Just before dark on the following day a man descended from a down train
at the Clinton Magna station. The porters knew him and greeted him; so
did one or two labourers outside, as he set off to walk to the village,
which was about a mile distant.
"Well, John, so yer coom back," said one of them, an old man, grasping
the newcomer by the hand. "An' I can't say as yer looks is any credit
to Frampton--no, that aa can't."
John, indeed, wore a sallow and pinched air, and walked lamely, with a
stick.
"Noa," he said peevishly; "it's a beastly place is Frampton; a damp,
nassty hole as iver I saw--gives yer the rheumaticks to look at it.
I've 'ad a doose of a time, I 'ave, I can tell yer--iver sense I went.
But I'll pull up now."
"Aye, this air 'll do yer," said the other. "Where are yer stoppin'?
Costrells'?"
John nodded.
"They don't know nothin' about my comin', but I dessay they'll find me
somethin' to sleep on. I'll 'ave my own place soon, and some one to
look arter it."
He drew himself up involuntarily, with the dignity that waits on
property. A laugh, rather jeering than cordial, ran through the group
of labourers.
"Aye, yer'll be livin' at your ease," said the man who had spoken
first. "When will yo' give us a drink, yer lardship?"
The others grinned.
"Where's your money, John?" said a younger man, suddenly staring hard
at the returned wanderer.
John started.
"Don't you talk your nonsense!" he said fretfully; "an' I must be
getting on, afore dark."
He went his way, but, as he turned a corner of the road, he saw them
still standing where he had left them. They seemed to be watching his
progress, which astonished him.
A light of windy sunset lay spread over the white valley, and the
freshening gusts drove the powdery snow before them, and sent little
stabs of pain through John's shrinking body. Yet how glad he was to
find himself again between those familiar hedges, to see the
church-tower in front of him, the long hill to his right! His heart
swelled at once with longing and satisfaction. During his Frampton
job, and in the infirmary, he had suffered much, physically and
mentally. He had missed Eliza and the tendance of years more than he
had ever imagined he could; and he had found himself too old for new
faces and a new society. When he fell ill he had been sorely tempted
to send for some of his money, and get himself nursed and cared for at
the respectable lodging where he had put up. But no; in the end he set
his teeth and went into the infirmary. He had planned not to touch his
hoard till he had done with the Frampton job and returned to Clinton
for good. His peasant obstinacy could not endure to be beaten; nor,
indeed, could he bring himself to part with his keys, to trust the
opening of the hoard even to Isaac.
Since then he had passed through many weary weeks, sometimes of acute
pain, sometimes of sinking weakness, during which he had been haunted
by many secret torments, springing mainly from the fear of death. He
had almost been driven to make his will. But in the end superstitious
reluctance prevailed. He had not made his will; and to dwell on the
fact gave him the sensation of having escaped a bond, if not a danger.
He did not want to leave his money behind him; he wanted to spend it,
as he had told Eliza and Mary Anne and Bessie scores of times. To have
assigned it to any one else, even after his death, would have made it
less his own.
Ah, well! those bad weeks were done, and here he was, at home again.
Suddenly, as he tramped on, he caught sight against the hill of
Bessie's cottage, the blue smoke from it blown across the rime-laden
trees behind it. He drew in his breath with a deep, tremulous delight.
That buoyant self-congratulation indeed which had stood between him and
the pain of Eliza's death was gone. Rather, there was in him a
profound yearning for rest, for long dreaming by the fire or in the
sun, with his pipe to smoke, and Jim's Louisa to look after him, and
nothing to do but to draw a half-crown from his box when he wanted it.
No more hard work in rain and cold; and no cringing, either, to the
young and prosperous for the mere fault of age. The snowy valley, with
its circling woods, opened to him like a mother's breast; the sight of
it filled him with a hundred simple hopes and consolations; he hurried
to bury himself in it and be at peace.
He was within a hundred yards of the first house in the village, when
he saw a tall figure in uniform approaching, and recognised Watson.
At sight of him the policeman stopped short, and John was conscious of
a moment's vague impression of something strange in Watson's looks.
However, Watson shook hands with great friendliness.
