A DEEP ONE.
An evil soul producing holy witness,
Is like a villain with a smiling face.
A goodly apple, rotten at the core.
--_Shakespeare._
And when her footman had retired Claudia gave herself up to severe
and painful thought upon what she had just heard. And the more she
reflected on the circumstances the more firmly convinced she became
that poor old Katie had suffered foul play; though of what precise
nature or by whom exactly dealt she could not decide. Whether Katie
had been kidnaped and sent away; or immured in one of the
underground dungeons of the castle; or murdered; or whether the
perpetrators of either of these crimes were Lord Vincent and
Faustina; or Lord Vincent and Frisbie; or Faustina and Frisbie; or
finally, whether all three were implicated, she could not determine.
And the whole question overwhelmed her with horror. Was this ancient
and noble castle really a den of thieves and assassins? One
frightful murder had already been committed. Another had perhaps
been perpetrated. Was even her own life safe in such a cut-throat
place? She feared not; and she knew that she must act with exceeding
caution and prudence to insure her safety. What then should she do?
What became her duty in these premises? Clearly she could not leave
the faithful servant, who had probably lost life or liberty in her
service, to such a fate. And yet for Lady Vincent to stir in the
matter would be to risk her own life.
No matter! Claudia, with all her faults, was no coward.
And with a sudden resolution she arose and went downstairs and into
the library, where Lord Vincent sat drinking and smoking.
"Lady Vincent, I believe I sent you word that I was engaged," said
the viscount, as soon as he saw her.
"Not very particularly engaged, I believe, my lord," said Claudia,
resolutely advancing toward him.
"I was smoking. And I understood that you disliked smoke," said Lord
Vincent, throwing away the end of his cigar.
"There are crises in life, my lord, that make us forget such small
aversions. One such crisis is at hand now," answered Claudia
gravely.
"Will your ladyship explain?" he demanded, placing a chair for her.
Evidently the brandy or something or other had strung up Lord
Vincent's nerves.
Claudia took the seat, and sitting opposite to him, fixed her eyes
upon his face and said:
"Are you aware, Lord Vincent, that my servant Katie has been missing
since yesterday afternoon?"
"Indeed? Where has the old creature taken herself off to? She has
not eloped with one of our canny Scots, has she?" inquired the
viscount, coolly lighting another cigar and puffing away at it.
"Such jesting, my lord, is cruelly out of place! It has not been
many days since a very horrid murder was committed on these
premises. The murderer has eluded detection. And apparently such
impunity has emboldened assassins. I have too much cause to fear
that my poor old servant has shared Ailsie Dunbar's fate!"
Before Claudia had finished her sentence Lord Vincent had dropped
his cigar and was gazing at her in ill-concealed terror.
"What cause have you for such absurd fears? Pray do you take the
castle of my ancestors to be the lair of banditti?" he asked in a
tone of assumed effrontery, but of real cowardice.
"For something very like that indeed, my lord!" answered Claudia,
with a terrible smile.
"I ask you what cause have you for entertaining these preposterous
suspicions?"
"First of all, the assassination of Ailsie Dunbar and the successful
concealment of her murderer. Secondly, the mysterious disappearance
of my servant Katie, just at a time when it was desirable to some
parties to get her out of the way," said Claudia emphatically, and
fixing her eyes firmly on the face of the viscount, that visibly
paled before her gaze.
"What--what do you mean by that?"
"My lord, I will tell you. Yesterday afternoon, as I was descending
to dinner, old Katie met me on the stairs and with a frightened face
told me that she had made an important discovery that she wished to
communicate to me. I directed her to go to my dressing room and wait
there until my return from dinner, when I fully intended to hasten
at once to her side and hear what she had to say--"
"Some 'mare's nest' of a new rumor concerning the murderer of Ailsie
Dunbar, I suppose," said the viscount, with a feeble attempt to
sneer.
"No, my lord, I rather think it was something concerning my own
safety. But I never knew; for you may recollect that on last evening
your lordship detained me in conversation some time after dinner.
When I went to my dressing room Katie was not there. I thought she
had grown sleepy and had gone to bed, and so I felt no anxiety on
that score. But this morning, my lord, she is missing. She is
nowhere to be found."
"Oh, I dare say she has gone visiting some of the country people
with whom she has picked acquaintance. She will turn up all right by
and by."
"I fear not, my lord."
"Why do you 'fear not'?"
"Because there are other very suspicious circumstances connected
with the disappearance of Katie, that since her evanishment have
recurred to my memory, or been brought to knowledge."
"Pray, may one ask without indiscretion, what these suspicious
circumstances are?"
"Certainly, my lord; it was to report them that I came here. First,
then, last evening on my return towards my own room I was a little
startled by hearing a scream, quickly smothered, and then a fall and
a scuffling, soon silenced. These sounds came from the apartment of
Mrs. Dugald--"
"The demon!" burst involuntarily from the unguarded lips of Lord
Vincent.
