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Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + +Scanned and proofed by David Moynihan dmoynihan@blackmask.com + + + +BOOK I. THE PROBLEM + + I. "A GREAT CASE" + II. THE CORONER'S INQUEST + III. FACTS AND DEDUCTIONS + IV. A CUTS + V. EXPERT TESTIMONY + VI. SIDE-LIGHTS + VII. MARY LEAVENWORTH + VIII. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE + IX. A DISCOVERY + X. MR. GRYCE RECEIVES NEW IMPETUS + XI. THE SUMMONS + XII. ELEANORES + XIII. THE PROBLEM + +BOOK II. HENRY CLAVERING + + XIV. MR. GRYCE AT HOME + XV. WAYS OPENING + XVI. THE WILL OF A MILLIONAIRE + XVII. THE BEGINNING OF GREAT SURPRISES + XVIII. ON THE STAIRS + XIX. IN MY OFFICE + XX. "TRUEMAN! TRUEMAN! TRUEMAN!" + XXI. A PREJUDICE + XXII. PATCH-WORK + XXIII. THE STORY OF A CHARMING WOMAN + XXIV. A REPORT FOLLOWED BY SMOKE + XXV. TIMOTHY COOK + XXVI. MR. GRYCE EXPLAINS HIMSELF + +BOOK III. HANNAH + + XXVII. AMY BELDEN + XXVIII. A WEIRD EXPERIENCE + XXIX. THE MISSING WITNESS + XXX. BURNED PAPER + XXXI. "Thereby hangs a tale." + XXXII. MRS. BELDEN'S NARRATIVE + XXXIII. UNEXPECTED TESTIMONY + +BOOK IV. THE PROBLEM SOLVED + + XXXIV. MR. GRYCE RESUMES CONTROL + XXXV. FINE WORK + XXXVI. GATHERED THREADS + XXXVII. CULMINATION + XXXVIII. A FULL CONFESSION + XXXIX. THE OUTCOME OF A GREAT CRIME + + + + +BOOK I. THE PROBLEM + +I. "A GREAT CASE" + + "A deed of dreadful note." + --Macbeth. + +I HAD been a junior partner in the firm of Veeley, Carr & Raymond, +attorneys and counsellors at law, for about a year, when one morning, +in the temporary absence of both Mr. Veeley and Mr. Carr, there came +into our office a young man whose whole appearance was so indicative of +haste and agitation that I involuntarily rose at his approach and +impetuously inquired: + +"What is the matter? You have no bad news to tell, I hope." + +"I have come to see Mr. Veeley; is he in?" + +"No," I replied; "he was unexpectedly called away this morning to +Washington; cannot be home before to-morrow; but if you will make +your business known to me----" + +"To you, sir?" he repeated, turning a very cold but steady eye on +mine; then, seeming to be satisfied with his scrutiny, continued, +"There is no reason why I shouldn't; my business is no secret. I came to +inform him that Mr. Leavenworth is dead." + +"Mr. Leavenworth!" I exclaimed, falling back a step. Mr. +Leavenworth was an old client of our firm, to say nothing of his being +the particular friend of Mr. Veeley. + +"Yes, murdered; shot through the head by some unknown person while +sitting at his library table." + +"Shot! murdered!" I could scarcely believe my ears. + +"How? when?" I gasped. + +"Last night. At least, so we suppose. He was not found till this +morning. I am Mr. Leavenworth's private secretary," he explained, +"and live in the family. It was a dreadful shock," he went on, +"especially to the ladies." + +"Dreadful!" I repeated. "Mr. Veeley will be overwhelmed by it." + +"They are all alone," he continued in a low businesslike way I +afterwards found to be inseparable from the man; "the Misses +Leavenworth, I mean--Mr. Leavenworth's nieces; and as an inquest is to +be held there to-day it is deemed proper for them to have some one +present capable of advising them. As Mr. Veeley was their uncle's best +friend, they naturally sent me for him; but he being absent I am at a +loss what to do or where to go." + +"I am a stranger to the ladies," was my hesitating reply, "but if +I can be of any assistance to them, my respect for their uncle is +such----" + +The expression of the secretary's eye stopped me. Without seeming to +wander from my face, its pupil had suddenly dilated till it appeared to +embrace my whole person with its scope. + +"I don't know," he finally remarked, a slight frown, testifying to +the fact that he was not altogether pleased with the turn affairs were +taking. "Perhaps it would be best. The ladies must not be left +alone----" + +"Say no more; I will go." And, sitting down, I despatched a +hurried message to Mr. Veeley, after which, and the few other +preparations necessary, I accompanied the secretary to the street. + +"Now," said I, "tell me all you know of this frightful affair." + +"All I know? A few words will do that. I left him last night +sitting as usual at his library table, and found him this morning, +seated in the same place, almost in the same position, but with _a._ +bullet-hole in his head as large as the end of my little finger." + +"Dead?" + +"Stone-dead." + +"Horrible!" I exclaimed. Then, after a moment, "Could it have +been a suicide?" + +"No. The pistol with which the deed was committed is not to be +found." + +"But if it was a murder, there must have been some motive. Mr. +Leavenworth was too benevolent a man to have enemies, and if robbery +was intended----" + +"There was no robbery. There is nothing missing," he again +interrupted. "The whole affair is a mystery." + +"A mystery?" + +"An utter mystery." + +Turning, I looked at my informant curiously. The inmate of a house +in which a mysterious murder had occurred was rather an interesting +object. But the good-featured and yet totally unimpressive countenance +of the man beside me offered but little basis for even the wildest +imagination to work upon, and, glancing almost immediately away, I +asked: + +"Are the ladies very much overcome?" + +He took at least a half-dozen steps before replying. + +"It would be unnatural if they were not." And whether it was the +expression of his face at the time, or the nature of the reply itself, +I felt that in speaking of these ladies to this uninteresting, +self-possessed secretary of the late Mr. Leavenworth, I was somehow +treading upon dangerous ground. As I had heard they were very +accomplished women, I was not altogether pleased at this discovery. It +was, therefore, with a certain consciousness of relief I saw a Fifth +Avenue stage approach. + +"We will defer our conversation," said I. "Here's the stage." + +But, once seated within it, we soon discovered that all intercourse +upon such a subject was impossible. Employing the time, therefore, in +running over in my mind what I knew of Mr. Leavenworth, I found that +my knowledge was limited to the bare fact of his being a retired +merchant of great wealth and fine social position who, in default of +possessing children of his own, had taken into his home two nieces, one +of whom had already been declared his heiress. To be sure, I had heard +Mr. Veeley speak of his eccentricities, giving as an instance this very +fact of his making a will in favor of one niece to the utter exclusion +of the other; but of his habits of life and connection with the world +at large, I knew little or nothing. + +There was a great crowd in front of the house when we arrived there, +and I had barely time to observe that it was a corner dwelling of +unusual depth when I was seized by the throng and carried quite to the +foot of the broad stone steps. Extricating myself, though with some +difficulty, owing to the importunities of a bootblack and butcher-boy, +who seemed to think that by clinging to my arms they might succeed in +smuggling themselves into the house, I mounted the steps and, finding +the secretary, by some unaccountable good fortune, close to my side, +hurriedly rang the bell. Immediately the door opened, and a face I +recognized as that of one of our city detectives appeared in the gap. + +"Mr. Gryce!" I exclaimed. + +"The same," he replied. "Come in, Mr. Raymond." And drawing us +quietly into the house, he shut the door with a grim smile on the +disappointed crowd without. "I trust you are not surprised to see me +here," said he, holding out his hand, with a side glance at my +companion. + +"No," I returned. Then, with a vague idea that I ought to introduce +the young man at my side, continued: "This is Mr. ----, Mr. ----, +--excuse me, but I do not know your name," I said inquiringly to my +companion. "The private secretary of the late Mr. Leavenworth," I +hastened to add. + +"Oh," he returned, "the secretary! The coroner has been asking for +you, sir." + +"The coroner is here, then?" + +"Yes; the jury have just gone up-stairs to view the body; would +you like to follow them?" + +"No, it is not necessary. I have merely come in the hope of being +of some assistance to the young ladies. Mr. Veeley is away." + +"And you thought the opportunity too good to be lost," he went on; +"just so. Still, now that you are here, and as the case promises to be +a marked one, I should think that, as a rising young lawyer, you would +wish to make yourself acquainted with it in all its details. But follow +your own judgment." + +I made an effort and overcame my repugnance. "I will go," said I. + +"Very well, then, follow me." + +But just as I set foot on the stairs I heard the jury descending, +so, drawing back with Mr. Gryce into a recess between the reception +room and the parlor, I had time to remark: + +"The young man says it could not have been the work of a burglar." + +"Indeed!" fixing his eye on a door-knob near by. + +"That nothing has been found missing--" + +"And that the fastenings to the house were all found secure this +morning; just so." + +"He did not tell me that. In that case"--and I shuddered--"the +murderer must have been in the house all night." + +Mr. Gryce smiled darkly at the door-knob. + +"It has a dreadful look!" I exclaimed. + +Mr. Gryce immediately frowned at the door-knob. + +And here let me say that Mr. Gryce, the detective, was not the thin, +wiry individual with the piercing eye you are doubtless expecting to +see. On the contrary, Mr. Gryce was a portly, comfortable personage +with an eye that never pierced, that did not even rest on _you._ +If it rested anywhere, it was always on some insignificant object in +the vicinity, some vase, inkstand, book, or button. These things he +would seem to take into his confidence, make the repositories of his +conclusions; but as for you--you might as well be the steeple on +Trinity Church, for all connection you ever appeared to have with him +or his thoughts. At present, then, Mr. Gryce was, as I have already +suggested, on intimate terms with the door-knob. + +"A dreadful look," I repeated. + +His eye shifted to the button on my sleeve. + +"Come," he said, "the coast is clear at last." + +Leading the way, he mounted the stairs, but stopped on the upper +landing. "Mr. Raymond," said he, "I am not in the habit of talking +much about the secrets of my profession, but in this case everything +depends upon getting the right clue at the start. We have no common +villainy to deal with here; genius has been at work. Now sometimes an +absolutely uninitiated mind will intuitively catch at something which +the most highly trained intellect will miss. If such a thing should +occur, remember that I am your man. Don't go round talking, but come to +me. For this is going to be a great case, mind you, a great case. Now, +come on." + +"But the ladies?" + +"They are in the rooms above; in grief, of course, but tolerably +composed for all that, I hear." And advancing to a door, he pushed it +open and beckoned me in. + +All was dark for a moment, but presently, my eyes becoming +accustomed to the place, I saw that we were in the library. + +"It was here he was found," said he; "in this room and upon this +very spot." And advancing, he laid his hand on the end of a large +baize-covered table that, together with its attendant chairs, occupied +the centre of the room. "You see for yourself that it is directly +opposite this door," and, crossing the floor, he paused in front of the +threshold of a narrow passageway, opening into a room beyond. "As the +murdered man was discovered sitting in this chair, and consequently with +his back towards the passageway, the assassin must have advanced through +the doorway to deliver his shot, pausing, let us say, about here." And +Mr. Gryce planted his feet firmly upon a certain spot in the carpet, +about a foot from the threshold before mentioned. + +"But--" I hastened to interpose. + +"There is no room for 'but,'" he cried. "We have studied the +situation." And without deigning to dilate upon the subject, he turned +immediately about and, stepping swiftly before me, led the way into the +passage named. "Wine closet, clothes closet, washing apparatus, +towel-rack," he explained, waving his hand from side to side as we +hurried through, finishing with "Mr. Leavenworth's private apartment," +as that room of comfortable aspect opened upon us. + +Mr. Leavenworth's private apartment! It was here then that _it_ +ought to be, the horrible, blood-curdling _it_ that yesterday was +a living, breathing man. Advancing to the bed that was hung with heavy +curtains, I raised my hand to put them back, when Mr. Gryce, drawing +them from my clasp, disclosed lying upon the pillow a cold, calm face +looking so natural I involuntarily started. + +"His death was too sudden to distort the features," he remarked, +turning the head to one side in a way to make visible a ghastly wound +in the back of the cranium. "Such a hole as that sends a man out of +the world without much notice. The surgeon will convince you it could +never have been inflicted by himself. It is a case of deliberate +murder." + +Horrified, I drew hastily back, when my glance fell upon a door +situated directly opposite me in the side of the wall towards the hall. +It appeared to be the only outlet from the room, with the exception of +the passage through which we had entered, and I could not help +wondering if it was through this door the assassin had entered on his +roundabout course to the library. But Mr. Gryce, seemingly observant of +my glance, though his own was fixed upon the chandelier, made haste to +remark, as if in reply to the inquiry in my face: + +"Found locked on the inside; may have come that way and may not; +we don't pretend to say." + +Observing now that the bed was undisturbed in its arrangement, I +remarked, "He had not retired, then?" + +"No; the tragedy must be ten hours old. Time for the murderer to +have studied the situation and provided for all contingencies." + +"The murderer? Whom do you suspect?" I whispered. + +He looked impassively at the ring on my finger. + +"Every one and nobody. It is not for me to suspect, but to detect." +And dropping the curtain into its former position he led me from the +room. + +The coroner's inquest being now in session, I felt a strong desire +to be present, so, requesting Mr. Gryce to inform the ladies that Mr. +Veeley was absent from town, and that I had come as his substitute, to +render them any assistance they might require on so melancholy an +occasion, I proceeded to the large parlor below, and took my seat among +the various persons there assembled. + + + +II. THE CORONER'S INQUEST + + "The baby figure of the giant mass + Of things to come." + --Troilus and Cressida. + +FOR a few minutes I sat dazed by the sudden flood of light greeting +me from the many open windows; then, as the strongly contrasting +features of the scene before me began to impress themselves upon my +consciousness, I found myself experiencing something of the same +sensation of double personality which years before had followed an +enforced use of ether. As at that time, I appeared to be living two +lives at once: in two distinct places, with two separate sets of +incidents going on; so now I seemed to be divided between two +irreconcilable trains of thought; the gorgeous house, its elaborate +furnishing, the little glimpses of yesterday's life, as seen in the +open piano, with its sheet of music held in place by a lady's fan, +occupying my attention fully as much as the aspect of the throng of +incongruous and impatient people huddled about me. + +Perhaps one reason of this lay in the extraordinary splendor of the +room I was in; the glow of satin, glitter of bronze, and glimmer of +marble meeting the eye at every turn. But I am rather inclined to think +it was mainly due to the force and eloquence of a certain picture which +confronted me from the opposite wall. A sweet picture--sweet enough and +poetic enough to have been conceived by the most idealistic of artists: +simple, too--the vision of a young flaxen-haired, blue-eyed coquette, +dressed in the costume of the First Empire, standing in a wood-path, +looking back over her shoulder at some one following--yet with such a +dash of something not altogether saint-like in the corners of her meek +eyes and baby-like lips, that it impressed me with the individuality of +life. Had it not been for the open dress, with its waist almost beneath +the armpits, the hair cut short on the forehead, and the perfection of +the neck and shoulders, I should have taken it for a literal portrait +of one of the ladies of the house. As it was, I could not rid myself of +the idea that one, if not both, of Mr. Leavenworth's nieces looked down +upon me from the eyes of this entrancing blonde with the beckoning +glance and forbidding hand. So vividly did this fancy impress me that I +half shuddered as I looked, wondering if this sweet creature did not +know what had occurred in this house since the happy yesterday; and if +so, how she could stand there smiling so invitingly,--when suddenly I +became aware that I had been watching the little crowd of men about me +with as complete an absorption as if nothing else in the room had +attracted my attention; that the face of the coroner, sternly +intelligent and attentive, was as distinctly imprinted upon my mind as +that of this lovely picture, or the clearer-cut and more noble features +of the sculptured Psyche, shining in mellow beauty from the +crimson-hung window at his right; yes, even that the various +countenances of the jurymen clustered before me, commonplace and +insignificant as most of them were; the trembling forms of the excited +servants crowded into a far corner; and the still more disagreeable +aspect of the pale-faced, seedy reporter, seated at a small table and +writing with a ghoul-like avidity that made my flesh creep, were each +and all as fixed an element in the remarkable scene before me as the +splendor of the surroundings which made their presence such a nightmare +of discord and unreality. + +I have spoken of the coroner. As fortune would have it, he was no +stranger to me. I had not only seen him before, but had held frequent +conversation with him; in fact, knew him. His name was Hammond, and he +was universally regarded as a man of more than ordinary acuteness, +fully capable of conducting an important examination, with the +necessary skill and address. Interested as I was, or rather was likely +to be, in this particular inquiry, I could not but congratulate myself +upon our good fortune in having so intelligent a coroner. + +As for his jurymen, they were, as I have intimated, very much like +all other bodies of a similar character. Picked up at random from the +streets, but from such streets as the Fifth and Sixth Avenues, they +presented much the same appearance of average intelligence and +refinement as might be seen in the chance occupants of one of our city +stages. Indeed, I marked but one amongst them all who seemed to take +any interest in the inquiry as an inquiry; all the rest appearing to be +actuated in the fulfilment of their duty by the commoner instincts of +pity and indignation. + +Dr. Maynard, the well-known surgeon of Thirty-sixth Street, was the +first witness called. His testimony concerned the nature of the wound +found in the murdered man's head. As some of the facts presented by him +are likely to prove of importance to us in our narrative, I will +proceed to give a synopsis of what he said. + +Prefacing his remarks with some account of himself, and the manner +in which he had been summoned to the house by one of the servants, he +went on to state that, upon his arrival, he found the deceased lying on +a bed in the second-story front room, with the blood clotted about a +pistol-wound in the back of the head; having evidently been carried +there from the adjoining apartment some hours after death. It was the +only wound discovered on the body, and having probed it, he had found +and extracted the bullet which he now handed to the jury. It was lying +in the brain, having entered at the base of the skull, passed obliquely +upward, and at once struck the _medulla oblongata,_ causing +instant death. The fact of the ball having entered the brain in this +peculiar manner he deemed worthy of note, since it would produce not +only instantaneous death, but an utterly motionless one. Further, from +the position of the bullet-hole and the direction taken by the bullet, +it was manifestly impossible that the shot should have been fired by +the man himself, even if the condition of the hair about the wound did +not completely demonstrate the fact that the shot was fired from a +point some three or four feet distant. Still further, considering the +angle at which the bullet had entered the skull, it was evident that +the deceased must not only have been seated at the time, a fact about +which there could be no dispute, but he must also have been engaged in +some occupation which drew his head forward. For, in order that a ball +should enter the head of a man sitting erect at the angle seen here, of +45 degrees, it would be necessary, not only for the pistol to be held +very low down, but in a peculiar position; while if the head had been +bent forward, as in the act of writing, a man holding a pistol naturally +with the elbow bent, might very easily fire a ball into the brain at the +angle observed. + +Upon being questioned in regard to the bodily health of Mr. +Leavenworth, he replied that the deceased appeared to have been in good +condition at the time of his death, but that, not being his attendant +physician, he could not speak conclusively upon the subject without +further examination; and, to the remark of a juryman, observed that he +had not seen pistol or weapon lying upon the floor, or, indeed, +anywhere else in either of the above-mentioned rooms. + +I might as well add here what he afterwards stated, that from the +position of the table, the chair, and the door behind it, the murderer, +in order to satisfy all the conditions imposed by the situation, must +have stood upon, or just within, the threshold of the passageway +leading into the room beyond. Also, that as the ball was small, and +from a rifled barrel, and thus especially liable to deflections while +passing through bones and integuments, it seemed to him evident that +the victim had made no effort to raise or turn his head when advanced +upon by his destroyer; the fearful conclusion being that the footstep +was an accustomed one, and the presence of its possessor in the room +either known or expected. + +The physician's testimony being ended, the coroner picked up the +bullet which had been laid on the table before him, and for a moment +rolled it contemplatively between his fingers; then, drawing a pencil +from his pocket, hastily scrawled a line or two on a piece of paper +and, calling an officer to his side, delivered some command in a low +tone. The officer, taking up the slip, looked at it for an instant +knowingly, then catching up his hat left the room. Another moment, and +the front door closed on him, and a wild halloo from the crowd of +urchins without told of his appearance in the street. Sitting where I +did, I had a full view of the corner. Looking out, I saw the officer +stop there, hail a cab, hastily enter it, and disappear in the +direction of Broadway. + + + +III. FACTS AND DEDUCTIONS + + "Confusion now hath made his master-piece; + Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope + The Lord's anointed temple, and stolen thence + The life of the building." + --Macbeth. + +TURNING my attention back into the room where I was, I found the +coroner consulting a memorandum through a very impressive pair of gold +eye-glasses. + +"Is the butler here?" he asked. + +Immediately there was a stir among the group of servants in the +corner, and an intelligent-looking, though somewhat pompous, Irishman +stepped out from their midst and confronted the jury. "Ah," thought I +to myself, as my glance encountered his precise whiskers, steady eye, +and respectfully attentive, though by no means humble, expression, +"here is a model servant, who is likely to prove a model witness." And I +was not mistaken; Thomas, the butler, was in all respects one in a +thousand--and he knew it. + +The coroner, upon whom, as upon all others in the room, he seemed to +have made the like favorable impression, proceeded without hesitation +to interrogate him. + +"Your name, I am told, is Thomas Dougherty?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Well, Thomas, how long have you been employed in your present +situation?" + +"It must be a matter of two years now, sir." + +"You are the person who first discovered the body of Mr. +Leavenworth?" + +"Yes, sir; I and Mr. Harwell." + +"And who is Mr. Harwell?" + +"Mr. Harwell is Mr. Leavenworth's private secretary, sir; the one +who did his writing." + +"Very good. Now at what time of the day or night did you make this +discovery?" + +"It was early, sir; early this morning, about eight." + +"And where?" + +"In the library, sir, off Mr. Leavenworth's bedroom. We had forced +our way in, feeling anxious about his not coming to breakfast." + +"You forced your way in; the door was locked, then?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"On the inside?" + +"That I cannot tell; there was no key in the door." + +"Where was Mr. Leavenworth lying when you first found him?" + +"He was not lying, sir. He was seated at the large table in the +centre of his room, his back to the bedroom door, leaning forward, his +head on his hands." + +"How was he dressed?" + +"In his dinner suit, sir, just as he came from the table last +night." + +"Were there any evidences in the room that a struggle had taken +place?" + +"No, sir." + +"Any pistol on the floor or table?" + +"No, sir?" + +"Any reason to suppose that robbery had been attempted?" + +"No, sir. Mr. Leavenworth's watch and purse were both in his +pockets." + +Being asked to mention who were in the house at the time of the +discovery, he replied, "The young ladies, Miss Mary Leavenworth and +Miss Eleanore, Mr. Harwell, Kate the cook, Molly the upstairs girl, and +myself." + +"The usual members of the household?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now tell me whose duty it is to close up the house at night." + +"Mine, sir." + +"Did you secure it as usual, last night?" + +"I did, sir." + +"Who unfastened it this morning?" + +"I, sir." + +"How did you find it?" + +"Just as I left it." + +"What, not a window open nor a door unlocked?" + +"No, sir." + +By this time you could have heard a pin drop. The certainty that the +murderer, whoever he was, had not left the house, at least till after +it was opened in the morning, seemed to weigh upon all minds. +Forewarned as I had been of the fact, I could not but feel a certain +degree of emotion at having it thus brought before me; and, moving so +as to bring the butler's face within view, searched it for some secret +token that he had spoken thus emphatically in order to cover up some +failure of duty on his own part. But it was unmoved in its candor, and +sustained the concentrated gaze of all in the room like a rock. + +Being now asked when he had last seen Mr. Leavenworth alive, he +replied, "At dinner last night." + +"He was, however, seen later by some of you?" + +"Yes, sir; Mr. Harwell says he saw him as late as half-past ten in +the evening." + +"What room do you occupy in this house?" + +"A little one on the basement floor." + +"And where do the other members of the household sleep?" + +"Mostly on the third floor, sir; the ladies in the large back +rooms, and Mr. Harwell in the little one in front. The girls sleep +above." + +"There was no one on the same floor with Mr. Leavenworth?" + +"No, sir." + +"At what hour did you go to bed?" + +"Well, I should say about eleven." + +"Did you hear any noise in the house either before or after that +time, that you remember?" + +"No, sir." + +"So that the discovery you made this morning was a surprise to you?" + +"Yes, sir." + +Requested now to give a more detailed account of that discovery, he +went on to say it was not till Mr. Leavenworth failed to come to his +breakfast at the call of the bell that any suspicion arose in the house +that all was not right. Even then they waited some little time before +doing anything, but as minute after minute went by and he did not come, +Miss Eleanore grew anxious, and finally left the room saying she would +go and see what was the matter, but soon returned looking very much +frightened, saying she had knocked at her uncle's door, and had even +called to him, but could get no answer. At which Mr. Harwell and +himself had gone up and together tried both doors, and, finding them +locked, burst open that of the library, when they came upon Mr. +Leavenworth, as he had already said, sitting at the table, dead. + +"And the ladies?" + +"Oh, they followed us up and came into the room and Miss Eleanore +fainted away." + +"And the other one,--Miss Mary, I believe they call her?" + +"I don't remember anything about her; I was so busy fetching water +to restore Miss Eleanore, I didn't notice." + +"Well, how long was it before Mr. Leavenworth was carried into the +next room?" + +"Almost immediate, as soon as Miss Eleanore recovered, and that was +as soon as ever the water touched her lips." + +"Who proposed that the body should be carried from the spot?" + +"She, sir. As soon as ever she stood up she went over to it and +looked at it and shuddered, and then calling Mr. Harwell and me, bade +us carry him in and lay him on the bed and go for the doctor, which we +did." + +"Wait a moment; did she go with you when you went into the other +room?" + +"No, sir." + +"What did she do?" + +"She stayed by the library table." + +"What doing?" + +"I couldn't see; her back was to me." + +"How long did she stay there?" + +"She was gone when we came back." + +"Gone from the table?" + +"Gone from the room." + +"Humph! when did you see her again?" + +"In a minute. She came in at the library door as we went out." + +"Anything in her hand?" + +"Not as I see." + +"Did you miss anything from the table?" + +"I never thought to look, sir. The table was nothing to me. I was +only thinking of going for the doctor, though I knew it was of no use." + +"Whom did you leave in the room when you went out?" + +"The cook, sir, and Molly, sir, and Miss Eleanore." + +"Not Miss Mary?" + +"No, sir." + +"Very well. Have the jury any questions to put to this man?" + +A movement at once took place in that profound body. + +"I should like to ask a few," exclaimed a weazen-faced, excitable +little man whom I had before noticed shifting in his seat in a restless +manner strongly suggestive of an intense but hitherto repressed desire +to interrupt the proceedings. + +"Very well, sir," returned Thomas. + +But the juryman stopping to draw a deep breath, a large and +decidedly pompous man who sat at his right hand seized the opportunity +to inquire in a round, listen-to-me sort of voice: + +"You say you have been in the family for two years. Was it what you +might call a united family?" + +"United?" + +"Affectionate, you know,--on good terms with each other." And the +juryman lifted the very long and heavy watch-chain that hung across his +vest as if that as well as himself had a right to a suitable and +well-considered reply. + +The butler, impressed perhaps by his manner, glanced uneasily +around. "Yes, sir, so far as I know." + +"The young ladies were attached to their uncle?" + +"O yes, sir." + +"And to each other?" + +"Well, yes, I suppose so; it's not for me to say." + +"You suppose so. Have you any reason to think otherwise?" And he +doubled the watch-chain about his fingers as if he would double its +attention as well as his own. + +Thomas hesitated a moment. But just as his interlocutor was about to +repeat his question, he drew himself up into a rather stiff and formal +attitude and replied: + +"Well, sir, no." + +The juryman, for all his self-assertion, seemed to respect the +reticence of a servant who declined to give his opinion in regard to +such a matter, and drawing complacently back, signified with a wave of +his hand that he had no more to say. + +Immediately the excitable little man, before mentioned, slipped +forward to the edge of his chair and asked, this time without +hesitation: "At what time did you unfasten the house this morning?" + +"About six, sir." + +"Now, could any one leave the house after that time without your +knowledge?" + +Thomas glanced a trifle uneasily at his' fellow-servants, but +answered up promptly and as if without reserve; + +"I don't think it would be possible for anybody to leave this house +after six in the morning without either myself or the cook's knowing of +it. Folks don't jump from second-story windows in broad daylight, and +as to leaving by the doors, the front door closes with such a slam all +the house can hear it from top to bottom, and as for the back-door, no +one that goes out of that can get clear of the yard without going by +the kitchen window, and no one can go by our kitchen window without the +cook's a-seeing of them, that I can just swear to." And he cast a +half-quizzing, half-malicious look at the round, red-faced individual +in question, strongly suggestive of late and unforgotten bickerings +over the kitchen coffee-urn and castor. + +This reply, which was of a nature calculated to deepen the +forebodings which had already settled upon the minds of those present, +produced a visible effect. The house found locked, and no one seen to +leave it! Evidently, then, we had not far to look for the assassin. + +Shifting on his chair with increased fervor, if I may so speak, the +juryman glanced sharply around. But perceiving the renewed interest in +the faces about him, declined to weaken the effect of the last +admission, by any further questions. Settling, therefore, comfortably +back, he left the field open for any other juror who might choose to +press the inquiry. But no one seeming to be ready to do this, Thomas in +his turn evinced impatience, and at last, looking respectfully around, +inquired: + +"Would any other gentleman like to ask me anything?" + +No one replying, he threw a hurried glance of relief towards the +servants at his side, then, while each one marvelled at the sudden +change that had taken place in his countenance, withdrew with an eager +alacrity and evident satisfaction for which I could not at the moment +account. + +But the next witness proving to be none other than my acquaintance +of the morning, Mr. Harwell, I soon forgot both Thomas and the doubts +his last movement had awakened, in the interest which the examination +of so important a person as the secretary and right-hand man of Mr. +Leavenworth was likely to create. + +Advancing with the calm and determined air of one who realized that +life and death itself might hang upon his words, Mr. Harwell took his +stand before the jury with a degree of dignity not only highly +prepossessing in itself, but to me, who had not been over and above +pleased with him in our first interview, admirable and surprising. +Lacking, as I have said, any distinctive quality of face or form +agreeable or otherwise--being what you might call in appearance a +negative sort of person, his pale, regular features, dark, +well-smoothed hair and simple whiskers, all belonging to a recognized +type and very commonplace--there was still visible, on this occasion at +least, a certain self-possession in his carriage, which went far +towards making up for the want of impressiveness in his countenance and +expression. Not that even this was in any way remarkable. Indeed, there +was nothing remarkable about the man, any more than there is about a +thousand others you meet every day on Broadway, unless you except the +look of concentration and solemnity which pervaded his whole person; a +solemnity which at this time would not have been noticeable, perhaps, +if it had not appeared to be the habitual expression of one who in his +short life had seen more of sorrow than joy, less of pleasure than care +and anxiety. + +The coroner, to whom his appearance one way or the other seemed to be +a matter of no moment, addressed him immediately and without reserve: + +"Your name?" + +"James Trueman Harwell." + +"Your business?" + +"I have occupied the position of private secretary and amanuensis +to Mr. Leavenworth for the past eight months." + +"You are the person who last saw Mr. Leavenworth alive, are you not?" + +The young man raised his head with a haughty gesture which well-nigh +transfigured it. + +"Certainly not, as I am not the man who killed him." + +This answer, which seemed to introduce something akin to levity or +badinage into an examination the seriousness of which we were all +beginning to realize, produced an immediate revulsion of feeling toward +the man who, in face of facts revealed and to be revealed, could so +lightly make use of it. A hum of disapproval swept through the room, +and in that one remark, James Harwell lost all that he had previously +won by the self-possession of his bearing and the unflinching regard of +his eye. He seemed himself to realize this, for he lifted his head +still higher, though his general aspect remained unchanged. + +"I mean," the coroner exclaimed, evidently nettled that the young +man had been able to draw such a conclusion from his words, "that you +were the last one to see him previous to his assassination by some +unknown individual?" + +The secretary folded his arms, whether to hide a certain tremble +which had seized him, or by that simple action to gain time for a +moment's further thought, I could not then determine. "Sir," he +replied at length, "I cannot answer yes or no to that question. In all +probability I was the last to see him in good health and spirits, but +in a house as large as this I cannot be sure of even so simple a fact +as that." Then, observing the unsatisfied look on the faces around, +added slowly, "It is my business to see him late." + +"Your business? Oh, as his secretary, I suppose?" + +He gravely nodded. + +"Mr. Harwell," the coroner went on, "the office of private +secretary in this country is not a common one. Will you explain to us +what your duties were in that capacity; in short, what use Mr. +Leavenworth had for such an assistant and how he employed you?" + +"Certainly. Mr. Leavenworth was, as you perhaps know, a man of +great wealth. Connected with various societies, clubs, institutions, +etc., besides being known far and near as a giving man, he was +accustomed every day of his life to receive numerous letters, begging +and otherwise, which it was my business to open and answer, his private +correspondence always bearing a mark upon it which distinguished it +from the rest. But this was not all I was expected to do. Having in his +early life been engaged in the tea-trade, he had made more than one +voyage to China, and was consequently much interested in the question +of international communication between that country and our own. +Thinking that in his various visits there, he had learned much which, +if known to the American people, would conduce to our better +understanding of the nation, its peculiarities, and the best manner of +dealing with it, he has been engaged for some time in writing a book on +the subject, which same it has been my business for the last eight +months to assist him in preparing, by writing at his dictation three +hours out of the twenty-four, the last hour being commonly taken from +the evening, say from half-past nine to half-past ten, Mr. Leavenworth +being a very methodical man and accustomed to regulate his own life and +that of those about him with almost mathematical precision." + +" You say you were accustomed to write at his dictation evenings? +Did you do this as usual last evening?" + +"I did, sir." + +"What can you tell us of his manner and appearance at the time? +Were they in any way unusual?" + +A frown crossed the secretary's brow. + +"As he probably had no premonition of his doom, why should there +have been any change in his manner?" + +This giving the coroner an opportunity to revenge himself for his +discomfiture of a moment before, he said somewhat severely: + +"It is the business of a witness to answer questions, not to put +them." + +The secretary flushed and the account stood even. + +"Very well, then, sir; if Mr. Leavenworth felt any forebodings of +his end, he did not reveal them to me. On the contrary, he seemed to be +more absorbed in his work than usual. One of the last words he said to +me was, 'In a month we will have this book in press, eh, Trueman?' I +remember this particularly, as he was filling his wine-glass at the +time. He always drank one glass of wine before retiring, it being my +duty to bring the decanter of sherry from the closet the last thing +before leaving him. I was standing with my hand on the knob of the +hall-door, but advanced as he said this and replied, 'I hope so, +indeed, Mr. Leavenworth.' 'Then join me in drinking a glass of +sherry,' said he, motioning me to procure another glass from the +closet. I did so, and he poured me out the wine with his own hand. I am +not especially fond of sherry, but the occasion was a pleasant one and +I drained my glass. I remember being slightly ashamed of doing so, for +Mr. Leavenworth set his down half full. It was half full when we found +him this morning." + +Do what he would, and being a reserved man he appeared anxious to +control his emotion, the horror of his first shock seemed to overwhelm +him here. Pulling his handkerchief from his pocket, he wiped his +forehead. "Gentlemen, that is the last action of Mr. Leavenworth I +ever saw. As he set the glass down on the table, I said good-night to +him and left the room." + +The coroner, with a characteristic imperviousness to all expressions +of emotion, leaned back and surveyed the young man with a scrutinizing +glance. "And where did you go then?" he asked. + +"To my own room." + +"Did you meet anybody on the way?" + +"No, sir." + +"Hear any thing or see anything unusual?" + +The secretary's voice fell a trifle. "No, sir." + +"Mr. Harwell, think again. Are you ready to swear that you neither +met anybody, heard anybody, nor saw anything which lingers yet in your +memory as unusual?" + +His face grew quite distressed. Twice he opened his lips to speak, +and as often closed them without doing so. At last, with an effort, he +replied: + +"I saw one thing, a little thing, too slight to mention, but it was +unusual, and I could not help thinking of it when you spoke." + +"What was it?" + +"Only a door half open." + +"Whose door?" + +"Miss Eleanore Leavenworth's." His voice was almost a whisper now. + +"Where were you when you observed this fact?" + +"I cannot say exactly. Probably at my own door, as I did not stop +on the way. If this frightful occurrence had not taken place I should +never have thought of it again." + +"When you went into your room did you close your door?" + +"I did, sir." + +"How soon did you retire?" + +"Immediately." + +"Did you hear nothing before you fell asleep?" + +Again that indefinable hesitation. + +"Barely nothing." + +"Not a footstep in the hall?" + +"I might have heard a footstep." + +"Did you?" + +"I cannot swear I did." + +"Do you think you did?" + +"Yes, I think I did. To tell the whole: I remember hearing, just +as I was falling into a doze, a rustle and a footstep in the hall; but +it made no impression upon me, and I dropped asleep." + +"Well?" + +"Some time later I woke, woke suddenly, as if something had +startled me, but what, a noise or move, I cannot say. I remember rising +up in my bed and looking around, but hearing nothing further, soon +yielded to the drowsiness which possessed me and fell into a deep +sleep. I did not wake again till morning." + +Here requested to relate how and when he became acquainted with the +fact of the murder, he substantiated, in all particulars, the account +of the matter already given by the butler; which subject being +exhausted, the coroner went on to ask if he had noted the condition of +the library table after the body had been removed. + +"Somewhat; yes, sir." + +"What was on it?" + +"The usual properties, sir, books, paper, a pen with the ink dried +on it, besides the decanter and the wineglass from which he drank the +night before." + +"Nothing more?" + +"I remember nothing more." + +"In regard to that decanter and glass," broke in the juryman of the +watch and chain, "did you not say that the latter was found in the +same condition in which you saw it at the time you left Mr. Leavenworth +sitting in his library?" + +"Yes, sir, very much." + +" Yet he was in the habit of drinking a full glass?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"An interruption must then have ensued very close upon your +departure, Mr. Harwell." + +A cold bluish pallor suddenly broke out upon the young man's face. +He started, and for a moment looked as if struck by some horrible +thought. "That does not follow, sir," he articulated with some +difficulty. "Mr. Leavenworth might--" but suddenly stopped, as if +too much distressed to proceed. + +"Go on, Mr. Harwell, let us hear what you have to say." + +"There is nothing," he returned faintly, as if battling with some +strong emotion. + +As he had not been answering a question, only volunteering an +explanation, the coroner let it pass; but I saw more than one pair of +eyes roll suspiciously from side to side, as if many there felt that +some sort of clue had been offered them in this man's emotion. The +coroner, ignoring in his easy way both the emotion and the universal +excitement it had produced, now proceeded to ask: "Do you know +whether the key to the library was in its place when you left the room +last night?" + +"No, sir; I did not notice." + +"The presumption is, it was?" + +"I suppose so." + +"At all events, the door was locked in the morning, and the key +gone?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then whoever committed this murder locked the door on passing +out, and took away the key?" + +"It would seem so." + +The coroner turning, faced the jury with an earnest look. +"Gentlemen," said he, "there seems to be a mystery in regard to this +key which must be looked into." + +Immediately a universal murmur swept through the room, testifying to +the acquiescence of all present. The little juryman hastily rising +proposed that an instant search should be made for it; but the coroner, +turning upon him with what I should denominate as a quelling look, +decided that the inquest should proceed in the usual manner, till the +verbal testimony was all in. + +"Then allow me to ask a question," again volunteered the +irrepressible. "Mr. Harwell, we are told that upon the breaking in of +the library door this morning, Mr. Leavenworth's two nieces followed +you into the room." + +"One of them, sir, Miss Eleanore." + +"Is Miss Eleanore the one who is said to be Mr. Leavenworth's sole +heiress?" the coroner here interposed. + +"No, sir, that is Miss Mary." + +"That she gave orders," pursued the juryman, "for the removal of +the body into the further room?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And that you obeyed her by helping to carry it in?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now, in thus passing through the rooms, did you observe anything +to lead you to form a suspicion of the murderer?" + +The secretary shook his head. "I have no suspicion," he +emphatically said. + +Somehow, I did not believe him. Whether it was the tone of his +voice, the clutch of his hand on his sleeve--and the hand will often +reveal more than the countenance--I felt that this man was not to be +relied upon in making this assertion. + +"I should like to ask Mr. Harwell a question," said a juryman who +had not yet spoken. "We have had a detailed account of what looks +like the discovery of a murdered man. Now, murder is never committed +without some motive. Does the secretary know whether Mr. Leavenworth +had any secret enemy?" + +"I do not." + +"Every one in the house seemed to be on good terms with him?" + +"Yes, sir," with a little quaver of dissent in the assertion, +however. + +"Not a shadow lay between him and any other member of his +household, so far as you know?" + +"I am not ready to say that," he returned, quite distressed. "A +shadow is a very slight thing. There might have been a shadow----" + +"Between him and whom?" + +A long hesitation. "One of his nieces, sir." + +"Which one?" + +Again that defiant lift of the head. "Miss Eleanore." + +"How long has this shadow been observable?" + +"I cannot say." + +"You do not know the cause?" + +"I do not." + +"Nor the extent of the feeling?" + +"No, sir." + +"You open Mr. Leavenworth's letters?" + +"I do." + +"Has there been anything in his correspondence of late calculated +to throw any light upon this deed?" + +It actually seemed as if he never would answer. Was he simply +pondering over his reply, or was the man turned to stone? + +"Mr. Harwell, did you hear the juryman?" inquired the coroner. + +"Yes, sir; I was thinking." + +"Very well, now answer." + +"Sir," he replied, turning and looking the juryman full in the +face, and in that way revealing his unguarded left hand to my gaze, "I +have opened Mr. Leavenworth's letters as usual for the last two weeks, +and I can think of nothing in them bearing in the least upon this +tragedy." + +The man lied; I knew it instantly. The clenched hand pausing +irresolute, then making up its mind to go through with the lie firmly, +was enough for me. + +"Mr. Harwell, this is undoubtedly true according to your judgment," +said the coroner; "but Mr. Leavenworth's correspondence will have to +be searched for all that." + +"Of course," he replied carelessly; "that is only right." + +This remark ended Mr. Harwell's examination for the time. As he sat +down I made note of four things. + +That Mr. Harwell himself, for some reason not given, was conscious +of a suspicion which he was anxious to suppress even from his own mind. + +That a woman was in some way connected with it, a rustle as well as +a footstep having been heard by him on the stairs. + +That a letter had arrived at the house, which if found would be +likely to throw some light upon this subject. + +That Eleanore Leavenworth's name came with difficulty from his lips; +this evidently unimpressible man, manifesting more or less emotion +whenever he was called upon to utter it. + + + +IV. A CUTS + + "Something is rotten in the State of Denmark." + Hamlet. + +THE cook of the establishment being now called, that portly, ruddy-faced +individual stepped forward with alacrity, displaying upon her +good-humored countenance such an expression of mingled eagerness and +anxiety that more than one person present found it difficult to restrain +a smile at her appearance. Observing this and taking it as a compliment, +being a woman as well as a cook, she immediately dropped a curtsey, and +opening her lips was about to speak, when the coroner, rising +impatiently in his seat, took the word from her mouth by saying sternly: + +"Your name?" + +"Katherine Malone, sir." + +"Well, Katherine, how long have you been in Mr. Leavenworth's +service?" + +"Shure, it is a good twelvemonth now, sir, since I came, on Mrs. +Wilson's ricommindation, to that very front door, and----" + +"Never mind the front door, but tell us why you left this Mrs. +Wilson?" + +"Shure, and it was she as left me, being as she went sailing to the +ould country the same day when on her recommendation I came to this +very front door--" + +"Well, well; no matter about that. You have been in Mr. +Leavenworth's family a year?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And liked it? found him a good master?" + +"Och, sir, niver have I found a better, worse luck to the villain +as killed him. He was that free and ginerous, sir, that many 's the +time I have said to Hannah--" She stopped, with a sudden comical gasp +of terror, looking at her fellow-servants like one who had incautiously +made a slip. The coroner, observing this, inquired hastily: + +"Hannah? Who is Hannah?" + +The cook, drawing her roly-poly figure up into some sort of shape in +her efforts to appear unconcerned, exclaimed boldly: "She? Oh, only +the ladies' maid, sir." + +"But I don't see any one here answering to that description. You +didn't speak of any one by the name of Hannah, as belonging to the +house," said he, turning to Thomas. + +"No, sir," the latter replied, with a bow and a sidelong look at +the red-cheeked girl at his side. "You asked me who were in the house +at the time the murder was discovered, and I told you." + +"Oh," cried the coroner, satirically; "used to police courts, I +see." Then, turning back to the cook, who had all this while been +rolling her eyes in a vague fright about the room, inquired, "And +where is this Hannah?" + +"Shure, sir, she's gone." + +"How long since?" + +The cook caught her breath hysterically. "Since last night." + +"What time last night?" + +"Troth, sir, and I don't know. I don't know anything about it." + +"Was she dismissed?" + +"Not as I knows on; her clothes is here." + +"Oh, her clothes are here. At what hour did you miss her?" + +"I didn't miss her. She was here last night, and she isn't here +this morning, and so I says she 's gone." + +"Humph!" cried the coroner, casting a slow glance down the room, +while every one present looked as if a door had suddenly opened in a +closed wall. + +"Where did this girl sleep?" + +The cook, who had been fumbling uneasily with her apron, looked up. + +"Shure, we all sleeps at the top of the house, sir." + +"In one room?" + +Slowly. "Yes, sir." + +"Did she come up to the room last night?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"At what hour?" + +"Shure, it was ten when we all came up. I heard the clock +a-striking." + +"Did you observe anything unusual in her appearance?" + +"She had a toothache, sir." + +"Oh, a toothache; what, then? Tell me all she did." + +But at this the cook broke into tears and wails. + +"Shure, she didn't do nothing, sir. It wasn't her, sir, as did +anything; don't you believe it. Hannah is a good girl, and honest, +sir, as ever you see. I am ready to swear on the Book as how she never +put her hand to the lock of his door. What should she for? She only +went down to Miss Eleanore for some toothache-drops, her face was +paining her that awful; and oh, sir----" + +"There, there," interrupted the coroner, "I am not accusing Hannah +of anything. I only asked you what she did after she reached your room. +She went downstairs, you say. How long after you went up?" + +"Troth, sir, I couldn't tell; but Molly says----" + +"Never mind what Molly says. _You_ didn't see her go down?" + +"No, sir." + +"Nor see her come back?" + +"No, sir." + +"Nor see her this morning?" + +"No, sir; how could I when she 's gone?" + +"But you did see, last night, that she seemed to be suffering with +toothache?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Very well; now tell me how and when you first became acquainted +with the fact of Mr. Leavenworth's death." + +But her replies to this question, while over-garrulous, contained +but little information; and seeing this, the coroner was on the point +of dismissing her, when the little juror, remembering an admission she +had made, of having seen Miss Eleanore Leavenworth coming out of the +library door a few minutes after Mr. Leavenworth's body had been +carried into the next room, asked if her mistress had anything in her +hand at the time. + +"I don't know, sir. Faith!" she suddenly exclaimed, "I believe +she did have a piece of paper. I recollect, now, seeing her put it in +her pocket." + +The next witness was Molly, the upstairs girl. + +Molly O'Flanagan, as she called herself, was a rosy-cheeked, +black-haired, pert girl of about eighteen, who under ordinary +circumstances would have found herself able to answer, with a due +degree of smartness, any question which might have been addressed to +her. But fright will sometimes cower the stoutest heart, and Molly, +standing before the coroner at this juncture, presented anything but a +reckless appearance, her naturally rosy cheeks blanching at the first +word addressed to her, and her head falling forward on her breast in a +confusion too genuine to be dissembled and too transparent to be +misunderstood. + +As her testimony related mostly to Hannah, and what she knew of her, +and her remarkable disappearance, I shall confine myself to a mere +synopsis of it. + +As far as she, Molly, knew, Hannah was what she had given herself +out to be, an uneducated girl of Irish extraction, who had come from +the country to act as lady's-maid and seamstress to the two Misses +Leavenworth. She had been in the family for some time; before Molly +herself, in fact; and though by nature remarkably reticent, refusing to +tell anything about herself or her past life, she had managed to become +a great favorite with all in the house. But she was of a melancholy +nature and fond of brooding, often getting up nights to sit and think +in the dark: "as if she was a lady!" exclaimed Molly. + +This habit being a singular one for a girl in her station, an +attempt was made to win from the witness further particulars in regard +to it. But Molly, with a toss of her head, confined herself to the one +statement. She used to get up nights and sit in the window, and that +was all she knew about it. + +Drawn away from this topic, during the consideration of which, a +little of the sharpness of Molly's disposition had asserted itself, she +went on to state, in connection with the events of the past night, that +Hannah had been ill for two days or more with a swelled face; that it +grew so bad after they had gone upstairs, the night before, that she +got out of bed, and dressing herself--Molly was closely questioned +here, but insisted upon the fact that Hannah had fully dressed herself, +even to arranging her collar and ribbon--lighted a candle, and made +known her intention of going down to Miss Eleanore for aid. + +"Why Miss Eleanore?" a juryman here asked. + +"Oh, she is the one who always gives out medicines and such like to +the servants." + +Urged to proceed, she went on to state that she had already told all +she knew about it. Hannah did not come back, nor was she to be found in +the house at breakfast time. + +"You say she took a candle with her," said the coroner. "Was it in +a candlestick?" + +"No, sir; loose like." + +"Why did she take a candle? Does not Mr. Leavenworth burn gas in +his halls?" + +"Yes, sir; but we put the gas out as we go up, and Hannah is +afraid of the dark." + +"If she took a candle, it must be lying somewhere about the house. +Now, has anybody seen a stray candle?" + +"Not as I knows on, sir." + +"Is _this_ it?" exclaimed a voice over my shoulder. + +It was Mr. Gryce, and he was holding up into view a half-burned +paraffine candle. + +"Yes, sir; lor', where did you find it?" + +"In the grass of the carriage yard, half-way from the kitchen door +to the street," he quietly returned. + +Sensation. A clue, then, at last! Something had been found which +seemed to connect this mysterious murder with the outside world. +Instantly the backdoor assumed the chief position of interest. The +candle found lying in the yard seemed to prove, not only that Hannah +had left the house shortly after descending from her room, but had left +it by the backdoor, which we now remembered was only a few steps from +the iron gate opening into the side street. But Thomas, being recalled, +repeated his assertion that not only the back-door, but all the lower +windows of the house, had been found by him securely locked and bolted +at six o'clock that morning. Inevitable conclusion--some one had locked +and bolted them after the girl. Who? Alas, that had now become the very +serious and momentous question. + + + +V. EXPERT TESTIMONY + +"And often-times, to win us to our barm, The instruments of +darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles, to betray us In +deepest consequence." +_ + +Macbeth. +_ + +IN the midst of the universal gloom thus awakened there came a sharp +ring at the bell. Instantly all eyes turned toward the parlor door, +just as it slowly opened, and the officer who had been sent off so +mysteriously by the coroner an hour before entered, in company with a +young man, whose sleek appearance, intelligent eye, and general air of +trustworthiness, seemed to proclaim him to be, what in fact he was, the +confidential clerk of a responsible mercantile house. + +Advancing without apparent embarrassment, though each and every eye +in the room was fixed upon him with lively curiosity, he made a slight +bow to the coroner. + +"You have sent for a man from Bohn & Co.," he said. + +Strong and immediate excitement. Bohn & Co. was the well-known +pistol and ammunition store of ---- Broadway. + +"Yes, sir," returned the coroner. "We have here a bullet, which we +must ask you to examine, You are fully acquainted with all matters +connected with your business?" + +The young man, merely elevating an expressive eyebrow, took the +bullet carelessly in his hand. + +"Can you tell us from what make of pistol that was delivered?" + +The young man rolled it slowly round between his thumb and +forefinger, and then laid it down. "It is a No. 32 ball, usually sold +with the small pistol made by Smith & Wesson." + +"A small pistol!" exclaimed the butler, jumping up from his seat. +"Master used to keep a little pistol in his stand drawer. I have often +seen it. We all knew about it." + +Great and irrepressible excitement, especially among the servants. +"That's so!" I heard a heavy voice exclaim. "I saw it once +myself--master was cleaning it." It was the cook who spoke. + +"In his stand drawer?" the coroner inquired. + +"Yes, sir; at the head of his bed." + +An officer was sent to examine the stand drawer. In a few moments he +returned, bringing a small pistol which he laid down on the coroner's +table, saying, "Here it is." + +Immediately, every one sprang to his feet, but the coroner, handing +it over to the clerk from Bonn's, inquired if that was the make before +mentioned. Without hesitation he replied, "Yes, Smith & Wesson; you +can see for yourself," and he proceeded to examine it. + +"Where did you find this pistol?" asked the coroner of the +officer. + +"In the top drawer of a shaving table standing near the head of +Mr. Leavenworth's bed. It was lying in a velvet case together with a +box of cartridges, one of which I bring as a sample," and he laid it +down beside the bullet. + +"Was the drawer locked?" + +"Yes, sir; but the key was not taken out." + +Interest had now reached its climax. A universal cry swept through +the room, "Is it loaded?" + +The coroner, frowning on the assembly, with a look of great dignity, +remarked: + +"I was about to ask that question myself, but first I must request +order." + +An immediate calm followed. Every one was too much interested to +interpose any obstacle in the way of gratifying his curiosity. + +"Now, sir!" exclaimed the coroner. + +The clerk from Bonn's, taking out the cylinder, held it up. "There +are seven chambers here, and they are all loaded." + +A murmur of disappointment followed this assertion. + +"But," he quietly added after a momentary examination of the face +of the cylinder, "they have not all been loaded long. A bullet has +been recently shot from one of these chambers." + +"How do you know?" cried one of the jury. + +"How do I know? Sir," said he, turning to the coroner, "will you +be kind enough to examine the condition of this pistol?" and he +handed it over to that gentleman. "Look first at the barrel; it is +clean and bright, and shows no evidence of a bullet having passed out +of it very lately; that is because it has been cleaned. But now, +observe the face of the cylinder: what do you see there?" + +"I see a faint line of smut near one of the chambers." + +"Just so; show it to the gentlemen." + +It was immediately handed down. + +"That faint line of smut, on the edge of one of the chambers, is +the telltale, sirs. A bullet passing out always leaves smut behind. The +man who fired this, remembering the fact, cleaned the barrel, but +forgot the cylinder." And stepping aside he folded his arms. + +"Jerusalem!" spoke out a rough, hearty voice, "isn't that +wonderful!" This exclamation came from a countryman who had stepped in +from the street, and now stood agape in the doorway. + +It was a rude but not altogether unwelcome interruption. A smile +passed round the room, and both men and women breathed more easily. +Order being at last restored, the officer was requested to describe the +position of the stand, and its distance from the library table. + +"The library table is in one room, and the stand in another. To +reach the former from the latter, one would be obliged to cross Mr. +Leavenworth's bedroom in a diagonal direction, pass through the +passageway separating that one apartment from the other, and----" + +"Wait a moment; how does this table stand in regard to the door +which leads from the bedroom into the hall?" + +"One might enter that door, pass directly round the foot of the bed +to the stand, procure the pistol, and cross half-way over to the +passage-way, without being seen by any one sitting or standing in the +library beyond." + +"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed the horrified cook, throwing her apron +over her head as if to shut out some dreadful vision. "Hannah niver +would have the pluck for that; niver, niver!" But Mr. Gryce, laying a +heavy hand on the woman, forced her back into her seat, reproving and +calming her at the same time, with a dexterity marvellous to behold. +"I beg your pardons," she cried deprecatingly to those around; "but it +niver was Hannah, niver!" + +The clerk from Bohn's here being dismissed, those assembled took the +opportunity of making some change in their position, after which, the +name of Mr. Harwell was again called. That person rose with manifest +reluctance. Evidently the preceding testimony had either upset some +theory of his, or indubitably strengthened some unwelcome suspicion. + +"Mr. Harwell," the coroner began, "we are told of the existence +of a pistol belonging to Mr. Leavenworth, and upon searching, we +discover it in his room. Did you know of his possessing such an +instrument?" + +"I did." + +"Was it a fact generally known in the house?" + +"So it would seem." + +"How was that? Was he in the habit of leaving it around where any +one could see it?" + +"I cannot say; I can only acquaint you with the manner in which I +myself became aware of its existence." + +"Very well, do so." + +"We were once talking about firearms. I have some taste that way, +and have always been anxious to possess a pocket-pistol. Saying +something of the kind to him one day, he rose from his seat and, +fetching me this, showed it to me." + +"How long ago was this?" + +"Some few months since." + +"He has owned this pistol, then, for some time?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Is that the only occasion upon which you have ever seen it?" + +"No, sir,"--the secretary blushed--" I have seen it once since." + +"When?" + +"About three weeks ago." + +"Under what circumstances?" + +The secretary dropped his head, a certain drawn look making itself +suddenly visible on his countenance. + +"Will you not excuse me, gentlemen?" he asked, after a moment's +hesitation. + +"It is impossible," returned the coroner. + +His face grew even more pallid and deprecatory. "I am obliged to +introduce the name of a lady," he hesitatingly declared. + +"We are very sorry," remarked the coroner. + +The young man turned fiercely upon him, and I could not help +wondering that I had ever thought him commonplace. "Of Miss Eleanore +Leavenworth!" he cried. + +At that name, so uttered, every one started but Mr. Gryce; he was +engaged in holding a close and confidential confab with his +finger-tips, and did not appear to notice. + +"Surely it is contrary to the rules of decorum and the respect we +all feel for the lady herself to introduce her name into this +discussion," continued Mr. Harwell. But the coroner still insisting +upon an answer, he refolded his arms (a movement indicative of +resolution with him), and began in a low, forced tone to say: + +"It is only this, gentlemen. One afternoon, about three weeks since, +I had occasion to go to the library at an unusual hour. Crossing over +to the mantel-piece for the purpose of procuring a penknife which I had +carelessly left there in the morning, I heard a noise in the adjoining +room. Knowing that Mr. Leavenworth was out, and supposing the ladies to +be out also, I took the liberty of ascertaining who the intruder was; +when what was my astonishment to come upon Miss Eleanore Leavenworth, +standing at the side of her uncle's bed, with his pistol in her hand. +Confused at my indiscretion, I attempted to escape without being +observed; but in vain, for just as I was crossing the threshold, she +turned and, calling me by name, requested me to explain the pistol to +her. Gentlemen, in order to do so, I was obliged to take it in my hand; +and that, sirs, is the only other occasion upon which I ever saw or +handled the pistol of Mr. Leavenworth." Drooping his head, he waited in +indescribable agitation for the next question. + +"She asked you to explain the pistol to her; what do you mean by +that?" + +"I mean," he faintly continued, catching his breath in a vain +effort to appear calm, "how to load, aim, and fire it." + +A flash of awakened feeling shot across the faces of all present. +Even the coroner showed sudden signs of emotion, and sat staring at the +bowed form and pale countenance of the man before him, with a peculiar +look of surprised compassion, which could not fail of producing its +effect, not only upon the young man himself, but upon all who saw him. + +"Mr. Harwell," he at length inquired, "have you anything to add to +the statement you have just made?" + +The secretary sadly shook his head. + +"Mr. Gryce," I here whispered, clutching that person by the arm and +dragging him down to my side; "assure me, I entreat you--" but he +would not let me finish. + +"The coroner is about to ask for the young ladies," he quickly +interposed. "If you desire to fulfil your duty towards them, be ready, +that's all." + +Fulfil my duty! The simple words recalled me to myself. What had I +been thinking of; was I mad? With nothing more terrible in mind than a +tender picture of the lovely cousins bowed in anguish over the remains +of one who had been as dear as a father to them, I slowly rose, and +upon demand being made for Miss Mary and Miss Eleanore Leavenworth, +advanced and said that, as a friend of the family--a petty lie, which +I hope will not be laid up against me--I begged the privilege of going +for the ladies and escorting them down. + +Instantly a dozen eyes flashed upon me, and I experienced the +embarrassment of one who, by some unexpected word or action, has drawn +upon himself the concentrated attention of a whole room. + +But the permission sought being almost immediately accorded, I was +speedily enabled to withdraw from my rather trying position, finding +myself, almost before I knew it, in the hall, my face aflame, my heart +beating with excitement, and these words of Mr. Gryce ringing in my +ears: "Third floor, rear room, first door at the head of the stairs. +You will find the young ladies expecting you." + + + +VI. SIDE-LIGHTS + + "Oh! she has beauty might ensnare + A conqueror's soul, and make him leave his crown + At random, to be scuffled for by slaves." + + OTWAY. + +THIRD floor, rear room, first door at the head of the stairs! What +was I about to encounter there? + +Mounting the lower flight, and shuddering by the library wall, which +to my troubled fancy seemed written all over with horrible suggestions, +I took my way slowly up-stairs, revolving in my mind many things, among +which an admonition uttered long ago by my mother occupied a prominent +place. + +"My son, remember that a woman with a secret may be a fascinating +study, but she can never be a safe, nor even satisfactory, companion." + +A wise saw, no doubt, but totally inapplicable to the present +situation; yet it continued to haunt me till the sight of the door to +which I had been directed put every other thought to flight save that I +was about to meet the stricken nieces of a brutally murdered man. + +Pausing only long enough on the threshold to compose myself for the +interview, I lifted my hand to knock, when a rich, clear voice rose +from within, and I heard distinctly uttered these astounding words: +"I do not accuse your hand, though I know of none other which would or +could have done this deed; but your heart, your head, your will, these +I do and must accuse, in my secret mind at least; and it is well that +you should know it!" + +Struck with horror, I staggered back, my hands to my ears, when a +touch fell on my arm, and turning, I saw Mr. Gryce standing close +beside me, with his finger on his lip, and the last flickering shadow +of a flying emotion fading from his steady, almost compassionate +countenance. + +"Come, come," he exclaimed; "I see you don't begin to know what +kind of a world you are living in. Rouse yourself; remember they are +waiting down below." + +"But who is it? Who was it that spoke?" + +"That we shall soon see." And without waiting to meet, much less +answer, my appealing look, he struck his hand against the door, and +flung it wide open. + +Instantly a flush of lovely color burst upon us. Blue curtains, blue +carpets, blue walls. It was like a glimpse of heavenly azure in a spot +where only darkness and gloom were to be expected. Fascinated by the +sight, I stepped impetuously forward, but instantly paused again, +overcome and impressed by the exquisite picture I saw before me. + +Seated in an easy chair of embroidered satin, but rousing from her +half-recumbent position, like one who was in the act of launching a +powerful invective, I beheld a glorious woman. Fair, frail, proud, +delicate; looking like a lily in the thick creamy-tinted wrapper that +alternately clung to and swayed from her finely moulded figure; with +her forehead, crowned with the palest of pale tresses, lifted and +flashing with power; one quivering hand clasping the arm of her chair, +the other outstretched and pointing toward some distant object in the +room,--her whole appearance was so startling, so extraordinary, that I +held my breath in surprise, actually for the moment doubting if it were +a living woman I beheld, or some famous pythoness conjured up from +ancient story, to express in one tremendous gesture the supreme +indignation of outraged womanhood. + +"Miss Mary Leavenworth," whispered that ever present voice over my +shoulder. + +Ah! Mary Leavenworth! What a relief came with this name. This +beautiful creature, then, was not the Eleanore who could load, aim, and +fire a pistol. Turning my head, I followed the guiding of that uplifted +hand, now frozen into its place by a new emotion: the emotion of being +interrupted in the midst of a direful and pregnant revelation, and saw +--but, no, here description fails me! Eleanore Leavenworth must be +painted by other hands than mine. I could sit half the day and dilate +upon the subtle grace, the pale magnificence, the perfection of form +and feature which make Mary Leavenworth the wonder of all who behold +her; but Eleanore--I could as soon paint the beatings of my own heart. +Beguiling, terrible, grand, pathetic, that face of faces flashed upon +my gaze, and instantly the moonlight loveliness of her cousin faded +from my memory, and I saw only Eleanore--only Eleanore from that +moment on forever. + +When my glance first fell upon her, she was standing by the side of +a small table, with her face turned toward her cousin, and her two +hands resting, the one upon her breast, the other on the table, in an +attitude of antagonism. But before the sudden pang which shot through +me at the sight of her beauty had subsided, her head had turned, her +gaze had encountered mine; all the horror of the situation had burst +upon her, and, instead of a haughty woman, drawn up to receive and +trample upon the insinuations of another, I beheld, alas! a trembling, +panting human creature, conscious that a sword hung above her head, and +without a word to say why it should not fall and slay her. + +It was a pitiable change; a heart-rending revelation! I turned from +it as from a confession. But just then, her cousin, who had apparently +regained her self-possession at the first betrayal of emotion on the +part of the other, stepped forward and, holding out her hand, inquired: + +"Is not this Mr. Raymond? How kind of you, sir. And you?" +turning to Mr. Gryce; "you have come to tell us we are wanted below, +is it not so?" + +It was the voice I had heard through the door, but modulated to a +sweet, winning, almost caressing tone. + +Glancing hastily at Mr. Gryce, I looked to see how he was affected +by it. Evidently much, for the bow with which he greeted her words was +lower than ordinary, and the smile with which he met her earnest look +both deprecatory and reassuring. His glance did not embrace her cousin, +though her eyes were fixed upon his face with an inquiry in their +depths more agonizing than the utterance of any cry would have been. +Knowing Mr. Gryce as I did, I felt that nothing could promise worse, or +be more significant, than this transparent disregard of one who seemed +to fill the room with her terror. And, struck with pity, I forgot that +Mary Leavenworth had spoken, forgot her very presence in fact, and, +turning hastily away, took one step toward her cousin, when Mr. Gryce's +hand falling on my arm stopped me. + +"Miss Leavenworth speaks," said he. + +Recalled to myself, I turned my back upon what had so interested me +even while it repelled, and forcing myself to make some sort of reply +to the fair creature before me, offered my arm and led her toward the +door. + +Immediately the pale, proud countenance of Mary Leavenworth softened +almost to the point of smiling;--and here let me say, there never was +a woman who could smile and not smile like Mary Leavenworth. Looking in +my face, with a frank and sweet appeal in her eyes, she murmured: + +"You are very good. I do feel the need of support; the occasion is +so horrible, and my cousin there,"--here a little gleam of alarm +nickered into her eyes--"is so very strange to-day." + +"Humph!" thought I to myself; "where is the grand indignant +pythoness, with the unspeakable wrath and menace in her countenance, +whom I saw when I first entered the room?" Could it be that she was +trying to beguile us from our conjectures, by making light of her +former expressions? Or was it possible she deceived herself so far as +to believe us unimpressed by the weighty accusation overheard by us at +a moment so critical? + +But Eleanore Leavenworth, leaning on the arm of the detective, soon +absorbed all my attention. She had regained by this time her +self-possession, also, but not so entirely as her cousin. Her step +faltered as she endeavored to walk, and the hand which rested on his +arm trembled like a leaf. "Would to God I had never entered this +house," said I to myself. And yet, before the exclamation was half +uttered, I became conscious of a secret rebellion against the thought; +an emotion, shall I say, of thankfulness that it had been myself rather +than another who had been allowed to break in upon their privacy, +overhear that significant remark, and, shall I acknowledge it, follow +Mr. Gryce and the trembling, swaying figure of Eleanore Leavenworth +down-stairs. Not that I felt the least relenting in my soul towards +guilt. Crime had never looked so black; revenge, selfishness, hatred, +cupidity, never seemed more loathsome; and yet--but why enter into +the consideration of my feelings at that time. They cannot be of +interest; besides, who can fathom the depths of his own soul, or +untangle for others the secret cords of revulsion and attraction which +are, and ever have been, a mystery and wonder to himself? Enough that, +supporting upon my arm the half-fainting form of one woman, but with my +attention, and interest devoted to another, I descended the stairs of +the Leavenworth mansion, and re-entered the dreaded presence of those +inquisitors of the law who had been so impatiently awaiting us. + +As I once more crossed that threshold, and faced the eager +countenances of those I had left so short a time before, I felt as if +ages had elapsed in the interval; so much can be experienced by the +human soul in the short space of a few over-weighted moments. + + + +VII. MARY LEAVENWORTH + + "For this relief much thanks." + Hamlet. + +HAVE you ever observed the effect of the sunlight bursting suddenly +upon the earth from behind a mass of heavily surcharged clouds? If so, +you can have some idea of the sensation produced in that room by the +entrance of these two beautiful ladies. Possessed of a loveliness which +would have been conspicuous in all places and under all circumstances, +Mary, at least, if not her less striking, though by no means less +interesting cousin, could never have entered any assemblage without +drawing to herself the wondering attention of all present. But, +heralded as here, by the most fearful of tragedies, what could you +expect from a collection of men such as I have already described, but +overmastering wonder and incredulous admiration? Nothing, perhaps, and +yet at the first murmuring sound of amazement and satisfaction, I felt +my soul recoil in disgust. + +Making haste to seat my now trembling companion in the most retired +spot I could find, I looked around for her cousin. But Eleanore +Leavenworth, weak as she had appeared in the interview above, showed at +this moment neither hesitation nor embarrassment. Advancing upon the +arm of the detective, whose suddenly assumed air of persuasion in the +presence of the jury was anything but reassuring, she stood for an +instant gazing calmly upon the scene before her. Then bowing to the +coroner with a grace and condescension which seemed at once to place +him on the footing of a politely endured intruder in this home of +elegance, she took the seat which her own servants hastened to procure +for her, with an ease and dignity that rather recalled the triumphs of +the drawing-room than the self-consciousness of a scene such as that in +which we found ourselves. Palpable acting, though this was, it was not +without its effect. Instantly the murmurs ceased, the obtrusive glances +fell, and something like a forced respect made itself visible upon the +countenances of all present. Even I, impressed as I had been by her +very different demeanor in the room above, experienced a sensation of +relief; and was more than startled when, upon turning to the lady at my +side, I beheld her eyes riveted upon her cousin with an inquiry in +their depths that was anything but encouraging. Fearful of the effect +this look might have upon those about us, I hastily seized her hand +which, clenched and unconscious, hung over the edge of her chair, and +was about to beseech her to have care, when her name, called in a slow, +impressive way by the coroner, roused her from her abstraction. +Hurriedly withdrawing her gaze from her cousin, she lifted her face to +the jury, and I saw a gleam pass over it which brought back my early +fancy of the pythoness. But it passed, and it was with an expression of +great modesty she settled herself to respond to the demand of the +coroner and answer the first few opening inquiries. + +But what can express the anxiety of that moment to me? Gentle as +she now appeared, she was capable of great wrath, as I knew. Was she +going to reiterate her suspicions here? Did she hate as well as +mistrust her cousin? Would she dare assert in this presence, and +before the world, what she found it so easy to utter in the privacy of +her own room and the hearing of the one person concerned? Did she wish +to? Her own countenance gave me no clue to her intentions, and, in my +anxiety, I turned once more to look at Eleanore. But she, in a dread +and apprehension I could easily understand, had recoiled at the first +intimation that her cousin was to speak, and now sat with her face +covered from sight, by hands blanched to an almost deathly whiteness. + +The testimony of Mary Leavenworth was short. After some few +questions, mostly referring to her position in the house and her +connection with its deceased master, she was asked to relate what she +knew of the murder itself, and of its discovery by her cousin and the +servants. + +Lifting up a brow that seemed never to have known till now the +shadow of care or trouble, and a voice that, whilst low and womanly, +rang like a bell through the room, she replied: + +"You ask me, gentlemen, a question which I cannot answer of my own +personal knowledge. I know nothing of this murder, nor of its +discovery, save what has come to me through the lips of others." + +My heart gave a bound of relief, and I saw Eleanore Leavenworth's +hands drop from her brow like stone, while a flickering gleam as of +hope fled over her face, and then died away like sunlight leaving +marble. + +"For, strange as it may seem to you," Mary earnestly continued, the +shadow of a past horror revisiting her countenance, "I did not enter +the room where my uncle lay. I did not even think of doing so; my only +impulse was to fly from what was so horrible and heartrending. But +Eleanore went in, and she can tell you----" + +"We will question Miss Eleanore Leavenworth later," interrupted the +coroner, but very gently for him. Evidently the grace and elegance of +this beautiful woman were making their impression. "What we want to +know is what _you_ saw. You say you cannot tell us of anything +that passed in the room at the time of the discovery?" + +"No, sir." + +"Only what occurred in the hall?" + +"Nothing occurred in the hall," she innocently remarked. + +"Did not the servants pass in from the hall, and your cousin come +out there after her revival from her fainting fit?" + +Mary Leavenworth's violet eyes opened wonderingly. + +"Yes, sir; but that was nothing." + +"You remember, however, her coming into the hall?