Fred took from his study table the _Glasgow Herald_ of that morning, and
there, sure enough, was a paragraph stating that the Earl of Glenelg had
purchased the historic castle of Threave, together with the islands,
from the laird, Colonel Maitland. The Gordons had been connected with
the property since the seventeenth century, it was stated, hence the
purchase by the Earl.
"Curiously enough," observed Fred Fenwicke, "Maitland's solicitors are
my own: Burton, Brooks, and Co, of Union Street, Glasgow. From them I
could get to hear the actual situation."
"Wire them in the morning, and ask if the property is really sold. The
papers often get hold of news of that sort prematurely," I said,
clutching eagerly at the last straw, for our enemies had certainly
forestalled us by this purchase, which, if actually effected, upset all
our plans. If Lord Glenelg had paid for the property then the Borgia
emeralds could never be ours.
Fred proposed to wire, and at noon that day Wyman and I were in the
express travelling towards Euston.
For some days yet it was impossible to follow the old monk's directions
for the discovery of the spot at Threave; therefore, with the prospect
of the Crowland treasure being revealed, we eagerly went on the
following day to the British Museum and were closeted with the
professor.
"I had no idea that this most interesting document existed," he said, as
he sat at his table and unfolded to our gaze a dark old parchment,
whereon was a large but rather roughly drawn plan, very similar in style
to those in The Closed Book.
"You will see here," he said, pointing to an inscription in a small
Gothic hand underneath, "that it was prepared by Richard Fosdyke, the
celebrated architect, by the order of John Welles, the last abbot. From
the difference in the drawing on the north side, it was apparently
intended to make certain additions to the monastery buildings; but
having compared it with the ground plan of the present ruins, it is
proved that the abbey was dissolved before the work was carried out."
"It is the exact positions of the fish ponds that we are very desirous
of ascertaining," I said. "What is your opinion?"
"There can be but one. They are here," and he pointed to two squares
drawn at some distance at the north-east of the abbey church, and in an
exactly opposite direction to the written record of old Godfrey. "This
square of buildings enclosed the cloister court," the expert went on,
"and here you see is the chapter house, the refectory, and the
mausoleum, all of which have now disappeared."
Then he took out a plan of the present ruins, and we compared the two
carefully, being surprised at the wide ramifications of the original
abbey and the extent of the outbuildings.
I inquired if it were possible to have a tracing of it, when our friend
the professor took from a drawer a large sheet of tracing-paper upon
which he had already had a copy made. This he gave to me, expressing
pleasure that he had been of any service to us in our investigations.
"I am myself intensely interested in the work you have undertaken," he
said. "If you really hold Godfrey Lovel's Arnoldus then you may, after
all, be successful in discovering both the abbey treasures and the
Borgia emeralds."
"That is exactly what we are trying to do, but unfortunately we are not
alone in it."
"You mean that the Italian hunchback has discovered something?"
"Why, has he been here since my last visit?"
"He was here all day yesterday. He has in his possession some curious
plan or other."
My companion suggested that we should go that very evening to Crowland,
place the plan before our good friend Mr Mason, and commence
investigations in an open and straightforward manner. This course we
adopted, and arranged to leave for Peterborough by the Leeds express.
At five o'clock, however, the Captain returned to tell me that he had
received an imperative call from Paris, and must be away for several
days. As there was nothing to be done until the seventeenth, his
absence made no difference with our plans, though I found my patience
sorely tried by the long wait. I employed the time in searching the
British Museum for more detailed accounts of Threave, but without
success. Within less than a fortnight Wyman had rejoined me, and we
were making plans for a leisurely trip back to Scotland when I received
a telegram from Fred Fenwicke that accelerated our plans. It ran:
"Come back tonight without fail. Go on to Castle-Douglas, and put up at
`Douglas Arms.' Will meet you there tomorrow morning."
At ten o'clock on the following morning we were back again in Scotland,
breakfasting in a cozy room in that old-fashioned hotel, the "Douglas
Arms," at Castle-Douglas, and anxiously awaiting Fred Fenwicke.
We had spent a comfortable if rather warm night in the sleeping-car from
Euston, and both of us being constant travellers, neither felt the
fatigue of the long railway journey. The urgency of Fred's message
caused us the greatest anxiety, and as we sat there together our eyes
were watching the window for his arrival.
