THE ARRIVAL OF THE DIAMOND AT DUPLEY WALLS.
Mr. Solomon Madgin had not failed to inform Lady Pollexfen from time
to time of the progress that was being made in the attempt to recover
the Great Mogul Diamond. This he had done without entering into any
minute details of the case, of which, indeed, her ladyship cared to
hear nothing. It was enough for her to be told every few days that Mr.
Madgin still held the clue in his fingers, and that each step which he
took would, to the best of his belief, bring him so much nearer the
object the attainment of which they both had so deeply at heart.
Lady Pollexfen had of course been apprised that Mr. Madgin's presence
in Jersey was needed for the furtherance of their scheme; but when he
had been gone a week and no news of any kind had been received from
him, she began to grow not only impatient, but uneasy lest Mr. Madgin
should in any way have come to grief. She could neither eat nor sleep
as she was wont to do, but wandered aimlessly up and down the great
empty rooms at Dupley Walls, leaning on Janet's arm, and either
muttering to herself about people who had long been dead, or
complaining querulously that Mr. Madgin, the man whom she had trusted
above all others, had also failed her in her time of need.
To Janet that was indeed a season of heart-weariness. She had not had
time to recover from the crushing blow which her mother's death had
inflicted upon her. Many a time she woke up in the night and found
herself in tears, for not even in sleep could she forget the loss of
her whom she had learned to love so dearly, while still ignorant of
the tie that bound them so closely together.
With nerves unstrung, and a heart that was ill at ease, it is not to
be wondered at that even from the very quest which George Strickland
had gone upon her mind seemed to draw in and gather to itself certain
premonitions, vague and faint, of further unhappiness to come. She
longed for and yet dreaded the coming of each post. Major Strickland
sometimes wrote to her, and any morsel of news was precious to her
that had any reference, however remote, to Captain George. And yet she
never opened one of the major's notes without trembling lest it might
contain some news of a hitherto unknown father who might, perchance,
come and claim her, and take her away for ever from a spot which her
mother's memory made sacred to her, and from those faithful friends to
whom her young affections clung so tenaciously.
Janet's life at Dupley Walls was one of which few people would have
envied her. From the date of Sister Agnes's death, Lady Pollexfen had
grown more exacting in her requirements, more capricious in her moods,
more difficult to please than she had ever been before. There was a
terrible wakefulness about her. What sleep she had was intermittent
and of short duration; and Janet herself never got to bed without
being wearied out both in body and spirit with her long attendance on
the strange old woman. Often, when she had not been asleep more than a
couple of hours, Lady Pollexfen's bell would ring violently, and then
Janet had to rise and dress herself and hasten to the old woman's
room, to find that she was wanted to read aloud, or, it might be, to
play écarté, while her ladyship sat up in bed with a gay Indian shawl
thrown round her shoulders, her withered face bent keenly over her
cards, and an occasional hollow chuckle issuing from her lips. At the
end of a couple of hours or so she would go off to sleep almost as
suddenly as if she were an automaton whose eyes were made to shut at
the touch of a spring. Then Janet would creep back shivering to bed,
only to begin another day's dreary round a few hours later.
During the last few weeks Lady Pollexfen had seemed as if she could
scarcely bear to let Janet out of her sight. Not that she was in any
way more affectionate towards her than she had ever been. Her manner
was still as hard, her tongue was still as caustic as of old. But she
seemed now as if she could not bear to be alone: as if constant
companionship with Janet's fresh and sweet young nature were needed to
keep alive the slowly decaying embers of her life. Be that as it may,
Janet's time was so fully occupied that it was all she could do to
steal one short hour out of the twenty-four for a solitary ramble in
the park: but without such a walk she felt that she should soon have
broken down under the exactions of her life at Dupley Walls. A visit
to Major Strickland at Tydsbury was now entirely out of the question.
As already stated, the post now and then brought her a brief note from
him. As the tenor of these notes was invariably affectionate and
reassuring, they were cherished by her as the chiefest grains of
comfort by which the dreary passage of time was brightened at Dupley
Walls.
