"Shall I go?" said Leo, rising.
"No," said Lord Kilspindie. "I have you and I mean to keep you. Mr Tempest, no doubt, has a servant whom he can trust."
Tempest nodded and touched the bell. The old butler, who had been with the vicar for over twenty years, appeared. "Take this key," said his master, handing it to him. "Mrs Jeal will give you directions how to use it. Lose no time in coming back."
Mrs Jeal repeated her instructions and the servant departed on his errand. Then the woman rose to her feet and began to talk with an a.s.sumption of courage which would have been ludicrous had it not been so pitiful. Still, she fought well, and was game to the last.
"You have got the better of me," she said, "or, rather, that brute of a Tony Angel has peached. If he had held his tongue I could have defied the lot of you. As it is--" She shrugged her fat shoulders and paused.
"Ask me what questions you like," she said, "I am in your power. I _must_ reply."
"Is this my son?" asked Kilspindie, his hand on Leo"s shoulder.
"Yes. That is Lord Morven!"
Leo uttered a cry and looked at his father with moist eyes. The revulsion of feeling was too much for Kilspindie, and he sank down into a chair. Leo held his hand, and there was silence for a few moments. "I am thankful to G.o.d that he has spared me to see my son again!" said Kilspindie, solemnly, and the vicar added a solemn "Amen."
"And thank G.o.d that I have a father and an unsullied name!" said Leo, almost too moved to speak. Nor was this emotion unmanly on the part of father and son. The least sentimental person must grant this much.
Kilspindie remained seated in his chair and holding the hand of his newly-recovered son. Both men fixed their eyes on Mrs Jeal, who in a cold and unemotional way continued her confession.
"I was brought up on your estate, my lord," she said, "and there I met with Pratt--or, rather, with Tony Angel. He came on a visit to the village to get away from the police. He was a handsome and fascinating man and I fell in love with him. Whether he loved me or not I cannot say. At all events, he pretended to. I left your service and married him. We went to London, and then I discovered that my husband was a thief. At first I was horrified. In those days, my lord, I was not the hardened sinner you see me now. But after a time Pratt--as I may call him--made me as bad as himself. He taught me to love fine things and comfort, and as he always made plenty of money by stealing I had a gay life. Oh! we had fine times I can tell you! He--"
"Go on with your story, Mrs Jeal," said the vicar, sternly.
She tossed her head, but obeyed. "After a time things got bad. Pratt was so well known to the police that he was not so successful as he had been. I used to tell him about Kilspindie Castle and the cup. Pratt, who loved beautiful things, wanted to get the cup. He proposed that I should go back and steal it. I was already known in the castle, so there would be a better opportunity for me to get it than himself. As I wanted money I agreed, and I came back to the castle."
"Did you re-enter my service in order to steal the cup?" asked Lord Kilspindie.
"Yes," replied Mrs Jeal, defiantly, "you had plenty without it. I entered as an under-nursemaid, and as I was comfortable I thought I would stay for a while. Pratt came up and urged me to steal the cup at once. I refused, as I did not wish to leave my good situation. Then an idea came into his head that if I could obtain the child of a n.o.bleman he could hold it as a hostage."
"What do you mean?" asked Raston.
"The meaning is not difficult," said Mrs Jeal, coolly. "Pratt was always in danger of being taken by the police, and his record was so bad that he would have been shown no mercy. He thought if he had Lord Kilspindie"s son, that when he got into trouble he could promise to restore the child on condition that he was set free."
"A clever idea," muttered the vicar.
"And a very wild one," said his lordship. "What influence could I bring to bear towards helping a criminal?"
"What, indeed?" sneered Mrs Jeal. "I a.s.sured Pratt that your lordship had no power. But the idea of getting the child as a hostage fascinated him, and he commanded me to steal the boy. For a time I refused. Then the head nurse died and another woman was set over my head. My lady treated me badly--she insulted me; she showed that she mistrusted me. I was angry and I determined to be revenged. I was revenged by obeying Pratt. I took the cup and the child and went away. How I--"
"I know how you stole both the child and the cup," said Lord Kilspindie.
"Very good, my lord. Well, I went to London with Pratt. He p.a.w.ned the cup, and on the money we lived for a time. Then he insisted that, as he might some day have to restore the child--we called him Leo," said Mrs Jeal, with a glance at the young man, "it was necessary that he should be brought up as a gentleman. He knew Mrs Gabriel, whom he had met abroad. He had some power over her--"
"And what _is_ the power?" asked Leo.
Mrs Jeal shook her head. "That has nothing to do with you or with the restoration of your rights, Lord Morven," she said. "I keep that secret to myself. Pratt had a power over her and used it. He brought the child to her and said he was a natural child. He insisted that she should bring him up as the son of her brother who had just died abroad. How Pratt knew this I do not know; but then he knew everything. Well, it was done, and Leo was established at the castle. Mrs Gabriel brought him up."
