SOME INTERESTING DISCOVERIES.
Upon entering Mrs. Montague's beautiful drawing-room, Ray found, as he
had expected, that Mr. Corbin was there also, and he at once surmised the
nature of the lawyer's business.
Mrs. Montague gave a start of surprise as she saw him, and lost some of
her color; then recovering herself, she arose with a charming smile, and
went forward to greet him.
Ray thought she looked much older than when he had seen her before, for
there were dark circles under her eyes, with crows' feet at their
corners, and wrinkles on her forehead and about her mouth, which he had
never noticed until then, and which, somehow, seemed to change the
expression of her whole face.
"This is an unexpected pleasure," she remarked, with great cordiality,
"but you perceive," with a glance at the lawyers, "that I am overrun with
business. May I ask you to step into the library for a few moments until
I am at liberty?"
"No, if you please, madame, it is at my request that Mr. Palmer is here,"
quietly but decidedly interposed Mr. Graves.
Mrs. Montague flushed hotly at this interference, then seeing that
she could not change the condition of affairs, and that Ray evidently
understood matters, as he only bowed in the most frigid manner in
response to her effusive greeting, she resigned herself to the inevitable
and returned to her chair with an air of haughty defiance.
It was Mrs. Montague whom Mona had heard moving about in the chamber
adjoining the boudoir.
The woman had come in just after Mary admitted that first caller below,
and speeding swiftly and noiselessly up stairs, was making some changes
in her toilet when the bell rang again. Mr. Corbin and Mr. Graves were at
the door. She heard it, and gliding softly into the hall, leaned over the
balustrade to ascertain who had called.
The moment she heard Mr. Corbin inquire for her, she grew white with
passion, and her eyes flashed angrily, for she imagined that he had come
to question her again regarding Mona Forester. She did not see his
companion, however.
"I will give him a dose to remember this time," she muttered. Then she
heard Mary inform the gentlemen that she was not at home.
"Yes, I am, Mary," she said, in a low tone, for she felt in a defiant
mood, and not suspecting the fatal nature of the lawyer's visit, and
feeling very secure in her own position, she rather courted an
opportunity to defy him. "Invite the gentleman in, and I will be
down presently."
She turned to go back to her chamber to complete her toilet, when she
heard some one moving about in her boudoir.
She glided to the door, softly opened it, and looked in. Instantly her
face lighted with a smile of evil triumph, though she gave a great start
of surprise as she saw Mona there, and evidently searching for something.
She had already learned that the girl had managed to escape from the
power of Louis and returned to New York. Therefore she now imagined that
she had but just arrived and had come directly there to secure her other
trunk, when doubtless she would immediately seek Ray Palmer's protection,
and denounce both herself and her nephew for their plot against her.
Such a proceeding she knew would ruin all her prospects of becoming Mr.
Palmer's wife, and, actuated by a sudden impulse, she hastily drew the
door to again and locked it. Then she sped back to her chamber door and
turned the key in that also, to prevent escape that way, and entirely
forgetting in her excitement that she had intended to make still further
changes in her toilet before going below.
This done, she sped swiftly down stairs, and encountered Mary in the
hall.
"Lor', marm! I didn't know you had come in till you spoke," the girl
remarked, with a curious stare at her.
"I have a latch-key, you know," Mrs. Montague returned, as she swept on
toward the drawing-room, and the girl wondered why she "looked so strange
and seemed so flustered."
Mrs. Montague entered the room with haughty mien, intending to dispose of
Mr. Corbin with short ceremony, but she was somewhat taken aback when she
found that he was accompanied by another legal-looking gentleman.
She had but just exchanged formal greetings with them when Ray made his
appearance; but she did not suspect that he was aware of Mona's presence
in the house. Mr. Graves' remark had led her to suppose that he was there
by his appointment.
Mr. Corbin bowed to the young man, and remarked:
"I was about to explain to Mrs. Montague that some proofs regarding the
identity of Miss Montague have recently come into my possession."
"Do you mean to assert that you have proofs that will establish the
theory which you advanced to me during your last call here?" Mrs.
Montague demanded, with a derisive smile.
"That is exactly what I mean, madame," Mr. Corbin replied.
Mrs. Montague tossed her head scornfully.
She was sure that the only proof in existence of Mona Forester's legal
marriage was at that moment safely lying in the secret compartment of
that little table up stairs. She had not seen it since her return,
for she had been too busy to look over those things again and destroy
such as would be dangerous, if they should fall into other hands; but she
had seen them so recently she felt very secure, and did not dream that
she had been guilty of any carelessness regarding them.
She knew, also, that up to the evening of Louis' last declaration to her,
Mona had no proof to produce, and, supposing that she had but just
returned from Havana, she did not imagine that either of the lawyers
or Ray had seen her to learn anything new from her, even if she had
discovered anything.
"Well, I should like to see them," she responded, contemptuously, but
with a confident air that would have been very irritating to one less
assured than Mr. Corbin.
