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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: A Master of Deception + +Author: Richard Marsh + +Illustrator: Dudley Tennant + +Release Date: November 28, 2011 [EBook #38161] +[Last updated: September 16, 2014] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MASTER OF DECEPTION *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Note:<br> + + +1. Page scan source:<br> +http://books.google.com/books?id=gD4PAAAAQAAJ</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>A MASTER OF DECEPTION</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="center"><img src="images/frontispiece.png" alt="You see, uncle--this one; as it were, +death reduced to its lowest possible denomination"><br> +"You see, uncle--this one; +as it were, death reduced<br> +to its lowest possible denomination'" (<i>see page</i> 99).</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>A MASTER<br> + +OF DECEPTION</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5>By</h5> + +<h2>Richard Marsh</h2> + +<h5>Author of "Twin Sisters," "The Lovely Mrs. Blake,"<br> +"The Interrupted Kiss," etc., etc.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h4>With a Frontispiece by<br> +DUDLEY TENNANT</h4> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD<br> +London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne<br> +1913</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>CHAPTER</td> +<td> </td> +</tr><tr> +<td>1.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_01" href="#div1_01">The Inclining of a Twig.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>2.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_02" href="#div1_02">His Uncle And His Cousin.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>3.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_03" href="#div1_03">Rodney Elmore the First.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>4.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_04" href="#div1_04">The Three Girls and the Three Telegrams.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>5.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_05" href="#div1_05">Stella.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>6.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_06" href="#div1_06">Gladys.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>7.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_07" href="#div1_07">Mary.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>8.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_08" href="#div1_08">By The 9.10: The First Part of the Journey.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>9.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_09" href="#div1_09">The Second.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>10.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_10" href="#div1_10">In the Carriage--Alone.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>11.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_11" href="#div1_11">The Stranger.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>12.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_12" href="#div1_12">Marking Time.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>13.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_13" href="#div1_13">Spreading His Wings.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>14.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_14" href="#div1_14">Business First, Pleasure Afterwards.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>15.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_15" href="#div1_15">Mabel Joyce.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>16.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_16" href="#div1_16">Thomas Austin, Senior.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>17.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_17" href="#div1_17">The Acting Head of the Firm.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>18.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_18" href="#div1_18">The Perfect Lover.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>19.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_19" href="#div1_19">The Few Words at the End of the Evening.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>20.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_20" href="#div1_20">The First Line of an Old Song.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>21.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_21" href="#div1_21">The Dead Man's Letter.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>22.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_22" href="#div1_22">Philip Walter Augustus Parker.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>23.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_23" href="#div1_23">Necessary Credentials.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>24.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_24" href="#div1_24">Lovers Parting.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>25.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_25" href="#div1_25">Stella's Betrothal Feast.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>26.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_26" href="#div1_26">Good Night.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>27.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_27" href="#div1_27">The Gentleman's Departure and the Lady's Explanation.</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td>28.</td> +<td><a name="div1Ref_28" href="#div1_28">A Conspiracy of Silence.</a></td> +</tr></table> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>A MASTER OF DECEPTION</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_01" href="#div1Ref_01">THE INCLINING OF A TWIG</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">When Rodney Elmore was eleven years old, placards appeared on +the walls announcing that a circus was coming to Uffham. Rodney +asked his mother if he might go to it. Mrs. Elmore, for what +appeared to her to be sufficient reasons, said "No." Three days +before the circus was to come he went with his mother to Mrs. +Bray's house, a little way out of Uffham, to tea. The two ladies +having feminine mysteries to discuss, he was told to go into the +garden to play. As he went he passed a little room, the door of +which was open. Peeping in, as curious children will, something +on a corner of the mantelpiece caught his eye. Going closer to +see what it was, he discovered that there were two half-crowns, +one on the top of the other. The desire to go to the circus, +which had never left him, gathered sudden force. Here were the +means of going. Whipping the two coins into the pocket of his +knickerbockers, he ran from the room and into the garden.</p> + +<p class="normal">During the remainder of the afternoon the half-crowns were a +burden to him. Not because he was weighed down by a sense of +guilt; but because he feared that their absence would be +discovered; that they would be taken from him; that he would be +left poor indeed. He kept down at the far end of the garden, +considering if it would not be wiser to conceal them in some +spot from which he would be able to retrieve them at the proper +time. But Mrs. Bray's was at, what to him was, a great distance +from his own home; he might not be able to get there again +before the eventful day. When the maid came to fetch him in the +coins were still in his pocket; they were still there when he +left the house with his mother.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the eventful day his mother had to go to London. Before she +went she told Rodney that she had given the servant money to +take him to the circus. This was rather a blow to the boy, since +he found himself possessed of money which, for its intended +purpose, was useless. He had hidden the half-crowns up the +chimney in his bedroom. Aware that it might not be easy to +explain how he came to be the owner of so much cash, there they +remained for quite a time. So far as he knew, nothing was said +by Mrs. Bray about the money which had gone; certainly no +suspicion attached to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Later he went to a public school. During the third term he went +with the school bicycle club for a spin. The master in charge +had a spill. As he fell some coins dropped out of his pocket. +Rodney, who was the only one behind him, saw a yellow coin roll +into a rut at the side of the road. Alighting, he pressed his +foot on it, so that it was covered with earth. Then, calling to +the others, who, unconscious of what had happened, were +pedalling away in front, he gave first aid to the injured. The +master had fallen heavily on his side. He had sprained something +which made it difficult for him to move. A vehicle was fetched, +which bore him back to school, recovery having first been made +of the coins which had been dropped. It was only later he +discovered that a sovereign was missing. The following day a +search-party went out to look for it, of which Rodney Elmore was +a member. They found nothing. As they were starting back Rodney +perceived that his saddle had worked loose. He stayed behind to +tighten it. When he spurted after the others the sovereign was +in his pocket. Mr. Griffiths was reputed to be poor. It was +Elmore who suggested that a subscription should be started to +reimburse him for his loss. When Mr. Griffiths heard of the +suggestion--while he laughingly declined to avail himself of the +boy's generosity--he took Elmore's hand in a friendly grip. Then +he asked the lad if he would oblige him by going on an errand to +the village. While he was on the errand Rodney changed the +sovereign, which he would have found it difficult to do in the +school.</p> + +<p class="normal">At the end of the summer term in his last year Elmore was +invited by a schoolboy friend named Austin to spend part of the +holidays with him in a wherry on the Broads. Mrs. Elmore told +him that she would pay his fare and give him, besides, a small +specified sum which she said would be sufficient for necessary +expenses. Her ideas on that latter point were not those of her +son. Rodney's notions on such subjects were always liberal. Good +at books and games, he was one of the most popular boys in the +school. Among other things, he was captain of cricket. At the +last match of the season he played even unusually well, carrying +his bat through the innings with nearly two hundred runs to his +credit, having given one of the finest displays of hard hitting +and good placing the school had ever seen. He was the hero of +the day; owing to his efforts his side had won. Flushed with +victory, with the plaudits of his admirers still ringing in his +ears, he strolled along a corridor, cricket-bag in hand. He +passed a room, the door of which was open. A room with an open +door was apt to have a fatal fascination for Rodney Elmore; if +opportunity offered, he could seldom refrain from peeping in. He +peeped in then. On a table was a canvas bag, tied with a string. +He recognised it as the bag which contained the tuck-shop +takings. Since the tuck-shop had had a busy day, the probability +was that the bag held quite a considerable sum. He had been +wondering where the money was coming from to enable him to cut a +becoming figure during his visit to Austin. Stepping quickly +into the room, he emptied the canvas bag into his cricket-bag; +then, going out again as quickly as he had entered, he continued +his progress.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was on his way to one of the masters, named Rumsey, who +edited the school magazine, his object being to hand him a +corrected proof of certain matter which was to appear in the +forthcoming issue. He took the proof out of his cricket-bag, +which he opened in the master's presence. Having stayed to have +a chat, he returned with Mr. Rumsey along the corridor. As they +went they saw one of the school pages come hurriedly out of the +room in which, as Rodney was aware, there was an empty canvas +bag. Mr. Rumsey commented on the speed at which the youth was +travelling.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Isn't that young Wheeler? He seems in a hurry. I wish he would +always move as fast."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps he's tearing off on an errand for Mr. Taylor."</p> + +<p class="normal">As he said this Rodney carelessly swung his cricket-bag, being +well aware that the coins within were so mixed up with his +sweater, pads, gloves, and other accessories that they were not +likely to make their presence audible. At the end of the +corridor they encountered Mr. Taylor himself. Mark Taylor was +fourth form master and manager of the tuck-shop. Nodding, he +went quickly on. Mr. Rumsey was going one way, Rodney the other. +They lingered at the corner to exchange a few parting words. +Suddenly Mr. Taylor's voice came towards them down the corridor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rumsey! Elmore! Who's been in my room?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Been in your room?" echoed Mr. Rumsey. "How should I know?" +Then added, as if it were the result of a second thought: "We +just saw Wheeler come out."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wheeler?" In his turn, Mr. Taylor played the part of echo. "He +just came rushing past me; I wondered what his haste meant. You +saw him come out of my room? Then---- But he can't have done a +thing like that!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Like what? Anything wrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There seems to be something very much wrong. Do you mind coming +here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Retracing their steps, Mr. Rumsey and Elmore joined the agitated +Mr. Taylor in his room. He made clear to them the cause of his +agitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see this bag? It contained to-day's tuck-shop takings--more +than ten pounds. I left it, with the money tied up in it, on the +table here while I went to Perrin to fetch a memorandum I'd +forgotten. Now that I've returned, I find the bag lying on my +table empty and the money apparently gone. That's what's wrong, +and the question is, who has been in my room since I left it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I told you, Elmore and I just saw Wheeler making his exit +rather as if he were pressed for time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I myself just met him scurrying along, and wondered what +the haste was about; he's not, as a general rule, the fastest of +the pages. The boy has a bad record; there was that story about +Burge minor and his journey money, and there have been other +tales. If he was in my room----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps he was sent on an errand to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I doubt it, from the way he was running when I met him. And, so +far from stopping when he saw me, if anything, he went faster +than ever. It looks very much as if----"</p> + +<p class="normal">He stopped, leaving the sentence ominously unfinished.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Master Wheeler may be a young rip, but surely he wouldn't do a +thing like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">This was Rodney, who notoriously never spoke ill of anyone. Mr. +Taylor touched on his well-known propensity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's all very well, Elmore; but you'd try to find an excuse +for a man who snatched the coat off your back. This is a very +serious matter; ten pounds are ten pounds. The best thing is for +you to bring Wheeler here, and we'll have it out with him at +once."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney started off to fetch the page. It was some little time +before he returned. When he did he was without his cricket-bag, +and gripped the obviously unwilling page tightly by the +shoulder. That the lad's mind was very far from being at ease +Mr. Taylor's questions quickly made plain.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wheeler, Mr. Rumsey and Mr. Elmore just saw you coming out of +my room. What were you doing here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Wheeler, looking everywhere but at his questioner, hesitated; +then stammered out a lame reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I--I was looking for you, sir."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For me? What did you want with me? Why did you not say you +wanted me when you met me just now?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Wheeler could not explain; he was tongue-tied. Mr. Taylor went +on:</p> + +<p class="normal">"When I went I left this bag on the table full of money. As you +were the only person who entered the room during my absence, I +want you to tell me how the bag came to be empty when I +returned?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The bag was empty when I came in here," blurted out Wheeler. "I +particularly noticed."</p> + +<p class="normal">To that tale he stuck--that the bag was empty when he entered +the room. His was a lame story. It seemed clear that he had gone +into the room with intentions which were not all that they might +have been--possibly meaning to pilfer from the bag, which he +knew was there. The discovery that the bag was empty had come +upon him with a shock; he had fled. As was not altogether +unnatural, his story was not believed. The two masters accused +him point-blank of having emptied the bag himself. A formal +charge of theft would have been made against him had it not been +for his tender years, also partly because of the resultant +scandal, perhaps still more because not a farthing of the money +was ever traced to his possession, or, indeed, to anyone else's. +What had become of it was never made clear. Wheeler, however, +was dismissed from his employment with a stain upon his +character which he would find it hard to erase.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney Elmore had an excellent time upon the Broads, towards +which the tuck-shop takings, in a measure, contributed. The +Austins, who were well-to-do people, had a first-rate wherry; on +it was a lively party. There were two girls--Stella Austin, Tom +Austin's sister, and a friend of hers, Mary Carmichael. Elmore, +who was nearly nineteen, had already had more than one passage +with persons of the opposite sex. He had a curious facility in +gaining the good graces of feminine creatures of all kinds and +all ages. When he went he left Stella Austin under the +impression that he cared for her very much indeed; while, +although conscious that Tom Austin, believing himself to be in +love with Mary Carmichael, regarded her as his own property, he +was aware that the young lady liked him--Rodney Elmore--in a +sense of which his friend had not the vaguest notion. Altogether +his visit to the Austins was an entire success; he had won for +himself a niche in everyone's esteem before they parted.</p> + +<p class="normal">When he was twenty Rodney Elmore entered an uncle's office in +St. Paul's Churchyard. Soon after he was twenty-one his mother +died. On her deathbed she showed an anxiety for his future +which, under other circumstances, he would have found almost +amusing. +"Rodney," she implored him, "my son, my dear, dear boy, promise +me that you will keep honest; that, under no pressure of +circumstances, you will stray one hair's breadth from the path +of honesty."</p> + +<p class="normal">This, in substance, though in varying forms, was the petition +which she made to him again and again, in tones which, as the +days, and even the hours, went by, grew fainter and fainter. He +did his best to give her the assurance she required, smilingly +at first, more seriously when he perceived how much she was in +earnest.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mother, darling," he told her, "I promise that I'll keep as +straight as a man can keep. I'll never do anything for which you +could be ashamed of me. Have you ever been ashamed of me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, dear, never. You've always been the best, cleverest, +truest, most affectionate son a woman could have. Never once +have you given me a moment's anxiety. God keep you as you have +always been--above all, God keep you honest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mother," he said in earnest tones, which had nearly sunk to a +whisper, "God helping me, and He will help me, I swear to you +that I will never do a dishonest thing, never! Nor a thing that +is in the region of dishonesty. Don't you believe me, darling?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course, dear, I believe you--I do! I do!"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was with some such words on her lips that she died; yet, even +as she uttered them, he had a feeling that there was a look in +her eyes which suggested both fear and doubt. In the midst of +his heart-broken grief the fact that there should have been such +a look struck him as good.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_02" href="#div1Ref_02">HIS UNCLE AND HIS COUSIN</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Elmore's income died with her. She had sunk her money in an +annuity because, as she had explained to Rodney, that enabled +her to give him a much better education than she could have done +had they been constrained to live on the interest produced by +her slender capital. But her son was not left penniless. She had +bought him an annuity, to commence when he was twenty-one, of +thirty shillings a week, to be paid weekly, and had tied it up +in such a way that he could neither forestall it nor use it as a +security on which to borrow money. As clerk to his uncle he +received one hundred pounds a year. Feeling that he could no +longer reside in Uffham, he sold the house, which was his +mother's freehold, and its contents, the sale producing quite a +comfortable sum. So, on the whole, he was not so badly off as +some young men.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the contra side he had expensive tastes, practically in every +direction. Among other things, he had a partiality for feminine +society, mostly of the reputable sort; but a young man is apt to +find the society of even a nice girl an expensive luxury. For +instance, Mary Carmichael had a voice. Her fond parents, who +lived in the country, suffered her to live in town while she was +taking singing lessons. Tom Austin, although still an +undergraduate at Oxford, made no secret of his feelings for the +maiden, a fact which did not prevent Mary going out now and then +with Rodney Elmore to dinner at a restaurant, and, afterwards, +to a theatre, as, nowadays, young men and maidens do. On these +occasions Rodney paid, and where the evening's entertainment of +a modern maiden is concerned a five-pound note does not go far. +Then, although Miss Carmichael might not have been aware of it, +there were others. Among them Stella Austin, who had reasons of +her own for believing that Mr. Elmore would give the world to +make her his wife, being only kept from avowing his feelings by +the fact that he was, to all intents and purposes, a pauper. +Since she was the possessor of three or four hundred a year of +her own, with the prospect of much more, she tried more than +once to hint that, since she would not mind setting up +housekeeping on quite a small income, there was no reason why +they should wait an indefinite period, till Rodney was a +millionaire. But Rodney's delicacy was superfine. While he +commended her attitude with an ardour which made the blood grow +hot in her veins, he explained that he was one of those men who +would not ask a girl to marry him unless he was in a position to +keep her in the style a husband should, adding that that time +was not so distant as some people might think. In another twelve +months he hoped--well, he hoped! As at such moments she was apt +to be very close to him, Stella hoped too. +The young gentleman was living at the rate of at least five or +six hundred a year on an income of a hundred and eighty. He did +not bother himself by keeping books, but he quite realised that +his expenditure bore no relation to his actual income. Of +course, he owed money; but he did not like owing money. It was +against his principles. He never borrowed if he could help it, +and he objected to being at the mercy of a tradesman. He +preferred to get the money somehow, and pay; and, somehow, he +got it. Very curious methods that "somehow" sometimes covered. +He was fond of cards; liked to play for all sorts of stakes; +and, on the whole, he won. His skill in one so young was +singular; sometimes, when opportunity offered, it was shown in +directions at which one prefers only to hint. His favourite +games were bridge, piquet, poker, and baccarat, four games at +which a skilful player can do strange things, especially when +playing with unsuspicious young men who have looked upon the +wine when it was red.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney's dexterity with his fingers was almost uncanny. He could +do wonderful card tricks, though he never did them in public, +but only for his own private amusement. When reading "Oliver +Twist," he had been tickled by the scene in which Fagin teaches +his youthful pupils how to pick a pocket. He had made +experiments of his own in the same direction upon parties who +were not in the least aware of the experiments he was making. +His success amused him hugely, while the subjects of his +experiments never had the dimmest notion as to how or where +their valuables had gone. +In very many ways Rodney Elmore obtained sufficient money to +enable him to keep his credit at a surprisingly high standard. +Everyone spoke well of him; he was a general favourite. Nor was +it strange; he looked a likeable fellow--indeed, ninety-nine +people out of a hundred liked him at first sight. Over six feet +in height, slightly built, he did not look so strong as he was +in reality. Straight as an arrow, head held well up, there was +something almost feminine in the lightness with which he seemed +to move. Many girls and women had told him to his face that he +was the best dancer they had ever had for partner. Indeed, in a +sense, he flattered his partners, having a knack of making a +girl who danced badly think she danced well. He had light brown +hair, which seemed as if it had been dusted with golden sand; +grey eyes, which, with the pleasantest expression, looked you +right in the face; an Englishman's clear skin; mobile lips, +which parted on the slightest pretext in a sunny smile; just +enough moustache to shade his upper lip. Altogether as agreeable +looking a young gentleman as one might hope to meet. And his +manners bore out the promise of his appearance. Always cool, +easy, self-possessed, ready to perform little services for +women, the aged, the infirm, in a fashion which, so far as our +present-day young men are concerned, is a little out of date. +With the pleasantest voice and trick of speech, no chatterer, it +seemed impossible for him to say a disagreeable or an unkind +thing either to or of anyone. It was a standing joke among his +intimates that, when scandal-mongering was in the air, Elmore +would spoil the fun by pointing out the good qualities of those +attacked and refusing to see anything else but them. He had ever +an excuse to offer for the most notorious sinner. It was not +wonderful that everybody liked him. On his part, he seemed +incapable of disliking anyone. He might rob his friend of all +that he had, but he would not regard him as less his friend on +that account. +To this rule, so far as he knew, there was only one exception, +and as time went on this exception surprised him more and more. +There was only one person who he felt sure disliked him, and why +he disliked him was beyond his comprehension. This person was +the uncle in whose office he was a clerk--Graham Patterson. Mr. +Patterson was Mrs. Elmore's brother. Rodney quite understood +that his uncle had not offered him the position he held, but had +only received him at his mother's particular request. There had +been that in his uncle's manner which had struck him as peculiar +from the first, as if he were prejudiced against him before they +met, regarding him with suspicion and dislike. As, for some +reason which he would have liked to have had explained, he had +never seen his uncle till he entered his office, his relative's +attitude struck him as distinctly odd; but, in his light-hearted +way, he told himself that he would gain his uncle's esteem +before they had been acquainted long. However, they had been +acquainted now nearly three years, and he was conscious that his +uncle esteemed him as little as ever. He wondered why.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Patterson's appearance was against him; he was big and +bloated. A City merchant of the old school, he was addicted to +the pleasures of the table and fond--for one of his habit of +body unduly fond--of what he called a "glass of wine." He liked +half a pint of port with his luncheon and a pint for his dinner, +he being just the kind of person who never ought to have touched +port at all. Nor, when his health permitted, was his daily +allowance of stimulants by any means confined to his pint and a +half of port. The result was that he suffered both in mind and +body. The "governor's temper" was a byword in the office. When, +to use his own phrase, he was "a little below par" he would fly +into such fits of passion about the merest trivialities that +those about him used to regard his "paddies" as part of the +daily routine; so soon as he was out of his "paddy" he had +forgotten all about it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Although his methods were a little old-fashioned, he was still +an excellent man of business. The staple of his trade was silk, +but latterly he had added other lines. In these days of shoddy +the quality of his goods was above suspicion; he did a +remunerative trade in everything he touched. In the trade no +man's commercial integrity stood higher than Graham Patterson's; +whoever dealt with him could be sure that everything would be +all right. His books showed every year a comfortable turnover at +fair rates of profit. There were those in his employ who were of +opinion that if only a younger and more pushing man could have a +voice in the management of affairs, the business might rapidly +become one of the finest in the city of London.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney Elmore had not been long in his uncle's office before +this opinion became emphatically his. He was conscious of +commercial abilities of the most unusual kind, and was convinced +that if he could only get a chance he would double both the +turnover and the profits in so short a space of time that his +uncle could not fail to be gratified. Since he was the nephew of +his uncle, and, indeed, his only male relative, he did not see +why he should not have a chance. When he first went to St. +Paul's Churchyard he had hopes, but these hopes had grown +dimmer. His perceptions on such matters were keen; few persons, +no matter what their age, could see farther into a brick wall +than he. He felt certain that his uncle only kept him at all +because Mrs. Elmore had wrung from him a promise that he should +have a place, of sorts, in his office. So far from having an eye +to his nephew's advancement, it seemed to Rodney that his uncle +even went out of his way to let him have as little as possible +to do with the conduct of his business. It was true that he had +a room for his separate use, and, though it was but a tiny one, +on this foundation, at the beginning, he built much. But before +long he understood that what he had reared were castles in the +air. It seemed to Rodney before long that it must have been Mr. +Patterson's intention to keep him apart from the others in order +that he might know nothing of what was going on. His own work +was of the simplest clerical kind; occasionally he was sent on +an errand of no importance. He seemed free to come when he +liked, and leave when he chose; nobody appeared to care what he +did, or left undone. For these onerous labours he had been paid +the first year eighty pounds, the second a hundred, then a +hundred and twenty; now, after three years, he wondered what was +going to happen next. Obviously an office boy could do what he +had to do for five shillings a week. +Under the circumstances, the fact that he had acquired such an +insight into the ins and outs, the pros and cons, of his uncle's +business transactions spoke volumes for his keenness and acumen. +He often smiled to himself as he pictured the expression which +would come on his uncle's rubicund countenance if he guessed +what an intimate knowledge his office boy had of his affairs. +Rodney was perfectly aware that the expression would not be one +of pleasure; that his knowledge would not be regarded as the +fruit of promising zeal, but as something which could only be +adequately described by a flood of uncomplimentary adjectives. +What was at the back of Graham Patterson's mind the young man, +with all his shrewdness, had still no notion. He was one of the +few men he had met who puzzled him. But of this much he was +clear--that, while for his sister's sake Mr. Patterson was +willing that his nephew should have a seat in his office, the +less active interest the young man took in the duties he was, +presumably, paid to perform the better pleased his employer +would be. Elmore was of a hopeful disposition, willing to +persevere if he saw even a remote chance of ultimate gain. But +so convinced was he that his uncle, if he could help it, would +never, on his own initiative, advance him to a position of trust +that, before this, he would have cast about for a chance of +improving his prospects--had it not been for a young lady.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had already been more than two years in his uncle's +employment, and was meditating leaving it at a very early date, +when one afternoon, Mr. Patterson being out, he heard an unknown +feminine voice speaking in the outer office, and unexpectedly +the door of his own den was opened, and someone entered--a girl. +Slipping the papers he was assiduously studying into his desk +with lightning-like rapidity, he rose to greet her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you Rodney Elmore?" He smilingly owned that he was. "Then +you're my cousin. How are you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">His cousin? He did not know that he had such a relative in the +world. She held out her hand. Almost before he knew it he had it +in his; whether willingly or not, she left it in his quite an +appreciable space of time. He admitted his ignorance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I didn't know I had such a delightful thing as a cousin."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Isn't that queer? I didn't till the other day. I'm Gladys +Patterson; your uncle's my father."</p> + +<p class="normal">For once in his life Rodney was taken by surprise. His +researches into his uncle's affairs had been confined to their +commercial side. He knew practically nothing of his private +life. He had never heard it spoken of, and had asked no +questions. He had a vague idea that his uncle was a bachelor. He +knew that he lived in rooms, and--accidentally--had learnt that +he had relations with certain ladies of a kind which one does +not associate with a family man. That he had ever had a wife +and, still less, a daughter he had never guessed. Even in the +midst of his surprise he reproached himself for his stupidity +that such an important point should have escaped him! As he +regarded the girl in front of him he perceived that she was her +father's child.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was about his height, he being short and fat. One day, if +appearances were not misleading, she also would be plump. +Already she had something of her father's rubicund countenance; +her cheeks were red, even a trifle blotchy. She had dark hair +and eyes, both her mouth and nose were a little too big. Yet he +did not find her disagreeable to look at. On the contrary, there +was something about her which appealed to him, just as he was +conscious that there was something about him which appealed to +her. Where a girl was concerned it was strange how some subtle +instinct told him these things. He was moved to audacity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you're my cousin, oughtn't I to kiss you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her eyes lit up. Her lips parted, showing her beautiful teeth; +if they were a little large, they were very white and even.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I've had no experience of cousins, how can I say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shouldn't like you to feel that I'm beginning by evading +what, for aught either of us can tell, might be my duty."</p> + +<p class="normal">Stooping, he kissed her on the mouth. Though it was little more +than a butterfly's kiss, her lips seemed to meet his with a +gentle pressure which he found agreeable.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are a cousin!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm glad you are," he replied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Didn't you really know you had a cousin?" He shook his head. +"Nor I; isn't it queer? I only found it out the other day by the +merest accident; in some respects dad is the most secretive +person. I've been abroad for the last five years. How old do you +think I am?"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a frankness, a friendliness about this cousin which +amused him. In that sense she could not have been more unlike +her sire.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Twenty-two."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm twenty-five--isn't it awful? How old are you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I regret to say that I am only twenty-three. I'm afraid you'll +regard me as only a kid."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I? I don't think I shall. You don't look as if you were +'only a kid.' I've been what papa calls 'finishing my +education.' Fancy! at my time of life! If my mother had been +living I shouldn't have stood it; but, as you know, she died +when I was only a tiny tot; and I knew dad--so I lay, +comparatively, low. I've been living here and there and +everywhere with the queerest duennas, though they really have +been dears; and now and then I have had a good time, though I've +had some frightfully dull ones. But at last I have struck. You +know we've got a house in Russell Square?" Again he shook his +head. "What do you know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So far as you are concerned--nothing. I know that I'm clerk to +my uncle, and that's all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, we have got a house in Russell Square. It's been shut up +all these years--papa's been living in rooms. But I've made him +refurbish it, and he's made it really nice--when he does +undertake to do a thing he does it well--and I'm installed in it +as mistress. Of course, I know Russell Square's out of the way, +but they are good houses, and, if I can only manage dad, I'm +going to have a real good time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did he tell you about me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not he. Don't I tell you that I only discovered your existence +by the merest accident? Do you remember a boy named Henderson +who was at school with you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alfred Henderson--very well; we moved together from form to +form."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know his sister Cissie; we were at school together, years +ago, and she knows you. She told me the other day that you were +in your uncle's office in St. Paul's Churchyard, and that his +name was Graham Patterson, and was he any relation of mine. I +nearly had a fit. When dad came home I bombarded him with +questions---- What have you done to offend him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing of which I'm conscious. Ever since I've been in the +office I've been aware that he dislikes me, though I assure you +that I've done my best to please him and give him no cause of +complaint."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, he does not like you, and that's a fact. He as good as +forbade me to make your acquaintance; but, as he wouldn't give +any reasons, I decided to find out for myself what sort of +person you were, and--then be guided by circumstances. The truth +is, I've had enough of obeying dad, and that's another fact. If +I'm not careful I shall end my days in a convent, and the +conventual life has not the slightest attraction for me. I've +got a will of my own, and when a girl is twenty-five it's about +time that she should let such a very unreasonable parent as mine +seems to be know it. I'm sure Cissie Henderson is a girl who +knows what she is talking about, and as she said all sorts of +nice things about you, and nothing else but nice things, I made +up my mind that, since I had a cousin, I'd find out for myself +what kind of cousin my cousin was. There is dad. Now you see how +I manage him."</p> + +<p class="normal">A heavy step and a loud voice were heard without; then the door +was thrown back upon its hinges.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gladys! What does this mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've come to see my cousin, dad, as I told you I should do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come into my room."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Directly, dad. I want Rodney to come and dine with us +to-night."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her father perceptibly winced at his daughter's use of the +Christian name.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To-night? Impossible! I'm engaged."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you? Then in that case he can come and keep me company +while you are out. We ought to have heaps of things to say to +each other. Do you mind?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The question was put to Elmore. Mr. Patterson glared.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gladys, I want you to come with me to the theatre to-night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear dad, this is the first time I've heard of it--and, if +you don't mind, I'd much rather not. One can go to the theatre +any night, but one can't discover that one has a cousin, and +meet him for the first time, every day. I'd much rather Rodney +would come to dine. Won't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Again the question was put to Elmore.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd be very glad to come--with Mr. Patterson's permission."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You hear, dad? He'll come, with your permission. Nothing would +please you more than that he should come, would it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The father looked into the daughter's eyes, seeming to see +something in them which kept him from uttering words which were +at the tip of his tongue. He spoke gruffly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps he has an engagement."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not any."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if you had, you'd throw it over to dine with us, wouldn't +you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I certainly would."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see, papa, what a compliment he pays you. Come, since it +seems that he doesn't regard my invitation as sufficient, will +you please ask him to dine with us to-night?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Again the father eyed his daughter. The observant youth, as he +glanced from one to the other, was struck by the unmistakable +evidence that this young woman was her father's child. He did +not doubt that she had more than a touch of the paternal temper. +He saw that Mr. Patterson, fearful of an exhibition of it then +and there, as the lesser of two evils, yielded, not gracefully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He can come if he likes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, papa. You haven't a very pretty way--has he?--but as +my invitation couldn't possibly be warmer, I'm sure you'll +regard dad's endorsement as more than sufficient. So you will +come?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall be only too delighted."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, then, Gladys, come to my room. I want to speak to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Coming, dad. Remember, Rodney, our address is 90, Russell +Square, and we dine at eight; but if you come any time after +half-past seven you'll find me ready. You can't think how dad +and I will look forward to your coming."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_03" href="#div1Ref_03">RODNEY ELMORE THE FIRST</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">That was a curious dinner party. Elmore quite expected that when +he had rid himself of his daughter his uncle would come and tell +him that he was not to regard the invitation as having been +seriously intended, and that he was not to present himself in +Russell Square. But nothing of the sort occurred. He saw and +heard no more of Mr. Patterson until he quitted the office, and +just before a quarter to eight he entered the drawing-room at +No. 90. Miss Patterson, who was its sole occupant, rose as he +entered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's very good of you," she said, while she continued to allow +her hand to remain in his, "to take the hint, and come early. +Dad never shows till dinner's served, so that I shall have a +chance of finding out before he comes what is the meaning of the +extraordinary attitude he is taking up towards you. He simply +poses as the father who has got to be obeyed, and as that sort +of thing appears to be ridiculous, as I ventured to tell him, I +expect you to tell me all about it."</p> + +<p class="normal">He told her all he had to tell, which was very little, in such +fashion that inside fifteen minutes they were on terms almost of +intimacy. He was one of those men who have a natural attraction +for contrasting types of women; emphatically for that type of +which Gladys Patterson was an example. The master of the house +did not enter till dinner was served, and by the time they were +seated at table Elmore was already aware that his cousin offered +a pleasant and promising field for such experiments as he might +choose to devise.</p> + +<p class="normal">Conversation was almost entirely confined to the two younger +members of the party, the initiative being taken by Gladys, +Elmore acting as a sort of chorus. The meal was of the solid, +plentiful, well-cooked order, which one felt would appeal to the +host. Beyond replying shortly to an occasional inquiry addressed +to him by his daughter, Mr. Patterson's whole attention was +given to his food, and wine. When dessert was on the table his +daughter asked him:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Going out to-night, dad--as usual?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," he responded briefly, "I'm not."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young woman looked at her cousin with a twinkle in her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dad follows the good old-fashioned custom of sitting over his +wine. He thinks that a glass of port gives a proper finish to a +meal. If you don't think so you can come into the drawing-room +with me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He'll stay here," observed the sire succinctly.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the damsel was equal to the occasion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well, dad; then I'll stay too. And since this table really +is too big for three, I think, Rodney, it would be more comfy if +I were to bring my chair closer to yours. Are you fond of the +theatre?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Having brought her chair to within a foot of Elmore's she +entered with him into an animated discussion on the subject of +favourite plays and players, while the host, practically +speechless, sat at the head of his board drinking more port than +was good for him. Elmore, who could be abstemious enough when he +liked, had followed his cousin's lead, and drank nothing but +mineral water. At last the young lady used his self-denial as a +pivot to gain her own ends.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really, dad, as Rodney won't join you in drinking, it's absurd +our stopping here, especially as I want some music, so please, +sir, will you come with me at once into the drawing-room?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Before the slow-witted host, whose brains had not been rendered +more active by his libations, had awoke to the meaning of his +daughter's proposition, she had borne the guest with her from +the room. They were alone together in the drawing-room for more +than half an hour. If the music of which Gladys had spoken +was not much in evidence, their acquaintance moved at a rate +which was only possible in the case of a young man who was +willing--nay, eager--to take advantage of the peculiarities of a +young woman's temperament. So that when his uncle did appear, +with eyes a little dulled and feet a little unsteady, Rodney was +quite ready to make his adieux and his cousin to excuse him. +The acquaintance, thus commenced, not only continued, but +advanced by leaps and bounds. Mr. Patterson's habits being those +of a bachelor of a not too strait-laced kind rather than those +of a family man, he did not find his daughter's society so +congenial and satisfying as he might have done. Being desirous +of doing as he liked, he left her with more freedom than he +himself was perhaps aware of. She would even have not been +without justification had she chosen to regard herself as +neglected. But for what seemed to her to be sufficient reasons, +she was content that her parent should amuse himself as he +liked, though his doing so resulted in his practically +overlooking her altogether.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney Elmore never went again to the house in Russell Square as +his uncle's guest, but he went there more than once as his +daughter's, and that sometimes at hours and under circumstances +which were, to say the least, unconventional. More frequently +their meetings were not in the neighbourhood of Bloomsbury. Mr. +Patterson had a fondness for week-ending, without informing his +daughter with whom he spent his time or where. It was not +strange if, during such absences, his daughter did her best to +avoid being too much alone. More than one such Sunday she and +Rodney spent together from quite an early hour to quite a late +one. Before long they were on terms which certainly could not +have been more intimate had they been an engaged couple. But +they were not, on that point they supposed that they understood +each other thoroughly. Gladys had less than two hundred a year +of her own, left her by her mother; and Rodney was pretty sure +that if she married him her means would not be materially +increased for many a day to come--if ever. He was by no means +sure that he cared for her enough to marry her if all he got +with her in marriage was her person; no one could be clearer +than he was that she would not make the sort of wife who would +be likely to be in any way whatever of assistance to a +struggling husband. Her attitude was almost equally practical. +That she liked him much more than he liked her was sure; there +was hardly anything he could ask of her which she would not be +willing to give. She believed in him much more than he believed +in her; in her eyes he was nearly a hero. But, not being quite +blind, she realised that, as things were, marriage for them was +out of the question. She knew her father, and was aware that +while up to a certain point she could do with him as she liked, +if on a matter of capital importance he bade her not to do such +and such a thing, and she did it, he would cut her as completely +out of his life as if she had not been in it, and never miss +her. She was conscious that she was as unfitted for love in a +cottage as Elmore was; was, perhaps, even dimly alive to the +fact that in such a position her plight would be worse than +his was. So that their association was based on that quite +up-to-date article of faith which sets forth that though a young +man and a young woman can never be husband and wife, they may +still be "pals."</p> + +<p class="normal">Elmore's position in the office was not improved by the incident +of his having been a guest in Russell Square. Though his uncle +never spoke to him upon the subject--nor, indeed, if he could +help it, on any other--his nephew's acute perception realised +that he had not grown to like him any more. As time went on a +doubt began to grow up within him as to whether his uncle had +not some inkling of the relations which existed between him and +his daughter. That his doubt was well founded he was ultimately +to learn. One morning, soon after his uncle's arrival, a request +came to him to go to him at once in his room. When he went in he +was struck, not by any means for the first time, by certain +points about his uncle's appearance. He felt convinced that his +relative's was not, from the insurance point of view, a good +life. Rodney Elmore knew little of medicine, yet he hazarded a +private opinion that Graham Patterson was a promising subject +for an apoplectic stroke--the kind of man who, at any moment of +undue stress, might have cerebral trouble from which he might +not find it easy to recover. He caught himself wondering whether +if, by any mischance, his uncle became the victim of such a +catastrophe, it might not be worth his while to marry his +cousin, if, indeed, that would not be the lady's own point of +view. Were Graham Patterson to have such a stroke, it was at +least within the range of possibility that he might never again +be in a condition to manage his own affairs; in which case who +would be so likely to be appointed administrator as the husband +of his only child?</p> + +<p class="normal">While such gruesome imaginings occupied his mind, the subject of +them continued to regard him with a stolid silence which at last +struck him as singular.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was told, sir, that you wished to speak to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">He said this with the little air of pleasant deference of which +he was such a master and which became him so well. His uncle +still said nothing, but continued to glare at him with his +bloodshot eyes as if he were some strange object in an +exhibition. He really looked so odd that Rodney began to wonder +if that stroke was already in the air. He tried again to move +him to speech.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I trust, sir, that nothing disagreeable has happened."</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet some seconds passed before his uncle did speak. When he did +it was with a hard sort of ferocity which his listener felt +accorded well with the singularity of his appearance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You took my daughter to the Palace Theatre last night."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney wondered from whom he had learned the fact, being +convinced that it was not from his daughter. However, since he +could scarcely ask, he tried another line, one which he was +conscious went close to the verge of insolence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope, sir, that the Palace is not a theatre to which you +object. Just now it has one of the best entertainments in +London."</p> + +<p class="normal">Only in a very narrow sense could his uncle's response be +regarded as a reply to his words.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're an infernal young scoundrel!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney did not attempt to feign resentment he did not feel. His +quickly-moving wits told him that he was at last brought face to +face with a position which he had for some time foreseen, and +that for him the best attitude would probably be one of modest +humility--at least, to begin with.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't think, sir, you are entitled to use such language to me +on such slight grounds."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you? You--you--beauty!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Obviously Mr. Patterson had substituted a different word for the +one he had intended to use. Taking a slip of paper out of the +drawer of the writing-table at which he was seated, he held it +out towards Rodney.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do, sir."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know what it is?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It appears to be a cheque."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know what cheque it is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you will allow me to examine it more closely I shall perhaps +be able to say."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can examine it as closely as you please so long as it is in +my hands. I wouldn't trust it in your hands for a good deal."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why do you say that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You impudent young blackguard!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And that, sir?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say it, you brazen young hypocrite, because that cheque +happens to be a forgery, and you are the man who forged it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sir! I know that you are used to allow yourself a large license +in the way of language, but this time, although you are my +uncle, you go too far."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I intend to go much farther before I've done--and don't you +throw the fact that I'm your uncle in my face, the most decent +men have blackguards for relatives. This cheque was originally +made out for eight pounds. I told you to ask young Metcalf to +get cash for it. Between this room and Metcalf's desk you +altered it to eighty pounds. It was easily done--especially by +an expert like you. He brought you eighty pounds; you gave me +eight, and kept seventy-two. You were aware that Metcalf was +leaving the office that day to join his brother in Canada; you +calculated that probably before the thing was discovered he +would be on the high seas, and that, therefore, since everyone +knew how much he was in want of cash, I should lay the guilt at +his door--you dirty cur! But I didn't, never for one instant; +the instant I saw the cheque I recognised your hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You recognised my hand? What do you mean by that, sir?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Patterson took something else out of his writing-table +drawer, which, this time, he handed to his nephew.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look at that."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a portrait--the photograph of a man in the early prime of +life.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you think it might be yours?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney felt that, allowing for the changes made by a few +superimposed years, the resemblance to himself was striking, so +striking that it was startling. The eyes looked at him out of +the portrait with an expression which he recognised as so like +his own that it bewildered him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's the portrait of your father. You don't remember him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I knew him all his life. You are so like what he was at your +age that more than once when I have looked at you I have had an +uncomfortable feeling that he had come back again to haunt me. +Never was son more like his father, in all things."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney winced, scarcely knowing why. His uncle went on.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your mother never spoke to you of him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never."</p> + +<p class="normal">"She had what she supposed to be sufficient reasons for her +reticence; she wished to hide from you, if possible, the +knowledge of what manner of man your father was, thinking that +the knowledge of the heritage of shame which he had left behind +might drive you to walk in his footsteps. I was of a different +opinion. I held that if you had in you any of the makings of a +decent man, the knowledge of the sort of man your father was +would serve you as a warning to keep off the path he'd followed. +However, you were your mother's child, not mine, thank God; she +had her way, though I warned her that the time would probably +come when I should have to tell you the story she would rather +have bitten off her tongue than tell."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Patterson paused, keeping his eyes fixed on the young man in +front of him. There was a quality in his gaze which made Rodney +conscious of a sense of discomfort to which he had been hitherto +a stranger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are so like your father that you even have his Christian +name. Rodney Elmore the first was one of those creatures who +sometimes come into the world, who could not run straight if +they tried--and they never try. He was one of Nature's thieves; +a born scamp; a lifelong blackguard. Your mother was my only +sister; the only relative I had. I did not understand him so +well before she married him as I did afterwards, but I +understood him well enough to have kept her from marrying him if +I could. But he was one of those hounds who, if they cannot get +what they want by fair means, will not hesitate to get it by +foul; he even won his wife by foul means, taking advantage of +her girlish innocence so that she had to become his wife to save +her good name. She lived for six years with him in hell. Then he +was detected in a series of frauds which would probably have +resulted in his being sent to penal servitude for life. Rather +than face the music, he committed suicide."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again Mr. Patterson paused, and his nephew, on his side, kept +still. It seemed to him that his uncle's voice was the voice of +doom; he was aware of a sensation of actual physical pain as he +listened, as if sentence had not only been pronounced, but +punishment also begun. He had wondered vaguely more than once +what manner of man his father was, and, since she had +volunteered no information, had put questions on the subject to +his mother. But she had staved them off in a fashion which +suggested--since even in the days of his boyhood his mental +processes were sufficiently acute--that there was not much to be +told about him which redounded to his credit. So, as years +brought wisdom, his curiosity became less and less; a feeling +grew up in his bosom that perhaps the less he knew about his +father the better it might be. Never, however, had his most +pessimistic imaginings come near the reality as portrayed by his +uncle. He, the son of a lifelong rogue, who had only escaped the +penalty of his misdeeds by self-destruction! He began to +apprehend the meaning of the attitude his uncle had taken up +towards him. His uncle did his best to assist him to a clearer +comprehension.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never would have anything to do with you. I had suffered too +much from your father to be willing by any overt act to +acknowledge your existence, especially as a relative of mine. I +resented your existence. I am not more superstitious than the +average man, but I had a strong conviction that with you it +would be a case of like father like son. The paternal qualities +were too strong, too ingrained, too much the very essence of his +being not to be transmitted. When your mother came and begged me +to take you into my office I asked her point-blank if you were +not your father's son. She denied it. I believed then that she +lied; now I know it. I have no doubt that she had detected you +over and over again in acts which recalled your father."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney wondered if that really was the case. She had never +hinted anything of the sort to him. He understood now why, with +her dying breath, she had entreated him to be honest. Did she +realise at the very portals of death what a broken reed his +promise was? He shivered at the thought.