William Le Queux

“ So I took her in my arms, and forgave her.
“And you will always trust me now, Frank?” she asked presently with happy and tender elation.
“Vera,” I said, gravely, “I am showing my faith in you, am I not, by asking you to be my wife? I can trust you?”
“Trust me!” she cried. “Mon Dieu! I have loved only one man; it is you.”
I bent down to kiss the pale upturned face and her lips met mine in a hot passionate caress, enough to make any man’s head reel.
“I will endeavour to blot out from my memory this strange deceit you have practised upon me,” I exclaimed in a low voice. ”

“ I demanded incredulously, as the mystery of the seal recurred to me.
“I mean that my secret must be kept, even if we part,” she gasped, with a futile endeavour to compose herself.
“This is your final decision, then?”
“Alas! it must be.”
“Very well, Vera, I wish you adieu,” I said sadly, for I was completely broken-hearted at the thought of my idol’s deceit, and the transparent subterfuges by which she had endeavoured to conceal her guilt. “We have been happy during the few months of our wedded life, but that is a thing of the past. ”

“ A sultry autumn day had passed; the freshening twilight had faded, and the moon and evening star were in the sky as Vera and I sat together on the terrace at Elveham. Already the lights of the village began to twinkle in the distance; the tops of the trees in the Dene were gleaming in the moonlight like a silver sea, a night bird warbled sweetly, and the little brook babbled on with lulling music. ”

“ Utterly broken down at this manifestation of Vera’s deception and faithlessness, I wandered away through the grounds in an opposite direction.
Those only who have experienced a suddenly overwhelming grief at discovering the perfidy of the person on whom their affection is set know the intense regret, the anger, and the jealous hatred of the one by whose instrumentality their idol has been shattered. If ever the spirit of murder enters a man’s soul it is then. ”

“ Answer me!”
“I am very sorry, Frank, but I cannot,” she replied, her face deathly pale, and her limbs trembling with agitation.
“Then you refuse to answer?” I cried, stung to the quick by her dogged persistency.
“Yes; I must.”
Her hands clasped, her teeth firmly set, her bloodless face tear-stained and haggard, and her hair disordered, she stood rigidly beside the chair that supported her, striving by an almost superhuman effort to suppress her emotion.
“Vera,” I shouted fiercely, “it seems I’ve been fooled. Curse that man who has brought misery and destruction to us both! ”

“ I left the side of the dead prisoner and accompanied him back to my own cell.
I would have preferred death ten thousand times, for I knew, too well, that for the Russian convict is reserved that punishment which is tantamount to death by slow torture—a living tomb in the quicksilver mines beyond Tomsk. When sent under the earth he never again sees the sunlight or breathes the fresh air, until a year or so afterwards when he is brought to the surface to die. ”

“ As I spoke the door had opened noiselessly, and Demetrius, with an expectant expression on his good-humoured face, and a cigarette in his mouth, stood upon the threshold.
Vera, who had been awaiting my reply with breathless agitation, murmured in a low, intense voice, “In three weeks you shall know all, I—promise—you,” and before I could save her she had swayed forward helplessly and fallen full length in a dead swoon.
“Ma foi!” exclaimed Demetrius; “why, what has happened?” as he rushed forward in consternation and assisted me to lift her upon the couch. ”

“ No. For the thousandth time I told myself I had been fascinated by her beauty in the way the bird is fascinated by the snake; her toils were about me, and until the present moment I had always been too weak to tear them asunder, to lift the veil from my own eyes, and see her in her true character—that of an adventuress.
But that time had now arrived, and though I confess I was beside myself with grief to find the woman I had loved so fondly, guilty of such scheming and such treachery, I was, nevertheless, pleased to be in possession of the truth. ”

“ I had given a fictitious name and refused my address; if I were firm and careful not to commit myself I might still be able to keep my identity a secret.
What a fool I had been, thought I, not to have left the seal in the cash-box, as I first intended, and this reflection brought with it another, more maddening, when I remembered that, although I was bearing this oppression and mental torture for Vera’s sake, nevertheless I had found a portion of a seal at Elveham, identical with that which had produced such a consternation among the police. ”

“ I was loth to approach a subject which must be exceedingly painful to him.
“I mean the murder—the tragedy in Bedford Place—”
“Ah!” he cried, sorrowfully, passing his hand quickly across his forehead, “the remembrance of that terrible night—the white face of my poor dead wife constantly haunts me. But the scoundrel who killed her shall suffer his well-merited punishment,” he added, as he paced the room angrily, muttering some imprecations in Russian.
“Boris dear, calm yourself,” said Vera, persuasively, clutching him by the arm. “Tell Frank everything; he has a right to know.” ”

“ Love is blind, ’tis true, but jealousy has a thousand eyes which hideously distort that which is seen, at the same time eating into our hearts like a corrosive acid, with results almost as dire. Yet what greater calamity could befall a man than to discover his wife’s perfidy, and to know that while she smiles and caresses him she is conspiring with others to bring about his death?
Fate decreed that such position, ere long, should be mine.
One morning, after we had been at Elveham several weeks, the post-bag contained a letter addressed to Vera, which I handed to her. ”

“ Never had I seen Bob so much in earnest before, and certainly he had never made such a speech in this life. Dear old Bob, he was a right good fellow at heart, after all!
“What do you mean?” I exclaimed, although there was an uneasy consciousness that I was to blame.
“Why, to speak plainly, if you have married Vera, and love her, you should not carry another woman’s photograph. You should not leave your wife at Elveham. You know what I mean, well enough.” ”

