Barron endeavoured to show no resentment at these inquiries. But it was clear that they galled.
"The only other members of my household are my daughter Theresa, and occasionally, for a week or two, my son Maurice. I answer for them both."
"Your son Maurice is at work in London."
"He is in business--the manager of an office," said Barron stiffly.
The Bishop"s face was shrewdly thoughtful. After a pause he said:
"You have, of course, examined the handwriting? But I understand that recently all the letters have been typewritten?"
"All but two--the letter to Dawes, and a letter which I believe was received by Mrs. Elsmere. I gave the Dawes letter to Meynell at his request."
"Having failed to identify the handwriting?"
"Certainly."
Yet, even as he spoke, for the first time, a sudden misgiving, like the pinch of an insect, brushed Barron"s consciousness. He had not, as a matter of fact, examined the Dawes letter very carefully, having been, as he now clearly remembered, in a state of considerable mental excitement during the whole time it was in his possession and thinking much more of the effect of the first crop of letters on the situation, than of the details of the Dawes letter itself. But he did remember, now that the Bishop pressed him, that when he first looked at the letter he had been conscious of a momentary sense of likeness to a handwriting he knew; to Maurice"s handwriting, in fact. But he had repelled the suggestion as absurd in the first instance, and after a momentary start, he angrily repelled it now.
The Bishop emerged from a brown study.
"It is a most mysterious thing! Have you been able to verify the postmarks?"
"So far as I know, all the letters were posted at Markborough."
"No doubt by some accomplice," said the Bishop. He paused and sighed.
Then he looked searchingly, though still hesitatingly, at his companion.
"Mr. Barron, I trust you will allow me--as your Bishop--one little reminder. As Christians, we must be slow to believe evil."
Barron flushed again.
"I have been slow to believe it, my lord. But in all things I have put the Church"s interest first."
Something in the Bishop suddenly and sharply drew away from the man beside him. He held himself with a cold dignity.
"For myself, personally--I tell you frankly--I cannot bring myself to believe a word of this story, so far as it concerns Meynell. I believe there is a terrible mistake at the bottom of it, and I prefer to trust twenty years of n.o.ble living rather than the tale of a poor distraught creature like Judith Sabin. At the same time, of course, I recognize that you have a right to your opinions, as I have to mine. But, my dear sir"--and here the Bishop rose abruptly--"let me urge upon you one thing.
Keep an open mind--not only for all that tells against Meynell, but all that tells for him! Don"t--you will allow me this friendly word--don"t land yourself in a great, perhaps a life-long self-reproach!"
There was a note of sternness in the speaker"s voice; but the small parchment face and the eyes of china-blue shone, as though kindled from within by the pure and generous spirit of the man.
"My lord, I have said my say." Barron had also risen, and stood towering over the Bishop. "I leave it now in the hands of G.o.d."
The Bishop winced again, and was holding out a limp hand for good-bye, when Barron said suddenly:
"Perhaps you will allow me one question, my lord? Has Meynell been to see you? Has he written to you even? I may say that I urged him to do so."
The Bishop was taken aback and saw no way out.
"I have had no direct communication with him," he said, reluctantly; "no doubt because of our already strained relations."
On Barron"s lips there dawned something which could hardly be called a smile--or triumphant; but the Bishop caught it. In another minute the door had closed upon his visitor.
Barron walked away through the Close, his mind seething with anger and resentment. He felt that he had been treated as an embarra.s.sment rather than an ally; and he vowed to himself that the Bishop"s whole att.i.tude had been grudging and unfriendly.
As he pa.s.sed on to the broad stone pavement that bordered the south transept he became aware of a man coming toward him. Raising his eyes he saw that it was Meynell.
There was no way of avoiding the encounter. As the two men pa.s.sed Barron made a mechanical sign of recognition. Meynell lifted his head and looked at him full. It was a strange look, intent and piercing, charged with the personality of the man behind it.
Barron pa.s.sed on, quivering. He felt that he hated Meynell. The disguise of a public motive dropped away; and he knew that he hated him personally.
At the same time the sudden slight misgiving he had been conscious of in the Bishop"s presence ran through him again. He feared he knew not what; and as he walked to the station the remembrance of Meynell"s expression mingled with the vague uneasiness he tried in vain to put from him.
Meynell walked home by Forked Pond to Maudeley. He lingered a little in the leafless woods round the cottage, now shut up, and he chose the longer path that he might actually pa.s.s the very window near which Mary had stood when she spoke those softly broken words--words from a woman"s soul--which his memory had by heart. And his pulse leapt at the scarcely admitted thought that perhaps--now--in a few weeks he might be walking the dale paths with Mary. But there were stern things to be done first.
At Maudeley he found Flaxman awaiting him, and the two pa.s.sed into the library, where Rose, though bubbling over with question and conjecture, self-denyingly refrained from joining them. The consultation of the two men lasted about an hour, and when Flaxman rejoined his wife, he came alone.
"Gone?" said Rose, with a disappointed look. "Oh! I did want to shake his hand!"
Flaxman"s gesture was unsympathetic.
"It is not the time for that yet. This business has gone deep with him. I don"t exactly know what he will do. But he has made me promise various things."
"When does he see--Torquemada?" said Rose, after a pause.
"I think--to-morrow morning."
"H"m! Good luck to him! Please let me know also precisely when I may crush Lady St. Morice."
Lady St. Morice was the wife of the Lord Lieutenant, and had at a recent dinner party, in Rose"s presence, hotly a.s.serted her belief in the charges brought against the Rector of Upcote. She possessed a private chapel adorned with pre-Raphaelite frescoes, and was the sister of one of the chief leaders of the High Orthodox party in convocation.
"She doesn"t often speak to the likes of me," said Rose; "which of course is a great advantage for the likes of me. But next time I shall speak to her--which will be so good for her. My dear Hugh, don"t let Meynell be too magnanimous--I can"t stand it."
Flaxman laughed, but rather absently. It was evident that he was still under the strong impression of the conversation he had just pa.s.sed through.
Rose stole up to him, and put her lips to his ear.
"Who--was--Hester"s father?"
Flaxman looked up.
"I haven"t the least idea."
"But of course we must all know some time," said Rose discontentedly.
"Catharine knows already."