GONE.
"Bravo, Clinton! Well done, indeed!" so shouted one of the big boys, and
a score of others joined in in chorus.
"Which is Clinton?" a woman who was standing looking on at the game
asked one of the younger boys.
The boy looked up at the questioner. She was a woman of about forty
years old, quietly dressed in black with a gloss of newness on it.
"I will point him out to you directly. They are all mixed up again now."
"There are two of them, are there not?" the woman asked.
"Yes, that's the other; there--that one who has just picked up the ball
and is running with it; there, that's the other, the one who is just
charging the fellow who is trying to stop his brother."
"Well done!" he shouted, as Edgar's opponent rolled over.
The woman asked no more questions until the match was over, but stood
looking on intently as the players came off the ground. Rupert and Edgar
were together, laughing and talking in high spirits; for each had kicked
a goal, and the town boys had been beaten by four goals to one. The boy
to whom she had been speaking had long before strolled away to another
part of the field, but she turned to another as the Clintons approached.
"Those are the Clintons, are they not?" she asked.
"Yes, and a good sort they are," the boy said heartily.
She stood looking at them intently until they had passed her, then
walked away with her eyes bent on the ground, and made her way to a
small lodging she had taken in the town. For several days she placed
herself so that she could see the boys on their way to and fro between
River-Smith's and the college, and watched them at football.
"I wonder who that woman is," Rupert said one day to his brother. "I
constantly see her about, and she always seems to be staring at me."
"I thought she stared at me too," Edgar said. "I am sure I do not know
her. I don't think I have ever seen her face before."
"She asked me whether you were Clinton the other day when you were
playing football. It was just after you had made a run with the ball,
and some one shouted, 'Well done, Clinton!' And she asked me which was
Clinton, and whether there were not two of them. And of course I pointed
you both out," a youngster said who was walking with them.
"That is rum, too," Rupert said. "I wonder who the woman is, Edgar, and
what interest she can have in us."
"If she has any interest, Rupert, I suppose she will stop staring some
day and speak. Perhaps it is some old servant, though I don't remember
her. Well, it is no odds any way."
Jane Humphreys was much puzzled as to what step she should take first.
During all these years she had waited she had always expected that she
should have known which was her own child as soon as she set eyes on the
boys, and was surprised and disappointed to find that even after a
week's stay at Cheltenham, and examining their faces as closely as she
could, she had not the slightest idea which was which. She had imagined
that she should not only know, but feel an affection for the boy who was
her own, and she had fully intended to place him in the position of
Captain Clinton's heir, trusting to receive the promise of a large sum
from him when he should come into possession.
Now it seemed to her that she cared no more for one than for the other,
and that her best plan therefore was to place in the position of heir
whichever of them was most likely to suit her purpose. But here, again,
she was in a difficulty. If they resembled each other in no other point,
they both looked thoroughly manly, straightforward, and honest lads,
neither of whom would be likely to entertain any dishonourable
proposition. Her intention had been to say to her son, "You are not
really the twin brother, as you suppose, of the other. Captain and Mrs.
Clinton do not know which of you two is their child." She wondered
whether they already knew as much as that. Probably they did. So many
people had known of that affair at Agra, that Captain Clinton had
probably told them himself. She would tell the boy, "I am the only
person in the world who can clear up the mystery. I have the key to it
in my hand, and can place either you or the other in the position of
sole heir to the estate. I shall expect to be paid a handsome sum from
the one I put into possession. Remember, on one hand I can give you a
splendid property, on the other I can show you to have been from the
first a usurper of things you had no right to--an interloper and a
fraud."
It had seemed to her a simple matter before she came down to Cheltenham.
Surely no boy in his senses would hesitate a moment in accepting her
offer. It had always been a fixed thing in her mind that this would be
so, but now she felt that it was not so certain as she before imagined.
She hesitated whether she should not defer it until the boys came of
age, and the one she chose could sign a legal document; but she was
anxious to leave England, and go right away to America or Australia.
Besides, if she had the promise she could enforce its fulfilment. Which
boy should she select? She changed her mind several times, and at last
determined that she would leave it to chance, and would choose the one
whom she next met.
