The House of Strange Secrets: A Detective Story
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CHAPTER XXXIV
SOLVING THE MYSTERY
At the sight of the master of Durley Dene, Squire Carrington seemeddumfounded. At first he looked as though he fancied the new-comer wouldsuddenly vanish into air.
"Good-afternoon, Major Carrington," remarked the visitor, with theutmost coolness; "you seem surprised to see me."
"Good heavens, Lestrange, I thought you were dead!"
"So did the whole world, and does now," responded the owner of the Dene.
So saying, he walked up to the bedside, and shook hands heartily withthe Squire.
"Who'd have thought we should have met under these circumstances?"observed Sir Bromley.
"Ay, sir, in the hour of my joy. You are very welcome."
"Then he is dead? I congratulate you, Carrington, from the bottom of myheart."
He turned to Lena and bowed, shook hands with Laurence, then took aseat by his old friend's bedside.
"Lestrange," said Mr. Carrington, "you look younger than you didtwenty-five years ago."
"And I feel it now, though I didn't when these young people were tryingto corner me, connecting me for some reason or other with these attemptson your life. So the--you know--is dead?"
And, without hesitation, the Squire, prompted where necessary by Lenaand Laurence, commenced to relate the whole story of his career since hehad left India, never stopping until he was able to announce that hismerciless enemy was dead.
Laurence and the girl had heard the whole story before, except that partof it concerning the second attempt to murder the old gentleman. Itappeared that the Squire was undressing on the eventful night, when,turning by chance, he saw the wall suddenly open and a terribleapparition enter. Then he fainted, and knew no more until he found Mrs.Featherston bending over him two days later. This announcement provedthat, as Laurence and Lestrange believed, the secret passage under thebarn led from Durley Dene into the Squire's bedroom.
Afterwards they explored the passage, and further proved that such wasthe case.
The Squire's narrative concluded, Sir Bromley turned to the two youngpeople, and with a smile informed them that the moment had now come whenhe could reveal his secret.
By this time, though, the Squire was quite tired out by his exertions,and, as he had but little interest in the secrets of Durley Dene, theparty withdrew, Sir Bromley bidding his old friend a hearty "au revoir,"and expressing a hope that he might see the Squire again ere long.
Once seated in the drawing-room, he seemed unwilling to relate thepromised story, but, with a little persuasion from Lena, he gave way,and proceeded with a narrative that entirely cleared up the mysteries ofthe little Yorkshire village and its two largest houses.
"I am by no means sure, even now," he began, "whether I am doing rightin divulging for your benefit the secret which I have been at such painsto keep unrevealed, and which you have tried so hard to unravel. At anyrate, I have promised to tell you the whole story, and I am going to doso. But I must ask you to let it go no farther--never to refer to iteven in conversation between yourselves. You promise? That is right.Then the Princess H---- need have no fear----"
"The Princess H----!" exclaimed Lena.
"The Princess H----" repeated the gentleman slowly; "and, if you willforgive me for saying so, I shall be unable to tell my story if I haveany interruptions, as I have much to do to-day.
"Well, as I say, my name is Bromley Lestrange, and further, I am, as youmay see for yourselves, very far from being dead.
"To explain things intelligibly, I must go back five-and-twenty years.At that remote period, as your father, Laurence, has told you in theexcellent synopsis of his career, I was commanding the 'Red Herrings'(as the old regiment was then nicknamed) at Madras. I was young for mypost, but then I had good influence with the authorities. In passing, Imay say that my looks are not a good indication of my age, which is--butwhat matter?
"As you know, I was able to assist Major Carrington in the unhappyaffair connected with the Thug opium den. It was I, as you know, whofirst caused him to realise that the enmity of the Thugs was not to bethought lightly of. I had heard strange tales of the hideous vengeancesof these human fiends. When Carrington left India, I did all that was inmy power to learn the whereabouts of the girl Lilla, but failed.However, her death was reported soon after the Squire's return toEngland, and I hastened to acquaint my old friend with the news. Then,as things do, the matter passed from my mind, and, except veryoccasionally, was not brought under my notice, until you," turning toLaurence, "told me your name on the occasion of your first visit to theDene.
