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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11493-0.txt b/11493-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..51d367c --- /dev/null +++ b/11493-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4128 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11493 *** + + The Blotting Book + + By E. F. BENSON + + 1908 + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Mrs. Assheton's house in Sussex Square, Brighton, was appointed with that +finish of smooth stateliness which robs stateliness of its formality, and +conceals the amount of trouble and personal attention which has, +originally in any case, been spent on the production of the smoothness. +Everything moved with the regularity of the solar system, and, superior +to that wild rush of heavy bodies through infinite ether, there was never +the slightest fear of comets streaking their unconjectured way across the +sky, or meteorites falling on unsuspicious picnicers. In Mrs. Assheton's +house, supreme over climatic conditions, nobody ever felt that rooms +were either too hot or too cold, a pleasantly fresh yet comfortably warm +atmosphere pervaded the place, meals were always punctual and her +admirable Scotch cook never served up a dish which, whether plain or +ornate, was not, in its way, perfectly prepared. A couple of deft and +noiseless parlour-maids attended to and anticipated the wants of her +guests, from the moment they entered her hospitable doors till when, on +their leaving them, their coats were held for them in the most convenient +possible manner for the easy insertion of the human arm, and the tails of +their dinner-coats cunningly and unerringly tweaked from behind. In every +way in fact the house was an example of perfect comfort; the softest +carpets overlaid the floors, or, where the polished wood was left bare, +the parquetry shone with a moonlike radiance; the newest and most +entertaining books (ready cut) stood on the well-ordered shelves in the +sitting-room to beguile the leisure of the studiously minded; the +billiard table was always speckless of dust, no tip was ever missing from +any cue, and the cigarette boxes and match-stands were always kept +replenished. In the dining-room the silver was resplendent, until the +moment when before dessert the cloth was withdrawn, and showed a rosewood +table that might have served for a mirror to Narcissus. + +Mrs. Assheton, until her only surviving son Morris had come to live with +her some three months ago on the completion of his four years at +Cambridge, had been alone, but even when she was alone this ceremony of +drawing the cloth and putting on the dessert and wine had never been +omitted, though since she never took either, it might seem to be a +wasted piece of routine on the part of the two noiseless parlourmaids. +But she did not in the least consider it so, for just as she always +dressed for dinner herself with the same care and finish, whether she was +going to dine alone or whether, as tonight, a guest or two was dining +with her, as an offering, so to speak, on the altar of her own +self-respect, so also she required self-respect and the formality that +indicated it on the part of those who ministered at her table, and +enjoyed such excellent wages. This pretty old-fashioned custom had always +been the rule in her own home, and her husband had always had it +practised during his life. And since then--his death had occurred some +twenty years ago--nothing that she knew of had happened to make it less +proper or desirable. Kind of heart and warm of soul though she was, she +saw no reason for letting these excellent qualities cover any slackness +or breach of observance in the social form of life to which she had been +accustomed. There was no cause, because one was kind and wise, to eat +with badly cleaned silver, unless the parlour-maid whose office it was to +clean it was unwell. In such a case, if the extra work entailed by her +illness would throw too much on the shoulders of the other servants, Mrs. +Assheton would willingly clean the silver herself, rather than that it +should appear dull and tarnished. Her formalism, such as it was, was +perfectly simple and sincere. She would, without any very poignant regret +or sense of martyrdom, had her very comfortable income been cut down to a +tenth of what it was, have gone to live in a four-roomed cottage with one +servant. But she would have left that four-roomed cottage at once for +even humbler surroundings had she found that her straitened circumstances +did not permit her to keep it as speckless and _soignée_ as was her +present house in Sussex Square. + +This achievement of having lived for nearly sixty years so decorously may +perhaps be a somewhat finer performance than it sounds, but Mrs. Assheton +brought as her contribution to life in general a far finer offering than +that, for though she did not propose to change her ways and manner of +life herself, she was notoriously sympathetic with the changed life of +the younger generation, and in consequence had the confidence of young +folk generally. At this moment she was enjoying the fruits of her liberal +attitude in the volubility of her son Morris, who sat at the end of the +table opposite to her. His volubility was at present concerned with his +motor-car, in which he had arrived that afternoon. + +"Darling mother," he was saying, "I really was frightened as to whether +you would mind. I couldn't help remembering how you received Mr. +Taynton's proposal that you should go for a drive in his car. Don't you +remember, Mr. Taynton? Mother's nose _did_ go in the air. It's no use +denying it. So I thought, perhaps, that she wouldn't like my having one. +But I wanted it so dreadfully, and so I bought it without telling her, +and drove down in it to-day, which is my birthday, so that she couldn't +be too severe." + +Mr. Taynton, while Morris was speaking, had picked up the nutcrackers the +boy had been using, and was gravely exploding the shells of the nuts he +had helped himself to. So Morris cracked the next one with a loud bang +between his white even teeth. + +"Dear Morris," said his mother, "how foolish of you. Give Mr. Morris +another nutcracker," she added to the parlour-maid. + +"What's foolish?" asked he, cracking another. + +"Oh Morris, your teeth," she said. "Do wait a moment. Yes, that's right. +And how can you say that my nose went in the air? I'm sure Mr. Taynton +will agree with me that that is really libellous. And as for your being +afraid to tell me you had bought a motor-car yourself, why, that is +sillier than cracking nuts with your teeth." + +Mr. Taynton laughed a comfortable middle-aged laugh. + +"Don't put the responsibility on me, Mrs. Assheton," he said. "As long as +Morris's bank doesn't tell us that his account is overdrawn, he can do +what he pleases. But if we are told that, then down comes the cartloads +of bricks." + +"Oh, you are a brick all right, Mr. Taynton," said the boy. "I could +stand a cartload of you." + +Mr. Taynton, like his laugh, was comfortable and middle-aged. Solicitors +are supposed to be sharp-faced and fox-like, but his face was +well-furnished and comely, and his rather bald head beamed with +benevolence and dinner. + +"My dear boy," he said, "and it is your birthday--I cannot honour +either you or this wonderful port more properly than by drinking your +health in it." + +He began and finished his glass to the health he had so neatly proposed, +and Morris laughed. + +"Thank you very much," he said. "Mother, do send the port round. What an +inhospitable woman!" + +Mrs. Assheton rose. + +"I will leave you to be more hospitable than me, then, dear," she said. + +"Shall we go, Madge? Indeed, I am afraid you must, if you are to catch +the train to Falmer." + +Madge Templeton got up with her hostess, and the two men rose too. She +had been sitting next Morris, and the boy looked at her eagerly. + +"It's too bad, your having to go," he said. "But do you think I may come +over to-morrow, in the afternoon some time, and see you and Lady +Templeton?" + +Madge paused a moment. + +"I am so sorry," she said, "but we shall be away all day. We shan't be +back till quite late." + +"Oh, what a bore," said he, "and I leave again on Friday. Do let me come +and see you off then." + +But Mrs. Assheton interposed. + +"No, dear," she said, "I am going to have five minutes' talk with Madge +before she goes and we don't want you. Look after Mr. Taynton. I know he +wants to talk to you and I want to talk to Madge." + +Mr. Taynton, when the door had closed behind the ladies, sat down again +with a rather obvious air of proposing to enjoy himself. It was quite +true that he had a few pleasant things to say to Morris, it is also true +that he immensely appreciated the wonderful port which glowed, ruby-like, +in the nearly full decanter that lay to his hand. And, above all, he, +with his busy life, occupied for the most part in innumerable small +affairs, revelled in the sense of leisure and serene smoothness which +permeated Mrs. Assheton's house. He was still a year or two short of +sixty, and but for his very bald and shining head would have seemed +younger, so fresh was he in complexion, so active, despite a certain +reassuring corpulency, was he in his movements. But when he dined +quietly like this, at Mrs. Assheton's, he would willingly have sacrificed +the next five years of his life if he could have been assured on really +reliable authority--the authority for instance of the Recording +Angel--that in five years time he would be able to sit quiet and not work +any more. He wanted very much to be able to take a passive instead of an +active interest in life, and this a few hundreds of pounds a year in +addition to his savings would enable him to do. He saw, in fact, the goal +arrived at which he would be able to sit still and wait with serenity and +calmness for the event which would certainly relieve him of all further +material anxieties. His very active life, the activities of which were so +largely benevolent, had at the expiration of fifty-eight years a little +tired him. He coveted the leisure which was so nearly his. + +Morris lit a cigarette for himself, having previously passed the wine to +Mr. Taynton. + +"I hate port," he said, "but my mother tells me this is all right. It +was laid down the year I was born by the way. You don't mind my +smoking do you?" + +This, to tell the truth, seemed almost sacrilegious to Mr. Taynton, for +the idea that tobacco, especially the frivolous cigarette, should burn in +a room where such port was being drunk was sheer crime against human and +divine laws. But he could scarcely indicate to his host that he should +not smoke in his own dining-room. + +"No, my dear Morris," he said, "but really you almost shock me, when you +prefer tobacco to this nectar, I assure you nectar. And the car, now, +tell me more about the car." + +Morris laughed. + +"I'm so deeply thankful I haven't overdrawn," he said. "Oh, the car's a +clipper. We came down from Haywards Heath the most gorgeous pace. I saw +one policeman trying to take my number, but we raised such a dust, I +don't think he can have been able to see it. It's such rot only going +twenty miles an hour with a clear straight road ahead." + +Mr. Taynton sighed, gently and not unhappily. + +"Yes, yes, my dear boy, I so sympathise with you," he said. "Speed and +violence is the proper attitude of youth, just as strength with a more +measured pace is the proper gait for older folk. And that, I fancy is +just what Mrs. Assheton felt. She would feel it to be as unnatural in you +to care to drive with her in her very comfortable victoria as she would +feel it to be unnatural in herself to wish to go in your lightning speed +motor. And that reminds me. As your trustee--" + +Coffee was brought in at this moment, carried, not by one of the discreet +parlour-maids, but by a young man-servant. Mr. Taynton, with the port +still by him, refused it, but looked rather curiously at the servant. +Morris however mixed himself a cup in which cream, sugar, and coffee were +about equally mingled. + +"A new servant of your mother's?" he asked, when the man had left the +room. + +"Oh no. It's my man, Martin. Awfully handy chap. Cleans silver, boots and +the motor. Drives it, too, when I'll let him, which isn't very often. +Chauffeurs are such rotters, aren't they? Regular chauffeurs I mean. They +always make out that something is wrong with the car, just as dentists +always find some hole in your teeth, if you go to them." + +Mr. Taynton did not reply to these critical generalities but went back +to what he had been saying when the entry of coffee interrupted him. + +"As your mother said," he remarked, "I wanted to have a few words with +you. You are twenty-two, are you not, to-day? Well, when I was young we +considered anyone of twenty-two a boy still, but now I think young +fellows grow up more quickly, and at twenty-two, you are a man nowadays, +and I think it is time for you, since my trusteeship for you may end any +day now, to take a rather more active interest in the state of your +finances than you have hitherto done. I want you in fact, my dear fellow, +to listen to me for five minutes while I state your position to you." + +Morris indicated the port again, and Mr. Taynton refilled his glass. + +"I have had twenty years of stewardship for you," he went on, "and +before my stewardship comes to an end, which it will do anyhow in three +years from now, and may come to an end any day--" + +"Why, how is that?" asked Morris. + +"If you marry, my dear boy. By the terms of your father's will, your +marriage, provided it takes place with your mother's consent, and after +your twenty-second birthday, puts you in complete control and possession +of your fortune. Otherwise, as of course you know, you come of age, +legally speaking, on your twenty-fifth birthday." + +Morris lit another cigarette rather impatiently. + +"Yes, I knew I was a minor till I was twenty-five," he said, "and I +suppose I have known that if I married after the age of twenty-two, I +became a major, or whatever you call it. But what then? Do let us go and +play billiards, I'll give you twenty-five in a hundred, because I've +been playing a lot lately, and I'll bet half a crown." + +Mr. Taynton's fist gently tapped the table. + +"Done," he said, "and we will play in five minutes. But I have something +to say to you first. Your mother, as you know, enjoys the income of the +bulk of your father's property for her lifetime. Outside that, he left +this much smaller capital of which, as also of her money, my partner and +I are trustees. The sum he left you was thirty thousand pounds. It is now +rather over forty thousand pounds, since we have changed the investments +from time to time, and always, I am glad to say, with satisfactory +results. The value of her property has gone up also in a corresponding +degree. That, however, does not concern you. But since you are now +twenty-two, and your marriage would put the whole of this smaller sum +into your hands, would it not be well for you to look through our books, +to see for yourself the account we render of our stewardship?" + +Morris laughed. + +"But for what reason?" he asked. "You tell me that my portion has +increased in value by ten thousand pounds. I am delighted to hear it. And +I thank you very much. And as for--" + +He broke off short, and Mr. Taynton let a perceptible pause follow before +he interrupted. + +"As for the possibility of your marrying?" he suggested. + +Morris gave him a quick, eager, glance. + +"Yes, I think there is that possibility," he said. "I hope--I hope it is +not far distant." + +"My dear boy--" said the lawyer. + +"Ah, not a word. I don't know--" + +Morris pushed his chair back quickly, and stood up--his tall slim figure +outlined against the sober red of the dining-room wall. A plume of black +hair had escaped from his well-brushed head and hung over his forehead, +and his sun-tanned vivid face looked extraordinarily handsome. His +mother's clear-cut energetic features were there, with the glow and +buoyancy of youth kindling them. Violent vitality was his also; his was +the hot blood that could do any deed when the life-instinct commanded it. +He looked like one of those who could give their body to be burned in the +pursuit of an idea, or could as easily steal, or kill, provided only the +deed was vitally done in the heat of his blood. Violence was clearly his +mode of life: the motor had to go sixty miles an hour; he might be one of +those who bathed in the Serpentine in mid-winter; he would clearly dance +all night, and ride all day, and go on till he dropped in the pursuit of +what he cared for. Mr. Taynton, looking at him as he stood smiling there, +in his splendid health and vigour felt all this. He felt, too, that if +Morris intended to be married to-morrow morning, matrimony would probably +take place. + +But Morris's pause, after he pushed his chair back and stood up, was only +momentary. + +"Good God, yes; I'm in love," he said. "And she probably thinks me a +stupid barbarian, who likes only to drive golfballs and motorcars. +She--oh, it's hopeless. She would have let me come over to see them +to-morrow otherwise." + +He paused again. + +"And now I've given the whole show away," he said. + +Mr. Taynton made a comfortable sort of noise. It was compounded of +laughter, sympathy, and comprehension. + +"You gave it away long ago, my dear Morris," he said. + +"You had guessed?" asked Morris, sitting down again with the same +quickness and violence of movement, and putting both his elbows on +the table. + +"No, my dear boy, you had told me, as you have told everybody, without +mentioning it. And I most heartily congratulate you. I never saw a more +delightful girl. Professionally also, I feel bound to add that it seems +to me a most proper alliance--heirs should always marry heiresses. +It"--Mr. Taynton drank off the rest of his port--"it keeps properties +together." + +Hot blood again dictated to Morris: it seemed dreadful to him that any +thought of money or of property could be mentioned in the same breath as +that which he longed for. He rose again as abruptly and violently as he +had sat down. + +"Well, let's play billiards," he said. "I--I don't think you understand a +bit. You can't, in fact." + +Mr. Taynton stroked the tablecloth for a moment with a plump white +forefinger. + +"Crabbed age and youth," he remarked. "But crabbed age makes an appeal to +youth, if youth will kindly call to mind what crabbed age referred to +some five minutes ago. In other words, will you, or will you not, Morris, +spend a very dry three hours at my office, looking into the account of my +stewardship? There was thirty thousand pounds, and there now is--or +should we say 'are'--forty. It will take you not less than two hours, and +not more than three. But since my stewardship may come to an end, as I +said, any day, I should, not for my own sake, but for yours, wish you to +see what we have done for you, and--I own this would be a certain private +gratification to me--to learn that you thought that the trust your dear +father reposed in us was not misplaced." + +There was something about these simple words which touched Morris. For +the moment he became almost businesslike. Mr. Taynton had been, as he +knew, a friend of his father's, and, as he had said, he had been steward +of his own affairs for twenty years. But that reflection banished the +businesslike view. + +"Oh, but two hours is a fearful time," he said. "You have told me the +facts, and they entirely satisfy me. And I want to be out all day +to-morrow, as I am only here till the day after. But I shall be down +again next week. Let us go into it all then. Not that there is the +slightest use in going into anything. And when, Mr. Taynton, I become +steward of my own affairs, you may be quite certain that I shall beg you +to continue looking after them. Why you gained me ten thousand pounds in +these twenty years--I wonder what there would have been to my credit now +if I had looked after things myself. But since we are on the subject I +should like just this once to assure you of my great gratitude to you, +for all you have done. And I ask you, if you will, to look after my +affairs in the future with the same completeness as you have always done. +My father's will does not prevent that, does it?" + +Mr. Taynton looked at the young fellow with affection. + +"Dear Morris," he said gaily, "we lawyers and solicitors are always +supposed to be sharks, but personally I am not such a shark as that. Are +you aware that I am paid £200 a year for my stewardship, which you are +entitled to assume for yourself on your marriage, though of course its +continuance in my hands is not forbidden in your father's will? You are +quite competent to look after your affairs yourself; it is ridiculous for +you to continue to pay me this sum. But I thank you from the bottom of my +heart for your confidence in me." + +A very close observer might have seen that behind Mr. Taynton's kind gay +eyes there was sitting a personality, so to speak, that, as his mouth +framed these words, was watching Morris rather narrowly and anxiously. +But the moment Morris spoke this silent secret watcher popped back again +out of sight. + +"Well then I ask you as a personal favour," said he, "to continue being +my steward. Why, it's good business for me, isn't it? In twenty years you +make me ten thousand pounds, and I only pay you £200 a year for it. +Please be kind, Mr. Taynton, and continue making me rich. Oh, I'm a jolly +hard-headed chap really; I know that it is to my advantage." + +Mr. Taynton considered this a moment, playing with his wine glass. Then +he looked up quickly. + +"Yes, Morris, I will with pleasure do as you ask me," he said. + +"Right oh. Thanks awfully. Do come and play billiards." + +Morris was in amazing luck that night, and if, as he said, he had been +playing a lot lately, the advantage of his practice was seen chiefly in +the hideous certainty of his flukes, and the game (though he received +twenty-five) left Mr. Taynton half a crown the poorer. Then the winner +whirled his guest upstairs again to talk to his mother while he himself +went round to the stables to assure himself of the well-being of the +beloved motor. Martin had already valeted it, after its run, and was just +locking up when Morris arrived. + +Morris gave his orders for next day after a quite unnecessary examination +into the internal economy of the beloved, and was just going back to the +house, when he paused, remembering something. + +"Oh Martin," he said, "while I am here, I want you to help in the house, +you know at dinner and so on, just as you did to-night. And when there +are guests of mine here I want you to look after them. For instance, when +Mr. Taynton goes tonight you will be there to give him his hat and coat. +You'll have rather a lot to do, I'm afraid." + +Morris finished his cigarette and went back to the drawing-room where Mr. +Taynton was already engaged in the staid excitements of backgammon with +his mother. That game over, Morris took his place, and before long the +lawyer rose to go. + +"Now I absolutely refuse to let you interrupt your game," he said. "I +have found my way out of this house often enough, I should think. Good +night, Mrs. Assheton. Good night Morris; don't break your neck my dear +boy, in trying to break records." + +Morris hardly attended to this, for the game was critical. He just rang +the bell, said good night, and had thrown again before the door had +closed behind Mr. Taynton. Below, in answer to the bell, was standing +his servant. + +Mr. Taynton looked at him again with some attention, and then glanced +round to see if the discreet parlour-maids were about. + +"So you are called Martin now," he observed gently. + +"Yes, sir." + +"I recognised you at once." + +There was a short pause. + +"Are you going to tell Mr. Morris, sir?" he asked. + +"That I had to dismiss you two years ago for theft?" said Mr. Taynton +quietly. "No, not if you behave yourself." + +Mr. Taynton looked at him again kindly and sighed. + +"No, let bygones be bygones," he said. "You will find your secret is safe +enough. And, Martin, I hope you have really turned over a new leaf, and +are living honestly now. That is so, my lad? Thank God; thank God. My +umbrella? Thanks. Good night. No cab: I will walk." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Mr. Taynton lived in a square, comfortable house in Montpellier Road, and +thus, when he left Mrs. Assheton's there was some two miles of pavement +and sea front between him and home. But the night was of wonderful +beauty, a night of mid June, warm enough to make the most cautious secure +of chill, and at the same time just made crisp with a little breeze that +blew or rather whispered landward from over the full-tide of the sleeping +sea. High up in the heavens swung a glorious moon, which cast its path of +white enchanted light over the ripples, and seemed to draw the heart even +as it drew the eyes heavenward. Mr. Taynton certainly, as he stepped out +beneath the stars, with the sea lying below him, felt, in his delicate +and sensitive nature, the charm of the hour, and being a good if not a +brisk walker, he determined to go home on foot. And he stepped westward +very contentedly. + +The evening, it would appear, had much pleased him--for it was long +before his smile of retrospective pleasure faded from his pleasant mobile +face. Morris's trust and confidence in him had been extraordinarily +pleasant to him: and modest and unassuming as he was, he could not help a +secret gratification at the thought. What a handsome fellow Morris was +too, how gay, how attractive! He had his father's dark colouring, and +tall figure, but much of his mother's grace and charm had gone to the +modelling of that thin sensitive mouth and the long oval of his face. Yet +there was more of the father there, the father's intense, almost +violent, vitality was somehow more characteristic of the essential Morris +than face or feature. + +What a happy thing it was too--here the smile of pleasure illuminated Mr. +Taynton's face again--that the boy whom he had dismissed two years before +for some petty pilfering in his own house, should have turned out such a +promising lad and should have found his way to so pleasant a berth as +that of factotum to Morris. Kindly and charitable all through and ever +eager to draw out the good in everybody and forgive the bad, Mr. Taynton +had often occasion to deplore the hardness and uncharity of a world which +remembers youthful errors and hangs them, like a mill-stone, round the +neck of the offender, and it warmed his heart and kindled his smile to +think of one case at any rate where a youthful misdemeanour was lived +down and forgotten. At the time he remembered being in doubt whether he +should not give the offender up to justice, for the pilfering, petty +though it had been, had been somewhat persistent, but he had taken the +more merciful course, and merely dismissed the boy. He had been in two +minds about it before, wondering whether it would not be better to let +Martin have a sharp lesson, but to-night he was thankful that he had not +done so. The mercy he had shown had come back to bless him also; he felt +a glow of thankfulness that the subject of his clemency had turned out so +well. Punishment often hardens the criminal, was one of his settled +convictions. But Morris--again his thoughts went back to Morris, who was +already standing on the verge of manhood, on the verge, too, he made no +doubt of married life and its joys and responsibilities. Mr. Taynton was +himself a bachelor, and the thought gave him not a moment of jealousy, +but a moment of void that ached a little at the thought of the common +human bliss which he had himself missed. How charming, too, was the girl +Madge Templeton, whom he had met, not for the first time, that evening. +He himself had guessed how things stood between the two before Morris had +confided in him, and it pleased him that his intuition was confirmed. +What a pity, however, that the two were not going to meet next day, that +she was out with her mother and would not get back till late. It would +have been a cooling thought in the hot office hours of to-morrow to +picture them sitting together in the garden at Falmer, or under one of +the cool deep-foliaged oaks in the park. + +Then suddenly his face changed, the smile faded, but came back next +instant and broadened with a laugh. And the man who laughs when he is by +himself may certainly be supposed to have strong cause for amusement. + +Mr. Taynton had come by this time to the West Pier, and a hundred yards +farther would bring him to Montpellier Road. But it was yet early, as he +saw (so bright was the moonlight) when he consulted his watch, and he +retraced his steps some fifty yards, and eventually rang at the door of a +big house of flats facing the sea, where his partner, who for the most +part, looked after the London branch of their business, had his +_pied-à -terre_. For the firm of Taynton and Mills was one of those +respectable and solid businesses that, beginning in the country, had +eventually been extended to town, and so far from its having its +headquarters in town and its branch in Brighton, had its headquarters +here and its branch in the metropolis. Mr. Godfrey Mills, so he learned +at the door had dined alone, and was in, and without further delay Mr. +Taynton was carried aloft in the gaudy bird-cage of the lift, feeling +sure that his partner would see him. + +The flat into which he was ushered with a smile of welcome from the man +who opened the door was furnished with a sort of gross opulence that +never failed to jar on Mr. Taynton's exquisite taste and cultivated mind. +Pictures, chairs, sofas, the patterns of the carpet, and the heavy +gilding of the cornices were all sensuous, a sort of frangipanni to the +eye. The apparent contrast, however, between these things and their +owner, was as great as that between Mr. Taynton and his partner, for Mr. +Godfrey Mills was a thin, spare, dark little man, brisk in movement, with +a look in his eye that betokened a watchfulness and vigilance of the most +alert order. But useful as such a gift undoubtedly is, it was given to +Mr. Godfrey Mills perhaps a shade too obviously. It would be unlikely +that the stupidest or shallowest person would give himself away when +talking to him, for it was so clear that he was always on the watch for +admission or information that might be useful to him. He had, however, +the charm that a very active and vivid mind always possesses, and though +small and slight, he was a figure that would be noticed anywhere, so keen +and wide-awake was his face. Beside him Mr. Taynton looked like a +benevolent country clergyman, more distinguished for amiable qualities of +the heart, than intellectual qualities of the head. Yet those--there were +not many of them--who in dealings with the latter had tried to conduct +their business on these assumptions, had invariably found it necessary to +reconsider their first impression of him. His partner, however, was +always conscious of a little impatience in talking to him; Taynton, he +would have allowed, did not lack fine business qualities, but he was a +little wanting in quickness. + +Mills's welcome of him was abrupt. + +"Pleased to see you," he said. "Cigar, drink? Sit down, won't you? +What is it?" + +"I dropped in for a chat on my way home," said Mr. Taynton. "I have been +dining with Mrs. Assheton. A most pleasant evening. What a fine delicate +face she has." + +Mills bit off the end of a cigar. + +"I take it that you did not come in merely to discuss the delicacy of +Mrs. Assheton's face," he said. + +"No, no, dear fellow; you are right to recall me. I too take it--I take +it that you have found time to go over to Falmer yesterday. How did you +find Sir Richard?" + +"I found him well. I had a long talk with him." + +"And you managed to convey something of those very painful facts which +you felt it was your duty to bring to his notice?" asked Mr. Taynton. + +Godfrey Mills laughed. + +"I say, Taynton, is it really worth while keeping it up like this?" he +asked. "It really saves so much trouble to talk straight, as I propose +to do. I saw him, as I said, and I really managed remarkably well. I +had these admissions wrung from me, I assure you it is no less than +that, under promise of the most absolute secrecy. I told him young +Assheton was leading an idle, extravagant, and dissipated life. I said +I had seen him three nights ago in Piccadilly, not quite sober, in +company with the class of person to whom one does not refer in polite +society. Will that do?" + +"Ah, I can easily imagine how painful you must have found--" began +Taynton. + +But his partner interrupted. + +"It was rather painful; you have spoken a true word in jest. I felt a +brute, I tell you. But, as I pointed out to you, something of the sort +was necessary." + +Mr. Taynton suddenly dropped his slightly clerical manner. + +"You have done excellently, my dear friend," he said. "And as you pointed +out to me, it was indeed necessary to do something of the sort. I think +by now, your revelations have already begun to take effect. Yes, I think +I will take a little brandy and soda. Thank you very much." + +He got up with greater briskness than he had hitherto shown. + +"And you are none too soon," he said. "Morris, poor Morris, such a +handsome fellow, confided to me this evening that he was in love with +Miss Templeton. He is very much in earnest." + +"And why do you think my interview has met with some success?" +asked Mills. + +"Well, it is only a conjecture, but when Morris asked if he might call +any time to-morrow, Miss Templeton (who was also dining with Mrs. +Assheton) said that she and her mother would be out all day and not get +home till late. It does not strike me as being too fanciful to see in +that some little trace perhaps of your handiwork." + +"Yes, that looks like me," said Mills shortly. + +Mr. Taynton took a meditative sip at his brandy and soda. + +"My evening also has not been altogether wasted," he said. "I played what +for me was a bold stroke, for as you know, my dear fellow, I prefer to +leave to your nimble and penetrating mind things that want dash and +boldness. But to-night, yes, I was warmed with that wonderful port and +was bold." + +"What did you do?" asked Mills. + +"Well, I asked, I almost implored dear Morris to give me two or three +hours to-morrow and go through all the books, and satisfy himself +everything is in order, and his investments well looked after. I told him +also that the original £30,000 of his had, owing to judicious management, +become £40,000. You see, that is unfortunately a thing past praying for. +It is so indubitably clear from the earlier ledgers--" + +"But the port must indeed have warmed you," said Mills quickly. "Why, it +was madness! What if he had consented?" + +Mr. Taynton smiled. + +"Ah, well, I in my slow synthetic manner had made up my mind that it was +really quite impossible that he should consent to go into the books and +vouchers. To begin with, he has a new motor car, and every hour spent +away from that car just now is to his mind an hour wasted. Also, I know +him well. I knew that he would never consent to spend several hours over +ledgers. Finally, even if he had, though I knew from what I know of him +not that he would not but that he _could_ not, I could have--I could have +managed something. You see, he knows nothing whatever about business or +investments." + +Mills shook his head. + +"But it was dangerous, anyhow," he said, "and I don't understand +what object could be served by it. It was running a risk with no +profit in view." + +Then for the first time the inherent strength of the quietness of the one +man as opposed to the obvious quickness and comprehension of the other +came into play. + +"I think that I disagree with you there, my dear fellow," said Mr. +Taynton slowly, "though when I have told you all, I shall be of course, +as always, delighted to recognise the superiority of your judgment, +should you disagree with me, and convince me of the correctness of your +view. It has happened, I know, a hundred times before that you with your +quick intuitive perceptions have been right." + +But his partner interrupted him. He quite agreed with the sentiment, but +he wanted to learn without even the delay caused by these complimentary +remarks, the upshot of Taynton's rash proposal to Morris. + +"What did young Assheton say?" he asked. + +"Well, my dear fellow," said Taynton, "though I have really no doubt that +in principle I did a rash thing, in actual practice my step was +justified, because Morris absolutely refused to look at the books. Of +course I know the young fellow well: it argues no perspicuity on my part +to have foreseen that. And, I am glad to say, something in my way of +putting it, some sincerity of manner I suppose, gave rise to a fresh mark +of confidence in us on his part." + +Mr. Taynton cleared his throat; his quietness and complete absence of +hurry was so to speak, rapidly overhauling the quick, nimble mind of +the other. + +"He asked me in fact to continue being steward of his affairs in any +event. Should he marry to-morrow I feel no doubt that he would not spend +a couple of minutes over his financial affairs, unless, _unless_, as you +foresaw might happen, he had need of a large lump sum. In that case, my +dear Mills, you and I would--would find it impossible to live elsewhere +than in the Argentine Republic, were we so fortunate as to get there. +But, as far as this goes I only say that the step of mine which you felt +to be dangerous has turned out most auspiciously. He begged me, in fact, +to continue even after he came of age, acting for him at my present rate +of remuneration." + +Mr. Mills was listening to this with some attention. Here he +laughed dryly. + +"That is capital, then," he said. "You were right and I was wrong. God, +Taynton, it's your manner you know, there's something of the country +parson about you that is wonderfully convincing. You seem sincere without +being sanctimonious. Why, if I was to ask young Assheton to look into his +affairs for himself, he would instantly think there was something wrong, +and that I was trying bluff. But when you do the same thing, that simple +and perfectly correct explanation never occurs to him." + +"No, dear Morris trusts me very completely," said Taynton. "But, then, +if I may continue my little review of the situation, as it now stands, +you and your talk with Sir Richard have vastly decreased the danger of +his marrying. For, to be frank, I should not feel at all secure if that +happened. Miss Templeton is an heiress herself, and Morris might easily +take it into his head to spend ten or fifteen thousand pounds in building +a house or buying an estate, and though I think I have guarded against +his requiring an account of our stewardship, I can't prevent his wishing +to draw a large sum of money. But your brilliant manoeuvre may, we hope, +effectually put a stop to the danger of his marrying Miss Templeton, +and since I am convinced he is in love with her, why"--Mr. Taynton put +his plump finger-tips together and raised his kind eyes to the +ceiling--"why, the chance of his wanting to marry anybody else is +postponed anyhow, till, till he has got over this unfortunate attachment. +In fact, my dear fellow, there is no longer anything immediate to fear, +and I feel sure that before many weeks are up, the misfortunes and ill +luck which for the last two years have dogged us with such incredible +persistency will be repaired." + +Mills said nothing for the moment but splashed himself out a liberal +allowance of brandy into his glass, and mixed it with a somewhat more +carefully measured ration of soda. He was essentially a sober man, but +that was partly due to the fact that his head was as impervious to +alcohol as teak is to water, and it was his habit to indulge in two, and +those rather stiff, brandies and sodas of an evening. He found that they +assisted and clarified thought. + +"I wish to heaven you hadn't found it necessary to let young Assheton +know that his £30,000 had increased to £40,000," he said. "That's £10,000 +more to get back." + +"Ah, it was just that which gave him, so he thought, such good cause for +reposing complete confidence in me," remarked Mr. Taynton. "But as you +say, it is £10,000 more to get back, and I should not have told him, were +not certain ledgers of earlier years so extremely, extremely unmistakable +on the subject." + +"But if he is not going to look at ledgers at all--" began Mills. + +"Ah, the concealment of that sort of thing is one of the risks which it +is not worth while to take," said the other, dropping for a moment the +deferential attitude. + +Mills was silent again. Then: + +"Have you bought that option in Boston Coppers," he asked. + +"Yes; I bought to-day." + +Mills glanced at the clock as Mr. Taynton rose to go. + +"Still only a quarter to twelve," he said. "If you have time, you might +give me a detailed statement. I hardly know what you have done. It won't +take a couple of minutes." + +Mr. Taynton glanced at the clock likewise, and then put down his +hat again. + +"I can just spare the time," he said, "but I must get home by twelve; I +have unfortunately come out without my latchkey, and I do not like +keeping the servants up." + +He pressed his fingers over his eyes a moment and then spoke. + + * * * * * + +Ten minutes later he was in the bird-cage of the lift again, and by +twelve he had been admitted into his own house, apologising most amiably +to his servant for having kept him up. There were a few letters for him +and he opened and read those, then lit his bed-candle and went upstairs, +but instead of undressing, sat for a full quarter of an hour in his +armchair thinking. Then he spoke softly to himself. + +"I think dear Mills means mischief in some way," he said. "But really for +the moment it puzzles me to know what. However, I shall see tomorrow. Ah, +I wonder if I guess!" + +Then he went to bed, but contrary to custom did not get to sleep for a +long time. But when he did there was a smile on his lips; a patient +contented smile. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Mr. Taynton's statement to his partner, which had taken him so few +minutes to give, was of course concerned only with the latest financial +operation which he had just embarked in, but for the sake of the reader +it will be necessary to go a little further back, and give quite shortly +the main features of the situation in which he and his partner found +themselves placed. + +Briefly then, just two years ago, at the time peace was declared in South +Africa, the two partners of Taynton and Mills had sold out £30,000 of +Morris Assheton's securities, which owing to their excellent management +was then worth £40,000, and seeing a quite unrivalled opportunity of +making their fortunes, had become heavy purchasers of South African +mines, for they reasoned that with peace once declared it was absolutely +certain that prices would go up. But, as is sometimes the way with +absolute certainties, the opposite had happened and they had gone down. +They cut their loss, however, and proceeded to buy American rails. In six +months they had entirely repaired the damage, and seeing further +unrivalled opportunities from time to time, in buying motorcar shares, in +running a theatre and other schemes, had managed a month ago to lose all +that was left of the £30,000. Being, therefore, already so deeply +committed, it was mere prudence, the mere instinct of self-preservation +that had led them to sell out the remaining £10,000, and to-day Mr. +Taynton had bought an option in Boston Copper with it. The manner of an +option is as follows: + +Boston Copper to-day was quoted at £5 10S 6d, and by paying a premium of +twelve shillings and sixpence per share, they were entitled to buy Boston +Copper shares any time within the next three months at a price of £6 3s. +Supposing therefore (as Mr. Taynton on very good authority had supposed) +that Boston Copper, a rapidly improving company, rose a couple of points +within the next three months, and so stood at £7 10S 6d; he had the right +of exercising his option and buying them at £6 3S thus making £1 7S 6d +per share. But a higher rise than this was confidently expected, and +Taynton, though not really of an over sanguine disposition, certainly +hoped to make good the greater part if not all of their somewhat large +defalcations. He had bought an option of 20,000 shares, the option of +which cost (or would cost at the end of those months) rather over +£10,000. In other words, the moment that the shares rose to a price +higher than £6 3s, all further appreciation was pure gain. If they did +not rise so high, he would of course not exercise the option, and +sacrifice the money. + +That was certainly a very unpleasant thing to contemplate, but it had +been more unpleasant when, so far as he knew, Morris was on the verge of +matrimony, and would then step into the management of his own affairs. +But bad though it all was, the situation had certainly been immensely +ameliorated this evening, since on the one hand his partner had, it was +not unreasonable to hope, said to Madge's father things about Morris that +made his marriage with Madge exceedingly unlikely, while on the other +hand, even if it happened, his affairs, according to his own wish, would +remain in Mr. Taynton's hands with the same completeness as heretofore. +It would, of course, be necessary to pay him his income, and though this +would be a great strain on the finances of the two partners, it was +manageable. Besides (Mr. Taynton sincerely hoped that this would not be +necessary) the money which was Mrs. Assheton's for her lifetime was in +his hands also, so if the worst came to the worst-- + +Now the composition and nature of the extraordinary animal called man is +so unexpected and unlikely that any analysis of Mr. Taynton's character +may seem almost grotesque. It is a fact nevertheless that his was a +nature capable of great things, it is also a fact that he had long ago +been deeply and bitterly contrite for the original dishonesty of using +the money of his client. But by aid of those strange perversities of +nature, he had by this time honestly and sincerely got to regard all +their subsequent employments of it merely as efforts on his part to make +right an original wrong. He wanted to repair his fault, and it seemed to +him that to commit it again was the only means at his disposal for doing +so. A strain, too, of Puritan piety was bound up in the constitution of +his soul, and in private life he exercised high morality, and was also +kind and charitable. He belonged to guilds and societies that had as +their object the improvement and moral advancement of young men. He was a +liberal patron of educational schemes, he sang a fervent and fruity tenor +in the choir of St. Agnes, he was a regular communicant, his nature +looked toward good, and turned its eyes away from evil. To do him justice +he was not a hypocrite, though, if all about him were known, and a +plebiscite taken, it is probable that he would be unanimously condemned. +Yet the universal opinion would be wrong: he was no hypocrite, but only +had the bump of self-preservation enormously developed. He had cheated +and swindled, but he was genuinely opposed to cheating and swindling. He +was cheating and swindling now, in buying the option of Boston Copper. +But he did not know that: he wanted to repair the original wrong, to hand +back to Morris his fortune unimpaired, and also to save himself. But of +these two wants, the second, it must be confessed, was infinitely the +stronger. To save himself there was perhaps nothing that he would stick +at. However, it was his constant wish and prayer that he might not be led +into temptation. He knew well what his particular temptation was, namely +this instinct of self-preservation, and constantly thought and meditated +about it. He knew that he was hardly himself when the stress of it came +on him; it was like a possession. + +Mills, though an excellent partner and a man of most industrious habits, +had, so Mr. Taynton would have admitted, one little weak spot. He never +was at the office till rather late in the morning. True, when he came, he +soon made up for lost time, for he was possessed, as we have seen, of a +notable quickness and agility of mind, but sometimes Taynton found that +he was himself forced to be idle till Mills turned up, if his signature +or what not was required for papers before work could be further +proceeded with. This, in fact, was the case next morning, and from half +past eleven Mr. Taynton had to sit idly in his office, as far as the work +of the firm was concerned until his partner arrived. It was a little +tiresome that this should happen to-day, because there was nothing else +that need detain him, except those deeds for the execution of which his +partner's signature was necessary, and he could, if only Mills had been +punctual, have gone out to Rottingdean before lunch, and inspected the +Church school there in the erection of which he had taken so energetic an +interest. Timmins, however, the gray-haired old head clerk, was in the +office with him, and Mr. Taynton always liked a chat with Timmins. + +"And the grandson just come home, has he Mr. Timmins?" he was saying. "I +must come and see him. Why he'll be six years old, won't he, by now?" + +"Yes, sir, turned six." + +"Dear me, how time goes on! The morning is going on, too, and still Mr. +Mills isn't here." + +He took a quill pen and drew a half sheet of paper toward him, poised +his pen a moment and then wrote quickly. + +"What a pity I can't sign for him," he said, passing his paper over to +the clerk. "Look at that; now even you, Timmins, though you have seen Mr. +Mills's handwriting ten thousand times, would be ready to swear that the +signature was his, would you not?" + +Timmins looked scrutinisingly at it. + +"Well, I'm sure, sir! What a forger you would have made!" he said +admiringly. "I would have sworn that was Mr. Mills's own hand of write. +It's wonderful, sir." + +Mr. Taynton sighed, and took the paper again. + +"Yes, it is like, isn't it?" he said, "and it's so easy to do. Luckily +forgers don't know the way to forge properly." + +"And what might that be, sir?" asked Timmins. + +"Why, to throw yourself mentally into the nature of the man whose +handwriting you wish to forge. Of course one has to know the handwriting +thoroughly well, but if one does that one just has to visualise it, and +then, as I said, project oneself into the other, not laboriously copy the +handwriting. Let's try another. Ah, who is that letter from? Mrs. +Assheton isn't it. Let me look at the signature just once again." + +Mr. Taynton closed his eyes a moment after looking at it. Then he took +his quill, and wrote quickly. + +"You would swear to that, too, would you not, Timmins?" he asked. + +"Why, God bless me yes, sir," said he. "Swear to it on the book." + +The door opened and as Godfrey Mills came in, Mr. Taynton tweaked the +paper out of Timmins's hand, and tore it up. It might perhaps seem +strange to dear Mills that his partner had been forging his signature, +though only in jest. + +"'Fraid I'm rather late," said Mills. + +"Not at all, my dear fellow," said Taynton without the slightest touch of +ill-humour. "How are you? There's very little to do; I want your +signature to this and this, and your careful perusal of that. Mrs. +Assheton's letter? No, that only concerns me; I have dealt with it." + +A quarter of an hour was sufficient, and at the end Timmins carried the +papers away leaving the two partners together. Then, as soon as the door +closed, Mills spoke. + +"I've been thinking over our conversation of last night," he said, "and +there are some points I don't think you have quite appreciated, which I +should like to put before you." + +Something inside Mr. Taynton's brain, the same watcher perhaps who looked +at Morris so closely the evening before, said to him. "He is going to try +it on." But it was not the watcher but his normal self that answered. He +beamed gently on his partner. + +"My dear fellow, I might have been sure that your quick mind would have +seen new aspects, new combinations," he said. + +Mills leaned forward over the table. + +"Yes, I have seen new aspects, to adopt your words," he said, "and I will +put them before you. These financial operations, shall we call them, have +been going on for two years now, have they not? You began by losing a +large sum in South Africans--" + +"We began," corrected Mr. Taynton, gently. He was looking at the other +quite calmly; his face expressed no surprise at all; if there was +anything in his expression beyond that of quiet kindness, it was +perhaps pity. + +"I said 'you,'" said Mills in a hectoring tone, "and I will soon explain +why. You lost a large sum in South Africans, but won it back again in +Americans. You then again, and again contrary to my advice, embarked in +perfect wild-cat affairs, which ended in our--I say 'our' here--getting +severely scratched and mauled. Altogether you have frittered away +£30,000, and have placed the remaining ten in a venture which to my mind +is as wild as all the rest of your unfortunate ventures. These +speculations have, almost without exception, been choices of your own, +not mine. That was _one_ of the reasons why I said 'you,' not 'we.'" + +He paused a moment. + +"Another reason is," he said, "because without any exception the +transactions have taken place on your advice and in your name, not in +mine." + +That was a sufficiently meaning statement, but Mills did not wish his +partner to be under any misapprehension as to what he implied. + +"In other words," he said, "I can deny absolutely all knowledge of the +whole of those operations." + +Mr. Taynton gave a sudden start, as if the significance of this had only +this moment dawned on him, as if he had not understood the first +statement. Then he seemed to collect himself. + +"You can hardly do that," he said, "as I hold letters of yours which +imply such knowledge." + +Mills smiled rather evilly. + +"Ah, it is not worth while bluffing," he said. "I have never written such +a letter to you. You know it. Is it likely I should?" + +Mr. Taynton apparently had no reply to this. But he had a question to +ask. + +"Why are you taking up this hostile and threatening attitude?" + +"I have not meant to be hostile, and I have certainly not threatened," +replied Mills. "I have put before you, quite dispassionately I hope, +certain facts. Indeed I should say it was you who had threatened in the +matter of those letters, which, unhappily, have never existed at all. I +will proceed. + +"Now what has been my part in this affair? I have observed you lost +money in speculations of which I disapproved, but you always knew best. +I have advanced money to you before now to tide over embarrassments that +would otherwise have been disastrous. By the exercise of diplomacy--or +lying--yesterday, I averted a very grave danger. I point out to you also +that there is nothing to implicate me in these--these fraudulent +employments of a client's money. So I ask, where I come in? What do I +get by it?" + +Mr. Taynton's hands were trembling as he fumbled at some papers on his +desk. + +"You know quite well that we are to share all profits?" he said. + +"Yes, but at present there have not been any. I have been, to put it +plainly, pulling you out of holes. And I think--I think my trouble ought +to be remunerated. I sincerely hope you will take that view also. Or +shall I remind you again that there is nothing in the world to connect me +with these, well, frauds?" + +Mr. Taynton got up from his chair, strolled across to the window where he +drew down the blind a little, so as to shut out the splash of sunlight +that fell on his table. + +"You have been betting again, I suppose," he asked quietly. + +"Yes, and have been unfortunate. Pray do not trouble to tell me again how +foolish it is to gamble like that. You may be right. I have no doubt you +are right. But I think one has as much right to gamble with one's own +money as to do so with the money of other people." + +This apparently seemed unanswerable; anyhow Mr. Taynton made no reply. +Then, having excluded the splash of sunlight he sat down again. + +"You have not threatened, you tell me," he said, "but you have pointed +out to me that there is no evidence that you have had a hand in certain +transactions. You say that I know you have helped me in these +transactions; you say you require remuneration for your services. Does +not that, I ask, imply a threat? Does it not mean that you are +blackmailing me? Else why should you bring these facts--I do not dispute +them--to my notice? Supposing I refuse you remuneration?" + +Mills had noted the signs of agitation and anxiety. He felt that he was +on safe ground. The blackmailer lives entirely on the want of courage in +his victims. + +"You will not, I hope, refuse me remuneration," he said. "I have not +threatened you yet, because I feel sure you will be wise. I might, of +course, subsequently threaten you." + +Again there was silence. Mr. Taynton had picked up a quill pen, the same +with which he had been writing before, for the nib was not yet dry. + +"The law is rather severe on blackmailers," he remarked. + +"It is. Are you going to bring an action against me for blackmail? Will +not that imply the re-opening of--of certain ledgers, which we agreed +last night had better remain shut?" + +Again there was silence. There was a completeness in this reasoning which +rendered comment superfluous. + +"How much do you want?" asked Mr. Taynton. + +Mills was not so foolish as to "breathe a sigh of relief." But he +noted with satisfaction that there was no sign of fight in his +adversary and partner. + +"I want two thousand pounds," he said, "at once." + +"That is a large sum." + +"It is. If it were a small sum I should not trouble you." + +Mr. Taynton again got up and strayed aimlessly about the room. + +"I can't give it you to-day," he said. "I shall have to sell out +some stock." + +"I am not unreasonable about a reasonable delay," said Mills. + +"You are going to town this afternoon?" + +"Yes, I must. There is a good deal of work to be done. It will take me +all to-morrow." + +"And you will be back the day after to-morrow?" + +"Yes, I shall be back here that night, that is to say, I shall not get +away from town till the afternoon. I should like your definite answer +then, if it is not inconvenient. I could come and see you that night, the +day after to-morrow--if you wished." + +Mr. Taynton thought over this with his habitual deliberation. + +"You will readily understand that all friendly relations between us are +quite over," he said. "You have done a cruel and wicked thing, but I +don't see how I can resist it. I should like, however, to have a little +further talk about it, for which I have not time now." + +Mills rose. + +"By all means," he said. "I do not suppose I shall be back here till nine +in the evening. I have had no exercise lately, and I think very likely I +shall get out of the train at Falmer, and walk over the downs." + +Mr. Taynton's habitual courtesy came to his aid. He would have been +polite to a thief or a murderer, if he met him socially. + +"Those cool airs of the downs are very invigorating." he said. "I will +not expect you therefore till half past nine that night. I shall dine at +home, and be alone." + +"Thanks. I must be going. I shall only just catch my train to town." + +Mills nodded a curt gesture of farewell, and left the room, and when he +had gone Mr. Taynton sat down again in the chair by the table, and +remained there some half hour. He knew well the soundness of his +partner's reasoning; all he had said was fatally and abominably true. +There was no way out of it. Yet to pay money to a blackmailer was, to the +legal mind, a confession of guilt. Innocent people, unless they were +abject fools, did not pay blackmail. They prosecuted the blackmailer. Yet +here, too, Mills's simple reasoning held good. He could not prosecute the +blackmailer, since he was not in the fortunate position of being +innocent. But if you paid a blackmailer once, you were for ever in his +power. Having once yielded, it was necessary to yield again. He must get +some assurance that no further levy would take place. He must satisfy +himself that he would be quit of all future danger from this quarter. Yet +from whence was such assurance to come? He might have it a hundred times +over in Godfrey Mills's handwriting, but he could never produce that as +evidence, since again the charge of fraudulent employment of clients' +money would be in the air. No doubt, of course, the blackmailer would be +sentenced, but the cause of blackmail would necessarily be public. No, +there was no way out. + +Two thousand pounds, though! Frugally and simply as he lived, that was to +him a dreadful sum, and represented the savings of at least eighteen +months. This meant that there was for him another eighteen months of +work, just when he hoped to see his retirement coming close to him. Mills +demanded that he should work an extra year and a half, and out of those +few years that in all human probability still remained to him in this +pleasant world. Yet there was no way out! + +Half an hour's meditation convinced him of this, and, as was his sensible +plan, when a thing was inevitable, he never either fought against it nor +wasted energy in regretting it. And he went slowly out of the office into +which he had come so briskly an hour or two before. But his face +expressed no sign of disquieting emotion; he nodded kindly to Timmins, +and endorsed his desire to be allowed to come and see the grandson. If +anything was on his mind, or if he was revolving some policy for the +future, it did not seem to touch or sour that kindly, pleasant face. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Mr. Taynton did not let these very unpleasant occurrences interfere with +the usual and beneficent course of his life, but faced the crisis with +that true bravery that not only meets a thing without flinching, but +meets it with the higher courage of cheerfulness, serenity and ordinary +behaviour. He spent the rest of the day in fact in his usual manner, +enjoying his bathe before lunch, his hour of the paper and the quiet +cigar afterward, his stroll over the springy turf of the downs, and he +enjoyed also the couple of hours of work that brought him to dinner time. +Then afterward he spent his evening, as was his weekly custom, at the +club for young men which he had founded, where instead of being exposed +to the evening lures of the sea-front and the public house, they could +spend (on payment of a really nominal subscription) a quieter and more +innocent hour over chess, bagatelle and the illustrated papers, or if +more energetically disposed, in the airy gymnasium adjoining the +reading-room, where they could indulge in friendly rivalry with boxing +gloves or single-stick, or feed the appetites of their growing muscles +with dumb-bells and elastic contrivances. Mr. Taynton had spent a couple +of hours there, losing a game of chess to one youthful adversary, but +getting back his laurels over bagatelle, and before he left, had arranged +for a geological expedition to visit, on the Whitsuntide bank holiday +next week, the curious raised beach which protruded so remarkably from +the range of chalk downs some ten miles away. + +On returning home, it is true he had deviated a little from his usual +habits, for instead of devoting the half-hour before bed-time to the +leisurely perusal of the evening paper, he had merely given it one +glance, observing that copper was strong and that Boston Copper in +particular had risen half a point, and had then sat till bed-time doing +nothing whatever, a habit to which he was not generally addicted. + +He was seated in his office next morning and was in fact on the point of +leaving for his bathe, for this hot genial June was marching on its sunny +way uninterrupted by winds or rain, when Mr. Timmins, after discreetly +tapping, entered, and closed the door behind him. + +"Mr. Morris Assheton, sir, to see you," he said. "I said I would find +out if you were disengaged, and could hardly restrain him from coming in +with me. The young gentleman seems very excited and agitated. Hardly +himself, sir." + +"Indeed, show him in," said Mr. Taynton. + +A moment afterward the door burst open and banged to again behind Morris. +High colour flamed in his face, his black eyes sparkled with vivid +dangerous light, and he had no salutation for his old friend. + +"I've come on a very unpleasant business," he said, his voice not +in control. + +Mr. Taynton got up. He had only had one moment of preparation and he +thought, at any rate, that he knew for certain what this unpleasant +business must be. Evidently Mills had given him away. For what reason he +had done so he could not guess; after his experience of yesterday it +might have been from pure devilry, or again he might have feared that in +desperation, Taynton would take that extreme step of prosecuting him for +blackmail. But, for that moment Taynton believed that Morris's agitation +must be caused by this, and it says much for the iron of his nerve that +he did not betray himself by a tremor. + +"My dear Morris," he said, "I must ask you to pull yourself together. You +are out of your own control. Sit down, please, and be silent for a +minute. Then tell me calmly what is the matter." + +Morris sat down as he was told, but the calmness was not conspicuous. + +"Calm?" he said. "Would you be calm in my circumstances, do you think?" + +"You have not yet told me what they are," said Mr. Taynton. + +"I've just seen Madge Templeton," he said. "I met her privately by +appointment. And she told me--she told me--" + +Master of himself though he was, Mr. Taynton had one moment of +physical giddiness, so complete and sudden was the revulsion and +reaction that took place in his brain. A moment before he had known, +he thought, for certain that his own utter ruin was imminent. Now he +knew that it was not that, and though he had made one wrong conjecture +as to what the unpleasant business was, he did not think that his +second guess was far astray. + +"Take your time, Morris," he said. "And, my dear boy, try to calm +yourself. You say I should not be calm in your circumstances. Perhaps I +should not, but I should make an effort. Tell me everything slowly, +omitting nothing." + +This speech, combined with the authoritative personality of Mr. Taynton, +had an extraordinary effect on Morris. He sat quiet a moment or two, +then spoke. + +"Yes, you are quite right," he said, "and after all I have only +conjecture to go on yet, and I have been behaving as if it was proved +truth. God! if it is proved to be true, though, I'll expose him, +I'll--I'll horsewhip him, I'll murder him!" + +Mr. Taynton slapped the table with his open hand. + +"Now, Morris, none of these wild words," he said. "I will not listen to +you for a moment, if you do not control yourself." + +Once again, and this time more permanently the man's authority +asserted itself. Morris again sat silent for a time, then spoke evenly +and quietly. + +"Two nights ago you were dining with us," he said, "and Madge was there. +Do you remember my asking her if I might come to see them, and she said +she and her mother would be out all day?" + +"Yes; I remember perfectly," said Mr. Taynton. + +"Well, yesterday afternoon I was motoring by the park, and I saw Madge +sitting on the lawn. I stopped the motor and watched. She sat there for +nearly an hour, and then Sir Richard came out of the house and they +walked up and down the lawn together." + +"Ah, you must have been mistaken," said Mr. Taynton. "I know the spot you +mean on the road, where you can see the lawn, but it's half a mile off. +It must have been some friend of hers perhaps staying in the house." + +Morris shook his head. + +"I was not mistaken," he said. "For yesterday evening I got a note from +her, saying she had posted it secretly, but that she must see me, though +she was forbidden to do so, or to hold any communication with me." + +"Forbidden?" ejaculated Mr. Taynton. + +"Yes, forbidden. Well, this morning I went to the place she named, +outside on the downs beyond the park gate and saw her. Somebody has been +telling vile lies about me to her father. I think I know who it is." + +Mr. Taynton held up his hand. + +"Stop," he said, "let us have your conjecture afterward. Tell me first +not what you guess, but what happened. Arrange it all in your mind, tell +it me as connectedly as you can." + +Morris paused a moment. + +"Well, I met Madge as I told you, and this was her story. Three days ago +she and her father and mother were at lunch, and they had been talking in +the most friendly way about me, and it was arranged to ask me to spend +all yesterday with them. Madge, as you know, the next night was dining +with us, and it was agreed that she should ask me verbally. After lunch +she and her father went out riding, and when they returned they found +that your partner Mills, had come to call. He stayed for tea, and after +tea had a talk alone with Sir Richard, while she and her mother sat out +on the lawn. Soon after he had gone, Sir Richard sent for Lady Templeton, +and it was nearly dressing-time when she left him again. She noticed at +dinner that both her father and mother seemed very grave, and when Madge +went up to bed, her mother said that perhaps they had better not ask me +over, as there was some thought of their being away all day. Also if I +suggested coming over, when Madge dined with us, she was to give that +excuse. That was all she was told for the time being." + +Morris paused again. + +"You are telling this very clearly and well, my dear boy," said the +lawyer, very gravely and kindly. + +"It is so simple," said he with a biting emphasis. "Then next morning +after breakfast her father sent for her. He told her that they had +learned certain things about me which made them think it better not to +see any more of me. What they were, she was not told, but, I was not, it +appeared, the sort of person with whom they chose to associate. Now, +before God, those things that they were told, whatever they were, were +lies. I lead a straight and sober life." + +Mr. Taynton was attending very closely. + +"Thank God, Madge did not believe a word of it," said Morris, his face +suddenly flushing, "and like a brick, and a true friend she wrote at once +to me, as I said, in order to tell me all this. We talked over, too, who +it could have been who had said these vile things to her father. There +was only one person who could. She had ridden with her father till +tea-time. Then came your partner. Sir Richard saw nobody else; nobody +else called that afternoon; no post came in." + +Mr. Taynton had sprung up and was walking up and down the room in great +agitation. + +"I can't believe that," he said. "There must be some other explanation. +Godfrey Mills say those things about you! It is incredible. My dear boy, +until it is proved, you really must not let yourself believe that to be +possible. You can't believe such wickedness against a man, one, too, whom +I have known and trusted for years, on no evidence. There is no direct +evidence yet. Let us leave that alone for the moment. What are you going +to do now?" + +"I came here to see him," said Morris. "But I am told he is away. So I +thought it better to tell you." + +"Yes, quite right. And what else?" + +"I have written to Sir Richard, demanding, in common justice, that he +should see me, should tell me what he has heard against me, and who told +him. I don't think he will refuse. I don't see how he can refuse. I have +asked him to see me to-morrow afternoon." + +Mr. Taynton mentally examined this in all its bearings. Apparently it +satisfied him. + +"You have acted wisely and providently," he said. "But I want to beg you, +until you have definite information, to forbear from thinking that my +dear Mills could conceivably have been the originator of these scandalous +tales, tales which I know from my knowledge of you are impossible to be +true. From what I know of him, however, it is impossible he could have +said such things. I cannot believe him capable of a mean or deceitful +action, and that he should be guilty of such unfathomable iniquity is +simply out of the question. You must assume him innocent till his guilt +is proved." + +"But who else could it have been?" cried Morris, his voice rising again. + +"It could not have been he," said Taynton firmly. + +There was a long silence; then Morris rose. + +"There is one thing more," he said, "which is the most important of all. +This foul scandal about me, of course, I know will be cleared up, and I +shall be competent to deal with the offender. But--but Madge and I said +other things to each other. I told her what I told you, that I loved her. +And she loves me." + +The sternness, the trouble, the anxiety all melted from Mr. +Taynton's face. + +"Ah, my dear fellow, my dear fellow," he said with outstretched hands. +"Thank you for telling me. I am delighted, overjoyed, and indeed, as you +say, that is far more important than anything else. My dear Morris, and +is not your mother charmed?" + +Morris shook his head. + +"I have not told her yet, and I shall not till this is cleared up. It is +her birthday the day after to-morrow; perhaps I shall be able to tell +her then." + +He rose. + +"I must go," he said. "And I will do all I can to keep my mind off +accusing him, until I know. But when I think of it, I see red." + +Mr. Taynton patted his shoulder affectionately. + +"I should have thought that you had got something to think about, which +would make it easy for you to prevent your thoughts straying +elsewhere," he said. + +"I shall need all the distractions I can get," said Morris rather grimly. + + * * * * * + +Morris walked quickly back along the sea front toward Sussex Square, and +remembered as he went that he had not yet bought any gift for his mother +on her birthday. There was something, too, which she had casually said a +day or two ago that she wanted, what was it? Ah, yes, a new blotting-book +for her writing-table in the drawing-room. The shop she habitually dealt +at for such things, a branch of Asprey's, was only a few yards farther +on, and he turned in to make inquiries as to whether she had ordered it. +It appeared that she had been in that very morning, but the parcel had +not been sent yet. So Morris, taking the responsibility on himself, +counterordered the plain red morocco book she had chosen, and chose +another, with fine silver scrollwork at the corners. He ordered, too, +that a silver lettered inscription should be put on it. "H.A. from M.A." +with the date, two days ahead, "June 24th, l905." This he gave +instructions should be sent to the house on the morning of June 24th, the +day after to-morrow. He wished it to be sent so as to arrive with the +early post on that morning. + + * * * * * + +The promise which Morris had made his old friend not to let his thoughts +dwell on suspicion and conjecture as yet uncertain of foundation was one +of those promises which are made in absolute good faith, but which in +their very nature cannot be kept. The thought of the hideous treachery, +the gratuitous falsehood, of which, in his mind, he felt convinced +Godfrey Mills had been guilty was like blood soaking through a bandage. +All that he could do was to continue putting on fresh bandages--that was +all of his promise that he was able to fulfill, and in spite of the +bandages the blood stained and soaked its way through. In the afternoon +he took out the motor, but his joy in it for the time was dead, and it +was only because in the sense of pace and swift movement he hoped to find +a narcotic to thought, that he went out at all. But there was no narcotic +there, nor even in the thought of this huge joy of love that had dawned +on him was there forgetfulness for all else, joy and sorrow and love, +were for the present separated from him by these hideous and libellous +things that had been said about him. Until they were removed, until they +passed into non-existence again, nothing had any significance for him. +Everything was coloured with them; bitterness as of blood tinged +everything. Hours, too, must pass before they could be removed; this long +midsummer day had to draw to its end, night had to pass; the hour of +early dawn, the long morning had to be numbered with the past before he +could even learn who was responsible for this poisoned tale. + +And when he learned, or rather when his conjecture was confirmed as to +who it was (for his supposition was conjecture in the sense that it only +wanted the actual seal of reality on it) what should he do next? Or +rather what must he do next? He felt that when he knew absolutely for +certain who had said this about him, a force of indignation and hatred, +which at present he kept chained up, must infallibly break its chain, and +become merely a wild beast let loose. He felt he would be no longer +responsible for what he did, something had to happen; something more than +mere apology or retraction of words. To lie and slander like that was a +crime, an insult against human and divine justice. It would be nothing +for the criminal to say he was sorry; he had to be punished. A man who +did that was not fit to live; he was a man no longer, he was a biting, +poisonous reptile, who for the sake of the community must be expunged. +Yet human justice which hanged people for violent crimes committed under +great provocation, dealt more lightly with this far more devilish thing, +a crime committed coldly and calculatingly, that had planned not the mere +death of his body, but the disgrace and death of his character. Godfrey +Mills--he checked the word and added to himself "if it was he"--had +morally tried to kill him. + +Morris, after his interview that morning with Mr. Taynton, had lunched +alone in Sussex Square, his mother having gone that day up to London for +two nights. His plan had been to go up with her, but he had excused +himself on the plea of business with his trustees, and she had gone +alone. Directly after lunch he had taken the motor out, and had whirled +along the coast road, past Rottingdean through Newhaven and Seaford, and +ten miles farther until the suburbs of Eastbourne had begun. There he +turned, his thoughts still running a mill-race in his head, and retracing +his road had by now come back to within a mile of Brighton again. The sun +gilded the smooth channel, the winds were still, the hot midsummer +afternoon lay heavy on the land. Then he stopped the motor and got out, +telling Martin to wait there. + +He walked over the strip of velvety down grass to the edge of the white +cliffs, and there sat down. The sea below him whispered and crawled, +above the sun was the sole tenant of the sky, and east and west the down +was empty of passengers. He, like his soul, was alone, and alone he had +to think these things out. + +Yes, this liar and slanderer, whoever he was, had tried to kill him. The +attempt had been well-planned too, for the chances had been a thousand to +one in favour of the murderer. But the one chance had turned up, Madge +had loved him, and she had been brave, setting at defiance the order of +her father, and had seen him secretly, and told him all the circumstances +of this attack on him. But supposing she had been just a shade less +brave, supposing her filial obedience had weighed an ounce heavier? Then +he would never have known anything about it. The result would simply have +been, as it was meant to be, that the Templetons were out when he called. +There would have been a change of subject in their rooms when his name +was mentioned, other people would have vaguely gathered that Mr. Morris +Assheton's name was not productive of animated conversation; their +gatherings would have spread further, while he himself, ignorant of all +cause, would have encountered cold shoulders. + +Morris's hands clutched at the short down grass, tearing it up and +scattering it. He was helpless, too, unless he took the law into his own +hands. It would do no good, young as he was, he knew that, to bring any +action for defamation of character, since the world only says, if a man +justifies himself by the only legal means in his power, "There must have +been something in it, since it was said!" No legal remedy, no fines or +even imprisonment, far less apology and retraction satisfied justice. +There were only two courses open: one to regard the slander as a splash +of mud thrown by some vile thing that sat in the gutter, and simply +ignore it; the other to do something himself, to strike, to hit, with his +bodily hands, whatever the result of his violence was. + +He felt his shoulder-muscles rise and brace themselves at the thought, +all the strength and violence of his young manhood, with its firm sinews +and supple joints, told him that it was his willing and active servant +and would do his pleasure. He wanted to smash the jaw bone that had +formed these lies, and he wanted the world to know he had done so. Yet +that was not enough, he wanted to throttle the throat from which the +words had come; the man ought to be killed; it was right to kill him just +as it was right to kill a poisonous snake that somehow disguised itself +as a man, and was received into the houses of men. + +Indeed, should Morris be told, as he felt sure he would be, who his +slanderer and defamer was, that gentleman would be wise to keep out of +his way with him in such a mood. There was danger and death abroad on +this calm hot summer afternoon. