"A will?--a real will? Do you mean to say that you gave me that bag without breathing a word about there being a will inside?"
"I didn"t know myself until to-day."
By degrees the tale was told. Mrs. Tranmer"s amazement grew and grew.
She seemed to have forgotten all about its being time to dress for dinner.
"And you are a juryman?"
"I am."
"And you actually have the bag on which the whole case turns?"
"I wish I had."
"But was the will inside?"
"I never saw it."
"Nor I. It was quite an ordinary bag, and if it had been we must have seen it. A will isn"t written on a sc.r.a.ppy piece of paper which could have been overlooked. Philip, the will wasn"t in the bag. That young woman"s an impostor."
"I don"t believe it for a moment--not for a single instant. I am convinced that she supposes herself to be speaking the absolute truth.
Even granting that she is mistaken, in what position do I stand? I cannot go and say, "I have lost your bag, but it doesn"t matter, for the will was not inside." Would she not be ent.i.tled to reply, "Return me the bag in the condition in which I intrusted it to your keeping, and I will show that you are wrong"? It will not be enough for me to repeat that I have not the bag; my sister threw it into her dust-hole."
"Philip!"
"May she not retort, "Then, for all the misfortunes which the loss of the bag brings on me, you are responsible"? The letter of the law might acquit me. My conscience never would. Agatha, I fear you have done me a serious injury."
"Don"t talk like that! Under the circ.u.mstances you had no right to give me the bag at all."
"You are wrong; I did not give it you. On the contrary, I implored you not to take it. But you insisted."
"Philip, how can you say such a wicked thing? I remember exactly what happened. I had been buying some veils. I was saying to you how I hated carrying parcels, even small ones----"
"Agatha, don"t let us enter into this matter now. You may be called upon to make your statement in another place. I can only hope that our statements will not clash."
For the first time Mrs. Tranmer showed symptoms of genuine anxiety.
"You don"t mean to say that I"m to be dragged into a court of law because of that twopenny-halfpenny bag?"
"I think it possible. What else can you expect?
"I must tell this unfortunate young lady how the matter stands. I apprehend that I shall have to repeat my statement in open court, and that you will be called upon to supplement it. I also take it that no stone will be left unturned to induce you to give a clear and satisfactory account of what became of the bag after it pa.s.sed into your hands."
"My goodness! And I know no more what became of it than anything."
"I must go to Miss Angel at once."
"Philip!"
"I must. Consider my position. I cannot enter the court as a juryman again without explaining to someone how I am placed. The irregularity would transgress all limits. I must communicate with Miss Angel immediately; she will communicate with her advisers, who will no doubt communicate with you."
"My goodness!" repeated Mrs. Tranmer to herself after he had gone.
Still she did not proceed upstairs to dress.
CHAPTER III
THE PLAINTIFF IS STARTLED
Miss Angel was dressed for dinner. She was in the drawing-room with other guests of the hotel, waiting for the gong to sound, when she was informed that a gentleman wished to see her. On the heels of the information entered the gentleman himself. It seemed that Mr. Roland had only eyes for her. As if oblivious of others he moved rapidly forward. She regarded him askance. He, perceiving her want of recognition, introduce himself in a fashion of his own.
"Miss Angel, I"m the man who travelled with you from Nice to Dijon."
At once her face lighted up. Her eyes became as if they were illumined.
"Of course! To think that we should have met again! At last!"
To judge from certain comments which were made by those around one could not but suspect that Miss Angel"s story was a theme of general interest. As a matter of fact, they were being entertained by her account of the day"s proceedings at the very moment of Mr. Roland"s entry. People in these small "residential" hotels are sometimes so extremely friendly. Altogether unexpectedly Mr. Roland found himself an object of interest to quite a number of total strangers. He was not the sort of man to shine in such a position, particularly as it was only too plain that Miss Angel misunderstood the situation.
"Mr. Roland, you are like a messenger from Heaven. I have prayed for you to come, so you must be one. And at this time of all times--just when you are most wanted! Really your advent must be miraculous."
"Ye-es." The gentleman glanced around. "Might I speak to you for a moment in private?"
She regarded him a little quizzically.
"Everybody here knows my whole strange history; my hopes and fears; all about me. You needn"t be afraid to add another chapter to the tale, especially since you have arrived at so opportune a moment."
"Precisely." His tone was expressive of something more than doubt.
"Still, if you don"t mind, I think I would rather say a few words to you alone."
The bystanders commenced to withdraw with some little show of awkwardness, as if, since the whole business had so far been public, they rather resented the element of secrecy. The gong sounding, Miss Angel was moved to proffer a suggestion.
"Come dine with me. We can talk when we are eating."
He shrank back with what was almost a gesture of horror.
"Excuse me--you are very kind--I really couldn"t. If you prefer it, I will wait here until you have dined."
"Do you imagine that I could wait to hear what you have to say till after dinner? You don"t know me if you do. The people are going. We shall have the room all to ourselves. My dinner can wait."
The people went. They did have the room to themselves. She began to overwhelm him with her thanks, which, conscience-striken, he endeavoured to parry.
"I cannot tell you how grateful I am to you for coming in this spontaneous fashion--at this moment, too, of my utmost need."
"Just 80."
"If you only knew how I have searched for you high and low, and now, after all, you appear in the very nick of time."
"Exactly."