." - -The dragoon looked round scornfully. - -"If there was a man here," he said, "he'd stand a King's soldier another -mug of beer." - -The trooper trotted eastward toward Ashburnham, and encountered a green -curricle at the meeting of four ways. The occupant hailed him, and the -dragoon was urbane and gallant. - -"A false alarm, miss. The beacon-keeper got in liquor and set the -beacon-light. We are cantering round to quiet the poor things." - -Rose thought by his fat smile that his officers had chosen wisely. There -was nothing savouring of famine and sudden death about the trooper. - -"Can you tell me if the Eastbourne road is clear?" - -"You may overtake some of the wagons, miss, but they'll pull aside for -such as you." - -And the green curricle whirled on. - -Meanwhile Jasper Benham was at Hastings in the battery at the east end -of the parade. He had left his men bivouacked in a field by Halton -barracks, and had spent the night with a number of roaring, -wine-drinking officers who had waited for the crisis in the large room -of an inn in High Street. The morning was still and sunny, and to judge -by the number of people who had gathered on the sea-front, the -Hastingers had not deserted the town at the first flash of the alarm. -There was a goodly gathering on the Castle Hill, staring out to sea. -Younger women, who had not forgotten to put on gay prints and muslins, -kept to the parade by the east battery, in order to be reassured by the -red-coated gentlemen who were laughing and joking among the guns. Green -hills, red coats, blue sea, brown roofs were spread before the people -who climbed the east and west hills. There were more red coats to be -seen about the three-gun battery at White Rock. Signals were being -passed along the coast, from Fairlight Down to Galley Hill, Wall End -Pevensey, Beachy Head, and so on westward. - -Jasper, leaning against a gun, stared hard at nothing in particular with -the savage intentness of a man plagued with doubts. He was sick of the -sound of the voice of his own conscience that talked so obviously about -duty and honour, and loyalty to one's King. He ought to be reporting his -suspicions to the officer commanding the troops in the neighbourhood. A -dozen troopers ought to be riding up to Stonehanger, and old Durrell -laid by the heels and his house searched. - -But Jasper's decision faltered, and he fell to temporising and to making -excuses. Was he sure of his facts? Had he trusted to mere sinister -coincidences and to suspicions? He realised that if he denounced Anthony -Durrell as a French spy, the burden of proof would rest on his own -shoulders. He would have to hurt Nance; that was what bothered him. He -could not forget the touch of her hands that night. She had fired all -the mysteries of sense and spirit. How could he throw shame and ignominy -in her face? - -A corporal of volunteers was leading Devil Dick up and down the parade. -Jasper roused himself, and marched out of the battery with a casual nod -to his brother officers. The volunteer companies had been ordered back -to their country quarters. The presence of the men near their own homes -would restore confidence, and help to smother panic. - -"Corporal Jenner." - -"Sir?" - -"Go up to Halton and tell Sergeant Cochrane to march the men back to -Battle." - -"Yes, sir." - -"The men will parade on the green at seven o'clock." - -"Yes, sir." - -"I shall be there." - -Jasper mounted Devil Dick and rode westward toward Bexhill. He was in a -restless mood, driven to keep step with his own urgent thoughts. The -happenings of the night were like so many thorns spread in the path of -his pilgrimage. The gloom of an inevitable choice lay over him. - -He rode across the great green Level of Pevensey where kingcups were all -golden along the waterways, and the larks hovered and sang. Countryfolk -and men on horseback were gathered at Castle End, but Jasper did not -turn aside. The grey, shimmering downs swelled before him against the -blue of the sky. Yonder rose Beachy Head, its beacon a heap of ashes. An -insane hatred of the headland leapt into Jasper's heart. It was as -though love had been martyred there, and the ashes scattered over the -seas. - -Devil Dick carried Jasper into Eastbourne, urged thither by a vague -restlessness rather than by any desire to get anywhere in particular. -The town had soon recovered from the night's scare, and being a gay -place it laughed and made fun of the whole affair. Eastbourne had a -certain fashionable reputation, and by the Sea Houses where the London -coach started, and where the great circular redoubt had been thrown up, -idlers enjoyed the sunshine and aired their little genteel vanities as -though there were no such thing as war. - -Jasper rode Devil Dick to the edge of this little world of -valetudinarianism, gossip, and dissipation. Blue sea and sky and the -grey gloom of Beachy Head formed the background, while the space between -the houses and the redoubt was stippled over with the little coloured -figures that idled to and fro. Here were leering old men, foppishly -dressed, yet unable to hide their tainted bodies behind the craft of -valet and tailor. There were women to keep these old men in countenance, -mature, sly, scandalous old women who still triumphed, and rouged, and -tattled. It was a quick-witted, gay, cynical crowd, vicious according to -the conceptions of the moralists, but having the laugh of the moralists -in the matter of enjoyment. - -Jasper drew rein, the serious gloom of youthful romanticism refusing to -mingle with this mature frivolity. He had turned Devil Dick, and was -walking the horse away from the Sea Houses and the redoubt when he heard -some one calling him by name. - -"Meester Benham, Meester Benham." - -Jasper became aware of a group close on his left, one tall and stately -cypress in the midst of a smother of flowering shrubs. The cypress bowed -and swept a hat. The flowering shrubs exhaled perfumes, and delighted -the eyes with colour. - -It was the Chevalier de Rothan, and with him four or five gay ladies in -Empire gowns and bonnets, very seductive, very merry, very frail. They -were classic in more than the mere incidents of dress. One had black -hair, huge dark "orbs," and a melancholy mouth. Another was a little, -red-haired woman, wonderfully dainty, with china-blue eyes, and every -feminine impertinence for the provoking of men. They were looking at -Jasper with the eyes of connoisseurs. A somewhat elderly charmer had -levelled an ebony-handled lorgnette. - -De Rothan had a way of enveloping people and entangling their activities -in the net of his magnificent manners. - -"Meester Benham, our friends were in ecstasy over your horse. I thought -I knew both the horse and the rider. It is a splendid animal, ladies, -and splendidly ridden, eh?" - -He included them all in one sweeping gesture. - -"Mr. Benham, let me present you to my friends. Mrs. Juno, Mrs. Venus, -Mrs. Impertinence, Mrs. Pallas. We are very young, sir, although so -ancient. I myself am Mr. Paris of Troy." - -They laughed, and looked with friendly interest at Jasper, who had -responded with a rather perfunctory bow. - -"Mr. Benham looks disappointed about something," said the little -red-haired woman with a provocative glance. - -"Mars cheated of a battle, eh! Meester Benham, pardon me, but I have -been delighted by your droll people." - -"Oh!" - -"A little, old man drinks too much--goddesses, forgive me--and a whole -county is in consternation. You call the French excitable, sir, but, by -St. Louis, you run us close. I was disappointed in the stolidity of the -English." - -Jasper suspected the presence of malicious raillery. De Rothan's figure -filled his consciousness. He felt ready to quarrel with the man and -quite ready to forget the ladies. - -"What did you expect, sir?" - -"Less scuffling into clothes, and the pulling on of stockings inside -out. Little things--but significant." - -"We were prompt in getting the people away." - -"Prompt! Excellent word! Dear goddesses, your good countrymen were -prompt at running away." - -He gave Jasper an exasperatingly roguish look. - -"I have heard of no running away. There seem plenty of people in -Eastbourne." - -"The panic was soon put out here, Meester Benham. But I rode fifteen -miles before I came to Eastbourne this morning. You should have seen the -roads, sir. People running away with their pans and kettles and -cash-boxes on their backs. It was like the rout of an army." - -"They had been ordered to go inland. The French would have found the -stem stuff ready for them, even if they had survived the _mal de mer._" - -"You are facetious, Meester Benham." - -"I echo you, Chevalier." - -"It is my privilege to amuse the ladies." - -"We have often amused ourselves at the expense of the French." - -De Rothan drew himself up dramatically. - -"Meester Benham, I do not permit myself or others to pass beyond mere -jesting words." - -"Very good, sir, then keep clear of the facts. You have thrashed us, and -we have thrashed you. Though I think we can count three Blenheims to one -Fontenoy." - -De Rothan made a gesture as though he would lay a hand on a sword. - -"I do not quarrel, Meester Benham, when ladies are present. Insult me -some other day." - -"With pleasure," said Jasper, and rode on in a black rage. - -He had not gone more than a hundred yards when two smart horses drawing -a green curricle came into view. A whip was held slantingly at a -professional angle. The sea-breeze played with the reddish curls under -the big bonnet. - -Jasper blasphemed under his breath. Cousin Rose was the very last -creature he desired to meet that morning. - -She drew up, with a heightened colour and a shallow glitter of the eyes. -The woman had dash, and a certain audacity in her methods of attack. - -"You see, Jasper, I had not run away. What a reprieve for us all. We -should thank God from our hearts." - -She eyed him steadily, noticing his morose, inward look. - -"The responsibility has been heavy on you, lad. Do you know I prayed for -you last night. I felt that you were not alone. I was with you--in the -spirit." - -"You are always very good, Rose." - -"Am I? I think we always understood each other, Jasper, even when we -were children." - - - - -XIV - - -Rose Benham's sentimentality was part of the guile of the huntress. -Ordinarily she was a hard and very shrewd young woman, capable of -managing most men and horses, and sincere enough when her egotistical -piety was on the prowl. She knew that there were other women who desired -to marry Jasper Benham. Her determination to marry him herself was made -up of the lust to possess, and the desire to defeat rivals. - -"Jasper, you will see me back to Beech Hill." - -She was on the edge of an appealing simper, and detestable as most plain -and hard young women are when they ape passions that they do not -possess. Rose went about such matters as though she were selling pots -and pans in a shop. Cleverness cannot take the place of instinct. That -is why clever people are often such wearisome fools. - -"Do you want to go back at once?" - -They had driven and ridden a little way along the Sea Road, and Miss -Benham was looking with some of her provincial scorn at the gay folk who -idled there. To a certain type of woman all fashionable people are -profligates. Most women have a secret desire to dazzle and to devastate. -It is the utter inability of the majority to do anything of the kind -that gives such a feline viciousness to their morality. - -"I do not think that there is much to see in Eastbourne, Jasper. What -absurd creatures there are here. Look at that thing yonder, like a -lettuce tied up at the top with bass." - -"Shall we turn back?" - -"Such women always make me cross. As if men were worth all the trouble!" - -Courtesy, not necessity, put Jasper in the position of outrider. Rose -was perfectly capable of driving alone across England, but when a -thin-natured woman tries to be melting, she muddles the mingling of the -wine and honey. - -"I have a little basket under the seat, Jasper. Cold chicken and a -bottle of wine. We can put up the horses at some farm, and make a meal -under a tree." - -Such feasting in Arcady was wholly outside Jasper's mood. - -"Oh, yes, we could do that." - -The tiredness of his voice piqued her. - -"I believe you are sorry that the French did not come. I know; you have -uncorked your courage and it has gone flat." - -Jasper left her to think what she pleased. - -They found a farm-house set back in a little meadow, and a big -chestnut-tree made them a green pavilion. The horses were left in the -care of a lad who bit his thumb-nail and stared. - -Jasper's attitude was one of impatient reserve. Every thought that came -into his mind unrolled itself from the one word "if." If another face -had been inside that bonnet. If other hands----! He had to sit there and -listen to Rose Benham's thin suggestions, when love had become almost a -ferocity, a tormented thing that was ready to break out into violence. - -"There is only one glass, Jasper." - -Her playful coyness made him feel evil. - -"It doesn't matter." - -When he drank he was careful to avoid the place that Rose's lips had -touched. She noticed it, and her eyes registered the impression. - -Her sentimental gaiety was like the buzzing of gnats in the sunshine. It -intensified that other richer reality, that passion that had become akin -to pain. Rose, too, had a way of asking direct questions, as -exasperating a trick as pretending to tread on the toes of a gouty old -man. - -"You don't look very gay, Jasper. Are you sorry the French did not -land?" - -"Yes, I am." - -"What a desperate mood! You ought to be in love." - -This did not make matters flow any more pleasantly. Rose's face began to -assume its set, Sabbath expression. - -"I think you are very dull. I know men like to talk about themselves. -You don't seem to find even yourself interesting." - -"I'm not in a mood to talk. The fact is, I was up all night, and drank -rather too much sherry." - -"How silly you men are. You never seem to think of the to-morrow." - -They packed up the basket, left the shade of the chestnut-tree, and -travelled on. Rose looked somewhat grim, and Jasper was struck by a -sudden amazing likeness to her mother. She appeared to have grown -thinner, and her plainness cried out at him. Yet Rose, without knowing -it, was to have a very subtle and delicate revenge. She was to be the -cause of pain and secret reproaches and a little world of -misunderstanding, for half the troubles of life come from people being -at cross-purposes and refusing to speak out. - -Though the road ran within two miles of Stonehanger, Jasper had no -thought of a possible meeting with Nance Durrell. But meet her they did -where the road ran through the oak woods in Buckhurst Hollow. - -An oak wood in May is one of the most splendid of sights, with the golds -and greens of the young foliage giving the effect of reflected sunlight. -The lush freshness of the woods enters into the soul of a young man's -dreams. Birds sing and the cuckoo calls from mysterious distances. The -blue of the wild hyacinths brings visions of chaplets of flowers woven -about the dark hair of some young girl. - -A stream ran through Buckhurst Wood, crossing the road where a big -beech-tree stood on a knoll that was covered with blue-bells. The moist -murmur of the running water seemed part of the dewiness of the green and -secret thickets. - -Under the shade of the beech-tree sat Nance Durrell, a rush basket -thrown beside her, her chin resting in the palms of her two hands. She -looked intense, passionately preoccupied, her brown eyes staring into -the mysterious distances of the wood. Her mouth was grave, and a little -sad. - -She glanced round with a certain impatient shyness when the green -curricle appeared upon the road. For the moment she looked at Rose -Benham and did not notice Jasper. Her thoughts had been disturbed, and -waited for the disturbers to pass. - -Then she recognised Jasper. Her self-consciousness became a thing of the -vivid and inevitable present. It was not possible for her to shirk the -clamour of her emotions. - -Jasper reddened like a boy. He faltered, and then let the two horses and -the curricle splash through the shallow water. - -Nance had gone very white, with the whiteness of pride that resists. Why -did the man thrust himself into her life? She hardened herself against -him, and tried to find the impress of the repulsive things she had heard -of him upon his face. - -"Have you heard the news----?" - -Her eyes were two shadowy circles of reticent distrust. - -"What news?" - -"It was a false alarm last night. The beacon was fired by mistake." - -She looked at him and was silent, and her very silence was resistant. -Benham had a whole flood of fierce doubts and yearnings urging him -forward against her reserve. - -"Nance, why did you shut your window on me last night?" - -"What right had you to come?" - -She soared into haughtiness, and the knoll under the beech-tree became -inaccessible. - -"I had a man's right." - -"And what is that?" - -The curricle had drawn up some fifty yards beyond the ford, and a face -in a yellow bonnet looked back at them with surprised intentness. - -Nance rose. There was something tantalising and repressive about her -movements. Few things can surpass the bleak and uncompromising pride of -a young girl. - -"Your friend is waiting for you." - -"It is my cousin, Rose Benham. She----" - -"I do not wish to keep her waiting." - -Jasper's manhood raged within him. Primitive emotions and the more -complex things of the heart made a confused turmoil. He rebelled against -her tacit and unexplained antagonism. - -"Nance, I must know what has made you change so suddenly." - -She had half turned, and she looked back at him from beyond the finality -of a dismissal. - -"Your cousin is waiting." - -"Heaven confound my cousin! What has she to do----" - -The silent, backward look of her eyes rebuffed him. - -"Nance--listen. I must know why you have changed. You have changed----" - -"It is courteous of you to claim it." - -She was ready to show that she resented his assumption of a past -sympathy. - -"Damnation! You must have reasons. Is it your father?" - -"It may be. I am not here to be cross-questioned." - -"After you shut your window, I saw him on the terrace last night." - -His passion drove him toward aggression. The girl remained stone-cold. - -"Was he?" - -"Yes." - -"Well, what of that?" - -"He had another man with him." - -"Most likely it was old David." - -Jasper had come to the very citadel of her reserve. To press further -would mean the giving of a final and forlorn assault. Her whole attitude -seemed to him to be a beating back of inopportune and dangerous -curiosity. - -"Shall I say that there are things that you do not wish me to know?" - -"What do you mean?" - -She stood to attack in turn, alert, and a little haughty. - -"Mr. Durrell may have reason for not wishing me to come to Stonehanger." - -"You suspect that?" - -"You drive me to it." - -Her face flushed under her dark hair. - -"You are bold to press so far. Are you so sure of yourself? My father -has reasons. You might not thank me for telling you them." - -"I should thank you--from my heart." - -"Not if you have any sense of--pride. Miss Benham must think this -conduct of yours as curious as it appears to me." - -She turned her back on him, and walked away into the thick of the wood. -Jasper could not follow her there without leaving his horse, and Nance -knew it. He did not attempt to follow her, but sat staring half vacantly -into the green depths, a man staggered in the full stride of his -impetuous sincerity. - -It cost Jasper something of an effort to ride on and overtake the green -curricle. Rose Benham's sharp profile had a very exasperating effect on -him. There was something dangerously watchful about her eyes. - -They made an elaborate show of ignoring the events of the last five -minutes. Jasper might have hung behind to talk to a farm bailiff, to -judge by the way they treated the matter. - -But Rose's shrewd brain was busy enough behind the forced facility of -her chattering. She felt that it was not only absurd, but impolitic to -ignore the incident. It had to be touched on lightly and without -prejudice. - -"You haven't yet told me the name of your friend, Jasper." - -"What friend?" - -"Why, the damsel among the blue-bells, stupid. You know--I felt horribly -guilty. It occurred to me that I had put myself in the way of being an -awkward third." - -"That was Miss Nance Durrell." - -Cousin Rose appeared immensely excited. - -"Jasper--the heroine of your night adventure! Think of that now! I -thought she would have been prettier. You ought to have made us known to -each other. I might have driven her home in the curricle." - -Jasper glanced at Rose mistrustfully. Nance had driven him into a world -of cross-purposes and suspicions. - -"Miss Durrell goes very much her own way." - -"Proud, is she?" - -"Call it that if you like." - -"O, Jasper, Jasper, if only you would let me teach you a little about -women." - -The cynical yet motherly touch was excellent. Rose could be masterly, -directly a little malice gave her practical shrewdness an opportunity. -She could preach to a man, if she could not make love to him. - -"What do you know about women, Rose?" - -"La, now, listen to the lad! Jasper, half you men are nothing but great -big boys. You think we are so much finer, and purer, and sweeter than -you are, until we poor women show the true human stuff in us, and then -you make a frightful to-do, and turn into cynics. Don't we want the men -sometimes, just as much as the men want the women? And don't we plan and -scheme to get them, playing all sorts of tricks with pride and coldness -and smiles and relentings. Don't start away, Jasper, with thinking each -girl a sweet fool of an angel." - -He was caught by her words, and was angry with himself for being -influenced. - -"Sometimes people are what we wish them to be." - -"Yes, especially if they are clever. The girl realises that. She puts on -the clothes and the airs that please the man." - -"You are a little cynic, Rose." - -"Not a bit of it. I'm honest. I don't cover things up." - -They said no more on the matter, but Rose had learnt something that made -the lips of her soul curl maliciously. - -"Always the pretty face!" she thought. "Fools! And we plain women have -to look on, while a man squanders himself on a thing with soft eyes and -an artful mouth. I'm plain, but am I going to be ousted by some -treacle-and-honey chit with eyes like blackberries? This nonsense----!" - -Rose had a sense of her limitations. That is what made her bitter. - - - - -XV - - -Nance made her way through Buckhurst Wood, pushing aside the fresh green -hazel boughs till she reached a ride that ran eastward under the -overhanging branches of the oaks. It was a woodland gallery hung with -arras of green and gold, the sunlight streaming in through innumerable -windows. The rank grass about the hazel stubs was threaded with wild -flowers. Patches of blue sky showed between the golden branches of the -oaks. - -Nance was both angry and perplexed, an astonishment to herself in the -contradictory discontent that mocked her pride. She had not pitied -Jasper Benham when they had been face to face. She had resented his -pertinacity. It had been easier to believe that he was playing the part -that he had played with other women. - -Yet something within her spoke up for Jasper now that he could not -defend himself in person. Nance had had but a glimpse of Rose Benham, -but it had been enough to challenge her dislike. She was sorry for the -man, having an instinctive foreknowledge of how such a woman would shape -in the middle ways of life. Yet Nance caught herself up in the thick of -these thoughts, and refused to be lured into possible justifications. -Nance was a little hard, as girls are apt to be. She liked her beliefs -and convictions carved in ivory, immutable and flawless. There were so -many things she did not know, so many things she did not understand. She -believed in a kind of superhuman honour that could never change, never -be bent into the making of crooked excuses. - -But she did feel bitter and lonely, in spite of her pride. Something had -been awakened in her that spring, a richness of thought and of feeling, -a going-out of her spirit toward mystery and joy. She remembered days -when she had thought of this man with a swift, shy thrill of tenderness. -There had seemed a strength about him, a brave, brown-faced kindness -that had compelled her to muse and to remember. That was why she felt -bitter and resentful. She would smile peevishly over the thought of the -red scarf and the cunning use he had made of it. Now and again she had -found herself doubting the truth of her father's words, but she could -find no reason for his wishing to mislead her. The smart of the thing -remained, the raw consciousness that this man had been treating her as -one adventure in a succession of adventures. She resented this bitterly. -It was the one emotion that had made her determine to thrust the whole -affair out of her life. - -Nance made her way homeward by a number of familiar lanes and -field-paths, for she had wandered extensively since Anthony Durrell had -taken Stonehanger. It was when she was following the path that led from -the direction of Rookhurst over Stonehanger Common, that De Rothan -overtook her and dismounted to walk at her side. He had seen the girl's -figure moving along the field-paths as he had ridden along the road. - -"My homage to you, Mees Nance. It may be that I shall find your father -at Stonehanger. I hope the beacon-fire did not keep you awake last -night." - -He walked along beside her with an air of fascinating frankness. He had -found it serve with women. As for Nance, she was so near home that it -did not seem worth while to question De Rothan's company. - -"We saw the beacon burning." - -"And you were very frightened, eh?" - -"No, not very." - -"You should have seen the country people! Frightened sheep! I fear that -if the French had landed the English red-coats would have followed the -women." - -Nance had none of her father's political discontent. She had her British -beliefs and convictions, and wore her patriotism in her bosom. - -"English soldiers do not run away, Chevalier." - -"Eh! Assuredly--I ask your pardon. One's own soldiers never run away; -they are forced to retreat in the face of overwhelming numbers. We all -know that." - -The man puzzled her. Usually she could get clear impressions of people, -but De Rothan's was a figure that flickered and changed. His vanity and -his grand air were definite details, yet they seemed to her like clothes -worn at a masked ball. De Rothan was a cynic and an adventurer, a mature -and very flexible man of the world. Nothing was absolutely right or -absolutely wrong to him. A certain intenseness made Nance incapable of -understanding the multifarious selfishnesses that go to the making of -such a man. - -Anthony Durrell was walking the terrace when these two reached -Stonehanger. De Rothan had said, "I give myself the pleasure of seeing -your father." He was out of the saddle, and making a great business of -offering to hand Nance up the steps. - -She was not a gallant's woman, nor did she desire to be touched by De -Rothan. Her instincts were fastidious in such matters. - -He smiled at her roguishly. - -"What a proud young gentlewoman. But you have the right. Beauty is -privileged. Pride in a plain woman is like fine wine in a pewter pot." - -Her aloofness pleased him. He followed her up the steps, scanning her -figure, and noticing the comely way her neck curved where it rose from -between her shoulders. - -"Mr. Durrell, your daughter is a very great lady. She is too proud to -touch my fingers." - -He laughed and swaggered, and it was in his swagger that the vulgar -blood of the Irish adventurer showed itself. Durrell had a sullen, -preoccupied look. He had been disappointed of great events. - -"Where have you been, Nance?" - -"For a ramble." - -"Ah." - -His eyes searched her face, and Nance caught a questioning distrust. -Youth resents suspiciousness. That momentary glance was seized on and -remembered. - -"You will stay and drink tea with us, Chevalier." - -"I am to be persuaded, sir, I assure you." - -"Nance, get the things ready, child." - -She answered perfunctorily and passed on toward the house. - -De Rothan returned to his horse that was standing quietly at the bottom -of the terrace steps. - -"Show me the way to your stable, Durrell." - -"You know it." - -"I don't, sir, so long as there are eyes about. Besides----" - -Durrell joined him, and they walked round by the field gate into the -yard. David Barfoot met them, and Durrell signed him to take De Rothan's -horse. - -They turned into the shrubbery, and took to pacing one of the wild, -overgrown paths. Laurels and hollies hedged them in, and arched out the -sunlight. The thick canopy of leaves had smothered the grass and weeds. -The soil was black and bare under the dark stems of the laurels. - -De Rothan appeared cynically merry. He talked to Durrell about the -happenings of the previous night. - -"The whole countryside broke away like sheep. What? You are -disappointed? No, no, the scare was of value. It showed how jumpy and -unsteady these stolid folk are. They tell me that the troops were out of -hand in several places. Whole companies made off and had to be chased -and brought back by cavalry. It's a fact, sir, a fact." - -Durrell showed a morose surface. - -"It may have done them good." - -"Steadied them, eh, helped them to get used to it? Bah! I should like to -see a beacon fired by mistake every other night. The country's courage -would be in tatters. Troops--raw troops--are not improved by being -worried and fretted." - -"I was too happy last night. I thought the time had come." - -De Rothan looked at him intently. - -"You are on edge, sir, too much on edge." - -"No, no; I long for the great change." - -A hand-bell rang, and the two men returned to the house. Nance had set -tea in the Gothic parlour. De Rothan was floridly officious in arranging -a chair for her. - -"You should have been at Eastbourne this morning, Mees Nance. A crowd of -gay people, all in the best of tempers from being saved from invasion. -They had all got ready to run away in their best clothes. Do you ever -take your daughter to the watering-places, Mr. Anthony?" - -Durrell grunted, and gloomed over his tea. - -"I don't." - -"You dislike gay people." - -"I detest them." - -"Ah--ah, and they are always saying that my poor France is so gay. Why -should not one be gay, sir, why should we pull long faces? The good God -did not mean us to be miserable. What do you think, Mees Nance?" - -His deference bowed her into the conversation. - -"Sometimes one can not be gay, Chevalier." - -"Not always, not always. But then, when a woman is young and adorable! -Cloudy days; beauty all silver and grey, charm, subtlety. Now, come--do -you not love fine clothes?" - -She smiled. - -"As much as women always love them." - -"There, that is honest. I would not give a fig for a woman who hadn't a -little vanity." - -Durrell struck in, jerking his shoulders irritably. - -"There is enough nonsense in a girl's head, De Rothan, without stuffing -any more into it." - -"My dear friend, I disagree with you. There are gentlewomen and -gentlewomen. Parents, too, are often the blindest of wiseacres. Now if I -were in your place, Mr. Anthony----" - -"But you are not, sir. Let us keep to impersonal matters." - -De Rothan threw a whimsical and conspiring look at Nance. - -"Impersonal matters! As if life could go on with all our desires -carefully tied up in silk handkerchiefs and put away in cupboards. Mr. -Durrell, you are one of the most learned of men, but----" - -He shrugged his shoulders expressively and looked sympathetically at -Nance. - -"Well, to be impersonal. I saw all kinds of your good English people -strutting to and fro on the parade. You look so good, you English, that -a well-dressed woman seems scandalous. You are such barbarians. Some one -wears a new sort of hat, and all your raw louts and lasses are giggling -and nudging with elbows. Some of you try to be fashionable and also -pious. I am thinking of Mees Rose Benham, who was there in her curricle. -Doubtless, Mees Nance, you have made the lady's acquaintance?" - -"No." - -"A character--a character. She had Mr. Benham, her cousin, hanging on -her eyebrows. They are to be married soon, they say. A case of when -Greek meets Greek. Mees Benham is a plain young woman, but she is one -who provokes. Impudence, eh, is that what you call it? A turned-up -button of a nose, sharp mouth, naughty eyes. Such women sting some of us -into passion. Mr. Benham is in the toils." - -He talked lightly, easily, observing Nance without betraying his -curiosity. Durrell moved uneasily in his chair, and looked irritably -austere. - -"You need not talk of Mr. Benham here, Chevalier." - -De Rothan glanced at him with pretended surprise. - -"A young man with a bad reputation." - -"Sir, I beg your pardon. I know the man is a little riotous; it is an -impersonal matter, surely? Madam, his cousin, will take care of his -morals." - -For the rest of his stay De Rothan was very gallant to Nance, talking to -her and at her with an air of admiring deference. No man could be more -picturesquely charming than De Rothan. He had the mellowness of long -experience, and could ape the chivalrous and dignified tenderness of an -old beau. - -"Turn the young thing's head, eh! She's confoundedly alluring. Durrell's -a fool." - -Nance longed to be away. She escaped when her father went to the -mantel-shelf for his pipe, and fled away to her room. - -It had been flashed upon her mind that De Rothan was the friend who had -told her father these things concerning Jasper Benham. Anthony Durrell -saw so few people, and there appeared to be a curious intimacy between -these two. - -She stood and looked at herself in the glass as though she were -questioning her own reflection. - -Why were De Rothan and her father friends? Had De Rothan brought these -vile tales to Stonehanger? If he was responsible for them, did that -alter her impressions? - -Yes, but she herself had seen Jasper with his cousin. That part of it -seemed true. - -And yet she distrusted De Rothan greatly. - - - - -XVI - - -Meanwhile Jasper Benham was at the end of his patience, and a creature -of moods and savage bewilderment. Nance's strange hostility had not -helped him toward decision. He was too much in love with the girl to -seek to be revenged upon her because there was something that he could -not understand. Even supposing that Anthony Durrell was a French spy, -and that Nance knew it and wished to safeguard her father, what had she -to fear from him; what reason had she for treating him with suspicion? - -Well, what was to be done? - -Jasper had spent two morose, vacillating days, and the moral quandary -seemed all the deeper. What a scolding shrew was this thing called Duty! -He was to denounce Durrell, was he--send red-coats to turn Stonehanger -upside down, and lose, perhaps forever, his chance of Nance! No, Duty be -cursed; he would do no such thing. If this clumsy meddling were the only -means that Duty could suggest, he would throw Duty aside and stand by -his own more magnanimous instincts. - -Jasper was riding Devil Dick over Rush Heath farm when he came -cheek-by-jowl with this decision. Restlessness had set him in the -saddle, and it was still early in the afternoon when he found himself -looking over a thorn hedge into a big turnip field that sloped southward -toward the edge of a wood. A solitary, lean, brown figure showed up -against the green of the young growth, a figure that moved its arms with -the monotonous action of a man hoeing. - -Jasper rode through the gateway into the turnip field and remained -watching the man with the hoe. The labourer drew near with his back -turned, chopping away sedulously at the young weeds. Jasper knew him for -Tom Stook of Bramble End, an odd hand who was taken on by the Benhams' -bailiff when there was a press of work, or hay and corn to be gathered -in. - -Tom Stook was a very tall man with great bony limbs that seemed loosely -slung at the joint sockets. He had a hawk's beak of a nose, a little -tufted beard at the chin, and deep-set, cautious eyes. He kept on -hoeing, as though he had not so much as glimpsed Jasper out of the -corner of an eye. - -"Well, Tom, Webster has found you a job, has he?" - -Stook straightened his back, drew in his hoe, leant upon it, and -regarded Jasper with a sort of cautious respect. - -"Mornin', Master Jasper." - -"Weeds bad?" - -"Pretty tarrifyin'. Be'unt so bad down yon end." - -Now Tom Stook was one of the most garrulous of rogues when gossip did -not press too tenderly upon such personal matters as poaching and -smuggling. He was a bit of a ruffian, sly, shrewd, and immensely strong. -Folk had tales to tell about him and his lonely hovel of a cottage down -by Bramble End. - -Tom Stook hoed and talked, wagging his tuft of a beard, and throwing -queer, spying glances at Jasper. - -"No more beacons afire, sir?" - -"Not yet, Tom." - -"That did tarrify the folk. I seed ut begin a'glimmering just afore -midnight." - -"You keep late hours, Tom." - -"I doan't knows as I do." - -He hoed on in silence for some moments. - -"T 'rabbits be tarrible thick down our way. They'd be for eatin' all the -green stuff, if I didn't snare 'em. Maybe I keeps late hours now and -agen. A man sees some funny things of a night, surely." - -"What sort of things, Tom?" - -"Lights, and men wid dark lanterns. Smugglers and Frenchies." - -"Oh, come, Tom!" - -"Sure, I be tellin' the truth." - -"Where do you see the lights?" - -"Up yonder, at Stonehanger. It be'unt no sort of a light, but a sort of -a glare fur the while you count ten. I doan't say nothing to nobody. We -be'unt none of us so tarrible honest, Master Jasper, as we can pull -other folks' clothes off their beds. But I've seed strange men go over -Stonehanger Common at midnight." - -Jasper kept a grave and rather sceptical face. - -"When you go out rabbiting, Tom?" - -Stook grunted. - -"I doan't know nothing 'bout that." - -"Nor do I, Tom. If the men didn't have a few rabbits, we shouldn't have -any crops." - -"Sure, Master Jasper, I always said you be a young man o' sense." - -"The squire likes his punch, Tom. We don't ask too many questions in -Sussex. I'll wager we have stuff in our cellar that never paid duty." - -Stook went on hoeing methodically. - -"Do y' know that thur furriner, sir? That black chap as rides about on a -black horse?" - -"Who do you mean, Tom?" - -"Frenchy gentleman." - -"Do you mean the Chevalier de Rothan?" - -"It may be him, Master Jasper. I've seed the man I mean up at -Stonehanger." - -"The devil you have!" - -"I've seed him come over t' common just afore daylight. You know t' old -quarry 'twixt Bramble End and Stonehanger?" - -"Yes." - -"I've knowed him leave his nag thur all night. I've seed him, too, with -Durrell's girl." - -"What d' you mean, Tom?" - -"No harm, master. Why, I seed 'em two days ago going over t' common. I -was down under yonder cutting a bit o' furze to thatch m' wood lodge -with." - -"What day was it--Tuesday?" - -"It ud be Tuesday." - -Jasper sat and stared across the turnip field with the level stare of -grim preoccupation. Tom Stook's lean figure had faced about, and was -receding, with rhythmical strokes of the hoe. - -"Have you told any one about this, Tom?" - -"Sure, no, I ain't, Master Jasper. I be'unt one for tongue-wagging 'bout -other folks's business. Guess, though, I've been puzzled. I be'unt no -baby." - -"No." - -"I knows