by G. A. Henty
Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)
A SEARCH FOR A SECRET.
A Novel.
BY G. A. HENTY.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON: TINSLEY BROTHERS, 18, CATHERINE ST., STRAND. 1867.
LONDON: WYMAN AND SONS, PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S-INN FIELDS, W.C.
CONTENTS OF VOL II.
CHAPTER I. A FAMILY CONCLAVE
CHAPTER II. SWIFT RETRIBUTION
CHAPTER III. THE SEARCH COMMENCED
CHAPTER IV. EVIL DAYS
CHAPTER V. OVERTURES FROM THE ENEMY
CHAPTER VI. THE PRIEST'S CHAMBER
CHAPTER VII. THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE
CHAPTER VIII. STRUGGLES FOR A LIVING
CHAPTER IX. POLLY TO THE RESCUE
CHAPTER X. ALLIES FROM ALSATIA
CHAPTER XI. THE COUP DE MAIN
CHAPTER XII. AFTER THE BATTLE
CHAPTER XIII. A YOUNG WIDOW
CHAPTER I.
A FAMILY CONCLAVE.
For some little time after Dr. Ashleigh's carriage drove off from HarmerPlace, not a word was spoken. The scene through which its occupants hadpassed, had left a deep impression upon them--even upon Mr. Petersfield,who was by no means of a nature to be easily moved. Dr. Ashleigh feltgreatly the words he had spoken, the wrong which had been committed, andthe thought of his children's altered future. Harry felt more indignantthan hurt; he was too astonished and angry to reflect yet how much itwould affect himself. Perhaps if he had one wish more predominant thananother, it was that the Misses Harmer were but men--men of about hisown age, and that he could get them into some quiet spot--by Jove, wouldnot he find out where the will was hidden!
But Robert Gregory felt the disappointment with all its force. To himthe blow had been so overwhelming and crushing, that his fierce temperwas beaten down and mastered by it; and he had borne it with a sense ofdull despair, very unlike the passionate outburst of wrath which mighthave been expected from him. Only when Miss Harmer had turned upon himso fiercely, had the blood rushed to his cheek, and had not Dr. Ashleighinterposed, he would doubtless have given way to a burst of passion; butwith a great effort he had checked himself; desperate as he was, he knewthat Dr. Ashleigh stood in a far higher and better position in the casethan he did himself; it was to his interest that the doctor should takethe lead, for he felt that what hopes remained rested solely in him.
Dr. Ashleigh was certainly favourably impressed with his conductthroughout this trying interview; he knew that to this man the loss ofthe will was a terrible blow, the defeat of all his plots and schemes,and he was surprised and pleased that he had behaved with so muchself-control, and had avoided creating a stormy and violent scene.
"Mr. Gregory," he said at last, breaking the silence for the first timeas they were entering Canterbury, "I know that this is a grievous blowto you, as it is to us all. I think you had better follow out youroriginal plan of returning this evening to your wife in London. You cansafely leave the matter in my hands; I am, for the sake of my children,interested in this affair equally with yourself, and you may rely that Ishall spare no pains to come to the bottom of it. What search and stiris made, will come with a far better grace from me than from yourself,and you may depend upon my letting you know, the instant the slightestclue is gained to the mystery."
Robert Gregory in a few words thanked the doctor, agreed that such acourse was best, and that at any rate until Sophy was perfectlyrecovered, he would leave the affair in his hands.
Dr. Ashleigh then turned to Mr. Petersfield and asked him if he wouldcome on to Ramsgate, and stay the night with him, to chat over theaffair in quiet, and determine upon the best course to be pursued. Mr.Petersfield agreed to stop for the night, saying that he must return totown by the early train in the morning, but that if they would promisethat he should do that, he would accompany them.
As this was arranged, they drove into the station, and here the partyseparated; Dr. Ashleigh, Harry, and Mr. Petersfield to go on toRamsgate, Robert Gregory to return to London. The latter preserved hisquiet demeanour until he was alone in a railway carriage, and then hegave full vent to his fury and disappointment. He raved aloud; he cursedhimself, his fortune, and all connected with him; he poured imprecationsof every kind and description upon the heads of the Misses Harmer; andhis last exclamation as he flung himself down in a corner of thecarriage, was, "Let them beware, for by----I will find it, if it is inexistence, if it costs me my life!--or," he added, after a pause, "themtheirs!"
