CHAPTER III
Sir Andrew rose with disapproval written in every lineament.
"I thought your story would bear upon the murder," he said. "Had Iimagined it would have nothing whatsoever to do with it I would not haveremained." He pushed back his chair and bowed stiffly. "I wish you goodnight," he said.
There was a chorus of remonstrance, and under cover of this and theBaronet's answering protests a servant for the second time slipped apiece of paper into the hand of the gentleman with the pearl stud. Heread the lines written upon it and tore it into tiny fragments.
The youngest member, who had remained an interested but silent listenerto the tale of the Queen's Messenger, raised his hand commandingly.
"Sir Andrew," he cried, "in justice to Lord Arthur Chetney I must askyou to be seated. He has been accused in our hearing of a most seriouscrime, and I insist that you remain until you have heard me clear hischaracter."
"You!" cried the Baronet.
"Yes," answered the young man briskly. "I would have spoken sooner,"he explained, "but that I thought this gentleman"--he inclined his headtoward the Queen's Messenger--"was about to contribute some facts ofwhich I was ignorant. He, however, has told us nothing, and so I willtake up the tale at the point where Lieutenant Sears laid it down andgive you those details of which Lieutenant Sears is ignorant. It seemsstrange to you that I should be able to add the sequel to this story.But the coincidence is easily explained. I am the junior member ofthe law firm of Chudleigh & Chudleigh. We have been solicitors forthe Chetneys for the last two hundred years. Nothing, no matter howunimportant, which concerns Lord Edam and his two sons is unknown tous, and naturally we are acquainted with every detail of the terriblecatastrophe of last night."
The Baronet, bewildered but eager, sank back into his chair.
"Will you be long, sir!" he demanded.
"I shall endeavor to be brief," said the young solicitor; "and," headded, in a tone which gave his words almost the weight of a threat, "Ipromise to be interesting."
"There is no need to promise that," said Sir Andrew, "I find it much toointeresting as it is." He glanced ruefully at the clock and turned hiseyes quickly from it.
"Tell the driver of that hansom," he called to the servant, "that I takehim by the hour."
"For the last three days," began young Mr. Chudleigh, "as you haveprobably read in the daily papers, the Marquis of Edam has been at thepoint of death, and his physicians have never left his house. Every hourhe seemed to grow weaker; but although his bodily strength is apparentlyleaving him forever, his mind has remained clear and active. Lateyesterday evening word was received at our office that he wished myfather to come at once to Chetney House and to bring with him certainpapers. What these papers were is not essential; I mention them onlyto explain how it was that last night I happened to be at Lord Edam'sbed-side. I accompanied my father to Chetney House, but at the time wereached there Lord Edam was sleeping, and his physicians refused to havehim awakened. My father urged that he should be allowed to receive LordEdam's instructions concerning the documents, but the physicians wouldnot disturb him, and we all gathered in the library to wait until heshould awake of his own accord. It was about one o'clock in the morning,while we were still there, that Inspector Lyle and the officers fromScotland Yard came to arrest Lord Arthur on the charge of murdering hisbrother. You can imagine our dismay and distress. Like every one else,I had learned from the afternoon papers that Lord Chetney was not dead,but that he had returned to England, and on arriving at Chetney HouseI had been told that Lord Arthur had gone to the Bath Hotel to lookfor his brother and to inform him that if he wished to see their fatheralive he must come to him at once. Although it was now past one o'clock,Arthur had not returned. None of us knew where Madame Zichy lived, so wecould not go to recover Lord Chetney's body. We spent a most miserablenight, hastening to the window whenever a cab came into the square, inthe hope that it was Arthur returning, and endeavoring to explainaway the facts that pointed to him as the murderer. I am a friend ofArthur's, I was with him at Harrow and at Oxford, and I refused tobelieve for an instant that he was capable of such a crime; but as alawyer I could not help but see that the circumstantial evidence wasstrongly against him.
