My mother had consulted Dr. Senior himself when she had been in London.
He did not positively cut off all hope from me, though I knew well he
was giving me encouragement in spite of his own carefully-formed
opinion. He asserted emphatically that it was possible to alleviate her
sufferings and prolong her life, especially if her mind was kept at
rest. There was not a question as to the necessity for my immediate
return to her. But there was still a day for me to tarry in London.
"Martin," said Jack, "why have you never followed up the clew about your
Olivia--the advertisement, you know? Shall we go to those folks in
Gray's-Inn Road this afternoon?"
It had been in my mind all along to do so, but the listless
procrastination of idleness had caused me to put it off from time to
time. Besides, while I was absent from the Channel Islands my curiosity
appeared to sleep. It was enough to picture Olivia in her lowly home in
Sark. Now that I was returning to Guernsey, and the opportunity was
about to slip by, I felt more anxious to seize it. I would learn all I
could about Olivia's family and friends, without betraying any part of
her secret.
At the nearest cab-stand we found a cabman patronized by Jack--a
red-faced, good-tempered, and good-humored man, who was as fond and
proud of Jack's notice as if he had been one of the royal princes.
Of course there was not the smallest difficulty in finding the office of
Messrs. Scott and Brown. It was on the second floor of an ordinary
building, and, bidding the cabman wait for us, we proceeded at once up
the staircase.
There did not seem much business going on, and our appearance was hailed
with undisguised satisfaction. The solicitors, if they were solicitors,
were two inferior, common-looking men, but sharp enough to be a match
for either of us. We both felt it, as if we had detected a snake in the
grass by its rattle. I grew wary by instinct, though I had not come with
any intention to tell them what I knew of Olivia. My sole idea had been
to learn something myself, not to impart any information. But, when I
was face to face with these men, my business, and the management of it,
did not seem quite so simple as it had done until then.
"Do you wish to consult my partner or me?" asked the keenest-looking
man. "I am Mr. Scott."
"Either will do," I answered. "My business will be soon dispatched. Some
months ago you inserted an advertisement in the _Times_."
"To what purport?" inquired Mr. Scott.
"You offered fifty pounds reward," I replied, "for information
concerning a young lady."
A gleam of intelligence and gratification flickered upon both their
faces, but quickly faded away into a sober and blank gravity. Mr. Scott
waited for me to speak again, and bowed silently, as if to intimate he
was all attention.
"I came," I added, "to ask you for the name and address of that young
lady's friends, as I should prefer communicating directly with them,
with a view to cooperation in the discovery of her hiding-place. I need
scarcely say I have no wish to receive any reward. I entirely waive any
claim to that, if you will oblige me by putting me into connection with
the family."
"Have you no information you can impart to us?" asked Mr. Scott.
"None," I answered, decisively. "It is some months since I saw the
advertisement, and it must be nine months since you put it into the
_Times_. I believe it is nine months since the young lady was missing."
"About that time," he said.
"Her friends must have suffered great anxiety," I remarked.
"Very great indeed," he admitted.
"If I could render them any service, it would be a great pleasure to
me," I continued; "cannot you tell me where to find them?"
"We are authorized to receive any information," he replied. "You must
allow me to ask if you know any thing about the young lady in question?"
"My object is to combine with her friends in seeking her," I said,
evasively. "I really cannot give you any information; but if you will
put me into communication with them, I may be useful to them."
"Well," he said, with an air of candor, "of course the young lady's
friends are anxious to keep in the background. It is not a pleasant
circumstance to occur in a family; and if possible they would wish her
to be restored without any _éclat_. Of course, if you could give us any
definite information it would be quite another thing. The young lady's
family is highly connected. Have you seen any one answering to the
description?"
"It is a very common one," I answered. "I have seen scores of young
ladies who might answer to it. I am surprised that in London you could
not trace her. Did you apply to the police?"
"The police are blockheads," replied Mr. Scott.--"Will you be so good as
to see if there is any one in the outer office, Mr. Brown, or on the
stairs? I believe I heard a noise outside."
Mr. Brown disappeared for a few minutes; but his absence did not
interrupt our conversation. There was not much to be made out of it on
either side, for we were only fencing with one another. I learned
nothing about Olivia's friends, and I was satisfied he had learned
nothing about her.
At last we parted with mutual dissatisfaction; and I went moodily
downstairs, followed by Jack. We drove back to Brook Street, to spend
the few hours that remained before the train started for Southampton.
"Doctor," said Simmons, as Jack paid him his fare, with a small coin
added to it, "I'm half afeard I've done some mischief. I've been turning
it over and over in my head, and can't exactly see the rights of it. A
gent, with a pen behind his ear, comes down, at that orfice in Gray's
Inn Road, and takes my number. But after that he says a civil thing or
two. 'Fine young gents,' he says, pointing up the staircase. 'Very much
so,' says I. 'Young doctors?' he says. 'You're right,' I says. 'I
guessed so,' he says; 'and pretty well up the tree, eh?' 'Ay,' I says;
'the light-haired gent is son to Dr. Senior, the great pheeseecian; and
the other he comes from Guernsey, which is an island in the sea.' 'Just
so,' he says; 'I've heard as much.' I hope I've done no mischief,
doctor?"
"I hope not, Simmons," answered Jack; "but your tongue hangs too loose,
my man.--Look out for a squall on the Olivia coast, Martin," he added.
My anxiety would have been very great if I had not been returning
immediately to Guernsey. But once there, and in communication with
Tardif, I could not believe any danger would threaten Olivia from which
I could not protect or rescue her. She was of age, and had a right to
act for herself. With two such friends as Tardif and me, no one could
force her away from her chosen home.