The Major smiled grimly. "I hope," he said, "to hand him to the police inside five minutes."
"Look here," said somebody, "it was all Mr. Esmond"s own fault, and, so to speak, an accident. Go and get a doctor for him, and let us have our man."
There was a little hard glitter in Coulthurst"s eyes. "He will find it difficult to persuade a jury of that. Stick to the lad, Jenkins, and pick Mr. Esmond up, two of you. Stand aside there, and it"s possible that we will not proceed against any more of you."
Ingleby turned to the crowd. "You"re not going to let them hand him to the police for a thing he didn"t do?"
There was a rush and a scuffle, the major"s riding-crop was torn from him, and groom and gardener and keeper were swept away, while Ingleby, laughing harshly, reeled into the shadow of the trees with his hand on Leger"s shoulder.
"I think," he said, "there"s nothing that need keep us here."
Then, while some of his companions pursued Esmond"s retainers, and the rest stood still, uncertain what to do next, Ingleby started back through the woods towards Hoddam, dragging Leger, who seemed a trifle dazed.
IV
LEGER"S RESPONSIBILITY
Leger was paler than usual, as well as breathless and very dusty, when he flung himself down in a dilapidated arm-chair in Ingleby"s room. The window was open, for it was very hot, and Ingleby, who stood near it, appeared to be listening intently to the patter of feet that came up from the narrow street, until he moved forward and laid his hand upon the sash. Then Leger laughed hollowly.
"I don"t think that"s necessary, and I wish you would leave it as it is just now," he said. "Considering that you live on the fourth story they"re scarcely likely to come in that way."
"I did it without thinking," said Ingleby, who turned to him a trifle flushed in face. "You"re looking faint. I can get you some water--fortunately it"s cheap."
"I"ll be all right in a minute or two," and Leger made a little deprecatory gesture. "I"m not sure I ever made four miles quite so fast before, and the blow I got from that fellow"s dog-whip, the handle end, must have shaken me. Never mind the water."
Ingleby sat down, a trifle limply, and, unconscious of the fact that his own clothes were badly torn, gazed at his companion. Leger"s dusty disarray heightened the effect of his pallor, and his hair, dank with perspiration, lay smeared upon his forehead, while there was a big discoloured bruise upon one cheek. They had come home across the meadow and through the woodland instead of by the road, and neither of them remembered how many hedges and thickets they had scrambled through, since the one thing apparent was the advisability of escaping attention.
"We made an excellent pace," Ingleby said. "I scarcely think that the others can have got here yet. They hadn"t the same necessity for haste.
Still, I"m almost afraid it was wasted energy. You see, the police wouldn"t be very long in tracing us."
"I don"t suppose so. That big military-looking fellow meant to make sure of me. No doubt he"ll send a groom over with our description. He seemed to recognize you, too."
Ingleby rose abruptly and leaned against the mantel with his lips firmly set. It was several moments before he spoke again.
"I think he did," he said. "In fact, I"d have done almost anything sooner than have had this happen; though that doesn"t matter now.
There"s a more important question--and it has to be faced."
They looked at each other in silence for a second or two, and both their faces were very grim with the shadow of fear in them. They were young, and shrank from the contemplation of what it seemed had been done. The thing was horrible in itself, quite apart from the consequences, which promised to be disastrous.
"You mean," said Leger very quietly, "is he dead?"
Ingleby made a little gesture, and once more for almost a minute the heavy silence was intensified by the ticking of his watch and the sounds in the street below. Both of them listened intently, almost expecting to hear the tramp of heavy feet upon the stairway.
"Heaven forbid!" said Ingleby, a trifle hoa.r.s.ely. "Still, he looked horribly like it. There"s just one thing of which I should like to be quite certain."
"Of course!" and Leger met his comrade"s gaze. "Suppose I told you I did it, would it separate us?"
"No," said Ingleby. "You know that. It might have been I; and, anyway, we were both in the thing."
"Then, as you supposed, the military man was mistaken. I had nothing in my hands, and never even reached him."
Ingleby, in spite of his protestations, drew a deep breath of relief, but Leger, who appeared to be recovering now, smiled.
"Well," he said, "you"re satisfied, but it doesn"t in the least affect the position. You see, the military gentleman appeared certain he saw me strike the blow, and I scarcely think my word would go very far against his with the usual kind of jury."
"You know who did it?"
Leger smiled curiously. "I do, but you ought to understand that the fact isn"t of much use to me."
"You mean?"
"I could plead not guilty, but I couldn"t point out the man responsible.
You see, I induced him to join the Society, and gave him the American"s pamphlets--I believe the more virulent ones. They seemed to make a strong impression on him. One can"t well back out of his responsibility--especially when the adversary is always ready to make the most of the opportunity. Besides, the man has a family."
Ingleby clenched one hand. "And you have Hetty."
"Yes," said Leger with an impressive quietness. "And Hetty has only me.
Still, one must do what he feels he has to."
"But you can"t leave Hetty--and what would happen to her if you were----"
"If I were in jail?" and Leger"s face went awry. "She would be turned out of her berth to a certainty. It didn"t quite strike me until you put the thing before me. There"s the lad"s mother too. A little horrible, isn"t it? How long does one usually get for manslaughter?"
Again there was silence save for Ingleby"s groan. Democratic aspirations were very well as subjects for discussion, but now that he was brought face to face with the results of attempting to realize them, they appalled him. He did not remember that usually very little worth the having can be obtained without somebody"s getting hurt; and it would have afforded him no great consolation if he had remembered, since, for the time being, he had had quite enough of theories. Then he made a little abrupt gesture.
"Tom," he said, "what dolts we are! The thing is perfectly simple. You have only to come out with me, and the fact that you"ve made a bolt of it will be quite enough to divert suspicion from the other man."
"There is a difficulty. Steamboat fares cost money, and I"m not sure Hetty and I have five pounds in the treasury."
Ingleby laughed almost light-heartedly. "I think I have enough to take us all out at the cheapest rates, and you must let me lend it to you, if only to prove that what you believe in isn"t an impracticable fancy."
Leger slowly straightened himself. "I don"t want to be ungracious--but it"s a difficult thing to do. The money"s yours--and you"d have nothing left."
Ingleby laid a hand on his shoulder, and gripped it hard. "Are you willing to see your sister cast adrift to save your confounded pride?
The fact that she has a relative undergoing penal servitude isn"t much of a recommendation to a girl who has to earn her bread. Besides, like a good many of us, you"re not logical. You thought you had a claim on Esmond"s property."
There was a light step on the stairway, and he stopped suddenly.
"There"s Hetty," he said. "We"ll leave it to her."
The door swung open, and the girl came in gasping, with horror in her eyes.
"Oh," she said, "its awful! They"ve come in with the wagonettes, and Harry told me. How did it happen?"
"Sit down," said Ingleby gently. "Tom will explain."