THE JUSTICE OF THE STRONG
Rufus was brought before the magistrates, and remanded for a week.
Gervase in the meanwhile made the most of his opportunity. Fate, or
Providence, it seemed to him, had delivered his enemy into his hand, and
he conceived it to be his duty now to assist Providence, to the best of
his ability.
Rufus treated the matter very lightly. He was out on bail, and he had
little doubt that when he was allowed to tell his story before the
magistrates he would be acquitted at once. Indeed, no other result
seemed possible. He had only defended himself, and that a man should be
punished for protecting his own head was almost unthinkable.
He did not consider, however, that nearly all the magistrates belonged
to the class of which Gervase was a member. That almost unconsciously
they would be predisposed in his favour. That they regarded it almost as
a religious duty to uphold the rights and privileges of their class, and
that any insult offered to one of their own order meant a distinct
weakening of that iron hand which had ruled the country for centuries,
unless such insult was promptly met and punished.
The magistrates were all of them honourable men. They belonged to the
best county families. They had feasted at Sir Charles's table more than
once, and ridden to hounds with his son. They had unbounded faith in the
wisdom of the ruling classes, and an inborn contempt for what is
vaguely termed the rights of the people. Political unrest was a
dangerous symptom, and insubordination a crime.
The toast they drank with the greatest gusto at their public functions
was "His Majesty's Forces" and "The Navy." The Church they did not
recognise as a defensive power, and though they repeated nearly every
Sunday, "Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only
Thou, O God," they did not, in reality, believe it. The Gospel was all
right for the social and domestic side of life, but when it came to
larger affairs an army or a warship was much more to the purpose.
Rufus was not beloved by any of these dispensers of the law. He was
reputed to hold Socialistic views; he was not over-burdened with
reverence for the "upper classes," and, worse still, was not content
with the lowly condition in which he was born.
On the day of the trial Rufus discovered that he had made a mistake in
treating the matter so lightly. The prosecution had succeeded in working
up a case. He was amazed when he discovered that he was charged, not
only with assault but with drunkenness, and that the charge of
drunkenness was sworn to by at least two witnesses. The terms of the
indictment, by some oversight, had been furnished him too late for him
to supply rebutting evidence. He had only his simple word of denial, and
that stood him in no stead.
Gervase swore that the accused struck him without warning and without
provocation; that, in fact, he was given no time to defend himself, that
almost before he knew what had happened he was lying on the ground
bruised and bleeding. The accused, who was clearly mad with drink,
sprang upon him out of the darkness, and felled him with a single blow,
and but for the interposition of his gardener, Micah Martin, he had
little doubt would have killed him.
Micah corroborated his young master's evidence. He heard a cry for help,
and running out saw the Captain on his back with the prisoner's knee on
his chest. He was not absolutely certain as to the latter point, but
that was his impression. Seeing him the prisoner staggered away, and
leaned against a gate. He seemed to be just mad drunk, and in his
judgment did not quite know what he was doing.
The next witness was Timothy Polgarrow, barman at the "Three Anchors."
He swore that he supplied the prisoner with two whiskies on the evening
in question; that he appeared to be excited when he came into the
public-house bar, but quite sober. After the second whisky, however, he
showed signs of intoxication so that a third whisky which he demanded
was refused. It was quite early in the evening when he called, not much
after dark. He was able to walk fairly straight when he left the "Three
Anchors," but appeared to be terribly angry that he was refused any more
drink.
Timothy gave his evidence glibly, and with great precision, and stuck to
what he called his facts with limpet-like tenacity.
Rufus startled the court, and horrified the magistrates by asking Tim
how much the Captain had paid him for committing perjury.
Rufus denied that he had ever crossed the threshold of the "Three
Anchors." He had passed it on the evening in question on his way home
from Redbourne, but he did not even slacken his pace, much less call.
Tim, however, stuck to his story, and was quite certain that he was not
mistaken in his man.
As to the assault there could be no doubt. The Captain's face bore
evidence of the severity of the attack. Rufus did not deny striking him
and knocking him down, but persisted that Gervase was the aggressor.
"But why should he attack you?" the chairman asked.
"He accused me of something which I very much resented."
"What did he accuse you of?"
"I decline to say."
"Why do you decline?"
"Because it would introduce a name that I would not on any account have
mixed up in this sordid affair."
"Oh! indeed." And the Bench smiled in an ultra superior way.
"Well, when he accused you of something you very much resented what did
you do?"
"I called him a liar."
"Yes?"
"This angered him, and he struck at me."
"And what then?"
"I dodged the blow, and struck back."
"He didn't dodge the blow, I suppose?"
"It appears not by his appearance."
There was laughter in court at this reply, which was instantly
suppressed.
"And what followed then?"
"What usually follows in such a case. Each tried to get at the other. I
suppose my arm was the stronger or the longer. At any rate, when he
found himself on his back he began to bellow for help."
"So that you wish us to believe that in a stand-up fight between a
soldier and a civilian the soldier got the worst of it?"
