by Tom Gallon
CHAPTER VI.
I BEHAVE DISGRACEFULLY.
The man I now faced on that solitary road had all the appearance of atramp. By the light of the lamp above us I saw that he was clad in adingy old tweed suit, very much frayed at the cuffs and thetrouser-ends, while upon his head was a cap much too large for him, thepeak of which was worn over one ear. And this not from any rakishness,but rather, as it seemed, as a sullen protest against the more orderlyhabits of his fellows. As the game was in his hands for the moment, Ileft the first move to him.
"Well, strike me pink!" he exclaimed under his breath, as he looked meup and down. "Wot's walkin' to-night--live men or spooks? Jail-bird orgent--w'ich is it?"
"I don't know what you mean," I said lamely. "I know nothing aboutyou----"
"Come orf it!" he exclaimed, with a disgusted shrug. "If you don't knownothink abaht me, wot did yer come back for w'en I 'ollered? W'y--weworked in the same gang!"
"I never saw you in my life before," I said, feeling now that all was upwith me.
"Oh, yus, yer did!" he retorted. "You an' me worked in the same gang,an' slep' at night in cells wot was next to each uvver. An' then oneday you cut yer lucky, an' they brought you back a dead 'un. 'Ere, ketch'old of my 'and!"
He stretched out a grimy hand to me as he spoke and quite mechanically Iput my own into it. He gripped it for a moment, and then tossed it fromhim with a laugh.
"You ain't no spook," he said, "an' you ain't no bloomin' twin brother.You won't kid old George Rabbit."
"I don't want to kid anybody," I said. "And I shouldn't think you'd bethe sort to go back on a pal. Why, you're free yourself!"
"Yes, in a proper sort o' way," he retorted. "Got my discharge reg'lar,an' a nice little pat on the back w'en I come out fer bein' a good boy.Not that that does yer much good--'cos 'ere I am starving, w'ile thebloke that comes out through the roof, an' cuts his lucky, dresses likea toff, an' smokes a cigar you could smell a mile orf. As fer me, itdon't 'ardly run to 'alf a hounce an' a inch of clay."
"Well, at any rate you're better off now, and as to freedom--well, wecan cry quits as to that," I said. "Here's some more money for you, allI can spare. I'll wish you good-night."
"'Arf a mo'--'arf a mo'!" he cried, catching at my sleeve and detainingme. "Do yer fink I'm goin' to let yer go like that? W'y, there's lots offings wants explainin'. 'Ow do you come to be walkin' at large like this'ere, after they've tolled the bloomin' bell for yer at Pent'ouse?"
"I can't explain everything to you; it would take too long," I said."Suffice it that I've found friends who have helped me; there wasanother man buried in my place. And now, Mr. George Rabbit," I addedfiercely, "you'll please to understand that Norton Hyde, convict, liesburied in a certain grave you know of, and quite another man has givenyou money to-night. Get that into your thick head, and once more'good-night' to you."
I turned away abruptly to resume my walk. After all, I felt that I waspretty safe; such a shifty, shambling creature as this would only beregarded as a madman if he told any tale about me, especially any talethat would seem as absurd as this one of a man alive that shouldproperly be dead. So I strode away, whistling.
But after a moment or two, glancing furtively over my shoulder, I sawthat he was following, coming along on the other side of the road at asort of hobbling trot that carried him over the ground as fast as mylonger stride. I stopped, and looked back at him; and in a moment hestopped too, and waited.
"You'd better go back," I called across to him threateningly, but he didnot answer.
On I went again, and once more, as I glanced over my shoulder, I saw himcoming along in the same way, like a grim Fate that would not be shakenoff. I had just made up my mind to try conclusions with him in the shapeof personal violence, and had stopped with that purpose in my mind, whena voice broke in out of the darkness that startled me even more than itcould have startled Mr. Rabbit.
"Is that man following you, sir?"
It was a constable, standing in the shadow of a doorway, and he hadevidently been watching our approach. I knew by the fact that GeorgeRabbit stood his ground, and even edged a little nearer, that he felt hehad nothing to fear; while, for my part, the mere sight of the uniformedconstable, coming at that juncture, had thrown me into such a sweat ofterror that I could scarcely speak. However, I managed to jerk out somewords which were perhaps the most stupid I could have used, because Idoubt not that had I braved the matter out, George Rabbit would havetaken to his heels, and so have left me in peace. But my words onlystrengthened whatever ties the man meant to bind me with.
