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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/37963-8.txt b/37963-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc34219 --- /dev/null +++ b/37963-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11160 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Arnott's Marriage, by Richard Marsh + +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: Miss Arnott's Marriage + +Author: Richard Marsh + +Release Date: November 9, 2011 [EBook #37963] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by Google Books + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +1. Page scan source: + http://books.google.com/books?id=NTQPAAAAQAAJ. + +2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + + Miss Arnott's + Marriage + + + + + + + |-------------------------------| + | BY THE SAME AUTHOR | + | | + | * * * | + | | + | CURIOS | + | ADA VERNHAM, ACTRESS | + | MRS MUSGRAVE AND HER HUSBAND | + | THE MAGNETIC GIRL | + | | + | * * * | + | | + | John Long, Publisher, London | + |_______________________________| + + + + + + + + Miss Arnott's Marriage + + + + + By + Richard Marsh + + Author of "The Beetle," etc. + + + + + + London + John Long + 13 & 14 Norris Street, Haymarket + 1904 + + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAP. + + I. ROBERT CHAMPION'S WIFE. + + II. THE WOMAN ON THE PAVEMENT. + + III. THE HEIRESS ENTERS INTO HER OWN. + + IV. THE EARL OF PECKHAM'S PROPOSAL. + + V. TRESPASSING. + + VI. AN AUTHORITY ON THE LAW OF MARRIAGE. + + VII. MR MORICE PRESUMES. + + VIII. THE LADY WANDERS. + + IX. THE BEECH TREE. + + X. THE TALE WHICH WAS TOLD. + + XI. THE MAN ON THE FENCE. + + XII. WHAT SHE HEARD, SAW AND FOUND. + + XIII. AFTERWARDS. + + XIV. ON THE HIGH ROAD. + + XV. COOPER'S SPINNEY. + + XVI. JIM BAKER. + + XVII. INJURED INNOCENCE. + + XVIII. AT THE FOUR CROSS ROADS. + + XIX. THE BUTTONS OFF THE FOILS. + + XX. THE SOLICITOR'S CLERK. + + XXI. THE "NOTE". + + XXII. ERNEST GILBERT. + + XXIII. THE TWO MEN. + + XXIV. THE SOMNAMBULIST. + + XXV. HUGH MORICE EXPLAINS. + + XXVI. THE TWO MAIDS. + + XXVII. A CONFIDANT. + + XXVIII. MRS DARCY SUTHERLAND. + + XXIX. SOME PASSAGES OF ARMS. + + XXX. MISS ARNOTT IS EXAMINED. + + XXXI. THE TWO POLICEMEN. + + XXXII. THE HOUSEMAID'S TALE. + + XXXIII. ON HIS OWN CONFESSION. + + XXXIV. MR DAY WALKS HOME. + + XXXV. IN THE LADY'S CHAMBER. + + XXXVI. OUT OF SLEEP. + + XXXVII. WHAT WAS WRITTEN. + + XXXVIII. MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE. + + + + + + Miss Arnott's Marriage + + + + + CHAPTER I + + ROBERT CHAMPION'S WIFE + + +"Robert Champion, you are sentenced to twelve months' hard labour." + +As the chairman of the Sessions Court pronounced the words, the +prisoner turned right round in the dock, and glanced towards where he +knew his wife was standing. He caught her eye, and smiled. What +meaning, if any, the smile conveyed, he perhaps knew. She could only +guess. It was possibly intended to be a more careless, a more +light-hearted smile than it in reality appeared. Robert Champion had +probably not such complete control over his facial muscles as he would +have desired. There was a hunted, anxious look about the eyes, a +suggestion of uncomfortable pallor about the whole countenance which +rather detracted from the impression which she had no doubt that he had +intended to make. She knew the man well enough to be aware that nothing +would please him better than that she should suppose that he regarded +the whole proceedings with gay bravado, with complete indifference, +both for the powers that were and for the punishment which they had +meted out to him. But even if the expression on his face had not shown +that the cur in the man had, for the moment, the upper hand, the +unceremonious fashion in which the warders bundled him down the +staircase, and out of sight, would have been sufficient to prevent any +impression being left behind that he had departed from the scene in a +halo of dignity. + +As regards his wife, the effect made upon her by the whole proceedings +was an overwhelming consciousness of unbearable shame. When the man +with the cheap good looks was hustled away, as if he were some inferior +thing, the realisation that this was indeed her husband, was more than +she could endure. She reached out with her hand, as if in search of +some support, and, finding none, sank to the floor of the court in a +swoon. + +"Poor dear!" said a woman, standing near. "I expect she's something to +do with that scamp of a fellow--maybe she's his wife." + +"This sort of thing often is hardest on those who are left behind," +chimed in a man. "Sometimes it isn't those who are in prison who suffer +most; it's those who are outside." + +When, having regained some of her senses, Violet Champion found herself +in the street, she was inclined to call herself hard names for having +gone near the court at all. She had only gone because she feared that +if she stayed away she might not have learned how the thing had ended. +This crime of which Robert Champion had been guilty was such a petty, +such a paltry thing, that, so far as she knew, the earlier stages of +the case had not been reported at all. One or other of the few score +journals which London issues might have noticed it at some time, +somewhere. If so, it had escaped her observation. Her knowledge of +London papers was limited. They contained little which was likely to be +of interest to her. She hardly knew where to look for such comments. +The idea was not to be borne that she should be left in ignorance as to +how the case had gone, as to what had become of Robert Champion. +Anything rather than that. Her want of knowledge would have been to her +as a perpetual nightmare. She would have scarcely dared to show herself +in the streets for fear of encountering him. + +Yet, now that it was all over, and she knew the worst--or best--her +disposition was to blame herself for having strayed within the tainted +purlieus of that crime-haunted court. She felt as if the atmosphere of +the place had infected her with some loathsome bacillus. She also +thought it possible that he might have misconstrued the meaning of her +presence. He was in error if he had supposed that it was intended as a +mark of sympathy. In her complete ignorance of such matters she had no +notion as to the nature of the punishment to which he had rendered +himself liable. If he were sentenced to a long term of penal servitude +she simply wished to know it, that was all. In such a situation any +sort of certainty was better than none. But sympathy! If he had been +sentenced to be hung, her dominant sensation would have been one of +relief. The gallows would have been a way of escape. + +No one seeing the tall, handsome girl strolling listlessly along the +street would have connected her with such a sordid tragedy. But it +seemed to her that the stigma of Robert Champion's shame was branded +large all over her, that passers-by had only to glance at her to +perceive at once the depths into which she had fallen. + +And they were depths. Only just turned twenty-one; still a girl, and +already a wife who was no wife. For what sort of wife can she be called +who is mated to a convicted felon? And Robert Champion was one of +nature's felons; a rogue who preferred to be a rogue, who loved crooked +ways because of their crookedness, who would not run straight though +the chance were offered him. He was a man who, to the end of his life, +though he might manage to keep his carcase out of the actual hands of +the law, would render himself continually liable to its penalties. +Twelve months ago he was still a stranger. The next twelve months he +was to spend in gaol. When his term of imprisonment was completed would +their acquaintance be recommenced? + +At the thought of such a prospect the dizziness which had prostrated +her in court returned. At present she dared not dwell on it. + +She came at last to the house in Percy Street in which she had hired a +lodging. A single room, at the top of the house, the rent of which, +little though it was, was already proving a severe drain on her limited +resources. From the moment in which, at an early hour in the morning, +her husband had been dragged out of bed by policemen, she had +relinquished his name. There was nothing else of his she could +relinquish. The rent for the rooms they occupied was in arrears; +debts were due on every side. Broadly speaking, they owed for +everything--always had done since the day they were married. There were +a few articles of dress, and of personal adornment, which she felt that +she was reasonably justified in considering her own. Most of these she +had turned into cash, and had been living--or starving--on the proceeds +ever since. The occupant of the "top floor back" was known as Miss +Arnott. She had returned to her maiden name. She paid six shillings a +week for the accommodation she received, which consisted of the bare +lodging, and what--ironically--was called "attendance." Her rent had +been settled up to yesterday, and she was still in possession of +twenty-seven shillings. + +When she reached her room she became conscious that she was +hungry--which was not strange, since she had eaten nothing since breakfast, +which had consisted of a cup of tea and some bread and butter. But of +late she had been nearly always hungry. Exhausted, mentally and bodily, +she sank on to the side of the bed, which made a more comfortable seat +than the only chair which the room contained; and thought and thought +and thought. If only certain puzzles could be solved by dint of sheer +hard thinking! But her brain was in such a state of chaos that she +could only think confusedly, in a vicious circle, from which her +mind was incapable of escaping. To only one conclusion could she +arrive--that it would be a very good thing if she might be permitted to +lie down on the bed, just as she was, and stay there till she was dead. +For her life was at an end already at twenty-one. She had put a period +to it when she had suffered herself to become that man's wife. + +She was still vaguely wondering if it might not be possible for her to +take advantage of some such means of escape when she was startled by a +sudden knocking at the door. Taken unawares, she sprang up from the +bed, and, without pausing to consider who might be there, she cried,-- + +"Come in!" + +Her invitation was accepted just as she was beginning to realise that +it had been precipitately made. The door was opened; a voice--a +masculine voice--inquired,-- + +"May I see Miss Arnott?" + +The speaker remained on the other side of the open door, in such a +position that, from where she was, he was still invisible. + +"What do you want? Who are you?" she demanded. + +"My name is Gardner--Edward Gardner. I occupy the dining-room. If you +will allow me to come in I will explain the reason of my intrusion. I +think you will find my explanation a sufficient one." + +She hesitated. The fact that the speaker was a man made her at once +distrustful. Since her marriage day she had been developing a +continually increasing distaste for everything masculine--seeing in +every male creature a possible replica of her husband. The moment, too, +was unpropitious. Yet, since the stranger was already partly in the +room, she saw no alternative to letting him come a little farther. + +"Come in," she repeated. + +There entered an undersized, sparely-built man, probably between forty +and fifty years of age. He was clean-shaven, nearly bald--what little +hair he had was iron grey--and was plainly but neatly dressed in black. +He spoke with an air of nervous deprecation, as if conscious that he +was taking what might be regarded as a liberty, and was anxious to show +cause why it should not be resented. + +"As I said just now, I occupy the dining-rooms and my name is Gardner. +I am a solicitor's clerk. My employers are Messrs Stacey, Morris & +Binns, of Bedford Row. Perhaps you are acquainted with the firm?" + +He paused as if for a reply. She was still wondering more and more what +the man could possibly be wanting; oppressed by the foreboding, as he +mentioned that he was a solicitor's clerk, that he was a harbinger of +further trouble. With her law and trouble were synonyms. He went on, +his nervousness visibly increasing. He was rendered uneasy by the +statuesque immobility of her attitude, by the strange fashion in which +she kept her eyes fixed on his face. It was also almost with a sense of +shock that he perceived how young she was, and how beautiful. + +"It is only within the last few minutes that I learned, from the +landlady, that your name was Arnott. It is a somewhat unusual name; +and, as my employers have been for some time searching for a person +bearing it, I beg that you will allow me to ask you one or two +questions. Of course, I understand that my errand will quite probably +prove to be a futile one; but, at the same time, let me assure you that +any information you may give will only be used for your advantage; and +should you, by a strange coincidence, turn out to be a member of the +family for whom search has been made, you will benefit by the discovery +of the fact. May I ask if, to your knowledge, you ever had a relation +named Septimus Arnott?" + +"He was my uncle. My father's name was Sextus Arnott. My grandfather +had seven sons and no daughters. He was an eccentric man, I believe--I +never saw him; and he called them all by Latin numerals. My father was +the sixth son, Sextus; the brother to whom you refer, the seventh and +youngest, Septimus." + +"Dear, dear! how extraordinary! almost wonderful!" + +"I don't know why you should call it wonderful. It was perhaps curious; +but, in this world, people do curious things." + +"Quite so!--exactly!--not a doubt of it! It was the coincidence which I +was speaking of as almost wonderful, not your grandfather's method of +naming his sons; I should not presume so far. And where, may I further +be allowed to ask, is your father now, and his brothers?" + +"They are all dead." + +"All dead! Dear! dear!" + +"My father's brothers all died when they were young men. My father +himself died three years ago--at Scarsdale, in Cumberland. My mother +died twelve months afterwards. I am their only child." + +"Their only child! You must suffer me to say, Miss Arnott, that it +almost seems as if the hand of God had brought you to this house and +moved me to intrude myself upon you. I take it that you can furnish +proofs of the correctness of what you say?" + +"Of course I can prove who I am, and who my father was, and his +father." + +"Just so; that is precisely what I mean--exactly. Miss Arnott, Mr +Stacey, the senior partner in our firm, resides in Pembridge Gardens, +Bayswater. I have reason to believe that, if I go at once, I shall find +him at home. When I tell him what I have learnt I am sure that he will +come to you at once. May I ask you to await his arrival? I think I can +assure you that you shall not be kept waiting more than an hour." + +"What can the person of whom you speak have to say to me?" + +"As I have told you, I am only a servant. It is not for me to betray my +employer's confidence; but so much I may tell you--if you are the niece +of the Septimus Arnott for whom we are acting you are a very fortunate +young lady. And, in any case, I do assure you that you will not regret +affording Mr Stacey an opportunity of an immediate interview." + +Mr Gardner went; the girl consented to await his return. Almost as soon +as he was gone the landlady--Mrs Sayers--paid her a visit. It soon +appeared that she had been prompted by the solicitor's clerk. + +"I understand, Miss Arnott, from Mr Gardner, who has had my dining-room +now going on for five years, that his chief governor, Mr Stacey, is +coming to call on you, as it were, at any moment. If you'd like to +receive him in my sitting-room, I'm sure you're very welcome; and you +shall be as private as you please." + +The girl eyed the speaker. Hitherto civility had not been her strongest +point. Her sudden friendly impulse could only have been induced by some +very sufficient reason of her own. The girl declined her offer. Mrs +Sayers became effusive, almost insistent. + +"I am sure, my dear, that you will see for yourself that it's not quite +the thing for a young lady to receive a gentleman, and maybe two, in a +room like this, which she uses for sleeping. You're perfectly welcome +to my little sitting-room for half an hour, or even more, where you'll +be most snug and comfortable; and as for making you a charge, or +anything of that sort, I shouldn't think of it, so don't let yourself +be influenced by any fears of that kind." + +But the girl would have nothing to do with Mrs Sayers' sitting-room. +This woman had regarded her askance ever since she had entered the +house, had treated her with something worse than incivility. Miss +Arnott was not disposed, even in so trifling a matter, to place herself +under an obligation to her now. Mrs Sayers was difficult to convince; +but the girl was rid of her at last, and was alone to ask herself what +this new turn of fortune's wheel might portend. On this already +sufficiently eventful day, of what new experiment was she to be made +the subject? What was this stranger coming to tell her about Septimus +Arnott--the uncle from whom her father had differed, as he himself was +wont to phrase it, on eleven points out of ten? She was, it appeared, +to be asked certain questions. Good; she would be prepared to answer +them, up to a certain point. But where, exactly, was that point? And +what would happen after it was reached? + +She was ready and willing to give a full and detailed account of all +that had ever happened to her--up to the time of her coming to London. +And how much afterwards? She did not, at present, know how it could be +done; but if, by any means whatever, the thing were possible, she meant +to conceal--from the whole world!--the shameful fact that she was +Robert Champion's wife. Nothing, save the direst unescapable pressure, +should ever induce her to even admit that she had known the man. That +entire episode should be erased from her life, as if it had never been, +if it were feasible. And she would make it feasible. + +The matter she had at present to consider was, how much--or how +little--she should tell her coming visitors. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE WOMAN ON THE PAVEMENT + + +Mr Stacey was a tall, portly gentleman, quite an accepted type of +family lawyer. He was white-headed and inclined to be red-faced. He +carried a pair of nose glasses, which were as often between his fingers +as on his nose. His manner was urbane, with a tendency towards +pomposity; and when he smiled, which was often, he showed a set of +teeth which were as white and regular as the dentist could make them. +He was followed into the room by Mr Gardner; and when the apartment +contained three persons it was filled to overflowing. + +"Miss Arnott, my excellent friend, Mr Gardner here, has brought me +most important news--most important. He actually tells me that you +are--eh--the Miss Arnott for whom we have been so long in search." + +"I am Miss Arnott. I am not aware, however, that anyone has searched +for me. I don't know why they should." + +Mr Gardner, who had been showing a vivid consciousness of scanty space, +proffered a suggestion. + +"If I might make so bold, sir, as to ask Miss Arnott to honour me by +stepping down to my poor parlour, we should, at least, have a little +more room to move." + +"Mrs Sayers has already made me a similar proposal. I declined it, as I +decline yours. What you wish to say to me you will be so good as to say +to me here. This room, such as it is, is at anyrate my own--for the +present." + +"For the present; quite so!--quite so! A fine spirit of independence--a +fine spirit. I think, Miss Arnott, that before long you will have other +rooms of your own, where you will be able to be independent in another +sense. I understand that you claim to be the only surviving relative of +Septimus Arnott, of Exham Park, Hampshire." + +"You understand quite wrongly; I claim nothing. I merely say that I am +the only child of Sextus Arnott, and that I had an uncle whose name was +Septimus. When they were young men my father and his brother were both +artists. But, after a time, Uncle Septimus came to the conclusion that +there was not much money to be made out of painting. He wanted my +father to give it up. My father, who loved painting better than +anything else in the world"--the words were uttered with more than a +shade of bitterness--"wouldn't. They quarrelled and parted. My father +never saw his brother again, and I have never seen him at all." + +"You don't know, then, that he is dead?" + +"I know nothing except what my father has told me. He remained what he +called 'true to his art' to the end of his life, and never forgave his +brother for turning his back on it." + +"Pardon my putting to you a somewhat delicate question. Did your father +make much money by his painting?" + +"Much money!" The girl's lip curled. "When he died there was just +enough left to keep my mother till she died." + +"And then?" + +"I came to London in search of fortune." + +"And found it?" + +"Do I look as if I had--in this attic, which contains all that I have +in the world? No; fortune does not come to such as I am. I should be +tolerably content if I were sure of daily bread. But why do you ask +such questions? Why do you pry into my private affairs? I am not +conscious of a desire to thrust them on your notice--or on anyone's." + +"Miss Arnott, I beg that you will not suppose that I am actuated by +common curiosity. Let me explain the situation in half-a-dozen words. +Your Uncle Septimus, after he left your father, went to South America. +There, after divers adventures, he went in for cattle breeding. In that +pursuit he amassed one of those large fortunes which are characteristic +of modern times. Eventually he came to England, bought a property, +settled himself on it, and there died. We acted as his legal advisers. +He left his whole property to his brother Sextus; or, in the event of +his brother predeceasing him, to his brother's children. You must +understand that he himself lived and died a bachelor. His own death +occurred three years ago." + +"My father also died three years ago--on the 18th of March." + +"This is very remarkable, Miss Arnott; they must have died on the same +day!" + +"My father died at five minutes to six in the evening. His last words +were, 'Well, Septimus.' My mother and I, who were at his bedside, +wondered why he had said it--which he did so plainly that we both +turned round to see if anyone had come into the room. Until then he had +not mentioned his brother's name for a long time." + +"Miss Arnott, this is more and more remarkable; quite apart from any +legal proof there can be no sort of doubt that you are the person +we are seeking. It happened that I was present at your uncle's +deathbed--partly as a friend and partly as his professional adviser. For +I should tell you that he was a very lonely man. He seemed to have no +friends, and was chary of making acquaintances; in that great house he +lived the life of a lonely recluse. He died just as the clock was +striking six; and just before he died he sat up in bed, held out his +hand, and exclaimed in quite his old, hearty voice, 'Hullo, Sextus.' +No one there knew to what the reference was made; but from what you say +it would almost appear as if their spirits were already meeting." Mr +Stacey blew his nose as if all at once conscious that they were touching +a subject which was not strictly professional. "Before entering further +into matters, I presume that--merely for form's sake--you are in a +position to prove, Miss Arnott, that you are you." + +"Certainly, I can do that, to some extent, at once." She took an +envelope from a shabby old handbag; from the envelope some papers. +"This is my mother's marriage certificate; this is the certificate of +my own birth; this--" the paper of which she had taken hold chanced to +be a copy of the document which certified that a marriage had taken +place between Robert Champion, bachelor, and Violet Arnott, spinster. +For the moment she had forgotten its existence. When she recognised +what it was her heart seemed to sink in her bosom; her voice trembled; +it was only with an effort that she was able to keep herself from +handing it to the man of law in front of her. "No," she stammered, +"that's the wrong paper." Just in time she drew it back. If he had only +had one glance at it the whole course of her life would have been +different. She went on, with as complete a show of calmness as she was +capable of, "This is the paper I meant to give you--it is a copy of the +certificate of my father's death; and this is a copy of my mother's. +They are both buried in the same grave in the cemetery at Scarsdale." + +He took the papers she passed to him, seemingly unconscious that there +was anything curious in her manner. That other paper, crumpling it up, +she slipped between the buttons of her bodice. He looked through the +documents she had given him. + +"They appear to be perfectly in order--perfectly in order, and I have +no doubt that on investigation they will be ascertained to be. By the +way, Miss Arnott, I notice that you were born just one-and-twenty years +ago." + +"Yes; my twenty-first birthday was on the 9th of last month--five weeks +ago." + +She did not think it necessary to mention that the memory of it would +be with her for ever, since it had been celebrated by the arrest of her +husband. + +"Five weeks ago? A pity that it couldn't have been next month instead +of last; then the date of your coming of age might have been made a +great occasion. However, it shall still be to you a memorable year. You +will, of course, understand that there are certain forms which must be +gone through; but I don't think I am premature in expressing to you my +personal conviction that you are the person who is intended to benefit +under the will of the late Mr Septimus Arnott. Your uncle was one of +our multi-millionaires. I cannot, at this moment, state the exact value +of his estate; but this I can inform you--that your income will be +considerably over one hundred thousand pounds a year." + +"One hundred thousand pounds a year!" She gripped, with her right hand, +the back of the room's one chair. "Do you mean it?" + +"Beyond the shadow of a doubt. I am free to admit that I am fond of a +jest; but a fortune of that magnitude is not a fit subject for a joke. +Believe me, you will find it a serious matter when you come to be +directly responsible for its administration." + +"It seems a large sum of money." + +He observed her a little curiously; she showed so few signs of emotion, +none of elation. In her position, at her age, on receipt of such news, +one would have looked for her cheeks to flush, for her lips to be +parted by a smile, for a new brightness to come into her eyes--for +these things at least. So far as he was able to perceive, not the +slightest change took place in her bearing, her manner, her appearance; +except that perhaps she became a little paler. The communication he had +just made might have been of interest to a third party, but of none to +her, so striking was the suggestion of indifference which her demeanour +conveyed. + +He decided that the explanation was that as yet she was incapable of +realising her own good fortune. + +"Seems a large sum? It is a large sum! How large I lack words to enable +you to clearly comprehend. When we talk of millions we speak of figures +anything like the full meaning of which the ordinary imagination is +altogether incapable to grasp. I think, Miss Arnott, that some time +will probably elapse vast is the responsibility which is about to be +placed upon you. In the meantime I would make two remarks--first, that +until matters are placed in regular order I shall be happy to place at +your disposition any amount of ready cash you may require; and second, +that until everything is arranged, Mrs Stacey and myself will be only +too glad to extend to you our hospitality at Pembridge Gardens." + +"I think, if you don't mind, I should like to remain here at anyrate +to-night. I shall have a great many things to consider; I should prefer +to do so alone. If you wish it I will call on you in the morning at +your offices, and then we will go into everything more fully." + +"Very good. As you choose, Miss Arnott. It is for you to command, for +me to obey. You are your own mistress in a sense, and to a degree which +I fancy you don't at present understand. I took the precaution to +provide myself, before leaving home, with a certain amount of ready +money. Permit me to place at your service this hundred pounds; you will +find that there are twenty five-pound notes. I need scarcely add that +the money is your own property. Now as to to-morrow. We have had so +much difficulty in finding you, and it is by such a seeming miracle +that we have lighted on you at last, that I am reluctant to lose sight +of you even for a single night--until, that is, everything is in due +order, and you have happily released us from the great weight of +responsibility which has lain so long upon us. May I take it that we +shall certainly see you to-morrow at our offices at noon?" + +"Yes; I will be with you to-morrow at noon." It was on that +understanding they parted. Before he left the house Mr Stacey said to +his clerk,-- + +"Gardner, that's a singular young woman. So young, so beautiful, and +yet so cold, so frigid, so--stolid. She didn't even thank me for +bringing her the good news, neither by a word nor look did she so much +as hint that the news had gratified her; indeed, I am not at all sure +that she thinks it is good news. In one so young, so charming--because, +so far as looks are concerned, she is charming, and she will be +particularly so when she is well dressed--it isn't natural, Gardner, it +isn't natural." + +In the top floor back the girl was contemplating the twenty five-pound +notes. She had never before been the owner of so much money, or +anything like so much. Had she been the possessor of such a fortune +when she came to town she might never have become a "model" in the +costume department of the world-famed Messrs Glover & Silk, she might +never have made the acquaintance of Robert Champion, she would +certainly never have become his wife. The glamour which had seemed to +surround him had been the result of the circumstances in which she had +first encountered him. Had her own position not been such a pitiable +one she would never have been duped by him, by his impudent assurance, +his brazen lies, his reckless promises. She had seen that clearly, long +ago. + +A hundred pounds! Why, the fraud for which, at that moment, he was in +gaol had had for its objective a sum of less than twenty pounds. She +writhed as she thought of it. Was he already in prisoner's clothes, +marked with the broad arrow? Was he thinking of her in his felon's +cell? She tried to put the vision from her, as one too horrible for +contemplation. Would it persistently recur to her, in season and out, +her whole life long? God forbid! Rather than that, better death, +despite her uncle's fortune. + +In any case she could at least afford to treat herself to a sufficient +meal. She went to a quiet restaurant in Oxford Street, and there fared +sumptuously--that is, sumptuously in comparison to the fashion in which +she had fared this many and many a day. Afterwards, she strolled along +the now lamp-lit street. As she went she met a girl of about her own +age who was decked out in tawdry splendours. They had nearly passed +before they knew each other. Then recognition came. The other girl +stopped and turned. + +"Why, Vi!" she exclaimed. "Who'd have dreamt of seeing you?" + +The girl addressed did not attempt to return the greeting. She did not +even acknowledge it. Instead she rushed off the pavement into a +"crawling" hansom, saying to the driver as she entered his vehicle,-- + +"Drive me to the city--anywhere; only be quick and get away from here!" + +When she concluded that she was well out of that other girl's sight she +instructed the man to drive her to Percy Street. At the corner of the +street she alighted. Once more in her attic she did as she had done on +her previous return to it--she sank down on to the side of the bed, +trembling from head to foot. + +The woman who had spoken to her in Oxford Street was Sarah Stevens, who +had been a fellow employee at Messrs Glover & Silk's. It was she who +had introduced her to Robert Champion. It was largely owing to the +tales she had told of him, and to her eager advocacy of his suit, that +she had been jockeyed into becoming his wife. It was only afterwards, +when it was too late, that she had learnt that the girl was as bad +as--if not worse than--the man to whom she had betrayed her. From the +beginning the pair had been co-conspirators; Violet Arnott had been +their victim. + +Was she to be haunted always by the fear of such encounters? Rather +than run that risk she would never again set foot in London. Certainly, +the sooner she was out of it the better. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE HEIRESS ENTERS INTO HER OWN + + +During the days and weeks which followed it was as though she were the +chief personage in a strange, continuous dream. Always she expected an +awakening--of a kind of which she did not dare to think. But the dream +continued. All at once her path was strewn with roses; up to then she +had seemed to have to pick her way, barefooted, amid stones and +thistles. No obstacle of any kind arose. Everything was smooth and +easy. Her claim to be her uncle's niece was admitted as soon as it was +made. Under her uncle's will Mr Stacey was the sole trustee. To all +intents and purposes his trusteeship was at an end when she was found. +She was of age; the property was hers to do with exactly as she would. +By no conditions was she bound. She was her own mistress; in sole +control of that great fortune. It was a singular position for a young +girl to find herself suddenly occupying. + +She was glad enough to leave her affairs in the hands of Messrs Stacey, +Morris & Binns. In those early days the mere attempt to understand them +was beyond her power. They were anxious enough to place before her an +exact statement of the position she had now to occupy. To some extent +she grasped its meaning. But the details she insisted on being allowed +to assimilate by degrees. + +"If I know pretty well what I have and what I haven't, what I can do +and what I can't, and what my duties and responsibilities are, say, in +three, or even six months' time, I'll be content. In the meanwhile you +must continue to do precisely what you have been doing during the time +in which I was still not found. I understand sufficiently to know that +you have managed all things better than I am ever likely to." + +She provided herself with what she deemed an ample, and, indeed, +extravagant supply of clothing at Mrs Stacey's urgent request. That +lady's ideas, however, were much more gorgeous than her own. The +solicitor's wife insisted that it was only right and proper that she +should have a wardrobe which, as she put it, "was suitable to her +position." That meant, apparently, that, in the way of wearing apparel, +she should supply herself with the contents of a good-sized London +shop. To that Miss Arnott objected. + +"What do you suppose I shall do with all those things?" she demanded. +"I am going into the country to stay there. I am going to live all +alone, as my uncle did. I sha'n't see a creature from week's end to +week's end--a heap of new dresses won't be wanted for that. They'll all +be out of fashion long before I have a chance of wearing them." + +Mrs Stacey smiled; she was a lady of ample proportions, who had herself +a taste for sumptuous raiment. + +"I fancy, dear Miss Arnott, that even now you don't realise your own +situation. Do you really suppose that--as you suggest--you will be +allowed to live all alone at Exham Park, without seeing a creature from +week's end to week's end?" + +"Who is going to prevent me?" + +"Dear Miss Arnott, you are positively amusing. Before you have been +there a fortnight the whole county, at least, will have been inside +your doors." + +"I hope not." + +The look of distress on the young lady's countenance was almost +comical. + +"You speak, I think, without reflection. I, personally, should be both +grieved and disappointed if anything else were to happen." + +"You would be grieved and disappointed? Good gracious! Mrs Stacey, +why?" + +"It is only in accordance with the requirements of common decency that +a person in your position should receive adequate recognition. If +everyone did not call on you you would be subjected to an injurious +slight." + +"Certainly that point of view did not occur to me. Up to now no one +worth speaking of has recognised my existence in the slightest degree. +The idea, therefore, that it has suddenly become everyone's duty to do +so is, to say the least, a novel one. + +"So I imagined. It is, however, as I say; you see, circumstances are +altered. Quite apart from the period when you will possess a town +residence--" + +"That period will be never." + +"Never is a long while--a very long while. I say, quite apart from that +period, what I cannot but call your unique position will certainly +entitle you to act as one of the leaders of county society." + +"How dreadful! I'm beginning to wish my position wasn't so unique." + +"You speak, if you will forgive my saying so, as a child. Providence +has seen fit to place you in a position in which you will be an object +of universal admiration. With your youth, your appearance, your +fortune, not only all Hampshire, but all England, will be at your feet. + +"All England! Mrs Stacey, isn't that just a little exaggerated?" + +"Not in the least. On the contrary, my language, if anything, errs on +the side of being too guarded. A beautiful young girl of twenty-one, +all alone in the world, with more than a hundred thousand pounds a year +entirely under her own control--princes from all parts of the world +will tumble over each other in their desire to find favour in your +eyes." + +"Then princes must be much more foolish persons than I supposed." + +"My dear, of that we will say nothing. Don't let us speak evil of +dignitaries. I was always brought up to think of them with respect. To +return to the subject of your wardrobe. I have merely made these few +remarks in order to point out to you how essential it is that you +should be furnished, at the outset, with a wardrobe likely to prove +equal to all the demands which are certain to be made on one in your +position." + +"All the same, I won't have five hundred dresses. Position or no +position, I know I shall be much happier with five." + +It is an undoubted fact that the young lady's equipment of costumes +extended to more than five, though it stopped far short of the number +which her feminine mentor considered adequate. Indeed, Mrs Stacey made +no secret of her opinion that, from the social point of view, her +arrangements were scarcely decent. + +"At the very first serious call which is made upon your resources, you +will find yourself absolutely without a thing to wear. Then you'll have +to rush up to town and have clothes made for you in red-hot haste, than +which nothing can be more unsatisfactory." + +"I shall have to chance that. I hate shops and I hate shopping." + +"My dear!" + +"I do. I don't care how it is with other girls, it's like that with me. +I've already had more than enough of dressmakers; for ever so long I +promise you that I won't go near one for another single thing. I'm +going to the country, and I'm going to live a country life; and for the +kind of country life I mean to live you don't want frocks." + +Mrs Stacey lifted up her hands and sighed. To her such sentiments +seemed almost improper. It was obvious that Miss Arnott meant to be her +own mistress in something more than name. On one question, however, she +was over-ruled. That was on the question of a companion. + +It was perfectly clear, both to her legal advisers and to the senior +partner's wife, that it was altogether impossible for her to live at +Exham Park entirely companionless. + +"What harm will there be?" she demanded. "I shall be quite alone." + +"My dear," returned Mrs Stacey, "you won't understand. It is precisely +that which is impossible--you must not be quite alone; a young girl, a +mere child like you. People will not only think things, they will say +them--and they will be right in doing so. The idea is monstrous, not to +be entertained for a moment. You must have some sort of a companion." + +Miss Arnott emitted a sound which might have been meant for a groan. + +"Very well then, if I must I must--but she shall be younger than I am; +or, at anyrate, not much older." + +Mrs Stacey looked as if the suggestion had rendered her temporarily +speechless. + +"My dear," she finally gasped, "that would be worse than ever. Two +young girls alone together in such a house--what a scandal there would +be!" + +"Why should there be any scandal?" + +Miss Arnott's manner was a little defiant. + +"If you cannot see for yourself I would rather you did not force me to +explain. I can only assure you that if you are not extremely careful +your innocence of evil will lead you into very great difficulties. What +you want is a woman of mature age, of wide knowledge of the world; +above all, of impregnable respectability. One who will, in a sense, +fill the place of a mother, officiate--nominally--as the head of your +household, who will help you in entertaining visitors--" + +"There will be no visitors to entertain." + +The elder lady indulged in what she intended for an enigmatic smile. + +"When you have been at Exham Park for six months you will blush at the +recollection of your own simplicity. At present I can only ask you to +take my word for it that there will be shoals of visitors." + +"Then that companion of mine will have to entertain them, that's all. +One thing I stipulate: you will have to discover her, I sha'n't." + +To this Mrs Stacey willingly acceded. The companion was discovered. She +was a Mrs Plummer; of whom her discoverer spoke in tones of chastened +solemnity. + +"Mrs Plummer is a distant connection of Mr Stacey. As such, he has +known her all his life; and can therefore vouch for her in every +respect. She has known trouble; and, as trouble always does, it has +left its impress upon her. But she is a true woman, with a great heart +and a beautiful nature. She is devoted to young people. You will find +in her a firm friend, one who will make your interests her own, and who +will be able and willing to give you sound advice on all occasions in +which you find yourself in difficulty. I am convinced that you will +become greatly attached to her; you will find her such a very present +help in all times of trouble." + +When, a few days before they went down together to Exham Park, Miss +Arnott was introduced to Mrs Plummer in Mrs Stacey's drawing-room, in +some way, which the young lady would have found it hard to define, she +did not accord with her patroness's description. As her custom +sometimes was, Miss Arnott plunged headforemost into the midst of +things. + +"I am told that you are to be my companion. I am very sorry for you, +because I am not at all a companionable sort of creature." + +"You need not be sorry. I think you will find that I understand the +situation. Convention declines to allow a young woman to live alone in +her own house; I shall be the necessary figurehead which the +proprieties require. I shall never intrude myself. I shall be always in +the background--except on occasions when I perceive that you would +sooner occupy that place yourself. I shall be quick to see when those +occasions arise; and, believe me, they will be more frequent than you +may at this moment suspect. As for freedom--you will have more freedom +under the ægis of my wing, which will be purely an affair of the +imagination, than without it; since, under its imaginary shelter, you +will be able to do all manner of things which, otherwise, you would +hardly be able to do unchallenged. In fact, with me as cover, you will +be able to do exactly as you please; and still remain in the inner +sanctuary of Mrs Grundy." + +Mrs Plummer spoke with a degree of frankness for which Miss Arnott was +unprepared. She looked at her more closely, to find that she was a +little woman, apparently younger than she had expected. Her dark brown +hair was just beginning to turn grey. She was by no means ugly; the +prominent characteristic of her face being the smallness of the +features. She had a small mouth, thinly lipped, which, when it was +closed, was tightly closed. She had a small, slenderly-fashioned +aquiline nose, the nostrils of which were very fine and delicate. Her +eyes were small and somewhat prominent, of a curious shade in blue, +having about them a quality which suggested that, while they saw +everything which was taking place around her, they served as masks +which prevented you seeing anything which was transpiring at the back +of them. She was dressed like a lady; she spoke like a lady; she looked +a lady. Miss Arnott had not been long in her society before she +perceived, though perhaps a little dimly, what Mrs Stacey had meant by +saying that trouble had left its impress on her. There was in her +voice, her face, her bearing, her manner, a something which spoke of +habitual self-repression, which was quite possibly the outcome of some +season of disaster which, for her, had changed the whole aspect of the +world. + +The day arrived, at last, when the heiress made her first appearance at +Exham Park. The house had been shut up, and practically dismantled, for +so long, that the task of putting it in order, collecting an adequate +staff of servants, and getting it generally ready for its new mistress, +occupied some time. Miss Arnott journeyed with Mrs Plummer; it was the +first occasion on which they had been companions. The young lady's +sensations, as the train bore her through the sunlit country, were of a +very singular nature; the little woman in the opposite corner of the +compartment had not the faintest notion how singular. + +Mr Stacey met the travellers at the station, ushering them into a +landau, the door of which was held open by a gigantic footman in +powdered hair and silk stockings. Soon after they had started, Miss +Arnott asked a question,-- + +"Is this my carriage?" + +The gentleman replied, with some show of pomposity,-- + +"It is one of them, Miss Arnott, one of them. You will find, in your +coach-houses, a variety of vehicles; but, of course, I do not for a +moment pretend that you will find there every kind of conveyance you +require. Indeed, the idea has rather been that you should fill the +inevitable vacancies in accordance with the dictates of your own +taste." + +"Whose idea is the flour and the silk stockings?" + +She was looking up at the coachman and footman on the box. + +"The--eh?--oh, I perceive; you allude to the men's liveries. The +liveries, Miss Arnott, were chosen by your late uncle; I think you will +admit that they are very handsome ones. It has been felt that, in +deference to him, they should be continued, until you thought proper to +rule otherwise." + +"Then I'm afraid that they won't be continued much longer. In such +matters my uncle's tastes were--I hope it isn't treason to say +so--perhaps a trifle florid. Mine are all the other way. I don't like +floured heads, silk stockings, or crimson velvet breeches; I like +everything about me to be plain to the verge of severity. My father's +ideal millionaire was mine; shall I tell you what that was?" + +"If you will be so good." + +"He held that a man with five thousand a year, if he were really a +gentleman, would do his best not to allow it to be obvious to the man +who only had five hundred that he had more than he had." + +"There is something to be said for that point of view; on the other +hand, there is a great deal to be said for the other side." + +"No doubt. There is always a great deal to be said for the other side. +I am only hinting at the one towards which I personally incline." +Presently they were passing along an avenue of trees. "Where are we +now?" + +"We are on your property--this is the drive to the house." + +"There seems to be a good deal of it." + +"It is rather more than three miles long; there are lodge gates at +either end; the house stands almost in the centre." + +"It seems rather pretty." + +"Pretty! Exham Park is one of the finest seats in the country. That is +why your uncle purchased it." + +After a while they came in sight of the house. + +"Is that the house? It looks more like a palace. Fancy my living all +alone in a place like that! Now I understand why a companion was an +absolute necessity. It strikes me, Mrs Plummer, that you will want a +companion as much as I shall. What shall we two lone, lorn women do in +that magnificent abode?" + +As they stepped in front of the splendid portico there came down the +steps a man who held his hat in his hand, with whom Mr Stacey at once +went through the ceremony of introduction. + +"Miss Arnott, this is Mr Arthur Cavanagh, your steward." + +She found herself confronted by a person who was apparently not much +more than thirty years of age; erect, well-built, with short, curly +hair, inclined to be ruddy, a huge moustache, and a pair of the +merriest blue eyes she had ever seen. When they were in the house, and +Mr Stacey was again alone with the two ladies, he observed, with +something which approximated to an air of mystery,-- + +"You must understand, Miss Arnott, that, as regards Mr Cavanagh, we--my +partners and myself--have been in a delicate position. He was your +uncle's particular _protégé_. I have reason to know that he came to +England at his express request. We have hardly seen our way--acting +merely on our own initiative--to displace him." + +"Displace him? Why should he be displaced? Isn't he a good steward?" + +"As regards that, good stewards are not difficult to find. Under the +circumstances, the drawbacks in his case are, I may almost say, +notorious. He is young, even absurdly young; he is not ill-looking, and +he is unmarried." + +Miss Arnott smiled, as if Mr Stacey had been guilty of perpetrating a +joke. + +"It's not his fault that he is young; it's not my fault that I am +young. It's nice not to be ill-looking, and--I rather fancy--it's nice +to be unmarried." She said to Mrs Plummer as, a little later, they were +going upstairs together, side by side, "What odd things Mr Stacey does +say. Fancy regarding them as drawbacks being young, good-looking and +unmarried. What can he be thinking of?" + +"I must refer you to him. It is one of the many questions to which I am +unable to supply an answer of my own." + +When she was in her own room, two faces persisted in getting in front +of Miss Arnott's eyes. One was the face of Mr Arthur Cavanagh, the +other was that of the man who was serving a term of twelve months' hard +labour, and which was always getting, as it were, between her and the +daylight. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE EARL OF PECKHAM'S PROPOSAL + + +Miss Arnott soon realised what Mrs Stacey had meant by insisting on the +impossibility of her living a solitary life. So soon as she arrived +upon the scene, visitors began to appear at Exham Park in a constant +stream. The day after she came calls were made by two detachments of +the clergy, and by the representatives of three medical men. But, as +Mrs Plummer somewhat unkindly put it, these might be regarded as +professional calls; or, in other words, requests for custom. + +"Since you are the patron of these livings, their present holders were +bound to haste and make obeisance--though it would seem that, in that +respect, one of them is still a defaulter. The way in which those two +doctors and their wives, who happened to come together, glowered at +each other was beautiful. One quite expected to see them lapse into +mutual charges of unprofessional conduct. Which of the three do you +propose to favour?" + +"Mr Cavanagh says that uncle used to patronise all three. He had one +for the servants on the estate one for the indoor servants, and one for +himself." + +"And which of the three was it who killed him?" + +"There came a time when all three were called together to consult upon +his case. That finished uncle at once. He died within four-and-twenty +hours. So Mr Cavanagh says." + +"I suppose Mr Cavanagh is able to supply you with little interesting +details on all sorts of recondite subjects?" + +"Oh yes; he is like a walking encyclopedia of information on all +matters connected with the estate. Whenever I want to know anything I +simply go to him; he always knows. It is most convenient." + +"And I presume that he is always willing to tell you what you want to +know." + +"Most willing. I never met a more obliging person. And so +good-humoured. Have you noticed his smile?" + +"I can't say that I have paid particular attention to his smile." + +"It's wonderful; it lights up all his face and makes him positively +handsome. I think he's a most delightful person, and so clever. I'm +sure he's immensely popular with everyone; not at all like the +hard-as-nails stewards one reads about. I can't imagine what Mr Stacey +meant byalmost expressing a regret that he had not displaced him, can +you?" + +"Some people sometimes say such extraordinary things that it's no use +trying to imagine what they mean." + +The answer was a trifle vague; but it seemed to satisfy Miss Arnott. +Neither of the ladies looked to see if the other was smiling. + +Mrs Stacey's sibylline utterance was prophetic; in a fortnight the +whole county had called--that is, so much of it as was within anything +like calling distance, and in the country in these days "calling +distance" is a term which covers a considerable expanse of ground. +Practically the only abstentions were caused by people's absence from +home. It was said that some came purposely from London, and even +farther, so that they might not lose an opportunity of making Miss +Arnott's acquaintance. + +For instance, there was the case of the Dowager Countess of Peckham. It +happened that the old lady's dower house was at Stevening, some +fourteen or fifteen miles from Exham Park. Since she had never occupied +it since the time it came into her possession, having always preferred +to let it furnished to whoever might come along, one would scarcely +have supposed that she would have called herself Miss Arnott's +neighbour. When, however, a little bird whispered in her ear what a +very charming millionairess was in practically solitary occupation of +Exham Park, it chanced that, for the moment, her own house was +untenanted, and, within four-and-twenty hours of the receipt of that +whispered communication, for the first time in her life she was under +its roof. On the following day she covered the fourteen miles which lay +between her and Exham Park in a hired fly, was so fortunate as to find +Miss Arnott at home, and was so agreeably impressed by the lady +herself, by her surroundings, and by all that she heard of her, that +she stopped at the village post office on her homeward journey to send +a peremptory telegram to her son to come at once. The Earl of Peckham +came. He had nothing particular to do just then; or, at least, nothing +which he could not easily shirk. He might as well run down to his +mother. So he ran down on his automobile. Immediately on his arrival +she favoured him with a few home truths; as she had done on many +previous occasions, and peremptorily bundled him over to Exham Park. + +"Mind! you now have a chance such as you never had before; and such as +you certainly will never have again. The girl has untold wealth +absolutely at her own command; she hasn't a relation in the world; she +is alone with a woman who is perfectly ready to be hoodwinked; she +knows nobody worth speaking of. You will have her all to yourself, it +will be your own fault if she's not engaged to you in a fortnight, and +your wife within six weeks. Think of it, a quarter of a million a year, +not as representing her capital, you understand, but a year! and +absolutely no relations. None of that crowd of miserable hangers-on +which so often represents the mushroom millionaire's family +connections. If you don't take advantage of this heaven-sent +opportunity, Peckham, you are past praying for--that's all I can say." + +Peckham sighed. According to her that always was all she could say, and +she had said it so many times. He motored over to Exham Park in a frame +of mind which was not in keeping with the character of a light-hearted +wooer. He had wanted his mother to accompany him. But she had a +conservative objection to motor cars, nothing would induce her to trust +herself on one. So, reluctantly enough, he went alone. + +"You ask Miss Arnott to lunch to-morrow; you can go over yourself and +bring her on your car, it will be an excellent opening. And when she is +here I will do the honours. But I have no intention of risking my own +life on one of those horrible machines." + +As he reached the bottom of a rather steep slope, his lordship met a +lady and a gentleman, who were strolling side by side. Stopping, he +addressed the gentleman,-- + +"I beg your pardon, but can you tell me if I am going right for Exham +Park? There were crossroads some way back, at the top of the hill, but +I was going so fast that I couldn't see what was on the direction +posts. I mean Miss Arnott's." + +"You will find the lodge gate on your right, about half a mile further +on." The speaker hesitated, then added, "This is Miss Arnott." + +Off came his lordship's hat again. + +"I am very fortunate. I am Peckham--I mean the Earl of Peckham. My +mother has sent me with a message." + +The lady was regarding the car with interested eyes. + +"I never have been on a motor car, but if you could find room for me on +yours, you might take me up to the house, and--give me the message." + +In a trice the mechanician was in the tonneau, and the lady by his +lordship's side. As Mr Cavanagh, left alone, gazed after the retreating +car, it was not the good-humoured expression of his countenance which +would have struck Miss Arnott most. + +The young lady's tastes were plainly altogether different from the old +one's--at anyrate, so far as motor cars were concerned. Obviously she +did not consider them to be horrible machines. She showed the liveliest +interest in this, the first one of which she had had any actual +experience. They went for quite a lengthy drive together, three times +up and down the drive, which meant nearly nine miles. Once, at the +lady's request, the driver showed what his car could do. As it was a +machine of the highest grade, and of twenty-four horse power, it could +do a good deal. Miss Arnott expressed her approbation of the +performance. + +"How splendid! I could go on like that for ever; it blows one about a +bit, but if one were sensibly dressed that wouldn't matter. How fast +were we going?" + +"Oh, somewhere about fifty miles an hour. It's all right in a place +like this; but, the worst of it is, there are such a lot of beastly +policemen about. It's no fun having always to pay fines for excessive +speed, and damages for running over people, and that kind of thing." + +"I should think not, indeed. Have you ever run over anyone?" + +"Well, not exactly; only, accidents will happen, you know." + +As she observed that young man's face, a suspicion dawned upon her +mind, that--when he was driving--they occasionally would. + +Ere she descended she received some elementary lessons in the art of +controlling a motor car. And, altogether, by the time they reached the +house, and the message was delivered, they were on terms of +considerable intimacy. + +The acquaintance, thus auspiciously begun, rapidly ripened. The Earl +did not find the business on which he was engaged anything like such a +nuisance as he had feared; on the contrary, he found it an agreeable +occupation. He was of opinion that the girl was not half a bad sort; +that, in fact, she was a very good sort indeed. He actually decided +that she would have been eligible for a place in the portrait gallery +of the Countesses of Peckham even if she had not been set in such a +desirable frame. That motor car was a great aid to intimacy. He drove +her; and he taught her to drive him. Sometimes, the chauffeur being +left behind, they had the car to themselves. It was on such an +occasion, when their acquaintance hardly extended beyond his mother's +suggested fortnight, that he made her an offer of his hand and heart. +She was driving at the time, and going at a pretty good pace, which was +possibly on the wrong side of the legal limit; but when she began to +have an inkling of what he was talking about, she instantly put on the +brakes, and pulled up dead. She was so taken by surprise, and her own +hideous position was so continually present to her mind's eye, that it +was some seconds before she perceived that the young man at her side +must, of necessity, be completely unconscious of the monstrous nature +of his proposal. She was silent for several moments, then she answered, +while the car was still at a standstill in the middle of the road,-- + +"Thank you. No doubt your offer is not meant unkindly; but acceptance +on my part is altogether out of the question." + +"Why?" + +"Why? Because it is. I am sorry you should have spoken like this, +because I was beginning to like you." + +"Isn't that a reason why I should speak? If you are beginning to like +me, by degrees you may get to like me more and more." + +"I think not. Because this little _contretemps_ will necessarily put a +period to our acquaintance." + +"Oh, rats! that isn't fair! If I'd thought it would worry you I +wouldn't have said a word. Only--I should like to ask if there is +anybody else." + +"Do you mean, is there anyone else to whom I am engaged to be married? +There is not--and there never will be." + +"I say, Miss Arnott! Every man in England--who can get within reach of +you--will have tried his luck before the end of the season. You will +have to take one of them, to save yourself from being bothered." + +"Shall I? You think so? You are wrong. If you don't mind, I will turn +the car round, and take it to the lodge gate; then I will get out, and +walk home. Only there must be no more conversation of this sort on the +way, or I shall get out at once." + +"You need not fear that I shall offend again; put her round." + +She "put her round." They gained the lodge gate. The lady descended. + +"Good-bye, Lord Peckham. I have to thank you for some very pleasant +rides, and for much valuable instruction. I'm sorry I couldn't do what +you wanted, but--it's impossible." + +"I sha'n't forget the jolly time I've had with you, and shall hope to +meet you again when you come to town. You are inclined to treat me with +severity, but I assure you that if you intend to treat every man +severely, merely because he proposes, you have set yourself a task +which would have been too much for the strength of Hercules." + +His lordship returned then and there to London. On the road he sent a +telegram to his mother which contained these two words only: "Been +refused." + +On her part, Miss Arnott did not at once return to the house. She chose +instead a winding path which led to a certain woodland glade which she +had already learned to love. There, amidst the trees, the bushes, the +gorse, the wild flowers, the tall grasses and the bracken, she could +enjoy solitary communion with her own thoughts. Just then she had +plenty to think about. There was not only Lord Peckham's strange +conduct, there was also his parting words. + +Her knowledge of the world was very scanty, especially of that sort of +world in which she so suddenly found herself. But she was a girl of +quick intuitions; and already she had noticed a something in the +demeanour of some of the masculine acquaintances she had made which she +had not altogether relished. Could what Lord Peckham had said be true? +Would every man who came within reach of her try his luck--in a certain +sense? If so, a most unpleasant prospect was in store for her. There +was one way out of the difficulty. She had only to announce that she +was a married woman and that sort of persecution would cease at once. +She doubted, however, if the remedy would not be worse than the +disease. She had grown to regard her matrimonial fetters with such +loathing, that, rather than acknowledge, voluntarily, that she was +bound about by them, and admit that her husband was an unspeakable +creature in a felon's cell, she believed that she was ready to endure +anything. Certainly she would sooner reject a dozen men a day. + +She came to the woodland glade she sought. It so chanced that the +particular nook which she had learned, from experience, was the best to +recline in was just on the other side of a rough fence. She crossed the +fence, reclined at her ease on the mossy bank; and thought, and thought, +and thought. On a sudden she was roused from her deepest day-dream by +a voice which addressed to her an inquiry from above,-- + +"Are you trespassing--or am I?" + + + + + CHAPTER V + + TRESPASSING + + +She looked up with a start--to find that a man was observing her who +seemed to be unusually tall. She lay in a hollow, he stood on the top +of the bank; so that perhaps their relative positions tended to +exaggerate his apparent inches. But that he was tall was beyond a +doubt. He was also broad. Her first feeling was, that she had never +seen a man who was at once so tall and so broad across the shoulders. +He was rather untidily dressed--in a grey tweed knickerbocker suit, +with a Norfolk jacket, and a huge cap which was crammed right down on +his head. He wore a flannel shirt, and a dark blue knitted tie, which +was tied in a scrambling sailor's knot. Both hands were in the pockets +of his jacket, which was wide open; and, altogether, the impression was +conveyed to her, as she lay so far beneath him, that he was of a +monstrous size. + +It struck her that his being where he was was an impertinence, which +was rendered much greater by his venturing to address her; especially +with such an inquiry. Merely raising herself on her elbow, she favoured +him with a glance which was intended to crush him. + +"There can be no doubt as to who is trespassing as you must be +perfectly well aware--you are." + +"I quite agree with you in thinking that there can be no doubt as to +who is trespassing; but there, unfortunately, our agreement ends, +because, as it happens, you are." + +"Do you suppose that I don't know which is my own property? I am Miss +Arnott, of Exham Park--this is part of my ground." + +"I fancy, with all possible deference, that I know which is my property +better than you appear to know which is yours. I am Hugh Morice, of Oak +Dene, and, beyond the slightest shadow of a doubt, the ground on which +we both are is mine." + +She rose to her feet a little hurriedly. + +"What authority have you for what you say? Are you trying to amuse +yourself at my expense?" + +"Allow me to explain. You see that fence, which is in rather a +doddering condition--it forms the boundary line between Exham Park and +Oak Dene, a fact which I have a particular reason to remember. Once, +before this was my ground, I was shooting in these woods. My bird--it +was only a pigeon--dropped on the other side of that fence. I was no +better acquainted with the landmarks then than you appear to be now. +Not aware that there was any difference between this side and that, I +was scrambling over the fence to retrieve my pigeon when I was pulled +up short by some very plain words, pronounced in a very plain tone of +voice. I won't tell you what the words were, because you might like +them even less than I did. I looked up; and there was an old gentleman, +who was flanked by two persons who were evidently keepers. He was one +of the most eloquent old gentlemen I had ever met. He commenced by +wanting to know what I meant by being about to defile his ground by the +intrusion of my person. I replied that I wasn't aware that it was his +ground, and that I wanted my pigeon. He asked me who I was. When I told +him he informed me that he was Septimus Arnott, and desired me to +inform all persons bearing my name what he thought of them. He thought +a good deal--in a sense. He wound up by remarking that he would +instruct his keepers, if ever they caught me on the wrong side of that +fence, to put a charge of lead into me at sight. Towards the end of the +interview I was as genially disposed as he was; so I retorted by +assuring him that if ever I caught anyone from Exham Park on this side, +I'd do the honours with a charge of lead. This is the exact spot on +which that interview took place--he was there and I here. But the +circumstances have changed--it is Exham Park who is now the trespasser. +Shall I put a charge of lead into you?" + +"By all means--if you wish to." + +"I am not quite sure that I do wish to." + +"If you have the slightest inclination in that direction, pray don't +hesitate." + +"You mightn't like it." + +"Don't consider my feelings, I beg. In such a matter surely you +wouldn't allow my feelings to count." + +"No? You think not? I don't know. Perhaps you're right; but, you see, I +haven't a gun. I can't put charges of lead into anything, or anyone, +without one. + +"Pray don't let any trifling obstacle of that kind stand in your way. +Permit me to send for one." + +"Would you? You're very good. Who would you send?" + +"Of course I would myself fetch you the indispensable weapon." + +"And how long would you be, do you imagine? Should I have time to smoke +a pipe while you were going there and back?" + +Suddenly the lady drew herself up with a gesture which was possibly +meant to be expressive of a judicious mingling of scorn with hauteur. + +"It is possible, if you prefer it. I will admit that it is probable +that my uncle was rude to you. Do you intend to continue the tradition, +and be rude to me?" + +"I was simply telling you a little anecdote, Miss Arnott." + +"I am obliged to you for taking so much trouble. Now, with your +permission, I will return to what you state to be my side of the +fence." + +"I state? Don't you state that that side of the fence is yours?" + +"My impression was that both sides were mine. I will have the matter +carefully inquired into. If your statement proves to be correct I will +see that a communication is sent to you, conveying my apologies for +having been an unwitting trespasser on your estate." + +"Thank you. Can I lift you over?" + +"Lift me over!" + +The air of red-hot indignation with which his proposition was declined +ought to have scorched him. It seemed, however, to have no effect on +him of any sort. He continued to regard her from the top of the bank, +with an air of indolent nonchalance, which was rapidly driving her to +the conclusion that he was the most insolent person she had ever +encountered. With a view, possibly, of showing the full absurdity of +his offer of assistance, she placed both hands on the top of the fence, +with the intention of vaulting over it. The intention was only +partially fulfilled. During her wanderings with her father among their +Cumberland hills she had become skilled in all manner of athletic +exercises. Ordinarily she would have thought nothing of vaulting--or, +for the matter of that, jumping--an insignificant fence. Perhaps her +nervous system was more disorganised than she imagined. She caught her +knee against the bar, and, instead of alighting gracefully on her feet, +she rolled ignominiously over. She was up almost as soon as she was +down, but not before he had cleared the fence at a bound, and was +standing at her side. She exhibited no sign of gratitude for the +rapidity with which he had come to her assistance. She merely put to +him an icy question,-- + +"Was it necessary that you should trespass also?" + +"Are you sure that you are not hurt? ankle not twisted, or anything of +that kind?" + +"Quite sure. Be so good as to return to your own side." + +As he seemed to hesitate, a voice exclaimed, in husky tones,-- + +"By----, I've a mind to shoot you now." + +He turned to see a man, between forty and fifty years of age, in the +unmistakable habiliments of a gamekeeper, standing some twenty feet +off, holding a gun in a fashion which suggested that it would need very +little to induce him to put it to his shoulder and pull the trigger. +Hugh Morice greeted him as if he were an old acquaintance. + +"Hullo, Jim Baker! So you're still in the land of the living?" + +Mr Baker displayed something more than surliness in his reply. + +"So are you, worse luck! What are you doing here? Didn't Mr Arnott tell +me if I saw you on our land to let fly, and pepper you?" + +"I was just telling Miss Arnott the story. Odd that you should come +upon the scene as corroborating evidence." + +"For two pins I'd let fly!" + +"Now, Baker, don't be an idiot. Take care how you handle that gun, or +there'll be trouble; your hands don't seem too steady. You don't want +me to give you another thrashing, do you? Have you forgotten the last +one I gave you?" + +"Have I forgotten?" The man cursed his questioner with a vigour which +was startling. "I'll never forget--trust me. I'll be even with you yet, +trust me. By ---- if you say another word about it I'll let fly at you +now!" + +Up went the stock of the gun to the speaker's shoulder, the muzzle +pointing direct at Mr Morice. That gentleman neither moved nor spoke; +Miss Arnott did both. + +"Baker, are you mad? Put down that gun. How dare you so misbehave +yourself?" + +The gun was lowered with evident reluctance. + +"Mr Arnott, he told me to shoot him if ever I see him this side the +fence." + +"I am mistress here now. You may think yourself fortunate if you're not +presently introduced to a policeman." + +"I was only obeying orders, that's all I was doing." + +"Orders! How long ago is it since the orders to which you refer were +given you?" + +Mr Morice interposed an answer,-- + +"It's more than four years since I was near the place." + +The keeper turned towards him with a vindictive snarl. + +"Four years! what's four years? An order's an order if it's four years +or forty. How was I to know that things are different, and that now +you're to come poaching and trespassing whenever you please?" + +Miss Arnott was very stern. + +"Baker, take yourself away from here at once. You will hear of this +again. Do you hear me? Go! without a word!" + +Mr Baker went, but as he went he delivered himself of several words. +They were uttered to himself rather than to the general public, but +they were pretty audible all the same. When he was out of sight and +sound, the lady put a question to the gentleman,-- + +"Do you think it possible that he could have been in earnest, and that +he would have shot you?" + +"I daresay. I suspect that few things would have pleased him better. +Why not? He would only have been carrying out instructions received." + +"But--Mr Morice, I wish you would not jest on such a subject! Has he a +personal grudge against you?" + +"It depends upon what you call a grudge; you heard what he said. He +used to live in that cottage near the gravel pits; and may do so still +for all I know. Once, when I was passing, I heard a terrible +hullabaloo. I invited myself inside to find that Mr Baker was +correcting Mrs Baker with what seemed to me such unnecessary vigour +that--I corrected him. The incident seems to linger in his memory, in +spite of the passage of the years; and I shouldn't be at all surprised +if, in his turn, he is still quite willing to correct me, with the aid +of a few pellets of lead." + +"But he must be a dangerous character." + +"He's a character, at anyrate. I've always felt he was a little mad; +when he's drunk he's stark mad. He's perhaps been having half a gallon +now. Let me hasten to assure you that, I fancy, Baker's qualities were +regarded by Mr Septimus Arnott, in the main, as virtues. Mr Arnott was +himself a character; if I may be excused for saying so." + +"I never saw my uncle in his life, and knew absolutely nothing about +him, except what my father used to tell me of the days when they were +boys together." + +"If, in those days, he was anything like what he was afterwards, he +must have been a curiosity. To make the whole position clear to you I +should mention that my uncle was also a character. I am not sure that, +taking him altogether, he was not the more remarkable character of the +two. The Morices, of course, have been here since the flood. But when +your uncle came my uncle detected in him a kindred spirit. They became +intimates; inseparable chums, and a pair of curios I promise you they +were, until they quarrelled--over a game of chess." + +"Of chess?" + +"Of chess. They used to play together three or four times a +week--tremendous games. Until one evening my uncle insisted that your +uncle had taken his hand off a piece, and wouldn't allow him to withdraw +his move. Then the fur flew. Each called the other everything he could +think of, and both had an extensive répertoire. The war which followed +raged unceasingly; it's a mystery to me how they both managed to die in +their beds." + +"And all because of a dispute over a game of chess?" + +"My uncle could quarrel about a less serious matter than a game of +chess; he was a master of the art. He quarrelled with me--but that's +another story; since when I've been in the out-of-the-way-corners of +the world. I was in Northern Rhodesia when I heard that he was dead, +and had left me Oak Dene. I don't know why--except that there has +always been a Morice at Oak Dene, and that I am the only remaining +specimen of the breed." + +"How strange. It is only recently that I learned--to my complete +surprise--that Exham Park was mine." + +"It seems that we are both of us indebted to our uncles, dead; though +apparently we neither of us owed much to them while they still were +living. Well, are the orders to be perpetuated that I'm to be shot when +seen on this side of the fence?" + +"I do not myself practise such methods." + +"They are drastic; though there are occasions on which drastic methods +are the kindest. Since I only arrived yesterday I take it that I am the +latest comer. It is your duty, therefore, to call on me. Do you propose +to do your duty?" + +"I certainly do not propose to call on you, if that's what you mean." + +"Good. Then I'll call on you. I shall have the pleasure, Miss Arnott, +of waiting on you, on this side of the fence, at a very early date. Do +you keep a shot gun in the hall?" + +"Do you consider it good taste to persist in harping on a subject which +you must perceive is distasteful?" + +"My taste was always bad." + +"That I can easily imagine." + +"There is something which I also can easily imagine." + +"Indeed?" + +"I can imagine that your uncle left you something besides Exham Park." + +"What is that?" + +"A little of his temper." + +"Mr Morice! I have no wish to exchange retorts with you, but, from what +you say, it is quite obvious that your uncle left you all his manners." + +"Thank you. Anything else?" + +"Yes, Mr Morice, there is something else. It is not my fault that we +are neighbours." + +"Don't say that it's my misfortune." + +"And since you must have left many inconsolable friends behind you in +Rhodesia there is no reason why we should continue to be neighbours." + +"Quite so." + +"Of course, whether you return to Rhodesia or remain here is a matter +of complete indifference to me." + +"Precisely." + +"But, should you elect to stay, you will be so good as to understand +that, if you do call at Exham Park, you will be told that I am not at +home. Good afternoon, Mr Morice, and good-bye." + +"Good-bye, Miss Arnott. I had a sort of premonition that those orders +would be re-issued, and that I should be shot if I was seen this side." + +She had already gone some distance; but, on hearing this, stopping, she +turned towards him again. + +"Possibly if we raise the fence to a sufficient height, that will keep +you out." + +"Oh, I can scale any fence. No fence was ever constructed that I +couldn't negotiate. You'll have to shoot." + +"Shall we? We shall see." + +"We shall--Miss Arnott?" + +She stopped again. + +"What is it you wish to say to me?" + +"Merely that I have in my mind some half-formed intention to call on +you to-morrow." + +"You dare!" + +"You have no notion what I do dare." + +This time she was not tempted to a further rejoinder. He watched her +as, straight as a dart, her head in the air, striding along the winding +path, she vanished among the trees. He ruminated after she had gone,-- + +"She's splendid! she magnificent! How she holds herself, and how she +looks at you, and what eyes they are with which to look. I never saw +anything like her, and I hope, for her own sake, she never saw anything +like me. What a brute she must think me, and what a brute I am. I don't +care; there's something about her which sets all my blood on fire, +which rouses in me the instinct of the hunter. I wish old Baker would +come along just now; gun or no gun, we'd have a pretty little argument. +It might do me good. There's no doubt that what I said was true--the +girl has her uncle's temper, if I've my uncle's manners; as I'm a +sinful man I've as good as half a mind to marry her." + +The lady was unconscious of the compliments which, mentally, the +gentleman was paying her. When, returning home, she entered the +apartment where Mrs Plummer, apparently just roused from a peaceful +doze, was waiting for her tea, she was in a flame of passion. + +"I have just left the most unendurable person I ever yet encountered, +the most ill-mannered, the most clumsy, the most cowardly, the most +stupid, the most absurd, the most unspeakable!" + +"My dear! who is this very superlative individual? what is his +delightful name?" + +"His name!" For some occult reason Mrs Plummer's, under the +circumstances, mild request, seemed to cause her passion to flame up +higher. "What do I care what his name is? So far as I am concerned such +a creature has no name!" + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + AN AUTHORITY ON THE LAW OF MARRIAGE + + +The next day Mr Hugh Morice fulfilled his threat--he paid his +ceremonial call at Exham Park. The word "ceremonial" is used advisedly, +since nothing could have been more formal and decorous than his +demeanour throughout. + +Miss Arnott and Mrs Plummer happened to be entertaining four or five +people that afternoon, among them a Mr Pyecroft, a curate attached to +one of Miss Arnott's three livings. He was favouring that lady with a +graphic account of the difficulties encountered in endeavouring, in a +country place, to arouse interest on any subject whatever, and was +illustrating the position by describing the disappointments he had met +with in the course of an attempt he had made to organise a series of +local entertainments in aid of a new church organ, when his listener +suddenly became conscious that a person had just entered the room, who, +if she could believe her eyes, was none other than the unspeakable +individual of the previous day. Not only was it unmistakably he, but he +was actually--with an air of complete self-possession--marching +straight across the room towards her. When he stood in front of her, he +bowed and said,-- + +"Permit me, Miss Arnott, to introduce myself to you. I am Hugh Morice, +of Oak Dene, which, as you are probably aware, adjoins Exham Park. I +only arrived two days ago, and, so soon as I learned that I was +honoured by having you as a neighbour, I ventured to lose no time +in--with your permission--making myself known to you." + +Miss Arnott looked at him with an expression on her countenance which +was hardly encouraging. His own assurance was so perfect that it +deprived her, for the moment, of her presence of mind. He wore a suit +of dark blue serge, which made him seem huger even than he had done the +day before. In the presence of Mr Pyecroft, and of the other people, +she could scarcely assail this smiling giant, and remind him, +pointedly, that she had forbidden him to call. Some sort of explanation +would have to be forthcoming, and it was exactly an explanation which +she desired to avoid. Observing that she seemed tongue-tied, the +visitor continued,-- + +"I have been so long a wanderer among savages that I have almost +forgotten the teachings of my guide to good manners. I am quite +unaware, for example, what, as regards calling, is the correct +etiquette on an occasion when an unmarried man finds himself the +next-door neighbour to an unmarried lady. As I could hardly expect you +to call upon me I dared to take the initiative. What I feared most was +that I might not find you in." + +The invitation was so obvious that the lady at once accepted it. + +"It is only by the merest accident that you have done so." + +Mr Morice was equal to the occasion. "I fancy, Miss Arnott, that for +some of the happiest hours of our lives we are indebted to accidents. +Ah, Pyecroft, so you have not deserted us." + +Mr Morice shook hands with Mr Pyecroft--Miss Arnott thought they looked +a most incongruous couple--with an air of old comradeship, and +presently was exchanging greetings with others of those present with a +degree of heartiness which, to his hostess, made it seem impossible +that she should have him shown the door. When all the other visitors +had gone--including the unspeakable man--she found, to her amazement, +that he had made a most favourable impression on Mrs Plummer. That lady +began almost as soon as his back was turned. + +"What a delightful person Mr Morice is." Miss Arnott was so taken by +surprise that she could do nothing but stare. Mrs Plummer went placidly +on, "It is nice to be able just to look at him, the mere sight of him's +a satisfaction. To a little woman the idea of a man of his size is such +a comfort." + +The young lady's manner was not effusive. + +"We're not all of us fond of monstrosities." + +"Monstrosities! my dear! He's not a monstrosity, he's a perfect figure +of a man, magnificently proportioned. You must admit that." + +"I don't." + +"And then his manners are so charming." + +"They never struck me like that." + +"No? I suppose one judges people as one finds them. I know he was +particularly nice to me. By the way, that dreadful person you spoke of +yesterday, you might tell me what his name is, so that I might be on my +guard against him, should our paths happen to cross." + +"I repeat what I have already told you that, so far as I am concerned, +he has no name; and anyhow, you wouldn't recognise him from my +description if you did meet." + +It was odd, considering how much Miss Arnott disliked Mr Morice, how +frequently he was destined to come, at anyrate, within her line of +vision. And yet, perhaps, it was natural--because, although their +houses were a couple of miles apart, their estates joined--they were +neighbours. And then Miss Arnott was inclined to suspect that the +gentleman went out of his way to bring about a meeting. Situated as +they were, it was not a difficult thing to do. + +To a certain extent, the lady had accepted the position. That is, she +had allowed the acquaintance to continue; being, indeed, more than half +disposed to fear that she might not find it easy to refuse to know him +altogether. But she had been careful to avoid any reference to that +curious first encounter. He, on his part, had shown no disposition to +allude to it. So there grew up between them a sort of casual intimacy. +They saw each other often. When he spoke to her she spoke to him, +though never at any greater length than, as it seemed to her, she could +help. + +With the lessons she had received from the Earl of Peckham still fresh +in her mind she bought herself a motor car; almost simultaneously with +its appearance on the scene her relations with Hugh Morice began to be +on a friendlier footing. She was sitting in it one day, talking to the +lodge-keeper, when Mr Morice came striding by. At sight of it he at +once approached. + +"That's a strange beast." + +She had become somewhat accustomed to his odd tricks of speech, and +merely smiled a wintry smile. + +"You think so?" + +"It's not only a strange, it's a wonderful beast, since it holds in its +hands no small portion of the future history of the world." + +"Are you referring to this particular machine?" + +"I am referring to all the machines of which that one's a type. They're +going to repeat the performance of Puffing' Billy--produce a +revolution. I wish you'd give me a ride." + +"I was just thinking of going in." + +"Put off going in for a few minutes--take me for a run." + +She looked at the chauffeur, who was quick to take the hint. Presently +they were bowling along between the hedgerows, she conscious that his +eyes were paying more attention to her than she quite relished. A fact +of which his words immediately gave evidence. + +"You like it. This feeling of flight through the air, which you can +command by touching a handle, supplies you with an evanescent interest +in life which, in ordinary, everyday existence you find lacking." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Is it necessary that I should tell you? Do you wish me to?" + +"Do you mean that, as a general rule, I don't take an interest in +things?" + +"Do you? At your age, in your position, you ought to take an interest +in everything. But the impression you convey to my mind is that you +don't, that you take an interest in nothing. You try to, sometimes, +pretty hard. But you never quite succeed. I don't know why. You remind +me, in some odd way, of the impersonal attitude of a spectator who +looks on at something with which he never expects to have any personal +concern." + +"I don't know what you're talking about, I don't believe you do either. +You say the strangest things." + +"You don't find them strange, you understand them better than I do. I +am many years older than you--ye Goths, how many! I am tolerably +_blasé_, as befits my age. But you, you are tired--mortally tired--of +everything already. I've not yet reached that stage. You don't know +what keenness means; thank goodness there are still a good many things +which I am keen about. Just as something turns up for which you're on +the point of really caring, a shadow steps from the back of your mind +to the front, and stops you. I don't know what it is, but I know it's +there." + +"I'm going back." + +As this man spoke something tugged at her heartstrings which filled her +with a sort of terror. If he was beginning to regard her attitude +towards life--of which she herself was only too hideously conscious--as +a problem, the solution of which he had set himself to find out, what +might the consequences not be? Then she could not stop to think. She +swung the car round towards home. As if in obedience to her unspoken +hint he changed the subject, speaking with that calm assumption of +authority which galled her the more because she found herself so +frequently compelled to submission. + +"You must teach me to drive this machine of yours." + +"My mechanician will be able to do that better than I can, I am myself +only a tyro." + +"Thank you, I prefer that you should teach me. Which handle do you move +to stop?" She showed him. "And which to start?" She showed him again. + +Before they parted, she had put him, however unwillingly, through quite +a small course of elementary instruction. In consequence of which +she had a bad quarter of an hour, when, later, she was in her own +sitting-room, alone. + +"He frightens me! He makes me do things I don't want to do; and +then--he seems to know me better than I know myself. Is it so obvious +that I find it difficult to take a real interest in things? or has he a +preternaturally keen sense of perception? Either way it isn't nice for +me. It's true enough; nothing does interest me. How should it? What +does money, and all that matter; when there's that--shadow--in the +prison, coming closer to me, day by day? I believe that being where I +am--Miss Arnott of Exham Park--makes it worse, because if it weren't +for the shadow, it would be so different--so different!" + +That night she dreamed of Hugh Morice. She and he were on the motor car +together, flying through the sunshine, on and on and on, happy as the +day was bright, and the road was fair. Suddenly the sun became +obscured, all the world was dark; they were approaching a chasm. +Although it was so dark she knew that it was there. In a wild frenzy of +fear she tried to stop the car, to find, all at once, that it had no +brake. She made to leap out on to the road, but Mr Morice seized her +round the waist and held her. In another moment they were dashing over +the edge of an abyss, into the nameless horrors which lay below. + +It was not a pleasant dream, it did not leave an agreeable impression +on her mind after she was awake. But dreams are only dreams. Sensible +people pay no heed to them. Miss Arnott proved herself to be sensible +at least in that respect. She did not, ever afterwards, refuse him a +seat in her car, because she had once, in a nightmare, come to grief in +his society. On the contrary, she not only took him for other drives, +but--imitating her own experience with the Earl of Peckham, when, after +a while--it was a very little while--he had attained to a certain +degree of proficiency, she suffered him to drive her. And, as she had +done, he liked driving so much that, before long, he also had an +automobile of his own. + +Then a new phase of the affair commenced. It was, of course, necessary +that--with a view of extending her experience, and increasing her +knowledge of motor cars--she should try her hand at driving his. She +tried her hand, a first and a second time, perhaps a third. She +admitted that his car was not a bad one. It had its points--but slight +vibration, little noise, scarcely any smell. It ran sweetly, was a good +climber, easy to steer. Certainly a capital car. So much she was ready +to allow. But, at the same time, she could not but express her opinion +that, on the whole, hers was a better one. There they joined issue. At +first, Mr Morice was disposed to doubt, he was inclined to think that +perhaps, for certain reasons, the lady's car might be a shade the +superior. But, by degrees, as he became more accustomed to his new +possession, he changed his mind. He was moved to state his conviction +that, as a matter of fact, the superiority lay with his own car. + +Whereupon both parties proceeded to demonstrate with which of the +pair the palm of merit really lay. They ran all sorts of trials +together--trials which sometimes resulted in extremely warm arguments; +and by which, somehow, very little was proved. At anyrate, each party +was always ready to discount the value of the conclusion at which the +other had arrived. + +One fact was noticeable--as evidence of the keen spirit of emulation. +Wherever one car was the other was nearly sure to be somewhere near at +hand. + +Mrs Plummer, who had a gift of silence, said little. But one remark she +made did strike Miss Arnott as peculiar. + +"Mr Morice doesn't seem to have so many friends, or even acquaintances, +as I should have expected in a man in his position." + +"How do you know he hasn't?" + +"I say he doesn't seem to have. He never has anyone at his own house, +and he never goes to anyone else's. He always seems to be alone." + +Miss Arnott was still. Mrs Plummer had not accentuated it in the +slightest degree; yet the young lady wondered in what sense--in that +construction--she had used the word "alone." + +One day, when she was in town, Miss Arnott did a singular thing. Having +deposited Mrs Plummer in a large drapery establishment, with peremptory +instructions to make certain considerable purchases, she went off in a +hansom by herself to an address in the Temple. Having arrived, she +perceived in the hall of the house she had entered a board, on which +were painted a number of names. Her glance rested on one--First floor, +Mr Whitcomb. Without hesitation she ascended to the first floor, until +she found herself confronted by a door on which that name appeared in +black letters. She knocked; the door was opened by a very young +gentleman. + +"Can I see Mr Whitcomb?" she inquired. + +"What name? Have you an appointment?" + +"I have not an appointment, and my name is of no consequence. I wish to +see Mr Whitcomb on very particular business." + +The young gentleman looked at her askance, as if he was of +opinion--which he emphatically was--that she was not at all the sort of +person he was accustomed to see outside that door. + +"Mr Whitcomb doesn't generally see people without an appointment, +especially if he doesn't know their names; but if you'll step inside, +I'll see if he's engaged." + +She stepped inside to find herself in an apartment in which there were +several other young gentlemen, of somewhat riper years; one and all of +whom, she immediately became conscious, began to take the liveliest +interest in her. Soon there appeared a grey-haired man, who held a pair +of spectacles between the fingers of his right hand. + +"May I ask what your name is? and what is the nature of the business on +which you wish to see Mr Whitcomb?" + +"I have already explained that my name doesn't matter. And I can only +state my business to Mr Whitcomb himself." Then she added, as if struck +by the look of doubt in the grey-haired man's face, "Pray don't imagine +that I am here to beg for subscriptions to a charity or any nonsense of +that kind. I wish to see Mr Whitcomb about something very important." + +The grey-headed man smiled faintly, apparently amused by something in +the caller's manner, or appearance. Departing whence he came he almost +immediately reappeared, and beckoned to her with his hand. + +"Mr Whitcomb is very much engaged, but he will manage to spare you five +minutes." + +"I daresay I sha'n't want to keep him longer." + +She found herself in a spacious room, which was principally furnished, +as it seemed to her, with books. At a table, which was almost entirely +covered with books, both open and shut, stood a tall man, with +snow-white hair, who bowed to her as she entered. + +"You wish to see me?" + +"You are Mr Whitcomb?" + +"That is my name. How can I serve you?" + +She seated herself on the chair towards which he pointed. Each looked +at the other for some seconds, in silence. Then she spoke. + +"I want you to tell me on what grounds a wife can obtain a divorce from +her husband." + +Mr Whitcomb raised his eyebrows and smiled. + +"I think, madam, that it may have been a solicitor you wanted. I, +unfortunately, am only a barrister. I fear you have made a mistake." + +"I have not made a mistake; how have I made a mistake? I saw in a paper +the other day that you were the greatest living authority on the law of +marriage." + +"It was very good of the paper to say so. Since I am indebted for your +presence here to so handsome a compliment, I will waive the point of +etiquette and inform you--of what you, surely, must be already +aware--that the grounds on which a divorce may be obtained are various." + +"I know that; that isn't what I mean. What I specially want to know is +this--can a woman get a divorce from her husband because he gets sent +to prison?" + +"Because he gets sent to prison? For doing what?" + +"For--for swindling; because he's a scoundrel." + +Mr Whitcomb's eyebrows went up again. + +"The idea that a marriage may be dissolved because one of the parties +is guilty of felony, and is consequently sentenced to a term of +imprisonment, is a novel one to me." + +"Not if a girl finds out that the man who has married her is a villain +and a thief? A thief, mind." + +He shook his head. + +"I find that that would be no ground for dissolution." + +"Are you sure?" + +"My dear young lady, you were good enough to say that some paper or +other credited me with a knowledge of the laws dealing with the subject +of marriage. I can assure you that on that point there is no doubt +whatever." + +"Is that so?" The girl's lips were tightly compressed, her brows knit. +"Then there are no means whatever by which a wife can be rid of a +husband whom she discovers to be a rogue and a rascal?" + +"Not merely because he is a rogue and a rascal; except by the act of +God." + +"What do you mean by the act of God?" + +"If, for example, he should die." + +"If he should die? I see! There is no way by which she can be released +from him except by--death. Thank you, that is all I wanted to know." + +She laid on his table what, to his surprise, he perceived to be a +twenty-pound note. + +"My dear young lady, what is this?" + +"That is your fee. I don't want to occupy your time or obtain +information from you for nothing." + +"But you have done neither. Permit me to return you this. That is not +the way in which I do business; in this instance, the honour of having +been consulted by you is a sufficient payment. Before you go, however, +let me give a piece of really valuable advice. If you have a friend who +is in any matrimonial trouble, persuade her to see a respectable +solicitor at once, and to place the whole facts before him +unreservedly. He may be able to show her a way out of her difficulty +which would never have occurred to her." + +He commented--inwardly--on his visitor, after her departure. + +"That's either a very simple-minded young woman or a most unusual +character. Fancy her coming to me with such an inquiry! She has got +herself into some matrimonial mess, most probably, without the +cognisance of her friends. Unless I am mistaken she is the kind of +young woman who, if she has made up her mind to get out of it, will get +out of it; if not by fair means, then--though I hope not!--by foul." + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + MR MORICE PRESUMES + + +One day a desire seized Miss Arnott to revisit the place where she had +first met Mr Morice. She had not been there since. That memorable +encounter had spoilt it for her. It had been her custom to wander there +nearly every fine day. But, since it had been defiled by such a memory, +for her, its charm had fled. + +Still, as the weeks went by, it dawned upon her by degrees, that, after +all, there was no substantial reason why she should turn her back on it +for ever. It was a delightful spot; so secluded, so suited to solitary +meditation. + +"I certainly do not intend," she told herself, "to allow that +man"--with an accent on the "that"--"to prevent my occasionally visiting +one of the prettiest parts of my own property. It would be mere affectation +on my part to pretend that the place will ever be to me the same again; +but that is no reason why I should never take a walk in that +direction." + +It was pleasant weather, sunny, not too warm and little wind. Just the +weather for a woodland stroll, and, also, just the weather for a motor +ride. That latter fact was particularly present to her mind, because +she happened to be undergoing one of those little experiences which +temper an automobilist's joys. The machine was in hospital. She had +intended to go for a long run to-day, but yesterday something had all +at once gone wrong with the differential, the clutch, the bevel gear or +something or other. She herself did not quite know what, or, +apparently, anyone else either. As a result, the car, instead of flying +with her over the sun-lit roads, was being overhauled by the nearest +local experts. + +That was bad enough. But what almost made it worse was the additional +fact that Hugh Morice's car was flying over the aforesaid country roads +with him. That her car should have broken down, though ever so +slightly, and his should not--that altogether inferior article, of +which he was continually boasting in the most absurd manner--was gall +and wormwood. + +The accident, which had rendered her own car for the moment +unavailable, had something to do with her stroll; the consciousness +that "that man" was miles away on his had more. + +"At anyrate I sha'n't run the risk of any more impertinent +interferences with my privacy. Fortunately, so far as I know, there is +no one else in the neighbourhood who behaves quite as he does. So, as +he is risking his life on that noisy machine of his, I am safe. I only +hope he won't break his neck on it; there never was such a reckless +driver." + +This pious wish of hers was destined to receive an instant answer. +Hardly had the words been uttered, than, emerging from the narrow path, +winding among the trees and bushes, along which she had been wandering, +she received ample proof that Mr Morice's neck still remained unbroken. +The gentleman himself was standing not fifty paces from where she was. +So disagreeably was she taken by surprise that she would have +immediately withdrawn, and returned at the top of her speed by the way +she had come, had it not been for two things. One was that he saw her +as soon as she saw him; and the other that she also saw something else, +the sight of which filled her with amazement. + +The first reason would not have been sufficient to detain her; +although, so soon as he caught sight of her, he hailed her in his usual +hearty tones. The terms of courtesy--or rather of discourtesy--on which +these two stood towards each other were of such a nature that she held +herself at liberty wholly to ignore him whenever she felt inclined. +More than once when they had parted they had been on something less +than speaking terms. For days together she had done her very best to +cut him dead. Then, when at last, owing to his calm persistency, the +acquaintance was renewed, he evinced not the slightest consciousness +of its having ever been interrupted. Therefore she would not have +hesitated to have turned on her heels, and walked away without a +word--in spite of his salutation, had it not been for the something +which amazed her. + +The fence had been moved! + +At first she thought that her eyes, or her senses, were playing her a +trick. But a moment's inspection showed her that the thing was so. The +old wooden, lichen-covered rails had been taken away for a space of +sixty or seventy feet; and, instead, a little distance farther back, on +the Oak Dene land, a solid, brand-new fence had been erected; standing +in a position which conveyed the impression that the sheltered nook to +which--in her ignorance of boundaries--Miss Arnott had been so +attached, and in which Mr Morice first discovered her, was part and +parcel of Exham Park instead of Oak Dene. + +It was some seconds before the lady realised exactly what had happened. +When she did, she burst out on Mr Morice with a question. + +"Who has done this?" + +The gentleman, who stood with his back against a huge beech tree, took +his pipe from between his lips, and smiled. + +"The fairies." + +"Then the fairies will soon be introduced to a policeman. You did it." + +"Not with my own hands, I assure you. At my time of life I am beyond +that sort of thing." + +"How dare you cause my fence to be removed?" + +"Your fence? I was not aware it was your fence." + +"You said it was my fence." + +"Pardon me--never. I could not be guilty of such a perversion of the +truth." + +"Then whose fence was it?" + +"It was mine. That is, it was my uncle's, and so, in the natural course +of things, it became mine. It was like this. At one time, hereabouts, +there was no visible boundary line between the two properties. I fancy +it was a question of who should be at the expense of erecting one. +Finally, my uncle loosed his purse-strings. He built this fence, with +the wood out of his own plantations--even your friend Mr Baker will be +able to tell you so much--the object being to keep out trespassers from +Exham Park." + +"Then, as you have removed your fence, I shall have to put up one of my +own. I have no intention of allowing innocent persons, connected with +Exham Park, to trespass--unconsciously--on land belonging to Oak Dene." + +"Miss Arnott, permit your servant to present a humble petition." + +He held his cap in his hands, suggesting deference; but in the eyes was +that continual suspicion of laughter which made it difficult to tell +when he was serious. It annoyed Miss Arnott to find that whenever she +encountered that glimmer of merriment she found it so difficult to +preserve the rigidity of decorum which she so ardently desired. Now, +although she meant to be angry, and was angry, when she encountered +that peculiar quality in his glance, it was really hard to be as angry +as she wished. + +"What objectionable remark have you to make now?" + +"This--your servant desires to be forgiven." + +"If the fence was yours, you were at liberty to do what you liked with +it. You don't want to be forgiven for doing what you choose with your +own. You can pull down all the fence for all I care." + +"Exactly; that is very good of you. It is not precisely for that I +craved forgiveness. Your servant has ventured to do a bold thing." + +"Please don't call yourself my servant. If there is a ridiculous thing +which you can say it seems as if you were bound to say it. Nothing you +can do would surprise me. Pray, what particular thing have you been +doing now? I thought you were going to Southampton on your car?" + +"The car's in trouble." + +"What's the matter with it?" + +"One man says one thing; another says another. I say--since this is the +second time it's been in trouble this week--the thing's only fit for a +rummage sale." + +"I have never concealed my opinion from you." + +"You haven't. Your opinion, being unbiassed by facts, is always the +same; mine--depends. What, by the way, is just now your opinion of your +own one? Lately it never seems to be in going order." + +"That's preposterous nonsense, as you are perfectly well aware. But I +don't mean to be drawn into a senseless wrangle. I came here hoping to +escape that sort of thing." + +"And you found me, which is tragic. However, we are wandering from the +subject on to breezy heights. As I previously remarked, I have ventured +to do a bold thing." + +"And I have already inquired, what unusually bold thing is it you have +done?" + +"This." + +They were at some little distance from each other; he on one side of +the newly-made fence, she, where freshly-turned sods showed that the +old fence used to be. He took a paper from his pocket, and, going close +up to his side of the fence, held it out to her in his outstretched +hand. She, afar off, observed both it and him distrustfully. + +"What is it?" + +"This? It's a paper with something written on it. We'll call it a +document. Come and look at it. It's harmless. It's not a pistol--or a +gun." + +"I doubt if it contains anything which is likely to be of the slightest +interest to me. Read what is on it." + +"I would rather you read it yourself. Come and take it, if you please." + +He spoke in that tone of calm assurance which was wont to affect her in +a fashion which she herself was at a loss to understand. She resented +bitterly its suggestion of authority; yet, before she was able to give +adequate expression to her resentment, she was apt to find herself +yielding entire obedience, as on the present occasion. In her +indignation at the thought that he should issue his orders to her, as +if she were his servant, she was more than half disposed to pick up a +clod of earth, or a stone, and, like some street boy, hurl it at him +and run away. She refrained from doing this, being aware that such a +proceeding would not increase her dignity; and, also, because she did +what he told her. She marched up to the fence and took the paper from +his hand. + +"I don't want it; you needn't suppose so. I've not the faintest desire +to know what's on it." He simply looked at her with a glint of laughter +in his big grey eyes. "I've half a mind to tear it in half and return +it to you." + +"You won't do that." + +"Then I'll take it with me and look at it when I get home, if I look at +it at all." + +"Read it now." + +She opened and read it; or tried to. "I don't understand what it's +about; it seems to be so much gibberish. What is the thing?" + +"It's a conveyance." + +"A conveyance? What do you mean?" + +"Being interpreted, it's a legal instrument which conveys to you and to +your heirs for ever the fee-simple of--that." + +"That?" + +"That." He was pointing to the piece of land which lay within the +confines of the newly-made fence. "That nook--that dell--that haven in +which I saw you first, because you were under the impression it was +yours. I was idiot enough to disabuse your mind, not being conscious, +then, of what a fool I was. My idiocy has rankled ever since. However, +it may have been of aforetime your lying there, cradled on that turf, +has made of it consecrated ground. I guessed it then; I know it now. +Then you fancied it was your own; now it assuredly is, you hold the +conveyance in your hand." + +"Mr Morice, what are you talking about? I don't in the least +understand.' + +"I was only endeavouring to explain what is the nature of the document +you hold. Henceforward that rood of land--or thereabouts--is yours. If +I set foot on it, you will be entitled to put into me a charge of +lead." + +"Do you mean to say that you have given it me? Do you expect me to +accept a gift--" + +"Miss Arnott, the time for saying things is past. The transaction is +concluded--past redemption. That land is yours as certainly as you +are now standing on it; nothing you can say or do can alter that +well-established fact by so much as one jot or tittle. The matter is +signed, sealed and settled; entered in the archives of the law. Protest +from you will be a mere waste of time." + +"I don't believe it." + +"As you please. Take that document to your lawyer; lay it before him; +he will soon tell you whether or not I speak the truth. By the way, I +will take advantage of this opportunity to make a few remarks to you +upon another subject. Miss Arnott, I object to you for one reason." + +"For one reason only? That is very good of you. I thought you objected +to me for a thousand reasons." + +"Your irony is justified. Then we will put it that I object to you for +one reason chiefly." + +"Mr Morice, do you imagine that I care why you object to me? Aren't you +aware that you are paying me the highest compliment within your power +by letting me know that you do object to me? Do you suppose that, in +any case, I will stand here and listen to your impertinent attempts at +personal criticism?" + +"You will stand there, and you will listen; but I don't propose to +criticise you, either impertinently or otherwise, but you will stand +and listen to what I have to say." Such a sudden flame came into Mr +Hugh Morice's eyes that the girl, half frightened, half she knew not +what, remained speechless there in front of him. He seemed all at once +to have grown taller, and to be towering above her like some giant +against whose irresistible force it was vain to try and struggle. "The +chief reason why I object to you, Miss Arnott, is because you are so +rich." + +"Mr Morice!" + +"In my small way, I'm well to do. I can afford to buy myself a motor. I +can even afford to pay for its repairs; and, in the case of a car like +mine, that means something." + +"I can believe that, easily." + +"Of course you can. But, relatively, compared to you, I'm a pauper, and +I don't like it." + +"And yet you think that I'll accept gifts from you--valuable gifts?" + +"What I would like is, that a flaw should be found in your uncle's +will; or the rightful heir turn up; or something happen which would +entail your losing every penny you have in the world." + +"What delightful things you say." + +"Then, if you were actually and literally a pauper I might feel that +you were more on an equality with me. + +"Why should you wish to be on an equality with me?" + +"Why? Don't you know?" On a sudden she began to tremble so that she +could scarcely stand. "I see that you do know. I see it by the way the +blood comes and goes in your cheeks; by the light which shines out of +your eyes; by the fashion in which, as you see what is in mine, you +stand shivering there. You know that I would like to be on an equality +with you because I love you; and because it isn't flattering to my +pride to know that, in every respect, you are so transcendently above +me, and that, compared to you, I am altogether such a thing of clay. I +don't want to receive everything and to give nothing. I am one of those +sordid animals who like to think that their wives-who-are-to-be will be +indebted to them for something besides their bare affection." + +"How dare you talk to me like this?" + +She felt as if she would have given anything to have been able to turn +and flee, instead of seeming to stultify herself by so halting a +rejoinder; but her feet were as if they were rooted to the ground. + +"Do you mean, how dare I tell you that I love you? Why, I'd dare to +tell you if you were a queen upon your throne and I your most +insignificant subject. I'd dare to tell you if I knew that the telling +would bring the heavens down. I'd dare to tell you if all the +gamekeepers on your estate were behind you there, pointing their guns +at me, and I was assured they'd pull their triggers the instant I had +told. Why should I not dare to tell you that I love you? I'm a man; +and, after all, you're but a woman, though so rare an one. I dare to +tell you more. I dare to tell you that the first time I saw you lying +there, on that grassy cushion, I began to love you then. And it has +grown since, until now, it consumes me as with fire. It has grown to be +so great, that, mysterious and strange--and indeed, incredible though +it seems--I've a sort of inkling somewhere in my bosom, that one day +yet I'll win you for my wife. What do you say to that?" + +"I say that you don't know what you're talking about. That you're +insane." + +"If that be so, I've a fancy that it's a sort of insanity which, in +howsoever so slight a degree, is shared by you. Come closer." + +He leaned over the fence. Almost before she knew it, he had his arms +about her; had drawn her close to him, and had kissed her on the mouth. +She struck at him with her clenched fists; and, fighting like some wild +thing, tearing herself loose, rushed headlong down the woodland path, +as if Satan were at her heels. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + THE LADY WANDERS + + +That was the beginning of a very bad time for Mrs Plummer. + +She was sitting peacefully reading--she was not one of those ladies who +indulge in "fancy work," and was always ready to confess that never, +under any circumstances, if she could help it, would she have a needle +in her hand--when Miss Arnott came rushing into the room in a condition +which would have been mildly described as dishevelled. She was a young +lady who was a little given to vigorous entrances and exits, and was +not generally, as regards her appearance, a disciple of what has been +spoken of as "the bandbox brigade." But on that occasion she moved Mrs +Plummer, who was not easily moved in that direction, to an exhibition +of surprise. + +"My dear child! what have you been doing to yourself, and where have +you been?" + +"I've been to the woods. Mrs Plummer, I've come to tell you that we're +going abroad." + +"Going abroad? Isn't that rather a sudden resolution? I thought you had +arranged--" + +"Never mind what I've arranged. We're going abroad to-morrow, if we +can't get away to-night." + +"To-morrow? To-night? My child, are you in earnest?" + +"Very much so. That is, I don't wish to put any constraint on you. You, +of course, are at liberty to go or stay, exactly as you please. I +merely wish to say that I am going abroad, whether you come with me or +whether you don't; and that I intend to start either to-night or +to-morrow morning." + +They left the next morning. The packing was done that night. At an +early hour they went up to town; at eleven o'clock they started for the +Continent. That evening they dined in Paris. Mrs Plummer would have +liked to remonstrate--and did remonstrate so far as she dared; but it +needed less sagacity than she possessed to enable her to see that, in +Miss Arnott's present mood, the limits of daring might easily be +passed. When she ventured to suggest that before their departure Mr +Stacey should be consulted, the young lady favoured her with a little +plain speaking. + +"Why should I consult Mr Stacey? He is only my servant." + +"Your servant? My dear!" + +"He renders me certain services, for which I pay him. Doesn't that mean +that, in a certain sense, he's my servant? I have authority over him, +but he has none over me--not one iota. He was my trustee; but, as I +understand it, his trusteeship ceased when I entered into actual +possession of my uncle's property. He does as I tell him, that's all. I +shouldn't dream of consulting him as to my personal movements--nor +anyone. As, in the future, my movements may appear to you to be +erratic, please, Mrs Plummer, let us understand each other now. You are +my companion--good! I have no objection. When we first met, you told me +that my liberty would be more complete with you than without you. I +assure you, on my part, that I do not intend to allow you to interfere +with my perfect freedom of action in the least degree. I mean to go +where I please, when I please, how I please, and I want no criticism. +You can do exactly as you choose; I shall do as I choose. I don't +intend to allow you, in any way whatever, to be a clog upon my +movements. The sooner we understand each other perfectly on that point +the better it will be for both sides. Don't you think so?" + +Mrs Plummer had to think so. + +"I'm sure that if you told me you meant to start in ten minutes for the +North Pole, you'd find me willing; that is, if you'd be willing to take +me with you." + +"Oh, I'd be willing to take you, so long as you don't even hint at a +disinclination to be taken." + +They stayed in Paris for two days. Then they wandered hither and +thither in Switzerland. Everywhere, it seemed, there were too many +people. + +"I want to be alone," declared Miss Arnott. "Where there isn't a soul +to speak to except you and Evans,"--Evans was her maid--"you two don't +count. But I can't get away from the crowds; they're even on the tops +of the mountains. I hate them." + +Mrs Plummer sighed; being careful, however, to conceal the sigh from +Miss Arnott. It seemed to her that the young lady had an +incomprehensible objection to everything that appealed to anyone else. +She avoided hotels where the cooking was decent, because other people +patronised them. She eschewed places where there was something to be +obtained in the way of amusement, because other reasonable creatures +showed a desire to be amused. She shunned beauty spots, merely because +she was not the only person in the world who liked to look upon the +beauties of nature. Having hit upon an apparently inaccessible retreat, +from the ordinary tourist point of view, in the upper Engadine, where, +according to Mrs Plummer, the hotel was horrible, and there was nothing +to do, and nowhere to go, there not being a level hundred yards within +miles, the roads being mere tracks on the mountain sides, she did show +some disposition to rest awhile. Indeed, she showed an inclination to +stay much longer than either Mrs Plummer or Evans desired. Those two +were far from happy. + +"What a young lady in her position can see in a place like this beats +me altogether. The food isn't fit for a Christian, and look at the room +we have to eat it in; it isn't even decently furnished. There's not a +soul to speak to, and nothing to do except climb up and down the side +of a wall. She'll be brought in one day--if they ever find her--nothing +but a bag of bones; you see if she isn't!" + +In that strain Evans frequently eased her mind, or tried to. + +To this remote hamlet, however, in course of time, other people began +to come. They not only filled the hotel, which was easy, since Miss +Arnott already had most of it, and would have had all, if the landlord, +who was a character, had not insisted on keeping certain rooms for +other guests; but they also overflowed into the neighbouring houses. +These newcomers filled Miss Arnott with dark suspicions. When indulging +in her solitary expeditions one young man in particular, named +Blenkinsop, developed an extraordinary knack of turning up when she +least expected him. + +"I believe I'm indebted to you for these people coming here." + +This charge she levelled at Mrs Plummer, who was amazed. + +"To me! Why, they're all complete strangers to me; I never saw one of +them before, and haven't the faintest notion where they come from or +who they are. + +"All the same, I believe I am; to you or to Evans; probably to both." + +"My dear, what do you mean? The things you say!" + +"It's the things you say, that's what I mean. You and Evans have been +talking to the people here; you have been telling them who I am, and a +great many things you have no right to tell them. They've been telling +people down in the valley, and the thing has spread; how the rich +Arnott girl, who has so much money she herself doesn't know how much, +is stopping up here all alone. I know. These creatures have come up in +consequence. That man Blenkinsop as good as told me this afternoon that +he only came because he heard that I was here." + +"My dear, what can you expect? You can't hide your light under a +bushel. You would have much more real solitude in a crowd than in a +place like this." + +"Should I? We shall see. If this sort of thing occurs again I shall +send you and Evans home. I shall drop my own name, and take a +pseudonym; and I shall go into lodgings, and live on fifty francs a +week--then we'll see if I sha'n't be left alone." + +When Mrs Plummer retailed these remarks to Evans, the lady's maid--who +had already been the recipient of a few observations on her own +account--expressed herself with considerable frankness on the subject +of her mistress. + +"I believe she's mad--I do really. I don't mean that she's bad enough +for a lunatic asylum or anything like that; but that she has a screw +loose, and that there's something wrong with her, I'm pretty nearly +sure. Look at the fits of depression she has--with her quite young and +everything to make her all the other way. Look how she broods. She +might be like the party in the play who'd murdered sleep, the way she +keeps awake of nights. I know she reads till goodness knows what time; +and often and often I don't believe she has a wink of sleep all night +It isn't natural--I know I shouldn't like it if it was me. She might +have done some dreadful crime, and be haunted by it, the way that she +goes on--she might really." + +It was, perhaps, owing to the fact that the unfortunate lady +practically had no human society except the lady's maid's that Mrs +Plummer did not rebuke her more sharply for indulging in such free and +easy comments on the lady to whom they were both indebted. She did +observe that Evans ought not to say such things; but, judging from +certain passages in a letter which, later on, she sent to Mrs Stacey, +it is possible that the woman's words had made a greater impression +than she had cared to admit. + +They passed from the Engadine to Salmezzo, a little village which +nestles among the hills which overlook Lake Como. It was from there +that the letter in question was written. After a page or two about +nothing in particular it went on like this:-- + +"I don't want to make mountains out of molehills, and I don't wish you +to misunderstand me; but I am beginning to wonder if there is not +something abnormal about the young lady whom I am supposed to chaperon. +In so rich, so young, and so beautiful a girl--and I think she grows +more beautiful daily--this horror of one's fellow-creatures--carried to +the extent she carries it--is in itself abnormal. But, lately, there +has been something more. She is physically, or mentally, unwell; which +of the two I can't decide. I am not in the least bit morbid; but, +really, if you had been watching her--and, circumstanced as I am, you +can't help watching her--you would begin to think she must be haunted. +It's getting on my nerves. Usually, I should describe her as one of the +most self-possessed persons I had ever met; but, during the last week +or two, she has taken to starting--literally--at shadows. + +"The other day, at the end of the little avenue of trees which runs in +front of my bedroom, right before my eyes, she stopped and leaned +against one of the trees, as if for support. I wondered what she meant +by it--the attitude was such an odd one. Presently a man came along the +road, and strode past the gate. The nearer he came the more she slunk +behind the tree. When he had passed she crouched down behind the tree, +and began to cry. How she did cry! While I was hesitating whether I +ought to go to her or not, apparently becoming conscious that she might +be overlooked, she suddenly got up and--still crying--rushed off among +the trees. + +"Now who did she think that man was she heard coming along the road? +Why did she cry like that when she found it wasn't he? Were they tears +of relief or disappointment? It seemed very odd. + +"Again, one afternoon she went for a drive with me; it is not often +that she will go anywhere with me, especially for a drive, but that +afternoon the suggestion actually came from her. After we had gone some +distance we alighted from the vehicle to walk to a point from which a +famous view can be obtained. All at once, stopping, she caught me by +the arm. + +"'Who's that speaking?' she asked. Up to then I had not been conscious +that anyone was speaking. But, as we stood listening, I gradually +became conscious, in the intense silence, of a distant murmur of voices +which was just, and only just, audible. Her hearing must be very acute. +'It is an English voice which is speaking,' she said. She dragged me +off the path among the shadow of the trees. She really did drag; but I +was so taken aback by the extraordinary look which came upon her face, +and by the strangeness of her tone, that I was incapable of offering +the least resistance. On a sudden she had become an altogether +different person; a dreadful one, it seemed to me. Although I was +conscious of the absurdity of our crouching there among the trees, I +could not say so--simply because I was afraid of her. At last she said, +as if to herself, 'It's not his voice.' Then she gave a gasp, or a +groan, or sigh--I don't know what it was. I could feel her shuddering; +it affected me most unpleasantly. Presently two perfectly inoffensive +young Englishmen, who were staying at our hotel, came strolling by. +Fortunately they did not look round. If they had seen us hiding there +among the trees I don't know what they would have thought. + +"I have only given you two instances. But recently, she is always doing +ridiculous things like that, which, although they are ridiculous, are +disconcerting. She certainly is unwell mentally, or physically, or +both; but not only so. I seriously do believe she's haunted. Not by +anything supernatural, but by something, perhaps, quite ordinary. There +may be some episode in her life which we know nothing of, and which it +might be much better for her if we did, and that haunts her. I should +not like to venture to hint at what may be its exact nature; because I +have no idea; but I would not mind hazarding a guess that it has +something to do with a man." + + +Mrs Plummer's sagacity was not at fault; it had something to do with a +man--her husband. She had hoped that constant wandering might help her +to banish him from her mind--him and another man. The contrary proved +to be the case. The farther she went the more present he seemed to +be--they both seemed to be. + +And, lately, the thing had become worse. She had begun to count the +hours which still remained before the prison gates should be reopened. +So swiftly the time grew shorter. When they were reopened, what would +happen then? Now she was haunted; what Mrs Plummer had written was +true. Day and night she feared to see his face; she trembled lest every +unknown footstep might be his. A strange voice made her heart stand +still. + +The absurdity of the thing did not occur to her? she was so wholly +obsessed by its horror. Again Mrs Plummer was right, she was unwell +both mentally and physically. The burden which was weighing on her, +body and soul, was rapidly becoming heavier than she could bear. She +magnified it till it filled her whole horizon. Look where she would it +was there, the monster who--it seemed to her, at any moment--might +spring out at her from behind the prison gates. The clearness of her +mental vision was becoming obscured, the things she saw were distorted +out of their true proportions. + +As a matter of fact, the hour of Robert Champion's release was drawing +near. The twelve months were coming to an end. The probability was that +they had seemed much longer to him than to her. To her it seemed that +the hour of his release would sound the knell of the end of all things. +She awaited it as a condemned wretch might await the summons to the +gallows. As, with the approaching hour, the tension grew tighter, the +balance of her mind became disturbed. Temporarily, she was certainly +not quite sane. + +One afternoon she crowned her display of eccentricity by rushing off +home almost at a moment's notice. On the previous day--a Tuesday--she +had arranged with the landlord to continue in his hotel for a further +indefinite period. On the Wednesday, after lunch, she came to Mrs +Plummer and announced that they were going home at once. Although Mrs +Plummer was taken wholly by surprise, the suggestion being a complete +reversal of all the plans they had made, Miss Arnott's manner was so +singular, and the proposition was in itself so welcome, that the elder +lady fell in with the notion there and then, without even a show of +remonstrance. The truth is that she had something more than a suspicion +that Miss Arnott would be only too glad to avail herself of any excuse +which might offer, and return to England alone, leaving her--Mrs +Plummer--alone with Evans. Why the young lady should wish to do such a +thing she had no idea, but that she did wish to do it she felt +uncomfortably convinced. The companion managing to impress the lady's +maid with her aspect of the position, the trunks were packed in less +than no time, so that the entire cortège was driven over to catch the +afternoon train, leaving the smiling landlord with a thumping cheque, +to compensate him for the rapidity with which the eccentric young +Englishwoman thought proper to break the engagements into which she had +solemnly entered. + +That was on the Wednesday. On the Saturday--by dint of losing no time +upon the way--they arrived at Exham Park. On the Sunday Robert +Champion's term of imprisonment was to come to an end; on that day he +would have been twelve months in jail. What a rigid account she had +kept of it all, like the schoolboy who keeps count of the days which +bar him from his holidays. But with what a different feeling in her +heart! She had seen that Sunday coming at her from afar off--nearer and +nearer. What would happen when it came, and he was free to get at her +again, she did not know. What she did know was that she meant to have +an hour or two at Exham Park before the Sunday dawned, and the monster +was set free again. She had come at headlong speed from the Lake of +Como to have it. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + THE BEECH TREE + + +When the travellers returned it was after nine o'clock. So soon as they +set foot indoors they were informed that dinner was ready to be served; +an announcement which, as they had been travelling all day, and had +only had a scanty lunch on the train, Mrs Plummer was inclined to hail +with rapture. Miss Arnott, however--as she was only too frequently wont +to be--was of a different mind. + +"I don't want any dinner," she announced. + +"Not want any dinner!" Mrs Plummer stared. The limits of human +forbearance must be reached some time, and the idea that that erratic +young woman could not want dinner was beyond nature. "But you must want +dinner--you're starving; I'm sure you are." + +"Indeed? I don't see how you can be sure. I assure you, on my part, +that I am not even hungry. However, as you probably mean that yours is +a case of starvation, far be it from me to stand in the way of your +being properly fed. Come! let us go in to dinner at once." + +The imperious young woman marched her unresisting companion straight +off into the dining-room, without even affording her an opportunity to +remove the stains of travel. Not that Mrs Plummer was unwilling to be +led, having arrived at that stage in which the satisfaction of the +appetite was the primary consideration. + +Miss Arnott herself made but an unsubstantial meal; watching the +conscientious manner in which the elder lady did justice to the +excellent fare with ill-concealed and growing impatience. At last--when +they had only reached the entrées--her feeling found vent. + +"Really, Mrs Plummer, you must excuse me. I'm not in the least bit +hungry, and am in that state of mind in which even the sight of food +upsets me--I must have some fresh air." + +"Fresh air! But, my dear child, surely you must recently have had +enough fresh air." + +"Not of the kind I want. You stay there and continue to recruit +exhausted nature; don't let my vagaries make any difference to you. I'm +going out--to breathe." + +"After travelling for three whole days where can you be going to at +this time of night? It's ten o'clock." + +"I'm going--" From the way in which she looked at her Mrs Plummer +deemed it quite possible that her charge was going to request her to +mind her own business. But, suddenly, Miss Arnott stopped; seemed to +change her mind, and said with a smile wrinkling her lips, "Oh, I'm +going out into the woods." + +Before the other could speak again she was gone. + +Left alone, Mrs Plummer put down her knife and fork, and stared at the +door through which the lady had vanished. Had there been someone to say +it to she might have said something to the point. The only persons +present were the butler and his attendant minions. To them she could +hardly address herself on such a subject. It was not even desirable +that any action of hers should acquaint them with the fact that there +was something which she was burning to say. She controlled her +feelings, composed her countenance, took up her knife and fork and +resumed her meal. + +And Miss Arnott went out into the woods. + +She was in a curious mood, or she would never have gone out on such a +frolic. Directly she found herself out in the cool night air, +stretching out her arms and opening her chest, she drank in great +draughts of it; not one or two, but half a dozen. When she reached the +shadow of the trees she paused. So far the sky had been obscured by +clouds. The woods stretched out in front of her in seemingly +impenetrable darkness. It was impossible to pick out a footpath in that +blackness. But all at once the clouds passed from before the moon. +Shafts of light began to penetrate the forest fastness, and to +illuminate its mysteries. The footpath was revealed, not over clearly, +yet with sufficient distinctness to make its existence obvious. +Unhesitatingly she began to follow it. It was not easy walking. The +moon kept coming and going. When it was at its brightest its rays were +not sufficiently vivid to make perfectly plain the intricacies of the +path. When it vanished she found herself in a darkness which might +almost have been felt. Progression was practically impossible. In spite +of her putting out her hands to feel the way she was continually coming +into contact with trees, and shrubs, and all sorts of unseen obstacles. +Not only so, there was the risk of her losing the path--all sense of +direction being nonexistent. + +"If I don't take care I shall be lost utterly, and shall have to spend +the night, alone with the birds and beasts, in this sweet wilderness. +Sensible people would take advantage of the first chance which offers +to turn back. But I sha'n't; I shall go on and on." + +Presently the opportunity to do so came again. The moon returned; this +time to stay. It seemed brighter now. As her eyes became accustomed to +its peculiar glamour she moved more surely towards the goal she had in +view. The light, the scene, the hour, were all three fitted to her +mood; which certainly would have defied her own analysis. It seemed to +her, by degrees, that she was bewitched--under the influence of some +strange spell. This was a fairy forest through which she was passing, +at the witching hour. Invisible shapes walked by her. Immaterial forms +peopled the air. It was as though she was one of a great company; +moving with an aerial bodyguard through a forest of faerie. + +What it all meant she did not know; or why she was there; or whither, +exactly, she was going. Until, on a sudden, the knowledge came. + +Unexpectedly, before she supposed she had gone so far, she came to +the end of the path. There, right ahead, was the mossy glade, the +fee-simple of which had been presented to her in such queer fashion the +last time she came that way. Coming from the shadow of the forest path +it stood out in the full radiance of the moon; every object showing out +as clearly as at high noon. The new-made fence, with its novelty +already fading; the turf on which she loved to lie; the unevenness on +the slope which had seemed to have been made for the express purpose of +providing cushions for her head and back. These things she saw, as +distinctly as if the sun were high in the heavens; and something else +she saw as well, which made her heart stand still. + +Under the giant beech, whose spreading branches cast such grateful +shade, when the sun was hot, over the nook which she had chosen as a +couch, stood a man--who was himself by way of being a giant. Never +before had his height so struck her. Whether it was the clothes he +wore, the position in which he stood, or a trick of the moonlight, she +could not tell. She only knew that, as he appeared so instantly before +her, he was like some creature out of Brobdingnag, seeming to fill all +space with his presence. + +The man was Hugh Morice. + +He was so absorbed in what he was doing, and she was still some little +distance from him, and had come so quietly; that she saw him while he +still remained unconscious of her neighbourhood. She had ample time to +withdraw. She had only to take a few steps back, and he would never +know she had been near him. So the incident would be closed. Her +instinct told her that in that way she would be safest. And for a +moment or two she all but turned to go. + +Her retreat, however, was delayed by one or two considerations. One was +that the sight of him affected her so strangely that, for some seconds, +she was genuinely incapable of going either backward or forward. Her +feet seemed shod with lead, her knees seemed to be giving way beneath +her, she was trembling from head to foot. Then she was divided between +conflicting desires, the one saying go, the other stay; and while her +instinct warned her to do the one, her inclination pointed to the +other. In the third place there was her woman's curiosity. While she +hesitated this began to gain the upper hand. She wondered what it was +he was doing which absorbed him so completely that he never ceased from +doing it to look about him. + +He was in a dinner suit, and was apparently hatless. He had something +in his hand, with which he was doing something to the tree in front of +which he stood. What was he doing? She had no right to ask; she had no +right to be there at all; still--she wondered. She moved a little +farther out into the open space, to enable her to see. As she did so it +seemed that he finished what he was doing. Standing up straight he drew +back from the tree the better to enable him to examine his handiwork; +and--then he turned and saw her. + +There was silence. Neither moved. Each continued to look at the other, +as if at some strange, mysterious being. Then he spoke. + +"Are you a ghost?--I think not. I fancy you're material. But I haunt +this place so constantly myself--defying Jim Baker's charge of +lead--that I should not be one whit surprised if your spirit actually +did appear to keep me company. Do you believe in telepathy?" + +"I don't know what it is." + +"Do you believe that A, by dint of taking thought, can induce B to +think of him? or--more--can draw, B to his side? I'm not sure that I +believe; but it certainly is queer that I should have been thinking of +you so strenuously just then, longing for you, and should turn and find +you here. I thought you were over the hills and far away, haunting the +shores of the Italian lakes." + +"On Wednesday we came away from Como." + +"On Wednesday? That's still stranger. It was on Wednesday my fever came +to a head. I rushed down here, bent, if I could not be with you, on +being where you had been. Since my arrival I've longed--with how great +a longing--to use all sorts of conjurations which should bring you back +to Exham; and, it seems, I conjured wiser than I knew." + +"I left Como because I could no longer stay." + +"From Exham? or from me? Speak sweetly; see how great my longing is." + +"I had to return to say good-bye." + +"To both of us? That's good; since our goodbyes will take so long in +saying. Come and see what I have done." She went to the tree. There, +newly cut in the bark, plain in the moonlight, were letters and figures. +"Your initials and mine, joined by the date on which we met--beneath this +tree. I brought my hunting knife out with me to do it--you see how sharp +a point and edge it has." She saw that he held a great knife in his hand. +"As I cut the letters you can believe I thought--I so thought of you +with my whole heart and soul that you've come back to me from Como." + +"Did I not say I've returned to say good-bye?" + +"What sort of good-bye do you imagine I will let you say, now that +you've returned? That tree shall be to us a family chronicle. The first +important date's inscribed on it; the others shall follow; they'll be +so many. But the trunk's of a generous size. We'll find room on it for +all. That's the date on which I first loved you. What's the date on +which you first loved me?" + +"I have not said I ever loved you." + +"No; but you do." + +"Yes; I do. Now I know that I do. No, you must not touch me." + +"No need to draw yourself away; I do not mean to, yet. Some happinesses +are all the sweeter for being a little postponed. And when did the +knowledge first come to you? We must have the date upon the tree." + +"That you never shall. Such tales are not for trees to tell, even if I +knew, which I don't. I'm afraid to think; it's all so horrible." + +"Love is horrible? I think not." + +"But I know. You don't understand--I do." + +"My dear, I think it is you who do not understand." + +"Nor must you call me your dear; for that I shall never be." + +"Not even when you're my wife?" + +"I shall never be your wife!" + +"Lady, these are strange things of which you speak. I would rather +that, just now, you did not talk only in riddles." + +"It is the plain truth--I shall never be your wife." + +"How's that? Since my love has brought you back from Como, to tell me +that you also love? Though, mind you, I do not stand in positive need +of being told. Because, now that I see you face to face, and feel you +there so close to me, your heart speaks to mine--I can hear it +speaking; I can hear, sweetheart, what it says. So that I know you love +me, without depending for the knowledge on the utterance of your lips." + +"Still, I shall never be your wife." + +"But why, sweetheart, but why?" + +"Because--I am a wife already." + + + + + CHAPTER X + + THE TALE WHICH WAS TOLD + + +They were silent. To her it seemed that the silence shrieked aloud. He +looked at her with an expression on his face which she was destined +never to forget--as if he were hard of hearing, or fancied that his +senses played him a trick, or that she had indulged in some ill-timed +jest. + +"What did you say?" + +"I said that I am a wife already." + +His look had become one of inquiry; as if desirous of learning if she +were really in earnest. She felt her heart beating against her ribs, or +seeming to--a habit of which it had been too fond of late. When it +behaved like that it was only with an uncomfortable effort that she +could keep a hold upon her consciousness; being fearful that it might +slip away from her, in spite of all that she might be able to do. When +he spoke again his tone had changed; as if he were puzzled. She had a +sudden feeling that he was speaking to her as he might have spoken to a +child. + +"Do you know what you are saying? and do you mean what you say?" + +"Of course I do." + +"But--pardon me--I don't see the of course at all. Do +you--seriously--wish me to understand that you're--a married woman?" + +"Whether you understand it or not, I am." + +"But you are scarcely more than a child. How old are you?" + +"I am twenty-two." + +"And how long do you wish me to understand that you've been married?" + +"Two years." + +"Two years? Then--you were married before you came here?" + +"Of course." + +"Of course? But everyone here has always spoken to me of you as Miss +Arnott." + +"That is because no one who knows me here knows that I am married." + +He put his arms down to his sides, and drew himself up still +straighter, so that she had to look right up at him, and knit his +brows, as if he found himself confronted by a problem which was +incapable of solution. + +"I believe that I am the least curious of men, I say it seriously; but +it appears to me that this is a situation in which curiosity is +justified. You made yourself known to me as Miss Arnott; as Miss Arnott +there have previously been certain passages between us; as Miss Arnott +you have permitted me to tell you that I love you; you have even +admitted that you love me. It is only when I take it for granted--as I +am entitled to do--that the mutual confession involves your becoming my +wife, that you inform me--that you are already a married woman. Under +the circumstances I think I have a right to ask for information at +least on certain points; as, for instance, so that I may know how to +address you--what is your husband's name?" + +"Robert Champion." + +"Robert Champion? Then--you are Mrs Champion?" + +"I am." + +"Am I to take it that Mr Champion is alive?" + +"So far as I know." + +"So far as you know? That does not suggest very intimate--or very +recent knowledge. When did you hear from him last?" + +"I saw him twelve months ago." + +"You saw him twelve months ago? That was not long before you came here. +Why did he not accompany you when you came?" + +"He couldn't." + +"He couldn't? Why?" + +"He was in prison." + +"In--" He stopped, looked at her with, in his eyes, an altogether +different expression; then, throwing his head back, seemed to be +staring straight at the moon, as if he were endeavouring to read +something which was written on her surface. Presently he spoke in an +entirely altered tone of voice. "Now I understand, or, rather, now I +begin to understand. It dawns on me that here is a position which will +want some understanding." As if seized with sudden restlessness he +began to pace to and fro, keeping to the same piece of ground, of which +he seemed to be making mental measurements; she meanwhile, watching +him, silent, motionless, as if she were waiting for him to pronounce +judgment. After a while he broke into speech, while he still continued +pacing to and fro. "Now I begin to see daylight everywhere; the meaning +of the things which puzzled me. Why you seemed to take no interest in +anything; why you were so fond of solitude; why, in the middle of a +conversation, one found that your thoughts had strayed. The life you +were living in public was not the one you were living to yourself. It's +not nice to be like that. Poor child! And I have laughed at you, +because I thought you were a character, and--you were. How many fools +escape being kicked just at those moments when a kicking would do them +good. It occurs to me, Mrs Champion--" + +"Don't call me that!" + +"But--if it's your name?" + +"It's not my name to you; I wish you always to think of me as Miss +Arnott." + +"Then--" He paused; ceased to walk; looked at her, and went and stood +with his back against the tree. "I fancy that what you stand most in +need of is a friend. I can be that to you, if I can be nothing else. +Come, tell me all about it--it will ease your mind." + +"I've wanted to tell someone all the time; but I've told no one. I +couldn't." + +"I know what you mean; and I think I know what it feels like. Tell +me--you'll find me an excellent father confessor." + +"I shall have to begin at the beginning." + +"Do. If I am to be of any assistance, and it's possible I may be, I +shall have to understand it all quite clearly." + +"My father died first, and then my mother, and when she died I was left +with only quite a little money." + +"And no relations?" + +"No--no relations." + +"And no friends?" + +"No--no friends." + +"Poor child!" + +"You mustn't talk like that, or I sha'n't be able to go on, and I want +to go straight on. I wasn't yet eighteen. There wasn't anything to be +done in the country--we had lived quite out of the world--so I went to +London. I was strange to London; but I thought I should have more +chance there than in Scarsdale, so I went. But, when I got there, I +soon found that I wasn't much better off than before, I'm not sure I +wasn't worse. It was so lonely and so--so strange. My money went so +fast, I began to be afraid, there seemed to be no means of earning +more--I didn't know what to do. Then I saw an advertisement in a paper, +of a shop where they wanted models in the costume department; they had +to be tall and of good appearance. I didn't know what the advertisement +meant; but I thought I was that, so I went, and they engaged me. I was +to have board and lodging, and a few shillings a week. It was horrible. +I had to keep putting on new dresses, and walk up and down in them in +front of strange women, and sometimes men, and show them off. I had +always been used to the open air, and to solitude; sometimes I thought +I was going mad. Then the food was bad--at least, I thought it was +bad--and, there were all sorts of things. But I had come so close to my +last few shillings--and been so afraid--that I didn't dare to leave. +There was one girl, who was also a model, whom I almost trusted; now +that I look back I know that I never did quite. I used to walk about +with her in the streets; I couldn't walk about alone, and there was +nowhere else to walk, and I had to have some fresh air. She introduced +me to a friend of hers--a man. She said he was a gentleman, but I knew +better than that. She made out that he was very rich, and everything he +ought to be. Directly he was introduced he began to make love. I so +hated being a model; and I saw no prospect of doing anything else, +and--besides, I wasn't well--I wasn't myself the whole of the time. She +laughed when I said I didn't like him, and, therefore, couldn't be his +wife. She declared that I was throwing away the best chance a girl in +my position ever had; and said he would make the most perfect husband I +could possibly want. He promised all sorts of things; he said we should +live in the country, he even took me to see a house which he said he +had taken. I grew to hate being a model more and more; I was miserable +and ill, and they all made fun of me. At last, after he had asked me I +don't know how many times, I said yes. We were married. We went to +Margate for our honeymoon. Within four-and-twenty hours I knew what +kind of a man he was." + +She stopped; putting her hands up before her face. He could see her +trembling in the moonlight, and could only stand and watch. He dared +not trust himself to speak. + +Presently she went on. + +"I lived with him twelve months." + +"Twelve months!" + +"When I think of it now I wonder why I didn't kill him. I had chances, +but I daren't even run away. All the life had gone out of me, and all +the spirit too. I didn't even try to defend myself when he struck me." + +"Struck you?" + +"Oh, he often did that. But I was a weak and helpless creature. I +seemed to myself to be half-witted. He used to say that he believed I +had a tile loose. I had, then. Then they locked him up." + +"What for?" + +"He put an advertisement in the paper for a person to fill a position +of trust. When someone applied he got them to make what he termed a +'deposit' of a few pounds. Then he stole it. Of course there was no +position of trust to fill. That was how he made his living. I always +wondered where he got his money from. After he was arrested I +understood." + +"And he was sentenced?" + +"To twelve months' hard labour." + +"Only twelve months' hard labour? Then his term of imprisonment will +soon be drawing to a close." + +"To-morrow." + +"To-morrow! You poor child!" + +"Now you perceive why I hurried back from Lake Como to say good-bye." + +"I hope I need not tell you, in words, how intensely I sympathise with +you." + +"Thank you, I would rather you didn't; I know." + +"We will speak of such matters later. In the meantime, obviously, what +you want is a friend; as I guessed. As a friend, let me assure you that +your position is not by any means so hopeless as you appear to +imagine." + +"Not with my husband coming out of prison to-morrow? You don't know +him." + +"If you can do nothing else, you can keep him at arm's length." + +"How do you mean?" + +"You have money, he hasn't. You can at least place yourself in a +position in which he can't get at you." + +"Can't he compel me to give him money?" + +"Emphatically, no. He has no claim to a penny of yours, not to a +farthing. The marriage laws are still quite capable of being improved, +but one crying injustice they have abolished. What a woman has is her +own, and hers only, be she married or single. If Mr Champion wants +money he will have to earn it. He has not a scintilla of right to any +of yours, or anything that is yours. So, at anyrate, you should have no +difficulty in placing yourself beyond his reach. But there is something +more. You should experience no trouble in freeing yourself from him +altogether. There is such a place as the divorce court. Plainly, it +would be easy to show cruelty, and probably something else as well." + +"I don't know. I knew nothing of what he did, and cared nothing, so +long as he left me alone." + +"Quite so. This is a matter which will be better managed by other hands +than yours. Only--there are abundant ways and means of dealing with a +person of his kind. What I want you to do now is not to worry. One +moment! it's not a counsel of perfection! I see clearly what this means +to you, what it has meant, but--forgive me for saying so--the burden +has been made much heavier by your insisting on bearing it alone." + +"I couldn't blurt out my shame to everyone--to anyone!" + +"Well, you have told me now, thank goodness! And you may rely on this, +that man sha'n't be allowed to come near you; if necessary, I will make +it my business to prevent him. I will think things over to-night; be +sure that I shall find a way out. To-morrow I will come and tell you +what I've thought about, when the conditions are more normal." + +"Rather than that he should again be able to claim me for his wife, +even for an hour, I would kill him." + +"Certainly; I will kill him for you if it comes to that. I have lived +in countries where they make nothing of killing vermin of his +particular type. But there'll be no necessity for such a drastic +remedy. Now, I want you to go home and promise not to worry, because +your case is now in hands which are well qualified to relieve you of +all cause for apprehension of any sort or kind. I beg you will believe +it. Good-night." + +She hesitated, then put her hands up to her temples, as if her head was +aching. + +"I will say good-night to you. You go, I will stay. My brain's all in a +whirl. I want to be alone--to steady it." + +"I don't like to leave you, in such a place, at such an hour." + +"Why not? While I've been abroad I've sometimes spent half the night in +wandering alone over the mountains. Why am I not as safe here as +there?" + +"It's not a question of safety, no doubt you're safe enough. But--it's +the idea." + +"Be so good as to do as I ask--leave me, please." + +"Since you ask me in such a tone. Promise me, at least, that you won't +stay half the night out here; that, indeed, you won't stay long." + +"I promise, if my doing so affords you any satisfaction. Probably I'll +be in my own room in half an hour, only--I must be alone for a few +minutes first. Don't you see?" + +"I fancy that I do. Good-night. Remember that I'm at least your +friend." + +"I'll remember." + +"By the way, in the morning where, and when, shall I find you?" + +"I shall be in the house till lunch." + +"Good, then before lunch I'll come to you, as early as I can. +Good-night again." + +"Good-night. And"--as he was moving off--"you're not to stop about and +watch me, playing the part of the unseen protector. I couldn't bear the +thought of being watched. I want to be alone." + +He laughed. + +"All right! All right! Since you've promised me that you'll not stay +long I promise you that I'll march straight home." + +He strode off, his arms swinging at his sides, his head hanging a +little forward on his chest, as his habit was. She followed him with +her eyes. When she saw that he vanished among the trees on his own +estate, and did not once look back, she was conscious of an illogical +little pang. She knew that he wanted her to understand that, in +obedience to her wishes, he refused to keep any surveillance over her +movements, even to the extent of looking back. Still she felt that he +might have given her one backward glance, ere he vanished into the +night. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + THE MAN ON THE FENCE + + +Her first feeling, when she knew herself in truth to be alone, was of +thankfulness so intense as almost to amount to pain. He knew! As he +himself had said, thank goodness! Her relief at the knowledge that her +burden was shared, in however slight a degree, was greater than she +could have imagined possible. And of all people in the world--by him! +Now he understood, and understanding had, in one sense, drawn him +closer to her; if in another it had thrust him farther off. Again, to +use his own words, he was at least her friend. And, among all persons, +he was the one whom--for every possible reason--she would rather have +chosen as a friend. In his hands she knew she would be safe. Whatever +he could do, he would do, and more. That ogre who, in a few hours, +would again be issuing from the prison gates, would not have her so +wholly at his mercy as she had feared. Now, and henceforward, there +would be someone else with whom he would have to reckon. One in whom, +she was convinced, he would find much more than his match. + +Again as he had said--thank goodness! + +For some minutes she remained just as he had left her, standing looking +after him, where he had vanished among the trees. After a while the +restraint which she had placed upon herself throughout that trying +interview, began to slacken. The girl that was in her came to the +front--nature had its way. All at once she threw herself face downward +on the cushioned turf in her own particular nook, and burst into a +flood of tears. It was to enable her to do that, perhaps, that she had +so wished to be alone. For once in a way, it was a comfort to cry; they +were more than half of them tears of happiness. On the grass she lay, +in the moonlight, and sobbed out, as it were, her thanks for the +promise of help which had so suddenly come to her. + +Until all at once she became aware, amidst the tumult of her sobbing, +of a disturbing sound. She did not at first move or alter her position. +She only tried to calm herself and listen. What was it which had struck +upon her consciousness? Footsteps? Yes, approaching footsteps. + +Had he played her false, and, despite his promise, kept watch on her? +And was he now returning, to intrude upon her privacy? How dare he! The +fountain of her tears was all at once dried up; instead, she went hot +all over. The steps were drawing nearer. The person who was responsible +was climbing the fence, within, it seemed, half a dozen feet of her. +She started up in a rage, to find that the intruder was not Hugh +Morice. + +Seated on the top rail of the fence, on which he appeared to have +perched himself, to enable him to observe her more at his ease, was +quite a different-looking sort of person, a much more unprepossessing +one than Hugh Morice. His coat and trousers were of shepherd's plaid; +the open jacket revealing a light blue waistcoat, ornamented with +bright brass buttons. For necktie he wore a narrow scarlet ribbon. His +brown billycock hat was a little on one side of his head; his face was +clean shaven, and between his lips he had an unlighted cigarette. In +age he might have been anything between thirty and fifty. + +His appearance was so entirely unexpected, and, in truth, so almost +incredible, that she stared at him as she might have stared at some +frightful apparition. And, indeed, no apparition could have seemed more +frightful to her; for the man on the fence was Robert Champion. + +For the space of at least a minute neither spoke. It was as if both +parties were at a loss for words. At last the man found his tongue. + +"Well, Vi, this is a little surprise for both of us." + +So far she had been kneeling on the turf, as if the sight of him had +paralysed her limbs and prevented her from ascending higher. Now, with +a sudden jerky movement, she stood up straight. + +"You!" she exclaimed. + +"Yes, my dear--me. Taken you a little by surprise, haven't I? You don't +seem to have made many preparations for my reception, though of course +it's always possible that you've got the fatted calf waiting for me +indoors." + +"I thought you were in prison." + +"Well, it's not a very delicate reminder, is it? on this the occasion +of our first meeting. But, strictly between ourselves, I've been in +prison, and that's a solid fact; and a nasty, unsociable place I found +it." + +"But I thought they weren't going to let you out until to-morrow." + +"No? Did you? I see. That's why you were crying your heart out on the +grass there, because you thought they were going to keep me from you +four-and-twenty hours longer. The brutes! I should have thought you'd +have found it damp enough without wanting to make it damper; but +there's no accounting for tastes; yours always were your own, and I +recognise the compliment. As it happens, when a gentleman's time's up +on a Sunday, they let him tear himself away from them on the Saturday. +Sunday's what they call a _dies non_; you're a lady of education, so +you know what that means. You were right in reckoning that the twelve +months for which they tore a husband from his wife wasn't up until +tomorrow; but it seems that you didn't reckon for that little +peculiarity, on account of which I said goodbye to them this morning. +See?" + +"But--I don't understand!" + +She threw out her arms with a gesture which was eloquent of the +confusion--and worse--with which his sudden apparition had filled her. + +"No? what don't you understand? It all seems to me clear enough; but, +perhaps, you always were a trifle dull." + +"I don't understand how you've found me! how it is that you are here!" + +"Oh, that's it, is it? Now I begin to catch on. That's the simplest +part of the lot. You--the wife of my bosom, the partner of my joys and +sorrows--particularly of my sorrows--you never wrote me a line; you +never took the slightest interest in my hard fate. For all you cared I +might have died. I don't like to think that you really didn't care, but +that's what it looked like." He grinned, as if he had said something +humorous. "But I had a friend--a true friend--one. That friend met me +this morning, where my wife ought to have met me, at the prison gates. +From that friend I learned of the surprising things which had happened +to you; how you had come into a fortune--a fortune beyond the dreams of +avarice. It seems strange that, under the circumstances, you weren't +outside the prison, with a coach and four, waiting to bear me away in +triumph to your gilded bowers. Ah-h!" He emitted a sound which might +have been meant for a sigh. "But I bore up--with the aid of the first +bottle of champagne I'd tasted since I saw you last--the gift of my one +true friend. So, as you hadn't come to me, I came to you. You might +have bungled up the dates or something; there's never any telling. I +knew you'd be glad to see me--your loving husband, dear. My late +arrival is due to no fault of mine; it's that beastly railway. I +couldn't make out which was the proper station for this little shanty +of yours! and it seems I took a ticket for the wrong one. Found myself +stranded in a God-forsaken hole; no conveyance to be got; no more +trains until tomorrow. So I started to walk the distance. They told me +it was about five miles. About five miles! I'd like to make 'em cover +it as five against the clock; they'd learn! When I'd gone about ten I +met an idiot who told me there was a short cut, and set me on it. Short +cut! If there's a longer cut anywhere I shouldn't care to strike it. +Directly I'd seen the back of him it came on pitch dark; and there was +I, in a pathless wilderness, with no more idea of where I was going +than the man in the moon. For the last two hours I've been forcing my +way through what seemed to me to be a virgin forest. I've had a time! +But now I've found you, by what looks very like a miracle; and all's +well that ends well. So give us a kiss, like a good girl, and say +you're glad to see me. Come and salute your husband." + +"You're not my husband!" + +"Not--I say! Don't go and throw away your character like that. As my +wife, it's precious to me, if it isn't to you." + +"What do you suppose you're going to do now?" + +"Now?--Do you mean this minute? Well, I did dream of a tender meeting; +you know the kind of thing. As a loving wife you ought to, but, +perhaps, you'd like to put that off till a little later. Now I suppose +we're going up together to the little home of which I've heard, and +have come so far to see; and there--well, there we'll have the tender +meeting." + +"I advise you not to set foot upon my ground!" + +"Your ground? Our ground, you mean. Really, how you do mix things up." + +"My ground, I mean. You have no more to do with it than--than the +jailer who let you out of the prison gate, to prey upon the world +again." + +She had evidently learnt her lesson from Mr Morice in the nick of time. + +"Don't be silly; you don't know what you're talking about. What's yours +is mine; what's the wife's the husband's." + +"That's a lie, and you know it. I know it's a lie, as you'll discover. +This side of that fence is my property. If you trespass on it I'll +summon my gamekeepers--there are always plenty of them about--and I'll +have you thrown off it. What you do on the other side of the fence is +no business of mine. That belongs to someone who is well able to deal +with men like you." + +"This is a cheerful hearing, upon my word! Can this virago be the +loving wife I've come all this way to see? No, it can't be--it must be +a delusion. Let me tell you again--don't be silly. Where the wife is +the husband's a perfect right to be. That's the law of England and it's +the law of God." + +"It's neither when the husband is such as you. Let me repeat my advice +to you--don't trespass on my ground." + +"Where are you going?" + +"I'm going to find a gamekeeper; to warn him that bad characters are +about, and to instruct him how to deal with them." + +"Stop! don't talk nonsense to me like that! Have you forgotten what +kind of man I am?" + +"Have I forgotten! As if I ever could forget!" + +"Then mind it! Come here! Where are you off to? Did you hear me tell +you to come here?" + +"I repeat, I'm going to find a gamekeeper. I heard you tell me; but I +pay no more attention to what you tell me than the trunk of that tree." + +"By----! we'll see about that!" + +Descending from the fence, he moved towards her. She stopped, turned +and faced him. + +"What do you think you're going to do?" + +"I'm going to see you mind me--that's what I'm going to do." + +"Does that mean that you're going to assault me, as you used to?" + +He laughed. + +"Assault you! Not much! Look here. What's the good of your carrying on +like this? Why can't you behave like a reasonable girl, and talk +sensibly?" She looked him steadily in the face; then turned on her +heel. "You'd better stand still! I'm your husband; you're my wife. It's +my duty to see that you obey me, and I'm going to do my duty. So just +you mark my words!" + +"Husband! Duty! You unutterable thing! Don't touch me! Take your hand +from off my shoulder!" + +"Then you stand still. I'm not going to have you slip through my +fingers, and leave me here, and have the laugh on me; so don't you make +any mistake, my girl. You've never had the laugh on me yet, and you +never will." + +"If you don't take your hand off my shoulder, I'll kill you." + +Again he laughed. + +"It strikes me that if there's going to be any killing done it's I +who'll do it. You're getting my temper up, like you used to; and when +you've got it fairly up there'll be trouble. You stand still! Do you +hear me? Your eyes-- What's that?" With a sudden, vigorous movement she +broke from his retaining grasp. "Would you! I'll teach you!" + +He advanced, evidently meaning to renew his grip upon her shoulders. +Before he could do so she swung out her right arm with all the strength +at her command, and struck him in the face. Not anticipating such +violent measures, taken unawares, he staggered blindly backwards. Ere +he could recover himself she had sprung round, and was rushing at the +top of her speed towards the narrow, winding path along which she had +come. As she gained it the moon passed behind the clouds. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + WHAT SHE HEARD, SAW AND FOUND + + +She hurried along as rapidly as she could in the darkness which had +followed the eclipse of the moon. Momentarily she expected to hear his +footsteps coming after her. But, so far as she was able to tell, there +was not a sound which suggested pursuit. Something, possibly, had +prevented his giving immediate chase. In the darkness it was impossible +to see where she was going, or to make out surrounding objects. What +seemed to be the branch of a tree struck her across the face with such +force that it brought her to an instant standing. She stood still, +trembling from head to foot. The collision had partly stunned her. Her +face was smarting, where it had come in contact with the unseen +obstacle. For the moment she was demoralised, incapable of moving in +any direction. Her breath was coming in great gasps. It would have +needed very little to have made her burst into tears. + +As she was gradually regaining her equilibrium, her presence of mind, a +sound crashed through the darkness, which started her trembling worse +than ever. It was a gunshot. Quite close at hand. So close that the +flash of it flamed before her eyes. In the air about her was the smell +of the powder. + +Silence followed, which was the more striking, because it was +contrasted with the preceding thunderclap. What had happened? Who had +fired? at what? and where? The gun had been fired by someone who was on +the left of where she was then standing, possibly within twenty or +thirty feet. The direction of the aim, it seemed, had been at something +behind her. What was there behind her at which anyone would be likely +to fire, in that reckless fashion, at that hour of the night? Robert +Champion was behind her; but the idea that anyone-- + +The silence was broken. Someone was striding through the brushwood +towards the place which had been aimed at. She became conscious of +another sound, which made her heart stand still. Was not someone +groaning, as if in pain? Someone who, also, was behind her? Suddenly +there was the sound of voices. The person who had strode through the +underwood was speaking to the person who was groaning. Apparently she +was farther off than she had supposed, or they were speaking in muffled +tones. She could only just distinguish voices. Who were the speakers, +and what they said, she had not a notion. The colloquy was but a brief +one. Again there was a sound of footsteps, which retreated; then, +again, groans. + +What did it mean? What had happened? who had come and gone? who had +been the speakers? of what had they been talking? The problem was a +knotty one. Should she go back and solve it? The groans which +continued, and, if anything, increased in vigour, were in themselves a +sufficiently strenuous appeal. That someone was in pain was +evident--wounded, perhaps seriously. It seemed that whoever was +responsible for that gunshot had, with complete callousness, left his +victim to his fate. And he might be dying! Whoever it was, she could +not let him die without, at least, attempting succour. If she did, she +would be a participant in a crime of which--to use an Irishism--she +had not only been an unseen, but also an unseeing, witness. If she let +this man die without doing something to help him live, his blood would +be on her hands also; certainly, she would feel it was. However +repugnant the task might be, she must return and proffer aid. + +She had just brought herself to the sticking point, and was about to +retrace her steps, when, once more, she became conscious of someone +being in movement. But, this time, not only did it come from another +direction, but it had an entirely different quality. Before, there had +been no attempt at concealment. Whoever had gone striding through the +underwood, had apparently cared nothing for being either seen nor +heard. Whoever was moving now, unless the girl's imagination played her +a trick--was desirous of being neither seen nor heard. There was a +stealthy quality in the movements, as if someone were stealing softly +through the brushwood, taking cautious steps, keenly on the alert +against hidden listeners. + +In what quarter was the newcomer moving? The girl could not at first +decide; indeed, she never was quite clear, but it seemed to her that +someone was creeping along the fence which divided Exham Park and Oak +Dene. All the while, the wounded man continued to groan. + +Suddenly, she could not tell how she knew, but she knew that the +newcomer had not only heard the groans, but, in all probability, had +detected the quarter from whence they came; possibly had caught sight +of the recumbent figure, prostrate on the grass. Because, just then, +the moon came out again in undiminished splendour, and, almost +simultaneously, the footsteps ceased. To Violet Arnott, the plain +inference seemed to be that the returning light had brought the +sufferer into instant prominence. Silence again, broken only by groans. +Presently, even they ceased. + +Then, without the slightest warning, something occurred which was far +worse than the gunshot, which affected her with a paralysis of horror, +as if death itself had her by the throat. + +The footsteps began again, only with a strange, new swiftness, as if +whoever was responsible for them had suddenly darted forward. In the +same moment there was a noise which might have been made by a man +struggling to gain his feet. Then, just for a second, an odd little +silence. Then two voices uttering together what seemed to her to be +formless ejaculations. While the voices had still not ceased to be +audible, there came a dreadful sound; the sound as of a man who was in +an agony of fear and pain. Then a thud--an eloquent thud. And, an +instant afterwards, someone went crashing, dashing through the +underwood, like some maddened wild beast, flying for life. + +The runner was passing close to where she stood. She did not dare to +move; she could not have moved even had she dared--her limbs had +stiffened. But she could manage to move her head, and she did. She +turned, and saw, in the moonlight, in headlong flight, forcing aside +the brushwood as he went, Hugh Morice. + +What happened during the next few moments she never knew. The +probability is that, though she retained her footing, consciousness +left her. When, once more, she realised just where she was, and what +had occurred, all was still, with an awful stillness. She listened for +a sound--any sound; those inarticulate sounds which are part and parcel +of a wood at night. She could hear nothing--no whisper of the breeze +among the leaves; no hum of insect life; no hint of woodland creatures +who wake while men are sleeping. A great hush seemed to have fallen on +the world--a dreadful hush. Her heart told her that there was horror in +the silence. + +What should she do? where should she go? what was lying on the ground +under the beech tree, on which not so long ago, Hugh Morice had cut +their initials with his hunting-knife? She was sure there was +something--what? + +She would have to go and see. The thought of doing so was hideous--but +the idea of remaining in ignorance was not to be borne. Knowledge must +be gained at any price; she would have to know. She waited. Perhaps +something would happen to tell her; to render it unnecessary that she +should go upon that gruesome errand. Perhaps--perhaps he would groan +again? If he only would! it would be the gladdest sound she had ever +heard. + +But he would not--or he did not. + +Yet all was still--that awful stillness. + +It was no use her playing the coward--putting it off. She would have to +go--she must go. She would never know unless she did. The sooner she +went, the sooner it would be done. + +So she returned along the footpath towards the beech tree. In the +moonlight the way was plain enough. Yet she went stumbling along it as +she had never stumbled even in the darkness--uncertain upon her feet; +reeling from side to side; starting at shadows; stopping half-a-dozen +times in as many yards, fearful of she knew not what. + +What was that? A sound? No, nothing. Only a trick of her imagination, +which was filled with such fantastic imaginings, such shapes and sounds +of horror. + +She came to the end of the path. Before her was the open space; the +favourite nook where she had first met Hugh Morice, which she had come +to regard almost as a sanctuary. In front was the saucer-shaped break +in the ground which she had found offered such luxurious ease. What was +lying in it now? + +Nothing? Or--was that something? Well under the shadow of the beech +tree, where the moonlight scarcely reached? almost in the darkness, so +that at a first glance it was difficult to see? She stood, leaning a +little forward, and looked--long, intently. As she looked her heart +seemed to become gradually constricted; she became conscious of actual +pain--acute, lancinating. + +Something was there. A figure--of a man--in light-coloured clothes. He +lay on the ground, so far as she could judge from where she stood, a +little on his right side, with his hands thrown over his head as if +asleep--fast asleep. The recumbent figure had for her an unescapable +fascination. She stared and stared, as though its stillness had in it +some strange quality. + +She called to the sleeper--in a tone which was so unlike her ordinary +voice that--even in that awful moment--the sound of it startled her. + +"Robert! Robert! Wake up!" + +Probably not a dozen times since she had known this man had she called +him by his Christian name. It was so singular that she should have done +so; the mere singularity of the thing should have roused him from the +soundest slumber. But he continued silent. He neither moved nor +answered, nor was there any sign to show that he had heard. She called +again. + +"Robert! Robert! Do you hear me, wake up! Answer me!" + +But he did neither--he neither woke nor answered. + +The persistent silence was assuming an appalling quality. She could +endure it no longer. She suddenly moved forward under the shadow of the +beech tree, and bent down to look. What was that upon the front of his +jacket? She touched it with her finger. + +"Oh--h--h!" + +A sound, which was part shriek, part groan, broke from her trembling +lips. Her finger-tips were wet. She had not realised what the dark mark +might mean--now she understood. All at once she burst out crying, until +she saw something shining up at her from the turf almost at her feet. +At sight of it she ceased to cry with the same suddenness with which +she had begun. She picked the shining thing up. It was a knife--his +knife--Hugh Morice's--the one with which he had cut their initials in +the trunk of the tree. Its great blade was all wet. + +She gave one quick glance round, slipped the blade--still all +wet--inside her bodice; then, returning to the winding footpath, ran +along it at the top of her speed, neither pausing nor looking back. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + AFTERWARDS + + +At the foot of the broad flight of steps leading up to her own hall +door she stopped for the first time. It was late. What was the exact +hour she had no notion. She only knew that, in that part of the world, +it would be regarded as abnormal. The hall door was closed, that little +fact in itself was eloquent. There were outer and inner doors. It was +the custom to leave the outer door wide open until all the household +had retired to rest. She would have to knock to gain admission. Her +late return could hardly fail to attract attention. She was breathless +with the haste she had made, heated, dishevelled. Whoever admitted her +would be sure to notice the condition she was in. + +It could not be helped. Let them notice. She was certainly not going to +fear the scrutiny of her own servants. So she told herself. She +declined to admit that they were sufficiently human to dare to +criticise her movements. Besides, what did it matter? + +She knocked with difficulty, the knocker was so heavy. Instantly the +door was opened by old Day, the butler. Day was a person of much +importance. He was a survival of her uncle's time, being in occupation +of the house while the next owner was being sought for. An excellent +servant, with a very clear idea of his own dignity and the +responsibility of his position. That he should have opened the door to +her with his own hands at that hour, seemed to her to convey a reproof. +She marched straight past him, however, without even a word of thanks. +He addressed to her an inquiry as she went, in his even, level tones, +as if there were nothing strange in her entering in such a condition, +immediately after her return from a prolonged absence, at the dead of +the night. Again her ardent imagination seemed to scent an unspoken +criticism, which she ignored. + +"Will anything else be required?" + +"Nothing. I am going to bed." + +In her bedroom she found Evans dozing in an easy-chair. The woman +started up as she entered. + +"I beg your pardon, miss, for slipping off, but I was beginning to be +afraid that something might be wrong." She stared as she began to +realise the peculiarity of her young mistress's appearance. "Why, miss, +whatever--I hope that nothing's happened." + +"What should have happened? Why haven't you gone to bed?" + +"Well, miss, I thought that you might want me as this was the first +night of your coming home." + +"What nonsense! Haven't I told you that I won't have you sit up for me +when I'm unusually late? I dislike to feel that my movements are being +overlooked by my servants, that they are too intimately acquainted with +my goings out and comings in. Go to bed at once." + +"Is there nothing I can do for you, miss? Are you--I beg your +pardon--but are you sure there's nothing wrong? You look so strange!" + +"Wrong? What do you mean--wrong? Go!" + +Evans went, the imperturbable demeanour of the well-trained servant +not being sufficient to conceal the fact that she went unwillingly. +When she was gone Miss Arnott looked at the silver clock on the +mantel-shelf. It was past two. She had been out more than four hours. +Into those four hours had been crowded the events of a lifetime; the +girl who had gone out was not the woman who had returned. + +For the first time she began to suspect herself of being physically +weary. She moved her hand up towards her forehead. As she did so her +glance fell on it; it was all smirched with blood. Simultaneously she +became aware that stains of the same sort were on the light blue linen +costume she was wearing, particularly on the front of the bodice. She +moved to a cheval glass. Was it possible? were her eyes playing her a +trick? was there something the matter with the light? Not a bit of it, +the thing was clear enough, her face was all smeared with blood, +probably where it had been touched by her fingers. Why, now that she +could see herself plainly, she saw that she looked as if she had come +fresh from a butcher's shambles. No wonder Evans had stared at her in +such evident perturbation, demanding if she was sure that there was +nothing wrong. Old Day must have been an automaton, not a man, to have +betrayed no surprise at the spectacle she presented. + +She tore open her bodice, took out from it the knife--his knife, Hugh +Morice's. It was drier, but still damp. It was covered with blood all +over. It must have been thrust in up to the hilt--even the handle was +mired. It had come off on to all her clothes, had penetrated even to +her corsets. Seemingly it resembled ink in its capacity to communicate +its presence. She stripped herself almost to the skin in the sudden +frenzy of her desire to free herself from the contamination of his +blood. When she had washed herself she was amazed to see what a +sanguine complexion the water had assumed. It seemed to her that she +was in an atmosphere of blood--his blood. What was to be done? She sat +down on a chair and tried to think. + +It was not surprising that she found it hard to bring herself to a +condition in which anything like clarity of thought was possible. But, +during the last four hours, she had matured unconsciously, had attained +to the possession of will power of strength of which she herself was +unsuspicious. She had made up her mind that she would think this thing +out, and by degrees she did, after a fashion. + +Three leading facts became gradually present to her mind to the +exclusion of almost all beside. One was that Robert Champion was +dead--dead. And so she had obtained release by the only means to which, +as it seemed to her, Mr Whitcomb, that eminent authority on the law of +marriage, had pointed. But at what a price! The price exceeded the +value of the purchase inconceivably. There was the knife--his knife--to +show it. When she shut her eyes she could still see him rushing in the +moonlight through the brushwood, like some wild creature, mad with the +desire to escape. Beyond all doubt the price was excessive. And it had +still to be paid. That was the worst of it, very much the worst. The +payment--what form would it take? + +As that aspect of the position began to penetrate her consciousness, it +was all she could do to keep herself from playing the girl. After all, +in years, she was only a girl. In simplicity, in ignorance of evil, in +essential purity--a child. When she found herself confronted by the +inquiry, what form would the payment take? girl-like, her courage +began, as it were, to slip through her finger ends. Then there was that +other side to the question, from whom would payment be demanded? +Suddenly required to furnish an answer to this, for some moments her +heart stood still. She looked about her, at the ruddy-hued water in the +wash basin, at the clothing torn off because it was stained. Recalled +her tell-tale entry, her admission by Day who, in spite of his +unnaturally non-committal attitude, must have noticed the state that +she was in; Evans's startled face when, attempting no concealment, she +blurted out her confession of what she saw. Here, plainly, were all the +essentials for a comedy or tragedy of misunderstanding. + +If Hugh Morice chose to be silent all the visible evidences pointed at +her. They all seemed to cry aloud that it was she who had done this +thing. From the ignorant spectator's point of view there could hardly +be a stronger example of perfect circumstantial proof. + +For some occult reason her lips were wrinkled by a smile at the thought +of Hugh Morice keeping silent. As if he would when danger threatened +her, for whom he had done this thing. And yet, if he did not keep +silent, who would have to pay? Would--? Yes, he would; certainly. At +that thought her poor, weak, childish heart seemed to drop in her bosom +like a lump of lead. The tears stood in her eyes. She went hot and +cold. No--not that. Rather than that, it would be better that he should +keep silent. Better--better anything than that. He had done this for +her; but, he must not be allowed to do more. He had done enough for her +already--more than enough--much more. She must make it her business to +see that he did nothing else. Nothing. + +Just as she was, all unclothed, she knelt down and prayed. The +strangest prayer, a child's prayer, the kind of prayer which, +sometimes, coming from the very heart of the child, is uttered in all +simplicity. Many strange petitions have been addressed to God; but few +stranger than that. She prayed that whoever might have to suffer for +what had been done, he might escape scot-free; not only here but also +hereafter; in heaven as well as on earth. Although the supplication +invoked such an odd confusion of ideas, it was offered up with such +intense earnestness and simplicity of purpose, that it had, at anyrate, +one unlooked for effect. It calmed her mind. She rose up from her knees +feeling more at ease than she had done since ten o'clock. In some vague +way, which was incomprehensible to herself, her prayer seemed already +to have been answered. Therefore, the future had no perils in store for +her; she was at peace with the world. + +She collected the garments which she had taken off, arranged them in a +neat bundle and placed them in an almost empty drawer which she found +at the bottom of a wardrobe. The knife she put under the bundle. Then, +locking the drawer, she disposited the key beneath her pillows. In the +morning her brain would be clearer. She would be able to decide what to +do with the things which, although speechless, were yet so full of +eloquence. The water in which she had washed she carried into the +apartment which opened out of her bedroom, and, emptying it into the +bath, watched it disappear down the waste water pipe. She flushed the +bath so as to remove any traces which it might have left behind. Then, +arraying herself in her night attire, she put out the lights and got +into bed. + +She awoke with that sense of pleasant refreshment which comes after +calm, uninterrupted slumber. She lay, for some seconds, in a state of +blissful indolence. Then, memory beginning to play its part, she raised +herself upon her elbow with a sudden start. She looked about the room. +All was as she had left it. Although the curtains and the blinds were +drawn the presence of the sun was obvious. Through one window a long +pencil of sunshine gleamed across the carpet. Evidently a fine night +was to be followed by a delightful day. She touched the ivory push +piece just above her head. Instantly Evans appeared. + +"Get my bath ready. I'm going to get up at once." + +She eyed the woman curiously, looking for news upon her face. There +were none. Her countenance was again the servant's expressionless mask. +When the curtains and blinds were drawn the room was filled with golden +light. She had the windows opened wide. The glory of a summer's day +came streaming in. The events of the night seemed to have become the +phantasmagoria of some transient dream. It was difficult to believe +that they were real, that she had not dreamed them. Her spirits were +higher than they had been for some time. She sang to herself while she +was having her bath. Evans, putting out her clothes in the next room, +heard her. + +"She seems to be all right now. That's the first time I've heard her +singing, and she looks better. Slept well, I suppose. When you're young +and healthy a good sleep works wonders. A nice sight she looked when +she came in this morning; I never saw anything like it--never! All +covered with blood, my gracious! A queer one she is, the queerest I've +ever had to do with, and I've had to do with a few. Seems to me that +the more money a woman's got the queerer she is, unless she's got a man +to look after her. However, it's no business of mine; I don't want to +know what games she's up to. I have found knowing too much brings +trouble. But whatever has become of the clothes that she had on? +They've vanished, every single thing except the stockings. What can she +have done with them? It's queer. I suppose, as she hasn't left them +about it's a hint that I'm not to ask questions. I don't want to; I'm +sure the less I know the better I'm pleased. Still, I do hope there's +nothing wrong. She's a good sort; in spite of all her queernesses, I +never want to meet a better. That generous! and simple as a child! +Sooner than anything should happen to her I'd--well, I'd do a good +deal. If she'd left those clothes of hers about I'd have washed 'em and +got 'em up myself, so that no one need have known about the state that +they were in. I don't want to speak to her about it. With her ideas +about not liking to be overlooked she might think that I was +interfering; but, I wish she had." + +Somewhat to her surprise Miss Arnott found Mrs Plummer waiting for her +at the breakfast-table. + +"Why," she exclaimed, "I thought you would have finished long ago--ever +so long ago." + +"I was a little late myself; so I thought I'd wait for you. What time +did you come in?" + +"Why do you ask?" + +"Nothing. I only wondered. Directly I had finished dinner I went to +bed--straight from the table. I was tired; I thought you wouldn't care +for me to sit up for you." + +"Of course not; what an idea! You never have sat up for me, and I +shouldn't advise you to begin. But--you still look tired. Haven't you +slept away your fatigue?" + +"I don't fancy I have quite. As you say, I'm still a little tired. Yet +I slept well, fell asleep as soon as I got into bed directly, and never +woke." + +"Didn't you dream?" + +"Dream? Why should I dream?" + +"There's no particular reason that I know of, only when people march +straight from dinner to bed dreams do sometimes follow--at least, so +I've been told." + +"They don't with me; I never dream, never. I don't suppose I've dreamt +half-a-dozen times in my life." + +"You're lucky." + +"I've a clear conscience, my dear; a perfectly clear conscience. People +with clear consciences don't dream. Where did you go to?" + +"Oh--I strolled about, enjoying the fresh air." + +"An odd hour to enjoy it, especially after the quantity of fresh air +that you've been enjoying lately. What time did you say it was that you +came in?" + +"I didn't say. Day will be able to tell you, if you are anxious to +know--you appear to be. He let me in." The elder lady was silent, +possibly not caring to lay herself open to the charge of being curious. +Presently Miss Arnott put the inquiry to the butler on her own account. +"Probably, Day, you will be able to supply Mrs Plummer with the +information she desires. What time was it when I came in?" + +"I'm afraid I don't know. I didn't look at my watch. I've no idea." + +The butler kept his eyes turned away as he answered. Something in his +tone caused her to look at him--something which told her that if the +man had not been guilty of a positive falsehood, he had at least been a +party to the suppression of the truth. She became instantly convinced +that his intention was to screen her. She did not like the notion, it +gave her an uncomfortable qualm. