Fergus Hume

“ Deborah, exerting her great strength, threw Matilda aside, and without a cry ran out of the house and after the assassin who had tried to strangle Sylvia. Matilda, true to her salt, ran also, to help Maud Krill, and the two women sped in the wake of the insane creature who was swiftly running in the direction of the station. People began to look round, a crowd gathered like magic, and in a few moments Maud was being chased by quite a mob of people. She ran like a hare. Heaven only knows if she hoped to escape after her failure to kill Sylvia, but she ran on blindly. ”

“ Paul, the unsophisticated, took the shadow of generosity for its substance, and his dark face lighted up. "You're a brick, Hay," he declared, "but I don't want money. No!"—this in reply to an eloquent glance from the well-to-do—"I have sufficient for my needs, and besides," with a look at the resplendent dress of the fashion-plate dandy, "I don't glitter in the West End."
"Which hints that those who do, are rich," said Grexon, with an arctic smile. "Wrong, Beecot. I'm poor. Only paupers can afford to dress well." ”

“ Hay described the married lady he adored, and Paul rebuked him for entertaining such a passion. "It's not right, Hay," said he, positively; "you can't respect a woman who runs away from her husband."
"She hasn't run away yet, Sir Galahad," laughed Grexon. "By Jove, you are an innocent!"
"If that means respecting the institution of marriage and adoring women as angels I hope I'll remain an innocent."
"Oh, women are angels, of course," said Hay as they walked down Gwynne Street; "it's a stock phrase in love-making. ”

“ At a sign from Maud, Matilda gathered up the fancy work and went out of the room with many backward glances. These were mostly indignant, for she was angry at Hurd's deception. "Do you wish my daughter to stay?" asked Mrs. Krill, smoothly.
"That is as she pleases," said the detective.
"No, thank you, mother," said Maud, shuddering, "I have heard quite enough of my poor father's terrible death," and she swept out of the drawing-room with a gracious smile.
"The poor child is so sensitive," sighed Mrs. Krill, taking a seat with her back to the window. ”

“ CHAPTER XV A NEW CLUE
"I don't wish to talk of Miss Norman," said Paul, bluntly.
"Then you can be no true lover," retorted the widow.
"I disagree with you. A true lover does not talk to all and sundry concerning the most sacred feelings of his heart. Moreover, your remarks at our last meeting were not to my taste."
"I apologize," said Mrs. Krill, promptly, "and will not offend in that way again. I did not know you then, but since Mr. Hay has spoken about you to me, I know and appreciate you, Mr. Beecot." ”

“ So the end of Deborah's shameless diplomacy was, that the two went, not to the inferior draper's where Debby bought her extraordinary garments—though they went there later in a Jesuitical manner—but to the hospital, where to her joy Sylvia was allowed to see Paul. He looked thin and pale, but was quite himself and very cheerful. "My darling," he said, kissing Sylvia's hand, while Debby sat bolt upright near the bed, with a large handbag, and played propriety by glaring. "Now I shall get well quickly. The sight of you is better than all medicine." ”

“ Certainly Deborah could be a chaperon, but she was not a lady, and Pash could be a guardian, but he was not a relative. Paul as her husband would be able to protect her, and to look after the property which Sylvia did not think she could do herself. These thoughts made her consent to an early marriage. "And I really don't think father would have minded."
"I am quite sure we are acting as he would wish," said Beecot, decisively. "I am so thankful, Sylvia sweetest, that I met you and loved you before you became an heiress. No one can say that I marry you for anything save your own sweet self. ”

“ Old women come to sun themselves, loafers sit on the seats to rest, workmen smoke and children play. On a bright day the place is pretty, and those who frequent it feel as though they were enjoying a country holiday though but a stone's throw from the Thames. And lovers meet here also, so it was quite in keeping that Paul Beecot should wait by the bronze statues of the Herculaneum wrestlers for the coming of Sylvia. ”

“ From these and the garret and the lean meal of sausages Hay drew his conclusions and put them into words.
"Your father has cut you off," said he, calmly, "and yet you propose to marry."
"How do you know both things?"
"I keep my eyes open, Paul. I see this attic and your clothes. I saw also the flush on your face when you asked me why I did not marry. You are in love?"
"I am," said Beecot, becoming scarlet, and throwing back his head. "It is clever of you to guess it. Prophesy more."
Hay smiled in a cold way. "I prophesy that if you marry on nothing you will be miserable. ”