"It's all right, constable," I blurted out; "the man's a friend of minein--in reduced circumstances. I'm going to find him a lodging."
So we shuffled on in our original order past the constable, and now Ibegan to feel that I had indeed taken a load upon me that was more thanI could support. By this time George Rabbit had drawn nearer to me, andwas shuffling along contentedly at my side, and with each step I wascoming nearer to the house of Dr. Bardolph Just. In desperation at lastI turned about, and caught him suddenly by the throat and shook him. Iremember now that he tumbled about in my hands as though he had been themere bundle of rags he looked, so that I was a little ashamed of myviolence.
"You dog!" I exclaimed savagely, "what the devil do you mean byfollowing me like this? What do you think you'll gain?"
"I dunno, yet," he said shakily, while his head rolled from side toside. "I can't be much worse off than wot I am, an' I may be a dealbetter."
"I'll give you all I have in my pockets if you'll turn back now, andforget you've ever seen me," I said, releasing him.
He grinned at me. "I've got sich a 'orrible good memory," he said."Besides, I couldn't fergit that face under any circs."
"What do you think you'll get?" I demanded again.
"I'll put it plain, guv'nor," he said, standing in the road before me,and looking at me with his head on one side. "I've bin out o' luck along time; even my pals don't seem to cotton to me some'ow. Nah, you'vegot friends--real tip-toppers, I'll be bound--wot spells it in quidsw'ere I spells it in brown 'uns. Also likewise you don't want it blowedabout that you ain't wot you seem, an' that your proper place fer thenext few years is Pent'ouse, to say nothink of awkward enquiries aboutsomebody else wot was buried by mistake. In case there's any questionsasked, you want a pal wot'll s'welp 'is never that 'e don't know anymore abaht yer than the King on 'is golding throne. An' that'sme--that's George Rabbit!"
"I don't want your help," I said.
"But you've got to 'ave it, all the same," he remarked cheerfully.
So it happened that I had to go on again, with this ragged retainertrailing behind. In that order we came to the gate leading into thegrounds, and I went in, still puzzled to know what to do with the man.By this time I realised that, however much the doctor might resent hisappearance, it was vitally necessary that for his own sake, as well asfor mine, Bardolph Just should assist me in silencing that too freetongue which wagged in the head of George Rabbit. While I was debatingwhat to do with the man, he settled that question for himself.
"It's a nice warm night, guv'nor; if you could give me some place w'ereI could jist lay meself dahn, an' do a snooze, I should be as comfy ascomfy. Only if I could git summink to eat, an' a drop o' drink fust, Ishould be 'appier still."
"You'd better wait here while I go to the house," I replied. "I'll bringyou out something to eat, and I'll show you where to sleep."
I left him standing under the trees, and, greatly perturbed in mind,made my way to the house. I had seen a light in the doctor's study, andI now made straight for it, for this was a matter in which I must haveadvice. Without troubling to knock at the door, I opened it and walkedstraight in.
At first I thought the room was empty, and I was withdrawing again whenI heard voices at the further end of it. The voices proceeded frombehind the screen which hid that part of the room which was the surgery,and it was evident that whoever was there, believing that they had theplace to the
mselves, were at no pains to mask their voices.
The first voice I heard was one which I recognised easily as that of thewoman Martha Leach. She was evidently greatly excited, and labouringunder strong emotion.
"God help me! why have I clung to you all these years--for you to make amock of me now, and to try to fling me aside? What has my life been thatI should stand calmly by and be slighted, and treated like the dirtunder your feet?"
It was the doctor's voice that broke in, sharply and angrily. "You'veremained with me because it suited your purpose to do so," he said."Years ago I befriended you--you know under what circumstances. You knowhow I imperilled my position to do it; you know that, but for me, youwould have stood in a criminal dock----"
"I know--I know!" she cried. "And after that my life was given to you. Ibecame as something that did not exist for myself, but for another. Andnow--now all that is forgotten."