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"With a paper in her hand?" + +"Paper?" and she wheeled suddenly and looked at her cousin. "Did +you have a paper, Eleanore?" + +The moment was intense. Eleanore Leavenworth, who at the first +mention of the word paper had started perceptibly, rose to her feet at +this naive appeal, and opening her lips, seemed about to speak, when +the coroner, with a strict sense of what was regular, lifted his hand +with decision, and said: + +"You need not ask your cousin, Miss; but let us hear what you have +to say yourself." + +Immediately, Eleanore Leavenworth sank back, a pink spot breaking +out on either cheek; while a slight murmur testified to the +disappointment of those in the room, who were more anxious to have +their curiosity gratified than the forms of law adhered to. + +Satisfied with having done his duty, and disposed to be easy with so +charming a witness, the coroner repeated his question. "Tell us, if +you please, if you saw any such thing in her hand?" + +"I? Oh, no, no; I saw nothing." + +Being now questioned in relation to the events of the previous +night, she had no new light to throw upon the subject. She acknowledged +her uncle to have been a little reserved at dinner, but no more so than +at previous times when annoyed by some business anxiety. + +Asked if she had seen her uncle again that evening, she said no, +that she had been detained in her room. That the sight of him, sitting +in his seat at the head of the table, was the very last remembrance she +had of him. + +There was something so touching, so forlorn, and yet so unobtrusive, +in this simple recollection of hers, that a look of sympathy passed +slowly around the room. + +I even detected Mr. Gryce softening towards the inkstand. But +Eleanore Leavenworth sat unmoved. + +"Was your uncle on ill terms with any one?" was now asked. "Had +he valuable papers or secret sums of money in his possession?" + +To all these inquiries she returned an equal negative. + +"Has your uncle met any stranger lately, or received any important +letter during the last few weeks, which might seem in any way to throw +light upon this mystery?" + +There was the slightest perceptible hesitation in her voice, as she +replied: "No, not to my knowledge; I don't know of any such." But +here, stealing a side glance at Eleanore, she evidently saw something +that reassured her, for she hastened to add: + +"I believe I may go further than that, and meet your question with +a positive no. My uncle was in the habit of confiding in me, and I +should have known if anything of importance to him had occurred." + +Questioned in regard to Hannah, she gave that person the best of +characters; knew of nothing which could have led either to her strange +disappearance, or to her connection with crime. Could not say whether +she kept any company, or had any visitors; only knew that no one with +any such pretensions came to the house. Finally, when asked when she +had last seen the pistol which Mr. Leavenworth always kept in his stand +drawer, she returned, not since the day he bought it; Eleanore, and not +herself, having the charge of her uncle's apartments. + +It was the only thing she had said which, even to a mind freighted +like mine, would seem to point to any private doubt or secret +suspicion; and this, uttered in the careless manner in which it was, +would have passed without comment if Eleanore herself had not directed +at that moment a very much aroused and inquiring look upon the speaker. + +But it was time for the inquisitive juror to make himself heard +again. Edging to the brink of the chair, he drew in his breath, with a +vague awe of Mary's beauty, almost ludicrous to see, and asked if she +had properly considered what she had just said. + +"I hope, sir, I consider all I am called upon to say at such a time +as this," was her earnest reply. + +The little juror drew back, and I looked to see her examination +terminate, when suddenly his ponderous colleague of the watch-chain, +catching the young lady's eye, inquired: + +"Miss Leavenworth, did your uncle ever make a will?" + +Instantly every man in the room was in arms, and even she could not +prevent the slow blush of injured pride from springing to her cheek. +But her answer was given firmly, and without any show of resentment. + +"Yes, sir," she returned simply. + +"More than one?" + +"I never heard of but one." + +"Are you acquainted with the contents of that will?" + +"I am. He made no secret of his intentions to any one." + +The juryman lifted his eye-glass and looked at her. Her grace was +little to him, or her beauty or her elegance. "Perhaps, then, you can +tell me who is the one most likely to be benefited by his death?" + +The brutality of this question was too marked to pass unchallenged. +Not a man in that room, myself included, but frowned with sudden +disapprobation. But Mary Leavenworth, drawing herself up, looked her +interlocutor calmly in the face, and restrained herself to say: + +"I know who would be the greatest losers by it. The children he +took to his bosom in their helplessness and sorrow; the young girls he +enshrined with the halo of his love and protection, when love and +protection were what their immaturity most demanded; the women who +looked to him for guidance when childhood and youth were passed-- +these, sir, these are the ones to whom his death is a loss, in +comparison to which all others which may hereafter befall them must +ever seem trivial and unimportant." + +It was a noble reply to the basest of insinuations, and the juryman +drew back rebuked; but here another of them, one who had not spoken +before, but whose appearance was not only superior to the rest, but +also almost imposing in its gravity, leaned from his seat and in a +solemn voice said: + +"Miss Leavenworth, the human mind cannot help forming impressions. +Now have you, with or without reason, felt at any time conscious of a +suspicion pointing towards any one person as the murderer of your +uncle?" + +It was a frightful moment. To me and to one other, I am sure it was +not only frightful, but agonizing. Would her courage fail? would her +determination to shield her cousin remain firm in the face of duty and +at the call of probity? I dared not hope it. + +But Mary Leavenworth, rising to her feet, looked judge and jury +calmly in the face, and, without raising her voice, giving it an +indescribably clear and sharp intonation, replied: + +"No; I have neither suspicion nor reason for any. The assassin of +my uncle is not only entirely unknown to, but completely unsuspected +by, me." + +It was like the removal of a stifling pressure. Amid a universal +outgoing of the breath, Mary Leavenworth stood aside and Eleanore was +called in her place. + + + +VIII. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE + + "O dark, dark, dark!" + +AND now that the interest was at its height, that the veil which +shrouded this horrible tragedy seemed about to be lifted, if not +entirely withdrawn, I felt a desire to fly the scene, to leave the +spot, to know no more. Not that I was conscious of any particular fear +of this woman betraying herself. The cold steadiness of her now fixed +and impassive countenance was sufficient warranty in itself against the +possibility of any such catastrophe. But if, indeed, the suspicions of +her cousin were the offspring, not only of hatred, but of knowledge; +if that face of beauty was in truth only a mask, and Eleanore +Leavenworth was what the words of her cousin, and her own after +behavior would seem to imply, how could I bear to sit there and see the +frightful serpent of deceit and sin evolve itself from the bosom of +this white rose! And yet, such is the fascination of uncertainty that, +although I saw something of my own feelings reflected in the +countenances of many about me, not a man in all that assemblage showed +any disposition to depart, I least of all. + +The coroner, upon whom the blonde loveliness of Mary had impressed +itself to Eleanor's apparent detriment, was the only one in the room +who showed himself unaffected at this moment. Turning toward the +witness with a look which, while respectful, had a touch of austerity +in it, he began: + +"You have been an intimate of Mr. Leavenworth's family from +childhood, they tell me, Miss Leavenworth?" + +"From my tenth year," was her quiet reply. + +It was the first time I had heard her voice, and it surprised me; it +was so like, and yet so unlike, that of her cousin. Similar in tone, it +lacked its expressiveness, if I may so speak; sounding without +vibration on the ear, and ceasing without an echo. + +"Since that time you have been treated like a daughter, they tell +me?" + +"Yes, sir, like a daughter, indeed; he was more than a father to +both of us." + +"You and Miss Mary Leavenworth are cousins, I believe. When did she +enter the family?" + +"At the same time I did. Our respective parents were victims of the +same disaster. If it had not been for our uncle, we should have been +thrown, children as we were, upon the world. But he"--here she paused, +her firm lips breaking into a half tremble--"but he, in the goodness +of his heart, adopted us into his family, and gave us what we had +both lost, a father and a home." + +"You say he was a father to you as well as to your cousin--that +he adopted you. Do you mean by that, that he not only surrounded you +with present luxury, but gave you to understand that the same should be +secured to you after his death; in short, that he intended to leave any +portion of his property to you?" + +"No, sir; I was given to understand, from the first, that his +property would be bequeathed by will to my cousin." + +"Your cousin was no more nearly related to him than yourself, Miss +Leavenworth; did he never give you any reason for this evident +partiality?" + +"None but his pleasure, sir." + +Her answers up to this point had been so straightforward and +satisfactory that a gradual confidence seemed to be taking the place of +the rather uneasy doubts which had from the first circled about this +woman's name and person. But at this admission, uttered as it was in a +calm, unimpassioned voice, not only the jury, but myself, who had so +much truer reason for distrusting her, felt that actual suspicion in +her case must be very much shaken before the utter lack of motive which +this reply so clearly betokened. + +Meanwhile the coroner continued: "If your uncle was as kind to you +as you say, you must have become very much attached to him?" + +"Yes, sir," her mouth taking a sudden determined curve. + +"His death, then, must have been a great shock to you?" + +"Very, very great." + +"Enough of itself to make you faint away, as they tell me you did, +at the first glimpse you had of his body?" + +"Enough, quite." + +"And yet you seemed to be prepared for it?" + +"Prepared?" + +"The servants say you were much agitated at finding your uncle did +not make his appearance at the breakfast table." + +"The servants!" her tongue seemed to cleave to the roof of her +mouth; she could hardly speak. + +"That when you returned from his room you were very pale." + +Was she beginning to realize that there was some doubt, if not +actual suspicion, in the mind of the man who could assail her with +questions like these? I had not seen her so agitated since that one +memorable instant up in her room. But her mistrust, if she felt any, +did not long betray itself. Calming herself by a great effort, she +replied, with a quiet gesture-- + +"That is not so strange. My uncle was a very methodical man; the +least change in his habits would be likely to awaken our apprehensions." + +"You were alarmed, then?" + +"To a certain extent I was." + +"Miss Leavenworth, who is in the habit of overseeing the regulation +of your uncle's private apartments?" + +"I am, sir." + +"You are doubtless, then, acquainted with a certain stand in his +room containing a drawer?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"How long is it since you had occasion to go to this drawer?" + +"Yesterday," visibly trembling at the admission. + +"At what time?" + +"Near noon, I should judge." + +"Was the pistol he was accustomed to keep there in its place at the +time?" + +"I presume so; I did not observe." + +"Did you turn the key upon closing the drawer?" + +"I did." + +"Take it out?" + +"No, sir." + +"Miss Leavenworth, that pistol, as you have perhaps observed, lies +on the table before you. Will you look at it?" And lifting it up into +view, he held it towards her. + +If he had meant to startle her by the sudden action, he amply +succeeded. At the first sight of the murderous weapon she shrank back, +and a horrified, but quickly suppressed shriek, burst from her lips. +"Oh, no, no!" she moaned, flinging out her hands before her. + +"I must insist upon your looking at it, Miss Leavenworth," pursued +the coroner. "When it was found just now, all the chambers were +loaded." + +Instantly the agonized look left her countenance. "Oh, then--" She +did not finish, but put out her hand for the weapon. + +But the coroner, looking at her steadily, continued: "It has been +lately fired off, for all that. The hand that cleaned the barrel forgot +the cartridge-chamber, Miss Leavenworth." + +She did not shriek again, but a hopeless, helpless look slowly +settled over her face, and she seemed about to sink; but like a flash +the reaction came, and lifting her head with a steady, grand action I +have never seen equalled, she exclaimed, "Very well, what then?" + +The coroner laid the pistol down; men and women glanced at each +other; every one seemed to hesitate to proceed. I heard a tremulous +sigh at my side, and, turning, beheld Mary Leavenworth staring at her +cousin with a startled flush on her cheek, as if she began to recognize +that the public, as well as herself, detected something in this woman, +calling for explanation. + +At last the coroner summoned up courage to continue. + +"You ask me, Miss Leavenworth, upon the evidence given, what then? +Your question obliges me to say that no burglar, no hired assassin, +would have used this pistol for a murderous purpose, and then taken the +pains, not only to clean it, but to reload it, and lock it up again in +the drawer from which he had taken it." + +She did not reply to this; but I saw Mr. Gryce make a note of it +with that peculiar emphatic nod of his. + +"Nor," he went on, even more gravely, "would it be possible for +any one who was not accustomed to pass in and out of Mr. Leavenworth's +room at all hours, to enter his door so late at night, procure this +pistol from its place of concealment, traverse his apartment, and +advance as closely upon him as the facts show to have been necessary, +without causing him at least to turn his head to one side; which, in +consideration of the doctor's testimony, we cannot believe he did." + +It was a frightful suggestion, and we looked to see Eleanore +Leavenworth recoil. But that expression of outraged feeling was left +for her cousin to exhibit. Starting indignantly from her seat, Mary +cast one hurried glance around her, and opened her lips to speak; but +Eleanore, slightly turning, motioned her to have patience, and replied +in a cold and calculating voice: "You are not sure, sir, that this _ +was_ done. If my uncle, for some purpose of his own, had fired the +pistol off yesterday, let us say--which is surely possible, if not +probable--the like results would be observed, and the same +conclusions drawn." + +"Miss Leavenworth," the coroner went on, "the ball has been +extracted from your uncle's head!" + +"Ah!" + +"It corresponds with those in the cartridges found in his stand +drawer, and is of the number used with this pistol." + +Her head fell forward on her hands; her eyes sought the floor; her +whole attitude expressed disheartenment. Seeing it, the coroner grew +still more grave. + +"Miss Leavenworth," said he, "I have now some questions to put you +concerning last night. Where did you spend the evening?" + +"Alone, in my own room." + +"You, however, saw your uncle or your cousin during the course of +it?" + +"No, sir; I saw no one after leaving the dinner table--except +Thomas," she added, after a moment's pause. + +"And how came you to see him?" + +"He came to bring me the card of a gentleman who called." + +"May I ask the name of the gentleman?" + +"The name on the card was Mr. Le Roy Robbins." + +The matter seemed trivial; but the sudden start given by the lady at +my side made me remember it. + +"Miss Leavenworth, when seated in your room, are you in the habit +of leaving your door open?" + +A startled look at this, quickly suppressed. "Not in the habit; +no, sir." + +"Why did you leave it open last night?" + +"I was feeling warm." + +"No other reason?" + +"I can give no other." + +"When did you close it?" + +"Upon retiring." + +"Was that before or after the servants went up?" + +"After." + +"Did you hear Mr. Harwell when he left the library and ascended to +his room?" + +"I did, sir." + +"How much longer did you leave your door open after that?" + +"I--I--a few minutes--a--I cannot say," she added, hurriedly. + +"Cannot say? Why? Do you forget?" + +"I forget just how long after Mr. Harwell came up I closed it." + +"Was it more than ten minutes?" + +"Yes." + +"More than twenty?" + +"Perhaps." How pale her face was, and how she trembled! + +"Miss Leavenworth, according to evidence, your uncle came to his +death not very long after Mr. Harwell left him. If your door was open, +you ought to have heard if any one went to his room, or any pistol shot +was fired. Now, did you hear anything?" + +"I heard no confusion; no, sir." + +"Did you hear anything?" + +"Nor any pistol shot." + +"Miss Leavenworth, excuse my persistence, but did you hear +anything?" + +"I heard a door close." + +"What door?" + +"The library door." + +"When?" + +"I do not know." She clasped her hands hysterically. "I cannot +say. Why do you ask me so many questions?" + +I leaped to my feet; she was swaying, almost fainting. But before I +could reach her, she had drawn herself up again, and resumed her former +demeanor. "Excuse me," said she; "I am not myself this morning. I +beg your pardon," and she turned steadily to the coroner. "What was +it you asked?" + +"I asked," and his voice grew thin and high,--evidently her manner +was beginning to tell against her,--"when it was you heard the +library door shut?" + +"I cannot fix the precise time, but it was after Mr. Harwell came +up, and before I closed my own." + +"And you heard no pistol shot?" + +"No, sir." + +The coroner cast a quick look at the jury, who almost to a man +glanced aside as he did so. + +"Miss Leavenworth, we are told that Hannah, one of the servants, +started for your room late last night after some medicine. Did she come +there?" + +"No, sir." + +"When did you first learn of her remarkable disappearance from this +house during the night?" + +"This morning before breakfast. Molly met me in the hall, and +asked how Hannah was. I thought the inquiry a strange one, and +naturally questioned her. A moment's talk made the conclusion plain +that the girl was gone." + +"What did you think when you became assured of this fact?" + +"I did not know what to think." + +"No suspicion of foul play crossed your mind?" + +"No, sir." + +"You did not connect the fact with that of your uncle's murder?" + +"I did not know of this murder then." + +"And afterwards?" + +"Oh, some thought of the possibility of her knowing something about +it may have crossed my mind; I cannot say." + +"Can you tell us anything of this girl's past history?" + +"I can tell you no more in regard to it than my cousin has done." + +"Do you not know what made her sad at night?" + +Her cheek flushed angrily; was it at his tone, or at the question +itself? "No, sir! she never confided her secrets to my keeping." + +"Then you cannot tell us where she would be likely to go upon +leaving this house?" + +"Certainly not." + +"Miss Leavenworth, we are obliged to put another question to you. +We are told it was by your order your uncle's body was removed from +where it was found, into the next room." + +She bowed her head. + +"Didn't you know it to be improper for you or any one else to +disturb the body of a person found dead, except in the presence and +under the authority of the proper officer?" + +"I did not consult my knowledge, sir, in regard to the subject: +only my feelings." + +"Then I suppose it was your feelings which prompted you to remain +standing by the table at which he was murdered, instead of following +the body in and seeing it properly deposited? Or perhaps," he went on, +with relentless sarcasm, "you were too much interested, just then, in +the piece of paper you took away, to think much of the proprieties of +the occasion?" + +"Paper?" lifting her head with determination. "Who says I took a +piece of paper from the table?" + +"One witness has sworn to seeing you bend over the table upon which +several papers lay strewn; another, to meeting you a few minutes later +in the hall just as you were putting a piece of paper into your pocket. +The inference follows, Miss Leavenworth." + +This was a home thrust, and we looked to see some show of agitation, +but her haughty lip never quivered. + +"You have drawn the inference, and you must prove the fact." + +The answer was stateliness itself, and we were not surprised to see +the coroner look a trifle baffled; but, recovering himself, he said: + +"Miss Leavenworth, I must ask you again, whether you did or did not +take anything from that table?" + +She folded her arms. "I decline answering the question," she +quietly said. + +"Pardon me," he rejoined: "it is necessary that you should." + +Her lip took a still more determined curve. "When any suspicious +paper is found in my possession, it will be time enough then for me to +explain how I came by it." + +This defiance seemed to quite stagger the coroner. + +"Do you realize to what this refusal is liable to subject you?" + +She dropped her head. "I am afraid that I do; yes, sir." + +Mr. Gryce lifted his hand, and softly twirled the tassel of the +window curtain. + +"And you still persist?" + +She absolutely disdained to reply. + +The coroner did not press it further. + +It had now become evident to all, that Eleanore Leavenworth not only +stood on her defence, but was perfectly aware of her position, and +prepared to maintain it. Even her cousin, who until now had preserved +some sort of composure, began to show signs of strong and +uncontrollable agitation, as if she found it one thing to utter an +accusation herself, and quite another to see it mirrored in the +countenances of the men about her. + +"Miss Leavenworth," the coroner continued, changing the line of +attack, "you have always had free access to your uncle's apartments, +have you not?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Might even have entered his room late at night, crossed it and +stood at his side, without disturbing him sufficiently to cause him to +turn his head?" + +"Yes," her hands pressing themselves painfully together. + +"Miss Leavenworth, the key to the library door is missing." + +She made no answer. + +"It has been testified to, that previous to the actual discovery of +the murder, you visited the door of the library alone. Will you tell us +if the key was then in the lock?" + +"It was not." + +"Are you certain?" + +"I am." + +"Now, was there anything peculiar about this key, either in size or +shape?" + +She strove to repress the sudden terror which this question +produced, glanced carelessly around at the group of servants stationed +at her back, and trembled. "It was a little different from the +others," she finally acknowledged. + +"In what respect?" + +"The handle was broken." + +"Ah, gentlemen, the handle was broken!" emphasized the coroner, +looking towards the jury. + +Mr. Gryce seemed to take this information to himself, for he gave +another of his quick nods. + +"You would, then, recognize this key, Miss Leavenworth, if you +should see it?" + +She cast a startled look at him, as if she expected to behold it in +his hand; but, seeming to gather courage at not finding it produced, +replied quite easily: + +"I think I should, sir." + +The coroner seemed satisfied, and was about to dismiss the witness +when Mr. Gryce quietly advanced and touched him on the arm. "One +moment," said that gentleman, and stooping, he whispered a few words in +the coroner's ear; then, recovering himself, stood with his right hand +in his breast pocket and his eye upon the chandelier. + +I scarcely dared to breathe. Had he repeated to the coroner the +words he had inadvertently overheard in the hall above? But a glance +at the latter's face satisfied me that nothing of such importance had +transpired. He looked not only tired, but a trifle annoyed. + +"Miss Leavenworth," said he, turning again in her direction; "you +have declared that you did not visit your uncle's room last evening. Do +you repeat the assertion?" + +"I do." + +He glanced at Mr. Gryce, who immediately drew from his breast a +handkerchief curiously soiled. "It is strange, then, that your +handkerchief should have been found this morning in that room." + +The girl uttered a cry. Then, while Mary's face hardened into a sort +of strong despair, Eleanore tightened her lips and coldly replied, +"I do not see as it is so very strange. I was in that room early this +morning." + +"And you dropped it then?" + +A distressed blush crossed her face; she did not reply. + +"Soiled in this way?" he went on. + +"I know nothing about the soil. What is it? let me see." + +"In a moment. What we now wish, is to know how it came to be in +your uncle's apartment." + +"There are many ways. I might have left it there days ago. I have +told you I was in the habit of visiting his room. But first, let me see +if it is my handkerchief." And she held out her hand. + +"I presume so, as I am told it has your initials embroidered in the +corner," he remarked, as Mr. Gryce passed it to her. + +But she with horrified voice interrupted him. "These dirty spots! +What are they? They look like--" + +"--what they are," said the coroner. "If you have ever cleaned a +pistol, you must know what they are, Miss Leavenworth." + +She let the handkerchief fall convulsively from her hand, and stood +staring at it, lying before her on the floor. "I know nothing about +it, gentlemen," she said. "It is my handkerchief, but--" for some +cause she did not finish her sentence, but again repeated, "Indeed, +gentlemen, I know nothing about it!" + +This closed her testimony. + +Kate, the cook, was now recalled, and asked to tell when she last +washed the handkerchief? + +"This, sir; this handkerchief? Oh, some time this week, sir," +throwing a deprecatory glance at her mistress. + +"What day?" + +"Well, I wish I could forget, Miss Eleanore, but I can' t. It is +the only one like it in the house. I washed it day before yesterday." + +"When did you iron it?" + +"Yesterday morning," half choking over the words. + +"And when did you take it to her room?" + +The cook threw her apron over her head. "Yesterday afternoon, with +the rest of the clothes, just before dinner. Indade, I could not help +it, Miss Eleanore!" she whispered; "it was the truth." + +Eleanore Leavenworth frowned. This somewhat contradictory evidence +had very sensibly affected her; and when, a moment later, the coroner, +having dismissed the witness, turned towards her, and inquired if she +had anything further to say in the way of explanation or otherwise, she +threw her hands up almost spasmodically, slowly shook her head and, +without word or warning, fainted quietly away in her chair. + +A commotion, of course, followed, during which I noticed that Mary +did not hasten to her cousin, but left it for Molly and Kate to do what +they could toward her resuscitation. In a few moments this was in so +far accomplished that they were enabled to lead her from the room. As +they did so, I observed a tall man rise and follow her out. + +A momentary silence ensued, soon broken, however, by an impatient +stir as our little juryman rose and proposed that the jury should now +adjourn for the day. This seeming to fall in with the coroner's views, +he announced that the inquest would stand adjourned till three o'clock +the next day, when he trusted all the jurors would be present. + +A general rush followed, that in a few minutes emptied the room of +all but Miss Leavenworth, Mr. Gryce, and myself. + + + +IX. A DISCOVERY + + "His rolling Eies did never rest in place, But walkte each where + for feare of hid mischance, Holding a lattis still before his Pace, + Through which he still did peep as forward he did pace." + + Faerie Queene. + +MISS LEAVENWORTH, who appeared to have lingered from a vague terror +of everything and everybody in the house not under her immediate +observation, shrank from my side the moment she found herself left +comparatively alone, and, retiring to a distant corner, gave herself up +to grief. Turning my attention, therefore, in the direction of Mr. +Gryce, I found that person busily engaged in counting his own fingers +with a troubled expression upon his countenance, which may or may not +have been the result of that arduous employment. But, at my approach, +satisfied perhaps that he possessed no more than the requisite number, +he dropped his hands and greeted me with a faint smile which was, +considering all things, too suggestive to be pleasant. + +"Well," said I, taking my stand before him, "I cannot blame you. +You had a right to do as you thought best; but how had you the heart? +Was she not sufficiently compromised without your bringing out that +wretched handkerchief, which she may or may not have dropped in that +room, but whose presence there, soiled though it was with pistol +grease, is certainly no proof that she herself was connected with this +murder?" + +"Mr. Raymond," he returned, "I have been detailed as police +officer and detective to look after this case, and I propose to do it." + +"Of course," I hastened to reply. "I am the last man to wish you +to shirk your duly; but you cannot have the temerity to declare that +this young and tender creature can by any possibility be considered as +at all likely to be implicated in a crime so monstrous and unnatural. +The mere assertion of another woman's suspicions on the subject ought +not----" + +But here Mr. Gryce interrupted me. "You talk when your attention +should be directed to more important matters. That other woman, as you +are pleased to designate the fairest ornament of New York society, sits +over there in tears; go and comfort her." + +Looking at him in amazement, I hesitated to comply; but, seeing he +was in earnest, crossed to Mary Leavenworth and sat down by her side. +She was weeping, but in a slow, unconscious way, as if grief had been +mastered by fear. The fear was too undisguised and the grief too +natural for me to doubt the genuineness of either. + +"Miss Leavenworth," said I, "any attempt at consolation on the +part of a stranger must seem at a time like this the most bitter of +mockeries; but do try and consider that circumstantial evidence is not +always absolute proof." + +Starting with surprise, she turned her eyes upon me with a slow, +comprehensive gaze wonderful to see in orbs so tender and womanly. + +"No," she repeated; "circumstantial evidence is not absolute proof, +but Eleanore does not know this. She is so intense; she cannot see but +one thing at a time. She has been running her head into a noose, and +oh,--" Pausing, she clutched my arm with a passionate grasp: "Do you +think there is any danger? Will they--" She could not go on. + +"Miss Leavenworth," I protested, with a warning look toward the +detective, "what do you mean?" + +Like a flash, her glance followed mine, an instant change taking +place in her bearing. + +"Your cousin may be intense," I went on, as if nothing had +occurred; "but I do not know to what you refer when you say she has +been running her head into a noose." + +"I mean this," she firmly returned: "that, wittingly or +unwittingly, she has so parried and met the questions which have been +put to her in this room that any one listening to her would give her +the credit of knowing more than she ought to of this horrible affair. +She acts"--Mary whispered, but not so low but that every word could be +distinctly heard in all quarters of the room--"as if she were anxious +to conceal something. But she is not; I am sure she is not. Eleanore +and I are not good friends; but all the world can never make me believe +she has any more knowledge of this murder than I have. Won't somebody +tell her, then--won't you--that her manner is a mistake; that it is +calculated to arouse suspicion; that it has already done so? And oh, +don't forget to add"--her voice sinking to a decided whisper now-- +"what you have just repeated to me: that circumstantial evidence is +not always absolute proof." + +I surveyed her with great astonishment. What an actress this woman +was! + +"You request me to tell her this," said I. "Wouldn't it be +better for you to speak to her yourself?" + +"Eleanore and I hold little or no confidential communication," she +replied. + +I could easily believe this, and yet I was puzzled. Indeed, there +was something incomprehensible in her whole manner. Not knowing what +else to say, I remarked, "That is unfortunate. She ought to be told +that the straightforward course is the best by all means." + +Mary Leavenworth only wept. "Oh, why has this awful trouble come +to me, who have always been so happy before!" + +"Perhaps for the very reason that you have always been so happy." + +"It was not enough for dear uncle to die in this horrible manner; +but she, my own cousin, had to----" + +I touched her arm, and the action seemed to recall her to herself. +Stopping short, she bit her lip. + +"Miss Leavenworth," I whispered, "you should hope for the best. +Besides, I honestly believe you to be disturbing yourself +unnecessarily. If nothing fresh transpires, a mere prevarication or so +of your cousin's will not suffice to injure her." + +I said this to see if she had any reason to doubt the future. I was +amply rewarded. + +"Anything fresh? How could there be anything fresh, when she is +perfectly innocent?" + +Suddenly, a thought seemed to strike her. Wheeling round in her seat +till her lovely, perfumed wrapper brushed my knee, she asked: "Why +didn't they ask me more questions? I could have told them Eleanore +never left her room last night." + +"You could?" What was I to think of this woman? + +"Yes; my room is nearer the head of the stairs than hers; if she +had passed my door, I should have heard her, don't you see?" + +Ah, that was all. + +"That does not follow," I answered sadly. "Can you give no other +reason?" + +"I would say whatever was necessary," she whispered. + +I started back. Yes, this woman would lie now to save her cousin; +had lied during the inquest. But then I felt grateful, and now I was +simply horrified. + +"Miss Leavenworth," said I, "nothing can justify one in violating +the dictates of his own conscience, not even the safety of one we do +not altogether love." + +"No?" she returned; and her lip took a tremulous curve, the +lovely bosom heaved, and she softly looked away. + +If Eleanore's beauty had made less of an impression on my fancy, or +her frightful situation awakened less anxiety in my breast, I should +have been a lost man from that moment. + +"I did not mean to do anything very wrong," Miss Leavenworth +continued. "Do not think too badly of me." + +"No, no," said I; and there is not a man living who would not have +said the same in my place. + +What more might have passed between us on this subject I cannot say, +for just then the door opened and a man entered whom I recognized as +the one who had followed Eleanore Leavenworth out, a short time before. + +"Mr. Gryce," said he, pausing just inside the door; "a word if +you please." + +The detective nodded, but did not hasten towards him; instead of +that, he walked deliberately away to the other end of the room, where +he lifted the lid of an inkstand he saw there, muttered some +unintelligible words into it, and speedily shut it again. Immediately +the uncanny fancy seized me that if I should leap to that inkstand, +open it and peer in, I should surprise and capture the bit of +confidence he had intrusted to it. But I restrained my foolish impulse, +and contented myself with noting the subdued look of respect with which +the gaunt subordinate watched the approach of his superior. + +"Well?" inquired the latter as he reached him: "what now?" + +The man shrugged his shoulders, and drew his principal through the +open door. Once in the hall their voices sank to a whisper, and as +their backs only were visible, I turned to look at my companion. She +was pale but composed. + +"Has he come from Eleanore?" + +"I do not know; I fear so. Miss Leavenworth," I proceeded, "can +it be possible that your cousin has anything in her possession she +desires to conceal?" + +"Then you think she is trying to conceal something?" + +"I do not say so. But there was considerable talk about a paper----" + +"They will never find any paper or anything else suspicious in +Eleanore's possession," Mary interrupted. "In the first place, there +was no paper of importance enough"--I saw Mr. Gryce's form suddenly +stiffen--"for any one to attempt its abstraction and concealment." + +"Can you be sure of that? May not your cousin be acquainted with +something----" + +"There was nothing to be acquainted with, Mr. Raymond. We lived +the most methodical and domestic of lives. I cannot understand, for my +part, why so much should be made out of this. My uncle undoubtedly came +to his death by the hand of some intended burglar. That nothing was +stolen from the house is no proof that a burglar never entered it. As +for the doors and windows being locked, will you take the word of an +Irish servant as infallible upon such an important point? I cannot. I +believe the assassin to be one of a gang who make their living by +breaking into houses, and if you cannot honestly agree with me, do try +and consider such an explanation as possible; if not for the sake of +the family credit, why then"--and she turned her face with all its +fair beauty upon mine, eyes, cheeks, mouth all so exquisite and +winsome--"why then, for mine." + +Instantly Mr. Gryce turned towards us. "Mr. Raymond, will you be +kind enough to step this way?" + +Glad to escape from my present position, I hastily obeyed. + +"What has happened?" I asked. + +"We propose to take you into our confidence," was the easy +response. "Mr. Raymond, Mr. Fobbs." + +I bowed to the man I saw before me, and stood uneasily waiting. +Anxious as I was to know what we really had to fear, I still +intuitively shrank from any communication with one whom I looked upon +as a spy. + +"A matter of some importance," resumed the detective. "It is not +necessary for me to remind you that it is in confidence, is it?" + +"No." + +"I thought not. Mr. Fobbs you may proceed." + +Instantly the whole appearance of the man Fobbs changed. Assuming an +expression of lofty importance, he laid his large hand outspread upon +his heart and commenced. + +"Detailed by Mr. Gryce to watch the movements of Miss Eleanore +Leavenworth, I left this room upon her departure from it, and followed +her and the two servants who conducted her up-stairs to her own +apartment. Once there---" + +Mr. Gryce interrupted him. "Once there? where?" + +"Her own room, sir." + +"Where situated?" + +"At the head of the stairs." + +"That is not her room. Go on." + +"Not her room? Then it _was_ the fire she was after!" he +cried, clapping himself on the knee. + +"The fire?" + +"Excuse me; I am ahead of my story. She did not appear to notice +me much, though I was right behind her. It was not until she had +reached the door of this room--which was not her room!" he +interpolated dramatically, "and turned to dismiss her servants, that +she seemed conscious of having been followed. Eying me then with an air +of great dignity, quickly eclipsed, however, by an expression of +patient endurance, she walked in, leaving the door open behind her in a +courteous way I cannot sufficiently commend." + +I could not help frowning. Honest as the man appeared, this was +evidently anything but a sore subject with him. Observing me frown, he +softened his manner. + +"Not seeing any other way of keeping her under my eye, except by +entering the room, I followed her in, and took a seat in a remote +corner. She flashed one look at me as I did so, and commenced pacing +the floor in a restless kind of way I'm not altogether unused to. At +last she stopped abruptly, right in the middle of the room. 'Get me a +glass of water!' she gasped; 'I'm faint again--quick! on the stand +in the corner.' Now in order to get that glass of water it was +necessary for me to pass behind a dressing mirror that reached almost +to the ceiling; and I naturally hesitated. But she turned and looked at +me, and--Well, gentlemen, I think either of you would have hastened to +do what she asked; or at least"--with a doubtful look at Mr. Gryce-- +"have given your two ears for the privilege, even if you didn't +succumb to the temptation." + +"Well, well!" exclaimed Mr. Gryce, impatiently. + +"I am going on," said he. "I stepped cut of sight, then, for a +moment; but it seemed long enough for her purpose; for when I emerged, +glass in hand, she was kneeling at the grate full five feet from the +spot where she had been standing, and was fumbling with the waist of +her dress in a way to convince me she had something concealed there +which she was anxious to dispose of. I eyed her pretty closely as I +handed her the glass of water, but she was gazing into the grate, and +didn't appear to notice. Drinking barely a drop, she gave it back, and +in another moment was holding out her hands over the fire. 'Oh, I am +so cold!' she cried, 'so cold.' And I verily believe she was. At any +rate, she shivered most naturally. But there were a few dying embers in +the grate, and when I saw her thrust her hand again into the folds of +her dress I became distrustful of her intentions and, drawing a step +nearer, looked over her shoulder, when I distinctly saw her drop +something into the grate that clinked as it fell. Suspecting what it +was, I was about to interfere, when she sprang to her feet, seized the +scuttle of coal that was upon the hearth, and with one move emptied the +whole upon the dying embers. 'I want a fire,' she cried, 'a fire!' +'That is hardly the way to make one,' I returned, carefully taking the +coal out with my hands, piece by piece, and putting it back into the +scuttle, till--" + +"Till what?" I asked, seeing him and Mr. Gryce exchange a hurried +look. + +"Till I found this!" opening his large hand, and showing me _a +broken-handled key._ + + + +X. MR. GRYCE RECEIVES NEW IMPETUS + + "There's nothing ill + Can dwell in such a temple." + + Tempest. + +THIS astounding discovery made a most unhappy impression upon me. It +was true, then. Eleanore the beautiful, the lovesome, was--I did not, +could not finish the sentence, even in the silence of my own mind. + +"You look surprised," said Mr. Gryce, glancing curiously towards +the key. "Now, I ain't. A woman does not thrill, blush, equivocate, and +faint for nothing; especially such a woman as Miss Leavenworth." + +"A woman who could do such a deed would be the last to thrill, +equivocate, and faint," I retorted. "Give me the key; let me see +it." + +He complacently put it in my hand. "It is the one we want. No +getting out of that." + +I returned it. "If she declares herself innocent, I will believe +her." + +He stared with great amazement. "You have strong faith in the +women," he laughed. "I hope they will never disappoint you." + +I had no reply for this, and a short silence ensued, first broken by +Mr. Gryce. "There is but one thing left to do," said he. "Fobbs, +you will have to request Miss Leavenworth to come down. Do not alarm +her; only see that she comes. To the reception room," he added, as the +man drew off. + +No sooner were we left alone than I made a move to return to Mary, +but he stopped me. + +"Come and see it out," he whispered. "She will be down in a +moment; see it out; you had best." + +Glancing back, I hesitated; but the prospect of beholding Eleanore +again drew me, in spite of myself. Telling him to wait, I returned to +Mary's side to make my excuses. + +"What is the matter--what has occurred?" she breathlessly asked. + +"Nothing as yet to disturb you much. Do not be alarmed." But my +face betrayed me. + +"There is something!" said she. + +"Your cousin is coming down." + +"Down here?" and she shrank visibly. + +"No, to the reception room." + +"I do not understand. It is all dreadful; and no one tells me +anything." + +"I pray God there may be nothing to tell. Judging from your present +faith in your cousin, there will not be. Take comfort, then, and be +assured I will inform you if anything occurs which you ought to know." + +Giving her a look of encouragement, I left her crushed against the +crimson pillows of the sofa on which she sat, and rejoined Mr. Gryce. +We had scarcely entered the reception room when Eleanore Leavenworth +came in. + +More languid than she was an hour before, but haughty still, she +slowly advanced, and, meeting my eye, gently bent her head. + +"I have been summoned here," said she, directing herself +exclusively to Mr. Gryce, "by an individual whom I take to be in your +employ. If so, may I request you to make your wishes known at once, as +I am quite exhausted, and am in great need of rest." + +"Miss Leavenworth," returned Mr. Gryce, rubbing his hands together +and staring in quite a fatherly manner at the door-knob, "I am very +sorry to trouble you, but the fact is I wish to ask you----" + +But here she stopped him. "Anything in regard to the key which that +man has doubtless told you he saw me drop into the ashes?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"Then I must refuse to answer any questions concerning it. I have +nothing to say on the subject, unless it is this: "--giving him a look +full of suffering, but full of a certain sort of courage, too--" that +he was right if he told you I had the key in hiding about my person, +and that I attempted to conceal it in the ashes of the grate." + +"Still, Miss----" + +But she had already withdrawn to the door. "I pray you to excuse +me," said she. "No argument you could advance would make any +difference in my determination; therefore it would be but a waste of +energy on your part to attempt any." And, with a flitting glance in my +direction, not without its appeal, she quietly left the room. + +For a moment Mr. Gryce stood gazing after her with a look of great +interest, then, bowing with almost exaggerated homage, he hastily +followed her out. + +I had scarcely recovered from the surprise occasioned by this +unexpected movement when a quick step was heard in the hall, and Mary, +flushed and anxious, appeared at my side. + +"What is it?" she inquired. "What has Eleanore been saying?" + +"Alas!" I answered, "she has not said anything. That is the +trouble, Miss Leavenworth. Your cousin preserves a reticence upon +certain points very painful to witness. She ought to understand that if +she persists in doing this, that----" + +"That what?" There was no mistaking the deep anxiety prompting +this question. + +"That she cannot avoid the trouble that will ensue." + +For a moment she stood gazing at me, with great horror-stricken, +incredulous eyes; then sinking back into a chair, flung her hands over +her face with the cry: + +"Oh, why were we ever born! Why were we allowed to live! Why did +we not perish with those who gave us birth!" + +In the face of anguish like this, I could not keep still. + +"Dear Miss Leavenworth," I essayed, "there is no cause for such +despair as this. The future looks dark, but not impenetrable. Your +cousin will listen to reason, and in explaining----" + +But she, deaf to my words, had again risen to her feet, and stood +before me in an attitude almost appalling. + +"Some women in my position would go mad! mad! mad!" + +I surveyed her with growing wonder. I thought I knew what she meant. +She was conscious of having given the cue which had led to this +suspicion of her cousin, and that in this way the trouble which hung +over their heads was of her own making. I endeavored to soothe her, but +my efforts were all unavailing. Absorbed in her own anguish, she paid +but little attention to me. Satisfied at last that I could do nothing +more for her, I turned to go. The movement seemed to arouse her. + +"I am sorry to leave," said I, "without having afforded you any +comfort. Believe me; I am very anxious to assist you. Is there no one +I can send to your side; no woman friend or relative? It is sad to +leave you alone in this house at such a time." + +"And do you expect me to remain here? Why, I should die! Here +to-night?" and the long shudders shook her very frame. + +"It is not at all necessary for you to do so, Miss Leavenworth," +broke in a bland voice over our shoulders. + +I turned with a start. Mr. Gryce was not only at our back, but had +evidently been there for some moments. Seated near the door, one hand +in his pocket, the other caressing the arm of his chair, he met our +gaze with a sidelong smile that seemed at once to beg pardon for the +intrusion, and to assure us it was made with no unworthy motive. +"Everything will be properly looked after, Miss; you can leave with +perfect safety." + +I expected to see her resent this interference; but instead of that, +she manifested a certain satisfaction in beholding him there. + +Drawing me to one side, she whispered, "You think this Mr. Gryce +very clever, do you not?" + +"Well," I cautiously replied, "he ought to be to hold the position +he does. The authorities evidently repose great confidence in him." + +Stepping from my side as suddenly as she had approached it, she +crossed the room and stood before Mr. Gryce. + +"Sir," said she, gazing at him with a glance of entreaty: "I hear +you have great talents; that you can ferret out the real criminal from +a score of doubtful characters, and that nothing can escape the +penetration of your eye. If this is so, have pity on two orphan girls, +suddenly bereft of their guardian and protector, and use your +acknowledged skill in finding out who has committed this crime. It +would be folly in me to endeavor to hide from you that my cousin in her +testimony has given cause for suspicion; but I here declare her to be +as innocent of wrong as I am; and I am only endeavoring to turn the eye +of justice from the guiltless to the guilty when I entreat you to look +elsewhere for the culprit who committed this deed." Pausing, she held +her two hands out before him. "It must have been some common burglar +or desperado; can you not bring him, then, to justice?" + +Her attitude was so touching, her whole appearance so earnest and +appealing, that I saw Mr. Gryce's countenance brim with suppressed +emotion, though his eye never left the coffee-urn upon which it had +fixed itself at her first approach. + +"You must find out--you can!" she went on. "Hannah--the girl who +is gone--must know all about it. Search for her, ransack the city, do +anything; my property is at your disposal. I will offer a large reward +for the detection of the burglar who did this deed!" + +Mr. Gryce slowly rose. "Miss Leavenworth," he began, and stopped; +the man was actually agitated. "Miss Leavenworth, I did not need your +very touching appeal to incite me to my utmost duty in this case. +Personal and professional pride were in themselves sufficient. But, +since you have honored me with this expression of your wishes, I will +not conceal from you that I shall feel a certain increased interest in +the affair from this hour. What mortal man can do, I will do, and if in +one month from this day I do not come to you for my reward, Ebenezer +Gryce is not the man I have always taken him to be." + +"And Eleanore?" + +"We will mention no names," said he, gently waving his hand to +and fro. + +A few minutes later, I left the house with Miss Leavenworth, she +having expressed a wish to have me accompany her to the home of her +friend, Mrs. Gilbert, with whom she had decided to take refuge. As we +rolled down the street in the carriage Mr. Gryce had been kind enough +to provide for us, I noticed my companion cast a look of regret behind +her, as if she could not help feeling some compunctions at this +desertion of her cousin. + +But this expression was soon changed for the alert look of one who +dreads to see a certain face start up from some unknown quarter. +Glancing up and down the street, peering furtively into doorways as we +passed, starting and trembling if a sudden figure appeared on the +curbstone, she did not seem to breathe with perfect ease till we had +left the avenue behind us and entered upon Thirty-seventh Street. Then, +all at once her natural color returned and, leaning gently toward me, +she asked if I had a pencil and piece of paper I could give her. I +fortunately possessed both. Handing them to her, I watched her with +some little curiosity while she wrote two or three lines, wondering she +could choose such a time and place for the purpose. + +"A little note I wish to send," she explained, glancing at the +almost illegible scrawl with an expression of doubt. "Couldn't you +stop the carriage a moment while I direct it?" + +I did so, and in another instant the leaf which I had torn from my +note-book was folded, directed, and sealed with a stamp which she had +taken from her own pocket-book. + +"That is a crazy-looking epistle," she muttered, as she laid it, +direction downwards, in her lap. + +"Why not wait, then, till you arrive at your destination, where you +can seal it properly, and direct it at your leisure?" + +"Because I am in haste. I wish to mail it now. Look, there is a box +on the corner; please ask the driver to stop once more." + +"Shall I not post it for you?" I asked, holding out my hand. + +But she shook her head, and, without waiting for my assistance, +opened the door on her own side of the carriage and leaped to the +ground. Even then she paused to glance up and down the street, before +venturing to drop her hastily written letter into the box. But when it +had left her hand, she looked brighter and more hopeful than I had yet +seen her. And when, a few moments later, she turned to bid me good-by +in front of her friend's house, it was with almost a cheerful air she +put out her hand and entreated me to call on her the next day, and +inform her how the inquest progressed. + +I shall not attempt to disguise from you the fact that I spent all +that long evening in going over the testimony given at the inquest, +endeavoring to reconcile what I had heard with any other theory than +that of Eleanore's guilt. Taking a piece of paper, I jotted down the +leading causes of suspicion as follows: + +1. Her late disagreement with her uncle, and evident estrangement +from him, as testified to by Mr. Harwell. + +2. The mysterious disappearance of one of the servants of the house. + +3. The forcible accusation made by her cousin,--overheard, however, +only by Mr. Gryce and myself. + +4. Her equivocation in regard to the handkerchief found stained with +pistol smut on the scene of the tragedy. + +5. Her refusal to speak in regard to the paper which she was +supposed to have taken from Mr. Leavenworth's table immediately upon +the removal of the body. + +6. The finding of the library key in her possession. + +"A dark record," I involuntarily decided, as I looked it over; but +even in doing so began jotting down on the other side of the sheet the +following explanatory notes: + +1. Disagreements and even estrangements between relatives are +common. Cases where such disagreements and estrangements have led to +crime, rare. + +2. The disappearance of Hannah points no more certainly in one +direction than another. + +3. If Mary's private accusation of her cousin was forcible and +convincing, her public declaration that she neither knew nor suspected +who might be the author of this crime, was equally so. To be sure, the +former possessed the advantage of being uttered spontaneously; but it +was likewise true that it was spoken under momentary excitement, +without foresight of the consequences, and possibly without due +consideration of the facts. + +4. 