DR. HORACE INTERVENES.
In the dead silence which followed Mona's enigmatic announcement a pin
could have been heard to drop. Prelice's head was whirling. Here, at
last, was the explanation, and he would now know the true relationship
between the girl he loved and Ned, who apparently cared nothing for
her. Shepworth stood quietly beside Miss Chent with a perfectly calm
face, but his eyes were fixed threateningly on Captain Jadby, who
appeared to be much amazed at the calm way in which Mona received his
news. Lady Sophia glanced from one man to the other, and, having a
shrewd idea of what was coming, made up her mind to depart, so as to
spare herself a scene, and Shepworth an awkward explanation.
"Most interesting," she said, rising and shaking out her skirts, "but
I have so much to do that I really cannot wait. Mona, child, you must
come and see me at Folkstone, the Piccadilly Hotel, you know, though
why Piccadilly by the seaside I really don't know."
"Will you not wait and hear what I have to say?" asked Jadby, who
seemed desirous of having as many listeners as possible, so as to cast
shame upon Shepworth.
"No, my good man," rejoined Lady Sophia, with all the polished
insolence of a grand dame; "other people's affairs do not interest me.
You had better go back to the South Seas, where I am sure you will be
much more at home. Prelice, help me on with my dust-cloak." She
pointed to a grey silk mantle, which her dutiful nephew duly adjusted
on her shoulders. "Now, Mona, child, don't forget. Good-bye, Mr.
Shepworth. Prelice, you had better come with me," she ended, sailing
towards the door.
The young man hesitated, and looked at Mona doubtfully. She
interpreted his look promptly. "Lord Prelice will stay, at my
request."
"My dear," Lady Sophia at the door sunk her voice, "so very awkward,
if you really know what that creature"--so she designed Jadby--"is
going to say."
"It has to be said sooner or later," whispered Mona, "and I want Lord
Prelice to hear."
"Oh!" A new thought seemed to strike Lady Sophia. She glanced from her
hostess to her nephew, and then pursed up her lips, guessing in a
flash what was coming. "You had better come with me, Prelice," she
repeated, raising her voice, and at the sound of it Mona shrank away.
But Prelice looked dogged, and declined to come. "I must stop and
support Miss Chent," he said.
"Mr. Shepworth can do that," cried Captain Jadby insolently.
"He can," said the barrister, taking a step forward, "and he can
support the cause of"--with emphasis--"any lady."
The advocate of the Stone Age, standing at the open door, raised her
lorgnette, and surveyed the group. "Most interesting," she said, with
cool impertinence; "quite a comedy. Let us hope that it will not merge
into a tragedy." And, biting her lip, she departed, with a glare at
her obstinate nephew.
Guessing that Lady Sophia was offended, and pretty certain of the
reason, Mona did not dare to follow.
The motor car of Lady Sophia was heard whirring down the avenue in the
hot sunshine, and only when the sound died away did Miss Chent return
to the three men. "What more have you to say, Captain Jadby?" she
asked politely.
"It seems to me that there is little need of an explanation," he
answered, with another shrug, and compressing his lips.
"None at all that I can see," rejoined Shepworth in a cool voice. "I
think Captain Jadby had better go."
"Not until I receive Mona's answer from her own lips," he snarled, and
looked a very ugly customer in his impotent wrath.
"Miss Chent to you," said the girl equably.
"Mona! Mona!" vociferated the captain, "I have a double right to call
you by your christian name."
"I did not even know that you had a single right," she retorted.
"I have; Sir Oliver wished us to marry."
"Quite so, and for that reason I became engaged to Mr. Shepworth."
Prelice gave a gasp, and turned to his friend. Ned nodded. "It is
true, Dorry," said the barrister. "When I was stopping here, during
the lifetime of Sir Oliver, this man," he indicated Captain Jadby with
contempt, "pestered Miss Chent with his attentions. Sir Oliver was on
his side--why, I can't say--but----"
"I can tell you now," interrupted Jadby hoarsely; "I am Sir Oliver's
son, and Mona is my cousin."
