Walter S. Masterman

“ The Sister smiled and stroked her black hair. “My dear, we must do as Our Blessed Lady directs,” she said, “we can seldom choose for ourselves. To some is given the quiet and holiness of a religious life, but others are called to go out into the world, and to face the evil there—perhaps to marry.”
A far away look came into her eyes, and a sigh escaped her.
Carlotta did not see it; she rose and stamped her little foot. “I shall never marry,” she cried with passion “Never! Never!”
“Hush, my child, you must not speak like that,” but she folded her in her arms. ”

“ She handed her over to Sister Ursula, who was versed in these cases, who soon had Carlotta smiling, and in a few days her troubles were almost forgotten. Life was fair, and the English June beautiful as a picture. Roses were out in the gardens, the trees were in fresh green, and the flowers along the old wall were such as she had never seen. The Sisters were particularly kind to Carlotta; she was so fragile, with an exotic prettiness, given to sudden crying at times. And there was a wistful look in her eyes, as though gazing out over the sea to her southern home. ”

“ By the time he had reached Italy he had made up his mind. There was only one more hurdle, the ceremony in London, and then happiness awaited him. The bigamy did not worry him in the least, such trifles were nothing to a Reckavile.
At Venice he waited all day, and a strange feeling of apprehension came to him. Suppose something had happened to Carlotta in his absence; he had left her, a mere girl—alone, with only servants of whom he knew nothing. Suppose she were ill, or even dead. A nervousness never felt before beset him. Impatiently he drove out to Murano, and came to the Villa San Rocco. ”

“ That night, the eighth Lord Reckavile was born, with the mocking voice of the storm fiends wailing round the old castle, and the very foundations shaking with the fury of the tempest, while in the Bay, gallant men were bringing half drowned Frenchmen safe ashore from the wreck of the vessel, and below a still form was lying with a smile of devilish satisfaction on the dead lips. ”

“ Before another word could be said there was a cry, a door was flung open, and Ena came into the room. Her eyes were blazing with anger, as she walked straight across to Halley and stood by his side.
“What was this I heard,” she said “Police! Arrest! They must be mad.”
“We shall see about that,” said Fletcher, “when your precious friend is in the Dock.”
“It is untrue,” she said. “Tell them that it is utterly false.” In spite of her complete trust in him there was a terrible lurking suspicion at the back of her mind. ”

“ The sunlight outside seemed to accentuate the grim horror within, it was here that the crime had been committed, and the shadow of the dead man was almost visible to their eyes of imagination. Sinclair waited, and in that pause a chill feeling of fear made manifest seemed to pervade the room. In utter silence he waited, then in sharp, incisive words he said “Very well, then we must take extreme measures. Mr. Cook, will you please explain exactly what happened when you came here to see Lord Reckavile on the day of the murder?” ”

“ Halley saw this, and realised that to a young boy change was essential. For himself, he would have lingered on, dreaming of her, and hoping that in some twilight evening, in the hush before dark, a dream figure would come down the rose garden, and touch his hand, bidding him come to join her, and the man she had loved so well, in a fairer Garden, where there is no marrying nor giving in marriage, but where they might be as the angels in Heaven. ”

“ For, though he went as Hugh Desmond, which was his family name, he was in reality the seventh Lord Reckavile, with a reputation so sinister that every decent woman shrunk from him till she knew him, and then fell in love with him.
A soldier of fortune, who had not the patience to remain in the Army, he had sought death deliberately instead of glory, in each of the foreign campaigns in which he had fought, always driven from country to country by the Curse, and too poor to take a position in which he might have earned distinction. ”

“ That night there were howlings and dreadful crying heard. The next morning Sir Hugh lay on the grass, thrown from the window by no mortal hand, and his face was stamped with horror unspeakable. And so it is in life, for thus by the impious act of trafficking with the Devil, this evil man brought a Curse upon his innocent family which abides even to this day. ”

“ There was another who lost everything he had in one night’s sitting at White’s, and left the room smiling like a fiend. He retired to a strip of woodland on the South Coast where Portham now stands, and built himself a ramshackle house. It was half of rubble and half brick, and he designed it himself, with a complete disregard to sanitation or comfort. There with what supplies of brandy he had saved from the wreck of his fortunes, he drank himself to death in a dignified way, timing his last seizure with his final bottle and apologising to his wife for the trouble he was giving. ”

