"Dalton Hall! Yes--well? Poor girl! poor little girl!--an orphan.
Dalton Hall! Well?"
"And now I come to the real purpose of my visit," said Miss Plympton; and thereupon she went on to give him a minute and detailed account of their arrival at Dalton and the reception there, together with the subsequent events.
To all this Sir Lionel listened without one word of any kind, and at length Miss Plympton ended.
"Well, madam," said he, "it may surprise you that I have not made any comments on your astonishing story. If it had been less serious I might have done so. I might even have indulged in profane language--a habit, madam, which, I am sorry to say, I have acquired from not frequenting more the society of ladies. But this business, madam, is beyond comment, and I can only say that I rejoice and feel grateful that you decided as you did, and have come at once to me."
"Oh, I am so glad, and such a load is taken off my mind!" exclaimed Miss Plympton, fervently.
"Why, madam, I am utterly astounded at this man"s audacity," cried Sir Lionel--"utterly astounded! To think that any man should ever venture upon such a course! It"s positively almost inconceivable. And so you tell me that she is there now?"
"Yes."
"Under the lock and key, so to speak, of this fellow?"
"Yes."
"And she isn"t allowed even to go to the gate?"
"No."
"The man"s mad," cried Sir Lionel--"mad, raving mad. Did you see him?"
"No. He wouldn"t consent to see me."
"Why, I tell you, he"s a madman," said Sir Lionel. "He must be. No sane man could think of such a thing. Why, this is England, and the nineteenth century. The days of private imprisonment are over. He"s mad!
The man"s mad!"
"But what is to be done, Sir Lionel?" asked Miss Plympton, impatiently.
"Done!" cried Sir Lionel--"every thing! First, we must get Miss Dalton out of that rascal"s clutches; then we, must hand that fellow and his confederates over to the law. And if it don"t end in Botany Bay and hard labor for life, then there"s no law in the land. Why, who is he? A pettifogger--a miserable low-born, low-bred, Liverpool pettifogger!"
"Do you know him?"
"Know him, madam! I know all about him--that is, as much as I want to know."
"Do you know anything about the relations that formerly existed between him and Mr. Frederick Dalton?"
"Relations!" said Sir Lionel, pouring out another gla.s.s of wine--"relations, madam--that is--ah--to say--ah--business relations, madam? Well, they were those of patron and client, I believe--nothing more. I believe that this Wiggins was one to whom poor Dalton behaved very kindly--made him what he is, in fact--and this is his reward! A pettifogger, by Heaven!--a pettifogger! Seizing the Dalton estates, the scoundrel, and then putting Miss Dalton under lock and key! Why, the man"s mad--mad! yes, a raving maniac! He is, by Heaven!"
"And now, Sir Lionel, when shall we be able to effect her release!"
"Leave it all to me. Leave it all to me, madam. This infernal gout of mine ties me up, but I"ll take measures this very day; I"ll send off to Dalton an agent that will free Miss Dalton and bring her here. Leave it to me. If I don"t go, I"ll send--yes, by Heaven, I"ll send my son. But give yourself no trouble, madam. Miss Dalton is as good as free at this moment, and Wiggins is as good as in jail."
Miss Plympton now asked Sir Lionel if he knew what Wiggins meant by his answer to her threat, and she repeated the message. Sir Lionel listened with compressed lips and a frowning brow. After Miss Plympton had told it he sat for some minutes in silent thought.
"So that is what he said, is it!" exclaimed Sir Lionel at last. "Well, madam, we shall see about that. But don"t give yourself a moment"s uneasiness. I take the matter in hand from this moment. The insolence of this fellow, Wiggins, is unparalleled, madam; but be a.s.sured all this shall surely recoil on his own head with terrible effect."
Some further conversation followed to the same effect, and at length Miss Plympton took her leave, full of hope and without a care. Sir Lionel had hinted that she was not needed any more in the matter; and as she felt a natural delicacy about obtruding her services, she decided to go back to Plympton Terrace and wait.
Accordingly, Miss Plympton, on leaving Dudleigh Manor, went back to Plympton Terrace.
CHAPTER X.
LEON
For some time after Miss Plympton"s departure Sir Lionel remained buried in thought. At length he rang the bell.
A servant appeared.
"Is Captain Dudleigh here yet?" asked Sir Lionel.
"Yes, Sir Lionel."
"Tell him that I want to see him."
The servant departed, and in a short time the door opened and a young man entered. He was tall, muscular, well-formed, and with sufficient resemblance to Sir Lionel to indicate that he was his son. For some time Sir Lionel took no notice of him, and Captain Dudleigh, throwing himself in a lounging att.i.tude upon a chair, leaned his head back, and stared at the ceiling. At length he grew tired of this, and sitting erect, he looked at Sir Lionel, who was leaning forward, with his elbow on the arm of his chair, supporting his head in his hand, and evidently quite oblivious of the presence of any one.
"Did you wish to see me, Sir?" said Captain Dudleigh at length.
Sir Lionel started and raised his head.
"By Jove!" he exclaimed. "Is that you, Leon? I believe I must have been asleep. Have you been waiting long? Why didn"t you wake me? I sent for you, didn"t I? Oh yes. Let me see. It is a business of the greatest importance, and I"m deuced glad that you are here, for any delay would be bad for all concerned."
Sir Lionel paused for a few moments, and then began:
"You know about that--that melancholy story of--of poor Dalton."
Leon nodded.
"Did you hear that he is dead?"
"Well, some paragraphs have been going the rounds of the papers to that effect, though why they should drag the poor devil from his seclusion, even to announce his death, is somewhat strange to me."
"Well, he is dead, poor Dalton!" said Sir Lionel, "and--and so there"s an end of him and that melancholy business. By-the-way, I suppose you haven"t heard any particulars as to his death?"
"No," said Leon, "nothing beyond the bare fact. Besides, what does it matter? When a man"s dead, under such circ.u.mstances, too, no one cares whether he died of fever or gunshot."
"True," said Sir Lionel, with a sigh. "It isn"t likely that any one would trouble himself to find out how poor Dalton died. Well, that is the first thing that I had to mention. And now there is another thing.
You know, of course, that he left a daughter, who has been growing up all these years, and is now of age. She has been living under the care of a Miss Plympton, from whom I had the pleasure of a call this morning, and who appears to be a remarkably sensible and right-minded person."