Claudia heard, but continued to speak as though she had not heard.--"I
caught one single word of the conversation that ensued. It was--'Faustina!'
and it was your voice that uttered it. I therefore supposed at the
time, my lord, that you were only having one of your customary slight
misunderstandings with your--sister-in-law."
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, that was it! She was suffering from an attack
of hysterics; and I had to go in and control her a little. She has
been subject to these attacks ever since the death of her husband,
poor woman," said he, in a quavering voice.
Claudia eyed him closely and continued:
"That was the circumstance that recurred to my memory with so much
significance when Katie was reported missing this morning. Then,
upon making inquiries as to where and by whom she was last seen,
another very significant circumstance was brought to my knowledge;
that she was seen last evening to issue from your rooms immediately
after you and your valet left them; and it appears to have been just
after that she met me on the steps."
"Flames of--! What was she doing in my rooms?" exclaimed the
viscount, losing all self-command for the moment and turning ghastly
white with the mingled passions of rage and terror.
"I do not know, my lord; probably her duty, a part of which is to
keep your linen in order. But whatever took her to your rooms, on
that occasion, or detained her there, it is very evident that while
there she made some frightful discovery which she wished to
communicate and would have communicated to me had she not been--
prevented," said Claudia firmly.
Lord Vincent was tremendously agitated, but struggled hard to regain
composure. At last he succeeded.
"Who told you that she was seen coming from my rooms? What spy, what
eavesdropper, what mischief-maker have you in your employ that goes
about my house--watching, listening, and tale-bearing? If I detect
such a culprit in the act I will break his or her neck, and that you
may rely upon!" he said.
"Have you broken Katie's neck?" inquired Lady Vincent.
"Ha, ha, ha! If I had caught her hiding in my rooms I should have
done so beyond all doubt! Luckily for her I did not do so, as you
must be aware, since you say she was seen coming out of them."
"Yes; but she was never seen to leave the castle!"
"Lady Vincent, what is it that you dare to insinuate?"
"My lord, I insinuate nothing. I tell you plainly that I feel myself
to be--not in a nobleman's castle, but in a brigand's fastness; and
that I suspect my poor old servant has been foully made way with."
"Lady Vincent, how dare you!"
"You may glare at me, my lord, but you shall not intimidate me. I
have seen one murdered woman in the house; I do strongly suspect the
presence of another, and I know not how soon my own life may fall a
sacrifice to the evil passions of the fiend that rules your fate. I
have been silent in regard to my deep wrongs for a long time, my
lord. But now that my poor servant has fallen a victim to her
fidelity, I can be silent no longer! I am here alone, helpless, and
in your power! Yet I must make my protest, and trust in God's mercy
to deliver me, and what is left of mine, from the hands of the
spoiler!" said Claudia solemnly.
Sometimes necessity compels people to think and act with great
rapidity; to rally their faculties and charge a difficulty at a
moment's notice.
This was the case with the Viscount Vincent now. Very quickly he
collected his mind, formed his resolution, and acted upon it.
"Lady Vincent," he said, in a kinder tone than he had yet used,
"your words shock and appall me beyond all measure. Your suspicions
wrong me cruelly, foully; I know nothing whatever of the fate of
your woman; on my soul and honor, I do not! But if you really
suspect that anyone had an interest in the taking off of that poor
old creature, tell me at once to whom your suspicions point, and I
will do my very utmost to discover the truth. By all my hopes of
final redemption and salvation, I will!" he added, looking earnestly
in her face.
Claudia gazed at him in utter amazement. Could this be true? she
asked herself. Could a man look so full in her face, speak so
earnestly, and swear by such sacred things, while telling a
falsehood? To one of Claudia's proud nature it was easier to believe
a man guilty of murder than of lying and perjury. She was thoroughly
perplexed.
Lord Vincent saw the effect his words had had upon her, and he was
encouraged to follow up his success.
"Whom do you suspect, Claudia?" he inquired.
She answered honestly.
"My lord, I will tell you truly. I suspect you."
"Me!" he exclaimed, with a laugh of incredulity. Never were honest
scorn and righteous indignation more forcibly expressed. "Me! Why,
Claudia, in the name of all the insanities in Bedlam, why should you
suspect me? What interest could I possibly have in getting rid of
your amusing gorilla?"
"My lord, I hope that I have wronged you; but I feared that Katie
had become possessed of some secret of yours which you wished to
prevent her from divulging."
"And for that you thought I would have taken her life?"
"For that reason I thought you would have made away with her--by
kidnaping and sending her out of the country, or by immuring her in
one of the dungeons of the castle, or even by--"
"Speak out! 'Cutting her throat,' why don't you say?"
"Oh, Lord Vincent, but this is horrible, horrible!" shuddered
Claudia.