Outside, the long, broad street, the principal thoroughfare of the town,
was already filled with the August sunshine, the roadway almost as white
as those glaring roads of Italy, the sky almost as blue as it was in my
once-loved Tuscany.
We had engaged that room for ourselves, for there seemed to be a party
of London holidaymakers staying in the hotel; at least so we judged them
to be by the gorgeous tweeds of the men and the tourist kit of the
women. Loud laughter rang in the corridors of the quiet, eminently
respectable place, and before the door was a coach upon which the party
were slowly settling themselves for a drive through the beautiful
Glenkens.
At last, just as the coach drove away, and the old post-house settled
down to its normal quiet, Fred Fenwicke opened the door and closed it
quickly after him.
"I'm glad you fellows have come," he said in quick excitement. "There's
something strange going on here. Yesterday I was cycling through here,
and while passing down the road along Carlingwark Loch, the same road by
which you drove the other day, I overtook Lady Judith. She was walking
slowly, talking with an old hunchback."
"A hunchback?" I cried. "Then it must be Graniani."
"He was Italian, that's all I know. I didn't wait to acknowledge her
because the fact struck me as very curious, and I thought it would be
best if she were unaware that I had discovered her. So I ran on here,
and on inquiry found that the lady, who had given the name of Miss
Fletcher, had arrived on the previous day, and that the old Italian, who
had signed his name in the visitors' book so badly that it could not be
read, had arrived that morning."
"And they are both here! I wonder why?" I asked, amazed.
"Well, I suppose their visit has some connection with the search they
intend to make over at Threave," Fred said. "At any rate, I thought it
best that you should be on the spot, and watch what was happening."
"But the sale of the island?"
"Brooks wired me yesterday that the contract is signed, but the money is
not yet paid over. The sale is to be completed on the sixteenth of
September."
"Ah, Lord Glenelg, too, evidently thought of the change in the calendar.
Well, we must take our chances of a clash with him. Today is the
fifteenth. On the day after tomorrow, at three-thirty, we ought to be
at Threave and take our observations by the sun."
"But suppose it's a wet day?" suggested Fred, always practical.
"Ah! suppose it is?" I echoed. "Then all our chance may melt away from
us."
Half an hour later, while the Major and the Captain strolled along to
have a chat with Mr Batten, at the office of the British Linen Company,
of which he was manager, I excused myself and remained behind.
Scarcely had they gone when Graniani passed the window with Selby, both
well dressed and presenting a prosperous appearance. They were speaking
in Italian, in order, I suppose, that those who overheard should not
understand their conversation. But I knew from the hunchback's
gesticulations that he was excited by some untoward event.
Judith was undoubtedly alone; therefore I rang for the waiter and sent
him with my card to "Miss Fletcher."
Five minutes later she entered the room half-timidly, as though fearful
of detection. Her hand trembled, her face was pale, and I saw that she
was in a highly nervous condition.
"I had no idea you were here, Mr Kennedy," she gasped. "What brings
you here?"
"I am here to be near you, Lady Judith." I answered, holding her small
white hand. "You are still in distress. How may I help you?"
"How can you help me?" she echoed. "By leaving here at once. If you
remain you will imperil your life. Ah! you don't know the terrible risk
you are running."
"But why are you here?" I demanded. "I believed you were in
Edinburgh."
"I am not here of my own free will," she said slowly. "It is because I
am compelled."
"Compelled! By whom?"
"By your enemies, Allan. Ah! heed me--do heed me, and get away from
here at once."
"Why may I not remain as your protector?" I demurred.
"Because I need none; for me there is no protection," and she trembled
as she stood before me.
"Where is your father?"
"I don't know," she responded. "Some strange events have happened since
we met last."
"But you still trust me, dearest?" I cried passionately, bending until
my lips touched hers lightly. They were cold, and her features seemed
like marble.
"Yes," she murmured. "I still trust you, Allan. My only fear is for
your safety, not for mine. Recollect that we are dealing with people
who are desperate--who will stick at nothing in order to gain their own
sinister ends."
The thought of that weird sign in Bloomsbury crossed my mind, and I fell
to wondering.
"If you reciprocate my love, dearest, it is all that I desire in life,"
I said quietly, in deepest earnestness. "You are in peril, you have
told me, and I am your protector. You tell me nothing, because a
silence is imposed upon you."