"Well, I'm glad to see yer, John, I'm sure. An' now, I s'pose, you're
back for good?"
"Aye. I'm not going away no more. I've done my share--I wants a bit
o' rest."
"Of course yer do. You've been ill, 'aven't yer? You look like it.
An' yer puttin' up at Costrells'?"
"Yes, till I can turn round a bit. 'Ave yer seen any thin' ov 'em?
'Ow's Bessie?"
Watson faced back towards the village.
"I'll walk with yer a bit--I'm in no 'urry. Oh, she's all right. You
'eard of her bit o' money?"
John opened his eyes.
"Noa, I don' know as I did."
"It wor an aunt o' hers, soa I understan'--quite a good bit o' money."
"Did yer iver hear the name?" said John, eagerly.
"Some one livin' at Bedford, I did 'ear say."
John laughed, not without good-humoured relief. It would have touched
his vanity had his niece been discovered to be richer than himself.
"Oh, that's old Sophy Clarke!" he said. "Her 'usband bought the lease
o' two little 'ouses in Church Street, and they braat 'er in six
shillin's a week for years, an' she allus said she'd leave it to Bessie
if she wor took afore the lease wor up. But the lease ull be up end o'
next year, I know, for I saw the old lady myself last Michaelmas
twelve-month, an' she told me all about it, though I worn't to tell
nobody meself. An' I didn't know Sophy wor gone. Ah, well! it's not
much, but it's 'andy--it's 'andy."
"Six shillin's a week!" said Watson, raising his eyebrows. "It's a
nice bit o' money while it lassts, but I'd ha' thought Mrs. Costrell
'ad come into a deal more nor that."
"Oh, but she's sich a one to spend, is Bessie!" said John, anxiously.
"It's surprisin' 'ow the money runs. It's sixpence 'ere, an' sixpence
there, allus dribblin', an' dribblin', out ov 'er. I've allus tole 'er
as she'll end 'er days on the parish."
"Sixpences!" said Watson, with a laugh. "It's not sixpences as Mrs.
Costrell's 'ad the spendin' of this last month or two--it's
_suverins_--an' plenty ov 'em. You may be sure you've got the wrong
tale about the money, John; it wor a deal more nor you say."
John stood stock still at the word "sovereigns," his jaw dropping.
"_Suverins_," he said trembling; "suverins? Bessie ain't got no
suverins. Isaac arns sixteen shillin' a week."
The colour was ebbing fast from his cheek and lips. Watson threw him a
quick, professional glance, then rapidly consulted with himself. No;
he decided to hold his tongue.
"Yo' _are_ reg'lar used up," he said, taking hold of the old fellow
kindly by the arm. "Shall I walk yer up the hill?"
John withdrew himself.
"_Suverins!_" he repeated, in a low, hoarse voice. "She ain't got 'em,
I tell yer--she ain't got 'em!"
The last words rose to a sort of cry, and, without another word to
Watson, the old man started at a feeble run, his head hanging.
Watson followed him, afraid lest he should drop in the road. Instead,
John seemed to gather strength. He made straight for the hill, taking
no heed whatever of two or three startled acquaintances who stopped and
shouted to him. When the ground began to rise he stumbled again and
again, but, by a marvel, did not fall, and his pace hardly slackened.
Watson had difficulty in keeping up with him.
But when the policeman reached his own cottage on the side of the road,
he stopped, panting, and contented himself with looking after the
mounting figure. As soon as it turned the corner of the Costrells'
lane, he went into his own house, said a word to his wife, and sat
himself down at his own back door to await events--to ponder, also, a
few conversations he had held that morning, with Mrs. Moulsey at "the
shop," with Dawson, with Hall the butcher. Poor old John--poor old
fellow!
When Bolderfield reached the paling in front of the Costrells' cottage,
he paused a moment, holding for support to the half-open gate and
struggling for breath. "I must keep my 'edd, I must," he was saying to
himself piteously; "don' yer be a fool, John Borroful, don' yer be a
fool!"
As he stood there, a child's face pushed the window-blind of the
cottage aside, and the lame boy's large eyes looked Bolderfield up and
down. Immediately after, the door opened, and all four children stood
huddling behind each other on the threshold. They all looked shyly at
the newcomer. They knew him, but in six months they had grown strange
to him.
