Wylder's Hand

by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

  CHAPTER LXIII.

  THE ACE OF HEARTS.

  'So you are going to London--_to-morrow_, is not it?' said Captain Lake,when on the green of Gylingden where visitors were promenading, and themilitia bands playing lusty polkas, he met Mr. Jos. Larkin, in lavendertrousers and kid gloves, new hat, metropolitan black frock-coat, andshining French boots--the most elegant as well as the most Christian ofprovincial attorneys.

  'Ah, yes--I think--should my engagements permit--of starting earlyto-morrow. The fact is, Captain Lake, our poor friend the vicar, youknow, the Rev. William Wylder, has pressing occasion for some money, andI can't leave him absolutely in the hands of Burlington and Smith.'

  'No, of course--quite so,' said Lake, with that sly smile which madeevery fellow on whom it lighted somehow fancy that the captain haddivined his secret. 'Very honest fellows, with good looking after--eh?'

  The attorney laughed a little awkwardly, with his pretty pink blush overhis long face.

  'Well, I'm far from saying that, but it is their business, you know, totake care of _their_ client; and it would not do to give them thehandling of _mine_. Can I do anything, Captain Lake, for you while intown?'

  'Nothing on earth, thank you very much. But I am thinking of doingsomething for you. You've interested yourself a great deal about MarkWylder's movements.'

  'Not more than my duty clearly imposed.'

  'Yes; but notwithstanding it will operate, I'm afraid, as you willpresently see, rather to his prejudice. For to prevent your conjecturalinterference from doing him a more serious mischief, I will now, andhere, if you please, divulge the true and only cause of his absconding.It is fair to mention, however, that your knowing it will make you fullyas odious to him as I am--and that, I assure you, is very odious indeed.There were four witnesses beside myself--Lieutenant-Colonel Jermyn, SirJames Carter, Lord George Vanbrugh, and Ned Clinton.

  '_Witnesses_! Captain Lake. Do you allude to a legal matter?' enquiredLarkin, with his look of insinuating concern and enquiry.

  'Quite the contrary--a very lawless matter, indeed. These four gentlemen,beside myself, were present at the occurrence. But perhaps you've heardof it?' said the captain, 'though that's not likely.'

  'Not that I recollect, Captain Lake,' answered Jos. Larkin.

  'Well, it is not a thing you'd forget easily--and indeed it was a verywell kept secret, as well as an ugly one,' and Lake smiled in his slyquizzical way.

  'And _where_, Captain Lake, did it occur, may I enquire?' said Larkin,with his charming insinuation.

  'You may, and you shall hear--in fact, I'll tell you the whole thing. Itwas at Gray's Club, in Pall Mall. The whist party were old Jermyn,Carter, Vanbrugh, and Wylder. Clinton and I were at piquet, and weredisturbed by a precious row the old boys kicked up. Jermyn and Carterwere charging Mark Wylder, in so many words, with not playingfairly--there was an ace of hearts on the table played by him, and beforethree minutes they brought it home--and in fact it was quite clear thatpoor dear Mark had helped himself to it in quite an irregular way.'

  'Oh, dear, Captain Lake, oh, dear, how shocking--how inexpressiblyshocking! Is not it _melancholy_?' said Larkin, in his finest and mostpathetic horror.

  'Yes; but don't cry till I've done,' said Lake, tranquilly. 'Mark triedto bully, but the cool old heads were too much for him, and he threwhimself at last entirely on our mercy--and very abject he became, poorthing.'

  'How well the mountains look! I am afraid we shall have rain to-morrow.'

  Larkin uttered a short groan.

  'So they sent him into the small card-room, next that we were playing in.I think we were about the last in the club--it was past threeo'clock--and so the old boys deliberated on their sentence. To bring thematter before the committee were utter ruin to Mark, and they let himoff, on these conditions--he was to retire forthwith from the club; hewas never to play any game of cards again; and, lastly, he was never moreto address any one of the gentlemen who were present at his detection.Poor dear devil!--how he did jump at the conditions;--and provided theywere each and all strictly observed, it was intimated that the occurrenceshould be kept secret. Well, you know, that was letting poor old Mark offin a coach; and I do assure you, though we had never liked one another, Ireally was very glad they did not move his expulsion--which would haveinvolved his quitting the service--and I positively don't know how hecould have lived if that had occurred.'

  'I do solemnly assure you, Captain Lake, what you have told me has beyondexpression amazed, and I will say, horrified me,' said the attorney, witha slow and melancholy vehemence. 'Better men might have suspectedsomething of it--I do solemnly pledge my honour that nothing of the kindso much as crossed my mind--not naturally suspicious, I believe, but allthe more shocked, Captain Lake, on that account'

  'He was poor then, you see, and a few pounds were everything to him, andthe temptation immense; but clumsy fellows ought not to try that sort ofthing. There's the highway--Mark would have made a capital garrotter.'

  The attorney groaned, and turned up his eyes. The band was playing 'Popgoes the weasel,' and old Jackson, very well dressed and buckled up, witha splendid smile upon his waggish, military countenance, cried, as hepassed, with a wave of his hand, 'How do, Lake--how do, Mr.Larkin--beautiful day!'

  'I've no wish to injure Mark; but it is better that you should know atonce, than go about poking everywhere for information.'

