"And to what is this an introduction?" I demanded.
"I merely thought it strange," said Mr. Allen, imperturbably, "that he had not called to inquire after his nephew"s health."
Dolly was staring at him, with eyes wide open.
"And pray, how did he discover I was in London, sir?" I said. "I was about to ask how you knew of it, but that is one and the same thing."
He shot at me a look not to be solved.
"It is not well to bite the hand that lifts you out of the fire, Richard," said he.
"You had not gained admission to this house were I not on my back, Mr.
Allen."
"And that same circ.u.mstance is a blessing for you," he cried.
"Twas then I saw Dorothy making me mute signals of appeal.
"I cannot think why you are here, Mr. Allen," I said. "When you consider all the harm you have done me, and all the double-dealing I may lay at your door, can you blame me for my feelings?"
"No," he answered, with more soberness than he had yet used; "I honour you for them. And perchance I am here to atone for some of that harm.
For I like you, my lad, and that"s G.o.d"s truth."
"All this is neither here nor there, Mr. Allen," I exclaimed, wholly out of patience. "If you have come with a message, let me have it. If not, I beg you get out of my sight, for I have neither the will nor the desire for palavering."
"Oh, Richard, do keep your temper!" implored Dorothy. "Can you not see that Mr. Allen desires to do us--to do you--a service?"
"Of that I am not so sure," I replied.
"It is his way, Miss Manners," said the rector, "and I hold it not against him. To speak truth, I looked for a worse reception, and came steeled to withstand it. And had my skin been thin, I had left ere now." He took more snuff. "It was Mr. Dix," he said to me slowly, "who informed Mr. Carvel of your presence in London."
"And how the devil did Mr. Dix know?"
He did not reply, but glanced apprehensively at Dorothy.
And I have wondered since at his consideration.
"Miss Manners may not wish to hear," he said uneasily.
"Miss Manners hears all that concerns me," I answered.
He shrugged his shoulders in comprehension.
"It was Mr. Manners, then, who went to Mr. Dix, and told him under the pledge of secrecy."
Not a sound came from Dorothy, nor did I dare to look at her face. The whole matter was clear to me now. After his conversation with me, Mr.
Marmaduke had lost no time in seeing Mr. Dix, in order to raise money on my prospects. And the man of business had gone straight to Grafton with the intelligence. The suspicion flashed through me that Mr. Allen had been sent to spy, but his very next words disarmed it.
"And now, Richard," he continued, "before I say what I have come to say, and since you cannot now prosecute me, I mean to confess to you something which you probably know almost to a certainty. I was in the plot to carry you off and deprive you of your fortune. I have been paid for it, though not very handsomely. Fears for my own safety alone kept me from telling you and Mr. Swain. And I swear to you that I was sorry for the venture almost before I had embarked, and ere I had received a shilling. The scheme was laid out before I took you for a pupil; indeed, that was part of it, as you no doubt have guessed. As G.o.d hears me, I learned to love you, Richard, in those days at the rectory. You were all of a man, and such an one as I might have hoped to be had I been born like you. You said what you chose, and spoke from your own convictions, and catered to no one. You did not whine when the luck went against you, but lost like a gentleman, and thought no more of it. You had no fear of the devil himself. Why should you? While your cousin Philip, with his parrot talk and sneaking ways, turned my stomach. I was sick of him, and sick of Grafton, I tell you. But dread of your uncle drove me on, and I had debts to frighten me."
He paused. "Twas with a strange medley of emotions I looked at him. And Dorothy, too, was leaning forward, her lips parted and her eyes riveted upon his face.
"Oh, I am speaking the truth," he said bitterly. "And I a.s.sume no virtue for the little justice it remains in my power to do. It is the lot of my life that I must be false to some one always, and even now I am false to your uncle. Yes, I am come to do justice, and "tis a strange errand for me. I know that estates have been restored to you by the Maryland Legislature, Richard, and I believe in my heart that you will win this war." Here he fetched a memorandum from his pocket. "But to make you secure," said he, "in the year 1710, and on the 9th of March, old style, your great-grandfather, Mr. George Carvel, drew up a doc.u.ment entailing the lands of Carvel Hall. By this they legally pa.s.s to you."
"The family settlement Mr. Swain suspected!" I exclaimed.
"Just so," he answered.
"And what am I to pay for this information?" I asked.
Hardly were the words spoken, when Dorothy ran to my bedside, and seizing my hand, faced him.
"He--he is not well, Mr. Allen," she cried.
The rector had risen, and stood gazing down at us with the whole of his life written on his face. That look was fearful to see, and all of h.e.l.l was expressed therein. For what is h.e.l.l if it is not hope dead and buried, and galling regret for what might have been? With mine own great happiness so contrasted against his torture, my heart melted.
"I am not well, indeed, Mr. Allen," I said. "G.o.d knows how hard it is for me to forgive, but I forgive you this night."
One brief instant he stared at me, and then tumbled suddenly down into his chair, his head falling forward on his arms. And the long sobs by which his frame was shaken awed our very souls. Dorothy drew back against me, clasping my shoulder, the tears wet upon her cheeks. What we looked on, there in the candlelight, was the Revelation itself.
How long it, endured none of us might say. And when at last he raised his face, it was haggard and worn in truth, but the evil of it seemed to have fled. Again and again he strove to speak. The words would not obey.
And when he had mastered himself, his voice was shattered and gone.
"Richard, I have sinned heavily in my time, and preached G.o.d"s holy word with a sneer and unbelief in my heart. He knows what I have suffered, and what I shall yet suffer before His judgment comes for us all. But I beg it is no sin to pray to Him for your happiness and Miss Dorothy"s."
He stumbled there, and paused, and then continued with more steadiness:
"I came here to-night to betray you, and might have gone hence to your uncle to claim my pieces of silver. I remain to tell you that Grafton has an appointment at nine with his Majesty"s chief Secretary of State.
I need not mention his motives, nor dwell upon your peril. For the King"s sentiments toward Paul Jones are well known. You must leave London without delay, and so must Mr. Manners and his family."
Is it the generations which decide? When I remember bow Dorothy behaved that night, I think so. Scarce had the rector ceased when she had released me and was standing erect before him. Pity was in her eyes, but in her face that courage which danger itself begets in heroic women.
"You have acted a n.o.ble part this day, Mr. Allen," she said, "to atone for the wrongs you have done Richard. May G.o.d forgive you, and make you happier than you have been!"
He struggled to his feet, listening as to a benediction. Then, with a single glance to give me confidence, she was gone. And for a minute there was silence between us.
"How may you be directed to?" I asked.
He leaped as out of a trance.
"Just "the world," Richard," said he. "For I am adrift again, and not very like to find a harbour, now."
"You were to have been paid for this, Mr. Allen," I replied. "And a man must live."
"A man must live!" he cried. "The devil coined that line, and made it some men"s history."
"I have you on my conscience, Mr. Allen," I went on, "for I have been at fault as well as you. I might have treated you better, even as you have said. And I command you to a.s.sign a place in London whence you may be reached."
"A letter to the Mitre coffee-house will be delivered," he said.