NANCY
It was after eleven before Nancy rejoined Tom in the bar. She seemed more
like herself as she slipped in and took her accustomed seat beside the
blazing logs.
"Oh, I am all right, thank you," she insisted, declining the glass of
wine that Pembroke poured out for her. "I wonder, Tom, if you killed that
poor wretch on the deck?"
"Don't know," Tom answered. "I hope so. But what the deuce, Nance, has
been happening? I can wait till to-morrow to hear, if you are too tired
to tell me; but I do want awfully to know."
"I am not tired," Nancy replied, "and I shan't sleep a wink anyway. If I
close my eyes I'll feel that hand on my shoulder and hear the thud of
that man's fall on the deck. I can't bear to think that this miserable
business will bring bloodshed."
"But tell me, Nance, who is the Marquis--what happened--how did they get
you away?"
"Ah! the Marquis," exclaimed Nancy with a shudder. "I am glad you have
him locked up. I can't bear to think of him, but I'll tell you what I
know. You remember, Tom, he tried to be friends with me from the first;
and he seemed to fascinate me in some unaccountable way. Then he
questioned me about my identity, and began to drop hints that he knew
more than he cared to let appear to the others, and my curiosity was
excited. I have always known of course that there was some mystery about
my being left to Mrs. Frost's care. She has been kind, good, all that she
should be; but she wasn't my mother. Well, the Marquis stirred all the
old wonder that I had as a child, and before long quite won my
confidence. He told me after a time that I was the daughter of his elder
brother, the Marquis François de Boisdhyver, who in 1814 stayed here at
the Inn at the Red Oak under the name of General Pointelle. I was not
altogether surprised, for I have always believed that I was French by
birth, and his assertion that I was his niece seemed to account for his
interest in me. My father, if this Marquis de Boisdhyver was my father,
was one of the Emperor Napoleon's marshals and was a party to the plot to
rescue the Emperor from Elba. He was obliged to return to France, and
since it was impossible for him to take me with him--I was a little girl
of two at the time--he left me with Mrs. Frost. Thinking of my future, he
hid a large treasure in some secret chamber off the Oak Parlour."
"I know," Tom interrupted.
"What? You mean there is a treasure?"
"I think there is; but go on. I will tell you afterwards."
"Then he set sail for France, took part in the great events of the
Hundred Days, and fell at Waterloo. It was on the field of Waterloo that
he met his younger brother--our Marquis--and told him about the child
left in America and about the treasure hidden in the Inn at the Red Oak."
"Well," Nancy continued, having answered a volley of questions from Tom,
"the Marquis--I mean our old Marquis--was held for many years in a
military prison in England. Upon his release he was poor and unable to
come to America to seek his little niece and the fortune that he believed
to be hidden in the Inn. Tom, at first I didn't believe this strange
story about a treasure; but gradually I became convinced; for the Marquis
believed in it thoroughly, and for proof of it he showed me a torn scrap
of paper that he found in the cabinet in the Oak Parlour the day after
he arrived at the Inn. It seems the old marshal had torn the paper in two
and hidden the parts in different cubby-holes of that old Dorsetshire
cabinet. He couldn't find an opportunity to hunt for the other half, so
at last he persuaded me to help him in the search. Of course, he swore me
to secrecy, and I was foolish enough to give him my promise. I got the
key to the bowling alley from the ring in Dan's closet, and two or three
times went with him at night after you all were asleep."
"I know you did," said Tom.
"How could you know it--has the Marquis--?"
"No, Dan and I saw you. I woke one night, happened to look out of the
window and saw the Marquis going into the bowling alley. It was
moonlight, you know. I woke Dan, we slipped down stairs, saw a light in
the Oak Parlour, peeped through the shutters and saw you and the old
Marquis at the cabinet."
"When was this?" asked Nancy.
"The night--before our walk in the woods."
"And you did not tell me! What could you think I was doing?"
"I didn't know. How could I know? It was that which first made me
suspicious of the Marquis. We made up our minds to watch. But that day in
the woods--well, I forgot everything in the world but just that I was in
love with you."
"Ah!" exclaimed Nancy, flushing.
"But tell me," asked Tom, "What did you find in the cabinet?"
"We found nothing. I began to think that the Marquis had deceived me. I
didn't know what to believe. I didn't know what to do. I threatened each
day to tell Dan. And then came our walk. When we came in that night--do
you recall?--we found the Marquis sitting in the bar before the fire, and
I went over and spoke to him."