"Toward early morning Lord Edam awoke, and in so much better a state ofhealth that he refused to make the changes in the papers which he hadintended, declaring that he was no nearer death than ourselves. Underother circumstances, this happy change in him would have relieved usgreatly, but none of us could think of anything save the death of hiselder son and of the charge which hung over Arthur.
"As long as Inspector Lyle remained in the house my father decided thatI, as one of the legal advisers of the family, should also remain there.But there was little for either of us to do. Arthur did not return, andnothing occurred until late this morning, when Lyle received word thatthe Russian servant had been arrested. He at once drove to Scotland Yardto question him. He came back to us in an hour, and informed me thatthe servant had refused to tell anything of what had happened the nightbefore, or of himself, or of the Princess Zichy. He would not even givethem the address of her house.
"'He is in abject terror,' Lyle said. 'I assured him that he was notsuspected of the crime, but he would tell me nothing.'
"There were no other developments until two o'clock this afternoon, whenword was brought to us that Arthur had been found, and that he was lyingin the accident ward of St. George's Hospital. Lyle and I drove theretogether, and found him propped up in bed with his head bound in abandage. He had been brought to the hospital the night before by thedriver of a hansom that had run over him in the fog. The cab-horse hadkicked him on the head, and he had been carried in unconscious. Therewas nothing on him to tell who he was, and it was not until he came tohis senses this afternoon that the hospital authorities had been ableto send word to his people. Lyle at once informed him that he was underarrest, and with what he was charged, and though the inspector warnedhim to say nothing which might be used against him, I, as his solicitor,instructed him to speak freely and to tell us all he knew of theoccurrences of last night. It was evident to any one that the fact ofhis brother's death was of much greater concern to him, than that he wasaccused of his murder.
[Illustration 13 We found him propped up in bed]
"'That,' Arthur said contemptuously, 'that is damned nonsense. It ismonstrous and cruel. We parted better friends than we have been inyears. I will tell you all that happened--not to clear myself, but tohelp you to find out the truth.' His story is as follows: Yesterdayafternoon, owing to his constant attendance on his father, he did notlook at the evening papers, and it was not until after dinner, when thebutler brought him one and told him of its contents, that he learnedthat his brother was alive and at the Bath Hotel. He drove there atonce, but was told that about eight o'clock his brother had gone out,but without giving any clew to his destination. As Chetney had not atonce come to see his father, Arthur decided that he was still angrywith him, and his mind, turning naturally to the cause of their quarrel,determined him to look for Chetney at the home of the Princess Zichy.
"Her house had been pointed out to him, and though he had nevervisited it, he had passed it many times and knew its exact location. Heaccordingly drove in that direction, as far as the fog would permit thehansom to go, and walked the rest of the way, reaching the house aboutnine o'clock. He rang, and was admitted by the Russian servant. The mantook his card into the drawing-room, and at once his brother ran out andwelcomed him. He was followed by the Princess Zichy, who also receivedArthur most cordially.
"'You brothers will have much to talk about,' she said. 'I am going tothe dining-room. When you have finished, let me know.'
"As soon as she had left them, Arthur told his brother that their fatherwas not expected to outlive the night, and that he must come to him atonce.
"'This is not the moment to remember your quarrel,' Arthur said to him;'you have come back from the dead only in time to make your peace withhim b
efore he dies.'
"Arthur says that at this Chetney was greatly moved.
"'You entirely misunderstand me, Arthur,' he returned. 'I did not knowthe governor was ill, or I would have gone to him the instant I arrived.My only reason for not doing so was because I thought he was still angrywith me. I shall return with you immediately, as soon as I have saidgood-by to the Princess. It is a final good-by. After tonight, I shallnever see her again.'
"'Do you mean that?' Arthur cried.
"'Yes,' Chetney answered. 'When I returned to London I had no intentionof seeking her again, and I am here only through a mistake.' He thentold Arthur that he had
In the Fog Page 10