Fergus Hume

“ Craver. "Yet I am glad, for Edwin's sake, that things have turned out as they have done."
"My dear Emma, you couldn't expect Lady Wyke to allow her husband to commit bigamy. Why shouldn't she come alive again, as you put it?"
"She should have remained always with her husband, as a true and faithful wife should," replied Mrs. Craver, drawing up her spare figure.
"I don't think that the separation was Sir Hector's fault," said Claudia, after a pause. "He was a very polite and amiable old man. I certainly did not wish to marry him, as I always loved Edwin. But my father made me accept." ”

“ Although I am not so young as you are, Miss Lemby, I have the heart and fresh feelings of a girl. After I left the factory I thought a great deal about Mr. Craver."
"Did you indeed?" said. Claudia, hardly relishing this frank confession.
"Now you are jealous. Well, I don't wonder at it. If I was engaged to such a splendid young lover I should be jealous of everyone who looked at him. However, I was beginning to forget him when I went to Hendon to see the flying, and there saw Mr. Craver in an aeroplane."
"You never did," said Claudia, excitedly. "Edwin does not go in for aviation." ”

“ I never met anyone like you."
"So Edwin thinks," remarked the Rector, who had a book on his knee and a cup of tea in his hand. "He says that Claudia is a pearl and far above rubies in value. I quite agree with him."
"Oh, you must not think so highly, of me," said the girl with a blush. "I am really a very ordinary kind of person. I love work."
"Then you are not an ordinary person," said the Rev. George Craver. "It is very rarely one meets with people who love work. If Hedgerton was filled with such people my task would be easier than it is." ”

“ Claudia, who had entered the room anxious and perturbed, was now quite calm in asking questions.
Mrs. Vence was patently surprised to see how quietly the girl took the dreadful charge. "You don't seem much upset!" she croaked. "I thought you loved that par of yours, as a gel should."
"I do love my father," was Miss Lemby's steady reply, "and for that reason I decline to believe what you say."
"Then why come here to worrit me?" gasped the old woman, crossly. "Ain't I got enuff to put up with at my age without silly gels coming to tell me as I'm a liar. I can't say nothin' else." ”

“ Lady Wyke uttered a cry of rage as she saw Claudia grasp the rope, and cling to it for dear life.
"It's not fair; it's not fair!" she screamed. "She shan't be saved! Me too; me too!" and she shook her ironbound hands impotently at the aeroplane. Purse and his men looked on aghast, for Lady Wyke was now up to her middle in the sand.
There was no word, from Craver, and no cry from Claudia. The rope had dropped truly, and one end was in her hands, while the other was fastened to the seat of the machine. Edwin kept his engine going at full speed, swung low, and then curved for the ascent. ”

“ Claudia winced, and her thoughts flew to her father and his mysterious remarks; to Lady Wyke and her ominous hints. "Has she discovered anything yet?"
"No!" observed Mrs. Craver, sharply. "At least, she has said nothing to us, although she has been here a month. And that reminds me, George, that she has not called again since Claudia arrived."
"Well, Emma, she called on you and you called on her. The demands of courtesy have been satisfied. We are dull people, you know, and she is a smart lady. It is not to be supposed that she will find much enjoyment in our society." ”

“ For that reason he postponed the wedding, and retired to Hedgerton."
"But why did he not tell me?" asked Claudia, growing crimson with anger. "Well, my dear"--Lady Wyke shrugged her elegant shoulders--"it might be that he hoped to gain time and think matters over. Perhaps he would have divorced me, although without cause he could not have done so. Perhaps he might have murdered me."
"I think he has behaved very badly!" cried the girl, with great indignation.
"All men behave badly, Miss Lemby; they can't help themselves. But as Sir Hector is dead, suppose we say no more about the matter. ”

“ Claudia, having done the best she could, went away to attend to other work, leaving Mrs. Craver to count the washing and hear the news. There was much to be done upstairs, as spring-cleaning was in progress, so Claudia worked like a Trojan, both to help her prospective mother-in-law and the aching of her own heart. While working and giving her attention to every-day things, she could not worry, and managed to pass the time profitably, and tolerably easily until Edwin returned. She heard his step in the hall immediately he opened the front door and flew down swiftly, all agog for news. ”

“ Then I could have held my tongue."
"I am not against your father," said Craver, steadily; "but I wish to place all points before you. I do not believe Mr. Lemby is guilty, although his sayings are dark and ominous."
"They upset me altogether!" cried the girl, restlessly. "Therefore, Edwin, until you find out who stabbed Sir Hector, we cannot marry."
"Claudia!" He was dismayed by this speech.
"I mean it!" she declared, waving him back. "I shall never be happy until the truth is known. Learn who murdered Sir Hector, and exonerate my dad." ”