It chanced that Edgar was the first she encountered after having taken
this resolution, and it happened that he was walking by himself, having
remained in the class-room a few minutes after the rest of the boys had
left, to speak to the master respecting a difficult passage in a lesson.
The woman placed herself in his way.
"Well, what is it?" he said. "You have been hanging about for the last
week. What is it you want?"
"I want to speak to you about something very important."
"Oh, nonsense!" he said. "There is nothing important you can have to
tell me."
"Yes, there is; something of the greatest importance. You do not suppose
that I should have been here for a week waiting to tell it to you, if it
was not."
"Well, I suppose you think it important," he said; "so fire away."
"I cannot tell you now," she said; "it is too long a story. Could you
spare me half an hour, young sir? You will not be sorry for it
afterwards, I promise you."
Edgar looked impatiently at his watch. He had nothing particular to do
at the moment, and his curiosity was excited. "I can spare it you now,"
he said.
"I am staying at this address," she said, handing him a piece of paper.
"It is not five minutes' walk from here. I will go on, if you will
follow me."
"All right," Edgar said, looking at the paper; "though I expect it is
some fooling or other." She walked away rapidly, and he sauntered after
her. She was standing with the door open when he arrived, and he
followed her into a small parlour. He threw himself down into a chair.
"Now, fire away," he said; "and be as quick as you can."
"Before I begin," she said quietly, "will you tell me if you know
anything relating to the circumstances of your birth?"
[Illustration: "THE WOMAN PLACED HERSELF IN HIS WAY."]
He looked at her in astonishment. "No," he said. "What in the world
should I know about the circumstances of my birth?"
"You know that you were born at Agra in India?"
"Of course I know that."
"And your father, Captain Clinton, has never spoken to you about the
circumstances?"
Edgar shook his head. "No; I only know that I was born there."
"I should have thought that he would have told you the story," she said;
"for there were many knew of it, and you would be sure to hear it sooner
or later."
"I do not want to hear of it," he said, leaping to his feet. "If there
was anything my father wanted me to know he would tell it to me at once.
You do not suppose I want to hear it from anyone else?"
He was making for the door, when she said, "Then you do not know that
you are not his son?"
He stopped abruptly. "Don't know I am not his son!" he repeated. "You
must be mad."
"I am not mad at all," she said. "You are not his son. Not any relation
in the world to him. Sit down again and I will tell you the story."
He mechanically obeyed, feeling overwhelmed with the news he had heard.
Then as she told him how the children had become mixed, and how Captain
Clinton had decided to bring them up together until he should be able to
discover by some likeness to himself or wife which was his son, Edgar
listened to the story with a terrible feeling of oppression stealing
over him. He could not doubt that she was speaking the truth, for if it
were false it could be contradicted at once. There were circumstances
too which seemed to confirm it. He recalled now, that often in their
younger days his father and mother had asked casual visitors if they saw
any likeness between either of the children to them; and he specially
remembered how closely Colonel Winterbottom, who had been major in his
father's regiment, had scrutinized them both, and how he had said, "No,
Clinton, for the life of me I cannot see that one is more like you and
your wife than the other." And now this woman had told him that he was
not their son; and he understood that she must be this sergeant's wife,
and that if he was not Captain Clinton's son she must be his mother.
"You are Mrs. Humphreys, I suppose?" he said in a hard, dry voice when
she had ceased speaking.
"I am your mother," she said. He moved as if struck with sudden pain as
she spoke, but said nothing.
"I sacrificed myself for your sake," she went on after a pause. "I had
them both, and it seemed to me hard that my boy should grow up to be a
boy of the regiment, with nothing better to look forward to than to
enlist in it some day, while the other, no better in any respect than
him, should grow up to be a rich man, with everything the heart could
desire, and I determined that he should have an equal chance with the
other. I knew that perhaps some day they might find out which was which
by a likeness, but that was not certain, and at any rate you would get a
good education and be well brought up, and you were sure to be provided
for, and when the time should come, if there was still doubt, I could
give you the chance of either having the half or all just as you chose.
