"You are quite right," Amelius rejoined; "I have not seen them."
"Then may I inquire," Mr. Melton proceeded, "how you became informed of Mrs. Farnaby"s death?"
Amelius replied with his customary frankness. "I went to call on the poor lady this morning," he said, "knowing nothing of what had happened.
I met the doctor at the door; and I was present at her death."
Even Mr. Melton"s carefully-trained composure was not proof against the revelation that now opened before him. He burst out with an exclamation of astonishment, like an ordinary man.
"Good heavens, what does this mean!"
Amelius took it as a question addressed to himself. "I"m sure I don"t know," he said quietly.
Mr. Melton, misunderstanding Amelius on his side, interpreted those innocent words as an outbreak of vulgar interruption. "Pardon me,"
he said coldly. "I was about to explain myself. You will presently understand my surprise. After seeing the evening paper, I went at once to make inquiries at the address mentioned. In Mr. Farnaby"s absence, I felt bound to do this as his old friend. I saw the landlady, and, with her a.s.sistance, the doctor also. Both these persons spoke of a gentleman who had called that morning, accompanied by a young lady; and who had insisted on taking the young lady upstairs with him. Until you mentioned just now that you were present at the death, I had no suspicion that you were "the gentleman". Surprise on my part was, I think, only natural.
I could hardly be expected to know that you were in Mrs. Farnaby"s confidence about the place of her retreat. And with regard to the young lady, I am still quite at a loss to understand--"
"If you understand that the people at the house told you the truth, so far as I am concerned," Amelius interposed, "I hope that will be enough.
With regard to the young lady, I must beg you to excuse me for speaking plainly. I have nothing to say about her, to you or to anybody."
Mr. Melton rose with the utmost dignity and the fullest possession of his vocal resources.
"Permit me to a.s.sure you," he said, with frigidly fluent politeness, "that I have no wish to force myself into your confidence. One remark I will venture to make. It is easy enough, no doubt, to keep your own secrets, when you are speaking to _me._ You will find some difficulty, I fear, in pursuing the same course, when you are called upon to give evidence before the coroner. I presume you know that you will be summoned as a witness at the inquest?"
"I left my name and address with the doctor for that purpose," Amelius rejoined as composedly as ever; "and I am ready to bear witness to what I saw at poor Mrs. Farnaby"s bedside. But if all the coroners in England questioned me about anything else, I should say to them just what I have said to you."
Mr. Melton smiled with well bred irony. "We shall see," he said. "In the mean time, I presume I may ask you, in the interests of the family, to send me the address on the letter, as soon as you hear from Miss Regina.
I have no other means of communicating with Mr. Farnaby. In respect to the melancholy event, I may add that I have undertaken to provide for the funeral, and to pay any little outstanding debts, and so forth. As Mr. Farnaby"s old friend and representative--"
The conclusion of the sentence was interrupted by the entrance of Toff with a note, and an apology for his intrusion. "I beg your pardon, sir; the person is waiting. She says it"s only a receipt to sign. The box is in the hall."
Amelius examined the enclosure. It was a formal doc.u.ment, acknowledging the receipt of Sally"s clothes, returned to her by the authorities at the Home. As he took a pen to sign the receipt he looked towards the door of Sally"s room. Mr. Melton, observing the look, prepared to retire. "I am only interrupting you," he said. "You have my address on my card. Good evening."
On his way out, he pa.s.sed an elderly woman, waiting in the hall. Toff, hastening before him to open the garden gate, was saluted by the gruff voice of a cabman, outside. "The lady whom he had driven to the cottage had not paid him his right fare; he meant to have the money, or the lady"s name and address, and summon her." Quietly crossing the road, Mr.
Melton heard the woman"s voice next: she had got her receipt, and had followed him out. In the dispute about fares and distances that ensued, the contending parties more than once mentioned the name of the Home and of the locality in which it was situated. Possessing this information, Mr. Melton looked in at his club; consulted a directory, under the heading of "Charitable Inst.i.tutions;" and solved the mystery of the vanishing petticoats at the door. He had discovered an inmate of an asylum for lost women, in the house of the man to whom Regina was engaged to be married!