"Arthur, where's your mother?" said John, at last able to walk firmly
up to the door.
"Don' know."
"When did yer see her lasst?"
"She wor 'ere gettin' us our tea," said another child; "but she didn't
eat nothin'."
John impatiently pushed the children before him back into the kitchen.
"You 'old your tongues," he said, "an' stay 'ere."
And he made for the door in the kitchen wall. But Arthur caught hold
of his coat tails and clung to them.
"Yer oughtn't to go up there--mother don't let any one go there."
John wrenched himself violently away.
"Oh, don't she! yo' take your 'ands away, yer little varmint, or I'll
brain yer."
He raised his stick, threatening. The child, terrified, fell back, and
John, opening the door, rushed up the stairs.
He was so terribly excited that his fumbling fingers could hardly find
the ribbon round his neck. At last he drew it over his head, and made
stupendous efforts to steady his hand sufficiently to put the key in
the lock.
The children below heard a sharp cry directly the cupboard door was
opened; then the frantic dragging of a box on to the stairs, the creak
of hinges--a groan long and lingering--and then silence.
They clung together in terror, and the little girls began to cry. At
last Arthur took courage and opened the door.
The old man was sitting on the top stair, supported sideways by the
wall, his head hanging forward, and his hands dropping over his knees,
in a dead faint.
At the sight all four children ran helter-skelter into the lane,
shouting "Mammy! mammy!" in an anguish of fright. Their clamour was
caught by the fierce north wind, which had begun to sweep the hill, and
was borne along till it reached the ears of a woman who was sitting
sewing in a cottage some fifty yards further up the lane. She stepped
to her door, opened it and listened.
"It's at Bessie's," she said; "whativer's wrong wi' the childer?"
By this time Arthur had begun to run towards her. Darkness was falling
rapidly, but she could distinguish his small figure against the snow,
and his halting gait.
"What is it, Arthur?--what is it, lammie?"
"O Cousin Mary Anne! Cousin Mary Anne! It's Uncle John, an' 'ee's
dead!"
She ran like the wind at the words, catching at the child's hand in the
dark, and dragging him along with her.
"Where is he, Arthur?--don't take on, honey!"
The child hurried on with her, sobbing, and she was soon on the stairs
beside the unconscious John.
Mary Anne looked with amazement at the cupboard and the open box. Then
she laid the old man on the floor, her gentle face working with the
effort to remember what the doctor had once told her of the best way of
dealing with persons in a faint. She got water, and she sent Arthur to
a neighbour for brandy.
"Where's your mother, child?" she asked, as she despatched him.
"Don' know," repeated the boy, stupidly.
"Oh, for goodness' sake, she's never at Dawson's again!" groaned Mary
Anne to herself; "she wor there last night, an' the night afore that.
And her mother's brother lyin' like this in 'er house!"
He was so long in coming round that her ignorance began to fear the
worst. But, just as she was telling the eldest girl to put on her hat
and jacket and run for the doctor, poor John revived.
He struggled to a sitting posture, looked wildly at her and at the box.
As his eye caught the two sovereigns still lying at the bottom, he gave
a cry of rage, and got upon his feet with a mighty effort.
"Where's Bessie, I tell yer? Where's the huzzy gone? I'll have the
law on 'er! I'll make 'er give it up--by the Lord I will!"
"John, what is it? John, my dear!" cried Mary Anne, supporting him,
and terrified lest he should pitch headlong down the stairs.
"Yo' 'elp me down," he said violently. "We'll find 'er--we'll wring it
out ov 'er--the mean, thievin' vagabond! Changin' suverins, 'as she?
We'll soon know about that--yo' 'elp me down, I tell yer."
And, with her assistance, he hobbled down the stairs, hardly able to
stand. Mary Anne's eyes were starting out of her head with fear and
agitation, and the children were staring at the old man as he came
tottering into the kitchen, when a sound at the outer door made them
all turn.
The door opened, and Bessie appeared on the threshold.
At sight of her John seemed to lose his senses. He rushed at her,
threatening, imploring, reviling--while Mary Anne could only cling to
his arms and coat, lest he should attempt some bodily mischief.
