When we started from Moozuffernuggar for Delhi and the East, Lord Southminster was starting for Bombay and Europe. This surprised me not a little, for he had confided3 to my unsympathetic ear a few nights earlier, in the Maharajah's billiard-room, that he was 'stony4 broke,' and must wait at Moozuffernuggar for lack of funds 'till the oof-bird laid' at his banker's in England. His conversation enlarged my vocabulary, at any rate.
'So you've managed to get away?' I exclaimed, as he dawdled5 up to me at the hot and dusty station.
'Yaas,' he drawled, fixing his eye-glass, and lighting6 a cigarette. 'I've—p'f—managed to get away. Maharaj seems to have thought—p'f—it would be cheepah in the end to pay me out than to keep me.'[Pg 253]
'You don't mean to say he offered to lend you money?' I cried.
'No; not exactly that: I offahed to borrow it.'
'From the man you call a nigger?'
His smile spread broader over his face than ever. 'Well, we borrow from the Jews, yah know,' he said pleasantly, 'so why the jooce shouldn't we borrow from the heathen also? Spoiling the Egyptians, don't yah see?—the same as we used to read about in the Scripchah when we were innocent kiddies. Like marriage, quite. You borrow in haste—and repay at leisure.'
He strolled off and took his seat. I was glad to get rid of him at the main line junction7.
In accordance with my usual merciful custom, I spare you the details of our visit to Agra, Muttra, Benares. At Calcutta, Elsie left me. Her health was now quite restored, dear little soul— I felt I had done that one good thing in life if no other—and she could no longer withstand the higher mathematics, which were beckoning8 her to London with invisible fingers. For myself, having so far accomplished9 my original design of going round the world with twopence in my pocket, I could not bear to draw back at half the circuit; and Mr. Elworthy having willingly consented to my return by Singapore and Yokohama, I set out alone on my homeward journey.
HE WROTE, I EXPECT YOU TO COME BACK TO ENGLAND AND MARRY ME. HE WROTE, I EXPECT YOU TO COME BACK TO ENGLAND AND MARRY ME.
Harold wrote me from London that all was going well. He had found the will which I drew up at Florence in his uncle's escritoire, and everything was left to him; but he trusted, in spite of this untoward10 circumstance, long absence might have altered my determination. 'Dear Lois,' he wrote, 'I expect you to come back to England and marry me!'
I was brief, but categorical. Nothing, meanwhile, had altered my resolve. I did not wish to be considered mercenary.[Pg 254] While he was rich and honoured, I could never take him. If, some day, fortune frowned—but, there—let us not forestall11 the feet of calamity12: let us await contingencies13.
Still, I was heavy in heart. If only it had been otherwise! To say the truth, I should be thrown away on a millionaire; but just think what a splendid managing wife a girl like me would have made for a penniless pauper14!
At Yokohama, however, while I dawdled in curiosity shops, a telegram from Harold startled me into seriousness. My chance at last! I knew what it meant; that villain15 Higginson!
'Come home at once. I want your evidence to clear my character. Southminster opposes the will as a forgery16. He has a strong case; the experts are with him.'
Forgery! That was clever. I never thought of that. I suspected them of trying to forge a will of their own; but to upset the real one—to throw the burden of[Pg 255] suspicion on Harold's shoulders—how much subtler and craftier17!
I saw at a glance it gave them every advantage. In the first place, it put Harold virtually in the place of the accused, and compelled him to defend instead of attacking—an attitude which prejudices people against one from the outset. Then, again, it implied positive criminality on his part, and so allowed Lord Southminster to assume the air of injured innocence19. The eldest20 son of the eldest brother, unjustly set aside by the scheming machinations of an unscrupulous cousin! Primogeniture, the ingrained English love for keeping up the dignity of a noble family, the prejudice in favour of the direct male line as against the female—all were astutely21 utilised in Lord Southminster's interest. But worst of all, it was I who had typewritten the will—I, a friend of Harold's, a woman whom Lord Southminster would doubtless try to exhibit as his fiancée. I saw at once how much like conspiracy22 it looked: Harold and I had agreed together to concoct23 a false document, and Harold had forged his uncle's signature to it. Could a British jury doubt when a Lord declared it?
Fortunately, I was just in time to catch the Canadian steamer from Japan to Vancouver. But, oh, the endless breadth of that broad Pacific! How time seemed to lag, as each day one rose in the morning, in the midst of space; blue sky overhead; behind one, the hard horizon; in front of one, the hard horizon; and nothing else visible: then steamed on all day, to arrive at night, where?—why, in the midst of space; starry24 sky overhead; behind one, the dim horizon; in front of one, the dim horizon; and nothing else visible. The Nile was child's play to it.
IT WAS ENDLESSLY WEARISOME. IT WAS ENDLESSLY WEARISOME.
Day after day we steamed, and night after night were still where we began—in the centre of the sea, no farther[Pg 256] from our starting-point, no nearer to our goal, yet for ever steaming. It was endlessly wearisome; who could say what might be happening meanwhile in England?
