I? what I answered? As I live
I never fancied such a thing
As answer possible to give!
What says the body, when they spring
Some monstrous torture engine's whole
Weight on it? No more says the soul.
_Count Gismond._
In the breezy glitter of the sunshiny morning, a crowd stood on the
curving beach of Edge Valley in a state of perplexity something
resembling a pack of hounds at fault.
Day had dawned, full of light and motion. Billowy masses of white
cumulus clouds sailed rapidly over the deep blue sky. The thick turbid
sea rolled in, casting up mire and dirt from its depths. News had come
to Brent that the fishing-smacks had found a refuge in Lyme harbour, and
gay chatter filled the streets, as the happy wives and mothers ran to
and fro, laughing as they thought on their terrors of the previous
night.
Joy had come in the morning to all but the inhabitants of Edge
Willoughby. Godfrey was still missing, and there was no news of him.
Mr. Fowler feared there could be but one solution of the mystery. The
boy must have dared the cliff-path, and made a false step, or been swept
off bodily by the gale. The sea, which had spared the yacht, most
probably had drowned this heir to a great fortune.
The strangest part of the affair was the callousness shown by Elsa. It
almost seemed as if she were simply relieved by the absence of her
brother, and careless as to its cause. She had, however, come down to
the shore with her godfather, and stood, like one half dazed, among the
villagers, answering with painful hesitation the questions put to her as
to where she had last seen Godfrey.
The yacht was brought up about half a mile off shore, and an examination
of her by telescope had proved her to be a very smart and well-found
vessel--a most perfect specimen of her kind. She was painted quite
white, with a gold streak running round her, and she was flying a black
distinguishing flag, upon which appeared a white swan with outspread
wings, and an ensign which appeared to be foreign. The crew could be
seen busy about the deck, repairing damages to paint and gear from the
gale overnight. Just as Henry had dispatched two search-parties, one
along the cliffs, the other along the shore, it was seen that a gig was
leaving the yacht's side, and approaching with rapid strokes, pulled by
two men, and a third steering. Mr. Fowler waited, knowing that most
probably some injury had been sustained during the gale of the previous
night, and that he might be able to make an offer of help.
As soon as the keel touched the shingle, the man in the stern-sheets
stood up, and asked if there were an inn in the village. His English was
fair, but his accent virulently German. Being answered in the
affirmative, he next proceeded, somewhat to the astonishment of the
crowd, to ask if there were a magistrate living near.
"I am a Justice of the Peace," said Mr. Fowler, amid a general
sensation.
The man touched his cap. His master, Mr. Percivale, would be very glad
of a few moments' conversation, if the gentleman's leisure served. He
had a statement to make if the Justice could wait, he would be on shore
in twenty minutes.
Henry, wondering greatly as to the statement he was to hear, inquired
how much water the yacht drew, and, on being informed, explained that,
if Mr. Percivale chose, he could steer her right in, within a few feet
of the shore, owing to the peculiarly sudden shelve of the bay.
The man touched his cap again, and, having raised the popular feeling to
fever heat by a scarcely intelligible hint that he believed there was
murder in the case, pushed off, and rowed back to the yacht as fast as
he had come.
The crowd on the beach had increased. Most of the villagers had seen the
boat leave the yacht, and hurried down in great eagerness to know what
was going forward.
Doubtful as to what course to pursue, Mr. Fowler stood irresolute in
their midst, Elsa, Miss Emily Willoughby, Miss Charlotte Willoughby, and
Claud Cranmer at his side.
Suddenly a sound of wheels was heard grinding sharply on the sea-road.
Involuntarily all heads were turned in this new direction, and it was
seen that one of the Stanton station-flies had come to a stand-still
just opposite the assembled people, and that a lady and gentleman were
hastily alighting.
On hearing that the name of the owner of the yacht was Percivale, Mr.
Cranmer roused himself from the reverie into which he had fallen. This,
then, was the Swan, the mysterious yacht of which everyone had been
talking all the summer, and whose owner was so obstinately
uncommunicative and unsociable. The idea of meeting the hero of the hour
brought a certain excitement with it; but these thoughts were put to
flight by the sudden arrival on the scene of the two new actors. In a
flash he recognised Frederick Orton, whom he had occasionally seen in
company with Colonel Wynch-Frere at Sandown; and this, of course, was
his wife. Whence had they sprung? They were believed to be in Homburg;
and Claud felt a strange sinking of the heart as he realised in what an
unfortunate moment they appeared.
Ottilie sprang vehemently from the carriage, looking round her with
flashing eyes. Evidently she was greatly excited. Moving hastily towards
the group, she suddenly stopped short, asking, in her fine contralto
voice:
"Is Miss Charlotte Willoughby here?"