It was terrible for me to give you up altogether, but I did it for your
good. I suffered horribly, and the women of the regiment turned against
me. Your father treated me badly, and I had to leave him and come home
to England. But my comfort has all along been that I had succeeded; that
you were being brought up as a gentleman, and were happy and well cared
for."
Edgar sat silent for some time. "How do you know," he asked suddenly,
"that it is Rupert and not I who is the real son?"
"One of the infants," she said, "had a tiny mole no bigger than a pin's
head on his shoulder, and I was sure that I would always know them apart
from that."
"Yes, Rupert has a mark like that," Edgar admitted, for he had noticed
it only a short time before.
"Yes," the woman said quietly. "Mrs. Clinton's child had that mark. It
was very, very small and scarcely noticeable, but as I washed and
dressed them when babies, I noticed it."
"Well, what next?" Edgar asked roughly.
"As I said, my boy,"--Edgar winced as she spoke--"it is for you to
choose whether you will have half or all the property. If I hold my
tongue you will go on as you are now, and they will never know which is
their son. If you like to have it all, to be the heir of that grand
place and everything else, I have only to go and say that my boy had a
mole on his shoulder. There is nothing I would not do to make you
happy."
"And I suppose," Edgar said quietly, "you will want some money for
yourself?"
"I do not wish to make any bargain, if that is what you mean," she said
in an indignant tone. "I know, of course, that you can give me no money
now. I suppose that in either case you would wish to help a mother who
has done so much for you. I don't expect gratitude at present. Naturally
you are upset about what I have told you. Some day when you grow to be a
man you will appreciate better than you can now what I have done for
you, and what you have gained by it."
Edgar sat silent for a minute or two, and then he rose quietly and said,
"I will think it all over. You shall have my answer in a day or two,"
and without another word left the room and sauntered off.
"What is the matter, Edgar?" Rupert asked two hours later. "I have been
looking for you everywhere, and young Johnson has only just said that
you told him to tell me you were feeling very seedy, and were going to
lie down for a bit."
"I have got a frightful headache, Rupert," Edgar, who was lying with
his face to the wall, said. "I am too bad to talk, old fellow; let me
alone. I daresay I shall be all right when I have had a night's sleep.
Tell River-Smith, will you, that I am seedy, and cannot come down to
tea. I do not want the doctor or anything of that sort, but if I am not
all right in the morning, I will see him."
Rupert went out quietly. It was something new Edgar's being like this,
he never remembered him having a bad headache before. "I expect," he
said to himself, "he got hurt in one of those scrimmages yesterday,
although he did not say anything about it. I do hope that he is not
going to be ill. The examinations are on next week, it will be a
frightful nuisance for him to miss them." He went into Edgar's dormitory
again the last thing. He opened the door very quietly in case he should
be asleep.
"I am not asleep," Edgar said; "I am rather better now. Good-night,
Rupert," and he held out his hand. Rupert was surprised at the action,
but took his hand and pressed it.
"Good-night, Edgar. I do hope that you will be all right in the
morning."
"Good-night, old fellow. God bless you!" and there was almost a sob in
the lad's voice.
Rupert went out surprised and uneasy. "Edgar must be worse than he
says," he thought to himself. "It is rum of him saying good-night in
that way. I have never known him do such a thing before. I wish now that
I had asked River-Smith to send round for the doctor. I daresay Edgar
would not have liked it, but it would have been best; but he seemed so
anxious to be quiet and get off to sleep, that I did not think of it."
The first thing in the morning Rupert went to his brother's dormitory to
see how he was. He tapped at the door, but there was no answer. Thinking
that his brother was asleep, he turned the handle and went in. An
exclamation of surprise broke from him. Edgar was not there and the bed
had not been slept in, but was just as he had seen it when Edgar was
lying on the outside. On the table was a letter directed to himself. He
tore it open.
"My dear Rupert," it began, "a horrible thing has happened, and I shall
be off to-night. I have learned that I am not your brother at all, but
that I was fraudulently put in that position. I have been writing this
afternoon to father and mother. Oh! Rupert, to think that it is the last
time I can call them so. They will tell you the whole business. I am
writing this by the light of the lamp in the passage, and you will all
be up in a few minutes, so I have no time to say more. I shall post the
other letter to-night. Good-bye, Rupert! Good-bye, dear old fellow! We
have been happy together, haven't we? and I hope you will always be so.
