Ormskirk closed the door; then he turned, "I lack words," the Duke said.
"Oh, believe me, speech fails before this spectacle. To find you, here,
at this hour! To find you--my betrothed wife's kinswoman and life-long
associate,--here, in this garb! A slain man at your feet, his blood yet
reeking upon that stolen sword! His papers--pardon me!"
Ormskirk sprang forward and caught the despatch-box from her grasp as she
strove to empty its contents into the fire. "Pardon me," he repeated;
"you have unsexed yourself; do not add high treason to the list of your
misdemeanors. Mr. Vanringham's papers, as I have previously had the honor
to inform you, are the state's property."
She stood with void and inefficient hands that groped vaguely. "I could
trust no one," she said. "I have fenced so often with Gerald. I was not
afraid--at least, I was not very much afraid.. And 'twas so difficult to
draw him into a quarrel,--he wanted to live, because at last he had the
money his dirty little soul had craved. Ah, I had sacrificed so many things
to get these papers, my Lord Duke,--and now you rob me of them. You!"
The Duke bent pitiless brows upon her. "I rob you of them," he said,--"ay,
I am discourteous and I rob, but not for myself alone. For your confusion
tells me that I hold here between my hands the salvation of England. Child,
child!" he cried, in sudden tenderness, "I trusted you to-day, and could
you not trust me? I promised you the life of the man you love. I promised
you--" He broke off, as if in a rivalry of rage and horror. "And you
betrayed me! You came hither, trousered and shameless, to save these
hare-brained traitors! Well, but at worst your treachery has very happily
released me from my promise to meddle in the fate of this Audaine. I shall
not lift a finger now. And I warn you that within the week your precious
Captain will have become the associate of seraphim."
She had heard him, with defiant eyes; her head was flung back and she
laughed. "You thought I had come to destroy the Jacobite petition! Heavens,
what had I to do with all such nonsense? You had promised me Frank's
pardon, and the other men I had never seen. Harkee, my Lord Duke, do all
you politicians jump so wildly in your guess work? Did you in truth believe
that the poor fool who lies dead below would have entrusted the paper which
meant life and wealth to the keeping of a flimsy despatch-box?"
"Indeed, no," his Grace of Ormskirk replied, and appeared a thought
abashed; "I was certain it would be concealed somewhere about his person,
and I have already given Benyon orders to search for it. Still, I confess
that for the moment your agitation misled me into believing these were
the important papers; and I admit, my dear creature, that unless you came
hither prompted by a mad design somehow to destroy the incriminating
documents and thereby to ensure your lover's life--why, otherwise, I
repeat, I am quite unable to divine your motive."
She was silent for a while. Presently, "You told me this afternoon," she
began, in a dull voice, "that you anticipated much amusement from your
perusal of Mr. Vanringham's correspondence. All his papers were to be
seized, you said; and they all were to be brought to you, you said. And so
many love-sick misses write to actors, you said."
"As I recall the conversation," his Grace conceded, "that which you have
stated is quite true." He spoke with admirable languor, but his countenance
was vaguely troubled.
And now the girl came to him and laid her finger-tips ever so lightly upon
his. "Trust me," she pleaded. "Give me again the trust I have not merited.
Ay, in spite of reason, my Lord Duke, restore to me these papers unread,
that I may destroy them. For otherwise, I swear to you that without gain
to yourself--without gain, O God!--you wreck alike the happiness of an
innocent woman and of an honest gentleman. And otherwise--O infatuate!" she
wailed, and wrung impotent hands.