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + + ON THE HIGH ROAD + + +All that day nothing happened. Miss Arnott went in the morning to +church; in the afternoon for a run on her motor, which had been +neglected during the whole period of her absence abroad. She continued +in a state of expectation. Before she started for church from everyone +who approached her she looked for news; being persuaded that, if there +were news of the kind she looked for, it would not be hidden from her +long. But, plainly, no one had anything to tell. + +Mrs Plummer accompanied her to church. Miss Arnott would rather she had +refrained. A conviction was forcing itself upon her that, at the back +of Mrs Plummer's mind, there was something which she was doing her best +to keep to herself, but which now and then would peep out in spite of +her--something hostile to herself. A disagreeable feeling was growing +on her that the lady knew much more about her movements on the previous +night than she was willing to admit. How she knew she did not attempt +to guess, or even whether the knowledge really amounted to anything +more than a surmise. She had an uncomfortable impression that her +companion, who was obviously ill at ease, was watching her with a +furtive keenness which she intuitively resented. + +When they reached the church she was scarcely in a religious mood. She +was conscious that her unexpected appearance made a small sensation. +Those who knew her smiled at her across the pews. Only servants were in +the Oak Dene pew; the master was absent. She wondered if anything had +yet transpired; half expecting some allusion to the matter during the +course of the sermon. While the vicar preached her thoughts kept +wandering to the mossy nook beneath the beech tree. Surely someone must +have been there by now, and seen. She would hear all about it after +church--at anyrate, when she reached home. + +But no, not a word. Nothing had stirred the tranquil country air. One +item of information she did receive on her entering the house--Hugh +Morice had called. She probably appeared more startled than the +occasion seemed to warrant. The fact being that she had forgotten the +appointment he had made with her the night before. In any case she +would not have expected him to keep it. That he should have done so +almost took her breath away. He had merely inquired if she was in; on +learning that she was not had gone away. He had left no message. + +If she had stayed at home and seen him, what would he have said to her? + +That was the question which she kept putting to herself throughout the +run on her motor; fitting it not with one answer, but a dozen. There +were so many things he might have said, so many he might have left +unsaid. + +She expected to be greeted with the news when she brought the car to a +standstill in front of her own hall door. No; still not a word. Not one +during the whole of the evening. A new phase seemed to be developing in +Mrs Plummer's character--she had all at once grown restless, fidgety. +Hitherto, if she had had a tendency, it had been to attach herself too +closely to her charge. She was disposed to be too conversational. Now, +on a sudden, it was all the other way. Unless the girl's fancy played +her a trick she was not only desirous of avoiding her, but when in her +society she was taciturn almost to the verge of rudeness. Miss Arnott +was anxious neither for her company nor her conversation; but she did +not like her apparent unflattering inclination to avoid her altogether. + +That night the girl went early to bed. Hardly had she got into her room +than she remembered the key; the key of the wardrobe drawer, which, in +the small hours of the morning, she had put under her pillow before she +got into bed. Until that moment she had forgotten its existence. Now, +all at once, it came back to her with a jarring shock. She went to the +bed and lifted the pillows--there was nothing there. + +"Have you heard anything about a key being found underneath this +pillow? I put it there just before I got into bed. I forgot it when I +got up." + +"No, miss, I haven't. What key was it?" + +"It was"--she hesitated--"it was the key of a drawer in this wardrobe. +Perhaps it's in it now. No; there's nothing there. Whoever made my bed +must have seen it. Who made the bed?" + +"Wilson, miss. If she saw a key under your pillow she ought to have +given it me at once. I was in the room all the while; but she never +said a word. I'll go and ask her at once." + +"Do. But I see all the drawers have keys. I suppose any one of them +will fit any drawer?" + +"No, miss, that's just what they won't do; and very awkward it is +sometimes. There's a different lock to every drawer, and only one key +which fits it. I'll go and make inquiries of Wilson at once." + +While Evans was gone Miss Arnott considered. It would be awkward if the +key were lost or mislaid. To gain access to that drawer the lock would +have to be forced. Circumstances might very easily arise which would +render it necessary that access should be gained, and by her alone. Nor +was the idea a pleasant one that, although the drawer was closed to +her, it might be accessible to somebody else. + +Evans returned to say that the maid, Wilson, denied all knowledge of a +key. + +"She declares that there was no key there. She says that if there had +been she couldn't have helped but see it. I don't see how she could +have either. You are sure, miss, that you left it there?" + +"Certain." + +"Then perhaps it slipped on to the floor when she moved the pillow, +without being noticed." + +It was not on the floor then--at least, they could discover no signs of +it. Evans moved the bed, and went on her knees to see. Nor did it +appear to have strayed into the bed itself. + +"I will see Wilson myself in the morning," said Miss Arnott, when +Evans's researches proved resultless. "The key can't have vanished into +nothing." + +But Wilson, even when interviewed by her mistress, afforded no +information. She was a raw country girl. A bundle of nerves when she +saw that Miss Arnott was dissatisfied. There seemed no possible reason +why she should wish to conceal the fact that she had lighted on the +key, if she had done so. So far as she knew the key was valueless, +certainly it was of no interest to her. Miss Arnott had to console +herself with the reflection that if she did not know what had become of +the key no one else did either. She gave instructions that if it was +found it was to be handed her at once. There, for the moment, the +matter rested. + +Again on that Monday nothing transpired. It dawned upon the girl, when +she began to think things over, that it was well within the range of +possibility that nothing would transpire for a considerable period. +That mossy nook was in a remote part of the estate. Practically +speaking, except the gamekeepers, nobody went there at all. It was +certain that whoever did would be trespassing. So far as she knew, +thereabouts, trespassers of any sort were few and far between. As for +the gamekeepers, there was nothing to take them there. + +By degrees her cogitations began to trend in an altogether unexpected +direction. If the discovery had not been made already, and might be +postponed for weeks, it need never be made at all. The body might quite +easily be concealed. If there was time it might even be buried at the +foot of the beech tree under which it had been lying, and all traces of +the grave be hidden. It only needed a little care and sufficient +opportunity. She remembered when a favourite dog had died, how her +father had buried it at one side of the lawn in their Cumberland home. +He had been careful in cutting out the sods of turf; when replacing +them in their former positions, he had done so with such neatness and +accuracy that, two or three days after no stranger would have supposed +they had ever been moved. + +The dead man might be treated as her father had treated Fido. In which +case his fate might never become known, unless she spoke. Indeed, for +all she could tell, the body might be under the turf by now. If she +chose to return to the enjoyment of her favourite lounge there might be +nothing to deter her. She might lie, and laze, and dream, and be +offended by nothing which could recall unpleasant memories. + +As the possibility that this might be so occurred to her she became +possessed by a strange, morbid disposition to put it to the test. She +was nearly half inclined to stroll once more along that winding path, +and see if there was anything to prevent her enjoying another waking +dream. This inclination began to be so strong that, fearful lest it +should get the better of her, to escape what was becoming a hideous +temptation, she went for another run upon her car, and, in returning, +met Hugh Morice. + +They saw each other's car approaching on the long straight road, while +they were yet some distance apart, possibly more than a mile, backed by +the usual cloud of dust. She was descending an incline, he was below, +far off, where the road first came in sight. For some moments she was +not sure that the advancing car was his, then she was undecided what to +do; whether to sweep past him, or to halt and speak. Her heart beat +faster, her hands were tremulous, her breath came quicker. She had just +resolved to go past him with a commonplace salutation, when the matter +was taken out of her hands. When he was within a hundred yards of her +he stopped his car, with the evident design of claiming her attention +for at least a second or two. So she stopped also, when the machines +were within a yard of one another. + +He was alone. He glanced at her chauffeur with his big grey eyes, as if +the sight of him were offensive. Then he looked at her and she at him, +and for a while they were silent. It seemed to her that he was +devouring her with his eyes. She was vaguely conscious of a curious +feeling of satisfaction at being devoured. For her part she could not +take her eyes off his face--she loved to look at him. + +It was only after some moments had passed that it appeared to occur to +him that there might be anything singular in such a fashion of meeting, +especially in the presence of her mechanic. When he spoke his voice +seemed husky, the manner of his speech was, as usual, curt. + +"Why weren't you at home yesterday morning as you promised?" + +"I had forgotten that I did promise." + +"You had forgotten?" + +"Not that it would have made any difference if I had remembered; I +should not have stayed in. I did not suppose you would come." + +"I told you I should come." + +"Yes, you told me." + +"What I tell you I will do that I do do. Nothing that may happen will +cause me to change my mind." He looked past her along the way she had +come, then addressed the chauffeur. "There is something lying on the +road. It may be something Miss Arnott has dropped--go and see." + +"I don't think it is anything of mine. I have had nothing to drop." + +"Go and see what it is." The man, descending, returned along the road. +"I don't choose to have everything you and I may have to say to each +other overheard. You knew that I should come, why did you not stay in? +of what were you afraid?" + +"Afraid? I? Of nothing, There was no reason why I should be afraid." + +He searched her face, as if seeking for something which he was amazed +to find himself unable to discover. + +"You are a strange woman; but then women were always puzzles to me. You +may not be stranger than the rest--I don't know. Hadn't you better go +away again to-day? Back to the Lake of Como or further?" + +"Why should I go away? Of what are you afraid?" + +"Of what am I not afraid? I am even afraid to think of what I am +afraid--of such different stuff are we two made. I never knew what fear +was, before; now, I hardly dare to breathe for fear." + +"Don't you trust me?" + +"Trust you? What has that to do with it?" + +"I see, you think it doesn't matter. I hardly know whether you intend +to flatter me or not. Why don't you go away?" + +"What's the use? Where should I go where I could be hidden? There is no +hiding-place, none. Besides, if I were to hide myself under the sea it +might make no difference. Don't you understand? + +"I'm not sure; no, I don't think I do. But, tell me, I want to know! I +must know! It was all I could do to keep myself from going to see--what +have you done with him?" + +"Done with him?" + +"Have you--have you buried him?" + +"Buried him? Do you think he could be buried?" + +Something came on to his face which frightened her, started her all +trembling. + +"I--I didn't know. Don't look at me like that. I only wondered." + +"You only wondered! Is it possible that you thought it could be hidden +like that? My God! that you should be such a woman! Don't speak, here's +your chauffeur close upon you; you don't want him to understand. You'll +find the dust is worse further on. Good-day!" + +He whizzed off, leaving her enveloped in a cloud of the dust of which +he had spoken. + + + + + CHAPTER XV + + COOPER'S SPINNEY + + +Not till the Friday following was the dead body discovered. And then in +somewhat singular fashion. + +A young gamekeeper was strolling through the forest with his dog. The +dog, a puppy, strayed from his side. He did not notice that it had done +so till he heard it barking. When he whistled it came running up to him +with something in its mouth--a brown billycock hat. The creature was in +a state of excitement. On his taking the hat from it, it ran back in +the direction it had come, barking as it went. Puzzled by its +behaviour, curious as to how it had found the hat, he followed to where +the dead man lay beneath the beech tree. + +He thought at first that it was some stranger who, having trespassed +and lighted on a piece of open ground, had taken advantage of the +springy turf to enjoy a nap. It was only after he had called to him +three times, and, in spite, also, of the dog's persistent barking, had +received no answer, that he proceeded to examine more closely into the +matter. Then he saw not only that the man was dead, but that his +clothing was stiff with coagulated blood. There had been a violent +thunderstorm the night before. The rain had evidently come drenching +down on the silent sleeper, but it had not washed out that blood. + +Clarke was a country bumpkin, only just turned eighteen. When it began +to break on his rustic intelligence that, in all probability, he was +looking down on the victim of some hideous tragedy, he was startled out +of his very few wits. He had not the faintest notion what he ought to +do. He only remembered that the great house was the nearest human +habitation. When he had regained sufficient control of his senses, he +ran blindly off to it. A footman, seeing him come staggering up the +steps which led to the main entrance, came out to inquire what he meant +by such a glaring breach of etiquette. + +"What are you doing here? This isn't the place for you. Go round to the +proper door. What's the matter with you? Do you hear, what's up?" + +"There--there's a man in Cooper's Spinney!" + +"Well! what of it? That's none of our business." + +"He's--he's dead." + +"Dead? Who's dead? What do you mean?" + +The hobbledehoy broke into a fit of blubbering. + +"They've--they've killed him," he blubbered. + +"Killed him? Who's killed him? What are you talking about? Stop that +noise. Can't you talk sense?" + +Day, the butler, crossing the hall, came out to see what was the cause +of the to-do. At any moment people might call. They would please to +find this senseless gawk boohooing like a young bull calf. Day and the +footman between them tried to make head or tail of the fellow's +blundering story. While they were doing so Mrs Plummer appeared in the +doorway. + +"Day, what is the matter here? What is the meaning of this +disturbance?" + +"I can't quite make out, but from what this young man says it appears +that he's seen someone lying dead in Cooper's Spinney. So far as I can +understand the young man seems to think that he's been murdered." + +Mrs Plummer started back, trembling so violently that she leaned +against the wall, as if in want of its support. + +"Murdered? He's not been murdered! It's a lie!" + +Day, after one glance at her, seemed to avoid looking in her direction. + +"As to that, madam, I can say nothing. The young man doesn't seem to be +too clear-headed. I will send someone at once and have inquiries made." + +Shortly it was known to all the house that young Clarke's story was not +a lie. A horse was put into a trap, the news was conveyed to the +village, the one policeman brought upon the scene. When Miss Arnott +returned with her motor it was easy enough for her to see that at last +the air was stirred. + +"Has anything happened?" she inquired of the footman who came to +superintend her descent from the motor. + +"I am afraid there has--something very unpleasant." + +"Unpleasant! How?" + +"It appears that a man has been found dead in Cooper's +Spinney--murdered, cut to pieces, they do say. + +"In Cooper's Spinney? Cut to pieces?" She paused, as if to reflect. +"Did you say cut to pieces? Surely there's some mistake." + +"I only know what they say, miss. Granger's up there now." + +"Granger?" + +"The policeman, miss. Now I'm told they've sent for a doctor." + +A second footman handed her an envelope as she entered the hall. She +saw that "Oak Dene" was impressed in scarlet letters on the flap. + +"When did this come?" + +"One of Mr Morice's grooms brought it soon after you went out." + +She tore the envelope open, and there and then read the note which it +contained. It had no preamble, it simply ran,-- + + +"Why have you not acted on my suggestion and gone back to Lake Como or +farther? + +"At any moment it may be too late! Don't you understand? + +"When I think of what may be the consequences of delay I feel as if I +were going mad. I shall go mad if you don't go. I don't believe that I +have slept an hour since. + +"Do as I tell you--go! H. M." + + +Then at the bottom two words were added,-- + + +"Burn this." + + +As she was reading it a second time Mrs Plummer came into the hall, +white and shaky. + +"Have you heard the dreadful news?" + +She asked the question in a kind of divided gasp, as if she were short +of breath. Miss Arnott did not answer for a moment. She fixed her +glance on the elder lady, as if she were looking not at, but through +her. Then she put a question in return. + +"Where is Cooper's Spinney?" + +Had the girl hauled at her a volley of objurgations Mrs Plummer could +not have seemed more distressed. + +"Cooper's Spinney!" she exclaimed. "Why do you ask me? How should I +know?" + +Without stopping for anything further Miss Arnott went up to her +bedroom. There she found Evans, waiting to relieve her of her motoring +attire. As she performed her accustomed offices her mistress became +aware that her hands were trembling. + +"What's the matter with you? Aren't you well?" + +The woman seemed to be shaking like a leaf, and to be only capable of +stammering,-- + +"I--I don't think, miss, I--I can be well. I--I think that dreadful +news has upset me." + +"Dreadful news? Oh, I see. By the way, where is Cooper's Spinney?" + +"I haven't a notion, miss. I--I only know just about the house." + +Miss Arnott put another question as she was leaving the room. + +"Has nothing been heard yet of the key of that wardrobe drawer?" + +"No, miss, nothing. And, miss--I beg your pardon--but if you want to +break it open, you can do it easily, or I will for you; and, if you'll +excuse my taking a liberty, if those clothes are in it, I'll wash them +for you, and no one shall ever know." + +Miss Arnott stared at the speaker in unmistakable surprise. + +"It's very good of you. But I don't think I need trouble you to step so +far out of the course of your ordinary duties." When she was in her +sitting-room she said to herself, "She will wash them for me? What does +the woman mean? And what does he mean by writing to me in such a +strain?" She referred to Mr Morice's note which she had in her hand. +"'Do as I tell you--go.' Why should I go? and how dare he issue his +commands to me, as if it were mine merely to obey. Plainly this was +written before the news reached Oak Dene; when he hears it, it is +possible that he may not stand upon the order of his going, but go at +once. I'll answer him. He shall have his reply before he goes, unless +his haste's too great. Then, perhaps, he will understand." + +On the back leaf of the note signed "H. M." she scribbled. + + +"Is not the advice you offer me better suited to yourself? Why should I +go? It seems to me that it is you who do not understand. Have you heard +the news? Possibly understanding will come with it. You do not appear +to recognise what kind of person I really am. Believe me, I am to be +trusted. But am I the only factor to be reckoned with? + +"Had you not better swallow your own prescription? V. A." + + +She hesitated before adding the initials, since he knew that they were +not actually hers. Then, putting her answer, still attached to his +note, into an envelope, she gave instructions that a messenger should +ride over with it at once. While she was hesitating whether to go down +and learn if any fresh development had occurred, there came a tapping +at her sitting-room door. Day entered. To him she promptly put the +question she had addressed to others. + +"Oh, Day, perhaps you will be able to tell me where is Cooper's +Spinney?" + +He looked at her until he saw that she was looking at him, then his +glance fell. + +"Cooper's Spinney is right away to the east, where our land joins Oak +Dene. I don't know how it gets its name. It's pretty open there. In one +part there's a big beech tree. It was under the tree the--the body was +found." + +"Thank you, Day. I think I know where you mean." Again the butler's +glance rose and fell. Perceiving that he seemed to be at a loss for +words she went on. "Is there anything you wish to speak to me about?" + +"Yes, Miss Arnott, I'm sorry to say there is. I've come to give you +notice." + +"To give me notice?" + +"Yes, miss, with your permission. I've been in service all my life, +good service. I've been in this house a good many years. I've saved a +little money. If I'm ever to get any enjoyment out of it, and I've my +own ideas, it seems to me that I'd better start doing it. I should like +to leave to-day." + +"To-day?" + +"Yes, miss, to-day. There isn't much to do in the house just now, and +there's plenty of people to do it. Bevan's quite capable of taking my +place till you get someone else to fill it. Your convenience won't +suffer." + +"But isn't this a very sudden resolution? What has caused you to arrive +at it?" + +Day still kept his glance turned down, as if searching for an answer on +the carpet. It was apparently only a lame one which he found. + +"I'm in an awkward situation, Miss Arnott. I don't want to say anything +which can be misconstrued. So much is that my feeling that I thought of +going away without saying a word." + +"That would not have been nice conduct on your part." + +"No, miss; that's what I felt, so I came." + +"Come, Day, what is it you are stammering about? Something +extraordinary must have happened to make you wish to leave at a +moment's notice after your long service. Don't be afraid of +misconstruction. What is it, please?" + +The man's tone, without being in the least uncivil, became a trifle +dogged. + +"Well, miss, the truth is, I'm not comfortable in my mind." + +"About what?" + +"I don't want to be, if I may say so, dragged into this business." + +"What business?" + +"Of the body they've found in Cooper's Spinney." + +"Day, what are you talking about? What possible connection can that +have with you?" + +"Miss Arnott, I understand that Dr Radcliffe says that that man has +been lying dead under that beech tree for at least four or five days. +That takes us back to Saturday, the day that you came home. In these +sort of things you never know what the police may take it into their +heads to do. I do not want to run the risk of being called as a witness +at the inquest or--anywhere else, and--asked questions about last +Saturday." + +Then the man looked his mistress straight in the face, and she +understood--or thought she did. + +"What you have said, Day, settles the question. Under no circumstances +will I permit you to leave my service--or this house--until the matter +to which you refer has been finally settled. So resolved am I upon that +point that, if I have any further reason to suspect you of any +intention of doing so, I shall myself communicate with the police at +once. Understand that clearly." + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + + JIM BAKER + + +The inquest, which was held at the "Rose and Crown," was productive of +one or two pieces of what the local papers were perhaps justified in +describing as "Startling Evidence." It was shown that the man had been +stabbed to death. Some broad-bladed, sharp-pointed instrument had been +driven into his chest with such violence that the point had penetrated +to the back. The wall of the chest had been indented by the violence of +the blow. Death must have been practically instantaneous. And yet one +side of him had been almost riddled by shot. He had received nearly the +entire charge of a gun which had been fired at him--as the close +pattern showed--within a distance of a very few feet. It was only small +shot, and no vital organ had been touched. The discharge had been in no +way responsible for his death. Still, the pain must have been +exquisite. The medical witnesses were of opinion that the first attack +had come from the gun; that, while he was still smarting from its +effects, advantage was taken of his comparative helplessness to inflict +the death-wound. + +Nothing came out before the coroner to prove motive. There were no +signs that the man had been robbed. A common metal watch, attached to a +gilt chain, was found on his person, a half-sovereign, six-shillings in +silver, and ninepence in copper, a packet of cigarettes, a box of +matches, a handkerchief, apparently brand new, and a piece of paper on +which was written "Exham Park." As nothing suggested that an attempt +had been made to rifle his pockets the probability was that that was +all the property he had had on him at the moment of his death. There +was no initial or name on any of his clothing, all of which, like his +handkerchief, seemed brand new. His identity remained unrevealed by +anything which he had about him. + +On this point, however, there was evidence of a kind. The police +produced witnesses who asserted that, on the preceding Saturday +afternoon, he had arrived, by a certain train, at a little roadside +station. He had given up a single third-class ticket from London, and +had asked to be directed to Exham Park. On being informed that Exham +Park was some distance off, he had shown symptoms of disgust. He had +endeavoured to hire a conveyance to take him there but had failed. What +had happened to him afterwards, or what had been the course of his +movements, there was no evidence to show. + +The coroner adjourned his court three times to permit of the discovery +of such evidence. + +During the time the inquiry was in the air the whole countryside was on +tip-toe with curiosity, and also with expectation. Tongues wagged, +fingers pointed, the wildest tales were told. Exham Park was the centre +of a very disagreeable sort of interest. The thing to do was to visit +the scene of the murder. Policemen and gamekeepers had to be placed on +special duty to keep off trespassers from Cooper's Spinney, +particularly on Sundays. The scrap of paper with "Exham Park" written +on it, which had been found in the dead man's pocket, was a trifling +fact which formed a sufficient basis for a mountain of conjecture. + +Why had he been going to Exham Park? Who had he been desirous of seeing +there? To furnish answers to these questions, the entire household was +subjected by the police--with Miss Arnott's express sanction--to +cross-examination. The same set of questions was put to every man, woman +and child in the house, about it, and on the estate. Each individual was +first of all informed that he or she was not compelled to answer, and +was then examined as follows:-- + +Did you know the deceased? Did you ever see him? Or hear from--or +of--him? Had you any knowledge of him of any sort or kind? Have you any +reason whatever to suppose that he might have been coming to see you? +Have you the least idea of who it was he was coming to see? On what is +that idea based? + +The house servants were questioned in the dining-room, in Miss Arnott's +presence. She sat in the centre of one side of the great dining-table, +completely at her ease. On her right was Mrs Plummer, obviously the +most uncomfortable person present. She had protested vigorously against +any such proceedings being allowed to take place. + +"I believe it's illegal, and if it isn't illegal, it's sheer impudence. +How dare any common policeman presume to come and ask a lot of +impertinent questions, and treat us as if we had a house full of +criminals!" + +Miss Arnott only laughed. + +"As for it's being illegal, I can't see how it can be that, if it's +done with my permission. I suppose I can let who I like into my own +house. No one's compelled to answer. I'm sure you needn't. You needn't +even be questioned if you'd rather not be. As for a house full of +criminals, I'm not aware that anyone has suggested that I harbour even +one." + +But Mrs Plummer was not to be appeased. + +"It's all very well for you to say that I needn't be questioned, but if +I decline I shall look most conspicuous. Everybody will attribute my +refusal to some shameful reason. I dislike the whole affair. I'm sure +no good will come of it. But, so far as I'm concerned, I shall answer +all their questions without the slightest hesitation." + +And she did, with direct negatives, looking Mr Nunn, the detective who +had come down specially from London to take the case in charge, +straight in the face in a fashion which suggested that she considered +his conduct to be in the highest degree impertinent. + +Miss Arnott, on the other hand, who proffered herself first, treated +the questions lightly, as if they had and could have no application to +herself. She said no to everything, denied that she had ever known the +dead man, that she had ever seen him, that she had ever heard from, or +of, him, that she had any reason to suppose that he was coming to see +her, that she had any idea of who he was coming to see, and did it all +with an air of careless certainty, as if it must be plain to everyone +that the notion of in any way connecting her with him was sheer +absurdity. + +With the entire household the result was the same. To all the questions +each alike said no, some readily enough, some not so readily; but +always with sufficient emphasis to make it abundantly clear that the +speaker hoped that it was taken for granted that no other answer was +even remotely possible. + +Thus, to all appearances, that inquiry carried the matter not one +hair's breadth further. The explanation of why the dead man had borne +those two words--"Exham Park"--about with him was still to seek; since +no one could be found who was willing to throw light upon the reasons +which had brought him into that part of the world. And as the police, +in spite of all their diligence, could produce no further evidence +which bore, even remotely, on any part of the business, it looked as +if, at anyrate so far as the inquest was concerned, the result would +have to be an open verdict. They searched practically the whole +country-side for some trace of a weapon with which the deed could have +been done; in vain. The coroner had stated that, unless more witnesses +were forthcoming, he would have to close the inquiry, and the next +meeting of his court would have to be the last, and it was, therefore, +with expectations of some such abortive result that, on the appointed +day, the villagers crowded into the long room of the "Rose and Crown." + +However, the general expectation was not on that occasion destined to +be realised. The proceedings were much more lively, and even exciting, +than had been anticipated. Instead of the merely formal notes which the +reporters had expected to be able to furnish to their various journals, +they found themselves provided with ample material, not only to prove a +strong attraction for their own papers, but also to serve as appetising +matter to the press of the entire kingdom, with contents bills for +special editions--"The Cooper's Spinney Murder. Extraordinary +Developments." + +These "extraordinary developments" came just as the proceedings were +drawing to a close. Merely formal evidence had been given by the +police. The coroner was explaining to the jury that, as nothing fresh +was before them, or, in spite of repeated adjournments, seemed likely +to be, all that remained was for them to return their verdict. What +that verdict ought to be unfortunately there could be no doubt. The +dead man had been foully murdered. No other hypothesis could possibly +meet the circumstances of the case. Who had murdered him was another +matter. As to that, they were at present able to say nothing. The +identity of the miscreant was an unknown quantity. They could point +neither in this quarter nor in that. The incidents before them would +not permit of it. It seemed probable that the crime had been committed +under circumstances of peculiar atrocity. The murderer had first fired +at his victim--actually nearly fifty pellets of lead had been found +embedded in the corpse. Then, when the poor wretch had been disabled by +the pain and shock of the injuries which had been inflicted on him, his +assailant had taken advantage of his helplessness to stab him literally +right through the body. + +The coroner had said so much, and seemed disposed to say much more, in +accents which were intended to be impressive, and which, in fact, did +cause certain of the more easily affected among his auditors to shiver, +when a voice exclaimed from the back of the room,-- + +"That's a damned lie!" + +The assertion, a sufficiently emphatic one in itself, was rendered +still more so by the tone of voice in which it was uttered; the speaker +was, evidently, not in the least desirous of keeping his opinion to +himself. The coroner stopped. Those who were sitting down stood up, +those who were already standing turned in the direction from which the +voice came. + +The coroner inquired, with an air of authority which was meant to +convey his righteous indignation,-- + +"Who said that?" + +The speaker did not seem at all abashed. He replied, without a moment's +hesitation, still at the top of his voice,-- + +"I did." + +"Who is that man speaking? Bring him here!" + +"No one need bring me, and no one hadn't better try. I'm coming, I am; +I've got two good legs of my own, and I'm coming as fast as they'll +carry me. Now then, get out of the way there. What do you mean by +blocking up the floor? It ain't your floor!" + +The speaker--as good as his word--was exhibiting in his progress toward +the coroner's table a degree of zeal which was not a little +inconvenient to whoever chanced to be in his way. Having gained his +objective, leaning both hands on the edge of the table he stared at the +coroner in a free-and-easy fashion which that official was not slow to +resent. + +"Take off your cap, sir!" + +"All right, governor, all right. Since you've got yours off I don't +mind taking mine--just to oblige you." + +"Who are you? What's your name?" + +"I'm a gamekeeper, that's what I am. And as for my name, everybody +knows what my name is. It's Jim Baker, that's what my name is. Is there +anybody in this room what don't know Jim Baker? Of course there ain't." + +"You're drunk, sir!" + +"And that I'm not. If I was drunk I shouldn't be going on like this. +You ask 'em. They know Jim Baker when he's drunk. There isn't many men +in this parish as could hold him; it would take three or four of some +of them." + +"At anyrate, you've been drinking." + +"Well, and so would you have been drinking if you'd been going through +what I have these last weeks." + +"How dare you come to my court in this state? and use such language?" + +"Language! what language? I ain't used no language. I said it's a +damned lie, and so it is." + +"You'll get yourself into serious trouble, my man, if you don't take +care. I was saying that, having shot the deceased, the murderer +proceeded to stab him through the body. Is that the statement to which +you object with such ill-timed vigour?" + +The answer was somewhat unlooked for. Stretching half-way across the +table, Jim Baker shook his fist at the coroner with an amount of vigour +which induced that officer to draw his chair a little further back. + +"Don't you call me a murderer!" + +"What do you mean, sir, by your extraordinary behaviour? I did not call +you a murderer; I said nothing of the kind." + +"You said that the man who shot him, stabbed him. I say it's a lie; +because he didn't!" + +"How do you know? Stop! Before you say another word it's my duty to +inform you that if you have any evidence to offer, before you do so you +must be duly sworn; and, further, in your present condition it becomes +essential that I should warn you to be on your guard, lest you should +say something which may show a guilty knowledge." + +"And what do you call a guilty knowledge? I ask you that." + +"As for instance--" + +Mr Baker cut the coroner's explanation uncivilly short. + +"I don't want none of your talk. I'm here to speak out, that's what I'm +here for. I'm going to do it. When you say that the man as shot him +knifed him, I say it's a damned lie. How do I know? Because I'm the man +as shot him; and, beyond giving him a dose of pepper, I'm ready to take +my Bible oath that I never laid my hand on him." + +Mr Baker's words were followed by silence--that sort of silence which +the newspapers describe by the word "sensation." People pressed further +into the room, craning their heads to get a better view of the speaker. +The coroner searched him with his eyes, as if to make sure that the man +was in possession of at least some of his senses. + +"Do you know what it is you are saying?" + +"Do I know what I'm saying? Of course I know. I say that I peppered the +chap, but beyond that I never done him a mischief; and I tell you again +that to that I'm ready to take my Bible oath." + +The coroner turned to his clerk. + +"Swear this man." + +Jim Baker was sworn--unwillingly enough. He handled the Testament which +was thrust into his hand as if he would have liked to have thrown it at +the clerk's head. + +"Now, James Baker, you are on your oath. I presume that you know the +nature of an oath?" + +"I ought to at my time of life." + +There were those that tittered. It was possible that Mr Baker was +referring to one kind of oath and the coroner to another. + +"And, I take it, you are acquainted with the serious consequences of +swearing falsely?" + +"Who's swearing falsely! When I swear falsely it will be time for you +to talk." + +"Very good: so long as you understand. Before proceeding with your +examination I would again remind you that you are in no way bound to +answer any question which you think would criminate yourself." + +"Go on, do. I never see such a one for talking. You'd talk a bull's +hind leg off." + +Once more there were some who smiled. The coroner kept his temper in a +manner which did him credit. He commenced to examine the witness. + +"Did you know the dead man?" + +"Know him? Not from Adam." + +"Did you have any acquaintance with him of any sort or kind?" + +"Never heard tell of him in my life; never set eyes on him till that +Saturday night. When I see him under the beech tree in Cooper's Spinney +I let fly at him." + +"Did you quarrel?" + +"Not me; there wasn't no time. I let fly directly I see him." + +"At a perfect stranger? Why? For what possible reason? Did you suspect +him of poaching?" + +"I'd been having a glass or two." + +"Do you mean to say that because you were drunk you shot this +unfortunate man?" + +"I made a mistake; that's how it was." + +"You made a mistake?" + +"I must have been as near drunk as might be, because, when I come upon +this here chap sudden like, I thought he was Mr Hugh Morice." + +"You thought he was Mr Hugh Morice?" + +"I did." + +"Remember you are not bound to answer any question if you would rather +not. Bearing that well in mind, do you wish me to understand that you +intended to shoot Mr Morice?" + +"Of course I did." + +"But why?" + +"He's sitting there; you ask him; he knows." + +As a matter of fact Mr Hugh Morice--who had throughout shown a lively +interest in the proceedings--was occupying the chair on the coroner's +right hand side. The two men exchanged glances; there was an odd look +on Mr Morice's face, and in his eyes. Then the coroner returned to the +witness. + +"If necessary, Mr Morice will be examined later on. At present I want +information from you. Why should you have intended to shoot Mr Morice?" + +"Obeying orders, that's what I was doing." + +"Obeying orders? Whose orders?" + +"My old governor's. He says to me--and well Mr Hugh Morice knows it, +seeing he was there and heard--'Jim,' he says, 'if ever you see Hugh +Morice on our ground you put a charge of lead into him.' So I done +it--leastways, I meant to." + +The coroner glanced at Mr Morice with an uplifting of his eyebrows +which that gentleman chose to regard as an interrogation, and +answered,-- + +"What Baker says is correct; the late Mr Arnott did so instruct him, +some seven or eight years ago." + +"Was Mr Arnott in earnest?" + +Hugh Morice shrugged his shoulders. + +"He was in a very bad temper." + +"I see. And because of certain words which were uttered in a moment of +irritation seven or eight years ago, James Baker meant to shoot Mr +Morice, but shot this stranger instead. Is that how it was?" + +"That's about what it comes to." + +"I would again remind you that you need not answer the question I am +about to ask you unless you choose; but, if you do choose, be careful +what you say, and remember that you are on your oath. After you had +shot this man what did you do?" + +"He started squealing. As soon as I heard his voice I thought there was +something queer about it. So I went up and had a look at him. Then I +saw I'd shot the wrong man." + +"Then what did you do?" + +"Walked straight off." + +"And left that unfortunate man lying helpless on the ground?" + +"He wasn't helpless, nor yet he wasn't lying on the ground. He was +hopping about like a pig in a fit." + +"You know it has been proved that this man was stabbed to death?" + +"I've heard tell on it." + +"Now--and remember that you are not bound to answer--did you stab him?" + +"I did not. I swear to God I didn't. After I pulled the trigger I done +nothing to him at all." + +"Is it possible that you were so drunk as to have been unconscious of +what you did?" + +"Not a bit of it. So soon as I see as I'd shot the wrong man that +sobered me, I tell you. All I thought about was getting away. I went +straight to my own place, two miles off." + +"When you last saw this man he was still alive?" + +"Very much alive he was." + +"He had not been stabbed?" + +"He hadn't, so far as I know." + +"You must have known if he had been." + +"I never touched him, and I asked no questions." + +"What was he doing when you saw him last?" + +"Hopping about and swearing." + +"And you don't know what happened to him afterwards?" + +"I see nothing; I'd seen more than enough already. I tell you I walked +straight off home." + +"And you heard nothing?" + +"Nothing out of the way." + +"Why haven't you told this story of yours before?" + +"Because I didn't want to have any bother, that's why. I knew I hadn't +killed him, that was enough for me. Small shot don't hurt no one--at +least, not serious. Any man can have a shot at me for a ten-pound note; +there's some that's had it for less. But when I heard you saying that +the man as shot him stabbed him, then I had to speak--bound to. I +wasn't going to have no charge of that kind made against me. And I have +spoken, and you've got the truth." + +"What time did it happen--all this you have been telling us about?" + +Jim Baker answered to the best of his ability. He answered many other +questions, also, to the best of his ability. He had a bad time of it. +But the worst time was to come when all the questions had been asked +and answered. + +The coroner announced that, in consequence of the fresh evidence which +had been placed before the court, the inquiry would not close that day; +but that there would be a further adjournment. + +As Mr Baker passed out of the room and down the stairs people drew away +from him to let him pass, with an alacrity which was not exactly +flattering. When he came out into the street, Granger, the policeman, +came forward and laid his hand upon his shoulder, saying, in those +squeaky tones which had caused him to be regarded with less respect +than was perhaps desirable,-- + +"James Baker, I arrest you for wilful murder. You needn't say anything, +but what you do say will be taken down and used against you. Take my +advice and come quiet." + +By way of answer Jim Baker stared at Granger and at the London +detective at his side and at the people round about him. Then he +inquired,-- + +"What's that you say?" + +"I say that I arrest you for wilful murder, and my advice to you is to +come quiet." + +When Baker saw the policeman taking a pair of handcuffs out of his +coat-tail pocket he drew a long breath. + +"What's that you've got there?" + +"You know what it is very well--it's handcuffs. Hold out your hands and +don't let us have no trouble." + +Jim Baker held out his hand, his right one. As the policeman advanced, +ready to snap them on his wrist, Baker snatched them from him and +struck him with them a swinging blow upon the shoulder. Granger, +yelling, dropped as if he had been shot. Although he was not tall, his +weight was in the neighbourhood of sixteen stone, and he was not of a +combative nature. + +"If anybody wants some more," announced Mr Baker, "let him come on." + +Apparently someone did want more. The words were hardly out of his +mouth, before Nunn, the detective, had dodged another blow from the +same weapon, and had closed with him in a very ugly grip. + +There ensued the finest rough-and-tumble which had been seen in that +parish within living memory. Jim Baker fought for all he was worth; +when he had a gallon or so of beer inside him his qualifications in +that direction were considerable. But numbers on the side of authority +prevailed. In the issue he was borne to the lock-up in a cart, not only +handcuffed, but with his legs tied together as well. As he went he +cursed all and sundry, to the no small amusement of the heterogeneous +gathering which accompanied the cart. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII + + INJURED INNOCENCE + + +Mr Baker had some uncomfortable experiences. When he was brought before +the magistrates it was first of all pointed out--as it were, +inferentially--that he was not only a dangerous character, but, also, +just the sort of person who might be expected to commit a heinous +crime, as his monstrous behaviour when resisting arrest clearly showed. +Not content with inflicting severe injuries on the police, he had +treated other persons, who had assisted them in their laudable attempts +to take him into safe custody, even worse. In proof of this it was +shown that one such person was in the cottage hospital, and two more +under the doctor's hands; while Granger, the local constable, and Nunn, +the detective in charge of the case, appeared in the witness-box, one +with his arm in a sling, and the other with plastered face and bandaged +head. The fact that the prisoner himself bore unmistakable traces of +having lately been engaged in some lively proceedings did not enhance +his naturally uncouth appearance. It was felt by more than one who saw +him that he looked like the sort of person who was born to be hung. + +His own statement in the coroner's court having been produced in +evidence against him, it was supplemented by the statements of +independent witnesses in a fashion which began to make the case against +him look very ugly indeed. Both Miss Arnott and Mr Morice were called +to prove that his own assertion--that he had threatened to shoot the +master of Oak Dene--was only too true. While they were in the box the +prisoner, who was unrepresented by counsel, preserved what, for him, +was an unusual silence. He stared at them, indeed, and particularly at +the lady, in a way which was almost more eloquent than speech. Then +other witnesses were produced who shed a certain amount of light on his +proceedings on that memorable Saturday night. + +It was shown, for instance, that he was well within the mark in saying +that he had had a glass or two. Jenkins, the landlord of the "Rose and +Crown," declared that he had had so many glasses that he had to eject +him from his premises; he was "fighting drunk." In that condition he +had staggered home, provided himself with a gun and gone out with it. A +driver of a mail-cart, returning from conveying the mails to be taken +by the night express to town, had seen him on a stile leading into +Exham Park; had hailed him, but received no answer. A lad, the son of +the woman with whom Baker lodged, swore that he had come in between two +and three in the morning, seeming "very queer." He kept muttering to +himself while endeavouring to remove his boots--muttering out loud. The +lad heard him say, "I shot him--well, I shot him. What if I did shoot +him? what if I did?" He kept saying this to himself over and over +again. After he had gone to bed, the lad, struck by the singularity of +his persistent repetition, looked at his gun. It had been discharged. +The lad swore that, to his own knowledge, the gun had been loaded when +Baker had taken it out with him earlier in the night. + +The prisoner did not improve matters by his continual interruptions. He +volunteered corroborations of the witnesses' most damaging statements; +demanding in truculent tones to be told what was the meaning of all the +fuss. + +"I shot the man--well, I've said I shot him. But that didn't do him no +harm to speak of. I swear to God I didn't do anything else to him. I +hadn't no more to do with killing him than an unborn babe." + +There were those who heard, however, who were inclined to think that he +had had a good deal more to do with killing him than he was inclined to +admit. + +Miss Arnott, also, was having some experiences of a distinctly +unpleasant kind. It was, to begin with, a shock to hear that Jim Baker +had been arrested on the capital charge. When she was told what he had +said, and read it for herself in the newspapers, she began to +understand what had been the meaning of the gunshot and of the groans +which had ensued. She, for one, had reason to believe that what the +tippling old scoundrel had said was literally true, that he had spoken +all the truth. Her blood boiled when she read his appeal to Hugh +Morice, and that gentleman's carefully formulated corroboration. The +idea that serious consequences might ensue to Baker because of his +candour was a frightful one. + +It was not pleasant to be called as a witness against him; she felt +very keenly the dumb eloquence of the appeal in the blood-shot eyes +which were fixed upon her the whole time she was testifying, she +observed with something more than amazement. She had a horrible feeling +that he was deliberately endeavouring to fit a halter round the neck of +the drink-sodden wretch who, he had the best reason for knowing, was +innocent of the crime of which he was charged. + +A brief encounter which took place between them, as they were leaving +the court, filled her with a tumult of emotions which it was altogether +beyond her power to analyse. He came out of the door as she was getting +into her car. Immediately advancing to her side he addressed her +without any sort of preamble. + +"I congratulate you upon the clearness with which you gave your +evidence, and on the touch of feminine sympathy which it betrayed for +the prisoner. I fear, however, that that touch of sympathy may do him +more harm than you probably intended." + +There was something in the words themselves, and still more in the tone +in which they were uttered, which sent the blood surging up into her +face. She stared at him in genuine amazement. + +"You speak to me like that?--you? Certainly you betrayed no touch of +sympathy. I can exonerate you from the charge of injuring him by +exhibiting anything of that kind." + +"I was in rather a difficult position. Don't you think I was? Unluckily +I was not at my ease, which apparently you were." + +"I never saw anyone more at his ease than you seemed to be. I wondered +how it was possible." + +"Did you? Really? What a curious character yours is. And am I to take +it that you were uneasy?" + +"Uneasy? I--I loathed myself." + +"Not actually? I can only assure you that you concealed the fact with +admirable skill." + +"And--I loathed you." + +"Under the circumstances, that I don't wonder at at all. You would. I +even go further. Please listen to me carefully, Miss Arnott, and read, +as you very well can, the meaning which is between the lines. If a +certain matter goes as, judging from present appearances, it very +easily may go, I may have to take certain action which may cause you to +regard me with even greater loathing than you are doing now. Do not +mistake me on that point, I beg of you." + +"If I understand you correctly, and I suppose I do, you are quite right +in supposing that I shall regard you with feelings to which no mere +words are capable of doing justice. I had not thought you were that +kind of man." + +Events marched quickly. Jim Baker was brought up before the magistrates +three times, and then, to Miss Arnott's horror, he was committed for +trial on the capital charge. She could hardly have appeared more +affected if she herself had been committed. When the news was brought +to her by Day, the butler, who still remained in her service, she +received it with a point-blank contradiction. + +"It's not true. It can't be true. They can't have done anything so +ridiculous." + +The old man looked at his young mistress with curious eyes, he himself +seemed to be considerably disturbed. + +"It's quite true, miss. They've sent him to take his trial at the +assizes." + +"I never heard of anything so monstrous. But, Day, it isn't possible +that they can find him guilty?" + +"As for that, I can't tell. They wouldn't, if I was on the jury, I do +know that." + +"Of course not, and they wouldn't if I was." + +"No, miss, I suppose not." + +Day moved off, Miss Arnott following him with her eyes, as if something +in his last remark had struck her strangely. + +A little later, when talking over the subject with Mrs Plummer, the +elder lady displayed a spirit which seemed to be beyond the younger +one's comprehension. Miss Arnott was pouring forth scorn upon the +magistrates. + +"I have heard a great deal of the stupidity of the Great Unpaid, but I +had never conceived that it could go so far as this. There is not one +jot or tittle of evidence to justify them in charging that man with +murder." + +Mrs Plummer's manner as she replied was grim. + +"I wonder to hear you talk like that." + +"Why should you wonder?" + +"I do wonder." Mrs Plummer looked her charge straight in the face +oddly. Miss Arnott had been for some time conscious of a continual +oddity in the glances with which the other favoured her. Without being +aware of it she was beginning to entertain a very real dislike for Mrs +Plummer; she herself could scarcely have said why. "For my part I have +no hesitation in saying that I think it a very good thing they have +sent the man for trial; it would have been nothing short of a public +scandal if they hadn't. On his own confession the man's an utterly +worthless vagabond, and I hope they'll hang him. + +"Mrs Plummer!" + +"I do; and you ought to hope so." + +"Why ought I to hope so?" + +"Because then there'll be an end of the whole affair." + +"But if the man is innocent?" + +"Innocent!" The lady emitted a sound which might have been meant to +typify scorn. "A nice innocent he is. Why you are standing up for the +creature I can't see; you might have special reason. I say let them +hang him, and the sooner the better, because then there'll be an end of +the whole disgusting business, and we shall have a little peace and +quietude." + +"I for one should have no peace if I thought that an innocent man had +been hanged, merely for the sake of providing me with it. But it is +evidently no use our discussing the matter. I can only say that I don't +understand your point of view, and I may add that there has been a good +deal about you lately which I have not understood." + +Mrs Plummer's words occasioned her more concern than she would have +cared to admit; especially as she had a sort of vague feeling that they +were representative of the state of public opinion, as it existed +around her. Rightly or wrongly she was conscious of a very distinct +suspicion that most of the people with whom she came into daily and +hourly contact would have been quite willing to let Jim Baker hang, not +only on general principles, but also with a confused notion--as Mrs +Plummer had plainly put it--of putting an end to a very disagreeable +condition of affairs. + +In her trouble, not knowing where else to turn for advice or help, she +sent for Mr Stacey. After dinner she invited him to a tête-à-tête +interview in her own sitting-room, and then and there plunged into the +matter which so occupied her thoughts. + +"Do you know why I have sent for you, Mr Stacey?" + +"I was hoping, my dear young lady, that it was partly for the purpose +of affording me the inexpressible pleasure of seeing you again." + +She had always found his urbanity a little trying, it seemed +particularly out of place just now. Possibly she did not give +sufficient consideration to the fact that the old gentleman had been +brought out of town at no small personal inconvenience, and that he had +just enjoyed a very good dinner. + +"Of course there was that; but I am afraid that the principal reason +why I sent for you is because of this trouble about Jim Baker." + +"Jim Baker?" + +"The man who is charged with committing the murder in Cooper's +Spinney." + +"I see, or, rather, I do not see what connection you imagine can exist +between Mr Baker and myself." + +"He is innocent--as innocent as I am." + +"You know that of your own knowledge?" + +"I am sure of it." + +"What he has to do is to inspire the judge and jury with a similar +conviction." + +"But he is helpless. He is an ignorant man and has no one to defend +him. That's what I want you to do--I want you to defend him." + +"Me! Miss Arnott!" Mr Stacey put up his glasses the better to enable +him to survey this astonishing young woman. He smiled benignly. "I may +as well confess, since we are on the subject of confessions"--they were +not, but that was by the way--"that there are one or two remarks which +I should like to make to you, since you have been so kind as to ask me +to pay you this flying visit; but, before coming to them, let us first +finish with Mr Baker. Had you done me the honour to hint at the subject +on which you wished to consult me, I should at once have informed you +that I am no better qualified to deal with it than you are. We--that is +the firm with which I am associated--do no criminal business; we never +have done, and, I think I am safe in assuring you, we never shall do. +May I ask if you propose to defray any expenses which may be incurred +on Mr Baker's behalf? or is he prepared to be his own chancellor of the +exchequer?" + +"He has no money; he is a gamekeeper on a pound a week. I am willing to +pay anything, I don't care what." + +"Then, in that case, the matter is simplicity itself. Before I go I +will give you the name of a gentleman whose reputation in the conduct +of criminal cases is second to none; but I warn you that you may find +him an expensive luxury." + +"I don't care how much it costs." + +Mr Stacey paused before he spoke again; he pressed the tips of his +fingers together; he surveyed the lady through his glasses. + +"Miss Arnott, will you permit me to speak to you quite frankly?" + +"Of course, that's what I want you to do." + +"Then take my very strong advice and don't have anything to do with Mr +Baker. Don't interfere between him and the course of justice, don't +intrude yourself in the matter at all. Keep yourself rigidly outside +it." + +"Mr Stacey! Why?" + +"If you will allow me to make the remarks to which I just now alluded, +possibly, by the time I have finished, you will apprehend some of my +reasons. But before I commence you must promise that you will not be +offended at whatever I may say. If you think that, for any cause +whatever, you may be disposed to resent complete candour from an old +fellow who has seen something of the world and who has your best +interests very much at heart, please say so and I will not say a word." + +"I shall not be offended." + +"Miss Arnott, you are a very rich young lady." + +"Well?" + +"You are also a very young lady." + +"Well again?" + +"From such a young lady the world would--not unnaturally--expect a +certain course of action." + +"How do you mean?" + +"Why don't you take up that position in the world to which you are on +all accounts entitled?" + +"Still I don't quite understand." + +"Then I will be quite plain--why do you shut yourself up as if, to use +a catch phrase, you were a woman with a past?" + +Miss Arnott started perceptibly--the question was wholly unexpected. +Rising from her chair she began to re-arrange some flowers in a vase on +a table which was scarcely in need of her attentions. + +"I was not aware that I did." + +"Do you mean that seriously?" + +"I imagined that I was entitled to live the sort of life I preferred to +live without incurring the risk of criticism--that is what I mean." + +"Already you are beginning to be offended. Let us talk of the garden. +How is it looking? Your uncle was very proud of his garden. I certainly +never saw anything finer than his roseries. Do you still keep them up?" + +"Never mind the roseries, or the garden either. Why do you advise me +not to move a finger in defence of an innocent man, merely because I +choose to live my own life?" + +"You put the question in a form of your own; which is not mine. To the +question as you put it I have no answer." + +"How would you put it?" + +"Miss Arnott, in this world no one can escape criticism;--least of all +unattached young ladies;--particularly young ladies in your very +unusual position. I happen to know that nothing would have pleased your +uncle better than that you should be presented at Court. Why don't you +go to Court? Why don't you take your proper place in Society?" + +"Because I don't choose." + +"May I humbly entreat you to furnish me with your reasons?" + +"Nor do I choose to give you my reasons." + +"I am sorry to hear it, since your manner forces me to assume that you +have what you hold to be very sufficient reasons. Already I hear you +spoken of as the 'Peculiar Miss Arnott.' I am bound to admit not wholly +without cause. Although you are a very rich woman you are living as if +you were, relatively, a very poor one. Your income remains practically +untouched. It is accumulating in what, under the circumstances, I am +constrained to call almost criminal fashion. All sorts of unpleasant +stories are being connected with your name--lies, all of them, no +doubt; but still, there they are. You ought to do something which would +be equivalent to nailing them to the counter. Now there is this most +unfortunate affair upon your own estate. I am bound to tell you that if +you go out of your way to associate yourself with this man Baker, who, +in spite of what you suggest, is certainly guilty in some degree, and +who, in any case, is an irredeemable scoundrel; if you persist in +pouring out money like water in his defence, although you will do him +no manner of good, you may do yourself very grave and lasting injury." + +"That is your opinion?" + +"It is." + +"I thank you for expressing it so clearly. Now may I ask you for the +name of the gentleman--the expert criminal lawyer--to whom you +referred? and then we will change the subject." + +He gave her the name, and, later, in the seclusion of his own chamber, +criticised her mentally, as Mr Whitcomb once had done. + +"That girl's a character of an unusual kind. I shouldn't be surprised +if she knows more about that lamentable business in Cooper's Spinney +than she is willing to admit, and, what's more, if she isn't extremely +careful she may get herself into very serious trouble." + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + AT THE FOUR CROSS-ROADS + + +The next morning Miss Arnott sent a groom over to Oak Dene with this +curt note:-- + + +"I shall be at the Wycke Cross--at the four crossroads--this afternoon +at half-past three, alone. I shall be glad if you will make it +convenient to be there also. There is something which it is essential I +should say to you. + + V. A." + + +The groom brought back, in an envelope, Mr Hugh Morice's visiting card. +On the back of it were four words,-- + +"I will be there." + +And Mr Hugh Morice was there before the lady. Miss Arnott saw his car +drawn up by the roadside, long before she reached it. She slackened her +pace as she approached. When she came abreast of it she saw that its +owner was sitting on a stile, enjoying a pipe. Taking his pipe out of +his mouth, his cap off his head, he advanced to her in silence. + +"Am I late?" she asked. + +"No, it is I who am early." + +They exchanged glances--as it were, neutral glances--as if each were +desirous, as a preliminary, of making a study of the other. She +saw--she could not help seeing--that he was not looking well. The +_insouciance_ with which, mentally, she had always associated him, had +fled. The touch of the daredevil, of the man who looks out on to the +world without fear and with something of humorous scorn, that also had +gone. She did not know how old he was, but he struck her, all at once, +as being older than she had supposed. The upper part of his face was +seamed with deep lines which had not always, she fancied, been so +apparent. There were crow's-feet in the corners of his eyes, the eyes +themselves seemed sunken. The light in them was dimmed, or perhaps she +only fancied it. It was certain that he stooped more than he had used +to do. His head hung forward between his broad shoulders, as if the +whole man were tired, body, soul and spirit. There was something in his +looks, in his bearing, a suggestion of puzzlement, of bewilderment, of +pain, which might come from continuous wrestling with an insistent +problem which defied solution, which touched her to the heart, made her +feel conscious of a feeling she had not meant to feel. And because she +had not intended to harbour anything even remotely approaching such a +feeling, she resented its intrusion, and fought against herself so that +she might appear to this man to be even harder than she had proposed to +be. + +On his part he saw, seated in her motor car, a woman whom he would have +given all that he possessed to have taken in his arms and kept there. +His acumen was greater, perhaps, than hers; he saw with a clearness +which frightened him, her dire distress, the weight of trouble which +bore her down. She might think that she hid it from the world, but, to +him, it was as though the flesh had been stripped from her nerves, and +he saw them quivering. He knew something of this girl's story; this +woman whose childhood should have been scarcely yet behind her, and he +knew that it had brought that upon her face which had no right to be +there even though her years had attained to the Psalmist's span. And +because his whole nature burned within him with a desire that she might +be to him as never woman had been before, he was unmanned. He was +possessed by so many emotions, all warring with each other, that, for +the moment, he was like a helmless ship, borne this way and that, he +knew not why or whither. + +Then she was so hard, looked at him out of eyes which were so cold, +spoke to him as if it were only because she was compelled that she +spoke to him at all. How could he dare to hint--though only in a +whisper--at sympathy, or comfort? He knew that she would resent it as +bitterly as though he had lashed her with a whip. And, deeming herself +the victim of an outrage, the probabilities were that she would snatch +the supposititious weapon out of his hand and strike him with all her +force with the butt of it. + +So that, in the end, her trouble would be worse at the end than it had +been at the beginning. He felt that this was a woman who would dree her +own weird, and that from him, of all men in the world, she would brook +only such interference, either by deed word, as she herself might +choose to demand. + +When they had done studying one another she put her hand up to her +face, as if to brush away cobwebs which might have been spun before her +eyes, and she asked,-- + +"Shall we talk here?" + +His tone was as stiff and formal as hers had been. + +"As you please. It depends upon the length to which our conversation is +likely to extend. As I think it possible that what you have to say may +not be capable of compression within the limits of a dozen words, I +would, suggest that you should draw your car a little to one side here, +where it would not be possible for the most imaginative policeman to +regard it as an obstruction to the traffic which seldom or never comes +this way; and that you should then descend from it, and say what you +have to say under the shade of these trees, and in the neighbourhood of +this stile." + +She acted on his suggestion, and took off the long dust cloak which she +was wearing, and tossed it on the seat of her car. Going to the stile +she leaned one hand on the cross bar. He held out his pipe towards her. + +"May I smoke?" + +"Certainly, why not? I think it possible that you may require its +soothing influence before we have gone very far." + +There was something in her voice which seemed as if it had been meant +to sting him; it only made him smile. + +"I also think that possible." + +She watched him as, having refilled and relighted his pipe, he puffed +at it, as if he found in the flavour of the tobacco that consolation at +which she had hinted. Perceiving that he continued to smoke in silence +she spoke again, as if she resented being constrained to speak. + +"I presume that you have some idea of what it is I wish to say to you?" + +He shook his head. + +"I haven't." + +"Really?" + +"Absolutely. If you will forgive my saying so, and I fear that you are +in an unforgiving mood, I have ceased attempting to forecast what, +under any stated set of circumstances, you may either say or do. You +are to me what mathematicians call an unknown quantity; you may stand +for something or for nothing. One never knows." + +"I have not the honour to understand you, Mr Morice." + +"Don't imagine that I am even hinting at a contradiction; but I hope, +for both our sakes, that you understand me better than I do you." + +"I think that's very possible." + +"I think so also; alas! that it should be so." + +"You may well say, alas!" + +"You are right; I may." + +She was silent, her lips twitching, as if with impatience or scorn. + +"My acquaintance with the world is but a slight one, Mr Morice; and, +unfortunately, in one respect it has been of an almost uniform kind. I +have learned to associate with the idea of a man something not +agreeable. I hoped, at one time, that you would prove to be a +variation; but you haven't. That is why, in admitting that I did +understand you a little, I think that you were justified in saying, +alas!" + +"That, however, is not why I said it, as I should have imagined you +would have surmised; although I admire the ingenuity with which you +present your point of view. But, may I ask if you have ordered me to +present myself at Wyche Cross with the intention of favouring me with +neatly turned remarks on the subject of men in general and of myself in +particular?" + +"You know I haven't." + +"I am waiting to know it." + +"I had not thought that anyone fashioned in God's image could play so +consummately the hypocrite." + +"Of all the astounding observations! Is it possible that you can have +overlooked your own record?" + +As he spoke the blood dyed her face; she swerved so suddenly that one +felt that if it had not been for the support of the stile she might +have fallen. On the instant he was penitent. + +"I beg your pardon; but you use me in such a fashion; you say such +things, that you force me to use my tongue." + +"Thank you, you need not apologise. The taunt was deserved. I have +played the hypocrite; I know it--none know it better. But let me assure +you that, latterly, I have continued to play the hypocrite for your +sake." + +"For my sake?" + +"For your sake and for yours only, and you know it." + +"I know it? This transcends everything! The courage of such a +suggestion, even coming from you, startles me almost into +speechlessness. May I ask you to explain?" + +"I will explain, if an explanation is necessary, which we both know it +is not!" + +He waved his pipe with an odd little gesture in the air. + +"Good heavens!" he exclaimed. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + + THE BUTTONS OFF THE FOILS + + +Outwardly she was the calmer of the two. She stood upright and +motionless; he was restless and fidgety, as if uneasy both in mind and +body. She kept her eyes fixed steadily upon his face; he showed a +disposition to elude her searching glance. When she spoke her tone was +cool and even. + +"You have accused me of playing the hypocrite. It is true, I have. I +have allowed the world to regard me as a spinster, when I was a married +woman; as free when I was bound. I have told you that I should have +ceased before this to play the hypocrite, if it had not been for you. +You have--pretended--to doubt it. Well, you are that kind of man. And +it is because you are that kind of man that I am constrained to ask if +you wish me now to cease to play the hypocrite and save Jim Baker's +life?" + +"Is not that a question for your consideration rather than for mine?" + +"You propose to place the responsibility upon my shoulders!" + +"Would you rather it were on mine?" + +"That is where it properly belongs." + +"In dealing with you I am at a serious disadvantage, since you are a +woman and I am a man. The accident of our being of different sexes +prevents my expressing myself with adequate precision." + +"You appear to be anxious to take refuge even when there is nothing +behind which you can hide. The difference in our sexes has never +prevented you from saying to me exactly what you pleased, how you +pleased--you know it. Nor do I intend to allow your manhood to shelter +you. Mr Morice, the time for fencing's past. When life and death are +hanging in the balance, words are weightless. I ask you again, do you +intend to save Jim Baker's life?" + +"I have yet to learn that it is in imminent peril." + +"Then acquire that knowledge now from me. I am informed that if someone +is not discovered, on whom the onus of guilt can be indubitably fixed, +the probabilities are that Jim Baker will be hanged for murder." + +"And you suggest that I should discover that--unhappy person?" + +"I ask you if you do not think the discovery ought to be made, to save +that wretched creature?" + +"What I am anxious to get at, before I commit myself to an answer is +this--presuming that I think the discovery should be made, do you +suggest that it should be made by you or by me?" + +"Mr Morice, I will make my meaning plainer, if the thing be possible. +When--that night--in the wood it happened, I thought that it was done +for me. I still think that might have been the motive; partly, I +confess, because I cannot conceive of any other, though the +misapprehension was as complete as it was curious. I did not require +that kind of service--God forbid! And, therefore, thinking this--that I +was, though remotely, the actual cause--it appears to me that I was, +and am, unable to speak, lest it would seem that I was betraying one +whose intention was to render me a service." + +"For all I understand of what you're saying you might be talking in an +unknown tongue. You speak of the futility of fencing, when you do +nothing else but fence! To the point, if you please. What service do +you suppose was intended to be rendered you that night in Cooper's +Spinney?" + +There was a perceptible pause before she answered, as if she were +endeavouring to summon all her courage to her aid. + +"Mr Morice, when you killed my husband, did you not do it for me?" + +His countenance, as she put this question, would have afforded an +excellent subject for a study in expression. His jaw dropped open, his +pipe falling unnoticed to the ground; his eyes seemed to increase in +magnitude; the muscles of his face became suddenly rigid--indeed the +rigidity of his whole bearing suggested a paralytic seizure. For some +seconds he seemed to have even ceased to breathe. Then he gave a long +gasping breath, and with in his attitude still some of that unnatural +rigidity, he gave her question for question. + +"Why do you ask me such a monstrous thing? You! you!" + +Something in his manner and appearance seemed to disturb her more than +anything which had gone before. She drew farther away from him, and +closer to the stile. + +"You forced me to ask you." + +"I forced you to ask me--that!" + +"Why do you look at me so? Do you wish to frighten me?" + +"Do you think I didn't see? Have you forgotten?" + +"See? Forgotten? What do you mean?" + +"Oh, woman! that you should be so young and yet so old; so ignorant and +yet so full of knowledge; that you should seem a shrine of all the +virtues, and be a thing all evil!" + +"Mr Morice, why do you look at me like that! you make me afraid!" + +"Would I could make you afraid--of being the thing you are!" + +"It's not fair of you to speak to me like that I--it's not fair! I'm +not so wicked! When I married--" + +"When you married! No more of that old wife's tale. Stick to the point, +please--to the point! You whited sepulchre! is it possible that, having +shown one face to the world, you now propose to show another one to me, +and that you think I'll let you? At anyrate, I'll have you know that I +do know you for what you are! Till now I have believed that that dead +man, your husband, Mrs Champion, was as you painted him--an unspeakable +hound; but now, for the first time, I doubt, since you dared to ask me +that monstrous thing, knowing that I saw you kill him!" + +She looked at him as if she were searching his face for something she +could not find on it. + +"Is it possible that you wish me to understand that you are speaking +seriously?" + +"What an actress you are to your finger-tips! Do you think I don't know +you understand?" + +"Then you know more than I do, for I myself am not so sure. My wish is +to understand, and--I am beginning to be afraid I do." + +He waved his hand with an impatient gesture. + +"Come, no more of that! Let me beg you to believe that I am not quite +the fool that you suppose. You asked me just now if I intend to save +Jim Baker's life? Well, that's where I'm puzzled. At present it's not +clear to me that it's in any serious danger. I think that the very +frankness of his story may prove to be his salvation; I doubt if +they'll be able to establish anything beyond it. But should the +contrary happen, and he finds himself confronted by the gallows, then +the problem will have to be fairly faced. I shall have to decide what I +am prepared to do. Of course my action would be to some extent guided +by yours, that is why I'm so anxious to learn what, under those +circumstances, you would do." + +"Shall I tell you?" + +"If you would be so very kind." + +"I should send for Granger and save Jim Baker's life." + +"By giving yourself up?" + +She stood straighter. + +"No, Mr Morice, by giving you up." + +"But again I don't understand." + +"You have had ample warning and ample opportunity. You might have +hidden yourself on the other side of the world if you chose. If you did +not choose the fault was yours." + +"But why should I hide?" + +"If you forced me, I should tell Granger that it was you who killed +Robert Champion, and that I had proofs of it, and so Jim Baker would be +saved." + +Again he threw out his arms with the gesture which suggested not only +impatience, but also lack of comprehension. + +"Then am I to take it that you propose to add another item to your list +of crimes?" + +"It is not a crime to save the innocent by punishing the guilty." + +"The guilty, yes; but in that case where would you be?" + +"I, however unwillingly, should be witness against you." + +"You would, would you? A pleasant vista your words open to one's view." + +"You could relieve me of the obligation--easily." + +"I don't see how--but that is by the way. Do you know it begins to +occur to me that the singularity of your attitude may be induced by +what is certainly the remote possibility that you are ignorant of how +exactly the matter stands. Is it possible that you are not aware that I +saw you--actually saw you--kill that man." + +"What story are you attempting to use as a cover? Are you a liar as +well as that thing?" + +"Don't fence! Are you denying that I saw you kill him, and that when +you ran away I tried to catch you?" + +"Of course I deny it! That you should dare to ask me such a question!" + +"This is a wonderful woman!" + +"You appear to be something much worse than a wonderful man--something +altogether beyond any conception I had formed of you. Your +suppositional contingency may be applied to you; it is just possible +that you don't know how the matter stands, and that that explains your +attitude. It is true that I did not see you kill that man." + +"That certainly is true." + +"But I heard you kill him." + +"You heard me?" + +"I heard you--I was only a little way off. First I heard the +shot--Baker's shot. Then I heard him go. Then I heard you come." + +"You heard me come?" + +"I heard you strike him; I heard him fall. Then I saw you running from +the thing that you had done." + +"You saw me running?" + +"I saw you running. The moon was out; I saw you clearly running among +the bushes and the trees. I did not know who it was had come until I +saw you, then I knew. After you had gone I was afraid to go or stay. +Then I went to see what you had done. I saw your knife lying on the +ground. I picked it up and took it home with me." + +"I can easily believe you took it home with you." + +"I have it now--to be produced, if need be in evidence." + +"Of what?" + +"Of your guilt! of what else?" + +"She asks me such a question! Now let me tell you my story. If it lacks +something of the air of verisimilitude which gives yours such a finish, +let me remind you that there are those who lie like truth. After we had +parted I discovered that I had left my knife behind--the one with which +I had cut our initials on the tree. It was a knife I prized--never mind +why. When I had allowed sufficient time to enable you to have reached +home I returned to look for it. To my surprise, as I approached our +trysting-place I heard voices--yours and a man's. You were neither of +you speaking in a whisper. At night in the open air sound travels far. +When I came a little nearer I saw you and a man. So I withdrew till I +was out of sight again, and could only hear the faint sound of distant +voices. Presently a gun was fired. I rushed forward to see by whom, and +at what. When I came near enough there was a man staggering about +underneath the tree. I saw you come out from among the bushes and look +at him. You picked up a knife from the ground--my knife. I saw you +drive it into his chest. As he fell--for ever--you ran off into the +forest and I ran after you." + +"You ran after me! after me?" + +"After you; but you ran so quickly, or you knew your way so well, or I +blundered, or something, because, after you had once disappeared in the +wood, I never caught sight of you." + +"And have you invented this story--which you tell extremely well--to +save your neck at the expense of mine?" + +"What an odd inquiry! Referring to your own tale, may I ask what motive +you would ascribe to me, if you were asked what you suppose induced me, +a peaceful, law-abiding citizen, to kill at sight--under circumstances +of peculiar cowardice--an inoffensive stranger?" + +"I imagined that you knew he was my husband, and that you killed him to +relieve me. You see I credited you with something like chivalry." + +"Did you indeed. And you would prostitute the English language by +calling conduct of that sort chivalry! However, it is plainly no use +our pushing the discussion further. We appear to understand each other +now if we never did before. Each proposes to save Jim Baker's life--at +a pinch--by sacrificing the other. Good! I must hold myself prepared. I +had dreamt of discovering means of saving you from the consequences of +your crime, but I had scarcely intended to go the lengths which you +suggest--to offer myself instead of you. But then I did not credit you +with the qualifications which you evidently possess. In the future I +shall have to realise that, even if I save your life, I cannot save +your soul, because, plainly, you intend to perjure that lightheartedly, +and to stain it with the blood of two men instead of only one. Let me +give you one warning. I see the strength of the case which your +ingenious--and tortuous--brain may fabricate against me. Still, I think +that it may fail; and that you may yourself fall into the pit which you +have digged for me, for this reason. They know me, hereabouts and +elsewhere; my record's open to all the world. They don't know you, as +yet; when they do they'll open their eyes and yours. Already some +unpleasant tales are travelling round the country. I myself have been +forced to listen to one or two, and keep still. When my story is told, +and yours, I am afraid that your story will prove to be your own +destruction; it will hang you, unless there comes a reprieve in time. I +saw you kill your husband. You know I saw you; you know that I can +prove I saw you. Therefore, take the advice I have already tendered, go +back to Lake Como and further. Lest, peradventure, by staying you lose +your life to save Jim Baker's. Henceforward, Mrs Champion, the buttons +are off our foils; we fight with serious weapons--I against you and you +against me. At least we have arrived at that understanding; to have a +clear understanding of any sort is always something, and so, good-day." + + + + + CHAPTER XX + + THE SOLICITOR'S CLERK + + +Hugh Morice was the first to leave the four crossroads; Miss Arnott +stood some time after he had gone, thinking. Life had had for her some +queer phases--none queerer than that which confronted her, as she stood +thinking by the stile. + +That Hugh Morice should have done the thing she knew he had done, was +bad enough. That he should have denied it to her face in such explicit +terms and coupled with his denial such a monstrous accusation, was +inconceivable. He had not gone very far before she told herself that, +after all, she had misunderstood him, she must have done. For some +minutes she was half disposed to jump into her car, follow him and +insist on a clearer explanation. He could not have meant what he had +appeared to do, not seriously and in earnest. + +But she refrained from putting her idea into execution as she recalled +the almost savage fashion in which he had hurled opprobrium at her. He +had meant it; he must have meant it, or he would not have spoken to her +in such a strain. At the thought she shivered. + +Because, if this were the case, if she really had to regard his words +as seriously intended, then she would have to rearrange her whole +outlook on to life, particularly that portion of it which was pressing +so hardly on her now. In her blackest moments she had not credited Hugh +Morice with being a scoundrel. He had been guilty of a crime, but she +could have forgiven him for that. By what he had done he had separated +himself from her for ever and for ever. Still, she could have looked at +him across the dividing chasm with something tenderer than pity. + +This new attitude he had taken up altered the position altogether. If +it meant anything it meant that he had killed Robert Champion for some +recondite reason of his own--one with which she had no sort of +connection. Obviously, if he had done it for her sake, he would not be +so strenuous in denial; still less would he charge her with his crime. + +Thus the whole business assumed a different complexion. The inference +seemed to be that Hugh Morice and Robert Champion had not been +strangers to each other. There had been that between them which induced +the one to make away with the other when opportunity offered. The whole +thing had been the action of a coward. In imagination the girl could +see it all. Hugh Morice coming suddenly on the man he least +expected--or desired--to meet; the great rush of his astonishment; the +instant consciousness that his enemy was helpless; the sight of the +knife; the irresistible, wild temptation; the yielding to it; the +immediate after-pangs of conscience-stricken terror; the frantic flight +through the moon-lit forest from the place of the shedding of blood. + +And this was the man whom, almost without herself being aware of it, +she had been making a hero of. This sordid wretch, who, not content +with having slain a helpless man for some, probably wholly unworthy, +purpose of his own, in his hideous anxiety to save his own miserable +skin was willing, nay, eager, to sacrifice her. Possibly his desire to +do so was all the greater because he was haunted by the voice of +conscience crying out to him that this girl would not only be a +continual danger, but that he would never be able to come into her +presence without being racked by the knowledge that she knew him--no +matter how gallantly he bore himself--to be the thing he really was. + +So it was plain to her that here was a new danger sprung up all at once +out of the ground, threatening more serious ills than any she had +known. If Jim Baker was found guilty of this man's crime, and she moved +a finger to save him from his unmerited fate, then it might be that she +would find herself in imminent peril of the gallows. For it needed but +momentary consideration to enable her to perceive that what he had +suggested was true enough, that if they began to accuse each other it +would be easier, if he were set on playing the perjurer, to prove her +guilt than his. And so quite possibly it might come about that, in +order to save Jim Baker, it would be necessary she should hang. And +life was yet young in her veins, and, though she had in it such sorry +usage, still the world was very fair, and, consciously, in all her life +she had never done an evil thing. + +And then it was not strange that, there in the sunshine by the +roadside, at the bare thought that it was even remotely possible that +such a fate might be in store for her, she sat down on the stile, +clinging to the rail, trembling from head to foot. + +She would have sat there longer had she not been roused by a familiar, +unescapable sound--the panting of a motor. Along the road was +approaching a motor bicyclist. At sight of her, and of the waiting car, +he stopped, raising his cap. + +"I beg your pardon, but is there anything wrong with the car?" + +She stood up, still feeling that, at anyrate, there was something wrong +with the world, or with her. + +"No, thank you, the car's all right; I was only resting." + +"I beg your pardon once more, but aren't you Miss Arnott of Exham +Park?" + +She looked at the speaker, which hitherto she had avoided doing. He was +a young man of four or five and twenty, with a not unpleasing +countenance; so far as she knew, a stranger to her. + +"I am, but I don't know you." + +"That is very possible--I am a person of no importance. My name is +Adams--Charles Adams. I am clerk to Mr Parsloe, solicitor, of +Winchester. We had a communication from a man who is in Winchester +Gaol, waiting his trial for murder, a man named Baker. Possibly you +have heard of him." + +"Oh yes, I have heard of Jim Baker; he is a gamekeeper on my own +estate." + +"So he gave me to understand. Mr Parsloe sent me to see him. I did see +him, in private. He gave me a note, which he was extremely anxious that +I should give into your own hands. I was just coming on to Exham Park +on the off-chance of finding you in. Perhaps you won't mind my giving +it to you now?" + +"By all means. Why not?" + +He had taken out of a leather case a piece of folded paper. + +"You see it is rather a rough-and-ready affair, but I should like to +give you my assurance that I have no idea what it contains." + +"I don't suppose it would matter much if you did. Jim Baker is hardly +likely to have a communication of a private nature to make to me." + +"As to that I know nothing. I can only say that Baker was not satisfied +till I had sworn that I would not attempt to even so much as peep at +the contents of his note, or let it go out of my hands until it reached +yours." + +"Really?" + +"Really! I never saw a man more desperately in earnest on a point of +the kind." + +"Jim Baker is a character." + +"He certainly is. You will see that the note is written on a piece of +rough paper. Where he got it from I don't know, and was careful not to +ask; but it looks suspiciously like a fly-leaf which had been torn out +of a book. You are possibly aware that in prison, in the ordinary way, +they are allowed neither paper, pen nor ink. I fancy you'll find that +this is written with a pencil. When I first saw it it had been simply +folded, and one end slipped into the other. I happened to have some +sealing-wax in my pocket. Baker insisted on my sealing it, in his +presence, in three places, as you perceive, so that it was impossible +to get at the contents without breaking the seals. I say all this +because Baker himself was emphatically of opinion that this note +contained matter of an extremely confidential nature, to which I should +like you clearly to understand that I have had no sort of access. I may +add another fact, of which you are also possibly aware, and that is +that the whole transaction was irregular. He had no right to give me +the note, and I had no right to convey it out of the prison; but he did +the one, and I did the other, and here it is." + +Mr Adams handed the lady the scrap of paper, she asking him a question +as he did so,-- + +"To whom did you say that you were clerk?" + +"To Mr Parsloe, a well-known and highly-esteemed Winchester solicitor." + +"Why did Baker, as you put it, communicate with Mr Parsloe?" + +"He wanted us to undertake his defence." + +"And are you going to do so?" + +Mr Adams smiled. + +"As matters are, I am afraid not. Baker appears to be penniless, he is +not even able to keep himself while awaiting trial, but is on the +ordinary prison fare. It is necessary that a client should not only +have his solicitor's sympathy, but also the wherewithal with which to +pay his fees." + +"Then it is only a question of money. I see. At what address shall I +find Mr Parsloe if I wish to do so?" + +The gentleman gave the lady a card. + +"That is Mr Parsloe's address. You will find my name in the corner as +representing him. I may mention that I also am an admitted solicitor." + +"It is possible that you will hear from me. In the meantime, thank you +very much for taking so much trouble in bringing me this note. Any +expenses which may have been incurred I shall be happy to defray." + +"At present no expenses have been incurred. I need hardly say that any +instructions with which you may honour us will receive our instant and +most careful attention." + +Again Mr Adams's cap came off. He turned his bicycle round, and +presently was speeding back the way he had come. Miss Arnott stood +looking after him, the "note" in her hand. + +Jim Baker's "note," as the solicitor's clerk had more than hinted, was +distinctly unusual as to form. It was represented by an oblong scrap of +paper, perhaps two inches long by an inch broad. Nothing was written on +the outside; on the exterior there was nothing whatever to show for +what destination it was designed. As Mr Adams had said, where one end +had been slipped into the other three seals had been affixed. On each +seal was a distinct impression of what probably purported to be Mr +Adams's own crest; with, under the circumstances, a sufficiently +apposite motto--for once in a way in plain English--"Fear Nothing." + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + + THE "NOTE" + + +Miss Arnott displayed somewhat singular unwillingness to break the +seals. She watched Mr Adams retreating on his bicycle; not only till +the machine itself was out of sight, but the cloud of dust which marked +its progress had vanished also. Then she turned the scrap of paper over +and over in her fingers, possessed by an instinctive reluctance to +learn what it contained. It seemed ridiculous to suppose that Jim Baker +could have anything to cause her disturbance, yet she had an eerie +feeling that there was something disagreeable inside his "note," +something which she would much rather not come into contact with. Had +she followed her own inclination she would have shredded it into +pieces, and scattered the pieces over the roadway. In some +indescribable fashion she was actually afraid of the scrap of paper +which she held between her fingers. + +It was the sudden realisation that this was so which stung her into +action. Afraid of anything Jim Baker might have to say? She? Nonsense! +The idea! Could anything be more absurd! + +There and then she broke the seals, unfolded the sheet of paper. But +when she had got so far again she hesitated. The thing was fresh from a +prison; had about it, she fancied, a prison atmosphere, a whiff of +something sordid which it had borne with it out of gaol. It was that, +she told herself, which she did not relish. Why should she read the +scrawl? What interest could it have for her? Better instruct Mr +Parsloe, or that eminent practitioner in the conduct of criminal cases +with whose name Mr Stacey had furnished her, to undertake Baker's +defence, and spare no expense in doing so, and so have done with it. +Let her keep her own fingers out of the mire; leave the whole thing to +the lawyers; that would be better for everyone concerned. So it would +not be necessary for her to spell her way through the man's ill-written +scribble. + +And then she read Jim Baker's "note." + +As Mr Adams had surmised it was written in pencil; apparently with a +blunt stump of pencil used by unaccustomed fingers, probably under +circumstances in which a skilful writer would have been uneasy. Here +and there it seemed that the pencil had refused to write; possibly only +by dint of pressure had it been induced to write at all. The letters +were blurred and indistinct, ill-formed, irregular, disjoined--in +general, mere hieroglyphics. And yet, despite the crabbed writing, the +eccentric spelling, the clumsy wording, Jim Baker's "note" made a +stronger impression on Miss Arnott than the most eloquent epistle with +which she had ever been favoured. + + +"Miss Arnott I see you done it but I wouldnt say nuthink about it if it +wasnt that from what I ear they are going to hang me for what I se you +doing and I wont say nuthin about it now if you se I have a loryer and +all regular so as to get me out of this were it aint rite I should be +sein I saw you they may cutt my tung out before Ill speak unless they +make out I dun it so if you dont se I have a loryer and all regular Ill +have to speke Jim Baker." + + +That was Mr Baker's note; unpunctuated, formless, badly put together, +ill-spelt, but alive and eloquent in spite of its obvious deficiencies. +It was plain why he was so anxious that Mr Adams should not peep at the +contents, why he had insisted on the three seals, why he had stipulated +on its being given into Miss Arnott's own hands. From his point of view +the "note" was a messenger of life and death, with hanging matter in +every line. + +The lady read it once and again and then again. As she crumpled it up +in her hand it seemed to her that the country round about had assumed a +different appearance, the cloudless sky had become dimmed, a grey tint +had settled upon everything; for her the sunlight had gone out of the +world. + +Here was Jim Baker calling to her out of his prison cell that he was +where she ought to be, because he had seen her do it, warning her, if +she did not provide him with a lawyer "and all regular" to get him "out +of this," that he would have to speak. What hallucination was this +which all at once possessed men's minds? Could it be possible that the +hallucination was actually hers? Could what, first Hugh Morice, now Jim +Baker, said be true, and that they had seen her do it? What condition +could she have been in at the time? Was it conceivable that a person +could do such a deed unwittingly? During what part of her sojourn in +the wood had she been in her sober senses? When had she ceased to be +responsible for her own actions? and how? and why? Which of those awful +happenings had been plain material fact and which nightmare imaginings? + +She re-read Jim Baker's opening words,--"Miss Arnott I see you done +it." The accusation was bold enough, plain enough, conclusive enough. +It staggered her; forced her to wonder if she was, unknowingly, this +dreadful thing. + +But, by degrees, her common sense regained the upper-hand, and she +began to put two and two together in an attempt to solve the mystery of +Jim Baker's words. The man was drunk; so much was admitted. He had +probably seen her, hazily enough, bearing away the blood-stained knife; +and had, therefore, jumped to an erroneous conclusion. Then she +remembered that he had sworn that, after firing the shot, he had gone +straight home; then, how came he to see her? More, he had sworn that on +his homeward way he had seen nothing; so, somewhere, there was a lie. +At the very worst, Jim Baker was labouring under a misapprehension; the +statement in his note was capable of no other explanation. + +Still, it was awkward that he should be under such a misapprehension, +in view of the attitude which Hugh Morice had just been taking up. The +problem of saving Jim Baker's life became involved. If freeing him +meant that Mr Morice would prefer against her such a charge, and that +Baker himself would support it; then it behoved her to be careful how +she went. In any case it was not agreeable to think that that ancient +but muddle-headed family retainer believed--with some considerable +foundation in truth--that she was willing--to say no more--that he +should suffer for her offences. + +Her thoughts were not pleasant companions on her homeward journey. Nor +was her peace of mind heightened by a brief interview which she had +with Mrs Plummer almost immediately on her return. The lady, waylaying +her on the landing, followed her into her sitting-room. She was +evidently in a state of considerable agitation. + +"My dear, there is something which I must say to you at once--at once!" + +Miss Arnott looked at her with that mixture of amusement and resentment +with which she had been conscious that, of late, Mrs Plummer's near +neighbourhood was wont to fill her. + +"Then by all means speak, especially if refraining from doing so would +occasion you inconvenience." + +"Mrs Forrester called; you are never in when people come." + +"I am not sorry that I was out when Mrs Forrester came; she bores me." + +"You ought to fix a regular day, so that people might know when to find +you." + +"You have made that remark before. Is that all you have to say?" + +"No, it is not; and let me tell you that this flippant way you have of +treating everything I say may have the most serious and unlooked-for +consequences." + +Miss Arnott laughed, which caused Mrs Plummer to resort to a trick she +had--when at all put out--of rubbing the palms of her hands briskly +together. + +"Oh, you may laugh; but I can assure you that if things go on like this +much longer I don't know what will be the end of it." + +"The end of what?" + +"Do you know what Mrs Forrester has been saying? She tells me that +there is a story going about the place that that evening you were out +in the woods till all hours of the night; and she wanted to know if she +should contradict it." + +"That's as she pleases." + +"But don't you see how serious it is? Won't you understand? I +understand; if you don't. Violet, I insist upon your telling me what +time it was when you came in that night; where you went, and what you +did. I insist! I insist!" + +At each repetition Mrs Plummer brought her hands together with quite a +smart clap. Miss Arnott looked down at the excited little woman as if +she was still divided between two moods. + +"You insist? Mrs Plummer, aren't you--rather forgetting yourself?" + +"Of course I am prepared for you to adopt that tone. You always adopt +it when I ask you a question, and I am ready to leave the house this +moment if you wish it; but I can only assure you that if you won't give +me an answer you may have to give one to somebody else before very +long." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I mean exactly what I say. Won't you see?" + +"I can see that you are in a state of excitement which is not warranted +by anything I understand." + +It was odd what a disinclination the elder lady showed to meet the +young one's eyes. She moved hither and thither, as if possessed by a +spirit of restlessness; but, though Miss Arnott kept her gaze fixed on +her unfalteringly wherever she went, she herself never glanced in the +girl's direction. + +"Excited! I can't help being excited! How you can keep so cool is what +I don't know! Everyone is pointing a finger and saying that you were +out in the woods at the very time that--that wretched man was--was +being murdered"--Mrs Plummer cast furtive looks about her as if the +deed was being enacted that very moment before her eyes--"and asking +where you were and what you were doing all alone in the woods at that +hour, and how it was that you knew nothing at all of what was taking +place, possibly quite close by you; and you let them ask, and say and +do nothing to stop their tongues; and if they are not stopped heaven +only knows where they'll lead them. My dear, won't you tell me where +you went? and what it was that you were doing?" + +"No, Mrs Plummer, I won't--so now your question is answered. And as I +have some letters to write may I ask you to leave me?" + +Mrs Plummer did glance at Miss Arnott for one moment; but for only one. +Then, as if she did not dare to trust herself to speak again, she +hurried from the room. Left alone, the young lady indulged in some +possibly ironical comments on her companion's deportment. + +"Really, to judge from Mrs Plummer's behaviour, one would imagine that +this business worried her more than it does me. If she doesn't exercise +a little more self-control I shouldn't be surprised if it ends in +making her actually ill." + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + + MR ERNEST GILBERT + + +Miss Arnott wrote to Mr Ernest Gilbert--the famous lawyer whose name Mr +Stacey had given her--asking him to make all necessary arrangements for +Jim Baker's defence. She expressed her own personal conviction in the +man's innocence, desiring him to leave no stone unturned to make it +plain, and to spare no expense in doing so. In proof of her willingness +to pay any costs which might be incurred she enclosed a cheque for +£500, and assured him that she would at once forward any further sum +which might be required. Mr Gilbert furnished himself with a copy of +the depositions given before the committing justices, and also before +the coroner; and, having mastered them, went down to see his client in +Winchester Gaol. + +He found Mr Baker in very poor plight. The gamekeeper, who probably had +gipsy blood in his veins, had been accustomed from childhood to an open +air life. Often in fine weather he did not resort to the shelter of a +roof for either sleeping or eating. Crabbed and taciturn by +constitution he loved the solitude and freedom of the woods. On a +summer's night the turf at the foot of a tree was couch enough for him, +the sky sufficient roof. Had he been able to give adequate expression +to his point of view, his definition of the torments of hell would have +been confinement within four walls. In gaol--cribbed, cabined and +confined--he seemed to slough his manhood like a skin. His nature +changed. When Mr Gilbert went to see him, the dogged heart of the man +had lost half its doggedness. He pined for freedom--for God's air, and +the breath of the woods--with such desperate longing that, if he could, +he would have made an end of every soul in Winchester Gaol to get at +it. + +Mr Gilbert summed him up--or thought he did--at sight. He made it a +rule in these sort of cases to leap at an instant conclusion, even +though afterwards it might turn out to be erroneous. Experience had +taught him that, in first interviews with clients of a certain kind, +quickness of speech--and of decision--was a trick which often paid. So +that the door had hardly been closed which left the pair together +than--metaphorically--he sprang at Mr Baker like a bull terrier at a rat. + +"Now, my man, do you want to hang?" + +"Hang? me? No, I don't. Who does?" + +"Then you'll tell me who stuck a knife into that fellow in Cooper's +Spinney." + +"Me tell you? What do you mean?" + +"You know what I mean, and you know who handled that knife; and it's +only by telling me that you'll save your neck from the gallows." + +Baker stared with tightened lips and frowning brows. This spruce little +gentleman was beyond him altogether. + +"Here! you go too fast for me. I don't know who you are, not from Adam. +Who might you be?" + +"My name's Gilbert--I'm a lawyer--and I'm going to save you from the +gallows, if I can." + +"A lawyer?" Baker put up a gnarled hand to rasp his stubbly chin. He +looked at the other with eyes which trouble had dimmed. "Has she sent +you?" + +"She? Who?" + +"You know who I mean." + +"I shall know if you tell me. How can I know if you don't tell me?" + +"Has Miss Arnott sent you?" + +"Miss Arnott? Why should Miss Arnott send me?" + +"She knows if you don't." + +"Do you think Miss Arnott cares if you were strung up to the top of the +tallest tree to-morrow?" + +"She mightn't care if I was strung up, but I ain't going to be strung +up; and that she does know." + +The lawyer looked keenly at the countryman. All at once he changed his +tone, he became urbanity itself. + +"Now, Baker, let's understand each other, you and I. I flatter myself +that I've saved more than one poor chap from a hempen collar, and I'd +like to save you. You never put that knife into that man." + +"Of course I didn't; ain't I kept on saying so?" + +"Then why should you hang?" + +"I ain't going to hang. Don't you make any mistake about it, and don't +let nobody else make any mistake about it neither. I ain't going to +hang." + +"But, my good fellow, in these kind of affairs they generally hang +someone; if they can't find anyone else, it will probably be you. How +are you going to help it?" + +Baker opened and closed his mouth like a trap, once, twice, thrice, and +nothing came out of it. There was a perceptible pause; he was possibly +revolving something in his sluggish brain. Then he asked a question,-- + +"Is that all you've got to say?" + +"Of course it's not. My stock of language isn't quite so limited. Only +I want you to see just where you're standing, and just what the danger +is that's threatening. And I want you to know that I know that you know +who handled that knife; and that probably the only way of saving you +from the gallows is to let me know. You understand that it doesn't +necessarily follow that I'm going to tell everyone; the secret will be +as safe with me as with you. Only this is a case in which, if I'm to do +any good, I must know where we are. Now, Baker, tell me, who was it who +used the knife?" + +Again Baker's jaws opened and shut, as if automatically; then, after +another interval, again he asked a question. + +"You ain't yet told me if it was Miss Arnott as sent you?" + +"And you haven't yet told me why Miss Arnott should send me?" + +"That's my business. Did she? Do you hear me ask you--did she?" + +Baker brought his fist down with a bang on to the wooden table by which +he was standing. Mr Gilbert eyed him in his eager, terrier-like +fashion, as if he were seeking for a weak point on which to make an +attack. Then, suddenly, again his manner altered. Ignoring Baker's +question as completely as if it had never been asked, he diverted the +man's attention from the expected answer by all at once plunging into +entirely different matters. Before he knew what was happening Baker +found himself subjected to a stringent examination of a kind for which +he was wholly unprepared. The solicitor slipped from point to point in +a fashion which so confused his client's stupid senses that, by the +time the interview was over, Jim Baker had but the vaguest notion of +what he had said or left unsaid. + +Mr Gilbert went straight from the gaol to a post-office from which he +dispatched this reply-paid telegram:-- + + +"To HUGH MORICE, Oak Dene. + +"When I was once able to do you a service you said that, if ever the +chance offered, you would do me one in return. You can do me such a +service by giving me some dinner and a bed for to-night. + + "ERNEST GILBERT. + +"GEORGE HOTEL, WINCHESTER." + + +He lunched at the George Hotel. While he was smoking an after-luncheon +cigar an answer came. Hugh Morice wired to say that if he arrived by a +certain train he would meet him at the station. Mr Gilbert travelled by +that train, and was met. It was only after a _tête-à-tête_ dinner that +anything was said as to the reason why the lawyer had invited himself +to be the other's guest. + +"I suppose you're wondering why I've forced myself upon your +hospitality?" + +"I hope that nothing in my manner has caused you to think anything of +the kind. I assure you that I'm very glad to see you." + +"It's very nice of you to say so. Still, considering how I've thrown +myself at you out of the clouds you can hardly help but wonder." + +"Well, I have taken it a little for granted that you have some reason +for wishing to pay me a visit at this particular moment." + +"Exactly. I have. It's because I find myself in rather a singular +situation." + +"As how?" + +The lawyer considered. He looked at his host across the little table, +on which were their cups of coffee, with his bright eyes and the +intensely inquisitive stare, which seemed to suggest that curiosity was +his devouring passion. His host looked back at him lazily, +indifferently, as if he were interested in nothing and in no one. The +two men were in acute contrast. The one so tall and broad; the other so +small and wiry--in the scales possibly not half Hugh Morice's size. The +solicitor glanced round the room, inquiringly. + +"I suppose we're private here?" + +They were in the billiard-room. The doors were shut, windows closed, +blinds drawn--the question seemed superfluous. + +"Perfectly. No one would hear you if you shouted." + +"It's just as well to be sure; because what I have to say to you is of +a particularly private nature." + +"At your leisure." + +"You and I have had dealings before--you will probably remember that, +under certain circumstances, I'm not a stickler for professional +etiquette." + +"I remember it very well indeed." + +"That's fortunate. Because, on the present occasion, I'm going to outrage +every standard of propriety which is supposed--professionally--to hedge me +round. Now listen to me attentively; because I don't wish to use plainer +speech than I can help; I don't want to dot my 'i's,' and I want you, at +a hint from me, to read between the lines. This is a ticklish matter I'm +going to talk about." + +"I'm all attention." + +"That's good; then here's what I've come to say." + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + + THE TWO MEN + + +Yet Mr Gilbert hesitated. He took his cigar from between his lips, +carefully removed the ash, sipped at his coffee, and all the time kept +his glance on Hugh Morice, as if he were desirous of gleaning from his +face indications as to the exact line which his remarks should take. +When he did speak he still continued to stare at his host. + +"I have been retained to defend James Baker." + +"James Baker?" + +"The man who is to stand his trial for the murder in Cooper's Spinney." + +"Oh, Jim Baker. Hereabouts he is known as Jim. When you spoke of him as +James, for the moment I didn't know who you meant." + +"This morning I saw him in Winchester Gaol." + +"That is what you were doing in Winchester? Now I understand. How is +he?" + +"In a bad way. They may as well hang him as keep him jailed. He's not +at home in there." + +"So I should imagine. Jim Baker!" + +Hugh Morice smiled sardonically, as if the idea of Jim Baker being in +gaol was grimly humorous. + +"That interview has resulted in placing me in a very curious quandary." + +"I should imagine that interviews with your clients did occasionally +have results of that kind." + +"That's so; but I don't recall one which had just this result, and--I +don't like it. That's why I've come to you." + +"I don't see the sequitur. What have I to do with your +quandaries?--that is, mind you, with your professional quandaries; +because, outside your profession, as you're perfectly well aware, I'm +willing enough to help you in any kind of a hole." + +"This is both professional and unprofessional--that's the trouble. +Anyhow, I'm going to make you my confidant, and I shall expect you to +give me some sort of a pointer." + +"What might you happen to be driving at? I take it that you don't +credit me with the capacity to read between lines which are +non-existent." + +"I'll tell you in a sentence. James--or, as you call him--Jim Baker has +left the impression on my mind that it was Miss Arnott, of Exham Park, +who killed that man in Cooper's Spinney." + +"The scoundrel!" + +"Generally speaking, perhaps, in this particular instance--I doubt it." + +"Do you mean to say that he formulated the charge in so many words?" + +"He never formulated it at all. On the contrary, he didn't even begin +to make it. I fancy that if you were to go to him now, he'd say that he +never so much as hinted at anything of the sort. But all the same it +was so present in his mind that it got into mine. I have a knack, +occasionally, of studying my clients' minds rather than their words." + +"My good sir, if A is charged with a crime he quite +constantly--sometimes unconsciously--tries to shift the guilt on to B." + +"As if I didn't know it! Talk sense! There are times when I am able to +detect the real from the counterfeit, and this is one. I tell you that +Jim Baker is convinced that Miss Arnott stabbed that man in the wood, +and that, if he chose, he could advance substantial reasons for the +faith that is in him." + +"Good God! You--you shock me!" + +"Are you sure I shock you?" + +"What the devil do you mean by that? Look here, Gilbert, if you've come +here to make yourself disagreeable you'll have to excuse me if I go to +bed." + +"My dear chap, why this sudden explosion! So far from wishing to make +myself disagreeable my desire is all the other way; but you haven't yet +let me explain to you the nature of the quandary I am in." + +"I know Jim Baker better than you do. I've thrashed him within an inch +of his life before to-day, and, by George! if what you say is true, I'd +like to do it again. If you've come to retail any cock and bull stories +emanating from that source I don't want to listen to them--that's +plain." + +"Perfectly plain. I've come to retail cock and bull stories emanating +from no source. If you'll grant me thirty seconds I'll tell you what +the trouble is. The trouble is that I've been retained by Miss Arnott +to defend Jim Baker." + +"The deuce!" + +"Yes, as you observe, it is the deuce. She has behaved--in a pecuniary +sense--very handsomely, and is apparently prepared--in that sense--to +continue to behave very handsomely." + +"Then where's the trouble if you're well paid for the work you're asked +to do?" + +"Supposing, for the sake of argument, that Miss Arnott is guilty, and +that Jim Baker knows it, that, from one point of view, would be a +sufficient reason why she should spend money like water in his defence, +and I should be placed in a very awkward situation." + +"Are you taking it for granted that what that blackguard says--" + +"Baker has said nothing." + +"That what he hints is true? Do you know Miss Arnott?" + +"I don't; do you?" + +"Of course, she's my neighbour." + +"But you're some distance apart." + +"Nothing as we count it in the country." + +"Is she an old woman?" + +"Old! She's a girl!" + +"A girl? Oh! now I perceive that we are getting upon delicate ground." + +"Gilbert, may I ask you to be extremely careful what you allow yourself +to say." + +"I will be--extremely careful. May I take it that you are of opinion +that there is no foundation for what Jim Baker believes?" + +"What on earth have I to do with what Jim Baker believes or with what +he chooses to make you think he believes?" + +"Precisely; I am not connecting you with his belief in any way +whatever. What I am asking is, are you of opinion that he has no ground +for his belief?" + +"How should I know what ground he has or thinks he has? That fellow's +mind--what he has of it--is like a rabbit warren, all twists and +turns." + +The speaker had risen from his chair. Possibly with some intention of +showing that he did not find the theme a pleasant one, he had taken +down a billiard cue. The lawyer watched him as he prepared to make a +shot. + +"Morice, do you know to what conclusion you are driving me?" + +"I don't know, and I don't care. Come and have a game." + +"Thank you, I don't mind. But first, I should like to tell you what +that conclusion is. You are forcing me to think that Jim Baker's belief +is yours." + +Mr Morice did not make his shot. Instead, he stood up straight, +gripping his cue almost as if he meant to use it as a weapon. + +"Gilbert!" + +"It's no use glaring at me like that. I'm impervious to threats. I've +been the object of too many. Let me tell you something else. A faint +suspicion, which I had before I came here, has become almost a +certainty. I believe that Baker saw what that young woman did and I +believe you saw her also." + +"You hound! Damn you! I'd like to throw you out of the house!" + +"Oh no, you wouldn't; that's only a momentary impulse. An instant's +reflection will show you that this is a position in which the one thing +wanted is common sense, and you've got plenty of common sense if you +choose to give it a chance. Don't you see that we shall, all of +us--Miss Arnott, Jim Baker, you and me--find ourselves in a very +uncomfortable situation, if we don't arrive at some common +understanding. If Jim Baker saw that girl committing murder, and if you +saw her--" + +"You have not the faintest right to make such a monstrous insinuation." + +"I have invited contradiction and none has come." + +"I do contradict you--utterly." + +"What, exactly, do you contradict?" + +"Everything you have said." + +"To descend from the general to the particular. Do you say that you did +not see what that girl did?" + +"I decline to be cross-examined. I'm your host, sir, I'm not in the +witness-box." + +"No, but at a word from me you very soon will be. That's the point you +keep on missing." + +"Gilbert, I'll wring your neck!" + +"Not you, if only because you know that it would make bad worse. It's +no good your throwing things at me. I'm as fairly in a cleft stick as +you are. If I throw up Jim Baker's case, Miss Arnott, who has sent me a +cheque for £500, will naturally want to know why. What shall I tell +her? I shall have to tell her something. If, on the other hand, I stick +to Baker, my first and only duty will be towards him. I shall have to +remember that his life is at stake, and leave no stone unturned to save +it. But, being employed by Miss Arnott, I don't want to take advantage +of that employment and of her money to charge her with the crime, nor +do I want to have to put you into the witness-box to prove it. What I +want to know is which course am I to follow? And to get that knowledge +I've come to you. Now, you've got the whole thing in a nutshell." + +Mr Morice, perhaps unconsciously, was still gripping the billiard cue +as if it were a bludgeon. Plainly, he was ill at ease. + +"I wish you'd been kept out of the affair. I'd have kept you out if I'd +had a chance. I should have known you'd make yourself a nuisance." + +"Having a clear perception of the lines on which I should be likely to +make myself a nuisance, I see. Shall I tell you what I do wish? I'm +inclined to wish that I'd been retained by Miss Arnott on her own +account." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"You will make me dot my i's. However, I'll dot them if you like. Here +are two men who know the truth. Isn't it probable that there are other +persons who suspect it? So far the affair's been bungled. Baker himself +put the police on the wrong scent. They've followed it blindly. But +when the right man's put on the job I'm prepared to wager that he'll +find the whole air is full of the lady's name. Then she'll want +assistance." + +Hugh Morice returned the cue to its place with almost ostentatious +precision, keeping his back towards his guest as he did so. Then, +turning, he took up his stand before the fireplace. His manner had all +at once become almost unnaturally calm. + +"There are two or three points, Mr Gilbert, on which I should like to +arrive at that understanding which you pretend to desiderate. When you +suggest, as you do, that I have any guilty knowledge of the crime with +which Jim Baker stands charged, you not only suggest what is wholly +false, but you do so without the slightest shadow of an excuse, under +circumstances which make your conduct peculiarly monstrous. I have no +such knowledge. It, therefore, necessarily follows that I know nothing +of Miss Arnott's alleged complicity in the matter. More, I believe from +my heart that she had no more to do with it than you had; she is +certainly as innocent as you are. You yourself admit that Baker has +said nothing. I fancy you may have jumped at an erroneous conclusion; +your fault is over-cleverness. I know him to be a thorough-paced coward +and rascal. If he ever does say outright, anything of the nature you +have hinted at, there will be no difficulty whatever in proving him to +be a liar. Now, sir, have I given you all the information which you +require?" + +Mr Gilbert looked at the fresh cigar, which he had just lighted, with +the first smile in which he had permitted himself to indulge during the +course of the discussion. + +"Then I am to defend Jim Baker and do my best for him?" + +It was a second or two before Hugh Morice answered. + +"I think that, feeling as you do, you had better withdraw from the +case." + +"And what shall I tell Miss Arnott?" + +"You need tell her nothing. I will tell her all that is necessary." + +"I see. I thought you would probably feel like that." + +"For once in a way you thought correctly." + +"The cheque shall be returned to her. Shall I return it through you?" + +"I think that perhaps you had better." + +"I think so also." + +Mr Gilbert rose from his chair. + +"Before I go to bed, with your permission, I will finish this excellent +cigar upstairs, and I'm afraid that game of billiards will have to be +postponed. Will you allow me to say, without prejudice, that if, later, +Miss Arnott finds herself in need of legal aid I shall esteem myself +fortunate to be allowed to render her any assistance in my power. I can +make my presence felt in a certain kind of case, and this is going to +be a very pretty one, though that mayn't be your feeling just now. I +should like to add that I feel sure I could defend her much better than +I could Jim Baker." + +"There will not be the slightest necessity for you to do anything of +the kind.". + +"Of course not. I am merely putting a suppositious case. May I take it +that you are the lady's friend?" + +"You may." + +"And that you would be willing to do her a service?" + +"I would do her any service in my power." + +"Then shall I tell you what is the best service you could do her?" + +"I am listening." + +"Start for the most inaccessible part of the globe you can think of at +the very earliest opportunity, and stay there." + +"Why should I do that?" + +"Because if they can't find you, they can't put you in the witness-box, +and, if I were acting for Miss Arnott, I would much rather, for her +sake, that you kept out. Good-night, Mr Morice. I have to thank you for +your generous hospitality." + +When the solicitor was in his bedroom he said to himself. + +"I'm glad I came. But what a tangle! Unless I err they'll have my lady +under lock and key before the assizes begin; or, at anyrate, under +police observation. And my host loves her. What a prospect? When a man, +who is not a constitutional liar, does lie, he's apt to give his lie +too artistic a finish; still, as an example of the lie cumulative and +absolute, that lie of his was fair, very fair indeed." + +Hugh Morice had his thoughts also. + +"If she'd only let me know that she proposed to call in Ernest Gilbert +I'd have stopped her somehow. There's no more dangerous man in England. +Now it's too late. We shall have to face the music. If I am +subp[oe]naed I'll go into the witness-box and swear I did it. She +charged me with having done it. She shall go into the witness-box and +give evidence against me. We'll dish Ernest Gilbert. 'Greater love hath +no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.' And +she's my friend, since I love her. At anyrate, I'll be her friend, if +the thing may be." + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV + + THE SOMNAMBULIST + + +Miss Arnott was not happy. Money had not brought her anything worth +having. In her case, fortune had been synonymous with misfortune. +Young, rich "beyond the dreams of avarice," good-looking; all those +papers which deal with what are ironically called "personal topics," +held her up to public admiration as one of the persons in the world who +were most to be envied. In plain truth she was one of the most +miserable. In her penniless days she was not unhappier. Then her +trouble was simple, now it was compound. Not the least of her disasters +was the fact that health was failing. That robust habit of mind and +body which had, so far, stood her in good stead, was being sapped by +the continuous strain. Her imagination was assuming a morbid tinge. Her +nights were sleepless, or dream-haunted, which was as bad. She was +becoming obsessed by an unhealthy feeling that she lived in a tainted +atmosphere. That all the air about her was impregnated with suspicion. +That she was becoming the centre of doubting eyes, whispering tongues, +furtively pointing fingers. + +While she was more or less unconsciously drifting into this physically +and mentally unhealthy condition she received a visit from a Mrs +Forrester, in the course of which that lady insisted on dwelling on +topics of a distinctly disagreeable kind. + +Mrs Forrester was a widow, childless, well-to-do. She had two +occupations--one was acting as secretary to the local branch of the +Primrose League, and the other was minding other people's business. She +so managed that the first was of material assistance to her in the +second. She was a person for whom Miss Arnott had no liking. Had she +had a chance she would have denied herself. But Mrs Forrester came +sailing in through the hall just as she was going out of it. + +"Oh, my dear Miss Arnott, this is an unexpected pleasure! I am so +fortunate in finding you at home, I so seldom do! And there is +something of the first importance which I must speak to you about at +once--of the very first importance, I do assure you." + +The motor was at the door. Miss Arnott's inclination was to fib, to +invent a pressing engagement--say, twenty miles off--and so shunt the +lady off on to Mrs Plummer. It seemed as if the visitor saw what was in +her mind. She promptly gave utterance to her intention not to be +shunted. + +"Now you mustn't say you're engaged, because I sha'n't keep you a +minute, or at most but five. That motor of yours can wait, and you +simply must stop and listen to what I have to say. It's in your own +interest, your own urgent interest, so I can't let you go." + +Miss Arnott stopped, perforce. She led the way into the red +drawing-room. Mrs Forrester burst into the middle of the subject, which +had brought her there, in her own peculiar fashion. + +"Now, before I say a single word, I want you to understand most clearly +that the only reason which has brought me here, the one thing I have +come for, is to obtain your permission, your authority, to contradict +the whole story." + +"What story?" + +The visitor held up her hands. + +"What story! You don't mean to say you haven't heard? It simply shows +how often we ourselves are the last persons to hear of matters in which +we are most intimately concerned. My dear, the whole world is talking +about it, the entire parish! And you say, what story?" + +"I say again, what story? I've no doubt that my concerns do interest a +large number of persons, even more than they do me, but I've not the +vaguest idea to which one of them you're now referring." + +"Is it possible? My dear, I was told no longer ago than this morning +that you walk every night through the woods in--well, in your +nightdress." + +"What's that?" + +"Of course it's nonsense. No one knows better than I do that such an +idea's ridiculous. But there's the story. And, as I've said, I've come +on purpose to ask you to allow me to offer an authoritative +contradiction." + +"But what is the story? I should be obliged to you, Mrs Forrester, if +you could manage to make it a little clearer." + +"I will make it clear. To me it has been made painfully +clear--painfully. I may tell you that I've heard the story, in different +forms, from various sources. Indeed I believe it's no exaggeration to +say that it's on everybody's tongue, and, on the whole, no wonder. My +informant this morning was Briggs, the postman. You know him?" + +"I can't claim the honour. However, I'm willing to take your statement +as proof of his existence." + +"A most respectable man, most respectable. His wife has fifteen +children--twins only last March,--but perhaps I oughtn't to speak of it +to you. He used to be night watchman at Oak Dene in old Mr Morice's +time. Sometimes he takes the letter-bags to and from the mail train, +which goes through at half-past one in the morning. He did so last +night. He assures me with his own lips that, coming home, as he was +passing your place, he heard something moving, and on looking round saw +you among the trees in your nightdress. Of course it couldn't have been +you. But, at the same time, it is most singular. He is such a +respectable man, and his story was most circumstantial. Could it have +been you?" + +"I was not out last night at all, and it never is my custom to wander +about the grounds in the costume you refer to, if that is what you +mean, Mrs Forrester--at least, not consciously." + +"Exactly, that is the very point, of course--not consciously. But do +you do it unconsciously?" + +"Unconsciously! What do you mean?" + +"My dear, it is my duty to tell you that all sorts of people claim to +have seen you wandering--sometimes actually running--through the woods +of Exham Park at the most extraordinary hours, clad only in your +nightdress. The suggestion is that you are walking in your sleep." + +"Walking in my sleep? Mrs Forrester!" + +"Yes, my dear, walking in your sleep. It is strange that the story +should not have reached you; it is on everybody's tongue. But when, as +I tell you, Briggs made that positive statement to me with his own +lips, I felt it my bounden duty to come and see you about it at the +earliest possible moment. Because, if there is any truth in the tale at +all--and they can't all be liars--it is absolutely essential for your +own protection that you should have someone to sleep with you--at any +rate, in the same room. Somnambulism is a most serious thing. If you +are a somnambulist--and if you aren't, what are you?--proper +precautions ought to be taken, or goodness only knows what may happen." + +"If I am a somnambulist, Mrs Forrester. But am I? In all my life I have +never heard it hinted that I am anything of the kind, and I myself have +never had any reason to suspect it." + +"Still, my dear, there are all those stories told by all sorts of +people." + +"They may have imagined they saw something. I very much doubt if they +saw me." + +"But there is Briggs's positive assertion. I have such faith in Briggs. +And why should he invent a tale of the sort?" + +"Did he see my face?" + +"No; he says you were walking quickly from him, almost running, but he +is positive it was you. He wanted to come and tell you so himself; but +I dissuaded him, feeling that it was a matter about which you would +prefer that I should come and speak to you first." + +"What time was it when he supposes himself to have seen me?" + +"Somewhere about two o'clock." + +Miss Arnott reflected. + +"To the best of my knowledge and belief I was in bed at two o'clock, +and never stirred from it till Evans called me to get into my bath. If, +as you suggest, I was out in the woods in my nightdress--delightful +notion!--surely I should have brought back with me some traces of my +excursion. I believe it rained last night." + +"It did; Briggs says it was raining at the time he saw you." + +"Then that settles the question; he didn't see me. Was I barefooted?" + +"He couldn't see." + +"The presumption is that, if I choose to wander about in such an airy +costume as a nightgown, it is hardly likely that I should think it +necessary to go through the form of putting on either shoes or +stockings. Anyhow, I should have been soaked to the skin. When I woke +up this morning my nightgown would have shown traces at least of the +soaking it had undergone. But not a bit of it; it was as clean as a new +pin. Ask Evans! My feet were stainless. My bedroom slippers--the only +footwear within reach, were unsoiled. No; I fancy, Mrs Forrester, that +those friends of yours have ardent imaginations, and that even the +respectable Briggs is not always to be trusted." + +"Then you authorise me to contradict the story _in toto?_ + +"Yes, Mrs Forrester; I give you the fullest authority to inform anyone +and everyone that I never, in the whole course of my life, went out for +a stroll in my nightgown, either asleep or waking. Thank you very much +indeed for giving me the opportunity of furnishing you with the +necessary power." + +Mrs Forrester rose from her chair solemnly. + +"I felt that I should only be doing my duty if I came." + +"Of course you did, and you never miss an opportunity of doing your +duty. Do you?" + +Before the lady had a chance of replying a door opened. Miss Arnott +turned to find that it had admitted Mr Morice. The sight of him was so +unexpected, and took her so wholly by surprise that, at a momentary +loss for a suitable greeting, she repeated, inanely enough, almost the +identical words which she had just been uttering to Mrs Forrester. + +"Mr Morice! This is--this is a surprise. I--I was just telling Mrs +Forrester, who has been good enough to bring me rather a curious story, +that if anyone mentions, in her hearing, that they saw me strolling +through the woods in the middle of the night in a state of considerable +undress, I shall be obliged if she gives such a statement a point-blank +contradiction." + +Mr Morice inclined his head gravely, as if he understood precisely what +the lady was talking about. + +"Certainly. Always advise Mrs Forrester to contradict everything she +hears. Mrs Forrester hears such singular things." + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + + HUGH MORICE EXPLAINS + + +So soon as Mrs Forrester had gone Mr Morice asked a question. + +"What tale has that woman been telling you?" + +"She actually says that people have seen me walking about the woods in +the middle of the night in my nightdress. That a postman, named Briggs, +saw me doing so last night. I believe I am supposed to have been +walking in my sleep. Of course it is only some nonsensical rigmarole. I +won't say the whole thing is an invention of Mrs Forrester's own brain, +but it's the sort of thing she's fond of." + +"That's true enough. It is the sort of tale she's fond of; but, for +once in a way, she is justified by fact. Since we are on the subject I +may as well inform you that, four nights or rather mornings, ago I +myself saw you, at two o'clock in the morning, in Cooper's Spinney, in +some such costume as that which you describe." + +"Mr Morice!" + +"I do not know that I should have told you if it had not been for Mrs +Forrester; but, since she has intervened, I do so. In any case, it is +perhaps as well that you should be on your guard." + +"Are you sure you saw me?" + +"I am not likely to make a mistake in a matter of that sort." + +"But are you sure it was me?" + +"Certain." + +"What was I doing?" + +"You were under the beech tree--our beech tree. You appeared to me to +be looking for something on the ground--something which you could not +find." + +"But four nights ago? I remember it quite well. I was reading and +writing till ever so late. Then I fell asleep directly I got into bed. +I certainly never woke again until Evans called me." + +"The probability is that you got out of bed directly you were asleep. +It struck me that there was something singular about your whole +proceedings. A doubt crossed my mind at the time as to whether you +could possibly be in a somnambulistic condition. As I approached you +retreated so rapidly that I never caught sight of you again." + +"Do you mean to say I was in my nightdress?" + +"As to that I cannot be certain. You had on something white; but it +struck me that it was some sort of a dressing-gown." + +"I have no white dressing-gown." + +"On that point I cannot speak positively. You understand that I only +saw you for a few seconds, just long enough to make sure that it was +you." + +She put her hands up to her face, shuddering. + +"This is dreadful! that I should walk in my sleep--in the woods--and +everyone see me--and I know nothing! What shall I do?" + +"There is one thing I should recommend. Have someone to sleep in your +room--someone who is quickly roused." + +"That is what Mrs Forrester advised. I will certainly have that done. A +bed shall be put in my room, and Evans shall sleep in it to-night. Is +it to make this communication that you have favoured me with the very +unexpected honour of your presence here, Mr Morice?" + +"No, Mrs--I beg your pardon, Miss Arnott--it is not." As she noticed +the slip she flushed. "The errand which has brought me here is of a +different nature, though not, I regret to say, of a more pleasant one." + +"Nothing pleasant comes my way. Do not let unpleasantness deter you, Mr +Morice. As you are aware I am used to it." + +There was a bitterness in her tone which hurt him. He turned aside, +searching for words to serve him as a coating of sugar, and failing to +find them. + +"Why," he presently asked, "did you instruct Ernest Gilbert to defend +Jim Baker?" + +She stared in amazement; evidently that was not what she expected. + +"Why? Why shouldn't I?" + +"For the simple but sufficient reason that he was the very last man +whose interference you should have invited in a matter of this +particular kind." + +"Mr Stacey was of a different opinion. It was he who gave me his name. +He said he was the very man I wanted." + +"Mr Stacey? Mr Stacey was not acquainted with all the circumstances of +the case, Miss Arnott. Had you consulted me--" + +"I should not have dreamt of consulting you." + +"Possibly not. Still, I happen to know something of Mr Gilbert +personally, and had you consulted me I should have warned you that, in +all human probability, the result would be exactly what it has turned +out to be." + +"Result? Has anything resulted?" + +"Something has--Mr Gilbert has withdrawn from the case." + +"Withdrawn from the case! What do you mean?" + +"Here is the £500 which you sent him. He has requested me to hand it +back to you." + +"A cheque for £500? Mr Morice, I don't understand! Why has Mr Gilbert +returned me this?" + +"I will tell you plainly. We are, both of us, in a position in which +plainness is the only possible course." + +"Well, tell me--don't stand choosing your words--tell me plainly! Why +has Mr Gilbert sent me back my cheque through you?" + +"Because Jim Baker conveyed the impression to his mind that +he--Jim--saw you commit the crime with which he stands charged." + +"I don't understand." + +"I think you do. Gilbert's position is that he finds himself unable to +retain your money when his duty to Baker may necessitate his putting +you in the dock on the capital charge." + +"Mr Morice! It's--it's not true!" + +"Unfortunately, it is true. Lest, however, you should think the +position worse than it actually is, part of my business here is to +reassure your mind on at least one point." + +"Reassure my mind! Nothing will ever do that--ever! ever! And +reassurance from you!--from you!" + +"If matters reach a certain point--before they go too far--it is my +intention to surrender myself--say, to Granger--our local +representative of law and order--as having been guilty of killing that +man in Cooper's Spinney." + +"Mr Morice! Do you--do you mean it?" + +"Certainly I mean it. Then you will have an opportunity of going into +the witness-box and giving that testimony of which you have spoken. +That in itself ought to be sufficient to hang me." + +"Mr Morice!" + +"What we have principally to do is to render it impossible that the +case against me shall fail. A very trifling accident may bring the +whole business to an end; especially if Ernest Gilbert puts ever such a +distant finger in the pie. Against the possibility of such an accident +we shall have to guard. For instance, by way of a beginning, where's +that knife?" + +"Knife?" + +"The knife." + +"I've lost the key." + +"Lost the key? of what?" + +"I put it in a wardrobe drawer with my--my things, and locked it, and, +somehow, I lost the key." + +"I don't quite follow. Do you mean that, having locked up my knife in a +drawer with some other articles, you have mislaid the key of the lock?" + +"Yes, that's what I mean." + +"Then in that case, you had better break that lock open at the earliest +possible moment." + +"Why?" + +"The answer's obvious, in order that you may hand me back my knife. If +I'm to be the criminal it will never do for my knife to be found in +your possession. It would involve all sorts of difficulties which we +might neither of us find it easy to get over. Give me the knife. I will +hide it somewhere on my own premises, where I'll take care that, at the +proper moment, it is found. Properly managed, that knife ought to make +my guilt as plain as the noonday sun; mismanaged, the affair might +assume quite a different complexion." + +For the first time a doubt entered the girl's mind. + +"Mr Morice, do you wish me to understand that you propose to surrender +merely to save me?" + +"I wish you to understand nothing of the sort. The position is--in its +essence--melodrama; but do let us make it as little melodramatic as we +conveniently can. Someone must suffer for the--blunder. It may as well +be me. Why not?" + +"Do you wish me--seriously--to believe that it was not you +who--blundered?" + +"Of course I blundered--and I've kept on blundering ever since. One +blunder generally does lead to another, don't you know. Come--Miss +Arnott"--each time, as she noticed, there was a perceptible pause +before he pronounced the name to which she still adhered--"matters have +reached a stage when, at any moment, events may be expected to move +quickly. Your first business must be to get that drawer open--key or no +key--and let me have that knife. You may send it by parcel post if you +like. Anyhow, only let me have it. And, at latest, by tomorrow night. +Believe me, moments are becoming precious. By the way, I hope it hasn't +been--cleaned." + +"No, it hasn't been cleaned." + +"That would have been to commit a cardinal error. In an affair of this +sort blood-stains are the things we want; the _pièces de conviction_ +which judge and jury most desire. Give me the knife--my knife--that did +the deed, with the virginal blood-stains thick upon it. Let it be +properly discovered by a keen-nosed constable in an ostentatious +hiding-place, and the odds are a hundred to one as to what the verdict +will be. A hundred? a million! I assure you that I already feel the +cravat about my neck." Hugh Morice put his hand up to his throat with a +gesture which made Miss Arnott shiver. "Only, I do beg of you, lose no +time. Get that drawer open within the hour, and let me have my +hunting-knife before you have your dinner. Let me entreat you to grasp +this fact clearly. At any moment Jim Baker may be out of Winchester Gaol; +someone will have to take his place. That someone must be me." + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + + THE TWO MAIDS + + +After Hugh Morice had left her, Miss Arnott had what was possibly the +worst of all her bad half hours. The conviction of his guilt had been +so deeply rooted in her mind that it required something like a +cataclysm to disturb its foundations. She had thought that nothing +could have shaken it; yet it had been shaken, and by the man himself. +As she had listened to what he had been saying, an impression had been +taking hold of her, more and more, that she had misjudged him. If so, +where was she herself standing? A dreadful feeling had been stealing on +her that he genuinely believed of her what she had believed of him. If +such was the case, what actually was her position. + +Could she have done the thing which he believed her to have done? It +was not only, moreover, what he believed; there were others. An array +of witnesses was gathering round her, pointing with outstretched +fingers. There was Jim Baker--it seemed that he was honestly persuaded +that, with his own eyes, he had seen her kill her husband. So +transparent was his honesty that he had succeeded--whether +intentionally or not she did not clearly understand--in imparting his +faith to the indurated lawyer to such a degree, that he had actually +thrown her money back at her, as if it had been the price of blood. She +had little doubt that if her own retainers were polled, and forced to +vote in accordance with the dictates of their consciences, merely on +the strength of the evidence they believed themselves to be already in +possession of, they would bring her in as guilty. She had had this +feeling dimly for some time--she had it very clearly then. + +And now she was walking in her sleep. That thing of which she had read +and heard, but never dreamt to be--a somnambulist. It seemed that her +conscience drove her out at dead of night to revisit--unwittingly--the +scene of the crime which stained her soul. + +Could that be the interpretation of the stories which Mrs Forrester had +told her? and Hugh Morice? She had been seen, it would appear, by half +the countryside, clad--how? wandering--conscience-driven--on what +errand? + +The more she thought, however, of the tale which Briggs the postman had +retailed to Mrs Forrester, not to speak of Hugh Morice's strange +narrative--the more she doubted--the more she had to doubt. They +might have the evidence of their own eyes, but it seemed to her that +she had evidence which was at least equally conclusive. It was +incredible--impossible that she could have tramped through the rain and +the mire, among the trees and the bushes, in the fashion described, and +yet have found no traces of her eccentric journeyings either on her +clothes or on her person. But in that matter measures could--and should--be +taken. She would soon learn if there was any truth in the tales so far as +they had reference to her. Evans should be installed in her room that night +as watchman. Then, if she attempted to get out of bed while fast +asleep, the question would be settled on the spot. The question of the +knife--Hugh Morice's knife--was a graver one. But as regards that also +steps should be promptly taken. Whether it should be returned to its +owner as he suggested, or retained in her possession, or disposed of +otherwise. These were problems which required consideration. In the +meanwhile, she would have it out of its hiding-place at once. She went +upstairs to force open that wardrobe drawer. So soon as she entered her +bedroom she perceived that she had been forestalled, and that, in +consequence, a lively argument was going on. The disputants were +two--her own maid, Evans, and Wilson, the housemaid, who had been +supposed to have been in part responsible for the disappearance of the +key. Miss Arnott was made immediately conscious--even before she opened +the door--that the pair were talking at the top of their voices. Evans's +was particularly audible. She was pouring forth on to her fellow-servant +a flood of language which was distinctly the reverse of complimentary. +So occupied, indeed, were they by the subject under discussion that, until +Miss Arnott announced her presence, they were not conscious that she +had come into the room. + +Their young mistress paused on the threshold, listening, with feelings +which she would have found it difficult to analyse, to some of the +heated observations which the disputants thought proper to fling at +each other. She interrupted Evans in the middle of a very warmly +coloured harangue. + +"Evans, what is the meaning of this disturbance? and of the +extraordinary language you are using?" + +The maid, though evidently taken by surprise by the advent of her +mistress, showed very few of the signs of shame and confusion which +some might have considered would have become a person in her position. +Apparently she was much too warm to concern herself, at anyrate for the +moment, with matters of etiquette. She turned to Miss Arnott a flushed +and angry face, looking very unlike the staid and decorous servant with +whom that young lady was accustomed to deal. Hot words burst from her +lips,-- + +"That there Wilson had the key all the time. I knew she had." + +To which Wilson rejoined with equal disregard of ceremonial usages,-- + +"I tell you I hadn't! Don't I tell you I hadn't! At least, I didn't +know that I had, not till five minutes ago." + +Evans went on, wholly ignoring her colleague's somewhat singular +disclaimer,-- + +"Then if she didn't use it to unlock your drawer with--your private +drawer--and to take liberties with everything that was inside it. I +daresay if I hadn't come and caught her she'd have walked off with the +lot. And then to have the face to brazen it out!" + +To which Wilson, in a flame of fury,-- + +"Don't you dare to say I'd have taken a single thing, because I won't +have it. I'm no more a thief than you are, nor perhaps half so much, +and so I'll have you know. You're a great deal too fond of calling +names, you are; but if you call me a thief I'll pay you for it. You +see!" + +Evans turned again to her adversary, eager for a continuance of the +fray. + +"If you weren't going to take them what did you go to the drawer for?" + +"I tell you I went to the drawer to see if it was the key. + +"Why didn't you bring the key to me?" + +"I would have brought it, if you'd given me a chance." + +"You would have brought it! Didn't I catch you--" + +Miss Arnott thought she had heard enough; she interposed. + +"Will you be so good as to be still, both of you, and let me understand +what is the cause of this disgraceful scene. Evans, has the key of the +drawer been found?" + +"Yes, miss, it has. It was never lost; she had it all the time, as I +suspected." + +"I didn't have it, miss--leastways, if I did, I didn't know it, not +till just now." + +"Explain yourself, Wilson. Has or has not the key been in your +possession?" + +"It's like this, miss; it must somehow have slipped inside my dress +that morning when I was making your bed." + +"She'll explain anything!" + +This was the resentful Evans. + +"I'll tell the truth anyhow, which is more than you do." + +Again their mistress interposed. + +"Evans, will you allow Wilson to tell her story in her own way. Wilson, +you forget yourself. On the face of it, your story is a lame one. What +do you mean by saying that the key of my wardrobe drawer slipped into +your dress? Where was it that it was capable of such a singular +proceeding?" + +"That's more than I can tell you, miss. I can only say that just now +when I was taking down a skirt which I haven't worn since I don't know +when, it felt heavy, and there in the hem on one side--it's a broad +hem, miss, and only tacked--there was a key, though how it got there I +haven't a notion." + +"Of course not!" + +This was Evans. Miss Arnott was in time to prevent a retort. + +"Evans! Well, Wilson, what did you do then?" + +"I came with it to Evans." + +The lady's-maid was not to be denied. + +"That's a falsehood, anyhow. You came with it to me! I do like that!" + +The housemaid was equal to the requirements of the occasion. + +"I did come with it to you. I came with it straight to this bedroom. +They told me you were here; it wasn't my fault if you weren't." + +"Oh dear no! And, I suppose, it wasn't your fault if, finding I wasn't +here, you unlocked the drawer!" + +"I only wanted to see if it was the lost key I had found; I meant no +harm." + +Again Miss Arnott. + +"Now, Evans, will you be silent! Well, Wilson, I don't see that, so +far, you have been guilty of anything very reprehensible. It's quite +possible that, somehow, the key may have slipped into the hem of your +skirt; such accidents have been known. When you had tried the key and +found that it was the one which had been mislaid; when you had opened +the drawer with it, what did you do then?" + +Again the lady's-maid was not to be denied. Orders or no orders, she +refused to be silent. + +"Yes, what did she do? I'll tell you what she did; don't you listen to +anything she says, miss. She took liberties with everything that was +inside that drawer, just as if the things was her own. She turned all +the things out that was in it; you can see for yourself that it's +empty! and she's got some of them now. Though I've asked her for them +she won't give them up; yet she has the face to say she didn't mean to +steal 'em!" + +This time the housemaid was silent. Miss Arnott became conscious that +not only had she been all the time holding herself very upright, but, +also, that she was keeping her hands behind her back--in short, that +her attitude more than suggested defiance. + +"Wilson, is this true?" + +The answer was wholly unlooked for. + +"My mother is Jim Baker's cousin, miss." + +"Your mother--" Miss Arnott stopped short to stare. "And what has that +to do with your having in your possession property which is not your +own?" + +Her next answer was equally unexpected. + +"And Mr Granger, he's my uncle, miss." + +"Mr Granger? What Mr Granger?" + +"The policeman down in the village, miss." + +"Apparently, Wilson, you are to be congratulated on your relations, but +I don't see what they have to do with what Evans was saying." + +"I can't help that, miss." + +"You can't help what? Your manner is very strange. What do you mean?" +The girl was silent. Miss Arnott turned to the lady's-maid. "Evans, +what does she mean?" + +"Don't ask me, miss; she don't know herself. The girl's wrong in her +head, that's what's the matter with her. She'll get herself into hot +water, if she don't look out; and that before very long. Now, then, you +give me what you've got there!" + +"Don't you lay your hands on me, Mrs Evans, or you'll be sorry." + +"Evans!--Wilson!" + +Kit had not been for Miss Arnott's presence it looked very much as if +the two would have indulged in a scrimmage then and there. The +lady's-maid showed a strong inclination to resort to physical force, +which the other evinced an equal willingness to resent. + +"Wilson, what is it which you are holding behind your back? I insist +upon your showing me at once." + +"This, miss--and this." + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII + + A CONFIDANT + + +In her right hand Wilson held a knife--the knife. Miss Arnott needed no +second glance to convince her of its identity. In her left a dainty +feminine garment--a camisole, compact of lace and filmy lawn. The +instant she disclosed them Evans moved forward, as if to snatch from +her at least the knife. But Wilson was as quick as she was--quicker. +Whipping her hands behind her back again she retreated out of reach. + +"No, you don't! hands off! you try to snatch, you do!" + +The baffled lady's-maid turned to her mistress. + +"You see, miss, what she's like! and yet she wants to make out that +she's no thief!" + +Miss Arnott was endeavouring to see through the situation in her mind, +finding herself suddenly confronted by the unforeseen. It was +impossible that the girl could mean what she seemed to mean; a raw +country wench in her teens! + +"Wilson, you seem to be behaving in a very strange manner, and to be +forgetting yourself altogether. It is not strange that Evans has her +doubts of you. Give me those things which you have in your hands at +once." + +"Begging your pardon, miss, I can't." + +"They're not yours." + +"No, miss, I know they're not." + +"Then, if you're an honest girl, as you pretend, what possible reason +can you have for refusing to give me my own property, which you have +taken out of my drawer in a manner which is at least suspicious?" + +"Because Jim Baker, he's my mother's cousin; and Mr Granger he's my +uncle." + +"What possible justification can that be for your trying to steal what +belongs to me?" + +Then it came out. + +"My uncle he says to me, 'I don't believe Jim Baker done it--I don't +believe he did anything to the chap beyond peppering him. Jim's no +liar. 'Twill be a shame if they hang him. No, my girl,' Mr Granger +says, 'it's my belief that they know more over at Exham Park than they +pretend, or, at least, someone does. You keep your eyes wide open. We +don't want to have no one hung in our family, specially for just +peppering a chap. If you come across anything suspicious, you let me +know and you let me have a look at it, if so be you can. Your mother +don't want to have Jim Baker hung, nor more don't I.' Miss Arnott, you +put them things in the drawer the time that you came home, the time +that chap was murdered, the time that you was out in the woods till all +hours. They haven't found the knife what did it yet, and this knife's +all covered with blood; so's the things. I'm going to let Mr Granger +see what I've got here, and tell him where I found them. If there's +nothing wrong about them I'll have to suffer, but show them to him I +will." + +Miss Arnott, perceiving that here was an emergency in which prompt +action was the one thing needful, glanced at Evans, who was quick to +take the hint. She advanced towards Wilson with designs which that +young woman considered sufficiently obvious. To evade her, still +holding her booty behind her to secure it from Evans, she turned her +back to Miss Arnott who was not slow to avail herself of the +opportunity to grip her wrists and tear the knife and camisole away +from her. The wench, finding herself outwitted, sprang at her mistress, +screaming,-- + +"Give them to me! give them to me! You give them back to me!" + +But Miss Arnott had already dropped them into the open wardrobe drawer, +shut the drawer and turned the key. While she kept the girl at arms' +length, to prevent her wresting from her the key, Miss Arnott issued +her instructions to the lady's-maid. + +"Evans, ring the bell, keep on ringing." + +There was a lively minute or so. Then Bevan, Mr Day's understudy, +appeared in the doorway, to stare at the proceedings open-eyed. Miss +Arnott had succeeded in retaining possession of the key, though she had +not found the excited girl easy to manage. Bevan, striding forward, +spun the housemaid round on her feet as if she were a teetotum. + +"Now, then," he demanded, "what do you think you're doing? Are you +mad?" + +"Bevan," exclaimed Miss Arnott, "Wilson has been misbehaving herself. +See that she is paid her wages and sent about her business at once." + +Wilson, who by now was more than half hysterical, shrieked defiance. + +"Mr Bevan, you make her give me that knife! you make her. I believe she +killed that chap in Cooper's Spinney. She's got the knife she killed +him with shut up in that drawer there! You make her give it me! I'm +going to show it to my uncle!" + +Bevan was unsympathetic. + +"Now, then, out you go!" was the only answer he made to her appeal. + +But Mr Granger's niece was not disposed to go in compliance with his +mere request. When he essayed persuasion of a more active kind she +began to fight him tooth and nail. Reinforcements had to be brought +upon the scene. When, finally, she was borne from the room, she was +kicking and struggling like some wild cat. A pretty tumult she managed +to create as they conveyed her down the stairs. + +Miss Arnott and her maid, left alone together, surveyed each other with +startled looks. The plumage of both had been something more than +ruffled; a tress of hair which was hanging down Miss Arnott's back was +proof of the housemaid's earnestness. Evans was the first to speak. + +"I wish you'd let me do as I said, miss--break that drawer open, and +let me wash those things." + +"But who would have thought she was such a creature! Is she mad?" + +"Oh, she's sane enough after her own fashion; though, if she's one of +that Baker and Granger set, she's mad enough for anything. I can't +abide that village lot, and they know it. I wish you'd let me do as I +said!" + +"I wish I had. As for my clothes, you can wash them now--if you don't +mind, that is." + +"I'll wash them fast enough. I've done some washing in my time. Though, +after those stains have been in them all this time, they'll want some +soaking. What are you going to do about that knife, miss? If I had +known it was there I'd have broken open that drawer first and asked +your permission afterwards." + +"I'll see to that." + +"You'll see to it! But, miss, you'll never get these stains out, never! +not now! They're eaten into the steel! Nothing will get them out except +re-burnishing. If that Wilson gets down to that fool of a Granger it's +quite likely that we'll have him here with a search warrant, and then +Heaven help us! No, miss, you'll give me that knife, if you please. +I'll make it safe enough." + +Miss Arnott was struck by the singularity of the woman's manner; she +yielded to a sudden impulse. + +"Evans, I fancy you are under a misapprehension. If so, let me remove +it from your mind, if it can be removed. I believe you think that I am +responsible for what happened to that man in Cooper's Spinney. I'm not. +I had no hand in it whatever." + +"You didn't kill him?" + +"Emphatically, no. I had nothing to do with killing him; nothing." + +"Miss, are you sure?" + +"I am quite sure; quite." + +"I believe you, miss, I believe you. But--I don't understand--the +stains upon your things; the knife? If you didn't kill him yourself you +know who did." + +"I thought I did; that is why the knife is in my possession. Bringing +it home--inside my bodice--caused the stains." + +"Whose knife is it? Did it belong to the--man who was killed?" + +"No; it did not. I would rather not tell you to whom it did belong--at +least, not now." + +"You know?" + +"Oh, yes, I know. Evans, I believe you're disposed to be my friend, and +I'm in need of a friend." + +"You are, miss, in more need than you have perhaps a notion of. I don't +want to use any big words, but there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, +and be glad to do it, as, maybe, before all's done, I'll prove. But I +wish you'd trust me, miss--trust me all the way. I wish you'd tell me +whose knife that is and how you came to have it." + +"I'd rather not, and for this reason. I was convinced that the owner of +that knife was the murderer. That is why, when I found it, I brought it +home with me. + +"To screen him?" + +"You must not ask me that. Quite lately I have begun to think that I +was wrong, that the owner of that knife is as innocent as I am. It's a +tangle. I was quite close when it happened; I heard it all happening; +yet now I am conscious that I have no more real knowledge of who did it +than you have. You mustn't ask me any questions; I may tell you more +some other time--I may have to--not now! not now! I want to think! But, +Evans, there is one thing I wish to say to you--do you believe that I'm +a somnambulist?" + +"A somnambulist? A sleep-walker do you mean? Whatever has put that idea +into your head?" + +"Have you heard the tales they're telling--about my having been seen in +the woods at night in my nightdress?" + +"I've heard some stuff; it's all a pack of nonsense! What next?" + +"Do you know Briggs the postman? What sort of man is he?" + +"He's got his head screwed on right enough for a countryman." + +"Well, Mrs Forrester called this afternoon for the express purpose of +informing me that Briggs the postman saw me in the woods at two o'clock +this morning in my nightdress." + +"But, miss, it's impossible! Did you ever walk in your sleep?" + +"Never to my knowledge. Have you ever had occasion to suspect me of +anything of the kind?" + +"That I certainly have not." + +"This time it seems peculiarly incredible, because it was pouring cats +and dogs. If I had done anything of the sort there must have been +traces on my nightdress, or on something. This is a question I mean to +have settled one way or the other. I'm going to have a bed put up in +this room, and I'm going to ask you to sleep in it, if you conveniently +can, with one eye open. You'll soon find out what my habits are when +fast asleep. Between ourselves I believe that this is going to be an +opportunity for me to play that favourite character in fiction--the +detective--on lines of my own." + +"I'll sleep here, miss, and be pleased to do it. But as for your +walking in your sleep, I should have found it out long ago if you'd +been given that way. I don't believe a word of it; that's all +nonsense." + +Miss Arnott seemed to reflect before she spoke again. + +"I'm not so sure of that--that it's all nonsense, Evans. I'm going to +tell you something; at present it's a secret, but I think I can trust +you to keep it. You're not the only person who has suspected me of +having killed that man." + +"Lor' bless you, miss, as if I didn't know that! That's no secret! I +don't believe you've any idea yourself of what a dangerous place it is +in which you're standing." + +"I'll be ready for the danger--when it comes. I'll not be afraid. What +I meant was that I have been actually supposed to have been seen +killing that man. Someone was seen to kill him, and that someone was a +woman." + +"You're quite sure, miss, that it wasn't you? You're quite sure?" + +"Quite, Evans; don't you be afraid." + +"Then if that's so, miss, I don't mind. If you're innocent I don't care +what they do; let them do their worst." + +"That's what I feel--exactly. But I wish you'd let me make my meaning +clear to you! If a woman did do it, then--though I confess I don't +understand how--we must all of us be on the wrong scent, and the woman +who has been seen wandering through the woods at dead of night--and +that such an one has been seen I have good reasons for knowing--is the +one we want. So what we have to do is to identify that somnambulist." + +"But how are we going to do it?" + +"That, as yet, I own is more than I can tell you. The first step is to +make sure it isn't me." + +"Don't you fret about that, miss; I'm sure it isn't. I'll take these +things away and get 'em in soak at once." She gathered up the various +garments which her mistress had worn on that fateful night. "I wish +you'd let me take that knife; I'd feel safer if you would." + +"Thank you, Evans; but at present I'd rather you left the knife with +me." + +As Evans left the room Mrs Plummer came in, in the state of fluster +which, of late, was her chronic condition. + +"My dear," she began, "what is this I hear about Wilson? What is this +shocking story?" + +"Wilson has misbehaved herself and is therefore no longer in my +service. I imagine, Mrs Plummer, that that is what you hear. I am sorry +you should find it so shocking. It is not such a very unusual thing for +a servant to forget herself, is it?" + +"I don't know, my dear, when it comes to fighting Bevan and positively +assaulting you. But everything seems to be at sixes and sevens; nothing +seems to go right, either indoors or out. It makes me most unhappy. And +now there's an extraordinary person downstairs who insists on seeing +you." + +"An extraordinary person? What do you call an extraordinary person? Do +you know, Mrs Plummer, that a good deal of your language lately has +seemed to me to have had a flavour of exaggeration." + +"Exaggeration? You call it exaggeration? I should have thought it would +have been impossible to exaggerate some of the things which have +happened in this neighbourhood in the last few weeks. But there's no +accounting for people. I can only tell you that I should call the +person who is below an extraordinary person. Here is her card; she +herself thrust it into my hand." + +"Mrs Darcy Sutherland? I don't know anyone of that name." + +"She knows you, or she pretends she does. I met her on the steps as I +was coming in. When I told her you were out--because I thought you had +gone on your motor, you said you were going--she replied that she would +wait till you came back, if she had to wait a week. That I call an +extraordinary remark to make." + +"It is rather an unusual one. I will go down and see Mrs Darcy +Sutherland." + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII + + MRS DARCY SUTHERLAND + + +As Miss Arnott went to her visitor she had premonitions that more +disagreeables were at hand. No one whom she was desirous of seeing +would have uttered such a speech as that which Mrs Plummer had +repeated. Her premonitions were realised to the full. As she entered +the sitting-room, into which the caller had been shown, a big, blowsy, +over-dressed woman rose from a chair, whom the girl instantly +acknowledged that Mrs Plummer had been perfectly justified in calling +an extraordinary person. She was painted, and powdered, and pencilled, +and generally got up in a style which made it only too plain what kind +of character she was. With a sinking heart Miss Arnott recognised Sarah +Stevens, her quondam associate as a model in that costume department of +that Regent Street draper's where, once upon a time--it seemed +centuries ago--she had earned her daily bread, the woman who had +introduced her to Robert Champion, who had urged her to marry him, to +whom she owed all the trouble which had come upon her, and whose real +character she had learned too late. + +She had not expected, as she had asked herself what awaited her now, +that it was anything so bad as this. + +"You!" she stammered. + +"Yes, my dear, me! A nice little surprise for you, isn't it?" The woman +advanced towards her with the apparent intention of greeting her with a +kiss. Miss Arnott showed by her manner, as much as by the way in which +she drew back, that she did not intend to submit to anything of that +sort. The visitor was not at all abashed. She continued to smile the +hard, mechanical smile of the woman of her class. "You didn't expect to +see me, I'll be bound. Perhaps you'd forgotten me, and you thought, +perhaps, that I'd forgotten you, but you see I haven't. I've got a very +good memory, I have. Well, my love, and how are you? You're not looking +so well as I expected; quite peaked, you seem, nothing like so well +filled out as you used to be." + +"What do you mean by coming here? And by calling yourself Mrs Darcy +Sutherland?" + +"My dear Vi!" + +"Have the goodness not to address me by my Christian name." + +"It used to be Vi and Sally in the days gone by. But I suppose +circumstances are changed, that sometimes makes a difference. I don't +mind, it's all the same to me. I'll call you whatever you choose--Miss +Arnott if you like. I'm surprised to find that they all do seem to call +you that round here." + +"You haven't answered my questions. Why have you come here? And why do +you call yourself Mrs Sutherland?" + +"As to why I've come here, I'll tell you in half a minute, though +there's some who wouldn't ask such a thing of an old friend. Let me get +my breath, my love; that rotten old fly shook me all to pieces. As to +why I call myself Mrs Sutherland--that does seem an unpleasant remark +to make to a lady, let alone an old friend. But I'm not one that's +quick to take offence. I call myself Mrs Sutherland because I am Mrs +Sutherland. I've married since I saw you last." + +"You've married?" + +"Yes, why shouldn't I? And, unlike you, I'm not ashamed of my married +name, or of my husband's. By the way, my love, you must remember my +husband." + +"Remember him?" + +"Of course you must. He remembers you quite well. He was a friend of +your husband's." + +"A friend of my husband?" + +"Rather. They were pals--thick as thieves. Darcy knew Robert Champion +long before you did." + +"Darcy?" + +"That's my husband's Christian name. You can call him by it if you +like, though you don't want me to call you by yours. But then I'm more +open-minded, perhaps, than you are, and open-hearted too." + +"Be so good as to tell me why you have come here." + +The woman took a handkerchief from the bag made of steel beads which +was suspended from her waist; opening it out she twiddled it between +the white-gloved fingers of either hand. Miss Arnott immediately became +conscious of the odour of some strong perfume. + +"Can't you guess?" + +"I cannot." + +"Sure?" + +"I am quite sure that I am unable to think of any plausible excuse for +your presence in my house. You never were a friend of mine. Nor are you +a person whose acquaintance I desire to renew. You are perfectly well +aware that I know what kind of character you are. You did me all the +harm you could. It was only by the mercy of God that you did not do me +more. I do not intend to allow my house to be sullied by your presence +one moment longer than I can help." + +The girl crossed the room. + +"What are you going to do?" + +"I am going to ring to have you shown to the door." + +"You had better hear first what I've come for, unless you want me to +tell you in front of your servants." + +"As to that, I am indifferent. If you have anything to say to me say it +at once." + +"Oh, I'll tell you fast enough, don't you worry. It won't take me long +to say it. I can say it in just one sentence. Mrs Champion, I've come +to see your husband." + +The girl started, perceiving that trouble was threatening from still +another quarter. She was conscious that her visitor noticed her start, +but in spite of it she could not prevent her pulses throbbing +unpleasantly. + +"My husband? What do you mean?" + +"Oh, you know what I mean well enough, don't try acting the stupid with +me. You're not so dull as all that, nor yet so simple; and I'm not if +you are. Mrs Champion, I've come to see your husband, Mr Robert +Champion, my old friend Bob." + +"He's not here, you know he's not here." + +"How do I know he's not here? I know he came here." + +"How do you know he came here?" + +"Because me and my husband met him outside the gate of Wandsworth +Prison the Saturday morning he came out of it from doing his sentence. +His wife ought to have been there--that's you! but you wasn't! I +suppose you were on your couch of rose-leaves and didn't want to be +disturbed. Nice idea of a wife's duties you seem to have, and a pretty +sort you are to want to look down on me. Poor fellow! he was in sad +trouble, without a penny in his pocket, or a chance of getting one, and +him with the richest woman in England for his wife. When we told him of +the luck you'd had--" + +"So it was you who told him, was it?" + +"Yes, it was, and I daresay you'd have rather we hadn't; you'd have +rather he'd starved and got into trouble again, and rotted out his life +in gaol. But Darcy and me were his true friends, if his own wife +wasn't. We weren't going to see him hungry in the gutter while you were +gorging yourself on the fat of the land. We gave him a good meal, he +wanted it, poor chap; nothing but skin and bone he was. We told him all +about you, and where you lived, put him inside a new suit of clothes, +clothed him in new things from head to foot, we did, so that you +shouldn't think he disgraced you by his appearance, and gave him the +money to come down here; and he came." + +"Well?" + +For Mrs Darcy Sutherland had paused. + +"Well? You think it's well, do you? Then all I can say is, I don't. Mrs +Champion, I've come to see your husband." + +"He's not here." + +"He's not here? Then where is he?" + +"It is sufficient for you to be informed that he's not here." + +"Oh, no, it isn't; and don't you think it, my love. It's not sufficient +by a long way. He promised to let us hear from him directly he got down +here; we've heard nothing from that day to this, and that's some time +ago, you know." + +"If that is all you have to say I'll ring the bell." + +"But it's not all I've got to say. Still, you can ring the bell if you +like, it's not my bell. Though, if you take my advice, you'll hear me +out before you do." + +"Go on." + +"Oh, I'll go on, as I told you before, don't you worry, and don't you +try to bully me, because I'm not to be bullied, threatening me with +your bells! Mrs Champion," the woman repeated the name with a curious +gusto, enjoying the discomfort the sound of it occasioned the girl in +front of her, "Mr Sutherland and me, we're not rich. Your husband +promised to give us back that money we let him have, and since it seems +that I can't see him I should like to see the colour of the money." + +"That's what you want, is it? I begin to understand. How much was it?" + +"Well, we'll say a thousand pounds." + +"A thousand pounds!" + +"A thousand pounds." + +"Do you dare to pretend that you gave him a thousand pounds?" + +"I don't pretend anything of the kind. I pretend nothing. What I say is +this. If I can see Mr Robert Champion and enjoy the pleasure of a +little chat with him I shall be content to receive back the cash we +lent him. If I can't do that I want a thousand pounds. Don't you +understand, my love?" + +Miss Arnott did understand at last. She realised that the purport of +this woman's errand was blackmail. When comprehension burst upon her +she was silent; she was trying to collect her thoughts, to think--a +process which the increasing pressure of "the slings and arrows of +outrageous fortune" made difficult. Mrs Darcy Sutherland observed her +obvious discomposure with smiling amusement, as the proverbial child +might observe the movements of the fly which it has impaled with a pin. + +Miss Arnott was saying to herself, or rather, endeavouring to say to +herself--for her distress of mind was blurring her capacity for exact +expression--that a thousand pounds was but a trifling sum to her, and +that if by the expenditure of such an amount she could free herself +from this new peril it would be money well spent. She did not stop to +reflect, although, all the while, the idea was vaguely present in her +mind that, by yielding to this woman's demand, she would be delivering +herself to her body and soul. Her one feeling was the desire to get +this woman out of the house without a scene--another scene such as she +had had with Wilson, probably a much worse one than that. If she could +only be relieved of the odious oppression born of her near +neighbourhood, breathe purer air uncontaminated by this creature's +presence, if she could only do this for a time it would be something. +She would have a chance to look round her, to gather together her +forces, her scattered senses. If she could only do that she might be +more than a match for Mrs Darcy Sutherland yet. But she must have that +chance, she must not have exposure--in its worst form--thrust upon her +now, in her present state--she was becoming more and more conscious of +shaky nerves--that might be more than she was able to bear. The chance +was well worth a thousand pounds, which to her was nothing. + +She was all at once seized with an overwhelming longing to take instant +advantage of the chance the woman offered her. She resolved to give her +what she asked. + +"If I let you have what you want will you promise to go away +immediately--right away?" + +"I'll walk out of this house without speaking a word to a creature in +it, or to anyone out of it for the matter of that, and I'll take the +next train back to town, if that's what you mean." + +"That's what I do mean. If I give you a cheque for a thousand pounds +will that do?" + +"If you leave it open, and make it payable to bearer, I don't know that +I'd mind taking it. I suppose there's money enough at the bank to meet +it; and that you won't try to stop its being paid." + +"There's plenty of money to meet it, and I certainly shall not try to +stop its being paid." + +"Then I'll tell you what; you give me all the ready money you have got +in the house, and an open cheque to bearer for the balance--that'll be +more satisfactory for both parties--then I'll take myself off as fast +as you like." + +"Very well. I'll go and see what money I've got and I'll bring you a +cheque for the rest." + +Miss Arnott moved towards the door, intending to perpetrate what was +perhaps the worst folly of which she had been guilty yet. Just as she +reached the door it opened. Mr Stacey entered, followed by a dark, +dapper gentleman--Ernest Gilbert. