CHAPTER XIV
THE TEMPTING OF MR. BLATHERWICK
Wolfenden was careful to reach the hall before the dinner gong hadsounded. His father greeted him warmly, and Wolfenden was surprised tosee so little outward change in him. He was carefully dressed, wellgroomed in every respect, and he wore a delicate orchid in hisbutton-hole.
During dinner he discussed the little round of London life and itsvarious social events with perfect sanity, and permitted himself hisusual good-natured grumble at Wolfenden for his dilatoriness in thechoice of a profession.
He did not once refer to the subject of his own weakness until desserthad been served, when he passed the claret to Wolfenden without fillinghis own glass.
"You will excuse my not joining you," he said to his son, "but I havestill three or four hours' writing to do, and such work as mine requiresa very clear head--you can understand that, I daresay."
Wolfenden assented in silence. For the first time, perhaps, he fullyrealised the ethical pity of seeing a man so distinguished the victim ofa hopeless and incurable mania. He watched him sitting at the head ofhis table, courteous, gentle, dignified; noted too the air ofintellectual abstraction which followed upon his last speech, and inwhich he seemed to dwell for the rest of the time during which they sattogether. Instinctively he knew what disillusionment must mean for him.Sooner anything than that. It must never be. Never! he repeated firmlyto himself as he smoked a solitary cigar later on in the emptysmoking-room. Whatever happens he must be saved from that. There was aknock at the door, and in response to his invitation to enter, Mr.Blatherwick came in. Wolfenden, who was in the humour to prefer anyone's society to his own, greeted him pleasantly, and wheeled up an easychair opposite to his own.
"Come to have a smoke, Blatherwick?" he said. "That's right. Try one ofthese cigars; the governor's are all right, but they are in suchshocking condition."
Mr. Blatherwick accepted one with some hesitation, and puffed slowly atit with an air of great deliberation. He was a young man of milddemeanour and deportment, and clerical aspirations. He wore thickspectacles, and suffered from chronic biliousness.
"I am much obliged to you, Lord Wolfenden," he said. "I seldom smokecigars--it is not good for my sight. An occasional cigarette is all Ipermit myself."
Wolfenden groaned inwardly, for his regalias were priceless and not tobe replaced; but he said nothing.
"I have taken the liberty, Lord Wolfenden," Mr. Blatherwick continued,"of bringing for your inspection a letter I received this morning. Itis, I presume, intended for a practical joke, and I need not say that Iintend to treat it as such. At the same time as you were in the house, Iimagined that no--er--harm would ensue if I ventured to ask for youropinion."
He handed an open letter to Wolfenden, who took it and read it through.It was dated "---- London," and bore the postmark of the previous day.
"MR. ARNOLD BLATHERWICK.
"DEAR SIR,--The writer of this letter is prepared to offer you one thousand pounds in return for a certain service which you are in a position to perform. The details of that service can only be explained to you in a personal interview, but broadly speaking it is as follows:--
"You are engaged as private secretary to the Earl of Deringham, lately an admiral in the British Navy. Your duties, it is presumed, are to copy and revise papers and calculations having reference to the coast defences and navy of Great Britain. The writer is himself engaged upon a somewhat similar task, but not having had the facilities accorded to Lord Deringham, is without one or two important particulars. The service required of you is the supplying of these, and for this you are offered one thousand pounds.
"As a man of honour you may possibly hesitate to at once embrace this offer. You need not! Lord Deringham's work is practically useless, for it is the work of a lunatic. You yourself, from your intimate association with him, must know that this statement is true. He will never be able to give coherent form to the mass of statistics and information which he has collected. Therefore you do him no harm in supplying these few particulars to one who will be able to make use of them. The sum you are offered is out of all proportion to their value--a few months' delay and they could easily be acquired by the writer without the expenditure of a single halfpenny. That, however, is not the point.
"I am rich and I have no time to spare. Hence this offer. I take it that you are a man of common sense, and I take it for granted, therefore, that you will not hesitate to accept this offer. Your acquiescence will be assumed if you lunch at the Grand Hotel, Cromer, between one and two, on Thursday following the receipt of this letter. You will then be put in full possession of all the information necessary to the carrying out of the proposals made to you. You are well known to the writer, who will take the liberty of joining you at your table."
The letter ended thus somewhat abruptly. Wolfenden, who had only glancedit through at first, now re-read it carefully. Then he handed it back toBlatherwick.
"It is a very curious communication," he said thoughtfully, "a verycurious communication indeed. I do not know what to think of it."
Mr. Blatherwick laid down his cigar with an air of great relief. Hewould have liked to have thrown it away, but dared not.
"It must surely be intended for a practical joke, Lord Wolfenden," hesaid. "Either that, or my correspondent has been ludicrouslymisinformed."
"You do not consider, then, that my father's work is of any value atall?" Wolfenden asked.
Mr. Blatherwick coughed apologetically, and watched the extinction ofthe cigar by his side with obvious satisfaction.