"It was forgotten years ago, and will never be remembered now," he said."If you are not content with your position here, the remedy lies in yourown hands: you can leave the house, and start somewhere again foryourself."
"You know I can't do that," she said, in a lower tone. "Only you mightbe fair to me; you might let me understand that even if I am nothing,this girl is less. Why should you degrade me before her?"
"Because you were growing insolent," he said. "Leave Miss Matchwick'sname out of the question."
"You tried to kill her," said the woman, sinking her voice yet more. "Isaw that; I know why you opened those doors last night."
There was a long pause, and then I heard the doctor give a quick laugh."Well, doesn't that satisfy you?" he asked.
She seemed to laugh in response. "But you won't have the courage again,"she taunted him.
"Won't I?" I heard him move as though he took a step towards her. "Ishall. And next time it will be something more subtle than any suchbungling business of an accident at night. I gave a certificate once, inthe case of a certain Martha Leach, concerning the death----"
"Don't speak of that!" she exclaimed.
"And I can give one in the case of the death of a certainDebora----What's that?"
I had been so startled that I had stumbled back against the door,closing it noisily. I had the sense now to open it quickly, andapparently to march into the room, cheerily whistling. As I did so thedoctor came quickly round the screen and confronted me.
"Hullo!" I exclaimed. "Forgive my bursting in like that; I wanted to seeyou."
He drew a breath of relief, and smiled in a ghastly fashion; he seemedstrangely shaken. "You did startle me rather," he said. "What's thematter?"
Now I knew that the woman Leach was still behind the screen, and thatshe must hear every word that I might have to say, and Bardolph Justknew that also. Yet we must play the game of pretences in such a fashionas to make each believe that we were certain we were the only twopersons in the room. More than that, having had a sample of the woman'scuriosity that morning, I was in no mood to talk about myself, or ofthat fellow jail-bird I had met, within her hearing. Yet I could notsuggest talking with the doctor elsewhere, because that must at onceshow him that I knew we had a listener. There was nothing for it but tospeak as vaguely as possible, and to try and get him away from thatroom.
"I've had an adventure to-night, and I rather want to tell you aboutit," I said. "I've met a man, by the merest accident, whom I know."
He glanced quickly at the screen, and then looked again at me. "Won'tyour news keep till the morning?" he asked.
"Well, hardly," I replied, with a laugh. "The friend of whom I speak ishere now."
"Here?" The doctor looked puzzled.
"Yes," I said. "You see, it happens that he was with me in a certainplace of which you know, and he is rather anxious to renew anacquaintance so auspiciously begun."
The doctor whistled softly, and once more glanced at the screen. "We'llgo downstairs and talk about this," he said. "This room is intolerablyhot."
He opened the door for me to pass out, and as I preceded him murmured anexcuse that he had forgotten something, and went quickly back. I wentdownstairs, and in a moment or two he joined me in the dining-room. Icould scarcely refrain from smiling at my secret knowledge of what hadtaken place in the other room, even though I was agitated by dreadfulfears concerning Debora. I had gleaned but a dim notion of what the pairhad been talking about, but it had been enough to show me that BardolphJust had by no means repented of his purpose. I shuddered at theconnection of Debora's name with death. Moreover, guessing something ofthe character of the woman Leach, and adding to that the remembrance ofwhat she had said to me that morning, I saw that matters were indeeddesperate. And, to add to my perplexities, there was the man GeorgeRabbit, waiting all this time under the trees for my reappearance.
"Now, what has happened?" asked the doctor sharply.
"I met a man to-night, by the greatest ill-fortune, who worked in thesame gang with me in Penthouse prison," I answered him. "A mean dog, whointends to trade on the knowledge, and to get what he can out of me. Itried to shake him off, but he stuck to me like wax."
"What have you done with him?" he asked.
"I left him in the grounds; I promised to take food and drink to him," Isaid.
He paced about the room for a moment or two, with his arms folded, andhis chin in the hollow of one hand. "I don't like the look of things atall; it seems almost as if a net were closing in about us," he said atlast. "Harvey Scoffold was bad enough; now comes someone who, accordingto your description, is scarcely likely to prove as reasonable even asScoffold might be. This dog scents money, I take it?"
