The Third Volume

by Fergus Hume

  CHAPTER XLI.

  AN EXPLANATION.

  ON hearing his father's exclamation Claude turned round with a look ofsupreme astonishment. He could not understand the meaning of that suddenexclamation.

  "Father, you do not understand. This is your wife--my mother."

  "Is it, indeed?" sneered Captain Larcher, who had recovered from hismomentary emotion. "Nothing of the sort, sir. This woman is Mona Bantry,who was my wife's maid."

  "Are you sure?" cried Tait, who was beginning to be bewildered by thesesuccessive revelations.

  "Sure, sir! as sure as I am of my own innocence. As sure as I am GeorgeLarcher, this is the sister of Denis Bantry, who----"

  "Denis!"

  The interruption came from Mrs. Bezel. She had sat dumfounded at theunexpected appearance of the man whom she had thought dead, and she hadsaid nothing while assertion and denial were going on, but the mentionof her brother's name stirred her dormant faculties, and she sat uplooking wildly around.

  "Denis!" she cried, in a terrified tone. "Is Denis here?"

  "Denis is down at Thorston," said Captain Larcher gruffly, "as you nodoubt knew well enough."

  "I swear I did not. Francis told me Denis was in America."

  "Francis?" exclaimed Claude, forgetting to whom the name belonged.

  "Francis Hilliston."

  "Ah!" said Captain Larcher, with a disdainful look round. "I might haveguessed as much. Off with the dead love, on with the living. You haveamended the proverb."

  "I did not know Mark was dead, sir," exclaimed Mrs. Bezel passionately."Francis said that he had gone to America with Denis. I thought he haddone so to escape the consequences of his crime, but----"

  "Of his crime!" cried Claude. "He was the victim, poor soul, not themurderer. It was Jeringham who was killed, not my father."

  "Your father?" said Mrs. Bezel, looking steadily at Captain Larcher."Yes; it is my old master. So you are alive and he is dead. Why did youkill him, sir?"

  "I did not kill him," replied the captain quietly, "and as a counterquestion, may I ask why you passed yourself off to Claude as my wife?"

  Mrs. Bezel burst into a wild laugh, and clapped her hands together. Thenshe covered her face and commenced to weep, but in a few moments the fitof hysteria passed away, and she became cool and composed. Thrown offher balance for the time being, she had now gathered her wits together,and was ready to fight. Her folly and impulse had brought about thiscatastrophe, and it was her duty to set it right again--if she could.But the upshot of the matter was extremely doubtful.

  On his part, Captain Larcher was relieved to find that Mrs. Bezel provedto be Mona Bantry instead of his wife. Ever since the communication madeby Claude, he had suffered agonies at the thought that his wife had beenliving all these years under the protection of his false friend. Nowthat fear was set at rest once and forever. Julia Larcher had reallydied, as Hilliston had asserted, and the woman in Clarence Cottage, whohad taken her name, was the maid in place of the mistress. Out of allthe trouble Larcher extracted this morsel of comfort, his honor wasunstained.

  Meanwhile the three visitors sat waiting to hear what Mrs. Bezel had tosay. She saw that they expected a confession, and resolved to disappointthem. Leaning backward among her cushions, she closed her eyes, andplayed a waiting game. It proved successful, for in two minutes orthereabouts Captain Larcher broke out. His temper was none of the best,and recent events had not tended to improve it."

  "Well, madam," he said sharply, rapping his stick on the ground, "I amwaiting to hear what you have to say."

  "I have nothing to say," said Mrs. Bezel quietly.

  "Oh, yes, you have," began Tait. "As you set the ball----"

  But at this moment he was interrupted by Larcher.

  "I beg your pardon, Mr. Tait, but I will question this woman myself.Pray do not speak, nor you, Claude, till I have done."

  Both young men bowed their heads and acquiesced in silence. After all,the captain was the proper person to examine Mona Bantry. He knew moreof the case than anyone else, and conversant as he was with the eventsof that fatal night, he would know whether she spoke truly or falsely.Mrs. Bezel looked uneasy on hearing his resolution, but only compressedher lips tighter as though resolved to let nothing escape her. But hewas a match for her in obstinacy.

  "Now then," said Larcher, turning to her, "relate your history from themoment you left me alone with my wife twenty-five years ago at TheLaurels."

  "It would not help you if I did."

  "I'm not so sure of that. But I understand. You are afraid ofincriminating yourself."

  "I!" exclaimed Mrs. Bezel indignantly. "What have I to do with thematter. I know nothing of it. I left the house then and there, and onlyheard of the tragedy while I was concealed at Horriston, more than aweek afterward."

  "Why did you state to my son that Mrs. Larcher threatened me with thedagger."

  "So she did," said Mrs. Bezel coolly. "I saw her hand raised, I saw thedagger in it."

  "You saw the sheath of the dagger, you mean," retorted Larcher; "it fellon the floor and was found there next day. But the weapon with which thecrime was committed was lost by my wife at the ball."

  "It may have been," said the woman indifferently. "I don't know anythingabout it."

  "Did not Jeringham show it to you when you joined him in the garden?"