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So soon as you came into this office I knew that I had been +right, and that you were every inch your father's son. You are +clever; don't suppose that I don't appreciate the fact. I am not +so clever, which fact you have taken rather too much for +granted. You have overlooked one quality I have, and that is--a +nose for a thief. I owe to it a good deal of such success as I +have had--in a sense, I can smell a thief so soon as he comes +near me. Of course, in your case I had your father's record to +help me; but I think that, without it, I should have scented +you, your odour was so pungent. You had not been in the place a +month before you began to play your little tricks. I do not +flatter myself that I found you out in all of them, but I did in +a good many. I said nothing, but I made a note of each, and have +the complete record in a certain volume which will possibly be +produced one day in a court of assize. Then there came the +incident of the cheque--the eight pounds which you turned into +eighty. When I saw that cheque I realised that immunity had +given you courage, and that you were beginning to fly at higher +game. I am, as I believe you and other gentlemen in the office +are aware, a regular old fogey, a dray-horse sort of man. I +never, if I can help it, arrive at a hasty decision. I put that +cheque aside and waited; you see, although you live to the age +of Methuselah, a thing like this is always up against you--you +can never get away from it. I was in no hurry." +Again Mr. Patterson paused. Leaning back in his chair, he +smiled. Rodney told himself that he resembled an ogre who was +enjoying, in anticipation, the meal he proposed to make of him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"After all, my lad, although you are so clever, you're a +fool--indeed, your cleverness is folly. If you had to be +dishonest, hadn't you sense enough to gratify your instincts on +less dangerous lines? You have made a serious mistake in +underrating me; perhaps that's because your experience of men is +small. I've been watching you; you've been living in a fool's +paradise--your conscience has never pinched you because you have +never feared discovery. Yet, if you had troubled yourself to +think, you must have known that, sooner or later, discovery was +bound to come, and that, when it did, I had you. You were a +fool, my lad, a fool."</p> + +<p class="normal">The speaker's smile grew more pronounced. To his nephew's +thinking it became more and more like an ogre's grin. But when +he went on it not only vanished, but its place was taken by +something which was unpleasantly like a snarl.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then my daughter came on the scene. There, again, you were at +fault, because it so happens that I understand my daughter +almost as well as you do. She may think herself romantic, but +she isn't--there's no more romance about her than there is about +me. She's a healthy, vigorous female animal, with her father's +blood in her veins, and her father's fondness for the good +things of this life of all sorts and kinds. She's seen little of +men, especially young men, and I quite appreciate the fact that +you're just the sort of young man at whose head she would fling +herself--with a little delicate encouragement from you. But she +won't, don't you make any mistake, my lad. I haven't forgotten +how your father won your mother; and I promise you you shan't +win my daughter in the same way. On the day on which I suspected +you of any such intention you'd be branded as a gaol bird, and +for the whole remainder of your life you'd be passing in and out +of prison gates. I'm asking for no promise, being aware that +you're one of Nature's liars, I know that not the least reliance +is to be placed on any word you utter, but I'm giving you a +promise. You can make any excuse to her you like--I'm sure +you're a whale at excuses; if you ever speak to her again, even +to tell her that you're not to speak; if you ever write to her; +if you ever hold any communication with her whatever, you'll +pass into the hands of the police, and I'll tell her your story +and your father's. My girl has another thing in common with her +father--she's honest, she hates a rogue. And if she knew that +you were a common kennel thief, as your father was before you, +she'd have no more truck with you if you were twenty times her +husband, and I don't believe she'd move a finger to save you +from penal servitude. I'm not going to turn you away; you're +going to continue to occupy your present position in my office, +so that I can keep my eye on you, so don't you try to turn tail +and run. Now we understand each other. I have my morning letters +to attend to, but I thought I'd better have this little +explanation with you first. Now you can go; take my advice--if +you can--steal no more. If you keep along the same path you'll +find at the end what your father found, he was no more anxious +to find it than you are--suicide."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_04" href="#div1Ref_04">THE THREE GIRLS AND THE THREE<br> +TELEGRAMS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">His uncle's words were in Rodney's ears for days afterwards. Was +it conceivable that he, to whom life was so sweet a thing, could +under any circumstances seek refuge in a suicide's grave? It was +horrid that his father should have been that sort of man; it was +hard on him. His mother ought to have told him; at least he +would have been on his guard. No wonder his uncle had been +prejudiced against him; had his mother not been so unkindly +silent, he might--well, he might have framed his conduct, so far +as his uncle was concerned, on different lines. How could he +have guessed that his uncle was observing him with almost +unnatural keenness; while, all the time, he supposed him to be +purblind? It was a most unfortunate position for a young fellow +to be placed in; a word from his mother would have been of such +assistance. He was always reluctant to blame anyone; yet he +could not but feel that his parents had not used him well; with +that moral colour-blindness, which was one of his most striking +characteristics, he was already beginning to lump them together, +though he knew perfectly well, of his own knowledge, that, in +all things, his mother had been the soul of honour. +He was most awkwardly placed as regards his cousin; he had +engagements with her which he was aware she would resent his +breaking; and her father had even forbidden him to explain. Not +that he could think of any explanation which would meet the case +from her point of view; she was apt to be quick-tempered where +he was concerned, and he was most anxious to keep in with her; +one never knew what might happen. He had been cramming up the +subject of apoplexy, both from books, and from the lips of +medical acquaintances; and he felt sure, from certain little +things he had noticed, that it was quite possible that his uncle +might have a stroke at any second; and, of course, if he did, +the situation would be entirely altered. But, at the same time, +that could not be counted on; and, in the meanwhile, there was +Gladys both to consider and conciliate. Still, he managed; his +dexterity in such matters was remarkable. He contrived that a +communication should reach his cousin to the effect that her +father had forbidden him to meet her, on pain of instant +dismissal, and that, to save her from the paternal anger, he had +promised that he would not even write to her. He counselled her, +however, to be patient, expressing his conviction that this +state of things was not likely to continue, and that before long +they would be more than compensated for the brief period during +which they would be separated one from the other.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then he went to his uncle in his room at the office, and telling +him, what was quite true, that Gladys had written asking for an +explanation of his sudden cessation of their intimacy, requested +him, for everybody's sake, since he had ordered him not to write +to her, to inform her himself of the prohibition he had laid +upon his nephew. This, grimly enough, Mr. Patterson undertook to +do, and doubtless did. And for more than a fortnight Rodney +Elmore had quite a dull time. Then a sequence of events came +crowding on him so rapidly that within a period of some +eight-and-forty hours the whole course of his life was changed.</p> + +<p class="normal">The sequence began on a certain Saturday morning. Before he was +yet out of his bedroom he was informed that Mr. Austin had +called; and, indeed, the words were hardly spoken before Tom +showed himself in. Rodney was unfeignedly glad to see him. He +had always liked Tom, who was the antipodes of himself; a +red-headed, freckle-faced, simple-minded youth, who was not +likely to set the Thames on fire, and who, in fact, had no +desires in that direction. He had "cut" college for a few days, +but had to hurry back by an early train; which explained the +matutinal hour he had chosen for a call. He brought news that +Stella was in town, staying with some people over Kensington +way; and suggested, as he rather thought that Stella found it +dullish, that he should look her up, if possible that very +afternoon, and take her somewhere. Rodney declared that he would +be only too glad to have the chance; he would get away early +from the office, and go straight to her, and would let her have +a wire at once to let her know that he was coming.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, when they adjourned to breakfast, a meal at which the +visitor expressed his readiness to assist, Tom volunteered the +information that he had been down to see Mary Carmichael, who +was staying with an aunt at Hove. She was quite well, was Mary, +and, if anything, prettier than ever; and he rather thought +that, at last, he had fixed things up with her. As he said this +he flushed a red which was not at all the same shade as his +hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know," he observed, "how she's always refused to take me +seriously, and what a job I've had to get her to do it, and how +she's always ragged me, pretending that I was too young to know +my own mind, and all that sort of rot. Well, this time I rather +fancy that I've convinced her that I do know my own mind; and, +what's more, I fancy that I've found out what's in hers too. You +know, she's always stuck out that she'd have nothing to say to +me about--you know what, till I'd taken my degree. Of course, I +ought to have taken the beastly thing ages ago; there's no need +for anyone to tell me that; but this time I am going to do the +trick--you see. Everyone will tell you that I've been working +like blazes, and even my tutor has hopes. Mary as good as told +me last night that if I once got the thing the banns could go up +inside three months--honestly, she did. Of course, she was only +laughing; you know how she does laugh at a fellow; but I believe +she meant it, all the same. I say, this ham of yours is top +hole; I'll have another whack."</p> + +<p class="normal">While Tom helped himself to the other "whack," his friend said +with a sigh:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're a lucky beggar to be able to think of marriage at your +time of life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't I know it? For that I've got the pater to thank; he's +been making more piles. All he really wants is that I should +settle down; nothing would please him better than to see me +married; he'd be almost as glad as I should to have Mary as a +member of the family. Isn't it queer that while I've liked Mary +all her life I've liked her more and more as time went on, +until--well, if I do get her I shall have got all I want."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, with all my heart, I hope you get her."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've decided hopes, old man--decided. I say, you know, Stella's +not a bad sort, although I am her brother."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think that I don't know it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're the best pal I have in the world, and--I don't think she +objects to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tom, dear old chap, don't say another word--please. I'm never +going to ask a girl to marry me until I'm in a position to keep +her as my wife should be kept."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's sound enough in a general way; but as regards this +particular case it's all tuppence. Stella has money, and the +pater, if properly worked, would supply more; I happen to know +that he's quite willing she should marry anyone she likes, so +long as it's a decent chap--and he knows you're that. Why, if it +comes to that, he could slip you, as easy as winking, into a +much better berth than the one you have at your uncle's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tom, I know you're the best chum a man ever had, and one day +I'm going to prove it. I haven't your happy knack of baring my +heart, even to myself; I'm a more secretive kind of brute; but, +like you, I have my dreams, and before very long I hope to have +good news for you. But now, please, don't say anything more +about it."</p> + +<p class="normal">And Tom said nothing; he changed the subject to Oxford gossip, +chattering away light-heartedly while Rodney glanced at the +letters which the morning post had brought. Among them was one +in a bold, slashing hand, which he knew well.</p> +<br> + +<p style="text-indent:50%">"90, Russell Square.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:70%">"Friday.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Dear Old Boy</span>,--The dad's gone off weekending without notice, +and I never found out what he was going to do till it was too +late to get at you, or I would have got; so here am I in this +great mausoleum of a house all on my lonesome. To-morrow, +early, I've an engagement with Cissie Henderson, but in the +evening--and no nonsense, sir!--you'll have to dine me in some +quiet place, where there are no prying eyes; and afterwards you +can amuse me as you like. No excuse will be accepted; I want to +spend to-morrow evening in your society, and I'm going to--and +the dad can go hang! So mind you send me a wire directly you get +this to let me know where I'm to meet you--at seven, sir!--and +don't let there be any mistake about it. Until we do meet,</p> + +<p class="right">"Yours, G."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">As he read this characteristic note of an up-to-date young woman +a chord was touched somewhere in Rodney's being which made him +conscious of a pleasant little thrill. Even while Austin +chattered he was telling himself that he also would let the +lady's "dad go hang," and that she should spend the evening in +his society, be the consequences what they might.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the visitor departed it was understood that Rodney would +send a wire on his way to the office to let Stella know at what +time she might expect him. Scarcely had Austin left the house +than there came a telegram for Elmore. He opened it, supposing +it to be from the impatient lady in Russell Square; but he was +wrong. The message ran:</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"Do come down to-morrow and cheer me up. Aunt is going out. I +shall be alone. I have had Tom as companion for three whole +days, so am in need of a tonic. Wire train. Be sure and come.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:60%">"<span class="sc">Mary</span>."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Mary? For a moment he wondered who Mary was. Then he saw that +the message had been handed in at a Brighton post-office, and he +understood. Mary? Mary was Mary Carmichael. At the thought of +her his eyes sparkled and his spirits rose. After a fashion Mary +Carmichael was the feminine creature in all the world that he +liked best. Not only was she pretty, and dainty, and bright, and +smart and clever, but just as Gladys Patterson appealed to him +in one direction so Mary Carmichael did in another. Her telegram +suggested what that direction was; in a way they were birds of a +feather. Tom Austin had been her life-long admirer, slave, her +avowed wooer; quite probably one day she would become his wife; +yet she was not averse to being "cheered up" by his bosom +friend, after confessing, by telegram, that she had been bored +by three days of his society. Rodney chuckled at the thought of +it; the thing seemed to him to be so amusing. Just now Tom had +been telling him, with boyish candour, in single-hearted +confidence in his integrity, that he had come away from Brighton +under the impression that he was shortly to be made the happiest +of men; and here was the girl who was to make him happy so +anxious for an antidote to his society, begging him to do what +Tom clearly had not done--cheer her up--and adding, as a +peculiar inducement, that she would be alone. Poor old Tom! what +a fool he was--and what a little minx was pretty Miss Mary!</p> + +<p class="normal">On his way to the office Rodney sent three telegrams. One to +Stella Austin, at Kensington, to say that he would be with her +as near to two o'clock as possible, and that he hoped she would +come out with him; one to Gladys Patterson, in Russell Square, +asking her to meet him at a restaurant in Jermyn Street at seven +sharp; one to Mary Carmichael, at Hove, informing her that he +would arrive in Brighton to-morrow morning by the train due at +noon. It was a female clerk to whom he handed these three +messages; when she had scanned them she glanced up at him, as he +felt, with a species of curiosity; he had a suspicion that she +smiled.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_05" href="#div1Ref_05">STELLA</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">On the whole, Rodney Elmore spent a pleasant afternoon with +Stella Austin. He took her to the Zoological Gardens, which was +a place she liked. Beyond doubt she enjoyed herself immensely. +She was very fond of animals, even of the most savage kind. In +the wild-beast house, confronting the lions and the tigers, with +Rodney at her side, she wondered, with a little shudder, what +would happen if the creatures all got out. Drawing her arm in +his, he pressed it closely; she liked that, too.</p> + +<p class="normal">From his point of view, the pleasure with which she greeted him +on his arrival at the house in Kensington was almost pathetic. +He reproached her gently for not having told him she was coming +to town. She replied that it had only been decided at the last +moment, and that she was just going to write to him when Tom, +appearing on the scene, offered to take the news in person. The +way in which she took it for granted that he was as glad to see +her as she was to see him appealed to his sympathy so strongly +that he was nearly moved to take her in his arms and kiss her +there and then. But he refrained. He never had kissed Stella, +even in the old days. He had always had a feeling that a kiss +would mean so much more to her than it did to him; indeed, that +was one of her faults in his eyes, that everything meant so much +more to her than it did to him. Often he would have liked to +kiss her; having brought matters to a point at which a kiss was +the next thing which might have been expected, he felt sure that +she had expected it. But he kept himself sufficiently in hand to +stop on the very edge, having it in his mind that it might be as +well for him to be able, some day, if need be, to assert with +truth that he had never gone beyond it. +Ordinarily he would have had no scruples on such a point. Oddly +enough, in a sense, he was afraid of Stella, recognising in her +an essential purity with which he himself had nothing in common. +Her standard of life was so infinitely above his own that he was +always conscious of a sense of strain after being some time in +her company; it came from his attempting to sustain himself in +the rarefied atmosphere in which she moved with ease. He would +have been willing to hold her in his arms; he would have loved +to; but he would not have liked to know that she was his +superior in all essentials; and he would have to know. Sooner or +later she might discover what kind of creature he was; but, +though he believed that in such a plight she would keep her own +counsel, none the less he would resent the discovery she had +made.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, again, his taste in women was fastidious; he was not +sure that she filled all his requirements. She was pleasant +enough to look at; had pretty eyes, a fresh complexion, a tender +smile--sometimes when she smiled he loved her so that it was all +he could do to keep from committing himself utterly. But she was +short and broad for her height; to his thinking her figure +lacked dignity. He had the modern young man's notion that if you +look at the mother you will see what the daughter is going to +be. Mrs. Austin was plump and matronly; he feared that before +long Stella would be the same. He did not care for matronly +women; he liked them tall and slim. Then he was particular about +the way in which a woman dressed; he liked those whom he +favoured with his society, as he put it, to do him credit. He +had felt, only too often, that Stella was almost dowdy; she was +never really smart. Her clothes were good of their kind, but +they suggested the provinces; or she had not the knack of +showing them off to advantage. He liked a girl's foot to be +cased in what he called a pretty stocking, and a smart shoe with +a Louis heel; Stella wore serviceable shoes with low heels, and +the plainest of stockings. With these things in his mind he had +ventured, once, to hint that he would like to have the dressing +of her. She had been silent for some seconds, and had then +replied, scarcely above a whisper, and with downcast eyes:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps one day you will."</p> + +<p class="normal">He was perfectly conscious that that "one day" was the day of +which she was always dreaming. He was not sure that he was so +willing it should come as she was. +But that afternoon he was not disposed to be critical. He was +really glad to see her. It was some time since they had met; he +was nearly surprised to find what a jolly girl she was; her +smile was unusually tender. As they quitted the monkey-house she +spoke of Tom and Mary.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did Tom tell you that he has nearly brought that hard-hearted +Mary of his to the promising point?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He did seem to be sanguine."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor old Tom! I believe if she'd promise quite he'd pass +straight off; it's anxiety which causes him to be ploughed. I've +written to Mary telling her just what I think, and informing her +that she's to keep him no longer suspended between heaven and +earth, but that she's to marry him at once. Mamma wants it, papa +wants it, I want it, Tom wants it--everybody wants it. She's the +dearest girl in the world; but she's a goose."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because she hesitates?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should she? Tom will make her the best husband in the +world--you know he will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps every girl doesn't want 'the best husband in the +world.'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you trying to say something clever? If she has a husband, +of course she does. Do look at those two in front; I've been +watching them. She keeps putting out her hand to feel for his, +or he puts out his to feel for hers. Do you think they're newly +married?"</p> + + class="normal""Is that how you mean to behave when you're newly married?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It depends."</p> + +<p class="normal">"On what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, it depends."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You said that before. On what does it depend?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly a glimpse he caught of the smile which lighted up her +face started him off at a tangent--without waiting for her +answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It seems ages since I saw you last; it's awfully nice to see +you again--especially as you're looking prettier than ever."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you like this frock that I've got on? You ought to, I had it +made specially for you--you are so critical about my clothes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oughtn't a man to be critical about the girl he--he cares for?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you care for me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know I do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How much?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"More than I--dare tell you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope one day, before very long, you'll find courage enough."</p> + +<p class="normal">The challenge was a direct one. In such matters he was +such a creature of impulse that it set his pulses galloping. +They had reached a spot where they had for sole society some +queer-looking birds who peered at them through the wires which +confined them to their runs.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, you mustn't tempt me. If you only knew what I'd give to +be able to take you in my arms."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, it isn't fair of you to talk like that. You say that +sort of thing, and make me feel as if the world were whirling +round and round, and then you go no farther."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know why I go no farther."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't! I don't!"</p> + +<p class="normal">As she turned and looked at him he saw how her cheeks were +flushed; that tears were in her pretty eyes; how her lips were +twisted as by physical pain. He really was so fond of her that +the sight of her suffering moved him almost beyond endurance. +Careless of spectators who might come at any moment to look at +the birds, he took both her hands in his.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He paused; he was conscious how pregnant with meaning the pause +was to her, how she waited for his words. He let them come.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, will you be my wife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know I will! How long have you known it, sir? How long have +you been aware that you had only to ask to have? I go all over +shame when I think of it. I don't--I really don't--think you've +used me quite fairly, sir. Because, you know, you oughtn't to +keep on telling a girl that you care for her, and--then say +nothing more. I've even sometimes wondered if you were playing +with me--I have! Were you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never. How could you think it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I had to think something, hadn't I? And--what could I think? +Then you do really and truly care for me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"With the whole force of my being." She drew a long breath, as +if it were a sigh of pleasure.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you really and truly want me to be your wife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As Tom said of Mary--if I get you I get all that I want in the +world."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, why didn't you try to get me before?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, every man has his own standard. You have money; perhaps +one day you'll have more; I have no money; perhaps I never may +have. Under those circumstances, though I worshipped the ground +you stood on, I had, and have, no right to ask you to be my +wife. I have held out against the temptation to do so over and +over again, but--I could hold out no longer. You must forgive +me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For what? For having what you call 'held out'? I am not sure +that I do. You can't have wanted me so very, very much, or you +wouldn't have held out so long. That's what I feel."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, if you only knew!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if you only knew!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The days I've thought of you, and the nights I've dreamed!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And do you suppose that I can't think--and dream?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sometimes, after I've left you with the words unuttered, and +thought of what I should feel if I had you in my arms, it was +pretty hard to bear."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney!--I wonder if anyone is coming? After all your holding +out, you have--chosen a funny place."</p> + +<p class="normal">Heedless of anyone coming, he put his arm about her waist and +drew her quickly to the comparative shelter of a fairly grown +tree.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Rodney Elmore had started out with Stella Austin nothing +had been farther from his mind than any intention of asking her +to be his wife. He was amazed to find, now that the thing was +done, how pleasant it had been. The whole episode had been +delightful--so delightful that he was loth to bring it to a +close. The rubicon being passed, another Stella was revealed. +The simple question he had put to her might have been some magic +formula, so great a change had it wrought in the maiden. He had +never credited her with the capacity to be so delicious; for she +was delicious in a dozen unsuspected ways. He had been fond of +her before he asked her to be his wife; in less than half an +hour! afterwards he was in love with her. The new Stella had +bewitched him; to such a degree that he would have been willing +to stay with her in the Zoological Gardens for an indefinite +period of time, had he not had a previous engagement. It was +with a feeling of distinct disgust that he realised that he +would have to tear himself away. Nor was the parting rendered +easier by the lady's attitude. She could not be brought to see +that any engagement was of such importance that, on that day of +all days, he was forced to leave her so summarily. Nor would he +have left her, could he have helped it. He assured her, with +perfect truth, that he would have only been too happy to spend +the evening with her at the house of her friends in Kensington, +had he dared, but he did not dare. She asked him why, being now +entitled to ask such questions. He did not tell her that it was +because he was conscious that it might be almost more dangerous +to disappoint his cousin than to rob her father. He fabricated +instead an ingenious lie, which convinced her against her will.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then there arose the question of the morrow. Being Sunday, of +course he would be able to spend the whole of it with her. +There, again, a previous engagement blocked the way. He +explained that, never having anticipated the delightful footing +on which he stood with her, he had made the engagement long ago. +Would she have him break his word? It depended, she said, to +whom his word was pledged; she did think that he might spend +that first Sunday with her. Then he spun a yarn about an old +friend of his mother who had begged him again and again to visit +her, to whom he had promised to go at last. He knew that she had +made all sorts of preparations for his reception; now, if he +were to throw her over she would feel, with justice, that he had +treated her very badly. He could not bear that she should feel +that. She was his mother's dearest friend. Her name was Staples. +She lived in a little village the other side of Dorking. Stella +supposed that, anyhow, he would not have to stay there late. As +to that, he could not say. The Sunday trains to Dorking were +very awkward. But this he promised, at the earliest moment at +which with decency he could get away, he would; and if the hour +of his return to town were not frightfully late he would rush +over to Kensington, if it were only for half a dozen words. But +of this she might be quite certain; he would spend the whole of +Monday evening with her if she would let him; he would come +straight to her from the office.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, finally, on that understanding, they parted; that he would +come to her on Sunday, if only for a minute or two, and that, +anyhow, he would revel in her dear society for so much of Monday +as was left after his office work was done. But, for him, +between that and Monday, the world was to be turned upside down.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_06" href="#div1Ref_06">GLADYS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Hurry as he might, it was nearly half-past seven before Rodney +Elmore reached that restaurant in Jermyn Street at which he was +due at seven. The fault was Stella's. Had she not spun out the +parting to such an unconscionable length, he would have been +able to be there in time. But he could not explain this to +Gladys Patterson, who had never heard of the girl. She rose, as +he came in, from a seat in the vestibule, with a face which +mirrored the anxiety she had felt.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whatever is the matter? I thought that something had happened, +and you weren't coming."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dearest child, I've been the victim of a series of +accidents; I was beginning to wonder myself if I should ever get +here."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then he told another lie--invented on the spur of the moment. He +had not troubled to prepare one on the way; he was not sure of +the mood in which he might find her; one story might suit one +mood another another. With him, to lie was as easy as to +breathe; he himself was often hardly conscious he was lying, he +lied so like truth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you see, I've been half off my head, and in a deuce of a +stew. Perhaps you'll tell me what you'd have done in my +position. But, thank goodness, I'm here at last. The worst of it +is, I haven't ordered dinner, or reserved a table; we shall have +to take pot-luck; let's hope that the <i>table d'hôte</i> is worth +eating." +It so chanced that there was a table, and that the <i>menu</i> of the +set dinner read quite well. Presently they were fronting each +other at a little table in a corner of the room, each in the +best possible frame of mind. She had forgotten the strain of +waiting in her delight that he had come, while he was charmed to +find her in so good a temper. Indeed, he seemed to be in the +very highest spirits, and when he was that no one could be +better company. Then the food was good; that was a point on +which they both were excellent judges. On the occasion of that +first dinner in Russell Square each had played on the other a +pleasant comedy; to make a good impression on the strange +cousin, who might have views on such matters, Gladys had drunk +nothing but water, and, for some similar reason, Rodney had done +the same. It was only when, later, they were on more intimate +terms, that they learned that neither was a teetotaller. It was +rather funny. As a matter of fact, so far as the pleasures of +the table were concerned, Gladys was in very truth her father's +child; not only could she appreciate good food well cooked, but +she was by way of being a connoisseur of certain wines; and in +such respects Rodney was an excellent second.</p> + +<p class="normal">Before the dinner was half way through she was looking at him +with something in her eyes which spoke to a similar something +which was in his. He had forgotten the episode of the afternoon +as if it had never been. This was the sort of girl he loved to +have in front of him on the other side of a table--one who would +eat what he ate, drink what he drank, do as he did; to whom he +could say whatever he pleased. They joked on the subject of the +absent Mr. Patterson.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wonder," she said, "what would happen if he walked in here at +this very moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney also wondered, for a second, in silence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For one thing, he'd spoil our evening, because he'd start you +straight away off home."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would he? I should take some starting. I never am particularly +afraid of him, and I'm not in the least when I've had two +glasses of Montebello--rattling good bottle, this is. Thank you; +that's the third. What beats me is why you're afraid of him. You +don't strike me as being a person who's afraid of much. What +would it matter if he did give you the key of the street, so far +as his office is concerned? You'd easily find a better one. +There's a mystery somewhere. Don't imagine, my dear old man, +that I don't know so much. Why has he such an objection to you? +And why are you so much in awe of him? Now's your time--out with +it. Make a clean breast of it--between this glass and the next."</p> + + class="normal""I can't tell you why he objects to me, but I can assure you +that I don't stand in awe of him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rubbish! If you don't, why have you kept away from me in the +way you have done?--you exasperating boy! I console myself with +the reflection that if I'm losing your society you're losing +mine; because I'll bet a trifle that you're just as fond of +seeing me every other day or so as I am of seeing you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're right there. If I saw you all day and every day I +shouldn't mind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not so sure of that; there's a limit. It might be all right +for a time; but, my hat! wouldn't you get bored after a month of +nothing else but my society!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What price you--after a month of nothing else but me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She seemed to reflect before she answered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see, it's like this; if you and I were alone together for a +month, or longer----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd be willing to make it longer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him with shining eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, you're a dear. If we were to be alone together for so +long as that, we should have to alter the pace. I fancy that +where a man and a woman are concerned it's the pace that kills."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean by that, oh, wise one?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you had one pound of chocs to eat you might gobble them down +as fast as you please, and no harm would be done."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've tried it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps! But if you had a ton you would have to go, oh so +carefully, or you would be so sick. But we meet so seldom that +when we do we want to gobble; I know that, so far as I am +concerned, I want to get as much of you as I possibly can during +the short time we are together."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Same here--only more so."</p> + +<p class="normal">They smiled at each other across the little table. Then, +glancing down, she transferred her attention to what was on her +plate.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, of course, if we weren't to part for a month--or more--it +would be different."</p> + +<p class="normal">"True, oh, queen! And suppose we were to marry!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't think I'd mind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm pretty nearly sure I shouldn't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's very sweet of you to say so. Only--there's dad!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's very much dad!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He can forbid my seeing you, and that kind of thing, if he +pleases; and if he finds out that I've been disobedient he'll +make himself extremely disagreeable. Still, I fancy I could +manage him. But if I were to marry you against his wishes, I +don't believe I'd ever get another penny from him, living or +dead; and as you have no immediate promise of becoming a +millionaire, that would be awkward for both of us."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It would. All the same, don't you think it would be comfy if we +were secretly engaged--in the event of anything happening to +him?"</p> + + class="normal""What's going to happen?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Anything--living the sort of life he does."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you hinting that there's anything the matter with his +health?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear girl, you've only to use your eyes to be aware that a +doctor would tell him that he's the kind of man who ought to +swear off everything. And does he?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You make me feel all shivery. You talk as if you expected him +to die right off."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We've all had sentence of capital punishment pronounced against +us, and, though we don't know when it will be put into +execution, in such a case as his it's possible to guess that it +mayn't be very long postponed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney! I don't like to hear you talk like that. He's fond of +asking me questions about you; I hate telling lies; if we were +engaged, and he were in one of his cross-examining moods, I +might find myself in a fix."</p> + +<p class="normal">He played with his knife while a waiter was bringing another +course.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Consider something else. Let me put a hypothetical case. +Suppose a girl were to make a dead set at me, I might like to be +able to tell her that I'm engaged already."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who's the girl?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The girl, like the case, is hypothetical; but I can conceive of +circumstances in which I should like to feel that we were +engaged."</p> + + class="normal""You've changed your mind. A short time ago you were all the +other way."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've been considering matters. Say, for example, that your +father puts his foot down, and that we don't see each other +again for an indefinite period. Do you not think that then I +should not like to feel that we were engaged?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can feel that we're engaged all you want to, without +our setting it down in black and white. Aren't you as sure +of me as if I were your wife already? Don't you know that if +circumstances permitted I would become your wife? Do you wish me +to understand that I'm not as sure of you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gladys, you're a goose. So far as I'm concerned, I'm inclined +to the opinion that I'd like you to be my wife to-night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's you who are the goose. As if we didn't understand each +other far too well to render it necessary to have things placed +on a ceremonious footing. We can do without formulas."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_07" href="#div1Ref_07">MARY</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">On the Sunday Rodney Elmore kept his engagement with the third +young woman, with the punctiliousness on which, in such matters, +he prided himself. He went down to Brighton on the Pullman, +Limited, and was met at the station by Mary Carmichael. He +exclaimed, at sight of her:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You angel!--to come and meet me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not quite sure that I did come to meet you, in the strict +sense. I'd nothing to do; I've always a feeling that the +queerest lot of people come by this train, the oddest sort of +week-enders--didn't you notice how the platform reeked of +perfume?--so that its arrival's generally worth seeing. Besides, +between ourselves, I'd a kind of notion that Tom might come by +it. If he had I should have ignored you utterly, and should have +explained that something within told me he was coming, and that +was why I was here. Wouldn't he have been enraptured?"</p> + +<p class="normal">As he listened--and, in his observant way, took in the details +of her appearance--Rodney was conscious, not for the first time, +of how beneficent Providence had been in making girls in such +variety. Stella, emblematic of the domestic virtues; Gladys, for +physical pleasure; Mary, suggestive of the arch in the sky, +which, though a man may walk for many days, he shall never find +the end of. To his thinking she was as many-tinted as a rainbow; +as beautiful, as elusive. He doubted if the average man were her +husband whether he would have any but the dimmest comprehension +of her at the finish; she had a knack of surprising even him. He +had known her a good long time, yet he admitted to himself that +in many respects she was still wholly beyond his comprehension, +and he prided himself, not without reason, on his gift for +understanding persons of the opposite sex.</p> + +<p class="normal">They went down towards the Hove lawns in a fly, and were still +in Queen's Road when she said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you've done it at last."</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned towards her as if a trifle startled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Done what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Asked Stella to be your wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How on earth do you know that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My simple-minded babe, aren't I the very dearest friend Stella +has in the world? And didn't she, directly you left her +yesterday afternoon, send me a telegram conveying the news? +Do you think she would keep it a moment longer than she could +help from me, especially as she is perfectly well aware that +I've been on tip-toe for it for goodness alone knows how long? +And aren't I expecting a letter of at least half a dozen +pages to-morrow morning to tell me all about it? I wired my +congratulations to her at once, and I almost wired them to you; +then I thought I'd keep them till you came this morning. My +congratulations, Rodney, dear."</p> + +<p class="normal">He was more taken aback than he would have cared to own. What an +idiot he had been! Had he had his senses about him he would have +given Stella to understand that the new relationship between +them must be kept private till it suited him to make it public. +That she should have telegraphed to Mary the moment he had left +her! Could anything be more awkward? If to Mary, why not to +others? To her mother, her father, her brother, her cousins, and +her aunts; and she had crowds of dearest friends. Possibly by +now the news was known to fifty people; they would spread it +over the face of the land. Had he foreseen such a state of +things he would have torn his tongue out rather than have said +what he did in Regent's Park. Imbecile that he was; he had +forgotten altogether that that was just the tale a girl of a +sort loves to tell. Had he had his wits about him he might have +known that she would be all eagerness to proclaim her happiness +to her friends. To have had a private understanding with Stella +might have been fun. He might have lied to her; played the +traitor; done as he pleased--it would not have mattered if her +heart was broken so long as she suffered in silence. But the +affair assumed quite a different complexion if her confounded +relations were to have their parts in it. He would have to +endure all kinds of talkee-talkee from her mother. That oaf Tom +might want to thrust his blundering foot into what was no +concern of his. Worst of all, there was her father. Rodney was +quite certain that he would want to regularise the position at +once; that he himself would be helpless in his hands. Mr. Austin +would require a clear statement of his intentions; having got +it, he would see that it was adhered to. Being opposed to long +engagements, he would want to fix the wedding day--and he would +fix it. Rodney was uncomfortably conscious that he had made such +a conspicuous ass of himself that, being delivered into her +father's strong hands, almost before he knew it he might find +himself the husband of Stella Austin.</p> + +<p class="normal">He shuddered at the thought--a fact which was observed by the +young lady at his side.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whatever is the matter? You shook the fly! You haven't thanked +me for my congratulations, nor do you seem so elated as I +expected. You know I'm not sure that it was quite nice of you to +propose to another girl on the very day before the one on which +you knew you were coming down to me. For all you could tell, I +was expecting you to propose to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I'd only thought there was the slightest chance, wouldn't I +have loved to."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I suppose for the sake of practice."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well--there are girls with whom one would like to practise +love-making."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's a nice thing to say, and you an engaged man of less than +four-and-twenty hours' standing. There's a taximeter--stop him! +Pay the driver of this silly old cab and let's get into the +taxi."</p> + +<p class="normal">The transfer was effected, the driver of the "silly old cab" +expressing himself on the subject with some frankness. When they +were in the taxi the lady set forth the idea which had been in +her mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want to go on to the horrid lawns and see the stupid +people in their ugly dresses; I can't take you to aunt's house, +because, as you know, she's away, and I don't want the servants +to talk; I don't want to lunch at either of the hotels, because +I hate them all; I do want to go where we can be all by +ourselves, so I suggest the Devil's Dyke. This taxi will romp +up; it's the most vulgar place I know, so we go where we please +and do as we choose--everybody does up there."</p> + +<p class="normal">So it was the Devil's Dyke. The taxi did "romp up." They had +lunch at the hotel, and afterwards went out on to the downs, +Rodney carrying a rug which he had borrowed from the hotel over +his arm. They had not to go far over the slopes before they had +left the few people who were up there behind, and were as much +alone as if they had the world to themselves. Rodney spread the +rug on the grass at the bottom of one of those little hollows +shaped like cups which are to be found thereabouts by those who +seek. On it they reclined; the gentleman lit a cigar, the lady a +cigarette. They were as much at home with each other as either +could desire. Their conversation was frankness itself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When I feel like liking it," observed the lady, "this is just +the sort of thing I do like. You're engaged, and I'm engaged, so +we ought to be nice to each other. Do you mind my kissing you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not a bit."</p> + +<p class="normal">She leaned over and kissed him on the lips, he removing his +cigar to enable her to do it. Then she blew her cigarette smoke +in his face and laughed. He said nothing; he was thinking that +there was a good deal to be said for being on such terms with +three nice girls. After all, there might be something in the +Mohammedan's idea of paradise. She was silent for a moment; then +inquired:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why did you ask Stella after all? Because you knew she'd like +you to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He considered his reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No; not altogether. Of course, at the beginning I never meant +to, then all of a sudden I felt as if I had to. I had a sort of +feeling that it would be such fun."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And was it fun?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Distinctly; I wouldn't mind going through it all over again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wouldn't you? Now you'll have to marry her."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you want to marry her?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's unfortunate, because you certainly will have to."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We'll see."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella'll see--or, rather, her family will. If it were any +other but the Austin family I should have said that a person of +your eel-like slipperiness----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Might have wriggled away; but if you wriggle away it will be +out of the frying-pan into the fire. For ever so long the family +has been expecting you to ask Stella to marry you; you've +fostered the expectation, and now that you have asked her, if +you try to sneak out of your engagement, Mr. Austin will make +things so uncomfortable that you'll find it easier to make +Stella Mrs. E."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And do you want to marry Tom?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not. All the same, I expect I shall."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why? If you don't want to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Carmichael sent a cloud of smoke up into the air.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A girl's position is so different from a man's. I must marry +someone, and, so far as I can see, it may as well be Tom."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why must you marry someone?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be absurd! Can you conceive me as a spinster? Rather than +be an old maid I'd--marry you; I can't say anything stronger."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've a friendly way of paying compliments."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear young fellow; as a--chum, when I'm in the mood, you're +ripping, simply ripping; but as a husband--good Lord, deliver +us! If Stella understood you only a quarter as well as I do +she'd be only too glad to let you go the very first moment you +showed the faintest inclination to bolt."</p> + + class="normal""And, pray, what sort of wife do you think you'll make?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Again a pause, while more cigarette smoke went into the air.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Depends on the man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I presume to what extent you can fool him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can imagine a man to whom I would be all that a wife could +be, the whole happiness of his whole life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's because you don't understand me as well as I do you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What sort of wife do you think that you'll make Tom?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, he'll be content."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor devil!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not so sure; it's a good thing to be content. Each time I +put my arms about his neck he'll forgive me everything."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So far as I gather, the difference between me as a husband and +you as a wife consists in this: that while I'm going to be found +out, you're not. I don't see why you should be so sure of the +immunity you refuse to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I admit that in this world one never can be sure of anything. I +quite credit you with as much capacity to throw dust in a +woman's eyes as I have to throw dust in a man's. Still, there is +a difference between us of which I'm conscious, though just now +I'm too lazy to attempt an exact definition. I really can't see +why you object to Stella; she'll make you a good wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hang your good wives!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My child! Do you want a bad one? You should have no difficulty +in being suited."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is a sinner likely to be happy if mated to a saint?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would he be happier if mated to another sinner? In that case +you might do well to marry me--which I doubt."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't. I'm disposed to think that ours would be an ideal +union."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wonder."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Neither would expect the other to be perfect; each would allow +the other a wider range of liberty for purely selfish reasons."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say, wouldn't it be rather a joke if you were to throw over +Stella and I were to throw over Tom and we were to marry each +other?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd do it like a shot if it weren't for one drawback--that we +both of us are penniless."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is a nuisance, since we are both of us so fond of what +money stands for. If you had five thousand a year perhaps I +might marry you after all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sure you would."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray why are you sure? You've a conceit!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sure."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If--I say if--I were to marry you, would you give me a good +time?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The very best--a time after your own heart."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would you? Lots of frocks?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"All the frocks your soul desired."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Everything I wanted?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's a tall order. I'm only human."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That certainly is true. I shouldn't be surprised if you were +more generous even than Tom."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't call that sort of thing generosity. A man gives things +to a woman he cares for because he has a lively sense of favours +to come."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's candid. You've given me one or two trifles already. Has +that been with a lively sense of favours to come?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wretch! Would you care for me a little?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I care for you more than a little now, as you are perfectly +well aware."</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned and whispered something in his ear. He smiled, but +kept silent. Presently she said aloud:</p> + +<p class="normal">"It would be rather a joke if we were to marry. Now that the +idea's got into my head I can't get it out again. It makes +little thrills go all over me--dear little thrills. I hope that +if ever you do marry me it will be before I have had to resort +to any of women's aids to beauty. I should like you to have me +just as I am, while I am really at my best and while I can still +bear the most searching investigation. My complexion's my own; I +use no powder, rouge, or pencil. I haven't a false tooth in my +head or even a stopped one. I've only a weeny pad on the top of +my head, which is rendered absolutely necessary by the present +style of hairdressing--everything about me's true."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Outside."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sir! I dare say we shouldn't make such a very bad pair. Would +you--like to marry me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Given an assured position, I would marry you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, then, I'll tell you what we might do. You might marry +Stella, and--dispose of her with some nice painless thing like +chloral; and I might marry Tom, and--delicately dispose of him. +Then we should both of us have an assured position, and--we +could marry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's more in the idea than meets the eye."</p> + +<p class="normal">She threw the fag-end of her cigarette away from her and +laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're simply ripping!" she exclaimed.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_08" href="#div1Ref_08">BY THE 9.10; THE FIRST PART OF THE JOURNEY</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Rodney Elmore returned by the 9.10 to town. He had meant to +travel by the Pullman, but as he entered the station the train +was drawing clear of the platform. Being informed that another +express was starting in ten minutes, he had to be content with +that. Beyond doubt the Pullman had been crowded; as he found +himself the sole occupant of a first-class carriage, he was +inclined to think that he had not lost by the exchange. He was +in a mood for privacy. Events had followed each other so +quickly; he had so many things to consider that he was glad of +an opportunity for a little solitary self-communion. He was not +pleased, therefore, when, just as the signal had been given to +start, someone came rushing along the platform, the door was +thrown open by an officious guard, and a passenger was hoisted +into his compartment while the train was already in motion; nor +was his pleasure enhanced by the discovery that the intruder was +his uncle, Graham Patterson. In such disorder had Mr. Patterson +been thrown that it was some seconds before he even realised +that he had a companion. Uncovering, he wiped first his brow, +then the lining of his hat. He panted so for breath that his +critical nephew said to himself that if he had run a little +further, or even a little faster, he might have panted in vain; +he had never seen a man in such difficulty with his breathing +apparatus. His face was purple, his eyes seemed to be bulging +out of their sockets.</p> + +<p class="normal">The train had passed Preston Park station before Mr. Patterson +had sufficiently recovered himself to become alive to the fact +that he was not alone. But that he still did not recognise his +companion his words showed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not exactly--of the build--to--run after trains."</p> + +<p class="normal">The moment he spoke Rodney became aware that Mr. Patterson had +been drinking. Not enough, perhaps, to affect his speech--the +hyphenated form of the remark he had just made was owing to the +trouble he still had to breathe--but sufficient to place him at +the point which divides the drunk from the sober. Elmore was +still; possibly because he was unwilling to spoil what he felt +was the grim humour of the situation. His silence apparently +struck the other as odd. Presently Mr. Patterson glanced round +as if to learn what manner of person this was who offered no +comment on his observation. Then he perceived who his companion +was.</p> + +<p class="normal">The discovery seemed to fill him with amazement which approached +to stupefaction. His jaw dropped, his eyes bulged still farther +out of his head, his face assumed a darker shade of purple; he +looked like a man who was on the verge of a fit. His nephew felt +that he had never seen him present so unprepossessing a +spectacle. His surprise was so great that an appreciable space +of time passed before he could find words to give it expression. +Then they were of a lurid kind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By gad!--it's you! Well, I'm damned!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sorry, sir, to hear it."</p> + +<p class="normal">The retort was so obvious that it had slipped from Rodney's lips +almost before he was aware. Its effect on Mr. Patterson was so +great that for some moments his nephew was convinced that that +apoplectic fit which he had so often seen threatening was +hideously close. Mr. Patterson himself seemed conscious +of the risk he ran. He made a perceptible effort to regain +self-control--a painful one it evidently was. He put his finger +to his collar as if to loosen it; one could see that his hand +shook, his lips trembled, beads of sweat stood on his brow. +Probably more than a minute had passed before he felt himself in +a condition to speak again. Still his voice was a little hoarse, +his utterance not quite clear.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My lad, if I could have got at you this morning I should have +killed you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Should you, indeed, sir. Pray why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The young man had been observing his senior's plight with a +sense, not only of amusement, but of positive relish. He was +conscious that a spirit of malice had entered into him. He was +prepared to return insolence with insolence. This bloated +relative of his should this time not find him disposed to +cringe.