For these few moments Roger had it in his power to destroy the note.
If he did, and its contents were already known to someone at Goodwood, the very fact of its disappearance would jeopardise Georgina's position still further. It would be believed that she, or whoever had been with her, had searched her husband's body after his death and made away with the incriminating paper in an attempt to conceal their guilt.
On the other hand if he returned the note to the dead man's pocket it was certain to be found there; then suspicion would immediately be aroused that her husband had actually caught her in flagrante delicto,and had been killed in a brawl either by her hand or that of her lover. In that case, if her fears were groundless, it would be by his own act that he would have robbed them of their best chance of escaping the gallows.
A clock ticked on, seeming unnaturally loud. Barely five minutes had yet elapsed since Sir Humphrey had breathed his last, but every moment that Georgina now delayed in rousing the house made it more improbable that her story would be believed. Her husband's last effort in mounting the stairs at a run might have caused him to collapse within a few moments of entering her room, but given an interval for recovery such an attack was far less likely; and she could not say that he had been lying there for any length of time without her calling for help. Terribly conscious of the dreadful urgency of reaching some decision Roger stood staring at the floor; but it seemed that whichever course he chose the risk was equally appalling.
"Vorontzoff has revenged himself upon us far more terribly than he can ever have thought to do," Georgina said with sudden bitterness. "His denunciation of me to Humphrey was vicious enough in all conscience but inspired, I've not a doubt, by a grim humour. He meant to return our compliment of last night with interest, and make of us both this morning his April Fools." .
Instantly Roger's glance lifted, and he exclaimed: "Damme! I believe we can yet turn that vicious jest to our own advantage."
"How so?"
"To divert suspicion from you of having had a lover here. How could one better make an April Fool of a man than to cause him to ride twenty-five miles in the middle of the night for no reason. Just think on it! The jealous husband roused from his bed by false intelligence and galloping up the Portsmouth road as though all the furies were after him, only to find his wife sleeping the sleep of innocence. But for its tragic ending 'twould have been the joke of the century."
Georgina's eyes lit up. "And if Humphrey had found himself so fooled, his choler might have been the final straw that led to his apoplexy."
"If rage can kill that might have done it."
"But wait! Why should Vorontzoff have played so bitter a jest on Humphrey, with whom he was not even acquainted?"
" 'Tis common knowledge that there was no love lost between you and your husband. You can say that he had been plaguing you recently with his jealousy; and that to teach him a lesson you put the Russian up to it."
"He may deny that."
"Nay! Why should he? I am convinced that you have hit upon the truth in thinking that Vorontzoff meant to make us April Fools. So 'tis but a modification of the truth to suggest that Sir Humphrey was his intended victim. What better explanation could he offer for the sending of his note?"
"The true one."
"He dare not. As a diplomat he must regard his standing with society as a matter of importance; and he would be despised by everyone if he admitted to having taken so base a revenge upon a woman merely because she preferred another to himself."
"Aye, we have him in a cleft stick there."
Roger knelt down and slipped the note back into Sir Humphrey's pocket. Then, as he stood up he said: "Put a bold face on things, sweet, and all will be well. From the foment the Russian learns what has occurred he will be puzzling his wits for a way out of his own dilemma. 'Twill be no small relief to him when he hears of your having given out that 'twas an ill-starred jest, plotted between him and you, which was responsible for Sir Humphrey's sudden appearance. He will back your story to the limit; I am prepared to stake my life on that."
"We shall both be doing so," said Georgina grimly.
"Be not despondent, dear one, I beg." Roger seized her hand and pressed it. "Strive to believe that it happened as you mean to say and others will believe you."
"Others may, but not Vorontzoff."
"Why so? He cannot have known that I was still with you when
Sir Humphrey burst into the room. He gambled on that being so, but I might have left you earlier."
"He is bound to wonder how I learned that he sent the message."
"He will assume that Sir Humphrey must have told you of it; as was in fact the case."
"He knows for a certainty though, that I did not enter into any plot with him to send it, and that 'twas not inspired by me."
"He will assume that your motive for saying so was to protect yourself from the scandal which would result from the truth. That it should save him at the same time from the mortification of having to confess the meanness of his intentions is incidental, but he will count it monstrous fortunate."
"I pray you may be right; but I fear that if he knows me to have lied in one thing he may suspect me with regard to others."
"Oh, come! Even if his interests did not march with yours, in the suppression of the true reason for sending the note, I can scarce believe that his rancour against you is so strong that he would wish to see you sent to the gallows."
"Nay. I trust not. Yet I count it a doubly dire misfortune that he, of all people, should know any part of my story to be false."
"In the worst event 'twould be only his word against yours! He has no proof; not an iota! Courage, Georgina, courage! I tell you there is nought to fear, if you can but tell your story convincingly."
She drew in a sharp breath. "So be it then. I'll say that Humphrey burst in upon me at dawn owing to a message sent him by the Russian at my instigation. 'Twas a joke, albeit a malicious one, intended as a lesson to him on account of his recent persecution of me. He took it monstrous ill and the denouementcoming on top of his gruelling ride, caused him to have a seizure. Is there aught else that I should add?"
