"Oh! I had only got as far as your name," he said, pointing to the empty page before him.
"Was it so difficult then," she asked, "to tell me everything?"
She had come forward into the room, and stood beside his desk, one hand resting upon it, her face looking down at the letter which he had not yet begun to write. He still made no attempt to rise, for now her face was in full golden light, and he could see its every feature.
"It is so difficult," he said, "not to write drivel when one is saying good-bye."
"You are going away?" she asked.
"Yes."
"To-night?"
"In half an hour."
"You are going abroad?"
"Certainly."
"Why?"
This last question came abruptly, in harsh, trenchant tones, altogether different to those of her smooth contralto voice. He turned his eyes away from her face, and looked down at his own hands, which were clasped in front of him.
"Because," he replied without the slightest hesitation, "I cannot face what lies before me if I remain."
"Why not?"
"For many reasons. There"s Uncle Rad to consider first and foremost, then Edie, and Jim, and Frank."
"What have they to do with it?"
"Everything. After the evidence at the inquest to-day a warrant will be out for my arrest within the next few hours."
"What of it?"
"The evidence against me is overwhelming. I should be tried, perhaps hanged, for murder, at best sent to penal servitude for life. I cannot chance that. I must think of Uncle Rad, of Edie, of Jim and of Frank."
"You have yourself to think of first and foremost."
"Well," he retorted simply, "I have thought of myself, and I do not see how with my own dagger-stick brought up in evidence against me, and my ill-feeling toward--toward the dead man so well-known, I can possibly escape condemnation."
He spoke in such even and perfectly natural tones, that just for a moment--it was a mere flash--Louisa wondered if he were absolutely sane. It seemed impossible that any man could preserve such calm in face of the most appalling fate that ever threatened human being. She, too, like the indifferent, hide-bound official this afternoon was seized with an irrepressible desire to break through that surface of ice. The outer covering must be very thin, she thought; her presence must have melted all the coldness that lay immediately below the surface. Without saying another word, quietly and simply she came down on her knees. Her skirts had not swished as she did so, not a sound from her revealed the movement. When he looked up again, her face was on a level with his, and her eyes--those great luminous eyes that shed no tears at moments such as this--looked straight into his own.
"For pity"s sake, Lou," he said, "don"t make a drivelling coward of me now."
And he rose, pushing his chair aside, leaving her there, kneeling beside the desk, humbled and helpless. And he retreated within the shadow of the room.
"Luke," she said, imploring him, "you are going to tell me all that troubles you."
"Nothing," he replied curtly, "troubles me. You are wasting your sympathy, you know. And I have a train to catch."
"You are not going, Luke?"
"Indeed I am."
"You condemn yourself for a crime which you have not committed."
"I am already as good as condemned. But I do not choose to hang for the murder of the Clapham bricklayer"s son."
He laughed. It almost sounded like a natural laugh--would have done so, no doubt, to all ears except hers. Then he added dryly:
"Such a purposeless crime too. Fancy being hanged for killing Paul Baker."
"Luke," she said simply, "you don"t seem to realize how you are hurting me!"
One e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n, "My G.o.d!" escaped him then. He stood quite still, in the shadow, and presently his hand wandered with the old familiar gesture down the smooth back of his head. She remained on her knees and after awhile he came back to her, and sat down on the chair beside the desk, his eyes on a level with hers.
"Look here, Lou," he said quietly, "I have got to go and that"s all about it. I have got to, do you understand? The consequences of this crime cannot be faced--not by any one--not by me. There"s Uncle Rad to think of first. He is broken and ill; he has more than one foot in the grave. The trial and the scandal couldn"t be kept from him; it would be bound to leak out sooner or later. It would be too big a scandal, and it would kill him outright. Then, you see, Lou, it would never do!
I should be Earl of Radclyffe and a felon--it wouldn"t do, now would it? Who has ever heard of a peer undergoing a life sentence--or being hanged? It wouldn"t do--you know it wouldn"t do----"
He reiterated this several times, with quaint insistence, as if he were discussing with her the possibility or impossibility of attending a race meeting, or a ball in Lent, she proving obstinate.
She did not reply, leaving him to ramble on in his somewhat wild speech, hoping that if she let him talk on uninterruptedly, he would sooner or later betray something of that enigma which lay hidden behind the wooden mask which he still so persistently wore.
"Besides," he continued, still arguing, "there"s Frank to think of--the next heir to the t.i.tle. I believe that people in penal servitude live an unconscionable time--especially if they are wanted to die. Think of poor old Frank waiting to come into his own--into an old t.i.tle held by a felon. It is all much too much of a muddle, Lou.
It is simpler that I should go----"
"But," she said, really trying now to speak as simply, as calmly as he did himself, "all these arguments which you are using now, Luke, will equally apply if you make yourself a fugitive from justice."
"Oh, I shouldn"t be that for very long!" he said lightly.
"You are thinking of suicide?"
"No," he replied simply, "I am not. Only of the chances of a wandering life."
"You seem to look at every chance, Luke, except one."
"Which one is that?"
"That though you might be arrested, though you might be accused and even tried for the murder of--of that man--truth might come out, and your innocence proved."
"That would be impossible, Lou," he said quietly.
"Why--in Heaven"s name, Luke!" she exclaimed pa.s.sionately, "why?"
"My dagger-stick was found inside the railings of the park--and the stains on it are irrefutable proofs."
"That"s only circ.u.mstantial evidence," she argued, "you can demolish it, if you choose."