"Yes," said Leo, bitterly, "she brought me up." And he looked back on the long life of petty worry and contemptible tyranny that had been his.
"I know all this. But yourself, Mrs Jeal?"
"I remained with Pratt. I was only too glad to get rid of you. I hated you for your mother"s sake--"
"Stop that!" cried Lord Kilspindie, and Mrs Jeal dropped a mocking curtsey.
"At your lordship"s service! However, I found out that Pratt was treating me badly. He went about with other women. He even struck me. I made up my mind to leave him, and I did. I went from one place to another, and finally I came to settle in Colester."
"Why did you come here?" asked the vicar.
"Oh, your reverence can understand that I wanted to keep an eye on the young lord!" said Mrs Jeal, obsequiously. "He was my property as well as Pratt"s, and when the day came to give him up to his father I wanted my share of the spoil."
"You shall have nothing," said Lord Kilspindie, sternly. "You ought to be glad that I do not hand you over to the police!"
She scowled and would have become vituperative, but Raston moved the hand which held the envelope significantly. At once a frightened look came over her face, and she sat down. "I stayed here," she continued feebly, all the strength having gone out of her, "and saved Pearl Darry from her father. When Pratt came I was afraid; I was always afraid of Pratt. No one knows but myself what a devil he is. He told me to hold my tongue, and I was too frightened of him to disobey. Now I"ll go away from here with the Hales, since Miss Sybil has promised to look after Pearl. I want to put the seas between myself and that man. He terrifies me, and I am not a woman easily terrified."
"Why did you tell that lie about my having p.a.w.ned the cup?" asked Leo.
Mrs Jeal shook her head. "I can say no more," she said. Leo would have insisted, but at that moment the servant entered with the parcel of which the woman had spoken. When he went out Mrs Jeal opened this, and spread out the contents on the table.
"Here are the evidences your lordship wished for," she said, glancing at Lord Kilspindie. "This is the dress Lord Morven wore when I took him away, his name is marked--the underclothing is also marked. The coral necklace which your lordship may perhaps recognise as an heirloom. And your lordship may perhaps remember some mark by which Lord Morven can be recognised. There _is_ a mark, if your lordship remembers."
Kilspindie drew his hand across his forehead and thought. "My wife showed me the child one day and pointed out the mark. Yes, three moles in a line just above the elbow of the left arm."
Mrs Jeal nodded, and Leo, hastily stripping off his coat, drew up his sleeve to show the three moles in question. "But I don"t need that to a.s.sure me that you are my son," said the old n.o.bleman; "you have the eyes of your mother. Yes; you are my son and Lord Morven!"
"I congratulate you, Leo," said Raston, shaking his friend"s hand.
"And I have to thank you with all my heart," said the new Lord Morven, "for if it had not been for you this would never have been discovered. I should like to know, however, how it was that Pratt claimed me as a son?"
"That was Mrs Gabriel"s fault," said Raston. "She told him that you intended to denounce him to the police. When you discovered him at the castle on that night he was afraid lest you might do so, therefore he said you were his son, so as to put such a betrayal out of your power."
"As if I would ever have betrayed him!" said Leo. "There was good in Pratt."
"There is _no_ good in him," cried Mrs Jeal, fiercely. "How dare you say so? He is a bad and wicked man. I hate him with all my soul! But never will I set eyes on him again. He might kill me as he has often threatened to do. But I have told all; I have proved your ident.i.ty, Lord Morven, and you have the cup, my Lord Kilspindie. The--the--letter--"
She hesitated. Those present looked at one another. "Should this dangerous woman go free to be a pest to society?" said the vicar, sternly.
"You promised," said Mrs Jeal, terrified and white to the lips.
Leo looked at her for a moment, then took the letter from the hands of Raston, and gave it to her. "We must keep our word," he said.
"And you must leave this place at once," said Mr Tempest, austerely.
But Mrs Jeal was paying no attention to them. She had torn open the letter, and was reading the few lines it contained. "I thought so," she muttered, with a black look. "I wish I could kill him." She crushed up the paper and put it into her pocket again. Then she walked to the door.
"Good-day, my Lord Morven, and good-bye, Lord Kilspindie. You are poor creatures, both of you. Your reverence will now be glad to sell your daughter for a t.i.tle! As to you, Mr Raston, the girl you love would have been sold to my husband by her mother. I wish you joy, all you men fools." And with a mocking curtsey Mrs Jeal walked out of the room.
"Let her go. We know the truth," said Lord Kilspindie. "Leo!"
But Leo, with a nod, was making for the door. "I must tell Sybil," he said, and vanished.