Lost Sir Massingberd: A Romance of Real Life. v. 2/2

by James Payn

  CHAPTER XII.

  A BENEVOLENT STRANGER.

  Having written to Mr. Vanderseld of Hamburg, there was nothing, pendingthe reception of his reply, for even Mr. Townshend to do beyond hisfavourite occupation of keeping his eyes open. We advertised, however,in the "Morning Chronicle" (a print that at that time was far fromlooking forward, to death from want of circulation, and the having itseyes closed by a penny piece), in the "Times," and in the "Sun," andoffered a reward of one hundred guineas for tidings of the missingbaronet; nor, in spite of the Bow Street Runner's depreciating remarksupon this point, were our efforts in that direction wholly thrown away.A full description of Sir Massingberd had appeared in the abovenewspapers for ten successive days, and on the eleventh, the followinginformation came of it. We were all breakfasting in Harley Street, Mr.Long having come up from Fairburn the previous day, when the butlerinformed us that there was a man waiting in the hall, who wished to see"H.G.," who had put a certain advertisement into the "Sun" newspaper."Show him in here at once, George," quoth Mr. Gerard, rubbing his hands."How pleased I shall be if we learn what we wish to know, after all,without any help from Bow Street. I beg you will take a chair, sir."These last words were addressed to a very respectable-looking person,whom the servant had ushered in, and who bowed to us in a very decorousand unassuming fashion. He was attired in half-mourning, and carried alittle black leather bag and an umbrella--the latter a less commoncompanion in these days than a cane is now--as though he had just comeoff a journey.

  "I have called, gentlemen," said he, "simply in consequence of seeing anotice respecting the disappearance of a certain individual of whosewhereabouts I am in a position to inform you."

  "Is Sir Massingberd Heath alive, sir?" gasped Marmaduke.

  "Heaven be praised, he _is_, sir," responded the stranger, fervently.

  "Umph," ejaculated Mr. Gerard, with less piety.

  Mr. Long coughed behind his fingers, but otherwise kept a discreetsilence.

  "You know him, do you, sir?" inquired our host.

  "I know him well enough by sight, if, at least, your advertiseddescription of his personal appearance is accurate," resumed ourvisitor. "His height, his beard, the curious indentation upon hisforehead, are all characteristic of the man whom I saw last night, andwhom I have seen every day for weeks. He is living under the name ofDaneton, at Nutgall, a village in Cambridgeshire, near which I reside. Ihave not the slightest doubt whatever of his identity. As for knowinghim, except by sight, however, I cannot say that I do. Without meaningoffence, or wishing to hurt the feelings of relations, I may observethat his mode of life is scarcely one to make acquaintance with himadvantageous. If I may speak without reserve upon the matter, I shouldstate that he drank considerably, to the extent, indeed, the landlord ofthe inn has informed me, of, at least, a bottle and a half of Frenchbrandy _per diem_."

  "That _must_ be my uncle," observed Marmaduke, naively.

  "He is so, sir, without a doubt," continued the stranger. "I do not seekfor any pecuniary reward; but having seen your advertisement, I thoughtit my duty to come up hither, and relieve the feelings of anxiousrelatives."

  Here the door opened, and Mr. Townshend walked in unannounced, as it washis custom to do. Merely nodding to us all, as though he was an inmateof the house, he sat down at the table with his back to the visitor, andhelped himself to a roll and butter.

  Mr. Gerard explained briefly the stranger's errand to the officer ofjustice, and then observed, "Are we to understand, then, that you havebeen so good as to come all the way from Nutgall hither, expressly togive us this information?"

  "No, sir," responded the man with frankness; "I should deceive you if Iwere to say that much. I have business in the City to-day, and arrivedso far by coach; I came on hither, merely a few miles beyond my mark;that is all for which you are indebted to me."

  "That is a great deal," observed Mr. Long, warmly. "We take it verykindly that you should have done so much."

  "I thought it only my duty, sir," replied the visitor, modestly. "Thetrouble I do not take into account."

  "What a pity the gentleman did not think of writing by the post,"observed Mr. Townshend, still proceeding with his breakfast; "that wouldhave saved him this long expedition, and us many days of anxiety."

  "That is very true," returned the stranger; "but the fact is, one doesnot always like to answer advertisements in that way. How did I know who'H.G.' was? I thought also that a personal interview would be moresatisfactory. I am a poor man, but I did not grudge the chance of losingan hour or two on an errand of charity."

  "You are very good," answered Marmaduke, gloomily.

  "And you must, please, permit us," added Mr. Long, taking out his purse,"to at least reimburse you for that loss of time."

  "It seems to me," observed Mr. Townshend, speaking with his mouth full,"that this gentleman is about to be rather hardly dealt by. It is truethat a guinea, or even half a one, may repay him for his lost time; butif his intelligence respecting Sir Massingberd Heath turns out to besuch as he represents it, he will be entitled to the hundred guineasreward."