t' lads, and t' rabbit runs, and t' warrens." - -"I reckon you do, Tom. But Stonehanger? Mr. Durrell's not hiding the -stuff, is he?" - -"That be what mizzles me." - -"He isn't one of the gang?" - -Tom grew reticent of a sudden. - -"Don't you be for askin' me, Master Jasper." - -"Well, about the foreigner. Are you sure you know him?" - -"Maybe I be wrong, master." - -"He and Durrell are something of a size." - -"That be true." - -"I'm glad you've told me this, Tom. You'll find half a side of bacon -waiting to be given away up at the Hall." - -Tom jogged his hat. - -"Thank ye, Master Jasper. I doan't drop no words into t' old women's -laps. I keep t' spigot in, sir, 'cept when a gentleman o' sense be -about." - -Jasper turned Devil Dick and rode out of the field in a very different -temper from that in which he had entered it. - -Hot blood is jealous blood, and Jasper was no bloodless saint. Tom Stook -had sprung a surprise on him, and let fly with a blunderbuss into the -thick of Jasper's perplexities. He had owned to a healthy if casual -hatred of De Rothan, but personal, prejudiced hatred is a very different -thing from vague antagonism. Good lovers are good haters, and Jasper was -hating De Rothan at full gallop. - -"Seems to me Stonehanger is a nest of spies! Deuce take it, how did we -miss knowing De Rothan for a rogue! He and the girl are friends, are -they? Oh, my innocent, sweet child! Oh, you besotted fool, Jasper -Benham. Have it out with them, have it out." - -Jasper rode straight for Stonehanger in about as black a temper as a man -can boast. He had no very definite ideas as to what he meant to do. -Feeling violent, savage, and very much befooled, he just rode toward -Stonehanger, letting the impulse of his jealousy urge him thither. - -The track he chose came from the south over the common, leaving Bramble -End lying half a mile to the south-east. Jasper passed the quarry where -Tom Stook said that De Rothan had sometimes left his horse. Jasper -peered into it, and found the quarry a mere pit full of broom and -brambles, its entrance half choked by a big elder-tree. But there were -trampled places here and there, and a rough path that led out on to the -common. - -Any one approaching Stonehanger from the south had all but the roof and -chimneys of the house hidden from him by a heave of the ground. Then one -came into full and sudden view of the place with its grey terrace and -wind-blown trees. Such a passion as jealousy often provokes the -opposites of a man's normal nature, and Benham developed a spirit of -wariness and cunning. He dismounted as soon as he saw the chimneys of -the house, found a spot amid the furze where he could fasten Devil Dick -to the tough stem of a furze-bush, and went on foot. - -The windows and terrace rose into view, with the wind-blown yews and -thorns, and then the stretch of grassland immediately below the terrace. -It was here that Jasper dodged down behind the furze like a stalker -sighting a stag. The lines of his face grew hard and keen. He took off -his hat, and, thrusting it into the furze, made a sort of loophole -between the boughs through which he could watch Stonehanger unobserved. - -A man was walking to and fro on the grassland below the terrace, -flourishing a stick as though he were trying the suppleness of his wrist -for sword-play. Sometimes he would pause and draw imaginary patterns on -the ground with the point of the stick. Or he would stride as if -measuring the ground, look about him critically, and scan the -surrounding country. There appeared to be some purpose in this pacing to -and fro. The man might have been an engineer surveying the ground for -the throwing up of earthworks and the placing of guns. - -The man was De Rothan. Jasper knew him by his height, by his black -clothes, and his haughty, swaggering walk. Only De Rothan could have -flourished a stick with such gusto. - -Jasper looked grim. - -"Hallo, so it's you, is it! Tom Stook was right. What the devil do you -think you are doing marching about up there?" - -He watched De Rothan jealously, thoughtfully. - -"Measuring the ground? Trenches and redoubts? By George, that's it! Why -did I never think of that before? Stonehanger would make one of the -strongest positions for ten miles round. A landing party might seize it -and hold on----. Hallo!" - -He was all eyes for the moment, for another figure had appeared upon the -terrace. Jasper could see only the head and shoulders behind the low -wall. It was Nance Durrell, a white sun-bonnet covering her black hair. - -He saw her come to the edge of the terrace and look over. The white -strings of her sun-bonnet were over her shoulders. She rested her hands -on the parapet and watched De Rothan pacing to and fro below. - -Jasper became for the moment the most violent of cynics. A sense of his -own ineptitude tormented him. He believed that he understood all that -was happening up yonder. - -De Rothan turned and caught sight of Nance. He gave her a magnificent -bow, sweeping hat and stick with splendid expressiveness. As for Benham, -the toe of his boot alone could have expressed his emotions. - -"Coxcomb--dog of a spy!" - -They were talking together up yonder, and Jasper could hear the faint -sound of their voices. Nance appeared to lean forward over the parapet -with an intimate friendliness that did not ease Jasper's jealousy. - -De Rothan approached the steps. He mounted them, turned to the right and -sat himself down on the parapet within a yard of Nance. He laid his hat -beside him and tapped one of the coping stones with his stick. Nance did -not edge away. She perched herself facing him. It was evident that they -were talking together. - -Jasper imagined all manner of intimate confidences passing between them. -Confound De Rothan, he seemed on excellent terms with the girl! No doubt -that was why the Frenchman had looked him over with such amused -insolence when they had met. - -Jasper knelt awhile behind the furze, gripping his coat collar with one -hand, and staring hard at the green gorse. He was ready to believe that -De Rothan was Nance's lover, and a passion of repulsion held him for the -moment. The anger in his blood was a cold and ugly anger. A man feels -the more bitter when he has reason to despise himself. - -Then a thought struck him. - -"Yes, by George! That's it! I'll make sure of the man. Tom Stook shall -have a look at him." - -He started up, and, keeping his body bent, made his way back toward his -horse. - -"I'll make sure that Monsieur de Rothan is Tom Stook's man. Then, by -George! I'll call him to account." - - - - -XVII - - -In half an hour Jasper Benham was back in the turnip field on the Rush -Heath land where Tom Stook was still wielding his hoe. - -"Tom, can you trot four miles at a stretch?" - -"Lord, sur, what for?" - -Jasper told him as much as he could tell such a man as Tom Stook. - -"I'd take you up behind me, but you're such a big fellow, Tom. Leave -your hoe in the hedge, and hold on to my stirrup. I'll tell you more as -we go along." - -And so they set out for Stonehanger. - -They went by way of Bramble End, Jasper leaving Devil Dick tethered in -Stook's little cow-lodge. Rogue Tom had come by a pretty shrewd notion -of what Jasper Benham expected of him. He took the lead as they made -their way over the common. - -"No nag in t' old quarry, sir?" - -"No." - -"T' crossways at Dudden's Oak, that be the spot, then, Master Jasper." - -"Sure?" - -"Mounseer has to cross t' ridge. Let him take what track he will, he'll -come to t' crossways at Dudden's Oak, unless he goes by t' woods and -ditches." - -Jasper agreed. Stook was a fox who knew the country. - -They skirted the upper part of the common, and took a farm track that -led to the crossways at Dudden's Oak. The old tree, a huge shell with -its boughs half dead, stood in the centre of a triangular piece of -grass. There was a wood between two of the converging roads, and Jasper -laid Tom Stook in ambush in this wood. - -"You'll get your glimpse of the gentleman, Tom, if he comes this way." - -"I'd be glad to get a sound o' t' furriner's voice." - -"You'd know him by the voice?" - -"I've heard him speak in t' dark. If I see him and sound him I'll know -'em all for t' same man." - -Jasper leaned against the trunk of the old oak with his face toward the -two ways that led south-east and south-west. De Rothan might come by -either road. Nor had Jasper been there fifteen minutes before he saw a -mounted man appear far down under the oak boughs on the Rookhurst track. -It was De Rothan himself, jogging along at a comfortable trot, yet -sitting very straight and stiff in the saddle, like some grand seigneur -riding over his estate. Jasper waited for him on the green point of -grass between the two roads. He had seen Tom Stook's brown face thrust -itself momentarily between the hazel boughs like the face of a satyr. He -was on the alert. - -De Rothan recognised Jasper when he was within thirty yards of Dudden's -Oak. A slight knitting of the brows betrayed his impatience. But he came -on with all the fine and unembarrassed confidence of a grandee. - -Jasper stood forward with a sweep of the hat. - -"I must ask you to stop, sir." - -De Rothan pulled up, and gave Jasper a stiff bow. He was high in the -stirrups of his dignity, and ready to play the grand monarch. - -"Good day to you, Meester Benham." - -"Good day to you, Chevalier. Will you be so good as to tell me whence -you come, and where you are going?" - -De Rothan looked haughty. - -"Indeed, sir, by what right do you ask these questions?" - -"By a right that it is not yours to question. I am a King's officer and -we have our orders. You will be so good as to answer me." - -"I take it as a reflection on my honour." - -"Take it as you please. We have to supervise the comings and goings, -even of our guests." - -"Meester Benham, do you suggest----?" - -"I ask you to answer my question." - -"Your way of asking it is insolent." - -"I stand by my orders. We are neither of us here to question them." - -De Rothan appeared to do some rapid thinking. Then he gave an irritable -shrug of the shoulders. - -"I suppose an exile has to suffer suspicion. If you would know it, sir, -I have been riding to exercise myself and my horse. I rode from my house -to Stonehanger Common; I ride back again to my house. Is that what you -require?" - -"I take your answer at its value, sir. You may pass on." - -De Rothan looked at Jasper as though he were half-minded to ride him -down. He appeared to swallow something. He was a man who preferred to -make very sure of success before he struck. - -"I am deeply beholden to you, Meester Benham, for your serene patronage. -There are things that we do not forget." - -"Remember them when you please, Chevalier." - -"I choose my own time, Meester Benham. I do not chastise insolence until -the occasion suits me." - -Jasper gave him a vicious smile. - -"Do not postpone it too long, sir. We do not live so very far apart. -Good day to you." - -De Rothan rode on. - -Then Tom Stook's brown face appeared. It was one broad grin. - -"T' same furriner--all over. I've seen him meet t' smuggling -Frenchy--Jerome. That be him, Master Jasper." - -"Well, he's a liar, Tom." - -"Liar! All Frenchies be liars. Good for you, Master Jasper." - -Jasper sent Tom Stook home with a silver crown in his pocket, and rode -back alone to Rush Heath. He wanted to worry this matter out, to think -out his plans for dealing with Durrell and De Rothan. Jasper had no -desire to drag the whole neighbourhood into the adventure. In a way it -was his own affair, and he meant to carry it on his own shoulders. His -motives and emotions were jumbled together. The one outstanding fact was -his determination to break De Rothan. He would outwit the man, corner -him, fight him, if need be, and get up early one morning to see him -hanged. It was a question of duty; and it was not. Jasper loved and -hated. These things are sufficient without a man dragging in duty and -religion, and trying to cover up the essential and elemental passions -with sentimental affectations, and platitudes about patriotism. - -Jasper had been away from Rush Heath since the morning. Jack Bumpstead -was not to be found, and Jasper, going in to stable Devil Dick, found a -strange nag in one of the stalls. Old Mrs. Ditch, the housekeeper, met -him in the passage, her grey curls very much in order, and a ribbon in -her cap. - -"La, Master Jasper, Mr. Winter came two hours ago. I had dinner kept -back awhile. There be some cold victuals laid out for you." - -"What--Mr. Jeremy?" - -Mrs. Ditch looked coy. Mr. Jeremy was a gentleman who forever caused a -tender fluttering among all sorts and conditions of women. - -Jasper made for the dining-room. In the Chippendale arm-chair by the -window sat a shortish, thickset, hard-headed man in black, smoking a -long pipe, and looking out on life with steel-black, whimsical eyes. He -had one of those Roman heads, with harsh strong features, power in every -line, and a cynical kindliness about the mouth. - -"Why, Jeremy----!" - -"Jeremy it is, lad. Come over and kiss me." - -They laughed, and came together to grip hands with the impulsiveness of -two men who have learned to love each other as men can. - -"What are you doing down here?" - -"Filling a chair and a bed." - -"Good, by George! It's a year since we've seen you. Where's Squire Kit? -Have you seen him?" - -Jeremy settled the tobacco in the bowl of his pipe with the end of his -little finger. - -"Having a nap upstairs, Jasper. Curse me, lad, it's good to see you. -Brown and lusty, eh, though you had a broken arm in the spring. What, -Jack Bumpstead's no gossip. And how's that old blackguard, Goffin? I've -brought him down a pound of snuff." - -Jeremy Winter had been a gentleman of many adventures, and his -picturesque career had culminated in the founding of a fencing school in -a quiet street near St. James's. Jeremy and Jasper's mother had been -cousins, and for twenty years Mr. Winter had descended at spasmodic -intervals upon Rush Heath, never with much money in his pocket, but with -plenty of audacity and cheerfulness in his eyes. He would have tales to -tell of Canada, or the East Indies, or of service in the Austrian army, -or of bronzed and ragged adventures in Spain. There was something -lovable about the man. He was tough, capable, humorous, warm-hearted, a -master of the small sword and the sabre, imperturbable and smiling in -the face of odds. - -Jasper sat himself down at the table with a resentful and freshly -remembered hunger. Jeremy Winter's coming struck him as the most welcome -of coincidences. One could tell things to Jeremy that a man would not -tell to any other living creature. - -They talked hard, touching on a dozen familiar memories, and filling in -the gaps between the now and the then. Jeremy had made a success of his -fencing school, but as he put it--"London's a sort of howling wilderness -just now. Every blessed soul seems to have gone off somewhere into the -country to help to drill bumpkins, and stand ready for the French. I -shut up the school for a month. There were only a few raw youngsters to -teach." - -When Jasper had dined they strolled out into the garden with the -elbow-to-elbow air of men well pleased to be together. Jeremy had taught -Jasper to fence as a boy. He had taken some pride in the lad, for their -temperaments were much alike. Jasper had much of the elder man's nerve -and courage and imperturbable toughness. - -"Well, lad, how's the sword-arm?" - -"Out of practice. I have an idea, Jeremy, that you are the very man I -want." - -"What, getting ready for a quarrel--woman--and all that?" - -"More than that. I'll tell you." - -In the long walk Bob the gardener had thrown down half a dozen hazel -fagots, for sticking the rows of sweet peas. Jeremy brought out a knife, -chose two hazel boughs, sliced off the twigs and shaped them to the -length of two foils. - -"Let's try you, Jasper." - -They stood in the grass walk and fenced together, the sunlight shining -on the brown hazel stocks and on their intent faces. Jeremy Winter was -extraordinarily quick and supple for a man of fifty. He had the wrist of -a blacksmith and the cunning of a player on the spinet. Jasper was slow -and out of practice. Jeremy touched him five times in as many minutes. - -"Stiff. Is the business serious?" - -They began to pace up and down the grass walk while Jasper told Jeremy -Winter the truth about Stonehanger. Jeremy was a good listener, shrewd, -attentive, and ready to compare new facts with the gleanings of a very -varied experience. He was an easy man to confide in, because he was so -full of a sage understanding. Jeremy had led a picturesque and rather -dissipated life between the twenties and forties, and it is the man who -has been a man who is of most use to his brother men. - -"So you fell in love with the girl, lad. What! I'm old dog enough to -know that! Heaven help me, it happened to me every month when I was a -youngster. But I was only in love--once--you know; the great splash; and -she left me to drown." - -"That's all done with, Jeremy." - -"Twenty years ago, sir." - -"No, I mean my small incident. It was just an inclination; no more than -that." - -Jeremy regarded him with an affectionate twinkle. - -"Just so--just so." - -"I have got to pull this nest of spies to pieces. The girl mustn't blame -me. I've got to do my duty." - -"Duty! You be very careful of that word, Jasper. It's a fool's word. I -don't trust men who talk about their duty. Why not send a file of -soldiers in?" - -Jasper stared at the chimneys of the house that rose against the stately -gloom of the cedars. - -"I have a mind to carry the thing through myself." - -"Out of consideration for the lady!" - -"No. This Frenchman and I have a score to settle." - -Jeremy stroked a firm and shiny chin. - -"Who is he? An _émigré?_" - -"Pretends to be. He calls himself the Chevalier de Rothan." - -"What?" - -"De Rothan." - -Jeremy said something under his breath. - -"Tall, dark rogue, is he, with the airs of a grandee, drooping tip to -his nose, wears black, and talks about St. Louis?" - -"That's the man! Do you know him, Jeremy?" - -Winter looked thoughtful. - -"I've met him in London." - -"Where?" - -"At my school. He came in to fence; Jack Sidebotham brought him. He was -all over my best men." - -They paused, and looked each other in the eyes. - -"Jasper, the fellow is one of the best swordsmen in the country. I had a -turn with him." - -He smiled a grim little smile. - -"Vanity, that's his weak point, too much flourish. I had him pinked, -but--" - -Jasper threw up his chin. - -"All right, Jeremy. I'd tackle him--curse him!--even if he were a better -man than you." - -"You wait a bit, my lad." - -"You had better call me a coward!" - -Jeremy laid a hand on Jasper's shoulder. - -"Stop that. Do you think I don't love you, lad? Do you think I want to -have you run through by a swaggering blackguard like De Rothan? He's a -good shot, too, mind you. You wait a bit, till we have had a week with -the foils." - -As men they knew each other, and Jasper was touched. - -"I'm a hot-headed fool, Jeremy. I'll do what you wish." - - - - -XVIII - - -Had Jasper Benham been able to see into Nance's heart he would have felt -a man's pity for her, that richer tenderness that dissolves away the -pettier and more selfish thoughts. - -For Nance was very lonely, and perplexed amid her loneliness. Things had -happened that had troubled her beyond measure. In the first place, she -had overheard some talk that had passed between De Rothan and her -father, a few, disjointed sentences, nothing more, and yet the words had -caught her ear and set her musing upon their meaning. Moreover, De -Rothan himself had become suddenly and ominously real. He had swaggered -out of a vague and questionable past into an urgent and audacious -present. He had kissed her hand, and he had tried to touch her with the -touch of a lover. - -A woman can judge a man by his eyes, and his way of looking. The -Frenchman was infinitely courteous, but he had no reverence. His -admiration was a complacent and self-confident emotion. It bent, half -patronisingly, and touched what it admired, as though a woman's charm -was a mere flower to be plucked and held to the nostrils. - -De Rothan had made Nance's spirit creep. She had become suddenly afraid -of him, and shy of being alone. - -Queerly enough her loneliness and her craving for comradeship and -sympathy found her thoughts turning toward Jasper Benham. It was a pure -impulse and it surprised her new self-consciousness. There seemed -something inevitable about it, something that claimed spontaneous -justification. Nance found herself questioning the meaning of this -impulse. If she distrusted one man and felt drawn toward the other, did -not this spiritual phenomenon suggest some deep and instinctive truth? -It contradicted the things that she had been told about Jasper. If he -was a bad man why should she think of him now that she needed help? - -It was in a mood of doubt and unrest that she idled round her terrace -garden, looking at the faces of the pansies, pulling up weeds, and -putting a stick here and there to a head-heavy flower. The sound of -footsteps made her start self-consciously. A figure of Time came -striding over the grass--old David Barfoot--scythe on shoulder, a brown -straw hat shading his lean, tanned face. - -Nance smiled at the old man, a smile of relief. There had been rain in -the night, and the moist grass was ripe for scything. It would cling to -the edge of the blade and make the work easier. - -"I like the grass short, David." - -He had a way of hearing Nance's words as he heard no one else's. - -"I'll shave it close; trust me." - -He carried the stone in a queer little leather case fastened to his belt -at the back. Getting an edge was a great business. The stone rang along -the blade of the scythe. Presently he began to mow with steady, purring -strokes, and the swinging movement of his arms and shoulders was not -without a kind of grace. - -Nance sat herself on the terrace and watched him. There was something -restful in the level, swinging rhythm. - -David was not a talkative man, but he had his moments of illumined -loquacity. - -"Fine weather for the crops. They'll be making hay afore the end o' -June. Maybe the French won't tarrify us at all." - -Nance had the look of a contented listener. It was pure coincidence that -sent David drifting toward matters that were vital to her needs. He -began to talk about his relatives and their affairs, which were mostly -of a sordid, poverty-stricken, and child-bearing order. - -"Maybe you've heard speak of my sister, Sue Barton. Thirteen brats, and -her man down with t' ague. Bad times, too. I don't say as the gentry -can't be kind." - -"Thirteen children, David!" - -He stopped to sharpen his scythe. - -"Pig's meal, they be glad to get it! Jim sick, and Sue expectin' as -usual. It was lucky for Jim Barton as he had worked on and off for t' -Benhams. They be good gentlefolk, t' Benhams, though t' old squire has -the mouth of hell on him." - -Nance said "Oh!"--a non-committal exclamation. - -"Master Jasper, he be a good young gentleman." - -"The Mr. Benham who was shot in the lane?" - -"Sure. There be gentry and gentry. Some of 'em doan't care; some of 'em -gives for what they gets. Master Jasper's a soft heart, but he be'unt no -fool, neither. A tough gentleman when a man be a rogue and a beggar." - -Nance had a moment's perplexity. Then she said: - -"I have heard bad things about Mr. Benham, David." - -She spoke softly, but David was watching her mouth. He picked up the -words and answered them. - -"Have ye now! Well, I've heard different. Be man, woman, or child sick -down Rush Heath way, the young squire he be for knowing about it. Better -than the parson, he be. Not pious-like; can do his cussing. Clean about -t' wenches, too. Though I shouldn't be saying such a thing afore you, -Miss Nance." - -Nance reddened, not wholly because of David's words. - -"You appear to know a great deal about Mr. Benham, David." - -"Sure--we knows this and that in t' country. I likes a fine, upstanding -gentleman. I wishes him good luck in the shoes of his father." - -"Is it true that Mr. Benham is to marry his cousin, David?" - -"She? You be meaning Miss Benham o' Beech Hill?" - -"I don't know." - -"Sure, Mr. Benham be'unt no fool! Marry she! 'Tain't no sense." - -"Well, it isn't our business, is it, David?" - -The old man grunted. He was thinking of things that it was not his -business to utter. - -But his words had had their effect on Nance. For days she had been -striving against a growing sense of resentment. Doubt and mental -suffering have some kinship to physical pain; they torment the mind -until it breaks out into passionate rebellion. Nance left David to his -scything and went straight into the house. She knew that her father was -in his study, and her very doubts drove her to demand some answer to the -questions that were troubling her heart. Durrell's secretiveness, De -Rothan's mysterious presence about the place, the slandering of Jasper -Benham, all these things combined to form a distorting glass that threw -the reflections of life back at her with perplexing vagueness. - -Nance climbed the stairs slowly, stiffening her courage against this -colloquy with her father. The house seemed very still as she passed down -the long brown gallery and knocked at her father's door. - -"Yes?" - -"May I come in, father?" - -"Yes, come in." - -He was wrapped in an old dressing-gown, and sitting at his table, books -open before him, a quill in his hand. It might have been some austere -Milton inditing polemics against the Church of Rome. - -Durrell had the look of a preoccupied man who suffered interruption -grudgingly. - -"Well, what is it?" - -She closed the door. - -"I want to speak to you, father." - -He frowned, and laid his pen in the trough of an open book. - -"What is it? About the food--or the pots and pans?" - -"No. It is about things that have been worrying me." - -"Things--things? How loosely you express yourself!" - -His impatience stiffened her courage. - -"This Chevalier De Rothan--why does he come to the house?" - -Durrell leaned back in his chair, pushing his feet out under the table. - -"What has that to do with you, Nance?" - -"I want to know why you have him to the house." - -"Indeed!" - -"I don't like him. I don't trust him. I have a kind of feeling that we -are in his power." - -Durrell looked at her with frowning intentness. - -"Little fool!" - -She flushed, sensitively. - -"Father, I feel that things are happening here about which you have -suffered me to know nothing. It is wrong to me, unfair----" - -"Tssh! Don't let us have this nonsense, this tragedy queening." - -"Can you swear that----" - -"Nance, you are a fool. Am I to be catechised by a silly girl! Stuff and -nonsense!" - -"Then why does this man come here in the middle of the night? Why does -he spend hours with you, here, in this room? Oh, I may know more than -you think, father. One cannot help having ears and eyes." - -"Girl--what do you mean?" - -"I have a right to know----" - -"Right? You talk to me about your rights!" - -Durrell was a quick-tempered and a scornful man, but Nance had never -seen him look so evil. - -"Let me tell you, Nance, that I am not a man who thinks it necessary to -explain things to a child." - -"But you explained away Jasper Benham's character--to me." - -He pushed his chair back violently, and rose. - -"I told you some truths for your own good." - -"Did the man De Rothan tell you these things?" - -"Silence!" - -"I have a right----" - -"Silence, I say!" - -Durrell's face had lost all scholarly repose and refinement. It was -harsh, flushed, and threatening. - -"Go to your room, girl. Never let me have more of this interference." - -"I am not a child any longer. If you drive me to it, father, I shall -rebel----" - -He broke out in a way that amazed her, with a scolding fury that threw -aside all self-control. Durrell was not capable of the blind, physical -violence of the ordinary male, and his unreasoning wrath ran into a -torrent of outrageous taunts and sarcasms. We are the creatures of -savage littlenesses in our rages, those nerve-storms that rise out of -nothing, and end in nothing. - -Durrell's fury of words had a numbing effect upon the girl. She stood -mute, staring, astonished by the unreasoning violence of the man who had -given his life to accumulating wisdom out of books. Then she drew back -toward the door, opened it, and escaped. - -She went to her own room, realising in a numb way that her father had -spoken words to her that could never be forgotten. The very violence of -his anger had been an outrage, its arbitrariness an answer to her -suspicions. - -Then she heard De Rothan's voice on the terrace below. He was talking to -David Barfoot, but David would never consent to understand him. - -The voice sent a shiver of repulsion through Nance. She turned and -locked the door. - -"Mees Nance, Mees Nance, where is the sunlight?" - -He was calling up at her window, and she hated him for not being another -man. - -Durrell's footsteps came down the gallery, and he joined De Rothan on -the terrace. The Frenchman could have done with other company, but he -was drawn sharply toward sterner issues. - -Durrell took him into one of the dark paths through the shrubbery. - -"The girl has begun to suspect us." - -"What, sweet Nance?" - -"She challenged me to a confession, as though I owe any confession to a -child!" - -"And you scolded her! You men of letters lose your tempers as badly as -tipplers at an inn. Poor Nance; you scorched her with that infernal -tongue of yours." - -Durrell gave him a sneering look. - -"You need not pity the girl. She seems to hate the very sound of your -name." - -"Come, come, that is promising." - -"You had better hold away from her." - -De Rothan laughed. - -"Mr. Benham, too, suspects us. I have decided how to deal with that -gentleman. But sweet Nance hates me! That is good news." - -"What do you mean, sir?" - -"Do you see your daughter, Durrell, as one of the beauties of Napoleon's -court? It is not impossible, sir, not impossible. Where hate is, there -love shall be gathered in." - - - - -XIX - - -Bob, the gardener, scything grass in the Rush Heath garden, saw Jasper -and Mr. Jeremy Winter come out of the house while the dew still lay upon -the grass. Jasper had a pair of foils under his arm. The two gentlemen -stripped off their coats in the long walk, rolled up their shirt-sleeves -and began to fence. They were at it for an hour or more in short, sharp -bursts, Jeremy pulling the younger man up from time to time, and making -him repeat some series of parries and passes. The clinking of the foils -made a thin and constant tingle of sound, broken now and again by -Jeremy's deep and imperturbable voice. There was no blood in the battle, -but the great poppies in the borders were the colour of blood. - -Jeremy was not ill-pleased with these practise bouts. - -"You will soon have a quick point again. The man behind the sword's the -thing. Nerve, and a devilish sharp eye." - -"You will warrant me sound in a week, Jeremy?" - -"Not far off, not far off. Don't forget the pistols, though. And look -you, lad, the game is to play up to the vanity of a man like De Rothan. -Fencing's a subtle art. 'Tain't all wrist and sinew. There's mind in it, -personality, soul. It's a picking to bits of human nature. You don't -fight a man's sword alone, but his grit, or his conceit, and his damned -flourishes." - -"You are a cunning master, Jeremy." - -"Why, confound me, half life is acting. Act when you fight, lad. I could -play a man like De Rothan the veriest clown's game, make him think me a -bungler, and run him through before he had the sense to take me -seriously. That's what fighting should be, brain as well as beef." - -They went in to breakfast, a silent meal so far as Jasper was concerned. -Jeremy Winter watched him with affectionate amusement. A man of fifty -renews his youth in seeing a young man in love. - -"I have it, Jeremy!" - -"What, lad?" - -"An idea." - -It did not unfold itself, for there was a sudden violent hammering on -the floor of the room above. Mr. Christopher Benham was using the heel -of his shoe to attract attention. - -"Hallo, the squire's awake." - -"I'll go up and see what he wants. I say, Jeremy, not a word about -this." - -"Not a word. He'd curse me out of the country for egging you on to take -risks." - -"Besides, there's Rose. You remember Rose?" - -Jeremy drew in his lips. - -"Remember her, by gad! We always quarrelled, Rose and I. So he wants you -to marry her?" - -"I don't know. Rose can twist him round her finger. I don't want her -meddling in my affairs." - -"The less a woman knows the better." - -Jasper spent the morning practising with his pistols in the little -meadow by Ten Acre Wood. He chose the meadow because it was a mile or -more from the house, and the oaks of the wood smothered the reports of -the pistol. He did not wish the sound to come to Mr. Christopher's ears, -for he was in an intensely irritable state, and very feeble. The most -trivial thing would send him into a gouty rage, and his rages left him -breathless and inarticulate. - -After dinner Jasper ordered Jack Bumpstead to saddle Devil Dick. Jeremy -Winter stood smoking a pipe in the porch, and watched him mount and ride -out. - -Jasper headed straight toward Stonehanger. His face had a set and very -determined look. He was out on a grave business, and on his guard -against sentiment and romance. - -It was still and sultry, and there was a fog at sea. Grey haze covered -the hills, and the long grass in the fields hardly so much as stirred. -Stonehanger Common lay in the full, thundery glare of the afternoon -sunlight. Warm, dry perfumes rose from it, and the gorse looked a dusty -green. Jasper followed the lane, and, pushing Devil Dick through a gap -in the hedge, approached Stonehanger from the western side. His plan of -campaign promised to adapt itself to the identity of the person who -chanced to meet the first attack. - -As it happened, he came upon David Barfoot by the gate that led into the -rough meadow where Jenny the cow was turned out to grass. The -coincidence faced Jasper with two alternatives. He made a sign to David, -and the old man came and stood by Devil Dick's right shoulder. - -"Is Miss Nance at home?" - -David watched Jasper's lips. - -"She be out, Master Benham." - -"And Mr. Durrell?" - -"Would you be wanting to see him?" - -David's sceptical sincerity stirred Jasper's inclinations. He discovered -a very human desire to set eyes on Nance. Durrell! Barfoot was right. -Anthony Durrell could go to the devil. - -He was surprised to find David Barfoot so ready to help him. - -"Do you know where she is?" - -"She be gone down t' sea lane." - -"Straight on?" - -"Sure." - -"I might meet her if I rode on down the lane." Barfoot grinned -approvingly. - -"I'm telling ye," he said. - -The lane went winding down between furze-clad banks, a green way -powdered with wild flowers. About half a mile from Stonehanger House the -lane broadened out into a kind of grassy stream that meandered as it -pleased. Jasper reined in on a piece of rising ground, and scanned the -land ahead of him. Two furlongs to the south stood a group of may-trees. -They were smothered in blossom, and their massed floweriness made them -look like a great heap of white wool or of snow. - -Jasper caught sight of a figure moving on the outskirts of these trees, -a figure that loitered, and reached up to break off the flowering -sprays. He had ridden to Stonehanger convinced that he could hold -himself well in hand and that he could talk to Nance as dispassionately -as he would have talked to his cowman's grandmother. But when he saw -that figure down by the may-trees, Jasper knew why he hated De Rothan, -and why he was trying to compromise with Nance. - -He rode on, rather slowly, stiffening his upper lip as though he were in -for a life-and-death tussle and not for a scene with a mere girl. Jasper -had planned out what he would say, and how he would say it. He had -stalked up and down the Rush Heath rose-walk, putting his emotions in -order, and choosing his texts. - -Something spoiled all that. It was his own sincerity, and the face and -figure of the girl leaning through the foliage of a may-tree, and -looking at him with widely opened eyes. This particular tree grew -hollowed out on the inside, its lower branches lying like so many ledges -with bands of shadow in between them. The long grass was all white and -gold with buttercups and moon-faced daisies. - -Jasper lifted his hat. - -"David Barfoot told me I might find you down the lane." - -His sudden appearing had thrown Nance's thoughts into confusion. She had -been thinking about him, and he had startled the intimate inwardness of -her thoughts. She was too conscious of their last meeting and the way -she had rebuffed him. - -She came out from amid the may boughs with a troubled shadowiness of the -eyes. A sheaf of the white blossom lay in the hollow of her left arm. -Perplexity is apt to simulate coldness and pride. She looked cold and -white and upon the defensive. - -The silence irked them both. They took refuge in vague superficialities. - -"Fine trees, these. They looked like a pile of snow in the distance." - -"Yes. I love the smell of may blossom." - -"Scents carry one back to all sorts of memories." - -"I know. I always like a bowl of wild flowers in my room." - -"Are you going back to Stonehanger?" - -She threw a quick and watchful look at him. - -"Yes." - -"Then I will turn back with you." - -She seemed uneasy and perplexed. The half-scared look in her dark eyes -touched him. What was she afraid of, and why did she glance at him in -that queer, disturbing way? He began to relent, to lose himself in the -world of her presence. - -"You know that--my father----" - -"I know that he does not want me at Stonehanger." - -He dismounted, and set himself at her side. - -"Then, if you know that----" - -"Yes, but if you forbid a thing, it drives a man to do it. Besides----" - -He found himself looking into her eyes, searching them with sudden -impetuous passion. She glanced away, reddening, the bunch of may blossom -crushed against her bosom. A thorn pricked her arm, but it was part of -the pain of her perplexity. - -She seemed to cast about for words. - -"We lead such a lonely life, and father does not like strangers." - -"Is that why you were so hard on me?" - -"When?" - -"Oh, you remember." - -He was driving her into a corner, and it was impossible for him not to -see her too palpable distress. It both troubled and angered him, -pointing toward two possible explanations. - -"You remember the night you rescued me out of the lane?" - -"Yes." - -"Well, you were very good to me--then. What made all this difference?" - -"Father does not like strangers." - -"But is that enough to make you treat a man as though----" - -She broke in upon him, white and hurried. - -"Mr. Benham, don't----" - -"Nance, why won't you tell me the reason?" - -"I can't." - -"I'll take it well. It might help something pretty serious that I have -to say to you." - -She gave him a startled look, as though suspecting some other method of -attack. - -"You are so masterful!" - -"No, no. You won't help me--whereas I have ridden over to help you." - -"What do you mean?" - -"Tell me what made you treat me as you did." - -She lifted her chin, and showed him a clear and obstinate profile. - -"No, I will not." - -"You won't help me!" - -"If you have come to strike bargains----" - -"Nance, you drive a man into being angry." - -"What right have you to be angry?" - -"My own right." - -"Who gave it you?" - -"A man seizes it. Do you think I don't hold myself as good as