Perhaps some day when I have made myself a name--for I have no right to
call myself Clinton, and I won't call myself by my real name--I may see
you again. I have taken the note, but I know that you won't grudge it
me."
Rupert read the letter through two or three times, then ran down as he
was, in his night-shirt and trousers, and passed in to the master's part
of the private house. "Robert," he said to the man-servant whom he met
in the passage, "is Mr. River-Smith dressed yet?"
"He is not finished dressing yet, Master Clinton; at least he has not
come out of his room. But I expect he is pretty near dressed."
"Will you ask him to come out to me at once, please?" Rupert said. "It
is a most serious business, or you may be sure I should not ask."
The man asked no questions, for he saw by Rupert's face that this must
be something quite out of the ordinary way. "Just step into this room
and I will fetch him," he said.
In a minute the master came in. "What is it, Clinton,--nothing serious
the matter, I hope?"
"Yes, sir, I am afraid it is something very serious. My brother was not
well yesterday evening. He said that he had a frightful headache, but he
thought it would be all right in the morning, and he went and lay down
on his bed. I thought that he was strange in his manner when I went in
to say good-night to him; and when I went in this morning, sir, the bed
hadn't been slept in and he was gone, and he has left me this note, and
it is evident, as you will see, that he is altogether off his head. You
see, he fancies that he is not my brother."
The master had listened with the gravest concern, and now glanced
hastily through the letter.
"'Tis strange indeed," he said. "There is no possibility, of course,
that there is anything in this idea of his?"
"No, sir, of course not. How could there be?"
"That I cannot say, Clinton. Anyhow the matter is most serious. Of
course he could not have taken any clothes with him?"
"No, sir; at least he cannot have got any beyond what he stands in. I
should think the matron would not have given him any out, especially as
he must have told her that he was ill, or he could not have got into the
dormitory."
"I had better see her first, Clinton; it is always well to be quite sure
of one's ground. You go up and dress while I make the inquiries."
Rupert returned to the dormitory, finished dressing, and then ran down
again. "He has taken no clothes with him, Clinton. The matron says that
he went to her in the afternoon and said that he had a splitting
headache, and wanted to be quite quiet and undisturbed. She offered to
send for the doctor, but he said that he expected that he should be all
right in the morning, but that if he wasn't of course the doctor could
see him then. So she unlocked the door of the dormitory and let him in.
I asked her if he had his boots on. She said no; he was going up in
them, contrary to rule, when she reminded him of it, and he took them
off and put them in the rack in the wood-closet. I have seen the
boot-boy, and he says he noticed when he went there this morning early
to clean them, No. 6 rack was empty. So your brother must have come
down, after he had gone up to the dormitory, and got his boots.
"Now let us ask a few questions of the servants." He rang the bell, and
sent for some of the servants. "Which of you were down first this
morning?" he asked.
"I was down first, sir," one of the girls said.
"Did you find anything unusual?"
"Yes, sir. One of the windows downstairs, looking into the yard, was
open, though I know I closed it and put up the shutters last night; and
John says the door of the yard has been unbolted too, and that the lock
had been forced."
The master went out, walked across the yard, and examined the lock.
"There would be no difficulty in opening that on this side," he said to
Rupert; "it could be done with a strong pocket-knife easily enough."
"What is to be done, sir?" Rupert asked anxiously. "Shall I telegraph to
my father?"
"I think you had better go and see him, Clinton. Your brother probably
did not leave the house until twelve o'clock, though he may have gone at
eleven. But whether eleven or twelve it makes no difference. No doubt he
posted the letter he speaks of the first thing on leaving; but, you see,
it is a cross post to your place, and the letter could not anyhow have
got there for delivery this morning. You can hardly explain it all by
telegram; and I think, as I said, it is better that you should go
yourself. I will have breakfast put for you in my study, and I will have
a fly at the door. You will be able to catch the eight-o'clock train
into Gloucester, and you should be home by eleven."