“ That some one in the house held the seal there could not be the slightest doubt, and my thoughts at once flew to the man whom Vera had clandestinely met—he whom I knew to be the murderer of Mrs Inglewood.
Who had he marked out as his next victim?
If he entertained affection for Vera, and she reciprocated it, what was more natural than that they should wish to rid themselves of me? I shuddered at the thought. My wife could surely never be an accessory to a murder—yet such things were not unknown, I told myself.
Yes; my surmise must be correct. ”

“ On a lounge chair she sat, wrapped in a pale grey cashmere gown, with a bunch of crimson roses in her breast. At sight of me she rose. Not a muscle of her countenance stirred, I and could divine her embarrassment by the sharp glance she momentarily darted at me.
I scented in this proceeding some annoying mystery.
A constrained silence reigned for some moments.
“Frank,” exclaimed she, in a very calm tone, advancing slowly and taking my hand, “at last we are alone.”
“Yes, Vera,” I replied, calling to my aid all my coolness to feign a serenity which I was far from possessing. ”

“ Misdirected enthusiasm may prompt to murder, but it does not run side by side with cunning deliberation and desire for effect.
No! I maintained in my own mind that when, if ever, the author of the murders was arrested, he would be found to be a man who was perfectly sane, and who had gloated over the extraordinary skill with which he had thrown the London detective force off the scent.
I did not seek Nugent that night, but returned to my rooms, and sat far into the early hours, soliloquising upon the mystery. ”

“ Bob regarded me with a stare of curiosity, mingled with suspicion, and maintained silence for a few moments. Then he said, incredulously,—
“Is it possible there is anything unknown to you, save what we used to discuss when we first met your wife?”
“I’m absolutely ignorant of all save the fact that, with an infatuation for which I cannot account, I loved Vera and married her. I love her still, in spite of— Oh, I cannot go further! For Heaven’s sake tell me all you know now, at once, or I shall not retain my senses?” ”

“ My eager eyes fell upon a scene which caused me to start back with a scarcely repressed ejaculation of horror and surprise!
A tragedy had been enacted!
Stretched at full length upon the carpet was the form of a woman in a white flimsy evening dress, the breast of which bore a large crimson stain—the stain of blood!
Utterly unable to make up my mind how to act, I stood rooted to the spot. A violent gust of wind swept down the street, causing the lights in the lamps to flicker, and the branches of the stunted trees to groan beneath its power. ”

“ It is situated upon a picturesque cliff overlooking the port and the Mediterranean beyond, while at the rear rise the tall vine-covered Appenines, with romantic-looking villas peeping out here and there from amongst the olives and maize. The shadow of its great old trees form a delightful retreat from the scorching noon-day sun; but at night, when the people refresh themselves after the heat and burden of the day, its gravelled walks are thronged by the élite. Fashionable Genoa enjoys herself with mad but harmless frolic, and under the deep shadows fire-flies flit and couples flirt. ”

“ It was pleasant enough in the daytime, with its windows opening upon the terrace, commanding an extensive view of the Dene, but at night, when the thick crimson curtains were drawn, the lamps lit, and the fire blazed cheerfully in the wide old-fashioned grate, casting its inconstant light upon the stands of shining armour of departed Burgoynes, then it was one of the most snug and cosy rooms in the house.
We had dined, and I had been alone a couple of hours busily answering several important letters, when Vera entered. ”

“ In each there appeared an utter absence of motive, which made the enigma doubly puzzling; and though the murderer had sought his victims from every rank of society, the same seal—evidently impressed by the same hand—had been found pinned upon the breast of the corpses.
Premeditated the crimes undoubtedly were, and accomplished by one to whom murder was an art, for in not a single instance was there the slightest clue to his identity, though some were committed in broad daylight. ”

“ From that day till the present no clue whatever has been obtained as to the identity of the poor woman who was then discovered, but events have so conspired, and the police have been so vigilant, that a strange finale has been brought about. There is an old truism, gentlemen, that ‘Murder will out,’ and though that expression is worn almost threadbare by constant repetition, its force is recognised, and its truth is applicable as much now as ever. ”

“ I know you think me a scheming, cold-hearted adventuress; perhaps I was when I met you; but now—it is different.”
“Vera,” I said, endeavouring to be firm, “it pains me, but I must put an end to this interview. I was foolish to seek you thus, but it was only to confront you for the last time that I obeyed. I have loved you fondly, madly, but you have—there—I could never trust you again; so, for the future, we must be as strangers.”
“You are cruel, Frank,” she said, the tears welling in her eyes. ”

“ I asked, at the same time glancing at Vera, and noting that her delicate face was firm-set and pale.
“You—you robbed me of her, and, by Heaven, some satisfaction is due to me. I demand it—do you understand?” he screamed with an imprecation, addressing me.
“It is I who protected my sister, and assisted her to evade the clutches of a heartless villain—the man who murdered my wife!” interposed Boris, infuriated, emphasising his words with a foreign oath.
“Is it this man?” I demanded, bewildered.
“Yes,” he answered, angrily. “This is the scoundrel who murdered two defenceless women.” ”

“ Not days, but years ago it seemed, since I was a man like any other, with an intellect young and fresh, losing itself in a pleasant world of fantasy, with buoyant hopes for the future; an existence full of life and light, gaiety, and unalloyed happiness, with naught to trouble me save the realisation of my fond dream of marrying Vera and dwelling with her in perfect felicity. ”