Left to themselves, Millefleurs and Beaufort stood opposite to each
other for a moment with some embarrassment. To have anything to do with
a quarrel is always painful for the third person; and it was so entirely
unexpected, out of the way of all his habits, that Beaufort felt himself
exceptionally incapable of dealing with it. "Millefleurs," he said with
hesitation, "I don't understand all this. That was a very strange tone
to take in speaking to--a friend."
He felt for the first time like a tutor discharging an uncomfortable
office, knowing that it must be done, yet that he was not the man to do
it, and that of all the youthful individuals in the world, the last
person to be so lectured was Millefleurs.
"Naturally you think so. The circumstances make all the difference,
don't you know," said Millefleurs, with his ordinary composure. "And the
situation. In 'Frisco it might not have been of any great consequence.
Helping a bully out of the world is not much of a crime there. But then
it's never hushed up. No one makes a secret of it: that is the thing
that sets one's blood up, don't you know. Not for Torrance's sake--who,
so far as I can make out, was a cad--or poor Lady Car's, to whom it's
something like a deliverance----"
"Torrance!" cried Beaufort, with a gasp. "Lady--Car! Do you mean to
say----"
"Then----" said Millefleurs, "he never told you? That is a curious piece
of evidence. They do things straightforward in Denver City--not like
that. He never spoke of an event which had made the country ring----"
"Torrance!" repeated Beaufort, bewildered. The world seemed all to reel
about him. He gazed at his companion with eyes wide opened but scarcely
capable of vision. By-and-by he sat down abruptly on the nearest chair.
He did not hear what Millefleurs was saying. Presently he turned to him,
interrupting him unconsciously. "Torrance!" he repeated; "let there be
no mistake. You mean the man--to whom Carry--Lady Caroline--was
married?"
Millefleurs fixed upon him his little keen black eyes. He recalled to
himself tones and looks which had struck him at the moment, on which he
had not been able to put any interpretation. He nodded his head without
saying anything. He was as keen after any piece of human history as a
hound on a scent. And now he was too much interested, too eager for new
information, to speak.
"And it happened," said Beaufort, "on Thursday--on the day I arrived?"
He drew a long breath to relieve his breast, then waved his hand. "Yes;
if that is all, Erskine told me of it," he said.
"You have something to do with them also, old fellow," said Millefleurs,
patting him on the shoulder. "I knew there was something. Come along and
walk with me. I must see it out; but perhaps we had better not meet
again just now--Erskine and I, don't you know. Perhaps I was rude. Come
along; it is your duty to get me out of harm's way. Was there anything
remarkable, by the way, in the fact that this happened just when you
arrived?"
Beaufort made no reply; he scarcely heard, so violently were his pulses
beating in his ears, so high was the tide of new life rising in his
veins. Who can think of the perplexities, even the dangers, of another,
when something unparalleled, something that stirs up his very being, has
happened to himself? But he allowed himself to be led out into the open
air, which was a relief--to the road leading to Lindores, from which
they soon came in sight of Tinto dominating the country round from its
platform. Millefleurs stopped at the point where this first came in
view, to point out how high it rose above the river, and how the path
ascended through the overhanging woods. The Scaur itself was visible
like a red streak on the face of the height. "You can see for yourself
that horse or man who plunged over that would have little hope,"
Millefleurs said. But Beaufort did not hear him. He stood and gazed,
with a sense of freedom and possibility which went to his head like
wine. Even the ordinary bonds of nature did not seem to hold him. His
mind seemed to expand and float away over the wide country. Of all
people in the world he was the last who could cross that distance
actually, who could present himself to the lady there--the widow--the
woman who had married Torrance. He could not offer his services or his
sympathy to Carry; he alone of all the world was absolutely shut out
from her, more than a stranger: and yet he stood gazing at the place
where she was, feeling himself go out upon the air, upon the empty
space, towards her. The sensation dizzied his brain and bewildered all
his faculties. Millefleurs flowed on, making a hundred remarks and
guesses, but Beaufort did not hear him. He would have said afterwards,
that as he never spoke, it was impossible he could have betrayed
himself. But he betrayed himself completely, and something more than
himself, to the keen little eyes of Millefleurs.