  'I do assure you----'

  'And having really no wish to hurt him,' pursued the captain, 'and alsomaking it, as I do, a point that you shall repeat this conversation aslittle as possible, I don't choose to appear singular, as your soleinformant, and I've given you here a line to Sir James Carter--he'smember, you know, for Huddlesbury. I mention, that Mark, having brokenhis promise, and played for heavy stakes, too, both on board his ship,and at Plymouth and Naples, which I happen to know; and also by accostingme, whom, as one of the gentlemen agreeing to impose these conditions, hewas never to address, I felt myself at liberty to mention it to you,holding the relation you do to me as well as to him, in consequence ofthe desirableness of placing you in possession of the true cause of hisabsconding, which was simply my telling him that I would not permit him,slurred as he was, to marry a lady who was totally ignorant of his actualposition; and, in fact, that unless he withdrew, I must acquaint theyoung lady's guardian of the circumstances.'

  There was quite enough probability in this story to warrant Jos. Larkinin turning up his eyes and groaning. But in the intervals, his shrewdeyes searched the face of the captain, not knowing whether to believe onesyllable of what he related.

  I may as well mention here, that the attorney did present the note to SirJ. Carter with which Captain Lake had furnished him; indeed, he neverlost an opportunity of making the acquaintance of a person of rank; andthat the worthy baronet, so appealed to, and being a blunt sort offellow, and an old acquaintance of Stanley's, did, in a short and testysort of way, corroborate Captain Lake's story, having previouslyconditioned that he was not to be referred to as the authority from whomMr. Larkin had learned it.

  The attorney and Captain Brandon Lake were now walking side by side overthe more sequestered part of the green.

  'And so,' said the captain, coming to a stand-still, 'I'll bid yougood-bye, Larkin; what stay, I forgot to ask, do you make in town?'

  'Only a day or two.'

  'You'll not wait for the division on Trawler's motion?'

  'Oh, dear, no. I calculate I'll be here again, certainly, in three days'time. And, I suppose, Captain Lake, you received my note?'

  'You mean just now? Oh, yes; of course it is all right; but one day is asgood as another; and you have got my agreement signed.'

  'Pardon me, Captain Brandon Lake; the fact is, one day, in this case,does _not_ answer as well as another, for I must have drafts of the deedsprepared by my conveyancer in town, and the note is indispensable.Perhaps, if there is any difficulty, you will be so good as to say so,and I shall then be in a position to consider the case in it
s newaspect.'

  'What the devil difficulty _can_ there be, Sir? I can't see it, any morethan what _hurry_ can possibly exist about it,' said Lake, stung with amomentary fury. It seemed as though everyone was conspiring to perplexand torment him; and he, like the poor vicar, though for very differentreasons, had grown intensely anxious to sell. He had grown to dread theattorney, since the arrival of Dutton's letter. He suspected that hisjourney to London had for its object a meeting with that person. He couldnot tell what might be going on in the dark. But the possibility of sucha conjunction might well dismay him.

  On the other hand, the more Mr. Larkin relied upon the truth of Dutton'sletter, the cooler he became respecting the purchase of Five Oaks. Itwas, of course, a very good thing; but not his first object. The vicar'sreversion in that case was everything; and of it he was now sure.

  'There is no difficulty about the note, Sir; it contains but four lines,and I've given you the form. No difficulty can exist but in the onequarter; and the fact is,' he added, steadily, 'unless I have that notebefore I leave to-morrow-morning, I'll assume that you wish to be off,Captain Lake, and I will adapt myself to circumstances.'

  'You may have it _now_,' said the captain, with a fierce carelessness.'D--d nonsense! Who could have fancied any such stupid hurry? Send in themorning, and you shall have it.' And the captain rather savagely turnedaway, skirting the crowd who hovered about the band, in his leisurely andnow solitary ramble.

  The captain was sullen that evening at home. He was very uncomfortable.His heart was failing him for the things that were coming to pass. One ofhis maniacal tempers, which had often before thrown him, as it were, 'offthe rails,' was at the bottom of his immediate troubles. This pronenessto sudden accesses of violence and fury was the compensation which abatedthe effect of his ordinary craft and self-command.

  He had done all he could to obviate the consequences of his folly in thiscase. He hoped the attorney might not succeed in discovering Jim Dutton'swhereabouts. At all events, he had been beforehand, and taken measures toquiet that person's dangerous resentment. But it was momentous in thecritical state of things to give this dangerous attorney a handsome sharein his stake--to place him, as he had himself said, 'in the same boat,'and enlist all his unscrupulous astuteness in maintaining his title: andif he went to London disappointed, and that things turned out unluckilyabout Dutton, it might be a very awful business indeed.

  Dinner had been a very dull _tete-a-tete_. Dorcas sat stately andsad--looking from the window toward the distant sunset horizon, piled indusky gold and crimson clouds, against the faded, green sky--a glory thatis always melancholy and dreamy. Stanley sipped his claret, his eyes uponthe cloth. He raised them and looked out, too; and the ruddy light tintedhis pale features.

  A gleam of good humour seemed to come with it, and he said,

  'I was just thinking, Dorkie, that for you and me, _alone_, these greatrooms are a little dreary. Suppose we have tea in the tapestry room.'

  'The Dutch room, Stanley--I think so--I should like it very well. So, Iam certain, would Rachel. I've written to her to come. I hope she will. Iexpect her at nine. The brougham will be with her. She wrote such an oddnote to-day, addressed to you; but _I opened it_. Here it is.'

  She did not watch his countenance, or look in his direction, as he readit. She addressed herself, on the contrary, altogether to her Liliputianwhite lap-dog, Snow, and played with his silken ears; and chatted withhim as ladies will.

  A sealed envelope broken. That scoundrel, Larcom, knew perfectly it wasmeant for _me_. He was on the point of speaking his mind, which wouldhardly have been pleasant to hear, upon this piece of detectiveimpertinence of his wife's. He could have smashed all the glass upon thetable. But he looked serene, and leaned back with the corner of Rachel'snote between two fingers. It was a case in which he clearly saw he mustcommand himself.