As previous chapters have already told us, George Strickland was still
busy with his quest at the very time that Mr. Madgin was on his way
back to Dupley Walls with the Great Mogul Diamond in his possession.
Consequently, Captain Ducie was still among the living, and George
Strickland had not yet left London in search of him, when on a certain
morning a telegram sent by Mr. Madgin from Southampton was brought to
Lady Pollexfen, it was brief and to the purpose:--
"Thoroughly successful. The Great Mogul is travelling with me. His
Highness will reach Dupley Walls to-morrow."
Lady Pollexfen was sitting up in bed drinking her chocolate when the
message was taken in to her. She requested Janet to read it aloud. The
cup and saucer dropped from her fingers as Janet read. She turned
quite white and faint, and for a minute or two was unable to speak.
After smelling awhile at her salts she revived, and asked Janet to
read the message a second time.
"That good Madgin!" she exclaimed. "What a thing it is to be served
faithfully!" Then turning to Janet: "See, child, what can be
accomplished by intelligence and perseverance!" she cried. "When
Sergeant Nicholas came here and told his story, how hopeless it seemed
to expect that my poor boy's Diamond would ever be recovered for me:
and yet, behold, it is here, and the wicked are brought to confusion!"
During the whole of that day her ladyship was very much elated, and
correspondingly gracious and good-tempered towards Janet. In the
afternoon they drove to Tydsbury, and there her ladyship was pleased
to buy a set of bog-oak ornaments for Miss Holme: an almost
unprecedented piece of liberality on the part of the mistress of
Dupley Walls.
Late the same night came a message from Mr. Madgin stating that he
should be at Dupley Walls at ten o'clock the following morning.
By that hour next morning her ladyship was up and dressed, ready to
receive company. Had Lady Pollexfen been going to a dinner party at
Langley Castle she could not have been got up more elaborately than
she was on the present occasion. Her choicest coiffure, her stiffest
silk, her most ancient lace, her largest diamonds, together with an
extra streak of rouge and an extra touch of the powder-puff, had all
been employed to dignify and render memorable the approaching
ceremonial. Her ladyship was too much excited to partake of breakfast,
but when everything was ready she called for a small glass of curaçoa
and cream, and then taking Janet's arm, and supported on the other
side by her gold-headed malacca, she descended the shallow staircase
with slow and stately steps, and reached the great hall just as the
clocks were striking ten.
She knew that Mr. Madgin was punctuality itself. She had reached the
centre of the hall as the clocks ceased striking, and the same instant
there was a loud knocking at the grand entrance. Mr. Madgin's fine
instinct had told him that on this occasion, if never again, he must
enter Dupley Walls as if he were a visitor of state, and not by the
modest side-door through which his entrances and exits had heretofore
been made. One of the two faded servitors in faded livery whom Lady
Pollexfen still retained flung wide the door. Mr. Madgin in his Sunday
suit of black, with white neckcloth and gold-rimmed eyeglass dangling
across his waistcoat, advanced slowly into the hall, removed his hat
and bowed profoundly. Lady Pollexfen, on her side, made her most
stately and elaborate curtsey. Mr. Madgin came forward; Lady Pollexfen
advanced a step or two and held out her hand. Mr. Madgin carried the
lean and ancient fingers respectfully to his lips.
"I return from fulfilling your ladyship's behests," he said. "I also
bring with me a trifling memento of my journey, of which I humbly
request your ladyship's acceptance."
Speaking thus Mr. Madgin produced from one of his pockets a tiny
casket of imitation Byzantine workmanship which he had bought while
passing through London. Touching a spring, the lid flew open, and
there, on a cushion of white satin, lay the glittering source of so
many hopes and fears, of so much happiness and misery--the Great Mogul
Diamond.
For a moment or two Lady Pollexfen stood perfectly still, eyeing the
glittering bauble, without speaking. Breathing a little faster than
she was wont, she at length put forth a trembling hand and received
the casket and its contents from Mr. Madgin.