5. An innocent man or woman, under the influence of terror, will +often equivocate in regard to matters that seem to criminate them. + +But the key! What could I say to that? Nothing. With that key in +her possession, and unexplained, Eleanore Leavenworth stood in an +attitude of suspicion which even I felt forced to recognize. Brought to +this point, I thrust the paper into my pocket, and took up the evening +_Express_. Instantly my eye fell upon these words: + + SHOCKING MURDER + + MR. LEAVENWORTH, THE WELL-KNOWN MILLIONAIRE, FOUND DEAD IN HIS ROOM + + NO CLUE TO THE PERPETRATOR OF THE DEED + + THE AWFUL CRIME COMMITTED WITH A PISTOL--EXTRAORDINARY FEATURES OP + THE AFFAIR + +Ah! here at least was one comfort; her name was not yet mentioned as +that of a suspected party. But what might not the morrow bring? I +thought of Mr. Gryce's expressive look as he handed me that key, and +shuddered. + +"She must be innocent; she cannot be otherwise," I reiterated to +myself, and then pausing, asked what warranty I had of this? Only her +beautiful face; only, only her beautiful face. Abashed, I dropped the +newspaper, and went down-stairs just as a telegraph boy arrived with a +message from Mr. Veeley. It was signed by the proprietor of the hotel +at which Mr. Veeley was then stopping and ran thus: + + "WASHINGTON, D. C. + + "MR. Everett Raymond-- + + "Mr. Veeley is lying at my house ill. Have not shown him telegram, + fearing results. Will do so as soon as advisable. + + "Thomas Loworthy." + +I went in musing. Why this sudden sensation of relief on my part? +Could it be that I had unconsciously been guilty of cherishing a latent +dread of my senior's return? Why, who else could know so well the +secret springs which governed this family? Who else could so +effectually put me upon the right track? Was it possible that I, +Everett Raymond, hesitated to know the truth in any case? No, that +should never be said; and, sitting down again, I drew out the +memoranda I had made and, looking them carefully over, wrote against +No. 6 the word suspicious in good round characters. There! do one +could say, after that, I had allowed myself to be blinded by a +bewitching face from seeing what, in a woman with no claims to +comeliness, would be considered at once an almost indubitable evidence +of guilt. + +And yet, after it was all done, I found myself repeating aloud as I +gazed at it:" If she declares herself innocent, I will believe her." So +completely are we the creatures of our own predilections. + + + +XI. THE SUMMONS + + "The pink of courtesy." + Romeo and Juliet. + +THE morning papers contained a more detailed account of the murder than +those of the evening before; but, to my great relief, in none of them +was Eleanore's name mentioned in the connection I most dreaded. + +The final paragraph in the _Times_ ran thus: "The detectives +are upon the track of the missing girl, Hannah." And in the _Herald_ I +read the following notice: + +"_A Liberal Reward_ will be given by the relatives of Horatio +Leavenworth, Esq., deceased, for any news of the whereabouts of one +Hannah Chester, disappeared from the house -------- Fifth Avenue since +the evening of March 4. Said girl was of Irish extraction; in age about +twenty-five, and may be known by the following characteristics. Form +tall and slender; hair dark brown with a tinge of red; complexion +fresh; features delicate and well made; hands small, but with the +fingers much pricked by the use of the needle; feet large, and of a +coarser type than the hands. She had on when last seen a checked +gingham dress, brown and white, and was supposed to have wrapped +herself in a red and green blanket shawl, very old. Beside the above +distinctive marks, she had upon her right hand wrist the scar of a +large burn; also a pit or two of smallpox upon the left temple." + +This paragraph turned my thoughts in a new direction. Oddly enough, +I had expended very little thought upon this girl; and yet how apparent +it was that she was the one person upon whose testimony, if given, the +whole case in reality hinged, I could not agree with those who +considered her as personally implicated in the murder. An accomplice, +conscious of what was before her, would have hid in her pockets +whatever money she possessed. But the roll of bills found in Hannah's +trunk proved her _to_ have left too hurriedly for this precaution. +On the other hand, if this girl had come unexpectedly upon the assassin +at his work, how could she have been hustled from the house without +creating a disturbance loud enough to have been heard by the ladies, +one of whom had her door open? An innocent girl's first impulse upon +such an occasion would have been to scream; and yet no scream was +heard; she simply disappeared. What were we to think then? That the +person seen by her was one both known and trusted? I would not consider +such a possibility; so laying down the paper, I endeavored to put away +all further consideration of the affair till I had acquired more facts +upon which to base the theory. But who can control his thoughts when +over-excited upon any one theme? All the morning I found myself +turning the case over in my mind, arriving ever at one of two +conclusions. Hannah Chester must be found, or Eleanore Leavenworth must +explain when and by what means the key of the library door came into +her possession. + +At two o'clock I started from my office to attend the inquest; but, +being delayed on the way, missed arriving at the house until after the +delivery of the verdict. This was a disappointment to me, especially as +by these means I lost the opportunity of seeing Eleanore Leavenworth, +she having retired to her room immediately upon the dismissal of the +jury. But Mr. Harwell was visible, and from him I heard what the +verdict had been. + +"Death by means of a pistol shot from the hand of some person +unknown." + +The result of the inquest was a great relief to me. I had feared +worse. Nor could I help seeing that, for all his studied self-command, +the pale-faced secretary shared in my satisfaction. + +What was less of a relief to me was the fact, soon communicated, +that Mr. Gryce and his subordinates had left the premises immediately +upon the delivery of the verdict. Mr. Gryce was not the man to forsake +an affair like this while anything of importance connected with it +remained unexplained. Could it be he meditated any decisive action? +Somewhat alarmed, I was about to hurry from the house for the purpose +of learning what his intentions were, when a sudden movement in the +front lower window of the house on the opposite side of the way +arrested my attention, and, looking closer, I detected the face of Mr. +Fobbs peering out from behind the curtain. The sight assured me I was +not wrong in my estimate of Mr. Gryce; and, struck with pity for the +desolate girl left to meet the exigencies of a fate to which this watch +upon her movements was but the evident precursor, I stepped back and +sent her a note, in which, as Mr. Veeley's representative, I proffered +my services in case of any sudden emergency, saying I was always to be +found in my rooms between the hours of six and eight. This done, I +proceeded to the house in Thirty-seventh Street where I had left Miss +Mary Leavenworth the day before. + +Ushered into the long and narrow drawing-room which of late years +has been so fashionable in our uptown houses, I found myself almost +immediately in the presence of Miss Leavenworth. + +"Oh," she cried, with an eloquent gesture of welcome, "I had begun +to think I was forsaken!" and advancing impulsively, she held out her +hand. "What is the news from home?" + +"A verdict of murder, Miss Leavenworth." + +Her eyes did not lose their question. + +"Perpetrated by party or parties unknown." + +A look of relief broke softly across her features. + +"And they are all gone?" she exclaimed. + +"I found no one in the house who did not belong there." + +"Oh! then we can breathe easily again." + +I glanced hastily up and down the room. + +"There is no one here," said she. + +And still I hesitated. At length, in an awkward way enough, I turned +towards her and said: + +"I do not wish either to offend or alarm you, but I must say that I +consider it your duty to return to your own home to-night." + +"Why?" she stammered. "Is there any particular reason for my +doing so? Have you not perceived the impossibility of my remaining in +the same house with Eleanore?" + +"Miss Leavenworth, I cannot recognize any so-called impossibility +of this nature. Eleanore is your cousin; has been brought up to regard +you as a sister; it is not worthy of you to desert her at the time of +her necessity. You will see this as I do, if you will allow yourself a +moment's dispassionate thought." + +"Dispassionate thought is hardly possible under the circumstances," +she returned, with a smile of bitter irony. + +But before I could reply to this, she softened, and asked if I was +very anxious to have her return; and when I replied, "More than I can +say," she trembled and looked for a moment as if she were half inclined +to yield; but suddenly broke into tears, crying it was impossible, and +that I was cruel to ask it. + +I drew back, baffled and sore. "Pardon me," said I, "I have indeed +transgressed the bounds allotted to me. I will not do so again; you +have doubtless many friends; let some of them advise you." + +She turned upon me all fire. "The friends you speak of are +flatterers. You alone have the courage to command me to do what is +right." + +"Excuse me, I do not command; I only entreat." + +She made no reply, but began pacing the room, her eyes fixed, her +hands working convulsively. "You little know what you ask," said she. +"I feel as though the very atmosphere of that house would destroy me; +but--why cannot Eleanore come here?" she impulsively inquired. "I +know Mrs. Gilbert will be quite willing, and I could keep my room, and +we need not meet." + +"You forget that there is another call at home, besides the one I +have already mentioned. To-morrow afternoon your uncle is to be buried." + +"O yes; poor, poor uncle!" + +"You are the head of the household," I now ventured, "and the +proper one to attend to the final offices towards one who has done so +much for you." + +There was something strange in the look which she gave me. "It is +true," she assented. Then, with a grand turn of her body, and a quick +air of determination: "I am desirous of being worthy of your good +opinion. I will go back to my cousin, Mr. Raymond." + +I felt my spirits rise a little; I took her by the hand. "May +that cousin have no need of the comfort which I am now sure you will be +ready to give her." + +Her hand dropped from mine. "I mean to do my duty," was her cold +response. + +As I descended the stoop, I met a certain thin and fashionably +dressed young man, who gave me a very sharp look as he passed. As he +wore his clothes a little too conspicuously for the perfect gentleman, +and as I had some remembrance of having seen him at the inquest, I set +him down for a man in Mr. Gryce's employ, and hasted on towards the +avenue; when what was my surprise to find on the corner another +person, who, while pretending to be on the look out for a car, cast +upon me, as I approached, a furtive glance of intense inquiry. As this +latter was, without question, a gentleman, I felt some annoyance, and, +walking quietly up to him, asked if he found my countenance familiar, +that he scrutinized it so closely. + +"I find it a very agreeable one," was his unexpected reply, as he +turned from me and walked down the avenue. + +Nettled, and in no small degree mortified, at the disadvantage in +which his courtesy had placed me, I stood watching him as he +disappeared, asking myself who and what he was. For he was not only a +gentleman, but a marked one; possessing features of unusual symmetry as +well as a form of peculiar elegance. Not so very young--he might well +be forty--there were yet evident on his face the impress of youth's +strongest emotions, not a curve of his chin nor a glance of his eye +betraying in any way the slightest leaning towards _ennui,_ though +face and figure were of that type which seems most to invite and +cherish it. + +"He can have no connection with the police force," thought I; "nor +is it by any means certain that he knows me, or is interested in my +affairs; but I shall not soon forget him, for all that." + +The summons from Eleanore Leavenworth came about eight o'clock in +the evening. It was brought by Thomas, and read as follows: + +"Come, Oh, come! I--" there breaking off in a tremble, as if the +pen had fallen from a nerveless hand. + +It did not take me long to find my way to her home. + + + +XII. ELEANORES + + "Constant you are-- . . . And for secrecy No lady closer." + + Henry IV. + + "No, 't is slander, + Whose edge is sharper than the sword whose tongue + Outvenoms all the worms of Nile." + + Cymbeline. + +THE door was opened by Molly. "You will find Miss Eleanore in the +drawing-room, sir," she said, ushering me in. + +Fearing I knew not what, I hurried to the room thus indicated, +feeling as never before the sumptuous-ness of the magnificent hall with +its antique flooring, carved woods, and bronze ornamentations:--the +mockery of _things_ for the first time forcing itself upon me. +Laying my hand on the drawing-room door, I listened. All was silent. +Slowly pulling it open, I lifted the heavy satin curtains hanging +before me to the floor, and looked within. What a picture met my eyes! + +Sitting in the light of a solitary gas jet, whose faint glimmering +just served to make visible the glancing satin and stainless marble of +the gorgeous apartment, I beheld Eleanore Leavenworth. Pale as the +sculptured image of the Psyche that towered above her from the mellow +dusk of the bow-window near which she sat, beautiful as it, and almost +as immobile, she crouched with rigid hands frozen in forgotten entreaty +before her, apparently insensible to sound, movement, or touch; a +silent figure of despair in presence of an implacable fate. + +Impressed by the scene, I stood with my hand upon the curtain, +hesitating if to advance or retreat, when suddenly a sharp tremble +shook her impassive frame, the rigid hands unlocked, the stony eyes +softened, and, springing to her feet, she uttered a cry of +satisfaction, and advanced towards me. + +"Miss Leavenworth!" I exclaimed, starting at the sound of my own +voice. + +She paused, and pressed her hands to her face, as if the world and +all she had forgotten had rushed back upon her at this simple utterance +of her name. + +"What is it?" I asked. + +Her hands fell heavily. "Do you not know? They--they are beginning +to say that I--" she paused, and clutched her throat. "Read!" she +gasped, pointing to a newspaper lying on the floor at her feet. + +I stooped and lifted what showed itself at first glance to be the _ +Evening Telegram._ It needed but a single look to inform me to what +she referred. There, in startling characters, I beheld: + + THE LEAVENWORTH MURDER + + LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MYSTERIOUS CASE + + A MEMBER OF THE MURDERED MAN'S OWN FAMILY + STRONGLY SUSPECTED OF THE CRIME + + THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN NEW YORK UNDER A CLOUD + + PAST HISTORY OP MISS ELEANORE LEAVENWORTH + +I was prepared for it; had schooled myself for this very thing, you +might say; and yet I could not help recoiling. Dropping the paper from +my hand, I stood before her, longing and yet dreading to look into her +face. + +"What does it mean?" she panted; "what, what does it mean? Is the +world mad?" and her eyes, fixed and glassy, stared into mine as if she +found it impossible to grasp the sense of this outrage. + +I shook my head. I could not reply. + +"To accuse _me"_ she murmured; "me, me!" striking her breast +with her clenched hand, "who loved the very ground he trod upon; who +would have cast my own body between him and the deadly bullet if I had +only known his danger. "Oh!" she cried, "it is not a slander they +utter, but a dagger which they thrust into my heart!" + +Overcome by her misery, but determined not to show my compassion +until more thoroughly convinced of her complete innocence, I replied, +after a pause: + +"This seems to strike you with great surprise, Miss Leavenworth; +were you not then able to foresee what must follow your determined +reticence upon certain points? Did you know so little of human nature +as to imagine that, situated as you are, you could keep silence in +regard to any matter connected with this crime, without arousing the +antagonism of the crowd, to say nothing of the suspicions of the police?" + +"But--but----" + +I hurriedly waved my hand. "When you defied the coroner to find +any suspicious paper in your possession; when"--I forced myself to +speak--"you refused to tell Mr. Gryce how you came in possession of +the key--" + +She drew hastily back, a heavy pall seeming to fall over her with my +words. + +"Don't," she whispered, looking in terror about her. "Don't! +Sometimes I think the walls have ears, and that the very shadows +listen." + +"Ah," I returned; "then you hope to keep from the world what is +known to the detectives?" + +She did not answer. + +"Miss Leavenworth," I went on, "I am afraid you do not +comprehend your position. Try to look at the case for a moment in the +light of an unprejudiced person; try to see for yourself the necessity +of explaining----" + +"But I cannot explain," she murmured huskily. + +"Cannot!" + +I do not know whether it was the tone of my voice or the word +itself, but that simple expression seemed to affect her like a blow. + +"Oh!" she cried, shrinking back: "you do not, cannot doubt me, +too? I thought that you--" and stopped. "I did not dream that I--" +and stopped again. Suddenly her whole form quivered. "Oh, I see! You +have mistrusted me from the first; the appearances against me have been +too strong"; and she sank inert, lost in the depths of her shame and +humiliation. "Ah, but now I am forsaken!" she murmured. + +The appeal went to my heart. Starting forward, I exclaimed: "Miss +Leavenworth, I am but a man; I cannot see you so distressed. Say that +you are innocent, and I will believe you, without regard to +appearances." + +Springing erect, she towered upon me. "Can any one look in my face +and accuse me of guilt?" Then, as I sadly shook my head, she +hurriedly gasped: "You want further proof!" and, quivering with an +extraordinary emotion, she sprang to the door. + +"Come, then," she cried, "come!" her eyes flashing full of +resolve upon me. + +Aroused, appalled, moved in spite of myself, I crossed the room to +where she stood; but she was already in the hall. Hastening after her, +filled with a fear I dared not express, I stood at the foot of the +stairs; she was half-way to the top. Following her into the hall' +above, I saw her form standing erect and noble at the door of her +uncle's bedroom. + +"Come!" she again cried, but this time in a calm and reverential +tone; and flinging the door open before her, she passed in. + +Subduing the wonder which I felt, I slowly followed her. There was +no light in the room of death, but the flame of the gas-burner, at the +far end of the hall, shone weirdly in, and by its glimmering I beheld +her kneeling at the shrouded bed, her head bowed above that of the +murdered man, her hand upon his breast. + +"You have said that if I declared my innocence you would believe +me," she exclaimed, lifting her head as I entered. "See here," and +laying her cheek against the pallid brow of her dead benefactor, she +kissed the clay-cold lips softly, wildly, agonizedly, then, leaping to +her feet, cried, in a subdued but thrilling tone: "Could I do that if +I were guilty? Would not the breath freeze on my lips, the blood +congeal in my veins, and my heart faint at this contact? Son of a +father loved and reverenced, can you believe me to be a woman stained +with crime when I can do this?" and kneeling again she cast her arms +over and about that inanimate form, looking in my face at the same time +with an expression no mortal touch could paint, nor tongue describe. + +"In olden times," she went on, "they used to say that a dead body +would bleed if its murderer came in contact with it. What then would +happen here if I, his daughter, his cherished child, loaded with +benefits, enriched with his jewels, warm with his kisses, should be the +thing they accuse me of? Would not the body of the outraged dead burst +its very shroud and repel me?" + +I could not answer; in the presence of some scenes the tongue +forgets its functions. + +"Oh!" she went on, "if there is a God in heaven who loves +justice and hates a crime, let Him hear me now. If I, by thought or +action, with or without intention, have been the means of bringing this +dear head to this pass; if so much as the shadow of guilt, let alone +the substance, lies upon my heart and across these feeble woman's +hands, may His wrath speak in righteous retribution to the world, and +here, upon the breast of the dead, let this guilty forehead fall, never +to rise again!" + +An awed silence followed this invocation; then a long, long sigh of +utter relief rose tremulously from my breast, and all the feelings +hitherto suppressed in my heart burst their bonds, and leaning towards +her I took her hand in mine. + +"You do not, cannot believe me tainted by crime now?" she +whispered, the smile which does not stir the lips, but rather emanates +from the countenance, like the flowering of an inner peace, breaking +softly out on cheek and brow. + +"Crime!" The word broke uncontrollably from my lips; "crime!" + +"No," she said calmly, "the man does not live who could accuse me +of crime, _here"_ + +For reply, I took her hand, which lay in mine, and placed it on the +breast of the dead. + +Softly, slowly, gratefully, she bowed her head. + +"Now let the struggle come!" she whispered. "There is one who +will believe in me, however dark appearances may be." + + + +XIII. THE PROBLEM + + "But who would force the soul, tilts with a straw + Against a champion cased in adamant." + Wordsworth. + +WHEN we re-entered the parlor below, the first sight that met our +eyes was Mary, standing wrapped in her long cloak in the centre of the +room. She had arrived during our absence, and now awaited us with +lifted head and countenance fixed in its proudest expression. looking +in her face, I realized what the embarrassment of this meeting must be +to these women, and would have retreated, but something in the attitude +of Mary Leavenworth seemed to forbid my doing so. At the same time, +determined that the opportunity should not pass without some sort of +reconcilement between them, I stepped forward, and, bowing to Mary, +said: + +"Your cousin has just succeeded in convincing me of her entire +innocence, Miss Leavenworth. I am now ready to join Mr. Gryce, heart +and soul, in finding out the true culprit." + +"I should have thought one look into Eleanore Leavenworth's face +would have been enough to satisfy you that she is incapable of crime," +was her unexpected answer; and, lifting her head with a proud gesture, +Mary Leavenworth fixed her eyes steadfastly on mine. + +I felt the blood flash to my brow, but before I could speak, her +voice rose again still more coldly than before. + +"It is hard for a delicate girl, unused to aught but the most +flattering expressions of regard, to be obliged to assure the world of +her innocence in respect to the committal of a great crime. Eleanore +has my sympathy." And sweeping her cloak from her shoulders with a +quick gesture, she turned her gaze for the first time upon her cousin. + +Instantly Eleanore advanced, as if to meet it; and I could not but +feel that, for some reason, this moment possessed an importance for +them which I was scarcely competent to measure. But if I found myself +unable to realize its significance, I at least responded to its +intensity. And indeed it was an occasion to remember. To behold two +such women, either of whom might be considered the model of her time, +face to face and drawn up in evident antagonism, was a sight to move +the dullest sensibilities. But there was something more in this scene +than that. It was the shock of all the most passionate emotions of the +human soul; the meeting of waters of whose depth and force I could only +guess by the effect. Eleanore was the first to recover. Drawing back +with the cold haughtiness which, alas, I had almost forgotten in the +display of later and softer emotions, she exclaimed: + +"There is something better than sympathy, and that is justice"; +and turned, as if to go. "I will confer with you in the reception room, +Mr. Raymond." + +But Mary, springing forward, caught her back with one powerful hand. +"No," she cried, "you shall confer with _me!_ I have something to +say to you, Eleanore Leavenworth." And, taking her stand in the centre +of the room, she waited. + +I glanced at Eleanore, saw this was no place for me, and hastily +withdrew. For ten long minutes I paced the floor of the reception room, +a prey to a thousand doubts and conjectures. What was the secret of +this home? What had given rise to the deadly mistrust continually +manifested between these cousins, fitted by nature for the completest +companionship and the most cordial friendship? It was not a thing of +to-day or yesterday. No sudden flame could awake such concentrated heat +of emotion as that of which I had just been the unwilling witness. One +must go farther back than this murder to find the root of a mistrust so +great that the struggle it caused made itself felt even where I stood, +though nothing but the faintest murmur came to my ears through the +closed doors. + +Presently the drawing-room curtain was raised, and Mary's voice was +heard in distinct articulation. + +"The same roof can never shelter us both after this. To-morrow, +you or I find another home." And, blushing and panting, she stepped +into the hall and advanced to where I stood. But at the first sight of +my face, a change came over her; all her pride seemed to dissolve, +and, flinging out her hands, as if to ward off scrutiny, she fled from +my side, and rushed weeping up-stairs. + +I was yet laboring under the oppression caused by this painful +termination of the strange scene when the parlor curtain was again +lifted, and Eleanore entered the room where I was. Pale but calm, +showing no evidences of the struggle she had just been through, unless +by a little extra weariness about the eyes, she sat down by my side, +and, meeting my gaze with one unfathomable in its courage, said after a +pause: "Tell me where I stand; let me know the worst at once; I +fear that I have not indeed comprehended my own position." + +Rejoiced to hear this acknowledgment from her lips, I hastened to +comply. I began by placing before her the whole case as it appeared to +an unprejudiced person; enlarged upon the causes of suspicion, and +pointed out in what regard some things looked dark against her, which +perhaps to her own mind were easily explainable and of small account; +tried to make her see the importance of her decision, and finally wound +up with an appeal. Would she not confide in me? + +"But I thought you were satisfied?" she tremblingly remarked. + +"And so I am; but I want the world to be so, too." + +"Ah; now you ask too much! The finger of suspicion never forgets +the way it has once pointed," she sadly answered. "My name is tainted +forever." + +"And you will submit to this, when a word--" + +"I am thinking that any word of mine now would make very little +difference," she murmured. + +I looked away, the vision of Mr. Fobbs, in hiding behind the +curtains of the opposite house, recurring painfully to my mind. + +"If the affair looks as bad as you say it does," she pursued, "it +is scarcely probable that Mr. Gryce will care much for any +interpretation of mine in regard to the matter." + +"Mr. Gryce would be glad to know where you procured that key, if +only to assist him in turning his inquiries in the right direction." + +She did not reply, and my spirits sank in renewed depression. + +"It is worth your while to satisfy him," I pursued; "and though +it may compromise some one you desire to shield----" + +She rose impetuously. "I shall never divulge to any one how I came +in possession of that key." And sitting again, she locked her hands in +fixed resolve before her. + +I rose in my turn and paced the floor, the fang of an unreasoning +jealousy striking deep into my heart. + +"Mr. Raymond, if the worst should come, and all who love me should +plead on bended knees for me to tell, I will never do it." + +"Then," said I, determined not to disclose my secret thought, but +equally resolved to find out if possible her motive for this silence, +"you desire to defeat the cause of justice." + +She neither spoke nor moved. + +"Miss Leavenworth," I now said, "this determined shielding of +another at the expense of your own good name is no doubt generous of +you; but your friends and the lovers of truth and justice cannot accept +such a sacrifice." + +She started haughtily. "Sir!" she said. + +"If you will not assist us," I went on calmly, but determinedly, +"we must do without your aid. After the scene I have just witnessed +above; after the triumphant conviction which you have forced upon me, +not only of your innocence, but your horror of the crime and its +consequences, I should feel myself less than a man if I did not +sacrifice even your own good opinion, in urging your cause, and +clearing your character from this foul aspersion." + +Again that heavy silence. + +"What do you propose to do?" she asked, at last. + +Crossing the room, I stood before her. "I propose to relieve you +utterly and forever from suspicion, by finding out and revealing to the +world the true culprit." + +I expected to see her recoil, so positive had I become by this time +as to who that culprit was. But instead of that, she merely folded her +hands still more tightly and exclaimed: + +"I doubt if you will be able to do that, Mr. Raymond." + +"Doubt if I will be able to put my finger upon the guilty man, or +doubt if I will be able to bring him to justice?" + +"I doubt," she said with strong effort, "if any one ever knows who +is the guilty person in this case." + +"There is one who knows," I said with a desire to test her. + +"One?" + +"The girl Hannah is acquainted with the mystery of that night's +evil doings, Miss Leavenworth. Find Hannah, and we find one who can +point out to us the assassin of your uncle." + +"That is mere supposition," she said; but I saw the blow had told. + +"Your cousin has offered a large reward for the girl, and the whole +country is on the lookout. Within a week we shall see her in our midst." + +A change took place in her expression and bearing. + +"The girl cannot help me," she said. + +Baffled by her manner, I drew back. "Is there anything or anybody +that can?" + +She slowly looked away. + +"Miss Leavenworth," I continued with renewed earnestness, "you +have no brother to plead with you, you have no mother to guide you; let +me then entreat, in default of nearer and dearer friends, that you will +rely sufficiently upon me to tell me one thing." + +"What is it?" she asked. + +"Whether you took the paper imputed to you from the library table?" + +She did not instantly respond, but sat looking earnestly before her +with an intentness which seemed to argue that she was weighing the +question as well as her reply. Finally, turning toward me, she said: + +"In answering you, I speak in confidence. Mr. Raymond, I did." + +Crushing back the sigh of despair that arose to my lips, I went on. + +"I will not inquire what the paper was,"--she waved her hand +deprecatingly,--"but this much more you will tell me. Is that paper +still in existence?" + +She looked me steadily in the face. + +"It is not." + +I could with difficulty forbear showing my disappointment. "Miss +Leavenworth," I now said, "it may seem cruel for me to press you at +this time; nothing less than my strong realization of the peril in +which you stand would induce me to run the risk of incurring your +displeasure by asking what under other circumstances would seem puerile +and insulting questions. You have told me one thing which I strongly +desired to know; will you also inform me what it was you heard that +night while sitting in your room, between the time of Mr. Harwell's +going up-stairs and the closing of the library door, of which you made +mention at the inquest?" + +I had pushed my inquiries too far, and I saw it immediately. + +"Mr. Raymond," she returned, "influenced by my desire not to +appear utterly ungrateful to you, I have been led to reply in +confidence to one of your urgent appeals; but I can go no further. Do +not ask me to." + +Stricken to the heart by her look of reproach, I answered with some +sadness that her wishes should be respected. "Not but what I intend to +make every effort in my power to discover the true author of this +crime. That is a sacred duty which I feel myself called upon to perform; +but I will ask you no more questions, nor distress you with further +appeals. What is done shall be done without your assistance, and with +no other hope than that in the event of my success you will acknowledge +my motives to have been pure and my action disinterested." + +"I am ready to acknowledge that now," she began, but paused and +looked with almost agonized entreaty in my face. "Mr. Raymond, cannot +you leave things as they are? Won't you? I don't ask for assistance, +nor do I want it; I would rather----" + +But I would not listen. "Guilt has no right to profit by the +generosity of the guiltless. The hand that struck this blow shall not +be accountable for the loss of a noble woman's honor and happiness as +well. + +"I shall do what I can, Miss Leavenworth." + +As I walked down the avenue that night, feeling like an adventurous +traveller that in a moment of desperation has set his foot upon a plank +stretching in narrow perspective over a chasm of immeasurable depth, +this problem evolved itself from the shadows before me: How, with no +other clue than the persuasion that Eleanore Leavenworth was engaged in +shielding another at the expense of her own good name, I was to combat +the prejudices of Mr. Gryce, find out the real assassin of Mr. +Leavenworth, and free an innocent woman from the suspicion that had, +not without some show of reason, fallen upon her? + + + + +BOOK II. HENRY CLAVERING + + +XIV. MR. GRYCE AT HOME + + "Nay, but hear me." + Measure for Measure. + +THAT the guilty person for whom Eleanore Leavenworth stood ready to +sacrifice herself was one for whom she had formerly cherished +affection, I could no longer doubt; love, or the strong sense of duty +growing out of love, being alone sufficient to account for such +determined action. Obnoxious as it was to all my prejudices, one name +alone, that of the commonplace secretary, with his sudden heats and +changeful manners, his odd ways and studied self-possession, would +recur to my mind whenever I asked myself who this person could be. + +Not that, without the light which had been thrown upon the affair by +Eleanore's strange behavior, I should have selected this man as one in +any way open to suspicion; the peculiarity of his manner at the inquest +not being marked enough to counteract the improbability of one in his +relations to the deceased finding sufficient motive for a crime so +manifestly without favorable results to himself. But if love had +entered as a factor into the affair, what might not be expected? James +Harwell, simple amanuensis to a retired tea-merchant, was one man; +James Harwell, swayed by passion for a woman beautiful as Eleanore +Leavenworth, was another; and in placing him upon the list of those +parties open to suspicion I felt I was only doing what was warranted by +a proper consideration of probabilities. + +But, between casual suspicion and actual proof, what a gulf! To +believe James Harwell capable of guilt, and to find evidence enough to +accuse him of it, were two very different things. I felt myself +instinctively shrink from the task, before I had fully made up my mind +to attempt it; some relenting thought of his unhappy position, if +innocent, forcing itself upon me, and making my very distrust of him +seem personally ungenerous if not absolutely unjust. If I had liked the +man better, I should not have been so ready to look upon him with doubt. + +But Eleanore must be saved at all hazards. Once delivered up to the +blight of suspicion, who could tell what the result might be? the +arrest of her person perhaps,--a thing which, once accomplished, would +cast a shadow over her young life that it would take more than time to +dispel. The accusation of an impecunious secretary would be less +horrible than this. I determined to make an early call upon Mr. Gryce. + +Meanwhile the contrasted pictures of Eleanore standing with her hand +upon the breast of the dead, her face upraised and mirroring a glory, I +could not recall without emotion; and Mary, fleeing a short half-hour +later indignantly from her presence, haunted me and kept me awake long +after midnight. It was like a double vision of light and darkness that, +while contrasting, neither assimilated nor harmonized. I could not flee +from it. Do what I would, the two pictures followed me, filling my soul +with alternate hope and distrust, till I knew not whether to place my +hand with Eleanore on the breast of the dead, and swear implicit faith +in her truth and purity, or to turn my face like Mary, and fly from +what I could neither comprehend nor reconcile. + +Expectant of difficulty, I started next morning upon my search for +Mr. Gryce, with strong determination not to allow myself to become +flurried by disappointment nor discouraged by premature failure. My +business was to save Eleanore Leavenworth; and to do that, it was +necessary for me to preserve, not only my equanimity, but my +self-possession. The worst fear I anticipated was that matters would +reach a crisis before I could acquire the right, or obtain the +opportunity, to interfere. However, the fact of Mr. Leavenworth's +funeral being announced for that day gave me some comfort in that +direction; my knowledge of Mr. Gryce being sufficient, as I thought, +to warrant me in believing he would wait till after that ceremony +before proceeding to extreme measures. + +I do not know that I had any vary definite ideas of what a +detective's home should be; but when I stood before the neat +three-story brick house to which I had been directed, I could not but +acknowledge there was something in the aspect of its half-open +shutters, over closely drawn curtains of spotless purity, highly +suggestive of the character of its inmate. + +A pale-looking youth, with vivid locks of red hair hanging straight +down over either ear, answered my rather nervous ring. To my inquiry as +to whether Mr. Gryce was in, he gave a kind of snort which might have +meant no, but which I took to mean yes. + +"My name is Raymond, and I wish to see him." + +He gave me one glance that took in every detail of my person and +apparel, and pointed to a door at the head of the stairs. Not waiting +for further directions, I hastened up, knocked at the door he had +designated, and went in. The broad back of Mr. Gryce, stooping above a +desk that might have come over in the _Mayflower,_ confronted me. + +"Well!" he exclaimed; "this is an honor." And rising, he +opened with a squeak and shut with a bang the door of an enormous stove +that occupied the centre of the room. "Rather chilly day, eh?" + +"Yes," I returned, eyeing him closely to see if he was in a +communicative mood. "But I have had but little time to consider the +state of the weather. My anxiety in regard to this murder----" + +"To be sure," he interrupted, fixing his eyes upon the poker, +though not with any hostile intention, I am sure." A puzzling piece of +business enough. But perhaps it is an open book to you. I see you have +something to communicate." + +"I have, though I doubt if it is of the nature you expect. Mr. +Gryce, since I saw you last, my convictions upon a certain point have +been strengthened into an absolute belief. The object of your +suspicious is an innocent woman." + +If I had expected him to betray any surprise at this, I was destined +to be disappointed." That is a very pleasing belief," he observed. +"I honor you for entertaining it, Mr. Raymond." + +I suppressed a movement of anger. "So thoroughly is it mine," I +went on, in the determination to arouse him in some way, "that I have +come here to-day to ask you in the name of justice and common humanity +to suspend action in that direction till we can convince ourselves +there is no truer scent to go upon." + +But there was no more show of curiosity than before. "Indeed!" he +cried; "that is a singular request to come from a man like you." + +I was not to be discomposed, "Mr. Gryce," I went on, "a woman's +name, once tarnished, remains so forever. Eleanore Leavenworth has too +many noble traits to be thoughtlessly dealt with in so momentous a +crisis. If you will give me your attention, I promise you shall not +regret it." + +He smiled, and allowed his eyes to roam from the poker to the arm of +my chair. "Very well," he remarked; "I hear you; say on." + +I drew my notes from my pocketbook, and laid them on the table. + +"What! memoranda?" he exclaimed. "Unsafe, very; never put your +plans on paper." + +Taking no heed of the interruption, I went on. + +"Mr. Gryce, I have had fuller opportunities than yourself for +studying this woman. I have seen her in a position which no guilty +person could occupy, and I am assured, beyond all doubt, that not only +her hands, but her heart, are pure from this crime. She may have some +knowledge of its secrets; that I do not presume to deny. The key seen +in her possession would refute me if I did. But what if she has? You +can never wish to see so lovely a being brought to shame for +withholding information which she evidently considers it her duty to +keep back, when by a little patient finesse we may succeed in our +purposes without it." + +"But," interposed the detective, "say this is so; how are we to +arrive at the knowledge we want without following out the only clue +which has yet been given us?" + +"You will never reach it by following out any clue given you by +Eleanore Leavenworth." + +His eyebrows lifted expressively, but he said nothing. + +"Miss Eleanore Leavenworth has been used by some one acquainted +with her firmness, generosity, and perhaps love. Let us discover who +possesses sufficient power over her to control her to this extent, and +we find the man we seek." + +"Humph!" came from Mr. Gryce's compressed lips, and no more. + +Determined that he should speak, I waited. + +"You have, then, some one in your mind "; he remarked at last, +almost flippantly. + +"I mention no names," I returned. "All I want is further time." + +"You are, then, intending to make a personal business of this +matter?" + +"I am." + +He gave a long, low whistle. "May I ask," he inquired at length, +"whether you expect to work entirely by yourself; or whether, if a +suitable coadjutor were provided, you would disdain his assistance and +slight his advice?" + +"I desire nothing more than to have you for my colleague." + +The smile upon his face deepened ironically. "You must feel very +sure of yourself!" said he. + +"I am very sure of Miss Leavenworth." + +The reply seemed to please him. "Let us hear what you propose +doing." + +I did not immediately answer. The truth was, I had formed no plans. + +"It seems to me," he continued, "that you have undertaken a rather +difficult task for an amateur. Better leave it to me, Mr. Raymond; +better leave it to me." + +"I am sure," I returned, "that nothing would please me better----" + +"Not," he interrupted, "but that a word from you now and then +would be welcome. I am not an egotist. I am open to suggestions: as, +for instance, now, if you could conveniently inform me of all you have +yourself seen and heard in regard to this matter, I should be most +happy to listen." + +Relieved to find him so amenable, I asked myself what I really had +to tell; not so much that he would consider vital. However, it would +not do to hesitate now. + +"Mr. Gryce," said I, "I have but few facts to add to those already +known to you. Indeed, I am more moved by convictions than facts. That +Eleanore Leavenworth never committed this crime, I am assured. That, on +the other hand, the real perpetrator is known to her, I am equally +certain; and that for some reason she considers it a sacred duty to +shield the assassin, even at the risk of her own safety, follows as a +matter of course from the facts. Now, with such data, it cannot be a +very difficult task for you or me to work out satisfactorily, to our +own minds at least, who this person can be. A little more knowledge of +the family--" + +"You know nothing of its secret history, then?" + +"Nothing." + +"Do not even know whether either of these girls is engaged to be +married?" + +"I do not," I returned, wincing at this direct expression of my own +thoughts. + +He remained a moment silent. "Mr. Raymond," he cried at last, +"have you any idea of the disadvantages under which a detective labors? +For instance, now, you imagine I can insinuate myself into all sorts of +society, perhaps; but you are mistaken. Strange as it may appear, I +have never by any possibility of means succeeded with one class of +persons at all. I cannot pass myself off for a gentleman. Tailors and +barbers are no good; I am always found out." + +He looked so dejected I could scarcely forbear smiling, +notwithstanding my secret care and anxiety. + +"I have even employed a French valet, who understood dancing and +whiskers; but it was all of no avail. The first gentleman I approached +stared at me,--real gentleman, I mean, none of your American +dandies,--and I had no stare to return; I had forgotten that +emergency in my confabs with Pierre Catnille Marie Make-face." + +Amused, but a little discomposed by this sudden turn in the +conversation, I looked at Mr. Gryce inquiringly. + +"Now you, I dare say, have no trouble? Was born one, perhaps. Can +even ask a lady to dance without blushing, eh?" + +"Well,--" I commenced. + +"Just so," he replied; "now, I can't. I can enter a house, bow to +the mistress of it, let her be as elegant as she will, so long as I +have a writ of arrest in my hand, or some such professional matter upon +my mind; but when it comes to visiting in kid gloves, raising a glass +of champagne in response to a toast--and such like, I am absolutely +good for nothing." And he plunged his two hands into his hair, and +looked dolefully at the head of the cane I carried in my hand. "But +it is much the same with the whole of us. When we are in want of a +gentleman to work for us, we have to go outside of our profession." + +I began to see what he was driving at; but held my peace, vaguely +conscious I was likely to prove a necessity to him, after all. + +"Mr. Raymond," he now said, almost abruptly; "do you know a +gentleman by the name of Clavering residing at present at the Hoffman +House?" + +"Not that I am aware of." + +"He is very polished in his manners; would you mind making his +acquaintance?" + +I followed Mr. Gryce's example, and stared at the chimney-piece. "I +cannot answer till I understand matters a little better," I returned at +length. + +"There is not much to understand. Mr. Henry Clavering, a gentleman +and a man of the world, resides at the Hoffman House. He is a stranger +in town, without being strange; drives, walks, smokes, but never +visits; looks at the ladies, but is never seen to bow to one. In +short, a person whom it is desirable to know; but whom, being a proud +man, with something of the old-world prejudice against Yankee freedom +and forwardness, I could no more approach in the way of acquaintance +than I could the Emperor of Austria." + +"And you wish----" + +"He would make a very agreeable companion for a rising young lawyer +of good family and undoubted respectability. I have no doubt, if you +undertook to cultivate him, you would find him well worth the trouble." + +"But----" + +"Might even desire to take him into familiar relations; to confide +in him, and----" + +"Mr. Gryce," I hastily interrupted; "I can never consent to plot +for any man's friendship for the sake of betraying him to the police." + +"It is essential to your plans to make the acquaintance of Mr. +Clavering," he dryly replied. + +"Oh!" I returned, a light breaking in upon me; "he has some +connection with this case, then?" + +Mr. Gryce smoothed his coat-sleeve thoughtfully. "I don't know as +it will be necessary for you to betray him. You wouldn't object to +being introduced to him?" + +"No." + +"Nor, if you found him pleasant, to converse with him?" + +"No." + +"Not even if, in the course of conversation, you should come across +something that might serve as a clue in your efforts to save Eleanore +Leavenworth?" + +The no I uttered this time was less assured; the part of a spy was +the very last one I desired to play in the coming drama. + +"Well, then," he went on, ignoring the doubtful tone in which my +assent had been given, "I advise you to immediately take up your +quarters at the Hoffman House." + +"I doubt if that would do," I said. "If I am not mistaken, I +have already seen this gentleman, and spoken to him." + +"Where?" + +"Describe him first." + +"Well, he is tall, finely formed, of very upright carriage, with a +handsome dark face, brown hair streaked with gray, a piercing eye, and +a smooth address. A very imposing personage, I assure you." + +"I have reason to think I have seen him," I returned; and in a few +words told him when and where. + +"Humph!" said he at the conclusion; "he is evidently as much +interested in you as we are in him. + +"How 's that? I think I see," he added, after a moment's thought. +"Pity you spoke to him; may have created an unfavorable impression; and +everything depends upon your meeting without any distrust." + +He rose and paced the floor. + +"Well, we must move slowly, that is all. Give him a chance to see +you in other and better lights. Drop into the Hoffman House +reading-room. Talk with the best men you meet while there; but not too +much, or too indiscriminately. Mr. Clavering is fastidious, and will +not feel honored by the attentions of one who is hail-fellow-well-met +with everybody. Show yourself for what you are, and leave all advances +to him; he '11 make them." + +"Supposing we are under a mistake, and the man I met on the corner +of Thirty-seventh Street was not Mr. Clavering?" + +"I should be greatly surprised, that's all." + +Not knowing what further objection to make, I remained silent. + +"And this head of mine would have to put on its thinking-cap," he +pursued jovially. + +"Mr. Gryce," I now said, anxious to show that all this talk about +an unknown party had not served to put my own plans from my mind, +"there is one person of whom we have not spoken." + +"No?" he exclaimed softly, wheeling around until his broad back +confronted me. "And who may that be?" + +"Why, who but Mr.--" I could get no further. What right had I to +mention any man's name in this connection, without possessing +sufficient evidence against him to make such mention justifiable? "I +beg your pardon," said I; "but I think I will hold to my first +impulse, and speak no names." + +"Harwell?" he ejaculated easily. + +The quick blush rising to my face gave an involuntary assent. + +"I see no reason why we shouldn't speak of him," he went on; "that +is, if there is anything to be gained by it." + +"His testimony at the inquest was honest, you think?" + +"It has not been disproved." + +"He is a peculiar man." + +"And so am I." + +I felt myself slightly nonplussed; and, conscious of appearing at a +disadvantage, lifted my hat from the table and prepared to take my +leave; but, suddenly thinking of Hannah, turned and asked if there was +any news of her. + +He seemed to debate with himself, hesitating so long that I began to +doubt if this man intended to confide in me, after all, when suddenly +he brought his two hands down before him and exclaimed vehemently: + +"The evil one himself is in this business! If the earth had opened +and swallowed up this girl, she couldn't have more effectually +disappeared." + +I experienced a sinking of the heart. Eleanore had said: "Hannah +can do nothing for me." Could it be that the girl was indeed gone, and +forever? + +"I have innumerable agents at work, to say nothing of the general +public; and yet not so much as a whisper has come to me in regard to +her whereabouts or situation. I am only afraid we shall find her +floating in the river some fine morning, without a confession in her +pocket." + +"Everything hangs upon that girl's testimony," I remarked. + +He gave a short grunt. "What does Miss Leavenworth say about it?" + +"That the girl cannot help her." + +I thought he looked a trifle surprised at this, but he covered it +with a nod and an exclamation. "She must be found for all that," said +he, "and shall, if I have to send out Q." + +"Q?" + +"An agent of mine who is a living interrogation point; so we call +him _Q,_ which is short for query." Then, as I turned again to go: +"When the contents of the will are made known, come to me." + +The will! I had forgotten the will. + + + +XV. WAYS OPENING + + "It is not and it cannot come to good." + Hamlet. + +I ATTENDED the funeral of Mr. Leavenworth, but did not see the +ladies before or after the ceremony. I, however, had a few moments' +conversation with Mr. Harwell; which, without eliciting anything new, +provided me with food for abundant conjecture. For he had asked, almost +at first greeting, if I had seen the _Telegram_ of the night +before; and when I responded in the affirmative, turned such a look of +mingled distress and appeal upon me, I was tempted to ask how such a +frightful insinuation against a young lady of reputation and breeding +could ever have got into the papers. It was his reply that struck me. + +"That the guilty party might be driven by remorse to own himself +the true culprit." + +A curious remark to come from a person who had no knowledge or +suspicion of the criminal and his character; and I would have pushed +the conversation further, but the secretary, who was a man of few +words, drew off at this, and could be induced to say no more. Evidently +it was my business to cultivate Mr. Clavering, or any one else who +could throw any light upon the secret history of these girls. + +That evening I received notice that Mr. Veeley had arrived home, but +was in no condition to consult with me upon so painful a subject as the +murder of Mr. Leavenworth. Also a line from Eleanore, giving me her +address, but requesting me at the same time not to call unless I had +something of importance to communicate, as she was too ill to receive +visitors. The little note affected me. Ill, alone, and in a strange +home,--'twas pitiful! + +The next day, pursuant to the wishes of Mr. Gryce, in I stepped into +the Hoffman House, and took a seat in the reading room. I had been +there but a few moments when a gentleman entered whom I immediately +recognized as the same I had spoken to on the corner of Thirty-seventh +Street and Sixth Avenue. He must have remembered me also, for he seemed +to be slightly embarrassed at seeing me; but, recovering himself, took +up a paper and soon became to all appearance lost in its contents, +though I could feel his handsome black eye upon me, studying my +features, figure, apparel, and movements with a degree of interest +which equally astonished and disconcerted me. I felt that it would be +injudicious on my part to return his scrutiny, anxious as I was to meet +his eye and learn what emotion had so fired his curiosity in regard to +a perfect stranger; so I rose, and, crossing to an old friend of mine +who sat at a table opposite, commenced a desultory conversation, in the +course of which I took occasion to ask if he knew who the handsome +stranger was. Dick Furbish was a society man, and knew everybody. + +"His name is Clavering, and he comes from London. I don't know +anything more about him, though he is to be seen everywhere except in +private houses. He has not been received into society yet; waiting for +litters of introduction, perhaps." + +"A gentleman?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"One you speak to?" + +"Oh, yes; I talk to him, but the conversation is very one-sided." + +I could not help smiling at the grimace with which Dick accompanied +this remark. "Which same goes to prove," he went on, "that he is the +real thing." + +Laughing outright this time, I left him, and in a few minutes +sauntered from the room. + +As I mingled again with the crowd on Broadway, I found myself +wondering immensely over this slight experience. That this unknown +gentleman from London, who went everywhere except into private houses, +could be in any way connected with the affair I had so at heart, seemed +not only improbable but absurd; and for the first time I felt tempted +to doubt the sagacity of Mr. Gryce in recommending him to my attention. + +The next day I repeated the experiment, but with no greater success +than before. Mr. Clavering came into the room, but, seeing me, did not +remain. I began to realize it was no easy matter to make his +acquaintance. To atone for my disappointment, I called 011 Mary +Leavenworth in the evening. She received me with almost a sister-like +familiarity. + +"Ah," she cried, after introducing me to an elderly lady at her +side,--some connection of the family, I believe, who had come to remain +with her for a while,--"you are here to tell me Hannah is found; is it +not so?" + +I shook my head, sorry to disappoint her. "No," said I; "not yet." + +"But Mr. Gryce was here to-day, and he told me he hoped she would +be heard from within twenty-four hours." + +"Mr. Gryce here!" + +"Yes; came to report how matters were progressing,--not that they seemed +to have advanced very far." + +"You could hardly have expected that yet. You must not be so easily +discouraged." + +"But I cannot help it; every day, every hour that passes in this +uncertainty, is like a mountain weight here"; and she laid one +trembling hand upon her bosom. "I would have the whole world at work. +I would leave no stone unturned; I----" + +"What would you do?" + +"Oh, I don't know," she cried, her whole manner suddenly changing; +"nothing, perhaps." Then, before I could reply to this: "Have you +seen Eleanore to-day?" + +I answered in the negative. + +She did not seem satisfied, but waited till her friend left the room +before saying more. Then, with an earnest look, inquired if I knew +whether Eleanore was well. + +"I fear she is not," I returned. + +"It is a great trial to me, Eleanore being away. Not," she resumed, +noting, perhaps, my incredulous look, "that I would have you think I +wish to disclaim my share in bringing about the present unhappy state +of things. I am willing to acknowledge I was the first to propose a +separation. But it is none the easier to bear on that account." + +"It is not as hard for you as for her," said I. + +"Not as hard? Why? because she is left comparatively poor, while +I am rich--is that what you would say? Ah," she went on, without +waiting for my answer, "would I could persuade Eleanore to share my +riches with me! Willingly would I bestow upon her the half I have +received; but I fear she could never be induced to accept so much as a +dollar from me." + +"Under the circumstances it would be better for her not to." + +"Just what I thought; yet it would ease me of a great weight if she +would. This fortune, suddenly thrown into my lap, sits like an incubus +upon me, Mr. Raymond. When the will was read to-day which makes me +possessor of so much wealth, I could not but feel that a heavy, +blinding pall had settled upon me, spotted with blood and woven of +horrors. Ah, how different from the feelings with which I have been +accustomed to anticipate this day! For, Mr. Raymond," she went on, +with a hurried gasp, "dreadful as it seems now, I have been reared to +look forward to this hour with pride, if not with actual longing. Money +has been made so much of in my small world. Not that I wish in this +evil time of retribution to lay blame upon any one; least of all upon +my uncle; but from the day, twelve years ago, when for the first time +he took us in his arms, and looking down upon our childish faces, +exclaimed: 'The light-haired one pleases me best; she shall be my +heiress,' I have been petted, cajoled, and spoiled; called little +princess, and uncle's darling, till it is only strange I retain in this +prejudiced breast any of the impulses of generous womanhood; yes, +though I was aware from the first that whim alone had raised this +distinction between myself and cousin; a distinction which superior +beauty, worth, or accomplishments could never have drawn; Eleanore +being more than my equal in all these things." Pausing, she choked back +the sudden sob that rose in her throat, with an effort at self-control +which was at once touching and admirable. Then, while my eyes stole to +her face, murmured in a low, appealing voice: "If I have faults, you +see there is some slight excuse for them; arrogance, vanity, and +selfishness being considered in the gay young heiress as no more than +so many assertions of a laudable dignity. Ah! ah," she bitterly +exclaimed "money alone has been the ruin of us all!" Then, with a +falling of her voice: "And now it has come to me with its heritage of +evil, and I--I would give it all for--But this is weakness! I have +no right to afflict you with my griefs. Pray forget all I have said, +Mr. Raymond, or regard my complaints as the utterances of an unhappy +girl loaded down with sorrows and oppressed by the weight of many +perplexities and terrors." + +"But I do not wish to forget," I replied. "You have spoken some +good words, manifested much noble emotion. Your possessions cannot but +prove a blessing to you if you enter upon them with such feelings as +these." + +But, with a quick gesture, she ejaculated: "Impossible! they +cannot prove a blessing." Then, as if startled at her own words, bit +her lip and hastily added: "Very great wealth is never a blessing. + +"And now," said she, with a total change of manner, "I wish to +address you on a subject which may strike you as ill-timed, but which, +nevertheless, I must mention, if the purpose I have at heart is ever to +be accomplished. My uncle, as you know, was engaged at the time of his +death in writing a book on Chinese customs and prejudices. It was a +work which he was anxious to see published, and naturally I desire to +carry out his wishes; but, in order to do so, I find it necessary not +only to interest myself in the matter now,--Mr. Harwell's services +being required, and it being my wish to dismiss that gentleman as soon +as possible--but to find some one competent to supervise its +completion. Now I have heard,--I have been told,--that you were the one +of all others to do this; and though it is difficult if not improper +for me to ask so great a favor of one who but a week ago was a perfect +stranger to me, it would afford me the keenest pleasure if you would +consent to look over this manuscript and tell me what remains to be +done." + +The timidity with which these words were uttered proved her to be in +earnest, and I could not but wonder at the strange coincidence of this +request with my secret wishes; it having been a question with me for +some time how I was to gain free access to this house without in any +way compromising either its inmates or myself. I did not know then that +Mr. Gryce had been the one to recommend me to her favor in this +respect. But, whatever satisfaction I may have experienced, I felt +myself in duty bound to plead my incompetence for a task so entirely +out of the line of my profession, and to suggest the employment of some +one better acquainted with such matters than myself. But she would not +listen to me. + +"Mr. Harwell has notes and memoranda in plenty," she exclaimed, +"and can give you all the information necessary. You will have no +difficulty; indeed, you will not." + +"But cannot Mr. Harwell himself do all that is requisite? He seems +to be a clever and diligent young man." + +But she shook her head. "He thinks he can; but I know uncle never +trusted him with the composition of a single sentence." + +"But perhaps he will not be pleased,--Mr. Harwell, I mean--with +the intrusion of a stranger into his work." + +She opened her eyes with astonishment. "That makes no difference," +she cried. "Mr. Harwell is in my pay, and has nothing to say about it. +But he will not object. I have already consulted him, and he expresses +himself as satisfied with the arrangement." + +"Very well," said I; "then I will promise to consider the subject. +I can at any rate look over the manuscript and give you my opinion of +its condition." + +"Oh, thank you," said she, with the prettiest gesture of +satisfaction. "How kind you are, and what can I ever do to repay you? +But would you like to see Mr. Harwell himself?" and she moved towards +the door; but suddenly paused, whispering, with a short shudder of +remembrance: "He is in the library; do you mind?" + +Crushing down the sick qualm that arose at the mention of that spot, +I replied in the negative. + +"The papers are all there, and he says he can work better in his +old place than anywhere else; but if you wish, I can call him down." + +But I would not listen to this, and myself led the way to the foot +of the stairs. + +"I have sometimes thought I would lock up that room," she hurriedly +observed; "but something restrains me. I can no more do so than I can +leave this house; a power beyond myself forces me to confront all its +horrors. And yet I suffer continually from terror. Sometimes, in the +darkness of the night--But I will not distress you. I have already +said too much; come," and with a sudden lift of the head she mounted +the stairs. + +Mr. Harwell was seated, when we entered that fatal room, in the one +chair of all others I expected to see unoccupied; and as I beheld his +meagre figure bending where such a little while before his eyes had +encountered the outstretched form of his murdered employer, I could not +but marvel over the unimaginativeness of the man who, in the face of +such memories, could not only appropriate that very spot for his own +use, but pursue his avocations there with so much calmness and evident +precision. But in another moment I discovered that the disposition of +the light in the room made that one seat the only desirable one for his +purpose; and instantly my wonder changed to admiration at this quiet +surrender of personal feeling to the requirements of the occasion. + +He looked up mechanically as we came in, but did not rise, his +countenance wearing the absorbed expression which bespeaks the +preoccupied mind. + +"He is utterly oblivious," Mary whispered; "that is a way of his. +I doubt if he knows who or what it is that has disturbed him." And, +advancing into the room, she passed across his line of vision, as if to +call attention to herself, and said: "I have brought Mr. Raymond +up-stairs to see you, Mr. Harwell. He has been so kind as to accede to +my wishes in regard to the completion of the manuscript now before you." + +Slowly Mr. Harwell rose, wiped his pen, and put it away; +manifesting, however, a reluctance in doing so that proved this +interference to be in reality anything but agreeable to him. Observing +this, I did not wait for him to speak, but took up the pile of +manuscript, arranged in one mass on the table, saying: + +"This seems to be very clearly written; if you will excuse me, I +will glance over it and thus learn something of its general character." + +He bowed, uttered a word or so of acquiescence, then, as Mary left +the room, awkwardly reseated himself, and took up his pen. + +Instantly the manuscript and all connected with it vanished from my +thoughts; and Eleanore, her situation, and the mystery surrounding this +family, returned upon me with renewed force. Looking the secretary +steadily in the face, I remarked: + +"I am very glad of this opportunity of seeing you a moment alone, +Mr. Harwell, if only for the purpose of saying----" + +"Anything in regard to the murder?" + +"Yes," I began. + +"Then you must pardon me," he respectfully but firmly replied. "It +is a disagreeable subject which I cannot bear to think of, much less +discuss." + +Disconcerted and, what was more, convinced of the impossibility of +obtaining any information from this man, I abandoned the attempt; and, +taking up the manuscript once more, endeavored to master in some small +degree the nature of its contents. Succeeding beyond my hopes, I opened +a short conversation with him in regard to it, and finally, coming to +the conclusion I could accomplish what Miss Leavenworth desired, left +him and descended again to the reception room. + +When, an hour or so later, I withdrew from the house, it was with +the feeling that one obstacle had been removed from my path. If I +failed in what I had undertaken, it would not be from lack of +opportunity of studying the inmates of this dwelling. + + + +XVI. THE WILL OF A MILLIONAIRE + + "Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, Which we ascribe to Heaven." + All's Well that Ends Well. + +THE next morning's _Tribune_ contained a synopsis of Mr. +Leavenworth's will. Its provisions were a surprise to me; for, while +the bulk of his immense estate was, according to the general +understanding, bequeathed to his niece, Mary, it appeared by a codicil, +attached to his will some five years before, that Eleanore was not +entirely forgotten, she having been made the recipient of a legacy +which, if not large, was at least sufficient to support her in comfort. +After listening to the various comments of my associates on the +subject, I proceeded to the house of Mr. Gryce, in obedience to his +request to call upon him as soon as possible after the publication of +the will. + +"Good-morning," he remarked as I entered, but whether addressing me +or the frowning top of the desk before which he was sitting it would be +difficult to say. "Won't you sit?" nodding with a curious back +movement of his head towards a chair in his rear. + +I drew up the chair to his side. "I am curious to know," I +remarked, "what you have to say about this will, and its probable +effect upon the matters we have in hand." + +"What is your own idea in regard to it?" + +"Well, I think upon the whole it will make but little difference in +public opinion. Those who thought Eleanore guilty before will feel that +they possess now greater cause than ever to doubt her innocence; while +those who have hitherto hesitated to suspect her will not consider that +the comparatively small amount bequeathed her would constitute an +adequate motive for so great a crime." + +"You have heard men talk; what seems to be the general opinion +among those you converse with?" + +"That the motive of the tragedy will be found in the partiality +shown in so singular a will, though how, they do not profess to know." + +Mr. Gryce suddenly became interested in one of the small drawers +before him. + +"And all this has not set you thinking?" said he. + +"Thinking," returned I. "I don't know what you mean. I am sure I +have done nothing but think for the last three days. I----" + +"Of course--of course," he cried. "I didn't mean to say +anything disagreeable. And so you have seen Mr. Clavering?" + +"Just seen him; no more." + +"And are you going to assist Mr. Harwell in finishing Mr. Leaven +worth's book?" + +"How did you learn that?" + +He only smiled. + +"Yes," said I; "Miss Leavenworth has requested me to do her that +little favor." + +"She is a queenly creature!" he exclaimed in a burst of +enthusiasm. Then, with an instant return to his business-like tone: +"You are going to have opportunities, Mr. Raymond. Now there are two +things I want you to find out; first, what is the connection between +these ladies and Mr. Clavering----" + +"There is a connection, then?" + +"Undoubtedly. And secondly, what is the cause of the unfriendly +feeling which evidently exists between the cousins." + +I drew back and pondered the position offered me. A spy in a fair +woman's house! How could I reconcile it with my natural instincts as a +gentleman? + +"Cannot you find some one better adapted to learn these secrets for +you?" I asked at length. "The part of a spy is anything but +agreeable to my feelings, I assure you." + +Mr. Gryce's brows fell. + +"I will assist Mr. Harwell in his efforts to arrange Mr. Leaven +worth's manuscript for the press," I said; "I will give Mr. Clavering +an opportunity to form my acquaintance; and I will listen, if Miss +Leavenworth chooses to make me her confidant in any way. But any +hearkening at doors, surprises, unworthy feints or ungentlemanly +subterfuges, I herewith disclaim as outside of my province; my task +being to find out what I can in an open way, and yours to search into +the nooks and corners of this wretched business." + +"In other words, you are to play the hound, and I the mole; just +so, I know what belongs to a gentleman." + +"And now," said I, "what news of Hannah?" He shook both hands +high in the air. "None." + +I cannot say I was greatly surprised, that evening, when, upon +descending from an hour's labor with Mr. Harwell, I encountered Miss +Leavenworth standing at the foot of the stairs. There had been +something in her bearing, the night before, which prepared me for +another interview this evening, though her manner of commencing it was +a surprise. "Mr. Raymond," said she, with an air of marked +embarrassment, "I want to ask you a question. I believe you to be a +good man, and I know you will answer me conscientiously. As a brother +would," she added, lifting her eyes for a moment to my face. "I know +it will sound strange; but remember, I have no adviser but you, and I +must ask some one. Mr. Raymond, do you think a person could do +something that was very wrong, and yet grow to be thoroughly good +afterwards?" + +"Certainly," I replied; "if he were truly sorry for his fault." + +"But say it was more than a fault; say it was an actual harm; +would not the memory of that one evil hour cast a lasting shadow over +one's life?" + +"That depends upon the nature of the harm and its effect upon +others. If one had irreparably injured a fellow-being, it would be hard +for a person of sensitive nature to live a happy life afterwards; +though the fact of not living a happy life ought to be no reason why +one should not live a good life." + +"But to live a good life would it be necessary to reveal the evil +you had done? Cannot one go on and do right without confessing to the +world a past wrong?" + +"Yes, unless by its confession he can in some way make reparation." + +My answer seemed to trouble her. Drawing back, she stood for one +moment in a thoughtful attitude before me, her beauty shining with +almost a statuesque splendor in the glow of the porcelain-shaded lamp +at her side. Nor, though she presently roused herself, leading the way +into the drawing-room with a gesture that was allurement itself, did +she recur to this topic again; but rather seemed to strive, in the +conversation that followed, to make me forget what had already passed +between us. That she did not succeed, was owing to my intense and +unfailing interest in her cousin. + +As I descended the stoop, I saw Thomas, the butler, leaning over the +area gate. Immediately I was seized with an impulse to interrogate him +in regard to a matter which had more or less interested me ever since +the inquest; and that was, who was the Mr. Robbins who had called upon +Eleanore the night of the murder? But Thomas was decidedly +uncommunicative. He remembered such a person called, but could not +describe his looks any further than to say that he was not a small man. + +I did not press the matter. + + + +XVII. THE BEGINNING OF GREAT SURPRISES + + "Vous regardez une etoile pour deux motifs, parce qu'elle est + lumineuse et parce qu'elle est impenetrable. Vous avez aupres + de vous un plus doux rayonnement et un pas grand mystere, la femme." + Les Miserables. + +AND now followed days in which I seemed to make little or no +progress. Mr. Clavering, disturbed perhaps by my presence, forsook his +usual haunts, thus depriving me of all opportunity of making his +acquaintance in any natural manner, while the evenings spent at Miss +Leavenworth's were productive of little else than constant suspense +and uneasiness. + +The manuscript required less revision than I supposed. But, in the +course of making such few changes as were necessary, I had ample +opportunity of studying the character of Mr. Harwell. I found him to be +neither more nor less than an excellent amanuensis. Stiff, unbending, +and sombre, but true to his duty and reliable in its performance, I +learned to respect him, and even to like him; and this, too, though I +saw the liking was not reciprocated, whatever the respect may have +been. He never spoke of Eleanore Leavenworth or, indeed, mentioned the +family or its trouble in any way; till I began to feel that all this +reticence had a cause deeper than the nature of the man, and that if he +did speak, it would be to some purpose. This suspicion, of course, kept +me restlessly eager in his presence. I could not forbear giving him sly +glances now and then, to see how he acted when he believed himself +unobserved; but he was ever the same, a passive, diligent, unexcitable +worker. + +This continual beating against a stone wall, for thus I regarded it, +became at last almost unendurable. Clavering shy, and the secretary +unapproachable--how was I to gain anything? The short interviews I had +with Mary did not help matters. Haughty, constrained, feverish, +pettish, grateful, appealing, everything at once, and never twice the +same, I learned to dread, even while I coveted, an interview. She +appeared to be passing through some crisis which occasioned her the +keenest suffering. I have seen her, when she thought herself alone, +throw up her hands with the gesture which we use to ward off a coming +evil or shut out some hideous vision. I have likewise beheld her +standing with her proud head abased, her nervous hands drooping, her +whole form sinking and inert, as if the pressure of a weight she could +neither upbear nor cast aside had robbed her even of the show of +resistance. But this was only once. Ordinarily she was at least stately +in her trouble. Even when the softest appeal came into her eyes she +stood erect, and retained her expression of conscious power. Even the +night she met me in the hall, with feverish cheeks and lips trembling +with eagerness, only to turn and fly again without giving utterance to +what she had to say, she comported herself with a fiery dignity that +was well nigh imposing. + +That all this meant something, I was sure; and so I kept my patience +alive with the hope that some day she would make a revelation. Those +quivering lips would not always remain closed; the secret involving +Eleanore's honor and happiness would be divulged by this restless +being, if by no one else. Nor was the memory of that extraordinary, if +not cruel, accusation I had heard her make enough to destroy this hope +--for hope it had grown to be--so that I found myself insensibly +shortening my time with Mr. Harwell in the library, and extending my _ +tete-a-tete_ visits with Mary in the reception room, till the +imperturbable secretary was forced to complain that he was often left +for hours without work. + +But, as I say, days passed, and a second Monday evening came round +without seeing me any further advanced upon the problem I had set +myself to solve than when I first started upon it two weeks before. The +subject of the murder had not even been broached; nor was Hannah spoken +of, though I observed the papers were not allowed to languish an +instant upon the stoop; mistress and servants betraying equal interest +in their contents. All this was strange to me. It was as if you saw a +group of human beings eating, drinking, and sleeping upon the sides of +a volcano hot with a late eruption and trembling with the birth of a +new one. I longed to break this silence as we shiver glass: by shouting +the name of Eleanore through those gilded rooms and satin-draped +vestibules. But this Monday evening I was in a calmer mood. I was +determined to expect nothing from my visits to Mary Leavenworth's +house; and entered it upon the eve in question with an equanimity such +as I had not experienced since the first day I passed under its unhappy +portals. + +But when, upon nearing the reception room, I saw Mary pacing the +floor with the air of one who is restlessly awaiting something or +somebody, I took a sudden resolution, and, advancing towards her, said: +"Do I see you alone, Miss Leavenworth?" + +She paused in her hurried action, blushed and bowed, but, contrary +to her usual custom, did not bid me enter. + +"Will it be too great an intrusion on my part, if I venture to +come in?" I asked. + +Her glance flashed uneasily to the clock, and she seemed about to +excuse herself, but suddenly yielded, and, drawing up a chair before +the fire, motioned me towards it. Though she endeavored to appear calm, +I vaguely felt I had chanced upon her in one of her most agitated +moods, and that I had only to broach the subject I had in mind to +behold her haughtiness disappear before me like melting snow. I also +felt that I had but few moments in which to do it. I accordingly +plunged immediately into the subject. + +"Miss Leavenworth," said I, "in obtruding upon you to-night, I have +a purpose other than that of giving myself a pleasure. I have come to +make an appeal." + +Instantly I saw that in some way I had started wrong. "An appeal to +make to me?" she asked, breathing coldness from every feature of her +face. + +"Yes," I went on, with passionate recklessness. "Balked in every +other endeavor to learn the truth, I have come to you, whom I believe +to be noble at the core, for that help which seems likely to fail us in +every other direction: for the word which, if it does not absolutely +save your cousin, will at least put us upon the track of what will." + +"I do not understand what you mean," she protested, slightly +shrinking. + +"Miss Leavenworth," I pursued, "it is needless for me to tell you +in what position your cousin stands. You, who remember both the form +and drift of the questions put to her at the inquest, comprehend it all +without any explanation from me. But what you may not know is this, +that unless she is speedily relieved from the suspicion which, justly +or not, has attached itself to her name, the consequences which such +suspicion entails must fall upon her, and----" + +"Good God!" she cried; "you do not mean she will be----" + +"Subject to arrest? Yes." + +It was a blow. Shame, horror, and anguish were in every line of her +white face. "And all because of that key!" she murmured. + +"Key? How did you know anything about a key?" + +"Why," she cried, flushing painfully; "I cannot say; didn't you +tell me?" + +"No," I returned. + +"The papers, then?" + +"The papers have never mentioned it." + +She grew more and more agitated. "I thought every one knew. No, I +did not, either," she avowed, in a sudden burst of shame and penitence. +"I knew it was a secret; but--oh, Mr. Raymond, it was Eleanore herself +who told me." + +"Eleanore?" + +"Yes, that last evening she was here; we were together in the +drawing-room." + +"What did she tell?" + +"That the key to the library had been seen in her possession." + +I could scarcely conceal my incredulity. Eleanore, conscious of the +suspicion with which her cousin regarded her, inform that cousin of a +fact calculated to add weight to that suspicion? I could not believe +this. + +"But you knew it?" Mary went on. "I have revealed nothing I ought to +have kept secret?" + +"No," said I; "and, Miss Leavenworth, it is this thing which makes +your cousin's position absolutely dangerous. It is a fact that, left +unexplained, must ever link her name with infamy; a bit of +circumstantial evidence no sophistry can smother, and no denial +obliterate. Only her hitherto spotless reputation, and the efforts of +one who, notwithstanding appearances, believes in her innocence, keeps +her so long from the clutch of the officers of justice. That key, and +the silence preserved by her in regard to it, is sinking her slowly +into a pit from which the utmost endeavors of her best friends will +soon be inadequate to extricate her." + +"And you tell me this----" + +"That you may have pity on the poor girl, who will not have pity on +herself, and by the explanation of a few circumstances, which cannot be +mysteries to you, assist in bringing her from under the dreadful shadow +that threatens to overwhelm her." + +"And would you insinuate, sir," she cried, turning upon me with a +look of great anger, "that I know any more than you do of this matter? +that I possess any knowledge which I have not already made public +concerning the dreadful tragedy which has transformed our home into a +desert, our existence into a lasting horror? Has the blight of +suspicion fallen upon me, too; and have you come to accuse me in my own +house----" + +"Miss Leavenworth," I entreated; "calm yourself. I accuse you of +nothing. I only desire you to enlighten me as to your cousin's probable +motive for this criminating silence. You cannot be ignorant of it. You +are her cousin, almost her sister, have been at all events her daily +companion for years, and must know for whom or for what she seals her +lips, and conceals facts which, if known, would direct suspicion to the +real criminal--that is, if you really believe what you have hitherto +stated, that your cousin is an innocent woman." + +She not making any answer to this, I rose and confronted her. "Miss +Leavenworth, do you believe your cousin guiltless of this crime, or not?" + +"Guiltless? Eleanore? Oh! my God; if all the world were only as +innocent as she!" + +"Then," said I, "you must likewise believe that if she refrains +from speaking in regard to matters which to ordinary observers ought to +be explained, she does it only from motives of kindness towards one +less guiltless than herself." + +"What? No, no; I do not say that. What made you think of any such +explanation?" + +"The action itself. With one of Eleanore's character, such conduct +as hers admits of no other construction. Either she is mad, or she is +shielding another at the expense of herself." + +Mary's lip, which had trembled, slowly steadied itself. "And whom +have you settled upon, as the person for whom Eleanore thus sacrifices +herself?" + +"Ah," said I, "there is where I seek assistance from you. With your +knowledge of her history----" + +But Mary Leavenworth, sinking haughtily back into her chair, stopped +me with a quiet gesture. "I beg your pardon," said she; "but you make +a mistake. I know little or nothing of Eleanore's personal feelings. +The mystery must be solved by some one besides me." + +I changed my tactics. + +"When Eleanore confessed to you that the missing key had been seen +in her possession, did she likewise inform you where she obtained it, +and for what reason she was hiding it?" + +"No." + +"Merely told you the fact, without any explanation?" + +"Yes." + +"Was not that a strange piece of gratuitous information for her to +give one who, but a few hours before, had accused her to the face of +committing a deadly crime?" + +"What do you mean?"' she asked, her voice suddenly sinking. + +"You will not deny that you were once, not only ready to believe +her guilty, but that you actually charged her with having perpetrated +this crime." + +"Explain yourself!" she cried. + +"Miss Leavenworth, do you not remember what you said in that room +upstairs, when you were alone with your cousin on the morning of the +inquest, just before Mr. Gryce and myself entered your presence?" + +Her eyes did not fall, but they filled with sudden terror. + +"You heard?" she whispered. + +"I could not help it. I was just outside the door, and----" + +"What did you hear?" + +I told