that -French fellow De Rothan?" - -She paused, and looked at him half-warningly. - -"You try to seize too much. The Chevalier de Rothan is my father's -friend. I----" - -"You----" - -"I have nothing more to say." - -"I have. It is what I came for. And it concerns your good friend De -Rothan." - -She flashed her eyes at him, mistaking his grim sarcasm. They were on -the edge of a quarrel, and very near to those bitter words that rise to -the lips of passion. - - -[Illustration] - - -"I think that you and I are better apart." - -"As you please. But I have not had my say--yet." - -"Oh, you are unbearable!" - -"One is not thanked for telling the truth. I came here to warn you that -the whole business is discovered." - -She swung round and faced him, holding up an impatient and restive head. - -"Do all men talk behind each other's backs? What are you hinting at?" - -Jasper looked at her stubbornly. - -"How much do you know, Nance? By George, you look innocent enough!" - -"What do you mean?" - -"The Chevalier de Rothan is a French spy." - -"Mr. Benham!" - -"You have said that your father is his friend." - -"Oh!" - -"I will not use the word 'spy' when speaking of your father." - - - - -XX - - -Nothing could have more clearly proved Nance Durrell's innocence than -the indignation that leapt up in her like a white flame out of a fire. -It was the anger of youth, swift, generous, and impulsive. - -"You call Anthony Durrell a spy!" - -"I called De Rothan a spy." - -"How do you know? How do you know?" - -He was more busy with her face and gestures than with her words. It was -a wonderful love-play to him, with its quick kindlings, its red, -passionate lips, its eyes that flashed out melodramatic scorn. The very -way she breathed, and held her head, was sheer revelation. - -The sincerity of her anger challenged him. - -"How dared you come to me with this tale?" - -"Because it is true." - -"How do you know?" - -"I have seen and heard things." - -"Well, then, you, too, are something of a spy." - -"I could not help seeing and hearing what I did. I am not the only man -who has suspected your father of French sympathies. As for De Rothan, we -ought to have known him for a rogue. We English are such easy-going -fools." - -She walked on, head in air, eyes looking into the distance. - -"I will not believe it." - -"I am sorry." - -"Oh, don't talk of sorrow!" - -"Nance, do you think I came here to taunt and bully you?" - -"Perhaps----" - -"What the devil do you think I came for?" - -She shrugged her shoulders. - -"To be rough--and quarrelsome?" - -She was falling a little from the serenity of her indignation. Her anger -had been a thing of the moment, and now that it was passing she knew -that she had suspected her father, and her own suspicions went out to -clasp hands with Jasper's accusations. - -She looked slantwise at him, and a glimpse of his clean-cut mouth and -steady eyes made her think of a strength and courage that waited. Of a -sudden she felt desperately helpless, and desperately lonely. Why were -they at cross-purposes, and quarrelling like boy and girl? It would be -better if she spoke out. - -"Well, what are you going to do? You seem so sure about it all. I -suppose you will denounce us?" - -"You knew nothing about it, Nance." - -"You think that?" - -His eyes studied hers. - -"You are not made to tell lies. Are you going to let me help you?" - -"Am I to accept all this on your authority?" - -He nodded with an air of grave and imperturbable magnanimity. - -"I believe, Nance, that you knew nothing. But have you never been -brought to wonder what your father's life was, and what the Frenchman De -Rothan meant to him?" - -She looked at the ground before her, intent and thoughtful. - -"Things have happened that have troubled me." - -"Your father is not a man to talk." - -"No. There have been things that I could not understand. Oh, it is -hard!" - -"I know." - -Jasper's eyes softened. He stroked Devil Dick's neck as the horse walked -quietly beside him. - -"Nance?" - -"Well, what now?" - -Her voice was forlorn, and a little impatient. - -"I understand why your father did not want me at Stonehanger." - -"Oh, but then----" - -She caught herself up, and reddened. - -"Go on." - -"He gave me a reason." - -"Tell it me." - -"Won't you let me keep it to myself? I don't know that I believe it any -longer." - -Jasper had a flare of understanding. - -"Oh--that! It was about my cousin, Rose Benham?" - -"Yes and no." - -"What, more than that?" - -"Don't ask me any more." - -She glanced at him half pleadingly, and his square jaw and strong, -confident head showed up convincingly against a cloud of slander. - -"I don't think I believe it. Don't ask me to say more." - -He gave her a full, frank look. - -"Have it so, Nance. I'm here in my own shoes, a free man, with nothing -to hide under my coat. But I'll tell you one thing: I have a good, -fierce grudge against De Rothan." - -Her face expressed the searching of her thoughts. - -"Because he is a spy? Or has he offended you?" - -"Because I hate the man." - -"Then you are not--not disinterested?" - -He smiled grimly. - -"Nance, I'm not." - -She hid her eyes under black lashes, and her lips trembled perceptibly. - -"But I must trust some one." - -"Trust me." - -"Yes, but----" - -He bent toward her with intense earnestness. - -"Nance--listen. I believe in my heart that your father is in very great -danger. Spy he may not be; it is a low word and should not live near -you. But he is a Revolutionist, a Jacobin, a sympathiser with the -French. God knows what he hopes to get out of Napoleon! This fellow De -Rothan is the danger. The country's mad and scared; they'd show no -pity." - -She was white and serious and a little frightened. - -"Oh, I know--I know! But father----!" - -"I know the kind of man he is, an enthusiast, ready to be martyred. -There are people who suspect him, but I don't think a living soul knows -as much of the affair as I do." - -Nance's eyes were supplicating and eager. - -"Yes--but can you help me?" - -"We must rid Stonehanger of this fellow De Rothan." - -"But how?" - -"That will be my business." - -"But it may be dangerous for you." - -"Confound it, who cares! You've got to trust me, Nance, and by Heaven, -I'll not fail you." - -Her face and eyes warmed to him. His strength and confidence were giving -her comfort. - -"What strange creatures we are! A few minutes ago, I almost hated you, -because you forced things on me; but now I feel that I must have your -help." - -"That is what I came to offer you. I have nothing to complain of." - -They had been following the lane back to Stonehanger, when Nance, who -seemed more restlessly alert than Jasper, saw a man on horseback appear -between the furze-clad banks. He was a hundred yards away, but Nance -knew him for De Rothan. She touched Jasper's arm. - -"Look!" - -"De Rothan?" - -Her eyes met his with a new meaning. She was putting her trust in him, -waiting to be guided by what he would say and do. - -"Nance, pretend to be angry with me." - -"Must I?" - -"It was not so very difficult a little while ago." - -She gave him a glimmering of the eyes. - -"Must I be very proud?" - -"Yes, freeze me for being too forward, or scorch me with scorn!" - -A woman loves humour and some degree of subtlety in a man. Nance looked -at De Rothan, and then turned to her dissembling. - -"I wish you would not vex me with your attentions--I mean presence"--she -blushed into a moment's laughter--"I very much resent it." - -"If my company is displeasing to you----" - -"It is--most displeasing." - -"Well, then, why did you lead me on?" - -"How dare you suggest such a thing." - -"Do you mean to say that you have not encouraged me?" - -"Your insolence is unbearable." - -Jasper had raised his voice, and she echoed him with fine spirit. They -made quite a pretty quarrel of it, Nance playing the part of beauty -affronted, Jasper very much the rude and aggressive male. They hushed -the affair, and smothered an intense desire to laugh. De Rothan was -within a few yards of them. His saluting of Nance was a royal function; -his glance at Benham a kingly threat. - -"Mees Durrell, may I have the felicity to think that I am at your -service?" - -"O, Chevalier----" - -"You go to the deuce," said Jasper under his breath. - -De Rothan looked him over with cool scorn. - -"Meester Benham, I think your presence here is unnecessary. I will -conduct Mees Durrell back to Stonehanger." - -"Please, if you will, Chevalier. This gentleman----" - -"Mees Nance, I am full of understanding." - -He bowed in the saddle to Jasper, and blessed him with a serene sneer. - -"Meester Benham, I must ask you to relieve us of your presence." - -Even though he was fooling the man, Jasper felt savage. - -"What business is it of yours, sir?" - -"I stand for courtesy--and chivalry, Meester Benham." - -"Puss in Boots! I shall want a word with you, sir." - -"I shall be at your service, when I have escorted Mees Durrell home." - -"Good. In the lane?" - -"Wherever you please." - -Jasper caught Nance's eyes. She gave him a quick and secret smile as De -Rothan dismounted to put himself at her side. They went off together up -the lane, leaving Jasper standing beside Devil Dick. He watched them -with curious and contradictory emotions, and a hatred of De Rothan that -was not to be appeased by the thought that he had the man in a tight -corner. - -His eyes fixed themselves finally upon Nance, and he discovered infinite -delight in watching her slim figure moving between the green banks of -the lane. Everything about her was adorable, her anger, her perplexity, -her slow drifting toward trust in him. That glint of mischief in her -eyes! And how she had taken up the game with De Rothan! What a change in -the course of an hour! He had ridden out in a puritanical mood and here -he was ready to go down and kiss those two small feet. - -Jasper smiled to himself and moved on up the lane. The gateway of -Stonehanger appeared under the dark shade of the hollies and laurels. -Nance was just passing through it, De Rothan standing hat in hand and -holding the gate open. There was something infinitely offensive to -Jasper in the bending of the man's figure toward Nance. He remembered -how he had felt when he had seen them together on the terrace. Things -had changed in a sense since then, but his grudge remained against the -Frenchman. - -De Rothan waited for him, a supercilious and flaunting figure that -looked very tall in the shadow of the shrubs. He resembled a victorious -captain waiting with arrogance for a beaten enemy to deliver up his -sword. Jasper felt a stinging lust to smite burning in his right arm. - -They met with frank enmity. - -"You wish to speak to me, Meester Benham. I, too, have words to say. Let -us lead our horses down the lane." - -They walked on side by side, leading their horses by the bridles. De -Rothan's nostrils were dilated, his eyes full of an angry glare. Jasper -looked dogged. - -"I must advise you to mend your manners, Meester Benham. I am a -gentleman of France." - -"Thanks, sir, thanks." - -"In the future you will not thrust yourself upon Mees Durrell." - -"Why not?" - -"Because she does not desire it." - -"Did she tell you so?" - -"And because I forbid it." - -"That hardly convinces me." - -A common instinct made both men leave their horses standing and face -each other in the lane. The days of the wearing of the small sword had -passed. But men who are angry can quarrel without swords. - -"So you have my orders, Meester Benham." - -"I return them. On second thoughts I feel inclined to throw you and them -into the nearest ditch." - -"Sir!" - -"Frenchmen can fight only with their cooking-spits." - -In a flash De Rothan struck at Jasper's face with his open hand. The -blow was caught, and the wrist seized with the grip of a man who was -savagely angry. Jasper twisted De Rothan's arm, a schoolboy's trick, and -De Rothan, with a snarl of pain, was driven to twist about so that his -back was toward Jasper. The sinews cracked about the shoulder-joint, -while Jasper tilted the Frenchman's hat over his nose. - -"How does it please you, monsieur?" - -"Dog!" - -Jasper flung De Rothan's arm aside. The Frenchman swung round, and they -were at each other like a couple of dogs. De Rothan was the taller man, -but Benham was thickly built and very powerful about the loins and -shoulders. Moreover, he had been the rough-and-tumble champion at a -country school. He had De Rothan round the middle, and crumpled him -backward as though he were a sheaf of corn. - -The Frenchman beat a fist in Jasper's face, and for the moment Jasper -crushed him in his arms for the grim joy of feeling the cracking of De -Rothan's ribs. Then he half lifted and half hustled him to the side of -the lane. - -The ditch was not a deep one and it was dry, but that was no saving of -De Rothan's dignity. He emerged, dusty and speckled with spittle-blight, -a man furious with physical shame. - -"I do not fight like a ploughboy. You shall hear from me." - -He felt his wrenched shoulder, and recovered some of his haughtiness. - -"You have strained my shoulder-joint." - -"Rest it for a few days, or months." - -"Your insolence may cost you dear." - -"I shall be at your service whenever you choose to fight." - -He gave De Rothan a steady stare, and then climbed into the saddle. - -"The fat's in the fire," he thought, as he rode off down the lane, -"but--God! it was good crushing that fellow's ribs." - -De Rothan's face was a study in malignant cynicism as he brushed his -clothes and picked up his hat. - -"Very well, very well, Mr. Benham; to-morrow, or the next day, I shall -kill you. There shall be no mistake about that." - - - - -XXI - - -Grimly elated, Jasper rode back to Rush Heath. The day had given him far -more than he had dared to desire. He had thrashed his man and made a -second conquest of Nance Durrell's confidence. His jealousy had -dispersed like a thunder-cloud, leaving a clear and adventurous sky. - -At Rush Heath he found Jeremy Winter and Cousin Rose in the thick of a -quarrel. Rose had driven over from Beech Hill, ostensibly to sit at -Squire Kit's bedside, and treat him to some of her frank and pious -opinions. - -"Uncle Christopher, you shall listen to good words. It fills me with -pity, to hear an old man curse and blaspheme." - -Mr. Benham had leaned against his pillows and glared at her with a man's -disgust. She had talked on and on, and though he had shut his eyes and -pretended to snore, she had not been turned from thrusting her piety -upon him. It had ended in Squire Kit hammering the floor with the stick -he kept on the bed, and Jeremy had arrived to rescue him. - -"Jeremy, I say,--Jeremy----" - -Winter had understood things at a glance. He had hooked up her arm, and -walked her off by main force, and that was why they were quarrelling in -the oak parlour. - -"I wonder you don't keep away from here, Mr. Winter. You never do any -good to Uncle Christopher and Jasper." - -Jeremy was the imperturbable fencer whose laughing eyes and sage, -sardonic mouth always filled Rose with anger. Her attacks amused him, -and Rose Benham insisted upon being taken very seriously. - -"So you think I have debased the whole household; Jasper, too, eh?" - -"You have always been an irreligious man. You would have led poor father -into all sorts of foolishness if we had not prevented it." - -"Poor man!" - -"I hate your flippancy." - -"What a world it is! I have seen my share of it, and upon my soul there -is nothing to touch English piety. And there is no one who knows so much -about everything as a good back-country English gentlewoman. I suppose -she has it all straight from the Almighty." - -Rose sat very straight and stiff in her chair. - -"That's right, Mr. Jeremy Winter, be blasphemous. At your age----" - -"At my age, Miss Benham, you will be a very old woman. As it is, the -women still fall in love with me." - -"Oh, you wretched old reprobate." - -Jeremy went off into huge yet quiet laughter, and it was in the midst of -it that Jasper entered with the steady, gleaming eyes of a man who had -desires to satisfy and enemies to grapple. - -"Hallo!" - -He had one glimpse of Rose's stiff and implacable face. - -"What have you been doing, Jerry?" - -"I? Nothing, sir, nothing. But Miss Benham will have it that I am a -disgusting old reprobate and not fit to be in this house." - -His smile exasperated Rose. It was so good-tempered, so sly, so -unanswerable. - -"You ought to know Jeremy Winter by this time, Rose." - -"Thank you. I know a little, and that has always been too much." - -"Oh, come now!" - -She felt that he was on Winter's side, the man's side, and it angered -her. - -"You men are all alike. You love old ruffians who tipple and tell bad -stories." - -"Now, how on earth do you come at that, Miss Benham? Keyholes, eh?" - -"Mr. Winter, should I listen to your voice through a keyhole!" - -Both men laughed, and Rose stood up. She looked thinner and -sharper-featured when she was angry. - -"Jasper, tell your man to bring my horses round." - -And she whirled away from Rush Heath in a dust cloud of indignation. The -cat in her knew and feared the dog in Jeremy. - -Jasper rejoined Winter in the parlour. Jeremy was lighting his pipe, and -looking humorously down his nose. - -"Are you going to marry your cousin?" - -"What, marry Rose!" - -"You be careful, young man; she'll ask you the question and have your -immortal soul in her reticule before you can say 'gammon'." - -"I don't think she will, Jerry." - -"That's good. You seem most deucedly pleased with yourself. What is it?" - -Jasper went to the wine-cupboard and brought out a decanter and two -long-stemmed glasses. - -"Drink her health, Jerry." - -"Miss Benham's?" - -"Don't be a tease. Her health, and God bless her. By George, I have had -my money out of De Rothan." - -"How?" - -"I landed him in a ditch. Do you know what it feels like to crush a -man's ribs in, Jerry? It's a gorgeous feeling. I gather there will be a -fight." - -Winter looked serious. - -"You may have thrown him all right, lad, but----" - -"I have looked him in the eyes, Jeremy, and I can match him. Besides, I -am going through with it--for the sake of Nance Durrell." - -"O you youngsters! I've done it myself, too. Run your chest up against a -sword-point because a girl glimmers her eyes. Tell me about it." - -And Jasper told him. - -Jeremy sat for a while in thought. - -"Why don't you pounce on the man? Have him arrested. It would save a lot -of trouble." - -"I want to keep Durrell out of it. You see, Jerry, if I work this -through quietly, it will save no end of a mess." - -"Will it?" - -"Yes." - -"You seem cocksure." - -"Haven't I got my devil back these few days with the foils? And look -you, Jerry, do you remember fighting when you were in love?" - -"I do." - -"Were you beaten?" - -"No." - -"It makes you grim, quick as lightning, cool as cold steel. That's how -it works with me." - -Jeremy nodded his head sagely. - -"Well," said he, "we'll spend the next two days fighting each other. And -you bang away with your pistols. How do they carry?" - -"I can hit a card five times out of six at twenty paces." - -"I've got twice the nerve since I've seen her to-day." - -"Confound you, I used to be just the same." - -In the cool of the evening these two spent an hour in fencing together -on the lawn by the cedars. The great black shadows of the trees lay in -dark capes and promontories upon the green sea of the grass. The -standard roses were in bloom, and the scent of the clover pinks in the -borders filled the air. Swallows glided in and out, threading their way -among the cedars, and circling round the tall chimneys of the house. - -Parson Goffin hobbled up the drive, and sat down on a bench to watch -Jeremy Winter and Jasper fencing. He had watched them at swordplay years -ago, and there was nothing new in it to awaken curiosity. - -Goffin was in one of his growling moods. He had a sore tongue from too -much smoking, and England was going to the dogs. - -"They say that we may have Villeneuve in the Channel any day during the -next month. They don't know where he is; they expect him to swoop out of -the blue. Boney will get across, and we shall be licking his shoes." - -"A pretty angel of hope you are, Goffin!" - -"Sir, we have been drinking too much these fifty years. The Almighty may -be sending something to sober us." - -"He gave us the Hanoverians to help us to drink! You are down at the -heel, parson. If you could prove to me that Nelson is at the bottom of -the sea, I might be ready to howl with you." - -"So he may be, sir, so he may be, for all we know." - -"Jasper, send for a good stiff glass of rum; Mr. Goffin is feeling a -little faint and vapourish this evening. Yes, that was the best tussle -we've had. It took me all I knew to keep your point out." - -Parson Goffin's gloom was in sympathy with the gloom that overshadowed -England during those months of May, June, and July. At Boulogne Napoleon -waited for the chance that should give him control of the narrow -sea--even for three days. Off Rochefort, Ferrol, and Brest the ships of -Calder and Cornwallis kept up their grim blockade, while out yonder upon -the Atlantic, Fate, Villeneuve, and Nelson faltered on the edge of the -unknown. Nelson and his fleet had sailed away into the west, and men -asked themselves what news the Atlantic would disgorge. Would it be the -thunder of the French guns in the Channel, the breaking out of the ships -blockaded in Brest and Rochefort, the sweeping of the Dover Straits, the -red horror of invasion? - -At Stonehanger Nance sat on the terrace wall and looked out toward the -sea. The sunlight played upon her face and in her eyes, and gave them a -brown radiance. There was a warmth and graciousness about her, a sadness -that found its recompense in the richness of her thoughts and musings. - -Her spiritual attitude toward her father was one of astonishment and -compassion. She could pity him, even though she could not understand his -motives. De Rothan was the scapegoat upon whom she laid the guilt and -the burden of her resentment, though how Anthony Durrell had been -inveigled into such schemes she could not imagine. What quarrel had he -with England? He was a morose man, a silent man, and perhaps in a vague -way she felt that he had been disappointed. Nance's nature was the very -opposite of her father's. She was direct, generous, less ready to feel -aggrieved. The flaming discontent of the fanatic is incomprehensible to -healthy, humour-loving, sanguine people. There are men who will backbite -their own country out of sheer hereditary cussedness. They are against -everything that is--and Anthony Durrell was such a man. - -He came out upon the terrace while Nance was there, and walked up and -down under the house with his hands behind his back. There was a -restless uncouthness even in the way he moved, for Durrell was one of -those men who had been a sop at school, and a greenhorn at college. He -had thrown a ball like a girl, and his legs and arms were not made to -work like the limbs of a virile male. Books, philosophy, and theorising -had filled his circle of consciousness. His liver had grown sluggish -with a sedentary life, and now he was nothing but a lean and embittered -figure of denunciation and discontent, impatient, ineffectual, -passionate, yet weak. - -Nance felt a kind of pity for him as she watched him go to and fro. She -could not help contrasting him with Jasper Benham. As for De Rothan, he -was a sinister figure dogging the footsteps of this lean, white-haired, -narrow-shouldered man. - -She crossed over to her father. - -"Would you like a walk on the common? It is cooler now." - -He glanced at her as though he had only just discovered her presence. - -"No, no; I'm busy, thinking." - -"You can think while you walk, and I'll keep quiet." - -"Thank you. I wish to be alone." - -His strung forehead and irritable eyes repulsed her. Intuition warned -Nance that it would be useless to attack him openly, even with the power -of compassion. Some men are mad, even when they are sane. It is useless -to argue with them. They have to be strait-jacketed by the common sense -of the community and kept from doing themselves and other people harm. - - - - -XXII - - -Parson Goffin was still grumbling on the bench under one of the cedars -when Jack Bumpstead appeared from the direction of the stables. - -"Here be a man for to see you, Master Jasper." - -"Who is it, Jack?" - -"Thomas Stook o' Bramble End." - -"Send him round. Wait, though, I'll come myself. Where did you leave -him, Jack?" - -"In the yard." - -Jasper found Tom Stook sitting on the horse-block and tickling himself -pensively with a straw. His brown face remained shy and stolid when he -saw Jasper. He stood up, slouching his shoulders, the straw tucked away -in one corner of his mouth. - -"Well, Tom, what is it?" - -Stook surveyed the yard, and scrutinised the kitchen windows with -sneering suspiciousness. - -"Them turmit-flies o' wenches; always poppin' about. Maybe, sir, you -might like to see them signal lights at Stonehanger. I wouldn't be for -promising, but I have my sense o' smell. They say that Mounseer Jerome -be comin' ashore to-night." - -"The smuggling rogue! How do you know, Tom?" - -Stook grinned, and looked expressively at Jasper. - -"Maybe a little bird dropped ut down t' chimney. Maybe there'll be kegs -on t' beach. It be'unt no business o' mine, but you can see Stonehanger -from my cottage." - -"So these devils of smugglers play two games. They ought to sink Jerome -and his boat. Tom, you've got some sense." - -"Thank 'ee, sir." - -"Get into the stable and saddle the new brown cob, not Devil Dick. And -keep your mouth shut, see." - -"I will--sure, Master Jasper." - -Jasper went in by the back entry and made his way noiselessly upstairs. -He took his pistols and a hanger, and rejoined Tom Stook in the stable. -Jeremy and Parson Goffin were arguing together under the cedars, and -Jasper left them at it, wishing to get away without being questioned. -Coming out with Tom Stook and the cob he took the field path that turned -aside under the orchard hedge. - -The western horizon was a level band of yellow light, with blue-black -hills below and a sky of lapis-lazuli above. The full moon was a great -silver buckler on a field of blue. Big stars were beginning to glitter -as Jasper and Tom Stook turned down by one of the high hedges with the -long grass and weeds brushing their knees. The hedge hid them from Rush -Heath, a hedge that smelt of honeysuckle, and trailed the pink sprays of -the wild rose over the green of the hazel, thorn, and holly. - -Twilight fell as they made their way toward Bramble End, and the world -became a world of amethyst and of silver. The Stonehanger uplands were -dim and vague in the distance. The colour had melted out of the western -sky when they reached the rough track that led to Bramble End. Jasper -had mounted the cob, and Tom Stook swung along ahead on his long and -lumbering legs, a length of straw still dangling from one corner of his -mouth. - -Stook's cottage had the shape of a hay-rick. It was built of stone and -thatched with heather. A tumble-down shed or lodge stood half hidden by -three elder trees that grew close together in the hedge. All about the -place lay a tangle of brambles, furze, blackthorn, and bracken. - -"I'll put t' nag in t' lodge, Master Jasper." - -"Right, Tom." - -Jasper made his way to the back of the cottage. There was a piece of -vegetable ground here shut in by a low hedge. A yew-tree grew close to -the cottage, and a seat made of the rotting tail-board of a cart had -been laid upon two logs. Away to the north rose Stonehanger Common, and -in the twilight Jasper could distinguish the grey mass of Durrell's -house. - -He sat down under the yew-tree, and Tom Stook came round from the lodge. - -"A good look-out, Master Jasper." - -"No wonder you could see the lights, Tom. What time do they show them up -yonder?" - -"Must have been nigh on midnight when I've seen 'em afore." - -"That means three hours' sentry work. Have you had your supper?" - -"No, I ain't." - -"You go in and get it. I'll keep a watch here. If it should come to a -scuffle, Tom, are you ready to see it through?" - -Stook scratched a meditative chin. - -"Sure, Master Jasper, so long as it be'unt with Sussex folk." - -"You don't mind beating a Frenchman?" - -"They be nasty beasts with their knives and pistols." - -"You can leave that part of it to me, Tom." - -"Oh--I doan't say as I be afraid." - -Jasper kept watch there in the dusk, with the light of the moon becoming -more brilliant as night gave her the darkness that she needed. -"Pee-weet, pee-weet" wailed a plover somewhere over the furze. From an -oak wood in the valley came the "burring" of a night-jar. With steady -patience Jasper kept his eyes on the place where Stonehanger house cut -the sky-line. Once he saw the distant twinkle of a candle, coming from -Nance's window, so far as he could judge. The furzelands were vague, -black, and desolate under the moon, strange eerie wastes where anything -might happen. - -Jasper's thoughts dwelt upon Nance, though the reverie of a man in love -is rather a visualising of the woman beloved than a meditation upon her -mystery. The white face of the moon and the dusky elf-locks of the night -were wholly feminine. Jasper imagined himself walking with Nance in the -dark old shrubbery behind Stonehanger, looking into the dim dearness of -her face, touching her hand, and uttering her name. - -Tom Stook's clumsy figure drifted across these passionate imaginings. He -was wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, and looking toward -Stonehanger. - -"What may you be after, sir?" - -"I am out hunting, Tom, to catch a fox of a Frenchman. And look you -here, I want you to keep your mouth shut about all this, the lights up -yonder, and the comings and goings. It will be worth your while." - -"Sure, Master Jasper, you be a gen'leman o' sense. It be'unt no business -o' mine." - -"There is some one who has to be protected. I want to lay a rogue by the -heels without harming innocent people." - -Stook brought out a short clay pipe, and a little leather bag in which -he kept tobacco. He had to go indoors to get a light from the wood fire -that he had lit to cook his supper. When he emerged, the bowl of his -pipe glowing, he had one very characteristic remark to make. - -"It be powerful cold f' June." - -Jasper felt for his pocket flask. He knew that it was inward warmth that -the man needed. - -"One pull, Tom, and no more. We must keep our heads clear to-night." - -Two hours passed, and the vague, moonlit slopes of the common began to -suggest all manner of mysterious movements to Jasper's tired eyes. -Stonehanger was a dim outline against the sky. He had begun to doubt -whether anything was going to happen when a bright, yellow point flashed -out suddenly in the north. It remained there for some ten seconds, and -then disappeared as though a curtain had been jerked forward to cover -it. - -"You seed ut, sir!" - -"Was that from Stonehanger, Tom?" - -"Sure." - -They waited awhile, and in due course the light flashed out a second -time and died back into the night with equal suddenness. - -"What do they mean by that?" - -"Mounseer Jerome be about somewhere." - -Jasper meditated. - -"I tell you what, Tom, we will make our way up to Stonehanger." - -"Better try t' owld quarry, sir." - -"They meet there?" - -"I reckon they do." - -"Have you got a lantern?" - -"Sure." - -"Fetch it, and bring a thick stick with you." - -They left the cottage, Jasper with his hanger and pistols, Tom Stook -carrying a lantern, and a stout hollywood cudgel. Tom took the lead, -pushing his way along a narrow, winding path half overgrown by -straggling furze, their figures melting away into the blackness of the -moor. - -After twenty minutes of this rough going, Tom Stook stopped abruptly, -and stood listening. Jasper paused close to him. There was no wind, and -no stirring of the furze in the clear sheen of the moonlight. - -"T' quarry be yonder, sir." - -"Where?" - -"Just down over t' bank." - -They spoke in whispers, bending forward and looking across the moor. - -"Can you hear anything, Tom?" - -"Not me." - -He put the lantern down, and scratched his chin. - -"I reckon I'll go on, Master Jasper, and take a look into t' quarry." - -He went down on all-fours, and Jasper saw his long, loosely knit body go -crawling along the path like some big beast of prey. He disappeared with -nothing more than a faint rustling of the furze, and Stonehanger Common -seemed as still and as empty as a becalmed sea at midnight. Tom Stook -was away twenty minutes. He came back, walking, his holly-stick over his -shoulder. - -"There be'unt no one--yet." - -"Well, then, we had better take cover in the quarry." - -They went on and clambered down through the furze into the mouth of the -quarry. A rough trackway led into it, and Tom Stook seemed to know the -place as well as he knew his own garden. There was some open ground in -the centre, though dwarf-trees, brambles, and furze made a tangled mass -along the walls. Stook chose a place near the entry, a kind of nest shut -in by the wild undergrowth, and under the black shadow of the quarry -wall. A gap between two furze bushes gave them a view of the open space, -and of the trackway leading into the quarry. - -"I'll have t' lantern ready, Master Jasper." - -He took off his coat, produced a tinder-box, and, going down on his -knees, proceeded to get a light. - -"She's got a shade, sir, and I'll put her on under t' bush with m' coat -to make it safe." - -The lantern was lit and hidden away, and they were both growing stiff -and rather tired of waiting when Tom Stook touched Jasper's shoulder. - -"Did ye hear that?" - -Through the stillness of the moonlit night a faint sound reached them, a -sound as of some one brushing through the furze. It might, have been a -strayed sheep, or even a rabbit scuttling among the dry stems of the -furze, but for the distinctive scraping of feet over the rough ground. -Jasper crept forward, and stood waiting in the gap between the two furze -bushes. He had borrowed Stook's holly-cudgel, and was in the deep -shadow, and not likely to be seen. - -The footsteps came nearer and nearer, and paused outside the quarry. A -deep and grumbling voice growled sulkily as though its owner were tired -and out of temper. Then the man entered the quarry, passing close by the -place where Jasper stood. - -Benham saw him as a shortish, thick-set man with a great round head, and -a slouching walk. It was just a glimpse, for Jasper made his leap, -springing out from the black shadow into the moonlight. The man swung -round with a quick snarl of surprise. - -"Tonnerre!" - -The holly-stick swung just before a pistol flashed, and the bullet -thudded against the wall of the quarry. Jasper knocked the pistol out of -the man's hand, gave him a tap on the skull, and then closed. So far as -the tussle went, it was not a very serious affair. Youth was well served -in handling this little round cask of a man. He was rolled over, and -pinned flat on his back, while Jasper wrenched a second pistol and a -knife out of his belt and threw them away into the undergrowth. - -"Tom, bring your lantern. Quick, man, quick!" - - - - -XXIII - - -Tom Stook came running out with the lantern. - -"Have ye got him, Master Jasper?" - -"It looks rather like it, Tom--eh!" - -The light fell upon a fat, swarthy, and sullen face that blinked its -eyes at the lantern. - -"Mounseer Jerome--sure!" - -The man heaved, and swore savagely. - -"Sacre bleu,--give off my chest!" - -"Lie still." - -Jasper was in no mood for wasting time, since he desired the business -over and done with before De Rothan or Durrell should appear. - -"Tom, take him by the wrists and hold his hands above his head. Quiet, -will you, or I'll give you a crack with the stick." - -Jerome glared and lay still, his arms extended above his head like the -arms of a man upon the rack. Jasper unbuttoned the Frenchman's coat, and -went through all his pockets. He found nothing there save a pipe, and a -tobacco-box. Something lying under the man's shirt betrayed itself as -Jasper passed his hand over Jerome's broad chest. As Jasper tore the -shirt open the Frenchman's body squirmed like the body of a man who -stiffens his muscles to resist. - -"Hold on, Tom." - -"Help, there,--help!" - -"Lie quiet, or by George, I'll put a bullet through your head." - -Jasper drew out a flat, leather pocket-book or case that was fastened by -a string round Jerome's neck. Jasper snapped the string, and turned -aside toward the lantern to examine the plunder. It contained several -sheets of paper neatly folded and covered with what appeared to be a -jumble of dots, lines, and letters. Jasper's brown face showed grim and -intent by the light of the lantern. - -"Cipher, to be sure! This is what I expected to find." - -He put the sheets back into the leather case, and thrust it into the -inner pocket of his coat. The sea-captain's eyes were watching him with -evil interest, and he had the air of one who listened. - -Jasper understood. Captain Jerome expected a rescue. - -"Tom, I want to be rid of this gentleman, and I don't want the red-coats -to get hold of him, either." - -"Sir?" - -"March him down to within a mile of the sea, and send him off with a -blessing." - -"I'll do't, Master Jasper." - -"Monsieur Jerome, it is lucky for you that I am giving you this chance. -Clear out, and let us hear no more of you. If ever I hear of you showing -your face on this side of the Channel, I'll have you taken and shot as a -spy. You understand?" - -"I speak no English." - -"Nonsense. You get off back to France, and pray to God to keep you from -playing at carrying secret signals. Up with him, Tom. Here, put one of -my pistols in your belt." - -Tom Stook grinned, and swung the Frenchman to his feet. Jasper gave him -a pistol and the hollywood cudgel. - -"Bundle him off, Tom. I want him out of the way. I am staying on here to -see what happens." - -Stook took the sea-captain by the collar. - -"Come along, you barrel o' sour beer. No shouting, mind ye, and no -tricks. Come along." - -Jasper heard them go blundering along down the path, Stook helping the -Frenchman along with vigorous bumps of the bent knee. Jasper smiled to -himself and picked up the lantern, and, returning to his lurking-place, -he put out the light and sat down to wait. - -It was De Rothan whom he expected, this insolent and sneering -_émigré_, who dabbled his hands in midnight treacheries. Jasper did -not doubt that the packet of cipher he had taken from the smuggling -sea-captain Jerome would compromise not only De Rothan but Anthony -Durrell and his daughter. Jasper's attitude was one of shrewd and -patient restraint. A scheme that was defeated might be considered to be -non-existent, and there would be no need to swoop upon the lesser dupes -when the dominant spirit had been dealt with. - -Something crackled into a clump of briers close to where Jasper lay in -ambush. It was a stone flung from above as a signal to Jerome, who -should have been waiting in the quarry. Jasper kept very still. He heard -some one pushing through the furze and brushwood round the rough lip of -the quarry. Footsteps came down toward the entrance. Then there was -silence. - -Jasper leaned forward and peered round one of the furze bushes. A man -was standing in the trackway leading into the quarry, his face turned -toward the sea. By his height and build, and by the arrogant throw-back -of the head, Jasper knew him for De Rothan. He stood there like a figure -carved in black basalt, motionless, watchful, full of a fine yet -sinister suggestiveness. - -Jasper watched him. How easy it would be to bring the man down, wing -him, put an