I now resume my own narrative. How surprised I was that evening whenthey came in. Of course, just at first I was too much occupied inkissing Harry--whom I now saw for the first time, as he had only arrivedfrom the North the evening before--to notice anything strange abouttheir manner. Then papa introduced me to Mr. Petersfield; and after Ihad spoken a word or two to him, and had time to look at all theirfaces, I saw that there was a great gloom upon them, greater even thanthe occasion warranted; for I had been expecting some little jokingremark from papa about my being a woman of property now, so that I wasthe more struck by the subdued expression of his face.
"Is anything the matter, papa?" I asked, quietly.
"Yes, my dear, a great deal is the matter, I am sorry to say. Mr.Harmer's will is missing."
"Missing, papa!" I exclaimed, almost incredulously.
"Yes, my love; you must not take it too much to heart; it may come tolight yet, but at present it is missing."
I sat down with a faint feeling in my heart. It was not that I cared forthe money for its own sake; but I thought of Lady Desborough, and I felta rush of coming trouble sweep round me. However, after a moment, Idrove back the feeling, and asked, in as cheerful a voice as I could,--
"But how is it missing, papa?"
"Ah, my dear, that is the rub. Mr. Harmer had it in the house, and nowit is nowhere to be found. We all believe--indeed, there can be littledoubt--that Miss Harmer has concealed it, or, at any rate, that sheknows where it has been hidden away. I have noticed the last week astrange manner, a sort of secret understanding between the sisters, butthought little about it at the time. Now, however, I can understand itall by the light of the present state of affairs; and I remember now,what I smiled at at the time as an impotent threat, that Miss Harmersaid, in her passion, that while she lived, Sophy's husband should neverenter the doors of Harmer Place."
"But, papa," I said, "she has a very good life-income; why should she dosuch a thing as this?"
"There are several reasons, my dear; but we will talk them over aftertea. I am hungry and tired, and I am sure Mr. Petersfield and Harry arethe same; so let us have tea at once; that will do us all good, and weshall be able to look at matters in a far more cheerful lightafterwards. What are you going to give us, my dear?"
"Cold pie, papa, and some fresh-boiled mackerel, and a dish of prawnsand some muffins."
"Capital! Now we will go and wash our hands, and make ourselvescomfortable, and by that time you will be ready for us."
They were soon down again, and seated round the table, and papa began toquestion Harry about his work in the North; and Harry, who was neverdepressed above five minutes about anything, entered into a most amusingdescription of his life on the railway; and we were all laughingmerrily, in spite of our troubles, before tea was over. I am sure no onewho had looked in upon us would have guessed that we had that day
asgood as lost L50,000 between us. When we had done, papa said,--
"There, my dear, we are all a hundred per cent better. Now, as we havetaken one great consoler--tea, let us take another--tobacco. I am sureHarry is dying for a pipe; and although I do not often smoke indoors, onthis special occasion I will make an exception. What say you, Mr.Petersfield?"
"I am very fond of a good cigar," the lawyer said, producing acigar-case; "but will not Miss Ashleigh object?"
"Not at all," I said. "Harry always smokes when he is at home, and I amquite accustomed to it. If I find it too much, I can easily open thewindow a little."
The tea-things were soon cleared away, and we took our seats round thefire. For although the weather was not actually cold, we usually had afire in the evening, as, indeed, by the seaside one can do almost allthe year round with comfort. Papa sat on one side, I on a stool by him,Harry next, and Mr. Petersfield on the other side. As soon as the cigarsand pipe were fairly alight, the table cleared, and we alone, papabegan,--
"Now, my dear, I will answer the question you asked me before tea; and Ishall do so at length, as what I am saying to you may be some sort ofguide and assistance to Mr. Petersfield, who--from his late partner, Mr.Ransome, having had the management of Mr. Harmer's affairs--does notknow very much of the business."