her. + +"And Mr. Gryce?" + +"He was at my side." + +It seemed as if her eyes would devour my face. "Yet nothing was +said when you came in?" + +"No." + +"You, however, have never forgotten it?" + +"How could we, Miss Leavenworth?" + +Her head fell forward in her hands, and for one wild moment she +seemed lost in despair. Then she roused, and desperately exclaimed: + +"And that is why you come here to-night. With that sentence written +upon your heart, you invade my presence, torture me with questions----" + +"Pardon me," I broke in; "are my questions such as you, with +reasonable regard for the honor of one with whom you are accustomed to +associate, should hesitate to answer? Do I derogate from my manhood in +asking you how and why you came to make an accusation of so grave a +nature, at a time when all the circumstances of the case were freshly +before you, only to insist fully as strongly upon your cousin's +innocence when you found there was even more cause for your imputation +than you had supposed?" + +She did not seem to hear me. "Oh, my cruel fate!" she murmured. +"Oh, my cruel fate!" + +"Miss Leavenworth," said I, rising, and taking my stand before her; +"although there is a temporary estrangement between you and your +cousin, you cannot wish to seem her enemy. Speak, then; let me at +least know the name of him for whom she thus immolates herself. A hint +from you----" + +But rising, with a strange look, to her feet, she interrupted me +with a stern remark: "If you do not know, I cannot inform you; do not +ask me, Mr. Raymond." And she glanced at the clock for the second time. + +I took another turn. + +"Miss Leavenworth, you once asked me if a person who had committed +a wrong ought necessarily to confess it; and I replied no, unless by +the confession reparation could be made. Do you remember?" + +Her lips moved, but no words issued from them. + +"I begin to think," I solemnly proceeded, following the lead of her +emotion, "that confession is the only way out of this difficulty: +that only by the words you can utter Eleanore can be saved from the +doom that awaits her. Will you not then show yourself a true woman by +responding to my earnest entreaties?" + +I seemed to have touched the right chord; for she trembled, and a +look of wistfulness filled her eyes. "Oh, if I could!" she murmured. + +"And why can you not? You will never be happy till you do. +Eleanore persists in silence; but that is no reason why you should +emulate her example. You only make her position more doubtful by it." + +"I know it; but I cannot help myself. Fate has too strong a hold +upon me; I cannot break away." + +"That is not true. Any one can escape from bonds imaginary as +yours." + +"No, no," she protested; "you do not understand." + +"I understand this: that the path of rectitude is a straight one, +and that he who steps into devious byways is going astray." + +A nicker of light, pathetic beyond description, flashed for a moment +across her face; her throat rose as with one wild sob; her lips +opened; she seemed yielding, when--A sharp ring at the front door-bell! + +"Oh," she cried, sharply turning, "tell him I cannot see him; +tell him----" + +"Miss Leavenworth," said I, taking her by both hands, "never mind +the door; never mind anything but this. I have asked you a question +which involves the mystery of this whole affair; answer me, then, for +your soul's sake; tell me, what the unhappy circumstances were which +could induce you--" + +But she tore her hands from mine. "The door!" she cried; "it +will open, and--" + +Stepping into the hall, I met Thomas coming up the basement stairs. +"Go back," said I; "I will call you when you are wanted." + +With a bow he disappeared. + +"You expect me to answer," she exclaimed, when I re-entered, "now, +in a moment? I cannot." + +"But----" + +"Impossible!" fastening her gaze upon the front door. + +"Miss Leavenworth!" + +She shuddered. + +"I fear the time will never come, if you do not speak now." + +"Impossible," she reiterated. + +Another twang at the bell. + +"You hear!" said she. + +I went into the hall and called Thomas. "You may open the door +now," said I, and moved to return to her side. + +But, with a gesture of command, she pointed up-stairs. "Leave me!" +and her glance passed on to Thomas, who stopped where he was. + +"I will see you again before I go," said I, and hastened up-stairs. + +Thomas opened the door. "Is Miss Leavenworth in?" I heard a rich, +tremulous voice inquire. + +"Yes, sir," came in the butler's most respectful and measured +accents, and, leaning over the banisters I beheld, to my amazement, the +form of Mr. Clavering enter the front hall and move towards the +reception room. + + + +XVIII. ON THE STAIRS + + "You cannot _say_ I did it." + Macbeth. + +EXCITED, tremulous, filled with wonder at this unlooked-for event, I +paused for a moment to collect my scattered senses, when the sound of a +low, monotonous voice breaking upon my ear from the direction of the +library, I approached and found Mr. Harwell reading aloud from his late +employer's manuscript. It would be difficult for me to describe the +effect which this simple discovery made upon me at this time. There, in +that room of late death, withdrawn from the turmoil of the world, a +hermit in his skeleton-lined cell, this man employed himself in reading +and rereading, with passive interest, the words of the dead, while +above and below, human beings agonized in doubt and shame. Listening, I +heard these words: + +"By these means their native rulers will not only lose their +jealous terror of our institutions, but acquire an actual curiosity in +regard to them." + +Opening the door I went in. + +"Ah! you are late, sir," was the greeting with which he rose and +brought forward a chair. + +My reply was probably inaudible, for he added, as he passed to his +own seat: + +"I am afraid you are not well." + +I roused myself. + +"I am not ill." And, pulling the papers towards me, I began looking +them over. But the words danced before my eyes, and I was obliged to +give up all attempt at work for that night. + +"_I_ fear I am unable to assist you this evening, Mr. Harwell. +The fact is, I find it difficult to give proper attention to this +business while the man who by a dastardly assassination has made it +necessary goes unpunished." + +The secretary in his turn pushed the papers aside, as if moved by a +sudden distaste of them, but gave me no answer. + +"You told me, when you first came to me with news of this fearful +tragedy, that it was a mystery; but it is one which must be solved, +Mr. Harwell; it is wearing out the lives of too many whom we love and +respect." + +The secretary gave me a look. "Miss Eleanore?" he murmured. + +"And Miss Mary," I went on; "myself, you, and many others." + +"You have manifested much interest in the matter from the +beginning,"--he said, methodically dipping his pen into the +ink. + +I stared at him in amazement. + +"And you," said I; "do you take no interest in that which involves +not only the safety, but the happiness and honor, of the family in +which you have dwelt so long?" + +He looked at me with increased coldness. "I have no wish to discuss +this subject. I believe I have before prayed you to spare me its +introduction." And he arose. + +"But I cannot consider your wishes in this regard," I persisted. +"If you know any facts, connected with this affair, which have not yet +been made public, it is manifestly your duty to state them. The +position which Miss Eleanore occupies at this time is one which should +arouse the sense of justice in every true breast; and if you----" + +"If I knew anything which would serve to release her from her +unhappy position, Mr. Raymond, I should have spoken long ago." + +I bit my lip, weary of these continual bafflings, and rose also. + +"If you have nothing more to say," he went on, "and feel utterly +disinclined to work, why, I should be glad to excuse myself, as I have +an engagement out." + +"Do not let me keep you," I said, bitterly. "I can take care of +myself." + +He turned upon me with a short stare, as if this display of feeling +was well nigh incomprehensible to him; and then, with a quiet, almost +compassionate bow left the room. I heard him go up-stairs, felt the jar +when his room door closed, and sat down to enjoy my solitude. But +solitude in that room was unbearable. By the time Mr. Harwell again +descended, I felt I could remain no longer, and, stepping into the +hall, told him that if he had no objection I would accompany him for a +short stroll. + +He bowed a stiff assent, and hastened before me down the stairs. By +the time I had closed the library door, he was half-way to the foot, +and I was just remarking to myself upon the unpliability of his figure +and the awkwardness of his carriage, as seen from my present +standpoint, when suddenly I saw him stop, clutch the banister at his +side, and hang there with a startled, deathly expression upon his +half-turned countenance, which fixed me for an instant where I was in +breathless astonishment, and then caused me to rush down to his side, +catch him by the arm, and cry: + +"What is it? what is the matter?" + +But, thrusting out his hand, he pushed me upwards. "Go back!" he +whispered, in a voice shaking with in-tensest emotion, "go back." And +catching me by the arm, he literally pulled me up the stairs. Arrived +at the top, he loosened his grasp, and leaning, quivering from head to +foot, over the banisters, glared below. + +"Who is that?" he cried. "Who is that man? What is his name?" + +Startled in my turn, I bent beside him, and saw Henry Clavering come +out of the reception room and cross the hall. + +"That is Mr. Clavering," I whispered, with all the self-possession +I could muster; "do you know him?" + +Mr. Harwell fell back against the opposite wall. "Clavering, +Clavering," he murmured with quaking lips; then, suddenly bounding +forward, clutched the railing before him, and fixing me with his eyes, +from which all the stoic calmness had gone down forever in flame and +frenzy, gurgled into my ear: "You want to know who the assassin of +Mr. Leavenworth is, do you? Look there, then: that is the man, +Clavering!" And with a leap, he bounded from my side, and, swaying +like a drunken man, disappeared from my gaze in the hall above. + +My first impulse was to follow him. Rushing upstairs, I knocked at +the door of his room, but no response came to my summons. I then called +his name in the hall, but without avail; he was determined not to show +himself. Resolved that he should not thus escape me, I returned to the +library, and wrote him a short note, in which I asked for an +explanation of his tremendous accusation, saying I would be in my rooms +the next evening at six, when I should expect to see him. This done I +descended to rejoin Mary. + +But the evening was destined to be full of disappointments. She had +retired to her room while I was in the library, and I lost the +interview from which I expected so much." The woman is slippery as an +eel," I inwardly commented, pacing the hall in my chagrin. "Wrapped in +mystery, she expects me to feel for her the respect due to one of frank +and open nature." + +I was about to leave the house, when I saw Thomas descending the +stairs with a letter in his hand. + +"Miss Leavenworth's compliments, sir, and she is too fatigued to +remain below this evening." + +I moved aside to read the note he handed me, feeling a little +conscience-stricken as I traced the hurried, trembling handwriting +through the following words: + + "You ask more than I can give. Matters must be received as they are + without explanation from me. It is the grief of my life to deny you; + but I have no choice. God forgive us all and keep us from despair. + + "M." + +And below: + + "As we cannot meet now without embarrassment, it is better we should + bear our burdens in silence and apart. Mr. Harwell will visit you. + Farewell!" + +As I was crossing Thirty-second Street, I heard a quick footstep +behind me, and turning, saw Thomas at my side. "Excuse me, sir," said +he, "but I have something a little particular to say to you. When you +asked me the other night what sort of a person the gentleman was who +called on Miss Eleanore the evening of the murder, I didn't answer you +as I should. The fact is, the detectives had been talking to me about +that very thing, and I felt shy; but, sir, I know you are a friend of +the family, and I want to tell you now that that same gentleman, +whoever he was,--Mr. Robbins, he called himself then,--was at the +house again tonight, sir, and the name he gave me this time to carry to +Miss Leavenworth was Clavering. Yes, sir," he went on, seeing me start; +"and, as I told Molly, he acts queer for a stranger. When he came the +other night, he hesitated a long time before asking for Miss Eleanore, +and when I wanted his name, took out a card and wrote on it the one I +told you of, sir, with a look on his face a little peculiar for a +caller; besides----" + +"Well?" + +"Mr. Raymond," the butler went on, in a low, excited voice, edging +up very closely to me in the darkness. "There is something I have +never told any living being but Molly, sir, which may be of use to +those as wishes to find out who committed this murder." + +"A fact or a suspicion?" I inquired. + +"A fact, sir; which I beg your pardon for troubling you with at +this time; but Molly will give me no rest unless I speak of it to you +or Mr. Gryce; her feelings being so worked up on Hannah's account, +whom we all know is innocent, though folks do dare to say as how she +must be guilty just because she is not to be found the minute they want +her." + +"But this fact?" I urged. + +"Well, the fact is this. You see--I would tell Mr. Gryce," he +resumed, unconscious of my anxiety, "but I have my fears of detectives, +sir; they catch you up so quick at times, and seem to think you know so +much more than you really do." + +"But this fact," I again broke in. + +"O yes, sir; the fact is, that that night, the one of the murder +you know, I saw Mr. Clavering, Robbins, or whatever his name is, enter +the house, but neither I nor any one else saw him go out of it; nor do +I know that he _did."_ + +"What do you mean?" + +"Well, sir, what I mean is this. When I came down from Miss +Eleanore and told Mr. Robbins, as he called himself at that time, that +my mistress was ill and unable to see him (the word she gave me, sir, +to deliver) Mr. Robbins, instead of bowing and leaving the house like a +gentleman, stepped into the reception room and sat down. He may have +felt sick, he looked pale enough; at any rate, he asked me for a glass +of water. Not knowing any reason then for suspicionat-ing any one's +actions, I immediately went down to the kitchen for it, leaving him +there in the reception room alone. But before I could get it, I heard +the front door close. 'What's that?' said Molly, who was helping me, +sir. 'I don't know,' said I, 'unless it's the gentleman has got tired +of waiting and gone.' 'If he's gone, he won't want the water,' she +said. So down I set the pitcher, and up-stairs I come; and sure enough +he was gone, or so I thought then. But who knows, sir, if he was not in +that room or the drawing-room, which was dark that night, all the time +I was a-shutting up of the house?" + +I made no reply to this; I was more startled than I cared to reveal. + +"You see, sir, I wouldn't speak of such a thing about any person +that comes to see the young ladies; but we all know some one who was +in the house that night murdered my master, and as it was not +Hannah----" + +"You say that Miss Eleanore refused to see him," I interrupted, in +the hope that the simple suggestion would be enough to elicitate +further details of his interview with Eleanore. + +"Yes, sir. When she first looked at the card, she showed a little +hesitation; but in a moment she grew very flushed in the face, and +bade me say what I told you. I should never have thought of it again if +I had not seen him come blazoning and bold into the house this evening, +with a new name on his tongue. Indeed, and I do not like to think any +evil of him now; but Molly would have it I should speak to you, sir, +and ease my mind,--and that is all, sir." + +When I arrived home that night, I entered into my memorandum-book a +new list of suspicious circumstances, but this time they were under the +caption "C" instead of "E." + + + +XIX. IN MY OFFICE + + "Something between an hindrance and a help." + Wordsworth. + +THE next day as, with nerves unstrung and an exhausted brain, I +entered my office, I was greeted by the announcement: + +"A gentleman, sir, in your private room--been waiting some time, +very impatient." + +Weary, in no mood to hold consultation with clients new or old, I +advanced with anything but an eager step towards my room, when, upon +opening the door, I saw--Mr. Clavering. + +Too much astounded for the moment to speak, I bowed to him silently, +whereupon he approached me with the air and dignity of a highly bred +gentleman, and presented his card, on which I saw written, in free and +handsome characters, his whole name, Henry Ritchie Clavering. After +this introduction of himself, he apologized for making so unceremonious +a call, saying, in excuse, that he was a stranger in town; that his +business was one of great urgency; that he had casually heard +honorable mention of me as a lawyer and a gentleman, and so had +ventured to seek this interview on behalf of a friend who was so +unfortunately situated as to require the opinion and advice of a lawyer +upon a question which not only involved an extraordinary state of +facts, but was of a nature peculiarly embarrassing to him, owing to his +ignorance of American laws, and the legal bearing of these facts upon +the same. + +Having thus secured my attention, and awakened my curiosity, he +asked me if I would permit him to relate his story. Recovering in a +measure from my astonishment, and subduing the extreme repulsion, +almost horror, I felt for the man, I signified my assent; at which he +drew from his pocket a memorandum-book from which he read in substance +as follows: + +"An Englishman travelling in this country meets, at a fashionable +watering-place, an American girl, with whom he falls deeply in love, +and whom, after a few days, he desires to marry. Knowing his position +to be good, his fortune ample, and his intentions highly honorable, he +offers her his hand, and is accepted. But a decided opposition arising +in the family to the match, he is compelled to disguise his sentiments, +though the engagement remained unbroken. While matters were in this +uncertain condition, he received advices from England demanding his +instant return, and, alarmed at the prospect of a protracted absence +from the object of his affections, he writes to the lady, informing her +of the circumstances, and proposing a secret marriage. She consents +with stipulations; the first of which is, that he should leave her +instantly upon the conclusion of the ceremony, and the second, that he +should intrust the public declaration of the marriage to her. It was +not precisely what he wished, but anything which served to make her his +own was acceptable at such a crisis. He readily enters into the plans +proposed. Meeting the lady at a parsonage, some twenty miles from the +watering-place at which she was staying, he stands up with her before a +Methodist preacher, and the ceremony of marriage is performed. There +were two witnesses, a hired man of the minister, called in for the +purpose, and a lady friend who came with the bride; but there was no +license, and the bride had not completed her twenty-first year. Now, +was that marriage legal? If the lady, wedded in good faith upon that +day by my friend, chooses to deny that she is his lawful wife, can he +hold her to a compact entered into in so informal a manner? In short, +Mr. Raymond, is my friend the lawful husband of that girl or not?" + +While listening to this story, I found myself yielding to feelings +greatly in contrast to those with which I greeted the relator but a +moment before. I became so interested in his "friend's" case as to +quite forget, for the time being, that I had ever seen or heard of +Henry Clavering; and after learning that the marriage ceremony took +place in the State of New York, I replied to him, as near as I can +remember, in the following words: "In this State, and I believe it to +be American law, marriage is a civil contract, requiring neither +license, priest, ceremony, nor certificate--and in some cases +witnesses are not even necessary to give it validity. Of old, the modes +of getting a wife were the same as those of acquiring any other species +of property, and they are not materially changed at the present time. +It is enough that the man and woman say to each other, 'From this time +we are married,' or, 'You are now my wife,' or, 'my husband,' as the +case may be. The mutual consent is all that is necessary. In fact, you +may contract marriage as you contract to lend a sum of money, or to buy +the merest trifle." + +"Then your opinion is----" + +"That upon your statement, your friend is the lawful husband of +the lady in question; presuming, of course, that no legal disabilities +of either party existed to prevent such a union. As to the young lady's +age, I will merely say that any fourteen-year-old girl can be a party +to a marriage contract." + +Mr. Clavering bowed, his countenance assuming a look of great +satisfaction. "I am very glad to hear this," said he; "my friend's +happiness is entirely involved in the establishment, of his marriage." + +He appeared so relieved, my curiosity was yet further aroused. I +therefore said: "I have given you my opinion as to the legality of +this marriage; but it may be quite another thing to prove it, should +the same be contested." + +He started, cast me an inquiring look, and murmured: + +"True." + +"Allow me to ask you a few questions. Was the lady married under +her own name?" + +"She was." + +"The gentleman?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did the lady receive a certificate?" + +"She did." + +"Properly signed by the minister and witnesses?" + +He bowed his head in assent. + +"Did she keep this?" + +"I cannot say; but I presume she did." + +"The witnesses were----" + +"A hired man of the minister----" + +"Who can be found?" + +"Who cannot be found." + +"Dead or disappeared?" + +"The minister is dead, the man has disappeared." + +"The minister dead!" + +"Three months since." + +"And the marriage took place when?" + +"Last July." + +"The other witness, the lady friend, where is she?" + +"She can be found; but her action is not to be depended upon." + +"Has the gentleman himself no proofs of this marriage?" + +Mr. Clavering shook his head. "He cannot even prove he was in the +town where it took place on that particular day." + +"The marriage certificate was, however, filed with the clerk of the +town?" said I. + +"It was not, sir." + +"How was that?" + +"I cannot say. I only know that my friend has made inquiry, and +that no such paper is to be found." + +I leaned slowly back and looked at him. "I do not wonder your +friend is concerned in regard to his position, if what you hint is +true, and the lady seems disposed to deny that any such ceremony ever +took place. Still, if he wishes to go to law, the Court may decide in +his favor, though I doubt it. His sworn word is all he would have to go +upon, and if she contradicts his testimony under oath, why the sympathy +of a jury is, as a rule, with the woman." + +Mr. Clavering rose, looked at me with some earnestness, and finally +asked, in a tone which, though somewhat changed, lacked nothing of its +former suavity, if I would be kind enough to give him in writing that +portion of my opinion which directly bore upon the legality of the +marriage; that such a paper would go far towards satisfying his friend +that his case had been properly presented; as he was aware that no +respectable lawyer would put his name to a legal opinion without first +having carefully arrived at his conclusions by a thorough examination +of the law bearing upon the facts submitted. + +This request seeming so reasonable, I unhesitatingly complied with +it, and handed him the opinion. He took it, and, after reading it +carefully over, deliberately copied it into his memorandum-book. This +done, he turned towards me, a strong, though hitherto subdued, emotion +showing itself in his countenance. + +"Now, sir," said he, rising upon me to the full height of his +majestic figure, "I have but one more request to make; and that is, +that you will receive back this opinion into your own possession, and +in the day you think to lead a beautiful woman to the altar, pause and +ask yourself: 'Am I sure that the hand I clasp with such impassioned +fervor is free? Have I any certainty for knowing that it has not +already been given away, like that of the lady whom, in this opinion of +mine, I have declared to be a wedded wife according to the laws of my +country? '" + +"Mr. Clavering!" + +But he, with an urbane bow, laid his hand upon the knob of the door. +"I thank you for your courtesy, Mr. Raymond, and I bid you good-day. I +hope you will have no need of consulting that paper before I see you +again." And with another bow, he passed out. + +It was the most vital shock I had yet experienced; and for a moment +I stood paralyzed. Me! me! Why should he mix me up with the affair +unless--but I would not contemplate that possibility. Eleanore +married, and to this man? No, no; anything but that! And yet I found +myself continually turning the supposition over in my mind until, to +escape the torment of my own conjectures, I seized my hat, and rushed +into the street in the hope of finding him again and extorting from him +an explanation of his mysterious conduct. But by the time I reached the +sidewalk, he was nowhere to be seen. A thousand busy men, with their +various cares and purposes, had pushed themselves between us, and I was +obliged to return to my office with my doubts unsolved. + +I think I never experienced a longer day; but it passed, and at +five _o'clock I_ had the satisfaction of inquiring for Mr. +Clavering at the Hoffman House. Judge of my surprise when I learned +that his visit to my office was his last action before taking passage +upon the steamer leaving that day for Liverpool; that he was now on the +high seas, and all chance of another interview with him was at an end. +I could scarcely believe the fact at first; but after a talk with the +cabman who had driven him off to my office and thence to the steamer, I +became convinced. My first feeling was one of shame. I had been brought +face to face with the accused man, had received an intimation from him +that he was not expecting to see me again for some time, and had weakly +gone on attending to my own affairs and allowed him to escape, like the +simple tyro that I was. My next, the necessity of notifying Mr. Gryce +of this man's departure. But it was now six o'clock, the hour set apart +for my interview with Mr. Harwell. I could not afford to miss that, so +merely stopping to despatch a line to Mr. Gryce, in which I promised to +visit him that evening, I turned my steps towards home. I found Mr. +Harwell there before me. + + +XX. "TRUEMAN! TRUEMAN! TRUEMAN!" + + "Often do the spirits + Of great events stride on before the events, + And in to-day already walks to-morrow." + Coleridge. + +INSTANTLY a great dread seized me. What revelations might not this +man be going to make! But I subdued the feeling; and, greeting him +with what cordiality I could, settled myself to listen to his +explanations. + +But Trueman Harwell had no explanations to give, or so it seemed; +on the contrary, he had come to apologize for the very violent words he +had used the evening before; words which, whatever their effect upon +me, he now felt bound to declare had been used without sufficient basis +in fact to make their utterance of the least importance. + +"But you must have thought you had grounds for so tremendous an +accusation, or your act was that of a madman." + +His brow wrinkled heavily, and his eyes assumed a very gloomy +expression. "It does not follow," he returned. "Under the pressure of +surprise, I have known men utter convictions no better founded than +mine without running the risk of being called mad." + +"Surprise? Mr. Clavering's face or form must; then, have been known +to you. The mere fact of seeing a strange gentleman in the hall would +have been insufficient to cause you astonishment, Mr. Harwell." + +He uneasily fingered the back of the chair before which he stood, +but made no reply. + +"Sit down," I again urged, this time with a touch of command in my +voice. "This is a serious matter, and I intend to deal with it +as it deserves. You once said that if you knew anything which might +serve to exonerate Eleanore Leavenworth from the suspicion under which +she stands, you would be ready to impart it." + +"Pardon me. I said that if I had ever known anything calculated to +release her from her unhappy position, I would have spoken," he coldly +corrected. + +"Do not quibble. You know, and I know, that you are keeping +something back; and I ask you, in her behalf, and in the cause of +justice, to tell me what it is." + +"You are mistaken," was his dogged reply. "I have reasons, +perhaps, for certain conclusions I may have drawn; but my conscience +will not allow me in cold blood to give utterance to suspicions which +may not only damage the reputation of an honest man, but place me in +the unpleasant position of an accuser without substantial foundation +for my accusations." + +"You occupy that position already," I retorted, with equal +coldness. "Nothing can make me forget that in my presence you have +denounced Henry Clavering as the murderer of Mr. Leavenworth. You had +better explain yourself, Mr. Harwell." + +He gave me a short look, but moved around and took the chair. "You +have me at a disadvantage," he said, in a lighter tone. "If you choose +to profit by your position, and press me to disclose the little I know, +I can only regret the necessity under which I lie, and speak." + +"Then you are deterred by conscientious scruples alone?" + +"Yes, and by the meagreness of the facts at my command." + +"I will judge of the facts when I have heard them." + +He raised his eyes to mine, and I was astonished to observe a +strange eagerness in their depths; evidently his convictions were +stronger than his scruples. "Mr. Raymond," he began, "you are a +lawyer, and undoubtedly a practical man; but you may know what it is to +scent danger before you see it, to feel influences working in the air +over and about you, and yet be in ignorance of what it is that affects +you so powerfully, till chance reveals that an enemy has been at your +side, or a friend passed your window, or the shadow of death crossed +your book as you read, or mingled with your breath as you slept?" + +I shook my head, fascinated by the intensity of his gaze into some +sort of response. + +"Then you cannot understand me, or what I have suffered these last +three weeks." And he drew back with an icy reserve that seemed to +promise but little to my now thoroughly awakened curiosity. + +"I beg your pardon," I hastened to say; "but the fact of my never +having experienced such sensations does not hinder me from +comprehending the emotions of others more affected by spiritual +influences than myself." + +He drew himself slowly forward. "Then you will not ridicule me if I +say that upon the eve of Mr. Leavenworth's murder I experienced in a +dream all that afterwards occurred; saw him murdered, saw"--and he +clasped his hands before him, in an attitude inexpressibly convincing, +while his voice sank to a horrified whisper, "saw the face of his +murderer!" + +I started, looked at him in amazement, a thrill as at a ghostly +presence running through me. + +"And was that----" I began. + +"My reason for denouncing the man I beheld before me in the hall of +Miss Leavenworth's house last night? It was." And, taking out his +handkerchief, he wiped his forehead, on which the perspiration was +standing in large drops. + +"You would then intimate that the face you saw in your dream and +the face you saw in the hall last night were the same?" + +He gravely nodded his head. + +I drew my chair nearer to his. "Tell me your dream," said I. + +"It was the night before Mr. Leavenworth's murder. I had gone to +bed feeling especially contented with myself and the world at large; +for, though my life is anything but a happy one," and he heaved a short +sigh, "some pleasant words had been said to me that day, and I was +revelling in the happiness they conferred, when suddenly a chill struck +my heart, and the darkness which a moment before had appeared to me as +the abode of peace thrilled to the sound of a supernatural cry, and I +heard my name, 'Trueman, Trueman, True-man,' repeated three times in a +voice I did not recognize, and starting from my pillow beheld at my +bedside a woman. Her face was strange to me," he solemnly proceeded, +"but I can give you each and every detail of it, as, bending above me, +she stared into my eyes with a growing terror that seemed to implore +help, though her lips were quiet, and only the memory of that cry +echoed in my ears." + +"Describe the face," I interposed. + +"It was a round, fair, lady's face. Very lovely in contour, but +devoid of coloring; not beautiful, but winning from its childlike look +of trust. The hair, banded upon the low, broad forehead, was brown; +the eyes, which were very far apart, gray; the mouth, which was its +most charming feature, delicate of make and very expressive. There was +a dimple in the chin, but none in the cheeks. It was a face to be +remembered." + +"Go on," said I. + +"Meeting the gaze of those imploring eyes, I started up. Instantly +the face and all vanished, and I became conscious, as we sometimes do +in dreams, of a certain movement in the hall below, and the next +instant the gliding figure of a man of imposing size entered the +library. I remember experiencing a certain thrill at this, half terror, +half curiosity, though I seemed to know, as if by intuition, what he +was going to do. Strange to say, I now seemed to change my personality, +and to be no longer a third party watching these proceedings, but Mr. +Leavenworth himself, sitting at his library table and feeling his doom +crawling upon him without capacity for speech or power of movement to +avert it. Though my back was towards the man, I could feel his stealthy +form traverse the passage, enter the room beyond, pass to that stand +where the pistol was, try the drawer, find it locked, turn the key, +procure the pistol, weigh it in an accustomed hand, and advance again. +I could feel each footstep he took as though his feet were in truth +upon my heart, and I remember staring at the table before me as if I +expected every moment to see it run with my own blood. I can see now +how the letters I had been writing danced upon the paper before me, +appearing to my eyes to take the phantom shapes of persons and things +long ago forgotten; crowding my last moments with regrets and dead +shames, wild longings, and unspeakable agonies, through all of which +that face, the face of my former dream, mingled, pale, sweet, and +searching, while closer and closer behind me crept that noiseless foot +till I could feel the glaring of the assassin's eyes across the narrow +threshold separating me from death and hear the click of his teeth as +he set his lips for the final act. Ah!" and the secretary's livid face +showed the touch of awful horror, "what words can describe such an +experience as that? In one moment, all the agonies of hell in the +heart and brain, the next a blank through which I seemed to see afar, +and as if suddenly removed from all this, a crouching figure looking at +its work with starting eyes and pallid back-drawn lips; and seeing, +recognize no face that I had ever known, but one so handsome, so +remarkable, so unique in its formation and character, that it would be +as easy for me to mistake the countenance of my father as the look and +figure of the man revealed to me in my dream." + +"And this face?" said I, in a voice I failed to recognize as my +own. + +"Was that of him whom we saw leave Mary Leavenworth's presence +last night and go down the hall to the front door." + + + +XXI. A PREJUDICE + + "True, I talk of dreams, + 'Which are the children of an idle brain + Begot of nothing but vain phantasy." + --Romeo and Juliet. + +FOR one moment I sat a prey to superstitious horror; then, my +natural incredulity asserting itself, I looked up and remarked: + +"You say that all this took place the night previous to the actual +occurrence?" + +He bowed his head. "For a warning," he declared. + +"But you did not seem to take it as such?" + +"No; I am subject to horrible dreams. I thought but little of it +in a superstitious way till I looked next day upon Mr. Leavenworth's +dead body." + +"I do not wonder you behaved strangely at the inquest." + +"Ah, sir," he returned, with a slow, sad smile; "no one knows +what I suffered in my endeavors not to tell more than I actually knew, +irrespective of my dream, of this murder and the manner of its +accomplishment." + +"You believe, then, that your dream foreshadowed the manner of the +murder as well as the fact?" + +"I do." + +"It is a pity it did not go a little further, then, and tell us how +the assassin escaped from, if not how he entered, a house so securely +fastened." + +His face flushed. "That would have been convenient," he repeated. +"Also, if I had been informed where Hannah was, and why a stranger and a +gentleman should have stooped to the committal of such a crime." + +Seeing that he was nettled, I dropped my bantering vein. "Why do +you say a stranger?" I asked; "are you so well acquainted with all +who visit that house as to be able to say who are and who are not +strangers to the family? + +"I am well acquainted with the faces of their friends, and Henry +Clavering is not amongst the number; but----" + +"Were you ever with Mr. Leavenworth," I interrupted, "when he has +been away from home; in the country, for instance, or upon his travels?" + +"No." But the negative came with some constraint. + +"Yet I suppose he was in the habit of absenting himself from home?" + +"Certainly." + +"Can you tell me where he was last July, he and the ladies?" + +"Yes, sir; they went to R----. The famous watering-place, you know. +Ah," he cried, seeing a change in my face, "do you think he could have +met them there?" + +I looked at him for a moment, then, rising in my turn, stood level +with him, and exclaimed: + +"You are keeping something back, Mr. Harwell; you have more +knowledge of this man than you have hitherto given me to understand. +What is it?" + +He seemed astonished at my penetration, but replied: "I know no +more of the man than I have already informed you; but"--and a burning +flush crossed his face, "if you are determined to pursue this matter +--" and he paused, with an inquiring look. + +"I am resolved to find out all I can about Henry Clavering," was my +decided answer + +"Then," said he, "I can tell you this much. Henry Clavering +wrote a letter to Mr. Leavenworth a few days before the murder, which I +have some reason to believe produced a marked effect upon the +household." And, folding his arms, the secretary stood quietly awaiting +my next question. + +"How do you know?" I asked. + +"I opened it by mistake. I was in the habit of reading Mr. Leaven +worth's business letters, and this, being from one unaccustomed to +write to him, lacked the mark which usually distinguished those of a +private nature." + +"And you saw the name of Clavering?" + +"I did; Henry Ritchie Clavering." + +"Did you read the letter?" I was trembling now. + +The secretary did not reply. + +"Mr. Harwell," I reiterated, "this is no time for false delicacy. +Did you read that letter?" + +"I did; but hastily, and with an agitated conscience." + +"You can, however, recall its general drift?" + +"It was some complaint in regard to the treatment received by him +at the hand of one of Mr. Leavenworth's nieces. I remember nothing +more." + +"Which niece?" + +"There were no names mentioned." + +"But you inferred----" + +"No, sir; that is just what I did not do. I forced myself to +forget the whole thing." + +"And yet you say it produced an effect upon the family?" + +"I can see now that it did. None of them have ever appeared quite +the same as before." + +"Mr. Harwell," I gravely continued; "when you were questioned as +to the receipt of any letter by Mr. Leavenworth, which might seem in +any manner to be connected with this tragedy, you denied having seen +any such; how was that?" + +"Mr. Raymond, you are a gentleman; have a chivalrous regard for +the ladies; do you think you could have brought yourself (even if in +your secret heart you considered some such result possible, which I am +not ready to say I did) to mention, at such a time as that, the receipt +of a letter complaining of the treatment received from one of Mr. +Leavenworth's nieces, as a suspicious circumstance worthy to be taken +into account by a coroner's jury?" + +I shook my head. I could not but acknowledge the impossibility. + +"What reason had I for thinking that letter was one of importance? +I knew of no Henry Ritchie Clavering." + +"And yet you seemed to think it was. I remember you hesitated +before replying." + +"It is true; but not as I should hesitate now, if the question were +put to me again." + +Silence followed these words, during which I took two or three turns +up and down the room. + +"This is all very fanciful," I remarked, laughing in the vain +endeavor to throw off the superstitious horror his words had awakened. + +He bent his head in assent. "I know it," said he. "I am practical +myself in broad daylight, and recognize the nimsiness of an accusation +based upon a poor, hardworking secretary's dream, as plainly as you do. +This is the reason I desired to keep from speaking at all; but, Mr. +Raymond," and his long, thin hand fell upon my arm with a nervous +intensity which gave me almost the sensation of an electrical shock, +"if the murderer of Mr. Leavenworth is ever brought to confess his deed, +mark my words, he will prove to be the man of my dream." + +I drew a long breath. For a moment his belief was mine; and a +mingled sensation of relief and exquisite pain swept over me as I +thought of the possibility of Eleanore being exonerated from crime only +to be plunged into fresh humiliation and deeper abysses of suffering. + +"He stalks the streets in freedom now," the secretary went on, as +if to himself; "even dares to enter the house he has so wofully +desecrated; but justice is justice and, sooner or later, something will +transpire which will prove to you that a premonition so wonderful as +that I received had its significance; that the voice calling 'Trueman, +Trueman,' was something more than the empty utterances of an excited +brain; that it was Justice itself, calling attention to the guilty." + +I looked at him in wonder. Did he know that the officers of justice +were already upon the track of this same Clavering? I judged not from +his look, but felt an inclination to make an effort and see. + +"You speak with strange conviction," I said; "but in all +probability you are doomed to be disappointed. So far as we know, Mr. +Clavering is a respectable man." + +He lifted his hat from the table. "I do not propose to denounce him; +I do not even propose to speak his name again. I am not a fool, Mr. +Raymond. I have spoken thus plainly to you only in explanation of last +night's most unfortunate betrayal; and while I trust you will regard +what I have told you as confidential, I also hope you will give me +credit for behaving, on the whole, as well as could be expected under +the circumstances." And he held out his hand. + +"Certainly," I replied as I took it. Then, with a sudden impulse to +test the accuracy of this story of his, inquired if he had any means of +verifying his statement of having had this dream at the time spoken of: +that is, before the murder and not afterwards. + +"No, sir; I know myself that I had it the night previous to that of +Mr. Leavenworth's death; but I cannot prove the fact." + +"Did not speak of it next morning to any one?" + +"O no, sir; I was scarcely in a position to do so." + +"Yet it must have had a great effect upon you, unfitting you for +work----" + +"Nothing unfits me for work," was his bitter reply. + +"I believe you," I returned, remembering his diligence for the last +few days. "But you must at least have shown some traces of having +passed an uncomfortable night. Have you no recollection of any one +speaking to you in regard to your appearance the next morning?" + +"Mr. Leavenworth may have done so; no one else would be likely to +notice." There was sadness in the tone, and my own voice softened as I +said: + +"I shall not be at the house to-night, Mr. Harwell; nor do I know +when I shall return there. Personal considerations keep me from Miss +Leavenworth's presence for a time, and I look to you to carry on the +work we have undertaken without my assistance, unless you can bring it +here----" + +"I can do that." + +"I shall expect you, then, to-morrow evening." + +"Very well, sir "; and he was going, when a sudden thought seemed +to strike him. "Sir," he said, "as we do not wish to return to this +subject again, and as I have a natural curiosity in regard to this man, +would you object to telling me what you know of him? You believe him +to be a respectable man; are you acquainted with him, Mr. Raymond?" + +"I know his name, and where he resides." + +"And where is that?" + +"In London; he is an Englishman." + +"Ah!" he murmured, with a strange intonation. + +"Why do you say that?" + +He bit his lip, looked down, then up, finally fixed his eyes on +mine, and returned, with marked emphasis: "I used an exclamation, +sir, because I was startled." + +"Startled?" + +"Yes; you say he is an Englishman. Mr. Leavenworth had the most +bitter antagonism to the English. It was one of his marked +peculiarities. He would never be introduced to one if he could help it." + +It was my turn to look thoughtful. + +"You know," continued the secretary, "that Mr. Leavenworth was a +man who carried his prejudices to the extreme. He had a hatred for the +English race amounting to mania. If he had known the letter I have +mentioned was from an Englishman, I doubt if he would have read it. He +used to say he would sooner see a daughter of his dead before him than +married to an Englishman." + +I turned hastily aside to hide the effect which this announcement +made upon me. + +"You think I am exaggerating," he said. "Ask Mr. Veeley." + +"No," I replied. "I have no reason for thinking so." + +"He had doubtless some cause for hating the English with which we +are unacquainted," pursued the secretary. "He spent some time in +Liverpool when young, and had, of course, many opportunities for +studying their manners and character." And the secretary made another +movement, as if to leave. + +But it was my turn to detain him now. "Mr. Harwell, you must excuse +me. You have been on familiar terms with Mr. Leavenworth for so long. +Do you think that, in the case of one of his nieces, say, desiring to +marry a gentleman of that nationality, his prejudice was sufficient to +cause him to absolutely forbid the match?" + +"I do." + +I moved back. I had learned what I wished, and saw no further reason +for prolonging the interview. + + + +XXII. PATCH-WORK + + "Come, give us a taste of your quality." + Hamlet. + +STARTING with the assumption that Mr. Clavering in his conversation +of the morning had been giving me, with more or less accuracy, a +detailed account of his own experience and position regarding Eleanore +Leavenworth, I asked myself what particular facts it would be necessary +for me to establish in order to prove the truth of this assumption, and +found them to be: + +I. That Mr. Clavering had not only been in this country at the time +designated, but that he had been ocated for some little time at a +watering-place in New York State. + +II. That this watering-place should correspond to the one in which +Miss Eleanore Leavenworth was staying at the same time. + +III. That they had been seen while there to hold nore or less +communication. + +IV. That they had both been absent from town, at Lorne one time, +long enough to have gone through the ceremony of marriage at a point +twenty miles or so away. + +V. That a Methodist clergyman, who has since died, lived at that +time within a radius of twenty miles of said ratering-place. + +I next asked myself how I was to establish these acts. Mr. +Clavering's life was as yet too little known o me to offer me any +assistance; so, leaving it for the present, I took up the thread of +Eleanore's history, and found that at the time given me she had been in +R----, l fashionable watering-place in this State. Now, if his was +true, and my theory correct, he must have been there also. To prove +this fact, became, consequently, my first business. I resolved to go to +R---- on the morrow. + +But before proceeding in an undertaking of such importance, I +considered it expedient to make such inquiries and collect such facts +as the few hours I had left to work in rendered possible. I went first +to the house of Mr. Gryce. + +I found him lying upon a hard sofa, in the bare sitting-room I have +before mentioned, suffering from a severe attack of rheumatism. His +hands were done up in bandages, and his feet incased in multiplied +folds of a dingy red shawl which looked as if it had been through the +wars. Greeting me with a short nod that was both a welcome and an +apology, he devoted a few words to an explanation of his unwonted +position; and then, without further preliminaries, rushed into the +subject which was uppermost in both our minds by inquiring, in a +slightly sarcastic way, if I was very much surprised to find my bird +flown when I returned to the Hoffman House that afternoon. + +"I was astonished to find you allowed him to fly at this time," I +replied. "From the manner in which you requested me to make his +acquaintance, I supposed you considered him an important character in +the tragedy which has just been enacted." + +"And what makes you think I don't? Oh, the fact that I let him go +off so easily? That's no proof. I never fiddle with the brakes till +the car starts down-hill. But let that pass for the present; Mr. +Clavering, then, did not explain himself before going?" + +"That is a question which I find it exceedingly difficult to +answer. Hampered by circumstances, I cannot at present speak with the +directness which is your due, but what I can say, I will. Know, then, +that in my opinion Mr. Clavering did explain himself in an interview +with me this morning. But it was done in so blind a way, it will be +necessary for me to make a few investigations before I shall feel +sufficiently sure of my ground to take you into my confidence. He has +given me a possible clue----" + +"Wait," said Mr. Gryce; "does he know this? Was it done +intentionally and with sinister motive, or unconsciously and in plain +good faith?" + +"In good faith, I should say." + +Mr. Gryce remained silent for a moment. "It is very unfortunate you +cannot explain yourself a little more definitely," he said at last. "I +am almost afraid to trust you to make investigations, as you call them, +on your own hook. You are not used to the business, and will lose time, +to say nothing of running upon false scents, and using up your strength +on unprofitable details." + +"You should have thought of that when you admitted me into +partnership." + +"And you absolutely insist upon working this mine alone?" + +"Mr. Gryce, the matter stands just here. Mr. Clavering, for all I +know, is a gentleman of untarnished reputation. I am not even aware for +what purpose you set me upon his trail. I only know that in thus +following it I have come upon certain facts that seem worthy of further +investigation." + +"Well, well; you know best. But the days are slipping by. Something +must be done, and soon. The public are becoming clamorous." + +"I know it, and for that reason I have come to you for such +assistance as you can give me at this stage of the proceedings. You are +in possession of certain facts relating to this man which it concerns +me to know, or your conduct in reference to him has been purposeless. +Now, frankly, will you make me master of those facts: in short, tell +me all you know of Mr. Clavering, without requiring an immediate return +of confidence on my part?" + +"That is asking a great deal of a professional detective." + +"I know it, and under other circumstances I should hesitate long +before preferring such a request; but as things are, I don't see how I +am to proceed in the matter without some such concession on your part. +At all events----" + +"Wait a moment! Is not Mr. Clavering the lover of one of the young +ladies?" + +Anxious as I was to preserve the secret of my interest in that +gentleman, I could not prevent the blush from rising to my face at the +suddenness of this question. + +"I thought as much," he went on. "Being neither a relative nor +acknowledged friend, I took it for granted he must occupy some such +position as that in the family." + +"I do not see why you should draw such an inference," said I, +anxious to determine how much he knew about him. "Mr. Clavering is a +stranger in town; has not even been in this country long; has indeed +had no time to establish himself upon any such footing as you suggest." + +"This is not the only time Mr. Clavering has been in New York. He +was here a year ago to my certain knowledge." + +"You know that?" + +"Yes." + +"How much more do you know? Can it be possible I am groping +blindly about for facts which are already in your possession? I pray +you listen to my entreaties, Mr. Gryce, and acquaint me at once with +what I want to know. You will not regret it. I have no selfish motive +in this matter. If I succeed, the glory shall be yours; it I fail, the +shame of the defeat shall be mine." + +"That is fair," he muttered. "And how about the reward?" + +"My reward will be to free an innocent woman from the imputation of +crime which hangs over her." + +This assurance seemed to satisfy him. His voice and appearance +changed; for a moment he looked quite confidential. "Well, well," said +he; "and what is it you want to know?" + +"I should first like to know how your suspicions came to light on +him at all. What reason had you for thinking a gentleman of his bearing +and position was in any way connected with this affair?" + +"That is a question you ought not to be obliged to put," he +returned. + +"How so?" + +"Simply because the opportunity of answering it was in your hands +before ever it came into mine." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Don't you remember the letter mailed in your presence by Miss Mary +Leavenworth during your drive from her home to that of her friend in +Thirty-seventh Street?" + +"On the afternoon of the inquest?" + +"Yes." + +"Certainly, but----" + +"You never thought to look at its superscription before it was +dropped into the box." + +"I had neither opportunity nor right to do so." + +"Was it not written in your presence?" + +"It was." + +"And you never regarded the affair as worth your attention?" + +"However I may have regarded it, I did not see how I could prevent +Miss Leavenworth from dropping a letter into a box if she chose to do +so." + +"That is because you are a _gentleman._ Well, it has its +disadvantages," he muttered broodingly. + +"But you," said I; "how came you to know anything about this +letter? Ah, I see," remembering that the carriage in which we were +riding at the time had been procured for us by him. "The man on the +box was in your pay, and informed, as you call it." + +Mr. Gryce winked at his muffled toes mysteriously. "That is not the +point," he said. "Enough that I heard that a letter, which might +reasonably prove to be of some interest to me, had been dropped at such +an hour into the box on the corner of a certain street. That, +coinciding in the opinion of my informant, I telegraphed to the station +connected with that box to take note of the address of a +suspicious-looking letter about to pass through their hands on the way +to the General Post Office, and following up the telegram in person, +found that a curious epistle addressed in lead pencil and sealed with a +stamp, had just arrived, the address of which I was allowed to see----" + +"And which was?" + +"Henry R. Clavering, Hoffman House, New York." + +I drew a deep breath. "And so that is how your attention first came +to be directed to this man?" + +"Yes." + +"Strange. But go on--what next?" + +"Why, next I followed up the clue by going to the Hoffman House and +instituting inquiries. I learned that Mr. Clavering was a regular guest +of the hotel. That he had come there, direct from the Liverpool steamer, +about three months since, and, registering his name as Henry R. +Clavering, Esq., London, had engaged a first-class room which he had +kept ever since. That, although nothing definite was known concerning +him, he had been seen with various highly respectable people, both of +his own nation and ours, by all of whom he was treated with respect. And +lastly, that while not liberal, he had given many evidences of being a +man of means. So much done, I entered the office, and waited for him to +come in, in the hope of having an opportunity to observe his manner when +the clerk handed him that strange-looking letter from Mary Leavenworth." + +"And did you succeed?" + +"No; an awkward gawk of a fellow stepped between us just at the +critical moment, and shut off my view. But I heard enough that evening +from the clerk and servants, of the agitation he had shown on receiving +it, to convince me I was upon a trail worth following. I accordingly +put on my men, and for two days Mr. Clavering was subjected to the most +rigid watch a man ever walked under. But nothing was gained by it; his +interest in the murder, if interest at all, was a secret one; and +though he walked the streets, studied the papers, and haunted the +vicinity of the house in Fifth Avenue, he not only refrained from +actually approaching it, but made no attempt to communicate with any of +the family. Meanwhile, you crossed my path, and with your determination +incited me to renewed effort. Convinced from Mr. Clavering's bearing, +and the gossip I had by this time gathered in regard to him, that no +one short of a gentleman and a friend could succeed in getting at the +clue of his connection with this family, I handed him over to you, +and----" + +"Found me rather an unmanageable colleague." + +Mr. Gryce smiled very much as if a sour plum had been put in his +mouth, but made no reply; and a momentary pause ensued. + +"Did you think to inquire," I asked at last, "if any one knew +where Mr. Clavering had spent the evening of the murder?" + +"Yes; but with no good result. It was agreed he went out during +the evening; also that he was in his bed in the morning when the +servant came in to make his fire; but further than this no one seemed +posted." + +"So that, in fact, you gleaned nothing that would in any way +connect this man with the murder except his marked and agitated +interest in it, and the fact that a niece of the murdered man had +written a letter to him?" + +"That is all." + +"Another question; did you hear in what manner and at what time he +procured a newspaper that evening?" + +"No; I only learned that he was observed, by more than one, to +hasten out of the dining-room with the _Post_ in his hand, and go +immediately to his room without touching his dinner." + +"Humph! that does not look---" + +"If Mr. Clavering had had a guilty knowledge of the crime, he would +either have ordered dinner before opening the paper, or, having ordered +it, he would have eaten it." + +"Then you do not believe, from what you have learned, that Mr. +Clavering is the guilty party?" + +Mr. Gryce shifted uneasily, glanced at the papers protruding from my +coat pocket and exclaimed: "I am ready to be convinced by you that he +is." + +That sentence recalled me to the business in hand. Without appearing +to notice his look, I recurred to my questions. + +"How came you to know that Mr. Clavering was in this city last +summer? Did you learn that, too, at the Hoffman House?" + +"No; I ascertained that in quite another way. In short, I have had +a communication from London in regard to the matter. + +"From London?" + +"Yes; I've a friend there in my own line of business, who +sometimes assists me with a bit of information, when requested." + +"But how? You have not had time to write to London, and receive +an answer since the murder." + +"It is not necessary to write. It is enough for me to telegraph him +the name of a person, for him to understand that I want to know +everything he can gather in a reasonable length of time about that +person." + +"And you sent the name of Mr. Clavering to him?" + +"Yes, in cipher." + +"And have received a reply?" + +"This morning." + +I looked towards his desk. + +"It is not there," he said; "if you will be kind enough to feel in +my breast pocket you will find a letter----" + +It was in my hand before he finished his sentence. "Excuse my +eagerness," I said. "This kind of business is new to me, you know." + +He smiled indulgently at a very old and faded picture hanging on the +wall before him. "Eagerness is not a fault; only the betrayal of it. +But read out what you have there. Let us hear what my friend Brown has +to tell us of Mr. Henry Ritdsie Clavering, of Portland Place, London." + +I took the paper to the light and read as follows: + + "Henry Ritchie Clavering, Gentleman, aged 43. Born in + + ----, Hertfordshire, England. His father was Chas. Clavering, for + short time in the army. Mother was Helen Ritchie, of Dumfriesshire, + Scotland; she is still living. Home with H. R. C., in Portland Place, + London. H. R. C. is a bachelor, 6 ft. high, squarely built, weight + about 12 stone. Dark complexion, regular features. Eyes dark brown; + nose straight. Called a handsome man; walks erect and rapidly. In + society is considered a good fellow; rather a favorite, especially with + ladies. Is liberal, not extravagant; reported to be worth about + 5000 pounds per year, and appearances give color to this statement. + Property consists of a small estate in Hertfordshire, and some funds, + amount not known. Since writing this much, a correspondent sends the + following in regard to his history. In '46 went from uncle's house to + Eton. From Eton went to Oxford, graduating in '56. Scholarship good. In + 1855 his uncle died, and his father succeeded to the estates. Father + died in '57 by a fall from his horse or a similar accident. Within a + very short time H. R. C. took his mother to London, to the residence + named, where they have lived to the present time. + + "Travelled considerably in 1860; part of the time was with + ----, of Munich; also in party of Vandervorts from New York; went + as far east as Cairo. Went to America in 1875 alone, but at end of + three months returned on account of mother's illness. Nothing is known + of his movements while in America. + + "From servants learn that he was always a favorite from a boy. More + recently has become somewhat taciturn. Toward last of his stay watched + the post carefully, especially foreign ones. Posted scarcely anything + but newspapers. Has written to Munich. Have seen, from waste-paper + basket, torn envelope directed to Amy Belden, no address. American + correspondents mostly in Boston; two in New York. Names not known, but + supposed to be bankers. Brought home considerable luggage, and fitted + up part of house, as for a lady. This was closed soon afterwards. Left + for America two months since. Has been, I understand, travelling in the + south. Has telegraphed twice to Portland Place. His friends hear from + him but rarely. Letters rec'd recently, posted in New York. One by last + steamer posted in F----, k. Y. + + "Business here conducted by ----. In the country, ---- of ---- has + charge of the property. + + "BROWN." + +The document fell from my hands. + +F----, N. Y., was a small town near R----. + +"Your friend _is a_ trump," I declared. "He tells me just +what I wanted most to know." And, taking out my book, I made memoranda +of the facts which had most forcibly struck me during my perusal of the +communication before me. "With the aid of what he tells me, I shall +ferret out the mystery of Henry Clavering in a week; see if I do not." + +"And how soon," inquired Mr. Gryce, "may I expect to be allowed to +take a hand in the game?" + +"As soon as I am reasonably assured I am upon the right tack." + +"And what will it take to assure you of that?" + +"Not much; a certain point settled, and----" + +"Hold on; who knows but what I can do that for you?" And, +looking towards the desk which stood in the corner, Mr. Gryce asked me +if I would be kind enough to open the top drawer and bring him the bits +of partly-burned paper I would find there. + +Hastily complying, I brought three or four strips of ragged paper, +and laid them on the table at his side. + +"Another result of Fobbs' researches under the coal on the first +day of the inquest," Mr. Gryce abruptly explained. "You thought the +key was all he found. Well, it wasn't. A second turning over of the +coal brought these to light, and very interesting they are, too." + +I immediately bent over the torn and discolored scraps with great +anxiety. They were four in number, and appeared at first glance to be +the mere remnants of a sheet of common writing-paper, torn lengthwise +into strips, and twisted up into lighters; but, upon closer +inspection, they showed traces of writing upon one side, and, what was +more important still, the presence of one or more drops of spattered +blood. This latter discovery was horrible to me, and so overcame me for +the moment that I put the scraps down, and, turning towards Mr. Gryce, +inquired: + +' What do you make of them?" + +"That is just the question I was going to put to you." + +Swallowing my disgust, I took them up again. "They look like the +remnants of some old letter," said I. + +"They have that appearance," Mr. Gryce grimly assented. + +"A letter which, from the drop of blood observable on the written +side, must have been lying face up on Mr. Leavenworth's table at the +time of the murder--" + +"Just so." + +"And from the uniformity in width of each of these pieces, as well +as their tendency to curl up when left alone, must first have been torn +into even strips, and then severally rolled up, before being tossed +into the grate where they were afterwards found." + +"That is all good," said Mr. Gryce; "go on." + +"The writing, so far as discernible, is that of a cultivated +gentleman. It is not that of Mr. Leavenworth; for I have studied his +chirography toe much lately not to know it at a glance; but it may be-- +Hold!" I suddenly exclaimed, "have you any mucilage handy? I think, +if I could paste these strips down upon a piece of paper, so that they +would remain flat, I should be able to tell you what I think of them +much more easily." + +"There is mucilage on the desk," signified Mr. Gryce. + +Procuring it, I proceeded to consult the scraps once more for +evidence to guide me in their arrangement. These were more marked than +I expected; the longer and best preserved strip, with its "Mr. Hor" at +the top, showing itself at first blush to be the left-hand margin of +the letter, while the machine-cut edge of the next in length presented +tokens fully as conclusive of its being the right-hand margin of the +same. Selecting these, then, I pasted them down on a piece of paper at +just the distance they would occupy if the sheet from which they were +torn was of the ordinary commercial note size. Immediately it became +apparent: first, that it would take two other strips of the same width +to fill up the space left between them; and secondly, that the writing +did not terminate at the foot of the sheet, but was carried on to +another page. + +Taking up the third strip, I looked at its edge; it was machine-cut +at the top, and showed by the arrangement of its words that it was the +margin strip of a second leaf. Pasting that down by itself, I +scrutinized the fourth, and finding it also machine-cut at the top but +not on the side, endeavored to fit it to the piece already pasted down, +but the words would not match. Moving it along to the position it would +hold if it were the third strip, I fastened it down; the +whole presenting, when completed, the appearance seen on the opposite +page. + +"Well!" exclaimed Mr. Gryce, "that's business." Then, as I held +it up before his eyes: "But don't show it to me. Study it yourself, +and tell me what you think of it." + +"Well," said I, "this much is certain: that it is a letter +directed to Mr. Leavenworth from some House, and dated--let's see; +that is an _h,_ isn't it?" And I pointed to the one letter just +discernible on the line under the word House. + +"I should think so; but don't ask me." + +"It must be an _h._ The year is 1875, and this is not the +termination of either January or February. Dated, then, March 1st, +1876, and signed----" + +Mr. Gryce rolled his eyes in anticipatory ecstasy towards the +ceiling. + +"By Henry Clavering," I announced without hesitation. + +Mr. Gryce's eyes returned to his swathed finger-ends. "Humph! how +do you know that?" + +"Wait a moment, and I'll show you"; and, taking out of my +pocket the card which Mr. Clavering had handed me as an introduction at +our late interview, I laid it underneath the last line of writing on +the second page. One glance was sufficient. Henry Ritchie Clavering on +the card; H----chie--in the same handwriting on the letter. + +"Clavering it is," said he, "without a doubt." But I saw he was +not surprised. + +"And now," I continued, "for its general tenor and meaning." And, +commencing at the beginning, I read aloud the words as they came, with +pauses at the breaks, something as follows: "Mr. Hor--Dear--_a_ +niece whom yo--one too who see--the love and trus-- any other man +ca--autiful, so char----s she in face fo----conversation, ery rose has +its----rose is no exception------ ely as she is, char----tender as she +is, s----------pable of tramplin------one who trusted---- +heart------------. -------------------- him to----he owes +a----honor----ance. + +"If------t believe ---- her to----cruel----face,---- what is---- +ble serv----yours + +"H------tchie" + +"It reads like a complaint against one of Mr. Leavenworth's +nieces," I said, and started at my own words. + +"What is it?" cried Mr. Gryce; "what is the matter?" + +"Why," said I, "the fact is I have heard this very letter spoken +of. It _is_ a complaint against one of Mr. Leavenworth's nieces, +and was written by Mr. Clavering." And I told him of Mr. Harwell's +communication in regard to the matter. + +"Ah! then Mr. Harwell has been talking, has he? I thought he had +forsworn gossip." + +"Mr. Harwell and I have seen each other almost daily for the last +two weeks," I replied. "It would be strange if he had nothing to tell +me." + +"And he says he has read a letter written to Mr. Leavenworth by Mr. +Clavering?" + +"Yes; but the particular words of which he has now forgotten." + +"These few here may assist him in recalling the rest." + +"I would rather not admit him to a knowledge of the existence of +this piece of evidence. I don't believe in letting any one into our +confidence whom we can conscientiously keep out." + +"I see you don't," dryly responded Mr. Gryce. + +Not appearing to notice the fling conveyed by these words, I took up +the letter once more, and began pointing out such half-formed words in +it as I thought we might venture to complete, as the Hor--, yo--, see-- +utiful----, har----, for----, tramplin----, pable----, serv----. + +This done, I next proposed the introduction of such others as seemed +necessary to the sense, as _Leavenworth_ after _Horatio; Sir_ +after _Dear; have_ with a possible _you_ before _a niece; +thorn_ after _Us_ in the phrase _rose has its; on_ after _ +trampling; whom_ after _to; debt after a; you_ after _If; me +ask_ after _believe; beautiful_ after _cruel._ + +Between the columns of words thus furnished I interposed a phrase or +two, here and there, the whole reading upon its completion as follows: + +"------------ House." March 1st, 1876. + +"_Mr. Horatio Leavenworth; "Dear Sir:_ + +"(You) have a niece whom you one too who seems worthy the love and +trust of any other man ca so beautiful, so charming is she in face form +and conversation. But every rose has its thorn and (this) rose is no +exception lovely as she is, charming (as she is,) tender as she is, she is +capable of trampling on one who trusted her heart a him to whom she owes +a debt of honor a ance + +"If you don't believe me ask her to her cruel beautiful face what is +(her) humble servant +yours: + +"Henry Ritchie Clavering." + +"I think that will do," said Mr. Gryce. "Its general tenor is +evident, and that is all we want at this time." + +"The whole tone of it is anything but complimentary to the lady it +mentions," I remarked. "He must have had, or imagined he had, some +desperate grievance, to provoke him to the use of such plain language +in regard to one he can still characterize as tender, charming, +beautiful." + +"Grievances are apt to lie back of mysterious crimes." + +"I think I know what this one was," I said; "but"--seeing him +look up--"must decline to communicate my suspicion to you for the +present. My theory stands unshaken, and in some degree confirmed; and +that is all I can say." + +"Then this letter does not supply the link you wanted?" + +"No: it is a valuable bit of evidence; but it is not the link I am +in search of just now." + +"Yet it must be an important clue, or Eleanore Leavenworth would +not have been to such pains, first to take it in the way she did from +her uncle's table, and secondly----" + +"Wait! what makes you think this is the paper she took, or was +believed to have taken, from Mr. Leavenworth's table on that fatal +morning?" + +"Why, the fact that it was found together with the key, which we +know she dropped into the grate, and that there are drops of blood on +it." + +I shook my head. + +"Why do you shake your head?" asked Mr. Gryce. + +"Because I am not satisfied with your reason for believing this to +be the paper taken by her from Mr. Leavenworth's table." + +"And why?" + +"Well, first, because Fobbs does not speak of seeing any paper in +her hand, when she bent over the fire; leaving us to conclude that +these pieces were in the scuttle of coal she threw upon it; which +surely you must acknowledge to be a strange place for her to have put a +paper she took such pains to gain possession of; and, secondly, for the +reason that these scraps were twisted as if they had been used for curl +papers, or something of that kind; a fact hard to explain by your +hypothesis." + +The detective's eye stole in the direction of my necktie, which was +as near as he ever came to a face. "You are a bright one," said he; +"a very bright one. I quite admire you, Mr. Raymond." + +A little surprised, and not altogether pleased with this unexpected +compliment, I regarded him doubtfully for a moment and then asked: + +"What is your opinion upon the matter?" + +"Oh, you know I have no opinion. I gave up everything of that kind +when I put the affair into your hands." + +"Still----" + +"That the letter of which these scraps are the remnant was on Mr. +Leavenworth's table at the time of the murder is believed. That upon +the body being removed, a paper was taken from the table by Miss +Eleanore Leavenworth, is also believed. That, when she found her action +had been noticed, and attention called to this paper and the key, she +resorted to subterfuge in order to escape the vigilance of the watch +that had been set over her, and, partially succeeding in her endeavor, +flung the key into the fire from which these same scraps were +afterwards recovered, is also known. The conclusion I leave to your +judgment." + +"Very well, then," said I, rising; "we will let conclusions go for +the present. My mind must be satisfied in regard to the truth or +falsity of a certain theory of mine, for my judgment to be worth much +on this or any other matter connected with the affair." + +And, only waiting to get the address of his subordinate P., in case +I should need assistance in my investigations, I left Mr. Gryce, and +proceeded immediately to the house of Mr. Veeley. + + + +XXIII. THE STORY OF A CHARMING WOMAN + + "Fe, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman." + --Old Song. + + "I hold you as a thing enskied and sainted." + --Measure for Measure. + +"YOU have never heard, then, the particulars of Mr. Leavenworth's +marriage?" + +It was my partner who spoke. I had been