end to all his weavings of treachery. He did not doubt but -that De Rothan was armed. They might make a fight of it there, but -Jasper was not given to shooting in the dark. He wanted to prove the -whole case against De Rothan, to convince himself and Nance of the man's -double dealing. - -Minutes passed, and De Rothan showed a growing impatience. He began to -walk to and fro along the trackway, stopping from time to time to listen -or stare out over the stretch of moonlit furze. It was evident that he -had not heard the report of Jerome's pistol, and that he suspected -nothing in the way of intervention. The smuggler had failed to appear; -that was what made De Rothan restless. - -For an hour the Frenchman walked up and down while Jasper lay behind the -furze bushes and kept watch. Once De Rothan paused within three yards of -him and stood listening, muttering angrily over the absence of Jerome. - -His patience gave out at last. Jasper saw him walk to the entrance of -the quarry, stare into the distance, and then turn, and clamber up the -bank. Jasper held back till the sound of De Rothan's footsteps had died -down into the night. Then he pushed Tom Stook's lantern under a bush, -climbed out of the quarry, and, striking the path that led toward -Stonehanger, followed it with some of the caution of an Indian working a -trail. - -Jasper neither heard nor saw anything of De Rothan till he came in sight -of the chimneys of Stonehanger rising above the ridge of ground that hid -the lower part of the house from view. Jasper paused here instinctively, -and it was well that he did so. A black figure rose into view on the -rising ground above and stood with the grey oval of its face turned -toward the sea. - -Then De Rothan disappeared. Jasper pushed on, topped the rising ground, -and over the furze saw Stonehanger grey and glaring in the light of the -full moon. Chimneys, parapet, window frames, even the individual stones -in the walls were clear and distinct. The thorns and yews were bunches -of black foliage rising above the grey line of the terrace wall. - -Jasper could not help asking himself why Jerome had chosen such a night -for landing, and how he had been able to avoid the patrols. - -"Money and rum work wonders. These smugglers squeeze in everywhere." - -He saw De Rothan mount the steps to the terrace and stand there looking -at the windows of the house. Jasper seized his chance to slip forward -and gain the shelter of some furze bushes that straggled close to the -terrace wall. - -He heard voices on the terrace. Anthony Durrell had been waiting for De -Rothan, and but for his short sight he would have seen Jasper make his -dash across the open grounds for the shelter of the furze bushes under -the wall. - -"Jerome has failed us. I waited more than an hour." - -De Rothan glanced at Nance's window. - -"Is madam asleep?" - -"Yes. Speak softly, she mustn't know that you are here. Perhaps we -mistook Jerome's light." - -"No, I'm sure of that. Hallo--!" - -The voices broke off abruptly like the voices of two plotters who hear -the sound of stealthy footsteps coming toward them. Jasper had made his -way to the terrace wall. He flattened himself against it, expecting to -see a head appear over the edge of the parapet. - -Then he heard some one calling, "Who's there?" - -It was Nance's voice, and the moonlight seemed to quiver with it. She -had thrown her lattice open and was leaning out, and scanning the -terrace. Durrell had drawn De Rothan under the dense shadow cast by one -of the yews. - -They remained there motionless, till Nance disappeared for a moment from -the window. - -"Quick, round to the back of the house." - -"This game of hide-and-seek is all nonsense, Durrell. You had much -better let the girl know the truth." - -"No, no, she's not to be trusted." - -"My dear sir, I'll make her trustworthy. You do not know how to manage -women." - -They had crossed the terrace and passed down the passage that led to the -offices and stables. Durrell was agitated and impatient, De Rothan a -little scornful. He was tiring of Durrell's moods and eccentricities. If -everything went well, the fanatic would have served his purpose in the -course of the next few weeks. He would be thrown aside like a broken -tool. - -"Jerome won't come to-night. I'll be off; I left my nag round under the -wall." - -Durrell was full of vague fears. - -"I hope nothing has happened." - -"Bah! Jerome found the moon too bright. Besides, the news we expect is -too important to be risked with a shrug of the shoulders. If Villeneuve -can only get into the Channel and hold it for three days! Fate will spin -the coin for us before long." - -Meanwhile Jasper had crept cautiously along the front of the wall and -reached the steps. He climbed them slowly, pausing when his head came on -a level with the terrace. It was deserted. Grass, flower-beds, and -stone-paved walk lay white in the light of the moon. - -Jasper climbed the last steps, and stood looking up at Nance's window. A -passionate exultation possessed him, and for the moment he was ready to -take the maddest of risks. He wanted to see Nance, to speak with her, to -feel that they were conspiring together against De Rothan and the -French. - -The chance was nearer to him than he imagined. There was the click of a -key turning in a lock, and the garden door opened, showing an oblong -shadow in the moonlit wall. Some one was standing there in the shadow, -and Jasper, caught in the full moonlight, laid a hand upon the pistol in -his belt. - -The figure in the doorway moved out into the moonlight. It was Nance. -She had slipped on an old gown, and a pair of shoes, and come down, -shivering, to brave the truth. - -"Nance!" - -She hung back a moment, and then came gliding out across the grass, the -moonlight making a silver mist of her loosened hair. Mouth and eyes were -round shadows. - -"You! Is it you?" - -She was so close now that Jasper could see the moonlight in her eyes. -The pupils were large and black, and swimming with a kind of fear. - -"Was it you I heard?" - -"No. De Rothan and your father." - -"Where are they?" - -"They have gone round to the back. I have something that I must tell -you. And we may be seen here." - -They stood looking into each other's eyes. The clatter of a horse's -hoofs came from the lane, followed by the slamming of a door. - -Nance started, and a shiver of excitement went through her. - -"It is so light here, and we shall be heard--" - -Jasper reached out, and caught her hand. She did not flinch or resist -him. - -"Quick! Down the steps." - -They fled away, hand in hand, like a couple of children. - - - - -XXIV - - -They were on Stonehanger Common among the furze bushes with the -moonlight shining down on them, and the silence of night over the land. -The horizon was an horizon of silvery distances, woodland, sea, and -hill. There was no wind moving, and the air was fresh and fragrant with -dew. - -Jasper still held Nance's hand. They had taken one of the grass paths -that wound down over the common to the fields and woods. The moonlight -was on their faces, and they said but little for the moment. They had -passed suddenly into a new world, and were somewhat awed by its -strangeness and its beauty. - -There was an audacity, too, about the thing that thrilled them both. -Youth called to youth. They looked at each other as though there were -wonderful things to be discovered in each other's eyes. - -"What have you to tell me?" - -Jasper had taken off his hat, and was walking bareheaded beside her. At -such a season every gesture has an exquisite significance. There is -homage, passionate utterance, in every movement of the head and body. - -"I have many things to tell you." - -She caught the man's meaning and turned it back with a shy smile. - -"I mean--about this man De Rothan." - -"I am afraid that I have been playing the spy." - -"You?" - -"It was for good ends, and to help you and yours." - -She looked at him anxiously. - -"Have you found out anything more?" - -"A little. Look at this." - -He dropped her hand gently, and pulled out the leather case that he had -taken from the sea-captain, Jerome. - -"I robbed some one of this to-night--yes, fairly and squarely--down in -the quarry. It was their go-between, their secret letter-carrier from -France--a smuggling captain. These dispatches should be in De Rothan's -hands. He came down to the quarry, but we had packed his man off with -the fear of God in him." - -Nance's head was very close to Jasper's shoulder as she bent to look at -the papers. - -"What are they?" - -"Messages in cipher. One has to find out the code. But you see what all -this means." - -She did see it, and her face was white and serious in the moonlight. - -"It means danger for us." - -"Unless we smother it." - -"But what will you do?" - -He replaced the case in his pocket. - -"It seems to me that I have two causes to serve, to put an end to this -system of spying, and to save your father from ruining himself. There is -only one thing to be done; deal with De Rothan." - -"But how? If you have him arrested----" - -"No, nothing so clumsy as that. I began the attack by quarrelling with -him yesterday." - -"After you left me?" - -"Yes. I pitched him into the ditch." - -Her eyes looked frightened, and there was a tremor about her mouth. - -"What have you done! It means an affair of honour." - -"Just so, Nance. That was why I did it. I expect to hear from him in a -few hours." - -She was distressed and perplexed. - -"But how can I let you do this--risking your life for us!" - -"I am doing it because I like it." - -"No, it is for us. I can't let you. I'll go to father and make him give -it up." - -The sincerity of her distress touched him very deeply. He reached out -and caught her hands. - -"Nance, I'm no boy. I'm as good a man as De Rothan. I can't go back; my -honour's in it. I've got to fight this man and beat him. Don't you see -how it will mend everything?" - -She would not meet his eyes. - -"But you are sacrificing yourself----" - -"No--no--no. Look at it in this way. I fight De Rothan; perhaps I kill -him--perhaps I only wound him. If he comes out of it alive, I take him -by the collar, tell him what I know, and give him twelve hours in which -to leave the country. Go he shall. Then will come the time to appeal to -your father's common sense." - -His blunt confidence almost persuaded her. - -"Oh, you are brave enough. But as to my father's common sense----" - -Jasper laughed at her quaint despair. - -"Well, I shall come to him and say, 'Mr. Durrell, I happen to have -discovered about this French affair. I have some of your secret papers -in my possession. Our friend the Chevalier de Rothan is dead, or has -fled the country. The game is up. Swear to try no more plotting, and I -will not breathe a word of what I know. Otherwise I shall have to hand -you over to the authorities.'" - -Her eyes flashed with approval. - -"Ah, yes--that would be great. It might settle everything." - -He drew her a little nearer to him. - -"Not everything, Nance. But I am not here to ask for what I have not -earned." - -She did not look at him, but hung her head a little. - -"You are being too good to us." - -"That's no credit to me. I can't help it." - -His frankness brought her eyes glimmering up amusedly to meet his, and -it was then that she noticed that they had come within a hundred yards -of the big oak wood that bounded the common on the south-east. The domes -of the trees gleamed in the moonlight. - -"Look! Do you see where we are?" - -"By George, yes. I suppose we had better turn back." - -"Please." - -"But supposing they have locked us out?" - -"I shall have to throw stones at father's window." - -"Yes, but then----" - -Her mouth wavered into mischievous curves. - -"He will be told that I have been out in the moonlight looking for -voices." - -"That's it--that's it." - -He looked at her with fine approval. - -"Yes, show spirit, that's the thing. But supposing, for the sake of -argument, that Mr. Anthony is asleep and won't be wakened?" - -"There is the stable. I should not mind a bed of hay." - -"And scold--before you are scolded in the morning. It is like getting in -the first blow." - -Nance fell into a more serious mood as they saw Stonehanger standing -bleak and grey in the moonlight. She knew that she was to be left alone -with her own thoughts and fears, nor could she escape from some dread of -the crisis that Jasper was provoking for her sake. She was afraid of De -Rothan, and knew him for a dangerous and a masterful man. - -They came to the place where the furze thinned out toward the rough -grassland below the terrace. Nance faltered and paused. Her face looked -shadowy and troubled. - -"We must say good-bye here." - -He looked at her very dearly. - -"Good night, Nance." - -Her hands seemed to wait to be taken in his, and her face was turned to -his with sudden wistfulness. - -"I don't like to think of what may happen." - -"Don't think of it, then." - -"How can I help it?" - -They looked straight into each other's eyes. - -"Nance, I'm not afraid of anything--for your sake. Take heart, dear, -take heart." - -Her lips quivered. Her white face and dark hair seemed to swim nearer to -him in the moonlight. - -"Nance----" - -Their lips met. Her upturned face dreamed for a moment with shadowy -mouth and closed eyes. Then she drew her hands away, and fled in a shy -panic across the grass. - -Jasper watched her with exultant tenderness. She paused, and turned at -the steps, waved to him and disappeared. He was hidden from the house by -the furze bushes, and he kept cover there lest Anthony Durrell should be -watching from one of the windows. - -Jasper made his way back toward Bramble End and Tom Stook's cottage. The -night seemed very wonderful. The black summer woods reminded him of -Nance's hair. - -Three miles away De Rothan was riding slowly along lanes and field -paths, moody-eyed and savage, a man possessed by ugly emotions. Jerome's -failure to appear at the quarry had not troubled him very greatly. It -was a dull anger against the man who had toppled him into a ditch that -filled De Rothan's consciousness. He hated Jasper Benham with all the -hatred of which a strong and passionate man is capable. He meant to be -revenged, to salve his own smarting self-conceit. But even the easing of -this blood lust was an inopportune necessity thrust upon him in the -thick of many dangers. The affair had come to a head at the moment when -De Rothan least desired it, for there were the larger issues to be -remembered. In ten days--twenty days--a month, Napoleon might be in -England. De Rothan wanted those days free and untrammelled. If he could -only fight this man in some secret corner, and leave him lying hidden in -a ditch! Yes, but would Jasper Benham consent to such conditions? Would -it be possible for them to fight without a living soul knowing of the -quarrel? De Rothan felt sore and savage over the problem. It threatened -confusion to his plans, promised to interfere with the delicate -balancing of possible events. - -He reached the Brick House about three in the morning, stabled his -horse, and was let in by the man Gaston. Supper had been laid in the -long parlour, and De Rothan sat down and ate with the morose -deliberation of a man who is vexed by his own thoughts. He was tired, -too, and thirsty, and wine was a welcome sustainer. The long night spent -in the open made itself felt. De Rothan fell asleep in his chair, while -the two candles on the table burned steadily toward the sockets. - -The light of the dawn was just touching the windows when a man came up -the brick path to the porch and hammered at the oak door. The sound woke -De Rothan, who sat up in his chair and stared at the candles. The -knocking at the door was loud and persistent. De Rothan took a hanger -down from over the fireplace, picked up one of the candles, and went out -into the hall. There was a grill in the door, closed by a little wooden -shutter. De Rothan set the candlestick on the floor, pushed back the -shutter, and, looking through, saw a piece of greyish sky, and a man's -right shoulder. - -"Hallo--who's there?" - -"Jerome." - -"The devil! You are late, and at the wrong place." - -"You'll thank me for being here at all." - -De Rothan unbolted the door and let Monsieur Jerome in. He looked tired -and sulky, with a shock-haired head that resembled the head of a wild -beast. His forehead showed a big, purpling bruise. - -He was a bearer of bad news, and he looked it. De Rothan guessed that at -the first glance. - -"What has gone wrong?" - -"I'm thirsty. I'll drink first." - -"Good, my child. Is it Dutch courage you want?" - -"Look you here, Monsieur de Rothan, if I have come here to save your -neck, keep your accursed tongue out of your cheek. I'll have none of -it." - -He looked savage and dangerous. They passed into the parlour. There were -glasses on the table, and De Rothan took a spirit bottle from an oak -cupboard, and mixed Jerome a stiff glass of grog. - -"Sit down, man. What has happened? Why didn't you come to the quarry?" - -"I came there right enough." - -"So----!" - -"Yes, to be knocked on the head and have the cipher stolen." - -De Rothan's figure stiffened like a sword that has been bent against the -floor, and is allowed to spring back into shape. - -"You have lost the dispatches!" - -"I say they were taken from me." - -"By whom?" - -"That fellow whom Mees Nance was kind to at Stonehanger, that Jasper -Benham." - -De Rothan's face grew dusky. - -"God--you great fool--how did it happen?" - -"Keep your big words to yourself. He and a man of his were in hiding. -They knocked me on the head and had me on my back before I could take -aim with a pistol. Then I was marched down to the sea by a lanky devil -of a peasant, and left there to find the boat. They promised to have me -hanged if I said a word, and didn't jump the Channel. I put out, and -managed to sneak in and land again in the marshes--to save your -neck--see! A lot of gratitude you seem to show me." - -De Rothan stood resting his hands on the back of a chair. He did not -speak for some seconds. - -"Jerome, you have done me a service. I shall not forget it." - -The sea-captain finished his grog, and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He -glanced at the windows that were going grey with the dawn. - -"Time to make a run for it. The game is up." - -De Rothan's forehead was one fierce frown. - -"No, by heaven, it is not! I have these dispatches to recover--and to -cut out Mr. Jasper Benham's tongue." - - - - -XXV - - -Jerome had gone, and De Rothan walked up and down the brick-paved path -between the porch and the gate, with the two yew-trees cut in the shape -of peacocks spreading their tails on either side. There were climbing -roses flowering over the rust-red front of the house. The stone pillar -of the sun-dial had an edging of rank, green grass. - -De Rothan stood by the sun-dial and stared at it reflectively. What a -thing was Time, how trivial and yet how urgent with its little droppings -of sand or the slow stealing of a shadow! And time, delay, was -everything to De Rothan for the moment. It was as though a marvellous -clock had been constructed; that he had set it going and was waiting to -hear it chime all manner of tunes at the hour of noon, when chance, in -the shape of a Sussex squire, threatened to send a pistol bullet into -the works, and to ruin the whole mechanism. - -How was the thing to be prevented? - -De Rothan's consciousness of the imminent peril of a betrayal was like -the barking of dogs about a man who was trying to puzzle out some -problem. The need for immediate action importuned him. He must have -silence, for a week, two weeks, a month, silence till Napoleon's schemes -matured, till Villeneuve made his dash for the Channel, and the French -bayonets glittered in English meadows. - -Supposing he killed this man? - -So far as he could see, this grim attempt at a solution would only -plunge him into further difficulties. There would be a huge outcry, for -it would be next to impossible for him to hope to keep it secret. Even -if he pleaded that it had been an affair of honour, the gentry here -would not be in a mood to show much pity. - -Moreover, Jasper Benham might have handed on his information, though it -had been in his possession only a few hours. - -It took De Rothan some time to strike the one possible line of attack. -The idea came to him as an inspiration. He seized it, and turned it over -and over in his mind with the exultant audacity of a man recovering his -self-confidence. - -De Rothan returned to the parlour, and sat down before the oak bureau by -the window. The scratching of a quill pen ran on through the silence. He -frowned, and moved restlessly in his chair as he wrote, his whole -mind-force concentrating itself upon the wording of that letter. When he -had finished it and sealed it, he sat awhile, reflecting. Some one was -moving now in the house. Gaston and the other two servants were -stirring. - -De Rothan went out into the hall and waited. A door opened. Heavy -footsteps came down the stairs. - -"Gaston." - -"Monsieur?" - -"Quick, man, come in here." - -He took the slow, surly fellow into the parlour, poured him out a glass -of wine, and began to talk decisively and quickly. Gaston listened, -sipping his wine, and staring at De Rothan with the intelligence of a -shrewd and ugly dog. - -"You can trust me, monsieur." - -"It will not be for nothing." - -"No, no, one does not risk one's neck for nothing." - -"You know Rush Heath Hall; we have often ridden that way. Saddle a horse -at once, and take this letter to Mr. Jasper Benham. Give it to none but -him. Answer no questions. Wait for him if he is not at home." - -"Yes, monsieur." - -"I will look to things here. François and Jean will obey you, if needs -be?" - -"They fear me, monsieur." - -"Good. There is the south attic. We can knock staples into one of the -oak posts, and fasten rings to the floor. Off with you, Gaston. By the -Emperor, there is no time to lose." - -It happened that De Rothan's man did not have to ride all the way to -Rush Heath that morning. As he was coming down Hog Lane into the road -from the direction of Bexhill, he sighted a gentleman on a brown cob -trotting toward him. Gaston was none too sure of the way, and he hailed -the man on the brown cob. - -"To Rush Heath, sir?" - -Jasper reined in with a stare at this queer-looking rogue in livery on a -smart-looking horse. He was riding home from Tom Stook's cottage after -two hours' sleep on a bundle of bracken, the bracken being cleaner than -Tom's bed. - -"Yes. What do you want at Rush Heath?" - -"I carry a letter." - -"From the Chevalier de Rothan, perhaps?" - -"From the Chevalier de Rothan to Meester Jasper Benham." - -Gaston chewed at his broken English, for he was a man who talked as -though he were munching a crust. - -"I can save you two miles. I am Mr. Jasper Benham." - -Gaston eyed him critically. - -"All right, monsieur, you need not doubt me being myself. I was -expecting to hear from your master." - -Gaston handed the letter over. - -"It is urgent, monsieur." - -"No doubt." - -"Good day to you, monsieur." - -"Good day to you." - -And they parted company, Jasper riding on toward Rush Heath. - -Curiosity pinched him, and he stopped his horse under the shade of one -of the big chestnut-trees by Lavender's Forge, and opened De Rothan's -letter. It was written in a fine hand upon fine paper, and the heads and -tails of the letters ran into curls and flourishes, making it quite a -courtly document where each word kept up a kind of royal progress. - - -MR. JASPER BENHAM. - -SIR-- - -I send this in haste by the hands of my servant. Seeing that I have had -news that calls me to London, and seeing that I must chastise you before -I go, I ask you to meet me in the clearing in Darvel's Wood. You will -know the place. They tell me charcoal-burners used to burn charcoal -there. - -I have no time to attend to formalities and to send you my friends. I -desire to fight you as man to man, and I shall go alone to Darvel's -Wood. - -Bring a sword and pistols. We will take our choice. - -I shall be in the wood by seven o'clock this evening, and I shall wait -there for an hour. If you do not come to me I shall be constrained to -scorn you as a coward, and shall go my way, promising to deal with you -on my return. - -DE ROTHAN. - - -The audacity and the informality of the challenge were all to Jasper's -liking. De Rothan was giving him the opportunity that he desired, and -its very nearness made him realise the utter seriousness of the -adventure. De Rothan would show him little consideration when their -swords crossed or their pistols pointed in the middle of Darvel's Wood. -It was a question of nerve, steadiness, and determination. Men pull -themselves together to meet such hazards, more easily perhaps when they -have learned to take big risks in some such school as the hunting field. -Moreover, Jasper Benham had pledged himself, and he was in love. - -He would ride to Darvel's Wood and fight De Rothan. His confidence -steadied itself on a quiet belief in his own strength and skill. There -was just that simmer of exhilaration in his mood that makes a man a -little better than his normal self. It was his day. He felt on the top -of the game, with all the confidence of a man who attacks. - -He rode on toward Rush Heath, putting his plans in order. - -There was Jeremy Winter to be considered, and he had to decide that he -would tell Jeremy nothing. Winter would never consent to let him fight -upon such terms, and would insist on going with him to Darvel's Wood. -Jasper knew what Jeremy could be when he was obstinate, and that it was -hard to beat him from a position when he had once chosen it. He would -have to keep Jeremy Winter out of the adventure. - -At Rush Heath Jasper found that Jeremy had ridden into Hastings, and -might not be back till supper time. This was useful in its way, and -Jasper showed his sound sense by making a light meal and going straight -to bed. He wanted steady nerves and a fresh body, and though few men -could have slept on the edge of such an adventure, Jasper accomplished -it, a point to his credit. He had told Jack Bumpstead to call him at -four o'clock, and at that hour he arose, dressed himself, went below, -and made a meal. - -To get from Rush Heath to Darvel's Wood one could go by way of -Stonehanger Common, and Jasper rode that way, meaning to see Nance. A -glimpse of her would be as a cup of red wine to him, though the -melancholy of fatalism was not part of his nature. His own imagination -was not strong enough to force upon him a vision of his own body lying -dead in Darvel's Wood. He neither felt like dying nor being beaten, but -he had the sense to realise that in a couple of hours he might be dead. -The thought did not frighten him, but roused a sense of cheerful -incredulity. - -Anthony Durrell had become nothing more than De Rothan's dupe, the man -of the arm-chair being the servant of the man of the sword, and Jasper -did not trouble his head about Durrell's prejudices. He rode into the -yard at Stonehanger, fastened Devil Dick to the ring by the stable door, -and, leaving his sword and pistols there, walked round the house to -Nance's garden on the terrace. - -He found her there, cutting the dead blooms from the rose-bushes, and -the sight of her gave his mood the touch of deeper solemnity that it had -lacked. He felt of a sudden that life was a very serious and passionate -affair, and that no one was justified in risking it lightly. The girlish -figure bending over the rose-bushes made him bend more reverently over -her fate and his own. - -"Nance----" - -She had not heard his footsteps on the grass, and it was a coy, flushed -face that she turned to him. Her eyes might have shown him that she did -not regret anything. The kiss upon her mouth had enriched life for her, -and made it more dear and desirable. - -"You! It is rash of you to be here!" - -"I don't think so. Is your father at home?" - -"No; he went out for a walk over the common." - -"Either way, it does not matter." - -They moved to a seat under one of the yews, Jasper's hand holding -Nance's arm just above the elbow. She looked round and up at him with -shy and shining eyes. - -"How did things happen last night after I left you?" - -"Quite happily. Father was waiting. He said nothing." - -"What do you make of that?" - -"Perhaps he does not know whether to tell me everything or nothing." - -"Why not make him trust you?" - -"Against his will?" - -Jasper held both her hands in his. - -"Nance, I shall have news for you to-morrow, news that should sweep all -these deceits aside. I shall come and talk to your father--as I -promised. And you will help me to make him see the uselessness of -further plotting with the French." - -Nance's hands tightened on his. She understood what his words portended. - -"You mean----" - -"Nothing as yet. I may have good news." - -"Then there is danger." - -"Don't let the thought of that trouble you." - -She looked him steadily in the eyes, compelling them to acknowledge the -truth. - -"Jasper?" - -"Well, dear--" - -"You know you are trying to hide this from me. You are going to fight -this man." - -"Well, do I look like a dead man, or one who is not sure of pulling -through? I never meant you to know this, but things will out." - -"When is it?" - -"In an hour or so." - -"Oh, Jasper!" - -He showed a fine and tender cheerfulness. - -"I have been longing to fight him, Nance, and here is my chance. What's -the hour? By George, I must be going." - -She caught his hands and would not let him go for the moment. Her eyes -were afraid. - -"It's wrong of me to let you do this." - -"No, no." - -"If the wrong thing should happen!" - -"Nance, it has to be; it's an affair of honour. Do you think I would let -a man like De Rothan call me a coward? No, by God, I am going to take -him by the shoulders and thrust him out of your life." - -He rose, and his arm went round her as they crossed the terrace, and -passed round to where Devil Dick waited in the stone-paved yard. The -pistol butts sticking out of the holsters, and the sword leaning against -the stable wall made Nance's mouth quiver. - -"Who is going with you?" - -"No one." - -"Where is it to be?" - -"In Darvel's Wood. I shall ride back here." - -He talked so as to hearten her as they passed through the wild shrubbery -to the gate. Her tense, white face hurt him. It was so near to tears and -yet so very far from them. - -"God bless you, Nance. In two hours I shall be back again." - -He kissed her, and felt her lips answer his with quick and passionate -abandonment. - - - - -XXVI - - -Long slants of sunlight came through the trees as Jasper rode into -Darvel's Wood. The place was a smother of leaves, for the underwood had -not been cut for five years or more, and the hazel tops were up among -the lower boughs of the oaks. A broad ride ran through the wood from -north to south like a gallery tunnelling through the green gloom. - -A jay screamed raucously in the distance, but save for the bird's cry -the silence was complete. The very sunlight stealing through shone upon -leaves that did not quiver. There was an eeriness about the stillness -that suggested treachery and secret threats. - -For the first time Jasper felt something that was akin to fear. It was a -vast uneasiness; a primitive, physical distrust of his surroundings. The -wood threw deep shadows, and the shadows lay across his confidence. Was -he trusting De Rothan too much by meeting him alone in the middle of -this wood? The man might have been warned, and be tempted by his own -danger. Their meeting was avowedly for polite and gentlemanly murder, -but it was possible that De Rothan might put his honour in his pocket -and pull the trigger of his pistol ten seconds too soon. Jasper shivered -with a kind of chilly alertness. He found himself favouring swords -rather than pistols. There was less chance of trickery with cold steel. - -He was not sorry when he came to the clearing in the centre of Darvel's -Wood. A horse tied to a tree, and a tall figure walking up and down in -the sunlight gave him something real to look at. De Rothan was waiting -for him, and he was alone. - -The clearing had been used by charcoal-burners years ago, and it was -marked in the centre by a circle of sleek and vivid grass that did not -look unlike a great fairy-ring. Half of the clearing lay in shadow, the -other half in sunlight. The boles of the oak-trees rose like grey-green -pillars round it, curtained in between by the foliage of the hazels. - -De Rothan swept off his hat and bowed. His grandiose courtesy made -Jasper keep a keener eye on him, for he would not have trusted this -child of St. Patrick and St. Louis behind his back. A case of pistols -and a sword lay on a black cloak at the foot of a tree. - -"The very best health to you, Mr. Benham." - -His politeness was ironical. The man appeared to be his conceited and -condescending self, cynically amused, and not in the least flurried. - -Jasper rolled out of the saddle and fastened Devil Dick to a tree. The -vague sense of apprehension had left him. He felt hard, and grim, and -steady now that he and De Rothan were face to face. - -"I am at your service, Chevalier." - -"I am charmed, sir. Please choose your weapon. It is immaterial to me -whether we fight with sword or pistol." - -He swaggered finely, throwing off an air of aristocratic nonchalance. - -"I prefer cold steel." - -"Excellent, Mr. Benham, excellent. You have given me my own desire. Let -it be cold steel. I would rather kill my man with a sword than with a -pistol." - -He went to the oak-tree, picked up his sword, and came back to Jasper -with the most condescending of smiles. - -"I see no reason why we should delay, Mr. Benham." - -"None at all." - -"Very good. We had better fight here in the shade." - -They went apart, stripped off coats and waistcoats, and rolled up the -sleeves of their sword-arms. De Rothan posed, and made a series of rapid -passes and parries, ending the display with a whirl of the sword. He -felt the muscles of his right shoulder, and smiled. His forearm was thin -and white, and shaded with black hairs. - -"More supple than most young men's! You have a fine arm, sir, the arm of -a ploughboy. Come--I am at your service." - -They took ground, saluted, and crossed swords, De Rothan resting his -weight on his left foot, and holding his head with a kind of high -fierceness. His eyes looked dangerous yet amused. - -Jasper called to mind Jeremy's advice. De Rothan was a man whose vanity -might be played with, and who might be lured into despising his -opponent. It takes a subtle swordsman to ape clumsiness, and yet to keep -a clever adversary out. Jasper tried it, and was nearly run through the -shoulder for his pains. The Frenchman's point tore his shirt. - -De Rothan's face with its fierce and arrogant eyes was like a foul word -flung in Jasper's mouth. His hatred aimed for a body thrust. His -swordsmanship caught a sudden flash of brilliance. He had his chance and -took it, and saw blood on the Frenchman's shirt. - -It was a skin wound, but De Rothan leapt back with a cry of savage -surprise. His eyes looked beyond Jasper for the moment to where the head -and shoulders of a man showed from behind a tree trunk. - -Jasper caught the look, but had to keep face foremost and meet the -return rush of De Rothan's sword. The man Gaston had come out from -behind the tree, and had his fist raised, whirling a stone. It did no -more than strike Jasper between the shoulders, but it staggered him -sufficiently to let in De Rothan's sword. - -Run through the sword-arm, he was seized from behind, thrown down, with -De Rothan, Gaston, and another man on top of him. Grim, silent, yet -violent figures, they wasted no words. Jasper's sword was kicked away. -He was rolled over on his face, his arms tied behind his back, and his -ankles lashed together. Then they lifted him between them, carried him -into the thick of the underwood, and threw him down at the foot of a -clump of hazels. - -De Rothan spoke to Gaston. - -"Get the horses. Don't let Benham's beast break away." - -He went out into the clearing, put on his coat and waistcoat, and, -returning, stood by Jasper, looking down at him with amused contempt. - -"Well, Mr. Benham--well, you are no fool with a sword." - -Jasper lay in a dumb rage. The lust to resist was still strong in him, -and he was savage over the roughness the men had used. The dastardly -nature of the whole thing maddened him; also the knowledge that he had -been tricked. - -"You damned cur!" - -Their brevity was expressive, but the words did not appear to hurt De -Rothan. - -"Mr. Benham, we are playing a critical hand in a great game--that is -all. If there is any gratitude in you, you should be grateful to me for -not having killed you. Meddlers must not complain if they are treated -without ceremony." - -His complacency scourged Jasper's sense of savage humiliation. - -"This comes of trusting the word of a scoundrel. I was a fool not to -have you arrested and shot." - -De Rothan took out his snuff-box, and helped himself with finger and -thumb. - -"So you confess to that, Mr. Benham. It is a relief to me to know that -you have been a fool. Now, if you will pardon me, we will have that -packet of cipher you stole from my friend last night." - -So De Rothan had been warned! Jasper cursed his own self-confidence that -had persuaded him to try and carry the adventure through alone. No -wonder De Rothan had laid a trap. The bitterest thing of all was that -the packet of cipher lay in the breast pocket of his coat. - -"Give me the gentleman's coat, François." - -A wonderful smile spread over his face as he felt in the pocket and drew -out Jerome's packet. - -"Mr. Benham, I am obliged to you for being so simple. This may save a -great deal of trouble. At all events, you will be spared the vexation of -deciphering it." - -He put it in his pocket, looking down at Jasper with whimsical -self-satisfaction. - -"You will have to be my guest for a time, Mr. Benham, and we will have -that arm of yours seen to. It may inconvenience you, but that cannot be -helped. I must keep you from meddling in my affairs." - -Jasper said nothing. He was thinking quickly and angrily, and not -greatly to his own content. - -"Gaston, I think you have a silk handkerchief there. We had better tie -up Mr. Benham's mouth, or he may be too talkative." - -They gagged Jasper and bandaged his eyes. Dusk was falling, and De -Rothan went back to the clearing to see that the man François had taken -up Jasper's sword and pistols. - -The wood grew darker each minute. De Rothan, returning, sat down at the -foot of a tree with his sword across his knees. He had sent Gaston ahead -along the ride to see that no one was loitering there. - -It was nearly dark when Gaston returned. De Rothan and he spoke together -in undertones. Jasper heard them coming back through the undergrowth. -They came close, and he felt himself lifted and carried some yards -further into the wood. They placed him on the back of a horse, passed a -strap and ropes round him, and lashed him firmly to the beast's back. - -Then they started out through the darkness, passed northward along the -ride, and halted awhile on the edge of Darvel's Wood. Jasper felt half -smothered by the gag, and saliva clogged his throat. The long silence -seemed threatening. He wondered what they were going to do. - -Then he heard De Rothan's voice. - -"Forward. François, go ahead, and keep your eyes and ears open." - -They set out along a dark lane, Gaston hanging back awhile with Devil -Dick. He gave the horse a stab with a knife, and started him galloping -back into the wood. Then he hurried on, and rejoined De Rothan. - -Meanwhile, at Stonehanger, Nance sat at her window, listening. Suspense -hung in the silent hush of the June night. She was waiting for Jasper to -ride back and to tell her that all was well. - - - - -XXVII - - -Jeremy Winter grew anxious when Jasper did not return. Squire Kit was -not in a state to be worried with alarms, and Jeremy, who knew the -inwardness of Jasper's plans, felt the responsibility to lie upon his -shoulders. He cross-questioned Jack Bumpstead, but the groom could tell -him no more than that Jasper had ridden out on Devil Dick with pistols -in his holsters. - -Jeremy's anxiety seemed justified when a labourer arrived at Rush Heath, -leading Devil Dick by the bridle. He said that he had found the horse -grazing in the corner of a field not far from Rookhurst. - -"'If that be'unt Master Benham's horse, may I be struck blind,' says I. -And look 'ee, sir, he's bin stuck in t' shoulder wid a knife." - -Jeremy examined the horse, and made light of it. - -"The squire has had a spill, and lost his nag." - -Jack Bumpstead and the labourer shook their heads at each other with -dolorous pessimism. - -"He's bin stuck wid a knife, or t' point of a hanger." - -"Hedge stake, more likely." - -"No, sir, it be'unt, sir. 