"Then it is all lies?" she asked, looking into his brave, ugly face.
"It is true that I was divorced, and true that I am innocent," he answered.
"I believe you," she cried, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. "My heart is light again. Little I care what people may say or think when I know it is false. Sure, there is only one that can truly judge us, Almighty G.o.d, and to Him I will go and return thanks."
She went smilingly out of the office, and Kathleen recognised that Denis Quirk had proved his innocence to his mother"s satisfaction.
Ebenezer Brown seized the opportunity for reviving "The Observer" with Gerard as editor. In capability and brilliance he was not to be compared with Cairns, but the public marked its disapprobation of Denis Quirk by supporting "The Observer" and neglecting its rival. Day by day the circulation and the advertis.e.m.e.nts of "The Mercury" dwindled until at last Denis Quirk summoned a meeting of those interested in his paper.
"If we intend to win out, I must go," he said. "The public has awoke to a sense of virtue and selected me for punishment. It has blundered on the wrong man, but that does not make the case any better. When I have gone, "The Mercury" will return to its own and destroy "The Observer"."
"I say stay in Grey Town and fight it out," said Dr. Marsh. "I am prepared to put my last penny into the paper."
Samuel Quirk was there with Dr. Marsh, Cairns, and the staff of the paper, right down to Tim O"Neill.
"Would you be running away?" Samuel Quirk asked indignantly, "with me to help you fight the blackguards? You, an Irishman, whose fathers have battled for independence in the dark days as in the fine ones? No, Denis you will remain here and trample "The Observer" under your feet once again."
"I don"t need any pay, sir," said Tim O"Neill. "I"ll work for nothing, just for the love of you and the old "Mercury"."
"Good boy, Tim! You are gold from the hair of your head to the soles of your feet. But I shall go to Melbourne and open out there. Once I am out, "The Mercury" will have a fair run, and Ebenezer Brown, Gerard, and Garnett will be sorry they invested their money in a hopeless cause. You shall buy me out, Dad."
The day before Denis Quirk"s departure he found Kathleen alone in the dining room.
"Miss O"Connor," he said, speaking less confidently than was his custom.
"I am not an idealist. As a general rule I cla.s.s men and women as bad or indifferent, but I have a great respect for you, and I want you to believe in me."
"I do," cried Kathleen eagerly.
"Men have been tried and convicted on false evidence," he went on. "The world judges us by results, but I want you to disregard the past and take my word that I am innocent."
"I have always believed it," she said.
"Thank you," he said, and was turning away when Kathleen said:
"You are going to Melbourne, Mr. Quirk. I place Desmond in your hands.
Bring him back to the Faith."
"I shall do my best, but no man can constrain another. Desmond must work out his own salvation," he answered.
When his business was completed, Denis Quirk departed from Grey Town.
But Ebenezer Brown and his satellites discovered that his absence made things even more uncomfortable for them than had been the case during his presence in the town. "The Mercury" rose buoyantly to resume its old power; and in a month"s time it had crippled its rival beyond recovery.
Samuel Quirk took his son"s place on the Council, and there a.s.serted himself so triumphantly that Councillor Garnett recognised that it was time for him to retire. Grey Town awoke to sudden munic.i.p.al vigour, and the town put on a modern, up-to-date appearance, in keeping with a new commercial activity. Those who had flourished under the old system retired to their holes, impotently cursing the new regime. Their triumph over Denis Quirk had proved a veritable disaster to Ebenezer Brown and his companions in evil.
CHAPTER XVII.
FATHER HEALY"S MISSION.
It was a warm night, and Father Healy was entertaining his friends in the garden of the Presbytery. They sat together on the green lawn that faces the town and the distant ocean. In a quiet and secluded place, just within earshot of their conversation, Molly Healy sat on the lawn, her back supported by a big pine tree. Near her a kitten was playing with Mollie"s collie dog. Father Healy had returned from Goldenvale, and his cronies had gathered together to greet him, and hear from his lips the account of his travels. Dr. Marsh asked, abruptly, almost impatiently:
"Your mission was a failure, Father Healy?"
"Not entirely a failure," answered the priest. "I have brought back no evidence to prove Denis Quirk innocent, but I am convinced that he is."
"You went away with a bias in his favour," suggested Clark.
"I did, and I come home still more bia.s.sed. I saw the priest who wrote to me, a good man, but to my mind a poor student of human nature. He received me kindly, and made me welcome. In the evening we talked of Denis Quirk. He told me what a great man Denis had been before the divorce case. There never was such a scandal in Goldenvale. I asked him what sort of a woman was Mrs. Quirk. "A splendid lady," said he, "clever and talented. She was under instruction for the Church at the time, but, naturally, she did not go on after divorcing her husband." "And how do you reconcile a good man, going to his duties regularly, doing the things Denis was accused of?" said I, quoting the old Latin proverb, "No one becomes suddenly altogether base." "That was where the scandal was,"
he answered me. "Did he leave Goldenvale in disgrace?" I asked him. "No, he stayed on, and went and talked the Bishop over. The Bishop wrote to me; I have his letter, and you may see it," said this good priest."
"And what did the Bishop say?" asked Mr. Green, who had listened attentively.
"He just told Father Richardson that Denis had seen him, and that there was no valid reason to prevent him from the Sacraments."
"Did you meet Gerard there by any chance?" Dr. Marsh asked.
"I did, and never were two men more surprised than when we ran into each other"s arms round a corner. Gerard began to explain why he was there.
You see, he had a maiden aunt in the town," said Father Healy, smiling all over his face, "and I had a cousin, which was true, for I discovered him soon after my arrival there. The next day Gerard called on me, and began to tell me about Denis Quirk. He was grieved over it, the poor man! It was as bad as if his great grandmother had just died." At this sally the company laughed.
"I told him," continued Father Healy, "it did not surprise me. It is a wicked world, and it would not astonish me to hear that you yourself were not quite perfect, said I."
"Not quite perfect," growled Dr. Marsh. "If ever there was a thief, Gerard is the man."
"How do you prove that, Doctor?" asked Clark.
"From the company he keeps. To be hand in glove with Ebenezer Brown is certain proof of a man"s criminality."
"Merely presumptive evidence," replied Clark.
"Did you make further enquiries?" asked Mr. Green of Father Healy.
"I saw Mrs. Quirk--that used to be--and Mrs. Clarence that is now."
Dr. Marsh grunted, as was his way when anyone of whom he disapproved was mentioned.
"And what did you think of her?" he asked.
"That divorce is a failure. If ever there was an unhappy woman, Mrs.
Clarence is that one. I sent up my card to her; presently she sent down a message: "Would Father Healy come up?" I went up three stories in a lift to the prettiest little flat you can imagine. A nice, tidy maid showed me into a charming little room, and there I found the lady. She is an artist, and a clever one, they tell me; a pretty woman, and agreeable; but unhappy, if I am any judge of happiness. I told her where I had come from, and what do you think she asked me, "Did I know Denis Quirk?" "Know him," said I, "of course I do; a fine man, and honest."
Then she began to praise him, until at last I asked her: "Did you know him?" The lady was lost in confusion, but at last she answered: "We were married." "And what are you now?" I asked her."
"That was not like your customary caution," said Mr. Green.
"It was a mistake, but I was hot with indignation at her asking for Denis. She shut up at once like the blade of a knife. But before I left her she said to me, "Will you give Denis Quirk a message?" "Certainly I will," I answered her. "Tell him I shall never forget his n.o.bility," she said. What do you make of that?"
"It was not the message of a deeply-wronged woman," said Mr. Green.