The next morning"s post brought to Amelius a letter from Regina. It was dated from an hotel in Paris. Her "dear uncle" had over estimated his strength. He had refused to stay and rest for the night at Boulogne; and had suffered so severely from the fatigue of the long journey that he had been confined to his bed since his arrival. The English physician consulted had declined to say when he would be strong enough to travel again; the const.i.tution of the patient must have received some serious shock; he was brought very low. Having carefully reported the new medical opinion, Regina was at liberty to indulge herself, next, in expressions of affection, and to a.s.sure Amelius of her anxiety to hear from him as soon as possible. But, in this case again, the "dear uncle"s" convenience was still the first consideration. She reverted to Mr. Farnaby, in making her excuses for a hurriedly written letter. The poor invalid suffered from depression of spirits; his great consolation in his illness was to hear his niece read to him: he was calling for her, indeed, at that moment. The inevitable postscript warmed into a mild effusion of fondness, "How I wish you could be with us. But, alas, it cannot be!"
Amelius copied the address on the letter, and sent it to Mr. Melton immediately.
It was then the twenty-fourth day of the month. The tidal train did not leave London early that morning; and the inquest was deferred, to suit other pressing engagements of the coroner, until the twenty-sixth. Mr.
Melton decided, after his interview with Amelius, that the emergency was sufficiently serious to justify him in following his telegram to Paris.
It was clearly his duty, as an old friend, to mention to Mr. Farnaby what he had discovered at the cottage, as well as what he had heard from the landlady and the doctor; leaving it to the uncle"s discretion to act as he thought right in the interests of the niece. Whether that course of action might not also serve the interests of Mr. Melton himself, in the character of an unsuccessful suitor for Regina"s hand, he did not stop to inquire. Beyond his duty it was, for the present at least, not his business to look.
That night, the two gentlemen held a private consultation in Paris; the doctor having previously certified that his patient was incapable of supporting the journey back to London, under any circ.u.mstances.
The question of the formal proceedings rendered necessary by Mrs.
Farnaby"s death having been discussed and disposed of, Mr. Melton next entered on the narrative which the obligations of friendship imperatively demanded from him. To his astonishment and alarm, Mr.
Farnaby started up in the bed like a man panic-stricken. "Did you say,"
he stammered, as soon as he could speak, "you mean to make inquiries about that--that girl?"
"I certainly thought it desirable, bearing in mind Mr. Goldenheart"s position in your family."
"Do nothing of the sort! Say nothing to Regina or to any living creature. Wait till I get well again--and leave me to deal with it. I am the proper person to take it in hand. Don"t you see that for yourself?
And, look here! there may be questions asked at the inquest. Some impudent scoundrel on the jury may want to pry into what doesn"t concern him. The moment you"re back in London, get a lawyer to represent us--the sharpest fellow that can be had for money. Tell him to stop all prying questions. Who the girl is, and what made that cursed young Socialist Goldenheart take her upstairs with him--all that sort of thing has nothing to do with the manner in which my wife met her death. You understand? I look to you, Melton, to see yourself that this is done.
The less said at the infernal inquest, the better. In my position, it"s an exposure that my enemies will make the most of, as it is. I"m too ill to go into the thing any further. No: I don"t want Regina. Go to her in the sitting room, and tell the courier to get you something to eat and drink. And, I say! For G.o.d"s sake don"t be late for the Boulogne train tomorrow morning."
Left by himself, he gave full vent to his fury; he cursed Amelius with oaths that are not to be written.
He had burnt the letter which Mrs. Farnaby had written to him, on leaving him forever; but he had not burnt out of his memory the words which that letter contained. With his wife"s language vividly present to his mind, he could arrive at but one conclusion, after what Mr. Melton had told him. Amelius was concerned in the discovery of his deserted daughter; Amelius had taken the girl to her dying mother"s bedside. With his idiotic Socialist notions, he would be perfectly capable of owning the truth, if inquiries were made. The unblemished reputation which John Farnaby had built up by the self-seeking hypocrisy of a lifetime was at the mercy of a visionary young fool, who believed that rich men were created for the benefit of the poor, and who proposed to regenerate society by reviving the obsolete morality of the Primitive Christians.
Was it possible for him to come to terms with such a person as this?