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +It was about four o'clock on the afternoon of the following day, and Mr. +Taynton was prolonging his hour of quietude after lunch, and encroaching +thereby into the time he daily dedicated to exercise. It was but seldom +that he broke into the routine of habits so long formed, and indeed the +most violent rain or snow of winter, the most cutting easterly blasts of +March, never, unless he had some definite bodily ailment, kept him +indoors or deprived him of his brisk health-giving trudge over the downs +or along the sea front. But occasionally when the weather was unusually +hot, he granted himself the indulgence of sitting still instead of +walking, and certainly to-day the least lenient judge might say that +there were strong extenuating circumstances in his favour. For the heat +of the past week had been piling itself up, like the heaped waters of +flood and this afternoon was intense in its heat, its stillness and +sultriness. It had been sunless all day, and all day the blanket of +clouds that beset the sky had been gathering themselves into blacker and +more ill-omened density. There would certainly be a thunderstorm before +morning, and the approach of it made Mr. Taynton feel that he really had +not the energy to walk. By and by perhaps he might be tempted to go in +quest of coolness along the sea front, or perhaps later in the evening he +might, as he sometimes did, take a carriage up on to the downs, and come +gently home to a late supper. He would have time for that to-day, for +according to arrangement his partner was to drop in about half past nine +that evening. If he got back at nine, supposing he went at all, he would +have time to have some food before receiving him. + +He sat in a pleasant parquetted room looking out into the small square +garden at the back of his house in Montpellier Road. Big awnings +stretched from the window over the broad gravel path outside, and in +spite of the excessive heat the room was full of dim coolness. There was +but little furniture in it, and it presented the strongest possible +contrast to the appointments of his partner's flat with its heavy +decorations, its somewhat gross luxury. A few water-colours hung on the +white walls, a few Persian rugs strewed the floor, a big bookcase with +china on the top filled one end of the room, his writing-table, a half +dozen of Chippendale chairs, and the chintz-covered sofa where he now lay +practically completed the inventory of the room. Three or four bronzes, a +Narcissus, a fifteenth-century Italian St. Francis, and a couple of +Greek reproductions stood on the chimney-piece, but the whole room +breathed an atmosphere of aesthetic asceticism. + +Since lunch Mr. Taynton had glanced at the paper, and also looked up the +trains from Lewes in order to assure himself that he need not expect his +partner till half past nine, and since then, though his hands and his +eyes had been idle, his mind had been very busy. Yet for all its +business, he had not arrived at much. Morris, Godfrey Mills, and himself; +he had placed these three figures in all sorts of positions in his mind, +and yet every combination of them was somehow terrible and menacing. Try +as he would he could not construct a peaceful or secure arrangement of +them. In whatever way he grouped them there was danger. + +The kitchen passage ran out at right angles to the room in which he sat, +and formed one side of the garden. The windows in it were high up, so +that it did not overlook the flowerbeds, and on this torrid afternoon +they were all fully open. Suddenly from just inside came the fierce +clanging peal of a bell, which made him start from his recumbent +position. It was the front-door bell, as he knew, and as it continued +ringing as if a maniac's grip was on the handle, he heard the steps of +his servant running along the stone floor of the passage to see what +imperative summons this was. Then, as the front door was opened, the bell +ceased as suddenly as it had begun, and the moment afterward he heard +Morris's voice shrill and commanding. + +"But he has got to see me," he cried, "What's the use of you going to ask +if he will?" + +Mr. Taynton went to the door of his room which opened into the hall. + +"Come in, Morris," he said. + +Though it had been Morris's hand which had raised so uncontrolled a +clamour, and his voice that just now had been so uncontrolled, there was +no sign, when the door of Mr. Taynton's room had closed behind them, that +there was any excitement of any sort raging within him. He sat down at +once in a chair opposite the window, and Mr. Taynton saw that in spite of +the heat of the day and the violence of that storm which he knew was +yelling and screaming through his brain, his face was absolutely white. +He sat with his hands on the arms of the Chippendale chair, and they too +were quite still. + +"I have seen Sir Richard," said he, "and I came back at once to see you. +He has told me everything. Godfrey Mills has been lying about me and +slandering me." + +Mr. Taynton sat down heavily on the sofa. + +"No, no; don't say it, don't say it," he murmured. "It can't be true, I +can't believe it." + +"But it is true, and you have got to believe it. He suggested that you +should go and talk it over with him. I will drive you up in the car, if +you wish--" + +Mr. Taynton waved his hand with a negative gesture. + +"No, no, not at once," he cried. "I must think it over. I must get used +to this dreadful, this appalling shock. I am utterly distraught." + +Morris turned to him, and across his face for one moment there shot, +swift as a lightning-flash, a quiver of rage so rabid that he looked +scarcely human, but like some Greek presentment of the Furies or Revenge. +Never, so thought his old friend, had he seen such glorious youthful +beauty so instinct and inspired with hate. It was the demoniacal force of +that which lent such splendour to it. But it passed in a second, and +Morris still very pale, very quiet spoke to him. + +"Where is he?" he asked. "I must see him at once. It won't keep." + +Then he sprang up, his rage again mastering him. + +"What shall I do it with?" he said. "What shall I do it with?" + +For the moment Mr. Taynton forgot himself and his anxieties. + +"Morris, you don't know what you are saying," he cried. "Thank God nobody +but me heard you say that!" + +Morris seemed not to be attending. + +"Where is he?" he said again, "are you concealing him here? I have +already been to your office, and he wasn't there, and to his flat, and he +wasn't there." + +"Thank God," ejaculated the lawyer. + +"By all means if you like. But I've got to see him, you know. +Where is he?" + +"He is away in town," said Mr. Taynton, "but he will be back to-night. +Now attend. Of course you must see him, I quite understand that. But you +mustn't see him alone, while you are like this." + +"No, I don't want to," said Morris. "I should like other people to see +what I've got to--to say to him--that, that partner of yours." + +"He has from this moment ceased to be my partner," said Mr. Taynton +brokenly. "I could never again sign what he has signed, or work with +him, or--or--except once--see him again. He is coming here by +appointment at half-past nine. Suppose that we all meet here. We have +both got to see him." + +Morris nodded and went toward the door. A sudden spasm of anxiety seemed +to seize Mr. Taynton. + +"What are you going to do now?" he asked. + +"I don't know. Drive to Falmer Park perhaps, and tell Sir Richard you +cannot see him immediately. Will you see him to-morrow?" + +"Yes, I will call to-morrow morning. Morris, promise me you will do +nothing rash, nothing that will bring sorrow on all those who love you." + +"I shall bring a little sorrow on a man who hates me," said he. + +He went out, and Mr. Taynton sat down again, his mouth compressed into +hard lines, his forehead heavily frowning. He could not permanently +prevent Morris from meeting Godfrey Mills, besides, it was his right to +do so, yet how fraught with awful risks to himself that meeting would be! +Morris might easily make a violent, even a murderous, assault on the man, +but Mills was an expert boxer and wrestler, science would probably get +the upper hand of blind rage. But how deadly a weapon Mills had in store +against himself; he would certainly tell Morris that if one partner had +slandered him the other, whom he so trusted and revered, had robbed him; +he would say, too, that Taynton had been cognizant of, and had approved, +his slanders. There was no end to the ruin that would certainly be +brought about his head if they met. Mills's train, too, would have left +London by now; there was no chance of stopping him. Then there was +another danger he had not foreseen, and it was too late to stop that now. +Morris was going again to Falmer Park, had indeed started, and that +afternoon Godfrey Mills would get out of the train, as he had planned, at +the station just below, and walk back over the downs to Brighton. What if +they met there, alone? + +For an hour perhaps Mr. Taynton delved at these problems, and at the end +even it did not seem as if he had solved them satisfactorily, for when +he went out of his house, as he did at the end of this time to get a +little breeze if such was obtainable, his face was still shadowed and +overclouded. Overclouded too was the sky, and as he stepped out into the +street from his garden-room the hot air struck him like a buffet; and in +his troubled and apprehensive mood it felt as if some hot hand warned him +by a blow not to venture out of his house. But the house, somehow, in the +last hour had become terrible to him, any movement or action, even on a +day like this, when only madmen and the English go abroad, was better +than the nervous waiting in his darkened room. Dreadful forces, forces of +ruin and murder and disgrace, were abroad in the world of men; the menace +of the low black clouds and stifling heat was more bearable. He wanted to +get away from his house, which was permeated and soaked in association +with the other two actors, who in company with himself, had surely some +tragedy for which the curtain was already rung up. Some dreadful scene +was already prepared for them; the setting and stage were ready, the +prompter, and who was he? was in the box ready to tell them the next line +if any of them faltered. The prompter, surely he was destiny, fate, the +irresistible course of events, with which no man can struggle, any more +than the actor can struggle with or alter the lines that are set down for +him. He may mumble them, he may act dispiritedly and tamely, but he has +undertaken a certain part; he has to go through with it. + +Though it was a populous hour of the day, there were but few people +abroad when Mr. Taynton came out to the sea front; a few cabs stood by +the railings that bounded the broad asphalt path which faced the sea, but +the drivers of these, despairing of fares, were for the most part dozing +on the boxes, or with a more set purpose were frankly slumbering in the +interior. The dismal little wooden shelters that punctuated the parade +were deserted, the pier stretched an untenanted length of boards over the +still, lead-coloured sea, and it seemed as if nature herself was waiting +for some elemental catastrophe. + +And though the afternoon was of such hideous and sultry heat, Mr. +Taynton, though he walked somewhat more briskly than his wont, was +conscious of no genial heat that produced perspiration, and the natural +reaction and cooling of the skin. Some internal excitement and fever of +the brain cut off all external things; the loneliness, the want of +correspondence that fever brings between external and internal +conditions, was on him. At one moment, in spite of the heat, he +shivered, at another he felt that an apoplexy must strike him. + +For some half hour he walked to and fro along the sea-wall, between the +blackness of the sky and the lead-coloured water, and then his thoughts +turned to the downs above this stricken place, where, even in the +sultriest days some breath of wind was always moving. Just opposite him, +on the other side of the road, was the street that led steeply upward to +the station. He went up it. + + * * * * * + +It was about half-past seven o'clock that evening that the storm burst. A +few huge drops of rain fell on the hot pavements, then the rain ceased +again, and the big splashes dried, as if the stones had been blotting +paper that sucked the moisture in. Then without other warning a streamer +of fire split the steeple of St. Agnes's Church, just opposite Mr. +Taynton's house, and the crash of thunder answered it more quickly than +his servant had run to open the door to Morris's furious ringing of the +bell. At that the sluices of heaven were opened, and heaven's artillery +thundered its salvoes to the flare of the reckless storm. In the next +half-hour a dozen houses in Brighton were struck, while the choked +gutters overflowing on to the streets made ravines and waterways down the +roadways. Then the thunder and lightning ceased, but the rain still +poured down relentlessly and windlessly, a flood of perpendicular water. + +Mr. Taynton had gone out without umbrella, and when he let himself in by +his latch-key at his own house-door about half-past eight, it was no +wonder that he wrung out his coat and trousers so that he should not soak +his Persian rugs. But from him, as from the charged skies, some tension +had passed; this tempest which had so cooled the air and restored the +equilibrium of its forces had smoothed the frowning creases of his brow, +and when the servant hurried up at the sound of the banged front-door, he +found his master soaked indeed, but serene. + +"Yes, I got caught by the storm, Williams," he said, "and I am drenched. +The lightning was terrific, was it not? I will just change, and have a +little supper; some cold meat, anything that there is. Yes, you might +take my coat at once." + +He divested himself of this. + +"And I expect Mr. Morris this evening," he said. "He will probably have +dined, but if not I am sure Mrs. Otter will toss up a hot dish for him. +Oh, yes, and Mr. Mills will be here at half-past nine, or even sooner, as +I cannot think he will have walked from Falmer as he intended. But +whenever he comes, I will see him. He has not been here already?" + +"No, sir," said Williams, "Will you have a hot bath, sir?" + +"No, I will just change. How battered the poor garden will look tomorrow +after this deluge." + + * * * * * + +Mr. Taynton changed his wet clothes and half an hour afterwards he sat +down to his simple and excellent supper. Mrs. Otter had provided an +admirable vegetable soup for him, and some cold lamb with asparagus and +endive salad. A macedoine of strawberries followed and a scoop of cheese. +Simple as his fare was, it just suited Mr. Taynton's tastes, and he was +indulging himself with the rather rare luxury of a third glass of port +when Williams entered again. + +"Mr. Assheton," he said, and held the door open. + +Morris came in; he was dressed in evening clothes with a dinner jacket, +and gave no salutation to his host. + +"He's not come yet?" he asked. + +But his host sprang up. + +"Dear boy," he said, "what a relief it is to see you. Ever since you left +this afternoon I have had you on my mind. You will have a glass of port?" + +Morris laughed, a curious jangling laugh. + +"Oh yes, to drink his health," he said. + +He sat down with a jerk, and leaned his elbows on the table. + +"He'll want a lot of health to carry him through this, won't he?" he +asked. + +He drank his glass of port like water, and Mr. Taynton instantly filled +it up again for him. + +"Ah, I remember you don't like port," he said. "What else can I +offer you?" + +"Oh, this will do very well," said Morris. "I am so thirsty." + +"You have dined?" asked his host quietly. + +"No; I don't think I did. I wasn't hungry." + +The Cromwellian clock chimed a remnant half hour. + +"Half-past," said Morris, filling his glass again. "You expect him then, +don't you?" + +"Mills is not always very punctual," said Mr. Taynton. + +For the next quarter of an hour the two sat with hardly the interchange +of a word. From outside came the swift steady hiss of the rain on to +the shrubs in the garden, and again the clock chimed. Morris who at +first had sat very quiet had begun to fidget and stir in his chair; +occasionally when he happened to notice it, he drank off the port with +which Mr. Taynton hospitably kept his glass supplied. Sometimes he +relit a cigarette only to let it go out again. But when the clock +struck he got up. + +"I wonder what has happened," he said. "Can he have missed his train? +What time ought he to have got in?" + +"He was to have got to Falmer," said Mr. Taynton with a little +emphasis on the last word, "at a quarter to seven. He spoke of walking +from there." + +Morris looked at him with a furtive sidelong glance. + +"Why, I--I might have met him there," he said. "I went up there again +after I left you to tell Sir Richard you would call to-morrow." + +"You saw nothing of him?" asked the lawyer. + +"No, of course not. Otherwise--There was scarcely a soul on the road; the +storm was coming up. But he would go by the downs, would he not?" + +"The path over the downs doesn't branch off for a quarter of a mile below +Falmer station," said Mr. Taynton. + +The minutes ticked on till ten. Then Morris went to the door. + +"I shall go round to his rooms to see if he is there," he said. + +"There is no need," said his host, "I will telephone." + +The instrument hung in a corner of the room, and with very little delay, +Mills's servant was rung up. His master had not yet returned, but he had +said that he should very likely be late. + +"And he made an appointment with you for half-past nine?" asked +Morris again. + +"Yes. I cannot think what has happened to detain him." + +Morris went quickly to the door again. + +"I believe it is all a trick," he said, "and you don't want me to meet +him. I believe he is in his rooms the whole time. I shall go and see." + +Before Mr. Taynton could stop him he had opened the front-door and banged +it behind him, and was off hatless and coatless through the pouring +perpendicular rain. + +Mr. Taynton ran to the door, as if to stop him, but Morris was already +halfway down the street, and he went upstairs to the drawing-room. Morris +was altogether unlike himself; this discovery of Mills's treachery seemed +to have changed his nature. Violent and quick he always was, but to-night +he was suspicious, he seemed to distrust Mr. Taynton himself. And, a +thing which his host had never known him do before, he had drunk in that +half hour when they sat waiting, close on a bottle of port. + +The evening paper lay ready cut for him in its accustomed place, but for +some five minutes Mr. Taynton did not appear to notice it, though evening +papers, on the money-market page, might contain news so frightfully +momentous to him. But something, this strangeness in Morris, no doubt, +and his general anxiety and suspense as to how this dreadful knot could +unravel itself, preoccupied him now, and even when he did take up the +paper and turn to the reports of Stock Exchange dealings, he was +conscious of no more than a sort of subaqueous thrill of satisfaction. +For Boston Copper had gone up nearly a point since the closing price of +last night. + +It was not many minutes, however before Morris returned with matted and +streaming hair and drenched clothes. + +"He has not come back," he said. "I went to his rooms and satisfied +myself of that, though I think they thought I was mad. I searched them +you understand; I insisted. I shall go round there again first thing +to-morrow morning, and if he is not there, I shall go up to find him in +town. I can't wait; I simply can't wait." + +Mr. Taynton looked at him gravely, then nodded. + +"No, I guess how you are feeling," he said, "I cannot understand what +has happened to Mills; I hope nothing is wrong. And now, my dear boy, let +me implore you to go straight home, get off your wet things and go to +bed. You will pay heavily for your excitement, if you are not careful." + +"I'll get it out of him." said Morris. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Morris, as Mr. Taynton had advised, though not because he advised it, had +gone straight home to the house in Sussex Square. He had stripped off his +dripping clothes, and then, since this was the line of least resistance +he had gone to bed. He did not feel tired, and he longed with that aching +longing of the son for the mother, that Mrs. Assheton had been here, so +that he could just be in her presence and if he found himself unable to +speak and tell her all the hideous happenings of those last days, let her +presence bring a sort of healing to his tortured mind. But though he was +conscious of no tiredness, he was tired to the point of exhaustion, and +he had hardly got into bed, when he fell fast asleep. Outside, hushing +him to rest, there sounded the sibilant rain, and from the sea below +ripples broke gently and rhythmically on the pebbly beach. Nature, too, +it seemed, was exhausted by that convulsion of the elements that had +turned the evening into a clamorous hell of fire and riot, and now from +very weariness she was weeping herself asleep. + +It was not yet eleven when Morris had got home, and he slept dreamlessly +with that recuperative sleep of youth for some six hours. Then, as within +the secret economy of the brain the refreshment of slumber repaired the +exhaustion of the day before, he began to dream with strange lurid +distinctness, a sort of resurrection dream of which the events of the two +days before supplied the bones and skeleton outline. As in all very vivid +and dreadful dreams the whole vision was connected and coherent, there +were no ludicrous and inconsequent interludes, none of those breakings +of one thread and hurried seizures of another, which though one is +dreaming very distinctly, supply some vague mental comfort, since even to +the sleeper they are reminders that his experiences are not solid but +mere phantasies woven by imperfect consciousness and incomplete control +of thought. It was not thus that Morris dreamed; his dream was of the +solid and sober texture of life. + +He was driving in his motor, he thought, down the road from the house at +Falmer Park, which through the gate of a disused lodge joins the main +road, that leads from Falmer Station to Brighton. He had just heard from +Sir Richard's own lips who it was who had slandered and blackened him, +but, in his dream, he was conscious of no anger. The case had been +referred to some higher power, some august court of supreme authority, +which would certainly use its own instruments for its own vengeance. He +felt he was concerned in the affair no longer; he was but a spectator of +what would be. And, in obedience to some inward dictation, he drove his +motor on to the grass behind the lodge, so that it was concealed from the +road outside, and walked along the inside of the park-palings, which ran +parallel with it. + +The afternoon, it seemed, was very dark, though the atmosphere was +extraordinarily clear, and after walking along the springy grass inside +the railings for some three hundred yards, where was the southeastern +corner of the park enclosure, he stopped at the angle and standing on +tip-toe peered over them, for they were nearly six feet high, and looked +into the road below. It ran straight as a billiard-cue just here, and was +visible for a long distance, but at the corner, just outside the +palings, the footpath over the downs to Brighton left the road, and +struck upward. On the other side of the road ran the railway, and in this +clear dark air, Morris could see with great distinctness Falmer Station +some four hundred yards away, along a stretch of the line on the other +side of it. + +As he looked he saw a puff of steam rise against the woods beyond the +station, and before long a train, going Brightonward, clashed into the +station. Only one passenger got out, and he came out of the station into +the road. He was quite recognisable even at this distance. In his dream +Morris felt that he expected to see him get out of the train, and walk +along the road; the whole thing seemed pre-ordained. But he ceased +tiptoeing to look over the paling; he could hear the passenger's steps +when he came nearer. + +He thought he waited quietly, squatting down on the mossy grass behind +the paling. Something in his hands seemed angry, for his fingers kept +tearing up the short turf, and the juice of the severed stems was red +like blood. Then in the gathering darkness he heard the tip-tap of +footsteps on the highway. But it never occurred to him that this +passenger would continue on the highroad; he was certainly going over the +downs to Brighton. + +The air was quite windless, but at this moment Morris heard the boughs of +the oak-tree immediately above him stir and shake, and looking up he saw +Mr. Taynton sitting in a fork of the tree. That, too, was perfectly +natural; Mr. Taynton was Mills's partner; he was there as a sort of +umpire. He held a glass of port wine in one hand, and was sipping it in a +leisurely manner, and when Morris looked up at him, he smiled at him, +but put his finger to his lips, as if recommending silence. And as the +steps on the road outside sounded close he turned a meaning glance in the +direction of the road. From where he sat high in the tree, it was plain +to Morris that he must command the sight of the road, and was, in his +friendly manner, directing operations. + +Suddenly the sound of the steps ceased, and Morris wondered for the +moment whether Mills had stopped. But looking up again, he saw Mr. +Taynton's head twisted round to the right, still looking over the +palings. But Morris found at once that the footsteps were noiseless, not +because the walker had paused, but because they were inaudible on the +grass. He had left the road, as the dreamer felt certain he would, and +was going over the downs to Brighton. At that Morris got up, and still +inside the park railings, followed in the direction he had gone. Then +for the first time in his dream, he felt angry, and the anger grew to +rage, and the rage to quivering madness. Next moment he had vaulted the +fence, and sprang upon the walker from behind. He dealt him blows with +some hard instrument, belabouring his head, while with his left hand he +throttled his throat so that he could not scream. Only a few were +necessary, for he knew that each blow went home, since all the savage +youthful strength of shoulder and loose elbow directed them. Then he +withdrew his left hand from the throttled throat of the victim who had +ceased to struggle, and like a log he fell back on to the grass, and +Morris for the first time looked on his face. It was not Mills at all; it +was Mr. Taynton. + + * * * * * + +The terror plucked him from his sleep; for a moment he wrestled and +struggled to raise his head from the pillow and loosen the clutch of the +night-hag who had suddenly seized him, and with choking throat and +streaming brow he sat up in bed. Even then his dream was more real to him +than the sight of his own familiar room, more real than the touch of +sheet and blanket or the dew of anguish which his own hand wiped from his +forehead and throat. Yet, what was his dream? Was it merely some +subconscious stringing together of suggestions and desires and events +vivified in sleep to a coherent story (all but that recognition of Mr. +Taynton, which was nightmare pure and simple), or _had it happened_? + +With waking, anyhow, the public life, the life that concerned other +living folk as well as himself, became predominant again. He had +certainly seen Sir Richard the day before, and Sir Richard had given him +the name of the man who had slandered him. He had gone to meet that man, +but he had not kept his appointment, nor had he come back to his flat in +Brighton. So to-day he, Morris, was going to call there once more, and if +he did not find him, was going to drive up to London, and seek him there. + +But he had been effectually plucked from further sleep, sleep had been +strangled, and he got out of bed and went to the window. Nature, in any +case, had swept her trouble away, and the pure sweet morning was +beginning to dawn in lines of yellow and fleeces of rosy cloud on the +eastern horizon. + +All that riot and hurly-burly of thunder, the bull's eye flashing of +lightning, the perpendicular rain were things of the past, and this +morning a sky of pale limpid blue, flecked only by the thinnest clouds, +stretched from horizon to horizon. Below the mirror of the sea seemed as +deep and as placid as the sky above it, and the inimitable freshness of +the dawn spoke of a world rejuvenated and renewed. + +It was, by his watch, scarcely five; in an hour it would be reasonable to +call at Mills's flat, and see if he had come by the midnight train. If +not his motor could be round by soon after six, and he would be in town +by eight, before Mills, if he had slept there, would be thinking of +starting for Brighton. He was sure to catch him. + +Morris had drawn up the blind, and through the open window came the cool +breath of the morning ruffling his hair, and blowing his nightshirt close +to his skin, and just for that moment, so exquisite was this feeling of +renewal and cleanness in the hour of dawn, he thought with a sort of +incredulous wonder of the red murderous hate which had possessed him the +evening before. He seemed to have been literally beside himself with +anger and his words, his thoughts, his actions had been controlled by a +force and a possession which was outside himself. Also the dreadful +reality of his dream still a little unnerved him, and though he was +himself now and awake, he felt that he had been no less himself when he +throttled the throat of that abhorred figure that walked up the noiseless +path over the downs to Brighton, and with vehement and savage blows +clubbed it down. And then the shock of finding it was his old friend whom +he had done to death! That, it is true, was nightmare pure and simple, +but all the rest was clad in sober, convincing garb of events that had +really taken place. He could not at once separate his dream from reality, +for indeed what had he done yesterday after he had learned who his +traducer had been? He scarcely knew; all events and facts seemed +colourless compared to the rage and mad lust for vengeance which had +occupied his entire consciousness. + +Thus, as he dressed, the thoughts and the rage of yesterday began to stir +and move in his mind again. His hate and his desire that justice should +be done, that satisfaction should be granted him, was still in his heart. +But now they were not wild and flashing flames; they burned with a hard, +cold, even light. They were already part of himself, integral pieces and +features of his soul. And the calm beauty and peace of the morning ceased +to touch him, he had a stern piece of business to put through before he +could think of anything else. + + * * * * * + +It was not yet six when he arrived at the house in which was Mills's +flat. A few housemaids were about, but the lift was not yet working, +and he ran upstairs and rang at the bell. It was answered almost +immediately, for Mills's servant supposed it must be his master +arriving at this early hour, since no one else would come then, and he +opened the door, half dressed, with coat and trousers only put over his +night things. + +"Is Mr. Mills back yet?" asked Morris. + +"No, sir." + +Morris turned to go, but then stopped, his mind still half-suspicious +that he had been warned by his partner, and was lying _perdu_. + +"I'll give you another ten shillings," he said, "if you'll let me come in +and satisfy myself." + +The man hesitated. + +"A sovereign," said Morris. + + * * * * * + +He went back to Sussex Square after this, roused Martin, ordering him to +bring the motor round at once, and drank a cup of tea, for he would +breakfast in town. His mother he expected would be back during the +morning, and at the thought of her he remembered that this was June 24th, +her birthday, and that his present to her would be arriving by the early +post. He gave orders, therefore, that a packet for him from Asprey's was +not to be unpacked, but given to her on her arrival with her letters. A +quarter of an hour later he was off, leaving Martin behind, since there +were various businesses in the town which he wanted him to attend to. + +Mr. Taynton, though an earlier riser than his partner, considered that +half past nine was soon enough to begin the day, and punctually at that +time he came downstairs to read, as his custom was, a few collects and +some short piece of the Bible to his servants, before having his +breakfast. That little ceremony over he walked for a few minutes in his +garden while Williams brought in his toast and tea-urn, and observed that +though the flowers would no doubt be all the better for the liberal +watering of the day before, it was idle to deny that the rain had not +considerably damaged them. But his attention was turned from these things +to Williams who told him that breakfast was ready, and also brought him a +telegram. It was from Morris, and had been sent off from the Sloane +Square office an hour before. + +"Mills is not in town; they say he left yesterday afternoon. Please +inform me if you know whether this is so, or if you are keeping him from +me. Am delayed by break-down. Shall be back about five.--Morris, +Bachelors' Club." + +Mr. Taynton read this through twice, as is the habit of most people with +telegrams, and sent, of course, the reply that all he knew was that his +partner intended to come back last night, since he had made an +appointment with him. Should he arrive during the day he would telegraph. +He himself was keeping nothing from Morris, and had not had any +correspondence or communication with his partner since he had left +Brighton for town three days before. + +The telegram was a long one, but Mr. Taynton still sat with poised +pen. Then he added, "Pray do nothing violent, I implore you." And he +signed it. + + * * * * * + +He sat rather unusually long over his breakfast this morning, though he +ate but little, and from the cheerful smiling aspect of his face it would +seem that his thoughts were pleasant to him. He was certainly glad that +Morris had not yet come across Mills, for he trusted that the lapse of a +day or two would speedily calm down the lad's perfectly justifiable +indignation. Besides, he was in love, and his suit had prospered; surely +there were pleasanter things than revenge to occupy him. Then his face +grew grave a moment as he thought of Morris's mad, murderous outburst of +the evening before, but that gravity was shortlived, and he turned with a +sense of pleasant expectation to see recorded again the activity and +strength of Boston Coppers. But the reality was far beyond his +expectations; copper had been strong all day, and in the street afterward +there had been renewed buying from quarters which were usually well +informed. Bostons had been much in request, and after hours they had had +a further spurt, closing at £7 10S. Already in these three days he had +cleared his option, and at present prices the shares showed a profit of a +point. Mills would have to acknowledge that his perspicacity had been at +fault, when he distrusted this last purchase. + +He left his house at about half-past ten, and again immured himself in +the birdcage lift that carried him up to his partner's flat, where he +inquired if he had yet returned. Learning he had not, he asked to be +given pen and paper, to write a note for him, which was to be given to +him on his arrival. + +"Dear Mills, + +"Mr. Morris Assheton has learned that you have made grave accusations +about him to Sir Richard Templeton, Bart. That you have done so appears +to be beyond doubt, and it of course rests with you to substantiate them. +I cannot of course at present believe that you could have done so without +conclusive evidence; on the other hand I cannot believe that Mr. Assheton +is of the character which you have given him. + +"I therefore refrain, as far as I am able, from drawing any conclusion +till the matter is cleared up. + +"I may add that he deeply resents your conduct; his anger and indignation +were terrible to see. + +"Sincerely yours, + +"Edward Taynton. Godfrey Mills, Esq." + +Mr. Taynton read this through, and glanced round, as if to see whether +the servants had left the room. Then he sat with closed eyes for a +moment, and took an envelope, and swiftly addressed it. He smudged it, +however, in blotting it, and so crumpled it up, threw it into the +waste-paper basket. He then addressed a second one, and into this he +inserted his letter, and got up. + +The servant was waiting in the little hall outside. + +"Please give this to Mr. Mills when he arrives," he said. "You expected +him last night, did you not?" + +Mr. Taynton found on arrival at his office that, in his partner's +absence, there was a somewhat heavy day of work before him, and foresaw +that he would be occupied all afternoon and indeed probably up to dinner +time. But he was able to get out for an hour at half-past twelve, at +which time, if the weather was hot, he generally indulged in a swim. But +today there was a certain chill in the air after yesterday's storm, and +instead of taking his dip, he walked along the sea front toward Sussex +Square. For in his warm-hearted way, seeing that Morris was, as he had +said, to tell his mother today about his happy and thoroughly suitable +love affair, Mr. Taynton proposed to give a little _partie carrée_ on the +earliest possible evening, at which the two young lovers, Mrs. Assheton, +and himself would form the table. He would learn from her what was the +earliest night on which she and Morris were disengaged, and then write +to that delightful girl whose affections dear Morris had captured. + +But at the corner of the square, just as he was turning into it, there +bowled swiftly out a victoria drawn by two horses; he recognised the +equipage, he recognised also Mrs. Assheton who was sitting in it. Her +head, however, was turned the other way, and Mr. Taynton's hand, already +half-way up to his hat was spared the trouble of journeying farther. + +But he went on to the house, since his invitation could be easily +conveyed by a note which he would scribble there, and was admitted by +Martin. Mrs. Assheton, however, was out, a fact which he learned with +regret, but, if he might write a note to her, his walk would not be +wasted. Accordingly he was shown up into the drawing-room, where on the +writing-table was laid an open blotting-book. Even in so small a detail +as a blotting-book the careful appointment of the house was evident, for +the blotting-paper was absolutely clean and white, a virgin field. + +Mr. Taynton took up a quill pen, thought over for a moment the wording of +his note and then wrote rapidly. A single side of notepaper was +sufficient; he blotted it on the pad, and read it through. But something +in it, it must be supposed, did not satisfy him, for he crumpled it up. +Ah, at last and for the first time there was a flaw in the appointment of +the house, for there was no wastepaper basket by the table. At any rate +one must suppose that Mr. Taynton did not see it, for he put his rejected +sheet into his pocket. + +He took another sheet of paper, selecting from the various stationery +that stood in the case a plain piece, rejecting that which was marked +with the address of the house, wrote his own address at the head, and +proceeded for the second time to write his note of invitation. + +But first he changed the quill for his own stylograph, and wrote with +that. This was soon written, and by the time he had read it through it +was dry, and did not require to be blotted. He placed it in a plain +envelope, directed it, and with it in his hand left the room, and went +briskly downstairs. + +Martin was standing in the hall. + +"I want this given to Mrs. Assheton when she comes in, Martin," he said. + +He looked round, as he had done once before when speaking to the boy. + +"I left it at the door," he said with quiet emphasis. "Can you remember +that? I left it. And I hope, Martin, that you have made a fresh start, +and that I need never be obliged to tell anybody what I know about you. +You will remember my instructions? I left this at the door. Thank you. +My hat? Yes, and my stick." + +Mr. Taynton went straight back to his office, and though this morning +there had seemed to him to be a good deal of work to be got through, he +found that much of it could be delegated to his clerks. So before leaving +to go to his lunch, he called in Mr. Timmins. + +"Mr. Mills not been here all morning?" he asked. "No? Well, Timmins, +there is this packet which I want him to look at, if he comes in before +I am back. I shall be here again by five, as there is an hour's work for +me to do before evening. Yes, that is all, thanks. Please tell Mr. Mills +I shall come back, as I said. How pleasant this freshness is after the +rain. The 'clear shining after rain.' Wonderful words! Yes, Mr. Timmins, +you will find the verse in the second book of Samuel and the +twenty-third chapter." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Mr. Taynton made but a short meal of lunch, and ate but sparingly, for +he meant to take a good walk this afternoon, and it was not yet two +o'clock when he came out of his house again, stick in hand. It was a +large heavy stick that he carried, a veritable club, one that it would +be easy to recognise amid a host of others, even as he had recognised it +that morning in the rather populous umbrella stand in the hall of Mrs. +Assheton's house. He had, it may be remembered, more office work to get +through before evening, so he prepared to walk out as far as the limits +of the time at his disposal would admit and take the train back. And +since there could be nothing more pleasurable in the way of walking +than locomotion over the springy grass of the downs, he took, as he had +done a hundred times before, the road that led to Falmer. A hundred +yards out of Brighton there was a stile by the roadside; from there a +footpath, if it could be dignified by the name of path at all, led over +the hills to a corner of Falmer Park. From there three or four hundred +yards of highway would bring him to the station. He would be in good +time to catch the 4.30 train back, and would thus be at his office again +for an hour's work at five. + +His walk was solitary and uneventful, but, to one of so delicate and +sensitive a mind, full of tiny but memorable sights and sounds. Up on +these high lands there was a considerable breeze, and Mr. Taynton paused +for a minute or two beside a windmill that stood alone, in the expanse +of down, watching, with a sort of boyish wonder, the huge flails swing +down and aspire again in the circles of their tireless toil. A little +farther on was a grass-grown tumulus of Saxon times, and his mind was +distracted from the present to those early days when the unknown dead was +committed to this wind-swept tomb. Forests of pine no doubt then grew +around his resting place, it was beneath the gloom and murmur of their +sable foliage that this dead chief was entrusted to the keeping of the +kindly earth. He passed, too, over the lines of a Roman camp; once this +sunny empty down re-echoed to the clang of arms, the voices of the living +were mingled with the cries and groans of the dying, for without doubt +this stronghold of Roman arms was not won, standing, as it did, on the +top-most commanding slope of the hills, without slaughter. Yet to-day the +peaceful clumps of cistus and the trembling harebell blossomed on the +battlefield. + +From this point the ground declined swiftly to the main road. Straight in +front of him were the palings of Falmer Park, and the tenantless down +with its long smooth curves, was broken up into sudden hillocks and +depressions. Dells and dingles, some green with bracken, others half full +of water lay to right and left of the path, which, as it approached the +corner of the park, was more strongly marked than when it lay over the +big open spaces. It was somewhat slippery, too, after the torrent of +yesterday, and Mr. Taynton's stick saved him more than once from +slipping. But before he got down to the point where the corner of the +park abutted on the main road, he had leaned on it too heavily, and for +all its seeming strength, it had broken in the middle. The two pieces +were but luggage to him and just as he came to the road, he threw them +away into a wooded hollow that adjoined the path. The stick had broken +straight across; it was no use to think of having it mended. + + * * * * * + +He was out of the wind here, and since there was still some ten minutes +to spare, he sat down on the grassy edge of the road to smoke a +cigarette. The woods of the park basked in the fresh sunshine; three +hundred yards away was Falmer Station, and beyond that the line was +visible for a mile as it ran up the straight valley. Indeed he need +hardly move till he saw the steam of his train on the limit of the +horizon. That would be ample warning that it was time to go. + +Then from far away, he heard the throbbing of a motor, which grew +suddenly louder as it turned the corner of the road by the station. It +seemed to him to be going very fast, and the huge cloud of dust behind +it endorsed his impression. But almost immediately after passing this +corner it began to slow down, and the cloud of dust behind it died away. + +At the edge of the road where Mr. Taynton sat, there were standing +several thick bushes. He moved a little away from the road, and took up +his seat again behind one of them. The car came very slowly on, and +stopped just opposite him. On his right lay the hollow where he had +thrown the useless halves of his stick, on his left was the corner of +the Falmer Park railings. He had recognised the driver of the car, who +was alone. + +Morris got out when he had stopped the car, and then spoke aloud, though +to himself. + +"Yes, there's the corner," he said, "there's the path over the +downs. There--" + +Mr. Taynton got up and came toward him. + +"My dear fellow," he said, "I have walked out from Brighton on this +divine afternoon, and was going to take the train back. But will you give +me the pleasure of driving back with you instead?" + +Morris looked at him a moment as if he hardly thought he was real. + +"Why, of course," he said. + +Mr. Taynton was all beams and smiles. + +"And you have seen Mills?" he asked. "You have been convinced that he +was innocent of the terrible suspicion? Morris, my dear boy, what is +the matter?" + +Morris had looked at him for a moment with incredulous eyes. Then he had +sat down and covered his face with his hands. + +"It's nothing," he said at length. "I felt rather faint. I shall be +better in a minute. Of course I'll drive you back." + +He sat huddled up with hidden face for a moment or two. Mr. Taynton said +nothing, but only looked at him. Then the boy sat up. + +"I'm all right," he said, "it was just a dream I had last night. No, I +have not seen Mills; they tell me he left yesterday afternoon for +Brighton. Shall we go?" + +For some little distance they went in silence; then it seemed that Morris +made an effort and spoke. + +"Really, I got what they call 'quite a turn' just now," he said. "I had a +curiously vivid dream last night about that corner, and you suddenly +appeared in my dream quite unexpectedly, as you did just now." + +"And what was this dream?" asked Mr. Taynton, turning up his coat collar, +for the wind of their movement blew rather shrilly on to his neck. + +"Oh, nothing particular," said Morris carelessly, "the vividness was +concerned with your appearance; that was what startled me." + +Then he fell back into the train of thought that had occupied him all the +way down from London. + +"I believe I was half-mad with rage last night," he said at length, "but +this afternoon, I think I am beginning to be sane again. It's true Mills +tried to injure me, but he didn't succeed. And as you said last night I +have too deep and intense a cause of happiness to give my thoughts and +energies to anything so futile as hatred or the desire for revenge. He is +punished already. The fact of his having tried to injure me like that was +his punishment. Anyhow, I am sick and tired of my anger." + +The lawyer did not speak for a moment, and when he did his voice was +trembling. + +"God bless you, my dear boy," he said gently. + +Morris devoted himself for some little time to the guiding of the car. + +"And I want you also to leave it all alone," he said after a while. "I +don't want you to dissolve your partnership with him, or whatever you +call it. I suppose he will guess that you know all about it, so perhaps +it would be best if you told him straight out that you do. And then you +can, well, make a few well-chosen remarks you know, and drop the whole +damned subject forever." + +Mr. Taynton seemed much moved. + +"I will try," he said, "since you ask it. But Morris, you are more +generous than I am." + +Morris laughed, his usual boyish high spirits and simplicity were +reasserting themselves again. + +"Oh, that's all rot," he said. "It's only because it's so fearfully +tiring to go on being angry. But I can't help wondering what has +happened to the fellow. They told me at his flat in town that he went off +with his luggage yesterday afternoon, and gave orders that all letters +were to be sent to his Brighton address. You don't think there's anything +wrong, do you?" + +"My dear fellow, what could be wrong?" asked Mr. Taynton. "He had some +business to do at Lewes on his way down, and I make no doubt he slept +there, probably forgetting all about his appointment with me. I would +wager you that we shall find he is in Brighton when we get in." + +"I'll take that," said Morris. "Half a crown." + +"No, no, my usual shilling, my usual shilling," laughed the other. + + * * * * * + +Morris set Mr. Taynton down at his office, and by way of settling their +wager at once, waited at the door, while the other went upstairs to see +if his partner was there. He had not, however, appeared there that day, +and Mr. Taynton sent a clerk down to Morris, to ask him to come up, and +they would ring up Mr. Mills's flat on the telephone. + +This was done, and before many seconds had elapsed they were in +communication. His valet was there, still waiting for his master's +return, for he had not yet come back. It appeared that he was getting +rather anxious, for Mr. Taynton reassured him. + +"There is not the slightest cause for any anxiety," were his concluding +words. "I feel convinced he has merely been detained. Thanks, that's all. +Please let me know as soon as he returns." + +He drew a shilling from his pocket, and handed it to Morris. But his +face, in spite of his reassuring words, was a little troubled. You would +have said that though he might not yet be anxious, he saw that there +was some possibility of his being so, before very long. Yet he spoke +gaily enough. + +"And I made so sure I should win," he said. "I shall put it down to +unexpected losses, not connected with business; eh, Mr. Timmins? Or shall +it be charity? It would never do to put down 'Betting losses.'" + +But this was plainly a little forced, and Morris waited till Mr. Timmins +had gone out. + +"And you really meant that?" he asked. "You are really not anxious?" + +"No, I am not anxious," he said, "but--but I shall be glad when he comes +back. Is that inconsistent? I think perhaps it is. Well, let us say then +that I am just a shade anxious. But I may add that I feel sure my anxiety +is quite unnecessary. That defines it for you." + +Morris went straight home from here, and found that his mother had just +returned from her afternoon drive. She had found the blotting book +waiting for her when she came back that morning, and was delighted with +the gift and the loving remembering thought that inspired it. + +"But you shouldn't spend your money on me, my darling," she said to +Morris, "though I just love the impulse that made you." + +"Oh, very well," said Morris, kissing her, "let's have the initials +changed about then, and let it be M.A. from H.A." + +Then his voice grew grave. + +"Mother dear, I've got another birthday present for you. I think--I think +you will like it." + +She saw at once that he was speaking of no tangible material gift. + +"Yes, dear?" she said. + +"Madge and me," said Morris. "Just that." + +And Mrs. Assheton did like this second present, and though it made her +cry a little, her tears were the sweetest that can be shed. + + * * * * * + +Mother and son dined alone together, and since Morris had determined to +forget, to put out of his mind the hideous injury that Mills had +attempted to do him, he judged it to be more consistent with this resolve +to tell his mother nothing about it, since to mention it to another, even +to her, implied that he was not doing his best to bury what he determined +should be dead to him. As usual, they played backgammon together, and it +was not till Mrs. Assheton rose to go to bed that she remembered Mr. +Taynton's note, asking her and Morris to dine with him on their earliest +unoccupied day. This, as is the way in the country, happened to be the +next evening, and since the last post had already gone out, she asked +Morris if Martin might take the note round for her tonight, since it +ought to have been answered before. + +That, of course, was easily done, and Morris told his servant to call +also at the house where Mr. Mills's flat was situated, and ask the porter +if he had come home. The note dispatched his mother went to bed, and +Morris went down to the billiard room to practise spot-strokes, a form of +hazard at which he was singularly inefficient, and wait for news. Little +as he knew Mills, and little cause as he had for liking him, he too, like +Mr. Taynton, felt vaguely anxious and perturbed, since "disappearances" +are necessarily hedged about with mystery and wondering. His own anger +and hatred, too, like mists drawn up and dispersed by the sun of love +that had dawned on him, had altogether vanished; the attempt against him +had, as it turned out, been so futile, and he genuinely wished to have +some assurance of the safety of the man, the thought of whom had so +blackened his soul only twenty-four hours ago. + +His errands took Martin the best part of an hour, and he returned with +two notes, one for Mrs. Assheton, the other for Morris. He had been also +to the flat and inquired, but there was no news of the missing man. + +Morris opened his note, which was from Mr. Taynton. + +"Dear Morris, + +"I am delighted that your mother and you can dine to-morrow, and I am +telegraphing first thing in the morning to see if Miss Madge will make +our fourth. I feel sure that when she knows what my little party is, she +will come. + +"I have been twice round to see if my partner has returned, and find no +news of him. It is idle to deny that I am getting anxious, as I cannot +conceive what has happened. Should he not be back by tomorrow morning, I +shall put the matter into the hands of the police. I trust that my +anxieties are unfounded, but the matter is beginning to look strange. + +"Affectionately yours, + +"Edward Taynton." + +There is nothing so infectious as anxiety, and it can be conveyed by look +or word or letter, and requires no period of incubation. And Morris began +to be really anxious also, with a vague disquietude at the sense of there +being something wrong. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Mr. Taynton, according to the intention he had expressed, sent round +early next morning (the day of the week being Saturday) to his partner's +flat, and finding that he was not there, and that no word of any kind had +been received from him, went, as he felt himself now bound to do, to the +police office, stated what had brought him there, and gave them all +information which it was in his power to give. + +It was brief enough; his partner had gone up to town on Tuesday last, +and, had he followed his plans should have returned to Brighton by +Thursday evening, since he had made an appointment to come to Mr. +Taynton's house at nine thirty that night. It had been ascertained +too, by--Mr. Taynton hesitated a moment--by Mr. Morris Assheton in +London, that he had left his flat in St. James's Court on Thursday +afternoon, to go, presumably, to catch the train back to Brighton. He +had also left orders that all letters should be forwarded to him at his +Brighton address. + +Superintendent Figgis, to whom Mr. Taynton made his statement, was in +manner slow, stout, and bored, and looked in every way utterly unfitted +to find clues to the least mysterious occurrences, unearth crime or run +down the criminal. He seemed quite incapable of running down anything, +and Mr. Taynton had to repeat everything he said in order to be sure that +Mr. Figgis got his notes, which he made in a large round hand, with +laborious distinctness, correctly written. Having finished them the +Superintendent stared at them mournfully for a little while, and asked +Mr. Taynton if he had anything more to add. + +"I think that is all," said the lawyer. "Ah, one moment. Mr. Mills +expressed to me the intention of perhaps getting out at Falmer and +walking over the downs to Brighton. But Thursday was the evening on which +we had that terrible thunderstorm. I should think it very unlikely that +he would have left the train." + +Superintendent Figgis appeared to be trying to recollect something. + +"Was there a thunderstorm on Thursday?" he asked. + +"The most severe I ever remember," said Mr. Taynton. + +"It had slipped my memory," said this incompetent agent of justice. + +But a little thought enabled him to ask a question that bore on the case. + +"He travelled then by Lewes and not by the direct route?" + +"Presumably. He had a season ticket via Lewes, since our business often +took him there. Had he intended to travel by Hayward's Heath," said Mr. +Taynton rather laboriously, as if explaining something to a child, "he +could not have intended to get out at Falmer." + +Mr. Figgis had to think over this, which he did with his mouth open. + +"Seeing that the Hayward's Heath line does not pass Falmer," he +suggested. + +Mr. Taynton drew a sheet of paper toward him and kindly made a rough +sketch-map of railway lines. + +"And his season ticket went by the Lewes line," he explained. + +Superintendent Figgis appeared to understand this after a while. Then he +sighed heavily, and changed the subject with rather disconcerting +abruptness. + +"From my notes I understand that Mr. Morris Assheton ascertained that +the missing individual had left his flat in London on Thursday +afternoon," he said. + +"Yes, Mr. Assheton is a client of ours, and he wished to see my partner +on a business matter. In fact, when Mr. Mills was found not to have +returned on Thursday evening, he went up to London next day to see him, +since we both supposed he had been detained there." + +Mr. Figgis looked once more mournfully at his notes, altered a palpably +mistaken "Wednesday" into Thursday, and got up. + +"The matter shall be gone into," he said. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Taynton went straight from here to his office, and for a couple of +hours devoted himself to the business of his firm, giving it his whole +attention and working perhaps with more speed than it was usually his to +command. Saturday of course was a half-holiday, and it was naturally his +desire to get cleared off everything that would otherwise interrupt the +well-earned repose and security from business affairs which was to him +the proper atmosphere of the seventh, or as he called it, the first day. +This interview with the accredited representative of the law also had +removed a certain weight from his mind. He had placed the matter of his +partner's disappearance in official hands, he had done all he could do to +clear up his absence, and, in case--but here he pulled himself up; it was +at present most premature even to look at the possibility of crime having +been committed. + +Mr. Taynton was in no way a vain man, nor was it his habit ever to review +his own conduct, with the object of contrasting it favourably with what +others might have done under the circumstances. Yet he could not help +being aware that others less kindly than he would have shrugged sarcastic +shoulders and said, "probably another blackmailing errand has detained +him." For, indeed, Mills had painted himself in very ugly colours in his +last interview with him; that horrid hint of blackmail, which still, so +to speak, held good, had cast a new light on him. But now Taynton was +conscious of no grudge against him; he did not say, "he can look after +himself." He was anxious about his continued absence, and had taken the +extreme step of calling in the aid of the police, the national guardian +of personal safety. + +He got away from his office about half-past twelve and in preparation for +the little dinner festival of this evening, for Miss Templeton had sent +her joyful telegraphic acceptance, went to several shops to order some +few little delicacies to grace his plain bachelor table. An ice-pudding, +for instance, was outside the orbit, so he feared of his plain though +excellent cook, and two little dishes of chocolates and sweets, since he +was at the confectioner's, would be appropriate to the taste of his lady +guests. Again a floral decoration of the table was indicated, and since +the storm of Thursday, there was nothing in his garden worthy of the +occasion; thus a visit to the florist's resulted in an order for smilax +and roses. + + * * * * * + +He got home, however, at his usual luncheon hour to find a telegram +waiting for him on the Heppelwhite table in the hall. There had been a +continued buying of copper shares, and the feature was a sensational rise +in Bostons, which during the morning had gone up a clear point. + +Mr. Taynton had no need to make calculations; he knew, as a man knows the +multiplication table of two, what every fraction of a rise in Bostons +meant to him, and this, provided only he had time to sell at once, meant +the complete recovery of the losses he had suffered. With those active +markets it was still easily possible though it was Saturday, to effect +his sale, since there was sure to be long continued business in the +Street and he had but to be able to exercise his option at that price, to +be quit of that dreadful incubus of anxiety which for the last two years +had been a millstone round his neck that had grown mushroom like. The +telephone to town, of course, was far the quickest mode of communication, +and having given his order he waited ten minutes till the tube babbled +and croaked to him again. + +There is a saying that things are "too good to be true," but when Mr. +Taynton sat down to his lunch that day, he felt that the converse of the +proverb was the correcter epigram. Things could be so good that they +must be true, and here, still ringing in his ears was one of +them--Morris--it was thus he phrased it to himself--was "paid off," or, +in more business-like language, the fortune of which Mr. Taynton was +trustee was intact again, and, like a tit-bit for a good child, there was +an additional five or six hundred pounds for him who had managed the +trust so well. Mr. Taynton could not help feeling somehow that he +deserved it; he had increased Morris's fortune since he had charge of it +by £10,000. And what a lesson, too, he had had, so gently and painlessly +taught him! No one knew better than he how grievously wrong he had got, +in gambling with trust money. Yet now it had come right: he had repaired +the original wrong; on Monday he would reinvest this capital in those +holdings which he had sold, and Morris's £40,000 (so largely the result +of careful and judicious investment) would certainly stand the scrutiny +of any who could possibly have any cause to examine his ledgers. Indeed +there would be nothing to see. Two years ago Mr. Morris Assheton's +fortune was invested in certain railway debentures and Government stock. +It would in a few days' time be invested there again, precisely as it had +been. Mr. Taynton had not been dealing in gilt-edged securities lately, +and could not absolutely trust his memory, but he rather thought that the +repurchase could be made at a somewhat smaller sum than had been realised +by their various sales dating from two years ago. In that case there was +a little more _sub rosa_ reward for this well-inspired justice, weighed +but featherwise against the overwhelming relief of the knowledge he could +make wrong things right again, repair his, yes, his scoundrelism. + +How futile, too, now, was Mills's threatened blackmail! Mills might, if +he chose, proclaim on any convenient housetop, that his partner had +gambled with Morris's £40,000 that according to the ledgers was invested +in certain railway debentures and other gilt-edged securities. In a few +days, any scrutiny might be made of the securities lodged at the County +Bank, and assuredly among them would be found those debentures, those +gilt-edged securities exactly as they appeared in the ledgers. Yet Mr. +Taynton, so kindly is the nature of happiness, contemplated no revengeful +step on his partner; he searched his heart and found that no trace of +rancour against poor Mills was hoarded there. + +Whether happiness makes us good, is a question not yet decided, but it is +quite certain that happiness makes us forget that we have been bad, and +it seemed to Mr. Taynton, as he sat in his cool dining-room, and ate his +lunch with a more vivid appetite than had been his for many months, it +seemed that the man who had gambled with his client's money was no longer +himself; it was a perfectly different person who had done that. It was a +different man, too, who, so few days ago had connived at and applauded +the sorry trick which Mills had tried to play on Morris, when (so +futilely, it is true) he had slandered him to Sir Richard. Now he felt +that he--this man that to-day sat here--was incapable of such meannesses. +And, thank God, it was never too late; from to-day he would lead the +honourable, upright existence which the world (apart from his partner) +had always credited him with leading. + +He basked in the full sunshine of these happy and comfortable thoughts, +and even as the sun of midsummer lingered long on the sea and hills, so +for hours this inward sunshine warmed and cheered him. Nor was it till +he saw by his watch that he must return from the long pleasant ramble on +which he had started as soon as lunch was over, that a cloud filmy and +thin at first began to come across the face of the sun. Once and again +those genial beams dispersed it, but soon it seemed as if the vapours +were getting the upper hand. A thought, in fact, had crossed Mr. +Taynton's mind that quite distinctly dimmed his happiness. But a little +reflection told him that a very simple step on his part would put that +right again, and he walked home rather more quickly than he had set out, +since he had this little bit of business to do before dinner. + +He went--this was only natural--to the house where Mr. Mills's flat was +situated, and inquired of the porter whether his partner had yet +returned. But the same answer as before was given him, and saying that +he had need of a document that Mills had taken home with him three days +before he went up in the lift, and rang the bell of the flat. But it was +not his servant who opened it, but sad Superintendent Figgis. + +For some reason this was rather a shock to Mr. Taynton; to expect one +face and see another is always (though ever so slightly) upsetting, but +he instantly recovered himself and explained his errand. + +"My partner took home with him on Tuesday a paper, which is concerned +with my business," he said. "Would you kindly let me look round +for it?" + +Mr. Figgis weighed this request. + +"Nothing must be removed from the rooms," he said, "till we have finished +our search." + +"Search for what?" asked Mr. Taynton. + +"Any possible clue as to the reason of Mr. Mills's disappearance. But in +ten minutes we shall have done, if you care to wait." + +"I don't want to remove anything." said the lawyer. "I merely want to +consult--" + +At the moment another man in plain clothes came out of the sitting-room. +He carried in his hand two or three letters, and a few scraps of crumpled +paper. There was an envelope or two among them. + +"We have finished, sir," he said to the Superintendent. + +Mr. Figgis turned to the lawyer, who was looking rather fixedly at what +the other man had in his hand. + +"My document may be among those," he said. + +Mr. Figgis handed them to him. There were two envelopes, both addressed +to the missing man, one bearing his name only, some small torn-up scrap +of paper, and three or four private letters. + +"Is it among these?" he asked. + +Mr. Taynton turned them over. + +"No," he said, "it was--it was a large, yes, a large blue paper, +official looking." + +"No such thing in the flat, sir," said the second man. + +"Very annoying," said the lawyer. + +An idea seemed slowly to strike Mr. Figgis. + +"He may have taken it to London with him," he said. "But will you not +look round?" + +Mr. Taynton did so. He also looked in the waste-paper basket, but it +was empty. + +So he went back to make ready to receive his guests, for the little +party. But it had got dark; this "document" whatever it was, appeared to +trouble him. The simple step he had contemplated had not led him in quite +the right direction. + +The Superintendent with his colleague went back into the sitting-room +on the lawyer's departure, and Mr. Figgis took from his pocket most of +his notes. + +"I went to the station, Wilkinson," he said, "and in the lost luggage +office I found Mr. Mills's bag. It had arrived on Thursday evening. But +it seems pretty certain that its owner did not arrive with it." + +"Looks as if he did get out at Falmer," said Wilkinson. + +Figgis took a long time to consider this. + +"It is possible," he said. "It is also possible that he put his luggage +into the train in London, and subsequently missed the train himself." + +Then together they went through the papers that might conceivably help +them. There was a torn-up letter found in his bedroom fireplace, and the +crumpled up envelope that belonged to it. They patiently pieced this +together, but found nothing of value. The other letters referred only to +his engagements in London, none of which were later than Thursday +morning. There remained one crumpled up envelope (also from the +paperbasket) but no letter that in any way corresponded with it. It was +addressed in a rather sprawling, eager, boyish hand. + +"No letter of any sort to correspond?" asked Figgis for the second time. + +"No." + +"I think for the present we will keep it," said he. + + * * * * * + +The little party at Mr. Taynton's was gay to the point of foolishness, +and of them all none was more light-hearted than the host. Morris had +asked him in an undertone, on arrival, whether any more had been heard, +and learning there was still no news, had dismissed the subject +altogether. The sunshine of the day, too, had come back to the lawyer; +his usual cheerful serenity was touched with a sort of sympathetic +boisterousness, at the huge spirits of the young couple and it was to be +recorded that after dinner they played musical chairs and blind-man's +buff, with infinite laughter. Never was an elderly solicitor so +spontaneously gay; indeed before long it was he who reinfected the others +with merriment. But as always, after abandonment to laughter a little +reaction followed, and when they went upstairs from his sitting-room +where they had been so uproarious, so that it might be made tidy again +before Sunday, and sat in the drawing-room overlooking the street, there +did come this little reaction. But it was already eleven, and soon Mrs. +Assheton rose to go. + +The night was hot, and Morris was sitting to cool himself by the open +window, leaning his head out to catch the breeze. The street was very +empty and quiet, and his motor, in which as a great concession, his +mother had consented to be carried, on the promise of his going slow, +had already come for them. Then down at the seaward end of the street +he heard street-cries, as if some sudden news had come in that sent +the vendors of the evening papers out to reap a second harvest that +night. He could not, however, catch what it was, and they all went +downstairs together. + +Madge was going home with them, for she was stopping over the Sunday with +Mrs. Assheton, and the two ladies had already got into the car, while +Morris was still standing on the pavement with his host. + +Then suddenly a newsboy, with a sheaf of papers still hot from the press, +came running from the corner of the street just above them, and as he +ran he shouted out the news which was already making little groups of +people collect and gather in the streets. + +Mr. Taynton turned quickly as the words became audible, seized a paper +from the boy, giving him the first coin that he found, and ran back into +the hall of his house, Morris with him, to beneath the electric light +that burned there. The shrill voice of the boy still shouting the news of +murder got gradually less loud as he went further down the street. + +They read the short paragraph together, and then looked at each other +with mute horror in their eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +The inquest was held at Falmer on the Monday following, when the body was +formally identified by Mr. Taynton and Mills's servant, and they both had +to give evidence as regards what they knew of the movements of the +deceased. This, as a matter of fact, Mr. Taynton had already given to +Figgis, and in his examination now he repeated with absolute exactitude +what he had said before including again the fact that Morris had gone up +to town on Friday morning to try to find him there. On this occasion, +however, a few further questions were put to him, eliciting the fact that +the business on which Morris wanted to see him was known to Mr. Taynton +but could not be by him repeated since it dealt with confidential +transactions between the firm of solicitors and their client. The +business was, yes, of the nature of a dispute, but Mr. Taynton regarded +it as certain that some amicable arrangement would have been come to, had +the interview taken place. As it had not, however, since Morris had not +found him at his flat in town, he could not speak for certain on this +subject. The dispute concerned an action of his partner's, made +independently of him. Had he been consulted he would have strongly +disapproved of it. + +The body, as was made public now, had been discovered by accident, +though, as has been seen, the probability of Mills having got out at +Falmer had been arrived at by the police, and Figgis immediately after +his interview with Mr. Taynton on the Saturday evening had started for +Falmer to make inquiries there, and had arrived there within a few +minutes of the discovery of the body. A carpenter of that village had +strolled out about eight o'clock that night with his two children while +supper was being got ready, and had gone a piece of the way up the path +over the downs, which left the road at the corner of Falmer Park. The +children were running and playing about, hiding and seeking each other +in the bracken-filled hollows, and among the trees, when one of them +screamed suddenly, and a moment afterward they both came running to +their father, saying that they had come upon a man in one of these +copses, lying on his face and they were frightened. He had gone to see +what this terrifying person was, and had found the body. He went +straight back to the village without touching anything, for it was clear +both from what he saw and from the crowd of buzzing flies that the man +was dead, and gave information to the police. Then within a few minutes +from that, Mr. Figgis had arrived from Brighton, to find that it was +superfluous to look any further or inquire any more concerning the +whereabouts of the missing man. All that was mortal of him was here, the +head covered with a cloth, and bits of the fresh summer growth of fern +and frond sticking to his clothing. + +After the identification of the body came evidence medical and otherwise +that seemed to show beyond doubt the time and manner of his death and the +possible motive of the murderer. The base of the skull was smashed in, +evidently by some violent blow dealt from behind with a blunt heavy +instrument of some sort, and death had probably been instantaneous. In +one of the pockets was a first edition of an evening paper published in +London on Thursday last, which fixed the earliest possible time at which +the murder had been committed, while in the opinion of the doctor who +examined the body late on Saturday night, the man had been dead not less +than forty-eight hours. In spite of the very heavy rain which had fallen +on Thursday night, there were traces of a pool of blood about midway +between the clump of bracken where the body was found, and the path over +the downs leading from Falmer to Brighton. This, taken in conjunction +with the information already given by Mr. Taynton, made it practically +certain that the deceased had left London on the Thursday as he had +intended to do, and had got out of the train at Falmer, also according to +his expressed intention, to walk to Brighton. It would again have been +most improbable that he would have started on his walk had the storm +already begun. But the train by which his bag was conveyed to Brighton +arrived at Falmer at half-past six, the storm did not burst till an hour +afterward. Finally, with regard to possible motive, the murdered man's +watch was missing; his pockets also were empty of coin. + +This concluded the evidence, and the verdict was brought in without the +jury leaving the court, and "wilful murder by person or persons unknown" +was recorded. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Taynton, as was indeed to be expected, had been much affected during +the giving of his evidence, and when the inquest was over, he returned to +Brighton feeling terribly upset by this sudden tragedy, which had crashed +without warning into his life. It had been so swift and terrible; without +sign or preparation this man, whom he had known so long, had been hurled +from life and all its vigour into death. And how utterly now Mr. Taynton +forgave him for that base attack that he had made on him, so few days +ago; how utterly, too, he felt sure Morris had forgiven him for what was +perhaps even harder to forgive. And if they could forgive trespasses like +these, they who were of human passion and resentments, surely the reader +of all hearts would forgive. That moment of agony short though it might +have been in actual duration, when the murderous weapon split through the +bone and scattered the brain, surely brought punishment and therefore +atonement for the frailties of a life-time. + +Mr. Taynton, on his arrival back at Brighton that afternoon, devoted a +couple of solitary hours to such thoughts as these, and others to which +this tragedy naturally gave rise and then with a supreme effort of will +he determined to think no more on the subject. It was inevitable that +his mind should again and again perhaps for weeks and months to come +fall back on these dreadful events, but his will was set on not +permitting himself to dwell on them. So, though it was already late in +the afternoon, he set forth again from his house about tea-time, to +spend a couple of hours at the office. He had sent word to Mr. Timmins +that he would probably come in, and begin to get through the arrears +caused by his unavoidable absence that morning, and he found his head +clerk waiting for him. A few words were of course appropriate, and they +were admirably chosen. + +"You have seen the result of the inquest, no doubt, Mr. Timmins," he +said, "and yet one hardly knows whether one wishes the murderer to be +brought to justice. What good does that do, now our friend is dead? So +mean and petty a motive too; just for a watch and a few sovereigns. It +was money bought at a terrible price, was it not? Poor soul, poor soul; +yes, I say that of the murderer. Well, well, we must turn our faces +forward, Mr. Timmins; it is no use dwelling on the dreadful irremediable +past. The morning's post? Is that it?" + +Mr. Timmins ventured sympathy. + +"You look terribly worn out, sir," he said. "Wouldn't it be wiser to +leave it till to-morrow? A good night's rest, you know, sir, if you'll +excuse my mentioning it." + +"No, no, Mr. Timmins, we must get to work again, we must get to work." + +Nature, inspired by the spirit and instinct of life, is wonderfully +recuperative. Whether earthquake or famine, fire or pestilence has +blotted out a thousand lives, those who are left, like ants when their +house is disturbed, waste but little time after the damage has been done +in vain lamentations, but, slaves to the force of life, begin almost +instantly to rebuild and reconstruct. And what is true of the community +is true also of the individual, and thus in three days from this dreadful +morning of the inquest, Mr. Taynton, after attending the funeral of the +murdered man, was very actively employed, since the branch of the firm in +London, deprived of its head, required supervision from him. Others also, +who had been brought near to the tragedy, were occupied again, and of +these Morris in particular was a fair example of the spirit of the +Life-force. His effort, no doubt, was in a way easier than that made by +Mr. Taynton, for to be twenty-two years old and in love should be +occupation sufficient. But he, too, had his bad hours, when the past rose +phantom-like about him, and he recalled that evening when his rage had +driven him nearly mad with passion against his traducer. And by an awful +coincidence, his madness had been contemporaneous with the slanderer's +death. He must, in fact, have been within a few hundred yards of the +place at the time the murder was committed, for he had gone back to +Falmer Park that day, with the message that Mr. Taynton would call on the +morrow, and had left the place not half an hour before the breaking of +the storm. He had driven by the corner of the Park, where the path over +the downs left the main road and within a few hundred yards of him at +that moment, had been, dead or alive, the man who had so vilely slandered +him. Supposing--it might so easily have happened--they had met on the +road. What would he have done? Would he have been able to pass him and +not wreaked his rage on him? He hardly dared to think of that. But, life +and love were his, and that which might have been was soon dreamlike in +comparison of these. Indeed, that dreadful dream which he had had the +night after the murder had been committed was no less real than it. The +past was all of this texture, and mistlike, it was evaporated in the +beams of the day that was his. + +Now Brighton is a populous place, and a sunny one, and many people lounge +there in the sun all day. But for the next three or four days a few of +these loungers lounged somewhat systematically. One lounged in Sussex +Square, another lounged in Montpellier Road, one or two others who +apparently enjoyed this fresh air but did not care about the town itself, +usually went to the station after breakfast, and spent the day in +rambling agreeably about the downs. They also frequented the pleasant +little village of Falmer, gossiping freely with its rural inhabitants. +Often footmen or gardeners from the Park came down to the village, and +acquaintances were easily ripened in the ale-house. Otherwise there was +not much incident in the village; sometimes a motor drove by, and one, +after an illegally fast progress along the road, very often turned in at +the park gates. But no prosecution followed; it was clear they were not +agents of the police. Mr. Figgis, also, frequently came out from +Brighton, and went strolling about too, very slowly and sadly. He often +wandered in the little copses that bordered the path over the downs to +Brighton, especially near the place where it joined the main road a few +hundred yards below Falmer station. Then came a morning when neither he +nor any of the other chance visitors to Falmer were seen there any more. +But the evening before Mr. Figgis carried back with him to the train a +long thin package wrapped in brown paper. But on the morning when these +strangers were seen no more at Falmer, it appeared that they had not +entirely left the neighbourhood, for instead of one only being in the +neighbourhood of Sussex Square, there were three of them there. + +Morris had ordered the motor to be round that morning at eleven, and it +had been at the door some few minutes before he appeared. Martin had +driven it round from the stables, but he was in a suit of tweed; it +seemed that he was not going with it. Then the front door opened, and +Morris appeared as usual in a violent hurry. One of the strangers was on +the pavement close to the house door, looking with interest at the car. +But his interest in the car ceased when the boy appeared. And from the +railings of the square garden opposite another stranger crossed the road, +and from the left behind the car came a third. + +"Mr. Morris Assheton?" said the first. + +"Well, what then?" asked Morris. + +The two others moved a little nearer. + +"I arrest you in the King's name," said the first. + +Morris was putting on a light coat as he came across the pavement. One +arm was in, the other out. He stopped dead; and the bright colour of his +face slowly faded, leaving a sort of ashen gray behind. His mouth +suddenly went dry, and it was only at the third attempt to speak that +words came. + +"What for?" he said. + +"For the murder of Godfrey Mills," said the man. "Here is the warrant. I +warn you that all you say--" + +Morris, whose lithe athletic frame had gone slack for the moment, +stiffened himself up again. + +"I am not going to say anything," he said. "Martin, drive to Mr. +Taynton's at once, and tell him that I am arrested." + +The other two now had closed round him. + +"Oh, I'm not going to bolt," he said. "Please tell me where you are going +to take me." + +"Police Court in Branksome Street," said the first. + +"Tell Mr. Taynton I am there," said Morris to his man. + +There was a cab at the corner of the square, and in answer to an +almost imperceptible nod from one of the men, it moved up to the +house. The square was otherwise nearly empty, and Morris looked round +as the cab drew nearer. Upstairs in the house he had just left, was +his mother who was coming out to Falmer this evening to dine; above +illimitable blue stretched from horizon to horizon, behind was the +free fresh sea. Birds chirped in the bushes and lilac was in flower. +Everything had its liberty. + +Then a new instinct seized him, and though a moment before he had given +his word that he was not meditating escape, liberty called to him. +Everything else was free. He rushed forward, striking right and left +with his arms, then tripped on the edge of the paving stones and fell. +He was instantly seized, and next moment was in the cab, and fetters of +steel, though he could not remember their having been placed there, were +on his wrists. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +It was a fortnight later, a hot July morning, and an unusual animation +reigned in the staid and leisurely streets of Lewes. For the Assizes +opened that day, and it was known that the first case to be tried was the +murder of which all Brighton and a large part of England had been talking +so much since Morris Assheton had been committed for trial. At the +hearing in the police-court there was not very much evidence brought +forward, but there had been sufficient to make it necessary that he +should stand his trial. It was known, for instance, that he had some very +serious reason for anger and resentment against his victim; those who had +seen him that day remembered him as being utterly unlike himself; he was +known to have been at Falmer Park that afternoon about six, and to have +driven home along the Falmer Road in his car an hour or so later. And in +a copse close by to where the body of the murdered man was found had been +discovered a thick bludgeon of a stick, broken it would seem by some +violent act, into two halves. On the top half was rudely cut with a +pen-knife M. ASSHE ... What was puzzling, however, was the apparent +motive of robbery about the crime; it will be remembered that the +victim's watch was missing, and that no money was found on him. + +But since Morris had been brought up for committal at the police-court it +was believed that a quantity more evidence of a peculiarly incriminating +kind had turned up. Yet in spite of this, so it was rumoured, the +prisoner apparently did more than bear up; it was said that he was quite +cheerful, quite confident that his innocence would be established. Others +said that he was merely callous and utterly without any moral sense. Much +sympathy of course was felt for his mother, and even more for the family +of the Templetons and the daughter to whom it was said that Morris was +actually engaged. And, as much as anyone it was Mr. Taynton who was the +recipient of the respectful pity of the British public. Though no +relation he had all his life been a father to Morris, and while Miss +Madge Templeton was young and had the spring and elasticity of youth, so +that, though all this was indeed terrible enough, she might be expected +to get over it, Mr. Taynton was advanced in years and it seemed that he +was utterly broken by the shock. He had not been in Brighton on the day +on which Morris was brought before the police-court magistrates, and the +news had reached him in London after his young friend had been committed. +It was said he had fainted straight off, and there had been much +difficulty in bringing him round. But since then he had worked day and +night on behalf of the accused. But certain fresh evidence which had +turned up a day or two before the Assizes seemed to have taken the heart +out of him. He had felt confident that the watch would have been found, +and the thief traced. But something new that had turned up had utterly +staggered him. He could only cling to one hope, and that was that he knew +the evidence about the stick must break down, for it was he who had +thrown the fragments into the bushes, a fact which would come to light in +his own evidence. But at the most, all he could hope for was, that though +it seemed as if the poor lad must be condemned, the jury, on account of +his youth, and the provocation he had received, of which Mr. Taynton +would certainly make the most when called upon to bear witness on this +point, or owing to some weakness in the terrible chain of evidence that +had been woven, would recommend him to mercy. + +The awful formalities at the opening of the case were gone through. The +judge took his seat, and laid on the bench in front of him a small parcel +wrapped up in tissue paper; the jury was sworn in, and the prisoner asked +if he objected to the inclusion of any of those among the men who were +going to decide whether he was worthy of life or guilty of death, and the +packed court, composed about equally of men and women, most of whom would +have shuddered to see a dog beaten, or a tired hare made to go an extra +mile, settled themselves in their places with a rustle of satisfaction at +the thought of seeing a man brought before them in the shame of +suspected murder, and promised themselves an interesting and thrilling +couple of days in observing the gallows march nearer him, and in watching +his mental agony. They who would, and perhaps did, subscribe to +benevolent institutions for the relief of suffering among the lower +animals, would willingly have paid a far higher rate to observe the +suffering of a man. He was so interesting; he was so young and +good-looking; what a depraved monster he must be. And that little package +in tissue paper which the judge brought in and laid on the bench! The +black cap, was it not? That showed what the judge thought about it all. +How thrilling! + +Counsel for the Crown, opened the case, and in a speech grimly devoid of +all emotional appeal, laid before the court the facts he was prepared to +prove, on which they would base their verdict. + +The prisoner, a young man of birth and breeding, had strong grounds for +revenge on the murdered man. The prosecution, however, was not concerned +in defending what the murdered man had done, but in establishing the +guilt of the man who had murdered him. Godfrey Mills, had, as could be +proved by witnesses, slandered the prisoner in an abominable manner, and +the prosecution were not intending for a moment to attempt to establish +the truth of his slander. But this slander they put forward as a motive +that gave rise to a murderous impulse on the part of the prisoner. The +jury would hear from one of the witnesses, an old friend of the +prisoner's, and a man who had been a sort of father to him, that a few +hours only before the murder was committed the prisoner had uttered +certain words which admitted only of one interpretation, namely that +murder was in his mind. That the provocation was great was not denied; +it was certain however, that the provocation was sufficient. + +Counsel then sketched the actual circumstances of the crime, as far as +they could be constructed from what evidence there was. This evidence was +purely circumstantial, but of a sort which left no reasonable doubt that +the murder had been committed by the prisoner in the manner suggested. +Mr. Godfrey Mills had gone to London on the Tuesday of the fatal week, +intending to return on the Thursday. On the Wednesday the prisoner became +cognisant of the fact that Mr. Godfrey Mills had--he would not argue over +it--wantonly slandered him to Sir Richard Templeton, a marriage with the +daughter of whom was projected in the prisoner's mind, which there was +reason to suppose, might have taken place. Should the jury not be +satisfied on that point, witnesses would be called, including the young +lady herself, but unless the counsel for the defence challenged their +statement, namely that this slander had been spoken which contributed, so +it was argued, a motive for the crime it would be unnecessary to intrude +on the poignant and private grief of persons so situated, and to insist +on a scene which must prove to be so heart-rendingly painful. + +(There was a slight movement of demur in the humane and crowded court at +this; it was just these heart-rendingly painful things which were so +thrilling.) + +It was most important, continued counsel for the prosecution that the +jury should fix these dates accurately in their minds. Tuesday was June +21st; it was on that day the murdered man had gone to London, designing +to return on June 23d, Thursday. The prisoner had learned on Wednesday +(June 22d) that aspersions had been made, false aspersions, on his +character, and it was on Thursday that he learned for certain from the +lips of the man to whom they had been made, who was the author of them. +The author was Mr. Godfrey Mills. He had thereupon motored back from +Falmer Park, and informed Mr. Taynton of this, and had left again for +Falmer an hour later to make an appointment for Mr. Taynton to see Sir +Richard. He knew, too, this would be proved, that Mr. Godfrey Mills +proposed to return from London that afternoon, to get out at Falmer +station and walk back to Brighton. It was certain from the finding of the +body that Mr. Mills had travelled from London, as he intended, and that +he had got out at this station. It was certain also that at that hour the +prisoner, burning for vengeance, and knowing the movements of Mr. Mills, +was in the vicinity of Falmer. + +To proceed, it was certain also that the prisoner in a very strange wild +state had arrived at Mr. Taynton's house about nine that evening, knowing +that Mr. Mills was expected there at about 9.30. Granted that he had +committed the murder, this proceeding was dictated by the most elementary +instinct of self-preservation. It was also in accordance with that that +he had gone round in the pelting rain late that night to see if the +missing man had returned to his flat, and that he had gone to London next +morning to seek him there. He had not, of course, found him, and he +returned to Brighton that afternoon. In connection with this return, +another painful passage lay before them, for it would be shown by one of +the witnesses that again on the Friday afternoon the prisoner had visited +the scene of the crime. Mr. Taynton, in fact, still unsuspicious of +anything being wrong had walked over the Downs that afternoon from +Brighton to Falmer, and had sat down in view of the station where he +proposed to catch a train back to Brighton, and had seen the prisoner +stop his motor-car close to the corner where the body had been found, and +behave in a manner inexplicable except on the theory that he knew where +the body lay. Subsequently to the finding of the body, which had occurred +on Saturday evening, there had been discovered in a coppice adjoining a +heavy bludgeon-like stick broken in two. The top of it, which would be +produced, bore the inscription M. ASSHE... + +Mr. Taynton was present in court, and was sitting on the bench to the +right of the judge who had long been a personal friend of his. Hitherto +his face had been hidden in his hands, as this terribly logical tale +went on. But here he raised it, and smiled, a wan smile enough, at +Morris. The latter did not seem to notice the action. Counsel for the +prosecution continued. + +All this, he said, had been brought forward at the trial before the +police-court magistrates, and he thought the jury would agree that it was +more than sufficient to commit the prisoner to trial. At that trial, too, +they had heard, the whole world had heard, of the mystery of the missing +watch, and the missing money. No money, at least, had been found on the +body; it was reasonable to refer to it as "missing." But here again, the +motive of self-preservation came in; the whole thing had been carefully +planned; the prisoner, counsel suggested, had, just as he had gone up to +town to find Mr. Mills the day after the murder was committed, striven to +put justice off the scent in making it appear that the motive for the +crime, had been robbery. With well-calculated cunning he had taken the +watch and what coins there were, from the pockets of his victim. That at +any rate was the theory suggested by the prosecution. + +The speech was admirably delivered, and its virtue was its extreme +impassiveness; it seemed quite impersonal, the mere automatic action of +justice, not revengeful, not seeking for death, but merely stating the +case as it might be stated by some planet or remote fixed star. Then +there was a short pause, while the prosecutor for the Crown laid down his +notes. And the same slow, clear, impassive voice went on. + +"But since the committal of the prisoner to stand his trial at these +assizes," he said, "more evidence of an utterly unexpected, but to us +convincing kind has been discovered. Here it is." And he held up a sheet +of blotting paper, and a crumpled envelope. + +"A letter has been blotted on this sheet," he said, "and by holding it up +to the light and looking through it, one can, of course, read what was +written. But before I read it, I will tell you from where this sheet was +taken. It was taken from a blotting book in the drawing-room of Mrs. +Assheton's house in Sussex Square. An expert in handwriting will soon +tell the gentlemen of the jury in whose hand he without doubt considers +it to be written. After the committal of the prisoner to trial, search +was of course made in this house, for further evidence. This evidence was +almost immediately discovered. After that no further search was made." + +The judge looked up from his notes. + +"By whom was this discovery made?" he asked. + +"By Superintendent Figgis and Sergeant Wilkinson, my lord. They will +give their evidence." + +He waited till the judge had entered this. + +"I will read the letter," he said, "from the negative, so to speak, of +the blotting paper." + +"June 21st. + +"TO GODFREY MILLS, ESQ. + +"You damned brute, I will settle you. I hear you are coming back to +Brighton to-morrow, and are getting out at Falmer. All right; I shall be +there, and we shall have a talk. + +"MORRIS ASSHETON." + +A sort of purr went round the court; the kind humane ladies and gentlemen +who had fought for seats found this to their taste. The noose tightened. + +"I have here also an envelope," said the prosecutor, "which was found by +Mr. Figgis and Mr. Wilkinson in the waste-paper basket in the +sitting-room of the deceased. According to the expert in handwriting, +whose evidence you will hear, it is undoubtedly addressed by the same +hand that wrote the letter I have just read you. And, in his opinion, +the handwriting is that of the prisoner. No letter was found in the +deceased man's room corresponding to this envelope, but the jury will +observe that what I have called the negative of the letter on the +blotting-paper was dated June 21st, the day that the prisoner suspected +the slander that had been levelled at him. The suggestion is that the +deceased opened this before leaving for London, and took the letter with +him. And the hand, that for the purposes of misleading justice, robbed +him of his watch and his money, also destroyed the letter which was then +on his person, and which was an incriminating document. But this sheet +of blotting paper is as valuable as the letter itself. It proves the +letter to have been written." + + * * * * * + +Morris had been given a seat in the dock, and on each side of him there +stood a prison-warder. But in the awed hush that followed, for the +vultures and carrion crows who crowded the court were finding +themselves quite beautifully thrilled, he wrote a few words on a slip +of paper and handed it to a warder to give to his counsel. And his +counsel nodded to him. + +The opening speech for the Crown had lasted something over two hours, and +a couple of witnesses only were called before the interval for lunch. But +most of the human ghouls had brought sandwiches with them, and the court +was packed with the same people when Morris was brought up again after +the interval, and the judge, breathing sherry, took his seat. The court +had become terribly hot, but the public were too humane to mind that. A +criminal was being chased toward the gallows, and they followed his +progress there with breathless interest. Step by step all that was laid +down in the opening speech for the prosecution was inexorably proved, +all, that is to say, except the affair of the stick. But from what a +certain witness (Mr. Taynton) swore to, it was clear that this piece of +circumstantial evidence, which indeed was of the greatest importance +since the Crown's case was that the murder had been committed with that +bludgeon of a stick, completely broke down. Whoever had done the murder, +he had not done it with that stick, since Mr. Taynton deposed to having +been at Mrs. Assheton's house on the Friday, the day after the murder had +been committed, and to having taken the stick away by mistake, believing +it to be his. And the counsel for the defence only asked one question on +this point, which question closed the proceedings for the day. It was: + +"You have a similar stick then?" + +And Mr. Taynton replied in the affirmative. + +The court then rose. + + * * * * * + +On the whole the day had been most satisfactory to the ghouls and +vultures and it seemed probable that they would have equally exciting and +plentiful fare next day. But in the opinion of many Morris's counsel was +disappointing. He did not cross-examine witnesses at all sensationally, +and drag out dreadful secrets (which had nothing to do with the case) +about their private lives, in order to show that they seldom if ever +spoke the truth. Indeed, witness after witness was allowed to escape +without any cross-examination at all; there was no attempt made to prove +that the carpenter who had found the body had been himself tried for +murder, or that his children were illegitimate. Yet gradually, as the +afternoon went on, a sort of impression began to make its way, that there +was something coming which no one suspected. + +The next morning those impressions were realised when the adjourned +cross-examination of Mr. Taynton was resumed. The counsel for the defence +made an immediate attack on the theories of the prosecution, and it told. +For the prosecution had suggested that Morris's presence at the scene of +the murder the day after was suspicious, as if he had come back uneasily +and of an unquiet conscience. If that was so, Mr. Taynton's presence +there, who had been the witness who proved the presence of the other, was +suspicious also. What had he come there for? In order to throw the broken +pieces of Morris's stick into the bushes? These inferences were of +course but suggested in the questions counsel asked Mr. Taynton in the +further cross-examination of this morning, and perhaps no one in court +saw what the suggestion was for a moment or two, so subtly and covertly +was it conveyed. Then it appeared to strike all minds together, and a +subdued rustle went round the court, followed the moment after by an even +intenser silence. + +Then followed a series of interrogations, which at first seemed wholly +irrelevant, for they appeared to bear only on the business relations +between the prisoner and the witness. Then suddenly like the dim light at +the end of a tunnel, where shines the pervading illuminating sunlight, a +little ray dawned. + +"You have had control of the prisoner's private fortune since 1886?" + +"Yes." + +"In the year 1896 he had £8,000 or thereabouts in London and +North-Western Debentures, £6,000 in Consols, £7,000 in Government bonds +of South Australia?" + +"I have no doubt those figures are correct." + +"A fortnight ago you bought £8,000 of London and North-Western +Debentures, £6,000 in Consols, £7,000 in Government bonds of South +Australia?" + +Mr. Taynton opened his lips to speak, but no sound came from them. + +"Please answer the question." + +If there had been a dead hush before, succeeding the rustle that had +followed the suggestions about the stick, a silence far more palpable now +descended. There was no doubt as to what the suggestion was now. + +The counsel for the prosecution broke in. + +"I submit that these questions are irrelevant, my lord," he said. + +"I shall subsequently show, my lord, that they are not." + +"The witness must answer the question," said the judge. "I see that there +is a possible relevancy." + +The question was answered. + +"Thank you, that is all," said the counsel for the defence, and Mr. +Taynton left the witness box. + +It was then, for the first time since the trial began, that Morris +looked at this witness. All through he had been perfectly calm and +collected, a circumstance which the spectators put down to the +callousness with which they kindly credited him, and now for the first +time, as Mr. Taynton's eyes and his met, an emotion crossed the +prisoner's face. He looked sorry. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +For the rest of the morning the examination of witnesses for the +prosecution went on, for there were a very large number of them, but when +the court rose for lunch, the counsel for the prosecution intimated that +this was his last. But again, hardly any but those engaged officially, +the judge, the counsel, the prisoner, the warder, left the court. Mr. +Taynton, however, went home, for he had his seat on the bench, and he +could escape for an hour from this very hot and oppressive atmosphere. +But he did not go to his Lewes office, or to any hotel to get his lunch. +He went to the station, where after waiting some quarter of an hour, he +took the train to Brighton. The train ran through Falmer and from his +window he could see where the Park palings made an angle close to the +road; it was from there that the path over the Downs, where he had so +often walked, passed to Brighton. + +Again the judge took his seat, still carrying the little parcel wrapped +up in tissue paper. + +There was no need for the usher to call silence, for the silence was +granted without being asked for. + +The counsel for the defence called the first witness; he also unwrapped a +flat parcel which he had brought into court with him, and handed it to +the witness. + +"That was supplied by your firm?" + +"Yes sir." + +"Who ordered it?" + +"Mr. Assheton." + +"Mr. Morris Assheton, that is. Did he order it from you, you yourself?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did he give any specific instructions about it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"What were they?" + +"That the blotting book which Mrs. Assheton had already ordered was to be +countermanded, and that this was to be sent in its stead on June 24th." + +"You mean not after June 24th?" + +"No, sir; the instructions were that it was not to be sent before +June 24th." + +"Why was that?" + +"I could not say, sir. Those were the instructions." + +"And it was sent on June 24th." + +"Yes, sir. It was entered in our book." + +The book in question was produced and handed to the jury and the judge. + +"That is all, Mrs. Assheton." + +She stepped into the box, and smiled at Morris. There was no murmur of +sympathy, no rustling; the whole thing was too tense. + +"You returned home on June 24th last, from a visit to town?" + +"Yes." + +"At what time?" + +"I could not say to the minute. But about eleven in the morning." + +"You found letters waiting for you?" + +"Yes." + +"Anything else?" + +"A parcel." + +"What did it contain?" + +"A blotting-book. It was a present from my son on my birthday." + +"Is this the blotting-book?" + +"Yes." + +"What did you do with it?" + +"I opened it and placed it on my writing table in the drawing-room." + +"Thank you; that is all." + +There was no cross-examination of this witness, and after the pause, the +counsel for the defence spoke again. + +"Superintendent Figgis." + +"You searched the house of Mrs. Assheton in Sussex Square?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"What did you take from it?" + +"A leaf from a blotting-book, sir." + +"Was it that leaf which has been already produced in court, bearing the +impress of a letter dated June 21st?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Where was the blotting-book?" + +"On the writing-table in the drawing-room, sir." + +"You did not examine the blotting-book in any way?" + +"No, sir." + +Counsel opened the book and fitted the torn out leaf into its place. + +"We have here the impress of a letter dated June 21st, written in a new +blotting-book that did not arrive at Mrs. Assheton's house from the shop +till June 24th. It threatens--threatens a man who was murdered, +supposedly by the prisoner, on June 23d. Yet this threatening letter was +not written till June 24th, after he had killed him." + +Quiet and unemotional as had been the address for the Crown, these few +remarks were even quieter. Then the examination continued. + +"You searched also the flat occupied by the deceased, and you found there +this envelope, supposedly in the handwriting of the prisoner, which has +been produced by the prosecution?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"This is it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Thank you. That is all." + +Again there was no cross-examination, and the superintendent left the +witness box. + +Then the counsel for the defence took up two blank envelopes in addition +to the one already produced and supposedly addressed in the handwriting +of the prisoner. + +"This blue envelope," he said, "is from the stationery in Mrs. +Assheton's house. This other envelope, white, is from the flat of the +deceased. It corresponds in every way with the envelope which was +supposed to be addressed in the prisoner's hand, found at the flat in +question. The inference is that the prisoner blotted the letter dated +June 21st on a blotting pad which did not arrive in Mrs. Assheton's house +till June 24th, went to the deceased's flat and put it an envelope +there." + +These were handed to the jury for examination. + +"Ernest Smedley," said counsel. + +Mills's servant stepped into the box, and was sworn. + +"Between, let us say June 21st and June 24th, did the prisoner call at +Mr. Mills's flat?" + +"Yes, sir, twice." + +"When?" + +"Once on the evening of June 23d, and once very early next morning." + +"Did he go in?" + +"Yes, sir, he came in on both occasions." + +"What for?" + +"To satisfy himself that Mr. Mills had not come back." + +"Did he write anything?" + +"No, sir." + +"How do you know that?" + +"I went with him from room to room, and should have seen if he had done +so." + +"Did anybody else enter the flat during those days?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Who?" + +"Mr. Taynton." + +The whole court seemed to give a great sigh; then it was quiet again. The +judge put down the pen with which he had been taking notes, and like the +rest of the persons present he only listened. + +"When did Mr. Taynton come into the flat?" + +"About mid-day or a little later on Friday." + +"June 24th?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Please tell the jury what he did?" + +The counsel for the prosecution stood up. + +"I object to that question," he said. + +The judge nodded at him; then looked at the witness again. The +examination went on. + +"You need not answer that question. I put it to save time, merely. Did +Mr. Taynton go into the deceased's sitting-room?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did he write anything there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Was he alone there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Thank you." + +Again the examining counsel paused, and again no question was asked by +the prosecution. + +"Charles Martin," said the counsel for defence. + +"You are a servant of the prisoner's?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You were in his service during this week of June, of which Friday was +June 24th?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Describe the events--No. Did the prisoner go up to town, or elsewhere on +that day, driving his motorcar, but leaving you in Brighton?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Mrs. Assheton came back that morning?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did anyone call that morning? If so, who?" + +"Mr. Taynton called." + +"Did he go to the drawing-room?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did he write anything there?" + +"Yes, sir; he wrote a note to Mrs. Assheton, which he gave me when he +went out." + +"You were not in the drawing-room, when he wrote it?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did he say anything to you when he left the house?" + +"Yes, sir," + +"What did he say?" + +The question was not challenged now. + +"He told me to say that he had left the note at the door." + +"But he had not done so?" + +"No, sir; he wrote it in the drawing-room." + +"Thank you. That is all." + +But this witness was not allowed to pass as the others had done. The +counsel for the prosecution got up. + +"You told Mrs. Assheton that it had been left at the door?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You knew that was untrue?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"For what reason did you say it, then?" + +Martin hesitated; he looked down, then he looked up again, and was +still silent. + +"Answer the question." + +His eyes met those of the prisoner. Morris smiled at him, and nodded. + +"Mr. Taynton told me to say that," he said, "I had once been in Mr. +Taynton's service. He dismissed me. I--" + +The judge interposed looking at the cross-examining counsel. + +"Do you press your question?" he asked. "I do not forbid you to ask it, +but I ask you whether the case for the prosecution of the--the prisoner +is furthered by your insisting on this question. We have all heard, the +jury and I alike, what the last three or four witnesses have said, and +you have allowed that--quite properly, in my opinion--to go +unchallenged. I do not myself see that there is anything to be gained by +the prosecution by pressing the question. I ask you to consider this +point. If you think conscientiously, that the evidence, the trend of +which we all know now, is to be shaken, you are right to do your best to +try to shake it. If not, I wish you to consider whether you should press +the question. What the result of your pressing it will be, I have no +idea, but it is certainly clear to us all now, that there was a threat +implied in Mr. Taynton's words. Personally I do not wish to know what +that threat was, nor do I see how the knowledge of it would affect your +case in my eyes, or in the eyes of the jury." + +There was a moment's pause. + +"No, my lord, I do not press it." + +Then a clear young voice broke the silence. + +"Thanks, Martin," it said. + +It came from the dock. + +The judge looked across to the dock for a moment, with a sudden +irresistible impulse of kindliness for the prisoner whom he was judging. + +"Charles Martin," he said, "you have given your evidence, and speaking +for myself, I believe it to be entirely trustworthy. I wish to say that +your character is perfectly clear. No aspersion whatever has been made on +it, except that you said a note had been delivered at the door, though +you knew it to have been not so delivered. You made that statement +through fear of a certain individual; you were frightened into telling a +lie. No one inquires into the sources of your fear." + +But in the general stillness, there was one part of the court that was +not still, but the judge made no command of silence there, for in the +jury-box there was whispering and consultation. It went on for some +three minutes. Then the foreman of the jury stood up. + +"The jury have heard sufficient of this case, my lord," he said, "and +they are agreed on their verdict." + + * * * * * + +For a moment the buzzing whispers went about the court again, shrilling +high, but instantaneously they died down, and the same tense silence +prevailed. But from the back of the court there was a stir, and the +judge seeing what it was that caused it waited, while Mrs. Assheton +moved from her place, and made her way to the front of the dock in which +Morris sat. She had been in the witness-box that day, and everyone knew +her, and all made way for her, moving as the blades of corn move when +the wind stirs them, for her right was recognised and unquestioned. But +the dock was high above her, and a barrister who sat below instantly +vacated his seat, she got up and stood on it. All eyes were fixed on +her, and none saw that at this moment a telegram was handed to the judge +which he opened and read. + +Then he turned to the foreman of the jury. + +"What verdict, do you find?" he asked. + +"Not guilty." + +Mrs. Assheton had already grasped Morris's hands in hers, and just as the +words were spoken she kissed him. + + * * * * * + +Then a shout arose which bade fair to lift the roof off, and neither +judge nor ushers of the court made any attempt to quiet it, and if it was +only for the sensation of seeing the gallows march nearer the prisoner +that these folk had come together, yet there was no mistaking the +genuineness of their congratulations now. Morris's whole behaviour too, +had been so gallant and brave; innocent though he knew himself to be, +yet it required a very high courage to listen to the damning accumulation +of evidence against him, and if there is one thing that the ordinary man +appreciates more than sensation, it is pluck. Then, but not for a long +time, the uproar subsided, and the silence descended again. Then the +judge spoke. + +"Mr. Assheton," he said, "for I no longer can call you prisoner, the jury +have of course found you not guilty of the terrible crime of which you +were accused, and I need not say that I entirely agree with their +verdict. Throughout the trial you have had my sympathy and my admiration +for your gallant bearing." Then at a sign from the judge his mother and +he were let out by the private door below the bench. + +After they had gone silence was restored. Everyone knew that there must +be more to come. The prisoner was found not guilty; the murder was still +unavenged. + +Then once more the judge spoke. + +"I wish to make public recognition," he said, "of the fairness and +ability with which the case was conducted on both sides. The prosecution, +as it was their duty to do, forged the chain of evidence against Mr. +Assheton as strongly as they were able, and pieced together incriminating +circumstances against him with a skill that at first seemed conclusive of +his guilt. The first thing that occurred to make a weak link in their +chain was the acknowledgment of a certain witness that the stick with +which the murder was supposed to have been committed was not left on the +spot by the accused, but by himself. Why he admitted that we can only +conjecture, but my conjecture is that it was an act of repentance and +contrition on his part. When it came to that point he could not let the +evidence which he had himself supplied tell against him on whom it was +clearly his object to father the crime. You will remember also that +certain circumstances pointed to robbery being the motive of the crime. +That I think was the first idea, so to speak of the real criminal. Then, +we must suppose, he saw himself safer, if he forged against another +certain evidence which we have heard." + +The judge paused for a moment, and then went on with evident emotion. + +"This case will never be reopened again," he said, "for a reason that I +will subsequently tell the court; we have seen the last of this tragedy, +and retribution and punishment are in the hands of a higher and supreme +tribunal. This witness, Mr. Edward Taynton--has been for years a friend +of mine, and the sympathy which I felt for him at the opening of the +case, when a young man, to whom I still believe him to have been +attached, was on his trial, is changed to a deeper pity. During the +afternoon you have heard certain evidence, from which you no doubt as +well as I infer that the fact of this murder having been committed was +known to the man who wrote a letter and blotted it on the sheet which has +been before the court. That man also, as it was clear to us an hour ago, +directed a certain envelope which you have also seen. I may add that Mr. +Taynton had, as I knew, an extraordinary knack of imitating handwritings; +I have seen him write a signature that I could have sworn was mine. But +he has used that gift for tragic purposes. + +"I have just received a telegram. He left this court before the luncheon +interval, and went to his house in Brighton. Arrived there, as I have +just learned, he poisoned himself. And may God have mercy on his soul." + +Again he paused. + +"The case therefore is closed," he said, "and the court will rise for the +day. You will please go out in silence." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blotting Book, by E. F. Benson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11493 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca8e1f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11493 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11493) diff --git a/old/11493-8.txt b/old/11493-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..31f07b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11493-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4551 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blotting Book, by E. F. Benson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Blotting Book + +Author: E. F. Benson + +Release Date: March 7, 2004 [EBook #11493] +[Date last updated: December 21, 2004] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLOTTING BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beginners Projects, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + The Blotting Book + + By E. F. BENSON + + 1908 + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Mrs. Assheton's house in Sussex Square, Brighton, was appointed with that +finish of smooth stateliness which robs stateliness of its formality, and +conceals the amount of trouble and personal attention which has, +originally in any case, been spent on the production of the smoothness. +Everything moved with the regularity of the solar system, and, superior +to that wild rush of heavy bodies through infinite ether, there was never +the slightest fear of comets streaking their unconjectured way across the +sky, or meteorites falling on unsuspicious picnicers. In Mrs. Assheton's +house, supreme over climatic conditions, nobody ever felt that rooms +were either too hot or too cold, a pleasantly fresh yet comfortably warm +atmosphere pervaded the place, meals were always punctual and her +admirable Scotch cook never served up a dish which, whether plain or +ornate, was not, in its way, perfectly prepared. A couple of deft and +noiseless parlour-maids attended to and anticipated the wants of her +guests, from the moment they entered her hospitable doors till when, on +their leaving them, their coats were held for them in the most convenient +possible manner for the easy insertion of the human arm, and the tails of +their dinner-coats cunningly and unerringly tweaked from behind. In every +way in fact the house was an example of perfect comfort; the softest +carpets overlaid the floors, or, where the polished wood was left bare, +the parquetry shone with a moonlike radiance; the newest and most +entertaining books (ready cut) stood on the well-ordered shelves in the +sitting-room to beguile the leisure of the studiously minded; the +billiard table was always speckless of dust, no tip was ever missing from +any cue, and the cigarette boxes and match-stands were always kept +replenished. In the dining-room the silver was resplendent, until the +moment when before dessert the cloth was withdrawn, and showed a rosewood +table that might have served for a mirror to Narcissus. + +Mrs. Assheton, until her only surviving son Morris had come to live with +her some three months ago on the completion of his four years at +Cambridge, had been alone, but even when she was alone this ceremony of +drawing the cloth and putting on the dessert and wine had never been +omitted, though since she never took either, it might seem to be a +wasted piece of routine on the part of the two noiseless parlourmaids. +But she did not in the least consider it so, for just as she always +dressed for dinner herself with the same care and finish, whether she was +going to dine alone or whether, as tonight, a guest or two was dining +with her, as an offering, so to speak, on the altar of her own +self-respect, so also she required self-respect and the formality that +indicated it on the part of those who ministered at her table, and +enjoyed such excellent wages. This pretty old-fashioned custom had always +been the rule in her own home, and her husband had always had it +practised during his life. And since then--his death had occurred some +twenty years ago--nothing that she knew of had happened to make it less +proper or desirable. Kind of heart and warm of soul though she was, she +saw no reason for letting these excellent qualities cover any slackness +or breach of observance in the social form of life to which she had been +accustomed. There was no cause, because one was kind and wise, to eat +with badly cleaned silver, unless the parlour-maid whose office it was to +clean it was unwell. In such a case, if the extra work entailed by her +illness would throw too much on the shoulders of the other servants, Mrs. +Assheton would willingly clean the silver herself, rather than that it +should appear dull and tarnished. Her formalism, such as it was, was +perfectly simple and sincere. She would, without any very poignant regret +or sense of martyrdom, had her very comfortable income been cut down to a +tenth of what it was, have gone to live in a four-roomed cottage with one +servant. But she would have left that four-roomed cottage at once for +even humbler surroundings had she found that her straitened circumstances +did not permit her to keep it as speckless and _soignée_ as was her +present house in Sussex Square. + +This achievement of having lived for nearly sixty years so decorously may +perhaps be a somewhat finer performance than it sounds, but Mrs. Assheton +brought as her contribution to life in general a far finer offering than +that, for though she did not propose to change her ways and manner of +life herself, she was notoriously sympathetic with the changed life of +the younger generation, and in consequence had the confidence of young +folk generally. At this moment she was enjoying the fruits of her liberal +attitude in the volubility of her son Morris, who sat at the end of the +table opposite to her. His volubility was at present concerned with his +motor-car, in which he had arrived that afternoon. + +"Darling mother," he was saying, "I really was frightened as to whether +you would mind. I couldn't help remembering how you received Mr. +Taynton's proposal that you should go for a drive in his car. Don't you +remember, Mr. Taynton? Mother's nose _did_ go in the air. It's no use +denying it. So I thought, perhaps, that she wouldn't like my having one. +But I wanted it so dreadfully, and so I bought it without telling her, +and drove down in it to-day, which is my birthday, so that she couldn't +be too severe." + +Mr. Taynton, while Morris was speaking, had picked up the nutcrackers the +boy had been using, and was gravely exploding the shells of the nuts he +had helped himself to. So Morris cracked the next one with a loud bang +between his white even teeth. + +"Dear Morris," said his mother, "how foolish of you. Give Mr. Morris +another nutcracker," she added to the parlour-maid. + +"What's foolish?" asked he, cracking another. + +"Oh Morris, your teeth," she said. "Do wait a moment. Yes, that's right. +And how can you say that my nose went in the air? I'm sure Mr. Taynton +will agree with me that that is really libellous. And as for your being +afraid to tell me you had bought a motor-car yourself, why, that is +sillier than cracking nuts with your teeth." + +Mr. Taynton laughed a comfortable middle-aged laugh. + +"Don't put the responsibility on me, Mrs. Assheton," he said. "As long as +Morris's bank doesn't tell us that his account is overdrawn, he can do +what he pleases. But if we are told that, then down comes the cartloads +of bricks." + +"Oh, you are a brick all right, Mr. Taynton," said the boy. "I could +stand a cartload of you." + +Mr. Taynton, like his laugh, was comfortable and middle-aged. Solicitors +are supposed to be sharp-faced and fox-like, but his face was +well-furnished and comely, and his rather bald head beamed with +benevolence and dinner. + +"My dear boy," he said, "and it is your birthday--I cannot honour +either you or this wonderful port more properly than by drinking your +health in it." + +He began and finished his glass to the health he had so neatly proposed, +and Morris laughed. + +"Thank you very much," he said. "Mother, do send the port round. What an +inhospitable woman!" + +Mrs. Assheton rose. + +"I will leave you to be more hospitable than me, then, dear," she said. + +"Shall we go, Madge? Indeed, I am afraid you must, if you are to catch +the train to Falmer." + +Madge Templeton got up with her hostess, and the two men rose too. She +had been sitting next Morris, and the boy looked at her eagerly. + +"It's too bad, your having to go," he said. "But do you think I may come +over to-morrow, in the afternoon some time, and see you and Lady +Templeton?" + +Madge paused a moment. + +"I am so sorry," she said, "but we shall be away all day. We shan't be +back till quite late." + +"Oh, what a bore," said he, "and I leave again on Friday. Do let me come +and see you off then." + +But Mrs. Assheton interposed. + +"No, dear," she said, "I am going to have five minutes' talk with Madge +before she goes and we don't want you. Look after Mr. Taynton. I know he +wants to talk to you and I want to talk to Madge." + +Mr. Taynton, when the door had closed behind the ladies, sat down again +with a rather obvious air of proposing to enjoy himself. It was quite +true that he had a few pleasant things to say to Morris, it is also true +that he immensely appreciated the wonderful port which glowed, ruby-like, +in the nearly full decanter that lay to his hand. And, above all, he, +with his busy life, occupied for the most part in innumerable small +affairs, revelled in the sense of leisure and serene smoothness which +permeated Mrs. Assheton's house. He was still a year or two short of +sixty, and but for his very bald and shining head would have seemed +younger, so fresh was he in complexion, so active, despite a certain +reassuring corpulency, was he in his movements. But when he dined +quietly like this, at Mrs. Assheton's, he would willingly have sacrificed +the next five years of his life if he could have been assured on really +reliable authority--the authority for instance of the Recording +Angel--that in five years time he would be able to sit quiet and not work +any more. He wanted very much to be able to take a passive instead of an +active interest in life, and this a few hundreds of pounds a year in +addition to his savings would enable him to do. He saw, in fact, the goal +arrived at which he would be able to sit still and wait with serenity and +calmness for the event which would certainly relieve him of all further +material anxieties. His very active life, the activities of which were so +largely benevolent, had at the expiration of fifty-eight years a little +tired him. He coveted the leisure which was so nearly his. + +Morris lit a cigarette for himself, having previously passed the wine to +Mr. Taynton. + +"I hate port," he said, "but my mother tells me this is all right. It +was laid down the year I was born by the way. You don't mind my +smoking do you?" + +This, to tell the truth, seemed almost sacrilegious to Mr. Taynton, for +the idea that tobacco, especially the frivolous cigarette, should burn in +a room where such port was being drunk was sheer crime against human and +divine laws. But he could scarcely indicate to his host that he should +not smoke in his own dining-room. + +"No, my dear Morris," he said, "but really you almost shock me, when you +prefer tobacco to this nectar, I assure you nectar. And the car, now, +tell me more about the car." + +Morris laughed. + +"I'm so deeply thankful I haven't overdrawn," he said. "Oh, the car's a +clipper. We came down from Haywards Heath the most gorgeous pace. I saw +one policeman trying to take my number, but we raised such a dust, I +don't think he can have been able to see it. It's such rot only going +twenty miles an hour with a clear straight road ahead." + +Mr. Taynton sighed, gently and not unhappily. + +"Yes, yes, my dear boy, I so sympathise with you," he said. "Speed and +violence is the proper attitude of youth, just as strength with a more +measured pace is the proper gait for older folk. And that, I fancy is +just what Mrs. Assheton felt. She would feel it to be as unnatural in you +to care to drive with her in her very comfortable victoria as she would +feel it to be unnatural in herself to wish to go in your lightning speed +motor. And that reminds me. As your trustee--" + +Coffee was brought in at this moment, carried, not by one of the discreet +parlour-maids, but by a young man-servant. Mr. Taynton, with the port +still by him, refused it, but looked rather curiously at the servant. +Morris however mixed himself a cup in which cream, sugar, and coffee were +about equally mingled. + +"A new servant of your mother's?" he asked, when the man had left the +room. + +"Oh no. It's my man, Martin. Awfully handy chap. Cleans silver, boots and +the motor. Drives it, too, when I'll let him, which isn't very often. +Chauffeurs are such rotters, aren't they? Regular chauffeurs I mean. They +always make out that something is wrong with the car, just as dentists +always find some hole in your teeth, if you go to them." + +Mr. Taynton did not reply to these critical generalities but went back +to what he had been saying when the entry of coffee interrupted him. + +"As your mother said," he remarked, "I wanted to have a few words with +you. You are twenty-two, are you not, to-day? Well, when I was young we +considered anyone of twenty-two a boy still, but now I think young +fellows grow up more quickly, and at twenty-two, you are a man nowadays, +and I think it is time for you, since my trusteeship for you may end any +day now, to take a rather more active interest in the state of your +finances than you have hitherto done. I want you in fact, my dear fellow, +to listen to me for five minutes while I state your position to you." + +Morris indicated the port again, and Mr. Taynton refilled his glass. + +"I have had twenty years of stewardship for you," he went on, "and +before my stewardship comes to an end, which it will do anyhow in three +years from now, and may come to an end any day--" + +"Why, how is that?" asked Morris. + +"If you marry, my dear boy. By the terms of your father's will, your +marriage, provided it takes place with your mother's consent, and after +your twenty-second birthday, puts you in complete control and possession +of your fortune. Otherwise, as of course you know, you come of age, +legally speaking, on your twenty-fifth birthday." + +Morris lit another cigarette rather impatiently. + +"Yes, I knew I was a minor till I was twenty-five," he said, "and I +suppose I have known that if I married after the age of twenty-two, I +became a major, or whatever you call it. But what then? Do let us go and +play billiards, I'll give you twenty-five in a hundred, because I've +been playing a lot lately, and I'll bet half a crown." + +Mr. Taynton's fist gently tapped the table. + +"Done," he said, "and we will play in five minutes. But I have something +to say to you first. Your mother, as you know, enjoys the income of the +bulk of your father's property for her lifetime. Outside that, he left +this much smaller capital of which, as also of her money, my partner and +I are trustees. The sum he left you was thirty thousand pounds. It is now +rather over forty thousand pounds, since we have changed the investments +from time to time, and always, I am glad to say, with satisfactory +results. The value of her property has gone up also in a corresponding +degree. That, however, does not concern you. But since you are now +twenty-two, and your marriage would put the whole of this smaller sum +into your hands, would it not be well for you to look through our books, +to see for yourself the account we render of our stewardship?" + +Morris laughed. + +"But for what reason?" he asked. "You tell me that my portion has +increased in value by ten thousand pounds. I am delighted to hear it. And +I thank you very much. And as for--" + +He broke off short, and Mr. Taynton let a perceptible pause follow before +he interrupted. + +"As for the possibility of your marrying?" he suggested. + +Morris gave him a quick, eager, glance. + +"Yes, I think there is that possibility," he said. "I hope--I hope it is +not far distant." + +"My dear boy--" said the lawyer. + +"Ah, not a word. I don't know--" + +Morris pushed his chair back quickly, and stood up--his tall slim figure +outlined against the sober red of the dining-room wall. A plume of black +hair had escaped from his well-brushed head and hung over his forehead, +and his sun-tanned vivid face looked extraordinarily handsome. His +mother's clear-cut energetic features were there, with the glow and +buoyancy of youth kindling them. Violent vitality was his also; his was +the hot blood that could do any deed when the life-instinct commanded it. +He looked like one of those who could give their body to be burned in the +pursuit of an idea, or could as easily steal, or kill, provided only the +deed was vitally done in the heat of his blood. Violence was clearly his +mode of life: the motor had to go sixty miles an hour; he might be one of +those who bathed in the Serpentine in mid-winter; he would clearly dance +all night, and ride all day, and go on till he dropped in the pursuit of +what he cared for. Mr. Taynton, looking at him as he stood smiling there, +in his splendid health and vigour felt all this. He felt, too, that if +Morris intended to be married to-morrow morning, matrimony would probably +take place. + +But Morris's pause, after he pushed his chair back and stood up, was only +momentary. + +"Good God, yes; I'm in love," he said. "And she probably thinks me a +stupid barbarian, who likes only to drive golfballs and motorcars. +She--oh, it's hopeless. She would have let me come over to see them +to-morrow otherwise." + +He paused again. + +"And now I've given the whole show away," he said. + +Mr. Taynton made a comfortable sort of noise. It was compounded of +laughter, sympathy, and comprehension. + +"You gave it away long ago, my dear Morris," he said. + +"You had guessed?" asked Morris, sitting down again with the same +quickness and violence of movement, and putting both his elbows on +the table. + +"No, my dear boy, you had told me, as you have told everybody, without +mentioning it. And I most heartily congratulate you. I never saw a more +delightful girl. Professionally also, I feel bound to add that it seems +to me a most proper alliance--heirs should always marry heiresses. +It"--Mr. Taynton drank off the rest of his port--"it keeps properties +together." + +Hot blood again dictated to Morris: it seemed dreadful to him that any +thought of money or of property could be mentioned in the same breath as +that which he longed for. He rose again as abruptly and violently as he +had sat down. + +"Well, let's play billiards," he said. "I--I don't think you understand a +bit. You can't, in fact." + +Mr. Taynton stroked the tablecloth for a moment with a plump white +forefinger. + +"Crabbed age and youth," he remarked. "But crabbed age makes an appeal to +youth, if youth will kindly call to mind what crabbed age referred to +some five minutes ago. In other words, will you, or will you not, Morris, +spend a very dry three hours at my office, looking into the account of my +stewardship? There was thirty thousand pounds, and there now is--or +should we say 'are'--forty. It will take you not less than two hours, and +not more than three. But since my stewardship may come to an end, as I +said, any day, I should, not for my own sake, but for yours, wish you to +see what we have done for you, and--I own this would be a certain private +gratification to me--to learn that you thought that the trust your dear +father reposed in us was not misplaced." + +There was something about these simple words which touched Morris. For +the moment he became almost businesslike. Mr. Taynton had been, as he +knew, a friend of his father's, and, as he had said, he had been steward +of his own affairs for twenty years. But that reflection banished the +businesslike view. + +"Oh, but two hours is a fearful time," he said. "You have told me the +facts, and they entirely satisfy me. And I want to be out all day +to-morrow, as I am only here till the day after. But I shall be down +again next week. Let us go into it all then. Not that there is the +slightest use in going into anything. And when, Mr. Taynton, I become +steward of my own affairs, you may be quite certain that I shall beg you +to continue looking after them. Why you gained me ten thousand pounds in +these twenty years--I wonder what there would have been to my credit now +if I had looked after things myself. But since we are on the subject I +should like just this once to assure you of my great gratitude to you, +for all you have done. And I ask you, if you will, to look after my +affairs in the future with the same completeness as you have always done. +My father's will does not prevent that, does it?" + +Mr. Taynton looked at the young fellow with affection. + +"Dear Morris," he said gaily, "we lawyers and solicitors are always +supposed to be sharks, but personally I am not such a shark as that. Are +you aware that I am paid £200 a year for my stewardship, which you are +entitled to assume for yourself on your marriage, though of course its +continuance in my hands is not forbidden in your father's will? You are +quite competent to look after your affairs yourself; it is ridiculous for +you to continue to pay me this sum. But I thank you from the bottom of my +heart for your confidence in me." + +A very close observer might have seen that behind Mr. Taynton's kind gay +eyes there was sitting a personality, so to speak, that, as his mouth +framed these words, was watching Morris rather narrowly and anxiously. +But the moment Morris spoke this silent secret watcher popped back again +out of sight. + +"Well then I ask you as a personal favour," said he, "to continue being +my steward. Why, it's good business for me, isn't it? In twenty years you +make me ten thousand pounds, and I only pay you £200 a year for it. +Please be kind, Mr. Taynton, and continue making me rich. Oh, I'm a jolly +hard-headed chap really; I know that it is to my advantage." + +Mr. Taynton considered this a moment, playing with his wine glass. Then +he looked up quickly. + +"Yes, Morris, I will with pleasure do as you ask me," he said. + +"Right oh. Thanks awfully. Do come and play billiards." + +Morris was in amazing luck that night, and if, as he said, he had been +playing a lot lately, the advantage of his practice was seen chiefly in +the hideous certainty of his flukes, and the game (though he received +twenty-five) left Mr. Taynton half a crown the poorer. Then the winner +whirled his guest upstairs again to talk to his mother while he himself +went round to the stables to assure himself of the well-being of the +beloved motor. Martin had already valeted it, after its run, and was just +locking up when Morris arrived. + +Morris gave his orders for next day after a quite unnecessary examination +into the internal economy of the beloved, and was just going back to the +house, when he paused, remembering something. + +"Oh Martin," he said, "while I am here, I want you to help in the house, +you know at dinner and so on, just as you did to-night. And when there +are guests of mine here I want you to look after them. For instance, when +Mr. Taynton goes tonight you will be there to give him his hat and coat. +You'll have rather a lot to do, I'm afraid." + +Morris finished his cigarette and went back to the drawing-room where Mr. +Taynton was already engaged in the staid excitements of backgammon with +his mother. That game over, Morris took his place, and before long the +lawyer rose to go. + +"Now I absolutely refuse to let you interrupt your game," he said. "I +have found my way out of this house often enough, I should think. Good +night, Mrs. Assheton. Good night Morris; don't break your neck my dear +boy, in trying to break records." + +Morris hardly attended to this, for the game was critical. He just rang +the bell, said good night, and had thrown again before the door had +closed behind Mr. Taynton. Below, in answer to the bell, was standing +his servant. + +Mr. Taynton looked at him again with some attention, and then glanced +round to see if the discreet parlour-maids were about. + +"So you are called Martin now," he observed gently. + +"Yes, sir." + +"I recognised you at once." + +There was a short pause. + +"Are you going to tell Mr. Morris, sir?" he asked. + +"That I had to dismiss you two years ago for theft?" said Mr. Taynton +quietly. "No, not if you behave yourself." + +Mr. Taynton looked at him again kindly and sighed. + +"No, let bygones be bygones," he said. "You will find your secret is safe +enough. And, Martin, I hope you have really turned over a new leaf, and +are living honestly now. That is so, my lad? Thank God; thank God. My +umbrella? Thanks. Good night. No cab: I will walk." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Mr. Taynton lived in a square, comfortable house in Montpellier Road, and +thus, when he left Mrs. Assheton's there was some two miles of pavement +and sea front between him and home. But the night was of wonderful +beauty, a night of mid June, warm enough to make the most cautious secure +of chill, and at the same time just made crisp with a little breeze that +blew or rather whispered landward from over the full-tide of the sleeping +sea. High up in the heavens swung a glorious moon, which cast its path of +white enchanted light over the ripples, and seemed to draw the heart even +as it drew the eyes heavenward. Mr. Taynton certainly, as he stepped out +beneath the stars, with the sea lying below him, felt, in his delicate +and sensitive nature, the charm of the hour, and being a good if not a +brisk walker, he determined to go home on foot. And he stepped westward +very contentedly. + +The evening, it would appear, had much pleased him--for it was long +before his smile of retrospective pleasure faded from his pleasant mobile +face. Morris's trust and confidence in him had been extraordinarily +pleasant to him: and modest and unassuming as he was, he could not help a +secret gratification at the thought. What a handsome fellow Morris was +too, how gay, how attractive! He had his father's dark colouring, and +tall figure, but much of his mother's grace and charm had gone to the +modelling of that thin sensitive mouth and the long oval of his face. Yet +there was more of the father there, the father's intense, almost +violent, vitality was somehow more characteristic of the essential Morris +than face or feature. + +What a happy thing it was too--here the smile of pleasure illuminated Mr. +Taynton's face again--that the boy whom he had dismissed two years before +for some petty pilfering in his own house, should have turned out such a +promising lad and should have found his way to so pleasant a berth as +that of factotum to Morris. Kindly and charitable all through and ever +eager to draw out the good in everybody and forgive the bad, Mr. Taynton +had often occasion to deplore the hardness and uncharity of a world which +remembers youthful errors and hangs them, like a mill-stone, round the +neck of the offender, and it warmed his heart and kindled his smile to +think of one case at any rate where a youthful misdemeanour was lived +down and forgotten. At the time he remembered being in doubt whether he +should not give the offender up to justice, for the pilfering, petty +though it had been, had been somewhat persistent, but he had taken the +more merciful course, and merely dismissed the boy. He had been in two +minds about it before, wondering whether it would not be better to let +Martin have a sharp lesson, but to-night he was thankful that he had not +done so. The mercy he had shown had come back to bless him also; he felt +a glow of thankfulness that the subject of his clemency had turned out so +well. Punishment often hardens the criminal, was one of his settled +convictions. But Morris--again his thoughts went back to Morris, who was +already standing on the verge of manhood, on the verge, too, he made no +doubt of married life and its joys and responsibilities. Mr. Taynton was +himself a bachelor, and the thought gave him not a moment of jealousy, +but a moment of void that ached a little at the thought of the common +human bliss which he had himself missed. How charming, too, was the girl +Madge Templeton, whom he had met, not for the first time, that evening. +He himself had guessed how things stood between the two before Morris had +confided in him, and it pleased him that his intuition was confirmed. +What a pity, however, that the two were not going to meet next day, that +she was out with her mother and would not get back till late. It would +have been a cooling thought in the hot office hours of to-morrow to +picture them sitting together in the garden at Falmer, or under one of +the cool deep-foliaged oaks in the park. + +Then suddenly his face changed, the smile faded, but came back next +instant and broadened with a laugh. And the man who laughs when he is by +himself may certainly be supposed to have strong cause for amusement. + +Mr. Taynton had come by this time to the West Pier, and a hundred yards +farther would bring him to Montpellier Road. But it was yet early, as he +saw (so bright was the moonlight) when he consulted his watch, and he +retraced his steps some fifty yards, and eventually rang at the door of a +big house of flats facing the sea, where his partner, who for the most +part, looked after the London branch of their business, had his +_pied-à-terre_. For the firm of Taynton and Mills was one of those +respectable and solid businesses that, beginning in the country, had +eventually been extended to town, and so far from its having its +headquarters in town and its branch in Brighton, had its headquarters +here and its branch in the metropolis. Mr. Godfrey Mills, so he learned +at the door had dined alone, and was in, and without further delay Mr. +Taynton was carried aloft in the gaudy bird-cage of the lift, feeling +sure that his partner would see him. + +The flat into which he was ushered with a smile of welcome from the man +who opened the door was furnished with a sort of gross opulence that +never failed to jar on Mr. Taynton's exquisite taste and cultivated mind. +Pictures, chairs, sofas, the patterns of the carpet, and the heavy +gilding of the cornices were all sensuous, a sort of frangipanni to the +eye. The apparent contrast, however, between these things and their +owner, was as great as that between Mr. Taynton and his partner, for Mr. +Godfrey Mills was a thin, spare, dark little man, brisk in movement, with +a look in his eye that betokened a watchfulness and vigilance of the most +alert order. But useful as such a gift undoubtedly is, it was given to +Mr. Godfrey Mills perhaps a shade too obviously. It would be unlikely +that the stupidest or shallowest person would give himself away when +talking to him, for it was so clear that he was always on the watch for +admission or information that might be useful to him. He had, however, +the charm that a very active and vivid mind always possesses, and though +small and slight, he was a figure that would be noticed anywhere, so keen +and wide-awake was his face. Beside him Mr. Taynton looked like a +benevolent country clergyman, more distinguished for amiable qualities of +the heart, than intellectual qualities of the head. Yet those--there were +not many of them--who in dealings with the latter had tried to conduct +their business on these assumptions, had invariably found it necessary to +reconsider their first impression of him. His partner, however, was +always conscious of a little impatience in talking to him; Taynton, he +would have allowed, did not lack fine business qualities, but he was a +little wanting in quickness. + +Mills's welcome of him was abrupt. + +"Pleased to see you," he said. "Cigar, drink? Sit down, won't you? +What is it?" + +"I dropped in for a chat on my way home," said Mr. Taynton. "I have been +dining with Mrs. Assheton. A most pleasant evening. What a fine delicate +face she has." + +Mills bit off the end of a cigar. + +"I take it that you did not come in merely to discuss the delicacy of +Mrs. Assheton's face," he said. + +"No, no, dear fellow; you are right to recall me. I too take it--I take +it that you have found time to go over to Falmer yesterday. How did you +find Sir Richard?" + +"I found him well. I had a long talk with him." + +"And you managed to convey something of those very painful facts which +you felt it was your duty to bring to his notice?" asked Mr. Taynton. + +Godfrey Mills laughed. + +"I say, Taynton, is it really worth while keeping it up like this?" he +asked. "It really saves so much trouble to talk straight, as I propose +to do. I saw him, as I said, and I really managed remarkably well. I +had these admissions wrung from me, I assure you it is no less than +that, under promise of the most absolute secrecy. I told him young +Assheton was leading an idle, extravagant, and dissipated life. I said +I had seen him three nights ago in Piccadilly, not quite sober, in +company with the class of person to whom one does not refer in polite +society. Will that do?" + +"Ah, I can easily imagine how painful you must have found--" began +Taynton. + +But his partner interrupted. + +"It was rather painful; you have spoken a true word in jest. I felt a +brute, I tell you. But, as I pointed out to you, something of the sort +was necessary." + +Mr. Taynton suddenly dropped his slightly clerical manner. + +"You have done excellently, my dear friend," he said. "And as you pointed +out to me, it was indeed necessary to do something of the sort. I think +by now, your revelations have already begun to take effect. Yes, I think +I will take a little brandy and soda. Thank you very much." + +He got up with greater briskness than he had hitherto shown. + +"And you are none too soon," he said. "Morris, poor Morris, such a +handsome fellow, confided to me this evening that he was in love with +Miss Templeton. He is very much in earnest." + +"And why do you think my interview has met with some success?" +asked Mills. + +"Well, it is only a conjecture, but when Morris asked if he might call +any time to-morrow, Miss Templeton (who was also dining with Mrs. +Assheton) said that she and her mother would be out all day and not get +home till late. It does not strike me as being too fanciful to see in +that some little trace perhaps of your handiwork." + +"Yes, that looks like me," said Mills shortly. + +Mr. Taynton took a meditative sip at his brandy and soda. + +"My evening also has not been altogether wasted," he said. "I played what +for me was a bold stroke, for as you know, my dear fellow, I prefer to +leave to your nimble and penetrating mind things that want dash and +boldness. But to-night, yes, I was warmed with that wonderful port and +was bold." + +"What did you do?" asked Mills. + +"Well, I asked, I almost implored dear Morris to give me two or three +hours to-morrow and go through all the books, and satisfy himself +everything is in order, and his investments well looked after. I told him +also that the original £30,000 of his had, owing to judicious management, +become £40,000. You see, that is unfortunately a thing past praying for. +It is so indubitably clear from the earlier ledgers--" + +"But the port must indeed have warmed you," said Mills quickly. "Why, it +was madness! What if he had consented?" + +Mr. Taynton smiled. + +"Ah, well, I in my slow synthetic manner had made up my mind that it was +really quite impossible that he should consent to go into the books and +vouchers. To begin with, he has a new motor car, and every hour spent +away from that car just now is to his mind an hour wasted. Also, I know +him well. I knew that he would never consent to spend several hours over +ledgers. Finally, even if he had, though I knew from what I know of him +not that he would not but that he _could_ not, I could have--I could have +managed something. You see, he knows nothing whatever about business or +investments." + +Mills shook his head. + +"But it was dangerous, anyhow," he said, "and I don't understand +what object could be served by it. It was running a risk with no +profit in view." + +Then for the first time the inherent strength of the quietness of the one +man as opposed to the obvious quickness and comprehension of the other +came into play. + +"I think that I disagree with you there, my dear fellow," said Mr. +Taynton slowly, "though when I have told you all, I shall be of course, +as always, delighted to recognise the superiority of your judgment, +should you disagree with me, and convince me of the correctness of your +view. It has happened, I know, a hundred times before that you with your +quick intuitive perceptions have been right." + +But his partner interrupted him. He quite agreed with the sentiment, but +he wanted to learn without even the delay caused by these complimentary +remarks, the upshot of Taynton's rash proposal to Morris. + +"What did young Assheton say?" he asked. + +"Well, my dear fellow," said Taynton, "though I have really no doubt that +in principle I did a rash thing, in actual practice my step was +justified, because Morris absolutely refused to look at the books. Of +course I know the young fellow well: it argues no perspicuity on my part +to have foreseen that. And, I am glad to say, something in my way of +putting it, some sincerity of manner I suppose, gave rise to a fresh mark +of confidence in us on his part." + +Mr. Taynton cleared his throat; his quietness and complete absence of +hurry was so to speak, rapidly overhauling the quick, nimble mind of +the other. + +"He asked me in fact to continue being steward of his affairs in any +event. Should he marry to-morrow I feel no doubt that he would not spend +a couple of minutes over his financial affairs, unless, _unless_, as you +foresaw might happen, he had need of a large lump sum. In that case, my +dear Mills, you and I would--would find it impossible to live elsewhere +than in the Argentine Republic, were we so fortunate as to get there. +But, as far as this goes I only say that the step of mine which you felt +to be dangerous has turned out most auspiciously. He begged me, in fact, +to continue even after he came of age, acting for him at my present rate +of remuneration." + +Mr. Mills was listening to this with some attention. Here he +laughed dryly. + +"That is capital, then," he said. "You were right and I was wrong. God, +Taynton, it's your manner you know, there's something of the country +parson about you that is wonderfully convincing. You seem sincere without +being sanctimonious. Why, if I was to ask young Assheton to look into his +affairs for himself, he would instantly think there was something wrong, +and that I was trying bluff. But when you do the same thing, that simple +and perfectly correct explanation never occurs to him." + +"No, dear Morris trusts me very completely," said Taynton. "But, then, +if I may continue my little review of the situation, as it now stands, +you and your talk with Sir Richard have vastly decreased the danger of +his marrying. For, to be frank, I should not feel at all secure if that +happened. Miss Templeton is an heiress herself, and Morris might easily +take it into his head to spend ten or fifteen thousand pounds in building +a house or buying an estate, and though I think I have guarded against +his requiring an account of our stewardship, I can't prevent his wishing +to draw a large sum of money. But your brilliant manoeuvre may, we hope, +effectually put a stop to the danger of his marrying Miss Templeton, +and since I am convinced he is in love with her, why"--Mr. Taynton put +his plump finger-tips together and raised his kind eyes to the +ceiling--"why, the chance of his wanting to marry anybody else is +postponed anyhow, till, till he has got over this unfortunate attachment. +In fact, my dear fellow, there is no longer anything immediate to fear, +and I feel sure that before many weeks are up, the misfortunes and ill +luck which for the last two years have dogged us with such incredible +persistency will be repaired." + +Mills said nothing for the moment but splashed himself out a liberal +allowance of brandy into his glass, and mixed it with a somewhat more +carefully measured ration of soda. He was essentially a sober man, but +that was partly due to the fact that his head was as impervious to +alcohol as teak is to water, and it was his habit to indulge in two, and +those rather stiff, brandies and sodas of an evening. He found that they +assisted and clarified thought. + +"I wish to heaven you hadn't found it necessary to let young Assheton +know that his £30,000 had increased to £40,000," he said. "That's £10,000 +more to get back." + +"Ah, it was just that which gave him, so he thought, such good cause for +reposing complete confidence in me," remarked Mr. Taynton. "But as you +say, it is £10,000 more to get back, and I should not have told him, were +not certain ledgers of earlier years so extremely, extremely unmistakable +on the subject." + +"But if he is not going to look at ledgers at all--" began Mills. + +"Ah, the concealment of that sort of thing is one of the risks which it +is not worth while to take," said the other, dropping for a moment the +deferential attitude. + +Mills was silent again. Then: + +"Have you bought that option in Boston Coppers," he asked. + +"Yes; I bought to-day." + +Mills glanced at the clock as Mr. Taynton rose to go. + +"Still only a quarter to twelve," he said. "If you have time, you might +give me a detailed statement. I hardly know what you have done. It won't +take a couple of minutes." + +Mr. Taynton glanced at the clock likewise, and then put down his +hat again. + +"I can just spare the time," he said, "but I must get home by twelve; I +have unfortunately come out without my latchkey, and I do not like +keeping the servants up." + +He pressed his fingers over his eyes a moment and then spoke. + + * * * * * + +Ten minutes later he was in the bird-cage of the lift again, and by +twelve he had been admitted into his own house, apologising most amiably +to his servant for having kept him up. There were a few letters for him +and he opened and read those, then lit his bed-candle and went upstairs, +but instead of undressing, sat for a full quarter of an hour in his +armchair thinking. Then he spoke softly to himself. + +"I think dear Mills means mischief in some way," he said. "But really for +the moment it puzzles me to know what. However, I shall see tomorrow. Ah, +I wonder if I guess!" + +Then he went to bed, but contrary to custom did not get to sleep for a +long time. But when he did there was a smile on his lips; a patient +contented smile. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Mr. Taynton's statement to his partner, which had taken him so few +minutes to give, was of course concerned only with the latest financial +operation which he had just embarked in, but for the sake of the reader +it will be necessary to go a little further back, and give quite shortly +the main features of the situation in which he and his partner found +themselves placed. + +Briefly then, just two years ago, at the time peace was declared in South +Africa, the two partners of Taynton and Mills had sold out £30,000 of +Morris Assheton's securities, which owing to their excellent management +was then worth £40,000, and seeing a quite unrivalled opportunity of +making their fortunes, had become heavy purchasers of South African +mines, for they reasoned that with peace once declared it was absolutely +certain that prices would go up. But, as is sometimes the way with +absolute certainties, the opposite had happened and they had gone down. +They cut their loss, however, and proceeded to buy American rails. In six +months they had entirely repaired the damage, and seeing further +unrivalled opportunities from time to time, in buying motorcar shares, in +running a theatre and other schemes, had managed a month ago to lose all +that was left of the £30,000. Being, therefore, already so deeply +committed, it was mere prudence, the mere instinct of self-preservation +that had led them to sell out the remaining £10,000, and to-day Mr. +Taynton had bought an option in Boston Copper with it. The manner of an +option is as follows: + +Boston Copper to-day was quoted at £5 10S 6d, and by paying a premium of +twelve shillings and sixpence per share, they were entitled to buy Boston +Copper shares any time within the next three months at a price of £6 3s. +Supposing therefore (as Mr. Taynton on very good authority had supposed) +that Boston Copper, a rapidly improving company, rose a couple of points +within the next three months, and so stood at £7 10S 6d; he had the right +of exercising his option and buying them at £6 3S thus making £1 7S 6d +per share. But a higher rise than this was confidently expected, and +Taynton, though not really of an over sanguine disposition, certainly +hoped to make good the greater part if not all of their somewhat large +defalcations. He had bought an option of 20,000 shares, the option of +which cost (or would cost at the end of those months) rather over +£10,000. In other words, the moment that the shares rose to a price +higher than £6 3s, all further appreciation was pure gain. If they did +not rise so high, he would of course not exercise the option, and +sacrifice the money. + +That was certainly a very unpleasant thing to contemplate, but it had +been more unpleasant when, so far as he knew, Morris was on the verge of +matrimony, and would then step into the management of his own affairs. +But bad though it all was, the situation had certainly been immensely +ameliorated this evening, since on the one hand his partner had, it was +not unreasonable to hope, said to Madge's father things about Morris that +made his marriage with Madge exceedingly unlikely, while on the other +hand, even if it happened, his affairs, according to his own wish, would +remain in Mr. Taynton's hands with the same completeness as heretofore. +It would, of course, be necessary to pay him his income, and though this +would be a great strain on the finances of the two partners, it was +manageable. Besides (Mr. Taynton sincerely hoped that this would not be +necessary) the money which was Mrs. Assheton's for her lifetime was in +his hands also, so if the worst came to the worst-- + +Now the composition and nature of the extraordinary animal called man is +so unexpected and unlikely that any analysis of Mr. Taynton's character +may seem almost grotesque. It is a fact nevertheless that his was a +nature capable of great things, it is also a fact that he had long ago +been deeply and bitterly contrite for the original dishonesty of using +the money of his client. But by aid of those strange perversities of +nature, he had by this time honestly and sincerely got to regard all +their subsequent employments of it merely as efforts on his part to make +right an original wrong. He wanted to repair his fault, and it seemed to +him that to commit it again was the only means at his disposal for doing +so. A strain, too, of Puritan piety was bound up in the constitution of +his soul, and in private life he exercised high morality, and was also +kind and charitable. He belonged to guilds and societies that had as +their object the improvement and moral advancement of young men. He was a +liberal patron of educational schemes, he sang a fervent and fruity tenor +in the choir of St. Agnes, he was a regular communicant, his nature +looked toward good, and turned its eyes away from evil. To do him justice +he was not a hypocrite, though, if all about him were known, and a +plebiscite taken, it is probable that he would be unanimously condemned. +Yet the universal opinion would be wrong: he was no hypocrite, but only +had the bump of self-preservation enormously developed. He had cheated +and swindled, but he was genuinely opposed to cheating and swindling. He +was cheating and swindling now, in buying the option of Boston Copper. +But he did not know that: he wanted to repair the original wrong, to hand +back to Morris his fortune unimpaired, and also to save himself. But of +these two wants, the second, it must be confessed, was infinitely the +stronger. To save himself there was perhaps nothing that he would stick +at. However, it was his constant wish and prayer that he might not be led +into temptation. He knew well what his particular temptation was, namely +this instinct of self-preservation, and constantly thought and meditated +about it. He knew that he was hardly himself when the stress of it came +on him; it was like a possession. + +Mills, though an excellent partner and a man of most industrious habits, +had, so Mr. Taynton would have admitted, one little weak spot. He never +was at the office till rather late in the morning. True, when he came, he +soon made up for lost time, for he was possessed, as we have seen, of a +notable quickness and agility of mind, but sometimes Taynton found that +he was himself forced to be idle till Mills turned up, if his signature +or what not was required for papers before work could be further +proceeded with. This, in fact, was the case next morning, and from half +past eleven Mr. Taynton had to sit idly in his office, as far as the work +of the firm was concerned until his partner arrived. It was a little +tiresome that this should happen to-day, because there was nothing else +that need detain him, except those deeds for the execution of which his +partner's signature was necessary, and he could, if only Mills had been +punctual, have gone out to Rottingdean before lunch, and inspected the +Church school there in the erection of which he had taken so energetic an +interest. Timmins, however, the gray-haired old head clerk, was in the +office with him, and Mr. Taynton always liked a chat with Timmins. + +"And the grandson just come home, has he Mr. Timmins?" he was saying. "I +must come and see him. Why he'll be six years old, won't he, by now?" + +"Yes, sir, turned six." + +"Dear me, how time goes on! The morning is going on, too, and still Mr. +Mills isn't here." + +He took a quill pen and drew a half sheet of paper toward him, poised +his pen a moment and then wrote quickly. + +"What a pity I can't sign for him," he said, passing his paper over to +the clerk. "Look at that; now even you, Timmins, though you have seen Mr. +Mills's handwriting ten thousand times, would be ready to swear that the +signature was his, would you not?" + +Timmins looked scrutinisingly at it. + +"Well, I'm sure, sir! What a forger you would have made!" he said +admiringly. "I would have sworn that was Mr. Mills's own hand of write. +It's wonderful, sir." + +Mr. Taynton sighed, and took the paper again. + +"Yes, it is like, isn't it?" he said, "and it's so easy to do. Luckily +forgers don't know the way to forge properly." + +"And what might that be, sir?" asked Timmins. + +"Why, to throw yourself mentally into the nature of the man whose +handwriting you wish to forge. Of course one has to know the handwriting +thoroughly well, but if one does that one just has to visualise it, and +then, as I said, project oneself into the other, not laboriously copy the +handwriting. Let's try another. Ah, who is that letter from? Mrs. +Assheton isn't it. Let me look at the signature just once again." + +Mr. Taynton closed his eyes a moment after looking at it. Then he took +his quill, and wrote quickly. + +"You would swear to that, too, would you not, Timmins?" he asked. + +"Why, God bless me yes, sir," said he. "Swear to it on the book." + +The door opened and as Godfrey Mills came in, Mr. Taynton tweaked the +paper out of Timmins's hand, and tore it up. It might perhaps seem +strange to dear Mills that his partner had been forging his signature, +though only in jest. + +"'Fraid I'm rather late," said Mills. + +"Not at all, my dear fellow," said Taynton without the slightest touch of +ill-humour. "How are you? There's very little to do; I want your +signature to this and this, and your careful perusal of that. Mrs. +Assheton's letter? No, that only concerns me; I have dealt with it." + +A quarter of an hour was sufficient, and at the end Timmins carried the +papers away leaving the two partners together. Then, as soon as the door +closed, Mills spoke. + +"I've been thinking over our conversation of last night," he said, "and +there are some points I don't think you have quite appreciated, which I +should like to put before you." + +Something inside Mr. Taynton's brain, the same watcher perhaps who looked +at Morris so closely the evening before, said to him. "He is going to try +it on." But it was not the watcher but his normal self that answered. He +beamed gently on his partner. + +"My dear fellow, I might have been sure that your quick mind would have +seen new aspects, new combinations," he said. + +Mills leaned forward over the table. + +"Yes, I have seen new aspects, to adopt your words," he said, "and I will +put them before you. These financial operations, shall we call them, have +been going on for two years now, have they not? You began by losing a +large sum in South Africans--" + +"We began," corrected Mr. Taynton, gently. He was looking at the other +quite calmly; his face expressed no surprise at all; if there was +anything in his expression beyond that of quiet kindness, it was +perhaps pity. + +"I said 'you,'" said Mills in a hectoring tone, "and I will soon explain +why. You lost a large sum in South Africans, but won it back again in +Americans. You then again, and again contrary to my advice, embarked in +perfect wild-cat affairs, which ended in our--I say 'our' here--getting +severely scratched and mauled. Altogether you have frittered away +£30,000, and have placed the remaining ten in a venture which to my mind +is as wild as all the rest of your unfortunate ventures. These +speculations have, almost without exception, been choices of your own, +not mine. That was _one_ of the reasons why I said 'you,' not 'we.'" + +He paused a moment. + +"Another reason is," he said, "because without any exception the +transactions have taken place on your advice and in your name, not in +mine." + +That was a sufficiently meaning statement, but Mills did not wish his +partner to be under any misapprehension as to what he implied. + +"In other words," he said, "I can deny absolutely all knowledge of the +whole of those operations." + +Mr. Taynton gave a sudden start, as if the significance of this had only +this moment dawned on him, as if he had not understood the first +statement. Then he seemed to collect himself. + +"You can hardly do that," he said, "as I hold letters of yours which +imply such knowledge." + +Mills smiled rather evilly. + +"Ah, it is not worth while bluffing," he said. "I have never written such +a letter to you. You know it. Is it likely I should?" + +Mr. Taynton apparently had no reply to this. But he had a question to +ask. + +"Why are you taking up this hostile and threatening attitude?" + +"I have not meant to be hostile, and I have certainly not threatened," +replied Mills. "I have put before you, quite dispassionately I hope, +certain facts. Indeed I should say it was you who had threatened in the +matter of those letters, which, unhappily, have never existed at all. I +will proceed. + +"Now what has been my part in this affair? I have observed you lost +money in speculations of which I disapproved, but you always knew best. +I have advanced money to you before now to tide over embarrassments that +would otherwise have been disastrous. By the exercise of diplomacy--or +lying--yesterday, I averted a very grave danger. I point out to you also +that there is nothing to implicate me in these--these fraudulent +employments of a client's money. So I ask, where I come in? What do I +get by it?" + +Mr. Taynton's hands were trembling as he fumbled at some papers on his +desk. + +"You know quite well that we are to share all profits?" he said. + +"Yes, but at present there have not been any. I have been, to put it +plainly, pulling you out of holes. And I think--I think my trouble ought +to be remunerated. I sincerely hope you will take that view also. Or +shall I remind you again that there is nothing in the world to connect me +with these, well, frauds?" + +Mr. Taynton got up from his chair, strolled across to the window where he +drew down the blind a little, so as to shut out the splash of sunlight +that fell on his table. + +"You have been betting again, I suppose," he asked quietly. + +"Yes, and have been unfortunate. Pray do not trouble to tell me again how +foolish it is to gamble like that. You may be right. I have no doubt you +are right. But I think one has as much right to gamble with one's own +money as to do so with the money of other people." + +This apparently seemed unanswerable; anyhow Mr. Taynton made no reply. +Then, having excluded the splash of sunlight he sat down again. + +"You have not threatened, you tell me," he said, "but you have pointed +out to me that there is no evidence that you have had a hand in certain +transactions. You say that I know you have helped me in these +transactions; you say you require remuneration for your services. Does +not that, I ask, imply a threat? Does it not mean that you are +blackmailing me? Else why should you bring these facts--I do not dispute +them--to my notice? Supposing I refuse you remuneration?" + +Mills had noted the signs of agitation and anxiety. He felt that he was +on safe ground. The blackmailer lives entirely on the want of courage in +his victims. + +"You will not, I hope, refuse me remuneration," he said. "I have not +threatened you yet, because I feel sure you will be wise. I might, of +course, subsequently threaten you." + +Again there was silence. Mr. Taynton had picked up a quill pen, the same +with which he had been writing before, for the nib was not yet dry. + +"The law is rather severe on blackmailers," he remarked. + +"It is. Are you going to bring an action against me for blackmail? Will +not that imply the re-opening of--of certain ledgers, which we agreed +last night had better remain shut?" + +Again there was silence. There was a completeness in this reasoning which +rendered comment superfluous. + +"How much do you want?" asked Mr. Taynton. + +Mills was not so foolish as to "breathe a sigh of relief." But he +noted with satisfaction that there was no sign of fight in his +adversary and partner. + +"I want two thousand pounds," he said, "at once." + +"That is a large sum." + +"It is. If it were a small sum I should not trouble you." + +Mr. Taynton again got up and strayed aimlessly about the room. + +"I can't give it you to-day," he said. "I shall have to sell out +some stock." + +"I am not unreasonable about a reasonable delay," said Mills. + +"You are going to town this afternoon?" + +"Yes, I must. There is a good deal of work to be done. It will take me +all to-morrow." + +"And you will be back the day after to-morrow?" + +"Yes, I shall be back here that night, that is to say, I shall not get +away from town till the afternoon. I should like your definite answer +then, if it is not inconvenient. I could come and see you that night, the +day after to-morrow--if you wished." + +Mr. Taynton thought over this with his habitual deliberation. + +"You will readily understand that all friendly relations between us are +quite over," he said. "You have done a cruel and wicked thing, but I +don't see how I can resist it. I should like, however, to have a little +further talk about it, for which I have not time now." + +Mills rose. + +"By all means," he said. "I do not suppose I shall be back here till nine +in the evening. I have had no exercise lately, and I think very likely I +shall get out of the train at Falmer, and walk over the downs." + +Mr. Taynton's habitual courtesy came to his aid. He would have been +polite to a thief or a murderer, if he met him socially. + +"Those cool airs of the downs are very invigorating." he said. "I will +not expect you therefore till half past nine that night. I shall dine at +home, and be alone." + +"Thanks. I must be going. I shall only just catch my train to town." + +Mills nodded a curt gesture of farewell, and left the room, and when he +had gone Mr. Taynton sat down again in the chair by the table, and +remained there some half hour. He knew well the soundness of his +partner's reasoning; all he had said was fatally and abominably true. +There was no way out of it. Yet to pay money to a blackmailer was, to the +legal mind, a confession of guilt. Innocent people, unless they were +abject fools, did not pay blackmail. They prosecuted the blackmailer. Yet +here, too, Mills's simple reasoning held good. He could not prosecute the +blackmailer, since he was not in the fortunate position of being +innocent. But if you paid a blackmailer once, you were for ever in his +power. Having once yielded, it was necessary to yield again. He must get +some assurance that no further levy would take place. He must satisfy +himself that he would be quit of all future danger from this quarter. Yet +from whence was such assurance to come? He might have it a hundred times +over in Godfrey Mills's handwriting, but he could never produce that as +evidence, since again the charge of fraudulent employment of clients' +money would be in the air. No doubt, of course, the blackmailer would be +sentenced, but the cause of blackmail would necessarily be public. No, +there was no way out. + +Two thousand pounds, though! Frugally and simply as he lived, that was to +him a dreadful sum, and represented the savings of at least eighteen +months. This meant that there was for him another eighteen months of +work, just when he hoped to see his retirement coming close to him. Mills +demanded that he should work an extra year and a half, and out of those +few years that in all human probability still remained to him in this +pleasant world. Yet there was no way out! + +Half an hour's meditation convinced him of this, and, as was his sensible +plan, when a thing was inevitable, he never either fought against it nor +wasted energy in regretting it. And he went slowly out of the office into +which he had come so briskly an hour or two before. But his face +expressed no sign of disquieting emotion; he nodded kindly to Timmins, +and endorsed his desire to be allowed to come and see the grandson. If +anything was on his mind, or if he was revolving some policy for the +future, it did not seem to touch or sour that kindly, pleasant face. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Mr. Taynton did not let these very unpleasant occurrences interfere with +the usual and beneficent course of his life, but faced the crisis with +that true bravery that not only meets a thing without flinching, but +meets it with the higher courage of cheerfulness, serenity and ordinary +behaviour. He spent the rest of the day in fact in his usual manner, +enjoying his bathe before lunch, his hour of the paper and the quiet +cigar afterward, his stroll over the springy turf of the downs, and he +enjoyed also the couple of hours of work that brought him to dinner time. +Then afterward he spent his evening, as was his weekly custom, at the +club for young men which he had founded, where instead of being exposed +to the evening lures of the sea-front and the public house, they could +spend (on payment of a really nominal subscription) a quieter and more +innocent hour over chess, bagatelle and the illustrated papers, or if +more energetically disposed, in the airy gymnasium adjoining the +reading-room, where they could indulge in friendly rivalry with boxing +gloves or single-stick, or feed the appetites of their growing muscles +with dumb-bells and elastic contrivances. Mr. Taynton had spent a couple +of hours there, losing a game of chess to one youthful adversary, but +getting back his laurels over bagatelle, and before he left, had arranged +for a geological expedition to visit, on the Whitsuntide bank holiday +next week, the curious raised beach which protruded so remarkably from +the range of chalk downs some ten miles away. + +On returning home, it is true he had deviated a little from his usual +habits, for instead of devoting the half-hour before bed-time to the +leisurely perusal of the evening paper, he had merely given it one +glance, observing that copper was strong and that Boston Copper in +particular had risen half a point, and had then sat till bed-time doing +nothing whatever, a habit to which he was not generally addicted. + +He was seated in his office next morning and was in fact on the point of +leaving for his bathe, for this hot genial June was marching on its sunny +way uninterrupted by winds or rain, when Mr. Timmins, after discreetly +tapping, entered, and closed the door behind him. + +"Mr. Morris Assheton, sir, to see you," he said. "I said I would find +out if you were disengaged, and could hardly restrain him from coming in +with me. The young gentleman seems very excited and agitated. Hardly +himself, sir." + +"Indeed, show him in," said Mr. Taynton. + +A moment afterward the door burst open and banged to again behind Morris. +High colour flamed in his face, his black eyes sparkled with vivid +dangerous light, and he had no salutation for his old friend. + +"I've come on a very unpleasant business," he said, his voice not +in control. + +Mr. Taynton got up. He had only had one moment of preparation and he +thought, at any rate, that he knew for certain what this unpleasant +business must be. Evidently Mills had given him away. For what reason he +had done so he could not guess; after his experience of yesterday it +might have been from pure devilry, or again he might have feared that in +desperation, Taynton would take that extreme step of prosecuting him for +blackmail. But, for that moment Taynton believed that Morris's agitation +must be caused by this, and it says much for the iron of his nerve that +he did not betray himself by a tremor. + +"My dear Morris," he said, "I must ask you to pull yourself together. You +are out of your own control. Sit down, please, and be silent for a +minute. Then tell me calmly what is the matter." + +Morris sat down as he was told, but the calmness was not conspicuous. + +"Calm?" he said. "Would you be calm in my circumstances, do you think?" + +"You have not yet told me what they are," said Mr. Taynton. + +"I've just seen Madge Templeton," he said. "I met her privately by +appointment. And she told me--she told me--" + +Master of himself though he was, Mr. Taynton had one moment of +physical giddiness, so complete and sudden was the revulsion and +reaction that took place in his brain. A moment before he had known, +he thought, for certain that his own utter ruin was imminent. Now he +knew that it was not that, and though he had made one wrong conjecture +as to what the unpleasant business was, he did not think that his +second guess was far astray. + +"Take your time, Morris," he said. "And, my dear boy, try to calm +yourself. You say I should not be calm in your circumstances. Perhaps I +should not, but I should make an effort. Tell me everything slowly, +omitting nothing." + +This speech, combined with the authoritative personality of Mr. Taynton, +had an extraordinary effect on Morris. He sat quiet a moment or two, +then spoke. + +"Yes, you are quite right," he said, "and after all I have only +conjecture to go on yet, and I have been behaving as if it was proved +truth. God! if it is proved to be true, though, I'll expose him, +I'll--I'll horsewhip him, I'll murder him!" + +Mr. Taynton slapped the table with his open hand. + +"Now, Morris, none of these wild words," he said. "I will not listen to +you for a moment, if you do not control yourself." + +Once again, and this time more permanently the man's authority +asserted itself. Morris again sat silent for a time, then spoke evenly +and quietly. + +"Two nights ago you were dining with us," he said, "and Madge was there. +Do you remember my asking her if I might come to see them, and she said +she and her mother would be out all day?" + +"Yes; I remember perfectly," said Mr. Taynton. + +"Well, yesterday afternoon I was motoring by the park, and I saw Madge +sitting on the lawn. I stopped the motor and watched. She sat there for +nearly an hour, and then Sir Richard came out of the house and they +walked up and down the lawn together." + +"Ah, you must have been mistaken," said Mr. Taynton. "I know the spot you +mean on the road, where you can see the lawn, but it's half a mile off. +It must have been some friend of hers perhaps staying in the house." + +Morris shook his head. + +"I was not mistaken," he said. "For yesterday evening I got a note from +her, saying she had posted it secretly, but that she must see me, though +she was forbidden to do so, or to hold any communication with me." + +"Forbidden?" ejaculated Mr. Taynton. + +"Yes, forbidden. Well, this morning I went to the place she named, +outside on the downs beyond the park gate and saw her. Somebody has been +telling vile lies about me to her father. I think I know who it is." + +Mr. Taynton held up his hand. + +"Stop," he said, "let us have your conjecture afterward. Tell me first +not what you guess, but what happened. Arrange it all in your mind, tell +it me as connectedly as you can." + +Morris paused a moment. + +"Well, I met Madge as I told you, and this was her story. Three days ago +she and her father and mother were at lunch, and they had been talking in +the most friendly way about me, and it was arranged to ask me to spend +all yesterday with them. Madge, as you know, the next night was dining +with us, and it was agreed that she should ask me verbally. After lunch +she and her father went out riding, and when they returned they found +that your partner Mills, had come to call. He stayed for tea, and after +tea had a talk alone with Sir Richard, while she and her mother sat out +on the lawn. Soon after he had gone, Sir Richard sent for Lady Templeton, +and it was nearly dressing-time when she left him again. She noticed at +dinner that both her father and mother seemed very grave, and when Madge +went up to bed, her mother said that perhaps they had better not ask me +over, as there was some thought of their being away all day. Also if I +suggested coming over, when Madge dined with us, she was to give that +excuse. That was all she was told for the time being." + +Morris paused again. + +"You are telling this very clearly and well, my dear boy," said the +lawyer, very gravely and kindly. + +"It is so simple," said he with a biting emphasis. "Then next morning +after breakfast her father sent for her. He told her that they had +learned certain things about me which made them think it better not to +see any more of me. What they were, she was not told, but, I was not, it +appeared, the sort of person with whom they chose to associate. Now, +before God, those things that they were told, whatever they were, were +lies. I lead a straight and sober life." + +Mr. Taynton was attending very closely. + +"Thank God, Madge did not believe a word of it," said Morris, his face +suddenly flushing, "and like a brick, and a true friend she wrote at once +to me, as I said, in order to tell me all this. We talked over, too, who +it could have been who had said these vile things to her father. There +was only one person who could. She had ridden with her father till +tea-time. Then came your partner. Sir Richard saw nobody else; nobody +else called that afternoon; no post came in." + +Mr. Taynton had sprung up and was walking up and down the room in great +agitation. + +"I can't believe that," he said. "There must be some other explanation. +Godfrey Mills say those things about you! It is incredible. My dear boy, +until it is proved, you really must not let yourself believe that to be +possible. You can't believe such wickedness against a man, one, too, whom +I have known and trusted for years, on no evidence. There is no direct +evidence yet. Let us leave that alone for the moment. What are you going +to do now?" + +"I came here to see him," said Morris. "But I am told he is away. So I +thought it better to tell you." + +"Yes, quite right. And what else?" + +"I have written to Sir Richard, demanding, in common justice, that he +should see me, should tell me what he has heard against me, and who told +him. I don't think he will refuse. I don't see how he can refuse. I have +asked him to see me to-morrow afternoon." + +Mr. Taynton mentally examined this in all its bearings. Apparently it +satisfied him. + +"You have acted wisely and providently," he said. "But I want to beg you, +until you have definite information, to forbear from thinking that my +dear Mills could conceivably have been the originator of these scandalous +tales, tales which I know from my knowledge of you are impossible to be +true. From what I know of him, however, it is impossible he could have +said such things. I cannot believe him capable of a mean or deceitful +action, and that he should be guilty of such unfathomable iniquity is +simply out of the question. You must assume him innocent till his guilt +is proved." + +"But who else could it have been?" cried Morris, his voice rising again. + +"It could not have been he," said Taynton firmly. + +There was a long silence; then Morris rose. + +"There is one thing more," he said, "which is the most important of all. +This foul scandal about me, of course, I know will be cleared up, and I +shall be competent to deal with the offender. But--but Madge and I said +other things to each other. I told her what I told you, that I loved her. +And she loves me." + +The sternness, the trouble, the anxiety all melted from Mr. +Taynton's face. + +"Ah, my dear fellow, my dear fellow," he said with outstretched hands. +"Thank you for telling me. I am delighted, overjoyed, and indeed, as you +say, that is far more important than anything else. My dear Morris, and +is not your mother charmed?" + +Morris shook his head. + +"I have not told her yet, and I shall not till this is cleared up. It is +her birthday the day after to-morrow; perhaps I shall be able to tell +her then." + +He rose. + +"I must go," he said. "And I will do all I can to keep my mind off +accusing him, until I know. But when I think of it, I see red." + +Mr. Taynton patted his shoulder affectionately. + +"I should have thought that you had got something to think about, which +would make it easy for you to prevent your thoughts straying +elsewhere," he said. + +"I shall need all the distractions I can get," said Morris rather grimly. + + * * * * * + +Morris walked quickly back along the sea front toward Sussex Square, and +remembered as he went that he had not yet bought any gift for his mother +on her birthday. There was something, too, which she had casually said a +day or two ago that she wanted, what was it? Ah, yes, a new blotting-book +for her writing-table in the drawing-room. The shop she habitually dealt +at for such things, a branch of Asprey's, was only a few yards farther +on, and he turned in to make inquiries as to whether she had ordered it. +It appeared that she had been in that very morning, but the parcel had +not been sent yet. So Morris, taking the responsibility on himself, +counterordered the plain red morocco book she had chosen, and chose +another, with fine silver scrollwork at the corners. He ordered, too, +that a silver lettered inscription should be put on it. "H.A. from M.A." +with the date, two days ahead, "June 24th, l905." This he gave +instructions should be sent to the house on the morning of June 24th, the +day after to-morrow. He wished it to be sent so as to arrive with the +early post on that morning. + + * * * * * + +The promise which Morris had made his old friend not to let his thoughts +dwell on suspicion and conjecture as yet uncertain of foundation was one +of those promises which are made in absolute good faith, but which in +their very nature cannot be kept. The thought of the hideous treachery, +the gratuitous falsehood, of which, in his mind, he felt convinced +Godfrey Mills had been guilty was like blood soaking through a bandage. +All that he could do was to continue putting on fresh bandages--that was +all of his promise that he was able to fulfill, and in spite of the +bandages the blood stained and soaked its way through. In the afternoon +he took out the motor, but his joy in it for the time was dead, and it +was only because in the sense of pace and swift movement he hoped to find +a narcotic to thought, that he went out at all. But there was no narcotic +there, nor even in the thought of this huge joy of love that had dawned +on him was there forgetfulness for all else, joy and sorrow and love, +were for the present separated from him by these hideous and libellous +things that had been said about him. Until they were removed, until they +passed into non-existence again, nothing had any significance for him. +Everything was coloured with them; bitterness as of blood tinged +everything. Hours, too, must pass before they could be removed; this long +midsummer day had to draw to its end, night had to pass; the hour of +early dawn, the long morning had to be numbered with the past before he +could even learn who was responsible for this poisoned tale. + +And when he learned, or rather when his conjecture was confirmed as to +who it was (for his supposition was conjecture in the sense that it only +wanted the actual seal of reality on it) what should he do next? Or +rather what must he do next? He felt that when he knew absolutely for +certain who had said this about him, a force of indignation and hatred, +which at present he kept chained up, must infallibly break its chain, and +become merely a wild beast let loose. He felt he would be no longer +responsible for what he did, something had to happen; something more than +mere apology or retraction of words. To lie and slander like that was a +crime, an insult against human and divine justice. It would be nothing +for the criminal to say he was sorry; he had to be punished. A man who +did that was not fit to live; he was a man no longer, he was a biting, +poisonous reptile, who for the sake of the community must be expunged. +Yet human justice which hanged people for violent crimes committed under +great provocation, dealt more lightly with this far more devilish thing, +a crime committed coldly and calculatingly, that had planned not the mere +death of his body, but the disgrace and death of his character. Godfrey +Mills--he checked the word and added to himself "if it was he"--had +morally tried to kill him. + +Morris, after his interview that morning with Mr. Taynton, had lunched +alone in Sussex Square, his mother having gone that day up to London for +two nights. His plan had been to go up with her, but he had excused +himself on the plea of business with his trustees, and she had gone +alone. Directly after lunch he had taken the motor out, and had whirled +along the coast road, past Rottingdean through Newhaven and Seaford, and +ten miles farther until the suburbs of Eastbourne had begun. There he +turned, his thoughts still running a mill-race in his head, and retracing +his road had by now come back to within a mile of Brighton again. The sun +gilded the smooth channel, the winds were still, the hot midsummer +afternoon lay heavy on the land. Then he stopped the motor and got out, +telling Martin to wait there. + +He walked over the strip of velvety down grass to the edge of the white +cliffs, and there sat down. The sea below him whispered and crawled, +above the sun was the sole tenant of the sky, and east and west the down +was empty of passengers. He, like his soul, was alone, and alone he had +to think these things out. + +Yes, this liar and slanderer, whoever he was, had tried to kill him. The +attempt had been well-planned too, for the chances had been a thousand to +one in favour of the murderer. But the one chance had turned up, Madge +had loved him, and she had been brave, setting at defiance the order of +her father, and had seen him secretly, and told him all the circumstances +of this attack on him. But supposing she had been just a shade less +brave, supposing her filial obedience had weighed an ounce heavier? Then +he would never have known anything about it. The result would simply have +been, as it was meant to be, that the Templetons were out when he called. +There would have been a change of subject in their rooms when his name +was mentioned, other people would have vaguely gathered that Mr. Morris +Assheton's name was not productive of animated conversation; their +gatherings would have spread further, while he himself, ignorant of all +cause, would have encountered cold shoulders. + +Morris's hands clutched at the short down grass, tearing it up and +scattering it. He was helpless, too, unless he took the law into his own +hands. It would do no good, young as he was, he knew that, to bring any +action for defamation of character, since the world only says, if a man +justifies himself by the only legal means in his power, "There must have +been something in it, since it was said!" No legal remedy, no fines or +even imprisonment, far less apology and retraction satisfied justice. +There were only two courses open: one to regard the slander as a splash +of mud thrown by some vile thing that sat in the gutter, and simply +ignore it; the other to do something himself, to strike, to hit, with his +bodily hands, whatever the result of his violence was. + +He felt his shoulder-muscles rise and brace themselves at the thought, +all the strength and violence of his young manhood, with its firm sinews +and supple joints, told him that it was his willing and active servant +and would do his pleasure. He wanted to smash the jaw bone that had +formed these lies, and he wanted the world to know he had done so. Yet +that was not enough, he wanted to throttle the throat from which the +words had come; the man ought to be killed; it was right to kill him just +as it was right to kill a poisonous snake that somehow disguised itself +as a man, and was received into the houses of men. + +Indeed, should Morris be told, as he felt sure he would be, who his +slanderer and defamer was, that gentleman would be wise to keep out of +his way with him in such a mood. There was danger and death abroad on +this calm hot summer afternoon. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +It was about four o'clock on the afternoon of the following day, and Mr. +Taynton was prolonging his hour of quietude after lunch, and encroaching +thereby into the time he daily dedicated to exercise. It was but seldom +that he broke into the routine of habits so long formed, and indeed the +most violent rain or snow of winter, the most cutting easterly blasts of +March, never, unless he had some definite bodily ailment, kept him +indoors or deprived him of his brisk health-giving trudge over the downs +or along the sea front. But occasionally when the weather was unusually +hot, he granted himself the indulgence of sitting still instead of +walking, and certainly to-day the least lenient judge might say that +there were strong extenuating circumstances in his favour. For the heat +of the past week had been piling itself up, like the heaped waters of +flood and this afternoon was intense in its heat, its stillness and +sultriness. It had been sunless all day, and all day the blanket of +clouds that beset the sky had been gathering themselves into blacker and +more ill-omened density. There would certainly be a thunderstorm before +morning, and the approach of it made Mr. Taynton feel that he really had +not the energy to walk. By and by perhaps he might be tempted to go in +quest of coolness along the sea front, or perhaps later in the evening he +might, as he sometimes did, take a carriage up on to the downs, and come +gently home to a late supper. He would have time for that to-day, for +according to arrangement his partner was to drop in about half past nine +that evening. If he got back at nine, supposing he went at all, he would +have time to have some food before receiving him. + +He sat in a pleasant parquetted room looking out into the small square +garden at the back of his house in Montpellier Road. Big awnings +stretched from the window over the broad gravel path outside, and in +spite of the excessive heat the room was full of dim coolness. There was +but little furniture in it, and it presented the strongest possible +contrast to the appointments of his partner's flat with its heavy +decorations, its somewhat gross luxury. A few water-colours hung on the +white walls, a few Persian rugs strewed the floor, a big bookcase with +china on the top filled one end of the room, his writing-table, a half +dozen of Chippendale chairs, and the chintz-covered sofa where he now lay +practically completed the inventory of the room. Three or four bronzes, a +Narcissus, a fifteenth-century Italian St. Francis, and a couple of +Greek reproductions stood on the chimney-piece, but the whole room +breathed an atmosphere of aesthetic asceticism. + +Since lunch Mr. Taynton had glanced at the paper, and also looked up the +trains from Lewes in order to assure himself that he need not expect his +partner till half past nine, and since then, though his hands and his +eyes had been idle, his mind had been very busy. Yet for all its +business, he had not arrived at much. Morris, Godfrey Mills, and himself; +he had placed these three figures in all sorts of positions in his mind, +and yet every combination of them was somehow terrible and menacing. Try +as he would he could not construct a peaceful or secure arrangement of +them. In whatever way he grouped them there was danger. + +The kitchen passage ran out at right angles to the room in which he sat, +and formed one side of the garden. The windows in it were high up, so +that it did not overlook the flowerbeds, and on this torrid afternoon +they were all fully open. Suddenly from just inside came the fierce +clanging peal of a bell, which made him start from his recumbent +position. It was the front-door bell, as he knew, and as it continued +ringing as if a maniac's grip was on the handle, he heard the steps of +his servant running along the stone floor of the passage to see what +imperative summons this was. Then, as the front door was opened, the bell +ceased as suddenly as it had begun, and the moment afterward he heard +Morris's voice shrill and commanding. + +"But he has got to see me," he cried, "What's the use of you going to ask +if he will?" + +Mr. Taynton went to the door of his room which opened into the hall. + +"Come in, Morris," he said. + +Though it had been Morris's hand which had raised so uncontrolled a +clamour, and his voice that just now had been so uncontrolled, there was +no sign, when the door of Mr. Taynton's room had closed behind them, that +there was any excitement of any sort raging within him. He sat down at +once in a chair opposite the window, and Mr. Taynton saw that in spite of +the heat of the day and the violence of that storm which he knew was +yelling and screaming through his brain, his face was absolutely white. +He sat with his hands on the arms of the Chippendale chair, and they too +were quite still. + +"I have seen Sir Richard," said he, "and I came back at once to see you. +He has told me everything. Godfrey Mills has been lying about me and +slandering me." + +Mr. Taynton sat down heavily on the sofa. + +"No, no; don't say it, don't say it," he murmured. "It can't be true, I +can't believe it." + +"But it is true, and you have got to believe it. He suggested that you +should go and talk it over with him. I will drive you up in the car, if +you wish--" + +Mr. Taynton waved his hand with a negative gesture. + +"No, no, not at once," he cried. "I must think it over. I must get used +to this dreadful, this appalling shock. I am utterly distraught." + +Morris turned to him, and across his face for one moment there shot, +swift as a lightning-flash, a quiver of rage so rabid that he looked +scarcely human, but like some Greek presentment of the Furies or Revenge. +Never, so thought his old friend, had he seen such glorious youthful +beauty so instinct and inspired with hate. It was the demoniacal force of +that which lent such splendour to it. But it passed in a second, and +Morris still very pale, very quiet spoke to him. + +"Where is he?" he asked. "I must see him at once. It won't keep." + +Then he sprang up, his rage again mastering him. + +"What shall I do it with?" he said. "What shall I do it with?" + +For the moment Mr. Taynton forgot himself and his anxieties. + +"Morris, you don't know what you are saying," he cried. "Thank God nobody +but me heard you say that!" + +Morris seemed not to be attending. + +"Where is he?" he said again, "are you concealing him here? I have +already been to your office, and he wasn't there, and to his flat, and he +wasn't there." + +"Thank God," ejaculated the lawyer. + +"By all means if you like. But I've got to see him, you know. +Where is he?" + +"He is away in town," said Mr. Taynton, "but he will be back to-night. +Now attend. Of course you must see him, I quite understand that. But you +mustn't see him alone, while you are like this." + +"No, I don't want to," said Morris. "I should like other people to see +what I've got to--to say to him--that, that partner of yours." + +"He has from this moment ceased to be my partner," said Mr. Taynton +brokenly. "I could never again sign what he has signed, or work with +him, or--or--except once--see him again. He is coming here by +appointment at half-past nine. Suppose that we all meet here. We have +both got to see him." + +Morris nodded and went toward the door. A sudden spasm of anxiety seemed +to seize Mr. Taynton. + +"What are you going to do now?" he asked. + +"I don't know. Drive to Falmer Park perhaps, and tell Sir Richard you +cannot see him immediately. Will you see him to-morrow?" + +"Yes, I will call to-morrow morning. Morris, promise me you will do +nothing rash, nothing that will bring sorrow on all those who love you." + +"I shall bring a little sorrow on a man who hates me," said he. + +He went out, and Mr. Taynton sat down again, his mouth compressed into +hard lines, his forehead heavily frowning. He could not permanently +prevent Morris from meeting Godfrey Mills, besides, it was his right to +do so, yet how fraught with awful risks to himself that meeting would be! +Morris might easily make a violent, even a murderous, assault on the man, +but Mills was an expert boxer and wrestler, science would probably get +the upper hand of blind rage. But how deadly a weapon Mills had in store +against himself; he would certainly tell Morris that if one partner had +slandered him the other, whom he so trusted and revered, had robbed him; +he would say, too, that Taynton had been cognizant of, and had approved, +his slanders. There was no end to the ruin that would certainly be +brought about his head if they met. Mills's train, too, would have left +London by now; there was no chance of stopping him. Then there was +another danger he had not foreseen, and it was too late to stop that now. +Morris was going again to Falmer Park, had indeed started, and that +afternoon Godfrey Mills would get out of the train, as he had planned, at +the station just below, and walk back over the downs to Brighton. What if +they met there, alone? + +For an hour perhaps Mr. Taynton delved at these problems, and at the end +even it did not seem as if he had solved them satisfactorily, for when +he went out of his house, as he did at the end of this time to get a +little breeze if such was obtainable, his face was still shadowed and +overclouded. Overclouded too was the sky, and as he stepped out into the +street from his garden-room the hot air struck him like a buffet; and in +his troubled and apprehensive mood it felt as if some hot hand warned him +by a blow not to venture out of his house. But the house, somehow, in the +last hour had become terrible to him, any movement or action, even on a +day like this, when only madmen and the English go abroad, was better +than the nervous waiting in his darkened room. Dreadful forces, forces of +ruin and murder and disgrace, were abroad in the world of men; the menace +of the low black clouds and stifling heat was more bearable. He wanted to +get away from his house, which was permeated and soaked in association +with the other two actors, who in company with himself, had surely some +tragedy for which the curtain was already rung up. Some dreadful scene +was already prepared for them; the setting and stage were ready, the +prompter, and who was he? was in the box ready to tell them the next line +if any of them faltered. The prompter, surely he was destiny, fate, the +irresistible course of events, with which no man can struggle, any more +than the actor can struggle with or alter the lines that are set down for +him. He may mumble them, he may act dispiritedly and tamely, but he has +undertaken a certain part; he has to go through with it. + +Though it was a populous hour of the day, there were but few people +abroad when Mr. Taynton came out to the sea front; a few cabs stood by +the railings that bounded the broad asphalt path which faced the sea, but +the drivers of these, despairing of fares, were for the most part dozing +on the boxes, or with a more set purpose were frankly slumbering in the +interior. The dismal little wooden shelters that punctuated the parade +were deserted, the pier stretched an untenanted length of boards over the +still, lead-coloured sea, and it seemed as if nature herself was waiting +for some elemental catastrophe. + +And though the afternoon was of such hideous and sultry heat, Mr. +Taynton, though he walked somewhat more briskly than his wont, was +conscious of no genial heat that produced perspiration, and the natural +reaction and cooling of the skin. Some internal excitement and fever of +the brain cut off all external things; the loneliness, the want of +correspondence that fever brings between external and internal +conditions, was on him. At one moment, in spite of the heat, he +shivered, at another he felt that an apoplexy must strike him. + +For some half hour he walked to and fro along the sea-wall, between the +blackness of the sky and the lead-coloured water, and then his thoughts +turned to the downs above this stricken place, where, even in the +sultriest days some breath of wind was always moving. Just opposite him, +on the other side of the road, was the street that led steeply upward to +the station. He went up it. + + * * * * * + +It was about half-past seven o'clock that evening that the storm burst. A +few huge drops of rain fell on the hot pavements, then the rain ceased +again, and the big splashes dried, as if the stones had been blotting +paper that sucked the moisture in. Then without other warning a streamer +of fire split the steeple of St. Agnes's Church, just opposite Mr. +Taynton's house, and the crash of thunder answered it more quickly than +his servant had run to open the door to Morris's furious ringing of the +bell. At that the sluices of heaven were opened, and heaven's artillery +thundered its salvoes to the flare of the reckless storm. In the next +half-hour a dozen houses in Brighton were struck, while the choked +gutters overflowing on to the streets made ravines and waterways down the +roadways. Then the thunder and lightning ceased, but the rain still +poured down relentlessly and windlessly, a flood of perpendicular water. + +Mr. Taynton had gone out without umbrella, and when he let himself in by +his latch-key at his own house-door about half-past eight, it was no +wonder that he wrung out his coat and trousers so that he should not soak +his Persian rugs. But from him, as from the charged skies, some tension +had passed; this tempest which had so cooled the air and restored the +equilibrium of its forces had smoothed the frowning creases of his brow, +and when the servant hurried up at the sound of the banged front-door, he +found his master soaked indeed, but serene. + +"Yes, I got caught by the storm, Williams," he said, "and I am drenched. +The lightning was terrific, was it not? I will just change, and have a +little supper; some cold meat, anything that there is. Yes, you might +take my coat at once." + +He divested himself of this. + +"And I expect Mr. Morris this evening," he said. "He will probably have +dined, but if not I am sure Mrs. Otter will toss up a hot dish for him. +Oh, yes, and Mr. Mills will be here at half-past nine, or even sooner, as +I cannot think he will have walked from Falmer as he intended. But +whenever he comes, I will see him. He has not been here already?" + +"No, sir," said Williams, "Will you have a hot bath, sir?" + +"No, I will just change. How battered the poor garden will look tomorrow +after this deluge." + + * * * * * + +Mr. Taynton changed his wet clothes and half an hour afterwards he sat +down to his simple and excellent supper. Mrs. Otter had provided an +admirable vegetable soup for him, and some cold lamb with asparagus and +endive salad. A macedoine of strawberries followed and a scoop of cheese. +Simple as his fare was, it just suited Mr. Taynton's tastes, and he was +indulging himself with the rather rare luxury of a third glass of port +when Williams entered again. + +"Mr. Assheton," he said, and held the door open. + +Morris came in; he was dressed in evening clothes with a dinner jacket, +and gave no salutation to his host. + +"He's not come yet?" he asked. + +But his host sprang up. + +"Dear boy," he said, "what a relief it is to see you. Ever since you left +this afternoon I have had you on my mind. You will have a glass of port?" + +Morris laughed, a curious jangling laugh. + +"Oh yes, to drink his health," he said. + +He sat down with a jerk, and leaned his elbows on the table. + +"He'll want a lot of health to carry him through this, won't he?" he +asked. + +He drank his glass of port like water, and Mr. Taynton instantly filled +it up again for him. + +"Ah, I remember you don't like port," he said. "What else can I +offer you?" + +"Oh, this will do very well," said Morris. "I am so thirsty." + +"You have dined?" asked his host quietly. + +"No; I don't think I did. I wasn't hungry." + +The Cromwellian clock chimed a remnant half hour. + +"Half-past," said Morris, filling his glass again. "You expect him then, +don't you?" + +"Mills is not always very punctual," said Mr. Taynton. + +For the next quarter of an hour the two sat with hardly the interchange +of a word. From outside came the swift steady hiss of the rain on to +the shrubs in the garden, and again the clock chimed. Morris who at +first had sat very quiet had begun to fidget and stir in his chair; +occasionally when he happened to notice it, he drank off the port with +which Mr. Taynton hospitably kept his glass supplied. Sometimes he +relit a cigarette only to let it go out again. But when the clock +struck he got up. + +"I wonder what has happened," he said. "Can he have missed his train? +What time ought he to have got in?" + +"He was to have got to Falmer," said Mr. Taynton with a little +emphasis on the last word, "at a quarter to seven. He spoke of walking +from there." + +Morris looked at him with a furtive sidelong glance. + +"Why, I--I might have met him there," he said. "I went up there again +after I left you to tell Sir Richard you would call to-morrow." + +"You saw nothing of him?" asked the lawyer. + +"No, of course not. Otherwise--There was scarcely a soul on the road; the +storm was coming up. But he would go by the downs, would he not?" + +"The path over the downs doesn't branch off for a quarter of a mile below +Falmer station," said Mr. Taynton. + +The minutes ticked on till ten. Then Morris went to the door. + +"I shall go round to his rooms to see if he is there," he said. + +"There is no need," said his host, "I will telephone." + +The instrument hung in a corner of the room, and with very little delay, +Mills's servant was rung up. His master had not yet returned, but he had +said that he should very likely be late. + +"And he made an appointment with you for half-past nine?" asked +Morris again. + +"Yes. I cannot think what has happened to detain him." + +Morris went quickly to the door again. + +"I believe it is all a trick," he said, "and you don't want me to meet +him. I believe he is in his rooms the whole time. I shall go and see." + +Before Mr. Taynton could stop him he had opened the front-door and banged +it behind him, and was off hatless and coatless through the pouring +perpendicular rain. + +Mr. Taynton ran to the door, as if to stop him, but Morris was already +halfway down the street, and he went upstairs to the drawing-room. Morris +was altogether unlike himself; this discovery of Mills's treachery seemed +to have changed his nature. Violent and quick he always was, but to-night +he was suspicious, he seemed to distrust Mr. Taynton himself. And, a +thing which his host had never known him do before, he had drunk in that +half hour when they sat waiting, close on a bottle of port. + +The evening paper lay ready cut for him in its accustomed place, but for +some five minutes Mr. Taynton did not appear to notice it, though evening +papers, on the money-market page, might contain news so frightfully +momentous to him. But something, this strangeness in Morris, no doubt, +and his general anxiety and suspense as to how this dreadful knot could +unravel itself, preoccupied him now, and even when he did take up the +paper and turn to the reports of Stock Exchange dealings, he was +conscious of no more than a sort of subaqueous thrill of satisfaction. +For Boston Copper had gone up nearly a point since the closing price of +last night. + +It was not many minutes, however before Morris returned with matted and +streaming hair and drenched clothes. + +"He has not come back," he said. "I went to his rooms and satisfied +myself of that, though I think they thought I was mad. I searched them +you understand; I insisted. I shall go round there again first thing +to-morrow morning, and if he is not there, I shall go up to find him in +town. I can't wait; I simply can't wait." + +Mr. Taynton looked at him gravely, then nodded. + +"No, I guess how you are feeling," he said, "I cannot understand what +has happened to Mills; I hope nothing is wrong. And now, my dear boy, let +me implore you to go straight home, get off your wet things and go to +bed. You will pay heavily for your excitement, if you are not careful." + +"I'll get it out of him." said Morris. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Morris, as Mr. Taynton had advised, though not because he advised it, had +gone straight home to the house in Sussex Square. He had stripped off his +dripping clothes, and then, since this was the line of least resistance +he had gone to bed. He did not feel tired, and he longed with that aching +longing of the son for the mother, that Mrs. Assheton had been here, so +that he could just be in her presence and if he found himself unable to +speak and tell her all the hideous happenings of those last days, let her +presence bring a sort of healing to his tortured mind. But though he was +conscious of no tiredness, he was tired to the point of exhaustion, and +he had hardly got into bed, when he fell fast asleep. Outside, hushing +him to rest, there sounded the sibilant rain, and from the sea below +ripples broke gently and rhythmically on the pebbly beach. Nature, too, +it seemed, was exhausted by that convulsion of the elements that had +turned the evening into a clamorous hell of fire and riot, and now from +very weariness she was weeping herself asleep. + +It was not yet eleven when Morris had got home, and he slept dreamlessly +with that recuperative sleep of youth for some six hours. Then, as within +the secret economy of the brain the refreshment of slumber repaired the +exhaustion of the day before, he began to dream with strange lurid +distinctness, a sort of resurrection dream of which the events of the two +days before supplied the bones and skeleton outline. As in all very vivid +and dreadful dreams the whole vision was connected and coherent, there +were no ludicrous and inconsequent interludes, none of those breakings +of one thread and hurried seizures of another, which though one is +dreaming very distinctly, supply some vague mental comfort, since even to +the sleeper they are reminders that his experiences are not solid but +mere phantasies woven by imperfect consciousness and incomplete control +of thought. It was not thus that Morris dreamed; his dream was of the +solid and sober texture of life. + +He was driving in his motor, he thought, down the road from the house at +Falmer Park, which through the gate of a disused lodge joins the main +road, that leads from Falmer Station to Brighton. He had just heard from +Sir Richard's own lips who it was who had slandered and blackened him, +but, in his dream, he was conscious of no anger. The case had been +referred to some higher power, some august court of supreme authority, +which would certainly use its own instruments for its own vengeance. He +felt he was concerned in the affair no longer; he was but a spectator of +what would be. And, in obedience to some inward dictation, he drove his +motor on to the grass behind the lodge, so that it was concealed from the +road outside, and walked along the inside of the park-palings, which ran +parallel with it. + +The afternoon, it seemed, was very dark, though the atmosphere was +extraordinarily clear, and after walking along the springy grass inside +the railings for some three hundred yards, where was the southeastern +corner of the park enclosure, he stopped at the angle and standing on +tip-toe peered over them, for they were nearly six feet high, and looked +into the road below. It ran straight as a billiard-cue just here, and was +visible for a long distance, but at the corner, just outside the +palings, the footpath over the downs to Brighton left the road, and +struck upward. On the other side of the road ran the railway, and in this +clear dark air, Morris could see with great distinctness Falmer Station +some four hundred yards away, along a stretch of the line on the other +side of it. + +As he looked he saw a puff of steam rise against the woods beyond the +station, and before long a train, going Brightonward, clashed into the +station. Only one passenger got out, and he came out of the station into +the road. He was quite recognisable even at this distance. In his dream +Morris felt that he expected to see him get out of the train, and walk +along the road; the whole thing seemed pre-ordained. But he ceased +tiptoeing to look over the paling; he could hear the passenger's steps +when he came nearer. + +He thought he waited quietly, squatting down on the mossy grass behind +the paling. Something in his hands seemed angry, for his fingers kept +tearing up the short turf, and the juice of the severed stems was red +like blood. Then in the gathering darkness he heard the tip-tap of +footsteps on the highway. But it never occurred to him that this +passenger would continue on the highroad; he was certainly going over the +downs to Brighton. + +The air was quite windless, but at this moment Morris heard the boughs of +the oak-tree immediately above him stir and shake, and looking up he saw +Mr. Taynton sitting in a fork of the tree. That, too, was perfectly +natural; Mr. Taynton was Mills's partner; he was there as a sort of +umpire. He held a glass of port wine in one hand, and was sipping it in a +leisurely manner, and when Morris looked up at him, he smiled at him, +but put his finger to his lips, as if recommending silence. And as the +steps on the road outside sounded close he turned a meaning glance in the +direction of the road. From where he sat high in the tree, it was plain +to Morris that he must command the sight of the road, and was, in his +friendly manner, directing operations. + +Suddenly the sound of the steps ceased, and Morris wondered for the +moment whether Mills had stopped. But looking up again, he saw Mr. +Taynton's head twisted round to the right, still looking over the +palings. But Morris found at once that the footsteps were noiseless, not +because the walker had paused, but because they were inaudible on the +grass. He had left the road, as the dreamer felt certain he would, and +was going over the downs to Brighton. At that Morris got up, and still +inside the park railings, followed in the direction he had gone. Then +for the first time in his dream, he felt angry, and the anger grew to +rage, and the rage to quivering madness. Next moment he had vaulted the +fence, and sprang upon the walker from behind. He dealt him blows with +some hard instrument, belabouring his head, while with his left hand he +throttled his throat so that he could not scream. Only a few were +necessary, for he knew that each blow went home, since all the savage +youthful strength of shoulder and loose elbow directed them. Then he +withdrew his left hand from the throttled throat of the victim who had +ceased to struggle, and like a log he fell back on to the grass, and +Morris for the first time looked on his face. It was not Mills at all; it +was Mr. Taynton. + + * * * * * + +The terror plucked him from his sleep; for a moment he wrestled and +struggled to raise his head from the pillow and loosen the clutch of the +night-hag who had suddenly seized him, and with choking throat and +streaming brow he sat up in bed. Even then his dream was more real to him +than the sight of his own familiar room, more real than the touch of +sheet and blanket or the dew of anguish which his own hand wiped from his +forehead and throat. Yet, what was his dream? Was it merely some +subconscious stringing together of suggestions and desires and events +vivified in sleep to a coherent story (all but that recognition of Mr. +Taynton, which was nightmare pure and simple), or _had it happened_? + +With waking, anyhow, the public life, the life that concerned other +living folk as well as himself, became predominant again. He had +certainly seen Sir Richard the day before, and Sir Richard had given him +the name of the man who had slandered him. He had gone to meet that man, +but he had not kept his appointment, nor had he come back to his flat in +Brighton. So to-day he, Morris, was going to call there once more, and if +he did not find him, was going to drive up to London, and seek him there. + +But he had been effectually plucked from further sleep, sleep had been +strangled, and he got out of bed and went to the window. Nature, in any +case, had swept her trouble away, and the pure sweet morning was +beginning to dawn in lines of yellow and fleeces of rosy cloud on the +eastern horizon. + +All that riot and hurly-burly of thunder, the bull's eye flashing of +lightning, the perpendicular rain were things of the past, and this +morning a sky of pale limpid blue, flecked only by the thinnest clouds, +stretched from horizon to horizon. Below the mirror of the sea seemed as +deep and as placid as the sky above it, and the inimitable freshness of +the dawn spoke of a world rejuvenated and renewed. + +It was, by his watch, scarcely five; in an hour it would be reasonable to +call at Mills's flat, and see if he had come by the midnight train. If +not his motor could be round by soon after six, and he would be in town +by eight, before Mills, if he had slept there, would be thinking of +starting for Brighton. He was sure to catch him. + +Morris had drawn up the blind, and through the open window came the cool +breath of the morning ruffling his hair, and blowing his nightshirt close +to his skin, and just for that moment, so exquisite was this feeling of +renewal and cleanness in the hour of dawn, he thought with a sort of +incredulous wonder of the red murderous hate which had possessed him the +evening before. He seemed to have been literally beside himself with +anger and his words, his thoughts, his actions had been controlled by a +force and a possession which was outside himself. Also the dreadful +reality of his dream still a little unnerved him, and though he was +himself now and awake, he felt that he had been no less himself when he +throttled the throat of that abhorred figure that walked up the noiseless +path over the downs to Brighton, and with vehement and savage blows +clubbed it down. And then the shock of finding it was his old friend whom +he had done to death! That, it is true, was nightmare pure and simple, +but all the rest was clad in sober, convincing garb of events that had +really taken place. He could not at once separate his dream from reality, +for indeed what had he done yesterday after he had learned who his +traducer had been? He scarcely knew; all events and facts seemed +colourless compared to the rage and mad lust for vengeance which had +occupied his entire consciousness. + +Thus, as he dressed, the thoughts and the rage of yesterday began to stir +and move in his mind again. His hate and his desire that justice should +be done, that satisfaction should be granted him, was still in his heart. +But now they were not wild and flashing flames; they burned with a hard, +cold, even light. They were already part of himself, integral pieces and +features of his soul. And the calm beauty and peace of the morning ceased +to touch him, he had a stern piece of business to put through before he +could think of anything else. + + * * * * * + +It was not yet six when he arrived at the house in which was Mills's +flat. A few housemaids were about, but the lift was not yet working, +and he ran upstairs and rang at the bell. It was answered almost +immediately, for Mills's servant supposed it must be his master +arriving at this early hour, since no one else would come then, and he +opened the door, half dressed, with coat and trousers only put over his +night things. + +"Is Mr. Mills back yet?" asked Morris. + +"No, sir." + +Morris turned to go, but then stopped, his mind still half-suspicious +that he had been warned by his partner, and was lying _perdu_. + +"I'll give you another ten shillings," he said, "if you'll let me come in +and satisfy myself." + +The man hesitated. + +"A sovereign," said Morris. + + * * * * * + +He went back to Sussex Square after this, roused Martin, ordering him to +bring the motor round at once, and drank a cup of tea, for he would +breakfast in town. His mother he expected would be back during the +morning, and at the thought of her he remembered that this was June 24th, +her birthday, and that his present to her would be arriving by the early +post. He gave orders, therefore, that a packet for him from Asprey's was +not to be unpacked, but given to her on her arrival with her letters. A +quarter of an hour later he was off, leaving Martin behind, since there +were various businesses in the town which he wanted him to attend to. + +Mr. Taynton, though an earlier riser than his partner, considered that +half past nine was soon enough to begin the day, and punctually at that +time he came downstairs to read, as his custom was, a few collects and +some short piece of the Bible to his servants, before having his +breakfast. That little ceremony over he walked for a few minutes in his +garden while Williams brought in his toast and tea-urn, and observed that +though the flowers would no doubt be all the better for the liberal +watering of the day before, it was idle to deny that the rain had not +considerably damaged them. But his attention was turned from these things +to Williams who told him that breakfast was ready, and also brought him a +telegram. It was from Morris, and had been sent off from the Sloane +Square office an hour before. + +"Mills is not in town; they say he left yesterday afternoon. Please +inform me if you know whether this is so, or if you are keeping him from +me. Am delayed by break-down. Shall be back about five.--Morris, +Bachelors' Club." + +Mr. Taynton read this through twice, as is the habit of most people with +telegrams, and sent, of course, the reply that all he knew was that his +partner intended to come back last night, since he had made an +appointment with him. Should he arrive during the day he would telegraph. +He himself was keeping nothing from Morris, and had not had any +correspondence or communication with his partner since he had left +Brighton for town three days before. + +The telegram was a long one, but Mr. Taynton still sat with poised +pen. Then he added, "Pray do nothing violent, I implore you." And he +signed it. + + * * * * * + +He sat rather unusually long over his breakfast this morning, though he +ate but little, and from the cheerful smiling aspect of his face it would +seem that his thoughts were pleasant to him. He was certainly glad that +Morris had not yet come across Mills, for he trusted that the lapse of a +day or two would speedily calm down the lad's perfectly justifiable +indignation. Besides, he was in love, and his suit had prospered; surely +there were pleasanter things than revenge to occupy him. Then his face +grew grave a moment as he thought of Morris's mad, murderous outburst of +the evening before, but that gravity was shortlived, and he turned with a +sense of pleasant expectation to see recorded again the activity and +strength of Boston Coppers. But the reality was far beyond his +expectations; copper had been strong all day, and in the street afterward +there had been renewed buying from quarters which were usually well +informed. Bostons had been much in request, and after hours they had had +a further spurt, closing at £7 10S. Already in these three days he had +cleared his option, and at present prices the shares showed a profit of a +point. Mills would have to acknowledge that his perspicacity had been at +fault, when he distrusted this last purchase. + +He left his house at about half-past ten, and again immured himself in +the birdcage lift that carried him up to his partner's flat, where he +inquired if he had yet returned. Learning he had not, he asked to be +given pen and paper, to write a note for him, which was to be given to +him on his arrival. + +"Dear Mills, + +"Mr. Morris Assheton has learned that you have made grave accusations +about him to Sir Richard Templeton, Bart. That you have done so appears +to be beyond doubt, and it of course rests with you to substantiate them. +I cannot of course at present believe that you could have done so without +conclusive evidence; on the other hand I cannot believe that Mr. Assheton +is of the character which you have given him. + +"I therefore refrain, as far as I am able, from drawing any conclusion +till the matter is cleared up. + +"I may add that he deeply resents your conduct; his anger and indignation +were terrible to see. + +"Sincerely yours, + +"Edward Taynton. Godfrey Mills, Esq." + +Mr. Taynton read this through, and glanced round, as if to see whether +the servants had left the room. Then he sat with closed eyes for a +moment, and took an envelope, and swiftly addressed it. He smudged it, +however, in blotting it, and so crumpled it up, threw it into the +waste-paper basket. He then addressed a second one, and into this he +inserted his letter, and got up. + +The servant was waiting in the little hall outside. + +"Please give this to Mr. Mills when he arrives," he said. "You expected +him last night, did you not?" + +Mr. Taynton found on arrival at his office that, in his partner's +absence, there was a somewhat heavy day of work before him, and foresaw +that he would be occupied all afternoon and indeed probably up to dinner +time. But he was able to get out for an hour at half-past twelve, at +which time, if the weather was hot, he generally indulged in a swim. But +today there was a certain chill in the air after yesterday's storm, and +instead of taking his dip, he walked along the sea front toward Sussex +Square. For in his warm-hearted way, seeing that Morris was, as he had +said, to tell his mother today about his happy and thoroughly suitable +love affair, Mr. Taynton proposed to give a little _partie carrée_ on the +earliest possible evening, at which the two young lovers, Mrs. Assheton, +and himself would form the table. He would learn from her what was the +earliest night on which she and Morris were disengaged, and then write +to that delightful girl whose affections dear Morris had captured. + +But at the corner of the square, just as he was turning into it, there +bowled swiftly out a victoria drawn by two horses; he recognised the +equipage, he recognised also Mrs. Assheton who was sitting in it. Her +head, however, was turned the other way, and Mr. Taynton's hand, already +half-way up to his hat was spared the trouble of journeying farther. + +But he went on to the house, since his invitation could be easily +conveyed by a note which he would scribble there, and was admitted by +Martin. Mrs. Assheton, however, was out, a fact which he learned with +regret, but, if he might write a note to her, his walk would not be +wasted. Accordingly he was shown up into the drawing-room, where on the +writing-table was laid an open blotting-book. Even in so small a detail +as a blotting-book the careful appointment of the house was evident, for +the blotting-paper was absolutely clean and white, a virgin field. + +Mr. Taynton took up a quill pen, thought over for a moment the wording of +his note and then wrote rapidly. A single side of notepaper was +sufficient; he blotted it on the pad, and read it through. But something +in it, it must be supposed, did not satisfy him, for he crumpled it up. +Ah, at last and for the first time there was a flaw in the appointment of +the house, for there was no wastepaper basket by the table. At any rate +one must suppose that Mr. Taynton did not see it, for he put his rejected +sheet into his pocket. + +He took another sheet of paper, selecting from the various stationery +that stood in the case a plain piece, rejecting that which was marked +with the address of the house, wrote his own address at the head, and +proceeded for the second time to write his note of invitation. + +But first he changed the quill for his own stylograph, and wrote with +that. This was soon written, and by the time he had read it through it +was dry, and did not require to be blotted. He placed it in a plain +envelope, directed it, and with it in his hand left the room, and went +briskly downstairs. + +Martin was standing in the hall. + +"I want this given to Mrs. Assheton when she comes in, Martin," he said. + +He looked round, as he had done once before when speaking to the boy. + +"I left it at the door," he said with quiet emphasis. "Can you remember +that? I left it. And I hope, Martin, that you have made a fresh start, +and that I need never be obliged to tell anybody what I know about you. +You will remember my instructions? I left this at the door. Thank you. +My hat? Yes, and my stick." + +Mr. Taynton went straight back to his office, and though this morning +there had seemed to him to be a good deal of work to be got through, he +found that much of it could be delegated to his clerks. So before leaving +to go to his lunch, he called in Mr. Timmins. + +"Mr. Mills not been here all morning?" he asked. "No? Well, Timmins, +there is this packet which I want him to look at, if he comes in before +I am back. I shall be here again by five, as there is an hour's work for +me to do before evening. Yes, that is all, thanks. Please tell Mr. Mills +I shall come back, as I said. How pleasant this freshness is after the +rain. The 'clear shining after rain.' Wonderful words! Yes, Mr. Timmins, +you will find the verse in the second book of Samuel and the +twenty-third chapter." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Mr. Taynton made but a short meal of lunch, and ate but sparingly, for +he meant to take a good walk this afternoon, and it was not yet two +o'clock when he came out of his house again, stick in hand. It was a +large heavy stick that he carried, a veritable club, one that it would +be easy to recognise amid a host of others, even as he had recognised it +that morning in the rather populous umbrella stand in the hall of Mrs. +Assheton's house. He had, it may be remembered, more office work to get +through before evening, so he prepared to walk out as far as the limits +of the time at his disposal would admit and take the train back. And +since there could be nothing more pleasurable in the way of walking +than locomotion over the springy grass of the downs, he took, as he had +done a hundred times before, the road that led to Falmer. A hundred +yards out of Brighton there was a stile by the roadside; from there a +footpath, if it could be dignified by the name of path at all, led over +the hills to a corner of Falmer Park. From there three or four hundred +yards of highway would bring him to the station. He would be in good +time to catch the 4.30 train back, and would thus be at his office again +for an hour's work at five. + +His walk was solitary and uneventful, but, to one of so delicate and +sensitive a mind, full of tiny but memorable sights and sounds. Up on +these high lands there was a considerable breeze, and Mr. Taynton paused +for a minute or two beside a windmill that stood alone, in the expanse +of down, watching, with a sort of boyish wonder, the huge flails swing +down and aspire again in the circles of their tireless toil. A little +farther on was a grass-grown tumulus of Saxon times, and his mind was +distracted from the present to those early days when the unknown dead was +committed to this wind-swept tomb. Forests of pine no doubt then grew +around his resting place, it was beneath the gloom and murmur of their +sable foliage that this dead chief was entrusted to the keeping of the +kindly earth. He passed, too, over the lines of a Roman camp; once this +sunny empty down re-echoed to the clang of arms, the voices of the living +were mingled with the cries and groans of the dying, for without doubt +this stronghold of Roman arms was not won, standing, as it did, on the +top-most commanding slope of the hills, without slaughter. Yet to-day the +peaceful clumps of cistus and the trembling harebell blossomed on the +battlefield. + +From this point the ground declined swiftly to the main road. Straight in +front of him were the palings of Falmer Park, and the tenantless down +with its long smooth curves, was broken up into sudden hillocks and +depressions. Dells and dingles, some green with bracken, others half full +of water lay to right and left of the path, which, as it approached the +corner of the park, was more strongly marked than when it lay over the +big open spaces. It was somewhat slippery, too, after the torrent of +yesterday, and Mr. Taynton's stick saved him more than once from +slipping. But before he got down to the point where the corner of the +park abutted on the main road, he had leaned on it too heavily, and for +all its seeming strength, it had broken in the middle. The two pieces +were but luggage to him and just as he came to the road, he threw them +away into a wooded hollow that adjoined the path. The stick had broken +straight across; it was no use to think of having it mended. + + * * * * * + +He was out of the wind here, and since there was still some ten minutes +to spare, he sat down on the grassy edge of the road to smoke a +cigarette. The woods of the park basked in the fresh sunshine; three +hundred yards away was Falmer Station, and beyond that the line was +visible for a mile as it ran up the straight valley. Indeed he need +hardly move till he saw the steam of his train on the limit of the +horizon. That would be ample warning that it was time to go. + +Then from far away, he heard the throbbing of a motor, which grew +suddenly louder as it turned the corner of the road by the station. It +seemed to him to be going very fast, and the huge cloud of dust behind +it endorsed his impression. But almost immediately after passing this +corner it began to slow down, and the cloud of dust behind it died away. + +At the edge of the road where Mr. Taynton sat, there were standing +several thick bushes. He moved a little away from the road, and took up +his seat again behind one of them. The car came very slowly on, and +stopped just opposite him. On his right lay the hollow where he had +thrown the useless halves of his stick, on his left was the corner of +the Falmer Park railings. He had recognised the driver of the car, who +was alone. + +Morris got out when he had stopped the car, and then spoke aloud, though +to himself. + +"Yes, there's the corner," he said, "there's the path over the +downs. There--" + +Mr. Taynton got up and came toward him. + +"My dear fellow," he said, "I have walked out from Brighton on this +divine afternoon, and was going to take the train back. But will you give +me the pleasure of driving back with you instead?" + +Morris looked at him a moment as if he hardly thought he was real. + +"Why, of course," he said. + +Mr. Taynton was all beams and smiles. + +"And you have seen Mills?" he asked. "You have been convinced that he +was innocent of the terrible suspicion? Morris, my dear boy, what is +the matter?" + +Morris had looked at him for a moment with incredulous eyes. Then he had +sat down and covered his face with his hands. + +"It's nothing," he said at length. "I felt rather faint. I shall be +better in a minute. Of course I'll drive you back." + +He sat huddled up with hidden face for a moment or two. Mr. Taynton said +nothing, but only looked at him. Then the boy sat up. + +"I'm all right," he said, "it was just a dream I had last night. No, I +have not seen Mills; they tell me he left yesterday afternoon for +Brighton. Shall we go?" + +For some little distance they went in silence; then it seemed that Morris +made an effort and spoke. + +"Really, I got what they call 'quite a turn' just now," he said. "I had a +curiously vivid dream last night about that corner, and you suddenly +appeared in my dream quite unexpectedly, as you did just now." + +"And what was this dream?" asked Mr. Taynton, turning up his coat collar, +for the wind of their movement blew rather shrilly on to his neck. + +"Oh, nothing particular," said Morris carelessly, "the vividness was +concerned with your appearance; that was what startled me." + +Then he fell back into the train of thought that had occupied him all the +way down from London. + +"I believe I was half-mad with rage last night," he said at length, "but +this afternoon, I think I am beginning to be sane again. It's true Mills +tried to injure me, but he didn't succeed. And as you said last night I +have too deep and intense a cause of happiness to give my thoughts and +energies to anything so futile as hatred or the desire for revenge. He is +punished already. The fact of his having tried to injure me like that was +his punishment. Anyhow, I am sick and tired of my anger." + +The lawyer did not speak for a moment, and when he did his voice was +trembling. + +"God bless you, my dear boy," he said gently. + +Morris devoted himself for some little time to the guiding of the car. + +"And I want you also to leave it all alone," he said after a while. "I +don't want you to dissolve your partnership with him, or whatever you +call it. I suppose he will guess that you know all about it, so perhaps +it would be best if you told him straight out that you do. And then you +can, well, make a few well-chosen remarks you know, and drop the whole +damned subject forever." + +Mr. Taynton seemed much moved. + +"I will try," he said, "since you ask it. But Morris, you are more +generous than I am." + +Morris laughed, his usual boyish high spirits and simplicity were +reasserting themselves again. + +"Oh, that's all rot," he said. "It's only because it's so fearfully +tiring to go on being angry. But I can't help wondering what has +happened to the fellow. They told me at his flat in town that he went off +with his luggage yesterday afternoon, and gave orders that all letters +were to be sent to his Brighton address. You don't think there's anything +wrong, do you?" + +"My dear fellow, what could be wrong?" asked Mr. Taynton. "He had some +business to do at Lewes on his way down, and I make no doubt he slept +there, probably forgetting all about his appointment with me. I would +wager you that we shall find he is in Brighton when we get in." + +"I'll take that," said Morris. "Half a crown." + +"No, no, my usual shilling, my usual shilling," laughed the other. + + * * * * * + +Morris set Mr. Taynton down at his office, and by way of settling their +wager at once, waited at the door, while the other went upstairs to see +if his partner was there. He had not, however, appeared there that day, +and Mr. Taynton sent a clerk down to Morris, to ask him to come up, and +they would ring up Mr. Mills's flat on the telephone. + +This was done, and before many seconds had elapsed they were in +communication. His valet was there, still waiting for his master's +return, for he had not yet come back. It appeared that he was getting +rather anxious, for Mr. Taynton reassured him. + +"There is not the slightest cause for any anxiety," were his concluding +words. "I feel convinced he has merely been detained. Thanks, that's all. +Please let me know as soon as he returns." + +He drew a shilling from his pocket, and handed it to Morris. But his +face, in spite of his reassuring words, was a little troubled. You would +have said that though he might not yet be anxious, he saw that there +was some possibility of his being so, before very long. Yet he spoke +gaily enough. + +"And I made so sure I should win," he said. "I shall put it down to +unexpected losses, not connected with business; eh, Mr. Timmins? Or shall +it be charity? It would never do to put down 'Betting losses.'" + +But this was plainly a little forced, and Morris waited till Mr. Timmins +had gone out. + +"And you really meant that?" he asked. "You are really not anxious?" + +"No, I am not anxious," he said, "but--but I shall be glad when he comes +back. Is that inconsistent? I think perhaps it is. Well, let us say then +that I am just a shade anxious. But I may add that I feel sure my anxiety +is quite unnecessary. That defines it for you." + +Morris went straight home from here, and found that his mother had just +returned from her afternoon drive. She had found the blotting book +waiting for her when she came back that morning, and was delighted with +the gift and the loving remembering thought that inspired it. + +"But you shouldn't spend your money on me, my darling," she said to +Morris, "though I just love the impulse that made you." + +"Oh, very well," said Morris, kissing her, "let's have the initials +changed about then, and let it be M.A. from H.A." + +Then his voice grew grave. + +"Mother dear, I've got another birthday present for you. I think--I think +you will like it." + +She saw at once that he was speaking of no tangible material gift. + +"Yes, dear?" she said. + +"Madge and me," said Morris. "Just that." + +And Mrs. Assheton did like this second present, and though it made her +cry a little, her tears were the sweetest that can be shed. + + * * * * * + +Mother and son dined alone together, and since Morris had determined to +forget, to put out of his mind the hideous injury that Mills had +attempted to do him, he judged it to be more consistent with this resolve +to tell his mother nothing about it, since to mention it to another, even +to her, implied that he was not doing his best to bury what he determined +should be dead to him. As usual, they played backgammon together, and it +was not till Mrs. Assheton rose to go to bed that she remembered Mr. +Taynton's note, asking her and Morris to dine with him on their earliest +unoccupied day. This, as is the way in the country, happened to be the +next evening, and since the last post had already gone out, she asked +Morris if Martin might take the note round for her tonight, since it +ought to have been answered before. + +That, of course, was easily done, and Morris told his servant to call +also at the house where Mr. Mills's flat was situated, and ask the porter +if he had come home. The note dispatched his mother went to bed, and +Morris went down to the billiard room to practise spot-strokes, a form of +hazard at which he was singularly inefficient, and wait for news. Little +as he knew Mills, and little cause as he had for liking him, he too, like +Mr. Taynton, felt vaguely anxious and perturbed, since "disappearances" +are necessarily hedged about with mystery and wondering. His own anger +and hatred, too, like mists drawn up and dispersed by the sun of love +that had dawned on him, had altogether vanished; the attempt against him +had, as it turned out, been so futile, and he genuinely wished to have +some assurance of the safety of the man, the thought of whom had so +blackened his soul only twenty-four hours ago. + +His errands took Martin the best part of an hour, and he returned with +two notes, one for Mrs. Assheton, the other for Morris. He had been also +to the flat and inquired, but there was no news of the missing man. + +Morris opened his note, which was from Mr. Taynton. + +"Dear Morris, + +"I am delighted that your mother and you can dine to-morrow, and I am +telegraphing first thing in the morning to see if Miss Madge will make +our fourth. I feel sure that when she knows what my little party is, she +will come. + +"I have been twice round to see if my partner has returned, and find no +news of him. It is idle to deny that I am getting anxious, as I cannot +conceive what has happened. Should he not be back by tomorrow morning, I +shall put the matter into the hands of the police. I trust that my +anxieties are unfounded, but the matter is beginning to look strange. + +"Affectionately yours, + +"Edward Taynton." + +There is nothing so infectious as anxiety, and it can be conveyed by look +or word or letter, and requires no period of incubation. And Morris began +to be really anxious also, with a vague disquietude at the sense of there +being something wrong. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Mr. Taynton, according to the intention he had expressed, sent round +early next morning (the day of the week being Saturday) to his partner's +flat, and finding that he was not there, and that no word of any kind had +been received from him, went, as he felt himself now bound to do, to the +police office, stated what had brought him there, and gave them all +information which it was in his power to give. + +It was brief enough; his partner had gone up to town on Tuesday last, +and, had he followed his plans should have returned to Brighton by +Thursday evening, since he had made an appointment to come to Mr. +Taynton's house at nine thirty that night. It had been ascertained +too, by--Mr. Taynton hesitated a moment--by Mr. Morris Assheton in +London, that he had left his flat in St. James's Court on Thursday +afternoon, to go, presumably, to catch the train back to Brighton. He +had also left orders that all letters should be forwarded to him at his +Brighton address. + +Superintendent Figgis, to whom Mr. Taynton made his statement, was in +manner slow, stout, and bored, and looked in every way utterly unfitted +to find clues to the least mysterious occurrences, unearth crime or run +down the criminal. He seemed quite incapable of running down anything, +and Mr. Taynton had to repeat everything he said in order to be sure that +Mr. Figgis got his notes, which he made in a large round hand, with +laborious distinctness, correctly written. Having finished them the +Superintendent stared at them mournfully for a little while, and asked +Mr. Taynton if he had anything more to add. + +"I think that is all," said the lawyer. "Ah, one moment. Mr. Mills +expressed to me the intention of perhaps getting out at Falmer and +walking over the downs to Brighton. But Thursday was the evening on which +we had that terrible thunderstorm. I should think it very unlikely that +he would have left the train." + +Superintendent Figgis appeared to be trying to recollect something. + +"Was there a thunderstorm on Thursday?" he asked. + +"The most severe I ever remember," said Mr. Taynton. + +"It had slipped my memory," said this incompetent agent of justice. + +But a little thought enabled him to ask a question that bore on the case. + +"He travelled then by Lewes and not by the direct route?" + +"Presumably. He had a season ticket via Lewes, since our business often +took him there. Had he intended to travel by Hayward's Heath," said Mr. +Taynton rather laboriously, as if explaining something to a child, "he +could not have intended to get out at Falmer." + +Mr. Figgis had to think over this, which he did with his mouth open. + +"Seeing that the Hayward's Heath line does not pass Falmer," he +suggested. + +Mr. Taynton drew a sheet of paper toward him and kindly made a rough +sketch-map of railway lines. + +"And his season ticket went by the Lewes line," he explained. + +Superintendent Figgis appeared to understand this after a while. Then he +sighed heavily, and changed the subject with rather disconcerting +abruptness. + +"From my notes I understand that Mr. Morris Assheton ascertained that +the missing individual had left his flat in London on Thursday +afternoon," he said. + +"Yes, Mr. Assheton is a client of ours, and he wished to see my partner +on a business matter. In fact, when Mr. Mills was found not to have +returned on Thursday evening, he went up to London next day to see him, +since we both supposed he had been detained there." + +Mr. Figgis looked once more mournfully at his notes, altered a palpably +mistaken "Wednesday" into Thursday, and got up. + +"The matter shall be gone into," he said. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Taynton went straight from here to his office, and for a couple of +hours devoted himself to the business of his firm, giving it his whole +attention and working perhaps with more speed than it was usually his to +command. Saturday of course was a half-holiday, and it was naturally his +desire to get cleared off everything that would otherwise interrupt the +well-earned repose and security from business affairs which was to him +the proper atmosphere of the seventh, or as he called it, the first day. +This interview with the accredited representative of the law also had +removed a certain weight from his mind. He had placed the matter of his +partner's disappearance in official hands, he had done all he could do to +clear up his absence, and, in case--but here he pulled himself up; it was +at present most premature even to look at the possibility of crime having +been committed. + +Mr. Taynton was in no way a vain man, nor was it his habit ever to review +his own conduct, with the object of contrasting it favourably with what +others might have done under the circumstances. Yet he could not help +being aware that others less kindly than he would have shrugged sarcastic +shoulders and said, "probably another blackmailing errand has detained +him." For, indeed, Mills had painted himself in very ugly colours in his +last interview with him; that horrid hint of blackmail, which still, so +to speak, held good, had cast a new light on him. But now Taynton was +conscious of no grudge against him; he did not say, "he can look after +himself." He was anxious about his continued absence, and had taken the +extreme step of calling in the aid of the police, the national guardian +of personal safety. + +He got away from his office about half-past twelve and in preparation for +the little dinner festival of this evening, for Miss Templeton had sent +her joyful telegraphic acceptance, went to several shops to order some +few little delicacies to grace his plain bachelor table. An ice-pudding, +for instance, was outside the orbit, so he feared of his plain though +excellent cook, and two little dishes of chocolates and sweets, since he +was at the confectioner's, would be appropriate to the taste of his lady +guests. Again a floral decoration of the table was indicated, and since +the storm of Thursday, there was nothing in his garden worthy of the +occasion; thus a visit to the florist's resulted in an order for smilax +and roses. + + * * * * * + +He got home, however, at his usual luncheon hour to find a telegram +waiting for him on the Heppelwhite table in the hall. There had been a +continued buying of copper shares, and the feature was a sensational rise +in Bostons, which during the morning had gone up a clear point. + +Mr. Taynton had no need to make calculations; he knew, as a man knows the +multiplication table of two, what every fraction of a rise in Bostons +meant to him, and this, provided only he had time to sell at once, meant +the complete recovery of the losses he had suffered. With those active +markets it was still easily possible though it was Saturday, to effect +his sale, since there was sure to be long continued business in the +Street and he had but to be able to exercise his option at that price, to +be quit of that dreadful incubus of anxiety which for the last two years +had been a millstone round his neck that had grown mushroom like. The +telephone to town, of course, was far the quickest mode of communication, +and having given his order he waited ten minutes till the tube babbled +and croaked to him again. + +There is a saying that things are "too good to be true," but when Mr. +Taynton sat down to his lunch that day, he felt that the converse of the +proverb was the correcter epigram. Things could be so good that they +must be true, and here, still ringing in his ears was one of +them--Morris--it was thus he phrased it to himself--was "paid off," or, +in more business-like language, the fortune of which Mr. Taynton was +trustee was intact again, and, like a tit-bit for a good child, there was +an additional five or six hundred pounds for him who had managed the +trust so well. Mr. Taynton could not help feeling somehow that he +deserved it; he had increased Morris's fortune since he had charge of it +by £10,000. And what a lesson, too, he had had, so gently and painlessly +taught him! No one knew better than he how grievously wrong he had got, +in gambling with trust money. Yet now it had come right: he had repaired +the original wrong; on Monday he would reinvest this capital in those +holdings which he had sold, and Morris's £40,000 (so largely the result +of careful and judicious investment) would certainly stand the scrutiny +of any who could possibly have any cause to examine his ledgers. Indeed +there would be nothing to see. Two years ago Mr. Morris Assheton's +fortune was invested in certain railway debentures and Government stock. +It would in a few days' time be invested there again, precisely as it had +been. Mr. Taynton had not been dealing in gilt-edged securities lately, +and could not absolutely trust his memory, but he rather thought that the +repurchase could be made at a somewhat smaller sum than had been realised +by their various sales dating from two years ago. In that case there was +a little more _sub rosa_ reward for this well-inspired justice, weighed +but featherwise against the overwhelming relief of the knowledge he could +make wrong things right again, repair his, yes, his scoundrelism. + +How futile, too, now, was Mills's threatened blackmail! Mills might, if +he chose, proclaim on any convenient housetop, that his partner had +gambled with Morris's £40,000 that according to the ledgers was invested +in certain railway debentures and other gilt-edged securities. In a few +days, any scrutiny might be made of the securities lodged at the County +Bank, and assuredly among them would be found those debentures, those +gilt-edged securities exactly as they appeared in the ledgers. Yet Mr. +Taynton, so kindly is the nature of happiness, contemplated no revengeful +step on his partner; he searched his heart and found that no trace of +rancour against poor Mills was hoarded there. + +Whether happiness makes us good, is a question not yet decided, but it is +quite certain that happiness makes us forget that we have been bad, and +it seemed to Mr. Taynton, as he sat in his cool dining-room, and ate his +lunch with a more vivid appetite than had been his for many months, it +seemed that the man who had gambled with his client's money was no longer +himself; it was a perfectly different person who had done that. It was a +different man, too, who, so few days ago had connived at and applauded +the sorry trick which Mills had tried to play on Morris, when (so +futilely, it is true) he had slandered him to Sir Richard. Now he felt +that he--this man that to-day sat here--was incapable of such meannesses. +And, thank God, it was never too late; from to-day he would lead the +honourable, upright existence which the world (apart from his partner) +had always credited him with leading. + +He basked in the full sunshine of these happy and comfortable thoughts, +and even as the sun of midsummer lingered long on the sea and hills, so +for hours this inward sunshine warmed and cheered him. Nor was it till +he saw by his watch that he must return from the long pleasant ramble on +which he had started as soon as lunch was over, that a cloud filmy and +thin at first began to come across the face of the sun. Once and again +those genial beams dispersed it, but soon it seemed as if the vapours +were getting the upper hand. A thought, in fact, had crossed Mr. +Taynton's mind that quite distinctly dimmed his happiness. But a little +reflection told him that a very simple step on his part would put that +right again, and he walked home rather more quickly than he had set out, +since he had this little bit of business to do before dinner. + +He went--this was only natural--to the house where Mr. Mills's flat was +situated, and inquired of the porter whether his partner had yet +returned. But the same answer as before was given him, and saying that +he had need of a document that Mills had taken home with him three days +before he went up in the lift, and rang the bell of the flat. But it was +not his servant who opened it, but sad Superintendent Figgis. + +For some reason this was rather a shock to Mr. Taynton; to expect one +face and see another is always (though ever so slightly) upsetting, but +he instantly recovered himself and explained his errand. + +"My partner took home with him on Tuesday a paper, which is concerned +with my business," he said. "Would you kindly let me look round +for it?" + +Mr. Figgis weighed this request. + +"Nothing must be removed from the rooms," he said, "till we have finished +our search." + +"Search for what?" asked Mr. Taynton. + +"Any possible clue as to the reason of Mr. Mills's disappearance. But in +ten minutes we shall have done, if you care to wait." + +"I don't want to remove anything." said the lawyer. "I merely want to +consult--" + +At the moment another man in plain clothes came out of the sitting-room. +He carried in his hand two or three letters, and a few scraps of crumpled +paper. There was an envelope or two among them. + +"We have finished, sir," he said to the Superintendent. + +Mr. Figgis turned to the lawyer, who was looking rather fixedly at what +the other man had in his hand. + +"My document may be among those," he said. + +Mr. Figgis handed them to him. There were two envelopes, both addressed +to the missing man, one bearing his name only, some small torn-up scrap +of paper, and three or four private letters. + +"Is it among these?" he asked. + +Mr. Taynton turned them over. + +"No," he said, "it was--it was a large, yes, a large blue paper, +official looking." + +"No such thing in the flat, sir," said the second man. + +"Very annoying," said the lawyer. + +An idea seemed slowly to strike Mr. Figgis. + +"He may have taken it to London with him," he said. "But will you not +look round?" + +Mr. Taynton did so. He also looked in the waste-paper basket, but it +was empty. + +So he went back to make ready to receive his guests, for the little +party. But it had got dark; this "document" whatever it was, appeared to +trouble him. The simple step he had contemplated had not led him in quite +the right direction. + +The Superintendent with his colleague went back into the sitting-room +on the lawyer's departure, and Mr. Figgis took from his pocket most of +his notes. + +"I went to the station, Wilkinson," he said, "and in the lost luggage +office I found Mr. Mills's bag. It had arrived on Thursday evening. But +it seems pretty certain that its owner did not arrive with it." + +"Looks as if he did get out at Falmer," said Wilkinson. + +Figgis took a long time to consider this. + +"It is possible," he said. "It is also possible that he put his luggage +into the train in London, and subsequently missed the train himself." + +Then together they went through the papers that might conceivably help +them. There was a torn-up letter found in his bedroom fireplace, and the +crumpled up envelope that belonged to it. They patiently pieced this +together, but found nothing of value. The other letters referred only to +his engagements in London, none of which were later than Thursday +morning. There remained one crumpled up envelope (also from the +paperbasket) but no letter that in any way corresponded with it. It was +addressed in a rather sprawling, eager, boyish hand. + +"No letter of any sort to correspond?" asked Figgis for the second time. + +"No." + +"I think for the present we will keep it," said he. + + * * * * * + +The little party at Mr. Taynton's was gay to the point of foolishness, +and of them all none was more light-hearted than the host. Morris had +asked him in an undertone, on arrival, whether any more had been heard, +and learning there was still no news, had dismissed the subject +altogether. The sunshine of the day, too, had come back to the lawyer; +his usual cheerful serenity was touched with a sort of sympathetic +boisterousness, at the huge spirits of the young couple and it was to be +recorded that after dinner they played musical chairs and blind-man's +buff, with infinite laughter. Never was an elderly solicitor so +spontaneously gay; indeed before long it was he who reinfected the others +with merriment. But as always, after abandonment to laughter a little +reaction followed, and when they went upstairs from his sitting-room +where they had been so uproarious, so that it might be made tidy again +before Sunday, and sat in the drawing-room overlooking the street, there +did come this little reaction. But it was already eleven, and soon Mrs. +Assheton rose to go. + +The night was hot, and Morris was sitting to cool himself by the open +window, leaning his head out to catch the breeze. The street was very +empty and quiet, and his motor, in which as a great concession, his +mother had consented to be carried, on the promise of his going slow, +had already come for them. Then down at the seaward end of the street +he heard street-cries, as if some sudden news had come in that sent +the vendors of the evening papers out to reap a second harvest that +night. He could not, however, catch what it was, and they all went +downstairs together. + +Madge was going home with them, for she was stopping over the Sunday with +Mrs. Assheton, and the two ladies had already got into the car, while +Morris was still standing on the pavement with his host. + +Then suddenly a newsboy, with a sheaf of papers still hot from the press, +came running from the corner of the street just above them, and as he +ran he shouted out the news which was already making little groups of +people collect and gather in the streets. + +Mr. Taynton turned quickly as the words became audible, seized a paper +from the boy, giving him the first coin that he found, and ran back into +the hall of his house, Morris with him, to beneath the electric light +that burned there. The shrill voice of the boy still shouting the news of +murder got gradually less loud as he went further down the street. + +They read the short paragraph together, and then looked at each other +with mute horror in their eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +The inquest was held at Falmer on the Monday following, when the body was +formally identified by Mr. Taynton and Mills's servant, and they both had +to give evidence as regards what they knew of the movements of the +deceased. This, as a matter of fact, Mr. Taynton had already given to +Figgis, and in his examination now he repeated with absolute exactitude +what he had said before including again the fact that Morris had gone up +to town on Friday morning to try to find him there. On this occasion, +however, a few further questions were put to him, eliciting the fact that +the business on which Morris wanted to see him was known to Mr. Taynton +but could not be by him repeated since it dealt with confidential +transactions between the firm of solicitors and their client. The +business was, yes, of the nature of a dispute, but Mr. Taynton regarded +it as certain that some amicable arrangement would have been come to, had +the interview taken place. As it had not, however, since Morris had not +found him at his flat in town, he could not speak for certain on this +subject. The dispute concerned an action of his partner's, made +independently of him. Had he been consulted he would have strongly +disapproved of it. + +The body, as was made public now, had been discovered by accident, +though, as has been seen, the probability of Mills having got out at +Falmer had been arrived at by the police, and Figgis immediately after +his interview with Mr. Taynton on the Saturday evening had started for +Falmer to make inquiries there, and had arrived there within a few +minutes of the discovery of the body. A carpenter of that village had +strolled out about eight o'clock that night with his two children while +supper was being got ready, and had gone a piece of the way up the path +over the downs, which left the road at the corner of Falmer Park. The +children were running and playing about, hiding and seeking each other +in the bracken-filled hollows, and among the trees, when one of them +screamed suddenly, and a moment afterward they both came running to +their father, saying that they had come upon a man in one of these +copses, lying on his face and they were frightened. He had gone to see +what this terrifying person was, and had found the body. He went +straight back to the village without touching anything, for it was clear +both from what he saw and from the crowd of buzzing flies that the man +was dead, and gave information to the police. Then within a few minutes +from that, Mr. Figgis had arrived from Brighton, to find that it was +superfluous to look any further or inquire any more concerning the +whereabouts of the missing man. All that was mortal of him was here, the +head covered with a cloth, and bits of the fresh summer growth of fern +and frond sticking to his clothing. + +After the identification of the body came evidence medical and otherwise +that seemed to show beyond doubt the time and manner of his death and the +possible motive of the murderer. The base of the skull was smashed in, +evidently by some violent blow dealt from behind with a blunt heavy +instrument of some sort, and death had probably been instantaneous. In +one of the pockets was a first edition of an evening paper published in +London on Thursday last, which fixed the earliest possible time at which +the murder had been committed, while in the opinion of the doctor who +examined the body late on Saturday night, the man had been dead not less +than forty-eight hours. In spite of the very heavy rain which had fallen +on Thursday night, there were traces of a pool of blood about midway +between the clump of bracken where the body was found, and the path over +the downs leading from Falmer to Brighton. This, taken in conjunction +with the information already given by Mr. Taynton, made it practically +certain that the deceased had left London on the Thursday as he had +intended to do, and had got out of the train at Falmer, also according to +his expressed intention, to walk to Brighton. It would again have been +most improbable that he would have started on his walk had the storm +already begun. But the train by which his bag was conveyed to Brighton +arrived at Falmer at half-past six, the storm did not burst till an hour +afterward. Finally, with regard to possible motive, the murdered man's +watch was missing; his pockets also were empty of coin. + +This concluded the evidence, and the verdict was brought in without the +jury leaving the court, and "wilful murder by person or persons unknown" +was recorded. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Taynton, as was indeed to be expected, had been much affected during +the giving of his evidence, and when the inquest was over, he returned to +Brighton feeling terribly upset by this sudden tragedy, which had crashed +without warning into his life. It had been so swift and terrible; without +sign or preparation this man, whom he had known so long, had been hurled +from life and all its vigour into death. And how utterly now Mr. Taynton +forgave him for that base attack that he had made on him, so few days +ago; how utterly, too, he felt sure Morris had forgiven him for what was +perhaps even harder to forgive. And if they could forgive trespasses like +these, they who were of human passion and resentments, surely the reader +of all hearts would forgive. That moment of agony short though it might +have been in actual duration, when the murderous weapon split through the +bone and scattered the brain, surely brought punishment and therefore +atonement for the frailties of a life-time. + +Mr. Taynton, on his arrival back at Brighton that afternoon, devoted a +couple of solitary hours to such thoughts as these, and others to which +this tragedy naturally gave rise and then with a supreme effort of will +he determined to think no more on the subject. It was inevitable that +his mind should again and again perhaps for weeks and months to come +fall back on these dreadful events, but his will was set on not +permitting himself to dwell on them. So, though it was already late in +the afternoon, he set forth again from his house about tea-time, to +spend a couple of hours at the office. He had sent word to Mr. Timmins +that he would probably come in, and begin to get through the arrears +caused by his unavoidable absence that morning, and he found his head +clerk waiting for him. A few words were of course appropriate, and they +were admirably chosen. + +"You have seen the result of the inquest, no doubt, Mr. Timmins," he +said, "and yet one hardly knows whether one wishes the murderer to be +brought to justice. What good does that do, now our friend is dead? So +mean and petty a motive too; just for a watch and a few sovereigns. It +was money bought at a terrible price, was it not? Poor soul, poor soul; +yes, I say that of the murderer. Well, well, we must turn our faces +forward, Mr. Timmins; it is no use dwelling on the dreadful irremediable +past. The morning's post? Is that it?" + +Mr. Timmins ventured sympathy. + +"You look terribly worn out, sir," he said. "Wouldn't it be wiser to +leave it till to-morrow? A good night's rest, you know, sir, if you'll +excuse my mentioning it." + +"No, no, Mr. Timmins, we must get to work again, we must get to work." + +Nature, inspired by the spirit and instinct of life, is wonderfully +recuperative. Whether earthquake or famine, fire or pestilence has +blotted out a thousand lives, those who are left, like ants when their +house is disturbed, waste but little time after the damage has been done +in vain lamentations, but, slaves to the force of life, begin almost +instantly to rebuild and reconstruct. And what is true of the community +is true also of the individual, and thus in three days from this dreadful +morning of the inquest, Mr. Taynton, after attending the funeral of the +murdered man, was very actively employed, since the branch of the firm in +London, deprived of its head, required supervision from him. Others also, +who had been brought near to the tragedy, were occupied again, and of +these Morris in particular was a fair example of the spirit of the +Life-force. His effort, no doubt, was in a way easier than that made by +Mr. Taynton, for to be twenty-two years old and in love should be +occupation sufficient. But he, too, had his bad hours, when the past rose +phantom-like about him, and he recalled that evening when his rage had +driven him nearly mad with passion against his traducer. And by an awful +coincidence, his madness had been contemporaneous with the slanderer's +death. He must, in fact, have been within a few hundred yards of the +place at the time the murder was committed, for he had gone back to +Falmer Park that day, with the message that Mr. Taynton would call on the +morrow, and had left the place not half an hour before the breaking of +the storm. He had driven by the corner of the Park, where the path over +the downs left the main road and within a few hundred yards of him at +that moment, had been, dead or alive, the man who had so vilely slandered +him. Supposing--it might so easily have happened--they had met on the +road. What would he have done? Would he have been able to pass him and +not wreaked his rage on him? He hardly dared to think of that. But, life +and love were his, and that which might have been was soon dreamlike in +comparison of these. Indeed, that dreadful dream which he had had the +night after the murder had been committed was no less real than it. The +past was all of this texture, and mistlike, it was evaporated in the +beams of the day that was his. + +Now Brighton is a populous place, and a sunny one, and many people lounge +there in the sun all day. But for the next three or four days a few of +these loungers lounged somewhat systematically. One lounged in Sussex +Square, another lounged in Montpellier Road, one or two others who +apparently enjoyed this fresh air but did not care about the town itself, +usually went to the station after breakfast, and spent the day in +rambling agreeably about the downs. They also frequented the pleasant +little village of Falmer, gossiping freely with its rural inhabitants. +Often footmen or gardeners from the Park came down to the village, and +acquaintances were easily ripened in the ale-house. Otherwise there was +not much incident in the village; sometimes a motor drove by, and one, +after an illegally fast progress along the road, very often turned in at +the park gates. But no prosecution followed; it was clear they were not +agents of the police. Mr. Figgis, also, frequently came out from +Brighton, and went strolling about too, very slowly and sadly. He often +wandered in the little copses that bordered the path over the downs to +Brighton, especially near the place where it joined the main road a few +hundred yards below Falmer station. Then came a morning when neither he +nor any of the other chance visitors to Falmer were seen there any more. +But the evening before Mr. Figgis carried back with him to the train a +long thin package wrapped in brown paper. But on the morning when these +strangers were seen no more at Falmer, it appeared that they had not +entirely left the neighbourhood, for instead of one only being in the +neighbourhood of Sussex Square, there were three of them there. + +Morris had ordered the motor to be round that morning at eleven, and it +had been at the door some few minutes before he appeared. Martin had +driven it round from the stables, but he was in a suit of tweed; it +seemed that he was not going with it. Then the front door opened, and +Morris appeared as usual in a violent hurry. One of the strangers was on +the pavement close to the house door, looking with interest at the car. +But his interest in the car ceased when the boy appeared. And from the +railings of the square garden opposite another stranger crossed the road, +and from the left behind the car came a third. + +"Mr. Morris Assheton?" said the first. + +"Well, what then?" asked Morris. + +The two others moved a little nearer. + +"I arrest you in the King's name," said the first. + +Morris was putting on a light coat as he came across the pavement. One +arm was in, the other out. He stopped dead; and the bright colour of his +face slowly faded, leaving a sort of ashen gray behind. His mouth +suddenly went dry, and it was only at the third attempt to speak that +words came. + +"What for?" he said. + +"For the murder of Godfrey Mills," said the man. "Here is the warrant. I +warn you that all you say--" + +Morris, whose lithe athletic frame had gone slack for the moment, +stiffened himself up again. + +"I am not going to say anything," he said. "Martin, drive to Mr. +Taynton's at once, and tell him that I am arrested." + +The other two now had closed round him. + +"Oh, I'm not going to bolt," he said. "Please tell me where you are going +to take me." + +"Police Court in Branksome Street," said the first. + +"Tell Mr. Taynton I am there," said Morris to his man. + +There was a cab at the corner of the square, and in answer to an +almost imperceptible nod from one of the men, it moved up to the +house. The square was otherwise nearly empty, and Morris looked round +as the cab drew nearer. Upstairs in the house he had just left, was +his mother who was coming out to Falmer this evening to dine; above +illimitable blue stretched from horizon to horizon, behind was the +free fresh sea. Birds chirped in the bushes and lilac was in flower. +Everything had its liberty. + +Then a new instinct seized him, and though a moment before he had given +his word that he was not meditating escape, liberty called to him. +Everything else was free. He rushed forward, striking right and left +with his arms, then tripped on the edge of the paving stones and fell. +He was instantly seized, and next moment was in the cab, and fetters of +steel, though he could not remember their having been placed there, were +on his wrists. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +It was a fortnight later, a hot July morning, and an unusual animation +reigned in the staid and leisurely streets of Lewes. For the Assizes +opened that day, and it was known that the first case to be tried was the +murder of which all Brighton and a large part of England had been talking +so much since Morris Assheton had been committed for trial. At the +hearing in the police-court there was not very much evidence brought +forward, but there had been sufficient to make it necessary that he +should stand his trial. It was known, for instance, that he had some very +serious reason for anger and resentment against his victim; those who had +seen him that day remembered him as being utterly unlike himself; he was +known to have been at Falmer Park that afternoon about six, and to have +driven home along the Falmer Road in his car an hour or so later. And in +a copse close by to where the body of the murdered man was found had been +discovered a thick bludgeon of a stick, broken it would seem by some +violent act, into two halves. On the top half was rudely cut with a +pen-knife M. ASSHE ... What was puzzling, however, was the apparent +motive of robbery about the crime; it will be remembered that the +victim's watch was missing, and that no money was found on him. + +But since Morris had been brought up for committal at the police-court it +was believed that a quantity more evidence of a peculiarly incriminating +kind had turned up. Yet in spite of this, so it was rumoured, the +prisoner apparently did more than bear up; it was said that he was quite +cheerful, quite confident that his innocence would be established. Others +said that he was merely callous and utterly without any moral sense. Much +sympathy of course was felt for his mother, and even more for the family +of the Templetons and the daughter to whom it was said that Morris was +actually engaged. And, as much as anyone it was Mr. Taynton who was the +recipient of the respectful pity of the British public. Though no +relation he had all his life been a father to Morris, and while Miss +Madge Templeton was young and had the spring and elasticity of youth, so +that, though all this was indeed terrible enough, she might be expected +to get over it, Mr. Taynton was advanced in years and it seemed that he +was utterly broken by the shock. He had not been in Brighton on the day +on which Morris was brought before the police-court magistrates, and the +news had reached him in London after his young friend had been committed. +It was said he had fainted straight off, and there had been much +difficulty in bringing him round. But since then he had worked day and +night on behalf of the accused. But certain fresh evidence which had +turned up a day or two before the Assizes seemed to have taken the heart +out of him. He had felt confident that the watch would have been found, +and the thief traced. But something new that had turned up had utterly +staggered him. He could only cling to one hope, and that was that he knew +the evidence about the stick must break down, for it was he who had +thrown the fragments into the bushes, a fact which would come to light in +his own evidence. But at the most, all he could hope for was, that though +it seemed as if the poor lad must be condemned, the jury, on account of +his youth, and the provocation he had received, of which Mr. Taynton +would certainly make the most when called upon to bear witness on this +point, or owing to some weakness in the terrible chain of evidence that +had been woven, would recommend him to mercy. + +The awful formalities at the opening of the case were gone through. The +judge took his seat, and laid on the bench in front of him a small parcel +wrapped up in tissue paper; the jury was sworn in, and the prisoner asked +if he objected to the inclusion of any of those among the men who were +going to decide whether he was worthy of life or guilty of death, and the +packed court, composed about equally of men and women, most of whom would +have shuddered to see a dog beaten, or a tired hare made to go an extra +mile, settled themselves in their places with a rustle of satisfaction at +the thought of seeing a man brought before them in the shame of +suspected murder, and promised themselves an interesting and thrilling +couple of days in observing the gallows march nearer him, and in watching +his mental agony. They who would, and perhaps did, subscribe to +benevolent institutions for the relief of suffering among the lower +animals, would willingly have paid a far higher rate to observe the +suffering of a man. He was so interesting; he was so young and +good-looking; what a depraved monster he must be. And that little package +in tissue paper which the judge brought in and laid on the bench! The +black cap, was it not? That showed what the judge thought about it all. +How thrilling! + +Counsel for the Crown, opened the case, and in a speech grimly devoid of +all emotional appeal, laid before the court the facts he was prepared to +prove, on which they would base their verdict. + +The prisoner, a young man of birth and breeding, had strong grounds for +revenge on the murdered man. The prosecution, however, was not concerned +in defending what the murdered man had done, but in establishing the +guilt of the man who had murdered him. Godfrey Mills, had, as could be +proved by witnesses, slandered the prisoner in an abominable manner, and +the prosecution were not intending for a moment to attempt to establish +the truth of his slander. But this slander they put forward as a motive +that gave rise to a murderous impulse on the part of the prisoner. The +jury would hear from one of the witnesses, an old friend of the +prisoner's, and a man who had been a sort of father to him, that a few +hours only before the murder was committed the prisoner had uttered +certain words which admitted only of one interpretation, namely that +murder was in his mind. That the provocation was great was not denied; +it was certain however, that the provocation was sufficient. + +Counsel then sketched the actual circumstances of the crime, as far as +they could be constructed from what evidence there was. This evidence was +purely circumstantial, but of a sort which left no reasonable doubt that +the murder had been committed by the prisoner in the manner suggested. +Mr. Godfrey Mills had gone to London on the Tuesday of the fatal week, +intending to return on the Thursday. On the Wednesday the prisoner became +cognisant of the fact that Mr. Godfrey Mills had--he would not argue over +it--wantonly slandered him to Sir Richard Templeton, a marriage with the +daughter of whom was projected in the prisoner's mind, which there was +reason to suppose, might have taken place. Should the jury not be +satisfied on that point, witnesses would be called, including the young +lady herself, but unless the counsel for the defence challenged their +statement, namely that this slander had been spoken which contributed, so +it was argued, a motive for the crime it would be unnecessary to intrude +on the poignant and private grief of persons so situated, and to insist +on a scene which must prove to be so heart-rendingly painful. + +(There was a slight movement of demur in the humane and crowded court at +this; it was just these heart-rendingly painful things which were so +thrilling.) + +It was most important, continued counsel for the prosecution that the +jury should fix these dates accurately in their minds. Tuesday was June +21st; it was on that day the murdered man had gone to London, designing +to return on June 23d, Thursday. The prisoner had learned on Wednesday +(June 22d) that aspersions had been made, false aspersions, on his +character, and it was on Thursday that he learned for certain from the +lips of the man to whom they had been made, who was the author of them. +The author was Mr. Godfrey Mills. He had thereupon motored back from +Falmer Park, and informed Mr. Taynton of this, and had left again for +Falmer an hour later to make an appointment for Mr. Taynton to see Sir +Richard. He knew, too, this would be proved, that Mr. Godfrey Mills +proposed to return from London that afternoon, to get out at Falmer +station and walk back to Brighton. It was certain from the finding of the +body that Mr. Mills had travelled from London, as he intended, and that +he had got out at this station. It was certain also that at that hour the +prisoner, burning for vengeance, and knowing the movements of Mr. Mills, +was in the vicinity of Falmer. + +To proceed, it was certain also that the prisoner in a very strange wild +state had arrived at Mr. Taynton's house about nine that evening, knowing +that Mr. Mills was expected there at about 9.30. Granted that he had +committed the murder, this proceeding was dictated by the most elementary +instinct of self-preservation. It was also in accordance with that that +he had gone round in the pelting rain late that night to see if the +missing man had returned to his flat, and that he had gone to London next +morning to seek him there. He had not, of course, found him, and he +returned to Brighton that afternoon. In connection with this return, +another painful passage lay before them, for it would be shown by one of +the witnesses that again on the Friday afternoon the prisoner had visited +the scene of the crime. Mr. Taynton, in fact, still unsuspicious of +anything being wrong had walked over the Downs that afternoon from +Brighton to Falmer, and had sat down in view of the station where he +proposed to catch a train back to Brighton, and had seen the prisoner +stop his motor-car close to the corner where the body had been found, and +behave in a manner inexplicable except on the theory that he knew where +the body lay. Subsequently to the finding of the body, which had occurred +on Saturday evening, there had been discovered in a coppice adjoining a +heavy bludgeon-like stick broken in two. The top of it, which would be +produced, bore the inscription M. ASSHE... + +Mr. Taynton was present in court, and was sitting on the bench to the +right of the judge who had long been a personal friend of his. Hitherto +his face had been hidden in his hands, as this terribly logical tale +went on. But here he raised it, and smiled, a wan smile enough, at +Morris. The latter did not seem to notice the action. Counsel for the +prosecution continued. + +All this, he said, had been brought forward at the trial before the +police-court magistrates, and he thought the jury would agree that it was +more than sufficient to commit the prisoner to trial. At that trial, too, +they had heard, the whole world had heard, of the mystery of the missing +watch, and the missing money. No money, at least, had been found on the +body; it was reasonable to refer to it as "missing." But here again, the +motive of self-preservation came in; the whole thing had been carefully +planned; the prisoner, counsel suggested, had, just as he had gone up to +town to find Mr. Mills the day after the murder was committed, striven to +put justice off the scent in making it appear that the motive for the +crime, had been robbery. With well-calculated cunning he had taken the +watch and what coins there were, from the pockets of his victim. That at +any rate was the theory suggested by the prosecution. + +The speech was admirably delivered, and its virtue was its extreme +impassiveness; it seemed quite impersonal, the mere automatic action of +justice, not revengeful, not seeking for death, but merely stating the +case as it might be stated by some planet or remote fixed star. Then +there was a short pause, while the prosecutor for the Crown laid down his +notes. And the same slow, clear, impassive voice went on. + +"But since the committal of the prisoner to stand his trial at these +assizes," he said, "more evidence of an utterly unexpected, but to us +convincing kind has been discovered. Here it is." And he held up a sheet +of blotting paper, and a crumpled envelope. + +"A letter has been blotted on this sheet," he said, "and by holding it up +to the light and looking through it, one can, of course, read what was +written. But before I read it, I will tell you from where this sheet was +taken. It was taken from a blotting book in the drawing-room of Mrs. +Assheton's house in Sussex Square. An expert in handwriting will soon +tell the gentlemen of the jury in whose hand he without doubt considers +it to be written. After the committal of the prisoner to trial, search +was of course made in this house, for further evidence. This evidence was +almost immediately discovered. After that no further search was made." + +The judge looked up from his notes. + +"By whom was this discovery made?" he asked. + +"By Superintendent Figgis and Sergeant Wilkinson, my lord. They will +give their evidence." + +He waited till the judge had entered this. + +"I will read the letter," he said, "from the negative, so to speak, of +the blotting paper." + +"June 21st. + +"TO GODFREY MILLS, ESQ. + +"You damned brute, I will settle you. I hear you are coming back to +Brighton to-morrow, and are getting out at Falmer. All right; I shall be +there, and we shall have a talk. + +"MORRIS ASSHETON." + +A sort of purr went round the court; the kind humane ladies and gentlemen +who had fought for seats found this to their taste. The noose tightened. + +"I have here also an envelope," said the prosecutor, "which was found by +Mr. Figgis and Mr. Wilkinson in the waste-paper basket in the +sitting-room of the deceased. According to the expert in handwriting, +whose evidence you will hear, it is undoubtedly addressed by the same +hand that wrote the letter I have just read you. And, in his opinion, +the handwriting is that of the prisoner. No letter was found in the +deceased man's room corresponding to this envelope, but the jury will +observe that what I have called the negative of the letter on the +blotting-paper was dated June 21st, the day that the prisoner suspected +the slander that had been levelled at him. The suggestion is that the +deceased opened this before leaving for London, and took the letter with +him. And the hand, that for the purposes of misleading justice, robbed +him of his watch and his money, also destroyed the letter which was then +on his person, and which was an incriminating document. But this sheet +of blotting paper is as valuable as the letter itself. It proves the +letter to have been written." + + * * * * * + +Morris had been given a seat in the dock, and on each side of him there +stood a prison-warder. But in the awed hush that followed, for the +vultures and carrion crows who crowded the court were finding +themselves quite beautifully thrilled, he wrote a few words on a slip +of paper and handed it to a warder to give to his counsel. And his +counsel nodded to him. + +The opening speech for the Crown had lasted something over two hours, and +a couple of witnesses only were called before the interval for lunch. But +most of the human ghouls had brought sandwiches with them, and the court +was packed with the same people when Morris was brought up again after +the interval, and the judge, breathing sherry, took his seat. The court +had become terribly hot, but the public were too humane to mind that. A +criminal was being chased toward the gallows, and they followed his +progress there with breathless interest. Step by step all that was laid +down in the opening speech for the prosecution was inexorably proved, +all, that is to say, except the affair of the stick. But from what a +certain witness (Mr. Taynton) swore to, it was clear that this piece of +circumstantial evidence, which indeed was of the greatest importance +since the Crown's case was that the murder had been committed with that +bludgeon of a stick, completely broke down. Whoever had done the murder, +he had not done it with that stick, since Mr. Taynton deposed to having +been at Mrs. Assheton's house on the Friday, the day after the murder had +been committed, and to having taken the stick away by mistake, believing +it to be his. And the counsel for the defence only asked one question on +this point, which question closed the proceedings for the day. It was: + +"You have a similar stick then?" + +And Mr. Taynton replied in the affirmative. + +The court then rose. + + * * * * * + +On the whole the day had been most satisfactory to the ghouls and +vultures and it seemed probable that they would have equally exciting and +plentiful fare next day. But in the opinion of many Morris's counsel was +disappointing. He did not cross-examine witnesses at all sensationally, +and drag out dreadful secrets (which had nothing to do with the case) +about their private lives, in order to show that they seldom if ever +spoke the truth. Indeed, witness after witness was allowed to escape +without any cross-examination at all; there was no attempt made to prove +that the carpenter who had found the body had been himself tried for +murder, or that his children were illegitimate. Yet gradually, as the +afternoon went on, a sort of impression began to make its way, that there +was something coming which no one suspected. + +The next morning those impressions were realised when the adjourned +cross-examination of Mr. Taynton was resumed. The counsel for the defence +made an immediate attack on the theories of the prosecution, and it told. +For the prosecution had suggested that Morris's presence at the scene of +the murder the day after was suspicious, as if he had come back uneasily +and of an unquiet conscience. If that was so, Mr. Taynton's presence +there, who had been the witness who proved the presence of the other, was +suspicious also. What had he come there for? In order to throw the broken +pieces of Morris's stick into the bushes? These inferences were of +course but suggested in the questions counsel asked Mr. Taynton in the +further cross-examination of this morning, and perhaps no one in court +saw what the suggestion was for a moment or two, so subtly and covertly +was it conveyed. Then it appeared to strike all minds together, and a +subdued rustle went round the court, followed the moment after by an even +intenser silence. + +Then followed a series of interrogations, which at first seemed wholly +irrelevant, for they appeared to bear only on the business relations +between the prisoner and the witness. Then suddenly like the dim light at +the end of a tunnel, where shines the pervading illuminating sunlight, a +little ray dawned. + +"You have had control of the prisoner's private fortune since 1886?" + +"Yes." + +"In the year 1896 he had £8,000 or thereabouts in London and +North-Western Debentures, £6,000 in Consols, £7,000 in Government bonds +of South Australia?" + +"I have no doubt those figures are correct." + +"A fortnight ago you bought £8,000 of London and North-Western +Debentures, £6,000 in Consols, £7,000 in Government bonds of South +Australia?" + +Mr. Taynton opened his lips to speak, but no sound came from them. + +"Please answer the question." + +If there had been a dead hush before, succeeding the rustle that had +followed the suggestions about the stick, a silence far more palpable now +descended. There was no doubt as to what the suggestion was now. + +The counsel for the prosecution broke in. + +"I submit that these questions are irrelevant, my lord," he said. + +"I shall subsequently show, my lord, that they are not." + +"The witness must answer the question," said the judge. "I see that there +is a possible relevancy." + +The question was answered. + +"Thank you, that is all," said the counsel for the defence, and Mr. +Taynton left the witness box. + +It was then, for the first time since the trial began, that Morris +looked at this witness. All through he had been perfectly calm and +collected, a circumstance which the spectators put down to the +callousness with which they kindly credited him, and now for the first +time, as Mr. Taynton's eyes and his met, an emotion crossed the +prisoner's face. He looked sorry. