Fergus Hume

“ I wish to marry you. See, Patricia, dear, I shall settle Beckleigh on you, and when the emerald brings back the good luck you shall----"
"The emerald will only bring bad luck," said Patricia, interrupting coldly. "And if you had millions I would not marry you. I love you as a daughter, and I thought that you loved me in the same way. Basil and I are engaged and intend to get married in a few months."
"He has no money," wailed the Squire, clutching the sheets; "no money."
"I don't care. He is the man I love."
"He has no right to ask you to marry him." ”

“ That same evening in the drawing-room a strange thing took place, which made Patricia wonder more than ever. Theodore had been performing some conjuring tricks with cards at which Akira smiled politely. Basil had sung, and she had played a sonata of Beethoven. Feeling tired, no doubt, of Shakespeare and the musical glasses, Mr. Colpster had stolen to his study to look at his beloved family tree. The young people had the drawing-room to themselves. As all save Mara--who invariably declined to contribute to the gaiety of any evening--had done his or her part, it was the turn of the Japanese. ”

“ Basil seemed to think so, for he stopped his measured beating, but the smoke still wreathed itself through the room in serpentine coils, the flute shrilled loud and piercing, and Mara danced as in a dream. All at once she reeled and the bell crashed on the floor. Basil flung down the gong and sprang forward.
"She is fainting," he cried angrily, catching Mara in his arms. "Akira, what the devil does this mean? She is ill!"
"No! No!" said Mara, as the flute stopped and the scent of the incense grew faint. "I am not ill, I am--I am--what have I been doing?" ”

“ The girl phrased it in this way, and indignantly declined.
"Oh, my dear," cried Mrs. Sellars, almost weeping; "you need money so badly."
"I would sooner need it all my life than degrade myself in this way," retorted Miss Carrol, looking prettier than ever with her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. "How dare the man insult me!"
"Insult, my dear? Two hundred pounds a week an insult?"
"Take it yourself, Mrs. Sellars," replied Patricia impatiently. "After all, poor Mrs. Pentreddle was your sister, and you will be just as great an object of interest to the crowd as I would be." ”

“ Basil, with lover-like selfishness, did not pay attention to the end of her speech, but to the earlier part. "If you saw, then Miss Carrol must have seen."
"Miss Carrol!" mocked Mara, with dancing eyes. "Why not Patricia?"
"Oh!" the shy sailor blushed. "I shouldn't care to call her that."
His cousin took him by the coat-lapels and shook him with frail strength.
"Silly creature! If you have not the courage to take what you can get, Patricia will have nothing to do with you. Women like a bold lover."
"I don't believe she will ever return my love," sighed Basil dolefully. ”

“ Basil amidst all his trouble turned to catch her in his arms, "I am sure that with such a darling as you are for my wife everything is entirely feasible and possible. If the emerald of Amyas Colpster brought luck to no one, it certainly has done so to me. And now let us drive to Hendle and catch the evening train to London. To-morrow we must get married."
"It seems heartless when your uncle is just dead," sighed Patricia, "but I have no home to go to, and no one but you."
"You shall stay at The Home of Art, and when I marry you, my dear, Mrs. Sellars shall be the bridesmaid. Come, my darling!" ”

“ Patricia shuddered again and to her soul. "Who would engage a girl connected with such a horrid crime?"
"Lots of people," said Mrs. Sellars promptly; "and the crime is not so horrid as mysterious. Who can have murdered Martha?--and why?"
"Everyone is asking that question, Mrs. Sellars."
"No one seems to obtain an answer," observed the good lady mournfully; "not even Inspector Harkness or the police. Well, my dear, I must go and see about the dinner. Remember what I said to you. You have a magnificent boom on just now, and if you take full advantage of it, you are made for life." ”

“ The elder Dane had not a forgiving nature. Nor, indeed, did his brother feel inclined to welcome any advances. He was too much disgusted with Theodore to pardon him readily.
"I don't see why, dearest," said Basil again, and slipped his arm round Patricia's waist. "Uncle George can't kill us."
"He could turn me out of the house, and I have nowhere to go."
"There is no reason why he should turn you out. He loves you like a daughter. I'm certain of that."
Patricia sighed. "You are wrong, Basil. He loves me, certainly, but not like a daughter." ”

“ The Squire looked up quickly.
"Mrs. Sellars told me."
Mr. Colpster nodded. "I expect poor Martha has been talking," he said in a vexed tone, "and, no doubt, has been making out Mara to be weak-minded."
"Mrs. Sellars said that Miss Colpster was queer," said Patricia truthfully.
"She is not queer," declared the father, with some sharpness. "Mara is a dreamy girl who wants a brisk companion to arouse her. From what I have seen of you, Miss Carrol, you are the very person to do Mara good. So if you like to come for one hundred a year, I shall be delighted to engage you." ”