"He scents everything that means easy living, and no work, and safety,"I answered.
"Bring him in here; perhaps I may be able to deal with him better thanyou," said the doctor suddenly. "We'll feed him, and we'll see what hehas to say for himself. That's the ticket; bring him in here."
I went out at once into the grounds, and was relieved to see GeorgeRabbit slouch out from the shadows of the trees, and come towards me."Bin a bloomin' long time, you 'ave," he growled resentfully.
"Don't be impudent," I said sharply. "Come into the house, and I'll giveyou a meal."
He drew back and shook his head. "Not me," he replied. "I ain't goin' torun into no traps. 'Ow do I know who's inside, or wot's goin' to 'appento me? I'm safe 'ere, an' 'ere I'll stop."
"What's to harm you?" I asked him. "You've nothing to fear; you'veworked out your time, and are a free man. If anyone has to be afraid ofwhat's going to happen, I think I'm the man."
"Never mind abaht that; I tell yer I ain't goin' in," he said doggedly.
I shrugged my shoulders and turned away. "Then stop outside; you'll getnothing," was my reply.
As I expected, I had not gone a dozen yards when he came limping afterme. "All right, guv'nor, I'll risk it," he said eagerly, "I'm down on myluck, an' I must have a bite an' a drink. An' after all, w'en yer cometo think of it, I'm top dog, ain't I?"
In my own mind I had to acknowledge as much, though I wondered what hisattitude would be when he came face to face with that stronger man,Bardolph Just. I made my way into the house and into the dining-room,while George Rabbit shuffled along behind me. He had pulled off his cap,and now revealed the thin stubble of hair with which his head wascovered.
As he shuffled in after me into the dining-room he caught sight of thedoctor, standing up with his hands in his pockets, looking at him. Hedrew back instantly, and looked very much as though he meant to make abolt for it, after all.
"You can come in, my friend," said the doctor, regarding him steadily."I know all about you."
"I said it was a bloomin' trap," muttered Rabbit, as he shuffled intothe room.
I saw that the doctor had been busy in my absence. Apparently he hadvisited the larder, and had brought therefrom the remains of a pie andsome bread and cheese, all of which were set out on a tray, togetherwith a bottle and a glass. Our new guest eyed these things hungrily,forgetful of everything else. At a s
ign from the doctor he seatedhimself at the table, and fell to like a ravening wolf.
"I thought it better not to disturb the servants," said Bardolph Justto me in a low tone, "so I foraged for myself. He'll be more amenablewhen he's taken the edge off his appetite."
Mr. George Rabbit feeding was not a pretty sight. Making all allowancesfor a tremendous hunger, it was not exactly nice to see him crammingfood into himself with the aid of his knife as well as his fork, andwith an occasional resort to his more primitive fingers; nor did heforget to apply himself to the bottle at intervals. And all the time heeyed us furtively, as though wondering what would happen when his mealwas finished.
But at last even he was satisfied--or perhaps I should put it that thepie had given out. He sat back in his chair, and wiped his lips with thelining of his deplorable cap, and heaved a huge sigh of satisfaction."That's done me a treat, guv'nors both," he murmured hoarsely.
"We're pleased, I'm sure," replied Bardolph Just. "Now we can get tobusiness. It seems that you've got a sort of idea in your head that youare acquainted with this gentleman?" He indicated me as he spoke.
George Rabbit winked impudently. "Never forgot a pal in my life, an' I'ope I never shall," he said. "W'y, me an' Norton 'Ide was unfort'nittogevver, an' now 'e's struck it rich, it ain't likely I wouldn't stickto 'im. See?"
"Now listen to me, my man," said Bardolph Just, coming to the other endof the table, and leaning his hands on it, and staring down at the otherman. "A great many things happen in this world that it's well to knownothing about. You've made a mistake; the gentleman you think is NortonHyde is not Norton Hyde at all. What do you say to that?"
"Wot I say to that is--try summink else," answered Rabbit. "You finkyou'll kid me; you fink you'll git rid of me jist fer a supper? Notmuch. I know a good thing w'en I see it, an' I'm goin' to freeze on toit."