Bessie closed the door, leant against it, and folded her arms. She was
white and haggard, but perfectly cool. In this moment of excitement it
struck neither John nor Mary Anne--nor, indeed, herself--that her
manner, with its brutality, and its poorly feigned surprise, was the
most revealing element in the situation.
"What's all this about yer money?" she said, staring John in the face.
"What do I know about yer money? 'Ow dare yer say such things? I
'aven't anythin' to do with it, an' never 'ad."
He raved at her, in reply, about the position in which he had found the
box--on the top of its fellow instead of underneath, where he had
placed it--about the broken lock, the sovereigns she had been changing,
and the things Watson had said of her--winding up with a peremptory
demand for his money.
"Yo' gi' me my money back," he said, holding out a shaking hand. "Yer
can't 'ave spent it all--'tain't possible--an' yer ain't chucked it out
o' winder. Yer've got it somewhere 'idden, an' I'll get it out o' you
if I die for 't!"
Bessie surveyed him steadily. She had not even flinched at the mention
of the sovereigns.
"What yer 'aven't got, yer can't give," she said. "I don' know nothin'
about it, an' I've tole yer. There's plenty o' bad people in the
world--beside me. Somebody came in o' nights, I suppose, an' picked
the lock--there's many as 'ud think nothin' of it. And it 'ud be easy
done--we all sleeps 'ard."
"Bessie!" cried Mary Anne, outraged by something in her tone, "aren't
yer sorry for 'im?"
She pointed to the haggard and trembling man.
Bessie turned to her reluctantly. "Aye, I'm sorry," she said sullenly.
"But he shouldn't fly out at yer without 'earin' a word. 'Ow should I
know anythin' about his money? 'Ee locked it up hisself, an' tuk the
keys."
"An' them suverins," roared John, rattling his stick on the floor;
"where did yer get them suverins?"
"I got 'em from old Sophy Clarke--leastways, from Sophy Clarke's
lawyer. And it ain't no business o' yourn."
At this John fell into a frenzy, shouting at her in inarticulate
passion, calling her liar and thief.
She fronted it with perfect composure. Her fine eyes blazed, but
otherwise her face might have been a waxen mask. With her, in this
scene, was all the tragic dignity; with him, the weakness and vulgarity.
At last the little widow caught her by the arm, and drew her from the
door.
"Let me take 'im to my place," she pleaded: "it's no good talkin' while
'ee's like 'ee is--not a bit o' good. John--John, dear! you come along
wi' me. Shall I get Saunders to come an' speak to yer?"
A gleam of sudden hope shot into the old man's face. He had not
thought of Saunders; but Saunders had a head; he might unravel this
accursed thing.
"Aye!" he said, lurching forward, "let's find Saunders--coom
along--let's find Saunders."
Mary Anne guided him through the door, Bessie standing aside. As the
widow passed, she touched Bessie piteously.
"Oh, Bessie, yer _didn't_ do it--say yer didn't!"
Bessie looked at her dry-eyed and contemptuous. Something in the
speaker's emotion seemed to madden her.
"Don't yer be a fool, Mary Anne--that's all!" she said scornfully, and
Mary Anne fled from her.
When the door had closed upon them Bessie came up to the fire, her
teeth chattering. She sank down in front of it, spreading out her
hands. The children silently crowded up to her; first she pushed them
away, then she caught at the child nearest to her, pressed its fair
head against her, then again roughly put it aside. She was accustomed
to chatter with them, scold them and slap them; but to-night they were
uneasily dumb. They looked at her with round eyes; and at last their
looks annoyed her. She told them to go to bed, and they slunk away,
gaping at the open box on the stairs, and huddling together overhead,
all on one bed, in the bitter cold, to whisper to each other. Isaac
was a stern parent; Bessie a capricious one; and the children, though
they could be riotous enough by themselves, were nervous and easily
cowed at home.
Bessie, left alone, sat silently over the fire, her thin lips
tight-set. She would deny everything--_everything_. Let them find
out what they could. Who could prove what was in John's box when he
left it? Who could prove she hadn't got those half-crowns in change
somewhere?
