I went to Miss Carr's nearly every evening now, to report progress; for
her instructions to me, after a consultation between Mr Jabez, Mr
Ruddle, Mr Girtley, and myself, were that neither expense nor time was
to be spared in perfecting the machine.
We had gone carefully into the reasons for the breakdown, and were
compelled reluctantly to own that sooner or later the mechanism would
have failed; for besides the part I named, we found several weak points
in the construction--faults that only a superhuman intelligence could
have guarded against. The malignant act had only hastened the
catastrophe.
It was a cruel trick, and though we could not bring it home, we had not
a doubt that the dastardly act was committed by Jem Smith, who was the
instrument of John Lister. A little examination showed how easily the
back premises could be entered by anyone coming along behind from
Lister's, and there was some talk of prosecution, but Hallett was ill,
and it was abandoned.
For the blow he had received from a piece of the machinery had produced
serious injury to the head, and day after day I had very bad news to
convey to Miss Carr. The poor fellow seemed to have broken down
utterly, and kept his bed. He used to try to appear cheerful; but it
was evident that he took the matter bitterly to heart, and at times gave
up all hope of ever perfecting the machine.
It was pitiful to see his remorseful looks when Mr Jabez came to see
him of an evening; Mr Peter, who always accompanied his brother,
stopping in my room to smoke a long pipe I kept on purpose for him,
whether I was at home or no, and from time to time he had consultations
with Tom Girtley, who kept putting off a communication that he said he
had to make till he had his task done.
I used to notice that he and Mr Peter had a great deal to say to each
other, but I was too much taken up with my troubles about Hallett and
the machine to pay much heed; for sometimes the idea forced itself upon
me that my poor friend would never live to realise his hopes.
Time glided on, and I used to sit with him in an evening, and tell him
how we had progressed during the day; but it made no impression
whatever; he used only to lie and dream, never referring once to Miss
Carr's behaviour on that wretched day; in fact, I used to fancy
sometimes that he was in such a state from his injury that he had not
thoroughly realised what did occur.
It was indeed a dreary time; for poor Mrs Hallett, when, led by a sense
of duty, I used to go and sit with her, always had a reproachful look
for me, and, no matter what I said, she always seemed to make the worst
of matters.
But for Linny and Tom Girtley, the place would have been gloomy indeed,
but the latter was always bright and cheerful, and Linny entirely
changed. There was no open love-making, but a quiet feeling of respect
seemed to have sprung up between them, and I hardly knew what was going
on, only when it was brought to my attention by Mr Jabez, or Revitts,
or Mary.
"I should have thought as you wouldn't have liked that there friend of
yourn cutting you out in the way he do, Ant'ny," said Revitts, one day;
"I don't want to make mischief, but this here is my--our--house," he
added by way of correction, "and I don't think as a young man as is a
friend of yourn ought to come down my stairs with his arm round a
certain young lady's waist."
"Go along, do, with your stuff and nonsense, William," exclaimed Mary
sharply. "What do you know about such things?"
"Lots," said Bill, grinning with delight, and then becoming
preternaturally serious; "I felt it to be my dooty to tell Ant'ny, and I
have."
"You don't know nothing about it," said Mary, tittering; "he don't know
what we know, do he, Master Antony?"
"I don't know what you mean, Mary," I replied.
"Oh do, of course not, Master Antony; but I shouldn't like a certain
young lady down at Rowford to hear you say so."
"Phew!" whistled Revitts, and feeling very boyish and conscious, I made
my retreat, for I was bound for Westmouth Street, and had stopped to
have ten minutes' chat downstairs with my old friends on the way.
I found Miss Carr looking very thin and anxious, and she listened
eagerly to my account of howl was progressing at the works.
"Mr Girtley tells me that you are doing wonders, Antony," she said, in
a curious, hesitating way, for we both seemed to be fencing, and as if
we disliked to talk of the subject nearest to our hearts.
She was the first to cast off the foolish reserve though, and to ask
after Hallett's health.
"The doctors don't seem to help him a bit," I said sadly. "Poor fellow!
he thinks so much about the failure of his hopes, and it is
heart-breaking to see him. He toiled for it so long. Oh, Miss Carr, if
I only knew for certain that it was John Lister who caused the
breakdown, I should almost feel as if I could kill him."
"Kill him with your contempt, Antony," she said sternly; and then, as we
went on talking about Hallett's illness, she became very much agitated,
and I saw that she was in tears, which she hastily repressed as her
sister entered the room.
The next evening when I went, I found her alone, for her sister had gone
to stay a few days with some friends. My news was worse than ever, and
there was no fencing the question that night, as she turned very pale
when I gave my report.
"But the invention, Antony," she exclaimed excitedly; "tell me how it is
going on."