"You will not only have a good supper, but you'll have somewhere tosleep as well," said the doctor. "More than that, you'll have money."
"I'll lay I do!" exclaimed the man boisterously.
Bardolph Just laid a sovereign on the edge of the table, and pushed itgently towards the man. "You've never seen this gentleman before?" hehinted.
George Rabbit shook his head. "Not 'arf enough," he said disdainfully.
The process was repeated until five sovereigns lay in a little shiningrow along the edge of the table. It was too much for George Rabbit; heleaned forward eagerly. "I don't know the gent from Adam!" he exclaimed.
"Ah!" The doctor laughed, and drew a deep breath, and then suddenlydropped his hand down so that the coins were covered. "But not so fast;there's something else. This money is yours--and you will have ashakedown for the night--only on condition that you stick to what you'vesaid. If you give any trouble, or if you start any ridiculous story suchas you hinted at to-night, I shall find a way of dealing with you. Doyou understand?"
The man looked up at him suspiciously. "You could do a precious lot, Idon't fink!" he exclaimed.
"I'd do this," said the doctor viciously. "I'd hunt you out of thecountry, my friend; I'd look up past records and see what took you intoprison; I'd see if you couldn't be got back there again. How do youthink your word would stand against mine, when it came to acock-and-bull story of the wrong man buried and the right man alive?Think yourself lucky you've been treated as well as you have."
George Rabbit eyed him resentfully, and had a long look at me; then heslowly shuffled to his feet. "Give us the rhino, an' show me w'ere I'mto sleep," he said. "I shall keep me face shut; you needn't be afraid."
The doctor pushed the coins towards him, and he was in the very act ofgathering them up with some deliberateness, when the door was opened,and Martha Leach walked in. What she had expected to find, or whethershe had anticipated discovering the doctor alone, it is impossible tosay; certain it is that she stopped dead, taking in the little picturebefore her, and something of its meaning. George Rabbit swept the coinsinto his hand, and jingled them for a moment, and dropped them into hispocket.
"What do you want?" snarled Bardolph Just.
"Nothing," replied the woman, in some dismay. "I only thought--I onlywondered if you wanted anything more to-night. I'm very sorry."
"I want nothing. Go to bed," he said curtly; and with another swiftglance round the room that seemed to embrace us all, she walked out ofthe room and closed the door.
"Now, show this man where he can sleep," he said, turning to me."There's a loft over the stable, with plenty of straw in it; if hedoesn't set fire to himself he'll be comfortable enough. You know whereit is?"
I nodded, and signed to George Rabbit to follow me. He made an elaborateand somewhat ironical bow to the doctor in the doorway of the room. Thedoctor called him back for a moment.
"You can slip away in the morning when you like," he said. "And don'tlet us see your ugly face again."
"Not so much about my face, if yer don't mind," said Mr. Rabbit. "An' Ishan't be at all sorry ter go; I don't 'alf like the company you keep!"
With this doubtful compliment flung at me, Mr. George Rabbit shuffledout of the room, with a parting grin at the doctor. I took him out ofthe house and across the grounds towards the stable, showed him where,by mounting a ladder, he could get to his nest among the straw in theloft. "And don't smoke there," I said, "if only for your own sake."
"I 'aven't got anythink to smoke," he said, a little disgustedly. "Inever thought of it. I 'aven't so much as a match on me."
I knew that the stable was deserted, because I had never seen any horsesthere, and I knew that the doctor kept none. I left George Rabbit in thedark, and retraced my steps to the house. I met the doctor in the hall;he had evidently been waiting for me.
"Well?" he asked, looking at me with a smile.
"I don't think he'll trouble us again," I said. "As you suggested, hewon't get anyone to believe his story, even if he tells it, and a greatmany things may happen before he gets rid of his five pounds. Take myword for it, we've seen the last of him."
I went to my room and prepared for bed. At the last moment it occurredto me that I had said nothing to the doctor about Capper, or about thetreachery of Harvey Scoffold, and I decided that that omission wasperhaps, after all, for the best. The business of the man Capper was onewhich concerned Debora, in a sense, and I knew that the doctor was nofriend to Debora. I determined to say nothing at present.