The reflection of the day had only filled her with a passionate and
fierce regret. _Why_ had she not followed her first impulse and thrown
it all on Timothy?--told the story to Isaac while she was still
bleeding from his son's violence? It had been her only chance, and out
of pure stupidness she had lost it. To have grasped it might at least
have made him take her part, if it had forced him to give up Timothy.
And who would have listened to Timothy's tales?
She sickened at the thought of her own folly, beating her knee with her
clenched fist. For, to tell the tale now would only be to make her
doubly vile in Isaac's eyes. He would not believe her--no one would
believe her. What motive could she plead for her twenty-four hours of
silence, she knowing that John was coming back immediately? Isaac
would only hate her for throwing it on Timothy.
Then again, the memory of the half-crowns, and the village talk--and
Watson--would close upon her, putting her in a cold sweat.
When would Isaac come? Who would tell him? As she looked forward to
the effect upon him, all her muscles stiffened. If he drove her to it,
aye, she _would_ tell him--she didn't care a ha'porth, she vowed. If
he must have it, let him. But as the name of Isaac, the thought of
Isaac, hovered in her brain, she must needs brush away wild tears.
That morning, for the first time for months, he had been so kind to her
and the children, so chatty and cheerful.
Distant steps along the lane! She sprang to her feet, ran into the
back kitchen, tied on her apron, hastily filled an earthenware bowl
with water from the pump, and, carrying it back to the front kitchen,
began to wash up the tea-things, making a busy household clatter as she
slid them into the bowl.
A confused sound of feet approached the house, and there was a knock.
"Come in," said Bessie.
Three figures appeared, the huge form of Saunders the smith in front,
John and Mary Anne Waller behind.
Saunders took off his cap politely. The sight of his bald head, his
double chin, his mouth with its queer twitch, which made him seem as
though perpetually about to laugh, if he had not perpetually thought
better of it, filled Bessie with angry excitement. She barely nodded
to him, in reply to his greeting.
"May we come in, Mrs. Costrell?" Saunders inquired, in his most
deliberate voice.
"If yer want to," said Bessie, shortly, taking out a cup and drying it.
Saunders drew in the other two and shut the door.
"Sit down, John. Sit down, Mrs. Waller."
John did as he was told. Dishevelled and hopeless misery spoke in his
stained face, his straggling hair, his shirt burst open at the neck and
showing his wrinkled throat. But he fixed his eyes passionately on
Saunders, thirsting for every word.
"Well, Mrs. Costrell," said Saunders, settling himself comfortably,
"you'll be free to confess, won't yer, this is an oogly business--a
very oogly business? Now, will yer let us ask yer a question or two?"
"I dessay," said Bessie, polishing her cup.
"Well, then--to begin reg'lar, Mrs. Costrell--yo' agree, don't yer, as
Muster Bolderfield put his money in your upstairs cupboard?"
"I agree as he put his box there"--said Bessie, sharply.
John broke into inarticulate and abusive clamour. Bessie turned upon
him.
"'Ow did any of us know what yer'd got in your box? Did yer ever show
it to me, or Mary Anne there, or any livin' soul in Clinton? Did yer?"
She waited, hawk-like, for the answer.
"Did yer, John?" repeated Saunders, judicially.
John groaned, rocking himself to and fro.
"Noa. I niver did--I niver did," he said. "Nobbut to Eliza--an' she's
gone--she's gone!"
"Keep your 'ead, John," said Saunders, putting out a calming hand.
"Let's get to the bottom o' this, quiet an' _reg'lar_. An' yer didn't
tell any one 'ow much yer 'ad?"
"Nobbut Eliza--nobbut Eliza!" said the old man again.
"Yer didn't tell _me_, I know," said Saunders, blandly.
John seemed to shrink together under the smith's glance. If only he
had not been a jealous fool, and had left it with Saunders.
Saunders, however, refrained for the present from drawing his
self-evident moral. He sat twirling his cap between his knees, and his
shrewd eye travelled round the kitchen, coming back finally to Bessie,
who was washing and drying diligently. As he watched her cool
movements Saunders felt the presence of an enemy worthy of his steel,
and his emulation rose.