Papa then explained the whole history of the Harmers nearly as I havetold it, although of course in far fewer words. "Thus you see," heconcluded, "there are several reasons which we may suppose, actuate theMiss Harmers. The first and principal, is the religious question. TheMisses Harmer were, as I have said, educated in a convent; they werebrought up to, and have ever since lived a life of ascetic severity.They have been taught to look upon the advancement of their Church asthe thing to be striven for upon earth, the _summum bonum_ to be aimedat. They were accustomed to consider the Harmer estate as destined to goto the furtherance of that object; and when Herbert Harmer by theaccidental death of his two brothers, suddenly succeeded to it, theylooked upon it as absolutely stolen from the Church, to which it was, bythe elder brother's will, to have gone. They then left the house, wentabroad, and did not return until the death of Gerald Harmer seemed againto open the way for them. They have since resided there off and on, inhopes probably that their brother might return to his old faith, mightdie without a will, or, in fact, that some unexpected contingency mighthappen. The last three or four years since Mr. Harmer's declaredintentions relative to Sophy and yourselves, they have very muchintermitted their visits, and only returned on the news of theirbrother's first paralytic seizure. Thus, you see, the last twenty yearsof their lives, may be said to have been given to the endeavour; and thetemptation to them to suppress the will is of course enormous, in orderthat the property may come to them, and afterwards, as their eldestbrother intended, to the Romish Church. They have, besides this, anothermotive now, and one which, no doubt, greatly soothes their consciences.They are mercilessly severe upon Sophy, they look upon her as theirbrother's murderess, and they therefore have the twofold satisfaction ofpunishing her--and so of avenging their brother's death--and ofenriching their own Church."
"Strong inducements, my dear sir," Mr. Petersfield, who was a bachelor,said, "religion and malice, the two strongest motive powers in thefemale, especially the elderly female, mind."
"Mr. Petersfield," I said, "remember that I am here, and that you aretalking treason."
"I apologize humbly, Miss Ashleigh," he said, smiling. "But really," hecontinued to papa, "what you say explains the whole matter, and gives itan even more awkward appearance, in my eyes, than it had before. Thequestion is, what is to be done?"
"Ah! what is to be done?" papa repeated; "that is indeed a difficultquestion to decide upon. I believe the will to be in existence, and I donot think they will venture to destroy it; it is one thing to allow awill to lie hid in a secret drawer, another to take it out anddeliberately burn it: one requires a very different degree of courageand hardihood to the other. No, I do not think they will venture todestroy it."
"I do not think they will," Mr. Petersfield said; "they quailed sounmistakably under your denunciations. Do you know, doctor, I give yougreat credit for that, it was grand, sir!" and the lawyer rubbed hishands at the thought. "I give you my word, I never saw anything betterdone in the whole of my professional experience."
Harry laughed. "Yes, father, you actually alarmed me at the time; youwere awfully impressive."
Papa could not help smiling a little. "Was I?" he said. "Well, I meantto be. I the women to be extremely superstitious; I have heard themconfess to a belief in spirits and apparitions; and it flashed across methat the best thing I could do, to prevent them destroying the will, wasto touch them on that score, and I do think it is safe for a time. Oneof the worst features to my mind is the appearance of that FatherEustace. Where does he come from? Who sent for him? They said he hadcome from abroad, and as he is an Italian, they must have telegraphedfor him."
"I think I can find that out," Harry said. "Dick Thornton, who is one ofthe telegraph clerks, was at school with me, and I have no doubt I canget out of him who the message was sent to, and who sent it, even if Icannot get the words themselves."
"Do," Mr. Petersfield said; "that message might be of great value tous."
"By the way, Mr. Petersfield," papa said, "there is a point which hasjust occurred to me, which may serve to guide us materially in oursearch. Do you keep all Mr. Harmer's deeds and papers?"
"Not all; we keep the title-deeds of the property, and that sort ofthing, but he himself keeps the copies of his tenants' leases, andpapers of that kind, to which he may have occasion to refer in hisdealings with them. But why do you ask the question?"
"It is a very important one, my dear sir, and I am pleased with youranswer."