“ Then," said Mrs. Vence, earnestly, "I saw that par of yours coming down the stairs; with the clasp-knife open in his hand, looking savage-like. I was so feared that I ran back to the kitchen just as I heard Sir Hector returning to the study. Then I comes in with the cake and wine some time later, and found my master lying dead on the rug, and the gent as bolted on the bike bending over him."
"And my father?" faltered Claudia, with a sinking heart. "Oh, he got back up the stairs, and didn't come down until that there postman and the police came. Clever, he was. ”

“ Wait for a time, Edwin, and let us talk all round the shop. Then I can gradually lead up to what he said. Oh, it's awful!"
"It must be," rejoined Craver, with a perplexed look, "to upset you so much. I know you are not an hysterical girl, Claudia. Come and sit down, so that we can talk at our ease, and, you can give me some tea in half ah hour. I'm dying of thirst."
"You shall have some tea now, or you may die," said Claudia in a lively tone, and touching the bell. "Luckily your father has gone out, and will not be back for a long time. We'll be all alone." ”

“ Claudia was quite unmoved.
"Yes. You are poor."
"That is my own affair."
"And your father is poor," continued Lady 'Wyke, taking no notice of the interruption. "You both want money. Your father, as I can see very well, is paying attentions to me in the hope that I may look favourably upon his advances."
Claudia was persistently blind. "What advances?"
"Well, if you will have it, my dear, your father has more than hinted that he desires to marry me. He could not get Sir Hector's money through you, so he is now trying to get it through me." ”

“ Lady Wyke started and looked suspiciously at her visitor. "I know that you can implicate Edwin in the murder by showing that letter to Sergeant Purse," said Claudia, steadily. "All the same you know that he is guiltless."
"Do I? Then who is guilty?"
"I can't say."
"Your father?" asked Lady Wyke, impertinently and with meaning.
"No!" Claudia started to her feet. "My father would never stab an old man."
"Oh, I think he would to get money," retorted the hostess, leaning back in her chair and smiling. "He is very much the man who would slay and stab in order to get money. ”

“ Why don't you catch the villain?"
"'Taint easy to catch a man as has gone off on a foggy night on a bicycle, sir," said Jervis, drily. "I can't tell in which direction he's gone."
"You could trace a Government bicycle because of the colour."
"I have wired to my sergeant to watch Redleigh Station for a red-painted bike, sir. The assassin may go to Redleigh to catch the express to London."
"Not he, unless he's a born fool," retorted Lemby contemptuously, "and his action in using the bike to escape shows that he isn't a fool by any means. I don't think that you'll nab him easily." ”

“ Craver sat down on the sofa and gently drew the girl on to his knee to soothe her. "What is the matter? There! there! Don't speak. Let me get you a glass of water."
"No," sobbed Claudia, hastily drying her eyes. "I'm behaving like a fool. I'll feel better in a few minutes. But hold me tightly, Edwin. Let me feel that I have someone who loves me."
Without a word the young man petted her and calmed her, and gradually restored her to reason. Claudia's sobs grew less violent, her limbs ceased to tremble, and shortly she slipped out of her lover's arms to stand up. ”

“ Lady Wyke, a brilliant figure in black touched here and there with orange ribbons, leant with both hands on the smart silver-headed cane which she carried. "Young girls dream of satin frocks and orange-wreaths, of handsome bridegrooms and the wedding march."
"You are not a good thought-reader," said Claudia, coldly.
"Ha! we all make mistakes. Then you were thinking of your father, and of----"
"Of things which it is not necessary for you to know," interrupted the girl, with provoking calmness. "My thoughts are my own." ”

“ His father's just a blamed sky-pilot in a dashed township, the place where Wyke handed in his cheques. Craver will never be rich, and will never have a title, so he don't marry you."
She clenched her hands, hardened her face, and stepped up to her tyrannical parent looking just as fierce as he did. "I don't want a title, and I don't want money," she said, passionately. "I want to marry the man I love, and Edwin is that man. I intend to become his wife, in spite of you." ”

“ Lemby's black eyes grew larger and rounder. "Why did she say that? She doesn't know Craver."
"Yes, she does. She saw him at the factory and at Hendon."
"What was she doing at Hendon?"
"Flying," said Claudia, curtly.
"You don't say so. I never thought he'd have the pluck to go up in an aeroplane, my girl. I wish he'd break his dashed neck."
"How dare you say that, dad! Edwin is the bravest man in the world, and if he broke his neck I should die. I love him. I love him and she shall never, never take him from me."
"She. Who?"
"Lady Wyke. She has fallen in love with Edwin." ”