The day passed as days full of agitation pass--looking long, protracted,
endless--blank hours of suspense following the moment of excitement. Sir
James Montgomery had gone away shaking his good grey head. He had not
believed John Erskine's story--that is, he believed that there was
something suppressed. He had listened with the profoundest interest up
to a certain point, but after that he had shaken his head. "You would
have done better to tell me everything," he said, as he went away. "It
would have been more wise--more wise." He shook his head; the very truth
of the story went against it. There was so much that fitted into the
hypothesis of the country-side. But then there came that _suppressio
veri_ which took all the value from the statement. Sir James went away
fully determined to repeat the story in the most favourable way--to give
the best representation of it possible; but he was not satisfied. It was
with a most serious face that he mounted his horse and rode away,
shaking his head from time to time. "No, no," he said to himself, "that
will never hold water--that will never hold water!" When this interview
was over, John went back to his library and sat down in his usual chair
with a sense of exhaustion and hopelessness which it would be difficult
to describe. He had told his story as best he could, searching his
memory for every detail; but he had not been believed. He had gone on,
growing impassioned in his self-defence--growing indignant, feeling
himself powerless in face of that blank wall of incredulity, that steady
incapacity to believe. "Why should I tell you a lie?" he cried, at last.
"Do not you see? Have you not said that it was for my interest to tell
you the truth?" "I am not saying you have told a lie," Sir James said,
always shaking his head. "No, no--no lie. You will never be accused of
that." When he went away, he had laid his heavy old hand on John's
shoulder. "My poor lad, if you had only had the courage to open your
heart all the way!" he said. John felt like a victim in the hands of the
Inquisition. What did they want him to confess? Half maddened, he felt
as if a little more pressure, a few more twists of the screw, would make
him accuse himself of anything, and confess all that they might require.
He did not know how long he sat there, silent, doing nothing, not even
thinking anything, alone with himself and the cloud that hung over his
life, with a consciousness that all his movements were watched, that
even this would be something against him, a proof of that remorse which
belongs to guilt. And thus the slow moments, every one slower than the
other, more full of oppression, rolled over him. Beaufort had
disappeared, and did not return till late in the afternoon, when the
twilight was falling. A few words only passed between them, and these
related solely to Beaufort's thoughts, not to Erskine's.
"It is _her_ husband who has been killed," Beaufort said; "you never
told me."
"I could not tell you. It was too extraordinary; it was an impiety,"
John said.
But neither did he ask himself what he meant, nor did Beaufort ask him.
They said nothing more to each other, except such civilities as are
indispensable when men eat together,--for they dined all the same,
notwithstanding the circumstances. In every crisis men must still dine;
it is the only thing that is inevitable, in trouble or in joy.
And then the night followed. Night is horrible, yet it is consolatory to
those who are in suspense. John could not suppose that his trials were
over, that nothing was to follow; but by ten o'clock or so he said to
himself, with relief, that nothing could happen to-night. Rolls, too,
had evidently arrived at the same conclusion. He was heard to close and
bolt the door ostentatiously while it was still early, and there was
something in the very noise he made which proclaimed the satisfaction
with which he did it. But after this there was a long black evening
still, and hours of darkness, to follow, which John did not know how to
get through. Almost he had made up his mind to step out of the window at
midnight, as Rolls had suggested, and withdraw from all this alarm and
unjust suspicion. He did go out, and felt the cool freshness of the
night caress him, hot and weary as he was, and thought with a sigh of
distant places far away, where he might be safe from all these frets and
passions. But he knew, if he did so, that his cause would be lost for
ever--that nothing could save him or his reputation. Perhaps in no case
could anything save him: but if he fled, his ruin was certain. "What did
it matter," he thought, with bitterness, "that he had no witnesses to
produce, that nobody would believe him? And if he were condemned, what
would any one care? His mother, indeed, would feel the shame, but more
the shame than anything else; and her name was not Erskine, nor that of
any of her family. There was no one who actually belonged to him in the
wide world, to whom his living or dying could be of any consequence." As
he stood alone with these bitter thoughts, on the terrace, looking out
upon the night, feeling the wind blow upon him from the fields of sleep,
but no other trace in the darkness of the great wide landscape which he
knew lay stretched out like a map under cover of the clouds, something
breathed another name in his ear. Ah! how did he know if she would care?
