While the Doctor is exerting his skill in the endeavour to revive our
hero, we shall go back and give some account of the events which led to
the fortunate result proclaimed by Lady Arden on her entrance.
We have already mentioned that at an early hour the morning after Alfred
quitted his place of concealment in the ruins, the long-delayed funeral
of Willoughby took place; immediately after which the family set out for
London.
Geoffery, though he knew himself to be a suspected and unwelcome guest,
yet had thought it necessary, for appearance sake, to attend. He had
done so, and spent some hours subsequently at Fips's, awaiting the
departure of Lady Arden and suite from the mansion, upon which it was
his intention to take immediately formal possession of a place of which
he had so long desired to be the master. The last of the carriages
containing the family party had passed about an hour, when Geoffery
mounted his horse and was riding through the principal street of Arden
on his way to the park, on the adjacent woods of which he was so much
engaged looking with exulting _pride_, that he did not perceive a waggon
laden with household furniture which happened to be passing, till it
came so near that to avoid it he was obliged to ride close to the
foot-path.
There chanced to be advancing at the moment, along the said foot-path, a
decrepid old man, a sort of village miser; who, though suspected of
possessing secret hoards, lived alone in a hovel--denied himself the
necessaries of life--and looked like a beggar. This man had enjoyed for
many years, as a sort of privilege, the almost exclusive sale, at the
moderate charge, as he expressed it, of one halfpenny each, of all
murders, trials, last dying speeches, ballads, valentines, &c. &c. &c.
"A full and true account of the trial and conviction of Sir Alfred
Arden, for the cruel and most unnatural murder of his brother, the late
Sir Willoughby Arden;" and also of his miraculous escape from prison on
the morning on which he was to have been executed, had been prepared for
this species of sale; but from respect to the feelings of the family had
not hitherto been publicly hawked about. As all its members, however,
with the exception of Geoffery, whose sentiments were tolerably well
understood, had that morning taken their departure, such delicacy was no
longer deemed necessary. Accordingly, the ancient ballad-monger, fearful
of being anticipated in his market, was commencing operations. He had
just vociferated, "Interesting account, &c. &c." and at the precise
moment that Geoffery, in making way for the waggon rode close to the
foot-path, was in the act of raising his arm to display on high his
large-lettered merchandize, when his hand coming in contact with the
nose of Geoffery's horse the glaring white appearance, and sudden
rustling noise of the unfurled paper so startled the animal, that he
backed, plunged, and reared up against the waggon, entangling Geoffery
amongst the legs and arms of the tables and chairs with which it was
heaped, and which, lifting him from his saddle, let him down so close to
one of the wheels, that it went over his head and crushed it to atoms.
He was taken up and carried into an adjacent public house, of course
quite dead; while almost every one who had been in the street at the
time of the accident, crowded immediately into the common room where he
was laid.
It so happened that the master of the house had once incurred very ugly
suspicions respecting picking of pockets; this was a point therefore on
which he was now particularly jealous of his honour. When the spectators
therefore had satisfied themselves as to the nature and extent of the
injuries received by the deceased, and were about to disperse, mine host
uplifted his voice, and requested that some one would remain to examine
the contents of the gentleman's pockets, that his house might come to no
discredit in the business.
Accordingly, two persons consented to do so, one an apothecary, who had
been called in to pronounce whether or not a person who had been
guillotined by a waggon wheel, were quite dead; the other, Mr. Danvers,
High Sheriff for the county. He had attended the funeral, and was
passing through the town on his way home. He was the warm friend of Lady
Arden, and felt a strong persuasion of Alfred's innocence.
The money in Geoffery's purse was counted, and a pocket-book found which
was opened, to ascertain whether it contained bank-notes; Here Mr.
Danvers perceived a letter, the address and memoranda on the outer fold
of which rivetted his whole attention. They were in the late Sir
Willoughby Arden's hand-writing, and ran thus--"To my dear brother,
Alfred Arden, containing my dying requests to him, together with my
reasons for having resolved to put a period to my existence."
It was very evident that this letter, though open, had never reached Sir
Alfred's hands, or it must have been brought forward on the trial; there
seemed therefore to be no doubt that Geoffery Arden, however it had come
into his possession, had suppressed it with the most diabolical
intentions. To hasten therefore immediately with the precious document,
in pursuit of Lady Arden, and lay the affair in due form before the
Secretary of State for the Home Department, seemed to be the obvious
course, and was accordingly adopted by Mr. Danvers with all possible
speed.