“ Lemby," said Lady Wyke, languidly graceful, and showing nothing of the vicious cat who had fought with the man's daughter. "I'm sure you must be hungry."
"I live on love," said the pirate, gruffly, and, as he thought, gallantly. "You must be hungry, then, as there is nothing for you to eat of that nature." ”

“ CHAPTER XXI.
"That's a lie," said Claudia, calmly, and without rising.
Mrs. Vence spluttered and shook with wrath, in her rage it seemed as though she were about to rise up and denounce her visitor. But a fit of coughing prevented her, and by the time it was over she felt too weak to scold. "It's the truth," she muttered sulkily, and took a wineglassful of medicine. ”

“ Vence killed the man herself?" murmured Edwin, thoughtfully.
"Of course not!" cried Claudia, quickly. "She had every reason to keep Sir Hector alive, seeing that she had lost a good situation by his death."
"Well, I give it up in despair. What do you think, Lemby?"
"I don't think at all," growled the big man, truculently. "It's a dashed mystery, it is. If your theory is correct, and Lady Wyke hired someone to stab the old man so that he mightn't make a new will, the cove must have sneaked in by the back door." ”

“ Craver patted her hand. "Why should you?"
"Oh, my father and I are a kind of stormy petrel pair of birds. Wherever we go there is sure to be trouble. I should not like to bring trouble into this haven of peace."
"We'll take the risk, Claudia. We all love you, and now that you are here, here you will remain until Edwin makes you his wife. There is no reason why you should go away." ”

“ How she kept, her balance was a wonder but keep it she did, and before the two on the cliffs could gather their senses together she was down on the beach. The aeroplane came nearer and nearer.
"She means to drown herself!" cried Claudia, and sprang in pursuit, while Purse, wholly taken by surprise, blew his whistle loudly.
At once three or four men came running from the coastguard station, and followed the sergeant down the path. But Claudia, determined to prevent her rival from escaping punishment, was already in pursuit. ”

“ Perhaps, knowing that I loved Edwin, he changed his mind about making me his miserable wife."
"Miserable!" jeered the pirate, contemptuously. "Miserable with a title and five thousand a year. Shucks! my girl, you're talking through your hat. Well, I reckon I'll see Sandal, and learn if there's a will in your favour."
"I don't want Sir Hector's money," said Claudia, setting her mouth obstinately. "I don't accept a penny of his money, will or no will."
"Then I'll accept it for you," said Lemby, coolly, and heaved his big body out of the chair. "We can't live on nothing, can we?" ”

“ And you are so very strong, Edwin. Much stronger than father, as you don't waste your powers in boasting and swanking."
"My dearest girl, you must not talk of your father in that way."
"What is the use of blinking at facts?" retorted Claudia, with a pretty shrug. "I love dad, who is kind to me after his truculent fashion. ”

“ In his agitation it never occurred to him that the policeman might be at the other end of the esplanade. As it happened, however, Jervis was close at hand, and shortly his voice boomed strangely out of the mists.
"What's the trouble? Is that you Hall?"
"He's dead! He's got a knife in his heart!" gasped the postman, who was clinging to the fence and feeling sick.
Jervis suddenly loomed hugely out of the fog, and entered into the circle of blurred light cast by the street-lamp. "Who is dead?" he asked, in surprise.
"Sir Hector Wyke," babbled Hall, whose nerves were very much shaken. ”

“ And now that I come to think of it George, Edwin really went back to London, as he had to fly. My heart sinks when I hear of these aviation accidents. A man with a mother should not fly."
"Nor should, an engaged man," chimed in the Rector, "and Edwin is engaged. Don't you think, Claudia, that you could persuade him to give up aviation?"
"I'll try." said the girl, with a faint sigh. "I don't like the idea myself, but Edwin is very determined when he likes."
"Just like me," said Mrs. Craver, complacently. "I am always firm." ”

“ There was no excuse for her to remain in bed for the day, so Claudia, wan and haggard, went down to breakfast. There she heard news which cheered her up.
"Edwin is coming here to-day in his aeroplane, my dear," said Mr. Craver, who was reading his letters. "He will be here at two o'clock this afternoon. What excitement this will cause in Hedgerton."
"I only hope Edwin won't break his neck," cried Mrs. Craver, wrathfully. "Oh, how foolish the rising generation is! There's nothing to hold on by in one of these airships, and if he falls he will be killed." ”

“ Oliver Lemby did not trouble to see Lady Wyke again. The two quite understood one another, and there was no need for further conversation. Seeing what Claudia had learnt from Mrs. Vence, the pirate was indeed surprised that Sir Hector's widow intended to leave him alone and get Edwin arrested. Being so passionate and vindictive a woman, it was natural enough that she desired rather to see Craver in the dock than at the altar beside Claudia. ”