</p> + +<p class="normal">Still with his finger to his neck, as if he would have liked to +loosen his collar, Mr. Patterson went on, yet a little huskily:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Luckily I didn't get at you, because I'll do worse than kill +you, now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thank you for your kind intentions, sir. You have not yet +told me what I have done to deserve them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've been getting at that girl of mine again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You use unpleasant phrases, sir. I'm afraid you have been +drinking."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You young swine! In spite of what I told you, last night you +took her out with you again to dinner."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Premising that I don't see why you should so resent my showing +little courtesies to members of your family, may I ask on what +grounds your statement is based?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You young word-twister! You've your father's tongue. Do you +deny it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That I've my father's tongue?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That you took my girl to dinner?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's for you to prove; not for me to disprove."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A man came to me on the front this morning and said that he saw +my daughter dining last night in Jermyn Street with a young man. +He described the fellow; from his description I knew that it was +you. If I could have got at you then and there I'd have broken +my stick across your back! I'd have--I'd have---- Are you going +to tell a lie, and say it wasn't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was. Why not? We had a most agreeable evening, much more +agreeable, perhaps, than you have any notion of. Possibly, if +you ask Gladys, she herself will tell you so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You--you----!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Steady--go slow! If you don't take care you'll have a fit--you +know you have been drinking."</p> + +<p class="normal">Possibly because he had given way to such a sudden access of +rage, Mr. Patterson again went through all his former +disagreeable physical experiences, while his nephew smiled. He +sat inarticulate and gasping, incapable alike of speech or +movement. When, after a prolonged interval, the faculty of +speech returned, his voice had grown huskier than ever; he spoke +slowly, with a pause between each word.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right, my lad--laugh, but you won't laugh last. You're not +going to put me in the cart, as your swindler of a father did; +I'm going to put you there. I warned you what would be the +result of your attempting to have any more traffic with my girl, +so you've yourself to thank for whatever happens."</p> + +<p class="normal">He stopped, as if he found a difficulty in saying much at once. +When he continued, while his tones were a little clearer, they +were more bitter. +"Directly I get home I'm going to tell my girl what kind of man +you are, and what kind of man your delectable father was. When +she knows, I'll wager you a trifle that she never willingly +speaks to you again; she'll despise herself for ever having +spoken to you at all; she'll treat you in the future as if you +had never been. She has her faults, but she resembles her father +on one point--she has no use for a thief, and especially for a +thief who is the son of a thief."</p> + +<p class="normal">Another pause; this time, apparently, not so much for the sake +of gaining breath as to enable his words to have their full +effect on the smiling young man at the other end of the +carriage. If he looked for some sign of their having touched him +on a sensitive spot, he found none; the young man continued to +smile. Possibly because he suspected that it might be the +other's intention to irritate, he kept himself the more in hand. +Leaning back in his seat, laying his parti-coloured silk +handkerchief across his knee, for the first time he wore an +appearance of ease, and he also began to smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"However, since I'm a cautious man, and you never can be certain +what trick a blackguard will play upon a girl, I'll make +assurance doubly sure; I'll take steps which will render it +impossible for you to play a trick on my girl. The first thing +to-morrow morning I'll take out a warrant for your arrest as a +forger and a thief, and I'll give instructions to have it +executed at once; so, you see, I'm better than my word, as I +generally am. I warned you that if you dared to force yourself +upon my girl again I'd have you gaoled, and I will. But I didn't +undertake to give you a chance to show the police a clean pair +of heels; yet I'm giving you one. If, between this and to-morrow +morning--say, at ten--you can make yourself scarce, you can. But +you'll have to be spry, because I give you my word that if the +police do let the scent go cold it won't be for want of my +urging them after you. You may run to earth if you like, but +they'll dig you out. Don't you flatter yourself on your dodging +powers; they'll get the handcuffs on your wrists."</p> + +<p class="normal">Picking up his handkerchief with his finger-tips, Mr. Patterson +let it fall again across his knee, smiling broadly as if in the +enjoyment of a joke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And don't you flatter yourself that you'll come under the First +Offenders Act--you won't, I'll take care of that. I've a list +locked up in a drawer at the office the details of which, when +they are produced in court, will surprise you. No jury will +recommend you to mercy after hearing that, and no judge will +listen to them if they do. You'll be sentenced to a long term of +imprisonment as sure as you are sitting there. You'll be branded +as a felon for the rest of your life. I'll teach you, you thief, +to try to associate as an equal with that girl of mine."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again he picked up his handkerchief; on this occasion to wipe +his lips. But this time he did not return it to his knee; he +continued to hold it in his hand--indeed, he waved it affably +towards Elmore.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I owed your father one--such a one! But he never gave me a +chance of paying him. Now I owe you one--also such a one--and +I'll pay you both together--by gad, I will! Oh, you may keep on +smiling, you brassbound blackguard; I hope you'll find the +reality as amusing as you seem to find the prospect. When +you feel a policeman's hand upon your shoulder and handcuffs +on your wrists, then you'll stop smiling. Make no mistake; +for you there's only one way of escape, and that's your +father's--suicide."</p> + +<p class="normal">Stopping, Mr. Patterson thrust his handkerchief into the outer +breast-pocket of his coat in such a fashion that the hem +protruded. There was silence, broken only by the rushing noise +made by the train. All at once Rodney Elmore, rising, moved +along the carriage and placed himself on the seat immediately in +front of his uncle.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_09" href="#div1Ref_09">THE SECOND</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Patterson glared at his nephew as if he had been guilty of a +gross liberty in placing himself where he had done--indeed, he +said as much.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go back to your own end of the carriage at once, you young +scoundrel. How dare you come so close to me? Isn't it sufficient +contamination to have to breathe the air of the same +compartment, without being polluted by your immediate +neighbourhood?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney was not at all abashed, nor did he show any sign of an +intention to return whence he came. On the contrary, leaning a +little forward, he smiled at his uncle blandly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Softly, sir, softly! If you allow yourself to become excited +you may do yourself a mischief--excitement is the worst possible +thing for you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"None of your insolence, you young hound; don't you think I'll +allow you to be insolent to me! Are you going back to the other +end of the carriage?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, sir; I am not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Patterson made as if to move, then checked himself. Rodney +asked:</p> + +<p class="normal">"What were you going to do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you don't go back to the other end of the carriage at once +I'll pull the communication cord and stop the train."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And then?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll give you into custody before the whole trainful of +passengers."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Into whose custody?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The guard will take charge of you till we get to a station; he +won't let you go till he has seen you safe in the hands of a +policeman. You won't have a chance of running; you'll sleep in +gaol tonight. Are you going back to your own seat?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I propose to remain where I am."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I'll stop the train!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He made as if to do as he said, but Rodney, rising first, laid +his hand upon his shoulder to such effect that he found himself +unable to move. Indignation brought back the purple to Mr. +Patterson's face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You dare to touch me? You infernal young villain--take away +your hand!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't intend to allow you to touch the communication cord."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't intend! We'll see about that."</p> + +<p class="normal">They did see, on the instant. The black knob of the alarm bell +was over the centre seat in front of Mr. Patterson. Putting out +his strength, evading Rodney's grip, he gained his feet. Elmore +took him by the shoulders with both his hands. There was a +scuffle--sharp, but brief. For a moment it looked as if the +elder man might be a match for the younger, but for a moment +only. On a sudden Mr. Patterson collapsed on to his seat as if +the stiffening had gone all out of him and left him but a mass +of boneless pulp. He could only gasp out words.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You shall smart for this!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you're not very careful, sir, you'll smart first--my dear +uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you call me your dear uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Damn you, you----"</p> + +<p class="normal">A flood of vituperation poured from the elder man's lips, which, +when he had finished, left him an even darker shade of purple. +Rodney never ceased to smile. So soon as the flood had stopped +he repeated the endearing form of address.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear uncle"--Mr. Patterson was panting, for the moment he +was speechless--"turn and turn about's fair play, and fair +play's a jewel. You've had your say, now I'm going to have +mine--you'll find mine as interesting as I found yours. To begin +with, I'm going to ask you one or two questions."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll answer no questions of yours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, you will, when you find what they are. In the first +place, am I to understand that you are really serious--weigh +your words, my dear uncle!--in saying that you'd tell +Gladys--what you said you'd tell her?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So soon as I get home I'll tell her +everything--everything--about you, and your rascally father, +too."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will--as sure as you are living!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So surely as that? And are you prepared to take your oath that +you'll take out that warrant you were speaking of, or--was that +intended for a jest?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oath! I'll take no oath to you--you Nature's gaol-bird! But of +this I assure you, you'll sleep in a prison cell to-night, and +many and many another night to come."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Patterson, dragging the silk handkerchief from his breast +pocket, used it to wipe away the perspiration which again +bedewed his brow.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, no, I won't; nor will you tell Gladys those unkind things +about me and my father."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who the devil's going to stop me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm the devil who's going to stop you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney was leaning a little forward. His uncle stopped in the +process of wiping his brow to stare at him, as if there were +something in his manner which struck him as peculiar. About the +young gentleman's lips was the same easy, unconcerned smile +which had been there all the time; there was a smile also in his +eyes--it was, apparently, this latter which gave him the odd +expression which had struck his uncle. Mr. Patterson glanced +about him as if in search of something he would have liked to +find. Rodney sat perfectly still. As he put a query to him his +uncle's pursy lips showed a tendency to twitch.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How are you going to stop me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Can't you guess how I am going to stop you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can do nothing of the kind. You can't stop me, or anyone. I +am going to do my duty to my daughter and to society, and +nothing can stop me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know better than that. From something which has just come +upon your face I can see that already you know better."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Patterson gave what he doubtless meant to be a spring +towards the alarm bell opposite; but, for reasons which were +beyond his control, his movements were slower than they should +have been--the younger man was much too quick for him. Gripping +him again by both his shoulders, exerting greater strength than +on the first occasion, he forced him back upon his seat with a +degree of violence which seemed to drive the sense half out of +him. As Rodney, remaining on his feet, stood towering above him, +one perceived more clearly that his was the build of the +athlete, and how great were the probabilities, if they came to +grips, that the big man would be helpless in his hands. He +addressed his uncle as an elder person might have spoken to a +mutinous child.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dearest uncle--you really must permit me to lay stress upon +your avuncular relationship on what will probably be my last +chance of doing so--you are not going to pull the alarm bell, +you are not going to stop the train. You have no more chance of +doing either than you have of flying to the moon, so get that +into your drink-sodden brain. Nor are you going to libel me to +Gladys, nor commit me to the mercy of a ruthless police. +Presently you will see that as clearly as I do now."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney resumed his seat, still keeping his glance fixed on his +uncle, in whose demeanour a change seemed to have taken place +which was both mental and physical. Possibly his nephew had used +more violence than he supposed. The vigour had gone all out of +him; inert, he stared at Rodney with bloodshot eyes, as if drink +had taken sudden effect and bemused his brain. The young man's +smile became more pronounced, as if he found the singularity of +the other's appearance amusing. The tone of his voice, when he +spoke, was genial and pleasant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear uncle, if you, the only relative I have in the world, +had treated me, when first I entered your office, as you might +have been expected to do, I might have become an affectionate +and worthy nephew."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not you. You started robbing me before you'd been in the place +a week."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that so? So soon as that? Perhaps you have never known what +it is to be in want of ready cash."</p> + +<p class="normal">"When I was eighteen I was keeping myself on fifty pounds a +year, for which I was working anything up to sixteen hours a +day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed! It might have been better if that period of your life +had lasted longer. You wouldn't have been in the rotten +condition you are."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the matter with my condition? I never had a day's +illness in my life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear uncle, if you weren't in a rotten condition you'd have +rung that alarm bell before this, wouldn't you? But, although +it's only within a foot or two, you'll never ring it--never, +because you are rotten."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Patterson glanced towards the black knob. Rodney shook his +head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's no good, uncle. You won't be able to get at it--you know +that. What an illustration you are of the desirability of +keeping oneself fit! It seems that from the first you kept a +sharper eye on me than I suspected."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not the fool you took me for."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aren't you? That remains to be seen. Do you think that it was +the part of wisdom to threaten me as you have been doing when +you and I were alone together in a compartment of a railway +train which doesn't stop, at least, till it gets to Croydon?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've not been threatening you; I wouldn't condescend. I've only +been telling you what you may expect."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's all; and by doing so you've made the issue a simple one. +If you reach town alive, to all intents I shall be dead; +whereas, if you reach town dead, I--shall be on velvet, because +you see, my dear uncle, I'm Gladys' lover; and she loves me, if +possible, even more than I do her. I've proofs of it. Since she +is your only child, when you are dead everything you have will +be hers, which is tantamount to saying that it will be mine, +which is just what I should like. So you will at once perceive +how--from every point of view--very much to my advantage it +would be that you should be dead."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You young hell-hound! Unfortunately for you, I'm not dead, and +I'm not likely to die."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, you are, very likely--unfortunately for you. You told +me that my father only found one way to escape trouble--suicide. +You hinted in your most affectionate manner that some time, in +my turn, I might only find one way. Your kindly hint made such +an impression on me that I actually made preparations, so that I +might never be at a loss if ever that time should come. Those +preparations are contained in this dainty little box."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney took from his waistcoat pocket what might have passed as +a silver needle-case or receptacle for pins. He held it out in +front of his uncle, who was as much moved by the sight of it as +if it had been some object of horror.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You--you're not going to make away with yourself before my +eyes? You--you don't suppose I'll let you do it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"How would you propose to stop me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Again Mr. Patterson mopped his brow with his silk handkerchief +of many colours. He presented a pitiable spectacle. His lips +twitched, his hand trembled, and his whole huge frame seemed to +shiver like a mass of jelly. His voice was broken and husky, he +stammered in his speech.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Elmore, you--you're quite right; I'm--I'm not very well. +I--I've had a great deal to put up with lately, and it's +unhinged me. Give me that infernal thing you've got there--I +don't know what is in it, or if you're playing a trick with me, +but--you give it me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm going to--shortly."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young man's airy self-possession was in almost painful +contrast to the elder's agitation. He glanced at his watch, +holding the slender, round case between the finger and thumb of +his other hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nearly half-past nine. What was that station we passed? Was it +Hayward's Heath? I fancy we do stop at Croydon, so that there's +not much time to spare. I'm going to act on your suggestion, +uncle--with a difference. I am not going to commit suicide, but +you are!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am?--you young fool!--what do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In fact, you practically have committed suicide already."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The man's mad."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Possibly--but not on this particular point. When you told me in +such very coarse language what I might expect, you practically +committed suicide, as--I'm about to prove. You remember the case +of the eminent financier who, within five minutes of being +sentenced to a long term of penal servitude, was in a room which +was immediately outside the court in which he had received his +sentence, from which he was instantly to be haled to gaol, under +the very noses of his warders slipped something between his lips +and--escaped. You will probably remember the case better than I +do, since at the time I was only a boy; yet I have studied it to +such purpose that within this pretty little box are--shall we +call them tabloids?--which are in all essentials identical with +the one he swallowed. They kill as by a flash of lightning. +Whoever has one of these within his reach no man shall stay him +from--escaping. You are going to swallow one of these tabloids, +uncle--this one." +Unscrewing the top of his silver box, Rodney removed the cap, +and took from it what looked like a small peppermint lozenge, +holding it up between his finger and thumb.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see, uncle--this one; as it were, death reduced to its +lowest possible denomination."</p> + +<p class="normal">At that moment Rodney seemed to be exercising over his uncle +some of the fabulous qualities attributed to the serpent. Beyond +doubt Mr. Patterson recognised with sufficient vividness that +this young man in front of him was much more dangerous than he +had supposed; that he had underrated his capacity for evil; that +he might as well have shut himself in with a tiger as with his +sister's son. But the recognition came too late. The very force +of it had the effect of destroying his few remaining powers of +volition. In face of the deadly purpose with which he perceived +that his nephew was filled, he was as one paralysed. He could +only grow purpler and purpler, and splutter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't--don't you play any of your infernal tricks on me, +you--you villain! Curse it, why can't I get at that bell!" He +made as if to rise, but, seemingly, was as incapable of movement +as if he had been glued to his seat. As if conscious that his +peril was imminent, he raised his voice to a raucous scream.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't--don't you dare to lay your hands on me! Don't--don't you +dare to touch me! Help!"</p> + +<p class="normal">As the uncle opened his mouth to cry for aid the nephew caught +him by the throat and slipped between his lips the tiny white +lozenge which he had taken from the silver box. Then he struck +up his jaw with a click and held it shut, so that he could not +put it out again. Forcing back his head, he gripped him tight. +His uncle was seized with a convulsion which seemed to Rodney as +if it must have shaken the carriage. Almost at the same instant +it was as if all vitality had gone clean out of him. The nephew +was gripping a limp corpse.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_10" href="#div1Ref_10">IN THE CARRIAGE--ALONE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Graham Patterson, in the agony of that last convulsion, had +nearly slipped off the seat, so that, with a very little, he +would be on the floor. His nephew, who hitherto had not for a +moment lost his presence of mind, and who kept it then, was at a +loss. Would such an attitude be recognised as proper for a +suicide? Would, that is, a doctor--any doctor--be prepared to +assert that a man who had killed himself with potassium cyanide +might, under the circumstances, quite conceivably die in such an +attitude, or assume it after death? To Rodney's supernaturally +keen vision there were trifles about his uncle's appearance +which scarcely marked this as inevitably a case of suicide. The +collar was a little crumpled; the tie a little disarranged; he +even fancied that there were prints of his fingers on the skin +of the throat. He was conscious that he had gripped him with +great force--perhaps a little clumsily; he certainly ought to +have avoided contact with the collar and the tie, but no doubt +the prints would wear off. Indeed, as he bent closer he was not +sure that they did not exist only in his imagination; the light +was not good; he could not be certain. With dexterous fingers he +smoothed the collar, he rearranged the tie--so deftly that he +felt convinced that no one would notice that anything had been +wrong with him. He raised the body a little, so that it was in +what seemed to him to be a more natural position, on the edge of +the seat; he felt that it would look better. He was surprised to +find how heavy his uncle was--it required quite an effort on his +part to lift him.</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned the contents of the silver box on to his hand. There +were seven tiny lozenges. He returned three to the box, and laid +it on the seat; the other four he placed beside it. Taking an +envelope out of an inner pocket of his jacket, he tore off a +corner. In it he placed the four tabloids, carefully folded it, +and put it in his waistcoat pocket. Then he balanced the cap of +the box on the arm of the seat beside his uncle; the box itself +he placed between the fingers of his uncle's left hand, with--in +it--the other three tabloids. So tightly were the fingers +clenched that Rodney had to use force to open them sufficiently +to enable him to insert the box. Then, seating himself opposite, +he looked his uncle carefully over with an artist's eye for +detail. In his present attitude, with that open box with its +tell-tale contents held tightly between his stiffened fingers, +it seemed to Rodney that a coroner would be bound to instruct +his jury that suicide was the only possible explanation of +Graham Patterson's death. Having satisfied himself on which +point, he withdrew to the opposite end of the carriage, being, +in spite of himself, conscious of a feeling that the dead man's +too immediate neighbourhood was not a thing to be desired.</p> + +<p class="normal">Seated in his original place, he took out his white cambric +handkerchief, and with it delicately wiped his fingers, having +an uncomfortable notion that something disagreeable had adhered +to them which it would be better to remove. Then he set himself +to consider the position. A great smoker of cigarettes, +absent-mindedly and as a matter of course he took out his case, +and was about to light one when it occurred to him that it might +be a dangerous thing to do. It was not a smoking carriage; if, +when the discovery was made, it smelt strongly of smoke--and +nothing lingers like a cigarette--it might be shown that his +uncle had not been smoking, and the question might arise--who +had? He returned the case to his pocket. As he did so the train +rushed past a signal-box. He remembered reading of the strange +things which signalmen see in trains as they rushed past them. +When his uncle was found, exhaustive inquiries would be set on +foot. Quite conceivably some signalman had seen them struggling, +or something which had piqued his curiosity as it had caught his +eye. His uncle would be found alone. The signalman's story might +suggest that at one period of the journey someone had been in +the carriage with him. What had become of that someone? The mere +question might start a hue and cry. Rodney recalled, with quite +a little sense of shock, that his uncle had been partly pushed +into the carriage by an official on the Brighton platform. +Graham Patterson was a noticeable-looking person; he must have +presented a striking spectacle as he had come hurrying along the +platform. When discovery came about, the official would +recollect the incident and recognise him beyond a doubt.</p> + +<p class="normal">Had he noticed that somebody was already in the carriage when he +was thrusting the fat man in? Rodney was compelled to admit that +the probabilities were that he had. So far as he himself was +concerned, Rodney recalled the whole sequence of events. How he +had rushed up to the ticket inspector just as the Pullman was +moving; how the man, slamming the gate in his face, had informed +him that another train was due to start in ten minutes. The +young gentleman had a suspicion that the fellow had looked him +up and down as he was explaining. There were others about who +might also have looked him up and down. Rodney had an uneasy +feeling that, in his way, he was perhaps as noticeable a figure +as his uncle--so tall, so upright, so well groomed, so handsome, +with something about his appearance which almost amounted to an +air of distinction. He had walked a few paces to another +platform, as directed; the man at the gate, in his turn, had +looked him up and down as he clipped his ticket; he had strolled +leisurely along the platform, which he had had almost entirely +to himself; when he reached a carriage which he thought would +suit him, he stood for a second or two at the open door--as he +remembered, right in front of the official who, later, had +helped his uncle in. +He sat up very straight as that little fact came back to him. He +remembered very well eyeing the man, whom, certainly, he would +know again anywhere. No doubt the man had eyed him, and had his +likeness in his mind's eye. The fellow had seen him enter the +compartment and shut the door; a few minutes later he had opened +the door again to admit his uncle, well knowing that he was +already within. The accident might prove very awkward for the +nephew later on; no one could have appreciated the possibilities +of the position more clearly than he did.</p> + +<p class="normal">As he pondered the matter he was inclined to think that he had +made a mistake in doing what he had done. Such a fuss is made +about a thing of that sort that, in any event, one runs a risk. +Had he had more time to appreciate exactly what would be the +nature of the risk in his own case he might have--hesitated. If +he had he would have been deposed from his cousin's good graces, +and--to adopt her sire's rather melodramatic language--have been +"branded as a felon," so that he would not have been much better +off. Looking at it philosophically the result of what he had +done was this: that whereas, if he had let his uncle have his +own way, ruin was certain, as things were he had at least a +fighting chance of postponing the evil day--perhaps to an +indefinite period. More; in the meanwhile he could have a +rattling good time. And he would have it. He smiled as he made +himself that promise.</p> + +<p class="normal">All the same, though he smiled, he realised that if he proposed +to have a good time he must not continue to take his ease where +he was--with his uncle on the seat at the other end. If he +seriously wished the world to take it for granted that Graham +Patterson had committed suicide, he must not be found in the +same compartment. That was sure. He had been told by someone, or +had read somewhere, that every express train, though assumed to +be "non-stopping," stopped at least once, because a signal was +against it, or at least slowed down sufficiently to enable an +agile passenger, with safety, to alight. So far that train had +neither stopped nor slowed. His watch told him that it was +about twenty to ten--ten minutes ago his uncle had been alive. +It seemed longer ago than that. He had a fair knowledge of the +line by daylight; it was different at night. Objects--even +stations--were difficult to distinguish. He peered through the +open window without thrusting out his head. They seemed to be +running through open country, possibly on the top of the +ballast. He could make out lights, though they were few and far +between; they seemed to be passing a number of trees, with a big +building beyond. They crashed through a station--it was +Earlswood; they had just passed Earlswood Asylum. Immediately +they would be on the new part of the line, which avoids the +South-Eastern station at Redhill. There was no station between +this and Purley. He might leave the train anywhere with +comparative safety if it would only slow a little. To attempt to +alight while it was moving at that rate through the darkness +would be equivalent to committing suicide. At the best he could +not hope to avoid serious injury. He must wait--till it slowed.</p> + +<p class="normal">The whistle on the engine sounded; the train began to slow. +Instantly he was leaning forward, his fingers on the handle, +which was inside the door. The train slowed still more; it +entered a tunnel, slowing all the while; in the heart of the +tunnel it stopped--dead. The gods were on his side. Yet not for +an instant did he lose his presence of mind. The signal was +against them--that was why they had stopped. Was it on the left +or the right? On the signal side the guard would possibly have +his head out of the carriage with an eye for it; possibly some +of the passengers might be observing it also. It would be fatal +to get out on that side; his door would be seen opening; he +might be seen to alight; he would be jumping out of the +frying-pan into the fire; all sorts of consequences might +accrue. He looked out of his own window; there was no signal in +front or behind. Then it was on the other side, on the left, +against the wall of the tunnel. He looked on to the six-foot +way. He could see the whole length of the train; not a sign of a +head at any of the windows. He had already turned the handle, +opening the door just wide enough he stepped on to the +footboard, closed the door, and dropped on to the permanent way. +He had left his uncle to continue his journey alone. Lest his +upstanding figure might be visible to someone, he crouched as +close as he could to the ground. The train began to move very +slowly. The door of the compartment next to that which he had +just left was opened, a figure came on to the footboard, closed +the door, sprang on to the ballast while the train was already +in motion. For a moment Rodney was the victim of a gruesome +delusion; to him it was as if the door of his own compartment +had been opened; as if Graham Patterson had alighted at his +side. He pressed the tips of his fingers into his palms to keep +himself from exclaiming.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_11" href="#div1Ref_11">THE STRANGER</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">The train went slowly rumbling by; who looked out of the windows +Rodney neither knew nor cared. He was conscious of the guard's +van passing, then the train had gone. He could see the tail +lights moving quicker and quicker through the darkness. He +himself continued motionless. He had realised by now that it was +not his uncle who had alighted; that it was the door of the next +compartment which had been opened. He could not believe that his +own movements had been observed. He doubted if they could have +been seen by a person who had not actually got his head out at +the moment--even by his next door neighbour. He was certain that +no head had been out. The thing had been a coincidence--a +strange one, but nothing more. Someone also had reasons for +wishing to quit the train in an unusual manner; someone who was +unaware that he was out already. The chances were that he had +not been noticed; that, if he kept quite still, he would not be +noticed. The stranger would blunder along without ever becoming +cognisant of his near neighbourhood; whichever way the stranger +went, he would go the other.</p> + +<p class="normal">Now that the train had left, it was very still in the tunnel; +the air was close, full of smoke, which was bad both for the +throat and the eyes. Something had dropped once or twice on +Rodney's shoulder. He had heard that it was sometimes damp in +tunnels; possibly it was moisture dropping from the brickwork +overhead. He would have liked to move so as to avoid it, but was +reluctant to make a sound--till the stranger had moved. He +wondered what the stranger was doing; silence continued for what +seemed to him to be a preternatural length of time. Possibly, +less fortunate than himself, the stranger had been hurt in +alighting, which explained the stillness. If that were so, his +own position might be difficult. If he moved first the stranger +might claim his help, might make a fuss if he refused it--such a +fuss that the fact that he had left the train would be +discovered.</p> + +<p class="normal">Still not a sound. Momentarily the situation was becoming more +delicate. He could not remain crouched down like that for ever, +with big drops of something falling on to his shoulder. What +should he do? The question was answered for him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Caught you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The words were whispered close to his ear. He stood straight up +suddenly, startled half out of his wits. His impulse was to +fly--anywhere, anyhow. Then that wonderful presence of mind of +his, which never left him long, came back; he realised that +haste on his part might involve disaster. He stood bolt upright, +quite still, with fists clenched, prepared for anything.</p> + +<p class="normal">Something came; fingers were laid upon his coat-sleeve. He +showed no sign of resenting their coming, their touch was so +soft that it hardly suggested danger. A voice came to him +through the darkness, the one which had so startled him by +whispering in his ear.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That was a capital idea of yours--capital."</p> + +<p class="normal">To Rodney's acute sense of hearing there seemed to be a curious +quality in the voice; he was not sure if it belonged to a man or +a woman. It came again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you ever been in a tunnel before? I haven't."</p> + +<p class="normal">The last two words were spoken with a snigger which was +certainly a man's, though he still felt that the voice itself +might be either masculine or feminine. He had a fastidious taste +in voices; apart from the circumstances under which he heard it, +that one affected him unpleasantly. It continued, and his +distaste grew.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know that our getting out here in the tunnel has proved +something which I have always held as an article of faith; +that I have cat's eyes--positively? Isn't it droll? I can see +you--not plainly, but sufficiently well. Now I dare say you +can't see me at all!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney could not; he did not believe that the stranger could see +him. Darkness was about them like a wall.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He felt the fingers which had rested on his sleeve slipped under +his arm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will guide you; let me turn you round. We will go this way, +towards the signal. You see?--it is set at danger. Some people +would say that we are in rather a dangerous position."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again that unpleasantly sounding snigger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope you're not feeling nervous; you needn't. That signal is +not far off, and when we reach it we are out in the open. I know +exactly where we are; this is Redhill tunnel. Not only can I see +in the dark, dimly, but still see, but I also have, in a curious +degree, the bump of locality. With me it amounts almost to an +additional sense. I always know where I am, even when I am in a +strange place; in a place in which I have been before I have an +incredible perception of my surroundings. For three years I +lived quite close to this--in Earlswood Asylum, as a patient."</p> + +<p class="normal">Earlswood Asylum! Then the creature was a lunatic. That +explained the singularity of his voice, of his manner, his +proceedings. An idea came into Rodney's head. The creature was +small; he felt, as he moved beside him with his hand under his +arm, that he probably did not reach to his shoulder. It would be +easy to leave him in the tunnel. Who cares what happens to a +lunatic?</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shouldn't if I were you; it wouldn't pay."</p> + +<p class="normal">The words were so apposite that, despite himself, Rodney +started. He had not spoken. Could the creature read what was +passing through his brain?</p> + +<p class="normal">"There are times when I can read people's thoughts just as +plainly as if they had spoken them out loud, even when I can't +see their faces--really! Isn't it odd? Oh, I am quite gifted. My +argument always has been that, in a general way, a lunatic is +merely abnormal, nothing more. At intervals a cloud settles on +my brain; I can see, I can feel it coming; then, for an +indefinite period, I am on the lap of the gods. When it passes +my senses are more acute than other people's--abnormally acute, +I know it as a fact. Now you see, as I told you, we are out in +the open--look! the stars are shining. Look back at the tunnel; +isn't it a horror of blackness? Like the horror I know. If we +scramble up that bank we shall probably find a gap in the hedge +at the top; platelayers often do leave a gap in a hedge close to +the wall of a tunnel that they may descend to the line. As I +told you, here's our gap; now, over the fence, and the rest is +easy sailing."</p> + +<p class="normal">It seemed to Rodney that since he had quitted the train +something must have happened to him mentally; it was as if, all +at once, he were playing a part in a dream. In silence, without +offering the least remonstrance, he had suffered the stranger to +pilot him out of the tunnel, up the steep bank beyond--to +dominate him wholly. Now, except that they seemed to be standing +in an open space of considerable size, he had not the dimmest +notion of their whereabouts; but to the stranger it all seemed +plain.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That big building on our right's an orphanage--St. Anne's; I +believe we're on their ground. If we keep straight on to our +left we shall come to the high road, from which it is only a few +minutes to Redhill station, whence we shall continue our journey +to town. Quite an interesting episode this has been, has it not? +I am indebted to you for much entertainment. I have seldom had +so much enjoyment in a train, Mr. Elmore."</p> + +<p class="normal">The creature knew his name! How? Who was he? What did it mean? +Again he was conscious of an impulse to take him by the throat +and--resolve the question in his own fashion. How came the +creature to know his name? Although he had uttered no articulate +sound, he had his answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The explanation is simple, explanations often are. I heard your +uncle address you by your name in a most audible tone of voice +just towards the close. Most people have no idea how thin the +partition really is which divides one compartment from another. +Do you know I have heard that in some instances it is made of +papier-mâché--fancy! You can always hear if a conversation is +taking place in an adjoining compartment--it is surprising how +much you can hear if you try, especially if your hearing is as +good as mine is--that's another of my gifts. I had my ear glued +to the partition most of the time. Of course, I could not hear +everything--and I should very much have liked to see, but I +gathered enough to enable me to form a general idea, +particularly when you began to use violence towards your uncle +and to hurl him back into his seat--it amounted to hurling. You +see, I was his side. And, of course, when you both raised your +voices I could hear a very great deal. I was not in the least +surprised at the silence which followed. I understood--oh, I +understood! At least, I think I understood. It was perfectly +plain that only one person was left in the compartment who +counted, and, of course, I knew that was you. I said to myself: +'Now, I wonder how long he'll stay there all alone? He's sure to +take advantage of the first opportunity of getting out if the +train stops or slows, and if he gets out I'll get out too.' +Wasn't it lucky that it stopped in a tunnel, and that, +therefore, we were both of us able to get out without being +observed? Quite a stroke of fortune! Here we are, right on the +high road, with the station a little more than a stone's throw +in front of us."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney listened to what the stranger had to say as, side by +side, they tramped across the uneven ground with feelings which +he would not have found it easy to clothe with words. Beyond all +doubt this was a lunatic; but of what an uncomfortable kind! He +had been wiser to have acted on his first impulse and to have +left him in the tunnel. Now it was too late; it would not be the +same thing to--leave him there. Yet, if he continued in his +company, how should he muzzle him? With what would he make him +dumb? By what means could he keep him from blurting out the +whole story to the first person they might meet? Once more, +though he had uttered not a syllable, there came an answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You run no risk of my blabbing, I am not that kind of +person--at least, while the cloud is yet afar off. Afterwards, +believe me, no one pays any heed to what I say. I play the part +of audience only. I am not, like you, one of Nature's criminals; +but I am indifferent, which is about the same. What A does to B +is A's business and B's, not mine; that I always shall maintain. +Here we are at the station. It's been altered since my time; +they've given it a new front. When is the next train to town?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He put the question quite naturally to a porter who was standing +about.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ten-forty; nearly half an hour to wait--that is if she is +punctual, which she's not always of a Sunday night."</p> + +<p class="normal">The stranger addressed himself to Elmore.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That, perhaps, is fortunate, since that will enable me to offer +you a little refreshment, of which I dare say both of us stand +in need."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney, always speechless, walked beside the stranger to the +refreshment bar. Now he could see him plainly. A notion which +had been fluttering at the back of his head took flight; there +was no suggestion of a detective police official about him. He +was shorter even than he had imagined, probably scarcely over +five feet high; a mean-looking, ill-shapen fellow, with one +shoulder higher than the other, which gave him an appearance of +being one-sided. Badly dressed in an ill-fitting suit of rusty +dark-grey tweed, clumsily shod, tie disarranged, doubtful +collar, old tweed hat shaped like a billycock, about him the air +of one who was not over fond of soap and water. Probably between +fifty and sixty, a round, hairless, wizened face, all wrinkles, +flat, snub nose, curiously small mouth--Rodney wondered if the +peculiarity of his voice was owing to its coming through so +small an aperture; queer, big, oval, ugly eyes--small pupils +floating in a sea of yellow. The young gentleman was conscious +of what an ill-assorted couple they must appear. He would have +liked very much to put a termination to the association then and +there, but--he could not, it was too late.</p> + +<p class="normal">The stranger on his part seemed sublimely unaware of there being +anything odd in their companionship. He gave his order to the +young lady on the other side of the counter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One brandy, two Scotch whiskies, and a small soda divided."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young lady looked as if she was not quite sure that she had +caught what he said.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg your pardon."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I said one brandy, two Scotch whiskies, and a small soda +divided. You've quite right, there are only two of us; I take +brandy and whisky together--I'm a lunatic."</p> + +<p class="normal">Two young men at the other end, with whom the young lady had +been talking, looked at each other and smiled. The young lady +also smiled, under the apparent impression that, somewhere, +there was a joke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is rather unusual, isn't it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not at all--with lunatics."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not easy for standers-by to decide whether or not he was +in earnest. Rodney was in doubt; indeed, the man's words and +manner started him wondering to what extent, in all he had been +saying, the fellow had been "pulling his leg."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young lady passed three glasses to their side of the +counter. The stranger, taking two, emptied one into the other. +He held it up towards Rodney.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your very good health, and the next time we meet may you afford +me as much entertainment."</p> + +<p class="normal">Swallowing the contents of the glass at a single gulp, he +replaced it on the counter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The same again, miss; one brandy, one Scotch whisky; lunatics +don't take long over a drop like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him doubtfully for a moment; then gave him what he +ordered, saying, as she passed him the glasses:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Two shillings, please."</p> + +<p class="normal">As again he emptied one into the other he nodded to Rodney.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pay her; I've no money--lunatics never have."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney drank what was in his glass, placed a florin on the +counter, and left the place without a word. Hardly had he +reached the door when he found the little man again at his side. +He commenced pacing up and down the dimly lit platform; the +little man paced also, two of his short steps being the +equivalent of one of Rodney's strides. He asked himself if he +could do nothing to shake the fellow off; with his usual +singular intuition the other replied to his unspoken thought.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not nice, being in the company of one who knows as much as I +do? Perhaps not; yet I don't see why. I'm incapable of giving +evidence; if I weren't I wouldn't say a word to spoil the fun; I +am as good as a dead man. You'll have a dead man for constant +companion--why not me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Again he gave vent to the snigger which so jarred on the young +man's nerves. When the train entered the station they were still +pacing to and fro; Rodney not having yet uttered a single word. +The little man followed him into the empty first-class +compartment which he had selected, saying as he drew the door to +behind him:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Isn't it confiding of me to trust myself alone in a carriage +with you--after what has happened? But I am not in the least +afraid. I am sure you won't care to repeat your experiment +to-night. And I shall find it so amusing to sit and watch you, +and see what is passing through your mind; because, do you know, +it will all be just as plain to me as if you said everything +aloud."</p> + +<p class="normal">While crediting the stranger with unusual perceptive powers, +Rodney doubted if in his assertion he did not go too far. If he +had the dimmest insight into the tangled network of thought with +which the young man's brain was filled, then he was a marvel +indeed. Elmore, leaning back in his seat, remained perfectly +still, with his face towards the window, to all outward seeming +as oblivious of the other's presence and occasional remarks as +if he were not there. When they reached Croydon a person +approached the carriage window whom the stranger plainly +recognised; a pleasant-faced, brown-skinned and brown-haired +young man with a slight moustache, with something in his bearing +and expression which suggested reserve. Coming into the +carriage, he said to the stranger, as he sat beside him, half +smilingly, half chidingly:</p> + +<p class="normal">"So it is you, is it? I hope you've enjoyed your little trip."</p> + +<p class="normal">The stranger seemed to regard his coming with an air of not +altogether pleased surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're a most extraordinary man."</p> + +<p class="normal">The other replied:</p> + +<p class="normal">"One has to be a little that way if one is responsible for you."</p> + +<p class="normal">The new-comer's good-humoured curtness seemed to disturb the +stranger's equilibrium.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Responsible for me, indeed! Upon my word, you are the most +extraordinary man."</p> + +<p class="normal">In his own fashion the stranger introduced the new-comer to +Rodney.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is Dr. Emmett, my medical attendant. I left him behind me +in Brighton because I am sick and tired of his society; yet here +he is at Croydon before I am. How he does these things I do not +understand. He's a most extraordinary man."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, also after his own fashion, he made Rodney known to the +new-comer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Emmett, this is a valued friend of mine, whom I have met for +the first time to-night. I know all about him, except his voice; +and, do you know, he's never spoken once."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney, observing the new-comer, perceived, from something which +was in the glance he gave him in exchange for his, that the +position had altered. Rising, he moved out of the carriage, +still without a word. The stranger made as if to follow him, but +the doctor put out a detaining hand. The train started just as +Rodney, having gained the platform, was closing the door. The +last he saw of the interior of the compartment was that the +stranger seemed to be warmly expostulating with his medical +attendant. At Redhill Rodney had got into the front part of the +train--which was for London Bridge--because he felt that between +the City and Notting Hill he might have an opportunity of +shaking the stranger off. Now, as the London Bridge coaches +glided out of the station, he passed to the Victoria half of the +train, which awaited an engine, lower down the platform. The +doctor's fortuitous arrival on the scene had saved him, at least +temporarily, from what might have been a serious predicament.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_12" href="#div1Ref_12">MARKING TIME</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Rodney Elmore's rooms were within a short distance of Paddington +Station. As his cab drew up at the house he saw that another +hansom was already at the door. Since it was past midnight, its +presence was suggestive; it betokened a visitor. The house being +a small one, there was only one other lodger besides himself, +and he occupied a modest "bed-sitting-room" on the upper floor. +His instinct told him that the visitor was for himself. At that +hour on Sunday night the fact was portentous. Opening the door +with his latch-key, as he stepped inside a girl came hastening +towards him from a room at the back, noiselessly, as if she did +not wish to be overheard, rather a pretty girl, with fluffy, +fair hair. She spoke in a whisper:</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's someone to see you--a lady. She would wait, although I +told her I didn't know when you would be in."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's her name?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She said Miss Patterson."</p> + +<p class="normal">He understood--he had been making certain mental calculations as +he came along. No doubt his uncle would have his name and +address upon him; his identity would be discovered so soon as +they searched the body. There had been time to carry the news +to Russell Square; this was the result. Nodding to the +fluffy-haired girl, he passed quickly into his sitting-room, +which was on the left, in the front of the house. Gladys was +standing by the table. As she came towards him he knew by the +look which was on her face that his guess had been right--that +already she knew at least part of the story.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where have you been?" she exclaimed. "I thought you were never +coming."</p> + +<p class="normal">Taking both her hands in his, he drew her to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear child! how could I guess that you were here? What does +it mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him with a curious sombre something in her big +dark eyes, which reminded him of a child who is about to cry. +Her lips trembled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, dad's dead."</p> + +<p class="normal">His tone was eager, gentle, sympathetic; instinct with surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dead! You--you don't mean it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the train."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the train! What train?" She told her tale, he listening with +interest, anxiety, tenderness, which were sufficiently real.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was just going to bed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear, you're shivering. You'd better sit down."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd rather stand--close to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">He put his arms about her and held her tight. He kissed her. +"Sweetheart," he whispered. He could feel her trembling; tears +were beginning to shine in her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was in my bedroom, and--and--I was thinking about +you"--about the corners of her lips was the queerest little +smile--"when there was a ringing at the front door. I thought it +was dad, who had forgotten his key; but they came and told me +that there was a gentleman downstairs who wished to see me very +particularly about my father, and that it was most important. So +I slipped on a dressing-jacket and went down to him. It was +someone from the railway company. They had found dad in the +carriage of a train which had come from Brighton. He was +dead--now he was at Victoria Station--he had committed suicide."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Suicide!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney started; it could not have been better done if his +surprise had been genuine.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's--it's incredible!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can only tell you what the man told me. He said of course +there would have to be an inquiry, but all the indications +pointed at that. He had poisoned himself; in his hand they had +found a box in which were some more of the things with which he +had done it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can only say that to me it seems--it does seem impossible. I +should have said he was the last person to do anything like +that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You never can tell what sort of person will do a thing like +that. I once knew a girl who went straight up after dinner to +her bedroom and--did it; no one ever knew why. I went with the +man to Victoria, and--saw dad; I've come right on from there. I +felt that I couldn't go home till I had seen you. I believe I +should have stayed here all night if you hadn't come."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You poor little thing!--sweetheart mine!--you only woman in the +world!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You--you will be good to me, Rodney?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never was man better to a woman than I will try to be to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Suppose--suppose dad did it because he was ruined?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear girl, as you are aware, I was not in your father's +confidence--still, I am pretty nearly certain that, +commercially, it will be found that he was all right. Yet, +should it turn out that he was even worse than penniless, it +will not make a mite of difference in my love for you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Absolutely. Aren't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do believe you care for me a little, or--I shouldn't be +here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A little! You--you bad girl; you dearest, sweetest of darlings! +Between ourselves, if it does turn out that you're no richer +than I am, I shan't be sorry. He never did want you to have +anything to do with me. I might have won him over if he had +lived; you know, I believe he was commencing to like me a little +better. I'm not sure that I wouldn't sooner have you without his +money; I should feel as if I were playing the game."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It will be horrid if he has left nothing; it will perhaps mean +a scandal, and things are bad enough as they are."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see what you have in your mind, but I assure you you need not +have the slightest fear. I'll stake my own integrity that in all +matters of business your father had the highest sense of honour. +I'll be willing to write myself down a rogue if it can be shown +that he ever deviated in any particular from the highest +standard of commercial rectitude."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope you're right."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am right, on that point you may rest assured."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know, Rodney, you're all I have in the world--now."</p> + +<p class="normal">The use of the adverb, in that connection, tickled him. The idea +that, so far as she was concerned, her father ever had been much +of a personal asset was distinctly funny. However, he allowed no +hint of how her words struck him to peep out; never a more +ardent lover, a more present help in the time of a girl's +trouble. He escorted her to what bade henceforward to be her +lonely home in the cab which still waited at the door. When he +returned to Paddington it was very late. As he moved to his +bedroom up the darkened staircase a door opened on the landing. +The fluffy-haired girl looked out. She was in a state of +considerable <i>déshabillé</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are late," she whispered. "I thought you never were coming +back."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You goose."</p> + +<p class="normal">He put his arms about her and kissed her with the calmest +proprietary air.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To think that you should be still awake."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You knew I should sit up; you knew mother wasn't coming back +to-night, and you said you'd be in early."</p> + +<p class="normal">She spoke with an air of grievance. He smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's been a case of man proposes. I have had many things to +contend with--all sorts of worries. Now, as I want breakfast +early, I'm going to bed, and, I hope, to sleep, if you aren't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't care for me a bit."