Chilcote lifted a flushed, unsettled face. "You have no right to preach.
You accepted the bargain."
Loder raised his head quickly. "I never--" he began; then both his face and voice altered. "You are quite right," he said, coldly. "You won"t have to complain again."
Chilcote stirred uncomfortably. "My dear chap," he said, "I meant no offence. It"s merely--"
"Your nerves. I know. But come to business. What am I to do?"
Chilcote rose excitedly. "Yes, business. Let"s come to business. It"s rough on you, taking you short like this. But you have an erratic person to deal with. I"ve had a horrible day--a horrible day." His face had paled again, and in the green lamplight it possessed a grayish hue.
Involuntarily Loder turned away.
Chilcote watched him as he pa.s.sed to the desk and began mechanically sorting papers. "A horrible day!" he repeated. "So bad that I daren"t face the night. You have read De Quincey?" he asked, with a sudden change of tone.
"Yes."
"Then read him again and you"ll understand. I have all the horrors--without any art. I have no "Ladies of Sorrow," but I have worse monsters than his "crocodile"." He laughed unpleasantly.
Loder turned. "Why in the devil"s name--" he began; then again he halted. Something in Chilcote"s drawn, excited face checked him. The strange sense of predestination that we sometimes see in the eyes of another struck cold upon him, chilling his last attempt at remonstrance.
"What do you want me to do?" he subst.i.tuted, in an ordinary voice.
The words steadied Chilcote. He laughed a little. The laugh was still shaky, but it was pitched in a lower key.
"You--you"re quite right to pull me up. We have no time to waste. It must be one o"clock." He pulled out his watch, then walked to the window and stood looking down into the shadowy court. "How quiet you are here!"
he said. Then abruptly anew thought struck him and he wheeled back into the room. "Loder," he said, quickly---"Loder, I have an idea! While you are me, why shouldn"t I be you? Why shouldn"t I be John Loder instead of the vagrant we contemplated? It covers everything--it explains everything. It"s magnificent! I"m amazed we never thought of it before."
Loder was still beside the desk. "I thought of it," he said, without looking back.
"And didn"t suggest it?"
"No."
"Why?"
Loder said nothing and the other colored.
"Jealous of your reputation?" he said, satirically.
"I have none to be jealous of."
Chilcote laughed disagreeably. "Then you aren"t so for gone in philosophy as I thought. You have a niche in your own good opinion."
Again Loder was silent; then he smiled. "You have an oddly correct perception at times," he said. "I suppose I have had a lame sort of pride in keeping my name clean. But pride like that is out of fashion--and I"ve got to float with the tide." He laughed, the short laugh that Chilcote had heard once or twice before, and, crossing the room, he stood beside his visitor. "After all," he said, "what business have I with pride, straight or lame? Have my ident.i.ty, if you want it. When all defences have been broken down one barrier won"t save the town." Laughing again, he laid his hand on the other"s arm. "Come," he said, "give your orders. I capitulate."
An hour later the two men pa.s.sed from Loder"s bed room, where the final arrangements had been completed, back into the sitting-room. Loder came first, in faultless evening-dress. His hair was carefully brushed, the clothes he wore fitted him perfectly. To any glance, critical or casual, he was the man who had mounted the stairs and entered the rooms earlier in the evening. Chilcote"s manner of walking and poise of the head seemed to have descended upon him with Chilcote"s clothes. He came into the room hastily and pa.s.sed to the desk.
"I have no private papers," he said, "so I have nothing to lock up.
Everything can stand as it is. A woman named Robins comes in the mornings to clean up and light the fire; otherwise you must shift for yourself. n.o.body will disturb you. Quiet, dead quiet, is about the one thing you can count on."
Chilcote, half halting in the doorway, made an attempt to laugh. Of the two, he was noticeably the more embarra.s.sed. In Loder"s well-worn, well-brushed tweed suit he felt stranded on his own personality, bereft for the moment of the familiar accessories that helped to cloak deficiencies and keep the wheel of conventionality comfortably rolling.
He stood unpleasantly conscious of himself, unable to shape his sensations even in thought. He glanced at the fire, at the table, finally at the chair on which he had thrown his overcoat before entering the bedroom. At the sight of the coat his gaze brightened, the aimlessness forsook him, and he gave an exclamation of relief.
"By Jove!" he said. "I clean forgot."
"What?" Loder looked round.
"The rings." He crossed to the coat and thrust his hand into the pocket.
"The duplicates only arrived this afternoon. The nick of time, eh?" He spoke fast, his fingers searching busily. Occupation of any kind came as a boon.
Loder slowly followed him, and as the box was brought to light he leaned forward interestedly.
"As I told you, one is the copy of an old signet-ring, the other a plain band--a plain gold band like a wedding-ring." Chilcote laughed as he placed the four rings side by side on his palm. "I could think of nothing else that would be wide--and not ostentatious. You know how I detest display."
Loder touched the rings. "You have good taste," he said. "Let"s see if they serve their purpose?" He picked them up and carried them to the lamp.
Chilcote followed him. "That was an ugly wound," he said, his curiosity reawakening as Loder extended his finger. "How did you come by it?"
The other smiled. "It"s a memento," he said.
"Of bravery?"
"No. Quite the reverse." He looked again at his hand, then glanced back at Chilcote. "No," he repeated, with an unusual impulse of confidence.
"It serves to remind me that I am not exempt--that I have been fooled like other men."
"That implies a woman?"
"Yes." Again Loder looked at the scar on his finger. "I seldom recall the thing, it"s so absolutely past. But I rather like to remember it to-night. I rather want you to know that I"ve been through the fire.
It"s a sort of guarantee."
Chilcote made a hasty gesture, but the other interrupted it.
"Oh, I know you trust me. But you"re giving me a risky post. I want you to see that women are out of my line--quite out of it."
"But, my dear chap--"
Loder went on without heeding. "This thing happened eight years ago at Santasalare," he said, "a little place between Luna and Pistoria--a mere handful of houses wedged between two hills. A regular relic of old Italy crumbling away under flowers and sunshine, with nothing to suggest the present century except the occasional pa.s.sing of a train round the base of one of the hills. I had literally stumbled upon the place on a long tramp south from Switzerland, and had been tempted into a stay at the little inn. The night after my arrival something unusual occurred. There was an accident to the train at the point where it skirted the village.
"There was a small excitement; all the inhabitants were anxious to help, and I took my share. As a matter of fact, the smash was not disastrous; the pa.s.sengers were hurt and frightened, but n.o.body was killed."
He paused and looked at his companion, but, seeing him interested, went on:
"Among these pa.s.sengers was an English lady. Of all concerned in the business, she was the least upset. When I came upon her she was sitting on the shattered door of one of the carriages, calmly rearranging her hat. On seeing me she looked up with the most charming smile imaginable.
""I have just been waiting for somebody like you," she said. "My stupid maid has got herself smashed up somewhere in the second-cla.s.s carriages, and I have n.o.body to help me to find my dog."
"Of course, that first speech ought to have enlightened me, but it didn"t. I only saw the smile and heard the voice; I knew nothing of whether they were deep or shallow. So I found the maid and found the dog. The first expressed grat.i.tude; the other didn"t. I extricated him with enormous difficulty from the wreck of the luggage-van, and this was how he marked his appreciation." He held out his hand and nodded towards the scar.
Chilcote glanced up. "So that"s the explanation?"
"Yes. I tried to conceal the thing when I restored the dog, but I was bleeding abominably and I failed. Then the whole business was changed.