"Then I suppose I shan"t be allowed to see Polly?" There was a tone of extreme dejection in the voice.
"Well, we"ll see about that! I"ll see what I can do for you. You"re not to be charged till to-morrow morning. Then you"ll be charged along with that man--the man who came to the Trellis House this morning. He"s been found too. He went straight to those Pollits--you follow my meaning?
Mrs. Pollit is the daughter of that old German woman. I never could abide _her_! Often and often I said to my missis, as I see her go crawling about, "There"s a German as is taking away a good job from an English woman." So she was. Well, I must now tell them where to take you. And I"m afraid you"ll have to be stripped and searched--that"s the order in these kind of cases."
Alfred Head nodded. "I don"t mind," he said stoutly. "I"m an innocent man." But he had clenched his teeth together when he had heard the name of Pollit uttered so casually. If Pollit told all he knew, then the game was indeed up.
CHAPTER x.x.xIV
After the door had shut behind Alfred Head, Anna Bauer sat on, quite motionless, awhile. What mind was left to her, after the terrifying and agonising interview she had just had, was absorbed in the statement made to her concerning Jervis Blake.
She remembered, with blinding clearness, the afternoon that Rose had come into her kitchen to say in a quiet, toneless voice, "They think, Anna, that they will have to take off his foot." She saw, as clearly as if her nursling were there in this whitewashed little cell, the look of desolate, dry-eyed anguish which had filled Rose"s face.
But that false quietude had only lasted a few moments, for, in response to her poor old Anna"s exclamation of horror and of sympathy, Rose Otway had flung herself into her nurse"s arms, and had lain there shivering and crying till the sound of the front door opening to admit her mother had forced her to control herself.
Anna"s mind travelled wearily on, guided by reproachful memory through a maze of painful recollections. Once more she stood watching the strange marriage ceremony--trying hard, aye, and succeeding, to obey Sir Jacques"s strict injunction. More than one of those present had glanced over at her, Anna, very kindly during that trying half-hour. How would they then have looked at her if they had known what she knew now?
She lived again as in long drawn-out throbs of pain the piteous days which had followed Mr. Blake"s operation.
Rose had not allowed herself one word of fret or of repining; but on three different nights during that first week, she had got out of bed and wandered about the house, till Anna, hearing the quiet, stuffless sounds of bare feet, had come out, and leading the girl into the still warm kitchen, had comforted her.
It was Anna who had spoken to Sir Jacques, and suggested the sleeping draught which had finally broken that evil waking spell--Anna who, far more than Rose"s own mother, had sustained and heartened the poor child during those dreadful days of reaction which followed on the brave front she had shown at the crisis of the operation.
And now Anna had to face the horrible fact that it was she who had brought this dreadful suffering, this--this lifelong misfortune, on the being she loved more than she had ever loved anything in the world. If this was true, and in her heart she knew it to be true, then she did indeed deserve to hang. A shameful death would be nothing in comparison to the agony of fearing that her darling might come to learn the truth.
The door of the cell suddenly opened, and a man came in, carrying a tray in his hands. On it were a jug of coffee, some milk, sugar, bread and b.u.t.ter, and a plateful of cold meat.
He put it down by the old woman"s side. "Look here!" he said. "Your lady, Mrs. Guthrie as she is now, thought you"d rather have coffee than tea--so we"ve managed to get some for you."
And, as Anna burst into loud sobs, "There, there!" he said good-naturedly. "I daresay you"ll be all right--don"t you be worrying yourself." He lowered his voice: "Though there are some as says that what they found in your back kitchen this morning was enough to have blown up all Witanbury sky high! Quite a good few don"t think you knew anything about it--and if you didn"t, you"ve nothing to fear. You"ll be treated quite fair; so now you sit up, and make a good supper!"
She stared at him without speaking, and he went on: "You won"t be having this sort of grub in Darneford Gaol, you know!" As she again looked at him with no understanding, he added by way of explanation: "After you"ve been charged to-morrow, it"s there they"ll send you, I expect, to wait for the a.s.sizes."
"So?" she said stupidly.
"You just sit up and enjoy your supper! You needn"t hurry over it. I shan"t be this way again for an hour or so." And then he went out and shut the door.
For almost the first time in her life, Anna Bauer did not feel as if she wanted to eat good food set before her. But she poured out a cup of coffee, and drank it just as it was, black and bitter, without putting either milk or sugar to it.
Then she stood up. The coffee had revived her, cleared her brain, and she looked about her with awakened, keener perceptions.
It was beginning to get dark, but it was a fine evening, and there was still light enough to see by. She looked up consideringly at the old-fashioned iron gas bracket, placed in the middle of the ceiling, just above the wooden chair on which her gracious lady had sat during the last part of their conversation.