He quietly drew a folded paper from his breast-pocket, opened and
smoothed it out, and going to the woman's side, held it before her for
examination.
She was wholly unprepared for the appalling revelation that met her eyes,
and the instant that she realized that the paper was the identical
certificate, which she believed to be in her own possession, she lost
every atom of her color. A cry of anger and dismay broke from her, and
snatching the parchment from the lawyer's hand, she sprang to her feet,
crying, hoarsely:
"Where did you get it? how did it come into your possession?"
"Pray, madame, do not be so excited," Mr. Corbin calmly returned, "and be
careful of that document, if you please, for it is worth a great deal to
my young client. Mr. Raymond Palmer supplied me with this very necessary
link in the evidence required to prove Miss Montague's identity."
"And how came Raymond Palmer to have a paper that belonged to me?"
demanded Mrs. Montague, turning to him with an angry gleam in her eyes.
"I have supposed him to be a gentleman--he must be a thief, else he never
could have had it."
"You are mistaken in both assertions, Mrs. Montague," Ray responded, with
cold dignity. "In the first place, the paper does not belong to you; it
rightly belongs to your husband's daughter. In the second place, it came
into my possession in a perfectly legitimate manner. On the day of your
high-tea I came here a little late, if you remember. Your private parlor
above was used as the gentleman's dressing-room, and I found that
document lying underneath the draperies of the bay-window. I accidentally
stepped upon it. It crackled beneath my feet, and it was but natural
that I should wish to ascertain what was there. When I discovered the
nature of the paper I felt perfectly justified in taking charge of it,
in the interests of my promised wife, and so gave it into Mr. Corbin's
hands."
Mrs. Montague sat like one half stunned during this explanation, for she
readily comprehended how this terrible calamity had happened to overtake
her. She realized that the certificate must have slipped from her lap to
the floor while she was examining the other contents of that secret
compartment; and, when she had been so startled by Mona's rap and upset
the table, it had been pushed underneath the draperies, while, during her
hurry in replacing the various articles, she had not noticed that it was
missing.
"Yes, I understand," she said, in a low, constrained, despairing tone.
"You have balked me at last, but," throwing back her head like some
animal suddenly brought to bay, "what are you going to do about it?"
"Only what is right and just, Mrs. Montague," courteously responded Mr.
Corbin.
"Right and just!" she repeated, with bitter emphasis. "That means, I
suppose, that you are going to compel me to give up my fortune."
"The law decrees that children shall have their father's property,
excepting, of course, a certain portion," said the lawyer.
"A paltry one-third," retorted Mrs. Montague, angrily.
"Yes, unless the heirs choose to allow something more to the widow.
Perhaps my client--"
Mrs. Montague sprang to her feet, her face flaming with sudden passion.
"Do you suppose I would ever humiliate myself enough to accept any favor
from Mona Forester's child?" she cried, as she paced the floor excitedly
back and forth, "Never! I will never be triumphed over. I will defy you
all! Oh, to be beaten thus!--it is more than I can bear."
Mrs. Montague's fury was something startling in its bitterness and
intensity, and the three gentlemen, witnessing it, could not help feeling
something of pity for the proud woman in her humiliation, even though
they were disgusted with her vindictiveness and selfishness.
"Defiance will avail you nothing, Mrs. Montague; an amicable spirit would
conduce far more to your advantage," Mr. Corbin remarked. "And now I
advise you," he added, "to quietly relinquish all right and title to this
fortune excepting, of course, your third, and trust to your husband's
daughter and her counsel to make you such allowance as they may consider
right. If you refuse to do this we shall be obliged to resort to the
courts to settle the question of inheritance."
"Take the matter into the courts, then," was the passionate retort. "I
will defy you all to the bitter end. And you," turning with blazing eyes
and crimson cheeks to Ray, "I suppose you imagined that you were to win
a princely inheritance with your promised wife; that when you found this
piece of parchment you would thus enable Mona Forester's child to triumph
over the woman who hated her with a deadly hatred. Not so, I assure you,
for my vengeance is even more complete than I ever dared to hope, and
your 'promised wife,' my fine young man, will never flaunt her colors
in triumph over me here in New York, for her reputation has been
irretrievably ruined, and the city shall ring with the vile story ere
another twenty-four hours shall pass."
"Don't be too sure, madame; don't be too sure that you're going to down
that clever little lady just yet," were the words which suddenly startled
every one in the room, and the next instant the door swung wide open to
admit a new actor in the drama.
A brisk, energetic little man entered the room, and going directly to
Mrs. Montague's side, he laid his hand upon her shoulder.
"Madame, you are my prisoner," he added, in a more quiet but intensely
satisfied tone.
"What do you mean, sir?" haughtily demanded the woman, as she shook
herself free from his touch. "Who are you, and how came you here?"
"Well, we'll take one question at a time, if you please, madame," the
new-comer returned. "First, what do I mean? Just what I say--you are my
prisoner. I arrest you for obtaining money under false pretenses--for
theft, for abduction. The proof of the first charge is right here in my
hand. Look!"