asking him to explain to me +Mr. Leavenworth's well-known antipathy to the English race. + +"No." + +"If you had, you would not need to come to me for this explanation. +But it is not strange you are ignorant of the matter. I doubt if there +are half a dozen persons in existence who could tell you where Horatio +Leavenworth found the lovely woman who afterwards became his wife, much +less give you any details of the circumstances which led to his +marriage." + +"I am very fortunate, then, in being in the confidence of one who +can. What were those circumstances, Mr. Veeley?" + +"It will aid you but little to hear. Horatio Leavenworth, when a +young man, was very ambitious; so much so, that at one time he aspired +to marry a wealthy lady of Providence. But, chancing to go to England, +he there met a young woman whose grace and charm had such an effect +upon him that he relinquished all thought of the Providence lady, +though it was some time before he could face the prospect of marrying +the one who had so greatly interested him; as she was not only in +humble circumstances, but was encumbered with a child concerning whose +parentage the neighbors professed ignorance, and she had nothing to +say. But, as is very apt to be the case in an affair like this, love +and admiration soon got the better of worldly wisdom. Taking his future +in his hands, he offered himself as her husband, when she immediately +proved herself worthy of his regard by entering at once into those +explanations he was too much of a gentleman to demand. The story she +told was pitiful. She proved to be an American by birth, her father +having been a well-known merchant of Chicago. While he lived, her home +was one of luxury, but just as she was emerging into womanhood he died. +It was at his funeral she met the man destined to be her ruin. How he +came there she never knew; he was not a friend of her father's. It is +enough he was there, and saw her, and that in three weeks--don't +shudder, she was such a child--they were married. In twenty-four +hours she knew what that word meant for her; it meant blows. Everett, +I am telling no fanciful story. In twenty-four hours after that girl +was married, her husband, coming drunk into the house, found her in his +way, and knocked her down. It was but the beginning. Her father's +estate, on being settled up, proving to be less than expected, he +carried her off to England, where he did not wait to be drunk in order +to maltreat her. She was not free from his cruelty night or day. Before +she was sixteen, she had run the whole gamut of human suffering; and +that, not at the hands of a coarse, common ruffian, but from an +elegant, handsome, luxury-loving gentleman, whose taste in dress was so +nice he would sooner fling a garment of hers into the fire than see her +go into company clad in a manner he did not consider becoming. She bore +it till her child was born, then she fled. Two days after the little +one saw the light, she rose from her bed and, taking her baby in her +arms, ran out of the house. The few jewels she had put into her pocket +supported her till she could set up a little shop. As for her husband, +she neither saw him, nor heard from him, from the day she left him till +about two weeks before Horatio Leavenworth first met her, when she +learned from the papers that he was dead. She was, therefore, free; +but though she loved Horatio Leavenworth with all her heart, she would +not marry him. She felt herself forever stained and soiled by the one +awful year of abuse and contamination. Nor could he persuade her. Not +till the death of her child, a month or so after his proposal, did she +consent to give him her hand and what remained of her unhappy life. He +brought her to New York, surrounded her with luxury and every tender +care, but the arrow had gone too deep; two years from the day her +child breathed its last, she too died. It was the blow of his life to +Horatio Leavenworth; he was never the same man again. Though Mary and +Eleanore shortly after entered his home, he never recovered his old +light-heartedness. Money became his idol, and the ambition to make and +leave a great fortune behind him modified all his views of life. But +one proof remained that he never forgot the wife of his youth, and that +was, he could not bear to have the word 'Englishman' uttered in his +hearing." + +Mr. Veeley paused, and I rose to go. "Do you remember how Mrs. +Leavenworth looked?" I asked. "Could you describe her to me?" + +He seemed a little astonished at my request, but immediately replied: +"She was a very pale woman; not strictly beautiful, but of a +contour and expression of great charm. Her hair was brown, her eyes +gray--" + +"And very wide apart?" + +He nodded, looking still more astonished. "How came you to know? +Have you seen her picture?" + +I did not answer that question. + +On my way downstairs, I bethought me of a letter which I had in my +pocket for Mr. Veeley's son Fred, and, knowing of no surer way of +getting it to him that night than by leaving it on the library table, I +stepped to the door of that room, which in this house was at the rear +of the parlors, and receiving no reply to my knock, opened it and +looked in. + +The room was unlighted, but a cheerful fire was burning in the +grate, and by its glow I espied a lady crouching on the hearth, whom at +first glance I took for Mrs. Veeley. But, upon advancing and addressing +her by that name, I saw my mistake; for the person before me not only +refrained from replying, but, rising at the sound of my voice, revealed +a form of such noble proportions that all possibility of its being that +of the dainty little wife of my partner fled. + +"I see I have made a mistake," said I. "I beg your pardon "; and +would have left the room, but something in the general attitude of the +lady before me restrained me, and, believing it to be Mary +Leavenworth, I inquired: + +"Can it be this is Miss Leavenworth?" + +The noble figure appeared to droop, the gently lifted head to fall, +and for a moment I doubted if I had been correct in my supposition. +Then form and head slowly erected themselves, a soft voice spoke, and I +heard a low "yes," and hurriedly advancing, confronted--not Mary, +with her glancing, feverish gaze, and scarlet, trembling lips--but +Eleanore, the woman whose faintest .look had moved me from the first, +the woman whose husband I believed myself to be even then pursuing to +his doom! + +The surprise was too great; I could neither sustain nor conceal it. +Stumbling slowly back, I murmured something about having believed it to +be her cousin; and then, conscious only of the one wish to fly a +presence I dared not encounter in my present mood, turned, when her +rich, heart-full voice rose once more and I heard: + +"You will not leave me without a word, Mr. Raymond, now that chance +has thrown us together?" Then, as I came slowly forward: "Were you +so very much astonished to find me here?" + +"I do not know--I did not expect--" was my incoherent reply. "I +had heard you were ill; that you went nowhere; that you had no wish to +see your friends." + +"I have been ill," she said; "but I am better now, and have come +to spend the night with Mrs. Veeley, because I could not endure the +stare of the four walls of my room any longer." + +This was said without any effort at plaintiveness, but rather as if +she thought it necessary to excuse herself for being where she was. + +"I am glad you did so," said I. "You ought to be here all the +while. That dreary, lonesome boarding-house is no place for you, Miss +Leavenworth. It distresses us all to feel that you are exiling yourself +at this time." + +"I do not wish anybody to be distressed," she returned. "It is best +for me to be where I am. Nor am I altogether alone. There is a child +there whose innocent eyes see nothing but innocence in mine. She will +keep me from despair. Do not let my friends be anxious; I can bear +it." Then, in a lower tone: "There is but one thing which really +unnerves me; and that is my ignorance of what is going on at home. +Sorrow I can bear, but suspense is killing me. Will you not tell me +something of Mary and home? I cannot ask Mrs. Veeley; she is kind, +but has no real knowledge of Mary or me, nor does she know anything of +our estrangement. She thinks me obstinate, and blames me for leaving my +cousin in her trouble. But you know I could not help it. You know,--" +her voice wavered off into a tremble, and she did not conclude. + +"I cannot tell you much," I hastened to reply; "but whatever +knowledge is at my command is certainly yours. Is there anything in +particular you wish to know?" + +"Yes, how Mary is; whether she is well, and--and composed." + +"Your cousin's health is good," I returned; "but I fear I cannot +say she is composed. She is greatly troubled about you." + +"You see her often, then?" + +"I am assisting Mr. Harwell in preparing your uncle's book for the +press, and necessarily am there much of the time." + +"My uncle's book!" The words came in a tone of low horror. + +"Yes, Miss Leavenworth. It has been thought best to bring it before +the world, and----" + +"And Mary has set you at the task?" + +"Yes." + +It seemed as if she could not escape from the horror which this +caused. "How could she? Oh, how could she!" + +"She considers herself as fulfilling her uncle's wishes. He was +very anxious, as you know, to have the book out by July." + +"Do not speak of it!" she broke in, "I cannot bear it." Then, as +if she feared she had hurt my feelings by her abruptness, lowered her +voice and said: "I do not, however, know of any one I should be better +pleased to have charged with the task than yourself. With you it will +be a work of respect and reverence; but-a stranger--Oh, I could not +have endured a stranger touching it." + +She was fast falling into her old horror; but rousing herself, +murmured: "I wanted to ask you something; ah, I know"--and she +moved so as to face me. "I wish to inquire if everything is as before +in the house; the servants the same and--and other things?" + +"There is a Mrs. Darrell there; I do not know of any other change." + +"Mary does not talk of going away?" + +"I think not." + +"But she has visitors? Some one besides Mrs. Darrell to help her +bear her loneliness?" + +I knew what was coming, and strove to preserve my composure. + +"Yes," I replied; "a few." + +"Would you mind naming them?" How low her tones were, but how +distinct! + +"Certainly not. Mrs. Veeley, Mrs. Gilbert, Miss Martin, and +a--a----" + +"Go on," she whispered. + +"A gentleman by the name of Clavering." + +"You speak that name with evident embarrassment," she said, after +a moment of intense anxiety on my part. "May I inquire why?" + +Astounded, I raised my eyes to her face. It was very pale, and wore +the old look of self-repressed calm I remembered so well. I immediately +dropped my gaze. + +"Why? because there are some circumstances surrounding him which +have struck me as peculiar." + +"How so?" she asked. + +"He appears under two nanias. To-day it is Clavering; a short time +ago it was----" + +"Go on." + +"Robbins." + +Her dress rustled on the hearth; there was a sound of desolation in +it; but her voice when she spoke was expressionless as that of an +automaton. + +"How many times has this person, of whose name you do not appear to +be certain, been to see Mary?" + +"Once." + +"When was it?" + +"Last night." + +"Did he stay long?" + +"About twenty minutes, I should say." + +"And do you think he will come again?" + +"No." + +"Why?" + +"He has left the country." + +A short silence followed this, I felt her eyes searching my face, +but doubt whether, if I had known she held a loaded pistol, I could +have looked up at that moment. + +"Mr. Raymond," she at length observed, in a changed tone, "the +last time I saw you, you told me you were going to make some endeavor +to restore me to my former position before the world. I did not wish +you to do so then; nor do I wish you to do so now. Can you not make me +comparatively happy, then, by assuring me you have abandoned or will +abandon a project so hopeless?" + +"It is impossible," I replied with emphasis. "I cannot abandon it. +Much as I grieve to be a source of-sorrow to you, it is best you should +know that I can never give up the hope of righting you while I live." + +She put out her hand in a sort of hopeless appeal inexpressibly +touching to behold in the fast waning firelight. But I was relentless. + +"I should never be able to face the world or my own conscience if, +through any weakness of my own, I should miss the blessed privilege of +setting the wrong right, and saving a noble woman from unmerited +disgrace." And then, seeing she was not likely to reply to this, drew a +step nearer and said: "Is there not some little kindness I can show +you, Miss Leavenworth? Is there no message you would like taken, or +act it would give you pleasure to see performed?" + +She stopped to think. "No," said she; "I have only one request to +make, and that you refuse to grant." + +"For the most unselfish of reasons," I urged. + +She slowly shook her head. "You think so "; then, before I could +reply, "I could desire one little favor shown me, however." + +"What is that?" + +"That if anything should transpire; if Hannah should be found, or +--or my presence required in any way,--you will not keep me in +ignorance. That you will let me know the worst when it conies, without +fail." + +"I will." + +"And now, good-night. Mrs. Veeley is coming back, and you would +scarcely wish to be found here by her." + +"No," said I. + +And yet I did not go, but stood watching the firelight flicker on +her black dress till the thought of Clavering and the duty I had for +the morrow struck coldly to my heart, and I turned away towards the +door. But at the threshold I paused again, and looked back. Oh, the +flickering, dying fire flame! Oh, the crowding, clustering shadows! +Oh, that drooping figure in their midst, with its clasped hands and its +hidden face! I see it all again; I see it as in a dream; then darkness +falls, and in the glare of gas-lighted streets, I am hastening along, +solitary and sad, to my lonely home. + + + +XXIV. A REPORT FOLLOWED BY SMOKE + + "Oft expectation fails, and most oft there + Where most it promises; and oft it hits + Where Hope is coldest, and Despair most sits." + --All's Well that Ends Well. + +WHEN I told Mr. Gryce I only waited for the determination of one +fact, to feel justified in throwing the case unreservedly into his +hands, I alluded to the proving or disproving of the supposition that +Henry Clavering had been a guest at the same watering-place with +Eleanore Leavenworth the summer before. + +When, therefore, I found myself the next morning with the Visitor +Book of the Hotel Union at R---- in my hands, it was only by the +strongest effort of will I could restrain my impatience. The suspense, +however, was short. Almost immediately I encountered his name, written +not half a page below those of Mr. Leavenworth and his nieces, and, +whatever may have been my emotion at finding my suspicions thus +confirmed, I recognized the fact that I was in the possession of a clue +which would yet lead to the solving of the fearful problem which had +been imposed upon me. + +Hastening to the telegraph office, I sent a message for the man +promised me by Mr. Gryce, and receiving for an answer that he could not +be with me before three o'clock, started for the house of Mr. Monell, a +client of ours, living in R----. I found him at home and, during our +interview of two hours, suffered the ordeal of appearing at ease and +interested in what he had to say, while my heart was heavy with its +first disappointment and my brain on fire with the excitement of the +work then on my hands. + +I arrived at the depot just as the train came in. + +There was but one passenger for R----, a brisk young man, whose +whole appearance differed so from the description which had been given +me of _Q_ that I at once made up my mind he could not be the man I +was looking for, and was turning away disappointed, when he approached, +and handed me a card on which was inscribed the single character "?" +Even then I could not bring myself to believe that the slyest and most +successful agent in Mr. Gryce's employ was before me, till, catching +his eye, I saw such a keen, enjoyable twinkle sparkling in its depths +that all doubt fled, and, returning his bow with a show of +satisfaction, I remarked: + +"You are very punctual. I like that." + +He gave another short, quick nod. "Glad, sir, to please you. +Punctuality is too cheap a virtue not to be practised by a man on the +lookout for a rise. But what orders, sir? Down train due in ten +minutes; no time to spare." + +"Down train? What have we to do with that?" + +"I thought you might wish to take it, sir. Mr. Brown"--winking +expressively at the name, "always checks his carpet-bag for home when +he sees me coming. But that is your affair; I am not particular." + +"I wish to do what is wisest under the circumstances." + +"Go home, then, as speedily as possible." And he gave a third sharp +nod exceedingly business-like and determined. + +"If I leave you, it is with the understanding that you bring your +information first to me; that you are in my employ, and in that of no +one else for the time being; and that _mum_ is the word till I +give you liberty to speak." + +"Yes, sir. When I work for Brown & Co. I do not work for Smith & +Jones. That you can count on." + +"Very well then, here are your instructions." + +He looked at the paper I handed him with a certain degree of care, +then stepped into the waiting-room and threw it into the stove, saying +in a low tone: "So much in case I should meet with some accident: have +an apoplectic fit, or anything of that sort." + +"But----" + +"Oh, don't worry; I sha'n't forget. _I've a._ memory, sir. No +need of anybody using pen and paper with me." + +And laughing in the short, quick way one would expect from a person +of his appearance and conversation, he added: "You will probably +hear from me in a day or so," and bowing, took his brisk, free way down +the street just as the train came rushing in from the West. + +My instructions to _Q_ were as follows: + +1. To find out on what day, and in whose company, the Misses Leaven +worth arrived at R---- the year before. What their movements had been +while there, and in whose society they were oftenest to be seen. Also +the date of their departure, and such facts as could be gathered in +regard to their habits, etc. + +2. Ditto in respect to a Mr. Henry Clavering, fellow-guest and +probable friend of said ladies, + +3. Name of individual fulfilling the following requirements: +Clergyman, Methodist, deceased since last December or thereabouts, who +in July of Seventy-five was located in some town not over twenty miles +from R----. + +4. Also name and present whereabouts of a man at that time in +service of the above. + +To say that the interval of time necessary to a proper inquiry into +these matters was passed by me in any reasonable frame of mind, would +be to give myself credit for an equanimity of temper which I +unfortunately do not possess. Never have days seemed so long as the two +which interposed between my return from R---- and the receipt of the +following letter: + +"Sir: + +"Individuals mentioned arrived in R---- July 3, 1875. Party +consisted of four; the two ladies, their uncle, and the girl named +Hannah. Uncle remained three days, and then left for a short tour +through Massachusetts. Gone two weeks, during which ladies were seen +more or less with the gentleman named between us, but not to an extent +sufficient to excite gossip or occasion remark, when said gentleman +left R---- abruptly, two days after uncle's return. Date July 19. As to +habits of ladies, more or less social. They were always to be seen at +picnics, rides, etc., and in the ballroom. M---- liked best. E---- +considered grave, and, towards the last of her stay, moody. It is +remembered now that her manner was always peculiar, and that she was +more or less shunned by her cousin. + +However, in the opinion of one girl still to be found at the hotel, +she was the sweetest lady that ever breathed. No particular reason for +this opinion. Uncle, ladies, and servants left R---- for New York, +August 7, 1875. + +"2. H. C. arrived at the hotel in R----July 6, 1875, in-company with +Mr. and Mrs. Vandervort, friends of the above. Left July 19, two weeks +from day of arrival. little to be learned in regard to him. Remembered +as the handsome gentleman who was in the party with the L, girls, and +that is all. + +"3. F----, a small town, some sixteen or seventeen miles from R----, +had for its Methodist minister, in July of last year, a man who has +since died, Samuel Stebbins by name. Date of decease, Jan. 7 of this +year. + +"4. Name of man in employ of S. S. at that time is Timothy Cook. He +has been absent, but returned to P---- two days ago. Can be seen if +required." + +"Ah, ha!" I cried aloud at this point, in my sudden surprise and +satisfaction; "now we have something to work upon!" And sitting down +I penned the following reply: + +"T. C. wanted by all means. Also any evidence going to prove that H. +C. and B. L. were married at the house of Mr. S. on any day of July or +August last." + +Next morning came the following telegram: + +"T. C. on the road. Remembers a marriage. Will be with you by 2 p.m." + +At three o'clock of that same day, I stood before Mr. Gryce. "I am +here to make my report," I announced. + +The nicker of a smile passed over his face, and he gazed for the +first time at his bound-up finger-ends with a softening aspect which +must have done them good. "I'm ready," said he. + +"Mr. Gryce," I began, "do you remember the conclusion we came to +at our first interview in this house?" + +"I remember the _one you_ came to." + +"Well, well," I acknowledged a little peevishly, "the one I came +to, then. It was this: that if we could find to whom Eleanore +Leavenworth felt she owed her best duty and love, we should discover +the man who murdered her uncle." + +"And do you imagine you have done this?" + +"I do." + +His eyes stole a little nearer my face. "Well! that is good; go +on." + +"When I undertook this business of clearing Eleanore Leavenworth +from suspicion," I resumed, "it was with the premonition that this +person would prove to be her lover; but I had no idea he would prove +to be her husband." + +Mr. Gryce's gaze flashed like lightning to the ceiling. + +"What!" he ejaculated with a frown. + +"The lover of Eleanore Leavenworth is likewise her husband," I +repeated. "Mr. Clavering holds no lesser connection to her than that." + +"How have you found that out?" demanded Mr. Gryce, in a harsh +tone that argued disappointment or displeasure. + +"That I will not take time to state. The question is not how I +became acquainted with a certain thing, but is what I assert in regard +to it true. If you will cast your eye over this summary of events +gleaned by me from the lives of these two persons, I think you will +agree with me that it is." And I held up before his eyes the following: + +"During the two weeks commencing July 6, of the year 1875, and +ending July 19, of the same year, Henry R. Clavering, of London, and +Eleanore Leavenworth, of New York, were guests of the same hotel. _ +Fact proved by Visitor Book of the Hotel Union at R_----, _New +York._ + +"They were not only guests of the same hotel, but are known to have +held more or less communication with each other. _Fact proved by such +servants now employed in R---- as were in the hotel at that time._ + +"July 19. Mr. Clavering left R---- abruptly, a circumstance that +would not be considered remarkable if Mr. Leavenworth, whose violent +antipathy to Englishmen as husbands is publicly known, had not just +returned from a journey. + +"July 30. Mr. Clavering was seen in the parlor of Mr. Stebbins, the +Methodist minister at F----, a town about sixteen miles from R----, +where he was married to a lady of great beauty. _Proved by Timothy +Cook, a man in the employ of Mr. Stebbins, who was called in from the +garden to witness the ceremony and sign a paper supposed to be a +certificate._ + +"July 31. Mr. Clavering takes steamer for Liverpool. _Proved by +newspapers of that date._ + +"September. Eleanore Leavenworth in her uncle's house in New York, +conducting herself as usual, but pale of face and preoccupied in +manner. _Proved by servants then in her service._ Mr. Clavering in +London; watches the United States mails with eagerness, but receives +no letters. Fits up room elegantly, as for a lady. _Proved by secret +communication from London._ + +"November. Miss Leavenworth still in uncle's house. No publication +of her marriage ever made. Mr. Clavering in London; shows signs of +uneasiness; the room prepared for lady closed. _Proved as above._ + +"January 17, 1876. Mr. Clavering, having returned to America, +engages room at Hoffman House, New York. + +"March 1 or 2. Mr. Leavenworth receives a letter signed by Henry +Clavering, in which he complains of having been ill-used by one of that +gentleman's nieces. A manifest shade falls over the family at this time. + +"March 4. Mr. Clavering under a false name inquires at the door of +Mr. Leavenworth's house for Miss Eleanore Leavenworth. _Proved by +Thomas.'"_ + +"March 4th?" exclaimed Mr. Gryce at this point. "That was the +night of the murder.-" + +"Yes; the Mr. Le Roy Robbins said to have called that evening was +none other than Mr. Clavering." + +"March 19. Miss Mary Leavenworth, in a conversation with me, +acknowledges that there is a secret in the family, and is just upon the +point of revealing its nature, when Mr. Clavering enters the house. +Upon his departure she declares her unwillingness ever to mention the +subject again." + +Mr. Gryce slowly waved the paper aside. "And from these facts you +draw the inference that Eleanore Leavenworth is the wife of Mr. +Clavering?" + +"I do." + +"And that, being his wife----" + +"It would be natural for her to conceal anything she knew likely to +criminate him." + +"Always supposing Clavering himself had done anything criminal!" + +"Of course." + +"Which latter supposition you now propose to justify!" + +"Which latter supposition it is left for _us_ to justify." + +A peculiar gleam shot over Mr. Gryce's somewhat abstracted +countenance. "Then you have no new evidence against Mr. Clavering?" + +"I should think the fact just given, of his standing in the +relation of unacknowledged husband to the suspected party was +something." + +"No positive evidence as to his being the assassin of Mr. +Leavenworth, I mean?" + +I was obliged to admit I had none which he would Consider positive. +"But I can show the existence of motive; and I can likewise show it +was not only possible, but probable, he was in the house at the time of +the murder." + +"Ah, you can!" cried Mr. Gryce, rousing a little from his +abstraction. + +"The motive was the usual one of self-interest. Mr. Leavenworth +stood in the way of Eleanore's acknowledging him as a husband, and he +must therefore be put out of the way." + +"Weak!" + +"Motives for murders are sometimes weak." + +"The motive for this was not. Too much calculation was shown for +the arm to have been nerved by anything short of the most deliberate +intention, founded upon the deadliest necessity of passion or avarice." + +"Avarice?" + +"One should never deliberate upon the causes which have led to the +destruction of a rich man without taking into account that most common +passion of the human race." + +"But----" + +"Let us hear what you have to say of Mr. Clavering's presence in +the house at the time of the murder." + +I related what Thomas the butler had told me in regard to Mr. +Clavering's call upon Miss Leavenworth that night, and the lack of +proof which existed as to his having left the house when supposed to do +so. + +"That is worth remembering," said Mr. Gryce at the conclusion. +"Valueless as direct evidence, it might prove of great value as +corroborative." Then, in a graver tone, he went on to say: "Mr. +Raymond, are you aware that in all this you have been strengthening the +case against Eleanore Leavenworth instead of weakening it?" + +I could only ejaculate, in my sudden wonder and dismay. + +"You have shown her to be secret, sly, and unprincipled; capable +of wronging those to whom she was most bound, her uncle and her +husband." + +"You put it very strongly," said I, conscious of a shocking +discrepancy between this description of Eleanore's character and all +that I had preconceived in regard to it. + +"No more so than your own conclusions from this story warrant me +in doing." Then, as I sat silent, murmured low, and as if to himself: +"If the case was dark against her before, it is doubly so with this +supposition established of her being the woman secretly married to Mr. +Clavering." + +"And yet," I protested, unable to give up my hope without a +struggle; "you do not, cannot, believe the noble-looking Eleanore +guilty of this horrible crime?" + +"No," he slowly said; "you might as well know right here what I +think about that. I believe Eleanore Leavenworth to be an innocent +woman." + +"You do? Then what," I cried, swaying between joy at this admission +and doubt as to the meaning of his former expressions, "remains to be +done?" + +Mr. Gryce quietly responded: "Why, nothing but to prove your +supposition a false one." + + + +XXV. TIMOTHY COOK + + "Look here upon this picture and on this." + --Hamlet. + +I STARED at him in amazement. "I doubt if it will be so very +difficult," said he. Then, in a sudden burst, "Where is the man Cook?" + +"He is below with Q." + +"That was a wise move; let us see the boys; have them up." + +Stepping to the door I called them. + +"I expected, of course, you would want to question them," said I, +coming back. + +In another moment the spruce Q and the shock-headed Cook entered the +room. + +"Ah," said Mr. Gryce, directing his attention at the latter in his +own whimsical, non-committal way; "this is the deceased Mr. Stebbins' +hired man, is it? Well, you look as though you could tell the truth." + +"I usually calculate to do that thing, sir; at all events, I was +never called a liar as I can remember." + +"Of course not, of course not," returned the affable detective. +Then, without any further introduction: "What was the first name of +the lady you saw married in your master's house last summer?" + +"Bless me if I know! I don't think I heard, sir." + +"But you recollect how she looked?" + +"As well as if she was my own mother. No disrespect to the lady, +sir, if you know her," he made haste to add, glancing hurriedly at me. +"What I mean is, she was so handsome, I could never forget the look +of her sweet face if I lived a hundred years." + +"Can you describe her?" + +"I don't know, sirs; she was tall and grand-looking, had the +brightest eyes and the whitest hand, and smiled in a way to make even a +common man like me wish he had never seen her." + +"Would you know her in a crowd?" + +"I would know her anywhere." + +"Very well; now tell us all you can about that marriage." + +"Well, sirs, it was something like this. I had been in Mr. +Stebbins' employ about a year, when one morning as I was hoeing in the +garden I saw a gentleman walk rapidly up the road to our gate and come +in. I noticed him particularly, because he was so fine-looking; unlike +anybody in F----, and, indeed, unlike anybody I had ever seen, for that +matter; but I shouldn't have thought much about that if there hadn't +come along, not five minutes after, a buggy with two ladies in it, +which stopped at our gate, too. I saw they wanted to get out, so I went +and held their horse for them, and they got down and went into the +house." + +"Did you see their faces?" + +"No, sir; not then. They had veils on." + +"Very well, go on." + +"I hadn't been to work long, before I heard some one calling my +name, and looking up, saw Mr. Stebbins standing in the doorway +beckoning. I went to him, and he-said, 'I want you, Tim; wash your +hands and come into the parlor.' I had never been asked to do that +before, and it struck me all of a heap; but I did what he asked, and +was so taken aback at the looks of the lady I saw standing up on the +floor with the handsome gentleman, that I stumbled over a stool and +made a great racket, and didn't know much where I was or what was going +on, till I heard Mr. Stebbins say 'man and wife'; and then it came +over me in a hot kind of way that it was a marriage I was seeing." + +Timothy Cook stopped to wipe his forehead, as if overcome with the +very recollection, and Mr. Gryce took the opportunity to remark: + +"You say there were two ladies; now where was the other one at this +time?" + +"She was there, sir; but I didn't mind much about her, I was so +taken up with the handsome one and the way she had of smiling when any +one looked at her. I never saw the beat." + +I felt a quick thrill go through me. + +"Can you remember the color of her hair or eyes?" + +"No, sir; I had a feeling as if she wasn't dark, and that is all I +know." + +"But you remember her face?" + +"Yes, sir!" + +Mr. Gryce here whispered me to procure two pictures which I would +find in a certain drawer in his desk, and set them up in different +parts of the room unbeknown to the man. + +"You have before said," pursued Mr. Gryce, "that you have no +remembrance of her name. Now, how was that? Weren't you called upon to +sign the certificate?" + +"Yes, sir; but I am most ashamed to say it; I was in a sort of +maze, and didn't hear much, and only remember it was a Mr. Clavering +she was married to, and that some one called some one else Elner, or +something like that. I wish I hadn't been so stupid, sir, if it would +have done you any good." + +"Tell us about the signing of the certificate," said Mr. Gryce. + +"Well, sir, there isn't much to tell. Mr. Stebbins asked me to put +my name down in a certain place on a piece of paper he pushed towards +me, and I put it down there; that is all." + +"Was there no other name there when you wrote yours?" + +"No, sir. Afterwards Mr. Stebbins turned towards the other lady, +who now came forward, and asked her if she wouldn't please sign it, +too; and she said,' yes,' and came very quickly and did so." + +"And didn't you see her face then?" + +"No, sir; her back was to me when she threw by her veil, and I +only saw Mr. Stebbins staring at her as she stooped, with a kind of +wonder on his face, which made me think she might have been something +worth looking at too; but I didn't see her myself." + +"Well, what happened then?" + +"I don't know, sir. I went stumbling out of the room, and didn't +see anything more." + +"Where were you when the ladies went away?" + +"In the garden, sir. I had gone back to my work." + +"You saw them, then. Was the gentleman with them?" + +"No, sir; that was the queer part of it all. They went back as they +came, and so did he; and in a few minutes Mr. Stebbins came out where +I was, and told me I was to say nothing about what I had seen, for it +was a secret." + +"Were you the only one in the house who knew anything about it? +Weren't there any women around?" + +"No, sir; Miss Stebbins had gone to the sewing circle." + +I had by this time some faint impression of what Mr. Gryce's +suspicions were, and in arranging the pictures had placed one, that of +Eleanore, on the mantel-piece, and the other, which was an uncommonly +fine photograph of Mary, in plain view on the desk. But Mr. Cook's back +was as yet towards that part of the room, and, taking advantage of the +moment, I returned and asked him if that was all he had to tell us +about this matter. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then," said Mr. Gryce, with a glance at Q, "isn't there something +you can give Mr. Cook in payment for his story? Look around, will you?" + +Q nodded, and moved towards a cupboard in the wall at the side of +the mantel-piece; Mr. Cook following him with his eyes, as was natural, +when, with a sudden start, he crossed the room and, pausing before the +mantelpiece, looked at the picture of Eleanore which I had put there, +gave a low grunt of satisfaction or pleasure, looked at it again, and +walked away. I felt my heart leap into my throat, and, moved by what +impulse of dread or hope I cannot say, turned my back, when suddenly I +heard him give vent to a startled exclamation, followed by the words: +"Why! here she is; this is her, sirs," and turning around saw him +hurrying towards us with Mary's picture in his hands. + +I do not know as I was greatly surprised. I was powerfully excited, +as well as conscious of a certain whirl of thought, and an unsettling +of old conclusions that was very confusing; but surprised? No. Mr. +Gryce's manner had too well prepared me. + +"This the lady who was married to Mr. Clavering, my good man? I +guess you are mistaken," cried the detective, in a very incredulous +tone. + +"Mistaken? Didn't I say I would know her anywhere? This is the +lady, if she is the president's wife herself." And Mr. Cook leaned over +it with a devouring look that was not without its element of homage. + +"I am very much astonished," Mr. Gryce went on, winking at me in a +slow, diabolical way which in another mood would have aroused my +fiercest anger. "Now, if you had said the other lady was the one "-- +pointing to the picture on the mantelpiece,"! shouldn't have wondered." + +"She? I never saw that lady before; but this one --would you mind +telling me her name, sirs?" + +"If what you say is true, her name is Mrs. Clavering." + +"Clavering? Yes, that was his name." + +"And a very lovely lady," said Mr. Gryce. "Morris, haven't you +found anything yet?" + +Q, for answer, brought forward glasses and a bottle. + +But Mr. Cook was in no mood for liquor. I think he was struck with +remorse; for, looking from the picture to Q, and from Q to the picture, +he said: + +"If I have done this lady wrong by my talk, I '11 never forgive +myself. You told me I would help her to get her rights; if you have +deceived me ----" + +"Oh, I haven't deceived you," broke in Q, in his short, sharp way. +"Ask that gentleman there if we are not all interested in Mrs. +Clavering getting her due." + +He had designated me; but I was in no mood to reply. I longed to +have the man dismissed, that I might inquire the reason of the great +complacency which I now saw overspreading Mr. Gryce's frame, to his +very finger-ends. + +"Mr. Cook needn't be concerned," remarked Mr. Gryce. "If he will +take a glass of warm crink to fortify him for his walk, I think he may +go to the lodgings Mr. Morris has provided for him without fear. Give +the gent a glass, and let him mix for himself." + +But it was full ten minutes before we were delivered of the man and +his vain regrets. Mary's image had called up every latent feeling in +his heart, and I could but wonder over a loveliness capable of swaying +the low as well as the high. But at last he yielded to the seductions +of the now wily _Q,_ and departed. + +Left alone with Mr. Gryce, I must have allowed some of the confused +emotions which filled my breast to become apparent on my countenance; +for after a few minutes of ominous silence, be exclaimed very grimly, +and yet with a latent touch of that complacency I had before noticed: + +"This discovery rather upsets you, doesn't it? Well, it don't me," +shutting his mouth like a trap. "I expected it." + +"Your conclusions must differ very materially from mine," I +returned; "or you would see that this discovery alters the complexion +of the whole affair." + +"It does not alter the truth." + +"What is the truth?" + +Mr. Gryce's very legs grew thoughtful; his voice sank to its deepest +tone. "Do you very much want to know?" + +"Want to know the truth? What else are we after?" + +"Then," said he, "to my notion, the complexion of things has +altered, but very much for the better. As long as Eleanore was believed +to be the wife, her action in this matter was accounted for; but the +tragedy itself was not. Why should Eleanore or Eleanore's husband wish +the death of a man whose bounty they believed would end with his life? +But with Mary, the heiress, proved the wife!--I tell you, Mr. +Raymond, it all hangs together now. You must never, in reckoning up an +affair of murder like this, forget who it is that most profits by the +deceased man's death." + +"But Eleanore's silence? her concealment of certain proofs and +evidences in her own breast--how will you account for that? I can +imagine a woman devoting herself to the shielding of a husband from the +consequences of crime; but a cousin's husband, never." + +Mr. Gryce put his feet very close together, and softly grunted. +"Then you still think Mr. Clavering the assassin of Mr. Leavenworth?" + +I could only stare at him in my sudden doubt and dread. "Still +think?" I repeated. + +"Mr. Clavering the murderer of Mr. Leavenworth?" + +"Why, what else is there to think? You don't--you can't--suspect +Eleanore of having deliberately undertaken to help her cousin out of a +difficulty by taking the life of their mutual benefactor?" + +"No," said Mr. Gryce; "no, I do not think Eleanore Leavenworth +had any hand in the business." + +"Then who--" I began, and stopped, lost in the dark vista that was +opening before me. + +"Who? Why, who but the one whose past deceit and present necessity +demanded his death as a relief? Who but the beautiful, money-loving, +man-deceiving goddess----" + +I leaped to my feet in my sudden horror and repugnance. "Do not +mention the name! You are wrong; but do not speak the name." + +"Excuse me," said he; "but it will have to be spoken many times, +and we may as well begin here and now--who then but Mary Leavenworth; +or, if you like it better, Mrs. Henry Clavering? Are you so much +surprised? It has been my thought from the beginning." + + + +XXVI. MR. GRYCE EXPLAINS HIMSELF + + "Sits the wind in that corner?" + --Much Ado about Nothing. + +I DO not propose to enter into a description of the mingled feelings +aroused in me by this announcement. As a drowning man is said to live +over in one terrible instant the events of a lifetime, so each word +uttered in my hearing by Mary, from her first introduction to me in her +own room, on the morning of the inquest, to our final conversation on +the night of Mr. Clavering's call, swept in one wild phantasmagoria +through my brain, leaving me aghast at the signification which her +whole conduct seemed to acquire from the lurid light which now fell +upon it. + +"I perceive that I have pulled down an avalanche of doubts about +your ears," exclaimed my companion from the height of his calm +superiority. "You never thought of this possibility, then, yourself?" + +"Do not ask me what I have thought. I only know I will never +believe your suspicions true. That, however much Mary may have been +benefited by her uncle's death, she never had a hand in it; actual +hand, I mean." + +"And what makes you so sure of this?" + +"And what makes you so sure of the contrary? It is for you to +prove, not for me to prove her innocence." + +"Ah," said Mr. Gryce, in his slow, sarcastic way, "you recollect +that principle of law, do you? If I remember rightly, you have not +always been so punctilious in regarding it, or wishing to have it +regarded, when the question was whether Mr. Clavering was the assassin +or not." + +"But he is a man. It does not seem so dreadful to accuse a man of +a crime. But a woman! and such a woman! I cannot listen to it; it is +horrible. Nothing short of absolute confession on her part will ever +make me believe Mary Leavenworth, or any other woman, committed this +deed. It was too cruel, too deliberate, too----" + +"Read the criminal records," broke in Mr. Gryce. + +But I was obstinate. "I do not care for the criminal records. All +the criminal records in the world would never make me believe Eleanore +perpetrated this crime, nor will I be less generous towards her cousin +Mary Leavenworth is a faulty woman, but not a guilty one." + +"You are more lenient in your judgment of her than her cousin was, +it appears." + +"I do not understand you," I muttered, feeling a new and yet more +fearful light breaking upon me. + +"What! have you forgotten, in the hurry of these late events, the +sentence of accusation which we overheard uttered between these ladies +on the morning of the inquest?" + +"No, but----" + +"You believed it to have been spoken by Mary to Eleanore?" + +"Of course; didn't you?" + +Oh, the smile which crossed Mr. Gryce's face! "Scarcely. I left +that baby-play for you. I thought one was enough to follow on that +tack." + +The light, the light that was breaking upon me! "And do you mean +to say it was Eleanore who was speaking at that time? That I have been +laboring all these weeks under a terrible mistake, and that you could +have righted me with a word, and did not?" + +"Well, as to that, I had a purpose in letting you follow your own +lead for a while. In the first place, I was not sure myself which spoke; +though I had but little doubt about the matter. The voices are, as +you must have noticed, very much alike, while the attitudes in which we +found them upon entering were such as to be explainable equally by the +supposition that Mary was in the act of launching a denunciation, or in +that of repelling one. So that, while I did not hesitate myself as to +the true explanation of the scene before me, I was pleased to find you +accept a contrary one; as in this way both theories had a chance of +being tested; as was right in a case of so much mystery. You +accordingly took up the affair with one idea for your starting-point, +and I with another. You saw every fact as it developed through the +medium of Mary's belief in Eleanore's guilt, and I through the +opposite. And what has been the result? With you, doubt, +contradiction, constant unsettlement, and unwarranted resorts to +strange sources for reconcilement between appearances and your own +convictions; with me, growing assurance, and a belief which each and +every development so far has but served to strengthen and make more +probable." + +Again that wild panorama of events, looks, and words swept before +me. Mary's reiterated assertions of her cousin's innocence, Eleanore's +attitude of lofty silence in regard to certain matters which might be +considered by her as pointing towards the murderer. + +"Your theory must be the correct one," I finally admitted; "it +was undoubtedly Eleanore who spoke. She believes in Mary's guilt, and I +have been blind, indeed, not to have seen it from the first." + +"If Eleanore Leavenworth believes in her cousin's criminality, she +must have some good reasons for doing so." + +I was obliged to admit that too. "She did not conceal in her bosom +that telltale key,--found who knows where?--and destroy, or seek +to destroy, it and the letter which introduced her cousin to the public +as the unprincipled destroyer of a trusting man's peace, for nothing." +"No, no." + +"And yet you, a stranger, a young man who have never seen Mary +Leavenworth in any other light than that in which her coquettish nature +sought to display itself, presume to say she is innocent, in the face +of the attitude maintained from the first by her cousin!" + +"But," said I, in my great unwillingness to accept his conclusions, +"Eleanore Leavenworth is but mortal. She may have been mistaken in her +inferences. She has never stated what her suspicion was founded upon; +nor can we know what basis she has for maintaining the attitude you +speak of. Clavering is as likely as Mary to be the assassin, for all we +know, and possibly for all she knows." + +"You seem to be almost superstitious in your belief in Clavering's +guilt." + +I recoiled. Was I? Could it be that Mr. Harwell's fanciful +conviction in regard to this man had in any way influenced me to the +detriment of my better judgment? + +"And you may be right," Mr. Gryce went on. "I do not pretend to be +set in my notions. Future investigation may succeed in fixing something +upon him; though I hardly think it likely. His behavior as the secret +husband of a woman possessing motives for the commission of a crime has +been too consistent throughout." + +"All except his leaving her." + +"No exception at all; for he hasn't left her." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean that, instead of leaving the country, Mr. Clavering has +only made pretence of doing so. That, in place of dragging himself off +to Europe at her command, he has only changed his lodgings, and can now +be found, not only in a house opposite to hers, but in the window of +that house, where he sits day after day watching who goes in and out of +her front door." + +I remembered his parting injunction to me, in that memorable +interview we had in my office, and saw myself compelled to put a new +construction upon it. + +"But I was assured at the Hoffman House that he had sailed for +Europe, and myself saw the man who professes to have driven him to the +steamer." + +"Just so." + +"And Mr. Clavering returned to the city after that?" + +"In another carriage, and to another house." + +"And you tell me that man is all right?" + +"No; I only say there isn't the shadow of evidence against him as +the person who shot Mr. Leavenworth." + +Rising, I paced the floor, and for a few minutes silence fell +between us. But the clock, striking, recalled me to the necessity of +the hour, and, turning, I asked Mr. Gryce what he proposed to do now. + +"There is but one thing I can do," said he. + +"And that is?" + +"To go upon such lights as I have, and cause the arrest of Miss +Leavenworth." + +I had by this time schooled myself to endurance, and was able to +hear this without uttering an exclamation. But I could not let it pass +without making one effort to combat his determination. + +"But," said I, "I do not see what evidence you have, positive +enough in its character, to warrant extreme measures. You have yourself +intimated that the existence of motive is not enough, even though taken +with the fact of the suspected party being in the house at the time of +the murder; and what more have you to urge against Miss Leavenworth?" + +"Pardon me. I said 'Miss Leavenworth'; I should have said +'Eleanore Leavenworth.'" + +"Eleanore? What! when you and all unite in thinking that she alone +of all these parties to the crime is utterly guiltless of wrong?" + +"And yet who is the only one against whom positive testimony of +any kind can be brought." + +I could but acknowledge that. + +"Mr. Raymond," he remarked very gravely; "the public is becoming +clamorous; something must be done to satisfy it, if only for the +moment. Eleanore has laid herself open to the suspicion of the police, +and must take the consequences of her action. I am sorry; she is a +noble creature; I admire her; but justice is justice, and though I +think her innocent, I shall be forced to put her under arrest +unless----" + +"But I cannot be reconciled to it. It is doing an irretrievable +injury to one whose only fault is an undue and mistaken devotion to an +unworthy cousin. If Mary is the----." + +"Unless something occurs between now and tomorrow morning," Mr. +Gryce went on, as if I had not spoken. + +"To-morrow morning?" + +"Yes." + +I tried to realize it; tried to face the fact that all my efforts +had been for nothing, and failed. + +"Will you not grant me one more day?" I asked in my desperation. + +"What to do?" + +Alas, I did not know. "To confront Mr. Clavering, and force from +him the truth." + +"To make a mess of the whole affair!" he growled. "No, sir; the +die is cast. Eleanore Leavenworth knows the one point which fixes this +crime upon her cousin, and she must tell us that point or suffer the +consequences of her refusal." + +I made one more effort. + +"But why to-morrow? Having exhausted so much time already in our +inquiries, why not take a little more; especially as the trail is +constantly growing warmer? A little more moling----" + +"A little more folderol!" exclaimed Mr. Gryce, losing his temper. +"No, sir; the hour for moling has passed; something decisive has got +to be done now; though, to be sure, if I could find the one missing +link I want----" + +"Missing link? What is that?" + +"The immediate motive of the tragedy; a bit of proof that Mr. +Leavenworth threatened his niece with his displeasure, or Mr. Clavering +with his revenge, would place me on the vantage-point at once; no +arresting of Eleanore then! No, my lady! I would walk right into your +own gilded parlors, and when you asked me if I had found the murderer +yet, say 'yes,' and show you a bit of paper which would surprise you! +But missing links are not so easily found. This has been moled for, and +moled for, as you are pleased to call our system of investigation, and +totally without result. Nothing but the confession of some one of these +several parties to the crime will give us what we want. I will tell you +what I will do," he suddenly cried. "Miss Leavenworth has desired me +to report to her; she is very anxious for the detection of the +murderer, you know, and offers an immense reward. Well, I will gratify +this desire of hers. The suspicions I have, together with my reasons +for them, will make an interesting disclosure. I should not greatly +wonder if they produced an equally interesting confession." + +I could only jump to my feet in my horror. + +"At all events, I propose to try it. Eleanore is worth that much +risk any way." + +"It will do no good," said I. "If Mary is guilty, she will never +confess it. If not----" + +"She will tell us who is." + +"Not if it is Clavering, her husband." + +"Yes; even if it is Clavering, her husband. She has not the +devotion of Eleanore." + +That I could but acknowledge. She would hide no keys for the sake of +shielding another: no, if Mary were accused, she would speak. The +future opening before us looked sombre enough. And yet when, in a short +time from that, I found myself alone in a busy street, the thought that +Eleanore was free rose above all others, filling and moving me till my +walk home in the rain that day has become a marked memory of my life. +It was only with nightfall that I began to realize the truly critical +position in which Mary stood if Mr. Gryce's theory was correct. But, +once seized with this thought, nothing could drive it from my mind. +Shrink as I would, it was ever before me, haunting me with the direst +forebodings. Nor, though I retired early, could I succeed in getting +either sleep or rest. All night I tossed on my pillow, saying over to +myself with dreary iteration: "Something must happen, something will +happen, to prevent Mr. Gryce doing this dreadful thing." Then I would +start up and ask what could happen; and my mind would run over various +contingencies, such as,--Mr. Clavering might confess; Hannah might +come back; Mary herself wake up to her position and speak the word I +had more than once seen trembling on her lips. But further thought +showed me how unlikely any of these things were to happen, and it was +with a brain utterly exhausted that I fell asleep in the early dawn, to +dream I saw Mary standing above Mr. Gryce with a pistol in her hand. I +was awakened from this pleasing vision by a heavy knock at the door. +Hastily rising, I asked who was there. The answer came in the shape of +an envelope thrust under the door. Raising it, I found it to be a note. +It was from Mr. Gryce, and ran thus: + +"Come at once; Hannah Chester is found." + +"Hannah found?" + +"So we have reason to think." + +When? where? by whom?" + +"Sit down, and I will tell you." + +Drawing up a chair in a flurry of hope and fear, I sat down by Mr. +Gryce's side. + +"She is not in the cupboard," that person dryly assured me, noting +without doubt how my eyes went travelling about the room in my anxiety +and impatience. "We are not absolutely sure that she is anywhere. But +word has come to us that a girl's face believed to be Hannah's has been +seen at the upper window of a certain house in--don't start-- R----, +where a year ago she was in the habit of visiting while at the hotel +with the Misses Leavenworth. Now, as it has already been determined +that she left New York the night of the murder, by the ------ ---- +Railroad, though for what point we have been unable to ascertain, we +consider the matter worth inquiring into." + +"But--" + +"If she is there," resumed Mr. Gryce, "she is secreted; kept very +close. No one except the informant has ever seen her, nor is there any +suspicion among the neighbors of her being in town." + +"Hannah secreted at a certain house in R----? Whose house?" + +Mr. Gryce honored me with one of his grimmest smiles. "The name of +the lady she's with is given in the communication as Belden; Mrs. Amy +Belden." + +"Amy Belden! the name found written on a torn envelope by Mr. +Clavering's servant girl in London?" + +"Yes." + +I made no attempt to conceal my satisfaction. "Then we are upon +the verge of some discovery; Providence has interfered, and Eleanore +will be saved! But when did you get this word?" + +"Last night, or rather this morning; Q brought it." + +"It was a message, then, to Q?" + +"Yes, the result of his molings while in R----, I suppose." + +"Whom was it signed by?" + +"A respectable tinsmith who lives next door to Mrs. B." + +"And is this the first you knew of an Amy Belden living in R----?" + +"Yes." + +"Widow or wife?" + +"Don't know; don't know anything about her but her name." + +"But you have already sent Q to make inquiries?" + +"No; the affair is a little too serious for him to manage alone. He +is not equal to great occasions, and might fail just for the lack of a +keen mind to direct him." + +"In short----" + +"I wish you to go. Since I cannot be there myself, I know of no one +else sufficiently up in the affair to conduct it to a successful issue. +You see, it is not enough to find and identify the girl. The present +condition of things demands that the arrest of so important a witness +should be kept secret. Now, for a man to walk into a strange house in a +distant village, find a girl who is secreted there, frighten her, +cajole her, force her, as the case may be, from her hiding-place to a +detective's office in New York, and all without the knowledge of the +next-door neighbor, if possible, requires judgment, brains, genius. +Then the woman who conceals her I She must have her reasons for doing +so; and they must be known. Altogether, the affair is a delicate one. +Do you think you can manage it?" + +"I should at least like to try." + +Mr. Gryce settled himself on the sofa. "To think what pleasure I am +losing on your account!" he grumbled, gazing reproachfully at his +helpless limbs. "But to business. How soon can you start?" + +"Immediately." + +"Good! a train leaves the depot at 12.15. Take that. Once in +R----, it will be for you to decide upon the means of making Mrs. +Belden's acquaintance without arousing her suspicions. Q, who will +follow you, will hold himself in readiness to render you any assistance +you may require. Only this thing is to be understood: as he will +doubtless go in disguise, you are not to recognize him, much less +interfere with him and his plans, till he gives you leave to do so, by +some preconcerted signal. You are to work in your way, and he in his, +till circumstances seem to call for mutual support and countenance. I +cannot even say whether you will see him or not; he may find it +necessary to Keep um. of the way; but you may be sure of one thing, +that he will know where you are, and that the display of, well, let us +say a red silk handkerchief--have you such a thing?" + +"I will get one." + +"Will be regarded by him as a sign that you desire his presence or +assistance, whether it be shown about your person or at the window of +your room." + +"And these are all the instructions you can give me?" I said, as +he paused. + +"Yes, I don't know of anything else. You must depend largely upon +your own discretion, and the exigencies of the moment. I cannot tell +you now what to do. Your own wit will be the best guide. Only, if +possible, let me either hear from you or see you by to-morrow at this +time." + +And he handed me a cipher in case I should wish to telegraph. + + + +BOOK III. HANNAH + + + +XXVII. AMY BELDEN + + "A merrier man + Within the limits of becoming mirth, + I never spent an hour's talk withal." + --Love's Labour's Last. + +I HAD a client in R---- by the name of Monell; and it was from him I +had planned to learn the best way of approaching Mrs. Belden. When, +therefore, I was so fortunate as to meet him, almost on my arrival, +driving on the long road behind his famous trotter Alfred, I regarded +the encounter as a most auspicious beginning of a very doubtful +enterprise. + +"Well, and how goes the day?" was his exclamation as, the first +greetings passed, we drove rapidly into town. + +"Your part in it goes pretty smoothly," I returned; and thinking I +could never hope to win his attention to my own affairs till I had +satisfied him in regard to his, I told him all I could concerning the +law-suit then pending; a subject so prolific of question and answer, +that we had driven twice round the town before he remembered he had a +letter to post. As it was an important one, admitting of no delay, we +hasted at once to the post-office, where he went in, leaving me outside +to watch the rather meagre stream of goers and comers who at that time +of day make the post-office of a country town their place of +rendezvous. Among these, for some reason, I especially noted one +middle-aged woman; why, I cannot say; her appearance was anything but +remarkable. And yet when she came out, with two letters in her hand, +one in a large and one in might be induced to give a bed to a friend of +mine who is very anxious to be near the post-office on account of a +business telegram he is expecting, and which when it comes will demand +his immediate attention." And Mr. Monell gave me a sly wink of his eye, +little imagining how near the mark he had struck. + +"You need not say that. Tell her I have a peculiar dislike to +sleeping in a public house, and that you know of no one better fitted +to accommodate me, for the short time I desire to be in town, than +herself." + +"And what will be said of my hospitality in allowing you under +these circumstances to remain in any other house than my own?" + +"I don't know; very hard things, no doubt; but I guess your +hospitality can stand it." + +"Well, if you persist, we will see what can be done." And driving +up to a neat white cottage of homely, but sufficiently attractive +appearance, he stopped. + +"This is her house," said he, jumping to the ground; "let's go in +and see what we can do." + +Glancing up at the windows, which were all closed save the two on +the veranda overlooking the street, I thought to myself, "If she has +anybody in hiding here, whose presence in the house she desires to keep +secret, it is folly to hope she will take me in, however well +recommended I may come." But, yielding to the example of my friend, I +alighted in my turn and followed him up the short, grass-bordered walk +to the front door. + +"As she has no servant, she will come to the door herself, so be +ready," he remarked as he knocked. + +I had barely time to observe that the curtains to the window at my +left suddenly dropped, when a hasty step made itself heard within, and +a quick hand drew open the door; and I saw before me the woman whom I +had observed at the post-office, and whose action with the letters had +struck me as peculiar. I recognized her at first glance, though she was +differently dressed, and had evidently passed through some worry or +excitement that had altered the expression of her countenance, and made +her manner what it was not at that time, strained and a trifle +uncertain. But I saw no reason for thinking she remembered me. On the +contrary, the look she directed towards me had nothing but inquiry in +it, and when Mr. Monell pushed me forward with the remark, "A friend +of mine; in fact my lawyer from New York," she dropped a hurried +old-fashioned curtsey whose only expression vas a manifest desire to +appear sensible of the honor conferred upon her, through the mist of a +certain trouble that confused everything about her, + +"We have come to ask a favor, Mrs. Belden; but may we not come in? +"said my client in a round, hearty voice well calculated to recall a +person's thoughts into their proper channel. "I have heard many times +of your cosy home, and am glad of this opportunity of seeing it." And +with a blind disregard to the look of surprised resistance with which +she met his advance, he stepped gallantly into the little room whose +cheery red carpet and bright picture-hung walls showed invitingly +through the half-open door at our left. + +Finding her premises thus invaded by a sort of French _coup +d'etat,_ Mrs. Belden made the best of the situation, and pressing me +to enter also, devoted herself to hospitality. As for Mr. Monell, he +quite blossomed out in his endeavors to make himself agreeable; so +much so, that I shortly found myself laughing at his sallies, though my +heart was full of anxiety lest, after all, our efforts should fail of +the success they certainly merited. Meanwhile, Mrs. Belden softened +more and more, joining in the conversation with an ease hardly to be +expected from one in her humble circumstances. Indeed, I soon saw she +was no common woman. There was a refinement in her speech and manner, +which, combined with her motherly presence and gentle air, was very +pleasing. The last woman in the world to suspect of any underhanded +proceeding, if she had not shown a peculiar hesitation when Mr. Monell +broached the subject of my entertainment there. + +"I don't know, sir; I would be glad, but," and she turned a very +scrutinizing look upon me, "the fact is, I have not taken lodgers of +late, and I have got out of the way of the whole thing, and am afraid I +cannot make him comfortable. In short, you will have to excuse me." + +"But we can't," returned Mr. Monell. "What, entice a fellow into a +room like this"--and he cast a hearty admiring glance round the +apartment which, for all its simplicity, both its warm coloring and +general air of cosiness amply merited, "and then turn a cold shoulder +upon him when he humbly entreats the honor of staying a single night in +the enjoyment of its attractions? No, no, Mrs. Belden; I know you too +well for that. Lazarus himself couldn't come to your door and be turned +away; much less a good-hearted, clever-headed young gentleman like my +friend here." + +"You are very good," she began, an almost weak love of praise +showing itself for a moment in her eyes; "but I have no room prepared. +I have been house-cleaning, and everything is topsy-turvy. Mrs. Wright. +now, over the way----" + +"My young friend is going to stop here," Mr. Mouell broke in, with +frank positiveness. "If I cannot have him at my own house,--and for +certain reasons it is not advisable,--I shall at least have the +satisfaction of knowing he is in the charge of the best housekeeper in +R----." + +"Yes," I put in, but without too great a show of interest; "I +should be sorry, once introduced here, to be obliged to go elsewhere." + +The troubled eye wavered away from us to the door. + +"I was never called inhospitable," she commenced; "but everything +in such disorder. What time would you like to come?" + +"I was in hopes I might remain now," I replied; "I have some +letters to write, and ask nothing better than for leave to sit here and +write them." + +At the word letters I saw her hand go to her pocket in a movement +which must have been involuntary, for her countenance did not change, +and she made the quick reply: + +"Well, you may. If you can put up with such poor accommodations as +I can offer, it shall not be said I refused you what Mr. Monell is +pleased to call a favor." + +And, complete in her reception as she had been in her resistance, +she gave us a pleasant smile, and, ignoring my thanks, bustled out with +Mr. Monell to the buggy, where she received my bag and what was, +doubtless, more to her taste, the compliments he was now more than ever +ready to bestow upon her. + +"I will see that a room is got ready for you in a very short space +of time," she said, upon re-entering. "Meanwhile, make yourself at +home here; and if you wish to write, why I think you will find +everything for the purpose in these drawers." And wheeling up a table +to the easy chair in which I sat, she pointed to the small compartments +beneath, with an air of such manifest desire to have me make use of +anything and everything she had, that I found myself wondering over my +position with a sort of startled embarrassment that was not remote from +shame. + +"Thank you; I have materials of my own," said I, and hastened to +open my bag and bring out the writing-case, which I always carried with +me. + +"Then I will leave you," said she; and with a quick bend and a +short, hurried look out of the window, she hastily quitted the room. + +I could hear her steps cross the hall, go up two or three stairs, +pause, go up the rest of the flight, pause again, and then pass on. I +was left on the first floor alone. + + + +XXVIII. A WEIRD EXPERIENCE + + "Flat burglary an ever was committed." + --Much Ado about Nothing. + +THE first thing I did was to inspect with greater care the room in +which I sat. + +It was a pleasant apartment, as I have already said; square, sunny, +and well furnished. On the floor was a crimson carpet, on the walls +several pictures, at the windows, cheerful curtains of white, +tastefully ornamented with ferns and autumn leaves; in one corner an +old melodeon, and in the centre of the room a table draped with a +bright cloth, on which were various little knick-knacks which, without +being rich or expensive, were both pretty and, to a certain extent, +ornamental. But it was not these things, which I had seen repeated in +many other country homes, that especially attracted my attention, or +drew me forward in the slow march which I now undertook around the +room. It was the something underlying all these, the evidences which I +found, or sought to find, not only in the general aspect of the room, +but in each trivial object I encountered, of the character, +disposition, and history of the woman with whom I now had to deal. It +was for this reason I studied the daguerreotypes on the mantel-piece, +the books on the shelf, and the music on the rack; for this and the +still further purpose of noting if any indications were to be found of +there being in the house any such person as Hannah. + +First then, for the little library, which I was pleased to see +occupied one corner of the room. Composed of a few well-chosen books, +poetical, historical, and narrative, it was of itself sufficient to +account for the evidences of latent culture observable in Mrs. Belden's +conversation. Taking out a well-worn copy of _Byron,_ I opened it. +There were many passages marked, and replacing the book with a mental +comment upon her evident impressibility to the softer emotions, I +turned towards the melodeon fronting me from the opposite wall. It was +closed, but on its neatly-covered top lay one or two hymn-books, a +basket of russet apples, and a piece of half-completed knitting work. + +I took up the latter, but was forced to lay it down again without a +notion for what it was intended. Proceeding, I next stopped before a +window opening upon the small yard that ran about the house, and +separated it from the one adjoining. The scene without failed to +attract me, but the window itself drew my attention, for, written with +a diamond point on one of the panes, I perceived a row of letters +which, as nearly as I could make out, were meant for some word or +words, but which utterly failed in sense or apparent connection. +Passing it by as the work of some school-girl, I glanced down at the +work-basket standing on a table at my side. It was full of various +kinds of work, among which I spied a pair of stockings, which were much +too small, as well as in too great a state of disrepair, to belong to +Mrs. Belden; and drawing them carefully out, I examined them for any +name on them. Do not start when I say I saw the letter H plainly marked +upon them. Thrusting them back, I drew a deep breath of relief, gazing, +as I did so, out of the window, when those letters again attracted my +attention. + +What could they mean? Idly I began to read them backward, when-- +But try for yourself, reader, and judge of my surprise! Elate at the +discovery thus made, I sat down to write my letters. I had barely +finished them, when Mrs. Belden came in with the announcement that +supper was ready. "As for your room," said she, "I have prepared my +own room for your use, thinking you would like to remain on the first +floor." And, throwing open a door at my side, she displayed a +small, but comfortable room, in which I could dimly see a bed, an +immense bureau, and a shadowy looking-glass in a dark, old-fashioned +frame. + +"I live in very primitive fashion," she resumed, leading the way +into the dining-room; "but I mean to be comfortable and make others +so." + +"I should say you amply succeeded," I rejoined, with an +appreciative glance at her well-spread board. + +She smiled, and I felt I had paved the way to her good graces in a +way that would yet redound to my advantage. + +Shall I ever forget that supper! its dainties, its pleasant +freedom, its mysterious, pervading atmosphere of unreality: and the +constant sense which every bountiful dish she pressed upon me brought +of the shame of eating this woman's food with such feelings of +suspicion in my heart! Shall I ever forget the emotion I experienced +when I first perceived she had something on her mind, which she longed, +yet hesitated, to give utterance to! Or how she started when a cat +jumped from the sloping roof of the kitchen on to the grass-plot at the +back of the house; or how my heart throbbed when I heard, or thought I +heard, a board creak overhead! We were in a long and narrow room which +seemed, curiously enough, to run crosswise of the house, opening on one +side into the parlor, and on the other into the small bedroom, which +had been allotted to my use. + +"You live in this house alone, without fear?" I asked, as Mrs. +Belden, contrary to my desire, put another bit of cold chicken on my +plate. "Have you no marauders in this town: no tramps, of whom a +solitary woman like you might reasonably be afraid?" + +"No one will hurt me," said she; "and no one ever came here for +food or shelter but got it." + +"I should think, then, that living as you do, upon a railroad, you +would be constantly overrun with worthless beings whose only trade is +to take all they can get without giving a return." + +"I cannot turn them away. It is the only luxury I have: to feed the +poor." + +"But the idle, restless ones, who neither will work, nor let others +work----" + +"Are still the poor." + +Mentally remarking, here is the woman to shield an unfortunate who +has somehow become entangled in the meshes of a great crime, I drew +back from the table As I did so, the thought crossed me that, in case +there was any such person in the house as Hannah, she would take the +opportunity of going up-stairs with something for her to eat; and that +she might not feel hampered by my presence, I stepped out on the +veranda with my cigar. + +While smoking it, I looked about for Q. I felt that the least token +of his presence in town would be very encouraging at this time. But it +seemed I was not to be afforded even that small satisfaction. If _Q_ +was anywhere near, he was lying very low. + +Once again seated with Mrs. Belden (who I know came down-stairs with +an empty plate, for going into the kitchen for a drink, I caught her in +the act of setting it down on the table), I made up my mind to wait a +reasonable length of time for what she had to say; and then, if she did +not speak, make an endeavor on my own part to surprise her secret. + +But her avowal was nearer and of a different nature from what I +expected, and brought its own train of consequences with it. + +"You are a lawyer, I believe," she began, taking down her knitting +work, with a forced display of industry. + +"Yes," I said; "that is my profession." + +She remained for a moment silent, creating great havoc in her work I +am sure, from the glance of surprise and vexation she afterwards threw +it. Then, in a hesitating voice, remarked: + +"Perhaps you may be willing, then, to give me some advice. The +truth is, I am in a very curious predicament; one from which I don't +know how to escape, and yet which demands immediate action. I should +like to tell you about it; may I?" + +"You may; I shall be only too happy to give you any advice in my +power." + +She drew in her breath with a sort of vague relief, though her +forehead did not lose its frown. + +"It can all be said in a few words. I have in my possession a +package of papers which were intrusted to me by two ladies, with the +understanding