"How so?" the lawyer asked, rather puzzled.
"In this way: if the will had been the only important document at HarmerPlace, it might have been kept in any of the drawers we searched to-day,and the Misses Harmer might have removed it last week, and eitherdestroyed or concealed it in their rooms, or in any other place, wherewe could never find it. Now, we have every reason to believe it is notso, for in that case, they would have left the leases, and otherdocuments, and we should have found them. It is quite clear to my mind,then, that Mr. Harmer had some secret place of concealment, to which healluded when he told your clerk that all the burglars in the world couldnot find it; and in this place of concealment the whole of these papers,together with the will, are stowed away, and the Misses Harmer, who nodoubt know of the existence of this place of concealment, will beperhaps content to let them remain there, and relying upon the secrecyof the hiding-place, will not be tempted to destroy the will."
"Capital, my dear sir," Mr. Petersfield exclaimed energetically, "youare quite right, and it is indeed, as you say, a great point gained.Before, we had a solitary document to look for, which might be containedand hid away in any small space, a drawer with a double bottom, awoman's desk, or sewed up in her stays--I beg your pardon, MissAshleigh--in fact, in any small out-of-the-way corner. Now we have someregular receptacle to look for, capable of holding bulky documents--atany rate, a good-sized box. This is indeed a great point gained. Therethe will is beyond doubt, for I think the Miss Harmers' faces were quitesufficient evidence that it is not destroyed; besides, we may reasonablysuppose that the box is not concealed about the Misses Harmer's rooms,but is where it was originally placed by their brother; the questionarises, 'Where the deuce is that?'"
"I can guess where it is," I said.
"Where?" the other three exclaimed, simultaneously.
"In the 'priest's chamber,' wherever that may be," I answered. "Iremember well, that when I was once talking to Mr. Harmer about the oldtimes, and old houses and their hiding-places, he said that Harmer Placewas celebrated as having one of the snuggest hiding-places in thekingdom, and that many a priest had lain hidden there for months. Iasked him if he knew where it was, and he told me that he did; for thatwhen a boy he had g
one into it on some occasion or other with hisfather, and that when he came back and took possession of the house, hehad again examined it, and found it such a snug hiding-place, that heused it as a sort of strong room; he promised that some day or other hewould show it to me, but I never thought to ask him, and, unfortunately,he never mentioned it again."
"By Jove," Harry exclaimed, "we shall find it yet!" while papa and Mr.Petersfield uttered exclamations of surprise and satisfaction.
"Sure enough, doctor, the will is in the 'priest's chamber.' The onlyquestion is, how are we to find it, and how are we to get into it whenwe do?"
"I should think there can be no difficulty about that," Harry said; "allwe have to do is to go before a magistrate, and swear that the will isthere, and get a search warrant to examine for it."
Mr. Petersfield smiled. "You would find a great difficulty in gettingsuch a warrant."
"Why so?" Harry asked indignantly. "Do you mean to say that if we knewthere was a will hidden in a certain place, which will left us all theproperty, that we should have no right to go in and search for it?"
