'Trenton Warren, 3 Bryan's Block, Chicago.--I most earnestly request you to come to New York without delay; it is of the utmost importance that I should see you; a great calamity has occurred.
'Now we must trust to Providence for the rest,' said Thornton Carey, as he walked away.
Having despatched the telegram, Thornton Carey returned to Mrs. Griswold's house, to which he was admitted by Jim. He ascertained from Mrs. Jenkins and from Helen's maid that there was not any danger of her proposing to go out when she should leave her room. On this point he was extremely anxious. He knew it would have been impossible for her to have passed a street corner, any public building, or any group of talkers without seeing the announcement of the latest news from England of the murder which was occupying the attention of every intelligent person in New York at that moment, or hearing it discussed. It was everything to those who were now engaged in considering how best the awful truth should be broken to the unconsciously bereaved woman, that no uneasiness should be created in her mind through any indirect source.
'You are quite sure,' Thornton Carey asked of Mrs. Jenkins, 'that she has not ordered the carriage for this afternoon?'
'I am quite sure,' returned Mrs. Jenkins. 'About an hour ago she sent a note down to Mrs. Villiers to excuse herself from a dinner engagement for to-day, which was made at the play last night; and, indeed, I should not be surprised if she did not leave her room all day--her cold is very heavy.'
It was impossible that Thornton Carey could have thus questioned the two women servants without exciting some suspicion, some uneasiness in their minds. He saw very plainly that he had done so, and he thought he might just venture to give them a hint of the origin of the caution, to endeavour to impress it upon them, and thereby render them more certain to observe it.
'I daresay you wonder,' he continued, 'why I am so anxious to know about Mrs. Griswold's probable movements of to-day; and, as I am sure I may trust you, and that you are both faithful friends to her'--the women exchanged looks with each other, and each bestowed an inquiring nod upon Thornton Carey, while they drew closer to him in their eagerness--'I will tell you that there is a rumour of an accident having occurred in England, in which it is just possible that Mr. Griswold may have been injured.'
'A railway accident, sir?' the two women exclaimed simultaneously.
'No,' he answered, with some confusion, 'not a railway accident; it is, I believe, a case of supposed malicious injury. I cannot enter into the particulars now. I am not, indeed, fully aware of them. As soon as I am, and that I know for certain whether Mr. Griswold is or is not injured, I will tell you. In the mean time, you will understand that it is of immense importance that Mrs. Griswold should not be alarmed. If what we fear is true, she must know it soon enough. If it is not true, it will be most cruel to subject her to the excitement and suspense of knowing anything about it until all is known. I want you, Mrs. Jenkins, and you, Annette,' addressing Helen's maid, 'to make me the same promise that I have also secured from Jim.'
'I will do anything you wish, sir,' said Mrs. Jenkins; 'and I am sure Annette will say the same.'
'Mais oui, mais oui,' assented Annette eagerly.
'Well, then, you promise to be very cautious in your own manner, looks, and speech--not to let Mrs. Griswold hear you talking to one another in any unusual way; not to go into her room with frightened faces, or with anything in your look which could lead her to think that this day is different from any other day in any respect. Will you promise me to keep a perpetual watch over yourselves, and to remember that all we want is a few hours' interval, during which I and other friends of Mrs. Griswold's may be quite sure that no one will be allowed to see her who can talk to her about the distressing rumour which has just reached New York, and yet that she will not suspect that any such watchfulness is being observed?'
Again he received assuring nods from the two women.
'I must also beg you,' he continued, 'to be very particular to keep every newspaper out of your mistress's sight until after the next time I shall have been here; make any excuse and every excuse that comes in your heads, but don't permit her to get hold of a single evening paper or any morning paper of to-day. I hope none have found their way to her room this morning?'
'No, I think not,' said Mrs. Jenkins. 'You haven't seen any newspapers about, Annette?'
'No,' Annette replied; 'madame had not asked for any newspapers, and she had taken none up to her.'
'You need not be frightened on that point,' said Mrs. Jenkins; 'for I never saw a lady with so little curiosity about news as Mrs. Griswold. She reads the weeklies sometimes, when they are all about books and interesting things that are happening in the world; but I have known her go a whole week without looking into a daily; and we will keep them out of her way, if by any perverse chance she should take it into her head to want to see them. She is not given to scolding, but I daresay Jim would not mind taking a scolding from her for not having thought of fetching an evening paper, if it is for her.'
'Don't make yourself uneasy, sir; not but what we should like to have a look at what they say.'
'They don't say anything,' said Thornton Carey; 'at least, they have not said it yet. The news has come by private cable message, and I am only afraid of its getting into the later editions. I shall be here tomorrow early, and implicitly trust you in this matter. There is another thing, too, you will have to be very careful about, if you please.'
