CHAPTER XLIV.
CAPTAIN JACK PAYS NED WARBECK AN UNEXPECTED VISIT—THE REVELATION.
“Who the devil are you?” said Ned, rising hastily, and drawing a pistol. “Who the devil are you? What do you want, and where do you come from? Answer instantly, or a bullet shall whistle through your head.”
“Put down your pistol, my brave lad,” said Captain Jack, smiling. “My name is Captain Jack. I am one of the crown officers; in other words, a detective, and am just come from one of the strongest prisons in the kingdom.”
“Indeed! and what has all that to do with me?”
“A great deal, as you will quickly hear.”
“And how gained you admittance into this library?”
“By a secret door, as you perceive.”
“I never knew that one existed.”
“No; butIdid,” said Captain Jack, smiling. “I know all about this house, as well as I do about the ins and out of Darlington Hall.”
“Indeed!”
“Yes; a friend of yours informed me.”
“A friend of mine? Nay, he must have been an enemy.”
“Well, enemy, then, if you like. I daresay you remember his name.”
“I cannot guess.”
“Phillip Redgill.”
“The wretch!”
“Yes; he’s all that, and more; but I think his career of crime is well nigh ended. He is in gaol.”
“I need not ask for what, perhaps?”
“Murder, Ned Warbeck—murder is his crime.”
“And how came you to ferret out all his villany?”
“I have had my eye on him for a long time. When the fruit was ripe we plucked it. Ha! ha! he is safe enough now.”
“And what are the number of charges against him?”
“A dozen or more.”
“And how did you manage to capture him at last, for I have heard you were a long time in finding him out?”
“Some months, for he lived from time to time in all sorts of holes and corners, and under all imaginable names. He treated his wife, Fanny, in the most shameful manner, and led her also into vice and crime; but as long as she supplied him with money from time to time, he seldom went home, and did not care how or whence the money came. I heard all the facts from a spy, whom I employed, andwho, for the last three days before his capture, followed Phillip Redgill about like a shadow.”
“Like an evil genius,” said Ned, smiling.
“Just so,” said Captain Jack, smoking a cigar. “Being extremely hard pressed for money, Phillip thought he would visit his home—the first time, he had done so, it must be confessed, for several weeks—and see what could be realised there.
“He was not surprised to see much company present, forthathe knew was of frequent occurrence, and had originated with himself.
“But feeling supremely miserable, he was stung to the quick to see his wife in such exuberant spirits, presiding at a sumptuous supper, which he very well knew she was not able to afford.
“Around the table were seated many young men of gay celebrity, drinking wine and joking.
“Madame was decked out in all the fashions of the season, and when her husband arrived she rose very quietly, handed him a chair, and whispered very lovingly,
“‘A few ofyourfriends, dear!’
“When the company had dispersed, Redgill, who was now intoxicated with wine and passion, broke forth into one of his habitual fits of furious brutality, and threatened to kill his wife.
“He tossed over the supper table.
“He struck Fanny a severe blow with a decanter, and then fell upon the floor helplessly intoxicated among the ruins of the feast—eatables, drinkables, plate, glass, and costly etceteras.
“When the moon peeped above the houses, and threw a faint light into the apartment, he awoke in a maudlin state, and staggered up to bed.
“Everything seemed in confusion; the drawers and chests were rifled, and their contents strewn about the floor.
“The bed had no occupant, and by the lighted lamp which stood upon the dressing-table, he perceived a note addressed to him, in Fanny’s handwriting.
“He opened it, and read its contents, which ran something like this—
“‘You have struck me for the last time. Love has long departed from my heart. I, whom you have so cruelly deceived without regrets, bid you farewell.’
“‘Oh! that’s it, eh?’ said Phillip, hiccuping. ‘Gone!—farewell! and all that kind of style, eh? Well, all right, it’s just the thing; it couldn’t be better! I’ll sell off all the things, and make some ready money. I’ll do it this very day. Just what I wanted.’
“Phillip pulled off his boots with much difficulty, and fell upon the bed, and was soon fast asleep.
“The blinds were not drawn.
“The pale moon shed its holy rays upon the disordered apartment, and as morning dawned, the lamplight flickered and died.
“The moonlight lit his haggard face, as he lay half scowling in his sleep, and with fists tightly clenched, and hair disordered, he ground his teeth in dreams.
“The vision of his life passed before him.
“His mother’s face and form appeared as in his childhood, and looked with sadness upon him.
“His schoolboy days and boyish loves caused him to sigh and smile, in unconscious sleep.
“His false and early love for one sinless maiden he had ruined came next in view.
“Following in the train of chiding phantoms wept his injured wife!
“He ground his teeth most horribly, but laughed with demoniacal scorn!
“The moon still lit his features.
“Even in sleep, the spy has told me, his face assumed a look of intense horror and surprise.
“He clutched the clothes convulsively, and shrieked out aloud,
“‘My father! my father!’ and jumped from the bed in fright.
“‘Where am I? Tell me. Fanny!—my wife! No, no; I didn’t do it! It cannot be!’ and he fell, gasping, upon the floor.
“‘What a fool I am,’ said Phillip, with a laugh, when he had recovered his senses, ‘what a fool I am to think of such things—such childish, silly fancies as dreams! Yet that cursed figure haunts me—yes, everywhere, and I suffer all the torments of the damned. Where’s the brandy? that’s the thing!’
“Thus he raved, but he little thought one of my men was concealed in the chamber, and saw and heard all.
“Having found a bottle partly full he readily emptied its contents, and Phillip went from the house to negotiate for the immediate sale of all its effects.
“He was followed by my spy.
“Whither his wife had fled was of little moment to Phillip.
“His whole thoughts were directed to the sale of his goods and chattels.
“He owed money it was true, but this he never intended to pay.
“So that when he had negotiated the sale with a broker, and received a large sum of money therefor, he felt supremely happy, and went to his old haunts, and spent money so grandly and lavishly that many winked, and could not comprehend it.
“The furniture, &c., had scarcely been removed from the premises, together with numberless etcetera, when the landlord arrived upon the scene, but, unfortunately, too late.
“Numerous creditors were advised of the event, and were not slow in preparing very long bills for settlement, but when they reached the house, they simply found the place empty, with several other gentlemen, interested like themselves, standing round the door with long and very serious faces.
“They had been ‘sold,’ they said, but whether this remark applied to the furniture or themselves is doubtful, although from their very blank countenances it is certain they would not have brought much at public auction.
“When Mr. Phillip Redgill was inquired for, he was found at the Royal Racquet Court, elegantly stretching himself in a new suit of clothes, imbibing brandy and water with much apparent satisfaction.
“There was no compunction of conscience in him, and therefore he deported himself very majestically to the crowd of creditors who surrounded him and lustily demanded the payment of their debts.
“These he laughed at, but in a day or two, when he was ‘wanted,’ I easily tracked him out, and laid my hands on him for the murder of old farmer Bertram.”
“Good heavens! you don’t mean that.”
“I do, though.”
“I always thought it.”
“I always knew it,” said Captain Jack, laughing; “but come with me, I want you, Ned Warbeck, on particular business. Come this way, and you shall know all.”
Wildfire Ned and Captain Jack left the library together, and went towards Phillip Redgill’s prison.