At last, after months, as it seemed, of this slow torture, we reached Vancouver. There, in the raw new town, a telegram awaited me. 'Glad to hear you are coming. Make all haste. You may be just in time to arrive for the trial.'
Just in time! I would not waste a moment. I caught the first train on the Canadian Pacific, and travelled straight[Pg 257] through, day and night, to Montreal and Quebec, without one hour's interval25.
I cannot describe to you that journey across a continent I had never before seen. It was endless and hopeless. I only know that we crawled up the Rocky Mountains and the Selkirk Range, over spider-like viaducts, with interminable effort, and that the prairies were just the broad Pacific over again. They rolled on for ever. But we did reach Quebec—in time we reached it; and we caught by an hour the first liner to Liverpool.
At Prince's Landing-stage another telegram awaited me. 'Come on at once. Case now proceeding26. Harold is in court. We need your evidence.—Georgina Fawley.'
I might still be in time to vindicate27 Harold's character.
At Euston, to my surprise, I was met not only by my dear cantankerous28 old lady, but also by my friend, the magnificent Maharajah, dressed this time in a frock-coat and silk hat of Bond Street glossiness29.
'What has brought you to England?' I asked, astonished. 'The Jubilee30?'
He smiled, and showed his two fine rows of white teeth. 'That, nominally31. In reality, the cricket season (I play for Berks). But most of all, to see dear Tillington safe through this trouble.'
'He's a brick!' Lady Georgina cried with enthusiasm. 'A regular brick, my dear Lois! His carriage is waiting outside to take you up to my house. He has stood by Harold—well, like a Christian32!'
'Or a Hindu,' the Maharajah corrected, smiling.
'And how have you been all this time, dear Lady Georgina?' I asked, hardly daring to inquire about what was nearest to my soul—Harold.
The cantankerous old lady knitted her brows in a[Pg 258] familiar fashion. 'Oh, my dear, don't ask: I haven't known a happy hour since you left me in Switzerland. Lois, I shall never be happy again without you! It would pay me to give you a retaining fee of a thousand a year—honour bright, it would, I assure you. What I've suffered from the Gretchens since you've been in the East has only been equalled by what I've suffered from the Mary Annes and the Célestines. Not a hair left on my scalp; not one hair, I declare to you. They've made my head into a tabula rasa for the various restorers. George R. Sims and Mrs. S. A. Allen are going to fight it out between them. My dear, I wish you could take my maid's place; I've always said——'
I finished the speech for her. 'A lady can do better whatever she turns her hand to than any of these hussies.'
She nodded. 'And why? Because her hands are hands; while as for the Gretchens and the Mary Annes, "paws" is the only word one can honestly apply to them. Then, on top of it all comes this trouble about Harold. So distressing33, isn't it? You see, at the point which the matter has reached, it's simply impossible to save Harold's reputation without wrecking34 Southminster's. Pretty position that for a respectable family! The Ashursts hitherto have been quite respectable: a co-respondent or two, perhaps, but never anything serious. Now, either Southminster sends Harold to prison, or Harold sends Southminster. There's a nice sort of dilemma35! I always knew Kynaston's boys were born fools; but to find they're born knaves36, too, is hard on an old woman in her hairless dotage37. However, you've come, my child, and you'll soon set things right. You're the one person on earth I can trust in this matter.'
Harold go to prison! My head reeled at the thought. I staggered out into the open air, and took my seat mechanically in the Maharajah's carriage. All London swam before[Pg 259] me. After so many months' absence, the polychromatic decorations of our English streets, looming38 up through the smoke, seemed both strange and familiar. I drove through the first half mile with a vague consciousness that Lipton's tea is the perfection of cocoa and matchless for the complexion39, but that it dyes all colours, and won't wash clothes.
After a while, however, I woke up to the full terror of the situation. 'Where are you taking me?' I inquired.
'To my house, dear,' Lady Georgina answered, looking anxiously at me; for my face was bloodless.
'No, that won't do,' I answered. 'My cue must be now to keep myself as aloof40 as possible from Harold and Harold's backers. I must put up at an hotel. It will sound so much better in cross-examination.'
'She's quite right,' the Maharajah broke in, with sudden conviction. 'One must block every ball with these nasty swift bowlers41.'
'Where's Harold?' I asked, after another pause. 'Why didn't he come to meet me?'
'My dear, how could he? He's under examination. A cross-eyed Q.C. with an odious42 leer. Southminster's chosen the biggest bully43 at the Bar to support his contention44.'
'Drive to some hotel in the Jermyn Street district,' I cried to the Maharajah's coachman. 'That will be handy for the law courts.'
He touched his hat and turned. In a sort of dickey behind sat two gorgeous-turbaned Rajput servants.