"You do not think anything could have happened to him?" Rupert asked
anxiously.
"No, I do not think that there is any fear of that, Clinton. You see, he
has got a fixed idea in his head; he has evidently acted with
deliberation. Besides, you see in his letter to you he says he shall not
see you until he has made a name for himself. I tell you frankly,
Clinton, that my own impression is that your brother is not mad, but
that he has--of course I do not know how, or attempt to explain it--but
that he has in some way got the idea that he is not your brother. Has he
been quite himself lately?"
"Quite, sir; I have seen nothing unusual about him at all."
"Did he seem bright and well yesterday morning?"
"Just the same as usual, sir. I was quite surprised when, just at
tea-time, I found that he had gone to lie down with the headache."
"Did he get any letter yesterday?"
"No, sir; we neither of us had any letter, in the morning anyhow. He may
have received one in the afternoon, for anything I know."
"I will go and ask Robert," the master said; "he always takes the
letters from the letter-bag."
"No, Clinton," he went on when he returned; "there were only three
letters for the boys in the afternoon mail, and neither of them was for
him. He cannot have seen anyone, can he, who could have told him any
story that would serve as a foundation for this idea?"
Then an idea flashed across Rupert. "Well, sir, a rather curious thing
has happened in the last few days. There has been a woman about here,
and it appears she asked one of the boys which were the Clintons; and we
have seen her every time we have been out, and we both noticed that she
has stared at us in a very strange way. I don't know that that can
possibly have anything to do with it. She may have spoken to Edgar
yesterday. Of course I cannot say."
"Well, I must be going now. I have told Robert to put your breakfast in
my study, and to send the boy for a fly."
"What will you say to the boys, sir?" Rupert asked anxiously.
"There will be no occasion to say anything for a day or two beyond the
fact that you are obliged to go home suddenly. I shall only say Clinton,
but it will naturally be supposed that I mean both of you. If it gets
out that you have gone alone, which it may do, although I shall give
strict orders to the contrary, I shall of course mention that we fear
that your brother got his head hurt in that football match, and that he
has taken up some strange ideas and has gone off. But it is hardly
likely that the matter will leak out in any way until you return, or I
hear from you. I think you can make yourself quite easy on that score."
It was half-past eleven when Rupert Clinton reached home. On the way he
had thought over how he had best break the news quietly to his father,
and he got out of the trap that had driven him from the station at the
lodge, and made a long circuit so as to reach the stable without being
seen from the front windows of the house. He went at once to the old
coachman, who was a great ally of the boys. The man uttered an
exclamation of astonishment at seeing him.
"Why, Master Rupert, I thought that you were not coming home for another
fortnight. Well, you have given me a start!"
"Look here, Fellows, I have come to see my father about a serious
matter, and I want to see him before I see my mother."
"Nothing the matter with Master Edgar, I hope, sir?"
"Yes, it is about him; but I will tell you presently, Fellows, I don't
want to lose a minute now. Please go into the house and get my father to
come out at once to the stables. Make any excuse you like to bring him
out, and as you come along you can tell him I am here."
In five minutes Captain Clinton hurried into the saddle-room, where
Rupert was standing. He was pale and agitated.
"What is the matter, Rupert,--has anything happened to Edgar? I know
that it must be something very serious or you would never come like
this."
"It is serious, father, very serious;" and he told him what had
happened, and handed him the letter that Edgar had left. "You see he has
evidently gone out of his mind, father."
Captain Clinton ran his eye over the letter and gave an exclamation of
surprise and grief, then he stood for a minute covering his face with
his hand. When he removed it Rupert saw that his eyes were filled with
tears. "Poor boy!" he murmured, "I see that we have made a terrible
mistake, although we did it for the best."
"A mistake, father! Why, is it possible, can it be true that--"
"That Edgar is not your brother, my boy? Yes, it is certain that he is
not your brother, though whether he or you is our son we know not."
Rupert stood speechless with astonishment. "One of us not your son!" he
said at last in a broken voice. "Oh, father, how can that be?"