“ Pash, and I honor you Mr. Beecot—I honor you."
Paul stared. "You must have been brought up in a queer way, Hurd," he said drily, "to express this surprise because a man acts as a man and not as a blackguard."
"Ah, but you see in my profession I have mixed with blackguards, and that has lowered my moral tone. It's refreshing to meet a straight, honorable man such as you are, Mr. Beecot. I liked you when first I set eyes on you, and determined to help you to discover the assassin of Aaron Norman—"
"Lemuel Krill you mean." ”

“ But Hay spoke before anyone could make a remark. "What an unpleasant subject," he said, with a pretended shudder, "let us talk of less melodramatic things."
"Oh, why," said Mrs. Krill, using her fan. "I rather like to hear about murders."
Lord George looked oddly at her, and seemed about to speak. Paul thought for the moment that he did know about the Gwynne Street crime and intended to remark thereon. But if so his good taste told him that he would be ill-advised to speak and he turned to ask for another glass of wine. Miss Aurora Qian looked in her pretty shrewd way from one to the other. ”

“ I have not gone through all the safes below, and may come across the marriage certificate of Miss Krill's—I beg pardon, Miss Norman's—mother and father. Then there's the birth certificate. We must prove that Miss Sylvia is the daughter of my late esteemed client."
"What's that?" shouted Deborah. "Why, I knowed her mother as died. She's the daughter right enough, and—"
"There's no need to shout," chattered Pash, angrily. "I know that as well as you do; I must act, however, as reason dictates. I'll prove the will and see that all is right." ”

“ Beecot: I am very sorry for the girl. Through no fault of her own, she is placed in a difficult position. I cannot give her a name, since her father sinned against her as he sinned in another way against me, but I can—through my daughter, who is guided by me—give her an income. It does not seem right that I should have all this money—"
"That your daughter should have all this money," interpolated Beecot.
"My daughter and I are one," replied Mrs. Krill, calmly; "when I speak for myself, I speak for her. But, as I say, it doesn't seem right we should be in affluence and Miss Norman in poverty. ”

“ Norman spoke to me about the brooch several times and wanted it for reasons you may not know."
"Oh, yes, we know," said Hurd, sardonically; "we know much more than you give us credit for, Mr. Pash. Well, you saw Norman about the jewel later that evening. I suppose you intend to tell us you gave him the brooch then."
"I intend to tell nothing of the sort," retorted Pash, after a few moments' thought. "I see that things are coming to a crisis, and I would like to see Miss Norman reinstated in her rights."
"Oh," said Paul, indignantly, "and you did your best to give the money to Maud Krill!" ”

“ You are exactly like one of those lovely creations one sees in mass-books of the Middle Ages. I fear, Sylvia," Paul sighed, "that you are too dainty and holy for this work-a-day world."
"What nonsense, Paul! I'm a poor girl without position or friends, living in a poor street. You are the first person who ever thought me pretty."
"You are not pretty," said the ardent Beecot, "you are divine—you are Beatrice—you are Elizabeth of [Pg 37] Thuringia—you are everything that is lovely and adorable." ”

“ Paul sat in one corner much excited over the turn events had taken. He began to think that the assassin of Aaron Norman would be found after all. More, he believed that Sylvia would yet inherit the five thousand a year she was entitled to, morally, if not legally. Hurd, in another corner, pulled Tray roughly towards him, and shook his finger in the lad's face. The boy was sulky and defiant, yet there was a trace of fear in his eyes, and the reason of this Hurd wished to learn.
"You're a young liar," said Hurd, emphatically, "and not a clever one either. Do you think to play the fool with me?" ”

“ Maud is a mere puppet in her hands," he laughed. "And then Hay would marry a poor bride," he ended maliciously.
Sylvia could not quite understand all this, and gave up trying to solve the problem with a pretty gesture of indifference. "What will you do, Paul?" she asked.
"I'll see Hurd and tell him what you and Deborah say about the age of Maud Krill."
"Why not see Mr. Pash?"
"Because he is a traitor," replied Beecot, darkly, "and, knowing he has lost your confidence, he will certainly try and give Maud Krill possession of the money. No, I'll speak to Hurd, who is my friend and yours. ”

