"You will come to me again?"
"Yes; directly it is over. Of course I shall come to you. Am I not to stay here all night?"
"But him;--I will not see him. He is not to come."
"That will be as he pleases."
"No. You promised that. I cannot see him when he knows what I have done for him."
"Not to hear him say that he forgives you?"
"He will not forgive me. You do not know him. Could you bear to look at your boy if you had disgraced him for ever?"
"Whatever I might have done he would not desert me. Nor will Lucius desert you. Shall I go now?"
"Ah, me! Would that I were in my grave!"
Then Mrs. Orme bent over her and kissed her, pressed both her hands, then kissed her again, and silently creeping out of the room made her way once more slowly down the stairs.
Mrs. Orme, as will have been seen, was sufficiently anxious to perform the task which she had given herself, but yet her heart sank within her as she descended to the parlour. It was indeed a terrible commission, and her readiness to undertake it had come not from any feeling on her own part that she was fit for the work and could do it without difficulty, but from the eagerness with which she had persuaded Lady Mason that the thing must be done by some one. And now who else could do it? In Sir Peregrine"s present state it would have been a cruelty to ask him; and then his feelings towards Lucius in the matter were not tender as were those of Mrs. Orme. She had been obliged to promise that she herself would do it, or otherwise she could not have urged the doing. And now the time had come.
Immediately on their return to the house Mrs. Orme had declared that the story should be told at once; and then Lady Mason, sinking into the chair from which she had not since risen, had at length agreed that it should be so. The time had now come, and Mrs. Orme, whose footsteps down the stairs had not been audible, stood for a moment with the handle of the door in her hand.
Had it been possible she also would now have put it off till the morrow,--would have put it off till any other time than that which was then present. All manner of thoughts crowded on her during those few seconds. In what way should she do it? What words should she use?
How should she begin? She was to tell this young man that his mother had committed a crime of the very blackest dye, and now she felt that she should have prepared herself and resolved in what fashion this should be done. Might it not be well, she asked herself for one moment, that she should take the night to think of it and then see him in the morning? The idea, however, only lasted her for a moment, and then, fearing lest she might allow herself to be seduced into some weakness, she turned the handle and entered the room.
He was still standing with his back to the fire, leaning against the mantelpiece, and thinking over the occurrences of the day that was past. His strongest feeling now was one of hatred to Joseph Mason,--of hatred mixed with thorough contempt. What must men say of him after such a struggle on his part to ruin the fame of a lady and to steal the patrimony of a brother! "Is she still determined not to come down?" he said as soon as he saw Mrs. Orme.
"No; she will not come down to-night, Mr. Mason. I have something that I must tell you."
"What! is she ill? Has it been too much for her?"
"Mr. Mason," she said, "I hardly know how to do what I have undertaken." And he could see that she actually trembled as she spoke to him.
"What is it, Mrs. Orme? Is it anything about the property? I think you need hardly be afraid of me. I believe I may say I could bear anything of that kind."
"Mr. Mason--" And then again she stopped herself.
How was she to speak this horrible word?
"Is it anything about the trial?" He was now beginning to be frightened, feeling that something terrible was coming; but still of the absolute truth he had no suspicion.
"Oh! Mr. Mason, if it were possible that I could spare you I would do so. If there were any escape,--any way in which it might be avoided."
"What is it?" said he. And now his voice was hoa.r.s.e and low, for a feeling of fear had come upon him. "I am a man and can bear it, whatever it is."
"You must be a man then, for it is very terrible. Mr. Mason, that will, you know--"
"You mean the codicil?"
"The will that gave you the property--"
"Yes."
"It was not done by your father."
"Who says so?"
"It is too sure. It was not done by him,--nor by them,--those other people who were in the court to-day."
"But who says so? How is it known? If my father did not sign it, it is a forgery; and who forged it? Those wretches have bought over some one and you have been deceived, Mrs. Orme. It is not of the property I am thinking, but of my mother. If it were as you say, my mother must have known it?"
"Ah! yes."
"And you mean that she did know it; that she knew it was a forgery?"
"Oh! Mr. Mason."
"Heaven and earth! Let me go to her. If she were to tell me so herself I would not believe it of her. Ah! she has told you?"
"Yes; she has told me."
"Then she is mad. This has been too much for her, and her brain has gone with it. Let me go to her, Mrs. Orme."
"No, no; you must not go to her." And Mrs. Orme put herself directly before the door. "She is not mad,--not now. Then, at that time, we must think she was so. It is not so now."
"I cannot understand you." And he put his left hand up to his forehead as though to steady his thoughts. "I do not understand you.
If the will be a forgery, who did it?"
This question she could not answer at the moment. She was still standing against the door, and her eyes fell to the ground. "Who did it?" he repeated. "Whose hand wrote my father"s name?"
"You must be merciful, Mr. Mason."
"Merciful;--to whom?"
"To your mother."
"Merciful to my mother! Mrs. Orme, speak out to me. If the will was forged, who forged it? You cannot mean to tell me that she did it!"
She did not answer him at the moment in words, but coming close up to him she took both his hands in hers, and then looked steadfastly up into his eyes. His face had now become almost convulsed with emotion, and his brow was very black. "Do you wish me to believe that my mother forged the will herself?" Then again he paused, but she said nothing. "Woman, it"s a lie," he exclaimed; and then tearing his hands from her, shaking her off, and striding away with quick footsteps, he threw himself on a sofa that stood in the furthest part of the room.
She paused for a moment and then followed him very gently. She followed him and stood over him in silence for a moment, as he lay with his face from her. "Mr. Mason," she said at last, "you told me that you would bear this like a man."
But he made her no answer, and she went on. "Mr. Mason, it is, as I tell you. Years and years ago, when you were a baby, and when she thought that your father was unjust to you--for your sake,--to remedy that injustice, she did this thing."
"What; forged his name! It must be a lie. Though an angel came to tell me so, it would be a lie! What; my mother!" And now he turned round and faced her, still however lying on the sofa.
"It is true, Mr. Mason. Oh, how I wish that it were not! But you must forgive her. It is years ago, and she has repented of it, Sir Peregrine has forgiven her,--and I have done so."
And then she told him the whole story. She told him why the marriage had been broken off, and described to him the manner in which the truth had been made known to Sir Peregrine. It need hardly be said, that in doing so, she dealt as softly as was possible with his mother"s name; but yet she told him everything. "She wrote it herself, in the night."