GENIUS OR MADNESS?
For a moment Wolfenden was speechless. Then, with a presence of mind
which afterwards he marvelled at, he asked no more questions, but
stepped up to the writing-table.
"Blatherwick," he said hurriedly, "we seem to have made a bad mistake.
Will you try and rearrange these papers exactly as the admiral left
them, and do not let him know that any one has entered the room or seen
them."
Mr. Blatherwick commenced his task with trembling fingers.
"I will do my best," he said nervously. "But I am not supposed to touch
anything upon this table at all. If the admiral finds me here, he will
be very angry."
"I will take the blame," Wolfenden said. "Do your best."
He took the country doctor by the arm and hurried him into the
smoking-room.
"This is a most extraordinary affair, Dr. Whitlett," he said gravely. "I
presume that this letter, then, is a forgery?"
The doctor took the note of introduction which Wilmot had brought, and
adjusting his pince-nez, read it hastily through.
"A forgery from the beginning to end," he declared, turning it over and
looking at it helplessly. "I have never known any one of the name in my
life!"
"It is written on notepaper stamped with your address," Wolfenden
remarked. "It is also, I suppose, a fair imitation of your handwriting,
for Lady Deringham accepted it as such?"
The doctor nodded.
"I will tell you," he said, "all that I know of the affair. I started
out to pay some calls this evening about six o'clock. As I turned into
the main road I met a strange brougham and pair of horses being driven
very slowly. There was a man who looked like a gentleman's servant
sitting by the side of the coachman, and as I passed them the latter
asked a question, and I am almost certain that I heard my name
mentioned. I was naturally a little curious, and I kept looking back all
along the road to see which way they turned after passing my house. As a
matter of fact, although I pulled up and waited in the middle of the
road, I saw no more of the carriage. When at last I drove on, I knew
that one of two things must have happened. Either the carriage must have
come to a standstill and remained stationary in the road, or it must
have turned in at my gate. The hedge was down a little higher up the
road, and I could see distinctly that they had not commenced to climb
the hill. It seemed very odd to me, but I had an important call to make,
so I drove on and got through as quickly as I could. On my way home I
passed your north entrance, and, looking up the avenue, I saw the same
brougham on its way up to the house. I had half a mind to run in then--I
wish now that I had--but instead of doing so I drove quickly home. There
I found that a gentleman had called a few minutes after I had left home,
and finding me out had asked permission to leave a note. The girl had
shown him into the study, and he had remained there about ten minutes.
Afterwards he had let himself out and driven away. When I looked for the
note for me there was none, but the writing materials had been used,
and a sheet of notepaper was gone. I happened to remember that there was
only one out. The whole thing seemed to me so singular that I ordered
the dogcart out again and drove straight over here."
"For which," Wolfenden remarked, "we ought to feel remarkably grateful.
So far the thing is plain enough! But what on earth did that man,
whoever he was, expect to find in my father's study that he should make
an elaborate attempt like this to enter it? He was no common thief!"
Dr. Whitlett shook his head. He had no elucidation to offer. The thing
was absolutely mysterious.
"Your father himself," he said slowly, "sets a very high value upon the
result of his researches!"
"And on the other hand," Wolfenden retorted promptly, "you, and my
mother, Mr. Blatherwick, and even the girl who has been copying for him,
have each assured me that his work is rubbish! You four comprise all who
have seen any part of it, and I understand that you have come to the
conclusion that, if not insane, he is at least suffering from some sort
of mania. Now, how are we to reconcile this with the fact of an
attempted robbery this evening, and the further fact that a heavy bribe
has been secretly offered to Blatherwick to copy only a few pages of his
later manuscripts?"
Dr. Whitlett started.
"Indeed!" he exclaimed. "When did you hear of this?"
"Only this afternoon," Wolfenden answered. "Blatherwick brought me the
letter himself. What I cannot understand is, how these documents could
ever become a marketable commodity. Yet we may look upon it now as an
absolute fact, that there are persons--and no ordinary thieves
either!--conspiring to obtain possession of them."
"Wolfenden!"
The two men started round. The Countess was standing in the doorway. She
was pale as death, and her eyes were full of fear.
"Who was that man?" she cried. "What has happened?"