It was a particularly warm night, with a suggestion in the air of acoming storm. I threw back the curtains from my window, and flung thewindow wide, and then, as there was light enough for me to undress bywithout the lamp, I put that out, and sat in the semi-darkness of theroom, smoking. I was thinking of many things while I slipped off myupper garments, and only gradually did it dawn upon me that across thegrounds a light was showing where no light should surely be. Taking mybearings in regard to the position of the house itself, I saw that thatlight would come from the loft above the disused stable.
I cursed George Rabbit and my own folly for trusting him. At the sametime it occurred to me that I did not want to make an enemy of the man,and that I might well let him alone, to take what risks he chose. Thelight was perfectly steady, and there was no suggestion of the flickerof a blaze; I thought it possible that he might have discovered some oldstable lantern, with an end of candle in it, and so have armed himselfagainst the terrors of the darkness. Nevertheless, while I leaned on thewindow-sill and smoked I watched that light.
Presently I saw it move, and then disappear; and while I wascongratulating myself on the fact that the man had probably put out thelight, I saw it appear again near the ground, and this time it wasswinging, as though someone carried it. I drew back a little from thewindow, lest I should be seen, and watched the light.
Whoever carried it was coming towards the house, and as it swung I sawthat it was a lantern, and that it was knocking gently, not against theleg of a man, as I had anticipated, but against the skirts of a woman;so much I made out clearly. When the light was so close as to be almostun
der my window I craned forward, and looked, for it had stopped.
The next moment I saw what I wanted to see clearly. The lantern wasraised, and opened; a face was set close to it that the light might beblown out. In the second before the light was puffed out I saw that faceclearly--the face of Martha Leach!
Long after she had gone into the house I stood there puzzling about thematter, wondering what she could have had to say to George Rabbit. Iremembered how she had come into the room when he was taking the moneyfrom the table; I remembered, too, her threat to me, at an earlier time,that she would find out how I came into the house and all about me. AndI knew that, whether she had succeeded or not, she had paid thatnocturnal visit to George Rabbit to find out from him what he knew.
I found myself wondering whether the man had stood firm, or whether hehad been induced to tell the truth. I knew that in the latter case I hadan enemy in the house more powerful than any I had encountered yet; somuch justice at least I did her.
At breakfast the next morning the doctor was in a new mood. Something tomy surprise, I found both him and Debora at the breakfast table when Ientered; I may say that I had been to that loft over the stable, only tofind, as I had hoped, that my bird was flown. Now I murmured a word ofapology as I moved round to my place, and was laughingly answered byBardolph Just.
"You should indeed apologise, my dear John, on such an occasion asthis," he said. "And not to me, but to the lady. Don't you know whatto-day is?"
I think I murmured stupidly that I thought it was Tuesday, but thedoctor caught me up on the word, with another laugh.
"Yes, but what a Tuesday! It is Debora's birthday!"
"All my good wishes," I said, turning to her at once; and I was rewardedby a quick shy glance and a smile.
"Come, show John what I've given you; let him see it," exclaimed thedoctor. "Or stay--let me put it on!"
I saw then that there was lying beside her plate a little red moroccocase. Without looking at him, she pushed it along the table until hishand could reach it, and let her own arm lie passive there afterwards.He unfastened the case, and displayed a glittering and very beautifulbracelet.
"What do you think of that?" he cried. "Fit to adorn the prettiest andwhitest arm in the world."
It was curious that, while her arm lay along the table, and he took histime in fitting the bracelet round the wrist, she kept her eyes fixed onme, so that her head was averted from him. Even when he had finished thebusiness, and had put her hand to his lips for a moment, she did notlook round; she only withdrew the hand quickly, and put it in her lapunder the table. I saw his face darken at that, and those white dotscome and go in his nostrils.
"A great day, I assure you, John, and we'll make a great day of it.We're having a little dinner-party to-night in honour of the event.Debora doesn't seem to care for pretty things much," he added a littlesourly.
"Thank you; it is very kind of you," she murmured in a constrainedvoice; and put the arm that held the bracelet on the table.
