Lord Farquhart seemed to recover himself but slowly from the shock of
Lady Barbara's denunciation, from the surprise of her whispered words.
At last he raised his eyes to Lord Grimsby, who was still looking at
him curiously.
"I fear that I should also ask your pardon, my Lord Grimsby, for this
confusion." Lord Farquhart's words came slowly. "My cousin, the Lady
Barbara, must be strangely overwrought. With your permission, I will
follow her and attend to her needs."
He turned and for the first time looked definitely at the little knot
of men that surrounded him. The women, young and old, had been
withdrawn from his environment by their escorts. His eyes traveled
slowly from one to another of the familiar faces.
"Surely, my Lord Grimsby," clamored Ashley, "you will not let the
fellow escape!"
"Surely my Lord Grimsby is going to place no reliance on a tale like
this told by a whimsical girl!" retorted Lord Farquhart before Lord
Grimsby's slow words had fallen on his ears.
"We will most assuredly take all measures for safeholding my Lord
Farquhart."
"But, Lord Grimsby," cried Farquhart, realizing for the first time
that the situation might have a serious side, "you surely do not
believe this tale!"
"I would like to see some reason for doubting the lady's word,"
answered the older man. "And you forget that her story is corroborated
by Mr. Ashley. Neither must you overlook the fact that for some time
the authorities have been convinced that this highwayman was no common
rogue, that he is undoubtedly some one closely connected with our
London life, if--if indeed----" But this was no place for Lord Grimsby
to assert his own opinion that the highwayman was indeed the devil
incarnate.
"Why, the whole thing is the merest fabrication," cried Lord
Farquhart, impatiently. "It is all without reason, without sense,
without possible excuse. The Lady Barbara's imagination has been
played upon in some way, for some reason that I cannot understand. You
heard her declare that she'd seen me in the fellow's disguise. That is
an absolute impossibility. I've never seen the rogue, much less
impersonated him."
"You shall, of course, have the benefit of any doubt, Lord Farquhart."
Lord Grimsby's voice had assumed its judicial tones and fell with
sinister coldness on every ear. "But, innocent or guilty, you must
admit that the safety of his majesty's realm demands that the truth be
proved."
"Ay, it shall be proved, too," cried Jack Grimsby, who had been so
warmly befriended in time of direct need by the Black Highwayman. "And
you shall have the benefit of every doubt there may be, Percy. Rest
assured of that. And in the event that there is no doubt, if it is
proved that you are our Black Devil, you'll still go free. Your case
will be in my father's hands, and I here repeat my oath that if the
Black Devil goes to the gallows, I go on the road, following as close
as may be in his footsteps."
Farquhart shuddered out from under the protecting hand young Grimsby
had laid on his shoulder.
"You speak as though you half believed the tale," he cried. His eyes
traveled once again around the little circle. Then his face grew
stern. "Let Mr. Ashley repeat his tale," he said, slowly. "Let him
tell the Lady Barbara's story and his own corroboration as
circumstantially as may be."
"Yes, let Harry Ashley tell his story," echoed Jack Grimsby, "and when
he has finished let him say where and when he will measure swords with
me, for if he lies he lies like a blackguard, and if he spoke the
truth he speaks it like a liar."
Ashley's sword was half out of its sheath, but it was arrested by Lord
Grimsby's voice.
"I will consent that Mr. Ashley should tell his story here and now,"
he said. "It's unusual and irregular, but the circumstances are
unusual and irregular. I request your appreciation of this courtesy,
my Lord Farquhart, and as for you, my son, a gentleman's house may
serve strange purposes, but it's no place for a tavern brawler. So
take heed of your words and manners."
Lord Farquhart had merely bowed his head in answer to Lord Grimsby's
words; Jack still stood near him, his hand on his shoulder, but Ashley
looked in vain for a pair of friendly eyes to which he might direct
his tale. And yet he knew that everyone was waiting avidly for his
words.
"The story is short and proves itself," he began. "A week ago the Lady
Barbara Gordon was traveling toward London attended only by her
father's servants. My Lord Farquhart, with a party of his friends,
among whom I was included at that time, awaited her at Marmaduke Bass'
tavern, The Jolly Grig. A short time before the Lady Barbara was to
arrive, Lord Farquhart withdrew to his room, presumably to sleep,
until----"
"Ay, and sleep he did," interrupted young Treadway, who spoke for the
first time. "We both slept in my room on the ground floor of the
tavern."
"You slept, no doubt, Mr. Treadway," answered Lord Grimsby. "But, if
so, how can you vouch for the fact that Lord Farquhart slept?"
"I can vouch for it--I can vouch for it because I know he slept,"
spluttered Treadway.
"I fear me much that your reasoning will not help to save your
friend," answered the councillor, a little scornfully. "Let me beg
that Mr. Ashley be not again interrupted to so little purpose."
"While, according to his own account, Mr. Treadway slept," continued
Ashley, "while he supposed Lord Farquhart was also sleeping, I heard
Lord Farquhart singing in his room overhead. At the time I paid little
heed to it. In fact, I did not think of it again that night, although,
if I remember rightly, I commented on Lord Farquhart's voice to Mr.
Cecil Lindley, who sat with me in the tavern. It was full fifteen
minutes after that when the Lady Barbara drove into the inn, crying
that she had been waylaid by the Black Highwayman. Her rings had been
stolen, her rings and a jeweled gauntlet and a rose. She was strangely
confused and would not permit us to ride in pursuit of the villain,
averring that she had promised him immunity in exchange for her own
life."
