Chapter XI.Halley Continues the NarrativeThere was silence in the room after Halley had told his story, in fewer words than are given here. Not a sound had broken the stillness and all eyes had been fixed on him, as part at least of the truth was revealed.Halley looked round at his audience. Ena’s eyes were wet, and she had furtively used her handkerchief from time to time, but there shone on her face the light of enthusiasm and trust. Fletcher was obviously incredulous, and Brown stolid as ever.The silence was broken by Sefton.“So you are really Lord Reckavile?” he asked.“In actual fact I am, but I cannot establish my title. I am a nameless man, unless by some miracle the marriage certificate is found—if it still exists, or we can find the village church where the wedding took place.”“That should not be impossible,” said Sinclair in a firm voice, and Ena looked at him gratefully.“Finish the story, Lord Reckavile,” he continued, and the very use of the title suggested something hidden in that inscrutable mind.“There is little more to tell,” said Halley. “Southgate and I tried to get to the castle after dark, and prowled around, but we were chased by a constable,” and he laughingly threw a glance at Brown.“Oh, that was it, was it?” Brown spluttered without regard to grammar. “So you were the two I were after. I thought Southgate was one of them.”“Yes, so after that I lost patience, and determined to call at the castle whatever the risk. I went boldly to the front door. Lord Reckavile never seemed to leave the place, or I would have tried to waylay him on the road. Giles opened the door for me.”“You never mentioned a word of this, Giles,” said Fletcher angrily.“Lord Reckavile’s callers were none of my business,” said the old man slowly. Fletcher was about to say something but Sinclair stopped him with a gesture.“Giles showed me in,” Halley continued, “and I shall never forget Reckavile’s face when he saw me. He went deathly white, and his lip curled back and back like a wolf about to snarl, but no sound came from his lips. We stood and stared at each other in absolute silence.“The likeness was so striking that it was almost as though I was looking into a glass. The strong Reckavile strain has risen salient and complete in spite of our mothers, though I was darker and had a touch of Italian if one had looked closely.“He seemed to recover himself, and turned to Giles.“ ‘You can leave us,’ he said, and the old man went out of the room.“Then he turned to me, and his face was hardly human. ‘Hast thou found me, oh mine enemy!’ he hissed. He never seemed to have the least doubt as to who I was. Poor fellow! The thought of my coming had haunted him like a nightmare, and driven him to furious wanderings. He was like a man under sentence of death, who was leading feverish years, not knowing at any time that the grim spectre would appear. So much he told me. His mother had confided the whole story to him on her death bed, and adjured him to keep the document which would mean his undoing should I ever appear. His life must have been hell on earth.“He listened to my story without a word, but I could see that his mind was working all the time to devise a plan, and I knew I was in imminent peril. At the end he rose and paced the room. ‘You must give me time to think,’ he said, ‘I shall want the fullest proofs of your identity before I can say anything. Come and see me tomorrow night, at eight o’clock. Don’t come to the front door, I will have the French windows open for you.’ He let me out by the window, and I went to my cottage, half inclined to throw up the whole thing and go away. I was sorry for him, and it was only the thought of all that my mother had suffered that kept me to my purpose.“I told Southgate nothing, as I had involved him quite enough. The next night I kept the appointment, I will confess in some trepidation, he had been so calm, so self-possessed, that I felt he had something behind it all. I found the window open and went in. The room was in semi-darkness.“Reckavile did not offer to shake hands, but started at once in a voice of intolerable insolence. ‘Mr. Halley,’ he said ‘I have been considering your story, and congratulate you on your powers of invention. In any ordinary case I should simply send for the police and have you arrested on a charge of blackmail, but there are so many reasons for wishing to avoid a public scandal or digging up the past that I offer you a handsome sum, let us say 10,000 pounds, if you will take yourself off, and never come to England again.’“For the moment I was going to leap at him, and take him by the throat, but some curious instinct held me back. In a flash I saw what his game was. He wished for some reason to provoke me to attack him. Perhaps then he could have killed me, and pleaded self-defence. He may have had witnesses for all I knew. Anyway I kept my temper. ‘Give me the marriage certificate of my mother’ I said, and I pulled out the miniature I had always carried with me. ‘That is her picture with me as a child’ I said. ‘It is her honour I am concerned with. Otherwise I would leave you alone with your title.’