He opened his palm and disclosed to the horrified woman's gaze and to
the amazement of the other occupants of the room two beautiful crescents
of blazing diamonds.
"Heavens! where did you get them? Oh, I know--I know!" shrieked the
unhappy creature, cowering and shrinking from the sight as if blinded by
it, and sinking upon the nearest chair.
"Yes, I reckon you do," grimly remarked Detective Rider, for it was he,
"and this clears up the Bently affair of Chicago, for here, on the back
of the settings, is the very mark which Mr. Arnold of that city put upon
them more than three years ago. Well, so much for that charge. Now, if
Mr. Palmer will just step this way, maybe he'll recognize some of his
property, and we'll explain the second and third charges."
Ray looked astonished as he went forward, but he was even more so when
Mr. Rider held up before him an elegant diamond cross, which he instantly
identified as one of the ornaments which the beautiful Mrs. Vanderbeck
had selected on that never-to-be-forgotten day when he was decoyed into
Doctor Wesselhoff's establishment and left there a prisoner, while the
woman made off with her booty.
"Where did you get it?" he exclaimed, while Mrs. Montague fell back among
the cushions of her chair and covered her face with her trembling hands,
utterly unnerved.
"That remains to be explained, together with some other things which are
no less interesting and startling," the detective returned, with an air
of triumph. "And now," raising his voice a trifle, "if a certain little
lady will show herself, I imagine we can entertain you with another act
in this strange comedy."
As he spoke the drawing-room door, which the man had left slightly ajar
when he entered, was pushed open, and Mona made her appearance with her
arms full of clothing.
She glided straight to the detective's side, and handed him something
which, with a dextrous movement, he clapped upon Mrs. Montague's bowed
head.
It was a wig of rich, dark-red hair, which fell in lovely rings about the
woman's fair forehead and white neck.
She lifted her face with a cry of terror at Mr. Rider's act, and behold!
the beautiful Mrs. Vanderbeck was before them!
Ray knew at once why Mrs. Montague had looked so strangely to him as she
arose to greet him when he entered.
Her face had been artistically made up, with certain applications of
pencil and paint, to give her the appearance of being considerably older
than she was. But he wondered how she happened to be so made up that
morning.
"That is not all," Mr. Rider resumed, as he took a costly tailor-made
dress from Mona's arm and held it up before his speechless auditors.
"Here is the robe which was so badly rent at the time that Mrs.
Vanderbeck escorted Mr. Raymond Palmer to the great Doctor Wesselhoff for
treatment, while the fragment that was torn from it will fit into the
hole. And here," taking another garment from Mona, "is a widow's costume
in which the fascinating Mrs. Bently figured in Chicago, when she so
skillfully duped a certain Mr. Cutler, swindling him out of a handsome
sum of money, and giving him paste ornaments in exchange. No one would
ever imagine the elegant Mrs. Richmond Montague and the lovely widow to
be one and the same person, for they were entirely different in figure as
well as face, the former being very slight, while the latter was inclined
to be decidedly portly, as was also Mrs. Vanderbeck.
"But, gentlemen, that is also easily explained, as you will see if you
examine these costumes, for there must be five pounds, more or less, of
cotton wadding used about each to pad it out to the required dimensions.
Clever, very clever!" interposed Mr. Rider, bestowing a glance of
admiration upon the bowed and shivering figure before him. "I think,
during all my experience, I have never had so complicated and interesting
a case. I do not wonder that you look dazed, gentlemen," he went on, with
a satisfied glance at his wide-eyed and wondering listeners, "and I
imagine I could have surprised you still more if I had had time to
examine a certain trunk which stands open up stairs in the lady's
chamber. I think I could find among its contents a gray wig and other
garments belonging to a certain Mrs. Walton, so called, and perhaps a
miner's suit that would fit Mr. Louis Hamblin, alias Jake Walton, who
in St. Louis recently tried to dispose of costly diamonds which he had
brought all the way from Australia, for his rustic sweetheart--eh? Ha,
ha, ha!" and the jubilant man burst into a laugh of infinite amusement.
"Truly, Mr. Rider, your discoveries are somewhat remarkable; but will you
allow me to examine that cross?" a new voice here remarked, and Mr. Amos
Palmer arose from a mammoth chair at the other end of the drawing-room,
where he had been an unseen witness of and listener to all that had
occurred during the last half hour.
It was he who had rung the bell just as Mona was about to enter Mrs.
Montague's boudoir in search of her scissors, and who, upon being told
that the lady was out, had said he would wait for her. He had called to
ask his _fiancée_ to go with him to select the hangings for the private
parlor which he was fitting up for her in his own house.
His face, at this moment, was as colorless as marble; his eyes gleamed
with a relentless purpose, and his manner was frigid from the strong curb
that he had put upon himself.
At the sound of his voice Mrs. Montague lifted a face upon which utter
despair, mingled with abject terror, was written. She bent one brief,
searching glance upon the man, and then shrank back again into the depths
of her chair, shivering as with a chill.