He had compunction enough about the major triumph which now seemed in certain store for him; the larger it loomed9, the less triumphant10 and the more tragic11 was its promise. And, with all human perversity12, an unforeseen and quite involuntary sympathy with Steel was the last complication in Langholm's mind.
He had to think of Rachel in order to harden his heart against her husband; and that ground was the most dangerous of all. It was strange to Langholm to battle against that by the bedside of a weaker brother fallen in the same fight. Yet it was there he spent the night. He had scarcely slept all the week. It was a comfort to think that this vigil was a useful one.
Severino slept fitfully, and Langholm had never a long stretch of uninterrupted thought.
But before morning he had decided14 to give Steel a chance. It was a vague decision, dependent on the chance that Steel gave him when they met, as meet they must. Meanwhile Langholm had some cause for satisfaction with the mere15 resolve; it defined the line that he took with a somewhat absurd but equally startling visitor, who waited upon him early in the forenoon, in the person of the Chief Constable16 of Northborough.
This worthy17 had heard of Langholm's quest, and desired to be informed of what success, if any, he had met with up to the present. Langholm opened his eyes.
"It's my own show," he protested.
"Would you say that if you had got the man? I doubt it would be our show then!" wheezed18 the Chief Constable, who was enormously fat.
"It would be Scotland Yard's," admitted Langholm, "perhaps."
"Unless you got him up here," suggested the fat official. "In that case you would naturally come to me."
Langholm met his eyes. They were very small and bright, as the eyes of the obese19 often are, or as they seem by contrast with a large crass20 face. Langholm fancied he perceived a glimmer21 of his own enlightenment, and instinctively22 he lied.
"We are not likely to get him up here," he said. "This is about the last place where I should look!"
The Chief Constable took his departure with a curious smile. Langholm began to feel uneasy; his unforeseen sympathy with Steel assumed the form of an actual fear on his behalf. Severino was another thorn in his side. He knew that Rachel had been written to, and fell into a fever of impatience23 and despair because the morning did not bring her to his bedside. She was not coming at all. She had refused to come—or her husband would not allow it. So he must die without seeing her again! The man was as unreasonable24 as sick men will be; nothing would console him but Langholm's undertaking25 to go to Normanthorpe himself after lunch and plead in person with the stony-hearted lady or her tyrannical lord. This plan suited Langholm well enough. It would pave the way to the "chance" which he had resolved to give to Rachel's husband.
That resolve was not weakened by successive encounters, first with a policeman near the entrance gates, next with a trespasser26 whom Langholm rightly took for another policeman in plain clothes, and finally with the Woodgates on their way from the house. The good couple welcomed him with a warmth beyond his merits.
"Oh, what a blessing27 you have come!" cried Morna, whose kind eyes discovered a tell-tale moisture. "Do please go up and convince Mrs. Steel that you can't be rearrested on a charge on which you have already been tried and acquitted28!"
"But of course you can't," said Langholm. "Who has put that into her head, Mrs. Woodgate?"
"Since when?" asked Langholm, quickly.
"Only this morning."
Langholm held his tongue. So the extortioner Abel, outwitted by the amateur policeman, had gone straight to the professional force! The amateur had not suspected him of such resource.
"I don't think this has anything to do with Mrs. Steel," he said at last; "in fact, I think I know what it means, and I shall be only too glad to reassure30 her, if I can."
But his own face was not reassuring31, as Hugh Woodgate plainly told him in the first words which the vicar contributed to the discussion.
"I have been finding out things—I have not been altogether unsuccessful—but the things are rather on my mind," the author explained. "How does Steel take the development, by the way?"
"As a joke!" cried Morna, with indignation; her husband was her echo both as to words and tone; but Langholm could only stare.
"I must see him," he exclaimed, decisively. "By the way, once more, do you happen to know whether Mrs. Steel got a letter from me this morning, Mrs. Woodgate?"
"Yes, she did," answered Morna at once. Her manner declared her to be not unacquainted with the contents of the letter, and Langholm treated the declaration as though spoken.
"And is she not going to see that poor fellow?" he asked.
"At once," said Morna, "and I am going with her. She is to call for me with the phaeton at three."
"Do you know anything about him, Mrs. Woodgate?"
"All."
"Then I can only commend him to the sympathy which I know he has already. And I will talk to Mr. Steel while you are gone."