"It happened thus, Rupert," Captain Clinton said, and then told him the
story of the confusion that had arisen between the children. He then
went on: "You see, Rupert, we hoped, your mother and I, at first that we
should find out as you grew up, by the likeness one of you might develop
to your mother or myself, which was our child; but for some years now,
my boy, I have feared rather than hoped to discover a likeness, and have
been glad that neither of you took after either of us, as far as we
could see. We loved you equally, and could not bear the thought of
losing either of you. We had two sons instead of one, that was all; and
had one been proved to be ours, we should have lost the other. We
intended to tell you in a short time how the matter stood, and that
while one was our adopted son and the other our own, we neither knew nor
cared which was which, loving you both equally and regarding you both as
our own. Indeed we should never have told you about it, had it not been
that as the story of the confusion at your birth was known to a great
many men who were at that time in India, it was almost sure to come to
your ears sooner or later. Had we ever dreamt that it would come like
this, of course we should have told you long ago. But how can Edgar have
learnt it? Still more, how can anyone have been able to tell him--what
even we do not know--that he is not our son?"
"You will know when the letter arrives by the next post, father. But now
I have heard the story, I think it must have been told him by a woman;"
and he related how they had been watched by a woman who was a stranger
to them.
"What was she like, Rupert?"
Rupert described her as well as he was able.
"I have no doubt that it was Mrs. Humphreys, Rupert; she would be about
the age you describe, and, allowing for the seventeen years that have
passed since I have seen her, like her in appearance. But we had better
go in to your mother now, she must be told. I will go in first and break
it to her. Of course there is nothing else that can be done until we get
Edgar's letter. I will send a man off on horseback to the post-office,
we shall get it an hour earlier than if we wait for the postman to bring
it."
It was half an hour before Captain Clinton came out from the
drawing-room and called Rupert in. The boy had been telling the news to
Madge, having asked his father if he should do so. She had been terribly
distressed, and Rupert himself had completely broken down.
"You can come in now, both of you," Captain Clinton said. "Of course,
your mother is dreadfully upset, so try and keep up for her sake."
Mrs. Clinton embraced Rupert in silence, she was too affected for
speech.
"Do you think," she said after a time in broken tones, "Edgar can have
gone with this woman?"
"I don't know, mother; I have not been able to think about it. I should
not think he could. I know if it had been me I should have hated her
even if she was my mother, for coming after all this time to rob me of
your love and father's. I should run away as he has done, I daresay,
though I don't know about that; but I would not have gone with her."
"I cannot make out how she could have known which was which," Captain
Clinton said, walking up and down the room; "we have never seen any
likeness in either of you to ourselves, but it is possible she may have
seen a likeness in Edgar to her husband. By the way," he said suddenly,
"I must send off a telegram to River-Smith; he, of course, will be most
anxious." He took a telegram form from his desk, and after a minute's
hesitation wrote: "No anxiety as to Edgar's mind can account for his
conduct--will write fully to-morrow after I have received his
letter--shall keep Rupert here some days." Then putting it in an
envelope, he rang the bell and directed the servant to give it to one of
the grooms with orders to ride with it at once to the nearest telegraph
station.
"Now, Rupert, the best thing you and Madge can do is to go out for a
walk. You can know nothing more until the letter arrives, and it will be
better for you to be moving about than to be sitting here quietly. Your
mother had best lie down until the letter comes; it cannot be here until
five o'clock."
Madge and Rupert as they walked talked the matter over in every possible
light, the only conclusion at which they arrived being that whoever
might be Edgar's father and mother they would always regard him as their
brother, and should love him just the same as before.
"I cannot think why he ran away!" Madge exclaimed over and over again.
"I am sure I should not run away if I found that I wasn't father and
mother's real daughter. They have been everything to me, and I could not
love them a bit less if I did know that I was their adopted child
instead of being their real one."
"No, certainly not," Rupert agreed; "but then, you see, Madge, Edgar may
have thought that he had been adopted, not as childless people sometimes
adopt children, but because they could not help adopting him."
"But that wasn't his fault, Rupert."
"No, that wasn't his fault; but I can understand him feeling that it
made a great difference. Oh, I wonder what he is doing! I expect he went
up to London by the night mail; he would have caught that at Glo'ster.