“ ‘Wait a moment’ he said, and walked across the room to the cabinet containing the dictaphone there.”Halley paused and pointed to the object, on which all eyes were fixed.“ ‘You will take my offer?’ he asked. I noticed a curious clicking sound, but at the time thought nothing of it, it was only afterwards it came back to my mind, and the significance dawned on me. ‘You are trying to insult me,’ I said, and I am afraid I lost control of myself.“ ‘Sign a document to say that your mother never married my father, and the money is yours,’ he said and smiled at me like a devil.“ ‘Curse you’ I said advancing to him ‘I don’t want your dirty money; I only want justice and my rights.’“ ‘Over my dead body’ he cried, and even at that moment it seemed that the words were theatrical, as though spoken for some purpose, but I was too far gone for thinking and I sprang for him. I can see now that he had been waiting for me, and a crashing blow descended on my head, bringing me to the ground. I rose, pouring with blood, and flew at him, and we grappled together, but loss of blood, and the shock were too much for me, and I suppose I must have fainted.“When I recovered, I found Reckavile bending over me, surprisingly gentle, and full of apologies.“ ‘I am sorry, my dear fellow’ he said ‘but you know you attacked me first, I hope you are better.’“I murmured something, I suppose I was lightheaded, but he helped me to the sofa, and then to my intense surprise he said ‘You are knocked up tonight, but if you can get away without assistance it will save a scandal, and come tomorrow night at seven. Here is the marriage certificate, and you shall have it then.’ He walked to that desk, and pulled it out and showed it. If I had not been so weak I should have snatched it from him, but he held it away from me, with a mocking smile. ‘I swear that you shall be restored to your rights tomorrow’ he said, ‘but meanwhile not a word about tonight.’“I gave my word, and at last was able to totter out of the room, and by slow stages to get home.“The next day I spent in bed, but in the afternoon I walked to Bungalow Town as my head was splitting, and I had to think the whole thing out. I was sure there was some trap but could not fathom the plot. You know the rest. The wound broke open, and I nearly fainted. Mr. Sefton here found me in a broken condition, and bound me up at the Club. I staggered down to theBlack Horse. By doing so I was too late to keep my appointment and I saved my neck from the halter,” he added gravely.“You mean that had you gone to the castle, you would have been accused of the murder,” said Sefton.“I believe he had planned the whole thing with diabolical cunning. When I read the account of the murder I recognised at once that the conversation heard by Giles and Brown was the one which took place the night before, and guessed a dictaphone, which had caused the ticking sound I had heard. He had arranged for me to come, and either was going to commit suicide, which is the Reckavile way, with damning evidence against me, or to bolt, in which case I should certainly have been arrested, and exposed to ignominy and degradation, though without the body they could not prove murder. There would be my footmarks and probably my presence, and the conversation, though how he would have disposed of the record without an accomplice I cannot say.”“I begin to see light,” said Fletcher “then I suppose you and Southgate came to try and find the certificate?”“And the record, yes. I came first by myself, and when hiding in the house came across some old costumes, and wigs, and being as you know, an actor, I had no difficulty in disguising myself as old Reckavile. As you all saw the family likeness was striking, and I thought that if anyone saw me they would take me for a ghost.”“So that was it?” said Fletcher.“It was not hard to guess,” said Sinclair with a twinkle in his eye.“Then my good friend Southgate came with me, and we were nearly caught by Brown,” and Halley laughed.“You caught me properly, sir,” said the rueful constable.“You see, I was afraid that Reckavile had destroyed the document, but as he had kept it all those years for some queer superstition, and as I had seen him put it into the desk, I thought it was worth while trying to find it. It was my only chance, Southgate most loyally helped me. Is there any more to explain?”Fletcher moved restlessly. “All this is most interesting, but I don’t see that we are any nearer to a solution. In fact you seem to have incriminated yourself. After all, we cannot get over the fact that the dead man was found with a knife in his back, and the windows fast shut instead of wide open as they should have been from your account.”Sinclair fixed his gaze on Fletcher. “I think you had better wait,” he said “we have not done yet.”