That evening Harold came round to visit me at my rooms. I could see he was much agitated45. Things had gone very badly. Lady Georgina was there; she had stopped to dine with me, dear old thing, lest I should feel lonely and give way; so had Elsie Petheridge. Mr. Elworthy sent a telegram of welcome from Devonshire. I knew at[Pg 260] least that my friends were rallying round me in this hour of trial. The kind Maharajah himself would have come too, if I had allowed him, but I thought it inexpedient. They explained everything to me. Harold had propounded46 Mr. Ashurst's will—the one I drew up at Florence—and had asked for probate. Lord Southminster intervened and opposed the grant of probate on the ground that the signatures were forgeries47. He propounded instead another will, drawn48 some twenty years earlier, when they were both children, duly executed at the time, and undoubtedly49 genuine; in it, testator left everything without reserve to the eldest son of his eldest brother, Lord Kynaston.
'Marmy didn't know in those days that Kynaston's sons would all grow up fools,' Lady Georgina said tartly50. 'Besides which, that was before the poor dear soul took to plunging51 on the Stock Exchange and made his money. He had nothing to leave then but his best silk hat and a few paltry52 hundreds. Afterwards, when he'd feathered his nest in soap and cocoa, he discovered that Bertie—that's Lord Southminster—was a first-class idiot. Marmy never liked Southminster, nor Southminster Marmy. For after all, with all his faults, Marmy was a gentleman; while Bertie—well, my dear, we needn't put a name to it. So he altered his will, as you know, when he saw the sort of man Southminster turned out, and left practically everything he possessed54 to Harold.'
'Who are the witnesses to the will?' I asked.
'There's the trouble. Who do you think? Why, Higginson's sister, who was Marmy's masseuse, and a waiter—Franz Markheim—at the hotel at Florence, who's dead they say—or, at least, not forthcoming.'
'And Higginson's sister forswears her signature,' Harold added gloomily; 'while the experts are, most of them, dead against the genuineness of my uncle's.'[Pg 261]
'That's clever,' I said, leaning back, and taking it in slowly. 'Higginson's sister! How well they've worked it. They couldn't prevent Mr. Ashurst from making this will, but they managed to supply their own tainted55 witnesses! If it had been Higginson himself now, he'd have had to be cross-examined; and in cross-examination, of course, we could have shaken his credit, by bringing up the episodes of the Count de Laroche-sur-Loiret and Dr. Fortescue-Langley. But his sister! What's she like? Have you anything against her?'
'My dear,' Lady Georgina cried, 'there the rogue56 has bested us. Isn't it just like him? What do you suppose he has done? Why, provided himself with a sister of tried respectability and blameless character.'
'And she denies that it is her handwriting?' I asked.
'Declares on her Bible oath she never signed the document.'
I was fairly puzzled. It was a stupendously clever dodge57. Higginson must have trained up his sister for forty years in the ways of wickedness, yet held her in reserve for this supreme58 moment.
'And where is Higginson?' I asked.
Lady Georgina broke into a hysterical59 laugh. 'Where is he, my dear? That's the question. With consummate60 strategy, the wretch61 has disappeared into space at the last moment.'
'That's artful again,' I said. 'His presence could only damage their case. I can see, of course, Lord Southminster has no need of him.'
'Southminster's the wiliest fool that ever lived,' Harold broke out bitterly. 'Under that mask of imbecility, he's a fox for trickiness62.'
I bit my lip. 'Well, if you succeed in evading63 him,' I[Pg 262] said, 'you will have cleared your character. And if you don't—then, Harold, our time will have come: you will have your longed-for chance of trying me.'
'That won't do me much good,' he answered, 'if I have to wait fourteen years for you—at Portland.'
THE CROSS-EYED Q.C. BEGGED HIM TO BE VERY CAREFUL. THE CROSS-EYED Q.C. BEGGED HIM TO BE VERY CAREFUL.
Next morning, in court, I heard Harold's cross-examination. He described exactly where he had found the contested will in his uncle's escritoire. The cross-eyed Q.C, a heavy man with bloated features and a bulbous nose, begged him, with one fat uplifted forefinger64, to be very careful. How did he know where to look for it?[Pg 263]
'Because I knew the house well: I knew where my uncle was likely to keep his valuables.'
'Oh, indeed; not because you had put it there?'
The court rang with laughter. My face grew crimson65.
After an hour or two of fencing, Harold was dismissed. He stood down, baffled. Counsel recalled Lord Southminster.
The pea-green young man, stepping briskly up, gazed about him, open-mouthed, with a vacant stare. The look of cunning on his face was carefully suppressed. He wore, on the contrary, an air of injured innocence combined with an eye-glass.
'You did not put this will in the drawer where Mr. Tillington found it, did you?' counsel asked.
The pea-green young man laughed. 'No, I certainly didn't put it theah. My cousin Harold was man in possession. He took jolly good care I didn't come neah the premises66.'
'Do you think you could forge a will if you tried?'
Lord Southminster laughed. 'No, I don't,' he answered, with a well-assumed na?veté. 'That's just the difference between us, don't yah know. I'm what they call a fool, and my cousin Harold's a precious clevah fellah.'
There was another loud laugh.
'That's not evidence,' the judge observed, severely67.
It was not. But it told far more than much that was. It told strongly against Harold.
'Besides,' Lord Southminster continued, with engaging frankness, 'if I forged a will at all, I'd take jolly good care to forge it in my own favah.'