“ The news that Halley and Ena were engaged was the last straw to Fletcher. One thing was now firm in his mind, to find out the truth of the whole matter, and not to fail in this at any rate, for failure was intolerable after all the indignities he had suffered.
In spite of his common-sense mind, he began to have a feeling that something not altogether natural had played a hand in the affair.
There was the mysterious “Other Man” who obtruded himself at every turn, elusive and vague, but always felt.
The man who had talked with Reckavile, and whose voice Brown had sworn was Halley’s. ”

“ They passed into the rooms on the ground floor, and as they opened the doors they were met with a damp, musty smell as from a vault. Everything was in ruin and decay and dust was heavy over all.
There was a great dining room, with hanging chandeliers, which had witnessed many a midnight orgie, now silent and given to the moth.
The drawing room was bare, haunted only by the ghosts of past Reckaviles, and so on in the upper rooms, where gaunt fourposters and faded hangings showed within, with dimly seen bedroom furniture. ”

“ Carlotta sorrowed in secret, but the little one kept her busy; later he would take an interest; it was unreasonable to expect a man to care for a senseless piece of humanity, which demanded only food and sleep. At times he would rouse himself, and the great picture was begun, in the fair garden, the Holy Mother with her Child, but he wanted to paint the child as a fiend, the bodily representative of the Curse, which had stolen his little Daphne.
And so the months passed, and the spring had come. A strange friendship had sprung up between the Doctor, Halley, and Hugh. ”

“ Curtis was uneasy, for he knew the Reckaviles; but the marriage must be stopped. He tried once more.
“It would never do. You know that the estate is heavily mortgaged, and you are well—rather careless in money matters. I had hoped that you would marry some desirable lady of your class, with sufficient funds to put the family in a satisfactory position. I think that is very necessary.”
He paused at the look on Reckavile’s face. His eyes were dull black, like a snake’s, and his mouth was twisted in a fiendish smile. ”

“ Nothing could alter that, and while his eyes were reading the account of the affair, his mind saw only one deadly fact, that the date was after the marriage of Reckavile with his mother. This overwhelmed him so utterly that he could hardly thank the old man, and hurry from the place. His mind was in a whirl. There must be some mistake, the marriage, must have been illegal or something; he could not grasp a deliberate cold blooded bigamy; he would dismiss it from his mind. Why had this spectre from the past come to torment him? ”

“ When the door had closed, Sefton went up to Halley, and held out his hand. “If you don’t mind shaking hands with a man under suspicion,” he said “I want to apologise for my seeming rudeness.”
Halley understood and shook hands with a hearty grip.
“You need not say anything. I believe I can guess something at any rate; you may rely on me.”
Tears came into Ena’s eyes in spite of herself, if this man could trust her brother, what right had she to have doubts?
“Jack, I will believe you, but do clear up the whole thing, dear.” ”

“ Here he paced the rose garden wrestling with his thoughts. Cursed fool! He had never thought, never realised.
And that farce in London, if he had only known before. Oh God! talk about honour, where was the honour in giving his name to a woman who had sought trouble with her eyes open, when he had betrayed an innocent child unborn, and sold his birthright for a freakish principle. Well, he need not decide now, sufficient for the day; that was the old motto. Anything might happen. And then a sudden realisation of what Carlotta must be feeling struck him like a blow, and he turned to the loggia. ”

“ How did you like our friend Southgate?” There was a shade of raillery in the tone which annoyed Fletcher, and he replied with more heat than he intended. “Is he a friend of yours? In my opinion he is a confounded ruffian.”
“Quite possibly,” said Halley unruffled. “I expect if he had lived some time ago he would have been a smuggler or a pirate.” ”

“ For black hatred had come to her of the man who still haunted her in her dreams, and more of the innocent girl and her son, far away in Italy, who would hang like a dark cloud over her son’s head for all his life. Truly the Curse was heavy on the family.
And in Murano poor Carlotta awaited with yearning anxiety for the man who would never come back to her, and the weeks went on without news. ”

“ The villa Halley could not bear to let or sell; he arranged for the old servant to live there with a small pension for her needs. Halley paid everything himself, and retained Carlotta’s savings for the boy against his need.
Time works miracles with the young, and Roy in the glories and the struggles of life at a public school, soon retained only a hallowed memory of his mother, and refused to let his mind dwell on the other horror. ”

“ A look of contempt was on Ena’s face.
“Is it true, Mr. Fletcher? Are you really a detective?”
“It is quite true, Miss Sefton, though how your friend became acquainted with this, I do not know.” There was an unpleasant emphasis on the word “friend.” “I suppose you have no objection to detectives?”
“A man’s business is his own,” she replied with spirit, “but I do not like anyone who goes under false pretences.”
Fletcher’s usual self-control was deserting him. He saw the interest which this girl might have had in him gone for ever. ”