There was a second silence. "I don't believe it," said Prelice
decidedly, and his opinion was echoed by Miss Chent and Shepworth.
Jadby threw back his handsome head scornfully. "It matters little what
you believe," he said violently, "since what I say is the truth, and
no denial can make it anything else. My mother was the daughter of a
great chief of Tahiti."
"Oh!" broke in Prelice impulsively, "then you are a half-caste?"
"Yes," admitted the captain, his nostrils working and his native
origin becoming more and more apparent as he lost his temper. "My
father was married to my mother in native fashion, but that, I learn,
does not entitle me to inherit my father's title and property, which
it should do. However, my father made a will in my favour before
leaving the South Seas. He never had much love for me, and therefore I
dreaded lest he should change his mind and leave his property to
someone else. I came to England to look after my interests, and then
learned that a new will had been made leaving the money to Mona. My
father, to give him his due, was ashamed of himself, and proposed that
the affairs should be settled by marriage, so that both Mona and I
should benefit. I loved her, and agreed to the arrangement, but she
scorned me, and so----"
"And so her uncle died," ended Prelice, looking sharply at the
captain.
Jadby whirled round furiously, and stamped. "My father's death has
nothing whatever to do with my engagement to Mona."
"I never was engaged to you," she interposed swiftly; "it was because
you persecuted me that I asked Ned to stand between us. I have known
Ned for years, and he is a loyal gentleman."
"Very loyal," sneered Jadby, with quivering lips, "to love one woman
and become engaged to another."
Shepworth would have spoken, but Mona prevented him. "There is no need
for you to excuse yourself, Ned," she said coldly, and addressed
herself to the fuming captain. "When I asked Mr. Shepworth to pretend
to be engaged to me, so that your worrying might be stopped, he told
me that he loved another woman----"
"A woman who is----"
Shepworth threw up his hand. "If you dare to say a word," he cried
menacingly, "I shall break your neck."
"There is no need," said Mona again, while Prelice, keenly observant,
held his peace. "I can explain to Captain Jadby, and then he can go."
"I have heard enough," said the sailor hoarsely, and glared. "To fool
your uncle--my father," he added with emphasis, "and to fool me, you
pretended to engage yourself to this man."
"You have stated the position accurately," said Mona with great
calmness. "Mr. Shepworth and I have paid you out. We have played a
comedy by which you, for your insolence, have been deceived."
"Mona!" The man took a step forward imploringly.
Miss Chent receded. "I am not afraid of you now," she declared in a
clear voice, "although you did your best to frighten me. And I do not
allow anyone to call me Mona save those I love. You may be my cousin
for all I know, but I don't like you, and I shall have nothing to do
with you. My fictitious engagement with Mr. Shepworth is at an end,"
she concluded, slipping off a ring and passing it to Ned, who put it
in his pocket; "and you, I understand, have the property, since the
will in my favour has been destroyed. There is no more to be said."
"There is this to be said," shouted Jadby, the veins on his forehead
swelling dangerously, "that this house is mine, and you shall leave
it."
Mona faced him coolly. "Mr. Martaban looks after my interests," she
declared, quite composed; "as soon as he tells me to leave I shall do
so, but until then I am mistress here, and I order you to go."
Jadby would have disobeyed, as he was furious at the failure of his
two thunderbolts. He had hoped to overwhelm Mona by stating that he
was her cousin, and he had hoped to separate her from Shepworth by
telling of the latter's infatuation for Mrs. Dolly Rover. Having
failed, he looked like a fool, and would have tried to recover his
ground by insisting upon remaining, but that Prelice rose to his feet
and Shepworth took a step forward. Jadby was no coward, for the drop
of white blood in him came from a brave old stock; but the odds were
too great. Moreover, he really and truly loved his cousin, and his
soul was torn within him at the thought of losing her. With a sudden
revulsion of feeling, the tears sprang to his dark eyes, although he
was by no means a tearful individual. Putting out his hands blindly,
he groped his way to the door. Mona's generous heart smote her when
she saw the man brought thus low, and she sprang forward to lay her
hand on his arm. "Do not go in anger, Felix," she pleaded, using
his christian name, as Sir Oliver had often done; "if you are my
cousin--and I believe that you have spoken the truth--let us part in
peace. Shake hands."