My turn came next. Our counsel handed me the incriminated will. 'Did you draw up this document?' he asked.[Pg 264]
I looked at it closely. The paper bore our Florentine water-mark, and was written with a Spread-Eagle. 'I type-wrote it,' I answered, gazing at it with care to make sure I recognised it.
Our counsel's business was to uphold the will, not to cast aspersions upon it. He was evidently annoyed at my close examination. 'You have no doubts about it?' he said, trying to prompt me.
I hesitated. 'No, no doubts,' I answered, turning over the sheet and inspecting it still closer. 'I type-wrote it at Florence.'
'Do you recognise that signature as Mr. Marmaduke Ashurst's?' he went on.
I stared at it. Was it his? It was like it, certainly. Yet that k? and those s's? I almost wondered.
Counsel was obviously annoyed at my hesitation68. He thought I was playing into the enemy's hands. 'Is it his, or is it not?' he inquired again, testily69.
'It is his,' I answered. Yet I own I was troubled.
I WAS A GROTESQUE70 FAILURE. I WAS A GROTESQUE FAILURE.
He asked many questions about the circumstances of the interview when I took down the will. I answered them all. But I vaguely71 felt he and I were at cross-purposes. I grew almost as uncomfortable under his gaze as if he had been examining me in the interest of the other side. He managed to fluster72 me. As a witness for Harold, I was a grotesque failure.
Then the cross-eyed Q.C., rising and shaking his huge bulk, began to cross-examine me. 'Where did you type-write this thing, do you say?' he said, pointing to it contemptuously.
'In my office at Florence.'
'Yes, I understand; you had an office in Florence—after you gave up retailing73 bicycles on the public roads; and[Pg 265] you had a partner, I think—a Miss Petherick, or Petherton, or Pennyfarthing, or something?'
'Miss Petheridge,' I corrected, while the Court tittered.
'Ah, Petheridge, you call it! Well, now answer this question carefully. Did your Miss Petheridge hear Mr. Ashurst dictate74 the terms of his last will and testament75?'
'No,' I answered. 'The interview was of a strictly76 confidential77 character. Mr. Ashurst took me aside into the back room at our office.'[Pg 266]
'Oh, he took you aside? Confidential? Well, now we're getting at it. And did anybody but yourself see or hear any part whatsoever78 of this precious document?'
'Certainly not,' I replied. 'It was a private matter.'
'Private! oh, very! Nobody else saw it. Did Mr. Ashurst take it away from the office in person?'
'No; he sent his courier for it.'
'His courier? The man Higginson?'
'Yes; but I refused to give it to Higginson. I took it myself that night to the hotel where Mr. Ashurst was stopping.'
'Ah! You took it yourself. So the only other person who knows anything at first hand about the existence of the alleged79 will is this person Higginson?'
'Miss Petheridge knows,' I said, flushing. 'At the time, I told her of it.'
'Oh, you told her. Well, that doesn't help us much. If what you are swearing isn't true—remember, you are on your oath—what you told Miss Petherick or Petheridge or Pennyfarthing, "at the time," can hardly be regarded as corroborative80 evidence. Your word then and your word now are just equally valuable—or equally worthless. The only person who knows besides yourself is Higginson. Now, I ask you, where is Higginson? Are you going to produce him?'
The wicked cunning of it struck me dumb. They were keeping him away, and then using his absence to cast doubts on my veracity81. 'Stop,' I cried, taken aback, 'Higginson is well known to be a rogue, and he is keeping away lest he may damage your side. I know nothing of Higginson.'
'Yes, I'm coming to that in good time. Don't be afraid that we're going to pass over Higginson. You admit[Pg 267] this man is a man of bad character. Now, what do you know of him?'
I told the stories of the Count and of Dr. Fortescue-Langley.
The cross-eyed cross-examiner leant across towards me and leered. 'And this is the man,' he exclaimed, with a triumphant82 air, 'whose sister you pretended you had got to sign this precious document of yours?'
'Whom Mr. Ashurst got to sign it,' I answered, red-hot. 'It is not my document.'
'And you have heard that she swears it is not her signature at all?'
'So they tell me. She is Higginson's sister. For all I know, she may be prepared to swear, or to forswear, anything.'
'Don't cast doubt upon our witnesses without cause! Miss Higginson is an eminently84 respectable woman. You gave this document to Mr. Ashurst, you say. There your knowledge of it ends. A signature is placed on it which is not his, as our experts testify. It purports85 to be witnessed by a Swiss waiter, who is not forthcoming, and who is asserted to be dead, as well as by a nurse who denies her signature. And the only other person who knows of its existence before Mr. Tillington "discovers" it in his uncle's desk is—the missing man Higginson. Is that, or is it not, the truth of the matter?'
'I suppose so,' I said, baffled.
'Well, now, as to this man Higginson. He first appears upon the scene, so far as you are concerned, on the day when you travelled from London to Schlangenbad?'
'That is so,' I answered.
'And he nearly succeeded then in stealing Lady Georgina Fawley's jewel-case?'[Pg 268]
'He nearly took it, but I saved it.' And I explained the circumstance.