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX + + SOME PASSAGES OF ARMS + + +Mr Stacey held out both hands to her in the effusive fashion which, +when he chose, he could manage very well. + +"My dear Miss Arnott, I think I'm unexpected." He was; so unexpected +that, in the first flush of her surprise, the girl was oblivious of his +outstretched hands. He went on, ignoring her confusion. "But I trust I +am not unwelcome because I happen to come unheralded." Looking about +him he noticed Mrs Sutherland. "But you are not alone. I hope that our +unannounced entrance has not been an intrusion. May I ask you to make +me known to your"--something caused him not to use the word which was +already on the tip of his tongue--"to this lady." + +"This is Mrs Darcy Sutherland." + +"Mrs Darcy Sutherland?" In spite of his mellifluous tones there was +something in the way in which he repeated the name which hardly +suggested a compliment. "And what might Mrs Darcy Sutherland want with +you?" + +Mrs Sutherland took it upon herself to answer. + +"Well, I never! the impudence of that! Who are you, pray? and what +business is it of yours?" + +The lawyer was blandness itself. + +"I beg your pardon. Were you speaking to me?" + +"Yes, I was speaking to you, and you know I was." She turned to Miss +Arnott. "I think, my dear, it would be better if you were to ask these +two gentlemen to leave us alone together till you and I have finished +our little business." + +"Business?" At the sound of the word Mr Stacey pricked up his ears. He +addressed Miss Arnott. "As in all matters of business I have the honour +to represent you, don't you think that, perhaps, you had better leave +me to deal with this--lady in a matter of business?" + +The lady referred to resented the suggestion hotly. + +"What next, I wonder? You'll do nothing of the kind, my dear, not if I +know it you won't. And as I'm in rather a hurry, perhaps you'll go and +do what you said you would." + +Mr Stacey put to Miss Arnott a question. + +"What was it you said that you would do for this lady?" + +Again the lady showed signs of heat. + +"I never saw the equal of you for meddling. Don't you go poking your +nose into other people's affairs, or you'll be sorry. If you take my +advice, my dear, you won't tell him a single thing. I sha'n't, if you +won't, you may trust me for that. You'll keep your own business to +yourself, especially when it's business of such a very particular +kind--interfering old party!" + +"If you take my advice, Miss Arnott, and I think you have reason to +know that in general my advice is to be trusted, you will tell me in +the fewest, and also in the plainest, possible words what this person +wants with you. It is evidently something of which she is ashamed, or +she would not be so anxious for concealment." + +"Don't you call me a person, because I won't have it; and don't you +interfere in what's my business, because I won't have that either." The +indignant Mrs Darcy Sutherland rose to her feet. "Now, look here, and +don't let there be any mistake about it, I'm not going to have this +impudent old man humbugging about with me, so don't let anyone think +it. So you'll please to understand, Miss Arnott, that if you're going +to get what you promised to get, you'd better be quick about it, +because I've had about as much as I care to put up with. I'm not going +to let any man trample on me, I don't care who he is, especially when I +don't know him from Adam." + +"Surely there can be no objection to my putting a simple question. What +is it you promised to get for this--lady about which she betrays so +much anxiety?" + +Miss Arnott replied. + +"If you don't mind, I'd rather not have any bother. I've had some +trouble already." + +"I know you have; it is because of that that we are here. Believe me, +my dear young lady, you will be quite safe if you trust yourself in my +hands." + +"I don't want to have any more trouble, so, as it wasn't a sum which +was of much consequence to me, I was just going to get some money which +Mrs Sutherland wanted when you came in." + +"Money?" + +"Yes, money!--money she owes me!--so now you know!" + +"Do you owe this--lady money?" + +"Well, it isn't exactly that I owe it, but money is owing to her, I +believe." + +"How much?" + +"A thousand pounds." + +"A thousand pounds! Is it possible that you were thinking of giving +this woman a thousand pounds?" + +At this point Mrs Darcy Sutherland thought proper to give her passion +reins, with results which were hardly becoming. + +"Look here, don't you call me a woman, you white-headed old rooster, as +if I wasn't a lady! I'm as much a lady as she is, and a good deal more. +The next time you give me any more of your sauce, I'll smack your face; +I've done it to better men than you before to-day, so don't you say +that I didn't warn you!" She turned to Miss Arnott. "As for you--how +much longer are you going to be tommy-rotting about? Are you going to +give me that thousand pounds, or aren't you? You know what the +consequences will be if you don't! Don't you think, in spite of his +smooth tongue, that he can save you from them, because he can't, as you +shall very soon see. Now, am I going to have that money or not?" + +Mr Gilbert, asserting himself for the first time, interfered. + +"Stacey, I should like to say a few words to Mrs Darcy Sutherland. Mrs +Darcy Sutherland, I believe my name is not unknown to you--Ernest +Gilbert." + +"Ernest Gilbert?" The woman changed countenance. "Not the Ernest +Gilbert?" + +"Yes, the Ernest Gilbert. And I see you are the Mrs Darcy Sutherland; +thank you very much. I have been favoured with instructions to proceed +against a gang of long firm swindlers, the ringleader of whom is a man +who calls himself Darcy Sutherland. There's a warrant out for his +arrest, but for the moment he's slipped through our fingers. There has +been some talk as to whether your name should be included in that +warrant; at present, it isn't. When you leave here I'll have you +followed. The probability is that you'll make for the man you call your +husband. If you do so, we'll have him; if you don't, we'll have +you--see?" + +On hearing this the woman flung all remnants of decency from her. + +"That's the time of day, is it? You think you've got me, do you? Fancy +you've only got to snap your fingers and I'm done for? That's where +you're wrong, as I'll soon show you. If I'm in a bit of a hole, what +about her? Who do you think she is? What do you think she's been doing? +I'll tell you if you don't know, and then we shall know where we +are!--and she'll know too!--by----! she will!" + +Mr Ernest Gilbert glanced round towards Mr Stacey. + +"Take Miss Arnott out of the room." + +Inside thirty seconds Mr Stacey had whisked the girl out of the room +and vanished with her. Mrs Darcy Sutherland, realising the trick which +was being played, rushed to the door. But Mr Gilbert was there first; +with the key turned, he stood with his back to the door and faced her. + +"You get away from in front of that door! What do you mean by turning +that key? You open that door and let me out this instant!" + +The lawyer's reply did not breathe the spirit of conciliation. + +"I'll see you hung first." + +"Don't you speak to me like that! Who do you think you're talking to?" + +"To you. Now, you foul-mouthed judy, I'm going to take off the gloves +to deal with you. I've not had the dregs of the criminal population +pass through my hands all these years without knowing how to deal with +a woman of your type, as I'm going to show you. What were you going to +say to Miss Arnott?--out with it!" + +"Never mind what I was going to say to Miss Arnott; I'm going to say +nothing to you; don't you think it! Who do you think you're trying to +bounce?" + +"You're going to say exactly what you would have said if that young +lady had remained in the room, or when you do go it will be in the +charge of a policeman." + +"Oh, shall I? We'll see! Don't you make any mistake!" + +"Don't you." + +"You must think I'm a simple-minded innocent, to come trying to play +your confidence tricks off on me. What do you want me to think I'll be +in the charge of a policemen for, I'd like to know?" + +"Blackmail." + +"Blackmail! What do you mean?" + +"You know perfectly well what I mean. You have just been trying to +blackmail that girl to the tune of a thousand pounds. No offence more +severely punished. I'll have you jugged on one charge, and the +blackguard you call your husband on another." + +"I wasn't trying to do anything of the sort; don't fancy you can bluff +me! I was only telling the truth." + +"Makes it worse. Suppose you believed her to have committed murder, and +said you'd out with what you knew if she didn't give you a thousand +pounds--that would be blackmail in its most heinous form; you'd get a +lifer as sure as you're alive. My time's valuable. Which is it going to +be--the policeman or what you call the truth?" + +"If I do tell you what use will you make of it?" + +"No questions answered. Which is it going to be?" + +"If I tell you, will you let me go right straight off? No shadowing or +anything of that kind?" + +"The only promise I'll make is that I won't let you go if you don't. +Out with it!" + +"You're very hard on a girl! I don't know what I've done to you!" + +"No snivelling; put away that evil-smelling rag; I'm going to have that +policeman." + +He was standing by the bell. + +"Don't! I'll tell you!" + +"Then tell!" + +"I don't know what it is you want me to tell you--I really don't!" + +"I want you to tell me what's the pull you've got, or think you've got, +over Miss Arnott." + +"It's about that chap who was killed in the woods here." + +"What about him?" + +"He was her husband." + +"How do you know?" + +"I ought to. He was an old friend of mine, and I was her bridesmaid +when she married him." + +"Why did she keep him dark?" + +"Well, he got into a bit of trouble." + +"Go on! out with it all! and don't you stammer!" + +"I'm not stammering, and I'm going on as fast as ever I can! I never +saw anyone like you. He got into prison, that's what he did, and of +course she wasn't proud of it. He only came out the morning of the day +he came down here; my husband and me lent him the money to come with, +and we want our money back again--we can't afford to lose it." + +"I see. His object in coming was blackmail--like yours. Is that all the +pull?" + +"All! I should think it's enough, considering. But, as it happens, it +isn't all." + +"What else is there?" + +"Why, she killed him." + +"How do you know?" + +"It stands to reason. Why didn't she let out he was her husband and +that she knew all about him? Isn't it plain enough why? Because they +met in the woods, and had a bit of a quarrel, and she knifed him, +that's why. And she'll swing for it in spite of all her money. And it's +because she knows it that she was so willing to give me that thousand +pounds. What do you think?" + +"You evil-speaking, black-hearted cat! Now I'll have that policeman, +and for what you've said to me you shall have a lifer!" + +He moved towards the bell. + +"Don't! you promised you'd let me go!" + +"I promised nothing of the kind, you---! I tell you what I will do. +I'll unlock that door and let you through it. You shall have six hours' +start, and then I'll have a warrant out for you, and if I catch you I +promise I'll do my best to get you penal servitude for life. As we've a +shrewd idea of your husband's whereabouts, if you take my advice you'll +keep away from him. Now, out you go!" + +Unlocking the door he threw it open. + +"Six hours mind, honest!" + +"Six hours, by my watch. After that, if I can catch you I will, you can +bet on it. Take yourself outside this house before I change my mind. +You'd better!" + +Apparently Mrs Darcy Sutherland was of his opinion; she was out of the +house with a swiftness which did credit to her agility. Almost as soon +as she had gone Mr Stacey appeared in the doorway of the room she had +just quitted. + + + + + CHAPTER XXX + + MISS ARNOTT IS EXAMINED + + +Mr Stacey put a question to Mr Gilbert. + +"Have you got rid of her?" + +"Very much so. Stacey, I must see Miss Arnott at once, the sooner the +safer. I'm afraid she did it." + +"Do you mean that she killed that fellow in Cooper's Spinney? I don't +believe a word of it. What's that woman been saying?" + +"It's not a question of belief but of fact. I'll tell you afterwards +what she's been saying. What we want to do is to get at the truth. I +fancy we shall do it if you let me have a few minutes' conversation +with your young friend. If she didn't do it I'll do my level best to +prevent a hair of her head from being injured, and if she did I may be +able to save her. This is one of those cases in which, before I'm able +to move, I must know just where I am standing." + +"You seem to have an ethical standard of your own." + +"A man in my line of business must have. Where's Miss Arnott?" + +"I'll take you to her. She's expecting you. I told her you'd like to +have a little talk with her. But, mind this, she's anything but well, +poor girl! I believe she's been worried half out of her mind." + +"I shouldn't wonder." + +"I didn't bring you down here to subject her to a hostile +cross-examination. I won't let you do it--especially in her present +condition." + +"When you've finished perhaps you'll take me to her; you don't want her +to hang." + +"Hang! Gilbert! God forbid! Whatever she may have done she's only a +child, and I'm persuaded that at heart she's as innocent as you or me." + +"If she isn't more innocent than I am I'm sorry for her. Will you take +me to see this paragon of all the feminine virtues?" + +"You wear your cynicism like a cloak; it's not such an essential part +as you choose to imagine." + +Ernest Gilbert smiled as if he would show his teeth. + +Mr Stacey led the way to an apartment which was called the red +drawing-room, where already that afternoon Miss Arnott had interviewed +Hugh Morice and Mrs Forrester. It was a pleasant, well-lighted room, +three windows ran up one side of it almost from floor to ceiling. The +girl was standing in front of one of these as the two men entered, +looking out on to the Italian garden, which was a blaze of sunshine and +of flowers. Mr Stacey crossed to her with his somewhat exuberant, +old-fashioned courtesy. + +"Permit me, my dear young lady, to offer you a chair. I think you will +find this a comfortable one. There, how is that?" She had seated +herself, at his invitation, in a large, straight-backed armchair +covered with a fine brocade, gold on a crimson background, whose age +only enhanced its beauty. "As I was telling you just now, I have heard, +to my great distress, that several things have happened recently, +hereabouts, which could hardly tend to an increase of your comfort." + +"No, indeed." + +"Part of my information came from my very good friend here, and he will +be your very good friend also if you will let him. Let me introduce you +to Mr Ernest Gilbert." + +In acknowledgment of the introduction the girl inclined her head. Mr +Gilbert gave his a perfunctory little shake, as if he had a stiff neck. + +"I am glad to meet you, Mr Gilbert. I was sorry to learn from Mr Morice +that you have sent me back my money and refused to defend Jim Baker." + +Mr Stacey interposed before the other had a chance to answer. + +"Quite so, my dear young lady, quite so; we will come to that +presently. Mr Gilbert came to see me this morning on that very subject. +It is in consequence of certain communications which he then made to me +that we are here. You instructed him, from what I understand, to defend +this unfortunate man." + +"Which he at first consented, and then declined to do." + +This time it was Mr Gilbert who interposed, before Mr Stacey was ready +with his reply. + +"Stacey, if you don't mind, I'll speak. I think it's possible that Miss +Arnott and I may understand each other in half a dozen sentences." + +Mr Gilbert was leaning over the back of a chair, right in front of her. +The girl eyed him steadily. There was a perceptible interval, during +which neither spoke, as if each was taking the other's measure. Then +the girl smiled, naturally, easily, as if amused by some quality which +she discerned either in the lawyer's terrier-like countenance or in the +keenness of his scrutiny. It was she who was the first to speak, still +with an air of amusement. + +"I will try to understand you, and I should like you to understand me. +At present I'm afraid you don't." + +"I'm beginning to." + +"Are you? That's good news." + +"Your nerves are strong." + +"I've always flattered myself that they weren't weak." + +"You like plain speaking." + +"I do--that is, when occasion requires." + +"This is such an occasion." + +"I think it is." + +"Then you won't mind my asking you a plain question." + +"Not at all." + +"Who killed that man in Cooper's Spinney?" + +"I don't know." + +"You are sure?" + +"Quite." + +"Are you aware that Jim Baker thinks you killed him?" + +"I am." + +"And that Hugh Morice thinks so also?" + +"I know he did think so; I fancy that now he has his doubts--at least, +I hope he has." + +"How do you explain the fact of two such very different men being under +the same erroneous impression?" + +"I can't explain it; I can explain nothing. I don't know if you are +aware that until quite recently I thought it was Mr Morice himself who +killed that man." + +"What made you think that?" + +"Two or three things, but as I am now of a different opinion it doesn't +matter what they were." + +"But it does matter--it matters very much. What made you think that +Hugh Morice killed that man?" + +The girl turned to Mr Stacey. + +"Shall I answer him? It's like this. I don't know where Mr Gilbert's +questions may be landing me, and I don't want to have more trouble than +I have had already--especially on this particular point." + +"My dear young lady, if your own conscience acquits you--and I am sure +it does--my strongest advice to you is, tell all you have to tell. The +more light we have thrown on the matter the better. I grieve to learn +that the finger of scandal has been pointed at you, and that, if we are +not very careful, very serious and disagreeable consequences may +presently ensue. I implore you to hide nothing from us which may enable +us to afford you more than adequate protection from any danger which +may threaten. This may prove to be a very grave business." + +"I'm not afraid of what may happen to me, not one bit. Pray don't +either of you be under any delusion on that point. What I don't want is +to have something happen to anyone else because of me." She addressed +Mr Gilbert. "What use will you make of any information which I may give +you with regard to Mr Morice?" + +"If it will relieve your mind, Miss Arnott, and enable you to answer my +question, let me inform you that I am sure--whatever you may suppose to +the contrary--that Hugh Morice is not the guilty person." + +"Why are you sure?" + +"First, because I know him; and he's not that kind of man. And second, +because in the course of a lengthy interview I had with him I should +have perceived something to cause me to suspect his guilt, instead of +which I was struck by his conviction of yours." + +"Now I also believe he is innocent--but I had reasons for my doubts; +better ones than he had for his doubts of me." + +"May I ask what those reasons were?" + +"I was within a very short distance of where the murder was committed, +and though I was not an actual witness, I heard. A moment afterwards I +saw Mr Morice come running from--the place where it was done, as if for +his life. Then--by the dead man I found the knife with which he had +been killed. It was Mr Morice's knife; a few minutes before I had seen +him with it in his hand." + +"You found Hugh Morice's knife? What did you do with it?" + +"It is still in my possession. You see, I thought that he was guilty, +and--for reasons of my own--I did not wish to have the fact made +public." + +"This is a curious tangle into which you have managed to get things +between you. Have you any idea of what it is Mrs Darcy Sutherland has +just been telling me?" + +"I can guess. She has probably told you that the dead man was my +husband--Robert Champion." + +"Your husband! My dear young lady!" + +This was Mr Stacey. + +"Yes, my husband, who had that morning been released from gaol." Mr +Stacey would, probably, have pursued the subject further, but with a +gesture Mr Gilbert prevented him. The girl went on. "Mr Morice knew he +was my husband. I thought he had killed him to save me from him; he +thought I had done so to save myself. It is a puzzle. There is only one +thing that seems clear." + +"And that is?" + +"That it was a woman who killed my husband." + +"I see what you mean. I have been trying to splice the threads. That +person who has just been here--Mrs Darcy Sutherland--do you think it +possible that she could have been that woman?" + +"I should say that it was impossible." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI + + THE TWO POLICEMEN + + +Mr William Granger, of the County Police, was just finishing tea in his +official residence when there came a rap at the door leading into the +street. Mr Granger was not in the best of tempers. The county policeman +has not quite such a rosy time as his urban colleague is apt to +suppose. Theoretically he is never off duty; his armlet is never off +his sleeve. It is true that he has not so much to do as his city +brother in the way of placing law-breakers under lock and key; but then +he has to do a deal of walking exercise. For instance, Mr Granger had a +twelve-mile beat to go over every day of his life, hot or cold, rain or +shine, besides various local perambulations before or after his main +round was finished. Not infrequently he walked twenty miles a day, +occasionally more. + +One would have thought that so much pedestrianism would have kept Mr +Granger thin; he himself sincerely wished that it had had that effect. +As a matter of fact he was the stoutest man in the village, which was +galling. First, because he was conscious that his bulk did not tend to +an increase of personal dignity. Second, because, when the inspector +came from the neighbouring town, he was apt to make unpleasant remarks +about his getting plumper every time he saw him; hinting that it was a +very snug and easy billet for which he drew his pay; adding a hope that +it was not because he was neglecting his duty that he was putting on +weight so fast. Third, because when one is fat walking is apt to result +in considerable physical discomfort, and twenty miles on a hot summer's +day for a man under five foot ten who turns the scale at seventeen +stone! + +Mr Granger, who had come back hot and tired, had scarcely flung his +helmet into one corner of the room, and his tunic into the other, when +his inspector entered. That inspector was fond of paying surprise +visits; he surprised Mr Granger very much just then. The policeman had +a bad time. His official superior more than hinted that not only had he +cut his round unduly short on that particular day, but that he was in +the habit of curtailing it, owing to physical incapacity. Then he took +him for another little stroll, insisting on his accompanying him to the +station and seeing him off in the train which took him back to +headquarters, which entailed another walk of a good six miles--three +there and three back--along the glaring, dusty road. + +By the time Mr Granger was home again he was as bad-tempered a +policeman as you would have cared to encounter. Tea, which had been +postponed to an unholy hour, did but little to improve either his +temper or his spirits. He scarcely opened his mouth except to swallow +his food and snap at his wife; and when, just as she was clearing away +the tea-things, there came that rap at the door, there proceeded from +his lips certain expletives which were very unbecoming to a constable, +as his wife was not slow to point out. + +"William! what are you saying? I will not have you use such language in +my presence. I should like to know what Mr Giles would say if he heard +you." + +Mr Giles was the inspector with whom Mr Granger had just such an +agreeable interview; the allusion was unfortunate. + +"Mr Giles be----" + +"William!" + +"Then you shouldn't exasperate me; you only do it on purpose; as if I +hadn't enough to put up with as it is. Don't stand there trying to put +me in a bad temper, but just open that door and see who's knocking." + +Possibly Mr Granger spoke in louder tones than he supposed, because +before his helpmate could reach the door in question it was opened and +someone put his head inside. + +"All right, Mr Granger, I'm sure that good lady of yours has enough to +do without bothering about opening doors; it's only yours very truly." + +The newcomer spoke in a tone of voice which suggested complete +confidence that he would be welcome; a confidence, however, which was +by no means justified by the manner of his reception. The constable +stared at him as if he would almost sooner have seen Inspector Giles +again. + +"You! What brings you here at this time of day? I thought you were in +London." + +"Ah, that's where you thought wrong. Mrs Granger, what's that you've +got there--tea? I'm just about feeling equal to a sup of tea, if it's +only what's left at the bottom of the pot." + +The speaker was a tall, loose-limbed man with a red face, and hair just +turning grey. From his appearance he might have been a grazier, or a +farmer, or something to do with cattle; only it happened that he was Mr +Thomas Nunn, the detective from London who had been specially detailed +for duty in connection with the murder in Cooper's Spinney. As Mr +Granger had learned to associate his presence with worries of more +kinds than one, it was small wonder--especially in the frame of mind in +which he then was--that he did not receive him with open arms. Mr Nunn +seemed to notice nothing, not even the doubtful glances with which Mrs +Granger looked into her teapot. + +"There isn't a drop in here, and I don't know that it will bear more +water." + +"Put in another half-spoonful and fill it up out of the kettle; +anything'll do for me so long as there's plenty of it and it's moist, +as you'd know if you saw the inside of my throat. Talk about dust!" + +Mr Granger was eyeing him askance. + +"You never come down from London. I saw the train come in, and you +weren't in it." + +"No, I haven't come from London." + +"The last train back to London's gone--how are you going to manage?" + +"Well, if it does come to the pinch I thought that you might give me a +shake-down somewhere." + +The policeman glanced at his wife. + +"I don't know about that. I ain't been paid for the last time you were +here. They don't seem too anxious to pay your bills--your people +don't." + +"That's their red tape. You'll get your money. This time, however, I'm +going to pay for what I have down on the nail." + +"What's brought you? You know, Mr Nunn, this ain't an inn. My wife and +me don't pretend to find quarters for all the members of the force." + +"Of course you don't. But I think you'll be interested when you hear +what has brought me. I may be wrong, but I think you will. I've come +from Winchester." + +"From Winchester?" + +Husband and wife both started. + +"Yes, from Winchester. I've been to see that chap Baker. By the way, I +hear he's a relation of yours." + +"Most of the people is related hereabouts, somehow; but he's only +distant. He's only a sort of a cousin, and I've never had much truck +with him though I ain't saying he's not a relation. What's up with him +now?" + +"He made a communication to the governor, and the governor made a +communication to headquarters, and headquarters made a communication to +me. In consequence of that communication I've been paying him a call." + +"What's the last thing he's been saying?" + +"Well, he's been making a confession." + +At this point Mrs Granger--who was lingering with the +tea-tray--interposed. + +"A confession, Mr Nunn! You don't mean for to tell that after all he +owns up 'twas he who killed he man?" + +"No, I can't say exactly that I do. It's not that sort of confession +he's been making. What he's been confessing is that he knows who did +kill him." + +"Who was it, Mr Nunn?" + +"Supposing, Mrs Granger, you were to get me that sup of tea. If you +were to know what my throat felt like you wouldn't expect to get much +through it till it had had a good rinsing." + +The constable issued his marital orders. + +"Now then, Susan, hurry up with that tea for Mr Nunn. What are you +standing there gaping for? If you were to know what the dust is like +you'd move a little quicker." + +Mrs Granger proceeded to hurry. Mr Nunn seated himself comfortably at +the table and waited, showing no sign of a desire to continue the +conversation till the tea appeared. His host dropped a hint or two, +pointing out that to him, in his official capacity, the matter was of +capital importance. But Mr Nunn declined to take them. When the tea did +appear he showed more reticence than seemed altogether necessary. He +was certainly slower in coming to the point than his hearers relished. +Mr Granger did his best to prompt him. + +"Well, Mr Nunn, now that you've had three cups of tea perhaps you +wouldn't mind mentioning what Jim Baker's been saying that's brought +you here." + +Mr Nunn helped himself to a fourth. + +"I'm in rather a difficult position." + +"I daresay. It might make it easier perhaps if you were to tell me just +what it is." + +"I'm not so sure, Granger, I'm not so sure. That relative of yours is a +queer fish." + +"Maybe I know what sort of a fish he is better than you do, seeing I've +known him all my life." + +"What I've got to ask myself is--What reliance is to be placed on what +he says?" + +"Perhaps I might be able to tell you if you were to let me know what he +does say." + +"Oh, that's the point." Mr Nunn stirred what remained of his fourth cup +of tea with a meditative air. "Mr Granger, I don't want to say anything +that sounds unfriendly or that's calculated to hurt your feelings, but +I'm beginning to be afraid that you've muddled this case." + +"Me muddled it! Seeing that you've had the handling of it from the +first, if anyone's muddled it, it's you." + +"I don't see how you make that out, Mr Granger, seeing that you're on +the spot and I'm not." + +"What's the good of being on the spot if I'm not allowed to move a +finger except by your instructions?" + +"Have there been rumours, Mr Granger? and by that I mean rumours which +a man who had his professional advancement at heart might have laid his +hand on." + +"Of course there have been rumours! there's been nothing else but +rumours! But every time I mentioned one of them to you all I got was a +wigging for my pains." + +"That's because the ones you mentioned to me were only +will-o'-the-wisps. According to the information I've received the real +clues you've let slip through your fingers." + +Mr Granger stood up. He was again uncomfortably hot. His manner was +hardly deferential. + +"Excuse me, Mr Nunn, but if you've come here to lecture me while +drinking of my wife's tea, since I've had a long and a hard day's work, +perhaps you'll let me go and clean myself and have a bit of rest." + +"If there's anything in what Jim Baker says there's plenty for you to +do, Mr Granger, before you think of resting." + +"What the devil does he say?" + +"You needn't swear at me, Mr Granger, thank you all the same. I've come +here for the express purpose of telling you what he says." + +"Then you're a long time doing it." + +"Don't you speak to me like that, Granger, because I won't have it. I +conduct the cases which are placed in my hands in my own way, and I +don't want no teaching from you. Jim Baker says that although he didn't +kill the chap himself he saw him being killed, and who it was that +killed him." + +"Who does he say it was?" + +"Why, the young woman up at Exham Park--Miss Arnott." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII + + THE HOUSEMAID'S TALE + + +Mr And Mrs Granger looked at each other. Then the husband dropped down +into the chair which he had just vacated with a sound which might be +described as a snort; it was perhaps because he was a man of such +plethoric habit that the slightest occasion for surprise caused him to +emit strange noises. His wife caught at the edge of the table with both +her hands. + +"Lawk-a-mussy!" she exclaimed. "To think of Jim Baker saying that!" + +"It seems to me," observed Mr Nunn, with an air of what he perhaps +meant to be rhadamanthine severity, "that if there's anything in what +that chap says somebody ought to have had their suspicions before now. +I don't say who." + +This with a very meaning glance at Mr Granger. + +"Suspicions!" cried the lady. "Why, Mr Nunn, there ain't been nothing +but suspicions! I shouldn't think there was a soul for ten miles round +that hasn't been suspected by someone else of having done it. You +wouldn't have had my husband lock 'em all up! Do you believe Jim +Baker?" + +"That's not the question. It's evidence I want, and it's for evidence, +Mr Granger, I've come to you." + +"Evidence of what?" gasped the policeman. "I don't know if you think I +keep evidence on tap as if it was beer. All the evidence I have you've +got--and more." + +His wife persisted in her inquiry. + +"What I ask you, Mr Nunn, is--Are you going to lock up that young lady +because of what Jim Baker says?" + +"And I repeat, Mrs Granger, that that's not the question, though you +must allow me to remark, ma'am, that I don't see what is your _locus +standi_ in the matter." + +"Aren't you drinking my tea?" + +"I don't see what my drinking your tea has got to do with it anyhow. At +the same time, since it'll all soon enough be public property, I don't +know that it's of much consequence. Of course a man hasn't been at the +game all the years I have without becoming aware that nothing's more +common than for A, when he's accused of a crime, to try to lay the +blame of it on B; and that, therefore, if for that reason only, what +that chap in Winchester Gaol says smells fishy. But at the same time +the statement he has made is of such a specific nature, and should be +so open to corroboration, or the reverse, that I'm bound to admit that +if anything did turn up to give it colour I should feel it my duty to +act on it at once." + +"Do you mean that you'd have her arrested?" + +"I do--that is if, as I say, I obtain anything in the nature of +corroborative evidence, and for that I look to Mr Granger." + +There was no necessity for him to do that, fortunately for the peace of +mind and body of the active and intelligent officer referred to. +Evidence of the kind of which he spoke was coming from an altogether +different quarter. Indeed, it was already at the door. + +Hardly had he done speaking than a modest tap was heard. Opening, Mrs +Granger found a small urchin standing in the dusk without, who slipped +an envelope into her hand, with which she returned into the room, +peering at the address. + +"What's this? 'To the Policeman.' I suppose, William, that means you; +it's only some rubbish, I suppose." + +She passed the envelope to her husband, who peered at the address as +she had done. + +"Let's have the lamp, Susan, you can't see to read in this here light. +Not that I suppose it's anything worth reading, but mine ain't cat's +eyes anyhow." + +The lamp was lit and placed upon the table. Mr Granger studied what was +written on the sheet of paper which he took from the envelope. + + +"Robert Champion was the name of the man who was murdered in the wood. +The mistress of Exham Park, who calls herself Miss Arnott, was his +wife. He came out of Wandsworth Prison to see her. And he saw her. + +"Ask her why she said nothing about it. + +"Then the whole truth will come out." + + +Mr Granger read this once, twice, thrice, while his wife and Mr Nunn +were watching him. Then he scratched his head. + +"This is rummy--uncommon. Here, you take and look at it, it's beyond me +altogether." + +He handed the sheet of paper to Mr Nunn, who mastered its contents at a +glance. Then he addressed a question to Mrs Granger, shortly, sharply. + +"Who gave you this?" + +"What is it?" + +"Never mind what it is, woman! Answer my question--who gave it you?" + +"It's no use your speaking to me like that, Mr Nunn, and so I'd have +you know. I'm no servant of yours! Some child slipped it into my hand, +but what with the bad light and the flurry I was in because of what +you'd been saying, I didn't notice what child no more than nothing at +all." + +Mr Nunn seemed disturbed. + +"It'll be a serious thing for you, Mrs Granger, if you're not able to +recognise who gave you this. You say it was a child? There can't be so +many children in the place. I'll find out which of them it was if I +have to interview every one in the parish. It can't have got so far +away; perhaps it's still waiting outside." + +As he moved towards the entrance, with a view of finding out if the +bearer of that singular communication was still loitering in the +immediate neighbourhood, he became conscious that someone was +approaching from without--more than one. While he already had the +handle in his grasp it was turned with a certain degree of violence by +someone on the other side; the door was thrown open, and he found +himself confronted by what, in the gathering darkness, seemed quite a +crowd of persons. + +"Is William Granger in?" demanded a feminine voice in not the most +placable of tones. Mr Nunn replied,-- + +"Mr Granger is in. Who are you, and what do you want with him?" + +"I'm his sister, Elizabeth Wilson, that's who I am, and I should like +to know who you are to ask me such a thing. And as for what I want, I +want justice; me and my daughter, Sarah Ann, we both want justice--and +I'm going to see I get it too. My own cousin, Jim Baker, he's in prison +this moment for what he never did, and I'm going to see that he's let +out of prison double quick and the party as ought to be in prison put +there. So you stand out of the way and let me get inside this house to +see my brother." + +Mr Nunn did as he was requested, and Mrs Wilson entered, accompanied by +her daughter, Sarah Ann. He looked at the assemblage without. + +"Who are all these people?" + +"They're my friends, that's who they are. They know all about it, and +they've come to see that I have fair play, and they'll see that I have +it too, and so I'd have everyone to understand." + +By way of commentary Mr Nunn shut the door upon the "friends" and stood +with his back to it. + +"Now then, Granger, who's this woman? And what's she talking about?" + +Mrs Wilson answered for her brother. + +"Don't you call me a woman, as if I was the dirt under your feet. And +as for who I am--William, who's this man? He's taking some fine airs on +himself. As what I have to say to you I don't want to have to say +before strangers, perhaps you'll just ask him to take himself outside." + +"Now, Liz," observed her brother, fraternally, "don't you be no more +silly than you can help. This gentleman's Mr Nunn, what's in charge of +the case--you know what case. He saw Jim Baker in Winchester Gaol only +this afternoon." + +"In Winchester Gaol, did he! Then more shame to them as put him in +Winchester Gaol, and him as innocent as the babe unborn! And with them +as did ought to be there flaunting about in all them fine feathers, and +with all their airs and graces, as if they were so many peacocks!" + +"What might you happen to be talking about?" + +"I'm talking about what I know, that's what I happen to be talking +about, William Granger, and so you'll soon learn. I know who ought to +be there instead of him, and if you've a drop of cousinly blood in your +veins you'll see that he's out of that vile place, where none of my +kith or kin ever was before, and that you know, the first thing +to-morrow morning." + +"Oh, you know who did ought to be there, do you? This is news, this is. +Perhaps you'll mention that party's name. Only let me warn you, +Elizabeth Wilson, to be careful what you say, or you may find yourself +in worse trouble than you quite like." + +"I'll be careful what I say, I don't need you to tell me, William +Granger! And I'll tell you who ought to be in Winchester Gaol instead +of Jim Baker--why, that there proud, stuck-up young peacock over at +Exham Park, that there Miss Arnott!" + +"Liz! I've told you already not to be more silly than you can help. +What do you know about Miss Arnott?" + +"What do I know about Miss Arnott? I'll soon tell you what I know about +your fine Miss Arnott. Sarah Ann, tell your uncle what you know about +that there Miss Arnott." + +Then the tale was unfolded--by Wilson the housemaid--by degrees, with +many repetitions, in somewhat garbled form; still, the essential truth, +so far as she knew it, was there. + +She told how, that eventful Saturday, the young mistress had been out +in the woods, as she put it, "till goodness only knows what hours of +the night." How, the next morning, the key of the wardrobe drawer was +lost; how, after many days, she, Wilson, had found it in the hem of her +own skirt, how she had tried the lock, "just to see if it really was +the key," of what the drawer contained--the stained clothing, the +bloody knife. She narrated, with dramatic force, how first Evans and +then Miss Arnott had come upon the scene, how the knife and the +camisole had been wrested from her, how she herself had been ejected +from the house. + +When she had finished Mr Nunn looked up from the pocket-book in which +he had been making copious notes of the words as they came from her +lips. + +"What you've said, Sarah Ann Wilson, you've said of your own free +will?" + +"Of course I have. Haven't I come here on purpose?" + +"And you're prepared to repeat your statement in a court of law, and +swear to its truth?" + +"I am. I'll swear to it anywhere." + +"You don't know what has become of that knife you've mentioned?" + +"Haven't I told you that she took it from me?--she and Mrs Evans +between them." + +"Yes; just so. Well, Mr Granger, all that I want now is a warrant for +the arrest of this young lady. And, at the same time, we'll search the +house. We'll find the knife of which this young woman speaks, if it's +to be found; only we mustn't let her have any longer time than we can +help to enable her to get rid of it, which, from all appearances, is +the first thing she'll try to do. So perhaps you'll be so good as to +tell me where I shall be likely to find the nearest magistrate--now, at +once." + +"I am a magistrate. What is there I can do for you, Mr Nunn?" + +Looking round to see from whom the unexpected answer came, they saw +that Mr Hugh Morice was standing in the open doorway. Closing the door +behind him he came into the room. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII + + ON HIS OWN CONFESSION + + +Hugh Morice had been resorting to that medicine--in whose +qualifications to minister to a mind diseased he more than half +believed--a ride upon his motor car. Of late he had found nothing to +clear the cobwebs from his brain so effectually as a whiz through the +air. That afternoon, after he had left Exham Park, he had felt that his +brain stood very much in need of a clearance. So he had gone for a long +run on his car. + +He was returning through the shadows, partially cured, when he found +what, in that part of the world, might be described as a crowd, +obstructing his passage through the village street. Stopping to inquire +what was the cause of the unusual concourse, he realised that the crowd +was loitering in front of Granger's cottage--the local stronghold of +the County Police. As he did so he was conscious that a shiver passed +all over him, which he was able neither to account for nor to control. +The answers, however, which the villagers gave to his hurried +questions, threw a lurid light upon the matter, and inspired him, on +the instant, with a great resolve. Dismounting, he entered the cottage, +just as Mr Nunn was addressing his remarks to Mr Granger. As he heard +he understood that, if what he proposed to do was to be of the +slightest effect, he had arrived in the very nick of time. + +They, on their part, stared at him half bewildered, half amazed. He had +on a long motor coat which shrouded him from head to foot; a cap which +covered not only his ears but also part of his face; while his disguise +was completed by a pair of huge goggles. It was only when he removed +these latter that--in spite of the dust which enveloped him as flour +over a miller--they recognised who he was. He repeated his own words in +a slightly different form. + +"You were saying, Mr Nunn, that you were requiring the services of a +magistrate. How can I serve you in that capacity?" + +The detective stared at the gigantic figure, towering over his own by +no means insignificant inches, still in doubt as to who he was. + +"I ought to know you; but, somehow, I don't feel as if I can place you +exactly, sir." + +Mr Morice smiled. + +"Tell him, Granger, who I am." + +Mr Granger explained. + +"This is Mr Hugh Morice, of Oak Dene, Justice of the Peace for this +division of the county. You can't have forgotten him, Mr Nunn; he used +to be present at the coroner's inquest." + +"Of course; now that Granger reminds me I remember you very well, Mr +Morice. You have arrived at a fortunate moment for me, sir. I was just +about to start off in search of a magistrate, and that, in the country, +at this time of night, sometimes means a long job. I wish to lay an +information before you, sir, and ask for a warrant." + +Mr Morice glanced at the three women. + +"In presence of these persons?" + +"I don't know that Mrs Granger need stop, or Mrs Wilson either. Mrs +Granger, you'd better take Mrs Wilson with you. It is partly in +consequence of a statement which this young woman has just been making +that I ask you for a warrant. Now, Mrs Wilson, off you go." + +But Mrs Wilson showed reluctance. + +"I don't know why I'm to be sent away--especially as it's my own +daughter--" + +Hugh Morice cut her short brusquely,-- + +"Leave the room!" + +Mrs Wilson showed him something of that deference which she had +hitherto declined to show to anyone else. Mrs Granger touched her on +the shoulder. + +"I'm coming! I'm sure, Susan Granger, there's no need for you to show +me. No one can ever say I stop where I am not wanted." + +When the two elder women had disappeared, Hugh Morice turned his +attention to Wilson the housemaid. + +"Who is this young person?" + +Mr Nunn informed him. Her story was gone through again. When she had +finished Mr Morice dismissed her to join her mother and her aunt. + +"Now, Mr Nunn, what do you want from me?" + +"A warrant for the arrest of Violet Arnott, of Exham Park." + +"On what charge?" + +"Wilful murder--the murder of Robert Champion." + +"Of whom?" + +"I said Robert Champion; but as it's not yet proved that was his name +we'd better have it in the warrant--name unknown. I may say, Mr Morice, +that that girl's statement is not all I'm going on. Within the hour +I've received this anonymous communication." + +He handed the communication in question to Mr Morice, who turned it +over and over between his fingers. + +"Where did you get this from?" + +"I can't tell you just at the moment; but I daresay I shall be able to +tell you before very long. Of course it's anonymous; but, at the same +time, it's suggestive. Also a statement was made to me, of the most +positive and specific kind, by James Baker, at present a prisoner in +Winchester Gaol. Altogether I'm afraid, Mr Morice, that the case +against this young woman is looking very black." + +"Are you in the habit, Mr Nunn, of making _ex officio_ statements of +that kind on occasions such as the present? If so, let me invite you +to break yourself of it. A man of your experience ought to know +better--very much better, Mr Nunn. I regret that I am unable to do +what you require." + +Mr Nunn stared; possibly slightly abashed by the rebuke which had been +administered to him in the presence of Mr Granger. + +"But, sir, begging your pardon, you've no option in the matter." + +"Haven't I? You'll find I have--a very wide option. I shall decline to +allow a warrant to be issued for the arrest of the lady you have +named." + +"But, Mr Morice, sir, on what grounds?" + +"Very simple ones. Because I happen to know she's innocent." + +"But that's no reason!" + +"You'll find it is, since I also happen to know who's guilty." + +"You know who's guilty? Mr Morice!" + +"Precisely--Mr Morice. It is I who am guilty. Mr Nunn, I surrender +myself into your custody as having been guilty of killing a certain man +on a certain Saturday night in Cooper's Spinney. Is that in proper +form?" + +"Are you serious, sir?" + +"I mean what I say, if that's what you are asking, Mr Nunn." + +"Then what about the tale that girl was telling, and that knife she +saw?" + +"That knife is mine." + +"Yours!" + +"Exactly, and I'm afraid that knife is going to hang me." + +"How came it in Miss Arnott's possession?" + +"That's the simplest part of the whole affair. After I had used it she +found it, and has kept it ever since." + +"Do you mean that she's been screening you?" + +"Something like it. That is, I don't know that she was sure of +anything; but, I fancy, she has had her doubts. I daresay she'll tell +you all about it if you ask her. You see, Mr Nunn, I've been in rather +an awkward position. So long as it was only a question of Jim Baker it +didn't so much matter; it's quite on the cards that in the course of +his sinful career he's done plenty of things for which he deserves to +be hung. When it comes to Miss Arnott, knowing that she knows what she +does know, and especially that she has that accursed knife of mine, +that's a horse of a different colour. Since she has only to open her +mouth to make an end of me, I may as well make as graceful an exit as +possible, and own the game is up. I don't quite know what is the usual +course in a matter of this sort, Mr Nunn. My motor is outside. If it is +possible I should like to run over to my house. You may come with me, +if you please, and Mr Granger also. There are one or two trifles which +require my personal attention, and then you may do with me as you +please. In fact, if you could manage to let me have an hour or two I +should be happy to place at your disposal quite a little fortune, Mr +Nunn and Mr Granger." + +"You ought to know better than to talk to me like that, Mr Morice. +After what you've just now said it's my duty to tell you that you're my +prisoner." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIV + + MR DAY WALKS HOME + + +It chanced that night that Mr Day, the highly respected butler at Exham +Park, paid a visit to a friend. It was rather late when he returned. +The friend offered to put him into a trap and drive him home, but Mr +Day declined. + +"It's a fine night," he observed, "and a walk will do me good. I don't +get enough exercise out of doors. I like to take advantage of any that +comes my way. I'm not so young as I was--we none of us are; but a +five-mile walk won't do me any harm. On a night like this I'll enjoy it. +Thank you, Hardy, all the same." + +So he walked. + +It was just after eleven when he reached the village. Considering the +hour he was surprised to find how many people there were about. Mr +Jenkins had just turned his customers out of the "Rose and Crown." A +roaring trade he seemed to have been doing. A couple of dozen people +were gathered together in clusters in front of the inn, exchanging +final greetings before departing homewards. For the most part they were +talking together at the top of their voices, as yokels on such +occasions have a trick of doing. Mr Day stopped to speak to a man, with +whom he had some acquaintance, in the drily sarcastic fashion for which +he was locally famed. + +"What's the excitement? Parish pump got burned?" + +"Why, Mr Day, haven't you heard the news?" + +"That Saturday comes before Sunday? Haven't heard anything newer." + +"Why, Mr Day, don't you know that Sarah Ann Wilson, from up at your +place, has been over to Granger's, trying to get him to give her a +warrant for your young lady?" + +"There's several kinds of fools about, but Sarah Ann Wilson's all kinds +of them together." + +"So it seems that Granger thinks. Anyhow he ain't given it her. He's +locked up Mr Morice instead." + +"What's that?" + +Another man chimed in. + +"Why, Mr Day, where are you been not to have heard that they've locked +up Mr Morice for murdering o' that there chap in Cooper's Spinney." + +"What nonsense are you men talking about?" + +"It ain't nonsense, Mr Day; no, that it ain't. You go over to Granger's +and you'll soon hear." + +"Who locked him up?" + +"Granger and Mr Nunn, that's the detective over from London. They +locked him up between them. It seems he gave himself up." + +"Gave himself up?" + +"So Mrs Wilson and her daughter says. They was in the kitchen, at the +other side of the door, and they heard him giving of himself up. Seems +as how they're going to take him over to Doverham in the morning and +bring him before the magistrates. My word! won't all the countryside be +there to see! To think of its having been Mr Morice after all. Me, I +never shouldn't have believed it, if he hadn't let it out himself." + +Mr Day waited to hear no more. Making his way through the little crowd +he strode on alone. That moon-lit walk was spoilt for him. As he went +some curious reflections were taking shape in his mind. + +"That finishes it. Now something will have to be done. I wish I'd done +as I said I would, and taken myself off long ago. And yet I don't know +that I should have been any more comfortable if I had. Wherever I might +have gone I should have been on tenterhooks. If I'd been on the other +side of the world and heard of this about Mr Morice, I should have had +to come back and make a clean breast of it. Yet it's hard on me at my +time of life!" He sighed, striking at the ground with the ferule of his +stick. "All my days I've made it my special care to have nothing to do +with the police-courts. I've seen too much trouble come of it to +everyone concerned, and never any good, and now to be dragged into a +thing like this. And all through her! If, after all, I've got to speak, +I don't know that I wouldn't rather have spoken at first. It would have +been better perhaps; it would have saved a lot of bother, not to speak +of all the worry I've had. I feel sure it's aged me. I could see by the +way Mrs Hardy looked at me to-night that she thought I was looking +older. Goodness knows that I'm getting old fast enough in the ordinary +course of nature." Again sighing, he struck at the ground with his +stick. "It would have served her right if I had spoken--anything would +have served her right. She's a nice sort, she is. And yet I don't know, +poor devil! She's not happy, that's sure and certain. I never saw +anyone so changed. What beats me is that no one seems to have noticed, +except me. I don't like to look her way: it's written so plain all over +her. It just shows how people can have eyes in their heads, and yet not +use them. From the remarks I've heard exchanged, I don't believe a +creature has noticed anything, yet I daresay if you were to ask them +they'd tell you they always notice everything. Blind worms!" + +Perhaps for the purpose of relieving his feelings Mr Day stood still in +the centre of the road, tucked his stick under his arm, took out his +pipe, loaded it with tobacco and proceeded to smoke. Having got his +pipe into going order he continued his way and his reflections. + +"I knew it was her from the first; never doubted for a moment. Directly +I saw her come into the house that night in the way she did, I knew +that she'd been up to something queer, and it wasn't very long before I +knew what it was. And I don't know that I was surprised when I heard +how bad it really was. All I wanted was to get out of the way before I +was dragged into the trouble that I saw was coming. If I hadn't known +from the first I should have found out afterwards. She's given herself +away a hundred times--ah, and more. If I'd been a detective put upon +the job I should have had her over and over again, unless I'd been as +stupid as some of those detectives do seem to be. Look at that Nunn +now! There's a precious fool! Locking up Mr Morice! I wonder he doesn't +lock himself up! Bah!" + +This time Mr Day took his pipe out of his mouth with one hand, while he +struck at the vacant air with the stick in the other. Perhaps in +imagination he was striking at Mr Nunn. + +"Poor devil! it must have been something pretty strong which made her +do a thing like that. I wonder who that chap was, and what he'd done to +her. Not that I want to know--the less I know the better. I know too +much as it is. I know that she's haunted, that never since has she had +a moment's peace of mind, either by day or night. I've the best of +reasons for knowing that she starts pretty nearly out of her skin at +every shadow. I shouldn't be surprised to hear at any moment that she's +committed suicide. I lay a thousand pounds to a penny that if I was to +touch her on the shoulder with the tip of my finger, and say, 'You +killed that man in the Cooper's Spinney, and he's looking over your +shoulder now,' she'd tumble straight off into a heap on the floor and +scream for mercy--What's that?" + +He had reached a very lonely part of the road. The Exham Park woods +were on either side of him. A long line of giant beeches bordered the +road both on the right and left. Beyond again, on both sides, were +acres of pines. A charming spot on a summer's day; but, to some minds, +just then a little too much in shadow to be altogether pleasant. The +high beeches on his left obscured the moon. Here and there it found a +passage between their leaves; but for the most part the road was all in +darkness. Mr Day was well on in years, but his hearing was as keen as +ever, and his nerves as well under control. The ordinary wayfarer would +have heard nothing, or, not relishing his surroundings, would have +preferred to hear nothing, till he had reached a point where the moon's +illumination was again plainly visible. It is odd how many persons, +born and bred in the heart of the country, object strenuously to be out +among the scenes they know so well, alone in the darkness at night. + +But the Exham Park butler was not a person of that kidney. When he +heard twigs snapping and the swishing of brushwood, as of someone +passing quickly through it, he was immediately desirous of learning +what might be the cause of such unwonted midnight sounds. Slipping his +pipe into his pocket he moved both rapidly and quietly towards the side +of the road from which the sounds proceeded. Just there the long line +of hedge was momentarily interrupted by a stile. Leaning over it he +peered as best he could into the glancing lights and shadows among the +pines. The sounds continued. + +"Who is it? Hullo! Good lord! it's her!" + +As he spoke to himself a figure suddenly appeared in a shaft of +moonlight which had found its way along an alley of pines--the figure +of a woman. She was clad in white--in some long, flowing garment which +trailed behind her as she went, and which must have seriously impeded +her progress, especially in view of the fact that she seemed to be +pressing forward at the top of her speed. The keen-eyed observer +watched her as she went. + +"What's she got on? It's a tea-gown or a dressing-gown or something of +that. It's strange to me. I've never seen her in it before. So, after +all, there is something in the tales those gowks have been telling, and +she does walk the woods of nights. But she can't be asleep; she +couldn't go at that rate, through country of this sort, if she were, +and with all that drapery trailing out behind her. But asleep or not +I'll tackle her and have it out with her once and for all." + +Mr Day climbed over the stile with an agility which did credit to his +years. As he reached the other side the woman in the distance either +became conscious of his presence and his malevolent designs or fortune +favoured her; because, coming to a part of the forest from which the +moon was barred, she suddenly vanished from his vision like a figure in +a shadow pantomime. When he gained the spot at which she had last been +visible, there was still nothing of her to be seen, but he fancied that +he caught a sound which suggested that, not very far away, someone was +pressing forward among the trees. + +"She did that very neatly. Don't talk to me about her being asleep. She +both heard and saw me coming, so she's given me the slip. But she's not +done it so completely as she perhaps thinks. I'll have her yet. I'll +show her that I'm pretty nearly as good at trapesing through the woods +at night as she is. I don't want to be hard on a woman, and I wouldn't +be if it could be helped, but when it comes to be a question of Mr +Morice or her, it'll have to be her, and that's all about it. I don't +mean to let her go scot-free at his expense--not much, I don't, as I'll +soon show her!" + +He plunged into the pitch blackness of the forest, towards where he +fancied he had heard a sound in the distance. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXV + + IN THE LADY'S CHAMBER + + +Miss Arnott was restless. She had to entertain her two self-invited +guests--Mr Stacey and Mr Gilbert, and she was conscious that while she +was entertaining them, each, in his own fashion, was examining her +still. It was a curious dinner which they had together, their hostess +feeling, rightly or wrongly, that the most dire significance was being +read into the most commonplace remarks. If she smiled, she feared they +might think her laughter forced; if she was grave, she was convinced +that they were of opinion that it was because she had something +frightful on her mind. Mr Stacey made occasional attempts to lighten +the atmosphere, but, at the best of times, his touch was inclined to be +a heavy one; then all his little outbursts of gaiety--or what he meant +for gaiety--seemed to be weighted with lead. Mr Gilbert was frankly +saturnine. He seemed determined to say as little as he possibly could, +and to wing every word he did utter with a shaft of malice or of irony. +Especially was he severe on Mr Stacey's spasmodic efforts at the +promotion of geniality. + +Miss Arnott arrived at two conclusions; one being that he didn't like +her, and the other that she didn't like him. How correct she was in the +first instance may be judged from some remarks which were exchanged +when--after the old fashion--she had left them alone together to enjoy +a cigarette over their cups of coffee, the truth being that she felt +she must be relieved from the burden of their society for, at anyrate, +some minutes. + +Mr Stacey commenced by looking at his companion as if he were +half-doubtful, half-amused. + +"Gilbert, you don't seem disposed to be talkative." + +The reply was curt and to the point. + +"I'm not." + +"Nor, if you will forgive my saying so, do you seem inclined to make +yourself peculiarly agreeable to our hostess." + +Mr Gilbert surveyed the ash which was on the tip of his cigar. His +words were pregnant with meaning. + +"Stacey, I can't stand women." + +With Mr Stacey amusement was getting the upper hand. + +"Does that apply to women in general or to this one in particular?" + +"Yes to both your questions. I don't wish to be rude to your ward or to +my hostess, but the girl's a fool." + +"Gilbert!" + +"So she is, like the other representatives of her sex. She's another +illustration of the eternal truth that a woman can't walk alone; she +can't. In consequence she's got herself into the infernal muddle she +has done. The first male who, so to speak, got within reach of her, +took her by the scruff of the neck, and made her keep step with him. He +happened to be a scamp, so there's all this to do. It constantly is +like that. Most women are like mirrors--mere surfaces on which to +reflect their owners; and when their owners take it into their heads to +smash the mirrors, why, they're smashed. When I think of what an ass +this young woman has made of herself and others, merely because she's a +woman, and therefore couldn't help it, something sticks in my throat. I +can't be civil to her; it's no use trying. I want to get in touch with +something vertebrate: I can't stand molluscs." + +Under the circumstances it was not strange that matters in the +drawing-room were no more lively than they had been at dinner. So Miss +Arnott excused herself at what she considered to be the earliest possible +moment and went to bed. + +At least she went as far as her bedroom. She found Evans awaiting her. +A bed was made up close to her own, all arrangements were arranged to +keep watch and ward over her through the night. + +"Evans," she announced, "I've come to bed." + +"Have you, miss? It's early--that is, for you." + +"If you'd spent the sort of evening I have you'd have come early to +bed. Evans, I want to tell you something." + +"Yes, miss; what might it be?" + +"Don't you ever take it for granted that, because a man's clever at one +thing, he's clever, or the least bit of good, at anything else." + +"I'm afraid, miss, that I don't understand." + +"Then I'll make you understand, before I've done with you; you're not +stupid. I feel that before I even try to close my eyes I must talk to +some rational being, so I'll talk to you." + +"Thank you, miss." + +"There's a Mr Gilbert downstairs." + +"Yes, miss, I've heard of him." + +"He's supposed to be a famous criminal lawyer; perhaps you've heard +that too. I'm told that he's the cleverest living, and, I daresay, he's +smart enough in his own line. But out of it--such clumsiness, such +stupidity, such conceit, such manners--oh, Evans! I once heard a +specialist compared to a dog which is kept chained to its kennel; +within the limits of its chain that dog has an amazing knowledge of the +world. I suppose Mr Gilbert is a specialist. He knows everything within +the limits of his chain. But, though he mayn't be aware of it--and he +isn't--his chain is there! And now, Evans, having told you what I +wished to tell you, I'm going to bed." + +But Miss Arnott did not go to bed just then. She seemed unusually wide +awake. It was obvious that, if any sound data were to be obtained on +the subject of her alleged somnambulistic habits, it was necessary, +first of all, that she should go to sleep; but it would not be much +good her getting into bed if she felt indisposed for slumber. + +"The only thing, Evans, of which I'm afraid is that, if we're not +careful, you'll fall asleep first, and that then, so soon as you're +asleep, I shall start off walking through the woods. It'll make both of +us look so silly if I do." + +"No fear of that, miss. I can keep awake as long as anyone, and when I +am asleep the fall of a feather is enough to wake me." + +"The fall of a feather? Evans! I don't believe you could hear a feather +falling, even if you were wide awake." + +"Well, miss, you know what I mean. I mean that I'm a light sleeper. I +shall lock the doors when we're both of us in bed, and I shall put the +keys underneath my pillow. No one will take those keys from under my +pillow without my knowing it, I promise you that, no matter how +light-fingered they may be." + +"I see. I'm to be a prisoner. It doesn't sound quite nice; but I +suppose I'll have to put up with it. If you were to catch me walking in +my sleep how dreadful it would be." + +"I sha'n't do it. I don't believe you ever have walked in your sleep, +and I don't believe you ever will." + +Later it was arranged that the young lady should undress, take a book +with her to bed, and try to read herself to sleep. Then it became a +question of the book. + +"I know the very book that would be bound to send me to sleep in a +couple of ticks, even in the middle of the day. I've tested its +soporific powers already. Three times I've tried to get through the +first chapter, and each time I've been asleep before I reached the end. +It is a book! I bought it a week or two ago. I don't know why. I wasn't +in want of a sleeping powder then. Where did I put it? Oh, I remember; +I lent it to Mrs Plummer. She seemed to want something to doze over, so +I suggested that would be just the thing. Evans, do you think Mrs +Plummer is asleep yet?" + +"I don't know, miss. I believe she's pretty late. I'll go and see." + +"No, I'll go and see. Then I can explain to her what it is I want, and +just what I want it for. You stay here; I sha'n't be a minute." + +Miss Arnott went up to Mrs Plummer's bedroom. It was called the +tower-room. On one side of the house--which was an architectural +freak--was an eight-sided tower. Although built into the main building +it rose high above it. Near the top was a clock with three faces. On the +roof was a flagstaff which served to inform the neighbourhood if the +family was or was not at home. + +Miss Arnott was wont to declare that the tower-rooms were the +pleasantest in the house. In proof of it the one which she had selected +to be her own special apartment lay immediately under that in which Mrs +Plummer slept. It had two separate approaches. The corridor in which +was Miss Arnott's sleeping-chamber had, at one end--the one farthest +from her--a short flight of stairs which ascended to a landing on to +which opened one of Mrs Plummer's bedroom doors. On the opposite side +of the room was another door which gave access to what was, to all +intents and purposes, a service staircase. Miss Arnott, passing along +the corridor and up the eight or nine steps, rapped at the panel once, +twice, and then again. As still no one answered she tried the handle, +thinking that if it was locked the probabilities were that Mrs Plummer +was in bed and fast asleep. But, instead of being locked, it opened +readily at her touch. The fact that the electric lights were all on +seemed to suggest that, at anyrate, the lady was not asleep in bed. + +"Mrs Plummer!" she exclaimed, standing in the partly opened doorway. + +No reply. Opening the door wider she entered the room. It was empty. +But there was that about the appearance of the chamber which conveyed +the impression that quite recently, within the last two or three +minutes, it had had an occupant. Clothes were thrown down anywhere, as +if their wearer had doffed them in a hurry. Miss Arnott, who had had a +notion that Mrs Plummer was the soul of neatness, was surprised and +even tickled by the evidence of untidiness which met her on every hand. +Not only were articles of wearing apparel scattered everywhere, but the +whole apartment was in a state of odd disarray; at one part the carpet +was turned quite back. As she looked about her, Miss Arnott smiled. + +"What can Mrs Plummer have been doing? She appears to have been +preparing for a flitting. And where can she be? She seems to have +undressed. Those are her clothes, and there's the dress she wore at +dinner. She can't be in such a state of _déshabille_ as those things +seem to suggest; and yet--I don't think I'll wait till she comes back. +I wonder if she's left that book lying about. If I can find it I'll +sneak off at once, and tell her all about it in the morning." + +On a table in the centre was piled up a heterogeneous and disorderly +collection of odds and ends. Miss Arnott glanced at it to see if among +the miscellanea was the volume she was seeking. She saw that a book +which looked like it was lying underneath what seemed to be a number of +old letters. She picked it up, removing the letters to enable her to do +so. One or two of the papers fell on to the floor. She stooped to pick +them up. The first was a photograph. Her eyes lighted on it, half +unwittingly; but, having lighted on it, they stayed. + +The room seemed all at once to be turning round her. She was conscious +of a sense of vertigo, as if suddenly something had happened to her +brain. For some seconds she was obsessed by a conviction that she was +the victim of an optical delusion, that what she supposed herself to +see was, in reality, a phantom of her imagination. How long this +condition continued she never knew. But it was only after a perceptible +interval of time that she began to comprehend that she deluded herself +by supposing herself to be under a delusion, that what she had only +imagined she saw, she actually did see. It was the sudden shock which +had caused that feeling of curious confusion. The thing was plain +enough. + +She was holding in her hand the photograph of her husband--Robert +Champion. The more she looked at it the stronger the conviction became. +There was not a doubt of it. The portrait had probably been taken some +years ago, when the man was younger; but that it was her husband she +was certain. She was hardly likely to make a mistake on a point of that +kind. But, in the name of all that was inexplicable, what was Robert +Champion's photograph doing here? + +She glanced at another of the articles she had dropped. It was another +portrait of the same man, apparently taken a little later. There was a +third--a smaller one. In it he wore a yachting cap. Although he was no +yachting man--so far as she knew he had never been on the sea in his +life; but it was within her knowledge that it was a fashion in headgear +for which he had had, as she deemed, a most undesirable predilection. +He had worn one when he had taken her for their honeymoon to Margate; +anyone looking less like a seaman than he did in it, she thought she +had never seen. In a fourth photograph Robert Champion was sitting in a +chair with his arm round Mrs Plummer's waist; she standing at his side +with her hand upon his shoulder. She was obviously many years older +than the man in the chair; but she could not have looked more pleased, +either with herself or with him. + +What did it mean?--what could it mean?--those photographs in Mrs +Plummer's room? + +Returning to the first at which she had glanced, the girl saw that the +name was scrawled across the right-hand bottom corner, which had +hitherto been hidden by her thumb, in a hand which set her heart +palpitating with a sense of startled recognition. "Douglas Plummer." +The name was unmistakable in its big, bombastic letters; but what did +he mean by scrawling "Douglas Plummer" at the bottom of his own +photograph? She suddenly remembered having seen a visiting card of Mrs +Plummer's on which her name had been inscribed "Mrs Douglas Plummer." +What did it mean? + +On the back of the photograph in which the man and the woman had been +taken together she found that there was written--she knew the writing +to be Mrs Plummer's--"Taken on our honeymoon." + +When she saw that Miss Arnott rose to her feet--for the first time +since she had stooped to pick up the odds and ends which she had +dropped--and laughed. It was so very funny. Again she closely examined +the pair in the picture and the sentence on the back. There could be no +doubt as to their identity; none as to what the sentence said, nor as +to the hand by which it had been penned. But on whose honeymoon had it +been taken? What did it mean? + +There came to her a feeling that this was a matter in which inquiries +should be made at once. She had forgotten altogether the errand which +had brought her there; she was overlooking everything in the strength +of her desire to learn, in the shortest possible space of time, what +was the inner meaning of these photographs which she was holding in her +hand. She saw the letters which she had disturbed to get at the book +beneath. In the light of the new discoveries she had made, even at that +distance she recognised the caligraphy in which they were written. She +snatched them up; they were in a bundle, tied round with a piece of +pink baby ribbon. To use a sufficiently-expressive figure of speech, +the opening line of the first "hit her in the face,"--"My darling +Agatha." + +Agatha? That was Mrs Plummer's Christian name. + +She thrust at a letter in the centre. It began--"My precious wife." + +His precious wife? Whose wife? Douglas Plummer's?--Robert +Champion's?--Whose? What did it mean? + +As she assailed herself with the question--for at least the dozenth +time--to which she seemed unlikely to find an answer, a fresh impulse +caused her to look again about the room--to be immediately struck by +something which had previously escaped her observation. Surely the bed +had been slept in. It was rumpled; the pillow had been lain on; the +bedclothes were turned back, as if someone had slipped from between the +sheets and left them so. What did that mean? + +While the old inquiry was assuming this fresh shape, and all sorts of +fantastic doubts seemed to have had sudden birth and to be pressing on +her from every side, the door on the other side of the room was opened, +and Mrs Plummer entered. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVI + + OUT OF SLEEP + + +Miss Arnott was so astounded at the appearance which Mrs Plummer +presented that, in her bewilderment, she was tongue-tied. What, in the +absence of tonsorial additions--which the girl had already noted were +set out in somewhat gruesome fashion on the dressing-table--were shown +to be her scanty locks, straggled loose about her neck. The garment in +which her whole person was enveloped was one which Miss Arnott had +never seen before, and, woman-like, she had a very shrewd knowledge of +the contents of her companion's wardrobe. More than anything else it +resembled an unusually voluminous bath-sheet, seeming to have been made +of what had originally been white Turkish towelling. The whiteness, +however, had long since disappeared. It was not only in an +indescribable state of filth, but also of rags and tatters. How any of +it continued to hang together was a mystery; there was certainly not a +square foot of it without a rent. On her feet she wore what seemed to +be the remnants of a pair of bedroom slippers. So far as Miss Arnott +was able to discern the only other garment she had on was her +nightdress. In this attire she appeared to have been in some singular +places. She was all dusty and torn; attached to her here and there were +scraps of greenery: here a frond of bracken, there the needle of a +pine. + +"Mrs Plummer," cried Miss Arnott, when she had in part realised the +extraordinary spectacle which her companion offered, "wherever have you +been?" + +But Mrs Plummer did not answer, at first to the girl's increased +amazement; then it all burst on her in a flash--Mrs Plummer was asleep! +It seemed incredible; yet it was so. Her eyes were wide open; yet it +only needed a second or two to make it clear to Miss Arnott that they +did not see her. They appeared to have the faculty of only seeing those +objects which were presented to their owner's inner vision. Miss Arnott +was not present at the moment in Mrs Plummer's thoughts, therefore she +remained invisible to her staring eyes. It was with a curious feeling +of having come into unlooked-for contact with something uncanny that +the girl perceived this was so. Motionless, fascinated, hardly +breathing, she waited and watched for what the other was about to do. + +Mrs Plummer closed the door behind her carefully--with an odd +carefulness. Coming a few steps into the room she stopped. Looking +about her with what the girl felt was almost an agony of eagerness, it +seemed strange that she should not see her; her eyes travelled over her +more than once. Then she drew a long breath like a sigh. Raising both +hands to her forehead she brushed back the thin wisps of her faded +hair. It was with a feeling which was half-shame, half-awe that the +girl heard her break into speech. It was as though she were intruding +herself into the other's very soul, and as if the woman was speaking +with a voice out of the grave. + +Indeed, there was an eerie quality about the actual utterance--a +lifelessness, a monotony, an absence of light and shade. She spoke as +she might fancy an automaton would speak--all on the same note. The +words came fluently enough, the sentences seemed disconnected. + +"I couldn't find it. I can't think where I put it. It's so strange. I +just dropped it like that." Mrs Plummer made a sudden forward movement +with her extended right hand, then went through the motion of dropping +something from it on to the floor. With sensations which in their +instant, increasing horror altogether transcended anything which had +gone before, the girl began to understand. "I can't quite remember. I +don't think I picked it up again. I feel sure I didn't bring it home. I +should have found it if I had. I have looked everywhere--everywhere." +The sightless eyes looked here and there, anxiously, restlessly, +searchingly, so that the girl began to read the riddle of the +disordered room. "I must find it. I shall never rest until I do--never! +I must know where it is! The knife! the knife!" + +As the unconscious woman repeated for the second time the last two +words, a sudden inspiration flashed through the listener's brain; it +possessed her with such violence that, for some seconds, it set her +trembling from head to foot. When the first shock its advent had +occasioned had passed away, the tremblement was followed by a calm +which was perhaps its natural sequence. + +Without waiting to hear or see more she passed out of the room with +rapid, even steps along the corridor to her own chamber. There she was +greeted by Evans. + +"You've been a long time, miss. I suppose Mrs Plummer couldn't find the +book you wanted." Then she was evidently struck by the peculiarity of +the girl's manner. "What has happened? I hope there's nothing else +that's wrong. Miss Arnott, what are you doing there?" + +The girl was unlocking the wardrobe drawer in which she had that +afternoon replaced Hugh Morice's knife. She took the weapon out. + +"Evans, come with me! I'll show you who killed that man in Cooper's +Spinney! Be quick!" + +She took the lady's-maid by the wrist and half-led, half-dragged her +from the room. Evans looked at her with frightened face, plainly in +doubt as to whether her young mistress had not all at once gone mad. +But she offered no resistance. On the landing outside the door they +encountered Mr Stacey and Mr Gilbert, who were apparently just coming +up to bed. Miss Arnott hailed them. + +"Mr Stacey! Mr Gilbert! you wish to know who it was who murdered Robert +Champion? Come with me quickly. You shall see!" + +They stared at the knife which was in her hand, at the strange +expression which was on her face. She did not wait for them to speak. +She moved swiftly towards the staircase which led to the tower-room. +She loosed her attendant's wrist. But Evans showed no desire to take +advantage of her freedom, she pressed closely on her mistress's heels. +Mr Gilbert, rapid in decision, went after the two women without even a +moment's hesitation. Mr Stacey, of slower habit, paused a moment before +he moved, then, obviously puzzled, he followed the others. + +When the girl returned Mrs Plummer was bending over a drawer, tossing +its contents in seemingly haphazard fashion on to the carpet. + +"I must find it! I must find it!" she kept repeating to herself. + +Miss Arnott called to her, not loudly but clearly,-- + +"Mrs Plummer!" But Mrs Plummer paid no heed. She continued to mutter +and to turn out the contents of the drawer. The girl moved to her +across the floor, speaking to her again by name. "Mrs Plummer, what is +it you are looking for? Is it this knife?" + +Plainly the somnambulist was vaguely conscious that a voice had spoken. +Ceasing to rifle the drawer she remained motionless, holding her head a +little on one side, as if she listened. Then she spoke again; but +whether in answer to the question which had been put to her or to +herself, was not clear. + +"The knife! I want to find the knife." + +"What knife is it you are looking for? Is it the knife with which you +killed your husband in the wood?" + +The woman shuddered. It seemed as if something had reached her +consciousness. She said, as if echoing the other's words,-- + +"My husband in the wood." + +The girl became aware that Day, the butler, had entered through the +door on the other side, wearing his hat, as if he had just come out of +the open air, and that he was accompanied by Granger in his uniform, +and by a man whom she did not recognise, but who, as a matter of fact, +was Nunn, the detective. She knew that, behind her, was Evans with Mr +Stacey and Mr Gilbert. She understood that, for her purpose, the +audience could scarcely have been better chosen. + +She raised her voice a little, laying stress upon her words. + +"Mrs Plummer, here is the knife for which you are looking." + +With one hand she held out to her the handle of the knife, with the +other she touched her on the shoulder. There could be no mistake this +time as to whether or not the girl had penetrated to the sleep-walker's +consciousness. They could all of them see that a shiver went all over +her, almost as if she had been struck by palsy. She staggered a little +backwards, putting out her arms in front of her as if to ward off some +threatening danger. There came another fit of shivering, and then they +knew she was awake--awake but speechless. She stared at the girl in +front of her as if she were some dreadful ghost. Relentless, still set +upon her purpose, Miss Arnott went nearer to her. + +"Mrs Plummer, here is the knife for which you have been looking--the +knife with which you killed your husband--Douglas Plummer--in the +wood." + +The woman stared at the knife, then at the girl, then about her. She +saw the witnesses who stood in either doorway. Probably comprehension +came to her bewildered intellect, which was not yet wide awake. She +realised that her secret was no longer her own, since she had been her +own betrayer, that the Philistines were upon her. She snatched at the +knife which the girl still held out, and, before they guessed at her +intention, had buried it almost to the hilt in her own breast. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVII + + WHAT WAS WRITTEN + + +She expired that same night without having uttered an intelligible +word. In a sense her end could hardly have been called an unfortunate +one. It is certain that, had she lived, she would have had a bad time, +even if she had escaped the gallows. She had left behind her the whole +story, set forth in black and white by her own hand. It was a +sufficiently unhappy one. It is not impossible that, having heard it, a +jury would have recommended her to mercy. In which case the capital +sentence would probably have been commuted to one of penal servitude +for life. It is a moot question whether it is not better to hang +outright rather than endure a living death within the four walls of a +gaol. + +The story of her life as recounted by herself--and there is no reason +to doubt the substantial accuracy of her narrative--was this. + +Agatha Linfield, a spinster past her first prime, possessed of some +means of her own, met at a Brighton boarding-house a young man who +called himself Douglas Plummer. Possibly believing her to be better off +than she was he paid her attentions from the first moment of their +meeting. Within a month he had married her. In much less than another +month she had discovered what kind of a man she had for a husband. He +inflicted on her all sorts of indignities, subjecting her even to +physical violence, plundering her of all the money he could. When he +had brought her to the verge of beggary he fell into the hands of the +police; as he was destined to do again at a later period in his career. +Hardly had he been sentenced to a term of imprisonment than his wife +became the recipient of another small legacy, on the strength of which +she went abroad, and, by its means, managed to live. Her own desire was +never to see or hear of her husband again. She even went so far as to +inform her relatives that he had died and left her a sorrowing widow. +He, probably having wearied of a woman so much older than himself and +knowing nothing of the improvement in her fortunes, seems to have made +no effort on his release to ascertain her whereabouts. In short, for +some years each vanished out of the other's existence. + +On the night of the Saturday on which they returned from abroad, when +Miss Arnott went for her woodland stroll, Mrs Plummer, whose curiosity +had been previously aroused as to the true inwardness of her +proceedings, after an interval followed to see what possible inducement +there could be to cause her, after a long and fatiguing journey, to +immediately wander abroad at such an uncanonical hour. She was severely +punished for her inquisitiveness. Exactly what took place her diary did +not make clear; details were omitted, the one prominent happening was +alone narrated in what, under the circumstances, were not unnaturally +vague and somewhat confused terms. She came upon the man who was known +to Miss Arnott as Robert Champion, and to her as Douglas Plummer, all +in a moment, without having had, the second before, the faintest +suspicion that he was within a hundred miles. She had hoped--had +tried to convince herself--that he was dead. The sight of him, as, +without the least warning he rose at her--like some spectre of a +nightmare--from under the beech tree, seems to have bereft her for a +moment of her senses. He must have been still writhing from the agony +inflicted by Jim Baker's "peppering" so that he himself was scarcely +sane. He had in his hand Hugh Morice's knife, which he had picked up, +almost by inadvertence, as he staggered to his feet at the sound of +someone coming. It may be that he supposed the newcomer to have been +the person who had already shot at him, that his intention was to defend +himself with the accidentally-discovered weapon from further violence. +She only saw the knife. She had set down in her diary that he was waiting +there to kill her; which, on the face of it, had been written with an +imperfect knowledge of the facts. As he lurched towards her--probably +as much taken by surprise as she was--she imagined he meant to strike +her with the knife. Scarcely knowing what she did she snatched it from +him and killed him on the spot. + +It was at that moment she was seen by Hugh Morice and Jim Baker, both +of whom took her for Miss Arnott. Instantly realising what it was +that she had done she fled panic-stricken into the woods +with--presently--Hugh Morice dashing wildly after her. Miss Arnott saw +Hugh Morice, and him only, and drew her own erroneous conclusions. + +Mrs Plummer gained entrance to the house by climbing through a tall +casement window, which chanced to have been left unfastened, and which +opened into a passage near the foot of the service staircase. +Afterwards, fast asleep, she frequently got in and out of the house +through that same window. Unknown to her the discreet Mr Day saw her +entry. She had still very far from regained full control of her sober +senses. So soon as she was in, seized, apparently, by a sudden +recollection, she exclaimed, turning again to the casement, "The knife! +the knife! I've left the knife!" + +Mr Day, who had no particular affection for the lady, heard the words, +saw the condition she was in, and decided, there and then, that she had +recently been involved in some extremely singular business. Until, +shortly afterwards, he admitted her himself, he was inclined to fear +that she had killed his young mistress. + +The impression Mrs Plummer had made upon his mind never left him. +Spying on her at moments when she little suspected espionage, his +doubts gained force as time went on, until they amounted to conviction. +When the body was found in the spinney, although he had little evidence +to go upon, he had, personally, no doubt as to who was the guilty +party. It was because he was divided between the knowledge that it was +his duty to tell all he knew and his feelings that it would be +derogatory to his dignity and repellent to his most cherished instincts +to be mixed up with anything which had to do with the police, that he +was desirous of quitting Miss Arnott's service ere he was dragged, +willy-nilly, into an uncomfortably prominent position in a most +unpleasant affair. + +Nothing which afterwards transpired caused him at any time, to doubt, +that, whenever he chose, he could lay his hand upon the criminal. He +alone, of all the persons in the drama, had an inkling of the truth. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVIII + + MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE + + +The charge against Jim Baker was withdrawn at the earliest possible +moment. Hugh Morice was released that night from the confinement which +he had himself invited. When Mr Nunn asked what had made him accuse +himself of a crime of which he was altogether innocent he laughed. + +"Since you yourself were about to charge one innocent person, you +should be the last person in the world to object to my charging +another." + +The next day he went to Exham Park. There he saw its mistress. By +degrees the whole tale was told. It took a long time in the telling. +Part of it was told in the house, and then, as it still seemed +unfinished, he went out with her upon her motor car. The rest of it was +told upon the way. + +"It seems," she pointed out, "that, as the wretch married that poor +woman before he ever saw me, I never was his wife at all. I don't know +if it's better that way or worse." + +"Better." + +"I'm not so sure." + +"I am. Because, when you become my wife--" + +She put the car on to the fourth speed. There was a long, straight, +level road and not a soul in sight. They moved! + +"You'll get into trouble if you don't look out." + +"I'm not afraid." + +"I was about to remark that when you become my wife--" + +"I wish you wouldn't talk to me when we're going at this rate. You know +it's dangerous." + +"Get down on to the first speed at once." She did slow a trifle, which +enabled him to speak without unduly imperilling their safety. "I was +saying that when you become my wife I shall marry you as Miss +Arnott--Violet Arnott, spinster. That will be your precise description. +I prefer it that way, if you don't mind." + +Whether she minded or not that was what he did. No one thereabouts had +the dimmest notion what was her actual relation to the man who had met +the fate which, after all, was not wholly undeserved. So that the great +and glorious festival, which will not be forgotten in that countryside +for many a day, is always spoken of by everyone who partook of the +bride and bridegroom's splendid hospitality as "Miss Arnott's +marriage." + +It was indeed one of those marriages of which we may assuredly affirm, +that those whom God hath joined no man shall put asunder. + + + + + + + THE END + + + + + + + EDINBURGH + + COLSTON AND COY. 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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: Miss Arnott's Marriage + +Author: Richard Marsh + +Release Date: November 9, 2011 [EBook #37963] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by Google Books + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br> +<br> +1. Page scan source:<br> +http://books.google.com/books?id=NTQPAAAAQAAJ<br> +<br> + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:60%"> +<p class="continue">Miss Arnott's<br> +Marriage</p> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<table style="border:2px black; width:50%; margin-left:25%"> +<tr> +<td> +<h3>BY THE SAME AUTHOR</h3> +<hr class="W10"> + +<div style="margin-left:20%; font-weight:bold"> +<p class="continue">CURIOS<br> +ADA VERNHAM, ACTRESS<br> +MRS MUSGRAVE AND HER HUSBAND<br> +THE MAGNETIC GIRL</p> +</div> +<hr class="W10"> + +<h3><span class="sc">John Long, Publisher, London</span></h3> +</td></tr></table> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h1>Miss Arnott's Marriage</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5>By</h5> +<h2>Richard Marsh</h2> + +<h5>Author of "The Beetle," etc.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>London</h3> +<h2>John Long</h2> +<h3>13 & 14 Norris Street, Haymarket<br> +1904</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table cellpadding="10" style="width:90%; margin-left:5%; font-weight:bold"> +<colgroup><col style="width:10%; text-align:right"><col style="width:90%"></colgroup> +<tr> +<td>CHAP</td> +<td> </td> +</tr><tr> +<td>I.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_01" href="#div1_01">ROBERT CHAMPION'S WIFE.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>II.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_02" href="#div1_02">THE WOMAN ON THE PAVEMENT.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>III.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_03" href="#div1_03">THE HEIRESS ENTERS INTO HER OWN.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>IV.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_04" href="#div1_04">THE EARL OF PECKHAM'S PROPOSAL.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>V.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_05" href="#div1_05">TRESPASSING.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>VI.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_06" href="#div1_06">AN AUTHORITY ON THE LAW OF MARRIAGE.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>VII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_07" href="#div1_07">MR MORICE PRESUMES.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>VIII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_08" href="#div1_08">THE LADY WANDERS.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>IX.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_09" href="#div1_09">THE BEECH TREE.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>X.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_10" href="#div1_10">THE TALE WHICH WAS TOLD.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XI.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_11" href="#div1_11">THE MAN ON THE FENCE.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_12" href="#div1_12">WHAT SHE HEARD, SAW AND FOUND.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XIII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_13" href="#div1_13">AFTERWARDS.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XIV.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_14" href="#div1_14">ON THE HIGH ROAD.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XV.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_15" href="#div1_15">COOPER'S SPINNEY.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XVI.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_16" href="#div1_16">JIM BAKER.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XVII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_17" href="#div1_17">INJURED INNOCENCE.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XVIII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_18" href="#div1_18">AT THE FOUR CROSS ROADS.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XIX.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_19" href="#div1_19">THE BUTTONS OFF THE FOILS.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XX.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_20" href="#div1_20">THE SOLICITOR'S CLERK.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXI.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_21" href="#div1_21">THE "NOTE".</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_22" href="#div1_22">ERNEST GILBERT.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXIII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_23" href="#div1_23">THE TWO MEN.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXIV.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_24" href="#div1_24">THE SOMNAMBULIST.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXV.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_25" href="#div1_25">HUGH MORICE EXPLAINS.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXVI.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_26" href="#div1_26">THE TWO MAIDS.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXVII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_27" href="#div1_27">A CONFIDANT.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXVIII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_28" href="#div1_28">MRS DARCY SUTHERLAND.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXIX.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_29" href="#div1_29">SOME PASSAGES OF ARMS.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXX.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_30" href="#div1_30">MISS ARNOTT IS EXAMINED.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXXI.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_31" href="#div1_31">THE TWO POLICEMEN.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXXII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_32" href="#div1_32">THE HOUSEMAID'S TALE.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXXIII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_33" href="#div1_33">ON HIS OWN CONFESSION.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXXIV.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_34" href="#div1_34">MR DAY WALKS HOME.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXXV.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_35" href="#div1_35">IN THE LADY'S CHAMBER.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXXVI.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_36" href="#div1_36">OUT OF SLEEP.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXXVII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_37" href="#div1_37">WHAT WAS WRITTEN.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>XXXVIII.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_38" href="#div1_38">MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE.</a></td> +</tr></table> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>Miss Arnott's Marriage</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_01" href="#div1Ref_01">ROBERT CHAMPION'S WIFE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">"Robert Champion, you are sentenced to twelve months' +hard labour."</p> + +<p class="normal">As the chairman of the Sessions Court pronounced the +words, the prisoner turned right round in the dock, and +glanced towards where he knew his wife was standing. He +caught her eye, and smiled. What meaning, if any, the +smile conveyed, he perhaps knew. She could only guess. +It was possibly intended to be a more careless, a more +light-hearted smile than it in reality appeared. Robert +Champion had probably not such complete control over +his facial muscles as he would have desired. There was +a hunted, anxious look about the eyes, a suggestion of +uncomfortable pallor about the whole countenance which +rather detracted from the impression which she had no +doubt that he had intended to make. She knew the man +well enough to be aware that nothing would please him +better than that she should suppose that he regarded +the whole proceedings with gay bravado, with complete +indifference, both for the powers that were and for the +punishment which they had meted out to him. But even if +the expression on his face had not shown that the cur +in the man had, for the moment, the upper hand, the +unceremonious fashion in which the warders bundled him +down the staircase, and out of sight, would have been +sufficient to prevent any impression being left behind +that he had departed from the scene in a halo of +dignity.</p> + +<p class="normal">As regards his wife, the effect made upon her by the +whole proceedings was an overwhelming consciousness of +unbearable shame. When the man with the cheap good +looks was hustled away, as if he were some inferior +thing, the realisation that this was indeed her +husband, was more than she could endure. She reached +out with her hand, as if in search of some support, +and, finding none, sank to the floor of the court in a +swoon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor dear!" said a woman, standing near. "I expect she's +something to do with that scamp of a fellow--maybe she's +his wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This sort of thing often is hardest on those who are +left behind," chimed in a man. "Sometimes it isn't +those who are in prison who suffer most; it's those who +are outside."</p> + +<p class="normal">When, having regained some of her senses, Violet +Champion found herself in the street, she was inclined +to call herself hard names for having gone near the +court at all. She had only gone because she feared that +if she stayed away she might not have learned how the +thing had ended. This crime of which Robert Champion +had been guilty was such a petty, such a paltry thing, +that, so far as she knew, the earlier stages of the +case had not been reported at all. One or other of the +few score journals which London issues might have +noticed it at some time, somewhere. If so, it had +escaped her observation. Her knowledge of London papers +was limited. They contained little which was likely to +be of interest to her. She hardly knew where to look +for such comments. The idea was not to be borne that +she should be left in ignorance as to how the case had +gone, as to what had become of Robert Champion. +Anything rather than that. Her want of knowledge would +have been to her as a perpetual nightmare. She would +have scarcely dared to show herself in the streets for +fear of encountering him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet, now that it was all over, and she knew the worst-- +or best--her disposition was to blame herself for +having strayed within the tainted purlieus of that +crime-haunted court. She felt as if the atmosphere of +the place had infected her with some loathsome +bacillus. She also thought it possible that he might +have misconstrued the meaning of her presence. He was +in error if he had supposed that it was intended as a +mark of sympathy. In her complete ignorance of such +matters she had no notion as to the nature of the +punishment to which he had rendered himself liable. If +he were sentenced to a long term of penal servitude she +simply wished to know it, that was all. In such a +situation any sort of certainty was better than none. +But sympathy! If he had been sentenced to be hung, her +dominant sensation would have been one of relief. The +gallows would have been a way of escape.</p> + +<p class="normal">No one seeing the tall, handsome girl strolling +listlessly along the street would have connected her +with such a sordid tragedy. But it seemed to her that +the stigma of Robert Champion's shame was branded large +all over her, that passers-by had only to glance at her +to perceive at once the depths into which she had +fallen.</p> + +<p class="normal">And they were depths. Only just turned twenty-one; +still a girl, and already a wife who was no wife. For +what sort of wife can she be called who is mated to a +convicted felon? And Robert Champion was one of +nature's felons; a rogue who preferred to be a rogue, +who loved crooked ways because of their crookedness, +who would not run straight though the chance were +offered him. He was a man who, to the end of his life, +though he might manage to keep his carcase out of the +actual hands of the law, would render himself +continually liable to its penalties. Twelve months ago +he was still a stranger. The next twelve months he was +to spend in gaol. When his term of imprisonment was +completed would their acquaintance be recommenced?</p> + +<p class="normal">At the thought of such a prospect the dizziness which +had prostrated her in court returned. At present she +dared not dwell on it.</p> + +<p class="normal">She came at last to the house in Percy Street in which +she had hired a lodging. A single room, at the top of +the house, the rent of which, little though it was, was +already proving a severe drain on her limited +resources. From the moment in which, at an early hour +in the morning, her husband had been dragged out of bed +by policemen, she had relinquished his name. There was +nothing else of his she could relinquish. The rent for +the rooms they occupied was in arrears; +debts were due on every side. Broadly speaking, they +owed for everything--always had done since the day they +were married. There were a few articles of dress, and +of personal adornment, which she felt that she was +reasonably justified in considering her own. Most of +these she had turned into cash, and had been living--or +starving--on the proceeds ever since. The occupant of +the "top floor back" was known as Miss Arnott. She had +returned to her maiden name. She paid six shillings a +week for the accommodation she received, which +consisted of the bare lodging, and what--ironically-- +was called "attendance." Her rent had been settled up +to yesterday, and she was still in possession of +twenty-seven shillings.</p> + +<p class="normal">When she reached her room she became conscious that she +was hungry--which was not strange, since she had eaten +nothing since breakfast, which had consisted of a cup +of tea and some bread and butter. But of late she had +been nearly always hungry. Exhausted, mentally and +bodily, she sank on to the side of the bed, which made +a more comfortable seat than the only chair which the +room contained; and thought and thought and thought. If +only certain puzzles could be solved by dint of sheer +hard thinking! But her brain was in such a state of +chaos that she could only think confusedly, in a +vicious circle, from which her mind was incapable of +escaping. To only one conclusion could she arrive--that +it would be a very good thing if she might be permitted +to lie down on the bed, just as she was, and stay there +till she was dead. For her life was at an end already +at twenty-one. She had put a period to it when she had +suffered herself to become that man's wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was still vaguely wondering if it might not be +possible for her to take advantage of some such means +of escape when she was startled by a sudden knocking at +the door. Taken unawares, she sprang up from the bed, +and, without pausing to consider who might be there, +she cried,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come in!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her invitation was accepted just as she was beginning +to realise that it had been precipitately made. The +door was opened; a voice--a masculine voice--inquired,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"May I see Miss Arnott?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The speaker remained on the other side of the open +door, in such a position that, from where she was, he +was still invisible.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you want? Who are you?" she demanded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My name is Gardner--Edward Gardner. I occupy the +dining-room. If you will allow me to come in I will +explain the reason of my intrusion. I think you will +find my explanation a sufficient one."</p> + +<p class="normal">She hesitated. The fact that the speaker was a man made +her at once distrustful. Since her marriage day she had +been developing a continually increasing distaste for +everything masculine--seeing in every male creature a +possible replica of her husband. The moment, too, was +unpropitious. Yet, since the stranger was already +partly in the room, she saw no alternative to letting +him come a little farther.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come in," she repeated.</p> + +<p class="normal">There entered an undersized, sparely-built man, +probably between forty and fifty years of age. He was +clean-shaven, nearly bald--what little hair he had was +iron grey--and was plainly but neatly dressed in black. +He spoke with an air of nervous deprecation, as if +conscious that he was taking what might be regarded as +a liberty, and was anxious to show cause why it should +not be resented.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I said just now, I occupy the dining-rooms and my +name is Gardner. I am a solicitor's clerk. My employers +are Messrs Stacey, Morris & Binns, of Bedford Row. +Perhaps you are acquainted with the firm?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He paused as if for a reply. She was still wondering +more and more what the man could possibly be wanting; +oppressed by the foreboding, as he mentioned that he +was a solicitor's clerk, that he was a harbinger of +further trouble. With her law and trouble were +synonyms. He went on, his nervousness visibly +increasing. He was rendered uneasy by the statuesque +immobility of her attitude, by the strange fashion in +which she kept her eyes fixed on his face. It was also +almost with a sense of shock that he perceived how +young she was, and how beautiful.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is only within the last few minutes that I learned, +from the landlady, that your name was Arnott. It is a +somewhat unusual name; and, as my employers have been +for some time searching for a person bearing it, I beg +that you will allow me to ask you one or two questions. +Of course, I understand that my errand will quite +probably prove to be a futile one; but, at the same +time, let me assure you that any information you may +give will only be used for your advantage; and should +you, by a strange coincidence, turn out to be a member +of the family for whom search has been made, you will +benefit by the discovery of the fact. May I ask if, to +your knowledge, you ever had a relation named Septimus +Arnott?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He was my uncle. My father's name was Sextus Arnott. +My grandfather had seven sons and no daughters. He was +an eccentric man, I believe--I never saw him; and he +called them all by Latin numerals. My father was the +sixth son, Sextus; the brother to whom you refer, the +seventh and youngest, Septimus."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear, dear! how extraordinary! almost wonderful!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know why you should call it wonderful. It was +perhaps curious; but, in this world, people do curious +things."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite so!--exactly!--not a doubt of it! It was the +coincidence which I was speaking of as almost +wonderful, not your grandfather's method of naming his +sons; I should not presume so far. And where, may I +further be allowed to ask, is your father now, and his +brothers?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"They are all dead."</p> + +<p class="normal">"All dead! Dear! dear!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My father's brothers all died when they were young +men. My father himself died three years ago--at +Scarsdale, in Cumberland. My mother died twelve months +afterwards. I am their only child."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Their only child! You must suffer me to say, Miss +Arnott, that it almost seems as if the hand of God had +brought you to this house and moved me to intrude +myself upon you. I take it that you can furnish proofs +of the correctness of what you say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I can prove who I am, and who my father was, +and his father."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Just so; that is precisely what I mean--exactly. Miss +Arnott, Mr Stacey, the senior partner in our firm, +resides in Pembridge Gardens, Bayswater. I have reason +to believe that, if I go at once, I shall find him at +home. When I tell him what I have learnt I am sure that +he will come to you at once. May I ask you to await his +arrival? I think I can assure you that you shall not be +kept waiting more than an hour."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What can the person of whom you speak have to say to +me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I have told you, I am only a servant. It is not for +me to betray my employer's confidence; but so much I +may tell you--if you are the niece of the Septimus +Arnott for whom we are acting you are a very fortunate +young lady. And, in any case, I do assure you that you +will not regret affording Mr Stacey an opportunity of +an immediate interview."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Gardner went; the girl consented to await his +return. Almost as soon as he was gone the landlady--Mrs +Sayers--paid her a visit. It soon appeared that she had +been prompted by the solicitor's clerk.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I understand, Miss Arnott, from Mr Gardner, who has +had my dining-room now going on for five years, that +his chief governor, Mr Stacey, is coming to call on +you, as it were, at any moment. If you'd like to +receive him in my sitting-room, I'm sure you're very +welcome; and you shall be as private as you please."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl eyed the speaker. Hitherto civility had not +been her strongest point. Her sudden friendly impulse +could only have been induced by some very sufficient +reason of her own. The girl declined her offer. Mrs +Sayers became effusive, almost insistent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sure, my dear, that you will see for yourself +that it's not quite the thing for a young lady to +receive a gentleman, and maybe two, in a room like +this, which she uses for sleeping. You're perfectly +welcome to my little sitting-room for half an hour, or +even more, where you'll be most snug and comfortable; +and as for making you a charge, or anything of that +sort, I shouldn't think of it, so don't let yourself be +influenced by any fears of that kind."</p> + +<p class="normal">But the girl would have nothing to do with Mrs Sayers' +sitting-room. This woman had regarded her askance ever +since she had entered the house, had treated her with +something worse than incivility. Miss Arnott was not +disposed, even in so trifling a matter, to place +herself under an obligation to her now. Mrs Sayers was +difficult to convince; but the girl was rid of her at +last, and was alone to ask herself what this new turn +of fortune's wheel might portend. On this already +sufficiently eventful day, of what new experiment was +she to be made the subject? What was this stranger +coming to tell her about Septimus Arnott--the uncle +from whom her father had differed, as he himself was +wont to phrase it, on eleven points out of ten? She +was, it appeared, to be asked certain questions. Good; +she would be prepared to answer them, up to a certain +point. But where, exactly, was that point? And what +would happen after it was reached?</p> + +<p class="normal">She was ready and willing to give a full and detailed +account of all that had ever happened to her--up to the +time of her coming to London. And how much afterwards? +She did not, at present, know how it could be done; but +if, by any means whatever, the thing were possible, she +meant to conceal--from the whole world!--the shameful +fact that she was Robert Champion's wife. Nothing, save +the direst unescapable pressure, should ever induce her +to even admit that she had known the man. That entire +episode should be erased from her life, as if it had +never been, if it were feasible. And she would make it +feasible.</p> + +<p class="normal">The matter she had at present to consider was, how +much--or how little--she should tell her coming visitors.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_02" href="#div1Ref_02">THE WOMAN ON THE PAVEMENT</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Mr Stacey was a tall, portly gentleman, quite an +accepted type of family lawyer. He was white-headed and +inclined to be red-faced. He carried a pair of nose +glasses, which were as often between his fingers as on +his nose. His manner was urbane, with a tendency +towards pomposity; and when he smiled, which was often, +he showed a set of teeth which were as white and +regular as the dentist could make them. He was followed +into the room by Mr Gardner; and when the apartment +contained three persons it was filled to overflowing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, my excellent friend, Mr Gardner here, has +brought me most important news--most important. He actually tells +me that you are--eh--the Miss Arnott for whom we have been so long +in search."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am Miss Arnott. I am not aware, however, that anyone +has searched for me. I don't know why they should."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Gardner, who had been showing a vivid consciousness +of scanty space, proffered a suggestion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I might make so bold, sir, as to ask Miss Arnott to +honour me by stepping down to my poor parlour, we +should, at least, have a little more room to move."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Sayers has already made me a similar proposal. I +declined it, as I decline yours. What you wish to say +to me you will be so good as to say to me here. This +room, such as it is, is at anyrate my own--for the +present."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For the present; quite so!--quite so! A fine spirit of +independence--a fine spirit. I think, Miss Arnott, that +before long you will have other rooms of your own, +where you will be able to be independent in another +sense. I understand that you claim to be the only +surviving relative of Septimus Arnott, of Exham Park, +Hampshire."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You understand quite wrongly; I claim nothing. I +merely say that I am the only child of Sextus Arnott, +and that I had an uncle whose name was Septimus. When +they were young men my father and his brother were both +artists. But, after a time, Uncle Septimus came to the +conclusion that there was not much money to be made out +of painting. He wanted my father to give it up. My +father, who loved painting better than anything else in +the world"--the words were uttered with more than a +shade of bitterness--"wouldn't. They quarrelled and +parted. My father never saw his brother again, and I +have never seen him at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't know, then, that he is dead?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know nothing except what my father has told me. He +remained what he called 'true to his art' to the end of +his life, and never forgave his brother for turning his +back on it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pardon my putting to you a somewhat delicate question. +Did your father make much money by his painting?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Much money!" The girl's lip curled. "When he died +there was just enough left to keep my mother till she +died."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And then?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I came to London in search of fortune."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And found it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do I look as if I had--in this attic, which contains +all that I have in the world? No; fortune does not come +to such as I am. I should be tolerably content if I +were sure of daily bread. But why do you ask such +questions? Why do you pry into my private affairs? I am +not conscious of a desire to thrust them on your +notice--or on anyone's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, I beg that you will not suppose that I am +actuated by common curiosity. Let me explain the +situation in half-a-dozen words. Your Uncle Septimus, +after he left your father, went to South America. +There, after divers adventures, he went in for cattle +breeding. In that pursuit he amassed one of those large +fortunes which are characteristic of modern times. +Eventually he came to England, bought a property, +settled himself on it, and there died. We acted as his +legal advisers. He left his whole property to his +brother Sextus; or, in the event of his brother +predeceasing him, to his brother's children. You must +understand that he himself lived and died a bachelor. +His own death occurred three years ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My father also died three years ago--on the 18th of +March."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is very remarkable, Miss Arnott; they must have +died on the same day!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My father died at five minutes to six in the evening. +His last words were, 'Well, Septimus.' My mother and I, +who were at his bedside, wondered why he had said it-- +which he did so plainly that we both turned round to +see if anyone had come into the room. Until then he had +not mentioned his brother's name for a long time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, this is more and more remarkable; quite +apart from any legal proof there can be no sort of +doubt that you are the person +we are seeking. It happened that I was present at your +uncle's deathbed--partly as a friend and partly as his +professional adviser. For I should tell you that he was +a very lonely man. He seemed to have no friends, and +was chary of making acquaintances; in that great house +he lived the life of a lonely recluse. He died just as +the clock was striking six; and just before he died he +sat up in bed, held out his hand, and exclaimed in +quite his old, hearty voice, 'Hullo, Sextus.' No one +there knew to what the reference was made; but from +what you say it would almost appear as if their spirits +were already meeting." Mr Stacey blew his nose as if +all at once conscious that they were touching a subject +which was not strictly professional. "Before entering +further into matters, I presume that--merely for form's +sake--you are in a position to prove, Miss Arnott, that +you are you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly, I can do that, to some extent, at once." +She took an envelope from a shabby old handbag; from +the envelope some papers. "This is my mother's marriage +certificate; this is the certificate of my own birth; +this--" the paper of which she had taken hold chanced +to be a copy of the document which certified that a +marriage had taken place between Robert Champion, +bachelor, and Violet Arnott, spinster. For the moment +she had forgotten its existence. When she recognised +what it was her heart seemed to sink in her bosom; her +voice trembled; it was only with an effort that she was +able to keep herself from handing it to the man of law +in front of her. "No," she stammered, "that's the wrong +paper." Just in time she drew it back. If he had only +had one glance at it the whole course of her life would +have been different. She went on, with as complete a +show of calmness as she was capable of, "This is the +paper I meant to give you--it is a copy of the +certificate of my father's death; and this is a copy of +my mother's. They are both buried in the same grave in +the cemetery at Scarsdale."</p> + +<p class="normal">He took the papers she passed to him, seemingly +unconscious that there was anything curious in her +manner. That other paper, crumpling it up, she slipped +between the buttons of her bodice. He looked through +the documents she had given him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They appear to be perfectly in order--perfectly in +order, and I have no doubt that on investigation they +will be ascertained to be. By the way, Miss Arnott, I +notice that you were born just one-and-twenty years +ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes; my twenty-first birthday was on the 9th of last +month--five weeks ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not think it necessary to mention that the +memory of it would be with her for ever, since it had +been celebrated by the arrest of her husband.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Five weeks ago? A pity that it couldn't have been next +month instead of last; then the date of your coming of +age might have been made a great occasion. However, it +shall still be to you a memorable year. You will, of +course, understand that there are certain forms which +must be gone through; but I don't think I am premature +in expressing to you my personal conviction that you +are the person who is intended to benefit under the +will of the late Mr Septimus Arnott. Your uncle was one +of our multi-millionaires. I cannot, at this moment, +state the exact value of his estate; but this I can +inform you--that your income will be considerably over +one hundred thousand pounds a year."</p> + +<p class="normal">"One hundred thousand pounds a year!" She gripped, with +her right hand, the back of the room's one chair. "Do +you mean it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Beyond the shadow of a doubt. I am free to admit that +I am fond of a jest; but a fortune of that magnitude is +not a fit subject for a joke. Believe me, you will find +it a serious matter when you come to be directly +responsible for its administration."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It seems a large sum of money."</p> + +<p class="normal">He observed her a little curiously; she showed so few +signs of emotion, none of elation. In her position, at +her age, on receipt of such news, one would have looked +for her cheeks to flush, for her lips to be parted by a +smile, for a new brightness to come into her eyes--for +these things at least. So far as he was able to +perceive, not the slightest change took place in her +bearing, her manner, her appearance; except that +perhaps she became a little paler. The communication he +had just made might have been of interest to a third +party, but of none to her, so striking was the +suggestion of indifference which her demeanour +conveyed.</p> + +<p class="normal">He decided that the explanation was that as yet she was +incapable of realising her own good fortune.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Seems a large sum? It is a large sum! How large I lack +words to enable you to clearly comprehend. When we talk +of millions we speak of figures anything like the full +meaning of which the ordinary imagination is altogether +incapable to grasp. I think, Miss Arnott, that some +time will probably elapse vast is the responsibility +which is about to be placed upon you. In the meantime I +would make two remarks--first, that until matters are +placed in regular order I shall be happy to place at +your disposition any amount of ready cash you may +require; and second, that until everything is arranged, +Mrs Stacey and myself will be only too glad to extend +to you our hospitality at Pembridge Gardens."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think, if you don't mind, I should like to remain +here at anyrate to-night. I shall have a great many +things to consider; I should prefer to do so alone. If +you wish it I will call on you in the morning at your +offices, and then we will go into everything more +fully."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very good. As you choose, Miss Arnott. It is for you +to command, for me to obey. You are your own mistress +in a sense, and to a degree which I fancy you don't at +present understand. I took the precaution to provide +myself, before leaving home, with a certain amount of +ready money. Permit me to place at your service this +hundred pounds; you will find that there are twenty +five-pound notes. I need scarcely add that the money is +your own property. Now as to to-morrow. We have had so +much difficulty in finding you, and it is by such a +seeming miracle that we have lighted on you at last, +that I am reluctant to lose sight of you even for a +single night--until, that is, everything is in due +order, and you have happily released us from the great +weight of responsibility which has lain so long upon +us. May I take it that we shall certainly see you +to-morrow at our offices at noon?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes; I will be with you to-morrow at noon." It was on +that understanding they parted. Before he left the +house Mr Stacey said to his clerk,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gardner, that's a singular young woman. So young, so +beautiful, and yet so cold, so frigid, so--stolid. She +didn't even thank me for bringing her the good news, +neither by a word nor look did she so much as hint that +the news had gratified her; indeed, I am not at all +sure that she thinks it is good news. In one so young, +so charming--because, so far as looks are concerned, +she is charming, and she will be particularly so when +she is well dressed--it isn't natural, Gardner, it +isn't natural."</p> + +<p class="normal">In the top floor back the girl was contemplating the +twenty five-pound notes. She had never before been the +owner of so much money, or anything like so much. Had +she been the possessor of such a fortune when she came +to town she might never have become a "model" in the +costume department of the world-famed Messrs Glover & +Silk, she might never have made the acquaintance of +Robert Champion, she would certainly never have become +his wife. The glamour which had seemed to surround him +had been the result of the circumstances in which she +had first encountered him. Had her own position not +been such a pitiable one she would never have been +duped by him, by his impudent assurance, his brazen +lies, his reckless promises. She had seen that clearly, +long ago.</p> + +<p class="normal">A hundred pounds! Why, the fraud for which, at that +moment, he was in gaol had had for its objective a sum +of less than twenty pounds. She writhed as she thought +of it. Was he already in prisoner's clothes, marked +with the broad arrow? Was he thinking of her in his +felon's cell? She tried to put the vision from her, as +one too horrible for contemplation. Would it +persistently recur to her, in season and out, her whole +life long? God forbid! Rather than that, better death, +despite her uncle's fortune.</p> + +<p class="normal">In any case she could at least afford to treat herself +to a sufficient meal. She went to a quiet restaurant in +Oxford Street, and there fared sumptuously--that is, +sumptuously in comparison to the fashion in which she +had fared this many and many a day. Afterwards, she +strolled along the now lamp-lit street. As she went she +met a girl of about her own age who was decked out in +tawdry splendours. They had nearly passed before they +knew each other. Then recognition came. The other girl +stopped and turned.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, Vi!" she exclaimed. "Who'd have dreamt of seeing +you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl addressed did not attempt to return the +greeting. She did not even acknowledge it. Instead she +rushed off the pavement into a "crawling" hansom, +saying to the driver as she entered his vehicle,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Drive me to the city--anywhere; only be quick and get +away from here!"</p> + +<p class="normal">When she concluded that she was well out of that other +girl's sight she instructed the man to drive her to +Percy Street. At the corner of the street she alighted. +Once more in her attic she did as she had done on her +previous return to it--she sank down on to the side of +the bed, trembling from head to foot.</p> + +<p class="normal">The woman who had spoken to her in Oxford Street was +Sarah Stevens, who had been a fellow employee at Messrs +Glover & Silk's. It was she who had introduced her to +Robert Champion. It was largely owing to the tales she +had told of him, and to her eager advocacy of his suit, +that she had been jockeyed into becoming his wife. It +was only afterwards, when it was too late, that she had +learnt that the girl was as bad as--if not worse than--the +man to whom she had betrayed her. From the beginning the +pair had been co-conspirators; Violet Arnott had been their +victim.</p> + +<p class="normal">Was she to be haunted always by the fear of such +encounters? Rather than run that risk she would never +again set foot in London. Certainly, the sooner she was +out of it the better.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_03" href="#div1Ref_03">HE HEIRESS ENTERS INTO HER OWN</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">During the days and weeks which followed it was as +though she were the chief personage in a strange, +continuous dream. Always she expected an awakening--of +a kind of which she did not dare to think. But the +dream continued. All at once her path was strewn with +roses; up to then she had seemed to have to pick her +way, barefooted, amid stones and thistles. No obstacle +of any kind arose. Everything was smooth and easy. Her +claim to be her uncle's niece was admitted as soon as +it was made. Under her uncle's will Mr Stacey was the +sole trustee. To all intents and purposes his +trusteeship was at an end when she was found. She was +of age; the property was hers to do with exactly as she +would. By no conditions was she bound. She was her own +mistress; in sole control of that great fortune. It was +a singular position for a young girl to find herself +suddenly occupying.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was glad enough to leave her affairs in the hands +of Messrs Stacey, Morris & Binns. In those early days +the mere attempt to understand them was beyond her +power. They were anxious enough to place before her an +exact statement of the position she had now to occupy. +To some extent she grasped its meaning. But the details +she insisted on being allowed to assimilate by degrees.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I know pretty well what I have and what I haven't, +what I can do and what I can't, and what my duties and +responsibilities are, say, in three, or even six +months' time, I'll be content. In the meanwhile you +must continue to do precisely what you have been doing +during the time in which I was still not found. I +understand sufficiently to know that you have managed +all things better than I am ever likely to."</p> + +<p class="normal">She provided herself with what she deemed an ample, +and, indeed, extravagant supply of clothing at Mrs +Stacey's urgent request. That lady's ideas, however, +were much more gorgeous than her own. The solicitor's +wife insisted that it was only right and proper that +she should have a wardrobe which, as she put it, "was +suitable to her position." That meant, apparently, +that, in the way of wearing apparel, she should supply +herself with the contents of a good-sized London shop. +To that Miss Arnott objected.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you suppose I shall do with all those things?" +she demanded. "I am going into the country to stay +there. I am going to live all alone, as my uncle did. I +sha'n't see a creature from week's end to week's end--a +heap of new dresses won't be wanted for that. They'll +all be out of fashion long before I have a chance of +wearing them."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Stacey smiled; she was a lady of ample proportions, +who had herself a taste for sumptuous raiment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I fancy, dear Miss Arnott, that even now you don't +realise your own situation. Do you really suppose +that--as you suggest--you will be allowed to live all alone +at Exham Park, without seeing a creature from week's end +to week's end?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who is going to prevent me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear Miss Arnott, you are positively amusing. Before +you have been there a fortnight the whole county, at +least, will have been inside your doors."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope not."</p> + +<p class="normal">The look of distress on the young lady's countenance +was almost comical.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You speak, I think, without reflection. I, personally, +should be both grieved and disappointed if anything +else were to happen."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You would be grieved and disappointed? Good gracious! +Mrs Stacey, why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is only in accordance with the requirements of +common decency that a person in your position should +receive adequate recognition. If everyone did not call +on you you would be subjected to an injurious slight."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly that point of view did not occur to me. Up +to now no one worth speaking of has recognised my +existence in the slightest degree. The idea, therefore, +that it has suddenly become everyone's duty to do so +is, to say the least, a novel one.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So I imagined. It is, however, as I say; you see, +circumstances are altered. Quite apart from the period +when you will possess a town residence--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That period will be never."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never is a long while--a very long while. I say, quite +apart from that period, what I cannot but call your +unique position will certainly entitle you to act as +one of the leaders of county society."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How dreadful! I'm beginning to wish my position wasn't +so unique."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You speak, if you will forgive my saying so, as a +child. Providence has seen fit to place you in a +position in which you will be an object of universal +admiration. With your youth, your appearance, your +fortune, not only all Hampshire, but all England, will +be at your feet.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All England! Mrs Stacey, isn't that just a little +exaggerated?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not in the least. On the contrary, my language, if +anything, errs on the side of being too guarded. A +beautiful young girl of twenty-one, all alone in the +world, with more than a hundred thousand pounds a year +entirely under her own control--princes from all parts +of the world will tumble over each other in their +desire to find favour in your eyes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then princes must be much more foolish persons than I +supposed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, of that we will say nothing. Don't let us +speak evil of dignitaries. I was always brought up to +think of them with respect. To return to the subject of +your wardrobe. I have merely made these few remarks in +order to point out to you how essential it is that you +should be furnished, at the outset, with a wardrobe +likely to prove equal to all the demands which are +certain to be made on one in your position."</p> + +<p class="normal">"All the same, I won't have five hundred dresses. +Position or no position, I know I shall be much happier +with five."</p> + +<p class="normal">It is an undoubted fact that the young lady's equipment +of costumes extended to more than five, though it +stopped far short of the number which her feminine +mentor considered adequate. Indeed, Mrs Stacey made no +secret of her opinion that, from the social point of +view, her arrangements were scarcely decent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"At the very first serious call which is made upon your +resources, you will find yourself absolutely without a +thing to wear. Then you'll have to rush up to town and +have clothes made for you in red-hot haste, than which +nothing can be more unsatisfactory."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall have to chance that. I hate shops and I hate +shopping."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do. I don't care how it is with other girls, it's +like that with me. I've already had more than enough of +dressmakers; for ever so long I promise you that I +won't go near one for another single thing. I'm going +to the country, and I'm going to live a country life; +and for the kind of country life I mean to live you +don't want frocks."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Stacey lifted up her hands and sighed. To her such +sentiments seemed almost improper. It was obvious that +Miss Arnott meant to be her own mistress in something +more than name. On one question, however, she was +over-ruled. That was on the question of a companion.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was perfectly clear, both to her legal advisers and +to the senior partner's wife, that it was altogether +impossible for her to live at Exham Park entirely +companionless.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What harm will there be?" she demanded. "I shall be +quite alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear," returned Mrs Stacey, "you won't understand. +It is precisely that which is impossible--you must not +be quite alone; a young girl, a mere child like you. +People will not only think things, they will say them-- +and they will be right in doing so. The idea is +monstrous, not to be entertained for a moment. You must +have some sort of a companion."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott emitted a sound which might have been meant +for a groan.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well then, if I must I must--but she shall be +younger than I am; or, at anyrate, not much older."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Stacey looked as if the suggestion had rendered her +temporarily speechless.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear," she finally gasped, "that would be worse +than ever. Two young girls alone together in such a +house--what a scandal there would be!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should there be any scandal?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott's manner was a little defiant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you cannot see for yourself I would rather you did +not force me to explain. I can only assure you that if +you are not extremely careful your innocence of evil +will lead you into very great difficulties. What you +want is a woman of mature age, of wide knowledge of the +world; above all, of impregnable respectability. One +who will, in a sense, fill the place of a mother, +officiate--nominally--as the head of your household, +who will help you in entertaining visitors--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There will be no visitors to entertain."</p> + +<p class="normal">The elder lady indulged in what she intended for an +enigmatic smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When you have been at Exham Park for six months you +will blush at the recollection of your own simplicity. +At present I can only ask you to take my word for it +that there will be shoals of visitors."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then that companion of mine will have to entertain +them, that's all. One thing I stipulate: you will have +to discover her, I sha'n't."</p> + +<p class="normal">To this Mrs Stacey willingly acceded. The companion was +discovered. She was a Mrs Plummer; of whom her +discoverer spoke in tones of chastened solemnity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Plummer is a distant connection of Mr Stacey. As +such, he has known her all his life; and can therefore +vouch for her in every respect. She has known trouble; +and, as trouble always does, it has left its impress +upon her. But she is a true woman, with a great heart +and a beautiful nature. She is devoted to young people. +You will find in her a firm friend, one who will make +your interests her own, and who will be able and +willing to give you sound advice on all occasions in +which you find yourself in difficulty. I am convinced +that you will become greatly attached to her; you will +find her such a very present help in all times of +trouble."</p> + +<p class="normal">When, a few days before they went down together to +Exham Park, Miss Arnott was introduced to Mrs Plummer +in Mrs Stacey's drawing-room, in some way, which the +young lady would have found it hard to define, she did +not accord with her patroness's description. As her +custom sometimes was, Miss Arnott plunged headforemost +into the midst of things.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am told that you are to be my companion. I am very +sorry for you, because I am not at all a companionable +sort of creature."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You need not be sorry. I think you will find that I +understand the situation. Convention declines to allow +a young woman to live alone in her own house; I shall +be the necessary figurehead which the proprieties +require. I shall never intrude myself. I shall be +always in the background--except on occasions when I +perceive that you would sooner occupy that place +yourself. I shall be quick to see when those occasions +arise; and, believe me, they will be more frequent than +you may at this moment suspect. As for freedom--you +will have more freedom under the ægis of my wing, which +will be purely an affair of the imagination, than +without it; since, under its imaginary shelter, you +will be able to do all manner of things which, +otherwise, you would hardly be able to do unchallenged. +In fact, with me as cover, you will be able to do +exactly as you please; and still remain in the inner +sanctuary of Mrs Grundy."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer spoke with a degree of frankness for which +Miss Arnott was unprepared. She looked at her more +closely, to find that she was a little woman, +apparently younger than she had expected. Her dark +brown hair was just beginning to turn grey. She was by +no means ugly; the prominent characteristic of her face +being the smallness of the features. She had a small +mouth, thinly lipped, which, when it was closed, was +tightly closed. She had a small, slenderly-fashioned +aquiline nose, the nostrils of which were very fine and +delicate. Her eyes were small and somewhat prominent, +of a curious shade in blue, having about them a quality +which suggested that, while they saw everything which +was taking place around her, they served as masks which +prevented you seeing anything which was transpiring at +the back of them. She was dressed like a lady; she +spoke like a lady; she looked a lady. Miss Arnott had +not been long in her society before she perceived, +though perhaps a little dimly, what Mrs Stacey had +meant by saying that trouble had left its impress on +her. There was in her voice, her face, her bearing, +her manner, a something which spoke of habitual +self-repression, which was quite possibly the outcome +of some season of disaster which, for her, had changed +the whole aspect of the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">The day arrived, at last, when the heiress made her +first appearance at Exham Park. The house had been shut +up, and practically dismantled, for so long, that the +task of putting it in order, collecting an adequate +staff of servants, and getting it generally ready for +its new mistress, occupied some time. Miss Arnott +journeyed with Mrs Plummer; it was the first occasion +on which they had been companions. The young lady's +sensations, as the train bore her through the sunlit +country, were of a very singular nature; the little +woman in the opposite corner of the compartment had not +the faintest notion how singular.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Stacey met the travellers at the station, ushering +them into a landau, the door of which was held open by +a gigantic footman in powdered hair and silk stockings. +Soon after they had started, Miss Arnott asked a +question,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is this my carriage?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The gentleman replied, with some show of pomposity,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is one of them, Miss Arnott, one of them. You will +find, in your coach-houses, a variety of vehicles; but, +of course, I do not for a moment pretend that you will +find there every kind of conveyance you require. +Indeed, the idea has rather been that you should fill +the inevitable vacancies in accordance with the +dictates of your own taste."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whose idea is the flour and the silk stockings?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She was looking up at the coachman and footman on the +box.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The--eh?--oh, I perceive; you allude to the men's +liveries. The liveries, Miss Arnott, were chosen by +your late uncle; I think you will admit that they are +very handsome ones. It has been felt that, in deference +to him, they should be continued, until you thought +proper to rule otherwise."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I'm afraid that they won't be continued much +longer. In such matters my uncle's tastes were--I hope +it isn't treason to say +so--perhaps a trifle florid. Mine are all the other +way. I don't like floured heads, silk stockings, or +crimson velvet breeches; I like everything about me to +be plain to the verge of severity. My father's ideal +millionaire was mine; shall I tell you what that was?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you will be so good."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He held that a man with five thousand a year, if he +were really a gentleman, would do his best not to allow +it to be obvious to the man who only had five hundred +that he had more than he had."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is something to be said for that point of view; +on the other hand, there is a great deal to be said for +the other side."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No doubt. There is always a great deal to be said for +the other side. I am only hinting at the one towards +which I personally incline." Presently they were +passing along an avenue of trees. "Where are we now?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are on your property--this is the drive to the +house."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There seems to be a good deal of it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is rather more than three miles long; there are +lodge gates at either end; the house stands almost in +the centre."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It seems rather pretty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pretty! Exham Park is one of the finest seats in the +country. That is why your uncle purchased it."</p> + +<p class="normal">After a while they came in sight of the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that the house? It looks more like a palace. Fancy +my living all alone in a place like that! Now I +understand why a companion was an absolute necessity. +It strikes me, Mrs Plummer, that you will want a +companion as much as I shall. What shall we two lone, +lorn women do in that magnificent abode?"</p> + +<p class="normal">As they stepped in front of the splendid portico there +came down the steps a man who held his hat in his hand, +with whom Mr Stacey at once went through the ceremony +of introduction.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, this is Mr Arthur Cavanagh, your +steward."</p> + +<p class="normal">She found herself confronted by a person who was +apparently not much more than thirty years of age; +erect, well-built, with short, curly hair, inclined to +be ruddy, a huge moustache, and a pair of the merriest +blue eyes she had ever seen. When they were in the +house, and Mr Stacey was again alone with the two +ladies, he observed, with something which approximated +to an air of mystery,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must understand, Miss Arnott, that, as regards Mr +Cavanagh, we--my partners and myself--have been in a +delicate position. He was your uncle's particular +<i>protégé</i>. I have reason to know that he came to +England at his express request. We have hardly seen our +way--acting merely on our own initiative--to displace +him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Displace him? Why should he be displaced? Isn't he a +good steward?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As regards that, good stewards are not difficult to +find. Under the circumstances, the drawbacks in his +case are, I may almost say, notorious. He is young, +even absurdly young; he is not ill-looking, and he is +unmarried."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott smiled, as if Mr Stacey had been guilty of +perpetrating a joke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's not his fault that he is young; it's not my fault +that I am young. It's nice not to be ill-looking, and-- +I rather fancy--it's nice to be unmarried." She said to +Mrs Plummer as, a little later, they were going +upstairs together, side by side, "What odd things Mr +Stacey does say. Fancy regarding them as drawbacks +being young, good-looking and unmarried. What can he be +thinking of?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must refer you to him. It is one of the many +questions to which I am unable to supply an answer of +my own."</p> + +<p class="normal">When she was in her own room, two faces persisted in +getting in front of Miss Arnott's eyes. One was the +face of Mr Arthur Cavanagh, the other was that of the +man who was serving a term of twelve months' hard +labour, and which was always getting, as it were, +between her and the daylight.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_04" href="#div1Ref_04">THE EARL OF PECKHAM'S PROPOSAL</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott soon realised what Mrs Stacey had meant by +insisting on the impossibility of her living a solitary +life. So soon as she arrived upon the scene, visitors +began to appear at Exham Park in a constant stream. The +day after she came calls were made by two detachments +of the clergy, and by the representatives of three +medical men. But, as Mrs Plummer somewhat unkindly put +it, these might be regarded as professional calls; or, +in other words, requests for custom.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Since you are the patron of these livings, their +present holders were bound to haste and make +obeisance--though it would seem that, in that respect, +one of them is still a defaulter. The way in which those +two doctors and their wives, who happened to come together, +glowered at each other was beautiful. One quite expected +to see them lapse into mutual charges of unprofessional +conduct. Which of the three do you propose to favour?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Cavanagh says that uncle used to patronise all +three. He had one for the servants on the estate one +for the indoor servants, and one for himself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And which of the three was it who killed him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There came a time when all three were called together +to consult upon his case. That finished uncle at once. +He died within four-and-twenty hours. So Mr Cavanagh +says."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I suppose Mr Cavanagh is able to supply you with +little interesting details on all sorts of recondite +subjects?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh yes; he is like a walking encyclopedia of +information on all matters connected with the estate. +Whenever I want to know anything I simply go to him; he +always knows. It is most convenient."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I presume that he is always willing to tell you +what you want to know."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Most willing. I never met a more obliging person. And +so good-humoured. Have you noticed his smile?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't say that I have paid particular attention to +his smile."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's wonderful; it lights up all his face and makes +him positively handsome. I think he's a most delightful +person, and so clever. I'm sure he's immensely popular +with everyone; not at all like the +hard-as-nails stewards one reads about. I can't imagine +what Mr Stacey meant by almost expressing a regret that +he had not displaced him, can you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Some people sometimes say such extraordinary things +that it's no use trying to imagine what they mean."</p> + +<p class="normal">The answer was a trifle vague; but it seemed to satisfy +Miss Arnott. Neither of the ladies looked to see if the +other was smiling.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Stacey's sibylline utterance was prophetic; in a +fortnight the whole county had called--that is, so much +of it as was within anything like calling distance, and +in the country in these days "calling distance" is a +term which covers a considerable expanse of ground. +Practically the only abstentions were caused by +people's absence from home. It was said that some came +purposely from London, and even farther, so that they +might not lose an opportunity of making Miss Arnott's +acquaintance.</p> + +<p class="normal">For instance, there was the case of the Dowager +Countess of Peckham. It happened that the old lady's +dower house was at Stevening, some fourteen or fifteen +miles from Exham Park. Since she had never occupied it +since the time it came into her possession, having +always preferred to let it furnished to whoever might +come along, one would scarcely have supposed that she +would have called herself Miss Arnott's neighbour. +When, however, a little bird whispered in her ear what +a very charming millionairess was in practically +solitary occupation of Exham Park, it chanced that, for +the moment, her own house was untenanted, and, within +four-and-twenty hours of the receipt of that whispered +communication, for the first time in her life she was +under its roof. On the following day she covered the +fourteen miles which lay between her and Exham Park in +a hired fly, was so fortunate as to find Miss Arnott at +home, and was so agreeably impressed by the lady +herself, by her surroundings, and by all that she heard +of her, that she stopped at the village post office on +her homeward journey to send a peremptory telegram to +her son to come at once. The Earl of Peckham came. He +had nothing particular to do just then; or, at least, +nothing which he could not easily shirk. He might as +well run down to his mother. So he ran down on his +automobile. Immediately on his arrival she favoured him +with a few home truths; as she had done on many +previous occasions, and peremptorily bundled him over +to Exham Park.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mind! you now have a chance such as you never had +before; and such as you certainly will never have +again. The girl has untold wealth absolutely at her own +command; she hasn't a relation in the world; she is +alone with a woman who is perfectly ready to be +hoodwinked; she knows nobody worth speaking of. You +will have her all to yourself, it will be your own +fault if she's not engaged to you in a fortnight, and +your wife within six weeks. Think of it, a quarter of a +million a year, not as representing her capital, you +understand, but a year! and absolutely no relations. +None of that crowd of miserable hangers-on which so +often represents the mushroom millionaire's family +connections. If you don't take advantage of this +heaven-sent opportunity, Peckham, you are past praying +for--that's all I can say."</p> + +<p class="normal">Peckham sighed. According to her that always was all +she could say, and she had said it so many times. He +motored over to Exham Park in a frame of mind which was +not in keeping with the character of a light-hearted +wooer. He had wanted his mother to accompany him. But +she had a conservative objection to motor cars, nothing +would induce her to trust herself on one. So, +reluctantly enough, he went alone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ask Miss Arnott to lunch to-morrow; you can go +over yourself and bring her on your car, it will be an +excellent opening. And when she is here I will do the +honours. But I have no intention of risking my own life +on one of those horrible machines."</p> + +<p class="normal">As he reached the bottom of a rather steep slope, his +lordship met a lady and a gentleman, who were strolling +side by side. Stopping, he addressed the gentleman,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg your pardon, but can you tell me if I am going +right for Exham Park? There were crossroads some way +back, at the top of the hill, but I was going so fast +that I couldn't see what was on the direction posts. I +mean Miss Arnott's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will find the lodge gate on your right, about half +a mile further on." The speaker hesitated, then added, +"This is Miss Arnott."</p> + +<p class="normal">Off came his lordship's hat again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am very fortunate. I am Peckham--I mean the Earl of +Peckham. My mother has sent me with a message."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lady was regarding the car with interested eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never have been on a motor car, but if you could +find room for me on yours, you might take me up to the +house, and--give me the message."</p> + +<p class="normal">In a trice the mechanician was in the tonneau, and the +lady by his lordship's side. As Mr Cavanagh, left +alone, gazed after the retreating car, it was not the +good-humoured expression of his countenance which would +have struck Miss Arnott most.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young lady's tastes were plainly altogether +different from the old one's--at anyrate, so far as +motor cars were concerned. Obviously she did not +consider them to be horrible machines. She showed the +liveliest interest in this, the first one of which she +had had any actual experience. They went for quite a +lengthy drive together, three times up and down the +drive, which meant nearly nine miles. Once, at the +lady's request, the driver showed what his car could +do. As it was a machine of the highest grade, and of +twenty-four horse power, it could do a good deal. Miss +Arnott expressed her approbation of the performance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How splendid! I could go on like that for ever; it +blows one about a bit, but if one were sensibly dressed +that wouldn't matter. How fast were we going?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, somewhere about fifty miles an hour. It's all +right in a place like this; but, the worst of it is, +there are such a lot of beastly policemen about. It's +no fun having always to pay fines for excessive speed, +and damages for running over people, and that kind of +thing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should think not, indeed. Have you ever run over +anyone?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, not exactly; only, accidents will happen, you +know."</p> + +<p class="normal">As she observed that young man's face, a suspicion +dawned upon her mind, that--when he was driving--they +occasionally would.</p> + +<p class="normal">Ere she descended she received some elementary lessons +in the art of controlling a motor car. And, altogether, +by the time they reached the house, and the message was +delivered, they were on terms of considerable intimacy.</p> + +<p class="normal">The acquaintance, thus auspiciously begun, rapidly +ripened. The Earl did not find the business on which he +was engaged anything like such a nuisance as he had +feared; on the contrary, he found it an agreeable +occupation. He was of opinion that the girl was not +half a bad sort; that, in fact, she was a very good +sort indeed. He actually decided that she would have +been eligible for a place in the portrait gallery of +the Countesses of Peckham even if she had not been set +in such a desirable frame. That motor car was a great +aid to intimacy. He drove her; and he taught her to +drive him. Sometimes, the chauffeur being left behind, +they had the car to themselves. It was on such an +occasion, when their acquaintance hardly extended +beyond his mother's suggested fortnight, that he made +her an offer of his hand and heart. She was driving at +the time, and going at a pretty good pace, which was +possibly on the wrong side of the legal limit; but when +she began to have an inkling of what he was talking +about, she instantly put on the brakes, and pulled up +dead. She was so taken by surprise, and her own hideous +position was so continually present to her mind's eye, +that it was some seconds before she perceived that the +young man at her side must, of necessity, be completely +unconscious of the monstrous nature of his proposal. +She was silent for several moments, then she answered, +while the car was still at a standstill in the middle +of the road,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you. No doubt your offer is not meant unkindly; +but acceptance on my part is altogether out of the +question."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why? Because it is. I am sorry you should have spoken +like this, because I was beginning to like you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Isn't that a reason why I should speak? If you are +beginning to like me, by degrees you may get to like me +more and more."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think not. Because this little <i>contretemps</i> will +necessarily put a period to our acquaintance."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, rats! that isn't fair! If I'd thought it would +worry you I wouldn't have said a word. Only--I should +like to ask if there is anybody else."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean, is there anyone else to whom I am engaged +to be married? There is not--and there never will be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say, Miss Arnott! Every man in England--who can get +within reach of you--will have tried his luck before +the end of the season. You will have to take one of +them, to save yourself from being bothered."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I? You think so? You are wrong. If you don't +mind, I will turn the car round, and take it to the +lodge gate; then I will get out, and walk home. Only +there must be no more conversation of this sort on the +way, or I shall get out at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You need not fear that I shall offend again; put her +round."</p> + +<p class="normal">She "put her round." They gained the lodge gate. The +lady descended.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-bye, Lord Peckham. I have to thank you for some +very pleasant rides, and for much valuable instruction. +I'm sorry I couldn't do what you wanted, but--it's +impossible."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I sha'n't forget the jolly time I've had with you, and +shall hope to meet you again when you come to town. You +are inclined to treat me with severity, but I assure +you that if you intend to treat every man severely, +merely because he proposes, you have set yourself a +task which would have been too much for the strength of +Hercules."</p> + +<p class="normal">His lordship returned then and there to London. On the +road he sent a telegram to his mother which contained +these two words only: "Been refused."</p> + +<p class="normal">On her part, Miss Arnott did not at once return to the +house. She chose instead a winding path which led to a +certain woodland glade which she had already learned to +love. There, amidst the trees, the bushes, the gorse, +the wild flowers, the tall grasses and the bracken, she +could enjoy solitary communion with her own thoughts. +Just then she had plenty to think about. There was not +only Lord Peckham's strange conduct, there was also his +parting words.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her knowledge of the world was very scanty, especially +of that sort of world in which she so suddenly found +herself. But she was a girl of quick intuitions; and +already she had noticed a something in the demeanour of +some of the masculine acquaintances she had made which +she had not altogether relished. Could what Lord +Peckham had said be true? Would every man who came +within reach of her try his luck--in a certain sense? +If so, a most unpleasant prospect was in store for her. +There was one way out of the difficulty. She had only +to announce that she was a married woman and that sort +of persecution would cease at once. She doubted, +however, if the remedy would not be worse than the +disease. She had grown to regard her matrimonial +fetters with such loathing, that, rather than +acknowledge, voluntarily, that she was bound about by +them, and admit that her husband was an unspeakable +creature in a felon's cell, she believed that she was +ready to endure anything. Certainly she would sooner +reject a dozen men a day.</p> + +<p class="normal">She came to the woodland glade she sought. It so +chanced that the particular nook which she had learned, +from experience, was the best to recline in was just on +the other side of a rough fence. She crossed the fence, +reclined at her ease on the mossy bank; and thought, +and thought, and thought. On a sudden she was roused +from her deepest +day-dream by a voice which addressed to her an inquiry +from above,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you trespassing--or am I?"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_05" href="#div1Ref_05">TRESPASSING</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">She looked up with a start--to find that a man was +observing her who seemed to be unusually tall. She lay +in a hollow, he stood on the top of the bank; so that +perhaps their relative positions tended to exaggerate +his apparent inches. But that he was tall was beyond a +doubt. He was also broad. Her first feeling was, that +she had never seen a man who was at once so tall and so +broad across the shoulders. He was rather untidily +dressed--in a grey tweed knickerbocker suit, with a +Norfolk jacket, and a huge cap which was crammed right +down on his head. He wore a flannel shirt, and a dark +blue knitted tie, which was tied in a scrambling +sailor's knot. Both hands were in the pockets of his +jacket, which was wide open; and, altogether, the +impression was conveyed to her, as she lay so far +beneath him, that he was of a monstrous size.</p> + +<p class="normal">It struck her that his being where he was was an +impertinence, which was rendered much greater by his +venturing to address her; especially with such an +inquiry. Merely raising herself on her elbow, she +favoured him with a glance which was intended to crush +him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There can be no doubt as to who is trespassing as you +must be perfectly well aware--you are."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I quite agree with you in thinking that there can be +no doubt as to who is trespassing; but there, +unfortunately, our agreement ends, because, as it +happens, you are."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you suppose that I don't know which is my own +property? I am Miss Arnott, of Exham Park--this is part +of my ground."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I fancy, with all possible deference, that I know +which is my property better than you appear to know +which is yours. I am Hugh Morice, of Oak Dene, and, +beyond the slightest shadow of a doubt, the ground on +which we both are is mine."</p> + +<p class="normal">She rose to her feet a little hurriedly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What authority have you for what you say? Are you +trying to amuse yourself at my expense?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Allow me to explain. You see that fence, which is in +rather a doddering condition--it forms the boundary +line between Exham Park and Oak Dene, a fact which I +have a particular reason to remember. Once, before this +was my ground, I was shooting in these woods. My bird-- +it was only a pigeon--dropped on the other side of that +fence. I was no better acquainted with the landmarks +then than you appear to be now. Not aware that there +was any difference between this side and that, I was +scrambling over the fence to retrieve my pigeon when I +was pulled up short by some very plain words, +pronounced in a very plain tone of voice. I won't tell +you what the words were, because you might like them +even less than I did. I looked up; and there was an old +gentleman, who was flanked by two persons who were +evidently keepers. He was one of the most eloquent old +gentlemen I had ever met. He commenced by wanting to +know what I meant by being about to defile his ground +by the intrusion of my person. I replied that I wasn't +aware that it was his ground, and that I wanted my +pigeon. He asked me who I was. When I told him he +informed me that he was Septimus Arnott, and desired me +to inform all persons bearing my name what he thought +of them. He thought a good deal--in a sense. He wound +up by remarking that he would instruct his keepers, if +ever they caught me on the wrong side of that fence, to +put a charge of lead into me at sight. Towards the end +of the interview I was as genially disposed as he was; +so I retorted by assuring him that if ever I caught +anyone from Exham Park on this side, I'd do the honours +with a charge of lead. This is the exact spot on which +that interview took place--he was there and I here. But +the circumstances have changed--it is Exham Park who is +now the trespasser. Shall I put a charge of lead into +you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"By all means--if you wish to."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am not quite sure that I do wish to."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you have the slightest inclination in that +direction, pray don't hesitate."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You mightn't like it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't consider my feelings, I beg. In such a matter +surely you wouldn't allow my feelings to count."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No? You think not? I don't know. Perhaps you're right; +but, you see, I haven't a gun. I can't put charges of +lead into anything, or anyone, without one.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray don't let any trifling obstacle of that kind +stand in your way. Permit me to send for one."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would you? You're very good. Who would you send?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I would myself fetch you the indispensable +weapon."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And how long would you be, do you imagine? Should I +have time to smoke a pipe while you were going there +and back?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly the lady drew herself up with a gesture which +was possibly meant to be expressive of a judicious +mingling of scorn with hauteur.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is possible, if you prefer it. I will admit that it +is probable that my uncle was rude to you. Do you +intend to continue the tradition, and be rude to me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was simply telling you a little anecdote, Miss +Arnott."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am obliged to you for taking so much trouble. Now, +with your permission, I will return to what you state +to be my side of the fence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I state? Don't you state that that side of the fence +is yours?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My impression was that both sides were mine. I will +have the matter carefully inquired into. If your +statement proves to be correct I will see that a +communication is sent to you, conveying my apologies +for having been an unwitting trespasser on your +estate."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you. Can I lift you over?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lift me over!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The air of red-hot indignation with which his +proposition was declined ought to have scorched him. It +seemed, however, to have no effect on him of any sort. +He continued to regard her from the top of the bank, +with an air of indolent nonchalance, which was rapidly +driving her to the conclusion that he was the most +insolent person she had ever encountered. With a view, +possibly, of showing the full absurdity of his offer of +assistance, she placed both hands on the top of the +fence, with the intention of vaulting over it. The +intention was only partially fulfilled. During her +wanderings with her father among their Cumberland hills +she had become skilled in all manner of athletic +exercises. Ordinarily she would have thought nothing of +vaulting--or, for the matter of that, jumping--an +insignificant fence. Perhaps her nervous system was +more disorganised than she imagined. She caught her +knee against the bar, and, instead of alighting +gracefully on her feet, she rolled ignominiously over. +She was up almost as soon as she was down, but not +before he had cleared the fence at a bound, and was +standing at her side. She exhibited no sign of +gratitude for the rapidity with which he had come to +her assistance. She merely put to him an icy question,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Was it necessary that you should trespass also?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you sure that you are not hurt? ankle not twisted, +or anything of that kind?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite sure. Be so good as to return to your own side."</p> + +<p class="normal">As he seemed to hesitate, a voice exclaimed, in husky +tones,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"By----, I've a mind to shoot you now."</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned to see a man, between forty and fifty years +of age, in the unmistakable habiliments of a +gamekeeper, standing some twenty feet off, holding a +gun in a fashion which suggested that it would need +very little to induce him to put it to his shoulder and +pull the trigger. Hugh Morice greeted him as if he were +an old acquaintance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hullo, Jim Baker! So you're still in the land of the +living?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Baker displayed something more than surliness in his +reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So are you, worse luck! What are you doing here? +Didn't Mr Arnott tell me if I saw you on our land to +let fly, and pepper you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was just telling Miss Arnott the story. Odd that you +should come upon the scene as corroborating evidence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For two pins I'd let fly!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, Baker, don't be an idiot. Take care how you +handle that gun, or there'll be trouble; your hands +don't seem too steady. You don't want me to give you +another thrashing, do you? Have you forgotten the last +one I gave you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have I forgotten?" The man cursed his questioner with +a vigour which was startling. "I'll never forget--trust +me. I'll be even with you yet, trust me. By ---- if you +say another word about it I'll let fly at you now!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Up went the stock of the gun to the speaker's shoulder, +the muzzle pointing direct at Mr Morice. That gentleman +neither moved nor spoke; Miss Arnott did both.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Baker, are you mad? Put down that gun. How dare you so +misbehave yourself?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The gun was lowered with evident reluctance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Arnott, he told me to shoot him if ever I see him +this side the fence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am mistress here now. You may think yourself +fortunate if you're not presently introduced to a +policeman."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was only obeying orders, that's all I was doing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Orders! How long ago is it since the orders to which +you refer were given you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Morice interposed an answer,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's more than four years since I was near the place."</p> + +<p class="normal">The keeper turned towards him with a vindictive snarl.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Four years! what's four years? An order's an order if +it's four years or forty. How was I to know that things +are different, and that now you're to come poaching and +trespassing whenever you please?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott was very stern.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Baker, take yourself away from here at once. You will +hear of this again. Do you hear me? Go! without a +word!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Baker went, but as he went he delivered himself of +several words. They were uttered to himself rather than +to the general public, but they were pretty audible all +the same. When he was out of sight and sound, the lady +put a question to the gentleman,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think it possible that he could have been in +earnest, and that he would have shot you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I daresay. I suspect that few things would have +pleased him better. Why not? He would only have been +carrying out instructions received."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But--Mr Morice, I wish you would not jest on such a +subject! Has he a personal grudge against you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It depends upon what you call a grudge; you heard what +he said. He used to live in that cottage near the +gravel pits; and may do so still for all I know. Once, +when I was passing, I heard a terrible hullabaloo. I +invited myself inside to find that Mr Baker was +correcting Mrs Baker with what seemed to me such +unnecessary vigour that--I corrected him. The incident +seems to linger in his memory, in spite of the passage +of the years; and I shouldn't be at all surprised if, +in his turn, he is still quite willing to correct me, +with the aid of a few pellets of lead."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But he must be a dangerous character."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's a character, at anyrate. I've always felt he was +a little mad; when he's drunk he's stark mad. He's +perhaps been having half a gallon now. Let me hasten to +assure you that, I fancy, Baker's qualities were +regarded by Mr Septimus Arnott, in the main, as +virtues. Mr Arnott was himself a character; if I may be +excused for saying so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never saw my uncle in his life, and knew absolutely +nothing about him, except what my father used to tell +me of the days when they were boys together."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If, in those days, he was anything like what he was +afterwards, he must have been a curiosity. To make the +whole position clear to you I should mention that my +uncle was also a character. I am not sure that, taking +him altogether, he was not the more remarkable +character of the two. The Morices, of course, have been +here since the flood. But when your uncle came my uncle +detected in him a kindred spirit. They became +intimates; inseparable chums, and a pair of curios I +promise you they were, until they quarrelled--over a +game of chess."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of chess?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of chess. They used to play together three or four +times a +week--tremendous games. Until one evening my uncle +insisted that your uncle had taken his hand off a +piece, and wouldn't allow him to withdraw his move. +Then the fur flew. Each called the other everything he +could think of, and both had an extensive répertoire. +The war which followed raged unceasingly; it's a +mystery to me how they both managed to die in their +beds."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And all because of a dispute over a game of chess?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My uncle could quarrel about a less serious matter +than a game of chess; he was a master of the art. He +quarrelled with me--but that's another story; since +when I've been in the out-of-the-way-corners of the +world. I was in Northern Rhodesia when I heard that he +was dead, and had left me Oak Dene. I don't know why-- +except that there has always been a Morice at Oak Dene, +and that I am the only remaining specimen of the +breed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How strange. It is only recently that I learned--to my +complete surprise--that Exham Park was mine."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It seems that we are both of us indebted to our +uncles, dead; though apparently we neither of us owed +much to them while they still were living. Well, are +the orders to be perpetuated that I'm to be shot when +seen on this side of the fence?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not myself practise such methods."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They are drastic; though there are occasions on which +drastic methods are the kindest. Since I only arrived +yesterday I take it that I am the latest comer. It is +your duty, therefore, to call on me. Do you propose to +do your duty?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I certainly do not propose to call on you, if that's +what you mean."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good. Then I'll call on you. I shall have the +pleasure, Miss Arnott, of waiting on you, on this side +of the fence, at a very early date. Do you keep a shot +gun in the hall?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you consider it good taste to persist in harping on +a subject which you must perceive is distasteful?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My taste was always bad."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That I can easily imagine."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is something which I also can easily imagine."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can imagine that your uncle left you something +besides Exham Park."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A little of his temper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice! I have no wish to exchange retorts with +you, but, from what you say, it is quite obvious that +your uncle left you all his manners."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you. Anything else?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, Mr Morice, there is something else. It is not my +fault that we are neighbours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't say that it's my misfortune."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And since you must have left many inconsolable friends +behind you in Rhodesia there is no reason why we should +continue to be neighbours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course, whether you return to Rhodesia or remain +here is a matter of complete indifference to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Precisely."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, should you elect to stay, you will be so good as +to understand that, if you do call at Exham Park, you +will be told that I am not at home. Good afternoon, Mr +Morice, and good-bye."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-bye, Miss Arnott. I had a sort of premonition +that those orders would be re-issued, and that I should +be shot if I was seen this side."</p> + +<p class="normal">She had already gone some distance; but, on hearing +this, stopping, she turned towards him again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Possibly if we raise the fence to a sufficient height, +that will keep you out."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I can scale any fence. No fence was ever +constructed that I couldn't negotiate. You'll have to +shoot."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall we? We shall see."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We shall--Miss Arnott?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She stopped again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is it you wish to say to me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Merely that I have in my mind some half-formed +intention to call on you to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You dare!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have no notion what I do dare."