Lost Man's Lane: A Second Episode in the Life of Amelia Butterworth
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XXV
TRIFLES, BUT NOT TRIFLING
I was so astounded I hardly took in this final question.
_He_ had been the sixth party in the funeral cortege I had seen pause inthe Flower Parlor. Well, what might I not expect from this man next!
But I am methodical even under the greatest excitement and at the mostcritical instants, as those who have read _That Affair Next Door_ havehad ample opportunity to know. Once having taken in the startling facthe mentioned, I found it impossible to proceed to establish mystandpoint till I knew a little more about his.
"Wait," I said; "tell me first if I have ever seen the real Mother Jane;or were you the person I saw stooping in the road, and of whom I boughtthe pennyroyal?"
"No," he replied; "that was the old woman herself. My appearance in thecottage dates from yesterday noon. I felt the need of being secretlynear you, and I also wished for an opportunity to examine this humbleinterior unsuspected and unobserved. So I prevailed upon the old womanto exchange places with me; she taking up her abode in the woods for thenight and I her old stool on the hearthstone. She was the more willingto do this from the promise I gave her to watch out for Lizzie. That Iwould don her own Sunday suit and personate her in her own home sheevidently did not suspect. Had not wit enough, I suppose. At the presentmoment she is back in her old place."
I nodded my thanks for this explanation, but was not deterred frompressing the point I was anxious to have elucidated.
"If," I went on to urge, "you took advantage of your disguise to act asassistant in the burial which took place last night, you are in a muchbetter situation than myself to decide the question we are at presentconsidering. Was it because of any secret knowledge thus gained youdeclare so positively that it was not a human being you helped lower inits grave?"
"Partially. Having some skill in these disguises, especially where myown infirmities can have full play, as in the case of this strong buthalf-bent woman, I had no reason to think my own identity was suspected,much less discovered. Therefore I could trust to what I saw and heard asbeing just what Mother Jane herself would be allowed to see or hearunder the same circumstances. If, therefore, these young people and thisold crone had been, as you seem to think they are, in league for murder,Lucetta would hardly have greeted me as she did when she came down tomeet me in the kitchen."
"And how was that? What did she say?"
"She said: 'Ah, Mother Jane, we have a piece of work for you. You arestrong, are you not?'"
"Humph!"
"And then she commiserated me a bit and gave me food which, upon myword, I found hard to eat, though I had saved my appetite for theoccasion. Before she left me she bade me sit in the inglenook till shewanted me, adding in Hannah's ear as she passed her: 'There is no usetrying to explain anything to her. Show her when the time comes whatthere is to do and trust to her short memory to forget it before sheleaves the house. She could not understand my brother's propensity orour shame in pandering to it. So attempt nothing, Hannah. Only keep themoney in her view.'"
"So, and that gave you no idea?"
"It gave me the idea I have imparted to you, or, rather, added to theidea which had been instilled in me by others."
"And this idea was not affected by what you saw afterwards?"
"Not in the least--rather strengthened. Of the few words I overheard,one was uttered in reference to yourself by Miss Knollys. She said: 'Ihave locked Miss Butterworth again into her room. If she accuses me ofhaving done so, I shall tell her our whole story. Better she should knowthe family's disgrace than imagine us guilty of crimes of which we areutterly incapable.'"
"So! so!" I cried, "you heard that?"
"Yes, madam, I heard that, and I do not think she knew she was droppingthat word into the ear of a detective, but on this point you are, ofcourse, at liberty to differ with me."
"I am not yet ready to avail myself of the privilege," I retorted. "Whatelse did these girls let fall in your hearing?"
"Not much. It was Hannah who led me into the upper hall, and Hannah whoby signs and signals rather than words showed me what was expected ofme. However, when, after the box was lowered into the cellar, Hannah wasdrawing me away, Lucetta stepped up and whispered in her ear: 'Don'tgive her the biggest coin. Give her the little one, or she may mistakeour reasons for secrecy. I wouldn't like even a fool to do that even forthe moment it would remain lodged in Mother Jane's mind.'"
"Well, well," I again cried, certainly puzzled, for these strayexpressions of the sisters were in a measure contradictory not only ofthe suspicions I entertained, but of the facts which had seemingly cometo my attention.
Mr. Gryce, who was probably watching my face more closely than he didthe cane with whose movements he was apparently engrossed, stopped togive a caressing rub to the knob of that same cane before remarking:
"One such peep behind the scenes is worth any amount of surmise expendedon the wrong side of the curtain. I let you share my knowledge becauseit is your due. Now if you feel willing to explain what you mean by aknot of crape on the shutter, I am at your service, madam."
I felt that it would be cruel to delay my story longer, and so I beganit. It was evidently more interesting than he expected, and as I dilatedupon the special features which had led me to believe that it was athinking, suffering mortal like ourselves who had been shut up inWilliam's room and afterwards buried in the cellar under the FlowerParlor, I saw his face lengthen and doubt take the place of the quietassurance with which he had received my various intimations up to thistime. The cane was laid aside, and from the action of his rightforefinger on the palm of his left hand I judged that I was making nosmall impression on his mind. When I had finished, he sat for a minutesilent; then he said:
"Thanks, Miss Butterworth; you have more than fulfilled my hopes. Whatwe buried was undoubtedly human, and the question now is, Who was it,and of what death did he die?" Then, after a meaning pause: "_You_ thinkit was Silly Rufus."
I will astonish you with my reply. "No," said I, "I do not. That iswhere you make a mistake, Mr. Gryce."