"Exceedingly," Mr. Carter said; and while Alice ran to get the book, he studied his memorandum so closely that no one dared to ask him a question, if, indeed, any one wanted to. Rebecca had answered him dully, looking out of the window part of the time, part of the time at the floor. Dr. Lavendar, on the other side of the room, his hands on the head of his cane, sat silently staring down at the carpet, his face heavy and rather stern. Lute, radiant, twirled his cap in his hands, and resolutely held his tongue.
Alice, as she handed the prayer-book to Mr. Carter, stopped on her way back to Luther and squeezed Dr. Lavendar"s hand. "Isn"t it wonderful?"
she whispered; and he shook his head a little impatiently.
"Go and sit down, my dear," he said.
Mr. Carter, glancing at the name on the flyleaf, looked at his notes again and then at Alice, "And this young lady--can she give me the date of her birth?"
There was a little laugh, and Luther and Alice gave it together, eagerly.
There were two or three more questions, and then Mr. Carter folded his memorandum and slipped it within its rubber band with a snap; then he smiled. Rebecca looked at him drearily. "Of course," he said, addressing himself to her, "a question of ident.i.ty cannot be decided offhand; it is necessary to have certain affidavits which the surviving husband of the deceased (who is a.s.serted to be the person in question) would be obliged, legally, to furnish. I think, however, that I am not going beyond the line of discretion and propriety if I say that _if_ Mr. Robert Gray can produce such proofs (which I think I am not unwarranted in saying I believe he can)--_if_ he can, then this young lady is the heir to a very considerable fortune. I think, in point of fact, I have the right to say that, if (as I have said before) these proofs are forthcoming, the amount to be paid to the daughter of Alys Winton is 5000."
Rebecca Gray put her hand to her mouth and stared blindly at the floor.
Dr. Lavendar thrust out his lower lip and frowned. As for Alice, she laughed aloud, then burst out crying.
"Oh, _Lute_!" she said, tremulously; and, somehow, the two children found themselves holding hands. "It"s--it"s so much!" she faltered.
"Five thousand pounds is--is $25,000!" the boy said, turning pale.
There was a pause; no one seemed to know just what to say. Then Lute, suddenly: "Is it your mother"s father that left it to you, Alice?"
She turned to Mr. Carter, drawing in her breath like a child. "Is it?"
"Ah--no," he answered, briefly.
"But I didn"t know my mother had any relations?" Alice said, in a dazed way; "I thought father said--I"m sure he said--she hadn"t any relations? Perhaps--perhaps it is a mistake, after all?"
"The testator was not a relative of the Alys Winton in question," Mr.
Carter said. He glanced uneasily at Dr. Lavendar, who lifted his head and looked at him searchingly. "It will be best to make further explanations to Mr. Gray," Mr. Carter said, hurriedly.
"But who has left the money to me--if it is to me?" Alice said, bewildered. "Can"t I ask that? What is the name of the kind person?
I think I might ask that."
[Ill.u.s.tration: ""WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE KIND PERSON?""]
"The name of the testator was Urquhart," Mr. Carter said, "but--but, you know, my dear young lady, the ident.i.ty is not yet legally authenticated; so--therefore--perhaps--I think, Dr. Lavendar, I had best go now? I think you mentioned that the stage leaves at four?"
"Urquhart?" Alice said; "the man who was so unkind? Oh, Lute, I suppose he repented. Oh, how astonished father will be! He"ll have to forgive him now."
"It"s a pretty late repentance," Luther said, with a chuckle; "and how did he know about you, Alice? I don"t see why he should leave you money, even if he was a brute to your mother. Still," said the boy, gayly, "I guess we won"t complain?"
"Gracious!" cried Alice, "that is queer. Well, he _was_ a kind person!"
Rebecca Gray stared, frowning, at the lawyer. "He knew--this Urquhart--that she had a child?" she said, slowly.
Mr. Carter was gathering up his papers. "Yes," he said--"yes; he--knew it."
"What?" said Rebecca, in a very low voice--"_what?_"
"In view of the fact that, legally, the matter is still undecided," Mr.
Carter said, hurriedly, "perhaps we need not take this point up? At all events, not here."
"Sir," said Rebecca, "why does Mr. Urquhart leave 5000 to Robert Gray"s daughter?"
"He was sorry he was unkind to my mother," Alice said, her voice quivering. ("Oh, Lute, $25,000!")
"Alice," her step-mother said, in a loud, harsh voice, "you had better leave the room. Luther, go with Alice, please."
The two young people, bewildered, got up with blank faces, and with obvious reluctance obeyed. "But why should I be sent out, Lute?" Alice said, hotly, when they were in the hall. "It"s my money--if I"m the person."
Luther stopped, and stood, frowning. On the boy"s open, honest face came a perplexed look. But Alice said again, in injured tones, that she didn"t know what Mrs. Gray meant. In the parlor the three elders looked at each other in silence. Mrs. Gray had risen, and stood leaning forward, her trembling hands flat on the table.
"I don"t--understand," she said.
"Mr. Carter," said Dr. Lavendar, "certain remarks of yours on our way up here made me apprehensive. I see that my friend, Mrs. Gray, is also--apprehensive. I would suggest that you have a few words with her alone. I will leave you."
"No," Rebecca said; "hear the end of it." Her hard face was red and hot. "Why does Mr. Urquhart leave the child of Robert Gray 5000?
Why?"
"It is as I think you surmise, madam," John Carter said, gravely.
Rebecca recoiled, with a broken exclamation of horror.
Dr. Lavendar drew in his breath. "Oh, my poor Robert!" he said.
"It is so stated in the will," the lawyer went on; "there is no disguising it; nor, as far as I can see, can it be hidden from the legatee. The directions for finding this heir make the thing explicit.
The testator states that he received information of the expected birth of his child _after_ the marriage of the person in question, who did not mention her married name--hence our difficulty in tracing her."
Rebecca, her eyes narrowing into a cruel smile, sat down and rocked backward and forward in her chair.
"Dreadful--dreadful--dreadful!" she said, aloud, exultantly.
V.
The last quarter of an hour, packed with tragic revelation, lost Mr.
Carter the stage.
"I hope you will put up at the Rectory, sir," Dr. Lavendar said, as they drove away from Robert Gray"s door.
"I thank you, sir," said Mr. Carter.
Then they fell into silence--Mr. Carter from politeness, Dr. Lavendar from horror. He was going back in his memory with painful effort; but it was all very vague.... He had hardly known her; she had been ill for those months that she had been in Old Chester, and she had made it very clear that she did not care to see people. He thought of her beautiful, sullen face; of Robert Gray"s pa.s.sionate devotion; of Old Chester"s silent disapproval.... He groaned to himself, and John Carter looked at him sidewise.
After supper at the Rectory, they sat down to smoke in heavy silence; Mr. Carter respected the old man"s distress, but wondered if he should not have been more comfortable with Van Horn at the Tavern. The glowing July day had darkened into rainy night, with a grumble of thunder back among the hills; but in the midst of a sudden downpour they heard footsteps on the path, and then some one pushed open the hall door, and flapped a wet umbrella on the steps before entering. A minute later Luther Metcalf stood, hesitating, on the study threshold.
"Dr. Lavendar--"