</p> + +<p class="normal">This time she was not tempted to a further rejoinder. +He watched her as, straight as a dart, her head in the +air, striding along the winding path, she vanished +among the trees. He ruminated after she had gone,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"She's splendid! she magnificent! How she holds +herself, and how she looks at you, and what eyes they +are with which to look. I never saw anything like her, +and I hope, for her own sake, she never saw anything +like me. What a brute she must think me, and what a +brute I am. I don't care; there's something about her +which sets all my blood on fire, which rouses in me the +instinct of the hunter. I wish old Baker would come +along just now; gun or no gun, we'd have a pretty +little argument. It might do me good. There's no doubt +that what I said was true--the girl has her uncle's +temper, if I've my uncle's manners; as I'm a sinful man +I've as good as half a mind to marry her."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lady was unconscious of the compliments which, +mentally, the gentleman was paying her. When, returning +home, she entered the apartment where Mrs Plummer, +apparently just roused from a peaceful doze, was +waiting for her tea, she was in a flame of passion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have just left the most unendurable person I ever +yet encountered, the most ill-mannered, the most +clumsy, the most cowardly, the most stupid, the most +absurd, the most unspeakable!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear! who is this very superlative individual? what +is his delightful name?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"His name!" For some occult reason Mrs Plummer's, under +the circumstances, mild request, seemed to cause her +passion to flame up higher. "What do I care what his +name is? So far as I am concerned such a creature has +no name!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_06" href="#div1Ref_06">AN AUTHORITY ON THE LAW OF MARRIAGE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">The next day Mr Hugh Morice fulfilled his threat--he +paid his ceremonial call at Exham Park. The word +"ceremonial" is used advisedly, since nothing could +have been more formal and decorous than his demeanour +throughout.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott and Mrs Plummer happened to be entertaining +four or five people that afternoon, among them a Mr +Pyecroft, a curate attached to one of Miss Arnott's +three livings. He was favouring that lady with a +graphic account of the difficulties encountered in +endeavouring, in a country place, to arouse interest on +any subject whatever, and was illustrating the position +by describing the disappointments he had met with in +the course of an attempt he had made to organise a +series of local entertainments in aid of a new church +organ, when his listener suddenly became conscious that +a person had just entered the room, who, if she could +believe her eyes, was none other than the unspeakable +individual of the previous day. Not only was it +unmistakably he, but he was actually--with an air of +complete self-possession--marching straight across the +room towards her. When he stood in front of her, he +bowed and said,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Permit me, Miss Arnott, to introduce myself to you. I +am Hugh Morice, of Oak Dene, which, as you are probably +aware, adjoins Exham Park. I only arrived two days ago, +and, so soon as I learned that I was honoured by having +you as a neighbour, I ventured to lose no time +in--with your permission--making myself known to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott looked at him with an expression on her +countenance which was hardly encouraging. His own +assurance was so perfect that it deprived her, for the +moment, of her presence of mind. He wore a suit of dark +blue serge, which made him seem huger even than he had +done the day before. In the presence of Mr Pyecroft, +and of the other people, she could scarcely assail this +smiling giant, and remind him, pointedly, that she had +forbidden him to call. Some sort of explanation would +have to be forthcoming, and it was exactly an +explanation which she desired to avoid. Observing that +she seemed tongue-tied, the visitor continued,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have been so long a wanderer among savages that I +have almost forgotten the teachings of my guide to good +manners. I am quite unaware, for example, what, as +regards calling, is the correct etiquette on an +occasion when an unmarried man finds himself the +next-door neighbour to an unmarried lady. As I could +hardly expect you to call upon me I dared to take the +initiative. What I feared most was that I might not +find you in."</p> + +<p class="normal">The invitation was so obvious that the lady at once +accepted it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is only by the merest accident that you have done +so."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Morice was equal to the occasion. "I fancy, Miss +Arnott, that for some of the happiest hours of our +lives we are indebted to accidents. Ah, Pyecroft, so +you have not deserted us."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Morice shook hands with Mr Pyecroft--Miss Arnott +thought they looked a most incongruous couple--with an +air of old comradeship, and presently was exchanging +greetings with others of those present with a degree of +heartiness which, to his hostess, made it seem +impossible that she should have him shown the door. +When all the other visitors had gone--including the +unspeakable man--she found, to her amazement, that he +had made a most favourable impression on Mrs Plummer. +That lady began almost as soon as his back was turned.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What a delightful person Mr Morice is." Miss Arnott +was so taken by surprise that she could do nothing but +stare. Mrs Plummer went placidly on, "It is nice to be +able just to look at him, the mere sight of him's a +satisfaction. To a little woman the idea of a man of +his size is such a comfort."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young lady's manner was not effusive.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We're not all of us fond of monstrosities."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Monstrosities! my dear! He's not a monstrosity, he's a +perfect figure of a man, magnificently proportioned. +You must admit that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And then his manners are so charming."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They never struck me like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No? I suppose one judges people as one finds them. I +know he was particularly nice to me. By the way, that +dreadful person you spoke of yesterday, you might tell +me what his name is, so that I might be on my guard +against him, should our paths happen to cross."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I repeat what I have already told you that, so far as +I am concerned, he has no name; and anyhow, you +wouldn't recognise him from my description if you did +meet."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was odd, considering how much Miss Arnott disliked +Mr Morice, how frequently he was destined to come, at +anyrate, within her line of vision. And yet, perhaps, +it was natural--because, although their houses were a +couple of miles apart, their estates joined--they were +neighbours. And then Miss Arnott was inclined to +suspect that the gentleman went out of his way to bring +about a meeting. Situated as they were, it was not a +difficult thing to do.</p> + +<p class="normal">To a certain extent, the lady had accepted the +position. That is, she had allowed the acquaintance to +continue; being, indeed, more than half disposed to +fear that she might not find it easy to refuse to know +him altogether. But she had been careful to avoid any +reference to that curious first encounter. He, on his +part, had shown no disposition to allude to it. So +there grew up between them a sort of casual intimacy. +They saw each other often. When he spoke to her she +spoke to him, though never at any greater length than, +as it seemed to her, she could help.</p> + +<p class="normal">With the lessons she had received from the Earl of +Peckham still fresh in her mind she bought herself a +motor car; almost simultaneously with its appearance on +the scene her relations with Hugh Morice began to be on +a friendlier footing. She was sitting in it one day, +talking to the lodge-keeper, when Mr Morice came +striding by. At sight of it he at once approached.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's a strange beast."</p> + +<p class="normal">She had become somewhat accustomed to his odd tricks of +speech, and merely smiled a wintry smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You think so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's not only a strange, it's a wonderful beast, since +it holds in its hands no small portion of the future +history of the world."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you referring to this particular machine?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am referring to all the machines of which that one's +a type. They're going to repeat the performance of +Puffing' Billy--produce a revolution. I wish you'd give +me a ride."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was just thinking of going in."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Put off going in for a few minutes--take me for a +run."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at the chauffeur, who was quick to take the +hint. Presently they were bowling along between the +hedgerows, she conscious that his eyes were paying more +attention to her than she quite relished. A fact of +which his words immediately gave evidence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You like it. This feeling of flight through the air, +which you can command by touching a handle, supplies +you with an evanescent interest in life which, in +ordinary, everyday existence you find lacking."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it necessary that I should tell you? Do you wish me +to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean that, as a general rule, I don't take an +interest in things?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you? At your age, in your position, you ought to +take an interest in everything. But the impression you +convey to my mind is that you don't, that you take an +interest in nothing. You try to, sometimes, pretty +hard. But you never quite succeed. I don't know why. +You remind me, in some odd way, of the impersonal +attitude of a spectator who looks on at something with +which he never expects to have any personal concern."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know what you're talking about, I don't +believe you do either. You say the strangest things."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't find them strange, you understand them +better than I do. I am many years older than you--ye +Goths, how many! I am tolerably <i>blasé</i>, as befits my +age. But you, you are tired--mortally tired--of +everything already. I've not yet reached that stage. +You don't know what keenness means; thank goodness +there are still a good many things which I am keen +about. Just as something turns up for which you're on +the point of really caring, a shadow steps from the +back of your mind to the front, and stops you. I don't +know what it is, but I know it's there."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm going back."</p> + +<p class="normal">As this man spoke something tugged at her heartstrings +which filled her with a sort of terror. If he was +beginning to regard her attitude towards life--of which +she herself was only too hideously conscious--as a +problem, the solution of which he had set himself to +find out, what might the consequences not be? Then she +could not stop to think. She swung the car round +towards home. As if in obedience to her unspoken hint +he changed the subject, speaking with that calm +assumption of authority which galled her the more +because she found herself so frequently compelled to +submission.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must teach me to drive this machine of yours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My mechanician will be able to do that better than I +can, I am myself only a tyro."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, I prefer that you should teach me. Which +handle do you move to stop?" She showed him. "And which +to start?" She showed him again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Before they parted, she had put him, however +unwillingly, through +quite a small course of elementary instruction. In +consequence of which she had a bad quarter of an hour, +when, later, she was in her own +sitting-room, alone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He frightens me! He makes me do things I don't want to +do; and then--he seems to know me better than I know myself. +Is it so obvious that I find it difficult to take a real +interest in things? or has he a preternaturally keen sense +of perception? Either way it isn't nice for me. It's true +enough; nothing does interest me. How should it? What does +money, and all that matter; when there's that--shadow--in +the prison, coming closer to me, day by day? I believe that +being where I am--Miss Arnott of Exham Park--makes it worse, +because if it weren't for the shadow, it would be so +different--so different!"</p> + +<p class="normal">That night she dreamed of Hugh Morice. She and he were +on the motor car together, flying through the sunshine, +on and on and on, happy as the day was bright, and the +road was fair. Suddenly the sun became obscured, all +the world was dark; they were approaching a chasm. +Although it was so dark she knew that it was there. In +a wild frenzy of fear she tried to stop the car, to +find, all at once, that it had no brake. She made to +leap out on to the road, but Mr Morice seized her round +the waist and held her. In another moment they were +dashing over the edge of an abyss, into the nameless +horrors which lay below.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not a pleasant dream, it did not leave an +agreeable impression on her mind after she was awake. +But dreams are only dreams. Sensible people pay no heed +to them. Miss Arnott proved herself to be sensible at +least in that respect. She did not, ever afterwards, +refuse him a seat in her car, because she had once, in +a nightmare, come to grief in his society. On the +contrary, she not only took him for other drives, but-- +imitating her own experience with the Earl of Peckham, +when, after a while--it was a very little while--he had +attained to a certain degree of proficiency, she +suffered him to drive her. And, as she had done, he +liked driving so much that, before long, he also had an +automobile of his own.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then a new phase of the affair commenced. It was, of +course, necessary that--with a view of extending her +experience, and increasing her knowledge of motor +cars--she should try her hand at driving his. She tried +her hand, a first and a second time, perhaps a third. +She admitted that his car was not a bad one. It had its +points--but slight vibration, little noise, scarcely +any smell. It ran sweetly, was a good climber, easy to +steer. Certainly a capital car. So much she was ready +to allow. But, at the same time, she could not but +express her opinion that, on the whole, hers was a +better one. There they joined issue. At first, Mr +Morice was disposed to doubt, he was inclined to think +that perhaps, for certain reasons, the lady's car might +be a shade the superior. But, by degrees, as he became +more accustomed to his new possession, he changed his +mind. He was moved to state his conviction that, as a +matter of fact, the superiority lay with his own car.</p> + +<p class="normal">Whereupon both parties proceeded to demonstrate with +which of the pair the palm of merit really lay. They ran +all sorts of trials together--trials which sometimes resulted +in extremely warm arguments; and by which, somehow, very +little was proved. At anyrate, each party was always ready +to discount the value of the conclusion at which the other +had arrived.</p> + +<p class="normal">One fact was noticeable--as evidence of the keen spirit +of emulation. Wherever one car was the other was nearly +sure to be somewhere near at hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer, who had a gift of silence, said little. +But one remark she made did strike Miss Arnott as +peculiar.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice doesn't seem to have so many friends, or +even acquaintances, as I should have expected in a man +in his position."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you know he hasn't?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say he doesn't seem to have. He never has anyone at +his own house, and he never goes to anyone else's. He +always seems to be alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott was still. Mrs Plummer had not accentuated +it in the slightest degree; yet the young lady wondered +in what sense--in that construction--she had used the +word "alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">One day, when she was in town, Miss Arnott did a +singular thing. Having deposited Mrs Plummer in a large +drapery establishment, with peremptory instructions to +make certain considerable purchases, she went off in a +hansom by herself to an address in the Temple. Having +arrived, she perceived in the hall of the house she had +entered a board, on which were painted a number of +names. Her glance rested on one--First floor, Mr +Whitcomb. Without hesitation she ascended to the first +floor, until she found herself confronted by a door on +which that name appeared in black letters. She knocked; +the door was opened by a very young gentleman.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Can I see Mr Whitcomb?" she inquired.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What name? Have you an appointment?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have not an appointment, and my name is of no +consequence. I wish to see Mr Whitcomb on very +particular business."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young gentleman looked at her askance, as if he was +of opinion--which he emphatically was--that she was not at +all the sort of person he was accustomed to see outside +that door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Whitcomb doesn't generally see people without an +appointment, especially if he doesn't know their names; +but if you'll step inside, I'll see if he's engaged."</p> + +<p class="normal">She stepped inside to find herself in an apartment in +which there were several other young gentlemen, of +somewhat riper years; one and all of whom, she +immediately became conscious, began to take the +liveliest interest in her. Soon there appeared a +grey-haired man, who held a pair of spectacles between +the fingers of his right hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"May I ask what your name is? and what is the nature of +the business on which you wish to see Mr Whitcomb?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have already explained that my name doesn't matter. +And I can only state my business to Mr Whitcomb +himself." Then she added, as if struck by the look of +doubt in the grey-haired man's face, "Pray don't +imagine that I am here to beg for subscriptions to a +charity or any nonsense of that kind. I wish to see Mr +Whitcomb about something very important."</p> + +<p class="normal">The grey-headed man smiled faintly, apparently amused +by something in the caller's manner, or appearance. +Departing whence he came he almost immediately +reappeared, and beckoned to her with his hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Whitcomb is very much engaged, but he will manage +to spare you five minutes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I daresay I sha'n't want to keep him longer."</p> + +<p class="normal">She found herself in a spacious room, which was +principally furnished, as it seemed to her, with books. +At a table, which was almost entirely covered with +books, both open and shut, stood a tall man, with +snow-white hair, who bowed to her as she entered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wish to see me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are Mr Whitcomb?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is my name. How can I serve you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She seated herself on the chair towards which he +pointed. Each looked at the other for some seconds, in +silence. Then she spoke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I want you to tell me on what grounds a wife can +obtain a divorce from her husband."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Whitcomb raised his eyebrows and smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think, madam, that it may have been a solicitor you +wanted. I, unfortunately, am only a barrister. I fear +you have made a mistake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have not made a mistake; how have I made a mistake? +I saw in a paper the other day that you were the +greatest living authority on the law of marriage."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was very good of the paper to say so. Since I am +indebted for your presence here to so handsome a compliment, +I will waive the point of etiquette and inform you--of what +you, surely, must be already aware--that the grounds on +which a divorce may be obtained are various."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know that; that isn't what I mean. What I specially +want to know is this--can a woman get a divorce from +her husband because he gets sent to prison?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because he gets sent to prison? For doing what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"For--for swindling; because he's a scoundrel."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Whitcomb's eyebrows went up again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The idea that a marriage may be dissolved because one +of the parties is guilty of felony, and is consequently +sentenced to a term of imprisonment, is a novel one to +me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not if a girl finds out that the man who has married +her is a villain and a thief? A thief, mind."</p> + +<p class="normal">He shook his head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I find that that would be no ground for dissolution."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear young lady, you were good enough to say that +some paper or other credited me with a knowledge of the +laws dealing with the subject of marriage. I can assure +you that on that point there is no doubt whatever."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that so?" The girl's lips were tightly compressed, +her brows knit. "Then there are no means whatever by +which a wife can be rid of a husband whom she discovers +to be a rogue and a rascal?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not merely because he is a rogue and a rascal; except +by the act of God."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean by the act of God?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If, for example, he should die."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If he should die? I see! There is no way by which she +can be released from him except by--death. Thank you, +that is all I wanted to know."</p> + +<p class="normal">She laid on his table what, to his surprise, he +perceived to be a twenty-pound note.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear young lady, what is this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is your fee. I don't want to occupy your time or +obtain information from you for nothing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you have done neither. Permit me to return you +this. That is not the way in which I do business; in +this instance, the honour of having been consulted by +you is a sufficient payment. Before you go, however, +let me give a piece of really valuable advice. If you +have a friend who is in any matrimonial trouble, +persuade her to see a respectable solicitor at once, +and to place the whole facts before him unreservedly. +He may be able to show her a way out of her difficulty +which would never have occurred to her."</p> + +<p class="normal">He commented--inwardly--on his visitor, after her +departure.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's either a very simple-minded young woman or a +most unusual character. Fancy her coming to me with +such an inquiry! She has got herself into some +matrimonial mess, most probably, without the cognisance +of her friends. Unless I am mistaken she is the kind of +young woman who, if she has made up her mind to get out +of it, will get out of it; if not by fair means, then-- +though I hope not!--by foul."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_07" href="#div1Ref_07">MR MORICE PRESUMES</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">One day a desire seized Miss Arnott to revisit the +place where she had first met Mr Morice. She had not +been there since. That memorable encounter had spoilt +it for her. It had been her custom to wander there +nearly every fine day. But, since it had been defiled +by such a memory, for her, its charm had fled.</p> + +<p class="normal">Still, as the weeks went by, it dawned upon her by +degrees, that, after all, there was no substantial +reason why she should turn her back on it for ever. It +was a delightful spot; so secluded, so suited to +solitary meditation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I certainly do not intend," she told herself, "to +allow that man"--with an accent on the "that"--"to prevent +my occasionally visiting one of the prettiest parts of my +own property. It would be mere affectation on my part to +pretend that the place will ever be to me the same again; +but that is no reason why I should never take a walk in +that direction."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was pleasant weather, sunny, not too warm and little +wind. Just the weather for a woodland stroll, and, +also, just the weather for a motor ride. That latter +fact was particularly present to her mind, because she +happened to be undergoing one of those little +experiences which temper an automobilist's joys. The +machine was in hospital. She had intended to go for a +long run to-day, but yesterday something had all at +once gone wrong with the differential, the clutch, the +bevel gear or something or other. She herself did not +quite know what, or, apparently, anyone else either. As +a result, the car, instead of flying with her over the +sun-lit roads, was being overhauled by the nearest +local experts.</p> + +<p class="normal">That was bad enough. But what almost made it worse was +the additional fact that Hugh Morice's car was flying +over the aforesaid country roads with him. That her car +should have broken down, though ever so slightly, and +his should not--that altogether inferior article, of +which he was continually boasting in the most absurd +manner--was gall and wormwood.</p> + +<p class="normal">The accident, which had rendered her own car for the +moment unavailable, had something to do with her +stroll; the consciousness that "that man" was miles +away on his had more.</p> + +<p class="normal">"At anyrate I sha'n't run the risk of any more +impertinent interferences with my privacy. Fortunately, +so far as I know, there is no one else in the +neighbourhood who behaves quite as he does. So, as he +is risking his life on that noisy machine of his, I am +safe. I only hope he won't break his neck on it; there +never was such a reckless driver."</p> + +<p class="normal">This pious wish of hers was destined to receive an +instant answer. Hardly had the words been uttered, +than, emerging from the narrow path, winding among the +trees and bushes, along which she had been wandering, +she received ample proof that Mr Morice's neck still +remained unbroken. The gentleman himself was standing +not fifty paces from where she was. So disagreeably was +she taken by surprise that she would have immediately +withdrawn, and returned at the top of her speed by the +way she had come, had it not been for two things. One +was that he saw her as soon as she saw him; and the +other that she also saw something else, the sight of +which filled her with amazement.</p> + +<p class="normal">The first reason would not have been sufficient to +detain her; although, so soon as he caught sight of +her, he hailed her in his usual hearty tones. The terms +of courtesy--or rather of discourtesy--on which these +two stood towards each other were of such a nature that +she held herself at liberty wholly to ignore him +whenever she felt inclined. More than once when they +had parted they had been on something less than +speaking terms. For days together she had done her very +best to cut him dead. Then, when at last, owing to his +calm persistency, the acquaintance was renewed, he +evinced not the slightest consciousness of its having +ever been interrupted. Therefore she would not have +hesitated to have turned on her heels, and walked away +without a +word--in spite of his salutation, had it not been for +the something which amazed her.</p> + +<p class="normal">The fence had been moved!</p> + +<p class="normal">At first she thought that her eyes, or her senses, were +playing her a trick. But a moment's inspection showed +her that the thing was so. The old wooden, lichen-covered +rails had been taken away for a space of sixty or seventy +feet; and, instead, a little distance farther back, on the Oak +Dene land, a solid, brand-new fence had been erected; standing +in a position which conveyed the impression that the sheltered +nook to which--in her ignorance of boundaries--Miss Arnott had +been so attached, and in which Mr Morice first discovered her, +was part and parcel of Exham Park instead of Oak Dene.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was some seconds before the lady realised exactly +what had happened. When she did, she burst out on Mr +Morice with a question.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who has done this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The gentleman, who stood with his back against a huge +beech tree, took his pipe from between his lips, and +smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The fairies."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then the fairies will soon be introduced to a +policeman. You did it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not with my own hands, I assure you. At my time of +life I am beyond that sort of thing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How dare you cause my fence to be removed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your fence? I was not aware it was your fence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You said it was my fence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pardon me--never. I could not be guilty of such a +perversion of the truth."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then whose fence was it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was mine. That is, it was my uncle's, and so, in +the natural course of things, it became mine. It was +like this. At one time, hereabouts, there was no +visible boundary line between the two properties. I +fancy it was a question of who should be at the +expense of erecting one. Finally, my uncle loosed his +purse-strings. He built this fence, with the wood out +of his own plantations--even your friend Mr Baker will +be able to tell you so much--the object being to keep +out trespassers from Exham Park."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, as you have removed your fence, I shall have to +put up one of my own. I have no intention of allowing +innocent persons, connected with Exham Park, to +trespass--unconsciously--on land belonging to Oak +Dene."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, permit your servant to present a humble +petition."</p> + +<p class="normal">He held his cap in his hands, suggesting deference; but +in the eyes was that continual suspicion of laughter +which made it difficult to tell when he was serious. It +annoyed Miss Arnott to find that whenever she +encountered that glimmer of merriment she found it so +difficult to preserve the rigidity of decorum which she +so ardently desired. Now, although she meant to be +angry, and was angry, when she encountered that +peculiar quality in his glance, it was really hard to +be as angry as she wished.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What objectionable remark have you to make now?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"This--your servant desires to be forgiven."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If the fence was yours, you were at liberty to do what +you liked with it. You don't want to be forgiven for +doing what you choose with your own. You can pull down +all the fence for all I care."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Exactly; that is very good of you. It is not precisely +for that I craved forgiveness. Your servant has +ventured to do a bold thing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Please don't call yourself my servant. If there is a +ridiculous thing which you can say it seems as if you +were bound to say it. Nothing you can do would surprise +me. Pray, what particular thing have you been doing +now? I thought you were going to Southampton on your +car?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The car's in trouble."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the matter with it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"One man says one thing; another says another. I say-- +since this is the second time it's been in trouble this +week--the thing's only fit for a rummage sale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have never concealed my opinion from you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You haven't. Your opinion, being unbiassed by facts, +is always the same; mine--depends. What, by the way, is +just now your opinion of your own one? Lately it never +seems to be in going order."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's preposterous nonsense, as you are perfectly +well aware. But I don't mean to be drawn into a +senseless wrangle. I came here hoping to escape that +sort of thing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you found me, which is tragic. However, we are +wandering from the subject on to breezy heights. As I +previously remarked, I have ventured to do a bold +thing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I have already inquired, what unusually bold thing +is it you have done?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"This."</p> + +<p class="normal">They were at some little distance from each other; he +on one side of the newly-made fence, she, where +freshly-turned sods showed that the old fence used to +be. He took a paper from his pocket, and, going close +up to his side of the fence, held it out to her in his +outstretched hand. She, afar off, observed both it and +him distrustfully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"This? It's a paper with something written on it. We'll +call it a document. Come and look at it. It's harmless. +It's not a pistol--or a gun."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I doubt if it contains anything which is likely to be +of the slightest interest to me. Read what is on it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I would rather you read it yourself. Come and take it, +if you please."</p> + +<p class="normal">He spoke in that tone of calm assurance which was wont +to affect her in a fashion which she herself was at a +loss to understand. She resented bitterly its +suggestion of authority; yet, before she was able to +give adequate expression to her resentment, she was apt +to find herself yielding entire obedience, as on the +present occasion. In her indignation at the thought +that he should issue his orders to her, as if she were +his servant, she was more than half disposed to pick up +a clod of earth, or a stone, and, like some street boy, +hurl it at him and run away. She refrained from doing +this, being aware that such a proceeding would not +increase her dignity; and, also, because she did what +he told her. She marched up to the fence and took the +paper from his hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want it; you needn't suppose so. I've not the +faintest desire to know what's on it." He simply looked +at her with a glint of laughter in his big grey eyes. +"I've half a mind to tear it in half and return it to +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You won't do that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I'll take it with me and look at it when I get +home, if I look at it at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Read it now."</p> + +<p class="normal">She opened and read it; or tried to. "I don't +understand what it's about; it seems to be so much +gibberish. What is the thing?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's a conveyance."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A conveyance? What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Being interpreted, it's a legal instrument which +conveys to you and to your heirs for ever the +fee-simple of--that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That." He was pointing to the piece of land which lay +within the confines of the newly-made fence. "That +nook--that dell--that haven in which I saw you first, +because you were under the impression it was yours. I +was idiot enough to disabuse your mind, not being +conscious, then, of what a fool I was. My idiocy has +rankled ever since. However, it may have been of +aforetime your lying there, cradled on that turf, has +made of it consecrated ground. I guessed it then; I +know it now. Then you fancied it was your own; now it +assuredly is, you hold the conveyance in your hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice, what are you talking about? I don't in the +least understand.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was only endeavouring to explain what is the nature +of the document you hold. Henceforward that rood of +land--or thereabouts--is yours. If I set foot on it, +you will be entitled to put into me a charge of lead."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean to say that you have given it me? Do you +expect me to accept a gift--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, the time for saying things is past. The +transaction is concluded--past redemption. That land is +yours as certainly as +you are now standing on it; nothing you can say or do +can alter that well-established fact by so much as one +jot or tittle. The matter is signed, sealed and +settled; entered in the archives of the law. Protest +from you will be a mere waste of time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't believe it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As you please. Take that document to your lawyer; lay +it before him; he will soon tell you whether or not I +speak the truth. By the way, I will take advantage of +this opportunity to make a few remarks to you upon +another subject. Miss Arnott, I object to you for one +reason."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For one reason only? That is very good of you. I +thought you objected to me for a thousand reasons."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your irony is justified. Then we will put it that I +object to you for one reason chiefly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice, do you imagine that I care why you object +to me? Aren't you aware that you are paying me the +highest compliment within your power by letting me know +that you do object to me? Do you suppose that, in any +case, I will stand here and listen to your impertinent +attempts at personal criticism?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will stand there, and you will listen; but I don't +propose to criticise you, either impertinently or +otherwise, but you will stand and listen to what I have +to say." Such a sudden flame came into Mr Hugh Morice's +eyes that the girl, half frightened, half she knew not +what, remained speechless there in front of him. He +seemed all at once to have grown taller, and to be +towering above her like some giant against whose +irresistible force it was vain to try and struggle. +"The chief reason why I object to you, Miss Arnott, is +because you are so rich."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In my small way, I'm well to do. I can afford to buy +myself a motor. I can even afford to pay for its +repairs; and, in the case of a car like mine, that +means something."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can believe that, easily."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course you can. But, relatively, compared to you, +I'm a pauper, and I don't like it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And yet you think that I'll accept gifts from you-- +valuable gifts?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What I would like is, that a flaw should be found in +your uncle's will; or the rightful heir turn up; or +something happen which would entail your losing every +penny you have in the world."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What delightful things you say."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, if you were actually and literally a pauper I +might feel that you were more on an equality with me.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should you wish to be on an equality with me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why? Don't you know?" On a sudden she began to tremble +so that she could scarcely stand. "I see that you do +know. I see it by the way the blood comes and goes in +your cheeks; by the light which shines out of your +eyes; by the fashion in which, as you see what is in +mine, you stand shivering there. You know that I would +like to be on an equality with you because I love you; +and because it isn't flattering to my pride to know +that, in every respect, you are so transcendently above +me, and that, compared to you, I am altogether such a +thing of clay. I don't want to receive everything and +to give nothing. I am one of those sordid animals who +like to think that their wives-who-are-to-be will be +indebted to them for something besides their bare +affection."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How dare you talk to me like this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She felt as if she would have given anything to have +been able to turn and flee, instead of seeming to +stultify herself by so halting a rejoinder; but her +feet were as if they were rooted to the ground.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean, how dare I tell you that I love you? Why, +I'd dare to tell you if you were a queen upon your +throne and I your most insignificant subject. I'd dare +to tell you if I knew that the telling would bring the +heavens down. I'd dare to tell you if all the +gamekeepers on your estate were behind you there, +pointing their guns at me, and I was assured they'd +pull their triggers the instant I had told. Why should +I not dare to tell you that I love you? I'm a man; and, +after all, you're but a woman, though so rare an one. I +dare to tell you more. I dare to tell you that the +first time I saw you lying there, on that grassy +cushion, I began to love you then. And it has grown +since, until now, it consumes me as with fire. It has +grown to be so great, that, mysterious and strange--and +indeed, incredible though it seems--I've a sort of +inkling somewhere in my bosom, that one day yet I'll +win you for my wife. What do you say to that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say that you don't know what you're talking about. +That you're insane."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If that be so, I've a fancy that it's a sort of +insanity which, in howsoever so slight a degree, is +shared by you. Come closer."</p> + +<p class="normal">He leaned over the fence. Almost before she knew it, he +had his arms about her; had drawn her close to him, and +had kissed her on the mouth. She struck at him with her +clenched fists; and, fighting like some wild thing, +tearing herself loose, rushed headlong down the +woodland path, as if Satan were at her heels.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_08" href="#div1Ref_08">THE LADY WANDERS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">That was the beginning of a very bad time for Mrs +Plummer.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was sitting peacefully reading--she was not one of +those ladies who indulge in "fancy work," and was +always ready to confess that never, under any +circumstances, if she could help it, would she have a +needle in her hand--when Miss Arnott came rushing into +the room in a condition which would have been mildly +described as dishevelled. She was a young lady who was +a little given to vigorous entrances and exits, and was +not generally, as regards her appearance, a disciple of +what has been spoken of as "the bandbox brigade." But +on that occasion she moved Mrs Plummer, who was not +easily moved in that direction, to an exhibition of +surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear child! what have you been doing to yourself, +and where have you been?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've been to the woods. Mrs Plummer, I've come to tell +you that we're going abroad."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Going abroad? Isn't that rather a sudden resolution? I +thought you had arranged--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never mind what I've arranged. We're going abroad +to-morrow, if we can't get away to-night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To-morrow? To-night? My child, are you in earnest?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very much so. That is, I don't wish to put any +constraint on you. You, of course, are at liberty to go +or stay, exactly as you please. I merely wish to say +that I am going abroad, whether you come with me or +whether you don't; and that I intend to start either +to-night or +to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p class="normal">They left the next morning. The packing was done that +night. At an early hour they went up to town; at eleven +o'clock they started for the Continent. That evening +they dined in Paris. Mrs Plummer would have liked to +remonstrate--and did remonstrate so far as she dared; +but it needed less sagacity than she possessed to +enable her to see that, in Miss Arnott's present mood, +the limits of daring might easily be passed. When she +ventured to suggest that before their departure Mr +Stacey should be consulted, the young lady favoured her +with a little plain speaking.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should I consult Mr Stacey? He is only my +servant."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your servant? My dear!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He renders me certain services, for which I pay him. +Doesn't that mean that, in a certain sense, he's my +servant? I have authority over him, but he has none +over me--not one iota. He was my trustee; but, as I +understand it, his trusteeship ceased when I entered +into actual possession of my uncle's property. He does +as I tell him, that's all. I shouldn't dream of +consulting him as to my personal movements--nor anyone. +As, in the future, my movements may appear to you to be +erratic, please, Mrs Plummer, let us understand each +other now. You are my companion--good! I have no +objection. When we first met, you told me that my +liberty would be more complete with you than without +you. I assure you, on my part, that I do not intend to +allow you to interfere with my perfect freedom of +action in the least degree. I mean to go where I +please, when I please, how I please, and I want no +criticism. You can do exactly as you choose; I shall do +as I choose. I don't intend to allow you, in any way +whatever, to be a clog upon my movements. The sooner we +understand each other perfectly on that point the +better it will be for both sides. Don't you think so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer had to think so.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sure that if you told me you meant to start in ten +minutes for the North Pole, you'd find me willing; that +is, if you'd be willing to take me with you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I'd be willing to take you, so long as you don't +even hint at a disinclination to be taken."</p> + +<p class="normal">They stayed in Paris for two days. Then they wandered +hither and thither in Switzerland. Everywhere, it +seemed, there were too many people.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I want to be alone," declared Miss Arnott. "Where +there isn't a soul to speak to except you and Evans,"-- +Evans was her maid--"you two don't count. But I can't +get away from the crowds; they're even on the tops of +the mountains. I hate them."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer sighed; being careful, however, to conceal +the sigh from Miss Arnott. It seemed to her that the +young lady had an incomprehensible objection to +everything that appealed to anyone else. She avoided +hotels where the cooking was decent, because other +people patronised them. She eschewed places where there +was something to be obtained in the way of amusement, +because other reasonable creatures showed a desire to +be amused. She shunned beauty spots, merely because she +was not the only person in the world who liked to look +upon the beauties of nature. Having hit upon an +apparently inaccessible retreat, from the ordinary +tourist point of view, in the upper Engadine, where, +according to Mrs Plummer, the hotel was horrible, and +there was nothing to do, and nowhere to go, there not +being a level hundred yards within miles, the roads +being mere tracks on the mountain sides, she did show +some disposition to rest awhile. Indeed, she showed an +inclination to stay much longer than either Mrs Plummer +or Evans desired. Those two were far from happy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What a young lady in her position can see in a place +like this beats me altogether. The food isn't fit for a +Christian, and look at the room we have to eat it in; +it isn't even decently furnished. There's not a soul to +speak to, and nothing to do except climb up and down +the side of a wall. She'll be brought in one day--if +they ever find her--nothing but a bag of bones; you see +if she isn't!"</p> + +<p class="normal">In that strain Evans frequently eased her mind, or +tried to.</p> + +<p class="normal">To this remote hamlet, however, in course of time, +other people began to come. They not only filled the +hotel, which was easy, since Miss Arnott already had +most of it, and would have had all, if the landlord, +who was a character, had not insisted on keeping +certain rooms for other guests; but they also +overflowed into the neighbouring houses. These +newcomers filled Miss Arnott with dark suspicions. When +indulging in her solitary expeditions one young man in +particular, named Blenkinsop, developed an +extraordinary knack of turning up when she least +expected him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe I'm indebted to you for these people coming +here."</p> + +<p class="normal">This charge she levelled at Mrs Plummer, who was +amazed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To me! Why, they're all complete strangers to me; I +never saw one of them before, and haven't the faintest +notion where they come from or who they are.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All the same, I believe I am; to you or to Evans; +probably to both."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, what do you mean? The things you say!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's the things you say, that's what I mean. You and +Evans have been talking to the people here; you have +been telling them who I am, and a great many things you +have no right to tell them. They've been telling people +down in the valley, and the thing has spread; how the +rich Arnott girl, who has so much money she herself +doesn't know how much, is stopping up here all alone. I +know. These creatures have come up in consequence. That +man Blenkinsop as good as told me this afternoon that +he only came because he heard that I was here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, what can you expect? You can't hide your +light under a bushel. You would have much more real +solitude in a crowd than in a place like this."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Should I? We shall see. If this sort of thing occurs +again I shall send you and Evans home. I shall drop my +own name, and take a pseudonym; and I shall go into +lodgings, and live on fifty francs a week--then we'll +see if I sha'n't be left alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">When Mrs Plummer retailed these remarks to Evans, the +lady's maid--who had already been the recipient of a +few observations on her own account--expressed herself +with considerable frankness on the subject of her +mistress.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe she's mad--I do really. I don't mean that +she's bad enough for a lunatic asylum or anything like +that; but that she has a screw loose, and that there's +something wrong with her, I'm pretty nearly sure. Look +at the fits of depression she has--with her quite young +and everything to make her all the other way. Look how +she broods. She might be like the party in the play +who'd murdered sleep, the way she keeps awake of +nights. I know she reads till goodness knows what time; +and often and often I don't believe she has a wink of +sleep all night It isn't natural--I know I shouldn't +like it if it was me. She might have done some dreadful +crime, and be haunted by it, the way that she goes on-- +she might really."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was, perhaps, owing to the fact that the unfortunate +lady practically had no human society except the lady's +maid's that Mrs Plummer did not rebuke her more sharply +for indulging in such free and easy comments on the +lady to whom they were both indebted. She did observe +that Evans ought not to say such things; but, judging +from certain passages in a letter which, later on, she +sent to Mrs Stacey, it is possible that the woman's +words had made a greater impression than she had cared +to admit.</p> + +<p class="normal">They passed from the Engadine to Salmezzo, a little +village which nestles among the hills which overlook +Lake Como. It was from there that the letter in +question was written. After a page or two about nothing +in particular it went on like this:--</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want to make mountains out of molehills, and I +don't wish you to misunderstand me; but I am beginning +to wonder if there is not something abnormal about the +young lady whom I am supposed to chaperon. In so rich, +so young, and so beautiful a girl--and I think she +grows more beautiful daily--this horror of one's +fellow-creatures--carried to the extent she carries +it--is in itself abnormal. But, lately, there has been +something more. She is physically, or mentally, unwell; +which of the two I can't decide. I am not in the least +bit morbid; but, really, if you had been watching +her--and, circumstanced as I am, you can't help watching +her--you would begin to think she must be haunted. It's +getting on my nerves. Usually, I should describe her as +one of the most self-possessed persons I had ever met; +but, during the last week or two, she has taken to +starting--literally--at shadows.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The other day, at the end of the little avenue of +trees which runs in front of my bedroom, right before +my eyes, she stopped and leaned against one of the +trees, as if for support. I wondered what she meant by +it--the attitude was such an odd one. Presently a man +came along the road, and strode past the gate. The +nearer he came the more she slunk behind the tree. When +he had passed she crouched down behind the tree, and +began to cry. How she did cry! While I was hesitating +whether I ought to go to her or not, apparently +becoming conscious that she might be overlooked, she +suddenly got up and--still crying--rushed off among the +trees.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now who did she think that man was she heard coming +along the road? Why did she cry like that when she +found it wasn't he? Were they tears of relief or +disappointment? It seemed very odd.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Again, one afternoon she went for a drive with me; it +is not often that she will go anywhere with me, +especially for a drive, but that afternoon the +suggestion actually came from her. After we had gone +some distance we alighted from the vehicle to walk to a +point from which a famous view can be obtained. All at +once, stopping, she caught me by the arm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Who's that speaking?' she asked. Up to then I had not +been conscious that anyone was speaking. But, as we +stood listening, I gradually became conscious, in the +intense silence, of a distant murmur of voices which +was just, and only just, audible. Her hearing must be +very acute. 'It is an English voice which is speaking,' +she said. She dragged me off the path among the shadow +of the trees. She really did drag; but I was so taken +aback by the extraordinary look which came upon her +face, and by the strangeness of her tone, that I was +incapable of offering the least resistance. On a sudden +she had become an altogether different person; a +dreadful one, it seemed to me. Although I was conscious +of the absurdity of our crouching there among the +trees, I could not say so--simply because I was afraid +of her. At last she said, as if to herself, 'It's not +his voice.' Then she gave a gasp, or a groan, or sigh-- +I don't know what it was. I could feel her shuddering; +it affected me most unpleasantly. Presently two +perfectly inoffensive young Englishmen, who were +staying at our hotel, came strolling by. Fortunately +they did not look round. If they had seen us hiding +there among the trees I don't know what they would have +thought.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have only given you two instances. But recently, she +is always doing ridiculous things like that, which, +although they are ridiculous, are disconcerting. She +certainly is unwell mentally, or physically, or both; +but not only so. I seriously do believe she's haunted. +Not by anything supernatural, but by something, +perhaps, quite ordinary. There may be some episode in +her life which we know nothing of, and which it might +be much better for her if we did, and that haunts her. +I should not like to venture to hint at what may be its +exact nature; because I have no idea; but I would not +mind hazarding a guess that it has something to do with +a man."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer's sagacity was not at fault; it had +something to do with a man--her husband. She had hoped +that constant wandering might help her to banish him +from her mind--him and another man. The contrary proved +to be the case. The farther she went the more present +he seemed to +be--they both seemed to be.</p> + +<p class="normal">And, lately, the thing had become worse. She had begun +to count the hours which still remained before the +prison gates should be reopened. So swiftly the time +grew shorter. When they were reopened, what would +happen then? Now she was haunted; what Mrs Plummer had +written was true. Day and night she feared to see his +face; she trembled lest every unknown footstep might be +his. A strange voice made her heart stand still.</p> + +<p class="normal">The absurdity of the thing did not occur to her? she +was so wholly obsessed by its horror. Again Mrs Plummer +was right, she was unwell both mentally and physically. +The burden which was weighing on her, body and soul, +was rapidly becoming heavier than she could bear. She +magnified it till it filled her whole horizon. Look +where she would it was there, the monster who--it +seemed to her, at any moment--might spring out at her +from behind the prison gates. The clearness of her +mental vision was becoming obscured, the things she saw +were distorted out of their true proportions.</p> + +<p class="normal">As a matter of fact, the hour of Robert Champion's +release was drawing near. The twelve months were coming +to an end. The probability was that they had seemed +much longer to him than to her. To her it seemed that +the hour of his release would sound the knell of the +end of all things. She awaited it as a condemned wretch +might await the summons to the gallows. As, with the +approaching hour, the tension grew tighter, the balance +of her mind became disturbed. Temporarily, she was +certainly not quite sane.</p> + +<p class="normal">One afternoon she crowned her display of eccentricity +by rushing off home almost at a moment's notice. On the +previous day--a Tuesday--she had arranged with the +landlord to continue in his hotel for a further +indefinite period. On the Wednesday, after lunch, she +came to Mrs Plummer and announced that they were going +home at once. Although Mrs Plummer was taken wholly by +surprise, the suggestion being a complete reversal of +all the plans they had made, Miss Arnott's manner was +so singular, and the proposition was in itself so +welcome, that the elder lady fell in with the notion +there and then, without even a show of remonstrance. +The truth is that she had something more than a +suspicion that Miss Arnott would be only too glad to +avail herself of any excuse which might offer, and +return to England alone, leaving her--Mrs Plummer-- +alone with Evans. Why the young lady should wish to do +such a thing she had no idea, but that she did wish to +do it she felt uncomfortably convinced. The companion +managing to impress the lady's maid with her aspect of +the position, the trunks were packed in less than no +time, so that the entire cortège was driven over to +catch the afternoon train, leaving the smiling landlord +with a thumping cheque, to compensate him for the +rapidity with which the eccentric young Englishwoman +thought proper to break the engagements into which she +had solemnly entered.</p> + +<p class="normal">That was on the Wednesday. On the Saturday--by dint of +losing no time upon the way--they arrived at Exham +Park. On the Sunday Robert Champion's term of +imprisonment was to come to an end; on that day he +would have been twelve months in jail. What a rigid +account she had kept of it all, like the schoolboy who +keeps count of the days which bar him from his +holidays. But with what a different feeling in her +heart! She had seen that Sunday coming at her from afar +off--nearer and nearer. What would happen when it came, +and he was free to get at her again, she did not know. +What she did know was that she meant to have an hour or +two at Exham Park before the Sunday dawned, and the +monster was set free again. She had come at headlong +speed from the Lake of Como to have it.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_09" href="#div1Ref_09">THE BEECH TREE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">When the travellers returned it was after nine o'clock. +So soon as they set foot indoors they were informed +that dinner was ready to be served; an announcement +which, as they had been travelling all day, and had +only had a scanty lunch on the train, Mrs Plummer was +inclined to hail with rapture. Miss Arnott, however--as +she was only too frequently wont to be--was of a +different mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want any dinner," she announced.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not want any dinner!" Mrs Plummer stared. The limits +of human forbearance must be reached some time, and the +idea that that erratic young woman could not want +dinner was beyond nature. "But you must want +dinner--you're starving; I'm sure you are."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed? I don't see how you can be sure. I assure you, +on my part, that I am not even hungry. However, as you +probably mean that yours is a case of starvation, far +be it from me to stand in the way of your being +properly fed. Come! let us go in to dinner at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">The imperious young woman marched her unresisting +companion straight off into the dining-room, without +even affording her an opportunity to remove the stains +of travel. Not that Mrs Plummer was unwilling to be +led, having arrived at that stage in which the +satisfaction of the appetite was the primary +consideration.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott herself made but an unsubstantial meal; +watching the conscientious manner in which the elder +lady did justice to the excellent fare with ill-concealed +and growing impatience. At last--when they had only reached +the entrées--her feeling found vent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really, Mrs Plummer, you must excuse me. I'm not in +the least bit hungry, and am in that state of mind in +which even the sight of food upsets me--I must have +some fresh air."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fresh air! But, my dear child, surely you must +recently have had enough fresh air."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not of the kind I want. You stay there and continue to +recruit exhausted nature; don't let my vagaries make +any difference to you. I'm going out--to breathe."</p> + +<p class="normal">"After travelling for three whole days where can you be +going to at this time of night? It's ten o'clock."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm going--" From the way in which she looked at her +Mrs Plummer deemed it quite possible that her charge +was going to request her to mind her own business. But, +suddenly, Miss Arnott stopped; seemed to change her +mind, and said with a smile wrinkling her lips, "Oh, +I'm going out into the woods."</p> + +<p class="normal">Before the other could speak again she was gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">Left alone, Mrs Plummer put down her knife and fork, +and stared at the door through which the lady had +vanished. Had there been someone to say it to she might +have said something to the point. The only persons +present were the butler and his attendant minions. To +them she could hardly address herself on such a +subject. It was not even desirable that any action of +hers should acquaint them with the fact that there was +something which she was burning to say. She controlled +her feelings, composed her countenance, took up her +knife and fork and resumed her meal.</p> + +<p class="normal">And Miss Arnott went out into the woods.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was in a curious mood, or she would never have gone +out on such a frolic. Directly she found herself out in +the cool night air, stretching out her arms and opening +her chest, she drank in great draughts of it; not one +or two, but half a dozen. When she reached the shadow +of the trees she paused. So far the sky had been +obscured by clouds. The woods stretched out in front of +her in seemingly impenetrable darkness. It was +impossible to pick out a footpath in that blackness. +But all at once the clouds passed from before the moon. +Shafts of light began to penetrate the forest fastness, +and to illuminate its mysteries. The footpath was +revealed, not over clearly, yet with sufficient +distinctness to make its existence obvious. +Unhesitatingly she began to follow it. It was not easy +walking. The moon kept coming and going. When it was at +its brightest its rays were not sufficiently vivid to +make perfectly plain the intricacies of the path. When +it vanished she found herself in a darkness which might +almost have been felt. Progression was practically +impossible. In spite of her putting out her hands to +feel the way she was continually coming into contact +with trees, and shrubs, and all sorts of unseen +obstacles. Not only so, there was the risk of her +losing the path--all sense of direction being +nonexistent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I don't take care I shall be lost utterly, and +shall have to spend the night, alone with the birds and +beasts, in this sweet wilderness. Sensible people would +take advantage of the first chance which offers to turn +back. But I sha'n't; I shall go on and on."</p> + +<p class="normal">Presently the opportunity to do so came again. The moon +returned; this time to stay. It seemed brighter now. As +her eyes became accustomed to its peculiar glamour she +moved more surely towards the goal she had in view. The +light, the scene, the hour, were all three fitted to +her mood; which certainly would have defied her own +analysis. It seemed to her, by degrees, that she was +bewitched--under the influence of some strange spell. +This was a fairy forest through which she was passing, +at the witching hour. Invisible shapes walked by her. +Immaterial forms peopled the air. It was as though she +was one of a great company; moving with an aerial +bodyguard through a forest of faerie.</p> + +<p class="normal">What it all meant she did not know; or why she was +there; or whither, exactly, she was going. Until, on a +sudden, the knowledge came.</p> + +<p class="normal">Unexpectedly, before she supposed she had gone so far, she +came to the end of the path. There, right ahead, was the +mossy glade, the fee-simple of which had been presented +to her in such queer fashion the last time she came that +way. Coming from the shadow of the forest path it stood +out in the full radiance of the moon; every object showing +out as clearly as at high noon. The new-made fence, with +its novelty already fading; the turf on which she loved to +lie; the unevenness on the slope which had seemed to have +been made for the express purpose of providing cushions +for her head and back. These things she saw, as distinctly +as if the sun were high in the heavens; and something else +she saw as well, which made her heart stand still.</p> + +<p class="normal">Under the giant beech, whose spreading branches cast +such grateful shade, when the sun was hot, over the +nook which she had chosen as a couch, stood a man--who +was himself by way of being a giant. Never before had +his height so struck her. Whether it was the clothes he +wore, the position in which he stood, or a trick of the +moonlight, she could not tell. She only knew that, as +he appeared so instantly before her, he was like some +creature out of Brobdingnag, seeming to fill all space +with his presence.</p> + +<p class="normal">The man was Hugh Morice.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was so absorbed in what he was doing, and she was +still some little distance from him, and had come so +quietly; that she saw him while he still remained +unconscious of her neighbourhood. She had ample time to +withdraw. She had only to take a few steps back, and he +would never know she had been near him. So the incident +would be closed. Her instinct told her that in that way +she would be safest. And for a moment or two she all +but turned to go.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her retreat, however, was delayed by one or two +considerations. One was that the sight of him affected +her so strangely that, for some seconds, she was +genuinely incapable of going either backward or +forward. Her feet seemed shod with lead, her knees +seemed to be giving way beneath her, she was trembling +from head to foot. Then she was divided between +conflicting desires, the one saying go, the other stay; +and while her instinct warned her to do the one, her +inclination pointed to the other. In the third place +there was her woman's curiosity. While she hesitated +this began to gain the upper hand. She wondered what it +was he was doing which absorbed him so completely that +he never ceased from doing it to look about him.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was in a dinner suit, and was apparently hatless. He +had something in his hand, with which he was doing +something to the tree in front of which he stood. What +was he doing? She had no right to ask; she had no right +to be there at all; still--she wondered. She moved a +little farther out into the open space, to enable her +to see. As she did so it seemed that he finished what +he was doing. Standing up straight he drew back from +the tree the better to enable him to examine his +handiwork; and--then he turned and saw her.</p> + +<p class="normal">There was silence. Neither moved. Each continued to +look at the other, as if at some strange, mysterious +being. Then he spoke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you a ghost?--I think not. I fancy you're +material. But I haunt this place so constantly myself-- +defying Jim Baker's charge of +lead--that I should not be one whit surprised if your +spirit actually did appear to keep me company. Do you +believe in telepathy?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know what it is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you believe that A, by dint of taking thought, can +induce B to think of him? or--more--can draw, B to his +side? I'm not sure that I believe; but it certainly is +queer that I should have been thinking of you so +strenuously just then, longing for you, and should turn +and find you here. I thought you were over the hills +and far away, haunting the shores of the Italian +lakes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"On Wednesday we came away from Como."</p> + +<p class="normal">"On Wednesday? That's still stranger. It was on +Wednesday my fever came to a head. I rushed down here, +bent, if I could not be with you, on being where you +had been. Since my arrival I've longed--with how great +a longing--to use all sorts of conjurations which +should bring you back to Exham; and, it seems, I +conjured wiser than I knew."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I left Como because I could no longer stay."</p> + +<p class="normal">"From Exham? or from me? Speak sweetly; see how great +my longing is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I had to return to say good-bye."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To both of us? That's good; since our goodbyes will +take so long in saying. Come and see what I have done." +She went to the tree. There, newly cut in the bark, +plain in the moonlight, were letters and figures. "Your +initials and mine, joined by the date on which we +met--beneath this tree. I brought my hunting knife out +with me to do it--you see how sharp a point and edge it +has." She saw that he held a great knife in his hand. +"As I cut the letters you can believe I thought--I so +thought of you with my whole heart and soul that you've +come back to me from Como."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did I not say I've returned to say good-bye?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What sort of good-bye do you imagine I will let you +say, now that you've returned? That tree shall be to us +a family chronicle. The first important date's +inscribed on it; the others shall follow; they'll be so +many. But the trunk's of a generous size. We'll find +room on it for all. That's the date on which I first +loved you. What's the date on which you first loved +me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have not said I ever loved you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No; but you do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes; I do. Now I know that I do. No, you must not +touch me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No need to draw yourself away; I do not mean to, yet. +Some happinesses are all the sweeter for being a little +postponed. And when did the knowledge first come to +you? We must have the date upon the tree."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That you never shall. Such tales are not for trees to +tell, even if I knew, which I don't. I'm afraid to +think; it's all so horrible."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Love is horrible? I think not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I know. You don't understand--I do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, I think it is you who do not understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nor must you call me your dear; for that I shall never +be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not even when you're my wife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall never be your wife!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lady, these are strange things of which you speak. I +would rather that, just now, you did not talk only in +riddles."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is the plain truth--I shall never be your wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How's that? Since my love has brought you back from +Como, to tell me that you also love? Though, mind you, +I do not stand in positive need of being told. Because, +now that I see you face to face, and feel you there so +close to me, your heart speaks to mine--I can hear it +speaking; I can hear, sweetheart, what it says. So that +I know you love me, without depending for the knowledge +on the utterance of your lips."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Still, I shall never be your wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But why, sweetheart, but why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because--I am a wife already."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_10" href="#div1Ref_10">THE TALE WHICH WAS TOLD</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">They were silent. To her it seemed that the silence +shrieked aloud. He looked at her with an expression on +his face which she was destined never to forget--as if +he were hard of hearing, or fancied that his senses +played him a trick, or that she had indulged in some +ill-timed jest.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What did you say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I said that I am a wife already."</p> + +<p class="normal">His look had become one of inquiry; as if desirous of +learning if she were really in earnest. She felt her +heart beating against her ribs, or seeming to--a habit +of which it had been too fond of late. When it behaved +like that it was only with an uncomfortable effort that +she could keep a hold upon her consciousness; being +fearful that it might slip away from her, in spite of +all that she might be able to do. When he spoke again +his tone had changed; as if he were puzzled. She had a +sudden feeling that he was speaking to her as he might +have spoken to a child.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know what you are saying? and do you mean what +you say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But--pardon me--I don't see the of course at all. Do +you--seriously--wish me to understand that you're--a +married woman?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whether you understand it or not, I am."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you are scarcely more than a child. How old are +you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am twenty-two."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And how long do you wish me to understand that you've +been married?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Two years."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Two years? Then--you were married before you came +here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course? But everyone here has always spoken to me +of you as Miss Arnott."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is because no one who knows me here knows that I +am married."</p> + +<p class="normal">He put his arms down to his sides, and drew himself up +still straighter, so that she had to look right up at +him, and knit his brows, as if he found himself +confronted by a problem which was incapable of +solution.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe that I am the least curious of men, I say it +seriously; but it appears to me that this is a +situation in which curiosity is justified. You made +yourself known to me as Miss Arnott; as Miss Arnott +there have previously been certain passages between us; +as Miss Arnott you have permitted me to tell you that I +love you; you have even admitted that you love me. It +is only when I take it for granted--as I am entitled to +do--that the mutual confession involves your becoming +my wife, that you inform me--that you are already a +married woman. Under the circumstances I think I have a +right to ask for information at least on certain +points; as, for instance, so that I may know how to +address you--what is your husband's name?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Robert Champion."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Robert Champion? Then--you are Mrs Champion?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Am I to take it that Mr Champion is alive?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So far as I know."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So far as you know? That does not suggest very +intimate--or very recent knowledge. When did you hear +from him last?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I saw him twelve months ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You saw him twelve months ago? That was not long +before you came here. Why did he not accompany you when +you came?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He couldn't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He couldn't? Why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He was in prison."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In--" He stopped, looked at her with, in his eyes, an +altogether different expression; then, throwing his +head back, seemed to be staring straight at the moon, +as if he were endeavouring to read something which was +written on her surface. Presently he spoke in an +entirely altered tone of voice. "Now I understand, or, +rather, now I begin to understand. It dawns on me that +here is a position which will want some understanding." +As if seized with sudden restlessness he began to pace +to and fro, keeping to the same piece of ground, of +which he seemed to be making mental measurements; she +meanwhile, watching him, silent, motionless, as if she +were waiting for him to pronounce judgment. After a +while he broke into speech, while he still continued +pacing to and fro. "Now I begin to see daylight +everywhere; the meaning of the things which puzzled me. +Why you seemed to take no interest in anything; why you +were so fond of solitude; why, in the middle of a +conversation, one found that your thoughts had strayed. +The life you were living in public was not the one you +were living to yourself. It's not nice to be like that. +Poor child! And I have laughed at you, because I +thought you were a character, and--you were. How many +fools escape being kicked just at those moments when a +kicking would do them good. It occurs to me, Mrs +Champion--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't call me that!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But--if it's your name?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's not my name to you; I wish you always to think of +me as Miss Arnott."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then--" He paused; ceased to walk; looked at her, and +went and stood with his back against the tree. "I fancy +that what you stand most in need of is a friend. I can +be that to you, if I can be nothing else. Come, tell me +all about it--it will ease your mind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've wanted to tell someone all the time; but I've +told no one. I couldn't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know what you mean; and I think I know what it feels +like. Tell me--you'll find me an excellent father +confessor."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall have to begin at the beginning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do. If I am to be of any assistance, and it's possible +I may be, I shall have to understand it all quite +clearly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My father died first, and then my mother, and when she +died I was left with only quite a little money."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And no relations?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No--no relations."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And no friends?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No--no friends."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor child!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You mustn't talk like that, or I sha'n't be able to go +on, and I want to go straight on. I wasn't yet +eighteen. There wasn't anything to be done in the +country--we had lived quite out of the world--so I went +to London. I was strange to London; but I thought I +should have more chance there than in Scarsdale, so I +went. But, when I got there, I soon found that I wasn't +much better off than before, I'm not sure I wasn't +worse. It was so lonely and so--so strange. My money went +so fast, I began to be afraid, there seemed to be no means +of earning more--I didn't know what to do. Then I saw an +advertisement in a paper, of a shop where they wanted models +in the costume department; they had to be tall and of good +appearance. I didn't know what the advertisement meant; +but I thought I was that, so I went, and they engaged +me. I was to have board and lodging, and a few +shillings a week. It was horrible. I had to keep +putting on new dresses, and walk up and down in them in +front of strange women, and sometimes men, and show +them off. I had always been used to the open air, and +to solitude; sometimes I thought I was going mad. Then +the food was bad--at least, I thought it was bad--and, there +were all sorts of things. But I had come so close to my +last few shillings--and been so afraid--that I didn't +dare to leave. There was one girl, who was also a +model, whom I almost trusted; now that I look back I +know that I never did quite. I used to walk about with +her in the streets; I couldn't walk about alone, and +there was nowhere else to walk, and I had to have some +fresh air. She introduced me to a friend of hers--a +man. She said he was a gentleman, but I knew better +than that. She made out that he was very rich, and +everything he ought to be. Directly he was introduced +he began to make love. I so hated being a model; and I +saw no prospect of doing anything else, and--besides, I +wasn't well--I wasn't myself the whole of the time. She +laughed when I said I didn't like him, and, therefore, +couldn't be his wife. She declared that I was throwing +away the best chance a girl in my position ever had; +and said he would make the most perfect husband I could +possibly want. He promised all sorts of things; he said +we should live in the country, he even took me to see a +house which he said he had taken. I grew to hate being +a model more and more; I was miserable and ill, and +they all made fun of me. At last, after he had asked me +I don't know how many times, I said yes. We were +married. We went to Margate for our honeymoon. Within +four-and-twenty hours I knew what kind of a man he +was."</p> + +<p class="normal">She stopped; putting her hands up before her face. He +could see her trembling in the moonlight, and could +only stand and watch. He dared not trust himself to +speak.</p> + +<p class="normal">Presently she went on.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I lived with him twelve months."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Twelve months!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"When I think of it now I wonder why I didn't kill him. +I had chances, but I daren't even run away. All the +life had gone out of me, and all the spirit too. I +didn't even try to defend myself when he struck me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Struck you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, he often did that. But I was a weak and helpless +creature. I seemed to myself to be half-witted. He used +to say that he believed I had a tile loose. I had, +then. Then they locked him up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What for?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He put an advertisement in the paper for a person to +fill a position of trust. When someone applied he got +them to make what he termed a 'deposit' of a few +pounds. Then he stole it. Of course there was no +position of trust to fill. That was how he made his +living. I always wondered where he got his money from. +After he was arrested I understood."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And he was sentenced?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To twelve months' hard labour."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only twelve months' hard labour? Then his term of +imprisonment will soon be drawing to a close."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To-morrow! You poor child!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now you perceive why I hurried back from Lake Como to +say good-bye."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope I need not tell you, in words, how intensely I +sympathise with you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, I would rather you didn't; I know."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We will speak of such matters later. In the meantime, +obviously, what you want is a friend; as I guessed. As +a friend, let me assure you that your position is not +by any means so hopeless as you appear to imagine."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not with my husband coming out of prison +to-morrow? You don't know him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you can do nothing else, you can keep him at arm's +length."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have money, he hasn't. You can at least place +yourself in a position in which he can't get at you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Can't he compel me to give him money?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Emphatically, no. He has no claim to a penny of yours, +not to a farthing. The marriage laws are still quite +capable of being improved, but one crying injustice +they have abolished. What a woman has is her own, and +hers only, be she married or single. If Mr Champion +wants money he will have to earn it. He has not a +scintilla of right to any of yours, or anything that is +yours. So, at anyrate, you should have no difficulty in +placing yourself beyond his reach. But there is +something more. You should experience no trouble in +freeing yourself from him altogether. There is such a +place as the divorce court. Plainly, it would be easy +to show cruelty, and probably something else as well."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know. I knew nothing of what he did, and cared +nothing, so long as he left me alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite so. This is a matter which will be better +managed by other hands than yours. Only--there are +abundant ways and means of dealing with a person of his +kind. What I want you to do now is not to worry. One +moment! it's not a counsel of perfection! I see clearly +what this means to you, what it has meant, but--forgive +me for saying so--the burden has been made much heavier +by your insisting on bearing it alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I couldn't blurt out my shame to everyone--to anyone!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, you have told me now, thank goodness! And you +may rely on this, that man sha'n't be allowed to come +near you; if necessary, I will make it my business to +prevent him. I will think things over to-night; be sure +that I shall find a way out. To-morrow I will come and +tell you what I've thought about, when the conditions +are more normal."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rather than that he should again be able to claim me +for his wife, even for an hour, I would kill him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly; I will kill him for you if it comes to +that. I have lived in countries where they make nothing +of killing vermin of his particular type. But there'll +be no necessity for such a drastic remedy. Now, I want +you to go home and promise not to worry, because your +case is now in hands which are well qualified to +relieve you of all cause for apprehension of any sort +or kind. I beg you will believe it. Good-night."</p> + +<p class="normal">She hesitated, then put her hands up to her temples, as +if her head was aching.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will say good-night to you. You go, I will stay. My +brain's all in a whirl. I want to be alone--to steady +it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't like to leave you, in such a place, at such an +hour."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why not? While I've been abroad I've sometimes spent +half the night in wandering alone over the mountains. +Why am I not as safe here as there?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's not a question of safety, no doubt you're safe +enough. But--it's the idea."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be so good as to do as I ask--leave me, please."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Since you ask me in such a tone. Promise me, at least, +that you won't stay half the night out here; that, +indeed, you won't stay long."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I promise, if my doing so affords you any +satisfaction. Probably I'll be in my own room in half +an hour, only--I must be alone for a few minutes first. +Don't you see?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I fancy that I do. Good-night. Remember that I'm at +least your friend."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll remember."</p> + +<p class="normal">"By the way, in the morning where, and when, shall I +find you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall be in the house till lunch."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good, then before lunch I'll come to you, as early as +I can. Good-night again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-night. And"--as he was moving off--"you're not to +stop about and watch me, playing the part of the unseen +protector. I couldn't bear the thought of being watched. +I want to be alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right! All right! Since you've promised me that +you'll not stay long I promise you that I'll march +straight home."</p> + +<p class="normal">He strode off, his arms swinging at his sides, his head +hanging a little forward on his chest, as his habit +was. She followed him with her eyes. When she saw that +he vanished among the trees on his own estate, and did +not once look back, she was conscious of an illogical +little pang. She knew that he wanted her to understand +that, in obedience to her wishes, he refused to keep +any surveillance over her movements, even to the extent +of looking back. Still she felt that he might have +given her one backward glance, ere he vanished into the +night.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_11" href="#div1Ref_11">THE MAN ON THE FENCE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Her first feeling, when she knew herself in truth to be +alone, was of thankfulness so intense as almost to +amount to pain. He knew! As he himself had said, thank +goodness! Her relief at the knowledge that her burden +was shared, in however slight a degree, was greater +than she could have imagined possible. And of all +people in the world--by him! Now he understood, and +understanding had, in one sense, drawn him closer to +her; if in another it had thrust him farther off. +Again, to use his own words, he was at least her +friend. And, among all persons, he was the one whom-- +for every possible reason--she would rather have chosen +as a friend. In his hands she knew she would be safe. +Whatever he could do, he would do, and more. That ogre +who, in a few hours, would again be issuing from the +prison gates, would not have her so wholly at his mercy +as she had feared. Now, and henceforward, there would +be someone else with whom he would have to reckon. One +in whom, she was convinced, he would find much more +than his match.</p> + +<p class="normal">Again as he had said--thank goodness!</p> + +<p class="normal">For some minutes she remained just as he had left her, +standing looking after him, where he had vanished among +the trees. After a while the restraint which she had +placed upon herself throughout that trying interview, +began to slacken. The girl that was in her came to the +front--nature had its way. All at once she threw +herself face downward on the cushioned turf in her own +particular nook, and burst into a flood of tears. It +was to enable her to do that, perhaps, that she had so +wished to be alone. For once in a way, it was a comfort +to cry; they were more than half of them tears of +happiness. On the grass she lay, in the moonlight, and +sobbed out, as it were, her thanks for the promise of +help which had so suddenly come to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">Until all at once she became aware, amidst the tumult +of her sobbing, of a disturbing sound. She did not at +first move or alter her position. She only tried to +calm herself and listen. What was it which had struck +upon her consciousness? Footsteps? Yes, approaching +footsteps.</p> + +<p class="normal">Had he played her false, and, despite his promise, kept +watch on her? And was he now returning, to intrude upon +her privacy? How dare he! The fountain of her tears was +all at once dried up; instead, she went hot all over. +The steps were drawing nearer. The person who was +responsible was climbing the fence, within, it seemed, +half a dozen feet of her. She started up in a rage, to +find that the intruder was not Hugh Morice.</p> + +<p class="normal">Seated on the top rail of the fence, on which he appeared +to have perched himself, to enable him to observe her more +at his ease, was quite a different-looking sort of person, +a much more unprepossessing one than Hugh Morice. His coat +and trousers were of shepherd's plaid; the open jacket revealing +a light blue waistcoat, ornamented with bright brass buttons. +For necktie he wore a narrow scarlet ribbon. His brown billycock +hat was a little on one side of his head; his face was clean +shaven, and between his lips he had an unlighted cigarette. In +age he might have been anything between thirty and fifty.</p> + +<p class="normal">His appearance was so entirely unexpected, and, in +truth, so almost incredible, that she stared at him as +she might have stared at some frightful apparition. +And, indeed, no apparition could have seemed more +frightful to her; for the man on the fence was Robert +Champion.</p> + +<p class="normal">For the space of at least a minute neither spoke. It +was as if both parties were at a loss for words. At +last the man found his tongue.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, Vi, this is a little surprise for both of us."</p> + +<p class="normal">So far she had been kneeling on the turf, as if the +sight of him had paralysed her limbs and prevented her +from ascending higher. Now, with a sudden jerky +movement, she stood up straight.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, my dear--me. Taken you a little by surprise, +haven't I? You don't seem to have made many +preparations for my reception, though of course it's +always possible that you've got the fatted calf waiting +for me indoors."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thought you were in prison."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, it's not a very delicate reminder, is it? on +this the occasion of our first meeting. But, strictly +between ourselves, I've been in prison, and that's a +solid fact; and a nasty, unsociable place I found it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I thought they weren't going to let you out until +to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No? Did you? I see. That's why you were crying your heart +out on the grass there, because you thought they were going +to keep me from you four-and-twenty hours longer. The brutes! +I should have thought you'd have found it damp enough without +wanting to make it damper; but there's no accounting for tastes; +yours always were your own, and I recognise the compliment. As +it happens, when a gentleman's time's up on a Sunday, they let +him tear himself away from them on the Saturday. Sunday's what +they call a <i>dies non</i>; you're a lady of education, so you +know what that means. You were right in reckoning that the +twelve months for which they tore a husband from his wife wasn't +up until tomorrow; but it seems that you didn't reckon for that +little peculiarity, on account of which I said goodbye to them +this morning. See?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But--I don't understand!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She threw out her arms with a gesture which was +eloquent of the confusion--and worse--with which his +sudden apparition had filled her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No? what don't you understand? It all seems to me +clear enough; but, perhaps, you always were a trifle +dull."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't understand how you've found me! how it is that +you are here!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, that's it, is it? Now I begin to catch on. That's +the simplest part of the lot. You--the wife of my bosom, +the partner of my joys and sorrows--particularly of my +sorrows--you never wrote me a line; you never took the +slightest interest in my hard fate. For all you cared I +might have died. I don't like to think that you really +didn't care, but that's what it looked like." He grinned, +as if he had said something humorous. "But I had a friend--a +true friend--one. That friend met me this morning, where +my wife ought to have met me, at the prison gates. From +that friend I learned of the surprising things which had +happened to you; how you had come into a fortune--a fortune +beyond the dreams of avarice. It seems strange that, under +the circumstances, you weren't outside the prison, with a +coach and four, waiting to bear me away in triumph to your +gilded bowers. Ah-h!" He emitted a sound which might have +been meant for a sigh. "But I bore up--with the aid of the +first bottle of champagne I'd tasted since I saw you last--the +gift of my one true friend. So, as you hadn't come to me, I +came to you. You might have bungled up the dates or something; +there's never any telling. I knew you'd be glad to see me--your +loving husband, dear. My late arrival is due to no fault of +mine; it's that beastly railway. I couldn't make out which was +the proper station for this little shanty of yours! and it +seems I took a ticket for the wrong one. Found myself stranded +in a God-forsaken hole; no conveyance to be got; no more +trains until tomorrow. So I started to walk the distance. They +told me it was about five miles. About five miles! I'd like to +make 'em cover it as five against the clock; they'd learn! When +I'd gone about ten I met an idiot who told me there was a short +cut, and set me on it. Short cut! If there's a longer cut +anywhere I shouldn't care to strike it. Directly I'd seen the +back of him it came on pitch dark; and there was I, in a +pathless wilderness, with no more idea of where I was going +than the man in the moon. For the last two hours I've been +forcing my way through what seemed to me to be a virgin forest. +I've had a time! But now I've found you, by what looks very like +a miracle; and all's well that ends well. So give us a kiss, +like a good girl, and say you're glad to see me. Come and +salute your husband."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're not my husband!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not--I say! Don't go and throw away your character +like that. As my wife, it's precious to me, if it isn't +to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you suppose you're going to do now?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now?--Do you mean this minute? Well, I did dream of a +tender meeting; you know the kind of thing. As a loving +wife you ought to, but, perhaps, you'd like to put that +off till a little later. Now I suppose we're going up +together to the little home of which I've heard, and +have come so far to see; and there--well, there we'll have +the tender meeting."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I advise you not to set foot upon my ground!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your ground? Our ground, you mean. Really, how you do +mix things up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My ground, I mean. You have no more to do with it +than--than the jailer who let you out of the prison +gate, to prey upon the world again."</p> + +<p class="normal">She had evidently learnt her lesson from Mr Morice in +the nick of time.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be silly; you don't know what you're talking +about. What's yours is mine; what's the wife's the +husband's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's a lie, and you know it. I know it's a lie, as +you'll discover. This side of that fence is my +property. If you trespass on it I'll summon my +gamekeepers--there are always plenty of them about--and +I'll have you thrown off it. What you do on the other +side of the fence is no business of mine. That belongs +to someone who is well able to deal with men like you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is a cheerful hearing, upon my word! Can this +virago be the loving wife I've come all this way to +see? No, it can't be--it must be a delusion. Let me +tell you again--don't be silly. Where the wife is the +husband's a perfect right to be. That's the law of +England and it's the law of God."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's neither when the husband is such as you. Let me +repeat my advice to you--don't trespass on my ground."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where are you going?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm going to find a gamekeeper; to warn him that bad +characters are about, and to instruct him how to deal +with them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stop! don't talk nonsense to me like that! Have you +forgotten what kind of man I am?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have I forgotten! As if I ever could forget!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then mind it! Come here! Where are you off to? Did you +hear me tell you to come here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I repeat, I'm going to find a gamekeeper. I heard you +tell me; but I pay no more attention to what you tell +me than the trunk of that tree."</p> + +<p class="normal">"By----! we'll see about that!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Descending from the fence, he moved towards her. She +stopped, turned and faced him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you think you're going to do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm going to see you mind me--that's what I'm going to +do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Does that mean that you're going to assault me, as you +used to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Assault you! Not much! Look here. What's the good of +your carrying on like this? Why can't you behave like a +reasonable girl, and talk sensibly?" She looked him +steadily in the face; then turned on her heel. "You'd +better stand still! I'm your husband; you're my wife. +It's my duty to see that you obey me, and I'm going to +do my duty. So just you mark my words!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Husband! Duty! You unutterable thing! Don't touch me! +Take your hand from off my shoulder!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you stand still. I'm not going to have you slip +through my fingers, and leave me here, and have the +laugh on me; so don't you make any mistake, my girl. +You've never had the laugh on me yet, and you never +will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you don't take your hand off my shoulder, I'll kill +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again he laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It strikes me that if there's going to be any killing +done it's I who'll do it. You're getting my temper up, +like you used to; and when you've got it fairly up +there'll be trouble. You stand still! Do you hear me? +Your eyes-- What's that?" With a sudden, vigorous +movement she broke from his retaining grasp. "Would +you! I'll teach you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He advanced, evidently meaning to renew his grip upon +her shoulders. Before he could do so she swung out her +right arm with all the strength at her command, and +struck him in the face. Not anticipating such violent +measures, taken unawares, he staggered blindly +backwards. Ere he could recover himself she had sprung +round, and was rushing at the top of her speed towards +the narrow, winding path along which she had come. As +she gained it the moon passed behind the clouds.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_12" href="#div1Ref_12">WHAT SHE HEARD, SAW AND FOUND</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">She hurried along as rapidly as she could in the +darkness which had followed the eclipse of the moon. +Momentarily she expected to hear his footsteps coming +after her. But, so far as she was able to tell, there +was not a sound which suggested pursuit. Something, +possibly, had prevented his giving immediate chase. In +the darkness it was impossible to see where she was +going, or to make out surrounding objects. What seemed +to be the branch of a tree struck her across the face +with such force that it brought her to an instant +standing. She stood still, trembling from head to foot. +The collision had partly stunned her. Her face was +smarting, where it had come in contact with the unseen +obstacle. For the moment she was demoralised, incapable +of moving in any direction. Her breath was coming in +great gasps. It would have needed very little to have +made her burst into tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">As she was gradually regaining her equilibrium, her +presence of mind, a sound crashed through the darkness, +which started her trembling worse than ever. It was a +gunshot. Quite close at hand. So close that the flash +of it flamed before her eyes. In the air about her was +the smell of the powder.</p> + +<p class="normal">Silence followed, which was the more striking, because +it was contrasted with the preceding thunderclap. What +had happened? Who had fired? at what? and where? The +gun had been fired by someone who was on the left of +where she was then standing, possibly within twenty or +thirty feet. The direction of the aim, it seemed, had +been at something behind her. What was there behind her +at which anyone would be likely to fire, in that +reckless fashion, at that hour of the night? Robert +Champion was behind her; but the idea that anyone--</p> + +<p class="normal">The silence was broken. Someone was striding through +the brushwood towards the place which had been aimed +at. She became conscious of another sound, which made +her heart stand still. Was not someone groaning, as if +in pain? Someone who, also, was behind her? Suddenly +there was the sound of voices. The person who had +strode through the underwood was speaking to the person +who was groaning. Apparently she was farther off than +she had supposed, or they were speaking in muffled +tones. She could only just distinguish voices. Who were +the speakers, and what they said, she had not a notion. +The colloquy was but a brief one. Again there was a +sound of footsteps, which retreated; then, again, +groans.</p> + +<p class="normal">What did it mean? What had happened? who had come and +gone? who had been the speakers? of what had they been +talking? The problem was a knotty one. Should she go +back and solve it? The groans which continued, and, if +anything, increased in vigour, were in themselves a +sufficiently strenuous appeal. That someone was in pain +was evident--wounded, perhaps seriously. It seemed that +whoever was responsible for that gunshot had, with +complete callousness, left his victim to his fate. And +he might be dying! Whoever it was, she could not let +him die without, at least, attempting succour. If she +did, she would be a participant in a crime of which--to +use an Irishism--she had not only been an unseen, but +also an unseeing, witness. If she let this man die +without doing something to help him live, his blood +would be on her hands also; certainly, she would feel +it was. However repugnant the task might be, she must +return and proffer aid.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had just brought herself to the sticking point, and +was about to retrace her steps, when, once more, she +became conscious of someone being in movement. But, +this time, not only did it come from another direction, +but it had an entirely different quality. Before, there +had been no attempt at concealment. Whoever had gone +striding through the underwood, had apparently cared +nothing for being either seen nor heard. Whoever was +moving now, unless the girl's imagination played her a +trick--was desirous of being neither seen nor heard. +There was a stealthy quality in the movements, as if +someone were stealing softly through the brushwood, +taking cautious steps, keenly on the alert against +hidden listeners.</p> + +<p class="normal">In what quarter was the newcomer moving? The girl could +not at first decide; indeed, she never was quite clear, +but it seemed to her that someone was creeping along +the fence which divided Exham Park and Oak Dene. All +the while, the wounded man continued to groan.</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly, she could not tell how she knew, but she knew +that the newcomer had not only heard the groans, but, +in all probability, had detected the quarter from +whence they came; possibly had caught sight of the +recumbent figure, prostrate on the grass. Because, just +then, the moon came out again in undiminished +splendour, and, almost simultaneously, the footsteps +ceased. To Violet Arnott, the plain inference seemed to +be that the returning light had brought the sufferer +into instant prominence. Silence again, broken only by +groans. Presently, even they ceased.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, without the slightest warning, something occurred +which was far worse than the gunshot, which affected +her with a paralysis of horror, as if death itself had +her by the throat.</p> + +<p class="normal">The footsteps began again, only with a strange, new +swiftness, as if whoever was responsible for them had +suddenly darted forward. In the same moment there was a +noise which might have been made by a man struggling to +gain his feet. Then, just for a second, an odd little +silence. Then two voices uttering together what seemed +to her to be formless ejaculations. While the voices +had still not ceased to be audible, there came a +dreadful sound; the sound as of a man who was in an +agony of fear and pain. Then a thud--an eloquent thud. +And, an instant afterwards, someone went crashing, +dashing through the underwood, like some maddened wild +beast, flying for life.</p> + +<p class="normal">The runner was passing close to where she stood. She +did not dare to move; she could not have moved even had +she dared--her limbs had stiffened. But she could +manage to move her head, and she did. She turned, and +saw, in the moonlight, in headlong flight, forcing +aside the brushwood as he went, Hugh Morice.</p> + +<p class="normal">What happened during the next few moments she never +knew. The probability is that, though she retained her +footing, consciousness left her. When, once more, she +realised just where she was, and what had occurred, all +was still, with an awful stillness. She listened for a +sound--any sound; those inarticulate sounds which are +part and parcel of a wood at night. She could hear +nothing--no whisper of the breeze among the leaves; no +hum of insect life; no hint of woodland creatures who +wake while men are sleeping. A great hush seemed to +have fallen on the world--a dreadful hush. Her heart +told her that there was horror in the silence.</p> + +<p class="normal">What should she do? where should she go? what was lying +on the ground under the beech tree, on which not so +long ago, Hugh Morice had cut their initials with his +hunting-knife? She was sure there was something--what?</p> + +<p class="normal">She would have to go and see. The thought of doing so +was hideous--but the idea of remaining in ignorance +was not to be borne. Knowledge must be gained at any +price; she would have to know. She waited. Perhaps +something would happen to tell her; to render it +unnecessary that she should go upon that gruesome +errand. Perhaps--perhaps he would groan again? If he +only would! it would be the gladdest sound she had ever +heard.</p> + +<p class="normal">But he would not--or he did not.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet all was still--that awful stillness.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was no use her playing the coward--putting it off. +She would have to go--she must go. She would never know +unless she did. The sooner she went, the sooner it +would be done.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she returned along the footpath towards the beech +tree. In the moonlight the way was plain enough. Yet +she went stumbling along it as she had never stumbled +even in the darkness--uncertain upon her feet; reeling +from side to side; starting at shadows; stopping +half-a-dozen times in as many yards, fearful of she +knew not what.</p> + +<p class="normal">What was that? A sound? No, nothing. Only a trick of +her imagination, which was filled with such fantastic +imaginings, such shapes and sounds of horror.</p> + +<p class="normal">She came to the end of the path. Before her was the +open space; the favourite nook where she had first met +Hugh Morice, which she had come to regard almost as a +sanctuary. In front was the saucer-shaped break in the +ground which she had found offered such luxurious ease. +What was lying in it now?</p> + +<p class="normal">Nothing? Or--was that something? Well under the +shadow of the beech tree, where the moonlight +scarcely reached? almost in the darkness, so that +at a first glance it was difficult to see? She +stood, leaning a little forward, and looked--long, +intently. As she looked her heart seemed to become +gradually constricted; she became conscious of actual +pain--acute, lancinating.</p> + +<p class="normal">Something was there. A figure--of a man--in +light-coloured clothes. He lay on the ground, so far as +she could judge from where she stood, a little on his +right side, with his hands thrown over his head as if +asleep--fast asleep. The recumbent figure had for her +an unescapable fascination. She stared and stared, as +though its stillness had in it some strange quality.</p> + +<p class="normal">She called to the sleeper--in a tone which was so +unlike her ordinary voice that--even in that awful +moment--the sound of it startled her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Robert! Robert! Wake up!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Probably not a dozen times since she had known this man +had she called him by his Christian name. It was so +singular that she should have done so; the mere +singularity of the thing should have roused him from +the soundest slumber. But he continued silent. He +neither moved nor answered, nor was there any sign to +show that he had heard. She called again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Robert! Robert! Do you hear me, wake up! Answer me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">But he did neither--he neither woke nor answered.</p> + +<p class="normal">The persistent silence was assuming an appalling +quality. She could endure it no longer. She suddenly +moved forward under the shadow of the beech tree, and +bent down to look. What was that upon the front of his +jacket? She touched it with her finger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh--h--h!"</p> + +<p class="normal">A sound, which was part shriek, part groan, broke from +her trembling lips. Her finger-tips were wet. She had +not realised what the dark mark might mean--now she +understood. All at once she burst out crying, until she +saw something shining up at her from the turf almost at +her feet. At sight of it she ceased to cry with the +same suddenness with which she had begun. She picked +the shining thing up. It was a knife--his knife--Hugh +Morice's--the one with which he had cut their initials +in the trunk of the tree. Its great blade was all wet.</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave one quick glance round, slipped the +blade--still all wet--inside her bodice; then, +returning to the winding footpath, ran along it at the +top of her speed, neither pausing nor looking back.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_13" href="#div1Ref_13">AFTERWARDS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">At the foot of the broad flight of steps leading up to +her own hall door she stopped for the first time. It +was late. What was the exact hour she had no notion. +She only knew that, in that part of the world, it would +be regarded as abnormal. The hall door was closed, that +little fact in itself was eloquent. There were outer +and inner doors. It was the custom to leave the outer +door wide open until all the household had retired to +rest. She would have to knock to gain admission. Her +late return could hardly fail to attract attention. She +was breathless with the haste she had made, heated, +dishevelled. Whoever admitted her would be sure to +notice the condition she was in.</p> + +<p class="normal">It could not be helped. Let them notice. She was +certainly not going to fear the scrutiny of her own +servants. So she told herself. She declined to admit +that they were sufficiently human to dare to criticise +her movements. Besides, what did it matter?</p> + +<p class="normal">She knocked with difficulty, the knocker was so heavy. +Instantly the door was opened by old Day, the butler. +Day was a person of much importance. He was a survival +of her uncle's time, being in occupation of the house +while the next owner was being sought for. An excellent +servant, with a very clear idea of his own dignity and +the responsibility of his position. That he should have +opened the door to her with his own hands at that hour, +seemed to her to convey a reproof. She marched straight +past him, however, without even a word of thanks. He +addressed to her an inquiry as she went, in his even, +level tones, as if there were nothing strange in her +entering in such a condition, immediately after her +return from a prolonged absence, at the dead of the +night. Again her ardent imagination seemed to scent an +unspoken criticism, which she ignored.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will anything else be required?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing. I am going to bed."</p> + +<p class="normal">In her bedroom she found Evans dozing in an easy-chair. +The woman started up as she entered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg your pardon, miss, for slipping off, but I was +beginning to be afraid that something might be wrong." +She stared as she began to realise the peculiarity of +her young mistress's appearance. "Why, miss, whatever-- +I hope that nothing's happened."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What should have happened? Why haven't you gone to +bed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, miss, I thought that you might want me as this +was the first night of your coming home."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What nonsense! Haven't I told you that I won't have +you sit up for me when I'm unusually late? I dislike to +feel that my movements are being overlooked by my +servants, that they are too intimately acquainted with +my goings out and comings in. Go to bed at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is there nothing I can do for you, miss? Are you--I +beg your +pardon--but are you sure there's nothing wrong? You +look so strange!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wrong? What do you mean--wrong? Go!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Evans went, the imperturbable demeanour of the well-trained +servant not being sufficient to conceal the fact that she +went unwillingly. When she was gone Miss Arnott looked at +the silver clock on the mantel-shelf. It was past two. She +had been out more than four hours. Into those four hours +had been crowded the events of a lifetime; the girl who +had gone out was not the woman who had returned.</p> + +<p class="normal">For the first time she began to suspect herself of +being physically weary. She moved her hand up towards +her forehead. As she did so her glance fell on it; it +was all smirched with blood. Simultaneously she became +aware that stains of the same sort were on the light +blue linen costume she was wearing, particularly on the +front of the bodice. She moved to a cheval glass. Was +it possible? were her eyes playing her a trick? was +there something the matter with the light? Not a bit of +it, the thing was clear enough, her face was all +smeared with blood, probably where it had been touched +by her fingers. Why, now that she could see herself +plainly, she saw that she looked as if she had come +fresh from a butcher's shambles. No wonder Evans had +stared at her in such evident perturbation, demanding +if she was sure that there was nothing wrong. Old Day +must have been an automaton, not a man, to have +betrayed no surprise at the spectacle she presented.</p> + +<p class="normal">She tore open her bodice, took out from it the knife-- +his knife, Hugh Morice's. It was drier, but still damp. +It was covered with blood all over. It must have been +thrust in up to the hilt--even the handle was mired. It +had come off on to all her clothes, had penetrated even +to her corsets. Seemingly it resembled ink in its +capacity to communicate its presence. She stripped +herself almost to the skin in the sudden frenzy of her +desire to free herself from the contamination of his +blood. When she had washed herself she was amazed to +see what a sanguine complexion the water had assumed. +It seemed to her that she was in an atmosphere of +blood--his blood. What was to be done? She sat down on +a chair and tried to think.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not surprising that she found it hard to bring +herself to a condition in which anything like clarity +of thought was possible. But, during the last four +hours, she had matured unconsciously, had attained to +the possession of will power of strength of which she +herself was unsuspicious. She had made up her mind that +she would think this thing out, and by degrees she did, +after a fashion.</p> + +<p class="normal">Three leading facts became gradually present to her +mind to the exclusion of almost all beside. One was +that Robert Champion was +dead--dead. And so she had obtained release by the only +means to which, as it seemed to her, Mr Whitcomb, that +eminent authority on the law of marriage, had pointed. +But at what a price! The price exceeded the value of +the purchase inconceivably. There was the knife--his +knife--to show it. When she shut her eyes she could +still see him rushing in the moonlight through the +brushwood, like some wild creature, mad with the desire +to escape. Beyond all doubt the price was excessive. +And it had still to be paid. That was the worst of it, +very much the worst. The payment--what form would it +take?</p> + +<p class="normal">As that aspect of the position began to penetrate her +consciousness, it was all she could do to keep herself +from playing the girl. After all, in years, she was +only a girl. In simplicity, in ignorance of evil, in +essential purity--a child. When she found herself +confronted by the inquiry, what form would the payment +take? girl-like, her courage began, as it were, to slip +through her finger ends. Then there was that other side +to the question, from whom would payment be demanded? +Suddenly required to furnish an answer to this, for +some moments her heart stood still. She looked about +her, at the ruddy-hued water in the wash basin, at the +clothing torn off because it was stained. Recalled her +tell-tale entry, her admission by Day who, in spite of +his unnaturally non-committal attitude, must have +noticed the state that she was in; Evans's startled +face when, attempting no concealment, she blurted out +her confession of what she saw. Here, plainly, were all +the essentials for a comedy or tragedy of +misunderstanding.</p> + +<p class="normal">If Hugh Morice chose to be silent all the visible +evidences pointed at her. They all seemed to cry aloud +that it was she who had done this thing. From the +ignorant spectator's point of view there could hardly +be a stronger example of perfect circumstantial proof.</p> + +<p class="normal">For some occult reason her lips were wrinkled by a smile at +the thought of Hugh Morice keeping silent. As if he would +when danger threatened her, for whom he had done this thing. +And yet, if he did not keep silent, who would have to pay? +Would--? Yes, he would; certainly. At that thought her poor, +weak, childish heart seemed to drop in her bosom like a lump +of lead. The tears stood in her eyes. She went hot and cold. +No--not that. Rather than that, it would be better that he +should keep silent. Better--better anything than that. He had +done this for her; but, he must not be allowed to do more. He +had done enough for her already--more than enough--much more. +She must make it her business to see that he did nothing else. +Nothing.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just as she was, all unclothed, she knelt down and +prayed. The strangest prayer, a child's prayer, the +kind of prayer which, sometimes, coming from the very +heart of the child, is uttered in all simplicity. Many +strange petitions have been addressed to God; but few +stranger than that. She prayed that whoever might have +to suffer for what had been done, he might escape +scot-free; not only here but also hereafter; in heaven +as well as on earth. Although the supplication invoked +such an odd confusion of ideas, it was offered up with +such intense earnestness and simplicity of purpose, +that it had, at anyrate, one unlooked for effect. It +calmed her mind. She rose up from her knees feeling +more at ease than she had done since ten o'clock. In +some vague way, which was incomprehensible to herself, +her prayer seemed already to have been answered. +Therefore, the future had no perils in store for her; +she was at peace with the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">She collected the garments which she had taken off, +arranged them in a neat bundle and placed them in an +almost empty drawer which she found at the bottom of a +wardrobe. The knife she put under the bundle. Then, +locking the drawer, she disposited the key beneath her +pillows. In the morning her brain would be clearer. She +would be able to decide what to do with the things +which, although speechless, were yet so full of +eloquence. The water in which she had washed she +carried into the apartment which opened out of her +bedroom, and, emptying it into the bath, watched it +disappear down the waste water pipe. She flushed the +bath so as to remove any traces which it might have +left behind. Then, arraying herself in her night +attire, she put out the lights and got into bed.</p> + +<p class="normal">She awoke with that sense of pleasant refreshment which +comes after calm, uninterrupted slumber. She lay, for +some seconds, in a state of blissful indolence. Then, +memory beginning to play its part, she raised herself +upon her elbow with a sudden start. She looked about +the room. All was as she had left it. Although the +curtains and the blinds were drawn the presence of the +sun was obvious. Through one window a long pencil of +sunshine gleamed across the carpet. Evidently a fine +night was to be followed by a delightful day. She +touched the ivory push piece just above her head. +Instantly Evans appeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Get my bath ready. I'm going to get up at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">She eyed the woman curiously, looking for news upon her +face. There were none. Her countenance was again the +servant's expressionless mask. When the curtains and +blinds were drawn the room was filled with golden +light. She had the windows opened wide. The glory of a +summer's day came streaming in. The events of the night +seemed to have become the phantasmagoria of some +transient dream. It was difficult to believe that they +were real, that she had not dreamed them. Her spirits +were higher than they had been for some time. She sang +to herself while she was having her bath. Evans, +putting out her clothes in the next room, heard her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She seems to be all right now. That's the first time +I've heard her singing, and she looks better. Slept +well, I suppose. When you're young and healthy a good +sleep works wonders. A nice sight she looked when she +came in this morning; I never saw anything like it-- +never! All covered with blood, my gracious! A queer one +she is, the queerest I've ever had to do with, and I've +had to do with a few. Seems to me that the more money a +woman's got the queerer she is, unless she's got a man +to look after her. However, it's no business of mine; I +don't want to know what games she's up to. I have found +knowing too much brings trouble. But whatever has +become of the clothes that she had on? They've +vanished, every single thing except the stockings. What +can she have done with them? It's queer. I suppose, as +she hasn't left them about it's a hint that I'm not to +ask questions. I don't want to; I'm sure the less I +know the better I'm pleased. Still, I do hope there's +nothing wrong. She's a good sort; in spite of all her +queernesses, I never want to meet a better. That +generous! and simple as a child! Sooner than anything +should happen to her I'd--well, I'd do a good deal. If +she'd left those clothes of hers about I'd have washed +'em and got 'em up myself, so that no one need have +known about the state that they were in. I don't want +to speak to her about it. With her ideas about not +liking to be overlooked she might think that I was +interfering; but, I wish she had."</p> + +<p class="normal">Somewhat to her surprise Miss Arnott found Mrs Plummer +waiting for her at the breakfast-table.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why," she exclaimed, "I thought you would have +finished long ago--ever so long ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was a little late myself; so I thought I'd wait for +you. What time did you come in?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why do you ask?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing. I only wondered. Directly I had finished +dinner I went to bed--straight from the table. I was +tired; I thought you wouldn't care for me to sit up for +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course not; what an idea! You never have sat up for +me, and I shouldn't advise you to begin. But--you still +look tired. Haven't you slept away your fatigue?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't fancy I have quite. As you say, I'm still a +little tired. Yet I slept well, fell asleep as soon as +I got into bed directly, and never woke."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Didn't you dream?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dream? Why should I dream?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's no particular reason that I know of, only when +people march straight from dinner to bed dreams do +sometimes follow--at least, so I've been told."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They don't with me; I never dream, never. I don't +suppose I've dreamt half-a-dozen times in my life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're lucky."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've a clear conscience, my dear; a perfectly clear +conscience. People with clear consciences don't dream. +Where did you go to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh--I strolled about, enjoying the fresh air."</p> + +<p class="normal">"An odd hour to enjoy it, especially after the quantity +of fresh air that you've been enjoying lately. What +time did you say it was that you came in?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I didn't say. Day will be able to tell you, if you are +anxious to know--you appear to be. He let me in." The +elder lady was silent, possibly not caring to lay +herself open to the charge of being curious. Presently +Miss Arnott put the inquiry to the butler on her own +account. "Probably, Day, you will be able to supply Mrs +Plummer with the information she desires. What time was +it when I came in?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm afraid I don't know. I didn't look at my watch. +I've no idea."</p> + +<p class="normal">The butler kept his eyes turned away as he answered. +Something in his tone caused her to look at him-- +something which told her that if the man had not been +guilty of a positive falsehood, he had at least been a +party to the suppression of the truth. She became +instantly convinced that his intention was to screen +her. She did not like the notion, it gave her an +uncomfortable qualm.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_14" href="#div1Ref_14">ON THE HIGH ROAD</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">All that day nothing happened. Miss Arnott went in the +morning to church; in the afternoon for a run on her +motor, which had been neglected during the whole period +of her absence abroad. She continued in a state of +expectation. Before she started for church from +everyone who approached her she looked for news; being +persuaded that, if there were news of the kind she +looked for, it would not be hidden from her long. But, +plainly, no one had anything to tell.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer accompanied her to church. Miss Arnott +would rather she had refrained. A conviction was +forcing itself upon her that, at the back of Mrs +Plummer's mind, there was something which she was doing +her best to keep to herself, but which now and then +would peep out in spite of her--something hostile to +herself. A disagreeable feeling was growing on her that +the lady knew much more about her movements on the +previous night than she was willing to admit. How she +knew she did not attempt to guess, or even whether the +knowledge really amounted to anything more than a +surmise. She had an uncomfortable impression that her +companion, who was obviously ill at ease, was watching +her with a furtive keenness which she intuitively +resented.</p> + +<p class="normal">When they reached the church she was scarcely in a +religious mood. She was conscious that her unexpected +appearance made a small sensation. Those who knew her +smiled at her across the pews. Only servants were in +the Oak Dene pew; the master was absent. She wondered +if anything had yet transpired; half expecting some +allusion to the matter during the course of the sermon. +While the vicar preached her thoughts kept wandering to +the mossy nook beneath the beech tree. Surely someone +must have been there by now, and seen. She would hear +all about it after church--at anyrate, when she reached +home.</p> + +<p class="normal">But no, not a word. Nothing had stirred the tranquil +country air. One item of information she did receive on +her entering the house--Hugh Morice had called. She +probably appeared more startled than the occasion +seemed to warrant. The fact being that she had +forgotten the appointment he had made with her the +night before. In any case she would not have expected +him to keep it. That he should have done so almost took +her breath away. He had merely inquired if she was in; +on learning that she was not had gone away. He had left +no message.</p> + +<p class="normal">If she had stayed at home and seen him, what would he +have said to her?</p> + +<p class="normal">That was the question which she kept putting to herself +throughout the run on her motor; fitting it not with +one answer, but a dozen. There were so many things he +might have said, so many he might have left unsaid.</p> + +<p class="normal">She expected to be greeted with the news when she +brought the car to a standstill in front of her own +hall door. No; still not a word. Not one during the +whole of the evening. A new phase seemed to be +developing in Mrs Plummer's character--she had all at +once grown restless, fidgety. Hitherto, if she had had +a tendency, it had been to attach herself too closely +to her charge. She was disposed to be too +conversational. Now, on a sudden, it was all the other +way. Unless the girl's fancy played her a trick she was +not only desirous of avoiding her, but when in her +society she was taciturn almost to the verge of +rudeness. Miss Arnott was anxious neither for her +company nor her conversation; but she did not like her +apparent unflattering inclination to avoid her +altogether.</p> + +<p class="normal">That night the girl went early to bed. Hardly had she +got into her room than she remembered the key; the key +of the wardrobe drawer, which, in the small hours of +the morning, she had put under her pillow before she +got into bed. Until that moment she had forgotten its +existence. Now, all at once, it came back to her with a +jarring shock. She went to the bed and lifted the +pillows--there was nothing there.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you heard anything about a key being found +underneath this pillow? I put it there just before I +got into bed. I forgot it when I got up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, miss, I haven't. What key was it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was"--she hesitated--"it was the key of a drawer in +this wardrobe. Perhaps it's in it now. No; there's +nothing there. Whoever made my bed must have seen it. +Who made the bed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wilson, miss. If she saw a key under your pillow she +ought to have given it me at once. I was in the room +all the while; but she never said a word. I'll go and +ask her at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do. But I see all the drawers have keys. I suppose any +one of them will fit any drawer?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, miss, that's just what they won't do; and very +awkward it is sometimes. There's a different lock to +every drawer, and only one key which fits it. I'll go +and make inquiries of Wilson at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">While Evans was gone Miss Arnott considered. It would +be awkward if the key were lost or mislaid. To gain +access to that drawer the lock would have to be forced. +Circumstances might very easily arise which would +render it necessary that access should be gained, and +by her alone. Nor was the idea a pleasant one that, +although the drawer was closed to her, it might be +accessible to somebody else.</p> + +<p class="normal">Evans returned to say that the maid, Wilson, denied all +knowledge of a key.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She declares that there was no key there. She says +that if there had been she couldn't have helped but see +it. I don't see how she could have either. You are +sure, miss, that you left it there?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certain."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then perhaps it slipped on to the floor when she moved +the pillow, without being noticed."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not on the floor then--at least, they could +discover no signs of it. Evans moved the bed, and went +on her knees to see. Nor did it appear to have strayed +into the bed itself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will see Wilson myself in the morning," said Miss +Arnott, when Evans's researches proved resultless. "The +key can't have vanished into nothing."</p> + +<p class="normal">But Wilson, even when interviewed by her mistress, +afforded no information. She was a raw country girl. A +bundle of nerves when she saw that Miss Arnott was +dissatisfied. There seemed no possible reason why she +should wish to conceal the fact that she had lighted on +the key, if she had done so. So far as she knew the key +was valueless, certainly it was of no interest to her. +Miss Arnott had to console herself with the reflection +that if she did not know what had become of the key no +one else did either. She gave instructions that if it +was found it was to be handed her at once. There, for +the moment, the matter rested.</p> + +<p class="normal">Again on that Monday nothing transpired. It dawned upon +the girl, when she began to think things over, that it +was well within the range of possibility that nothing +would transpire for a considerable period. That mossy +nook was in a remote part of the estate. Practically +speaking, except the gamekeepers, nobody went there at +all. It was certain that whoever did would be +trespassing. So far as she knew, thereabouts, +trespassers of any sort were few and far between. As +for the gamekeepers, there was nothing to take them +there.</p> + +<p class="normal">By degrees her cogitations began to trend in an +altogether unexpected direction. If the discovery had +not been made already, and might be postponed for +weeks, it need never be made at all. The body might +quite easily be concealed. If there was time it might +even be buried at the foot of the beech tree under +which it had been lying, and all traces of the grave be +hidden. It only needed a little care and sufficient +opportunity. She remembered when a favourite dog had +died, how her father had buried it at one side of the +lawn in their Cumberland home. He had been careful in +cutting out the sods of turf; when replacing them in +their former positions, he had done so with such +neatness and accuracy that, two or three days after no +stranger would have supposed they had ever been moved.</p> + +<p class="normal">The dead man might be treated as her father had treated +Fido. In which case his fate might never become known, +unless she spoke. Indeed, for all she could tell, the +body might be under the turf by now. If she chose to +return to the enjoyment of her favourite lounge there +might be nothing to deter her. She might lie, and laze, +and dream, and be offended by nothing which could +recall unpleasant memories.</p> + +<p class="normal">As the possibility that this might be so occurred to +her she became possessed by a strange, morbid +disposition to put it to the test. She was nearly half +inclined to stroll once more along that winding path, +and see if there was anything to prevent her enjoying +another waking dream. This inclination began to be so +strong that, fearful lest it should get the better of +her, to escape what was becoming a hideous temptation, +she went for another run upon her car, and, in +returning, met Hugh Morice.</p> + +<p class="normal">They saw each other's car approaching on the long +straight road, while they were yet some distance apart, +possibly more than a mile, backed by the usual cloud of +dust. She was descending an incline, he was below, far +off, where the road first came in sight. For some +moments she was not sure that the advancing car was +his, then she was undecided what to do; whether to +sweep past him, or to halt and speak. Her heart beat +faster, her hands were tremulous, her breath came +quicker. She had just resolved to go past him with a +commonplace salutation, when the matter was taken out +of her hands. When he was within a hundred yards of her +he stopped his car, with the evident design of claiming +her attention for at least a second or two. So she +stopped also, when the machines were within a yard of +one another.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was alone. He glanced at her chauffeur with his big +grey eyes, as if the sight of him were offensive. Then +he looked at her and she at him, and for a while they +were silent. It seemed to her that he was devouring her +with his eyes. She was vaguely conscious of a curious +feeling of satisfaction at being devoured. For her part +she could not take her eyes off his face--she loved to +look at him.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was only after some moments had passed that it +appeared to occur to him that there might be anything +singular in such a fashion of meeting, especially in +the presence of her mechanic. When he spoke his voice +seemed husky, the manner of his speech was, as usual, +curt.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why weren't you at home yesterday morning as you +promised?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I had forgotten that I did promise."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You had forgotten?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not that it would have made any difference if I had +remembered; I should not have stayed in. I did not +suppose you would come."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I told you I should come."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, you told me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What I tell you I will do that I do do. Nothing that +may happen will cause me to change my mind." He looked +past her along the way she had come, then addressed the +chauffeur. "There is something lying on the road. It +may be something Miss Arnott has dropped--go and see."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't think it is anything of mine. I have had +nothing to drop."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go and see what it is." The man, descending, returned +along the road. "I don't choose to have everything you +and I may have to say to each other overheard. You knew +that I should come, why did you not stay in? of what +were you afraid?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Afraid? I? Of nothing, There was no reason why I +should be afraid."</p> + +<p class="normal">He searched her face, as if seeking for something which +he was amazed to find himself unable to discover.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are a strange woman; but then women were always +puzzles to me. You may not be stranger than the rest--I +don't know. Hadn't you better go away again to-day? +Back to the Lake of Como or further?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should I go away? Of what are you afraid?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of what am I not afraid? I am even afraid to think of +what I am afraid--of such different stuff are we two +made. I never knew what fear was, before; now, I hardly +dare to breathe for fear."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you trust me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Trust you? What has that to do with it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see, you think it doesn't matter. I hardly know +whether you intend to flatter me or not. Why don't you +go away?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the use? Where should I go where I could be +hidden? There is no hiding-place, none. Besides, if I +were to hide myself under the sea it might make no +difference. Don't you understand?</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not sure; no, I don't think I do. But, tell me, I +want to know! I must know! It was all I could do to +keep myself from going to see--what have you done with +him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Done with him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you--have you buried him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Buried him? Do you think he could be buried?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Something came on to his face which frightened her, +started her all trembling.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I--I didn't know. Don't look at me like that. I only +wondered."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You only wondered! Is it possible that you thought it +could be hidden like that? My God! that you should be +such a woman! Don't speak, here's your chauffeur close +upon you; you don't want him to understand. You'll find +the dust is worse further on. Good-day!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He whizzed off, leaving her enveloped in a cloud of the +dust of which he had spoken.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_15" href="#div1Ref_15">COOPER'S SPINNEY</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Not till the Friday following was the dead body +discovered. And then in somewhat singular fashion.</p> + +<p class="normal">A young gamekeeper was strolling through the forest +with his dog. The dog, a puppy, strayed from his side. +He did not notice that it had done so till he heard it +barking. When he whistled it came running up to him +with something in its mouth--a brown billycock hat. The +creature was in a state of excitement. On his taking +the hat from it, it ran back in the direction it had +come, barking as it went. Puzzled by its behaviour, +curious as to how it had found the hat, he followed to +where the dead man lay beneath the beech tree.</p> + +<p class="normal">He thought at first that it was some stranger who, +having trespassed and lighted on a piece of open +ground, had taken advantage of the springy turf to +enjoy a nap. It was only after he had called to him +three times, and, in spite, also, of the dog's +persistent barking, had received no answer, that he +proceeded to examine more closely into the matter. Then +he saw not only that the man was dead, but that his +clothing was stiff with coagulated blood. There had +been a violent thunderstorm the night before. The rain +had evidently come drenching down on the silent +sleeper, but it had not washed out that blood.</p> + +<p class="normal">Clarke was a country bumpkin, only just turned +eighteen. When it began to break on his rustic +intelligence that, in all probability, he was looking +down on the victim of some hideous tragedy, he was +startled out of his very few wits. He had not the +faintest notion what he ought to do. He only remembered +that the great house was the nearest human habitation. +When he had regained sufficient control of his senses, +he ran blindly off to it. A footman, seeing him come +staggering up the steps which led to the main entrance, +came out to inquire what he meant by such a glaring +breach of etiquette.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are you doing here? This isn't the place for you. +Go round to the proper door. What's the matter with +you? Do you hear, what's up?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There--there's a man in Cooper's Spinney!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well! what of it? That's none of our business."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's--he's dead."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dead? Who's dead? What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The hobbledehoy broke into a fit of blubbering.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They've--they've killed him," he blubbered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Killed him? Who's killed him? What are you talking +about? Stop that noise. Can't you talk sense?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Day, the butler, crossing the hall, came out to see +what was the cause of the to-do. At any moment people +might call. They would please to find this senseless +gawk boohooing like a young bull calf. Day and the +footman between them tried to make head or tail of the +fellow's blundering story. While they were doing so Mrs +Plummer appeared in the doorway.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Day, what is the matter here? What is the meaning of +this disturbance?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't quite make out, but from what this young man +says it appears that he's seen someone lying dead in +Cooper's Spinney. So far as I can understand the young +man seems to think that he's been murdered."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer started back, trembling so violently that +she leaned against the wall, as if in want of its +support.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Murdered? He's not been murdered! It's a lie!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Day, after one glance at her, seemed to avoid looking +in her direction.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As to that, madam, I can say nothing. The young man +doesn't seem to be too clear-headed. I will send +someone at once and have inquiries made."</p> + +<p class="normal">Shortly it was known to all the house that young +Clarke's story was not a lie. A horse was put into a +trap, the news was conveyed to the village, the one +policeman brought upon the scene. When Miss Arnott +returned with her motor it was easy enough for her to +see that at last the air was stirred.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has anything happened?" she inquired of the footman +who came to superintend her descent from the motor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am afraid there has--something very unpleasant."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Unpleasant! How?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It appears that a man has been found dead in Cooper's +Spinney--murdered, cut to pieces, they do say.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In Cooper's Spinney? Cut to pieces?" She paused, as if +to reflect. "Did you say cut to pieces? Surely there's +some mistake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I only know what they say, miss. Granger's up there +now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Granger?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The policeman, miss. Now I'm told they've sent for a +doctor."</p> + +<p class="normal">A second footman handed her an envelope as she entered +the hall. She saw that "Oak Dene" was impressed in +scarlet letters on the flap.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When did this come?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"One of Mr Morice's grooms brought it soon after you +went out."</p> + +<p class="normal">She tore the envelope open, and there and then read the +note which it contained. It had no preamble, it simply +ran,--</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"Why have you not acted on my suggestion and gone back +to Lake Como or farther?</p> + +<p class="normal">"At any moment it may be too late! Don't you +understand?</p> + +<p class="normal">"When I think of what may be the consequences of delay +I feel as if I were going mad. I shall go mad if you +don't go. I don't believe that I have slept an hour +since.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do as I tell you--go! <span style="letter-spacing:20px"> </span> H. M."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then at the bottom two words were added,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Burn this."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">As she was reading it a second time Mrs Plummer came +into the hall, white and shaky.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you heard the dreadful news?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She asked the question in a kind of divided gasp, as if +she were short of breath. Miss Arnott did not answer +for a moment. She fixed her glance on the elder lady, +as if she were looking not at, but through her. Then +she put a question in return.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where is Cooper's Spinney?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Had the girl hauled at her a volley of objurgations Mrs +Plummer could not have seemed more distressed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Cooper's Spinney!" she exclaimed. "Why do you ask me? +How should I know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Without stopping for anything further Miss Arnott went +up to her bedroom. There she found Evans, waiting to +relieve her of her motoring attire. As she performed +her accustomed offices her mistress became aware that +her hands were trembling.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the matter with you? Aren't you well?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The woman seemed to be shaking like a leaf, and to be +only capable of stammering,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I--I don't think, miss, I--I can be well. I--I think +that dreadful news has upset me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dreadful news? Oh, I see. By the way, where is +Cooper's Spinney?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I haven't a notion, miss. I--I only know just about +the house."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott put another question as she was leaving the +room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has nothing been heard yet of the key of that wardrobe +drawer?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, miss, nothing. And, miss--I beg your pardon--but +if you want to break it open, you can do it easily, or +I will for you; and, if you'll excuse my taking a +liberty, if those clothes are in it, I'll wash them for +you, and no one shall ever know."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott stared at the speaker in unmistakable +surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's very good of you. But I don't think I need +trouble you to step so far out of the course of your +ordinary duties." When she was in her sitting-room she +said to herself, "She will wash them for me? What does +the woman mean? And what does he mean by writing to me +in such a strain?" She referred to Mr Morice's note +which she had in her hand. "'Do as I tell you--go.' Why +should I go? and how dare he issue his commands to me, +as if it were mine merely to obey. Plainly this was +written before the news reached Oak Dene; when he hears +it, it is possible that he may not stand upon the order +of his going, but go at once. I'll answer him. He shall +have his reply before he goes, unless his haste's too +great. Then, perhaps, he will understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">On the back leaf of the note signed "H. M." she +scribbled.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"Is not the advice you offer me better suited to +yourself? Why should I go? It seems to me that it is +you who do not understand. Have you heard the news? +Possibly understanding will come with it. You do not +appear to recognise what kind of person I really am. +Believe me, I am to be trusted. But am I the only +factor to be reckoned with?</p> + +<p class="normal">"Had you not better swallow your own prescription? +<span style="letter-spacing: 20px"> </span> +V. A."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">She hesitated before adding the initials, since he knew +that they were not actually hers. Then, putting her +answer, still attached to his note, into an envelope, +she gave instructions that a messenger should ride over +with it at once. While she was hesitating whether to go +down and learn if any fresh development had occurred, +there came a tapping at her sitting-room door. Day +entered. To him she promptly put the question she had +addressed to others.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, Day, perhaps you will be able to tell me where is +Cooper's Spinney?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked at her until he saw that she was looking at +him, then his glance fell.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Cooper's Spinney is right away to the east, where our +land joins Oak Dene. I don't know how it gets its name. +It's pretty open there. In one part there's a big beech +tree. It was under the tree the--the body was found."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, Day. I think I know where you mean." Again +the butler's glance rose and fell. Perceiving that he +seemed to be at a loss for words she went on. "Is there +anything you wish to speak to me about?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, Miss Arnott, I'm sorry to say there is. I've come +to give you notice."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To give me notice?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, miss, with your permission. I've been in service +all my life, good service. I've been in this house a +good many years. I've saved a little money. If I'm ever +to get any enjoyment out of it, and I've my own ideas, +it seems to me that I'd better start doing it. I should +like to leave to-day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To-day?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, miss, to-day. There isn't much to do in the house +just now, and there's plenty of people to do it. +Bevan's quite capable of taking my place till you get +someone else to fill it. Your convenience won't +suffer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But isn't this a very sudden resolution? What has +caused you to arrive at it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Day still kept his glance turned down, as if searching +for an answer on the carpet. It was apparently only a +lame one which he found.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm in an awkward situation, Miss Arnott. I don't want +to say anything which can be misconstrued. So much is +that my feeling that I thought of going away without +saying a word."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That would not have been nice conduct on your part."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, miss; that's what I felt, so I came."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, Day, what is it you are stammering about? +Something extraordinary must have happened to make you +wish to leave at a moment's notice after your long +service. Don't be afraid of misconstruction. What is +it, please?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The man's tone, without being in the least uncivil, +became a trifle dogged.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, miss, the truth is, I'm not comfortable in my +mind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"About what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want to be, if I may say so, dragged into this +business."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What business?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of the body they've found in Cooper's Spinney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Day, what are you talking about? What possible +connection can that have with you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, I understand that Dr Radcliffe says that +that man has been lying dead under that beech tree for +at least four or five days. That takes us back to +Saturday, the day that you came home. In these sort of +things you never know what the police may take it into +their heads to do. I do not want to run the risk of +being called as a witness at the inquest or--anywhere +else, and--asked questions about last Saturday."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then the man looked his mistress straight in the face, +and she understood--or thought she did.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What you have said, Day, settles the question. Under +no circumstances will I permit you to leave my +service--or this house--until the matter to which you +refer has been finally settled. So resolved am I upon +that point that, if I have any further reason to +suspect you of any intention of doing so, I shall +myself communicate with the police at once. Understand +that clearly."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_16" href="#div1Ref_16">JIM BAKER</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">The inquest, which was held at the "Rose and Crown," +was productive of one or two pieces of what the local +papers were perhaps justified in describing as +"Startling Evidence." It was shown that the man had +been stabbed to death. Some broad-bladed, sharp-pointed +instrument had been driven into his chest with such +violence that the point had penetrated to the back. The +wall of the chest had been indented by the violence of +the blow. Death must have been practically +instantaneous. And yet one side of him had been almost +riddled by shot. He had received nearly the entire +charge of a gun which had been fired at him--as the +close pattern showed--within a distance of a very few +feet. It was only small shot, and no vital organ had +been touched. The discharge had been in no way +responsible for his death. Still, the pain must have +been exquisite. The medical witnesses were of opinion +that the first attack had come from the gun; that, +while he was still smarting from its effects, advantage +was taken of his comparative helplessness to inflict +the death-wound.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nothing came out before the coroner to prove motive. +There were no signs that the man had been robbed. A +common metal watch, attached to a gilt chain, was found +on his person, a half-sovereign, six-shillings in +silver, and ninepence in copper, a packet of +cigarettes, a box of matches, a handkerchief, +apparently brand new, and a piece of paper on which was +written "Exham Park." As nothing suggested that an +attempt had been made to rifle his pockets the +probability was that that was all the property he had +had on him at the moment of his death. There was no +initial or name on any of his clothing, all of which, +like his handkerchief, seemed brand new. His identity +remained unrevealed by anything which he had about him.</p> + +<p class="normal">On this point, however, there was evidence of a kind. +The police produced witnesses who asserted that, on the +preceding Saturday afternoon, he had arrived, by a +certain train, at a little roadside station. He had +given up a single third-class ticket from London, and +had asked to be directed to Exham Park. On being +informed that Exham Park was some distance off, he had +shown symptoms of disgust. He had endeavoured to hire a +conveyance to take him there but had failed. What had +happened to him afterwards, or what had been the course +of his movements, there was no evidence to show.</p> + +<p class="normal">The coroner adjourned his court three times to permit +of the discovery of such evidence.</p> + +<p class="normal">During the time the inquiry was in the air the whole +countryside was on tip-toe with curiosity, and also +with expectation. Tongues wagged, fingers pointed, the +wildest tales were told. Exham Park was the centre of a +very disagreeable sort of interest. The thing to do was +to visit the scene of the murder. Policemen and +gamekeepers had to be placed on special duty to keep +off trespassers from Cooper's Spinney, particularly on +Sundays. The scrap of paper with "Exham Park" written +on it, which had been found in the dead man's pocket, +was a trifling fact which formed a sufficient basis for +a mountain of conjecture.</p> + +<p class="normal">Why had he been going to Exham Park? Who had he been +desirous of +seeing there? To furnish answers to these questions, +the entire household was subjected by the police--with +Miss Arnott's express sanction--to cross-examination. +The same set of questions was put to every man, woman +and child in the house, about it, and on the estate. +Each individual was first of all informed that he or +she was not compelled to answer, and was then examined +as follows:--</p> + +<p class="normal">Did you know the deceased? Did you ever see him? Or +hear from--or of--him? Had you any knowledge of him of +any sort or kind? Have you any reason whatever to +suppose that he might have been coming to see you? Have +you the least idea of who it was he was coming to see? +On what is that idea based?</p> + +<p class="normal">The house servants were questioned in the dining-room, +in Miss Arnott's presence. She sat in the centre of one +side of the great dining-table, completely at her ease. +On her right was Mrs Plummer, obviously the most +uncomfortable person present. She had protested +vigorously against any such proceedings being allowed +to take place.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe it's illegal, and if it isn't illegal, it's +sheer impudence. How dare any common policeman presume +to come and ask a lot of impertinent questions, and +treat us as if we had a house full of criminals!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott only laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As for it's being illegal, I can't see how it can be +that, if it's done with my permission. I suppose I can +let who I like into my own house. No one's compelled to +answer. I'm sure you needn't. You needn't even be +questioned if you'd rather not be. As for a house full +of criminals, I'm not aware that anyone has suggested +that I harbour even one."</p> + +<p class="normal">But Mrs Plummer was not to be appeased.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's all very well for you to say that I needn't be +questioned, but if I decline I shall look most +conspicuous. Everybody will attribute my refusal to +some shameful reason. I dislike the whole affair. I'm +sure no good will come of it. But, so far as I'm +concerned, I shall answer all their questions without +the slightest hesitation."</p> + +<p class="normal">And she did, with direct negatives, looking Mr Nunn, +the detective who had come down specially from London +to take the case in charge, straight in the face in a +fashion which suggested that she considered his conduct +to be in the highest degree impertinent.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott, on the other hand, who proffered herself +first, treated the questions lightly, as if they had +and could have no application to herself. She said no +to everything, denied that she had ever known the dead +man, that she had ever seen him, that she had ever +heard from, or of, him, that she had any reason to +suppose that he was coming to see her, that she had any +idea of who he was coming to see, and did it all with +an air of careless certainty, as if it must be plain to +everyone that the notion of in any way connecting her +with him was sheer absurdity.</p> + +<p class="normal">With the entire household the result was the same. To +all the questions each alike said no, some readily +enough, some not so readily; but always with sufficient +emphasis to make it abundantly clear that the speaker +hoped that it was taken for granted that no other +answer was even remotely possible.</p> + +<p class="normal">Thus, to all appearances, that inquiry carried the +matter not one hair's breadth further. The explanation +of why the dead man had borne those two words--"Exham +Park"--about with him was still to seek; since no one +could be found who was willing to throw light upon the +reasons which had brought him into that part of the +world. And as the police, in spite of all their +diligence, could produce no further evidence which +bore, even remotely, on any part of the business, it +looked as if, at anyrate so far as the inquest was +concerned, the result would have to be an open verdict. +They searched practically the whole country-side for +some trace of a weapon with which the deed could have +been done; in vain. The coroner had stated that, unless +more witnesses were forthcoming, he would have to close +the inquiry, and the next meeting of his court would +have to be the last, and it was, therefore, with +expectations of some such abortive result that, on the +appointed day, the villagers crowded into the long room +of the "Rose and Crown."</p> + +<p class="normal">However, the general expectation was not on that +occasion destined to be realised. The proceedings were +much more lively, and even exciting, than had been +anticipated. Instead of the merely formal notes which +the reporters had expected to be able to furnish to +their various journals, they found themselves provided +with ample material, not only to prove a strong +attraction for their own papers, but also to serve as +appetising matter to the press of the entire kingdom, +with contents bills for special editions--"The Cooper's +Spinney Murder. Extraordinary Developments."</p> + +<p class="normal">These "extraordinary developments" came just as the +proceedings were drawing to a close. Merely formal +evidence had been given by the police. The coroner was +explaining to the jury that, as nothing fresh was +before them, or, in spite of repeated adjournments, +seemed likely to be, all that remained was for them to +return their verdict. What that verdict ought to be +unfortunately there could be no doubt. The dead man had +been foully murdered. No other hypothesis could +possibly meet the circumstances of the case. Who had +murdered him was another matter. As to that, they were +at present able to say nothing. The identity of the +miscreant was an unknown quantity. They could point +neither in this quarter nor in that. The incidents +before them would not permit of it. It seemed probable +that the crime had been committed under circumstances +of peculiar atrocity. The murderer had first fired at +his victim--actually nearly fifty pellets of lead had +been found embedded in the corpse. Then, when the poor +wretch had been disabled by the pain and shock of the +injuries which had been inflicted on him, his assailant +had taken advantage of his helplessness to stab him +literally right through the body.</p> + +<p class="normal">The coroner had said so much, and seemed disposed to +say much more, in accents which were intended to be +impressive, and which, in fact, did cause certain of +the more easily affected among his auditors to shiver, +when a voice exclaimed from the back of the room,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's a damned lie!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The assertion, a sufficiently emphatic one in itself, +was rendered still more so by the tone of voice in +which it was uttered; the speaker was, evidently, not +in the least desirous of keeping his opinion to +himself. The coroner stopped. Those who were sitting +down stood up, those who were already standing turned +in the direction from which the voice came.</p> + +<p class="normal">The coroner inquired, with an air of authority which +was meant to convey his righteous indignation,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who said that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The speaker did not seem at all abashed. He replied, +without a moment's hesitation, still at the top of his +voice,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who is that man speaking? Bring him here!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No one need bring me, and no one hadn't better try. +I'm coming, I am; I've got two good legs of my own, and +I'm coming as fast as they'll carry me. Now then, get +out of the way there. What do you mean by blocking up +the floor? It ain't your floor!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The speaker--as good as his word--was exhibiting in his +progress toward the coroner's table a degree of zeal +which was not a little inconvenient to whoever chanced +to be in his way. Having gained his objective, leaning +both hands on the edge of the table he stared at the +coroner in a free-and-easy fashion which that official +was not slow to resent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take off your cap, sir!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right, governor, all right. Since you've got yours +off I don't mind taking mine--just to oblige you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who are you? What's your name?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm a gamekeeper, that's what I am. And as for my +name, everybody knows what my name is. It's Jim Baker, +that's what my name is. Is there anybody in this room +what don't know Jim Baker? Of course there ain't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're drunk, sir!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And that I'm not. If I was drunk I shouldn't be going +on like this. You ask 'em. They know Jim Baker when +he's drunk. There isn't many men in this parish as +could hold him; it would take three or four of some of +them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"At anyrate, you've been drinking."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, and so would you have been drinking if you'd +been going through what I have these last weeks."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How dare you come to my court in this state? and use +such language?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Language! what language? I ain't used no language. I +said it's a damned lie, and so it is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll get yourself into serious trouble, my man, if +you don't take care. I was saying that, having shot the +deceased, the murderer proceeded to stab him through +the body. Is that the statement to which you object +with such ill-timed vigour?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The answer was somewhat unlooked for. Stretching +half-way across the table, Jim Baker shook his fist at +the coroner with an amount of vigour which induced that +officer to draw his chair a little further back.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you call me a murderer!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean, sir, by your extraordinary +behaviour? I did not call you a murderer; I said +nothing of the kind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You said that the man who shot him, stabbed him. I say +it's a lie; because he didn't!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you know? Stop! Before you say another word +it's my duty to inform you that if you have any +evidence to offer, before you do so you must be duly +sworn; and, further, in your present condition it +becomes essential that I should warn you to be on your +guard, lest you should say something which may show a +guilty knowledge."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And what do you call a guilty knowledge? I ask you +that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As for instance--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Baker cut the coroner's explanation uncivilly short.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want none of your talk. I'm here to speak out, +that's what I'm here for. I'm going to do it. When you +say that the man as shot him knifed him, I say it's a +damned lie. How do I know? Because I'm the man as shot +him; and, beyond giving him a dose of pepper, I'm ready +to take my Bible oath that I never laid my hand on +him."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Baker's words were followed by silence--that sort of +silence which the newspapers describe by the word +"sensation." People pressed further into the room, +craning their heads to get a better view of the +speaker. The coroner searched him with his eyes, as if +to make sure that the man was in possession of at least +some of his senses.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know what it is you are saying?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do I know what I'm saying? Of course I know. I say +that I peppered the chap, but beyond that I never done +him a mischief; and I tell you again that to that I'm +ready to take my Bible oath."</p> + +<p class="normal">The coroner turned to his clerk.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Swear this man."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jim Baker was sworn--unwillingly enough. He handled the +Testament which was thrust into his hand as if he would +have liked to have thrown it at the clerk's head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, James Baker, you are on your oath. I presume that +you know the nature of an oath?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I ought to at my time of life."</p> + +<p class="normal">There were those that tittered. It was possible that Mr +Baker was referring to one kind of oath and the coroner +to another.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And, I take it, you are acquainted with the serious +consequences of swearing falsely?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who's swearing falsely! When I swear falsely it will +be time for you to talk."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very good: so long as you understand. Before +proceeding with your examination I would again remind +you that you are in no way bound to answer any question +which you think would criminate yourself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go on, do. I never see such a one for talking. You'd +talk a bull's hind leg off."</p> + +<p class="normal">Once more there were some who smiled. The coroner kept +his temper in a manner which did him credit. He +commenced to examine the witness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you know the dead man?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Know him? Not from Adam."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you have any acquaintance with him of any sort or +kind?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never heard tell of him in my life; never set eyes on +him till that Saturday night. When I see him under the +beech tree in Cooper's Spinney I let fly at him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you quarrel?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not me; there wasn't no time. I let fly directly I see +him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"At a perfect stranger? Why? For what possible reason? +Did you suspect him of poaching?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd been having a glass or two."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean to say that because you were drunk you +shot this unfortunate man?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I made a mistake; that's how it was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You made a mistake?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must have been as near drunk as might be, because, +when I come upon this here chap sudden like, I thought +he was Mr Hugh Morice."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You thought he was Mr Hugh Morice?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Remember you are not bound to answer any question if +you would rather not. Bearing that well in mind, do you +wish me to understand that you intended to shoot Mr +Morice?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's sitting there; you ask him; he knows."</p> + +<p class="normal">As a matter of fact Mr Hugh Morice--who had throughout +shown a lively interest in the proceedings--was +occupying the chair on the coroner's right hand side. +The two men exchanged glances; there was an odd look on +Mr Morice's face, and in his eyes. Then the coroner +returned to the witness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If necessary, Mr Morice will be examined later on. At +present I want information from you. Why should you +have intended to shoot Mr Morice?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Obeying orders, that's what I was doing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Obeying orders? Whose orders?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My old governor's. He says to me--and well Mr Hugh +Morice knows it, seeing he was there and heard--'Jim,' +he says, 'if ever you see Hugh Morice on our ground +you put a charge of lead into him.' So I done +it--leastways, I meant to."</p> + +<p class="normal">The coroner glanced at Mr Morice with an uplifting of +his eyebrows which that gentleman chose to regard as an +interrogation, and answered,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"What Baker says is correct; the late Mr Arnott did so +instruct him, some seven or eight years ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Was Mr Arnott in earnest?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Hugh Morice shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He was in a very bad temper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see. And because of certain words which were uttered +in a moment of irritation seven or eight years ago, +James Baker meant to shoot Mr Morice, but shot this +stranger instead. Is that how it was?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's about what it comes to."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I would again remind you that you need not answer the +question I am about to ask you unless you choose; but, +if you do choose, be careful what you say, and remember +that you are on your oath. After you had shot this man +what did you do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He started squealing. As soon as I heard his voice I +thought there was something queer about it. So I went +up and had a look at him. Then I saw I'd shot the wrong +man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then what did you do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Walked straight off."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And left that unfortunate man lying helpless on the +ground?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He wasn't helpless, nor yet he wasn't lying on the +ground. He was hopping about like a pig in a fit."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know it has been proved that this man was stabbed +to death?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've heard tell on it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now--and remember that you are not bound to +answer--did you stab him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did not. I swear to God I didn't. After I pulled the +trigger I done nothing to him at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it possible that you were so drunk as to have been +unconscious of what you did?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not a bit of it. So soon as I see as I'd shot the +wrong man that sobered me, I tell you. All I thought +about was getting away. I went straight to my own +place, two miles off."</p> + +<p class="normal">"When you last saw this man he was still alive?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very much alive he was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He had not been stabbed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He hadn't, so far as I know."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must have known if he had been."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never touched him, and I asked no questions."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What was he doing when you saw him last?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hopping about and swearing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you don't know what happened to him afterwards?