Sometimes he had thought so, hoped so, vaguely, with a tremor of alarmed
delight. But if this shadow of crime came over him, would Edith stoop
under it to say a word of consolation?--would she? could she? He stood
still for a long time on the terrace, with the lighted window and common
life behind him, and all the secrets of the hidden night before, and
asked himself what she would do. What would she do? That question, and
not the other, was, after all, the great one in life.
Next morning John awoke with the sense of a coming trial, which made his
heart jump in his breast the moment he opened his eyes, though it was
some time before he recollected what it was. But he did so at last, and
accepted the certainty with outward calm. He came down-stairs with a
steady conviction of what was about to happen. To make up his mind to it
was something. He sat down at the breakfast-table opposite to
Beaufort--who was restless and uncomfortable--with a calm which he felt
to be fictitious, but which nevertheless was calm.
"You must remember," he said, "Beaufort, whatever happens, that
Dalrulzian is altogether at your command."
"What can happen?" Beaufort asked.
"I scarcely know. I can be taken away, I suppose, and examined
somewhere. You had better come with me. You are a barrister, and might
help; and besides, it will always be for your advantage to get a little
insight into Scotch law."
"I might be of use, perhaps; but in that case, you must tell me
everything," Beaufort said.
"I ask no better," said the young man; and he repeated the narrative
which he had told to Sir James Montgomery. "Don't you disbelieve me.
What I say to you is the whole truth," he said,--"everything that there
is to say."
"To disbelieve you would be impossible," said Beaufort, which was the
first gleam of consolation he had. They had a long consultation, some of
which was surprised by Rolls, who went and came, busy about the door,
with sombre and undisguised anxiety.
Beaufort scouted the idea that there could be any question of murder.
"Had you done as they suppose--seized the bridle in self-defence, and
forced the horse a step too far--it would still only be accident," he
said,--"at the very worst and bitterest, manslaughter; though I don't
see how it could bear even such a verdict as that. There is no occasion
for unnecessary alarm. Anything more is impossible."
At this moment Rolls came in; his countenance was lightened, yet
excited. "There is one--that would like to speak to you, sir," he said.
There could be no doubt as to what the summons was. Rolls lingered
behind when his master, with changing colour, but self-possession, left
the room. He came up to Beaufort stealthily. "Sir," he said--"sir, will
_yon_ be all true?"
"What? Neither Mr Erskine nor myself is in the habit of saying what is
not true."
"That's no doubt the case. I'm saying nothing of him; but you might have
smoothed it off a bit, just to soothe him. Will it be all exact yon you
said about manslaughter? Manslaughter is just culpable homicide, so far
as I can see. And what's the punishment for manslaughter (as you call
it), if you'll be so kind as say?"
"That depends on the gravity of the case, on the character of the judge,
on many things. A year's, two years' imprisonment--perhaps only a month
or two. I have known it but a day."
"And previous character would be taken into account?" said Rolls; "and
aggravation, and--many a thing more?"
"No doubt; it is a thing upon which no certain rule can be observed. It
may be next to no harm at all, or it may be close upon murder. In such a
case as this, severity is very unlikely."