</p> + +<p class="normal">He kissed her again.</p> + +<p class="normal">She waited on him at breakfast, which, as he had forewarned her, +he had unusually early. She was his landlady's daughter; her +name was Mabel Joyce. Among his letters was one from Stella +Austin. He opened it as she placed before him his bacon and +eggs; as he glanced at Stella's opening lines Miss Joyce talked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you went to Brighton yesterday--by the Pullman, too."</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked up at her as if surprised.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did I? Who told you that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Didn't you?"</p> + + class="normal""You say I did. Pray, from what quarter did you get your +information?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, there are plenty of quarters from which I can get +information--when I like. And your uncle was in Brighton. It +doesn't look as if he had a very pleasant day there, as he +committed suicide in the train on the way back to town. I dare +say you had a pleasanter day than he did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I presume you got that information either from this morning's +paper or else from listening last night outside the door."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As it happens, I haven't seen a paper, and, as for listening, +if you don't know I wouldn't do a thing like that it's no use my +saying so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then who was your informant?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's my business. There is a little bird which sometimes +whispers in my ear. Did you come back in the Pullman?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He replied to her question with another.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the matter with you, Mabel?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What should be? Nothing's the matter; I was only thinking that +if you did, your uncle must have been in the train just behind +you. If you'd have known what he was doing you'd have felt +funny. Still, if you did come by the Pullman, considering that +it's due at Victoria at ten, and yesterday was quite punctual, +since you had promised to be in early, and knew that I was all +alone in the house, I think you might have been back before +midnight."</p> + +<p class="normal">He eyed the girl. She was pretty, in a pink-and-white sort of +way; fonder of him than was good for her. He had never seen her +in this shrewish mood before.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Mabel, if I could have got back earlier I would have +done so; but I couldn't. I was the sufferer, not you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I dare say! I suppose that Miss Patterson was your cousin. Are +you going to marry her?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really! you jump about! How do you suppose a fellow in my +position can tell whom he's going to marry--on twopence a year?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I dare say she's got money, especially now. Since directly she +heard of her father's death she came tearing round to you, at +that time of night, it looks as if you ought to marry her if you +don't!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Joyce flounced out of the room. For some moments he sat +considering her words. Who told her that he went to Brighton, on +the Pullman? Was it a lucky guess? Hardly; probably someone had +seen him. People's eyes were everywhere. He would have to be +careful what tale he told. It was odd how gingerly one had to +walk when one was in a delicate position; there were so many +unseen strings over which one might stumble.</p> + +<p class="normal">As he ate his breakfast he read Stella's letter. It was a girl's +first letter to her lover; which is apt to be a wonderful +production, as in this case. He had not supposed that a letter +from Stella could have stirred him as that one did. It suggested +the perfect love which casteth out fear. She bared her simple +heart to him in perfect trust and confidence, showing in every +line that, to her, he was both hero and king, that man of +men,--her husband that was to be. Tears actually stood in his +eyes as he realised the pathos of it all; how sweet to hold such +innocence in his arms. He was not sure that he had not been +over-hasty in concluding that here was no wife for him. The +picture which, as he read on, quite unwittingly she presented to +his mind's eye, of the two wandering hand in hand down the vale +of years, to the goal of venerable old age at the end, moved him +to the depths. It was sweet to be so trusted; he would have +loved to have her with him at the breakfast-table then. It was +so dear a letter that he kissed it as he folded it, and slipped +it into the inside pocket of his coat.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then he set himself to thinking. Part of the point of Stella's +letter lay in the fact that she expected him to go to her that +night, and wished him to know all the things she set down in +black and white, so that they might be able to talk about them +when he came. The misfortune was that he was not going. He would +have liked to go--truly. He felt that after what had happened +lately an evening spent with Stella would be delicious. So +strongly did he feel this that he cast about in his mind for +some means of ensuring himself even a few fleeting minutes in +her society; but could hit on none. Accident might befriend him, +but he doubted if Gladys would give accident much chance. He had +promised that he would go from the office straight to her; it +might go ill with him if he did not. Once with her, she was not +likely to let him go again till it was too late to think of +Stella. +How appease the maiden for her disappointment? He could think of +nothing but laying stress on the dreadful thing which had +happened to his uncle, and putting all the blame on that. He had +never mentioned his cousin to Stella, or to Mary, or to anyone, +being of those who, if they can help it, do not like their first +finger to know what their thumb is doing. Stella did not know he +had a feminine relative; it might be inconvenient to acquaint +her with the fact just now; quite possibly her soft heart might +move her to go and offer the orphaned Gladys consolation. He +smiled as the droll side of such a possibility tickled his sense +of humour. Possibly the time might come when the two young women +would have to know of each other's existence, but--perhaps it +might be as well to put it off for awhile.</p> + +<p class="normal">He scribbled a hasty note to Stella, speaking of the rapture her +letter had given him, and dwelling, in lurid hues, on the +tragedy of his uncle's end; then suddenly remembered that, from +her point of view, he ought not to have heard of it. What a +number of trifles one did have to think of. He had not seen a +paper; he did not propose to tell her of his trip to Brighton; +she had heard nothing of Gladys; she might ask some awkward +questions as to how he came to know about it so early in the +day. He tore the note up and made a bonfire of the pieces. Then +he scribbled another, in which he only spoke of his rapture and +of the ecstatic longing with which he looked forward to seeing +her after his office work was done, and of how the intervening +seconds would go by like leaden hours--he felt that a poetic +touch of that sort was the least that was required. Then, when +he reached the office, he might wire her the dreadful tidings in +an agitated telegram, and, later, in a still more agitated +telegram, inform her that one awful consequence of the upheaval +which had followed the hideous tragedy was that he would be +unable to come to her to-night. The tale would be much more +effective told like that. Whatever her feelings were, he did not +see how a loophole would be left to her to lay blame on him.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_13" href="#div1Ref_13">SPREADING HIS WINGS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">A disagreeable surprise awaited him when he reached St. Paul's +Churchyard. Taking it for granted that everything would now +belong to Gladys, he was prepared to act as her representative +and sole relative, and, if needs be, carry things off with a +high hand--above and beyond all else, he was desirous of gaining +access to certain documents whose existence constituted a peril +to him. To that end he arrived before his usual time, being +conscious that this was an occasion on which it might be an +advantage to be first on the field. To his disgust he found that +at least two persons were in front of him, and that they were +both in what had been his uncle's private room. One was Mr. +Andrews, the managing man, the other was a square-jawed +individual, whose blue cheeks pointed to a life-long struggle +with a refractory beard. He was seated, as one in authority, in +his uncle's own chair behind his uncle's own table. They were +busily conversing as Rodney came unannounced into the room, but +paused to stare at him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This," explained Mr. Andrews to the man in the chair, "is Mr. +Rodney Elmore--the nephew I was telling you about."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a lack of deference in the speaker's tone which the +young gentleman resented, and had resented in silence more than +once in the days which were past; but the time for silence was +gone. He had been making up his mind on that point on his way to +the City. Recognising, from the bearing of the two men in front +of him, that a new and, as yet, unknown factor bade fair to +figure on the scene, with characteristic readiness he arrived at +an instant resolution. Ignoring Andrews, he addressed himself to +the man in the chair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"May I ask, sir, who you are?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The stranger's penetrating eyes were set deep in his head; he +fixed them on the young gentleman's face with a steady stare of +evident surprise. Rodney returned him stare for stare.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may ask, young gentleman, and, though I seriously doubt if +you are entitled to ask, I don't mind telling you. My name is +Wilkes--Stephen Wilkes; I am your late uncle's legal adviser, +and am here to safeguard the interests he has left behind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, Mr. Wilkes, be so good as to get out of that chair."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Andrews looked at the speaker in shocked amazement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Elmore! You forget yourself! How dare you speak like that +to a gentleman in Mr. Wilkes's position."</p> + +<p class="normal">For answer, Rodney turned to the managing man, addressing him as +curtly and peremptorily as if he had been some menial servant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Andrews, leave the room!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The other's eyes opened still wider; probably he had never been +so spoken to before, even by his late master in his most +irascible moods. He drew up his spare and rather bowed figure +with what he perhaps meant to be a touch of dignity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Elmore, the consequences will be very serious if you talk +to me like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The consequences will be very serious if you don't obey my +orders."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your orders?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My orders. Are you going to leave the room, or am I to put you +out?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Steady, young gentleman, steady. I have been your uncle's legal +adviser for perhaps more years than you have been in the world, +and am, therefore, intimately acquainted with his wishes. I am +here to see those wishes carried out. I understand that you +occupied a very humble position in this office, and, though +accident made you his relative, you were not in possession of +your uncle's confidence. Your position is in no way altered by +his death, and you have no right to issue what you call orders +here--emphatically not to Mr. Andrews. If there is any question +as to who is to leave the room, it is certainly not Mr. Andrews +who must go, but you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Wilkes, I do not propose to bandy words, and when I have +once pointed out that you entirely misapprehend the situation on +that subject I have done. All that Mr. Patterson had is now his +daughter's, including this business and all that it implies. I +am here as Miss Patterson's representative."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed! By whom appointed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"By Miss Patterson. I may inform you that Miss Patterson will +shortly be my wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that so? This is news. Since when has that arrangement been +made?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your words imply a sneer and an impertinence. That being so, I +decline to enter into any further details with you beyond a bare +statement of the fact."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you not taking too much for granted in asserting that +everything is left to Miss Patterson?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have not a doubt of it; with the exception, possibly, of some +small legacies. He left a will?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it in your possession?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I must ask you to produce it at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Produce it? To whom?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To me. Miss Patterson has instructed me to request you to hand +it over at once to my keeping."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, if that is so, I am afraid that, for the moment, I have +no choice but to ignore the young lady's request. I will see +Miss Patterson."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Patterson will decline to see you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"She will decline to see me? On what grounds?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is not necessary that she should state any grounds. Any +communication you wish to have with Miss Patterson must be +through me or her solicitor. Do I understand that you finally +refuse to do as she requests, and hand me her father's will?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you were not a very young man, Mr. Elmore, I should say that +you were a foolish one; but possibly youth is your extenuation. +The will will be produced at the proper time, in the proper +place, to the proper person; it will certainly not be handed to +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then Miss Patterson's solicitor will at once take steps which +will compel its instant production."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Patterson's solicitor? You really are a remarkable young +man! I am Miss Patterson's solicitor. It was her father's wish +that I should continue to act for her, as I acted for him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will do nothing of the kind. If Mr. Patterson has left any +legal powers to that effect, his daughter will resort to every +process of law to effect your removal; your refusal to withdraw +will not redound to your credit. You say you have been his legal +adviser for more years than I am old. Mr. Patterson was a bad +husband and a bad father. He utterly neglected his daughter; he +did nothing to show that he had any of a parent's natural +feelings; although she respected his every wish and he had no +complaint to make of her, he was wholly indifferent to both her +welfare and her happiness; he saw as little of her and did as +little for her as he could. In many respects he was to her both +a reproach and a shame, the sole object of his existence being +his own gross physical enjoyment. Without being, perhaps, what +is called an habitual drunkard, he habitually drank too much, +and was frequently intoxicated in her presence. He was an +evil-liver--with his relations with notorious women you are +probably better acquainted than I am; she, unfortunately, has +good reason to know that they were of a discreditable kind. To +crown an ill-spent career he has taken his own life, under +circumstances which can hardly fail to be the cause of scandal, +which may leave a brand on her for the remainder of her life, +though she is still only a girl. You apparently pride yourself +on having been confidential adviser to such a man through a +great number of years. Is it strange, therefore, that she would +rather that somebody else should advise her? Think it over; you +will yourself perceive that it is not strange; I am sure that +will be the feeling of a court of law. Now, Mr. Wilkes, I must +again ask you to get out of that chair."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if I refuse?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney moved to the other side of the table, took Mr. +Wilkes--who was not a big man--by either elbow, lifted him as if +he were a child, and deposited himself on the chair in his +place. The solicitor, who had made not the slightest show of +resistance, stood ruefully rubbing his arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe you have put both my elbows out of joint, you young +ruffian."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney was placidity itself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you never heard of Jiu-jitsu, Mr. Wilkes? You know even +better than I do that you are a trespasser on these premises, +and that a trespasser is a person towards whom one is entitled +to use all necessary force."</p> + +<p class="normal">Taking a bunch of keys out of his jacket pocket, he inserted one +in the lock of the drawer which was in front of him. Mr. Wilkes +surveyed the proceeding with obvious surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What keys are those?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"These are my uncle's keys. They were handed to me by Miss +Patterson, with instructions to go through her father's private +papers and documents, and so ensure their not being tampered +with by persons who certainly have not her interest at heart."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you take my earnest advice, young gentleman, you will not +touch anything which is in those drawers. If you are not careful +you will go too far."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will not take your advice, Mr. Wilkes--whether earnest or +otherwise. I observe, Andrews, that you are still there. There +are one or two remarks which I wish to make to Mr. Wilkes in +private. Once more, are you going to leave this room?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The managing man looked at the lawyer as if for advice and help +in the moment of his hesitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps," said Mr. Wilkes, replying to his unspoken question, +"you had better go. You will commit yourself to nothing by +going."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whereas," observed Elmore, with his smiling glance fixed on the +managing man, "you will commit yourself to a good deal by not +going, because I shall not only put you out of this door, but +into the street. So far as this office is concerned, that will +be the end of you. I will take steps which will ensure your +never entering it again."</p> + +<p class="normal">After another brief moment of hesitation, with a glance of what +was very like reproach towards the lawyer, Andrews quitted the +room, with the air of one who was both bewildered and hurt. So +soon as he had gone Mr. Wilkes observed:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Elmore, you are taking a very great deal upon yourself; you +certainly have the courage of youth, but be warned by me, don't +take too much. If it is shown that your uncle's depositions are +not what you are taking it for granted they are, your position +will be rendered more difficult by the attitude you are now +taking up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I care nothing for any warning which comes from you, Mr. +Wilkes. Why did my uncle commit suicide?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean by asking me such a question? Do you imagine +that if I knew I should tell you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Does that mean that you know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It means nothing of the sort; but it does mean that if I had +any such secret knowledge, the only person to whom I should +breathe a word of it would be his daughter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That you certainly would not do. Miss Patterson's heartfelt +prayer is that she may never know. That he had some shameful +reason is plain; if it can be kept from her it shall be; if it +reaches her through you, you will deserve to be whipped."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Elmore, I knew your father."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's more, Mr. Wilkes, than I ever did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"His end was like your uncle's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So I learned from my uncle before--he ended. And it is because +the shame of what he did seems to rest on me, in the mouths of +such as you, that I am resolved to shield my cousin--if I can. I +imagine that, in a strictly scientific sense, you are, in part, +responsible for my uncle's fate."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you arrive at that--somewhat startling conclusion?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You aided and abetted him in what he did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed! As how?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I happen to know that you were more than once his companion +when he was in the society of certain notorious women, with +whose character you were undoubtedly as well acquainted as he +was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if I was--what then?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If, on more than one occasion, A is in the company of B when B +is in the act of committing a crime, what is the inference we +draw as regards A?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You really are a remarkable young man!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"More. On more than one occasion you have borrowed money from +Mr. Patterson."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We have had business relations for many years."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did he ever borrow money from you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No; because he did not do the class of business I did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Exactly. At this moment you are his debtor in a considerable +sum."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know from whom you get your information, but if it is +from your uncle you must be perfectly well aware that the whole +matter is on a proper footing, and that there can be no +reasonable doubt as to my fulfilling my engagements both in the +letter and the spirit."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Still, you have been in the habit of borrowing money from your +client, sometimes, I believe, to save yourself from a difficult +position. Possibly his will contains a clause relieving you of +your indebtedness; possibly, also, a court of law will see its +way to relieve Miss Patterson from any obligation to accept your +services. I will not detain you any longer, Mr. Wilkes. Good +morning. Please don't gossip with the employés as you go out."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Wilkes looked as if he would have said a good deal; but Mr. +Elmore had already begun to write a letter--there was an air of +complete indifference about him which apparently brought him to +the conclusion that it might perhaps be as well to say nothing. +He took his hat off the table and went out in silence. Presently +Rodney, ringing the bell, said to the lad who answered: +"Take that letter to the address which is on the envelope at +once, and bring me an answer; also tell Mr. Andrews that I wish +to speak to him."</p> + +<p class="normal">Shortly the managing man appeared in the doorway. One felt that +he had hesitated whether or not to come, and that he was +oppressed by something like a sense of shame at the thought of +having yielded. The young gentleman, leaning back, regarded him +with the pleasant little smile which, so far, had not left +him--it was odd of what a number of subtle inflections his +manner was capable without once disturbing the smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sit down, Andrews; take this chair."</p> + +<p class="normal">The other did as he was told, sitting on the extreme edge, +leaning slightly forward, his long legs crooked in front of him, +his hands resting on his knees.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How old are you, Andrews?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Instead of replying to the question, the managing man started +off on a line of his own.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Elmore, you must excuse my remarking that, so far as I am +concerned, I don't understand the position at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will, Andrews, shortly. I always have felt that your mental +processes were perhaps a trifle slow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have been in this office, boy and man, practically my whole +life long; I'm older than your uncle was, and I was here before +he came. He was with Harding and Fletcher before he took this +business over, and, so to speak, he took me with it. It was a +solid business then, and it's a solid business still--indeed, +it's even better than it was. I'm almost--if not quite--as well +known in the City as he was; he would have been the first to +tell you that with the continued success I have had something to +do. He was, in some ways, a difficult man to deal with; but no +man had a better head for business--if he gave his confidence, +you might be sure it was deserved, and he had entire confidence +in me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hear, hear! Go on; I like to hear you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"When he said a thing he meant it. It's always been a joke +among those who knew him that Graham Patterson's word was as +good as a bank-note. He has told me more than once that when he +was gone----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He anticipated going?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not more than other men; only, he was methodical and liked to +have everything in order, and, if he could help it, leave +nothing to chance. He has told me, as I have said, more than +once, that when he was gone--since he only had a daughter--he +had arranged that the whole management of the business should be +in my hands, and that he had left me a small share in it. He +said, frankly, some time ago that he would give me a share in it +then and there; if it weren't that he was the kind of man who +never would get on with a partner; and that was the case--often +he was difficult. I am sure, from what he told me, that it will +be found that he has left the management of the business in my +hands, as well as a share. What I don't understand, therefore, +is on what grounds you are taking up the position you appear to +be doing. I am far from wishing to have any unpleasantness with +you, Mr. Elmore, but I do not understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I represent Miss Patterson."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I represent the business--which was her father's, not +hers."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But it's hers now, you yourself admit that you only expect to +be left a small share."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I'm left the management."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's--I am far from wishing to have any unpleasantness with +you, Mr. Andrews, but--you must know that that's all tuppence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray, Mr. Elmore, what do you mean by that? A will's a will; +its terms are not to be lightly set aside."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have not told me how old you are, Mr. Andrews, but you have +told me that you are my uncle's senior."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So far as head for business goes, I am as young as ever I was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will not contradict you. I am inclined to think that you are +as you were--thirty, forty years ago--that is, in a commercial +sense, a thousand years behind the times."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have no right to say that. What do you know about +business--a young man like you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am a man of business, Mr. Andrews."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was not aware of it until this moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will be more clearly aware of it before long. I was +prepared to marry my cousin had she been penniless, as only the +other day--if she married me--she bade fair to be. In that event +I would have made her fortune, and my own, as sure as you are +sitting there. As events have turned out, so far from being +penniless, she is, shall we say, the three-fourths proprietor of +a flourishing business, with, probably, all the capital at her +command which is needed for its development. Under such +circumstances, why should I not devote my energies to the +aggrandisement of her business? If I do, do you suppose for one +instant--will or no will--that the management of affairs will be +in your hands? That you will lead, and I shall follow? Absurd, +Andrews; the business has reached a stage at which it can branch +out advantageously in a dozen different directions."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe there's something in what you say--if it's in the +hands of the right man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am the right man! In the case of equipment of the modern man +of business, if he has a head upon his shoulders, youth is his +strongest card--it assures his being abreast of the procession. +I know what can be done with this business, and it shall be +done; I'll do it. In ten years it shall rank among the greatest +of its kind in the City of London--in the world; if you live +till then you'll own it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm a bachelor. I've saved enough to keep me in comfort. The +business has been to me both wife and child, I could not love it +better if it were my own. If I were sure that it would grow and +flourish, always on a solid basis, I shouldn't care so much +about myself; but it would break my heart, if, for any cause +whatever, it were to go to pieces."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It won't; you'll see. We'll talk about it again when the exact +conditions of my uncle's will are known. Whatever they turn out +to be, I shouldn't be surprised if you and I get on better +together than at this moment you may suppose--you'll find that I +like to get on with everyone. By the way, there is one +disagreeable matter which, if we are to arrive at a perfect +understanding, I ought to speak to you about. Are you aware that +during the last few years various small acts of dishonesty have +taken place in this office?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Elmore! I never heard of it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My uncle knew; he was speaking to me on the subject only a day +or two ago. I fancy he even knew who the culprit was. He told me +that there were proofs of what he more than hinted at locked up +in one of his drawers. It was because of what he said that I was +so anxious to go through his papers before anyone else could get +at them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope, Mr. Elmore, you are not imputing dishonesty to me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To you, my good Andrews! Do you think I don't know an honest +man when I see one? In that respect I am like my uncle. I am as +sure as I am sure of anything that you are as honest a man as I +am--rest quite easy on that score. I only wished to point out +that while you supposed yourself to be keeping a sharp eye on +everything, and that nothing which took place in the office +escaped your notice, these irregularities were taking place +beneath your very nose. However, on that subject also I may have +to speak to you again later. Still another point. The inquest on +my uncle is to be held to-day at Victoria Station. As you will +readily understand, Miss Patterson is not in a condition to +appear at such an inquiry, if her presence can be dispensed +with; we are advised it can. She wishes me to ask you if you +will appear at the inquiry, and give such formal evidence as may +be required. I don't know what questions will be asked you. +Frankly, can you throw any light on any cause which may have +induced his rash act? I take it he had no financial reason?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Absolutely none, of that I'm convinced. He had all the money he +wanted, and there was nothing wrong with the business. It's a +mystery to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I fancy it will remain a mystery. Why some men and women make +away with themselves is a mystery which only they themselves +could have solved."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't understand why you and he didn't get on better +together."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nor I; to me it was a great disappointment. As you have said, +he was difficult. He may have felt that my ideas on business +matters were different from his, and didn't like it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps if he had lived it would have been different."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We shall never know what, in that case, might have happened. +May I take it that, in the matter of the inquest, you will do as +Miss Patterson asks?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will--certainly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you. You increase the debt which she is conscious she +owes you as her father's right-hand man, and which, whatever the +terms of his will may be, she will never forget."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lad entered to whom he had entrusted the letter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Parmiter has come back with me, sir; he's outside."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good; show him in. I think, Mr. Andrews, that, as the inquest +is timed for noon, you had better be starting."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man went out, and a young one came into the room--a +young man, with a student's face and fair hair. Although his +cheeks were pale, his appearance was not unprepossessing. Elmore +greeted him with outstretched hands. +"Clarence, old man, it's very good of you to come right away +like this. I hope it's not seriously inconvenienced you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not a bit. Between ourselves, I was sitting in the office +twiddling my thumbs and wondering what I should do now I'd +finished reading the paper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll give you something to do. Sit down. You've heard what's +happened to my uncle?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I remember your telling me you were with an uncle, but I don't +know how many uncles you have nor to which of them you're +referring."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have, or, rather, had, only one uncle, and last night he +committed suicide in the Brighton train."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Great Scott! Whatever for?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's it. I'll tell you in as few words as possible what the +position is. He's left a daughter, an only child, who is now an +orphan, to whom I'm engaged to be married. To her he was +not--well, all that a father might have been; he drank, and he +womanised."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did he? Nice man!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's precisely what he was not--a nice man. She knew very +little about his private affairs, though quite as much as she +wanted. He may have killed himself because he was financially +wrong, though, personally, I doubt it, or for any one of a score +of reasons. You'll guess the state of mind she's in."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Naturally; in a case like that it's those who are left who +suffer most."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course. She's anxious, before all else, to know where she +stands--that is, to know the worst. His affairs were in the +hands of a solicitor named Wilkes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know him--Stephen Wilkes; he's an able man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Maybe. But she doesn't want him for her solicitor all the same +for that, for reasons on which, later, I may enlarge. She's +asked me if I knew anyone who would act for her. I suggested +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, Rodney. You always were a fellow who'd do a chap a +good turn if you would."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nonsense! Do you think that I don't know you--even in the old +schooldays? You're as clever a man as you'd be likely to meet in +a long day's journey, and as dependable. You mayn't have the +largest practice in London to-day, but you will have. What's +more, I'd trust you with my bottom dollar, which is more than +you can say of the general run of solicitors nowadays. I told +her so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll try my best to prove worthy of your commendation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've no fear of that, not the least. You may consider Miss +Patterson your client, and me; and we may both of us turn out to +be quite good clients before we've done. I've asked you to come +here in order to give you your first instructions."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm all ears."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Wilkes is in possession of my uncle's will; he himself says +so. Miss Patterson wanted him to hand it over to me to pass on +to her, but he declined. Can't you persuade him, acting on Miss +Patterson's behalf, to produce the will at the earliest possible +moment--say this afternoon at four, in her house in Russell +Square--and make known its contents then and there? She'll not +sleep till she knows the worst."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can try what my persuasive powers will do. Presumably he +knows its contents?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Presumably, since it is even probable that he drew it up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"By it he may be appointed to some office of trust."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Exactly. That's one of the things she wants to know; because, +if he is, she'll leave no stone unturned to get him out of it. +His relations with her father were such that she'll not be +induced to have relations of any kind with him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see; that's how it is. Persons may be interested whose +presence he may think desirable at the reading and who are not +accessible at such short notice."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's nothing in that, Clarence. Candidly, some woman may be +interested; it's only surmise on my part, but it's possible, and +her presence would neither be essential nor advisable. There's +the feeling that whatever her father may have done, Wilkes will +not be considering her interests only--that's why she wants you. +Get him to attend this afternoon in Russell Square with the +will; that'll prove to her that I knew what I was about in +suggesting you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll do my utmost, but you clearly understand that I can't +force the man. There's an etiquette in such matters; he'll be +perfectly in order if he stands on it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do your best, Clarence--that's all I ask, and, if possible, let +me know how it's going to be inside an hour. I want to keep Miss +Patterson posted in what is taking place. If you only knew what +a state of mind she's in!"</p> + +<p class="normal">When Mr. Parmiter had gone, Rodney, having given instructions +that, if it could be avoided, he was not to be disturbed, +subjected the contents of the drawers in his uncle's +writing-table to a thorough examination. He came across +some interesting items. There was a small leather-bound +memorandum-book, which was locked. He opened it with a key which +was on his uncle's private bunch. In a flap attached to the +cover were some cheques which had been duly presented and paid +and some other papers. A glance at the contents of the book +showed that they principally related to him, after a fashion +which occasioned him surprise, blended with amusement. He had no +idea that in his uncle the detective instinct had been so +strongly developed. He tore the cheques and other papers into +tiny bits, made a bonfire of them on an iron shovel, and ground +the ashes into powder. The book itself he slipped into his +jacket pocket. In one of the drawers was a canvas bag, +containing quite a number of gold coins, while in a letter-case +were several bank-notes. He put the bag into another of his +pockets, just as it was, and transferred the notes to a +letter-case of his own. He chanced just then to be hard pressed +for ready cash, as, indeed, was his every-day condition. Should +certain eventualities arise, the possession of that money might +prove to be of the very first importance. In still another +drawer he found an envelope which was endorsed, in his uncle's +handwriting, "Draft of my Will." He studied the sheet of ruled +foolscap which he took out of it with every appearance of +absorbed interest. It was not a very lengthy document. When he +had read it he laid it on the table, drew a long breath, and +smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's all right! It mayn't be all that Gladys would have liked +it to be, but it might have been so much worse; it will serve. A +good deal may depend on the exact wording; but, anyhow, between +us we ought to be able to shape a will like that so that it +shall mean, in the not very far-off future, that I shall be a +millionaire--unless I'm a greater fool than I suppose. I'd like +to wager a trifle that in me there's the stuff that goes to the +making of a modern millionaire, and if the will as it stands is +on those lines, it ought to give me at least an outside chance +of proving it. Here's to you, Uncle P., and, if people can see +from the other side, how happy the knowledge that your daughter +and your business are in such capable hands should make you." +A lad came in with an envelope.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A messenger boy has just brought this, sir."</p> + +<p class="normal">The note within ran:</p> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:5%"> +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Dear Rodney</span>,--I have carried out your first instructions to the +letter, so I have begun well. Mr. Wilkes will be in Russell +Square this afternoon at four with the will. Unless I hear from +you to the contrary, I shall be there at half-past three--to be +introduced to Miss Patterson, to receive any further +instructions, and to be at hand in case I am wanted generally. +You might let me have a message by bearer.--Yours sincerely,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:50%">"<span class="sc">Clarence Parmiter</span>."</p> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_14" href="#div1Ref_14">BUSINESS FIRST, PLEASURE AFTERWARDS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">That afternoon there were five persons in the drawing-room of +the house in Russell Square. Miss Patterson, who was already +attired in garments of orthodox hue, in which Rodney felt that +she did not look her best. It is your fair, slender women who +appear to advantage in black--she was too big and dark. There +was Rodney, who was also in mourning, which did become him; but, +then, anything became him. He was one of your tall, graceful, +well-set-up, debonair, handsome young fellows whom any tailor +might find it worth his while to dress at reduced prices for the +sake of the advertisement. The other three men also were in +black: Mr. Wilkes's dark blue cheeks almost matching his attire; +Mr. Parmiter's light hair and pale face standing out in marked +relief; Mr. Andrews's general air of colourlessness causing his +sombre attire to make him seem older than it need have done. The +proceedings were short--unexpectedly short--and to the point. +Mr. Wilkes had met Miss Patterson before, and while her almost +sullen manner suggested no fondness for him, his brusqueness +hinted at no particular attachment for her. The keen-eyed +Rodney, observing their demeanour, told himself that the lawyer +had been too much the father's friend to care overmuch for the +child, which was, perhaps, as well, since it might make things +easier.</p> + +<p class="normal">The inquest was already over. Mr. Wilkes had been present, and +had taken with him a physician whom he was aware that Graham +Patterson had consulted. He testified that Mr. Patterson was +suffering from a malady which would certainly have grown more +painful as time went on, and was probably incurable. This +statement, since it supplied the motive, caused the inquiry to +assume briefer limits than it might have done; the obvious +inference was that the knowledge of his parlous state had +prompted Graham Patterson to take his fate into his own hands. +Nothing could have been clearer to such men of the world as the +coroner and his jury. All else that was said and done was mere +formality. The doctor who had conducted the autopsy, Mr. +Andrews, a police officer connected with the railway company, +the guard of the train--all these gave formal evidence. The +latter said that he had seen the deceased man come running down +the platform at Brighton station just as the train was about to +start; that he had noticed him getting into a carriage; that he +recognised him when, at East Croydon, his attention had been +called to him by the ticket collector, who, going to collect his +ticket, found him sitting up in the corner of the carriage, +dead. In view of the physician's evidence, the whole affair was +so transparently simple that no one thought of asking if anyone +was in the compartment when he entered it at Brighton station. +One of the jury did inquire if the train stopped between +Brighton and East Croydon. When he was informed that it +did not, it was generally felt that there was nothing more +to be said. The hackneyed verdict was recorded as a matter of +course--suicide while temporarily insane.</p> + +<p class="normal">The whole affair struck Rodney, when he learnt all the +particulars from Andrews, as distinctly droll. He realised that +he owed Mr. Wilkes a debt of gratitude of which that gentleman +had no notion. The physician had been an unknown quantity; +Rodney, who, through devious channels, had heard of a good many +things, had never heard of him. Had not the lawyer brought him +on to the scene the situation might easily have become very much +more difficult--for him. He would not be so hard on Stephen +Wilkes as he had meant to be, but in his treatment of him would +recognise that, as Parmiter had put it, he was an able man.</p> + +<p class="normal">The will was the usual wordy, legal document. Stripped of its +verbiage it was plain enough. It began with the legacies. A +sufficient sum was to be set apart to buy an annuity of one +hundred pounds a year for Agnes Sybil Armstrong, of an address +at Hove. She was also to have five hundred pounds in cash and +the furniture of the house in which she was residing.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gladys, who had been warned by Rodney that she might expect +something of the kind, pursed her lips together and looked at +her cousin. Sitting with expectant eyes fixed on her, he had +been waiting for her look, and greeted it with a reassuring +smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">Various legacies were left to servants in Russell Square, to +clerks in St. Paul's Churchyard, and to certain trade charities. +Five thousand pounds was left to Stephen Wilkes, in recognition +of a life-long friendship and of valued services--the lawyer's +voice was a trifle hesitant as he read this clause. One thousand +pounds in cash and a tenth share in the business were left to +Robert Fraser Andrews; and, since the testator's only child was +a daughter, he directed that the said Andrews should be +appointed manager of his business, under the conditions which +followed.</p> + +<p class="normal">The whole residue of his estate, real and personal, he left to +his daughter, Gladys, unreservedly. At this point the cousins +again exchanged glances. Andrews was to manage the business for +five years; at the end of that period, or in the event of his +death, Gladys might appoint his successor, or dispose of the +business, whichever she chose. No radical change in the conduct +of the business was to be made without consulting her, and she +was to have the right of veto. She was to have access to the +accounts at all times, with right of comment.</p> + +<p class="normal">The testator went on to say that Stephen Wilkes had acted as his +legal adviser for many years, and to express a strong wish that +he would continue in that capacity for his daughter. He hoped +that she would consult him freely, both in the conduct of the +business and in her affairs generally, and act on his advice. He +appointed Robert Fraser Andrews and Stephen Wilkes his +executors.</p> + +<p class="normal">So soon as he had finished the reading of the will Mr. Wilkes +observed:</p> + +<p class="normal">"In order to avoid misunderstanding, I wish to state that, +since I have reason to believe that my services would not be +welcome--and, indeed, learn that another solicitor has already +been retained, whom I see present--I wish to withdraw at the +earliest possible moment from all connection with Mr. +Patterson's estate and affairs, and also that I renounce +administration. I will not act as executor."</p> + +<p class="normal">When the lawyer stopped, Mr. Andrews had his say:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm very much in the same position as Mr. Wilkes. If Miss +Patterson would rather I did not act as manager, I have not the +slightest wish to press my claim. I'm given to understand, Miss +Patterson, that Mr. Elmore here is likely to become your +husband. From a conversation I had with him this morning, I--I'm +inclined to think that I am older than I supposed, and that it +would be to your advantage and to the advantage of the business +that the management of affairs should be in his hands. Also, if +you wish it, so as not to be a clog on you in any way, I will +not act as executor."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney answered for his cousin:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must act as executor, Mr. Andrews; Miss Patterson will very +unwillingly release you from that duty. The other point she will +discuss with you later; you will find that she is as anxious to +consider your wishes as you are to consider hers. I may remark +to you, Mr. Wilkes, as well as to Mr. Andrews, that Miss +Patterson is grateful for the delicate thought which prompts +your proposed action, and she will endeavour in all she does to +show that she appreciates at its full value all that you have +done for her father, and, by consequence, for her. I think, +gentlemen, that, at present, that is all."</p> + +<p class="normal">The meeting was dissolved. The three gentlemen dismissed. The +cousins were left together. Kneeling before the armchair on +which Miss Patterson was seated, Rodney drew her towards him and +kissed her with a sort of mock solemnity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My congratulations, lady! if I may venture to kiss one who is +now a person of property and importance. I hope you won't mind, +but I almost wish, for my sake, that you hadn't quite so much +money."</p> + +<p class="normal">She put out her hand and softly stroked his hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's nonsense. How much money have I got?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Roughly, I suppose that the business brings in four or five +thousand a year, and you've forty or fifty thousand pounds in +what represents cash. You're a rich woman."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, if you do marry me, you'll be a rich man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's one thing--put the business at its highwater mark, say +that in its best year it brings in five thousand pounds--in ten +years it shall bring in fifty thousand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, don't be too speculative. We've enough to get along +with; let's be sure of having a good time with what there is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear lady, I'm no speculator--not such a fool; but I don't +want to see a gold-mine producing only copper. You've twice the +head your father had, and keener, because younger, eyes. Shortly +I shall hope to lay my ideas before you; when you have +assimilated them, you will be able to judge for yourself whether +or not they're speculative. You'll see, what even old Andrews +already sees, that you're the possessor of a gold-mine--a +veritable gold-mine--which hitherto has been worked as if it +were merely a copper-mine. When you begin to work it as a +gold-mine, in less than ten years it will be bringing you in +fifty thousand pounds a year; I shouldn't be surprised if it +brings you twice as much--honestly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A hundred thousand pounds a year, Rodney!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wait--you'll see! This is the age of miracles, which, when you +look into them, have the simplest natural causes. Seriously, +Gladys, there's no reason why, properly handled, the business of +which you are now the sole proprietress--because you can easily +get rid of Andrews--should not make you rich beyond the dreams +of avarice. Wilkes has been quick in taking the hint, hasn't +he?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't like him--I never did. I think I shall like Mr. +Parmiter much better."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sure you will. He's an awfully good sort and as clever as +they make them--and straight! He'll make your interests his +own."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a momentary pause. The gentleman was still kneeling in +front of the armchair, and the lady was still stroking his hair. +There was a look on her face which was half comical and half +something else as she changed the topic.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, who's Agnes Sybil Armstrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know, and don't you ask. Let her have her hundred a +year, and go hang!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Does every man have an Agnes Sybil Armstrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Emphatically no; only--I was going to say only men like your +father, but perhaps you wouldn't like it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wonder--will you ever have one?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gladys! Lady, if a man loves one woman, that's all the feminine +kind he'll ever want, especially--if she's a woman like you. +Doesn't your instinct tell you that when you're my wife, +I'll--be satisfied, in every sense?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope so. If you weren't, I--I shouldn't like it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should say not. May I hope that there is some possibility of +your being my wife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have some ideas in that direction now, though on Saturday I +thought I never should. How prophetic you were? You almost +foretold what has happened--almost as if you saw it coming. Did +you know that he was ill?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I had a shrewd suspicion; but you don't suppose I foresaw what +actually did happen?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I dare say that yours was not the prophetic vision quite to +that extent. I wonder why he didn't like you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm nearly sure that with him it was a case of Dr. Fell--the +reason why he couldn't tell. When you came on the scene he hated +me because you didn't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Didn't you do anything to ruffle him--to rub him the wrong +way?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never--consciously. I've a notion--it's only a notion, but my +notions are apt to be pretty near the mark--that he had some +idea of marrying you to Mr. Stephen Wilkes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney! Good gracious! What a notion!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I remarked, it's only a notion; but I can put two and two +together, and something in the gentleman's manner this morning +put the crown on my suspicions."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd rather have died."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Or married me? Well--do! How soon could you make it +convenient?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"How soon would you like it to be?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is Monday. Say Thursday--next?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney! How can you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then make it Friday--if you've no prejudice against the day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll never be married on a Friday."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then postpone it to that far-off date, Saturday, or even +Monday. I don't know if you want a smart wedding; if you do, +what indefinite postponement may the conventions require?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want a smart wedding."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That sounds hopeful. You're all I want; I don't know if I'm all +you want."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well; you are one thing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Am I? Thanks--you have a nice way. I tell you what, I'll get a +special licence--hang the expense--and we'll be married on +Monday."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I won't be married in black, and I will have one bridesmaid; +I'll have Cissie Henderson. She's my particular friend; she +likes you; she's been on our side all through; and she'll strain +a point--when I've put it to her as I shall, she'll have to. As +a matter of fact, I believe she'll love to."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And Clarence Parmiter shall be my best man, and old Andrews +shall give you away."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know about old Andrews."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then old Andrews shan't! So long as I get you I don't care who +gives you away; if it comes to that, we'll make it worth the +verger's while. Then we'll go off for a whole month, and have a +rare old spree."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That sounds inviting."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And while we're away Andrews and Parmiter between them shall +get things ship-shape; and when we come back, under her +majesty's directions I shall put my shoulder to the wheel and +start making her the richest woman in the world--and the +happiest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The conceit of him! Mind you do make me happy. Will you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you think I shall?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I hadn't hopes in that direction you--wouldn't be where you +are."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where shall we go to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wherever you like."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then----"</p> + +<p class="normal">He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. She put her arms +about his neck and drew him to her.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_15" href="#div1Ref_15">MABEL JOYCE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">When Rodney Elmore got back to his rooms it was somewhat late. +Some letters were on the table in his sitting-room, and a +telegram from Stella Austin. One of those voluminous telegrams +which women send when they are in no mood to consider that each +unnecessary word means another halfpenny. It was, indeed, a +little letter, in which she expressed both sympathy and +disappointment. She was so sorry to hear the bad news about +his uncle, and assured him--with apparent disregard of the fact +that the message might possibly pass through several persons' +hands--that he had much better come to her if he was able, since +she would console him as nobody else could.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall be terribly disappointed if you do not come," it went +on, "so please do come. There are heaps of things I wish to say +to you--simply heaps. So mind, Rodney, dear, you are to come +some time this evening, and you are to let nothing keep you away +from your own Stella."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a love-letter which this young lady had flashed across +the wires at a halfpenny a word, evidently caring nothing if +strangers learned what was in her heart so long as he did. He +was still considering it when Miss Joyce came into the room with +a decanter and a glass upon a tray.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Austin's been to see you," she observed. "I suppose that +telegram's from her."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did she tell you it was from her?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She came in and looked about her at pretty nearly everything, +and saw it lying on the table, and said she'd sent you a +telegram, and supposed that was it. I thought she was going to +walk off with it, but she didn't. I expected she'd want to stop +till you came in, as Miss Patterson did last night, but I told +her I knew you'd an important engagement in the City, and knew +you wouldn't be in till very late; so she went."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you; I'm glad she didn't stay."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thought you would be. She asked me if I was the servant. I +don't think she liked the look of me."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was something in his attitude which suggested that he was +expecting her to leave the room, and would have liked her to. +When she showed no sign of going he commented on her last +remark.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That was rather bad taste on her part."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wasn't it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Having done with the telegram, he began to examine the letters. +She watched him with an expression in her pale blue eyes which, +if he had been conscious of it, might have startled him. It was +plain from his manner that he intended to offer her no +encouragement either to continue the conversation or to remain +in the room. After a perceptible interval, she said, with an +abruptness which was a little significant:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was at the inquest."</p> + +<p class="normal">He glanced up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You were where? At the inquest? Oh! What was the attraction? +And how did you get in?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe the public are admitted to inquests. They're supposed +to be public inquiries, aren't they? Also, I had a friend at +court; and, anyhow, I wasn't the only person there. I suppose +Miss Patterson is a rich woman now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"She'll have money."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you going to marry her?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why do you ask?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Or are you going to marry Miss Austin?