that I should neither return nor destroy them without the +full cognizance and expressed desire of both parties, given in person +or writing. That they were to remain in my hands till then, and that +nothing or nobody should extort them from me." + +"That is easily understood," said I; for she stopped. + +"But, now comes word from one of the ladies, the one, too, most +interested in the matter, that, for certain reasons, the immediate +destruction of those papers is necessary to her peace and safety." + +"And do you want to know what your duty is in this case?" + +"Yes," she tremulously replied. + +I rose. I could not help it: a flood of conjectures rushing in +tumult over me. + +"It is to hold on to the papers like grim death till released from +your guardianship by the combined wish of both parties.," + +"Is that your opinion as a lawyer?" + +"Yes, and as a man. Once pledged in that way, you have no choice. +It would be a betrayal of trust to yield to the solicitations of one +party what you have undertaken to return to both. The fact that grief +or loss might follow your retention of these papers does not release +you from your bond. You have nothing to do with that; besides, you are +by no means sure that the representations of the so-called interested +party are true. You might be doing a greater wrong, by destroying in +this way, what is manifestly considered of value to them both, than by +preserving the papers intact, according to compact." + +"But the circumstances? Circumstances alter cases; and in short, +it seems to me that the wishes of the one most interested ought to be +regarded, especially as there is an estrangement between these ladies +which may hinder the other's consent from ever being obtained." + +"No," said I; "two wrongs never make a right; nor are we at +liberty to do an act of justice at the expense of an injustice. The +papers must be preserved, Mrs. Belden." + +Her head sank very despondingly; evidently it had been her wish to +please the interested party. "Law is very hard," she said; "very +hard." + +"This is not only law, but plain duty," I remarked. "Suppose a +case different; suppose the honor and happiness of the other party +depended upon the preservation of the papers; where would your duty be +then?" + +"But----" + +"A contract is a contract," said I, "and cannot be tampered with. +Having accepted the trust and given your word, you are obliged to +fulfil, to the letter, all its conditions. It would be a breach of +trust for you to return or destroy the papers without the mutual +consent necessary." + +An expression of great gloom settled slowly over her features. "I +suppose you are right," said she, and became silent. + +Watching her, I thought to myself, "If I were Mr. Gryce, or even Q, +I would never leave this seat till I had probed this matter to the +bottom, learned the names of the parties concerned, and where those +precious papers are hidden, which she declares to be of so much +importance." But being neither, I could only keep her talking upon the +subject until she should let fall some word that might serve as a guide +to my further enlightenment; I therefore turned, with the intention of +asking her some question, when my attention was attracted by the figure +of a woman coming out of the back-door of the neighboring house, who, +for general dilapidation and uncouthness of bearing, was a perfect type +of the style of tramp of whom we had been talking at the supper table. +Gnawing a crust which she threw away as she reached the street, she +trudged down the path, her scanty dress, piteous in its rags and soil, +flapping in the keen spring wind, and revealing ragged shoes red with +the mud of the highway. + +"There is a customer that may interest you," said I. + +Mrs. Belden seemed to awake from a trance. Rising slowly, she looked +out, and with a rapidly softening gaze surveyed the forlorn creature +before her. + +"Poor thing!" she muttered; "but I cannot do much for her +to-night. A good supper is all I can give her." + +And, going to the front door, she bade her step round the house to +the kitchen, where, in another moment, I heard the rough creature's +voice rise in one long "Bless you!" that could only have been +produced by the setting before her of the good things with which Mrs. +Belden's larder seemed teeming. + +But supper was not all she wanted. After a decent length of time, +employed as I should judge in mastication, I heard her voice rise once +more in a plea for shelter. + +"The barn, ma'am, or the wood-house. Any place where I can lie out +of the wind." And she commenced a long tale of want and disease, so +piteous to hear that I was not at all surprised when Mrs. Belden told +me, upon re-entering, that she had consented, notwithstanding her +previous determination, to allow the woman to lie before the kitchen +fire for the night. + +"She has such an honest eye," said she; "and charity is my only +luxury." + +The interruption of this incident effectually broke up our +conversation. Mrs. Belden went up-stairs, and for some time I was left +alone to ponder over what I had heard, and determine upon my future +course of action. I had just reached the conclusion that she would be +fully as liable to be carried away by her feelings to the destruction +of the papers in her charge, as to be governed by the rules of equity I +had laid down to her, when I heard her stealthily descend the stairs +and go out by the front door. Distrustful of her intentions, I took up +my hat and hastily followed her. She was on her way down the main +street, and my first thought was, that she was bound for some +neighbor's house or perhaps for the hotel itself; but the settled swing +into which she soon altered her restless pace satisfied me that she had +some distant goal in prospect; and before long I found myself passing +the hotel with its appurtenances, even the little schoolhouse, that was +the last building at this end of the village, and stepping out into the +country beyond. What could it mean? + +But still her fluttering figure hasted on, the outlines of her form, +with its close shawl and neat bonnet, growing fainter and fainter in +the now settled darkness of an April night; and still I followed, +walking on the turf at the side of the road lest she should hear my +footsteps and look round. At last we reached a bridge. Over this I +could hear her pass, and then every sound ceased. She had paused, and +was evidently listening. It would not do for me to pause too, so +gathering myself into as awkward a shape as possible, I sauntered by +her down the road, but arrived at a certain point, stopped, and began +retracing my steps with a sharp lookout for her advancing figure, till +I had arrived once more at the bridge. She was not there. + +Convinced now that she had discovered my motive for being in her +house and, by leading me from it, had undertaken to supply Hannah with +an opportunity for escape, I was about to hasten back to the charge I +had so incautiously left, when a strange sound heard at my left +arrested me. It came from the banks of the puny stream which ran under +the bridge, and was like the creaking of an old door on worn-out hinges. + +Leaping the fence, I made my way as best I could down the sloping +field in the direction from which the sound came. It was quite dark, +and my progress was slow; so much so, that I began to fear I had +ventured upon a wild-goose chase, when an unexpected streak of +lightning shot across the sky, and by its glare I saw before me what +seemed, in the momentary glimpse I had of it, an old barn. From the +rush of waters near at hand, I judged it to be somewhere on the edge of +the stream, and consequently hesitated to advance, when I heard the +sound of heavy breathing near me, followed by a stir as of some one +feeling his way over a pile of loose boards; and presently, while I +stood there, a faint blue light flashed up from the interior of the +barn, and I saw, through the tumbled-down door that faced me, the form +of Mrs. Belden standing with a lighted match in her hand, gazing round +on the four walls that encompassed her. Hardly daring to breathe, lest +I should alarm her, I watched her while she turned and peered at the +roof above her, which was so old as to be more than half open to the +sky, at the flooring beneath, which was in a state of equal +dilapidation, and finally at a small tin box which she drew from under +her shawl and laid on the ground at her feet. The sight of that box at +once satisfied me as to the nature of her errand. She was going to hide +what she dared not destroy; and, relieved upon this point, I was about +to take a step forward when the match went out in her hand. While she +was engaged in lighting another, I considered that perhaps it would be +better for me not to arouse her apprehensions by accosting her at this +time, and thus endanger the success of my main scheme; but to wait till +she was gone, before I endeavored to secure the box. Accordingly I +edged my way up to the side of the barn and waited till she should +leave it, knowing that if I attempted to peer in at the door, I ran +great risk of being seen, owing to the frequent streaks of lightning +which now flashed about us on every side. Minute after minute went by, +with its weird alternations of heavy darkness and sudden glare; and +still she did not come. At last, just as I was about to start +impatiently from my hiding-place, she reappeared, and began to withdraw +with faltering steps toward the bridge. When I thought her quite out of +hearing, I stole from my retreat and entered the barn. It was of course +as dark as Erebus, but thanks to being a smoker I was as well provided +with matches as she had been, and having struck one, I held it up; but +the light it gave was very feeble, and as I did not know just where to +look, it went out before I had obtained more than a cursory glimpse of +the spot where I was. I thereupon lit another; but though I confined +my attention to one place, namely, the floor at my feet, it too went +out before I could conjecture by means of any sign seen there where she +had hidden the box. I now for the first time realized the difficulty +before me. She had probably made up her mind, before she left home, in +just what portion of this old barn she would conceal her treasure; but +I had nothing to guide me: I could only waste matches. And I did waste +them. A dozen had been lit and extinguished before I was so much as +sure the box was not under a pile of debris that lay in one corner, and +I had taken the last in my hand before I became aware that one of the +broken boards of the floor was pushed a little out of its proper +position. One match! and that board was to be raised, the space beneath +examined, and the box, if there, lifted safely out. I concluded not to +waste my resources, so kneeling down in the darkness, I groped for the +board, tried it, and found it to be loose. Wrenching at it with all my +strength, I tore it free and cast it aside; then lighting my match +looked into the hole thus made. Something, I could not tell what, stone +or box, met my eye, but while I reached for it, the match flew out of +my hand. Deploring my carelessness, but determined at all hazards to +secure what I had seen, I dived down deep into the hole, and in another +moment had the object of my curiosity in my hands. It was the box! + +Satisfied at this result of my efforts, I turned to depart, my one +wish now being to arrive home before Mrs. Belden. Was this possible? +She had several minutes the start of me; I would have to pass her on +the road, and in so doing might be recognized. Was the end worth the +risk? I decided that it was. + +Regaining the highway, I started at a brisk pace. For some little +distance I kept it up, neither overtaking nor meeting any one. But +suddenly, at a turn in the road, I came unexpectedly upon Mrs. Belden, +standing in the middle of the path, looking back. Somewhat +disconcerted, I hastened swiftly by her, expecting her to make some +effort to stop me. But she let me pass without a word. Indeed, I doubt +now if she even saw or heard me. Astonished at this treatment, and +still more surprised that she made no attempt to follow me, I looked +back, when I saw what enchained her to the spot, and made her so +unmindful of my presence. The barn behind us was on fire! + +Instantly I realized it was the work of my hands; I had dropped a +half-extinguished match, and it had fallen upon some inflammable +substance. + +Aghast at the sight, I paused in my turn, and stood staring. Higher +and higher the red flames mounted, brighter and brighter glowed the +clouds above, the stream beneath; and in the fascination of watching +it all, I forgot Mrs. Belden. But a short, agitated gasp in my vicinity +soon recalled her presence to my mind, and drawing nearer, I heard her +exclaim like a person speaking in a dream, "Well, I didn't mean to do +it"; then lower, and with a certain satisfaction in her tone, "But +it's all right, any way; the thing is lost now for good, and Mary will +be satisfied without any one being to blame." + +I did not linger to hear more; if this was the conclusion she had +come to, she would not wait there long, especially as the sound of +distant shouts and running feet announced that a crowd of village boys +was on its way to the scene of the conflagration. + +The first thing I did, upon my arrival at the house, was to assure +myself that no evil effects had followed my inconsiderate desertion of +it to the mercies of the tramp she had taken in; the next to retire to +my room, and take a peep at the box. I found it to be a neat tin +coffer, fastened with a lock. Satisfied from its weight that it +contained nothing heavier than the papers of which Mrs. Belden had +spoken, I hid it under the bed and returned to the sitting-room. I had +barely taken a seat and lifted a book when Mrs. Belden came in. + +"Well!" cried she, taking off her bonnet and revealing a face much +flushed with exercise, but greatly relieved in expression; "this _u_ +a night! It lightens, and there is a fire somewhere down street, and +altogether it is perfectly dreadful out. I hope you have not been +lonesome," she continued, with a keen searching of my face which I bore +in the best way I could. "I had an errand to attend to, but didn't +expect to stay so long." + +I returned some nonchalant reply, and she hastened from the room to +fasten up the house. + +I waited, but she did not come back; fearful, perhaps, of betraying +herself, she had retired to her own apartment, leaving me to take care +of myself as best I might. I own that I was rather relieved at this. +The fact is, I did not feel equal to any more excitement that night, +and was glad to put off further action until the next day. As soon, +then, as the storm was over, I myself went to bed, and, after several +ineffectual efforts, succeeded in getting asleep. + + + +XXIX. THE MISSING WITNESS + + "I fled and cried out death." + --Milton. + +"MR RAYMOND!" + +The voice was low and searching; it reached me in my dreams, waked +me, and caused me to look up. Morning had begun to break, and by its +light I saw, standing in the open door leading into the dining-room, +the forlorn figure of the tramp who had been admitted into the house +the night before. Angry and perplexed, I was about to bid her be gone, +when, to my great surprise, she pulled out a red handkerchief from her +pocket, and I recognized Q. + +"Read that," said he, hastily advancing and putting a slip of +paper into my hand. And, without another word or look, left the room, +closing the door behind him. + +Rising in considerable agitation, I took it to the window, and by +the rapidly increasing light, succeeded in making out the rudely +scrawled lines as follows: + +"She is here; I have seen her; in the room marked with a cross in +the accompanying plan. Wait till eight o'clock, then go up. I will +contrive some means of getting Mrs. B---- out of the house." + +Sketched below this was the following plan of the upper floor: + +Hannah, then, was in the small back room over the dining-room, and I +had not been deceived in thinking I had heard steps overhead, the +evening before. Greatly relieved, and yet at the same time much moved +at the near prospect of being brought face to face with one who we had +every reason to believe was acquainted with the dreadful secret +involved in the Leavenworth murder, I lay down once more, and +endeavored to catch another hour's rest. But I soon gave up the effort +in despair, and contented myself with listening to the sounds of +awakening life which now began to make themselves heard in the house +and neighborhood. + +As Q had closed the door after him, I could only faintly hear Mrs. +Belden when she came down-stairs. But the short, surprised exclamation +which she uttered upon reaching the kitchen and finding the tramp gone +and the back-door wide open, came plainly enough to my ears, and for a +moment I was not sure but that Q had made a mistake in thus leaving so +unceremoniously. But he had not studied Mrs. Belden's character in +vain. As she came, in the course of her preparations for breakfast, +into the room adjoining mine, I could hear her murmur to herself: + +"Poor thing! She has lived so long in the fields and at the +roadside, she finds it unnatural to be cooped up in the house all +night." + +The trial of that breakfast! The effort to eat and appear +unconcerned, to chat and make no mistake,--may I never be called upon +to go through such another! But at last it was over, and I was left +free to await in my own room the time for the dreaded though +much-to-be-desired interview. Slowly the minutes passed; eight o'clock +struck, when, just as the last vibration ceased, there came a loud +knock at the backdoor, and a little boy burst into the kitchen, crying +at the top of his voice: "Papa's got a fit! Oh, Mrs. Belden! papa's +got a fit; do come!" + +Rising, as was natural, I hastened towards the kitchen, meeting Mrs. +Belden's anxious face in the doorway. + +"A poor wood-chopper down the street has fallen in a fit," she +said. "Will you please watch over the house while I see what I can do +for him? I won't be absent any longer than I can help." + +And almost without waiting for my reply, she caught up a shawl, +threw it over her head, and followed the urchin, who was in a state of +great excitement, out into the street. + +Instantly the silence of death seemed to fill the house, and a dread +the greatest I had ever experienced settled upon me. To leave the +kitchen, go up those stairs, and confront that girl seemed for the +moment beyond my power; but, once on the stair, I found myself +relieved from the especial dread which had overwhelmed me, and +possessed, instead, of a sort of combative curiosity that led me to +throw open the door which I saw at the top with a certain fierceness +new to my nature, and not altogether suitable, perhaps, to the occasion. + +I found myself in a large bedroom, evidently the one occupied by +Mrs. Belden the night before. Barely stopping to note certain evidences +of her having passed a restless night, I passed on to the door leading +into the room marked with a cross in the plan drawn for me by Q. It was +a rough affair, made of pine boards rudely painted. Pausing before it, +I listened. All was still. Raising the latch, I endeavored to enter. +The door was locked. Pausing again, I bent my ear to the keyhole. Not a +sound came from within; the grave itself could not have been stiller. +Awe-struck and irresolute, I looked about me and questioned what I had +best do. Suddenly I remembered that, in the plan Q had given me, I had +seen intimation of another door leading into this same room from the +one on the opposite side of the hall. Going hastily around to it, I +tried it with my hand. But it was as fast as the other. Convinced at +last that nothing was left me but force, I spoke for the first time, +and, calling the girl by name, commanded her to open the door. +Receiving no response, I said aloud with an accent of severity: + +"Hannah Chester, you are discovered; if you do not open the door, +we shall be obliged to break it down; save us the trouble, then, and +open immediately." + +Still no reply. + +Going back a step, I threw my whole weight against the door. It +creaked ominously, but still resisted. + +Stopping only long enough to be sure no movement had taken place +within, I pressed against it once more, this time with all my strength, +when it flew from its hinges, and I fell forward into a room so +stifling, chill, and dark that I paused for a moment to collect my +scattered senses before venturing to look around me. It was well I did +so. In another moment, the pallor and fixity of the pretty Irish face +staring upon me from amidst the tumbled clothes of a bed, drawn up +against the wall at my side, struck me with so deathlike a chill that, +had it not been for that one instant of preparation, I should have been +seriously dismayed. As it was, I could not prevent a feeling of sickly +apprehension from seizing me as I turned towards the silent figure +stretched so near, and observed with what marble-like repose it lay +beneath the patchwork quilt drawn across it, asking myself if sleep +could be indeed so like death in its appearance. For that it was a +sleeping woman I beheld, I did not seriously doubt. There were too many +evidences of careless life in the room for any other inference. The +clothes, left just as she had stepped from them in a circle on the +floor; the liberal plate of food placed in waiting for her on the +chair by the door, + +--food amongst which I recognized, even in this casual glance, the +same dish which we had had for breakfast + +--all and everything in the room spoke of robust life and reckless +belief in the morrow. + +And yet so white was the brow turned up to the bare beams of the +unfinished wall above her, so glassy the look of the half-opened eyes, +so motionless the arm lying half under, half over, the edge of the +coverlid that it was impossible not to shrink from contact with a +creature so sunk in unconsciousness. But contact seemed to be +necessary; any cry which I could raise at that moment would be +ineffectual enough to pierce those dull ears. Nerving myself, +therefore, I stooped and lifted the hand which lay with its telltale +scar mockingly uppermost, intending to speak, call, do something, +anything, to arouse her. But at the first touch of her hand on mine an +unspeakable horror thrilled me. It was not only icy cold, but stiff. +Dropping it in my agitation, I started back and again surveyed the +face. Great God! when did life ever look like that? What sleep ever +wore such pallid hues, such accusing fixedness? Bending once more I +listened at the lips. Not a breath, nor a stir. Shocked to the core of +my being, I made one final effort. Tearing down the clothes, I laid my +hand upon her heart. It was pulseless as stone. + + + +XXX. BURNED PAPER + + "I could have better spared a better man." + --Henry IV. + +I DO not think I called immediately for help. The awful shock of +this discovery, coming as it did at the very moment life and hope were +strongest within me; the sudden downfall which it brought of all the +plans based upon this woman's expected testimony; and, worst of all, +the dread coincidence between this sudden death and the exigency in +which the guilty party, whoever it was, was supposed to be at that hour +were much too appalling for instant action. I could only stand and +stare at the quiet face before me, smiling in its peaceful rest as if +death were pleasanter than we think, and marvel over the providence +which had brought us renewed fear instead of relief, complication +instead of enlightenment, disappointment instead of realization. For +eloquent as is death, even on the faces of those unknown and unloved by +us, the causes and consequences of this one were much too important to +allow the mind to dwell upon the pathos of the scene itself. Hannah, +the girl, was lost in Hannah the witness. + +But gradually, as I gazed, the look of expectation which I perceived +hovering about the wistful mouth and half-open lids attracted me, and I +bent above her with a more personal interest, asking myself if she were +quite dead, and whether or not immediate medical assistance would be of +any avail. But the more closely I looked, the more certain I became +that she had been dead for some hours; and the dismay occasioned by +this thought, taken with the regrets which I must ever feel, that I had +not adopted the bold course the evening before, and, by forcing my way +to the hiding-place of this poor creature, interrupted, if not +prevented the consummation of her fate, startled me into a realization +of my present situation; and, leaving her side, I went into the next +room, threw up the window, and fastened to the blind the red +handkerchief which I had taken the precaution to bring with me. + +Instantly a young man, whom I was fain to believe Q, though he bore +not the least resemblance, either in dress or facial expression to any +renderings of that youth which I had yet seen, emerged from the +tinsmith's house, and approached the one I was in. + +Observing him cast a hurried glance in my direction, I crossed the +floor, and stood awaiting him at the head of the stairs. + +"Well?" he whispered, upon entering the house and meeting my +glance from below; "have you seen her?" + +"Yes," I returned bitterly, "I have seen her!" + +He hurriedly mounted to my side. "And she has confessed?" + +"No; I have had no talk with her." Then, as I perceived him +growing alarmed at my voice and manner, I drew him into Mrs. Belden's +room and hastily inquired: "What did you mean this morning when you +informed me you had seen this girl? that she was in a certain room +where I might find her?" + +"What I said." + +"You have, then, been to her room?" + +"No; I have only been on the outside of it. Seeing a light, I +crawled up on to the ledge of the slanting roof last night while both +you and Mrs. Belden were out, and, looking through the window, saw her +moving round the room." He must have observed my countenance change, +for he stopped. "What is to pay?" he cried. + +I could restrain myself no longer. "Come," I said, "and see for +yourself!" And, leading him to the little room I had just left, I +pointed to the silent form lying within. "You told me I should find +Hannah here; but you did not tell me I should find her in this +condition." + +"Great heaven!" he cried with a start: "not dead?" + +"Yes," I said, "dead." + +It seemed as if he could not realize it. "But it is impossible!" +he returned. "She is in a heavy sleep, has taken a narcotic----" + +"It is not sleep," I said, "or if it is, she will never wake. Look!" +And, taking the hand once more in mine, I let it fall in its stone +weight upon the bed. + +The sight seemed to convince him. Calming down, he stood gazing at +her with a very strange expression upon his face. Suddenly he moved and +began quietly turning over the clothes that were lying on the floor. + +"What are you doing?" I asked. "What are you looking for?" + +"I am looking for the bit of paper from which I saw her take what +I supposed to be a dose of medicine last night. Oh, here it is!" he +cried, lifting a morsel of paper that, lying on the floor under the +edge of the bed, had hitherto escaped his notice. + +"Let me see!" I anxiously exclaimed. + +He handed me the paper, on the inner surface of which I could dimly +discern the traces of an impalpable white powder. + +"This is important," I declared, carefully folding the paper +together. "If there is enough of this powder remaining to show that +the contents of this paper were poisonous, the manner and means of the +girl's death are accounted for, and a case of deliberate suicide made +evident." + +"I am not so sure of that," he retorted. "If I am any judge of +countenances, and I rather flatter myself I am, this girl had no more +idea she was taking poison than I had. She looked not only bright but +gay; and when she tipped up the paper, a smile of almost silly triumph +crossed her face. If Mrs. Belden gave her that dose to take, telling +her it was medicine----" + +"That is something which yet remains to be learned; also whether +the dose, as you call it, was poisonous or not. It may be she died of +heart disease." + +He simply shrugged his shoulders, and pointed first at the plate of +breakfast left on the chair, and secondly at the broken-down door. + +"Yes," I said, answering his look, "Mrs. Belden has been in here +this morning, and Mrs. Belden locked the door when she went out; but +that proves nothing beyond her belief in the girl's hearty condition." + +"A belief which that white face on its tumbled pillow did not seem +to shake?" + +"Perhaps in her haste she may not have looked at the girl, but have +set the dishes down without more than a casual glance in her direction?" + +"I don't want to suspect anything wrong, but it is such a +coincidence!" + +This was touching me on a sore point, and I stepped back. "Well," +said I, "there is no use in our standing here busying ourselves with +conjectures. There is too much to be done. Come!" and I moved +hurriedly towards the door. + +"What are you going to do?" he asked. "Have you forgotten this +is but an episode in the one great mystery we are sent here to unravel? +If this girl has come to her death by some foul play, it is our +business to find it out." + +"That must be left for the coroner. It has now passed out of our +hands." + +"I know; but we can at least take full note of the room and +everything in it before throwing the affair into the hands of +strangers. Mr. Gryce will expect that much of us, I am sure." + +"I have looked at the room. The whole is photographed on my mind. I +am only afraid I can never forget it." + +"And the body? Have you noticed its position? the lay of the +bed-clothes around it? the lack there is of all signs of struggle or +fear? the repose of the countenance? the easy fall of the hands?" + +"Yes, yes; don't make me look at it any more." + +"Then the clothes hanging on the wall? "--rapidly pointing out +each object as he spoke. "Do you see? a calico dress, a shawl,--not +the one in which she was believed to have run away, but an old black +one, probably belonging to Mrs. Belden. Then this chest,"--opening +it,--" containing a few underclothes marked,--let us see, ah, with the +name of the lady of the house, but smaller than any she ever wore; +made for Hannah, you observe, and marked with her own name to prevent +suspicion. And then these other clothes lying on the floor, all new, +all marked in the same way. Then this--Halloo! look here!" he +suddenly cried. + +Going over to where he stood I stooped down, when a wash-bowl half +full of burned paper met my eye. + +"I saw her bending over something in this corner, and could not +think what it was. Can it be she is a suicide after all? She has +evidently destroyed something here which she didn't wish any one to +see." + +"I do not know," I said. "I could almost hope so." + +"Not a scrap, not a morsel left to show what it was; how +unfortunate!" + +"Mrs. Belden must solve this riddle," I cried. + +"Mrs. Belden must solve the whole riddle," he replied; "the secret +of the Leavenworth murder hangs upon it." Then, with a lingering look +towards the mass of burned paper, "Who knows but what that was a +confession?" + +The conjecture seemed only too probable. + +"Whatever it was," said I, "it is now ashes, and we have got to +accept the fact and make the best of it." + +"Yes," said he with a deep sigh; "that's so; but Mr. Gryce will +never forgive me for it, never. He will say I ought to have known it +was a suspicious circumstance for her to take a dose of medicine at the +very moment detection stood at her back." + +"But she did not know that; she did not see you." + +"We don't know what she saw, nor what Mrs. Belden saw. Women are a +mystery; and though I flatter myself that ordinarily I am a match for +the keenest bit of female flesh that ever walked, I must say that in +this case I feel myself thoroughly and shamefully worsted." + +"Well, well," I said, "the end has not come yet; who knows what a +talk with Mrs. Belden will bring out? And, by the way, she will be +coming back soon, and I must be ready to meet her. Everything depends +upon finding out, if I can, whether she is aware of this tragedy or +not. It is just possible she knows nothing about it." + +And, hurrying him from the room, I pulled the door to behind me, and +led the way down-stairs. + +"Now," said I, "there is one thing you must attend to at once. A +telegram must be sent Mr. Gryce acquainting him with this unlooked-for +occurrence." + +"All right, sir," and Q started for the door. + +"Wait one moment," said I. "I may not have another opportunity to +mention it. Mrs. Belden received two letters from the postmaster +yesterday; one in a large and one in a small envelope; if you could +find out where they were postmarked----" + +Q put his hand in his pocket. "I think I will not have to go far +to find out where one of them came from. Good George, I have lost it!" +And before I knew it, he had returned up-stairs. + +That moment I heard the gate click. + + + +XXXI. "Thereby hangs a tale." + + --Taming of the Shrew. + +"IT was all a hoax; nobody was ill; I have been +imposed upon, meanly imposed upon!" And Mrs. Belden, flushed and +panting, entered the room where I was, and proceeded to take off her +bonnet; but whilst doing so paused, and suddenly exclaimed: "What is +the matter? How you look at me! Has anything happened?" + +"Something very serious has occurred," I replied; "you have been +gone but a little while, but in that time a discovery has been made--" +I purposely paused here that the suspense might elicit from her some +betrayal; but, though she turned pale, she manifested less emotion than +I expected, and I went on--"which is likely to produce very +important consequences." + +To my surprise she burst violently into tears. "I knew it, I knew +it!" she murmured. "I always said it would be impossible to keep it +secret if I let anybody into the house; she is so restless. But I +forget," she suddenly said, with a frightened look; "you haven't told +me what the discovery was. Perhaps it isn't what I thought; perhaps----" + +I did not hesitate to interrupt her. "Mrs. Belden," I said, "I +shall not try to mitigate the blow. A woman who, in the face of the +most urgent call from law and justice, can receive into her house and +harbor there a witness of such importance as Hannah, cannot stand in +need of any great preparation for hearing that her efforts, have been +too successful, that she has accomplished her design of suppressing +valuable testimony, that law and justice are outraged, and that the +innocent woman whom this girl's evidence might have saved stands for +ever compromised in the eyes of the world, if not in those of the +officers of the law." + +Her eyes, which had never left me during this address, flashed wide +with dismay. + +"What do you mean?" she cried. "I have intended no wrong; I have +only tried to save people. I--I--But who are you? What have you +got to do with all this? What is it to you what I do or don't do? You +said you were a lawyer. Can it be you are come from Mary Leavenworth to +see how I am fulfilling her commands, and----" + +"Mrs. Belden," I said, "it is of small importance now as to who I +am, or for what purpose I am here. But that my words may have the more +effect, I will say, that whereas I have not deceived you, either as to +my name or position, it is true that I am the friend of the Misses +Leavenworth, and that anything which is likely to affect them, is of +interest to me. When, therefore, I say that Eleanore Leavenworth is +irretrievably injured by this gill's death----" + +"Death? What do you mean? Death!" + +The burst was too natural, the tone too horror-stricken for me to +doubt for another moment as to this woman's ignorance of the true state +of affairs. + +"Yes," I repeated, "the girl you have been hiding so long and so +well is now beyond your control. Only her dead body remains, Mrs. +Belden." + +I shall never lose from my ears the shriek which she uttered, nor +the wild, "I don't believe it! I don't believe it!" with which she +dashed from the room and rushed up-stairs. + +Nor that after-scene when, in the presence of the dead, she stood +wringing her hands and protesting, amid sobs of the sincerest grief and +terror, that she knew nothing of it; that she had left the girl in the +best of spirits the night before; that it was true she had locked her +in, but this she always did when any one was in the house; and that if +she died of any sudden attack, it must have been quietly, for she had +heard no stir all night, though she had listened more than once, being +naturally anxious lest the girl should make some disturbance that would +arouse me. + +"But you were in here this morning?" said I. + +"Yes; but I didn't notice. I was in a hurry, and thought she was +asleep; so I set the things down where she could get them and came +right away, locking the door as usual." + +"It is strange she should have died this night of all others. Was +she ill yesterday?" + +"No, sir; she was even brighter than common; more lively. I never +thought of her being sick then or ever. If I had----" + +"You never thought of her being sick?" a voice here interrupted. +"Why, then, did you take such pains to give her a dose of medicine last +night?" And Q entered from the room beyond. + +"I didn't!" she protested, evidently under the supposition it was +I who had spoken. "Did I, Hannah, did I, poor girl?" stroking the +hand that lay in hers with what appeared to be genuine sorrow and +regret. + +"How came she by it, then? Where she did she get it if you didn't +give it to her?" + +This time she seemed to be aware that some one besides myself was +talking to her, for, hurriedly rising, she looked at the man with a +wondering stare, before replying. + +"I don't know who you are, sir; but I can tell you this, the girl +had no medicine,--took no dose; she wasn't sick last night that I know +of." + +"Yet I saw her swallow a powder." + +"Saw her!--the world is crazy, or I am--saw her swallow a +powder! How could you see her do that or anything else? Hasn't she +been shut up in this room for twenty-four hours?" + +"Yes; but with _a_ window like that in the roof, it isn't so +very difficult to see into the room, madam." + +"Oh," she cried, shrinking, "I have a spy in the house, have I? +But I deserve it; I kept her imprisoned in four close walls, and never +came to look at her once all night. I don't complain; but what was it +you say you saw her take? medicine? poison?" + +"I didn't say poison." + +"But you meant it. You think she has poisoned herself, and that I +had a hand in it!" + +"No," I hastened to remark, "he does not think you had a hand in +it. He says he saw the girl herself swallow something which he believes +to have been the occasion of her death, and only asks you now where she +obtained it." + +"How can I tell? I never gave her anything; didn't know she had +anything." + +Somehow, I believed her, and so felt unwilling to prolong the +present interview, especially as each moment delayed the action which I +felt it incumbent upon us to take. So, motioning Q to depart upon his +errand, I took Mrs. Belden by the hand and endeavored to lead her from +the room. But she resisted, sitting down by the side of the bed with +the expression, "I will not leave her again; do not ask it; here is +my place, and here I will stay," while Q, obdurate for the first time, +stood staring severely upon us both, and would not move, though I urged +him again to make haste, saying that the morning was slipping away, and +that the telegram to Mr. Gryce ought to be sent. + +"Till that woman leaves the room, I don't; and unless you promise to +take my place in watching her, I don't quit the house." + +Astonished, I left her side and crossed to him. + +"You carry your suspicions too far," I whispered, "and I think +you are too rude. We have seen nothing, I am sure, to warrant us in any +such action; besides, she can do no harm here; though, as for watching +her, I promise to do that much if it will relieve your mind." + +"I don't want her watched here; take her below. I cannot leave +while she remains." + +"Are you not assuming a trifle the master?" + +"Perhaps; I don't know. If I am, it is because I have something in +my possession which excuses my conduct." + +"What is that? the letter?" + +"Yes." + +Agitated now in my turn, I held out my hand. "Let me see," I said. + +"Not while that woman remains in the room." + +Seeing him implacable, I returned to Mrs. Belden. + +"I must entreat you to come with me," said I. "This is not a +common death; we shall be obliged to have the coroner here and others. +You had better leave the room and go below." + +"I don't mind the coroner; he is a neighbor of mine; his coming +won't prevent my watching over the poor girl until he arrives." + +"Mrs. Belden," I said, "your position as the only one conscious of +the presence of this girl in your house makes it wiser for you not to +invite suspicion by lingering any longer than is necessary in the room +where her dead body lies." + +"As if my neglect of her now were the best surety of my good +intentions towards her in time past!" + +"It will not be neglect for you to go below with me at my earnest +request. You can do no good here by staying; will, in fact, be doing +harm. So listen to me or I shall be obliged to leave you in charge of +this man and go myself to inform the authorities." + +This last argument seemed to affect her, for with one look of +shuddering abhorrence at _Q_ she rose, saying, "You have me in +your power," and then, without another word, threw her handkerchief +over the girl's face and left the room. In two minutes more I had the +letter of which _Q_ had spoken in my hands. + +"It is the only one I could find, sir. It was in the pocket of the +dress Mrs. Belden had on last night. The other must be lying around +somewhere, but I haven't had time to find it. This will do, though, I +think. You will not ask for the other." + +Scarcely noticing at the time with what deep significance he spoke, +I opened the letter. It was the smaller of the two I had seen her draw +under her shawl the day before at the post-office, and read as follows: + + "DEAR, DEAR FRIEND: + + "I am in awful trouble. You who love me must know it. I cannot + explain, I can only make one prayer. Destroy what you have, + to-day, instantly, without question or hesitation. The consent + of any one else has nothing to do with it. You must obey. I am + lost if you refuse. Do then what I ask, and save + + "ONE WHO LOVES YOU." + +It was addressed to Mrs. Belden; there was no signature or date, +only the postmark New York; but I knew the handwriting. It was Mary +Leavenworth's. + +"A damning letter!" came in the dry tones which Q seemed to think +fit to adopt on this occasion. "And a damning bit of evidence against +the one who wrote it, and the woman who received it!" + +"A terrible piece of evidence, indeed," said I, "if I did not +happen to know that this letter refers to the destruction of something +radically different from what you suspect. It alludes to some papers in +Mrs. Belden's charge; nothing else." + +"Are you sure, sir?" + +"Quite; but we will talk of this hereafter. It is time you sent +your telegram, and went for the coroner." + +"Very well, sir." And with this we parted; he to perform his role +and I mine. + +I found Mrs. Belden walking the floor below, bewailing her +situation, and uttering wild sentences as to what the neighbors would +say of her; what the minister would think; what Clara, whoever that +was, would do, and how she wished she had died before ever she had +meddled with the affair. + +Succeeding in calming her after a while, I induced her to sit down +and listen to what I had to say. "You will only injure yourself by +this display of feeling," I remarked, "besides unfitting yourself for +what you will presently be called upon to go through." And, laying +myself out to comfort the unhappy woman, I first explained the +necessities of the case, and next inquired if she had no friend upon +whom she could call in this emergency. + +To my great surprise she replied no; that while she had kind +neighbors and good friends, there was no one upon whom she could call +in a case like this, either for assistance or sympathy, and that, +unless I would take pity on her, she would have to meet it alone--" As +I have met everything," she said, "from Mr. Belden's death to the loss +of most of my little savings in a town fire last year." + +I was touched by this,--that she who, in spite of her weakness and +inconsistencies of character, possessed at least the one virtue of +sympathy with her kind, should feel any lack of friends. +Unhesitatingly, I offered to do what I could for her, providing she +would treat me with the perfect frankness which the case demanded. To +my great relief, she expressed not only her willingness, but her strong +desire, to tell all she knew. "I have had enough secrecy for my whole +life," she said. And indeed I do believe she was so thoroughly +frightened, that if a police-officer had come into the house and asked +her to reveal secrets compromising the good name of her own son, she +would have done so without cavil or question. "I feel as if I wanted +to take my stand out on the common, and, in the face of the whole +world, declare what I have done for Mary Leavenworth. But first," she +whispered, "tell me, for God's sake, how those girls are situated. I +have not dared to ask or write. The papers say a good deal about +Eleanore, but nothing about Mary; and yet Mary writes of her own peril +only, and of the danger she would be in if certain facts were known. +What is the truth? I don't want to injure them, only to take care of +myself." + +"Mrs. Belden," I said, "Eleanore Leavenworth has got into her +present difficulty by not telling all that was required of her. Mary +Leavenworth--but I cannot speak of her till I know what you have to +divulge. Her position, as well as that of her cousin, is too anomalous +for either you or me to discuss. What we want to learn from you is, how +you became connected with this affair, and what it was that Hannah knew +which caused her to leave New York and take refuge here." + +But Mrs. Belden, clasping and unclasping her hands, met my gaze with +one full of the most apprehensive doubt. "You will never believe me," +she cried; "but I don't know what Hannah knew. I am in utter ignorance +of what she saw or heard on that fatal night; she never told, and I +never asked. She merely said that Miss Leavenworth wished me to secrete +her for a short time; and I, because I loved Mary Leavenworth and +admired her beyond any one I ever saw, weakly consented, and----" + +"Do you mean to say," I interrupted, "that after you knew of the +murder, you, at the mere expression of Miss Leavenworth's wishes, +continued to keep this girl concealed without asking her any questions +or demanding any explanations?" + +"Yes, sir; you will never believe me, but it is so. I thought that, +since Mary had sent her here, she must have her reasons; and--and--I +cannot explain it now; it all looks so differently; but I did do as I +have said." + +"But that was very strange conduct. You must have had strong reason +for obeying Mary Leavenworth so blindly." + +"Oh, sir," she gasped, "I thought I understood it all; that Mary, +the bright young creature, who had stooped from her lofty position to +make use of me and to love me, was in some way linked to the criminal, +and that it would be better for me to remain in ignorance, do as I was +bid, and trust all would come right. I did not reason about it; I only +followed my impulse. I couldn't do otherwise; it isn't my nature. When +I am requested to do anything for a person I love, I cannot refuse." + +"And you love Mary Leavenworth; a woman whom you yourself seem to +consider capable of a great crime?" + +"Oh, I didn't say that; I don't know as I thought that. She might +be in some way connected with it, without being the actual perpetrator. +She could never be that; she is too dainty." + +"Mrs. Belden," I said, "what do you know of Mary Leavenworth which +makes even that supposition possible?" + +The white face of the woman before me flushed. "I scarcely know +what to reply," she cried. "It is a long story, and----" + +"Never mind the long story," I interrupted. "Let me hear the one +vital reason." + +"Well," said she, "it is this; that Mary was in an emergency from +which nothing but her uncle's death could release her." + +"Ah, how's that?" + +But here we were interrupted by the sound of steps on the porch, +and, looking out, I saw _Q_ entering the house alone. Leaving Mrs. +Belden where she was, I stepped into the hall. + +"Well," said I, "what is the matter? Haven't you found the coroner? +Isn't he at home?" + +"No, gone away; off in a buggy to look after a man that was found +some ten miles from here, lying in a ditch beside a yoke of oxen." +Then, as he saw my look of relief, for I was glad of this temporary +delay, said, with an expressive wink: "It would take a fellow a long +time to go to him--if he wasn't in a hurry--hours, I think." + +"Indeed!" I returned, amused at his manner. "Rough road?" + +"Very; no horse I could get could travel it faster than a walk." + +"Well," said I, "so much the better for us. Mrs. Belden has a long +story to tell, and----" + +"Doesn't wish to be interrupted. I understand." + +I nodded and he turned towards the door. + +"Have you telegraphed Mr. Gryce?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Do you think he will come?" + +"Yes, sir; if he has to hobble on two sticks." + +"At what time do you look for him?" + +"_You_ will look for him as early as three o'clock. I shall be +among the mountains, ruefully eying my broken-down team." And leisurely +donning his hat he strolled away down the street like one who has the +whole day on his hands and does not know what to do with it. + +An opportunity being thus given for Mrs. Belden's story, she at once +composed herself to the task, with the following result. + + + +XXXII MRS. BELDEN'S NARRATIVE + + "Cursed, destructive Avarice, + Thou everlasting foe to Love and Honor." + --Trap's Atram. + + "Mischief never thrives + Without the help of Woman. + --The Same. + +IT will be a year next July since I first saw Mary Leavenworth. J +was living at that time a most monotonous existence. Loving what was +beautiful, hating what was sordid, drawn by nature towards all that was +romantic and uncommon, but doomed by my straitened position and the +loneliness of my widowhood to spend my days in the weary round of plain +sewing, I had begun to think that the shadow of a humdrum old age was +settling down upon me, when one morning, in the full tide of my +dissatisfaction, Mary Leavenworth stepped across the threshold of my +door and, with one smile, changed the whole tenor of my life. + +This may seem exaggeration to you, especially when I say that her +errand was simply one of business, she having heard I was handy with my +needle; but if you could have seen her as she appeared that day, +marked the look with which she approached me, and the smile with which +she left, you would pardon the folly of a romantic old woman, who +beheld a fairy queen in this lovely young lady. The fact is, I was +dazzled by her beauty and her charms. And when, a few days after, she +came again, and crouching down on the stool at my feet, said she was so +tired of the gossip and tumult down at the hotel, that it was a relief +to run away and hide with some one who would let her act like the child +she was, I experienced for the moment, I believe, the truest happiness +of my life. Meeting her advances with all the warmth her manner +invited, I found her ere long listening eagerly while I told her, +almost without my own volition, the story of my past life, in the form +of an amusing allegory. + +The next day saw her in the same place; and the next; always with +the eager, laughing eyes, and the fluttering, uneasy hands, that +grasped everything they touched, and broke everything they grasped. + +But the fourth day she was not there, nor the fifth, nor the sixth, +and I was beginning to feel the old shadow settling back upon me, when +one night, just as the dusk of twilight was merging into evening gloom, +she came stealing in at the front door, and, creeping up to my side, +put her hands over my eyes with such a low, ringing laugh, that I +started. + +"You don't know what to make of me!" she cried, throwing aside +her cloak, and revealing herself in the full splendor of evening +attire. "I don't know what to make of myself. Though it seems folly, I +felt that I must run away and tell some one that a certain pair of eyes +have been looking into mine, and that for the first time in my life I +feel myself a woman as well as a queen." And with a glance in which +coyness struggled with pride, she gathered up her cloak around her, and +laughingly cried: + +"Have you had a visit from a flying sprite? Has one little ray of +moonlight found its way into your prison for a wee moment, with Mary's +laugh and Mary's snowy silk and flashing diamonds? Say!" and she patted +my cheek, and smiled so bewilderingly, that even now, with all the dull +horror of these after-events crowding upon me, I cannot but feel +something like tears spring to my eyes at the thought of it. + +"And so the Prince has come for you?" I whispered, alluding to a +story I had told her the last time she had visited me; a story in +which a girl, who had waited all her life in rags and degradation for +the lordly knight who was to raise her from a hovel to a throne, died +just as her one lover, an honest peasant-lad whom she had discarded in +her pride, arrived at her door with the fortune he had spent all his +days in amassing for her sake. + +But at this she flushed, and drew back towards the door. "I don't +know; I am afraid not. I--I don't think anything about that. Princes +are not so easily won," she murmured. + +"What! are you going?" I said, "and alone? Let me accompany +you." + +But she only shook her fairy head, and replied: "No, no; that +would be spoiling the romance, indeed. I have come upon you like a +sprite, and like a sprite I will go." And, flashing like the moonbeam +she was, she glided out into the night, and floated away down the +street. + +When she next came, I observed a feverish excitement in her manner, +which assured me, even plainer than the coy sweetness displayed in our +last interview, that her heart had been touched by her lover's +attentions. Indeed, she hinted as much before she left, saying in a +melancholy tone, when I had ended my story in the usual happy way, with +kisses and marriage, "I shall never marry!" finishing the +exclamation with a long-drawn sigh, that somehow emboldened me to say, +perhaps because I knew she had no mother: + +"And why? What reason can there be for such rosy lips saying their +possessor will never marry?" + +She gave me one quick look, and then dropped her eyes. I feared I +had offended her, and was feeling very humble, when she suddenly +replied, in an even but low tone, "I said I should never marry, +because the one man who pleases me can never be my husband." + +All the hidden romance in my nature started at once into life. "Why +not? What do you mean? Tell me." + +"There is nothing to tell," said she; "only I have been so weak +as to"--she would not say, fall in love, she was a proud woman-- +"admire a man whom my uncle will never allow me to marry." + +And she rose as if to go; but I drew her back. "Whom your uncle +will not allow you to marry!" I repeated. "Why? because he is poor?" + +"No; uncle loves money, but not to such an extent as that. +Besides, Mr. Clavering is not poor. He is the owner of a beautiful +place in his own country----" + +"Own country?" I interrupted. "Is he not an American?" + +"No," she returned; "he is an Englishman." + +I did not see why she need say that in just the way she did, but, +supposing she was aggravated by some secret memory, went on to inquire: +"Then what difficulty can there be? Isn't he--" I was going to say +steady, but refrained. + +"He is an Englishman," she emphasized in the same bitter tone as +before. "In saying that, I say it all. Uncle will never let me marry +an Englishman." + +I looked at her in amazement. Such a puerile reason as this had +never entered my mind. + +"He has an absolute mania on the subject," resumed she. "I might +as well ask him to allow me to drown myself as to marry an Englishman." + +A woman of truer judgment than myself would have said: "Then, if +that is so, why not discard from your breast all thought of him? Why +dance with him, and talk to him, and let your admiration develop into +love?" But I was all romance then, and, angry at a prejudice I could +neither understand nor appreciate, I said: + +"But that is mere tyranny! Why should he hate the English so? And +why, if he does, should you feel yourself obliged to gratify him in a +whim so unreasonable?" + +"Why? Shall I tell you, auntie?" she said, flushing and looking +away. + +"Yes," I returned; "tell me everything." + +"Well, then, if you want to know the worst of me, as you already +know the best, I hate to incur my uncle's displeasure, +because--because--I have always been brought up to regard myself as his +heiress, and I know that if I were to marry contrary to his wishes, he +would instantly change his mind, and leave me penniless." + +"But," I cried, my romance a little dampened by this admission, +"you tell me Mr. Clavering has enough to live upon, so you would not +want; and if you love--" + +Her violet eyes fairly flashed in her amazement. + +"You don't understand," she said; "Mr. Clavering is not poor; but +uncle is rich. I shall be a queen--" There she paused, trembling, and +falling on my breast. "Oh, it sounds mercenary, I know, but it is the +fault of my bringing up. I have been taught to worship money. I would +be utterly lost without it. And yet"--her whole face softening with the +light of another emotion, "I cannot say to Henry Clavering, 'Go! my +prospects are dearer to me than you!' I cannot, oh, I cannot!" + +"You love him, then?" said I, determined to get at the truth of +the matter if possible. + +She rose restlessly. "Isn't that a proof of love? If you knew me, +you would say it was." And, turning, she took her stand before a +picture that hung on the wall of my sitting-room. + +"That looks like me," she said. + +It was one of a pair of good photographs I possessed. + +"Yes," I remarked, "that is why I prize it." + +She did not seem to hear me; she was absorbed in gazing at the +exquisite face before her. "That is a winning face," I heard her say. +"Sweeter than mine. I wonder if she would ever hesitate between love +and money. I do not believe she would," her own countenance growing +gloomy and sad as she said so; "she would think only of the happiness +she would confer; she is not hard like me. Eleanore herself would love +this girl." + +I think she had forgotten my presence, for at the mention of her +cousin's name she turned quickly round with a half suspicious look, +saying lightly: + +"My dear old Mamma Hubbard looks horrified. She did not know she +had such a very unromantic little wretch for a listener, when she was +telling all those wonderful stories of Love slaying dragons, and living +in caves, and walking over burning ploughshares as if they were tufts +of spring grass?" + +"No," I said, taking her with an irresistible impulse of admiring +affection into my arms; "but if I had, it would have made no +difference. I should still have talked about love, and of all it can do +to make this weary workaday world sweet and delightful." + +"Would you? Then you do not think me such a wretch?" + +What could I say? I thought her the winsomest being in the world, +and frankly told her so. Instantly she brightened into her very gayest +self. Not that I thought then, much less do I think now, she +partiallaly cared for my good opinion; but her nature demanded +admiration, and unconsciously blossomed under it, as a flower under the +sunshine. + +"And you will still let me come and tell you how bad I am,--that +is, if I go on being bad, as I doubtless shall to the end of the +chapter? You will not turn me off?" + +"I will never turn you off." + +"Not if I should do a dreadful thing? Not if I should run away +with my lover some fine night, and leave uncle to discover how his +affectionate partiality had been requited?" + +It was lightly said, and lightly meant, for she did not even wait +for my reply. But its seed sank deep into our two hearts for all that. +And for the next few days I spent my time in planning how I should +manage, if it should ever fall to my lot to conduct to a successful +issue so enthralling a piece of business as an elopement. You may +imagine, then, how delighted I was, when one evening Hannah, this +unhappy girl who is now lying dead under my roof, and who was occupying +the position of lady's maid to Miss Mary Leavenworth at that time, +came to my door with a note from her mistress, running thus: + + "Have the loveliest story of the season ready for me tomorrow; and + let the prince be as handsome as--as some one you have heard of, + and the princess as foolish as your little yielding pet, + + "MARY." + +Which short note could only mean that she was engaged. But the next +day did not bring me my Mary, nor the next, nor the next; and beyond +hearing that Mr. Leavenworth had returned from his trip I received +neither word nor token. Two more days dragged by, when, just as +twilight set in, she came. It had been a week since I had seen her, but +it might have been a year from the change I observed in her countenance +and expression. I could scarcely greet her with any show of pleasure, +she was so unlike her former self. + +"You are disappointed, are you not?" said she, looking at me. +"You expected revelations, whispered hopes, and all manner of sweet +confidences; and you see, instead, a cold, bitter woman, who for the +first time in your presence feels inclined to be reserved and +uncommunicative." + +"That is because you have had more to trouble than encourage you in +your love," I returned, though not without a certain shrinking, caused +more by her manner than words. + +She did not reply to this, but rose and paced the floor, coldly at +first, but afterwards with a certain degree of excitement that proved +to be the prelude to a change in her manner; for, suddenly pausing, she +turned to me and said: "Mr. Clavering has left R----, Mrs. Belden." + +"Left!" + +"Yes, my uncle commanded me to dismiss him, and I obeyed." + +The work dropped from my hands, in my heartfelt disappointment. +"Ah! then he knows of your engagement to Mr. Clavering?" + +"Yes; he had not been in the house five minutes before Eleanore +told him." + +"Then _she_ knew?" + +"Yes," with a half sigh. "She could hardly help it. I was foolish +enough to give her the cue in my first moment of joy and weakness. I +did not think of the consequences; but I might have known. She is so +conscientious." + +"I do not call it conscientiousness to tell another's secrets," I +returned. + +"That is because you are not Eleanore." + +Not having a reply for this, I said, "And so your uncle did not +regard your engagement with favor?" + +"Favor! Did I not tell you he would never allow me to marry an +Englishman? He said he would sooner see me buried." + +"And you yielded? Made no struggle? Let the hard, cruel man have his +way?" + +She was walking off to look again at that picture which had +attracted her attention the time before, but at this word gave me one +little sidelong look that was inexpressibly suggestive. + +"I obeyed him when he commanded, if that is what you mean." + +"And dismissed Mr. Clavering after having given him your word of +honor to be his wife?" + +"Why not, when I found I could not keep my word." + +"Then you have decided not to marry him?" + +She did not reply at once, but lifted her face mechanically to the +picture. + +"My uncle would tell you that I had decided to be governed wholly +by his wishes!" she responded at last with what I felt was +self-scornful bitterness. + +Greatly disappointed, I burst into tears. "Oh, Mary!" I cried, "Oh, Mary!" +and instantly blushed, startled that I had called her by her first name. + +But she did not appear to notice. + +"Have you any complaint to make?" she asked. "Is it not my +manifest duty to be governed by my uncle's wishes? Has he not brought +me up from childhood? lavished every luxury upon me? made me all I +am, even to the love of riches which he has instilled into my soul with +every gift he has thrown into my lap, every word he has dropped into my +ear, since I was old enough to know what riches meant? Is it for me +now to turn my back upon fostering care so wise, beneficent, and free, +just because a man whom I have known some two weeks chances to offer me +in exchange what he pleases to call his love?" + +"But," I feebly essayed, convinced perhaps by the tone of sarcasm +in which this was uttered that she was not far from my way of thinking +after all, "if in two weeks you have learned to love this man more +than everything else, even the riches which make your uncle's favor a +thing of such moment--" + +"Well," said she, "what then?" + +"Why, then I would say, secure your happiness with the man of your +choice, if you have to marry him in secret, trusting to your influence +over your uncle to win the forgiveness he never can persistently deny." + +You should have seen the arch expression which stole across her face +at that. "Would it not be better," she asked, creeping to my arms, and +laying her head on my shoulder, "would it not be better for me to make +sure of that uncle's favor first, before undertaking the hazardous +experiment of running away with a too ardent lover?" + +Struck by her manner, I lifted her face and looked at it. It was one +amused smile. + +"Oh, my darling," said I, "you have not, then dismissed Mr. +Clavering?" + +"I have sent him away," she whispered demurely. + +"But not without hope?" + +She burst into a ringing laugh. + +"Oh, you dear old Mamma Hubbard; what a matchmaker you are, to be +sure! You appear as much interested as if you were the lover +yourself." + +"But tell me," I urged. + +In a moment her serious mood returned. "He will wait for me," said +she. + +The next day I submitted to her the plan I had formed for her +clandestine intercourse with Mr. Clavering. It was for them both to +assume names, she taking mine, as one less liable to provoke conjecture +than a strange name, and he that of LeRoy Robbins. The plan pleased +her, and with the slight modification of a secret sign being used on +the envelope, to distinguish her letters from mine, was at once adopted. + +And so it was I took the fatal step that has involved me in all this +trouble. With the gift of my name to this young girl to use as she +would and sign what she would, I seemed to part with what was left me +of judgment and discretion. Henceforth, I was only her scheming, +planning, devoted slave; now copying the letters which she brought me, +and enclosing them to the false name we had agreed upon, and now +busying myself in devising ways to forward to her those which I +received from him, without risk of discovery. Hannah was the medium we +employed, as Mary felt it would not be wise for her to come too often +to my house. To this girl's charge, then, I gave such notes as I could +not forward in any other way, secure in the reticence of her nature, as +well as in her inability to read, that these letters addressed to Mrs. +Amy Belden would arrive at their proper destination without mishap. +And. I believe they always did. At all events, no difficulty that I +ever heard of arose out of the use of this girl as a go-between. + +But a change was at hand. Mr. Clavering, who had left an invalid +mother in England, was suddenly summoned home. He prepared to go, but, +flushed with love, distracted by doubts, smitten with the fear that, +once withdrawn from the neighborhood of a woman so universally courted +as Mary, he would stand small chance of retaining his position in her +regard, he wrote to her, telling his fears and asking her to marry him +before he went. + +"Make me your husband, and I will follow your wishes in all +things," he wrote. "The certainty that you are mine will make parting +possible; without it, I cannot go; no, not if my mother should die +without the comfort of saying good-bye to her only child." + +By some chance she was in my house when I brought this letter from +the post-office, and I shall never forget how she started when she read +it. But, from looking as if she had received an insult, she speedily +settled down into a calm consideration of the subject, writing and +delivering into my charge for copying a few lines in which she promised +to accede to his request, if he would agree to leave the public +declaration of the marriage to her discretion, and consent to bid her +farewell at the door of the church or wherever the ceremony of marriage +should take place, never to come into her presence again till such +declaration had been made. Of course this brought in a couple of days +the sure response: "Anything, so you will be mine." + +And Amy Belden's wits and powers of planning were all summoned into +requisition for the second time, to devise how this matter could be +arranged without subjecting the parties to the chance of detection. I +found the thing very difficult. In the first place, it was essential +that the marriage should come off within three days, Mr. Clavering +having, upon the receipt of her letter, secured his passage upon a +steamer that sailed on the following Saturday; and, next, both he and +Miss Leavenworth were too conspicuous in their personal appearance to +make it at all possible for them to be secretly married anywhere within +gossiping distance of this place. And yet it was desirable that the +scene of the ceremony should not be too far away, or the time occupied +in effecting the journey to and from the place would necessitate an +absence from the hotel on the part of Miss Leavenworth long enough to +arouse the suspicions of Eleanore; something which Mary felt it wiser +to avoid. Her uncle, I have forgotten to say, was not here--having +gone away again shortly after the apparent dismissal of Mr. Clavering. +F----, then, was the only town I could think of which combined the two +advantages of distance and accessibility. Although upon the railroad, +it was an insignificant place, and had, what was better yet, a very +obscure man for its clergyman, living, which was best of all, not ten +rods from the depot. If they could meet there? Making inquiries, I +found that it could be done, and, all alive to the romance of the +occasion, proceeded to plan the details. + +And now I am coming to what might have caused the overthrow of the +whole scheme: I allude to the detection on the part of Eleanore of the +correspondence between Mary and Mr. Clavering. It happened thus. +Hannah, who, in her frequent visits to my house, had grown very fond of +my society, had come in to sit with me for a while one evening. She had +not been in the house, however, more than ten minutes, before there +came a knock at the front door; and going to it I saw Mary, as I +supposed, from the long cloak she wore, standing before me. Thinking +she had come with a letter for Mr. Clavering, I grasped her arm and +drew her into the hall, saying, "Have you got it? I must post it +to-night, or he will not receive it in time." + +There I paused, for, the panting creature I had by the arm turning +upon me, I saw myself confronted by a stranger. + +"You have made a mistake," she cried. "I am Eleanore Leavenworth, +and I have come for my girl Hannah. Is she here?" + +I could only raise my hand in apprehension, and point to the girl +sitting in the corner of the room before her. Miss Leavenworth +immediately turned back. + +"Hannah, I want you," said she, and would have left the house +without another word, but I caught her by the arm. + +"Oh, miss--" I began, but she gave me such a look, I dropped her +arm. + +"I have nothing to say to you!" she cried in a low, thrilling +voice. "Do not detain me." And, with a glance to see if Hannah were +following her, she went out. + +For an hour I sat crouched on the stair just where she had left me. +Then I went to bed, but I did not sleep a wink that night. You can +imagine, then, my wonder when, with the first glow of the early morning +light, Mary, looking more beautiful than ever, came running up the +steps and into the room where I was, with the letter for Mr. Clavering +trembling in her hand. + +"Oh!" I cried in my joy and relief, "didn't she understand me, +then?" + +The gay look on Mary's face turned to one of reckless scorn. "If +you mean Eleanore, yes. She is duly initiated, Mamma Hubbard. Knows +that I love Mr. Clavering and write to him. I couldn't keep it secret +after the mistake you made last evening; so I did the next best thing, +told her the truth." + +"Not that you were about to be married?" + +"Certainly not. I don't believe in unnecessary communications." + +"And you did not find her as angry as you expected?" + +"I will not say that; she was angry enough. And yet," continued +Mary, with a burst of self-scornful penitence, "I will not call +Eleanore's lofty indignation anger. She was grieved, Mamma Hubbard, +grieved." And with a laugh which I believe was rather the result of her +own relief than of any wish to reflect on her cousin, she threw her +head on one side and eyed me with a look which seemed to say, "Do I +plague you so very much, you dear old Mamma Hubbard?" + +She did plague me, and I could not conceal it. "And will she not +tell her uncle?" I gasped. + +The naive expression on Mary's face quickly changed. "No," said she. + +I felt a heavy hand, hot with fever, lifted from my heart. "And we +can still go on?" + +She held out the letter for reply. + +The plan agreed upon between us for the carrying out of our +intentions was this. At the time appointed, Mary was to excuse herself +to her cousin upon the plea that she had promised to take me to see a +friend in the next town. She was then to enter a buggy previously +ordered, and drive here, where I was to join her. We were then to +proceed immediately to the minister's house in F----, where we had +reason to believe we should find everything prepared for us. But in +this plan, simple as it was, one thing was forgotten, and that was the +character of Eleanore's love for her cousin. That her suspicions would +be aroused we did not doubt; but that she would actually follow Mary up +and demand an explanation of her conduct, was what neither she, who +knew her so well, nor I, who knew her so little, ever imagined +possible. And yet that was just what occurred. But let me explain. +Mary, who had followed out the programme to the point of leaving a +little note of excuse on Eleanore's dressing-table, had come to my +house, and was just taking off her long cloak to show me her dress, +when there came a commanding knock at the front door. Hastily pulling +her cloak about her I ran to open it, intending, you may be sure, to +dismiss my visitor with short ceremony, when I heard a voice behind me +say, "Good heavens, it is Eleanore!" and, glancing back, saw Mary +looking through the window-blind upon the porch without. + +"What shall we do?" I cried, in very natural dismay. + +"Do? why, open the door and let her in; I am not afraid of +Eleanore." + +I immediately did so, and Eleanore Leavenworth, very pale, but with +a resolute countenance, walked into the house and into this room, +confronting Mary in very nearly the same spot where you are now +sitting. "I have come," said she, lifting a face whose expression of +mingled sweetness and power I could not but admire, even in that moment +of apprehension, "to ask you without any excuse for my request, if you +will allow me to accompany you upon your drive this morning?" + +Mary, who had drawn herself up to meet some word of accusation or +appeal, turned carelessly away to the glass. "I am very sorry," she +said, "but the buggy holds only two, and I shall be obliged to refuse." + +"I will order a carriage." + +"But I do not wish your company, Eleanore. We are off on a pleasure +trip, and desire to have our fun by ourselves." + +"And you will not allow me to accompany you?" + +"I cannot prevent your going in another carriage." + +Eleanore's face grew yet more earnest in its expression. "Mary," +said she, "we have been brought up together. I am your sister in +affection if not in blood, and I cannot see you start upon this +adventure with no other companion than this woman. Then tell me, shall +I go with you, as a sister, or on the road behind you as the enforced +guardian of your honor against your will?" + +"My honor?" + +"You are going to meet