"He was an impostor, I am afraid," Wolfenden answered. "The letter from
Dr. Whitlett was forged. He has bolted."
She looked towards the doctor.
"Thank God that you are here!" she cried. "I am frightened! There are
some papers and models missing, and the admiral has found it out! I am
afraid he is going to have a fit. Please come into the library. He must
not be left alone!"
They both followed her down the passage and through the half-opened
door. In the centre of the room Lord Deringham was standing, his pale
cheeks scarlet with passion, his fists convulsively clenched. He turned
sharply round to face them, and his eyes flashed with anger.
"Nothing shall make me believe that this room has not been entered, and
my papers tampered with!" he stormed out. "Where is that reptile
Blatherwick? I left my morning's work and two models on the desk there,
less than half an hour ago; both the models are gone and one of the
sheets! Either Blatherwick has stolen them, or the room has been entered
during my absence! Where is that hound?"
"He is in his room," Lady Deringham answered. "He ran past me on the
stairs trembling all over, and he has locked himself in and piled up the
furniture against the door. You have frightened him to death!"
"It is scarcely possible----" Dr. Whitlett began.
"Don't lie, sir!" the admiral thundered out. "You are a pack of fools
and old women! You are as ignorant as rabbits! You know no more than the
kitchenmaids what has been growing and growing within these walls. I
tell you that my work of the last few years, placed in certain hands,
would alter the whole face of Europe--aye, of Christendom! There are men
in this country to-day whose object is to rob me, and you, my own
household, seem to be crying them welcome, bidding them come and help
themselves, as though the labour of my life was worth no more than so
many sheets of waste paper. You have let a stranger into this room
to-day, and if he had not been disturbed, God knows what he might not
have carried away with him!"
"We have been very foolish," Lady Deringham said pleadingly. "We will
set a watch now day and night. We will run no more risks! I swear it!
You can believe me, Horace!"
"Aye, but tell me the truth now," he cried. "Some one has been in this
room and escaped through the window. I learnt as much as that from that
blithering idiot, Blatherwick. I want to know who he was?"
She glanced towards the doctor. He nodded his head slightly. Then she
went up to her husband and laid her hand upon his shoulders.
"Horace, you are right," she said. "It is no use trying to keep it from
you. A man did impose upon us with a forged letter. He could not have
been here more than five minutes, though. We found him out almost at
once. It shall never happen again!"
The wisdom of telling him was at once apparent. His face positively
shone with triumph! He became quite calm, and the fierce glare, which
had alarmed them all so much, died out of his eyes. The confession was a
triumph for him. He was gratified.
"I knew it," he declared, with positive good humour. "I have warned you
of this all the time. Now perhaps you will believe me! Thank God that it
was not Duchesne himself. I should not be surprised, though, if it were
not one of his emissaries! If Duchesne comes," he muttered to himself,
his face growing a shade paler, "God help us!"
"We will be more careful now," Lady Deringham said. "No one shall ever
take us by surprise again. We will have special watchmen, and bars on
all the windows."
"From this moment," the admiral said slowly, "I shall never leave this
room until my work is ended, and handed over to Lord S----'s care. If I
am robbed England is in danger! There must be no risks. I will have a
sofa-bedstead down, and please understand that all my meals must be
served here! Heggs and Morton must take it in turns to sleep in the
room, and there must be a watchman outside. Now will you please all go
away?" he added, with a little wave of his hand. "I have to reconstruct
what has been stolen from me through your indiscretion. Send me in some
coffee at eleven o'clock, and a box of cartridges you will find in my
dressing-room."
They went away together. Wolfenden was grave and mystified. Nothing
about his father's demeanour or language had suggested insanity. What if
they were all wrong--if the work to which the best years of his life had
gone was really of the immense importance he claimed for it? Other
people thought so! The slight childishness, which was obvious in a great
many of his actions, was a very different thing from insanity.
Blatherwick might be deceived--Blanche was just as likely to have looked
upon any technical work as rubbish. Whitlett was only a country
practitioner--even his mother might have exaggerated his undoubted
eccentricities. At any rate, one thing was certain. There were people
outside who made a bold enough bid to secure the fruit of his father's
labours. It was his duty to see that the attempt, if repeated, was still
unsuccessful.