Hetty dragged herself wearily home--she had waited to see the young
Squire in a state of intense and rapt excitement. He had received her
news with marvellous indifference. The excitement he had shown was the
ordinary excitement which an outsider might feel when he received
startling and unlooked for tidings. There was not a scrap of personal
emotion in his manner. Was it possible that he had forgotten all about
the murder which he himself had committed? Hetty was not a native of
Grandcourt without knowing something of the tragedy which hung over the
Court. Was it possible that the doom of the house had really overtaken
Robert Awdrey? Hetty with her own eyes had seen him kill Horace Frere.
Her own eyes could surely not deceive her. She rubbed them now in her
bewilderment. Yes, she had seen the murder committed. Without any doubt
Awdrey was the man who had struggled with Frere. Frere had thrown him to
the ground; he had risen quickly again. Once more the two men had rushed
at each other like tigers eager for blood--there had been a scuffle--a
fierce, awful wrestle. A wrestle which had been followed by a sudden
leap forward on the part of the young Squire--he had used his stick as
men use bayonets in battle--there had come a groan from Frere's lips--he
had staggered--his body had fallen to the ground with a heavy thud--then
had followed an awful silence. Yes, Hetty had seen the whole thing. She
had watched the terrible transaction from beginning to end. After he had
thrown his man to the ground the Squire had struck a match, and had
looked hard into the face of the dead. Hetty had seen the lurid light
flash up for an instant on the Squire's face--it had looked haggard and
gray--like the face of an old man. She had watched him as he examined
the slender stick with which he had killed his foe. She observed him
then creep across the Plain to a copse of young alders. She had seen him
push the stick out of sight into the middle of the alders--she had then
watched him as he went quickly home. Yes, Robert Awdrey was the guilty
man--Frank Everett was innocent, as innocent as a babe. All day long
Hetty's head had been in a mad whirl. She had kept her terrible
knowledge to herself. Knowing that a word from her could save him, she
had allowed Everett to be arrested. She had watched him from behind her
window when the police came to the house for the purpose, she had seen
Everett go away in the company of two policemen. He was a square-built
young fellow with broad shoulders--he had held himself sturdily as an
Englishman should, when he walked off, an innocent man, to meet an awful
doom. Hetty, as she watched, crushed down the cry in her heart--it had
clamored to save this man. There was a louder cry there--a fiercer
instinct. The Squire belonged to her own people--she was like a subject,
and he was her king--to the people of Grandcourt the king could do
nothing wrong. They were old-fashioned in the little village, and had
somewhat the feeling of serfs to their feudal lord. Hetty shared the
tradition of her race. But over and above these minor matters, the
unhappy girl loved Robert Awdrey with a fierce passion. She would rather
die herself than see him die. When she saw Everett arrested, she watched
the whole proceeding in dull amazement. She wondered why the Squire had
not acted a man's part. Why did he not deliver himself up to the course
of justice? He had killed Frere in a moment of mad passion. Hetty's
heart throbbed. Could that passion have been evoked on her account? Of
course, he would own to his sin. He had not done so; on the contrary, he
had gone to a picnic. He had been seen walking about with the young lady
whom he loved. Did Robert Awdrey really love Margaret Douglas?
"If that is the case, why should not I give him up?" thought Hetty. "He
cares nothing for me. I am less than the thistle under his feet. Why
should I save him? Why should Mr. Everett die because of him? The Squire
cares nothing for me. Why should I sin on his account?"
These thoughts, when they came to her, were quickly hurled aside by
others.
"I'd die twenty times over rather than he should suffer," thought the
girl. "He shan't die, he's my king, and I'm his subject. It does not
matter whether he loves me or not, he shan't die. Yes, he loves that
beautiful Miss Douglas--she belongs to his set, and she'll be his wife.
Perhaps she thinks that she loves him. Oh, oh!"
Hetty laughed wildly to herself.
"After all, she doesn't know what real love is. She little guesses what
I feel; she little guesses that I hold his life in my hands. O God, keep
me from going mad!"
It was dark when Hetty re-entered the Inn. The taproom was the scene of
noisy excitement. It was crowded with eager and interested villagers.
The murder was the one and only topic of conversation. Armitage was busy
attending to his numerous guests, and Mrs. Armitage kept going backward
and forward between the taproom and the little kitchen at the back.
When she saw Hetty she called out to her in a sharp tone.