'Certainly, sir,' said Mrs. Jenkins. 'What is that?'
'It is just possible that a telegram may come, directed to Mrs. Griswold.'
'From Europe, sir?'
'No,' said Thornton Carey; 'from Chicago.'
Mrs. Jenkins started slightly, and said:
'Chicago! Is there anything wrong there?'
'O, no, there is nothing wrong; only Mrs. Griswold has been sending a message on business to a friend of Mr. Griswold's, and it is better, until we are sure that Mr. Griswold is all right, that she should not see the answer. Will you therefore, Mrs. Jenkins, undertake, if this telegram should come, to have it sent at once to me at the Fifth-avenue Hotel? You need not be alarmed at undertaking the responsibility--the giving the message to one to whom it is not addressed. I can give you my word of honour for that, and you will know why almost as soon as I do. I cannot tell you more just now, because I do not know more.'
'I will have the message sent, sir,' said Mrs. Jenkins. 'Up to what hour shall you expect it?'
'I mean to remain at the hotel all day--at least until it comes,' said Thornton Carey. 'There is an almost absolute certainty that it will come.'
'There will be no difficulty about it, sir,' said Mrs. Jenkins; 'but may I ask you if we are to be as particular about letters as about telegrams and newspapers?'
'Certainly,' said Thornton Carey; 'my injunctions refer to every kind of communication which could possibly reach Mrs. Griswold between this time and my next visit.'
'I don't see how we are to manage that, sir,' said Mrs. Jenkins. 'She doesn't mind about newspapers, and she does not expect any telegrams from any part of the States; but she will be looking out for English letters in the morning--they ought to be in--and it won't be possible, I am afraid, to keep her quiet then, to prevent her coming downstairs, or to hide the letters from her, if they come. What are we to do in that case?'
'It will not matter about English letters,' he replied. 'Any she could get tomorrow morning must have been written before the accident which is reported, so you need not trouble about that; besides, I will be here almost as soon as the mail can be delivered.'
He received an earnest assurance from the two women that all his requests should be scrupulously observed, and he left the house feeling that, as far as human precaution could be taken towards securing her from a premature shock, Helen was safe, at all events, for a few hours.
Mrs. Jenkins and Annette retired to the waiting-room of the hall, and earnestly discussed the strange directions which they had just received. As a matter of course, they immediately seized on the morning paper of that day; for it had not escaped Mrs. Jenkins's characteristic acuteness that there was a decided inconsistency between Thornton Carey's statement that the news which he apprehended reaching Mrs. Griswold had come in private telegram, and his question as to whether any newspapers had been taken to her room that day. 'Depend upon it,' said she to Justine, 'whatever it is, there is some hint of it in the dailies for to-day. Let us have a look.'
The papers lay, as they had done on the previous day, on the table in the waiting-room; the two women turned them over eagerly, but found nothing which they could suppose to have reference to the mysterious rumour to which Thornton Carey had vaguely alluded--the murder at Liverpool was still the leading theme.
'I cannot,' said Mrs. Jenkins, 'find out that anybody has come to grief except that unlucky Mr. Foster.'
Thornton Carey returned to the Fifth-avenue Hotel, where he found Bryan Duval, looking weary and dejected. The actor said little in reply to the narrative of the steps which he had taken. The little he did say was in approval, and then he made a dreary effort to get away for a while from the terrible subject which was occupying them.
'I shall stay here all day,' said Thornton Carey, 'and wait for the telegram, and I really don't see that there is anything else to be done. But you had better go out and get a little fresh air to string yourself up for to-night's work--it will be hard to get through, I fancy.'
'Deuced hard,' said Bryan Duval. 'It is not the first time I have comedied on the beards and tragedied behind the scenes, but I do not know that I ever found the contrast so great a pull as this time--it is the unconsciousness of the woman that is so horrid; when she knows the worst, it will not be so bad. Good Heavens! only think, if she took it into her head to come to the theatre to-night!'
'There is not the slightest danger of that,' said Thornton Carey. 'I forgot to tell you that she has a heavy cold.'
But little more was said between them, and Bryan Duval took the young man's advice. He went out until it was time to go down to the theatre. About two hours later than the time at which Thornton Carey had rejoined him they met for a moment before the performance, and Thornton told him that no news had come; a message to the same effect was conveyed to Bryan Duval in a twisted note on his return after the play, but Thornton Carey made no attempt to see him again that night.