The cross-eyed Q.C. held his fat sides with his hands, looking incredulously at me, and smiled. His vast width of waistcoat shook with silent merriment. 'You are a very clever young lady,' he murmured. 'You can explain away anything. But don't you think it just as likely that it was a plot between you two, and that owing to some mistake the plot came off unsuccessful?'
'I do not,' I cried, crimson. 'I never saw the Count before that morning.'
He tried another tack18. 'Still, wherever you went, this man Higginson—the only other person, you admit, who knows about the previous existence of the will—turned up simultaneously86. He was always turning up—at the same place as you did. He turned up at Lucerne, as a faith-healer, didn't he?'
'If you will allow me to explain,' I cried, biting my lip.
He bowed, all blandness87. 'Oh, certainly,' he murmured. 'Explain away everything!'
I explained, but of course he had discounted and damaged my explanation.
He made no comment. 'And then,' he went on, with his hands on his hips88, and his obtrusive89 rotundity, 'he turned up at Florence, as courier to Mr. Ashurst, at the very date when this so-called will was being concocted90?'
'He was at Florence when Mr. Ashurst dictated91 it to me,' I answered, growing desperate.
'You admit he was in Florence. Good! Once more he turned up in India with my client, Lord Southminster, upon whose youth and inexperience he had managed to impose himself. And he carried him off, did he not, by one of these strange coincidences to which you are peculiarly[Pg 269] liable, on the very same steamer on which you happened to be travelling?'
'Lord Southminster told me he took Higginson with him because a rogue suited his book,' I answered, warmly.
'Will you swear his lordship didn't say "the rogue suited his book"—which is quite another thing?' the Q.C. asked blandly92.
'I will swear he did not,' I replied. 'I have correctly reported him.'
'Then I congratulate you, young lady, on your excellent memory. My lud, will you allow me later to recall Lord Southminster to testify on this point?'
The judge nodded.
'Now, once more, as to your relations with the various members of the Ashurst family. You introduced yourself to Lady Georgina Fawley, I believe, quite casually93, on a seat in Kensington Gardens?'
'That is true,' I answered.
'You had never seen her before?'
'Never.'
'And you promptly94 offered to go with her as her lady's maid to Schlangenbad in Germany?'
'In place of her lady's maid, for one week,' I answered.
'Ah; a delicate distinction! "In place of her lady's maid." You are a lady, I believe; an officer's daughter, you told us; educated at Girton?'
'So I have said already,' I replied, crimson.
'And you stick to it? By all means. Tell—the truth—and stick to it. It's always safest. Now, don't you think it was rather an odd thing for an officer's daughter to do—to run about Germany as maid to a lady of title?'
THE JURY SMILED. THE JURY SMILED.
I tried to explain once more; but the jury smiled.[Pg 270] You can't justify95 originality96 to a British jury. Why, they would send you to prison at once for that alone, if they made the laws as well as dispensing97 them.[Pg 271]
He passed on after a while to another topic. 'I think you have boasted more than once in society that when you first met Lady Georgina Fawley you had twopence in your pocket to go round the world with?'
'I had,' I answered—'and I went round the world with it.'
'Exactly. I'm getting there in time. With it—and other things. A few months later, more or less, you were touring up the Nile in your steam dahabeeah, and in the lap of luxury; you were taking saloon-carriages on Indian railways, weren't you?'
I explained again. 'The dahabeeah was in the service of the Daily Telephone,' I answered. 'I became a journalist.'
He cross-questioned me about that. 'Then I am to understand,' he said at last, leaning forward with all his waistcoat, 'that you sprang yourself upon Mr. Elworthy at sight, pretty much as you sprang yourself upon Lady Georgina Fawley?'
'We arranged matters quickly,' I admitted. The dexterous98 wretch was making my strongest points all tell against me.
'H'm! Well, he was a man: and you will admit, I suppose,' fingering his smooth fat chin, 'that you are a lady of—what is the stock phrase the reporters use?—considerable personal attractions?'
'My Lord,' I said, turning to the Bench, 'I appeal to you. Has he the right to compel me to answer that question?'
THE QUESTION REQUIRES NO ANSWER, HE SAID. THE QUESTION REQUIRES NO ANSWER, HE SAID.
The judge bowed slightly. 'The question requires no answer,' he said, with a quiet emphasis. I burned bright scarlet99.
'Well, my lud, I defer100 to your ruling,' the cross-eyed cross-examiner continued, radiant. 'I go on to another[Pg 272] point. When in India, I believe, you stopped for some time as a guest in the house of a native Maharajah.'
'Is that matter relevant?' the judge asked, sharply.
'My lud,' the Q.C. said, in his blandest101 voice, 'I am striving to suggest to the jury that this lady—the only person who ever beheld102 this so-called will till Mr. Harold Tillington—described in its terms as "Younger of Gledcliffe,"[Pg 273] whatever that may be—produced it out of his uncle's desk— I am striving to suggest that this lady is—my duty to my client compels me to say—an adventuress.'