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray why do you ask that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"When Miss Patterson was here last night I thought there was an +air about her as if she considered you her property; when Miss +Austin was here this evening I thought the same thing of her. +Odd, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The only thing odd about it, my dear Mabel, is that you should +have such a vivid imagination. Both these ladies are old friends +of mine."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Old friends, are they? In what sense? In the sense that I'm an +old friend?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No one could be nicer than you have been."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see. Have they been nice to you like that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Mabel, in what quarter sits the wind? Where's Mrs. +Joyce?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mother's out; she's going to stay at aunt's till to-morrow. You +and I are alone together."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good business! Come and give me a kiss."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, don't touch me; I won't have it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is something queer about the wind! What's wrong? Is there +anything wrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm trying to tell you. It's not easy, but I'm going to tell +you if you'll give me a chance."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've some bee in your bonnet. Let me get it out."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You give me a chance, I say! I tried to tell you last night, +but I couldn't. But I'm going to tell you now; I've got to!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you? Couldn't you tell me a little closer, instead of +standing all that distance off?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wouldn't come nearer for--for anything."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mabel! After all these years!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, after all these years! How long have you been here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never had a memory for dates."</p> + +<p class="normal">"More than four years you have been here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So long as that? And it hasn't seemed a day too long."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was a kid in short skirts when you first came."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And a very pretty kid you were. Almost as pretty even then as +you are now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, have you ever cared for me a little bit?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have I ever cared? Haven't I shown it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shown it? You call that showing it? My word!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is the matter with the girl? I've never seen you like this +before."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Suppose--something was going to happen?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, isn't something always going to happen? What especially +awful thing are you afraid is going to happen?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Suppose--something was going to happen--to me--because of you? +Suppose--I was going----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice died away, her eyes fell.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't mean that----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good God! It's--it's impossible!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why is it impossible? It's true."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, my--my dear girl, it can't be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why can't it be? It is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But--you're not sure. How can you be sure? You know, my dear +Mabel, how you do fancy things. I'll bet ten to one that you're +mistaken."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you suppose that I haven't tried to make myself think that +I'm mistaken? I wouldn't believe it. But it's no use pretending +any longer; it's sure. What are you going to do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What am I going to do? That's--that's a nice brick to aim at a +fellow without the slightest warning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sorry; I can't help it; I must know. What are you going to +do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear girl, you know that you've no more actual knowledge on +such a subject than I have. I hope--and I think it's very +possible--that you are wrong. Let's, first of all, make sure."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well--we'll make sure. And when we've made sure what are +you going to do--if it is sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"We'll discuss that when we've made sure. Give me a chance to +think; you've had one. It seems that you've guessed, goodness +knows how long. Give me a chance to get my thoughts into order."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't wait; I must know now. What are you going to do--if it +is sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll do everything that a man can do--you know that perfectly +well. You've knocked the sense all out of me! Do give me a +chance to think! Don't look at me with that stand-and-deliver +air! Come here, old lady, and let me kiss those pretty eyes of +yours; I can't bear to have them look like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't touch me--don't dare! You say you'll do everything a man +can do. Does that mean you'll marry me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marry you! Mabel!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you mean that you will marry me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear girl, it's--it's impossible!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why is it impossible? Are you married already?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good Lord, no!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then why can't you marry me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As if you didn't know!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do I know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As if there weren't a thousand reasons! As if you weren't +almost as well posted in my financial position as I am myself! +As if you didn't know how hard I've found it to pay my +way--that, in fact, I haven't paid it! If I were to marry you, +financially there'd be an end of me; and in every other way! Not +only should I be worse than penniless, but there'd be absolutely +no prospect of my ever being anything else."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shouldn't be worse off as your wife than I am now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, wouldn't you? You would; don't you make any error! I've +never said a word to you about marriage."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's true, nor should I have said it to you if it hadn't been +for this."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There you are--that's frank. There's been no deception on +either side. After all that there's been between us don't let's +have any unpleasantness, for both our sakes. I'm as sorry for +the position to which we've managed to bring things as you can +be; you must know I am. At present I'm stony, but shortly I hope +to have the command of plenty of money."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you going to get it from Miss Patterson or Miss Austin?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What does it matter where it comes from?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So far as I'm concerned it matters a good deal."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It'll be my own money."</p> + + class="normal""If you'll have so much money of your own why can't you marry +me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I do marry you I'll have no money?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you going to get it with your wife? Which wife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can understand how you're feeling, so I'll try not to mind +your being bitter, though it isn't like you one scrap. I can +only implore you to trust me, to leave it all to me; I'll +arrange everything. If you're right in what you fear you'll find +a place ready for you when the time comes, in which you'll be +comfortable, in which you'll have everything you want, and when +it's over, if you like you can come home again, and no one will +be one whit the wiser, and you won't be an atom the worse. It's +done every day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it? And the child--what about the child?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The child? If it is my child----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If? if? if? What do you mean by 'if'? You'd better be careful, +Rodney, what you are saying. What do you mean by 'if'?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear girl, it was only a way of speaking."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then don't you speak that way. 'If' it is your child! When you +knew me I was innocent, and I'm innocent now except for you. +Don't you dare to say if! You know it is your child!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear girl, of course I know it's my child. You won't let a +fellow finish what he is going to say. I was only going to say +that the child shall want for nothing; it shall have everything +a child can have. So shall you; you'll be much better off than +if you were my wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If the child is born, and I am not your wife, I'll kill +myself--and it. Or, rather, if I'm not going to be your wife, +I'll kill myself before it's born, as sure as you are alive."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mabel, don't talk like that--don't! I can't bear it. If you +only knew how it hurts!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hurts! As if anything hurts you! Nothing could hurt you, +nothing; you're not built that way. Do you suppose that I don't +know what kind of man you are--that you're an all-round bad +lot?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To say a thing like that, after pretending to care for me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pretending! There wasn't much pretence about my caring; I +proved it. You wouldn't let me rest until I did. Not only did I +care for you, but I do care for you; and I shall continue to +care for you as long as I live. No other man can ever be to me +what you have been."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's more like the Mabel I know."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But don't imagine that I'm under any delusion about you; you'll +know better by the time I've done. You're the kind of man who's +not to be trusted with a girl. You make love to every woman you +meet--what you call love! You're entangled with no end of women. +I know! I don't know how many think you're going to marry them, +but I shouldn't be surprised if Miss Patterson and Miss Austin +both think you are. If I were to go and tell them, do you think +they'd marry you? Not they; they're not that sort."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you won't tell them. You're not that sort either. I, +perhaps, know you better than you know yourself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's this way. Even you mayn't know who you're going to marry, +but I do. You're going to marry me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish I were. I'll admit so much. But--we can't always do what +we wish, my dear."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can, and do; that's what makes you dangerous--at first to +others, in the end to yourself. Rodney, I don't want to say +something which will change the whole face of the world for both +of us, but I'll have to if you make me. Don't you make me! Say +you'll marry me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear child----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't talk like that to me; don't you do it! You're duller than +I thought, or long before this you'd have seen what I was +driving at. Now, you listen to me; I'll tell you. To-day I was +at the inquest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That fact, I assure you, in spite of my dullness, I have +appreciated already. What I still fail to understand is what the +attraction was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Attraction! You call it an attraction! You wait. I've always +thought that an inquest was to find out the truth, not to hide +it up. The idea of that one seemed to be to conceal, not to +reveal. The coroner was an old idiot, as blind as a bat. He'd +got a notion into his head, and as there wasn't room for more +than one at a time--why, there it was! I went there knowing +nothing, guessing nothing, suspecting nothing. The inquest +hadn't hardly begun before I saw everything, knew everything, +understood everything. But the coroner, the jury, and the +witnesses--they knew less at the end than the beginning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your words suggest that nature erred in making you a pretty +girl, and therefore incompetent to be a coroner."</p> + +<p class="normal">"According to the guard of the train, your uncle was found +sitting up in a corner of the carriage, with a box in his hand, +in which were some of the things with which he is supposed to +have poisoned himself. The box was handed round for the coroner +and jury to look at. Directly I saw it I knew it."</p> + +<p class="normal">If Elmore changed countenance it was only very slightly, and the +change went as quickly as it came; yet one felt that for an +instant it had been there.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that so? What sort of box was it? It must have been +something rather out of the common run of boxes for you to have +recognised it at what, I take it, was some little distance."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was close enough, close enough to take it in my hand if I had +wanted; and it was all that I could do to keep my hand from off +it. And it was very much what you call out of the common run of +boxes. It was a silver box, Chinese, with Chinese engraving on +it, about an inch and a half long, round, and a little thicker +than a fountain pen."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You seem to have observed it pretty closely."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was not the first time I'd seen it. The first time I saw it +it was on your dressing-table."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again, if Elmore's expression altered, it was only as if a +flickering something had come and gone in his eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may have seen a box like it on my dressing-table. You +certainly never saw the one you saw this morning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The box was on your dressing-table. I picked it up and asked +you what it was. You said you believed it was a Chinese +sweetmeat box. I said that if it was it did not hold many +sweets. You laughed and said it was very old, and that you +believed it came from Pekin, and that some of the carvings on it +were Chinese characters, but you didn't know what they meant. I +opened it. Inside it were some of the white things which were in +it when they handed it round this morning. I asked you if they +were sweets. You said that those who wanted a long, long sleep +would find them sweet enough; and you took the box from me as +you said it. I thought there was something queer about you and +the box, and when you put it down for a moment I picked it up +again, and, with some scissors which were on the table, +scratched some marks on the bottom--I myself hardly know why. +But when I saw that box this morning it was all I could do to +keep from asking the coroner if they were on the bottom. I could +describe them perfectly; I should know them again. I can see +them now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What a vivid imagination you have, and what powers of +observation! Even granting that, by some odd coincidence, that +box was my box, what's the inference you draw from it, when the +simple explanation is that it was a present to my uncle from his +affectionate nephew?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I daresay it was a present, but not in the sense you mean. You +went to Brighton yesterday by the Pullman, but you didn't come +back by it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray, who is your informant, and what's the relevancy to your +previous remarks?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"George Dale, who has the bed-sitting-room upstairs, and who +cares for me in a different way to what you do, because he wants +me to be his wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then why the--something don't you oblige him? Isn't he +respectable?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, he's respectable."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then could there be a sounder proposition? A man who loves you, +who would be all that a husband ought to be! I tell you what, on +the day you marry him an unknown benefactor will settle on you a +thousand pounds--something like a fortune."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can talk to me like that, knowing what you know! After what +you've done to me you want to pass me on to someone else. That +finishes it! Now you listen. George Dale's a booking clerk at +Victoria Station. He recognised you, though you didn't him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite possibly, if he was on the other side of the peep-hole, +and seeing that I've only seen him two or three times in my +life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He gave you your ticket for the Pullman. All the seats are +numbered; he made a note of your number. Your ticket wasn't +among those which were given up by the passengers who came back +by the Pullman, but it was among those which were collected from +the train which reached Victoria at 11.30. The guard saw you get +into the train at Redhill Station. You got into a first-class +compartment with a little man. You two were the only first-class +passengers who got in at Redhill, so he took particular notice. +You were in the London Bridge part of the train. At East Croydon +someone else got into your compartment. You got out and went +back to the Victoria part. The guard, shutting your carriage +door, took particular notice of you again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your friend the guard appears to be as quick to observe as he +is to impart the fruits of his observation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He wasn't my friend, only Mr. Dale introduced me to him, and he +was kind enough to answer a question or two. Mr. Dale also +introduced me to the guard of the train in which your uncle was. +I asked him if it stopped anywhere. He thought a bit, and then +said that it did once, for about a minute, in Redhill tunnel, +because the signal was against it. I haven't made inquiries yet, +but I shouldn't be surprised if someone saw you get into your +uncle's train at Brighton. As that train stopped in Redhill +tunnel, it's not hard to understand how, or why, you got into +another train a little later at Redhill Station."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You surprise me, Mabel. I hadn't a ghost of an idea that you +had such a genius for ferreting."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's easy enough. If that coroner hadn't had a notion in his +head when he started, he might have got at the facts as easily +as I have."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And, from what you call the facts, what is the inference you +draw? What dreadful charge against me have you been formulating +in your mind?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, a wife can't give evidence against her husband in a +charge of murder."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe I have heard as much. And then?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm the only creature in the world who has any suspicion. If +you marry me you're safe."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You, pretending to love me, can marry the sort of man you +believe I am?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is because I do love you that I am willing to marry you, +knowing you to be the kind of man you are.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your standard of morality is not a high one."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's what you've made it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mabel, while you have got parts of your story right, the +inferences you draw from it are all wrong; but I'm not going to +attempt any denials."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shouldn't; lies won't help you--not with me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you also think that I'm a liar?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sure of it; you're a born liar. Sometimes I don't believe +you know yourself if you are speaking the truth."</p> + +<p class="normal">"One thing I've learnt this evening--that you're a born actress. +I am speaking the absolute truth when I assure you that I never +for one second dreamt that you had the opinion of me you seem to +have."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never really began to understand you myself till last night. +Just before you came in Mr. Dale had gone to bed. He told me, as +he went upstairs, that your uncle had been found dead in the +Brighton train, and that you had gone to Brighton in the +Pullman; and he wondered, laughing, if it was you who had killed +him. Then Miss Patterson came with her air of owning you, and +you came and went out with her again as with one whom you were +going to make your wife, and something happened inside my head +and I began to understand. All night I scarcely slept for +thinking, and in the morning, somehow, I knew; and all day I +have been learning much more, until now I know you--for the man +you are."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Mabel, one thing I do see plainly, that you're not very +well, that your nerves are out of order, and play you tricks. +Let's both turn in. I, for one, am tired, and I'm sure that a +good night's rest will do you good; and to-morrow we'll continue +our talk where it left off."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, you'll give me at once a written promise of marriage, +or I'll communicate with Inspector Harlow, and in the morning +you'll be charged with murder."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you wish me to suppose that you are speaking seriously?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"We'll be married at a registrar's--it doesn't matter where, so +long as we are married, and at a registrar's it's quickest. You +can get a licence for £2 3s. 6d.; I'll get it, I've enough +money for that, and then the day after you can be married. If I +get the licence to-morrow we can be married on Thursday--and we +will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We can be married on Thursday, can we, you and I? This sounds +like comic opera, and, as the song says, 'When we are married, +what shall we do?'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can do as you please. I shall have my marriage lines, and +that's all I care about."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you propose to haul me to the registrar, and chain me to +you, and souse me in the gutter, and ruin my career, and render +life not worth living, not because you've any special ambition +for yourself, nor even because you crave for the sweets of my +society, but in order that you may have somewhere locked up in a +drawer what you call your marriage lines. This seems to me like +using a steam hammer to crack a nut."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've got a sheet of paper; you sit down and write what I tell +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">She laid on the table a sheet of paper which she had taken out +of her blouse. As he looked at it he laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stamped--a sixpenny stamp, as I'm a sinner! Do you know, my +dear, that this is a bill form which you've got here, good +for any amount up to fifty pounds. Wherever did you get the +thing? And what use do you suppose it is to you? What a +practical-minded child it is! And I never guessed it till now! +Tis a wonderful world that we live in!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You get a pen and write."</p> + +<p class="normal">He took a fountain pen and a blotting pad from a table at the +side, and spread out on the latter the crumpled bill stamp.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here we are. Now for the writing. 'Three months after date I +promise to pay.' Is that the sort of thing I'm to write?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You write what I tell you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell on; I'm waiting."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Write: 'I, Rodney Elmore, promise to marry on Thursday next +Mabel Joyce, who is about to bear a child of which I am the +father.' Have you got that? Why aren't you writing?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Before I start I want to see the finish; that is, I want to +know all that I am to write."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Except your signature and the date, that is all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rather a considerable all, eh? What use do you suppose this +will be to you when you've got it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's my business."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you propose to do with it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing. If you marry me I'll give it you before we leave the +registrar's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if I don't?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll be in gaol."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see; that's it. If I don't write I'm in the cart, and if I do +write and don't marry I'm also in the cart."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm fighting for my life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I lose mine either way."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you make that out? Who's there to be afraid of except +me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I do marry you I might as well be dead, and if I don't +you'll do your best to bring my death about."</p> + +<p class="normal">She was silent. They eyed each other, she standing at one side +of the table, he sitting at the other. In the white-faced woman, +with the rigid features and close-set lips, who looked at him +with such unfaltering gaze, he scarcely recognised the pretty, +dainty, blue-eyed girl whom it seemed only yesterday he had +wooed and won. He was sufficiently a physiognomist and student +of character to be aware that this woman meant every word she +said. As this knowledge was borne more clearly in on him a +curious something came into his own eyes--the something which +had been there last night in the train. He spoke very softly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mabel?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice fell as his had done.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are alone together in the house, you and I."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are; as you were alone with your uncle in the railway +carriage."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why shouldn't I serve you as you persist in hinting that I +served him? What reason is there?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"None."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then--why shouldn't I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can--what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Kill me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Knowing me, as you pretended to know me, you're not afraid?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall never be afraid of you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You seem to flatter me all at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't care what you do to me. I'd rather you killed me than +not marry me--much."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wouldn't be so easy to explain. You'd want a lot of +explaining if they found you dead."</p> + +<p class="normal">When he stopped she was still looking at him with eyes which +never flinched. He went on:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wouldn't be difficult to manage."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shouldn't resist. If you broke my head to pieces with the +poker I wouldn't make a sound."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The poker? Not such a fool! He would be sanguine who hoped to +explain a poker."</p> + +<p class="normal">He had been sitting back in his chair; now, leaning forward, he +rested his arms on the table.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Suppose I had another of those things which were in the silver +box. If I gave it to you would you take it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her face had become all at once so pale that her very lips +seemed white.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should have to go through the form of making you."</p> + +<p class="normal"> +"You would have to do to me what you did to your uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if I did, what then?--what then?"</p> + +<p class="normal">If he expected an answer it did not come. She stood confronting +him, so immobile that she scarcely seemed to breathe. The smile +was on his face which had seemed the night before to give it +such unpleasant significance, as if unholy thoughts were chasing +each other through his mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll be frank with you."</p> + +<p class="normal">If he expected her to speak he was again disappointed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I could explain you--I'd do it, but I don't see how I could. +How can I? Suggest an explanation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You won't kill me; you dare not. You only killed your uncle +because you thought you wouldn't be found out."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You think that was the only reason? You don't think that I had +a choice of evils, and that I merely chose what seemed to be the +lesser?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wonder why you killed him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In your case you wouldn't wonder?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Was it because of Miss Patterson?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As how?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because you've treated her as you've treated me, and her father +found out. If I thought--if I thought---- Take that paper and +write on it what I told you--now! now! now!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if I don't?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you don't kill me--and you won't, you're afraid--I'll have +you hanged!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So with you also it is a choice of evils."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Write what I told you--write it----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had raised her voice nearly to a scream. All at once she was +still, leaving her sentence unfinished. There were sounds +without of a key being put in a lock, of a door being opened, of +steps in the passage. She spoke in a whisper, hurriedly, +eagerly, and the fashion of her countenance was changed:</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's Mr. Dale come back from the station. If you don't write +what I told you now, I'll call him in--I will!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He also spoke in a whisper, and in some subtle fashion his +countenance was also changed:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mabel, don't--don't be hard on me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then write, write what I told you; write it now. If I do call +him in it'll be too late. Write!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He drew the bill stamp towards him and picked up the fountain +pen. His air was more than a trifle sullen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What am I to write?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know perfectly well. Write: 'I, Rodney Elmore, promise to +marry on Thursday next Mabel Joyce, who is about to bear a child +of which I am the father.' Write that. Now sign it, put your +name at the bottom, and the date. I'll blot it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Drawing the pad to her she blotted what Elmore had written; +then, after a glance at what was on it, began to return it to +her blouse, while the young gentleman sat and watched.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm going to put this into an envelope with a note I'm going to +write, and give it to Mr. Dale, and tell him to keep it for me +till I ask for it; and if I don't ask for it he'll know why."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So, in writing that, I have not only put myself in your power, +but also in Mr. Dale's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I tell you that if you do marry me on Thursday I'll give it you +again before we leave the registrar's; but if for any cause you +don't, even if you put me out of the way, Mr. Dale will see that +you are made to smart."</p> + +<p class="normal">A voice was heard calling to her without:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Joyce."</p> + +<p class="normal">She replied to it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right, Mr. Dale. You'll find your supper all ready for you +in the parlour; I'm coming now."</p> + +<p class="normal">She went, the bill form inside her blouse. Mr. Elmore was left +to his own reflections. He remained just as she had left him, +leaning forward, his arms upon the table, looking with +unblinking eyes straight in front of him, as if he hoped to find +in space an answer to a problem which was difficult to solve.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_16" href="#div1Ref_16">THOMAS AUSTIN, SENIOR</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Miss Joyce came into Mr. Elmore's bedroom the next morning +before he was out of it. As a matter of fact, he was arranging +his tie before the looking-glass with that nice care which is +becoming to a young gentleman of looks.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's a gentleman come to see you--a Mr. Austin. I should say +from the look of him that he's the father of the Miss Austin who +was here last evening."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The thing is possible."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know what he's come about."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's conceivable that you soon will know if you keep your ear +close enough to my sitting-room door. Mr. Austin has rather a +hearty way of speaking."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you talk to me like that! You know I've never played the +spy on you yet, and you know I never will. But don't you make +any mistake about last night. Mr. Dale's got that paper you +wrote and my letter in a sealed envelope, and if you don't turn +up on Thursday you'll be sorry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you so much for the information. Now, let me clearly +understand. If, as you put it, I do turn up on Thursday, what is +going to happen--after the ceremony?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"All I want is my marriage lines. I'm coming straight back home; +you can do as you like."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I like can I go through a similar ceremony with Miss Jones +or Miss Brown?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I thought you were going to be up to any game of that sort +I'd--I'd----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes--you'd what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd go and talk to your Mr. Austin to begin with. Don't you get +any ideas of that kind in your head; don't you try it on."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've no intention of, as you again put it, 'trying it on,' not +I. I only wondered. Then, at least, you won't insist on the +position being made instantly public?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't care if it's made public or not. All I want is my +marriage lines--when the time comes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you quite understand that, whatever the relations may be, +from the legal point of view, in which we stand to each other, +you'll get no money out of me, for the sufficient reason that I +shall have none to give you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want your money. I don't want anything from you except +that one thing; and--and--mind you do turn up!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've been thinking things over in the silent watches of the +night, and I've quite decided that I will turn up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mind you do!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will, I will; be assured I will. Now I believe I'm ready. I +was thinking of troubling you to tell Mr. Austin that I'll be +with him in a second, but I'll save you that trouble."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mind----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Standing by the door she was beginning a sentence. He cut her +short.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right, my dear; I'll mind. Would you mind getting out of +the way?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She moved aside to let him pass. He went down the stairs to his +sitting-room below, quickly, lightly, humming a tune as he went, +as if he had not a care in the world; and with a face which was +all sunshine he entered his visitor's presence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Rodney, this is an unconventional hour at which to pay +a call, but I didn't think that in my case you'd mind about +conventions, and I thought that, as I didn't get a chance of +speaking to you last night, I'd have a few words with you before +you started for the City. I suspect that I needn't tell you that +I was glad to hear the news from Stella."</p> + +<p class="normal">The speaker was a short, sturdily-built, fresh-coloured man, +probably somewhere in the fifties, whose neatly trimmed beard +was a shade whiter than his hair. A pair of bright eyes looked +out from behind gold-rimmed spectacles; about his whole +appearance there was a suggestion of health, vigour, and clean +living. He took both the young man's hands in his, looking up at +him as at one whom he both esteemed and liked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're on the tall side. Stella always did like six-footers. I +shouldn't wonder if that's the main reason why she's contracted +a fondness for you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's very good of you, sir, to look me up in this unceremonious +way. You must join me at breakfast."</p> + +<p class="normal">"On this occasion I've been an earlier bird than you--I've +breakfasted--but I will join you in a cup of coffee."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney rang the bell. Miss Joyce entered with the breakfast on a +tray. As she was placing the various articles on the table the +two men scarcely spoke. The young man was examining the outsides +of three or four letters which the morning post had brought; the +elder, who had taken up his position before the fireplace, was +for the most part observing Miss Joyce. When she had gone he +said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's not a bad-looking young woman. Who is she?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She's the landlady's daughter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't they keep a servant?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I fancy they do at intervals, someone who does the rougher +work; but I'm out all day, and I never see her. So far as I'm +concerned, either the mother or the daughter does the waiting."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you the only lodger?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, no; there's another man upstairs, who's by way of being a +booking clerk or something. I rather fancy he has an eye in her +direction."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that so? Then perhaps that's what worries her. I never saw a +young girl with a whiter face, or one with such an odd look in +her eyes. It quite troubled me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How are you, sir? Though I don't think I need ask."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, you needn't. As always, I'm in the enjoyment of vulgar +health; nothing ever seems to ail me, though in saying so +perhaps I ought to touch wood. When I heard from Stella +yesterday morning I made up my mind that I would come up to town +at once and say what I had to say by word of mouth, instead of +putting it on paper. I arrived in the afternoon, hoping to see +you in the evening; but I didn't. I can tell you that Stella was +very badly disappointed. I think she was unreasonable; but girls +are! You'll have to make your peace to-day. I daresay you won't +find it very difficult. This is very bad news about your uncle. +I see the inquest is in the morning's paper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it, sir? As yet I haven't seen a paper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"From what I can gather he was suffering from some form of +malignant disease, and, it seems, in a fit of despair, took his +own life. Poor fellow! It's easy to judge such cases, but I +often feel that God, who is love, understands and pardons. I +hope I'm saying nothing that I ought not to say. Mrs. Austin +will have it that I oughtn't to talk like that, but that's how I +do feel. Will his death make any difference to you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean has he left me anything? No, sir; not a penny."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What becomes of the business?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"According to the will it's to be carried on by the managing man +for the benefit of those mentioned in the will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of whom you're not one?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, sir, I am not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then that makes what I have to say all the easier. I am glad to +hear that you're going to be Stella's husband; Mrs. Austin is +glad to hear it; I'm sure Tom will be glad to hear it--in fact, +we're all of us glad to hear it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's very kind of you to say so, sir, considering what an +ineligible son-in-law I am. Here is a letter from Tom this +morning. Shall I open it and see what he says?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You needn't. I've no doubt it conveys his congratulations in +his own vernacular. I know Tom and his letters. There are some +things about the governance of this world which I don't +understand, which shows I am not omniscient. Experience teaches +me that when a man has a son and a good business the son will +have none of it, and can with difficulty be brought to believe +that the business offers a good opening for him; whereas if a +man has a son and no business, the son is apt to look upon it +almost as a grievance that his father has no business in which +to give him an opening. Instances of the kind are so common that +I've nearly come to look upon them as illustrations of a general +rule. Now, here am I, and there is Tom, and there's the +business, producing, even in these competitive days, quite a +comfortable number of thousands a year. Tom's a born optimist. +The only time Eve seen him at all pessimistic is when I've +suggested that those thousands might as well find their way into +his pockets; then he's pessimism gone mad. He'd sooner raise +sheep in Australia, or ranch in Manitoba, or do some other +ridiculous thing. In fact, he once told me--in such matters he's +frankness itself--that he'd rather sweep a crossing than be what +he called imprisoned for life in the warehouse at Leicester. +I'll do him this justice--that I believe his instincts are +right, because I've never seen anything about him to lead me to +suppose that in him are the makings of a business man. That's a +pretty quandary for a man to be in who has a good business and +an only son. Now, Rodney, I've always liked you. It's true that +I've sometimes felt that a decent-looking young fellow +occasionally finds it difficult to steer clear of quicksands +which are represented by nice-looking persons of the opposite +sex; but I've never had any tangible or serious charge to bring +against you, and I've no doubt that when you're married there'll +be only one woman in the world to you, and she will be your +wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">As the speaker paused, apparently with the intention of giving +the other an opening, Rodney said with a smile:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm at least glad, sir, that you've no tangible or serious +charge to bring against me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, no, I haven't. At the same time--however, we'll let +bygones be bygones. I daresay I'd an eye for more than one +pretty girl before I'd a Mrs. Austin. I do know you're clever, +with great charm of manner. I sometimes wonder if your manners +are not almost too charming; but then, I come of a stocky +school--no one's ever accused an Austin of having a charming +manner, and I quite realise that, as things are, in business +personal charm's a valuable asset; and I've been frequently +struck by the fact that you're the possessor of a singularly +quick perception. I think you have what is in reality an +instinct, but what is called on the Stock Exchange a 'nose.' +Again, a thing which in a business man is well worth having."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You seem to have been observing me with unexpectedly flattering +attention, sir."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I've had an eye on you for quite a while. I want you, when +you are Stella's husband, to come into my business. If you turn +out as I hope and expect, I'll make you a partner. I've been +imprisoned in the warehouse all my life, so, as I would like to +see more of the world, soon as you're ready to take my place I +should like you to take it. How would that meet your views?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing could please me better, sir. I don't know where I shall +find words with which to thank you even for the suggestion."</p> + + class="normal""I want no thanks; I want deeds. I'm hopeful that the +arrangement will turn out to our mutual advantage. Now, Rodney, +tell me candidly do you love my girl?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me put question for question. Do you think I'm the kind of +man who would ask her to be my wife if I didn't?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then why didn't you ask her before?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Austin, you're not quite fair to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How am I unfair?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've loved Stella ever--ever since we were boy and girl +together. I've tried to break myself of loving her, but I +haven't succeeded. I've never been able to dream of anyone but +her as wife. You were a rich man; I was not only penniless, but +without prospects. Over and over again I've been on the point of +telling her what I felt, but I've checked myself. It hasn't been +easy, but I've done it. I meant to wait till I'd some shadow of +a right to ask her to be my wife, but last Saturday, when I saw +her dear face, I--I couldn't hold myself in any longer, and +that's the truth."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm glad you couldn't. While I'm quite aware that your +sentiments do you honour, all the same I rather wish that you'd +shown a little more of the perception with which I've credited +you. Rodney, is there any reason why the marriage should be +postponed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Austin, I haven't at the moment five pounds in the world to +call my own. That's the only reason, so far as I'm concerned; +but some fathers would think it a quite sufficient one."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Austin's eyes twinkled behind his glasses as he settled his +spectacles on his nose.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I suppose they would, if you look at it in that way. You don't +paint your position too attractively."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It couldn't be worse than it is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're not in debt?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I'm not in debt; I don't know who'd give me credit if I +wanted it. I've just enough to live on, as it were, from hand to +mouth; but, with all the goodwill in the world and all the +management, I don't see how it's going to be enough for two."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see. You put the position with some clearness. As you say, +some fathers would think it a sufficient reason for +postponement, but I'm not one of them. As you perhaps know, +Stella has some means of her own."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Isn't that one of the reasons why I--I kept quiet for so long?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And on her marriage I shall settle a further sum on her, +besides making other arrangements. For instance, I shall, as I +have said, be glad to receive you in my business, giving you at +the commencement a salary which will enable you to contribute +towards some of the expenses of a wife, with the prospect of a +partnership in the early future. Now, do you see any reason why +there should be any postponement so far as you're concerned?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall be only too delighted to marry Stella next week."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Next week is a little early perhaps; but what do you say to +next month?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I'm Stella's husband next month I shall be the happiest man +in the world."</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked and sounded as if he meant it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You understand that in matters of this sort it is the lady who +has the final word, but you have my authority to tell Stella +that if she can see her way to stand with you at the altar in a +month or earlier, she will make her mother and father happy, to +say nothing of you. Now suppose you come and spend the day with +us?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear sir! I must go to the City."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Meaning to your late uncle's office? Why? Can't you scribble a +note as soon as you've finished breakfast, and make an end of +that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's impossible; I must go to-day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well. Go to-day, and say you're not coming to-morrow, or +ever again. Say good-bye."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm afraid that that wouldn't be playing the game. I ought to +go, at any rate, till the end of the week."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well. Perhaps you're right in not wishing to leave them in +the lurch, if the departure of such a junior clerk as I +understand you are would be leaving them in the lurch. Then on +Saturday you'll come down with me to Leicester, and on Monday +I'll introduce you to the warehouse. It will be just as well +that you should have a look round before you're actually +installed."</p> + +<p class="normal">Here was Mr. Austin mapping out everything for him, as he had +foreseen long ago would be the case if he ever committed himself +to Stella; treating him as a puppet who would be content to +dance when he pulled the strings. He had no doubt that Mrs. +Austin would be ready to play the same motherly part in the +management of his domestic affairs. He smiled as he thought of +it. His would-be father-in-law went on:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm going to write to Mrs. Austin and wire to Tom; I want to +arrange a little dinner for to-morrow in honour of a certain +auspicious event. Stella tells me she wants you all to herself +to-night, and I'm not to interfere. I don't know what she wants +you for, I'm sure, but I've promised not to interfere. She'll +pull a face when she sees you've not returned with me, so you +come early; after disappointing her twice--on Sunday and last +night--she'll think that you can't come too early."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll leave the office as early as I can--trust me for +that!--rush back here, dress, and come right on."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dress! You needn't dress! They're homely folk at Kensington, +and Stella will excuse you; she won't want you to waste, in +dressing, valuable time which might be spent with her. You come +straight on from the office in your toil-stained garments. +She'll want to know what time. Shall I say five? I dare say, at +a pinch, you can manage to be in Kensington by five."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney considered. If he did go straight on from the office he +would at least escape the risk of another heated discussion with +Miss Joyce--that would be something.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well, sir; if Stella will forgive me coming as I am, as +you say, all toil-stained, I'll try my best to be with her as +near as possible to five."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_17" href="#div1Ref_17">THE ACTING HEAD OF THE FIRM</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Austin and Rodney left the house together, and so +disappointed Miss Joyce, who was waiting to have one or two last +words with Mr. Elmore. Having parted from Mr. Austin, Rodney +paid a few calls on his way to St. Paul's Churchyard.</p> + +<p class="normal">To begin with, he went into a jeweller's shop, and bought a ring +set with pearls and diamonds--a simple, inexpensive trifle, +which cost six pounds. It was designed for Stella's finger, and +was to be her engagement ring.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It won't do," he said to himself, "for it to cost too much, for +one of her inquiring family will want to know where I got the +money from. She'll value it none the less because 'I can no +more, though poor the offering be.'"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then he looked in at the offices of the White Star Steamship +Company, and paid a deposit on a berth which he booked on a +steamer which was to sail from Liverpool to New York on the +following Thursday, booking it in the name of John Griffiths; +then into the offices of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, +where he booked a berth for the following Friday, from +Southampton to Buenos Ayres, in the name of Charles Dickinson; +then to the Cunard offices, where he booked for Saturday to New +York, in the name of Adolphus Ridgway. Afterwards he visited the +Bishop's Registry, in Doctors' Commons, and there, having made +certain affidavits, received, in exchange for two sovereigns, a +strip of paper which authorised him to marry Gladys Patterson, +spinster, at any church in the London diocese. Thus prepared, as +one might suppose, for more than one emergency, he paid still +another call before proceeding to St. Paul's Churchyard--on +Clarence Parmiter, solicitor. From him he wanted to know what +forms it would be necessary to go through to enable Miss +Patterson to draw on her late father's banking account. Mr. +Parmiter explained that to do this it would be necessary, first +of all, to prove Mr. Patterson's will--and it was not usual to +do that, at any rate, till after the testator was buried. When, +Mr. Parmiter asked, was the funeral to take place. In spite of +himself, his visitor smiled; so fast had events come crowding on +him that the fact that the dead man would have to be put into +his grave had entirely escaped his notice--so far as he was +aware, no arrangements for the funeral had been made of any sort +or kind. Mr. Parmiter looked as if he felt that the smile with +which this announcement was made was a little out of place. He +said that probably Rodney would find that the matter had been +arranged by one of the executors, or by Miss Patterson herself. +If cash was wanted in the interim; if Miss Patterson and Mr. +Andrews, as executor, would attend with him at a bank with which +Mr. Patterson had an account, he did not doubt that arrangements +might be made which would provide the lady with such advances as +she required; and, of course, if she chose, she might instruct +the bank to honour any cheques which he--Rodney Elmore--might +draw, acting on her behalf.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Elmore left his friend's chambers with a feeling strong upon +him that the business of getting his uncle's money out of the +bank was not going to be as simple as he had hoped it would be. +Clarence Parmiter even told him that the bank would not now +honour any cheque which Graham Patterson might have drawn while +still alive. This he did feel was unreasonable; it rendered even +forgery futile. If he could wait he did not doubt that matters +would be perfectly all right; but--could he wait? If only +certain difficulties could be smoothed away, and he was given +time, he did not doubt that he would be able to load himself +with money; but could they be smoothed away, even for a week? +Danger threatened from so many quarters; he really had been such +an utter fool. If he had only realised what a fool, he would +have taken precious good care to walk more warily; he would have +been a wiser and a better man. But wisdom after the event was +easy; what he needed was to be ready at a moment's notice for +whatever came. He had planned escape in three different +directions on three following days--if he could only get away +with enough money to count! There was that nest-egg which he had +found in his uncle's drawer, but what was that to a man in his +plight? What he wanted was ten, or even, say, five thousand +pounds. With five thousand pounds he might do very well on the +other side of the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">As, strolling leisurely along, he considered the matter in all +its bearings calmly, it appeared to him that nothing worth +calling money could be got at least until the morrow. In the +morning he would meet his cousin at the bank, with Parmiter and +Andrews; the arrangements would be made of which Parmiter had +spoken; then, immediately after, he would be free to lay hands +on as much ready cash as the arrangements permitted. He had no +doubt that everything would be all right until to-morrow--he +would so manage that it should be; all the same, he would have +liked to have had a good supply of coin at his command, in case. +However, it was no use grizzling at what might not be. He smiled +as he arrived at this conclusion; he was still smiling when he +reached the office. He marched, as a matter of course, to the +room which had been his uncle's own particular sanctum, and +this time no one even as much as hinted nay. Indeed, he was +presently followed by Andrews, who informed him, with a +countenance of decent solemnity, that he had made arrangements, +which he hoped would meet with his and Miss Patterson's +approval, for the interment of Mr. Patterson's remains in the +family vault at Kensal Green, the interment to take place upon +the morrow--Wednesday. Tickled by certain thoughts of his own, +Rodney smiled as he listened; but this time, as his face was +bent over the table, it is possible that the smile went +unnoticed. He expressed himself as greatly obliged by what +Andrews had done, and was certain that his feelings would be +shared by Miss Patterson. Indeed, he was convinced that Miss +Patterson would be willing to leave everything in his charge, +since she would feel assured that everything he did would be +right and proper and for the best. Mr. Andrews put his hand up +to his mouth and coughed--the cough of one who was sensible that +he deserved the compliment which was paid him.</p> + +<p class="normal">He wanted to know if Mr. Elmore did not think it would be well +to close the office for the whole of to-morrow, so as to give +the staff an opportunity of at least attending at the graveside. +They had all been remembered in the will, and would like to show +the last tokens of respect for their dead master. Rodney, to +whom the notion of marking such an occasion as a sort of holiday +was novel, informed Andrews that the idea was excellent, and +that he was at liberty to act in the matter as he thought was +right. Andrews then wanted to know if Miss Patterson would be +present, or if he--Rodney Elmore--would represent her as chief +mourner. The suggestion moved Rodney in a way he would not have +cared to admit. He had had no intention of attending his uncle's +funeral at all--and as chief mourner! He to represent his cousin +in such a capacity! That would be indeed to mock the dead. He +was conscious of a feeling which surprised himself; he had not +supposed he was so sensitive.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think," he told Andrews, "we must leave these points till +later. I will consult with Miss Patterson and--observe her +wishes. There is another matter," he went on. "Access to Mr. +Patterson's banking account is not so easy as I imagined. My +acquaintance with the procedure in these cases is nil; I don't +know what yours amounts to."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know no more than you; this is the first time I find myself +in such a position. Two payments of some importance are to be +made this week; I was wondering how they would be met. Of +course, if representations are made, time will be given."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, all the same, you would rather the payments were made? +Exactly my feelings, Andrews; I want everything to be done in +due order. I am going to arrange for Miss Patterson to meet you +and Mr. Parmiter at the bank to-morrow morning, when I am +advised that it will be possible to make arrangements which will +enable us to meet all liabilities as they fall due. By the way, +I believe that the trading account pass-book is in your charge; +you might let me look at it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney examined the book when it was brought to him with great +attention. He was already posted in certain figures which had to +deal with his uncle's private account. Customers were brought in +to him; some who had called in the ordinary course of business, +others who had come to offer condolences, and so on. Their being +brought straight to him showed a frank acceptance on Andrews' +part of the fact that he was to be acting head of the firm; none +the less, therefore, he was careful that Andrews was present at +each of the interviews, referring certain matters to him with a +little air of deference which won, as it was intended to win, +the managing man's heart. The customers were favourably +impressed, agreeing, as they went out, that Graham Patterson's +mantle had descended on to capable shoulders.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shouldn't wonder," declared Mr. Brailson North as he shook +hands with Mr. Andrews at the outer door, "if he turns out to be +every bit as good a man as his uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">This, coming from a member of one of the largest firms in the +City, was praise indeed. The managing man's eyes glistened. +Anything which suggested a compliment to the business, so +wrapped up in it was his whole existence, was a compliment to +him. Since yesterday his ideas on the subject of Mr. Elmore had +changed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. North," he addressed the visitor in a confidential whisper, +"Mr. Patterson was a good man, an excellent man of business in +his way, sound and discreet; but between you, me, and this +doorpost, I shouldn't wonder if the young one was better, with +all his uncle's soundness and discretion, together with +something that his uncle hadn't got. He's surprised me! You mark +my words, I shouldn't be surprised if the house of Graham +Patterson--there's going to be no alteration in the title--takes +its place among the greatest City houses--mind you, in the front +rank."