"Yes, one thing more," said Roger swiftly. "That weal upon your neck, my poor sweet; where the brute lashed you. 'Tis showing red now, and 'twill be difficult to conceal. You must tell of that blow and, yes—'twill help account for the time we have spent in talking—say that you fainted upon receiving it. When you came to he had already fallen at the foot of the bed, there. You ran to him, unloosed his cravat, and called for help."
"And you? How soon will you reappear to give me the support of your presence?"
" 'Twould ruin all if I returned too soon and was the first to reach you; for Vorontzoff would then regard it as a certainty that I had been here all the time. I'll not delay a second longer than prudence dictates, but must wait until I hear other feet running along the corridor."
"Roger!" she said suddenly, staring at him with wide eyes. "Make K me a vow, I beg."
"Willingly, if it be within my power to fulfil."
"It is. Swear to me that if things go ill you will not make yourself a party to the crime. If the fates are adamant, one of our lives should
still be enough to appease them for such a life as his. 'Twas I who killed him, and. the debt is mine."
"Nay. 'Twas from my blow upon the heart he died; so you ask a thing beyond my power to grant. I'd liefer die from hanging than from shame, and by confessing I might save you at a pinch."
"Then give me strength to fight for both of us. Take me for one moment in your arms before you go."
Stepping up to her, he jerked her to him with unaccustomed violence. They did not kiss, but stood crushed together, straining their muscles to the utmost; so that her arms held his neck as in a vice, and his her body so tightly that it seemed as if her ribs must crack.
With a sudden gasp, as though by mutual consent, they relaxed. He smiled deep into her eyes, took her hand and kissed it,
then turned away.
As the door of the boudoir closed behind him she forced herself to kneel again beside her husband's body. She no longer felt afraid but terribly excited; yet her brain was clear and she knew exactly what she had to do. She could feel her heart beating but had no sense of breathlessness. She deliberately counted fifty of its beats in order to give Roger ample time to get back to his room. Then she opened her mouth wide and. began to scream.
Her piercing cries echoed through the lofty room. For what seemed to her an age they were the only sound that broke the stillness. Fear surged up in her once more. What had happened? Was the house empty or everybody dead, that they did not come? The dead man's face stared up at hers, bloated and unhealthy.
Suddenly, to her stark horror, she thought she saw his eyelids move. Seizing him by the lapels of his coat, she began to shake nun violently, screaming in a hoarse voice: "Humphrey! Humphrey! Humphrey!"
It was at that moment that Vorontzoff entered the room. She did not hear his approach until he was right upon her. Placing a hand upon her shoulder, he pulled her back as he.exclaimed: "Madame, Madame!What in God's name has happened?"
For a second she stared at him without replying. Then she took in the fact that his being the first person to reach her could mean only one thing. He must have been up and waiting in his room, in the hope of witnessing the denouement of his plot to revenge himself upon her.
Flinging wide her arms she cried. "He's dead! He's dead! He told me of the note that brought him here from Goodwood, and it could only have been from you. See what you have done!"
Vorontzoff's dark face flushed. His grip upon her shoulder tightened and he gave her a quick shake. "Say nothing of that; for your sake as well as mine. 'Twould embroil us all in a most unsavoury scandal."
"I have no wish to tell anything but the truth," she flared, now on her mettle. "He entered my room dead-beat from his ride, and finding me alone thought that I had played a trick upon him. His rage was such that he lashed me with his whip and then was taken with an apoplexy. 'Tis you who are responsible."
"He thought you sent the note, eh?" Vorontzoff's dark eyes held hers and she could almost see the thoughts racing behind them as he muttered. "I meant but to repay you and Mr. Brook adequately for the slight you put upon me last night. But if your husband thought 'twas you who had made of him an April Fool I see a way that may save us all from grave embarrassment."
Both, of them caught the sound of running footsteps outside as he went on hurriedly. "You have an English proverb, Madame. Where there is smoke there is also fire. If I tell the truth you must realise what everyone will infer from it. Yet if I say that I sent that note at your behest, intending only to make an April Fool of your husband, 'twill save your name as well as mine!"
Georgina felt hysteria surging up in her. The Russian's attitude was so exactly what Roger had predicted it would be; and his arrival on the scene before anyone else now seemed the dispensation of a Merciful Providence. Fighting down her hysteria she dumbly nodded an acceptance of his suggestion, and next moment found herself the centre of a little crowd. Her father, Roger, Selwyn and old Barney had all come running into the room in various states of attire, and the rest of the household was arriving hard upon their heels.
Colonel Thursby gave one look at the prostrate figure of his son-in-law, then took charge of the situation.
"Quick Barney!" he said. "Send one of the grooms to fetch the doctor; and two of the men to get Sir Humphrey to a bed."
"He is already dead," remarked George Selwyn, who was eyeing the corpse with the morbid curiosity that everything to do with death always aroused in him.
"I judged as much," replied the Colonel, "but 'tis fitting that a doctor should be called without delay."
"He died of a stroke," Selwyn went on. "The suffusion of his face may be largely due to his habits; but he shows all the signs of a seizure brought on either by over exertion or a mental shock."