'Tain't the sort o' mark a stake leaves." - -Jeremy was vastly disturbed, but his main desire was to keep the affair -from Squire Christopher and to put the gag upon these two garrulous men. -Gossip always runs on ahead to make trouble, and Jeremy, man of the -world that he was, had learned the value of a subtle unobtrusiveness in -dealing with all happenings that touched even the edge of passion. He -took the labourer aside and dealt with him wonderfully after the manner -of a soldier and a philosopher. The fellow had to be persuaded into -taking a pride in his own discretion. - -"I be'unt for sayin' a word, sir." - -"That's it; you are the right sort of fellow. We may want a man of your -sense over here in a day or two. Jesse Saunders, is it? I'll keep you in -mind." - -With Jack Bumpstead he played the bully. - -"Saddle my nag, Jack. And look you here,--not a word about this--not one -word--see." - -Nothing could be more ferocious than Jeremy when fierceness was a -necessity. Jack Bumpstead wilted before him. - -"Sure, Mister Winter, sir. I'll do as ye please." - -"By George, you will, Jack; I'll take care of that. Wash the horse's -wound, and plaster a little hair over it, and not a word to a living -soul." - -Jeremy rode out, with pistols in his pockets, and a certain significant -tightness about the mouth. He knew the country well, and his conjectures -pointed him toward Stonehanger. Jeremy was something of a cynic. -Experience had taught him that there was truth in the saying, "Look for -the woman." He had his mind's eye on Nance, and his thoughts were none -of the kindest. - -Riding up the steep lane at the back of Stonehanger, he found himself -reining in before the gate at the very moment that a girl appeared -between the two stone pillars. The hollies and laurels made a deep shade -there. The white anxiousness of the girl's face struck Jeremy at the -first glance. The startled way she looked at him provoked his -suspicions. - -He raised his hat to her. - -"Miss Durrell, I believe?" - -The eyes that met his were big, and most honestly troubled. - -"Yes, I am Miss Durrell." - -"I am trying to hear something of Mr. Jasper Benham. His horse came home -this morning without him. I had an idea that he might have been at -Stonehanger." - -Jeremy believed in being blunt with women. He wanted to try Nance and to -judge her by the way she reacted to his words. And react she did, in a -way that made Jeremy rearrange his notions. - -"Are you a friend of Jasper's?" - -She came across the stone bridge over the ditch, the white eagerness of -her face driving the cynicism out of Jeremy's mood. - -"I may say so. I am his adopted uncle, and almost taught him to walk." - -He eyed Nance with keen sympathy. She was all pale and intent passion. -There had been none of those self-conscious changes of colour, those -vain little manœuvres that so few women can forget. The girl was white -steel, fine-tempered, and a little fierce. - -"Did Jasper tell you where he was going last night?" - -"I had been away from Rush Heath all day." - -"Had he told you nothing? I have been awake all night--waiting." - -Jeremy's face grew grim, but his voice was gentle. - -"Miss Durrell, I know a good deal. I can guess still more." - -"This Chevalier de Rothan, this so-called _émigré_----" - -"Ah, now we have it." - -"They were to fight a duel in Darvel's Wood." - -The forward thrust of Jeremy's jaw became more pronounced. - -"What! And the lad never told me! He went out alone against that Irish -blackguard! Good God----!" - -A quivering upper lip and a pair of brown eyes brought him back to -Nance's outlook upon life. - -"Miss Durrell, you'll forgive me--" - -Her hands were gripping the folds of her dress. - -"You know, it was for us. Perhaps he told you? He came to Stonehanger -last night before he went to Darvel's Wood. He was so confident. He -would go. He promised to ride back and tell me how it all happened." - -Jeremy--that man of many experiences--slipped out of the saddle and held -out a comrade's hand. - -"I don't blame Jasper for this, but I do blame him for going alone. The -fellow De Rothan would have stabbed him in the back for the price of a -pewter pot." - -Nance shivered. - -"Oh, don't talk like this!" - -"My dear, I ask your pardon. Winter, Jeremy Winter is my name. Where the -devil is Darvel's Wood? I'll ride there at once." - -"I'll come--I'll show you." - -"But----" - -"I must come--I must. I was going when you rode up." - -Jeremy knew when a wish was not to be gainsaid. Here was a girl who -leapt into the experiences of life with her whole heart. She was strong, -rich, and convincing. - -"My dear, can you borrow such a thing as a horse?" - -"No, and I can't ride." - -"Well, we must take what Nature gives us. How far is it?" - -"Two miles." - -"I'll walk--for the sake of sympathy." - -They seemed to have known each other years by the time the oaks of -Darvel's Wood rose against the white clouds of the summer sky. Their -instinctive liking for each other met and kindled in these moments of -suspense. Both of them were thinking of Jasper, but Jeremy coupled his -thoughts with the tense, white face of this young girl. - -"She's true metal; she has edge and temper," he kept saying to himself. -"Confound the lad, why was he in such a damnable hurry!" - -When they came to the gate that led into Darvel's Wood, Jeremy paused -and looked questioningly at Nance. - -"Will you stay here?" - -"No, I will come with you." - -He was afraid for her sake and of what he might find. But her courage -persuaded him. - -"Come, then. I'll fasten my horse to the gate-post." - -And they entered Darvel's Wood. - -It was close and oppressive in among the trees, and the summer foliage -shut in the ride with massive walls of green. Flies, too, were in -evidence, swarming down out of the foliage as though these two humans -had entered Darvel's Wood with the particular intention of offering -themselves as food. Jeremy, less imperturbable than usual, cursed the -black pests and smote the air with his hat. - -"The insolence of the brutes! As though we mortals walked abroad for the -benefit of flies! Some day we shall wipe all these things out--and then -have the earth as clean as a Dutch kitchen." - -They were anxious and under strain, and showed it by their silence. -Jeremy's face looked fierce. He was thinking how he would hunt De Rothan -into a corner, drive his sword through the man's body, and see him -double up like a doll. - -Nance knew of the clearing, and Jeremy could tell that they were nearing -the place--by the sound of her breathing. He had his eyes on the tracks -left by Jasper's horse. - -"Not far now?" - -"We are there." - -The clearing opened out before them with the horse tracks turning aside -into it. Half the place was in sunlight, the rest smothered in umbrage, -and very silent. - -"Stay here, child." - -He left Nance under an oak, and began to explore the place, his sharp -eyes soon discovering many suggestive facts. Another horse had been -ridden into the clearing, and there was a trampled place where men had -fought. What was more, Jeremy found the track through the underwood that -De Rothan and his men had made. Twigs were bent and broken, dead leaves -kicked up. More than one man had been responsible for this. - -He returned to Nance. Her eyes questioned him--like the eyes of one in -pain. - -"Yes, there are traces. Foul play, probably." - -"Do you think that Jasper----?" - -"My dear, I don't know. I have found nothing but trampled grass and -broken underwood. De Rothan was not alone. He had men with him." - -"The coward! He laid a trap?" - -"That's what I gather." - -Jeremy stood smoothing his chin and staring at the ground. - -"This fellow lives over beyond the ridge--Winchelsea way?" - -"No, nearer than that, off a lane between Sedlescombe and Westfield. It -is called the Brick House." - -"Brick House. I know the place. I shall ride there at once." - -"Will you?" - -"Something may be found out. I know how to deal with a man like De -Rothan." - -They returned through the wood to the gate, Jeremy thinking hard and -saying nothing to his companion. - -As he unfastened his horse, Nance spoke out, standing and looking over -the lulls toward the sea. Her face was set, and her eyes hard. - -"If the worst has happened, we must be revenged." - -Jeremy was struck by the passion in her voice. - -"We will not believe the worst yet. It is possible that they may have -kidnapped Jasper for those dispatches he seized." - -"Whatever has happened, my father is nearly as guilty as De Rothan." - -"He may not have known." - -"I have no pity. I shall make him confess everything." - -Jeremy reflected a moment. - -"It might be as well to let him understand that the whole business has -been discovered." - -They parted at the gate, Nance pointing out to Jeremy the way he should -take. He lifted his hat to her devoutly. - -"Keep your heart up, child. I will ride back and tell you what I have -discovered." - -Nance walked back slowly to Stonehanger, her mouth set in a determined -line, her eyes steady with thought. She felt very bitter against her -father, and in no mood to spare him in his conspiracy with De Rothan. - -Anthony Durrell was reading on the bench under the yew-tree when she -returned. He glanced up sharply as Nance crossed the grass, and she was -struck by the narrowness of his face, and ill-balanced bigotry of the -man's whole nature. But Nance had risen above fear of her father. She -had youth on her side, and the strength that youth gives. - -"I want to speak to you." - -He put his book aside, an irritable crease appearing between his -eyebrows. - -"Well, what is it?" - -"It is known that you are a French spy." - -"Child----!" - -"I know it, as others know it. You may be grateful that those who know -it are my friends." - -Durrell sat staring, his face vacant, mouth slightly open. Nance had -expected a violent outburst, recriminations, arguments, denials. - -Presently he spoke to her, making a great effort to regain his -self-control. - -"What do you mean, child?" - -"What I have said, father. Nor is that all. This man De Rothan may be -accused of murder." - -Durrell's hands moved restlessly to and fro along the edge of the seat. - -"Murder! I know nothing of that." - -She stood looking down at him with her uncompromising eyes. - -"God grant that you do know nothing. We must wait--and be patient. -Remember, now, that you are at the mercy of these friends of mine--who -know. It would have been better if you had trusted me a little." - - - - -XXVIII - - -Jeremy stopped at the "Queen's Head" Inn at Sedlescombe for some bread -and cheese and a mug of ale. He was an old campaigner and remembered the -needs of the inner man. - -The landlord of the "Queen's Head" appeared to be a person of sense. He -had a shrewd, well-shaved face, and a mouth that spoke pleasantly, but -was always able to keep something back. Jeremy chatted with him for -twenty minutes. He had a queer way of getting hold of men, of making -them feel the grip of his character. Jeremy asked for the Brick House. - -"You mean Mounseer de Rotten's place, sir?" - -"That name's good enough." - -"Go straight down the village, over yon hill, and take a lane to the -right. You'll see the house in a hollow." - -The landlord and Jeremy looked at each other as though neither took the -other for a fool. - -"Does mounseer keep a big staff of servants?" - -"Three, sir, so far as I know." - -"Men?" - -"Men, sir, yes." - -"I met the Chevalier in London. I might look in on him now that I am -down in these parts." - -Jeremy strolled down the brick path to the white fence where a boy was -holding his horse. The landlord followed at his heels, staring -reflectively at the sturdy breadth of Mr. Winter's back. This was a -gentleman who walked very much on his own legs. - -"Roads nice and dry, sir. You might be wanting a bed for the night?" - -Jeremy paused with a toe in the stirrup. - -"I'll keep you in mind, landlord. How far do you call it to Mr. de -Rothan's?" - -"A matter of two miles, sir." - -"If he hasn't a bed to spare, you may see me again. I like a quiet -place, and quiet people." - -"We're quiet, sir, very quiet." - -"I'll remember it. Good day to you." - -The landlord watched him ride off down the village. - -"Hum--what's he after? A gentleman of parts. He had an eye on me for -something, friendliwise. No small beer, I reckon." - -Jeremy found the lane leading off the main road. It was a mere grass -track with high hedges on either side of it. The red chimneys of the -house showed above the thorns and hazels, and a plume of blue smoke went -up against the green background of a wooded hill. A gate closed the end -of the lane which opened into a meadow. - -Jeremy dismounted and leaned his arms on the top bar of the gate and -looked across the meadow at the Brick House with its red walls, clipped -yews, and diamond-paned casements. The place looked peaceful enough in -the green dip of its valley, but Jeremy was not in quest of beauty. He -scrutinised every window of the house like a man staring at an ancient -tablet whose writing refuses to be deciphered. - -Jeremy fastened his horse to the gate-post, and looked to the priming of -his pistols. He was playing a bold game, and in such case a man needs -something more dangerous to rely on than his tongue. He climbed the gate -and walked slowly across the meadow, slapping his right leg with a -little riding switch that he carried. - -When he came within twenty yards of the brick wall of the garden, he -halted and stood staring at the house as though he were an antiquary -studying types of English domestic architecture. Jeremy was not going to -put himself within safe pistol-shot of the windows. To provoke a parley -a man must not give away all his advantages. - -Jeremy began to walk up and down in the line of the garden wall, keeping -a sharp eye on all the windows. It was not long before he saw a face -appear at one of the upper lattices. It remained there a moment, and -then melted back into the shadow of the room. - -Presently a servant in black livery came out from the porch, and down -the path into the meadow. He approached Jeremy, and spoke in broken -English. - -"What will monsieur desire here?" - -Jeremy stood with feet apart, hands behind his back, staring at the -house. - -"Good mullions, and excellent brickwork. There is a solidity about these -Jacobean houses. My good fellow, is your master at home?" - -"What will monsieur desire here?" - -"Nothing, Pierre, nothing, but a word with your master. Tell him there -is a gentleman here who is interested in old houses." - -The man looked contemptuously at Winter and returned to the house. De -Rothan was waiting in the hall. - -"Well, François?" - -"A gentleman who loves old houses." - -"Thunder, what, a dry-as-dust! Go and tell him the house is not to be -viewed." - -François went back to Jeremy. - -"Monsieur, my master the Chevalier de Rothan cannot be agreeable to your -curiosity." - -Jeremy's eyes twinkled. - -"Go and tell him I have ridden sixty miles to see this house. If he will -give me a few minutes I can explain." - -This time the man was exchanged for the master. De Rothan appeared at -the porch, came slowly down the path and out into the meadow. -Stateliness was the pose of the moment. An aristocrat of France came to -speak with some antiquarian huckster who would force himself upon an -exile's privacy. - -"Sir, I wish you good day." - -Jeremy took off his hat and bowed. He could be damnably urbane when he -was most dangerous. De Rothan had not recognised him. Who would expect -to see a fencing-master from St. James's in an out-of-the-world Sussex -meadow? - -"Sir, I take liberties in being here. I am one of those inquisitive -persons who are interested in everything." - -De Rothan looked him over with supercilious politeness. - -"A very admirable state of mind, but a little embarrassing at times--to -others." - -"You cannot be so kind as to let me see your house, Chevalier?" - -De Rothan's eyelids seemed to close a little. - -"My house, monsieur, is not a museum." - -"But I am told there is a unique curio to be seen in it, a thing of -particular, local interest----" - -"Indeed! You surprise me." - -"Not at all, sir, not at all. It is a gentleman who was stolen yesterday -out of Darvel's Wood. I am sure you will oblige me in the matter." - -De Rothan's figure seemed to lengthen. His nostrils dilated, and his -eyes became very bright and staring. - -"Sir, I fail to understand you. Nor do I love impertinence." - -"Nor I, Monsieur de Rothan. I expect Mr. Jasper Benham to dine with me -to-night. It will be courteous of you to produce the gentleman, and to -deliver him over to me." - -"You are talking nonsense." - -"I'll wager that I am not." - -They stood eyeing each other, challenging each other, gauging each -other's strength and grimness. - -"Who are you, and what do you want?" - -Jeremy's eyes twinkled. He had been standing with hands clasped behind -him. One hand had slipped itself into the tail pocket of his coat and -was gripping the butt of a pistol. - -He began to speak slowly, and very distinctly, looking at De Rothan from -under frowning eyebrows. - -"Mr. Frenchman, let us understand each other. I have two men over yonder -behind the hedge; neither you nor yours can play any tricks with me. -Now, I ask you, what is there to prevent me putting a bullet in your -body?" - -Jeremy had a pistol out, and, holding it at his hip, covered De Rothan -with the muzzle. - -"My good sir, this is like a stage play!" - -De Rothan had nerve, and showed it in the casual way he glanced at the -pistol, and then looked Jeremy in the eyes. Quick wit and audacity were -divided pretty equally between them. - -"Well, Chevalier, what do you say?" - -"Of course, sir, if you wish to blow Mr. Benham's brains out----" - -"Thanks. So I was on the mark--there." - -"Do not congratulate yourself. I can tell you at once that Mr. Jasper -Benham is in my house, alive and well, save for a sword thrust through -the arm." - -Jeremy nodded. - -"You laid a trap for him and cheated him on a point of honour." - -"My good sir, I outwitted him, if you call that cheating." - -They were silent for a few seconds like men who break away and take -breath between two bouts of boxing. Jeremy's mouth looked ugly, but he -was as debonair as ever. - -"Listen to me, Chevalier. This spy business of yours is over and done -with. What I have to do is to call one of my men, send him galloping for -half a score red-coats, and hold you here at the pistol point till they -come." - -"Very good, sir, very good. But I take it that you have some respect for -Mr. Benham's life." - -Jeremy felt the cunning of the thrust. - -"No doubt." - -"Very well, do what you suggest. But I warn you that I have a man in the -house whom I can trust. He has had his orders. It is a nasty business -blowing out a young man's brains. Faugh--you will not drive us to that!" - -"You are not without daring, Chevalier." - -"I am one of the eagles of adventure, sir. I play my game and I play it -boldly. Mr. Benham is my hostage. I demand to be left alone, to be -allowed to give my plans a fighting chance. In three weeks or so French -cavalry may be sabring your red-coats in these lanes." - -Jeremy reflected. - -"I see your point, sir." - -"Regard it in this way. I play my game--I put down my stake. This Mr. -Benham blunders in and tries to upset my table. I seize him and tie him -up in a corner, and, to defend myself from his friends, I have to keep a -pistol levelled at this good young man's head. You see, I hold him in -front of me, so to speak. Shoot, or stab at me--and Mr. Benham's body -takes the first blow. What you have to decide is whether you are willing -to sacrifice your friend." - -"By George! Do you mean to tell me you would shoot the lad?" - -"Mr. Englishman, I am the devil when I am in earnest. My man is watching -you, even now. If you were to fire that pistol at me--he would do the -same to Mr. Jasper Benham. You see how things stand. The decision is -with you." - -Very rarely had Jeremy found himself fenced with so cleverly. De Rothan -held him at a disadvantage. - -"Let me put things plainly. You, Chevalier, are a French spy. The truth -has been discovered. You expect the French fleet in the Channel, and -Napoleon to invade us. Good! To gain breathing space you tie up this -lad, hold a pistol at his head, and dare us to interfere." - -De Rothan bowed and smiled. - -"You have summed up the situation. It is very simple." - -Jeremy lowered his pistol. He was baffled, and very furious behind that -imperturbable face of his. - -"Very well, Chevalier. It seems that we are not in a position to -quarrel." - -"Mr.----?" - -"Winter, sir, Jeremy Winter." - -"Mr. Winter, you show good sense." - -Jeremy could have twisted De Rothan's neck. The man's complacent -audacity rubbed him raw. - -"One thing, Chevalier. Have you any personal spite against the lad?" - -He watched De Rothan narrowly. - -"No more than the natural contempt of a grown man for a big fool of a -boy who tries to kick him." - -Jeremy's mouth betrayed sarcasm. - -"I believed he kicked--with success." - -But he regretted the gibe when he saw the glint in De Rothan's eyes. - -"Mr. Winter, I am too big a man to bear malice." - -"Thank heaven for that!" - -"I hold Mr. Benham as a hostage." - -"And if the French come, sir?" - -De Rothan shrugged his shoulders. - -"A country squireling will not matter. He will be one of a mob of -sheep." - -"And if the French do not come?" - -"I shall still hold Mr. Benham at my mercy. He will be my shield, Mr. -Winter; you will shoot or stab at me through him." - -"A very convenient arrangement for you, sir. I suppose it is useless to -suggest that we might come to terms and give you a safe passage out of -the country?" - -De Rothan smiled. - -"One does not count one's winnings, Mr. Winter, till the cards are -played. Especially when one holds a winning hand." - -Jeremy bowed to him, and they drew apart, keeping their faces toward -each other. - -"Good day to you, Chevalier." - -"Good day, Mr. Winter. You will be careful how you meddle in any affair -of mine." - - - - -XXIX - - -When Jeremy was in a rage his imperturbable face had a smooth, tight -look, the lips pressed a little more closely together, the jaw well set. -His wrath was always a quiet wrath, deep, purposeful, not wasting itself -in words. - -De Rothan had made him more furious than he had been for years, and even -the knowledge that Jasper was very little the worse for his adventure in -Darvel's Wood did not modify Jeremy's anger. De Rothan was the kind of -man who filled him with a scornful disgust, and to be baffled and -dictated to by such a man left Jeremy quarrelling with his own -self-respect. He damned De Rothan as a coward, and was equally indignant -over the contradictory conviction that the adventurer had audacity and -courage. De Rothan had seized a desperate chance. It had been a clever -move, too confoundedly clever to please Mr. Winter. - -"Curse it, what shall I tell the girl?" - -He laughed at his own impatience. - -"Why, Jerry, my boy, you want to appear infallible, do you, dallying -with a snuff-box, and proudly overwhelming all ruffians with one look. -The lad's alive. Tell her that. She'll be ready to kiss you, though you -have brought nothing but news." - -It did not astonish Jeremy when he found Nance watching for him where -the lane topped the high ground to the east of Stonehanger. She was -sitting on a turf bank under a thorn-tree, out of sight of Stonehanger -House. - -Jeremy gave her the best news he could, while he was still some yards -away. - -"The lad's alive, and they tell me not much the worse." - -The way her face changed stirred Jeremy, man of fifty that he was. It -was good to be young, to desire, and to be desired. - -"Where is he?" - -"Ah, that's a long story. You and I have got to hold a council of war." - -He dismounted, fastened his horse to the thorn-tree, and seated himself -beside Nance on the bank. Her face still retained much of the radiance -that had poured into it with the first rush of relief. - -"What has happened, then?" - -"They kidnapped Jasper in Darvel's Wood. I guessed it. De Rothan has him -shut up safely in that house of his beyond Sedlescombe." - -"As a prisoner?" - -"Yes." - -"But how absurd, in these days! Then we shall soon have him out." - -Jeremy wagged his head. - -"My dear, you don't know Monsieur de Rothan." - -"What do you mean?" - -"He has the audacity of the devil. He has snapped up Jasper as a -hostage, and dares us to interfere." - -"He told you that?" - -"Why, to be sure, we had a parley in the meadow. I covered him with a -pistol and asked him to tell me why I shouldn't shoot him. His argument -was that one of his own men would promptly shoot Jasper. You see, they -are holding him against us as a kind of shield." - -Nance's face lost some of its radiance. - -"But De Rothan dare not do this." - -"Unfortunately he does dare, in fact, he is obliged to dare. It is the -one chance left him of forcing his game through. We are on the edge of -a crisis. The next month may decide whether we are to be invaded or not. -De Rothan is standing out for a fighting chance." - -She looked very gravely into Jeremy's eyes. - -"Do you think he would be brute enough to murder Jasper?" - -"My dear, I do." - -"Then if we threaten or inform against him, Jasper will be sacrificed?" - -"Exactly. That's what makes me feel like a caged tiger." - -It seemed to take Nance some minutes to realise the vindictive grimness -of the thing. - -"But what a villain!" - -"Call him that if you like, child. He is a clever gambler and has to use -a gambler's tricks. The end justifies the means. That is what he tells -himself." - -She smoothed her dress with her hands, and looked into the distance. - -"It makes me ashamed and furious that we are so helpless. And yet we -have to be polite and swallow our anger. Can anything be done?" - -"And take the risk of having the lad shot?" - -"No, no, you know I don't mean that! But to think that we should have to -truckle to this man!" - -"I see no other course at present. I am not a lamb myself. I would run a -sword through the man to-morrow if I thought that it would help us. But -it won't. We have got to be careful." - -"I see--yes, I see." - -"We must hold our tongues, not let the truth out, and yet try to find -some way out of this blind alley. If we were to let our neighbours know -the truth, they might come blundering in and lose Jasper his life." - -She held her breath at the thought of such a chance. - -"Then there is father. I spoke to him this morning." - -"You did?" - -"He is a strange man. I thought he would storm, but he looked stunned. I -don't see that he could help us. He might even be dangerous." - -"Yes, set everything in a blaze. I had thought of that. I think that I -had better see Mr. Anthony Durrell." - -She looked at him questioningly. - -"But----" - -"I have dealt with all sorts of men in my time." - -"Do you mean to frighten him into silence?" - -"I shall try to treat him as a reasonable creature. It is no time for -soft phrases." - -She thought awhile, knitting up her forehead, and clasping her hands. - -"Perhaps it will be best." - -"Shall we go on? I may find Mr. Durrell at Stonehanger." - -The essential weakness of a man of Anthony Durrell's character showed -itself in the parley that followed between him and Jeremy Winter. The -man of action and the man of the bookshelf were pitted against each -other, though Jeremy, unlike most Englishmen, had subtlety and a very -quick sense of humour. Nance had left them alone together in the -stone-room, feeling vaguely sorry for the thin, white-headed figure that -looked so ineffectual. - -Jeremy went straight to the point with a merciless directness, much as -he would have attacked with a sword. Durrell's hysterical verbosity was -like the clumsy and excitable fencing of a greenhorn who has never -learned to use his hands. He chose the high, ethical, magniloquent -attitude, being sincere enough in his wild, foolish, visionary way. -Jeremy thrust the egregious fanatic through and through with the brutal -logic of his common sense. - -"You need not stand and orate, Mr. Durrell. Take the facts and leave -your theories. Here are you, a traitor to your country, with a noose -dangling invitingly over your head." - -Durrell flapped his arms. - -"I stand for liberty--for a great idea----" - -"Bosh, man, bosh! We don't win things in this world in that way. Answer -a straight question. Do you want your daughter to see you hanged?" - -Durrell was disjointed, wild, hysterical. Jeremy kept up his body blows, -driving home truth after truth till he had this poor, exclamatory piece -of scholarly discontent battered into impotence. Durrell was a weak man. -He was not built for pounding, for fighting toe to toe. He might have -quarrelled and stormed with women. In the presence of a man like Jeremy -he collapsed. - -Winter softened a little when the enthusiast crumpled up into a chair. - -"Mr. Durrell, sir, try to realise that we are your best friends. Have -nothing more to do with this scoundrel De Rothan. You've got something -valuable to live for in the shape of a daughter." - -Durrell mumbled, and twisted this way and that. Jeremy had cowed him, -and seized the dominating influence that De Rothan had held. - -"I will think over what you have said, Mr. Winter. Heaven knows I would -not countenance any violence to this young man." - -Jeremy left him a beaten man, and went out into the garden to speak with -Nance. She looked steady and sure of herself, and Jeremy respected the -strength in her. It struck him that she would be able to dominate her -father now that Durrell had been shocked into a kind of panic. - -"Well?" - -"You must forgive me if I have been a little rough with your father. -Soft words are of no use at such a time." - -"What does he say?" - -"I think he has surrendered to us. I had to 'tarrify' him, as they say -in these parts." - -"If only he would keep to his books." - -"That's it. Some men are made to live with books." - -They walked through the shrubbery to the gate where David Barfoot was -holding Mr. Winter's horse. Jeremy spoke what was in his mind. - -"Go and play the daughter to him, my dear. I think he is in a mood to be -managed. Some oldish men have to be treated like children." - -"I will try." - -"There must be plenty of good stuff in your father." - -"Yes." - -"I take you as my proof." - -Cynicism, tinged with benevolence, such was Jeremy's attitude toward -life. It was not very reasonable to expect a girl of spirit to hold a -man of Anthony Durrell's nature in great love and reverence. Durrell -needed hurdling in like an old sheep, and left to browse contentedly -among his books. - -Jeremy had already quarrelled twice that day, but he was yet to have a -third quarrel laid upon his shoulders. This time it was with a woman, -and the woman--Miss Rose Benham. - -He found her at Rush Heath, energetic, inquisitive, and voluble, driving -the inarticulate Jack Bumpstead into comers, and insisting upon -examining Devil Dick in his stall. She had scolded the groom till he had -involved himself in a maze of muddled contradictions, hunting him round -and round with her cross-questions and her curiosity. - -Jeremy's mouth went grim. His patience had borne up bravely, and he was -in no mood to be teased by a managing and meddlesome young woman. - -"Mr. Winter, what does all this mean?" - -He handed his horse over to Jack Bumpstead, gave the groom one -terrifying look, and bowed Miss Benham out of the stable. - -"My dear young lady, I think you are a little excited." - -He was deluged, but managed to divert the stream into a quiet corner of -the garden. - -"Miss Rose, you are inclined to call this affair your own. I warn you -that it is nothing of the kind. I even forbid you to meddle with it." - -"Forbid, indeed! I shall----" - -"Excuse me, you will not." - -"What right have you----?" - -"Expediency justifies me--and a man's honour." - -"Jasper's? You mean to say----" - -Then Jeremy told what was very like an audacious lie. - -"Miss Benham--Cousin Jasper will very shortly be married. And I am -glad--because of the woman he will marry. Honour is concerned in it, -even his very life. He is in great danger. One careless word may wreck -everything." - -Rose was white, furious, and astonished. - -"To be married! And all this wild talk----?" - -"My dear Miss Benham, sometimes two men desire to marry the same woman. -It is not unusual. And one of the men may be desperate and unprincipled. -The unprincipled man may take advantage of the other's sense of honour." - -"But Jasper--is he in danger?" - -"Very grave danger." - -"Then why on earth don't you do something?" - -Jeremy gave her one of his shrewd smiles. - -"That is just what must not be done, for the moment. It will spoil my -masterly inactivity if fools go cackling about the country. We are in a -very delicate dilemma. I shall not explain it, as the less that is known -about it--the better. You have it in your power to lose Jasper his -life." - -She flinched, as people had so often flinched in Jeremy's presence. - -"If he is in danger, I----" - -"Yes, you will be kind and cautious. You will say nothing. And for God's -sake leave Jack Bumpstead alone, and not a word to Squire Christopher." - -Rose tossed her head. - -"I do not need to be lectured like a schoolgirl, Mr. Winter. I am a -woman of sense. I will not interfere in a man's love affairs--even if he -is my cousin." - -And Jeremy saw that he had piqued her into a proper pride. - - - - -XXX - - -The men who had built the Brick House had framed the attic story of huge -baulks of oak, posts and beams that looked like the halves of great -trees, with struts and cross-pieces worked in quaintly at all angles. -There was a long gallery connecting the attics, and the whole place -looked like the interior of a ship, the little windows high up no larger -than portholes. The plaster had not been whitewashed for years, and -beams, rafters, and posts were a deep rich brown. Even the floor-boards -were of oak, and riddled with worm-holes. - -Jasper Benham's prison room was the attic at the far end of the gallery. -Its dormer-window was squeezed in between the slopes of two gables. -There was no furniture in the attic save a rough box-bed in one corner. - -Nor did the bed belong to Jasper. The man Gaston slept there with a -pistol under his pillow. - -Jasper had been given a truss of straw to lie on. They could not have -managed otherwise, for the simple reason that they had put him in irons. -His ankles were chained and bolted to the floor-boards, and his wrists -handcuffed. He might have been a negro in the hold of a slave ship, or a -refractory seaman undergoing discipline. - -Both De Rothan and Jeremy Winter were cynics, with the difference that -one possessed far more natural kindliness than the other. Their -materialism kept its eyes fixed upon the sensuous aspects of life. They -knew good wine, and a woman who was worth following, and were ready to -be amused by the ingenuous wraths and enthusiasms of youth. - -As for De Rothan, he found Jasper a most companionable young person, a -man who took his own honourable indignation with vast seriousness, and -could be pricked into all manner of odd exasperations. Jasper had not -learned to wink at life, or to sneer upon occasions. De Rothan baited -his youthful sincerity. He would take his glass of wine and smoke his -cheroot in Jasper's attic, sitting on the edge of Gaston's bed, and -prodding the Englishman with his cynicism as he would have prodded a pig -with a stick. He made a daily habit of this parley, spending an hour or -two with his prisoner while Gaston had a change of air in the garden or -meadow. - -It was the fifth day of his imprisonment, and Jasper heard Gaston's -descending footsteps meet those of De Rothan, who ascended to take his -place. The Frenchman came in with his glass of wine and his cheroot, -bowed ironically to Jasper, and took up his usual position on the bed. - -"Well, Mr. Benham, how is the forlorn lover to-day?" - -De Rothan's sleekness, his white linen and smoothly shaved face filled -Jasper with a kind of fury. He felt himself unclean on his bundle of -straw, with a five days' beard on his chin, and his face and hands -unwashed. The wound in his right arm was giving him no trouble, but they -had not offered to dress it for him, and Nature was responsible for any -process of healing. - -"Your consideration, Chevalier, does not run to a crock of water and a -piece of soap." - -"Why, my good sir, what should you want with such things? I might find -an old clay pipe and let you blow soap bubbles!" - -"It is something to feel clean, especially in the presence of people -whose honour happens to be foul." - -"We have been taught that it is the heart that matters. Inward -cleanliness, eh? You have heard, Mr. Benham, of the old saints and -hermits. Dirt and vermin were held to be honourable." - -"You would talk in a different way if I were out of these irons." - -"Pardon me, my dear young man, I think I should not. Besides, why should -you trouble about your beard? The sweet charmer is not likely to see -you--though there is pathos about an unshaven chin. Do you think that -she troubles----" - -He sipped his wine, and watched Jasper over the rim of his glass. - -"I drink Miss Nance's health. She is a clever girl, Mr. Benham. How we -laughed, she and I! It was funny, although so damnably serious." - -"Curse you, what do you mean?" - -De Rothan regarded him with infinite relish. - -"What an honest soul! You really believe that Miss Durrell wanted me at -the end of a rope, and you kneeling romantically at her feet?" - -Jasper had nothing adequate to say. - -"Nance led you on so cleverly. She sent you off with her blessing to -Darvel's Wood. Dear, honest fool!" - -"You need not tell me lies about Miss Durrell." - -"I don't, sir, I don't. She was kind to you, was she not? When did the -kindness begin? Ask yourself that. Was it not when you had blundered -like a bumble-bee into our web and seemed likely to give us trouble? Of -course Miss Nance was circumspect. She handled you very cunningly, Mr. -Benham." - -"You need not try to make me believe that." - -"It would be impossible? Your vanity is too serene and confident? No -woman would have the audacity to treat you like a fool, would she? No, -of course not. It would be impossible. Mr. Jasper Benham is too -dignified and important a person to be played with." - -"Make the most of your tongue, sir." - -"Really, you