The Shadow of the Rope
Page 6
CHAPTER VI
A PERIPATETIC PROVIDENCE
"Do you still pin your faith to the man in the street?"
It was Mr. Steel who stood at Rachel's elbow, repeating his questionword for word; but he did not repeat it in the same tone. There was anearnest note in the lowered voice, an unspoken appeal to her to admitthe truth and be done with proud pretence. And indeed the pride had goneout of Rachel at sight of him; a delicious sense of safety filled herheart instead. She was as one drowning, and here was a strong swimmercome to her rescue in the nick of time. What did it matter who or whathe was? She felt that he was strong to save. Yet, as the nearly drowneddo struggle with their saviours, so Rachel must fence instinctively withhers.
"I never did pin my faith to him," said she.
"Yet see the risk that you are running! If he turns round--if any one ofthem turns round and recognizes you--listen to that!"
It was only the second window, but a third and a fourth followed likeshots from the same revolver. Rachel winced.
"For God's sake, come away!" he whispered, sternly.
And Rachel did come a few yards before a flicker of her spirit called ahalt.
"Why should I run away?" she demanded, in sudden tears of mortificationand of weakness combined. "I am innocent--so why should I?"
"Because they don't like innocent people; and there appear to be nopolice in these parts; and if you fall into their hands--well, it wouldbe better for you if you had been found guilty and were safe and soundin Newgate now!"
That was exactly what Rachel had felt herself; she took a few stepsmore, but still with reluctance and irresolution; and once round thenearest corner, and out of that hateful street for ever, she turned toher companion in unconcealed despair.
"But what am I to do?" she cried. "But where am I to turn?"
"Mrs. Minchin," said Steel, "can you not really trust me yet?"
He stood before her under a street lamp, handsome still, upright for allhis years, strong as fate itself, and surely kinder than any fate whichRachel Minchin had yet met with in the course of her short butcheckered life. And yet--and yet--she trusted and distrusted him too!
"I can and I cannot," she sighed; and even with the words one reasonoccurred to her. "You have followed me, you see, after all!"
"I admit it," he replied, "and without a particle of shame. My dearlady, I was not going to lose sight of you to-night!"
"And why not?"
"Because I foresaw what might happen, and may happen still! Nay, madam,it will, if you continue to let your pride sit upon your common sense.Do you hear them now? That means the police, and when they're dispersedthey'll come this way to King's Road. Any moment they may be upon us.And there's a hansom dropped from heaven!"
He raised his umbrella, the bell tinkled, the two red eyes dilated andwidened in the night, then with a clatter the horse was pulled up besidethe curb, and Steel spread his hand before the muddy wheel.
"Be sensible," he whispered, "and jump in! In a hansom you can see whereyou are going; in a hansom you can speak to the driver or attract theattention of any decent person on the sidewalk. Ah! you will trust meso far at last--I thank you from my heart!"
"Where to, sir?" asked the cabman through the roof.
And Rachel listened with languid curiosity; but that was all. She hadput herself in this man's hands; resistance was at an end, and areckless indifference to her fate the new attitude of a soul as utterlyovertaxed and exhausted as its tired tenement of clay.
"Brook Street," said Steel, after a moment's pause--"and double-quickfor a double fare. We shall be there in a quarter of an hour," he addedreassuringly as the trap-door slammed, "and you will find everythingready for you, beginning with something to eat. I, at all events,anticipated the verdict; if you don't believe me, you will when we getthere, for they have been ready for you all day. Do you know Claridge'sHotel, by the way?"
"Only by name," said Rachel, wearily.
"I'm glad to hear it," pursued Mr. Steel, "for I think you will bepleased. It is not like the ordinary run of hotels. Your rooms are yourcastle--regular self-contained flat--and you needn't see another soul ifyou don't like. I am staying in the hotel myself, for example, but youshall not set eyes on me for a week unless you wish to."
"But I don't understand," began Rachel, roused a little from her apathy.She was not suffered to proceed.
"Nor are you to attempt to do so," said her companion, "until to-morrowmorning. If you feel equal to it then, I shall crave an audience, andyou shall hear what I have got to say. But first, let me beg of you, anadequate supper and a good night's rest!"
"One thing is certain," said Rachel, half to herself: "they can't knowwho I am, or they never would have taken me in. And no luggage!"
"That they are prepared for," returned Steel; "and in your rooms youwill find a maid who is also prepared and equipped for your emergency.As to their not knowing who you are at the hotel, there you are right;they do not know; it would have been inexpedient to tell them."
"Then at least," said Rachel, "I ought to know who I am supposed to be."
And she smiled, for interest and curiosity were awakened within her,with the momentary effect of stimulants; but Mr. Steel sat silent at herside. The cab was tinkling up Park Lane. The great park on the left, thegreat houses on the right, the darkness on the one hand, the lights onthe other, had all the fascination of sharp contrasts--that veryfascination which was Mr. Steel's. Rachel already discovered it in hisface, and divined it in his character, without admitting to herself thatthere was any fascination at all. Yet otherwise she would have droppedrather than have done what she was doing now. The man had cast a spellupon her; and for the present she did feel safe in his hands. But withthat unmistakable sense of immediate security there mingled a subtlerpremonition of ultimate danger, to which Rachel had felt alive from thefirst. And this was the keenest stimulus of all.