"We are working at it as fast as possible," I replied; "it takes a long
time, but that is unavoidable."
"If you love Stephen Hallett," she said suddenly, and she looked full in
my face, "get his invention finished and perfect. Let it succeed, and
you will have done more for him than any doctor. Work, Antony, work. I
ask you for--for--Pray, pray strive on."
"I will--I am striving," I said, "with all my might. It was a cruel
blow for him though, just as success was in his grasp."
"Mr Lister is here, ma'am," said the servant, entering the room.
"I have forbidden Mr Lister my house," said Miss Carr sternly.
"Yes, ma'am, but he forced his way in, and--"
Before the man could finish his sentence, John Lister was in the room,
looking flushed and excited, and he almost thrust the servant out and
closed the door.
As he caught sight of me his face turned white with rage, but he
controlled himself, and turned to where Miss Carr was standing, looking
very beautiful in her anger.
I had started up, and stepped between them, but she motioned me back to
my seat, while he joined his hands in a piteous way, and said in a low
voice:
"I could not help it. I was obliged to come. Pray, pray, Miriam, hear
me now."
"Mr Lister!" she said, with a look of contempt that should have driven
him away--"Mr Lister! and once more here?"
"Miriam," he exclaimed, "you drive me to distraction. Do you think that
such a love as mine is to be crushed?"
"Love!" she said, looking: at him contemptuously.
"Yes; love," he cried. "I'll prove to you my love by saying that now--
even now, knowing what I do, I will forgive the past, and will try to
save you from disgrace."
"Mr Lister, you force me to listen to you," she replied, "for I will
not degrade you by ringing for the servants and having you removed.
Pray say what you mean. Hush, Antony, let him speak. Perhaps after he
has said all he wishes, he may leave me in peace."
"Leave you in peace--you will not degrade me!" he cried, stung to
madness and despair by her looks and words. "Look here, Miriam Carr,
you compel me to speak as I do before this wretched boy."
"Hush, Antony, be silent," she cried, as I started up, stung in my turn
by his contemptuous tone.
"Yes: sit down, spaniel, lap-dog--miserable cur!" he cried; and I felt
my teeth grit together with such a sensation of rage a as I had never
known before. "And now, as for you--you blind, foolish woman," he
continued, as I awakened to the fact that he had been drinking heavily,
"since fair means will not succeed, foul means shall."
"Say what you wish to say, Mr Lister," she replied coldly, "for I warn
you that this is the last time you shall speak to me. If you force
yourself into my presence again, my servants shall hand you over to the
police."
"What!" he cried, with a forced laugh, "me?--hand me over to the police?
You--you think I have been drinking, but you are wrong."
No one had hinted at such a thing, but he felt it, and went on.
"I came to tell you to-night, that I will ignore the past, that I will
overlook your disgraceful intimacy with this low, contemptible
compositor, the blackguardly friend of this boy--the man who has
obtained a hold upon you, and who, with his companions, is draining your
purse--I say I will overlook all this, and, ignoring the past, take you
for my wife, if you will promise to give up this wretched crew."
There was no answer, but I sat there feeling as if I must fling myself
at him, young and slight as I was, in her defence, but she stood there
like a statue, fixing him with her eyes, while he went on raving. His
face was flushed, and there was a hot, fiery look in his eyes, while his
lips were white and parched.
"You shall not go on like this," he continued. "You are my betrothed
wife, and I will not stand by and see your name dragged in the mire by
these wretched adventurers. Even now your name has become a by-word and
a shame, the talk in every pot-house where low-class printers meet, and
it is to save you from this that I would still take you to be my wife."
Still she did not speak, and a look from her restrained me, when I would
have done something to protect her from his insults, every one of which
seemed to sting me to the heart.
"I know I am to blame," he said passionately, "for letting you take and
warm that young viper into life; but I could not tell. It shall end,
though, now. I have written to your brother-in-law, and he will help to
drag you from amongst this swindling crew."
"Have you said all you wish to say, Mr Lister?" she replied coldly.
"No," he cried, stung into a fresh burst by her words; "no, I have not.
No, I tell you," he cried, taking a step forward, as if believing in his
drunken fit that she was shrinking from him, and being conquered by his
importunities; "No, I tell you--no: and I never shall give up till you
consent to be my wife. Do you take me for a drivelling boy, to be put
off like this, Miriam?" he cried, catching at her hand, but she drew it
back. "Do you wish to save your name from disgrace?"
She did not answer, while he approached closer.
"You don't speak," he said hoarsely. "Do you know what they say about
you and this fellow Hallett?"
Still she made no reply.
"They say," he hissed, and thrusting out his face, he whispered
something to her, when, in an instant, I saw her countenance change, and
her white hand struck him full across the lips.