I felt a poor creature, in more senses than one, in being able to giveher nothing, and I felt that I wanted to tell her that. So I contrived ameeting in the grounds, out of sight of the house, and there for amoment I held her hand, and stumbled over what was in my heart.
"You know all the good things I wish you, dear Debora," I said. "I haveno gift for you, because I'm too poor; besides, I didn't know what dayit was. But my heart goes out to you, in loyalty and in service."
"I know--I know," she answered simply. "And that is why I want to saysomething to you--something that you must not laugh at."
"I should never do that," I assured her earnestly.
"John, I am growing desperately afraid," she said, glancing over hershoulder as she spoke, and shuddering. "It is not that anything freshhas happened; it is only that I feel somehow that something is hangingover me. It is in the air--in the doctor's eyes--in the looks of thewoman Leach; it is like some storm brewing, that must presently sweepdown upon me, and sweep me away. I know it--I know it."
In sheer blind terror at what was in her own thoughts she clung to me,weeping hysterically, and for my own part I was more shaken than I daredto say. For that thought had been in my mind, too; and now instantly Irecalled what I had heard behind the screen in the study the nightbefore. But I would not let her see that I agreed with her; I did mybest to laugh her out of that mood, and to get her into a more cheerfulone.
In part, at least, I succeeded; I assured her over and over again thatno harm should come to her while I was near. Yet even as I said it Irealised my own helplessness, and how difficult a task I had to fightagainst those who were her enemies. For I was convinced that the womanLeach was, if anything, the greater enemy of the two, by reason of thatmad jealousy to which she had already given expression.
In the strangest way it was Martha Leach who precipitated matters thatnight, as I shall endeavour to explain, in the order of the strangeevents as they happened. In the first place, you are to know that HarveyScoffold, having doubtless been duly warned, put in an appearance thatnight, resplendent in evening dress, while the doctor did equal honourto the occasion. I had a tweed suit which the doctor had procured forme; and glad enough I had been, I can assure you, to discard thegarments of the dead man. I thought but little of my dress, however,that night, so intent was I upon watching what was taking place at thetable.
Harvey Scoffold took a great quantity of champagne, and the doctorappeared to do so also; in reality, however, I saw that he drank verylittle. He pressed wine upon Debora again and again, and Martha Leach,who stood behind his chair, was constantly at the girl's elbow with afreshly-opened bottle. Debora did no more than sip the wine, however,despite the doctor's entreaties. In a lull in the conversation, whilethe servants were out of the room and only Martha Leach was presentbehind the doctor's chair, I distinctly saw him noiselessly snap hisfingers, and whisper something to her, and glance towards the girl. Itwas as though there was a secret understanding between the man and thewoman.
Then it was that I came to my resolution; then it was that, to theastonishment of everyone, I began to get noisy. I had all my wits aboutme, for I had drunk but little, and my head was clear; but at my end ofthe table it was impossible for them to tell how much I had reallytaken. I made a pretence of staggering to my feet and proposing a toast,only to be pushed down into my seat again by Harvey Scoffold.
"Be careful," he whispered, with a laugh. "You're not used to this sortof drink; you've taken too much already."
I staggered to my feet again, demanding to know what he meant by it, andasserting my ability, drunkenly, to carry as much as any gentleman. Isaw Debora, with a distressed face, rise from the table and go, anddesperately enough I longed to be able to explain to her what I wasdoing.
I insisted, with threats, upon having more wine, until at last thedoctor and Scoffold got up and made their way upstairs. There, in thestudy, Scoffold said that he had a walk before him, and must be going.
"Well, we'll have Debora in, and you shall wish her many happy returnsof the day once more before you go," said the doctor, as he rang thebell. "John looks as if he were asleep."
I was not asleep by any means; but I was sunk all of a heap in anarm-chair, snoring, and with my eyes apparently shut. It did not escapeme that, on the ringing of that bell, Martha Leach appeared at once,with a bottle and glasses on a tray; and once again I saw that meaningglance flash from her to the doctor, and back again.
Then, very slowly, the door opened, and Debora came in, looking abouther. And I lay in that apparent drunken sleep, with every sense attunedto what was about to happen, and with my eyes watching through theirhalf-closed lids.