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. North laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's no reason why your prophecy shouldn't come true. This +is the day of the young man. Your young man has evidently got a +head on his shoulders; he's a good foundation to build on. If he +has grit, steadiness, caution, and knows just what sort of +structure he would raise on it, there's no reason that I know of +why he shouldn't build anything he likes. I agree with you in +thinking that it is possible that the house of Graham Patterson +is destined to be, in all respects, one of the finest in the +City of London."</p> + +<p class="normal">While these things were being said in his praise Rodney Elmore +was writing to Miss Patterson. He enclosed for her inspection +the marriage licence he had bought, asked in what church she +would like the ceremony to take place on Monday, and added that +he hoped to be able to make all final detailed arrangements with +her to-morrow after the funeral. He told her of the difficulty +which had arisen about getting money, asked her to meet him at +the bank in the morning at 11.30; hoped that afterwards they +might lunch together, pointing out that he never had lunched +with her yet. Since after to-morrow he looked forward to being +able to spend most of his time with her till Monday, and then +for ever and a day--and that wouldn't seem a day too long!--he +said that he felt that it would be better to devote the evening +to doing certain little things of his own, which, sooner or +later, would have to be done. By doing them he would clear the +decks for action, so that, when the time for action came, he +would be able to devote the whole of his time and, indeed, the +whole of his life to her. All of which meant that he would not +be able to tell her, except on paper, that he loved her till +they met at the bank to-morrow morning.</p> + +<p class="normal">Before actually slipping it into the envelope, together with +this edifying epistle, he read the marriage licence carefully +through. The perusal started him on what, for him, was an +unwonted train of thought. Already, while still in the first +flush of youth, he had spoilt his life, brought it to final +wreck and ruin. What an extremely silly thing to have done! It +was characteristic of this young gentleman that he never could +bring himself to look at anything through serious eyes--even +death. Whatever his first impulse might be, his second was to +smile. Life, with all that appertained thereto, was such a funny +thing. Here was he, with a career on either hand, each of which +would lead at least to fortune; yet he might have neither. That +did seem droll. Each was represented by a woman; personally he +would have preferred that which was represented by Gladys, if +only because he had no doubt that ere long he would be master +not only of the business but of her. He was not so sure of +Stella. In her he suspected an obstinate streak which he feared +might be congenital. He had always felt that the Austins were, +as the head of the house had put it, "stocky." He would find +them more inclined to manage than to be managed. One thing he +did know of himself: that he never could be managed. He might +not put up an open fight--open fighting was not precisely in his +line--but, if a sustained attempt were made to manage him, he +would slip away--somehow, that was sure. Therefore, if only for +the sake of peace and quietude, it would be better to avoid the +risk. All the same, there was something about Stella which did +appeal to him. With a sudden smile, slipping the licence and the +letter into the envelope, he closed the flap.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, with pen in hand, as he was about to write the address, +he started again to think. It was women--girls--who had brought +him to his present pass, that was how he put it to himself. +What Mabel Joyce said was perfectly true: he could not be alone +with a girl without making love to her. It was a physical +impossibility; he did not know why, but it was. The mischief was +that his instinct had not warned him they were dangerous, hence +his horrid situation. Indeed, it was hard that they should be +dangerous; they were so pleasant to make love to. There were men +who cared nothing for women, who went through life without +making love--real love!--to a single one. How they managed he +could not think. To him life under such conditions would not be +worth living. He was a Sybarite. Life meant to him its good +things; were there better things than women? He doubted it. He +thought little of men; he had a very high opinion of women; he +doubted if he had ever met one in whom there was not something +to be desired.</p> + +<p class="normal">Take Mabel Joyce. She was showing him a side of her character +whose existence he had not suspected. Yet he understood her, +quite believed her when she said that she was fighting for her +life. No one could have been sweeter to him than she had been; +then she was such a pretty little thing, from the tips of her +little pink toes to the top of her fluffy little head. It could +hardly be set down to her as a fault if she was sweet no longer. +Let him be just! Then there was Gladys, a girl of quite a +different type; but that was the charm about women, there were +so many types. He was persuaded that they would have the best +possible time together, if the fates could only manage to be +kind. He would make her a model husband, he really would; he +rather wondered what it would feel like to be a husband, but he +did not doubt that it would be all right. A little cramped, +perhaps; but he would study her, and her interests, in every +possible way. She should never regret the father she had lost, +who was precious little loss after all. He would be better to +her than a father; he should rather think so! Then there was +Mary Carmichael; but at the thought of Mary Carmichael his +pulses began to dance--that any man should be ass enough to care +nothing for women when there was Mary Carmichael! Also, let him +not forget little Stella--why, what an idiot he was; she was +waiting for him now! He glanced at his watch. Great Scott! how +the time had flown! And that poor child was longingly waiting +for him to put his arms about her and stifle her with kisses. +That he should be brute enough to let her wait!</p> + +<p class="normal">He addressed the envelope, rang the bell, bade the lad who +answered take it at once to Russell Square, took his hat off its +peg, and, after a few hurried words to Andrews as he went out, +started off for Kensington.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_18" href="#div1Ref_18">THE PERFECT LOVER</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Stella, opening the door for him herself, was at him like a +small wild thing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thought you were never coming!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, it's not yet half-past five."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Half-past five! when I expected papa to bring you with him, and +he said you'd be here by five! Come in here; I'll talk to you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She took from him his hat and stick and gloves, and placed them +on a table in the hall; then she led him by the sleeve of his +coat into a room on the left, and shut the door, and drew a long +breath.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh--h--h! So you've come at last, my lord! Let me look at you, +to make sure that it is you. Oh, Rodney, why have you been so +long in coming?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She put her arms about his neck and drew him down to her and +kissed him. He said, softly:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do believe you have grown shorter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wretch! To let a thing like that be your first word to me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's such a long way down, though it's well worth stooping +for."</p> + +<p class="normal">He kissed her again, tenderly, on her pretty lips--he was an +expert in the art of kissing. Because he did it so well, she, +not knowing that such skill came of practice, had him kiss her +again and again and again, till the breath had half gone out of +her body and she was all rapturous palpitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you only knew what ages it seems since I saw you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, what do you think it has seemed to me? If you only knew +what I have gone through!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor boy! I suppose you have had to bear a good deal."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have no notion what I've had to bear."</p> + +<p class="normal">That was true enough, or she would not have been as close to him +as she was.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was bad enough when you didn't come on Sunday. I suppose you +didn't get back from that Mrs. What's-her-name, your mother's +friend, in time?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, I had a chapter of accidents, and nearly missed the +last train; I'll tell you all about it some day, and you'll +laugh. I didn't feel like laughing then, I can tell you that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I didn't feel like laughing, and I can tell you that. In +fact, I--I cried."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did; it seemed so awful. That was the longest Sunday I ever +knew; and then when the evening came I kept expecting you every +moment; I kept rushing out of the front door to look for you. +Every footstep in the street I thought was yours, and every +vehicle the hansom which was bringing you; when it kept getting +later and later, and still you didn't come, I--I fancied all +sorts of things, and I simply had to cry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My darling, I would infinitely rather have been with you than +where I was."</p> + +<p class="normal">That again was true enough; part of the time he had been in the +tunnel--a gruesome time.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What time was it when you did get back?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frightfully late; but--Stella, you won't tell anyone if I tell +you something? Promise!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I promise. What--what is it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can laugh if you like; I don't mind your laughing a little +bit; but I don't want them to laugh."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should they laugh?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did come to see you--after I came back."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"At least, I came as far as the outside of the house. I +dismissed the cab at the corner; then I walked--or rather +sneaked--along the pavement; if a bobby had seen me he'd have +been all suspicion--till I reached the house. It was all in +darkness; there wasn't a glimmer of light anywhere."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What time was it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"About one, perhaps later."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, I'd been in my room hours and hours; but I wasn't +asleep; I was crying in bed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella! You were crying! Great Scott! if--if I'd only known it, +I'd--I'd have done something."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What would you have done?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd--I'd have done something if--if I'd had to break a window!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what good would your breaking a window have done me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Anyhow, it would have been a beginning; but, you see, I didn't +even know which your room was--whether you were at the front or +the back."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm on the second floor in the front; my window's over the hall +door."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I kept staring at it all the time; I had a sort of feeling--I +swear I had a sort of feeling! If I'd only been sure I'd have +whistled."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whistled! At one in the morning! What would have been the good +of that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Suppose, say, I'd whistled 'The Devout Lover'--or what I should +have meant for 'The Devout Lover'--you'd have heard."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I probably should have heard; Miss Claughton would probably +have heard also."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, hang Miss Claughton!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney! Miss Claughton's a dear--and your hostess!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Claughton may be an absolute angel for all I know--you +know what I mean--so long as you heard I shouldn't have cared +who heard. Then you'd have wondered who was kicking up that +awful row."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think I should?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certain! I can't whistle for nuts. Then you'd have got out of +bed, crossed the room with your dear little bare feet----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And lifted the corner of the blind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I might."</p> + +<p class="normal">"When you'd seen me hanging on to the railings for all I was +worth, trying to get my breath and whistle at the same time; +you'd have stopped crying, whatever else you did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, how absurd you are! Fancy your hanging on to the +railings for all you were worth! What did you really do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I hung about and hung about, and then I slunk off home. +Wasn't it silly to come and see you at that time of night? I +knew you'd laugh!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I'd known you were there I shouldn't have cried. The idea, +you darling! But, Rodney, why didn't you manage to get a peep at +me the whole of yesterday?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think I didn't try?--but I couldn't; it was a day of +horrors! Just as I was wondering if I couldn't manage to get at +least a kiss by making out that Kensington was on the way to the +City, the news came of what my uncle had done. That was a facer, +for a man to get news like that just as he was finishing his +breakfast."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I thought you didn't get the news till you reached the +City? You sent your first telegram from there."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I got the news before, but I didn't understand; I didn't want +to understand, I didn't dare to understand. Then I had to go to +the inquest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you? It doesn't say anything in the paper about you being +there."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course not; my evidence wasn't wanted after all, but we all +of us had to be there. It was awful!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You poor, poor boy! Afterwards why didn't you come straight to +me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I couldn't; I had to rush off to the City."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Everything was in the most frightful confusion; no one knew why +he had done it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But there was the verdict!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The verdict? My uncle was not a man to kill himself for a +shadow; there might be a better reason. Say nothing to your +father; I wish to impute nothing against my uncle's credit; but +at one time it seemed just possible that he had done it, because +he knew he was ruined, to save himself from shame, dishonour. We +had to find out, to be certain, to make sure; we went all +through the books; we went through everything; we were at it +till the small hours of the morning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear! Did they tell you I had called?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did they not! When I heard it I wished that I could have flown +to you on a flying machine; but it was impossible."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But papa tells me that you talk about going to the office every +day this week."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, let me put a case. Suppose Mr. Austin were my uncle, +and he had done what my uncle did, and everything were at sixes +and sevens, and all the help was wanted that could be got, what +would you think of me if I were to cut and run--it would amount +to that!--even for the sake of the best and sweetest and +prettiest and dearest girl in the world--meaning you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's all very well, Rodney; but I asked papa if he thought +you really had to go--if you ought to go; and he said that so +far as he could make out there wasn't the least necessity why +you should ever set foot in the office again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your father said that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I believe he's been making inquiries."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has he? When I see your father I shall have to tell him that +this is a matter in which I am afraid I shall have to use my own +judgment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"At least you can get one day off to take me out--say +to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To-morrow! It's my uncle's funeral."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well? There's no reason why you should go to it, if it is. Who +expects you to go?"</p> + +<p class="normal">For a moment it seemed as if the question had left the +ready-tongued young gentleman nonplussed; but it was only for a +moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Stella, isn't it sufficient answer to say that my uncle +was the only relative I have in the world?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Rodney, I don't wish to comment on your sudden +sensitiveness where your uncle is concerned. I never dreamt that +you felt for him what you seem to feel; but I suppose your +connection with him will cease when he is buried?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In a sense, certainly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In all senses?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Stella, I have already told you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To whom has he left his business?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Until the contents of the will are known who can +say--positively?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has he left it to you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That I am quite sure he hasn't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has he left you anything?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There again, till the will is read, who can be sure?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"When is the will to be read?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To-morrow, after the funeral."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"At his house in Russell Square."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you invited to be present?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Invited' is scarcely the correct word; instructions have been +issued that the whole staff is to attend. That rather looks as +if he may have left something, possibly some trifle, to everyone +who was actually in his employ at the time of his death."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see. That explains why you want to be present at the funeral. +And afterwards, when the will has been read, will you--dine with +us? Papa wants me to dine, I think, at the Savoy, to what he +calls 'celebrate' our engagement."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may be sure I'll come if I can."</p> + +<p class="normal">"'If'! It's again 'if.' Is it to be all 'ifs '?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dearest Stella, what do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It doesn't matter. Shall we go to the drawing-room? I think we +shall find that the Miss Claughtons and papa are waiting for us +there."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young lady turned as if to leave the room. He caught her by +the arm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, is it possible, is it conceivable, that you can imagine +that what has happened is in the least degree, in any sense my +fault? Can you suppose that I would not ten thousand times +rather spend every hour of every day with you than do what I +have done, what I may still have to do?--that my heart, my +thoughts, are not with you every instant I have to spend in that +confounded City?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, I am very anxious to believe that there are sufficient +reasons which compel you to spend all the time you seem to spend +in the City; but you don't manage to make it very clear what +they are."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella! Stella! How can you talk like that? What shall I say? +What can I do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can promise to dine with us to-morrow night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I gladly promise it--gladly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's no 'if' about the promise?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No 'if'! If you only knew how I shall look forward to coming, +what pleasure I shall give myself in coming! My dear, if you +only knew how I am looking forward to dining with you all the +days of all the year!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And, Rodney, papa understand that you are coming into his +business; is that what you understand?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rather! You bet it is, if he'll have me. Do you think I'd throw +away a chance like that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing that may be in your uncle's will will make any difference?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You goose! What do you suppose will be there? The probability is +that there will be nothing of the slightest interest to me--at the +most some trivial legacy--a hundred, fifty, five-and-twenty pounds! +But let me tell you this, that in the present state of my exchequer +even the latter sum will be a godsend. You don't know what it is +to be in a chronic state of impecuniosity--a little millionaire +like you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I, a millionaire!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't appreciate the situation; you really don't. Entirely +between us, I wonder that I ever had the courage--the cheek!--to +tell you how much I love you; how dear to me is the ground +under your small feet; how I long to have you in my arms--you, +with the Bank of England at your back; and I! But--Cæsar's +ghost!--what am I dreaming about? The sight of you, the touch of +you, the sound of you, has so--so got into the very bones of me +that I'd clean forgotten. Why--Stella!--what's this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He took a small, round, leather-covered box out of his waistcoat +pocket.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Rodney--how should I know what it is?"</p> + +<p class="normal">As she looked at the outside of the box her eyes began to +sparkle--as if she did not know!</p> + +<p class="normal">"There! Why, it's a ring!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What a pet."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Give me your hand!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's not the proper hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Isn't it? Which is the proper hand?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney! How ignorant you are!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, have I had your experience?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My experience!--silly! I thought everybody knew on which hand +the engagement finger was--there!--that is the finger!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She held out to him a finger which, if it was small, was slim +and daintily fashioned. He bent and kissed it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear digit!--salutation! Now, you unclothed midget, I'll clothe +you with this ring."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, Rodney, what--what a darling!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She pressed it to her lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Does it fit?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As if it were made for me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Isn't that wonderful, when I only guessed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you--thank you, Rodney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's only a poor little ring--a love token, to mark you as my +own--that's all. But one day I'll give you the finest ring that +money can buy, and you can put it in the place of this."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As if I ever would--or could! Rodney, this is the most +beautiful ring I have ever seen--ever, ever, ever! And it always +will be the most beautiful ring in the world--to me. No other +will ever take its place."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice fell as she moved a little closer to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall hope to be still wearing it when I am lying in my +grave."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear love!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He took her in his arms and kissed her again, as it were, +solemnly. He was practised in all varieties of the art. And they +were silent.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_19" href="#div1Ref_19">THE FEW WORDS AT THE END OF THE EVENING</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">There were five of them at dinner--the lovers, the lady's +father, her two hostesses--the Misses Claughton. These were +cousins of her mother. Miss Claughton was tall and straight and +prim; Miss Nancy Claughton, the younger sister, was stout and +tender. Both ladies were disposed to make a fuss of Rodney, to +invest him with a sort of halo, as if, in asking Stella to be +his wife, he had done something which marked him out as an +unusual young man. Mr. Austin's inclination was towards +jocosity. Rodney had long since decided that a sense of humour +was not that gentleman's strongest point. Dry he could be, he +had rather an effective trick of it; but funny--no. His +persistent efforts to be funny did not improve the flavour of +what, from the young gentleman's point of view, was a +sufficiently homely repast. The soup was doubtful, one could not +be sure if it was meant to be clear or thick; the cod was boiled +to rags--and, anyhow, he hated cod; the mutton was overdone; the +sweets were suited to the nursery. Under the circumstances it +was perhaps as well that, between Mr. Austin's jokes, the +question chiefly discussed was where they should dine on +the morrow. It was some consolation, Rodney felt, that there +was a prospect of a decent meal after the passage of another +four-and-twenty hours. The gentlemen did not remain at table +when the feast was done; Mr. Austin was a teetotaller, and +Rodney, when he had tasted Miss Claughton's claret, wished he +was; so there was no temptation to linger over the wine. In the +drawing-room they had "music." Stella played and sang. Rodney, +whose taste in music was as fastidious as in other things, would +have been content had she done neither. She had not got a bad +little voice; from the point of view of those who liked little +voices of the kind; but he had always been of opinion that it +was worth more to the professors of singing than to anybody +else. Still, she sang straight at him, and for him only; so it +was not so bad. Presently Mr. Austin vanished, and the Misses +Claughton followed. So he put his arm about Stella's waist, and +that was better. She was even more disposed to be made love to +after dinner than before, and somehow she seemed prettier and +sweeter and more desirable to him. Under such conditions he was +the kind of young man who was bound to shine.</p> + +<p class="normal">After a while--quite an agreeable while--he led the conversation +on to the subject which Mr. Austin had broached in the morning. +The lady lent a complacent ear.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, I have a very serious question which I wish to put to +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is it? If you can be serious."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will find I can when you have heard my question; I pray you +incline your little pink ears unto my question. Will you marry +me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps, some day--silly!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"When is 'some day'?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"When would you like it to be?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"This day; to-night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, you--you really mustn't talk like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why mustn't I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You only proposed last Saturday."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well. Allow a week for that fact to get fixed firmly in your +mind, another for preparation, why shouldn't 'some day' be +Saturday week?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be ridiculous."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's you who are ridiculous. If you keep me waiting long I +shall kiss you all away."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Am I the only girl you've ever kissed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's a fib; I saw you kiss Mary."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gracious! When?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you been so much in the habit of kissing Mary that you +need ask when?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If by Mary you mean Miss Carmichael, I don't remember to have +ever kissed her once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I remember. And let me tell you something, sir: there +have been times when--I've been jealous of Mary."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good gracious me! what an extraordinary child! Miss +Carmichael's sole recommendation to me has been that she's your +friend; besides, hasn't Tom an eye on her?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, Tom! Tom never would see anything--like that; but I see. +Honestly, don't you think Mary's very pretty?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She's not bad, in a way; but she's not to be compared with +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That she certainly isn't; you don't imagine that you can make +me believe that I'm--a tenth part as pretty as Mary? Do you take +me for a perfect goose?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, do you remember what you said before dinner about the +ring. You said--I don't know if you meant it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I meant every word I said, Rodney."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, sweetheart, you said it was the most beautiful ring you +had ever seen. Just as you said that, and meant it, I say and +mean that you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen; and, +to me, you will be the most beautiful girl, as long as I live."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you really mean that? Really?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"By the time we're--Darby and Joan, you'll know I mean it. Now, +young woman, I'm as one who speaks with authority. I'm +authorised to inform you that if you will stand with me at the +altar inside a month you will make your mother happy and your +father happy, to say nothing of me. So which day next month is +it to be? Shall I put it at the first?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who told you to say that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your own father, this morning as ever was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Was--was the idea yours or his?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My very dearest--small one----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not so small as all that! You're not to call me small!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, all-that-my-heart-desireth, which you are, I will tell +you with such precision as is in me. I said to him: 'I want her! +I do want her! Oh, I want her badly! But, if I have to earn her, +I'll have to wait for her, I dare not think how long.' Then he +said to me--exactly what I've told you; and my heart sang. Do +you doubt? Ask him! To me the point is: shall we say the first?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, do try to be sensible! You're a man, and you can't +understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that so? So long as you do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To a girl her wedding day is the day of her life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Some girls manage to have several wedding days, so I suppose +they have two or three days in their lives."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There will be only one wedding day in my life. Whatever happens +I want that to be, in every sense, a wonderful day; I want mine +to be a pretty wedding."</p> + +<p class="normal">"With you as bride that's assured."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A really pretty wedding can't be arranged at a moment's notice; +it takes time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Half an hour--or three-quarters?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be so silly! Mamma's coming up to town to-morrow. I'll +consult her; then I shall have some idea how long a time it will +take."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You mean how short a time! Do mean how short a time!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, how short a time. Rodney, how many bridesmaids would you +like me to have?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Bridesmaids? My dear! What are bridesmaids to me, so long as +I've the bride? All--all--all I'm going to be married to is the +bride!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are--a perfect----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes? A perfect--what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I don't know! Rodney?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She hid her face upon his shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I always wondered what there was in a kiss to make a fuss +about. Now--I know."</p> + +<p class="normal">When he left it had been practically settled that the wedding +should take place on the earliest possible day of the ensuing +month.</p> + +<p class="normal">He walked home, by way of Kensington High Street and the Park. +And as he walked he mused, and more than once his musings moved +him to something very much like laughter, out there in the +solitude and the dark. Was ever man before in such a +complication--promised at three weddings as bridegroom? As he +tried to puzzle out how it all had come about it struck him as +quite inconceivably comical. If he told the story to the ladies +themselves they could scarcely fail to see how funny it was--at +least, he hoped they would. The position would be simple enough +if, as is still the custom in some of the more civilised +countries of the world, a man could have wives galore. But if it +came to choosing, why, there would be the rub. Mabel had her +points; who knew it better than he? While as for Stella, he had +never dreamed she was so charming. With her kisses still on his +lips, her soft voice still in his ears, her pretty eyes still +looking into his, how could he help but love her! Dear little +Stella! A week all alone with her, even a fortnight--he would +like to have the chance of it. Perhaps, after a fortnight, a +little relaxation might be desirable, a sort of change of air. +But why look so far ahead? Then there was Mary--but he dare not +think of Mary Carmichael, even then. If he had ten thousand a +year, and freedom, he would choose Mary Carmichael before all +the girls he had ever met. But that was out of the question; he +had better put her out of his mind. Things were already +sufficiently complicated without adding her. On the whole, the +circumstances being what they were, considering the position +with the judicial calmness which was becoming, he plumped for +Gladys; and--the business in St. Paul's Churchyard. Gladys +Patterson should be his wife; yes, she should be his wife, on +all accounts; on all!--if--if it was not necessary to take a +voyage to foreign parts.</p> + +<p class="normal">In that room on the second floor of the house in Kensington, +Stella Austin, in her nightdress, her pretty hair hanging in two +long plaits down her back, was on her knees beside her bed, +seeming such a child. She was thanking God for all His goodness +to her--she always began her prayers by thanking God. She +thanked Him for many things, but chiefly, and beyond all else, +for having given her so thoughtful, so tender, so true a lover. +God knew how happy He had made her, and how full her heart was +of gratitude to Him. And she prayed that God would make her +worthy of the lover He had given. She knew how, in so many ways, +he was above her, above anything she might ever hope to be; she +prayed God that He would give her strength and grace, so that +she might be at least a little more deserving. She had been +unkind to-night, and--and wickedly jealous; she knew she had. +Please God make her kinder and less selfish! And, when the time +came, please God, make her a good wife, a good wife!</p> + +<p class="normal">At this point articulate utterance ceased, her face fell forward +on the coverlet because her eyes were streaming with tears. It +was to her such a solemn and beautiful thought that she would +before very long be Rodney Elmore's wife that she trembled with +the very rapture of it, so that she could no longer even go on +with her prayers.</p> +<br> + +<p style="text-align:center; letter-spacing:40px">* * * * *</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">When Mr. Elmore reached his lodgings, with the exception of the +light in his sitting-room, the house was in darkness. But if +that signified that the household had retired to rest, it did +not follow that everyone was asleep, as he was presently to +learn. He had only been in his room a couple of minutes when the +door opened noiselessly--to admit Miss Joyce. Coming right in, +she stood with her back to the door, which she closed behind +her. She was in a state of undress which did not become her ill. +As he eyed her Rodney compared her, mentally, with Stella; not +to her disadvantage. She really was a good-looking girl; +only--he did not like the look which was on her white face and +in her eyes. He felt sure someone would notice it, and questions +would be asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">She spoke in so faint a whisper that what she said was only just +audible; his voice was lowered in sympathy with hers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mother's come back."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has she? That's good hearing. I hope she had a good time at +your aunt's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've got the licence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The----? Oh, have you? That also is good hearing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It cost me two pounds four and six."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did it? I hope you consider it to be worth the money."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've fixed it for Thursday at noon."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Noon? Isn't that--rather an unfashionable hour?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mind you're there! You've promised! I've got your promise."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Am I likely to forget--the circumstances under which you got my +promise?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you're not there you'll be sorry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Honestly, Mabel, I think we shall both of us be sorry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will! There's--there's another thing; I--I want to warn +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Warn me? Haven't you done that once or twice already?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I--I want to warn you against Mr. Dale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Against Mr. Dale? Why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe he suspects."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Suspects? What? About you and me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"About--your uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What does he suspect about my uncle?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's been finding out things. Ssh! there's someone moving. +Perhaps it's mother; she mustn't find me here, like this."</p> + +<p class="normal">She flitted from the room as noiselessly as she had entered, +shutting the door without its making a sound. He stood and +listened. Perhaps it was her conscience which had made her fancy +noises--all seemed still. If she had ascended to her room on the +landing, a ghost could not have moved more silently.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_20" href="#div1Ref_20">THE FIRST LINE OF AN OLD SONG</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Rodney Elmore had the unusual attribute of seeming at his best +in the morning, as if calm, unruffled sleep, having removed the +cobwebs from his brain, returned him rested and buoyant to a +world in which there were no shadows. When, on the Wednesday +morning, he came downstairs with light steps and dancing eyes, +he found among the letters on the breakfast table one which was +addressed in a familiar hand. He gave it pride of place.</p> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:5%"> +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">My Dear R.</span>,--I don't know what possesses me, but I feel that I +simply must write and tell you that I wish you were within +kissing distance. Isn't that a ridiculous feeling to have, +especially where you're concerned? Do you think that I don't +know? I have been conscious of the most extraordinary sensations +since Sunday. I made a mistake in asking you to come and console +me. You did it so effectually that--well, I would like you to +continue the treatment. There's a dreadful thing to say! Aren't +I a wretch? Poor dear Tom! I know he has all the good qualities +I haven't, and that he'll make me the best husband in the world, +but as for his consoling me--oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear! I +don't like the idea at all! I'm nearly sure that, after all, the +best husband in the world is not the one I'm looking for. What +makes me feel so all over pins and needles when I'm with Tom, +and so comfy when I'm with you? Isn't it odd? Have you any +feeling of the kind where I'm concerned? I know you'll say so, +but have you? You'd say anything to anyone, but, all the same, +I've a feeling somewhere that, if I chose, I could have you on a +little bit of string. I daren't ask you to come here again, I +simply daren't; but, if you do come, mind you give me proper +warning. What would you say if I ran up to town? Should I see +Stella at the corner of every street? Sweet Stella! Aren't I a +cat? I suppose you couldn't rob a bank or something? If you and +I were starting off to-morrow together, ever so far, for ever so +long--I dare not think of it, and that's the honest truth. +Aren't I insane? No one but you would ever guess it.--M.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mind you tear this up the very moment you have read it, and +you're to forget that you ever did read it!</p> + +<p class="normal">"By the way, by which train did you go up on Sunday? You weren't +sure that you could catch the Pullman, and, if you did miss it, +did you go by the 9.10? In that case you must have been in the +same train as your uncle. When I saw about it in the paper it +gave me quite a shock. Fancy if he was in the next carriage to +yours? I suppose the dear man hasn't left you a millionaire? If +he only had! You would--wouldn't you?</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tear it up!"</p> +</div> +<br> + +<p class="normal">He had just finished reading this somewhat interjectional +epistle when Miss Joyce came in, the bearer of his morning meal. +He greeted her as if he were really pleased to see her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The top of the morning to you, Baby! How moves the world your +way? Do you feel like dancing on your pink toes?"</p> + +<p class="normal">When he called her Baby, the pet name he had for her, she +glanced up at him, almost as if she were startled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you understand what I said to you last night?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perfectly; I've been thinking it all over, and I've come to a +decision. I think you're quite right in what you wish me to do. +As this isn't Leap Year, let me regularise the position. Mabel, +I would like you to be my wife. Will you take me for your +husband?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You say that because you know you can't help yourself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are mistaken. If I didn't want to be your husband, nothing +you or anyone could say or do could make me, rest assured of +that. I won't pretend that, if things had turned out +differently, I--should have suggested it; but, as they are, +please, Mabel, let me do the proposing--say you will be my +wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm going to be your wife; to-morrow, Thursday, at noon, and +don't you make any mistake. There's the address of the +registrar's office at which you're going to be married, and mind +you're there to time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Baby--you are only a baby, after all--don't talk like that; +don't let's enter the matrimonial state as if we wished to cut +each other's throats; let's start afresh on the old terms. I +hope that when we're being married you won't have those white +cheeks and unhappy eyes, or the registrar will think that I'm +frightening you into being my bride, and you know that will be +wrong."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, do you care for me a little bit?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Mabel, I care for you in an altogether different +fashion from that which you suppose, as I hope to be able to +prove to you before very long. Come, let's be friends."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't touch me--don't! Mother's waiting for me. She wants me +for something; she told me not to be long. I--I want to speak to +you before I go. I--I want to warn you against Mr. Dale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You said something to that effect last night. Is Mr. Dale so +dangerous?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's jealous of you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, does that constitute him dangerous?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He always has been throwing out nasty hints about you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To whom? Surely not to you? You wouldn't listen to what you +yourself call nasty hints about me coming from a man like Dale?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It wasn't so much that I listened as that he was always at it +whenever he came near me. I couldn't stop him. I suppose that my +asking him about your going to Brighton on Sunday, and my going +to the inquest, and such-like, made him--made him----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes? Made him what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Started him thinking. Anyhow, he's--he's been finding out +things, and--I don't know that he hasn't found out. You take +care of him!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Mabel, in what sense am I to take care of him? I'm +inclined to think that I should rather like to have a talk with +your friend Mr. Dale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll do no good by that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shan't I? We'll see. Where is he to be found--in the booking +office at Victoria Station?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"One week he goes early and comes back about six; the next he +has his dinner first and doesn't come back till after one--this +is his late week. He hasn't had his breakfast yet; he's still up +in his room."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that so? I'm afraid I can't stop to talk to him just now, +but I certainly will take the first chance which offers."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you say anything to him to make him nasty!"</p> + +<p class="normal">A feminine voice was heard calling the young lady's name. +"There's mother calling. She'll give me a talking to! Mind, +to-morrow at noon; and there's the address upon that piece of +paper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Mabel, I'm making arrangements which will permit of my +placing the whole of to-morrow at your service. I promise that +you shall have something like a wedding day."</p> + +<p class="normal">When the lady had gone the gentleman poured himself out a cup of +coffee with the air of one who was in the enjoyment of an +excellent joke. He propped Miss Carmichael's letter up against +the coffee-pot and read it through again. The second reading +seemed to add to his sense of enjoyment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rob a bank? Quite as heinous crimes have been committed for the +sake of a woman. I've always had a kind of fancy that you're the +type of girl for whom it would be worth one's while to do such +things. If I were to ask you to start upon that little trip at +which you hint, I wonder what you'd say--if you knew. Hullo! +what's this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He was staring at a sheet of paper which he had taken out of one +of the three or four envelopes which were lying on the table. On +it were a couple of typewritten lines:</p> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:5%"> +<p class="normal">"If you take a friend's advice you will get clean away while you +have still a chance."</p> +</div> +<br> +<p class="normal">He regarded the words as if in doubt as to whether they were +intended to convey to him an esoteric meaning.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No signature, no address, no date; the first anonymous +communication I ever have been favoured with. Postmark on the +envelope, Kew, dispatched from there last night at eight +o'clock, which doesn't convey much intelligence to me. So far as +I'm aware I have no acquaintance who resides at Kew; and I +suppose an anonymous correspondent, if he had his head screwed +on, is scarcely likely to reside in the district from which he +sends his letter. It's very good of a friend to make a friendly +suggestion, but quite what he means I do not know; nor have I +the very dimmest notion who the friend may be. Come in!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Someone had tapped at the door. In response to his invitation a +young man entered of about his own age; not tall, but sturdily +built, with close-cut black hair, small dark eyes, and a +somewhat voluminous moustache. There was that in his manner +which hinted that he was in a state of some excitement; that, +indeed, he was an excitable young man. He came right up to the +table, with a billycock hat in one hand and a bamboo cane in the +other. He looked at Elmore with what were scarcely friendly +eyes. When he spoke it was in what evidently were lowered tones +and with a curious, staccato utterance, as if he wished to throw +his words into the other's face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll have to excuse my coming in like this, but I'm going +out, and I want to speak to you before I do go."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's very good of you. I believe you are Mr. Dale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My name is Dale--George Dale, as you very well know."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray sit down, Mr. Dale. I don't remember to have had the +pleasure of being introduced to you before."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thanking you all the same, I won't sit down, and as to being +introduced to you, I never have been. It's only for your sake +I'm speaking to you now. I want to ask you a question to begin +with."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ask it, Mr. Dale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are your intentions as regards Miss Joyce?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really, Mr. Dale, I don't know if you are joking in putting +such a question. If you aren't I certainly don't know what you +mean."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney smiled at his visitor pleasantly; but the smile, instead +of affording Mr. Dale gratification, not only caused his scowl +to deepen, but induced him to use language of unexpected vigour.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're a liar! That's what you are--a liar! You're a liar, +because you know quite well what I mean. I'm not afraid of you. +You're a bigger man than I am, but I can use the gloves. You +wouldn't knock me out so easy as you think. I'd mark you first! +But I haven't come here to fight you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That, at least, is gratifying intelligence, Mr. Dale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, you can sneer--you're one of the sneering sort; but sneers +won't do you any good. You take my tip and get as far away from +this as you can--out of England, if you can!--between now and +this time to-morrow!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney regarded his visitor with an air of placid amusement, +which certainly did not seem to have a soothing effect.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Dale, am I indebted to you for this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He held out the sheet of paper on which were the two typewritten +lines. Mr. Dale eyed it askance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's that? Where did you get it from?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It came by this morning's post--from you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That I'll swear it never did; what's more, I don't know who it +does come from. That looks as if there were more than one in it. +I'll commit myself to nothing. I've got myself to think of as +well as you; but, although this didn't come from me, and I don't +know anything at all about it, you do what it says here--get +clean away while you have still a chance."</p> + +<p class="normal">Without another word, or giving Rodney a chance to utter one, +Mr. Dale bolted from, rather than left, the room; within ten +seconds of his going the slamming of the front door announced +that he had left the house. For some seconds Elmore sat still; +then, getting up from his chair, began to fill a pipe with +tobacco. Miss Joyce put her head into the room, noiselessly, +unexpectedly, as she seemed to have a trick of doing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Was that Mr. Dale? I thought it might be you. Has he been in +here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He has. You come in and take away the breakfast things; I've +had all I want to eat."</p> + +<p class="normal">Coming in, she began to do as he had said, talking, as she put +the things together, in a half whisper which recalled Mr. Dale's +staccato undertones. It seemed to be a house of whispers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What did he say to you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He came to offer me a tip."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A tip?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He said that if I took his tip I shouldn't stand upon the order +of my going, but go at once, and go as far as possible between +now and to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">She put both hands to her left side, as if unconscious that she +had a plate in one and a teaspoon in the other.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney! Then--then--what are you going to do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But if he tells?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tells what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He said to me last night that if anyone knows that--that +someone has killed a person, and doesn't at once inform the +police, that's being an accessory after the fact."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well? He was merely acquainting you with what I take is a legal +truism."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then he said that, whatever I might choose to do, he did not +mean to be an accessory, either before the fact or after. Then +he looked at me in such a way--I knew what he meant--and he went +right off to bed without saying another word."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What had you been talking about?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"About--your uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Had he introduced the subject or had you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He had; he would keep talking about it. Rodney, he knows, +and--he's going to tell."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, in that case, it looks as if you will gain little by +becoming my wife, and that I shall gain nothing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, I want you to get out of your head what I said the +other night. I don't want to force you to marry me, and I never +did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you've rather an unfortunate way of expressing yourself, +don't you think so, my dear Mabel?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I--I didn't know how else to do what I wanted to do. It's quite +true that if I'm not going to be your wife I'll kill myself; but +that doesn't matter--I'd just as soon die as live. But I do want +to save you, and the only way I can do it is for you to marry +me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That may keep you from playing the tell-tale, but how is it +going to affect Mr. Dale?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He won't tell if I'm your wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Won't he? Why? I should have thought, if your story's correct, +that he'd have told all the more, that disappointment would have +inflamed him to madness."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney, as he said this, struck a match to light his pipe, and +laughed. Nothing could have seemed less like laughter than the +girl's white face and haunted eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He'd tell to keep me from being your wife, but if I were your +wife he'd never tell. I know him; he'd suffer anything rather +than do anything which would give me pain or bring me to shame; +if I were your wife he'd never tell. You're a gentleman, Rodney, +and I'm not a lady, and I don't suppose I ever shall be; I'm +just a girl who has let you do what you like with her, and +you're cleverer than I am--much, much cleverer; but, in this, do +be advised by me--do, dear, do! There is something here, +something which makes me sure that the only way out of it, for +you, is for you to make me your wife. I know you don't want to +do it, that you never meant to do it, and I can quite understand +why; but you'd better have me for your wife than--than that; +don't you see, dear, that you had? I shan't be able to tell, and +George Dale won't, and no one else knows, and instead of trying +to find out more he'll keep others from finding out anything; +he'll be on your side instead of against you, for my sake. +Rodney, I implore you--for your own sake, dear, your own +sake!--to do as you promised, and marry me."</p> + +<p class="normal">She pleaded to be allowed to save his life as if she were +pleading for her own life. He turned to shake the ash from his +pipe into the fender, and so remained, for some moments, with +his back to her; while her eyes looked as if they were crying +out to him. When he turned to her again he was pressing the +tobacco down into his pipe before restoring it to his lips, +smiling as he looked at her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Mabel, I'm not certain that I follow your reasoning, +but do make your mind easy; I've promised to marry you +to-morrow, and I will--on the stroke of noon--to the tick, for +my sake as well as for yours. And, though the fates don't seem +over propitious at the moment, I dare say we shall be quite as +happy as the average married folk--at least, I'll marry you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You mean it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do--unreservedly; please understand that once more, and once +for all. You shall have something like a wedding day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish--I wish it were to-day; I'm afraid--of what may +happen--before to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of whatever you may be afraid, I'm afraid that it couldn't be +to-day. It's my uncle's funeral to-day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney! You--you're not going!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am; as chief mourner."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, you--you can't do a thing like that! You--you mustn't!"</p> + +<p class="normal">As she spoke an elderly woman came into the room, of a somewhat +portly presence--the lady's mother. Seemingly she was in a mood +to be garrulous.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What mustn't he do? Excuse me, Mr. Elmore, for coming in like +this, but really, Mabel, I don't know what you are thinking +about. I'm sure Mr. Elmore wants to go to his business, and +here's all the work at a standstill----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right, mother; Mr. Elmore doesn't want to hear you +grumbling at me, I know."</p> + +<p class="normal">Without waiting for her mother to continue her observations, +Miss Joyce bustled out of the room with the breakfast tray in +her hands. Left alone with him, the landlady addressed her +lodger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the matter with the girl I can't think; I never saw +anything like the change that's come over her the last few days; +she looks more fit for a hospital than anything else--and her +temper! She never says anything to me; I suppose you don't know +what's wrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Joyce, I'm not your daughter's confidant; she certainly +says nothing to me in the sense you mean. Why do you take it for +granted that anything's wrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because I've got two eyes in my head, that's why. She's not the +same girl she was; that something's wrong I'm certain sure; but +she snaps my nose off directly I open my mouth. I know she +thinks a lot of you. I wondered if she'd said anything to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Absolutely nothing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I can't understand the girl, and that's flat!"</p> + +<p class="normal">With that somewhat cryptic utterance Mrs. Joyce went out of the +room as impetuously as she had entered. Rodney stood looking at +the door for a moment or two, as if in doubt whether she would +return. He tore the sheet of paper on which were the two +typewritten lines into tiny scraps and dropped them into the +fireplace. Re-reading Miss Carmichael's epistle, he obeyed her +injunctions, a little tardily, perhaps, and sent the fragments +after the others, repeating to himself as he did so a line from +an old song:</p> + + +<p class="center">"Of all the girls that are so sweet!"</p> + + +<p class="normal">Then he took an oblong piece of paper out of a letter-case and +studied it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Steamship <i>Cedric</i>.