When the servant had vanished, Violet eyed me with a quizzical smile.
"So you are going. I hope that the Marquis of Twickenham has exaggerated the gravity of his condition, and that on your arrival you will find him in the enjoyment of perfect health. Is that the kind of observation you think I ought to make?"
"It"s quite possible," I retorted, "that I shan"t find the Marquis of Twickenham at all."
With that I left her. As I journeyed Strandwards I discussed within myself the possibility. Such was the conflict of my emotions that when the cab was about to turn off the Embankment into Norfolk Street I bade the driver go a little farther on before taking me to my destination. I knew that from the moment in which I set foot in the building, which Mr. Babbacombe had chosen for the exhibition of his uncanny gifts, I was committed to a course of action which, I was beginning to realise more clearly every moment, might lead I knew not whither. I might have been the first to pull the strings, but the figure once set in motion, if I was not careful, might have me at its mercy for ever and a day.
"I"ll put a stop to the gruesome farce at its very opening. I"ll tell the fellow that I"ll have nothing to do with his hideous deception. If I become the accomplice of such a fiend as he is, my latter state will be worse than my first."
With the determination strong upon me to be quit of the man and his misdeeds, I alighted at the door of Cortin"s Hotel.
"Is the Marquis of Twickenham here?"
I put the question to a female who advanced towards me as I crossed the threshold. Apparently the establishment had not attained to the dignity of a hall porter.
"The Honourable Douglas Howarth?" I admitted that I was known by that name. "His lordship expected to see you before, sir?"
The woman"s tone conveyed a reproach which I resented. Evidently to her the Marquis of Twickenham was a person in authority before whom all men should bow. Besides, I could hardly have come more quickly than I had done. As I was being conducted to his apartment I told myself that I would address his lordship in a fashion for which he probably was unprepared.
The surprise, however, was on my side. I had expected to find the man alone. No one had breathed so much as a hint that any one was with him. When I entered the room, however, I found a person bending over the bed, whom it did not require much discernment to infer was a doctor. A voice, which I did not recognise as Mr. Montagu Babbacombe"s, issued from beneath the sheets.
"Who"s that?--Who"s that come in?"
The waiter announced my name and style, as if introducing me to an a.s.sembled company.
"The Honourable Douglas Howarth."
"Doug--! Is that you, Doug? D----n you! I thought you"d come!"
I advanced towards the bed. The doctor bowed. He was a young man, probably not much over thirty, with a frank, open face, which suggested rather a pleasant disposition than commanding talents. In the bed was Babbacombe--or Twickenham--whichever he chose to call himself. But what a change had taken place in his appearance since yesterday! So complete was the alteration that I was half inclined to suspect that a trick was being played on me, rather than on the rest of the world.
If this was not a sick man then surely I had never seen one. On his face there was the--I was about to write--unmistakable look of the being from whom the sands of life are slipping fast. This was a complete wreck; the husk of a man; a creature for whom, so far as this life was concerned, all things were at an end. The cheeks were hollow; the eyes dim; the jaw had an uncomfortable trick of gaping open, as if the mechanism which controlled it was a little out of order. One arm was out of bed. The hand was attenuated, so as to seem nothing but skin and bone. It had that clammy look, which one would suppose incapable of imitation, which suggests physical decay. If this man was not in the last stage of a mortal illness, then he was a master of arts which are not accounted holy. Entirely without intention I stood before him, oppressed by a feeling of half reverence, half awe, of which, I take it, most of us are conscious when we find ourselves in the presence of the coming king.
He spoke in a croaking, hoa.r.s.e voice, which I certainly did not recognise as Mr. Montagu Babbacombe"s.
"Doug, he"s got me by the throat, and I"m fighting him; but he"ll win, he"ll win. The doctor"ll tell you he"ll win."
I was at a loss what to say or do. The reality of the sham, if it was a sham, affected me in a way for which I was unprepared. The doctor, perceiving something of my dilemma, whispered in my ear:
"He"s in a bad way. Are you a friend of his?"
The sick man"s ears were keener than the speaker had supposed. He answered for me.
"A friend? Oh, yes, he"s a friend of mine, Doug"s a friend. Doctor, take yourself away. I want to speak to my friend."
Whether he was influenced by the bluntness of the dismissal, I could not say; but the doctor prepared to go.
"I will send you some medicine which will ease those pains of which you speak."
"Curse your medicine!"
"You mustn"t talk too much. Rest and composure are what you princ.i.p.ally need."
"Confound your composure!" With a violent effort the man in the bed raised himself to a sitting posture. "What do I want to be composed for when there"s so little time to talk? There"ll be all eternity to be silent in."
As he gripped the coverlet with his cadaverous hands, blinking at us with his sightless eyes, he did not offer an agreeable spectacle. He trembled so from the exertion of the effort he had made that it was not surprising to see him, collapsing like a pack of cards, fall in a heap half in, half out of bed. With quick professional hands the doctor straightened him out. He eyed him when he had finished. The figure in the bed lay perfectly still.
"He"s exhausted himself; but he"ll be all right when he recovers. Can I speak to you outside before I go?" I went with him outside the bedroom door. "Are you a relative of his?"
"I am not."
"If he has any relatives they should be sent for at once, if they wish to see him alive. It is quite possible that he will not live over to-day."
"What is the matter with him?"
"It"s a case of general collapse; all the vital organs are weak. He seems to have lived a hard and irregular life on top of an originally poor const.i.tution. I hope you don"t mind my speaking frankly."
"Not at all. I believe you are right. I have not seen him myself for fifteen years. We all thought he was dead."
"He will be soon. He"s consumed by fever; his lungs are affected; there"s practically no pulse, and scarcely any motion of the heart.
The whole machine"s run down. As you see for yourself, he"s nothing but skin and bone. But it"s from the heart we have most to fear. If you allow him to excite himself there may be an instant stoppage."
"Do you think we"d better have further advice?"
"That"s as you please. I myself should welcome it. And it might be more satisfactory to every one concerned. But I don"t think you"ll find that anything can be done. Here"s my card." He handed me one; from which it appeared that he was Mr. Robert White, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., of 93 Craven Street, W.C. "I"ll look in again as soon as I can; and then, perhaps, a consultation may be arranged. But if any of his relatives wish to see him, if I were you I should lose no time in letting them know the state that he is in."
He went. As I examined his card I said to myself.
"There seems no doubt that it will not be difficult to obtain a certificate of the Marquis of Twickenham"s death from him. I wonder if Mr. Robert White is a friend of Mr. Montagu Babbacombe."
Opening the door, I re-entered the room.
CHAPTER VII
MR. FOSTER INTERRUPTS
All was still. The figure in the bed continued motionless. I walked up to the bed. Whether conscious or not of my presence, he gave no sign of movement.
"Mr. Babbacombe," I spoke a little louder. "Mr. Babbacombe." No answer. "Don"t you think this acting is a little overdone? Your friend Dr. White has gone. I"m all alone."
Still not an indication to show that the man yet lived. Against my better judgment I began to feel uneasy. He lay so very motionless.
"Mr. Babbacombe!--Twickenham!--What are you afraid of? Don"t you hear me, man?"
I touched him with my hand. He made no movement in response. For a second I was in danger of making an a.s.s of myself. Could the man have carried the farce too far, and was he really dead? I all but rushed from the room, or to the bell, or somewhere, to give the alarm. Then I felt him shiver beneath my touch. I do not think that I was ever more conscious of relief than when I felt his quivering flesh. For the moment I actually imagined that I had murdered him.