But what could he do when he got there?"
"Oh, I am not thinking about that!" the girl said. "I am thinking what
he must feel when he knows father and mother are not his father and
mother, and that you and I are not his brother and sister. It must be
awful, Rupert."
"It must be awful," Rupert agreed. "I do not know what I should have
done had it been me, and you know it might just as well have been me as
Edgar. I wish it were five o'clock!"
The afternoon seemed indeed endless to them all. For the last half-hour
Rupert and Madge sat at the window gazing across the park for the first
sight of the horseman, and at last they exclaimed simultaneously, "There
he comes!"
Captain Clinton, who had been sitting by the sofa holding his wife's
hand in his, rose. "I will go and meet him," he said. "Rupert and Madge,
you had better go into the library until I call you. I must read it over
first to your mother."
Without a word they went into the other room, and from the window
watched Captain Clinton as he walked quickly down the drive to meet the
groom. They saw him take the letter, and, as the man rode on towards the
stables, open it and stand reading it.
"It is very bad," Madge said almost in a whisper, as she saw her father
drop his hand despondently to his side, and then with bent head walk
towards the house. Not another word was spoken until Captain Clinton
opened the door and called them. Madge had been crying silently, and the
tears were running fast down Rupert's cheeks as he sat looking out on to
the park.
"You had better read the letter here," Captain Clinton said. "I may tell
you what I did not mention before, that there was a strong opinion
among many at the time, that the confusion between the children arose,
not from accident, as was said, but was deliberate, and this letter
confirms that view. This is what has hit Edgar so hard."
The letter was as follows:--
"My dearest father, for I cannot call you anything else, I have just
heard about my birth from a woman who calls herself my mother, and who,
I suppose, has a right to do so, though certainly I shall never call her
or think of her so. She has told me about her child and yours getting
mixed, and how you brought both up in hopes of finding out some day
which was which.
"Rupert and I had noticed for some days a woman looking at us, and she
met me this afternoon and said she had some thing of extreme importance
to tell me. I went with her and she told me the story, and said that I
was her son and not yours. I asked her how she knew me from Rupert, and
she said that one of us had a small mole on the shoulder. I knew that
Rupert had a tiny mole there, and she said that that was the mark by
which she knew your son from hers.
"Then, father, she told me that she had done it all on purpose, and had
sacrificed herself in order that I might benefit from it. This was all
horrible! And then she actually proposed that I should not only keep
silent about this, but offered to come forward and declare that it was
her son who had the mole on his shoulder, so that I might get the whole
and Rupert none. I don't want to say what I felt. I only told her I
would think it over. I have been thinking it over, and I am going away.
My dear father and mother, for I shall always think of you so, I thank
you for all your love and kindness, which I have received through a
horrible fraud. If it had all been an accident, and you had found out
for yourselves by the likeness that Rupert was your son, I do not think
that I should have minded, at least nothing like so much. I should, of
course, have been very grieved that you were not my father and mother,
and that Rupert and Madge were not my brother and sister; but it would
have been nobody's fault, and I am sure that you would all still have
loved me. But to know that it has been a wicked fraud, that I have been
an impostor palmed upon you, that there has been a plot and conspiracy
to rob you, and that I have a mother who not only did this, but who
could propose to me to go on deceiving you, and even to join in a fresh
fraud and to swindle Rupert, is so awful that there is nothing for me to
do but to go away.
"I feel sure you will all be sorry, and that though I am not your son
you would go on treating me as if I were a younger brother of Rupert's.
But I could not bear it, father. I could not accept anything from you,
for I should feel that it was the result of this wicked fraud, that it
was what this woman, I cannot call her mother, had schemed for me to
get. Some day when I have made my way, and when all this may not hurt me
so horribly as it seems to do now, I will come and see you all if you
will let me, to thank you all for the love and kindness that should
never have been mine. But that will not be till I am in a position when
I can want nothing, for I feel now that were I dying of hunger I could
not accept a crust from your hands, for if I did so I should feel I was
a party to this abominable fraud. God bless you, dearest father and
mother and Rupert and Madge!--Your unhappy Edgar."