--John Griffiths, passenger to New York, +cabin forty-five, berth A.' I wonder if it will be occupied, or +if the money's wasted. That's for to-morrow, or is it to be +Buenos Ayres on Friday, or New York on Saturday?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who knows if it is to be either?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He had left the house and was descending the steps when a +telegraph boy approached, with a yellow envelope in his hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who's it for?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney Elmore, sir."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am Rodney Elmore. Wait and see if there's an answer."</p> + +<p class="normal">The telegram which the envelope contained was a lengthy one; it +covered the whole of the pink slip of paper. He read it through +once, then again. As he read it the second time he whistled, +very softly, as if unconsciously, the opening bars of "Sally in +Our Alley."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is an answer. Give me a form."</p> + +<p class="normal">He spread the form the boy gave him out upon his letter-case, +then he seemed to consider what to say; then read the telegram +he had received a third time, as if in search of light and +leading. Arriving at a sudden decision, he wrote on the form the +name and address of the person to whom the message was to be +sent, and then one word, "Right." He added nothing which would +show who the sender was; evidently he took it for granted that +it would be recognised that the message came from him. As he +watched the lad mount his bicycle and pedal away, he said to +himself, always with that characteristic air of his, as of one +who appreciates a capital jest:</p> + +<p class="normal">"That settles it! Now the plot does begin to thicken."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_21" href="#div1Ref_21">THE DEAD MAN'S LETTER</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">The final understanding had been that those who were to go to +the bank, in order that arrangements might be made which would +give them immediate access to the funds of the late Graham +Patterson, were to meet at the office in St. Paul's Churchyard. +On the way to the City Rodney paid two or three calls. When he +entered the office the outer rooms were empty; there was a +notice on the outer door to the effect that business was +suspended on account of Mr. Patterson's funeral. Mr. Andrews +came out of what had been the late proprietor's own sanctum to +greet him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Wilkes is here, Mr. Elmore, and particularly wishes to see +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney said nothing, but his look suggested that he resented +something which he noticed in the other's manner, as well as the +fact that he had come out of that particular room. Passing on in +silence to the private office, he found Mr. Wilkes seated, not +in his uncle's own chair, as he had been on Monday, but in one +close to it. He did not rise as the young man entered, but +contented himself with nodding slightly. Rodney, scenting +something antagonistic in the other's presence there as well as +in his attitude, did not even nod. He marched straight to the +chair behind the writing-table, which he chose now to regard as +his own, and which was within a yard of that on which the other +was seated, and, remaining standing himself, looked down on the +lawyer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To what am I indebted, Mr. Wilkes, for your presence to-day? +Did you not notice the intimation on the door, informing all and +sundry that these offices are closed? If it is a business matter +on which you have called, I must ask you to postpone it, at any +rate until to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">Instead of showing any disposition to take himself off, as the +other so plainly suggested, the dark-visaged lawyer, leaning +back in his chair, looked up at the young man with something in +his glance which was not exactly complimentary.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have come, Mr. Elmore, a good deal against my own wish, in +consequence of a communication which I have received from Mr. +Patterson."</p> + +<p class="normal">"From--what do you mean, from Mr. Patterson?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A letter came to my office yesterday evening, after I had +left, which was placed in my hands this morning. Before +proceeding to take other steps, I thought it might perhaps save +unpleasantness, and be fairer to you, if, in the first instance, +I acquainted you with its substance."</p> + +<p class="normal">"From whom is the letter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"From your late uncle, Graham Patterson."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You say it reached you last night? I don't understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nor I, as yet, quite; I can only form a hypothesis. It seems +that the letter was written at Brighton some time on Sunday. +Clearly, from the postmark, it was posted at Brighton on Sunday. +It ought to have reached me, of course, on Monday, but the +presumption is that, owing to some vagary of the Post Office, it +went astray, so that it has been more than two days on the road, +instead of only a few hours. Under the circumstances that seems +rather a curious accident. Here is the letter. I warn you that +you will not find it a pleasant one."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it absolutely necessary, then, that I should know its +contents? My relations with Mr. Patterson were not of a kind to +lead me to expect any pleasantness from him, either on paper or +off it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The position is this. It is my duty to place this letter +before--someone else, when very serious consequences may ensue; +but, by taking a certain course, you may relieve me of the +duty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In that case, let me know what is in the letter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I had better read it to you, so that you may understand that +the language is the writer's, not mine."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Wilkes withdrew a letter from an envelope which he took from +his pocket; the envelope he held out to Rodney.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see? The address is in your uncle's hand; it was +post-marked at Brighton on Sunday evening, so there can be no +doubt about the date on which it was dispatched."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lawyer proceeded to read the letter out loud, with a dryness +which seemed to give it peculiar point.</p> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:5%"> +<p class="normal">"'<span class="sc">Dear Stephen</span>' [my Christian name, I may remind you, is +Stephen],--'I want you to draw up a codicil to my will, and to +have it ready for my signature to-morrow--Monday afternoon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'It is to be to the effect that if my daughter marries my +nephew, Rodney Elmore, then all that portion of my will which +refers to her is to be null and void--she is not to have a +penny. All that would have been hers is to be divided equally +among the following charities.' [Then follows a list of them; +there are eight. Then the letter goes on]: 'I hope that's clear +enough. Between ourselves, Master Elmore is an all-round +scoundrel; I swear to you that I'm convinced that no rascality +would be too steep for him. He is a liar of the very first +water, a thief, and a forger; so much I can prove. I would +sooner have my girl dead than his wife; the damned young +blackguard is after her for all he knows. But I am going to +clear him out in charge of a constable when I get back to the +office; I doubt if he has got tight enough hold of my girl to +induce her to marry a convict--it will be a clear case of penal +servitude for him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I know you will think I am writing strongly, but that is +because I feel strongly. When I tell you the whole story you +will admit that I am justified.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Mind you have that codicil ready, on the lines I have given; I +will call in on my way back from the office and sign. I know you +do not touch criminal business as a rule, but you will have to +make an exception in my case. I want you to instruct counsel in +the matter of Master Elmore, for reasons which I will make clear +to you when we meet. Sincerely yours,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:50%">"'<span class="sc">Graham Patterson</span>.'"</p> +</div> +<br> +<p class="normal">When the lawyer had done reading he lowered the letter and +glanced up at the young man, who still stood towering above him. +If he expected to find on his face any signs of confusion, still +less of guilt or shame, his expectation was not realised. There +was a look rather on Rodney's countenance of scorn, of +confidence in himself, of contempt for whoever might speak ill +of him, which became him very well. His remarks, when they came, +possibly scarcely breathed the spirit the solicitor had looked +for.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you read that letter to Mr. Andrews?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you made him acquainted with its contents?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have dropped no hint to him of its existence."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have no pretensions to knowledge of the law of libel, but it +is pretty clear that no action can be brought against the man +who wrote that letter. With you the case is different. It was +written, I presume, in confidence to you. If you bring it to the +notice of anybody else you make yourself responsible for the +statements it contains--you publish them. If you call my honour +in question by publishing such a farrago of lies about me I will +first of all thrash you, as they have it, to within an inch of +your life, and then, if needs be, I will spend my last penny in +calling you to account in a court of law. You shall not shelter +yourself behind a dead man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You use strong language, Mr. Elmore."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Could I use stronger language than that letter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I understand that you deny the statements it contains?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do I understand that you associate yourself with your +correspondent so far as to require a denial?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You misapprehend the situation; whether wilfully or not I don't +know. I have no personal concern in this matter at all; +eliminate that idea from your mind. Graham Patterson was my +client living; in a sense he is still my client dead. I have no +option but to continue to do my duty to him without fear or +favour."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I presume in return for a certain fee, Mr. Wilkes?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You forget yourself, sir."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In this room, Mr. Wilkes, eliminate from your mind all legal +fictions. Don't, for your own sake, drive the fact that you are +acting as my uncle's bravo too far home. In the face of that +letter I begin to understand why he committed suicide. He was +either drunk or mad when he wrote it. When sobriety or sanity +returned, realising the situation in which he had placed +himself, rather than face the consequences of what he had done, +he took his own life. Don't you show yourself to be in +possession of the dastard's courage which he lacked."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You take up an extraordinary position, Mr. Elmore."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is the position you take up?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here is a letter from a man to his lawyer, in which he gives +him instructions to make certain alterations in his will, +stating reasons why he wishes those alterations to be made. It +is signed, dated; its authenticity can be readily established. I +am not sure that it has not a certain testamentary value."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you suggesting that that letter in any way affects my +uncle's will?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am not prepared to give a definite opinion; but this I will +say, that if its existence were to come to the knowledge of the +societies herein mentioned, they would be justified in taking +counsel's opinion, and quite possibly he would advise their +taking further action."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are, of course, at liberty to take any steps with regard to +that tissue of libels you please, especially as I have made it, +I think, perfectly clear to you that you will do so at your own +proper peril."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Evidently your uncle was averse to your marrying his daughter. +Am I to take it that you admit so much?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I admit so much; he always was averse to that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, in that case, you will at once resolve the difficulty by +withdrawing all pretensions to Miss Patterson's hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Damn your impudence, sir."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that your answer?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is; with this addition--that I hope, and intend, to marry +Miss Patterson at the earliest possible moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, in that case, you leave me no option but to place this +letter before Miss Patterson."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that meant for a threat?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrews appeared in the doorway to announce that Mr. Parmiter +was in the outer office.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Show Mr. Parmiter in at once for a few minutes, Andrews, if you +please."</p> + +<p class="normal">As the young solicitor came in Rodney advanced to greet him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hallo, Parmiter! you come in the very nick of time--you see Mr. +Wilkes has favoured me with his company again. Mr. Wilkes, read +to Mr. Parmiter the letter you just now read to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. With all possible +respect to Mr. Parmiter, this is a matter in which he has no +<i>locus standi</i>, and in which I cannot recognise him at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why not? He is my solicitor; he advises me. When you have made +known to him the contents of that letter, don't you think it +possible that he may give me the advice which, apparently, you +would like him to give?"</p> + +<p class="normal">While he was still speaking the door opened to admit Miss +Patterson. He moved to her with both hands held out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, here is someone whom, I presume, you will recognise--the +very person. Gladys, here is Mr. Wilkes. He has something which +he very much wishes to say to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Returning the letter to its envelope, Mr. Wilkes rose from his +chair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My hands are not going to be forced by you, Mr. Elmore, don't +you suppose it. In making any communication to Miss Patterson +which I may have to make, I shall prefer to choose my own time +and place."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's it, is it? I quite appreciate the reasons which actuate +you, Mr. Wilkes, in wishing to make what you call your +communication to Miss Patterson behind my back; and I think that +Miss Patterson will appreciate them equally well. Mr. Wilkes has +in his hand what he claims to be a letter from your father. If +you take my advice you will insist on his showing it to you at +once."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Patterson was quick to act on the hint which her lover gave +her. She moved close up to the lawyer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Wilkes, be so good as to let me see the letter to which my +cousin refers."</p> + +<p class="normal">"With pleasure, Miss Patterson, at--if you will allow me to say +so--some more convenient season; the sooner the better. For +instance, may I have a few minutes' private conversation with +you this afternoon? The matter on which I wish to speak to you +is for your ear only."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have spoken of it to my cousin?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes; he has spoken of it to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, why can you not speak of it to me in his presence?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will write to you on the subject, Miss Patterson, and will +endeavour to make my reasons clear."</p> + +<p class="normal">He made as if to move towards the door. She placed herself in +front of him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One moment, Mr. Wilkes. Any letter from you will be handed to +Mr. Elmore, unopened. I will have no private communication with +you, nor, if I can help it, will I have any communication with +you of any sort or kind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I regret to hear you say so, Miss Patterson, and can only +deplore the attitude of mind which prompts you to arrive at what +I cannot but feel is a most unfortunate decision."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are impertinent, Mr. Wilkes."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lawyer, with his dark eyes fixed on the lady's face, raised +the hand in which was the envelope which contained the letter +with the intention of slipping it into an inner pocket of his +coat. Her quick glance recognised the handwriting of the +address.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's from dad!" she cried. "It's a letter from dad!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had snatched the letter from between the lawyer's fingers +before he had the faintest inkling of what she was about to do.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Patterson," he exclaimed, "give me back that letter."</p> + +<p class="normal">She retreated, as he showed a disposition to advance. Mr. Elmore +interposed himself between the lawyer and the lady.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Steady, Mr. Wilkes, steady. You told me that it would be your +duty to place that letter in Miss Patterson's hands. It is in +her hands. What objection have you to offer?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Whatever protest the lawyer might have been inclined to make he +apparently came to the conclusion that, at the moment, it would +be futile to make any. He withdrew himself from Elmore's +immediate neighbourhood, and observed the lady, as she read the +letter. She read it without comment to the end. Then she asked:</p> + +<p class="normal">"When did you get this letter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It reached my office last night, and me this morning; but, as +you see, it was written on Sunday, and would appear to have been +delayed in the post."</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned to Rodney.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you read this letter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It has been read aloud to me, which comes to the same thing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know--what he says at the end?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do; Mr. Wilkes took special care of that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it true?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is absolutely false. There is not one word of truth in it. +It comes to me as a complete surprise. Never by so much as a +word did your father lead me to suppose that he had such +thoughts of me. I cannot conceive what can have been the +condition of his mind when he wrote in such a strain. But that +letter enables me to begin to understand that something must +have happened to him mentally, and that when he committed +suicide he actually was insane."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Patterson tore the letter in half from top to bottom. The +lawyer broke into exclamation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Patterson! What are you doing? You must not do that! Not +only is it not your letter, but it is a document of the gravest +legal importance."</p> + +<p class="normal">Paying him no heed whatever, the girl continued in silence the +destruction of the letter, going about the business in the most +thorough-going manner, reducing it to the tiniest atoms. When +she had finished with the letter itself, she proceeded to +dispose of the envelope, Mr. Wilkes expostulating hotly all the +time, but kept from active interference by the insistent fashion +with which Mr. Elmore prevented him from getting near the lady. +Compelled at last to own that it was useless to attempt to stay +her, he called upon his colleague to take notice of the outrage +to which the letter was subjected, to say nothing of himself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Parmiter, you are witness of what is being done. This young +lady, with the connivance and, indeed, assistance of this young +man, is destroying a document of the first importance, which is +not only in no sense her own property, but which was obtained +from me by what is tantamount to an act of robbery, accompanied, +in a legal sense, by violence. Of these facts you will be called +upon, in due course, to give evidence."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Parmiter was still, but the lady spoke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you not forgetting that Mr. Parmiter is my solicitor, and +that a solicitor cannot give evidence against his own client? I +am sorry to have to seem to teach you law, Mr. Wilkes. Rodney, +have you a match? If so, will you please burn these?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She held out the fragments of the letter. Mr. Wilkes made a +final attempt at salvage.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Patterson, I implore you to give me those scraps of paper. +It may still not be too late to piece them together, and so save +you from consequences of whose gravity you have no notion."</p> + +<p class="normal">Once more the young gentleman interposed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Steady, Mr. Wilkes, steady!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Remove your hand from my shoulder, sir! You are only making +your position every moment more and more serious!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Again the lady spoke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To use a phrase of which you seem to be rather fond, Mr. +Wilkes, in a legal sense, I believe this is my room. I must ask +you to leave it at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not before you have given me those scraps of paper, Miss +Patterson!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you won't go, I shall reluctantly have to ask Mr. Elmore to +put you out, and, in doing so, to use no more violence than is +necessary."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I entreat you, Miss Patterson, to accept sound advice, and to +do something which may permit of my repairing the mischief you +have caused. Give me those scraps of paper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, will you please put Mr. Wilkes out? But please don't +hurt him!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The young man put the lawyer out, doing him no actual bodily +hurt. He conducted him through the outer office to the landing, +then addressed the astonished Andrews.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Andrews, this is Mr. Stephen Wilkes; I believe you know him. +Give instructions that, under no pretext, is he to be admitted +to these offices again. I shall look to you to see that those +instructions are carried out. Good-day, sir."</p> + +<p class="normal">Shutting the door in the lawyer's face, he audibly turned the +key on the inner side.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, Andrews, would you mind coming into the other room?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Patterson greeted her cousin with the request she had +already made. She still had the fragments of the letter between +her fingers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How about that match, Rodney? Please burn these."</p> + +<p class="normal">He made a little bonfire of them on the hearth, while she went +on:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't suppose you will be very eager now to attend my +father's funeral in the capacity of mourner."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am not. I would much rather not go at all, if you will pardon +the abstention."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I would much rather you did not go either--so, Andrews, that is +settled. Also, be so good as to understand that I should prefer +that the funeral should not start from Russell Square."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Patterson's body had been removed from the station to the +undertaker's, where it at present reposed in a handsome example +of the undertaker's art. The idea had been to bring it in a +hearse to Russell Square, whence the funeral cortège was to +start. It was this arrangement which Miss Patterson wished to +have altered. The managing man silently acquiesced; there was +still time to give instructions that all that was left of his +late employer was to be taken straight from the undertaker's to +the cemetery.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_22" href="#div1Ref_22">PHILIP WALTER AUGUSTUS PARKER</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">The four of them went together to the bank, which was within a +minute's walk. There, the necessary forms being quickly gone +through, a sum of two thousand pounds was credited to Miss +Patterson, power being given to Rodney Elmore to draw on her +account for such sums as were needed for the proper conduct of +the business, it being tacitly understood that he would draw +only such sums as were needed for the business. That matter +being settled, they separated; Mr. Andrews and Mr. Parmiter +going their own ways, Miss Patterson and Mr. Elmore departing +together in a cab to lunch. The cab had not gone very far before +the young gentleman made a discovery.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've left my letter-case on the table in the bank?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your letter-case? Did you? What a nuisance; I never noticed it. +Are you sure it was on the table?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite; I remember distinctly; it was under a blotting-pad. What +an idiot I am! I'm frightfully sorry, but I'm afraid I shall +have to go back and get it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course, we will go back."</p> + +<p class="normal">The cab returned to the bank. The lady remained inside; the +gentleman passed through the great swing doors--through first +one pair, then a second--it was impossible to see from the +street what was taking place beyond. Once in the bank, the young +gentleman said nothing about his letter-case--it had apparently +passed from his memory altogether; but he presented at the +counter a cheque for a thousand pounds, with his own signature +attached. He took it in tens and fives, and a hundred pounds in +gold. If the paying clerk thought it was rather an odd way of +taking so large a sum, he made no comment. He came back through +the swing doors with a letter-case held in his hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've got it," he explained.</p> + +<p class="normal">He emphatically had, though she understood one thing and he +meant another. When they had gone some little distance in the +direction of lunch she observed:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish I were not in mourning. I've half a mind to go back and +change."</p> + +<p class="normal">He observed her critically--he was holding one of her hands +under cover of the apron.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Gladys, I can't admit that you do look your best in +mourning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think that I don't know that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you look charming, all the same."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, I don't; I look a perfect fright."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I doubt if you could look a fright even if you tried; I'm +certain you don't look one now. In fact, the more I look at you +the harder I find it to keep from kissing you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I dare say! You'd better not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's a truth of which I'm unpleasantly aware. Still, if you +did look like anything distantly resembling a fright, I +shouldn't have that feeling so strong upon me, should I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're not to talk like that in a hansom!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm merely explaining. I suggest that if you do feel like +changing, you should lunch first, and change afterwards."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're coming back with me to Russell Square?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rather!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I won't wear mourning--people may say and think what they +choose--I declare I won't. Did you ever see anything like that +letter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was by way of being a curiosity."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, Rodney, he said you were--he said you were all sorts of +things! What did he mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your father was one of those not uncommon men who always use +much stronger language than the occasion requires--it was a +habit of his. For instance, when, in spite of his very positive +commands, I showed an inclination to continue your acquaintance, +he as good as told me I was a murderer--he said that it was his +positive conviction that for the sake of a five-pound note I'd +murder you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did he really?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He did. And I dare say that when you showed no desire to cut me +dead, he said one or two nice things to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, he did--several. He made out that I was everything that was +bad."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There you are--that's the kind of man he was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But didn't he say something about a policeman--and giving you +in charge?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sure that he would have given me in charge to twenty +policemen if he could, and that nothing would have pleased him +better than to have had me sent to penal servitude for life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What I can't make out is--why did he dislike you so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, I'm afraid the explanation is simple--too simple. I +don't want to hurt your feelings, but I've a notion--a very +strong one--that he didn't like you. He regarded you as a +nuisance; you know how he kept you in the background as long as +he could; you interfered with the sort of life he liked to live; +you were in his way."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He certainly never at any period of his life or mine, showed +himself over-anxious for my company."</p> + +<p class="normal">"When you did become installed in town, he had formed his own +plans for your future. What precisely was the arrangement +between them I don't pretend to know; but I dare say I shall +find out before long--it won't need much to induce Wilkes to +give himself away; but I am persuaded that it was his intention +that you should become Mrs. Stephen Wilkes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what makes you think so? It seems to me so monstrous. Fancy +me as Mrs. Stephen Wilkes!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, I'd rather not. It's only a case of intuition, I +admit, but I'm convinced I'm right, and one day I may be able to +give you chapter and verse. He was not over-fond of me to begin +with, but when you appeared on the scene, and he saw that his +best laid plans bade fair to gang agley, he suddenly began to +develop a feeling towards me which ended as it has done. It's +not a pretty one, but there's my explanation. But, sweetheart, +that page is ended; let's turn it over and never look back at +it; and all the rest of the volume--let's try our best to make +it happy reading."</p> + +<p class="normal">They ate a fair lunch, considering, and enjoyed it, and +afterwards returned together in a taximeter cab to Russell +Square, feeling more tenderly disposed to each other, and at +peace with all the world. When Miss Patterson had ate and drunk +well she was apt to discover a turn for languorous sentiment +which appealed to Mr. Elmore very forcibly indeed. Since, +therefore, it was probably their intention to spend an amorous +afternoon, the shock was all the greater when, on their arrival +at No. 90, they were greeted in the hall by a tall upstanding, +broad-shouldered, soldierly-looking man in whom Gladys recognised +the officer of police who had brought her the news of her father's +tragic fate.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Inspector Harlow," she exclaimed. "What--what are you doing +here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was perhaps only natural that, drawing away from the +policeman towards her lover, she should slip her hands through +his arm as if she looked to him for protection from some +suddenly threatening danger. Rodney pressed his arm closer to +his side, as if to assure her she would find shelter there; +though, as she uttered the visitor's name, he glanced towards +him with a look which, as it were, with difficulty became an odd +little smile. The visitor's manner, when he spoke, suggested +mystery.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Can I say half a dozen words with you, Miss Patterson, in +private?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She led the way to the first room to which they came, which +chanced to be the dining-room, she entering first, then Rodney, +the inspector last. When he was in he shut the door and stood up +against it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I said, Miss Patterson, in private."</p> + +<p class="normal">The inspector had an eye on Rodney.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are in private; you can say anything you wish to say before +this gentleman. This is Mr. Elmore, to whom I am shortly to be +married."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Elmore?"</p> + +<p class="normal">As the officer echoed the name the two men's glances met. In +the inspector's eyes there was an expression of eager curiosity, +as if he were taken by surprise; Rodney's quick perceptions told +him that while his name, and probably more than his name, was +known to the other, for some cause he was the last person he had +expected to see; the man was studying him with an interest which +he did not attempt to conceal. The young man, on his side, was +regarding the inspector as if he found him amusing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, inspector, when you have quite finished staring at Mr. +Elmore, perhaps you will tell me what it is you have to say."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl's candid allusion to the peculiarity which it seemed +she had noticed in his manner had the effect of bringing the +officer back to a consciousness of what he was doing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Was I staring? I beg Mr. Elmore's pardon--and yours, Miss +Patterson. I was only thinking that, under the circumstances, it +is a fortunate accident that Mr. Elmore should be present."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have omitted to state what are the circumstances to which +you allude."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will proceed to supply that omission at once, Miss Patterson. +You will probably think that they are strange ones; and, indeed, +they are; but you will, of course, understand that I am only +here in pursuance of my duty. I have come in consequence of a +letter which I received this morning. I will read it to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">He took an envelope from a fat pocket-book.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It bears no address, and is not dated; but the envelope shows +that it was posted last night at Beckenham.</p> +<br> +<blockquote> +<p class="continue">"'To Inspector Harlow.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Sir,--Mr. Graham Patterson did not commit suicide; he was +murdered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'If you can make it convenient to be at Mr. Graham Patterson's +late residence, No. 90, Russell Square, to-morrow, Wednesday, +afternoon at 3.30, I will be there also, and will point out to +you the murderer.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:35%">"'Your obedient servant,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:30%">"'Philip Walter Augustus Parker.'"</p> +</blockquote> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Silence followed when the inspector ceased to read. The officer +was engaged in folding the letter and returning it to its +envelope; Gladys looked as if she were too startled to give +ready utterance to her feelings in words. Rodney was possibly +trying to associate someone of whom he had heard with the name +of Parker--and failing. His memory did not often play him +tricks; he was pretty sure that no one of that name was known to +him. The inspector was the first to speak.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will, of course, perceive, Miss Patterson, that the +probabilities are that this letter is a hoax; the signature, +Philip Walter Augustus Parker, in itself suggests a hoax. Then +there is the absence of an address. And, of course, we have the +verdict of the coroner's jury, and the evidence on which it was +found. I am quite prepared to learn that I have come to Russell +Square, and troubled you with my presence, for nothing. But at +the same time, in my position, I did not feel justified in not +coming, on the very off-chance of making the acquaintance of +Philip Walter Augustus Parker. It is now on the stroke of +half-past three; we will give him a few minutes' grace, after +which--if, as I expect will be the case, there are still no +signs of him--I'll take myself off, with apologies, Miss +Patterson. But should he by any strange chance put in an +appearance, I would ask you to have him at once shown in here."</p> + +<p class="normal">Hardly had the inspector done speaking than there was the sound +of an electric bell and a rat-tat-tat at the front door. The +trio in the dining-room could scarcely have seemed more startled +had they been suddenly confronted by a ghost. The inspector's +voice sank to a whisper.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If the name's Parker, would you mind asking the servant--in +here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">A gesture supplied the words he had omitted in his sentence. He +held the door open so that Gladys could speak to the maid who +was coming along the hall. She did so, also in lowered tones.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If that's a person of the name of Parker show him at once in +here."</p> + +<p class="normal">She withdrew; the inspector shut the door; there was a pause; no +one spoke; each of the three stood and listened. They could hear +the front door opened and steps coming along the hall. Then the +dining-room door was opened by a maid, who announced:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Parker."</p> + +<p class="normal">There entered the little man who had followed the example set by +Rodney of getting out of the train in Redhill Tunnel.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_23" href="#div1Ref_23">NECESSARY CREDENTIALS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">The moment he appeared Rodney knew that he had been expecting +him; that somewhere at the back of his mind there had been a +feeling that it was he who was coming. His impulse was to take +him by the throat and crush the life out of him before he had a +chance of saying a word; which was the impulse of a badly +frightened man. But he seldom lost his presence of mind for +long; and, on that occasion, he had it again almost as soon as +it had gone; indeed, within the same second he was smiling at +himself for having allowed himself to be disposed towards such +crass folly.</p> + +<p class="normal">So far as Rodney was able to judge the little man was clad just +as he had been on Sunday evening--in the same shabby tweed suit, +the old unbrushed boots, with the same suggestion about him that +he might easily have been improved by a more intimate +acquaintance with soap and water. He had his hat in one hand, +and with the other he rubbed his scrubby chin. No one could have +seemed more at his ease. Without offering any sort of greeting +he immediately proceeded to address the inspector, while the +maid was still closing the door, in that thin, unmusical, +penetrating voice which Rodney had so much disliked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you are there, Harlow, are you? I wondered if you'd have +sense enough to come."</p> + +<p class="normal">He rounded off his sentence with the snigger which had so jarred +on the young man's sensitive nerves, and which affected Gladys +so unpleasantly that, with what seemed to be a start of +repulsion, she moved closer to her lover's side. The stranger +noted the movement, and commented on it--again with the +uncomfortable snigger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's right; get as close as you can; he'll keep you safe; +anyone will be safe who gets close enough to him. You're Miss +Patterson; I could tell you anywhere by your likeness to your +father. You're not the kind of girl I care about, any more than +he was the kind of man. Who's the youngster? Now, there is +someone worth looking at; why, he's as handsome as paint, and of +quite unusual force of character for so young a man. Miss +Patterson, the girl who gets him for a lover will have a lover +of a kind of which she has no notion. He's a most remarkable +young man."</p> + +<p class="normal">With a view, perhaps, of checking the stranger's volubility, +the inspector administered what was possibly meant for a rebuke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you would confine yourself to the business which has brought +you here, sir, it would be as well. Are you Mr. Parker?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am; Philip Walter Augustus Parker--a lot of name for a man of +my size."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You sent me a letter last night from Beckenham?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stating that Mr. Graham Patterson did not commit suicide."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Exactly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But was murdered?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You went on to say that if I were here this afternoon you would +point out to me the murderer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Point him out."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thought so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I knew you did. I saw on your intelligent visage that you knew +what was coming. You have some experience of cranks who accuse +themselves of crimes of which they are innocent; you take it for +granted that I am one of them, which shows what a dunce you are. +I am a lunatic. That's right, Harlow, smile again. I knew that +would tickle you. A policeman's sense of humour is his own."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is necessary, Mr. Parker, that I should warn you that +anything you say will be taken down and used against you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite right, Harlow; take it down; but as for using it against +me, that's absurd. The law does not punish lunatics; whatever +they may do it holds them guiltless. I'm an example of the +inadequacy of the law to protect the public from what I may +describe as the lunatic at large. It is not sufficiently +recognised that there is an order of dementia which may at any +time develop into homicidal mania, and that, therefore, a +lunatic, unless he is kept in safe keeping, may kill, with +impunity, whom he pleases--as I have done. I have killed Graham +Patterson; yet no one may venture to kill me. My life is more +sacred than that of a sane man in the eyes of the law."</p> + +<p class="normal">The inspector looked at the girl significantly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think, Miss Patterson, that I had better deal with Mr. Parker +alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And, Miss Patterson, I think not. What I am about to say will +be found of interest not only by you, but also by--that +extraordinary young man. Harlow, your duty is to take down what +I am about to say in writing; don't exceed it. Shut the door. +Miss Patterson will stay where she is."</p> + +<p class="normal">The inspector looked at the lady, as if for instructions. As she +gave no sign, beyond drawing a little closer to her lover, he +shut the door, which he had opened a few inches. Mr. Parker +beamed at him with a grotesque little air of triumph.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There, Harlow--you see! Now attend to me. Suppose, before I go +any further, we all sit down; my tale may take some minutes; I +don't want anyone to get tired of standing. You won't? Very +good--then stand. There are plenty of chairs, and very +comfortable some of them seem; but, of course, I don't +propose to force you to occupy them if you would rather not. +Now--attention! To begin at the beginning."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again he indulged in the uncomfortable sort of laughter which, +more than anything else, revealed the disorder of the creature's +mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"On Sunday evening I bolted from my keeper, one Metcalf, in +whose charge I have been for six or seven months, and of whom I +was tired to extinction--an unclubable fellow who never talks +unless he has something to say. I left Brighton station on the +9.10 train. Until the train started I was the sole occupant of a +first-class carriage, at which I was not displeased. I had some +idea of committing suicide myself. Life, I assure you, has +little to offer me. I am just sane enough to know that I never +shall be saner. There's a wall--a wall which I shall never +climb, and which shuts me out--from I don't know what. If I were +left alone--I so seldom am; they won't leave me alone!--here +would be an excellent opportunity to consider the best way out +of it. You may fancy, then, what my feelings were when, just as +the train was starting, another passenger entered--bundled in by +an extremely officious porter. He would never have caught the +train if it hadn't been for the porter--in which case he would +have been still alive--so that one may say, logically, the +porter killed him. The fellow certainly ought to be punished."</p> + +<p class="normal">He waved his hat with a gesture which was possibly intended to +represent the execution of the porter in question.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The man who had entered my compartment, Miss Patterson, was +your father--in every respect a most objectionable person, +combining in himself nearly everything that I most object +to--bloated, overfed, nearly drunk, horrible to contemplate. He +sat there perspiring, puffing, panting, gasping for breath; I +half expected he would have a fit. But, instead of having a fit, +before the train had gone very far he was asleep, fast asleep. +Could any conduct have been more disgusting?--drunken sleep! +With a man of my stamp at the other end of the carriage, could +anything have been more insulting? And he snored--such snores! I +declare to you he made more noise than the train did; if that +extraordinary young man had been in the next compartment he'd +have heard him. And his jaw dropped open--it was that gave me +the idea. Who is it says that trifles light as air lead to I +don't know what? It was that trifle which led to my killing your +father, Miss Patterson."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again the cackling giggle, which made the girl try to draw still +nearer to her lover, as if the thing were possible.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Some time before I had come into possession of quite a quantity +of potassium cyanide; I won't say how--I had. The artfulness of +lunatics is proverbial, and I'm as artful as any of them; on +that point I refer you to Metcalf, as well as to others who have +had me in their charge, both in asylums and out of them--they'll +tell you! It was in the form of tabloids, looking just like +sweeties, in a nice little silver box; enough to kill a street. +I had meant to use it to kill myself, but at the sight of that +dreadful man, with his bulging mouth, I thought--why not use it +to kill him? Pop one into his mouth, and the trick was done! I +moved inch by inch and foot by foot along the seat towards his +end of the carriage; he still snored on, paying no attention of +any sort to me; he was a horrid, vulgar man. At last I was right +in front of him; I might have been ten miles away for all he +knew. How he snored, and how his jaws did gape! I had the silver +box in one hand and a tabloid between the finger and thumb of +the other, and I leaned forward and popped it into his open +mouth."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Parker illustrated his words by his gestures, with the air +of one who was telling an amusing tale.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, what a change came over him! You should have seen it! He +snored the tabloid right down his throat, and he gave a great +gasp and was dead. He had not even waked; I am sure that he +never knew I was on the seat in front of him, or that I was in +the carriage at all. There was his huge carcase bolt upright in +front of me, and I knew that he would never snore any more. It +made me feel quite odd; it was all so sudden and so funny. I +daresay it would have made that extraordinary young man feel +odd, eh?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked up at Rodney with a leer which made his mean, +wrinkled face all at once seem bestial. But he never faltered +in his story, which he told with a sniggering relish which +lent it a quality of horror which no display of dramatic, +conscience-stricken intensity could possibly have done.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My idea had been to tell the porters all about it the first +time the train stopped; it would have been funny to see the fuss +they'd have made; I shouldn't have cared. But it so happened +that the signal was against us, and the train stopped in the +middle of Redhill tunnel."</p> + +<p class="normal">The inspector allowed no hint to escape him of what he knew or +did not know. He kept his eyes fastened on the little man, as if +his wish were not so much to follow his actual words, but to see +something which might be behind them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When it stopped I had another idea, quite as brilliant as the +first. Why should I go through the nuisance of a trial for +murder? With a little management, if this objectionable person +were found in a carriage by himself, it might be taken for +granted that he had committed suicide, which would be too funny. +So I put the silver box open in his fingers, slipped out of the +carriage into the tunnel--in the darkness no one saw me--waited +for the train to go, then walked after it, out of the tunnel, up +the banks, across the fields to Redhill Station; had a drink or +two, which I was in want of; went on by the 10.40, until at +Croydon I was joined by Metcalf, who had got there first. For +the rest of the tale refer to him."</p> + +<p class="normal">Continuing, Mr. Parker seemed to address his remarks +particularly to Rodney:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You never would have thought that it could be so easy to kill a +man, and have it brought in as suicide, would you? When I read +the report of the inquest in the papers, I was amazed to find +how easy it really was. Then it occurred to me that as, of +course, he had been murdered--I knew that--why shouldn't I +communicate with the police, after all? No harm would come to +me; lunatics are protected by the law. It would be different if +he had been murdered by--you; you would quite certainly be hung. +I shall go to Broadmoor. I have rather a fancy for Broadmoor. I +am told that they are all of them lunatics there; I should like +to see. At any rate, they have all of them done something; no +lunatic I've met ever did anything worth doing. They must be +interesting people. But certain credentials are necessary for +Broadmoor, and now I think I've earned them. If the part I've +played in this little affair of Graham Patterson doesn't qualify +me for Broadmoor, then I should very much like to know what +would. Eh, young man, eh?"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_24" href="#div1Ref_24">LOVERS PARTING</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">Inspector Harlow having gone, with Mr. Parker as close +companion, the lovers being again alone together, it was pretty +plain that they were conscious that, since entering the house, +the situation had materially changed. Rodney, try how he might, +could not erase from his mind, so quickly as he wished, the +impression that he had been assisting at some hideous nightmare. +He had supposed, at the sight of the little man, that his +accuser had come into the room. His nerves were strained in the +expectation that every moment the charge would be made. Even as +the instants passed, and he began to see the drift of the tale +which the man was telling, inventing it as he went on, he had a +feeling that he was only playing with him as a cat does with a +mouse, and that, just when it seemed least likely, he would +right-about-face and, perhaps with that diabolical snigger of +his, place the onus of the guilt on him. Now that the fellow had +actually gone, a self-accused prisoner in the inspector's +charge, the feeling that he was still taking part in some +fantastic drama seemed stronger than ever.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gladys, on her side, when at last she broke the curious silence, +which prevailed longer than either of them supposed after they +had been left together, quickly showed that she was obsessed by +a mood in which he did not know her, in which, as it were, she +had slipped out of his reach.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, do you think that what that man said is true?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He seemed to give chapter and verse for most of it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But if it's true--dad didn't take his own life!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If it's true."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But don't you see what a difference that makes?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course it makes a difference; but in what sense do you +mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In every sense--every sense! Do you think--that while he's +being buried--I should be here--if I had known that he was +murdered? He was my father."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In any case he was that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not in any case, not in any case! I may have got him all wrong! +I may have misjudged! I may--I don't know what I mayn't have +done. There's the letter!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What letter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To Mr. Wilkes. You said, when he wrote it, he was mad, and that +taking his own life proved it. I thought so. But, if he didn't +take his own life, what then?" +Rodney made an effort to regain his self-possession, and +partially succeeded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Gladys, the whole business is a bad one, whichever way +you look at it. We are to be married on Monday."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Monday? Married--to you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The knowledge of women on which he was apt to pride himself +ought to have warned him that this was not the same girl as the +one with whom he had come back from lunch in the cab. But at the +moment he was not yet quite himself; his perception was at +fault. He made a mistake.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Gladys, you are perfectly well aware that the +arrangement, as it stands at present, is that we are to be +married on Monday. I was merely about to suggest that, as it +would seem that this whole unfortunate affair is likely to prove +too much, we should be married to-morrow instead, and then we +shall be able to get out of this unpleasant atmosphere at the +earliest possible moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stop! stop!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She shouted at rather than spoke to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps I shall not be married to you at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">He stared at her in genuine amazement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gladys! What are you talking about? What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know what I mean; I almost hope I never may know."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear child; that wretched man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you ever seen him before?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Seen whom?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know quite well. That--wretched man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So far as I'm aware, never in my life. What makes you ask such +a question?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you sure? Do you swear it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"How can a man swear to a thing like that? But I do swear that, +to the best of my knowledge and belief, I have never seen him +before."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then how came it that he knew you so well?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Knew me so well? Gladys! What are you dreaming about? Why, he +never even addressed me by name."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, I noticed that; but he addressed you all the same. Most of +what he said was especially addressed to you, as if he knew that +you would understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are you driving at?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's more, he saw that I was afraid of you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Afraid? You? Why, you could hardly have snuggled closer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That was because I was afraid to let you know how afraid of you +I was."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gladys! Has that creature turned your brain?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I--I don't know. Oh, if I could only say a few words to dad--if +I only could!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What would they be?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I would--ask him--how--he died."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have two stories offered for your choice. Are you content +with neither?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, if my father were standing here now, and his spirit may +be, would you tell me, in his presence, that you don't know why +he disliked you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you going into that all over again? To what end?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What does that man know of you? What does he know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"How can I tell what a half-witted man knows of me, or thinks he +knows? Certainly he knows nothing to my discredit."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney--don't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know! You do know! I can see in your eyes you know! Please +go!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sweetheart!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't--speak to me--like that--now. Go!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You surely are not in earnest. You cannot wish me to leave you +before this extraordinary misunderstanding which has so +inexplicably sprung up is cleared away. Tell me what is in your +mind--frankly, all! I quite understand how this wretched man, +Parker, may have turned your thoughts into unexpected currents +and filled you with miserable doubts. I assure you he has upset +me more than I care to tell you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know that he upset you! I felt you were upset when I was so +close to you. I can see it now."</p> + +<p class="normal">If for the moment he was disconcerted--and the lady's manner was +disconcerting--he slurred it over with creditable skill.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, Gladys; let's try to get back to where we were--to +perfect understanding. Tell me your doubts, no matter how +insoluble they may seem to you. I promise you I'll solve them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sure you will; I feel you could solve anything, but I am +afraid of your solution."</p> + +<p class="normal">Before he had an inkling of her intention she had passed rapidly +across the floor and from the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gladys!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p class="normal">But it was too late; she had gone. He stood staring at the door +through which she had vanished, irresolute. Should he follow +her, possibly to her bedroom, and entreat her for a hearing? For +once in his life he had been taken wholly unawares; he had not +suspected that this Gladys was in the Gladys he had known. Often +a man lives to a ripe old age, ignorant how many women are +contained in the one woman he knows best. Then, as if +unwittingly, his fingers strayed to the pocket in which were the +proceeds of the cheque he had cashed while Gladys, without in +the cab, had supposed him to have gone into the bank for his +letter-case. Apparently the touch decided him; often a little +thing brought him to an instant decision. Without making any +further effort to gain the lady's ear, he buttoned his coat +across his chest, took his hat and stick from off the table, and +quietly left the house.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_25" href="#div1Ref_25">STELLA'S BETROTHAL FEAST</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">That evening Rodney Elmore was at a dinner given at a famous +restaurant in honour of his engagement to Stella Austin, quite a +different sort of meal from that at which he had assisted at the +Misses Claughton's house in Kensington. If in his manner there +was an unusual touch of nervousness, it was not unbecoming; the +bride that was to be was not entirely herself. He met her as, +with her father and mother, she entered the hall. She said to +him, as he fell in by her side:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did hope, Rodney, that you would have come to fetch me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear, it's only by the skin of my teeth that I've got here +myself! Do you think that I wouldn't have come if I could?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She said nothing in reply, but as she passed towards the ladies' +cloak-room there was a look on her face which almost suggested +tears. Her mother's manner, as she greeted him, was not too +genial:</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you are here? Well, I suppose that's something!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Austin, as he deposited his hat and coat with the attendant, +seemed very much in the same key.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We should have been here some minutes ago, only Stella would +have it you were coming to fetch her; we should have been +waiting for you still if she had had her way. How was it you +didn't come? She's quite disappointed; rather a pity that the +evening should have begun with a misunderstanding of that sort."