"Ha, ha, ha! Well, upon my life, my lady, you are excessively
complimentary to me! But I am willing to believe that the tragic
event of last week has shattered your nervous system and disturbed
the equilibrium of your mind. But for that I should hardly know how
to pardon your absurd insults. Have you anything more to say to me,
Lady Vincent?"
"Only this, my lord; that if I find I have wronged you by this
dreadful suspicion, as perhaps I have, I shall be glad, yes,
overjoyed, to acknowledge it and beg your pardon. And, in the
meantime, I must ask you to keep your word with me, and investigate
the disappearance of Katie!"
"I will do so willingly, Lady Vincent. And now a word with you. Will
you not change your mind and go with us to Mr. and Mrs. Dean to-
night?"
"No, my lord," replied Claudia, in a tone that admitted of no
further discussion of the question.
And thus they parted.
For some time after Claudia left the library Lord Vincent remained
sitting with his brows contracted, his mouth clenched, and his eyes
fixed upon the ground. He was in deep thought. Handsome man as he
was, villain was written all over his face, form, and manner in
characters that even a child could have read; and, therefore, no one
was to be pitied who, having once seen Lord Vincent, suffered
themselves to be deceived by him.
Presently he arose, bent toward the door and peered out, and, seeing
that the coast was clear, he went out with his stealthy, cat-like
step, and stole softly to the room of Mrs. Dugald.
She was in her boudoir.
He entered without knocking, locked the door behind him, and went
and sat down by her side.
"What now?" she inquired, looking up.
"What now? Why, all is lost unless we act promptly!"
"I said it."
"Faustina, she has missed Katie!"
"That was a matter of course."
"But she suspects her fate."
"What care we what she suspects? She can prove nothing," said Mrs.
Dugald contemptuously.
"Faustina, she can prove everything if she follows up the clew she
has found. Listen. She was in the hall, near the door, when the deed
was done! She heard the struggle and the cry and a part of our
conversation."
"We shall all be guillotined!" cried the woman, starting to her feet
and standing before him in deadly terror.
"We have no guillotining in England; but hanging is equally or even
more disagreeable."
"How can you talk so when my bones are turning to gristle and my
heart to jelly with the fright!" cried Mrs. Dugald.
"I jest to reassure you. If we act with promptitude there will be no
danger; not in the least. I have thrown her off the scent for the
present; I have told her that the noise, the struggle, the cry, and
the exclamation she heard were nothing but this--that you were
suffering from an attack of hysterics, and that I was trying to
control and soothe you. I told her that I knew nothing whatever of
the fate of her gorilla; and I did not spare the most solemn oaths
to assure her of the truth of my statement."
"Good! but was she assured?"
"Not fully. She is confused, bewildered, perplexed, thrown out of
her reckoning and off the track; and before she has time to recover
herself, collect her faculties, and get upon the scent again, we
must act. We must draw the net around her. We must place her in a
position in which her character as a witness against you would he
totally vitiated. To do this we must hasten the denouement of the
plot."
"That plot which will rid me of my rival and make me--me--Lady
Vincent!" exclaimed the siren, her eyes sparkling with anticipated
triumph.
"Yes, my angel, yes! And I would it were to-morrow!"
"Ah, but, in the meanwhile, if I should be found out and
guillotined!" she cried, with a shudder.
"Hanged, my angel, hanged; not guillotined! I told you we do not
guillotine people in England."
"Ah--h--h!" shrieked the guilty woman, covering her face with her
hands.
"But I tell you there is no danger, my love; none at all, if we do
but act promptly and firmly. The time is ripe. The plot is ripe. She
herself walks into the trap, by insisting on staying at home this
evening, instead of accompanying us to the theater. I have sent the
carriage for Mrs. MacDonald. She will come to luncheon with us, and
afterwards go with us to the play. My lady will remain at home, by
her own request."
"Does Frisbie know the part he is to play?"
"Yes; but not the precise hour of his debut. That I shall teach him
to-day. He will be well up in his lesson by this evening, you may
depend."
"Ah, then we shall finish the work to-night!"
"We shall finish it to-night."
"But Mrs. MacDonald--will she not be in the way?"
"No; as I shall arrange matters, she will be of the greatest use and
help to us, without knowing it. First, as a most respectable
chaperon for you, and, secondly, as a most indubitable witness of
the fall of Lady Vincent."
"Good! good! I see! To-night, then, she shall be cast down from her
proud pedestal. And to-morrow--"
"To-morrow she shall be dismissed from the castle."
"But then I shall have to go, too. I could not stay--the world would
talk."
"No, Faustina, you shall not go. I shall go and leave you here, and
invite Mrs. MacDonald to remain and bear you company until--until I
shall be free, my angel, to return and make you my wife."
She clapped her hands with great glee and eagerly demanded:
"And when will that be? Oh, when will that be? How soon? how soon?"
"It may be weeks; it may be months; for the Divorce Courts are
proverbially slow. But the time will come at length; for I have
taken every measure to insure perfect success."