A BOLT FROM THE BLUE
Just for a moment it looked as if Ralph's pretty scheme was destined
to fall to the ground. Naturally, Mary had the haziest idea of what
was taking place. She could only see that the man whom she knew as Sir
Vincent Dashwood was looking most terribly uneasy and casting
imploring glances at Mrs. Speed.
It seemed strange that anybody should in any way be craving the good
favours of the faded-looking woman, but such was the case. If she had
had the so-called baronet's life in her hands he could not have
regarded her with more entreaty. And, as to her part, Mrs. Speed
looked from one man to the other in a dazed kind of way, as if she had
not the slightest idea what was taking place. Her face turned from red
to white and then to red again; she seemed to have some difficulty
with her breathing.
"I--I don't understand," she gasped. "You are asking for me. It must
be wrong to say that this gentleman is Sir Vincent Dashwood."
Ralph had recovered his equanimity by this time. His obvious course
now was to prevent Mary from guessing at the true nature of the
situation. She must not know yet. And she had been so sweet and frank
and candid with Ralph that not for the world would he have her know
the trick that had been played on her, yet. That confession would have
to come at the proper hour, with the proper setting, say the rose
garden at the dower house on a moonlight night.
"Nevertheless, I am quite correct," he said. "I assure you that the
gentleman who has just come in is no other than Sir Vincent Dashwood,
of Dashwood Hall. As a matter of fact, I was in the fortunate position
of placing a valuable proof of his identity in his way. But the matter
has developed itself so recently that it is possible few people know
of the change."
"Sir Vincent Dashwood!" Mrs. Speed repeated, as if the words had some
fascination for her. "And so he is Sir Vincent Dashwood. And who, sir,
may you be?"
The question came about in the form of a challenge. Mrs. Speed moved a
step forward as if to stand between Ralph and the other man. There was
just the suggestion of protection in the movement. Ralph smiled in
reply.
"It does not much matter who I am," he said. "As a matter of fact, my
name is Ralph Darnley, and I came to you with a message from the late
Ralph Dashwood, who, at one time, was married to your sister."
"You knew him very well?" the woman asked in the same dazed way.
"I knew him very well indeed," Ralph replied, "but that we will go
into presently. In the meantime, this young lady desires a word with
you. Perhaps you will be so good as to settle with her first, my
business will keep till afterwards."
And Ralph moved off in the direction of the passage. Dashwood could do
no more than follow him in the circumstances. He looked restless and
anxious and whistled rather ostentatiously to cover his agitation.
"Upon my word you have made it very awkward for me," he said. "I never
dreamed of seeing you here. Mrs. Speed is an old friend of yours, I
presume."
"I have never seen her before today," Ralph said, aroused by the
eagerness of the question, "I came to bring her a message as you
heard. She appeared to be surprised to see me, but not more than she
was surprised to hear of your new dignity."
"She didn't know it, you see," Dashwood explained. "I--I haven't told
her yet. She was very good to me in my poorer days, and I am grateful
for it. Still, she knows the truth now, and there is an end of it. Odd
that I should find you mixed up like this with quite a different phase
of my life. Don't you think so?"
"Not at all; it is not in the least odd if you knew everything. Still,
it does not matter. You can afford to disclose your identity now."
"But I can't," Dashwood replied, "those lawyer people are making a
great fuss. Anybody would think that they had the title and estate to
dispose of. All the family recognise my position, nobody makes the
least objection, and yet those solicitors ask for all kinds of
additional proofs. I don't half like it."
Ralph made no reply. He knew all about the objection raised by the
family lawyers and was in a position to enlighten Dashwood's mind to a
painful degree.
But all this would come in time; meanwhile, the puppet must play his
part in the comedy. Any further conversation was cut short by the
entrance of Mary. In a tentative kind of way Dashwood wanted to know
what she was doing here.
"No getting away from the old faces and the old places," he said. "I
come to see Mrs. Speed, so does Mr. Darnley, and you turn up at the
same time. What are you after?"