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see nothing; I'd seen more than enough already. I +tell you I walked straight off home."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you heard nothing?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing out of the way."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why haven't you told this story of yours before?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because I didn't want to have any bother, that's why. +I knew I hadn't killed him, that was enough for me. +Small shot don't hurt no one--at least, not serious. +Any man can have a shot at me for a ten-pound note; +there's some that's had it for less. But when I heard +you saying that the man as shot him stabbed him, then I +had to speak--bound to. I wasn't going to have no +charge of that kind made against me. And I have spoken, +and you've got the truth."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What time did it happen--all this you have been +telling us about?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Jim Baker answered to the best of his ability. He +answered many other questions, also, to the best of his +ability. He had a bad time of it. But the worst time +was to come when all the questions had been asked and +answered.</p> + +<p class="normal">The coroner announced that, in consequence of the fresh +evidence which had been placed before the court, the +inquiry would not close that day; but that there would +be a further adjournment.</p> + +<p class="normal">As Mr Baker passed out of the room and down the stairs +people drew away from him to let him pass, with an +alacrity which was not exactly flattering. When he came +out into the street, Granger, the policeman, came +forward and laid his hand upon his shoulder, saying, in +those squeaky tones which had caused him to be regarded +with less respect than was perhaps desirable,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"James Baker, I arrest you for wilful murder. You +needn't say anything, but what you do say will be taken +down and used against you. Take my advice and come +quiet."</p> + +<p class="normal">By way of answer Jim Baker stared at Granger and at the +London detective at his side and at the people round +about him. Then he inquired,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's that you say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say that I arrest you for wilful murder, and my +advice to you is to come quiet."</p> + +<p class="normal">When Baker saw the policeman taking a pair of handcuffs +out of his coat-tail pocket he drew a long breath.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's that you've got there?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know what it is very well--it's handcuffs. Hold +out your hands and don't let us have no trouble."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jim Baker held out his hand, his right one. As the +policeman advanced, ready to snap them on his wrist, +Baker snatched them from him and struck him with them a +swinging blow upon the shoulder. Granger, yelling, +dropped as if he had been shot. Although he was not +tall, his weight was in the neighbourhood of sixteen +stone, and he was not of a combative nature.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If anybody wants some more," announced Mr Baker, "let +him come on."</p> + +<p class="normal">Apparently someone did want more. The words were hardly +out of his mouth, before Nunn, the detective, had +dodged another blow from the same weapon, and had +closed with him in a very ugly grip.</p> + +<p class="normal">There ensued the finest rough-and-tumble which had been +seen in that parish within living memory. Jim Baker +fought for all he was worth; when he had a gallon or so +of beer inside him his qualifications in that direction +were considerable. But numbers on the side of authority +prevailed. In the issue he was borne to the lock-up in +a cart, not only handcuffed, but with his legs tied +together as well. As he went he cursed all and sundry, +to the no small amusement of the heterogeneous +gathering which accompanied the cart.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_17" href="#div1Ref_17">INJURED INNOCENCE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Mr Baker had some uncomfortable experiences. When he +was brought before the magistrates it was first of all +pointed out--as it were, inferentially--that he was not +only a dangerous character, but, also, just the sort of +person who might be expected to commit a heinous crime, +as his monstrous behaviour when resisting arrest +clearly showed. Not content with inflicting severe +injuries on the police, he had treated other persons, +who had assisted them in their laudable attempts to +take him into safe custody, even worse. In proof of +this it was shown that one such person was in the +cottage hospital, and two more under the doctor's +hands; while Granger, the local constable, and Nunn, +the detective in charge of the case, appeared in the +witness-box, one with his arm in a sling, and the other +with plastered face and bandaged head. The fact that +the prisoner himself bore unmistakable traces of having +lately been engaged in some lively proceedings did not +enhance his naturally uncouth appearance. It was felt +by more than one who saw him that he looked like the +sort of person who was born to be hung.</p> + +<p class="normal">His own statement in the coroner's court having been +produced in evidence against him, it was supplemented +by the statements of independent witnesses in a fashion +which began to make the case against him look very ugly +indeed. Both Miss Arnott and Mr Morice were called to +prove that his own assertion--that he had threatened to +shoot the master of Oak Dene--was only too true. While +they were in the box the prisoner, who was +unrepresented by counsel, preserved what, for him, was +an unusual silence. He stared at them, indeed, and +particularly at the lady, in a way which was almost +more eloquent than speech. Then other witnesses were +produced who shed a certain amount of light on his +proceedings on that memorable Saturday night.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was shown, for instance, that he was well within the +mark in saying that he had had a glass or two. Jenkins, +the landlord of the "Rose and Crown," declared that he +had had so many glasses that he had to eject him from +his premises; he was "fighting drunk." In that +condition he had staggered home, provided himself with +a gun and gone out with it. A driver of a mail-cart, +returning from conveying the mails to be taken by the +night express to town, had seen him on a stile leading +into Exham Park; had hailed him, but received no +answer. A lad, the son of the woman with whom Baker +lodged, swore that he had come in between two and +three in the morning, seeming "very queer." He kept +muttering to himself while endeavouring to remove his +boots--muttering out loud. The lad heard him say, "I +shot him--well, I shot him. What if I did shoot him? +what if I did?" He kept saying this to himself over and +over again. After he had gone to bed, the lad, struck +by the singularity of his persistent repetition, looked +at his gun. It had been discharged. The lad swore that, +to his own knowledge, the gun had been loaded when +Baker had taken it out with him earlier in the night.</p> + +<p class="normal">The prisoner did not improve matters by his continual +interruptions. He volunteered corroborations of the +witnesses' most damaging statements; demanding in +truculent tones to be told what was the meaning of all +the fuss.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shot the man--well, I've said I shot him. But that +didn't do him no harm to speak of. I swear to God I +didn't do anything else to him. I hadn't no more to do +with killing him than an unborn babe."</p> + +<p class="normal">There were those who heard, however, who were inclined +to think that he had had a good deal more to do with +killing him than he was inclined to admit.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott, also, was having some experiences of a +distinctly unpleasant kind. It was, to begin with, a +shock to hear that Jim Baker had been arrested on the +capital charge. When she was told what he had said, and +read it for herself in the newspapers, she began to +understand what had been the meaning of the gunshot and +of the groans which had ensued. She, for one, had +reason to believe that what the tippling old scoundrel +had said was literally true, that he had spoken all the +truth. Her blood boiled when she read his appeal to +Hugh Morice, and that gentleman's carefully formulated +corroboration. The idea that serious consequences might +ensue to Baker because of his candour was a frightful +one.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not pleasant to be called as a witness against +him; she felt very keenly the dumb eloquence of the +appeal in the blood-shot eyes which were fixed upon her +the whole time she was testifying, she observed with +something more than amazement. She had a horrible +feeling that he was deliberately endeavouring to fit a +halter round the neck of the drink-sodden wretch who, +he had the best reason for knowing, was innocent of the +crime of which he was charged.</p> + +<p class="normal">A brief encounter which took place between them, as +they were leaving the court, filled her with a tumult +of emotions which it was altogether beyond her power to +analyse. He came out of the door as she was getting +into her car. Immediately advancing to her side he +addressed her without any sort of preamble.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I congratulate you upon the clearness with which you +gave your evidence, and on the touch of feminine +sympathy which it betrayed for the prisoner. I fear, +however, that that touch of sympathy may do him more +harm than you probably intended."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was something in the words themselves, and still +more in the tone in which they were uttered, which sent +the blood surging up into her face. She stared at him +in genuine amazement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You speak to me like that?--you? Certainly you +betrayed no touch of sympathy. I can exonerate you from +the charge of injuring him by exhibiting anything of +that kind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was in rather a difficult position. Don't you think +I was? Unluckily I was not at my ease, which apparently +you were."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never saw anyone more at his ease than you seemed to +be. I wondered how it was possible."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you? Really? What a curious character yours is. +And am I to take it that you were uneasy?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uneasy? I--I loathed myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not actually? I can only assure you that you concealed +the fact with admirable skill."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And--I loathed you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Under the circumstances, that I don't wonder at at +all. You would. I even go further. Please listen to me +carefully, Miss Arnott, and read, as you very well can, +the meaning which is between the lines. If a certain +matter goes as, judging from present appearances, it +very easily may go, I may have to take certain action +which may cause you to regard me with even greater +loathing than you are doing now. Do not mistake me on +that point, I beg of you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I understand you correctly, and I suppose I do, you +are quite right in supposing that I shall regard you +with feelings to which no mere words are capable of +doing justice. I had not thought you were that kind of +man."</p> + +<p class="normal">Events marched quickly. Jim Baker was brought up before +the magistrates three times, and then, to Miss Arnott's +horror, he was committed for trial on the capital +charge. She could hardly have appeared more affected if +she herself had been committed. When the news was +brought to her by Day, the butler, who still remained +in her service, she received it with a point-blank +contradiction.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's not true. It can't be true. They can't have done +anything so ridiculous."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man looked at his young mistress with curious +eyes, he himself seemed to be considerably disturbed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's quite true, miss. They've sent him to take his +trial at the assizes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never heard of anything so monstrous. But, Day, it +isn't possible that they can find him guilty?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As for that, I can't tell. They wouldn't, if I was on +the jury, I do know that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course not, and they wouldn't if I was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, miss, I suppose not."</p> + +<p class="normal">Day moved off, Miss Arnott following him with her eyes, +as if something in his last remark had struck her +strangely.</p> + +<p class="normal">A little later, when talking over the subject with Mrs +Plummer, the elder lady displayed a spirit which seemed +to be beyond the younger one's comprehension. Miss +Arnott was pouring forth scorn upon the magistrates.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have heard a great deal of the stupidity of the +Great Unpaid, but I had never conceived that it could +go so far as this. There is not one jot or tittle of +evidence to justify them in charging that man with +murder."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer's manner as she replied was grim.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wonder to hear you talk like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should you wonder?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do wonder." Mrs Plummer looked her charge straight +in the face oddly. Miss Arnott had been for some time +conscious of a continual oddity in the glances with +which the other favoured her. Without being aware of it +she was beginning to entertain a very real dislike for +Mrs Plummer; she herself could scarcely have said why. +"For my part I have no hesitation in saying that I +think it a very good thing they have sent the man for +trial; it would have been nothing short of a public +scandal if they hadn't. On his own confession the man's +an utterly worthless vagabond, and I hope they'll hang +him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Plummer!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do; and you ought to hope so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why ought I to hope so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because then there'll be an end of the whole affair."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But if the man is innocent?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Innocent!" The lady emitted a sound which might have +been meant to typify scorn. "A nice innocent he is. Why +you are standing up for the creature I can't see; you +might have special reason. I say let them hang him, and +the sooner the better, because then there'll be an end +of the whole disgusting business, and we shall have a +little peace and quietude."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I for one should have no peace if I thought that an +innocent man had been hanged, merely for the sake of +providing me with it. But it is evidently no use our +discussing the matter. I can only say that I don't +understand your point of view, and I may add that there +has been a good deal about you lately which I have not +understood."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer's words occasioned her more concern than +she would have cared to admit; especially as she had a +sort of vague feeling that they were representative of +the state of public opinion, as it existed around her. +Rightly or wrongly she was conscious of a very distinct +suspicion that most of the people with whom she came +into daily and hourly contact would have been quite +willing to let Jim Baker hang, not only on general +principles, but also with a confused notion--as Mrs +Plummer had plainly put it--of putting an end to a very +disagreeable condition of affairs.</p> + +<p class="normal">In her trouble, not knowing where else to turn for +advice or help, she sent for Mr Stacey. After dinner +she invited him to a tête-à-tête interview in her own +sitting-room, and then and there plunged into the +matter which so occupied her thoughts.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know why I have sent for you, Mr Stacey?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was hoping, my dear young lady, that it was partly +for the purpose of affording me the inexpressible +pleasure of seeing you again."</p> + +<p class="normal">She had always found his urbanity a little trying, it +seemed particularly out of place just now. Possibly she +did not give sufficient consideration to the fact that +the old gentleman had been brought out of town at no +small personal inconvenience, and that he had just +enjoyed a very good dinner.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course there was that; but I am afraid that the +principal reason why I sent for you is because of this +trouble about Jim Baker."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jim Baker?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The man who is charged with committing the murder in +Cooper's Spinney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see, or, rather, I do not see what connection you +imagine can exist between Mr Baker and myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He is innocent--as innocent as I am."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know that of your own knowledge?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sure of it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What he has to do is to inspire the judge and jury +with a similar conviction."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But he is helpless. He is an ignorant man and has no +one to defend him. That's what I want you to do--I want +you to defend him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Me! Miss Arnott!" Mr Stacey put up his glasses the +better to enable him to survey this astonishing young +woman. He smiled benignly. "I may as well confess, +since we are on the subject of confessions"--they were +not, but that was by the way--"that there are one or +two remarks which I should like to make to you, since +you have been so kind as to ask me to pay you this +flying visit; but, before coming to them, let us first +finish with Mr Baker. Had you done me the honour to +hint at the subject on which you wished to consult me, +I should at once have informed you that I am no better +qualified to deal with it than you are. We--that is the +firm with which I am associated--do no criminal +business; we never have done, and, I think I am safe in +assuring you, we never shall do. May I ask if you +propose to defray any expenses which may be incurred on +Mr Baker's behalf? or is he prepared to be his own +chancellor of the exchequer?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He has no money; he is a gamekeeper on a pound a week. +I am willing to pay anything, I don't care what."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, in that case, the matter is simplicity itself. +Before I go I will give you the name of a gentleman +whose reputation in the conduct of criminal cases is +second to none; but I warn you that you may find him an +expensive luxury."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't care how much it costs."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Stacey paused before he spoke again; he pressed the +tips of his fingers together; he surveyed the lady +through his glasses.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, will you permit me to speak to you quite +frankly?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course, that's what I want you to do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then take my very strong advice and don't have +anything to do with Mr Baker. Don't interfere between +him and the course of justice, don't intrude yourself +in the matter at all. Keep yourself rigidly outside +it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Stacey! Why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you will allow me to make the remarks to which I +just now alluded, possibly, by the time I have +finished, you will apprehend some of my reasons. But +before I commence you must promise that you will not be +offended at whatever I may say. If you think that, for +any cause whatever, you may be disposed to resent +complete candour from an old fellow who has seen +something of the world and who has your best interests +very much at heart, please say so and I will not say a +word."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall not be offended."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, you are a very rich young lady."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are also a very young lady."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well again?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"From such a young lady the world would--not +unnaturally--expect a certain course of action."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why don't you take up that position in the world to +which you are on all accounts entitled?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Still I don't quite understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I will be quite plain--why do you shut yourself +up as if, to use a catch phrase, you were a woman with +a past?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott started perceptibly--the question was +wholly unexpected. Rising from her chair she began to +re-arrange some flowers in a vase on a table which was +scarcely in need of her attentions.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was not aware that I did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean that seriously?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I imagined that I was entitled to live the sort of +life I preferred to live without incurring the risk of +criticism--that is what I mean."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Already you are beginning to be offended. Let us talk +of the garden. How is it looking? Your uncle was very +proud of his garden. I certainly never saw anything +finer than his roseries. Do you still keep them up?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never mind the roseries, or the garden either. Why do +you advise me not to move a finger in defence of an +innocent man, merely because I choose to live my own +life?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You put the question in a form of your own; which is +not mine. To the question as you put it I have no +answer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How would you put it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott, in this world no one can escape +criticism;--least of all unattached young +ladies;--particularly young ladies in your very unusual +position. I happen to know that nothing would have +pleased your uncle better than that you should be +presented at Court. Why don't you go to Court? Why +don't you take your proper place in Society?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because I don't choose."</p> + +<p class="normal">"May I humbly entreat you to furnish me with your +reasons?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nor do I choose to give you my reasons."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sorry to hear it, since your manner forces me to +assume that you have what you hold to be very +sufficient reasons. Already I hear you spoken of as the +'Peculiar Miss Arnott.' I am bound to admit not wholly +without cause. Although you are a very rich woman you +are living as if you were, relatively, a very poor one. +Your income remains practically untouched. It is +accumulating in what, under the circumstances, I am +constrained to call almost criminal fashion. All sorts +of unpleasant stories are being connected with your +name--lies, all of them, no doubt; but still, there +they are. You ought to do something which would be +equivalent to nailing them to the counter. Now there is +this most unfortunate affair upon your own estate. I am +bound to tell you that if you go out of your way to +associate yourself with this man Baker, who, in spite +of what you suggest, is certainly guilty in some +degree, and who, in any case, is an irredeemable +scoundrel; if you persist in pouring out money like +water in his defence, although you will do him no +manner of good, you may do yourself very grave and +lasting injury."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is your opinion?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thank you for expressing it so clearly. Now may I +ask you for the name of the gentleman--the expert +criminal lawyer--to whom you referred? and then we will +change the subject."</p> + +<p class="normal">He gave her the name, and, later, in the seclusion of +his own chamber, criticised her mentally, as Mr +Whitcomb once had done.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That girl's a character of an unusual kind. I +shouldn't be surprised if she knows more about that +lamentable business in Cooper's Spinney than she is +willing to admit, and, what's more, if she isn't +extremely careful she may get herself into very serious +trouble."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_18" href="#div1Ref_18">AT THE FOUR CROSS-ROADS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">The next morning Miss Arnott sent a groom over to Oak +Dene with this curt note:--</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"I shall be at the Wycke Cross--at the four +crossroads--this afternoon at half-past three, alone. I +shall be glad if you will make it convenient to be +there also. There is something which it is essential I +should say to you. <span style="letter-spacing:20px"> </span>V. A."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">The groom brought back, in an envelope, Mr Hugh +Morice's visiting card. On the back of it were four +words,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will be there."</p> + +<p class="normal">And Mr Hugh Morice was there before the lady. Miss +Arnott saw his car drawn up by the roadside, long +before she reached it. She slackened her pace as she +approached. When she came abreast of it she saw that +its owner was sitting on a stile, enjoying a pipe. +Taking his pipe out of his mouth, his cap off his head, +he advanced to her in silence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Am I late?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, it is I who am early."</p> + +<p class="normal">They exchanged glances--as it were, neutral glances--as +if each were desirous, as a preliminary, of making a +study of the other. She saw--she could not help +seeing--that he was not looking well. The <i>insouciance</i> +with which, mentally, she had always associated him, +had fled. The touch of the daredevil, of the man who +looks out on to the world without fear and with +something of humorous scorn, that also had gone. She +did not know how old he was, but he struck her, all at +once, as being older than she had supposed. The upper +part of his face was seamed with deep lines which had +not always, she fancied, been so apparent. There were +crow's-feet in the corners of his eyes, the eyes +themselves seemed sunken. The light in them was dimmed, +or perhaps she only fancied it. It was certain that he +stooped more than he had used to do. His head hung +forward between his broad shoulders, as if the whole +man were tired, body, soul and spirit. There was +something in his looks, in his bearing, a suggestion of +puzzlement, of bewilderment, of pain, which might come +from continuous wrestling with an insistent problem +which defied solution, which touched her to the heart, +made her feel conscious of a feeling she had not meant +to feel. And because she had not intended to harbour +anything even remotely approaching such a feeling, she +resented its intrusion, and fought against herself so +that she might appear to this man to be even harder +than she had proposed to be.</p> + +<p class="normal">On his part he saw, seated in her motor car, a woman +whom he would have given all that he possessed to have +taken in his arms and kept there. His acumen was +greater, perhaps, than hers; he saw with a clearness +which frightened him, her dire distress, the weight of +trouble which bore her down. She might think that she +hid it from the world, but, to him, it was as though +the flesh had been stripped from her nerves, and he saw +them quivering. He knew something of this girl's story; +this woman whose childhood should have been scarcely +yet behind her, and he knew that it had brought that +upon her face which had no right to be there even +though her years had attained to the Psalmist's span. +And because his whole nature burned within him with a +desire that she might be to him as never woman had been +before, he was unmanned. He was possessed by so many +emotions, all warring with each other, that, for the +moment, he was like a helmless ship, borne this way and +that, he knew not why or whither.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she was so hard, looked at him out of eyes which +were so cold, spoke to him as if it were only because +she was compelled that she spoke to him at all. How +could he dare to hint--though only in a whisper--at +sympathy, or comfort? He knew that she would resent it +as bitterly as though he had lashed her with a whip. +And, deeming herself the victim of an outrage, the +probabilities were that she would snatch the +supposititious weapon out of his hand and strike him +with all her force with the butt of it.</p> + +<p class="normal">So that, in the end, her trouble would be worse at the +end than it had been at the beginning. He felt that +this was a woman who would dree her own weird, and that +from him, of all men in the world, she would brook only +such interference, either by deed word, as she herself +might choose to demand.</p> + +<p class="normal">When they had done studying one another she put her +hand up to her face, as if to brush away cobwebs which +might have been spun before her eyes, and she asked,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall we talk here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">His tone was as stiff and formal as hers had been.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As you please. It depends upon the length to which our +conversation is likely to extend. As I think it +possible that what you have to say may not be capable +of compression within the limits of a dozen words, I +would, suggest that you should draw your car a little +to one side here, where it would not be possible for +the most imaginative policeman to regard it as an +obstruction to the traffic which seldom or never comes +this way; and that you should then descend from it, and +say what you have to say under the shade of these +trees, and in the neighbourhood of this stile."</p> + +<p class="normal">She acted on his suggestion, and took off the long dust +cloak which she was wearing, and tossed it on the seat +of her car. Going to the stile she leaned one hand on +the cross bar. He held out his pipe towards her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"May I smoke?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly, why not? I think it possible that you may +require its soothing influence before we have gone very +far."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was something in her voice which seemed as if it +had been meant to sting him; it only made him smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I also think that possible."</p> + +<p class="normal">She watched him as, having refilled and relighted his +pipe, he puffed at it, as if he found in the flavour of +the tobacco that consolation at which she had hinted. +Perceiving that he continued to smoke in silence she +spoke again, as if she resented being constrained to +speak.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I presume that you have some idea of what it is I wish +to say to you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He shook his head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I haven't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Absolutely. If you will forgive my saying so, and I +fear that you are in an unforgiving mood, I have ceased +attempting to forecast what, under any stated set of +circumstances, you may either say or do. You are to me +what mathematicians call an unknown quantity; you may +stand for something or for nothing. One never knows."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have not the honour to understand you, Mr Morice."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't imagine that I am even hinting at a +contradiction; but I hope, for both our sakes, that you +understand me better than I do you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think that's very possible."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think so also; alas! that it should be so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may well say, alas!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right; I may."</p> + +<p class="normal">She was silent, her lips twitching, as if with +impatience or scorn.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My acquaintance with the world is but a slight one, Mr +Morice; and, unfortunately, in one respect it has been +of an almost uniform kind. I have learned to associate +with the idea of a man something not agreeable. I +hoped, at one time, that you would prove to be a +variation; but you haven't. That is why, in admitting +that I did understand you a little, I think that you +were justified in saying, alas!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That, however, is not why I said it, as I should have +imagined you would have surmised; although I admire the +ingenuity with which you present your point of view. +But, may I ask if you have ordered me to present myself +at Wyche Cross with the intention of favouring me with +neatly turned remarks on the subject of men in general +and of myself in particular?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know I haven't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am waiting to know it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I had not thought that anyone fashioned in God's image +could play so consummately the hypocrite."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of all the astounding observations! Is it possible +that you can have overlooked your own record?"</p> + +<p class="normal">As he spoke the blood dyed her face; she swerved so +suddenly that one felt that if it had not been for the +support of the stile she might have fallen. On the +instant he was penitent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg your pardon; but you use me in such a fashion; +you say such things, that you force me to use my +tongue."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, you need not apologise. The taunt was +deserved. I have played the hypocrite; I know it--none +know it better. But let me assure you that, latterly, I +have continued to play the hypocrite for your sake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For my sake?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"For your sake and for yours only, and you know it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know it? This transcends everything! The courage of +such a suggestion, even coming from you, startles me +almost into speechlessness. May I ask you to explain?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will explain, if an explanation is necessary, which +we both know it is not!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He waved his pipe with an odd little gesture in the +air.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good heavens!" he exclaimed.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_19" href="#div1Ref_19">THE BUTTONS OFF THE FOILS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Outwardly she was the calmer of the two. She stood +upright and motionless; he was restless and fidgety, as +if uneasy both in mind and body. She kept her eyes +fixed steadily upon his face; he showed a disposition +to elude her searching glance. When she spoke her tone +was cool and even.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have accused me of playing the hypocrite. It is +true, I have. I have allowed the world to regard me as +a spinster, when I was a married woman; as free when I +was bound. I have told you that I should have ceased +before this to play the hypocrite, if it had not been +for you. You have--pretended--to doubt it. Well, you +are that kind of man. And it is because you are that +kind of man that I am constrained to ask if you wish me +now to cease to play the hypocrite and save Jim Baker's +life?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is not that a question for your consideration rather +than for mine?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You propose to place the responsibility upon my +shoulders!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would you rather it were on mine?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is where it properly belongs."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In dealing with you I am at a serious disadvantage, +since you are a woman and I am a man. The accident of +our being of different sexes prevents my expressing +myself with adequate precision."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You appear to be anxious to take refuge even when +there is nothing behind which you can hide. The +difference in our sexes has never prevented you from +saying to me exactly what you pleased, how you +pleased--you know it. Nor do I intend to allow your +manhood to shelter you. Mr Morice, the time for +fencing's past. When life and death are hanging in the +balance, words are weightless. I ask you again, do you +intend to save Jim Baker's life?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have yet to learn that it is in imminent peril."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then acquire that knowledge now from me. I am informed +that if someone is not discovered, on whom the onus of +guilt can be indubitably fixed, the probabilities are +that Jim Baker will be hanged for murder."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you suggest that I should discover that--unhappy +person?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I ask you if you do not think the discovery ought to +be made, to save that wretched creature?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What I am anxious to get at, before I commit myself to +an answer is this--presuming that I think the discovery +should be made, do you suggest that it should be made +by you or by me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice, I will make my meaning plainer, if the +thing be possible. When--that night--in the wood it +happened, I thought that it was done for me. I still +think that might have been the motive; partly, I +confess, because I cannot conceive of any other, though +the misapprehension was as complete as it was curious. +I did not require that kind of service--God forbid! +And, therefore, thinking this--that I was, though +remotely, the actual cause--it appears to me that I +was, and am, unable to speak, lest it would seem that I +was betraying one whose intention was to render me a +service."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For all I understand of what you're saying you might +be talking in an unknown tongue. You speak of the +futility of fencing, when you do nothing else but +fence! To the point, if you please. What service do you +suppose was intended to be rendered you that night in +Cooper's Spinney?"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a perceptible pause before she answered, as +if she were endeavouring to summon all her courage to +her aid.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice, when you killed my husband, did you not do +it for me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">His countenance, as she put this question, would have +afforded an excellent subject for a study in +expression. His jaw dropped open, his pipe falling +unnoticed to the ground; his eyes seemed to increase in +magnitude; the muscles of his face became suddenly +rigid--indeed the rigidity of his whole bearing +suggested a paralytic seizure. For some seconds he +seemed to have even ceased to breathe. Then he gave a +long gasping breath, and with in his attitude still +some of that unnatural rigidity, he gave her question +for question.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why do you ask me such a monstrous thing? You! you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Something in his manner and appearance seemed to +disturb her more than anything which had gone before. +She drew farther away from him, and closer to the +stile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You forced me to ask you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I forced you to ask me--that!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why do you look at me so? Do you wish to frighten me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think I didn't see? Have you forgotten?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"See? Forgotten? What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, woman! that you should be so young and yet so old; +so ignorant and yet so full of knowledge; that you +should seem a shrine of all the virtues, and be a thing +all evil!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice, why do you look at me like that! you make +me afraid!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would I could make you afraid--of being the thing you +are!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's not fair of you to speak to me like that I--it's +not fair! I'm not so wicked! When I married--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"When you married! No more of that old wife's tale. +Stick to the point, please--to the point! You whited +sepulchre! is it possible that, having shown one face +to the world, you now propose to show another one to +me, and that you think I'll let you? At anyrate, I'll +have you know that I do know you for what you are! Till +now I have believed that that dead man, your husband, +Mrs Champion, was as you painted him--an unspeakable +hound; but now, for the first time, I doubt, since you +dared to ask me that monstrous thing, knowing that I +saw you kill him!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him as if she were searching his face for +something she could not find on it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it possible that you wish me to understand that you +are speaking seriously?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What an actress you are to your finger-tips! Do you +think I don't know you understand?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you know more than I do, for I myself am not so +sure. My wish is to understand, and--I am beginning to +be afraid I do."</p> + +<p class="normal">He waved his hand with an impatient gesture.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, no more of that! Let me beg you to believe that +I am not quite the fool that you suppose. You asked me +just now if I intend to save Jim Baker's life? Well, +that's where I'm puzzled. At present it's not clear to +me that it's in any serious danger. I think that the +very frankness of his story may prove to be his +salvation; I doubt if they'll be able to establish +anything beyond it. But should the contrary happen, and +he finds himself confronted by the gallows, then the +problem will have to be fairly faced. I shall have to +decide what I am prepared to do. Of course my action +would be to some extent guided by yours, that is why +I'm so anxious to learn what, under those +circumstances, you would do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I tell you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you would be so very kind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should send for Granger and save Jim Baker's life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"By giving yourself up?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She stood straighter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, Mr Morice, by giving you up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But again I don't understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have had ample warning and ample opportunity. You +might have hidden yourself on the other side of the +world if you chose. If you did not choose the fault was +yours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But why should I hide?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you forced me, I should tell Granger that it was +you who killed Robert Champion, and that I had proofs +of it, and so Jim Baker would be saved."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again he threw out his arms with the gesture which +suggested not only impatience, but also lack of +comprehension.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then am I to take it that you propose to add another +item to your list of crimes?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is not a crime to save the innocent by punishing +the guilty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The guilty, yes; but in that case where would you be?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I, however unwillingly, should be witness against +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You would, would you? A pleasant vista your words open +to one's view."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You could relieve me of the obligation--easily."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't see how--but that is by the way. Do you know +it begins to occur to me that the singularity of your +attitude may be induced by what is certainly the remote +possibility that you are ignorant of how exactly the +matter stands. Is it possible that you are not aware +that I saw you--actually saw you--kill that man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What story are you attempting to use as a cover? Are +you a liar as well as that thing?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't fence! Are you denying that I saw you kill him, +and that when you ran away I tried to catch you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I deny it! That you should dare to ask me +such a question!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is a wonderful woman!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You appear to be something much worse than a wonderful +man--something altogether beyond any conception I had +formed of you. Your suppositional contingency may be +applied to you; it is just possible that you don't know +how the matter stands, and that that explains your +attitude. It is true that I did not see you kill that +man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That certainly is true."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I heard you kill him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You heard me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I heard you--I was only a little way off. First I +heard the shot--Baker's shot. Then I heard him go. Then +I heard you come."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You heard me come?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I heard you strike him; I heard him fall. Then I saw +you running from the thing that you had done."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You saw me running?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I saw you running. The moon was out; I saw you clearly +running among the bushes and the trees. I did not know +who it was had come until I saw you, then I knew. After +you had gone I was afraid to go or stay. Then I went to +see what you had done. I saw your knife lying on the +ground. I picked it up and took it home with me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can easily believe you took it home with you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have it now--to be produced, if need be in +evidence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of your guilt! of what else?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She asks me such a question! Now let me tell you my +story. If it lacks something of the air of +verisimilitude which gives yours such a finish, let me +remind you that there are those who lie like truth. +After we had parted I discovered that I had left my +knife behind--the one with which I had cut our initials +on the tree. It was a knife I prized--never mind why. +When I had allowed sufficient time to enable you to +have reached home I returned to look for it. To my +surprise, as I approached our trysting-place I heard +voices--yours and a man's. You were neither of you +speaking in a whisper. At night in the open air sound +travels far. When I came a little nearer I saw you and +a man. So I withdrew till I was out of sight again, and +could only hear the faint sound of distant voices. +Presently a gun was fired. I rushed forward to see by +whom, and at what. When I came near enough there was a +man staggering about underneath the tree. I saw you +come out from among the bushes and look at him. You +picked up a knife from the ground--my knife. I saw you +drive it into his chest. As he fell--for ever--you ran +off into the forest and I ran after you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ran after me! after me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"After you; but you ran so quickly, or you knew your +way so well, or I blundered, or something, because, +after you had once disappeared in the wood, I never +caught sight of you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And have you invented this story--which you tell +extremely well--to save your neck at the expense of +mine?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What an odd inquiry! Referring to your own tale, +may I ask what motive you would ascribe to me, if you +were asked what you suppose induced me, a peaceful, +law-abiding citizen, to kill at sight--under +circumstances of peculiar cowardice--an inoffensive +stranger?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I imagined that you knew he was my husband, and that +you killed him to relieve me. You see I credited you +with something like chivalry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you indeed. And you would prostitute the English +language by calling conduct of that sort chivalry! +However, it is plainly no use our pushing the +discussion further. We appear to understand each other +now if we never did before. Each proposes to save Jim +Baker's life--at a pinch--by sacrificing the other. +Good! I must hold myself prepared. I had dreamt of +discovering means of saving you from the consequences +of your crime, but I had scarcely intended to go the +lengths which you suggest--to offer myself instead of +you. But then I did not credit you with the +qualifications which you evidently possess. In the +future I shall have to realise that, even if I save +your life, I cannot save your soul, because, plainly, +you intend to perjure that lightheartedly, and to stain +it with the blood of two men instead of only one. Let +me give you one warning. I see the strength of the case +which your ingenious--and tortuous--brain may fabricate +against me. Still, I think that it may fail; and that +you may yourself fall into the pit which you have +digged for me, for this reason. They know me, +hereabouts and elsewhere; my record's open to all the +world. They don't know you, as yet; when they do +they'll open their eyes and yours. Already some +unpleasant tales are travelling round the country. I +myself have been forced to listen to one or two, and +keep still. When my story is told, and yours, I am +afraid that your story will prove to be your own +destruction; it will hang you, unless there comes a +reprieve in time. I saw you kill your husband. You know +I saw you; you know that I can prove I saw you. +Therefore, take the advice I have already tendered, go +back to Lake Como and further. Lest, peradventure, by +staying you lose your life to save Jim Baker's. +Henceforward, Mrs Champion, the buttons are off our +foils; we fight with serious weapons--I against you and +you against me. At least we have arrived at that +understanding; to have a clear understanding of any +sort is always something, and so, good-day."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_20" href="#div1Ref_20">THE SOLICITOR'S CLERK</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Hugh Morice was the first to leave the four crossroads; +Miss Arnott stood some time after he had gone, +thinking. Life had had for her some queer phases--none +queerer than that which confronted her, as she stood +thinking by the stile.</p> + +<p class="normal">That Hugh Morice should have done the thing she knew he +had done, was bad enough. That he should have denied it +to her face in such explicit terms and coupled with his +denial such a monstrous accusation, was inconceivable. +He had not gone very far before she told herself that, +after all, she had misunderstood him, she must have +done. For some minutes she was half disposed to jump +into her car, follow him and insist on a clearer +explanation. He could not have meant what he had +appeared to do, not seriously and in earnest.</p> + +<p class="normal">But she refrained from putting her idea into execution +as she recalled the almost savage fashion in which he +had hurled opprobrium at her. He had meant it; he must +have meant it, or he would not have spoken to her in +such a strain. At the thought she shivered.</p> + +<p class="normal">Because, if this were the case, if she really had to +regard his words as seriously intended, then she would +have to rearrange her whole outlook on to life, +particularly that portion of it which was pressing so +hardly on her now. In her blackest moments she had not +credited Hugh Morice with being a scoundrel. He had +been guilty of a crime, but she could have forgiven him +for that. By what he had done he had separated himself +from her for ever and for ever. Still, she could have +looked at him across the dividing chasm with something +tenderer than pity.</p> + +<p class="normal">This new attitude he had taken up altered the position +altogether. If it meant anything it meant that he had +killed Robert Champion for some recondite reason of his +own--one with which she had no sort of connection. +Obviously, if he had done it for her sake, he would not +be so strenuous in denial; still less would he charge +her with his crime.</p> + +<p class="normal">Thus the whole business assumed a different complexion. +The inference seemed to be that Hugh Morice and Robert +Champion had not been strangers to each other. There +had been that between them which induced the one to +make away with the other when opportunity offered. The +whole thing had been the action of a coward. In +imagination the girl could see it all. Hugh Morice +coming suddenly on the man he least expected--or +desired--to meet; the great rush of his astonishment; +the instant consciousness that his enemy was helpless; +the sight of the knife; the irresistible, wild +temptation; the yielding to it; the immediate +after-pangs of conscience-stricken terror; the frantic +flight through the moon-lit forest from the place of +the shedding of blood.</p> + +<p class="normal">And this was the man whom, almost without herself being +aware of it, she had been making a hero of. This sordid +wretch, who, not content with having slain a helpless +man for some, probably wholly unworthy, purpose of his +own, in his hideous anxiety to save his own miserable +skin was willing, nay, eager, to sacrifice her. +Possibly his desire to do so was all the greater +because he was haunted by the voice of conscience +crying out to him that this girl would not only be a +continual danger, but that he would never be able to +come into her presence without being racked by the +knowledge that she knew him--no matter how gallantly he +bore himself--to be the thing he really was.</p> + +<p class="normal">So it was plain to her that here was a new danger +sprung up all at once out of the ground, threatening +more serious ills than any she had known. If Jim Baker +was found guilty of this man's crime, and she moved a +finger to save him from his unmerited fate, then it +might be that she would find herself in imminent peril +of the gallows. For it needed but momentary +consideration to enable her to perceive that what he +had suggested was true enough, that if they began to +accuse each other it would be easier, if he were set on +playing the perjurer, to prove her guilt than his. And +so quite possibly it might come about that, in order to +save Jim Baker, it would be necessary she should hang. +And life was yet young in her veins, and, though she +had in it such sorry usage, still the world was very +fair, and, consciously, in all her life she had never +done an evil thing.</p> + +<p class="normal">And then it was not strange that, there in the sunshine +by the roadside, at the bare thought that it was even +remotely possible that such a fate might be in store +for her, she sat down on the stile, clinging to the +rail, trembling from head to foot.</p> + +<p class="normal">She would have sat there longer had she not been roused +by a familiar, unescapable sound--the panting of a +motor. Along the road was approaching a motor +bicyclist. At sight of her, and of the waiting car, he +stopped, raising his cap.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg your pardon, but is there anything wrong with +the car?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She stood up, still feeling that, at anyrate, there was +something wrong with the world, or with her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, thank you, the car's all right; I was only +resting."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg your pardon once more, but aren't you Miss +Arnott of Exham Park?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at the speaker, which hitherto she had +avoided doing. He was a young man of four or five and +twenty, with a not unpleasing countenance; so far as +she knew, a stranger to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am, but I don't know you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is very possible--I am a person of no importance. +My name is Adams--Charles Adams. I am clerk to Mr +Parsloe, solicitor, of Winchester. We had a +communication from a man who is in Winchester Gaol, +waiting his trial for murder, a man named Baker. +Possibly you have heard of him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh yes, I have heard of Jim Baker; he is a gamekeeper +on my own estate."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So he gave me to understand. Mr Parsloe sent me to see +him. I did see him, in private. He gave me a note, +which he was extremely anxious that I should give into +your own hands. I was just coming on to Exham Park on +the off-chance of finding you in. Perhaps you won't +mind my giving it to you now?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"By all means. Why not?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He had taken out of a leather case a piece of folded +paper.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see it is rather a rough-and-ready affair, but I +should like to give you my assurance that I have no +idea what it contains."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't suppose it would matter much if you did. Jim +Baker is hardly likely to have a communication of a +private nature to make to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As to that I know nothing. I can only say that Baker +was not satisfied till I had sworn that I would not +attempt to even so much as peep at the contents of his +note, or let it go out of my hands until it reached +yours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really! I never saw a man more desperately in earnest +on a point of the kind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jim Baker is a character."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He certainly is. You will see that the note is written +on a piece of rough paper. Where he got it from I don't +know, and was careful not to ask; but it looks +suspiciously like a fly-leaf which had been torn out of +a book. You are possibly aware that in prison, in the +ordinary way, they are allowed neither paper, pen nor +ink. I fancy you'll find that this is written with a +pencil. When I first saw it it had been simply folded, +and one end slipped into the other. I happened to have +some sealing-wax in my pocket. Baker insisted on my +sealing it, in his presence, in three places, as you +perceive, so that it was impossible to get at the +contents without breaking the seals. I say all this +because Baker himself was emphatically of opinion that +this note contained matter of an extremely confidential +nature, to which I should like you clearly to +understand that I have had no sort of access. I may add +another fact, of which you are also possibly aware, and +that is that the whole transaction was irregular. He +had no right to give me the note, and I had no right to +convey it out of the prison; but he did the one, and I +did the other, and here it is."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Adams handed the lady the scrap of paper, she asking +him a question as he did so,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"To whom did you say that you were clerk?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To Mr Parsloe, a well-known and highly-esteemed +Winchester solicitor."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why did Baker, as you put it, communicate with Mr +Parsloe?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He wanted us to undertake his defence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And are you going to do so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Adams smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As matters are, I am afraid not. Baker appears to be +penniless, he is not even able to keep himself while +awaiting trial, but is on the ordinary prison fare. It +is necessary that a client should not only have his +solicitor's sympathy, but also the wherewithal with +which to pay his fees."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then it is only a question of money. I see. At what +address shall I find Mr Parsloe if I wish to do so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The gentleman gave the lady a card.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is Mr Parsloe's address. You will find my name in +the corner as representing him. I may mention that I +also am an admitted solicitor."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is possible that you will hear from me. In the +meantime, thank you very much for taking so much +trouble in bringing me this note. Any expenses which +may have been incurred I shall be happy to defray."</p> + +<p class="normal">"At present no expenses have been incurred. I need +hardly say that any instructions with which you may +honour us will receive our instant and most careful +attention."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again Mr Adams's cap came off. He turned his bicycle +round, and presently was speeding back the way he had +come. Miss Arnott stood looking after him, the "note" +in her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jim Baker's "note," as the solicitor's clerk had more +than hinted, was distinctly unusual as to form. It was +represented by an oblong scrap of paper, perhaps two +inches long by an inch broad. Nothing was written on +the outside; on the exterior there was nothing whatever +to show for what destination it was designed. As Mr +Adams had said, where one end had been slipped into the +other three seals had been affixed. On each seal was a +distinct impression of what probably purported to be Mr +Adams's own crest; with, under the circumstances, a +sufficiently apposite motto--for once in a way in plain +English--"Fear Nothing."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_21" href="#div1Ref_21">THE "NOTE"</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott displayed somewhat singular unwillingness +to break the seals. She watched Mr Adams retreating on +his bicycle; not only till the machine itself was out +of sight, but the cloud of dust which marked its +progress had vanished also. Then she turned the scrap +of paper over and over in her fingers, possessed by an +instinctive reluctance to learn what it contained. It +seemed ridiculous to suppose that Jim Baker could have +anything to cause her disturbance, yet she had an eerie +feeling that there was something disagreeable inside +his "note," something which she would much rather not +come into contact with. Had she followed her own +inclination she would have shredded it into pieces, and +scattered the pieces over the roadway. In some +indescribable fashion she was actually afraid of the +scrap of paper which she held between her fingers.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was the sudden realisation that this was so which +stung her into action. Afraid of anything Jim Baker +might have to say? She? Nonsense! The idea! Could +anything be more absurd!</p> + +<p class="normal">There and then she broke the seals, unfolded the sheet +of paper. But when she had got so far again she +hesitated. The thing was fresh from a prison; had about +it, she fancied, a prison atmosphere, a whiff of +something sordid which it had borne with it out of +gaol. It was that, she told herself, which she did not +relish. Why should she read the scrawl? What interest +could it have for her? Better instruct Mr Parsloe, or +that eminent practitioner in the conduct of criminal +cases with whose name Mr Stacey had furnished her, to +undertake Baker's defence, and spare no expense in +doing so, and so have done with it. Let her keep her +own fingers out of the mire; leave the whole thing to +the lawyers; that would be better for everyone +concerned. So it would not be necessary for her to +spell her way through the man's ill-written scribble.</p> + +<p class="normal">And then she read Jim Baker's "note."</p> + +<p class="normal">As Mr Adams had surmised it was written in pencil; +apparently with a blunt stump of pencil used by +unaccustomed fingers, probably under circumstances in +which a skilful writer would have been uneasy. Here and +there it seemed that the pencil had refused to write; +possibly only by dint of pressure had it been induced +to write at all. The letters were blurred and +indistinct, ill-formed, irregular, disjoined--in +general, mere hieroglyphics. And yet, despite the +crabbed writing, the eccentric spelling, the clumsy +wording, Jim Baker's "note" made a stronger impression +on Miss Arnott than the most eloquent epistle with +which she had ever been favoured.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott I see you done it but I wouldnt say +nuthink about it if it wasnt that from what I ear they +are going to hang me for what I se you doing and I wont +say nuthin about it now if you se I have a loryer and +all regular so as to get me out of this were it aint +rite I should be sein I saw you they may cutt my tung +out before Ill speak unless they make out I dun it so +if you dont se I have a loryer and all regular Ill have +to speke Jim Baker."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">That was Mr Baker's note; unpunctuated, formless, badly +put together, ill-spelt, but alive and eloquent in +spite of its obvious deficiencies. It was plain why he +was so anxious that Mr Adams should not peep at the +contents, why he had insisted on the three seals, why +he had stipulated on its being given into Miss Arnott's +own hands. From his point of view the "note" was a +messenger of life and death, with hanging matter in +every line.</p> + +<p class="normal">The lady read it once and again and then again. As she +crumpled it up in her hand it seemed to her that the +country round about had assumed a different appearance, +the cloudless sky had become dimmed, a grey tint had +settled upon everything; for her the sunlight had gone +out of the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">Here was Jim Baker calling to her out of his prison +cell that he was where she ought to be, because he had +seen her do it, warning her, if she did not provide him +with a lawyer "and all regular" to get him "out of +this," that he would have to speak. What hallucination +was this which all at once possessed men's minds? Could +it be possible that the hallucination was actually +hers? Could what, first Hugh Morice, now Jim Baker, +said be true, and that they had seen her do it? What +condition could she have been in at the time? Was it +conceivable that a person could do such a deed +unwittingly? During what part of her sojourn in the +wood had she been in her sober senses? When had she +ceased to be responsible for her own actions? and how? +and why? Which of those awful happenings had been plain +material fact and which nightmare imaginings?</p> + +<p class="normal">She re-read Jim Baker's opening words,--"Miss Arnott I +see you done it." The accusation was bold enough, plain +enough, conclusive enough. It staggered her; forced her +to wonder if she was, unknowingly, this dreadful thing.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, by degrees, her common sense regained the +upper-hand, and she began to put two and two together +in an attempt to solve the mystery of Jim Baker's +words. The man was drunk; so much was admitted. He had +probably seen her, hazily enough, bearing away the +blood-stained knife; and had, therefore, jumped to an +erroneous conclusion. Then she remembered that he had +sworn that, after firing the shot, he had gone straight +home; then, how came he to see her? More, he had sworn +that on his homeward way he had seen nothing; so, +somewhere, there was a lie. At the very worst, Jim +Baker was labouring under a misapprehension; the +statement in his note was capable of no other +explanation.</p> + +<p class="normal">Still, it was awkward that he should be under such a +misapprehension, in view of the attitude which Hugh +Morice had just been taking up. The problem of saving +Jim Baker's life became involved. If freeing him meant +that Mr Morice would prefer against her such a charge, +and that Baker himself would support it; then it +behoved her to be careful how she went. In any case it +was not agreeable to think that that ancient but +muddle-headed family retainer believed--with some +considerable foundation in truth--that she was +willing--to say no more--that he should suffer for her +offences.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her thoughts were not pleasant companions on her +homeward journey. Nor was her peace of mind heightened +by a brief interview which she had with Mrs Plummer +almost immediately on her return. The lady, waylaying +her on the landing, followed her into her sitting-room. +She was evidently in a state of considerable agitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, there is something which I must say to you at +once--at once!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott looked at her with that mixture of +amusement and resentment with which she had been +conscious that, of late, Mrs Plummer's near +neighbourhood was wont to fill her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then by all means speak, especially if refraining from +doing so would occasion you inconvenience."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Forrester called; you are never in when people +come."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am not sorry that I was out when Mrs Forrester came; +she bores me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ought to fix a regular day, so that people might +know when to find you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have made that remark before. Is that all you have +to say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, it is not; and let me tell you that this flippant +way you have of treating everything I say may have the +most serious and unlooked-for consequences."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott laughed, which caused Mrs Plummer to resort +to a trick she had--when at all put out--of rubbing the +palms of her hands briskly together.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, you may laugh; but I can assure you that if things +go on like this much longer I don't know what will be +the end of it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The end of what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know what Mrs Forrester has been saying? She +tells me that there is a story going about the place +that that evening you were out in the woods till all +hours of the night; and she wanted to know if she +should contradict it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's as she pleases."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But don't you see how serious it is? Won't you +understand? I understand; if you don't. Violet, I +insist upon your telling me what time it was when you +came in that night; where you went, and what you did. I +insist! I insist!"</p> + +<p class="normal">At each repetition Mrs Plummer brought her hands +together with quite a smart clap. Miss Arnott looked +down at the excited little woman as if she was still +divided between two moods.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You insist? Mrs Plummer, aren't you--rather forgetting +yourself?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I am prepared for you to adopt that tone. +You always adopt it when I ask you a question, and I am +ready to leave the house this moment if you wish it; +but I can only assure you that if you won't give me an +answer you may have to give one to somebody else before +very long."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean by that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I mean exactly what I say. Won't you see?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can see that you are in a state of excitement which +is not warranted by anything I understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was odd what a disinclination the elder lady showed +to meet the young one's eyes. She moved hither and +thither, as if possessed by a spirit of restlessness; +but, though Miss Arnott kept her gaze fixed on her +unfalteringly wherever she went, she herself never +glanced in the girl's direction.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Excited! I can't help being excited! How you can keep +so cool is what I don't know! Everyone is pointing a +finger and saying that you were out in the woods at the +very time that--that wretched man was--was being +murdered"--Mrs Plummer cast furtive looks about her as +if the deed was being enacted that very moment before +her eyes--"and asking where you were and what you were +doing all alone in the woods at that hour, and how it +was that you knew nothing at all of what was taking +place, possibly quite close by you; and you let them +ask, and say and do nothing to stop their tongues; and +if they are not stopped heaven only knows where they'll +lead them. My dear, won't you tell me where you went? +and what it was that you were doing?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, Mrs Plummer, I won't--so now your question is +answered. And as I have some letters to write may I ask +you to leave me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer did glance at Miss Arnott for one moment; +but for only one. Then, as if she did not dare to trust +herself to speak again, she hurried from the room. Left +alone, the young lady indulged in some possibly +ironical comments on her companion's deportment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really, to judge from Mrs Plummer's behaviour, one +would imagine that this business worried her more than +it does me. If she doesn't exercise a little more +self-control I shouldn't be surprised if it ends in +making her actually ill."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_22" href="#div1Ref_22">MR ERNEST GILBERT</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott wrote to Mr Ernest Gilbert--the famous +lawyer whose name Mr Stacey had given her--asking him +to make all necessary arrangements for Jim Baker's +defence. She expressed her own personal conviction in +the man's innocence, desiring him to leave no stone +unturned to make it plain, and to spare no expense in +doing so. In proof of her willingness to pay any costs +which might be incurred she enclosed a cheque for £500, +and assured him that she would at once forward any +further sum which might be required. Mr Gilbert +furnished himself with a copy of the depositions given +before the committing justices, and also before the +coroner; and, having mastered them, went down to see +his client in Winchester Gaol.</p> + +<p class="normal">He found Mr Baker in very poor plight. The gamekeeper, +who probably had gipsy blood in his veins, had been +accustomed from childhood to an open air life. Often in +fine weather he did not resort to the shelter of a roof +for either sleeping or eating. Crabbed and taciturn by +constitution he loved the solitude and freedom of the +woods. On a summer's night the turf at the foot of a +tree was couch enough for him, the sky sufficient roof. +Had he been able to give adequate expression to his +point of view, his definition of the torments of hell +would have been confinement within four walls. In +gaol--cribbed, cabined and confined--he seemed to +slough his manhood like a skin. His nature changed. +When Mr Gilbert went to see him, the dogged heart +of the man had lost half its doggedness. He pined +for freedom--for God's air, and the breath of the +woods--with such desperate longing that, if he could, +he would have made an end of every soul in Winchester +Gaol to get at it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Gilbert summed him up--or thought he did--at sight. +He made it a rule in these sort of cases to leap at an +instant conclusion, even though afterwards it might +turn out to be erroneous. Experience had taught him +that, in first interviews with clients of a certain +kind, quickness of speech--and of decision--was +a trick which often paid. So that the door had +hardly been closed which left the pair together +than--metaphorically--he sprang at Mr Baker like a bull +terrier at a rat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, my man, do you want to hang?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hang? me? No, I don't. Who does?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you'll tell me who stuck a knife into that fellow +in Cooper's Spinney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Me tell you? What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know what I mean, and you know who handled that +knife; and it's only by telling me that you'll save +your neck from the gallows."</p> + +<p class="normal">Baker stared with tightened lips and frowning brows. +This spruce little gentleman was beyond him altogether.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here! you go too fast for me. I don't know who you +are, not from Adam. Who might you be?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My name's Gilbert--I'm a lawyer--and I'm going to save +you from the gallows, if I can."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A lawyer?" Baker put up a gnarled hand to rasp his +stubbly chin. He looked at the other with eyes which +trouble had dimmed. "Has she sent you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She? Who?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know who I mean."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall know if you tell me. How can I know if you +don't tell me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has Miss Arnott sent you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Arnott? Why should Miss Arnott send me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She knows if you don't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think Miss Arnott cares if you were strung up +to the top of the tallest tree to-morrow?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She mightn't care if I was strung up, but I ain't +going to be strung up; and that she does know."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lawyer looked keenly at the countryman. All at once +he changed his tone, he became urbanity itself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, Baker, let's understand each other, you and I. I +flatter myself that I've saved more than one poor chap +from a hempen collar, and I'd like to save you. You +never put that knife into that man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I didn't; ain't I kept on saying so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then why should you hang?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I ain't going to hang. Don't you make any mistake +about it, and don't let nobody else make any mistake +about it neither. I ain't going to hang."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, my good fellow, in these kind of affairs they +generally hang someone; if they can't find anyone else, +it will probably be you. How are you going to help it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Baker opened and closed his mouth like a trap, once, +twice, thrice, and nothing came out of it. There was a +perceptible pause; he was possibly revolving something +in his sluggish brain. Then he asked a question,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that all you've got to say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course it's not. My stock of language isn't quite +so limited. Only I want you to see just where you're +standing, and just what the danger is that's +threatening. And I want you to know that I know that +you know who handled that knife; and that probably the +only way of saving you from the gallows is to let me +know. You understand that it doesn't necessarily follow +that I'm going to tell everyone; the secret will be as +safe with me as with you. Only this is a case in which, +if I'm to do any good, I must know where we are. Now, +Baker, tell me, who was it who used the knife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Again Baker's jaws opened and shut, as if +automatically; then, after another interval, again he +asked a question.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ain't yet told me if it was Miss Arnott as sent +you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you haven't yet told me why Miss Arnott should +send me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's my business. Did she? Do you hear me ask +you--did she?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Baker brought his fist down with a bang on to the +wooden table by which he was standing. Mr Gilbert eyed +him in his eager, terrier-like fashion, as if he were +seeking for a weak point on which to make an attack. +Then, suddenly, again his manner altered. Ignoring +Baker's question as completely as if it had never been +asked, he diverted the man's attention from the +expected answer by all at once plunging into entirely +different matters. Before he knew what was happening +Baker found himself subjected to a stringent +examination of a kind for which he was wholly +unprepared. The solicitor slipped from point to point +in a fashion which so confused his client's stupid +senses that, by the time the interview was over, Jim +Baker had but the vaguest notion of what he had said or +left unsaid.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Gilbert went straight from the gaol to a post-office +from which he dispatched this reply-paid telegram:--</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"To <span class="sc">Hugh Morice</span>, Oak Dene.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When I was once able to do you a service you said +that, if ever the chance offered, you would do me one +in return. You can do me such a service by giving me +some dinner and a bed for to-night.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:50%">"<span class="sc">Ernest Gilbert.</span></p> + +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">George Hotel, Winchester</span>."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">He lunched at the George Hotel. While he was smoking an +after-luncheon cigar an answer came. Hugh Morice wired +to say that if he arrived by a certain train he would +meet him at the station. Mr Gilbert travelled by that +train, and was met. It was only after a <i>tête-à-tête</i> +dinner that anything was said as to the reason why the +lawyer had invited himself to be the other's guest.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I suppose you're wondering why I've forced myself upon +your hospitality?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope that nothing in my manner has caused you to +think anything of the kind. I assure you that I'm very +glad to see you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's very nice of you to say so. Still, considering +how I've thrown myself at you out of the clouds you can +hardly help but wonder."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I have taken it a little for granted that you +have some reason for wishing to pay me a visit at this +particular moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Exactly. I have. It's because I find myself in rather +a singular situation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As how?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The lawyer considered. He looked at his host across the +little table, on which were their cups of coffee, with +his bright eyes and the intensely inquisitive stare, +which seemed to suggest that curiosity was his +devouring passion. His host looked back at him lazily, +indifferently, as if he were interested in nothing and +in no one. The two men were in acute contrast. The one +so tall and broad; the other so small and wiry--in the +scales possibly not half Hugh Morice's size. The +solicitor glanced round the room, inquiringly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I suppose we're private here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">They were in the billiard-room. The doors were shut, +windows closed, blinds drawn--the question seemed +superfluous.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perfectly. No one would hear you if you shouted."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's just as well to be sure; because what I have to +say to you is of a particularly private nature."</p> + +<p class="normal">"At your leisure."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You and I have had dealings before--you will probably +remember that, under certain circumstances, I'm not a +stickler for professional etiquette."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I remember it very well indeed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's fortunate. Because, on the present occasion, +I'm going to outrage every standard of propriety which +is supposed--professionally--to hedge me round. Now +listen to me attentively; because I don't wish to use +plainer speech than I can help; I don't want to dot my +'i's,' and I want you, at a hint from me, to read +between the lines. This is a ticklish matter I'm going +to talk about."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm all attention."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's good; then here's what I've come to say."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_23" href="#div1Ref_23">THE TWO MEN</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Yet Mr Gilbert hesitated. He took his cigar from +between his lips, carefully removed the ash, sipped at +his coffee, and all the time kept his glance on Hugh +Morice, as if he were desirous of gleaning from his +face indications as to the exact line which his remarks +should take. When he did speak he still continued to +stare at his host.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have been retained to defend James Baker."</p> + +<p class="normal">"James Baker?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The man who is to stand his trial for the murder in +Cooper's Spinney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, Jim Baker. Hereabouts he is known as Jim. When you +spoke of him as James, for the moment I didn't know who +you meant."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This morning I saw him in Winchester Gaol."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is what you were doing in Winchester? Now I +understand. How is he?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In a bad way. They may as well hang him as keep him +jailed. He's not at home in there."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So I should imagine. Jim Baker!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Hugh Morice smiled sardonically, as if the idea of Jim +Baker being in gaol was grimly humorous.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That interview has resulted in placing me in a very +curious quandary."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should imagine that interviews with your clients did +occasionally have results of that kind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's so; but I don't recall one which had just this +result, and--I don't like it. That's why I've come to +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't see the sequitur. What have I to do with your +quandaries?--that is, mind you, with your professional +quandaries; because, outside your profession, as you're +perfectly well aware, I'm willing enough to help you in +any kind of a hole."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is both professional and unprofessional--that's +the trouble. Anyhow, I'm going to make you my +confidant, and I shall expect you to give me some sort +of a pointer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What might you happen to be driving at? I take it that +you don't credit me with the capacity to read between +lines which are non-existent."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll tell you in a sentence. James--or, as you call +him--Jim Baker has left the impression on my mind that +it was Miss Arnott, of Exham Park, who killed that man +in Cooper's Spinney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The scoundrel!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Generally speaking, perhaps, in this particular +instance--I doubt it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean to say that he formulated the charge in so +many words?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He never formulated it at all. On the contrary, he +didn't even begin to make it. I fancy that if you were +to go to him now, he'd say that he never so much as +hinted at anything of the sort. But all the same it was +so present in his mind that it got into mine. I have a +knack, occasionally, of studying my clients' minds +rather than their words."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My good sir, if A is charged with a crime he quite +constantly--sometimes unconsciously--tries to shift the +guilt on to B."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As if I didn't know it! Talk sense! There are times +when I am able to detect the real from the counterfeit, +and this is one. I tell you that Jim Baker is convinced +that Miss Arnott stabbed that man in the wood, and +that, if he chose, he could advance substantial reasons +for the faith that is in him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good God! You--you shock me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you sure I shock you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What the devil do you mean by that? Look here, +Gilbert, if you've come here to make yourself +disagreeable you'll have to excuse me if I go to bed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear chap, why this sudden explosion! So far from +wishing to make myself disagreeable my desire is all +the other way; but you haven't yet let me explain to +you the nature of the quandary I am in."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know Jim Baker better than you do. I've thrashed him +within an inch of his life before to-day, and, by +George! if what you say is true, I'd like to do it +again. If you've come to retail any cock and bull +stories emanating from that source I don't want to +listen to them--that's plain."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perfectly plain. I've come to retail cock and bull +stories emanating from no source. If you'll grant me +thirty seconds I'll tell you what the trouble is. The +trouble is that I've been retained by Miss Arnott to +defend Jim Baker."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The deuce!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, as you observe, it is the deuce. She has +behaved--in a pecuniary sense--very handsomely, and is +apparently prepared--in that sense--to continue to +behave very handsomely."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then where's the trouble if you're well paid for the +work you're asked to do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Supposing, for the sake of argument, that Miss Arnott +is guilty, and that Jim Baker knows it, that, from one +point of view, would be a sufficient reason why she +should spend money like water in his defence, and I +should be placed in a very awkward situation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you taking it for granted that what that +blackguard says--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Baker has said nothing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That what he hints is true? Do you know Miss Arnott?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't; do you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course, she's my neighbour."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you're some distance apart."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing as we count it in the country."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is she an old woman?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Old! She's a girl!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A girl? Oh! now I perceive that we are getting upon +delicate ground."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gilbert, may I ask you to be extremely careful what +you allow yourself to say."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will be--extremely careful. May I take it that you +are of opinion that there is no foundation for what Jim +Baker believes?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What on earth have I to do with what Jim Baker +believes or with what he chooses to make you think he +believes?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Precisely; I am not connecting you with his belief in +any way whatever. What I am asking is, are you of +opinion that he has no ground for his belief?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"How should I know what ground he has or thinks he has? +That fellow's mind--what he has of it--is like a rabbit +warren, all twists and turns."</p> + +<p class="normal">The speaker had risen from his chair. Possibly with +some intention of showing that he did not find the +theme a pleasant one, he had taken down a billiard cue. +The lawyer watched him as he prepared to make a shot.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Morice, do you know to what conclusion you are driving +me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know, and I don't care. Come and have a game."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, I don't mind. But first, I should like to +tell you what that conclusion is. You are forcing me to +think that Jim Baker's belief is yours."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Morice did not make his shot. Instead, he stood up +straight, gripping his cue almost as if he meant to use +it as a weapon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gilbert!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's no use glaring at me like that. I'm impervious to +threats. I've been the object of too many. Let me tell +you something else. A faint suspicion, which I had +before I came here, has become almost a certainty. I +believe that Baker saw what that young woman did and I +believe you saw her also."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You hound! Damn you! I'd like to throw you out of the +house!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh no, you wouldn't; that's only a momentary impulse. +An instant's reflection will show you that this is a +position in which the one thing wanted is common sense, +and you've got plenty of common sense if you choose to +give it a chance. Don't you see that we shall, all of +us--Miss Arnott, Jim Baker, you and me--find ourselves +in a very uncomfortable situation, if we don't arrive +at some common understanding. If Jim Baker saw that +girl committing murder, and if you saw her--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have not the faintest right to make such a +monstrous insinuation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have invited contradiction and none has come."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do contradict you--utterly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What, exactly, do you contradict?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Everything you have said."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To descend from the general to the particular. Do you +say that you did not see what that girl did?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I decline to be cross-examined. I'm your host, sir, +I'm not in the witness-box."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, but at a word from me you very soon will be. +That's the point you keep on missing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gilbert, I'll wring your neck!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not you, if only because you know that it would make +bad worse. It's no good your throwing things at me. I'm +as fairly in a cleft stick as you are. If I throw up +Jim Baker's case, Miss Arnott, who has sent me a cheque +for £500, will naturally want to know why. What shall I +tell her? I shall have to tell her something. If, on +the other hand, I stick to Baker, my first and only +duty will be towards him. I shall have to remember that +his life is at stake, and leave no stone unturned to +save it. But, being employed by Miss Arnott, I don't +want to take advantage of that employment and of her +money to charge her with the crime, nor do I want to +have to put you into the witness-box to prove it. What +I want to know is which course am I to follow? And to +get that knowledge I've come to you. Now, you've got +the whole thing in a nutshell."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Morice, perhaps unconsciously, was still gripping +the billiard cue as if it were a bludgeon. Plainly, he +was ill at ease.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish you'd been kept out of the affair. I'd have +kept you out if I'd had a chance. I should have known +you'd make yourself a nuisance."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Having a clear perception of the lines on which I +should be likely to make myself a nuisance, I see. +Shall I tell you what I do wish? I'm inclined to wish +that I'd been retained by Miss Arnott on her own +account."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean by that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will make me dot my i's. However, I'll dot them if +you like. Here are two men who know the truth. Isn't it +probable that there are other persons who suspect it? +So far the affair's been bungled. Baker himself put the +police on the wrong scent. They've followed it blindly. +But when the right man's put on the job I'm prepared to +wager that he'll find the whole air is full of the +lady's name. Then she'll want assistance."</p> + +<p class="normal">Hugh Morice returned the cue to its place with almost +ostentatious precision, keeping his back towards his +guest as he did so. Then, turning, he took up his stand +before the fireplace. His manner had all at once become +almost unnaturally calm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There are two or three points, Mr Gilbert, on which I +should like to arrive at that understanding which you +pretend to desiderate. When you suggest, as you do, +that I have any guilty knowledge of the crime with +which Jim Baker stands charged, you not only suggest +what is wholly false, but you do so without the +slightest shadow of an excuse, under circumstances +which make your conduct peculiarly monstrous. I have no +such knowledge. It, therefore, necessarily follows that +I know nothing of Miss Arnott's alleged complicity in +the matter. More, I believe from my heart that she had +no more to do with it than you had; she is certainly as +innocent as you are. You yourself admit that Baker has +said nothing. I fancy you may have jumped at an +erroneous conclusion; your fault is over-cleverness. I +know him to be a thorough-paced coward and rascal. If +he ever does say outright, anything of the nature you +have hinted at, there will be no difficulty whatever in +proving him to be a liar. Now, sir, have I given you +all the information which you require?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Gilbert looked at the fresh cigar, which he had just +lighted, with the first smile in which he had permitted +himself to indulge during the course of the discussion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I am to defend Jim Baker and do my best for him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a second or two before Hugh Morice answered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think that, feeling as you do, you had better +withdraw from the case."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And what shall I tell Miss Arnott?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You need tell her nothing. I will tell her all that is +necessary."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see. I thought you would probably feel like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For once in a way you thought correctly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The cheque shall be returned to her. Shall I return it +through you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think that perhaps you had better."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think so also."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Gilbert rose from his chair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Before I go to bed, with your permission, I will +finish this excellent cigar upstairs, and I'm afraid +that game of billiards will have to be postponed. Will +you allow me to say, without prejudice, that if, later, +Miss Arnott finds herself in need of legal aid I shall +esteem myself fortunate to be allowed to render her any +assistance in my power. I can make my presence felt in +a certain kind of case, and this is going to be a very +pretty one, though that mayn't be your feeling just +now. I should like to add that I feel sure I could +defend her much better than I could Jim Baker."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There will not be the slightest necessity for you to +do anything of the kind.".</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course not. I am merely putting a suppositious +case. May I take it that you are the lady's friend?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And that you would be willing to do her a service?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I would do her any service in my power."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then shall I tell you what is the best service you +could do her?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am listening."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Start for the most inaccessible part of the globe you +can think of at the very earliest opportunity, and stay +there."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should I do that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because if they can't find you, they can't put you in +the witness-box, and, if I were acting for Miss Arnott, +I would much rather, for her sake, that you kept out. +Good-night, Mr Morice. I have to thank you for your +generous hospitality."</p> + +<p class="normal">When the solicitor was in his bedroom he said to +himself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm glad I came. But what a tangle! Unless I err +they'll have my lady under lock and key before the +assizes begin; or, at anyrate, under police +observation. And my host loves her. What a prospect? +When a man, who is not a constitutional liar, does lie, +he's apt to give his lie too artistic a finish; still, +as an example of the lie cumulative and absolute, that +lie of his was fair, very fair indeed."</p> + +<p class="normal">Hugh Morice had his thoughts also.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If she'd only let me know that she proposed to call in +Ernest Gilbert I'd have stopped her somehow. There's no +more dangerous man in England. Now it's too late. We +shall have to face the music. If I am subpœnaed +I'll go into the witness-box and swear I did it. She +charged me with having done it. She shall go into the +witness-box and give evidence against me. We'll dish +Ernest Gilbert. 'Greater love hath no man than this, +that a man lay down his life for his friend.' And she's +my friend, since I love her. At anyrate, I'll be her +friend, if the thing may be."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_24" href="#div1Ref_24">THE SOMNAMBULIST</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott was not happy. Money had not brought her +anything worth having. In her case, fortune had been +synonymous with misfortune. Young, rich "beyond the +dreams of avarice," good-looking; all those papers +which deal with what are ironically called "personal +topics," held her up to public admiration as one of the +persons in the world who were most to be envied. In +plain truth she was one of the most miserable. In her +penniless days she was not unhappier. Then her trouble +was simple, now it was compound. Not the least of her +disasters was the fact that health was failing. That +robust habit of mind and body which had, so far, stood +her in good stead, was being sapped by the continuous +strain. Her imagination was assuming a morbid tinge. +Her nights were sleepless, or dream-haunted, which was +as bad. She was becoming obsessed by an unhealthy +feeling that she lived in a tainted atmosphere. That +all the air about her was impregnated with suspicion. +That she was becoming the centre of doubting eyes, +whispering tongues, furtively pointing fingers.</p> + +<p class="normal">While she was more or less unconsciously drifting into +this physically and mentally unhealthy condition she +received a visit from a Mrs Forrester, in the course of +which that lady insisted on dwelling on topics of a +distinctly disagreeable kind.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Forrester was a widow, childless, well-to-do. She +had two occupations--one was acting as secretary to the +local branch of the Primrose League, and the other was +minding other people's business. She so managed that +the first was of material assistance to her in the +second. She was a person for whom Miss Arnott had no +liking. Had she had a chance she would have denied +herself. But Mrs Forrester came sailing in through the +hall just as she was going out of it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, my dear Miss Arnott, this is an unexpected +pleasure! I am so fortunate in finding you at home, I +so seldom do! And there is something of the first +importance which I must speak to you about at once--of +the very first importance, I do assure you."</p> + +<p class="normal">The motor was at the door. Miss Arnott's inclination +was to fib, to invent a pressing engagement--say, +twenty miles off--and so shunt the lady off on to Mrs +Plummer. It seemed as if the visitor saw what was in +her mind. She promptly gave utterance to her intention +not to be shunted.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now you mustn't say you're engaged, because I sha'n't +keep you a minute, or at most but five. That motor of +yours can wait, and you simply must stop and listen to +what I have to say. It's in your own interest, your own +urgent interest, so I can't let you go."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott stopped, perforce. She led the way into the +red drawing-room. Mrs Forrester burst into the middle +of the subject, which had brought her there, in her own +peculiar fashion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, before I say a single word, I want you to +understand most clearly that the only reason which has +brought me here, the one thing I have come for, is to +obtain your permission, your authority, to contradict +the whole story."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What story?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The visitor held up her hands.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What story! You don't mean to say you haven't heard? +It simply shows how often we ourselves are the last +persons to hear of matters in which we are most +intimately concerned. My dear, the whole world is +talking about it, the entire parish! And you say, what +story?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say again, what story? I've no doubt that my +concerns do interest a large number of persons, even +more than they do me, but I've not the vaguest idea to +which one of them you're now referring."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it possible? My dear, I was told no longer ago than +this morning that you walk every night through the +woods in--well, in your nightdress."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course it's nonsense. No one knows better than I do +that such an idea's ridiculous. But there's the story. +And, as I've said, I've come on purpose to ask you to +allow me to offer an authoritative contradiction."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what is the story? I should be obliged to you, Mrs +Forrester, if you could manage to make it a little +clearer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will make it clear. To me it has been made painfully +clear--painfully. I may tell you that I've heard the +story, in different forms, from various sources. Indeed +I believe it's no exaggeration to say that it's on +everybody's tongue, and, on the whole, no wonder. My +informant this morning was Briggs, the postman. You +know him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't claim the honour. However, I'm willing to take +your statement as proof of his existence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A most respectable man, most respectable. His wife has +fifteen children--twins only last March,--but perhaps I +oughtn't to speak of it to you. He used to be night +watchman at Oak Dene in old Mr Morice's time. Sometimes +he takes the letter-bags to and from the mail train, +which goes through at half-past one in the morning. He +did so last night. He assures me with his own lips +that, coming home, as he was passing your place, he +heard something moving, and on looking round saw you +among the trees in your nightdress. Of course it +couldn't have been you. But, at the same time, it is +most singular. He is such a respectable man, and his +story was most circumstantial. Could it have been you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was not out last night at all, and it never is my +custom to wander about the grounds in the costume you +refer to, if that is what you mean, Mrs Forrester--at +least, not consciously."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Exactly, that is the very point, of course--not +consciously. But do you do it unconsciously?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Unconsciously! What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, it is my duty to tell you that all sorts of +people claim to have seen you wandering--sometimes +actually running--through the woods of Exham Park at +the most extraordinary hours, clad only in your +nightdress. The suggestion is that you are walking in +your sleep."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Walking in my sleep? Mrs Forrester!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, my dear, walking in your sleep. It is strange +that the story should not have reached you; it is on +everybody's tongue. But when, as I tell you, Briggs +made that positive statement to me with his own lips, I +felt it my bounden duty to come and see you about it at +the earliest possible moment. Because, if there is +any truth in the tale at all--and they can't all be +liars--it is absolutely essential for your own +protection that you should have someone to sleep with +you--at any rate, in the same room. Somnambulism is a +most serious thing. If you are a somnambulist--and if +you aren't, what are you?--proper precautions ought to +be taken, or goodness only knows what may happen."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I am a somnambulist, Mrs Forrester. But am I? In +all my life I have never heard it hinted that I am +anything of the kind, and I myself have never had any +reason to suspect it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Still, my dear, there are all those stories told by +all sorts of people."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They may have imagined they saw something. I very much +doubt if they saw me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But there is Briggs's positive assertion. I have such +faith in Briggs. And why should he invent a tale of the +sort?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did he see my face?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No; he says you were walking quickly from him, almost +running, but he is positive it was you. He wanted to +come and tell you so himself; but I dissuaded him, +feeling that it was a matter about which you would +prefer that I should come and speak to you first."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What time was it when he supposes himself to have seen +me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Somewhere about two o'clock."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott reflected.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To the best of my knowledge and belief I was in bed at +two o'clock, and never stirred from it till Evans +called me to get into my bath. If, as you suggest, I +was out in the woods in my nightdress--delightful +notion!--surely I should have brought back with me some +traces of my excursion. I believe it rained last +night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It did; Briggs says it was raining at the time he saw +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then that settles the question; he didn't see me. Was +I barefooted?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He couldn't see."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The presumption is that, if I choose to wander about +in such an airy costume as a nightgown, it is hardly +likely that I should think it necessary to go through +the form of putting on either shoes or stockings. +Anyhow, I should have been soaked to the skin. When I +woke up this morning my nightgown would have shown +traces at least of the soaking it had undergone. But +not a bit of it; it was as clean as a new pin. Ask +Evans! My feet were stainless. My bedroom slippers--the +only footwear within reach, were unsoiled. No; I fancy, +Mrs Forrester, that those friends of yours have ardent +imaginations, and that even the respectable Briggs is +not always to be trusted."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you authorise me to contradict the story <i>in +toto?</i></p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, Mrs Forrester; I give you the fullest authority +to inform anyone and everyone that I never, in the +whole course of my life, went out for a stroll in my +nightgown, either asleep or waking. Thank you very much +indeed for giving me the opportunity of furnishing you +with the necessary power."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Forrester rose from her chair solemnly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I felt that I should only be doing my duty if I came."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course you did, and you never miss an opportunity +of doing your duty. Do you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Before the lady had a chance of replying a door opened. +Miss Arnott turned to find that it had admitted Mr +Morice. The sight of him was so unexpected, and took +her so wholly by surprise that, at a momentary loss for +a suitable greeting, she repeated, inanely enough, +almost the identical words which she had just been +uttering to Mrs Forrester.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice! This is--this is a surprise. I--I was just +telling Mrs Forrester, who has been good enough to +bring me rather a curious story, that if anyone +mentions, in her hearing, that they saw me strolling +through the woods in the middle of the night in a state +of considerable undress, I shall be obliged if she +gives such a statement a point-blank contradiction."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Morice inclined his head gravely, as if he +understood precisely what the lady was talking about.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly. Always advise Mrs Forrester to contradict +everything she hears. Mrs Forrester hears such singular +things."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_25" href="#div1Ref_25">HUGH MORICE EXPLAINS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">So soon as Mrs Forrester had gone Mr Morice asked a +question.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What tale has that woman been telling you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She actually says that people have seen me walking +about the woods in the middle of the night in my +nightdress. That a postman, named Briggs, saw me doing +so last night. I believe I am supposed to have been +walking in my sleep. Of course it is only some +nonsensical rigmarole. I won't say the whole thing is +an invention of Mrs Forrester's own brain, but it's the +sort of thing she's fond of."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's true enough. It is the sort of tale she's fond +of; but, for once in a way, she is justified by fact. +Since we are on the subject I may as well inform you +that, four nights or rather mornings, ago I myself saw +you, at two o'clock in the morning, in Cooper's +Spinney, in some such costume as that which you +describe."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not know that I should have told you if it had +not been for Mrs Forrester; but, since she has +intervened, I do so. In any case, it is perhaps as well +that you should be on your guard."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you sure you saw me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am not likely to make a mistake in a matter of that +sort."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But are you sure it was me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certain."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What was I doing?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You were under the beech tree--our beech tree. You +appeared to me to be looking for something on the +ground--something which you could not find."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But four nights ago? I remember it quite well. I was +reading and writing till ever so late. Then I fell +asleep directly I got into bed. I certainly never woke +again until Evans called me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The probability is that you got out of bed directly +you were asleep. It struck me that there was something +singular about your whole proceedings. A doubt crossed +my mind at the time as to whether you could possibly be +in a somnambulistic condition. As I approached you +retreated so rapidly that I never caught sight of you +again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean to say I was in my nightdress?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As to that I cannot be certain. You had on something +white; but it struck me that it was some sort of a +dressing-gown."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have no white dressing-gown."</p> + +<p class="normal">"On that point I cannot speak positively. You +understand that I only saw you for a few seconds, just +long enough to make sure that it was you."</p> + +<p class="normal">She put her hands up to her face, shuddering.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is dreadful! that I should walk in my sleep--in +the woods--and everyone see me--and I know nothing! +What shall I do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is one thing I should recommend. Have someone to +sleep in your room--someone who is quickly roused."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is what Mrs Forrester advised. I will certainly +have that done. A bed shall be put in my room, and +Evans shall sleep in it to-night. Is it to make this +communication that you have favoured me with the very +unexpected honour of your presence here, Mr Morice?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, Mrs--I beg your pardon, Miss Arnott--it is not." +As she noticed the slip she flushed. "The errand which +has brought me here is of a different nature, though +not, I regret to say, of a more pleasant one."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing pleasant comes my way. Do not let +unpleasantness deter you, Mr Morice. As you are aware I +am used to it."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a bitterness in her tone which hurt him. He +turned aside, searching for words to serve him as a +coating of sugar, and failing to find them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why," he presently asked, "did you instruct Ernest +Gilbert to defend Jim Baker?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She stared in amazement; evidently that was not what +she expected.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why? Why shouldn't I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"For the simple but sufficient reason that he was the +very last man whose interference you should have +invited in a matter of this particular kind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Stacey was of a different opinion. It was he who +gave me his name. He said he was the very man I +wanted."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Stacey? Mr Stacey was not acquainted with all the +circumstances of the case, Miss Arnott. Had you +consulted me--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should not have dreamt of consulting you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Possibly not. Still, I happen to know something of Mr +Gilbert personally, and had you consulted me I should +have warned you that, in all human probability, the +result would be exactly what it has turned out to be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Result? Has anything resulted?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Something has--Mr Gilbert has withdrawn from the +case."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Withdrawn from the case! What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here is the £500 which you sent him. He has requested +me to hand it back to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A cheque for £500? Mr Morice, I don't understand! Why +has Mr Gilbert returned me this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will tell you plainly. We are, both of us, in a +position in which plainness is the only possible +course."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, tell me--don't stand choosing your words--tell +me plainly! Why has Mr Gilbert sent me back my cheque +through you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because Jim Baker conveyed the impression to his mind +that he--Jim--saw you commit the crime with which he +stands charged."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think you do. Gilbert's position is that he finds +himself unable to retain your money when his duty to +Baker may necessitate his putting you in the dock on +the capital charge."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice! It's--it's not true!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Unfortunately, it is true. Lest, however, you should +think the position worse than it actually is, part of +my business here is to reassure your mind on at least +one point."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Reassure my mind! Nothing will ever do that--ever! +ever! And reassurance from you!--from you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If matters reach a certain point--before they go too +far--it is my intention to surrender myself--say, to +Granger--our local representative of law and order--as +having been guilty of killing that man in Cooper's +Spinney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice! Do you--do you mean it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly I mean it. Then you will have an opportunity +of going into the witness-box and giving that testimony +of which you have spoken. That in itself ought to be +sufficient to hang me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What we have principally to do is to render it +impossible that the case against me shall fail. A very +trifling accident may bring the whole business to an +end; especially if Ernest Gilbert puts ever such a +distant finger in the pie. Against the possibility of +such an accident we shall have to guard. For instance, +by way of a beginning, where's that knife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Knife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The knife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've lost the key."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lost the key? of what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I put it in a wardrobe drawer with my--my things, and +locked it, and, somehow, I lost the key."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't quite follow. Do you mean that, having locked +up my knife in a drawer with some other articles, you +have mislaid the key of the lock?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, that's what I mean."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then in that case, you had better break that lock open +at the earliest possible moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The answer's obvious, in order that you may hand me +back my knife. If I'm to be the criminal it will never +do for my knife to be found in your possession. It +would involve all sorts of difficulties which we might +neither of us find it easy to get over. Give me the +knife. I will hide it somewhere on my own premises, +where I'll take care that, at the proper moment, it is +found. Properly managed, that knife ought to make my +guilt as plain as the noonday sun; mismanaged, the +affair might assume quite a different complexion."</p> + +<p class="normal">For the first time a doubt entered the girl's mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Morice, do you wish me to understand that you +propose to surrender merely to save me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish you to understand nothing of the sort. The +position is--in its essence--melodrama; but do let us +make it as little melodramatic as we conveniently can. +Someone must suffer for the--blunder. It may as well be +me. Why not?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you wish me--seriously--to believe that it was not +you who--blundered?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I blundered--and I've kept on blundering +ever since. One blunder generally does lead to +another, don't you know. Come--Miss Arnott"--each +time, as she noticed, there was a perceptible pause +before he pronounced the name to which she still +adhered--"matters have reached a stage when, at any +moment, events may be expected to move quickly. Your +first business must be to get that drawer open--key or +no key--and let me have that knife. You may send it by +parcel post if you like. Anyhow, only let me have it. +And, at latest, by tomorrow night. Believe me, moments +are becoming precious. By the way, I hope it hasn't +been--cleaned."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, it hasn't been cleaned."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That would have been to commit a cardinal error. In an +affair of this sort blood-stains are the things we +want; the <i>pièces de conviction</i> which judge and jury +most desire. Give me the knife--my knife--that did the +deed, with the virginal blood-stains thick upon it. Let +it be properly discovered by a keen-nosed constable in +an ostentatious hiding-place, and the odds are a +hundred to one as to what the verdict will be. A +hundred? a million! I assure you that I already feel +the cravat about my neck." Hugh Morice put his hand up +to his throat with a gesture which made Miss Arnott +shiver. "Only, I do beg of you, lose no time. Get that +drawer open within the hour, and let me have my +hunting-knife before you have your dinner. Let me +entreat you to grasp this fact clearly. At any moment +Jim Baker may be out of Winchester Gaol; someone will +have to take his place. That someone must be me."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_26" href="#div1Ref_26">THE TWO MAIDS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">After Hugh Morice had left her, Miss Arnott had what +was possibly the worst of all her bad half hours. The +conviction of his guilt had been so deeply rooted in +her mind that it required something like a cataclysm to +disturb its foundations. She had thought that nothing +could have shaken it; yet it had been shaken, and by +the man himself. As she had listened to what he had +been saying, an impression had been taking hold of her, +more and more, that she had misjudged him. If so, where +was she herself standing? A dreadful feeling had been +stealing on her that he genuinely believed of her what +she had believed of him. If such was the case, what +actually was her position.</p> + +<p class="normal">Could she have done the thing which he believed her to +have done? It was not only, moreover, what he believed; +there were others. An array of witnesses was gathering +round her, pointing with outstretched fingers. There +was Jim Baker--it seemed that he was honestly persuaded +that, with his own eyes, he had seen her kill her +husband. So transparent was his honesty that he had +succeeded--whether intentionally or not she did not +clearly understand--in imparting his faith to the +indurated lawyer to such a degree, that he had actually +thrown her money back at her, as if it had been the +price of blood. She had little doubt that if her own +retainers were polled, and forced to vote in accordance +with the dictates of their consciences, merely on the +strength of the evidence they believed themselves +to be already in possession of, they would bring her in +as guilty. She had had this feeling dimly for some +time--she had it very clearly then.</p> + +<p class="normal">And now she was walking in her sleep. That thing of +which she had read and heard, but never dreamt to be--a +somnambulist. It seemed that her conscience drove her +out at dead of night to revisit--unwittingly--the scene +of the crime which stained her soul.</p> + +<p class="normal">Could that be the interpretation of the stories which +Mrs Forrester had told her? and Hugh Morice? She had +been seen, it would appear, by half the countryside, +clad--how? wandering--conscience-driven--on what +errand?</p> + +<p class="normal">The more she thought, however, of the tale which Briggs +the postman had retailed to Mrs Forrester, not to speak +of Hugh Morice's strange narrative--the more she +doubted--the more she had to doubt. They might have the +evidence of their own eyes, but it seemed to her that +she had evidence which was at least equally conclusive. +It was incredible--impossible that she could have +tramped through the rain and the mire, among the trees +and the bushes, in the fashion described, and yet have +found no traces of her eccentric journeyings either on +her clothes or on her person. But in that matter +measures could--and should--be taken. She would soon +learn if there was any truth in the tales so far as +they had reference to her. Evans should be installed in +her room that night as watchman. Then, if she attempted +to get out of bed while fast asleep, the question would +be settled on the spot. The question of the knife--Hugh +Morice's knife--was a graver one. But as regards that +also steps should be promptly taken. Whether it should +be returned to its owner as he suggested, or retained +in her possession, or disposed of otherwise. These were +problems which required consideration. In the +meanwhile, she would have it out of its hiding-place at +once. She went upstairs to force open that wardrobe +drawer. So soon as she entered her bedroom she +perceived that she had been forestalled, and that, in +consequence, a lively argument was going on. The +disputants were two--her own maid, Evans, and Wilson, +the housemaid, who had been supposed to have been in +part responsible for the disappearance of the key. Miss +Arnott was made immediately conscious--even before she +opened the door--that the pair were talking at the top +of their voices. Evans's was particularly audible. She +was pouring forth on to her fellow-servant a flood of +language which was distinctly the reverse of +complimentary. So occupied, indeed, were they by the +subject under discussion that, until Miss Arnott +announced her presence, they were not conscious that +she had come into the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">Their young mistress paused on the threshold, +listening, with feelings which she would have found it +difficult to analyse, to some of the heated +observations which the disputants thought proper to +fling at each other. She interrupted Evans in the +middle of a very warmly coloured harangue.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evans, what is the meaning of this disturbance? and of +the extraordinary language you are using?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The maid, though evidently taken by surprise by the +advent of her mistress, showed very few of the signs of +shame and confusion which some might have considered +would have become a person in her position. Apparently +she was much too warm to concern herself, at anyrate +for the moment, with matters of etiquette. She turned +to Miss Arnott a flushed and angry face, looking very +unlike the staid and decorous servant with whom that +young lady was accustomed to deal. Hot words burst from +her lips,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"That there Wilson had the key all the time. I knew she +had."</p> + +<p class="normal">To which Wilson rejoined with equal disregard of +ceremonial usages,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I tell you I hadn't! Don't I tell you I hadn't! At +least, I didn't know that I had, not till five minutes +ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">Evans went on, wholly ignoring her colleague's somewhat +singular disclaimer,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then if she didn't use it to unlock your drawer +with--your private drawer--and to take liberties with +everything that was inside it. I daresay if I hadn't +come and caught her she'd have walked off with the lot. +And then to have the face to brazen it out!"</p> + +<p class="normal">To which Wilson, in a flame of fury,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you dare to say I'd have taken a single thing, +because I won't have it. I'm no more a thief than you +are, nor perhaps half so much, and so I'll have you +know. You're a great deal too fond of calling names, +you are; but if you call me a thief I'll pay you for +it. You see!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Evans turned again to her adversary, eager for a +continuance of the fray.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you weren't going to take them what did you go to +the drawer for?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I tell you I went to the drawer to see if it was the +key.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why didn't you bring the key to me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I would have brought it, if you'd given me a chance."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You would have brought it! Didn't I catch you--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott thought she had heard enough; she +interposed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you be so good as to be still, both of you, and +let me understand what is the cause of this disgraceful +scene. Evans, has the key of the drawer been found?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, miss, it has. It was never lost; she had it all +the time, as I suspected."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I didn't have it, miss--leastways, if I did, I didn't +know it, not till just now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Explain yourself, Wilson. Has or has not the key been +in your possession?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's like this, miss; it must somehow have slipped +inside my dress that morning when I was making your +bed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"She'll explain anything!"</p> + +<p class="normal">This was the resentful Evans.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll tell the truth anyhow, which is more than you +do."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again their mistress interposed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evans, will you allow Wilson to tell her story in her +own way. Wilson, you forget yourself. On the face of +it, your story is a lame one. What do you mean by +saying that the key of my wardrobe drawer slipped into +your dress? Where was it that it was capable of such a +singular proceeding?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's more than I can tell you, miss. I can only say +that just now when I was taking down a skirt which I +haven't worn since I don't know when, it felt heavy, +and there in the hem on one side--it's a broad hem, +miss, and only tacked--there was a key, though how it +got there I haven't a notion."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course not!"</p> + +<p class="normal">This was Evans. Miss Arnott was in time to prevent a +retort.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evans! Well, Wilson, what did you do then?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I came with it to Evans."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lady's-maid was not to be denied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's a falsehood, anyhow. You came with it to me! I +do like that!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The housemaid was equal to the requirements of the +occasion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did come with it to you. I came with it straight to +this bedroom. They told me you were here; it wasn't my +fault if you weren't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh dear no! And, I suppose, it wasn't your fault if, +finding I wasn't here, you unlocked the drawer!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I only wanted to see if it was the lost key I had +found; I meant no harm."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again Miss Arnott.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, Evans, will you be silent! Well, Wilson, I don't +see that, so far, you have been guilty of anything very +reprehensible. It's quite possible that, somehow, the +key may have slipped into the hem of your skirt; such +accidents have been known. When you had tried the key +and found that it was the one which had been mislaid; +when you had opened the drawer with it, what did you do +then?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Again the lady's-maid was not to be denied. Orders or +no orders, she refused to be silent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, what did she do? I'll tell you what she did; +don't you listen to anything she says, miss. She took +liberties with everything that was inside that drawer, +just as if the things was her own. She turned all the +things out that was in it; you can see for yourself +that it's empty! and she's got some of them now. Though +I've asked her for them she won't give them up; yet she +has the face to say she didn't mean to steal 'em!"</p> + +<p class="normal">This time the housemaid was silent. Miss Arnott became +conscious that not only had she been all the time +holding herself very upright, but, also, that she was +keeping her hands behind her back--in short, that her +attitude more than suggested defiance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wilson, is this true?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The answer was wholly unlooked for.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My mother is Jim Baker's cousin, miss."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your mother--" Miss Arnott stopped short to stare. +"And what has that to do with your having in your +possession property which is not your own?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her next answer was equally unexpected.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And Mr Granger, he's my uncle, miss."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Granger? What Mr Granger?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The policeman down in the village, miss."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Apparently, Wilson, you are to be congratulated on +your relations, but I don't see what they have to do +with what Evans was saying."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't help that, miss."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can't help what? Your manner is very strange. What +do you mean?" The girl was silent. Miss Arnott turned +to the lady's-maid. "Evans, what does she mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't ask me, miss; she don't know herself. The girl's +wrong in her head, that's what's the matter with her. +She'll get herself into hot water, if she don't look +out; and that before very long. Now, then, you give me +what you've got there!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you lay your hands on me, Mrs Evans, or you'll +be sorry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evans!--Wilson!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Kit had not been for Miss Arnott's presence it looked +very much as if the two would have indulged in a +scrimmage then and there. The lady's-maid showed a +strong inclination to resort to physical force, which +the other evinced an equal willingness to resent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wilson, what is it which you are holding behind your +back? I insist upon your showing me at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This, miss--and this."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_27" href="#div1Ref_27">A CONFIDANT</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">In her right hand Wilson held a knife--the knife. Miss +Arnott needed no second glance to convince her of its +identity. In her left a dainty feminine garment--a +camisole, compact of lace and filmy lawn. The instant +she disclosed them Evans moved forward, as if to snatch +from her at least the knife. But Wilson was as quick as +she was--quicker. Whipping her hands behind her back +again she retreated out of reach.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, you don't! hands off! you try to snatch, you do!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The baffled lady's-maid turned to her mistress.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see, miss, what she's like! and yet she wants to +make out that she's no thief!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott was endeavouring to see through the +situation in her mind, finding herself suddenly +confronted by the unforeseen. It was impossible that +the girl could mean what she seemed to mean; a raw +country wench in her teens!</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wilson, you seem to be behaving in a very strange +manner, and to be forgetting yourself altogether. It is +not strange that Evans has her doubts of you. Give me +those things which you have in your hands at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Begging your pardon, miss, I can't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They're not yours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, miss, I know they're not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, if you're an honest girl, as you pretend, what +possible reason can you have for refusing to give me my +own property, which you have taken out of my drawer in +a manner which is at least suspicious?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because Jim Baker, he's my mother's cousin; and Mr +Granger he's my uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What possible justification can that be for your +trying to steal what belongs to me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then it came out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My uncle he says to me, 'I don't believe Jim Baker +done it--I don't believe he did anything to the chap +beyond peppering him. Jim's no liar. 'Twill be a shame +if they hang him. No, my girl,' Mr Granger says, 'it's +my belief that they know more over at Exham Park than +they pretend, or, at least, someone does. You keep your +eyes wide open. We don't want to have no one hung in +our family, specially for just peppering a chap. If you +come across anything suspicious, you let me know and +you let me have a look at it, if so be you can. Your +mother don't want to have Jim Baker hung, nor more +don't I.' Miss Arnott, you put them things in the +drawer the time that you came home, the time that chap +was murdered, the time that you was out in the woods +till all hours. They haven't found the knife what did +it yet, and this knife's all covered with blood; so's +the things. I'm going to let Mr Granger see what I've +got here, and tell him where I found them. If there's +nothing wrong about them I'll have to suffer, but show +them to him I will."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott, perceiving that here was an emergency in +which prompt action was the one thing needful, glanced +at Evans, who was quick to take the hint. She advanced +towards Wilson with designs which that young woman +considered sufficiently obvious. To evade her, still +holding her booty behind her to secure it from Evans, +she turned her back to Miss Arnott who was not slow to +avail herself of the opportunity to grip her wrists and +tear the knife and camisole away from her. The wench, +finding herself outwitted, sprang at her mistress, +screaming,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Give them to me! give them to me! You give them back +to me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">But Miss Arnott had already dropped them into the open +wardrobe drawer, shut the drawer and turned the key. +While she kept the girl at arms' length, to prevent her +wresting from her the key, Miss Arnott issued her +instructions to the lady's-maid.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evans, ring the bell, keep on ringing."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a lively minute or so. Then Bevan, Mr Day's +understudy, appeared in the doorway, to stare at the +proceedings open-eyed. Miss Arnott had succeeded in +retaining possession of the key, though she had not +found the excited girl easy to manage. Bevan, striding +forward, spun the housemaid round on her feet as if she +were a teetotum.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, then," he demanded, "what do you think you're +doing? Are you mad?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Bevan," exclaimed Miss Arnott, "Wilson has been +misbehaving herself. See that she is paid her wages and +sent about her business at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">Wilson, who by now was more than half hysterical, +shrieked defiance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Bevan, you make her give me that knife! you make +her. I believe she killed that chap in Cooper's +Spinney. She's got the knife she killed him with shut +up in that drawer there! You make her give it me! I'm +going to show it to my uncle!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Bevan was unsympathetic.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, then, out you go!" was the only answer he made to +her appeal.</p> + +<p class="normal">But Mr Granger's niece was not disposed to go in +compliance with his mere request. When he essayed +persuasion of a more active kind she began to fight him +tooth and nail. Reinforcements had to be brought upon +the scene. When, finally, she was borne from the room, +she was kicking and struggling like some wild cat. A +pretty tumult she managed to create as they conveyed +her down the stairs.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott and her maid, left alone together, surveyed +each other with startled looks. The plumage of both had +been something more than ruffled; a tress of hair which +was hanging down Miss Arnott's back was proof of the +housemaid's earnestness. Evans was the first to speak.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish you'd let me do as I said, miss--break that +drawer open, and let me wash those things."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But who would have thought she was such a creature! Is +she mad?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, she's sane enough after her own fashion; though, +if she's one of that Baker and Granger set, she's mad +enough for anything. I can't abide that village lot, +and they know it. I wish you'd let me do as I said!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish I had. As for my clothes, you can wash them +now--if you don't mind, that is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll wash them fast enough. I've done some washing in +my time. Though, after those stains have been in them +all this time, they'll want some soaking. What are you +going to do about that knife, miss? If I had known it +was there I'd have broken open that drawer first and +asked your permission afterwards."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll see to that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll see to it! But, miss, you'll never get these +stains out, never! not now! They're eaten into the +steel! Nothing will get them out except re-burnishing. +If that Wilson gets down to that fool of a Granger it's +quite likely that we'll have him here with a search +warrant, and then Heaven help us! No, miss, you'll give +me that knife, if you please. I'll make it safe +enough."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott was struck by the singularity of the +woman's manner; she yielded to a sudden impulse.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evans, I fancy you are under a misapprehension. If so, +let me remove it from your mind, if it can be removed. +I believe you think that I am responsible for what +happened to that man in Cooper's Spinney. I'm not. I +had no hand in it whatever."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You didn't kill him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Emphatically, no. I had nothing to do with killing +him; nothing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss, are you sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am quite sure; quite."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe you, miss, I believe you. But--I don't +understand--the stains upon your things; the knife? If +you didn't kill him yourself you know who did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thought I did; that is why the knife is in my +possession. Bringing it home--inside my bodice--caused +the stains."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whose knife is it? Did it belong to the--man who was +killed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No; it did not. I would rather not tell you to whom it +did belong--at least, not now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, I know. Evans, I believe you're disposed to +be my friend, and I'm in need of a friend."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are, miss, in more need than you have perhaps a +notion of. I don't want to use any big words, but +there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, and be glad to +do it, as, maybe, before all's done, I'll prove. But I +wish you'd trust me, miss--trust me all the way. I wish +you'd tell me whose knife that is and how you came to +have it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd rather not, and for this reason. I was convinced +that the owner of that knife was the murderer. That is +why, when I found it, I brought it home with me.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To screen him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must not ask me that. Quite lately I have begun to +think that I was wrong, that the owner of that knife is +as innocent as I am. It's a tangle. I was quite close +when it happened; I heard it all happening; yet now I +am conscious that I have no more real knowledge of who +did it than you have. You mustn't ask me any questions; +I may tell you more some other time--I may have to--not +now! not now! I want to think! But, Evans, there is one +thing I wish to say to you--do you believe that I'm a +somnambulist?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A somnambulist? A sleep-walker do you mean? Whatever +has put that idea into your head?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you heard the tales they're telling--about my +having been seen in the woods at night in my +nightdress?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've heard some stuff; it's all a pack of nonsense! +What next?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know Briggs the postman? What sort of man is +he?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's got his head screwed on right enough for a +countryman."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, Mrs Forrester called this afternoon for the +express purpose of informing me that Briggs the postman +saw me in the woods at two o'clock this morning in my +nightdress."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, miss, it's impossible! Did you ever walk in your +sleep?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never to my knowledge. Have you ever had occasion to +suspect me of anything of the kind?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That I certainly have not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This time it seems peculiarly incredible, because it +was pouring cats and dogs. If I had done anything of +the sort there must have been traces on my nightdress, +or on something. This is a question I mean to have +settled one way or the other. I'm going to have a bed +put up in this room, and I'm going to ask you to sleep +in it, if you conveniently can, with one eye open. +You'll soon find out what my habits are when fast +asleep. Between ourselves I believe that this is going +to be an opportunity for me to play that favourite +character in fiction--the detective--on lines of my +own."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll sleep here, miss, and be pleased to do it. But as +for your walking in your sleep, I should have found it +out long ago if you'd been given that way. I don't +believe a word of it; that's all nonsense."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott seemed to reflect before she spoke again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not so sure of that--that it's all nonsense, +Evans. I'm going to tell you something; at present it's +a secret, but I think I can trust you to keep it. +You're not the only person who has suspected me of +having killed that man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lor' bless you, miss, as if I didn't know that! That's +no secret! I don't believe you've any idea yourself of +what a dangerous place it is in which you're standing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll be ready for the danger--when it comes. I'll not +be afraid. What I meant was that I have been actually +supposed to have been seen killing that man. Someone +was seen to kill him, and that someone was a woman."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're quite sure, miss, that it wasn't you? You're +quite sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite, Evans; don't you be afraid."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then if that's so, miss, I don't mind. If you're +innocent I don't care what they do; let them do their +worst."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's what I feel--exactly. But I wish you'd let me +make my meaning clear to you! If a woman did do it, +then--though I confess I don't understand how--we must +all of us be on the wrong scent, and the woman who +has been seen wandering through the woods at dead of +night--and that such an one has been seen I have good +reasons for knowing--is the one we want. So what we +have to do is to identify that somnambulist."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But how are we going to do it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That, as yet, I own is more than I can tell you. The +first step is to make sure it isn't me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you fret about that, miss; I'm sure it isn't. +I'll take these things away and get 'em in soak at +once." She gathered up the various garments which her +mistress had worn on that fateful night. "I wish you'd +let me take that knife; I'd feel safer if you would."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, Evans; but at present I'd rather you left +the knife with me."</p> + +<p class="normal">As Evans left the room Mrs Plummer came in, in the +state of fluster which, of late, was her chronic +condition.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear," she began, "what is this I hear about +Wilson? What is this shocking story?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wilson has misbehaved herself and is therefore no +longer in my service. I imagine, Mrs Plummer, that that +is what you hear. I am sorry you should find it so +shocking. It is not such a very unusual thing for a +servant to forget herself, is it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know, my dear, when it comes to fighting Bevan +and positively assaulting you. But everything seems to +be at sixes and sevens; nothing seems to go right, +either indoors or out. It makes me most unhappy. And +now there's an extraordinary person downstairs who +insists on seeing you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"An extraordinary person? What do you call an +extraordinary person? Do you know, Mrs Plummer, that a +good deal of your language lately has seemed to me to +have had a flavour of exaggeration."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Exaggeration? You call it exaggeration? I should have +thought it would have been impossible to exaggerate +some of the things which have happened in this +neighbourhood in the last few weeks. But there's no +accounting for people. I can only tell you that I +should call the person who is below an extraordinary +person. Here is her card; she herself thrust it into my +hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Darcy Sutherland? I don't know anyone of that +name."</p> + +<p class="normal">"She knows you, or she pretends she does. I met her on +the steps as I was coming in. When I told her you were +out--because I thought you had gone on your motor, you +said you were going--she replied that she would wait +till you came back, if she had to wait a week. That I +call an extraordinary remark to make."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is rather an unusual one. I will go down and see +Mrs Darcy Sutherland."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_28" href="#div1Ref_28">MRS DARCY SUTHERLAND</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">As Miss Arnott went to her visitor she had premonitions +that more disagreeables were at hand. No one whom she +was desirous of seeing would have uttered such a speech +as that which Mrs Plummer had repeated. Her +premonitions were realised to the full. As she entered +the sitting-room, into which the caller had been shown, +a big, blowsy, over-dressed woman rose from a chair, +whom the girl instantly acknowledged that Mrs Plummer +had been perfectly justified in calling an +extraordinary person. She was painted, and powdered, +and pencilled, and generally got up in a style which +made it only too plain what kind of character she was. +With a sinking heart Miss Arnott recognised Sarah +Stevens, her quondam associate as a model in that +costume department of that Regent Street draper's +where, once upon a time--it seemed centuries ago--she +had earned her daily bread, the woman who had +introduced her to Robert Champion, who had urged her to +marry him, to whom she owed all the trouble which had +come upon her, and whose real character she had learned +too late.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had not expected, as she had asked herself what +awaited her now, that it was anything so bad as this.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You!" she stammered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, my dear, me! A nice little surprise for you, +isn't it?" The woman advanced towards her with the +apparent intention of greeting her with a kiss. Miss +Arnott showed by her manner, as much as by the way in +which she drew back, that she did not intend to submit +to anything of that sort. The visitor was not at all +abashed. She continued to smile the hard, mechanical +smile of the woman of her class. "You didn't expect to +see me, I'll be bound. Perhaps you'd forgotten me, and +you thought, perhaps, that I'd forgotten you, but you +see I haven't. I've got a very good memory, I have. +Well, my love, and how are you? You're not looking so +well as I expected; quite peaked, you seem, nothing +like so well filled out as you used to be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean by coming here? And by calling +yourself Mrs Darcy Sutherland?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Vi!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have the goodness not to address me by my Christian +name."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It used to be Vi and Sally in the days gone by. But I +suppose circumstances are changed, that sometimes makes +a difference. I don't mind, it's all the same to me. +I'll call you whatever you choose--Miss Arnott if you +like. I'm surprised to find that they all do seem to +call you that round here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You haven't answered my questions. Why have you come +here? And why do you call yourself Mrs Sutherland?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As to why I've come here, I'll tell you in half a +minute, though there's some who wouldn't ask such a +thing of an old friend. Let me get my breath, my love; +that rotten old fly shook me all to pieces. As to why I +call myself Mrs Sutherland--that does seem an +unpleasant remark to make to a lady, let alone an old +friend. But I'm not one that's quick to take offence. I +call myself Mrs Sutherland because I am Mrs Sutherland. +I've married since I saw you last."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've married?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, why shouldn't I? And, unlike you, I'm not ashamed +of my married name, or of my husband's. By the way, my +love, you must remember my husband."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Remember him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course you must. He remembers you quite well. He +was a friend of your husband's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A friend of my husband?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rather. They were pals--thick as thieves. Darcy knew +Robert Champion long before you did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Darcy?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's my husband's Christian name. You can call him +by it if you like, though you don't want me to call you +by yours. But then I'm more open-minded, perhaps, than +you are, and open-hearted too."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be so good as to tell me why you have come here."</p> + +<p class="normal">The woman took a handkerchief from the bag made of +steel beads which was suspended from her waist; opening +it out she twiddled it between the white-gloved fingers +of either hand. Miss Arnott immediately became +conscious of the odour of some strong perfume.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Can't you guess?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I cannot."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am quite sure that I am unable to think of any +plausible excuse for your presence in my house. You +never were a friend of mine. Nor are you a person whose +acquaintance I desire to renew. You are perfectly well +aware that I know what kind of character you are. You +did me all the harm you could. It was only by the mercy +of God that you did not do me more. I do not intend to +allow my house to be sullied by your presence one +moment longer than I can help."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl crossed the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are you going to do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am going to ring to have you shown to the door."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You had better hear first what I've come for, unless +you want me to tell you in front of your servants."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As to that, I am indifferent. If you have anything to +say to me say it at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I'll tell you fast enough, don't you worry. It +won't take me long to say it. I can say it in just one +sentence. Mrs Champion, I've come to see your husband."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl started, perceiving that trouble was +threatening from still another quarter. She was +conscious that her visitor noticed her start, but in +spite of it she could not prevent her pulses throbbing +unpleasantly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My husband? What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, you know what I mean well enough, don't try acting +the stupid with me. You're not so dull as all that, nor +yet so simple; and I'm not if you are. Mrs Champion, +I've come to see your husband, Mr Robert Champion, my +old friend Bob."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's not here, you know he's not here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do I know he's not here? I know he came here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you know he came here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because me and my husband met him outside the gate of +Wandsworth Prison the Saturday morning he came out of +it from doing his sentence. His wife ought to have been +there--that's you! but you wasn't! I suppose you were +on your couch of rose-leaves and didn't want to be +disturbed. Nice idea of a wife's duties you seem to +have, and a pretty sort you are to want to look down on +me. Poor fellow! he was in sad trouble, without a penny +in his pocket, or a chance of getting one, and him with +the richest woman in England for his wife. When we told +him of the luck you'd had--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So it was you who told him, was it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, it was, and I daresay you'd have rather we +hadn't; you'd have rather he'd starved and got into +trouble again, and rotted out his life in gaol. But +Darcy and me were his true friends, if his own wife +wasn't. We weren't going to see him hungry in the +gutter while you were gorging yourself on the fat of +the land. We gave him a good meal, he wanted it, poor +chap; nothing but skin and bone he was. We told him all +about you, and where you lived, put him inside a new +suit of clothes, clothed him in new things from head to +foot, we did, so that you shouldn't think he disgraced +you by his appearance, and gave him the money to come +down here; and he came."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well?"</p> + +<p class="normal">For Mrs Darcy Sutherland had paused.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well? You think it's well, do you? Then all I can say +is, I don't. Mrs Champion, I've come to see your +husband."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's not here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's not here? Then where is he?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is sufficient for you to be informed that he's not +here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, no, it isn't; and don't you think it, my love. +It's not sufficient by a long way. He promised to let +us hear from him directly he got down here; we've heard +nothing from that day to this, and that's some time +ago, you know."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If that is all you have to say I'll ring the bell."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But it's not all I've got to say. Still, you can ring +the bell if you like, it's not my bell. Though, if you +take my advice, you'll hear me out before you do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go on."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I'll go on, as I told you before, don't you worry, +and don't you try to bully me, because I'm not to be +bullied, threatening me with your bells! Mrs Champion," +the woman repeated the name with a curious gusto, +enjoying the discomfort the sound of it occasioned the +girl in front of her, "Mr Sutherland and me, we're not +rich. Your husband promised to give us back that money +we let him have, and since it seems that I can't see +him I should like to see the colour of the money."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's what you want, is it? I begin to understand. +How much was it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, we'll say a thousand pounds."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A thousand pounds!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A thousand pounds."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you dare to pretend that you gave him a thousand +pounds?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't pretend anything of the kind. I pretend +nothing. What I say is this. If I can see Mr Robert +Champion and enjoy the pleasure of a little chat with +him I shall be content to receive back the cash we lent +him. If I can't do that I want a thousand pounds. Don't +you understand, my love?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott did understand at last. She realised that +the purport of this woman's errand was blackmail. When +comprehension burst upon her she was silent; she was +trying to collect her thoughts, to think--a process +which the increasing pressure of "the slings and arrows +of outrageous fortune" made difficult. Mrs Darcy +Sutherland observed her obvious discomposure with +smiling amusement, as the proverbial child might +observe the movements of the fly which it has impaled +with a pin.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott was saying to herself, or rather, +endeavouring to say to herself--for her distress +of mind was blurring her capacity for exact +expression--that a thousand pounds was but a trifling +sum to her, and that if by the expenditure of such an +amount she could free herself from this new peril it +would be money well spent. She did not stop to reflect, +although, all the while, the idea was vaguely present +in her mind that, by yielding to this woman's demand, +she would be delivering herself to her body and soul. +Her one feeling was the desire to get this woman out of +the house without a scene--another scene such as she +had had with Wilson, probably a much worse one than +that. If she could only be relieved of the odious +oppression born of her near neighbourhood, breathe +purer air uncontaminated by this creature's presence, +if she could only do this for a time it would be +something. She would have a chance to look round her, +to gather together her forces, her scattered senses. If +she could only do that she might be more than a +match for Mrs Darcy Sutherland yet. But she must +have that chance, she must not have exposure--in +its worst form--thrust upon her now, in her present +state--she was becoming more and more conscious of +shaky nerves--that might be more than she was able to +bear. The chance was well worth a thousand pounds, +which to her was nothing.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was all at once seized with an overwhelming longing +to take instant advantage of the chance the woman +offered her. She resolved to give her what she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I let you have what you want will you promise to go +away immediately--right away?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll walk out of this house without speaking a word to +a creature in it, or to anyone out of it for the matter +of that, and I'll take the next train back to town, if +that's what you mean."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's what I do mean. If I give you a cheque for a +thousand pounds will that do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you leave it open, and make it payable to bearer, I +don't know that I'd mind taking it. I suppose there's +money enough at the bank to meet it; and that you won't +try to stop its being paid."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's plenty of money to meet it, and I certainly +shall not try to stop its being paid."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I'll tell you what; you give me all the ready +money you have got in the house, and an open cheque to +bearer for the balance--that'll be more satisfactory +for both parties--then I'll take myself off as fast as +you like."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well. I'll go and see what money I've got and +I'll bring you a cheque for the rest."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott moved towards the door, intending to +perpetrate what was perhaps the worst folly of which +she had been guilty yet. Just as she reached the door +it opened. Mr Stacey entered, followed by a dark, +dapper gentleman--Ernest Gilbert.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIX</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_29" href="#div1Ref_29">SOME PASSAGES OF ARMS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Mr Stacey held out both hands to her in the effusive +fashion which, when he chose, he could manage very +well.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Miss Arnott, I think I'm unexpected." He was; +so unexpected that, in the first flush of her surprise, +the girl was oblivious of his outstretched hands. He +went on, ignoring her confusion. "But I trust I am not +unwelcome because I happen to come unheralded." Looking +about him he noticed Mrs Sutherland. "But you are not +alone. I hope that our unannounced entrance has not +been an intrusion. May I ask you to make me known to +your"--something caused him not to use the word which +was already on the tip of his tongue--"to this lady."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is Mrs Darcy Sutherland."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Darcy Sutherland?" In spite of his mellifluous +tones there was something in the way in which he +repeated the name which hardly suggested a compliment. +"And what might Mrs Darcy Sutherland want with you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Sutherland took it upon herself to answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I never! the impudence of that! Who are you, +pray? and what business is it of yours?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The lawyer was blandness itself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg your pardon. Were you speaking to me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, I was speaking to you, and you know I was." She +turned to Miss Arnott. "I think, my dear, it would be +better if you were to ask these two gentlemen to leave +us alone together till you and I have finished our +little business."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Business?" At the sound of the word Mr Stacey pricked +up his ears. He addressed Miss Arnott. "As in all +matters of business I have the honour to represent you, +don't you think that, perhaps, you had better leave me +to deal with this--lady in a matter of business?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The lady referred to resented the suggestion hotly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What next, I wonder? You'll do nothing of the kind, my +dear, not if I know it you won't. And as I'm in rather +a hurry, perhaps you'll go and do what you said you +would."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Stacey put to Miss Arnott a question.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What was it you said that you would do for this lady?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Again the lady showed signs of heat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never saw the equal of you for meddling. Don't you +go poking your nose into other people's affairs, or +you'll be sorry. If you take my advice, my dear, you +won't tell him a single thing. I sha'n't, if you won't, +you may trust me for that. You'll keep your own +business to yourself, especially when it's business of +such a very particular kind--interfering old party!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you take my advice, Miss Arnott, and I think you +have reason to know that in general my advice is to be +trusted, you will tell me in the fewest, and also in +the plainest, possible words what this person wants +with you. It is evidently something of which she is +ashamed, or she would not be so anxious for +concealment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you call me a person, because I won't have it; +and don't you interfere in what's my business, because +I won't have that either." The indignant Mrs Darcy +Sutherland rose to her feet. "Now, look here, and don't +let there be any mistake about it, I'm not going to +have this impudent old man humbugging about with me, so +don't let anyone think it. So you'll please to +understand, Miss Arnott, that if you're going to get +what you promised to get, you'd better be quick about +it, because I've had about as much as I care to put up +with. I'm not going to let any man trample on me, I +don't care who he is, especially when I don't know him +from Adam."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Surely there can be no objection to my putting a +simple question. What is it you promised to get for +this--lady about which she betrays so much anxiety?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott replied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you don't mind, I'd rather not have any bother. +I've had some trouble already."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know you have; it is because of that that we are +here. Believe me, my dear young lady, you will be quite +safe if you trust yourself in my hands."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want to have any more trouble, so, as it +wasn't a sum which was of much consequence to me, I was +just going to get some money which Mrs Sutherland +wanted when you came in."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Money?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, money!--money she owes me!--so now you know!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you owe this--lady money?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, it isn't exactly that I owe it, but money is +owing to her, I believe."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How much?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A thousand pounds."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A thousand pounds! Is it possible that you were +thinking of giving this woman a thousand pounds?"</p> + +<p class="normal">At this point Mrs Darcy Sutherland thought proper to +give her passion reins, with results which were hardly +becoming.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look here, don't you call me a woman, you white-headed +old rooster, as if I wasn't a lady! I'm as much a lady +as she is, and a good deal more. The next time you give +me any more of your sauce, I'll smack your face; I've +done it to better men than you before to-day, so don't +you say that I didn't warn you!" She turned to Miss +Arnott. "As for you--how much longer are you going to +be tommy-rotting about? Are you going to give me that +thousand pounds, or aren't you? You know what the +consequences will be if you don't! Don't you think, in +spite of his smooth tongue, that he can save you from +them, because he can't, as you shall very soon see. +Now, am I going to have that money or not?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Gilbert, asserting himself for the first time, +interfered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stacey, I should like to say a few words to Mrs Darcy +Sutherland. Mrs Darcy Sutherland, I believe my name is +not unknown to you--Ernest Gilbert."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ernest Gilbert?" The woman changed countenance. "Not +the Ernest Gilbert?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, the Ernest Gilbert. And I see you are the Mrs +Darcy Sutherland; thank you very much. I have been +favoured with instructions to proceed against a gang of +long firm swindlers, the ringleader of whom is a man +who calls himself Darcy Sutherland. There's a warrant +out for his arrest, but for the moment he's slipped +through our fingers. There has been some talk as to +whether your name should be included in that warrant; +at present, it isn't. When you leave here I'll have you +followed. The probability is that you'll make for the +man you call your husband. If you do so, we'll have +him; if you don't, we'll have you--see?"</p> + +<p class="normal">On hearing this the woman flung all remnants of decency +from her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's the time of day, is it? You think you've +got me, do you? Fancy you've only got to snap your +fingers and I'm done for? That's where you're wrong, as +I'll soon show you. If I'm in a bit of a hole, what +about her? Who do you think she is? What do you think +she's been doing? I'll tell you if you don't know, +and then we shall know where we are!--and she'll know +too!--by----! she will!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Ernest Gilbert glanced round towards Mr Stacey.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take Miss Arnott out of the room."</p> + +<p class="normal">Inside thirty seconds Mr Stacey had whisked the girl +out of the room and vanished with her. Mrs Darcy +Sutherland, realising the trick which was being played, +rushed to the door. But Mr Gilbert was there first; +with the key turned, he stood with his back to the door +and faced her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You get away from in front of that door! What do you +mean by turning that key? You open that door and let me +out this instant!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The lawyer's reply did not breathe the spirit of +conciliation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll see you hung first."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you speak to me like that! Who do you think +you're talking to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To you. Now, you foul-mouthed judy, I'm going to take +off the gloves to deal with you. I've not had the dregs +of the criminal population pass through my hands all +these years without knowing how to deal with a woman of +your type, as I'm going to show you. What were you +going to say to Miss Arnott?--out with it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never mind what I was going to say to Miss Arnott; I'm +going to say nothing to you; don't you think it! Who do +you think you're trying to bounce?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're going to say exactly what you would have said +if that young lady had remained in the room, or when +you do go it will be in the charge of a policeman."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, shall I? We'll see! Don't you make any mistake!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must think I'm a simple-minded innocent, to come +trying to play your confidence tricks off on me. What +do you want me to think I'll be in the charge of a +policemen for, I'd like to know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Blackmail."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Blackmail! What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know perfectly well what I mean. You have just +been trying to blackmail that girl to the tune of a +thousand pounds. No offence more severely punished. +I'll have you jugged on one charge, and the blackguard +you call your husband on another."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wasn't trying to do anything of the sort; don't +fancy you can bluff me! I was only telling the truth."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Makes it worse. Suppose you believed her to have +committed murder, and said you'd out with what you knew +if she didn't give you a thousand pounds--that would be +blackmail in its most heinous form; you'd get a lifer +as sure as you're alive. My time's valuable. Which is +it going to be--the policeman or what you call the +truth?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I do tell you what use will you make of it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No questions answered. Which is it going to be?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I tell you, will you let me go right straight off? +No shadowing or anything of that kind?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The only promise I'll make is that I won't let you go +if you don't. Out with it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're very hard on a girl! I don't know what I've +done to you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No snivelling; put away that evil-smelling rag; I'm +going to have that policeman."</p> + +<p class="normal">He was standing by the bell.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't! I'll tell you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then tell!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know what it is you want me to tell you--I +really don't!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I want you to tell me what's the pull you've got, or +think you've got, over Miss Arnott."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's about that chap who was killed in the woods +here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What about him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He was her husband."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I ought to. He was an old friend of mine, and I was +her bridesmaid when she married him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why did she keep him dark?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, he got into a bit of trouble."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go on! out with it all! and don't you stammer!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not stammering, and I'm going on as fast as ever I +can! I never saw anyone like you. He got into prison, +that's what he did, and of course she wasn't proud of +it. He only came out the morning of the day he came +down here; my husband and me lent him the money to come +with, and we want our money back again--we can't afford +to lose it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see. His object in coming was blackmail--like yours. +Is that all the pull?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"All! I should think it's enough, considering. But, as +it happens, it isn't all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What else is there?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, she killed him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It stands to reason. Why didn't she let out he was her +husband and that she knew all about him? Isn't it plain +enough why? Because they met in the woods, and had a +bit of a quarrel, and she knifed him, that's why. And +she'll swing for it in spite of all her money. And it's +because she knows it that she was so willing to give me +that thousand pounds. What do you think?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You evil-speaking, black-hearted cat! Now I'll have +that policeman, and for what you've said to me you +shall have a lifer!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He moved towards the bell.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't! you promised you'd let me go!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I promised nothing of the kind, you---! I tell you +what I will do. I'll unlock that door and let you +through it. You shall have six hours' start, and then +I'll have a warrant out for you, and if I catch you I +promise I'll do my best to get you penal servitude for +life. As we've a shrewd idea of your husband's +whereabouts, if you take my advice you'll keep away +from him. Now, out you go!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Unlocking the door he threw it open.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Six hours mind, honest!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Six hours, by my watch. After that, if I can catch you +I will, you can bet on it. Take yourself outside this +house before I change my mind. You'd better!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Apparently Mrs Darcy Sutherland was of his opinion; she +was out of the house with a swiftness which did credit +to her agility. Almost as soon as she had gone Mr +Stacey appeared in the doorway of the room she had just +quitted.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXX</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_30" href="#div1Ref_30">MISS ARNOTT IS EXAMINED</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Mr Stacey put a question to Mr Gilbert.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you got rid of her?