"A pretty tale," Jack Grimsby again interrupted, in spite of his
father's commands. "It's a lie on its own face. 'Tis well known that
the Black Devil has never taken a life, has never even threatened
bodily injury."
"Be that as it may"--Ashley's level voice ignored the tone of the
interruption, although his nervous fingers were on his sword--"when
the Lady Barbara's companion, Mistress Benton, tried to say that the
Lady Barbara had recognized her assailant, that the Lady Barbara had
willingly descended from the coach with the highwayman, the Lady
Barbara silenced her peremptorily and ordered that we hurry with all
speed to London. 'Twas the following morning, my Lord Grimsby, that
the truth was revealed to me, for Lord Farquhart's own servant
returned to the Lady Barbara, in my presence, the jewels that had been
stolen the night before, the jewels and the rose the highwayman had
taken from her."
"You forget the jeweled gauntlet, Mr. Ashley." Again it was Jack
Grimsby's sneering voice that interrupted Ashley's tale. "Did my Lord
Farquhart keep his lady's glove when he returned the other baubles?"
Ashley's face flushed, but he looked steadily at Lord Grimsby; he
directed the conclusion of his story to Lord Grimsby's ears.
"It was then that the Lady Barbara confessed, much against her will, I
will admit, that it was indeed her cousin and her fiance who had
waylaid her, merely to confess to her his identity with this bandit
whose life is, assuredly, forfeit to the crown."
Lord Farquhart had listened in tense silence. Now he started forward,
his hand on his sword, but his arms were caught by two of Lord
Grimsby's men. "You will admit, my Lord Farquhart, that the matter
demands explanation," said the councillor, dryly. "How came you by the
jewels and rose? Can you tell us? And what of the missing gauntlet?"
"The rings and the rose my servant found in my coat," answered
Farquhart, his eyes so intent on his questioner's face that he failed
to see the smile that curved the lips of those who heard him. "The
gauntlet I never saw, I never had it in my possession for a moment."
"How did you account for the jewels in your coat if you did not put
them there yourself?" demanded Lord Grimsby.
"At first I was at a loss to account for them at all." Lord
Farquhart's voice showed plainly that he resented the change in his
questioner's manner. "I recalled my cousin's confusion when she had
told her tale of highway robbery, and all at once it seemed to me that
the whole affair was an invention of her own, some madcap jest that
she was playing on me, perchance to test my bravery, to see if I would
ride forthwith after the villain. If so, I had failed her signally,
for I had accepted her commands and gone with her straight to London.
I supposed, in furtherance of this idea, that she had hired her own
servant, or bribed mine, to hide the jewels in my coat. I never
thought once of the gauntlet she had claimed to lose, never remembered
it from that night until now. I sent the jewels to her, and later in
the day I taxed her with the jest, and she agreed, it seemed to me,
that it had been a jest and asked that the return of the rings might
close the incident. I have not spoken of it since, nor has she, until
to-night."
There was a long silence, and then Lord Grimsby spoke.
"Your manner carries conviction, Lord Farquhart, but Mr. Ashley's tale
sounds true. Perchance some prank is at the bottom of all this, but
you will pardon me if I but fulfill my duty to the crown. The case
shall be conducted with all speed, but until your name is cleared, or
until we find the perpetrator of the joke, if joke it be, I must hold
you prisoner."
There was a short scuffle, a sharp clash of arms. But these came from
Lord Farquhart's friends. Lord Farquhart himself stood as though
stunned. He walked away as though he were in a dream, and not until he
was safely housed under bolt and bar in the sheriff's lodge could he
even try to sift the matter to a logical conclusion.
For an instant only did he wonder if Barbara and Ashley had chosen
this way to rid themselves of him. He remembered with a gleam of
triumph Barbara's disdainful manner toward Ashley when he had stepped
to her side, vouching for the truth of her statement. He remembered,
too, that Barbara had had short moments of kindness toward him in the
last few days, that there had been moments when she had been exceeding
sweet to him; when he had even hoped that he was, indeed, winning her
love.
Then, like a flash, he remembered Sylvia's presence under the trees
that afternoon. Undoubtedly Barbara had seen her, and if Barbara had
grown to care for him ever so little, she would have resented bitterly
a thing like that. That might have been the insult to which she
referred. But the crime! Of what crime had he been guilty? Assuredly
she did not believe, herself, the tale she had told. She did not
believe that he was this highwayman.
Here Lord Farquhart caught a gleam of light. Ashley might have
convinced her that such a tale was true. Ashley might have arranged
the highway robbery and might have placed the jewels in his coat to
throw the guilt on him. Ashley was undoubtedly at the bottom of the
whole thing. Then he remembered Ashley's flush when the gauntlet had
been referred to. Had Ashley kept the gauntlet, then?
Following fast upon this question was another flash of light even
brighter than the first. To Farquhart the truth seemed to stand out
clear and transparent. Ashley was the gentleman of the highways!
Ashley was the Black Devil. Farquhart threw back his head and laughed
long and loud. If only he had used his wits, he would have denounced
the fellow where he stood.
And in this realization of Ashley's guilt, and in the consciousness
that Barbara must love him at least a little if she had been jealous
of Sylvia, Lord Farquhart slept profoundly.