Uttering an oath, he caught her tightly by the arms, but I could bear no
more. With my whole strength called up I leaped at him, and seized him
by the throat, believing in my power of turning him forcibly from the
room.
The events of the next few moments seem now as if seen through a mist,
for in the brief struggle that ensued I was easily mastered by the
powerful man whom I had engaged.
I have some indistinct memory of our swaying here and there, and then of
having a heavy fall. My next recollection is of feeling sick and
drowsy, and seeing Miss Carr and one of the servants bending over me and
bathing my face.
For some few minutes I could not understand what it all meant but by
degrees the feeling of sickness passed away, and I looked hastily round
the room.
Miss Carr, who was deadly pale, told the maid to fetch some brandy, and
as soon as we were alone, she knelt by me, and held one of my hands to
her lips.
"Are you much hurt, Antony?" she said tenderly. "I did not send for the
doctor. That wretched man has made sufficient scandal as it is."
"Hurt? No--not much," I said rather faintly. "Where is he?"
"Gone," she said; and then she uttered a sigh of relief, as I sat up and
placed one hand to my head, feeling confused, and as if I had gone back
some years, and that this was not Miss Carr but Mary, and that this was
Mr Blakeford's again.
The confusion soon passed off, though, and after I had drunk the spirit
that was brought me, I felt less giddy and strange.
Miss Carr sat watching me, looking very pale, but I could realise now
that she was terribly agitated.
Before an hour had passed I felt ready to talk to her, and beg her to
take some steps for her protection.
"If I had only been a strong man," I exclaimed passionately. "Oh, Miss
Carr, pray, pray do something," I cried again; "this is horrible. I
cannot bear to see you insulted by that wretch."
"I have decided to do something, Antony," she said in a low voice; and a
faint colour came into her pale cheeks. "He will not be able to force
his way to me again."
"I don't know," I said. "He is a madman. I am sure he had been
drinking to-night."
"No one but a madman would have behaved as he did, Antony," she said.
"But be at rest about me. I have, after a bitter struggle with myself,
decided what to do."
"But you will not go away?" I said.
She shook her head.
"No; my path lies here," she said quietly. "Antony, I want your help
to-morrow."
"Yes: what shall I do?" I asked.
"Will you ask Miss Hallett to come here to me--will you bring her?"
"Bring Linny Hallett here?" I exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes: bring her here," she said softly; and there was a peculiar tone in
her voice as she spoke. "And now about yourself. Do you feel well
enough to go home? Shall one of the servants see you safely back?"
"Oh no," I said; "I am better now. I shall take a cab. But I do not
feel comfortable to leave you alone."
"You need not fear," she said quietly. "The house will be closed as
soon as you leave. To-morrow I shall take steps for my protection."
I left her soon after, thinking about her request, and as far as I could
make out she intended to keep Linny with her, feeling that Lister would
not dare to face her again, when the woman he had sought to injure had
been made her companion.
Still I did not feel satisfied, and the only consoling thing was to be
found in Lister's own words, that he had sent for Miss Carr's relative;
and, in the hope that he might soon arrive, I reached home and went up
at once to see Hallett, who looked very ill, but smiled sadly, as I sat
down by his side.
"Better," he said; "I think I'm better, but I don't know, Antony:
sometimes I feel as if it would be happier if I could be altogether at
rest."
"Oh, Hallett!" I cried.
"Yes, you are right," he said. "What would become of them? I must get
better, Antony, better, but sometimes--sometimes--"
"Don't speak to him any more," whispered Mary; "he is so weak that his
poor head wanders."
"But, Mary, the doctor; does he say there is any danger?"
"No, no, my dear. He is to sleep all he can. There, go down now. I'm
going to sit up to-night."
I went down, leaving Mary to her weary vigil; for my head ached
terribly, and I was very giddy.
Linny was in the sitting-room, and she uttered an exclamation.
"Why, how bad you look, Antony!" she cried.
"Do I?" I said with a laugh; "I had a bit of a fall, and it has shaken
me. But, Linny dear, I have a message for you."
"For me, Antony?" she said, turning white.
"Yes; Miss Carr bade me ask you to come with me to her house to-morrow."
"I go to her house!" faltered Linny.
"Yes, dear, you will--will you not? I am sure it is important."
"But I could not leave poor Steve."
"It need not take long," I said; "you will go and see what she wants?"
Linny looked at me in silence for a few moments, and there was something
very dreamy in her face.
"If you think it right that I should go, Antony," she said at last, "I
will. Shall I speak to Stephen first?"
"No," I said. "Hear first what she has to say."
She promised, and I went down to my own room, glad to lay my aching head
upon the pillow; where I soon fell into a troubled sleep, dreaming of my
encounter with John Lister, and feeling again the heavy blow as we fell,
and my head struck the broad, flat fender with a sickening crash, that
seemed to be repeated again and again.