refresh me. When our Emperor is in London, I must present -you to him as a unique young man without any sense of humour. You would -amuse the Court. You will continue to amuse my dear Nance when she is a -great lady of the Empire." - -"Don't boast too soon." - -"I may as well tell you some news. You will not gossip and spread it -abroad. The noble Nelson has been chasing a wild goose instead of your -Lady Hamilton. Villeneuve has tricked him. And in a week or two -Villeneuve will be blowing your Brest ships out of the water. Then we -shall come up Channel, and the Emperor will land in England. It will be -a fine spectacle. I shall enjoy it." - -"It may prove a very fine spectacle." - -"Ah, you dear English--you think yourselves invincible. Are you better -men than the Germans, the Austrians, or the Russians? Are your country -bumpkins so valiant? Why, our Grand Army will devour you. Think of the -American colonists, think of Burgoyne at Saratoga, and Cornwallis at -Yorktown. We French have had two years of war. We have fought all -Europe. We are veterans, and a nation of soldiers. We shall gallop over -you, hunt you hither and thither with the bayonet." - -Jasper lay down on his straw. - -"It must be a pleasure to you to talk, Chevalier," he said. - -Jasper Benham was reliable, and he believed in the reliability of those -in whom he trusted. De Rothan's clever mockery might exasperate him, but -it did not shake his faith in Nance. - -Meanwhile at Stonehanger Nance was strengthening her hold upon her -father. The economics of life would seem to be very delicately balanced -so far as old men were concerned. They may retain their faculties in a -state of fair efficiency so long as no abnormal event interferes with -that sanity that is begotten of old habits. But this equilibrium may -easily be disturbed, and an illness or a great sorrow may age an old man -more in one month than in the ten previous years. - -So it seemed to be with Anthony Durrell. The shock of the discovery of -his schemes, and the violent ethical attack made upon him by Nance and -Jeremy appeared to overthrow his normal self. There was a sudden -slackening of all his fibres, both physical and mental. The emotional -part of him, so long smothered and overlaid, broke to the surface as the -intellect lost some of its ascendency. Then--he appeared to become -conscious of the existence of his daughter. - -Now Nance had one of those large natures that bears no malice, and is -ready to give of its best when an estranged friend stretches out an -appealing hand. Her father had become to her a weak and pathetic old man -whom the rough virility of younger men shouldered into a corner. She -could not be very sorry for Anthony Durrell without being very tender -toward him. - -For some days her father appeared puzzled by a new atmosphere that -enveloped him. Like a man who had been very ill, he was content to sit -and muse and stare at nothing in particular. He had led a very lonely -life, and a selfish one, since the life of a fanatic and a dreamer is -often very selfish. It was now that he felt defeated and feeble that -Nance's nature flooded in upon his consciousness. - -She would take his chair into the garden under the shade of one of the -yews, fetch him the books he loved, read to him, talk to him, try to -enter into his thoughts and prejudices. Durrell felt old emotions -stirring in his heart. Some of the old gentleness came back. The harsh, -thin lines melted out of his face. - -The change in him was betrayed by the very way he looked at Nance, and -by what he said to her one evening as they sat on the terrace and -watched the sun go down. The sea seemed no longer a strip of ominous -silver across which the immortal dragon of war should swim to scorch up -this green island rich with its yellowing wheat and rolling woods. -Durrell had drifted suddenly into the softer evening lights of fife. - -He realised that the girl had had a hard and a lonely life. - -"Nance, you must often have been very lonely here." - -She looked at him in surprise, but with a kind of compassionate -radiance. - -"I have been less lonely these few days, father." - -He seemed to reflect upon these words. And perhaps the warm beauty of -the July evening helped the quiet drifting of his thoughts. - -"In this life--we make many mistakes." - -She nodded as though she understood. - -"I used to believe in the efficacy of violence and fear. Curious, in a -man of my habits. I have come to doubt whether the quieter forces are -not more powerful." - -She smiled at him. - -"People do hate to be driven." - -"To be sure." - -"It is easier to persuade them, to play the Pied Piper to the world." - -He glanced at her with eyes that asked, "Where did you learn this -wisdom?" - -And presently he began to speak of De Rothan. It was the first time that -he had mentioned the Chevalier's name since his meeting with Jeremy -Winter. The adventurer had come to rouse in Durrell a feeling of -repulsion. He had allowed himself to realise what manner of man this was -whom he had pretended to call friend. - -Nance let him talk, even encouraging him to speak of Jasper Benham. -Jeremy Winter's anxiety had been unable to convince her that this -monstrous piece of kidnapping could be very serious. It was an insolent -attempt to extort terms. That was what Nance believed, not knowing the -abominable and wanton things of which a revengeful man is capable. De -Rothan had not yet taken his change for that rolling in the ditch. - -She tried to suggest to Durrell what he should do. - -"If the Chevalier de Rothan comes here, father, try and show him how -absurd this is. Jasper and Mr. Winter will let him leave the country. -They will keep silent--for our sakes." - -Durrell looked troubled. Since the change in him he distrusted De Rothan -even more than Nance distrusted him. - -"This is a difficult man to argue with." - -"But what sense is there? Who really believes that the French will -land?" - -"My dear, I believed it a week ago." - -"But not now----" - -"It is possible. De Rothan believes it, or he would have been across the -water many days ago." - -She glanced at her father, and realised once more how weak he was. The -one great motive that had inspired him had crumbled away. Even her own -sympathy had helped to sap and to undermine his strength. - -Every day Jeremy rode over. He was blunt, laconic, but very courteous to -Anthony Durrell. There were things that troubled him at Rush Heath, -namely, the soothing of Squire Christopher's violent and choleric -curiosity. The old man was bedridden, but he fumed for Jasper. Jeremy -had told lies, that Jasper was away on duty. The whole household had to -be deceived, and Jack Bumpstead kept from gossiping. - -But Jeremy had not been able to stand wholly alone. He had been -compelled to take Parson Goffin into his confidence, and by that peppery -gentleman's advice he had enlarged the circle of trust still further. -Certain of Jasper's friends were told the truth. They met at Goffin's, -and held a council of war. The situation seemed absurd, even in its -gravity. A Sussex gentleman kidnapped and held as a hostage in his own -county by a French spy. - -Jeremy told Nance all that he had to tell. - -"We are having De Rothan's place watched, night and day. They are -burning charcoal in a wood half a mile from the house, and one or two -fellows have joined the charcoal-burners. If we could only collar De -Rothan and his rogues, but they are cunning. They go out singly, and the -fellow Gaston is always in the house." - -He smiled grimly over the affair. - -"Of course--a night attack would be the thing, after we had laid De -Rothan by the heels. But there's the risk; I don't like taking it. The -scoundrel still rides about as though he were in France. That makes me -feel that he means business, and means to let us know it. He dares us to -interfere." - -"But can nothing be done?" - -"I have an idea. I will tell it to you in a day or two." - - - - -XXXI - - -Jeremy had not exaggerated when he had said that De Rothan rode about -the country as though he had nothing whatever to fear. His audacity -carried him even into some of the country houses round about, and Jeremy -himself met him in Hastings, riding along the High Street with a groom -at his heels. He bowed to Jeremy and took off his hat. - -"Good day to you, sir. I can assure you, in passing, that our mutual -friend is very well." - -"Damn your cheek," said Jeremy. - -And De Rothan laughed in his face. - -Some days elapsed before the Chevalier appeared again at Stonehanger. He -had more desire to see Nance than to warn her father, for Durrell was -becoming a negligible quantity now that the crisis was at hand. De -Rothan was not the man to waste time upon a thing that was no longer of -any use. He had made many shrewd guesses, but he had yet to learn that -Nance herself was arrayed against him. - -He found Durrell alone under one of the yews on the terrace. He had been -reading and had fallen asleep with the book open across his knees. He -woke with a start when De Rothan touched him, dropped the book, and -looked up at the Frenchman with a narrowing and mistrustful stare. - -"I had no notion you were here, sir. I have not been asleep more than -five minutes." - -He was confused, flurried, and De Rothan had quick eyes. He caught the -restless antagonism in the other's manner. Durrell was a little afraid. - -De Rothan sat down on the terrace wall, studying Durrell with cynical -and amused eyes. - -"So they have been frightening you, have they? Poor friend--poor -comrade!" - -Durrell moved restlessly in his chair. He had foreseen this meeting and -had prepared himself for it, yet De Rothan's flippant scorn held him at -a disadvantage. - -"I have decided to abandon this enterprise----" - -"Did they dangle a rope under your nose? Alas, we have not the blood of -the martyrs in us! That little black-chinned bully has been here with -his tongue and his pistols. He tried his bombast with me, but I had the -adder's head under my heel." - -Durrell's face twitched irritably. - -"I have not been frightened from my purpose. But I see certain things as -I did not see them before." - -"A convenient conscience, eh!" - -"I cannot share your methods." - -"Indeed! That overwhelms me." - -He looked at Durrell with amused contempt. - -"So you know that I have compelled Mr. Jasper Benham to be my guest? And -yet you cannot appreciate what a desperate piece of cleverness it was. A -little man comes and storms at you, and instead of holding loyal to me, -you throw up your arms and surrender." - -"I have refused to accept your methods." - -"Because of a wonderful new affection for this cub of a Sussex squire? -Thunder! I wish you had your girl's courage, and not the heart of a -sheep." - -Durrell's eyes began to glitter in his white face. - -"It is because of Nance that I have seen fit to renounce you and your -cleverness." - -"You overwhelm me! How much does your daughter know?" - -"Everything." - -"Oh, come, now, come!" - -"I said everything." - -"And she does not despise you for playing the coward--calling out when -the shoe begins to pinch?" - -De Rothan's insolence roused Durrell to a thin and austere dignity. - -"Sir, do you think that my daughter admires your idea of honour any more -than I do? Her sympathies are with this young man, concerning whom you -saw fit to tell me many lies." - -"Ah--is that so!" - -"I have said it. I do not ask your leave to tell the truth." - -De Rothan's face seemed to sharpen and to harden its outlines. He looked -at Durrell out of half-closed eyes. - -"Let us be frank. Am I to understand that this calf that I have tied up -in a stall is particularly precious to your daughter?" - -"I refuse to deal in such terms." - -"The devil take all our little nicenesses! Do you mean to tell me that -Nance cares one farthing whether that round-headed young oaf----" - -"My daughter is not for your discussion." - -De Rothan laughed, but it was the laughter of a man whose self-love felt -savage. - -"What a pretty little romance I have been feeding! That I should have -rubbed this young fool on the raw, while sweet Nance pitied him." - -Durrell's fingers kept up an agitated rapping on the arms of the chair. - -"If you have any sense of honour, De Rothan----" - -"Honour! I am packed full of honour. My marrow tingles with it. But you, -Sir Pantaloon, do not understand." - -"You are right. I do not understand." - -"No, who could expect it. You desert me to play the fond father. It is -very laughable. As if you could not have played the fond father and kept -all your ambitions! Well, Mr. Anthony Durrell, I think there is nothing -left for you but to sit here and wait to see the Emperor land." - -"I believe less, sir, in the Emperor than I did." - -"A pity! Yet we shall recover from your sudden scepticism. No doubt you -will be happier with your books." - -De Rothan rose, and stood looking over Stonehanger Common. His long -mouth curled, and his nostrils were contemptuous. Durrell watched him -uneasily, resentfully, still tapping the chair-rails with his fingers. - -"You will release Mr. Benham." - -De Rothan turned on him sharply. - -"Pardon me--am I so soft a fool! I am not a man who turns back, or who -shirks the holding of an advantage. I have some respect for my own neck, -though I no longer look to you to respect it." - -Durrell nodded solemnly. - -"No good can come of it. As for this house----" - -"Shut the door on me quickly. Lock me out in a great hurry, Mr. Durrell. -I will wish you good morning." - -He marched off across the grass, swaggering with stiff shoulders, and -smiling a queer, sidelong smile up at Nance's window. David Barfoot was -holding his horse in the yard. De Rothan glanced at him as though there -were some sudden significance in the thought that the man was deaf. - -"Do you sleep well in summer, Mr. David?" - -Barfoot stared back at him and said nothing. - -In the lane, close to the yew-tree where Jasper had been shot, De Rothan -came right upon Nance and Jeremy Winter. They were climbing the hill -side by side, Jeremy leading his horse by the bridle. The meeting roused -a quick crackle of complex enmities. De Rothan stiffened in the saddle, -and raised his hat to Nance. - -She did not look at him, but beyond him, and her face was white frost. -Jeremy bit his lip. There were so many things that he desired to say and -do. - -De Rothan smiled in his face as he passed him. - -"Good day to you, sir; I may tell our friend that he has a kind relative -who sees that his shoes are kept warm." - -"Tell him what you please. It won't matter. Liars are easily known." - -"How you would like to argue with me! But I am content with my present -advantages. Good day." - -De Rothan rode on, savagely amused. The varied experiences of life had -not made him magnanimous, or tolerant, and cynic that he was he loved -himself like a spoiled and passionate boy. He could not forgive the -snatching away of a thing that he himself desired, his overweening -egotism ruffing itself over the insult. - -The most cynical of men are often the worst sensualists, and anything -that balks their appetite rouses the wrath of the animal in them. De -Rothan's hatred of Jasper Benham was natural enough in itself. He had -been meddled with and humiliated by this young man, and De Rothan had no -sentimentality when the stiff-haired anger of a dog was on him. Man of -the world that he was, his cynicism could not save his vanity from being -exasperated by the affair between Nance and Jasper Benham. He might call -it a pinafore romance, and sneer at the crude preferences of a young -girl. His self-love became an angry, snarling, dangerous thing, the more -dangerous because it was clever and could sneer. - -"Why not?" - -His sullen face gleamed under the light of sudden suggestive thought. -Why not, indeed? There were many ways of humiliating and hurting a man -besides slashing him with a whip. - -He roused his horse to a canter, brisked up by the delightful -maliciousness of this new inspiration. He swaggered in the saddle and -assumed a flamboyant jauntiness in passing a coach full of women on the -Hastings road. The preposterous simplicity of the idea made him laugh, -the sly noiseless laughter of a bon viveur enjoying a suggestive story. - -"Bravo for the villain! What a queer mix-up of characters we mortals be! -The philosopher crushing the wasp that has stung him. It is the nature -of wasps to sting, therefore a philosopher should not be angry. But -there is a joy in the crushing. And to see the sick black mug of that -little fencing-master! It would be worth it even for that." - -De Rothan rode home in great good humour. He left his horse with -François, and went straight to the attic where Jasper was imprisoned. -Gaston opened the door. - -Jasper was lying on his straw in the corner, his face turned to the -wall. He sat up when De Rothan entered, his hair over his eyes, a fine -stubble on his upper lip and chin. A man's dignity is apt to go to -pieces under such conditions, showing how greatly he is the slave of his -comb and his razor. - -De Rothan eyed him whimsically. - -"Very good, Mr. Benham, very good indeed. Work just a little more straw -into your hair. It would be sacrilege to have you washed and barbered." - -He gloated, opening his chest, and forcing back his shoulders. Jasper -looked at him stubbornly. - -"If it is a question which dog is the dirtier----" - -"My good young man, I am a Pharisee of the Pharisees. I make clean the -outside of the cup. Women prefer it. Gaston, come down with me. -Presently you may show Mr. Benham himself in a mirror." - -Gaston followed De Rothan to the panelled dining-room. Master and man -were in a good humour with one another. - -"Bring the sherry and glasses, Gaston. If you can manage to make our -friend up yonder look a little dirtier and more like an unclean lunatic -I shall be gratified." - -He poured out two glasses of wine. - -"I expect more visitors, Gaston, my friend. Have two bedrooms got ready, -and see that the locks of the doors are in order." - -"More visitors, sir!" - -"We are to fetch them to-night, Gaston. I shall want you and François -with me. Jean can stay with the gentleman. He is a surly lad, is Jean. -Tell him to cuff Mr. Benham on the mouth if he tries to talk to him. And -have the horses ready at ten." - - - - -XXXII - - -Nance was awakened that night by the sound of some one walking on the -stone-paved path below her window. She sat up in bed with a fluttering -of the heart, wondering whether the footsteps were the footsteps of her -father, or whether Jeremy had ridden over late with news. - -She was about to slip out of bed when she heard voices on the terrace. -There appeared to be several men talking together in undertones. Then -came the crash of glass being broken, as though they were battering in -one of the lower windows. - -Nance went cold, her heart drumming, her ears straining to catch the -slightest sound. The smashing of glass had ceased. She heard the voices -again, and then a thud as of a man leaping from a window-sill into one -of the lower rooms. - -She told herself that these must be thieves. There was little to steal -in Stonehanger, but even this thought was not altogether comforting. She -knew that some of the country-folk were little better than savages, and -that acts of brutal and even wanton violence were by no means uncommon. -Some of the wild tales she had heard flashed vividly across her -consciousness. - -What should she do? Try and join her father? Or would it be better to -lie still and wait, and even pretend to be asleep? She was still -shivering with indecision when she heard the sound of footsteps on the -stairs. - -They came up slowly, steadily, with no attempt at concealment. Nance -could see streaks of light showing under her door. The man, whoever he -was, carried a lantern or a candle. - -She held her breath when the footsteps turned aside at the landing and -came toward her door. They paused there, and she knew that the man would -be standing within four feet of her bed. With the door open he could -reach in and almost touch her. - -Her heart leapt at the sound of a knock, and she had to moisten her lips -before she could speak. - -"Who's there?" - -"Have nothing to fear. It is the Chevalier de Rothan." - -For the moment she felt an irrational rush of gratitude and relief. She -could have embraced the man; he seemed so much less terrible than some -low gipsy or rough footpad. The mere physical fear was appeased for the -moment, but it was to be followed by a dread that was more spiritual and -refined. - -"The Chevalier de Rothan?" - -"Your very good friend--in spite of many prejudices. Miss Nance, I am -here to secure you and your father. Will you wake him, or shall I?" - -She swung her feet out of the bed, and sat with her arms wrapped round -her. - -"But what does this mean? Breaking into the house?" - -"It means that I am shrewder than you think. I insist upon befriending -you, on placing you somewhere where you will be safe. I must beg you to -rise and dress." - -"But still--I do not understand. What right----?" - -"It is not necessary that you should understand. I hold myself -responsible. You and Mr. Durrell are coming back with me to my house. I -mistrust your friends. That is sufficient." - -There was a confident irony about his masterfulness. She could picture -him standing there with those hard Irish eyes of his smiling at the -door. Her wits groped hither and thither in the darkness, searching for -motives. One thing she realised very vividly, that De Rothan was in a -temper that would not wait to argue. - -"But this is ridiculous! You cannot compel us in this way----" - -He brushed her words aside. - -"I do not explain. In half an hour we leave Stonehanger. You will go -with me, if I have to break down your door and wrap you up in blankets. -I do not desire to use force, so spare me the necessity." - -Nance was still groping for his motives, but a fresh drift of thought -obscured the main issue. Out of it emerged a clear spark, shining in the -thick of her bewilderment, the thought that she would be under the same -roof as Jasper Benham, and that she might be able to help Jeremy in his -plans for a release. - -"Since you are ready to use force, I do not see how we are to resist -you." - -"Sweet Nance, roughness is very far from my desire." - -"I will be ready." - -She might have seen him smiling at her surrender. He could keep step -with her motives, and visualise her girl's plans even before she had -conceived them. - -"Then I will leave you to wake your father." - -"Yes." - -"I shall wait for you in the hall." - -Nance dressed, and went to her father's room. She had to wake him and to -tell him what had happened. Durrell, in the thick of his contemptuous -amazement at De Rothan's audacity, absolutely refused to leave -Stonehanger. - -"But, father, what are we to do? We are in the man's power." - -"Refuse to do anything." - -He persisted in remaining in bed, and Nance had to leave him, and go -down alone into the hall. A lantern stood on the oak chair by the door, -and De Rothan was standing with his back to it. He came forward -gallantly when he saw Nance upon the stairs. - -"Nance, you will forgive these highwayman's methods. I cannot help -myself. It is for the best." - -He would have taken her hand, but she held aloof, pausing upon one of -the lower steps. His elaborate courtesy repelled her. It was artificial. -The half-amused and half-triumphant glint in his eyes betrayed the real -man. - -"Father refuses to leave the house." - -"I am sorry. I shall have to persuade him. You will pardon me." - -She barred the way. - -"No--no roughness; he is an old man." - -"You misjudge me; I am not a cut-throat. A few gentle words will serve." - -He turned, picked up the lantern, and came back toward the stairs. His -eyes were fixed upon Nance's eyes, and he smiled as he passed her. - -"Why will you not do me justice?" - -His voice caressed her, and she shrank aside, as though from physical -contact. For the moment a great dread of the man made her wild to -escape, but she steadied herself and remained true to her purpose. - -De Rothan walked into Anthony Durrell's room and held the lantern over -the bed. - -"Get up, sir, get up. When I offer you my hospitality are you childish -enough to refuse it?" - -"I refuse to leave this house." - -"Is that so? Then I shall have to take your daughter and leave you -behind." - -Durrell started up in bed, vehement and scornful. - -"You are an abominable rogue, De Rothan." - -"No, sir, I play to make my point. Are you coming with us, or must Nance -and I go alone?" - -Durrell rose and began to dress. - -Nance was sitting in the half-lit hall. She could see a man standing in -the stone parlour with a lantern in his hand. He was watching her -through the open doorway as though he had been left on guard. Nance was -wondering whether it was possible for her to get at David Barfoot and -leave some message with him for Jeremy Winter. She racked her brains for -some ruse, some excuse. - -Why should she not try being boldly frank, and challenge interference? -She rose and walked toward the passage leading into the kitchen, only to -become conscious of some live thing filling the darkness. She recoiled. -Another man was on guard there. She had almost felt his breath upon her -face. - -"Pardon, madame, there ees no way heer." - -She returned to the hall in time to see the light of De Rothan's lantern -coming down the stairs. He radiated a triumphant tranquillity, and -smiled at her with whimsical satisfaction. - -"Mr. Durrell accepts my hospitality." - -"You were able to persuade him?" - -"With ease." - -In twenty minutes they were in the yard, and De Rothan's men unfastening -the horses. De Rothan had suffered Nance to go up and pack a small -valise. He waited for her and for Anthony Durrell, and bowed them out -into the yard. They had brought two spare mounts, a quiet old nag for -Anthony Durrell, and De Rothan's favourite mare Étoile for Nance. - -He hung near to Nance, overshadowing her with his presence. - -"We have improvised a saddle for you. Étoile is very quiet. Let me help -you up." - -"Thank you--I can----" - -"Pardon me, you cannot." - -His confident courtesy dominated her, and she did not care to bicker -with him. - -"Step into my hand. So." - -He lifted her up into the seat that was half pannier, half saddle. -Gaston and François had hoisted Durrell on to the old horse. De Rothan -mounted his own, drew up beside Nance, and took Étoile's bridle. They -rode out under the hollies and laurels and across the little stone -bridge into the lane. - -It was a fine night, splendid with stars. The world was black and silent -and breathing in its sleep to the faint drift of a light sea breeze. The -air was fresh and dewy. On Stonehanger Common a wood of birch trees with -their delicate fingers caressed the stars. - -De Rothan drew deep breaths. - -"A southern night, and full of the smell of adventure. Has the desire to -wander at will over the world ever come to you?" - -She mistrusted the intimacy of his mood, and his nearness to her. -Moreover, her thoughts were working against him, planning and scheming -perpetually. - -"I am so very sleepy." - -She felt that he was looking at her. - -"Poor Nance, poor girl. You shall go to bed, and not be worried." - -He was silent a moment, and she hated him because he seemed so -confident. - -"Mr. Benham will be asleep. But to-morrow we shall have a stupendous -surprise for him. Yes, you shall see him. He will be overwhelmed." - -She kept a white and stark reserve. - -"You do not thank me! Am I not the kindest of friends? You will find me -even more sympathetic than the little fencing-master with the black -jowl. Besides, I have the fly in amber, and he has not." - -Nance yawned behind her hand. - -"You have a wonderful imagination, Chevalier." - -He leaned over and stroked the mare's neck. - -"Étoile, you are carrying the Queen of Hearts to-night. She is very -proud, my child. She twists her mouth at your master." - -It was two in the morning when they reached the Brick House. There were -candles burning and supper set out in the oak dining-room. De Rothan was -grandiloquent and gracious. He bowed them in as though he put the whole -house at their service. - -Durrell was morose and bitter, and Nance tired. Neither wine nor food -was welcome. Distraught and restless, they avoided each other's eyes. - -De Rothan called for candles. - -"Mr. Durrell, I will show you and your daughter to your rooms." - -Their rooms were on the first floor, but not next to one another. De -Rothan gave Nance her candle and threw open the door for her. - -"Good night, Miss Nance. There is a little bell within. Ring it if you -should desire anything." - -He turned back to show Anthony Durrell to his room. - -Nance was standing looking about her at the mahogany furniture, the gay -chintzes, the carved low-post bed. She put the candle down, opened the -window, and looked out. Garden ground seemed to lie some fifteen feet -below; it was all black, but she saw something that glimmered like -water. She was still standing there when she heard the key turned in the -lock of her door. Footsteps died away down the passage. She realised -that she was a prisoner. - -It was still early when Tom Stook came lumbering on his long shanks to -Rush Heath Hall. He asked for Mr. Jeremy, and Jeremy came out to him on -the grass before the house. - -"He have gone and stole the young leddy and her father." - -"What, man, what?" - -"They be at t' Brick House. De Rothan brought 'en back from Stonehanger -two hours after midnight." - -Jeremy swore a big oath. - -"Caught napping--by God!" - - - - -XXXIII - - -Jeremy sent Tom Stook back to lie in Yew-Tree Wood and watch De Rothan's -house. He himself snapped up a brisk breakfast, mounted his horse, and -rode straight to Stonehanger. - -Here he found David Barfoot in mighty perplexity and distress, and -looking like an old man who had been robbed of all his savings in the -night. The whole matter was a mystery to him, especially the smashed -window in the parlour. He nearly danced before Jeremy, and began to -shout the news at him. - -"Kidnapped or murdered, sir, and me asleep like a pig!" - -Winter had learned to speak so that David could understand him. It was a -question of very distinct lip movements, deliberation, and the use of -simple and familiar words. - -"Kidnapped they have been, David, but not murdered. The Chevalier de -Rothan is guilty of this." - -"The tarrifying villain! He be'unt fur doing Miss Nance any wrong?" - -"He had better not, David. We have got to see to that." - -"God bless me--sure." - -"I want you to help." - -"I'll take my holly cudgel, and crack t' Frenchman's head." - -Jeremy smiled grimly. He liked that kind of wrath. - -"Hold up, David, that would not do at all. We have got a rotten plank to -walk on and if we are too heavy it may break and let us down. Listen to -me now. I have got something to trust you with." - -Winter told him the truth about Stonehanger, and also how De Rothan held -Jasper Benham a prisoner. David's eyes grew more and more astonished as -he picked up these amazing facts from Jeremy's lips. - -"Mr. Durrell in wid t' French! Bother my bones--I'm fair beat!" - -"He's in with them no longer, David. We have got to outwit this rogue of -a Frenchman. I want you to help us." - -"Sure." - -"I want you to go to the Brick House. Be as innocent as a lamb, and try -to get a few words with your mistress. Tell her I know what has -happened, that De Rothan's house is being watched, and that if she can -help us from the inside, so much the better. Ask her to tell you which -is the window of her room, and that three blinks of a candle or a -lantern at night will stand for a signal." - -David scratched his beard. - -"Maybe they'll not be fur letting me see her." - -"That's certain. You have got to fox them if you can." - -"Sure." - -"You'll find me at the Queen's Head, Sedlescombe." - -"I'll lock up t' house and go this very hour." - -David, like many a quiet and rather dour old man, had had his adventures -as a youngster. Orchard-raiding, smuggling, poaching, had all come -easily, and he had retained that primitive rustic cunning that is never -wholly lost despite a bent back and the Bible. Jeremy had told him of -the charcoal-burners in Yew-Tree Wood and of Tom Stook lying in ambush -like a great lean hound. David knew Tom Stook, and Tom Stook knew David. -They were dogs who had poached and ratted together. - -David made for Yew-Tree Wood that morning, and found Tom Stook lying -along the limb of an oak with a bottle under his chin, for it was July -and hot weather. They gave and received explanations, grinning solemnly -at each other under the shade of the trees. - -"De Rothan be gone Guestling way." - -"Sure?" - -"I saw him go out on his nag. To get a word wid t' lady--be that it?" - -"Ay." - -"It be'unt safe to whack in and fight 'em. Mr. Winter he be sly. I've -seed her at her window." - -"Have ye?" - -"At t' back o' t' house. Sure, Dave, ain't Farmer Cross's bull bruk out -o' t' meadow, gored Will Gray, and come rampin' down yonder?" - -David looked at Tom Stook and grinned. It was amazing how well he could -hear the vernacular on occasions. - -"Sine--and t' beast be blood mad!" - -"We be after him." - -"Runnin' five mile!" - -"And t' brute be tarrifyin' t' whole country----" - -"Sure." - -"We seed him go down into t' Brick House meadows." - -They cut hazel-sticks and started off on this yokel's game, running -heavily and clumsily after the fashion of hobnailed countrymen. They -made straight toward the Brick House, scrambling through hedges, -flourishing their sticks, and shouting to imaginary comrades. - -"He be down yonder, Dave." - -"Sure." - -"I saw him break into t' garden." - -They pounded on, sweating, shouting, flourishing their sticks. A head -appeared at an upper window, and then disappeared. David and Tom Stook -blundered through into the Brick House garden. A man came running round -the corner of the house, a pistol in his pocket, and his hand on the -butt thereof. - -Stook bawled at him. - -"T' mad bull, man, have ye seen him?" - -The Frenchman stared, watchful and suspicious. - -"I see no bull." - -Stook carried it through. He looked broiled and boisterous, the heated -hero of a five-mile run. - -"He bruk through t' hedge here. He be blood mad." - -He blundered on, and the Frenchman seemed caught by his hairy and -vigorous enthusiasm. They ran round the house together, David remaining -behind. He had seen someone come to an upper window. - -"Miss Nance, we be after ye----" - -Nance was looking down at him. - -"David! Oh, be careful!" - -"I know, miss. Mr. Winter has his eyes open. Be that your window?" - -She nodded. - -"There is a great cistern full of water under it, David. I thought I -might have let myself down." - -He stole up, and glimpsed a big brick tank into which all the rain-water -was guttered from the roof. Trying it with his hazel stick he found he -could not reach the bottom. And it was directly under Nance's window. - -"Drat 'em. Don't ye fear, Miss Nance, we be on the watch. Three glints -of a lantern on t' hillside or three glints o' t' candle in your window -will serve as a signal." - -"Yes, David." - -"I'd better be after that there bull!" - -He ran on and overtook Tom Stook and the Frenchman who were on the edge -of the paddock. Stook was scratching a hot head and looking puzzled. - -"Damn t' beast, Dave. He be gone along t' bottom. I could have swore be -bruk into t' garden." - -"Get on then, man----" - -"I be that dry----" - -"God badger t' drink. He'll be goring some other body. Run, Tom, run." - -They ran, breathing hard, and pounding the grass with their heavy boots. -The Frenchman stood and stared. They were just lumbering, red-faced -yokels so far as he was concerned, and he believed contemptuously in the -existence of the bull. The bovine seriousness, and especially Tom -Stook's thirst, had convinced him of their stolid, sweating sincerity. - -No more was heard of the mad bull, though Jasper had heard the shouts of -the two men as they ran down through the fields. The window had been -jammed by Gaston's broad figure. Then Gaston had hurried away, locking -the door after him. - -De Rothan had been to Rye, and since there were folk of French -extraction in Rye town, and money was as useful there as anywhere, De -Rothan had long ago been able to assure himself of a friend or two among -the smuggling, seafaring folk. De Rothan had discovered a man who would -have sold King George and both Houses of Parliament for a bag of -guineas. The man who served him was the working owner of a fishing boat, -and one of the most noisy of the Rye patriots. His boat had even been -used as one of the coast patrols between Rye and Hastings, so that the -fellow was in a position to be very useful to De Rothan. - -De Rothan and the Rye man had met as though by chance on the flats -between Rye and Winchelsea. They had stopped and gossiped under a -thorn-tree by one of the dikes, De Rothan on his horse, concealed by no -attempt at concealment. The Rye man had gone home with gold pieces tied -up in a red handkerchief, and De Rothan had ridden back by way of -Guestling and Westfield to the Brick House. - -He was told of the incident of the mad bull, and smiled over it. None of -De Rothan's French servants knew that David Barfoot had seized a chance -of speaking to Nance Durrell. - -Dinner was laid for three, and De Rothan, with the keys of the two -bedrooms in his pocket, went up to release his two guests and to bring -them down to dine. He opened Durrell's door and found the scholar -reading by the window. - -"Mr. Anthony, I consider your safety to be so important that I have -taken the liberty of keeping your door locked. We will conduct your -daughter down to dinner." - -Durrell said nothing. He put his book aside, and joined De Rothan in the -gallery outside Nance's door. - -"Miss Nance, your father and I wait for you to dine with us." - -They descended to the panelled room. The man François waited at table, -Nance and her father sitting opposite each other, De Rothan taking the -head. The conversation was largely a monologue on his part, a pretence -at making an ambiguous situation seem natural and honest. - -"I cannot help wishing that Mr. Benham were with us; the party would be -complete. But Mr. Benham is disinclined to leave his room. He even -seemed angry when I told him that you were here." - -Nance stared at the bowl of roses in front of her. Anthony Durrell -glanced slantwise at De Rothan. His enmity was austere and solemn. - -"I may eat your food, Chevalier, but I do not touch your hypocrisy." - -"That is a fanatical and rather illogical temper. You do not like my -wine, sir, and yet you drink it!" - -"I eat to live, but I do not live to lie." - -His angry sententiousness amused De Rothan. - -"Leave the little moral problems at the bottom of your glass, Mr. -Anthony. Why, a month ago you were not so particular. Besides, François -here understands English. We need not hang our prejudices out to dry -before our servants." - -The rest of the meal dragged through in silence. Nance, sitting with -downcast eyes, heard De Rothan proposing a walk in the garden. - -"I must find you some sweet corner, Miss Nance, where you can dabble -your hands among flowers. I am not forgetting that you may like to take -a posy up to Mr. Benham." - -His ironical good humour troubled her. The garden was a garden of -clipped yews, brick paths, and rank green grass, but Nance and her -father were distraught and restless, moving and speaking as though under -compulsion. Nance had a vague hope that Jeremy might leap up from -somewhere, and that De Rothan's cunningly