"Where have you been, girl?" she cried. "Now just look here, your uncle
won't have you stealing out in this fashion any more. You are to stay at
home when it is dark. Why, it's all over the place, it's in every one's
mouth, that you have been the cause of the murder. You encouraged that
poor Mr. Frere with your idle, flighty, silly ways and looks, and then
you played fast and loose with him. Don't you know that this is just the
thing that will ruin us? Yes, you'll be the ruin of us Hetty, and times
so bad, too. When are we likely to have parlor lodgers again?"
"Oh, Aunt, I wish you wouldn't scold me," answered Hetty. She sank down
on the nearest chair, pushed her hat from her brow, and pressed her hand
to it.
"Sakes, child!" exclaimed her aunt, "you do look white and bad to be
sure."
Mrs. Armitage stood in front of her niece, and eyed her with a critical
gaze.
"It's my belief, after all, that you really cared for the poor young
man," she said. "For all your silly, flighty ways you gave him what
little heart you possess. If he meant honest by you, you couldn't have
done better--they say he had lots of money, and not a soul to think of
but himself. I don't know how your uncle is to provide for you. But
there, you've learned your lesson, and I hope you'll never forget it."
"Aunt Fanny, may I go upstairs to my room?"
"Hoity toity! nothing of the kind. You've got to work for your living
like the rest of us. Put on your apron and help me to wash up the
dishes."
Hetty rose wearily from her chair. The body of the murdered man lay out
straight and still in the little front parlor. Many people had been in
and out during the afternoon; many people had gazed solemnly at the
white face. The doctor had examined the wound in the eye. The coroner
had come to view the dead. All was in readiness for the inquest, which
was to take place at an early hour on the following day. No one as yet
had wept a single tear over the dead man. Mrs. Armitage came to Hetty
now and asked her to go and fetch something out of the parlor. A paper
which had been left on the mantelpiece was wanted by Armitage in a
hurry.
"Go, child, be quick!" said the aunt. "You'll find the paper by that
vase of flowers on the mantelpiece."
Hetty obeyed, never thinking of what she was to see. There was no
artificial light in the room. On the centre-table, in a rude coffin
which had been hastily prepared, lay the body. It was covered by a white
sheet. The moon poured in a ghastly light through the window. The form
of the dead man was outlined distinctly under the sheet. Hetty almost
ran up against it when she entered the room. Her nerves were overstrung;
she was not prepared for the sight which met her startled eyes; uttering
a piercing shriek, she rushed from the room into her Aunt Fanny's arms.
"Now, whatever is the matter?" said the elder woman.
"You shouldn't have sent me in there," panted Hetty. "You should have
told me that it was there."
"Well, well, I thought you knew. What a silly little good-for-nothing
you are! Stay quiet and I'll run and fetch the paper. Dear, dear, I'm
glad you are not my niece; it's Armitage you belong to."
Mrs. Armitage entered the parlor, fetched the required paper, and shut
the door behind her. As she walked down the passage Hetty started
quickly forward and caught her arm.
"If I don't tell somebody at once I'll go mad," she said. "Aunt Fanny, I
must speak to you at once. I can't keep it to myself another minute."
"Good gracious me! whatever is to be done, Hetty? How am I to find time
to listen to your silly nonsense just now? There's your uncle nearly
wild with all the work being left on his hands."
"It isn't silly nonsense, Aunt Fanny. I've got to say something. I know
something. I must tell it to you. I must tell it to you at once."
"Why, girl," said Mrs. Armitage, staring hard at her niece, "you are not
making a fool of me, are you?"
"No. I'll go up to my room. Come to me as soon as ever you can. Tell
Uncle that you are tired and must go to bed at once. Tell any lie, make
any excuse, only come to me quickly. I'm in such a state that if you
don't come I'll have to go right into the taproom and tell every one
what I know. Oh, Aunt Fanny! have mercy on me and come quickly."
"You do seem in a way, Hetty," replied the aunt. "For goodness sake do
keep yourself calm. There, run upstairs and I'll be with you in a minute
or two."
Mrs. Armitage went into the taproom to her husband.
"Look here, John," she sad, "I've got a splitting headache, and Hetty is
fairly knocked up. Can't you manage to do without us for the rest of the
evening?"
"Of course, wife, if you're really bad," replied Armitage. "There's work
here for three pairs of hands," he added, "but that can't be helped, if
you are really bad."
"Yes, I am, and as to that child, she is fairly done."
"I'm not surprised. I wonder she's alive when she knows the whole thing
is owing to her. Little hussy, I'd like to box her ears, that I would."