Mr. Clavering." + +"Well?" + +"Twenty miles from home." + +"Well?" + +"Now is it discreet or honorable in you to do this?" + +Mary's haughty lip took an ominous curve. "The same hand that +raised you has raised me," she cried bitterly. + +"This is no time to speak of that," returned Eleanore. + +Mary's countenance flushed. All the antagonism of her nature was +aroused. She looked absolutely Juno-like in her wrath and reckless +menace. "Eleanore," she cried, "I am going to F---- to marry Mr. +Clavering! _Now_ do you wish to accompany me?" + +"I do." + +Mary's whole manner changed. leaping forward, she grasped her +cousin's arm and shook it. "For what reason?" she cried. "What do +you intend to do?" + +"To witness the marriage, if it be a true one; to step between you +and shame if any element of falsehood should come in to affect its +legality." + +Mary's hand fell from her cousin's arm. "I do not understand you," +said she. "I thought you never gave countenance to what you considered +wrong." + +"Nor do I. Any one who knows me will understand that I do not give +my approval to this marriage just because I attend its ceremonial in +the capacity of an unwilling witness." + +"Then why go?" + +"Because I value your honor above my own peace. Because I love our +common benefactor, and know that he would never pardon me if I let his +darling be married, however contrary her union might be to his wishes, +without lending the support of my presence to make the transaction at +least a respectable one." + +"But in so doing you will be involved in a world of deception-- +which you hate." + +"Any more so than now?" + +"Mr. Clavering does not return with me, Eleanore." + +"No, I supposed not." + +"I leave him immediately after the ceremony." + +Eleanore bowed her head. + +"He goes to Europe." A pause. + +"And I return home." + +"There to wait for what, Mary?" + +Mary's face crimsoned, and she turned slowly away. + +"What every other girl does under such circumstances, I suppose. +The development of more reasonable feelings in an obdurate parent's +heart." + +Eleanore sighed, and a short silence ensued, broken by Eleanore's +suddenly falling upon her knees, and clasping her cousin's hand. "Oh, +Mary," she sobbed, her haughtiness all disappearing in a gush of wild +entreaty, "consider what you are doing! Think, before it is too +late, of the consequences which must follow such an act as this. +Marriage founded upon deception can never lead to happiness. Love-- +but it is not that. Love would have led you either to have dismissed +Mr. Clavering at once, or to have openly accepted the fate which a +union with him would bring. Only passion stoops to subterfuge like +this. And you," she continued, rising and turning toward me in a sort +of forlorn hope very touching to see, "can you see this young +motherless girl, driven by caprice, and acknowledging no moral +restraint, enter upon the dark and crooked path she is planning for +herself, without uttering one word of warning and appeal? Tell me, +mother of children dead and buried, what excuse you will have for your +own part in this day's work, when she, with her face marred by the +sorrows which must follow this deception, comes to you----" + +"The same excuse, probably," Mary's voice broke in, chill and +strained, "which you will have when uncle inquires how you came to +allow such an act of disobedience to be perpetrated in his absence: +that she could not help herself, that Mary would gang her ain gait, and +every one around must accommodate themselves to it," + +It was like a draught of icy air suddenly poured into a room heated +up to fever point. Eleanore stiffened immediately, and drawing back, +pale and composed, turned upon her cousin with the remark: + +"Then nothing can move you?" + +The curling of Mary's lips was her only reply. + +Mr. Raymond, I do not wish to weary you with my feelings, but the +first great distrust I ever felt of my wisdom in pushing this matter so +far came with that curl of Mary's lip. More plainly than Eleanore's +words it showed me the temper with which she was entering upon this +undertaking; and, struck with momentary dismay, I advanced to speak +when Mary stopped me. + +"There, now, Mamma Hubbard, don't you go and acknowledge that you +are frightened, for I won't hear it. I have promised to marry Henry +Clavering to-day, and I am going to keep my word--if I don't love him," +she added with bitter emphasis. Then, smiling upon me in a way which +caused me to forget everything save the fact that she was going to her +bridal, she handed me her veil to fasten. As I was doing this, with +very trembling fingers, she said, looking straight at Eleanore: + +"You have shown yourself more interested in my fate than I had any +reason to expect. Will you continue to display this concern all the way +to F----, or may I hope for a few moments of peace in which to dream +upon the step which, according to you, is about to hurl upon me such +dreadful consequences?" + +"If I go with you to F----," Eleanore returned, "it is as a +witness, no more. My sisterly duty is done." + +"Very well, then," Mary said, dimpling with sudden gayety; "I +suppose I shall have to accept the situation. Mamma Hubbard, I am so +sorry to disappoint you, but the buggy _won't_ hold three. If you +are good you shall be the first to congratulate me when I come home +to-night." And, almost before I knew it, the two had taken their seats +in the buggy that was waiting at the door. "Good-by," cried Mary, +waving her hand from the back; "wish me much joy--of my ride." + +I tried to do so, but the words wouldn't come. I could only wave my +hand in response, and rush sobbing into the house. + +Of that day, and its long hours of alternate remorse and anxiety, I +cannot trust myself to speak. Let me come at once to the time when, +seated alone in my lamp-lighted room, I waited and watched for the +token of their return which Mary had promised me. It came in the shape +of Mary herself, who, wrapped in her long cloak, and with her beautiful +face aglow with blushes, came stealing into the house just as I was +beginning to despair. + +A strain of wild music from the hotel porch, where they were having +a dance, entered with her, producing such a weird effect upon my fancy +that I was not at all surprised when, in flinging off her cloak, she +displayed garments of bridal white and a head crowned with snowy roses. + +"Oh, Mary!" I cried, bursting into tears; "you are then----" + +"Mrs. Henry Clavering, at your service. I'm a bride, Auntie." + +"Without a bridal," I murmured, taking her passionately into my +embrace. + +She was not insensible to my emotion. Nestling close to me, she gave +herself up for one wild moment to a genuine burst of tears, saying +between her sobs all manner of tender things; telling me how she loved +me, and how I was the only one in all the world to whom she dared come +on this, her wedding night, for comfort or congratulation, and of how +frightened she felt now it was all over, as if with her name she had +parted with something of inestimable value. + +"And does not the thought of having made some one the proudest of +men solace you?" I asked, more than dismayed at this failure of mine +to make these lovers happy. + +"I don't know," she sobbed. "What satisfaction can it be for him +to feel himself tied for life to a girl who, sooner than lose a +prospective fortune, subjected him to such a parting?" + +"Tell me about it," said I. + +But she was not in the mood at that moment. The excitement of the +day had been too much for her. A thousand fears seemed to beset her +mind. Crouching down on the stool at my feet, she sat with her hands +folded and a glare on her face that lent an aspect of strange unreality +to her brilliant attire. "How shall I keep it secret! The thought +haunts me every moment; how can I keep it secret!" + +"Why, is there any danger of its being known?" I inquired. "Were +you seen or followed?" + +"No," she murmured. "It all went off well, but----" + +"Where is the danger, then?" + +"I cannot say; but some deeds are like ghosts. They will not be +laid; they reappear; they gibber; they make themselves known whether +we will or not. I did not think of this before. I was mad, reckless, +what you will. But ever since the night has come, I have felt it +crushing upon me like a pall that smothers life and youth and love out +of my heart. While the sunlight remained I could endure it; but now-- +oh, Auntie, I have done something that will keep me in constant fear. I +have allied myself to a living apprehension. I have destroyed my +happiness." + +I was too aghast to speak. + +"For two hours I have played at being gay. Dressed in my bridal +white, and crowned with roses, I have greeted my friends as if they +were wedding-guests, and made believe to myself that all the +compliments bestowed upon me--and they are only too numerous--were just +so many congratulations upon my marriage. But it was no use; Eleanore +knew it was no use. She has gone to her room to pray, while I--I have +come here for the first time, perhaps for the last, to fall at some +one's feet and cry,--' God have mercy upon me!'" + +I looked at her in uncontrollable emotion. "Oh, Mary, have I only +succeeded, then, in making you miserable?" + +She did not answer; she was engaged in picking up the crown of roses +which had fallen from her hair to the floor. + +"If I had not been taught to love money so!" she said at length. +"If, like Eleanore, I could look upon the splendor which has been ours +from childhood as a mere accessory of life, easy to be dropped at the +call of duty or affection! If prestige, adulation, and elegant +belongings were not so much to me; or love, friendship, and domestic +happiness more! If only I could walk a step without dragging the chain +of a thousand luxurious longings after me. Eleanore can. Imperious as +she often is in her beautiful womanhood, haughty as she can be when the +delicate quick of her personality is touched too rudely, I have known +her to sit by the hour in a low, chilly, ill-lighted and ill-smelling +garret, cradling a dirty child on her knee, and feeding with her own +hand an impatient old woman whom no one else would consent to touch. +Oh, oh! they talk about repentance and a change of heart! If some one +or something would only change mine! But there is no hope of that! no +hope of my ever being anything else than what I am: a selfish, wilful, +mercenary girl." + +Nor was this mood a mere transitory one. That same night she made a +discovery which increased her apprehension almost to terror. This was +nothing less than the fact that Eleanore had been keeping a diary of +the last few weeks. "Oh," she cried in relating this to me the next +day, "what security shall I ever feel as long as this diary of hers +remains to confront me every time I go into her room? And she will not +consent to destroy it, though I have done my best to show her that it +is a betrayal of the trust I reposed in her. She says it is all she has +to show in the way of defence, if uncle should ever accuse her of +treachery to him and his happiness. She promises to keep it locked up; +but what good will that do! A thousand accidents might happen, any of +them sufficient to throw it into uncle's hands. I shall never feel safe +for a moment while it exists." + +I endeavored to calm her by saying that if Eleanore was without +malice, such fears were groundless. But she would not be comforted, and +seeing her so wrought up, I suggested that Eleanore should be asked to +trust it into my keeping till such time as she should feel the +necessity of using it. The idea struck Mary favorably. "O yes," she +cried; "and I will put my certificate with it, and so get rid of all +my care at once." And before the afternoon was over, she had seen +Eleanore and made her request. + +It was acceded to with this proviso, that I was neither to destroy +nor give up all or any of the papers except upon their united demand. A +small tin box was accordingly procured, into which were put all the +proofs of Mary's marriage then existing, viz.: the certificate, Mr. +Clavering's letters, and such leaves from Eleanore's diary as referred +to this matter. It was then handed over to me with the stipulation I +have already mentioned, and I stowed it away in a certain closet +upstairs, where it has lain undisturbed till last night. + +Here Mrs. Belden paused, and, blushing painfully, raised her eyes to +mine with a look in which anxiety and entreaty were curiously blended. + +"I don't know what you will say," she began, "but, led away by my +fears, I took that box out of its hiding-place last evening and, +notwithstanding your advice, carried it from the house, and it is +now----" + +"In my possession," I quietly finished. + +I don't think I ever saw her look more astounded, not even when I +told her of Hannah's death. "Impossible!" she exclaimed. "I left it +last night in the old barn that was burned down. I merely meant to hide +it for the present, and could think of no better place in my hurry; +for the barn is said to be haunted--a man hung himself there once -- +and no one ever goes there. I--I--you cannot have it!" she cried, +"unless----" + +"Unless I found and brought it away before the barn was destroyed," +I suggested. + +Her face flushed deeper. "Then you followed me?" + +"Yes," said I. Then, as I felt my own countenance redden, hastened +to add: "We have been playing strange and unaccustomed parts, you and +I. Some time, when all these dreadful events shall be a mere dream of +the past, we will ask each other's pardon. But never mind all this now. +The box is safe, and I am anxious to hear the rest of your story." + +This seemed to compose her, and after a minute she continued: + +Mary seemed more like herself after this. And though, on account of +Mr. Leavenworth's return and their subsequent preparations for +departure, I saw but little more of her, what I did see was enough to +make me fear that, with the locking up of the proofs of her marriage, +she was indulging the idea that the marriage itself had become void. +But I may have wronged her in this. + +The story of those few weeks is almost finished. On the eve of the +day before she left, Mary came to my house to bid me good-by. She had a +present in her hand the value of which I will not state, as I did not +take it, though she coaxed me with all her prettiest wiles. But she +said something that night that I have never been able to forget. It was +this. I had been speaking of my hope that before two months had elapsed +she would find herself in a position to send for Mr. Clavering, and +that when that day came I should wish to be advised of it; when she +suddenly interrupted me by saying: + +"Uncle will never be won upon, as you call it, while he lives. If I +was convinced of it before, I am sure of it now. Nothing but his death +will ever make it possible for me to send for Mr. Clavering." Then, +seeing me look aghast at the long period of separation which this +seemed to betoken, blushed a little and whispered: "The prospect +looks somewhat dubious, doesn't it? But if Mr. Clavering loves me, he +can wait." + +"But," said I, "your uncle is only little past the prime of life +and appears to be in robust health; it will be years of waiting, Mary." + +"I don't know," she muttered, "I think not. Uncle is not as strong +as he looks and--" She did not say any more, horrified perhaps at the +turn the conversation was taking. But there was an expression on her +countenance that set me thinking at the time, and has kept me thinking +ever since. + +Not that any actual dread of such an occurrence as has since +happened came to oppress my solitude during the long months which now +intervened. I was as yet too much under the spell of her charm to allow +anything calculated to throw a shadow over her image to remain long in +my thoughts. But when, some time in the fall, a letter came to me +personally from Mr. Clavering, filled with a vivid appeal to tell him +something of the woman who, in spite of her vows, doomed him to a +suspense so cruel, and when, on the evening of the same day, a friend +of mine who had just returned from New York spoke of meeting Mary +Leavenworth at some gathering, surrounded by manifest admirers, I began +to realize the alarming features of the affair, and, sitting down, I +wrote her a letter. Not in the strain in which I had been accustomed to +talk to her,--I had not her pleading eyes and trembling, caressing +hands ever before me to beguile my judgment from its proper exercise, +--but honestly and earnestly, telling her how Mr. Clavering felt, and +what a risk she ran in keeping so ardent a lover from his rights. The +reply she sent rather startled me. + +"I have put Mr. Robbins out of my calculations for the present, and +advise you to do the same. As for the gentleman himself, I have told +him that when I could receive him I would be careful to notify him. +That day has not yet come. + +"But do not let him be discouraged," she added in a postscript. +"When he does receive his happiness, it will be _a_ satisfying one." + +_When, +_I thought. Ah, it is that _when_ which is likely to ruin all! +But, intent only upon fulfilling her will, I sat down and wrote a +letter to Mr. Clavering, in which I stated what she had said, and +begged him to have patience, adding that I would surely let him know if +any change took place in Mary or her circumstances. And, having +despatched it to his address in London, awaited the development of +events. + +They were not slow in transpiring. In two weeks I heard of the +sudden death of Mr. Stebbins, the minister who had married them; and +while yet laboring under the agitation produced by this shock, was +further startled by seeing in a New York paper the name of Mr. +Clavering among the list of arrivals at the Hoffman House; showing +that my letter to him had failed in its intended effect, and that the +patience Mary had calculated upon so blindly was verging to its end. I +was consequently far from being surprised when, in a couple of weeks or +so afterwards, a letter came from him to my address, which, owing to +the careless omission of the private mark upon the envelope, I opened, +and read enough to learn that, driven to desperation by the constant +failures which he had experienced in all his endeavors to gain access +to her in public or private, _a._ failure which he was not +backward in ascribing to her indisposition to see him, he had made up +his mind to risk everything, even her displeasure; and, by making an +appeal to her uncle, end the suspense under which he was laboring, +definitely and at once. "I want you," he wrote; "dowered or +dowerless, it makes little difference to me. If you will not come of +yourself, then I must follow the example of the brave knights, my +ancestors; storm the castle that holds you, and carry you off by force +of arms." + +Neither can I say I was much surprised, knowing Mary as I did, when, +in a few days from this, she forwarded to me for copying, this reply: +"If Mr. Rob-bins ever expects to be happy with Amy Belden, let him +reconsider the determination of which he speaks. Not only would he by +such an action succeed in destroying the happiness of her he professes +to love, but run the greater risk of effectually annulling the +affection which makes the tie between them endurable." + +To this there was neither date nor signature. It was the cry of +warning which a spirited, self-contained creature gives when brought to +bay. It made even me recoil, though I had known from the first that her +pretty wilfulness was but the tossing foam floating above the soundless +depths of cold resolve and most deliberate purpose. + +What its real effect was upon him and her fate I can only +conjecture. All I know is that in two weeks thereafter Mr. Leavenworth +was found murdered in his room, and Hannah Chester, coming direct to my +door from the scene of violence, begged me to take her in and secrete +her from public inquiry, as I loved and desired to serve Mary +Leavenworth. + + + +XXXIII. UNEXPECTED TESTIMONY + + _Pol._What do you read, my lord? + _Ham._ Words, words, words.[/b]_ + + --Hamlet. + +MRS. BELDEN paused, lost in the sombre shadow which these words were +calculated to evoke, and a short silence fell upon the room. It was +broken by my asking for some account of the occurrence she had just +mentioned, it being considered a mystery how Hannah could have found +entrance into her house without the knowledge of the neighbors. + +"Well," said she, "it was a chilly night, and I had gone to bed +early (I was sleeping then in the room off this) when, at about a +quarter to one--the last train goes through R---- at 12.50--there +came a low knock on the window-pane at the head of my bed. Thinking +that some of the neighbors were sick, I hurriedly rose on my elbow and +asked who was there. The answer came in low, muffled tones, 'Hannah, +Miss Leavenworth's girl! Please let me in at the kitchen door.' +Startled at hearing the well-known voice, and fearing I knew not what, +I caught up a lamp and hurried round to the door. 'Is any one with you?' +I asked. 'No,' she replied. 'Then come in.' But no sooner had she +done so than my strength failed me, and I had to sit down, for I saw +she looked very pale and strange, was without baggage, and altogether +had the appearance of some wandering spirit. 'Hannah!' I gasped, ' +what is it? what has happened? what brings you here in this condition +and at this time of night?' 'Miss Leavenworth has sent me,' she +replied, in the low, monotonous tone of one repeating a lesson by rote. +'She told me to come here; said you would keep me. I am not to go out +of the house, and no one is to know I am here.' 'But why?' I asked, +trembling with a thousand undefined fears; 'what has occurred?' 'I +dare not say,' she whispered; 'I am forbid; I am just to stay here, +and keep quiet.' 'But,' I began, helping her to take off her +shawl,--the dingy blanket advertised for in the papers--'you must tell +me. She surely did not forbid you to tell _me?_' 'Yes she did; +every one,' the girl replied, growing white in her persistence, 'and I +never break my word; fire couldn't draw it out of me.' She looked so +determined, so utterly unlike herself, as I remembered her in the meek, +unobtrusive days of our old acquaintance, that I could do nothing but +stare at her. 'You will keep me,' she said; 'you will not turn me +away?' 'No,' I said, 'I will not turn you away.' 'And tell no one?' +she went on. 'And tell no one,' I repeated. + +"This seemed to relieve her. Thanking me, she quietly followed me +up-stairs. I put her into the room in which you found her, because it +was the most secret one in the house; and there she has remained ever +since, satisfied and contented, as far as I could see, till this very +same horrible day." + +"And is that all?" I asked. "Did you have no explanation with +her afterwards? Did she never give you any information in regard to +the transactions which led to her flight?" + +"No, sir. She kept a most persistent silence. Neither then nor when, +upon the next day, I confronted her with the papers in my hand, and the +awful question upon my lips as to whether her flight had been +occasioned by the murder which had taken place in Mr. Leavenworth's +household, did she do more than acknowledge she had run away on this +account. Some one or something had sealed her lips, and, as she said, ' +Fire and torture should never make her speak.'" + +Another short pause followed this; then, with my mind still hovering +about the one point of intensest interest to me, I said: + +"This story, then, this account which you have just given me of +Mary Leavenworth's secret marriage and the great strait it put her into +--a strait from which nothing but her uncle's death could relieve her +--together with this acknowledgment of Hannah's that she had left home +and taken refuge here on the insistence of Mary Leavenworth, is the +groundwork you have for the suspicions you have mentioned?" + +"Yes, sir; that and the proof of her interest in the matter which +is given by the letter I received from her yesterday, and which you say +you have now in your possession." + +Oh, that letter! + +"I know," Mrs. Belden went on in a broken voice, "that it is +wrong, in a serious case like this, to draw hasty conclusions; but, +oh, sir, how can I help it, knowing what I do?" + +I did not answer; I was revolving in my mind the old question: was +it possible, in face of all these later developments, still to believe +Mary Leavenworth's own hand guiltless of her uncle's blood? + +"It is dreadful to come to such conclusions," proceeded Mrs. Belden, +"and nothing but her own words written in her own hand would ever have +driven me to them, but----" + +"Pardon me," I interrupted; "but you said in the beginning of +this interview that you did not believe Mary herself had any direct +hand in her uncle's murder. Are you ready to repeat that assertion?" + +"Yes, yes, indeed. Whatever I may think of her influence in +inducing it, I never could imagine her as having anything to do with +its actual performance. Oh, no! oh, no! whatever was done on that +dreadful night, Mary Leavenworth never put hand to pistol or ball, or +even stood by while they were used; that you may be sure of. Only the +man who loved her, longed for her, and felt the impossibility of +obtaining her by any other means, could have found nerve for an act so +horrible." + +"Then you think----" + +"Mr. Clavering is the man? I do: and oh, sir, when you consider +that he is her husband, is it not dreadful enough?" + +"It is, indeed," said I, rising to conceal how much I was affected +by this conclusion of hers. + +Something in my tone or appearance seemed to startle her. "I hope +and trust I have not been indiscreet," she cried, eying me with +something like an incipient distrust. "With this dead girl lying in my +house, I ought to be very careful, I know, but----" + +"You have said nothing," was my earnest assurance as I edged +towards the door in my anxiety to escape, if but for a moment, from an +atmosphere that was stifling me. "No one can blame you for anything +you have either said or done to-day. But"--and here I paused and +walked hurriedly back,--" I wish to ask one question more. Have you any +reason, beyond that of natural repugnance to believing a young and +beautiful woman guilty of a great crime, for saying what you have of +Henry Clavering, a gentleman who has hitherto been mentioned by you +with respect?" + +"No," she whispered, with a touch of her old agitation. + +I felt the reason insufficient, and turned away with something of +the same sense of suffocation with which I had heard that the missing +key had been found in Eleanore Leavenworth's possession. "You must +excuse me," I said; "I want to be a moment by myself, in order to +ponder over the facts which I have just heard; I will soon return "; +and without further ceremony, hurried from the room. + +By some indefinable impulse, I went immediately up-stairs, and took +my stand at the western window of the large room directly over Mrs. +Belden. The blinds were closed; the room was shrouded in funereal +gloom, but its sombreness and horror were for the moment unfelt; I was +engaged in a fearful debate with myself. Was Mary Leavenworth the +principal, or merely the accessory, in this crime? Did the determined +prejudice of Mr. Gryce, the convictions of Eleanore, the circumstantial +evidence even of such facts as had come to our knowledge, preclude the +possibility that Mrs. Belden's conclusions were correct? That all the +detectives interested in the affair would regard the question as +settled, I did not doubt; but need it be? Was it utterly impossible to +find evidence yet that Henry Clavering was, after all, the assassin of +Mr. heaven-worth? + +Filled with the thought, I looked across the room to the closet +where lay the body of the girl who, according to all probability, had +known the truth of the matter, and a great longing seized me. Oh, why +could not the dead be made to speak? Why should she lie there so +silent, so pulseless, so inert, when a word from her were enough to +decide the awful question? Was there no power to compel those pallid +lips to move? + +Carried away by the fervor of the moment, I made my way to her side. +Ah, God, how still! With what a mockery the closed lips and lids +confronted my demanding gaze! A stone could not have been more +unresponsive. + +With a feeling that was almost like anger, I stood there, when-- +what was it I saw protruding from beneath her shoulders where they +crushed against the bed? An envelope? a letter? Yes. + +Dizzy with the sudden surprise, overcome with the wild hopes this +discovery awakened, I stooped in great agitation and drew the letter +out. It was sealed but not directed. Breaking it hastily open, I took a +glance at its contents. Good heavens! it was the work of the girl +herself!--its very appearance was enough to make that evident! Feeling +as if a miracle had happened, I hastened with it into the other room, +and set myself to decipher the awkward scrawl. + +This is what I saw, rudely printed in lead pencil on the inside of a +sheet of common writing-paper: + +"I am a wicked girl. I have knone things all the time which I had +ought to have told but I didn't dare to he said he would kill me if I +did I mene the tall splendud looking gentulman with the black mustash +who I met coming out of Mister Levenworth's room with a key in his hand +the night Mr. Levenworth was murdered. He was so scared he gave me +money and made me go away and come here and keep every thing secret but +I can't do so no longer. I seem to see Miss Blenor all the time crying +and asking me if I want her sent to prisuu. God knows I 'd rathur die. +And this is the truth and my last words and I pray every body's +forgivness and hope nobody will blame me and that they wont bother Miss +Elenor any more but go and look after the handsome gentulman with the +black mushtash." + + + +BOOK IV. THE PROBLEM SOLVED + + + +XXXIV. MR. GRYCE RESUMES CONTROL + + "It out-herods Herod." + --Hamlet. + + "A thing devised by the enemy." + --Richard III + +A HALF-HOUR had passed. The train upon which I had every reason to +expect Mr. Gryce had arrived, and I stood in the doorway awaiting with +indescribable agitation the slow and labored approach of the motley +group of men and women whom I had observed leave the depot at the +departure of the cars. Would he be among them? Was the telegram of a +nature peremptory enough to make his presence here, sick as he was, an +absolute certainty? The written confession of Hannah throbbing against +my heart, a heart all elation now, as but a short half-hour before it +had been all doubt and struggle, seemed to rustle distrust, and the +prospect of a long afternoon spent in impatience was rising before me, +when a portion of the advancing crowd turned off into a side street, +and I saw the form of Mr. Gryce hobbling, not on two sticks, but very +painfully on one, coming slowly down the street. + +His face, as he approached, was a study. + +"Well, well, well," he exclaimed, as we met at the gate; "this is +a pretty how-dye-do, I must say. Hannah dead, eh? and everything +turned topsy-turvy! Humph, and what do you think of Mary Leavenworth +now?" + +It would therefore seem natural, in the conversation which followed +his introduction into the house and installment in Mrs. Belden's +parlor, that I should begin my narration by showing him Hannah's +confession; but it was not so. Whether it was that I felt anxious to +have him go through the same alternations of hope and fear it had been +my lot to experience since I came to R----; or whether, in the +depravity of human nature, there lingered within me sufficient +resentment for the persistent disregard he had always paid to my +suspicions of Henry Clavering to make it a matter of moment to me to +spring this knowledge upon him just at the instant his own convictions +seemed to have reached the point of absolute certainty, I cannot say. +Enough that it was not till I had given him a full account of every +other matter connected with my stay in this house; not till I saw his +eye beaming, and his lip quivering with the excitement incident upon +the perusal of the letter from Mary, found in Mrs. Belden's pocket; +not, indeed, until I became assured from such expressions as +"Tremendous! The deepest game of the season! Nothing like it since the +Lafarge affair!" that in another moment he would be uttering some +theory or belief that once heard would forever stand like a barrier +between us, did I allow myself to hand him the letter I had taken from +under the dead body of Hannah. + +I shall never forget his expression as he received it; "Good +heavens!" cried he, "what's this?" + +"A dying confession of the girl Hannah. I found it lying in her bed +when I went up, a half-hour ago, to take a second look at her." + +Opening it, he glanced over it with an incredulous air that +speedily, however, turned to one of the utmost astonishment, as he +hastily perused it, and then stood turning it over and over in his +hand, examining it. + +"A remarkable piece of evidence," I observed, not without a certain +feeling of triumph; "quite changes the aspect of affairs!" + +"Think so?" he sharply retorted; then, whilst I stood staring at +him in amazement, his manner was so different from what I expected, +looked up and said: "You tell me that you found this in her bed. +Whereabouts in her bed?" + +"Under the body of the girl herself," I returned. "I saw one +corner of it protruding from beneath her shoulders, and drew it out." + +He came and stood before me. "Was it folded or open, when you first +looked at it?" + +"Folded; fastened up in this envelope," showing it to him. + +He took it, looked at it for a moment, and went on with his +questions. + +"This envelope has a very crumpled appearance, as well as the +letter itself. Were they so when you found them?" + +"Yes, not only so, but doubled up as you see." + +"Doubled up? You are sure of that? Folded, sealed, and then +doubled up as if her body had rolled across it while alive?" + +"Yes." + +"No trickery about it? No look as if the thing had been insinuated +there since her death?" + +"Not at all. I should rather say that to every appearance she held +it in her hand when she lay down, but turning over, dropped it and then +laid upon it." + +Mr. Gryce's eyes, which had been very bright, ominously clouded; +evidently he had been disappointed in my answers, paying the letter +down, he stood musing, but suddenly lifted it again, scrutinized the +edges of the paper on which it was written, and, darting me a quick +look, vanished with it into the shade of the window curtain. His manner +was so peculiar, I involuntarily rose to follow; but he waved me back, +saying: + +"Amuse yourself with that box on the table, which you had such an +ado over; see if it contains all we have a right to expect to find in +it. I want to be by myself for a moment." + +Subduing my astonishment, I proceeded to comply with his request, +but scarcely had I lifted the lid of the box before me when he came +hurrying back, flung the letter down on the table with an air of the +greatest excitement, and cried: + +"Did I say there had never been anything like it since the Lafarge +affair? I tell you there has never been anything like it in any +affair. It is the rummest case on record! Mr. Raymond," and his eyes, +in his excitement, actually met mine for the first time in my +experience of him, "prepare yourself for a disappointment. This +pretended confession of Hannah's is a fraud!" + +"A fraud?" + +"Yes; fraud, forgery, what you will; the girl never wrote it." + +Amazed, outraged almost, I bounded from my chair. "How do you know +that?" I cried. + +Bending forward, he put the letter into my hand. "Look at it," said +he; "examine it closely. Now tell me what is the first thing you +notice in regard to it?" + +"Why, the first thing that strikes me, is that the words are +printed, instead of written; something which might be expected from +this girl, according to all accounts." + +"Well?" + +"That they are printed on the inside of a sheet of ordinary +paper----" + +"Ordinary paper?" + +"Yes." + +"That is, a sheet of commercial note of the ordinary quality." + +"Of course." + +"But is it?" + +"Why, yes; I should say so." + +"Look at the lines." + +"What of them? Oh, I see, they run up close to the top of the page; +evidently the scissors have been used here." + +"In short, it is a large sheet, trimmed down to the size of +commercial note?" + +"Yes." + +"And is that all you see?" + +"All but the words." + +"Don't you perceive what has been lost by means of this trimming +down?" + +"No, unless you mean the manufacturer's stamp in the corner." Mr. +Gryce's glance took meaning. "But I don't see why the loss of that +should be deemed a matter of any importance." + +"Don't you? Not when you consider that by it we seem to be +deprived of all opportunity of tracing this sheet back to the quire of +paper from which it was taken?" + +"No." + +"Humph! then you are more of an amateur than I thought you. Don't +you see that, as Hannah could have had no motive for concealing where +the paper came from on which she wrote her dying words, this sheet must +have been prepared by some one else?" + +"No," said I; "I cannot say that I see all that." + +"Can't! Well then, answer me this. Why should Hannah, a girl about +to commit suicide, care whether any clue was furnished, in her +confession, to the actual desk, drawer, or quire of paper from which +the sheet was taken, on which she wrote it?" + +"She wouldn't." + +"Yet especial pains have been taken to destroy that clue." + +"But----" + +"Then there is another thing. Read the confession itself, Mr. +Raymond, and tell me what you gather from it." + +"Why," said I, after complying, "that the girl, worn out with +constant apprehension, has made up her mind to do away with herself, +and that Henry Clavering----" + +"Henry Clavering?" + +The interrogation was put with so much meaning, I looked up. "Yes," +said I. + +"Ah, I didn't know that Mr. Clavering's name was mentioned there; +excuse me." + +"His name is not mentioned, but a description is given so +strikingly in accordance----" + +Here Mr. Gryce interrupted me. "Does it not seem a little +surprising to you that a girl like Hannah should have stopped to +describe a man she knew by name?" + +I started; it was unnatural surely. + +"You believe Mrs. Belden's story, don't you?" + +"Yes." + +"Consider her accurate in her relation of what took place here a +year ago?" + +"I do." + +"Must believe, then, that Hannah, the go-between, was acquainted +with Mr. Clavering and with his name?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"Then why didn't she use it? If her intention was, as she here +professes, to save Eleanore Leavenworth from the false imputation which +had fallen upon her, she would naturally take the most direct method of +doing it. This description of a man whose identity she could have at +once put beyond a doubt by the mention of his name is the work, not of +a poor, ignorant girl, but of some person who, in attempting to play +the _role_ of one, has signally failed. But that is not all. Mrs. +Belden, according to you, maintains that Hannah told her, upon entering +the house, that Mary Leavenworth sent her here. But in this document, +she declares it to have been the work of Black Mustache." + +"I know; but could they not have both been parties to the +transaction?" + +"Yes," said he; "yet it is always a suspicious circumstance, when +there is a discrepancy between the written and spoken declaration of a +person. But why do we stand here fooling, when a few words from this +Mrs. Belden, you talk so much about, will probably settle the whole +matter!" + +"A few words from Mrs. Belden," I repeated. "I have had thousands +from her to-day, and find the matter no nearer settled than in the +beginning." + +"_You_ have had," said he, "but I have not. Fetch her in, Mr. +Raymond." + +I rose. "One thing," said I, "before I go. What if Hannah had +found the sheet of paper, trimmed just as it is, and used it without +any thought of the suspicions it would occasion!" + +"Ah!" said he, "that is just what we are going to find out." + +Mrs. Belden was in a flutter of impatience when I entered the +sitting-room. When did I think the coroner would come? and what did I +imagine this detective would do for us? It was dreadful waiting there +alone for something, she knew not what. + +I calmed her as well as I could, telling her the detective had not +yet informed me what he could do, having some questions to ask her +first. Would she come in to see him? She rose with alacrity. Anything +was better than suspense. + +Mr. Gryce, who in the short interim of my absence had altered his +mood from the severe to the beneficent, received Mrs. Belden with just +that show of respectful courtesy likely to impress a woman as dependent +as she upon the good opinion of others. + +"Ah! and this is the lady in whose house this very disagreeable +event has occurred," he exclaimed, partly rising in his enthusiasm to +greet her. "May I request you to sit," he asked; "if a stranger may +be allowed to take the liberty of inviting a lady to sit in her own +house." + +"It does not seem like my own house any longer," said she, but in a +sad, rather than an aggressive tone; so much had his genial way +imposed upon her." Little better than a prisoner here, go and come, +keep silence or speak, just as I am bidden; and all because an unhappy +creature, whom I took in for the most unselfish of motives, has chanced +to die in my house!" + +"Just so!" exclaimed Mr. Gryce; "it is very unjust. But perhaps +we can right matters. I have every reason to believe we can. This +sudden death ought to be easily explained. You say you had no poison in +the house?" + +"No, sir." + +"And that the girl never went out?" + +"Never, sir." + +"And that no one has ever been here to see her?" + +"No one, sir." + +"So that she could not have procured any such thing if she had +wished?" + +"No, sir." + +"Unless," he added suavely, "she had it with her when she came +here?" + +"That couldn't have been, sir. She brought no baggage; and as for +her pocket, I know everything there was in it, for I looked." + +"And what did you find there?" + +"Some money in bills, more than you would have expected such a girl +to have, some loose pennies, and a common handkerchief." + +"Well, then, it is proved the girl didn't die of poison, there +being none in the house." + +He said this in so convinced a tone she was deceived. + +"That is just what I have been telling Mr. Raymond," giving me a +triumphant look. + +"Must have been heart disease," he went on, "You say she was +well yesterday?" + +"Yes, sir; or seemed so." + +"Though not cheerful?" + +"I did not say that; she was, sir, very." + +"What, ma'am, this girl?" giving me a look. "I don't understand +that. I should think her anxiety about those she had left behind her in +the city would have been enough to keep her from being very cheerful." + +"So you would," returned Mrs. Belden; "but it wasn't so. On the +contrary, she never seemed to worry about them at all." + +"What! not about Miss Eleanore, who, according to the papers, +stands in so cruel a position before the world? But perhaps she didn't +know anything about that--Miss Leavenworth's position, I mean?" + +"Yes, she did, for I told her. I was so astonished I could not keep +it to myself. You see, I had always considered Eleanore as one above +reproach, and it so shocked me to see her name mentioned in the +newspaper in such a connection, that I went to Hannah and read the +article aloud, and watched her face to see how she took it." + +"And how did she?" + +"I can't say. She looked as if she didn't understand; asked me why +I read such things to her, and told me she didn't want to hear any more; +that I had promised not to trouble her about this murder, and that if +I continued to do so she wouldn't listen." + +"Humph! and what else?" + +"Nothing else. She put her hand over her ears and frowned in such a +sullen way I left the room." + +"That was when?" + +"About three weeks ago." + +"She has, however, mentioned the subject since?" + +"No, sir; not once." + +"What! not asked what they were going to do with her mistress?" + +"No, sir." + +"She has shown, however, that something was preying on her mind-- +fear, remorse, or anxiety?" + +"No, sir; on the contrary, she has oftener appeared like one +secretly elated." + +"But," exclaimed Mr. Gryce, with another sidelong look at me, +"that was very strange and unnatural. I cannot account for it." + +"Nor I, sir. I used to try to explain it by thinking her +sensibilities had been blunted, or that she was too ignorant to +comprehend the seriousness of what had happened; but as I learned to +know her better, I gradually changed my mind. There was too much method +in her gayety for that. I could not help seeing she had some future +before her for which she was preparing herself. As, for instance, she +asked me one day if I thought she could learn to play on the piano. And +I finally came to the conclusion she had been promised money if she +kept the secret intrusted to her, and was so pleased with the prospect +that she forgot the dreadful past, and all connected with it. At all +events, that was the only explanation I could find for her general +industry and desire to improve herself, or for the complacent smiles I +detected now and then stealing over her face when she didn't know I was +looking." + +Not such a smile as crept over the countenance of Mr. Gryce at that +moment, I warrant. + +"It was all this," continued Mrs. Belden, "which made her death +such a shock to me. I couldn't believe that so cheerful and healthy a +creature could die like that, all in one night, without anybody knowing +anything about it. But----" + +"Wait one moment," Mr. Gryce here broke in. "You speak of her +endeavors to improve herself. What do you mean by that?" + +"Her desire to learn things she didn't know; as, for instance, to +write and read writing. She could only clumsily print when she came +here." + +I thought Mr. Gryce would take a piece out of my arm, he griped it +so. + +"When she came here! Do you mean to say that since she has been +with you she has learned to write?" + +"Yes, sir; I used to set her copies and----" + +"Where are these copies?" broke in Mr. Gryce, subduing his voice to +its most professional tone. "And where are her attempts at writing? +I'd like to see some of them. Can't you get them for us?" + +"I don't know, sir. I always made it a point to destroy them as +soon as they had answered their purpose. I didn't like to have such +things lying around. But I will go see." + +"Do," said he; "and I will go with you. I want to take a look at +things upstairs, any way." And, heedless of his rheumatic feet, he +rose and prepared to accompany her. + +"This is getting very intense," I whispered, as he passed me. + +The smile he gave me in reply would have made the fortune of a +Thespian Mephistopheles. + +Of the ten minutes of suspense which I endured in their absence, I +say nothing. At the end of that time they returned with their hands +full of paper boxes, which they flung down on the table. + +"The writing-paper of the household," observed Mr. Gryce; "every +scrap and half-sheet which could be found. But, before you examine it, +look at this." And he held out a sheet of bluish foolscap, on which +were written some dozen imitations of that time-worn copy, "BE GOOD +AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY"; with an occasional "_Beauty soon fades,"_ +and "_Evil communications corrupt good manners."_ + +"What do you think of that?" + +"Very neat and very legible." + +"That is Hannah's latest. The only specimens of her writing to be +found. Not much like some scrawls we have seen, eh?" + +"No." + +"Mrs. Belden says this girl has known how to write as good as this +for more than a week. Took great pride in it, and was continually +talking about how smart she was." Leaning over, he whispered in my ear, +"This thing you have in your hand must have been scrawled some time +ago, if she did it." Then aloud: "But let us look at the paper she +used to write on." + +Dashing open the covers of the boxes on the table, he took out the +loose sheets lying inside, and scattered them out before me. One glance +showed they were all of an utterly different quality from that used in +the confession. "This is all the paper in the house," said he. + +"Are you sure of that?" I asked, looking at Mrs. Belden, who +stood in a sort of maze before us. "Wasn't there one stray sheet +lying around somewhere, foolscap or something like that, which she +might have got hold of and used without your knowing it?" + +"No, sir; I don't think so. I had only these kinds; besides, Hannah +had a whole pile of paper like this in her room, and wouldn't have been +apt to go hunting round after any stray sheets." + +"But you don't know what a girl like that might do. Look at this +one," said I, showing her the blank side of the confession. "Couldn't +a sheet like this have come from somewhere about the house? Examine it +well; the matter is important." + +"I have, and I say, no, I never had a sheet of paper like that in +my house." + +Mr. Gryce advanced and took the confession from my hand. As he did +so, he whispered: "What do you think now? Many chances that Hannah +got up this precious document?" + +I shook my head, convinced at last; but in another moment turned to +him and whispered back: "But, if Hannah didn't write it, who did? And +how came it to be found where it was?" + +"That," said he, "is just what is left for us to learn." And, +beginning again, he put question after question concerning the girl's +life in the house, receiving answers which only tended to show that she +could not have brought the confession with her, much less received it +from a secret messenger. Unless we doubted Mrs. Belden's word, the +mystery seemed impenetrable, and I was beginning to despair of success, +when Mr. Gryce, with an askance look at me, leaned towards Mrs. Belden +and said: + +"You received a letter from Miss Mary Leavenworth yesterday, I +hear." + +"Yes, sir." + +"_This_ letter?" he continued, showing it to her. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now I want to ask you a question. Was the letter, as you see it, +the only contents of the envelope in which it came? Wasn't there one +for Hannah enclosed with it?" + +"No, sir. There was nothing in my letter for her; but she had a +letter herself yesterday. It came in the same mail with mine." + +"Hannah had a letter! "we both exclaimed; "and in the mail?" + +"Yes; but it was not directed to her. It was"--casting me a look +full of despair, "directed to me. It was only by a certain mark in the +corner of the envelope that I knew----" + +"Good heaven!" I interrupted; "where is this letter? Why didn't +you speak of it before? What do you mean by allowing us to flounder +about here in the dark, when a glimpse at this letter might have set us +right at once?" + +"I didn't think anything about it till this minute. I didn't know +it was of importance. I----" + +But I couldn't restrain myself. "Mrs. Belden, where is this letter?" +I demanded. "Have you got it?" + +"No," said she; "I gave it to the girl yesterday; I haven't seen +it since." + +"It must be upstairs, then. let us take another look," and I +hastened towards the door. + +"You won't find it," said Mr. Gryce at my elbow. "I have looked. +There is nothing but a pile of burned paper in the corner. By the way, +what could that have been?" he asked of Mrs. Belden. + +"I don't know, sir. She hadn't anything to burn unless it was the +letter." + +"We will see about that," I muttered, hurrying upstairs and +bringing down the wash-bowl with its contents. "If the letter was the +one I saw in your hand at the post-office, it was in a yellow envelope." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Yellow envelopes burn differently from white paper. I ought to be +able to tell the tinder made by a yellow envelope when I see it. Ah, +the letter has been destroyed; here is a piece of the envelope," and I +drew out of the heap of charred scraps a small bit less burnt than the +rest, and held it up. + +"Then there is no use looking here for what the letter contained," +said Mr. Gryce, putting the wash-bowl aside. "We will have to ask you, +Mrs. Belden." + +"But I don't know. It was directed to me, to be sure; but Hannah +told me, when she first requested me to teach her how to write, that +she expected such a letter, so I didn't open it when it came, but gave +it to her just as it was." + +"You, however, stayed by to see her read it?" + +"No, sir; I was in too much of a flurry. Mr. Raymond had just come +and I had no time to think of her. My own letter, too, was troubling +me." + +"But you surely asked her some questions about it before the day +was out?" + +"Yes, sir, when I went up with her tea things; but she had nothing +to say. Hannah could be as reticent as any one I ever knew, when she +pleased. She didn't even admit it was from her mistress." + +"Ah! then you thought it was from Miss Leavenworth?" + +"Why, yes, sir; what else was I to think, seeing that mark in the +corner? Though, to be sure, it might have been put there by Mr. +Clavering," she thoughtfully added. + +"You say she was cheerful yesterday; was she so after receiving +this letter?" + +"Yes, sir; as far as I could see. I wasn't with her long; the +necessity I felt of doing something with the box in my charge--but +perhaps Mr. Raymond has told you?" + +Mr. Gryce nodded. + +"It was an exhausting evening, and quite put Hannah out of my head, +but----" + +"Wait!" cried Mr. Gryce, and beckoning me into a corner, he +whispered, "Now comes in that experience of Q's. While you are gone +from the house, and before Mrs. Belden sees Hannah again, he has a +glimpse of the girl bending over something in the corner of her room +which may very fairly be the wash-bowl we found there. After which, he +sees her swallow, in the most lively way, a dose of something from a +bit of paper. Was there anything more?" + +"No," said I. + +"Very well, then," he cried, going back to Mrs. Belden. "But----" + +"But when I went upstairs to bed, I thought of the girl, and going +to her door opened it. The light was extinguished, and she seemed +asleep, so I closed it again and came out." + +"Without speaking?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did you notice how she was lying?" + +"Not particularly. I think on her back." + +"In something of the same position in which she was found this +morning?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And that is all you can tell us, either of her letter or her +mysterious death?" + +"All, sir." + +Mr. Gryce straightened himself up. + +"Mrs. Belden," said he, "you know Mr. Clavering's handwriting when +_yon_ see it?" + +"I do." + +"And Miss Leavenworth's?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now, which of the two was upon the envelope of the letter you gave +Hannah?" + +"I couldn't say. It was a disguised handwriting and might have been +that of either; but I think----" + +"Well?" + +"That it was more like hers than his, though it wasn't like hers +either." + +With a smile, Mr. Gryce enclosed the confession in his hand in the +envelope in which it had been found. "You remember how large the +letter was which you gave her?" + +"Oh, it was large, very large; one of the largest sort." + +"And thick?" + +"O yes; thick enough for two letters." + +"Large enough and thick enough to contain this?" laying the +confession, folded and enveloped as it was, before her." + +"Yes, sir," giving it a look of startled amazement, "large enough +and thick enough to contain that." + +Mr. Gryce's eyes, bright as diamonds, flashed around the room, and +finally settled upon a fly traversing my coat-sleeve. "Do you need +to ask now," he whispered, in a low voice, "where, and from whom, +this so-called confession comes?" + +He allowed himself one moment of silent triumph, then rising, began +folding the papers on the table and putting them in his pocket. + +"What are you going to do?" I asked, hurriedly approaching. + +He took me by the arm and led me across the hall into toe +sitting-room. "I am going back to New York, ram going to pursue this +matter. I am going to find out from, whom came the poison which killed +this girl, and by whose hand this vile forgery of a confession was +written." + +"But," said I, rather thrown off my balance by all this, "Q +and the coroner will be here presently, won't you wait to see them?" + +"No; clues such as are given here must be followed while the trail +is hot; I can't afford to wait." + +"If I am not mistaken, they have already come," I remarked, as a +tramping of feet without announced that some one stood at the door. + +"That is so," he assented, hastening to let them in. + +Judging from common experience, we had every reason to fear that an +immediate stop would be put to all proceedings on our part, as soon as +the coroner was introduced upon the scene. But happily for us and the +interest at stake, Dr. Fink, of R ---- , proved to be a very sensible +man. He had only to hear a true story of the affair to recognize at +once its importance and the necessity of the most cautious action in +the matter. Further, by a sort of sympathy with Mr. Gryce, all the more +remarkable that he had never seen him before, he expressed himself as +willing to enter into our plans, offering not only to allow us the +temporary use of such papers as we desired, but even undertaking to +conduct the necessary formalities of calling a jury and instituting an +inquest in such a way as to give us time for the investigations we +proposed to make. + +The delay was therefore short. Mr. Gryce was enabled to take the +6:30 train for New York, and I to follow on the 10 p.m.,--the calling +of a jury, ordering of an autopsy, and final adjournment of the inquiry +till the following Tuesday, having all taken place in the interim. + + + +XXXV. FINE WORK + + "No hinge nor loop + To hang a doubt on!" + "But yet the pity of it, Iago! + Oh, Iago, the pity of it, Iago." + --Othello. + +One sentence dropped by Mr. Gryce before leaving R---- prepared me +for his next move. + +"The clue to this murder is supplied by the paper on which the +confession is written. Find from whose desk or portfolio this especial +sheet was taken, and you find the double murderer," he had said. + +Consequently, I was not surprised when, upon visiting his house, +early the next morning, I beheld him seated before a table on which lay +a lady's writing-desk and a pile of paper, till told the desk was +Eleanore's. Then I did show astonishment. "What," said I, "are you +not satisfied yet of her innocence?" + +"O yes; but one must be thorough. No conclusion is valuable which +is not preceded by a full and complete investigation. Why," he cried, +casting his eyes complacently towards the fire-tongs, "I have even +been rummaging through Mr. Clavering's effects, though the confession +bears the proof upon its face that it could not have been written by +him. It is not enough to look for evidence where you expect to find it. +You must sometimes search for it where you don't. Now," said he, +drawing the desk before him, "I don't anticipate finding anything here +of a criminating character; but it is among the possibilities that I +may; and that is enough for a detective." + +"Did you see Miss Leavenworth this morning?" I asked, as he +proceeded to fulfil his intention by emptying the contents of the desk +upon the table. + +"Yes; I was unable to procure what I desired without it. And she +behaved very handsomely, gave me the desk with her own hands, and never +raised an objection. To be sure, she had little idea what I was looking +for; thought, perhaps, I wanted to make sure it did not contain the +letter about which so much has been said. But it would have made but +little difference if she had known the truth. This desk contains +nothing _we_ want." + +"Was she well; and had she heard of Hannah's sudden death?" +I asked, in my irrepressible anxiety. + +"Yes, and feels it, as you might expect her to. But let us see what +we have here," said he, pushing aside the desk, and drawing towards him +the stack of paper I have already referred to. "I found this pile, just +as you see it, in a drawer of the library table at Miss Mary +Leavenworth's house in Fifth Avenue. If I am not mistaken, it will +supply us with the clue we want." + +"But----" + +"But this paper is square, while that of the confession is of the +size and shape of commercial note? I know; but you remember the sheet +used in the confession was trimmed down. Let us compare the quality." + +Taking the confession from his pocket and the sheet from the pile +before him, he carefully compared them, then held them out for my +inspection. A glance showed them to be alike in color. + +"Hold them up to the light," said he. + +I did so; the appearance presented by both was precisely alike. + +"Now let us compare the ruling." And, laying them both down on the +table, he placed the edges of the two sheets together. The lines on the +one accommodated themselves to the lines on the other; and that +question was decided. + +His triumph was assured. "I was convinced of it," said he. "From +the moment I pulled open that drawer and saw this mass of paper, I knew +the end was come." + +"But," I objected, in my old spirit of combativeness, "isn't there +any room for doubt? This paper is of the commonest kind. Every family +on the block might easily have specimens of it in their library." + +"That isn't so," he said. "It is letter size, and that has gone +out. Mr. Leavenworth used it for his manuscript, or I doubt if it would +have been found in his library. But, if you are still incredulous, let +us see what can be done," and jumping up, he carried the confession to +the window, looked at it this way and that, and, finally discovering +what he wanted, came back and, laying it before me, pointed out one of +the lines of ruling which was markedly heavier than the rest, and +another which was so faint as to be almost undistinguishable. "Defects +like these often run through a number of consecutive sheets," said he. +"If we could find the identical half-quire from which this was taken, +I might show you proof that would dispel every doubt," and taking up +the one that lay on top, he rapidly counted the sheets. There were but +eight. "It might have been taken from this one," said he; but, upon +looking closely at the ruling, he found it to be uniformly distinct. +"Humph! that won't do! "came from his lips. + +The remainder of the paper, some dozen or so half-quires, looked +undisturbed. Mr. Gryce tapped his fingers on the table and a frown +crossed his face. "Such a pretty thing, if it could have been done!" +he longingly exclaimed. Suddenly he took up the next half-quire. +"Count the sheets," said he, thrusting it towards me, and himself +lifting another. + +I did as I was bid. "Twelve." + +He counted his and laid it down. "Go on with the rest," he cried. + +I counted the sheets in the next; twelve. He counted those in the +one following, and paused. "Eleven!" + +"Count again," I suggested. + +He counted again, and quietly put them aside. "I made a mistake," +said he. + +But he was not to be discouraged. Taking another half-quire, he went +through with the same operation;--in vain. With a sigh of impatience +he flung it down on the table and looked up. "Halloo!" he cried, +"what is the matter?" + +"There are but eleven sheets in this package," I said, placing it in +his hand. + +The excitement he immediately evinced was contagious. Oppressed as I +was, I could not resist his eagerness. "Oh, beautiful!" he +exclaimed. "Oh, beautiful! See! the light on the inside, the heavy +one on the outside, and both in positions precisely corresponding to +those on this sheet of Hannah's. What do you think now? Is any further +proof necessary?" + +"The veriest doubter must succumb before this," returned I. + +With something like a considerate regard for my emotion, he turned +away. "I am obliged to congratulate myself, notwithstanding the +gravity of the discovery that has been made," said he. "It is so neat, +so very neat, and so conclusive. I declare I am myself astonished at +the perfection of the thing. But what a woman that is!" he suddenly +cried, in a tone of the greatest admiration. "What an intellect she +has! what shrewdness! what skill! I declare it is almost a pity to +entrap a woman who has done as well as this--taken a sheet from the +very bottom of the pile, trimmed it into another shape, and then, +remembering the girl couldn't write, put what she had to say into +coarse, awkward printing, Hannah-like. _Splendid_! or would have +been, if any other man than myself had had this thing in charge." And, +all animated and glowing with his enthusiasm, he eyed the chandelier +above him as if it were the embodiment of his own sagacity. + +Sunk in despair, I let him go on. + +"Could she have done any better?" he now asked. "Watched, +circumscribed as she was, could she have done any better? I hardly +think so; the fact of Hannah's having learned to write after she left +here was fatal. No, she could not have provided against that +contingency." + +"Mr. Gryce," I here interposed, unable to endure this any longer; +"did you have an interview with Miss Mary Leavenworth this morning?" + +"No," said he; "it was not in the line of my present purpose to +do so. I doubt, indeed, if she knew I was in her house. A servant maid +who has a grievance is a very valuable assistant to a detective. With +Molly at my side, I didn't need to pay my respects to the mistress." + +"Mr. Gryce," I asked, after another moment of silent +self-congratulation on his part, and of desperate self-control on mine, +"what do you propose to do now? You have followed your clue to the +end and are satisfied. Such knowledge as this is the precursor of +action." + +"Humph! we will see," he returned, going to his private desk and +bringing out the box of papers which we had no opportunity of looking +at while in R----. "First let us examine these documents, and see if +they do not contain some hint which may be of service to us." And +taking out the dozen or so loose sheets which had been torn from +Eleanore's Diary, he began turning them over. + +While he was doing this, I took occasion to examine the contents of +the box. I found them to be precisely what Mrs. Belden had led me to +expect,--a certificate of marriage between Mary and Mr. Clavering and a +half-dozen or more letters. While glancing over the former, a short +exclamation from Mr. Gryce startled me into looking up. + +"What is it?" I cried. + +He thrust into my hand the leaves of Eleanore's Diary. "Read," said +he. "Most of it is a repetition of what you have already heard from +Mrs. Belden, though given from a different standpoint; but there is one +passage in it which, if I am not mistaken, opens up the way to an +explanation of this murder such as we have not had yet. Begin at the +beginning; you won't find it dull." + +Dull! Eleanore's feelings and thoughts during that anxious time, +dull! + +Mustering up my self-possession, I spread out the leaves in their +order and commenced: + +"R----, July 6,-" + +"Two days after they got there, you perceive," Mr. Gryce explained. + +"--A gentleman was introduced to us to-day upon the _piazza_ +whom I cannot forbear mentioning; first, because he is the most +perfect specimen of manly beauty I ever beheld, and secondly, because +Mary, who is usually so voluble where gentlemen are concerned, had +nothing to say when, in the privacy of our own apartment, I questioned +her as to the effect his appearance and conversation had made upon her. +The fact that he is an Englishman may have something to do with this; +Uncle's antipathy to every one of that nation being as well known to +her as to me. But somehow I cannot feel satisfied of this. Her +experience with Charlie Somerville has made me suspicious. What if the. +story of last summer were to be repeated here, with an Englishman for +the hero! But I will not allow myself to contemplate such a +possibility. Uncle will return in a few days, and then all +communication with one who, however prepossessing, is of a family and +race with whom it is impossible for us to unite ourselves, must of +necessity cease. I doubt if I should have thought twice of all this if +Mr. Clavering had not betrayed, upon his introduction to Mary, such +intense and unrestrained admiration. + +"July 8. The old story is to be repeated. Mary not only submits to +the attentions of Mr. Clavering, but encourages them. To-day she sat +two hours at the piano singing over to him her favorite songs, and +to-night--But I will not put down every trivial circumstance that +comes under my observation; it is unworthy of me. And yet, how can I +shut my eyes when the happiness of so many I love is at stake! + +"July 11. If Mr. Clavering is not absolutely in love with Mary, he +is on the verge of it. He is a very fine-looking man, and too honorable +to be trifled with in this reckless fashion. + +"July 13. Mary's beauty blossoms like the rose. She was absolutely +wonderful to-night in scarlet and silver. I think her smile the +sweetest I ever beheld, and in this I am sure Mr. Clavering +passionately agrees with me; he never looked away from her to-night. +But it is not so easy to read _her_ heart. To be sure, she appears +anything but indifferent to his fine appearance, strong sense, and +devoted affection. But did she not deceive us into believing she loved +Charlie Somerville? In her case, blush and smile go for little, I +fear. Would it not be wiser under the circumstances to say, I hope? + +"July 17. Oh, my heart! Mary came into my room this evening, and +absolutely startled me by falling at my side and burying her face in my +lap. 'Oh, Eleanore, Eleanore!' she murmured, quivering with what +seemed to me very happy sobs. But when I strove to lift her head to my +breast, she slid from my arms, and drawing herself up into her old +attitude of reserved pride, raised her hand as if to impose silence, +and haughtily left the room. There is but one interpretation to put +upon this. Mr. Clavering has expressed his sentiments, and she is +filled with that reckless delight which in its first flush makes one +insensible to the existence of barriers which have hitherto been deemed +impassable. When will Uncle come? + +"July 18. little did I think when I wrote the above that Uncle was +already in the house. He arrived unexpectedly on the last train, and +came into my room just as I was putting away my diary. Looking a little +care-worn, he took me in his arms and then asked for Mary. I dropped my +head, and could not help stammering as I replied that she was in her +own room. Instantly his love took alarm, and leaving me, he hastened to +her apartment, where I afterwards learned he came upon her sitting +abstractedly before her dressing-table with Mr. Clavering's family ring +on her finger. I do not know what followed. An unhappy scene, I fear, +for Mary is ill this morning, and Uncle exceedingly melancholy and +stern. + +"Afternoon. We are an unhappy family! Uncle not only refuses to +consider for a moment the question of Mary's alliance with Mr. +Clavering, but even goes so far as to demand his instant and +unconditional dismissal. The knowledge of this came to me in the most +distressing way. Recognizing the state of affairs, but secretly +rebelling against a prejudice which seemed destined to separate two +persons otherwise fitted for each other, I sought Uncle's presence this +morning after breakfast, and attempted to plead their cause. But he +almost instantly stopped me with the remark, 'You are the last one, +Eleanore, who should seek to promote this marriage.' Trembling with +apprehension, I asked him why. 'For the reason that by so doing you +work entirely for your own interest.' More and more troubled, I begged +him to explain himself. 'I mean,' said he, 'that if Mary disobeys me +by marrying this Englishman, I shall disinherit her, and substitute +your name for hers in my will as well as in my affection.' + +For a moment everything swam before my eyes. 'You will never make +me so wretched!' I entreated. 'I will make you my heiress, if Mary +persists in her present determination,' he declared, and without +further word sternly left the room. What could I do but fall on my +knees and pray! Of all in this miserable house, I am the most +wretched. To supplant her! But I shall not be called upon to do it; +Mary will give up Mr. Clavering." + +"There!" exclaimed Mr. Gryce. "What do you think of that? Isn't +it becoming plain enough what was Mary's motive for this murder? But +go on; let us hear what followed." + +With sinking heart, I continued. The next entry is dated July 19, +and runs thus: + +"I was right. After a long struggle with Uncle's invincible will, +Mary has consented to dismiss Mr. Clavering. I was in the room when she +made known her decision, and I shall never forget our Uncle's look of +gratified pride as he clasped her in his arms and called her his own +True Heart. He has evidently been very much exercised over this matter, +and I cannot but feel greatly relieved that affairs have terminated so +satisfactorily. But Mary? What is there in her manner that vaguely +disappoints me? I cannot say. I only know that I felt a powerful +shrinking overwhelm me when she turned her face to me and asked if I +were satisfied now. But I conquered my feelings and held out my hand. +She did not take it. + +"July 26. How long the days are! The shadow of our late trial is +upon me yet; I cannot shake it off. I seem to see Mr. Clavering's +despairing face wherever I go. How is it that Mary preserves her +cheerfulness? If she does not love him, I should think the respect +which she must feel for his disappointment would keep her from levity +at least. + +"Uncle has gone away again. Nothing I could say sufficed to keep +him. + +"July 28. It has all come out. Mary has only nominally separated +from Mr. Clavering; she still cherishes the idea of one day uniting +herself to him in marriage. The fact was revealed to me in a strange +way not necessary to mention here; and has since been confirmed by Mary +herself. 'I admire the man,' she declares, 'and have no intention of +giving him up.' 