balanced house of cards might -come tumbling about his head. But he seemed gay and debonair, inspired -by a mischievous and cynical courtesy that bubbled over into -playfulness. - -"Will you not gather some flowers for Mr. Benham?" - -Nance was too much in earnest to be able to match his flippant irony. - -"No? You will not? And yet in half an hour or so we are going to pay -this youngster a visit. It was a promise, was it not? I always keep my -promises." - -His voice made Nance afraid, it was so callous and so confident. - -"When shall I see Mr. Benham?" - -"Now, if you like." - -She gave De Rothan a puzzled and mistrustful look. What was he trying to -bring about? What were his motives? - -"As you please." - -"Come, then. Mr. Durrell, we will leave you for a few minutes." - -Durrell looked fixedly at De Rothan. - -"Chevalier----" - -De Rothan guessed what his thoughts were and what he wished to say. He -bowed to the father, and then to Nance. - -"Sir, your whole attitude is one of unjustified distrust. I love my -friends--if I hate my enemies. Miss Nance is far safer in my house than -if she were at Stonehanger." - -Durrell blinked self-consciously under frowning eyebrows. - -"I wish to take you at your word, De Rothan." - -"Follow your inclinations, my good friend. Miss Nance, are you afraid to -follow me into my own house?" - -She looked at him steadily, feeling that it was necessary that she -should show no fear. - -"No." - -"That is good. Come." - -She was struck by the intent, shrewd, but half-mocking look he gave her. - - - - -XXXIV - - -De Rothan led Nance to the attic story of the Brick House, talking all -the while with a gay and railing vivacity that sharpened the edge of her -feeling of suspense. - -"Mr. Benham is so valuable to me that I have to lodge him high up near -the gods. You may find him a little moody. It seems, too, that a certain -display of dirt and disorder helps him to maintain an attitude of -resentment and independence. Have you ever heard of pride refusing soap -and water?" - -She felt that there was an abominable cleverness about this man that -might succeed in turning her finer instincts into ridicule. It was the -old trick of throwing some evil-smelling stuff over a man's coat just as -he was about to meet the woman of his desire. It might be contemptible -and sordid, but the taint lingered and offended the senses. - -They, passed along the gallery and stopped before a stout oak door. De -Rothan knocked gently. - -The man Gaston was within, and he appeared to fling the door open with -studied suddenness, showing Jasper Benham sprawling on his bed of straw. -He was asleep and snoring, head hanging back over a rough bolster -stuffed with straw, his face flaccid and vacant, his shirt open at the -throat. That one glimpse of him was a shock to Nance. De Rothan had come -near persuading her to be disgusted. - -Gaston went out, closing the door, while De Rothan walked across to -Jasper and stood looking down at him with pleased vindictiveness. - -"Mr. Benham--sir, wake up; here is a lady to see you. You see how he -sleeps, Miss Nance, this fat young Sussex ox. Wake up, sir, wake up." - -He touched Jasper with his foot, and Jasper woke up, snarling. - -"Curse you! Let me alone!" - -"Mr. Benham, here is a friend to see you." - -Jasper sat up and caught sight of Nance. His face showed utter -astonishment, nor was it lovely to look upon with its sprouting beard, -uncombed hair, and streakings of dirt. His irons made a ridiculous -jangling. There was much in the picture to provoke laughter and pity. - -"Mr. Benham, do you not recognise the lady?" - -Jasper did not look at De Rothan. The sudden heat of his angry -humiliation was too bitter and too fierce in him. His eyes fixed -themselves on Nance's shoes; nor had he a word to say. - -"Come, Mr. Benham, come--are you not pleased?" - -There was a sneer in De Rothan's voice, and it stung Nance to the quick. -A sudden great pity carried her away. Jasper was humbled before her and -before his enemy, and this shame of his transfigured all that was -uncouth and ridiculous. It was she who felt humiliated and sneered at. - -She turned on De Rothan. - -"I understand now. I did not understand before." - -He shrugged his shoulders, but the scorn and anger in her eyes stung -him. - -"My child, this is what we call romance. You do not seem to appreciate -the opportunities I am giving you. No mere humdrum, thread-and-needle -experiences----" - -She regarded him steadily, thoughtfully, and then turned to Jasper. - -"It sounds so empty to say that I am sorry." - -Her voice made him look up. It seemed to uplift his courage and his -pride, and to rescue him from the foolish squalor of his surroundings. - -"Don't worry about me, Nance. It comes of my own conceit. But why are -you here?" - -Her eyes shone angrily. - -"Because, like you, I have been kidnapped." - -"You, too!" - -"Yes, and I know everything." - -Jasper met De Rothan's eyes, and De Rothan smiled at him. - -"If circumstances admitted it, my dear young people, I would leave you -alone together. But----" - -Nance ignored him. - -"Jasper, it makes me burn with anger----" - -His eyes no longer shirked hers, and even his grime and his uncouthness -heightened the tragic note that she persisted in hearing. - -"I treated our friend here as a gentleman. It was foolish of me. -Chevalier, I never ought to have let you out of that ditch." - -De Rothan jerked a laugh, and Nance's eyes flashed to Jasper's. They -said, "Well done, throw your scorn in his face." - -He showed her his chained wrists. - -"Pretty things, these, as the result of an affair of honour. Do you -know, Nance, he had his men hidden in Darvel's Wood to pelt me with -stones so that I should not hurt him." - -She gave a dry little laugh, and glanced at De Rothan. - -"That was very brave and honourable." - -His sudden arrogance showed that he was growing out of patience with -their scorn. - -"Miss Nance, you have not the sense yet to know men, and the ways of -men. If you were only five years older, and if you had been married to -Mr. Benham here for five years, I should have had more hope of you. -Still, it may be good for you both to remember that I am the man in -power." - -Jasper eyed him meaningly. - -"You can be as insolent to me as you please, but----" - -"Mr. Benham, let us have no fool's bellowing. I say what I please, even -to a woman. I have brought you two together to see how weak in the head -my poor Nance here might, be. It is a bad case, but I shall cure her. -Gaston, you can come in." - -The man entered, smothering a grin. - -"Now, my most sweet lady----" - -He shepherded Nance out with a sweep of the arm, but she went slowly, -holding her pride aloof, and giving Jasper a look that he could -treasure. - -Nance went to her room, De Rothan following her to the door, and bowing -as she entered. She heard the key turned in the lock, and then De -Rothan's footsteps dying away down the stairs. - -Nance went to the window, and, leaning her elbows on the sill, looked -across toward the oak wood on the hill to the west of the house. What -was De Rothan's ultimate desire with regard to her, and did he believe -in the crushing of England by Napoleon's army of invasion? Supposing -this should happen, what would become of them all? She saw not only -herself, but Jasper and her father at the mercy of a man who would be in -a position to satisfy any vindictive whim or passion. - -Nance had travelled beyond mere amazement. Incredible things had -happened, and were happening. Even the seemingly quiet life that her -father had led all these years had been but the fitting-out of the ship -of adventure. Monotony indeed! The prudish stolidity of English life! -And yet there were people who lived as though all the world was a -comfortable breakfast-table, little people who dabbled with their -teaspoons, and for whom time was spaced out by a change of underclothing -and the donning of a Sunday hat. - -Nance kept asking herself, "What is Jeremy Winter doing?" For Jeremy -seemed their one hope, the one man capable of dealing with this devil of -a Frenchman. She knew that Jeremy had to be sly and cautious, yet this -very cautiousness had begun to try her patience. She wanted things to -happen, quickly and even violently. She wanted Jasper freed, and De -Rothan confounded. The suspense would be intolerable, with this man -holding her at his mercy. - -Meanwhile De Rothan had rejoined Durrell in the garden--Durrell, whose -face carried an expression of resentful bewilderment. He was so little -of a man of action that he was still gaping at the events of the -previous night. The whole adventure would be over and done with before -he had decided what part he ought to play. - -De Rothan twitted him maliciously. - -"Come, come, friend Durrell, put away that grieved look. I have all -these people in the hollow of my hand, and for the glory of La Belle -France, and Liberty. A month ago you would have been patting me on the -shoulder." - -Durrell looked at him with an old man's thin distrust. - -"Yes, but what are your plans?" - -"Why, to pick up some of these fine English estates, to live as one of -the grandees of the Empire, to marry and found a family!" - -"That is all very magnificent, but----" - -"Men of courage are ready to meet the 'buts' of life. A general has his -line of retreat as well as his line of advance. You will not object to -joining me if I have to return to France!" - -"What do you mean?" - -"If we are foiled I shall not leave you behind to be hanged. I am too -good a comrade. I shall take you and Nance back with me to France." - -Durrell stood open-mouthed, staring, and De Rothan smiled at his amazed -face. - -"The idea surprises you! You are struck by it, eh?" - -"De Rothan, I have had enough of this monstrous fooling." - -"Will it be fooling if I marry your daughter?" - -"Sir?" - -"Save your emotions." - -"You think you can marry Nance!" - -"There are three reasons why I should marry her. Because I desire to, -because she does not desire me to, and because Mr. Jasper Benham will be -struck across the face. Motives indeed! Our motives in life are -curiously complex. I love complexities, entanglements, quarrels. Am I a -man for a tame hare? Psst! Durrell, if a woman provokes me I like her -all the better." - -Durrell stared at him in impotent indignation. - -"You are beyond me, De Rothan, and yet not beyond me." - -"Indeed, I should not have to go far! What time is it? I think I shall -have to request you to be locked up in your room." - -That night Nance watched at her window, sitting there in the darkness -with a cloak over her shoulders. She had heard De Rothan pass along the -gallery, pause outside her door, and then walk on toward his room. When -the dusk fell she had managed to push an oak chest against the door so -that no one could force their way in without waking her if she were -asleep. - -The house seemed very silent, and the summer night was a noiseless -glitter of stars. Now and again she heard the faint splashing of water -as frogs leapt in the great rain-water cistern below her window. - -It was past midnight when Nance saw a glimmer out in the woods on the -opposite hillside. It moved to and fro three times, and then -disappeared. Nance had brought a tinder-box with her, and a candle stood -on the little table at her elbow. It took her some time to get a light, -but she managed it and moved the candle to and fro three times across -the window. Then she blew it out and sat down to wait. - -A quarter of an hour passed before she heard a faint splash in the water -below. She leaned out of the window and stared down into the darkness, -to see nothing but vague outlines and an uncertain glimmering of water. -Then something moved, close to the wall. A whisper came up to her out of -the darkness. - -"Nance----" - -She leaned out and curved her hands about her mouth as though to confine -her voice and throw it down to the man below. - -"Who is it?" - -"Jeremy." - -She shivered with excitement. - -"Oh, I'm glad, so glad." - -"Not too fast, child. Where is Jasper? Do you know anything?" - -"They have him in irons in one of the attics." - -"Irons! Damn them!" - -"I am locked into my room and father into his. A man seems to sleep in -the same attic as Jasper." - -Jeremy was silent a moment. - -"Cunning rogues. Ssh! Nance, could you let down a cord or anything, a -couple of sheets tied together?" - -"Are you coming in?" - -"No, no, not this time. Listen. Do you know what opium is?" - -"Yes." - -"Then let down a line. Here's a packet of poppy-powder." - -Nance went to the bed, stripped the sheets off, tied them together, and -let the rope out of the window. The lower end dangled itself in the -water of the cistern. - -"Jerk it to one side----" - -She tried several times before Jeremy managed to catch the wet sheet on -the end of a stick. He fastened the packet to the dry part of the sheet. - -"Right, Nance. Do you think you can manage to get this stuff into the -wine--De Rothan's wine?" - -"I'll try. Would it kill him?" - -"No, there's not enough for that. If we could get him drugged, we could -deal with the others. Try the trick to-morrow evening. We shall be on -the watch in the wood. If you succeed, signal with your candle." - -Nance had pulled up the sheets, and had the packet in her hands. - -"Is there no other way, Jeremy?" - -"We will try this. Are you afraid?" - -"Yes--and no. No--not for Jasper's sake." - -"Good. No more risks to-night. And, Nance?" - -"Yes." - -"If anything bad should happen, call, shout, someone will be within -hearing. We should break in and chance the rest. See?" - -"Yes." - -"Good night, child." - -"Good night, Jeremy, good night." - - - - -XXXV - - -Parson Goffin came cantering up to Rush Heath House, his face radiant, -his nag's coat shining with sweat. The parson's face glowed, and he was -in magnificent good humour. Bumpers of exultation, and of far stronger -drink, had been tossed down the throats of many Sussex worthies that -morning. The powder on his coat and waistcoat showed that Mr. Goffin had -been taking snuff with feverish exhilaration. - -He pulled up in front of the house, waving his hat, and shouting. - -"Hallo, there, Squire--Jeremy--three cheers for old England." - -Squire Kit was asleep, but Jeremy came out like a boy out of school. - -"Hallo, hallo, what news?" - -"Villeneuve has been caught and plucked. Hoorah, sir, hoorah, no damned -French fleet in the Channel." - -"By George, Goffin!" - -"The news had just come into Rye. I was in Hastings early, but, good -Lord, one never hears anything but old women's gossip in Hastings! -Calder fell in with Villeneuve off Ferrol. He had fifteen ships to -twenty, but he went in and hammered at him. No great victory, sir, but -he has kept Villeneuve from Brest and from the Channel." - -Jeremy snapped his fingers. - -"Sing old Rose, and burn the bellows! Good, by George--for England." - -"Villeneuve got away into Ferrol, but he's there, sir, and not off -Boulogne. And some of them are cursing Calder for not doing better. Why, -damn 'em, he has stopped the Frenchman's rush. It's all up with him for -a dash on the Straits of Dover. And I'll wager that Nelson is not very -far from the coast of Spain." - -He blew, perspired, and exulted. - -"A drink, Jeremy, my man, my pulpit for a drink. Here's to old England!" - -"Pots will have a busy day. Hi, Jack, Sue, Marjorie, here--all of -you--run, now, fill up the brown jugs. The French have had one on the -nose, and are stopping to think it over! Run, you beggars, kisses all -round for the wenches. Toss the brown ale down and be merry." - -Jeremy took the news and a jug of ale to Squire Christopher. - -"Villeneuve has been headed out of the Channel, sir." - -"Murder my soul, Jerry, news--that's news. Let all the apothecaries go -to blazes. Give me a drink, man; the jug will do. Here's to the roast -beef. We'll soon have lad Jasper home, eh?" - -Jeremy kept a stolid face. - -"Count on that, Kit; we'll soon have the lad home." - -But he went down to join Goffin, with a grim mouth and thoughtful eyes. - -"This is good for the country, Goffin, but over yonder it may mean -something dangerous. And here is Kit calling out for the lad----" - -Goffin emptied his mug for the third time. - -"The game is up for the scoundrel. He knows it by now." - -"Yes. He hears things quickly enough, but you don't know this sort of -man, Goffin. You have never come across the breed. I have. A bit of -Irish and a bit of French, and a kind of pleasant cynical villainy -thrown in. He is the stage rogue off the stage--to the last insolent -cock of the rapier. Yet he's no mere actor man in a black doublet and a -plumed hat. He'd pistol you before you could say pat, if it were worth -his while to do it." - -"The linen sounds too dirty, Jeremy! He will make off across the water." - -"Yes, and take the girl with him. And perhaps stick a knife into Jasper -before he goes." - -"Poof, sir, you make the man a monster. I'll not believe it. Your -adventures in Spain----" - -Jeremy smiled a rather hard smile. - -"Good sir, tell me, I have seen the savage, and the passionate side of -life--I have. Blood and steel! Good Lord, Goffin; these things are real; -they aren't bits of wood and cups of cheap wine. Men lust, and stab, and -shoot. They do; I assure you. I suppose it has been so peaceful over the -water----" - -Goffin grunted. - -"Well, what are we wasting precious time for, sir?" - -"Ask the impossible monster! I am not going to waste time. I am going to -get our men together and draw a leaguer about De Rothan's place. We -shall use craft if we can. It will be safer for the girl and for -Jasper." - -Jeremy was in the saddle before the day was half an hour older. He knew -that the news of Villeneuve's defeat would be serious news to De Rothan, -and that it would go far toward making him a desperate man. The climax -that he had schemed and waited for had vanished. There might still be a -vague chance of Villeneuve sailing out of Ferrol and trying to fight his -way into the Channel, but Jeremy, unlike the scaremongers, was well -content with things as they were. Villeneuve had not shown himself to be -the man for a great enterprise. The haunting and inexorable genius of -Nelson dogged him, casting a premonition of disaster over the -Frenchman's mind. - -Jeremy rode out to gather in Jasper's friends. He called up John -Steyning, of Catsfield, and young Parsloe, of the "Black Horse," and -told each of them to bring two or three sturdy men. The meeting-place -was to be the "Queen's Head" Inn at Sedlescombe. They were to gather -there unostentatiously, as though it were a matter of chance. Jeremy -himself rode on to Hastings. He had an old friend quartered there as -surgeon to the troops, Surgeon Stott, a one-eyed, bronze-headed vulture -of a man, fierce of beak and skinny of neck, and with language enough to -satisfy Satan. But Stott was a shrewd and steady surgeon with a quick -hand and a cool head. He could keep his mouth shut, and bring down a -partridge with a pistol-bullet. - -Stott was an oddity, and Jeremy found him in a little back room of one -of the Hastings inns, brewing a bowl of punch. He was tasting the stuff, -with the ladle under his hooked nose, when Jeremy entered. - -"What, Jeremy--you devil!" - -"Punch at this time of day! Empty it out of the window, sir. I am taking -you out on an adventure." - -"A fight, eh? I'm game. Instruments or pistols, or both? By George, sir, -I feel in a mood to cut off ten legs in as many minutes." - -Jeremy sat down and told him the whole tale. - -"So it is not a matter of leg-cutting, Stott." - -"No, a quick shot with a pistol, and no pomposity, eh! Shoot the rogue -first, and explain afterward." - -"We've got to be careful, Stott. He is as touchy on the trigger as you -are. Have you got a horse of your own?" - -"Yes." - -"Then come along. We can talk on the road." - -By four o'clock Jeremy's party had gathered at the Sedlescombe inn. -Jeremy's opinion of the landlord proved sage and astute. The man did not -even look inquisitive. He had a private room at the gentlemen's service, -and never blinked an eyelid when seven or eight sturdy yokels who were -strangers in the village came scraping their hobnails in his brick-paved -parlour. Parson Goffin turned up with pistols in his coat-tail pockets, -and ready to drink and hobnob with Steyning, young Parsloe, Jeremy, and -Surgeon Stott. Tom Stook and David Barfoot with three or four steady men -were lying in the woods and ditches about the Brick House, keeping -watch. - -Jeremy and his friends played bowls on the "Queen's Head" green, and -dined together in the private room, the landlord waiting on them in -person. Over their long pipes Jeremy elaborated his plan of campaign. -They were to surround De Rothan's house that night on the chance that -Nance Durrell might be able to set the spell working within. This scheme -failing them, Jeremy proposed that they should break into De Rothan's -stables, make off with his horse-flesh, and see whether some such -argument could not bring him to reason. - -Jeremy had pictured De Rothan as a desperate man, and if there is -anything in the saying that a man's temper can give him a black face, -then De Rothan was in some such desperate temper. He had ridden out very -early in the direction of Guestling and the sea, and Tom Stook, lying in -a dry ditch and peering through the hedge-bottom, saw him return. His -horse shied where the grass lane turned in from the by-road, and -something ominous about the incident seemed to set a spark to De -Rothan's black anger. He beat the horse about the head with his fist, -and then sawed at the bit till the beast's mouth bled. - -Stook was no lamb, but De Rothan's savagery angered him. - -"You tarrifyin' devil! Someone may be giving you a bloody mouth before -long." - -The first person whom De Rothan spoke with at the Brick House was the -man Gaston. François had taken Gaston's place for an hour, and the -elder man was stretching his legs in the garden. He knew the various -expressions of De Rothan's face as well as a shepherd knows the face of -the sky. There was thunder about, and the horizon looked ominous. - -De Rothan's horse was still quivering with fright. Gaston took the -bridle, and waited stolidly for orders. - -"Thunder, don't stare at me, man, like that! This morning I have heard -the name of a coward. Villeneuve has wrecked us, if he has been careful -of his fleet." - -"Villeneuve, monsieur!" - -"The heart of a chicken! That the Emperor should have trusted such a -man! I heard the news at Rye. Maybe you have heard bells ringing. One -night more here, and then for France." - -Gaston was about to lead the horse round to the stable, but De Rothan -stopped him. - -"No, no, I know these yokels are on the watch. If they were to break -into the stable and snap up our horses we should be badly placed. The -hall can serve as a stable to-night. Have a few staples knocked into the -wainscoting and bring all the beasts in. Men and horses all under one -roof." - -Gaston nodded. - -"What of the young man, monsieur?" - -"We will use him till the last moment, and he will be useful, even then. -Come here, Gaston. Some things must be spoken quietly." - -They stood close together, Gaston intent and swarthy, stolidly ready to -follow the adventure through. Once or twice he blinked his eyes at De -Rothan as though astonished. - -"Madame goes with us, monsieur?" - -"I have said as much." - -"And the young man, monsieur! Are we to leave him chained up like an ox -in a stall?" - -"Growing soft at heart, Gaston? I have no pity for people who get in my -way. Besides, the trick will keep his good friends busy, and we shall -have to snatch our time. I agreed with Martin this very morning. It will -be high water at midnight to-morrow. He will run close in at Pett Level -and take us off." - -"Then I will see to the horses, monsieur." - -"Yes, now, at once. Then we will dine. I will go and warn Miss Durrell -and her father." - -Nance was sitting at her window when she heard De Rothan's footsteps in -the gallery. The sound stirred the secret purpose of her suspense. All -day she had been thinking over Jeremy's plan, and it seemed so -impossible, so much like a trick out of an old play. - -De Rothan knocked at her door. - -"Nance, we dine in an hour." - -"Yes." - -"I will be here at your door to give you an arm." - -She heard him go on to her father's room and knock. Their voices sounded -harsh and quarrelsome. For comfort she gazed out toward the oak wood on -the slope of the hill where Jeremy's watchers were hidden. She was -almost angry with Jeremy for putting such a weapon into her hands. What -chance had she to use it, and why did they thrust the responsibility -upon a woman? - -She heard De Rothan repass her door. He was humming that song that the -royalists had sung so gallantly and so fatefully at Versailles: "_O, -Richard, O mon roi, si l'univers t'abandon_----" - -A feeling of helplessness possessed her. She rested her forehead on her -crossed wrists and tried to think of something she could do. - - - - -XXXVI - - -Nance heard the sound of hammering below, and it connected itself in her -mind with some vague idea that the house was being barricaded against -attack. She was still leaning her crossed arms on the window-sill when -she heard De Rothan's knock. - -She went out to him with Jeremy's packet hidden under her bodice. She -had torn off the sealed end and just folded the paper over so that the -powder could be emptied out quickly. - -There was a gaiety about De Rothan that baffled her. It was not unlike -the insolent sprightliness of an aristocrat passing to the guillotine. - -"Your father refuses to dine with us to-night." - -"He is not ill?" - -"Only in temper. You will not grudge me a little kindness." - -"No. Besides, I am hungry." - -He laughed, and offered her his arm. - -"Let us be honest. Even heroines have to eat and drink and wash their -faces. It is monstrous nonsense, all this romance and all this -glorifying of women. A boy adores indiscriminately, a man chooses the -least offensive necessity. That is the difference between a boy's love -and a man's." - -As they descended the oak stairway, François came in from the porch -with a horse following at the end of a halter. The beast followed him -quietly enough, though its hoofs made a rare racket on the oak -floor-boards of the hall. The unexpectedness of it made Nance falter. - -"Nothing but a horse, _ma chère._" - -"It startled me." - -"You tremble. You are not made to be an adventurous heroine, to do -wonderful and absurd things, climb down ropes, and hold villains at the -point of a pistol. We are asking our horses to dine with us, that is -all. Now, tell me frankly, how do you like adventure?" - -"I don't like it at all." - -"No, of course not. It is abominably uncomfortable, but people will have -it that it is fine and exciting--to read about." - -The man Jean waited on them at table, while François went in and out of -the big hall bringing the horses in from the stable and fastening them -to the staples that had been driven into the wainscoting. Nance's place -was at the lower end of the oak table, where the light from the window -fell upon her face. De Rothan sat well back in his chair, watching her -and keeping up a whimsical monologue. - -"Why the old chivalry folk glorified you women, Nance, I do not know. I -have had experience, and I have never come across a woman who was not a -fool. Wonderful creatures, eh--all cream and roses and starry eyes and -tenderness and purity! Just because of something that is called a -petticoat. And Mr. Benham thinks you the most wonderful young woman in -the whole world! Now, I do not. And since a man cannot get on without a -woman, he makes the best of a bad bargain." - -She felt that he was laughing at her, and yet there was something -vindictive and passionate behind it. - -"You are too clever for me, Chevalier." - -"No doubt I am. We have nothing to do with a woman's brains--God help -them. But we are not all brain. That is the tragedy." - -She met his eyes and hated them for their sudden animal frankness. It -was probable that for the moment this rather sentimental girl understood -De Rothan and the type of manhood that he represented, a manhood that -could be passionate and unscrupulous, and yet could despise itself for -being passionate. "To fret oneself about this schoolgirl!"--that was -what he was saying to himself. - -Nance shrank into herself, and thought of Jasper, without realising that -De Rothan was in many ways the finer man. He was a well-polished rogue, -and had done, many clever things in his time. Jasper Benham would be -remarkable mainly as the father of a family. But Nance's thoughts did -not run in this direction. - -Jean had been dismissed by De Rothan. He reappeared at the door and said -something in French. De Rothan pushed his chair back and rose. - -"Miss Nance, you will pardon me?" - -She felt her face crimsoning as she saw her opportunity rushing upon -her. - -"Yes." - -He went out, closing the door after him. Nance was up and unfolding the -packet with shaking and ineffectual fingers. De Rothan's silver tankard -was half full. She slipped round the table and emptied the powder into -it, and, crumpling up the paper, thrust it back into the bosom of her -dress. - -She was shaking like an old lady with the palsy, and trying desperately -to hide it, when De Rothan returned. He came in with a casual air, -humming the same song as he had hummed in the gallery. He gave one sharp -sidelong glance at Nance, and smiled. - -"You will pardon my turning the hall into a stable, but circumstances -are urgent. François needed orders. I trust the opportunity was of -use." - -His ironical air chilled her. She saw him resume his seat, take the -tankard, look into it, sip a little of the drink, and then lean back in -the chair and laugh. - -"Nance, _ma chère_, you have not pledged me yet. Let me pass you a -loving cup." - -She sat and stared at him helplessly, feeling herself a fool. - -"What, you will not drink to me? Supposing we send the cup to Mr. -Benham? I will put more liquor in it, for no doubt he is thirsty. Jean, -man, Jean. Here." - -Jean came in and stood beside Nance's chair. But De Rothan did not look -at him. His eyes were fixed upon Nance. - -"Jean, I thought I wanted you, but I find I do not. Go and help -François with the horses." - -The man vanished, and De Rothan sat with one hand holding the handle of -the tankard, his eyes still fixed on Nance. She felt humiliated, -outwitted, stripped naked before him. It was so palpable that he knew -and that the knowledge amused him. - -"Nance, you cannot play the part, my child. We are too clever for the -sweet Tragedy Queen who tilts little packets of poison into a -gentleman's cup. Did that shiny-faced bully of a fencing-master take me -for such a fool!" - -She had nothing to say to him. - -"Whisperings at midnight under a lady's window! Some houses carry sounds -very queerly, child, and men who value their necks do not run too many -risks. Oh, I do not blame you. Husbands are poisoned more often than -lovers, and yet I am inclined to tempt the peril." - -He rose and emptied the tankard out of the window. - -"No doubt you would like to think over the possibilities of this little -affair? Sleep well to-night. You may need it. Do not waste the precious -horns making little signals with candles." - -He moved across and opened the door for her. Nance had risen. -Resentment, and half-childish anger had taken the place of her sense of -blundering helplessness. - -"I hate you," her eyes told him. - -And he laughed. - -"François, see that the horses behave properly. Miss Durrell goes to -her room." - -Nance felt bitterly befooled, and not so much in love with Jeremy's -cleverness. De Rothan's sneering complacency made her horribly afraid. -Supposing he should win through, outwit Jeremy, and get away to France? -And supposing, too, that he intended taking her with him? The whole -thing was preposterous and yet abominably real. She watched the dusk -falling, brooding at her window, while the woods blackened against the -summer sunset. She supposed that Jeremy and his friends were hidden -yonder in the woods. They would be watching the house for her signal, a -signal that she could not give. - -Nance did not sleep that night, which was hardly to be wondered at. The -house was full of noises, the stamping of the horses on the oak floor of -the hall, the passing to and fro of men, the noise of hammering in some -distant room. De Rothan was preparing his baggage for a sudden retreat, -packing such valuables as he possessed, and ordering his men to break -everything that had to be left behind. Jean was sent round with a -hatchet, and was smashing chairs to pieces, hammering in the cases of -the clocks, and splitting the panels of chests and cupboards. - -Then, some time after midnight, Nance heard someone talking in the -orchard beyond the stables. There was a sound as of men running, a -scuffling of feet on the stones of the yard, a shattering of glass, and -the splitting of wood. Then someone exclaimed angrily, and shadows -shuffled away disappointedly into the darkness. Nance heard De Rothan -speaking from one of the upper windows. - -"There is nothing to be stolen there, gentlemen. I disposed of my horses -this morning. We happen to be awake here, so I should advise you to go -away quietly." - -Under an apple-tree in the orchard Jeremy was swearing into the -sympathetic ears of Surgeon Stott. - -"Confound the fellow, it is like grabbing an eel. He has taken his -horses inside the house. I know what that means. He is going to make a -bolt for the sea." - -Parson Goffin appeared, a long black shadow among the apple-trees. He -was taking snuff, and was ripe for a luxurious and irrepressible -explosion. - -"Ha--tissho--ha--t----" - -"Damn you, Goffin, you are a nice man for a night surprise!" - -"It was not much of a surprise, sir. I can sneeze with impunity. Ha -tisshoo--ha tissho." - -Jeremy swore. It was getting ridiculous. - -"Look here, Stott, we shall have to bivouac here--blockade the place." - -"That's the game, sir." - -"I'll send Parsloe back for provisions, and then on to the coast to try -and warn the sailor people to look out for suspicious visitors. We will -sit down here, and trumpet with our noses, parson, and hope for the -walls of Jericho to fall." - -When daylight came those in the Brick House saw Jeremy's people -bivouacking in the orchard and in the meadow in front of the house. -Jeremy had divided his party into two bodies so as to command both sides -of the place. Nance, standing at her window, saw Jeremy walking up and -down the orchard, his hat cocked at a militant angle, and a short clay -pipe between his teeth. He stopped and waved his hat to her, when she -appeared at the window, and Nance waved back. There was something -comforting about Jeremy's activity and about the men whom she could see -sitting with their backs against the trunks of the apple-trees with -muskets or old shot-guns ready across their knees. Hardly one of the -yokels could shoot, but still they looked impressive. - -The Brick House itself seemed very quiet and undisturbed. About eight -o'clock Nance heard footsteps on the stairs, and a tray was set down -outside her door. She opened the door when she thought the man had gone, -only to find De Rothan standing close by in the gallery, and looking -through a window at Jeremy's men in the meadow. Surgeon Stott had -command there. They had lit a fire, and the blue-grey smoke went up into -the sunlight. - -De Rothan turned and smiled at Nance. - -"These good people are very attentive. Yes, take your tray, _ma chère_, -we still have some tea-cups left us." - -He appeared audaciously cheerful, as though enjoying this essay in -strategy. - -"Mr. Benham has been asking for you, but I thought that it would not be -kind to leave his wounds too raw. The end of his imprisonment is very -near. I hope to return him soon to his friends." - -Nance faltered in the doorway, yearning to know what De Rothan was -hiding behind this mask of composure. - -"Then you will let us go back to our friends?" He eyed her curiously. - -"Mr. Benham will return home. Your father can please himself. As for -you, _ma chère_, in your case you will please the Chevalier de Rothan." - -"You cannot mean----" - -"I desire you to go with me to France. It is a fair country and will -please you." - -She made as though to close the door on him, run to the window, and -shout to Jeremy. A gesture of De Rothan's restrained her. - -"No, child, do not run and call to your friends. I assure you that it -would be fatal to Mr. Benham; nor would it help you in the least." - -"But, it is impossible! You cannot take me against my will!" - -He made a soothing movement with his hands. - -"Tsst, child, do not excite yourself. I am doing you a great honour. In -France you will no longer be the daughter of an old schoolmaster. There, -take up your tray and get your breakfast. One should not go into action -hungry." - - - - -XXXVII - - -Most of that day Nance sat at her window overlooking the orchard. Once -or twice she waved to Jeremy and he waved back to her, but Nance had -conceived such a deadly dread of De Rothan that she was afraid to bestir -herself in her own cause. It seemed to be Jasper's life against her own -honour, for there was something about De Rothan's sneering cheerfulness -that made her believe that he would not hesitate to carry out his -threats. - -But Nance did not go untempted, seeing that Jeremy and his men were -within hail, and that one appealing cry from her would bring the whole -crisis to an end. They would storm the house, and overwhelm De Rothan -and his Frenchmen. But then, in the meantime, what would have befallen -Jasper, with that sullen beast of a Gaston on guard over him in the -attic? - -Nance understood what Jeremy's tactics were. He was showing De Rothan -with ostentation--that he was surrounded, and was waiting for the -Frenchman to come to terms. And Jeremy's strategy reacted upon Nance. -She had worn herself into a fever of emotional anguish, but her own -helplessness made itself felt. She would leave things to these men, let -herself drift. All, all--was it not impossible for De Rothan to break -away and reach the sea? - -As for De Rothan, he was not the proper villain who stalked the -passages, biting his nails, and muttering love and vengeance. He looked -plump, sprightly, dressed to perfection, and very much unflurried. These -wasps buzzing in the orchard seemed to amuse him. He even went into the -garden and walked magnificently up and down the brick path, stopping at -the gate to lift his hat to Surgeon Stott who was busy with a glass and -bottle. - -The surgeon approached the gate, thinking De Rothan had come out to -parley. - -"Is it the white flag, sir?" - -"Good morning, sir. I hope you like my meadow? No, I am taking the -air--that is all." - -"Impudent blackguard!" said the surgeon. - -But De Rothan did not seem to hear. - -About eleven o'clock that morning he went up to see Jasper Benham, who -had been growing more and more exasperated each day over his own squalid -helplessness. Bad food and an abundance of physical discomfort soon take -the romance out of life, especially when there is no one to applaud a -man's fortitude. But Jasper had an abnormal amount of obstinacy. He hung -on to his ideals, when many men would have wished De Rothan, old -Durrell, and his daughter at Jericho. - -"Good morning to you, Mr. Benham. It may please you to know that you -will be free to-morrow." - -Jasper eyed him with grim hostility. De Rothan's good humour and his -shining self-satisfaction were not soothing. - -"Thanks. But on what terms?" - -"Terms, Mr. Benham?" - -"You