"Ah, Allan! I dare not tell you. If I did, you--even you--would hate
me; in years to come even you would detest my memory. With me life is
now short; but even though surrounded by a thousand perils and pitfalls,
I am nevertheless happy because I know that I shall die loved by one
upright and honest man."
"Die?" I echoed. "Why do you always speak of death being imminent?
This is a mere morbid foreboding. You should rid yourself of it, for it
surely isn't good for you."
"Ah?" she sighed bitterly, "you do not know, Allan, or you would not
think so." Then, a moment later, she turned to me and implored me to
leave Castle-Douglas and return to London.
This I refused to do, though I said nothing of the presence of Graniani
or Selby, for even now I was not quite convinced whether she were
playing me false. If Judith were really my friend, if she really loved
me as I hoped, why was she not a little more plain and straightforward?
It was this fact that still held me in a turmoil of suspicion. My
passion for her increased, but my position seemed somehow very insecure.
That a deep and impenetrable mystery surrounded her was apparent; but
she seemed determined upon increasing it instead of giving me some clue
to its elucidation, however slight.
I suggested that we should walk out of the town and talk, but at first
she refused. She evidently feared that those two men might encounter
her in my company, although to me she pleaded a headache. The whole
affair was so queer and unconventional that I myself became more
bewildered.
At length, however, I induced her to go for a stroll, allowing her to
chose the way. She evidently knew the direction in which the hunchback
and his companion had gone, for she took the road that led across the
town and around the end of the beautiful loch towards Whitepark, where
we presently struck a quiet, unfrequented path, whereon we strolled
slowly in the shadow of the trees.
Since we had last met she and her father had been in Aberdeen, Glasgow,
and Edinburgh, and she had left him two days ago at the County Hotel, in
Carlisle. He had told her that he was leaving for London that night,
and had instructed her to go on to Castle-Douglas and await a letter
from him. She was still waiting for it. That was the reason she was
there.
She made no mention of the two men also there, beyond her remark about
my enemies being desperate ones.
For fully a couple of hours we wandered, heedless of where our footsteps
led us, for she seemed thoroughly to enjoy that bright, fresh land of
hills, streams, and lochs. In those sweet moments of peaceful bliss
beside my love I forgot all my suspicion, all the mystery, all the
desperate efforts that I was making to combat those who intended to
filch from me the secret that was mine.
Many were our exchanges of affection as we lingered in that leafy glen,
where deep below a rippling burn fell in small cascades with sweet,
refreshing music. I saw that she wished to tell me everything, but was
compelled to silence. I knew only that she loved me, she trusted me,
but that she feared for my personal safety.
At last she expressed a wish to return, and with lingering footsteps we
went towards the pointed spires of the town that lay beside the loch
beneath our feet. Sweet were her words; sweet indeed was her
personality, and sweet her almost childlike affection.
We parted at the entrance to the town, so as not to be seen together;
and although I groaned beneath that weight of anxiety and uncertainty, I
verily trod on air on my way back to the "Douglas Arms."
Wyman and Fred had not returned, therefore I went along to Mr Batten's,
where I found them entertained to luncheon, and took my seat in the
vacant place at the table. Our host was, I fear, puzzled at the reason
of our sudden decision to spend a few days in his town, yet we told him
nothing, fearing to arouse local interest in our search.
At three o'clock we went back to the "Douglas Arms"; but judge our
dismay when the "boots" informed us that "Miss Fletcher" had left the
hotel hurriedly, in company with "the hunchback and another gentleman,"
and had departed by the half-past two o'clock train--the express for
Carlisle and the south.
"Well, that's a strange move," remarked Walter, when he heard of it. "I
suppose Lady Judith got to know we were here, and cleared out rather
than run the risk of meeting us."
"Yes," said Fred reflectively. "Very curious. I wonder what their game
really is? You've forestalled them over the investigations at Crowland
without a doubt; but I fear they are just a trifle too ingenious for us
at Threave. I've ascertained that at Grierson's, the ironmonger, the
hunchback and another man gave orders for several new picks and spades
to be sent to Kelton Mains, that farm-house through which we pass to get
to Threave. They were sent there today."
"Well," I laughed, "they may be useful to us the day after to-morrow if
they are not claimed. My belief is that those men never anticipated
that we should follow them so closely."
"But will the sun shine?" queried Walter Wyman, gazing moodily out into
the empty street. "That's the question."