Jadby dashed the tears from his eyes and her hand from his arm. Her
appeal brought back the original devil to his semi-civilised heart
fiercer than ever. "Will you be my wife?" he demanded savagely.
"No. I cannot."
"Do you love anyone else?"
Mona drew herself up, quivering. "You have no right to ask that."
"Perhaps not," raged the captain, with contempt, "because you love a
man who is in love with a married woman, and----"
Shepworth ran forward, his face white and his eyes bright. "Silence!"
he exclaimed, and took Jadby by the shoulders.
"I shall not be silent," shrieked the half-caste, becoming feminine
and abusive in his towering passion. "You and your Mrs. Rover,
who----"
What else he would have said neither Mona nor Prelice knew, for the
barrister, becoming suddenly silent, after the manner of the angered
white man, ran Jadby swiftly out of the room. The semi-Polynesian
kicked and shrieked and swore, and even tried to bite. But Shepworth,
with set teeth and grim eyes, forced him along the hall, and out of
the front door. The next moment Jadby was lying on his back some
distance away, with Shepworth blocking the door of the house he
claimed.
"You devil!" yelled the half-caste, and he leaped up, to slip his hand
behind him. The barrister flung himself down, while three shots rang
out from the captain's derringer, then sprang to his feet on hearing
no more. Apparently only three chambers had been loaded, for
Shepworth, filled with wrath at this treachery, dared the worst, and
ran blindly down the steps. Jadby flung away the still smoking weapon
with an oath, and sped down the avenue, as though the fiend himself
was after him. For some little distance Shepworth followed, until he
lost him on the wide Downs, and then returned to the Grange, to meet
Prelice coming down the avenue at top speed.
"Are you hurt, Ned?" shouted his friend.
"One of the bullets ripped my arm, but it's nothing to speak of," was
Shepworth's reply. "Where's Mona?"
"She ran upstairs to see Mrs. Blexey. I'll send up and let her know
that you are all right. I say, Ned, you have made a dangerous enemy."
"Oh, damn the danger," growled Shepworth, who was furious--"the low,
mean, sulking hound. He insulted me before on account of Constance,
and that was why we fought. He hadn't a revolver then, and I gave him
a black eye, the brute."
"And are you really in love with Constance?" asked Prelice doubtfully.
"Yes," said Ned gruffly, and not seemingly inclined to talk about the
matter just then. "I'll tell you all about it some day. Meanwhile let
us reassure Mona, and get my arm bathed. It's only a scratch."
"But one moment, Ned," said Prelice, holding him back from entering
the house. "You are not actually engaged to Mona--I mean Miss Chent?"
"No. I only agreed so as to save her from Jadby's insolence and Sir
Oliver's persecution."
"Then Miss Chent is heart-whole?"
"Entirely, so far as I know," replied Shepworth dryly; and then
wheeling to face his friend: "Why do you ask these questions?"
"I'll tell you all about it some day," said Prelice, echoing the
former speech of the barrister. "Halloa, here's Mona--that is, Miss
Chent herself." It was indeed Mona who appeared at the top of the
steps, with Mrs. Blexey and two footmen behind her. She looked pale,
and hurried forward. "Are you hurt, Ned?" she asked anxiously. "I
heard the shots."
"It's only a flea-bite," said Ned quickly; "don't bother about it.
I'll go to my room and bathe it."
"Let me do that, sir," said Mrs. Blexey; and Shepworth, nodding a
faint assent, for he had lost some blood, went into the house, and up
the wide oaken stairs. Prelice lingered behind with Mona.
"I am so glad," he said meaningly.
"That Ned has been shot? How cruel of you."
"No, no, no! You must be aware that I am glad, because----"
"I haven't time to listen now," said Mona, her face crimson and her
eyes very bright. "I have to send a telegram."
"To whom?" demanded Prelice as she disappeared through the hall.