There was silence in the room after Halley had told his story, in fewer words than are given here. Not a sound had broken the stillness and all eyes had been fixed on him, as part at least of the truth was revealed.
Halley looked round at his audience. Ena’s eyes were wet, and she had furtively used her handkerchief from time to time, but there shone on her face the light of enthusiasm and trust. Fletcher was obviously incredulous, and Brown stolid as ever.
The silence was broken by Sefton.
“So you are really Lord Reckavile?” he asked.
“In actual fact I am, but I cannot establish my title. I am a nameless man, unless by some miracle the marriage certificate is found—if it still exists, or we can find the village church where the wedding took place.”
“That should not be impossible,” said Sinclair in a firm voice, and Ena looked at him gratefully.
“Finish the story, Lord Reckavile,” he continued, and the very use of the title suggested something hidden in that inscrutable mind.
“There is little more to tell,” said Halley. “Southgate and I tried to get to the castle after dark, and prowled around, but we were chased by a constable,” and he laughingly threw a glance at Brown.
“Oh, that was it, was it?” Brown spluttered without regard to grammar. “So you were the two I were after. I thought Southgate was one of them.”
“Yes, so after that I lost patience, and determined to call at the castle whatever the risk. I went boldly to the front door. Lord Reckavile never seemed to leave the place, or I would have tried to waylay him on the road. Giles opened the door for me.”
“You never mentioned a word of this, Giles,” said Fletcher angrily.
“Lord Reckavile’s callers were none of my business,” said the old man slowly. Fletcher was about to say something but Sinclair stopped him with a gesture.
“Giles showed me in,” Halley continued, “and I shall never forget Reckavile’s face when he saw me. He went deathly white, and his lip curled back and back like a wolf about to snarl, but no sound came from his lips. We stood and stared at each other in absolute silence.
“The likeness was so striking that it was almost as though I was looking into a glass. The strong Reckavile strain has risen salient and complete in spite of our mothers, though I was darker and had a touch of Italian if one had looked closely.
“He seemed to recover himself, and turned to Giles.
“ ‘You can leave us,’ he said, and the old man went out of the room.
“Then he turned to me, and his face was hardly human. ‘Hast thou found me, oh mine enemy!’ he hissed. He never seemed to have the least doubt as to who I was. Poor fellow! The thought of my coming had haunted him like a nightmare, and driven him to furious wanderings. He was like a man under sentence of death, who was leading feverish years, not knowing at any time that the grim spectre would appear. So much he told me. His mother had confided the whole story to him on her death bed, and adjured him to keep the document which would mean his undoing should I ever appear. His life must have been hell on earth.
“He listened to my story without a word, but I could see that his mind was working all the time to devise a plan, and I knew I was in imminent peril. At the end he rose and paced the room. ‘You must give me time to think,’ he said, ‘I shall want the fullest proofs of your identity before I can say anything. Come and see me tomorrow night, at eight o’clock. Don’t come to the front door, I will have the French windows open for you.’ He let me out by the window, and I went to my cottage, half inclined to throw up the whole thing and go away. I was sorry for him, and it was only the thought of all that my mother had suffered that kept me to my purpose.
“I told Southgate nothing, as I had involved him quite enough. The next night I kept the appointment, I will confess in some trepidation, he had been so calm, so self-possessed, that I felt he had something behind it all. I found the window open and went in. The room was in semi-darkness.
“Reckavile did not offer to shake hands, but started at once in a voice of intolerable insolence. ‘Mr. Halley,’ he said ‘I have been considering your story, and congratulate you on your powers of invention. In any ordinary case I should simply send for the police and have you arrested on a charge of blackmail, but there are so many reasons for wishing to avoid a public scandal or digging up the past that I offer you a handsome sum, let us say 10,000 pounds, if you will take yourself off, and never come to England again.’
“For the moment I was going to leap at him, and take him by the throat, but some curious instinct held me back. In a flash I saw what his game was. He wished for some reason to provoke me to attack him. Perhaps then he could have killed me, and pleaded self-defence. He may have had witnesses for all I knew. Anyway I kept my temper. ‘Give me the marriage certificate of my mother’ I said, and I pulled out the miniature I had always carried with me. ‘That is her picture with me as a child’ I said. ‘It is her honour I am concerned with. Otherwise I would leave you alone with your title.’