"You would, I am sure, prefer," he said, "that I gave you a perfectlystraightforward answer to that question. I--er--cannot conceive that thework upon which his lordship and I are engaged can be of the slightestinterest or use to anybody. I can assure you, Lord Wolfenden, that mybrain at times reels--positively reels--from the extraordinary nature ofthe manuscripts which your father has passed on to me to copy. It is notthat they are merely technical, they are absolutely and entirelymeaningless. You ask me for my opinion, Lord Wolfenden, and I conceiveit to be my duty to answer you honestly. I am quite sure that hislordship is not in a fit state of mind to undertake any serious work."
"The person who wrote that letter," Wolfenden remarked, "thoughtotherwise."
"The person who wrote that letter," Mr. Blatherwick retorted quickly,"if indeed it was written in good faith, is scarcely likely to know somuch about his lordship's condition of mind as I, who have spent thegreater portion of every day for three months with him."
"Do you consider that my father is getting worse, Mr. Blatherwick?"Wolfenden asked.
"A week ago," Mr. Blatherwick said, "I should have replied that hislordship's state of mind was exactly the same as when I first came here.But there has been a change for the worse during the last week. Itcommenced with his sudden, and I am bound to say, unfounded suspicionsof Miss Merton, whom I believe to be a most estimable and worthy younglady."
Mr. Blatherwick paused, and appeared to be troubled with a slight cough.The smile, which Wolfenden was not altogether able to conceal, seemedsomewhat to increase his embarrassment.
"The extraordinary occurrence of last night, which her ladyship hasprobably detailed to you," Mr. Blatherwick continued, "was the nextdevelopment of what, I fear, we can only regard as downright insanity. Iregret having to speak so plainly, but I am afraid that any milderphrase would be inapplicable."
"I am very sorry to hear this," Wolfenden remarked gravely.
"Under the circumstances," Mr. Blatherwick said, picking up his cigarwhich was now extinct, and immediately laying it down again, "I trustthat you and Lady Deringham will excuse my not giving the customarynotice of my desire to leave. It is of course impossible for me tocontinue to draw a--er--a stipend such as I am in receipt of forservices so ludicrously inadequate."
"Lady Deringha
m will be sorry to have you go," Wolfenden said. "Couldn'tyou put up with it a little longer?"
"I would much prefer to leave," Mr. Blatherwick said decidedly. "I amnot physically strong, and I must confess that his lordship's attitudeat times positively alarms me. I fear that there is no doubt that hecommitted an unprovoked assault last night upon that unfortunate keeper.There is--er--no telling whom he might select for his next victim. Ifquite convenient, Lord Wolfenden, I should like to leave to-morrow by anearly train."
"Oh! you can't go so soon as that," Wolfenden said. "How about thisletter?"
"You can take any steps you think proper with regard to it," Mr.Blatherwick answered nervously. "Personally, I have nothing to do withit. I thought of going to spend a week with an aunt of mine in Cornwall,and I should like to leave by the early train to-morrow."
Wolfenden could scarcely keep from laughing, although he was a littleannoyed.
"Look here, Blatherwick," he said, "you must help me a little before yougo, there's a good fellow. I don't doubt for a moment what you say aboutthe poor old governor's condition of mind; but at the same time it'srather an odd thing, isn't it, that his own sudden fear of having hiswork stolen is followed up by the receipt of this letter to you? Thereis some one, at any rate, who places a very high value upon hismanuscripts. I must say that I should like to know whom that letter camefrom."
"I can assure you," Mr. Blatherwick said, "that I have not the faintestidea."
"Of course you haven't," Wolfenden assented, a little impatiently. "Butdon't you see how easy it will be for us to find out? You must go to theGrand Hotel on Thursday for lunch, and meet this mysterious person."
"I would very much rather not," Mr. Blatherwick declared promptly. "Ishould feel exceedingly uncomfortable; I should not like it at all!"
"Look here," Wolfenden said persuasively "I must find out who wrote thatletter, and can only do so with your help. You need only be there, Iwill come up directly I have marked the man who comes to your table.Your presence is all that is required; and I shall take it as a favourif you will allow me to make you a present of a fifty-pound note."
Mr. Blatherwick flushed a little and hesitated. He had brothers andsisters, whose bringing up was a terrible strain upon the slim purse ofhis father, a country clergyman, and a great deal could be done withfifty pounds. It was against his conscience as well as his inclinationsto remain in a post where his duties were a farce, but this wasdifferent.
He sighed.
"You are very generous, Lord Wolfenden," he said. "I will stay untilafter Thursday."
"There's a good fellow," Wolfenden said, much relieved. "Have anothercigar?"
Mr. Blatherwick rose hastily, and shook his head. "You must excuse me,if you please," he said. "I will not smoke any more. I think if you willnot mind----"
Wolfenden turned to the window and held up his hand.
"Listen!" he said. "Is that a carriage at this time of night?"
A carriage it certainly was, passing by the window. In a moment theyheard it draw up at the front door, and some one alighted.
"Odd time for callers," Wolfenden remarked.
Mr. Blatherwick did not reply. He, too, was listening. In a moment theyheard the rustling of a woman's skirts outside, and the smoking-roomdoor opened.
Mysterious Mr. Sabin Page 15