The first sentence was almost mechanical. That matter was off Langholm's mind, and in a flash it was fully13 occupied with the prospect32 before himself. He lifted the peak of his cap, but, instead of remounting his bicycle, he wheeled it very slowly up the drive. The phaeton was at the door when Langholm also arrived, and Rachel herself ran out to greet him on the steps—tall and lissome33, in a light-colored driving cloak down to her heels, and a charming hat—yet under it a face still years older than the one he wore in his heart, though no less beautiful in its distress34.
"I hardly dare ask you!" she gasped35, her hand trembling in his. "Have you found out—anything at all?"
"A little."
And he opened his hand so that hers must drop.
"Oh, but anything is better than nothing! Come in and tell me—quick!"
"Bravo!" added an amused voice from the porch.
It was Steel, spruce and serene36 as ever, a pink glow upon his mobile face, a pink flower in his reefer jacket, a jaunty37 Panama straw covering his white hairs, and buckskin shoes of kindred purity upon his small and well-shaped feet. Langholm greeted him in turn, only trusting that the tremors38 which had been instantly communicated to his own right hand might not be detected by the one it was now compelled to meet.
"Excellent!" murmured that gentleman, with his self-complacent smile.
"But am I not to hear also?" demanded Rachel.
"My dear Mrs. Steel, there is very little to tell you as yet. I only wish there were more. But one or two little points there are—if you would not mind my first mentioning them to your husband?"
"Oh, of course."
"You manage a woman very prettily," remarked Steel, as they watched the phaeton diminish down the drive like a narrow Roman road.
"You are the first who ever said so," rejoined the novelist, with a rather heavy sigh.
"Well, let us have a cigar and your news. I confess I am interested. A stroll, too, would be pleasanter than sitting indoors, don't you think? The thickest walls have long ears, Langholm, when every servant in the place is under notice. The whole lot? Oh, dear, yes—every mother's son and daughter of them. It is most amusing; every one of them wants to stay and be forgiven. The neighbors are little better. The excuses they have stooped to make, some of them! I suppose they thought that we should either flee the country or give them the sanguinary satisfaction of a double suicide. Well, we are not going to do either one or the other; we are agreed about that, if about nothing else. And my wife has behaved like a trump41, though she wouldn't like to hear me say so; it is her wish that we should sit tighter than if nothing had happened, and not even go to Switzerland as we intended. So we are advertising42 for a fresh domestic crew, and we dine at Ireby the week after next. It is true that we got the invitation before the fat fell into the fire, but I fancy we may trust the Invernesses not to do anything startling. I am interested, however, to see what they will do. It is pretty safe to be an object-lesson to the countryside, one way or the other."
During this monologue43 the pair had strolled far afield with their cigars, and Langholm was beginning to puff44 his furiously. At first he had merely marvelled45 at the other's coolness; now every feeling in his breast was outraged46 by the callousness47, the flippancy48, the cynicism of his companion. There came a moment when Langholm could endure the combination no longer. Steel seemed disposed to discuss every aspect of the subject except that of the investigations49 upon which his very life might depend. Langholm glanced at him in horror as they walked. The broad brim of his Panama hat threw his face in shadow to the neck; but to Langholm's heated imagination, it was the shadow of the black cap and of the rope itself that he saw out of the corners of his eyes. It was the shadow that had lit upon the wife the year before, happily to lift forever; now it was settling upon the husband; and it rested with Langholm—if it did rest with him—and how could he be sure? His mind was off at a tangent. He was not listening to Steel; without ceremony he interrupted at last.
"I thought you came out to listen to me?"
"My dear fellow," cried Steel, "and so, to be sure, I did! Why on earth did you let me rattle50 on? Let me see—the point was—ah, yes! Of course, my dear Langholm, you haven't really anything of any account to tell? I considered you a Quixote when you undertook your quest; but I shall begin to suspect a dash of Munchausen if you tell me you have found out anything in the inside of a week!"
"Nevertheless," said Langholm, grimly, "I have."
"Anything worth finding out?"
"I think so."
"You don't mean to tell me you have struck a clew?"
"I believe I can lay hands upon the criminal," said Langholm, as quietly as he could. But he was the more nervous man of the two.
The other simply stood still and stared his incredulity. The stare melted into a smile. "My dear fellow!" he murmured, in a mild blend of horror and reproof51, as though it were the fourth dimension that Langholm claimed to have discovered. It cost the discoverer no small effort not to cry out that he could lay hands on him then and there. The unspoken words were gulped52 down, and a simple repetition substituted at the last.