"It would be a very delicate matter indeed," Mr. Petersfield said, "verydelicate; but still not impossible. By the 7 and 8 statute of the 14 ofGeorge, chapter 29, s. 22, it is enacted that if any person shall eitherduring the lifetime or after the death of any person steal, or for anyfraudulent purpose conceal any will, codicil, or other testamentaryinstrument, they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convictedthereof, be liable to various punishments. And by the same statute,chapter 29, s. 63, it says if any credible witness shall prove upon oathbefore a justice of the peace, a reasonable cause to suspect that anyperson has in his possession, or on his premises, any propertywhatsoever, or in respect to which any such offence (such as stealing awill, &c.,) shall have been committed, the justice may grant a warrantto search for such property, as in the case of stolen goods. Now by thisAct it is clear that a warrant could be obtained upon an affidavit thatyou believed, as you do believe, that the will exists; but that wouldnot allow you to pull the house to pieces, and it is quite certain thatin no other way would you discover a chamber built for the purpose ofconcealment, and which you say baffled the priest-hunters of the oldtime--men who were pretty well accustomed to the finding of this sort ofhiding-place, and who knew exactly where they were likely to besituated. You would never find it; and even while you were searching forit, Miss Harmer might enter by the secret door--wherever that maybe--and abstract or destroy the will, without your being one bit thewiser; or, at any rate, she would be certain after you had given up thehopeless search and left, to destroy the will to prevent the possibilityof your ever trying again with better fortune. No, your best course isto find out, first, where the chamber is; next, how to get into it; andwhen these two points are discovered, we can arrange about going in andtaking possession of the will without asking any one's leave in thematter. That is, I believe, our only chance of recovering it--bystrategy. Take one of the servants into your pay, and get her to searchfor the chamber. This I leave to you, as of course you are acquaintedwith some of the domestics. I do not know that I have anything morewhich I can suggest at present. Should anything strike me, I will writefrom town, and, as I go by the early train, I will now, with yourpermission, retire to bed. You will of course write to me immediatelyyou find out anything which may seem to you to have the smallest bearingupon the affair. I should especially advise that you do not hint to anyone your belief in the existence of the will, as it may get to MissHarmer's ears; and although, if she believes that no search is beingmade for it, she may be content to let it remain for years concealed asat present, you may be assured that should she believe that you areworking to find it, either she or the priest will destroy it at once."We all agreed in the propriety of following this advice, and thenseparated for the night.
The next morning I got up at six, to make breakfast for Mr. Petersfieldbefore he started. He was pleased at my having done so. We had not muchtime for talk, but before he went, I said,--
"Honestly, Mr. Petersfield, do you think we shall ever find the will?"
"Honestly, my dear Miss Ashleigh, I am very much afraid you never will.It is a lamentable affair, and I am certain in my own mind that it is inexistence, and that its place of concealment is known to the MissesHarmer; but under the circumstances of the case, I feel assured that,even on their death-beds, there is no chance of their ever revealingwhere it is. Your only chance, in my mind, is in finding thehiding-place; direct all your energies to this point; find that chamber,and you may be assured you will find the will."
When the others came down to breakfast at nine o'clock, I proposed thatwe should return at once to Canterbury; but papa said that this affairwould cause so much talk and excitement in the place, that we should bequite overwhelmed with calls from every one, and have to repeat thewhole story a dozen times a day, which would be a terrible infliction,and that as he and Harry would be mostly out, I should have to bear thewhole brunt of the attack. So it was settled that we should stay there,at any rate a week or ten days longer, until the first stir andexcitement were over. So papa and Harry went over every day toCanterbury, and I remained quietly down at Ramsgate. For some days theybrought back no news of any importance, but one day towards the end ofthe week papa came back to dinner alone, and Harry did not arrive untilnearly ten o'clock. As he came in he told us that he had had a long chatwith his friend Thornton of the telegraph office.
"And what have you learnt, Harry?" I asked.
"I will tell you all about it, my dear, directly I have made myselfcomfortable;" and he proceeded with the most provoking coolness to takeoff his coat and gloves, and to arrange himself in a chair before thefire. "Now I will tell you. I went down to the station to-day, and thereI saw Dick Thornton. He shook hands with me, and said--what every onesays--'This is a bad job, Harry.' 'A devilish bad job' I answered."
"Never mind the expletives, Harry," I put in, "we can imagine them."