"Follow me," she said in a voice that was shaken by emotion. Then she
turned, and discarding for once the assistance of Janet's arm, and
carrying the open casket before her, she began to retrace her way
slowly and painfully towards her own apartments. Miss Holme and Mr.
Madgin followed at a respectful distance.
On reaching her private sitting-room Lady Pollexfen sat down in her
high-backed chair of carved oak, and motioned to Mr. Madgin first to
shut the door, and next to take a seat.
"Mr. Madgin," said her ladyship after a few moments, "any formula of
thanks which I could put into words would be totally inadequate to
express my feelings towards you for the great service you have just
done me. I can only say that you are no longer my servant but my
friend."
"Madam, I am overwhelmed by the honour you have just conferred upon
me," answered Mr. Madgin, as he rose, laid his hand on his heart and
bowed. "Such a recognition of my humble merits is far beyond my
deserts."
"Mr. Madgin," resumed Lady Pollexfen in her most stately manner, "if
you will honour me by accepting my friendship, it is yours."
"Too much honour, really," murmured Mr. Madgin in a distressed voice.
Lady Pollexfen waved her arm, as if that portion of the subject were
beyond the pale of further discussion. "At the same time, Mr. Madgin,"
she resumed, "you must not for one moment imagine that I wish you to
forego the least portion of that pecuniary reward which was promised
you when you first took in hand the remarkable inquiry which you have
this day brought to such a successful issue. I have here, ready made
out and signed, a cheque for the sum agreed on. I am quite aware that
to a man of your noble and disinterested character the mere pecuniary
part of the affair will seem of small account in comparison with that
other gift which I have just conferred upon you."
Mr. Madgin's face had brightened wonderfully during the last minute or
two. With his hand he mechanically smoothed the gray hair across his
forehead before he answered. "What a remarkable knowledge of character
your ladyship displays," he said deferentially. "How well you
understand the disposition of Solomon Madgin. Money does indeed seem
dross when weighed against the golden gift of friendship." He coughed
slightly behind his hand, and looked a little anxiously at her
ladyship.
"Take the cheque, Mr. Madgin," she said as she handed him the magic
slip of paper. "You must come and dine with me to-morrow. At the same
time bring me an account of the expenses incurred by you over this
affair, and a second cheque shall at once be given you for the
amount."
Mr. Madgin was nearly overcome, and could only murmur a few indistinct
words in reply.
"Perchance, Solomon Madgin, you look upon me as nothing better than a
mercenary old woman." Mr. Madgin vehemently disclaimed any such idea.
"But I tell you," resumed Lady Pollexfen, with emphasis, "that I value
this magnificent gem less, infinitely less, for its pecuniary value,
than because I know it to be a true and veritable relic of my dear
dead son. His fingers have held it; his eyes have looked on it; it was
in his keeping when he died; it was his parting gift to me, his
mother, who held him in her heart of hearts as dearer to her than all
else the world could offer. In that fact lay the root of my strong
desire to possess this stone. And now that I have it I can hold it but
for a little while. Soon the day will come, when---- But why pursue
the dreary suggestion any further? Enough for the day is the evil
thereof. Let the morrow take care of itself. And now, again thanks,
and then good morning. To-morrow you will dine with me."
"One word before I go," said Mr. Madgin as he rose. "May I venture to
express a hope that it is not your ladyship's intention to retain so
valuable a gem in your personal possession? Think of the risk you run
of its being lost or stolen. Let me entreat you, that without any
unnecessary delay your ladyship will give it into the custody either
of your banker, or of some other person who has the means and the will
to keep it safely."
"There is sense in what you say, Solomon Madgin, but I cannot persuade
myself to part from my dear boy's relic almost as soon as it has come
into my hands. For the present I shall certainly retain it in my own
custody. I will take very good care not to lose it, and as for its
being stolen, there is no one save yourself and Miss Holme who knows
that I have such an article in my possession. And I think I can trust
both of you to keep my secret."
Mr. Madgin saw that it would be impolitic to urge the point any
further at present; so, after bidding her ladyship a respectful
farewell, he withdrew without further remark.