are not the man to surrender something for nothing." - -"Eh! But I have all that I desire. You see, I leave you here, looking -your best and feeling proud of all that you have accomplished. I make my -departure with such valuables as I have by me. I take Miss Durrell with -me into France to be my mistress." - -If Jasper's manhood needed reinspiring it found its inspiration in these -words of De Rothan's. A moment ago he had felt glad that the adventure -was at an end, that he would be able to stretch his legs, wash, drink a -glass of good wine, and eat a well-cooked dinner. The smell of liberty -had entered his nostrils. But here De Rothan had roused a deeper and -more powerful instinct, stronger physically even than thirst, hunger, -and the desire to be clean. - -"You scoundrel!" - -De Rothan looked at him quizzically. - -"Mr. Benham, you have a good opinion of yourself. Does it not occur to -you that a woman may change her mind?" - -"No." - -"That is strange! How little you must know of women. Consider for a -moment. I am a very passable man, taller by half a hand than you are, -better built, not so thick in the skull. I am an aristocrat, a wit, and -a man who has travelled. Women love a man with a little of the devil in -him; it is human nature. I could kill you in half a minute if we were -put up to fight with swords. Nance knows that. And it counts with a -woman." - -"What a liar you are!" - -"No; I am telling the truth because--my little man--it will sting you -far more than if I laid my hand across your face. I depart for France. -Nance has chosen to come with me. It is not very wonderful that she -should prefer a French aristocrat and a man of the world to a little -red-faced Sussex squireling who has lived his life in three parishes. -Why should I laugh at you? It is not worth it." - -"Still, you are a liar." - -"Wait till to-morrow and judge by the facts. You will have that charming -old gentleman Mr. Durrell to comfort you. Embrace him, and try to -imagine that he is his daughter." - -Jasper had gathered himself for a great effort. Every muscle and sinew -raged in him. He drew in his breath, and gave one wrench at the irons -that held him. But even if he had been fit and strong he could not have -broken them. The iron wristlets bit into the flesh. - -He lay back against the wall, balked and humiliated, weighed down by his -own impotent wrath. - -"This is not the end." - -De Rothan moved backward toward the door. - -"Do not excite yourself. You will be free in a few hours." - -Jasper watched him as a chained dog watches a man who has struck him -brutally with a stick. He knew that his own fury was pleasant to De -Rothan. - -"You accursed coward!" - -"Ah, Mr. Benham; you may need your own courage presently." - -Little did Jasper guess that Jeremy and Surgeon Stott were walking up -and down the meadow within a hundred paces of the house. The surgeon -kept a shrewd eye cocked on the windows. He moistened his lips with a -dry tongue, and leered knowingly at his own thoughts. - -"He will either have to bolt, Jerry, or we shall starve him out. The -fellow is trying what insolence will do. I'll wager that he'll come out -hat in hand before long." - -Jeremy was not so sanguine. - -"It is not all wind, Stott. There's pith in the chap. I wish I knew his -game." - -"Sit tight--that's ours. Rummy affair, Jeremy, some twenty Englishmen -blockading Frenchmen in an English house! We must keep two men on the -watch all night, with one of us to go the rounds." - -And Jeremy agreed. - -There was a full moon that night, and Nance, sitting at her window, knew -that the moon had risen by the huge black shadow of the house that -covered the yard and stables and spread across the orchard. She was -vividly awake, alert, overstrung, ready for anything to happen. As the -moon climbed higher the shadow of the house shortened, and she could see -the orchard and the figure of a man going to and fro among the trees. -The moonlight glinted on a musket barrel, and made his face look a grey -patch when he turned at each end of his beat. - -Brick House had been restless. There had been a stamping of feet in the -attics overhead, and a rending sound as though men were splitting the -woodwork with hatchets. But for an hour absolute silence had held, and -the sentry out yonder might have thought the place asleep. - -Nance was wondering whether she would have to watch all night. Her eyes -ached with weariness rather than with the desire for sleep. The black -boughs and foliage of the orchard trees swam into strange fantastic -shapes under the moon. - -It was then that she heard a vague stirring in the rooms below. Someone -ran upstairs with a light patter of bare feet. In the hall voices spoke -in undertones, making a vague murmuring. - -Nance heard footsteps in the gallery. They stopped outside her door. -Intuition warned her that it was De Rothan. - -"Nance, I have good news for you." - -She faltered by the window, keeping silence out of a feeling of -mistrust. - -"Nance, are you asleep? Come, I have good news." - -She rose and crossed the room. - -"What is it--what do you want?" - -"Nance, I see that the game is up. They will starve us into surrender. I -am going to send you out to make terms for me." - -She thrilled. - -"Me? To Jeremy?" - -"Yes. We cannot get away from here, but still--I have my prisoner up -above. I want you to be magnanimous--to try to get me terms." - -The little oak chest stood against the door. Nance pushed it aside, -trembling with the rush of her belief in the loosening of the net about -her. When she opened the door she saw De Rothan standing in the gallery. -The windows threw moonlit patches upon the floor. - -"You see how hopeless it is for me." - -He sighed. - -"There are too many of them, and they have hemmed me in. I can leave the -country to-night if your friends yonder will come to terms." - -He spoke dejectedly as though utterly discouraged. - -"You will do this for me, go out as my friend?" - -"Yes." - -"Come, then, let us waste no time." - -He had been standing with his head bent and his hands behind him, a -melancholy shadow in the long, moon-streaked gallery. Nance came out -from her room, believing what she desired to believe, and that De Rothan -had been driven to surrender. But before she could throw her hands up, a -blanket was tossed over her head, and she felt herself smothered in it -and wrapped round by De Rothan's arms. He carried her along the gallery -and down the stairs, holding her so tightly that she felt like a child -crushed in a crowd. - -Confused movements were going on in the darkness about her. She heard -harness jingling, and smelt the smell of horses. - -"Quick, François! The scarf--tie it so." - -Something soft was passed about her body and knotted so that she could -not move her arms. She felt herself lifted on to the back of a horse and -held there by two strong hands. Someone mounted behind her, and she -guessed that it was De Rothan. - -"Bide quiet, _ma chère_, and no harm will come. Gaston, are you there?" - -A man came running down the stairs. - -"It is done, monsieur, it is done." - -Nance heard the words, and their vague, suggestive horror numbed her -heart. She was like a cataleptic, unable to move or to cry out. Strange, -wild things were happening, and she could not help herself. She was -aware of a dull red wound in the midst of her consciousness, the thought -that Jasper had been given his death. - -"Open the door, man. Softly--ready? Follow me and keep close." - -De Rothan's arm tightened about her. He spoke sharply as the horse -moved. - -"Bend low, bend low." - -He forced her down, bending over her as the horse passed through the -doorway into the porch. There was a clatter of hoofs, the breath of the -night breeze sweeping in. Then Nance felt De Rothan straighten himself -in the saddle. They were going at a walk down the brick path to the gate -in the garden wall. - -Then, suddenly, the horse broke into wild, cantering life. They seemed -to sweep forward with a rush of wind, and a clattering of hoofs behind -them. A man shouted somewhere, and was still shouting as they galloped -over the meadow. A pistol cracked. Nance heard a queer sighing sound go -by her and die away into the distance. - -De Rothan gave a sharp, exultant cry. The horse slowed up. Nance felt De -Rothan bend and swing something aside. It was the gate leading out of -the meadow into the lane. Shuffling, snorting horses came crowding up -behind. Then there was the burst of a fresh gallop between high black -hedges that banked out the moonlight. - - - - -XXXVIII - - -Smoke curled from the muzzle of Surgeon Stott's empty pistol, and his -mouth emptied itself of sundry emphatic curses. He shouted at Tom Stook, -who was standing and staring across the meadow. - -"Run, man, run! Rouse Mr. Winter." - -But Jeremy had been roused a minute ago by the sentinel in the orchard, -who had bent over him where he lay asleep under an apple-tree and pulled -him by the arm. - -"Mr. Winter, sir, Mr. Winter, the house be a' fire." - -Jeremy had sprung up, to find the man pointing at the attic story of the -Brick House. - -The place was black under the moon, but at one gable end an attic window -showed the red glow of fire. The casement frames were clearly outlined; -from the open lattice came little swirls of smoke, and for a moment a -black shape showed within like a man tossing his arms in despair. - -Jeremy's heart leapt in him. - -"Good God!" - -He ran round rousing his men, calling in particular for John Jenner the -Rookhurst blacksmith. They began their rush toward the house just after -Stott's pistol shot barked out a grim warning. Stott, Jeremy, and their -men met in the front garden, holding back for the moment as though not -knowing whether they were facing enemies or friends. - -"Stott?" - -"It is Stott, sir. They have broken through, curse 'em." - -"And the house is on fire. The devil has left Jasper to burn in his -attic----" - -"By George! And they have got the girl." - -"We'll catch and butcher the lot of them. Jenner, Jack Jenner, have you -got your tools?" - -"Sure, Mr. Winter, sure." - -Then things happened as De Rothan had counted on their happening. -Jeremy, Stott, Steyning, and young Parsloe stormed into the house, -Jeremy carrying a lantern that one of the men had brought lit from the -orchard. They made no tarrying in the hall, but rushed for the stairs, -Jeremy carrying visions of Jasper tied up in a burning room. - -Half way up the stairs a figure came blundering down on them. It was -Anthony Durrell, half dressed, and bewildered. - -Jeremy held his hand. - -"George, sir--I had nearly fired into you. Which is Benham's room? Do -you know?" - -Durrell was inarticulate. - -"Mr. Winter, sir! I--I have not----" - -Jeremy swore, thrust him aside, and rushed on, the rest following, -leaving Durrell flattened against the wall. - -The smell of the fire guided them, the pungent scent of burning wood. -The stairs leading to the attic story were narrow and tortuous like the -stairs in an old tower. Jeremy was the first to get a glimpse of the -yellow light streaming under an attic door. The crackle of burning wood -could be heard. Little puffs of smoke were drifting into the passage. - -Jeremy rushed to the door of the burning room and found it locked. He -charged at it with his shoulder, but it did not budge. - -"Jack Jenner--at this door, man. Jasper, lad--Jasper----" - -Suddenly those who were in the gallery stood listening, and looking into -each other's eyes. The smith was caught in the act of raising a heavy -hammer. Stott had his hand on Jeremy's shoulder. - -"Hallo, Jeremy, hallo----" - -It was like a ghost voice coming, not from the burning room, but down -the long gallery with its dormer windows and its sloping eaves. Some of -the men on the stairs looked scared, and waited to see what Jeremy would -do. - -"Jasper--hallo----" - -"Hallo--hallo." - -Jeremy gave a shout and went running down the gallery. This devil's -trick of De Rothan's was not so brutal as it had seemed. It had been a -ruse to trick them and to gain time, but it was a ruse that touched more -than the edge of murder. - -"Jasper, lad, where are you?" - -"In here; the end room." - -The door was locked, and Jeremy made way for Jenner the smith. The man -took a run, lifted one leg, and set the sole of a heavy boot over the -place where the lock should be. The door flew in as though it had been -unfastened and had been caught by a gust of wind. - -Jeremy's lantern showed Jasper on his straw. - -Winter was on his knees, one arm over Jasper's shoulders, and shouting -to the smith to get to work. - -"We thought the scoundrel had roasted you, lad, for the house is on -fire. Knock these bolts out of the floor, Jenner, knock 'em out--by -glory. We have half our night's work to do yet." - -The smith was hammering at the bolts that held the rings in the floor -boards. Surgeon Stott had shut the door and was standing with his back -to it. A man in Jasper Benham's condition does not yearn to be gaped at -by grooms and ploughmen. In the gallery young Parsloe stood watching the -door of the burning attic. He had a coil of rope over his arm so that -they should have a means of escape if the fire broke through into the -gallery before Jasper could be released. - -"What has happened, Jeremy? Where's De Rothan?" - -"Got away, lad; broken through our lines. We have been blockading the -place." - -"Nance----" - -Jeremy's mouth hardened for action. - -"That's it, lad, we have got to catch him and the girl before he gets -afloat." - -"She didn't go willingly, Jerry?" - -"Tied up in a blanket, sir," said Stott from the door. - -Jasper's impatience flared up like a fire. - -"Jack Jenner, man, smash those infernal bolts out, can't you? Never mind -me; I'm not afraid of a bruise or two." - -"Sure, Master Benham, sure, it be t' oak as holds." - -"Hit at 'em, man, hit at 'em. We can deal with the darbies afterward." - -The smith managed to smash the bolts out of the oak, and Jasper was -free. He tried to stand, but found himself lurching against Jeremy, weak -in the knees and giddy. Jenner the smith was a man of tact. He stooped, -and made "a broad back" to carry Jasper below. - -"Climb up, Mr. Benham, sir." - -Stott went out to clear the men down the stairs, and Jeremy hoisted -Jasper on to Jack Jenner's back. - -They were none too soon. The door of the attic was gaping and falling -apart, and yellow flames were licking the charred wood. The gallery was -full of smoke that turned to silver where the moonlight touched it. Jack -Jenner, blinking his eyes, swung along like a stolid elephant, with -Jasper on his back. - -So they made their way out of the house and came out into the garden -where Anthony Durrell was pacing up and down with long, jerky strides. -He ran at Jeremy, waving his arms, and crying out like a man who had -been wounded. - -"Nance--my daughter. Mr. Winter, sir, I implore you----" - -Jeremy soothed him. - -"That's just our business, Mr. Durrell; don't waste time, sir, by -shouting at the moon." - -He turned to the men. - -"Run, you beggars; bring the horses round from the orchard. And Tom, my -man, bring my sword. It stands against the apple-tree where I was -dozing. It's tally-ho, and a moonlit gallop." - -Jasper was sitting on the grass with the smith at work upon the leg -irons and handcuffs. - -"There is a horse for me, Jeremy?" - -"Do you think you are fit to ride?" - -"Do you think I am going to stay behind?" - -"You can't sit a horse after three weeks in irons." - -"I can ride Devil Dick.". - -"He's with us." - -"Then I go on Devil Dick's back." - -"We shall have to tie you on." - -"Tie me on! Be dashed to you!" - -The smith had broken the catches of the handcuffs, and Jasper's arms -were free. The leg irons were a stiffer proposition. - -"Leave the anklets on, Jack, and get the bar away." - -"It be easier to knock off t' anklets, sir." - -"Get along, then, for God's sake." - -Jeremy stood and watched. - -"You had better let us get along, lad," he said, gently, "time is -precious." - -"But, Jeremy, I've been waiting for this chance----" - -"It'll be away over the water if we don't hurry. Besides, lad, you are -not fit to fight it out with De Rothan." - -"Look here, Jerry. I must have a shot or a thrust at him." - -"And does somebody want to weep over a corpse? Be reasonable, lad. Leave -the Frenchman to me." - -Jasper looked savage and dejected. - -"Oh, call me a baby, Jeremy, and have done with it." - -"Now, lad, now, do you think the old devil don't love you? Why, I'd put -a pistol into Squire Kit's fist and tell him to shoot me if I were to -let you run yourself to-night on that scoundrel's sword. The spirit is -willing, sir, but the flesh is weak. Hallo--here come the horses." - -Jack Jenner sat back on his heels with a grunt of satisfaction. - -"That be one of t' quickest jobs, Mr. Benham, sir----" - -Jasper was up on the instant. - -"God bless you, Jack Jenner. Jeremy, I say, Jeremy----" - -"Well, lad?" - -"I say, my confounded head's like a churn, going round and round. Have -you got a flask on you?" - -"Here, Stott, you're the man. Give the lad a dose of schnapps." - -The horses were ready in the meadow, and the men ready to mount. Stott -had brought out a flask from his tail pocket, and also a thick sandwich -of bread and beef. - -"I'm an old campaigner, Mr. Benham; set your teeth into that, man, as we -go along." - -In another minute they were in the saddle and riding across the meadow. -Several of the men had to be left behind, but counting Steyning and -young Parsloe they mustered nine riders. Each man had a brace of pistols -and a hanger, while Jeremy had his long sword. He meant it to be of use -that night in dealing with De Rothan. - -As they paused at the gate leading to the lane, a sudden glare of light -made them look back toward the house. The flames had broken through the -roof, and one long tongue was waving high in the air like a great -wavering sword. - -The light lit up grim faces and eager eyes. - -"Which way, Jeremy?" - -"Pett Level. We happen to have got the other side of De Rothan's game, -and bought his own man over his head." - -"There'll be a boat waiting." - -"There'll be no boat, or I'm a blockhead." - -Jeremy gave a queer, hard laugh. - -"Now, then, put 'em at it, boys. Tally-ho, tally-ho. I'm for the brush -of the French fox." - -And they went galloping through the moonlight. - - - - -XXXIX - - -De Rothan seemed to know all the lanes, paths, and by-roads as though he -had been born in those parts and had played the smuggler on many a -night. He cast a half circle round Westfield village, and took the road -that led toward Icklesham and Guestling, riding a little ahead of his -men, his right arm supporting Nance. She was still smothered up in the -blanket, and unable to move her arms. - -The country was fairly open, with the road climbing low hills and -dropping down into valleys. The moon painted everything in a broad -effect of black and greys, and showed the road as a white thread before -them. De Rothan was not playing for concealment. It was a question of -speed, and of a dash for the shore along Pett Level where the Rye boat -would be waiting to take them on board. - -When they had covered a mile or more De Rothan pulled up on the top of a -hill, looked back, and listened. His men drew in and waited in silence. -The night seemed still and empty of all sound, and there was no rattle -of hoofs to tell of pursuit. - -De Rothan turned his horse and rode on. - -"How is it with you, sweet Nance?" - -She would not answer him. - -"Frightened and outraged, eh? Come, come, you must make allowances for -the spirit of adventure. If I have to cover your beauty with a blanket, -it is to keep you from making the moon jealous. I thought all the world -loved a pirate, a highwayman, and a gentlemanly villain! Once on board -the lugger, eh! You shall see me in a red cap and big sea boots, and -with a belt full of cutlasses and pistols. Ha--ha! That is the stage -cry, eh? Ha--ha! Your friends are finding some little affairs to keep -them about my house." - -Nance shivered, and felt a wild desire to cry out. She had come by a -blind horror of the man, a horror that was quickened by her own physical -helplessness. Already her heart had accused him of Jasper Benham's -death, for those words of Gaston's still haunted her. - -De Rothan appeared to divine her emotions. - -"You are longing to ask questions, my Nance, and you feel like a fly in -a web? What has become of Mr. Benham and of your good father? Well, I -will try to put your mind at rest. Mr. Benham is having his irons -knocked off, and is drinking a pot of beer. Your father may be scolding -the moon. And Brick House is burning." - -He felt her body quiver. She was overstrung with suspense, incredulity, -and fear. - -"Why did we set the house alight? Well, you see, sweet one, it was an -excellent trick for distracting the bull. They could not leave Mr. -Benham there to be burned. When they have finished yonder, we may have -them after us. But then, you see, they may not know where to find us." - -She wondered whether he was speaking the truth, or merely talking to -reassure her. His triumphant playfulness had all the glittering hardness -of a well-cut stone. It was useless to appeal to him, and there was -nothing that she could do to help herself. - -The minutes seemed to gallop and to keep pace with the horses. They -appeared to be mounting some rising ground, and to be moving over -grassland by the dull thudding of the horses' hoofs. Presently De Rothan -drew in, and his men came round him, making a black blur upon the summit -of a hill. - -To the right rose the long black ridge that climbed up to Fairlight -Down, and before them lay the sea; a tranquil, summer sea under the -moon. The shore was like a dark fringe to a silver robe. - -De Rothan and his men were at gaze, looking for something that should -have been visible out yonder. For some moments there was silence, and -Nance felt the thread of hope breaking beneath the weight of her -suspense. - -"Hum--we are a little early. Let us go down to the shore." - -The horses were turned into a narrow, high-banked lane that descended -steeply toward the flats between the high ground and the sea. Loose -stones rolled and scattered under the horses' hoofs. Nance had a feeling -that De Rothan's mood had changed. His arm seemed to hold her more -tightly. He was grimmer, less pleased with the chances of the night. - -In another minute they had reached the bottom of the hill, and loose -stones gave place again to grass. They moved on for another two hundred -yards or more before De Rothan reined in. - -Nance felt herself lifted down from De Rothan's horse. The scarf that -fastened her arms was untied, and the blanket taken away. She found -herself standing on rough grassland that ended in the shingle of the -beach. The place was very lonely, with masses of furze and of bramble -screening the shore and covering much of the ground between the sea and -the hills. The tide was making a faint splashing along the shingle -banks, the broken water catching the moonlight and turning it into a -thousand glimmering scales. - -De Rothan was standing on a little hillock and looking out to sea. His -profile was visible to Nance, hard, intent, and a little scornful. The -man was anxious, but not afraid. - -He turned to her with an air of cynical courtesy. - -"Will it please you to walk a little way along the shore with me? I have -certain things to say to you." - -She was afraid of being alone with him, and De Rothan saw it. - -"Come, come, I am not going to cut your throat, or be violent. Gaston, -keep yourselves and your horses under cover of that furze. We shall not -have long to wait. Now, Nance, I am ready." - -The stretch of coarse grass divided the furze banks and the shingle, and -De Rothan set off eastward along it with Nance at his side. The girl was -white and on the alert. The splashing of the sea upon the shingle was -full of a sinister and shivering suggestiveness. - -"My Nance, you are still very young. Why are you so afraid of me and of -the future that I offer you?" - -The triumphant tenderness in his voice made her shudder. - -"Need you ask me such questions?" - -"It is all bold adventure, is it not, and am I not a man to gallop off -with a girl's heart?" - -"Adventure! I hate the word!" - -He laughed. - -"Poor Nance, after all, it does not suit the click of knitting needles. -It is only pleasant in books, eh? Well, well, why not some pretty -château across the water, with swans on the moat, and a fine old-time -garden? You would not quarrel with such quiet, homely things." - -Her very dread of him made her passionately impatient. She turned to one -side and sat down on a low bank in the full light of the moon. - -"I'll not answer you." - -"Mr. Benham is a homely young man, eh? He smells more of the fireside -and the kitchen? Whereas I am a gallant, and one of the best swordsmen -in France." - -She rested her elbows on her knees, and her chin on her two hands. - -"What kind of man are you to treat me like this? If you had one shred of -honour in you----" - -"Honour? I have as much honour in me as Mr. Benham, and much more in the -way of brains." - -"At least I have my pride left me and my scorn for you." - -"Dear Nance, do you think you will speak to me like this when we are -over the water? I think not--I think not." - -There was something of menace in his eyes, the exultation of fierce -desire. He watched her a moment, and then began to pace up and down, -throwing sharp glances at the moonlit hills and toward the sea. It was -plain that a savage impatience was growing in him, and that even his -insolent complacency could not save him from suspense. Now again he -paused to listen, fancying he heard the sound of galloping upon the -hills. - -"Devil take the man! Why is he not here with the boat?" - -Nance watched him narrowly as his long shadow went to and fro over the -grass. A glimpse of hope had risen in her, a determination to try some -last desperate trick. She strained her ears, trying to catch some sound -above the moist playing of the water on the shingle. If Jeremy only knew -the road they had taken. If he and Jasper could only arrive in time. - -Her heart would have leapt in her could she have seen a long, lithe -figure squirming away amid the furze bushes. It was the figure of a man -who had crept down to reconnoitre, and who was making his way back -toward the higher ground above. - -Half way up the hillside there was a thicket of dwarf, wind-twisted -oaks. The man made for this, keeping in the shadow of the furze bushes. -He gained the thicket and disappeared into it, to be surrounded almost -instantly by a crowd of eager men. - -"What news, Tom?" - -"They be down yonder; t' three chaps wid the horses, and Miss Durrell -and the French blackguard a little way along t' shore." - -There was a murmuring of voices, and the clicking of pistol locks. - -"Look to your priming, men. Now, listen to me." - -They had left their horses on the other side of the hill, crept over the -brow under the shadow of a hedge, and taken cover in the oak thicket. -Tom Stook had been sent out to reconnoitre. - -Jeremy told off Steyning and Parsloe with the four men to creep down and -overpower De Rothan's three French servants. He himself with Jasper, -Stott, and Tom Stook took a line a little more to the east so as to -strike the shore where De Rothan and Nance were waiting. Jeremy ordered -Stott to lead, but took second place himself. He had to hold Jasper by -the arm, and plead with him fiercely. - -"Am I going to let you spoil all my plans by getting hurt at the last -moment? You have the pluck, but a man who has been in irons for three -weeks is not fit to face a swordsman like De Rothan. Moreover, I want -the surgeon at my elbow. He is a devil with a pistol, and will keep De -Rothan marked." - -Jasper knew that Jeremy talked sound sense. - -"It goes against the grain, Jeremy." - -"I know, lad, I know. I shall love you the more for giving in to me." - -They started down through the furze, Steyning, Parsloe, and their men -giving them a short start, since Jeremy's party had farther to go. Tom -Stook led, winding in and out among the furze bushes. Jeremy and Stott -followed close on him, with Jasper in the rear. Jeremy had given him his -sword to carry, having unbuckled it before their advance upon the beach. - -Stook paused from time to time. The noise of the sea washing along the -shingle smothered any slight sound they made in brushing through the -grass or against the bushes. In five minutes they were close to the -shore, and could hear De Rothan speaking. - -"My Nance, it is no use your putting up your pretty hands against fate. -Come now and kiss me, and let us forgive." - -"Only let me be!" - -They heard De Rothan's laugh, and then Nance's voice in sudden alarm. - -"Look, there is a boat." - -"Where?" - -"Away yonder. I can see the sail." - -Jeremy had risen from behind the furze, and Stott followed him. They saw -that De Rothan had turned and was looking out to sea. Nance had played -her poor little trick on him, and it had answered. She picked up her -skirts and made a dash toward the furze. - -Jeremy leapt out on to the grass, shouting. - -"Run, Nance, run, into the bushes for your life." - -She was still in the moonlight, though nearing the banks of shadow. De -Rothan had twisted about, raised an arm, and taken aim. Jeremy's voice -rang out, fiercely, warningly. - -"Not at the girl, not at the girl, De Rothan!" - -Then Stott's pistol cracked, and De Rothan's hat went whirling, but left -him unhurt. Whether the shot startled him, or whether he drew the -trigger purposely, his pistol belched flame. Nance was some thirty yards -from him. She gave a curious cry, staggered on a few steps, and then -fell face forward into the furze. - -A man's cry echoed Nance's. Jeremy swung round and caught Jasper round -the middle. - -"No, no, lad! Leave him to us." - -"Let go, Jeremy, damn you, let go." - -"Tom Stook--quick! Take hold here." - -They held Jasper between them, mastering him with some ease, for he was -weak despite his wild anger against De Rothan. Stott had marched forward -several paces, and was calmly covering De Rothan with his second pistol. - -"I've missed ye once, ye damned coward. Stand fast, or I'll put a bullet -through you." - -Jeremy had left Jasper to Tom Stook after wrenching his sword out of -Jasper's hand. He joined Stott, sword and pistol ready, his eyes looking -grimly at De Rothan. - -"See to the girl, Stott. I'll deal with this gentleman." - -Stott threw his pistol down and ran toward Nance, who lay half hidden in -the furze. De Rothan was standing stiff and erect like a black pillar -outlined by the moon. His one pistol was empty, and he had nothing left -him but his sword. - -He threw his head back suddenly and shouted to his men. - -"Gaston, _à moi_--Gaston----" - -His cry came too late. Steyning, Parsloe, and their men had crept down -and overpowered the three Frenchmen without their firing a shot. Their -exultant shouts came with the swish of the water on the shingle. - - - - -XL - - -Jasper had broken away from Tom Stook, whose huge fists had -sympathetically relaxed their hold. Jasper's eyes were turned, not -toward Jeremy Winter and De Rothan, but toward Surgeon Stott, who was -bending over Nance. - -Stott, glancing round to see how matters stood, saw Jasper's white face -and shining eyes. - -"Keep back, Mr. Benham, keep back. I don't want any one meddling with me -in my business." - -He rose and made as though to force Jasper back. - -"Look you, sir, you are a man of sense, and I don't want folk hanging -round when I have work to do. If I want you I'll call you." - -But Stott's professional whims were not to be humoured on this -particular occasion. Something stirred and moved close to them. Both men -turned to find Nance on her knees, putting her hair back from her -forehead and looking at them questioningly. - -"Nance!" - -"Jasper!" - -Stott felt for his snuff-box and stood aside. Here were these two young -people kneeling face to face--Jasper holding Nance's hands, and looking -at her as a man looks at a love that has been snatched from death. - -"Nance, are you hurt?" - -"No, no. The bullet only grazed my arm." - -"Thank God." - -"I think I threw myself down when he fired. It was just instinct. And I -lay here--to be safe--till friends came up." - -Jasper was kissing her hands with a man's devoutness, and Stott took -snuff with energy and walked on to where Jeremy and De Rothan were -standing like two statues, staring into each other's eyes. Neither of -them had spoken, neither of them had moved. - -"What news, Stott? I haven't eyes in the back of my head." - -"Two young people seem very taken with each other." - -"She's not hurt, then?" - -"A mere scratch." - -"God be praised!" - -There were deep furrows between Jeremy's eyebrows, and his mouth was a -grim, hard line. He moved three steps nearer to De Rothan, pistol on -hip, sword ready. - -"Have you any more cheating cards to play, sir, before we come to the -last hand?" - -De Rothan's face looked stormy. The light, insolent humour had left him. -He was up against grim weapons and grim men. - -"Shoot away, my little fellow; my own pistol is empty." - -As he spoke, he tossed the empty pistol aside upon the grass. Jeremy's -eyes glittered maliciously. - -"I do not shoot women and unarmed men, sir. Even a cur may be given a -chance to fight. You have your sword there." - -De Rothan bowed to him. - -"It is at your service, sir, if you are not afraid." - -"Psst, I know that sort of lingo. I am not a raw boy, my friend. I don't -deal in words." - -Meanwhile Jasper had lifted Nance to her feet, and was standing with his -arm about her, and looking down into her face. Her eyes glimmered in the -moonlight, soft, dusky eyes that were full of infinite and mysterious -things. - -"Dear heart, what you have suffered!" - -"And you!" - -"I would go through it all again--for this." - -She drew in her breath quickly. - -"Oh, no, no. You were so near death. And even now I feel that all is not -finished." - -She glanced toward the three dark figures of Jeremy, Stott, and De -Rothan. Jasper understood. His arm tightened about her, and he led her -further away along the shore. - -"Stay here, Nance. There is nothing to fear." - -"No." - -"I must be with Jeremy." - -She looked at him a little anxiously and saw the steady purpose in his -eyes. - -"Jasper, promise me----" - -"What, dear heart?" - -"You will not risk yourself." - -"I promise. I have already promised Jeremy, though it makes me ready to -call myself a coward." - -"You--a coward! And that wretched man?" - -"He has Jeremy to deal with. He had better have faced the Devil -himself." - -There was the noise of men running, and Steyning and young Parsloe -appeared in the moonlight, having left their men to guard De Rothan's -servants. Jasper hailed them as they came up. - -"All's well here. Jack Parsloe, man, will you bide with Miss Durrell -while I join Jeremy?" - -The youngster raised his hat and bowed to Nance. Jasper and Steyning -hastened on to where Winter and Surgeon Stott faced De Rothan. - -It was a grim group, imperturbable and pitiless. Jeremy was speaking to -Stott with the cool and matter-of-fact air of a man arranging a dinner -party. De Rothan's was the only restless figure. He fidgeted with his -sword, and kept moving his head as though his cravat were too tight for -him. His mouth was dry; his eyes shadowy in a sullen and bloodless face. - -He looked hard at Jasper with a sudden malicious shrewdness. - -"Mr. Benham, you have often uttered big words to me. There was that -little bout of ours in Darvel's Wood. I am ready to renew it." - -Jeremy's chin went up. He passed his sword to Stott, and stripped off -his coat. - -"That will not serve you, sir. I am your man." - -Even in the moonlight they could see De Rothan's sneer. - -"No doubt Mr. Benham is nervous----" - -Jasper was standing by with white face and set jaw. But Jeremy had seen -through De Rothan's cunning, nor did he mean to let the Frenchman sneer -Jasper into fighting him. - -"Enough of that. Off with your coat." - -He caught his sword from Stott, and sprang forward toward De Rothan. -There was to be no prevarication, no escape. De Rothan looked into -Jeremy's eyes, threw his coat aside, and drew his sword. - -"Come, my little fellow!" - -Their swords touched, and they were at it. - -De Rothan was one of those long-armed, florid fighters, passionate and -skilful, whose very fierceness had flustered many a weaker man. He began -swaggeringly, to discover in the course of the first few passes with -what a grim master of sword craft he had to deal. This little, -hard-mouthed man was steady as a rock. He put De Rothan's savage and -murderous thrusts aside with an imperturbable confidence that was -pleasant to behold. Those who watched seemed to have no fear for Jeremy. -Stott took snuff with placid satisfaction. There were no sounds but the -tingling of the sword blades and the shuffling of the men's feet. - -De Rothan became cautious of a sudden, and his forehead showed lines of -strain. Jeremy's eyes were not pleasant eyes to watch. The man was -untouchable and most damnably cool. - -"Tsst--one for you----" - -"No--but for you." - -With one quick thrust Jeremy pricked De Rothan's forehead, and a red -mark showed between the brows. The savage egotism of the man seemed to -flare up in fury. He leapt back, brushed the blood aside, and then -sprang at Jeremy with a passionate desire to kill. - -These fierce, passionate thrusts were his last. There was a flickering -of the blades in the moonlight, and then Jeremy's point went home. The -thrust had all the weight of his body behind it. De Rothan threw up his -arms, seemed to break at the middle, and fell forward on his face. - -For a moment there was silence. No one moved, no one spoke. Then Jeremy -pulled up a tuft of grass and calmly wiped his sword. - -"What's your verdict, Stott?" - -The surgeon and Steyning turned De Rothan over. His eyelids twitched, -but that was all. They saw that he was dead. - -"Right through the heart, sir." - -"The price he played for. Jasper, lad, shake hands." - -All four drew together, talking in undertones. Then Steyning marched off -along the beach in the direction of his men. He passed Parsloe and Nance -with a nod, but he did not speak to them. - -There were pieces of driftwood lying along the shingle. Steyning told -two of the men to pick up pieces, and to follow him back along the -shore. Here, close to where De Rothan lay, they began to scrape a -shallow grave in the shingle above high-water mark. When the grave was -ready they lifted De Rothan into it, covered him with shingle, and set -up a piece of driftwood to mark the place. - -There was a short silence. The men loitered, saying nothing, and looking -at Winter and Jasper Benham. Surgeon Stott was the first to speak. - -"What about the three fellows yonder?" - -"Poor devils! Lewes gaol or Rye Harbour? What do you say, Jasper?" - -"Let them go." - -"Good. That's what was in my heart." - -They moved away from the place where De Rothan lay buried and Jasper -found himself alone with Nance. The moonlight was on the sea, and the -waves washed the shingle. The man and the girl held together, as though -they desired to be very close to one another after what had passed. - -"It is finished, Nance." - -She shivered slightly. - -"How lonely it must be--there!" - -"Dear heart, I cannot quarrel with the end." - -She clung close to him, and her brown eyes filled with tears. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE OF SPIES *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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