“ ‘Wait a moment’ he said, and walked across the room to the cabinet containing the dictaphone there.”
Halley paused and pointed to the object, on which all eyes were fixed.
“ ‘You will take my offer?’ he asked. I noticed a curious clicking sound, but at the time thought nothing of it, it was only afterwards it came back to my mind, and the significance dawned on me. ‘You are trying to insult me,’ I said, and I am afraid I lost control of myself.
“ ‘Sign a document to say that your mother never married my father, and the money is yours,’ he said and smiled at me like a devil.
“ ‘Curse you’ I said advancing to him ‘I don’t want your dirty money; I only want justice and my rights.’
“ ‘Over my dead body’ he cried, and even at that moment it seemed that the words were theatrical, as though spoken for some purpose, but I was too far gone for thinking and I sprang for him. I can see now that he had been waiting for me, and a crashing blow descended on my head, bringing me to the ground. I rose, pouring with blood, and flew at him, and we grappled together, but loss of blood, and the shock were too much for me, and I suppose I must have fainted.
“When I recovered, I found Reckavile bending over me, surprisingly gentle, and full of apologies.
“ ‘I am sorry, my dear fellow’ he said ‘but you know you attacked me first, I hope you are better.’
“I murmured something, I suppose I was lightheaded, but he helped me to the sofa, and then to my intense surprise he said ‘You are knocked up tonight, but if you can get away without assistance it will save a scandal, and come tomorrow night at seven. Here is the marriage certificate, and you shall have it then.’ He walked to that desk, and pulled it out and showed it. If I had not been so weak I should have snatched it from him, but he held it away from me, with a mocking smile. ‘I swear that you shall be restored to your rights tomorrow’ he said, ‘but meanwhile not a word about tonight.’
“I gave my word, and at last was able to totter out of the room, and by slow stages to get home.
“The next day I spent in bed, but in the afternoon I walked to Bungalow Town as my head was splitting, and I had to think the whole thing out. I was sure there was some trap but could not fathom the plot. You know the rest. The wound broke open, and I nearly fainted. Mr. Sefton here found me in a broken condition, and bound me up at the Club. I staggered down to theBlack Horse. By doing so I was too late to keep my appointment and I saved my neck from the halter,” he added gravely.
“You mean that had you gone to the castle, you would have been accused of the murder,” said Sefton.
“I believe he had planned the whole thing with diabolical cunning. When I read the account of the murder I recognised at once that the conversation heard by Giles and Brown was the one which took place the night before, and guessed a dictaphone, which had caused the ticking sound I had heard. He had arranged for me to come, and either was going to commit suicide, which is the Reckavile way, with damning evidence against me, or to bolt, in which case I should certainly have been arrested, and exposed to ignominy and degradation, though without the body they could not prove murder. There would be my footmarks and probably my presence, and the conversation, though how he would have disposed of the record without an accomplice I cannot say.”
“I begin to see light,” said Fletcher “then I suppose you and Southgate came to try and find the certificate?”
“And the record, yes. I came first by myself, and when hiding in the house came across some old costumes, and wigs, and being as you know, an actor, I had no difficulty in disguising myself as old Reckavile. As you all saw the family likeness was striking, and I thought that if anyone saw me they would take me for a ghost.”
“So that was it?” said Fletcher.
“It was not hard to guess,” said Sinclair with a twinkle in his eye.
“Then my good friend Southgate came with me, and we were nearly caught by Brown,” and Halley laughed.
“You caught me properly, sir,” said the rueful constable.
“You see, I was afraid that Reckavile had destroyed the document, but as he had kept it all those years for some queer superstition, and as I had seen him put it into the desk, I thought it was worth while trying to find it. It was my only chance, Southgate most loyally helped me. Is there any more to explain?”
Fletcher moved restlessly. “All this is most interesting, but I don’t see that we are any nearer to a solution. In fact you seem to have incriminated yourself. After all, we cannot get over the fact that the dead man was found with a knife in his back, and the windows fast shut instead of wide open as they should have been from your account.”
Sinclair fixed his gaze on Fletcher. “I think you had better wait,” he said “we have not done yet.”