"After leaving the army and Madras, which I did soon after Carrington, Iconnected myself with the Court of the Rajah of Punneoda for a shortperiod, then spent a number of years travelling. After which--it wouldbe about the time Carrington took this house, sixteen or seventeen yearsago--I returned to England, where I was able to be of some slightservice to the Princess H----, who had then lately married.
"It is necessary for you to know the circumstances of this august lady'smarriage. She was forced into a union with the late Prince H---- ofR----, though, as the busybodies said, she was pledged to another man--aman without the necessary amount of blue blood in his veins.
"She married Prince H----, who, however, died shortly after, leaving herthe mother of an infant prince, who, as you will recollect, would, hadhe lived, be now, with the exception of two lives, heir-apparent to theBritish throne. You may also recall the fact that the circumstances ofPrince H----'s death, and likewise that of his son, were, to say theleast of it, remarkable. In the first instance, you may take it from methat the prince did not succumb to the illness specified by the twoRoyal physicians. He was afflicted with a far more terrible complaintthan that of apoplexy. When I reach the end of the story you may judgefor yourself what it was.
"Concerning the young prince there were also sinister rumours about thetime of his birth. Some said he was born blind, others that he wasdeformed, a few that he had died and another infant been substitutedwithout the mother's knowledge; but all these reports were incorrect,though there was, indeed, something peculiar about the Royal infant. Infact, the child from its birth was blind, deaf, and dumb!
"Very wisely, this terrible state of affairs was withheld from theworld, but the difficulties to be overcome to ensure the secret beingkept were very great. As you know, the Princess H----, until the deathof her child, at the age of four, resided in the country, where she keptup a small establishment, and lived a remarkably quiet life. The papersstated that the Royal child had died of a severe chill, which had causeda relapse of bronchitis--an ailment to which the boy was supposed to bea martyr. The funeral was necessarily a public affair, but it wasnoticed that remarkably few Royal personages were present. Why?
"Because," and when Sir Bromley said the words, it was in a whisper,"because the funeral was a sham one--because the child was not dead!" Hepaused, wiped his forehead with his silk handkerchief, then resumed--
"It was at this time that the newspapers were requested by his sorrowingrelatives (all of whom were actually deceived) to announce the death ofSir Bromley Lestrange from cholera. 'The deceased gentleman,' it wassaid, 'had succumbed to the fell disease while spending a short holidayin Shanghai.'
"Two or three weeks later, an elderly merchant, named Goode, bought asmall house in the Highlands of Scotland, where he spent a number ofyears in the most retiring fashion, the only other inmate of the housebeing apparently his sister. As a matter of fact, there was acomfortably furnished room in the house in which a small child passedits miserable existence, but not a soul in the neighbourhood, beyond theworthy merchant and his sister, knew of the existence of the child. NeedI say that Mr. Goode was Sir Bromley Lestrange, Miss Goode a MissLestrange, and the child the 'dead son' and heir of the Princess H----?
"Years passed, and the child became more and more unmanageable. Therewere occasions when he seemed to be possessed of the strength of aHercules. It required a second man to look after him. A young
doctor washeavily paid to live in the house, and Miss Goode disappeared--toreappear in the world of society, after 'travelling on the Continent'for several years, as Miss Lestrange, 'younger sister of the late SirBromley Lestrange, Kt.,' the _Court Gazettes_ mentioned in their'chit-chat.'
"The young doctor made a discovery when he first examined the child inMr. Goode's country residence, which, had it been noised abroad, wouldhave explained the mystery of the father's (Prince H----) death.
"The boy was a raving maniac of the most dangerous kind."