There was not an inch of common ground on which they could meet. He dropped back on his pillow in despair, and lay for a while frowning and biting his nails. Suddenly he sat up again in the bed, and wiped his moist forehead, and heaved a heavy breath of relief. Had his illness obscured his intelligence? How was it he had not seen at once the perfectly easy way out of the difficulty which was presented by the facts themselves? Here is a man, engaged to marry my niece, who has been discovered keeping a girl at his cottage--who even had the audacity to take her upstairs with him when he made a call on my wife. Charge him with it in plain words; break off the engagement publicly in the face of society; and, if the profligate scoundrel tries to defend himself by telling the truth, who will believe him--when the girl was seen running out of his room? and when he refused, on the question being put to him, to say who she was?
So, in ignorance of his wife"s last instructions to Amelius--in equal ignorance of the compa.s.sionate silence which an honourable man preserves when a woman"s reputation is at his mercy--the wretch needlessly plotted and planned to save his usurped reputation; seeing all things, as such men invariably do, through the foul light of his own inbred baseness and cruelty. He was troubled by no retributive emotions of shame or remorse, in contemplating this second sacrifice to his own interests of the daughter whom he had deserted in her infancy. If he felt any misgivings, they related wholly to himself. His head was throbbing, his tongue was dry; a dread of increasing his illness shook him suddenly. He drank some of the lemonade at his bedside, and lay down to compose himself to sleep.
It was not to be done; there was a burning in his eyeb.a.l.l.s, there was a wild irregular beating at his heart, which kept him awake. In some degree, at least, retribution seemed to be on the way to him already.
Mr. Melton, delicately administering sympathy and consolation to Regina--whose affectionate nature felt keenly the calamity of her aunt"s death--Mr. Melton, making himself modestly useful, by reading aloud certain devotional poems much prized by Regina, was called out of the room by the courier.
"I have just looked in at Mr. Farnaby, sir," said the man; "and I am afraid he is worse."
The physician was sent for. He thought so seriously of the change in the patient, that he obliged Regina to accept the services of a professed nurse. When Mr. Melton started on his return journey the next morning, he left his friend in a high fever.
CHAPTER 2
The inquiry into the circ.u.mstances under which Mrs. Farnaby had died was held in the forenoon of the next day.
Mr. Melton surprised Amelius by calling for him, and taking him to the inquest. The carriage stopped on the way, and a gentleman joined them, who was introduced as Mr. Melton"s legal adviser. He spoke to Amelius about the inquest; stating, as his excuse for asking certain discreet questions, that his object was to suppress any painful disclosures. On reaching the house, Mr. Melton and his lawyer said a few words to the coroner downstairs, while the jury were a.s.sembling on the floor above.
The first witness examined was the landlady.
After deposing to the date at which the late Mrs. Farnaby had hired her lodgings, and verifying the statements which had appeared in the newspapers, she was questioned about the life and habits of the deceased. She described her late lodger as a respectable lady, punctual in her payments, and quiet and orderly in her way of life: she received letters, but saw no friends. On several occasions, an old woman was admitted to speak with her; and these visits seemed to be anything but agreeable to the deceased. Asked if she knew anything of the old woman, or of what had pa.s.sed at the interviews described, the witness answered both questions in the negative. When the woman called, she always told the servant to announce her as "the nurse."
Mr. Melton was next examined, to prove the ident.i.ty of the deceased.
He declared that he was quite unable to explain why she had left her husband"s house under an a.s.sumed name. Asked if Mr. and Mrs. Farnaby had lived together on affectionate terms, he acknowledged that he had heard, at various times, of a want of harmony between them, but was not acquainted with the cause. Mr. Farnaby"s high character and position in the commercial world spoke for themselves: the restraints of a gentleman guided him in his relations with his wife. The medical certificate of his illness in Paris was then put in; and Mr. Melton"s examination came to an end.
The chemist who had made up the prescription was the third witness. He knew the woman who brought it to his shop to be in the service of the first witness examined; an old customer of his, and a highly respected resident in the neighbourhood. He made up all prescriptions himself in which poisons were conspicuous ingredients; and he had affixed to the bottle a slip of paper, bearing the word "Poison," printed in large letters. The bottle was produced and identified; and the directions in the prescription were shown to have been accurately copied on the label.