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very much so. Stacey, I must see Miss Arnott at once, +the sooner the safer. I'm afraid she did it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean that she killed that fellow in Cooper's +Spinney? I don't believe a word of it. What's that +woman been saying?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's not a question of belief but of fact. I'll tell +you afterwards what she's been saying. What we want to +do is to get at the truth. I fancy we shall do it if +you let me have a few minutes' conversation with your +young friend. If she didn't do it I'll do my level best +to prevent a hair of her head from being injured, and +if she did I may be able to save her. This is one of +those cases in which, before I'm able to move, I must +know just where I am standing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You seem to have an ethical standard of your own."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A man in my line of business must have. Where's Miss +Arnott?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll take you to her. She's expecting you. I told her +you'd like to have a little talk with her. But, mind +this, she's anything but well, poor girl! I believe +she's been worried half out of her mind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shouldn't wonder."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I didn't bring you down here to subject her to +a hostile cross-examination. I won't let you do +it--especially in her present condition."</p> + +<p class="normal">"When you've finished perhaps you'll take me to her; +you don't want her to hang."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hang! Gilbert! God forbid! Whatever she may have done +she's only a child, and I'm persuaded that at heart +she's as innocent as you or me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If she isn't more innocent than I am I'm sorry for +her. Will you take me to see this paragon of all the +feminine virtues?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wear your cynicism like a cloak; it's not such an +essential part as you choose to imagine."</p> + +<p class="normal">Ernest Gilbert smiled as if he would show his teeth.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Stacey led the way to an apartment which was called +the red drawing-room, where already that afternoon Miss +Arnott had interviewed Hugh Morice and Mrs Forrester. +It was a pleasant, well-lighted room, three windows ran +up one side of it almost from floor to ceiling. The +girl was standing in front of one of these as the two +men entered, looking out on to the Italian garden, +which was a blaze of sunshine and of flowers. Mr +Stacey crossed to her with his somewhat exuberant, +old-fashioned courtesy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Permit me, my dear young lady, to offer you a chair. I +think you will find this a comfortable one. There, how +is that?" She had seated herself, at his invitation, in +a large, straight-backed armchair covered with a fine +brocade, gold on a crimson background, whose age only +enhanced its beauty. "As I was telling you just now, I +have heard, to my great distress, that several things +have happened recently, hereabouts, which could hardly +tend to an increase of your comfort."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, indeed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Part of my information came from my very good friend +here, and he will be your very good friend also if you +will let him. Let me introduce you to Mr Ernest +Gilbert."</p> + +<p class="normal">In acknowledgment of the introduction the girl inclined +her head. Mr Gilbert gave his a perfunctory little +shake, as if he had a stiff neck.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am glad to meet you, Mr Gilbert. I was sorry to +learn from Mr Morice that you have sent me back my +money and refused to defend Jim Baker."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Stacey interposed before the other had a chance to +answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite so, my dear young lady, quite so; we will come +to that presently. Mr Gilbert came to see me this +morning on that very subject. It is in consequence of +certain communications which he then made to me that we +are here. You instructed him, from what I understand, +to defend this unfortunate man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Which he at first consented, and then declined to do."</p> + +<p class="normal">This time it was Mr Gilbert who interposed, before Mr +Stacey was ready with his reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stacey, if you don't mind, I'll speak. I think it's +possible that Miss Arnott and I may understand each +other in half a dozen sentences."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Gilbert was leaning over the back of a chair, right +in front of her. The girl eyed him steadily. There was +a perceptible interval, during which neither spoke, as +if each was taking the other's measure. Then the girl +smiled, naturally, easily, as if amused by some quality +which she discerned either in the lawyer's terrier-like +countenance or in the keenness of his scrutiny. It was +she who was the first to speak, still with an air of +amusement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will try to understand you, and I should like you to +understand me. At present I'm afraid you don't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm beginning to."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you? That's good news."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your nerves are strong."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've always flattered myself that they weren't weak."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You like plain speaking."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do--that is, when occasion requires."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is such an occasion."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think it is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you won't mind my asking you a plain question."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who killed that man in Cooper's Spinney?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you aware that Jim Baker thinks you killed him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And that Hugh Morice thinks so also?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know he did think so; I fancy that now he has his +doubts--at least, I hope he has."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you explain the fact of two such very different +men being under the same erroneous impression?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't explain it; I can explain nothing. I don't +know if you are aware that until quite recently I +thought it was Mr Morice himself who killed that man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What made you think that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Two or three things, but as I am now of a different +opinion it doesn't matter what they were."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But it does matter--it matters very much. What made +you think that Hugh Morice killed that man?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl turned to Mr Stacey.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I answer him? It's like this. I don't know +where Mr Gilbert's questions may be landing me, and I +don't want to have more trouble than I have had +already--especially on this particular point."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear young lady, if your own conscience acquits +you--and I am sure it does--my strongest advice to you +is, tell all you have to tell. The more light we have +thrown on the matter the better. I grieve to learn that +the finger of scandal has been pointed at you, and +that, if we are not very careful, very serious and +disagreeable consequences may presently ensue. I +implore you to hide nothing from us which may enable us +to afford you more than adequate protection from any +danger which may threaten. This may prove to be a very +grave business."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not afraid of what may happen to me, not one bit. +Pray don't either of you be under any delusion on that +point. What I don't want is to have something happen to +anyone else because of me." She addressed Mr Gilbert. +"What use will you make of any information which I may +give you with regard to Mr Morice?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If it will relieve your mind, Miss Arnott, and enable +you to answer my question, let me inform you that I am +sure--whatever you may suppose to the contrary--that +Hugh Morice is not the guilty person."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why are you sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"First, because I know him; and he's not that kind of +man. And second, because in the course of a lengthy +interview I had with him I should have perceived +something to cause me to suspect his guilt, instead of +which I was struck by his conviction of yours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now I also believe he is innocent--but I had reasons +for my doubts; better ones than he had for his doubts +of me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"May I ask what those reasons were?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was within a very short distance of where the murder +was committed, and though I was not an actual witness, +I heard. A moment afterwards I saw Mr Morice come +running from--the place where it was done, as if for +his life. Then--by the dead man I found the knife with +which he had been killed. It was Mr Morice's knife; a +few minutes before I had seen him with it in his hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You found Hugh Morice's knife? What did you do with +it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is still in my possession. You see, I thought that +he was guilty, and--for reasons of my own--I did not +wish to have the fact made public."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is a curious tangle into which you have managed +to get things between you. Have you any idea of what it +is Mrs Darcy Sutherland has just been telling me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can guess. She has probably told you that the dead +man was my husband--Robert Champion."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your husband! My dear young lady!"</p> + +<p class="normal">This was Mr Stacey.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, my husband, who had that morning been released +from gaol." Mr Stacey would, probably, have pursued the +subject further, but with a gesture Mr Gilbert +prevented him. The girl went on. "Mr Morice knew he was +my husband. I thought he had killed him to save me from +him; he thought I had done so to save myself. It is a +puzzle. There is only one thing that seems clear."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And that is?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That it was a woman who killed my husband."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see what you mean. I have been trying to splice the +threads. That person who has just been here--Mrs Darcy +Sutherland--do you think it possible that she could +have been that woman?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should say that it was impossible."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_31" href="#div1Ref_31">THE TWO POLICEMEN</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Mr William Granger, of the County Police, was just +finishing tea in his official residence when there came +a rap at the door leading into the street. Mr Granger +was not in the best of tempers. The county policeman +has not quite such a rosy time as his urban colleague +is apt to suppose. Theoretically he is never off duty; +his armlet is never off his sleeve. It is true that he +has not so much to do as his city brother in the way of +placing law-breakers under lock and key; but then he +has to do a deal of walking exercise. For instance, Mr +Granger had a twelve-mile beat to go over every day of +his life, hot or cold, rain or shine, besides various +local perambulations before or after his main round was +finished. Not infrequently he walked twenty miles a +day, occasionally more.</p> + +<p class="normal">One would have thought that so much pedestrianism would +have kept Mr Granger thin; he himself sincerely wished +that it had had that effect. As a matter of fact he was +the stoutest man in the village, which was galling. +First, because he was conscious that his bulk did not +tend to an increase of personal dignity. Second, +because, when the inspector came from the neighbouring +town, he was apt to make unpleasant remarks about his +getting plumper every time he saw him; hinting that it +was a very snug and easy billet for which he drew his +pay; adding a hope that it was not because he was +neglecting his duty that he was putting on weight so +fast. Third, because when one is fat walking is apt to +result in considerable physical discomfort, and twenty +miles on a hot summer's day for a man under five foot +ten who turns the scale at seventeen stone!</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Granger, who had come back hot and tired, had +scarcely flung his helmet into one corner of the room, +and his tunic into the other, when his inspector +entered. That inspector was fond of paying surprise +visits; he surprised Mr Granger very much just then. +The policeman had a bad time. His official superior +more than hinted that not only had he cut his round +unduly short on that particular day, but that he was in +the habit of curtailing it, owing to physical +incapacity. Then he took him for another little stroll, +insisting on his accompanying him to the station and +seeing him off in the train which took him back to +headquarters, which entailed another walk of a good six +miles--three there and three back--along the glaring, +dusty road.</p> + +<p class="normal">By the time Mr Granger was home again he was as +bad-tempered a policeman as you would have cared to +encounter. Tea, which had been postponed to an unholy +hour, did but little to improve either his temper or +his spirits. He scarcely opened his mouth except to +swallow his food and snap at his wife; and when, just +as she was clearing away the tea-things, there came +that rap at the door, there proceeded from his lips +certain expletives which were very unbecoming to a +constable, as his wife was not slow to point out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"William! what are you saying? I will not have you use +such language in my presence. I should like to know +what Mr Giles would say if he heard you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Giles was the inspector with whom Mr Granger had +just such an agreeable interview; the allusion was +unfortunate.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Giles be----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"William!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you shouldn't exasperate me; you only do it on +purpose; as if I hadn't enough to put up with as it is. +Don't stand there trying to put me in a bad temper, but +just open that door and see who's knocking."</p> + +<p class="normal">Possibly Mr Granger spoke in louder tones than he +supposed, because before his helpmate could reach the +door in question it was opened and someone put his head +inside.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right, Mr Granger, I'm sure that good lady of +yours has enough to do without bothering about opening +doors; it's only yours very truly."</p> + +<p class="normal">The newcomer spoke in a tone of voice which suggested +complete confidence that he would be welcome; a +confidence, however, which was by no means justified by +the manner of his reception. The constable stared at +him as if he would almost sooner have seen Inspector +Giles again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You! What brings you here at this time of day? I +thought you were in London."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, that's where you thought wrong. Mrs Granger, +what's that you've got there--tea? I'm just about +feeling equal to a sup of tea, if it's only what's left +at the bottom of the pot."</p> + +<p class="normal">The speaker was a tall, loose-limbed man with a red +face, and hair just turning grey. From his appearance +he might have been a grazier, or a farmer, or something +to do with cattle; only it happened that he was Mr +Thomas Nunn, the detective from London who had been +specially detailed for duty in connection with the +murder in Cooper's Spinney. As Mr Granger had learned +to associate his presence with worries of more kinds +than one, it was small wonder--especially in the frame +of mind in which he then was--that he did not receive +him with open arms. Mr Nunn seemed to notice nothing, +not even the doubtful glances with which Mrs Granger +looked into her teapot.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There isn't a drop in here, and I don't know that it +will bear more water."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Put in another half-spoonful and fill it up out of the +kettle; anything'll do for me so long as there's plenty +of it and it's moist, as you'd know if you saw the +inside of my throat. Talk about dust!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Granger was eyeing him askance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You never come down from London. I saw the train come +in, and you weren't in it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, I haven't come from London."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The last train back to London's gone--how are you +going to manage?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, if it does come to the pinch I thought that you +might give me a shake-down somewhere."</p> + +<p class="normal">The policeman glanced at his wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know about that. I ain't been paid for the +last time you were here. They don't seem too anxious to +pay your bills--your people don't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's their red tape. You'll get your money. This +time, however, I'm going to pay for what I have down on +the nail."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's brought you? You know, Mr Nunn, this ain't an +inn. My wife and me don't pretend to find quarters for +all the members of the force."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course you don't. But I think you'll be interested +when you hear what has brought me. I may be wrong, but +I think you will. I've come from Winchester."</p> + +<p class="normal">"From Winchester?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Husband and wife both started.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, from Winchester. I've been to see that chap +Baker. By the way, I hear he's a relation of yours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Most of the people is related hereabouts, somehow; but +he's only distant. He's only a sort of a cousin, and +I've never had much truck with him though I ain't +saying he's not a relation. What's up with him now?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He made a communication to the governor, and the +governor made a communication to headquarters, and +headquarters made a communication to me. In consequence +of that communication I've been paying him a call."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the last thing he's been saying?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, he's been making a confession."</p> + +<p class="normal">At this point Mrs Granger--who was lingering with the +tea-tray--interposed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A confession, Mr Nunn! You don't mean for to tell that +after all he owns up 'twas he who killed he man?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, I can't say exactly that I do. It's not that sort +of confession he's been making. What he's been +confessing is that he knows who did kill him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who was it, Mr Nunn?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Supposing, Mrs Granger, you were to get me that sup of +tea. If you were to know what my throat felt like you +wouldn't expect to get much through it till it had had +a good rinsing."</p> + +<p class="normal">The constable issued his marital orders.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now then, Susan, hurry up with that tea for Mr Nunn. +What are you standing there gaping for? If you were to +know what the dust is like you'd move a little +quicker."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Granger proceeded to hurry. Mr Nunn seated himself +comfortably at the table and waited, showing no sign of +a desire to continue the conversation till the tea +appeared. His host dropped a hint or two, pointing out +that to him, in his official capacity, the matter was +of capital importance. But Mr Nunn declined to take +them. When the tea did appear he showed more reticence +than seemed altogether necessary. He was certainly +slower in coming to the point than his hearers +relished. Mr Granger did his best to prompt him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, Mr Nunn, now that you've had three cups of tea +perhaps you wouldn't mind mentioning what Jim Baker's +been saying that's brought you here."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Nunn helped himself to a fourth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm in rather a difficult position."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I daresay. It might make it easier perhaps if you were +to tell me just what it is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not so sure, Granger, I'm not so sure. That +relative of yours is a queer fish."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Maybe I know what sort of a fish he is better than you +do, seeing I've known him all my life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What I've got to ask myself is--What reliance is to be +placed on what he says?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps I might be able to tell you if you were to let +me know what he does say."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, that's the point." Mr Nunn stirred what remained +of his fourth cup of tea with a meditative air. "Mr +Granger, I don't want to say anything that sounds +unfriendly or that's calculated to hurt your feelings, +but I'm beginning to be afraid that you've muddled this +case."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Me muddled it! Seeing that you've had the handling of +it from the first, if anyone's muddled it, it's you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't see how you make that out, Mr Granger, seeing +that you're on the spot and I'm not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the good of being on the spot if I'm not +allowed to move a finger except by your instructions?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have there been rumours, Mr Granger? and by that I +mean rumours which a man who had his professional +advancement at heart might have laid his hand on."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course there have been rumours! there's been +nothing else but rumours! But every time I mentioned +one of them to you all I got was a wigging for my +pains."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's because the ones you mentioned to me were only +will-o'-the-wisps. According to the information I've +received the real clues you've let slip through your +fingers."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Granger stood up. He was again uncomfortably hot. +His manner was hardly deferential.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Excuse me, Mr Nunn, but if you've come here to lecture +me while drinking of my wife's tea, since I've had a +long and a hard day's work, perhaps you'll let me go +and clean myself and have a bit of rest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If there's anything in what Jim Baker says there's +plenty for you to do, Mr Granger, before you think of +resting."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What the devil does he say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You needn't swear at me, Mr Granger, thank you all the +same. I've come here for the express purpose of telling +you what he says."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you're a long time doing it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you speak to me like that, Granger, because I +won't have it. I conduct the cases which are placed in +my hands in my own way, and I don't want no teaching +from you. Jim Baker says that although he didn't kill +the chap himself he saw him being killed, and who it +was that killed him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who does he say it was?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, the young woman up at Exham Park--Miss Arnott."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_32" href="#div1Ref_32">THE HOUSEMAID'S TALE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Mr And Mrs Granger looked at each other. Then the +husband dropped down into the chair which he had just +vacated with a sound which might be described as a +snort; it was perhaps because he was a man of such +plethoric habit that the slightest occasion for +surprise caused him to emit strange noises. His wife +caught at the edge of the table with both her hands.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lawk-a-mussy!" she exclaimed. "To think of Jim Baker +saying that!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It seems to me," observed Mr Nunn, with an air of what +he perhaps meant to be rhadamanthine severity, "that if +there's anything in what that chap says somebody ought +to have had their suspicions before now. I don't say +who."</p> + +<p class="normal">This with a very meaning glance at Mr Granger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Suspicions!" cried the lady. "Why, Mr Nunn, there +ain't been nothing but suspicions! I shouldn't think +there was a soul for ten miles round that hasn't been +suspected by someone else of having done it. You +wouldn't have had my husband lock 'em all up! Do you +believe Jim Baker?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's not the question. It's evidence I want, and +it's for evidence, Mr Granger, I've come to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evidence of what?" gasped the policeman. "I don't know +if you think I keep evidence on tap as if it was beer. +All the evidence I have you've got--and more."</p> + +<p class="normal">His wife persisted in her inquiry.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What I ask you, Mr Nunn, is--Are you going to lock up +that young lady because of what Jim Baker says?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I repeat, Mrs Granger, that that's not the +question, though you must allow me to remark, ma'am, +that I don't see what is your <i>locus standi</i> in the +matter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aren't you drinking my tea?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't see what my drinking your tea has got to do +with it anyhow. At the same time, since it'll all soon +enough be public property, I don't know that it's of +much consequence. Of course a man hasn't been at the +game all the years I have without becoming aware that +nothing's more common than for A, when he's accused of +a crime, to try to lay the blame of it on B; and that, +therefore, if for that reason only, what that chap in +Winchester Gaol says smells fishy. But at the same time +the statement he has made is of such a specific nature, +and should be so open to corroboration, or the reverse, +that I'm bound to admit that if anything did turn up to +give it colour I should feel it my duty to act on it at +once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean that you'd have her arrested?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do--that is if, as I say, I obtain anything in the +nature of corroborative evidence, and for that I look +to Mr Granger."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was no necessity for him to do that, fortunately +for the peace of mind and body of the active and +intelligent officer referred to. Evidence of the kind +of which he spoke was coming from an altogether +different quarter. Indeed, it was already at the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">Hardly had he done speaking than a modest tap was +heard. Opening, Mrs Granger found a small urchin +standing in the dusk without, who slipped an envelope +into her hand, with which she returned into the room, +peering at the address.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's this? 'To the Policeman.' I suppose, William, +that means you; it's only some rubbish, I suppose."</p> + +<p class="normal">She passed the envelope to her husband, who peered at +the address as she had done.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let's have the lamp, Susan, you can't see to read in +this here light. Not that I suppose it's anything worth +reading, but mine ain't cat's eyes anyhow."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lamp was lit and placed upon the table. Mr Granger +studied what was written on the sheet of paper which he +took from the envelope.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"Robert Champion was the name of the man who was +murdered in the wood. The mistress of Exham Park, who +calls herself Miss Arnott, was his wife. He came out of +Wandsworth Prison to see her. And he saw her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ask her why she said nothing about it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then the whole truth will come out."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Mr Granger read this once, twice, thrice, while his +wife and Mr Nunn were watching him. Then he scratched +his head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is rummy--uncommon. Here, you take and look at +it, it's beyond me altogether."</p> + +<p class="normal">He handed the sheet of paper to Mr Nunn, who mastered +its contents at a glance. Then he addressed a question +to Mrs Granger, shortly, sharply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who gave you this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never mind what it is, woman! Answer my question--who +gave it you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's no use your speaking to me like that, Mr Nunn, +and so I'd have you know. I'm no servant of yours! Some +child slipped it into my hand, but what with the bad +light and the flurry I was in because of what you'd +been saying, I didn't notice what child no more than +nothing at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Nunn seemed disturbed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It'll be a serious thing for you, Mrs Granger, if +you're not able to recognise who gave you this. You say +it was a child? There can't be so many children in the +place. I'll find out which of them it was if I have to +interview every one in the parish. It can't have got so +far away; perhaps it's still waiting outside."</p> + +<p class="normal">As he moved towards the entrance, with a view of +finding out if the bearer of that singular +communication was still loitering in the immediate +neighbourhood, he became conscious that someone was +approaching from without--more than one. While he +already had the handle in his grasp it was turned with +a certain degree of violence by someone on the other +side; the door was thrown open, and he found himself +confronted by what, in the gathering darkness, seemed +quite a crowd of persons.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is William Granger in?" demanded a feminine voice in +not the most placable of tones. Mr Nunn replied,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Granger is in. Who are you, and what do you want +with him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm his sister, Elizabeth Wilson, that's who I am, and +I should like to know who you are to ask me such a +thing. And as for what I want, I want justice; me and +my daughter, Sarah Ann, we both want justice--and I'm +going to see I get it too. My own cousin, Jim Baker, +he's in prison this moment for what he never did, and +I'm going to see that he's let out of prison double +quick and the party as ought to be in prison put there. +So you stand out of the way and let me get inside this +house to see my brother."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Nunn did as he was requested, and Mrs Wilson +entered, accompanied by her daughter, Sarah Ann. He +looked at the assemblage without.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who are all these people?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"They're my friends, that's who they are. They know all +about it, and they've come to see that I have fair +play, and they'll see that I have it too, and so I'd +have everyone to understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">By way of commentary Mr Nunn shut the door upon the +"friends" and stood with his back to it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now then, Granger, who's this woman? And what's she +talking about?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Wilson answered for her brother.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you call me a woman, as if I was the dirt under +your feet. And as for who I am--William, who's this +man? He's taking some fine airs on himself. As what I +have to say to you I don't want to have to say before +strangers, perhaps you'll just ask him to take himself +outside."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, Liz," observed her brother, fraternally, "don't +you be no more silly than you can help. This +gentleman's Mr Nunn, what's in charge of the case--you +know what case. He saw Jim Baker in Winchester Gaol +only this afternoon."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In Winchester Gaol, did he! Then more shame to them as +put him in Winchester Gaol, and him as innocent as the +babe unborn! And with them as did ought to be there +flaunting about in all them fine feathers, and with all +their airs and graces, as if they were so many +peacocks!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What might you happen to be talking about?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm talking about what I know, that's what I happen to +be talking about, William Granger, and so you'll soon +learn. I know who ought to be there instead of him, and +if you've a drop of cousinly blood in your veins you'll +see that he's out of that vile place, where none of my +kith or kin ever was before, and that you know, the +first thing to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, you know who did ought to be there, do you? This +is news, this is. Perhaps you'll mention that party's +name. Only let me warn you, Elizabeth Wilson, to be +careful what you say, or you may find yourself in worse +trouble than you quite like."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll be careful what I say, I don't need you to tell +me, William Granger! And I'll tell you who ought to be +in Winchester Gaol instead of Jim Baker--why, that +there proud, stuck-up young peacock over at Exham Park, +that there Miss Arnott!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Liz! I've told you already not to be more silly than +you can help. What do you know about Miss Arnott?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do I know about Miss Arnott? I'll soon tell you +what I know about your fine Miss Arnott. Sarah Ann, +tell your uncle what you know about that there Miss +Arnott."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then the tale was unfolded--by Wilson the housemaid--by +degrees, with many repetitions, in somewhat garbled +form; still, the essential truth, so far as she knew +it, was there.</p> + +<p class="normal">She told how, that eventful Saturday, the young +mistress had been out in the woods, as she put it, +"till goodness only knows what hours of the night." +How, the next morning, the key of the wardrobe drawer +was lost; how, after many days, she, Wilson, had found +it in the hem of her own skirt, how she had tried the +lock, "just to see if it really was the key," of what +the drawer contained--the stained clothing, the bloody +knife. She narrated, with dramatic force, how first +Evans and then Miss Arnott had come upon the scene, how +the knife and the camisole had been wrested from her, +how she herself had been ejected from the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">When she had finished Mr Nunn looked up from the +pocket-book in which he had been making copious notes +of the words as they came from her lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What you've said, Sarah Ann Wilson, you've said of +your own free will?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I have. Haven't I come here on purpose?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you're prepared to repeat your statement in a +court of law, and swear to its truth?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am. I'll swear to it anywhere."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't know what has become of that knife you've +mentioned?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Haven't I told you that she took it from me?--she and +Mrs Evans between them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes; just so. Well, Mr Granger, all that I want now is +a warrant for the arrest of this young lady. And, at +the same time, we'll search the house. We'll find the +knife of which this young woman speaks, if it's to be +found; only we mustn't let her have any longer time +than we can help to enable her to get rid of it, which, +from all appearances, is the first thing she'll try to +do. So perhaps you'll be so good as to tell me where I +shall be likely to find the nearest magistrate--now, at +once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am a magistrate. What is there I can do for you, Mr +Nunn?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Looking round to see from whom the unexpected answer +came, they saw that Mr Hugh Morice was standing in the +open doorway. Closing the door behind him he came into +the room.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_33" href="#div1Ref_33">ON HIS OWN CONFESSION</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Hugh Morice had been resorting to that medicine--in +whose qualifications to minister to a mind diseased he +more than half believed--a ride upon his motor car. Of +late he had found nothing to clear the cobwebs from his +brain so effectually as a whiz through the air. That +afternoon, after he had left Exham Park, he had felt +that his brain stood very much in need of a clearance. +So he had gone for a long run on his car.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was returning through the shadows, partially cured, +when he found what, in that part of the world, might be +described as a crowd, obstructing his passage through +the village street. Stopping to inquire what was the +cause of the unusual concourse, he realised that the +crowd was loitering in front of Granger's cottage--the +local stronghold of the County Police. As he did so he +was conscious that a shiver passed all over him, which +he was able neither to account for nor to control. The +answers, however, which the villagers gave to his +hurried questions, threw a lurid light upon the matter, +and inspired him, on the instant, with a great resolve. +Dismounting, he entered the cottage, just as Mr Nunn +was addressing his remarks to Mr Granger. As he heard +he understood that, if what he proposed to do was to be +of the slightest effect, he had arrived in the very +nick of time.</p> + +<p class="normal">They, on their part, stared at him half bewildered, +half amazed. He had on a long motor coat which shrouded +him from head to foot; a cap which covered not only his +ears but also part of his face; while his disguise was +completed by a pair of huge goggles. It was only when +he removed these latter that--in spite of the dust +which enveloped him as flour over a miller--they +recognised who he was. He repeated his own words in a +slightly different form.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You were saying, Mr Nunn, that you were requiring the +services of a magistrate. How can I serve you in that +capacity?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The detective stared at the gigantic figure, towering +over his own by no means insignificant inches, still in +doubt as to who he was.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I ought to know you; but, somehow, I don't feel as if +I can place you exactly, sir."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Morice smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell him, Granger, who I am."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Granger explained.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is Mr Hugh Morice, of Oak Dene, Justice of the +Peace for this division of the county. You can't have +forgotten him, Mr Nunn; he used to be present at the +coroner's inquest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course; now that Granger reminds me I remember you +very well, Mr Morice. You have arrived at a fortunate +moment for me, sir. I was just about to start off in +search of a magistrate, and that, in the country, at +this time of night, sometimes means a long job. I wish +to lay an information before you, sir, and ask for a +warrant."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Morice glanced at the three women.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In presence of these persons?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know that Mrs Granger need stop, or Mrs Wilson +either. Mrs Granger, you'd better take Mrs Wilson with +you. It is partly in consequence of a statement which +this young woman has just been making that I ask you +for a warrant. Now, Mrs Wilson, off you go."</p> + +<p class="normal">But Mrs Wilson showed reluctance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know why I'm to be sent away--especially as +it's my own daughter--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Hugh Morice cut her short brusquely,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Leave the room!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Wilson showed him something of that deference which +she had hitherto declined to show to anyone else. Mrs +Granger touched her on the shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm coming! I'm sure, Susan Granger, there's no need +for you to show me. No one can ever say I stop where I +am not wanted."</p> + +<p class="normal">When the two elder women had disappeared, Hugh Morice +turned his attention to Wilson the housemaid.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who is this young person?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Nunn informed him. Her story was gone through again. +When she had finished Mr Morice dismissed her to join +her mother and her aunt.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, Mr Nunn, what do you want from me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A warrant for the arrest of Violet Arnott, of Exham +Park."</p> + +<p class="normal">"On what charge?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wilful murder--the murder of Robert Champion."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of whom?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I said Robert Champion; but as it's not yet proved +that was his name we'd better have it in the +warrant--name unknown. I may say, Mr Morice, that that +girl's statement is not all I'm going on. Within the +hour I've received this anonymous communication."</p> + +<p class="normal">He handed the communication in question to Mr Morice, +who turned it over and over between his fingers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where did you get this from?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't tell you just at the moment; but I daresay I +shall be able to tell you before very long. Of course +it's anonymous; but, at the same time, it's suggestive. +Also a statement was made to me, of the most positive +and specific kind, by James Baker, at present a +prisoner in Winchester Gaol. Altogether I'm afraid, Mr +Morice, that the case against this young woman is +looking very black."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you in the habit, Mr Nunn, of making <i>ex officio</i> +statements of that kind on occasions such as the +present? If so, let me invite you to break yourself of +it. A man of your experience ought to know better--very +much better, Mr Nunn. I regret that I am unable to do +what you require."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Nunn stared; possibly slightly abashed by the rebuke +which had been administered to him in the presence of +Mr Granger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, sir, begging your pardon, you've no option in the +matter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Haven't I? You'll find I have--a very wide option. I +shall decline to allow a warrant to be issued for the +arrest of the lady you have named."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, Mr Morice, sir, on what grounds?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very simple ones. Because I happen to know she's +innocent."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But that's no reason!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll find it is, since I also happen to know who's +guilty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know who's guilty? Mr Morice!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Precisely--Mr Morice. It is I who am guilty. Mr Nunn, +I surrender myself into your custody as having been +guilty of killing a certain man on a certain Saturday +night in Cooper's Spinney. Is that in proper form?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you serious, sir?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I mean what I say, if that's what you are asking, Mr +Nunn."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then what about the tale that girl was telling, and +that knife she saw?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That knife is mine."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yours!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Exactly, and I'm afraid that knife is going to hang +me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How came it in Miss Arnott's possession?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's the simplest part of the whole affair. After I +had used it she found it, and has kept it ever since."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean that she's been screening you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Something like it. That is, I don't know that she was +sure of anything; but, I fancy, she has had her doubts. +I daresay she'll tell you all about it if you ask her. +You see, Mr Nunn, I've been in rather an awkward +position. So long as it was only a question of Jim +Baker it didn't so much matter; it's quite on the cards +that in the course of his sinful career he's done +plenty of things for which he deserves to be hung. When +it comes to Miss Arnott, knowing that she knows what +she does know, and especially that she has that +accursed knife of mine, that's a horse of a different +colour. Since she has only to open her mouth to make an +end of me, I may as well make as graceful an exit as +possible, and own the game is up. I don't quite know +what is the usual course in a matter of this sort, Mr +Nunn. My motor is outside. If it is possible I should +like to run over to my house. You may come with me, if +you please, and Mr Granger also. There are one or two +trifles which require my personal attention, and then +you may do with me as you please. In fact, if you could +manage to let me have an hour or two I should be happy +to place at your disposal quite a little fortune, Mr +Nunn and Mr Granger."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ought to know better than to talk to me like that, +Mr Morice. After what you've just now said it's my duty +to tell you that you're my prisoner."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXIV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_34" href="#div1Ref_34">MR DAY WALKS HOME</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">It chanced that night that Mr Day, the highly respected +butler at Exham Park, paid a visit to a friend. It was +rather late when he returned. The friend offered to put +him into a trap and drive him home, but Mr Day +declined.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's a fine night," he observed, "and a walk will do +me good. I don't get enough exercise out of doors. I +like to take advantage of any that comes my way. I'm +not so young as I was--we none of us are; but a +five-mile walk won't do me any harm. On a night like +this I'll enjoy it. Thank you, Hardy, all the same."</p> + +<p class="normal">So he walked.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was just after eleven when he reached the village. +Considering the hour he was surprised to find how many +people there were about. Mr Jenkins had just turned his +customers out of the "Rose and Crown." A roaring trade +he seemed to have been doing. A couple of dozen people +were gathered together in clusters in front of the inn, +exchanging final greetings before departing homewards. +For the most part they were talking together at the top +of their voices, as yokels on such occasions have a +trick of doing. Mr Day stopped to speak to a man, with +whom he had some acquaintance, in the drily sarcastic +fashion for which he was locally famed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the excitement? Parish pump got burned?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, Mr Day, haven't you heard the news?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That Saturday comes before Sunday? Haven't heard +anything newer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, Mr Day, don't you know that Sarah Ann Wilson, +from up at your place, has been over to Granger's, +trying to get him to give her a warrant for your young +lady?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's several kinds of fools about, but Sarah Ann +Wilson's all kinds of them together."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So it seems that Granger thinks. Anyhow he ain't given +it her. He's locked up Mr Morice instead."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Another man chimed in.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, Mr Day, where are you been not to have heard that +they've locked up Mr Morice for murdering o' that there +chap in Cooper's Spinney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What nonsense are you men talking about?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It ain't nonsense, Mr Day; no, that it ain't. You go +over to Granger's and you'll soon hear."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who locked him up?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Granger and Mr Nunn, that's the detective over from +London. They locked him up between them. It seems he +gave himself up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gave himself up?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So Mrs Wilson and her daughter says. They was in the +kitchen, at the other side of the door, and they heard +him giving of himself up. Seems as how they're going to +take him over to Doverham in the morning and bring him +before the magistrates. My word! won't all the +countryside be there to see! To think of its having +been Mr Morice after all. Me, I never shouldn't have +believed it, if he hadn't let it out himself."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Day waited to hear no more. Making his way through +the little crowd he strode on alone. That moon-lit walk +was spoilt for him. As he went some curious reflections +were taking shape in his mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That finishes it. Now something will have to be done. +I wish I'd done as I said I would, and taken myself off +long ago. And yet I don't know that I should have been +any more comfortable if I had. Wherever I might have +gone I should have been on tenterhooks. If I'd been on +the other side of the world and heard of this about Mr +Morice, I should have had to come back and make a clean +breast of it. Yet it's hard on me at my time of life!" +He sighed, striking at the ground with the ferule of +his stick. "All my days I've made it my special care to +have nothing to do with the police-courts. I've seen +too much trouble come of it to everyone concerned, and +never any good, and now to be dragged into a thing like +this. And all through her! If, after all, I've got to +speak, I don't know that I wouldn't rather have spoken +at first. It would have been better perhaps; it would +have saved a lot of bother, not to speak of all the +worry I've had. I feel sure it's aged me. I could see +by the way Mrs Hardy looked at me to-night that she +thought I was looking older. Goodness knows that I'm +getting old fast enough in the ordinary course of +nature." Again sighing, he struck at the ground with +his stick. "It would have served her right if I had +spoken--anything would have served her right. She's a +nice sort, she is. And yet I don't know, poor devil! +She's not happy, that's sure and certain. I never saw +anyone so changed. What beats me is that no one seems +to have noticed, except me. I don't like to look her +way: it's written so plain all over her. It just shows +how people can have eyes in their heads, and yet not +use them. From the remarks I've heard exchanged, I +don't believe a creature has noticed anything, yet I +daresay if you were to ask them they'd tell you they +always notice everything. Blind worms!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Perhaps for the purpose of relieving his feelings Mr +Day stood still in the centre of the road, tucked his +stick under his arm, took out his pipe, loaded it with +tobacco and proceeded to smoke. Having got his pipe +into going order he continued his way and his +reflections.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I knew it was her from the first; never doubted for a +moment. Directly I saw her come into the house that +night in the way she did, I knew that she'd been up to +something queer, and it wasn't very long before I knew +what it was. And I don't know that I was surprised when +I heard how bad it really was. All I wanted was to get +out of the way before I was dragged into the trouble +that I saw was coming. If I hadn't known from the first +I should have found out afterwards. She's given herself +away a hundred times--ah, and more. If I'd been a +detective put upon the job I should have had her over +and over again, unless I'd been as stupid as some of +those detectives do seem to be. Look at that Nunn now! +There's a precious fool! Locking up Mr Morice! I wonder +he doesn't lock himself up! Bah!"</p> + +<p class="normal">This time Mr Day took his pipe out of his mouth with +one hand, while he struck at the vacant air with the +stick in the other. Perhaps in imagination he was +striking at Mr Nunn.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor devil! it must have been something pretty strong +which made her do a thing like that. I wonder who that +chap was, and what he'd done to her. Not that I want to +know--the less I know the better. I know too much as it +is. I know that she's haunted, that never since has she +had a moment's peace of mind, either by day or night. +I've the best of reasons for knowing that she starts +pretty nearly out of her skin at every shadow. I +shouldn't be surprised to hear at any moment that she's +committed suicide. I lay a thousand pounds to a penny +that if I was to touch her on the shoulder with the tip +of my finger, and say, 'You killed that man in the +Cooper's Spinney, and he's looking over your shoulder +now,' she'd tumble straight off into a heap on the +floor and scream for mercy--What's that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He had reached a very lonely part of the road. The +Exham Park woods were on either side of him. A long +line of giant beeches bordered the road both on the +right and left. Beyond again, on both sides, were acres +of pines. A charming spot on a summer's day; but, to +some minds, just then a little too much in shadow to be +altogether pleasant. The high beeches on his left +obscured the moon. Here and there it found a passage +between their leaves; but for the most part the road +was all in darkness. Mr Day was well on in years, but +his hearing was as keen as ever, and his nerves as well +under control. The ordinary wayfarer would have heard +nothing, or, not relishing his surroundings, would have +preferred to hear nothing, till he had reached a point +where the moon's illumination was again plainly +visible. It is odd how many persons, born and bred in +the heart of the country, object strenuously to be out +among the scenes they know so well, alone in the +darkness at night.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the Exham Park butler was not a person of that +kidney. When he heard twigs snapping and the swishing +of brushwood, as of someone passing quickly through it, +he was immediately desirous of learning what might be +the cause of such unwonted midnight sounds. Slipping +his pipe into his pocket he moved both rapidly and +quietly towards the side of the road from which the +sounds proceeded. Just there the long line of hedge was +momentarily interrupted by a stile. Leaning over it he +peered as best he could into the glancing lights and +shadows among the pines. The sounds continued.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who is it? Hullo! Good lord! it's her!"</p> + +<p class="normal">As he spoke to himself a figure suddenly appeared in a +shaft of moonlight which had found its way along an +alley of pines--the figure of a woman. She was clad in +white--in some long, flowing garment which trailed +behind her as she went, and which must have seriously +impeded her progress, especially in view of the fact +that she seemed to be pressing forward at the top of +her speed. The keen-eyed observer watched her as she +went.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's she got on? It's a tea-gown or a dressing-gown +or something of that. It's strange to me. I've never +seen her in it before. So, after all, there is +something in the tales those gowks have been telling, +and she does walk the woods of nights. But she can't be +asleep; she couldn't go at that rate, through country +of this sort, if she were, and with all that drapery +trailing out behind her. But asleep or not I'll tackle +her and have it out with her once and for all."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Day climbed over the stile with an agility which did +credit to his years. As he reached the other side the +woman in the distance either became conscious of his +presence and his malevolent designs or fortune favoured +her; because, coming to a part of the forest from which +the moon was barred, she suddenly vanished from his +vision like a figure in a shadow pantomime. When he +gained the spot at which she had last been visible, +there was still nothing of her to be seen, but he +fancied that he caught a sound which suggested that, +not very far away, someone was pressing forward among +the trees.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She did that very neatly. Don't talk to me about her +being asleep. She both heard and saw me coming, so +she's given me the slip. But she's not done it so +completely as she perhaps thinks. I'll have her yet. +I'll show her that I'm pretty nearly as good at +trapesing through the woods at night as she is. I don't +want to be hard on a woman, and I wouldn't be if it +could be helped, but when it comes to be a question of +Mr Morice or her, it'll have to be her, and that's all +about it. I don't mean to let her go scot-free at his +expense--not much, I don't, as I'll soon show her!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He plunged into the pitch blackness of the forest, +towards where he fancied he had heard a sound in the +distance.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_35" href="#div1Ref_35">IN THE LADY'S CHAMBER</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott was restless. She had to entertain her two +self-invited guests--Mr Stacey and Mr Gilbert, and she +was conscious that while she was entertaining them, +each, in his own fashion, was examining her still. It +was a curious dinner which they had together, their +hostess feeling, rightly or wrongly, that the most dire +significance was being read into the most commonplace +remarks. If she smiled, she feared they might think her +laughter forced; if she was grave, she was convinced +that they were of opinion that it was because she had +something frightful on her mind. Mr Stacey made +occasional attempts to lighten the atmosphere, but, at +the best of times, his touch was inclined to be a heavy +one; then all his little outbursts of gaiety--or what +he meant for gaiety--seemed to be weighted with lead. +Mr Gilbert was frankly saturnine. He seemed determined +to say as little as he possibly could, and to wing +every word he did utter with a shaft of malice or of +irony. Especially was he severe on Mr Stacey's +spasmodic efforts at the promotion of geniality.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott arrived at two conclusions; one being +that he didn't like her, and the other that she didn't +like him. How correct she was in the first instance +may be judged from some remarks which were exchanged +when--after the old fashion--she had left them alone +together to enjoy a cigarette over their cups of +coffee, the truth being that she felt she must be +relieved from the burden of their society for, at +anyrate, some minutes.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Stacey commenced by looking at his companion as if +he were half-doubtful, half-amused.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gilbert, you don't seem disposed to be talkative."</p> + +<p class="normal">The reply was curt and to the point.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nor, if you will forgive my saying so, do you seem +inclined to make yourself peculiarly agreeable to our +hostess."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Gilbert surveyed the ash which was on the tip of his +cigar. His words were pregnant with meaning.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stacey, I can't stand women."</p> + +<p class="normal">With Mr Stacey amusement was getting the upper hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Does that apply to women in general or to this one in +particular?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes to both your questions. I don't wish to be rude to +your ward or to my hostess, but the girl's a fool."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gilbert!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So she is, like the other representatives of her sex. +She's another illustration of the eternal truth that a +woman can't walk alone; she can't. In consequence she's +got herself into the infernal muddle she has done. The +first male who, so to speak, got within reach of her, +took her by the scruff of the neck, and made her keep +step with him. He happened to be a scamp, so there's +all this to do. It constantly is like that. Most women +are like mirrors--mere surfaces on which to reflect +their owners; and when their owners take it into their +heads to smash the mirrors, why, they're smashed. When +I think of what an ass this young woman has made of +herself and others, merely because she's a woman, and +therefore couldn't help it, something sticks in my +throat. I can't be civil to her; it's no use trying. I +want to get in touch with something vertebrate: I can't +stand molluscs."</p> + +<p class="normal">Under the circumstances it was not strange that matters +in the drawing-room were no more lively than they had +been at dinner. So Miss Arnott excused herself at what +she considered to be the earliest possible moment and +went to bed.</p> + +<p class="normal">At least she went as far as her bedroom. She found +Evans awaiting her. A bed was made up close to her own, +all arrangements were arranged to keep watch and ward +over her through the night.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evans," she announced, "I've come to bed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you, miss? It's early--that is, for you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you'd spent the sort of evening I have you'd have +come early to bed. Evans, I want to tell you +something."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, miss; what might it be?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you ever take it for granted that, because a +man's clever at one thing, he's clever, or the least +bit of good, at anything else."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm afraid, miss, that I don't understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I'll make you understand, before I've done with +you; you're not stupid. I feel that before I even try +to close my eyes I must talk to some rational being, so +I'll talk to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, miss."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's a Mr Gilbert downstairs."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, miss, I've heard of him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's supposed to be a famous criminal lawyer; perhaps +you've heard that too. I'm told that he's the cleverest +living, and, I daresay, he's smart enough in his own +line. But out of it--such clumsiness, such stupidity, +such conceit, such manners--oh, Evans! I once heard a +specialist compared to a dog which is kept chained to +its kennel; within the limits of its chain that dog has +an amazing knowledge of the world. I suppose Mr Gilbert +is a specialist. He knows everything within the limits +of his chain. But, though he mayn't be aware of it--and +he isn't--his chain is there! And now, Evans, having +told you what I wished to tell you, I'm going to bed."</p> + +<p class="normal">But Miss Arnott did not go to bed just then. She seemed +unusually wide awake. It was obvious that, if any sound +data were to be obtained on the subject of her alleged +somnambulistic habits, it was necessary, first of all, +that she should go to sleep; but it would not be much +good her getting into bed if she felt indisposed for +slumber.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The only thing, Evans, of which I'm afraid is that, if +we're not careful, you'll fall asleep first, and that +then, so soon as you're asleep, I shall start off +walking through the woods. It'll make both of us look +so silly if I do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No fear of that, miss. I can keep awake as long as +anyone, and when I am asleep the fall of a feather is +enough to wake me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The fall of a feather? Evans! I don't believe you +could hear a feather falling, even if you were wide +awake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, miss, you know what I mean. I mean that I'm a +light sleeper. I shall lock the doors when we're both +of us in bed, and I shall put the keys underneath my +pillow. No one will take those keys from under my +pillow without my knowing it, I promise you that, no +matter how light-fingered they may be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see. I'm to be a prisoner. It doesn't sound quite +nice; but I suppose I'll have to put up with it. If you +were to catch me walking in my sleep how dreadful it +would be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I sha'n't do it. I don't believe you ever have walked +in your sleep, and I don't believe you ever will."</p> + +<p class="normal">Later it was arranged that the young lady should +undress, take a book with her to bed, and try to read +herself to sleep. Then it became a question of the +book.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know the very book that would be bound to send me to +sleep in a couple of ticks, even in the middle of the +day. I've tested its soporific powers already. Three +times I've tried to get through the first chapter, and +each time I've been asleep before I reached the end. It +is a book! I bought it a week or two ago. I don't know +why. I wasn't in want of a sleeping powder then. Where +did I put it? Oh, I remember; I lent it to Mrs Plummer. +She seemed to want something to doze over, so I +suggested that would be just the thing. Evans, do you +think Mrs Plummer is asleep yet?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know, miss. I believe she's pretty late. I'll +go and see."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, I'll go and see. Then I can explain to her what it +is I want, and just what I want it for. You stay here; +I sha'n't be a minute."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott went up to Mrs Plummer's bedroom. It was +called the tower-room. On one side of the house--which +was an architectural freak--was an eight-sided tower. +Although built into the main building it rose high +above it. Near the top was a clock with three faces. On +the roof was a flagstaff which served to inform the +neighbourhood if the family was or was not at home.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott was wont to declare that the tower-rooms +were the pleasantest in the house. In proof of it the +one which she had selected to be her own special +apartment lay immediately under that in which Mrs +Plummer slept. It had two separate approaches. The +corridor in which was Miss Arnott's sleeping-chamber +had, at one end--the one farthest from her--a short +flight of stairs which ascended to a landing on to +which opened one of Mrs Plummer's bedroom doors. On the +opposite side of the room was another door which gave +access to what was, to all intents and purposes, a +service staircase. Miss Arnott, passing along the +corridor and up the eight or nine steps, rapped at the +panel once, twice, and then again. As still no one +answered she tried the handle, thinking that if it was +locked the probabilities were that Mrs Plummer was in +bed and fast asleep. But, instead of being locked, it +opened readily at her touch. The fact that the electric +lights were all on seemed to suggest that, at anyrate, +the lady was not asleep in bed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Plummer!" she exclaimed, standing in the partly +opened doorway.</p> + +<p class="normal">No reply. Opening the door wider she entered the room. +It was empty. But there was that about the appearance +of the chamber which conveyed the impression that quite +recently, within the last two or three minutes, it had +had an occupant. Clothes were thrown down anywhere, as +if their wearer had doffed them in a hurry. Miss +Arnott, who had had a notion that Mrs Plummer was the +soul of neatness, was surprised and even tickled by the +evidence of untidiness which met her on every hand. Not +only were articles of wearing apparel scattered +everywhere, but the whole apartment was in a state of +odd disarray; at one part the carpet was turned quite +back. As she looked about her, Miss Arnott smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What can Mrs Plummer have been doing? She appears to +have been preparing for a flitting. And where can she +be? She seems to have undressed. Those are her clothes, +and there's the dress she wore at dinner. She can't be +in such a state of <i>déshabille</i> as those things seem to +suggest; and yet-- I don't think I'll wait till she +comes back. I wonder if she's left that book lying +about. If I can find it I'll sneak off at once, and +tell her all about it in the morning."</p> + +<p class="normal">On a table in the centre was piled up a heterogeneous +and disorderly collection of odds and ends. Miss Arnott +glanced at it to see if among the miscellanea was the +volume she was seeking. She saw that a book which +looked like it was lying underneath what seemed to be a +number of old letters. She picked it up, removing the +letters to enable her to do so. One or two of the +papers fell on to the floor. She stooped to pick them +up. The first was a photograph. Her eyes lighted on it, +half unwittingly; but, having lighted on it, they +stayed.</p> + +<p class="normal">The room seemed all at once to be turning round her. +She was conscious of a sense of vertigo, as if suddenly +something had happened to her brain. For some seconds +she was obsessed by a conviction that she was the +victim of an optical delusion, that what she supposed +herself to see was, in reality, a phantom of her +imagination. How long this condition continued she +never knew. But it was only after a perceptible +interval of time that she began to comprehend that she +deluded herself by supposing herself to be under a +delusion, that what she had only imagined she saw, she +actually did see. It was the sudden shock which had +caused that feeling of curious confusion. The thing was +plain enough.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was holding in her hand the photograph of her +husband--Robert Champion. The more she looked at it the +stronger the conviction became. There was not a doubt +of it. The portrait had probably been taken some years +ago, when the man was younger; but that it was her +husband she was certain. She was hardly likely to make +a mistake on a point of that kind. But, in the name of +all that was inexplicable, what was Robert Champion's +photograph doing here?</p> + +<p class="normal">She glanced at another of the articles she had dropped. +It was another portrait of the same man, apparently +taken a little later. There was a third--a smaller one. +In it he wore a yachting cap. Although he was no +yachting man--so far as she knew he had never been on +the sea in his life; but it was within her knowledge +that it was a fashion in headgear for which he had had, +as she deemed, a most undesirable predilection. He had +worn one when he had taken her for their honeymoon to +Margate; anyone looking less like a seaman than he did +in it, she thought she had never seen. In a fourth +photograph Robert Champion was sitting in a chair with +his arm round Mrs Plummer's waist; she standing at his +side with her hand upon his shoulder. She was obviously +many years older than the man in the chair; but she +could not have looked more pleased, either with herself +or with him.</p> + +<p class="normal">What did it mean?--what could it mean?--those photographs +in Mrs Plummer's room?</p> + +<p class="normal">Returning to the first at which she had glanced, +the girl saw that the name was scrawled across the +right-hand bottom corner, which had hitherto been +hidden by her thumb, in a hand which set her heart +palpitating with a sense of startled recognition. +"Douglas Plummer." The name was unmistakable in its +big, bombastic letters; but what did he mean by +scrawling "Douglas Plummer" at the bottom of his own +photograph? She suddenly remembered having seen a +visiting card of Mrs Plummer's on which her name had +been inscribed "Mrs Douglas Plummer." What did it mean?</p> + +<p class="normal">On the back of the photograph in which the man +and the woman had been taken together she found that +there was written--she knew the writing to be Mrs +Plummer's--"Taken on our honeymoon."</p> + +<p class="normal">When she saw that Miss Arnott rose to her feet--for the +first time since she had stooped to pick up the odds +and ends which she had dropped--and laughed. It was so +very funny. Again she closely examined the pair in the +picture and the sentence on the back. There could be no +doubt as to their identity; none as to what the +sentence said, nor as to the hand by which it had been +penned. But on whose honeymoon had it been taken? What +did it mean?</p> + +<p class="normal">There came to her a feeling that this was a matter in +which inquiries should be made at once. She had +forgotten altogether the errand which had brought her +there; she was overlooking everything in the strength +of her desire to learn, in the shortest possible space +of time, what was the inner meaning of these +photographs which she was holding in her hand. She saw +the letters which she had disturbed to get at the book +beneath. In the light of the new discoveries she had +made, even at that distance she recognised the +caligraphy in which they were written. She snatched +them up; they were in a bundle, tied round with a piece +of pink baby ribbon. To use a sufficiently-expressive +figure of speech, the opening line of the first "hit +her in the face,"--"My darling Agatha."</p> + +<p class="normal">Agatha? That was Mrs Plummer's Christian name.</p> + +<p class="normal">She thrust at a letter in the centre. It began--"My +precious wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">His precious wife? Whose wife? Douglas +Plummer's?--Robert Champion's?--Whose? What did it +mean?</p> + +<p class="normal">As she assailed herself with the question--for at least +the dozenth time--to which she seemed unlikely to find +an answer, a fresh impulse caused her to look again +about the room--to be immediately struck by something +which had previously escaped her observation. Surely +the bed had been slept in. It was rumpled; the pillow +had been lain on; the bedclothes were turned back, as +if someone had slipped from between the sheets and left +them so. What did that mean?</p> + +<p class="normal">While the old inquiry was assuming this fresh shape, +and all sorts of fantastic doubts seemed to have had +sudden birth and to be pressing on her from every side, +the door on the other side of the room was opened, and +Mrs Plummer entered.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXVI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_36" href="#div1Ref_36">OUT OF SLEEP</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott was so astounded at the appearance +which Mrs Plummer presented that, in her bewilderment, +she was tongue-tied. What, in the absence of tonsorial +additions--which the girl had already noted were +set out in somewhat gruesome fashion on the +dressing-table--were shown to be her scanty locks, +straggled loose about her neck. The garment in which +her whole person was enveloped was one which Miss +Arnott had never seen before, and, woman-like, she had +a very shrewd knowledge of the contents of her +companion's wardrobe. More than anything else it +resembled an unusually voluminous bath-sheet, seeming +to have been made of what had originally been white +Turkish towelling. The whiteness, however, had long +since disappeared. It was not only in an indescribable +state of filth, but also of rags and tatters. How any +of it continued to hang together was a mystery; there +was certainly not a square foot of it without a rent. +On her feet she wore what seemed to be the remnants of +a pair of bedroom slippers. So far as Miss Arnott was +able to discern the only other garment she had on was +her nightdress. In this attire she appeared to have +been in some singular places. She was all dusty and +torn; attached to her here and there were scraps of +greenery: here a frond of bracken, there the needle of +a pine.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Plummer," cried Miss Arnott, when she had in part +realised the extraordinary spectacle which her +companion offered, "wherever have you been?"</p> + +<p class="normal">But Mrs Plummer did not answer, at first to the girl's +increased amazement; then it all burst on her in a +flash--Mrs Plummer was asleep! It seemed incredible; +yet it was so. Her eyes were wide open; yet it only +needed a second or two to make it clear to Miss Arnott +that they did not see her. They appeared to have the +faculty of only seeing those objects which were +presented to their owner's inner vision. Miss Arnott +was not present at the moment in Mrs Plummer's +thoughts, therefore she remained invisible to her +staring eyes. It was with a curious feeling of having +come into unlooked-for contact with something uncanny +that the girl perceived this was so. Motionless, +fascinated, hardly breathing, she waited and watched +for what the other was about to do.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer closed the door behind her carefully--with +an odd carefulness. Coming a few steps into the room +she stopped. Looking about her with what the girl felt +was almost an agony of eagerness, it seemed strange +that she should not see her; her eyes travelled over +her more than once. Then she drew a long breath like a +sigh. Raising both hands to her forehead she brushed +back the thin wisps of her faded hair. It was with a +feeling which was half-shame, half-awe that the girl +heard her break into speech. It was as though she were +intruding herself into the other's very soul, and as if +the woman was speaking with a voice out of the grave.</p> + +<p class="normal">Indeed, there was an eerie quality about the actual +utterance--a lifelessness, a monotony, an absence of +light and shade. She spoke as she might fancy an +automaton would speak--all on the same note. The words +came fluently enough, the sentences seemed +disconnected.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I couldn't find it. I can't think where I put it. It's +so strange. I just dropped it like that." Mrs Plummer +made a sudden forward movement with her extended right +hand, then went through the motion of dropping +something from it on to the floor. With sensations +which in their instant, increasing horror altogether +transcended anything which had gone before, the girl +began to understand. "I can't quite remember. I don't +think I picked it up again. I feel sure I didn't bring +it home. I should have found it if I had. I have looked +everywhere--everywhere." The sightless eyes looked here +and there, anxiously, restlessly, searchingly, so that +the girl began to read the riddle of the disordered +room. "I must find it. I shall never rest until I +do--never! I must know where it is! The knife! the +knife!"</p> + +<p class="normal">As the unconscious woman repeated for the second time +the last two words, a sudden inspiration flashed +through the listener's brain; it possessed her with +such violence that, for some seconds, it set her +trembling from head to foot. When the first shock its +advent had occasioned had passed away, the tremblement +was followed by a calm which was perhaps its natural +sequence.</p> + +<p class="normal">Without waiting to hear or see more she passed out of +the room with rapid, even steps along the corridor to +her own chamber. There she was greeted by Evans.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've been a long time, miss. I suppose Mrs Plummer +couldn't find the book you wanted." Then she was +evidently struck by the peculiarity of the girl's +manner. "What has happened? I hope there's nothing else +that's wrong. Miss Arnott, what are you doing there?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl was unlocking the wardrobe drawer in which she +had that afternoon replaced Hugh Morice's knife. She +took the weapon out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evans, come with me! I'll show you who killed that man +in Cooper's Spinney! Be quick!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She took the lady's-maid by the wrist and half-led, +half-dragged her from the room. Evans looked at her +with frightened face, plainly in doubt as to whether +her young mistress had not all at once gone mad. But +she offered no resistance. On the landing outside the +door they encountered Mr Stacey and Mr Gilbert, who +were apparently just coming up to bed. Miss Arnott +hailed them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr Stacey! Mr Gilbert! you wish to know who it was who +murdered Robert Champion? Come with me quickly. You +shall see!"</p> + +<p class="normal">They stared at the knife which was in her hand, at the +strange expression which was on her face. She did not +wait for them to speak. She moved swiftly towards the +staircase which led to the tower-room. She loosed her +attendant's wrist. But Evans showed no desire to take +advantage of her freedom, she pressed closely on her +mistress's heels. Mr Gilbert, rapid in decision, went +after the two women without even a moment's hesitation. +Mr Stacey, of slower habit, paused a moment before he +moved, then, obviously puzzled, he followed the others.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the girl returned Mrs Plummer was bending over a +drawer, tossing its contents in seemingly haphazard +fashion on to the carpet.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must find it! I must find it!" she kept repeating to +herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Arnott called to her, not loudly but clearly,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Plummer!" But Mrs Plummer paid no heed. She +continued to mutter and to turn out the contents of the +drawer. The girl moved to her across the floor, +speaking to her again by name. "Mrs Plummer, what is it +you are looking for? Is it this knife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Plainly the somnambulist was vaguely conscious that a +voice had spoken. Ceasing to rifle the drawer she +remained motionless, holding her head a little on one +side, as if she listened. Then she spoke again; but +whether in answer to the question which had been put to +her or to herself, was not clear.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The knife! I want to find the knife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What knife is it you are looking for? Is it the knife +with which you killed your husband in the wood?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The woman shuddered. It seemed as if something had +reached her consciousness. She said, as if echoing the +other's words,--</p> + +<p class="normal">"My husband in the wood."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl became aware that Day, the butler, had entered +through the door on the other side, wearing his hat, as +if he had just come out of the open air, and that he +was accompanied by Granger in his uniform, and by a man +whom she did not recognise, but who, as a matter of +fact, was Nunn, the detective. She knew that, behind +her, was Evans with Mr Stacey and Mr Gilbert. She +understood that, for her purpose, the audience could +scarcely have been better chosen.</p> + +<p class="normal">She raised her voice a little, laying stress upon her +words.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Plummer, here is the knife for which you are +looking."</p> + +<p class="normal">With one hand she held out to her the handle of the +knife, with the other she touched her on the shoulder. +There could be no mistake this time as to whether or +not the girl had penetrated to the sleep-walker's +consciousness. They could all of them see that a shiver +went all over her, almost as if she had been struck by +palsy. She staggered a little backwards, putting out +her arms in front of her as if to ward off some +threatening danger. There came another fit of +shivering, and then they knew she was awake--awake but +speechless. She stared at the girl in front of her as +if she were some dreadful ghost. Relentless, still set +upon her purpose, Miss Arnott went nearer to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs Plummer, here is the knife for which you have +been looking--the knife with which you killed your +husband--Douglas Plummer--in the wood."</p> + +<p class="normal">The woman stared at the knife, then at the girl, then +about her. She saw the witnesses who stood in either +doorway. Probably comprehension came to her bewildered +intellect, which was not yet wide awake. She realised +that her secret was no longer her own, since she had +been her own betrayer, that the Philistines were upon +her. She snatched at the knife which the girl still +held out, and, before they guessed at her intention, +had buried it almost to the hilt in her own breast.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXVII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_37" href="#div1Ref_37">WHAT WAS WRITTEN</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">She expired that same night without having uttered an +intelligible word. In a sense her end could hardly have +been called an unfortunate one. It is certain that, had +she lived, she would have had a bad time, even if she +had escaped the gallows. She had left behind her the +whole story, set forth in black and white by her own +hand. It was a sufficiently unhappy one. It is not +impossible that, having heard it, a jury would have +recommended her to mercy. In which case the capital +sentence would probably have been commuted to one of +penal servitude for life. It is a moot question whether +it is not better to hang outright rather than endure a +living death within the four walls of a gaol.</p> + +<p class="normal">The story of her life as recounted by herself--and +there is no reason to doubt the substantial accuracy of +her narrative--was this.</p> + +<p class="normal">Agatha Linfield, a spinster past her first prime, +possessed of some means of her own, met at a Brighton +boarding-house a young man who called himself Douglas +Plummer. Possibly believing her to be better off than +she was he paid her attentions from the first moment of +their meeting. Within a month he had married her. In +much less than another month she had discovered what +kind of a man she had for a husband. He inflicted on +her all sorts of indignities, subjecting her even to +physical violence, plundering her of all the money he +could. When he had brought her to the verge of beggary +he fell into the hands of the police; as he was +destined to do again at a later period in his career. +Hardly had he been sentenced to a term of imprisonment +than his wife became the recipient of another small +legacy, on the strength of which she went abroad, and, +by its means, managed to live. Her own desire was never +to see or hear of her husband again. She even went so +far as to inform her relatives that he had died and +left her a sorrowing widow. He, probably having wearied +of a woman so much older than himself and knowing +nothing of the improvement in her fortunes, seems to +have made no effort on his release to ascertain her +whereabouts. In short, for some years each vanished out +of the other's existence.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the night of the Saturday on which they returned +from abroad, when Miss Arnott went for her woodland +stroll, Mrs Plummer, whose curiosity had been +previously aroused as to the true inwardness of her +proceedings, after an interval followed to see what +possible inducement there could be to cause her, after +a long and fatiguing journey, to immediately wander +abroad at such an uncanonical hour. She was severely +punished for her inquisitiveness. Exactly what took +place her diary did not make clear; details were +omitted, the one prominent happening was alone narrated +in what, under the circumstances, were not unnaturally +vague and somewhat confused terms. She came upon the +man who was known to Miss Arnott as Robert Champion, +and to her as Douglas Plummer, all in a moment, without +having had, the second before, the faintest suspicion +that he was within a hundred miles. She had hoped--had +tried to convince herself--that he was dead. The sight +of him, as, without the least warning he rose at +her--like some spectre of a nightmare--from under the +beech tree, seems to have bereft her for a moment of +her senses. He must have been still writhing from the +agony inflicted by Jim Baker's "peppering" so that he +himself was scarcely sane. He had in his hand Hugh +Morice's knife, which he had picked up, almost by +inadvertence, as he staggered to his feet at the sound +of someone coming. It may be that he supposed the +newcomer to have been the person who had already shot +at him, that his intention was to defend himself with +the accidentally-discovered weapon from further +violence. She only saw the knife. She had set down in +her diary that he was waiting there to kill her; which, +on the face of it, had been written with an imperfect +knowledge of the facts. As he lurched towards +her--probably as much taken by surprise as she was--she +imagined he meant to strike her with the knife. +Scarcely knowing what she did she snatched it from him +and killed him on the spot.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was at that moment she was seen by Hugh Morice +and Jim Baker, both of whom took her for Miss +Arnott. Instantly realising what it was that she +had done she fled panic-stricken into the woods +with--presently--Hugh Morice dashing wildly after her. +Miss Arnott saw Hugh Morice, and him only, and drew her +own erroneous conclusions.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs Plummer gained entrance to the house by climbing +through a tall casement window, which chanced to have +been left unfastened, and which opened into a passage +near the foot of the service staircase. Afterwards, +fast asleep, she frequently got in and out of the house +through that same window. Unknown to her the discreet +Mr Day saw her entry. She had still very far from +regained full control of her sober senses. So soon as +she was in, seized, apparently, by a sudden +recollection, she exclaimed, turning again to the +casement, "The knife! the knife! I've left the knife!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr Day, who had no particular affection for the lady, +heard the words, saw the condition she was in, and +decided, there and then, that she had recently been +involved in some extremely singular business. Until, +shortly afterwards, he admitted her himself, he was +inclined to fear that she had killed his young +mistress.</p> + +<p class="normal">The impression Mrs Plummer had made upon his mind never +left him. Spying on her at moments when she little +suspected espionage, his doubts gained force as time +went on, until they amounted to conviction. When the +body was found in the spinney, although he had little +evidence to go upon, he had, personally, no doubt as to +who was the guilty party. It was because he was divided +between the knowledge that it was his duty to tell all +he knew and his feelings that it would be derogatory to +his dignity and repellent to his most cherished +instincts to be mixed up with anything which had to do +with the police, that he was desirous of quitting Miss +Arnott's service ere he was dragged, willy-nilly, into +an uncomfortably prominent position in a most +unpleasant affair.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nothing which afterwards transpired caused him at any +time, to doubt, that, whenever he chose, he could lay +his hand upon the criminal. He alone, of all the +persons in the drama, had an inkling of the truth.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXVIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_38" href="#div1Ref_38">MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">The charge against Jim Baker was withdrawn at the +earliest possible moment. Hugh Morice was released that +night from the confinement which he had himself +invited. When Mr Nunn asked what had made him accuse +himself of a crime of which he was altogether innocent +he laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Since you yourself were about to charge one innocent +person, you should be the last person in the world to +object to my charging another."</p> + +<p class="normal">The next day he went to Exham Park. There he saw its +mistress. By degrees the whole tale was told. It took a +long time in the telling. Part of it was told in the +house, and then, as it still seemed unfinished, he went +out with her upon her motor car. The rest of it was +told upon the way.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It seems," she pointed out, "that, as the wretch +married that poor woman before he ever saw me, I never +was his wife at all. I don't know if it's better that +way or worse."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Better."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not so sure."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am. Because, when you become my wife--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She put the car on to the fourth speed. There was a +long, straight, level road and not a soul in sight. +They moved!</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll get into trouble if you don't look out."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not afraid."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was about to remark that when you become my wife--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish you wouldn't talk to me when we're going at +this rate. You know it's dangerous."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Get down on to the first speed at once." She did slow +a trifle, which enabled him to speak without unduly +imperilling their safety. "I was saying that when you +become my wife I shall marry you as Miss Arnott--Violet +Arnott, spinster. That will be your precise +description. I prefer it that way, if you don't mind."</p> + +<p class="normal">Whether she minded or not that was what he did. No one +thereabouts had the dimmest notion what was her actual +relation to the man who had met the fate which, after +all, was not wholly undeserved. So that the great and +glorious festival, which will not be forgotten in that +countryside for many a day, is always spoken of by +everyone who partook of the bride and bridegroom's +splendid hospitality as "Miss Arnott's marriage."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was indeed one of those marriages of which we may +assuredly affirm, that those whom God hath joined no +man shall put asunder.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>THE END</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h4>EDINBURGH<br> +COLSTON AND COY. LIMITED<br> +PRINTERS</h4> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Arnott's Marriage, by Richard Marsh + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 37963-h.htm or 37963-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/9/6/37963/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by Google Books + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Miss Arnott's Marriage + +Author: Richard Marsh + +Release Date: November 9, 2011 [EBook #37963] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by Google Books + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +1. Page scan source: + http://books.google.com/books?id=NTQPAAAAQAAJ. + +2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + + Miss Arnott's + Marriage + + + + + + + |-------------------------------| + | BY THE SAME AUTHOR | + | | + | * * * | + | | + | CURIOS | + | ADA VERNHAM, ACTRESS | + | MRS MUSGRAVE AND HER HUSBAND | + | THE MAGNETIC GIRL | + | | + | * * * | + | | + | John Long, Publisher, London | + |_______________________________| + + + + + + + + Miss Arnott's Marriage + + + + + By + Richard Marsh + + Author of "The Beetle," etc. + + + + + + London + John Long + 13 & 14 Norris Street, Haymarket + 1904 + + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAP. + + I. ROBERT CHAMPION'S WIFE. + + II. THE WOMAN ON THE PAVEMENT. + + III. THE HEIRESS ENTERS INTO HER OWN. + + IV. THE EARL OF PECKHAM'S PROPOSAL. + + V. TRESPASSING. + + VI. AN AUTHORITY ON THE LAW OF MARRIAGE. + + VII. MR MORICE PRESUMES. + + VIII. THE LADY WANDERS. + + IX. THE BEECH TREE. + + X. THE TALE WHICH WAS TOLD. + + XI. THE MAN ON THE FENCE. + + XII. WHAT SHE HEARD, SAW AND FOUND. + + XIII. AFTERWARDS. + + XIV. ON THE HIGH ROAD. + + XV. COOPER'S SPINNEY. + + XVI. JIM BAKER. + + XVII. INJURED INNOCENCE. + + XVIII. AT THE FOUR CROSS ROADS. + + XIX. THE BUTTONS OFF THE FOILS. + + XX. THE SOLICITOR'S CLERK. + + XXI. THE "NOTE". + + XXII. ERNEST GILBERT. + + XXIII. THE TWO MEN. + + XXIV. THE SOMNAMBULIST. + + XXV. HUGH MORICE EXPLAINS. + + XXVI. THE TWO MAIDS. + + XXVII. A CONFIDANT. + + XXVIII. MRS DARCY SUTHERLAND. + + XXIX. SOME PASSAGES OF ARMS. + + XXX. MISS ARNOTT IS EXAMINED. + + XXXI. THE TWO POLICEMEN. + + XXXII. THE HOUSEMAID'S TALE. + + XXXIII. ON HIS OWN CONFESSION. + + XXXIV. MR DAY WALKS HOME. + + XXXV. IN THE LADY'S CHAMBER. + + XXXVI. OUT OF SLEEP. + + XXXVII. WHAT WAS WRITTEN. + + XXXVIII. MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE. + + + + + + Miss Arnott's Marriage + + + + + CHAPTER I + + ROBERT CHAMPION'S WIFE + + +"Robert Champion, you are sentenced to twelve months' hard labour." + +As the chairman of the Sessions Court pronounced the words, the +prisoner turned right round in the dock, and glanced towards where he +knew his wife was standing. He caught her eye, and smiled. What +meaning, if any, the smile conveyed, he perhaps knew. She could only +guess. It was possibly intended to be a more careless, a more +light-hearted smile than it in reality appeared. Robert Champion had +probably not such complete control over his facial muscles as he would +have desired. There was a hunted, anxious look about the eyes, a +suggestion of uncomfortable pallor about the whole countenance which +rather detracted from the impression which she had no doubt that he had +intended to make. She knew the man well enough to be aware that nothing +would please him better than that she should suppose that he regarded +the whole proceedings with gay bravado, with complete indifference, +both for the powers that were and for the punishment which they had +meted out to him. But even if the expression on his face had not shown +that the cur in the man had, for the moment, the upper hand, the +unceremonious fashion in which the warders bundled him down the +staircase, and out of sight, would have been sufficient to prevent any +impression being left behind that he had departed from the scene in a +halo of dignity. + +As regards his wife, the effect made upon her by the whole proceedings +was an overwhelming consciousness of unbearable shame. When the man +with the cheap good looks was hustled away, as if he were some inferior +thing, the realisation that this was indeed her husband, was more than +she could endure. She reached out with her hand, as if in search of +some support, and, finding none, sank to the floor of the court in a +swoon. + +"Poor dear!" said a woman, standing near. "I expect she's something to +do with that scamp of a fellow--maybe she's his wife." + +"This sort of thing often is hardest on those who are left behind," +chimed in a man. "Sometimes it isn't those who are in prison who suffer +most; it's those who are outside." + +When, having regained some of her senses, Violet Champion found herself +in the street, she was inclined to call herself hard names for having +gone near the court at all. She had only gone because she feared that +if she stayed away she might not have learned how the thing had ended. +This crime of which Robert Champion had been guilty was such a petty, +such a paltry thing, that, so far as she knew, the earlier stages of +the case had not been reported at all. One or other of the few score +journals which London issues might have noticed it at some time, +somewhere. If so, it had escaped her observation. Her knowledge of +London papers was limited. They contained little which was likely to be +of interest to her. She hardly knew where to look for such comments. +The idea was not to be borne that she should be left in ignorance as to +how the case had gone, as to what had become of Robert Champion. +Anything rather than that. Her want of knowledge would have been to her +as a perpetual nightmare. She would have scarcely dared to show herself +in the streets for fear of encountering him. + +Yet, now that it was all over, and she knew the worst--or best--her +disposition was to blame herself for having strayed within the tainted +purlieus of that crime-haunted court. She felt as if the atmosphere of +the place had infected her with some loathsome bacillus. She also +thought it possible that he might have misconstrued the meaning of her +presence. He was in error if he had supposed that it was intended as a +mark of sympathy. In her complete ignorance of such matters she had no +notion as to the nature of the punishment to which he had rendered +himself liable. If he were sentenced to a long term of penal servitude +she simply wished to know it, that was all. In such a situation any +sort of certainty was better than none. But sympathy! If he had been +sentenced to be hung, her dominant sensation would have been one of +relief. The gallows would have been a way of escape. + +No one seeing the tall, handsome girl strolling listlessly along the +street would have connected her with such a sordid tragedy. But it +seemed to her that the stigma of Robert Champion's shame was branded +large all over her, that passers-by had only to glance at her to +perceive at once the depths into which she had fallen. + +And they were depths. Only just turned twenty-one; still a girl, and +already a wife who was no wife. For what sort of wife can she be called +who is mated to a convicted felon? And Robert Champion was one of +nature's felons; a rogue who preferred to be a rogue, who loved crooked +ways because of their crookedness, who would not run straight though +the chance were offered him. He was a man who, to the end of his life, +though he might manage to keep his carcase out of the actual hands of +the law, would render himself continually liable to its penalties. +Twelve months ago he was still a stranger. The next twelve months he +was to spend in gaol. When his term of imprisonment was completed would +their acquaintance be recommenced? + +At the thought of such a prospect the dizziness which had prostrated +her in court returned. At present she dared not dwell on it. + +She came at last to the house in Percy Street in which she had hired a +lodging. A single room, at the top of the house, the rent of which, +little though it was, was already proving a severe drain on her limited +resources. From the moment in which, at an early hour in the morning, +her husband had been dragged out of bed by policemen, she had +relinquished his name. There was nothing else of his she could +relinquish. The rent for the rooms they occupied was in arrears; +debts were due on every side. Broadly speaking, they owed for +everything--always had done since the day they were married. There were +a few articles of dress, and of personal adornment, which she felt that +she was reasonably justified in considering her own. Most of these she +had turned into cash, and had been living--or starving--on the proceeds +ever since. The occupant of the "top floor back" was known as Miss +Arnott. She had returned to her maiden name. She paid six shillings a +week for the accommodation she received, which consisted of the bare +lodging, and what--ironically--was called "attendance." Her rent had +been settled up to yesterday, and she was still in possession of +twenty-seven shillings. + +When she reached her room she became conscious that she was +hungry--which was not strange, since she had eaten nothing since breakfast, +which had consisted of a cup of tea and some bread and butter. But of +late she had been nearly always hungry. Exhausted, mentally and bodily, +she sank on to the side of the bed, which made a more comfortable seat +than the only chair which the room contained; and thought and thought +and thought. If only certain puzzles could be solved by dint of sheer +hard thinking! But her brain was in such a state of chaos that she +could only think confusedly, in a vicious circle, from which her +mind was incapable of escaping. To only one conclusion could she +arrive--that it would be a very good thing if she might be permitted to +lie down on the bed, just as she was, and stay there till she was dead. +For her life was at an end already at twenty-one. She had put a period +to it when she had suffered herself to become that man's wife. + +She was still vaguely wondering if it might not be possible for her to +take advantage of some such means of escape when she was startled by a +sudden knocking at the door. Taken unawares, she sprang up from the +bed, and, without pausing to consider who might be there, she cried,-- + +"Come in!" + +Her invitation was accepted just as she was beginning to realise that +it had been precipitately made. The door was opened; a voice--a +masculine voice--inquired,-- + +"May I see Miss Arnott?" + +The speaker remained on the other side of the open door, in such a +position that, from where she was, he was still invisible. + +"What do you want? Who are you?" she demanded. + +"My name is Gardner--Edward Gardner. I occupy the dining-room. If you +will allow me to come in I will explain the reason of my intrusion. I +think you will find my explanation a sufficient one." + +She hesitated. The fact that the speaker was a man made her at once +distrustful. Since her marriage day she had been developing a +continually increasing distaste for everything masculine--seeing in +every male creature a possible replica of her husband. The moment, too, +was unpropitious. Yet, since the stranger was already partly in the +room, she saw no alternative to letting him come a little farther. + +"Come in," she repeated. + +There entered an undersized, sparely-built man, probably between forty +and fifty years of age. He was clean-shaven, nearly bald--what little +hair he had was iron grey--and was plainly but neatly dressed in black. +He spoke with an air of nervous deprecation, as if conscious that he +was taking what might be regarded as a liberty, and was anxious to show +cause why it should not be resented. + +"As I said just now, I occupy the dining-rooms and my name is Gardner. +I am a solicitor's clerk. My employers are Messrs Stacey, Morris & +Binns, of Bedford Row. Perhaps you are acquainted with the firm?" + +He paused as if for a reply. She was still wondering more and more what +the man could possibly be wanting; oppressed by the foreboding, as he +mentioned that he was a solicitor's clerk, that he was a harbinger of +further trouble. With her law and trouble were synonyms. He went on, +his nervousness visibly increasing. He was rendered uneasy by the +statuesque immobility of her attitude, by the strange fashion in which +she kept her eyes fixed on his face. It was also almost with a sense of +shock that he perceived how young she was, and how beautiful. + +"It is only within the last few minutes that I learned, from the +landlady, that your name was Arnott. It is a somewhat unusual name; +and, as my employers have been for some time searching for a person +bearing it, I beg that you will allow me to ask you one or two +questions. Of course, I understand that my errand will quite probably +prove to be a futile one; but, at the same time, let me assure you that +any information you may give will only be used for your advantage; and +should you, by a strange coincidence, turn out to be a member of the +family for whom search has been made, you will benefit by the discovery +of the fact. May I ask if, to your knowledge, you ever had a relation +named Septimus Arnott?" + +"He was my uncle. My father's name was Sextus Arnott. My grandfather +had seven sons and no daughters. He was an eccentric man, I believe--I +never saw him; and he called them all by Latin numerals. My father was +the sixth son, Sextus; the brother to whom you refer, the seventh and +youngest, Septimus." + +"Dear, dear! how extraordinary! almost wonderful!" + +"I don't know why you should call it wonderful. It was perhaps curious; +but, in this world, people do curious things." + +"Quite so!--exactly!--not a doubt of it! It was the coincidence which I +was speaking of as almost wonderful, not your grandfather's method of +naming his sons; I should not presume so far. And where, may I further +be allowed to ask, is your father now, and his brothers?" + +"They are all dead." + +"All dead! Dear! dear!" + +"My father's brothers all died when they were young men. My father +himself died three years ago--at Scarsdale, in Cumberland. My mother +died twelve months afterwards. I am their only child." + +"Their only child! You must suffer me to say, Miss Arnott, that it +almost seems as if the hand of God had brought you to this house and +moved me to intrude myself upon you. I take it that you can furnish +proofs of the correctness of what you say?" + +"Of course I can prove who I am, and who my father was, and his +father." + +"Just so; that is precisely what I mean--exactly. Miss Arnott, Mr +Stacey, the senior partner in our firm, resides in Pembridge Gardens, +Bayswater. I have reason to believe that, if I go at once, I shall find +him at home. When I tell him what I have learnt I am sure that he will +come to you at once. May I ask you to await his arrival? I think I can +assure you that you shall not be kept waiting more than an hour." + +"What can the person of whom you speak have to say to me?" + +"As I have told you, I am only a servant. It is not for me to betray my +employer's confidence; but so much I may tell you--if you are the niece +of the Septimus Arnott for whom we are acting you are a very fortunate +young lady. And, in any case, I do assure you that you will not regret +affording Mr Stacey an opportunity of an immediate interview." + +Mr Gardner went; the girl consented to await his return. Almost as soon +as he was gone the landlady--Mrs Sayers--paid her a visit. It soon +appeared that she had been prompted by the solicitor's clerk. + +"I understand, Miss Arnott, from Mr Gardner, who has had my dining-room +now going on for five years, that his chief governor, Mr Stacey, is +coming to call on you, as it were, at any moment. If you'd like to +receive him in my sitting-room, I'm sure you're very welcome; and you +shall be as private as you please." + +The girl eyed the speaker. Hitherto civility had not been her strongest +point. Her sudden friendly impulse could only have been induced by some +very sufficient reason of her own. The girl declined her offer. Mrs +Sayers became effusive, almost insistent. + +"I am sure, my dear, that you will see for yourself that it's not quite +the thing for a young lady to receive a gentleman, and maybe two, in a +room like this, which she uses for sleeping. You're perfectly welcome +to my little sitting-room for half an hour, or even more, where you'll +be most snug and comfortable; and as for making you a charge, or +anything of that sort, I shouldn't think of it, so don't let yourself +be influenced by any fears of that kind." + +But the girl would have nothing to do with Mrs Sayers' sitting-room. +This woman had regarded her askance ever since she had entered the +house, had treated her with something worse than incivility. Miss +Arnott was not disposed, even in so trifling a matter, to place herself +under an obligation to her now. Mrs Sayers was difficult to convince; +but the girl was rid of her at last, and was alone to ask herself what +this new turn of fortune's wheel might portend. On this already +sufficiently eventful day, of what new experiment was she to be made +the subject? What was this stranger coming to tell her about Septimus +Arnott--the uncle from whom her father had differed, as he himself was +wont to phrase it, on eleven points out of ten? She was, it appeared, +to be asked certain questions. Good; she would be prepared to answer +them, up to a certain point. But where, exactly, was that point? And +what would happen after it was reached? + +She was ready and willing to give a full and detailed account of all +that had ever happened to her--up to the time of her coming to London. +And how much afterwards? She did not, at present, know how it could be +done; but if, by any means whatever, the thing were possible, she meant +to conceal--from the whole world!--the shameful fact that she was +Robert Champion's wife. Nothing, save the direst unescapable pressure, +should ever induce her to even admit that she had known the man. That +entire episode should be erased from her life, as if it had never been, +if it were feasible. And she would make it feasible. + +The matter she had at present to consider was, how much--or how +little--she should tell her coming visitors. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE WOMAN ON THE PAVEMENT + + +Mr Stacey was a tall, portly gentleman, quite an accepted type of +family lawyer. He was white-headed and inclined to be red-faced. He +carried a pair of nose glasses, which were as often between his fingers +as on his nose. His manner was urbane, with a tendency towards +pomposity; and when he smiled, which was often, he showed a set of +teeth which were as white and regular as the dentist could make them. +He was followed into the room by Mr Gardner; and when the apartment +contained three persons it was filled to overflowing. + +"Miss Arnott, my excellent friend, Mr Gardner here, has brought me +most important news--most important. He actually tells me that you +are--eh--the Miss Arnott for whom we have been so long in search." + +"I am Miss Arnott. I am not aware, however, that anyone has searched +for me. I don't know why they should." + +Mr Gardner, who had been showing a vivid consciousness of scanty space, +proffered a suggestion. + +"If I might make so bold, sir, as to ask Miss Arnott to honour me by +stepping down to my poor parlour, we should, at least, have a little +more room to move." + +"Mrs Sayers has already made me a similar proposal. I declined it, as I +decline yours. What you wish to say to me you will be so good as to say +to me here. This room, such as it is, is at anyrate my own--for the +present." + +"For the present; quite so!--quite so! A fine spirit of independence--a +fine spirit. I think, Miss Arnott, that before long you will have other +rooms of your own, where you will be able to be independent in another +sense. I understand that you claim to be the only surviving relative of +Septimus Arnott, of Exham Park, Hampshire." + +"You understand quite wrongly; I claim nothing. I merely say that I am +the only child of Sextus Arnott, and that I had an uncle whose name was +Septimus. When they were young men my father and his brother were both +artists. But, after a time, Uncle Septimus came to the conclusion that +there was not much money to be made out of painting. He wanted my +father to give it up. My father, who loved painting better than +anything else in the world"--the words were uttered with more than a +shade of bitterness--"wouldn't. They quarrelled and parted. My father +never saw his brother again, and I have never seen him at all." + +"You don't know, then, that he is dead?" + +"I know nothing except what my father has told me. He remained what he +called 'true to his art' to the end of his life, and never forgave his +brother for turning his back on it." + +"Pardon my putting to you a somewhat delicate question. Did your father +make much money by his painting?" + +"Much money!" The girl's lip curled. "When he died there was just +enough left to keep my mother till she died." + +"And then?" + +"I came to London in search of fortune." + +"And found it?" + +"Do I look as if I had--in this attic, which contains all that I have +in the world? No; fortune does not come to such as I am. I should be +tolerably content if I were sure of daily bread. But why do you ask +such questions? Why do you pry into my private affairs? I am not +conscious of a desire to thrust them on your notice--or on anyone's." + +"Miss Arnott, I beg that you will not suppose that I am actuated by +common curiosity. Let me explain the situation in half-a-dozen words. +Your Uncle Septimus, after he left your father, went to South America. +There, after divers adventures, he went in for cattle breeding. In that +pursuit he amassed one of those large fortunes which are characteristic +of modern times. Eventually he came to England, bought a property, +settled himself on it, and there died. We acted as his legal advisers. +He left his whole property to his brother Sextus; or, in the event of +his brother predeceasing him, to his brother's children. You must +understand that he himself lived and died a bachelor. His own death +occurred three years ago." + +"My father also died three years ago--on the 18th of March." + +"This is very remarkable, Miss Arnott; they must have died on the same +day!" + +"My father died at five minutes to six in the evening. His last words +were, 'Well, Septimus.' My mother and I, who were at his bedside, +wondered why he had said it--which he did so plainly that we both +turned round to see if anyone had come into the room. Until then he had +not mentioned his brother's name for a long time." + +"Miss Arnott, this is more and more remarkable; quite apart from any +legal proof there can be no sort of doubt that you are the person +we are seeking. It happened that I was present at your uncle's +deathbed--partly as a friend and partly as his professional adviser. For +I should tell you that he was a very lonely man. He seemed to have no +friends, and was chary of making acquaintances; in that great house he +lived the life of a lonely recluse. He died just as the clock was +striking six; and just before he died he sat up in bed, held out his +hand, and exclaimed in quite his old, hearty voice, 'Hullo, Sextus.' +No one there knew to what the reference was made; but from what you say +it would almost appear as if their spirits were already meeting." Mr +Stacey blew his nose as if all at once conscious that they were touching +a subject which was not strictly professional. "Before entering further +into matters, I presume that--merely for form's sake--you are in a +position to prove, Miss Arnott, that you are you." + +"Certainly, I can do that, to some extent, at once." She took an +envelope from a shabby old handbag; from the envelope some papers. +"This is my mother's marriage certificate; this is the certificate of +my own birth; this--" the paper of which she had taken hold chanced to +be a copy of the document which certified that a marriage had taken +place between Robert Champion, bachelor, and Violet Arnott, spinster. +For the moment she had forgotten its existence. When she recognised +what it was her heart seemed to sink in her bosom; her voice trembled; +it was only with an effort that she was able to keep herself from +handing it to the man of law in front of her. "No," she stammered, +"that's the wrong paper." Just in time she drew it back. If he had only +had one glance at it the whole course of her life would have been +different. She went on, with as complete a show of calmness as she was +capable of, "This is the paper I meant to give you--it is a copy of the +certificate of my father's death; and this is a copy of my mother's. +They are both buried in the same grave in the cemetery at Scarsdale." + +He took the papers she passed to him, seemingly unconscious that there +was anything curious in her manner. That other paper, crumpling it up, +she slipped between the buttons of her bodice. He looked through the +documents she had given him. + +"They appear to be perfectly in order--perfectly in order, and I have +no doubt that on investigation they will be ascertained to be. By the +way, Miss Arnott, I notice that you were born just one-and-twenty years +ago." + +"Yes; my twenty-first birthday was on the 9th of last month--five weeks +ago." + +She did not think it necessary to mention that the memory of it would +be with her for ever, since it had been celebrated by the arrest of her +husband. + +"Five weeks ago? A pity that it couldn't have been next month instead +of last; then the date of your coming of age might have been made a +great occasion. However, it shall still be to you a memorable year. You +will, of course, understand that there are certain forms which must be +gone through; but I don't think I am premature in expressing to you my +personal conviction that you are the person who is intended to benefit +under the will of the late Mr Septimus Arnott. Your uncle was one of +our multi-millionaires. I cannot, at this moment, state the exact value +of his estate; but this I can inform you--that your income will be +considerably over one hundred thousand pounds a year." + +"One hundred thousand pounds a year!" She gripped, with her right hand, +the back of the room's one chair. "Do you mean it?" + +"Beyond the shadow of a doubt. I am free to admit that I am fond of a +jest; but a fortune of that magnitude is not a fit subject for a joke. +Believe me, you will find it a serious matter when you come to be +directly responsible for its administration." + +"It seems a large sum of money." + +He observed her a little curiously; she showed so few signs of emotion, +none of elation. In her position, at her age, on receipt of such news, +one would have looked for her cheeks to flush, for her lips to be +parted by a smile, for a new brightness to come into her eyes--for +these things at least. So far as he was able to perceive, not the +slightest change took place in her bearing, her manner, her appearance; +except that perhaps she became a little paler. The communication he had +just made might have been of interest to a third party, but of none to +her, so striking was the suggestion of indifference which her demeanour +conveyed. + +He decided that the explanation was that as yet she was incapable of +realising her own good fortune. + +"Seems a large sum? It is a large sum! How large I lack words to enable +you to clearly comprehend. When we talk of millions we speak of figures +anything like the full meaning of which the ordinary imagination is +altogether incapable to grasp. I think, Miss Arnott, that some time +will probably elapse vast is the responsibility which is about to be +placed upon you. In the meantime I would make two remarks--first, that +until matters are placed in regular order I shall be happy to place at +your disposition any amount of ready cash you may require; and second, +that until everything is arranged, Mrs Stacey and myself will be only +too glad to extend to you our hospitality at Pembridge Gardens." + +"I think, if you don't mind, I should like to remain here at anyrate +to-night. I shall have a great many things to consider; I should prefer +to do so alone. If you wish it I will call on you in the morning at +your offices, and then we will go into everything more fully." + +"Very good. As you choose, Miss Arnott. It is for you to command, for +me to obey. You are your own mistress in a sense, and to a degree which +I fancy you don't at present understand. I took the precaution to +provide myself, before leaving home, with a certain amount of ready +money. Permit me to place at your service this hundred pounds; you will +find that there are twenty five-pound notes. I need scarcely add that +the money is your own property. Now as to to-morrow. We have had so +much difficulty in finding you, and it is by such a seeming miracle +that we have lighted on you at last, that I am reluctant to lose sight +of you even for a single night--until, that is, everything is in due +order, and you have happily released us from the great weight of +responsibility which has lain so long upon us. May I take it that we +shall certainly see you to-morrow at our offices at noon?" + +"Yes; I will be with you to-morrow at noon." It was on that +understanding they parted. Before he left the house Mr Stacey said to +his clerk,-- + +"Gardner, that's a singular young woman. So young, so beautiful, and +yet so cold, so frigid, so--stolid. She didn't even thank me for +bringing her the good news, neither by a word nor look did she so much +as hint that the news had gratified her; indeed, I am not at all sure +that she thinks it is good news. In one so young, so charming--because, +so far as looks are concerned, she is charming, and she will be +particularly so when she is well dressed--it isn't natural, Gardner, it +isn't natural." + +In the top floor back the girl was contemplating the twenty five-pound +notes. She had never before been the owner of so much money, or +anything like so much. Had she been the possessor of such a fortune +when she came to town she might never have become a "model" in the +costume department of the world-famed Messrs Glover & Silk, she might +never have made the acquaintance of Robert Champion, she would +certainly never have become his wife. The glamour which had seemed to +surround him had been the result of the circumstances in which she had +first encountered him. Had her own position not been such a pitiable +one she would never have been duped by him, by his impudent assurance, +his brazen lies, his reckless promises. She had seen that clearly, long +ago. + +A hundred pounds! Why, the fraud for which, at that moment, he was in +gaol had had for its objective a sum of less than twenty pounds. She +writhed as she thought of it. Was he already in prisoner's clothes, +marked with the broad arrow? Was he thinking of her in his felon's +cell? She tried to put the vision from her, as one too horrible for +contemplation. Would it persistently recur to her, in season and out, +her whole life long? God forbid! Rather than that, better death, +despite her uncle's fortune. + +In any case she could at least afford to treat herself to a sufficient +meal. She went to a quiet restaurant in Oxford Street, and there fared +sumptuously--that is, sumptuously in comparison to the fashion in which +she had fared this many and many a day. Afterwards, she strolled along +the now lamp-lit street. As she went she met a girl of about her own +age who was decked out in tawdry splendours. They had nearly passed +before they knew each other. Then recognition came. The other girl +stopped and turned. + +"Why, Vi!" she exclaimed. "Who'd have dreamt of seeing you?" + +The girl addressed did not attempt to return the greeting. She did not +even acknowledge it. Instead she rushed off the pavement into a +"crawling" hansom, saying to the driver as she entered his vehicle,-- + +"Drive me to the city--anywhere; only be quick and get away from here!" + +When she concluded that she was well out of that other girl's sight she +instructed the man to drive her to Percy Street. At the corner of the +street she alighted. Once more in her attic she did as she had done on +her previous return to it--she sank down on to the side of the bed, +trembling from head to foot. + +The woman who had spoken to her in Oxford Street was Sarah Stevens, who +had been a fellow employee at Messrs Glover & Silk's. It was she who +had introduced her to Robert Champion. It was largely owing to the +tales she had told of him, and to her eager advocacy of his suit, that +she had been jockeyed into becoming his wife. It was only afterwards, +when it was too late, that she had learnt that the girl was as bad +as--if not worse than--the man to whom she had betrayed her. From the +beginning the pair had been co-conspirators; Violet Arnott had been +their victim. + +Was she to be haunted always by the fear of such encounters? Rather +than run that risk she would never again set foot in London. Certainly, +the sooner she was out of it the better. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE HEIRESS ENTERS INTO HER OWN + + +During the days and weeks which followed it was as though she were the +chief personage in a strange, continuous dream. Always she expected an +awakening--of a kind of which she did not dare to think. But the dream +continued. All at once her path was strewn with roses; up to then she +had seemed to have to pick her way, barefooted, amid stones and +thistles. No obstacle of any kind arose. Everything was smooth and +easy. Her claim to be her uncle's niece was admitted as soon as it was +made. Under her uncle's will Mr Stacey was the sole trustee. To all +intents and purposes his trusteeship was at an end when she was found. +She was of age; the property was hers to do with exactly as she would. +By no conditions was she bound. She was her own mistress; in sole +control of that great fortune. It was a singular position for a young +girl to find herself suddenly occupying. + +She was glad enough to leave her affairs in the hands of Messrs Stacey, +Morris & Binns. In those early days the mere attempt to understand them +was beyond her power. They were anxious enough to place before her an +exact statement of the position she had now to occupy. To some extent +she grasped its meaning. But the details she insisted on being allowed +to assimilate by degrees. + +"If I know pretty well what I have and what I haven't, what I can do +and what I can't, and what my duties and responsibilities are, say, in +three, or even six months' time, I'll be content. In the meanwhile you +must continue to do precisely what you have been doing during the time +in which I was still not found. I understand sufficiently to know that +you have managed all things better than I am ever likely to." + +She provided herself with what she deemed an ample, and, indeed, +extravagant supply of clothing at Mrs Stacey's urgent request. That +lady's ideas, however, were much more gorgeous than her own. The +solicitor's wife insisted that it was only right and proper that she +should have a wardrobe which, as she put it, "was suitable to her +position." That meant, apparently, that, in the way of wearing apparel, +she should supply herself with the contents of a good-sized London +shop. To that Miss Arnott objected. + +"What do you suppose I shall do with all those things?" she demanded. +"I am going into the country to stay there. I am going to live all +alone, as my uncle did. I sha'n't see a creature from week's end to +week's end--a heap of new dresses won't be wanted for that. They'll all +be out of fashion long before I have a chance of wearing them." + +Mrs Stacey smiled; she was a lady of ample proportions, who had herself +a taste for sumptuous raiment. + +"I fancy, dear Miss Arnott, that even now you don't realise your own +situation. Do you really suppose that--as you suggest--you will be +allowed to live all alone at Exham Park, without seeing a creature from +week's end to week's end?" + +"Who is going to prevent me?" + +"Dear Miss Arnott, you are positively amusing. Before you have been +there a fortnight the whole county, at least, will have been inside +your doors." + +"I hope not." + +The look of distress on the young lady's countenance was almost +comical. + +"You speak, I think, without reflection. I, personally, should be both +grieved and disappointed if anything else were to happen." + +"You would be grieved and disappointed? Good gracious! Mrs Stacey, +why?" + +"It is only in accordance with the requirements of common decency that +a person in your position should receive adequate recognition. If +everyone did not call on you you would be subjected to an injurious +slight." + +"Certainly that point of view did not occur to me. Up to now no one +worth speaking of has recognised my existence in the slightest degree. +The idea, therefore, that it has suddenly become everyone's duty to do +so is, to say the least, a novel one. + +"So I imagined. It is, however, as I say; you see, circumstances are +altered. Quite apart from the period when you will possess a town +residence--" + +"That period will be never." + +"Never is a long while--a very long while. I say, quite apart from that +period, what I cannot but call your unique position will certainly +entitle you to act as one of the leaders of county society." + +"How dreadful! I'm beginning to wish my position wasn't so unique." + +"You speak, if you will forgive my saying so, as a child. Providence +has seen fit to place you in a position in which you will be an object +of universal admiration. With your youth, your appearance, your +fortune, not only all Hampshire, but all England, will be at your feet. + +"All England! Mrs Stacey, isn't that just a little exaggerated?" + +"Not in the least. On the contrary, my language, if anything, errs on +the side of being too guarded. A beautiful young girl of twenty-one, +all alone in the world, with more than a hundred thousand pounds a year +entirely under her own control--princes from all parts of the world +will tumble over each other in their desire to find favour in your +eyes." + +"Then princes must be much more foolish persons than I supposed." + +"My dear, of that we will say nothing. Don't let us speak evil of +dignitaries. I was always brought up to think of them with respect. To +return to the subject of your wardrobe. I have merely made these few +remarks in order to point out to you how essential it is that you +should be furnished, at the outset, with a wardrobe likely to prove +equal to all the demands which are certain to be made on one in your +position." + +"All the same, I won't have five hundred dresses. Position or no +position, I know I shall be much happier with five." + +It is an undoubted fact that the young lady's equipment of costumes +extended to more than five, though it stopped far short of the number +which her feminine mentor considered adequate. Indeed, Mrs Stacey made +no secret of her opinion that, from the social point of view, her +arrangements were scarcely decent. + +"At the very first serious call which is made upon your resources, you +will find yourself absolutely without a thing to wear. Then you'll have +to rush up to town and have clothes made for you in red-hot haste, than +which nothing can be more unsatisfactory." + +"I shall have to chance that. I hate shops and I hate shopping." + +"My dear!" + +"I do. I don't care how it is with other girls, it's like that with me. +I've already had more than enough of dressmakers; for ever so long I +promise you that I won't go near one for another single thing. I'm +going to the country, and I'm going to live a country life; and for the +kind of country life I mean to live you don't want frocks." + +Mrs Stacey lifted up her hands and sighed. To her such sentiments +seemed almost improper. It was obvious that Miss Arnott meant to be her +own mistress in something more than name. On one question, however, she +was over-ruled. That was on the question of a companion. + +It was perfectly clear, both to her legal advisers and to the senior +partner's wife, that it was altogether impossible for her to live at +Exham Park entirely companionless. + +"What harm will there be?" she demanded. "I shall be quite alone." + +"My dear," returned Mrs Stacey, "you won't understand. It is precisely +that which is impossible--you must not be quite alone; a young girl, a +mere child like you. People will not only think things, they will say +them--and they will be right in doing so. The idea is monstrous, not to +be entertained for a moment. You must have some sort of a companion." + +Miss Arnott emitted a sound which might have been meant for a groan. + +"Very well then, if I must I must--but she shall be younger than I am; +or, at anyrate, not much older." + +Mrs Stacey looked as if the suggestion had rendered her temporarily +speechless. + +"My dear," she finally gasped, "that would be worse than ever. Two +young girls alone together in such a house--what a scandal there would +be!" + +"Why should there be any scandal?" + +Miss Arnott's manner was a little defiant. + +"If you cannot see for yourself I would rather you did not force me to +explain. I can only assure you that if you are not extremely careful +your innocence of evil will lead you into very great difficulties. What +you want is a woman of mature age, of wide knowledge of the world; +above all, of impregnable respectability. One who will, in a sense, +fill the place of a mother, officiate--nominally--as the head of your +household, who will help you in entertaining visitors--" + +"There will be no visitors to entertain." + +The elder lady indulged in what she intended for an enigmatic smile. + +"When you have been at Exham Park for six months you will blush at the +recollection of your own simplicity. At present I can only ask you to +take my word for it that there will be shoals of visitors." + +"Then that companion of mine will have to entertain them, that's all. +One thing I stipulate: you will have to discover her, I sha'n't." + +To this Mrs Stacey willingly acceded. The companion was discovered. She +was a Mrs Plummer; of whom her discoverer spoke in tones of chastened +solemnity. + +"Mrs Plummer is a distant connection of Mr Stacey. As such, he has +known her all his life; and can therefore vouch for her in every +respect. She has known trouble; and, as trouble always does, it has +left its impress upon her. But she is a true woman, with a great heart +and a beautiful nature. She is devoted to young people. You will find +in her a firm friend, one who will make your interests her own, and who +will be able and willing to give you sound advice on all occasions in +which you find yourself in difficulty. I am convinced that you will +become greatly attached to her; you will find her such a very present +help in all times of trouble." + +When, a few days before they went down together to Exham Park, Miss +Arnott was introduced to Mrs Plummer in Mrs Stacey's drawing-room, in +some way, which the young lady would have found it hard to define, she +did not accord with her patroness's description. As her custom +sometimes was, Miss Arnott plunged headforemost into the midst of +things. + +"I am told that you are to be my companion. I am very sorry for you, +because I am not at all a companionable sort of creature." + +"You need not be sorry. I think you will find that I understand the +situation. Convention declines to allow a young woman to live alone in +her own house; I shall be the necessary figurehead which the +proprieties require. I shall never intrude myself. I shall be always in +the background--except on occasions when I perceive that you would +sooner occupy that place yourself. I shall be quick to see when those +occasions arise; and, believe me, they will be more frequent than you +may at this moment suspect. As for freedom--you will have more freedom +under the aegis of my wing, which will be purely an affair of the +imagination, than without it; since, under its imaginary shelter, you +will be able to do all manner of things which, otherwise, you would +hardly be able to do unchallenged. In fact, with me as cover, you will +be able to do exactly as you please; and still remain in the inner +sanctuary of Mrs Grundy." + +Mrs Plummer spoke with a degree of frankness for which Miss Arnott was +unprepared. She looked at her more closely, to find that she was a +little woman, apparently younger than she had expected. Her dark brown +hair was just beginning to turn grey. She was by no means ugly; the +prominent characteristic of her face being the smallness of the +features. She had a small mouth, thinly lipped, which, when it was +closed, was tightly closed. She had a small, slenderly-fashioned +aquiline nose, the nostrils of which were very fine and delicate. Her +eyes were small and somewhat prominent, of a curious shade in blue, +having about them a quality which suggested that, while they saw +everything which was taking place around her, they served as masks +which prevented you seeing anything which was transpiring at the back +of them. She was dressed like a lady; she spoke like a lady; she looked +a lady. Miss Arnott had not been long in her society before she +perceived, though perhaps a little dimly, what Mrs Stacey had meant by +saying that trouble had left its impress on her. There was in her +voice, her face, her bearing, her manner, a something which spoke of +habitual self-repression, which was quite possibly the outcome of some +season of disaster which, for her, had changed the whole aspect of the +world. + +The day arrived, at last, when the heiress made her first appearance at +Exham Park. The house had been shut up, and practically dismantled, for +so long, that the task of putting it in order, collecting an adequate +staff of servants, and getting it generally ready for its new mistress, +occupied some time. Miss Arnott journeyed with Mrs Plummer; it was the +first occasion on which they had been companions. The young lady's +sensations, as the train bore her through the sunlit country, were of a +very singular nature; the little woman in the opposite corner of the +compartment had not the faintest notion how singular. + +Mr Stacey met the travellers at the station, ushering them into a +landau, the door of which was held open by a gigantic footman in +powdered hair and silk stockings. Soon after they had started, Miss +Arnott asked a question,-- + +"Is this my carriage?" + +The gentleman replied, with some show of pomposity,-- + +"It is one of them, Miss Arnott, one of them. You will find, in your +coach-houses, a variety of vehicles; but, of course, I do not for a +moment pretend that you will find there every kind of conveyance you +require. Indeed, the idea has rather been that you should fill the +inevitable vacancies in accordance with the dictates of your own +taste." + +"Whose idea is the flour and the silk stockings?" + +She was looking up at the coachman and footman on the box. + +"The--eh?--oh, I perceive; you allude to the men's liveries. The +liveries, Miss Arnott, were chosen by your late uncle; I think you will +admit that they are very handsome ones. It has been felt that, in +deference to him, they should be continued, until you thought proper to +rule otherwise." + +"Then I'm afraid that they won't be continued much longer. In such +matters my uncle's tastes were--I hope it isn't treason to say +so--perhaps a trifle florid. Mine are all the other way. I don't like +floured heads, silk stockings, or crimson velvet breeches; I like +everything about me to be plain to the verge of severity. My father's +ideal millionaire was mine; shall I tell you what that was?" + +"If you will be so good." + +"He held that a man with five thousand a year, if he were really a +gentleman, would do his best not to allow it to be obvious to the man +who only had five hundred that he had more than he had." + +"There is something to be said for that point of view; on the other +hand, there is a great deal to be said for the other side." + +"No doubt. There is always a great deal to be said for the other side. +I am only hinting at the one towards which I personally incline." +Presently they were passing along an avenue of trees. "Where are we +now?" + +"We are on your property--this is the drive to the house." + +"There seems to be a good deal of it." + +"It is rather more than three miles long; there are lodge gates at +either end; the house stands almost in the centre." + +"It seems rather pretty." + +"Pretty! Exham Park is one of the finest seats in the country. That is +why your uncle purchased it." + +After a while they came in sight of the house. + +"Is that the house? It looks more like a palace. Fancy my living all +alone in a place like that! Now I understand why a companion was an +absolute necessity. It strikes me, Mrs Plummer, that you will want a +companion as much as I shall. What shall we two lone, lorn women do in +that magnificent abode?" + +As they stepped in front of the splendid portico there came down the +steps a man who held his hat in his hand, with whom Mr Stacey at once +went through the ceremony of introduction. + +"Miss Arnott, this is Mr Arthur Cavanagh, your steward." + +She found herself confronted by a person who was apparently not much +more than thirty years of age; erect, well-built, with short, curly +hair, inclined to be ruddy, a huge moustache, and a pair of the +merriest blue eyes she had ever seen. When they were in the house, and +Mr Stacey was again alone with the two ladies, he observed, with +something which approximated to an air of mystery,-- + +"You must understand, Miss Arnott, that, as regards Mr Cavanagh, we--my +partners and myself--have been in a delicate position. He was your +uncle's particular _protege_. I have reason to know that he came to +England at his express request. We have hardly seen our way--acting +merely on our own initiative--to displace him." + +"Displace him? Why should he be displaced? Isn't he a good steward?" + +"As regards that, good stewards are not difficult to find. Under the +circumstances, the drawbacks in his case are, I may almost say, +notorious. He is young, even absurdly young; he is not ill-looking, and +he is unmarried." + +Miss Arnott smiled, as if Mr Stacey had been guilty of perpetrating a +joke. + +"It's not his fault that he is young; it's not my fault that I am +young. It's nice not to be ill-looking, and--I rather fancy--it's nice +to be unmarried." She said to Mrs Plummer as, a little later, they were +going upstairs together, side by side, "What odd things Mr Stacey does +say. Fancy regarding them as drawbacks being young, good-looking and +unmarried. What can he be thinking of?" + +"I must refer you to him. It is one of the many questions to which I am +unable to supply an answer of my own." + +When she was in her own room, two faces persisted in getting in front +of Miss Arnott's eyes. One was the face of Mr Arthur Cavanagh, the +other was that of the man who was serving a term of twelve months' hard +labour, and which was always getting, as it were, between her and the +daylight. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE EARL OF PECKHAM'S PROPOSAL + + +Miss Arnott soon realised what Mrs Stacey had meant by insisting on the +impossibility of her living a solitary life. So soon as she arrived +upon the scene, visitors began to appear at Exham Park in a constant +stream. The day after she came calls were made by two detachments of +the clergy, and by the representatives of three medical men. But, as +Mrs Plummer somewhat unkindly put it, these might be regarded as +professional calls; or, in other words, requests for custom. + +"Since you are the patron of these livings, their present holders were +bound to haste and make obeisance--though it would seem that, in that +respect, one of them is still a defaulter. The way in which those two +doctors and their wives, who happened to come together, glowered at +each other was beautiful. One quite expected to see them lapse into +mutual charges of unprofessional conduct. Which of the three do you +propose to favour?" + +"Mr Cavanagh says that uncle used to patronise all three. He had one +for the servants on the estate one for the indoor servants, and one for +himself." + +"And which of the three was it who killed him?" + +"There came a time when all three were called together to consult upon +his case. That finished uncle at once. He died within four-and-twenty +hours. So Mr Cavanagh says." + +"I suppose Mr Cavanagh is able to supply you with little interesting +details on all sorts of recondite subjects?" + +"Oh yes; he is like a walking encyclopedia of information on all +matters connected with the estate. Whenever I want to know anything I +simply go to him; he always knows. It is most convenient." + +"And I presume that he is always willing to tell you what you want to +know." + +"Most willing. I never met a more obliging person. And so +good-humoured. Have you noticed his smile?" + +"I can't say that I have paid particular attention to his smile." + +"It's wonderful; it lights up all his face and makes him positively +handsome. I think he's a most delightful person, and so clever. I'm +sure he's immensely popular with everyone; not at all like the +hard-as-nails stewards one reads about. I can't imagine what Mr Stacey +meant byalmost expressing a regret that he had not displaced him, can +you?" + +"Some people sometimes say such extraordinary things that it's no use +trying to imagine what they mean." + +The answer was a trifle vague; but it seemed to satisfy Miss Arnott. +Neither of the ladies looked to see if the other was smiling. + +Mrs Stacey's sibylline utterance was prophetic; in a fortnight the +whole county had called--that is, so much of it as was within anything +like calling distance, and in the country in these days "calling +distance" is a term which covers a considerable expanse of ground. +Practically the only abstentions were caused by people's absence from +home. It was said that some came purposely from London, and even +farther, so that they might not lose an opportunity of making Miss +Arnott's acquaintance. + +For instance, there was the case of the Dowager Countess of Peckham. It +happened that the old lady's dower house was at Stevening, some +fourteen or fifteen miles from Exham Park. Since she had never occupied +it since the time it came into her possession, having always preferred +to let it furnished to whoever might come along, one would scarcely +have supposed that she would have called herself Miss Arnott's +neighbour. When, however, a little bird whispered in her ear what a +very charming millionairess was in practically solitary occupation of +Exham Park, it chanced that, for the moment, her own house was +untenanted, and, within four-and-twenty hours of the receipt of that +whispered communication, for the first time in her life she was under +its roof. On the following day she covered the fourteen miles which lay +between her and Exham Park in a hired fly, was so fortunate as to find +Miss Arnott at home, and was so agreeably impressed by the lady +herself, by her surroundings, and by all that she heard of her, that +she stopped at the village post office on her homeward journey to send +a peremptory telegram to her son to come at once. The Earl of Peckham +came. He had nothing particular to do just then; or, at least, nothing +which he could not easily shirk. He might as well run down to his +mother. So he ran down on his automobile. Immediately on his arrival +she favoured him with a few home truths; as she had done on many +previous occasions, and peremptorily bundled him over to Exham Park. + +"Mind! you now have a chance such as you never had before; and such as +you certainly will never have again. The girl has untold wealth +absolutely at her own command; she hasn't a relation in the world; she +is alone with a woman who is perfectly ready to be hoodwinked; she +knows nobody worth speaking of. You will have her all to yourself, it +will be your own fault if she's not engaged to you in a fortnight, and +your wife within six weeks. Think of it, a quarter of a million a year, +not as representing her capital, you understand, but a year! and +absolutely no relations. None of that crowd of miserable hangers-on +which so often represents the mushroom millionaire's family +connections. If you don't take advantage of this heaven-sent +opportunity, Peckham, you are past praying for--that's all I can say." + +Peckham sighed. According to her that always was all she could say, and +she had said it so many times. He motored over to Exham Park in a frame +of mind which was not in keeping with the character of a light-hearted +wooer. He had wanted his mother to accompany him. But she had a +conservative objection to motor cars, nothing would induce her to trust +herself on one. So, reluctantly enough, he went alone. + +"You ask Miss Arnott to lunch to-morrow; you can go over yourself and +bring her on your car, it will be an excellent opening. And when she is +here I will do the honours. But I have no intention of risking my own +life on one of those horrible machines." + +As he reached the bottom of a rather steep slope, his lordship met a +lady and a gentleman, who were strolling side by side. Stopping, he +addressed the gentleman,-- + +"I beg your pardon, but can you tell me if I am going right for Exham +Park? There were crossroads some way back, at the top of the hill, but +I was going so fast that I couldn't see what was on the direction +posts. I mean Miss Arnott's." + +"You will find the lodge gate on your right, about half a mile further +on." The speaker hesitated, then added, "This is Miss Arnott." + +Off came his lordship's hat again. + +"I am very fortunate. I am Peckham--I mean the Earl of Peckham. My +mother has sent me with a message." + +The lady was regarding the car with interested eyes. + +"I never have been on a motor car, but if you could find room for me on +yours, you might take me up to the house, and--give me the message." + +In a trice the mechanician was in the tonneau, and the lady by his +lordship's side. As Mr Cavanagh, left alone, gazed after the retreating +car, it was not the good-humoured expression of his countenance which +would have struck Miss Arnott most. + +The young lady's tastes were plainly altogether different from the old +one's--at anyrate, so far as motor cars were concerned. Obviously she +did not consider them to be horrible machines. She showed the liveliest +interest in this, the first one of which she had had any actual +experience. They went for quite a lengthy drive together, three times +up and down the drive, which meant nearly nine miles. Once, at the +lady's request, the driver showed what his car could do. As it was a +machine of the highest grade, and of twenty-four horse power, it could +do a good deal. Miss Arnott expressed her approbation of the +performance. + +"How splendid! I could go on like that for ever; it blows one about a +bit, but if one were sensibly dressed that wouldn't matter. How fast +were we going?" + +"Oh, somewhere about fifty miles an hour. It's all right in a place +like this; but, the worst of it is, there are such a lot of beastly +policemen about. It's no fun having always to pay fines for excessive +speed, and damages for running over people, and that kind of thing." + +"I should think not, indeed. Have you ever run over anyone?" + +"Well, not exactly; only, accidents will happen, you know." + +As she observed that young man's face, a suspicion dawned upon her +mind, that--when he was driving--they occasionally would. + +Ere she descended she received some elementary lessons in the art of +controlling a motor car. And, altogether, by the time they reached the +house, and the message was delivered, they were on terms of +considerable intimacy. + +The acquaintance, thus auspiciously begun, rapidly ripened. The Earl +did not find the business on which he was engaged anything like such a +nuisance as he had feared; on the contrary, he found it an agreeable +occupation. He was of opinion that the girl was not half a bad sort; +that, in fact, she was a very good sort indeed. He actually decided +that she would have been eligible for a place in the portrait gallery +of the Countesses of Peckham even if she had not been set in such a +desirable frame. That motor car was a great aid to intimacy. He drove +her; and he taught her to drive him. Sometimes, the chauffeur being +left behind, they had the car to themselves. It was on such an +occasion, when their acquaintance hardly extended beyond his mother's +suggested fortnight, that he made her an offer of his hand and heart. +She was driving at the time, and going at a pretty good pace, which was +possibly on the wrong side of the legal limit; but when she began to +have an inkling of what he was talking about, she instantly put on the +brakes, and pulled up dead. She was so taken by surprise, and her own +hideous position was so continually present to her mind's eye, that it +was some seconds before she perceived that the young man at her side +must, of necessity, be completely unconscious of the monstrous nature +of his proposal. She was silent for several moments, then she answered, +while the car was still at a standstill in the middle of the road,-- + +"Thank you. No doubt your offer is not meant unkindly; but acceptance +on my part is altogether out of the question." + +"Why?" + +"Why? Because it is. I am sorry you should have spoken like this, +because I was beginning to like you." + +"Isn't that a reason why I should speak? If you are beginning to like +me, by degrees you may get to like me more and more." + +"I think not. Because this little _contretemps_ will necessarily put a +period to our acquaintance." + +"Oh, rats! that isn't fair! If I'd thought it would worry you I +wouldn't have said a word. Only--I should like to ask if there is +anybody else." + +"Do you mean, is there anyone else to whom I am engaged to be married? +There is not--and there never will be." + +"I say, Miss Arnott! Every man in England--who can get within reach of +you--will have tried his luck before the end of the season. You will +have to take one of them, to save yourself from being bothered." + +"Shall I? You think so? You are wrong. If you don't mind, I will turn +the car round, and take it to the lodge gate; then I will get out, and +walk home. Only there must be no more conversation of this sort on the +way, or I shall get out at once." + +"You need not fear that I shall offend again; put her round." + +She "put her round." They gained the lodge gate. The lady descended. + +"Good-bye, Lord Peckham. I have to thank you for some very pleasant +rides, and for much valuable instruction. I'm sorry I couldn't do what +you wanted, but--it's impossible." + +"I sha'n't forget the jolly time I've had with you, and shall hope to +meet you again when you come to town. You are inclined to treat me with +severity, but I assure you that if you intend to treat every man +severely, merely because he proposes, you have set yourself a task +which would have been too much for the strength of Hercules." + +His lordship returned then and there to London. On the road he sent a +telegram to his mother which contained these two words only: "Been +refused." + +On her part, Miss Arnott did not at once return to the house. She chose +instead a winding path which led to a certain woodland glade which she +had already learned to love. There, amidst the trees, the bushes, the +gorse, the wild flowers, the tall grasses and the bracken, she could +enjoy solitary communion with her own thoughts. Just then she had +plenty to think about. There was not only Lord Peckham's strange +conduct, there was also his parting words. + +Her knowledge of the world was very scanty, especially of that sort of +world in which she so suddenly found herself. But she was a girl of +quick intuitions; and already she had noticed a something in the +demeanour of some of the masculine acquaintances she had made which she +had not altogether relished. Could what Lord Peckham had said be true? +Would every man who came within reach of her try his luck--in a certain +sense? If so, a most unpleasant prospect was in store for her. There +was one way out of the difficulty. She had only to announce that she +was a married woman and that sort of persecution would cease at once. +She doubted, however, if the remedy would not be worse than the +disease. She had grown to regard her matrimonial fetters with such +loathing, that, rather than acknowledge, voluntarily, that she was +bound about by them, and admit that her husband was an unspeakable +creature in a felon's cell, she believed that she was ready to endure +anything. Certainly she would sooner reject a dozen men a day. + +She came to the woodland glade she sought. It so chanced that the +particular nook which she had learned, from experience, was the best to +recline in was just on the other side of a rough fence. She crossed the +fence, reclined at her ease on the mossy bank; and thought, and thought, +and thought. On a sudden she was roused from her deepest day-dream by +a voice which addressed to her an inquiry from above,-- + +"Are you trespassing--or am I?" + + + + + CHAPTER V + + TRESPASSING + + +She looked up with a start--to find that a man was observing her who +seemed to be unusually tall. She lay in a hollow, he stood on the top +of the bank; so that perhaps their relative positions tended to +exaggerate his apparent inches. But that he was tall was beyond a +doubt. He was also broad. Her first feeling was, that she had never +seen a man who was at once so tall and so broad across the shoulders. +He was rather untidily dressed--in a grey tweed knickerbocker suit, +with a Norfolk jacket, and a huge cap which was crammed right down on +his head. He wore a flannel shirt, and a dark blue knitted tie, which +was tied in a scrambling sailor's knot. Both hands were in the pockets +of his jacket, which was wide open; and, altogether, the impression was +conveyed to her, as she lay so far beneath him, that he was of a +monstrous size. + +It struck her that his being where he was was an impertinence, which +was rendered much greater by his venturing to address her; especially +with such an inquiry. Merely raising herself on her elbow, she favoured +him with a glance which was intended to crush him. + +"There can be no doubt as to who is trespassing as you must be +perfectly well aware--you are." + +"I quite agree with you in thinking that there can be no doubt as to +who is trespassing; but there, unfortunately, our agreement ends, +because, as it happens, you are." + +"Do you suppose that I don't know which is my own property? I am Miss +Arnott, of Exham Park--this is part of my ground." + +"I fancy, with all possible deference, that I know which is my property +better than you appear to know which is yours. I am Hugh Morice, of Oak +Dene, and, beyond the slightest shadow of a doubt, the ground on which +we both are is mine." + +She rose to her feet a little hurriedly. + +"What authority have you for what you say? Are you trying to amuse +yourself at my expense?" + +"Allow me to explain. You see that fence, which is in rather a +doddering condition--it forms the boundary line between Exham Park and +Oak Dene, a fact which I have a particular reason to remember. Once, +before this was my ground, I was shooting in these woods. My bird--it +was only a pigeon--dropped on the other side of that fence. I was no +better acquainted with the landmarks then than you appear to be now. +Not aware that there was any difference between this side and that, I +was scrambling over the fence to retrieve my pigeon when I was pulled +up short by some very plain words, pronounced in a very plain tone of +voice. I won't tell you what the words were, because you might like +them even less than I did. I looked up; and there was an old gentleman, +who was flanked by two persons who were evidently keepers. He was one +of the most eloquent old gentlemen I had ever met. He commenced by +wanting to know what I meant by being about to defile his ground by the +intrusion of my person. I replied that I wasn't aware that it was his +ground, and that I wanted my pigeon. He asked me who I was. When I told +him he informed me that he was Septimus Arnott, and desired me to +inform all persons bearing my name what he thought of them. He thought +a good deal--in a sense. He wound up by remarking that he would +instruct his keepers, if ever they caught me on the wrong side of that +fence, to put a charge of lead into me at sight. Towards the end of the +interview I was as genially disposed as he was; so I retorted by +assuring him that if ever I caught anyone from Exham Park on this side, +I'd do the honours with a charge of lead. This is the exact spot on +which that interview took place--he was there and I here. But the +circumstances have changed--it is Exham Park who is now the trespasser. +Shall I put a charge of lead into you?" + +"By all means--if you wish to." + +"I am not quite sure that I do wish to." + +"If you have the slightest inclination in that direction, pray don't +hesitate." + +"You mightn't like it." + +"Don't consider my feelings, I beg. In such a matter surely you +wouldn't allow my feelings to count." + +"No? You think not? I don't know. Perhaps you're right; but, you see, I +haven't a gun. I can't put charges of lead into anything, or anyone, +without one. + +"Pray don't let any trifling obstacle of that kind stand in your way. +Permit me to send for one." + +"Would you? You're very good. Who would you send?" + +"Of course I would myself fetch you the indispensable weapon." + +"And how long would you be, do you imagine? Should I have time to smoke +a pipe while you were going there and back?" + +Suddenly the lady drew herself up with a gesture which was possibly +meant to be expressive of a judicious mingling of scorn with hauteur. + +"It is possible, if you prefer it. I will admit that it is probable +that my uncle was rude to you. Do you intend to continue the tradition, +and be rude to me?" + +"I was simply telling you a little anecdote, Miss Arnott." + +"I am obliged to you for taking so much trouble. Now, with your +permission, I will return to what you state to be my side of the +fence." + +"I state? Don't you state that that side of the fence is yours?" + +"My impression was that both sides were mine. I will have the matter +carefully inquired into. If your statement proves to be correct I will +see that a communication is sent to you, conveying my apologies for +having been an unwitting trespasser on your estate." + +"Thank you. Can I lift you over?" + +"Lift me over!" + +The air of red-hot indignation with which his proposition was declined +ought to have scorched him. It seemed, however, to have no effect on +him of any sort. He continued to regard her from the top of the bank, +with an air of indolent nonchalance, which was rapidly driving her to +the conclusion that he was the most insolent person she had ever +encountered. With a view, possibly, of showing the full absurdity of +his offer of assistance, she placed both hands on the top of the fence, +with the intention of vaulting over it. The intention was only +partially fulfilled. During her wanderings with her father among their +Cumberland hills she had become skilled in all manner of athletic +exercises. Ordinarily she would have thought nothing of vaulting--or, +for the matter of that, jumping--an insignificant fence. Perhaps her +nervous system was more disorganised than she imagined. She caught her +knee against the bar, and, instead of alighting gracefully on her feet, +she rolled ignominiously over. She was up almost as soon as she was +down, but not before he had cleared the fence at a bound, and was +standing at her side. She exhibited no sign of gratitude for the +rapidity with which he had come to her assistance. She merely put to +him an icy question,-- + +"Was it necessary that you should trespass also?" + +"Are you sure that you are not hurt? ankle not twisted, or anything of +that kind?" + +"Quite sure. Be so good as to return to your own side." + +As he seemed to hesitate, a voice exclaimed, in husky tones,-- + +"By----, I've a mind to shoot you now." + +He turned to see a man, between forty and fifty years of age, in the +unmistakable habiliments of a gamekeeper, standing some twenty feet +off, holding a gun in a fashion which suggested that it would need very +little to induce him to put it to his shoulder and pull the trigger. +Hugh Morice greeted him as if he were an old acquaintance. + +"Hullo, Jim Baker! So you're still in the land of the living?" + +Mr Baker displayed something more than surliness in his reply. + +"So are you, worse luck! What are you doing here? Didn't Mr Arnott tell +me if I saw you on our land to let fly, and pepper you?" + +"I was just telling Miss Arnott the story. Odd that you should come +upon the scene as corroborating evidence." + +"For two pins I'd let fly!" + +"Now, Baker, don't be an idiot. Take care how you handle that gun, or +there'll be trouble; your hands don't seem too steady. You don't want +me to give you another thrashing, do you? Have you forgotten the last +one I gave you?" + +"Have I forgotten?" The man cursed his questioner with a vigour which +was startling. "I'll never forget--trust me. I'll be even with you yet, +trust me. By ---- if you say another word about it I'll let fly at you +now!" + +Up went the stock of the gun to the speaker's shoulder, the muzzle +pointing direct at Mr Morice. That gentleman neither moved nor spoke; +Miss Arnott did both. + +"Baker, are you mad? Put down that gun. How dare you so misbehave +yourself?" + +The gun was lowered with evident reluctance. + +"Mr Arnott, he told me to shoot him if ever I see him this side the +fence." + +"I am mistress here now. You may think yourself fortunate if you're not +presently introduced to a policeman." + +"I was only obeying orders, that's all I was doing." + +"Orders! How long ago is it since the orders to which you refer were +given you?" + +Mr Morice interposed an answer,-- + +"It's more than four years since I was near the place." + +The keeper turned towards him with a vindictive snarl. + +"Four years! what's four years? An order's an order if it's four years +or forty. How was I to know that things are different, and that now +you're to come poaching and trespassing whenever you please?" + +Miss Arnott was very stern. + +"Baker, take yourself away from here at once. You will hear of this +again. Do you hear me? Go! without a word!" + +Mr Baker went, but as he went he delivered himself of several words. +They were uttered to himself rather than to the general public, but +they were pretty audible all the same. When he was out of sight and +sound, the lady put a question to the gentleman,-- + +"Do you think it possible that he could have been in earnest, and that +he would have shot you?" + +"I daresay. I suspect that few things would have pleased him better. +Why not? He would only have been carrying out instructions received." + +"But--Mr Morice, I wish you would not jest on such a subject! Has he a +personal grudge against you?" + +"It depends upon what you call a grudge; you heard what he said. He +used to live in that cottage near the gravel pits; and may do so still +for all I know. Once, when I was passing, I heard a terrible +hullabaloo. I invited myself inside to find that Mr Baker was +correcting Mrs Baker with what seemed to me such unnecessary vigour +that--I corrected him. The incident seems to linger in his memory, in +spite of the passage of the years; and I shouldn't be at all surprised +if, in his turn, he is still quite willing to correct me, with the aid +of a few pellets of lead." + +"But he must be a dangerous character." + +"He's a character, at anyrate. I've always felt he was a little mad; +when he's drunk he's stark mad. He's perhaps been having half a gallon +now. Let me hasten to assure you that, I fancy, Baker's qualities were +regarded by Mr Septimus Arnott, in the main, as virtues. Mr Arnott was +himself a character; if I may be excused for saying so." + +"I never saw my uncle in his life, and knew absolutely nothing about +him, except what my father used to tell me of the days when they were +boys together." + +"If, in those days, he was anything like what he was afterwards, he +must have been a curiosity. To make the whole position clear to you I +should mention that my uncle was also a character. I am not sure that, +taking him altogether, he was not the more remarkable character of the +two. The Morices, of course, have been here since the flood. But when +your uncle came my uncle detected in him a kindred spirit. They became +intimates; inseparable chums, and a pair of curios I promise you they +were, until they quarrelled--over a game of chess." + +"Of chess?" + +"Of chess. They used to play together three or four times a +week--tremendous games. Until one evening my uncle insisted that your +uncle had taken his hand off a piece, and wouldn't allow him to withdraw +his move. Then the fur flew. Each called the other everything he could +think of, and both had an extensive repertoire. The war which followed +raged unceasingly; it's a mystery to me how they both managed to die in +their beds." + +"And all because of a dispute over a game of chess?" + +"My uncle could quarrel about a less serious matter than a game of +chess; he was a master of the art. He quarrelled with me--but that's +another story; since when I've been in the out-of-the-way-corners of +the world. I was in Northern Rhodesia when I heard that he was dead, +and had left me Oak Dene. I don't know why--except that there has +always been a Morice at Oak Dene, and that I am the only remaining +specimen of the breed." + +"How strange. It is only recently that I learned--to my complete +surprise--that Exham Park was mine." + +"It seems that we are both of us indebted to our uncles, dead; though +apparently we neither of us owed much to them while they still were +living. Well, are the orders to be perpetuated that I'm to be shot when +seen on this side of the fence?" + +"I do not myself practise such methods." + +"They are drastic; though there are occasions on which drastic methods +are the kindest. Since I only arrived yesterday I take it that I am the +latest comer. It is your duty, therefore, to call on me. Do you propose +to do your duty?" + +"I certainly do not propose to call on you, if that's what you mean." + +"Good. Then I'll call on you. I shall have the pleasure, Miss Arnott, +of waiting on you, on this side of the fence, at a very early date. Do +you keep a shot gun in the hall?" + +"Do you consider it good taste to persist in harping on a subject which +you must perceive is distasteful?" + +"My taste was always bad." + +"That I can easily imagine." + +"There is something which I also can easily imagine." + +"Indeed?" + +"I can imagine that your uncle left you something besides Exham Park." + +"What is that?" + +"A little of his temper." + +"Mr Morice! I have no wish to exchange retorts with you, but, from what +you say, it is quite obvious that your uncle left you all his manners." + +"Thank you. Anything else?" + +"Yes, Mr Morice, there is something else. It is not my fault that we +are neighbours." + +"Don't say that it's my misfortune." + +"And since you must have left many inconsolable friends behind you in +Rhodesia there is no reason why we should continue to be neighbours." + +"Quite so." + +"Of course, whether you return to Rhodesia or remain here is a matter +of complete indifference to me." + +"Precisely." + +"But, should you elect to stay, you will be so good as to understand +that, if you do call at Exham Park, you will be told that I am not at +home. Good afternoon, Mr Morice, and good-bye." + +"Good-bye, Miss Arnott. I had a sort of premonition that those orders +would be re-issued, and that I should be shot if I was seen this side." + +She had already gone some distance; but, on hearing this, stopping, she +turned towards him again. + +"Possibly if we raise the fence to a sufficient height, that will keep +you out." + +"Oh, I can scale any fence. No fence was ever constructed that I +couldn't negotiate. You'll have to shoot." + +"Shall we? We shall see." + +"We shall--Miss Arnott?" + +She stopped again. + +"What is it you wish to say to me?" + +"Merely that I have in my mind some half-formed intention to call on +you to-morrow." + +"You dare!" + +"You have no notion what I do dare." + +This time she was not tempted to a further rejoinder. He watched her +as, straight as a dart, her head in the air, striding along the winding +path, she vanished among the trees. He ruminated after she had gone,-- + +"She's splendid! she magnificent! How she holds herself, and how she +looks at you, and what eyes they are with which to look. I never saw +anything like her, and I hope, for her own sake, she never saw anything +like me. What a brute she must think me, and what a brute I am. I don't +care; there's something about her which sets all my blood on fire, +which rouses in me the instinct of the hunter. I wish old Baker would +come along just now; gun or no gun, we'd have a pretty little argument. +It might do me good. There's no doubt that what I said was true--the +girl has her uncle's temper, if I've my uncle's manners; as I'm a +sinful man I've as good as half a mind to marry her." + +The lady was unconscious of the compliments which, mentally, the +gentleman was paying her. When, returning home, she entered the +apartment where Mrs Plummer, apparently just roused from a peaceful +doze, was waiting for her tea, she was in a flame of passion. + +"I have just left the most unendurable person I ever yet encountered, +the most ill-mannered, the most clumsy, the most cowardly, the most +stupid, the most absurd, the most unspeakable!" + +"My dear! who is this very superlative individual? what is his +delightful name?" + +"His name!" For some occult reason Mrs Plummer's, under the +circumstances, mild request, seemed to cause her passion to flame up +higher. "What do I care what his name is? So far as I am concerned such +a creature has no name!" + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + AN AUTHORITY ON THE LAW OF MARRIAGE + + +The next day Mr Hugh Morice fulfilled his threat--he paid his +ceremonial call at Exham Park. The word "ceremonial" is used advisedly, +since nothing could have been more formal and decorous than his +demeanour throughout. + +Miss Arnott and Mrs Plummer happened to be entertaining four or five +people that afternoon, among them a Mr Pyecroft, a curate attached to +one of Miss Arnott's three livings. He was favouring that lady with a +graphic account of the difficulties encountered in endeavouring, in a +country place, to arouse interest on any subject whatever, and was +illustrating the position by describing the disappointments he had met +with in the course of an attempt he had made to organise a series of +local entertainments in aid of a new church organ, when his listener +suddenly became conscious that a person had just entered the room, who, +if she could believe her eyes, was none other than the unspeakable +individual of the previous day. Not only was it unmistakably he, but he +was actually--with an air of complete self-possession--marching +straight across the room towards her. When he stood in front of her, he +bowed and said,-- + +"Permit me, Miss Arnott, to introduce myself to you. I am Hugh Morice, +of Oak Dene, which, as you are probably aware, adjoins Exham Park. I +only arrived two days ago, and, so soon as I learned that I was +honoured by having you as a neighbour, I ventured to lose no time +in--with your permission--making myself known to you." + +Miss Arnott looked at him with an expression on her countenance which +was hardly encouraging. His own assurance was so perfect that it +deprived her, for the moment, of her presence of mind. He wore a suit +of dark blue serge, which made him seem huger even than he had done the +day before. In the presence of Mr Pyecroft, and of the other people, +she could scarcely assail this smiling giant, and remind him, +pointedly, that she had forbidden him to call. Some sort of explanation +would have to be forthcoming, and it was exactly an explanation which +she desired to avoid. Observing that she seemed tongue-tied, the +visitor continued,-- + +"I have been so long a wanderer among savages that I have almost +forgotten the teachings of my guide to good manners. I am quite +unaware, for example, what, as regards calling, is the correct +etiquette on an occasion when an unmarried man finds himself the +next-door neighbour to an unmarried lady. As I could hardly expect you +to call upon me I dared to take the initiative. What I feared most was +that I might not find you in." + +The invitation was so obvious that the lady at once accepted it. + +"It is only by the merest accident that you have done so." + +Mr Morice was equal to the occasion. "I fancy, Miss Arnott, that for +some of the happiest hours of our lives we are indebted to accidents. +Ah, Pyecroft, so you have not deserted us." + +Mr Morice shook hands with Mr Pyecroft--Miss Arnott thought they looked +a most incongruous couple--with an air of old comradeship, and +presently was exchanging greetings with others of those present with a +degree of heartiness which, to his hostess, made it seem impossible +that she should have him shown the door. When all the other visitors +had gone--including the unspeakable man--she found, to her amazement, +that he had made a most favourable impression on Mrs Plummer. That lady +began almost as soon as his back was turned. + +"What a delightful person Mr Morice is." Miss Arnott was so taken by +surprise that she could do nothing but stare. Mrs Plummer went placidly +on, "It is nice to be able just to look at him, the mere sight of him's +a satisfaction. To a little woman the idea of a man of his size is such +a comfort." + +The young lady's manner was not effusive. + +"We're not all of us fond of monstrosities." + +"Monstrosities! my dear! He's not a monstrosity, he's a perfect figure +of a man, magnificently proportioned. You must admit that." + +"I don't." + +"And then his manners are so charming." + +"They never struck me like that." + +"No? I suppose one judges people as one finds them. I know he was +particularly nice to me. By the way, that dreadful person you spoke of +yesterday, you might tell me what his name is, so that I might be on my +guard against him, should our paths happen to cross." + +"I repeat what I have already told you that, so far as I am concerned, +he has no name; and anyhow, you wouldn't recognise him from my +description if you did meet." + +It was odd, considering how much Miss Arnott disliked Mr Morice, how +frequently he was destined to come, at anyrate, within her line of +vision. And yet, perhaps, it was natural--because, although their +houses were a couple of miles apart, their estates joined--they were +neighbours. And then Miss Arnott was inclined to suspect that the +gentleman went out of his way to bring about a meeting. Situated as +they were, it was not a difficult thing to do. + +To a certain extent, the lady had accepted the position. That is, she +had allowed the acquaintance to continue; being, indeed, more than half +disposed to fear that she might not find it easy to refuse to know him +altogether. But she had been careful to avoid any reference to that +curious first encounter. He, on his part, had shown no disposition to +allude to it. So there grew up between them a sort of casual intimacy. +They saw each other often. When he spoke to her she spoke to him, +though never at any greater length than, as it seemed to her, she could +help. + +With the lessons she had received from the Earl of Peckham still fresh +in her mind she bought herself a motor car; almost simultaneously with +its appearance on the scene her relations with Hugh Morice began to be +on a friendlier footing. She was sitting in it one day, talking to the +lodge-keeper, when Mr Morice came striding by. At sight of it he at +once approached. + +"That's a strange beast." + +She had become somewhat accustomed to his odd tricks of speech, and +merely smiled a wintry smile. + +"You think so?" + +"It's not only a strange, it's a wonderful beast, since it holds in its +hands no small portion of the future history of the world." + +"Are you referring to this particular machine?" + +"I am referring to all the machines of which that one's a type. They're +going to repeat the performance of Puffing' Billy--produce a +revolution. I wish you'd give me a ride." + +"I was just thinking of going in." + +"Put off going in for a few minutes--take me for a run." + +She looked at the chauffeur, who was quick to take the hint. Presently +they were bowling along between the hedgerows, she conscious that his +eyes were paying more attention to her than she quite relished. A fact +of which his words immediately gave evidence. + +"You like it. This feeling of flight through the air, which you can +command by touching a handle, supplies you with an evanescent interest +in life which, in ordinary, everyday existence you find lacking." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Is it necessary that I should tell you? Do you wish me to?" + +"Do you mean that, as a general rule, I don't take an interest in +things?" + +"Do you? At your age, in your position, you ought to take an interest +in everything. But the impression you convey to my mind is that you +don't, that you take an interest in nothing. You try to, sometimes, +pretty hard. But you never quite succeed. I don't know why. You remind +me, in some odd way, of the impersonal attitude of a spectator who +looks on at something with which he never expects to have any personal +concern." + +"I don't know what you're talking about, I don't believe you do either. +You say the strangest things." + +"You don't find them strange, you understand them better than I do. I +am many years older than you--ye Goths, how many! I am tolerably +_blase_, as befits my age. But you, you are tired--mortally tired--of +everything already. I've not yet reached that stage. You don't know +what keenness means; thank goodness there are still a good many things +which I am keen about. Just as something turns up for which you're on +the point of really caring, a shadow steps from the back of your mind +to the front, and stops you. I don't know what it is, but I know it's +there." + +"I'm going back." + +As this man spoke something tugged at her heartstrings which filled her +with a sort of terror. If he was beginning to regard her attitude +towards life--of which she herself was only too hideously conscious--as +a problem, the solution of which he had set himself to find out, what +might the consequences not be? Then she could not stop to think. She +swung the car round towards home. As if in obedience to her unspoken +hint he changed the subject, speaking with that calm assumption of +authority which galled her the more because she found herself so +frequently compelled to submission. + +"You must teach me to drive this machine of yours." + +"My mechanician will be able to do that better than I can, I am myself +only a tyro." + +"Thank you, I prefer that you should teach me. Which handle do you move +to stop?" She showed him. "And which to start?" She showed him again. + +Before they parted, she had put him, however unwillingly, through quite +a small course of elementary instruction. In consequence of which +she had a bad quarter of an hour, when, later, she was in her own +sitting-room, alone. + +"He frightens me! He makes me do things I don't want to do; and +then--he seems to know me better than I know myself. Is it so obvious +that I find it difficult to take a real interest in things? or has he a +preternaturally keen sense of perception? Either way it isn't nice for +me. It's true enough; nothing does interest me. How should it? What +does money, and all that matter; when there's that--shadow--in the +prison, coming closer to me, day by day? I believe that being where I +am--Miss Arnott of Exham Park--makes it worse, because if it weren't +for the shadow, it would be so different--so different!" + +That night she dreamed of Hugh Morice. She and he were on the motor car +together, flying through the sunshine, on and on and on, happy as the +day was bright, and the road was fair. Suddenly the sun became +obscured, all the world was dark; they were approaching a chasm. +Although it was so dark she knew that it was there. In a wild frenzy of +fear she tried to stop the car, to find, all at once, that it had no +brake. She made to leap out on to the road, but Mr Morice seized her +round the waist and held her. In another moment they were dashing over +the edge of an abyss, into the nameless horrors which lay below. + +It was not a pleasant dream, it did not leave an agreeable impression +on her mind after she was awake. But dreams are only dreams. Sensible +people pay no heed to them. Miss Arnott proved herself to be sensible +at least in that respect. She did not, ever afterwards, refuse him a +seat in her car, because she had once, in a nightmare, come to grief in +his society. On the contrary, she not only took him for other drives, +but--imitating her own experience with the Earl of Peckham, when, after +a while--it was a very little while--he had attained to a certain +degree of proficiency, she suffered him to drive her. And, as she had +done, he liked driving so much that, before long, he also had an +automobile of his own. + +Then a new phase of the affair commenced. It was, of course, necessary +that--with a view of extending her experience, and increasing her +knowledge of motor cars--she should try her hand at driving his. She +tried her hand, a first and a second time, perhaps a third. She +admitted that his car was not a bad one. It had its points--but slight +vibration, little noise, scarcely any smell. It ran sweetly, was a good +climber, easy to steer. Certainly a capital car. So much she was ready +to allow. But, at the same time, she could not but express her opinion +that, on the whole, hers was a better one. There they joined issue. At +first, Mr Morice was disposed to doubt, he was inclined to think that +perhaps, for certain reasons, the lady's car might be a shade the +superior. But, by degrees, as he became more accustomed to his new +possession, he changed his mind. He was moved to state his conviction +that, as a matter of fact, the superiority lay with his own car. + +Whereupon both parties proceeded to demonstrate with which of the +pair the palm of merit really lay. They ran all sorts of trials +together--trials which sometimes resulted in extremely warm arguments; +and by which, somehow, very little was proved. At anyrate, each party +was always ready to discount the value of the conclusion at which the +other had arrived. + +One fact was noticeable--as evidence of the keen spirit of emulation. +Wherever one car was the other was nearly sure to be somewhere near at +hand. + +Mrs Plummer, who had a gift of silence, said little. But one remark she +made did strike Miss Arnott as peculiar. + +"Mr Morice doesn't seem to have so many friends, or even acquaintances, +as I should have expected in a man in his position." + +"How do you know he hasn't?" + +"I say he doesn't seem to have. He never has anyone at his own house, +and he never goes to anyone else's. He always seems to be alone." + +Miss Arnott was still. Mrs Plummer had not accentuated it in the +slightest degree; yet the young lady wondered in what sense--in that +construction--she had used the word "alone." + +One day, when she was in town, Miss Arnott did a singular thing. Having +deposited Mrs Plummer in a large drapery establishment, with peremptory +instructions to make certain considerable purchases, she went off in a +hansom by herself to an address in the Temple. Having arrived, she +perceived in the hall of the house she had entered a board, on which +were painted a number of names. Her glance rested on one--First floor, +Mr Whitcomb. Without hesitation she ascended to the first floor, until +she found herself confronted by a door on which that name appeared in +black letters. She knocked; the door was opened by a very young +gentleman. + +"Can I see Mr Whitcomb?" she inquired. + +"What name? Have you an appointment?" + +"I have not an appointment, and my name is of no consequence. I wish to +see Mr Whitcomb on very particular business." + +The young gentleman looked at her askance, as if he was of +opinion--which he emphatically was--that she was not at all the sort of +person he was accustomed to see outside that door. + +"Mr Whitcomb doesn't generally see people without an appointment, +especially if he doesn't know their names; but if you'll step inside, +I'll see if he's engaged." + +She stepped inside to find herself in an apartment in which there were +several other young gentlemen, of somewhat riper years; one and all of +whom, she immediately became conscious, began to take the liveliest +interest in her. Soon there appeared a grey-haired man, who held a pair +of spectacles between the fingers of his right hand. + +"May I ask what your name is? and what is the nature of the business on +which you wish to see Mr Whitcomb?" + +"I have already explained that my name doesn't matter. And I can only +state my business to Mr Whitcomb himself." Then she added, as if struck +by the look of doubt in the grey-haired man's face, "Pray don't imagine +that I am here to beg for subscriptions to a charity or any nonsense of +that kind. I wish to see Mr Whitcomb about something very important." + +The grey-headed man smiled faintly, apparently amused by something in +the caller's manner, or appearance. Departing whence he came he almost +immediately reappeared, and beckoned to her with his hand. + +"Mr Whitcomb is very much engaged, but he will manage to spare you five +minutes." + +"I daresay I sha'n't want to keep him longer." + +She found herself in a spacious room, which was principally furnished, +as it seemed to her, with books. At a table, which was almost entirely +covered with books, both open and shut, stood a tall man, with +snow-white hair, who bowed to her as she entered. + +"You wish to see me?" + +"You are Mr Whitcomb?" + +"That is my name. How can I serve you?" + +She seated herself on the chair towards which he pointed. Each looked +at the other for some seconds, in silence. Then she spoke. + +"I want you to tell me on what grounds a wife can obtain a divorce from +her husband." + +Mr Whitcomb raised his eyebrows and smiled. + +"I think, madam, that it may have been a solicitor you wanted. I, +unfortunately, am only a barrister. I fear you have made a mistake." + +"I have not made a mistake; how have I made a mistake? I saw in a paper +the other day that you were the greatest living authority on the law of +marriage." + +"It was very good of the paper to say so. Since I am indebted for your +presence here to so handsome a compliment, I will waive the point of +etiquette and inform you--of what you, surely, must be already +aware--that the grounds on which a divorce may be obtained are various." + +"I know that; that isn't what I mean. What I specially want to know is +this--can a woman get a divorce from her husband because he gets sent +to prison?" + +"Because he gets sent to prison? For doing what?" + +"For--for swindling; because he's a scoundrel." + +Mr Whitcomb's eyebrows went up again. + +"The idea that a marriage may be dissolved because one of the parties +is guilty of felony, and is consequently sentenced to a term of +imprisonment, is a novel one to me." + +"Not if a girl finds out that the man who has married her is a villain +and a thief? A thief, mind." + +He shook his head. + +"I find that that would be no ground for dissolution." + +"Are you sure?" + +"My dear young lady, you were good enough to say that some paper or +other credited me with a knowledge of the laws dealing with the subject +of marriage. I can assure you that on that point there is no doubt +whatever." + +"Is that so?" The girl's lips were tightly compressed, her brows knit. +"Then there are no means whatever by which a wife can be rid of a +husband whom she discovers to be a rogue and a rascal?" + +"Not merely because he is a rogue and a rascal; except by the act of +God." + +"What do you mean by the act of God?" + +"If, for example, he should die." + +"If he should die? I see! There is no way by which she can be released +from him except by--death. Thank you, that is all I wanted to know." + +She laid on his table what, to his surprise, he perceived to be a +twenty-pound note. + +"My dear young lady, what is this?" + +"That is your fee. I don't want to occupy your time or obtain +information from you for nothing." + +"But you have done neither. Permit me to return you this. That is not +the way in which I do business; in this instance, the honour of having +been consulted by you is a sufficient payment. Before you go, however, +let me give a piece of really valuable advice. If you have a friend who +is in any matrimonial trouble, persuade her to see a respectable +solicitor at once, and to place the whole facts before him +unreservedly. He may be able to show her a way out of her difficulty +which would never have occurred to her." + +He commented--inwardly--on his visitor, after her departure. + +"That's either a very simple-minded young woman or a most unusual +character. Fancy her coming to me with such an inquiry! She has got +herself into some matrimonial mess, most probably, without the +cognisance of her friends. Unless I am mistaken she is the kind of +young woman who, if she has made up her mind to get out of it, will get +out of it; if not by fair means, then--though I hope not!--by foul." + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + MR MORICE PRESUMES + + +One day a desire seized Miss Arnott to revisit the place where she had +first met Mr Morice. She had not been there since. That memorable +encounter had spoilt it for her. It had been her custom to wander there +nearly every fine day. But, since it had been defiled by such a memory, +for her, its charm had fled. + +Still, as the weeks went by, it dawned upon her by degrees, that, after +all, there was no substantial reason why she should turn her back on it +for ever. It was a delightful spot; so secluded, so suited to solitary +meditation. + +"I certainly do not intend," she told herself, "to allow that +man"--with an accent on the "that"--"to prevent my occasionally visiting +one of the prettiest parts of my own property. It would be mere affectation +on my part to pretend that the place will ever be to me the same again; +but that is no reason why I should never take a walk in that +direction." + +It was pleasant weather, sunny, not too warm and little wind. Just the +weather for a woodland stroll, and, also, just the weather for a motor +ride. That latter fact was particularly present to her mind, because +she happened to be undergoing one of those little experiences which +temper an automobilist's joys. The machine was in hospital. She had +intended to go for a long run to-day, but yesterday something had all +at once gone wrong with the differential, the clutch, the bevel gear or +something or other. She herself did not quite know what, or, +apparently, anyone else either. As a result, the car, instead of flying +with her over the sun-lit roads, was being overhauled by the nearest +local experts. + +That was bad enough. But what almost made it worse was the additional +fact that Hugh Morice's car was flying over the aforesaid country roads +with him. That her car should have broken down, though ever so +slightly, and his should not--that altogether inferior article, of +which he was continually boasting in the most absurd manner--was gall +and wormwood. + +The accident, which had rendered her own car for the moment +unavailable, had something to do with her stroll; the consciousness +that "that man" was miles away on his had more. + +"At anyrate I sha'n't run the risk of any more impertinent +interferences with my privacy. Fortunately, so far as I know, there is +no one else in the neighbourhood who behaves quite as he does. So, as +he is risking his life on that noisy machine of his, I am safe. I only +hope he won't break his neck on it; there never was such a reckless +driver." + +This pious wish of hers was destined to receive an instant answer. +Hardly had the words been uttered, than, emerging from the narrow path, +winding among the trees and bushes, along which she had been wandering, +she received ample proof that Mr Morice's neck still remained unbroken. +The gentleman himself was standing not fifty paces from where she was. +So disagreeably was she taken by surprise that she would have +immediately withdrawn, and returned at the top of her speed by the way +she had come, had it not been for two things. One was that he saw her +as soon as she saw him; and the other that she also saw something else, +the sight of which filled her with amazement. + +The first reason would not have been sufficient to detain her; +although, so soon as he caught sight of her, he hailed her in his usual +hearty tones. The terms of courtesy--or rather of discourtesy--on which +these two stood towards each other were of such a nature that she held +herself at liberty wholly to ignore him whenever she felt inclined. +More than once when they had parted they had been on something less +than speaking terms. For days together she had done her very best to +cut him dead. Then, when at last, owing to his calm persistency, the +acquaintance was renewed, he evinced not the slightest consciousness +of its having ever been interrupted. Therefore she would not have +hesitated to have turned on her heels, and walked away without a +word--in spite of his salutation, had it not been for the something +which amazed her. + +The fence had been moved! + +At first she thought that her eyes, or her senses, were playing her a +trick. But a moment's inspection showed her that the thing was so. The +old wooden, lichen-covered rails had been taken away for a space of +sixty or seventy feet; and, instead, a little distance farther back, on +the Oak Dene land, a solid, brand-new fence had been erected; standing +in a position which conveyed the impression that the sheltered nook to +which--in her ignorance of boundaries--Miss Arnott had been so +attached, and in which Mr Morice first discovered her, was part and +parcel of Exham Park instead of Oak Dene. + +It was some seconds before the lady realised exactly what had happened. +When she did, she burst out on Mr Morice with a question. + +"Who has done this?" + +The gentleman, who stood with his back against a huge beech tree, took +his pipe from between his lips, and smiled. + +"The fairies." + +"Then the fairies will soon be introduced to a policeman. You did it." + +"Not with my own hands, I assure you. At my time of life I am beyond +that sort of thing." + +"How dare you cause my fence to be removed?" + +"Your fence? I was not aware it was your fence." + +"You said it was my fence." + +"Pardon me--never. I could not be guilty of such a perversion of the +truth." + +"Then whose fence was it?" + +"It was mine. That is, it was my uncle's, and so, in the natural course +of things, it became mine. It was like this. At one time, hereabouts, +there was no visible boundary line between the two properties. I fancy +it was a question of who should be at the expense of erecting one. +Finally, my uncle loosed his purse-strings. He built this fence, with +the wood out of his own plantations--even your friend Mr Baker will be +able to tell you so much--the object being to keep out trespassers from +Exham Park." + +"Then, as you have removed your fence, I shall have to put up one of my +own. I have no intention of allowing innocent persons, connected with +Exham Park, to trespass--unconsciously--on land belonging to Oak Dene." + +"Miss Arnott, permit your servant to present a humble petition." + +He held his cap in his hands, suggesting deference; but in the eyes was +that continual suspicion of laughter which made it difficult to tell +when he was serious. It annoyed Miss Arnott to find that whenever she +encountered that glimmer of merriment she found it so difficult to +preserve the rigidity of decorum which she so ardently desired. Now, +although she meant to be angry, and was angry, when she encountered +that peculiar quality in his glance, it was really hard to be as angry +as she wished. + +"What objectionable remark have you to make now?" + +"This--your servant desires to be forgiven." + +"If the fence was yours, you were at liberty to do what you liked with +it. You don't want to be forgiven for doing what you choose with your +own. You can pull down all the fence for all I care." + +"Exactly; that is very good of you. It is not precisely for that I +craved forgiveness. Your servant has ventured to do a bold thing." + +"Please don't call yourself my servant. If there is a ridiculous thing +which you can say it seems as if you were bound to say it. Nothing you +can do would surprise me. Pray, what particular thing have you been +doing now? I thought you were going to Southampton on your car?" + +"The car's in trouble." + +"What's the matter with it?" + +"One man says one thing; another says another. I say--since this is the +second time it's been in trouble this week--the thing's only fit for a +rummage sale." + +"I have never concealed my opinion from you." + +"You haven't. Your opinion, being unbiassed by facts, is always the +same; mine--depends. What, by the way, is just now your opinion of your +own one? Lately it never seems to be in going order." + +"That's preposterous nonsense, as you are perfectly well aware. But I +don't mean to be drawn into a senseless wrangle. I came here hoping to +escape that sort of thing." + +"And you found me, which is tragic. However, we are wandering from the +subject on to breezy heights. As I previously remarked, I have ventured +to do a bold thing." + +"And I have already inquired, what unusually bold thing is it you have +done?" + +"This." + +They were at some little distance from each other; he on one side of +the newly-made fence, she, where freshly-turned sods showed that the +old fence used to be. He took a paper from his pocket, and, going close +up to his side of the fence, held it out to her in his outstretched +hand. She, afar off, observed both it and him distrustfully. + +"What is it?" + +"This? It's a paper with something written on it. We'll call it a +document. Come and look at it. It's harmless. It's not a pistol--or a +gun." + +"I doubt if it contains anything which is likely to be of the slightest +interest to me. Read what is on it." + +"I would rather you read it yourself. Come and take it, if you please." + +He spoke in that tone of calm assurance which was wont to affect her in +a fashion which she herself was at a loss to understand. She resented +bitterly its suggestion of authority; yet, before she was able to give +adequate expression to her resentment, she was apt to find herself +yielding entire obedience, as on the present occasion. In her +indignation at the thought that he should issue his orders to her, as +if she were his servant, she was more than half disposed to pick up a +clod of earth, or a stone, and, like some street boy, hurl it at him +and run away. She refrained from doing this, being aware that such a +proceeding would not increase her dignity; and, also, because she did +what he told her. She marched up to the fence and took the paper from +his hand. + +"I don't want it; you needn't suppose so. I've not the faintest desire +to know what's on it." He simply looked at her with a glint of laughter +in his big grey eyes. "I've half a mind to tear it in half and return +it to you." + +"You won't do that." + +"Then I'll take it with me and look at it when I get home, if I look at +it at all." + +"Read it now." + +She opened and read it; or tried to. "I don't understand what it's +about; it seems to be so much gibberish. What is the thing?" + +"It's a conveyance." + +"A conveyance? What do you mean?" + +"Being interpreted, it's a legal instrument which conveys to you and to +your heirs for ever the fee-simple of--that." + +"That?" + +"That." He was pointing to the piece of land which lay within the +confines of the newly-made fence. "That nook--that dell--that haven in +which I saw you first, because you were under the impression it was +yours. I was idiot enough to disabuse your mind, not being conscious, +then, of what a fool I was. My idiocy has rankled ever since. However, +it may have been of aforetime your lying there, cradled on that turf, +has made of it consecrated ground. I guessed it then; I know it now. +Then you fancied it was your own; now it assuredly is, you hold the +conveyance in your hand." + +"Mr Morice, what are you talking about? I don't in the least +understand.' + +"I was only endeavouring to explain what is the nature of the document +you hold. Henceforward that rood of land--or thereabouts--is yours. If +I set foot on it, you will be entitled to put into me a charge of +lead." + +"Do you mean to say that you have given it me? Do you expect me to +accept a gift--" + +"Miss Arnott, the time for saying things is past. The transaction is +concluded--past redemption. That land is yours as certainly as you +are now standing on it; nothing you can say or do can alter that +well-established fact by so much as one jot or tittle. The matter is +signed, sealed and settled; entered in the archives of the law. Protest +from you will be a mere waste of time." + +"I don't believe it." + +"As you please. Take that document to your lawyer; lay it before him; +he will soon tell you whether or not I speak the truth. By the way, I +will take advantage of this opportunity to make a few remarks to you +upon another subject. Miss Arnott, I object to you for one reason." + +"For one reason only? That is very good of you. I thought you objected +to me for a thousand reasons." + +"Your irony is justified. Then we will put it that I object to you for +one reason chiefly." + +"Mr Morice, do you imagine that I care why you object to me? Aren't you +aware that you are paying me the highest compliment within your power +by letting me know that you do object to me? Do you suppose that, in +any case, I will stand here and listen to your impertinent attempts at +personal criticism?" + +"You will stand there, and you will listen; but I don't propose to +criticise you, either impertinently or otherwise, but you will stand +and listen to what I have to say." Such a sudden flame came into Mr +Hugh Morice's eyes that the girl, half frightened, half she knew not +what, remained speechless there in front of him. He seemed all at once +to have grown taller, and to be towering above her like some giant +against whose irresistible force it was vain to try and struggle. "The +chief reason why I object to you, Miss Arnott, is because you are so +rich." + +"Mr Morice!" + +"In my small way, I'm well to do. I can afford to buy myself a motor. I +can even afford to pay for its repairs; and, in the case of a car like +mine, that means something." + +"I can believe that, easily." + +"Of course you can. But, relatively, compared to you, I'm a pauper, and +I don't like it." + +"And yet you think that I'll accept gifts from you--valuable gifts?" + +"What I would like is, that a flaw should be found in your uncle's +will; or the rightful heir turn up; or something happen which would +entail your losing every penny you have in the world." + +"What delightful things you say." + +"Then, if you were actually and literally a pauper I might feel that +you were more on an equality with me. + +"Why should you wish to be on an equality with me?" + +"Why? Don't you know?" On a sudden she began to tremble so that she +could scarcely stand. "I see that you do know. I see it by the way the +blood comes and goes in your cheeks; by the light which shines out of +your eyes; by the fashion in which, as you see what is in mine, you +stand shivering there. You know that I would like to be on an equality +with you because I love you; and because it isn't flattering to my +pride to know that, in every respect, you are so transcendently above +me, and that, compared to you, I am altogether such a thing of clay. I +don't want to receive everything and to give nothing. I am one of those +sordid animals who like to think that their wives-who-are-to-be will be +indebted to them for something besides their bare affection." + +"How dare you talk to me like this?" + +She felt as if she would have given anything to have been able to turn +and flee, instead of seeming to stultify herself by so halting a +rejoinder; but her feet were as if they were rooted to the ground. + +"Do you mean, how dare I tell you that I love you? Why, I'd dare to +tell you if you were a queen upon your throne and I your most +insignificant subject. I'd dare to tell you if I knew that the telling +would bring the heavens down. I'd dare to tell you if all the +gamekeepers on your estate were behind you there, pointing their guns +at me, and I was assured they'd pull their triggers the instant I had +told. Why should I not dare to tell you that I love you? I'm a man; +and, after all, you're but a woman, though so rare an one. I dare to +tell you more. I dare to tell you that the first time I saw you lying +there, on that grassy cushion, I began to love you then. And it has +grown since, until now, it consumes me as with fire. It has grown to be +so great, that, mysterious and strange--and indeed, incredible though +it seems--I've a sort of inkling somewhere in my bosom, that one day +yet I'll win you for my wife. What do you say to that?" + +"I say that you don't know what you're talking about. That you're +insane." + +"If that be so, I've a fancy that it's a sort of insanity which, in +howsoever so slight a degree, is shared by you. Come closer." + +He leaned over the fence. Almost before she knew it, he had his arms +about her; had drawn her close to him, and had kissed her on the mouth. +She struck at him with her clenched fists; and, fighting like some wild +thing, tearing herself loose, rushed headlong down the woodland path, +as if Satan were at her heels. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + THE LADY WANDERS + + +That was the beginning of a very bad time for Mrs Plummer. + +She was sitting peacefully reading--she was not one of those ladies who +indulge in "fancy work," and was always ready to confess that never, +under any circumstances, if she could help it, would she have a needle +in her hand--when Miss Arnott came rushing into the room in a condition +which would have been mildly described as dishevelled. She was a young +lady who was a little given to vigorous entrances and exits, and was +not generally, as regards her appearance, a disciple of what has been +spoken of as "the bandbox brigade." But on that occasion she moved Mrs +Plummer, who was not easily moved in that direction, to an exhibition +of surprise. + +"My dear child! what have you been doing to yourself, and where have +you been?" + +"I've been to the woods. Mrs Plummer, I've come to tell you that we're +going abroad." + +"Going abroad? Isn't that rather a sudden resolution? I thought you had +arranged--" + +"Never mind what I've arranged. We're going abroad to-morrow, if we +can't get away to-night." + +"To-morrow? To-night? My child, are you in earnest?" + +"Very much so. That is, I don't wish to put any constraint on you. You, +of course, are at liberty to go or stay, exactly as you please. I +merely wish to say that I am going abroad, whether you come with me or +whether you don't; and that I intend to start either to-night or +to-morrow morning." + +They left the next morning. The packing was done that night. At an +early hour they went up to town; at eleven o'clock they started for the +Continent. That evening they dined in Paris. Mrs Plummer would have +liked to remonstrate--and did remonstrate so far as she dared; but it +needed less sagacity than she possessed to enable her to see that, in +Miss Arnott's present mood, the limits of daring might easily be +passed. When she ventured to suggest that before their departure Mr +Stacey should be consulted, the young lady favoured her with a little +plain speaking. + +"Why should I consult Mr Stacey? He is only my servant." + +"Your servant? My dear!" + +"He renders me certain services, for which I pay him. Doesn't that mean +that, in a certain sense, he's my servant? I have authority over him, +but he has none over me--not one iota. He was my trustee; but, as I +understand it, his trusteeship ceased when I entered into actual +possession of my uncle's property. He does as I tell him, that's all. I +shouldn't dream of consulting him as to my personal movements--nor +anyone. As, in the future, my movements may appear to you to be +erratic, please, Mrs Plummer, let us understand each other now. You are +my companion--good! I have no objection. When we first met, you told me +that my liberty would be more complete with you than without you. I +assure you, on my part, that I do not intend to allow you to interfere +with my perfect freedom of action in the least degree. I mean to go +where I please, when I please, how I please, and I want no criticism. +You can do exactly as you choose; I shall do as I choose. I don't +intend to allow you, in any way whatever, to be a clog upon my +movements. The sooner we understand each other perfectly on that point +the better it will be for both sides. Don't you think so?" + +Mrs Plummer had to think so. + +"I'm sure that if you told me you meant to start in ten minutes for the +North Pole, you'd find me willing; that is, if you'd be willing to take +me with you." + +"Oh, I'd be willing to take you, so long as you don't even hint at a +disinclination to be taken." + +They stayed in Paris for two days. Then they wandered hither and +thither in Switzerland. Everywhere, it seemed, there were too many +people. + +"I want to be alone," declared Miss Arnott. "Where there isn't a soul +to speak to except you and Evans,"--Evans was her maid--"you two don't +count. But I can't get away from the crowds; they're even on the tops +of the mountains. I hate them." + +Mrs Plummer sighed; being careful, however, to conceal the sigh from +Miss Arnott. It seemed to her that the young lady had an +incomprehensible objection to everything that appealed to anyone else. +She avoided hotels where the cooking was decent, because other people +patronised them. She eschewed places where there was something to be +obtained in the way of amusement, because other reasonable creatures +showed a desire to be amused. She shunned beauty spots, merely because +she was not the only person in the world who liked to look upon the +beauties of nature. Having hit upon an apparently inaccessible retreat, +from the ordinary tourist point of view, in the upper Engadine, where, +according to Mrs Plummer, the hotel was horrible, and there was nothing +to do, and nowhere to go, there not being a level hundred yards within +miles, the roads being mere tracks on the mountain sides, she did show +some disposition to rest awhile. Indeed, she showed an inclination to +stay much longer than either Mrs Plummer or Evans desired. Those two +were far from happy. + +"What a young lady in her position can see in a place like this beats +me altogether. The food isn't fit for a Christian, and look at the room +we have to eat it in; it isn't even decently furnished. There's not a +soul to speak to, and nothing to do except climb up and down the side +of a wall. She'll be brought in one day--if they ever find her--nothing +but a bag of bones; you see if she isn't!" + +In that strain Evans frequently eased her mind, or tried to. + +To this remote hamlet, however, in course of time, other people began +to come. They not only filled the hotel, which was easy, since Miss +Arnott already had most of it, and would have had all, if the landlord, +who was a character, had not insisted on keeping certain rooms for +other guests; but they also overflowed into the neighbouring houses. +These newcomers filled Miss Arnott with dark suspicions. When indulging +in her solitary expeditions one young man in particular, named +Blenkinsop, developed an extraordinary knack of turning up when she +least expected him. + +"I believe I'm indebted to you for these people coming here." + +This charge she levelled at Mrs Plummer, who was amazed. + +"To me! Why, they're all complete strangers to me; I never saw one of +them before, and haven't the faintest notion where they come from or +who they are. + +"All the same, I believe I am; to you or to Evans; probably to both." + +"My dear, what do you mean? The things you say!" + +"It's the things you say, that's what I mean. You and Evans have been +talking to the people here; you have been telling them who I am, and a +great many things you have no right to tell them. They've been telling +people down in the valley, and the thing has spread; how the rich +Arnott girl, who has so much money she herself doesn't know how much, +is stopping up here all alone. I know. These creatures have come up in +consequence. That man Blenkinsop as good as told me this afternoon that +he only came because he heard that I was here." + +"My dear, what can you expect? You can't hide your light under a +bushel. You would have much more real solitude in a crowd than in a +place like this." + +"Should I? We shall see. If this sort of thing occurs again I shall +send you and Evans home. I shall drop my own name, and take a +pseudonym; and I shall go into lodgings, and live on fifty francs a +week--then we'll see if I sha'n't be left alone." + +When Mrs Plummer retailed these remarks to Evans, the lady's maid--who +had already been the recipient of a few observations on her own +account--expressed herself with considerable frankness on the subject +of her mistress. + +"I believe she's mad--I do really. I don't mean that she's bad enough +for a lunatic asylum or anything like that; but that she has a screw +loose, and that there's something wrong with her, I'm pretty nearly +sure. Look at the fits of depression she has--with her quite young and +everything to make her all the other way. Look how she broods. She +might be like the party in the play who'd murdered sleep, the way she +keeps awake of nights. I know she reads till goodness knows what time; +and often and often I don't believe she has a wink of sleep all night +It isn't natural--I know I shouldn't like it if it was me. She might +have done some dreadful crime, and be haunted by it, the way that she +goes on--she might really." + +It was, perhaps, owing to the fact that the unfortunate lady +practically had no human society except the lady's maid's that Mrs +Plummer did not rebuke her more sharply for indulging in such free and +easy comments on the lady to whom they were both indebted. She did +observe that Evans ought not to say such things; but, judging from +certain passages in a letter which, later on, she sent to Mrs Stacey, +it is possible that the woman's words had made a greater impression +than she had cared to admit. + +They passed from the Engadine to Salmezzo, a little village which +nestles among the hills which overlook Lake Como. It was from there +that the letter in question was written. After a page or two about +nothing in particular it went on like this:-- + +"I don't want to make mountains out of molehills, and I don't wish you +to misunderstand me; but I am beginning to wonder if there is not +something abnormal about the young lady whom I am supposed to chaperon. +In so rich, so young, and so beautiful a girl--and I think she grows +more beautiful daily--this horror of one's fellow-creatures--carried to +the extent she carries it--is in itself abnormal. But, lately, there +has been something more. She is physically, or mentally, unwell; which +of the two I can't decide. I am not in the least bit morbid; but, +really, if you had been watching her--and, circumstanced as I am, you +can't help watching her--you would begin to think she must be haunted. +It's getting on my nerves. Usually, I should describe her as one of the +most self-possessed persons I had ever met; but, during the last week +or two, she has taken to starting--literally--at shadows. + +"The other day, at the end of the little avenue of trees which runs in +front of my bedroom, right before my eyes, she stopped and leaned +against one of the trees, as if for support. I wondered what she meant +by it--the attitude was such an odd one. Presently a man came along the +road, and strode past the gate. The nearer he came the more she slunk +behind the tree. When he had passed she crouched down behind the tree, +and began to cry. How she did cry! While I was hesitating whether I +ought to go to her or not, apparently becoming conscious that she might +be overlooked, she suddenly got up and--still crying--rushed off among +the trees. + +"Now who did she think that man was she heard coming along the road? +Why did she cry like that when she found it wasn't he? Were they tears +of relief or disappointment? It seemed very odd. + +"Again, one afternoon she went for a drive with me; it is not often +that she will go anywhere with me, especially for a drive, but that +afternoon the suggestion actually came from her. After we had gone some +distance we alighted from the vehicle to walk to a point from which a +famous view can be obtained. All at once, stopping, she caught me by +the arm. + +"'Who's that speaking?' she asked. Up to then I had not been conscious +that anyone was speaking. But, as we stood listening, I gradually +became conscious, in the intense silence, of a distant murmur of voices +which was just, and only just, audible. Her hearing must be very acute. +'It is an English voice which is speaking,' she said. She dragged me +off the path among the shadow of the trees. She really did drag; but I +was so taken aback by the extraordinary look which came upon her face, +and by the strangeness of her tone, that I was incapable of offering +the least resistance. On a sudden she had become an altogether +different person; a dreadful one, it seemed to me. Although I was +conscious of the absurdity of our crouching there among the trees, I +could not say so--simply because I was afraid of her. At last she said, +as if to herself, 'It's not his voice.' Then she gave a gasp, or a +groan, or sigh--I don't know what it was. I could feel her shuddering; +it affected me most unpleasantly. Presently two perfectly inoffensive +young Englishmen, who were staying at our hotel, came strolling by. +Fortunately they did not look round. If they had seen us hiding there +among the trees I don't know what they would have thought. + +"I have only given you two instances. But recently, she is always doing +ridiculous things like that, which, although they are ridiculous, are +disconcerting. She certainly is unwell mentally, or physically, or +both; but not only so. I seriously do believe she's haunted. Not by +anything supernatural, but by something, perhaps, quite ordinary. There +may be some episode in her life which we know nothing of, and which it +might be much better for her if we did, and that haunts her. I should +not like to venture to hint at what may be its exact nature; because I +have no idea; but I would not mind hazarding a guess that it has +something to do with a man." + + +Mrs Plummer's sagacity was not at fault; it had something to do with a +man--her husband. She had hoped that constant wandering might help her +to banish him from her mind--him and another man. The contrary proved +to be the case. The farther she went the more present he seemed to +be--they both seemed to be. + +And, lately, the thing had become worse. She had begun to count the +hours which still remained before the prison gates should be reopened. +So swiftly the time grew shorter. When they were reopened, what would +happen then? Now she was haunted; what Mrs Plummer had written was +true. Day and night she feared to see his face; she trembled lest every +unknown footstep might be his. A strange voice made her heart stand +still. + +The absurdity of the thing did not occur to her? she was so wholly +obsessed by its horror. Again Mrs Plummer was right, she was unwell +both mentally and physically. The burden which was weighing on her, +body and soul, was rapidly becoming heavier than she could bear. She +magnified it till it filled her whole horizon. Look where she would it +was there, the monster who--it seemed to her, at any moment--might +spring out at her from behind the prison gates. The clearness of her +mental vision was becoming obscured, the things she saw were distorted +out of their true proportions. + +As a matter of fact, the hour of Robert Champion's release was drawing +near. The twelve months were coming to an end. The probability was that +they had seemed much longer to him than to her. To her it seemed that +the hour of his release would sound the knell of the end of all things. +She awaited it as a condemned wretch might await the summons to the +gallows. As, with the approaching hour, the tension grew tighter, the +balance of her mind became disturbed. Temporarily, she was certainly +not quite sane. + +One afternoon she crowned her display of eccentricity by rushing off +home almost at a moment's notice. On the previous day--a Tuesday--she +had arranged with the landlord to continue in his hotel for a further +indefinite period. On the Wednesday, after lunch, she came to Mrs +Plummer and announced that they were going home at once. Although Mrs +Plummer was taken wholly by surprise, the suggestion being a complete +reversal of all the plans they had made, Miss Arnott's manner was so +singular, and the proposition was in itself so welcome, that the elder +lady fell in with the notion there and then, without even a show of +remonstrance. The truth is that she had something more than a suspicion +that Miss Arnott would be only too glad to avail herself of any excuse +which might offer, and return to England alone, leaving her--Mrs +Plummer--alone with Evans. Why the young lady should wish to do such a +thing she had no idea, but that she did wish to do it she felt +uncomfortably convinced. The companion managing to impress the lady's +maid with her aspect of the position, the trunks were packed in less +than no time, so that the entire cortege was driven over to catch the +afternoon train, leaving the smiling landlord with a thumping cheque, +to compensate him for the rapidity with which the eccentric young +Englishwoman thought proper to break the engagements into which she had +solemnly entered. + +That was on the Wednesday. On the Saturday--by dint of losing no time +upon the way--they arrived at Exham Park. On the Sunday Robert +Champion's term of imprisonment was to come to an end; on that day he +would have been twelve months in jail. What a rigid account she had +kept of it all, like the schoolboy who keeps count of the days which +bar him from his holidays. But with what a different feeling in her +heart! She had seen that Sunday coming at her from afar off--nearer and +nearer. What would happen when it came, and he was free to get at her +again, she did not know. What she did know was that she meant to have +an hour or two at Exham Park before the Sunday dawned, and the monster +was set free again. She had come at headlong speed from the Lake of +Como to have it. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + THE BEECH TREE + + +When the travellers returned it was after nine o'clock. So soon as they +set foot indoors they were informed that dinner was ready to be served; +an announcement which, as they had been travelling all day, and had +only had a scanty lunch on the train, Mrs Plummer was inclined to hail +with rapture. Miss Arnott, however--as she was only too frequently wont +to be--was of a different mind. + +"I don't want any dinner," she announced. + +"Not want any dinner!" Mrs Plummer stared. The limits of human +forbearance must be reached some time, and the idea that that erratic +young woman could not want dinner was beyond nature. "But you must want +dinner--you're starving; I'm sure you are." + +"Indeed? I don't see how you can be sure. I assure you, on my part, +that I am not even hungry. However, as you probably mean that yours is +a case of starvation, far be it from me to stand in the way of your +being properly fed. Come! let us go in to dinner at once." + +The imperious young woman marched her unresisting companion straight +off into the dining-room, without even affording her an opportunity to +remove the stains of travel. Not that Mrs Plummer was unwilling to be +led, having arrived at that stage in which the satisfaction of the +appetite was the primary consideration. + +Miss Arnott herself made but an unsubstantial meal; watching the +conscientious manner in which the elder lady did justice to the +excellent fare with ill-concealed and growing impatience. At last--when +they had only reached the entrees--her feeling found vent. + +"Really, Mrs Plummer, you must excuse me. I'm not in the least bit +hungry, and am in that state of mind in which even the sight of food +upsets me--I must have some fresh air." + +"Fresh air! But, my dear child, surely you must recently have had +enough fresh air." + +"Not of the kind I want. You stay there and continue to recruit +exhausted nature; don't let my vagaries make any difference to you. I'm +going out--to breathe." + +"After travelling for three whole days where can you be going to at +this time of night? It's ten o'clock." + +"I'm going--" From the way in which she looked at her Mrs Plummer +deemed it quite possible that her charge was going to request her to +mind her own business. But, suddenly, Miss Arnott stopped; seemed to +change her mind, and said with a smile wrinkling her lips, "Oh, I'm +going out into the woods." + +Before the other could speak again she was gone. + +Left alone, Mrs Plummer put down her knife and fork, and stared at the +door through which the lady had vanished. Had there been someone to say +it to she might have said something to the point. The only persons +present were the butler and his attendant minions. To them she could +hardly address herself on such a subject. It was not even desirable +that any action of hers should acquaint them with the fact that there +was something which she was burning to say. She controlled her +feelings, composed her countenance, took up her knife and fork and +resumed her meal. + +And Miss Arnott went out into the woods. + +She was in a curious mood, or she would never have gone out on such a +frolic. Directly she found herself out in the cool night air, +stretching out her arms and opening her chest, she drank in great +draughts of it; not one or two, but half a dozen. When she reached the +shadow of the trees she paused. So far the sky had been obscured by +clouds. The woods stretched out in front of her in seemingly +impenetrable darkness. It was impossible to pick out a footpath in that +blackness. But all at once the clouds passed from before the moon. +Shafts of light began to penetrate the forest fastness, and to +illuminate its mysteries. The footpath was revealed, not over clearly, +yet with sufficient distinctness to make its existence obvious. +Unhesitatingly she began to follow it. It was not easy walking. The +moon kept coming and going. When it was at its brightest its rays were +not sufficiently vivid to make perfectly plain the intricacies of the +path. When it vanished she found herself in a darkness which might +almost have been felt. Progression was practically impossible. In spite +of her putting out her hands to feel the way she was continually coming +into contact with trees, and shrubs, and all sorts of unseen obstacles. +Not only so, there was the risk of her losing the path--all sense of +direction being nonexistent. + +"If I don't take care I shall be lost utterly, and shall have to spend +the night, alone with the birds and beasts, in this sweet wilderness. +Sensible people would take advantage of the first chance which offers +to turn back. But I sha'n't; I shall go on and on." + +Presently the opportunity to do so came again. The moon returned; this +time to stay. It seemed brighter now. As her eyes became accustomed to +its peculiar glamour she moved more surely towards the goal she had in +view. The light, the scene, the hour, were all three fitted to her +mood; which certainly would have defied her own analysis. It seemed to +her, by degrees, that she was bewitched--under the influence of some +strange spell. This was a fairy forest through which she was passing, +at the witching hour. Invisible shapes walked by her. Immaterial forms +peopled the air. It was as though she was one of a great company; +moving with an aerial bodyguard through a forest of faerie. + +What it all meant she did not know; or why she was there; or whither, +exactly, she was going. Until, on a sudden, the knowledge came. + +Unexpectedly, before she supposed she had gone so far, she came to +the end of the path. There, right ahead, was the mossy glade, the +fee-simple of which had been presented to her in such queer fashion the +last time she came that way. Coming from the shadow of the forest path +it stood out in the full radiance of the moon; every object showing out +as clearly as at high noon. The new-made fence, with its novelty +already fading; the turf on which she loved to lie; the unevenness on +the slope which had seemed to have been made for the express purpose of +providing cushions for her head and back. These things she saw, as +distinctly as if the sun were high in the heavens; and something else +she saw as well, which made her heart stand still. + +Under the giant beech, whose spreading branches cast such grateful +shade, when the sun was hot, over the nook which she had chosen as a +couch, stood a man--who was himself by way of being a giant. Never +before had his height so struck her. Whether it was the clothes he +wore, the position in which he stood, or a trick of the moonlight, she +could not tell. She only knew that, as he appeared so instantly before +her, he was like some creature out of Brobdingnag, seeming to fill all +space with his presence. + +The man was Hugh Morice. + +He was so absorbed in what he was doing, and she was still some little +distance from him, and had come so quietly; that she saw him while he +still remained unconscious of her neighbourhood. She had ample time to +withdraw. She had only to take a few steps back, and he would never +know she had been near him. So the incident would be closed. Her +instinct told her that in that way she would be safest. And for a +moment or two she all but turned to go. + +Her retreat, however, was delayed by one or two considerations. One was +that the sight of him affected her so strangely that, for some seconds, +she was genuinely incapable of going either backward or forward. Her +feet seemed shod with lead, her knees seemed to be giving way beneath +her, she was trembling from head to foot. Then she was divided between +conflicting desires, the one saying go, the other stay; and while her +instinct warned her to do the one, her inclination pointed to the +other. In the third place there was her woman's curiosity. While she +hesitated this began to gain the upper hand. She wondered what it was +he was doing which absorbed him so completely that he never ceased from +doing it to look about him. + +He was in a dinner suit, and was apparently hatless. He had something +in his hand, with which he was doing something to the tree in front of +which he stood. What was he doing? She had no right to ask; she had no +right to be there at all; still--she wondered. She moved a little +farther out into the open space, to enable her to see. As she did so it +seemed that he finished what he was doing. Standing up straight he drew +back from the tree the better to enable him to examine his handiwork; +and--then he turned and saw her. + +There was silence. Neither moved. Each continued to look at the other, +as if at some strange, mysterious being. Then he spoke. + +"Are you a ghost?--I think not. I fancy you're material. But I haunt +this place so constantly myself--defying Jim Baker's charge of +lead--that I should not be one whit surprised if your spirit actually +did appear to keep me company. Do you believe in telepathy?" + +"I don't know what it is." + +"Do you believe that A, by dint of taking thought, can induce B to +think of him? or--more--can draw, B to his side? I'm not sure that I +believe; but it certainly is queer that I should have been thinking of +you so strenuously just then, longing for you, and should turn and find +you here. I thought you were over the hills and far away, haunting the +shores of the Italian lakes." + +"On Wednesday we came away from Como." + +"On Wednesday? That's still stranger. It was on Wednesday my fever came +to a head. I rushed down here, bent, if I could not be with you, on +being where you had been. Since my arrival I've longed--with how great +a longing--to use all sorts of conjurations which should bring you back +to Exham; and, it seems, I conjured wiser than I knew." + +"I left Como because I could no longer stay." + +"From Exham? or from me? Speak sweetly; see how great my longing is." + +"I had to return to say good-bye." + +"To both of us? That's good; since our goodbyes will take so long in +saying. Come and see what I have done." She went to the tree. There, +newly cut in the bark, plain in the moonlight, were letters and figures. +"Your initials and mine, joined by the date on which we met--beneath this +tree. I brought my hunting knife out with me to do it--you see how sharp +a point and edge it has." She saw that he held a great knife in his hand. +"As I cut the letters you can believe I thought--I so thought of you +with my whole heart and soul that you've come back to me from Como." + +"Did I not say I've returned to say good-bye?" + +"What sort of good-bye do you imagine I will let you say, now that +you've returned? That tree shall be to us a family chronicle. The first +important date's inscribed on it; the others shall follow; they'll be +so many. But the trunk's of a generous size. We'll find room on it for +all. That's the date on which I first loved you. What's the date on +which you first loved me?" + +"I have not said I ever loved you." + +"No; but you do." + +"Yes; I do. Now I know that I do. No, you must not touch me." + +"No need to draw yourself away; I do not mean to, yet. Some happinesses +are all the sweeter for being a little postponed. And when did the +knowledge first come to you? We must have the date upon the tree." + +"That you never shall. Such tales are not for trees to tell, even if I +knew, which I don't. I'm afraid to think; it's all so horrible." + +"Love is horrible? I think not." + +"But I know. You don't understand--I do." + +"My dear, I think it is you who do not understand." + +"Nor must you call me your dear; for that I shall never be." + +"Not even when you're my wife?" + +"I shall never be your wife!" + +"Lady, these are strange things of which you speak. I would rather +that, just now, you did not talk only in riddles." + +"It is the plain truth--I shall never be your wife." + +"How's that? Since my love has brought you back from Como, to tell me +that you also love? Though, mind you, I do not stand in positive need +of being told. Because, now that I see you face to face, and feel you +there so close to me, your heart speaks to mine--I can hear it +speaking; I can hear, sweetheart, what it says. So that I know you love +me, without depending for the knowledge on the utterance of your lips." + +"Still, I shall never be your wife." + +"But why, sweetheart, but why?" + +"Because--I am a wife already." + + + + + CHAPTER X + + THE TALE WHICH WAS TOLD + + +They were silent. To her it seemed that the silence shrieked aloud. He +looked at her with an expression on his face which she was destined +never to forget--as if he were hard of hearing, or fancied that his +senses played him a trick, or that she had indulged in some ill-timed +jest. + +"What did you say?" + +"I said that I am a wife already." + +His look had become one of inquiry; as if desirous of learning if she +were really in earnest. She felt her heart beating against her ribs, or +seeming to--a habit of which it had been too fond of late. When it +behaved like that it was only with an uncomfortable effort that she +could keep a hold upon her consciousness; being fearful that it might +slip away from her, in spite of all that she might be able to do. When +he spoke again his tone had changed; as if he were puzzled. She had a +sudden feeling that he was speaking to her as he might have spoken to a +child. + +"Do you know what you are saying? and do you mean what you say?" + +"Of course I do." + +"But--pardon me--I don't see the of course at all. Do +you--seriously--wish me to understand that you're--a married woman?" + +"Whether you understand it or not, I am." + +"But you are scarcely more than a child. How old are you?" + +"I am twenty-two." + +"And how long do you wish me to understand that you've been married?" + +"Two years." + +"Two years? Then--you were married before you came here?" + +"Of course." + +"Of course? But everyone here has always spoken to me of you as Miss +Arnott." + +"That is because no one who knows me here knows that I am married." + +He put his arms down to his sides, and drew himself up still +straighter, so that she had to look right up at him, and knit his +brows, as if he found himself confronted by a problem which was +incapable of solution. + +"I believe that I am the least curious of men, I say it seriously; but +it appears to me that this is a situation in which curiosity is +justified. You made yourself known to me as Miss Arnott; as Miss Arnott +there have previously been certain passages between us; as Miss Arnott +you have permitted me to tell you that I love you; you have even +admitted that you love me. It is only when I take it for granted--as I +am entitled to do--that the mutual confession involves your becoming my +wife, that you inform me--that you are already a married woman. Under +the circumstances I think I have a right to ask for information at +least on certain points; as, for instance, so that I may know how to +address you--what is your husband's name?" + +"Robert Champion." + +"Robert Champion? Then--you are Mrs Champion?" + +"I am." + +"Am I to take it that Mr Champion is alive?" + +"So far as I know." + +"So far as you know? That does not suggest very intimate--or very +recent knowledge. When did you hear from him last?" + +"I saw him twelve months ago." + +"You saw him twelve months ago? That was not long before you came here. +Why did he not accompany you when you came?" + +"He couldn't." + +"He couldn't? Why?" + +"He was in prison." + +"In--" He stopped, looked at her with, in his eyes, an altogether +different expression; then, throwing his head back, seemed to be +staring straight at the moon, as if he were endeavouring to read +something which was written on her surface. Presently he spoke in an +entirely altered tone of voice. "Now I understand, or, rather, now I +begin to understand. It dawns on me that here is a position which will +want some understanding." As if seized with sudden restlessness he +began to pace to and fro, keeping to the same piece of ground, of which +he seemed to be making mental measurements; she meanwhile, watching +him, silent, motionless, as if she were waiting for him to pronounce +judgment. After a while he broke into speech, while he still continued +pacing to and fro. "Now I begin to see daylight everywhere; the meaning +of the things which puzzled me. Why you seemed to take no interest in +anything; why you were so fond of solitude; why, in the middle of a +conversation, one found that your thoughts had strayed. The life you +were living in public was not the one you were living to yourself. It's +not nice to be like that. Poor child! And I have laughed at you, +because I thought you were a character, and--you were. How many fools +escape being kicked just at those moments when a kicking would do them +good. It occurs to me, Mrs Champion--" + +"Don't call me that!" + +"But--if it's your name?" + +"It's not my name to you; I wish you always to think of me as Miss +Arnott." + +"Then--" He paused; ceased to walk; looked at her, and went and stood +with his back against the tree. "I fancy that what you stand most in +need of is a friend. I can be that to you, if I can be nothing else. +Come, tell me all about it--it will ease your mind." + +"I've wanted to tell someone all the time; but I've told no one. I +couldn't." + +"I know what you mean; and I think I know what it feels like. Tell +me--you'll find me an excellent father confessor." + +"I shall have to begin at the beginning." + +"Do. If I am to be of any assistance, and it's possible I may be, I +shall have to understand it all quite clearly." + +"My father died first, and then my mother, and when she died I was left +with only quite a little money." + +"And no relations?" + +"No--no relations." + +"And no friends?" + +"No--no friends." + +"Poor child!" + +"You mustn't talk like that, or I sha'n't be able to go on, and I want +to go straight on. I wasn't yet eighteen. There wasn't anything to be +done in the country--we had lived quite out of the world--so I went to +London. I was strange to London; but I thought I should have more +chance there than in Scarsdale, so I went. But, when I got there, I +soon found that I wasn't much better off than before, I'm not sure I +wasn't worse. It was so lonely and so--so strange. My money went so +fast, I began to be afraid, there seemed to be no means of earning +more--I didn't know what to do. Then I saw an advertisement in a paper, +of a shop where they wanted models in the costume department; they had +to be tall and of good appearance. I didn't know what the advertisement +meant; but I thought I was that, so I went, and they engaged me. I was +to have board and lodging, and a few shillings a week. It was horrible. +I had to keep putting on new dresses, and walk up and down in them in +front of strange women, and sometimes men, and show them off. I had +always been used to the open air, and to solitude; sometimes I thought +I was going mad. Then the food was bad--at least, I thought it was +bad--and, there were all sorts of things. But I had come so close to my +last few shillings--and been so afraid--that I didn't dare to leave. +There was one girl, who was also a model, whom I almost trusted; now +that I look back I know that I never did quite. I used to walk about +with her in the streets; I couldn't walk about alone, and there was +nowhere else to walk, and I had to have some fresh air. She introduced +me to a friend of hers--a man. She said he was a gentleman, but I knew +better than that. She made out that he was very rich, and everything he +ought to be. Directly he was introduced he began to make love. I so +hated being a model; and I saw no prospect of doing anything else, +and--besides, I wasn't well--I wasn't myself the whole of the time. She +laughed when I said I didn't like him, and, therefore, couldn't be his +wife. She declared that I was throwing away the best chance a girl in +my position ever had; and said he would make the most perfect husband I +could possibly want. He promised all sorts of things; he said we should +live in the country, he even took me to see a house which he said he +had taken. I grew to hate being a model more and more; I was miserable +and ill, and they all made fun of me. At last, after he had asked me I +don't know how many times, I said yes. We were married. We went to +Margate for our honeymoon. Within four-and-twenty hours I knew what +kind of a man he was." + +She stopped; putting her hands up before her face. He could see her +trembling in the moonlight, and could only stand and watch. He dared +not trust himself to speak. + +Presently she went on. + +"I lived with him twelve months." + +"Twelve months!" + +"When I think of it now I wonder why I didn't kill him. I had chances, +but I daren't even run away. All the life had gone out of me, and all +the spirit too. I didn't even try to defend myself when he struck me." + +"Struck you?" + +"Oh, he often did that. But I was a weak and helpless creature. I +seemed to myself to be half-witted. He used to say that he believed I +had a tile loose. I had, then. Then they locked him up." + +"What for?" + +"He put an advertisement in the paper for a person to fill a position +of trust. When someone applied he got them to make what he termed a +'deposit' of a few pounds. Then he stole it. Of course there was no +position of trust to fill. That was how he made his living. I always +wondered where he got his money from. After he was arrested I +understood." + +"And he was sentenced?" + +"To twelve months' hard labour." + +"Only twelve months' hard labour? Then his term of imprisonment will +soon be drawing to a close." + +"To-morrow." + +"To-morrow! You poor child!" + +"Now you perceive why I hurried back from Lake Como to say good-bye." + +"I hope I need not tell you, in words, how intensely I sympathise with +you." + +"Thank you, I would rather you didn't; I know." + +"We will speak of such matters later. In the meantime, obviously, what +you want is a friend; as I guessed. As a friend, let me assure you that +your position is not by any means so hopeless as you appear to +imagine." + +"Not with my husband coming out of prison to-morrow? You don't know +him." + +"If you can do nothing else, you can keep him at arm's length." + +"How do you mean?" + +"You have money, he hasn't. You can at least place yourself in a +position in which he can't get at you." + +"Can't he compel me to give him money?" + +"Emphatically, no. He has no claim to a penny of yours, not to a +farthing. The marriage laws are still quite capable of being improved, +but one crying injustice they have abolished. What a woman has is her +own, and hers only, be she married or single. If Mr Champion wants +money he will have to earn it. He has not a scintilla of right to any +of yours, or anything that is yours. So, at anyrate, you should have no +difficulty in placing yourself beyond his reach. But there is something +more. You should experience no trouble in freeing yourself from him +altogether. There is such a place as the divorce court. Plainly, it +would be easy to show cruelty, and probably something else as well." + +"I don't know. I knew nothing of what he did, and cared nothing, so +long as he left me alone." + +"Quite so. This is a matter which will be better managed by other hands +than yours. Only--there are abundant ways and means of dealing with a +person of his kind. What I want you to do now is not to worry. One +moment! it's not a counsel of perfection! I see clearly what this means +to you, what it has meant, but--forgive me for saying so--the burden +has been made much heavier by your insisting on bearing it alone." + +"I couldn't blurt out my shame to everyone--to anyone!" + +"Well, you have told me now, thank goodness! And you may rely on this, +that man sha'n't be allowed to come near you; if necessary, I will make +it my business to prevent him. I will think things over to-night; be +sure that I shall find a way out. To-morrow I will come and tell you +what I've thought about, when the conditions are more normal." + +"Rather than that he should again be able to claim me for his wife, +even for an hour, I would kill him." + +"Certainly; I will kill him for you if it comes to that. I have lived +in countries where they make nothing of killing vermin of his +particular type. But there'll be no necessity for such a drastic +remedy. Now, I want you to go home and promise not to worry, because +your case is now in hands which are well qualified to relieve you of +all cause for apprehension of any sort or kind. I beg you will believe +it. Good-night." + +She hesitated, then put her hands up to her temples, as if her head was +aching. + +"I will say good-night to you. You go, I will stay. My brain's all in a +whirl. I want to be alone--to steady it." + +"I don't like to leave you, in such a place, at such an hour." + +"Why not? While I've been abroad I've sometimes spent half the night in +wandering alone over the mountains. Why am I not as safe here as +there?" + +"It's not a question of safety, no doubt you're safe enough. But--it's +the idea." + +"Be so good as to do as I ask--leave me, please." + +"Since you ask me in such a tone. Promise me, at least, that you won't +stay half the night out here; that, indeed, you won't stay long." + +"I promise, if my doing so affords you any satisfaction. Probably I'll +be in my own room in half an hour, only--I must be alone for a few +minutes first. Don't you see?" + +"I fancy that I do. Good-night. Remember that I'm at least your +friend." + +"I'll remember." + +"By the way, in the morning where, and when, shall I find you?" + +"I shall be in the house till lunch." + +"Good, then before lunch I'll come to you, as early as I can. +Good-night again." + +"Good-night. And"--as he was moving off--"you're not to stop about and +watch me, playing the part of the unseen protector. I couldn't bear the +thought of being watched. I want to be alone." + +He laughed. + +"All right! All right! Since you've promised me that you'll not stay +long I promise you that I'll march straight home." + +He strode off, his arms swinging at his sides, his head hanging a +little forward on his chest, as his habit was. She followed him with +her eyes. When she saw that he vanished among the trees on his own +estate, and did not once look back, she was conscious of an illogical +little pang. She knew that he wanted her to understand that, in +obedience to her wishes, he refused to keep any surveillance over her +movements, even to the extent of looking back. Still she felt that he +might have given her one backward glance, ere he vanished into the +night. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + THE MAN ON THE FENCE + + +Her first feeling, when she knew herself in truth to be alone, was of +thankfulness so intense as almost to amount to pain. He knew! As he +himself had said, thank goodness! Her relief at the knowledge that her +burden was shared, in however slight a degree, was greater than she +could have imagined possible. And of all people in the world--by him! +Now he understood, and understanding had, in one sense, drawn him +closer to her; if in another it had thrust him farther off. Again, to +use his own words, he was at least her friend. And, among all persons, +he was the one whom--for every possible reason--she would rather have +chosen as a friend. In his hands she knew she would be safe. Whatever +he could do, he would do, and more. That ogre who, in a few hours, +would again be issuing from the prison gates, would not have her so +wholly at his mercy as she had feared. Now, and henceforward, there +would be someone else with whom he would have to reckon. One in whom, +she was convinced, he would find much more than his match. + +Again as he had said--thank goodness! + +For some minutes she remained just as he had left her, standing looking +after him, where he had vanished among the trees. After a while the +restraint which she had placed upon herself throughout that trying +interview, began to slacken. The girl that was in her came to the +front--nature had its way. All at once she threw herself face downward +on the cushioned turf in her own particular nook, and burst into a +flood of tears. It was to enable her to do that, perhaps, that she had +so wished to be alone. For once in a way, it was a comfort to cry; they +were more than half of them tears of happiness. On the grass she lay, +in the moonlight, and sobbed out, as it were, her thanks for the +promise of help which had so suddenly come to her. + +Until all at once she became aware, amidst the tumult of her sobbing, +of a disturbing sound. She did not at first move or alter her position. +She only tried to calm herself and listen. What was it which had struck +upon her consciousness? Footsteps? Yes, approaching footsteps. + +Had he played her false, and, despite his promise, kept watch on her? +And was he now returning, to intrude upon her privacy? How dare he! The +fountain of her tears was all at once dried up; instead, she went hot +all over. The steps were drawing nearer. The person who was responsible +was climbing the fence, within, it seemed, half a dozen feet of her. +She started up in a rage, to find that the intruder was not Hugh +Morice. + +Seated on the top rail of the fence, on which he appeared to have +perched himself, to enable him to observe her more at his ease, was +quite a different-looking sort of person, a much more unprepossessing +one than Hugh Morice. His coat and trousers were of shepherd's plaid; +the open jacket revealing a light blue waistcoat, ornamented with +bright brass buttons. For necktie he wore a narrow scarlet ribbon. His +brown billycock hat was a little on one side of his head; his face was +clean shaven, and between his lips he had an unlighted cigarette. In +age he might have been anything between thirty and fifty. + +His appearance was so entirely unexpected, and, in truth, so almost +incredible, that she stared at him as she might have stared at some +frightful apparition. And, indeed, no apparition could have seemed more +frightful to her; for the man on the fence was Robert Champion. + +For the space of at least a minute neither spoke. It was as if both +parties were at a loss for words. At last the man found his tongue. + +"Well, Vi, this is a little surprise for both of us." + +So far she had been kneeling on the turf, as if the sight of him had +paralysed her limbs and prevented her from ascending higher. Now, with +a sudden jerky movement, she stood up straight. + +"You!" she exclaimed. + +"Yes, my dear--me. Taken you a little by surprise, haven't I? You don't +seem to have made many preparations for my reception, though of course +it's always possible that you've got the fatted calf waiting for me +indoors." + +"I thought you were in prison." + +"Well, it's not a very delicate reminder, is it? on this the occasion +of our first meeting. But, strictly between ourselves, I've been in +prison, and that's a solid fact; and a nasty, unsociable place I found +it." + +"But I thought they weren't going to let you out until to-morrow." + +"No? Did you? I see. That's why you were crying your heart out on the +grass there, because you thought they were going to keep me from you +four-and-twenty hours longer. The brutes! I should have thought you'd +have found it damp enough without wanting to make it damper; but +there's no accounting for tastes; yours always were your own, and I +recognise the compliment. As it happens, when a gentleman's time's up +on a Sunday, they let him tear himself away from them on the Saturday. +Sunday's what they call a _dies non_; you're a lady of education, so +you know what that means. You were right in reckoning that the twelve +months for which they tore a husband from his wife wasn't up until +tomorrow; but it seems that you didn't reckon for that little +peculiarity, on account of which I said goodbye to them this morning. +See?" + +"But--I don't understand!" + +She threw out her arms with a gesture which was eloquent of the +confusion--and worse--with which his sudden apparition had filled her. + +"No? what don't you understand? It all seems to me clear enough; but, +perhaps, you always were a trifle dull." + +"I don't understand how you've found me! how it is that you are here!" + +"Oh, that's it, is it? Now I begin to catch on. That's the simplest +part of the lot. You--the wife of my bosom, the partner of my joys and +sorrows--particularly of my sorrows--you never wrote me a line; you +never took the slightest interest in my hard fate. For all you cared I +might have died. I don't like to think that you really didn't care, but +that's what it looked like." He grinned, as if he had said something +humorous. "But I had a friend--a true friend--one. That friend met me +this morning, where my wife ought to have met me, at the prison gates. +From that friend I learned of the surprising things which had happened +to you; how you had come into a fortune--a fortune beyond the dreams of +avarice. It seems strange that, under the circumstances, you weren't +outside the prison, with a coach and four, waiting to bear me away in +triumph to your gilded bowers. Ah-h!" He emitted a sound which might +have been meant for a sigh. "But I bore up--with the aid of the first +bottle of champagne I'd tasted since I saw you last--the gift of my one +true friend. So, as you hadn't come to me, I came to you. You might +have bungled up the dates or something; there's never any telling. I +knew you'd be glad to see me--your loving husband, dear. My late +arrival is due to no fault of mine; it's that beastly railway. I +couldn't make out which was the proper station for this little shanty +of yours! and it seems I took a ticket for the wrong one. Found myself +stranded in a God-forsaken hole; no conveyance to be got; no more +trains until tomorrow. So I started to walk the distance. They told me +it was about five miles. About five miles! I'd like to make 'em cover +it as five against the clock; they'd learn! When I'd gone about ten I +met an idiot who told me there was a short cut, and set me on it. Short +cut! If there's a longer cut anywhere I shouldn't care to strike it. +Directly I'd seen the back of him it came on pitch dark; and there was +I, in a pathless wilderness, with no more idea of where I was going +than the man in the moon. For the last two hours I've been forcing my +way through what seemed to me to be a virgin forest. I've had a time! +But now I've found you, by what looks very like a miracle; and all's +well that ends well. So give us a kiss, like a good girl, and say +you're glad to see me. Come and salute your husband." + +"You're not my husband!" + +"Not--I say! Don't go and throw away your character like that. As my +wife, it's precious to me, if it isn't to you." + +"What do you suppose you're going to do now?" + +"Now?--Do you mean this minute? Well, I did dream of a tender meeting; +you know the kind of thing. As a loving wife you ought to, but, +perhaps, you'd like to put that off till a little later. Now I suppose +we're going up together to the little home of which I've heard, and +have come so far to see; and there--well, there we'll have the tender +meeting." + +"I advise you not to set foot upon my ground!" + +"Your ground? Our ground, you mean. Really, how you do mix things up." + +"My ground, I mean. You have no more to do with it than--than the +jailer who let you out of the prison gate, to prey upon the world +again." + +She had evidently learnt her lesson from Mr Morice in the nick of time. + +"Don't be silly; you don't know what you're talking about. What's yours +is mine; what's the wife's the husband's." + +"That's a lie, and you know it. I know it's a lie, as you'll discover. +This side of that fence is my property. If you trespass on it I'll +summon my gamekeepers--there are always plenty of them about--and I'll +have you thrown off it. What you do on the other side of the fence is +no business of mine. That belongs to someone who is well able to deal +with men like you." + +"This is a cheerful hearing, upon my word! Can this virago be the +loving wife I've come all this way to see? No, it can't be--it must be +a delusion. Let me tell you again--don't be silly. Where the wife is +the husband's a perfect right to be. That's the law of England and it's +the law of God." + +"It's neither when the husband is such as you. Let me repeat my advice +to you--don't trespass on my ground." + +"Where are you going?" + +"I'm going to find a gamekeeper; to warn him that bad characters are +about, and to instruct him how to deal with them." + +"Stop! don't talk nonsense to me like that! Have you forgotten what +kind of man I am?" + +"Have I forgotten! As if I ever could forget!" + +"Then mind it! Come here! Where are you off to? Did you hear me tell +you to come here?" + +"I repeat, I'm going to find a gamekeeper. I heard you tell me; but I +pay no more attention to what you tell me than the trunk of that tree." + +"By----! we'll see about that!" + +Descending from the fence, he moved towards her. She stopped, turned +and faced him. + +"What do you think you're going to do?" + +"I'm going to see you mind me--that's what I'm going to do." + +"Does that mean that you're going to assault me, as you used to?" + +He laughed. + +"Assault you! Not much! Look here. What's the good of your carrying on +like this? Why can't you behave like a reasonable girl, and talk +sensibly?" She looked him steadily in the face; then turned on her +heel. "You'd better stand still! I'm your husband; you're my wife. It's +my duty to see that you obey me, and I'm going to do my duty. So just +you mark my words!" + +"Husband! Duty! You unutterable thing! Don't touch me! Take your hand +from off my shoulder!" + +"Then you stand still. I'm not going to have you slip through my +fingers, and leave me here, and have the laugh on me; so don't you make +any mistake, my girl. You've never had the laugh on me yet, and you +never will." + +"If you don't take your hand off my shoulder, I'll kill you." + +Again he laughed. + +"It strikes me that if there's going to be any killing done it's I +who'll do it. You're getting my temper up, like you used to; and when +you've got it fairly up there'll be trouble. You stand still! Do you +hear me? Your eyes-- What's that?" With a sudden, vigorous movement she +broke from his retaining grasp. "Would you! I'll teach you!" + +He advanced, evidently meaning to renew his grip upon her shoulders. +Before he could do so she swung out her right arm with all the strength +at her command, and struck him in the face. Not anticipating such +violent measures, taken unawares, he staggered blindly backwards. Ere +he could recover himself she had sprung round, and was rushing at the +top of her speed towards the narrow, winding path along which she had +come. As she gained it the moon passed behind the clouds. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + WHAT SHE HEARD, SAW AND FOUND + + +She hurried along as rapidly as she could in the darkness which had +followed the eclipse of the moon. Momentarily she expected to hear his +footsteps coming after her. But, so far as she was able to tell, there +was not a sound which suggested pursuit. Something, possibly, had +prevented his giving immediate chase. In the darkness it was impossible +to see where she was going, or to make out surrounding objects. What +seemed to be the branch of a tree struck her across the face with such +force that it brought her to an instant standing. She stood still, +trembling from head to foot. The collision had partly stunned her. Her +face was smarting, where it had come in contact with the unseen +obstacle. For the moment she was demoralised, incapable of moving in +any direction. Her breath was coming in great gasps. It would have +needed very little to have made her burst into tears. + +As she was gradually regaining her equilibrium, her presence of mind, a +sound crashed through the darkness, which started her trembling worse +than ever. It was a gunshot. Quite close at hand. So close that the +flash of it flamed before her eyes. In the air about her was the smell +of the powder. + +Silence followed, which was the more striking, because it was +contrasted with the preceding thunderclap. What had happened? Who had +fired? at what? and where? The gun had been fired by someone who was on +the left of where she was then standing, possibly within twenty or +thirty feet. The direction of the aim, it seemed, had been at something +behind her. What was there behind her at which anyone would be likely +to fire, in that reckless fashion, at that hour of the night? Robert +Champion was behind her; but the idea that anyone-- + +The silence was broken. Someone was striding through the brushwood +towards the place which had been aimed at. She became conscious of +another sound, which made her heart stand still. Was not someone +groaning, as if in pain? Someone who, also, was behind her? Suddenly +there was the sound of voices. The person who had strode through the +underwood was speaking to the person who was groaning. Apparently she +was farther off than she had supposed, or they were speaking in muffled +tones. She could only just distinguish voices. Who were the speakers, +and what they said, she had not a notion. The colloquy was but a brief +one. Again there was a sound of footsteps, which retreated; then, +again, groans. + +What did it mean? What had happened? who had come and gone? who had +been the speakers? of what had they been talking? The problem was a +knotty one. Should she go back and solve it? The groans which +continued, and, if anything, increased in vigour, were in themselves a +sufficiently strenuous appeal. That someone was in pain was +evident--wounded, perhaps seriously. It seemed that whoever was +responsible for that gunshot had, with complete callousness, left his +victim to his fate. And he might be dying! Whoever it was, she could +not let him die without, at least, attempting succour. If she did, she +would be a participant in a crime of which--to use an Irishism--she +had not only been an unseen, but also an unseeing, witness. If she let +this man die without doing something to help him live, his blood would +be on her hands also; certainly, she would feel it was. However +repugnant the task might be, she must return and proffer aid. + +She had just brought herself to the sticking point, and was about to +retrace her steps, when, once more, she became conscious of someone +being in movement. But, this time, not only did it come from another +direction, but it had an entirely different quality. Before, there had +been no attempt at concealment. Whoever had gone striding through the +underwood, had apparently cared nothing for being either seen nor +heard. Whoever was moving now, unless the girl's imagination played her +a trick--was desirous of being neither seen nor heard. There was a +stealthy quality in the movements, as if someone were stealing softly +through the brushwood, taking cautious steps, keenly on the alert +against hidden listeners. + +In what quarter was the newcomer moving? The girl could not at first +decide; indeed, she never was quite clear, but it seemed to her that +someone was creeping along the fence which divided Exham Park and Oak +Dene. All the while, the wounded man continued to groan. + +Suddenly, she could not tell how she knew, but she knew that the +newcomer had not only heard the groans, but, in all probability, had +detected the quarter from whence they came; possibly had caught sight +of the recumbent figure, prostrate on the grass. Because, just then, +the moon came out again in undiminished splendour, and, almost +simultaneously, the footsteps ceased. To Violet Arnott, the plain +inference seemed to be that the returning light had brought the +sufferer into instant prominence. Silence again, broken only by groans. +Presently, even they ceased. + +Then, without the slightest warning, something occurred which was far +worse than the gunshot, which affected her with a paralysis of horror, +as if death itself had her by the throat. + +The footsteps began again, only with a strange, new swiftness, as if +whoever was responsible for them had suddenly darted forward. In the +same moment there was a noise which might have been made by a man +struggling to gain his feet. Then, just for a second, an odd little +silence. Then two voices uttering together what seemed to her to be +formless ejaculations. While the voices had still not ceased to be +audible, there came a dreadful sound; the sound as of a man who was in +an agony of fear and pain. Then a thud--an eloquent thud. And, an +instant afterwards, someone went crashing, dashing through the +underwood, like some maddened wild beast, flying for life. + +The runner was passing close to where she stood. She did not dare to +move; she could not have moved even had she dared--her limbs had +stiffened. But she could manage to move her head, and she did. She +turned, and saw, in the moonlight, in headlong flight, forcing aside +the brushwood as he went, Hugh Morice. + +What happened during the next few moments she never knew. The +probability is that, though she retained her footing, consciousness +left her. When, once more, she realised just where she was, and what +had occurred, all was still, with an awful stillness. She listened for +a sound--any sound; those inarticulate sounds which are part and parcel +of a wood at night. She could hear nothing--no whisper of the breeze +among the leaves; no hum of insect life; no hint of woodland creatures +who wake while men are sleeping. A great hush seemed to have fallen on +the world--a dreadful hush. Her heart told her that there was horror in +the silence. + +What should she do? where should she go? what was lying on the ground +under the beech tree, on which not so long ago, Hugh Morice had cut +their initials with his hunting-knife? She was sure there was +something--what? + +She would have to go and see. The thought of doing so was hideous--but +the idea of remaining in ignorance was not to be borne. Knowledge must +be gained at any price; she would have to know. She waited. Perhaps +something would happen to tell her; to render it unnecessary that she +should go upon that gruesome errand. Perhaps--perhaps he would groan +again? If he only would! it would be the gladdest sound she had ever +heard. + +But he would not--or he did not. + +Yet all was still--that awful stillness. + +It was no use her playing the coward--putting it off. She would have to +go--she must go. She would never know unless she did. The sooner she +went, the sooner it would be done. + +So she returned along the footpath towards the beech tree. In the +moonlight the way was plain enough. Yet she went stumbling along it as +she had never stumbled even in the darkness--uncertain upon her feet; +reeling from side to side; starting at shadows; stopping half-a-dozen +times in as many yards, fearful of she knew not what. + +What was that? A sound? No, nothing. Only a trick of her imagination, +which was filled with such fantastic imaginings, such shapes and sounds +of horror. + +She came to the end of the path. Before her was the open space; the +favourite nook where she had first met Hugh Morice, which she had come +to regard almost as a sanctuary. In front was the saucer-shaped break +in the ground which she had found offered such luxurious ease. What was +lying in it now? + +Nothing? Or--was that something? Well under the shadow of the beech +tree, where the moonlight scarcely reached? almost in the darkness, so +that at a first glance it was difficult to see? She stood, leaning a +little forward, and looked--long, intently. As she looked her heart +seemed to become gradually constricted; she became conscious of actual +pain--acute, lancinating. + +Something was there. A figure--of a man--in light-coloured clothes. He +lay on the ground, so far as she could judge from where she stood, a +little on his right side, with his hands thrown over his head as if +asleep--fast asleep. The recumbent figure had for her an unescapable +fascination. She stared and stared, as though its stillness had in it +some strange quality. + +She called to the sleeper--in a tone which was so unlike her ordinary +voice that--even in that awful moment--the sound of it startled her. + +"Robert! Robert! Wake up!" + +Probably not a dozen times since she had known this man had she called +him by his Christian name. It was so singular that she should have done +so; the mere singularity of the thing should have roused him from the +soundest slumber. But he continued silent. He neither moved nor +answered, nor was there any sign to show that he had heard. She called +again. + +"Robert! Robert! Do you hear me, wake up! Answer me!" + +But he did neither--he neither woke nor answered. + +The persistent silence was assuming an appalling quality. She could +endure it no longer. She suddenly moved forward under the shadow of the +beech tree, and bent down to look. What was that upon the front of his +jacket? She touched it with her finger. + +"Oh--h--h!" + +A sound, which was part shriek, part groan, broke from her trembling +lips. Her finger-tips were wet. She had not realised what the dark mark +might mean--now she understood. All at once she burst out crying, until +she saw something shining up at her from the turf almost at her feet. +At sight of it she ceased to cry with the same suddenness with which +she had begun. She picked the shining thing up. It was a knife--his +knife--Hugh Morice's--the one with which he had cut their initials in +the trunk of the tree. Its great blade was all wet. + +She gave one quick glance round, slipped the blade--still all +wet--inside her bodice; then, returning to the winding footpath, ran +along it at the top of her speed, neither pausing nor looking back. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + AFTERWARDS + + +At the foot of the broad flight of steps leading up to her own hall +door she stopped for the first time. It was late. What was the exact +hour she had no notion. She only knew that, in that part of the world, +it would be regarded as abnormal. The hall door was closed, that little +fact in itself was eloquent. There were outer and inner doors. It was +the custom to leave the outer door wide open until all the household +had retired to rest. She would have to knock to gain admission. Her +late return could hardly fail to attract attention. She was breathless +with the haste she had made, heated, dishevelled. Whoever admitted her +would be sure to notice the condition she was in. + +It could not be helped. Let them notice. She was certainly not going to +fear the scrutiny of her own servants. So she told herself. She +declined to admit that they were sufficiently human to dare to +criticise her movements. Besides, what did it matter? + +She knocked with difficulty, the knocker was so heavy. Instantly the +door was opened by old Day, the butler. Day was a person of much +importance. He was a survival of her uncle's time, being in occupation +of the house while the next owner was being sought for. An excellent +servant, with a very clear idea of his own dignity and the +responsibility of his position. That he should have opened the door to +her with his own hands at that hour, seemed to her to convey a reproof. +She marched straight past him, however, without even a word of thanks. +He addressed to her an inquiry as she went, in his even, level tones, +as if there were nothing strange in her entering in such a condition, +immediately after her return from a prolonged absence, at the dead of +the night. Again her ardent imagination seemed to scent an unspoken +criticism, which she ignored. + +"Will anything else be required?" + +"Nothing. I am going to bed." + +In her bedroom she found Evans dozing in an easy-chair. The woman +started up as she entered. + +"I beg your pardon, miss, for slipping off, but I was beginning to be +afraid that something might be wrong." She stared as she began to +realise the peculiarity of her young mistress's appearance. "Why, miss, +whatever--I hope that nothing's happened." + +"What should have happened? Why haven't you gone to bed?" + +"Well, miss, I thought that you might want me as this was the first +night of your coming home." + +"What nonsense! Haven't I told you that I won't have you sit up for me +when I'm unusually late? I dislike to feel that my movements are being +overlooked by my servants, that they are too intimately acquainted with +my goings out and comings in. Go to bed at once." + +"Is there nothing I can do for you, miss? Are you--I beg your +pardon--but are you sure there's nothing wrong? You look so strange!" + +"Wrong? What do you mean--wrong? Go!" + +Evans went, the imperturbable demeanour of the well-trained servant +not being sufficient to conceal the fact that she went unwillingly. +When she was gone Miss Arnott looked at the silver clock on the +mantel-shelf. It was past two. She had been out more than four hours. +Into those four hours had been crowded the events of a lifetime; the +girl who had gone out was not the woman who had returned. + +For the first time she began to suspect herself of being physically +weary. She moved her hand up towards her forehead. As she did so her +glance fell on it; it was all smirched with blood. Simultaneously she +became aware that stains of the same sort were on the light blue linen +costume she was wearing, particularly on the front of the bodice. She +moved to a cheval glass. Was it possible? were her eyes playing her a +trick? was there something the matter with the light? Not a bit of it, +the thing was clear enough, her face was all smeared with blood, +probably where it had been touched by her fingers. Why, now that she +could see herself plainly, she saw that she looked as if she had come +fresh from a butcher's shambles. No wonder Evans had stared at her in +such evident perturbation, demanding if she was sure that there was +nothing wrong. Old Day must have been an automaton, not a man, to have +betrayed no surprise at the spectacle she presented. + +She tore open her bodice, took out from it the knife--his knife, Hugh +Morice's. It was drier, but still damp. It was covered with blood all +over. It must have been thrust in up to the hilt--even the handle was +mired. It had come off on to all her clothes, had penetrated even to +her corsets. Seemingly it resembled ink in its capacity to communicate +its presence. She stripped herself almost to the skin in the sudden +frenzy of her desire to free herself from the contamination of his +blood. When she had washed herself she was amazed to see what a +sanguine complexion the water had assumed. It seemed to her that she +was in an atmosphere of blood--his blood. What was to be done? She sat +down on a chair and tried to think. + +It was not surprising that she found it hard to bring herself to a +condition in which anything like clarity of thought was possible. But, +during the last four hours, she had matured unconsciously, had attained +to the possession of will power of strength of which she herself was +unsuspicious. She had made up her mind that she would think this thing +out, and by degrees she did, after a fashion. + +Three leading facts became gradually present to her mind to the +exclusion of almost all beside. One was that Robert Champion was +dead--dead. And so she had obtained release by the only means to which, +as it seemed to her, Mr Whitcomb, that eminent authority on the law of +marriage, had pointed. But at what a price! The price exceeded the +value of the purchase inconceivably. There was the knife--his knife--to +show it. When she shut her eyes she could still see him rushing in the +moonlight through the brushwood, like some wild creature, mad with the +desire to escape. Beyond all doubt the price was excessive. And it had +still to be paid. That was the worst of it, very much the worst. The +payment--what form would it take? + +As that aspect of the position began to penetrate her consciousness, it +was all she could do to keep herself from playing the girl. After all, +in years, she was only a girl. In simplicity, in ignorance of evil, in +essential purity--a child. When she found herself confronted by the +inquiry, what form would the payment take? girl-like, her courage +began, as it were, to slip through her finger ends. Then there was that +other side to the question, from whom would payment be demanded? +Suddenly required to furnish an answer to this, for some moments her +heart stood still. She looked about her, at the ruddy-hued water in the +wash basin, at the clothing torn off because it was stained. Recalled +her tell-tale entry, her admission by Day who, in spite of his +unnaturally non-committal attitude, must have noticed the state that +she was in; Evans's startled face when, attempting no concealment, she +blurted out her confession of what she saw. Here, plainly, were all the +essentials for a comedy or tragedy of misunderstanding. + +If Hugh Morice chose to be silent all the visible evidences pointed at +her. They all seemed to cry aloud that it was she who had done this +thing. From the ignorant spectator's point of view there could hardly +be a stronger example of perfect circumstantial proof. + +For some occult reason her lips were wrinkled by a smile at the thought +of Hugh Morice keeping silent. As if he would when danger threatened +her, for whom he had done this thing. And yet, if he did not keep +silent, who would have to pay? Would--? Yes, he would; certainly. At +that thought her poor, weak, childish heart seemed to drop in her bosom +like a lump of lead. The tears stood in her eyes. She went hot and +cold. No--not that. Rather than that, it would be better that he should +keep silent. Better--better anything than that. He had done this for +her; but, he must not be allowed to do more. He had done enough for her +already--more than enough--much more. She must make it her business to +see that he did nothing else. Nothing. + +Just as she was, all unclothed, she knelt down and prayed. The +strangest prayer, a child's prayer, the kind of prayer which, +sometimes, coming from the very heart of the child, is uttered in all +simplicity. Many strange petitions have been addressed to God; but few +stranger than that. She prayed that whoever might have to suffer for +what had been done, he might escape scot-free; not only here but also +hereafter; in heaven as well as on earth. Although the supplication +invoked such an odd confusion of ideas, it was offered up with such +intense earnestness and simplicity of purpose, that it had, at anyrate, +one unlooked for effect. It calmed her mind. She rose up from her knees +feeling more at ease than she had done since ten o'clock. In some vague +way, which was incomprehensible to herself, her prayer seemed already +to have been answered. Therefore, the future had no perils in store for +her; she was at peace with the world. + +She collected the garments which she had taken off, arranged them in a +neat bundle and placed them in an almost empty drawer which she found +at the bottom of a wardrobe. The knife she put under the bundle. Then, +locking the drawer, she disposited the key beneath her pillows. In the +morning her brain would be clearer. She would be able to decide what to +do with the things which, although speechless, were yet so full of +eloquence. The water in which she had washed she carried into the +apartment which opened out of her bedroom, and, emptying it into the +bath, watched it disappear down the waste water pipe. She flushed the +bath so as to remove any traces which it might have left behind. Then, +arraying herself in her night attire, she put out the lights and got +into bed. + +She awoke with that sense of pleasant refreshment which comes after +calm, uninterrupted slumber. She lay, for some seconds, in a state of +blissful indolence. Then, memory beginning to play its part, she raised +herself upon her elbow with a sudden start. She looked about the room. +All was as she had left it. Although the curtains and the blinds were +drawn the presence of the sun was obvious. Through one window a long +pencil of sunshine gleamed across the carpet. Evidently a fine night +was to be followed by a delightful day. She touched the ivory push +piece just above her head. Instantly Evans appeared. + +"Get my bath ready. I'm going to get up at once." + +She eyed the woman curiously, looking for news upon her face. There +were none. Her countenance was again the servant's expressionless mask. +When the curtains and blinds were drawn the room was filled with golden +light. She had the windows opened wide. The glory of a summer's day +came streaming in. The events of the night seemed to have become the +phantasmagoria of some transient dream. It was difficult to believe +that they were real, that she had not dreamed them. Her spirits were +higher than they had been for some time. She sang to herself while she +was having her bath. Evans, putting out her clothes in the next room, +heard her. + +"She seems to be all right now. That's the first time I've heard her +singing, and she looks better. Slept well, I suppose. When you're young +and healthy a good sleep works wonders. A nice sight she looked when +she came in this morning; I never saw anything like it--never! All +covered with blood, my gracious! A queer one she is, the queerest I've +ever had to do with, and I've had to do with a few. Seems to me that +the more money a woman's got the queerer she is, unless she's got a man +to look after her. However, it's no business of mine; I don't want to +know what games she's up to. I have found knowing too much brings +trouble. But whatever has become of the clothes that she had on? +They've vanished, every single thing except the stockings. What can she +have done with them? It's queer. I suppose, as she hasn't left them +about it's a hint that I'm not to ask questions. I don't want to; I'm +sure the less I know the better I'm pleased. Still, I do hope there's +nothing wrong. She's a good sort; in spite of all her queernesses, I +never want to meet a better. That generous! and simple as a child! +Sooner than anything should happen to her I'd--well, I'd do a good +deal. If she'd left those clothes of hers about I'd have washed 'em and +got 'em up myself, so that no one need have known about the state that +they were in. I don't want to speak to her about it. With her ideas +about not liking to be overlooked she might think that I was +interfering; but, I wish she had." + +Somewhat to her surprise Miss Arnott found Mrs Plummer waiting for her +at the breakfast-table. + +"Why," she exclaimed, "I thought you would have finished long ago--ever +so long ago." + +"I was a little late myself; so I thought I'd wait for you. What time +did you come in?" + +"Why do you ask?" + +"Nothing. I only wondered. Directly I had finished dinner I went to +bed--straight from the table. I was tired; I thought you wouldn't care +for me to sit up for you." + +"Of course not; what an idea! You never have sat up for me, and I +shouldn't advise you to begin. But--you still look tired. Haven't you +slept away your fatigue?" + +"I don't fancy I have quite. As you say, I'm still a little tired. Yet +I slept well, fell asleep as soon as I got into bed directly, and never +woke." + +"Didn't you dream?" + +"Dream? Why should I dream?" + +"There's no particular reason that I know of, only when people march +straight from dinner to bed dreams do sometimes follow--at least, so +I've been told." + +"They don't with me; I never dream, never. I don't suppose I've dreamt +half-a-dozen times in my life." + +"You're lucky." + +"I've a clear conscience, my dear; a perfectly clear conscience. People +with clear consciences don't dream. Where did you go to?" + +"Oh--I strolled about, enjoying the fresh air." + +"An odd hour to enjoy it, especially after the quantity of fresh air +that you've been enjoying lately. What time did you say it was that you +came in?" + +"I didn't say. Day will be able to tell you, if you are anxious to +know--you appear to be. He let me in." The elder lady was silent, +possibly not caring to lay herself open to the charge of being curious. +Presently Miss Arnott put the inquiry to the butler on her own account. +"Probably, Day, you will be able to supply Mrs Plummer with the +information she desires. What time was it when I came in?" + +"I'm afraid I don't know. I didn't look at my watch. I've no idea." + +The butler kept his eyes turned away as he answered. Something in his +tone caused her to look at him--something which told her that if the +man had not been guilty of a positive falsehood, he had at least been a +party to the suppression of the truth. She became instantly convinced +that his intention was to screen her. She did not like the notion, it +gave her an uncomfortable qualm. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + + ON THE HIGH ROAD + + +All that day nothing happened. Miss Arnott went in the morning to +church; in the afternoon for a run on her motor, which had been +neglected during the whole period of her absence abroad. She continued +in a state of expectation. Before she started for church from everyone +who approached her she looked for news; being persuaded that, if there +were news of the kind she looked for, it would not be hidden from her +long. But, plainly, no one had anything to tell. + +Mrs Plummer accompanied her to church. Miss Arnott would rather she had +refrained. A conviction was forcing itself upon her that, at the back +of Mrs Plummer's mind, there was something which she was doing her best +to keep to herself, but which now and then would peep out in spite of +her--something hostile to herself. A disagreeable feeling was growing +on her that the lady knew much more about her movements on the previous +night than she was willing to admit. How she knew she did not attempt +to guess, or even whether the knowledge really amounted to anything +more than a surmise. She had an uncomfortable impression that her +companion, who was obviously ill at ease, was watching her with a +furtive keenness which she intuitively resented. + +When they reached the church she was scarcely in a religious mood. She +was conscious that her unexpected appearance made a small sensation. +Those who knew her smiled at her across the pews. Only servants were in +the Oak Dene pew; the master was absent. She wondered if anything had +yet transpired; half expecting some allusion to the matter during the +course of the sermon. While the vicar preached her thoughts kept +wandering to the mossy nook beneath the beech tree. Surely someone must +have been there by now, and seen. She would hear all about it after +church--at anyrate, when she reached home. + +But no, not a word. Nothing had stirred the tranquil country air. One +item of information she did receive on her entering the house--Hugh +Morice had called. She probably appeared more startled than the +occasion seemed to warrant. The fact being that she had forgotten the +appointment he had made with her the night before. In any case she +would not have expected him to keep it. That he should have done so +almost took her breath away. He had merely inquired if she was in; on +learning that she was not had gone away. He had left no message. + +If she had stayed at home and seen him, what would he have said to her? + +That was the question which she kept putting to herself throughout the +run on her motor; fitting it not with one answer, but a dozen. There +were so many things he might have said, so many he might have left +unsaid. + +She expected to be greeted with the news when she brought the car to a +standstill in front of her own hall door. No; still not a word. Not one +during the whole of the evening. A new phase seemed to be developing in +Mrs Plummer's character--she had all at once grown restless, fidgety. +Hitherto, if she had had a tendency, it had been to attach herself too +closely to her charge. She was disposed to be too conversational. Now, +on a sudden, it was all the other way. Unless the girl's fancy played +her a trick she was not only desirous of avoiding her, but when in her +society she was taciturn almost to the verge of rudeness. Miss Arnott +was anxious neither for her company nor her conversation; but she did +not like her apparent unflattering inclination to avoid her altogether. + +That night the girl went early to bed. Hardly had she got into her room +than she remembered the key; the key of the wardrobe drawer, which, in +the small hours of the morning, she had put under her pillow before she +got into bed. Until that moment she had forgotten its existence. Now, +all at once, it came back to her with a jarring shock. She went to the +bed and lifted the pillows--there was nothing there. + +"Have you heard anything about a key being found underneath this +pillow? I put it there just before I got into bed. I forgot it when I +got up." + +"No, miss, I haven't. What key was it?" + +"It was"--she hesitated--"it was the key of a drawer in this wardrobe. +Perhaps it's in it now. No; there's nothing there. Whoever made my bed +must have seen it. Who made the bed?" + +"Wilson, miss. If she saw a key under your pillow she ought to have +given it me at once. I was in the room all the while; but she never +said a word. I'll go and ask her at once." + +"Do. But I see all the drawers have keys. I suppose any one of them +will fit any drawer?" + +"No, miss, that's just what they won't do; and very awkward it is +sometimes. There's a different lock to every drawer, and only one key +which fits it. I'll go and make inquiries of Wilson at once." + +While Evans was gone Miss Arnott considered. It would be awkward if the +key were lost or mislaid. To gain access to that drawer the lock would +have to be forced. Circumstances might very easily arise which would +render it necessary that access should be gained, and by her alone. Nor +was the idea a pleasant one that, although the drawer was closed to +her, it might be accessible to somebody else. + +Evans returned to say that the maid, Wilson, denied all knowledge of a +key. + +"She declares that there was no key there. She says that if there had +been she couldn't have helped but see it. I don't see how she could +have either. You are sure, miss, that you left it there?" + +"Certain." + +"Then perhaps it slipped on to the floor when she moved the pillow, +without being noticed." + +It was not on the floor then--at least, they could discover no signs of +it. Evans moved the bed, and went on her knees to see. Nor did it +appear to have strayed into the bed itself. + +"I will see Wilson myself in the morning," said Miss Arnott, when +Evans's researches proved resultless. "The key can't have vanished into +nothing." + +But Wilson, even when interviewed by her mistress, afforded no +information. She was a raw country girl. A bundle of nerves when she +saw that Miss Arnott was dissatisfied. There seemed no possible reason +why she should wish to conceal the fact that she had lighted on the +key, if she had done so. So far as she knew the key was valueless, +certainly it was of no interest to her. Miss Arnott had to console +herself with the reflection that if she did not know what had become of +the key no one else did either. She gave instructions that if it was +found it was to be handed her at once. There, for the moment, the +matter rested. + +Again on that Monday nothing transpired. It dawned upon the girl, when +she began to think things over, that it was well within the range of +possibility that nothing would transpire for a considerable period. +That mossy nook was in a remote part of the estate. Practically +speaking, except the gamekeepers, nobody went there at all. It was +certain that whoever did would be trespassing. So far as she knew, +thereabouts, trespassers of any sort were few and far between. As for +the gamekeepers, there was nothing to take them there. + +By degrees her cogitations began to trend in an altogether unexpected +direction. If the discovery had not been made already, and might be +postponed for weeks, it need never be made at all. The body might quite +easily be concealed. If there was time it might even be buried at the +foot of the beech tree under which it had been lying, and all traces of +the grave be hidden. It only needed a little care and sufficient +opportunity. She remembered when a favourite dog had died, how her +father had buried it at one side of the lawn in their Cumberland home. +He had been careful in cutting out the sods of turf; when replacing +them in their former positions, he had done so with such neatness and +accuracy that, two or three days after no stranger would have supposed +they had ever been moved. + +The dead man might be treated as her father had treated Fido. In which +case his fate might never become known, unless she spoke. Indeed, for +all she could tell, the body might be under the turf by now. If she +chose to return to the enjoyment of her favourite lounge there might be +nothing to deter her. She might lie, and laze, and dream, and be +offended by nothing which could recall unpleasant memories. + +As the possibility that this might be so occurred to her she became +possessed by a strange, morbid disposition to put it to the test. She +was nearly half inclined to stroll once more along that winding path, +and see if there was anything to prevent her enjoying another waking +dream. This inclination began to be so strong that, fearful lest it +should get the better of her, to escape what was becoming a hideous +temptation, she went for another run upon her car, and, in returning, +met Hugh Morice. + +They saw each other's car approaching on the long straight road, while +they were yet some distance apart, possibly more than a mile, backed by +the usual cloud of dust. She was descending an incline, he was below, +far off, where the road first came in sight. For some moments she was +not sure that the advancing car was his, then she was undecided what to +do; whether to sweep past him, or to halt and speak. Her heart beat +faster, her hands were tremulous, her breath came quicker. She had just +resolved to go past him with a commonplace salutation, when the matter +was taken out of her hands. When he was within a hundred yards of her +he stopped his car, with the evident design of claiming her attention +for at least a second or two. So she stopped also, when the machines +were within a yard of one another. + +He was alone. He glanced at her chauffeur with his big grey eyes, as if +the sight of him were offensive. Then he looked at her and she at him, +and for a while they were silent. It seemed to her that he was +devouring her with his eyes. She was vaguely conscious of a curious +feeling of satisfaction at being devoured. For her part she could not +take her eyes off his face--she loved to look at him. + +It was only after some moments had passed that it appeared to occur to +him that there might be anything singular in such a fashion of meeting, +especially in the presence of her mechanic. When he spoke his voice +seemed husky, the manner of his speech was, as usual, curt. + +"Why weren't you at home yesterday morning as you promised?" + +"I had forgotten that I did promise." + +"You had forgotten?" + +"Not that it would have made any difference if I had remembered; I +should not have stayed in. I did not suppose you would come." + +"I told you I should come." + +"Yes, you told me." + +"What I tell you I will do that I do do. Nothing that may happen will +cause me to change my mind." He looked past her along the way she had +come, then addressed the chauffeur. "There is something lying on the +road. It may be something Miss Arnott has dropped--go and see." + +"I don't think it is anything of mine. I have had nothing to drop." + +"Go and see what it is." The man, descending, returned along the road. +"I don't choose to have everything you and I may have to say to each +other overheard. You knew that I should come, why did you not stay in? +of what were you afraid?" + +"Afraid? I? Of nothing, There was no reason why I should be afraid." + +He searched her face, as if seeking for something which he was amazed +to find himself unable to discover. + +"You are a strange woman; but then women were always puzzles to me. You +may not be stranger than the rest--I don't know. Hadn't you better go +away again to-day? Back to the Lake of Como or further?" + +"Why should I go away? Of what are you afraid?" + +"Of what am I not afraid? I am even afraid to think of what I am +afraid--of such different stuff are we two made. I never knew what fear +was, before; now, I hardly dare to breathe for fear." + +"Don't you trust me?" + +"Trust you? What has that to do with it?" + +"I see, you think it doesn't matter. I hardly know whether you intend +to flatter me or not. Why don't you go away?" + +"What's the use? Where should I go where I could be hidden? There is no +hiding-place, none. Besides, if I were to hide myself under the sea it +might make no difference. Don't you understand? + +"I'm not sure; no, I don't think I do. But, tell me, I want to know! I +must know! It was all I could do to keep myself from going to see--what +have you done with him?" + +"Done with him?" + +"Have you--have you buried him?" + +"Buried him? Do you think he could be buried?" + +Something came on to his face which frightened her, started her all +trembling. + +"I--I didn't know. Don't look at me like that. I only wondered." + +"You only wondered! Is it possible that you thought it could be hidden +like that? My God! that you should be such a woman! Don't speak, here's +your chauffeur close upon you; you don't want him to understand. You'll +find the dust is worse further on. Good-day!" + +He whizzed off, leaving her enveloped in a cloud of the dust of which +he had spoken. + + + + + CHAPTER XV + + COOPER'S SPINNEY + + +Not till the Friday following was the dead body discovered. And then in +somewhat singular fashion. + +A young gamekeeper was strolling through the forest with his dog. The +dog, a puppy, strayed from his side. He did not notice that it had done +so till he heard it barking. When he whistled it came running up to him +with something in its mouth--a brown billycock hat. The creature was in +a state of excitement. On his taking the hat from it, it ran back in +the direction it had come, barking as it went. Puzzled by its +behaviour, curious as to how it had found the hat, he followed to where +the dead man lay beneath the beech tree. + +He thought at first that it was some stranger who, having trespassed +and lighted on a piece of open ground, had taken advantage of the +springy turf to enjoy a nap. It was only after he had called to him +three times, and, in spite, also, of the dog's persistent barking, had +received no answer, that he proceeded to examine more closely into the +matter. Then he saw not only that the man was dead, but that his +clothing was stiff with coagulated blood. There had been a violent +thunderstorm the night before. The rain had evidently come drenching +down on the silent sleeper, but it had not washed out that blood. + +Clarke was a country bumpkin, only just turned eighteen. When it began +to break on his rustic intelligence that, in all probability, he was +looking down on the victim of some hideous tragedy, he was startled out +of his very few wits. He had not the faintest notion what he ought to +do. He only remembered that the great house was the nearest human +habitation. When he had regained sufficient control of his senses, he +ran blindly off to it. A footman, seeing him come staggering up the +steps which led to the main entrance, came out to inquire what he meant +by such a glaring breach of etiquette. + +"What are you doing here? This isn't the place for you. Go round to the +proper door. What's the matter with you? Do you hear, what's up?" + +"There--there's a man in Cooper's Spinney!" + +"Well! what of it? That's none of our business." + +"He's--he's dead." + +"Dead? Who's dead? What do you mean?" + +The hobbledehoy broke into a fit of blubbering. + +"They've--they've killed him," he blubbered. + +"Killed him? Who's killed him? What are you talking about? Stop that +noise. Can't you talk sense?" + +Day, the butler, crossing the hall, came out to see what was the cause +of the to-do. At any moment people might call. They would please to +find this senseless gawk boohooing like a young bull calf. Day and the +footman between them tried to make head or tail of the fellow's +blundering story. While they were doing so Mrs Plummer appeared in the +doorway. + +"Day, what is the matter here? What is the meaning of this +disturbance?" + +"I can't quite make out, but from what this young man says it appears +that he's seen someone lying dead in Cooper's Spinney. So far as I can +understand the young man seems to think that he's been murdered." + +Mrs Plummer started back, trembling so violently that she leaned +against the wall, as if in want of its support. + +"Murdered? He's not been murdered! It's a lie!" + +Day, after one glance at her, seemed to avoid looking in her direction. + +"As to that, madam, I can say nothing. The young man doesn't seem to be +too clear-headed. I will send someone at once and have inquiries made." + +Shortly it was known to all the house that young Clarke's story was not +a lie. A horse was put into a trap, the news was conveyed to the +village, the one policeman brought upon the scene. When Miss Arnott +returned with her motor it was easy enough for her to see that at last +the air was stirred. + +"Has anything happened?" she inquired of the footman who came to +superintend her descent from the motor. + +"I am afraid there has--something very unpleasant." + +"Unpleasant! How?" + +"It appears that a man has been found dead in Cooper's +Spinney--murdered, cut to pieces, they do say. + +"In Cooper's Spinney? Cut to pieces?" She paused, as if to reflect. +"Did you say cut to pieces? Surely there's some mistake." + +"I only know what they say, miss. Granger's up there now." + +"Granger?" + +"The policeman, miss. Now I'm told they've sent for a doctor." + +A second footman handed her an envelope as she entered the hall. She +saw that "Oak Dene" was impressed in scarlet letters on the flap. + +"When did this come?" + +"One of Mr Morice's grooms brought it soon after you went out." + +She tore the envelope open, and there and then read the note which it +contained. It had no preamble, it simply ran,-- + + +"Why have you not acted on my suggestion and gone back to Lake Como or +farther? + +"At any moment it may be too late! Don't you understand? + +"When I think of what may be the consequences of delay I feel as if I +were going mad. I shall go mad if you don't go. I don't believe that I +have slept an hour since. + +"Do as I tell you--go! H. M." + + +Then at the bottom two words were added,-- + + +"Burn this." + + +As she was reading it a second time Mrs Plummer came into the hall, +white and shaky. + +"Have you heard the dreadful news?" + +She asked the question in a kind of divided gasp, as if she were short +of breath. Miss Arnott did not answer for a moment. She fixed her +glance on the elder lady, as if she were looking not at, but through +her. Then she put a question in return. + +"Where is Cooper's Spinney?" + +Had the girl hauled at her a volley of objurgations Mrs Plummer could +not have seemed more distressed. + +"Cooper's Spinney!" she exclaimed. "Why do you ask me? How should I +know?" + +Without stopping for anything further Miss Arnott went up to her +bedroom. There she found Evans, waiting to relieve her of her motoring +attire. As she performed her accustomed offices her mistress became +aware that her hands were trembling. + +"What's the matter with you? Aren't you well?" + +The woman seemed to be shaking like a leaf, and to be only capable of +stammering,-- + +"I--I don't think, miss, I--I can be well. I--I think that dreadful +news has upset me." + +"Dreadful news? Oh, I see. By the way, where is Cooper's Spinney?" + +"I haven't a notion, miss. I--I only know just about the house." + +Miss Arnott put another question as she was leaving the room. + +"Has nothing been heard yet of the key of that wardrobe drawer?" + +"No, miss, nothing. And, miss--I beg your pardon--but if you want to +break it open, you can do it easily, or I will for you; and, if you'll +excuse my taking a liberty, if those clothes are in it, I'll wash them +for you, and no one shall ever know." + +Miss Arnott stared at the speaker in unmistakable surprise. + +"It's very good of you. But I don't think I need trouble you to step so +far out of the course of your ordinary duties." When she was in her +sitting-room she said to herself, "She will wash them for me? What does +the woman mean? And what does he mean by writing to me in such a +strain?" She referred to Mr Morice's note which she had in her hand. +"'Do as I tell you--go.' Why should I go? and how dare he issue his +commands to me, as if it were mine merely to obey. Plainly this was +written before the news reached Oak Dene; when he hears it, it is +possible that he may not stand upon the order of his going, but go at +once. I'll answer him. He shall have his reply before he goes, unless +his haste's too great. Then, perhaps, he will understand." + +On the back leaf of the note signed "H. M." she scribbled. + + +"Is not the advice you offer me better suited to yourself? Why should I +go? It seems to me that it is you who do not understand. Have you heard +the news? Possibly understanding will come with it. You do not appear +to recognise what kind of person I really am. Believe me, I am to be +trusted. But am I the only factor to be reckoned with? + +"Had you not better swallow your own prescription? V. A." + + +She hesitated before adding the initials, since he knew that they were +not actually hers. Then, putting her answer, still attached to his +note, into an envelope, she gave instructions that a messenger should +ride over with it at once. While she was hesitating whether to go down +and learn if any fresh development had occurred, there came a tapping +at her sitting-room door. Day entered. To him she promptly put the +question she had addressed to others. + +"Oh, Day, perhaps you will be able to tell me where is Cooper's +Spinney?" + +He looked at her until he saw that she was looking at him, then his +glance fell. + +"Cooper's Spinney is right away to the east, where our land joins Oak +Dene. I don't know how it gets its name. It's pretty open there. In one +part there's a big beech tree. It was under the tree the--the body was +found." + +"Thank you, Day. I think I know where you mean." Again the butler's +glance rose and fell. Perceiving that he seemed to be at a loss for +words she went on. "Is there anything you wish to speak to me about?" + +"Yes, Miss Arnott, I'm sorry to say there is. I've come to give you +notice." + +"To give me notice?" + +"Yes, miss, with your permission. I've been in service all my life, +good service. I've been in this house a good many years. I've saved a +little money. If I'm ever to get any enjoyment out of it, and I've my +own ideas, it seems to me that I'd better start doing it. I should like +to leave to-day." + +"To-day?" + +"Yes, miss, to-day. There isn't much to do in the house just now, and +there's plenty of people to do it. Bevan's quite capable of taking my +place till you get someone else to fill it. Your convenience won't +suffer." + +"But isn't this a very sudden resolution? What has caused you to arrive +at it?" + +Day still kept his glance turned down, as if searching for an answer on +the carpet. It was apparently only a lame one which he found. + +"I'm in an awkward situation, Miss Arnott. I don't want to say anything +which can be misconstrued. So much is that my feeling that I thought of +going away without saying a word." + +"That would not have been nice conduct on your part." + +"No, miss; that's what I felt, so I came." + +"Come, Day, what is it you are stammering about? Something +extraordinary must have happened to make you wish to leave at a +moment's notice after your long service. Don't be afraid of +misconstruction. What is it, please?" + +The man's tone, without being in the least uncivil, became a trifle +dogged. + +"Well, miss, the truth is, I'm not comfortable in my mind." + +"About what?" + +"I don't want to be, if I may say so, dragged into this business." + +"What business?" + +"Of the body they've found in Cooper's Spinney." + +"Day, what are you talking about? What possible connection can that +have with you?" + +"Miss Arnott, I understand that Dr Radcliffe says that that man has +been lying dead under that beech tree for at least four or five days. +That takes us back to Saturday, the day that you came home. In these +sort of things you never know what the police may take it into their +heads to do. I do not want to run the risk of being called as a witness +at the inquest or--anywhere else, and--asked questions about last +Saturday." + +Then the man looked his mistress straight in the face, and she +understood--or thought she did. + +"What you have said, Day, settles the question. Under no circumstances +will I permit you to leave my service--or this house--until the matter +to which you refer has been finally settled. So resolved am I upon that +point that, if I have any further reason to suspect you of any +intention of doing so, I shall myself communicate with the police at +once. Understand that clearly." + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + + JIM BAKER + + +The inquest, which was held at the "Rose and Crown," was productive of +one or two pieces of what the local papers were perhaps justified in +describing as "Startling Evidence." It was shown that the man had been +stabbed to death. Some broad-bladed, sharp-pointed instrument had been +driven into his chest with such violence that the point had penetrated +to the back. The wall of the chest had been indented by the violence of +the blow. Death must have been practically instantaneous. And yet one +side of him had been almost riddled by shot. He had received nearly the +entire charge of a gun which had been fired at him--as the close +pattern showed--within a distance of a very few feet. It was only small +shot, and no vital organ had been touched. The discharge had been in no +way responsible for his death. Still, the pain must have been +exquisite. The medical witnesses were of opinion that the first attack +had come from the gun; that, while he was still smarting from its +effects, advantage was taken of his comparative helplessness to inflict +the death-wound. + +Nothing came out before the coroner to prove motive. There were no +signs that the man had been robbed. A common metal watch, attached to a +gilt chain, was found on his person, a half-sovereign, six-shillings in +silver, and ninepence in copper, a packet of cigarettes, a box of +matches, a handkerchief, apparently brand new, and a piece of paper on +which was written "Exham Park." As nothing suggested that an attempt +had been made to rifle his pockets the probability was that that was +all the property he had had on him at the moment of his death. There +was no initial or name on any of his clothing, all of which, like his +handkerchief, seemed brand new. His identity remained unrevealed by +anything which he had about him. + +On this point, however, there was evidence of a kind. The police +produced witnesses who asserted that, on the preceding Saturday +afternoon, he had arrived, by a certain train, at a little roadside +station. He had given up a single third-class ticket from London, and +had asked to be directed to Exham Park. On being informed that Exham +Park was some distance off, he had shown symptoms of disgust. He had +endeavoured to hire a conveyance to take him there but had failed. What +had happened to him afterwards, or what had been the course of his +movements, there was no evidence to show. + +The coroner adjourned his court three times to permit of the discovery +of such evidence. + +During the time the inquiry was in the air the whole countryside was on +tip-toe with curiosity, and also with expectation. Tongues wagged, +fingers pointed, the wildest tales were told. Exham Park was the centre +of a very disagreeable sort of interest. The thing to do was to visit +the scene of the murder. Policemen and gamekeepers had to be placed on +special duty to keep off trespassers from Cooper's Spinney, +particularly on Sundays. The scrap of paper with "Exham Park" written +on it, which had been found in the dead man's pocket, was a trifling +fact which formed a sufficient basis for a mountain of conjecture. + +Why had he been going to Exham Park? Who had he been desirous of seeing +there? To furnish answers to these questions, the entire household was +subjected by the police--with Miss Arnott's express sanction--to +cross-examination. The same set of questions was put to every man, woman +and child in the house, about it, and on the estate. Each individual was +first of all informed that he or she was not compelled to answer, and +was then examined as follows:-- + +Did you know the deceased? Did you ever see him? Or hear from--or +of--him? Had you any knowledge of him of any sort or kind? Have you any +reason whatever to suppose that he might have been coming to see you? +Have you the least idea of who it was he was coming to see? On what is +that idea based? + +The house servants were questioned in the dining-room, in Miss Arnott's +presence. She sat in the centre of one side of the great dining-table, +completely at her ease. On her right was Mrs Plummer, obviously the +most uncomfortable person present. She had protested vigorously against +any such proceedings being allowed to take place. + +"I believe it's illegal, and if it isn't illegal, it's sheer impudence. +How dare any common policeman presume to come and ask a lot of +impertinent questions, and treat us as if we had a house full of +criminals!" + +Miss Arnott only laughed. + +"As for it's being illegal, I can't see how it can be that, if it's +done with my permission. I suppose I can let who I like into my own +house. No one's compelled to answer. I'm sure you needn't. You needn't +even be questioned if you'd rather not be. As for a house full of +criminals, I'm not aware that anyone has suggested that I harbour even +one." + +But Mrs Plummer was not to be appeased. + +"It's all very well for you to say that I needn't be questioned, but if +I decline I shall look most conspicuous. Everybody will attribute my +refusal to some shameful reason. I dislike the whole affair. I'm sure +no good will come of it. But, so far as I'm concerned, I shall answer +all their questions without the slightest hesitation." + +And she did, with direct negatives, looking Mr Nunn, the detective who +had come down specially from London to take the case in charge, +straight in the face in a fashion which suggested that she considered +his conduct to be in the highest degree impertinent. + +Miss Arnott, on the other hand, who proffered herself first, treated +the questions lightly, as if they had and could have no application to +herself. She said no to everything, denied that she had ever known the +dead man, that she had ever seen him, that she had ever heard from, or +of, him, that she had any reason to suppose that he was coming to see +her, that she had any idea of who he was coming to see, and did it all +with an air of careless certainty, as if it must be plain to everyone +that the notion of in any way connecting her with him was sheer +absurdity. + +With the entire household the result was the same. To all the questions +each alike said no, some readily enough, some not so readily; but +always with sufficient emphasis to make it abundantly clear that the +speaker hoped that it was taken for granted that no other answer was +even remotely possible. + +Thus, to all appearances, that inquiry carried the matter not one +hair's breadth further. The explanation of why the dead man had borne +those two words--"Exham Park"--about with him was still to seek; since +no one could be found who was willing to throw light upon the reasons +which had brought him into that part of the world. And as the police, +in spite of all their diligence, could produce no further evidence +which bore, even remotely, on any part of the business, it looked as +if, at anyrate so far as the inquest was concerned, the result would +have to be an open verdict. They searched practically the whole +country-side for some trace of a weapon with which the deed could have +been done; in vain. The coroner had stated that, unless more witnesses +were forthcoming, he would have to close the inquiry, and the next +meeting of his court would have to be the last, and it was, therefore, +with expectations of some such abortive result that, on the appointed +day, the villagers crowded into the long room of the "Rose and Crown." + +However, the general expectation was not on that occasion destined to +be realised. The proceedings were much more lively, and even exciting, +than had been anticipated. Instead of the merely formal notes which the +reporters had expected to be able to furnish to their various journals, +they found themselves provided with ample material, not only to prove a +strong attraction for their own papers, but also to serve as appetising +matter to the press of the entire kingdom, with contents bills for +special editions--"The Cooper's Spinney Murder. Extraordinary +Developments." + +These "extraordinary developments" came just as the proceedings were +drawing to a close. Merely formal evidence had been given by the +police. The coroner was explaining to the jury that, as nothing fresh +was before them, or, in spite of repeated adjournments, seemed likely +to be, all that remained was for them to return their verdict. What +that verdict ought to be unfortunately there could be no doubt. The +dead man had been foully murdered. No other hypothesis could possibly +meet the circumstances of the case. Who had murdered him was another +matter. As to that, they were at present able to say nothing. The +identity of the miscreant was an unknown quantity. They could point +neither in this quarter nor in that. The incidents before them would +not permit of it. It seemed probable that the crime had been committed +under circumstances of peculiar atrocity. The murderer had first fired +at his victim--actually nearly fifty pellets of lead had been found +embedded in the corpse. Then, when the poor wretch had been disabled by +the pain and shock of the injuries which had been inflicted on him, his +assailant had taken advantage of his helplessness to stab him literally +right through the body. + +The coroner had said so much, and seemed disposed to say much more, in +accents which were intended to be impressive, and which, in fact, did +cause certain of the more easily affected among his auditors to shiver, +when a voice exclaimed from the back of the room,-- + +"That's a damned lie!" + +The assertion, a sufficiently emphatic one in itself, was rendered +still more so by the tone of voice in which it was uttered; the speaker +was, evidently, not in the least desirous of keeping his opinion to +himself. The coroner stopped. Those who were sitting down stood up, +those who were already standing turned in the direction from which the +voice came. + +The coroner inquired, with an air of authority which was meant to +convey his righteous indignation,-- + +"Who said that?" + +The speaker did not seem at all abashed. He replied, without a moment's +hesitation, still at the top of his voice,-- + +"I did." + +"Who is that man speaking? Bring him here!" + +"No one need bring me, and no one hadn't better try. I'm coming, I am; +I've got two good legs of my own, and I'm coming as fast as they'll +carry me. Now then, get out of the way there. What do you mean by +blocking up the floor? It ain't your floor!" + +The speaker--as good as his word--was exhibiting in his progress toward +the coroner's table a degree of zeal which was not a little +inconvenient to whoever chanced to be in his way. Having gained his +objective, leaning both hands on the edge of the table he stared at the +coroner in a free-and-easy fashion which that official was not slow to +resent. + +"Take off your cap, sir!" + +"All right, governor, all right. Since you've got yours off I don't +mind taking mine--just to oblige you." + +"Who are you? What's your name?" + +"I'm a gamekeeper, that's what I am. And as for my name, everybody +knows what my name is. It's Jim Baker, that's what my name is. Is there +anybody in this room what don't know Jim Baker? Of course there ain't." + +"You're drunk, sir!" + +"And that I'm not. If I was drunk I shouldn't be going on like this. +You ask 'em. They know Jim Baker when he's drunk. There isn't many men +in this parish as could hold him; it would take three or four of some +of them." + +"At anyrate, you've been drinking." + +"Well, and so would you have been drinking if you'd been going through +what I have these last weeks." + +"How dare you come to my court in this state? and use such language?" + +"Language! what language? I ain't used no language. I said it's a +damned lie, and so it is." + +"You'll get yourself into serious trouble, my man, if you don't take +care. I was saying that, having shot the deceased, the murderer +proceeded to stab him through the body. Is that the statement to which +you object with such ill-timed vigour?" + +The answer was somewhat unlooked for. Stretching half-way across the +table, Jim Baker shook his fist at the coroner with an amount of vigour +which induced that officer to draw his chair a little further back. + +"Don't you call me a murderer!" + +"What do you mean, sir, by your extraordinary behaviour? I did not call +you a murderer; I said nothing of the kind." + +"You said that the man who shot him, stabbed him. I say it's a lie; +because he didn't!" + +"How do you know? Stop! Before you say another word it's my duty to +inform you that if you have any evidence to offer, before you do so you +must be duly sworn; and, further, in your present condition it becomes +essential that I should warn you to be on your guard, lest you should +say something which may show a guilty knowledge." + +"And what do you call a guilty knowledge? I ask you that." + +"As for instance--" + +Mr Baker cut the coroner's explanation uncivilly short. + +"I don't want none of your talk. I'm here to speak out, that's what I'm +here for. I'm going to do it. When you say that the man as shot him +knifed him, I say it's a damned lie. How do I know? Because I'm the man +as shot him; and, beyond giving him a dose of pepper, I'm ready to take +my Bible oath that I never laid my hand on him." + +Mr Baker's words were followed by silence--that sort of silence which +the newspapers describe by the word "sensation." People pressed further +into the room, craning their heads to get a better view of the speaker. +The coroner searched him with his eyes, as if to make sure that the man +was in possession of at least some of his senses. + +"Do you know what it is you are saying?" + +"Do I know what I'm saying? Of course I know. I say that I peppered the +chap, but beyond that I never done him a mischief; and I tell you again +that to that I'm ready to take my Bible oath." + +The coroner turned to his clerk. + +"Swear this man." + +Jim Baker was sworn--unwillingly enough. He handled the Testament which +was thrust into his hand as if he would have liked to have thrown it at +the clerk's head. + +"Now, James Baker, you are on your oath. I presume that you know the +nature of an oath?" + +"I ought to at my time of life." + +There were those that tittered. It was possible that Mr Baker was +referring to one kind of oath and the coroner to another. + +"And, I take it, you are acquainted with the serious consequences of +swearing falsely?" + +"Who's swearing falsely! When I swear falsely it will be time for you +to talk." + +"Very good: so long as you understand. Before proceeding with your +examination I would again remind you that you are in no way bound to +answer any question which you think would criminate yourself." + +"Go on, do. I never see such a one for talking. You'd talk a bull's +hind leg off." + +Once more there were some who smiled. The coroner kept his temper in a +manner which did him credit. He commenced to examine the witness. + +"Did you know the dead man?" + +"Know him? Not from Adam." + +"Did you have any acquaintance with him of any sort or kind?" + +"Never heard tell of him in my life; never set eyes on him till that +Saturday night. When I see him under the beech tree in Cooper's Spinney +I let fly at him." + +"Did you quarrel?" + +"Not me; there wasn't no time. I let fly directly I see him." + +"At a perfect stranger? Why? For what possible reason? Did you suspect +him of poaching?" + +"I'd been having a glass or two." + +"Do you mean to say that because you were drunk you shot this +unfortunate man?" + +"I made a mistake; that's how it was." + +"You made a mistake?" + +"I must have been as near drunk as might be, because, when I come upon +this here chap sudden like, I thought he was Mr Hugh Morice." + +"You thought he was Mr Hugh Morice?" + +"I did." + +"Remember you are not bound to answer any question if you would rather +not. Bearing that well in mind, do you wish me to understand that you +intended to shoot Mr Morice?" + +"Of course I did." + +"But why?" + +"He's sitting there; you ask him; he knows." + +As a matter of fact Mr Hugh Morice--who had throughout shown a lively +interest in the proceedings--was occupying the chair on the coroner's +right hand side. The two men exchanged glances; there was an odd look +on Mr Morice's face, and in his eyes. Then the coroner returned to the +witness. + +"If necessary, Mr Morice will be examined later on. At present I want +information from you. Why should you have intended to shoot Mr Morice?" + +"Obeying orders, that's what I was doing." + +"Obeying orders? Whose orders?" + +"My old governor's. He says to me--and well Mr Hugh Morice knows it, +seeing he was there and heard--'Jim,' he says, 'if ever you see Hugh +Morice on our ground you put a charge of lead into him.' So I done +it--leastways, I meant to." + +The coroner glanced at Mr Morice with an uplifting of his eyebrows +which that gentleman chose to regard as an interrogation, and +answered,-- + +"What Baker says is correct; the late Mr Arnott did so instruct him, +some seven or eight years ago." + +"Was Mr Arnott in earnest?" + +Hugh Morice shrugged his shoulders. + +"He was in a very bad temper." + +"I see. And because of certain words which were uttered in a moment of +irritation seven or eight years ago, James Baker meant to shoot Mr +Morice, but shot this stranger instead. Is that how it was?" + +"That's about what it comes to." + +"I would again remind you that you need not answer the question I am +about to ask you unless you choose; but, if you do choose, be careful +what you say, and remember that you are on your oath. After you had +shot this man what did you do?" + +"He started squealing. As soon as I heard his voice I thought there was +something queer about it. So I went up and had a look at him. Then I +saw I'd shot the wrong man." + +"Then what did you do?" + +"Walked straight off." + +"And left that unfortunate man lying helpless on the ground?" + +"He wasn't helpless, nor yet he wasn't lying on the ground. He was +hopping about like a pig in a fit." + +"You know it has been proved that this man was stabbed to death?" + +"I've heard tell on it." + +"Now--and remember that you are not bound to answer--did you stab him?" + +"I did not. I swear to God I didn't. After I pulled the trigger I done +nothing to him at all." + +"Is it possible that you were so drunk as to have been unconscious of +what you did?" + +"Not a bit of it. So soon as I see as I'd shot the wrong man that +sobered me, I tell you. All I thought about was getting away. I went +straight to my own place, two miles off." + +"When you last saw this man he was still alive?" + +"Very much alive he was." + +"He had not been stabbed?" + +"He hadn't, so far as I know." + +"You must have known if he had been." + +"I never touched him, and I asked no questions." + +"What was he doing when you saw him last?" + +"Hopping about and swearing." + +"And you don't know what happened to him afterwards?" + +"I see nothing; I'd seen more than enough already. I tell you I walked +straight off home." + +"And you heard nothing?" + +"Nothing out of the way." + +"Why haven't you told this story of yours before?" + +"Because I didn't want to have any bother, that's why. I knew I hadn't +killed him, that was enough for me. Small shot don't hurt no one--at +least, not serious. Any man can have a shot at me for a ten-pound note; +there's some that's had it for less. But when I heard you saying that +the man as shot him stabbed him, then I had to speak--bound to. I +wasn't going to have no charge of that kind made against me. And I have +spoken, and you've got the truth." + +"What time did it happen--all this you have been telling us about?" + +Jim Baker answered to the best of his ability. He answered many other +questions, also, to the best of his ability. He had a bad time of it. +But the worst time was to come when all the questions had been asked +and answered. + +The coroner announced that, in consequence of the fresh evidence which +had been placed before the court, the inquiry would not close that day; +but that there would be a further adjournment. + +As Mr Baker passed out of the room and down the stairs people drew away +from him to let him pass, with an alacrity which was not exactly +flattering. When he came out into the street, Granger, the policeman, +came forward and laid his hand upon his shoulder, saying, in those +squeaky tones which had caused him to be regarded with less respect +than was perhaps desirable,-- + +"James Baker, I arrest you for wilful murder. You needn't say anything, +but what you do say will be taken down and used against you. Take my +advice and come quiet." + +By way of answer Jim Baker stared at Granger and at the London +detective at his side and at the people round about him. Then he +inquired,-- + +"What's that you say?" + +"I say that I arrest you for wilful murder, and my advice to you is to +come quiet." + +When Baker saw the policeman taking a pair of handcuffs out of his +coat-tail pocket he drew a long breath. + +"What's that you've got there?" + +"You know what it is very well--it's handcuffs. Hold out your hands and +don't let us have no trouble." + +Jim Baker held out his hand, his right one. As the policeman advanced, +ready to snap them on his wrist, Baker snatched them from him and +struck him with them a swinging blow upon the shoulder. Granger, +yelling, dropped as if he had been shot. Although he was not tall, his +weight was in the neighbourhood of sixteen stone, and he was not of a +combative nature. + +"If anybody wants some more," announced Mr Baker, "let him come on." + +Apparently someone did want more. The words were hardly out of his +mouth, before Nunn, the detective, had dodged another blow from the +same weapon, and had closed with him in a very ugly grip. + +There ensued the finest rough-and-tumble which had been seen in that +parish within living memory. Jim Baker fought for all he was worth; +when he had a gallon or so of beer inside him his qualifications in +that direction were considerable. But numbers on the side of authority +prevailed. In the issue he was borne to the lock-up in a cart, not only +handcuffed, but with his legs tied together as well. As he went he +cursed all and sundry, to the no small amusement of the heterogeneous +gathering which accompanied the cart. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII + + INJURED INNOCENCE + + +Mr Baker had some uncomfortable experiences. When he was brought before +the magistrates it was first of all pointed out--as it were, +inferentially--that he was not only a dangerous character, but, also, +just the sort of person who might be expected to commit a heinous +crime, as his monstrous behaviour when resisting arrest clearly showed. +Not content with inflicting severe injuries on the police, he had +treated other persons, who had assisted them in their laudable attempts +to take him into safe custody, even worse. In proof of this it was +shown that one such person was in the cottage hospital, and two more +under the doctor's hands; while Granger, the local constable, and Nunn, +the detective in charge of the case, appeared in the witness-box, one +with his arm in a sling, and the other with plastered face and bandaged +head. The fact that the prisoner himself bore unmistakable traces of +having lately been engaged in some lively proceedings did not enhance +his naturally uncouth appearance. It was felt by more than one who saw +him that he looked like the sort of person who was born to be hung. + +His own statement in the coroner's court having been produced in +evidence against him, it was supplemented by the statements of +independent witnesses in a fashion which began to make the case against +him look very ugly indeed. Both Miss Arnott and Mr Morice were called +to prove that his own assertion--that he had threatened to shoot the +master of Oak Dene--was only too true. While they were in the box the +prisoner, who was unrepresented by counsel, preserved what, for him, +was an unusual silence. He stared at them, indeed, and particularly at +the lady, in a way which was almost more eloquent than speech. Then +other witnesses were produced who shed a certain amount of light on his +proceedings on that memorable Saturday night. + +It was shown, for instance, that he was well within the mark in saying +that he had had a glass or two. Jenkins, the landlord of the "Rose and +Crown," declared that he had had so many glasses that he had to eject +him from his premises; he was "fighting drunk." In that condition he +had staggered home, provided himself with a gun and gone out with it. A +driver of a mail-cart, returning from conveying the mails to be taken +by the night express to town, had seen him on a stile leading into +Exham Park; had hailed him, but received no answer. A lad, the son of +the woman with whom Baker lodged, swore that he had come in between two +and three in the morning, seeming "very queer." He kept muttering to +himself while endeavouring to remove his boots--muttering out loud. The +lad heard him say, "I shot him--well, I shot him. What if I did shoot +him? what if I did?" He kept saying this to himself over and over +again. After he had gone to bed, the lad, struck by the singularity of +his persistent repetition, looked at his gun. It had been discharged. +The lad swore that, to his own knowledge, the gun had been loaded when +Baker had taken it out with him earlier in the night. + +The prisoner did not improve matters by his continual interruptions. He +volunteered corroborations of the witnesses' most damaging statements; +demanding in truculent tones to be told what was the meaning of all the +fuss. + +"I shot the man--well, I've said I shot him. But that didn't do him no +harm to speak of. I swear to God I didn't do anything else to him. I +hadn't no more to do with killing him than an unborn babe." + +There were those who heard, however, who were inclined to think that he +had had a good deal more to do with killing him than he was inclined to +admit. + +Miss Arnott, also, was having some experiences of a distinctly +unpleasant kind. It was, to begin with, a shock to hear that Jim Baker +had been arrested on the capital charge. When she was told what he had +said, and read it for herself in the newspapers, she began to +understand what had been the meaning of the gunshot and of the groans +which had ensued. She, for one, had reason to believe that what the +tippling old scoundrel had said was literally true, that he had spoken +all the truth. Her blood boiled when she read his appeal to Hugh +Morice, and that gentleman's carefully formulated corroboration. The +idea that serious consequences might ensue to Baker because of his +candour was a frightful one. + +It was not pleasant to be called as a witness against him; she felt +very keenly the dumb eloquence of the appeal in the blood-shot eyes +which were fixed upon her the whole time she was testifying, she +observed with something more than amazement. She had a horrible feeling +that he was deliberately endeavouring to fit a halter round the neck of +the drink-sodden wretch who, he had the best reason for knowing, was +innocent of the crime of which he was charged. + +A brief encounter which took place between them, as they were leaving +the court, filled her with a tumult of emotions which it was altogether +beyond her power to analyse. He came out of the door as she was getting +into her car. Immediately advancing to her side he addressed her +without any sort of preamble. + +"I congratulate you upon the clearness with which you gave your +evidence, and on the touch of feminine sympathy which it betrayed for +the prisoner. I fear, however, that that touch of sympathy may do him +more harm than you probably intended." + +There was something in the words themselves, and still more in the tone +in which they were uttered, which sent the blood surging up into her +face. She stared at him in genuine amazement. + +"You speak to me like that?--you? Certainly you betrayed no touch of +sympathy. I can exonerate you from the charge of injuring him by +exhibiting anything of that kind." + +"I was in rather a difficult position. Don't you think I was? Unluckily +I was not at my ease, which apparently you were." + +"I never saw anyone more at his ease than you seemed to be. I wondered +how it was possible." + +"Did you? Really? What a curious character yours is. And am I to take +it that you were uneasy?" + +"Uneasy? I--I loathed myself." + +"Not actually? I can only assure you that you concealed the fact with +admirable skill." + +"And--I loathed you." + +"Under the circumstances, that I don't wonder at at all. You would. I +even go further. Please listen to me carefully, Miss Arnott, and read, +as you very well can, the meaning which is between the lines. If a +certain matter goes as, judging from present appearances, it very +easily may go, I may have to take certain action which may cause you to +regard me with even greater loathing than you are doing now. Do not +mistake me on that point, I beg of you." + +"If I understand you correctly, and I suppose I do, you are quite right +in supposing that I shall regard you with feelings to which no mere +words are capable of doing justice. I had not thought you were that +kind of man." + +Events marched quickly. Jim Baker was brought up before the magistrates +three times, and then, to Miss Arnott's horror, he was committed for +trial on the capital charge. She could hardly have appeared more +affected if she herself had been committed. When the news was brought +to her by Day, the butler, who still remained in her service, she +received it with a point-blank contradiction. + +"It's not true. It can't be true. They can't have done anything so +ridiculous." + +The old man looked at his young mistress with curious eyes, he himself +seemed to be considerably disturbed. + +"It's quite true, miss. They've sent him to take his trial at the +assizes." + +"I never heard of anything so monstrous. But, Day, it isn't possible +that they can find him guilty?" + +"As for that, I can't tell. They wouldn't, if I was on the jury, I do +know that." + +"Of course not, and they wouldn't if I was." + +"No, miss, I suppose not." + +Day moved off, Miss Arnott following him with her eyes, as if something +in his last remark had struck her strangely. + +A little later, when talking over the subject with Mrs Plummer, the +elder lady displayed a spirit which seemed to be beyond the younger +one's comprehension. Miss Arnott was pouring forth scorn upon the +magistrates. + +"I have heard a great deal of the stupidity of the Great Unpaid, but I +had never conceived that it could go so far as this. There is not one +jot or tittle of evidence to justify them in charging that man with +murder." + +Mrs Plummer's manner as she replied was grim. + +"I wonder to hear you talk like that." + +"Why should you wonder?" + +"I do wonder." Mrs Plummer looked her charge straight in the face +oddly. Miss Arnott had been for some time conscious of a continual +oddity in the glances with which the other favoured her. Without being +aware of it she was beginning to entertain a very real dislike for Mrs +Plummer; she herself could scarcely have said why. "For my part I have +no hesitation in saying that I think it a very good thing they have +sent the man for trial; it would have been nothing short of a public +scandal if they hadn't. On his own confession the man's an utterly +worthless vagabond, and I hope they'll hang him. + +"Mrs Plummer!" + +"I do; and you ought to hope so." + +"Why ought I to hope so?" + +"Because then there'll be an end of the whole affair." + +"But if the man is innocent?" + +"Innocent!" The lady emitted a sound which might have been meant to +typify scorn. "A nice innocent he is. Why you are standing up for the +creature I can't see; you might have special reason. I say let them +hang him, and the sooner the better, because then there'll be an end of +the whole disgusting business, and we shall have a little peace and +quietude." + +"I for one should have no peace if I thought that an innocent man had +been hanged, merely for the sake of providing me with it. But it is +evidently no use our discussing the matter. I can only say that I don't +understand your point of view, and I may add that there has been a good +deal about you lately which I have not understood." + +Mrs Plummer's words occasioned her more concern than she would have +cared to admit; especially as she had a sort of vague feeling that they +were representative of the state of public opinion, as it existed +around her. Rightly or wrongly she was conscious of a very distinct +suspicion that most of the people with whom she came into daily and +hourly contact would have been quite willing to let Jim Baker hang, not +only on general principles, but also with a confused notion--as Mrs +Plummer had plainly put it--of putting an end to a very disagreeable +condition of affairs. + +In her trouble, not knowing where else to turn for advice or help, she +sent for Mr Stacey. After dinner she invited him to a tete-a-tete +interview in her own sitting-room, and then and there plunged into the +matter which so occupied her thoughts. + +"Do you know why I have sent for you, Mr Stacey?" + +"I was hoping, my dear young lady, that it was partly for the purpose +of affording me the inexpressible pleasure of seeing you again." + +She had always found his urbanity a little trying, it seemed +particularly out of place just now. Possibly she did not give +sufficient consideration to the fact that the old gentleman had been +brought out of town at no small personal inconvenience, and that he had +just enjoyed a very good dinner. + +"Of course there was that; but I am afraid that the principal reason +why I sent for you is because of this trouble about Jim Baker." + +"Jim Baker?" + +"The man who is charged with committing the murder in Cooper's +Spinney." + +"I see, or, rather, I do not see what connection you imagine can exist +between Mr Baker and myself." + +"He is innocent--as innocent as I am." + +"You know that of your own knowledge?" + +"I am sure of it." + +"What he has to do is to inspire the judge and jury with a similar +conviction." + +"But he is helpless. He is an ignorant man and has no one to defend +him. That's what I want you to do--I want you to defend him." + +"Me! Miss Arnott!" Mr Stacey put up his glasses the better to enable +him to survey this astonishing young woman. He smiled benignly. "I may +as well confess, since we are on the subject of confessions"--they were +not, but that was by the way--"that there are one or two remarks which +I should like to make to you, since you have been so kind as to ask me +to pay you this flying visit; but, before coming to them, let us first +finish with Mr Baker. Had you done me the honour to hint at the subject +on which you wished to consult me, I should at once have informed you +that I am no better qualified to deal with it than you are. We--that is +the firm with which I am associated--do no criminal business; we never +have done, and, I think I am safe in assuring you, we never shall do. +May I ask if you propose to defray any expenses which may be incurred +on Mr Baker's behalf? or is he prepared to be his own chancellor of the +exchequer?" + +"He has no money; he is a gamekeeper on a pound a week. I am willing to +pay anything, I don't care what." + +"Then, in that case, the matter is simplicity itself. Before I go I +will give you the name of a gentleman whose reputation in the conduct +of criminal cases is second to none; but I warn you that you may find +him an expensive luxury." + +"I don't care how much it costs." + +Mr Stacey paused before he spoke again; he pressed the tips of his +fingers together; he surveyed the lady through his glasses. + +"Miss Arnott, will you permit me to speak to you quite frankly?" + +"Of course, that's what I want you to do." + +"Then take my very strong advice and don't have anything to do with Mr +Baker. Don't interfere between him and the course of justice, don't +intrude yourself in the matter at all. Keep yourself rigidly outside +it." + +"Mr Stacey! Why?" + +"If you will allow me to make the remarks to which I just now alluded, +possibly, by the time I have finished, you will apprehend some of my +reasons. But before I commence you must promise that you will not be +offended at whatever I may say. If you think that, for any cause +whatever, you may be disposed to resent complete candour from an old +fellow who has seen something of the world and who has your best +interests very much at heart, please say so and I will not say a word." + +"I shall not be offended." + +"Miss Arnott, you are a very rich young lady." + +"Well?" + +"You are also a very young lady." + +"Well again?" + +"From such a young lady the world would--not unnaturally--expect a +certain course of action." + +"How do you mean?" + +"Why don't you take up that position in the world to which you are on +all accounts entitled?" + +"Still I don't quite understand." + +"Then I will be quite plain--why do you shut yourself up as if, to use +a catch phrase, you were a woman with a past?" + +Miss Arnott started perceptibly--the question was wholly unexpected. +Rising from her chair she began to re-arrange some flowers in a vase on +a table which was scarcely in need of her attentions. + +"I was not aware that I did." + +"Do you mean that seriously?" + +"I imagined that I was entitled to live the sort of life I preferred to +live without incurring the risk of criticism--that is what I mean." + +"Already you are beginning to be offended. Let us talk of the garden. +How is it looking? Your uncle was very proud of his garden. I certainly +never saw anything finer than his roseries. Do you still keep them up?" + +"Never mind the roseries, or the garden either. Why do you advise me +not to move a finger in defence of an innocent man, merely because I +choose to live my own life?" + +"You put the question in a form of your own; which is not mine. To the +question as you put it I have no answer." + +"How would you put it?" + +"Miss Arnott, in this world no one can escape criticism;--least of all +unattached young ladies;--particularly young ladies in your very +unusual position. I happen to know that nothing would have pleased your +uncle better than that you should be presented at Court. Why don't you +go to Court? Why don't you take your proper place in Society?" + +"Because I don't choose." + +"May I humbly entreat you to furnish me with your reasons?" + +"Nor do I choose to give you my reasons." + +"I am sorry to hear it, since your manner forces me to assume that you +have what you hold to be very sufficient reasons. Already I hear you +spoken of as the 'Peculiar Miss Arnott.' I am bound to admit not wholly +without cause. Although you are a very rich woman you are living as if +you were, relatively, a very poor one. Your income remains practically +untouched. It is accumulating in what, under the circumstances, I am +constrained to call almost criminal fashion. All sorts of unpleasant +stories are being connected with your name--lies, all of them, no +doubt; but still, there they are. You ought to do something which would +be equivalent to nailing them to the counter. Now there is this most +unfortunate affair upon your own estate. I am bound to tell you that if +you go out of your way to associate yourself with this man Baker, who, +in spite of what you suggest, is certainly guilty in some degree, and +who, in any case, is an irredeemable scoundrel; if you persist in +pouring out money like water in his defence, although you will do him +no manner of good, you may do yourself very grave and lasting injury." + +"That is your opinion?" + +"It is." + +"I thank you for expressing it so clearly. Now may I ask you for the +name of the gentleman--the expert criminal lawyer--to whom you +referred? and then we will change the subject." + +He gave her the name, and, later, in the seclusion of his own chamber, +criticised her mentally, as Mr Whitcomb once had done. + +"That girl's a character of an unusual kind. I shouldn't be surprised +if she knows more about that lamentable business in Cooper's Spinney +than she is willing to admit, and, what's more, if she isn't extremely +careful she may get herself into very serious trouble." + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + AT THE FOUR CROSS-ROADS + + +The next morning Miss Arnott sent a groom over to Oak Dene with this +curt note:-- + + +"I shall be at the Wycke Cross--at the four crossroads--this afternoon +at half-past three, alone. I shall be glad if you will make it +convenient to be there also. There is something which it is essential I +should say to you. + + V. A." + + +The groom brought back, in an envelope, Mr Hugh Morice's visiting card. +On the back of it were four words,-- + +"I will be there." + +And Mr Hugh Morice was there before the lady. Miss Arnott saw his car +drawn up by the roadside, long before she reached it. She slackened her +pace as she approached. When she came abreast of it she saw that its +owner was sitting on a stile, enjoying a pipe. Taking his pipe out of +his mouth, his cap off his head, he advanced to her in silence. + +"Am I late?" she asked. + +"No, it is I who am early." + +They exchanged glances--as it were, neutral glances--as if each were +desirous, as a preliminary, of making a study of the other. She +saw--she could not help seeing--that he was not looking well. The +_insouciance_ with which, mentally, she had always associated him, had +fled. The touch of the daredevil, of the man who looks out on to the +world without fear and with something of humorous scorn, that also had +gone. She did not know how old he was, but he struck her, all at once, +as being older than she had supposed. The upper part of his face was +seamed with deep lines which had not always, she fancied, been so +apparent. There were crow's-feet in the corners of his eyes, the eyes +themselves seemed sunken. The light in them was dimmed, or perhaps she +only fancied it. It was certain that he stooped more than he had used +to do. His head hung forward between his broad shoulders, as if the +whole man were tired, body, soul and spirit. There was something in his +looks, in his bearing, a suggestion of puzzlement, of bewilderment, of +pain, which might come from continuous wrestling with an insistent +problem which defied solution, which touched her to the heart, made her +feel conscious of a feeling she had not meant to feel. And because she +had not intended to harbour anything even remotely approaching such a +feeling, she resented its intrusion, and fought against herself so that +she might appear to this man to be even harder than she had proposed to +be. + +On his part he saw, seated in her motor car, a woman whom he would have +given all that he possessed to have taken in his arms and kept there. +His acumen was greater, perhaps, than hers; he saw with a clearness +which frightened him, her dire distress, the weight of trouble which +bore her down. She might think that she hid it from the world, but, to +him, it was as though the flesh had been stripped from her nerves, and +he saw them quivering. He knew something of this girl's story; this +woman whose childhood should have been scarcely yet behind her, and he +knew that it had brought that upon her face which had no right to be +there even though her years had attained to the Psalmist's span. And +because his whole nature burned within him with a desire that she might +be to him as never woman had been before, he was unmanned. He was +possessed by so many emotions, all warring with each other, that, for +the moment, he was like a helmless ship, borne this way and that, he +knew not why or whither. + +Then she was so hard, looked at him out of eyes which were so cold, +spoke to him as if it were only because she was compelled that she +spoke to him at all. How could he dare to hint--though only in a +whisper--at sympathy, or comfort? He knew that she would resent it as +bitterly as though he had lashed her with a whip. And, deeming herself +the victim of an outrage, the probabilities were that she would snatch +the supposititious weapon out of his hand and strike him with all her +force with the butt of it. + +So that, in the end, her trouble would be worse at the end than it had +been at the beginning. He felt that this was a woman who would dree her +own weird, and that from him, of all men in the world, she would brook +only such interference, either by deed word, as she herself might +choose to demand. + +When they had done studying one another she put her hand up to her +face, as if to brush away cobwebs which might have been spun before her +eyes, and she asked,-- + +"Shall we talk here?" + +His tone was as stiff and formal as hers had been. + +"As you please. It depends upon the length to which our conversation is +likely to extend. As I think it possible that what you have to say may +not be capable of compression within the limits of a dozen words, I +would, suggest that you should draw your car a little to one side here, +where it would not be possible for the most imaginative policeman to +regard it as an obstruction to the traffic which seldom or never comes +this way; and that you should then descend from it, and say what you +have to say under the shade of these trees, and in the neighbourhood of +this stile." + +She acted on his suggestion, and took off the long dust cloak which she +was wearing, and tossed it on the seat of her car. Going to the stile +she leaned one hand on the cross bar. He held out his pipe towards her. + +"May I smoke?" + +"Certainly, why not? I think it possible that you may require its +soothing influence before we have gone very far." + +There was something in her voice which seemed as if it had been meant +to sting him; it only made him smile. + +"I also think that possible." + +She watched him as, having refilled and relighted his pipe, he puffed +at it, as if he found in the flavour of the tobacco that consolation at +which she had hinted. Perceiving that he continued to smoke in silence +she spoke again, as if she resented being constrained to speak. + +"I presume that you have some idea of what it is I wish to say to you?" + +He shook his head. + +"I haven't." + +"Really?" + +"Absolutely. If you will forgive my saying so, and I fear that you are +in an unforgiving mood, I have ceased attempting to forecast what, +under any stated set of circumstances, you may either say or do. You +are to me what mathematicians call an unknown quantity; you may stand +for something or for nothing. One never knows." + +"I have not the honour to understand you, Mr Morice." + +"Don't imagine that I am even hinting at a contradiction; but I hope, +for both our sakes, that you understand me better than I do you." + +"I think that's very possible." + +"I think so also; alas! that it should be so." + +"You may well say, alas!" + +"You are right; I may." + +She was silent, her lips twitching, as if with impatience or scorn. + +"My acquaintance with the world is but a slight one, Mr Morice; and, +unfortunately, in one respect it has been of an almost uniform kind. I +have learned to associate with the idea of a man something not +agreeable. I hoped, at one time, that you would prove to be a +variation; but you haven't. That is why, in admitting that I did +understand you a little, I think that you were justified in saying, +alas!" + +"That, however, is not why I said it, as I should have imagined you +would have surmised; although I admire the ingenuity with which you +present your point of view. But, may I ask if you have ordered me to +present myself at Wyche Cross with the intention of favouring me with +neatly turned remarks on the subject of men in general and of myself in +particular?" + +"You know I haven't." + +"I am waiting to know it." + +"I had not thought that anyone fashioned in God's image could play so +consummately the hypocrite." + +"Of all the astounding observations! Is it possible that you can have +overlooked your own record?" + +As he spoke the blood dyed her face; she swerved so suddenly that one +felt that if it had not been for the support of the stile she might +have fallen. On the instant he was penitent. + +"I beg your pardon; but you use me in such a fashion; you say such +things, that you force me to use my tongue." + +"Thank you, you need not apologise. The taunt was deserved. I have +played the hypocrite; I know it--none know it better. But let me assure +you that, latterly, I have continued to play the hypocrite for your +sake." + +"For my sake?" + +"For your sake and for yours only, and you know it." + +"I know it? This transcends everything! The courage of such a +suggestion, even coming from you, startles me almost into +speechlessness. May I ask you to explain?" + +"I will explain, if an explanation is necessary, which we both know it +is not!" + +He waved his pipe with an odd little gesture in the air. + +"Good heavens!" he exclaimed. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + + THE BUTTONS OFF THE FOILS + + +Outwardly she was the calmer of the two. She stood upright and +motionless; he was restless and fidgety, as if uneasy both in mind and +body. She kept her eyes fixed steadily upon his face; he showed a +disposition to elude her searching glance. When she spoke her tone was +cool and even. + +"You have accused me of playing the hypocrite. It is true, I have. I +have allowed the world to regard me as a spinster, when I was a married +woman; as free when I was bound. I have told you that I should have +ceased before this to play the hypocrite, if it had not been for you. +You have--pretended--to doubt it. Well, you are that kind of man. And +it is because you are that kind of man that I am constrained to ask if +you wish me now to cease to play the hypocrite and save Jim Baker's +life?" + +"Is not that a question for your consideration rather than for mine?" + +"You propose to place the responsibility upon my shoulders!" + +"Would you rather it were on mine?" + +"That is where it properly belongs." + +"In dealing with you I am at a serious disadvantage, since you are a +woman and I am a man. The accident of our being of different sexes +prevents my expressing myself with adequate precision." + +"You appear to be anxious to take refuge even when there is nothing +behind which you can hide. The difference in our sexes has never +prevented you from saying to me exactly what you pleased, how you +pleased--you know it. Nor do I intend to allow your manhood to shelter +you. Mr Morice, the time for fencing's past. When life and death are +hanging in the balance, words are weightless. I ask you again, do you +intend to save Jim Baker's life?" + +"I have yet to learn that it is in imminent peril." + +"Then acquire that knowledge now from me. I am informed that if someone +is not discovered, on whom the onus of guilt can be indubitably fixed, +the probabilities are that Jim Baker will be hanged for murder." + +"And you suggest that I should discover that--unhappy person?" + +"I ask you if you do not think the discovery ought to be made, to save +that wretched creature?" + +"What I am anxious to get at, before I commit myself to an answer is +this--presuming that I think the discovery should be made, do you +suggest that it should be made by you or by me?" + +"Mr Morice, I will make my meaning plainer, if the thing be possible. +When--that night--in the wood it happened, I thought that it was done +for me. I still think that might have been the motive; partly, I +confess, because I cannot conceive of any other, though the +misapprehension was as complete as it was curious. I did not require +that kind of service--God forbid! And, therefore, thinking this--that I +was, though remotely, the actual cause--it appears to me that I was, +and am, unable to speak, lest it would seem that I was betraying one +whose intention was to render me a service." + +"For all I understand of what you're saying you might be talking in an +unknown tongue. You speak of the futility of fencing, when you do +nothing else but fence! To the point, if you please. What service do +you suppose was intended to be rendered you that night in Cooper's +Spinney?" + +There was a perceptible pause before she answered, as if she were +endeavouring to summon all her courage to her aid. + +"Mr Morice, when you killed my husband, did you not do it for me?" + +His countenance, as she put this question, would have afforded an +excellent subject for a study in expression. His jaw dropped open, his +pipe falling unnoticed to the ground; his eyes seemed to increase in +magnitude; the muscles of his face became suddenly rigid--indeed the +rigidity of his whole bearing suggested a paralytic seizure. For some +seconds he seemed to have even ceased to breathe. Then he gave a long +gasping breath, and with in his attitude still some of that unnatural +rigidity, he gave her question for question. + +"Why do you ask me such a monstrous thing? You! you!" + +Something in his manner and appearance seemed to disturb her more than +anything which had gone before. She drew farther away from him, and +closer to the stile. + +"You forced me to ask you." + +"I forced you to ask me--that!" + +"Why do you look at me so? Do you wish to frighten me?" + +"Do you think I didn't see? Have you forgotten?" + +"See? Forgotten? What do you mean?" + +"Oh, woman! that you should be so young and yet so old; so ignorant and +yet so full of knowledge; that you should seem a shrine of all the +virtues, and be a thing all evil!" + +"Mr Morice, why do you look at me like that! you make me afraid!" + +"Would I could make you afraid--of being the thing you are!" + +"It's not fair of you to speak to me like that I--it's not fair! I'm +not so wicked! When I married--" + +"When you married! No more of that old wife's tale. Stick to the point, +please--to the point! You whited sepulchre! is it possible that, having +shown one face to the world, you now propose to show another one to me, +and that you think I'll let you? At anyrate, I'll have you know that I +do know you for what you are! Till now I have believed that that dead +man, your husband, Mrs Champion, was as you painted him--an unspeakable +hound; but now, for the first time, I doubt, since you dared to ask me +that monstrous thing, knowing that I saw you kill him!" + +She looked at him as if she were searching his face for something she +could not find on it. + +"Is it possible that you wish me to understand that you are speaking +seriously?" + +"What an actress you are to your finger-tips! Do you think I don't know +you understand?" + +"Then you know more than I do, for I myself am not so sure. My wish is +to understand, and--I am beginning to be afraid I do." + +He waved his hand with an impatient gesture. + +"Come, no more of that! Let me beg you to believe that I am not quite +the fool that you suppose. You asked me just now if I intend to save +Jim Baker's life? Well, that's where I'm puzzled. At present it's not +clear to me that it's in any serious danger. I think that the very +frankness of his story may prove to be his salvation; I doubt if +they'll be able to establish anything beyond it. But should the +contrary happen, and he finds himself confronted by the gallows, then +the problem will have to be fairly faced. I shall have to decide what I +am prepared to do. Of course my action would be to some extent guided +by yours, that is why I'm so anxious to learn what, under those +circumstances, you would do." + +"Shall I tell you?" + +"If you would be so very kind." + +"I should send for Granger and save Jim Baker's life." + +"By giving yourself up?" + +She stood straighter. + +"No, Mr Morice, by giving you up." + +"But again I don't understand." + +"You have had ample warning and ample opportunity. You might have +hidden yourself on the other side of the world if you chose. If you did +not choose the fault was yours." + +"But why should I hide?" + +"If you forced me, I should tell Granger that it was you who killed +Robert Champion, and that I had proofs of it, and so Jim Baker would be +saved." + +Again he threw out his arms with the gesture which suggested not only +impatience, but also lack of comprehension. + +"Then am I to take it that you propose to add another item to your list +of crimes?" + +"It is not a crime to save the innocent by punishing the guilty." + +"The guilty, yes; but in that case where would you be?" + +"I, however unwillingly, should be witness against you." + +"You would, would you? A pleasant vista your words open to one's view." + +"You could relieve me of the obligation--easily." + +"I don't see how--but that is by the way. Do you know it begins to +occur to me that the singularity of your attitude may be induced by +what is certainly the remote possibility that you are ignorant of how +exactly the matter stands. Is it possible that you are not aware that I +saw you--actually saw you--kill that man." + +"What story are you attempting to use as a cover? Are you a liar as +well as that thing?" + +"Don't fence! Are you denying that I saw you kill him, and that when +you ran away I tried to catch you?" + +"Of course I deny it! That you should dare to ask me such a question!" + +"This is a wonderful woman!" + +"You appear to be something much worse than a wonderful man--something +altogether beyond any conception I had formed of you. Your +suppositional contingency may be applied to you; it is just possible +that you don't know how the matter stands, and that that explains your +attitude. It is true that I did not see you kill that man." + +"That certainly is true." + +"But I heard you kill him." + +"You heard me?" + +"I heard you--I was only a little way off. First I heard the +shot--Baker's shot. Then I heard him go. Then I heard you come." + +"You heard me come?" + +"I heard you strike him; I heard him fall. Then I saw you running from +the thing that you had done." + +"You saw me running?" + +"I saw you running. The moon was out; I saw you clearly running among +the bushes and the trees. I did not know who it was had come until I +saw you, then I knew. After you had gone I was afraid to go or stay. +Then I went to see what you had done. I saw your knife lying on the +ground. I picked it up and took it home with me." + +"I can easily believe you took it home with you." + +"I have it now--to be produced, if need be in evidence." + +"Of what?" + +"Of your guilt! of what else?" + +"She asks me such a question! Now let me tell you my story. If it lacks +something of the air of verisimilitude which gives yours such a finish, +let me remind you that there are those who lie like truth. After we had +parted I discovered that I had left my knife behind--the one with which +I had cut our initials on the tree. It was a knife I prized--never mind +why. When I had allowed sufficient time to enable you to have reached +home I returned to look for it. To my surprise, as I approached our +trysting-place I heard voices--yours and a man's. You were neither of +you speaking in a whisper. At night in the open air sound travels far. +When I came a little nearer I saw you and a man. So I withdrew till I +was out of sight again, and could only hear the faint sound of distant +voices. Presently a gun was fired. I rushed forward to see by whom, and +at what. When I came near enough there was a man staggering about +underneath the tree. I saw you come out from among the bushes and look +at him. You picked up a knife from the ground--my knife. I saw you +drive it into his chest. As he fell--for ever--you ran off into the +forest and I ran after you." + +"You ran after me! after me?" + +"After you; but you ran so quickly, or you knew your way so well, or I +blundered, or something, because, after you had once disappeared in the +wood, I never caught sight of you." + +"And have you invented this story--which you tell extremely well--to +save your neck at the expense of mine?" + +"What an odd inquiry! Referring to your own tale, may I ask what motive +you would ascribe to me, if you were asked what you suppose induced me, +a peaceful, law-abiding citizen, to kill at sight--under circumstances +of peculiar cowardice--an inoffensive stranger?" + +"I imagined that you knew he was my husband, and that you killed him to +relieve me. You see I credited you with something like chivalry." + +"Did you indeed. And you would prostitute the English language by +calling conduct of that sort chivalry! However, it is plainly no use +our pushing the discussion further. We appear to understand each other +now if we never did before. Each proposes to save Jim Baker's life--at +a pinch--by sacrificing the other. Good! I must hold myself prepared. I +had dreamt of discovering means of saving you from the consequences of +your crime, but I had scarcely intended to go the lengths which you +suggest--to offer myself instead of you. But then I did not credit you +with the qualifications which you evidently possess. In the future I +shall have to realise that, even if I save your life, I cannot save +your soul, because, plainly, you intend to perjure that lightheartedly, +and to stain it with the blood of two men instead of only one. Let me +give you one warning. I see the strength of the case which your +ingenious--and tortuous--brain may fabricate against me. Still, I think +that it may fail; and that you may yourself fall into the pit which you +have digged for me, for this reason. They know me, hereabouts and +elsewhere; my record's open to all the world. They don't know you, as +yet; when they do they'll open their eyes and yours. Already some +unpleasant tales are travelling round the country. I myself have been +forced to listen to one or two, and keep still. When my story is told, +and yours, I am afraid that your story will prove to be your own +destruction; it will hang you, unless there comes a reprieve in time. I +saw you kill your husband. You know I saw you; you know that I can +prove I saw you. Therefore, take the advice I have already tendered, go +back to Lake Como and further. Lest, peradventure, by staying you lose +your life to save Jim Baker's. Henceforward, Mrs Champion, the buttons +are off our foils; we fight with serious weapons--I against you and you +against me. At least we have arrived at that understanding; to have a +clear understanding of any sort is always something, and so, good-day." + + + + + CHAPTER XX + + THE SOLICITOR'S CLERK + + +Hugh Morice was the first to leave the four crossroads; Miss Arnott +stood some time after he had gone, thinking. Life had had for her some +queer phases--none queerer than that which confronted her, as she stood +thinking by the stile. + +That Hugh Morice should have done the thing she knew he had done, was +bad enough. That he should have denied it to her face in such explicit +terms and coupled with his denial such a monstrous accusation, was +inconceivable. He had not gone very far before she told herself that, +after all, she had misunderstood him, she must have done. For some +minutes she was half disposed to jump into her car, follow him and +insist on a clearer explanation. He could not have meant what he had +appeared to do, not seriously and in earnest. + +But she refrained from putting her idea into execution as she recalled +the almost savage fashion in which he had hurled opprobrium at her. He +had meant it; he must have meant it, or he would not have spoken to her +in such a strain. At the thought she shivered. + +Because, if this were the case, if she really had to regard his words +as seriously intended, then she would have to rearrange her whole +outlook on to life, particularly that portion of it which was pressing +so hardly on her now. In her blackest moments she had not credited Hugh +Morice with being a scoundrel. He had been guilty of a crime, but she +could have forgiven him for that. By what he had done he had separated +himself from her for ever and for ever. Still, she could have looked at +him across the dividing chasm with something tenderer than pity. + +This new attitude he had taken up altered the position altogether. If +it meant anything it meant that he had killed Robert Champion for some +recondite reason of his own--one with which she had no sort of +connection. Obviously, if he had done it for her sake, he would not be +so strenuous in denial; still less would he charge her with his crime. + +Thus the whole business assumed a different complexion. The inference +seemed to be that Hugh Morice and Robert Champion had not been +strangers to each other. There had been that between them which induced +the one to make away with the other when opportunity offered. The whole +thing had been the action of a coward. In imagination the girl could +see it all. Hugh Morice coming suddenly on the man he least +expected--or desired--to meet; the great rush of his astonishment; the +instant consciousness that his enemy was helpless; the sight of the +knife; the irresistible, wild temptation; the yielding to it; the +immediate after-pangs of conscience-stricken terror; the frantic flight +through the moon-lit forest from the place of the shedding of blood. + +And this was the man whom, almost without herself being aware of it, +she had been making a hero of. This sordid wretch, who, not content +with having slain a helpless man for some, probably wholly unworthy, +purpose of his own, in his hideous anxiety to save his own miserable +skin was willing, nay, eager, to sacrifice her. Possibly his desire to +do so was all the greater because he was haunted by the voice of +conscience crying out to him that this girl would not only be a +continual danger, but that he would never be able to come into her +presence without being racked by the knowledge that she knew him--no +matter how gallantly he bore himself--to be the thing he really was. + +So it was plain to her that here was a new danger sprung up all at once +out of the ground, threatening more serious ills than any she had +known. If Jim Baker was found guilty of this man's crime, and she moved +a finger to save him from his unmerited fate, then it might be that she +would find herself in imminent peril of the gallows. For it needed but +momentary consideration to enable her to perceive that what he had +suggested was true enough, that if they began to accuse each other it +would be easier, if he were set on playing the perjurer, to prove her +guilt than his. And so quite possibly it might come about that, in +order to save Jim Baker, it would be necessary she should hang. And +life was yet young in her veins, and, though she had in it such sorry +usage, still the world was very fair, and, consciously, in all her life +she had never done an evil thing. + +And then it was not strange that, there in the sunshine by the +roadside, at the bare thought that it was even remotely possible that +such a fate might be in store for her, she sat down on the stile, +clinging to the rail, trembling from head to foot. + +She would have sat there longer had she not been roused by a familiar, +unescapable sound--the panting of a motor. Along the road was +approaching a motor bicyclist. At sight of her, and of the waiting car, +he stopped, raising his cap. + +"I beg your pardon, but is there anything wrong with the car?" + +She stood up, still feeling that, at anyrate, there was something wrong +with the world, or with her. + +"No, thank you, the car's all right; I was only resting." + +"I beg your pardon once more, but aren't you Miss Arnott of Exham +Park?" + +She looked at the speaker, which hitherto she had avoided doing. He was +a young man of four or five and twenty, with a not unpleasing +countenance; so far as she knew, a stranger to her. + +"I am, but I don't know you." + +"That is very possible--I am a person of no importance. My name is +Adams--Charles Adams. I am clerk to Mr Parsloe, solicitor, of +Winchester. We had a communication from a man who is in Winchester +Gaol, waiting his trial for murder, a man named Baker. Possibly you +have heard of him." + +"Oh yes, I have heard of Jim Baker; he is a gamekeeper on my own +estate." + +"So he gave me to understand. Mr Parsloe sent me to see him. I did see +him, in private. He gave me a note, which he was extremely anxious that +I should give into your own hands. I was just coming on to Exham Park +on the off-chance of finding you in. Perhaps you won't mind my giving +it to you now?" + +"By all means. Why not?" + +He had taken out of a leather case a piece of folded paper. + +"You see it is rather a rough-and-ready affair, but I should like to +give you my assurance that I have no idea what it contains." + +"I don't suppose it would matter much if you did. Jim Baker is hardly +likely to have a communication of a private nature to make to me." + +"As to that I know nothing. I can only say that Baker was not satisfied +till I had sworn that I would not attempt to even so much as peep at +the contents of his note, or let it go out of my hands until it reached +yours." + +"Really?" + +"Really! I never saw a man more desperately in earnest on a point of +the kind." + +"Jim Baker is a character." + +"He certainly is. You will see that the note is written on a piece of +rough paper. Where he got it from I don't know, and was careful not to +ask; but it looks suspiciously like a fly-leaf which had been torn out +of a book. You are possibly aware that in prison, in the ordinary way, +they are allowed neither paper, pen nor ink. I fancy you'll find that +this is written with a pencil. When I first saw it it had been simply +folded, and one end slipped into the other. I happened to have some +sealing-wax in my pocket. Baker insisted on my sealing it, in his +presence, in three places, as you perceive, so that it was impossible +to get at the contents without breaking the seals. I say all this +because Baker himself was emphatically of opinion that this note +contained matter of an extremely confidential nature, to which I should +like you clearly to understand that I have had no sort of access. I may +add another fact, of which you are also possibly aware, and that is +that the whole transaction was irregular. He had no right to give me +the note, and I had no right to convey it out of the prison; but he did +the one, and I did the other, and here it is." + +Mr Adams handed the lady the scrap of paper, she asking him a question +as he did so,-- + +"To whom did you say that you were clerk?" + +"To Mr Parsloe, a well-known and highly-esteemed Winchester solicitor." + +"Why did Baker, as you put it, communicate with Mr Parsloe?" + +"He wanted us to undertake his defence." + +"And are you going to do so?" + +Mr Adams smiled. + +"As matters are, I am afraid not. Baker appears to be penniless, he is +not even able to keep himself while awaiting trial, but is on the +ordinary prison fare. It is necessary that a client should not only +have his solicitor's sympathy, but also the wherewithal with which to +pay his fees." + +"Then it is only a question of money. I see. At what address shall I +find Mr Parsloe if I wish to do so?" + +The gentleman gave the lady a card. + +"That is Mr Parsloe's address. You will find my name in the corner as +representing him. I may mention that I also am an admitted solicitor." + +"It is possible that you will hear from me. In the meantime, thank you +very much for taking so much trouble in bringing me this note. Any +expenses which may have been incurred I shall be happy to defray." + +"At present no expenses have been incurred. I need hardly say that any +instructions with which you may honour us will receive our instant and +most careful attention." + +Again Mr Adams's cap came off. He turned his bicycle round, and +presently was speeding back the way he had come. Miss Arnott stood +looking after him, the "note" in her hand. + +Jim Baker's "note," as the solicitor's clerk had more than hinted, was +distinctly unusual as to form. It was represented by an oblong scrap of +paper, perhaps two inches long by an inch broad. Nothing was written on +the outside; on the exterior there was nothing whatever to show for +what destination it was designed. As Mr Adams had said, where one end +had been slipped into the other three seals had been affixed. On each +seal was a distinct impression of what probably purported to be Mr +Adams's own crest; with, under the circumstances, a sufficiently +apposite motto--for once in a way in plain English--"Fear Nothing." + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + + THE "NOTE" + + +Miss Arnott displayed somewhat singular unwillingness to break the +seals. She watched Mr Adams retreating on his bicycle; not only till +the machine itself was out of sight, but the cloud of dust which marked +its progress had vanished also. Then she turned the scrap of paper over +and over in her fingers, possessed by an instinctive reluctance to +learn what it contained. It seemed ridiculous to suppose that Jim Baker +could have anything to cause her disturbance, yet she had an eerie +feeling that there was something disagreeable inside his "note," +something which she would much rather not come into contact with. Had +she followed her own inclination she would have shredded it into +pieces, and scattered the pieces over the roadway. In some +indescribable fashion she was actually afraid of the scrap of paper +which she held between her fingers. + +It was the sudden realisation that this was so which stung her into +action. Afraid of anything Jim Baker might have to say? She? Nonsense! +The idea! Could anything be more absurd! + +There and then she broke the seals, unfolded the sheet of paper. But +when she had got so far again she hesitated. The thing was fresh from a +prison; had about it, she fancied, a prison atmosphere, a whiff of +something sordid which it had borne with it out of gaol. It was that, +she told herself, which she did not relish. Why should she read the +scrawl? What interest could it have for her? Better instruct Mr +Parsloe, or that eminent practitioner in the conduct of criminal cases +with whose name Mr Stacey had furnished her, to undertake Baker's +defence, and spare no expense in doing so, and so have done with it. +Let her keep her own fingers out of the mire; leave the whole thing to +the lawyers; that would be better for everyone concerned. So it would +not be necessary for her to spell her way through the man's ill-written +scribble. + +And then she read Jim Baker's "note." + +As Mr Adams had surmised it was written in pencil; apparently with a +blunt stump of pencil used by unaccustomed fingers, probably under +circumstances in which a skilful writer would have been uneasy. Here +and there it seemed that the pencil had refused to write; possibly only +by dint of pressure had it been induced to write at all. The letters +were blurred and indistinct, ill-formed, irregular, disjoined--in +general, mere hieroglyphics. And yet, despite the crabbed writing, the +eccentric spelling, the clumsy wording, Jim Baker's "note" made a +stronger impression on Miss Arnott than the most eloquent epistle with +which she had ever been favoured. + + +"Miss Arnott I see you done it but I wouldnt say nuthink about it if it +wasnt that from what I ear they are going to hang me for what I se you +doing and I wont say nuthin about it now if you se I have a loryer and +all regular so as to get me out of this were it aint rite I should be +sein I saw you they may cutt my tung out before Ill speak unless they +make out I dun it so if you dont se I have a loryer and all regular Ill +have to speke Jim Baker." + + +That was Mr Baker's note; unpunctuated, formless, badly put together, +ill-spelt, but alive and eloquent in spite of its obvious deficiencies. +It was plain why he was so anxious that Mr Adams should not peep at the +contents, why he had insisted on the three seals, why he had stipulated +on its being given into Miss Arnott's own hands. From his point of view +the "note" was a messenger of life and death, with hanging matter in +every line. + +The lady read it once and again and then again. As she crumpled it up +in her hand it seemed to her that the country round about had assumed a +different appearance, the cloudless sky had become dimmed, a grey tint +had settled upon everything; for her the sunlight had gone out of the +world. + +Here was Jim Baker calling to her out of his prison cell that he was +where she ought to be, because he had seen her do it, warning her, if +she did not provide him with a lawyer "and all regular" to get him "out +of this," that he would have to speak. What hallucination was this +which all at once possessed men's minds? Could it be possible that the +hallucination was actually hers? Could what, first Hugh Morice, now Jim +Baker, said be true, and that they had seen her do it? What condition +could she have been in at the time? Was it conceivable that a person +could do such a deed unwittingly? During what part of her sojourn in +the wood had she been in her sober senses? When had she ceased to be +responsible for her own actions? and how? and why? Which of those awful +happenings had been plain material fact and which nightmare imaginings? + +She re-read Jim Baker's opening words,--"Miss Arnott I see you done +it." The accusation was bold enough, plain enough, conclusive enough. +It staggered her; forced her to wonder if she was, unknowingly, this +dreadful thing. + +But, by degrees, her common sense regained the upper-hand, and she +began to put two and two together in an attempt to solve the mystery of +Jim Baker's words. The man was drunk; so much was admitted. He had +probably seen her, hazily enough, bearing away the blood-stained knife; +and had, therefore, jumped to an erroneous conclusion. Then she +remembered that he had sworn that, after firing the shot, he had gone +straight home; then, how came he to see her? More, he had sworn that on +his homeward way he had seen nothing; so, somewhere, there was a lie. +At the very worst, Jim Baker was labouring under a misapprehension; the +statement in his note was capable of no other explanation. + +Still, it was awkward that he should be under such a misapprehension, +in view of the attitude which Hugh Morice had just been taking up. The +problem of saving Jim Baker's life became involved. If freeing him +meant that Mr Morice would prefer against her such a charge, and that +Baker himself would support it; then it behoved her to be careful how +she went. In any case it was not agreeable to think that that ancient +but muddle-headed family retainer believed--with some considerable +foundation in truth--that she was willing--to say no more--that he +should suffer for her offences. + +Her thoughts were not pleasant companions on her homeward journey. Nor +was her peace of mind heightened by a brief interview which she had +with Mrs Plummer almost immediately on her return. The lady, waylaying +her on the landing, followed her into her sitting-room. She was +evidently in a state of considerable agitation. + +"My dear, there is something which I must say to you at once--at once!" + +Miss Arnott looked at her with that mixture of amusement and resentment +with which she had been conscious that, of late, Mrs Plummer's near +neighbourhood was wont to fill her. + +"Then by all means speak, especially if refraining from doing so would +occasion you inconvenience." + +"Mrs Forrester called; you are never in when people come." + +"I am not sorry that I was out when Mrs Forrester came; she bores me." + +"You ought to fix a regular day, so that people might know when to find +you." + +"You have made that remark before. Is that all you have to say?" + +"No, it is not; and let me tell you that this flippant way you have of +treating everything I say may have the most serious and unlooked-for +consequences." + +Miss Arnott laughed, which caused Mrs Plummer to resort to a trick she +had--when at all put out--of rubbing the palms of her hands briskly +together. + +"Oh, you may laugh; but I can assure you that if things go on like this +much longer I don't know what will be the end of it." + +"The end of what?" + +"Do you know what Mrs Forrester has been saying? She tells me that +there is a story going about the place that that evening you were out +in the woods till all hours of the night; and she wanted to know if she +should contradict it." + +"That's as she pleases." + +"But don't you see how serious it is? Won't you understand? I +understand; if you don't. Violet, I insist upon your telling me what +time it was when you came in that night; where you went, and what you +did. I insist! I insist!" + +At each repetition Mrs Plummer brought her hands together with quite a +smart clap. Miss Arnott looked down at the excited little woman as if +she was still divided between two moods. + +"You insist? Mrs Plummer, aren't you--rather forgetting yourself?" + +"Of course I am prepared for you to adopt that tone. You always adopt +it when I ask you a question, and I am ready to leave the house this +moment if you wish it; but I can only assure you that if you won't give +me an answer you may have to give one to somebody else before very +long." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I mean exactly what I say. Won't you see?" + +"I can see that you are in a state of excitement which is not warranted +by anything I understand." + +It was odd what a disinclination the elder lady showed to meet the +young one's eyes. She moved hither and thither, as if possessed by a +spirit of restlessness; but, though Miss Arnott kept her gaze fixed on +her unfalteringly wherever she went, she herself never glanced in the +girl's direction. + +"Excited! I can't help being excited! How you can keep so cool is what +I don't know! Everyone is pointing a finger and saying that you were +out in the woods at the very time that--that wretched man was--was +being murdered"--Mrs Plummer cast furtive looks about her as if the +deed was being enacted that very moment before her eyes--"and asking +where you were and what you were doing all alone in the woods at that +hour, and how it was that you knew nothing at all of what was taking +place, possibly quite close by you; and you let them ask, and say and +do nothing to stop their tongues; and if they are not stopped heaven +only knows where they'll lead them. My dear, won't you tell me where +you went? and what it was that you were doing?" + +"No, Mrs Plummer, I won't--so now your question is answered. And as I +have some letters to write may I ask you to leave me?" + +Mrs Plummer did glance at Miss Arnott for one moment; but for only one. +Then, as if she did not dare to trust herself to speak again, she +hurried from the room. Left alone, the young lady indulged in some +possibly ironical comments on her companion's deportment. + +"Really, to judge from Mrs Plummer's behaviour, one would imagine that +this business worried her more than it does me. If she doesn't exercise +a little more self-control I shouldn't be surprised if it ends in +making her actually ill." + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + + MR ERNEST GILBERT + + +Miss Arnott wrote to Mr Ernest Gilbert--the famous lawyer whose name Mr +Stacey had given her--asking him to make all necessary arrangements for +Jim Baker's defence. She expressed her own personal conviction in the +man's innocence, desiring him to leave no stone unturned to make it +plain, and to spare no expense in doing so. In proof of her willingness +to pay any costs which might be incurred she enclosed a cheque for +L500, and assured him that she would at once forward any further sum +which might be required. Mr Gilbert furnished himself with a copy of +the depositions given before the committing justices, and also before +the coroner; and, having mastered them, went down to see his client in +Winchester Gaol. + +He found Mr Baker in very poor plight. The gamekeeper, who probably had +gipsy blood in his veins, had been accustomed from childhood to an open +air life. Often in fine weather he did not resort to the shelter of a +roof for either sleeping or eating. Crabbed and taciturn by +constitution he loved the solitude and freedom of the woods. On a +summer's night the turf at the foot of a tree was couch enough for him, +the sky sufficient roof. Had he been able to give adequate expression +to his point of view, his definition of the torments of hell would have +been confinement within four walls. In gaol--cribbed, cabined and +confined--he seemed to slough his manhood like a skin. His nature +changed. When Mr Gilbert went to see him, the dogged heart of the man +had lost half its doggedness. He pined for freedom--for God's air, and +the breath of the woods--with such desperate longing that, if he could, +he would have made an end of every soul in Winchester Gaol to get at +it. + +Mr Gilbert summed him up--or thought he did--at sight. He made it a +rule in these sort of cases to leap at an instant conclusion, even +though afterwards it might turn out to be erroneous. Experience had +taught him that, in first interviews with clients of a certain kind, +quickness of speech--and of decision--was a trick which often paid. So +that the door had hardly been closed which left the pair together +than--metaphorically--he sprang at Mr Baker like a bull terrier at a rat. + +"Now, my man, do you want to hang?" + +"Hang? me? No, I don't. Who does?" + +"Then you'll tell me who stuck a knife into that fellow in Cooper's +Spinney." + +"Me tell you? What do you mean?" + +"You know what I mean, and you know who handled that knife; and it's +only by telling me that you'll save your neck from the gallows." + +Baker stared with tightened lips and frowning brows. This spruce little +gentleman was beyond him altogether. + +"Here! you go too fast for me. I don't know who you are, not from Adam. +Who might you be?" + +"My name's Gilbert--I'm a lawyer--and I'm going to save you from the +gallows, if I can." + +"A lawyer?" Baker put up a gnarled hand to rasp his stubbly chin. He +looked at the other with eyes which trouble had dimmed. "Has she sent +you?" + +"She? Who?" + +"You know who I mean." + +"I shall know if you tell me. How can I know if you don't tell me?" + +"Has Miss Arnott sent you?" + +"Miss Arnott? Why should Miss Arnott send me?" + +"She knows if you don't." + +"Do you think Miss Arnott cares if you were strung up to the top of the +tallest tree to-morrow?" + +"She mightn't care if I was strung up, but I ain't going to be strung +up; and that she does know." + +The lawyer looked keenly at the countryman. All at once he changed his +tone, he became urbanity itself. + +"Now, Baker, let's understand each other, you and I. I flatter myself +that I've saved more than one poor chap from a hempen collar, and I'd +like to save you. You never put that knife into that man." + +"Of course I didn't; ain't I kept on saying so?" + +"Then why should you hang?" + +"I ain't going to hang. Don't you make any mistake about it, and don't +let nobody else make any mistake about it neither. I ain't going to +hang." + +"But, my good fellow, in these kind of affairs they generally hang +someone; if they can't find anyone else, it will probably be you. How +are you going to help it?" + +Baker opened and closed his mouth like a trap, once, twice, thrice, and +nothing came out of it. There was a perceptible pause; he was possibly +revolving something in his sluggish brain. Then he asked a question,-- + +"Is that all you've got to say?" + +"Of course it's not. My stock of language isn't quite so limited. Only +I want you to see just where you're standing, and just what the danger +is that's threatening. And I want you to know that I know that you know +who handled that knife; and that probably the only way of saving you +from the gallows is to let me know. You understand that it doesn't +necessarily follow that I'm going to tell everyone; the secret will be +as safe with me as with you. Only this is a case in which, if I'm to do +any good, I must know where we are. Now, Baker, tell me, who was it who +used the knife?" + +Again Baker's jaws opened and shut, as if automatically; then, after +another interval, again he asked a question. + +"You ain't yet told me if it was Miss Arnott as sent you?" + +"And you haven't yet told me why Miss Arnott should send me?" + +"That's my business. Did she? Do you hear me ask you--did she?" + +Baker brought his fist down with a bang on to the wooden table by which +he was standing. Mr Gilbert eyed him in his eager, terrier-like +fashion, as if he were seeking for a weak point on which to make an +attack. Then, suddenly, again his manner altered. Ignoring Baker's +question as completely as if it had never been asked, he diverted the +man's attention from the expected answer by all at once plunging into +entirely different matters. Before he knew what was happening Baker +found himself subjected to a stringent examination of a kind for which +he was wholly unprepared. The solicitor slipped from point to point in +a fashion which so confused his client's stupid senses that, by the +time the interview was over, Jim Baker had but the vaguest notion of +what he had said or left unsaid. + +Mr Gilbert went straight from the gaol to a post-office from which he +dispatched this reply-paid telegram:-- + + +"To HUGH MORICE, Oak Dene. + +"When I was once able to do you a service you said that, if ever the +chance offered, you would do me one in return. You can do me such a +service by giving me some dinner and a bed for to-night. + + "ERNEST GILBERT. + +"GEORGE HOTEL, WINCHESTER." + + +He lunched at the George Hotel. While he was smoking an after-luncheon +cigar an answer came. Hugh Morice wired to say that if he arrived by a +certain train he would meet him at the station. Mr Gilbert travelled by +that train, and was met. It was only after a _tete-a-tete_ dinner that +anything was said as to the reason why the lawyer had invited himself +to be the other's guest. + +"I suppose you're wondering why I've forced myself upon your +hospitality?" + +"I hope that nothing in my manner has caused you to think anything of +the kind. I assure you that I'm very glad to see you." + +"It's very nice of you to say so. Still, considering how I've thrown +myself at you out of the clouds you can hardly help but wonder." + +"Well, I have taken it a little for granted that you have some reason +for wishing to pay me a visit at this particular moment." + +"Exactly. I have. It's because I find myself in rather a singular +situation." + +"As how?" + +The lawyer considered. He looked at his host across the little table, +on which were their cups of coffee, with his bright eyes and the +intensely inquisitive stare, which seemed to suggest that curiosity was +his devouring passion. His host looked back at him lazily, +indifferently, as if he were interested in nothing and in no one. The +two men were in acute contrast. The one so tall and broad; the other so +small and wiry--in the scales possibly not half Hugh Morice's size. The +solicitor glanced round the room, inquiringly. + +"I suppose we're private here?" + +They were in the billiard-room. The doors were shut, windows closed, +blinds drawn--the question seemed superfluous. + +"Perfectly. No one would hear you if you shouted." + +"It's just as well to be sure; because what I have to say to you is of +a particularly private nature." + +"At your leisure." + +"You and I have had dealings before--you will probably remember that, +under certain circumstances, I'm not a stickler for professional +etiquette." + +"I remember it very well indeed." + +"That's fortunate. Because, on the present occasion, I'm going to outrage +every standard of propriety which is supposed--professionally--to hedge me +round. Now listen to me attentively; because I don't wish to use plainer +speech than I can help; I don't want to dot my 'i's,' and I want you, at +a hint from me, to read between the lines. This is a ticklish matter I'm +going to talk about." + +"I'm all attention." + +"That's good; then here's what I've come to say." + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + + THE TWO MEN + + +Yet Mr Gilbert hesitated. He took his cigar from between his lips, +carefully removed the ash, sipped at his coffee, and all the time kept +his glance on Hugh Morice, as if he were desirous of gleaning from his +face indications as to the exact line which his remarks should take. +When he did speak he still continued to stare at his host. + +"I have been retained to defend James Baker." + +"James Baker?" + +"The man who is to stand his trial for the murder in Cooper's Spinney." + +"Oh, Jim Baker. Hereabouts he is known as Jim. When you spoke of him as +James, for the moment I didn't know who you meant." + +"This morning I saw him in Winchester Gaol." + +"That is what you were doing in Winchester? Now I understand. How is +he?" + +"In a bad way. They may as well hang him as keep him jailed. He's not +at home in there." + +"So I should imagine. Jim Baker!" + +Hugh Morice smiled sardonically, as if the idea of Jim Baker being in +gaol was grimly humorous. + +"That interview has resulted in placing me in a very curious quandary." + +"I should imagine that interviews with your clients did occasionally +have results of that kind." + +"That's so; but I don't recall one which had just this result, and--I +don't like it. That's why I've come to you." + +"I don't see the sequitur. What have I to do with your +quandaries?--that is, mind you, with your professional quandaries; +because, outside your profession, as you're perfectly well aware, I'm +willing enough to help you in any kind of a hole." + +"This is both professional and unprofessional--that's the trouble. +Anyhow, I'm going to make you my confidant, and I shall expect you to +give me some sort of a pointer." + +"What might you happen to be driving at? I take it that you don't +credit me with the capacity to read between lines which are +non-existent." + +"I'll tell you in a sentence. James--or, as you call him--Jim Baker has +left the impression on my mind that it was Miss Arnott, of Exham Park, +who killed that man in Cooper's Spinney." + +"The scoundrel!" + +"Generally speaking, perhaps, in this particular instance--I doubt it." + +"Do you mean to say that he formulated the charge in so many words?" + +"He never formulated it at all. On the contrary, he didn't even begin +to make it. I fancy that if you were to go to him now, he'd say that he +never so much as hinted at anything of the sort. But all the same it +was so present in his mind that it got into mine. I have a knack, +occasionally, of studying my clients' minds rather than their words." + +"My good sir, if A is charged with a crime he quite +constantly--sometimes unconsciously--tries to shift the guilt on to B." + +"As if I didn't know it! Talk sense! There are times when I am able to +detect the real from the counterfeit, and this is one. I tell you that +Jim Baker is convinced that Miss Arnott stabbed that man in the wood, +and that, if he chose, he could advance substantial reasons for the +faith that is in him." + +"Good God! You--you shock me!" + +"Are you sure I shock you?" + +"What the devil do you mean by that? Look here, Gilbert, if you've come +here to make yourself disagreeable you'll have to excuse me if I go to +bed." + +"My dear chap, why this sudden explosion! So far from wishing to make +myself disagreeable my desire is all the other way; but you haven't yet +let me explain to you the nature of the quandary I am in." + +"I know Jim Baker better than you do. I've thrashed him within an inch +of his life before to-day, and, by George! if what you say is true, I'd +like to do it again. If you've come to retail any cock and bull stories +emanating from that source I don't want to listen to them--that's +plain." + +"Perfectly plain. I've come to retail cock and bull stories emanating +from no source. If you'll grant me thirty seconds I'll tell you what +the trouble is. The trouble is that I've been retained by Miss Arnott +to defend Jim Baker." + +"The deuce!" + +"Yes, as you observe, it is the deuce. She has behaved--in a pecuniary +sense--very handsomely, and is apparently prepared--in that sense--to +continue to behave very handsomely." + +"Then where's the trouble if you're well paid for the work you're asked +to do?" + +"Supposing, for the sake of argument, that Miss Arnott is guilty, and +that Jim Baker knows it, that, from one point of view, would be a +sufficient reason why she should spend money like water in his defence, +and I should be placed in a very awkward situation." + +"Are you taking it for granted that what that blackguard says--" + +"Baker has said nothing." + +"That what he hints is true? Do you know Miss Arnott?" + +"I don't; do you?" + +"Of course, she's my neighbour." + +"But you're some distance apart." + +"Nothing as we count it in the country." + +"Is she an old woman?" + +"Old! She's a girl!" + +"A girl? Oh! now I perceive that we are getting upon delicate ground." + +"Gilbert, may I ask you to be extremely careful what you allow yourself +to say." + +"I will be--extremely careful. May I take it that you are of opinion +that there is no foundation for what Jim Baker believes?" + +"What on earth have I to do with what Jim Baker believes or with what +he chooses to make you think he believes?" + +"Precisely; I am not connecting you with his belief in any way +whatever. What I am asking is, are you of opinion that he has no ground +for his belief?" + +"How should I know what ground he has or thinks he has? That fellow's +mind--what he has of it--is like a rabbit warren, all twists and +turns." + +The speaker had risen from his chair. Possibly with some intention of +showing that he did not find the theme a pleasant one, he had taken +down a billiard cue. The lawyer watched him as he prepared to make a +shot. + +"Morice, do you know to what conclusion you are driving me?" + +"I don't know, and I don't care. Come and have a game." + +"Thank you, I don't mind. But first, I should like to tell you what +that conclusion is. You are forcing me to think that Jim Baker's belief +is yours." + +Mr Morice did not make his shot. Instead, he stood up straight, +gripping his cue almost as if he meant to use it as a weapon. + +"Gilbert!" + +"It's no use glaring at me like that. I'm impervious to threats. I've +been the object of too many. Let me tell you something else. A faint +suspicion, which I had before I came here, has become almost a +certainty. I believe that Baker saw what that young woman did and I +believe you saw her also." + +"You hound! Damn you! I'd like to throw you out of the house!" + +"Oh no, you wouldn't; that's only a momentary impulse. An instant's +reflection will show you that this is a position in which the one thing +wanted is common sense, and you've got plenty of common sense if you +choose to give it a chance. Don't you see that we shall, all of +us--Miss Arnott, Jim Baker, you and me--find ourselves in a very +uncomfortable situation, if we don't arrive at some common +understanding. If Jim Baker saw that girl committing murder, and if you +saw her--" + +"You have not the faintest right to make such a monstrous insinuation." + +"I have invited contradiction and none has come." + +"I do contradict you--utterly." + +"What, exactly, do you contradict?" + +"Everything you have said." + +"To descend from the general to the particular. Do you say that you did +not see what that girl did?" + +"I decline to be cross-examined. I'm your host, sir, I'm not in the +witness-box." + +"No, but at a word from me you very soon will be. That's the point you +keep on missing." + +"Gilbert, I'll wring your neck!" + +"Not you, if only because you know that it would make bad worse. It's +no good your throwing things at me. I'm as fairly in a cleft stick as +you are. If I throw up Jim Baker's case, Miss Arnott, who has sent me a +cheque for L500, will naturally want to know why. What shall I tell +her? I shall have to tell her something. If, on the other hand, I stick +to Baker, my first and only duty will be towards him. I shall have to +remember that his life is at stake, and leave no stone unturned to save +it. But, being employed by Miss Arnott, I don't want to take advantage +of that employment and of her money to charge her with the crime, nor +do I want to have to put you into the witness-box to prove it. What I +want to know is which course am I to follow? And to get that knowledge +I've come to you. Now, you've got the whole thing in a nutshell." + +Mr Morice, perhaps unconsciously, was still gripping the billiard cue +as if it were a bludgeon. Plainly, he was ill at ease. + +"I wish you'd been kept out of the affair. I'd have kept you out if I'd +had a chance. I should have known you'd make yourself a nuisance." + +"Having a clear perception of the lines on which I should be likely to +make myself a nuisance, I see. Shall I tell you what I do wish? I'm +inclined to wish that I'd been retained by Miss Arnott on her own +account." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"You will make me dot my i's. However, I'll dot them if you like. Here +are two men who know the truth. Isn't it probable that there are other +persons who suspect it? So far the affair's been bungled. Baker himself +put the police on the wrong scent. They've followed it blindly. But +when the right man's put on the job I'm prepared to wager that he'll +find the whole air is full of the lady's name. Then she'll want +assistance." + +Hugh Morice returned the cue to its place with almost ostentatious +precision, keeping his back towards his guest as he did so. Then, +turning, he took up his stand before the fireplace. His manner had all +at once become almost unnaturally calm. + +"There are two or three points, Mr Gilbert, on which I should like to +arrive at that understanding which you pretend to desiderate. When you +suggest, as you do, that I have any guilty knowledge of the crime with +which Jim Baker stands charged, you not only suggest what is wholly +false, but you do so without the slightest shadow of an excuse, under +circumstances which make your conduct peculiarly monstrous. I have no +such knowledge. It, therefore, necessarily follows that I know nothing +of Miss Arnott's alleged complicity in the matter. More, I believe from +my heart that she had no more to do with it than you had; she is +certainly as innocent as you are. You yourself admit that Baker has +said nothing. I fancy you may have jumped at an erroneous conclusion; +your fault is over-cleverness. I know him to be a thorough-paced coward +and rascal. If he ever does say outright, anything of the nature you +have hinted at, there will be no difficulty whatever in proving him to +be a liar. Now, sir, have I given you all the information which you +require?" + +Mr Gilbert looked at the fresh cigar, which he had just lighted, with +the first smile in which he had permitted himself to indulge during the +course of the discussion. + +"Then I am to defend Jim Baker and do my best for him?" + +It was a second or two before Hugh Morice answered. + +"I think that, feeling as you do, you had better withdraw from the +case." + +"And what shall I tell Miss Arnott?" + +"You need tell her nothing. I will tell her all that is necessary." + +"I see. I thought you would probably feel like that." + +"For once in a way you thought correctly." + +"The cheque shall be returned to her. Shall I return it through you?" + +"I think that perhaps you had better." + +"I think so also." + +Mr Gilbert rose from his chair. + +"Before I go to bed, with your permission, I will finish this excellent +cigar upstairs, and I'm afraid that game of billiards will have to be +postponed. Will you allow me to say, without prejudice, that if, later, +Miss Arnott finds herself in need of legal aid I shall esteem myself +fortunate to be allowed to render her any assistance in my power. I can +make my presence felt in a certain kind of case, and this is going to +be a very pretty one, though that mayn't be your feeling just now. I +should like to add that I feel sure I could defend her much better than +I could Jim Baker." + +"There will not be the slightest necessity for you to do anything of +the kind.". + +"Of course not. I am merely putting a suppositious case. May I take it +that you are the lady's friend?" + +"You may." + +"And that you would be willing to do her a service?" + +"I would do her any service in my power." + +"Then shall I tell you what is the best service you could do her?" + +"I am listening." + +"Start for the most inaccessible part of the globe you can think of at +the very earliest opportunity, and stay there." + +"Why should I do that?" + +"Because if they can't find you, they can't put you in the witness-box, +and, if I were acting for Miss Arnott, I would much rather, for her +sake, that you kept out. Good-night, Mr Morice. I have to thank you for +your generous hospitality." + +When the solicitor was in his bedroom he said to himself. + +"I'm glad I came. But what a tangle! Unless I err they'll have my lady +under lock and key before the assizes begin; or, at anyrate, under +police observation. And my host loves her. What a prospect? When a man, +who is not a constitutional liar, does lie, he's apt to give his lie +too artistic a finish; still, as an example of the lie cumulative and +absolute, that lie of his was fair, very fair indeed." + +Hugh Morice had his thoughts also. + +"If she'd only let me know that she proposed to call in Ernest Gilbert +I'd have stopped her somehow. There's no more dangerous man in England. +Now it's too late. We shall have to face the music. If I am +subp[oe]naed I'll go into the witness-box and swear I did it. She +charged me with having done it. She shall go into the witness-box and +give evidence against me. We'll dish Ernest Gilbert. 'Greater love hath +no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.' And +she's my friend, since I love her. At anyrate, I'll be her friend, if +the thing may be." + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV + + THE SOMNAMBULIST + + +Miss Arnott was not happy. Money had not brought her anything worth +having. In her case, fortune had been synonymous with misfortune. +Young, rich "beyond the dreams of avarice," good-looking; all those +papers which deal with what are ironically called "personal topics," +held her up to public admiration as one of the persons in the world who +were most to be envied. In plain truth she was one of the most +miserable. In her penniless days she was not unhappier. Then her +trouble was simple, now it was compound. Not the least of her disasters +was the fact that health was failing. That robust habit of mind and +body which had, so far, stood her in good stead, was being sapped by +the continuous strain. Her imagination was assuming a morbid tinge. Her +nights were sleepless, or dream-haunted, which was as bad. She was +becoming obsessed by an unhealthy feeling that she lived in a tainted +atmosphere. That all the air about her was impregnated with suspicion. +That she was becoming the centre of doubting eyes, whispering tongues, +furtively pointing fingers. + +While she was more or less unconsciously drifting into this physically +and mentally unhealthy condition she received a visit from a Mrs +Forrester, in the course of which that lady insisted on dwelling on +topics of a distinctly disagreeable kind. + +Mrs Forrester was a widow, childless, well-to-do. She had two +occupations--one was acting as secretary to the local branch of the +Primrose League, and the other was minding other people's business. She +so managed that the first was of material assistance to her in the +second. She was a person for whom Miss Arnott had no liking. Had she +had a chance she would have denied herself. But Mrs Forrester came +sailing in through the hall just as she was going out of it. + +"Oh, my dear Miss Arnott, this is an unexpected pleasure! I am so +fortunate in finding you at home, I so seldom do! And there is +something of the first importance which I must speak to you about at +once--of the very first importance, I do assure you." + +The motor was at the door. Miss Arnott's inclination was to fib, to +invent a pressing engagement--say, twenty miles off--and so shunt the +lady off on to Mrs Plummer. It seemed as if the visitor saw what was in +her mind. She promptly gave utterance to her intention not to be +shunted. + +"Now you mustn't say you're engaged, because I sha'n't keep you a +minute, or at most but five. That motor of yours can wait, and you +simply must stop and listen to what I have to say. It's in your own +interest, your own urgent interest, so I can't let you go." + +Miss Arnott stopped, perforce. She led the way into the red +drawing-room. Mrs Forrester burst into the middle of the subject, which +had brought her there, in her own peculiar fashion. + +"Now, before I say a single word, I want you to understand most clearly +that the only reason which has brought me here, the one thing I have +come for, is to obtain your permission, your authority, to contradict +the whole story." + +"What story?" + +The visitor held up her hands. + +"What story! You don't mean to say you haven't heard? It simply shows +how often we ourselves are the last persons to hear of matters in which +we are most intimately concerned. My dear, the whole world is talking +about it, the entire parish! And you say, what story?" + +"I say again, what story? I've no doubt that my concerns do interest a +large number of persons, even more than they do me, but I've not the +vaguest idea to which one of them you're now referring." + +"Is it possible? My dear, I was told no longer ago than this morning +that you walk every night through the woods in--well, in your +nightdress." + +"What's that?" + +"Of course it's nonsense. No one knows better than I do that such an +idea's ridiculous. But there's the story. And, as I've said, I've come +on purpose to ask you to allow me to offer an authoritative +contradiction." + +"But what is the story? I should be obliged to you, Mrs Forrester, if +you could manage to make it a little clearer." + +"I will make it clear. To me it has been made painfully +clear--painfully. I may tell you that I've heard the story, in different +forms, from various sources. Indeed I believe it's no exaggeration to +say that it's on everybody's tongue, and, on the whole, no wonder. My +informant this morning was Briggs, the postman. You know him?" + +"I can't claim the honour. However, I'm willing to take your statement +as proof of his existence." + +"A most respectable man, most respectable. His wife has fifteen +children--twins only last March,--but perhaps I oughtn't to speak of it +to you. He used to be night watchman at Oak Dene in old Mr Morice's +time. Sometimes he takes the letter-bags to and from the mail train, +which goes through at half-past one in the morning. He did so last +night. He assures me with his own lips that, coming home, as he was +passing your place, he heard something moving, and on looking round saw +you among the trees in your nightdress. Of course it couldn't have been +you. But, at the same time, it is most singular. He is such a +respectable man, and his story was most circumstantial. Could it have +been you?" + +"I was not out last night at all, and it never is my custom to wander +about the grounds in the costume you refer to, if that is what you +mean, Mrs Forrester--at least, not consciously." + +"Exactly, that is the very point, of course--not consciously. But do +you do it unconsciously?" + +"Unconsciously! What do you mean?" + +"My dear, it is my duty to tell you that all sorts of people claim to +have seen you wandering--sometimes actually running--through the woods +of Exham Park at the most extraordinary hours, clad only in your +nightdress. The suggestion is that you are walking in your sleep." + +"Walking in my sleep? Mrs Forrester!" + +"Yes, my dear, walking in your sleep. It is strange that the story +should not have reached you; it is on everybody's tongue. But when, as +I tell you, Briggs made that positive statement to me with his own +lips, I felt it my bounden duty to come and see you about it at the +earliest possible moment. Because, if there is any truth in the tale at +all--and they can't all be liars--it is absolutely essential for your +own protection that you should have someone to sleep with you--at any +rate, in the same room. Somnambulism is a most serious thing. If you +are a somnambulist--and if you aren't, what are you?--proper +precautions ought to be taken, or goodness only knows what may happen." + +"If I am a somnambulist, Mrs Forrester. But am I? In all my life I have +never heard it hinted that I am anything of the kind, and I myself have +never had any reason to suspect it." + +"Still, my dear, there are all those stories told by all sorts of +people." + +"They may have imagined they saw something. I very much doubt if they +saw me." + +"But there is Briggs's positive assertion. I have such faith in Briggs. +And why should he invent a tale of the sort?" + +"Did he see my face?" + +"No; he says you were walking quickly from him, almost running, but he +is positive it was you. He wanted to come and tell you so himself; but +I dissuaded him, feeling that it was a matter about which you would +prefer that I should come and speak to you first." + +"What time was it when he supposes himself to have seen me?" + +"Somewhere about two o'clock." + +Miss Arnott reflected. + +"To the best of my knowledge and belief I was in bed at two o'clock, +and never stirred from it till Evans called me to get into my bath. If, +as you suggest, I was out in the woods in my nightdress--delightful +notion!--surely I should have brought back with me some traces of my +excursion. I believe it rained last night." + +"It did; Briggs says it was raining at the time he saw you." + +"Then that settles the question; he didn't see me. Was I barefooted?" + +"He couldn't see." + +"The presumption is that, if I choose to wander about in such an airy +costume as a nightgown, it is hardly likely that I should think it +necessary to go through the form of putting on either shoes or +stockings. Anyhow, I should have been soaked to the skin. When I woke +up this morning my nightgown would have shown traces at least of the +soaking it had undergone. But not a bit of it; it was as clean as a new +pin. Ask Evans! My feet were stainless. My bedroom slippers--the only +footwear within reach, were unsoiled. No; I fancy, Mrs Forrester, that +those friends of yours have ardent imaginations, and that even the +respectable Briggs is not always to be trusted." + +"Then you authorise me to contradict the story _in toto?_ + +"Yes, Mrs Forrester; I give you the fullest authority to inform anyone +and everyone that I never, in the whole course of my life, went out for +a stroll in my nightgown, either asleep or waking. Thank you very much +indeed for giving me the opportunity of furnishing you with the +necessary power." + +Mrs Forrester rose from her chair solemnly. + +"I felt that I should only be doing my duty if I came." + +"Of course you did, and you never miss an opportunity of doing your +duty. Do you?" + +Before the lady had a chance of replying a door opened. Miss Arnott +turned to find that it had admitted Mr Morice. The sight of him was so +unexpected, and took her so wholly by surprise that, at a momentary +loss for a suitable greeting, she repeated, inanely enough, almost the +identical words which she had just been uttering to Mrs Forrester. + +"Mr Morice! This is--this is a surprise. I--I was just telling Mrs +Forrester, who has been good enough to bring me rather a curious story, +that if anyone mentions, in her hearing, that they saw me strolling +through the woods in the middle of the night in a state of considerable +undress, I shall be obliged if she gives such a statement a point-blank +contradiction." + +Mr Morice inclined his head gravely, as if he understood precisely what +the lady was talking about. + +"Certainly. Always advise Mrs Forrester to contradict everything she +hears. Mrs Forrester hears such singular things." + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + + HUGH MORICE EXPLAINS + + +So soon as Mrs Forrester had gone Mr Morice asked a question. + +"What tale has that woman been telling you?" + +"She actually says that people have seen me walking about the woods in +the middle of the night in my nightdress. That a postman, named Briggs, +saw me doing so last night. I believe I am supposed to have been +walking in my sleep. Of course it is only some nonsensical rigmarole. I +won't say the whole thing is an invention of Mrs Forrester's own brain, +but it's the sort of thing she's fond of." + +"That's true enough. It is the sort of tale she's fond of; but, for +once in a way, she is justified by fact. Since we are on the subject I +may as well inform you that, four nights or rather mornings, ago I +myself saw you, at two o'clock in the morning, in Cooper's Spinney, in +some such costume as that which you describe." + +"Mr Morice!" + +"I do not know that I should have told you if it had not been for Mrs +Forrester; but, since she has intervened, I do so. In any case, it is +perhaps as well that you should be on your guard." + +"Are you sure you saw me?" + +"I am not likely to make a mistake in a matter of that sort." + +"But are you sure it was me?" + +"Certain." + +"What was I doing?" + +"You were under the beech tree--our beech tree. You appeared to me to +be looking for something on the ground--something which you could not +find." + +"But four nights ago? I remember it quite well. I was reading and +writing till ever so late. Then I fell asleep directly I got into bed. +I certainly never woke again until Evans called me." + +"The probability is that you got out of bed directly you were asleep. +It struck me that there was something singular about your whole +proceedings. A doubt crossed my mind at the time as to whether you +could possibly be in a somnambulistic condition. As I approached you +retreated so rapidly that I never caught sight of you again." + +"Do you mean to say I was in my nightdress?" + +"As to that I cannot be certain. You had on something white; but it +struck me that it was some sort of a dressing-gown." + +"I have no white dressing-gown." + +"On that point I cannot speak positively. You understand that I only +saw you for a few seconds, just long enough to make sure that it was +you." + +She put her hands up to her face, shuddering. + +"This is dreadful! that I should walk in my sleep--in the woods--and +everyone see me--and I know nothing! What shall I do?" + +"There is one thing I should recommend. Have someone to sleep in your +room--someone who is quickly roused." + +"That is what Mrs Forrester advised. I will certainly have that done. A +bed shall be put in my room, and Evans shall sleep in it to-night. Is +it to make this communication that you have favoured me with the very +unexpected honour of your presence here, Mr Morice?" + +"No, Mrs--I beg your pardon, Miss Arnott--it is not." As she noticed +the slip she flushed. "The errand which has brought me here is of a +different nature, though not, I regret to say, of a more pleasant one." + +"Nothing pleasant comes my way. Do not let unpleasantness deter you, Mr +Morice. As you are aware I am used to it." + +There was a bitterness in her tone which hurt him. He turned aside, +searching for words to serve him as a coating of sugar, and failing to +find them. + +"Why," he presently asked, "did you instruct Ernest Gilbert to defend +Jim Baker?" + +She stared in amazement; evidently that was not what she expected. + +"Why? Why shouldn't I?" + +"For the simple but sufficient reason that he was the very last man +whose interference you should have invited in a matter of this +particular kind." + +"Mr Stacey was of a different opinion. It was he who gave me his name. +He said he was the very man I wanted." + +"Mr Stacey? Mr Stacey was not acquainted with all the circumstances of +the case, Miss Arnott. Had you consulted me--" + +"I should not have dreamt of consulting you." + +"Possibly not. Still, I happen to know something of Mr Gilbert +personally, and had you consulted me I should have warned you that, in +all human probability, the result would be exactly what it has turned +out to be." + +"Result? Has anything resulted?" + +"Something has--Mr Gilbert has withdrawn from the case." + +"Withdrawn from the case! What do you mean?" + +"Here is the L500 which you sent him. He has requested me to hand it +back to you." + +"A cheque for L500? Mr Morice, I don't understand! Why has Mr Gilbert +returned me this?" + +"I will tell you plainly. We are, both of us, in a position in which +plainness is the only possible course." + +"Well, tell me--don't stand choosing your words--tell me plainly! Why +has Mr Gilbert sent me back my cheque through you?" + +"Because Jim Baker conveyed the impression to his mind that +he--Jim--saw you commit the crime with which he stands charged." + +"I don't understand." + +"I think you do. Gilbert's position is that he finds himself unable to +retain your money when his duty to Baker may necessitate his putting +you in the dock on the capital charge." + +"Mr Morice! It's--it's not true!" + +"Unfortunately, it is true. Lest, however, you should think the +position worse than it actually is, part of my business here is to +reassure your mind on at least one point." + +"Reassure my mind! Nothing will ever do that--ever! ever! And +reassurance from you!--from you!" + +"If matters reach a certain point--before they go too far--it is my +intention to surrender myself--say, to Granger--our local +representative of law and order--as having been guilty of killing that +man in Cooper's Spinney." + +"Mr Morice! Do you--do you mean it?" + +"Certainly I mean it. Then you will have an opportunity of going into +the witness-box and giving that testimony of which you have spoken. +That in itself ought to be sufficient to hang me." + +"Mr Morice!" + +"What we have principally to do is to render it impossible that the +case against me shall fail. A very trifling accident may bring the +whole business to an end; especially if Ernest Gilbert puts ever such a +distant finger in the pie. Against the possibility of such an accident +we shall have to guard. For instance, by way of a beginning, where's +that knife?" + +"Knife?" + +"The knife." + +"I've lost the key." + +"Lost the key? of what?" + +"I put it in a wardrobe drawer with my--my things, and locked it, and, +somehow, I lost the key." + +"I don't quite follow. Do you mean that, having locked up my knife in a +drawer with some other articles, you have mislaid the key of the lock?" + +"Yes, that's what I mean." + +"Then in that case, you had better break that lock open at the earliest +possible moment." + +"Why?" + +"The answer's obvious, in order that you may hand me back my knife. If +I'm to be the criminal it will never do for my knife to be found in +your possession. It would involve all sorts of difficulties which we +might neither of us find it easy to get over. Give me the knife. I will +hide it somewhere on my own premises, where I'll take care that, at the +proper moment, it is found. Properly managed, that knife ought to make +my guilt as plain as the noonday sun; mismanaged, the affair might +assume quite a different complexion." + +For the first time a doubt entered the girl's mind. + +"Mr Morice, do you wish me to understand that you propose to surrender +merely to save me?" + +"I wish you to understand nothing of the sort. The position is--in its +essence--melodrama; but do let us make it as little melodramatic as we +conveniently can. Someone must suffer for the--blunder. It may as well +be me. Why not?" + +"Do you wish me--seriously--to believe that it was not you +who--blundered?" + +"Of course I blundered--and I've kept on blundering ever since. One +blunder generally does lead to another, don't you know. Come--Miss +Arnott"--each time, as she noticed, there was a perceptible pause +before he pronounced the name to which she still adhered--"matters have +reached a stage when, at any moment, events may be expected to move +quickly. Your first business must be to get that drawer open--key or no +key--and let me have that knife. You may send it by parcel post if you +like. Anyhow, only let me have it. And, at latest, by tomorrow night. +Believe me, moments are becoming precious. By the way, I hope it hasn't +been--cleaned." + +"No, it hasn't been cleaned." + +"That would have been to commit a cardinal error. In an affair of this +sort blood-stains are the things we want; the _pieces de conviction_ +which judge and jury most desire. Give me the knife--my knife--that did +the deed, with the virginal blood-stains thick upon it. Let it be +properly discovered by a keen-nosed constable in an ostentatious +hiding-place, and the odds are a hundred to one as to what the verdict +will be. A hundred? a million! I assure you that I already feel the +cravat about my neck." Hugh Morice put his hand up to his throat with a +gesture which made Miss Arnott shiver. "Only, I do beg of you, lose no +time. Get that drawer open within the hour, and let me have my +hunting-knife before you have your dinner. Let me entreat you to grasp +this fact clearly. At any moment Jim Baker may be out of Winchester Gaol; +someone will have to take his place. That someone must be me." + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + + THE TWO MAIDS + + +After Hugh Morice had left her, Miss Arnott had what was possibly the +worst of all her bad half hours. The conviction of his guilt had been +so deeply rooted in her mind that it required something like a +cataclysm to disturb its foundations. She had thought that nothing +could have shaken it; yet it had been shaken, and by the man himself. +As she had listened to what he had been saying, an impression had been +taking hold of her, more and more, that she had misjudged him. If so, +where was she herself standing? A dreadful feeling had been stealing on +her that he genuinely believed of her what she had believed of him. If +such was the case, what actually was her position. + +Could she have done the thing which he believed her to have done? It +was not only, moreover, what he believed; there were others. An array +of witnesses was gathering round her, pointing with outstretched +fingers. There was Jim Baker--it seemed that he was honestly persuaded +that, with his own eyes, he had seen her kill her husband. So +transparent was his honesty that he had succeeded--whether +intentionally or not she did not clearly understand--in imparting his +faith to the indurated lawyer to such a degree, that he had actually +thrown her money back at her, as if it had been the price of blood. She +had little doubt that if her own retainers were polled, and forced to +vote in accordance with the dictates of their consciences, merely on +the strength of the evidence they believed themselves to be already in +possession of, they would bring her in as guilty. She had had this +feeling dimly for some time--she had it very clearly then. + +And now she was walking in her sleep. That thing of which she had read +and heard, but never dreamt to be--a somnambulist. It seemed that her +conscience drove her out at dead of night to revisit--unwittingly--the +scene of the crime which stained her soul. + +Could that be the interpretation of the stories which Mrs Forrester had +told her? and Hugh Morice? She had been seen, it would appear, by half +the countryside, clad--how? wandering--conscience-driven--on what +errand? + +The more she thought, however, of the tale which Briggs the postman had +retailed to Mrs Forrester, not to speak of Hugh Morice's strange +narrative--the more she doubted--the more she had to doubt. They +might have the evidence of their own eyes, but it seemed to her that +she had evidence which was at least equally conclusive. It was +incredible--impossible that she could have tramped through the rain and +the mire, among the trees and the bushes, in the fashion described, and +yet have found no traces of her eccentric journeyings either on her +clothes or on her person. But in that matter measures could--and should--be +taken. She would soon learn if there was any truth in the tales so far as +they had reference to her. Evans should be installed in her room that night +as watchman. Then, if she attempted to get out of bed while fast +asleep, the question would be settled on the spot. The question of the +knife--Hugh Morice's knife--was a graver one. But as regards that also +steps should be promptly taken. Whether it should be returned to its +owner as he suggested, or retained in her possession, or disposed of +otherwise. These were problems which required consideration. In the +meanwhile, she would have it out of its hiding-place at once. She went +upstairs to force open that wardrobe drawer. So soon as she entered her +bedroom she perceived that she had been forestalled, and that, in +consequence, a lively argument was going on. The disputants were +two--her own maid, Evans, and Wilson, the housemaid, who had been +supposed to have been in part responsible for the disappearance of the +key. Miss Arnott was made immediately conscious--even before she opened +the door--that the pair were talking at the top of their voices. Evans's +was particularly audible. She was pouring forth on to her fellow-servant +a flood of language which was distinctly the reverse of complimentary. +So occupied, indeed, were they by the subject under discussion that, until +Miss Arnott announced her presence, they were not conscious that she +had come into the room. + +Their young mistress paused on the threshold, listening, with feelings +which she would have found it difficult to analyse, to some of the +heated observations which the disputants thought proper to fling at +each other. She interrupted Evans in the middle of a very warmly +coloured harangue. + +"Evans, what is the meaning of this disturbance? and of the +extraordinary language you are using?" + +The maid, though evidently taken by surprise by the advent of her +mistress, showed very few of the signs of shame and confusion which +some might have considered would have become a person in her position. +Apparently she was much too warm to concern herself, at anyrate for the +moment, with matters of etiquette. She turned to Miss Arnott a flushed +and angry face, looking very unlike the staid and decorous servant with +whom that young lady was accustomed to deal. Hot words burst from her +lips,-- + +"That there Wilson had the key all the time. I knew she had." + +To which Wilson rejoined with equal disregard of ceremonial usages,-- + +"I tell you I hadn't! Don't I tell you I hadn't! At least, I didn't +know that I had, not till five minutes ago." + +Evans went on, wholly ignoring her colleague's somewhat singular +disclaimer,-- + +"Then if she didn't use it to unlock your drawer with--your private +drawer--and to take liberties with everything that was inside it. I +daresay if I hadn't come and caught her she'd have walked off with the +lot. And then to have the face to brazen it out!" + +To which Wilson, in a flame of fury,-- + +"Don't you dare to say I'd have taken a single thing, because I won't +have it. I'm no more a thief than you are, nor perhaps half so much, +and so I'll have you know. You're a great deal too fond of calling +names, you are; but if you call me a thief I'll pay you for it. You +see!" + +Evans turned again to her adversary, eager for a continuance of the +fray. + +"If you weren't going to take them what did you go to the drawer for?" + +"I tell you I went to the drawer to see if it was the key. + +"Why didn't you bring the key to me?" + +"I would have brought it, if you'd given me a chance." + +"You would have brought it! Didn't I catch you--" + +Miss Arnott thought she had heard enough; she interposed. + +"Will you be so good as to be still, both of you, and let me understand +what is the cause of this disgraceful scene. Evans, has the key of the +drawer been found?" + +"Yes, miss, it has. It was never lost; she had it all the time, as I +suspected." + +"I didn't have it, miss--leastways, if I did, I didn't know it, not +till just now." + +"Explain yourself, Wilson. Has or has not the key been in your +possession?" + +"It's like this, miss; it must somehow have slipped inside my dress +that morning when I was making your bed." + +"She'll explain anything!" + +This was the resentful Evans. + +"I'll tell the truth anyhow, which is more than you do." + +Again their mistress interposed. + +"Evans, will you allow Wilson to tell her story in her own way. Wilson, +you forget yourself. On the face of it, your story is a lame one. What +do you mean by saying that the key of my wardrobe drawer slipped into +your dress? Where was it that it was capable of such a singular +proceeding?" + +"That's more than I can tell you, miss. I can only say that just now +when I was taking down a skirt which I haven't worn since I don't know +when, it felt heavy, and there in the hem on one side--it's a broad +hem, miss, and only tacked--there was a key, though how it got there I +haven't a notion." + +"Of course not!" + +This was Evans. Miss Arnott was in time to prevent a retort. + +"Evans! Well, Wilson, what did you do then?" + +"I came with it to Evans." + +The lady's-maid was not to be denied. + +"That's a falsehood, anyhow. You came with it to me! I do like that!" + +The housemaid was equal to the requirements of the occasion. + +"I did come with it to you. I came with it straight to this bedroom. +They told me you were here; it wasn't my fault if you weren't." + +"Oh dear no! And, I suppose, it wasn't your fault if, finding I wasn't +here, you unlocked the drawer!" + +"I only wanted to see if it was the lost key I had found; I meant no +harm." + +Again Miss Arnott. + +"Now, Evans, will you be silent! Well, Wilson, I don't see that, so +far, you have been guilty of anything very reprehensible. It's quite +possible that, somehow, the key may have slipped into the hem of your +skirt; such accidents have been known. When you had tried the key and +found that it was the one which had been mislaid; when you had opened +the drawer with it, what did you do then?" + +Again the lady's-maid was not to be denied. Orders or no orders, she +refused to be silent. + +"Yes, what did she do? I'll tell you what she did; don't you listen to +anything she says, miss. She took liberties with everything that was +inside that drawer, just as if the things was her own. She turned all +the things out that was in it; you can see for yourself that it's +empty! and she's got some of them now. Though I've asked her for them +she won't give them up; yet she has the face to say she didn't mean to +steal 'em!" + +This time the housemaid was silent. Miss Arnott became conscious that +not only had she been all the time holding herself very upright, but, +also, that she was keeping her hands behind her back--in short, that +her attitude more than suggested defiance. + +"Wilson, is this true?" + +The answer was wholly unlooked for. + +"My mother is Jim Baker's cousin, miss." + +"Your mother--" Miss Arnott stopped short to stare. "And what has that +to do with your having in your possession property which is not your +own?" + +Her next answer was equally unexpected. + +"And Mr Granger, he's my uncle, miss." + +"Mr Granger? What Mr Granger?" + +"The policeman down in the village, miss." + +"Apparently, Wilson, you are to be congratulated on your relations, but +I don't see what they have to do with what Evans was saying." + +"I can't help that, miss." + +"You can't help what? Your manner is very strange. What do you mean?" +The girl was silent. Miss Arnott turned to the lady's-maid. "Evans, +what does she mean?" + +"Don't ask me, miss; she don't know herself. The girl's wrong in her +head, that's what's the matter with her. She'll get herself into hot +water, if she don't look out; and that before very long. Now, then, you +give me what you've got there!" + +"Don't you lay your hands on me, Mrs Evans, or you'll be sorry." + +"Evans!--Wilson!" + +Kit had not been for Miss Arnott's presence it looked very much as if +the two would have indulged in a scrimmage then and there. The +lady's-maid showed a strong inclination to resort to physical force, +which the other evinced an equal willingness to resent. + +"Wilson, what is it which you are holding behind your back? I insist +upon your showing me at once." + +"This, miss--and this." + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII + + A CONFIDANT + + +In her right hand Wilson held a knife--the knife. Miss Arnott needed no +second glance to convince her of its identity. In her left a dainty +feminine garment--a camisole, compact of lace and filmy lawn. The +instant she disclosed them Evans moved forward, as if to snatch from +her at least the knife. But Wilson was as quick as she was--quicker. +Whipping her hands behind her back again she retreated out of reach. + +"No, you don't! hands off! you try to snatch, you do!" + +The baffled lady's-maid turned to her mistress. + +"You see, miss, what she's like! and yet she wants to make out that +she's no thief!" + +Miss Arnott was endeavouring to see through the situation in her mind, +finding herself suddenly confronted by the unforeseen. It was +impossible that the girl could mean what she seemed to mean; a raw +country wench in her teens! + +"Wilson, you seem to be behaving in a very strange manner, and to be +forgetting yourself altogether. It is not strange that Evans has her +doubts of you. Give me those things which you have in your hands at +once." + +"Begging your pardon, miss, I can't." + +"They're not yours." + +"No, miss, I know they're not." + +"Then, if you're an honest girl, as you pretend, what possible reason +can you have for refusing to give me my own property, which you have +taken out of my drawer in a manner which is at least suspicious?" + +"Because Jim Baker, he's my mother's cousin; and Mr Granger he's my +uncle." + +"What possible justification can that be for your trying to steal what +belongs to me?" + +Then it came out. + +"My uncle he says to me, 'I don't believe Jim Baker done it--I don't +believe he did anything to the chap beyond peppering him. Jim's no +liar. 'Twill be a shame if they hang him. No, my girl,' Mr Granger +says, 'it's my belief that they know more over at Exham Park than they +pretend, or, at least, someone does. You keep your eyes wide open. We +don't want to have no one hung in our family, specially for just +peppering a chap. If you come across anything suspicious, you let me +know and you let me have a look at it, if so be you can. Your mother +don't want to have Jim Baker hung, nor more don't I.' Miss Arnott, you +put them things in the drawer the time that you came home, the time +that chap was murdered, the time that you was out in the woods till all +hours. They haven't found the knife what did it yet, and this knife's +all covered with blood; so's the things. I'm going to let Mr Granger +see what I've got here, and tell him where I found them. If there's +nothing wrong about them I'll have to suffer, but show them to him I +will." + +Miss Arnott, perceiving that here was an emergency in which prompt +action was the one thing needful, glanced at Evans, who was quick to +take the hint. She advanced towards Wilson with designs which that +young woman considered sufficiently obvious. To evade her, still +holding her booty behind her to secure it from Evans, she turned her +back to Miss Arnott who was not slow to avail herself of the +opportunity to grip her wrists and tear the knife and camisole away +from her. The wench, finding herself outwitted, sprang at her mistress, +screaming,-- + +"Give them to me! give them to me! You give them back to me!" + +But Miss Arnott had already dropped them into the open wardrobe drawer, +shut the drawer and turned the key. While she kept the girl at arms' +length, to prevent her wresting from her the key, Miss Arnott issued +her instructions to the lady's-maid. + +"Evans, ring the bell, keep on ringing." + +There was a lively minute or so. Then Bevan, Mr Day's understudy, +appeared in the doorway, to stare at the proceedings open-eyed. Miss +Arnott had succeeded in retaining possession of the key, though she had +not found the excited girl easy to manage. Bevan, striding forward, +spun the housemaid round on her feet as if she were a teetotum. + +"Now, then," he demanded, "what do you think you're doing? Are you +mad?" + +"Bevan," exclaimed Miss Arnott, "Wilson has been misbehaving herself. +See that she is paid her wages and sent about her business at once." + +Wilson, who by now was more than half hysterical, shrieked defiance. + +"Mr Bevan, you make her give me that knife! you make her. I believe she +killed that chap in Cooper's Spinney. She's got the knife she killed +him with shut up in that drawer there! You make her give it me! I'm +going to show it to my uncle!" + +Bevan was unsympathetic. + +"Now, then, out you go!" was the only answer he made to her appeal. + +But Mr Granger's niece was not disposed to go in compliance with his +mere request. When he essayed persuasion of a more active kind she +began to fight him tooth and nail. Reinforcements had to be brought +upon the scene. When, finally, she was borne from the room, she was +kicking and struggling like some wild cat. A pretty tumult she managed +to create as they conveyed her down the stairs. + +Miss Arnott and her maid, left alone together, surveyed each other with +startled looks. The plumage of both had been something more than +ruffled; a tress of hair which was hanging down Miss Arnott's back was +proof of the housemaid's earnestness. Evans was the first to speak. + +"I wish you'd let me do as I said, miss--break that drawer open, and +let me wash those things." + +"But who would have thought she was such a creature! Is she mad?" + +"Oh, she's sane enough after her own fashion; though, if she's one of +that Baker and Granger set, she's mad enough for anything. I can't +abide that village lot, and they know it. I wish you'd let me do as I +said!" + +"I wish I had. As for my clothes, you can wash them now--if you don't +mind, that is." + +"I'll wash them fast enough. I've done some washing in my time. Though, +after those stains have been in them all this time, they'll want some +soaking. What are you going to do about that knife, miss? If I had +known it was there I'd have broken open that drawer first and asked +your permission afterwards." + +"I'll see to that." + +"You'll see to it! But, miss, you'll never get these stains out, never! +not now! They're eaten into the steel! Nothing will get them out except +re-burnishing. If that Wilson gets down to that fool of a Granger it's +quite likely that we'll have him here with a search warrant, and then +Heaven help us! No, miss, you'll give me that knife, if you please. +I'll make it safe enough." + +Miss Arnott was struck by the singularity of the woman's manner; she +yielded to a sudden impulse. + +"Evans, I fancy you are under a misapprehension. If so, let me remove +it from your mind, if it can be removed. I believe you think that I am +responsible for what happened to that man in Cooper's Spinney. I'm not. +I had no hand in it whatever." + +"You didn't kill him?" + +"Emphatically, no. I had nothing to do with killing him; nothing." + +"Miss, are you sure?" + +"I am quite sure; quite." + +"I believe you, miss, I believe you. But--I don't understand--the +stains upon your things; the knife? If you didn't kill him yourself you +know who did." + +"I thought I did; that is why the knife is in my possession. Bringing +it home--inside my bodice--caused the stains." + +"Whose knife is it? Did it belong to the--man who was killed?" + +"No; it did not. I would rather not tell you to whom it did belong--at +least, not now." + +"You know?" + +"Oh, yes, I know. Evans, I believe you're disposed to be my friend, and +I'm in need of a friend." + +"You are, miss, in more need than you have perhaps a notion of. I don't +want to use any big words, but there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, +and be glad to do it, as, maybe, before all's done, I'll prove. But I +wish you'd trust me, miss--trust me all the way. I wish you'd tell me +whose knife that is and how you came to have it." + +"I'd rather not, and for this reason. I was convinced that the owner of +that knife was the murderer. That is why, when I found it, I brought it +home with me. + +"To screen him?" + +"You must not ask me that. Quite lately I have begun to think that I +was wrong, that the owner of that knife is as innocent as I am. It's a +tangle. I was quite close when it happened; I heard it all happening; +yet now I am conscious that I have no more real knowledge of who did it +than you have. You mustn't ask me any questions; I may tell you more +some other time--I may have to--not now! not now! I want to think! But, +Evans, there is one thing I wish to say to you--do you believe that I'm +a somnambulist?" + +"A somnambulist? A sleep-walker do you mean? Whatever has put that idea +into your head?" + +"Have you heard the tales they're telling--about my having been seen in +the woods at night in my nightdress?" + +"I've heard some stuff; it's all a pack of nonsense! What next?" + +"Do you know Briggs the postman? What sort of man is he?" + +"He's got his head screwed on right enough for a countryman." + +"Well, Mrs Forrester called this afternoon for the express purpose of +informing me that Briggs the postman saw me in the woods at two o'clock +this morning in my nightdress." + +"But, miss, it's impossible! Did you ever walk in your sleep?" + +"Never to my knowledge. Have you ever had occasion to suspect me of +anything of the kind?" + +"That I certainly have not." + +"This time it seems peculiarly incredible, because it was pouring cats +and dogs. If I had done anything of the sort there must have been +traces on my nightdress, or on something. This is a question I mean to +have settled one way or the other. I'm going to have a bed put up in +this room, and I'm going to ask you to sleep in it, if you conveniently +can, with one eye open. You'll soon find out what my habits are when +fast asleep. Between ourselves I believe that this is going to be an +opportunity for me to play that favourite character in fiction--the +detective--on lines of my own." + +"I'll sleep here, miss, and be pleased to do it. But as for your +walking in your sleep, I should have found it out long ago if you'd +been given that way. I don't believe a word of it; that's all +nonsense." + +Miss Arnott seemed to reflect before she spoke again. + +"I'm not so sure of that--that it's all nonsense, Evans. I'm going to +tell you something; at present it's a secret, but I think I can trust +you to keep it. You're not the only person who has suspected me of +having killed that man." + +"Lor' bless you, miss, as if I didn't know that! That's no secret! I +don't believe you've any idea yourself of what a dangerous place it is +in which you're standing." + +"I'll be ready for the danger--when it comes. I'll not be afraid. What +I meant was that I have been actually supposed to have been seen +killing that man. Someone was seen to kill him, and that someone was a +woman." + +"You're quite sure, miss, that it wasn't you? You're quite sure?" + +"Quite, Evans; don't you be afraid." + +"Then if that's so, miss, I don't mind. If you're innocent I don't care +what they do; let them do their worst." + +"That's what I feel--exactly. But I wish you'd let me make my meaning +clear to you! If a woman did do it, then--though I confess I don't +understand how--we must all of us be on the wrong scent, and the woman +who has been seen wandering through the woods at dead of night--and +that such an one has been seen I have good reasons for knowing--is the +one we want. So what we have to do is to identify that somnambulist." + +"But how are we going to do it?" + +"That, as yet, I own is more than I can tell you. The first step is to +make sure it isn't me." + +"Don't you fret about that, miss; I'm sure it isn't. I'll take these +things away and get 'em in soak at once." She gathered up the various +garments which her mistress had worn on that fateful night. "I wish +you'd let me take that knife; I'd feel safer if you would." + +"Thank you, Evans; but at present I'd rather you left the knife with +me." + +As Evans left the room Mrs Plummer came in, in the state of fluster +which, of late, was her chronic condition. + +"My dear," she began, "what is this I hear about Wilson? What is this +shocking story?" + +"Wilson has misbehaved herself and is therefore no longer in my +service. I imagine, Mrs Plummer, that that is what you hear. I am sorry +you should find it so shocking. It is not such a very unusual thing for +a servant to forget herself, is it?" + +"I don't know, my dear, when it comes to fighting Bevan and positively +assaulting you. But everything seems to be at sixes and sevens; nothing +seems to go right, either indoors or out. It makes me most unhappy. And +now there's an extraordinary person downstairs who insists on seeing +you." + +"An extraordinary person? What do you call an extraordinary person? Do +you know, Mrs Plummer, that a good deal of your language lately has +seemed to me to have had a flavour of exaggeration." + +"Exaggeration? You call it exaggeration? I should have thought it would +have been impossible to exaggerate some of the things which have +happened in this neighbourhood in the last few weeks. But there's no +accounting for people. I can only tell you that I should call the +person who is below an extraordinary person. Here is her card; she +herself thrust it into my hand." + +"Mrs Darcy Sutherland? I don't know anyone of that name." + +"She knows you, or she pretends she does. I met her on the steps as I +was coming in. When I told her you were out--because I thought you had +gone on your motor, you said you were going--she replied that she would +wait till you came back, if she had to wait a week. That I call an +extraordinary remark to make." + +"It is rather an unusual one. I will go down and see Mrs Darcy +Sutherland." + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII + + MRS DARCY SUTHERLAND + + +As Miss Arnott went to her visitor she had premonitions that more +disagreeables were at hand. No one whom she was desirous of seeing +would have uttered such a speech as that which Mrs Plummer had +repeated. Her premonitions were realised to the full. As she entered +the sitting-room, into which the caller had been shown, a big, blowsy, +over-dressed woman rose from a chair, whom the girl instantly +acknowledged that Mrs Plummer had been perfectly justified in calling +an extraordinary person. She was painted, and powdered, and pencilled, +and generally got up in a style which made it only too plain what kind +of character she was. With a sinking heart Miss Arnott recognised Sarah +Stevens, her quondam associate as a model in that costume department of +that Regent Street draper's where, once upon a time--it seemed +centuries ago--she had earned her daily bread, the woman who had +introduced her to Robert Champion, who had urged her to marry him, to +whom she owed all the trouble which had come upon her, and whose real +character she had learned too late. + +She had not expected, as she had asked herself what awaited her now, +that it was anything so bad as this. + +"You!" she stammered. + +"Yes, my dear, me! A nice little surprise for you, isn't it?" The woman +advanced towards her with the apparent intention of greeting her with a +kiss. Miss Arnott showed by her manner, as much as by the way in which +she drew back, that she did not intend to submit to anything of that +sort. The visitor was not at all abashed. She continued to smile the +hard, mechanical smile of the woman of her class. "You didn't expect to +see me, I'll be bound. Perhaps you'd forgotten me, and you thought, +perhaps, that I'd forgotten you, but you see I haven't. I've got a very +good memory, I have. Well, my love, and how are you? You're not looking +so well as I expected; quite peaked, you seem, nothing like so well +filled out as you used to be." + +"What do you mean by coming here? And by calling yourself Mrs Darcy +Sutherland?" + +"My dear Vi!" + +"Have the goodness not to address me by my Christian name." + +"It used to be Vi and Sally in the days gone by. But I suppose +circumstances are changed, that sometimes makes a difference. I don't +mind, it's all the same to me. I'll call you whatever you choose--Miss +Arnott if you like. I'm surprised to find that they all do seem to call +you that round here." + +"You haven't answered my questions. Why have you come here? And why do +you call yourself Mrs Sutherland?" + +"As to why I've come here, I'll tell you in half a minute, though +there's some who wouldn't ask such a thing of an old friend. Let me get +my breath, my love; that rotten old fly shook me all to pieces. As to +why I call myself Mrs Sutherland--that does seem an unpleasant remark +to make to a lady, let alone an old friend. But I'm not one that's +quick to take offence. I call myself Mrs Sutherland because I am Mrs +Sutherland. I've married since I saw you last." + +"You've married?" + +"Yes, why shouldn't I? And, unlike you, I'm not ashamed of my married +name, or of my husband's. By the way, my love, you must remember my +husband." + +"Remember him?" + +"Of course you must. He remembers you quite well. He was a friend of +your husband's." + +"A friend of my husband?" + +"Rather. They were pals--thick as thieves. Darcy knew Robert Champion +long before you did." + +"Darcy?" + +"That's my husband's Christian name. You can call him by it if you +like, though you don't want me to call you by yours. But then I'm more +open-minded, perhaps, than you are, and open-hearted too." + +"Be so good as to tell me why you have come here." + +The woman took a handkerchief from the bag made of steel beads which +was suspended from her waist; opening it out she twiddled it between +the white-gloved fingers of either hand. Miss Arnott immediately became +conscious of the odour of some strong perfume. + +"Can't you guess?" + +"I cannot." + +"Sure?" + +"I am quite sure that I am unable to think of any plausible excuse for +your presence in my house. You never were a friend of mine. Nor are you +a person whose acquaintance I desire to renew. You are perfectly well +aware that I know what kind of character you are. You did me all the +harm you could. It was only by the mercy of God that you did not do me +more. I do not intend to allow my house to be sullied by your presence +one moment longer than I can help." + +The girl crossed the room. + +"What are you going to do?" + +"I am going to ring to have you shown to the door." + +"You had better hear first what I've come for, unless you want me to +tell you in front of your servants." + +"As to that, I am indifferent. If you have anything to say to me say it +at once." + +"Oh, I'll tell you fast enough, don't you worry. It won't take me long +to say it. I can say it in just one sentence. Mrs Champion, I've come +to see your husband." + +The girl started, perceiving that trouble was threatening from still +another quarter. She was conscious that her visitor noticed her start, +but in spite of it she could not prevent her pulses throbbing +unpleasantly. + +"My husband? What do you mean?" + +"Oh, you know what I mean well enough, don't try acting the stupid with +me. You're not so dull as all that, nor yet so simple; and I'm not if +you are. Mrs Champion, I've come to see your husband, Mr Robert +Champion, my old friend Bob." + +"He's not here, you know he's not here." + +"How do I know he's not here? I know he came here." + +"How do you know he came here?" + +"Because me and my husband met him outside the gate of Wandsworth +Prison the Saturday morning he came out of it from doing his sentence. +His wife ought to have been there--that's you! but you wasn't! I +suppose you were on your couch of rose-leaves and didn't want to be +disturbed. Nice idea of a wife's duties you seem to have, and a pretty +sort you are to want to look down on me. Poor fellow! he was in sad +trouble, without a penny in his pocket, or a chance of getting one, and +him with the richest woman in England for his wife. When we told him of +the luck you'd had--" + +"So it was you who told him, was it?" + +"Yes, it was, and I daresay you'd have rather we hadn't; you'd have +rather he'd starved and got into trouble again, and rotted out his life +in gaol. But Darcy and me were his true friends, if his own wife +wasn't. We weren't going to see him hungry in the gutter while you were +gorging yourself on the fat of the land. We gave him a good meal, he +wanted it, poor chap; nothing but skin and bone he was. We told him all +about you, and where you lived, put him inside a new suit of clothes, +clothed him in new things from head to foot, we did, so that you +shouldn't think he disgraced you by his appearance, and gave him the +money to come down here; and he came." + +"Well?" + +For Mrs Darcy Sutherland had paused. + +"Well? You think it's well, do you? Then all I can say is, I don't. Mrs +Champion, I've come to see your husband." + +"He's not here." + +"He's not here? Then where is he?" + +"It is sufficient for you to be informed that he's not here." + +"Oh, no, it isn't; and don't you think it, my love. It's not sufficient +by a long way. He promised to let us hear from him directly he got down +here; we've heard nothing from that day to this, and that's some time +ago, you know." + +"If that is all you have to say I'll ring the bell." + +"But it's not all I've got to say. Still, you can ring the bell if you +like, it's not my bell. Though, if you take my advice, you'll hear me +out before you do." + +"Go on." + +"Oh, I'll go on, as I told you before, don't you worry, and don't you +try to bully me, because I'm not to be bullied, threatening me with +your bells! Mrs Champion," the woman repeated the name with a curious +gusto, enjoying the discomfort the sound of it occasioned the girl in +front of her, "Mr Sutherland and me, we're not rich. Your husband +promised to give us back that money we let him have, and since it seems +that I can't see him I should like to see the colour of the money." + +"That's what you want, is it? I begin to understand. How much was it?" + +"Well, we'll say a thousand pounds." + +"A thousand pounds!" + +"A thousand pounds." + +"Do you dare to pretend that you gave him a thousand pounds?" + +"I don't pretend anything of the kind. I pretend nothing. What I say is +this. If I can see Mr Robert Champion and enjoy the pleasure of a +little chat with him I shall be content to receive back the cash we +lent him. If I can't do that I want a thousand pounds. Don't you +understand, my love?" + +Miss Arnott did understand at last. She realised that the purport of +this woman's errand was blackmail. When comprehension burst upon her +she was silent; she was trying to collect her thoughts, to think--a +process which the increasing pressure of "the slings and arrows of +outrageous fortune" made difficult. Mrs Darcy Sutherland observed her +obvious discomposure with smiling amusement, as the proverbial child +might observe the movements of the fly which it has impaled with a pin. + +Miss Arnott was saying to herself, or rather, endeavouring to say to +herself--for her distress of mind was blurring her capacity for exact +expression--that a thousand pounds was but a trifling sum to her, and +that if by the expenditure of such an amount she could free herself +from this new peril it would be money well spent. She did not stop to +reflect, although, all the while, the idea was vaguely present in her +mind that, by yielding to this woman's demand, she would be delivering +herself to her body and soul. Her one feeling was the desire to get +this woman out of the house without a scene--another scene such as she +had had with Wilson, probably a much worse one than that. If she could +only be relieved of the odious oppression born of her near +neighbourhood, breathe purer air uncontaminated by this creature's +presence, if she could only do this for a time it would be something. +She would have a chance to look round her, to gather together her +forces, her scattered senses. If she could only do that she might be +more than a match for Mrs Darcy Sutherland yet. But she must have that +chance, she must not have exposure--in its worst form--thrust upon her +now, in her present state--she was becoming more and more conscious of +shaky nerves--that might be more than she was able to bear. The chance +was well worth a thousand pounds, which to her was nothing. + +She was all at once seized with an overwhelming longing to take instant +advantage of the chance the woman offered her. She resolved to give her +what she asked. + +"If I let you have what you want will you promise to go away +immediately--right away?" + +"I'll walk out of this house without speaking a word to a creature in +it, or to anyone out of it for the matter of that, and I'll take the +next train back to town, if that's what you mean." + +"That's what I do mean. If I give you a cheque for a thousand pounds +will that do?" + +"If you leave it open, and make it payable to bearer, I don't know that +I'd mind taking it. I suppose there's money enough at the bank to meet +it; and that you won't try to stop its being paid." + +"There's plenty of money to meet it, and I certainly shall not try to +stop its being paid." + +"Then I'll tell you what; you give me all the ready money you have got +in the house, and an open cheque to bearer for the balance--that'll be +more satisfactory for both parties--then I'll take myself off as fast +as you like." + +"Very well. I'll go and see what money I've got and I'll bring you a +cheque for the rest." + +Miss Arnott moved towards the door, intending to perpetrate what was +perhaps the worst folly of which she had been guilty yet. Just as she +reached the door it opened. Mr Stacey entered, followed by a dark, +dapper gentleman--Ernest Gilbert. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX + + SOME PASSAGES OF ARMS + + +Mr Stacey held out both hands to her in the effusive fashion which, +when he chose, he could manage very well. + +"My dear Miss Arnott, I think I'm unexpected." He was; so unexpected +that, in the first flush of her surprise, the girl was oblivious of his +outstretched hands. He went on, ignoring her confusion. "But I trust I +am not unwelcome because I happen to come unheralded." Looking about +him he noticed Mrs Sutherland. "But you are not alone. I hope that our +unannounced entrance has not been an intrusion. May I ask you to make +me known to your"--something caused him not to use the word which was +already on the tip of his tongue--"to this lady." + +"This is Mrs Darcy Sutherland." + +"Mrs Darcy Sutherland?" In spite of his mellifluous tones there was +something in the way in which he repeated the name which hardly +suggested a compliment. "And what might Mrs Darcy Sutherland want with +you?" + +Mrs Sutherland took it upon herself to answer. + +"Well, I never! the impudence of that! Who are you, pray? and what +business is it of yours?" + +The lawyer was blandness itself. + +"I beg your pardon. Were you speaking to me?" + +"Yes, I was speaking to you, and you know I was." She turned to Miss +Arnott. "I think, my dear, it would be better if you were to ask these +two gentlemen to leave us alone together till you and I have finished +our little business." + +"Business?" At the sound of the word Mr Stacey pricked up his ears. He +addressed Miss Arnott. "As in all matters of business I have the honour +to represent you, don't you think that, perhaps, you had better leave +me to deal with this--lady in a matter of business?" + +The lady referred to resented the suggestion hotly. + +"What next, I wonder? You'll do nothing of the kind, my dear, not if I +know it you won't. And as I'm in rather a hurry, perhaps you'll go and +do what you said you would." + +Mr Stacey put to Miss Arnott a question. + +"What was it you said that you would do for this lady?" + +Again the lady showed signs of heat. + +"I never saw the equal of you for meddling. Don't you go poking your +nose into other people's affairs, or you'll be sorry. If you take my +advice, my dear, you won't tell him a single thing. I sha'n't, if you +won't, you may trust me for that. You'll keep your own business to +yourself, especially when it's business of such a very particular +kind--interfering old party!" + +"If you take my advice, Miss Arnott, and I think you have reason to +know that in general my advice is to be trusted, you will tell me in +the fewest, and also in the plainest, possible words what this person +wants with you. It is evidently something of which she is ashamed, or +she would not be so anxious for concealment." + +"Don't you call me a person, because I won't have it; and don't you +interfere in what's my business, because I won't have that either." The +indignant Mrs Darcy Sutherland rose to her feet. "Now, look here, and +don't let there be any mistake about it, I'm not going to have this +impudent old man humbugging about with me, so don't let anyone think +it. So you'll please to understand, Miss Arnott, that if you're going +to get what you promised to get, you'd better be quick about it, +because I've had about as much as I care to put up with. I'm not going +to let any man trample on me, I don't care who he is, especially when I +don't know him from Adam." + +"Surely there can be no objection to my putting a simple question. What +is it you promised to get for this--lady about which she betrays so +much anxiety?" + +Miss Arnott replied. + +"If you don't mind, I'd rather not have any bother. I've had some +trouble already." + +"I know you have; it is because of that that we are here. Believe me, +my dear young lady, you will be quite safe if you trust yourself in my +hands." + +"I don't want to have any more trouble, so, as it wasn't a sum which +was of much consequence to me, I was just going to get some money which +Mrs Sutherland wanted when you came in." + +"Money?" + +"Yes, money!--money she owes me!--so now you know!" + +"Do you owe this--lady money?" + +"Well, it isn't exactly that I owe it, but money is owing to her, I +believe." + +"How much?" + +"A thousand pounds." + +"A thousand pounds! Is it possible that you were thinking of giving +this woman a thousand pounds?" + +At this point Mrs Darcy Sutherland thought proper to give her passion +reins, with results which were hardly becoming. + +"Look here, don't you call me a woman, you white-headed old rooster, as +if I wasn't a lady! I'm as much a lady as she is, and a good deal more. +The next time you give me any more of your sauce, I'll smack your face; +I've done it to better men than you before to-day, so don't you say +that I didn't warn you!" She turned to Miss Arnott. "As for you--how +much longer are you going to be tommy-rotting about? Are you going to +give me that thousand pounds, or aren't you? You know what the +consequences will be if you don't! Don't you think, in spite of his +smooth tongue, that he can save you from them, because he can't, as you +shall very soon see. Now, am I going to have that money or not?" + +Mr Gilbert, asserting himself for the first time, interfered. + +"Stacey, I should like to say a few words to Mrs Darcy Sutherland. Mrs +Darcy Sutherland, I believe my name is not unknown to you--Ernest +Gilbert." + +"Ernest Gilbert?" The woman changed countenance. "Not the Ernest +Gilbert?" + +"Yes, the Ernest Gilbert. And I see you are the Mrs Darcy Sutherland; +thank you very much. I have been favoured with instructions to proceed +against a gang of long firm swindlers, the ringleader of whom is a man +who calls himself Darcy Sutherland. There's a warrant out for his +arrest, but for the moment he's slipped through our fingers. There has +been some talk as to whether your name should be included in that +warrant; at present, it isn't. When you leave here I'll have you +followed. The probability is that you'll make for the man you call your +husband. If you do so, we'll have him; if you don't, we'll have +you--see?" + +On hearing this the woman flung all remnants of decency from her. + +"That's the time of day, is it? You think you've got me, do you? Fancy +you've only got to snap your fingers and I'm done for? That's where +you're wrong, as I'll soon show you. If I'm in a bit of a hole, what +about her? Who do you think she is? What do you think she's been doing? +I'll tell you if you don't know, and then we shall know where we +are!--and she'll know too!--by----! she will!" + +Mr Ernest Gilbert glanced round towards Mr Stacey. + +"Take Miss Arnott out of the room." + +Inside thirty seconds Mr Stacey had whisked the girl out of the room +and vanished with her. Mrs Darcy Sutherland, realising the trick which +was being played, rushed to the door. But Mr Gilbert was there first; +with the key turned, he stood with his back to the door and faced her. + +"You get away from in front of that door! What do you mean by turning +that key? You open that door and let me out this instant!" + +The lawyer's reply did not breathe the spirit of conciliation. + +"I'll see you hung first." + +"Don't you speak to me like that! Who do you think you're talking to?" + +"To you. Now, you foul-mouthed judy, I'm going to take off the gloves +to deal with you. I've not had the dregs of the criminal population +pass through my hands all these years without knowing how to deal with +a woman of your type, as I'm going to show you. What were you going to +say to Miss Arnott?--out with it!" + +"Never mind what I was going to say to Miss Arnott; I'm going to say +nothing to you; don't you think it! Who do you think you're trying to +bounce?" + +"You're going to say exactly what you would have said if that young +lady had remained in the room, or when you do go it will be in the +charge of a policeman." + +"Oh, shall I? We'll see! Don't you make any mistake!" + +"Don't you." + +"You must think I'm a simple-minded innocent, to come trying to play +your confidence tricks off on me. What do you want me to think I'll be +in the charge of a policemen for, I'd like to know?" + +"Blackmail." + +"Blackmail! What do you mean?" + +"You know perfectly well what I mean. You have just been trying to +blackmail that girl to the tune of a thousand pounds. No offence more +severely punished. I'll have you jugged on one charge, and the +blackguard you call your husband on another." + +"I wasn't trying to do anything of the sort; don't fancy you can bluff +me! I was only telling the truth." + +"Makes it worse. Suppose you believed her to have committed murder, and +said you'd out with what you knew if she didn't give you a thousand +pounds--that would be blackmail in its most heinous form; you'd get a +lifer as sure as you're alive. My time's valuable. Which is it going to +be--the policeman or what you call the truth?" + +"If I do tell you what use will you make of it?" + +"No questions answered. Which is it going to be?" + +"If I tell you, will you let me go right straight off? No shadowing or +anything of that kind?" + +"The only promise I'll make is that I won't let you go if you don't. +Out with it!" + +"You're very hard on a girl! I don't know what I've done to you!" + +"No snivelling; put away that evil-smelling rag; I'm going to have that +policeman." + +He was standing by the bell. + +"Don't! I'll tell you!" + +"Then tell!" + +"I don't know what it is you want me to tell you--I really don't!" + +"I want you to tell me what's the pull you've got, or think you've got, +over Miss Arnott." + +"It's about that chap who was killed in the woods here." + +"What about him?" + +"He was her husband." + +"How do you know?" + +"I ought to. He was an old friend of mine, and I was her bridesmaid +when she married him." + +"Why did she keep him dark?" + +"Well, he got into a bit of trouble." + +"Go on! out with it all! and don't you stammer!" + +"I'm not stammering, and I'm going on as fast as ever I can! I never +saw anyone like you. He got into prison, that's what he did, and of +course she wasn't proud of it. He only came out the morning of the day +he came down here; my husband and me lent him the money to come with, +and we want our money back again--we can't afford to lose it." + +"I see. His object in coming was blackmail--like yours. Is that all the +pull?" + +"All! I should think it's enough, considering. But, as it happens, it +isn't all." + +"What else is there?" + +"Why, she killed him." + +"How do you know?" + +"It stands to reason. Why didn't she let out he was her husband and +that she knew all about him? Isn't it plain enough why? Because they +met in the woods, and had a bit of a quarrel, and she knifed him, +that's why. And she'll swing for it in spite of all her money. And it's +because she knows it that she was so willing to give me that thousand +pounds. What do you think?" + +"You evil-speaking, black-hearted cat! Now I'll have that policeman, +and for what you've said to me you shall have a lifer!" + +He moved towards the bell. + +"Don't! you promised you'd let me go!" + +"I promised nothing of the kind, you---! I tell you what I will do. +I'll unlock that door and let you through it. You shall have six hours' +start, and then I'll have a warrant out for you, and if I catch you I +promise I'll do my best to get you penal servitude for life. As we've a +shrewd idea of your husband's whereabouts, if you take my advice you'll +keep away from him. Now, out you go!" + +Unlocking the door he threw it open. + +"Six hours mind, honest!" + +"Six hours, by my watch. After that, if I can catch you I will, you can +bet on it. Take yourself outside this house before I change my mind. +You'd better!" + +Apparently Mrs Darcy Sutherland was of his opinion; she was out of the +house with a swiftness which did credit to her agility. Almost as soon +as she had gone Mr Stacey appeared in the doorway of the room she had +just quitted. + + + + + CHAPTER XXX + + MISS ARNOTT IS EXAMINED + + +Mr Stacey put a question to Mr Gilbert. + +"Have you got rid of her?" + +"Very much so. Stacey, I must see Miss Arnott at once, the sooner the +safer. I'm afraid she did it." + +"Do you mean that she killed that fellow in Cooper's Spinney? I don't +believe a word of it. What's that woman been saying?" + +"It's not a question of belief but of fact. I'll tell you afterwards +what she's been saying. What we want to do is to get at the truth. I +fancy we shall do it if you let me have a few minutes' conversation +with your young friend. If she didn't do it I'll do my level best to +prevent a hair of her head from being injured, and if she did I may be +able to save her. This is one of those cases in which, before I'm able +to move, I must know just where I am standing." + +"You seem to have an ethical standard of your own." + +"A man in my line of business must have. Where's Miss Arnott?" + +"I'll take you to her. She's expecting you. I told her you'd like to +have a little talk with her. But, mind this, she's anything but well, +poor girl! I believe she's been worried half out of her mind." + +"I shouldn't wonder." + +"I didn't bring you down here to subject her to a hostile +cross-examination. I won't let you do it--especially in her present +condition." + +"When you've finished perhaps you'll take me to her; you don't want her +to hang." + +"Hang! Gilbert! God forbid! Whatever she may have done she's only a +child, and I'm persuaded that at heart she's as innocent as you or me." + +"If she isn't more innocent than I am I'm sorry for her. Will you take +me to see this paragon of all the feminine virtues?" + +"You wear your cynicism like a cloak; it's not such an essential part +as you choose to imagine." + +Ernest Gilbert smiled as if he would show his teeth. + +Mr Stacey led the way to an apartment which was called the red +drawing-room, where already that afternoon Miss Arnott had interviewed +Hugh Morice and Mrs Forrester. It was a pleasant, well-lighted room, +three windows ran up one side of it almost from floor to ceiling. The +girl was standing in front of one of these as the two men entered, +looking out on to the Italian garden, which was a blaze of sunshine and +of flowers. Mr Stacey crossed to her with his somewhat exuberant, +old-fashioned courtesy. + +"Permit me, my dear young lady, to offer you a chair. I think you will +find this a comfortable one. There, how is that?" She had seated +herself, at his invitation, in a large, straight-backed armchair +covered with a fine brocade, gold on a crimson background, whose age +only enhanced its beauty. "As I was telling you just now, I have heard, +to my great distress, that several things have happened recently, +hereabouts, which could hardly tend to an increase of your comfort." + +"No, indeed." + +"Part of my information came from my very good friend here, and he will +be your very good friend also if you will let him. Let me introduce you +to Mr Ernest Gilbert." + +In acknowledgment of the introduction the girl inclined her head. Mr +Gilbert gave his a perfunctory little shake, as if he had a stiff neck. + +"I am glad to meet you, Mr Gilbert. I was sorry to learn from Mr Morice +that you have sent me back my money and refused to defend Jim Baker." + +Mr Stacey interposed before the other had a chance to answer. + +"Quite so, my dear young lady, quite so; we will come to that +presently. Mr Gilbert came to see me this morning on that very subject. +It is in consequence of certain communications which he then made to me +that we are here. You instructed him, from what I understand, to defend +this unfortunate man." + +"Which he at first consented, and then declined to do." + +This time it was Mr Gilbert who interposed, before Mr Stacey was ready +with his reply. + +"Stacey, if you don't mind, I'll speak. I think it's possible that Miss +Arnott and I may understand each other in half a dozen sentences." + +Mr Gilbert was leaning over the back of a chair, right in front of her. +The girl eyed him steadily. There was a perceptible interval, during +which neither spoke, as if each was taking the other's measure. Then +the girl smiled, naturally, easily, as if amused by some quality which +she discerned either in the lawyer's terrier-like countenance or in the +keenness of his scrutiny. It was she who was the first to speak, still +with an air of amusement. + +"I will try to understand you, and I should like you to understand me. +At present I'm afraid you don't." + +"I'm beginning to." + +"Are you? That's good news." + +"Your nerves are strong." + +"I've always flattered myself that they weren't weak." + +"You like plain speaking." + +"I do--that is, when occasion requires." + +"This is such an occasion." + +"I think it is." + +"Then you won't mind my asking you a plain question." + +"Not at all." + +"Who killed that man in Cooper's Spinney?" + +"I don't know." + +"You are sure?" + +"Quite." + +"Are you aware that Jim Baker thinks you killed him?" + +"I am." + +"And that Hugh Morice thinks so also?" + +"I know he did think so; I fancy that now he has his doubts--at least, +I hope he has." + +"How do you explain the fact of two such very different men being under +the same erroneous impression?" + +"I can't explain it; I can explain nothing. I don't know if you are +aware that until quite recently I thought it was Mr Morice himself who +killed that man." + +"What made you think that?" + +"Two or three things, but as I am now of a different opinion it doesn't +matter what they were." + +"But it does matter--it matters very much. What made you think that +Hugh Morice killed that man?" + +The girl turned to Mr Stacey. + +"Shall I answer him? It's like this. I don't know where Mr Gilbert's +questions may be landing me, and I don't want to have more trouble than +I have had already--especially on this particular point." + +"My dear young lady, if your own conscience acquits you--and I am sure +it does--my strongest advice to you is, tell all you have to tell. The +more light we have thrown on the matter the better. I grieve to learn +that the finger of scandal has been pointed at you, and that, if we are +not very careful, very serious and disagreeable consequences may +presently ensue. I implore you to hide nothing from us which may enable +us to afford you more than adequate protection from any danger which +may threaten. This may prove to be a very grave business." + +"I'm not afraid of what may happen to me, not one bit. Pray don't +either of you be under any delusion on that point. What I don't want is +to have something happen to anyone else because of me." She addressed +Mr Gilbert. "What use will you make of any information which I may give +you with regard to Mr Morice?" + +"If it will relieve your mind, Miss Arnott, and enable you to answer my +question, let me inform you that I am sure--whatever you may suppose to +the contrary--that Hugh Morice is not the guilty person." + +"Why are you sure?" + +"First, because I know him; and he's not that kind of man. And second, +because in the course of a lengthy interview I had with him I should +have perceived something to cause me to suspect his guilt, instead of +which I was struck by his conviction of yours." + +"Now I also believe he is innocent--but I had reasons for my doubts; +better ones than he had for his doubts of me." + +"May I ask what those reasons were?" + +"I was within a very short distance of where the murder was committed, +and though I was not an actual witness, I heard. A moment afterwards I +saw Mr Morice come running from--the place where it was done, as if for +his life. Then--by the dead man I found the knife with which he had +been killed. It was Mr Morice's knife; a few minutes before I had seen +him with it in his hand." + +"You found Hugh Morice's knife? What did you do with it?" + +"It is still in my possession. You see, I thought that he was guilty, +and--for reasons of my own--I did not wish to have the fact made +public." + +"This is a curious tangle into which you have managed to get things +between you. Have you any idea of what it is Mrs Darcy Sutherland has +just been telling me?" + +"I can guess. She has probably told you that the dead man was my +husband--Robert Champion." + +"Your husband! My dear young lady!" + +This was Mr Stacey. + +"Yes, my husband, who had that morning been released from gaol." Mr +Stacey would, probably, have pursued the subject further, but with a +gesture Mr Gilbert prevented him. The girl went on. "Mr Morice knew he +was my husband. I thought he had killed him to save me from him; he +thought I had done so to save myself. It is a puzzle. There is only one +thing that seems clear." + +"And that is?" + +"That it was a woman who killed my husband." + +"I see what you mean. I have been trying to splice the threads. That +person who has just been here--Mrs Darcy Sutherland--do you think it +possible that she could have been that woman?" + +"I should say that it was impossible." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI + + THE TWO POLICEMEN + + +Mr William Granger, of the County Police, was just finishing tea in his +official residence when there came a rap at the door leading into the +street. Mr Granger was not in the best of tempers. The county policeman +has not quite such a rosy time as his urban colleague is apt to +suppose. Theoretically he is never off duty; his armlet is never off +his sleeve. It is true that he has not so much to do as his city +brother in the way of placing law-breakers under lock and key; but then +he has to do a deal of walking exercise. For instance, Mr Granger had a +twelve-mile beat to go over every day of his life, hot or cold, rain or +shine, besides various local perambulations before or after his main +round was finished. Not infrequently he walked twenty miles a day, +occasionally more. + +One would have thought that so much pedestrianism would have kept Mr +Granger thin; he himself sincerely wished that it had had that effect. +As a matter of fact he was the stoutest man in the village, which was +galling. First, because he was conscious that his bulk did not tend to +an increase of personal dignity. Second, because, when the inspector +came from the neighbouring town, he was apt to make unpleasant remarks +about his getting plumper every time he saw him; hinting that it was a +very snug and easy billet for which he drew his pay; adding a hope that +it was not because he was neglecting his duty that he was putting on +weight so fast. Third, because when one is fat walking is apt to result +in considerable physical discomfort, and twenty miles on a hot summer's +day for a man under five foot ten who turns the scale at seventeen +stone! + +Mr Granger, who had come back hot and tired, had scarcely flung his +helmet into one corner of the room, and his tunic into the other, when +his inspector entered. That inspector was fond of paying surprise +visits; he surprised Mr Granger very much just then. The policeman had +a bad time. His official superior more than hinted that not only had he +cut his round unduly short on that particular day, but that he was in +the habit of curtailing it, owing to physical incapacity. Then he took +him for another little stroll, insisting on his accompanying him to the +station and seeing him off in the train which took him back to +headquarters, which entailed another walk of a good six miles--three +there and three back--along the glaring, dusty road. + +By the time Mr Granger was home again he was as bad-tempered a +policeman as you would have cared to encounter. Tea, which had been +postponed to an unholy hour, did but little to improve either his +temper or his spirits. He scarcely opened his mouth except to swallow +his food and snap at his wife; and when, just as she was clearing away +the tea-things, there came that rap at the door, there proceeded from +his lips certain expletives which were very unbecoming to a constable, +as his wife was not slow to point out. + +"William! what are you saying? I will not have you use such language in +my presence. I should like to know what Mr Giles would say if he heard +you." + +Mr Giles was the inspector with whom Mr Granger had just such an +agreeable interview; the allusion was unfortunate. + +"Mr Giles be----" + +"William!" + +"Then you shouldn't exasperate me; you only do it on purpose; as if I +hadn't enough to put up with as it is. Don't stand there trying to put +me in a bad temper, but just open that door and see who's knocking." + +Possibly Mr Granger spoke in louder tones than he supposed, because +before his helpmate could reach the door in question it was opened and +someone put his head inside. + +"All right, Mr Granger, I'm sure that good lady of yours has enough to +do without bothering about opening doors; it's only yours very truly." + +The newcomer spoke in a tone of voice which suggested complete +confidence that he would be welcome; a confidence, however, which was +by no means justified by the manner of his reception. The constable +stared at him as if he would almost sooner have seen Inspector Giles +again. + +"You! What brings you here at this time of day? I thought you were in +London." + +"Ah, that's where you thought wrong. Mrs Granger, what's that you've +got there--tea? I'm just about feeling equal to a sup of tea, if it's +only what's left at the bottom of the pot." + +The speaker was a tall, loose-limbed man with a red face, and hair just +turning grey. From his appearance he might have been a grazier, or a +farmer, or something to do with cattle; only it happened that he was Mr +Thomas Nunn, the detective from London who had been specially detailed +for duty in connection with the murder in Cooper's Spinney. As Mr +Granger had learned to associate his presence with worries of more +kinds than one, it was small wonder--especially in the frame of mind in +which he then was--that he did not receive him with open arms. Mr Nunn +seemed to notice nothing, not even the doubtful glances with which Mrs +Granger looked into her teapot. + +"There isn't a drop in here, and I don't know that it will bear more +water." + +"Put in another half-spoonful and fill it up out of the kettle; +anything'll do for me so long as there's plenty of it and it's moist, +as you'd know if you saw the inside of my throat. Talk about dust!" + +Mr Granger was eyeing him askance. + +"You never come down from London. I saw the train come in, and you +weren't in it." + +"No, I haven't come from London." + +"The last train back to London's gone--how are you going to manage?" + +"Well, if it does come to the pinch I thought that you might give me a +shake-down somewhere." + +The policeman glanced at his wife. + +"I don't know about that. I ain't been paid for the last time you were +here. They don't seem too anxious to pay your bills--your people +don't." + +"That's their red tape. You'll get your money. This time, however, I'm +going to pay for what I have down on the nail." + +"What's brought you? You know, Mr Nunn, this ain't an inn. My wife and +me don't pretend to find quarters for all the members of the force." + +"Of course you don't. But I think you'll be interested when you hear +what has brought me. I may be wrong, but I think you will. I've come +from Winchester." + +"From Winchester?" + +Husband and wife both started. + +"Yes, from Winchester. I've been to see that chap Baker. By the way, I +hear he's a relation of yours." + +"Most of the people is related hereabouts, somehow; but he's only +distant. He's only a sort of a cousin, and I've never had much truck +with him though I ain't saying he's not a relation. What's up with him +now?" + +"He made a communication to the governor, and the governor made a +communication to headquarters, and headquarters made a communication to +me. In consequence of that communication I've been paying him a call." + +"What's the last thing he's been saying?" + +"Well, he's been making a confession." + +At this point Mrs Granger--who was lingering with the +tea-tray--interposed. + +"A confession, Mr Nunn! You don't mean for to tell that after all he +owns up 'twas he who killed he man?" + +"No, I can't say exactly that I do. It's not that sort of confession +he's been making. What he's been confessing is that he knows who did +kill him." + +"Who was it, Mr Nunn?" + +"Supposing, Mrs Granger, you were to get me that sup of tea. If you +were to know what my throat felt like you wouldn't expect to get much +through it till it had had a good rinsing." + +The constable issued his marital orders. + +"Now then, Susan, hurry up with that tea for Mr Nunn. What are you +standing there gaping for? If you were to know what the dust is like +you'd move a little quicker." + +Mrs Granger proceeded to hurry. Mr Nunn seated himself comfortably at +the table and waited, showing no sign of a desire to continue the +conversation till the tea appeared. His host dropped a hint or two, +pointing out that to him, in his official capacity, the matter was of +capital importance. But Mr Nunn declined to take them. When the tea did +appear he showed more reticence than seemed altogether necessary. He +was certainly slower in coming to the point than his hearers relished. +Mr Granger did his best to prompt him. + +"Well, Mr Nunn, now that you've had three cups of tea perhaps you +wouldn't mind mentioning what Jim Baker's been saying that's brought +you here." + +Mr Nunn helped himself to a fourth. + +"I'm in rather a difficult position." + +"I daresay. It might make it easier perhaps if you were to tell me just +what it is." + +"I'm not so sure, Granger, I'm not so sure. That relative of yours is a +queer fish." + +"Maybe I know what sort of a fish he is better than you do, seeing I've +known him all my life." + +"What I've got to ask myself is--What reliance is to be placed on what +he says?" + +"Perhaps I might be able to tell you if you were to let me know what he +does say." + +"Oh, that's the point." Mr Nunn stirred what remained of his fourth cup +of tea with a meditative air. "Mr Granger, I don't want to say anything +that sounds unfriendly or that's calculated to hurt your feelings, but +I'm beginning to be afraid that you've muddled this case." + +"Me muddled it! Seeing that you've had the handling of it from the +first, if anyone's muddled it, it's you." + +"I don't see how you make that out, Mr Granger, seeing that you're on +the spot and I'm not." + +"What's the good of being on the spot if I'm not allowed to move a +finger except by your instructions?" + +"Have there been rumours, Mr Granger? and by that I mean rumours which +a man who had his professional advancement at heart might have laid his +hand on." + +"Of course there have been rumours! there's been nothing else but +rumours! But every time I mentioned one of them to you all I got was a +wigging for my pains." + +"That's because the ones you mentioned to me were only +will-o'-the-wisps. According to the information I've received the real +clues you've let slip through your fingers." + +Mr Granger stood up. He was again uncomfortably hot. His manner was +hardly deferential. + +"Excuse me, Mr Nunn, but if you've come here to lecture me while +drinking of my wife's tea, since I've had a long and a hard day's work, +perhaps you'll let me go and clean myself and have a bit of rest." + +"If there's anything in what Jim Baker says there's plenty for you to +do, Mr Granger, before you think of resting." + +"What the devil does he say?" + +"You needn't swear at me, Mr Granger, thank you all the same. I've come +here for the express purpose of telling you what he says." + +"Then you're a long time doing it." + +"Don't you speak to me like that, Granger, because I won't have it. I +conduct the cases which are placed in my hands in my own way, and I +don't want no teaching from you. Jim Baker says that although he didn't +kill the chap himself he saw him being killed, and who it was that +killed him." + +"Who does he say it was?" + +"Why, the young woman up at Exham Park--Miss Arnott." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII + + THE HOUSEMAID'S TALE + + +Mr And Mrs Granger looked at each other. Then the husband dropped down +into the chair which he had just vacated with a sound which might be +described as a snort; it was perhaps because he was a man of such +plethoric habit that the slightest occasion for surprise caused him to +emit strange noises. His wife caught at the edge of the table with both +her hands. + +"Lawk-a-mussy!" she exclaimed. "To think of Jim Baker saying that!" + +"It seems to me," observed Mr Nunn, with an air of what he perhaps +meant to be rhadamanthine severity, "that if there's anything in what +that chap says somebody ought to have had their suspicions before now. +I don't say who." + +This with a very meaning glance at Mr Granger. + +"Suspicions!" cried the lady. "Why, Mr Nunn, there ain't been nothing +but suspicions! I shouldn't think there was a soul for ten miles round +that hasn't been suspected by someone else of having done it. You +wouldn't have had my husband lock 'em all up! Do you believe Jim +Baker?" + +"That's not the question. It's evidence I want, and it's for evidence, +Mr Granger, I've come to you." + +"Evidence of what?" gasped the policeman. "I don't know if you think I +keep evidence on tap as if it was beer. All the evidence I have you've +got--and more." + +His wife persisted in her inquiry. + +"What I ask you, Mr Nunn, is--Are you going to lock up that young lady +because of what Jim Baker says?" + +"And I repeat, Mrs Granger, that that's not the question, though you +must allow me to remark, ma'am, that I don't see what is your _locus +standi_ in the matter." + +"Aren't you drinking my tea?" + +"I don't see what my drinking your tea has got to do with it anyhow. At +the same time, since it'll all soon enough be public property, I don't +know that it's of much consequence. Of course a man hasn't been at the +game all the years I have without becoming aware that nothing's more +common than for A, when he's accused of a crime, to try to lay the +blame of it on B; and that, therefore, if for that reason only, what +that chap in Winchester Gaol says smells fishy. But at the same time +the statement he has made is of such a specific nature, and should be +so open to corroboration, or the reverse, that I'm bound to admit that +if anything did turn up to give it colour I should feel it my duty to +act on it at once." + +"Do you mean that you'd have her arrested?" + +"I do--that is if, as I say, I obtain anything in the nature of +corroborative evidence, and for that I look to Mr Granger." + +There was no necessity for him to do that, fortunately for the peace of +mind and body of the active and intelligent officer referred to. +Evidence of the kind of which he spoke was coming from an altogether +different quarter. Indeed, it was already at the door. + +Hardly had he done speaking than a modest tap was heard. Opening, Mrs +Granger found a small urchin standing in the dusk without, who slipped +an envelope into her hand, with which she returned into the room, +peering at the address. + +"What's this? 'To the Policeman.' I suppose, William, that means you; +it's only some rubbish, I suppose." + +She passed the envelope to her husband, who peered at the address as +she had done. + +"Let's have the lamp, Susan, you can't see to read in this here light. +Not that I suppose it's anything worth reading, but mine ain't cat's +eyes anyhow." + +The lamp was lit and placed upon the table. Mr Granger studied what was +written on the sheet of paper which he took from the envelope. + + +"Robert Champion was the name of the man who was murdered in the wood. +The mistress of Exham Park, who calls herself Miss Arnott, was his +wife. He came out of Wandsworth Prison to see her. And he saw her. + +"Ask her why she said nothing about it. + +"Then the whole truth will come out." + + +Mr Granger read this once, twice, thrice, while his wife and Mr Nunn +were watching him. Then he scratched his head. + +"This is rummy--uncommon. Here, you take and look at it, it's beyond me +altogether." + +He handed the sheet of paper to Mr Nunn, who mastered its contents at a +glance. Then he addressed a question to Mrs Granger, shortly, sharply. + +"Who gave you this?" + +"What is it?" + +"Never mind what it is, woman! Answer my question--who gave it you?" + +"It's no use your speaking to me like that, Mr Nunn, and so I'd have +you know. I'm no servant of yours! Some child slipped it into my hand, +but what with the bad light and the flurry I was in because of what +you'd been saying, I didn't notice what child no more than nothing at +all." + +Mr Nunn seemed disturbed. + +"It'll be a serious thing for you, Mrs Granger, if you're not able to +recognise who gave you this. You say it was a child? There can't be so +many children in the place. I'll find out which of them it was if I +have to interview every one in the parish. It can't have got so far +away; perhaps it's still waiting outside." + +As he moved towards the entrance, with a view of finding out if the +bearer of that singular communication was still loitering in the +immediate neighbourhood, he became conscious that someone was +approaching from without--more than one. While he already had the +handle in his grasp it was turned with a certain degree of violence by +someone on the other side; the door was thrown open, and he found +himself confronted by what, in the gathering darkness, seemed quite a +crowd of persons. + +"Is William Granger in?" demanded a feminine voice in not the most +placable of tones. Mr Nunn replied,-- + +"Mr Granger is in. Who are you, and what do you want with him?" + +"I'm his sister, Elizabeth Wilson, that's who I am, and I should like +to know who you are to ask me such a thing. And as for what I want, I +want justice; me and my daughter, Sarah Ann, we both want justice--and +I'm going to see I get it too. My own cousin, Jim Baker, he's in prison +this moment for what he never did, and I'm going to see that he's let +out of prison double quick and the party as ought to be in prison put +there. So you stand out of the way and let me get inside this house to +see my brother." + +Mr Nunn did as he was requested, and Mrs Wilson entered, accompanied by +her daughter, Sarah Ann. He looked at the assemblage without. + +"Who are all these people?" + +"They're my friends, that's who they are. They know all about it, and +they've come to see that I have fair play, and they'll see that I have +it too, and so I'd have everyone to understand." + +By way of commentary Mr Nunn shut the door upon the "friends" and stood +with his back to it. + +"Now then, Granger, who's this woman? And what's she talking about?" + +Mrs Wilson answered for her brother. + +"Don't you call me a woman, as if I was the dirt under your feet. And +as for who I am--William, who's this man? He's taking some fine airs on +himself. As what I have to say to you I don't want to have to say +before strangers, perhaps you'll just ask him to take himself outside." + +"Now, Liz," observed her brother, fraternally, "don't you be no more +silly than you can help. This gentleman's Mr Nunn, what's in charge of +the case--you know what case. He saw Jim Baker in Winchester Gaol only +this afternoon." + +"In Winchester Gaol, did he! Then more shame to them as put him in +Winchester Gaol, and him as innocent as the babe unborn! And with them +as did ought to be there flaunting about in all them fine feathers, and +with all their airs and graces, as if they were so many peacocks!" + +"What might you happen to be talking about?" + +"I'm talking about what I know, that's what I happen to be talking +about, William Granger, and so you'll soon learn. I know who ought to +be there instead of him, and if you've a drop of cousinly blood in your +veins you'll see that he's out of that vile place, where none of my +kith or kin ever was before, and that you know, the first thing +to-morrow morning." + +"Oh, you know who did ought to be there, do you? This is news, this is. +Perhaps you'll mention that party's name. Only let me warn you, +Elizabeth Wilson, to be careful what you say, or you may find yourself +in worse trouble than you quite like." + +"I'll be careful what I say, I don't need you to tell me, William +Granger! And I'll tell you who ought to be in Winchester Gaol instead +of Jim Baker--why, that there proud, stuck-up young peacock over at +Exham Park, that there Miss Arnott!" + +"Liz! I've told you already not to be more silly than you can help. +What do you know about Miss Arnott?" + +"What do I know about Miss Arnott? I'll soon tell you what I know about +your fine Miss Arnott. Sarah Ann, tell your uncle what you know about +that there Miss Arnott." + +Then the tale was unfolded--by Wilson the housemaid--by degrees, with +many repetitions, in somewhat garbled form; still, the essential truth, +so far as she knew it, was there. + +She told how, that eventful Saturday, the young mistress had been out +in the woods, as she put it, "till goodness only knows what hours of +the night." How, the next morning, the key of the wardrobe drawer was +lost; how, after many days, she, Wilson, had found it in the hem of her +own skirt, how she had tried the lock, "just to see if it really was +the key," of what the drawer contained--the stained clothing, the +bloody knife. She narrated, with dramatic force, how first Evans and +then Miss Arnott had come upon the scene, how the knife and the +camisole had been wrested from her, how she herself had been ejected +from the house. + +When she had finished Mr Nunn looked up from the pocket-book in which +he had been making copious notes of the words as they came from her +lips. + +"What you've said, Sarah Ann Wilson, you've said of your own free +will?" + +"Of course I have. Haven't I come here on purpose?" + +"And you're prepared to repeat your statement in a court of law, and +swear to its truth?" + +"I am. I'll swear to it anywhere." + +"You don't know what has become of that knife you've mentioned?" + +"Haven't I told you that she took it from me?--she and Mrs Evans +between them." + +"Yes; just so. Well, Mr Granger, all that I want now is a warrant for +the arrest of this young lady. And, at the same time, we'll search the +house. We'll find the knife of which this young woman speaks, if it's +to be found; only we mustn't let her have any longer time than we can +help to enable her to get rid of it, which, from all appearances, is +the first thing she'll try to do. So perhaps you'll be so good as to +tell me where I shall be likely to find the nearest magistrate--now, at +once." + +"I am a magistrate. What is there I can do for you, Mr Nunn?" + +Looking round to see from whom the unexpected answer came, they saw +that Mr Hugh Morice was standing in the open doorway. Closing the door +behind him he came into the room. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII + + ON HIS OWN CONFESSION + + +Hugh Morice had been resorting to that medicine--in whose +qualifications to minister to a mind diseased he more than half +believed--a ride upon his motor car. Of late he had found nothing to +clear the cobwebs from his brain so effectually as a whiz through the +air. That afternoon, after he had left Exham Park, he had felt that his +brain stood very much in need of a clearance. So he had gone for a long +run on his car. + +He was returning through the shadows, partially cured, when he found +what, in that part of the world, might be described as a crowd, +obstructing his passage through the village street. Stopping to inquire +what was the cause of the unusual concourse, he realised that the crowd +was loitering in front of Granger's cottage--the local stronghold of +the County Police. As he did so he was conscious that a shiver passed +all over him, which he was able neither to account for nor to control. +The answers, however, which the villagers gave to his hurried +questions, threw a lurid light upon the matter, and inspired him, on +the instant, with a great resolve. Dismounting, he entered the cottage, +just as Mr Nunn was addressing his remarks to Mr Granger. As he heard +he understood that, if what he proposed to do was to be of the +slightest effect, he had arrived in the very nick of time. + +They, on their part, stared at him half bewildered, half amazed. He had +on a long motor coat which shrouded him from head to foot; a cap which +covered not only his ears but also part of his face; while his disguise +was completed by a pair of huge goggles. It was only when he removed +these latter that--in spite of the dust which enveloped him as flour +over a miller--they recognised who he was. He repeated his own words in +a slightly different form. + +"You were saying, Mr Nunn, that you were requiring the services of a +magistrate. How can I serve you in that capacity?" + +The detective stared at the gigantic figure, towering over his own by +no means insignificant inches, still in doubt as to who he was. + +"I ought to know you; but, somehow, I don't feel as if I can place you +exactly, sir." + +Mr Morice smiled. + +"Tell him, Granger, who I am." + +Mr Granger explained. + +"This is Mr Hugh Morice, of Oak Dene, Justice of the Peace for this +division of the county. You can't have forgotten him, Mr Nunn; he used +to be present at the coroner's inquest." + +"Of course; now that Granger reminds me I remember you very well, Mr +Morice. You have arrived at a fortunate moment for me, sir. I was just +about to start off in search of a magistrate, and that, in the country, +at this time of night, sometimes means a long job. I wish to lay an +information before you, sir, and ask for a warrant." + +Mr Morice glanced at the three women. + +"In presence of these persons?" + +"I don't know that Mrs Granger need stop, or Mrs Wilson either. Mrs +Granger, you'd better take Mrs Wilson with you. It is partly in +consequence of a statement which this young woman has just been making +that I ask you for a warrant. Now, Mrs Wilson, off you go." + +But Mrs Wilson showed reluctance. + +"I don't know why I'm to be sent away--especially as it's my own +daughter--" + +Hugh Morice cut her short brusquely,-- + +"Leave the room!" + +Mrs Wilson showed him something of that deference which she had +hitherto declined to show to anyone else. Mrs Granger touched her on +the shoulder. + +"I'm coming! I'm sure, Susan Granger, there's no need for you to show +me. No one can ever say I stop where I am not wanted." + +When the two elder women had disappeared, Hugh Morice turned his +attention to Wilson the housemaid. + +"Who is this young person?" + +Mr Nunn informed him. Her story was gone through again. When she had +finished Mr Morice dismissed her to join her mother and her aunt. + +"Now, Mr Nunn, what do you want from me?" + +"A warrant for the arrest of Violet Arnott, of Exham Park." + +"On what charge?" + +"Wilful murder--the murder of Robert Champion." + +"Of whom?" + +"I said Robert Champion; but as it's not yet proved that was his name +we'd better have it in the warrant--name unknown. I may say, Mr Morice, +that that girl's statement is not all I'm going on. Within the hour +I've received this anonymous communication." + +He handed the communication in question to Mr Morice, who turned it +over and over between his fingers. + +"Where did you get this from?" + +"I can't tell you just at the moment; but I daresay I shall be able to +tell you before very long. Of course it's anonymous; but, at the same +time, it's suggestive. Also a statement was made to me, of the most +positive and specific kind, by James Baker, at present a prisoner in +Winchester Gaol. Altogether I'm afraid, Mr Morice, that the case +against this young woman is looking very black." + +"Are you in the habit, Mr Nunn, of making _ex officio_ statements of +that kind on occasions such as the present? If so, let me invite you +to break yourself of it. A man of your experience ought to know +better--very much better, Mr Nunn. I regret that I am unable to do +what you require." + +Mr Nunn stared; possibly slightly abashed by the rebuke which had been +administered to him in the presence of Mr Granger. + +"But, sir, begging your pardon, you've no option in the matter." + +"Haven't I? You'll find I have--a very wide option. I shall decline to +allow a warrant to be issued for the arrest of the lady you have +named." + +"But, Mr Morice, sir, on what grounds?" + +"Very simple ones. Because I happen to know she's innocent." + +"But that's no reason!" + +"You'll find it is, since I also happen to know who's guilty." + +"You know who's guilty? Mr Morice!" + +"Precisely--Mr Morice. It is I who am guilty. Mr Nunn, I surrender +myself into your custody as having been guilty of killing a certain man +on a certain Saturday night in Cooper's Spinney. Is that in proper +form?" + +"Are you serious, sir?" + +"I mean what I say, if that's what you are asking, Mr Nunn." + +"Then what about the tale that girl was telling, and that knife she +saw?" + +"That knife is mine." + +"Yours!" + +"Exactly, and I'm afraid that knife is going to hang me." + +"How came it in Miss Arnott's possession?" + +"That's the simplest part of the whole affair. After I had used it she +found it, and has kept it ever since." + +"Do you mean that she's been screening you?" + +"Something like it. That is, I don't know that she was sure of +anything; but, I fancy, she has had her doubts. I daresay she'll tell +you all about it if you ask her. You see, Mr Nunn, I've been in rather +an awkward position. So long as it was only a question of Jim Baker it +didn't so much matter; it's quite on the cards that in the course of +his sinful career he's done plenty of things for which he deserves to +be hung. When it comes to Miss Arnott, knowing that she knows what she +does know, and especially that she has that accursed knife of mine, +that's a horse of a different colour. Since she has only to open her +mouth to make an end of me, I may as well make as graceful an exit as +possible, and own the game is up. I don't quite know what is the usual +course in a matter of this sort, Mr Nunn. My motor is outside. If it is +possible I should like to run over to my house. You may come with me, +if you please, and Mr Granger also. There are one or two trifles which +require my personal attention, and then you may do with me as you +please. In fact, if you could manage to let me have an hour or two I +should be happy to place at your disposal quite a little fortune, Mr +Nunn and Mr Granger." + +"You ought to know better than to talk to me like that, Mr Morice. +After what you've just now said it's my duty to tell you that you're my +prisoner." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIV + + MR DAY WALKS HOME + + +It chanced that night that Mr Day, the highly respected butler at Exham +Park, paid a visit to a friend. It was rather late when he returned. +The friend offered to put him into a trap and drive him home, but Mr +Day declined. + +"It's a fine night," he observed, "and a walk will do me good. I don't +get enough exercise out of doors. I like to take advantage of any that +comes my way. I'm not so young as I was--we none of us are; but a +five-mile walk won't do me any harm. On a night like this I'll enjoy it. +Thank you, Hardy, all the same." + +So he walked. + +It was just after eleven when he reached the village. Considering the +hour he was surprised to find how many people there were about. Mr +Jenkins had just turned his customers out of the "Rose and Crown." A +roaring trade he seemed to have been doing. A couple of dozen people +were gathered together in clusters in front of the inn, exchanging +final greetings before departing homewards. For the most part they were +talking together at the top of their voices, as yokels on such +occasions have a trick of doing. Mr Day stopped to speak to a man, with +whom he had some acquaintance, in the drily sarcastic fashion for which +he was locally famed. + +"What's the excitement? Parish pump got burned?" + +"Why, Mr Day, haven't you heard the news?" + +"That Saturday comes before Sunday? Haven't heard anything newer." + +"Why, Mr Day, don't you know that Sarah Ann Wilson, from up at your +place, has been over to Granger's, trying to get him to give her a +warrant for your young lady?" + +"There's several kinds of fools about, but Sarah Ann Wilson's all kinds +of them together." + +"So it seems that Granger thinks. Anyhow he ain't given it her. He's +locked up Mr Morice instead." + +"What's that?" + +Another man chimed in. + +"Why, Mr Day, where are you been not to have heard that they've locked +up Mr Morice for murdering o' that there chap in Cooper's Spinney." + +"What nonsense are you men talking about?" + +"It ain't nonsense, Mr Day; no, that it ain't. You go over to Granger's +and you'll soon hear." + +"Who locked him up?" + +"Granger and Mr Nunn, that's the detective over from London. They +locked him up between them. It seems he gave himself up." + +"Gave himself up?" + +"So Mrs Wilson and her daughter says. They was in the kitchen, at the +other side of the door, and they heard him giving of himself up. Seems +as how they're going to take him over to Doverham in the morning and +bring him before the magistrates. My word! won't all the countryside be +there to see! To think of its having been Mr Morice after all. Me, I +never shouldn't have believed it, if he hadn't let it out himself." + +Mr Day waited to hear no more. Making his way through the little crowd +he strode on alone. That moon-lit walk was spoilt for him. As he went +some curious reflections were taking shape in his mind. + +"That finishes it. Now something will have to be done. I wish I'd done +as I said I would, and taken myself off long ago. And yet I don't know +that I should have been any more comfortable if I had. Wherever I might +have gone I should have been on tenterhooks. If I'd been on the other +side of the world and heard of this about Mr Morice, I should have had +to come back and make a clean breast of it. Yet it's hard on me at my +time of life!" He sighed, striking at the ground with the ferule of his +stick. "All my days I've made it my special care to have nothing to do +with the police-courts. I've seen too much trouble come of it to +everyone concerned, and never any good, and now to be dragged into a +thing like this. And all through her! If, after all, I've got to speak, +I don't know that I wouldn't rather have spoken at first. It would have +been better perhaps; it would have saved a lot of bother, not to speak +of all the worry I've had. I feel sure it's aged me. I could see by the +way Mrs Hardy looked at me to-night that she thought I was looking +older. Goodness knows that I'm getting old fast enough in the ordinary +course of nature." Again sighing, he struck at the ground with his +stick. "It would have served her right if I had spoken--anything would +have served her right. She's a nice sort, she is. And yet I don't know, +poor devil! She's not happy, that's sure and certain. I never saw +anyone so changed. What beats me is that no one seems to have noticed, +except me. I don't like to look her way: it's written so plain all over +her. It just shows how people can have eyes in their heads, and yet not +use them. From the remarks I've heard exchanged, I don't believe a +creature has noticed anything, yet I daresay if you were to ask them +they'd tell you they always notice everything. Blind worms!" + +Perhaps for the purpose of relieving his feelings Mr Day stood still in +the centre of the road, tucked his stick under his arm, took out his +pipe, loaded it with tobacco and proceeded to smoke. Having got his +pipe into going order he continued his way and his reflections. + +"I knew it was her from the first; never doubted for a moment. Directly +I saw her come into the house that night in the way she did, I knew +that she'd been up to something queer, and it wasn't very long before I +knew what it was. And I don't know that I was surprised when I heard +how bad it really was. All I wanted was to get out of the way before I +was dragged into the trouble that I saw was coming. If I hadn't known +from the first I should have found out afterwards. She's given herself +away a hundred times--ah, and more. If I'd been a detective put upon +the job I should have had her over and over again, unless I'd been as +stupid as some of those detectives do seem to be. Look at that Nunn +now! There's a precious fool! Locking up Mr Morice! I wonder he doesn't +lock himself up! Bah!" + +This time Mr Day took his pipe out of his mouth with one hand, while he +struck at the vacant air with the stick in the other. Perhaps in +imagination he was striking at Mr Nunn. + +"Poor devil! it must have been something pretty strong which made her +do a thing like that. I wonder who that chap was, and what he'd done to +her. Not that I want to know--the less I know the better. I know too +much as it is. I know that she's haunted, that never since has she had +a moment's peace of mind, either by day or night. I've the best of +reasons for knowing that she starts pretty nearly out of her skin at +every shadow. I shouldn't be surprised to hear at any moment that she's +committed suicide. I lay a thousand pounds to a penny that if I was to +touch her on the shoulder with the tip of my finger, and say, 'You +killed that man in the Cooper's Spinney, and he's looking over your +shoulder now,' she'd tumble straight off into a heap on the floor and +scream for mercy--What's that?" + +He had reached a very lonely part of the road. The Exham Park woods +were on either side of him. A long line of giant beeches bordered the +road both on the right and left. Beyond again, on both sides, were +acres of pines. A charming spot on a summer's day; but, to some minds, +just then a little too much in shadow to be altogether pleasant. The +high beeches on his left obscured the moon. Here and there it found a +passage between their leaves; but for the most part the road was all in +darkness. Mr Day was well on in years, but his hearing was as keen as +ever, and his nerves as well under control. The ordinary wayfarer would +have heard nothing, or, not relishing his surroundings, would have +preferred to hear nothing, till he had reached a point where the moon's +illumination was again plainly visible. It is odd how many persons, +born and bred in the heart of the country, object strenuously to be out +among the scenes they know so well, alone in the darkness at night. + +But the Exham Park butler was not a person of that kidney. When he +heard twigs snapping and the swishing of brushwood, as of someone +passing quickly through it, he was immediately desirous of learning +what might be the cause of such unwonted midnight sounds. Slipping his +pipe into his pocket he moved both rapidly and quietly towards the side +of the road from which the sounds proceeded. Just there the long line +of hedge was momentarily interrupted by a stile. Leaning over it he +peered as best he could into the glancing lights and shadows among the +pines. The sounds continued. + +"Who is it? Hullo! Good lord! it's her!" + +As he spoke to himself a figure suddenly appeared in a shaft of +moonlight which had found its way along an alley of pines--the figure +of a woman. She was clad in white--in some long, flowing garment which +trailed behind her as she went, and which must have seriously impeded +her progress, especially in view of the fact that she seemed to be +pressing forward at the top of her speed. The keen-eyed observer +watched her as she went. + +"What's she got on? It's a tea-gown or a dressing-gown or something of +that. It's strange to me. I've never seen her in it before. So, after +all, there is something in the tales those gowks have been telling, and +she does walk the woods of nights. But she can't be asleep; she +couldn't go at that rate, through country of this sort, if she were, +and with all that drapery trailing out behind her. But asleep or not +I'll tackle her and have it out with her once and for all." + +Mr Day climbed over the stile with an agility which did credit to his +years. As he reached the other side the woman in the distance either +became conscious of his presence and his malevolent designs or fortune +favoured her; because, coming to a part of the forest from which the +moon was barred, she suddenly vanished from his vision like a figure in +a shadow pantomime. When he gained the spot at which she had last been +visible, there was still nothing of her to be seen, but he fancied that +he caught a sound which suggested that, not very far away, someone was +pressing forward among the trees. + +"She did that very neatly. Don't talk to me about her being asleep. She +both heard and saw me coming, so she's given me the slip. But she's not +done it so completely as she perhaps thinks. I'll have her yet. I'll +show her that I'm pretty nearly as good at trapesing through the woods +at night as she is. I don't want to be hard on a woman, and I wouldn't +be if it could be helped, but when it comes to be a question of Mr +Morice or her, it'll have to be her, and that's all about it. I don't +mean to let her go scot-free at his expense--not much, I don't, as I'll +soon show her!" + +He plunged into the pitch blackness of the forest, towards where he +fancied he had heard a sound in the distance. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXV + + IN THE LADY'S CHAMBER + + +Miss Arnott was restless. She had to entertain her two self-invited +guests--Mr Stacey and Mr Gilbert, and she was conscious that while she +was entertaining them, each, in his own fashion, was examining her +still. It was a curious dinner which they had together, their hostess +feeling, rightly or wrongly, that the most dire significance was being +read into the most commonplace remarks. If she smiled, she feared they +might think her laughter forced; if she was grave, she was convinced +that they were of opinion that it was because she had something +frightful on her mind. Mr Stacey made occasional attempts to lighten +the atmosphere, but, at the best of times, his touch was inclined to be +a heavy one; then all his little outbursts of gaiety--or what he meant +for gaiety--seemed to be weighted with lead. Mr Gilbert was frankly +saturnine. He seemed determined to say as little as he possibly could, +and to wing every word he did utter with a shaft of malice or of irony. +Especially was he severe on Mr Stacey's spasmodic efforts at the +promotion of geniality. + +Miss Arnott arrived at two conclusions; one being that he didn't like +her, and the other that she didn't like him. How correct she was in the +first instance may be judged from some remarks which were exchanged +when--after the old fashion--she had left them alone together to enjoy +a cigarette over their cups of coffee, the truth being that she felt +she must be relieved from the burden of their society for, at anyrate, +some minutes. + +Mr Stacey commenced by looking at his companion as if he were +half-doubtful, half-amused. + +"Gilbert, you don't seem disposed to be talkative." + +The reply was curt and to the point. + +"I'm not." + +"Nor, if you will forgive my saying so, do you seem inclined to make +yourself peculiarly agreeable to our hostess." + +Mr Gilbert surveyed the ash which was on the tip of his cigar. His +words were pregnant with meaning. + +"Stacey, I can't stand women." + +With Mr Stacey amusement was getting the upper hand. + +"Does that apply to women in general or to this one in particular?" + +"Yes to both your questions. I don't wish to be rude to your ward or to +my hostess, but the girl's a fool." + +"Gilbert!" + +"So she is, like the other representatives of her sex. She's another +illustration of the eternal truth that a woman can't walk alone; she +can't. In consequence she's got herself into the infernal muddle she +has done. The first male who, so to speak, got within reach of her, +took her by the scruff of the neck, and made her keep step with him. He +happened to be a scamp, so there's all this to do. It constantly is +like that. Most women are like mirrors--mere surfaces on which to +reflect their owners; and when their owners take it into their heads to +smash the mirrors, why, they're smashed. When I think of what an ass +this young woman has made of herself and others, merely because she's a +woman, and therefore couldn't help it, something sticks in my throat. I +can't be civil to her; it's no use trying. I want to get in touch with +something vertebrate: I can't stand molluscs." + +Under the circumstances it was not strange that matters in the +drawing-room were no more lively than they had been at dinner. So Miss +Arnott excused herself at what she considered to be the earliest possible +moment and went to bed. + +At least she went as far as her bedroom. She found Evans awaiting her. +A bed was made up close to her own, all arrangements were arranged to +keep watch and ward over her through the night. + +"Evans," she announced, "I've come to bed." + +"Have you, miss? It's early--that is, for you." + +"If you'd spent the sort of evening I have you'd have come early to +bed. Evans, I want to tell you something." + +"Yes, miss; what might it be?" + +"Don't you ever take it for granted that, because a man's clever at one +thing, he's clever, or the least bit of good, at anything else." + +"I'm afraid, miss, that I don't understand." + +"Then I'll make you understand, before I've done with you; you're not +stupid. I feel that before I even try to close my eyes I must talk to +some rational being, so I'll talk to you." + +"Thank you, miss." + +"There's a Mr Gilbert downstairs." + +"Yes, miss, I've heard of him." + +"He's supposed to be a famous criminal lawyer; perhaps you've heard +that too. I'm told that he's the cleverest living, and, I daresay, he's +smart enough in his own line. But out of it--such clumsiness, such +stupidity, such conceit, such manners--oh, Evans! I once heard a +specialist compared to a dog which is kept chained to its kennel; +within the limits of its chain that dog has an amazing knowledge of the +world. I suppose Mr Gilbert is a specialist. He knows everything within +the limits of his chain. But, though he mayn't be aware of it--and he +isn't--his chain is there! And now, Evans, having told you what I +wished to tell you, I'm going to bed." + +But Miss Arnott did not go to bed just then. She seemed unusually wide +awake. It was obvious that, if any sound data were to be obtained on +the subject of her alleged somnambulistic habits, it was necessary, +first of all, that she should go to sleep; but it would not be much +good her getting into bed if she felt indisposed for slumber. + +"The only thing, Evans, of which I'm afraid is that, if we're not +careful, you'll fall asleep first, and that then, so soon as you're +asleep, I shall start off walking through the woods. It'll make both of +us look so silly if I do." + +"No fear of that, miss. I can keep awake as long as anyone, and when I +am asleep the fall of a feather is enough to wake me." + +"The fall of a feather? Evans! I don't believe you could hear a feather +falling, even if you were wide awake." + +"Well, miss, you know what I mean. I mean that I'm a light sleeper. I +shall lock the doors when we're both of us in bed, and I shall put the +keys underneath my pillow. No one will take those keys from under my +pillow without my knowing it, I promise you that, no matter how +light-fingered they may be." + +"I see. I'm to be a prisoner. It doesn't sound quite nice; but I +suppose I'll have to put up with it. If you were to catch me walking in +my sleep how dreadful it would be." + +"I sha'n't do it. I don't believe you ever have walked in your sleep, +and I don't believe you ever will." + +Later it was arranged that the young lady should undress, take a book +with her to bed, and try to read herself to sleep. Then it became a +question of the book. + +"I know the very book that would be bound to send me to sleep in a +couple of ticks, even in the middle of the day. I've tested its +soporific powers already. Three times I've tried to get through the +first chapter, and each time I've been asleep before I reached the end. +It is a book! I bought it a week or two ago. I don't know why. I wasn't +in want of a sleeping powder then. Where did I put it? Oh, I remember; +I lent it to Mrs Plummer. She seemed to want something to doze over, so +I suggested that would be just the thing. Evans, do you think Mrs +Plummer is asleep yet?" + +"I don't know, miss. I believe she's pretty late. I'll go and see." + +"No, I'll go and see. Then I can explain to her what it is I want, and +just what I want it for. You stay here; I sha'n't be a minute." + +Miss Arnott went up to Mrs Plummer's bedroom. It was called the +tower-room. On one side of the house--which was an architectural +freak--was an eight-sided tower. Although built into the main building +it rose high above it. Near the top was a clock with three faces. On the +roof was a flagstaff which served to inform the neighbourhood if the +family was or was not at home. + +Miss Arnott was wont to declare that the tower-rooms were the +pleasantest in the house. In proof of it the one which she had selected +to be her own special apartment lay immediately under that in which Mrs +Plummer slept. It had two separate approaches. The corridor in which +was Miss Arnott's sleeping-chamber had, at one end--the one farthest +from her--a short flight of stairs which ascended to a landing on to +which opened one of Mrs Plummer's bedroom doors. On the opposite side +of the room was another door which gave access to what was, to all +intents and purposes, a service staircase. Miss Arnott, passing along +the corridor and up the eight or nine steps, rapped at the panel once, +twice, and then again. As still no one answered she tried the handle, +thinking that if it was locked the probabilities were that Mrs Plummer +was in bed and fast asleep. But, instead of being locked, it opened +readily at her touch. The fact that the electric lights were all on +seemed to suggest that, at anyrate, the lady was not asleep in bed. + +"Mrs Plummer!" she exclaimed, standing in the partly opened doorway. + +No reply. Opening the door wider she entered the room. It was empty. +But there was that about the appearance of the chamber which conveyed +the impression that quite recently, within the last two or three +minutes, it had had an occupant. Clothes were thrown down anywhere, as +if their wearer had doffed them in a hurry. Miss Arnott, who had had a +notion that Mrs Plummer was the soul of neatness, was surprised and +even tickled by the evidence of untidiness which met her on every hand. +Not only were articles of wearing apparel scattered everywhere, but the +whole apartment was in a state of odd disarray; at one part the carpet +was turned quite back. As she looked about her, Miss Arnott smiled. + +"What can Mrs Plummer have been doing? She appears to have been +preparing for a flitting. And where can she be? She seems to have +undressed. Those are her clothes, and there's the dress she wore at +dinner. She can't be in such a state of _deshabille_ as those things +seem to suggest; and yet--I don't think I'll wait till she comes back. +I wonder if she's left that book lying about. If I can find it I'll +sneak off at once, and tell her all about it in the morning." + +On a table in the centre was piled up a heterogeneous and disorderly +collection of odds and ends. Miss Arnott glanced at it to see if among +the miscellanea was the volume she was seeking. She saw that a book +which looked like it was lying underneath what seemed to be a number of +old letters. She picked it up, removing the letters to enable her to do +so. One or two of the papers fell on to the floor. She stooped to pick +them up. The first was a photograph. Her eyes lighted on it, half +unwittingly; but, having lighted on it, they stayed. + +The room seemed all at once to be turning round her. She was conscious +of a sense of vertigo, as if suddenly something had happened to her +brain. For some seconds she was obsessed by a conviction that she was +the victim of an optical delusion, that what she supposed herself to +see was, in reality, a phantom of her imagination. How long this +condition continued she never knew. But it was only after a perceptible +interval of time that she began to comprehend that she deluded herself +by supposing herself to be under a delusion, that what she had only +imagined she saw, she actually did see. It was the sudden shock which +had caused that feeling of curious confusion. The thing was plain +enough. + +She was holding in her hand the photograph of her husband--Robert +Champion. The more she looked at it the stronger the conviction became. +There was not a doubt of it. The portrait had probably been taken some +years ago, when the man was younger; but that it was her husband she +was certain. She was hardly likely to make a mistake on a point of that +kind. But, in the name of all that was inexplicable, what was Robert +Champion's photograph doing here? + +She glanced at another of the articles she had dropped. It was another +portrait of the same man, apparently taken a little later. There was a +third--a smaller one. In it he wore a yachting cap. Although he was no +yachting man--so far as she knew he had never been on the sea in his +life; but it was within her knowledge that it was a fashion in headgear +for which he had had, as she deemed, a most undesirable predilection. +He had worn one when he had taken her for their honeymoon to Margate; +anyone looking less like a seaman than he did in it, she thought she +had never seen. In a fourth photograph Robert Champion was sitting in a +chair with his arm round Mrs Plummer's waist; she standing at his side +with her hand upon his shoulder. She was obviously many years older +than the man in the chair; but she could not have looked more pleased, +either with herself or with him. + +What did it mean?--what could it mean?--those photographs in Mrs +Plummer's room? + +Returning to the first at which she had glanced, the girl saw that the +name was scrawled across the right-hand bottom corner, which had +hitherto been hidden by her thumb, in a hand which set her heart +palpitating with a sense of startled recognition. "Douglas Plummer." +The name was unmistakable in its big, bombastic letters; but what did +he mean by scrawling "Douglas Plummer" at the bottom of his own +photograph? She suddenly remembered having seen a visiting card of Mrs +Plummer's on which her name had been inscribed "Mrs Douglas Plummer." +What did it mean? + +On the back of the photograph in which the man and the woman had been +taken together she found that there was written--she knew the writing +to be Mrs Plummer's--"Taken on our honeymoon." + +When she saw that Miss Arnott rose to her feet--for the first time +since she had stooped to pick up the odds and ends which she had +dropped--and laughed. It was so very funny. Again she closely examined +the pair in the picture and the sentence on the back. There could be no +doubt as to their identity; none as to what the sentence said, nor as +to the hand by which it had been penned. But on whose honeymoon had it +been taken? What did it mean? + +There came to her a feeling that this was a matter in which inquiries +should be made at once. She had forgotten altogether the errand which +had brought her there; she was overlooking everything in the strength +of her desire to learn, in the shortest possible space of time, what +was the inner meaning of these photographs which she was holding in her +hand. She saw the letters which she had disturbed to get at the book +beneath. In the light of the new discoveries she had made, even at that +distance she recognised the caligraphy in which they were written. She +snatched them up; they were in a bundle, tied round with a piece of +pink baby ribbon. To use a sufficiently-expressive figure of speech, +the opening line of the first "hit her in the face,"--"My darling +Agatha." + +Agatha? That was Mrs Plummer's Christian name. + +She thrust at a letter in the centre. It began--"My precious wife." + +His precious wife? Whose wife? Douglas Plummer's?--Robert +Champion's?--Whose? What did it mean? + +As she assailed herself with the question--for at least the dozenth +time--to which she seemed unlikely to find an answer, a fresh impulse +caused her to look again about the room--to be immediately struck by +something which had previously escaped her observation. Surely the bed +had been slept in. It was rumpled; the pillow had been lain on; the +bedclothes were turned back, as if someone had slipped from between the +sheets and left them so. What did that mean? + +While the old inquiry was assuming this fresh shape, and all sorts of +fantastic doubts seemed to have had sudden birth and to be pressing on +her from every side, the door on the other side of the room was opened, +and Mrs Plummer entered. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVI + + OUT OF SLEEP + + +Miss Arnott was so astounded at the appearance which Mrs Plummer +presented that, in her bewilderment, she was tongue-tied. What, in the +absence of tonsorial additions--which the girl had already noted were +set out in somewhat gruesome fashion on the dressing-table--were shown +to be her scanty locks, straggled loose about her neck. The garment in +which her whole person was enveloped was one which Miss Arnott had +never seen before, and, woman-like, she had a very shrewd knowledge of +the contents of her companion's wardrobe. More than anything else it +resembled an unusually voluminous bath-sheet, seeming to have been made +of what had originally been white Turkish towelling. The whiteness, +however, had long since disappeared. It was not only in an +indescribable state of filth, but also of rags and tatters. How any of +it continued to hang together was a mystery; there was certainly not a +square foot of it without a rent. On her feet she wore what seemed to +be the remnants of a pair of bedroom slippers. So far as Miss Arnott +was able to discern the only other garment she had on was her +nightdress. In this attire she appeared to have been in some singular +places. She was all dusty and torn; attached to her here and there were +scraps of greenery: here a frond of bracken, there the needle of a +pine. + +"Mrs Plummer," cried Miss Arnott, when she had in part realised the +extraordinary spectacle which her companion offered, "wherever have you +been?" + +But Mrs Plummer did not answer, at first to the girl's increased +amazement; then it all burst on her in a flash--Mrs Plummer was asleep! +It seemed incredible; yet it was so. Her eyes were wide open; yet it +only needed a second or two to make it clear to Miss Arnott that they +did not see her. They appeared to have the faculty of only seeing those +objects which were presented to their owner's inner vision. Miss Arnott +was not present at the moment in Mrs Plummer's thoughts, therefore she +remained invisible to her staring eyes. It was with a curious feeling +of having come into unlooked-for contact with something uncanny that +the girl perceived this was so. Motionless, fascinated, hardly +breathing, she waited and watched for what the other was about to do. + +Mrs Plummer closed the door behind her carefully--with an odd +carefulness. Coming a few steps into the room she stopped. Looking +about her with what the girl felt was almost an agony of eagerness, it +seemed strange that she should not see her; her eyes travelled over her +more than once. Then she drew a long breath like a sigh. Raising both +hands to her forehead she brushed back the thin wisps of her faded +hair. It was with a feeling which was half-shame, half-awe that the +girl heard her break into speech. It was as though she were intruding +herself into the other's very soul, and as if the woman was speaking +with a voice out of the grave. + +Indeed, there was an eerie quality about the actual utterance--a +lifelessness, a monotony, an absence of light and shade. She spoke as +she might fancy an automaton would speak--all on the same note. The +words came fluently enough, the sentences seemed disconnected. + +"I couldn't find it. I can't think where I put it. It's so strange. I +just dropped it like that." Mrs Plummer made a sudden forward movement +with her extended right hand, then went through the motion of dropping +something from it on to the floor. With sensations which in their +instant, increasing horror altogether transcended anything which had +gone before, the girl began to understand. "I can't quite remember. I +don't think I picked it up again. I feel sure I didn't bring it home. I +should have found it if I had. I have looked everywhere--everywhere." +The sightless eyes looked here and there, anxiously, restlessly, +searchingly, so that the girl began to read the riddle of the +disordered room. "I must find it. I shall never rest until I do--never! +I must know where it is! The knife! the knife!" + +As the unconscious woman repeated for the second time the last two +words, a sudden inspiration flashed through the listener's brain; it +possessed her with such violence that, for some seconds, it set her +trembling from head to foot. When the first shock its advent had +occasioned had passed away, the tremblement was followed by a calm +which was perhaps its natural sequence. + +Without waiting to hear or see more she passed out of the room with +rapid, even steps along the corridor to her own chamber. There she was +greeted by Evans. + +"You've been a long time, miss. I suppose Mrs Plummer couldn't find the +book you wanted." Then she was evidently struck by the peculiarity of +the girl's manner. "What has happened? I hope there's nothing else +that's wrong. Miss Arnott, what are you doing there?" + +The girl was unlocking the wardrobe drawer in which she had that +afternoon replaced Hugh Morice's knife. She took the weapon out. + +"Evans, come with me! I'll show you who killed that man in Cooper's +Spinney! Be quick!" + +She took the lady's-maid by the wrist and half-led, half-dragged her +from the room. Evans looked at her with frightened face, plainly in +doubt as to whether her young mistress had not all at once gone mad. +But she offered no resistance. On the landing outside the door they +encountered Mr Stacey and Mr Gilbert, who were apparently just coming +up to bed. Miss Arnott hailed them. + +"Mr Stacey! Mr Gilbert! you wish to know who it was who murdered Robert +Champion? Come with me quickly. You shall see!" + +They stared at the knife which was in her hand, at the strange +expression which was on her face. She did not wait for them to speak. +She moved swiftly towards the staircase which led to the tower-room. +She loosed her attendant's wrist. But Evans showed no desire to take +advantage of her freedom, she pressed closely on her mistress's heels. +Mr Gilbert, rapid in decision, went after the two women without even a +moment's hesitation. Mr Stacey, of slower habit, paused a moment before +he moved, then, obviously puzzled, he followed the others. + +When the girl returned Mrs Plummer was bending over a drawer, tossing +its contents in seemingly haphazard fashion on to the carpet. + +"I must find it! I must find it!" she kept repeating to herself. + +Miss Arnott called to her, not loudly but clearly,-- + +"Mrs Plummer!" But Mrs Plummer paid no heed. She continued to mutter +and to turn out the contents of the drawer. The girl moved to her +across the floor, speaking to her again by name. "Mrs Plummer, what is +it you are looking for? Is it this knife?" + +Plainly the somnambulist was vaguely conscious that a voice had spoken. +Ceasing to rifle the drawer she remained motionless, holding her head a +little on one side, as if she listened. Then she spoke again; but +whether in answer to the question which had been put to her or to +herself, was not clear. + +"The knife! I want to find the knife." + +"What knife is it you are looking for? Is it the knife with which you +killed your husband in the wood?" + +The woman shuddered. It seemed as if something had reached her +consciousness. She said, as if echoing the other's words,-- + +"My husband in the wood." + +The girl became aware that Day, the butler, had entered through the +door on the other side, wearing his hat, as if he had just come out of +the open air, and that he was accompanied by Granger in his uniform, +and by a man whom she did not recognise, but who, as a matter of fact, +was Nunn, the detective. She knew that, behind her, was Evans with Mr +Stacey and Mr Gilbert. She understood that, for her purpose, the +audience could scarcely have been better chosen. + +She raised her voice a little, laying stress upon her words. + +"Mrs Plummer, here is the knife for which you are looking." + +With one hand she held out to her the handle of the knife, with the +other she touched her on the shoulder. There could be no mistake this +time as to whether or not the girl had penetrated to the sleep-walker's +consciousness. They could all of them see that a shiver went all over +her, almost as if she had been struck by palsy. She staggered a little +backwards, putting out her arms in front of her as if to ward off some +threatening danger. There came another fit of shivering, and then they +knew she was awake--awake but speechless. She stared at the girl in +front of her as if she were some dreadful ghost. Relentless, still set +upon her purpose, Miss Arnott went nearer to her. + +"Mrs Plummer, here is the knife for which you have been looking--the +knife with which you killed your husband--Douglas Plummer--in the +wood." + +The woman stared at the knife, then at the girl, then about her. She +saw the witnesses who stood in either doorway. Probably comprehension +came to her bewildered intellect, which was not yet wide awake. She +realised that her secret was no longer her own, since she had been her +own betrayer, that the Philistines were upon her. She snatched at the +knife which the girl still held out, and, before they guessed at her +intention, had buried it almost to the hilt in her own breast. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVII + + WHAT WAS WRITTEN + + +She expired that same night without having uttered an intelligible +word. In a sense her end could hardly have been called an unfortunate +one. It is certain that, had she lived, she would have had a bad time, +even if she had escaped the gallows. She had left behind her the whole +story, set forth in black and white by her own hand. It was a +sufficiently unhappy one. It is not impossible that, having heard it, a +jury would have recommended her to mercy. In which case the capital +sentence would probably have been commuted to one of penal servitude +for life. It is a moot question whether it is not better to hang +outright rather than endure a living death within the four walls of a +gaol. + +The story of her life as recounted by herself--and there is no reason +to doubt the substantial accuracy of her narrative--was this. + +Agatha Linfield, a spinster past her first prime, possessed of some +means of her own, met at a Brighton boarding-house a young man who +called himself Douglas Plummer. Possibly believing her to be better off +than she was he paid her attentions from the first moment of their +meeting. Within a month he had married her. In much less than another +month she had discovered what kind of a man she had for a husband. He +inflicted on her all sorts of indignities, subjecting her even to +physical violence, plundering her of all the money he could. When he +had brought her to the verge of beggary he fell into the hands of the +police; as he was destined to do again at a later period in his career. +Hardly had he been sentenced to a term of imprisonment than his wife +became the recipient of another small legacy, on the strength of which +she went abroad, and, by its means, managed to live. Her own desire was +never to see or hear of her husband again. She even went so far as to +inform her relatives that he had died and left her a sorrowing widow. +He, probably having wearied of a woman so much older than himself and +knowing nothing of the improvement in her fortunes, seems to have made +no effort on his release to ascertain her whereabouts. In short, for +some years each vanished out of the other's existence. + +On the night of the Saturday on which they returned from abroad, when +Miss Arnott went for her woodland stroll, Mrs Plummer, whose curiosity +had been previously aroused as to the true inwardness of her +proceedings, after an interval followed to see what possible inducement +there could be to cause her, after a long and fatiguing journey, to +immediately wander abroad at such an uncanonical hour. She was severely +punished for her inquisitiveness. Exactly what took place her diary did +not make clear; details were omitted, the one prominent happening was +alone narrated in what, under the circumstances, were not unnaturally +vague and somewhat confused terms. She came upon the man who was known +to Miss Arnott as Robert Champion, and to her as Douglas Plummer, all +in a moment, without having had, the second before, the faintest +suspicion that he was within a hundred miles. She had hoped--had +tried to convince herself--that he was dead. The sight of him, as, +without the least warning he rose at her--like some spectre of a +nightmare--from under the beech tree, seems to have bereft her for a +moment of her senses. He must have been still writhing from the agony +inflicted by Jim Baker's "peppering" so that he himself was scarcely +sane. He had in his hand Hugh Morice's knife, which he had picked up, +almost by inadvertence, as he staggered to his feet at the sound of +someone coming. It may be that he supposed the newcomer to have been +the person who had already shot at him, that his intention was to defend +himself with the accidentally-discovered weapon from further violence. +She only saw the knife. She had set down in her diary that he was waiting +there to kill her; which, on the face of it, had been written with an +imperfect knowledge of the facts. As he lurched towards her--probably +as much taken by surprise as she was--she imagined he meant to strike +her with the knife. Scarcely knowing what she did she snatched it from +him and killed him on the spot. + +It was at that moment she was seen by Hugh Morice and Jim Baker, both +of whom took her for Miss Arnott. Instantly realising what it was +that she had done she fled panic-stricken into the woods +with--presently--Hugh Morice dashing wildly after her. Miss Arnott saw +Hugh Morice, and him only, and drew her own erroneous conclusions. + +Mrs Plummer gained entrance to the house by climbing through a tall +casement window, which chanced to have been left unfastened, and which +opened into a passage near the foot of the service staircase. +Afterwards, fast asleep, she frequently got in and out of the house +through that same window. Unknown to her the discreet Mr Day saw her +entry. She had still very far from regained full control of her sober +senses. So soon as she was in, seized, apparently, by a sudden +recollection, she exclaimed, turning again to the casement, "The knife! +the knife! I've left the knife!" + +Mr Day, who had no particular affection for the lady, heard the words, +saw the condition she was in, and decided, there and then, that she had +recently been involved in some extremely singular business. Until, +shortly afterwards, he admitted her himself, he was inclined to fear +that she had killed his young mistress. + +The impression Mrs Plummer had made upon his mind never left him. +Spying on her at moments when she little suspected espionage, his +doubts gained force as time went on, until they amounted to conviction. +When the body was found in the spinney, although he had little evidence +to go upon, he had, personally, no doubt as to who was the guilty +party. It was because he was divided between the knowledge that it was +his duty to tell all he knew and his feelings that it would be +derogatory to his dignity and repellent to his most cherished instincts +to be mixed up with anything which had to do with the police, that he +was desirous of quitting Miss Arnott's service ere he was dragged, +willy-nilly, into an uncomfortably prominent position in a most +unpleasant affair. + +Nothing which afterwards transpired caused him at any time, to doubt, +that, whenever he chose, he could lay his hand upon the criminal. He +alone, of all the persons in the drama, had an inkling of the truth. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVIII + + MISS ARNOTT'S MARRIAGE + + +The charge against Jim Baker was withdrawn at the earliest possible +moment. Hugh Morice was released that night from the confinement which +he had himself invited. When Mr Nunn asked what had made him accuse +himself of a crime of which he was altogether innocent he laughed. + +"Since you yourself were about to charge one innocent person, you +should be the last person in the world to object to my charging +another." + +The next day he went to Exham Park. There he saw its mistress. By +degrees the whole tale was told. It took a long time in the telling. +Part of it was told in the house, and then, as it still seemed +unfinished, he went out with her upon her motor car. The rest of it was +told upon the way. + +"It seems," she pointed out, "that, as the wretch married that poor +woman before he ever saw me, I never was his wife at all. I don't know +if it's better that way or worse." + +"Better." + +"I'm not so sure." + +"I am. Because, when you become my wife--" + +She put the car on to the fourth speed. There was a long, straight, +level road and not a soul in sight. They moved! + +"You'll get into trouble if you don't look out." + +"I'm not afraid." + +"I was about to remark that when you become my wife--" + +"I wish you wouldn't talk to me when we're going at this rate. You know +it's dangerous." + +"Get down on to the first speed at once." She did slow a trifle, which +enabled him to speak without unduly imperilling their safety. "I was +saying that when you become my wife I shall marry you as Miss +Arnott--Violet Arnott, spinster. That will be your precise description. +I prefer it that way, if you don't mind." + +Whether she minded or not that was what he did. No one thereabouts had +the dimmest notion what was her actual relation to the man who had met +the fate which, after all, was not wholly undeserved. So that the great +and glorious festival, which will not be forgotten in that countryside +for many a day, is always spoken of by everyone who partook of the +bride and bridegroom's splendid hospitality as "Miss Arnott's +marriage." + +It was indeed one of those marriages of which we may assuredly affirm, +that those whom God hath joined no man shall put asunder. + + + + + + + THE END + + + + + + + EDINBURGH + + COLSTON AND COY. 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