'Then why not tell Uncle so?' I asked. Her only +answer was a bitter smile and a short,--'I leave that for you to do.' + +"July 30. Midnight. Worn completely out, but before my blood cools +let me write. Mary is a wife. I have just returned from seeing her give +her hand to Henry Clavering. Strange that I can write it without +quivering when my whole soul is one flush of indignation and revolt. +But let me state the facts. Having left my room for a few minutes this +morning, I returned to find on my dressing-table a note from Mary in +which she informed me that she was going to take Mrs. Belden for a +drive and would not be back for some hours. Convinced, as I had every +reason to be, that she was on her way to meet Mr. Clavering, I only +stopped to put on my hat--" + +There the Diary ceased. + +"She was probably interrupted by Mary at this point," explained +Mr. Gryce. "But we have come upon the one thing we wanted to know. Mr. +Leavenworth threatened to supplant Mary with Eleanore if she persisted +in marrying contrary to his wishes. She did so marry, and to avoid the +consequences of her act she----" + +"Say no more," I returned, convinced at last. "It is only too +clear." + +Mr. Gryce rose. + +"But the writer of these words is saved," I went on, trying to +grasp the one comfort left me. "No one who reads this Diary will ever +dare to insinuate she is capable of committing a crime." + +"Assuredly not; the Diary settles that matter effectually." + +I tried to be man enough to think of that and nothing else. To +rejoice in her deliverance, and let every other consideration go; but +in this I did not succeed. "But Mary, her cousin, almost her sister, +is lost," I muttered. + +Mr. Gryce thrust his hands into his pockets and, for the first time, +showed some evidence of secret disturbance. "Yes, I am afraid she is; +I really am afraid she is." Then after a pause, during which I felt a +certain thrill of vague hope: "Such an entrancing creature too! It is +a pity, it positively is a pity! I declare, now that the thing is +worked up, I begin to feel almost sorry we have succeeded so well. +Strange, but true. If there was the least loophole out of it," he +muttered. But there isn't. The thing is clear as A, B, C." Suddenly he +rose, and began pacing the floor very thoughtfully, casting his glances +here, there, and everywhere, except at me, though I believe now, as +then, my face was all he saw. + +"Would it be a very great grief to you, Mr. Raymond, if Miss Mary +Leavenworth should be arrested on this charge of murder?" he asked, +pausing before a sort of tank in which two or three +disconsolate-looking fishes were slowly swimming about. + +"Yes," said I, "it would; a very great grief." "Yet it must be +done," said he, though with a strange lack of his usual decision. "As +an honest official, trusted to bring the murderer of Mr. Leavenworth +to the notice of the proper authorities, I have got to do it." + +Again that strange thrill of hope at my heart induced by his +peculiar manner. + +"Then my reputation as a detective! I ought surely to consider +that. I am not so rich or so famous that I can afford to forget all +that a success like this may bring me. No, lovely as she is, I have got +to push it through." But even as he said this, he became still more +thoughtful, gazing down into the murky depths of the wretched tank +before him with such an intent-ness I half expected the fascinated +fishes to rise from the water and return his gaze. What was in his mind? + +After a little while he turned, his indecision utterly gone. "Mr. +Raymond, come here again at three. I shall then have my report ready +for the Superintendent. I should like to show it to you first, so don't +fail me." + +There was something so repressed in his expression, I could not +prevent myself from venturing one question. "Is your mind made up?" +I asked. + +"Yes," he returned, but in a peculiar tone, and with a peculiar +gesture. + +"And you are going to make the arrest you speak of?" + +"Come at three!" + + + +XXXVI. GATHERED THREADS + + "This is the short and the long of it." + --Merry Wives of Windsor. + +PROMPTLY at the hour named, I made my appearance at Mr. Gryce's +door. I found him awaiting me on the threshold. + +"I have met you," said he gravely, "for the purpose of requesting +you not to speak during the coming interview. I am to do the talking; +you the listening. Neither are you to be surprised at anything I may do +or say. I am in a facetious mood"--he did not look so--"and may take +it into my head to address you by another name than your own. If I do, +don't mind it. Above all, don't talk: remember that." And without +waiting to meet my look of doubtful astonishment, he led me softly +up-stairs. + +The room in which I had been accustomed to meet him was at the top +of the first flight, but he took me past that into what appeared to be +the garret story, where, after many cautionary signs, he ushered me +into a room of singularly strange and unpromising appearance. In the +first place, it was darkly gloomy, being lighted simply by a very dim +and dirty skylight. Next, it was hideously empty; a pine table and two +hard-backed chairs, set face to face at each end of it, being the only +articles in the room. Lastly, it was surrounded by several closed doors +with blurred and ghostly ventilators over their tops which, being +round, looked like the blank eyes of a row of staring mummies. +Altogether it was a lugubrious spot, and in the present state of my +mind made me feel as if something unearthly and threatening lay +crouched in the very atmosphere. Nor, sitting there cold and desolate, +could I imagine that the sunshine glowed without, or that life, beauty, +and pleasure paraded the streets below. + +Mr. Gryce's expression, as he took a seat and beckoned me to do the +same, may have had something to do with this strange sensation, it was +so mysteriously and sombrely expectant. + +"You'll not mind the room," said he, in so muffled a tone I +scarcely heard him. "It's an awful lonesome spot, I know; but folks +with such matters before them mustn't be too particular as to the +places in which they hold their consultations, if they don't want all +the world to know as much as they do. Smith," and he gave me an +admonitory shake of his finger, while his voice took a more distinct +tone, "I have done the business; the reward is mine; the assassin of +Mr. Leavenworth is found, and in two hours will be in custody. Do you +want to know who it is?" leaning forward with every appearance of +eagerness in tone and expression. + +I stared at him in great amazement. Had anything new come to light? +any great change taken place in his conclusions? All this preparation +could not be for the purpose of acquainting me with what I already +knew, yet-- + +He cut short my conjectures with a low, expressive chuckle. "It was +a long chase, I tell you," raising his voice still more; "a tight go; +a woman in the business too; but all the women in the world can't pull +the wool over the eyes of Ebenezer Gryce when he is on a trail; and the +assassin of Mr. Leavenworth and"--here his voice became actually +shrill in his excitement--"and of Hannah Chester is found. + +"Hush!" he went on, though I had neither spoken nor made any +move; "you didn't know Hannah Chester was murdered. Well, she wasn't in +one sense of the word, but in another she was, and by the same hand +that killed the old gentleman. How do I know this? look here! This +scrap of paper was found on the floor of her room; it had a few +particles of white powder sticking to it; those particles were tested +last night and found to be poison. But you say the girl took it +herself, that she was a suicide. You are right, she did take it +herself, and it was a suicide; but who terrified her into this act of +self-destruction? Why, the one who had the most reason to fear her +testimony, of course. But the proof, you say. Well, sir, this girl left +a confession behind her, throwing the onus of the whole crime on a +certain party believed to be innocent; this confession was a forged +one, known from three facts; first, that the paper upon which it was +written was unobtainable by the girl in the place where she was; +secondly, that the words used therein were printed in coarse, awkward +characters, whereas Hannah, thanks to the teaching of the woman under +whose care she has been since the murder, had learned to write very +well; thirdly, that the story told in the confession does not agree +with the one related by the girl herself. Now the fact of a forged +confession throwing the guilt upon an innocent party having been found +in the keeping of this ignorant girl, killed by a dose of poison, taken +with the fact here stated, that on the morning of the day on which she +killed herself the girl received from some one manifestly acquainted +with the customs of the Leavenworth family a letter large enough and +thick enough to contain the confession folded, as it was when found, +makes it almost certain to my mind that the murderer of Mr. Leavenworth +sent this powder and this so-called confession to the girl, meaning her +to use them precisely as she did: for the purpose of throwing off +suspicion from the right track and of destroying herself at the same +time; for, as you know, dead men tell no tales." + +He paused and looked at the dingy skylight above us. Why did the air +seem to grow heavier and heavier? Why did I shudder in vague +apprehension? I knew all this before; why did it strike me, then, as +something new? + +"But who was this? you ask. Ah, that is the secret; that is the bit +of knowledge which is to bring me fame and fortune. But, secret or not, +I don't mind telling you"; lowering his voice and rapidly raising it +again. "The fact is, _I_ can't keep it to myself; it burns like a +new dollar in my pocket. Smith, my boy, the murderer of Mr. +Leavenworth--but stay, who does the world say it is? Whom do the +papers point at and shake their heads over? A woman! a young, +beautiful, bewitching woman! Ha, ha, ha! The papers are right; it is a +woman; young, beautiful, and bewitching too. But what one? Ah, that's +the question. There is more than one woman in this affair. Since +Hannah's death I have heard it openly advanced that she was the guilty +party in the crime: bah! Others cry it is the niece who was so +unequally dealt with by her uncle in his will: bah! again. But folks +are not without some justification for this latter assertion. Eleanore +Leavenworth did know more of this matter than appeared. Worse than +that, Eleanore Leavenworth stands in a position of positive peril +to-day. If you don't think so, let me show you what the detectives have +against her. + +"First, there is the fact that a handkerchief, with her name on it, +was found stained with pistol grease upon the scene of murder; a place +which she explicitly denies having entered for twenty-four hours +previous to the discovery of the dead body. + +"Secondly, the fact that she not only evinced terror when +confronted with this bit of circumstantial evidence, but manifested a +decided disposition, both at this time and others, to mislead inquiry, +shirking a direct answer to some questions and refusing all answer to +others. + +"Thirdly, that an attempt was made by her to destroy a certain +letter evidently relating to this crime. + +"Fourthly, that the key to the library door was seen in her +possession. + +"All this, taken with the fact that the fragments of the letter +which this same lady attempted to destroy within an hour after the +inquest were afterwards put together, and were found to contain a +bitter denunciation of one of Mr. Leavenworth's nieces, by a gentleman +we will call _X_ in other words, an unknown quantity--makes out +a dark case against _you,_ especially as after investigations +revealed the fact that a secret underlay the history of the Leavenworth +family. That, unknown to the world at large, and Mr. Leavenworth in +particular, a marriage ceremony had been performed a year before in a +little town called F---- between a Miss Leavenworth and this same _X._ +That, in other words, the unknown gentleman who, in the letter partly +destroyed by Miss Eleanore Leavenworth, complained to Mr. Leavenworth +of the treatment received by him from one of his nieces, was in fact +the secret husband of that niece. And that, moreover, this same gentle +man, under an assumed name, called on the night of the murder at the +house of Mr. Leavenworth and asked for Miss Eleanore's. + +"Now you see, with all this against her, Eleanore Leavenworth is +lost if it cannot be proved, first that the articles testifying against +her, viz.: the handkerchief, letter, and key, passed after the murder +through other hands, before reaching hers; and secondly, that some one +else had even a stronger reason than she for desiring Mr. Leavenworth's +death at this time. + +"Smith, my boy, both of these hypotheses have been established by +me. By dint of moling into old secrets, and following unpromising +clues, I have finally come to the conclusion that not Eleanore +Leavenworth, dark as are the appearances against her, but another +woman, beautiful as she, and fully as interesting, is the true +criminal. In short, that her cousin, the exquisite Mary, is the +murderer of Mr. Leavenworth, and by inference of Hannah Chester also." + +He brought this out with such force, and with such a look of triumph +and appearance of having led up to it, that I was for the moment +dumbfounded, and started as if I had not known what he was going to +say. The stir I made seemed to awake an echo. Something like a +suppressed cry was in the air about me. All the room appeared to +breathe horror and dismay. Yet when, in the excitement of this fancy, I +half turned round to look, I found nothing but the blank eyes of those +dull ventilators staring upon me. + +"You are taken aback!" Mr. Gryce went on. "I don't wonder. Every +one else is engaged in watching the movements of Eleanore Leavenworth; +I only know where to put my hand upon the real culprit. You shake your +head!" (Another fiction.) "You don't believe me! Think I am +deceived. Ha, ha! Ebenezer Gryce deceived after a month of hard work! +You are as bad as Miss Leavenworth herself, who has so little faith in +my sagacity that she offered me, of all men, an enormous reward if I +would find for her the assassin of her uncle! But that is neither here +nor there; you have your doubts, and you are waiting for me to solve +them. Well, nothing is easier. Know first that on the morning of the +inquest I made one or two discoveries not to be found in the records, +viz.: that the handkerchief picked up, as I have said, in Mr. leaven +worth's library, had notwithstanding its stains of pistol grease, a +decided perfume lingering about it. Going to the dressing-table of the +two ladies, I sought for that perfume, and found it in Mary's room, not +Eleanore's. This led me to examine the pockets of the dresses +respectively worn by them the evening before. In that of Eleanore I +found a handkerchief, presumably the one she had carried at that time. +But in Mary's there was none, nor did I see any lying about her room as +if tossed down on her retiring. The conclusion I drew from this was, +that she, and not Eleanore, had carried the handkerchief into her +uncle's room, a conclusion emphasized by the fact privately +communicated to me by one of the servants, that Mary was in Eleanore's +room when the basket of clean clothes was brought up with this +handkerchief lying on top. + +"But knowing the liability we are to mistake in such matters as +these, I made another search in the library, and came across a very +curious thing. Lying on the table was a penknife, and scattered on the +floor beneath, in close proximity to the chair, were two or three +minute portions of wood freshly chipped off from the leg of the table; +all of which looked as if some one of a nervous disposition had been +sitting there, whose hand in a moment of self-forgetfulness had caught +up the knife and unconsciously whittled the table, A little thing, you +say; but when the question is, which of two ladies, one of a calm and +self-possessed nature, the other restless in her ways and excitable in +her disposition, was in a certain spot at a certain time, it is these +little things that become almost deadly in their significance. No one +who has been with these two women an hour can hesitate as to whose +delicate hand made that cut in Mr. Leavenworth's library table. + +"But we are not done. I distinctly overheard Eleanore accuse her +cousin of this deed. Now such a woman as Eleanore Leavenworth has +proved herself to be never would accuse a relative of crime without the +strongest and most substantial reasons. First, she must have been sure +her cousin stood in a position of such emergency that nothing but the +death of her uncle could release her from it; secondly, that her +cousin's character was of such a nature she would not hesitate to +relieve herself from a desperate emergency by the most desperate of +means; and lastly, been in possession of some circumstantial evidence +against her cousin, seriously corroborative of her suspicions. Smith, +all this was true of Eleanore Leavenworth. As to the character of her +cousin, she has had ample proof of her ambition, love of money, caprice +and deceit, it having been Mary Leavenworth, and not Eleanore, as was +first supposed, who had contracted the secret marriage already spoken +of. Of the critical position in which she stood, let the threat once +made by Mr. Leavenworth to substitute her cousin's name for hers in +his will in case she had married this _x_ be remembered, as well +as the tenacity with which Mary clung to her hopes of future fortune; +while for the corroborative testimony of her guilt which Eleanore is +supposed to have had, remember that previous to the key having been +found in Eleanore's possession, she had spent some time in her cousin's +room; and that it was at Mary's fireplace the half-burned fragments of +that letter were found,--and you have the outline of a report which in +an hour's time from this will lead to the arrest of Mary Leavenworth +as the assassin of her uncle and benefactor." + +A silence ensued which, like the darkness of Egypt, could be felt; +then a great and terrible cry rang through the room, and a man's form, +rushing from I knew not where, shot by me and fell at Mr. Gryce's feet +shrieking out: + +"It is a lie! a lie! Mary Leavenworth is innocent as a babe +unborn. I am the murderer of Mr. Leavenworth. I! I! I!" + +It was Trueman Harwell. + + + +XXXVII. CULMINATION + + "Saint seducing gold." + --Romeo and Juliet. + + "When our actions do not, Our fears do make us traitors." + --Macbeth. + +I NEVER saw such a look of mortal triumph on the face of a man as +that which crossed the countenance of the detective. + +"Well," said he, "this is unexpected, but not wholly unwelcome. I +am truly glad to learn that Miss Leavenworth is innocent; but I must +hear some few more particulars before I shall be satisfied. Get up, Mr. +Harwell, and explain yourself. If you are the murderer of Mr. +Leavenworth, how comes it that things look so black against everybody +but yourself?" + +But in the hot, feverish eyes which sought him from the writhing +form at his feet, there was mad anxiety and pain, but little +explanation. Seeing him making unavailing efforts to speak, I drew near. + +"Lean on me," said I, lifting him to his feet. + +His face, relieved forever from its mask of repression, turned +towards me with the look of a despairing spirit. "Save! save!" he +gasped. "Save her--Mary--they are sending a report--stop it!" + +"Yes," broke in another voice. "If there is a man here who +believes in God and prizes woman's honor, let him stop the issue of +that report." And Henry Clavering, dignified as ever, but in a state of +extreme agitation, stepped into our midst through an open door at our +right. + +But at the sight of his face, the man in our arms quivered, +shrieked, and gave one bound that would have overturned Mr. Clavering, +herculean of frame as he was, had not Mr. Gryce interposed. + +"Wait!" he cried; and holding back the secretary with one hand-- +where was his rheumatism now!--he put the other in his pocket and drew +thence a document which he held up before Mr. Clavering. "It has not +gone yet," said he; "be easy. And you," he went on, turning towards +Trueman Harwell, "be quiet, or----" + +His sentence was cut short by the man springing from his grasp. +"Let me go!" he shrieked. "Let me have my revenge on him who, in face +of all I have done for Mary Leavenworth, dares to call her his wife! +Let me--" But at this point he paused, his quivering frame stiffening +into stone, and his clutching hands, outstretched for his rival's +throat, falling heavily back. "Hark!" said he, glaring over Mr. +Clavering's shoulder: "it is she! I hear her! I feel her! She is +on the stairs! she is at the door! she--" a low, shuddering sigh of +longing and despair finished the sentence: the door opened, and Mary +Leavenworth stood before us! + +It was a moment to make young hairs turn gray. To see her face, so +pale, so haggard, so wild in its fixed horror, turned towards Henry +Clavering, to the utter ignoring of the real actor in this most +horrible scene! Trueman Harwell could not stand it. + +"Ah, ah!" he cried; "look at her! cold, cold; not one glance for +me, though I have just drawn the halter from her neck and fastened it +about my own!" + +And, breaking from the clasp of the man who in his jealous rage +would now have withheld him, he fell on his knees before Mary, +clutching her dress with frenzied hands. "You _shall_ look at +me," he cried; "you _shall_ listen to me! I will not lose body +and soul for nothing. Mary, they said you were in peril! I could not +endure that thought, so I uttered the truth,--yes, though I knew what +the consequence would be,--and all I want now is for you to say you +believe me, when I swear that I only meant to secure to you the fortune +you so much desired; that I never dreamed it would come to this; that +it was because I loved you, and hoped to win your love in return that +I----" + +But she did not seem to see him, did not seem to hear him. Her eyes +were fixed upon Henry Clavering with an awful inquiry in their depths, +and none but he could move her. + +"You do not hear me!" shrieked the poor wretch. "Ice that you +are, you would not turn your head if I should call to you from the +depths of hell!" + +But even this cry fell unheeded. Pushing her hands down upon his +shoulders as though she would sweep some impediment from her path, she +endeavored to advance. "Why is that man here?" she cried, indicating +her husband with one quivering hand. "What has he done that he should +be brought here to confront me at this awful time?" + +'"I told her to come here to meet her uncle's murderer," whispered +Mr. Gryce into my ear. + +But before I could reply to her, before Mr. Clavering himself could +murmur a word, the guilty wretch before her had started to his feet. + +"Don't you know? then I will tell you. It is because these +gentlemen, chivalrous and honorable as they consider themselves, think +that you, the beauty and the Sybarite, committed with your own white +hand the deed of blood which has brought you freedom and fortune. Yes, +yes, this man "--turning and pointing at me--" friend as he has made +himself out to be, kindly and honorable as you have doubtless believed +him, but who in every look he has bestowed upon you, every word he has +uttered in your hearing during all these four horrible weeks, has been +weaving a cord for your neck--thinks you the assassin of your uncle, +unknowing that a man stood at your side ready to sweep half the world +from your path if that same white hand rose in bidding. That I----" + +"You?" Ah! now she could see him: now she could hear him! + +"Yes," clutching her robe again as she hastily recoiled; "didn't +you know it? When in that dreadful hour of your rejection by your +uncle, you cried aloud for some one to help you, didn't you know----" + +"Don't!" she shrieked, bursting from him with a look of unspeakable +horror. "Don't say that! Oh!" she gasped, "is the mad cry of a stricken +woman for aid and sympathy the call for a murderer?" And turning away in +horror, she moaned: "Who that ever looks at me now will forget that a +man--such a man!--dared to think that, because I was in mortal +perplexity, I would accept the murder of my best friend as a relief from +it!" Her horror was unbounded. "Oh, what a chastisement for folly!" she +murmured. "What a punishment for the love of money which has always been +my curse!" + +Henry Clavering could no longer restrain himself, leaping to her +side, he bent over her. "Was it nothing but folly, Mary? Are you +guiltless of any deeper wrong? Is there no link of complicity between +you two? Have you nothing on your soul but an inordinate desire to +preserve your place in your uncle's will, even at the risk of breaking +my heart and wronging your noble cousin? Are you innocent in this +matter? Tell me!" placing his hand on her head, he pressed it slowly +back and gazed into her eyes; then, without a word, took her to his +breast and looked calmly around him. + +"She is innocent!" said he. + +It was the uplifting of a stifling pall. No one in the room, unless +it was the wretched criminal shivering before us, but felt a sudden +influx of hope. Even Mary's own countenance caught a glow. "Oh!" she +whispered, withdrawing from his arms to look better into his face, +"and is this the man I have trifled with, injured, and tortured, till +the very name of Mary Leavenworth might well make him shudder? Is this +he whom I married in a fit of caprice, only to forsake and deny? +Henry, do you declare me innocent in face of all you have seen and +heard; in face of that moaning, chattering wretch before us, and my +own quaking flesh and evident terror; with the remembrance on your +heart and in your mind of the letter I wrote yon the morning after the +murder, in which I prayed you to keep away from me, as I was in such +deadly danger the least hint given to the world that I had a secret to +conceal would destroy me? Do you, can you, will you, declare me +innocent before God and the world?" + +"I do," said he. + +A light such as had never visited her face before passed slowly over +it. "Then God forgive me the wrong I have done this noble heart, for I +can never forgive myself! Wait!" said she, as he opened his lips. +"Before I accept any further tokens of your generous confidence, let me +show you what I am. You shall know the worst of the woman you have +taken to your heart. Mr. Raymond," she cried, turning towards me for +the first time, "in those days when, with such an earnest desire for +my welfare (you see I do not believe this man's insinuations), you +sought to induce me to speak out and tell all I knew concerning this +dreadful deed, I did not do it because of my selfish fears. I knew the +case looked dark against me. Eleanore had told me so. Eleanore +herself--and it was the keenest pang I had to endure--believed me +guilty. She had her reasons. She knew first, from the directed envelope +she had found lying underneath my uncle's dead body on the library +table, that he had been engaged at the moment of death in summoning his +lawyer to make that change in his will which would transfer my claims +to her; secondly, that notwithstanding my denial of the same, I had +been down to his room the night before, for she had heard my door open +and my dress rustle as I passed out. But that was not all; the key that +every one felt to be a positive proof of guilt wherever found, had been +picked up by her from the floor of my room; the letter written by Mr. +Clavering to my uncle was found in my fire; and the handkerchief which +she had seen me take from the basket of clean clothes, was produced at +the inquest stained with pistol grease. I could not account for these +things. A web seemed tangled about my feet. I could not stir without +encountering some new toil. I knew I was innocent; but if I failed to +satisfy my cousin of this, how could I hope to convince the general +public, if once called upon to do so. Worse still, if Eleanore, with +every apparent motive for desiring long life to our uncle, was held in +such suspicion because of a few circumstantial evidences against her, +what would I not have to fear if these evidences were turned against +me, the heiress! The tone and manner of the juryman at the inquest +that asked who would be most benefited by my uncle's will showed but +too plainly. When, therefore, Eleanore, true to her heart's generous +instincts, closed her lips and refused to speak when speech would have +been my ruin, I let her do it, justifying myself with the thought that +she had deemed me capable of crime, and so must bear the consequences. +Nor, when I saw how dreadful these were likely to prove, did I relent. +Fear of the ignominy, suspense, and danger which confession would +entail sealed my lips. Only once did I hesitate. That was when, in the +last conversation we had, I saw that, notwithstanding appearances, you +believed in Eleanore's innocence, and the thought crossed me you might +be induced to believe in mine if I threw myself upon your mercy. But +just then Mr. Clavering came; and as in a flash I seemed to realize +what my future life would be, stained by suspicion, and, instead of +yielding to my impulse, went so far in the other direction as to +threaten Mr. Clavering with a denial of our marriage if he approached +me again till all danger was over. + +"Yes, he will tell you that was my welcome to him when, with heart +and brain racked by long suspense, he came to my door for one word of +assurance that the peril I was in was not of my own making. That was +the greeting I gave him after a year of silence every moment of which +was torture to him. But he forgives me; I see it in his eyes; I hear +it in his accents; and you--oh, if in the long years to come you can +forget what I have made Eleanore suffer by my selfish fears; if with +the shadow of her wrong before you, you can by the grace of some sweet +hope think a little less hardly of me, do. As for this man--torture +could not be worse to me than this standing with him in the same +room--let him come forward and declare if I by look or word have given +him reason to believe I understood his passion, much less returned it." + +"Why ask!" he gasped. "Don't you see it was your indifference +which drove me mad? To stand before you, to agonize after you, to +follow you with thoughts in every move you made; to know my soul was +welded to yours with bands of steel no fire could melt, no force +destroy, no strain dissever; to sleep under the same roof, sit at the +same table, and yet meet not so much as one look to show me you +understood! It was that which made my life a hell. I was determined +you should understand. If I had to leap into a pit of flame, you should +know what I was, and what my passion for you was. And you do. You +comprehend it all now. Shrink as you will from my presence, cower as +you may to the weak man you call husband, you can never forget the love +of Trueman Harwell; never forget that love, love, love, was the force +which led me down into your uncle's room that night, and lent me will +to pull the trigger which poured all the wealth you hold this day into +your lap. Yes," he went on, towering in his preternatural despair till +even the noble form of Henry Clavering looked dwarfed beside him, +"every dollar that chinks from your purse shall talk of me. Every +gew-gaw which flashes on that haughty head, too haughty to bend to me, +shall shriek my name into your ears. Fashion, pomp, luxury,--you will +have them all; but till gold loses its glitter and ease its attraction +you will never forget the hand that gave them to you!" + +With a look whose evil triumph I cannot describe, he put his hand +into the arm of the waiting detective, and in another moment would have +been led from the room; when Mary, crushing down the swell of emotions +that was seething in her breast, lifted her head and said: + +"No, Trueman Harwell; I cannot give you even that thought for your +comfort. Wealth so laden would bring nothing but torture. I cannot +accept the torture, so must release the wealth. From this day, Mary +Clavering owns nothing but what comes to her from the husband she has +so long and so basely wronged." And raising her hands to her ears, she +tore out the diamonds which hung there, and flung them at the feet of +the unfortunate man. + +It was the final wrench of the rack. With a yell such as I never +thought to listen to from the lips of a man, he flung up his arms, +while all the lurid light of madness glared on his face. "And I have +given my soul to hell for a shadow!" he moaned, "for a shadow!" + +"Well, that is the best day's work I ever did! Your +congratulations, Mr. Raymond, upon the success of the most daring game +ever played in a detective's office." + +I looked at the triumphant countenance of Mr. Gryce in amazement. +"What do you mean?" I cried; "did you plan all this?" + +"Did I plan it?" he repeated. "Could I stand here, seeing how things +have turned out, if I had not? Mr. Raymond, let us be comfortable. You +are a gentleman, but we can well shake hands over this. I have never +known such a satisfactory conclusion to a bad piece of business in all +my professional career." + +We did shake hands, long and fervently, and then I asked him to +explain himself. + +"Well," said he, "there has always been one thing that plagued me, +even in the very moment of my strongest suspicion against this woman, +and that was, the pistol-cleaning business. I could not reconcile it +with what I knew of womankind. I could not make it seem the act of a +woman. Did you ever know a woman who cleaned a pistol? No. They can +fire them, and do; but after firing them, they do not clean them. Now +it is a principle which every detective recognizes, that if of a +hundred leading circumstances connected with a crime, ninety-nine of +these are acts pointing to the suspected party with unerring certainty, +but the hundredth equally important act one which that person could not +have performed, the whole fabric of suspicion is destroyed. Recognizing +this principle, then, as I have said, I hesitated when it came to the +point of arrest. The chain was complete; the links were fastened; but +one link was of a different size and material from the rest; and in +this argued a break in the chain. I resolved to give her a final +chance. Summoning Mr. Clavering, and Mr. Harwell, two persons whom I +had no reason to suspect, but who were the only persons beside herself +who could have committed this crime, being the only persons of +intellect who were in the house or believed to be, at the time of the +murder, I notified them separately that the assassin of Mr. Leavenworth +was not only found, but was about to be arrested in my house, and that +if they wished to hear the confession which would be sure to follow, +they might have the opportunity of doing so by coming here at such an +hour. They were both too much interested, though for very different +reasons, to refuse; and I succeeded in inducing them to conceal +themselves in the two rooms from which you saw them issue, knowing that +if either of them had committed this deed, he had done it for the love +of Mary Leavenworth, and consequently could not hear her charged with +crime, and threatened with arrest, without betraying himself. I did not +hope much from the experiment; least of all did I anticipate that Mr. +Harwell would prove to be the guilty man--but live and learn, Mr. +Raymond, live and learn." + + + +XXXVIII. A FULL CONFESSION + + "Between the acting of a dreadful thing, + And the first motion, all the interim is + Like a phantasma or a hideous dream; + The genius and the mortal instruments + Are then in council; and the state of a man, + Like to a little Kingdom, suffers then + The nature of an insurrection." + --Julius Caesar. + +I AM not a bad man; I am only an intense one. Ambition, love, +jealousy, hatred, revenge--transitory emotions with some, are +terrific passions with me. To be sure, they are quiet and concealed +ones, coiled serpents that make no stir till aroused; but then, deadly +in their spring and relentless in their action. Those who have known me +best have not known this. My own mother was ignorant of it. Often and +often have I heard her say: "If Trueman only had more sensibility! +If Trueman were not so indifferent to everything! In short, if Trueman +had more power in him!" + +It was the same at school. No one understood me. They thought me +meek; called me Dough-face. For three years they called me this, then +I turned upon them. Choosing out their ringleader, I felled him to the +ground, laid him on his back, and stamped upon him. He was handsome +before my foot came down; afterwards--Well, it is enough he never +called me Dough-face again. In the store I entered soon after, I met +with even less appreciation. Regular at my work and exact in my +performance of it, they thought me a good machine and nothing more. +What heart, soul, and feeling could a man have who never sported, never +smoked, and never laughed? I could reckon up figures correctly, but +one scarcely needed heart or soul for that. I could even write day by +day and month by month without showing a flaw in my copy; but that +only argued I was no more than they intimated, a regular automaton. I +let them think so, with the certainty before me that they would one day +change their minds as others had done. The fact was, I loved nobody +well enough, not even myself, to care for any man's opinion. Life was +well-nigh a blank to me; a dead level plain that had to be traversed +whether I would or not. And such it might have continued to this day if +I had never met Mary Leavenworth. But when, some nine months since, I +left my desk in the counting-house for a seat in Mr. Leavenworth's +library, a blazing torch fell into my soul whose flame has never gone +out, and never will, till the doom before me is accomplished. + +She was so beautiful! When, on that first evening, I followed my new +employer into the parlor, and saw this woman standing up before me in +her half-alluring, half-appalling charm, I knew, as by a lightning +flash, what my future would be if I remained in that house. She was in +one of her haughty moods, and bestowed upon me little more than a +passing glance. But her indifference made slight impression upon me +then. It was enough that I was allowed to stand in her presence and +look unrebuked upon her loveliness. To be sure, it was like gazing into +the flower-wreathed crater of an awakening volcano. Fear and +fascination were in each moment I lingered there; but fear and +fascination made the moment what it was, and I could not have withdrawn +if I would. + +And so it was always. Unspeakable pain as well as pleasure was in +the emotion with which I regarded her. Yet for all that I did not +cease to study her hour by hour and day by day; her smiles, her +movement, her way of turning her head or lifting her eyelids. I had a +purpose in this. I wished to knit her beauty so firmly into the warp +and woof of my being that nothing could ever serve to tear it away. For +I saw then as plainly as now that, coquette though she was, she would +never stoop to me. No; I might lie down at her feet and let her +trample over me; she would not even turn to see what it was she had +stepped upon. I might spend days, months, years, learning the alphabet +of her wishes; she would not thank me for my pains or even raise the +lashes from her cheek to look at me as I passed. I was nothing to her, +could not be anything unless--and this thought came slowly--I could +in some way become her master. + +Meantime I wrote at Mr. Leavenworth's dictation and pleased him. My +methodical ways were just to his taste. As for the other member of the +family, Miss Eleanore Leavenworth--she treated me just as one of her +proud but sympathetic nature might be expected to do. Not familiarly, +but kindly; not as a friend, but as a member of the household whom she +met every day at table, and who, as she or any one else could see, was +none too happy or hopeful. + +Six months went by. I had learned two things; first, that Mary +Leavenworth loved her position as prospective heiress to a large +fortune above every other earthly consideration; and secondly, that +she was in the possession of a secret which endangered that position. +What this was, I had for some time no means of knowing. But when later +I became convinced it was one of love, I grew hopeful, strange as it +may seem. For by this time I had learned Mr. Leavenworth's disposition +almost as perfectly as that of his niece, and knew that in a matter of +this kind he would be uncompromising; and that in the clashing of +these two wills something might occur which would give me a hold upon +her. The only thing that troubled me was the fact that I did not know +the name of the man in whom she was interested. But chance soon favored +me here. One day--a month ago now--I sat down to open Mr. +Leavenworth's mail as usual. One letter--shall I ever forget it? ran +thus: + +"HOFFMAN HOUSE, + +"March I, 1876." + +MR. HORATIO LEAVENWORTH: + +"DEAR SIR,--You have a niece whom yon love and trust, one, too, who +seems worthy of all the love and trust that you or any other man can +give her; so beautiful, so charming, so tender is she in face, form, +manner, and conversation. But, dear sir, every rose has its thorn, and +your rose is no exception to this rule. Lovely as she is, charming as +she is, tender as she is, she is not only capable of trampling on the +rights of one who trusted her, but of bruising the heart and breaking +the spirit of him to whom she owes all duty, honor, and observance. + +"If you don't believe this, ask her to her cruel, bewitching face, +who and what is her humble servant, and yours. + +"Henry Ritchie Clavering." + +If a bombshell had exploded at my feet, or the evil one himself +appeared at my call, I would not have been more astounded. Not only was +the name signed to these remarkable words unknown to me, but the +epistle itself was that of one who felt himself to be her master: a +position which, as you know, I was myself aspiring to occupy. For a few +minutes, then, I stood a prey to feelings of the bitterest wrath and +despair; then I grew calm, realizing that with this letter in my +possession I was virtually the arbitrator of her destiny. Some men +would have sought her there and then and, by threatening to place it in +her uncle's hand, won from her a look of entreaty, if no more; but I +--well, my plans went deeper than that. I knew she would have to be in +extremity before I could hope to win her. She must feel herself +slipping over the edge of the precipice before she would clutch at the +first thing offering succor. I decided to allow the letter to pass into +my employer's hands. But it had been opened! How could I manage to give +it to him in this condition without exciting his suspicion? I knew of +but one way; to let him see me open it for what he would consider the +first time. So, waiting till he came into the room, I approached him +with the letter, tearing off the end of the envelope as I came. Opening +it, I gave a cursory glance at its contents and tossed it down on the +table before him. + +"That appears to be of a private character," said I, "though there +is no sign to that effect on the envelope." + +He took it up while I stood there. At the first word he started, +looked at me, seemed satisfied from my expression that I had not read +far enough to realize its nature, and, whirling slowly around in his +chair, devoured the remainder in silence. I waited a moment, then +withdrew to my own desk. One minute, two minutes passed in silence; he +was evidently rereading the letter; then he hurriedly rose and left +the room. As he passed me I caught a glimpse of his face in the mirror. +The expression I saw there did not tend to lessen the hope that was +rising in my breast. + +By following him almost immediately up-stairs I ascertained that he +went directly to Mary's room, and when in a few hours later the family +collected around the dinner table, I perceived, almost without looking +up, that a. great and insurmountable barrier had been raised between +him and his favorite niece. + +Two days passed; days that were for me one long and unrelieved +suspense. Had Mr. Leavenworth answered that letter? Would it all end +as it had begun, without the appearance of the mysterious Clavering on +the scene? I could not tell. + +Meanwhile my monotonous work went on, grinding my heart beneath its +relentless wheel. I wrote and wrote and wrote, till it seemed as if my +life blood went from me with every drop of ink I used. Always alert and +listening, I dared not lift my head or turn my eyes at any unusual +sound, lest I should seem to be watching. The third night I had a dream; +I have already told Mr. Raymond what it was, and hence will not +repeat it here. One correction, however, I wish to make in regard to +it. In my statement to him I declared that the face of the man whom I +saw lift his hand against my employer was that of Mr. Clavering. I lied +when I said this. The face seen by me in my dream was my own. It was +that fact which made it so horrible to me. In the crouching figure +stealing warily down-stairs, I saw as in a glass the vision of my own +form. Otherwise my account of the matter was true. + +This vision had a tremendous effect upon me. Was it a premonition? +a forewarning of the way in which I was to win this coveted creature +for my own? Was the death of her uncle the bridge by which the +impassable gulf between us might be spanned? I began to think it might +be; to consider the possibilities which could make this the only path +to my elysium; even went so far as to picture her lovely face bending +gratefully towards me through the glare of a sudden release from some +emergency in which she stood. One thing was sure; if that was the way +I must go, I had at least been taught how to tread it; and all through +the dizzy, blurred day that followed, I saw, as I sat at my work, +repeated visions of that stealthy, purposeful figure stealing down the +stairs and entering with uplifted pistol into the unconscious presence +of my employer. I even found myself a dozen times that day turning my +eyes upon the door through which it was to come, wondering how long it +would be before my actual form would pause there. That the moment was +at hand I did not imagine. Even when I left him that night after +drinking with him the glass of sherry mentioned at the inquest, I had +no idea the hour of action was so near. But when, not three minutes +after going upstairs, I caught the sound of a lady's dress rustling +through the hall, and listening, heard Mary Leavenworth pass my door +on her way to the library, I realized that the fatal hour was come; +that something was going to be said or done in that room which would +make this deed necessary. What? I determined to ascertain. Casting +about in my mind for the means of doing so, I remembered that the +ventilator running up through the house opened first into the +passage-way connecting Mr. Leavenworth's bedroom and library, and, +secondly, into the closet of the large spare room adjoining mine. +Hastily unlocking the door of the communication between the rooms, I +took my position in the closet. Instantly the sound of voices reached +my ears; all was open below, and standing there, I was as much an +auditor of what went on between Mary and her uncle as if I were in the +library itself. And what did I hear? Enough to assure me my suspicions +were correct; that it was a moment of vital interest to her; that Mr. +Leavenworth, in pursuance of a threat evidently made some time since, +was in the act of taking steps to change his will, and that she had +come to make an appeal to be forgiven her fault and restored to his +favor. What that fault was, I did not learn. No mention was made of Mr. +Clavering as her husband. I only heard her declare that her action had +been the result of impulse, rather than love; that she regretted it, +and desired nothing more than to be free from all obligations to one +she would fain forget, and be again to her uncle what she was before +she ever saw this man. I thought, fool that I was, it was a mere +engagement she was alluding to, and took the insanest hope from these +words; and when, in a moment later I heard her uncle reply, in his +sternest tone, that she had irreparably forfeited her claims to his +regard and favor, I did not need her short and bitter cry of shame and +disappointment, or that low moan for some one to help her, for me to +sound his death-knell in my heart. Creeping back to my own room, I +waited till I heard her reascend, then I stole forth. Calm as I had +ever been in my life, I went down the stairs just as I had seen myself +do in my dream, and knocking lightly at the library door, went in. Mr. +Leavenworth was sitting in his usual place writing. + +"Excuse me," said I as he looked up, "I have lost my +memorandum-book, and think it possible I may have dropped it in the +passage-way when I went for the wine." He bowed, and I hurried past him +into the closet. Once there, I proceeded rapidly into the room beyond, +procured the pistol, returned, and almost before I realized what I was +doing, had taken up my position behind him, aimed, and fired. The +result was what you know. Without a groan his head fell forward on his +hands, and Mary Leavenworth was the virtual possessor of the thousands +she coveted. + +My first thought was to procure the letter he was writing. +Approaching the table, I tore it out from under his hands, looked at +it, saw that it was, as I expected, a summons to his lawyer, and thrust +it into my pocket, together with the letter from Mr. Clavering, which I +perceived lying spattered with blood on the table before me. Not till +this was done did I think of myself, or remember the echo which that +low, sharp report must have made in the house. Dropping the pistol at +the side of the murdered man, I stood ready to shriek to any one who +entered that Mr. Leavenworth had killed himself. But I was saved from +committing such a folly. The report had not been heard, or if so, had +evidently failed to create an alarm. No one came, and I was left to +contemplate my work undisturbed and decide upon the best course to be +taken to avoid detection. A moment's study of the wound made in his +head by the bullet convinced me of the impossibility of passing the +affair off as a suicide, or even the work of a burglar. To any one +versed in such matters it was manifestly a murder, and a most +deliberate one. My one hope, then, lay in making it as mysterious as it +was deliberate, by destroying all due to the motive and manner of the +deed. Picking up the pistol, I carried it into the other room with the +intention of cleaning it, but finding nothing there to do it with, came +back for the handkerchief I had seen lying on the floor at Mr. +Leavenworth's feet. It was Miss Eleanore's, but I did not know it till +I had used it to clean the barrel; then the sight of her initials in +one corner so shocked me I forgot to clean the cylinder, and only +thought of how I could do away with this evidence of her handkerchief +having been employed for a purpose so suspicious. Not daring to carry +it from the room, I sought for means to destroy it; but finding none, +compromised the matter by thrusting it deep down behind the cushion of +one of the chairs, in the hope of being able to recover and burn it the +next day. This done, I reloaded the pistol, locked it up, and prepared +to leave the room. But here the horror which usually follows such deeds +struck me like a thunderbolt and made me for the first time uncertain +in my action. I locked the door on going out, something I should never +have done. Not till I reached the top of the stairs did I realize my +folly; and then it was too late, for there before me, candle in hand, +and surprise written on every feature of her face, stood Hannah, one of +the servants, looking at me. + +"Lor, sir, where have you been?" she cried, but strange to say, +in a low tone. "You look as if you had seen a ghost." And her eyes +turned suspiciously to the key which I held in my hand. + +I felt as if some one had clutched me round the throat. Thrusting +the key into my pocket, I took a step towards her. "I will tell you +what I have seen if you will come down-stairs," I whispered; "the +ladies will be disturbed if we talk here," and smoothing my brow as +best I could, I put out my hand and drew her towards me. What my motive +was I hardly knew; the action was probably instinctive; but when I +saw the look which came into her face as I touched her, and the +alacrity with which she prepared to follow me, I took courage, +remembering the one or two previous tokens I had had of this girl's +unreasonable susceptibility to my influence; a susceptibility which I +now felt could be utilized and made to serve my purpose. + +Taking her down to the parlor floor, I drew her into the depths of +the great drawing-room, and there told her in the least alarming way +possible what had happened to Mr. Leavenworth. She was of course +intensely agitated, but she did not scream;--the novelty of her +position evidently bewildering her--and, greatly relieved, I went on +to say that I did not know who committed the deed, but that folks would +declare it was I if they knew I had been seen by her on the stairs with +the library key in my hand. "But I won't tell," she whispered, +trembling violently in her fright and eagerness. "I will keep it to +myself. I will say I didn't see anybody." But I soon convinced her that +she could never keep her secret if the police once began to question +her, and, following up my argument with a little cajolery, succeeded +after a long while in winning her consent to leave the house till the +storm should be blown over. But that given, it was some little time +before I could make her comprehend that she must depart at once and +without going back after her things. Not till I brightened up her wits +by a promise to marry her some day if she only obeyed me now, did she +begin to look the thing in the face and show any evidence of the real +mother wit she evidently possessed. "Mrs. Belden would take me in," +said she, "if I could only get to R----. She takes everybody in who +asks, her; and she would keep me, too, if I told her Miss Mary sent +me. But I can't get there to-night." + +I immediately set to work to convince her that she could. The +midnight train did not leave the city for a half-hour yet, and the +distance to the depot could be easily walked by her in fifteen minutes. +But she had no money! I easily supplied that. And she was afraid she +couldn't find her way! I entered into minutest directions. She still +hesitated, but at length consented to go, and with some further +understanding of the method I was to employ in communicating with her, +we went down-stairs. There we found a hat and shawl of the cook's which +I put on her, and in another moment we were in the carriage yard. +"Remember, you are to say nothing of what has occurred, no matter what +happens," I whispered in parting injunction as she turned to leave me. +"Remember, you are to come and marry me some day," she murmured in +reply, throwing her arms about my neck. The movement was sudden, and it +was probably at this time she dropped the candle she had unconsciously +held clenched in her hand till now. I promised her, and she glided out +of the gate. + +Of the dreadful agitation that followed the disappearance of this +girl I can give no better idea than by saying I not only committed the +additional error of locking up the house on my re-entrance, but omitted +to dispose of the key then in my pocket by flinging it into the street +or dropping it in the hall as I went up. The fact is, I was so absorbed +by the thought of the danger I stood in from this girl, I forgot +everything else. Hannah's pale face, Hannah's look of terror, as she +turned from my side and flitted down the street, were continually +before me. I could not escape them; the form of the dead man lying +below was less vivid. It was as though I were tied in fancy to this +woman of the white face fluttering down the midnight streets. That she +would fail in something--come back or be brought back--that I should +find her standing white and horror-stricken on the front steps when I +went down in the morning, was like a nightmare to me. I began to think +no other result possible; that she never would or could win her way +unchallenged to that little cottage in a distant village; that I had +but sent a trailing flag of danger out into the world with this +wretched girl;--danger that would come back to me with the first burst +of morning light! + +But even those thoughts faded after a while before the realization +of the peril I was in as long as the key and papers remained in my +possession. How to get rid of them! I dared not leave my room again, +or open my window. Some one might see me and remember it. Indeed I was +afraid to move about in my room. Mr. Leavenworth might hear me. Yes, my +morbid terror had reached that point--I was fearful of one whose ears I +myself had forever closed, imagined him in his bed beneath and wakeful +to the least sound. + +But the necessity of doing something with these evidences of guilt +finally overcame this morbid anxiety, and drawing the two letters from +my pocket--I had not yet undressed--I chose out the most dangerous of +the two, that written by Mr. Leavenworth himself, and, chewing it till +it was mere pulp, threw it into a corner; but the other had blood on +it, and nothing, not even the hope of safety, could induce me to put it +to my lips. I was forced to lie with it clenched in my hand, and the +flitting image of Hannah before my eyes, till the slow morning broke. I +have heard it said that a year in heaven seems like a day; I can +easily believe it. I know that an hour in hell seems an eternity! + +But with daylight came hope. Whether it was that the sunshine +glancing on the wall made me think of Mary and all I was ready to do +for her sake, or whether it was the mere return of my natural stoicism +in the presence of actual necessity, I cannot say. I only know that I +arose calm and master of myself. The problem of the letter and key had +solved itself also. Hide them? I would not try to! Instead of that I +would put them in plain sight, trusting to that very fact for their +being overlooked. Making the letter up into lighters, I carried them +into the spare room and placed them in a vase. Then, taking the key in +my hand, went down-stairs, intending to insert it in the lock of the +library door as I went by. But Miss Eleanore descending almost +immediately behind me made this impossible. I succeeded, however, in +thrusting it, without her knowledge, among the filagree work of the +gas-fixture in the second hall, and thus relieved, went down into the +breakfast room as self-possessed a man as ever crossed its threshold. +Mary was there, looking exceedingly pale and disheartened, and as I met +her eye, which for a wonder turned upon me as I entered, I could almost +have laughed, thinking of the deliverance that had come to her, and of +the time when I should proclaim myself to be the man who had +accomplished it. + +Of the alarm that speedily followed, and my action at that time and +afterwards, I need not speak in detail. I behaved just as I would have +done if I had had no hand in the murder. I even forbore to touch the +key or go to the spare room, or make any movement which I was not +willing all the world should see. For as things stood, there was not a +shadow of evidence against me in the house; neither was I, a +hard-working, uncomplaining secretary, whose passion for one of his +employer's nieces was not even mistrusted by the lady herself, a person +to be suspected of the crime which threw him out of a fair situation. +So I performed all the duties of my position, summoning the police, and +going for Mr. Veeley, just as I would have done if those hours between +me leaving Mr. Leavenworth for the first time and going down to +breakfast in the morning had been blotted from my consciousness. + +And this was the principle upon which I based my action at the +inquest. Leaving that half-hour and its occurrences out of the +question, I resolved to answer such questions as might be put me as +truthfully as I could; the great fault with men situated as I was +usually being that they lied too much, thus committing themselves on +unessential matters. But alas, in thus planning for my own safety, I +forgot one thing, and that was the dangerous position in which I should +thus place Mary Leavenworth as the one benefited by the crime. Not +till the inference was drawn by a juror, from the amount of wine found +in Mr. Leavenworth's glass in the morning, that he had come to his +death shortly after my leaving him, did I realize what an opening I had +made for suspicion in her direction by admitting that I had heard a +rustle on the stair a few minutes after going up. That all present +believed it to have been made by Eleanore, did not reassure me. She was +so completely disconnected with the crime I could not imagine suspicion +holding to her for an instant. But Mary--If a curtain had been let +down before me, pictured with the future as it has since developed, I +could not have seen more plainly what her position would be, if +attention were once directed towards her. So, in the vain endeavor to +cover up my blunder, I began to lie. Forced to admit that a shadow of +disagreement had been lately visible between Mr. Leavenworth and one of +his nieces, I threw the burden of it upon Eleanore, as the one best +able to bear it. The consequences were more serious than I anticipated. +Direction had been given to suspicion which every additional evidence +that now came up seemed by some strange fatality to strengthen. Not +only was it proved that Mr. Leavenworth's own pistol had been used in +the assassination, and that too by a person then in the house, but I +myself was brought to acknowledge that Eleanore had learned from me, +only a little while before, how to load, aim, and fire this very +pistol--a coincidence mischievous enough to have been of the devil's +own making. + +Seeing all this, my fear of what the ladies would admit when +questioned became very great. Let them in their innocence acknowledge +that, upon my ascent, Mary had gone to her uncle's room for the purpose +of persuading him not to carry into effect the action he contemplated, +and what consequences might not ensue! I was in a torment of +apprehension. But events of which I had at that time no knowledge had +occurred to influence them. Eleanore, with some show of reason, as it +seems, not only suspected her cousin of the crime, but had informed her +of the fact, and Mary, overcome with terror at finding there was more +or less circumstantial evidence supporting the suspicion, decided to +deny whatever told against herself, trusting to Eleanore's generosity +not to be contradicted. Nor was her confidence misplaced. Though, by +the course she took, Eleanore was forced to deepen the prejudice +already rife against herself, she not only forbore to contradict her +cousin, but when a true answer would have injured her, actually refused +to return any, a lie being something she could not utter, even to save +one especially endeared to her. + +This conduct of hers had one effect upon me. It aroused my +admiration and made me feel that here was a woman worth helping if +assistance could be given without danger to myself. Yet I doubt if my +sympathy would have led me into doing anything, if I had not perceived, +by the stress laid upon certain well-known matters, that actual danger +hovered about us all while the letter and key remained in the house. +Even before the handkerchief was produced, I had made up my mind to +attempt their destruction; but when that was brought up and shown, I +became so alarmed I immediately rose and, making my way under some +pretence or other to the floors above, snatched the key from the +gas-fixture, the lighters from the vase, and hastening with them down +the hall to Mary Leavenworth's room, went in under the expectation of +finding a fire there in which to destroy them. But, to my heavy +disappointment, there were only a few smoldering ashes in the grate, +and, thwarted in my design, I stood hesitating what to do, when I heard +some one coming up-stairs. Alive to the consequences of being found in +that room at that time, I cast the lighters into the grate and started +for the door. But in the quick move I made, the key flew from my hand +and slid under a chair. Aghast at the mischance, I paused, but the +sound of approaching steps increasing, I lost all control over myself +and fled from the room. And indeed I had no time to lose. I had barely +reached my own door when Eleanore Leavenworth, followed by two +servants, appeared at the top of the staircase and proceeded towards +the room I had just left. The sight reassured me; she would see the +key, and take some means of disposing of it; and indeed I always +supposed her to have done so, for no further word of key or letter ever +came to my ears. This may explain why the questionable position in +which Eleanore soon found herself awakened in me no greater anxiety. I +thought the suspicions of the police rested upon nothing more tangible +than the peculiarity of her manner at the inquest and the discovery of +her handkerchief on the scene of the tragedy. I did not know they +possessed what might be called absolute proof of her connection with +the crime. But if I had, I doubt if my course would have been any +different. Mary's peril was the one thing capable of influencing me, +and she did not appear to be in peril. On the contrary, every one, by +common consent, seemed to ignore all appearance of guilt on her part. +If Mr. Gryce, whom I soon learned to fear, had given one sign of +suspicion, or Mr. Raymond, whom I speedily recognized as my most +persistent though unconscious foe, had betrayed the least distrust of +her, I should have taken warning. But they did not, and, lulled into a +false security by their manner, I let the days go by without suffering +any fears on her account. But not without many anxieties for myself. +Hannah's existence precluded all sense of personal security. Knowing +the determination of the police to find her, I trod the verge of an +awful suspense continually. + +Meantime the wretched certainty was forcing itself upon me that I +had lost, instead of gained, a hold on Mary Leavenworth. Not only did +she evince the utmost horror of the deed which had made her mistress of +her uncle's wealth, but, owing, as I believed, to the influence of Mr. +Raymond, soon gave evidence that she was losing, to a certain extent, +the characteristics of mind and heart which had made me hopeful of +winning her by this deed of blood. This revelation drove me almost +insane. Under the terrible restraint forced upon me, I walked my weary +round in a state of mind bordering on frenzy. Many and many a time have +I stopped in my work, wiped my pen and laid it down with the idea that +I could not repress myself another moment, but I have always taken it +up again and gone on with my task. Mr. Raymond has sometimes shown his +wonder at my sitting in my dead employer's chair. Great heaven! it was +my only safeguard. By keeping the murder constantly before my mind, I +was enabled to restrain myself from any inconsiderate action. + +At last there came a time when my agony could be no longer +suppressed. Going down the stairs one evening with Mr. Raymond, I saw a +strange gentleman standing in the reception room, looking at Mary +Leavenworth in a way that would have made my blood boil, even if I had +not heard him whisper these words: "But you are my wife, and know it, +whatever you may say or do!" + +It was the lightning-stroke of my life. After what I had done to +make her mine, to hear another claim her as already his own, was +stunning, maddening! It forced a demonstration from me. I had either +to yell in my fury or deal the man beneath some tremendous blow in my +hatred. I did not dare to shriek, so I struck the blow. Demanding his +name from Mr. Raymond, and hearing that it was, as I expected, +Clavering, I flung caution, reason, common sense, all to the winds, and +in a moment of fury denounced him as the murderer of Mr. Leavenworth. + +The next instant I would have given worlds to recall my words. What +had I done but drawn attention to myself in thus accusing a man against +whom nothing could of course be proved! But recall now was impossible. +So, after a night of thought, I did the next best thing: gave a +superstitious reason for my action, and so restored myself to my former +position without eradicating from the mind of Mr. Raymond that vague +doubt of the man which my own safety demanded. But I had no intention +of going any further, nor should I have done so if I had not observed +that for some reason Mr. Raymond was willing to suspect Mr. Clavering. +But that once seen, revenge took possession of me, and I asked myself +if the burden of this crime could be thrown on this man. Still I do not +believe that any active results would have followed this +self-questioning if I had not overheard a whispered conversation +between two of the servants, in which I learned that Mr. Clavering had +been seen to enter the house on the night of the murder, but was not +seen to leave it. That determined me. With such a fact for a +starting-point, what might I not hope to accomplish? Hannah alone +stood in my way. While she remained alive I saw nothing but ruin before +me. I made up my mind to destroy her and satisfy my hatred of Mr. +Clavering at one blow. But how? By what means could I reach her +without deserting my post, or make away with her without exciting fresh +suspicion? The problem seemed insolvable; but Trueman Harwell had not +played the part of a machine so long without result. Before I had +studied the question a day, light broke upon it, and I saw that the +only way to accomplish my plans was to inveigle her into destroying +herself. + +No sooner had this thought matured than I hastened to act upon it. +Knowing the tremendous risk I ran, I took every precaution. Locking +myself up in my room, I wrote her a letter in printed characters--she +having distinctly told me she could not read writing--in which I played +upon her ignorance, foolish fondness, and Irish superstition, by +telling her I dreamed of her every night and wondered if she did of me; +was afraid she didn't, so enclosed her _a._ little charm, which, +if she would use according to directions, would give her the most +beautiful visions. These directions were for her first to destroy my +letter by burning it, next to take in her hand the packet I was careful +to enclose, swallow the powder accompanying it, and go to bed. The +powder was a deadly dose of poison and the packet was, as you know, a +forged confession falsely criminating Henry Clavering. Enclosing all +these in an envelope in the corner of which I had marked a cross, I +directed it, according to agreement, to Mrs. Belden, and sent it. + +Then followed the greatest period of suspense I had yet endured. +Though I had purposely refrained from putting my name to the letter, I +felt that the chances of detection were very great. Let her depart in +the least particular from the course I had marked out for her, and +fatal results must ensue. If she opened the enclosed packet, mistrusted +the powder, took Mrs. Belden into her confidence, or even failed to +burn my letter, all would be lost. I could not be sure of her or know +the result of my scheme except through the newspapers. Do you think I +kept watch of the countenances about me? devoured the telegraphic +news, or started when the bell rang? And when, a few days since, I +read that short paragraph in the paper which assured me that my efforts +had at least produced the death of the woman I feared, do you think I +experienced any sense of relief? + +But of that why speak? In six hours had come the summons from Mr. +Gryce, and--let these prison walls, this confession itself, tell the +rest. I am no longer capable of speech or action. + + + +XXXIX. THE OUTCOME OF A GREAT CRIME + + "Leave her to Heaven + And to those thorns that + In her bosom lodge + To prick and sting her." + --Hamlet, + + "For she is wise, if I can judge of her; + And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true; + And true she is, as she has proved herself; + And therefore like herself, wise, fair, and true, + Shall she be placed in my constant soul." + --Merchant of Venice. + +"OH, ELEANORE!" I cried, as I made my way into her presence, "are +you prepared for very good news? News that will brighten these pale +cheeks and give the light back to these eyes, and make life hopeful and +sweet to you once more? Tell me," I urged, stooping over her where she +sat, for she looked ready to faint. + +"I don't know," she faltered; "I fear your idea of good news and +mine may differ. No news can be good but----" + +"What?" I asked, taking her hands in mine with a smile that ought +to have reassured her, it was one of such profound happiness. "Tell +me; do not be afraid." + +But she was. Her dreadful burden had lain upon her so long it had +become a part of her being. How could she realize it was founded on a +mistake; that she had no cause to fear the past, present, or future? + +But when the truth was made known to her; when, With all the fervor +and gentle tact of which I was capable, I showed her that her +suspicions had been groundless, and that Trueman Harwell, and not Mary, +was accountable for the evidences of crime which had led her into +attributing to her cousin the guilt of her uncle's death, her first +words were a prayer to be taken to the one she had so wronged. "Take +me to her! Oh, take me to her! I cannot breathe or think till I have +begged pardon of her on my knees. Oh, my unjust accusation! My unjust +accusation!" + +Seeing the state she was in, I deemed it wise to humor her. So, +procuring a carriage, I drove with her to her cousin's home. + +"Mary will spurn me; she will not even look at me; and she will be +right!" she cried, as we rolled away up the avenue. "An outrage +like this can never be forgiven. But God knows I thought myself +justified in my suspicions. If you knew--" + +"I do know," I interposed. "Mary acknowledges that the +circumstantial evidence against her was so overwhelming, she was almost +staggered herself, asking if she could be guiltless with such proofs +against her. But----" + +"Wait, oh, wait; did Mary say that?" + +"Yes." + +"To-day?" + +"Yes." + +"Mary must be changed." + +I did not answer; I wanted her to see for herself the extent of +that change. But when, in a few minutes later, the carriage stopped and +I hurried with her into the house which had been the scene of so much +misery, I was hardly prepared for the difference in her own countenance +which the hall light revealed. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks were +brilliant, her brow lifted and free from shadow; so quickly does the +ice of despair melt in the sunshine of hope. + +Thomas, who had opened the door, was sombrely glad to see his +mistress again. "Miss Leavenworth is in the drawing-room," said he. + +I nodded, then seeing that Eleanore could scarcely move for +agitation, asked her whether she would go in at once, or wait till she +was more composed. + +"I will go in at once; I cannot wait." And slipping from my +grasp, she crossed the hall and laid her hand upon the drawing-room +curtain, when it was suddenly lifted from within and Mary stepped out. + +"Mary!" + +"Eleanore!" + +The ring of those voices told everything. I did not need to glance +their way to know that Eleanore had fallen at her cousin's feet, and +that her cousin had affrightedly lifted her. I did not need to hear: +"My sin against you is too great; you cannot forgive me!" followed by +the low: "My shame is great enough to lead me to forgive anything!" +to know that the lifelong shadow between these two had dissolved like a +cloud, and that, for the future, bright days of mutual confidence and +sympathy were in store. + +Yet when, a half-hour or so later, I heard the door of the reception +room, into which I had retired, softly open, and looking up, saw Mary +standing on the threshold, with the light of true humility on her face, +I own that I was surprised at the softening which had taken place in +her haughty beauty. "Blessed is the shame that purifies," I inwardly +murmured, and advancing, held out my hand with a respect and sympathy I +never thought to feel for her again. + +The action seemed to touch her. Blushing deeply, she came and stood +by my side. "I thank you," said she. "I have much to be grateful for; +how much I never realized till to-night; but I cannot speak of it +now. What I wish is for you to come in and help me persuade Eleanore to +accept this fortune from my hands. It is hers, you know; was willed to +her, or would have been if--" + +"Wait," said I, in the trepidation which this appeal to me on such +a subject somehow awakened. "Have you weighed this matter well? Is it +your determined purpose to transfer your fortune into your cousin's +hands?" + +Her look was enough without the low, "Ah, how can you ask me?" +that followed it. + +Mr. Clavering was sitting by the side of Eleanore when we entered +the drawing-room. He immediately rose, and drawing me to one side, +earnestly said: + +"Before the courtesies of the hour pass between us, Mr. Raymond, +allow me to tender you my apology. You have in your possession a +document which ought never to have been forced upon you. Founded upon a +mistake, the act was an insult which I bitterly regret. If, in +consideration of my mental misery at that time, you can pardon it, I +shall feel forever indebted to you; if not----" + +"Mr. Clavering, say no more. The occurrences of that day belong to +a past which I, for one, have made up my mind to forget as soon as +possible. The future promises too richly for us to dwell on bygone +miseries." + +And with a look of mutual understanding and friendship we hastened +to rejoin the ladies. + +Of the conversation that followed, it is only necessary to state the +result. Eleanore, remaining firm in her refusal to accept property so +stained by guilt, it was finally agreed upon that it should be devoted +to the erection and sustainment of some charitable institution of +magnitude sufficient to be a recognized benefit to the city and its +unfortunate poor. This settled, our thoughts returned to our friends, +especially to Mr. Veeley. + +"He ought to know," said Mary. "He has grieved like a father over us." +And, in her spirit of penitence, she would have undertaken the +unhappy task of telling him the truth. + +But Eleanore, with her accustomed generosity, would not hear of +this. "No, Mary," said she; "you have suffered enough. Mr. Raymond +and I will go." + +And leaving them there, with the light of growing hope and +confidence on their faces, we went out again into the night, and so +into a dream from which I have never waked, though the shine of her +dear eyes have been now the load-star of my life for many happy, happy +months. + + + +End Project Gutenberg's Etext The Leavenworth Case, by Anna Katherine Green + |