"It looks as if he got the worst of it, at any rate."
"Does it not occur to you that your story does not hang well together?
Is it likely that a soldier--or an ex-soldier, a man trained to the use
of arms--would allow himself to be felled to the ground unless he were
taken unawares?"
"Whether it is likely or not I have only stated the simple facts. Why
should I attack him unawares, or attack him at all? His existence is a
matter of supreme indifference to me. I should not have noticed him had
he not charged me with conduct which I repudiate."
"But you refuse to say what it is he charged you with?"
"I do, and for the reasons I have already stated."
At this point the Captain's solicitor took up the running, and insisted
that the case had been proved up to the very hilt. Timothy Polgarrow, a
man of unimpeachable character, had sworn upon oath that he had served
the accused with whiskies on the evening in question. Generally
speaking, it was, no doubt, true, that the accused was a very temperate
man. Hence, when he took drink at all, he the more quickly got out of
bounds. An inveterate toper would have taken half-a-dozen whiskies, and
carried a perfectly steady head. The accused was excited when he entered
the "Three Anchors." Perhaps he had business worries. It was hinted that
his schemes were hanging fire. Perhaps he had imbibed freely before he
left Redbourne. People drank sometimes to drown their care. But the one
clear fact was that he left the "Three Anchors" considerably the worse
for liquor. Liquor makes some people hilarious, others it makes
quarrelsome. The accused evidently belongs to the latter class. He was
ready to fight anybody. As it happened, Captain Tregony, as he would
still call him, though he had resigned his commission, was the first man
he met. The Captain was taking a constitutional before dinner. It was a
clear, frosty evening with plenty of starlight. The Captain was walking
slowly with no thought of evil, when suddenly, out of the night, loomed
the accused. The sequel you know. He fell upon the Captain unawares and
struck him to the ground, and the chances are, in his drunken fury,
would have murdered him, but for the timely assistance of Micah Martin.
The case was as simple and straightforward as any bench of magistrates
could desire. The facts were borne out by independent testimony. There
could be no shadow of doubt as to the drunkenness or the assault. The
only matter to be considered was the measure of punishment to be meted
out. They all agreed that drunkenness was no excuse for violence, while
the offence was aggravated by a man in Rufus Sterne's position attacking
a man of the rank of Captain Tregony.
One or two of the magistrates were for committing him to gaol without
the option of a fine. It was a serious matter for a civilian to attack
even an ex-soldier. It was a species of _lese majeste_ that ought not to
be tolerated for a moment.
Unfortunately for these extremists a similar case had been tried a
fortnight previously, and the accused--a man of considerable means--had
got off with a fine of ten shillings and costs.
"And," argued the chairman, "we cannot with this case fresh in people's
minds give colour to the fiction that there is one law for the rich and
another for the poor."
So in order to prove their absolute impartiality, and to mark at the
same time their sense of what was due to an ex-officer of His Majesty's
forces they inflicted a fine of five pounds and costs, or a month's
imprisonment.
Rufus was disposed at first not to pay the money. He was so angry that
he almost felt that the seclusion of a prison cell would be a relief.
But better thoughts prevailed. He was absolutely helpless. It was no
use kicking or protesting. He could only grin, and abide, and hope that
the day would come when justice would find her own.
It was a humiliating day for him. He left the court branded as a
drunkard and a brawler. The case for the prosecution had been so clear
and circumstantial that even his best friends were confounded. That he
should deny the accusation was natural enough; but there was an unspoken
fear in their hearts that worry had driven him to drink, and that
alcohol acting upon a highly-strung temperament had thrown him
momentarily off his mental and moral balance.
Madeline Grover was almost dumbfounded. Unconsciously she had been
idealising Rufus for months past, while their last conversation had
further exalted him in her estimation. Here was a man, honest in his
doubts, sincere in his beliefs, and faithful to all his ideals. A man
who "would not make his judgment blind," and who refused to play the
hypocrite whatever the world might say in disparagement of him.
Among all her acquaintances there was no man who had struck her fancy so
much. He stood apart from the common ruck. His very antagonism to the
religious conventions of his time had something of nobleness in it. If
he derided the Church it was because he believed it had departed from
the spirit and teachings of its founder. His reverence for what was good
and helpful had won her admiration.
And now suddenly it had been discovered to her that her idol had not
only feet of clay, but was clay altogether, that he was a worse
hypocrite than the hypocrites he derided. That behind all his
pretence----
She stopped short at that. He had made no pretence. If he had talked
about himself it was in disparagement rather than praise. He
claimed no virtues beyond what his fellows possessed. He had always been
singularly modest in his estimate of his own abilities.
Yet here were the facts in black and white. The unshaken testimony of
unimpeachable witnesses, while poor Gervase's face bore unmistakable
evidence of the fierceness of the onslaught.
Four days after the trial the local paper came out with a verbatim
report. Madeline took a copy to her own room, and spent the whole
afternoon in studying its _pros_ and _cons_.