"So would I for that matter," replied the wife, "but she's in an awful
state, poor child, and if I don't get her to bed, she'll be ill, and
there will be more money out of pocket."
"Don't waste your strength sitting up with her, wife, she ain't worth
it," Armitage called out, as his wife left the room.
A moment later, Mrs. Armitage crept softly upstairs. She entered Hetty's
little chamber, which was also flooded with moonlight. It was a tiny
room, with a sloping roof. Its little lattice window was wide open.
Hetty was kneeling by the window looking out into the night. The moment
she saw her aunt she rose to her feet, and ran to meet her.
"Lock the door, Aunt Fanny," she said, in a hoarse whisper.
"Oh, child, whatever has come to you?"
"Lock the door, Aunt Fanny, or let me do it."
"There, I'll humor you. Here's the key. I'll put it into my pocket. Why
don't you have a light, Hetty?"
"I don't want it--the moon makes light enough for me. I have something
to say to you. If I don't tell it, I shall go mad. You must share it
with me, Aunt Fanny. You and I must both know it, and we must keep it to
ourselves forever and ever and ever."
"Lor, child! what are you talking about?"
"I'll soon tell you. Let me kneel close to you. Hold my hand. I never
felt so frightened in all my life before."
"Out with it, Hetty, whatever it is."
"Aunt, before I say a word, you've got to make me a promise."
"What's that?"
"You won't tell a soul what I am going to say to you."
"I hate making promises of that sort, Hetty."
"Never mind whether you hate it or not. Promise or I shall go mad."
"Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Armitage, "why should a poor woman be
bothered in this way, and you neither kith nor kin to me. Don't you
forget that it's Armitage you belong to. You've no blood of mine, thank
goodness, in your veins."
"What does that matter. You're a woman, and I'm another. I'm just in the
most awful position a girl could be in. But whatever happens, I'll be
true to him. Yes, Aunt Fanny, I'll be true to him. I'm nothing to him,
no more than if I were a weed, but I love him madly, deeply,
desperately. He is all the world to me. He is my master, and I am his
slave. Of course I'm nothing to him, but he's everything to me, and he
shan't die. Aunt Fanny, you and I have got to be true to him. We must
share the thing together, for I can't keep the secret by myself. You
must share it with me, Aunt Fanny."
Up to this point, Mrs. Armitage had regarded Hetty's words as merely
those of a hysterical and over-wrought girl. Now, however, she began to
perceive method in her madness.
"Look here, child," she said, "if you've got anything to say, say it,
and have done with it. I'm not blessed with over much patience, and I
can't stand beating round the bush. If you have a secret, out with it,
you silly thing. Oh, yes, of course I won't betray you. I expect it's
just this, you've gone and done something you oughtn't to. Oh, what have
I done to be blessed with a niece-in-law like you?
"It's nothing of that sort, Aunt Fanny. It is this--I don't mind telling
you now, now that you have promised not to betray me. Aunt Fanny, I was
out last night--I saw the murder committed."
Mrs. Armitage suppressed a sharp scream.
"Heaven preserve us!" she said, in a choking voice. "Were you not in
bed, you wicked girl?"
"No, I was out. I had quarrelled with Mr. Frere in the parlor, and I
thought I'd follow him and make it up. I went straight on to the
Plain--I saw him running. I hid behind a furze bush and I saw the
quarrel, and I heard the words--I saw the awful struggle, and I heard
the blows. I heard the fall, too--and I saw the man who had killed Mr.
Frere run away."
"I wonder you never told all this to-day, Hetty Armitage. Well, I'm
sorry for that poor Mr. Everett. Oh, dear, what will not our passions
lead us to; to think that two young gentlemen should come to this
respectable house, and that it should be the case of Cain and Abel over
again--one rising up and slaying the other."
Hetty, who had been kneeling all this time, now rose. Her face was
ghastly--her words came out in strange pauses.
"It wasn't Mr. Everett," she said.
"Good Heavens! Hetty," exclaimed her aunt, springing also to her feet,
and catching the girl's two hands within her own--"It wasn't Mr.
Everett!--what in the world do you mean?"
"What I say, Aunt Fanny--the man who killed Mr. Frere was Mr. Awdrey.
Our Mr. Awdrey, Aunt Fanny, and I could die for him--and no one must
ever know--and I saw him this evening, and--and he has forgotten all
about it. He doesn't know a bit about it--not a bit. Oh, Aunt Fanny, I
shall go quite mad, if you don't promise to help me to keep my secret."