"Yes, I remember," Tom answered.
"I had made up my mind that I must take you all,--mother and you and
Dan,--into my confidence. I told him so. He begged me to wait until the
next day and promised that he would tell you then himself. I was
beginning to think he might be a little crazy, that there was no hidden
treasure."
"I'm sure there is," said Tom. "There was another half of that torn scrap
of paper, hidden in one of the cubby-holes of the old cabinet. Dan found
it. It's the directions, sure enough, for finding the treasure."
"Ah! but what has it all to do with me?"
"I don't know; something I fancy, or the Marquis would not have told you
as much as he did. But here is the other half. You can tell whether it is
part of the paper he showed you."
He drew from his pocket the yellowed bit of paper and spread it on the
table before them. Nance bent over and examined it closely.
"I believe it is the other half. See, it is signed ...'ançois de
Boisdhyver'. I remember perfectly that the signature of the other was
missing, except for the letters 'F-r-' It is, it must be, François de
Boisdhyver, who, the Marquis says, was my father. Then look! here are the
words '_trésor', 'bijoux et monaie_'. I remember in the other there were
phrases that seemed to go with these--'_trésor caché' 'lingots d'or_'.
Ah! do you suppose there really is a fortune hidden away in the Inn all
these years?"
"Yes, I think so," said Tom. "And I feel certain you have some claim to
it, or they wouldn't have made such an effort to involve you in their
plot. But, please, Nance, tell me the rest. You got to the night of your
disappearance."
"It was a horror--that night!" exclaimed Nancy. "It must have been about
twelve that the Marquis came and tapped at my door. For some reason I was
restless and had not gone to bed. I slipped out into the hall with him
and we came in here to talk. He begged me to make one more expedition
with him to the Oak Parlour. But I refused--I insisted that I must tell
Dan. Suddenly, Tom, without the slightest warning, I felt my arms
pinioned from behind, and before I could scream, the Marquis himself had
thrust a handkerchief in my mouth, and I was gagged and bound. Everything
was done so quickly, so noiselessly, that not a soul in the house could
have heard. They carried me out of the Inn and into the avenue of maples.
From there on I was forced to walk. We went to the beach. I was put into
a small boat and rowed out to the schooner, and there they locked me up
in the little cabin in which you found me."
"What time did you say it was?" asked Tom.
"About twelve--after midnight, perhaps; I don't know for sure. The
Marquis went to the beach with us and pretended to assure me that I was
in no danger; that I would be released in good time, and that he would
see me again. As a matter of fact for three days I have seen no one but
Captain Bonhomme. He brought my meals, and was inclined to talk about
anything that come into his head. Last night he told me that Dan was also
a prisoner on the _Southern Cross_, if that would be of any consolation
to me. Then he said he had to go ashore and locked me up. Several times I
was taken on deck for exercise, but the captain kept close by my side."
"And you haven't seen or heard from the Marquis again?"
"No! nor do I want to see him. But, Tom, what is the meaning of it all?
How are we going to rescue Dan? What are we going to do? We can't keep
the Marquis a prisoner indefinitely."
Tom gave her his own version of the last few days. He told her of what he
and Dan had suspected, of Dan's proposal to visit the House on the Dunes
and his disappearance, of his own investigations there, and his
determination to play the same game with the Marquis as hostage.
"But what to do next, I confess I don't know," he continued. "At present
it seems to be stale mate. For to-night, any way, we are safe, I think,
for I shall take turns in keeping guard with Jesse and Ezra. I have the
idea that to-morrow, when they realize something has happened to the
Marquis we shall hear from Madame de la Fontaine or from the schooner. In
the morning I am going to take you and Mrs. Frost to the Red Farm for
safety. I intend to fight this thing out with that gang, whatever
happens. If there is treasure, according to their own story, it belongs
to you. If I don't get a proposal from them, I shall make the offer,
through Madame de la Fontaine, of exchanging the Marquis for Dan.... But
I must go now, Nance, and relieve one of the men. We must all get some
sleep to-night, and it's already after twelve. Go to bed, sweetheart, and
try to get some rest. One of us will be within call all night, watching
right there in the hall; so don't be afraid."
"It was my wretched curiosity that got us into all this trouble."
"Not a bit of it! The trouble was all arranged by the Marquis; he was
simply waiting for the schooner. Now that I have you back again, my heart
is fairly light. We shall get Dan to-morrow, I am sure."