"I understan', Mrs. Costrell," he said, speaking with great civility,
"as the cupboard where John put his money is a cupboard _hon_ the
stairs? Not in hany room, but _hon_ the stairs? Yer'll kindly correck
me if I say anythin' wrong."
Bessie nodded.
"Aye--top o' the stairs--right-'and side," groaned John.
"An' John locked it hisself, an' tuk the key?" Saunders proceeded.
John plucked at his neck again, and, dumbly, held out the key.
"An' there worn't nothin' wrong wi' the lock when yo' opened it, John?"
"Nothin', Muster Saunders--I'll take my davy."
Saunders ruminated.
"Theer's a cupboard there," he said suddenly, raising his hand and
pointing to the cupboard beside the fireplace. "Is't anythin' like the
cupboard on th' stairs, John?"
"Aye, 'tis!" said John, startled and staring. "Aye, 'tis, Muster
Saunders!"
Saunders rose.
"Per'aps," he said slowly, "Mrs. Costrell will do us the favour ov
lettin' us hexamine that 'ere cupboard?"
He walked across to it. Bessie's hand dropped; she turned sharply,
supporting herself against the table, and watched him, her chest
heaving.
"There's no key 'ere," said Saunders, stooping to look at the lock.
"Try yours, John."
John rushed forward, but Bessie put herself in the way.
"What are yer meddlin' with my 'ouse for?" she said fiercely. "Just
mek yourselves scarce, all the lot o' yer! I don't know nothin' about
his money, an' I'll not have yer _insultin'_ me in me own place! Get
out o' my kitchen, if _yo'_ please!"
Saunders buttoned his coat.
"Sartinly, Mrs. Costrell, sartinly," he said, with emphasis. "Come
along, John. Yer must get Watson and put it in 'is hands. 'Ee's the
law, is Watson. Maybe as Mrs. Costrell 'ull listen to _'im_."
Mary Anne ran to Bessie in despair.
"Oh, Bessie, Bessie, my dear--don't let 'em get Watson; let 'em look
into 't theirselves--it'll be better for yer, my dear, it _will_."
Bessie looked from one to the other, panting. Then she turned back to
the table.
"_I_ don' care what they do," she said, with sullen passion. "I'm not
stannin' in any one's way, I tell yer. The more they finds out the
better I'm pleased."
The look of incipient laughter on Saunders's countenance became more
pronounced--that is to say, the left-hand corner of his mouth twitched
a little higher. But it was rare for him to complete the act, and he
was not in the least minded to do so now. He beckoned to John, and
John, trembling, took off his keys and gave them to him, pointing to
that which belonged to the treasure cupboard.
Saunders slipped it into the lock before him. It moved with ease,
backwards and forwards.
"H'm! that's strange," he said, taking out the key and turning it over
thoughtfully in his hand. "Yer didn't think as there were _another_
key in this 'ouse that would open your cupboard, did yer, Bolderfield?"
The old man sank weeping on a chair. He was too broken, too exhausted,
to revile Bessie any more.
"Yo' tell her, Muster Saunders," he said, "to gie it me back! I'll not
ast for all on it, but some on it, Muster Saunders--some on it. She
_can't_ 'a spent it. She must 'a got it somewhere. Yo' speak to her,
Muster Saunders. It's a crule thing to rob an old man like me--an' her
own mother's brother. Yo' speak to 'er--an' yo', too, Mary Anne."
He looked piteously from one to the other. But his misery only seemed
to goad Bessie to fresh fury. She turned upon him, arms akimbo.
"Oh! an' of course it must be _me_ as robs yer! It couldn't be nobody
else, could it? There isn't tramps, an' thieves, an' rogues--'undreds
of 'em--going about o' nights? Nary one, I believe yer! There isn't
another thief in Clinton Magna, nobbut Bessie Costrell, is ther? But
yer'll not blackguard me for nothin', I can tell yer. Now will yer
jest oblige me by takin' yourselves off? I shall 'ave to clean up
after yer"--she pointed scornfully to the marks of their muddy boots on
the floor--"an' it's gettin' late."
"One moment, Mrs. Costrell," said Saunders, gently rubbing his hands.