"To Dr. Horace," came back the reply; and then the young man in
addition to his other puzzled thoughts had this new one concerning his
former fellow-traveller.
"I wonder what she wants with Horace?" he asked himself.
The answer came at dinner, when Mona was in the safe presence of Ned,
and Prelice could make no demonstration of the feelings he had for
her--feelings which she had guessed long since existed. Shepworth's
wound, which was worse than he admitted, had been bound up, and he was
in very good spirits. Mona, startled by the events of the afternoon,
looked pale, and was rather restless. But Prelice said nothing. In the
first place, he could not in the presence of a third party, even
though that party was his school-chum; and in the second, he was too
happy to speak much. All he could do, and did do, was to fill his eyes
and heart with the pale beauty of Mona Chent. After all, the gods had
been very good to him by removing an apparently impassable barrier.
It was Shepworth who asked why Mona had sent the wire to Dr. Horace,
and Prelice listened with great interest to her reply.
"After the case," explained the girl, more to Martaban than to the
young men, "Dr. Horace sent and congratulated me on the verdict. Also
he wrote a note saying that if Jadby proved dangerous--those were his
words--that I was to wire to him, and he would draw Jadby's teeth--his
own words again, Mr. Martaban."
"Do you know Dr. Horace?" asked the solicitor, looking puzzled.
"No. I never set eyes on him until he stepped into the witness-box to
give evidence about the herb. But when I heard the shots I knew then
that Captain Jadby was becoming dangerous, so I sent off a telegram to
Dr. Horace. Just before dinner a reply came."
"And the reply?" asked Shepworth, also puzzled.
"Dr. Horace will be here by ten o'clock to-night."
Prelice stared. "It must be something very important to bring Horace
down so promptly. Have you any idea of what he means?"
"No," replied Mona quietly; "all I know I have told you; but if this
Dr. Horace can stop Felix from shooting people, it will be as wise to
have him down."
"Felix," muttered Prelice discontentedly. Mona shot a smiling glance
at him, not ill pleased to see how openly jealous he was, even though
he had no official right to be so. "He is my cousin, you know," she
said sweetly.
"I don't believe it," said Shepworth sharply.
"I do, and if you will look at Uncle Oliver's portrait up there," she
turned to point at the wall, "you will see that there is a likeness
between him and Felix, only Felix is darker," finished Mona.
Prelice did not argue, but sat restlessly in his seat. When Mona left
the three men over their wine they had a long discussion concerning
the present aspect of things, and formed a committee of three to
decide what was best to be done. Lord Prelice insisted upon going up
to London for an interview with Madame Marie, while Shepworth was
equally certain that the trail of Jadby ought to be followed. As to
Mr. Martaban, he openly bewailed the loss of the will, which would
have placed Mona in possession of the Lanwin property.
As the dinner was late, the three men lingered for a considerable time
talking of what was best to be done, and the stable clock struck ten
before they were aware of the passing of time. At once Prelice jumped
up and walked into the drawing-room. There, to his surprise, he found
Dr. Horace, more shaggy and uncouth than ever, sitting comfortably
beside Mona Chent. The two looked like Titania and Bottom the Weaver.
"How on earth did you come here?" asked Prelice, amazed.
"Walked," retorted Horace gruffly. "I caught an earlier train, and so
got here before the time mentioned in my wire. Good-evening,
Shepworth; so you've been killed. Eh?"
"Oh, I'm alive yet," laughed the barrister; and then Dr. Horace was
introduced to Mr. Martaban, to whom he immediately addressed himself.
"I'm glad that you are here," he said in his usual growling tones. "I
mean you, sir, the land-shark. I've some business for you."
"Is this the time to talk business?" said Martaban somewhat annoyed,
as after a good dinner he did not feel able to give advice.
"Judge for yourself," said Horace, fishing a blue envelope, foolscap
size, out of the breast-pocket of his shabby coat. "Look at that."
Martaban did so, and so did Prelice and Shepworth, peering over the
shoulder of his dress-coat. Martaban uttered a cry of amazement.
"Why, it's the missing will!" he almost shouted.