He had uttered the word. I felt my character had not a leg left to stand upon before a British jury.
'I went there with my friend, Miss Petheridge——' I began.
'Oh, Miss Petheridge once more—you hunt in couples?'
'Accompanied and chaperoned by a married lady, the wife of a Major Balmossie, on the Bombay Staff Corps103.'
'That was certainly prudent104. One ought to be chaperoned. Can you produce the lady?'
'How is it possible?' I cried. 'Mrs. Balmossie is in India.'
'Yes; but the Maharajah, I understand, is in London?'
'That is true,' I answered.
'And he came to meet you on your arrival yesterday.'
'With Lady Georgina Fawley,' I cried, taken off my guard.
'Do you not consider it curious,' he asked, 'that these Higginsons and these Maharajahs should happen to follow you so closely round the world?—should happen to turn up wherever you do?'
'He came to be present at this trial,' I exclaimed.
'And so did you. I believe he met you at Euston last night, and drove you to your hotel in his private carriage.'
'With Lady Georgina Fawley,' I answered, once more.
'And Lady Georgina is on Mr. Tillington's side, I fancy? Ah, yes, I thought so. And Mr. Tillington also called to see you; and likewise Miss Petherick— I beg your pardon, Petheridge. We must be strictly accurate—where Miss Petheridge is concerned. And, in fact, you had quite a little family party.'[Pg 274]
'My friends were glad to see me back again,' I murmured.
He sprang a fresh innuendo105. 'But Mr. Tillington did not resent your visit to this gallant106 Maharajah?'
'Certainly not,' I cried, bridling107. 'Why should he?'
'Oh, we're getting to that too. Now answer me this carefully. We want to find out what interest you might have, supposing a will were forged, on either side, in arranging its terms. We want to find out just who would benefit by it. Please reply to this question, yes or no, without prevarication108. Are you or are you not conditionally109 engaged to Mr. Harold Tillington?'
'If I might explain——' I began, quivering.
He sneered110. 'You have a genius for explaining, we are aware. Answer me first, yes or no; we will qualify afterward53.'
I glanced appealingly at the judge. He was adamant111. 'Answer as counsel directs you, witness,' he said, sternly.
'Yes, I am,' I faltered112. 'But——'
'Excuse me one moment. You promised to marry him conditionally upon the result of Mr. Ashurst's testamentary dispositions113?'
'I did,' I answered; 'but——'
My explanation was drowned in roars of laughter, in which the judge joined, in spite of himself. When the mirth in court had subsided115 a little, I went on: 'I told Mr. Tillington I would only marry him in case he was poor and without expectations. If he inherited Mr. Marmaduke Ashurst's money, I could never be his wife,' I said it proudly.
The cross-eyed Q.C. drew himself up and let his rotundity take care of itself. 'Do you take me,' he inquired, 'for one of Her Majesty's horse-marines?'[Pg 275]
There was another roar of laughter—feebly suppressed by a judicial116 frown—and I slank away, annihilated117.
'You can go,' my persecutor118 said. 'I think we have got—well, everything we wanted from you. You promised to marry him, if all went ill! That is a delicate feminine way of putting it. Women like these equivocations. They relieve one from the onus119 of speaking frankly120.'
I stood down from the box, feeling, for the first time in my life, conscious of having scored an ignominious121 failure.
Our counsel did not care to re-examine me; I recognised that it would be useless. The hateful Q.C. had put all my history in such an odious light that explanation could only make matters worse—it must savour of apology. The jury could never understand my point of view. It could never be made to see that there are adventuresses and adventuresses.
Then came the final speeches on either side. Harold's advocate said the best he could in favour of the will our party propounded; but his best was bad; and what galled122 me most was this— I could see he himself did not believe in its genuineness. His speech amounted to little more than a perfunctory attempt to put the most favourable123 face on a probable forgery.
As for the cross-eyed Q.C., he rose to reply with humorous confidence. Swaying his big body to and fro, he crumpled124 our will and our case in his fat fingers like so much flimsy tissue-paper. Mr. Ashurst had made a disposition114 of his property twenty years ago—the right disposition, the natural disposition; he had left the bulk of it as childless English gentlemen have ever been wont125 to leave their wealth—to the eldest son of the eldest son of his family. The Honourable126 Marmaduke Courtney Ashurst, the testator, was the scion127 of a great house, which recent agricultural changes,[Pg 276] he regretted to say, had relatively128 impoverished129; he had come to the succour of that great house, as such a scion should, with his property acquired by honest industry elsewhere. It was fitting and reasonable that Mr. Ashurst should wish to see the Kynaston peerage regain130, in the person of the amiable131 and accomplished young nobleman whom he had the honour to represent, some portion of its ancient dignity and splendour.