"With your leave, John and I 'ull just inspeck the cupboard _hup_stairs
before leavin'--an' then we'll clear out double quick. But we'll 'ave
one try if we can't 'it on somethin' as 'ull show 'ow the thief got
in--with your leave, of _coorse_."
Bessie hesitated; then she threw some spoons she held into the water
beside her with a violent gesture.
"Go where yer wants," she said, and returned to her washing.
Saunders began to climb the narrow stairs, with John behind him. But
the smith's small eyes had a puzzled look.
"There's _somethin'_ rum," he said to himself. "'Ow _did_ she spend it
all? 'As she been carryin' on with some one be'ind Isaac's back, or is
Isaac in it too? It's one or t'other."
Meanwhile, Bessie, left behind, was consumed by a passionate effort of
memory. _What_ had she done with the key the night before, after she
had locked the cupboard? Her brain was blurred. The blow--the
fall--seemed to have confused even the remembrance of the scene with
Timothy. How was it, for instance, that she had put the box back in
the wrong place? She put her hand to her head, trying in an anguish to
recollect the exact details.
The little widow sat, meanwhile, a few yards away, her thin hands
clasped on her lap in her usual attitude of humble entreaty; her soft,
grey eyes, brimmed with tears, were fixed on Bessie. Bessie did not
know that she was there--that she existed.
The door had closed after the two men. Bessie could hear vague
movements, but nothing more. Presently she could bear it no longer.
She went to the door and opened it.
She was just in time. By the light of the bit of candle that John
held, she saw Saunders sitting on the stair, the shadow of his huge
frame thrown black on the white wall; she saw him stoop suddenly, as a
bird pounces; she heard an exclamation--then a sound of metal.
Her involuntary cry startled the men above.
"All right, Mrs. Costrell," said Saunders, briskly--"all right. We'll
be down directly."
She came back into the kitchen, a mist before her eyes, and fell
heavily on a chair by the fire. Mary Anne approached her, only to be
pushed back. The widow stood listening, in an agony.
It took Saunders a minute or two to complete his case. Then he slowly
descended the stairs, carrying the box, his great weight making the
house shake. He entered the kitchen first, John behind him. But at
the same moment that they appeared the outer door opened, and Isaac
Costrell, preceded by a gust of snow, stood on the threshold.
"Why, John!" he cried, in amazement--"an' _Saunders_!"
He looked at them, then at Mary Anne, then at his wife.
There was an instant's dead silence. Then the tottering John came
forward.
"An' I'm glad yer come, Isaac, that I am--thankful! Now yer can tell
me what yer wife's done with my money. D'yer mind that box? It wor
you an' I carried it across that night as Watson come out on us. An'
yo'll bear me witness as we locked it up, an' yo' saw me tie the two
keys roun' my neck--yo' _did_, Isaac. An' now, Isaac,"--the hoarse
voice began to tremble--"now there's two--suverins--left, and one
'arf-crown--out o' seventy-one pound fower an' sixpence--seventy-one
pound, Isaac! Yo'll get it out on 'er, Isaac, yer will, won't yer?"
He looked up, imploring.
Isaac, after the first violent start, stood absolutely motionless,
Saunders observing him. As one of the main props of Church
Establishment in the village, Saunders had no great opinion of Isaac
Costrell, who stood for the dissidence of dissent. The two men had
never been friends, and Saunders, in this affair, had, perhaps,
exercised the quasi-judicial functions the village had long, by common
consent, allowed him, with more readiness than usual.
As soon as John ceased speaking Isaac walked up to Saunders.
"Let me see that box," he said peremptorily. "Put it down."
Saunders, who had rested the box on the back of a chair, placed it
gently on the table, assisted by Isaac. A few feet away stood Bessie,
saying nothing, her hand holding the duster on her hip, her eyes
following her husband.
He looked carefully at the two sovereigns lying on the bit of old cloth
which covered the bottom of the box, and the one half-crown that
Timothy had forgotten; he took up the bit of cloth and shook it, he
felt along the edge of the box, he examined the wrenched lock.
Then he stood for an instant, his hand on the box, his eyes staring
straight before him in a kind of dream.
Saunders grew impatient. He pushed John aside, and came to the table,
leaning his hands upon it so as to command Isaac's face.
