She is a golfer, a yachtswoman, fond of sport generally, and withal a charming hostess. It is no wonder she wants a secretary. You don"t suppose I should let Zena go anywhere to be treated as a kind of housemaid, and in a way that no self-respecting servant would stand?"
"Of course not. I gather that you know Mrs. Barrymore personally?"
"I saw her once or twice when she was a child. I knew her mother."
I looked up quickly, struck by his tone.
"There is romance in every life, Wigan. Here you touch mine. Mrs.
Barrymore"s mother married an American. She chose him rather than me, and, although I afterwards married, I have never forgotten her.
Naturally, I feel an interest in her daughter, Mrs. Barrymore, and I want your help."
"In what way?"
"I want your opinion of her."
"But I don"t know her."
"You must get to know her. She puzzles me, and certain things which Zena has told me make me think I might help her. I should like to do so, if I can. We have been useful to each other, Wigan, because our methods are different. I have formed a certain opinion of Mrs.
Barrymore, the result of theorizing. I shall not tell you what it is because I want your unbiased view, arrived at by your method of going to work."
"There is a mystery about her, then?"
"My dear Wigan, that is exactly what I want to find out."
"How am I to make her acquaintance?" I asked.
"Not as Murray Wigan, certainly," he said, and then he added, after a pause: "Would you mind pretending to be Zena"s lover? When I saw her a few days ago I said I would suggest this way to her."
Mind? Pretend! The professor little knew how the proposal pleased me.
He was offering me a part I could play to perfection.
"It is a good idea," was all I said.
"We even thought of a name for you--George Hastings--and you are a surveyor. Being in Richmond, you thought you might venture to call, not having seen Zena for some time. Mrs. Barrymore lives at Lantern House, Richmond. If you see Mrs. Barrymore, as I hope you will, and make yourself agreeable, she may give you permission to come again. I think it will work all right."
"Will to-morrow be too soon to go?" I asked.
"No."
"If I am given the chance, I will certainly go again when I can.
Unfortunately, I am very busy just now."
"Ah, I haven"t asked you about your work. Anything interesting?"
"One case, or, rather, three cases in one." And I told him about the cyclists and the chauffeur.
"Only wounds in the head? What kind of wounds?" he asked.
"I did not see the cyclists. I can only speak of the chauffeur from direct knowledge. The forehead, just by the margin of the hair, was bruised and the skin slightly abraded. At the base of the head behind, under the hair, there was another bruise--round, the size of half a crown. There was no swelling, no blood. I am told that the cyclists were also bruised about the temples."
"What had the doctor to say?"
"Very little in the chauffeur"s case. Some severe blow had been delivered, but he could not say how. He was puzzled. When I suggested the man might have been run down by a car--quoting Baines"s idea--he said it was a possible explanation. He said so, I fancy, merely because he had no other suggestion to offer."
"And the man"s face, Wigan?"
"If a man could see death in some horrible shape, and his features become suddenly fixed with terror, he might look like the chauffeur did," I answered.
"He has not been identified either?"
"Not yet, but I"m hoping to trace him."
"Have you thought of one point, Wigan?" said Quarles, with some eagerness. "He may not have been a chauffeur, nor the others cyclists.
They may only have worn the clothes."
"It is possible," I returned. "His hands had done manual work, but not of an arduous kind. There were curious marks on the body, a discoloration under the arms, and the skin somewhat chafed. Also, on the outer side of the arms, there were marks just above the elbows--depressions rather than discolorations. A rope bound round the body might have produced the latter."
"There would have been marks upon the chest and back as well," said Quarles.
"I do not say it was a rope," I returned. "Have you any helpful theory, professor?"
For a few moments he had seemed keen--I should not have been surprised had he suggested our going to the empty room. Now he became apathetic, loose-minded, a man incapable of concentration. I had never known Quarles quite like this before.
"I will think of it. When I read the accounts in the papers, I thought I should like to a.s.sist you," he said slowly. "But it is impossible to-night. Zena is not here. I am an incomplete machine without her.
You must have realized that, Wigan, by this time."
I have intimated before that the empty room, the listening for inspiration, and Quarles"s faith in Zena"s questions did not impress me very much. His excuse now I took as an intimation that he wanted to be alone.
"I will call at Mrs. Barrymore"s to-morrow," I said as I rose to go.
"That"s right; Lantern House, Richmond. And, by the way, Mr.
Hastings--that is your name, remember--my granddaughter does not call herself Zena Quarles, but Mary Corbett. I have an old friend, Mrs.
Corbett, and she has lent her name and her address for letters. Mrs.
Barrymore may have heard of me from her mother, and mine is not a name easily forgotten. Besides----"
"I understand. You would help Mrs. Barrymore without her knowing it."
"There may be another reason. One does not advertise his financial difficulties if he can help it."
"Professor, we are friends," I said, with some hesitation. "If you want----"
"No, no," he answered quickly, "I do not want to borrow yet. Thank you all the same, Wigan. Good night. And don"t forget you are in love with Mary Corbett."
On the following afternoon I went to Richmond, having supplied myself with some surveying instruments to support the part I was to play.
This was unnecessary, perhaps, but I like to be on the safe side. I was excited. I was in love, there was no pretense about it, and if I could contrive to let Zena see the reality through the pretense, so much the better.
Lantern House, which had grounds running down to the river, was large, rambling, and parts of it were very old, contemporaneous with the old Palace of Richmond, it was said. A small cupola in the central portion of the building, possibly once used for star gazing, may have suggested the name.
Zena evidently expected me, for the servant, without making any inquiry, showed me into a room opening on to the gardens at the back.