But jealousy132 and greed intervened. (Here he frowned at Harold.) Mr. Harold Tillington, the son of one of Mr. Ashurst's married sisters, cast longing133 eyes, as he had tried to suggest to them, on his cousin Lord Southminster's natural heritage. The result, he feared, was an unnatural134 intrigue135. Mr. Harold Tillington formed the acquaintance of a young lady—should we say young lady?—(he withered136 me with his glance)—well, yes, a lady, indeed, by birth and education, but an adventuress by choice—a lady who, brought up in a respectable, though not (he must admit) a distinguished137 sphere, had lowered herself by accepting the position of a lady's maid, and had trafficked in patent American cycles on the public high-roads of Germany and Switzerland. This clever and designing woman (he would grant her ability—he would grant her good looks) had fascinated Mr. Tillington—that was the theory he ventured to lay before the jury to-day; and the jury would see for themselves that whatever else the young lady might be, she had distinctly a certain outer gift of fascination138. It was for them to decide whether Miss Lois Cayley had or had not suggested to Mr. Harold Tillington the design of substituting a forged will for Mr. Marmaduke Ashurst's undeniable testament. He would point out to them her singular connection with the missing man Higginson, whom the young lady herself described as a rogue, and from whom she had done her very[Pg 277] best to dissociate herself in this court—but ineffectually. Wherever Miss Cayley went, the man Higginson went independently. Such frequent recurrences140, such apt juxtapositions141 could hardly be set down to mere142 accidental coincidence.
He went on to insinuate143 that Higginson and I had concocted the disputed will between us; that we had passed it on to our fellow-conspirator, Harold; and that Harold had forged his uncle's signature to it, and had appended those of the two supposed witnesses. But who, now, were these witnesses? One, Franz Markheim, was dead or missing; dead men tell no tales: the other was obviously suggested by Higginson. It was his own sister. Perhaps he forged her name to the document. Doubtless he thought that family feeling would induce her, when it came to the pinch, to accept and endorse144 her brother's lie; nay145, he might even have been foolish enough to suppose that this cock-and-bull will would not be disputed. If so, he and his master had reckoned without Lord Southminster, a gentleman who concealed146 beneath the careless exterior147 of a man of fashion the solid intelligence of a man of affairs, and the hard head of a man not to be lightly cheated in matters of business.
The alleged will had thus not a leg to stand upon. It was 'typewritten' (save the mark!) 'from dictation' at Florence, by whom? By the lady who had most to gain from its success—the lady who was to be transformed from a shady adventuress, tossed about between Irish doctors and Hindu Maharajahs, into the lawful148 wife of a wealthy diplomatist of noble family, on one condition only—if this pretended will could be satisfactorily established. The signatures were forgeries, as shown by the expert evidence, and also by the oath of the one surviving witness.[Pg 278]
The will left all the estate—practically—to Mr. Harold Tillington, and five hundred pounds to whom?—why, to the accomplice149 Higginson. The minor150 bequests151 the Q.C. regarded as ingenious inventions, pure play of fancy, 'intended to give artistic152 verisimilitude,' as Pooh-Bah says in the opera, 'to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative153.' The fads154, it was true, were known fads of Mr. Ashurst's: but what sort of fads? Bimetallism? Anglo-Israel? No, braces155 and shoe-horns—clearly the kind that would best be known to a courier like Higginson, the sole begetter156, he believed, of this nefarious157 conspiracy.
I REELED WHERE I SAT. I REELED WHERE I SAT.
The cross-eyed Q.C., lifting his fat right hand in solemn adjuration158, called upon the jury confidently to set aside this ridiculous fabrication, and declare for a will of undoubted genuineness, a will drawn up in London by a firm of eminent83 solicitors159, and preserved ever since by the testator's bankers. It would then be for his lordship to decide whether in the public interest he should recommend the Crown to prosecute160 on a charge of forgery the clumsy fabricator of this preposterous161 document.
The judge summed up—strongly in favour of Lord Southminster's will. If the jury believed the experts and Miss Higginson, one verdict alone was possible. The jury retired162 for three minutes only. It was a foregone conclusion. They found for Lord Southminster. The judge, looking grave, concurred163 in their finding. A most proper verdict. And he considered it would be the duty of the Public Prosecutor164 to pursue Mr. Harold Tillington on the charge of forgery.
I reeled where I sat. Then I looked round for Harold.
He had slipped from the court, unseen, during counsel's address, some minutes earlier!
That distressed165 me more than anything else on that[Pg 279] dreadful day. I wished he had stood up in his place like a man to face this vile166 and cruel conspiracy.
I walked out slowly, supported by Lady Georgina, who was as white as a ghost herself, but very straight and[Pg 280] scornful. 'I always knew Southminster was a fool,' she said aloud; 'I always knew he was a sneak167; but I did not know till now he was also a particularly bad type of criminal.'
On the steps of the court, the pea-green young man met us. His air was jaunty168. 'Well, I was right, yah see,' he said, smiling and withdrawing his cigarette. 'You backed the wrong fellah! I told you I'd win. I won't say moah now; this is not the time or place to recur139 to that subject; but, by-and-by, you'll come round; you'll think bettah of it still; you'll back the winnah!'
I wished I were a man, that I might have the pleasure of kicking him.
We drove back to my hotel and waited for Harold. To my horror and alarm, he never came near us. I might almost have doubted him—if he had not been Harold.