  "I never thought of that," observed Mr. Long, returning his purse to hispocket not without a blush. "I hope, sir, that you will acquit me of anysordid design in what I proposed to do."

  "Most certainly, sir," returned the stranger, with animation; "andindeed your views, as you just expressed them, are quite in accordancewith my own. I have no wish whatever for the reward in question; to havedone my duty is, I hope, a sufficient recompense for me. On the otherhand, I cannot well afford to lose these two or three hours which havebeen expended in your service. A couple of guineas would quite repay mefor this, and even leave the obligation upon my side."

  There was a silence for a little, during which Mr. Long gazedinquiringly at Mr. Gerard, and he, in his turn, looked towards Mr.Townshend; then, as though the back of that gentleman's head had beencognizant that counsel was demanded of it, the Bow Street runner spokeas follows:

  "It would be nothing less than a fraud, in my opinion, if this goodgentleman's generosity is taken advantage of in the way he suggests. Ifthe management of this business is to be in my hands, I should say letus behave with rectitude at least, if not with liberality. The hundredguineas are fairly his, if he is correct in what he has told us;whereas, if he is _not_ correct--since no mistake can have occurred inthe matter, by his own showing--why, this is merely an attempt to extortmoney under false pretences."

  "Really, Mr. Townshend," cried my tutor, starting to his feet, "I thinkyour profession of thief-catching makes you very unscrupulous in yourimputations."

  For my own part, I felt excessively indignant too; and so, I think,would Marmaduke have done, had he not been preoccupied with his ownthoughts. Lucy blushed, and cast down her eyes. Her father quietlyobserved, "Mr. Townshend may have been somewhat plain-spoken, but whathe has said is common sense. If you will be good enough to leave youraddress at Nutgall with us, sir, we shall communicate with you as soonas we have convinced ourselves of the truth of your suspicions; and thenwe shall not only have compensation but apologies to offer you."

  "Very good, sir," rejoined the visitor coolly. "My address is upon thatcard. If I had known the sort of reception that awaited me here, Ishould not perhaps have been so anxious to do my duty. Gentlemen, Iwish you good-day. I am sorry to have interrupted your repast."

  "Don't mention it, my good sir," observed the Bow Street runner, as hedisposed of his third slice of ham. "I have treated you as no stranger,I assure you."

  To this sarcasm the visitor made no reply, but bowing to the rest of thecompany, was about to withdraw with polite severity, when Mr. Longstepped forward, and took him by the hand. "I believe you are akindly-hearted man," cried he, "who has been grievously wronged by thosewhom you have attempted to benefit; but in any case, it cannot do youany harm to have shaken hands with an honest man, and one who is ahumble minister of the gospel."

  I could have jumped up and shaken hands with the stranger also,
but afalse shame prevented me. I thought that Townshend was only waiting forthe poor fellow to go to become contemptuously cynical upon those whohad shown any belief in him. The Bow Street runner, however, said nevera word, but proceeded with his interminable breakfast.

  Mr. Long was speechless with indignation. I saw Lucy Gerard cast anapproving glance at my excellent tutor, and then an imploring onetowards her father, who was biting his lips, as if to restrain hislaughter.

  At last, the rector broke silence. "I gather from what you have stated,Mr. Townshend, that you will scarcely consider it worth while to go downto Nutgall, or make any further inquiry into the circumstances of whichyou have just heard."

  "It will certainly not be worth _my_ while," returned the Bow Streetrunner curtly.

  "Then I shall go down into Cambridgeshire myself," observed my tutor.

  "Very good, sir. If time were less valuable to me, it would give me agreat deal of pleasure to accompany you."

  "My dear Peter," remarked my tutor, taking no notice of this wickedbanter, "what do you say to coming with me?"

  Even if I had been less disposed to do this than I was, I should stillhave readily consented to be the rector's travelling companion, for torefuse would have been to declare myself upon the enemy's side.

  Accordingly, we set off upon this amateur detective expedition that veryday; and on the following evening returned to Harley Street, havingpossessed ourselves of this important information: That benevolence issometimes assumed for the base purpose of making a few shillings, andthat advertisements are occasionally taken advantage of to the confusionof those who insert them. There was really a village called Nutgall;that was the one fact that the respectable person in half-mourning hadbrought along with his black leather bag and silk umbrella. There wasnot a public-house in the place where Sir Massingberd could haveprocured that bottle and a half of French brandy, had he been ever sodisposed to dissipation, or even where we ourselves could get bread andcheese.

  I verily believe, at the time of his disenchantment, my revered tutorwould rather that the baronet had been really at Nutgall, and in thehumour and condition to wage implacable war against poor Marmaduke, thanhave given such an opportunity of triumph to the man of Bow Street.