"Now look 'ere, Isaac," he said, in a different voice from any that he
had yet employed, "let's come to business. These 'ere are the facks o'
this case, and 'ow we're agoin' to get over 'em I don't see. John
leaves his money in your cupboard. Yo' an' he lock it up, an' John
goes away with 'is keys 'ung roun' 'is neck. Yo' agree to that? Well
an' good. But there's _another_ key in your 'ouse, Isaac, as opens
John's cupboard. Ah----"
He waved his hand in deprecation of Isaac's movement.
"I dessay yo' didn't know nowt about it--that's noather 'ere nor there.
Yo' try John's key in that there door"--he pointed to the cupboard by
the fire--"an' yo'll find it fits _ex_--act. Then, thinks I, where's
the key as belongs to that 'ere cupboard? An' John an' I goes upstairs
to look about us, an' in noa time at aw, I sees a 'ole in the skirtin'.
I whips in my finger--lor' bless yer! I knew it wor there the moment I
sets eyes on the hole."
He held up the key triumphantly. By this time, no Old Bailey lawyer
making a hanging speech could have had more command of his task.
"'Ere then we 'ave"--he checked the items off on his fingers--"box
locked up--key in the 'ouse as fits it, unbeknown to John--money tuk
out--key 'idden away. But that's not all--not by long chalks--there's
another side to the affair _hal_together."
Saunders drew himself up, thrust his hands deep into his pockets, and
cleared his throat.
"Perhaps yer don' know--I'm sartin sure yer don' know--leastways I'm
hinclined that way,--as Mrs. Costrell"--he made a polite inclination
towards Bessie--"'ave been makin' free with money--fower--five--night a
week at the Spotted Deer--fower--five--night a week. She'd used to
treat every young feller, an' plenty old 'uns too, as turned up; an'
there was a many as only went to Dawson's becos they knew as she'd
treat 'em. Now, she didn't go on tick at Dawson's; she'd _pay_,--an'
she allus payed in 'arf-crowns. An' those 'arf-crowns were curious
'arf-crowns; an' it came into Dawson's 'ead as he'd colleck them
'arf-crowns. 'Ee wanted to see summat, 'ee said--an' I dessay 'ee did.
An' people began to taak. Last night theer wor a bit of a roompus, it
seems, while Mrs. Costrell was a-payin' another o' them things, an'
summat as was said come to my ears--an' come to Watson's. An' me an'
Watson 'ave been makin' inquiries--an' Mr. Dawson wor obligin' enough
to make me a small loan, 'ee wor. Now, I've got just one question to
ask o' John Borroful."
He put his hand into his waistcoat pocket, and drew out a silver coin.
"Is that yourn, John?"
John fell upon it with a cry.
"Aye, Saunders, it's mine. Look ye 'ere, Isaac, it's a king's 'ead.
It's Willum--not Victory. I saved that 'un up when I wor a lad at
Mason's--an' look yer, there's my mark in the corner--every 'arf-crown
I ever 'ad I marked like that."
He held it under Isaac's staring eyes, pointing to the little scratched
cross in the corner.
"'Ere's another, John--two on 'em," said Saunders, pulling out a second
and a third.
John, in a passion of hope, identified them both.
"Then," said Saunders, slapping the table solemnly, "theer's nobbut one
more thing to say--an' sorry I am to say it. Them coins, Isaac"--he
pointed a slow finger at Bessie, whose white, fierce face moved
involuntarily--"them 'arf-crowns wor paid across the bar lasst night,
or the night afore, at Dawson's, by _yor wife_, as is now stannin'
there, an' she'll deny it if she can!"
For an instant the whole group preserved their positions--the breath
suspended on their lips.
Then Isaac strode up to his wife, and gripped her by the arms.
"Did yer do it?" he asked her.
He held her, looking into her eyes. Slowly she sank away from him; she
would have fallen, but for a chair that stood beside her.
"Oh, yer brute!" she said, turning her head to Saunders an instant, and
speaking under her breath, with a kind of sob. "Yer _brute_!"
Isaac walked to the door, and threw it open.
"Per'aps yer'll go," he said grimly.
And the three went, without a word.