"I could swear to him myself," added Langholm. "It remains53 to be seen whether there is evidence enough to convict."
"Have you communicated with the police?"
"Not yet."
"They seem to have some absurd bee in their helmet down here, you know."
"They don't get it from me."
It was impossible any longer to doubt the import of Langholm's earnest and rather agitated54 manner. He was doing his best to suppress his agitation55, but that strengthened the impression that he had indeed discovered something which he himself honestly believed to be the truth. There was an immediate56 alteration57 in the tone and bearing of his host.
"My dear fellow," he said, "forgive my levity58. If you have really found out anything, it is a miracle; but miracles do happen now and then. Here's the pond, and there's the boathouse behind those rhododendrons. Suppose you tell me the rest in the boat? We needn't keep looking over our shoulders in the middle of the pond!"
For an instant Langholm dreamt of the readiest and the vilest59 resource; in another he remembered, not only that he could swim, but the insidious60 sympathy for this man which a darker scoundrel had sown in his heart. It had grown there like Jonah's gourd61; only his flippancy affected62 it; and Steel was far from flippant now. Langholm signed to him to lead the way, and in a very few minutes they were scaring the wildfowl in mid-water, Steel sculling from the after thwart63, while Langholm faced him from the crimson64 cushions.
"I thought," said the latter, "that I would like to tell you what sort of evidence I could get against him before—before going any further. I—I thought it would be fair."
Steel raised his bushy eyebrows65 the fraction of an inch. "It would be fairest to yourself, I agree. Two heads are better than one, and—well, I'm open to conviction still, of course."
But even Langholm was not conscious of the sinister66 play upon words; he had taken out his pocket-book, and was nervously67 turning to the leaves that he had filled during his most sleepless68 night in town.
"Got it all down?" said Steel.
"Yes," replied Langholm, without raising his eyes; "at least I did make some notes of a possible—if not a really damning—case against the man I mean."
"And what may the first point be?" inquired Steel, who was gradually drifting back into the tone which Langholm had resented on the shore; he took no notice of it now.
"The first point," said Langholm, slowly, "is that he was in Chelsea, or at least within a mile of the scene of the murder, on the night that it took place."
"So were a good many people," remarked Steel, smiling as he dipped the sculls in and out, and let his supple69 wrists fall for the feather, as though he were really rowing.
"But he left his—he was out at the time!" declared Langholm, making his amended70 statement with all the meaning it had for himself.
"Well, you can't hang him for that."
"He will have to prove where he was, then."
"I am afraid it will be for you to prove a little more first."
Langholm sat very dogged with his notes. There had been a pause on Steel's part; there was a thin new note in his voice. Langholm was too grimly engrossed71 to take immediate heed72 of either detail, or to watch the swift changes in the face which was watching him. And there he lost most of all.
"The next point is that he undoubtedly73 knew Minchin in Australia—"
"Aha!"
"That he was and is a rich man, whereas Minchin was then on the verge74 of bankruptcy75, and that Minchin only found out that he was in England thirty-six hours before his own death, when he wrote to his old friend for funds."
"And you have really established all that!"
Steel had abandoned all pretence76 of rowing; his tone was one of admiration77, in both senses of the word, and his dark eyes seemed to penetrate78 to the back of Langholm's brain.
"I can establish it," was the reply.
"Well! I think you have done wonders; but you will have to do something more before they will listen to you at Scotland Yard. What about a motive?"
"I was coming to that; it is the last point with which I shall trouble you for the present." Langholm took a final glance at his notes, then shut the pocket-book and put it away. "The motive," he continued, meeting Steel's eyes at last, with a new boldness in his own—"the motive is self-defence! There can be no doubt about it; there cannot be the slightest doubt that Minchin intended blackmailing79 this man, at least to the extent of his own indebtedness in the City of London."
"Blackmailing him?"
There was a further change of voice and manner; and this time nothing was lost upon Charles Langholm.
"There cannot be the slightest doubt," he reiterated80, "that Minchin was in possession of a secret concerning the man in my mind, which secret he was determined81 to use for his own ends."
Steel sat motionless, his eyes upon the bottom of the boat. It was absolutely impossible to read the lowered face; even when at length he raised it, and looked Langholm in the eyes once more, the natural inscrutability of the man was only more complete than ever.