"It does not in the least matter," Mary said coldly. "I happened to be
staying under Mrs. Speed's roof at the time she had the misfortune to
change houses; in her hurry she took away with her certain things
belonging to me. I came to fetch them. It is very simple. Are you
quite ready to go, Mr. Darnley?"
"I think I will come," Ralph said impulsively. "What I have to say to
Mrs. Speed will keep till another day. She seems to be very unsettled
here as yet. Perhaps you will take that message to Mrs. Speed for me,
Sir Vincent?"
Dashwood's anxious features cleared wonderfully. His air had hitherto
been one of guarded suspicion. He had a vague idea that Ralph was
concealing something. It would be no fault of his if Mrs. Speed and
Darnley met again.
"Certainly, certainly," he said. "Is that your cab at the door, Mary?
Let me lend you a hand with those boxes. We shall have the pleasure of
seeing you down at Dashwood before long, I hope. Independence of
spirit is all very well, but you will find your new life a little
trying after a bit. And there is always a home for you at the Hall.
Drop me a line to say when you are coming. Goodbye."
The speaker fairly bundled Mary into the cab. Ralph followed with a
grim smile on his face. He was just as anxious to get away himself; it
would be a pity if his scheme broke down just as everything was going
on splendidly.
"What does it all mean?" Mary demanded as the cab drove away. "What
connection is there between that man and Mrs. Speed? And why did she
look at you as if you had been some accusing ghost? And why was our
friend so afraid that Mrs. Speed should know his new title?"
"What a list of questions!" Ralph laughed. "Would you mind if I
deferred the reply for a few days? Do you suspect that anything is
wrong?"
"Of course I do," Mary exclaimed. "That woman has some guilty
knowledge on her mind. So has Sir Vincent Dashwood. And you looked
angry and confused as he came in. I know that Mrs. Speed came
originally from our part, that she is the sister of Ralph Dashwood's
first wife. She knows all about the family quarrel and the tragedy
that followed. And she is in possession of certain papers that Vincent
Dashwood needs."
"How do you know that?" Ralph asked.
"I overheard the conversation at Keppel Terrace. Vincent Dashwood came
here to get those papers; I heard him say so. And he is at yonder
house today for the same purpose. If that man turns out to be an
impostor, why, my father----"
"I implore you not to build up on that," Ralph said warmly, "pray
don't. Your father will never be Sir George Dashwood. If you come back
to the Hall again in the same capacity as before, your experience----"
Mary laughed good-naturedly. Her face cleared; she discerned exactly
what was passing in the mind of her companion.
"Very well," she said, "I will dismiss that contingency from my mind.
Notwithstanding, I should dearly like to come back into my kingdom
again. But you need not be afraid that I should revert to the old
order of things. The change in me is permanent; the old pride and
coolness have gone; I have learned to love and feel for my kind. Do
you know what I would do if the property were mine? I would turn the
dower house into a retreat for broken-down artists and authors and the
like, where they could regain their strength and rest at no expense to
themselves. Oh, I would do so many things to render the lives of
deserving people happy."
Mary's cheeks glowed and her blue eyes sparkled with a tenderness that
Ralph had never seen in them before. There was soul in the girl's face
now, the soft expression without which woman's beauty counts for
nothing. And from the bottom of his heart Ralph was glad. It was hard
work to keep from Mary the fact that the kingdom she so longed for was
in her grasp.
"It does me good to hear you speak like that," he said. "No, I must
not come in, for I have a great deal to do. Give my kind regards to
Connie, and say that I shall call the next time I am in town. I am
very anxious to see Miss Cameron also. But you say she is coming down
to the dower house on Saturday. Goodbye."
Mary's hand lay in Ralph's for a moment and their eyes met. And then
the girl knew that Ralph still loved her, and the knowledge thrilled
her with a sudden happiness. She did not dare to stop and analyse her
feelings, but deep down in her heart she knew that when the time came
Ralph would have his own way.