"But it will make a pairting," said Rolls, solemnly, "atween him and all
he maist cares for. I'm no' of the young maister's mind myself. There
are some would have set him far better, and in every way more suitable;
but what a man likes himself, it's that will please him, and no' what
another man likes. It takes us a' a lang time," said Rolls, shaking his
head, "to learn that. Many's the one in my place would think here's just
a grand opportunity to pairt him and--them; but you see I take his ain
wishes into consideration."
The old servant spoke less to Beaufort than to himself; but the visitor
was not accustomed to hold such colloquies with a family butler. He
stared, then grew impatient, and disposed to resent the old fellow's
familiarity. The next moment the bell rang, and Rolls hurried away.
Beaufort followed him out into the hall, where a man was standing
evidently on guard. John was at the door of the drawing-room, pale, but
perfectly composed. "The dogcart immediately," he said to Rolls, and
beckoned to Beaufort to come in. "I am going before the
sheriff-substitute about this matter," he said. "Beaufort, you will come
with me. Mr Granger, this is my friend Mr Beaufort, an English
barrister. He may go with me, I suppose, to watch over my interests? You
see that what we were threatened with yesterday has come to pass."
"I see, indeed," said Beaufort, "with sorrow and surprise. What is it
that has to be done now?"
"The sheriff will make no objection," said the head of the county
police, a plain, grave man, with regret in his face. "It's my duty to
take Mr Erskine before the sheriff. The result of the examination will
be, let us hope, that he'll come cannily home again, when all has been
inquired into in due form. There is no reason to take a gloomy view. The
sheriff will maybe find there's no case: and I'm sure I wish so with all
my heart."
They all sat round with the utmost gravity to listen to this little
speech. It was not a moment for light-heartedness. John sat between the
table and the door, in perfect self-command, yet very pale.
Notwithstanding all the respect shown to him, and the good feeling from
which he had everything to hope, the most innocent of men may be excused
a feeling of dismay when he is, to all intents and purposes, arrested on
a criminal charge, with issues to his good fame and social estimation,
even if nothing more, which it is impossible to calculate. They sat in
silence while the dogcart was getting ready, a strange little company.
After a while, the officer, to lessen the embarrassment of the moment,
and make everything pleasant, began to address various little remarks
about the weather and other commonplace topics to the two gentlemen,
such as, "This is a very agreeable change from all the wet we've been
having;" or, "The news this morning is more satisfactory about that
Afghan business." The responses made, as may be supposed, were not very
effusive. It was a relief when the dogcart came to the door. Old Rolls
stood and watched it go down the avenue, with his countenance firmly
set, and a stern resolution gathering about his mouth. Bauby stole out
and stood by his side in the morning light, with her apron to her eyes,
and her capacious bosom convulsed with sobs. "Eh, that I should have
lived to see this day, and shame come to oor dwallin'!" cried Bauby;
"and as bonny a young lad as ever steppit, and as good!"
"Hold your peace, woman!" said her brother; "ye may see shame come
nearer hame or a's done."
"Eh, Tammas, man! what do you ca' nearer hame? My heart's just broken;
and what will his mammaw say?" the faithful creature cried.
Meanwhile it might have been a party of pleasure that threaded its way
among the trees, somewhat closely packed in the dogcart, but no more
than they might have been, starting for the moors. John Erskine drove
himself to the examination which was to decide his fate one way or
another, with all the appearance of a perfectly free agent. The horse
was fresh, the morning bright; and though the four men were a heavy
load, they skimmed along the country road as gaily as if all had been
well. Tinto was visible for the greater part of the way. They passed by
the very gates of Lindores. John had shaken himself together as he took
the reins in his hand, and with perhaps a little unconscious bravado,
paused now and then to indicate a favourite point of view to his friend.