"So that is your case!" said he.
And even his tone might have been inspired either by awe82 or by contempt, so truly rang the note between the two.
"I should be sorry to have to meet it," observed Langholm, "if I were he."
"I should find out a little more," was the retort, "if I were you!"
"And then?"
"Oh, then I should do my duty like a man—and take all the emoluments83 I could."
"I shall!" said he through his mustache. "I have consulted you; there will be no need to do so again. I shall make a point of taking you at your word. And now do you mind putting me ashore85?"
A few raindrops were falling when they reached the landing-stage; they hurried to the house, to find that Langholm's bicycle had been removed from the place where he had left it by the front entrance.
"Don't let anybody trouble," he said, ungraciously enough, for he was still smarting from the other's sneer. "I can soon find it for myself."
Steel stood on the steps, his midnight eyes upon Langholm, the glint of a smile in those eyes, but not the vestige86 of one upon his lips.
"Oh, very well," said he. "You know the side-door near the billiard-room? They have probably put it in the first room on the left; that is where we keep ours—for we have gone in for them at last. Good-by, Langholm; remember my advice."
And, that no ceremony should be lost between them, the host turned on his heel and disappeared through his own front door, leaving Langholm very angry in the rain.
But anger was the last emotion for such an hour; the judge might as well feel exasperated87 with the prisoner at the bar, the common hangman with the felon88 on the drop. Langholm only wished that, on even one moment's reflection, he could rest content in so primitive89 and so single a state of mind. He knew well that he could not, and that every subtle sort of contest lay before him, his own soul the arena90. In the meantime let him find his bicycle and get away from this dear and accursed spot; for dear it had been to him, all that too memorable91 summer; but now of a surety the curse of Cain brooded over its cold, white walls and deep-set windows like sunken eyes in a dead face.
Langholm found the room to which he had been directed; in fact, he knew it of old. And there were the two new Beeston Humbers; but their lustrous92 plating and immaculate enamel93 did not shame his own old disreputable roadster, for the missing machine certainly was not there. Langholm was turning away when the glazed94 gun-rack caught his eye. Yes, this was the room in which the guns were kept. He had often seen them there. They had never interested him before. Langholm was no shot. Yet now he peered through the glass—gasped—and opened one of the sliding panels with trembling hand.
There on a nail hung an old revolver, out of place, rusty95, most conspicuous96; and at a glance as like the relic97 in the Black Museum as one pea to another. But Langholm took it down to make sure. And the maker's name upon the barrel was the name that he had noted98 down at the Black Museum; the point gained, the last of the cardinal99 points postulated100 by the official who had shown him round.
The fortuitous discoverer of them all was leaving like a thief—more and more did Langholm feel himself the criminal—when the inner door opened and Steel himself stood beaming sardonically101 upon him.
"Sorry, Langholm, but I find I misled you about the bicycle. They had taken it to the stables. I have told them to bring it round to the front."
"Thank you."
"Sure you won't wait till the rain is over?"
"No, thank you."
"Well, won't you come through this way?"
"No, thank you."
"Oh, all right! Good-by, Langholm; remember my advice."
It was an inglorious exit that Langholm made; but he was thinking to himself, was there ever so inglorious a triumph? He knew not what he had said; there was only one thing that he did know. But was the law itself capable of coping with such a man?
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1
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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6
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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7
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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8
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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15
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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16
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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wheezed
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| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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obese
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| adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的 | |
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crass
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| adj.愚钝的，粗糙的；彻底的 | |
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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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trespasser
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| n.侵犯者；违反者 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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lissome
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| adj.柔软的；敏捷的 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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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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tremors
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| 震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动 | |
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lamely
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| 一瘸一拐地，不完全地 | |
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pique
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| v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气 | |
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41
trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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monologue
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| n.长篇大论，（戏剧等中的）独白 | |
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puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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45
marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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callousness
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flippancy
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| n.轻率；浮躁；无礼的行动 | |
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49
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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50
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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51
reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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52
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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53
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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vilest
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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gourd
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| n.葫芦 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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Amended
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| adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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blackmailing
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| 胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的现在分词 ) | |
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reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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emoluments
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| n.报酬，薪水( emolument的名词复数 ) | |
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sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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felon
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| n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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enamel
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| n.珐琅，搪瓷，瓷釉；(牙齿的)珐琅质 | |
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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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postulated
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| v.假定，假设( postulate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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