A general sensation of interest was excited by the appearance of the next witness--the woman servant. It was antic.i.p.ated that her evidence would explain how the fatal mistake about the medicine had occurred.
After replying to the formal inquiries, she proceeded as follows:
"When I answered the bell, at the time I have mentioned, I found the deceased standing at the fireplace. There was a bottle of medicine on the table, by her writing desk. It was a much larger bottle than that which the last witness identified, and it was more than three parts full of some colourless medicine. The deceased gave me a prescription to take to the chemist"s, with instructions to wait, and bring back the physic.
She said, "I don"t feel at all well this morning; I thought of trying some of this medicine," pointing to the bottle by her desk; "but I am not sure it is the right thing for me. I think I want a tonic. The prescription I have given you is a tonic." I went out at once to our chemist and got it. I found her writing a letter when I came back, but she finished it immediately, and pushed it away from her. When I put the bottle I had brought from the chemist on the table, she looked at the other larger bottle which she had by her; and she said, "You will think me very undecided; I have been doubting, since I sent you to the chemist, whether I had not better begin with this medicine here, before I try the tonic. It"s a medicine for the stomach; and I fancy it"s only indigestion that"s the matter with me, after all." I said, "You eat but a poor breakfast, ma"am, this morning. It isn"t for me to advise; but, as you seem to be in doubt about yourself, wouldn"t it be better to send for a doctor?" She shook her head, and said she didn"t want to have a doctor if she could possibly help it. "I"ll try the medicine for indigestion first," she says; "and if it doesn"t relieve me, we will see what is to be done, later in the day." While we were talking, the tonic was left in its sealed paper cover, just as I had brought it from the shop. She took up the bottle containing the stomach medicine, and read the directions on it: "Two tablespoonsful by measure-gla.s.s twice a day."
I asked if she had a measure-gla.s.s; and she said, Yes, and sent me to her bedroom to look for it. I couldn"t find it. While I was looking, I heard her cry out, and ran back to the drawing-room to see what was the matter. "Oh!" she says, "how clumsy I am! I"ve broken the bottle." She held up the bottle of the stomach medicine and showed it to me, broken just below the neck. "Go back to the bedroom," she says, "and see if you can find an empty bottle; I don"t want to waste the medicine if I can help it." There was only one empty bottle in the bedroom, a bottle on the chimney-piece. I took it to her immediately. She gave me the broken bottle; and while I poured the medicine into the bottle which I had found in the bedroom, she opened the paper which covered the tonic I had brought from the chemist. When I had done, and the two bottles were together on the table--the bottle that I had filled, and the bottle that I had brought front the chemist--I noticed that they were both of the same size, and that both had a label pasted on them, marked "Poison." I said to her, "You must take care, ma"am, you don"t make any mistake, the two bottles are so exactly alike." "I can easily prevent that," she says, and dipped her pen in the ink, and copied the directions on the broken bottle, on to the label of the bottle that I had just filled.
"There!" she said. "Now I hope your mind"s at ease?" She spoke cheerfully, as if she was joking with me. And then she said, "But where"s the measure-gla.s.s?" I went back to the bedroom to look for it, and couldn"t find it again. She changed all at once, upon that--she became quite angry; and walked up and down in a fume, abusing me for my stupidity. It was very unlike her. On all other occasions she was a most considerate lady. I made allowances for her. She had been very much upset earlier in the morning, when she had received a letter, which she told me herself contained bad news. Yes; another person was present at the time--the same woman that my mistress told you of. The woman looked at the address on the letter, and seemed to know who it was from. I told her a squint-eyed man had brought it to the house--and then she left directly. I don"t know where she went, or the address at which she lives, or who the messenger was who brought the letter. As I have said, I made allowances for the deceased lady. I went downstairs, without answering, and got a tumbler and a tablespoon to serve instead of the measure-gla.s.s. When I came back with the things, she was still walking about in a temper. She took no notice of me. I left the room again quietly, seeing she was not in a state to be spoken to. I saw nothing more of her, until we were alarmed by hearing her scream. We found the poor lady on the floor in a kind of fit. I ran out and fetched the nearest doctor. This is the whole truth, on my oath; and this is all I know about it."