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +For the rest of the morning the examination of witnesses for the +prosecution went on, for there were a very large number of them, but when +the court rose for lunch, the counsel for the prosecution intimated that +this was his last. But again, hardly any but those engaged officially, +the judge, the counsel, the prisoner, the warder, left the court. Mr. +Taynton, however, went home, for he had his seat on the bench, and he +could escape for an hour from this very hot and oppressive atmosphere. +But he did not go to his Lewes office, or to any hotel to get his lunch. +He went to the station, where after waiting some quarter of an hour, he +took the train to Brighton. The train ran through Falmer and from his +window he could see where the Park palings made an angle close to the +road; it was from there that the path over the Downs, where he had so +often walked, passed to Brighton. + +Again the judge took his seat, still carrying the little parcel wrapped +up in tissue paper. + +There was no need for the usher to call silence, for the silence was +granted without being asked for. + +The counsel for the defence called the first witness; he also unwrapped a +flat parcel which he had brought into court with him, and handed it to +the witness. + +"That was supplied by your firm?" + +"Yes sir." + +"Who ordered it?" + +"Mr. Assheton." + +"Mr. Morris Assheton, that is. Did he order it from you, you yourself?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did he give any specific instructions about it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"What were they?" + +"That the blotting book which Mrs. Assheton had already ordered was to be +countermanded, and that this was to be sent in its stead on June 24th." + +"You mean not after June 24th?" + +"No, sir; the instructions were that it was not to be sent before +June 24th." + +"Why was that?" + +"I could not say, sir. Those were the instructions." + +"And it was sent on June 24th." + +"Yes, sir. It was entered in our book." + +The book in question was produced and handed to the jury and the judge. + +"That is all, Mrs. Assheton." + +She stepped into the box, and smiled at Morris. There was no murmur of +sympathy, no rustling; the whole thing was too tense. + +"You returned home on June 24th last, from a visit to town?" + +"Yes." + +"At what time?" + +"I could not say to the minute. But about eleven in the morning." + +"You found letters waiting for you?" + +"Yes." + +"Anything else?" + +"A parcel." + +"What did it contain?" + +"A blotting-book. It was a present from my son on my birthday." + +"Is this the blotting-book?" + +"Yes." + +"What did you do with it?" + +"I opened it and placed it on my writing table in the drawing-room." + +"Thank you; that is all." + +There was no cross-examination of this witness, and after the pause, the +counsel for the defence spoke again. + +"Superintendent Figgis." + +"You searched the house of Mrs. Assheton in Sussex Square?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"What did you take from it?" + +"A leaf from a blotting-book, sir." + +"Was it that leaf which has been already produced in court, bearing the +impress of a letter dated June 21st?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Where was the blotting-book?" + +"On the writing-table in the drawing-room, sir." + +"You did not examine the blotting-book in any way?" + +"No, sir." + +Counsel opened the book and fitted the torn out leaf into its place. + +"We have here the impress of a letter dated June 21st, written in a new +blotting-book that did not arrive at Mrs. Assheton's house from the shop +till June 24th. It threatens--threatens a man who was murdered, +supposedly by the prisoner, on June 23d. Yet this threatening letter was +not written till June 24th, after he had killed him." + +Quiet and unemotional as had been the address for the Crown, these few +remarks were even quieter. Then the examination continued. + +"You searched also the flat occupied by the deceased, and you found there +this envelope, supposedly in the handwriting of the prisoner, which has +been produced by the prosecution?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"This is it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Thank you. That is all." + +Again there was no cross-examination, and the superintendent left the +witness box. + +Then the counsel for the defence took up two blank envelopes in addition +to the one already produced and supposedly addressed in the handwriting +of the prisoner. + +"This blue envelope," he said, "is from the stationery in Mrs. +Assheton's house. This other envelope, white, is from the flat of the +deceased. It corresponds in every way with the envelope which was +supposed to be addressed in the prisoner's hand, found at the flat in +question. The inference is that the prisoner blotted the letter dated +June 21st on a blotting pad which did not arrive in Mrs. Assheton's house +till June 24th, went to the deceased's flat and put it an envelope +there." + +These were handed to the jury for examination. + +"Ernest Smedley," said counsel. + +Mills's servant stepped into the box, and was sworn. + +"Between, let us say June 21st and June 24th, did the prisoner call at +Mr. Mills's flat?" + +"Yes, sir, twice." + +"When?" + +"Once on the evening of June 23d, and once very early next morning." + +"Did he go in?" + +"Yes, sir, he came in on both occasions." + +"What for?" + +"To satisfy himself that Mr. Mills had not come back." + +"Did he write anything?" + +"No, sir." + +"How do you know that?" + +"I went with him from room to room, and should have seen if he had done +so." + +"Did anybody else enter the flat during those days?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Who?" + +"Mr. Taynton." + +The whole court seemed to give a great sigh; then it was quiet again. The +judge put down the pen with which he had been taking notes, and like the +rest of the persons present he only listened. + +"When did Mr. Taynton come into the flat?" + +"About mid-day or a little later on Friday." + +"June 24th?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Please tell the jury what he did?" + +The counsel for the prosecution stood up. + +"I object to that question," he said. + +The judge nodded at him; then looked at the witness again. The +examination went on. + +"You need not answer that question. I put it to save time, merely. Did +Mr. Taynton go into the deceased's sitting-room?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did he write anything there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Was he alone there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Thank you." + +Again the examining counsel paused, and again no question was asked by +the prosecution. + +"Charles Martin," said the counsel for defence. + +"You are a servant of the prisoner's?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You were in his service during this week of June, of which Friday was +June 24th?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Describe the events--No. Did the prisoner go up to town, or elsewhere on +that day, driving his motorcar, but leaving you in Brighton?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Mrs. Assheton came back that morning?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did anyone call that morning? If so, who?" + +"Mr. Taynton called." + +"Did he go to the drawing-room?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did he write anything there?" + +"Yes, sir; he wrote a note to Mrs. Assheton, which he gave me when he +went out." + +"You were not in the drawing-room, when he wrote it?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did he say anything to you when he left the house?" + +"Yes, sir," + +"What did he say?" + +The question was not challenged now. + +"He told me to say that he had left the note at the door." + +"But he had not done so?" + +"No, sir; he wrote it in the drawing-room." + +"Thank you. That is all." + +But this witness was not allowed to pass as the others had done. The +counsel for the prosecution got up. + +"You told Mrs. Assheton that it had been left at the door?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You knew that was untrue?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"For what reason did you say it, then?" + +Martin hesitated; he looked down, then he looked up again, and was +still silent. + +"Answer the question." + +His eyes met those of the prisoner. Morris smiled at him, and nodded. + +"Mr. Taynton told me to say that," he said, "I had once been in Mr. +Taynton's service. He dismissed me. I--" + +The judge interposed looking at the cross-examining counsel. + +"Do you press your question?" he asked. "I do not forbid you to ask it, +but I ask you whether the case for the prosecution of the--the prisoner +is furthered by your insisting on this question. We have all heard, the +jury and I alike, what the last three or four witnesses have said, and +you have allowed that--quite properly, in my opinion--to go +unchallenged. I do not myself see that there is anything to be gained by +the prosecution by pressing the question. I ask you to consider this +point. If you think conscientiously, that the evidence, the trend of +which we all know now, is to be shaken, you are right to do your best to +try to shake it. If not, I wish you to consider whether you should press +the question. What the result of your pressing it will be, I have no +idea, but it is certainly clear to us all now, that there was a threat +implied in Mr. Taynton's words. Personally I do not wish to know what +that threat was, nor do I see how the knowledge of it would affect your +case in my eyes, or in the eyes of the jury." + +There was a moment's pause. + +"No, my lord, I do not press it." + +Then a clear young voice broke the silence. + +"Thanks, Martin," it said. + +It came from the dock. + +The judge looked across to the dock for a moment, with a sudden +irresistible impulse of kindliness for the prisoner whom he was judging. + +"Charles Martin," he said, "you have given your evidence, and speaking +for myself, I believe it to be entirely trustworthy. I wish to say that +your character is perfectly clear. No aspersion whatever has been made on +it, except that you said a note had been delivered at the door, though +you knew it to have been not so delivered. You made that statement +through fear of a certain individual; you were frightened into telling a +lie. No one inquires into the sources of your fear." + +But in the general stillness, there was one part of the court that was +not still, but the judge made no command of silence there, for in the +jury-box there was whispering and consultation. It went on for some +three minutes. Then the foreman of the jury stood up. + +"The jury have heard sufficient of this case, my lord," he said, "and +they are agreed on their verdict." + + * * * * * + +For a moment the buzzing whispers went about the court again, shrilling +high, but instantaneously they died down, and the same tense silence +prevailed. But from the back of the court there was a stir, and the +judge seeing what it was that caused it waited, while Mrs. Assheton +moved from her place, and made her way to the front of the dock in which +Morris sat. She had been in the witness-box that day, and everyone knew +her, and all made way for her, moving as the blades of corn move when +the wind stirs them, for her right was recognised and unquestioned. But +the dock was high above her, and a barrister who sat below instantly +vacated his seat, she got up and stood on it. All eyes were fixed on +her, and none saw that at this moment a telegram was handed to the judge +which he opened and read. + +Then he turned to the foreman of the jury. + +"What verdict, do you find?" he asked. + +"Not guilty." + +Mrs. Assheton had already grasped Morris's hands in hers, and just as the +words were spoken she kissed him. + + * * * * * + +Then a shout arose which bade fair to lift the roof off, and neither +judge nor ushers of the court made any attempt to quiet it, and if it was +only for the sensation of seeing the gallows march nearer the prisoner +that these folk had come together, yet there was no mistaking the +genuineness of their congratulations now. Morris's whole behaviour too, +had been so gallant and brave; innocent though he knew himself to be, +yet it required a very high courage to listen to the damning accumulation +of evidence against him, and if there is one thing that the ordinary man +appreciates more than sensation, it is pluck. Then, but not for a long +time, the uproar subsided, and the silence descended again. Then the +judge spoke. + +"Mr. Assheton," he said, "for I no longer can call you prisoner, the jury +have of course found you not guilty of the terrible crime of which you +were accused, and I need not say that I entirely agree with their +verdict. Throughout the trial you have had my sympathy and my admiration +for your gallant bearing." Then at a sign from the judge his mother and +he were let out by the private door below the bench. + +After they had gone silence was restored. Everyone knew that there must +be more to come. The prisoner was found not guilty; the murder was still +unavenged. + +Then once more the judge spoke. + +"I wish to make public recognition," he said, "of the fairness and +ability with which the case was conducted on both sides. The prosecution, +as it was their duty to do, forged the chain of evidence against Mr. +Assheton as strongly as they were able, and pieced together incriminating +circumstances against him with a skill that at first seemed conclusive of +his guilt. The first thing that occurred to make a weak link in their +chain was the acknowledgment of a certain witness that the stick with +which the murder was supposed to have been committed was not left on the +spot by the accused, but by himself. Why he admitted that we can only +conjecture, but my conjecture is that it was an act of repentance and +contrition on his part. When it came to that point he could not let the +evidence which he had himself supplied tell against him on whom it was +clearly his object to father the crime. You will remember also that +certain circumstances pointed to robbery being the motive of the crime. +That I think was the first idea, so to speak of the real criminal. Then, +we must suppose, he saw himself safer, if he forged against another +certain evidence which we have heard." + +The judge paused for a moment, and then went on with evident emotion. + +"This case will never be reopened again," he said, "for a reason that I +will subsequently tell the court; we have seen the last of this tragedy, +and retribution and punishment are in the hands of a higher and supreme +tribunal. This witness, Mr. Edward Taynton--has been for years a friend +of mine, and the sympathy which I felt for him at the opening of the +case, when a young man, to whom I still believe him to have been +attached, was on his trial, is changed to a deeper pity. During the +afternoon you have heard certain evidence, from which you no doubt as +well as I infer that the fact of this murder having been committed was +known to the man who wrote a letter and blotted it on the sheet which has +been before the court. That man also, as it was clear to us an hour ago, +directed a certain envelope which you have also seen. I may add that Mr. +Taynton had, as I knew, an extraordinary knack of imitating handwritings; +I have seen him write a signature that I could have sworn was mine. But +he has used that gift for tragic purposes. + +"I have just received a telegram. He left this court before the luncheon +interval, and went to his house in Brighton. Arrived there, as I have +just learned, he poisoned himself. And may God have mercy on his soul." + +Again he paused. + +"The case therefore is closed," he said, "and the court will rise for the +day. You will please go out in silence." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blotting Book, by E. F. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/11493-8.zip b/old/11493-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..423352d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11493-8.zip diff --git a/old/11493.txt b/old/11493.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..acc3858 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11493.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4551 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blotting Book, by E. F. Benson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Blotting Book + +Author: E. F. Benson + +Release Date: March 7, 2004 [EBook #11493] +[Date last updated: December 21, 2004] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLOTTING BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beginners Projects, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + The Blotting Book + + By E. F. BENSON + + 1908 + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Mrs. Assheton's house in Sussex Square, Brighton, was appointed with that +finish of smooth stateliness which robs stateliness of its formality, and +conceals the amount of trouble and personal attention which has, +originally in any case, been spent on the production of the smoothness. +Everything moved with the regularity of the solar system, and, superior +to that wild rush of heavy bodies through infinite ether, there was never +the slightest fear of comets streaking their unconjectured way across the +sky, or meteorites falling on unsuspicious picnicers. In Mrs. Assheton's +house, supreme over climatic conditions, nobody ever felt that rooms +were either too hot or too cold, a pleasantly fresh yet comfortably warm +atmosphere pervaded the place, meals were always punctual and her +admirable Scotch cook never served up a dish which, whether plain or +ornate, was not, in its way, perfectly prepared. A couple of deft and +noiseless parlour-maids attended to and anticipated the wants of her +guests, from the moment they entered her hospitable doors till when, on +their leaving them, their coats were held for them in the most convenient +possible manner for the easy insertion of the human arm, and the tails of +their dinner-coats cunningly and unerringly tweaked from behind. In every +way in fact the house was an example of perfect comfort; the softest +carpets overlaid the floors, or, where the polished wood was left bare, +the parquetry shone with a moonlike radiance; the newest and most +entertaining books (ready cut) stood on the well-ordered shelves in the +sitting-room to beguile the leisure of the studiously minded; the +billiard table was always speckless of dust, no tip was ever missing from +any cue, and the cigarette boxes and match-stands were always kept +replenished. In the dining-room the silver was resplendent, until the +moment when before dessert the cloth was withdrawn, and showed a rosewood +table that might have served for a mirror to Narcissus. + +Mrs. Assheton, until her only surviving son Morris had come to live with +her some three months ago on the completion of his four years at +Cambridge, had been alone, but even when she was alone this ceremony of +drawing the cloth and putting on the dessert and wine had never been +omitted, though since she never took either, it might seem to be a +wasted piece of routine on the part of the two noiseless parlourmaids. +But she did not in the least consider it so, for just as she always +dressed for dinner herself with the same care and finish, whether she was +going to dine alone or whether, as tonight, a guest or two was dining +with her, as an offering, so to speak, on the altar of her own +self-respect, so also she required self-respect and the formality that +indicated it on the part of those who ministered at her table, and +enjoyed such excellent wages. This pretty old-fashioned custom had always +been the rule in her own home, and her husband had always had it +practised during his life. And since then--his death had occurred some +twenty years ago--nothing that she knew of had happened to make it less +proper or desirable. Kind of heart and warm of soul though she was, she +saw no reason for letting these excellent qualities cover any slackness +or breach of observance in the social form of life to which she had been +accustomed. There was no cause, because one was kind and wise, to eat +with badly cleaned silver, unless the parlour-maid whose office it was to +clean it was unwell. In such a case, if the extra work entailed by her +illness would throw too much on the shoulders of the other servants, Mrs. +Assheton would willingly clean the silver herself, rather than that it +should appear dull and tarnished. Her formalism, such as it was, was +perfectly simple and sincere. She would, without any very poignant regret +or sense of martyrdom, had her very comfortable income been cut down to a +tenth of what it was, have gone to live in a four-roomed cottage with one +servant. But she would have left that four-roomed cottage at once for +even humbler surroundings had she found that her straitened circumstances +did not permit her to keep it as speckless and _soignee_ as was her +present house in Sussex Square. + +This achievement of having lived for nearly sixty years so decorously may +perhaps be a somewhat finer performance than it sounds, but Mrs. Assheton +brought as her contribution to life in general a far finer offering than +that, for though she did not propose to change her ways and manner of +life herself, she was notoriously sympathetic with the changed life of +the younger generation, and in consequence had the confidence of young +folk generally. At this moment she was enjoying the fruits of her liberal +attitude in the volubility of her son Morris, who sat at the end of the +table opposite to her. His volubility was at present concerned with his +motor-car, in which he had arrived that afternoon. + +"Darling mother," he was saying, "I really was frightened as to whether +you would mind. I couldn't help remembering how you received Mr. +Taynton's proposal that you should go for a drive in his car. Don't you +remember, Mr. Taynton? Mother's nose _did_ go in the air. It's no use +denying it. So I thought, perhaps, that she wouldn't like my having one. +But I wanted it so dreadfully, and so I bought it without telling her, +and drove down in it to-day, which is my birthday, so that she couldn't +be too severe." + +Mr. Taynton, while Morris was speaking, had picked up the nutcrackers the +boy had been using, and was gravely exploding the shells of the nuts he +had helped himself to. So Morris cracked the next one with a loud bang +between his white even teeth. + +"Dear Morris," said his mother, "how foolish of you. Give Mr. Morris +another nutcracker," she added to the parlour-maid. + +"What's foolish?" asked he, cracking another. + +"Oh Morris, your teeth," she said. "Do wait a moment. Yes, that's right. +And how can you say that my nose went in the air? I'm sure Mr. Taynton +will agree with me that that is really libellous. And as for your being +afraid to tell me you had bought a motor-car yourself, why, that is +sillier than cracking nuts with your teeth." + +Mr. Taynton laughed a comfortable middle-aged laugh. + +"Don't put the responsibility on me, Mrs. Assheton," he said. "As long as +Morris's bank doesn't tell us that his account is overdrawn, he can do +what he pleases. But if we are told that, then down comes the cartloads +of bricks." + +"Oh, you are a brick all right, Mr. Taynton," said the boy. "I could +stand a cartload of you." + +Mr. Taynton, like his laugh, was comfortable and middle-aged. Solicitors +are supposed to be sharp-faced and fox-like, but his face was +well-furnished and comely, and his rather bald head beamed with +benevolence and dinner. + +"My dear boy," he said, "and it is your birthday--I cannot honour +either you or this wonderful port more properly than by drinking your +health in it." + +He began and finished his glass to the health he had so neatly proposed, +and Morris laughed. + +"Thank you very much," he said. "Mother, do send the port round. What an +inhospitable woman!" + +Mrs. Assheton rose. + +"I will leave you to be more hospitable than me, then, dear," she said. + +"Shall we go, Madge? Indeed, I am afraid you must, if you are to catch +the train to Falmer." + +Madge Templeton got up with her hostess, and the two men rose too. She +had been sitting next Morris, and the boy looked at her eagerly. + +"It's too bad, your having to go," he said. "But do you think I may come +over to-morrow, in the afternoon some time, and see you and Lady +Templeton?" + +Madge paused a moment. + +"I am so sorry," she said, "but we shall be away all day. We shan't be +back till quite late." + +"Oh, what a bore," said he, "and I leave again on Friday. Do let me come +and see you off then." + +But Mrs. Assheton interposed. + +"No, dear," she said, "I am going to have five minutes' talk with Madge +before she goes and we don't want you. Look after Mr. Taynton. I know he +wants to talk to you and I want to talk to Madge." + +Mr. Taynton, when the door had closed behind the ladies, sat down again +with a rather obvious air of proposing to enjoy himself. It was quite +true that he had a few pleasant things to say to Morris, it is also true +that he immensely appreciated the wonderful port which glowed, ruby-like, +in the nearly full decanter that lay to his hand. And, above all, he, +with his busy life, occupied for the most part in innumerable small +affairs, revelled in the sense of leisure and serene smoothness which +permeated Mrs. Assheton's house. He was still a year or two short of +sixty, and but for his very bald and shining head would have seemed +younger, so fresh was he in complexion, so active, despite a certain +reassuring corpulency, was he in his movements. But when he dined +quietly like this, at Mrs. Assheton's, he would willingly have sacrificed +the next five years of his life if he could have been assured on really +reliable authority--the authority for instance of the Recording +Angel--that in five years time he would be able to sit quiet and not work +any more. He wanted very much to be able to take a passive instead of an +active interest in life, and this a few hundreds of pounds a year in +addition to his savings would enable him to do. He saw, in fact, the goal +arrived at which he would be able to sit still and wait with serenity and +calmness for the event which would certainly relieve him of all further +material anxieties. His very active life, the activities of which were so +largely benevolent, had at the expiration of fifty-eight years a little +tired him. He coveted the leisure which was so nearly his. + +Morris lit a cigarette for himself, having previously passed the wine to +Mr. Taynton. + +"I hate port," he said, "but my mother tells me this is all right. It +was laid down the year I was born by the way. You don't mind my +smoking do you?" + +This, to tell the truth, seemed almost sacrilegious to Mr. Taynton, for +the idea that tobacco, especially the frivolous cigarette, should burn in +a room where such port was being drunk was sheer crime against human and +divine laws. But he could scarcely indicate to his host that he should +not smoke in his own dining-room. + +"No, my dear Morris," he said, "but really you almost shock me, when you +prefer tobacco to this nectar, I assure you nectar. And the car, now, +tell me more about the car." + +Morris laughed. + +"I'm so deeply thankful I haven't overdrawn," he said. "Oh, the car's a +clipper. We came down from Haywards Heath the most gorgeous pace. I saw +one policeman trying to take my number, but we raised such a dust, I +don't think he can have been able to see it. It's such rot only going +twenty miles an hour with a clear straight road ahead." + +Mr. Taynton sighed, gently and not unhappily. + +"Yes, yes, my dear boy, I so sympathise with you," he said. "Speed and +violence is the proper attitude of youth, just as strength with a more +measured pace is the proper gait for older folk. And that, I fancy is +just what Mrs. Assheton felt. She would feel it to be as unnatural in you +to care to drive with her in her very comfortable victoria as she would +feel it to be unnatural in herself to wish to go in your lightning speed +motor. And that reminds me. As your trustee--" + +Coffee was brought in at this moment, carried, not by one of the discreet +parlour-maids, but by a young man-servant. Mr. Taynton, with the port +still by him, refused it, but looked rather curiously at the servant. +Morris however mixed himself a cup in which cream, sugar, and coffee were +about equally mingled. + +"A new servant of your mother's?" he asked, when the man had left the +room. + +"Oh no. It's my man, Martin. Awfully handy chap. Cleans silver, boots and +the motor. Drives it, too, when I'll let him, which isn't very often. +Chauffeurs are such rotters, aren't they? Regular chauffeurs I mean. They +always make out that something is wrong with the car, just as dentists +always find some hole in your teeth, if you go to them." + +Mr. Taynton did not reply to these critical generalities but went back +to what he had been saying when the entry of coffee interrupted him. + +"As your mother said," he remarked, "I wanted to have a few words with +you. You are twenty-two, are you not, to-day? Well, when I was young we +considered anyone of twenty-two a boy still, but now I think young +fellows grow up more quickly, and at twenty-two, you are a man nowadays, +and I think it is time for you, since my trusteeship for you may end any +day now, to take a rather more active interest in the state of your +finances than you have hitherto done. I want you in fact, my dear fellow, +to listen to me for five minutes while I state your position to you." + +Morris indicated the port again, and Mr. Taynton refilled his glass. + +"I have had twenty years of stewardship for you," he went on, "and +before my stewardship comes to an end, which it will do anyhow in three +years from now, and may come to an end any day--" + +"Why, how is that?" asked Morris. + +"If you marry, my dear boy. By the terms of your father's will, your +marriage, provided it takes place with your mother's consent, and after +your twenty-second birthday, puts you in complete control and possession +of your fortune. Otherwise, as of course you know, you come of age, +legally speaking, on your twenty-fifth birthday." + +Morris lit another cigarette rather impatiently. + +"Yes, I knew I was a minor till I was twenty-five," he said, "and I +suppose I have known that if I married after the age of twenty-two, I +became a major, or whatever you call it. But what then? Do let us go and +play billiards, I'll give you twenty-five in a hundred, because I've +been playing a lot lately, and I'll bet half a crown." + +Mr. Taynton's fist gently tapped the table. + +"Done," he said, "and we will play in five minutes. But I have something +to say to you first. Your mother, as you know, enjoys the income of the +bulk of your father's property for her lifetime. Outside that, he left +this much smaller capital of which, as also of her money, my partner and +I are trustees. The sum he left you was thirty thousand pounds. It is now +rather over forty thousand pounds, since we have changed the investments +from time to time, and always, I am glad to say, with satisfactory +results. The value of her property has gone up also in a corresponding +degree. That, however, does not concern you. But since you are now +twenty-two, and your marriage would put the whole of this smaller sum +into your hands, would it not be well for you to look through our books, +to see for yourself the account we render of our stewardship?" + +Morris laughed. + +"But for what reason?" he asked. "You tell me that my portion has +increased in value by ten thousand pounds. I am delighted to hear it. And +I thank you very much. And as for--" + +He broke off short, and Mr. Taynton let a perceptible pause follow before +he interrupted. + +"As for the possibility of your marrying?" he suggested. + +Morris gave him a quick, eager, glance. + +"Yes, I think there is that possibility," he said. "I hope--I hope it is +not far distant." + +"My dear boy--" said the lawyer. + +"Ah, not a word. I don't know--" + +Morris pushed his chair back quickly, and stood up--his tall slim figure +outlined against the sober red of the dining-room wall. A plume of black +hair had escaped from his well-brushed head and hung over his forehead, +and his sun-tanned vivid face looked extraordinarily handsome. His +mother's clear-cut energetic features were there, with the glow and +buoyancy of youth kindling them. Violent vitality was his also; his was +the hot blood that could do any deed when the life-instinct commanded it. +He looked like one of those who could give their body to be burned in the +pursuit of an idea, or could as easily steal, or kill, provided only the +deed was vitally done in the heat of his blood. Violence was clearly his +mode of life: the motor had to go sixty miles an hour; he might be one of +those who bathed in the Serpentine in mid-winter; he would clearly dance +all night, and ride all day, and go on till he dropped in the pursuit of +what he cared for. Mr. Taynton, looking at him as he stood smiling there, +in his splendid health and vigour felt all this. He felt, too, that if +Morris intended to be married to-morrow morning, matrimony would probably +take place. + +But Morris's pause, after he pushed his chair back and stood up, was only +momentary. + +"Good God, yes; I'm in love," he said. "And she probably thinks me a +stupid barbarian, who likes only to drive golfballs and motorcars. +She--oh, it's hopeless. She would have let me come over to see them +to-morrow otherwise." + +He paused again. + +"And now I've given the whole show away," he said. + +Mr. Taynton made a comfortable sort of noise. It was compounded of +laughter, sympathy, and comprehension. + +"You gave it away long ago, my dear Morris," he said. + +"You had guessed?" asked Morris, sitting down again with the same +quickness and violence of movement, and putting both his elbows on +the table. + +"No, my dear boy, you had told me, as you have told everybody, without +mentioning it. And I most heartily congratulate you. I never saw a more +delightful girl. Professionally also, I feel bound to add that it seems +to me a most proper alliance--heirs should always marry heiresses. +It"--Mr. Taynton drank off the rest of his port--"it keeps properties +together." + +Hot blood again dictated to Morris: it seemed dreadful to him that any +thought of money or of property could be mentioned in the same breath as +that which he longed for. He rose again as abruptly and violently as he +had sat down. + +"Well, let's play billiards," he said. "I--I don't think you understand a +bit. You can't, in fact." + +Mr. Taynton stroked the tablecloth for a moment with a plump white +forefinger. + +"Crabbed age and youth," he remarked. "But crabbed age makes an appeal to +youth, if youth will kindly call to mind what crabbed age referred to +some five minutes ago. In other words, will you, or will you not, Morris, +spend a very dry three hours at my office, looking into the account of my +stewardship? There was thirty thousand pounds, and there now is--or +should we say 'are'--forty. It will take you not less than two hours, and +not more than three. But since my stewardship may come to an end, as I +said, any day, I should, not for my own sake, but for yours, wish you to +see what we have done for you, and--I own this would be a certain private +gratification to me--to learn that you thought that the trust your dear +father reposed in us was not misplaced." + +There was something about these simple words which touched Morris. For +the moment he became almost businesslike. Mr. Taynton had been, as he +knew, a friend of his father's, and, as he had said, he had been steward +of his own affairs for twenty years. But that reflection banished the +businesslike view. + +"Oh, but two hours is a fearful time," he said. "You have told me the +facts, and they entirely satisfy me. And I want to be out all day +to-morrow, as I am only here till the day after. But I shall be down +again next week. Let us go into it all then. Not that there is the +slightest use in going into anything. And when, Mr. Taynton, I become +steward of my own affairs, you may be quite certain that I shall beg you +to continue looking after them. Why you gained me ten thousand pounds in +these twenty years--I wonder what there would have been to my credit now +if I had looked after things myself. But since we are on the subject I +should like just this once to assure you of my great gratitude to you, +for all you have done. And I ask you, if you will, to look after my +affairs in the future with the same completeness as you have always done. +My father's will does not prevent that, does it?" + +Mr. Taynton looked at the young fellow with affection. + +"Dear Morris," he said gaily, "we lawyers and solicitors are always +supposed to be sharks, but personally I am not such a shark as that. Are +you aware that I am paid L200 a year for my stewardship, which you are +entitled to assume for yourself on your marriage, though of course its +continuance in my hands is not forbidden in your father's will? You are +quite competent to look after your affairs yourself; it is ridiculous for +you to continue to pay me this sum. But I thank you from the bottom of my +heart for your confidence in me." + +A very close observer might have seen that behind Mr. Taynton's kind gay +eyes there was sitting a personality, so to speak, that, as his mouth +framed these words, was watching Morris rather narrowly and anxiously. +But the moment Morris spoke this silent secret watcher popped back again +out of sight. + +"Well then I ask you as a personal favour," said he, "to continue being +my steward. Why, it's good business for me, isn't it? In twenty years you +make me ten thousand pounds, and I only pay you L200 a year for it. +Please be kind, Mr. Taynton, and continue making me rich. Oh, I'm a jolly +hard-headed chap really; I know that it is to my advantage." + +Mr. Taynton considered this a moment, playing with his wine glass. Then +he looked up quickly. + +"Yes, Morris, I will with pleasure do as you ask me," he said. + +"Right oh. Thanks awfully. Do come and play billiards." + +Morris was in amazing luck that night, and if, as he said, he had been +playing a lot lately, the advantage of his practice was seen chiefly in +the hideous certainty of his flukes, and the game (though he received +twenty-five) left Mr. Taynton half a crown the poorer. Then the winner +whirled his guest upstairs again to talk to his mother while he himself +went round to the stables to assure himself of the well-being of the +beloved motor. Martin had already valeted it, after its run, and was just +locking up when Morris arrived. + +Morris gave his orders for next day after a quite unnecessary examination +into the internal economy of the beloved, and was just going back to the +house, when he paused, remembering something. + +"Oh Martin," he said, "while I am here, I want you to help in the house, +you know at dinner and so on, just as you did to-night. And when there +are guests of mine here I want you to look after them. For instance, when +Mr. Taynton goes tonight you will be there to give him his hat and coat. +You'll have rather a lot to do, I'm afraid." + +Morris finished his cigarette and went back to the drawing-room where Mr. +Taynton was already engaged in the staid excitements of backgammon with +his mother. That game over, Morris took his place, and before long the +lawyer rose to go. + +"Now I absolutely refuse to let you interrupt your game," he said. "I +have found my way out of this house often enough, I should think. Good +night, Mrs. Assheton. Good night Morris; don't break your neck my dear +boy, in trying to break records." + +Morris hardly attended to this, for the game was critical. He just rang +the bell, said good night, and had thrown again before the door had +closed behind Mr. Taynton. Below, in answer to the bell, was standing +his servant. + +Mr. Taynton looked at him again with some attention, and then glanced +round to see if the discreet parlour-maids were about. + +"So you are called Martin now," he observed gently. + +"Yes, sir." + +"I recognised you at once." + +There was a short pause. + +"Are you going to tell Mr. Morris, sir?" he asked. + +"That I had to dismiss you two years ago for theft?" said Mr. Taynton +quietly. "No, not if you behave yourself." + +Mr. Taynton looked at him again kindly and sighed. + +"No, let bygones be bygones," he said. "You will find your secret is safe +enough. And, Martin, I hope you have really turned over a new leaf, and +are living honestly now. That is so, my lad? Thank God; thank God. My +umbrella? Thanks. Good night. No cab: I will walk." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Mr. Taynton lived in a square, comfortable house in Montpellier Road, and +thus, when he left Mrs. Assheton's there was some two miles of pavement +and sea front between him and home. But the night was of wonderful +beauty, a night of mid June, warm enough to make the most cautious secure +of chill, and at the same time just made crisp with a little breeze that +blew or rather whispered landward from over the full-tide of the sleeping +sea. High up in the heavens swung a glorious moon, which cast its path of +white enchanted light over the ripples, and seemed to draw the heart even +as it drew the eyes heavenward. Mr. Taynton certainly, as he stepped out +beneath the stars, with the sea lying below him, felt, in his delicate +and sensitive nature, the charm of the hour, and being a good if not a +brisk walker, he determined to go home on foot. And he stepped westward +very contentedly. + +The evening, it would appear, had much pleased him--for it was long +before his smile of retrospective pleasure faded from his pleasant mobile +face. Morris's trust and confidence in him had been extraordinarily +pleasant to him: and modest and unassuming as he was, he could not help a +secret gratification at the thought. What a handsome fellow Morris was +too, how gay, how attractive! He had his father's dark colouring, and +tall figure, but much of his mother's grace and charm had gone to the +modelling of that thin sensitive mouth and the long oval of his face. Yet +there was more of the father there, the father's intense, almost +violent, vitality was somehow more characteristic of the essential Morris +than face or feature. + +What a happy thing it was too--here the smile of pleasure illuminated Mr. +Taynton's face again--that the boy whom he had dismissed two years before +for some petty pilfering in his own house, should have turned out such a +promising lad and should have found his way to so pleasant a berth as +that of factotum to Morris. Kindly and charitable all through and ever +eager to draw out the good in everybody and forgive the bad, Mr. Taynton +had often occasion to deplore the hardness and uncharity of a world which +remembers youthful errors and hangs them, like a mill-stone, round the +neck of the offender, and it warmed his heart and kindled his smile to +think of one case at any rate where a youthful misdemeanour was lived +down and forgotten. At the time he remembered being in doubt whether he +should not give the offender up to justice, for the pilfering, petty +though it had been, had been somewhat persistent, but he had taken the +more merciful course, and merely dismissed the boy. He had been in two +minds about it before, wondering whether it would not be better to let +Martin have a sharp lesson, but to-night he was thankful that he had not +done so. The mercy he had shown had come back to bless him also; he felt +a glow of thankfulness that the subject of his clemency had turned out so +well. Punishment often hardens the criminal, was one of his settled +convictions. But Morris--again his thoughts went back to Morris, who was +already standing on the verge of manhood, on the verge, too, he made no +doubt of married life and its joys and responsibilities. Mr. Taynton was +himself a bachelor, and the thought gave him not a moment of jealousy, +but a moment of void that ached a little at the thought of the common +human bliss which he had himself missed. How charming, too, was the girl +Madge Templeton, whom he had met, not for the first time, that evening. +He himself had guessed how things stood between the two before Morris had +confided in him, and it pleased him that his intuition was confirmed. +What a pity, however, that the two were not going to meet next day, that +she was out with her mother and would not get back till late. It would +have been a cooling thought in the hot office hours of to-morrow to +picture them sitting together in the garden at Falmer, or under one of +the cool deep-foliaged oaks in the park. + +Then suddenly his face changed, the smile faded, but came back next +instant and broadened with a laugh. And the man who laughs when he is by +himself may certainly be supposed to have strong cause for amusement. + +Mr. Taynton had come by this time to the West Pier, and a hundred yards +farther would bring him to Montpellier Road. But it was yet early, as he +saw (so bright was the moonlight) when he consulted his watch, and he +retraced his steps some fifty yards, and eventually rang at the door of a +big house of flats facing the sea, where his partner, who for the most +part, looked after the London branch of their business, had his +_pied-a-terre_. For the firm of Taynton and Mills was one of those +respectable and solid businesses that, beginning in the country, had +eventually been extended to town, and so far from its having its +headquarters in town and its branch in Brighton, had its headquarters +here and its branch in the metropolis. Mr. Godfrey Mills, so he learned +at the door had dined alone, and was in, and without further delay Mr. +Taynton was carried aloft in the gaudy bird-cage of the lift, feeling +sure that his partner would see him. + +The flat into which he was ushered with a smile of welcome from the man +who opened the door was furnished with a sort of gross opulence that +never failed to jar on Mr. Taynton's exquisite taste and cultivated mind. +Pictures, chairs, sofas, the patterns of the carpet, and the heavy +gilding of the cornices were all sensuous, a sort of frangipanni to the +eye. The apparent contrast, however, between these things and their +owner, was as great as that between Mr. Taynton and his partner, for Mr. +Godfrey Mills was a thin, spare, dark little man, brisk in movement, with +a look in his eye that betokened a watchfulness and vigilance of the most +alert order. But useful as such a gift undoubtedly is, it was given to +Mr. Godfrey Mills perhaps a shade too obviously. It would be unlikely +that the stupidest or shallowest person would give himself away when +talking to him, for it was so clear that he was always on the watch for +admission or information that might be useful to him. He had, however, +the charm that a very active and vivid mind always possesses, and though +small and slight, he was a figure that would be noticed anywhere, so keen +and wide-awake was his face. Beside him Mr. Taynton looked like a +benevolent country clergyman, more distinguished for amiable qualities of +the heart, than intellectual qualities of the head. Yet those--there were +not many of them--who in dealings with the latter had tried to conduct +their business on these assumptions, had invariably found it necessary to +reconsider their first impression of him. His partner, however, was +always conscious of a little impatience in talking to him; Taynton, he +would have allowed, did not lack fine business qualities, but he was a +little wanting in quickness. + +Mills's welcome of him was abrupt. + +"Pleased to see you," he said. "Cigar, drink? Sit down, won't you? +What is it?" + +"I dropped in for a chat on my way home," said Mr. Taynton. "I have been +dining with Mrs. Assheton. A most pleasant evening. What a fine delicate +face she has." + +Mills bit off the end of a cigar. + +"I take it that you did not come in merely to discuss the delicacy of +Mrs. Assheton's face," he said. + +"No, no, dear fellow; you are right to recall me. I too take it--I take +it that you have found time to go over to Falmer yesterday. How did you +find Sir Richard?" + +"I found him well. I had a long talk with him." + +"And you managed to convey something of those very painful facts which +you felt it was your duty to bring to his notice?" asked Mr. Taynton. + +Godfrey Mills laughed. + +"I say, Taynton, is it really worth while keeping it up like this?" he +asked. "It really saves so much trouble to talk straight, as I propose +to do. I saw him, as I said, and I really managed remarkably well. I +had these admissions wrung from me, I assure you it is no less than +that, under promise of the most absolute secrecy. I told him young +Assheton was leading an idle, extravagant, and dissipated life. I said +I had seen him three nights ago in Piccadilly, not quite sober, in +company with the class of person to whom one does not refer in polite +society. Will that do?" + +"Ah, I can easily imagine how painful you must have found--" began +Taynton. + +But his partner interrupted. + +"It was rather painful; you have spoken a true word in jest. I felt a +brute, I tell you. But, as I pointed out to you, something of the sort +was necessary." + +Mr. Taynton suddenly dropped his slightly clerical manner. + +"You have done excellently, my dear friend," he said. "And as you pointed +out to me, it was indeed necessary to do something of the sort. I think +by now, your revelations have already begun to take effect. Yes, I think +I will take a little brandy and soda. Thank you very much." + +He got up with greater briskness than he had hitherto shown. + +"And you are none too soon," he said. "Morris, poor Morris, such a +handsome fellow, confided to me this evening that he was in love with +Miss Templeton. He is very much in earnest." + +"And why do you think my interview has met with some success?" +asked Mills. + +"Well, it is only a conjecture, but when Morris asked if he might call +any time to-morrow, Miss Templeton (who was also dining with Mrs. +Assheton) said that she and her mother would be out all day and not get +home till late. It does not strike me as being too fanciful to see in +that some little trace perhaps of your handiwork." + +"Yes, that looks like me," said Mills shortly. + +Mr. Taynton took a meditative sip at his brandy and soda. + +"My evening also has not been altogether wasted," he said. "I played what +for me was a bold stroke, for as you know, my dear fellow, I prefer to +leave to your nimble and penetrating mind things that want dash and +boldness. But to-night, yes, I was warmed with that wonderful port and +was bold." + +"What did you do?" asked Mills. + +"Well, I asked, I almost implored dear Morris to give me two or three +hours to-morrow and go through all the books, and satisfy himself +everything is in order, and his investments well looked after. I told him +also that the original L30,000 of his had, owing to judicious management, +become L40,000. You see, that is unfortunately a thing past praying for. +It is so indubitably clear from the earlier ledgers--" + +"But the port must indeed have warmed you," said Mills quickly. "Why, it +was madness! What if he had consented?" + +Mr. Taynton smiled. + +"Ah, well, I in my slow synthetic manner had made up my mind that it was +really quite impossible that he should consent to go into the books and +vouchers. To begin with, he has a new motor car, and every hour spent +away from that car just now is to his mind an hour wasted. Also, I know +him well. I knew that he would never consent to spend several hours over +ledgers. Finally, even if he had, though I knew from what I know of him +not that he would not but that he _could_ not, I could have--I could have +managed something. You see, he knows nothing whatever about business or +investments." + +Mills shook his head. + +"But it was dangerous, anyhow," he said, "and I don't understand +what object could be served by it. It was running a risk with no +profit in view." + +Then for the first time the inherent strength of the quietness of the one +man as opposed to the obvious quickness and comprehension of the other +came into play. + +"I think that I disagree with you there, my dear fellow," said Mr. +Taynton slowly, "though when I have told you all, I shall be of course, +as always, delighted to recognise the superiority of your judgment, +should you disagree with me, and convince me of the correctness of your +view. It has happened, I know, a hundred times before that you with your +quick intuitive perceptions have been right." + +But his partner interrupted him. He quite agreed with the sentiment, but +he wanted to learn without even the delay caused by these complimentary +remarks, the upshot of Taynton's rash proposal to Morris. + +"What did young Assheton say?" he asked. + +"Well, my dear fellow," said Taynton, "though I have really no doubt that +in principle I did a rash thing, in actual practice my step was +justified, because Morris absolutely refused to look at the books. Of +course I know the young fellow well: it argues no perspicuity on my part +to have foreseen that. And, I am glad to say, something in my way of +putting it, some sincerity of manner I suppose, gave rise to a fresh mark +of confidence in us on his part." + +Mr. Taynton cleared his throat; his quietness and complete absence of +hurry was so to speak, rapidly overhauling the quick, nimble mind of +the other. + +"He asked me in fact to continue being steward of his affairs in any +event. Should he marry to-morrow I feel no doubt that he would not spend +a couple of minutes over his financial affairs, unless, _unless_, as you +foresaw might happen, he had need of a large lump sum. In that case, my +dear Mills, you and I would--would find it impossible to live elsewhere +than in the Argentine Republic, were we so fortunate as to get there. +But, as far as this goes I only say that the step of mine which you felt +to be dangerous has turned out most auspiciously. He begged me, in fact, +to continue even after he came of age, acting for him at my present rate +of remuneration." + +Mr. Mills was listening to this with some attention. Here he +laughed dryly. + +"That is capital, then," he said. "You were right and I was wrong. God, +Taynton, it's your manner you know, there's something of the country +parson about you that is wonderfully convincing. You seem sincere without +being sanctimonious. Why, if I was to ask young Assheton to look into his +affairs for himself, he would instantly think there was something wrong, +and that I was trying bluff. But when you do the same thing, that simple +and perfectly correct explanation never occurs to him." + +"No, dear Morris trusts me very completely," said Taynton. "But, then, +if I may continue my little review of the situation, as it now stands, +you and your talk with Sir Richard have vastly decreased the danger of +his marrying. For, to be frank, I should not feel at all secure if that +happened. Miss Templeton is an heiress herself, and Morris might easily +take it into his head to spend ten or fifteen thousand pounds in building +a house or buying an estate, and though I think I have guarded against +his requiring an account of our stewardship, I can't prevent his wishing +to draw a large sum of money. But your brilliant manoeuvre may, we hope, +effectually put a stop to the danger of his marrying Miss Templeton, +and since I am convinced he is in love with her, why"--Mr. Taynton put +his plump finger-tips together and raised his kind eyes to the +ceiling--"why, the chance of his wanting to marry anybody else is +postponed anyhow, till, till he has got over this unfortunate attachment. +In fact, my dear fellow, there is no longer anything immediate to fear, +and I feel sure that before many weeks are up, the misfortunes and ill +luck which for the last two years have dogged us with such incredible +persistency will be repaired." + +Mills said nothing for the moment but splashed himself out a liberal +allowance of brandy into his glass, and mixed it with a somewhat more +carefully measured ration of soda. He was essentially a sober man, but +that was partly due to the fact that his head was as impervious to +alcohol as teak is to water, and it was his habit to indulge in two, and +those rather stiff, brandies and sodas of an evening. He found that they +assisted and clarified thought. + +"I wish to heaven you hadn't found it necessary to let young Assheton +know that his L30,000 had increased to L40,000," he said. "That's L10,000 +more to get back." + +"Ah, it was just that which gave him, so he thought, such good cause for +reposing complete confidence in me," remarked Mr. Taynton. "But as you +say, it is L10,000 more to get back, and I should not have told him, were +not certain ledgers of earlier years so extremely, extremely unmistakable +on the subject." + +"But if he is not going to look at ledgers at all--" began Mills. + +"Ah, the concealment of that sort of thing is one of the risks which it +is not worth while to take," said the other, dropping for a moment the +deferential attitude. + +Mills was silent again. Then: + +"Have you bought that option in Boston Coppers," he asked. + +"Yes; I bought to-day." + +Mills glanced at the clock as Mr. Taynton rose to go. + +"Still only a quarter to twelve," he said. "If you have time, you might +give me a detailed statement. I hardly know what you have done. It won't +take a couple of minutes." + +Mr. Taynton glanced at the clock likewise, and then put down his +hat again. + +"I can just spare the time," he said, "but I must get home by twelve; I +have unfortunately come out without my latchkey, and I do not like +keeping the servants up." + +He pressed his fingers over his eyes a moment and then spoke. + + * * * * * + +Ten minutes later he was in the bird-cage of the lift again, and by +twelve he had been admitted into his own house, apologising most amiably +to his servant for having kept him up. There were a few letters for him +and he opened and read those, then lit his bed-candle and went upstairs, +but instead of undressing, sat for a full quarter of an hour in his +armchair thinking. Then he spoke softly to himself. + +"I think dear Mills means mischief in some way," he said. "But really for +the moment it puzzles me to know what. However, I shall see tomorrow. Ah, +I wonder if I guess!" + +Then he went to bed, but contrary to custom did not get to sleep for a +long time. But when he did there was a smile on his lips; a patient +contented smile. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Mr. Taynton's statement to his partner, which had taken him so few +minutes to give, was of course concerned only with the latest financial +operation which he had just embarked in, but for the sake of the reader +it will be necessary to go a little further back, and give quite shortly +the main features of the situation in which he and his partner found +themselves placed. + +Briefly then, just two years ago, at the time peace was declared in South +Africa, the two partners of Taynton and Mills had sold out L30,000 of +Morris Assheton's securities, which owing to their excellent management +was then worth L40,000, and seeing a quite unrivalled opportunity of +making their fortunes, had become heavy purchasers of South African +mines, for they reasoned that with peace once declared it was absolutely +certain that prices would go up. But, as is sometimes the way with +absolute certainties, the opposite had happened and they had gone down. +They cut their loss, however, and proceeded to buy American rails. In six +months they had entirely repaired the damage, and seeing further +unrivalled opportunities from time to time, in buying motorcar shares, in +running a theatre and other schemes, had managed a month ago to lose all +that was left of the L30,000. Being, therefore, already so deeply +committed, it was mere prudence, the mere instinct of self-preservation +that had led them to sell out the remaining L10,000, and to-day Mr. +Taynton had bought an option in Boston Copper with it. The manner of an +option is as follows: + +Boston Copper to-day was quoted at L5 10S 6d, and by paying a premium of +twelve shillings and sixpence per share, they were entitled to buy Boston +Copper shares any time within the next three months at a price of L6 3s. +Supposing therefore (as Mr. Taynton on very good authority had supposed) +that Boston Copper, a rapidly improving company, rose a couple of points +within the next three months, and so stood at L7 10S 6d; he had the right +of exercising his option and buying them at L6 3S thus making L1 7S 6d +per share. But a higher rise than this was confidently expected, and +Taynton, though not really of an over sanguine disposition, certainly +hoped to make good the greater part if not all of their somewhat large +defalcations. He had bought an option of 20,000 shares, the option of +which cost (or would cost at the end of those months) rather over +L10,000. In other words, the moment that the shares rose to a price +higher than L6 3s, all further appreciation was pure gain. If they did +not rise so high, he would of course not exercise the option, and +sacrifice the money. + +That was certainly a very unpleasant thing to contemplate, but it had +been more unpleasant when, so far as he knew, Morris was on the verge of +matrimony, and would then step into the management of his own affairs. +But bad though it all was, the situation had certainly been immensely +ameliorated this evening, since on the one hand his partner had, it was +not unreasonable to hope, said to Madge's father things about Morris that +made his marriage with Madge exceedingly unlikely, while on the other +hand, even if it happened, his affairs, according to his own wish, would +remain in Mr. Taynton's hands with the same completeness as heretofore. +It would, of course, be necessary to pay him his income, and though this +would be a great strain on the finances of the two partners, it was +manageable. Besides (Mr. Taynton sincerely hoped that this would not be +necessary) the money which was Mrs. Assheton's for her lifetime was in +his hands also, so if the worst came to the worst-- + +Now the composition and nature of the extraordinary animal called man is +so unexpected and unlikely that any analysis of Mr. Taynton's character +may seem almost grotesque. It is a fact nevertheless that his was a +nature capable of great things, it is also a fact that he had long ago +been deeply and bitterly contrite for the original dishonesty of using +the money of his client. But by aid of those strange perversities of +nature, he had by this time honestly and sincerely got to regard all +their subsequent employments of it merely as efforts on his part to make +right an original wrong. He wanted to repair his fault, and it seemed to +him that to commit it again was the only means at his disposal for doing +so. A strain, too, of Puritan piety was bound up in the constitution of +his soul, and in private life he exercised high morality, and was also +kind and charitable. He belonged to guilds and societies that had as +their object the improvement and moral advancement of young men. He was a +liberal patron of educational schemes, he sang a fervent and fruity tenor +in the choir of St. Agnes, he was a regular communicant, his nature +looked toward good, and turned its eyes away from evil. To do him justice +he was not a hypocrite, though, if all about him were known, and a +plebiscite taken, it is probable that he would be unanimously condemned. +Yet the universal opinion would be wrong: he was no hypocrite, but only +had the bump of self-preservation enormously developed. He had cheated +and swindled, but he was genuinely opposed to cheating and swindling. He +was cheating and swindling now, in buying the option of Boston Copper. +But he did not know that: he wanted to repair the original wrong, to hand +back to Morris his fortune unimpaired, and also to save himself. But of +these two wants, the second, it must be confessed, was infinitely the +stronger. To save himself there was perhaps nothing that he would stick +at. However, it was his constant wish and prayer that he might not be led +into temptation. He knew well what his particular temptation was, namely +this instinct of self-preservation, and constantly thought and meditated +about it. He knew that he was hardly himself when the stress of it came +on him; it was like a possession. + +Mills, though an excellent partner and a man of most industrious habits, +had, so Mr. Taynton would have admitted, one little weak spot. He never +was at the office till rather late in the morning. True, when he came, he +soon made up for lost time, for he was possessed, as we have seen, of a +notable quickness and agility of mind, but sometimes Taynton found that +he was himself forced to be idle till Mills turned up, if his signature +or what not was required for papers before work could be further +proceeded with. This, in fact, was the case next morning, and from half +past eleven Mr. Taynton had to sit idly in his office, as far as the work +of the firm was concerned until his partner arrived. It was a little +tiresome that this should happen to-day, because there was nothing else +that need detain him, except those deeds for the execution of which his +partner's signature was necessary, and he could, if only Mills had been +punctual, have gone out to Rottingdean before lunch, and inspected the +Church school there in the erection of which he had taken so energetic an +interest. Timmins, however, the gray-haired old head clerk, was in the +office with him, and Mr. Taynton always liked a chat with Timmins. + +"And the grandson just come home, has he Mr. Timmins?" he was saying. "I +must come and see him. Why he'll be six years old, won't he, by now?" + +"Yes, sir, turned six." + +"Dear me, how time goes on! The morning is going on, too, and still Mr. +Mills isn't here." + +He took a quill pen and drew a half sheet of paper toward him, poised +his pen a moment and then wrote quickly. + +"What a pity I can't sign for him," he said, passing his paper over to +the clerk. "Look at that; now even you, Timmins, though you have seen Mr. +Mills's handwriting ten thousand times, would be ready to swear that the +signature was his, would you not?" + +Timmins looked scrutinisingly at it. + +"Well, I'm sure, sir! What a forger you would have made!" he said +admiringly. "I would have sworn that was Mr. Mills's own hand of write. +It's wonderful, sir." + +Mr. Taynton sighed, and took the paper again. + +"Yes, it is like, isn't it?" he said, "and it's so easy to do. Luckily +forgers don't know the way to forge properly." + +"And what might that be, sir?" asked Timmins. + +"Why, to throw yourself mentally into the nature of the man whose +handwriting you wish to forge. Of course one has to know the handwriting +thoroughly well, but if one does that one just has to visualise it, and +then, as I said, project oneself into the other, not laboriously copy the +handwriting. Let's try another. Ah, who is that letter from? Mrs. +Assheton isn't it. Let me look at the signature just once again." + +Mr. Taynton closed his eyes a moment after looking at it. Then he took +his quill, and wrote quickly. + +"You would swear to that, too, would you not, Timmins?" he asked. + +"Why, God bless me yes, sir," said he. "Swear to it on the book." + +The door opened and as Godfrey Mills came in, Mr. Taynton tweaked the +paper out of Timmins's hand, and tore it up. It might perhaps seem +strange to dear Mills that his partner had been forging his signature, +though only in jest. + +"'Fraid I'm rather late," said Mills. + +"Not at all, my dear fellow," said Taynton without the slightest touch of +ill-humour. "How are you? There's very little to do; I want your +signature to this and this, and your careful perusal of that. Mrs. +Assheton's letter? No, that only concerns me; I have dealt with it." + +A quarter of an hour was sufficient, and at the end Timmins carried the +papers away leaving the two partners together. Then, as soon as the door +closed, Mills spoke. + +"I've been thinking over our conversation of last night," he said, "and +there are some points I don't think you have quite appreciated, which I +should like to put before you." + +Something inside Mr. Taynton's brain, the same watcher perhaps who looked +at Morris so closely the evening before, said to him. "He is going to try +it on." But it was not the watcher but his normal self that answered. He +beamed gently on his partner. + +"My dear fellow, I might have been sure that your quick mind would have +seen new aspects, new combinations," he said. + +Mills leaned forward over the table. + +"Yes, I have seen new aspects, to adopt your words," he said, "and I will +put them before you. These financial operations, shall we call them, have +been going on for two years now, have they not? You began by losing a +large sum in South Africans--" + +"We began," corrected Mr. Taynton, gently. He was looking at the other +quite calmly; his face expressed no surprise at all; if there was +anything in his expression beyond that of quiet kindness, it was +perhaps pity. + +"I said 'you,'" said Mills in a hectoring tone, "and I will soon explain +why. You lost a large sum in South Africans, but won it back again in +Americans. You then again, and again contrary to my advice, embarked in +perfect wild-cat affairs, which ended in our--I say 'our' here--getting +severely scratched and mauled. Altogether you have frittered away +L30,000, and have placed the remaining ten in a venture which to my mind +is as wild as all the rest of your unfortunate ventures. These +speculations have, almost without exception, been choices of your own, +not mine. That was _one_ of the reasons why I said 'you,' not 'we.'" + +He paused a moment. + +"Another reason is," he said, "because without any exception the +transactions have taken place on your advice and in your name, not in +mine." + +That was a sufficiently meaning statement, but Mills did not wish his +partner to be under any misapprehension as to what he implied. + +"In other words," he said, "I can deny absolutely all knowledge of the +whole of those operations." + +Mr. Taynton gave a sudden start, as if the significance of this had only +this moment dawned on him, as if he had not understood the first +statement. Then he seemed to collect himself. + +"You can hardly do that," he said, "as I hold letters of yours which +imply such knowledge." + +Mills smiled rather evilly. + +"Ah, it is not worth while bluffing," he said. "I have never written such +a letter to you. You know it. Is it likely I should?" + +Mr. Taynton apparently had no reply to this. But he had a question to +ask. + +"Why are you taking up this hostile and threatening attitude?" + +"I have not meant to be hostile, and I have certainly not threatened," +replied Mills. "I have put before you, quite dispassionately I hope, +certain facts. Indeed I should say it was you who had threatened in the +matter of those letters, which, unhappily, have never existed at all. I +will proceed. + +"Now what has been my part in this affair? I have observed you lost +money in speculations of which I disapproved, but you always knew best. +I have advanced money to you before now to tide over embarrassments that +would otherwise have been disastrous. By the exercise of diplomacy--or +lying--yesterday, I averted a very grave danger. I point out to you also +that there is nothing to implicate me in these--these fraudulent +employments of a client's money. So I ask, where I come in? What do I +get by it?" + +Mr. Taynton's hands were trembling as he fumbled at some papers on his +desk. + +"You know quite well that we are to share all profits?" he said. + +"Yes, but at present there have not been any. I have been, to put it +plainly, pulling you out of holes. And I think--I think my trouble ought +to be remunerated. I sincerely hope you will take that view also. Or +shall I remind you again that there is nothing in the world to connect me +with these, well, frauds?" + +Mr. Taynton got up from his chair, strolled across to the window where he +drew down the blind a little, so as to shut out the splash of sunlight +that fell on his table. + +"You have been betting again, I suppose," he asked quietly. + +"Yes, and have been unfortunate. Pray do not trouble to tell me again how +foolish it is to gamble like that. You may be right. I have no doubt you +are right. But I think one has as much right to gamble with one's own +money as to do so with the money of other people." + +This apparently seemed unanswerable; anyhow Mr. Taynton made no reply. +Then, having excluded the splash of sunlight he sat down again. + +"You have not threatened, you tell me," he said, "but you have pointed +out to me that there is no evidence that you have had a hand in certain +transactions. You say that I know you have helped me in these +transactions; you say you require remuneration for your services. Does +not that, I ask, imply a threat? Does it not mean that you are +blackmailing me? Else why should you bring these facts--I do not dispute +them--to my notice? Supposing I refuse you remuneration?" + +Mills had noted the signs of agitation and anxiety. He felt that he was +on safe ground. The blackmailer lives entirely on the want of courage in +his victims. + +"You will not, I hope, refuse me remuneration," he said. "I have not +threatened you yet, because I feel sure you will be wise. I might, of +course, subsequently threaten you." + +Again there was silence. Mr. Taynton had picked up a quill pen, the same +with which he had been writing before, for the nib was not yet dry. + +"The law is rather severe on blackmailers," he remarked. + +"It is. Are you going to bring an action against me for blackmail? Will +not that imply the re-opening of--of certain ledgers, which we agreed +last night had better remain shut?" + +Again there was silence. There was a completeness in this reasoning which +rendered comment superfluous. + +"How much do you want?" asked Mr. Taynton. + +Mills was not so foolish as to "breathe a sigh of relief." But he +noted with satisfaction that there was no sign of fight in his +adversary and partner. + +"I want two thousand pounds," he said, "at once." + +"That is a large sum." + +"It is. If it were a small sum I should not trouble you." + +Mr. Taynton again got up and strayed aimlessly about the room. + +"I can't give it you to-day," he said. "I shall have to sell out +some stock." + +"I am not unreasonable about a reasonable delay," said Mills. + +"You are going to town this afternoon?" + +"Yes, I must. There is a good deal of work to be done. It will take me +all to-morrow." + +"And you will be back the day after to-morrow?" + +"Yes, I shall be back here that night, that is to say, I shall not get +away from town till the afternoon. I should like your definite answer +then, if it is not inconvenient. I could come and see you that night, the +day after to-morrow--if you wished." + +Mr. Taynton thought over this with his habitual deliberation. + +"You will readily understand that all friendly relations between us are +quite over," he said. "You have done a cruel and wicked thing, but I +don't see how I can resist it. I should like, however, to have a little +further talk about it, for which I have not time now." + +Mills rose. + +"By all means," he said. "I do not suppose I shall be back here till nine +in the evening. I have had no exercise lately, and I think very likely I +shall get out of the train at Falmer, and walk over the downs." + +Mr. Taynton's habitual courtesy came to his aid. He would have been +polite to a thief or a murderer, if he met him socially. + +"Those cool airs of the downs are very invigorating." he said. "I will +not expect you therefore till half past nine that night. I shall dine at +home, and be alone." + +"Thanks. I must be going. I shall only just catch my train to town." + +Mills nodded a curt gesture of farewell, and left the room, and when he +had gone Mr. Taynton sat down again in the chair by the table, and +remained there some half hour. He knew well the soundness of his +partner's reasoning; all he had said was fatally and abominably true. +There was no way out of it. Yet to pay money to a blackmailer was, to the +legal mind, a confession of guilt. Innocent people, unless they were +abject fools, did not pay blackmail. They prosecuted the blackmailer. Yet +here, too, Mills's simple reasoning held good. He could not prosecute the +blackmailer, since he was not in the fortunate position of being +innocent. But if you paid a blackmailer once, you were for ever in his +power. Having once yielded, it was necessary to yield again. He must get +some assurance that no further levy would take place. He must satisfy +himself that he would be quit of all future danger from this quarter. Yet +from whence was such assurance to come? He might have it a hundred times +over in Godfrey Mills's handwriting, but he could never produce that as +evidence, since again the charge of fraudulent employment of clients' +money would be in the air. No doubt, of course, the blackmailer would be +sentenced, but the cause of blackmail would necessarily be public. No, +there was no way out. + +Two thousand pounds, though! Frugally and simply as he lived, that was to +him a dreadful sum, and represented the savings of at least eighteen +months. This meant that there was for him another eighteen months of +work, just when he hoped to see his retirement coming close to him. Mills +demanded that he should work an extra year and a half, and out of those +few years that in all human probability still remained to him in this +pleasant world. Yet there was no way out! + +Half an hour's meditation convinced him of this, and, as was his sensible +plan, when a thing was inevitable, he never either fought against it nor +wasted energy in regretting it. And he went slowly out of the office into +which he had come so briskly an hour or two before. But his face +expressed no sign of disquieting emotion; he nodded kindly to Timmins, +and endorsed his desire to be allowed to come and see the grandson. If +anything was on his mind, or if he was revolving some policy for the +future, it did not seem to touch or sour that kindly, pleasant face. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Mr. Taynton did not let these very unpleasant occurrences interfere with +the usual and beneficent course of his life, but faced the crisis with +that true bravery that not only meets a thing without flinching, but +meets it with the higher courage of cheerfulness, serenity and ordinary +behaviour. He spent the rest of the day in fact in his usual manner, +enjoying his bathe before lunch, his hour of the paper and the quiet +cigar afterward, his stroll over the springy turf of the downs, and he +enjoyed also the couple of hours of work that brought him to dinner time. +Then afterward he spent his evening, as was his weekly custom, at the +club for young men which he had founded, where instead of being exposed +to the evening lures of the sea-front and the public house, they could +spend (on payment of a really nominal subscription) a quieter and more +innocent hour over chess, bagatelle and the illustrated papers, or if +more energetically disposed, in the airy gymnasium adjoining the +reading-room, where they could indulge in friendly rivalry with boxing +gloves or single-stick, or feed the appetites of their growing muscles +with dumb-bells and elastic contrivances. Mr. Taynton had spent a couple +of hours there, losing a game of chess to one youthful adversary, but +getting back his laurels over bagatelle, and before he left, had arranged +for a geological expedition to visit, on the Whitsuntide bank holiday +next week, the curious raised beach which protruded so remarkably from +the range of chalk downs some ten miles away. + +On returning home, it is true he had deviated a little from his usual +habits, for instead of devoting the half-hour before bed-time to the +leisurely perusal of the evening paper, he had merely given it one +glance, observing that copper was strong and that Boston Copper in +particular had risen half a point, and had then sat till bed-time doing +nothing whatever, a habit to which he was not generally addicted. + +He was seated in his office next morning and was in fact on the point of +leaving for his bathe, for this hot genial June was marching on its sunny +way uninterrupted by winds or rain, when Mr. Timmins, after discreetly +tapping, entered, and closed the door behind him. + +"Mr. Morris Assheton, sir, to see you," he said. "I said I would find +out if you were disengaged, and could hardly restrain him from coming in +with me. The young gentleman seems very excited and agitated. Hardly +himself, sir." + +"Indeed, show him in," said Mr. Taynton. + +A moment afterward the door burst open and banged to again behind Morris. +High colour flamed in his face, his black eyes sparkled with vivid +dangerous light, and he had no salutation for his old friend. + +"I've come on a very unpleasant business," he said, his voice not +in control. + +Mr. Taynton got up. He had only had one moment of preparation and he +thought, at any rate, that he knew for certain what this unpleasant +business must be. Evidently Mills had given him away. For what reason he +had done so he could not guess; after his experience of yesterday it +might have been from pure devilry, or again he might have feared that in +desperation, Taynton would take that extreme step of prosecuting him for +blackmail. But, for that moment Taynton believed that Morris's agitation +must be caused by this, and it says much for the iron of his nerve that +he did not betray himself by a tremor. + +"My dear Morris," he said, "I must ask you to pull yourself together. You +are out of your own control. Sit down, please, and be silent for a +minute. Then tell me calmly what is the matter." + +Morris sat down as he was told, but the calmness was not conspicuous. + +"Calm?" he said. "Would you be calm in my circumstances, do you think?" + +"You have not yet told me what they are," said Mr. Taynton. + +"I've just seen Madge Templeton," he said. "I met her privately by +appointment. And she told me--she told me--" + +Master of himself though he was, Mr. Taynton had one moment of +physical giddiness, so complete and sudden was the revulsion and +reaction that took place in his brain. A moment before he had known, +he thought, for certain that his own utter ruin was imminent. Now he +knew that it was not that, and though he had made one wrong conjecture +as to what the unpleasant business was, he did not think that his +second guess was far astray. + +"Take your time, Morris," he said. "And, my dear boy, try to calm +yourself. You say I should not be calm in your circumstances. Perhaps I +should not, but I should make an effort. Tell me everything slowly, +omitting nothing." + +This speech, combined with the authoritative personality of Mr. Taynton, +had an extraordinary effect on Morris. He sat quiet a moment or two, +then spoke. + +"Yes, you are quite right," he said, "and after all I have only +conjecture to go on yet, and I have been behaving as if it was proved +truth. God! if it is proved to be true, though, I'll expose him, +I'll--I'll horsewhip him, I'll murder him!" + +Mr. Taynton slapped the table with his open hand. + +"Now, Morris, none of these wild words," he said. "I will not listen to +you for a moment, if you do not control yourself." + +Once again, and this time more permanently the man's authority +asserted itself. Morris again sat silent for a time, then spoke evenly +and quietly. + +"Two nights ago you were dining with us," he said, "and Madge was there. +Do you remember my asking her if I might come to see them, and she said +she and her mother would be out all day?" + +"Yes; I remember perfectly," said Mr. Taynton. + +"Well, yesterday afternoon I was motoring by the park, and I saw Madge +sitting on the lawn. I stopped the motor and watched. She sat there for +nearly an hour, and then Sir Richard came out of the house and they +walked up and down the lawn together." + +"Ah, you must have been mistaken," said Mr. Taynton. "I know the spot you +mean on the road, where you can see the lawn, but it's half a mile off. +It must have been some friend of hers perhaps staying in the house." + +Morris shook his head. + +"I was not mistaken," he said. "For yesterday evening I got a note from +her, saying she had posted it secretly, but that she must see me, though +she was forbidden to do so, or to hold any communication with me." + +"Forbidden?" ejaculated Mr. Taynton. + +"Yes, forbidden. Well, this morning I went to the place she named, +outside on the downs beyond the park gate and saw her. Somebody has been +telling vile lies about me to her father. I think I know who it is." + +Mr. Taynton held up his hand. + +"Stop," he said, "let us have your conjecture afterward. Tell me first +not what you guess, but what happened. Arrange it all in your mind, tell +it me as connectedly as you can." + +Morris paused a moment. + +"Well, I met Madge as I told you, and this was her story. Three days ago +she and her father and mother were at lunch, and they had been talking in +the most friendly way about me, and it was arranged to ask me to spend +all yesterday with them. Madge, as you know, the next night was dining +with us, and it was agreed that she should ask me verbally. After lunch +she and her father went out riding, and when they returned they found +that your partner Mills, had come to call. He stayed for tea, and after +tea had a talk alone with Sir Richard, while she and her mother sat out +on the lawn. Soon after he had gone, Sir Richard sent for Lady Templeton, +and it was nearly dressing-time when she left him again. She noticed at +dinner that both her father and mother seemed very grave, and when Madge +went up to bed, her mother said that perhaps they had better not ask me +over, as there was some thought of their being away all day. Also if I +suggested coming over, when Madge dined with us, she was to give that +excuse. That was all she was told for the time being." + +Morris paused again. + +"You are telling this very clearly and well, my dear boy," said the +lawyer, very gravely and kindly. + +"It is so simple," said he with a biting emphasis. "Then next morning +after breakfast her father sent for her. He told her that they had +learned certain things about me which made them think it better not to +see any more of me. What they were, she was not told, but, I was not, it +appeared, the sort of person with whom they chose to associate. Now, +before God, those things that they were told, whatever they were, were +lies. I lead a straight and sober life." + +Mr. Taynton was attending very closely. + +"Thank God, Madge did not believe a word of it," said Morris, his face +suddenly flushing, "and like a brick, and a true friend she wrote at once +to me, as I said, in order to tell me all this. We talked over, too, who +it could have been who had said these vile things to her father. There +was only one person who could. She had ridden with her father till +tea-time. Then came your partner. Sir Richard saw nobody else; nobody +else called that afternoon; no post came in." + +Mr. Taynton had sprung up and was walking up and down the room in great +agitation. + +"I can't believe that," he said. "There must be some other explanation. +Godfrey Mills say those things about you! It is incredible. My dear boy, +until it is proved, you really must not let yourself believe that to be +possible. You can't believe such wickedness against a man, one, too, whom +I have known and trusted for years, on no evidence. There is no direct +evidence yet. Let us leave that alone for the moment. What are you going +to do now?" + +"I came here to see him," said Morris. "But I am told he is away. So I +thought it better to tell you." + +"Yes, quite right. And what else?" + +"I have written to Sir Richard, demanding, in common justice, that he +should see me, should tell me what he has heard against me, and who told +him. I don't think he will refuse. I don't see how he can refuse. I have +asked him to see me to-morrow afternoon." + +Mr. Taynton mentally examined this in all its bearings. Apparently it +satisfied him. + +"You have acted wisely and providently," he said. "But I want to beg you, +until you have definite information, to forbear from thinking that my +dear Mills could conceivably have been the originator of these scandalous +tales, tales which I know from my knowledge of you are impossible to be +true. From what I know of him, however, it is impossible he could have +said such things. I cannot believe him capable of a mean or deceitful +action, and that he should be guilty of such unfathomable iniquity is +simply out of the question. You must assume him innocent till his guilt +is proved." + +"But who else could it have been?" cried Morris, his voice rising again. + +"It could not have been he," said Taynton firmly. + +There was a long silence; then Morris rose. + +"There is one thing more," he said, "which is the most important of all. +This foul scandal about me, of course, I know will be cleared up, and I +shall be competent to deal with the offender. But--but Madge and I said +other things to each other. I told her what I told you, that I loved her. +And she loves me." + +The sternness, the trouble, the anxiety all melted from Mr. +Taynton's face. + +"Ah, my dear fellow, my dear fellow," he said with outstretched hands. +"Thank you for telling me. I am delighted, overjoyed, and indeed, as you +say, that is far more important than anything else. My dear Morris, and +is not your mother charmed?" + +Morris shook his head. + +"I have not told her yet, and I shall not till this is cleared up. It is +her birthday the day after to-morrow; perhaps I shall be able to tell +her then." + +He rose. + +"I must go," he said. "And I will do all I can to keep my mind off +accusing him, until I know. But when I think of it, I see red." + +Mr. Taynton patted his shoulder affectionately. + +"I should have thought that you had got something to think about, which +would make it easy for you to prevent your thoughts straying +elsewhere," he said. + +"I shall need all the distractions I can get," said Morris rather grimly. + + * * * * * + +Morris walked quickly back along the sea front toward Sussex Square, and +remembered as he went that he had not yet bought any gift for his mother +on her birthday. There was something, too, which she had casually said a +day or two ago that she wanted, what was it? Ah, yes, a new blotting-book +for her writing-table in the drawing-room. The shop she habitually dealt +at for such things, a branch of Asprey's, was only a few yards farther +on, and he turned in to make inquiries as to whether she had ordered it. +It appeared that she had been in that very morning, but the parcel had +not been sent yet. So Morris, taking the responsibility on himself, +counterordered the plain red morocco book she had chosen, and chose +another, with fine silver scrollwork at the corners. He ordered, too, +that a silver lettered inscription should be put on it. "H.A. from M.A." +with the date, two days ahead, "June 24th, l905." This he gave +instructions should be sent to the house on the morning of June 24th, the +day after to-morrow. He wished it to be sent so as to arrive with the +early post on that morning. + + * * * * * + +The promise which Morris had made his old friend not to let his thoughts +dwell on suspicion and conjecture as yet uncertain of foundation was one +of those promises which are made in absolute good faith, but which in +their very nature cannot be kept. The thought of the hideous treachery, +the gratuitous falsehood, of which, in his mind, he felt convinced +Godfrey Mills had been guilty was like blood soaking through a bandage. +All that he could do was to continue putting on fresh bandages--that was +all of his promise that he was able to fulfill, and in spite of the +bandages the blood stained and soaked its way through. In the afternoon +he took out the motor, but his joy in it for the time was dead, and it +was only because in the sense of pace and swift movement he hoped to find +a narcotic to thought, that he went out at all. But there was no narcotic +there, nor even in the thought of this huge joy of love that had dawned +on him was there forgetfulness for all else, joy and sorrow and love, +were for the present separated from him by these hideous and libellous +things that had been said about him. Until they were removed, until they +passed into non-existence again, nothing had any significance for him. +Everything was coloured with them; bitterness as of blood tinged +everything. Hours, too, must pass before they could be removed; this long +midsummer day had to draw to its end, night had to pass; the hour of +early dawn, the long morning had to be numbered with the past before he +could even learn who was responsible for this poisoned tale. + +And when he learned, or rather when his conjecture was confirmed as to +who it was (for his supposition was conjecture in the sense that it only +wanted the actual seal of reality on it) what should he do next? Or +rather what must he do next? He felt that when he knew absolutely for +certain who had said this about him, a force of indignation and hatred, +which at present he kept chained up, must infallibly break its chain, and +become merely a wild beast let loose. He felt he would be no longer +responsible for what he did, something had to happen; something more than +mere apology or retraction of words. To lie and slander like that was a +crime, an insult against human and divine justice. It would be nothing +for the criminal to say he was sorry; he had to be punished. A man who +did that was not fit to live; he was a man no longer, he was a biting, +poisonous reptile, who for the sake of the community must be expunged. +Yet human justice which hanged people for violent crimes committed under +great provocation, dealt more lightly with this far more devilish thing, +a crime committed coldly and calculatingly, that had planned not the mere +death of his body, but the disgrace and death of his character. Godfrey +Mills--he checked the word and added to himself "if it was he"--had +morally tried to kill him. + +Morris, after his interview that morning with Mr. Taynton, had lunched +alone in Sussex Square, his mother having gone that day up to London for +two nights. His plan had been to go up with her, but he had excused +himself on the plea of business with his trustees, and she had gone +alone. Directly after lunch he had taken the motor out, and had whirled +along the coast road, past Rottingdean through Newhaven and Seaford, and +ten miles farther until the suburbs of Eastbourne had begun. There he +turned, his thoughts still running a mill-race in his head, and retracing +his road had by now come back to within a mile of Brighton again. The sun +gilded the smooth channel, the winds were still, the hot midsummer +afternoon lay heavy on the land. Then he stopped the motor and got out, +telling Martin to wait there. + +He walked over the strip of velvety down grass to the edge of the white +cliffs, and there sat down. The sea below him whispered and crawled, +above the sun was the sole tenant of the sky, and east and west the down +was empty of passengers. He, like his soul, was alone, and alone he had +to think these things out. + +Yes, this liar and slanderer, whoever he was, had tried to kill him. The +attempt had been well-planned too, for the chances had been a thousand to +one in favour of the murderer. But the one chance had turned up, Madge +had loved him, and she had been brave, setting at defiance the order of +her father, and had seen him secretly, and told him all the circumstances +of this attack on him. But supposing she had been just a shade less +brave, supposing her filial obedience had weighed an ounce heavier? Then +he would never have known anything about it. The result would simply have +been, as it was meant to be, that the Templetons were out when he called. +There would have been a change of subject in their rooms when his name +was mentioned, other people would have vaguely gathered that Mr. Morris +Assheton's name was not productive of animated conversation; their +gatherings would have spread further, while he himself, ignorant of all +cause, would have encountered cold shoulders. + +Morris's hands clutched at the short down grass, tearing it up and +scattering it. He was helpless, too, unless he took the law into his own +hands. It would do no good, young as he was, he knew that, to bring any +action for defamation of character, since the world only says, if a man +justifies himself by the only legal means in his power, "There must have +been something in it, since it was said!" No legal remedy, no fines or +even imprisonment, far less apology and retraction satisfied justice. +There were only two courses open: one to regard the slander as a splash +of mud thrown by some vile thing that sat in the gutter, and simply +ignore it; the other to do something himself, to strike, to hit, with his +bodily hands, whatever the result of his violence was. + +He felt his shoulder-muscles rise and brace themselves at the thought, +all the strength and violence of his young manhood, with its firm sinews +and supple joints, told him that it was his willing and active servant +and would do his pleasure. He wanted to smash the jaw bone that had +formed these lies, and he wanted the world to know he had done so. Yet +that was not enough, he wanted to throttle the throat from which the +words had come; the man ought to be killed; it was right to kill him just +as it was right to kill a poisonous snake that somehow disguised itself +as a man, and was received into the houses of men. + +Indeed, should Morris be told, as he felt sure he would be, who his +slanderer and defamer was, that gentleman would be wise to keep out of +his way with him in such a mood. There was danger and death abroad on +this calm hot summer afternoon. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +It was about four o'clock on the afternoon of the following day, and Mr. +Taynton was prolonging his hour of quietude after lunch, and encroaching +thereby into the time he daily dedicated to exercise. It was but seldom +that he broke into the routine of habits so long formed, and indeed the +most violent rain or snow of winter, the most cutting easterly blasts of +March, never, unless he had some definite bodily ailment, kept him +indoors or deprived him of his brisk health-giving trudge over the downs +or along the sea front. But occasionally when the weather was unusually +hot, he granted himself the indulgence of sitting still instead of +walking, and certainly to-day the least lenient judge might say that +there were strong extenuating circumstances in his favour. For the heat +of the past week had been piling itself up, like the heaped waters of +flood and this afternoon was intense in its heat, its stillness and +sultriness. It had been sunless all day, and all day the blanket of +clouds that beset the sky had been gathering themselves into blacker and +more ill-omened density. There would certainly be a thunderstorm before +morning, and the approach of it made Mr. Taynton feel that he really had +not the energy to walk. By and by perhaps he might be tempted to go in +quest of coolness along the sea front, or perhaps later in the evening he +might, as he sometimes did, take a carriage up on to the downs, and come +gently home to a late supper. He would have time for that to-day, for +according to arrangement his partner was to drop in about half past nine +that evening. If he got back at nine, supposing he went at all, he would +have time to have some food before receiving him. + +He sat in a pleasant parquetted room looking out into the small square +garden at the back of his house in Montpellier Road. Big awnings +stretched from the window over the broad gravel path outside, and in +spite of the excessive heat the room was full of dim coolness. There was +but little furniture in it, and it presented the strongest possible +contrast to the appointments of his partner's flat with its heavy +decorations, its somewhat gross luxury. A few water-colours hung on the +white walls, a few Persian rugs strewed the floor, a big bookcase with +china on the top filled one end of the room, his writing-table, a half +dozen of Chippendale chairs, and the chintz-covered sofa where he now lay +practically completed the inventory of the room. Three or four bronzes, a +Narcissus, a fifteenth-century Italian St. Francis, and a couple of +Greek reproductions stood on the chimney-piece, but the whole room +breathed an atmosphere of aesthetic asceticism. + +Since lunch Mr. Taynton had glanced at the paper, and also looked up the +trains from Lewes in order to assure himself that he need not expect his +partner till half past nine, and since then, though his hands and his +eyes had been idle, his mind had been very busy. Yet for all its +business, he had not arrived at much. Morris, Godfrey Mills, and himself; +he had placed these three figures in all sorts of positions in his mind, +and yet every combination of them was somehow terrible and menacing. Try +as he would he could not construct a peaceful or secure arrangement of +them. In whatever way he grouped them there was danger. + +The kitchen passage ran out at right angles to the room in which he sat, +and formed one side of the garden. The windows in it were high up, so +that it did not overlook the flowerbeds, and on this torrid afternoon +they were all fully open. Suddenly from just inside came the fierce +clanging peal of a bell, which made him start from his recumbent +position. It was the front-door bell, as he knew, and as it continued +ringing as if a maniac's grip was on the handle, he heard the steps of +his servant running along the stone floor of the passage to see what +imperative summons this was. Then, as the front door was opened, the bell +ceased as suddenly as it had begun, and the moment afterward he heard +Morris's voice shrill and commanding. + +"But he has got to see me," he cried, "What's the use of you going to ask +if he will?" + +Mr. Taynton went to the door of his room which opened into the hall. + +"Come in, Morris," he said. + +Though it had been Morris's hand which had raised so uncontrolled a +clamour, and his voice that just now had been so uncontrolled, there was +no sign, when the door of Mr. Taynton's room had closed behind them, that +there was any excitement of any sort raging within him. He sat down at +once in a chair opposite the window, and Mr. Taynton saw that in spite of +the heat of the day and the violence of that storm which he knew was +yelling and screaming through his brain, his face was absolutely white. +He sat with his hands on the arms of the Chippendale chair, and they too +were quite still. + +"I have seen Sir Richard," said he, "and I came back at once to see you. +He has told me everything. Godfrey Mills has been lying about me and +slandering me." + +Mr. Taynton sat down heavily on the sofa. + +"No, no; don't say it, don't say it," he murmured. "It can't be true, I +can't believe it." + +"But it is true, and you have got to believe it. He suggested that you +should go and talk it over with him. I will drive you up in the car, if +you wish--" + +Mr. Taynton waved his hand with a negative gesture. + +"No, no, not at once," he cried. "I must think it over. I must get used +to this dreadful, this appalling shock. I am utterly distraught." + +Morris turned to him, and across his face for one moment there shot, +swift as a lightning-flash, a quiver of rage so rabid that he looked +scarcely human, but like some Greek presentment of the Furies or Revenge. +Never, so thought his old friend, had he seen such glorious youthful +beauty so instinct and inspired with hate. It was the demoniacal force of +that which lent such splendour to it. But it passed in a second, and +Morris still very pale, very quiet spoke to him. + +"Where is he?" he asked. "I must see him at once. It won't keep." + +Then he sprang up, his rage again mastering him. + +"What shall I do it with?" he said. "What shall I do it with?" + +For the moment Mr. Taynton forgot himself and his anxieties. + +"Morris, you don't know what you are saying," he cried. "Thank God nobody +but me heard you say that!" + +Morris seemed not to be attending. + +"Where is he?" he said again, "are you concealing him here? I have +already been to your office, and he wasn't there, and to his flat, and he +wasn't there." + +"Thank God," ejaculated the lawyer. + +"By all means if you like. But I've got to see him, you know. +Where is he?" + +"He is away in town," said Mr. Taynton, "but he will be back to-night. +Now attend. Of course you must see him, I quite understand that. But you +mustn't see him alone, while you are like this." + +"No, I don't want to," said Morris. "I should like other people to see +what I've got to--to say to him--that, that partner of yours." + +"He has from this moment ceased to be my partner," said Mr. Taynton +brokenly. "I could never again sign what he has signed, or work with +him, or--or--except once--see him again. He is coming here by +appointment at half-past nine. Suppose that we all meet here. We have +both got to see him." + +Morris nodded and went toward the door. A sudden spasm of anxiety seemed +to seize Mr. Taynton. + +"What are you going to do now?" he asked. + +"I don't know. Drive to Falmer Park perhaps, and tell Sir Richard you +cannot see him immediately. Will you see him to-morrow?" + +"Yes, I will call to-morrow morning. Morris, promise me you will do +nothing rash, nothing that will bring sorrow on all those who love you." + +"I shall bring a little sorrow on a man who hates me," said he. + +He went out, and Mr. Taynton sat down again, his mouth compressed into +hard lines, his forehead heavily frowning. He could not permanently +prevent Morris from meeting Godfrey Mills, besides, it was his right to +do so, yet how fraught with awful risks to himself that meeting would be! +Morris might easily make a violent, even a murderous, assault on the man, +but Mills was an expert boxer and wrestler, science would probably get +the upper hand of blind rage. But how deadly a weapon Mills had in store +against himself; he would certainly tell Morris that if one partner had +slandered him the other, whom he so trusted and revered, had robbed him; +he would say, too, that Taynton had been cognizant of, and had approved, +his slanders. There was no end to the ruin that would certainly be +brought about his head if they met. Mills's train, too, would have left +London by now; there was no chance of stopping him. Then there was +another danger he had not foreseen, and it was too late to stop that now. +Morris was going again to Falmer Park, had indeed started, and that +afternoon Godfrey Mills would get out of the train, as he had planned, at +the station just below, and walk back over the downs to Brighton. What if +they met there, alone? + +For an hour perhaps Mr. Taynton delved at these problems, and at the end +even it did not seem as if he had solved them satisfactorily, for when +he went out of his house, as he did at the end of this time to get a +little breeze if such was obtainable, his face was still shadowed and +overclouded. Overclouded too was the sky, and as he stepped out into the +street from his garden-room the hot air struck him like a buffet; and in +his troubled and apprehensive mood it felt as if some hot hand warned him +by a blow not to venture out of his house. But the house, somehow, in the +last hour had become terrible to him, any movement or action, even on a +day like this, when only madmen and the English go abroad, was better +than the nervous waiting in his darkened room. Dreadful forces, forces of +ruin and murder and disgrace, were abroad in the world of men; the menace +of the low black clouds and stifling heat was more bearable. He wanted to +get away from his house, which was permeated and soaked in association +with the other two actors, who in company with himself, had surely some +tragedy for which the curtain was already rung up. Some dreadful scene +was already prepared for them; the setting and stage were ready, the +prompter, and who was he? was in the box ready to tell them the next line +if any of them faltered. The prompter, surely he was destiny, fate, the +irresistible course of events, with which no man can struggle, any more +than the actor can struggle with or alter the lines that are set down for +him. He may mumble them, he may act dispiritedly and tamely, but he has +undertaken a certain part; he has to go through with it. + +Though it was a populous hour of the day, there were but few people +abroad when Mr. Taynton came out to the sea front; a few cabs stood by +the railings that bounded the broad asphalt path which faced the sea, but +the drivers of these, despairing of fares, were for the most part dozing +on the boxes, or with a more set purpose were frankly slumbering in the +interior. The dismal little wooden shelters that punctuated the parade +were deserted, the pier stretched an untenanted length of boards over the +still, lead-coloured sea, and it seemed as if nature herself was waiting +for some elemental catastrophe. + +And though the afternoon was of such hideous and sultry heat, Mr. +Taynton, though he walked somewhat more briskly than his wont, was +conscious of no genial heat that produced perspiration, and the natural +reaction and cooling of the skin. Some internal excitement and fever of +the brain cut off all external things; the loneliness, the want of +correspondence that fever brings between external and internal +conditions, was on him. At one moment, in spite of the heat, he +shivered, at another he felt that an apoplexy must strike him. + +For some half hour he walked to and fro along the sea-wall, between the +blackness of the sky and the lead-coloured water, and then his thoughts +turned to the downs above this stricken place, where, even in the +sultriest days some breath of wind was always moving. Just opposite him, +on the other side of the road, was the street that led steeply upward to +the station. He went up it. + + * * * * * + +It was about half-past seven o'clock that evening that the storm burst. A +few huge drops of rain fell on the hot pavements, then the rain ceased +again, and the big splashes dried, as if the stones had been blotting +paper that sucked the moisture in. Then without other warning a streamer +of fire split the steeple of St. Agnes's Church, just opposite Mr. +Taynton's house, and the crash of thunder answered it more quickly than +his servant had run to open the door to Morris's furious ringing of the +bell. At that the sluices of heaven were opened, and heaven's artillery +thundered its salvoes to the flare of the reckless storm. In the next +half-hour a dozen houses in Brighton were struck, while the choked +gutters overflowing on to the streets made ravines and waterways down the +roadways. Then the thunder and lightning ceased, but the rain still +poured down relentlessly and windlessly, a flood of perpendicular water. + +Mr. Taynton had gone out without umbrella, and when he let himself in by +his latch-key at his own house-door about half-past eight, it was no +wonder that he wrung out his coat and trousers so that he should not soak +his Persian rugs. But from him, as from the charged skies, some tension +had passed; this tempest which had so cooled the air and restored the +equilibrium of its forces had smoothed the frowning creases of his brow, +and when the servant hurried up at the sound of the banged front-door, he +found his master soaked indeed, but serene. + +"Yes, I got caught by the storm, Williams," he said, "and I am drenched. +The lightning was terrific, was it not? I will just change, and have a +little supper; some cold meat, anything that there is. Yes, you might +take my coat at once." + +He divested himself of this. + +"And I expect Mr. Morris this evening," he said. "He will probably have +dined, but if not I am sure Mrs. Otter will toss up a hot dish for him. +Oh, yes, and Mr. Mills will be here at half-past nine, or even sooner, as +I cannot think he will have walked from Falmer as he intended. But +whenever he comes, I will see him. He has not been here already?" + +"No, sir," said Williams, "Will you have a hot bath, sir?" + +"No, I will just change. How battered the poor garden will look tomorrow +after this deluge." + + * * * * * + +Mr. Taynton changed his wet clothes and half an hour afterwards he sat +down to his simple and excellent supper. Mrs. Otter had provided an +admirable vegetable soup for him, and some cold lamb with asparagus and +endive salad. A macedoine of strawberries followed and a scoop of cheese. +Simple as his fare was, it just suited Mr. Taynton's tastes, and he was +indulging himself with the rather rare luxury of a third glass of port +when Williams entered again. + +"Mr. Assheton," he said, and held the door open. + +Morris came in; he was dressed in evening clothes with a dinner jacket, +and gave no salutation to his host. + +"He's not come yet?" he asked. + +But his host sprang up. + +"Dear boy," he said, "what a relief it is to see you. Ever since you left +this afternoon I have had you on my mind. You will have a glass of port?" + +Morris laughed, a curious jangling laugh. + +"Oh yes, to drink his health," he said. + +He sat down with a jerk, and leaned his elbows on the table. + +"He'll want a lot of health to carry him through this, won't he?" he +asked. + +He drank his glass of port like water, and Mr. Taynton instantly filled +it up again for him. + +"Ah, I remember you don't like port," he said. "What else can I +offer you?" + +"Oh, this will do very well," said Morris. "I am so thirsty." + +"You have dined?" asked his host quietly. + +"No; I don't think I did. I wasn't hungry." + +The Cromwellian clock chimed a remnant half hour. + +"Half-past," said Morris, filling his glass again. "You expect him then, +don't you?" + +"Mills is not always very punctual," said Mr. Taynton. + +For the next quarter of an hour the two sat with hardly the interchange +of a word. From outside came the swift steady hiss of the rain on to +the shrubs in the garden, and again the clock chimed. Morris who at +first had sat very quiet had begun to fidget and stir in his chair; +occasionally when he happened to notice it, he drank off the port with +which Mr. Taynton hospitably kept his glass supplied. Sometimes he +relit a cigarette only to let it go out again. But when the clock +struck he got up. + +"I wonder what has happened," he said. "Can he have missed his train? +What time ought he to have got in?" + +"He was to have got to Falmer," said Mr. Taynton with a little +emphasis on the last word, "at a quarter to seven. He spoke of walking +from there." + +Morris looked at him with a furtive sidelong glance. + +"Why, I--I might have met him there," he said. "I went up there again +after I left you to tell Sir Richard you would call to-morrow." + +"You saw nothing of him?" asked the lawyer. + +"No, of course not. Otherwise--There was scarcely a soul on the road; the +storm was coming up. But he would go by the downs, would he not?" + +"The path over the downs doesn't branch off for a quarter of a mile below +Falmer station," said Mr. Taynton. + +The minutes ticked on till ten. Then Morris went to the door. + +"I shall go round to his rooms to see if he is there," he said. + +"There is no need," said his host, "I will telephone." + +The instrument hung in a corner of the room, and with very little delay, +Mills's servant was rung up. His master had not yet returned, but he had +said that he should very likely be late. + +"And he made an appointment with you for half-past nine?" asked +Morris again. + +"Yes. I cannot think what has happened to detain him." + +Morris went quickly to the door again. + +"I believe it is all a trick," he said, "and you don't want me to meet +him. I believe he is in his rooms the whole time. I shall go and see." + +Before Mr. Taynton could stop him he had opened the front-door and banged +it behind him, and was off hatless and coatless through the pouring +perpendicular rain. + +Mr. Taynton ran to the door, as if to stop him, but Morris was already +halfway down the street, and he went upstairs to the drawing-room. Morris +was altogether unlike himself; this discovery of Mills's treachery seemed +to have changed his nature. Violent and quick he always was, but to-night +he was suspicious, he seemed to distrust Mr. Taynton himself. And, a +thing which his host had never known him do before, he had drunk in that +half hour when they sat waiting, close on a bottle of port. + +The evening paper lay ready cut for him in its accustomed place, but for +some five minutes Mr. Taynton did not appear to notice it, though evening +papers, on the money-market page, might contain news so frightfully +momentous to him. But something, this strangeness in Morris, no doubt, +and his general anxiety and suspense as to how this dreadful knot could +unravel itself, preoccupied him now, and even when he did take up the +paper and turn to the reports of Stock Exchange dealings, he was +conscious of no more than a sort of subaqueous thrill of satisfaction. +For Boston Copper had gone up nearly a point since the closing price of +last night. + +It was not many minutes, however before Morris returned with matted and +streaming hair and drenched clothes. + +"He has not come back," he said. "I went to his rooms and satisfied +myself of that, though I think they thought I was mad. I searched them +you understand; I insisted. I shall go round there again first thing +to-morrow morning, and if he is not there, I shall go up to find him in +town. I can't wait; I simply can't wait." + +Mr. Taynton looked at him gravely, then nodded. + +"No, I guess how you are feeling," he said, "I cannot understand what +has happened to Mills; I hope nothing is wrong. And now, my dear boy, let +me implore you to go straight home, get off your wet things and go to +bed. You will pay heavily for your excitement, if you are not careful." + +"I'll get it out of him." said Morris. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Morris, as Mr. Taynton had advised, though not because he advised it, had +gone straight home to the house in Sussex Square. He had stripped off his +dripping clothes, and then, since this was the line of least resistance +he had gone to bed. He did not feel tired, and he longed with that aching +longing of the son for the mother, that Mrs. Assheton had been here, so +that he could just be in her presence and if he found himself unable to +speak and tell her all the hideous happenings of those last days, let her +presence bring a sort of healing to his tortured mind. But though he was +conscious of no tiredness, he was tired to the point of exhaustion, and +he had hardly got into bed, when he fell fast asleep. Outside, hushing +him to rest, there sounded the sibilant rain, and from the sea below +ripples broke gently and rhythmically on the pebbly beach. Nature, too, +it seemed, was exhausted by that convulsion of the elements that had +turned the evening into a clamorous hell of fire and riot, and now from +very weariness she was weeping herself asleep. + +It was not yet eleven when Morris had got home, and he slept dreamlessly +with that recuperative sleep of youth for some six hours. Then, as within +the secret economy of the brain the refreshment of slumber repaired the +exhaustion of the day before, he began to dream with strange lurid +distinctness, a sort of resurrection dream of which the events of the two +days before supplied the bones and skeleton outline. As in all very vivid +and dreadful dreams the whole vision was connected and coherent, there +were no ludicrous and inconsequent interludes, none of those breakings +of one thread and hurried seizures of another, which though one is +dreaming very distinctly, supply some vague mental comfort, since even to +the sleeper they are reminders that his experiences are not solid but +mere phantasies woven by imperfect consciousness and incomplete control +of thought. It was not thus that Morris dreamed; his dream was of the +solid and sober texture of life. + +He was driving in his motor, he thought, down the road from the house at +Falmer Park, which through the gate of a disused lodge joins the main +road, that leads from Falmer Station to Brighton. He had just heard from +Sir Richard's own lips who it was who had slandered and blackened him, +but, in his dream, he was conscious of no anger. The case had been +referred to some higher power, some august court of supreme authority, +which would certainly use its own instruments for its own vengeance. He +felt he was concerned in the affair no longer; he was but a spectator of +what would be. And, in obedience to some inward dictation, he drove his +motor on to the grass behind the lodge, so that it was concealed from the +road outside, and walked along the inside of the park-palings, which ran +parallel with it. + +The afternoon, it seemed, was very dark, though the atmosphere was +extraordinarily clear, and after walking along the springy grass inside +the railings for some three hundred yards, where was the southeastern +corner of the park enclosure, he stopped at the angle and standing on +tip-toe peered over them, for they were nearly six feet high, and looked +into the road below. It ran straight as a billiard-cue just here, and was +visible for a long distance, but at the corner, just outside the +palings, the footpath over the downs to Brighton left the road, and +struck upward. On the other side of the road ran the railway, and in this +clear dark air, Morris could see with great distinctness Falmer Station +some four hundred yards away, along a stretch of the line on the other +side of it. + +As he looked he saw a puff of steam rise against the woods beyond the +station, and before long a train, going Brightonward, clashed into the +station. Only one passenger got out, and he came out of the station into +the road. He was quite recognisable even at this distance. In his dream +Morris felt that he expected to see him get out of the train, and walk +along the road; the whole thing seemed pre-ordained. But he ceased +tiptoeing to look over the paling; he could hear the passenger's steps +when he came nearer. + +He thought he waited quietly, squatting down on the mossy grass behind +the paling. Something in his hands seemed angry, for his fingers kept +tearing up the short turf, and the juice of the severed stems was red +like blood. Then in the gathering darkness he heard the tip-tap of +footsteps on the highway. But it never occurred to him that this +passenger would continue on the highroad; he was certainly going over the +downs to Brighton. + +The air was quite windless, but at this moment Morris heard the boughs of +the oak-tree immediately above him stir and shake, and looking up he saw +Mr. Taynton sitting in a fork of the tree. That, too, was perfectly +natural; Mr. Taynton was Mills's partner; he was there as a sort of +umpire. He held a glass of port wine in one hand, and was sipping it in a +leisurely manner, and when Morris looked up at him, he smiled at him, +but put his finger to his lips, as if recommending silence. And as the +steps on the road outside sounded close he turned a meaning glance in the +direction of the road. From where he sat high in the tree, it was plain +to Morris that he must command the sight of the road, and was, in his +friendly manner, directing operations. + +Suddenly the sound of the steps ceased, and Morris wondered for the +moment whether Mills had stopped. But looking up again, he saw Mr. +Taynton's head twisted round to the right, still looking over the +palings. But Morris found at once that the footsteps were noiseless, not +because the walker had paused, but because they were inaudible on the +grass. He had left the road, as the dreamer felt certain he would, and +was going over the downs to Brighton. At that Morris got up, and still +inside the park railings, followed in the direction he had gone. Then +for the first time in his dream, he felt angry, and the anger grew to +rage, and the rage to quivering madness. Next moment he had vaulted the +fence, and sprang upon the walker from behind. He dealt him blows with +some hard instrument, belabouring his head, while with his left hand he +throttled his throat so that he could not scream. Only a few were +necessary, for he knew that each blow went home, since all the savage +youthful strength of shoulder and loose elbow directed them. Then he +withdrew his left hand from the throttled throat of the victim who had +ceased to struggle, and like a log he fell back on to the grass, and +Morris for the first time looked on his face. It was not Mills at all; it +was Mr. Taynton. + + * * * * * + +The terror plucked him from his sleep; for a moment he wrestled and +struggled to raise his head from the pillow and loosen the clutch of the +night-hag who had suddenly seized him, and with choking throat and +streaming brow he sat up in bed. Even then his dream was more real to him +than the sight of his own familiar room, more real than the touch of +sheet and blanket or the dew of anguish which his own hand wiped from his +forehead and throat. Yet, what was his dream? Was it merely some +subconscious stringing together of suggestions and desires and events +vivified in sleep to a coherent story (all but that recognition of Mr. +Taynton, which was nightmare pure and simple), or _had it happened_? + +With waking, anyhow, the public life, the life that concerned other +living folk as well as himself, became predominant again. He had +certainly seen Sir Richard the day before, and Sir Richard had given him +the name of the man who had slandered him. He had gone to meet that man, +but he had not kept his appointment, nor had he come back to his flat in +Brighton. So to-day he, Morris, was going to call there once more, and if +he did not find him, was going to drive up to London, and seek him there. + +But he had been effectually plucked from further sleep, sleep had been +strangled, and he got out of bed and went to the window. Nature, in any +case, had swept her trouble away, and the pure sweet morning was +beginning to dawn in lines of yellow and fleeces of rosy cloud on the +eastern horizon. + +All that riot and hurly-burly of thunder, the bull's eye flashing of +lightning, the perpendicular rain were things of the past, and this +morning a sky of pale limpid blue, flecked only by the thinnest clouds, +stretched from horizon to horizon. Below the mirror of the sea seemed as +deep and as placid as the sky above it, and the inimitable freshness of +the dawn spoke of a world rejuvenated and renewed. + +It was, by his watch, scarcely five; in an hour it would be reasonable to +call at Mills's flat, and see if he had come by the midnight train. If +not his motor could be round by soon after six, and he would be in town +by eight, before Mills, if he had slept there, would be thinking of +starting for Brighton. He was sure to catch him. + +Morris had drawn up the blind, and through the open window came the cool +breath of the morning ruffling his hair, and blowing his nightshirt close +to his skin, and just for that moment, so exquisite was this feeling of +renewal and cleanness in the hour of dawn, he thought with a sort of +incredulous wonder of the red murderous hate which had possessed him the +evening before. He seemed to have been literally beside himself with +anger and his words, his thoughts, his actions had been controlled by a +force and a possession which was outside himself. Also the dreadful +reality of his dream still a little unnerved him, and though he was +himself now and awake, he felt that he had been no less himself when he +throttled the throat of that abhorred figure that walked up the noiseless +path over the downs to Brighton, and with vehement and savage blows +clubbed it down. And then the shock of finding it was his old friend whom +he had done to death! That, it is true, was nightmare pure and simple, +but all the rest was clad in sober, convincing garb of events that had +really taken place. He could not at once separate his dream from reality, +for indeed what had he done yesterday after he had learned who his +traducer had been? He scarcely knew; all events and facts seemed +colourless compared to the rage and mad lust for vengeance which had +occupied his entire consciousness. + +Thus, as he dressed, the thoughts and the rage of yesterday began to stir +and move in his mind again. His hate and his desire that justice should +be done, that satisfaction should be granted him, was still in his heart. +But now they were not wild and flashing flames; they burned with a hard, +cold, even light. They were already part of himself, integral pieces and +features of his soul. And the calm beauty and peace of the morning ceased +to touch him, he had a stern piece of business to put through before he +could think of anything else. + + * * * * * + +It was not yet six when he arrived at the house in which was Mills's +flat. A few housemaids were about, but the lift was not yet working, +and he ran upstairs and rang at the bell. It was answered almost +immediately, for Mills's servant supposed it must be his master +arriving at this early hour, since no one else would come then, and he +opened the door, half dressed, with coat and trousers only put over his +night things. + +"Is Mr. Mills back yet?" asked Morris. + +"No, sir." + +Morris turned to go, but then stopped, his mind still half-suspicious +that he had been warned by his partner, and was lying _perdu_. + +"I'll give you another ten shillings," he said, "if you'll let me come in +and satisfy myself." + +The man hesitated. + +"A sovereign," said Morris. + + * * * * * + +He went back to Sussex Square after this, roused Martin, ordering him to +bring the motor round at once, and drank a cup of tea, for he would +breakfast in town. His mother he expected would be back during the +morning, and at the thought of her he remembered that this was June 24th, +her birthday, and that his present to her would be arriving by the early +post. He gave orders, therefore, that a packet for him from Asprey's was +not to be unpacked, but given to her on her arrival with her letters. A +quarter of an hour later he was off, leaving Martin behind, since there +were various businesses in the town which he wanted him to attend to. + +Mr. Taynton, though an earlier riser than his partner, considered that +half past nine was soon enough to begin the day, and punctually at that +time he came downstairs to read, as his custom was, a few collects and +some short piece of the Bible to his servants, before having his +breakfast. That little ceremony over he walked for a few minutes in his +garden while Williams brought in his toast and tea-urn, and observed that +though the flowers would no doubt be all the better for the liberal +watering of the day before, it was idle to deny that the rain had not +considerably damaged them. But his attention was turned from these things +to Williams who told him that breakfast was ready, and also brought him a +telegram. It was from Morris, and had been sent off from the Sloane +Square office an hour before. + +"Mills is not in town; they say he left yesterday afternoon. Please +inform me if you know whether this is so, or if you are keeping him from +me. Am delayed by break-down. Shall be back about five.--Morris, +Bachelors' Club." + +Mr. Taynton read this through twice, as is the habit of most people with +telegrams, and sent, of course, the reply that all he knew was that his +partner intended to come back last night, since he had made an +appointment with him. Should he arrive during the day he would telegraph. +He himself was keeping nothing from Morris, and had not had any +correspondence or communication with his partner since he had left +Brighton for town three days before. + +The telegram was a long one, but Mr. Taynton still sat with poised +pen. Then he added, "Pray do nothing violent, I implore you." And he +signed it. + + * * * * * + +He sat rather unusually long over his breakfast this morning, though he +ate but little, and from the cheerful smiling aspect of his face it would +seem that his thoughts were pleasant to him. He was certainly glad that +Morris had not yet come across Mills, for he trusted that the lapse of a +day or two would speedily calm down the lad's perfectly justifiable +indignation. Besides, he was in love, and his suit had prospered; surely +there were pleasanter things than revenge to occupy him. Then his face +grew grave a moment as he thought of Morris's mad, murderous outburst of +the evening before, but that gravity was shortlived, and he turned with a +sense of pleasant expectation to see recorded again the activity and +strength of Boston Coppers. But the reality was far beyond his +expectations; copper had been strong all day, and in the street afterward +there had been renewed buying from quarters which were usually well +informed. Bostons had been much in request, and after hours they had had +a further spurt, closing at L7 10S. Already in these three days he had +cleared his option, and at present prices the shares showed a profit of a +point. Mills would have to acknowledge that his perspicacity had been at +fault, when he distrusted this last purchase. + +He left his house at about half-past ten, and again immured himself in +the birdcage lift that carried him up to his partner's flat, where he +inquired if he had yet returned. Learning he had not, he asked to be +given pen and paper, to write a note for him, which was to be given to +him on his arrival. + +"Dear Mills, + +"Mr. Morris Assheton has learned that you have made grave accusations +about him to Sir Richard Templeton, Bart. That you have done so appears +to be beyond doubt, and it of course rests with you to substantiate them. +I cannot of course at present believe that you could have done so without +conclusive evidence; on the other hand I cannot believe that Mr. Assheton +is of the character which you have given him. + +"I therefore refrain, as far as I am able, from drawing any conclusion +till the matter is cleared up. + +"I may add that he deeply resents your conduct; his anger and indignation +were terrible to see. + +"Sincerely yours, + +"Edward Taynton. Godfrey Mills, Esq." + +Mr. Taynton read this through, and glanced round, as if to see whether +the servants had left the room. Then he sat with closed eyes for a +moment, and took an envelope, and swiftly addressed it. He smudged it, +however, in blotting it, and so crumpled it up, threw it into the +waste-paper basket. He then addressed a second one, and into this he +inserted his letter, and got up. + +The servant was waiting in the little hall outside. + +"Please give this to Mr. Mills when he arrives," he said. "You expected +him last night, did you not?" + +Mr. Taynton found on arrival at his office that, in his partner's +absence, there was a somewhat heavy day of work before him, and foresaw +that he would be occupied all afternoon and indeed probably up to dinner +time. But he was able to get out for an hour at half-past twelve, at +which time, if the weather was hot, he generally indulged in a swim. But +today there was a certain chill in the air after yesterday's storm, and +instead of taking his dip, he walked along the sea front toward Sussex +Square. For in his warm-hearted way, seeing that Morris was, as he had +said, to tell his mother today about his happy and thoroughly suitable +love affair, Mr. Taynton proposed to give a little _partie carree_ on the +earliest possible evening, at which the two young lovers, Mrs. Assheton, +and himself would form the table. He would learn from her what was the +earliest night on which she and Morris were disengaged, and then write +to that delightful girl whose affections dear Morris had captured. + +But at the corner of the square, just as he was turning into it, there +bowled swiftly out a victoria drawn by two horses; he recognised the +equipage, he recognised also Mrs. Assheton who was sitting in it. Her +head, however, was turned the other way, and Mr. Taynton's hand, already +half-way up to his hat was spared the trouble of journeying farther. + +But he went on to the house, since his invitation could be easily +conveyed by a note which he would scribble there, and was admitted by +Martin. Mrs. Assheton, however, was out, a fact which he learned with +regret, but, if he might write a note to her, his walk would not be +wasted. Accordingly he was shown up into the drawing-room, where on the +writing-table was laid an open blotting-book. Even in so small a detail +as a blotting-book the careful appointment of the house was evident, for +the blotting-paper was absolutely clean and white, a virgin field. + +Mr. Taynton took up a quill pen, thought over for a moment the wording of +his note and then wrote rapidly. A single side of notepaper was +sufficient; he blotted it on the pad, and read it through. But something +in it, it must be supposed, did not satisfy him, for he crumpled it up. +Ah, at last and for the first time there was a flaw in the appointment of +the house, for there was no wastepaper basket by the table. At any rate +one must suppose that Mr. Taynton did not see it, for he put his rejected +sheet into his pocket. + +He took another sheet of paper, selecting from the various stationery +that stood in the case a plain piece, rejecting that which was marked +with the address of the house, wrote his own address at the head, and +proceeded for the second time to write his note of invitation. + +But first he changed the quill for his own stylograph, and wrote with +that. This was soon written, and by the time he had read it through it +was dry, and did not require to be blotted. He placed it in a plain +envelope, directed it, and with it in his hand left the room, and went +briskly downstairs. + +Martin was standing in the hall. + +"I want this given to Mrs. Assheton when she comes in, Martin," he said. + +He looked round, as he had done once before when speaking to the boy. + +"I left it at the door," he said with quiet emphasis. "Can you remember +that? I left it. And I hope, Martin, that you have made a fresh start, +and that I need never be obliged to tell anybody what I know about you. +You will remember my instructions? I left this at the door. Thank you. +My hat? Yes, and my stick." + +Mr. Taynton went straight back to his office, and though this morning +there had seemed to him to be a good deal of work to be got through, he +found that much of it could be delegated to his clerks. So before leaving +to go to his lunch, he called in Mr. Timmins. + +"Mr. Mills not been here all morning?" he asked. "No? Well, Timmins, +there is this packet which I want him to look at, if he comes in before +I am back. I shall be here again by five, as there is an hour's work for +me to do before evening. Yes, that is all, thanks. Please tell Mr. Mills +I shall come back, as I said. How pleasant this freshness is after the +rain. The 'clear shining after rain.' Wonderful words! Yes, Mr. Timmins, +you will find the verse in the second book of Samuel and the +twenty-third chapter." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Mr. Taynton made but a short meal of lunch, and ate but sparingly, for +he meant to take a good walk this afternoon, and it was not yet two +o'clock when he came out of his house again, stick in hand. It was a +large heavy stick that he carried, a veritable club, one that it would +be easy to recognise amid a host of others, even as he had recognised it +that morning in the rather populous umbrella stand in the hall of Mrs. +Assheton's house. He had, it may be remembered, more office work to get +through before evening, so he prepared to walk out as far as the limits +of the time at his disposal would admit and take the train back. And +since there could be nothing more pleasurable in the way of walking +than locomotion over the springy grass of the downs, he took, as he had +done a hundred times before, the road that led to Falmer. A hundred +yards out of Brighton there was a stile by the roadside; from there a +footpath, if it could be dignified by the name of path at all, led over +the hills to a corner of Falmer Park. From there three or four hundred +yards of highway would bring him to the station. He would be in good +time to catch the 4.30 train back, and would thus be at his office again +for an hour's work at five. + +His walk was solitary and uneventful, but, to one of so delicate and +sensitive a mind, full of tiny but memorable sights and sounds. Up on +these high lands there was a considerable breeze, and Mr. Taynton paused +for a minute or two beside a windmill that stood alone, in the expanse +of down, watching, with a sort of boyish wonder, the huge flails swing +down and aspire again in the circles of their tireless toil. A little +farther on was a grass-grown tumulus of Saxon times, and his mind was +distracted from the present to those early days when the unknown dead was +committed to this wind-swept tomb. Forests of pine no doubt then grew +around his resting place, it was beneath the gloom and murmur of their +sable foliage that this dead chief was entrusted to the keeping of the +kindly earth. He passed, too, over the lines of a Roman camp; once this +sunny empty down re-echoed to the clang of arms, the voices of the living +were mingled with the cries and groans of the dying, for without doubt +this stronghold of Roman arms was not won, standing, as it did, on the +top-most commanding slope of the hills, without slaughter. Yet to-day the +peaceful clumps of cistus and the trembling harebell blossomed on the +battlefield. + +From this point the ground declined swiftly to the main road. Straight in +front of him were the palings of Falmer Park, and the tenantless down +with its long smooth curves, was broken up into sudden hillocks and +depressions. Dells and dingles, some green with bracken, others half full +of water lay to right and left of the path, which, as it approached the +corner of the park, was more strongly marked than when it lay over the +big open spaces. It was somewhat slippery, too, after the torrent of +yesterday, and Mr. Taynton's stick saved him more than once from +slipping. But before he got down to the point where the corner of the +park abutted on the main road, he had leaned on it too heavily, and for +all its seeming strength, it had broken in the middle. The two pieces +were but luggage to him and just as he came to the road, he threw them +away into a wooded hollow that adjoined the path. The stick had broken +straight across; it was no use to think of having it mended. + + * * * * * + +He was out of the wind here, and since there was still some ten minutes +to spare, he sat down on the grassy edge of the road to smoke a +cigarette. The woods of the park basked in the fresh sunshine; three +hundred yards away was Falmer Station, and beyond that the line was +visible for a mile as it ran up the straight valley. Indeed he need +hardly move till he saw the steam of his train on the limit of the +horizon. That would be ample warning that it was time to go. + +Then from far away, he heard the throbbing of a motor, which grew +suddenly louder as it turned the corner of the road by the station. It +seemed to him to be going very fast, and the huge cloud of dust behind +it endorsed his impression. But almost immediately after passing this +corner it began to slow down, and the cloud of dust behind it died away. + +At the edge of the road where Mr. Taynton sat, there were standing +several thick bushes. He moved a little away from the road, and took up +his seat again behind one of them. The car came very slowly on, and +stopped just opposite him. On his right lay the hollow where he had +thrown the useless halves of his stick, on his left was the corner of +the Falmer Park railings. He had recognised the driver of the car, who +was alone. + +Morris got out when he had stopped the car, and then spoke aloud, though +to himself. + +"Yes, there's the corner," he said, "there's the path over the +downs. There--" + +Mr. Taynton got up and came toward him. + +"My dear fellow," he said, "I have walked out from Brighton on this +divine afternoon, and was going to take the train back. But will you give +me the pleasure of driving back with you instead?" + +Morris looked at him a moment as if he hardly thought he was real. + +"Why, of course," he said. + +Mr. Taynton was all beams and smiles. + +"And you have seen Mills?" he asked. "You have been convinced that he +was innocent of the terrible suspicion? Morris, my dear boy, what is +the matter?" + +Morris had looked at him for a moment with incredulous eyes. Then he had +sat down and covered his face with his hands. + +"It's nothing," he said at length. "I felt rather faint. I shall be +better in a minute. Of course I'll drive you back." + +He sat huddled up with hidden face for a moment or two. Mr. Taynton said +nothing, but only looked at him. Then the boy sat up. + +"I'm all right," he said, "it was just a dream I had last night. No, I +have not seen Mills; they tell me he left yesterday afternoon for +Brighton. Shall we go?" + +For some little distance they went in silence; then it seemed that Morris +made an effort and spoke. + +"Really, I got what they call 'quite a turn' just now," he said. "I had a +curiously vivid dream last night about that corner, and you suddenly +appeared in my dream quite unexpectedly, as you did just now." + +"And what was this dream?" asked Mr. Taynton, turning up his coat collar, +for the wind of their movement blew rather shrilly on to his neck. + +"Oh, nothing particular," said Morris carelessly, "the vividness was +concerned with your appearance; that was what startled me." + +Then he fell back into the train of thought that had occupied him all the +way down from London. + +"I believe I was half-mad with rage last night," he said at length, "but +this afternoon, I think I am beginning to be sane again. It's true Mills +tried to injure me, but he didn't succeed. And as you said last night I +have too deep and intense a cause of happiness to give my thoughts and +energies to anything so futile as hatred or the desire for revenge. He is +punished already. The fact of his having tried to injure me like that was +his punishment. Anyhow, I am sick and tired of my anger." + +The lawyer did not speak for a moment, and when he did his voice was +trembling. + +"God bless you, my dear boy," he said gently. + +Morris devoted himself for some little time to the guiding of the car. + +"And I want you also to leave it all alone," he said after a while. "I +don't want you to dissolve your partnership with him, or whatever you +call it. I suppose he will guess that you know all about it, so perhaps +it would be best if you told him straight out that you do. And then you +can, well, make a few well-chosen remarks you know, and drop the whole +damned subject forever." + +Mr. Taynton seemed much moved. + +"I will try," he said, "since you ask it. But Morris, you are more +generous than I am." + +Morris laughed, his usual boyish high spirits and simplicity were +reasserting themselves again. + +"Oh, that's all rot," he said. "It's only because it's so fearfully +tiring to go on being angry. But I can't help wondering what has +happened to the fellow. They told me at his flat in town that he went off +with his luggage yesterday afternoon, and gave orders that all letters +were to be sent to his Brighton address. You don't think there's anything +wrong, do you?" + +"My dear fellow, what could be wrong?" asked Mr. Taynton. "He had some +business to do at Lewes on his way down, and I make no doubt he slept +there, probably forgetting all about his appointment with me. I would +wager you that we shall find he is in Brighton when we get in." + +"I'll take that," said Morris. "Half a crown." + +"No, no, my usual shilling, my usual shilling," laughed the other. + + * * * * * + +Morris set Mr. Taynton down at his office, and by way of settling their +wager at once, waited at the door, while the other went upstairs to see +if his partner was there. He had not, however, appeared there that day, +and Mr. Taynton sent a clerk down to Morris, to ask him to come up, and +they would ring up Mr. Mills's flat on the telephone. + +This was done, and before many seconds had elapsed they were in +communication. His valet was there, still waiting for his master's +return, for he had not yet come back. It appeared that he was getting +rather anxious, for Mr. Taynton reassured him. + +"There is not the slightest cause for any anxiety," were his concluding +words. "I feel convinced he has merely been detained. Thanks, that's all. +Please let me know as soon as he returns." + +He drew a shilling from his pocket, and handed it to Morris. But his +face, in spite of his reassuring words, was a little troubled. You would +have said that though he might not yet be anxious, he saw that there +was some possibility of his being so, before very long. Yet he spoke +gaily enough. + +"And I made so sure I should win," he said. "I shall put it down to +unexpected losses, not connected with business; eh, Mr. Timmins? Or shall +it be charity? It would never do to put down 'Betting losses.'" + +But this was plainly a little forced, and Morris waited till Mr. Timmins +had gone out. + +"And you really meant that?" he asked. "You are really not anxious?" + +"No, I am not anxious," he said, "but--but I shall be glad when he comes +back. Is that inconsistent? I think perhaps it is. Well, let us say then +that I am just a shade anxious. But I may add that I feel sure my anxiety +is quite unnecessary. That defines it for you." + +Morris went straight home from here, and found that his mother had just +returned from her afternoon drive. She had found the blotting book +waiting for her when she came back that morning, and was delighted with +the gift and the loving remembering thought that inspired it. + +"But you shouldn't spend your money on me, my darling," she said to +Morris, "though I just love the impulse that made you." + +"Oh, very well," said Morris, kissing her, "let's have the initials +changed about then, and let it be M.A. from H.A." + +Then his voice grew grave. + +"Mother dear, I've got another birthday present for you. I think--I think +you will like it." + +She saw at once that he was speaking of no tangible material gift. + +"Yes, dear?" she said. + +"Madge and me," said Morris. "Just that." + +And Mrs. Assheton did like this second present, and though it made her +cry a little, her tears were the sweetest that can be shed. + + * * * * * + +Mother and son dined alone together, and since Morris had determined to +forget, to put out of his mind the hideous injury that Mills had +attempted to do him, he judged it to be more consistent with this resolve +to tell his mother nothing about it, since to mention it to another, even +to her, implied that he was not doing his best to bury what he determined +should be dead to him. As usual, they played backgammon together, and it +was not till Mrs. Assheton rose to go to bed that she remembered Mr. +Taynton's note, asking her and Morris to dine with him on their earliest +unoccupied day. This, as is the way in the country, happened to be the +next evening, and since the last post had already gone out, she asked +Morris if Martin might take the note round for her tonight, since it +ought to have been answered before. + +That, of course, was easily done, and Morris told his servant to call +also at the house where Mr. Mills's flat was situated, and ask the porter +if he had come home. The note dispatched his mother went to bed, and +Morris went down to the billiard room to practise spot-strokes, a form of +hazard at which he was singularly inefficient, and wait for news. Little +as he knew Mills, and little cause as he had for liking him, he too, like +Mr. Taynton, felt vaguely anxious and perturbed, since "disappearances" +are necessarily hedged about with mystery and wondering. His own anger +and hatred, too, like mists drawn up and dispersed by the sun of love +that had dawned on him, had altogether vanished; the attempt against him +had, as it turned out, been so futile, and he genuinely wished to have +some assurance of the safety of the man, the thought of whom had so +blackened his soul only twenty-four hours ago. + +His errands took Martin the best part of an hour, and he returned with +two notes, one for Mrs. Assheton, the other for Morris. He had been also +to the flat and inquired, but there was no news of the missing man. + +Morris opened his note, which was from Mr. Taynton. + +"Dear Morris, + +"I am delighted that your mother and you can dine to-morrow, and I am +telegraphing first thing in the morning to see if Miss Madge will make +our fourth. I feel sure that when she knows what my little party is, she +will come. + +"I have been twice round to see if my partner has returned, and find no +news of him. It is idle to deny that I am getting anxious, as I cannot +conceive what has happened. Should he not be back by tomorrow morning, I +shall put the matter into the hands of the police. I trust that my +anxieties are unfounded, but the matter is beginning to look strange. + +"Affectionately yours, + +"Edward Taynton." + +There is nothing so infectious as anxiety, and it can be conveyed by look +or word or letter, and requires no period of incubation. And Morris began +to be really anxious also, with a vague disquietude at the sense of there +being something wrong. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Mr. Taynton, according to the intention he had expressed, sent round +early next morning (the day of the week being Saturday) to his partner's +flat, and finding that he was not there, and that no word of any kind had +been received from him, went, as he felt himself now bound to do, to the +police office, stated what had brought him there, and gave them all +information which it was in his power to give. + +It was brief enough; his partner had gone up to town on Tuesday last, +and, had he followed his plans should have returned to Brighton by +Thursday evening, since he had made an appointment to come to Mr. +Taynton's house at nine thirty that night. It had been ascertained +too, by--Mr. Taynton hesitated a moment--by Mr. Morris Assheton in +London, that he had left his flat in St. James's Court on Thursday +afternoon, to go, presumably, to catch the train back to Brighton. He +had also left orders that all letters should be forwarded to him at his +Brighton address. + +Superintendent Figgis, to whom Mr. Taynton made his statement, was in +manner slow, stout, and bored, and looked in every way utterly unfitted +to find clues to the least mysterious occurrences, unearth crime or run +down the criminal. He seemed quite incapable of running down anything, +and Mr. Taynton had to repeat everything he said in order to be sure that +Mr. Figgis got his notes, which he made in a large round hand, with +laborious distinctness, correctly written. Having finished them the +Superintendent stared at them mournfully for a little while, and asked +Mr. Taynton if he had anything more to add. + +"I think that is all," said the lawyer. "Ah, one moment. Mr. Mills +expressed to me the intention of perhaps getting out at Falmer and +walking over the downs to Brighton. But Thursday was the evening on which +we had that terrible thunderstorm. I should think it very unlikely that +he would have left the train." + +Superintendent Figgis appeared to be trying to recollect something. + +"Was there a thunderstorm on Thursday?" he asked. + +"The most severe I ever remember," said Mr. Taynton. + +"It had slipped my memory," said this incompetent agent of justice. + +But a little thought enabled him to ask a question that bore on the case. + +"He travelled then by Lewes and not by the direct route?" + +"Presumably. He had a season ticket via Lewes, since our business often +took him there. Had he intended to travel by Hayward's Heath," said Mr. +Taynton rather laboriously, as if explaining something to a child, "he +could not have intended to get out at Falmer." + +Mr. Figgis had to think over this, which he did with his mouth open. + +"Seeing that the Hayward's Heath line does not pass Falmer," he +suggested. + +Mr. Taynton drew a sheet of paper toward him and kindly made a rough +sketch-map of railway lines. + +"And his season ticket went by the Lewes line," he explained. + +Superintendent Figgis appeared to understand this after a while. Then he +sighed heavily, and changed the subject with rather disconcerting +abruptness. + +"From my notes I understand that Mr. Morris Assheton ascertained that +the missing individual had left his flat in London on Thursday +afternoon," he said. + +"Yes, Mr. Assheton is a client of ours, and he wished to see my partner +on a business matter. In fact, when Mr. Mills was found not to have +returned on Thursday evening, he went up to London next day to see him, +since we both supposed he had been detained there." + +Mr. Figgis looked once more mournfully at his notes, altered a palpably +mistaken "Wednesday" into Thursday, and got up. + +"The matter shall be gone into," he said. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Taynton went straight from here to his office, and for a couple of +hours devoted himself to the business of his firm, giving it his whole +attention and working perhaps with more speed than it was usually his to +command. Saturday of course was a half-holiday, and it was naturally his +desire to get cleared off everything that would otherwise interrupt the +well-earned repose and security from business affairs which was to him +the proper atmosphere of the seventh, or as he called it, the first day. +This interview with the accredited representative of the law also had +removed a certain weight from his mind. He had placed the matter of his +partner's disappearance in official hands, he had done all he could do to +clear up his absence, and, in case--but here he pulled himself up; it was +at present most premature even to look at the possibility of crime having +been committed. + +Mr. Taynton was in no way a vain man, nor was it his habit ever to review +his own conduct, with the object of contrasting it favourably with what +others might have done under the circumstances. Yet he could not help +being aware that others less kindly than he would have shrugged sarcastic +shoulders and said, "probably another blackmailing errand has detained +him." For, indeed, Mills had painted himself in very ugly colours in his +last interview with him; that horrid hint of blackmail, which still, so +to speak, held good, had cast a new light on him. But now Taynton was +conscious of no grudge against him; he did not say, "he can look after +himself." He was anxious about his continued absence, and had taken the +extreme step of calling in the aid of the police, the national guardian +of personal safety. + +He got away from his office about half-past twelve and in preparation for +the little dinner festival of this evening, for Miss Templeton had sent +her joyful telegraphic acceptance, went to several shops to order some +few little delicacies to grace his plain bachelor table. An ice-pudding, +for instance, was outside the orbit, so he feared of his plain though +excellent cook, and two little dishes of chocolates and sweets, since he +was at the confectioner's, would be appropriate to the taste of his lady +guests. Again a floral decoration of the table was indicated, and since +the storm of Thursday, there was nothing in his garden worthy of the +occasion; thus a visit to the florist's resulted in an order for smilax +and roses. + + * * * * * + +He got home, however, at his usual luncheon hour to find a telegram +waiting for him on the Heppelwhite table in the hall. There had been a +continued buying of copper shares, and the feature was a sensational rise +in Bostons, which during the morning had gone up a clear point. + +Mr. Taynton had no need to make calculations; he knew, as a man knows the +multiplication table of two, what every fraction of a rise in Bostons +meant to him, and this, provided only he had time to sell at once, meant +the complete recovery of the losses he had suffered. With those active +markets it was still easily possible though it was Saturday, to effect +his sale, since there was sure to be long continued business in the +Street and he had but to be able to exercise his option at that price, to +be quit of that dreadful incubus of anxiety which for the last two years +had been a millstone round his neck that had grown mushroom like. The +telephone to town, of course, was far the quickest mode of communication, +and having given his order he waited ten minutes till the tube babbled +and croaked to him again. + +There is a saying that things are "too good to be true," but when Mr. +Taynton sat down to his lunch that day, he felt that the converse of the +proverb was the correcter epigram. Things could be so good that they +must be true, and here, still ringing in his ears was one of +them--Morris--it was thus he phrased it to himself--was "paid off," or, +in more business-like language, the fortune of which Mr. Taynton was +trustee was intact again, and, like a tit-bit for a good child, there was +an additional five or six hundred pounds for him who had managed the +trust so well. Mr. Taynton could not help feeling somehow that he +deserved it; he had increased Morris's fortune since he had charge of it +by L10,000. And what a lesson, too, he had had, so gently and painlessly +taught him! No one knew better than he how grievously wrong he had got, +in gambling with trust money. Yet now it had come right: he had repaired +the original wrong; on Monday he would reinvest this capital in those +holdings which he had sold, and Morris's L40,000 (so largely the result +of careful and judicious investment) would certainly stand the scrutiny +of any who could possibly have any cause to examine his ledgers. Indeed +there would be nothing to see. Two years ago Mr. Morris Assheton's +fortune was invested in certain railway debentures and Government stock. +It would in a few days' time be invested there again, precisely as it had +been. Mr. Taynton had not been dealing in gilt-edged securities lately, +and could not absolutely trust his memory, but he rather thought that the +repurchase could be made at a somewhat smaller sum than had been realised +by their various sales dating from two years ago. In that case there was +a little more _sub rosa_ reward for this well-inspired justice, weighed +but featherwise against the overwhelming relief of the knowledge he could +make wrong things right again, repair his, yes, his scoundrelism. + +How futile, too, now, was Mills's threatened blackmail! Mills might, if +he chose, proclaim on any convenient housetop, that his partner had +gambled with Morris's L40,000 that according to the ledgers was invested +in certain railway debentures and other gilt-edged securities. In a few +days, any scrutiny might be made of the securities lodged at the County +Bank, and assuredly among them would be found those debentures, those +gilt-edged securities exactly as they appeared in the ledgers. Yet Mr. +Taynton, so kindly is the nature of happiness, contemplated no revengeful +step on his partner; he searched his heart and found that no trace of +rancour against poor Mills was hoarded there. + +Whether happiness makes us good, is a question not yet decided, but it is +quite certain that happiness makes us forget that we have been bad, and +it seemed to Mr. Taynton, as he sat in his cool dining-room, and ate his +lunch with a more vivid appetite than had been his for many months, it +seemed that the man who had gambled with his client's money was no longer +himself; it was a perfectly different person who had done that. It was a +different man, too, who, so few days ago had connived at and applauded +the sorry trick which Mills had tried to play on Morris, when (so +futilely, it is true) he had slandered him to Sir Richard. Now he felt +that he--this man that to-day sat here--was incapable of such meannesses. +And, thank God, it was never too late; from to-day he would lead the +honourable, upright existence which the world (apart from his partner) +had always credited him with leading. + +He basked in the full sunshine of these happy and comfortable thoughts, +and even as the sun of midsummer lingered long on the sea and hills, so +for hours this inward sunshine warmed and cheered him. Nor was it till +he saw by his watch that he must return from the long pleasant ramble on +which he had started as soon as lunch was over, that a cloud filmy and +thin at first began to come across the face of the sun. Once and again +those genial beams dispersed it, but soon it seemed as if the vapours +were getting the upper hand. A thought, in fact, had crossed Mr. +Taynton's mind that quite distinctly dimmed his happiness. But a little +reflection told him that a very simple step on his part would put that +right again, and he walked home rather more quickly than he had set out, +since he had this little bit of business to do before dinner. + +He went--this was only natural--to the house where Mr. Mills's flat was +situated, and inquired of the porter whether his partner had yet +returned. But the same answer as before was given him, and saying that +he had need of a document that Mills had taken home with him three days +before he went up in the lift, and rang the bell of the flat. But it was +not his servant who opened it, but sad Superintendent Figgis. + +For some reason this was rather a shock to Mr. Taynton; to expect one +face and see another is always (though ever so slightly) upsetting, but +he instantly recovered himself and explained his errand. + +"My partner took home with him on Tuesday a paper, which is concerned +with my business," he said. "Would you kindly let me look round +for it?" + +Mr. Figgis weighed this request. + +"Nothing must be removed from the rooms," he said, "till we have finished +our search." + +"Search for what?" asked Mr. Taynton. + +"Any possible clue as to the reason of Mr. Mills's disappearance. But in +ten minutes we shall have done, if you care to wait." + +"I don't want to remove anything." said the lawyer. "I merely want to +consult--" + +At the moment another man in plain clothes came out of the sitting-room. +He carried in his hand two or three letters, and a few scraps of crumpled +paper. There was an envelope or two among them. + +"We have finished, sir," he said to the Superintendent. + +Mr. Figgis turned to the lawyer, who was looking rather fixedly at what +the other man had in his hand. + +"My document may be among those," he said. + +Mr. Figgis handed them to him. There were two envelopes, both addressed +to the missing man, one bearing his name only, some small torn-up scrap +of paper, and three or four private letters. + +"Is it among these?" he asked. + +Mr. Taynton turned them over. + +"No," he said, "it was--it was a large, yes, a large blue paper, +official looking." + +"No such thing in the flat, sir," said the second man. + +"Very annoying," said the lawyer. + +An idea seemed slowly to strike Mr. Figgis. + +"He may have taken it to London with him," he said. "But will you not +look round?" + +Mr. Taynton did so. He also looked in the waste-paper basket, but it +was empty. + +So he went back to make ready to receive his guests, for the little +party. But it had got dark; this "document" whatever it was, appeared to +trouble him. The simple step he had contemplated had not led him in quite +the right direction. + +The Superintendent with his colleague went back into the sitting-room +on the lawyer's departure, and Mr. Figgis took from his pocket most of +his notes. + +"I went to the station, Wilkinson," he said, "and in the lost luggage +office I found Mr. Mills's bag. It had arrived on Thursday evening. But +it seems pretty certain that its owner did not arrive with it." + +"Looks as if he did get out at Falmer," said Wilkinson. + +Figgis took a long time to consider this. + +"It is possible," he said. "It is also possible that he put his luggage +into the train in London, and subsequently missed the train himself." + +Then together they went through the papers that might conceivably help +them. There was a torn-up letter found in his bedroom fireplace, and the +crumpled up envelope that belonged to it. They patiently pieced this +together, but found nothing of value. The other letters referred only to +his engagements in London, none of which were later than Thursday +morning. There remained one crumpled up envelope (also from the +paperbasket) but no letter that in any way corresponded with it. It was +addressed in a rather sprawling, eager, boyish hand. + +"No letter of any sort to correspond?" asked Figgis for the second time. + +"No." + +"I think for the present we will keep it," said he. + + * * * * * + +The little party at Mr. Taynton's was gay to the point of foolishness, +and of them all none was more light-hearted than the host. Morris had +asked him in an undertone, on arrival, whether any more had been heard, +and learning there was still no news, had dismissed the subject +altogether. The sunshine of the day, too, had come back to the lawyer; +his usual cheerful serenity was touched with a sort of sympathetic +boisterousness, at the huge spirits of the young couple and it was to be +recorded that after dinner they played musical chairs and blind-man's +buff, with infinite laughter. Never was an elderly solicitor so +spontaneously gay; indeed before long it was he who reinfected the others +with merriment. But as always, after abandonment to laughter a little +reaction followed, and when they went upstairs from his sitting-room +where they had been so uproarious, so that it might be made tidy again +before Sunday, and sat in the drawing-room overlooking the street, there +did come this little reaction. But it was already eleven, and soon Mrs. +Assheton rose to go. + +The night was hot, and Morris was sitting to cool himself by the open +window, leaning his head out to catch the breeze. The street was very +empty and quiet, and his motor, in which as a great concession, his +mother had consented to be carried, on the promise of his going slow, +had already come for them. Then down at the seaward end of the street +he heard street-cries, as if some sudden news had come in that sent +the vendors of the evening papers out to reap a second harvest that +night. He could not, however, catch what it was, and they all went +downstairs together. + +Madge was going home with them, for she was stopping over the Sunday with +Mrs. Assheton, and the two ladies had already got into the car, while +Morris was still standing on the pavement with his host. + +Then suddenly a newsboy, with a sheaf of papers still hot from the press, +came running from the corner of the street just above them, and as he +ran he shouted out the news which was already making little groups of +people collect and gather in the streets. + +Mr. Taynton turned quickly as the words became audible, seized a paper +from the boy, giving him the first coin that he found, and ran back into +the hall of his house, Morris with him, to beneath the electric light +that burned there. The shrill voice of the boy still shouting the news of +murder got gradually less loud as he went further down the street. + +They read the short paragraph together, and then looked at each other +with mute horror in their eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +The inquest was held at Falmer on the Monday following, when the body was +formally identified by Mr. Taynton and Mills's servant, and they both had +to give evidence as regards what they knew of the movements of the +deceased. This, as a matter of fact, Mr. Taynton had already given to +Figgis, and in his examination now he repeated with absolute exactitude +what he had said before including again the fact that Morris had gone up +to town on Friday morning to try to find him there. On this occasion, +however, a few further questions were put to him, eliciting the fact that +the business on which Morris wanted to see him was known to Mr. Taynton +but could not be by him repeated since it dealt with confidential +transactions between the firm of solicitors and their client. The +business was, yes, of the nature of a dispute, but Mr. Taynton regarded +it as certain that some amicable arrangement would have been come to, had +the interview taken place. As it had not, however, since Morris had not +found him at his flat in town, he could not speak for certain on this +subject. The dispute concerned an action of his partner's, made +independently of him. Had he been consulted he would have strongly +disapproved of it. + +The body, as was made public now, had been discovered by accident, +though, as has been seen, the probability of Mills having got out at +Falmer had been arrived at by the police, and Figgis immediately after +his interview with Mr. Taynton on the Saturday evening had started for +Falmer to make inquiries there, and had arrived there within a few +minutes of the discovery of the body. A carpenter of that village had +strolled out about eight o'clock that night with his two children while +supper was being got ready, and had gone a piece of the way up the path +over the downs, which left the road at the corner of Falmer Park. The +children were running and playing about, hiding and seeking each other +in the bracken-filled hollows, and among the trees, when one of them +screamed suddenly, and a moment afterward they both came running to +their father, saying that they had come upon a man in one of these +copses, lying on his face and they were frightened. He had gone to see +what this terrifying person was, and had found the body. He went +straight back to the village without touching anything, for it was clear +both from what he saw and from the crowd of buzzing flies that the man +was dead, and gave information to the police. Then within a few minutes +from that, Mr. Figgis had arrived from Brighton, to find that it was +superfluous to look any further or inquire any more concerning the +whereabouts of the missing man. All that was mortal of him was here, the +head covered with a cloth, and bits of the fresh summer growth of fern +and frond sticking to his clothing. + +After the identification of the body came evidence medical and otherwise +that seemed to show beyond doubt the time and manner of his death and the +possible motive of the murderer. The base of the skull was smashed in, +evidently by some violent blow dealt from behind with a blunt heavy +instrument of some sort, and death had probably been instantaneous. In +one of the pockets was a first edition of an evening paper published in +London on Thursday last, which fixed the earliest possible time at which +the murder had been committed, while in the opinion of the doctor who +examined the body late on Saturday night, the man had been dead not less +than forty-eight hours. In spite of the very heavy rain which had fallen +on Thursday night, there were traces of a pool of blood about midway +between the clump of bracken where the body was found, and the path over +the downs leading from Falmer to Brighton. This, taken in conjunction +with the information already given by Mr. Taynton, made it practically +certain that the deceased had left London on the Thursday as he had +intended to do, and had got out of the train at Falmer, also according to +his expressed intention, to walk to Brighton. It would again have been +most improbable that he would have started on his walk had the storm +already begun. But the train by which his bag was conveyed to Brighton +arrived at Falmer at half-past six, the storm did not burst till an hour +afterward. Finally, with regard to possible motive, the murdered man's +watch was missing; his pockets also were empty of coin. + +This concluded the evidence, and the verdict was brought in without the +jury leaving the court, and "wilful murder by person or persons unknown" +was recorded. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Taynton, as was indeed to be expected, had been much affected during +the giving of his evidence, and when the inquest was over, he returned to +Brighton feeling terribly upset by this sudden tragedy, which had crashed +without warning into his life. It had been so swift and terrible; without +sign or preparation this man, whom he had known so long, had been hurled +from life and all its vigour into death. And how utterly now Mr. Taynton +forgave him for that base attack that he had made on him, so few days +ago; how utterly, too, he felt sure Morris had forgiven him for what was +perhaps even harder to forgive. And if they could forgive trespasses like +these, they who were of human passion and resentments, surely the reader +of all hearts would forgive. That moment of agony short though it might +have been in actual duration, when the murderous weapon split through the +bone and scattered the brain, surely brought punishment and therefore +atonement for the frailties of a life-time. + +Mr. Taynton, on his arrival back at Brighton that afternoon, devoted a +couple of solitary hours to such thoughts as these, and others to which +this tragedy naturally gave rise and then with a supreme effort of will +he determined to think no more on the subject. It was inevitable that +his mind should again and again perhaps for weeks and months to come +fall back on these dreadful events, but his will was set on not +permitting himself to dwell on them. So, though it was already late in +the afternoon, he set forth again from his house about tea-time, to +spend a couple of hours at the office. He had sent word to Mr. Timmins +that he would probably come in, and begin to get through the arrears +caused by his unavoidable absence that morning, and he found his head +clerk waiting for him. A few words were of course appropriate, and they +were admirably chosen. + +"You have seen the result of the inquest, no doubt, Mr. Timmins," he +said, "and yet one hardly knows whether one wishes the murderer to be +brought to justice. What good does that do, now our friend is dead? So +mean and petty a motive too; just for a watch and a few sovereigns. It +was money bought at a terrible price, was it not? Poor soul, poor soul; +yes, I say that of the murderer. Well, well, we must turn our faces +forward, Mr. Timmins; it is no use dwelling on the dreadful irremediable +past. The morning's post? Is that it?" + +Mr. Timmins ventured sympathy. + +"You look terribly worn out, sir," he said. "Wouldn't it be wiser to +leave it till to-morrow? A good night's rest, you know, sir, if you'll +excuse my mentioning it." + +"No, no, Mr. Timmins, we must get to work again, we must get to work." + +Nature, inspired by the spirit and instinct of life, is wonderfully +recuperative. Whether earthquake or famine, fire or pestilence has +blotted out a thousand lives, those who are left, like ants when their +house is disturbed, waste but little time after the damage has been done +in vain lamentations, but, slaves to the force of life, begin almost +instantly to rebuild and reconstruct. And what is true of the community +is true also of the individual, and thus in three days from this dreadful +morning of the inquest, Mr. Taynton, after attending the funeral of the +murdered man, was very actively employed, since the branch of the firm in +London, deprived of its head, required supervision from him. Others also, +who had been brought near to the tragedy, were occupied again, and of +these Morris in particular was a fair example of the spirit of the +Life-force. His effort, no doubt, was in a way easier than that made by +Mr. Taynton, for to be twenty-two years old and in love should be +occupation sufficient. But he, too, had his bad hours, when the past rose +phantom-like about him, and he recalled that evening when his rage had +driven him nearly mad with passion against his traducer. And by an awful +coincidence, his madness had been contemporaneous with the slanderer's +death. He must, in fact, have been within a few hundred yards of the +place at the time the murder was committed, for he had gone back to +Falmer Park that day, with the message that Mr. Taynton would call on the +morrow, and had left the place not half an hour before the breaking of +the storm. He had driven by the corner of the Park, where the path over +the downs left the main road and within a few hundred yards of him at +that moment, had been, dead or alive, the man who had so vilely slandered +him. Supposing--it might so easily have happened--they had met on the +road. What would he have done? Would he have been able to pass him and +not wreaked his rage on him? He hardly dared to think of that. But, life +and love were his, and that which might have been was soon dreamlike in +comparison of these. Indeed, that dreadful dream which he had had the +night after the murder had been committed was no less real than it. The +past was all of this texture, and mistlike, it was evaporated in the +beams of the day that was his. + +Now Brighton is a populous place, and a sunny one, and many people lounge +there in the sun all day. But for the next three or four days a few of +these loungers lounged somewhat systematically. One lounged in Sussex +Square, another lounged in Montpellier Road, one or two others who +apparently enjoyed this fresh air but did not care about the town itself, +usually went to the station after breakfast, and spent the day in +rambling agreeably about the downs. They also frequented the pleasant +little village of Falmer, gossiping freely with its rural inhabitants. +Often footmen or gardeners from the Park came down to the village, and +acquaintances were easily ripened in the ale-house. Otherwise there was +not much incident in the village; sometimes a motor drove by, and one, +after an illegally fast progress along the road, very often turned in at +the park gates. But no prosecution followed; it was clear they were not +agents of the police. Mr. Figgis, also, frequently came out from +Brighton, and went strolling about too, very slowly and sadly. He often +wandered in the little copses that bordered the path over the downs to +Brighton, especially near the place where it joined the main road a few +hundred yards below Falmer station. Then came a morning when neither he +nor any of the other chance visitors to Falmer were seen there any more. +But the evening before Mr. Figgis carried back with him to the train a +long thin package wrapped in brown paper. But on the morning when these +strangers were seen no more at Falmer, it appeared that they had not +entirely left the neighbourhood, for instead of one only being in the +neighbourhood of Sussex Square, there were three of them there. + +Morris had ordered the motor to be round that morning at eleven, and it +had been at the door some few minutes before he appeared. Martin had +driven it round from the stables, but he was in a suit of tweed; it +seemed that he was not going with it. Then the front door opened, and +Morris appeared as usual in a violent hurry. One of the strangers was on +the pavement close to the house door, looking with interest at the car. +But his interest in the car ceased when the boy appeared. And from the +railings of the square garden opposite another stranger crossed the road, +and from the left behind the car came a third. + +"Mr. Morris Assheton?" said the first. + +"Well, what then?" asked Morris. + +The two others moved a little nearer. + +"I arrest you in the King's name," said the first. + +Morris was putting on a light coat as he came across the pavement. One +arm was in, the other out. He stopped dead; and the bright colour of his +face slowly faded, leaving a sort of ashen gray behind. His mouth +suddenly went dry, and it was only at the third attempt to speak that +words came. + +"What for?" he said. + +"For the murder of Godfrey Mills," said the man. "Here is the warrant. I +warn you that all you say--" + +Morris, whose lithe athletic frame had gone slack for the moment, +stiffened himself up again. + +"I am not going to say anything," he said. "Martin, drive to Mr. +Taynton's at once, and tell him that I am arrested." + +The other two now had closed round him. + +"Oh, I'm not going to bolt," he said. "Please tell me where you are going +to take me." + +"Police Court in Branksome Street," said the first. + +"Tell Mr. Taynton I am there," said Morris to his man. + +There was a cab at the corner of the square, and in answer to an +almost imperceptible nod from one of the men, it moved up to the +house. The square was otherwise nearly empty, and Morris looked round +as the cab drew nearer. Upstairs in the house he had just left, was +his mother who was coming out to Falmer this evening to dine; above +illimitable blue stretched from horizon to horizon, behind was the +free fresh sea. Birds chirped in the bushes and lilac was in flower. +Everything had its liberty. + +Then a new instinct seized him, and though a moment before he had given +his word that he was not meditating escape, liberty called to him. +Everything else was free. He rushed forward, striking right and left +with his arms, then tripped on the edge of the paving stones and fell. +He was instantly seized, and next moment was in the cab, and fetters of +steel, though he could not remember their having been placed there, were +on his wrists. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +It was a fortnight later, a hot July morning, and an unusual animation +reigned in the staid and leisurely streets of Lewes. For the Assizes +opened that day, and it was known that the first case to be tried was the +murder of which all Brighton and a large part of England had been talking +so much since Morris Assheton had been committed for trial. At the +hearing in the police-court there was not very much evidence brought +forward, but there had been sufficient to make it necessary that he +should stand his trial. It was known, for instance, that he had some very +serious reason for anger and resentment against his victim; those who had +seen him that day remembered him as being utterly unlike himself; he was +known to have been at Falmer Park that afternoon about six, and to have +driven home along the Falmer Road in his car an hour or so later. And in +a copse close by to where the body of the murdered man was found had been +discovered a thick bludgeon of a stick, broken it would seem by some +violent act, into two halves. On the top half was rudely cut with a +pen-knife M. ASSHE ... What was puzzling, however, was the apparent +motive of robbery about the crime; it will be remembered that the +victim's watch was missing, and that no money was found on him. + +But since Morris had been brought up for committal at the police-court it +was believed that a quantity more evidence of a peculiarly incriminating +kind had turned up. Yet in spite of this, so it was rumoured, the +prisoner apparently did more than bear up; it was said that he was quite +cheerful, quite confident that his innocence would be established. Others +said that he was merely callous and utterly without any moral sense. Much +sympathy of course was felt for his mother, and even more for the family +of the Templetons and the daughter to whom it was said that Morris was +actually engaged. And, as much as anyone it was Mr. Taynton who was the +recipient of the respectful pity of the British public. Though no +relation he had all his life been a father to Morris, and while Miss +Madge Templeton was young and had the spring and elasticity of youth, so +that, though all this was indeed terrible enough, she might be expected +to get over it, Mr. Taynton was advanced in years and it seemed that he +was utterly broken by the shock. He had not been in Brighton on the day +on which Morris was brought before the police-court magistrates, and the +news had reached him in London after his young friend had been committed. +It was said he had fainted straight off, and there had been much +difficulty in bringing him round. But since then he had worked day and +night on behalf of the accused. But certain fresh evidence which had +turned up a day or two before the Assizes seemed to have taken the heart +out of him. He had felt confident that the watch would have been found, +and the thief traced. But something new that had turned up had utterly +staggered him. He could only cling to one hope, and that was that he knew +the evidence about the stick must break down, for it was he who had +thrown the fragments into the bushes, a fact which would come to light in +his own evidence. But at the most, all he could hope for was, that though +it seemed as if the poor lad must be condemned, the jury, on account of +his youth, and the provocation he had received, of which Mr. Taynton +would certainly make the most when called upon to bear witness on this +point, or owing to some weakness in the terrible chain of evidence that +had been woven, would recommend him to mercy. + +The awful formalities at the opening of the case were gone through. The +judge took his seat, and laid on the bench in front of him a small parcel +wrapped up in tissue paper; the jury was sworn in, and the prisoner asked +if he objected to the inclusion of any of those among the men who were +going to decide whether he was worthy of life or guilty of death, and the +packed court, composed about equally of men and women, most of whom would +have shuddered to see a dog beaten, or a tired hare made to go an extra +mile, settled themselves in their places with a rustle of satisfaction at +the thought of seeing a man brought before them in the shame of +suspected murder, and promised themselves an interesting and thrilling +couple of days in observing the gallows march nearer him, and in watching +his mental agony. They who would, and perhaps did, subscribe to +benevolent institutions for the relief of suffering among the lower +animals, would willingly have paid a far higher rate to observe the +suffering of a man. He was so interesting; he was so young and +good-looking; what a depraved monster he must be. And that little package +in tissue paper which the judge brought in and laid on the bench! The +black cap, was it not? That showed what the judge thought about it all. +How thrilling! + +Counsel for the Crown, opened the case, and in a speech grimly devoid of +all emotional appeal, laid before the court the facts he was prepared to +prove, on which they would base their verdict. + +The prisoner, a young man of birth and breeding, had strong grounds for +revenge on the murdered man. The prosecution, however, was not concerned +in defending what the murdered man had done, but in establishing the +guilt of the man who had murdered him. Godfrey Mills, had, as could be +proved by witnesses, slandered the prisoner in an abominable manner, and +the prosecution were not intending for a moment to attempt to establish +the truth of his slander. But this slander they put forward as a motive +that gave rise to a murderous impulse on the part of the prisoner. The +jury would hear from one of the witnesses, an old friend of the +prisoner's, and a man who had been a sort of father to him, that a few +hours only before the murder was committed the prisoner had uttered +certain words which admitted only of one interpretation, namely that +murder was in his mind. That the provocation was great was not denied; +it was certain however, that the provocation was sufficient. + +Counsel then sketched the actual circumstances of the crime, as far as +they could be constructed from what evidence there was. This evidence was +purely circumstantial, but of a sort which left no reasonable doubt that +the murder had been committed by the prisoner in the manner suggested. +Mr. Godfrey Mills had gone to London on the Tuesday of the fatal week, +intending to return on the Thursday. On the Wednesday the prisoner became +cognisant of the fact that Mr. Godfrey Mills had--he would not argue over +it--wantonly slandered him to Sir Richard Templeton, a marriage with the +daughter of whom was projected in the prisoner's mind, which there was +reason to suppose, might have taken place. Should the jury not be +satisfied on that point, witnesses would be called, including the young +lady herself, but unless the counsel for the defence challenged their +statement, namely that this slander had been spoken which contributed, so +it was argued, a motive for the crime it would be unnecessary to intrude +on the poignant and private grief of persons so situated, and to insist +on a scene which must prove to be so heart-rendingly painful. + +(There was a slight movement of demur in the humane and crowded court at +this; it was just these heart-rendingly painful things which were so +thrilling.) + +It was most important, continued counsel for the prosecution that the +jury should fix these dates accurately in their minds. Tuesday was June +21st; it was on that day the murdered man had gone to London, designing +to return on June 23d, Thursday. The prisoner had learned on Wednesday +(June 22d) that aspersions had been made, false aspersions, on his +character, and it was on Thursday that he learned for certain from the +lips of the man to whom they had been made, who was the author of them. +The author was Mr. Godfrey Mills. He had thereupon motored back from +Falmer Park, and informed Mr. Taynton of this, and had left again for +Falmer an hour later to make an appointment for Mr. Taynton to see Sir +Richard. He knew, too, this would be proved, that Mr. Godfrey Mills +proposed to return from London that afternoon, to get out at Falmer +station and walk back to Brighton. It was certain from the finding of the +body that Mr. Mills had travelled from London, as he intended, and that +he had got out at this station. It was certain also that at that hour the +prisoner, burning for vengeance, and knowing the movements of Mr. Mills, +was in the vicinity of Falmer. + +To proceed, it was certain also that the prisoner in a very strange wild +state had arrived at Mr. Taynton's house about nine that evening, knowing +that Mr. Mills was expected there at about 9.30. Granted that he had +committed the murder, this proceeding was dictated by the most elementary +instinct of self-preservation. It was also in accordance with that that +he had gone round in the pelting rain late that night to see if the +missing man had returned to his flat, and that he had gone to London next +morning to seek him there. He had not, of course, found him, and he +returned to Brighton that afternoon. In connection with this return, +another painful passage lay before them, for it would be shown by one of +the witnesses that again on the Friday afternoon the prisoner had visited +the scene of the crime. Mr. Taynton, in fact, still unsuspicious of +anything being wrong had walked over the Downs that afternoon from +Brighton to Falmer, and had sat down in view of the station where he +proposed to catch a train back to Brighton, and had seen the prisoner +stop his motor-car close to the corner where the body had been found, and +behave in a manner inexplicable except on the theory that he knew where +the body lay. Subsequently to the finding of the body, which had occurred +on Saturday evening, there had been discovered in a coppice adjoining a +heavy bludgeon-like stick broken in two. The top of it, which would be +produced, bore the inscription M. ASSHE... + +Mr. Taynton was present in court, and was sitting on the bench to the +right of the judge who had long been a personal friend of his. Hitherto +his face had been hidden in his hands, as this terribly logical tale +went on. But here he raised it, and smiled, a wan smile enough, at +Morris. The latter did not seem to notice the action. Counsel for the +prosecution continued. + +All this, he said, had been brought forward at the trial before the +police-court magistrates, and he thought the jury would agree that it was +more than sufficient to commit the prisoner to trial. At that trial, too, +they had heard, the whole world had heard, of the mystery of the missing +watch, and the missing money. No money, at least, had been found on the +body; it was reasonable to refer to it as "missing." But here again, the +motive of self-preservation came in; the whole thing had been carefully +planned; the prisoner, counsel suggested, had, just as he had gone up to +town to find Mr. Mills the day after the murder was committed, striven to +put justice off the scent in making it appear that the motive for the +crime, had been robbery. With well-calculated cunning he had taken the +watch and what coins there were, from the pockets of his victim. That at +any rate was the theory suggested by the prosecution. + +The speech was admirably delivered, and its virtue was its extreme +impassiveness; it seemed quite impersonal, the mere automatic action of +justice, not revengeful, not seeking for death, but merely stating the +case as it might be stated by some planet or remote fixed star. Then +there was a short pause, while the prosecutor for the Crown laid down his +notes. And the same slow, clear, impassive voice went on. + +"But since the committal of the prisoner to stand his trial at these +assizes," he said, "more evidence of an utterly unexpected, but to us +convincing kind has been discovered. Here it is." And he held up a sheet +of blotting paper, and a crumpled envelope. + +"A letter has been blotted on this sheet," he said, "and by holding it up +to the light and looking through it, one can, of course, read what was +written. But before I read it, I will tell you from where this sheet was +taken. It was taken from a blotting book in the drawing-room of Mrs. +Assheton's house in Sussex Square. An expert in handwriting will soon +tell the gentlemen of the jury in whose hand he without doubt considers +it to be written. After the committal of the prisoner to trial, search +was of course made in this house, for further evidence. This evidence was +almost immediately discovered. After that no further search was made." + +The judge looked up from his notes. + +"By whom was this discovery made?" he asked. + +"By Superintendent Figgis and Sergeant Wilkinson, my lord. They will +give their evidence." + +He waited till the judge had entered this. + +"I will read the letter," he said, "from the negative, so to speak, of +the blotting paper." + +"June 21st. + +"TO GODFREY MILLS, ESQ. + +"You damned brute, I will settle you. I hear you are coming back to +Brighton to-morrow, and are getting out at Falmer. All right; I shall be +there, and we shall have a talk. + +"MORRIS ASSHETON." + +A sort of purr went round the court; the kind humane ladies and gentlemen +who had fought for seats found this to their taste. The noose tightened. + +"I have here also an envelope," said the prosecutor, "which was found by +Mr. Figgis and Mr. Wilkinson in the waste-paper basket in the +sitting-room of the deceased. According to the expert in handwriting, +whose evidence you will hear, it is undoubtedly addressed by the same +hand that wrote the letter I have just read you. And, in his opinion, +the handwriting is that of the prisoner. No letter was found in the +deceased man's room corresponding to this envelope, but the jury will +observe that what I have called the negative of the letter on the +blotting-paper was dated June 21st, the day that the prisoner suspected +the slander that had been levelled at him. The suggestion is that the +deceased opened this before leaving for London, and took the letter with +him. And the hand, that for the purposes of misleading justice, robbed +him of his watch and his money, also destroyed the letter which was then +on his person, and which was an incriminating document. But this sheet +of blotting paper is as valuable as the letter itself. It proves the +letter to have been written." + + * * * * * + +Morris had been given a seat in the dock, and on each side of him there +stood a prison-warder. But in the awed hush that followed, for the +vultures and carrion crows who crowded the court were finding +themselves quite beautifully thrilled, he wrote a few words on a slip +of paper and handed it to a warder to give to his counsel. And his +counsel nodded to him. + +The opening speech for the Crown had lasted something over two hours, and +a couple of witnesses only were called before the interval for lunch. But +most of the human ghouls had brought sandwiches with them, and the court +was packed with the same people when Morris was brought up again after +the interval, and the judge, breathing sherry, took his seat. The court +had become terribly hot, but the public were too humane to mind that. A +criminal was being chased toward the gallows, and they followed his +progress there with breathless interest. Step by step all that was laid +down in the opening speech for the prosecution was inexorably proved, +all, that is to say, except the affair of the stick. But from what a +certain witness (Mr. Taynton) swore to, it was clear that this piece of +circumstantial evidence, which indeed was of the greatest importance +since the Crown's case was that the murder had been committed with that +bludgeon of a stick, completely broke down. Whoever had done the murder, +he had not done it with that stick, since Mr. Taynton deposed to having +been at Mrs. Assheton's house on the Friday, the day after the murder had +been committed, and to having taken the stick away by mistake, believing +it to be his. And the counsel for the defence only asked one question on +this point, which question closed the proceedings for the day. It was: + +"You have a similar stick then?" + +And Mr. Taynton replied in the affirmative. + +The court then rose. + + * * * * * + +On the whole the day had been most satisfactory to the ghouls and +vultures and it seemed probable that they would have equally exciting and +plentiful fare next day. But in the opinion of many Morris's counsel was +disappointing. He did not cross-examine witnesses at all sensationally, +and drag out dreadful secrets (which had nothing to do with the case) +about their private lives, in order to show that they seldom if ever +spoke the truth. Indeed, witness after witness was allowed to escape +without any cross-examination at all; there was no attempt made to prove +that the carpenter who had found the body had been himself tried for +murder, or that his children were illegitimate. Yet gradually, as the +afternoon went on, a sort of impression began to make its way, that there +was something coming which no one suspected. + +The next morning those impressions were realised when the adjourned +cross-examination of Mr. Taynton was resumed. The counsel for the defence +made an immediate attack on the theories of the prosecution, and it told. +For the prosecution had suggested that Morris's presence at the scene of +the murder the day after was suspicious, as if he had come back uneasily +and of an unquiet conscience. If that was so, Mr. Taynton's presence +there, who had been the witness who proved the presence of the other, was +suspicious also. What had he come there for? In order to throw the broken +pieces of Morris's stick into the bushes? These inferences were of +course but suggested in the questions counsel asked Mr. Taynton in the +further cross-examination of this morning, and perhaps no one in court +saw what the suggestion was for a moment or two, so subtly and covertly +was it conveyed. Then it appeared to strike all minds together, and a +subdued rustle went round the court, followed the moment after by an even +intenser silence. + +Then followed a series of interrogations, which at first seemed wholly +irrelevant, for they appeared to bear only on the business relations +between the prisoner and the witness. Then suddenly like the dim light at +the end of a tunnel, where shines the pervading illuminating sunlight, a +little ray dawned. + +"You have had control of the prisoner's private fortune since 1886?" + +"Yes." + +"In the year 1896 he had L8,000 or thereabouts in London and +North-Western Debentures, L6,000 in Consols, L7,000 in Government bonds +of South Australia?" + +"I have no doubt those figures are correct." + +"A fortnight ago you bought L8,000 of London and North-Western +Debentures, L6,000 in Consols, L7,000 in Government bonds of South +Australia?" + +Mr. Taynton opened his lips to speak, but no sound came from them. + +"Please answer the question." + +If there had been a dead hush before, succeeding the rustle that had +followed the suggestions about the stick, a silence far more palpable now +descended. There was no doubt as to what the suggestion was now. + +The counsel for the prosecution broke in. + +"I submit that these questions are irrelevant, my lord," he said. + +"I shall subsequently show, my lord, that they are not." + +"The witness must answer the question," said the judge. "I see that there +is a possible relevancy." + +The question was answered. + +"Thank you, that is all," said the counsel for the defence, and Mr. +Taynton left the witness box. + +It was then, for the first time since the trial began, that Morris +looked at this witness. All through he had been perfectly calm and +collected, a circumstance which the spectators put down to the +callousness with which they kindly credited him, and now for the first +time, as Mr. Taynton's eyes and his met, an emotion crossed the +prisoner's face. He looked sorry. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +For the rest of the morning the examination of witnesses for the +prosecution went on, for there were a very large number of them, but when +the court rose for lunch, the counsel for the prosecution intimated that +this was his last. But again, hardly any but those engaged officially, +the judge, the counsel, the prisoner, the warder, left the court. Mr. +Taynton, however, went home, for he had his seat on the bench, and he +could escape for an hour from this very hot and oppressive atmosphere. +But he did not go to his Lewes office, or to any hotel to get his lunch. +He went to the station, where after waiting some quarter of an hour, he +took the train to Brighton. The train ran through Falmer and from his +window he could see where the Park palings made an angle close to the +road; it was from there that the path over the Downs, where he had so +often walked, passed to Brighton. + +Again the judge took his seat, still carrying the little parcel wrapped +up in tissue paper. + +There was no need for the usher to call silence, for the silence was +granted without being asked for. + +The counsel for the defence called the first witness; he also unwrapped a +flat parcel which he had brought into court with him, and handed it to +the witness. + +"That was supplied by your firm?" + +"Yes sir." + +"Who ordered it?" + +"Mr. Assheton." + +"Mr. Morris Assheton, that is. Did he order it from you, you yourself?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did he give any specific instructions about it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"What were they?" + +"That the blotting book which Mrs. Assheton had already ordered was to be +countermanded, and that this was to be sent in its stead on June 24th." + +"You mean not after June 24th?" + +"No, sir; the instructions were that it was not to be sent before +June 24th." + +"Why was that?" + +"I could not say, sir. Those were the instructions." + +"And it was sent on June 24th." + +"Yes, sir. It was entered in our book." + +The book in question was produced and handed to the jury and the judge. + +"That is all, Mrs. Assheton." + +She stepped into the box, and smiled at Morris. There was no murmur of +sympathy, no rustling; the whole thing was too tense. + +"You returned home on June 24th last, from a visit to town?" + +"Yes." + +"At what time?" + +"I could not say to the minute. But about eleven in the morning." + +"You found letters waiting for you?" + +"Yes." + +"Anything else?" + +"A parcel." + +"What did it contain?" + +"A blotting-book. It was a present from my son on my birthday." + +"Is this the blotting-book?" + +"Yes." + +"What did you do with it?" + +"I opened it and placed it on my writing table in the drawing-room." + +"Thank you; that is all." + +There was no cross-examination of this witness, and after the pause, the +counsel for the defence spoke again. + +"Superintendent Figgis." + +"You searched the house of Mrs. Assheton in Sussex Square?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"What did you take from it?" + +"A leaf from a blotting-book, sir." + +"Was it that leaf which has been already produced in court, bearing the +impress of a letter dated June 21st?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Where was the blotting-book?" + +"On the writing-table in the drawing-room, sir." + +"You did not examine the blotting-book in any way?" + +"No, sir." + +Counsel opened the book and fitted the torn out leaf into its place. + +"We have here the impress of a letter dated June 21st, written in a new +blotting-book that did not arrive at Mrs. Assheton's house from the shop +till June 24th. It threatens--threatens a man who was murdered, +supposedly by the prisoner, on June 23d. Yet this threatening letter was +not written till June 24th, after he had killed him." + +Quiet and unemotional as had been the address for the Crown, these few +remarks were even quieter. Then the examination continued. + +"You searched also the flat occupied by the deceased, and you found there +this envelope, supposedly in the handwriting of the prisoner, which has +been produced by the prosecution?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"This is it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Thank you. That is all." + +Again there was no cross-examination, and the superintendent left the +witness box. + +Then the counsel for the defence took up two blank envelopes in addition +to the one already produced and supposedly addressed in the handwriting +of the prisoner. + +"This blue envelope," he said, "is from the stationery in Mrs. +Assheton's house. This other envelope, white, is from the flat of the +deceased. It corresponds in every way with the envelope which was +supposed to be addressed in the prisoner's hand, found at the flat in +question. The inference is that the prisoner blotted the letter dated +June 21st on a blotting pad which did not arrive in Mrs. Assheton's house +till June 24th, went to the deceased's flat and put it an envelope +there." + +These were handed to the jury for examination. + +"Ernest Smedley," said counsel. + +Mills's servant stepped into the box, and was sworn. + +"Between, let us say June 21st and June 24th, did the prisoner call at +Mr. Mills's flat?" + +"Yes, sir, twice." + +"When?" + +"Once on the evening of June 23d, and once very early next morning." + +"Did he go in?" + +"Yes, sir, he came in on both occasions." + +"What for?" + +"To satisfy himself that Mr. Mills had not come back." + +"Did he write anything?" + +"No, sir." + +"How do you know that?" + +"I went with him from room to room, and should have seen if he had done +so." + +"Did anybody else enter the flat during those days?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Who?" + +"Mr. Taynton." + +The whole court seemed to give a great sigh; then it was quiet again. The +judge put down the pen with which he had been taking notes, and like the +rest of the persons present he only listened. + +"When did Mr. Taynton come into the flat?" + +"About mid-day or a little later on Friday." + +"June 24th?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Please tell the jury what he did?" + +The counsel for the prosecution stood up. + +"I object to that question," he said. + +The judge nodded at him; then looked at the witness again. The +examination went on. + +"You need not answer that question. I put it to save time, merely. Did +Mr. Taynton go into the deceased's sitting-room?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did he write anything there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Was he alone there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Thank you." + +Again the examining counsel paused, and again no question was asked by +the prosecution. + +"Charles Martin," said the counsel for defence. + +"You are a servant of the prisoner's?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You were in his service during this week of June, of which Friday was +June 24th?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Describe the events--No. Did the prisoner go up to town, or elsewhere on +that day, driving his motorcar, but leaving you in Brighton?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Mrs. Assheton came back that morning?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did anyone call that morning? If so, who?" + +"Mr. Taynton called." + +"Did he go to the drawing-room?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did he write anything there?" + +"Yes, sir; he wrote a note to Mrs. Assheton, which he gave me when he +went out." + +"You were not in the drawing-room, when he wrote it?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did he say anything to you when he left the house?" + +"Yes, sir," + +"What did he say?" + +The question was not challenged now. + +"He told me to say that he had left the note at the door." + +"But he had not done so?" + +"No, sir; he wrote it in the drawing-room." + +"Thank you. That is all." + +But this witness was not allowed to pass as the others had done. The +counsel for the prosecution got up. + +"You told Mrs. Assheton that it had been left at the door?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You knew that was untrue?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"For what reason did you say it, then?" + +Martin hesitated; he looked down, then he looked up again, and was +still silent. + +"Answer the question." + +His eyes met those of the prisoner. Morris smiled at him, and nodded. + +"Mr. Taynton told me to say that," he said, "I had once been in Mr. +Taynton's service. He dismissed me. I--" + +The judge interposed looking at the cross-examining counsel. + +"Do you press your question?" he asked. "I do not forbid you to ask it, +but I ask you whether the case for the prosecution of the--the prisoner +is furthered by your insisting on this question. We have all heard, the +jury and I alike, what the last three or four witnesses have said, and +you have allowed that--quite properly, in my opinion--to go +unchallenged. I do not myself see that there is anything to be gained by +the prosecution by pressing the question. I ask you to consider this +point. If you think conscientiously, that the evidence, the trend of +which we all know now, is to be shaken, you are right to do your best to +try to shake it. If not, I wish you to consider whether you should press +the question. What the result of your pressing it will be, I have no +idea, but it is certainly clear to us all now, that there was a threat +implied in Mr. Taynton's words. Personally I do not wish to know what +that threat was, nor do I see how the knowledge of it would affect your +case in my eyes, or in the eyes of the jury." + +There was a moment's pause. + +"No, my lord, I do not press it." + +Then a clear young voice broke the silence. + +"Thanks, Martin," it said. + +It came from the dock. + +The judge looked across to the dock for a moment, with a sudden +irresistible impulse of kindliness for the prisoner whom he was judging. + +"Charles Martin," he said, "you have given your evidence, and speaking +for myself, I believe it to be entirely trustworthy. I wish to say that +your character is perfectly clear. No aspersion whatever has been made on +it, except that you said a note had been delivered at the door, though +you knew it to have been not so delivered. You made that statement +through fear of a certain individual; you were frightened into telling a +lie. No one inquires into the sources of your fear." + +But in the general stillness, there was one part of the court that was +not still, but the judge made no command of silence there, for in the +jury-box there was whispering and consultation. It went on for some +three minutes. Then the foreman of the jury stood up. + +"The jury have heard sufficient of this case, my lord," he said, "and +they are agreed on their verdict." + + * * * * * + +For a moment the buzzing whispers went about the court again, shrilling +high, but instantaneously they died down, and the same tense silence +prevailed. But from the back of the court there was a stir, and the +judge seeing what it was that caused it waited, while Mrs. Assheton +moved from her place, and made her way to the front of the dock in which +Morris sat. She had been in the witness-box that day, and everyone knew +her, and all made way for her, moving as the blades of corn move when +the wind stirs them, for her right was recognised and unquestioned. But +the dock was high above her, and a barrister who sat below instantly +vacated his seat, she got up and stood on it. All eyes were fixed on +her, and none saw that at this moment a telegram was handed to the judge +which he opened and read. + +Then he turned to the foreman of the jury. + +"What verdict, do you find?" he asked. + +"Not guilty." + +Mrs. Assheton had already grasped Morris's hands in hers, and just as the +words were spoken she kissed him. + + * * * * * + +Then a shout arose which bade fair to lift the roof off, and neither +judge nor ushers of the court made any attempt to quiet it, and if it was +only for the sensation of seeing the gallows march nearer the prisoner +that these folk had come together, yet there was no mistaking the +genuineness of their congratulations now. Morris's whole behaviour too, +had been so gallant and brave; innocent though he knew himself to be, +yet it required a very high courage to listen to the damning accumulation +of evidence against him, and if there is one thing that the ordinary man +appreciates more than sensation, it is pluck. Then, but not for a long +time, the uproar subsided, and the silence descended again. Then the +judge spoke. + +"Mr. Assheton," he said, "for I no longer can call you prisoner, the jury +have of course found you not guilty of the terrible crime of which you +were accused, and I need not say that I entirely agree with their +verdict. Throughout the trial you have had my sympathy and my admiration +for your gallant bearing." Then at a sign from the judge his mother and +he were let out by the private door below the bench. + +After they had gone silence was restored. Everyone knew that there must +be more to come. The prisoner was found not guilty; the murder was still +unavenged. + +Then once more the judge spoke. + +"I wish to make public recognition," he said, "of the fairness and +ability with which the case was conducted on both sides. The prosecution, +as it was their duty to do, forged the chain of evidence against Mr. +Assheton as strongly as they were able, and pieced together incriminating +circumstances against him with a skill that at first seemed conclusive of +his guilt. The first thing that occurred to make a weak link in their +chain was the acknowledgment of a certain witness that the stick with +which the murder was supposed to have been committed was not left on the +spot by the accused, but by himself. Why he admitted that we can only +conjecture, but my conjecture is that it was an act of repentance and +contrition on his part. When it came to that point he could not let the +evidence which he had himself supplied tell against him on whom it was +clearly his object to father the crime. You will remember also that +certain circumstances pointed to robbery being the motive of the crime. +That I think was the first idea, so to speak of the real criminal. Then, +we must suppose, he saw himself safer, if he forged against another +certain evidence which we have heard." + +The judge paused for a moment, and then went on with evident emotion. + +"This case will never be reopened again," he said, "for a reason that I +will subsequently tell the court; we have seen the last of this tragedy, +and retribution and punishment are in the hands of a higher and supreme +tribunal. This witness, Mr. Edward Taynton--has been for years a friend +of mine, and the sympathy which I felt for him at the opening of the +case, when a young man, to whom I still believe him to have been +attached, was on his trial, is changed to a deeper pity. During the +afternoon you have heard certain evidence, from which you no doubt as +well as I infer that the fact of this murder having been committed was +known to the man who wrote a letter and blotted it on the sheet which has +been before the court. That man also, as it was clear to us an hour ago, +directed a certain envelope which you have also seen. I may add that Mr. +Taynton had, as I knew, an extraordinary knack of imitating handwritings; +I have seen him write a signature that I could have sworn was mine. But +he has used that gift for tragic purposes. + +"I have just received a telegram. He left this court before the luncheon +interval, and went to his house in Brighton. Arrived there, as I have +just learned, he poisoned himself. And may God have mercy on his soul." + +Again he paused. + +"The case therefore is closed," he said, "and the court will rise for the +day. You will please go out in silence." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blotting Book, by E. F. 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