"Or a fit of rage," added Vorontzoff. "I fear this tragedy is to be attributed to a practical joke plotted between Lady Etheredge and myself, last night."
Georgina was still crouching by the body, her face buried in her hands. As her father took her arm and drew her towards a chair, he raised his voice and said: "I beg that everyone will now leave the room, with the exception of his Excellency."
Concealing their disappointment at being deprived of a first-hand account of this grim occurrence, the guests and several scared-looking housemaids ebbed away. George Selwyn alone ignored the request and closed the door behind the others. The men had all hurried from their rooms wigless, and his bald, polished skull gave him some resemblance to a rather benign-looking vulture.
"And now, your Excellency," said the Colonel. "Perhaps you will tell us what you meant a moment back, when you said that Sir Humphrey's death came about through some ill-considered jest?"
The Russian shrugged and spread out his hands. "I am not well acquainted with your English ways; but I understand that to-day is the Feast of Fools, and that it is your national custom to play pranks upon each other, most of which are taken in good part."
" 'Tis true," the Colonel nodded, "although nowadays such practices are mostly confined to the rude country folk who still dance round the Maypole and jump the November bonfires. Did you and my daughter seek then to make an April Fool of Sir Humphrey?"
"Alas, Sir; I fear we did," Vorontzoff admitted; and he then went on to give a brief account of his note and how he Had despatched one of his outriders with it to Goodwood.
When he had done the Colonel turned to Georgina. She was sitting hunched up in an elbow chair with her back to the light, a wisp of handkerchief pressed against her eyes. Her father touched her gently on the shoulder, and said: "Can you make an effort, m'dear, and tell us what happened on Humphrey's coming in to you?"
"There is little to tell," she replied, choking back a sob. "I was asleep when he burst in upon me. He was panting like a grampus from the strain he had put upon himself to get here by dawn. He blurted out the contents of the note he'd had and demanded from me the name of my lover. I told him I had none; and that to teach him a lesson for his ill suspicions of me, had made of him an April Fool. On that his anger suddenly mounted to a monstrous rage and he struck at me with his whip. Look! It caught me here on the neck and seemed to sear half-way through my back. I fainted from the pain and shock. When I regained my senses the room was still, but on sitting up I saw Humphrey lying there on the floor. I jumped out of bed and sought to bring him to by loosening his cravat and throwing a jug of water over him; but 'twas no good. Then the sight of his face sent me into hysterics and my screams brought you all running."
"So that was the way of it," the Colonel murmured. "I pity the poor fellow for having met such an end; but he was always of a hot temper and is not the first man to have died from a fit of rage."
Georgina heaved an inward sigh of relief. She recalled Roger saying that everything would depend on the unquestioning acceptance of her story, and it seemed that matters could not possibly have gone better.
Selwyn had been standing staring at the body. He now pointed to it and remarked. "There is a small wound upon his head; see, the skin is broken just above the left temple. 'Tis a vulnerable spot, and 'tis possible that while he might have recovered from a stroke the blow that made the wound may have been the actual cause of death."
Covering her face again with her hand and handkerchief, Georgina bit her lip. It seemed an ^terminable time before anyone said anything, and she had a sudden desperate fear that, after all, the truth was now about to come out. But, at last, her father replied, "He must have struck his head against something as he fell."
There was a discreet knock at the door, and on the Colonel's calling
"Come in," two footmen entered. At his directions they carried Sir Humphrey's body away to one of the spare bedrooms.
Chi the door closing behind them Vorontzoff suddenly stooped and picked up. the cut-glass scent-bottle
which, having rolled just under the valance of the bed, had been hidden -until a moment before by the dead man's leg. With a sharp glance at Georgina he asked: "How did this bottle come to be on the floor, Madame?'
Her mouth seemed to go dry and she swallowed quickly, before replying with a shrug. "I do not know, Monsieur. He must have knocked it off the dressing-table—perhaps when he made to strike me with his whip."
"That accounts for the room being so heavy with your scent," remarked her father. "But you should go back to bed now, m'dear, and get some rest after this dreadful shock. I'll send Jenny up to you. Come, gentlemen; there is no more to be done here."
To her immense relief each of them made her a courtly bow and a moment later she was alone. Up till then, although she had been dabbing at her eyes for appearance sake, she had been too wrought up to weep; but now the tears came and when Jenny arrived she found her mistress crying quietly.
Jenny was not only the soul of loyalty but an extremely kind-hearted and competent girl. She had maided Georgina ever since her first going to Court and had a deep affection for her. With soothing words and little comforting noises she sponged her mistress's face and brushed her hair, then she remade the bed and tucked her up in it. Having lit the fire she took another look at Georgina and, seeing that she was lying quite still with her eyes shut, went off to make a soothing tizane of lime-flowers.
On her return with the steaming brew she said: "Now drink this Milady; 'twill do you good." Then she pointed at two large white pills in the saucer and added. "I met with my Lord Edward Fitz-Deverel in the passage, and his Lordship says, his compliments to you Milady, and please to pleasure him by taking these, for they'll send you to sleep and prevent you having the headache."
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