What was his intention, and what his object? To draw back was to findout neither; and to say the truth, even if she had not been friendlessand forlorn, Rachel would have been very sorry to draw back now.
The raw air in her face had greatly revived her; the sights and lightsof the town were still new and dear to her; she had come back to theworld with a vengeance, to a world of incident and interest, with anadventure ready waiting to take her out of her past self!
But it was only her companion's silence which enabled Rachel to realizeher strange fortune at this stage, and she had to put her questionpoint-blank before she obtained any answer at all.
"If you insist upon hearing all the little details to-night," saidSteele, with a good-humored shrug, "well, I suppose you must hear them;but I hope you will not insist. I have had to make provisions which youmay very possibly resent, but I thought it would be time enough for usto quarrel about them in the morning. To-night you need rest andsustenance, but no excitement; of that God knows you have had enough! Noone will come near you but the maid of whom I spoke; no questions willbe put to you; everything is arranged. But to-morrow, if you feel equalto it, you shall hear all about me, and form your own cool judgment ofmy behavior towards you. Meanwhile won't you trust me--implicitly--untilthen?"
"I do," said Rachel, "and I will--until to-morrow."
"Then there are one or two things that I can promise you," said Steel,with the heartiness of a man who has gained his point. "You will not becompromised in any sort or kind of way; your self-respect shall notsuffer; nothing shall vex or trouble you, if I can help it, while youremain at this hotel. And this I guarantee--whether you like it ornot--unless you tell them, not a single soul in the place shall have thefaintest inkling as to who you are. Now, only keep your why andwherefore till to-morrow," he concluded cheerily, "and I can promise youalmost every satisfaction. But here we are at the hotel."
He thrust his umbrella outside, pointing to a portico and courtyard onthe right; and in another moment Rachel was receiving the bows ofpowdered footmen in crimson plush, while Steel, hat in hand, his whitehair
gleaming in the electric light, led the way to the lift.
Rachel's recollection of that night was ever afterwards disjointed andinvolved as that of any dream; but there were certain features that shenever forgot. There was the beautiful suite of rooms, filled withflowers that must have cost a small fortune at that time of year, and inone of them a table tastefully laid. Rachel remembered the dazzle ofsilver and the glare of napery, the hot plates, the sparkling wine, thehot-house fruit, and the deep embarrassment of sitting down to all thisin solitary state. Mr. Steel had but peeped in to see that all was inaccordance with his orders; thereafter not even a waiter was allowed toenter, but only Rachel's attendant, to whose charge she had beencommitted; a gentle and assiduous creature, quiet of foot and quick ofhand, who spoke seldom but in a soothing voice, and with the delicateand pretty accent of the French-Swiss.
Rachel used to wonder whether she had shocked this mannerly young womanby eating very ravenously; she remembered a nervous desire to be donewith that solitary repast, and to get to bed. Yet when she was there, inthe sweetest and whitest of fine linen, with a hot bottle at her feet,and a fire burning so brightly in the room that the brass bedsteadseemed here and there red-hot, then the sound sleep that she sorelyneeded seemed further off than ever, for always she dreamt she was inprison and condemned to die, till at length she feared to close hereyes. But nothing had been forgotten; and Rachel's last memory of thateventful day, and not less eventful night, was of a mild, foreign facebending over her with a medicine-glass and a gentle word.
And the same good face and the same soft voice were waiting for her whenshe awoke after many hours; the fire still burned brightly, also theelectric-light, though the blind was up and the window filled with adull November sky. It was a delicious awakening, recollection was soslow to come. Rachel might have been ill for days. She experienced thepeace that is left by illness of sufficient gravity. But all she ailedwas a slight headache, quickly removed by an inimitable cup of tea, thatfortified her against the perplexing memories which now came swarming toher mind. This morning, however, enlightenment was due, and meanwhileRachel received a hint, though a puzzling one, from the Swiss maid, asto the new identity which had been thrust upon her for the time being inlieu of her own.
"It was very sad for madame to lose all her things," cooed the girl, asshe busied herself about the room.
"It was irritating," Rachel owned, beginning to wonder how much theother knew.
"But it was better than losing your life, madame!" the girl added with asmile.
And now Rachel lay silent. Could this amiable young woman know all? Inone way Rachel rather hoped it was the case; it would be something tohave received so much kindness and attention, even though bought andpaid for, from one of her own sex who knew all there was to know, andyet did not shrink from her. But the young woman's next words dismissedthis idea.
"When so many poor people were drowned!" said she. And the mystificationincreased.
Presently there was a knock at the outer door, which the maid answered,returning with Mr. Steele's card.
"Is he there?" asked Rachel, hastily.
"No, madame, but one of the servants is waiting for an answer. I thinkthere is something written on the back, madame."
Rachel read the harmless request on the back of the card; nothing couldhave been better calculated to turn away suspicion of one sort oranother, and there was obvious design in the absence of an envelope. ButRachel was not yet in the secret, and she was determined not to wait anhour longer than she need.
"What is the time, please?"
"I will see, madame."
The girl glided out and in.
"Well?"
"A quarter to ten, madame."
"Then order my breakfast for a quarter past, and let Mr. Steele be toldthat I shall be delighted to see him at eleven o'clock."