But he had harder work in store. Just before they reached Dunearn, he
perceived drawn up by the roadside Lady Lindores's carriage, in which
Edith was seated alone. Impossible to describe the feelings with which,
as across a gulf of pain and trouble, the unfortunate young man, at this
crisis of his fate, looked at the girl with whom, when he last saw her,
he had been so near the edge of a mutual understanding. It was
impossible for him now to do other than draw up by the side of the
carriage to speak to her; and there, in the hearing of the two men who
formed his escort, and whose presence was heavy on his heart, the
following conversation took place. Edith looked up at him with a smile
and an expression of pleasure which brightened her whole aspect. She was
in mourning, and somewhat pale.
"I am waiting for mamma," she said. "One of her pensioners is ill in
that cottage. I was glad of the chance of bringing her out for a little
air. We are with poor Carry, you know."
"How is Lady Caroline?" John asked.
"Oh, well enough, when one considers all things," said Edith, hastily;
and to escape that subject, which was not to be entered on before
strangers, she said, "You are going to Dunearn?"
"On painful business," he said. "I wonder if I may ask you one thing?"
She looked up at him with a smile which said much--a smile of trust and
belief, which might have encouraged any man to speak. Edith had no fear
of what he might ask her. For John it was more difficult to command
himself and his voice at that moment than at any previous one since his
trial began. He cleared his throat with an effort, and his voice was
husky. "You will hear things said of me--that may make you turn from--an
old friend altogether. I want you not to believe them. And tell Lady
Lindores. Do not believe them. It is not true."
"Mr Erskine, what is it--what is it? You may be sure I shall believe
nothing against you--nor mamma either! Is it--is it----" her eyes fixed
upon him anxiously and upon the stranger beside him, whose face was
unknown to her, and who sat blank and passive like a servant, yet who
was not a servant. Edith rose in the carriage in her great anxiety, and
gazed as if she would have read a volume in John's face. What it cost
him to look at her and to keep a kind of smile on his, it would be hard
to tell.
"I cannot enter into explanations now. I may not be able to do so soon.
Only--tell Lady Lindores."
She held out her hand to him, which he stooped to touch--it was all he
could do--and once more gave him an anxious, tender smile. "You may
trust both mamma and me," she said.
And in another moment, so it seemed, the dogcart stopped again. John
went over the streets of Dunearn like a man in a dream--in a sort of
exquisite anguish, a mingled sweetness and bitterness such as never went
into words. Their looks seemed to cling together, as, with a start, the
horse went on; and now they stopped again and got down--for a very
different encounter. Even now, however, John's progress was to be
interrupted. Some one called to him as he was about to go into the
sheriff's court in the little Town-house of Dunearn. "Is that you, John
Erskine? and what has brought you here?" in peremptory tones. He turned
round quickly. It was Miss Barbara in her pony-carriage, which Nora was
driving. The old lady leaned across the young one and beckoned to him
with some impatience. "Come here. What are you doing in Dunearn without
coming to me? It's true I'm out, and you would not have found me; but
Janet would have understood to be prepared for your luncheon. And what's
your business in the Town-house this fine morning, and with strange
company?" Miss Barbara said. She cast a keen glance at the man, who
stood aside respectfully enough, and yet, backed by his assistant, kept
a watchful eye on John.
"I am afraid I cannot wait to tell you now. It is not pleasant
business," John said.
"Come round here," said the old lady, imperiously; "can I keep on
skreighing to you before all the town? Come round here." Her keen eyes
took in the whole scene: John's glance at his grave companion, the most
imperceptible gesture with which that person made way for him. Miss
Barbara's perceptions were keen. She gripped her nephew by the arm.
"John Erskine, have ye done anything to bring ye within the power of the
law?"
"Nothing," he said firmly, meeting her eye.
"Then what does that man mean glowering at you? Lord guide us! what is
it, boy? It cannot be money, for money has none of these penalties now."
"It is not money--nor anything worth a thought."
"Mr Erskine," said the officer, civilly, "the sheriff is waiting." And
after that, there was no more to be said.