With an assenting murmur, the throng divided right and left, and she
moved on again, till she stood within a few inches of the lady in
question. Her husband, after a word to the driver, followed her.
"Miss Willoughby, I am Mrs. Frederick Orton," she said, every word of
her deep utterance distinctly audible to everyone present. "We are just
arrived from the Continent, and, in consequence of complaints of unkind
treatment received in letters from our nephew, we travelled straight
down here. We have been up to the house, seen your eldest sister, and
been by her informed that the boy is missing since yesterday. Where is
he?" She raised her magnificent voice slightly, and it seemed to pierce
through Henry Fowler's brain. "Where is he? What have you done with him?
Bring him back to me, instantly."
Silence.
The brisk wave broke splashing and foaming along the beach. The white
fleecy cloud drew off from the sun which it had momentarily obscured.
Miss Charlotte helplessly confronted her antagonist for a moment, and
then burst into tears. All Edge Valley held its breath. That Miss
Charlotte Willoughby could weep was a hypothesis too wild ever to have
been hazarded among them.
Frederick Orton, in his faultless summer travelling attire, a look of
anxiety on his weak, handsome face, stood scanning the group, bowing
slightly to Claud, whom he vaguely recognised, and then letting his eye
wander to Elsa.
There his gaze rivetted itself with a strange fascination. The girl was
too like her father, Valentine Brabourne, for him to be ignorant of her
identity; he partly hated her for it. Her beauty, too, took him utterly
by surprise. He had heard that she was pretty, but for this unique and
superb fairness he was quite unprepared.
His wife, after waiting a minute, or two repeated her question.
"What have you done with Godfrey?" she cried.
Mr. Fowler stepped forward, raising his hat, and meeting her scornful
eye steadily.
"Who are you?" the eye seemed to demand. He answered, with his
accustomed gentleness:
"My name is Fowler, madam, and I am at present engaged in the same
pursuit as yourself--a search-for Godfrey. The Misses Willoughby will
have told you how he and his sister went out for a walk together
yesterday, and missed each other----"
She pounced upon his words.
"His sister! Yes, his sister! Where is she?"
Sweeping half round, she confronted Elsa on the instant. The two pairs
of eyes met--the scorching dark ones, the radiant grey. In each pair, as
it rested, on the other, was a menace. It was war to the knife between
Ottilie Orton and her niece from that moment.
"So that is his sister," faltered Godfrey's aunt at length. "Do you
know," cried she, suddenly finding voice again--"do you know that you
are--yes, you are directly responsible for whatever may have happened to
Godfrey. I know, Elaine Brabourne, more than you imagine."
A moment of horror, cold sickly horror, crept for one dark instant into
Claud's brain as he saw the ashy pallor which overspread Elsa's lace.
She seemed to reel where she stood.
"No," she panted, incoherently, "no, it is not true! I never did----"
Her godfather grasped her shoulder with a firm hold.
"Do not attempt to answer Mrs. Orton," he said, in a voice which sounded
unlike his own. "She is over-tired--excited. Presently she will regret
her words."
"Insolence!" said Ottilie, flinging a look at him. "Frederick, will you
hear me spoken to like this?"
"I think it would be--a--wiser to say no more at present," returned her
husband, hesitatingly. "Had we not better have a little more light
thrown on the subject first?"
"More light? What more light do you want than that girl's ashy, guilty
face, and the authority of this letter of Godfrey's?" she rejoined,
vehemently. "Did he not say----"
"Madam, if you have any accusation to lodge, I must desire you to choose
a more fitting occasion," said Mr. Fowler, peremptorily. "Here, in the
presence of these people, in your present state of agitation, you are
hardly able to speak dispassionately. As no one yet knows of what they
are accused, your charges are, so far, fired into the air. Mr. Orton,
what do you wish me to do?"
"Why, find the boy, I suppose. There'll be the devil to pay if he
doesn't turn up," observed Mr. Orton; adding, as if to waive any
unpleasant impression his speech might leave: "Why, Jove, there's a
yacht coming right in shore. Won't she be aground?"
"Nay, she's right enough. The bay's deep enough to float one of more
than her tonnage," returned Mr. Fowler; and for the moment everyone's
attention was given to the movements of the _Swan_.
The sun streamed down on her dazzling white decks. Nothing more
inviting, more exquisite, could be imagined. The curve of her bows was
the perfection of grace; the polished brass of her binnacle and fittings
gave back every beam that fell upon them.
Half reclining over the rail aft was a young man with folded arms and
face intent upon the manoeuvres of his crew. His head was slightly
raised, and, as the yacht luffed up gently to the breeze, his profile
was turned to the gazers on shore.