“ Had he been left alone with the girl, for a certain period, he might have managed to sap her will power and render her his slave. But the coming of Basil changed all that. Basil was young and handsome and ardent, and with a sailor's keen sense of beauty, would be certain to admire, and perhaps love, Patricia. If this was so, Basil certainly would prevent any more experiments being made, and Theodore's evil heart was filled with black rage at the unexpected thwarting of his aims.
"Curse him!" he muttered, alluding to his brother. "He always crosses my path and puts me wrong." ”

“ Huge as he was, the man had only that strength which comes with furious anger. He was flabby, and not at all muscular, since he never exercised himself in any way. Half on the floor and half on the pillows of the sofa, Colpster watched the fight with breathless interest, grasping in his hands a large envelope. The two men swayed and swung round the apartment, and Theodore fought like a tiger. But the wiry sailor was too much for him, and gradually Dane was forced to the floor where he lay struggling and kicking, with Pentreddle kneeling on his big chest. Harry hailed the half-fainting old man. ”

“ Theodore drew a long breath. "I see what the old man is up to," he considered. "As Mara won't marry either Basil or myself, he intends to marry Patricia in the hope of having an heir to the estate. That would be an end to everything. Not that I believe the girl would have him."
And yet of this Theodore could not be sure, as he judged Miss Carrol by his own greedy self. Could any girl, penniless, as he knew Patricia to be, resist the offer of so beautiful a home? Dane thought not, and set his wits to work to bar any possible chance of this very unexpected thing coming to pass. ”

“ The girl found Beckleigh to be a little fairy bay on the south coast of Devonshire, shut out from the world by high moorlands, over which tourists rarely came. Where the rolling downs dipped to the sea, there was a secluded nook--a dimple on the face of natural beauty, and here a quaint, rambling old house of mellowed grey stone nestled close to a mighty cliff of red sandstone. It was a quarter of a mile from the mansion to the yellow sands of the tiny beach, and the fertile acres were covered with many trees. ”

“ His cousin, who had been listening quietly, interrupted at this moment. "I shall not marry Basil," she said very decidedly. "We are good friends, but nothing more."
"If you don't marry him, Mara, you will lose the property."
"I don't care," she answered indifferently. "I can always live somewhere."
"If you would marry me," said Theodore eagerly, "you could go away and live where you liked. I only want to inherit Beckleigh."
"Oh!" cried Patricia, revolted by this selfish sentiment.
Theodore wheeled to face her. "It is a brutal thing for a man to say to a woman, is it not?" ”

“ I have daughters myself of your age, Miss Carrol, and I have every sympathy with your position. As a man and a father, I fully believe every word you say; but as an officer, I am obliged to disbelieve until I have proofs. If I do not demand them, the jury and the coroner will."
"When? Where?" asked Patricia, startled.
"At the inquest. You will be the most important witness, Miss Carrol." ”

“ Mara slipped off the writing-table whereon she had perched herself, and pointed one lean finger at Theodore. "I mean that he is an utterly selfish man, who strives to sweep aside all who stand in his path. By egotism he isolates himself from the Great Whole, and wishes to dwell apart in self-conscious power." She faced Dane, and in the twilight looked like a wavering shadow. "There is nothing you would not do to obtain power, and for that reason your punishment will be greater than that of others." ”

“ I know!" cried Mara, clapping her hands and jumping; "in Japan we all believe in reincarnation, and lovers promise each other to love during seven earth-seasons."
"But you are not a Japanese, Mara," said Patricia, wondering that the girl should so boldly couple herself with Akira.
"Yes, I am," Mara asserted decidedly; "my body is English, but my soul is Japanese. I know now that I was a Miko in the Temple of Kitzuki three hundred years ago, and that I loved him," she pointed to Akira, who smiled assentingly. ”

“ Five minutes later Miss Carrol arrived, with her household work completed for the day. In spite of what Mara had told him, Basil would not follow the path she had pointed out. He was rather more attentive than usual to Patricia, and gave her to understand that he would wreck continents for her sake. But the modesty of a man, which is greater than that of a woman, kept his tongue quiet and his eyes unintelligent. Patricia did not entirely approve of this restrained attitude, as she knew that he loved her, and wished to be told so in plain English. ”

“ He heard high above the sound of wind and wave the thin lamentations of Colpster, who saw the luck of his family being carried away for ever.
Pentreddle raced for the beach through the furious weather. There he shouted as he stumbled towards the pier, and immediately two Japanese took him by the shoulders to tumble him bodily into the launch. They seemed to be in a desperate hurry, for scarcely had he got his breath when he found that the launch was plunging at full speed through the turbulent water.
"What the devil is the hurry!" gasped Harry, shaking the water from his eyes. ”

“ Meanwhile the cab crawled slowly and cautiously through the fog, towards The Home of Art. Patricia was made aware that she had arrived at her destination by the sudden jerk of the vehicle, as it came to a standstill. Then, still sleep-bemused, she alighted in a stumbling manner to find herself in the arms of Mrs. Sellars.
"Oh, my dear! where have you been? It's terrible; it's terrible!" and the good lady wrung her fat hands. "Oh, what is to be done?"
"What is terrible?" asked Patricia stupidly, for her head ached. ”