I waited and waited. He did not come at all. He sent no word, no message. And all that evening we heard the newsboys shouting at the top of their voice in the street, 'Extra Speshul! the Ashurst Will Kise; Sensational169 Developments' 'Mysterious Disappearance170 of Mr. 'Arold Tillington.'
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1
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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4
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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5
dawdled
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| v.混（时间）( dawdle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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7
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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8
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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9
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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10
untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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11
forestall
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| vt.抢在…之前采取行动；预先阻止 | |
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12
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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13
contingencies
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| n.偶然发生的事故，意外事故( contingency的名词复数 )；以备万一 | |
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14
pauper
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| n.贫民，被救济者，穷人 | |
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15
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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16
forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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17
craftier
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| 狡猾的，狡诈的( crafty的比较级 ) | |
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18
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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19
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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20
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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21
astutely
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| adv.敏锐地；精明地；敏捷地；伶俐地 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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concoct
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| v.调合，制造 | |
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24
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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25
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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26
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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27
vindicate
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| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
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28
cantankerous
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| adj.爱争吵的，脾气不好的 | |
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29
glossiness
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| 有光泽的； 光泽度 | |
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30
jubilee
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| n.周年纪念；欢乐 | |
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nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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33
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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34
wrecking
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| 破坏 | |
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35
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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knaves
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| n.恶棍，无赖( knave的名词复数 )；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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37
dotage
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| n.年老体衰；年老昏聩 | |
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38
looming
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| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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39
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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40
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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41
bowlers
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| n.（板球）投球手( bowler的名词复数 )；圆顶高帽 | |
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42
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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43
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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44
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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45
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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46
propounded
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| v.提出（问题、计划等）供考虑[讨论]，提议( propound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
forgeries
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| 伪造( forgery的名词复数 )； 伪造的文件、签名等 | |
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48
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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49
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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50
tartly
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| adv.辛辣地，刻薄地 | |
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51
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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52
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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53
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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54
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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55
tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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56
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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57
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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58
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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59
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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60
consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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61
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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62
trickiness
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| n.欺骗；狡猾；棘手；微妙 | |
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63
evading
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| 逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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64
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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65
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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66
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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67
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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68
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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69
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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70
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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71
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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72
fluster
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| adj.慌乱，狼狈，混乱，激动 | |
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73
retailing
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| n.零售业v.零售(retail的现在分词) | |
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74
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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75
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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76
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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77
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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78
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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79
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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80
corroborative
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| adj.确证（性）的，确凿的 | |
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81
veracity
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| n.诚实 | |
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82
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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83
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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84
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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85
purports
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| v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的第三人称单数 ) | |
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86
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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87
blandness
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| n.温柔，爽快 | |
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88
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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89
obtrusive
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| adj.显眼的；冒失的 | |
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90
concocted
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| v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造 | |
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91
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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92
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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93
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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94
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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95
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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96
originality
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| n.创造力，独创性；新颖 | |
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97
dispensing
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| v.分配( dispense的现在分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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98
dexterous
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| adj.灵敏的；灵巧的 | |
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99
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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100
defer
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| vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从 | |
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101
blandest
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| adj.（食物）淡而无味的( bland的最高级 )；平和的；温和的；无动于衷的 | |
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102
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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103
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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104
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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105
innuendo
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| n.暗指，讽刺 | |
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106
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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107
bridling
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的现在分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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108
prevarication
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| n.支吾；搪塞；说谎；有枝有叶 | |
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109
conditionally
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| adv. 有条件地 | |
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110
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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111
adamant
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| adj.坚硬的，固执的 | |
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112
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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113
dispositions
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| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
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114
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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115
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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116
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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117
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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118
persecutor
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| n. 迫害者 | |
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119
onus
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| n.负担；责任 | |
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120
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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121
ignominious
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| adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的 | |
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122
galled
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| v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱 | |
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123
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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124
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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125
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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126
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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127
scion
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| n.嫩芽，子孙 | |
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128
relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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129
impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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130
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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131
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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132
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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133
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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134
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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135
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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136
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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137
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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138
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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139
recur
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| vi.复发，重现，再发生 | |
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140
recurrences
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| n.复发，反复，重现( recurrence的名词复数 ) | |
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141
juxtapositions
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| n.并置，并列( juxtaposition的名词复数 ) | |
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142
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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143
insinuate
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| vt.含沙射影地说，暗示 | |
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144
endorse
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| vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意 | |
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145
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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146
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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147
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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148
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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149
accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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150
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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151
bequests
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| n.遗赠( bequest的名词复数 )；遗产，遗赠物 | |
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152
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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153
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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154
fads
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| n.一时的流行，一时的风尚( fad的名词复数 ) | |
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155
braces
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| n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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156
begetter
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| n.生产者，父 | |
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157
nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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158
adjuration
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| n.祈求，命令 | |
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159
solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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160
prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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161
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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162
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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163
concurred
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| 同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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164
prosecutor
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| n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人 | |
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165
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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166
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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167
sneak
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| vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行 | |
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168
jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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169
sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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170
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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