Anna took from the bench where she had been sitting the crochet in which she had been interrupted.
She had lately been happily engaged in making a beautiful band of crochet lace which was destined to serve as tr.i.m.m.i.n.g for Mrs. Jervis Blake"s dressing-table. The band was now very nearly finished; there were over three yards of it done. Worked in the best and strongest linen thread, it was the kind of thing which would last, even if it were cleaned very frequently, for years and years, and which would grow finer with cleaning.
The band was neatly rolled up and pinned, to keep it clean and nice; but now Anna slowly unpinned and unrolled it.
Yes, it was a beautiful piece of work; rather coa.r.s.er than what she was accustomed to do, but then she knew that Miss Rose preferred the coa.r.s.er to the very fine crochet.
She tested a length of it with a sharp pull, and the result was wonderful--from her point of view most gratifying! It hardly gave at all. She remembered how ill her mistress had succeeded when she, Anna, had tried to teach her to do this kind of work some sixteen to seventeen years ago. After a very little while Mrs. Otway had given up trying to do it, knowing that she could never rival her good old Anna. Mrs.
Otway"s lace had been so rough, so uneven; a tiny pull, and it became all stringy and out of shape.
Yes, whatever strain were put on this band, it would surely recover--recover, that is, if it were dealt with as she, Anna, would deal with such a piece of work. It would have to be damped and stretched out on a piece of oiled silk, and each point fastened down with a pin. Then an almost cold iron would have to be pa.s.sed over it, with a piece of clean flannel in between....
CHAPTER x.x.xV
At eight o"clock the same evening, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Hayley were eating a hasty meal in the Trellis House. James Hayley had been compelled to stay on till the last train back to town, for on him the untoward events of the day had entailed a good deal of trouble. He had had to put off his cousin"s tenants, find lodgings for their two servants, and arrange quarters for the policeman who, pending inquiries, was guarding the contents of Anna"s bedroom.
A charwoman had been found with the help of Mrs. Haworth. But when this woman had been asked--her name was Bent, and she was a verger"s wife--to provide a little supper for two gentlemen, she had demurred, and said it was impossible. Then, at last, she had volunteered to cook two chops and boil some potatoes. But she had explained that nothing further must be expected of her; she was not used to waiting at table.
The two young men were thus looking after themselves in the pretty dining-room. Mr. Reynolds, who was not as particular as his companion, and who, as a matter of fact, had had no luncheon, thought the chop quite decent. In fact, he was heartily enjoying his supper, for he was very hungry.
"I daresay all you say concerning Anna Bauer"s powers of cooking, of saving, of mending, and of cleaning, are quite true!" he exclaimed, with a laugh. "But believe me, Mr. Hayley, she"s a wicked old woman! Of course I shall know a great deal more about her to-morrow morning. But I"ve already been able to gather a good deal to-day. There"s been a regular nest of spies in this town, with antennae stretching out over the whole of this part of the southwest coast. Would you be surprised to learn that your cousin"s good old Anna has a married daughter in the business--a daughter married to an Englishman?"
"You don"t mean George Pollit?" asked James Hayley eagerly.
"Yes--that"s the man"s name! Why, d"you know him?"
"I should think I do! I helped to get him out of a sc.r.a.pe last year.
He"s a regular rascal."
"Aye, that he is indeed. He"s acted as post office to this man Hegner.
It"s he, the fellow they call Alfred Head, the Dean"s friend, the city councillor, who has been the master spy." Again he laughed, this time rather unkindly. "I think we"ve got the threads of it all in our hands by now. You see, we found this man Pollit"s address among the very few papers which were discovered at that Spaniard"s place near Southampton.
A sharp fellow went to Pollit"s shop, and the man didn"t put up any fight at all. They"re fools to employ that particular c.o.c.kney type. I suppose they chose him because his wife is German----"
There came a loud ring at the front door, and James Hayley jumped up.
"I"d better see what that is," he said. "The woman we"ve got here is such a fool!"
He went out into the hall, and found Rose Blake.
"We heard about Anna just after we got to London," she said breathlessly. "A man in the train mentioned it to Jervis quite casually, while speaking of mother"s wedding. So we came back at once to hear what had really happened and to see if we could do anything. Oh, James, what a dreadful thing! Of course she"s innocent--it"s absurd to think anything else. Where is she? Can I go and see her now, at once? She must be in a dreadful state. I do feel so miserable about her!"
"You"d better come in here," he said quietly. It was odd what a sharp little stab at the heart it gave him to see Rose looking so like herself--so like the girl he had hoped in time to make his wife. And yet so different too--so much softer, sweeter, and with a new radiance in her face.
He asked sharply, "By the way, where"s your husband?"
"He"s with the Robeys. I preferred to come here alone."