“ Now, when he knows you are poor—and I wrote to tell him last night—he will forbid the match."
"Paul!" She clung to him in sick terror.
"My sweetest"—he caught her in his arms—"do you think a dozen fathers would make me give you up? No, my love of loves—my soul, my heart of hearts—come good, come ill, we will be together. You can stay with Debby at Jubileetown until I make enough to welcome you to a home, however humble. Dear, be hopeful, and trust in the God who brought us together. He is watching over us, and, knowing that, why need we fear? ”

“ Luckily, Paul, for his own sake, had somewhat calmed down when Hurd arrived, so the detective was permitted to see him. He sat by the bedside and told the patient who he was. Beecot looked at him sharply, and then recognized him.
"You are the workman," he said astonished.
"Yes, Mr. Beecot, I am. I hear that you have not taken my warning regarding your friend, Mr. Grexon Hay." ”

“ My business is not to hang innocent people. Take a glass of rum and tell me all you know, beginning with your first meeting with Krill and running down through the death of Lady Rachel to your last meeting in the Gwynne Street cellar. ”

“ After all, I am a gentleman, and I see no reason why your father should object."
"I know you are everything that is good and true," said Sylvia, drying her eyes. "If you were not Debby would not have let me become engaged to you," she finished childishly.
"Debby made inquiries about me," said Paul, laughing, to cheer her. "Yes! she sent Bart to [Pg 41] Wargrove and found out all about me and my family and my respected father. She wished to be certain that I was a proper lover for her darling." ”

“ Captain Jessop told me I was his daughter. My mother thought that my father was drowned at sea, and so married Krill, who was a traveller in jewellery. He and my mother rented 'The Red Pig' at Christchurch, and for years they led an unhappy life."
"Oh," gasped Sylvia, "you confess. I'll tell Paul."
"You'll tell no one," retorted the other woman sharply. "Do you think I would speak so openly in order that you might tell all the world with your gabbling tongue? Yes, and I'll speak more openly still before I leave. Lady Rachel Sandal did not commit suicide as my mother said. ”

“ Captain Jessop can't be touched as he had nothing to do with the murder, and Sylvia and myself are not going to prosecute him for his attempt to get the jewels from Pash."
"Then you ought to. It's a duty you owe to society."
Paul shook his head. "I think it best to leave things as they are, father," he said mildly, "especially as Mrs. Jessop, much broken in health because of her daughter's terrible end, has gone back with her husband to live at his house in Stowley."
"What," shouted Beecot senior, "is that she-devil to go free, too?" ”

“ The nurse laughed as she arranged Paul's pillows.
"What a strange woman, Mr. Beecot."
"Very," assented Paul, "quite a character, and as true as the needle of the compass."
Meanwhile, Debby, ignorant of this flattering description, conducted Sylvia to the draper's shop, and finally fixed on a hideous magenta gown, which she ordered to be made quite plain. "With none of your fal-de-lals," commanded Miss Junk, snorting. "Plain sewing and good stuff is all I arsk for. ”

“ But that young man was looking at the solicitor. "Rats leave the sinking ship," said he, bitterly; "you will not prosper, Pash."
"Everyone prospers who protects the widow and the orphan," said Pash, in a pious tone, and so disgusted Paul that he closed the door with a bang and went out. Tray was playing chuck-farthing at the door and keeping Mr. Grexon Hay from coming in.
"You there, Beecot?" said this gentleman, coldly. "I wish you would tell this brat to let me enter."
"Brat yourself y' toff," cried Tray, pocketing his money. "Ain't I a-doin' as my master tells me? ”

“ I have not yet examined the papers contained in the safe of my deceased and esteemed client. He would never allow me to make his will. Leases—yes—he has some house-property—mortgages—yes—investments—yes—he entrusted me with all his business save the important one of making a will. But a great many other people act in the same strange way, though you might not think so, Mr. Hurd. They would never make a lease, or let a house, or buy property, without consulting their legal adviser, yet in the case of wills (most important documents) many prefer to draw them up themselves. ”

“ I shouldn't think Lord George was the kind of young man to bother about hand-bills."
"All the same, he might have heard talk at his club. Everyone isn't so stupid."
"No. But, at all events, he did not seem to connect Mrs. Krill with the dead man. And even with regard to the death of his aunt, he fancied she might not be the same woman."
"What an ass he must be," said Hurd, contemptuously.
"I don't think he has much brain," confessed Paul, shrugging his shoulders; "but he asked me if I thought Mrs. Krill was the same as the landlady of 'The Red Pig,' and I denied that she was. ”