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney drew the gentleman aside.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I take it, Mr. Austin, that you haven't heard the news?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To what news do you refer?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is now stated that my uncle did not commit suicide, but was +murdered."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I thought the coroner's jury had returned a verdict of +suicide."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is so; but this afternoon a man named Parker gave himself +up to the police, on his own confession, as having murdered my +uncle. You will understand that I--I have had rather a trying +day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"On his confession? Is the man a lunatic?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's just it; he is, yet it seems only too likely that--he +did what he says he did."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But how came he to make his confession in your presence? Do you +know the man?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not I; he's an entire stranger to me; but I'll tell you all +about it later. I don't want you to say anything to the ladies +or anyone; I only mention it to you because I want you to +understand how it is that I am not in such--such good fettle as +I might be for an occasion of this kind; and also because I want +you, if needs be, to help me with Stella."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear boy, of course I will. It is only natural that, at a +time like this, a girl should think that there's nothing of much +consequence except her own affairs; but I'll stand by you, never +fear. I rather wish that the whole thing had been postponed, but +Stella wouldn't hear of it. There's Tom not at all himself; he +wanted Mary Carmichael to come, and Stella wanted her to come, +in fact, we all wanted her to come, but she hasn't. I've been +told nothing, but I can see there's some trouble there. +Altogether the evening doesn't look as if it were going to be +quite such a merry one as I had hoped it would have been; +however, we must make the best of it. Cheer up, lad; put your +troubles behind you for this night only."</p> + +<p class="normal">That was a prescription which at any rate the prescriber's +son did not seem at all disposed to follow, as Rodney quickly +learnt when Tom appeared a little tardily. Tom's naturally +good-humoured face wore an expression of unwonted gloom, and +there was that in his air and general bearing which accorded ill +with a time of feasting and making merry.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know, old chap, I oughtn't to be here, I really didn't. I +shall queer the whole show. Unless I drink too much, and put my +spirits up that way, I shall give everyone the hump; and when I +start on that lay I'm apt to get my spirits up a bit too much, +so I don't know that that will have a good effect either."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney laughed as he put his hand on the speaker's shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, Tom, what's wrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know what's wrong, but something's wrong. I do know +that. When the governor told me about this kick-up to-night, I +wrote to Mary and told her all about it, and asked her to come +up, and so on, and said I'd run down to Brighton this morning +to bring her up, and told her the train I'd come by, and asked +her to meet me at the station. She didn't meet me at the +station--that was shock number one; and then when I got to the +house, if you please, the servant didn't want to let me in--she +wanted to make me believe that Mary was out. I wasn't taking +that; I would go in, and I saw her old aunt--she's an old dear, +she is. After a while, and she'd told no end of them, she owned +up that Mary was in all the time she'd been telling them. She +was up in her bedroom, and had given word that if I called she +wouldn't see me. You might have bowled me over with an old +cork."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The lady wasn't well."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Her health was all right; the old girl owned as much. She said +Mary was perfectly well, but beyond that she wouldn't say +anything; and she made out that she couldn't; and she wouldn't +send a message up, or a note, or anything. She said that she +knew her niece well enough to be sure that that would be no use. +But when she saw that I was set, she said that if I chose I +might go up and try my luck. So, if you please, up I went, and +rapped at her bedroom door."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Summoned her to surrender, quite in the good old style; and she +did?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not much she didn't. I spoke to her through the bedroom door, I +called out to her, I as nearly as possible howled; I daresay I +rapped as many as twenty times--I know I made my knuckles sore +But she took not the slightest notice, not a sound came from the +other side; she might have been stone deaf or dead. In fact, I +wanted to tell her that I felt sure that something dreadful had +happened, and that if she wouldn't speak I should have to break +down the door to see what was wrong. But the old girl wouldn't +have it. She said that she had had enough of that folly, and +when I talked about camping out on the door-mat she marched me +off downstairs, feeling all mops and brooms, and all over the +place. Then it came out that when I was at the front door she +had told the old girl that she wouldn't see me, and nothing +would make her see me, and had rushed up to her bedroom and +locked herself in. So I came back from Brighton all alone, and +the wonder is I didn't start to drink and keep on at it; only I +had a sort of feeling that if I began by being squiffy when I +got here things wouldn't be so very much brighter; besides, +there's always time to start that sort of thing if you are set +on it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear old chap, you've done something to upset the lady's +apple-cart; you'll have a letter telling you all about it in the +morning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope so, but I doubt it; I might have known I was feeling too +much bucked up. You know she never said exactly yes; she sort of +let me take it for granted, and perhaps I took it a little too +much for granted; I feel that perhaps that's how it is. But if +she's off with me, I'm done--clean. She could make a man of me, +even the kind of article the governor thinks a man; but no one +else could. If she won't have me, I shall emigrate, that's what +I shall do; I shall go to one of those cheery spots where you +get knocked out by blackwater fever, or sleeping sickness, or +something nice of that sort, three months after you've landed."</p> + +<p class="normal">Notice being given that dinner was ready, Rodney led Stella into +the private room in which it was to be served cheerfully enough, +bestowing on her admiring glances and whispering what he meant +to be sweet things into her pretty ear as they went.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My hat! that's a duck of a frock you're arrayed in; you do look +scrumptious."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm glad you think so."</p> + +<p class="normal">The maid's manner was a trifle prim; she plainly wished him to +understand that she was still a little out with him. He smiled +at her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know what you're laughing at."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would you rather I cried?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm afraid poor Tom feels like crying. Isn't it strange Mary +not coming, and sending no message, or anything--nothing to +explain? Have you heard how she treated Tom?"</p> + +<p class="normal">They had reached the dinner-table, and were settling themselves +in their places.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stella, be so good as to understand, once for all, that there's +only one subject to-night, and that's you. All other subjects +are tabooed. Are you quite comfortable? Don't put your chair too +far off; so that, if you feel like it, you can put your baby +foot out towards mine and with your wee slipper crush my +favourite corn."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, I'm glad you are going to talk to me at last, though I +don't suppose you have thought of me once all day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I tell you what I've been looking for ever since I came?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I expect for somewhere to smoke."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've been looking for--say, a curtained nook, where I can have +you alone for about five minutes, and have a few of those kisses +of which I have been dreaming this livelong day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you had come and fetched me you might have had one kiss--in +the cab."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll have one kiss when I take you back--one!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, you are going to take me back?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am; and I'm going to eat you on the way; then you'll +understand what you escaped by my not fetching you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're not to talk like that; people will hear you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let 'em. Fancy if you'd arrived here with that lovely frock all +crumpled--two in a cab! People would have wondered what you had +been doing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, if you will talk like that I shall crush your favourite +corn."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Crush it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Please pass me the salt."</p> + +<p class="normal">Whether, while he passed her the salt, she did crush it, there +was nothing to show.</p> + +<p class="normal">The feast passed off better than, at one time, it had promised +to do. There were about twenty people present. Mr. Austin had +whipped up, at a moment's notice, various relations, and also +certain persons who were intimately connected with the firm of +which he was head; he desired to introduce to them not only his +future son-in-law, but also the probable partner in his +business. Most of these people were very willing to be +entertained, simple souls, easily pleased, and the dinner was a +good one. Even Tom, who found himself next to a girl with +mischievous eyes and a saucy tongue, was inclined to shed some +of his melancholy before the menu was half-way through.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never did meet a girl who says such things as you do," he +told her, with a frankness which was perhaps meant for +laudation. "You are quite too altogether."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see," she said, with her eyes fixed demurely on her plate, +"it doesn't matter what one does say to some people, does it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean by that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course some people don't count, do they?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"By that I suppose you mean that I'm a----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not wait for him to finish.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, not at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him with innocence in her glance, which was too +perfect to be real.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How many times have you been ploughed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who's been telling you tales about me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was only thinking that it doesn't matter if one hasn't brains +so long as one has looks, and you have got those, haven't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Tom's face, as the minx said this, in a voice which was just +loud enough to reach his ears, would have made a good +photographic study. Beyond a doubt he was in a fair way to lose +some of his sadness, at least for the time.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the cloth had been removed the giver of the feast, getting +on to his feet, made the usual half jovial, half sentimental +references to the occasion which had brought them together; and, +in wishing the young couple well, made special allusion to the +fact that he was not only welcoming a son, but also a colleague. +The toast he ended by proposing could not have been better +received. Then, while the young maiden sat blushing, the young +man stood up, and, in a brief yet deft little speech, told how +happy they all had made him, how the hopes which he had +cherished for years had at last been realised, how dear those +hopes had been to him, how unworthy he was of all the good gifts +which had descended on him. But of this they might be sure, that +if he had health and strength--and at present he was very well +and pretty strong, thanking them very much--he would do his very +best in the years to come to prove that he could at least +appreciate those things which Providence had bestowed on him. +The young man sat down on quite a pathetic note, and the girl by +his side pressed his hand and looked as if this were indeed one +of those moments of which she had dreamed.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then there were other speeches and all sorts of kind things were +said, which, at such times, one takes it for granted should be +said. The young man was made much of, and the maiden, if +possible, even more. And when the feast was really ended, and +all the good wishes had been wished again and again, and there +came the time of parting, even Mr. Austin was obliged to confess +to himself that everything could scarcely have gone off better. +His wife was radiant, some of the shadows had gone from Tom's +face; apparently the young lady with the mischievous eyes had in +some subtle way, the secret of which she only possessed, acted +the part of the sun in dispelling the clouds; Stella could not +by any possibility have looked happier or Rodney prouder. Tom, +it is believed, saw the young lady with the mischievous eyes +home in one cab, and it is certain that Rodney was with Stella +in another. What took place during that journey in the cab +between the restaurant and Kensington it is not perhaps easy to +determine precisely, but beyond a doubt Rodney had that one kiss +which had been spoken of, and probably others; for when the +house in Kensington was reached, and the young lady ran up the +steps to the front door, she was in a state of the most +delightful agitation. And in the house there was the final +parting, which occupied a considerable time, for they had to say +to each other the things which they had already said more than +once, and which Rodney at least could say so well and to which +the girl so loved to listen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think that, after all, to-night has made up for to-day. Do +you know, Rodney," and she looked up into his face with +something shining in her pretty eyes, "that to-day I have had +the most curious fancies? I was actually frightened; I don't +know at what, but I do know that somehow it was because of you. +Wasn't it silly?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am not sure that it's ever silly for you to be frightened +because of me; I'm in the most delicious terror all day, and +sometimes all night, because of you; but you are a goose."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then he held her perhaps a little closer, and whispered:</p> + +<p class="normal">"It has been something of a night, hasn't it? For the first time +in my life I feel as if I were a person of some importance. You +couldn't have your betrothal feast again to-morrow, could you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I doubt it; but we might have a silver betrothal feast as well +as a silver wedding. Hasn't that sort of thing ever been done?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed at the conceit, and when the parting really did come +she was looking forward as through a dim mist, towards that +silver time at which he had hinted; and when she went upstairs +she prayed that after five-and-twenty years of married life she +might be as happy as she was then. And all night she slept +sweetly, dreaming the happiest dreams of all that took place +during the passage of the years, through which she walked with +the husband whom she loved so dearly, ever heart in heart and +hand in hand. That night was to her a halcyon time.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_26" href="#div1Ref_26">GOOD NIGHT</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">When Rodney Elmore went home, as his cab drew up in front of his +lodgings a man came quickly across the road and stood so that he +was between him and the entrance to the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Rodney Elmore?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney looked him up and down. It was not a very good light just +there, but it was clear enough for him to recognise the man who +had greeted him. For the first time in his life a feeling that +was something very like dizziness went all over him, so that he +all but reeled; but that self-control which so seldom quitted +him except for the briefest instant was back before it had +actually gone. He did not reel, but stood quite still, and, with +a smile upon his face, looked the man fairly and squarely in the +eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is my name--I am Rodney Elmore; but you, sir--pray, who +are you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My name is Edward Giles. But I don't think that that can mean +much to you, Mr. Elmore."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. Giles, but, as you say, your +name does convey absolutely nothing to me. What is it that I can +have the pleasure of doing for you at this latish hour?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The man was silent for a moment. Then a curious smile flitted +across his face as he came a half-step nearer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Think, Mr. Elmore. I shouldn't be surprised if you had rather a +good memory. Don't you remember me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not the least in the world, Mr. Giles."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It isn't so very long ago since you saw me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed! I presume it was on rather a special occasion, Mr. +Giles, since you appear to be rather anxious to recall it to my +recollection."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was rather a special occasion for you, Mr. Elmore; and a +still more special occasion--for Mr. Patterson."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My uncle?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, Mr. Elmore, your uncle. Don't you remember last Sunday +evening at Brighton station?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney hesitated.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why do you ask?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You do remember, Mr. Elmore, and so do I. I can see you still, +coming sauntering down the platform smoking a cigarette and +looking into the first-class carriages to see which of them +would suit you best. You chose one, and then stood for a moment +or two at the door, looking up and down the platform, to see, as +it were, if there was anything which caught your eye. Then you +got into the carriage, and took the seat at the farther end, +facing the engine. You thought you were going to journey up all +alone, but just as the train was starting a stout, elderly +gentleman came bustling along. Yours was the only carriage door +that was open, and I helped him in. I shut the door, and you +went out of the station together. Don't you remember that? Look +at me carefully. Don't you remember that I was the party who +helped your uncle into your carriage? Just look at me and +think."</p> + +<p class="normal">Again Rodney hesitated, and seemed to think. Then he said, in a +tone the indifference of which was perhaps a trifle studied:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really, Mr. Giles, I don't quite know what it is you expect me +to say."</p> + +<p class="normal">The man gave a little laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Anyhow, Mr. Elmore, you've said it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Without an attempt at a farewell greeting, he walked quickly +back across the street, to where, as Rodney had been aware, +another person had been waiting.</p> + +<p class="normal">The pair walked briskly off together side by side, and Rodney +went up the steps into the house. He knew that, as he had +expected, the presence of that platform inspector was going to +prove awkward for him; more awkward than he cared to think. But +he did think, as he turned into his sitting-room; and still +stood thinking as the door was gently opened and Mabel Joyce +came in. Her agitation was almost unpleasantly evident. One +could see that her hands were trembling, that her lips were +twitching, and that, indeed, it was all she could do to keep her +whole body from shaking. She came quickly towards the table, and +leaned upon the edge; plainly it was a very real assistance in +aiding her to stand. And her voice was as tremulous as her +person.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did--did you see him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Mabel, did I see whom?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She seemed to clutch the table still more tightly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, don't! It's no good. Do you think I don't know? What's +the good of pretending with me, when you know--I know? What +cock-and-bull story is this about some man, some fool, some +lunatic, who says--he did it? Do you think that I don't know, +that Mr. Dale doesn't know, that they all don't know? Rodney," +and her voice trembled so that it was with pain she spoke at +all, "there'll--there'll--be a warrant--out--in the morning. Oh, +my God! my God!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And the girl threw herself forward on the table, crying and +trembling as if on the verge of a convulsion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What on earth, Mabel, is the use of spoiling your pretty face +like this? I am a little worried to-night, and that's the truth. +If there's anything you want to say to me, old girl, say it, and +have done with it."</p> + +<p class="normal">He sighed. She raised herself from the table, and looked across +at him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney, it won't be any use our marrying." There was a big sob. +"That won't save you--now. God knows what will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's really very good of you to worry about the sort of man +that I have been to you; take my tip, my dear, don't worry. I'll +win through."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But how? How? You don't understand! This--this fool, whoever he +is, who pretends he did it, has only made them all the keener. +They--they mean to have you now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They? And who are <i>they?</i>"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's Dale, and Giles, and Harlow, and--and don't ask me who +besides. They're all wild because--because you tricked them; +because they made such idiots of themselves at the inquest."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rodney raised his arms above his head, and stretched himself, +and yawned, as if he were a little weary.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They were a trifle premature; coroner, and jury, an eminent +specialist, and Harlow, and all--the whole jolly lot of them. I +don't wonder they feel a trifle wild. But why with me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know, Rodney--you know! You know! Oh, don't--don't +pretend!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"On my word of honour--if it's any use employing that pretty +figure of speech with you--I am not pretending. I've still +another trick in the bag; that's all. And that's what you don't +give me credit for, my dear."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What--what trick's that? You've too many tricks--you're all +tricks! It's--Rodney, it's--it's too late for tricks!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But not for this pretty trick of mine. Mabel, it's such a +pretty one! But now you listen to me for a moment. Pull yourself +together. Stand up; let me see your face."</p> + +<p class="normal">She did as he bade her, and stood, leaning on the table with +both her hands, looking at him with eyes from which the tears +were streaming.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mabel, you asked me to marry you. I said I would, and I will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But--what's the use of it now? You don't understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, I do; I don't know if I can get you to believe me, but +I do understand much better than you suppose; and, indeed, I +rather fancy even better than you do. Anyhow, the supposition is +that we're to be bride and bridegroom, dear, to-morrow; let's +for goodness' sake be friends to-night. Let's try to say, at any +rate, one or two pleasant things, as, not so very long ago, we +used to do. What's going to come of it all you seem doubtful, +and I can hardly pretend that I'm quite sure. I don't suppose, +Mabel, that you ever read Dante, or, perhaps, even heard of him. +But, in a tolerably well-known poem by Dante, there is this +story. He goes down, with a party named Virgil, into one of the +lowest depths of hell, and there he meets a poor devil who seems +to be having an uncommonly bad time. They ask him what he has +done that he should suffer so, and he answers something to this +effect. He has it that his creed was a very simple one. He +believed, and he acted on his belief, that one moment of perfect +bliss was worth an eternity of hell, He had that perfect moment, +the lucky bargee! And now for ever he's in hell. Yet, do you +know, he isn't sorry; he thinks that moment was worth the price +he paid. That's a moral story, and I don't pretend that I've got +it quite right; but that's what it comes to; and, upon my word, +I'm sometimes half disposed to think that that man's creed is +mine. I guess it would be rather too much to ask you to make it +yours; but--this you'll grant--we have had our moments of bliss, +which was nearly perfect. Now, haven't we?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I--I don't know why you're talking to me like this. I--I know +we have. Oh, Rodney, how--how I wish we hadn't!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I don't--and I rather fancy I'm in a worse fix than you. +But, as I live, when I think of the fun we've had, I don't +care--that." And he snapped his fingers. "They can do as they +please, but they can't take from me my memories; and if I'm face +to face with hell--I'll carry them there."</p> + +<p class="normal">He held out his hands to her with a little gesture of appeal. +"Lady, talking will do no good, so let's say pretty things. +Sweetheart, I'll be shot if I won't call you sweetheart, look +you never so sourly at me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, Rodney, I--I don't want to look sourly at you! Sourly! Oh, +my dear, if you only knew!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do know, and that's just it. I want you to know. Sweetheart, +good night!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He still held out his hands to her. As she looked at him, with +straining eyes, she seemed to waver.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rodney!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good night. Come here and say it--or shall we meet half-way?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He moved towards her round the table, and she, as if she could +not help it, moved towards him. And they said good night.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_27" href="#div1Ref_27">THE GENTLEMAN'S DEPARTURE AND THE LADY'S EXPLANATIONS</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">IN the morning early Mabel Joyce knocked at the door of Mr. +Elmore's bedroom with a jug of shaving water in her hand; +knocked softly, as if she did not wish to rouse the sleeper too +abruptly from his rest. When no answer came she clung to the +handle of the door, as a tremor seemed to pass all over her; +then, presently, knocked again. Still no reply. She bent her +head towards the panel, listening intently. Then, suddenly, +decisively, rapped three times and waited. Still no reply. With +a quick movement she turned the handle and passed into the room; +and, when in, closed the door rapidly behind her, standing with +her back against it, in an attitude of one who was afraid. She +looked towards the bed. It was empty; the sleeper had awaked +himself from slumber, had risen, and had gone. Putting the jug +beside her on the floor, she passed quickly towards the bed; +leaning over it, she stared at something which caught her eye +upon the pillow. On the white slip was a dark red stain. She put +out her hand, clutched it with her finger, withdrew her finger, +and looked at it. Part of the redness had passed from the +pillow to the tip of her finger. All at once she dropped +on to her knees beside the empty bed, and, bowing her head +upon the coverlet, stayed motionless. Then rose again to her +feet, looking round her. Her glance caught something on the +dressing-table--an envelope. Moving towards it, she snatched it +up. It was addressed, simply, "Mrs. Joyce." Although it seemed +scarcely likely that such an address was intended for her, she +ripped open the flap, and took out the sheet of paper it +contained.</p> +<br> +<blockquote> +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Dear Mrs. Joyce</span>,--I'm off, to another world--the world beyond +the grave. I'm more of a coward than I thought; and yet I don't +know that it's quite that. I have tried to cut my throat in +bed--your bed; but my hand bungled. I have made rather a +mess--and then I stopped. It seemed rather a pity to spoil your +bedclothes, and I did not like to feel the razor. I am going to +do it another way--outside your house, in a place I know of, +where I hope no one will ever find me. I want no coroner to sit +upon my body, and I want no jury to make me the subject of their +silly verdicts.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have heaps of reasons--I dare say you'll hear enough about +them before long. I'd rather you heard of them than other people +heard of them, when I am not here. It is because I am so anxious +that the hearing should take place behind my back that I am +going. I don't quite know what I owe you, but I believe I'm a +little in arrears. You'll find ten pounds on the table; it +should more than pay you, and even make up for the week's +notice which I have not given. All my possessions that I leave +behind--and there are quite a number of decent suits of +clothes--are yours. Do as you like with them. If you sell them, +and get the price you ought to get, you should not do badly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell everybody what I have told you, and, if you like, show +them this letter. You have not been a bad landlady; I don't +suppose I shall be better suited where I am going; nor have I +been a bad lodger; if you get a better you'll be in luck.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Say good-bye to Mabel. There is a portrait of a kind in the +locket which you will find near this envelope. I think I should +like her to have it, as one to whom I am indebted for many +favours.--Your one-time lodger,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:50%">"<span class="sc">Rodney Elmore</span>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think I shall find it lonely where I am going? I +wonder!"</p> +</blockquote> +<br> + +<p class="normal">The girl, having read this letter to the end, caught up an +old-fashioned locket; doubtless the one referred to. Opening it, +there looked out at her the young man's face--a miniature, not +ill-done. She pressed it to her lips, not once, nor twice, but +again and again and again. Then, shutting it, slipped it inside +her blouse. She gave another rapid glance about the room, moved +hither and thither as if to make sure that there was nothing +left which might tell more than need be told; then, passing +hastily from the room, went not downstairs to her mother but +upstairs to the lodger overhead. At his door she also knocked. +Response was instant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who's there? Come in!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She went in. Mr. Dale was sitting up in bed She stayed close to +the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's gone!" she said.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Dale, although he seemed but recently roused from sleep, +seemed to grasp her meaning in a moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gone where?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's left this."</p> + +<p class="normal">She tossed the letter she had been reading so dexterously that +it fell just before him on the bed. He caught it up and read.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's it mean?" he asked. She seemed to consider for a moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know as well as I do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I suppose I do--when you come to think of it. He's a beauty--a +shining star!" He stared at the letter. "What does he mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"At any rate, he means one thing--he's gone." Mr. Dale leaned +back, looking at the girl as if he were endeavouring to find +something on her face which should give him a hint what to say +next. When he spoke again it was slowly, as if he measured his +words; yet bitterly, as if behind them was a meaning which +scarcely jumped to the eye.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look here, Mabel, this isn't going to be an easy thing to do. +I'm going to have all my work cut out if it's to be managed. You +know what I mean by managed. And, as I'm alive, I don't want to +do it for nothing--and I don't mean to."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If the tale's not to be told--you know what tale--it must be on +terms. I won't ask what this chap's been to you, because I +believe I know. He's been--a blackguard; that's what he's been +to you; and, on my word I believe you women like a man who's a +blackguard. But I don't want to talk about that now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shouldn't, especially as I expect mother will be calling me +before you've done."</p> + +<p class="normal">The shade of sarcasm in the girl's tone made the man regard her +with knitted brows.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never you mind about your mother; I know all about her. For +once in your life you'll just listen to me. Mr. Rodney Elmore +has gone, vanished from the scene--he's dead; here's this letter +to prove it to anyone who doubts it." The speaker grinned. "I'm +not dead; I'm alive--very much alive; and I want you to take a +particular note of that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think I don't know that you're alive?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Dale's tone grew suddenly fierce.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I haven't got Mr. Rodney Elmore's pretty tone, nor his pretty +manners, nor his pretty words; but I do care for you." He +laughed. "Care for you! Why, I'd eat the dirt you walk on; and +you've made me do it more than once. Mabel, if I keep my mouth +shut, and get others to keep theirs shut, will you stop treating +me as if I were dirt, and treat me as if I were a man?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll treat you as you like; I'll do whatever you like; I'll be +your slave, if--if you do that."</p> + +<p class="normal">She stood close up against the door, with both hands pressed +against her breast, and her words seemed to come from her in +gasps. As he saw that in very truth she suffered, his whole +bearing underwent a sudden change. He all at once grew tender.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mabel, I'll make no bargain; I'll do it--for your sake; +and--I'll trust to you for my reward."</p> + +<p class="normal">With odd suddenness she turned right round, so that her back was +towards him, and her face pressed against the panel of the door. +Her pain seemed to hurt him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For God's sake don't--don't do that! I'd rather--do what he's +only pretended to do than give you pain. Cheer up--just try hard +to cheer up, if it's only just enough to help you to know what +ought to be done next."</p> + +<p class="normal">The suggestion affected her in a fashion which perhaps took him +a little aback. She turned again as suddenly as she had done +before, this time towards him. Her eyes blazed; the words came +swiftly from her lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think that I don't know what I'm going to do next? Do +you think it hasn't been in my mind all night? Why, I've got it +all cut, and planned, and dried. Leave that to me; all I want is +for you to see"--her voice fell--"the tale's not told."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It sha'n't be if I can help it; and I think I can."</p> + +<p class="normal">The words still came swiftly from her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Say nothing to mother, say nothing to anyone; leave me to do +all the telling--you know nothing; that's all you've got to +know. You understand?"</p> + +<p class="normal">His voice as he replied was grim.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, I understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, for the present, it's good-bye."</p> + +<p class="normal">She opened the door. He checked her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall see you to-night when I come in."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You shall; if--if nothing's been told."</p> + +<p class="normal">She went from the room to her own on the landing below, put on +her hat, her coat, and her gloves, and went quickly down the +stairs. Seldom was a pretty girl ready more quickly for the +street. She already had the front door open when her mother +called to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mabel, what to goodness is the matter with you? Where are you +going?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl seemed for a moment to be in doubt whether or not to +let her mother's question go unheeded; then decided to vouchsafe +her at least some scraps of information.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mother, I believe Mr. Elmore's gone."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gone? Mr. Elmore? What's the girl talking about?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"His bedroom's empty, and there's ten pounds on the +dressing-table, and I'm going straight off to the City to see."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To the City!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The astonishment of the lady's voice was justified; she came +quickly along the passage as if to learn what might be the +significance of the mystery which she felt was in the air. But +her daughter did not wait for her approach; she was through the +door, had shut it with a bang, before her mother had realised +what it was she meant to do.</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Joyce did not go to the City; she went instead to No. 90, +Russell Square. There she inquired for Miss Patterson. She was +told the lady was at breakfast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell her--tell her that I'm Miss Joyce, and that I must see +her--at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">She was in the hall, and looked so strange as she leaned against +the wall, with her white face and frightened eyes, that the maid +looked at her as if she could not make her out at all.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Joyce, did you say the name was?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes--Joyce--Mabel Joyce; tell Miss Patterson that Miss Joyce +must see her at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">The maid went into a room upon the right--the +dining-room--presently reappeared, with Miss Patterson behind +her. Gladys came out into the hall.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Miss Joyce! You wish to see me? On what business?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Somewhere--somewhere where we'll be private."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gladys observed her with curious eyes; then she held open the +dining-room door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm at breakfast; but, if you don't mind, you'd better come in +here."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mabel went in, Gladys followed. The stranger, now that they were +alone, presented such a woebegone picture that, in spite of +herself, Gladys was moved.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't seem well--are you ill? Hadn't you better sit +down?--here's a chair."</p> + +<p class="normal">She pushed the chair towards her visitor, but Mabel would none +of it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, it doesn't matter, I'd--I'd rather stand. My mother was Mr. +Elmore's--landlady."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Joyce? Oh, yes, of course, I thought I knew the name; I +remember." Perhaps unconsciously to herself, Gladys's tone +hardened; she drew herself a little straighter, she even moved a +little away. In spite of her obvious trouble, Mabel noticed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You needn't be afraid of me--I shan't bite."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was not afraid that you would bite. What is it you wish with +me, Miss Joyce?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That."</p> + +<p class="normal">She stretched out towards the other a letter. Gladys eyed it +askance, almost, one might have thought from her demeanour, that +she feared that it might bite.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's that?"</p> + +<p class="normal"> +"If you take it--you'll see. You're right this time in being +afraid; you've cause to be more afraid of that than of me. But +it's written by somebody you know well, and--you'd better read +it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Still doubtfully, as if she really were in awe of what the sheet +of paper might portend, she took it gingerly from the other's +fingers. Then she read it. And as she read, a curious change +came over, not only her countenance, but her whole bearing. When +she had reached the end her hands dropped to her side, she +stared at the girl in front of her as she might have done at a +visitant from another sphere.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What--does this letter mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">For answer, Mabel took another piece of paper from that woman's +universal pocket--her blouse. She held it out to Gladys, and, +even more cautiously than before, Gladys took it with unwilling +fingers. This time, as she read it, it was with an obvious lack +of comprehension.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What on earth is this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Can't you see? Isn't it plain enough? It's a marriage +licence--now can you see?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gladys seemed to make an effort to achieve steadiness, not with +entire success. As if to hide her partial failure, she went down +the room to the seat which she had been occupying at the other +end of the table. Resting her hand on the top of the chair, +raising the paper again, she re-read it. Her back was towards +Mabel, her face could not have been more eloquent, one saw a +spasm pass right across it. She was still; there was a +perceptible interval; she turned towards her visitor. Her face +seemed to have aged; one saw that as she grew older she would +not grow better-looking.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see that this purports to be a licence of marriage--I don't +know much about these things, but I take it that the marriage +was to be before a registrar--between Rodney Elmore, who, I +presume, is my cousin----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's your cousin right enough."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And--Mabel Joyce. Are you the Mabel Joyce referred to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am; we were to have been married to-day--at noon sharp; the +registrar--he'll be waiting for us, but he'll have to wait. Mr. +Rodney Elmore, that's your cousin and my husband that was to be, +he's bolted."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Bolted? I see. Is that what this letter means?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's just exactly what it means."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It doesn't mean that--he's--he's killed himself?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not much it doesn't; I know the gentleman. It simply means +that, for reasons of his own--I'm one of them and I daresay +you're another--he's cut and run."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gladys's tone could scarcely have been more frigid or her +bearing more outwardly calm; unfortunately both the frigidity +and the calmness were a little overdone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I see. I'm much obliged to you for bringing me--this very +interesting piece of news. I believe this is yours. I scarcely +think I need detain you longer."</p> + +<p class="normal">She returned to Mabel both the licence and the letter. Enclosing +them one in the other, the girl passed from the room out of the +house. Gladys stood staring at the door through which she had +left, exactly, if she could only have known it, as Rodney had +stared when she had vanished the afternoon before. Then she +clenched her fists and shook them in the air.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To think that I should ever have been such a fool! That I +should ever have let him--soil me with his touch! Dad was right; +what a fool he must have thought me! If I'd only listened, what +might not--have been saved!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Shortly afterwards she entered the office at St. Paul's +Churchyard. Andrews advanced to greet her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Elmore has not yet arrived."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know he hasn't; I wish to speak to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">She led the way towards her father's private room; as he +followed Andrews seemed to recognise something in her carriage +which recalled his master. There could be no doubt that this was +his daughter. When they were in the room and the door was +closed, Miss Patterson seated herself in her father's chair. She +looked the managing man in the face, with something in her +glance which again recalled her sire. +"Andrews, I suppose you can observe a confidence?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrews smiled; he rubbed his hands together; one felt that he +could not make out the lady's mood, still less achieve a +satisfactory guess at what was in the air.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope so, Miss Patterson, I'm sure. Your father reposed many +and many a confidence in me, and I never betrayed one of +them--I'm not likely now to betray yours."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Right, Andrews, I believe you. I believe my father knew the +kind of man who may be trusted; he trusted you, and I will. +Shake hands." She offered him her hand. As if doubtful whether +or not he was taking a liberty, he took it in his. They gravely +shook hands.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's very good of you, Miss Patterson, I'm sure, to say so; but +what you do say is true--your father trusted me, and so can +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">She eyed him for some seconds as if debating in her mind what to +say to him and just how to say it. Then it came from her, as it +were, all of a sudden.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Andrews, I told you that my cousin, Rodney Elmore, and I were +engaged to be married. I was mistaken--we are not. Stop! I don't +want you to ask any questions; that's the confidence I'm +reposing in you, I want you to ask none, I simply tell you we're +not. Another thing. You told me when I came in just now that Mr. +Elmore had not come yet. Andrews, he never will come again--to +this office."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed, miss! Is that so, miss?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl smiled--gravely.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There, again, Andrews--my confidence! You are to ask no +questions. Neither you nor I will see Mr. Elmore again--ever. +Still one other thing. You remember what my father said in his +will about leaving the conduct of his business in your hands? I +echo my father's words; I want you to manage it for me on my +father's lines."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man was evidently confused. He stood staring at the girl +and rubbing his hands, as if he found himself in a quandary from +which he sought a way out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sure, Miss Patterson, that I'm very gratified by the +confidence you place in me, and I want to do my best to ask no +questions, but--but there's one remark I ought to make." He bent +over the table as if he wished the remark in question to reach +her ear alone. "I don't know, Miss Patterson, if you are aware +that yesterday morning Mr. Elmore drew a thousand pounds from +the bank."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yesterday morning? When did he do that? Not when we were +there?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It appears that he returned directly after we had left, and +cashed a cheque for a thousand pounds across the counter, took +it in tens and fives and gold--rather a funny way of taking a +cheque like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl said nothing; just possible she thought the more--it is +still more possible that hers was disagreeable thinking. It came +back to her; she understood; the letter-case which had been left +behind; her sitting in the cab while he had gone into the bank +to fetch it. Letter-case? So the letter-case was a cheque for a +thousand pounds; and while she'd been sitting in the cab he had +been putting her money into his pocket. What a pretty fellow +this cousin was, this lover of--how many ages ago? Could she +ever have cared, to say nothing of loved, a thing like this? +This girl had a sense of humour which was her own; at the +thought of it she smiled--indeed, suddenly she leaned back in +her chair and laughed outright.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Cashed a cheque for a thousand pounds, did he? Well, Andrews, +dad left him nothing in his will--I wonder why. How funny! Then +there's still another thing to tell you, Andrews. Let them +understand at the bank, as quickly as you can, that they're not +to cash any more of Mr. Elmore's cheques which are drawn on my +account. Now, Andrews, will you be so very good as to send +someone to Mr. Wilkes, and give him my most respectful +compliments, and say, if he can possibly spare a moment, I +should like very much indeed to see him here at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">When Miss Joyce got home she found, waiting in the sitting-room +which had so recently been Rodney's, Mr. Austin. The gentleman +regarded her as she came in with an air of grave disapprobation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are, I believe, the landlady's daughter."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mabel nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have just had a few words with your mother, who appears to be +an extraordinary woman, and who has told me an extraordinary +tale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My mother's not in the habit of telling extraordinary tales to +anyone."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, what does she mean by--by talking stuff and nonsense +about Mr. Elmore's having gone, and--and I don't know what +besides?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Joyce drew a long breath, and seemed to nerve herself for +an effort. She had had a good deal to bear that morning, and to +retain even a vestige of self-command needed all her efforts.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Austin, Mr. Elmore has gone, and he's left a letter behind +him in which he pretends that he has committed suicide; but he +hasn't, I know better. But here's the letter; you might like to +look at it."</p> + +<p class="normal">He read the letter with which we are already familiar; and it +had a very similar effect on him to that which it had had on +others, only in his case he read it over and over again, as if +to make sure that its meaning had not escaped him, yet that its +meaning had escaped him his words made plain.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You--you may understand this letter, young woman, but I +certainly do not. What--what does this most extraordinary, and, +as it seems to me, inconsequent, letter mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll tell you just as shortly as I can exactly what it means. +And, perhaps, when I have told you you won't ask any more +questions than you can conveniently help, because--I've had just +about as much to bear as I can manage. Rodney Elmore--I'm not +going to call him Mr. Elmore, I've as much right to call him +Rodney as anybody in this world; he's got himself into a mess, +and I'm one of them. Why, he promised to marry me to-day at +twelve o'clock."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He--promised! Young woman!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here's the licence to prove it; but--I suppose he daren't face +it; so he's gone, and he's done me, and I'm not the only one +he's done. Has he done your daughter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your question, put in such a form, I entirely decline to +answer."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You needn't; I know. And, mind you, I don't believe he's gone +alone either, wherever it is he has gone to. What's the name of +that girl down at Brighton that he was so thick with, and your +son's sweetheart?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Austin started as if something had stung him. He stared at +the girl with growing apprehension.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can't mean----?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, I can. Wasn't her first name Mary? I have heard the +other--it's a queer one--and I forget it. But you ask your son, +if he cares for the girl, to make inquiries, and if she's +missing, and he wants her new address, to find out Rodney +Elmore's, and--he'll find hers."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_28" href="#div1Ref_28">A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE</a></h3> + +<p class="normal">There are few worse half-hours in life than that in which a man +finds that the one person whom he has liked, and respected, and +trusted, and believed in before all others, is a scamp, a liar, +and a cur. As Mr. Austin sat cowering in the corner of his cab +it was to him almost as if he had been these things, instead of +Rodney Elmore. He ascended the steps of the Kensington house a +little stiffly, a little bowed, a little shorn of his full +height; he bore himself, indeed, as if he were ashamed; it was +with a sense of shame that he spoke to his son, who was +apparently just about to go out as he went in.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tom, I want to speak to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lad looked at his father with a look of surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, pater; what's wrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The father closed the door of the room into which he had +preceded his son. There was something shifty in his bearing; he +seemed unwilling to meet the youngster's glances.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tom, what was that you were saying about--about Mary +Carmichael?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The lad smiled, ruefully enough; there was an awkwardness about +his manner. He turned away, as if on his side he had no wish to +meet his father's eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All I can make out is that she has gone. It seems that while +that old aunt of hers was out yesterday afternoon--she vanished. +She just left a note behind her to say that she was going, and +that they weren't to bother, because she wasn't coming back; but +they'd hear from her some day--she couldn't say just when."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tom, she's gone with Rodney Elmore."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lad swung round as on a pivot.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pater! What do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The father told the story as he knew it, the lad +listening--first as one in a dream, and then as one in a rage. +Then, with a gasp as of astonishment, he blurted out:</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what about Stella?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes; what about Stella? Stella's here, and--why, where's +Rodney? I thought, father, he'd come with you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Miss Austin had come running into the room eagerly, happily, +laughingly, taking it for granted that her lover was within. As +she looked from her father to her brother, and noted the oddity +of their manner, her eyes grew wider open.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Father, where--where is Rodney?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then the father told the tale to her; it was the hardest task he +had ever had to perform. The girl first scorned him, then +laughed, then doubted, and then, in a fit of what was very like +fury, announced her intention of going in search of Rodney, whom +she declared she believed to be cruelly aspersed, and learning +the truth from his own lips. It was with difficulty she was +stayed. When she, at last, was brought to understand, she was +already another Stella to the one her father had known. She was +not to be comforted. And when her mother came, and heard the +story, too, she put her arm about her daughter's waist and led +her to her room, and there remained alone with her an hour or +more. When she came out she also was another woman; and her +daughter was in her room, alone.</p> + +<p class="normal">And that, to all intents and purposes, so far as it is known, is +the end of the story, though the real end is not yet. Such +stories take a long time ending. Sometimes they are continued in +the generation which comes after, and never end. Mr. Philip +Walter Augustus Parker was tried for the murder of Graham +Patterson, and, apparently to his complete satisfaction, was +found guilty. The law plays such pranks oftener than is commonly +supposed. The story he told was so well put together, all the +joints fitted so well. As the judge instructed the jury they +really had no option; on the evidence there was only one +possible verdict; and that was returned. Mr. Parker earned his +credentials; he was sent, as he desired, on a lengthy visit to +Broadmoor. The whole story might have fallen to pieces and his +visit to Broadmoor indefinitely postponed had the platform +inspector at Brighton station--Edward Giles--given his evidence +in another way. A few questions would have changed the whole +face of affairs, but they were not asked. He told that it was he +who had helped Graham Patterson into the carriage, and also that +there already was someone in it when the dead man entered. At +that point the questions which were put to him went awry. He was +asked if the prisoner was that other person; he replied that he +did not recognise him, but as, when the witness had entered the +box, Mr. Parker had greeted him with that unpleasant little +chuckle of his, and had proclaimed that he recognised him, even +before he opened his mouth, as the porter, as he put it, who had +been of assistance to Mr. Patterson, for the judge, as for the +jury, that was sufficient. Giles himself was evidently taken +aback, and while he declared that he did not recognise the +prisoner, he admitted that if Parker had not been the man in the +carriage, he could not understand how he recognised him. So Mr. +Parker had his wish.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Andrews is still the managing man, as well as a partner, of +the firm of Graham Patterson, which continues to thrive on the +same sound old lines. And Gladys Patterson is the wife of +Stephen Wilkes--that strikes even her, when she thinks of it, as +queer. How it came about, she has told her husband more than +once, she does not understand; she wonders sometimes, so she +tells him, if her father could ever have had it in his mind that +that was the match he would have chosen. She is thinking of +Rodney's words. Her husband laughs, and assures her that to the +best of his knowledge and belief her father never dreamt of +anything of the kind. Whereat she thinks all the more of +Rodney's words, having a dim suspicion hidden in her somewhere +that it was because of what he said that this strange thing had +happened, and, in what she feels is in quite an uncanny way, +that it was he who brought it all about.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mabel Joyce is Mrs. George Dale, fairly happy, as the average +wife's standard of happiness goes, and Dale is happy too; but +there is about him a suggestion of solicitous anxiety, as if he +would be glad to be as certain of her satisfaction with the way +that things have turned out, as of his own.</p> + +<p class="normal">Stella is still unmarried, and likely to remain so. She is not +quite the ordinary type of girl. When she gave her heart to +Rodney Elmore, it was given for ever; although she would +probably be the last person in the world to admit it, he has it +still. As, she declares, she will never marry save where her +heart is, her prospects of remaining Stella Austin are stronger +than either her father or her mother care to own. Tom is +married; was married within six months of his heart being +finally broken--to the girl with the mischievous eyes. And he is +happy as a man may be; and he is a man, even up to his father's +standard of manhood. He is practically the head of his father's +firm, and a sufficiently effective and energetic head he makes. +He declares that it is his wife who has done it, and that she +has been and still is and ever will be the only woman in the +world to him. He forgets; men--and women--sometimes do.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nothing definite has ever been heard of Rodney Elmore; but among +those who knew him in his youth there is a profound conviction +that he still lives. One day, a month or so after his marriage, +there came a postcard to Tom Austin from one of the northern +States of America, with just these words on the back:</p> +<br> +<blockquote> +<p class="normal">"Congratulations--good wishes--am delighted!</p> + +<p style="text-indent:40%">"M."</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="normal">He was the only person who ever saw the card. He tore it up and +burnt it. About him for nearly a week afterwards there was, at +odd moments, an unusually reflective air. His wife asked him +what he was thinking about.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why," he told her, "what should I think about but you."</p> + +<p class="normal">He was thinking, wondering, how close to "M." was Rodney +Elmore--his boyhood's friend!--as one result of what was very +like a conspiracy of silence.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="W20"> +<h5>Printed By Cassell & Company, Limited, La Belle Sauvage, London, +E.C.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Master of Deception, by Richard Marsh + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MASTER OF DECEPTION *** + +***** This file should be named 38161-h.htm or 38161-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/1/6/38161/ + +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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