The points that fastened themselves upon her memory most tenaciously
were first, Rufus's refusal to give the name of someone about whom they
quarrelled, and second, his suggestion that Timothy Polgarrow had been
bribed by Gervase to give false evidence.
Here was a phase of the question that seemed to grow larger and larger
the more she looked at it. She would have to keep her eyes and ears
open. Perhaps the last word on the subject had not been said. If Gervase
was as honourable as she had always believed, then it was wicked of
Rufus Sterne to throw out such a base and shameful insinuation. If, on
the other hand, Rufus was as black as he had been painted, why this act
of chivalry in the defence of the name of some unknown person?
The subject was full of knots and tangles. She would have to wait until
some fresh light was thrown upon it.
As the days passed away she was pleased to note that Gervase showed no
sign of triumph over the downfall of Rufus Sterne. He pointed no moral
as he might reasonably have done. He did not come to her and say,
"There, I told you so." His restraint and reserve were admirable, and
she liked him all the better for his silence.
When, at length, she herself alluded to the matter, he spoke with
genuine feeling and sympathy.
"I am really sorry for the fellow," he said. "Of course, he brought it
upon himself. I could not possibly pass over the assault in silence. But
all the same it is a pity that a man of parts should destroy his own
reputation."
"It seemed a momentary and unaccountable outburst," she said,
reflectively.
He smiled knowingly, and shook his head, but would not venture any
further remark on the subject.
Madeline was greatly puzzled. She supposed she had been mistaken. It
seemed for once her instincts had led her wrong, her intuitions were at
fault. It was a painful discovery to make, and yet there was no other
conclusion she could come to. It was impossible to believe that Gervase
had deliberately plotted to ruin him, for Gervase, at any rate, was a
gentleman.
Yet, somehow, she was never wholly satisfied. In spite of everything her
sympathies were still with the accused man. She made no attempt,
however, to see him again. She avoided every walk that would lead her
across his path. She did her best to put him out of her thoughts and out
of her life.
Gervase, meanwhile, played his part with great skill. He no longer
pestered her with his attentions, no longer blustered. He felt he was
safe now from any rival, and that time was on his side. It was very
galling to have to wait so long, his fingers itched to touch her
dollars, but he was wise enough to see that he would gain nothing by
precipitancy. Madeline was not to be hurried or driven.
As the winter wore slowly away Madeline became more friendly and
confidential. She sometimes asked him to take her a walk across the
downs. She allowed him also to give her lessons in riding, she sought
his advice in numberless little matters, in which she feared to trust
her own judgment, and all unconsciously led him to think that the game
was entirely in his own hands.
Between the Hall and the village there was little or no intercourse.
Lady Tregony did most of her shopping in Redbourne. It was only the
common and inexpensive things of household use that St. Gaved was deemed
worthy to supply. Hence it happened that sometimes for a week on the
stretch no local news found its way into the Hall.
Occasionally Madeline wondered whether Rufus Sterne after his sad fall,
would give up in despair, and go to the bad altogether, or whether he
would pull himself together and fight his battle afresh. She wondered,
too, whether the scheme or invention in which he had risked his all
would prove to be a success or a failure. She sometimes scanned the
columns of the local paper, but his name was never mentioned, and
somehow she had not the courage to ask anyone who knew him.
The weather continued so cold and cheerless, and so trying to the
Captain after his Indian experiences, that it was suggested by Sir
Charles that they should spend a month or two in the South of France.
Madeline caught at the idea with great eagerness, and that settled the
matter. Both Sir Charles and Gervase were anxious to get her away from
St. Gaved, but were not quite certain how it was to be accomplished.
Madeline had grown so sick of London, and so eager to get back again to
Trewinion Hall, that they were afraid she would object to going away
again so soon.
Gervase glanced at his father knowingly, and his eyes brightened.
That evening father and son discussed affairs in the library.
"I think the way is clear at last," Sir Charles said, with a smile.
"Yes, I think so," Gervase answered, pulling at his briar.
"We'll get away as soon as we can, the sooner the better. Under the
sunny skies of the Riviera her thoughts will turn to love and
matrimony," and Sir Charles laughed.
"She's grown almost affectionate of late."
"That is good. If she ever cherished any romantic attachment for that
scoundrel Sterne it is at an end."
"She never mentions his name."
"And by the time we have been away a week she will have forgotten his
existence."
"I hope she will not be caught by some other handsome face."
"Not likely, my boy, if you play your cards well."
"I think, under the circumstances, I have played them remarkably well.
Much better than you did when they were in your hands."
"No, no. Everything is going on as well as well can be. I don't think
either of us has anything to blame himself with."
"I am not sure I did right in giving up my commission so soon. She was
immensely taken, if you remember, with my uniform. She likes smart
clothes."
"Oh, she's got over that. She's a woman now, and a wide-awake woman to
boot."
"There's no doubt about her being wide-awake. But when shall we start?"
"Why not next Monday?"
"Aye, that will do. The sooner the better," and Gervase went off to his
room to dream of matrimony and unlimited cash.