A Perilous Situation
Now although Dentham intended to betray the confidence both of Dr.
Roversmire and Olive Maunders, yet it was an operation of some
difficulty, as he foresaw on taking a quiet view of the situation. So
far he had made twenty-five pounds out of the transaction, but he
would not obtain any more money from Adrian Lancaster's betrothed
until the house had been thoroughly searched, and the unhappy young
man found. If they did discover Adrian shut up in a secret chamber, as
Rudall surmised, he would certainly gain the balance of the reward
from Olive Maunders, but on the other hand he would obtain nothing
from his master, as he would be unable to warn him and make terms.
"If he's murdered Mr. Lancaster," mused Dentham to himself, as he took
his way homeward, "they'll arrest him straight off, and then I won't
be able to give him the straight tip, and get paid for it; but then
he'll be away from the house if they find anything, so I'll be able to
wire the old cove at Marlow, and make an appointment in town--once I
get a hold of him I'll bleed him freely, or else hand him over to the
law. Yes, that's what I'll do; they can't put him in gaol straight
off, so I'll fix up things with him before they get a chance."
Mr. Dentham was quite delighted with his villainous little scheme, and
could not help admiring himself for the dexterous way in which he
turned things to his own advantage.
"She said she'd double the reward," he resumed, referring to Miss
Maunders, "does that mean the twenty-five or the fifty? If she only
doubles the twenty-five, I'll only clear seventy-five pounds, but if
she means the fifty, it will be a hundred and twenty-five in my
pocket, that will be something on account, and if I can only get
another hundred and twenty-five pounds out of the old cove, I'll be
able to sit down with three hundred clear, that will set me up for
life and not much trouble either. Ah! I knew something would come out
of the old cove's way of living. Lord, what a scoundrel he is to be
sure--it's a wicked world, and the old cove's about the worst in it."
So mused the virtuous Mr. Dentham, who, while blaming the presumable
wickedness of his master, concerning which he had no proof, was quite
blind to the despicable part he was playing himself. But then Mr.
Dentham called his baseness business, which placed the whole
transaction in quite a different light, and, moreover, being without
the least atom of conscience, he was quite at rest on the score of
moral considerations, regarding his possible three hundred pounds as
honestly earned money.
Adrian Lancaster, still hidden in the personality of Dr. Roversmire,
was quite unconscious of the perilous situation in which he was
placed. It was true he mistrusted Dentham, but he never expected the
valet would be so dexterous in piecing evidence together and so
establish a case against him. As to Dentham communicating with Olive
Maunders, it never entered his brain that such a thing could occur, as
he had said nothing to the servant, and, to all outward appearance,
there was nothing to connect the so-called Dr. Roversmire with the
disappearance of Adrian Lancaster.
The morning after Dentham's satisfactory visit to town, Adrian
received a letter from Sir John Maunders asking him to come down to
Marlow and stay the night, as he wanted to speak with him on a
particular subject.
"I know," wrote the cheery baronet, "that you are kept busy with your
philosophical studies, but all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,
so if you give us the pleasure of your society for a few hours. I am
sure it will do you good. I am sorry to say my daughter will be away
during your visit, but may probably return before you take your
departure."
At this point, Adrian laid down the letter and debated seriously with
himself as to whether he should accept the invitation, seeing that
Olive would be absent. On the whole, after much consideration, he came
to the conclusion that he would do so, as he was now in such a
desperate state of mind over the difficulties of his situation that he
determined to tell Sir John everything and ask his advice as to his
future movements. He was afraid to reveal the secret of his
transformation to Olive, as he knew how she scoffed at the powers
alleged to be exercised by theosophists, and thought, with a great
show of reason, that she would look upon him as a madman. But with Sir
John it was very different, as Adrian remembered he had had a good
deal of experience in occult sciences and knew many strange things
which had occurred quite outside the laws of Nature, that is, the laws
of Nature as seen by the world at large.
Under these circumstances, he would not deny that such a curious event
as the transposition of souls might take place, and Adrian knew he
would give him enough proofs of his own life to convince the baronet,
however sceptical, that the soul of Adrian Lancaster was really
concealed in the body of Dr. Roversmire. Then he would be able to ask
Sir John's advice as to the chances of getting rid of Roversmire's
body and resuming his own identity, for Sir John was acquainted with
many votaries of theosophy who might be able to hit upon some solution
of the enigma. Surely among theosophists there could be found some one
equal in knowledge to Dr. Roversmire, who could undo the harm which
had been done, and releasing his soul from this aged body, restore it
once more to its proper habitation.
Having come to this conclusion, Adrian wrote a letter accepting the
invitation, but declined to stay all night as he wanted to get back to
his studies. The fact was that he was afraid during his absence
something might happen to solve the difficulty, and he was unwilling
to be absent should any chance of regaining his freedom present
itself. The whole house was permeated with the influence of spirits,
for, of course, Dr. Roversmire, during his tenancy of his earthly body
had been constantly visited by his friends of the spirit world, and
sometimes a weird feeling would seize Adrian as if he was in the
centre of a crowd of ethereal beings whose bodies, impalpable and
invisible, were pressing around him on all sides. He would have given
anything could he have known of some invocation by which to
communicate with them and find a means of release from his unpleasant
position, but although he read most of the books in the house and all
the favourite papers of Dr. Roversmire, no spell or ceremony presented
itself by which he could do so.
There were times when the strange influence which brooded over the
house almost proved too much for his nerves, and he longed to escape
from this spirit-haunted atmosphere into the matter-of-fact frivolity
of the outside world. By his prolonged fasts, by his terrible ordeals
and his ascetic mode of life, Dr. Roversmire had rendered his body
peculiarly sensitive to spiritual influences, and now that he had
transferred this body to Adrian, the material soul of the unhappy
young man felt strange to the subtle contact he seemed to feel with
the unseen world about which he knew absolutely nothing. Dentham, of
course, felt nothing, as his soul was too sensual and his body too
gross to vibrate or come in contact with spiritual things, but
Adrian's body being strange to him, was not under his control, and he
felt as though he stood on neutral ground between two worlds,
powerless to leave the one and equally powerless to enter the other.
"I'll go mad if this continues," he said to himself as he directed the
envelope, "it is like putting a savage to live among people highly
cultivated. I feel the influence, but cannot respond, so I have all
the pain and none of the pleasures; an afternoon at Marlow will do me
a lot of good and drive away all this phantasy of moonlight and
spirituality."
So he sent the letter and told Dentham he was going to leave Hampstead
the next day for a visit, at which the valet was highly delighted, and
sent off a telegram that evening to Miss Maunders, telling her the
house would be able to be searched the following day.
Olive, on her part, had told her father nothing of the revelations of
Dentham, but had got him to ask Dr. Roversmire down to Marlow and then
intimated her intention of going away. Sir John at first objected to
this strange mode of proceeding, but was ultimately over-ruled by his
clever daughter.
"I don't know what you mean to do," he grumbled good-naturedly, "but
I'll be glad to see Roversmire, who is a very clever man, although you
do not seem to like him."
"Whether I really like him or not depends entirely upon what I learn
during the next few days," she replied.
"But where are you going to learn anything about Roversmire?" asked
her father curiously.
"I'll tell you when I come back," responded Olive promptly.
"Well, have your own way," said the baronet with a sigh; "you
certainly are an enigma."
"Of course," said Teddy Rudall, who entered at that moment, "she is a
woman, and that answers everything."