  "I tell you I did not see him on that night. When you found out mysecret, I was afraid that you and the mistress would betray it to mybrother Denis, so I left the room and fled. I thought Jeringham wouldjoin me at Horriston next day, but then I heard of your supposed death,and that he had fled. Until this hour I did not know that it was theother way round."

  "Did not Hilliston tell you? He knew."

  "No, Captain Larcher, he did not," said Mrs. Bezel emphatically. "Hesaid that Jeringham had gone to America with my brother."

  "Where did you go after leaving Horriston?"

  "I came to London, and remained there till my baby was born."

  "And then?"

  "I found that my money had come to an end, and called at Mr. Hilliston'soffice to ask him to help me."

  "What right had you to expect help from him."

  "I had no right, but that I knew he would assist me because of hislove."

  "His love!" exclaimed Larcher sharply. "Did Hilliston love you?"

  "Yes; I refused to have anything to do with him on account of Jeringham.But he did love me. Oh, yes, I know you thought he was in love with yourwife, but such was not the case. He loved me, and me only."

  Larcher drew a long breath, and looked puzzled. He was relieved to findthat he had not been mistaken in Hilliston, after all, yet the assertionof Mrs. Bezel only seemed to further complicate the case. If Hillistondid not love Mrs. Larcher, what possible motive could he have to killJeringham? The looks of Claude and Tait reflected his perplexity; butdismissing this special point for the moment, he pursued hisexamination.

  "How did Hilliston receive you?"

  Mrs. Bezel looked around with a bitter smile. Her meaning was clear fromthe contemptuous expression on her face.

  "Can you not guess from what you see here?" she said quietly. "FrancisHilliston bought me. He loved me well enough, but not sufficiently tomarry me. He did not ruin me, for I was already ruined. I accepted hisoffer to come here and be his mistress. What else could I do? I wasalone in London. I was friendless. I believed that my lover and mybrother had fled to America. I could not return to Horriston lest Imight be involved in the tragedy at The Laurels. I did what any otherwoman would have done, and made the best of a bad business. I acceptedthe love and protection of Francis Hilliston. The protection stillcontinues, as you see--the love, that is dead and done with."

  "I see you are thinking of Louisa Sinclair," interposed Tait quietly.

  "What do you know of Louisa Sinclair?" asked Mrs. Bezel, with a violentstart.

  "Everything, thanks to you," answered Tait. "Your letter p
ut the clewinto my head. I went to Horriston; I saw a portrait of Miss Sinclair. Iknow that she went to America after the tragedy, and returned as Mrs.Derrick, rich and beautiful, to marry Hilliston."

  "Ah, you know that much. Yes! Louisa Sinclair is my rival! Ten years agoshe came back to England and wanted Francis to marry her. I fell ill--Ibecame paralyzed. He forgot me, he forgot my love, and she became hiswife. Oh, how I hate her! I hate him. It was on that account that Iwrote to you, Claude, to reveal all."

  "You then acted out of revenge!"

  "Yes, I did!" said Mrs. Bezel sullenly. "Look at me, a wreck; look ather, his wife, rich and handsome and healthy."

  "Not healthy, poor soul," said Claude. "She is ill with the smallpox."

  "With the smallpox," echoed Mrs. Bezel joyfully. "I'm glad of it! I'mglad of it! Her beauty will depart, as mine has done. Then Francis maycome back to me."

  "You love him still?" asked Captain Larcher, in wonderment.

  "Too well to ruin him. You want me to accuse him of the crime, but Itell you he is innocent; he knows nothing."

  "He was in the garden alone on that night. None other but he----"

  "He was not alone," cried Mrs. Bezel sharply. "Louisa Sinclair was withhim. Yes, she followed him from the ball because she was jealous of me.In my flight I passed her at the gate. She had a cloak over her dress,but I saw that it was the costume of Mary, Queen of Scots."

  "And you knew her by that?"

  "Partly. My mistress told me that Miss Sinclair had a similar costume toher own, for she was very angry about it. But I saw her face as I fled.She may know who killed Jeringham. I do not. Hilliston does not. Now, Ihave told you all. Go away and leave me. I speak no more."

  "First tell us why you declared yourself to be my mother?" said Claudesharply.

  "For safety. I regretted that I had told you; that I had forcedHilliston into defending himself. I was afraid lest you should learn toomuch and denounce me as the criminal. So long as you thought I was yourmother you would not dare to do so, and therefore I told you I was Mrs.Larcher."

  "One last word," said Captain Larcher, rising to his feet. "Your child.What became of it?"

  "Hilliston took it away," said Mrs. Bezel, in a melancholy tone. "I wasill at the time and he overcame my scruples. I don't know where my childis. Often and often have I wanted to see her again, but Francis hasalways refused. Oh, where can she be?"

  "I can tell you."

  "You?" cried Mrs. Bezel, starting up in amazement.

  "Yes. Your daughter Jenny was brought by Hilliston to me. I adopted heras my child, and she is now at Thorston with her Uncle Denis--yourbrother."

  Mrs. Bezel tried to speak, but could not. With a wild glance around sheheaved a long sigh and fainted. The joy of hearing that her child wasalive proved too much for her enfeebled frame.