"Don't interrupt me, Agnes, or I won't tell you anything. 'I want tohave a chat with you, Thornton,' I said. 'When can I see you?' 'I don'tget away from here till six.' 'Well, suppose you come round to our placeand have a chat with me when you get away.' 'Done,' he said. AccordinglyI had a snug little dinner cooked, got a bottle of wine up from thecellar, and at about half-past six Dick came in. After we had dined, andhad talked over the whole affair, I told him he could do me a greatservice by telling me whether the Misses Harmer had sent off atelegraphic message, and if so, where. 'It would lose me my place, if itwere known I had told you, Harry,' he said. 'I know it would,' Ianswered; 'but what you say will not go any further; indeed it is moreas a matter of curiosity that we may find out where the priest camefrom, than from any action we can take from it.' 'Well, Harry,' he said,'I will tell you all about it, and you can make what use you like of it;the place is not so first-rate that I should care very much if I did getthe sack in consequence. One of the servants from Harmer Place--I shouldsay Miss Harmer's own maid, for she was a stiff foreign-lookingwoman--came down upon that Friday afternoon, with a note and a message.I was alone at the time, for the other clerk happened to be away. Themessage was in Italian; it was that which made me notice itparticularly, and when I got home I took the trouble to get a dictionaryto see what it was about. I could not make much of it, and I forget theItalian words, but the English was--"To the Bishop of Ravenna, Italy. Heis dead--much can be done, if lawful, for the mother--send advice andassistance." 'And did you get an answer,' I asked. 'Yes, the answer cameon Sunday morning; I always attend there between half-past nine andhalf-past ten. It was also in Italian. "All is lawful for themother--advice and aid have started."'"
"Father Eustace to wit," papa said.
"That is all," Harry concluded, "that Thornton told me. Of course I saidI was very much obliged to him, and that I would take good care that itnever was known from whom I got the information. And now, I suppose themother they talk of means Mother Church, but who is the Bishop ofRavenna?"
&nb
sp; "I remember," papa said thoughtfully, "that about three years ago MissHarmer said she was delighted to hear that the confessor, or visitor, orwhatever they call him, of the convent where they formerly lived so manyyears, and where they always stayed whenever they went upon theContinent, had just been made a bishop; and her only regret was that itwas to some place in the north of Italy, whereas their convent was atFlorence. I remember the fact specially, because, after the sisters hadleft the room, their poor brother said to me, 'Between you and I,doctor, I should have been much better pleased to have heard that theexcellent priest had received his promotion to heaven. That man has hada complete ascendancy over my sisters for many years. He is, I believe,some four or five years younger than they are, but at any rate he hasbeen the confessor or whatever it is of their convent, ever since theywere there, twenty-four or five years ago. He is, I judge by what theysay, a gloomy fanatical man, whose ambition is to do service to hisChurch, and, I suppose, rise in it--at any rate, he has a completeascendancy over them, by his ascetic life and devotion to the Church.They correspond with him frequently, and I cannot help thinking that hisadvice and orders--given in his letters, and whenever they go overthere, which they do constantly--have tended greatly to make them thegloomy unhappy women they are. They were, it is true, brought up withextreme strictness and austerity, but I cannot help thinking that muchof that would have worn off, if it had not been for this man'sinfluence.'
"No doubt," papa continued, "Mr. Harmer was right, and all their actionsare dictated by this priest; it was he who ordered them to make friendswith their brother, at Gerald Harmer's death, and to come over here andtake up their abode,--I know they were at that convent when they heardthe news, and that they had announced their intention of staying therepermanently--and now he has sent over this Father Eustace. The man looksa religious enthusiast, and there is no doubt that he will never allowthem to change their minds even were they disposed. Altogether, mychildren, it is evident the only remaining chance is to find out thesecret chamber. If we can discover that, well and good; if not, it willbe wiser for us, painful as the disappointment is, to give up all hopeof finding the will, and to endeavour to go on as if it had never had anexistence. It is a most unfortunate affair now, Sir John having died."
"It is, indeed," Harry answered, "Sir John would have pushed me on, andI should have had no difficulty, even without capital, in making myway."
Sir John, to whom papa alluded, I should say was the engineer to whomHarry had been articled. Harry's time had run out now three or fourmonths, and he was only remaining in the North on a small salary,completing the piece of work on which he was engaged. His old master haddied only a month before this time. When this piece of work wasfinished, Harry had intended buying a partnership in some good business,with the L10,000 Mr. Harmer had promised him for the purpose.
"Yes, it is very unfortunate his having died," Harry said; "unless onehas a good patron of that sort to push one on, it makes up-hill work ofit. Not that I care much; I can fight my way well enough;" and Harrystretched his great shoulders, and looked as confident and cheerful asif he had just gained a legacy, instead of losing one. "I shall go backin another two or three days to my work," he said; "it will not lastmuch more than another month; and in the meantime I shall be on thelook-out for something else."