Once more the house had been crowded by an enthusiastic audience; again the performance had realised public expectation to the fullest extent. If possible, Bryan Duval had been more exquisitely humorous, had thrown more of his characteristic acuteness into his part, than on the previous evening. Miss Montressor had charmed all the spectators; but some of those who had been present at the first performance noticed that she was slightly nervous, which she had not been on that occasion, and that she wore a little more rouge.
During the whole of that night Thornton Carey did not undress or lie down; the hours passed drearily away, and no message came to interrupt them. Just before the time at which Mrs. Griswold's house was usually closed and her servants retired, Jim had 'slipped round,' as he phrased it, to Fifth-avenue Hotel, and told Mr. Carey that his orders had been strictly observed; no callers, no news, no newspapers, no messages had been suffered to reach Mrs. Griswold, who was better, had got up rather late in the evening, and passed an hour in the nursery; but she had asked no dangerous questions, she had displayed no imprudent curiosity. She was in bed, and asleep, old Jim said, on the authority of Mrs. Jenkins, when he came out to report to Thornton Carey; but no telegram had been received.
This inexplicable circumstance sorely troubled and beset the mind of Thornton Carey. Advice, assistance from Warren, if not his actual presence, was entirely indispensable under the circumstances; but when the morning dawned, and when the letter-post hour was near, Thornton knew that the moment he dreaded so intensely had arrived, that no further delay was possible, and that that advice and assistance must be dispensed with.
At the early hour which had previously been agreed upon, Bryan Duval, Thornton Carey, and Miss Montressor--the trio had by this time become quite friends--left the hotel and proceeded on foot to Helen Griswold's house. As they reached it, the postman came up, with his usual quick important step, and delivered a few unimportant notes, which Jim, with a glance at Thornton Carey, who was ascending the steps, took from his hand. The three entered the house, the door was shut behind them, and the letters just received were handed by the docile Jim to Carey.
'There is nothing here,' he remarked, laying them on the table in the waiting-room. 'Jim, ring for the women.'
In answer to the customary summons, both Mrs. Jenkins and Annette came downstairs. The first thing to be done was to send up word, in reply to Mrs. Griswold's eager inquiry (made, as Mrs. Jenkins told them, the moment she awoke, only a few instants ago) as to whether letters from England were yet delivered, 'that they had not yet come.'
'Tell her this,' said Thornton Carey, 'and then tell her that I am here, and that I beg she will see me as soon as is convenient. If she asks why I come so early, say you do not know. It is too late to make any excuse now.'
'Is it true, sir,' said Mrs. Jenkins--'has anything really happened to Mr. Griswold?'
'It is too true,' said Duval, addressing the wondering woman, whose eager interest and curiosity about him showed in every feature of her face, even in this crisis; 'it is too true--you will soon know all! In the mean time be more cautious than ever.'
Without a word Mrs. Jenkins returned up-stairs, whither Annette had preceded her, and Thornton Carey led the way into the dining-room, where the three sat in profound silence, interrupted after the interval of a few minutes by Mrs. Jenkins, who entered the room with a very pale face, and addressed Thornton Carey.
'She will see you, sir; she is just getting up, and Annette is dressing her as fast as she can. But--I hope you won't be angry, sir, or think it was my fault--I gave my message as matter-of-fact as could be, and the curtain was between me and her, so she could not see my face; but the very moment she heard you wanted to see her at this hour of the morning, she took fright. I suppose it was because she had not had the English letters that she expected, and that disappointment had told upon her nerves, and helped to make her suspicious. She said she knew there was something wrong. "Go down," said she, "and say I will see him. Bring him up to the boudoir, and let him tell me whatever I have got to hear and bear." Not another word, sir, but she is as white as a corpse.'
Thornton Carey had started up before Mrs. Jenkins had got through her first sentence, and turned a face of wild distress upon the other two.
'It cannot be helped,' said Bryan Duval, 'and it is better so. Go up with the good woman at once--for God's sake get it over.'
He, too, rose as he spoke, and turning abruptly towards the chimneypiece, laid his arms upon it, and hid his face in them.
Miss Montressor sat profoundly still, but the description her sister had just given of Helen might have been repeated of her--she, too, was as pale as a corpse.
Thornton Carey and Mrs. Jenkins went up-stairs without exchanging a single word. The door of Helen's boudoir opened in the corridor outside her bedroom. Mrs. Jenkins merely threw it open in passing, and the young man went in, while she entered the bedroom by the other door. No sound reached his strained ear for the few minutes during which he waited. At their expiration Helen came in. She wore a white muslin dressing-gown, and her hair was simply brushed behind her ears, and hung loose upon her shoulders. As she came through the door of her bedroom into the boudoir, she faced Thornton Carey directly, and her first glance at him told her that her fears had been prophetic--that he had bad news to tell.