It was precisely such a profile as might be one's ideal of a Sir
Percivale--half Viking, half saint; not a Greek profile, for it was cut
sharply inwards below the brow, the nose springing out with a slightly
aquiline curve. The chin was oval, not square, as far as could be seen,
but it was partially obscured by a short pointed golden moustache and
beard, just inclining to red. The shape of the head, indicated strongly
against the light beyond, showed both grace and power. His pose was full
of ease and unconsciousness. He seemed hardly aware of the group on the
beach, but kept his eyes fixed on his men, giving every now and then an
order in German. At last the chain cable rattled out, and the dainty
little vessel swung round, head to wind. Her owner roused himself, and
stood upright, showing a stature of over six feet.
He wore a white flannel shirt and trousers, a short crimson sash being
knotted round his waist. Very leisurely he put on his white peaked cap,
then took a dark blue serge yachting coat and slipped his arms into it,
moving slowly forward meanwhile to the gangway. A wooden contrivance,
forming a kind of bridge, with a handrail, was pushed out by the crew;
and one of the longshoremen pressed eagerly forward to make it firm.
Mr. Percivale stepped upon it, and walked, still with that impassive,
pre-occupied air, forward towards the waiting crowd.
Now it could be seen that his eyes were bright and vivid, of the very
deepest blue--that blue called the violet, which shows darkly from a
distance. His hair, with a distinct shade of red in its lustre, was a
mass of small soft curls, close to the head. His complexion was fair and
clear, just touched with tan, but naturally pale; his features
excessively finely cut.
"A man of mark, to know next time you saw," quoted Claud inwardly, as
the stranger paused.
The dark blue eyes roved over the crowd but for one swift instant. Then,
suddenly, they met the glance of a pair of passionate grey ones--eyes
which spoke, which seemed to cry aloud for sympathy--eyes set in such a
face as the owner of the _Swan_ had never yet looked on. As the two
glances met, they became rivetted, each on the other. There was a
pause, which to Elsa seemed to last for hours, but which in reality
occupied only a few seconds; then Mr. Fowler went forward and asked,
"You are the owner of the _Swan_?"
"Yes; and you, if I rightly understood Bergman, are a Justice of the
Peace?"
"I am. Fowler is my name."
"I really do not know," said the stranger, his eyes again wandering
towards Elsa in the background, "whether you are the proper person with
whom to lodge my information, but perhaps you will kindly arrange all
that for me. I merely felt that I could not leave the neighborhood
without telling you what my men found this morning on the cliffs."
The silence, the breathless hush which had fallen on all present was
almost horrible; the very sea, the noisy breeze seemed subdued for the
moment. Mr. Fowler's face stiffened.
"We were lying midway between Brent and this place early this morning,"
went on the stranger who, to judge by his speech, was certainly English,
"and my crew were examining the cliff with the glasses, when their
attention was caught by something lying on the grass. It was a dark
object, and after watching it for some time, one of the men declared
that it moved. At last they asked my permission to go and examine the
spot, which I willingly gave. They scaled the cliff----"
"Then what they saw was not at the _foot_ of the cliff?" burst in Claud,
breathlessly.
"No. It was on the summit. It was the dead body of a boy."
Elsa gave a wild cry and threw up her arms.
Mr. Fowler caught her to him, holding her golden head against his
breast, stroking down her hair, murmuring to her with parched lips. Mrs.
Orton never moved; she stood like a pale Nemesis, her eyes fixed on the
trembling girl; and down from the breezy heights came the wind, singing
and whistling, making all the poppies dance among the stubble, and the
bright clouds dash over the vivid sky in racy succession.
"Go home, Elsa darling--let Mr. Cranmer take you home," whispered Henry.
"No! no! I want to hear everything!" she cried, in anguish.
The stranger's eyes dilated with a wonderful pity as he looked at her.
"I am sorry to give her such pain," he said, at length slowly, in his
gentle voice.
"Go on," said Henry, hoarsely. "Go on--what did your men do?"
"They satisfied themselves that the boy was dead--that he had been dead
many hours. When they were sure of this, they left the body as they
found it, thinking perhaps they had better not meddle with it. The cause
of death was apparently hemorrhage of the lungs, but it had been brought
on, they guessed, by a violent blow on the back. The body, when they
found it, was lying in what looked like an attempt by some very
unskilful hands, to hollow out a hole and cover it with bramble
branches, as one branch lay under the corpse. The gale had of course
blown away anything which might have concealed the ghastly secret. About
thirty feet from the spot was a large stain of blood, partly obliterated
by rain."
"Murder will out," said Mrs. Orton, slowly, fixing her burning eyes on
Elsa. Theatrical as her manner was, it scarcely seemed too emphatic at
this fearful crisis. "Yes! no wonder she cowers! No wonder she is
transfixed with horror! I say," she went on, raising her voice a
little--only a little, yet every accent penetrated to the very outskirts
of the crowd. "I say that Elaine Brabourne is her brother's murderer."