Mrs. Fortress's statement made everything clear to me, and also marked
out for me a clear path of duty. Knowing what I now knew, it would
have been an act of monstrous wickedness to allow Reginald to marry
Mildred. Never could I hope to be forgiven did I not prevent the
union. Better that my son should live a life of unhappiness through
all his days than enter into a contract which would doom the unborn to
madness--perhaps to crime. It was not only an offence against man, it
was an offence against God. The task before me was difficult, I knew;
but I must face it bravely and without flinching. Hearts would be
broken in the struggle--well, better that than the awful consequences
which would follow such a marriage. My own heart bled as I
contemplated what must occur during the next few weeks.
Thus did I excitedly reason with myself in the first heat of the
revelation. When I became cooler I saw more clearly the difficulties
in my way. What evidence had I to produce? That of an old woman who
had given me certain information--which tallied with my own
suspicions--for a large sum of money. A cunning woman, to supply
me with what she saw I wished. Cunning from the first. Paid
liberally--nay, extravagantly--always, according to her own
confession. Her one single motive in the matter from first to
last--money. Was it likely, being in service so temptingly
remunerative, that she should not adopt every cunning means to retain
it? There was not only the immediate pay, but the prospect of a reward
which would make her comfortable for life. She had so man[oe]uvred
that she gained this reward. During the lifetime of Gabriel Carew's
mother Mrs. Fortress held supreme power over her. Her son was only
allowed to see her a few minutes at a time at intervals of weeks. Even
her husband, at the bidding of this clever woman, was denied
admittance to his wife's chamber. What difficulty was there, in those
days and weeks of seclusion, to so oppress, irritate, and torture the
poor patient as to compel her to put on the semblance of madness--to
drive her into it indeed? Such cases were not unknown. Even now, from
time to time, the public heart is stirred by a sudden revelation of
such atrocities.
These were cogent arguments which I raised against myself. With myself
in my son's place I should confidently advance them, and should laugh
to scorn the weak opposition which would bar my way to happiness. I
sighed as I thought. The obstacles in my way were every moment growing
more formidable.
These were not the only arguments against myself which occurred to me.
There was Mrs. Fortress's conduct when she left Rosemullion after the
death of her mistress. Gabriel Carew had made a pitiful appeal to her.
How had she met him? By assuming a mysterious air, indicating that she
had the key to a secret in which he was vitally interested, but that
she did not intend to give it to him. Why had she done this? Who could
doubt the answer to such a question? It was necessary to the _rĂ´le_
she had adopted. Any other course would have led to an exposure of her
vile scheme. There was the legacy which Mr. Carew left her in his
will. Were the real truth known she might be deprived of it.
Therefore, the assumption of mystery in her last interview with
Gabriel Carew. A cunning woman indeed.
Against evidence so flimsy there was a heavy weight of testimony. Was
not Gabriel Carew a loving husband and father? No person could dispute
it. He loved his wife and child, and they loved him. Was he ever known
to commit a cruel act! Never. Was not his purse ever open to the call
of charity? Innumerable instances that such was so could be adduced.
Could even light acts of rudeness and incivility be laid at his door?
What was the worst that could be said of him? That he was not fond of
society, that he was a recluse. Could not this be said of hundreds of
estimable men, and was it ever put forth as a distinct offence? If he
did not himself go into society, did he prevent his wife and child
from doing so? On the contrary. He encouraged them to seek amusement
which he, a grave man and a student, possibly deemed frivolous. Fond
of books, seeking his greatest pleasures in them, was not this
distinctly in his favour, and did it not prove him to be of a superior
nature to the common herd? The heaviest charge was that which, in
conversation with me, he had brought against himself--that on the
approach of night his spirits became gloomy. Slight grounds indeed for
so serious an accusation as insanity. Madmen were proverbially
cunning. Gabriel Carew was the soul of frankness, himself opening up
discussions which would tell against him were he not mentally and
physically sound and healthy. I began to despair.
These reflections did not all pass through my mind in the silence
which followed the conclusion of Mrs. Fortress's statement. They are
the summing-up of my thoughts at that time and during my homeward
journey. Meanwhile, Mrs. Fortress was waiting patiently for me to put
any questions which might occur to me.
"Beyond yourself, Mrs. Fortress," I said, "and your master and
mistress, was there no person cognisant with Mrs. Carew's condition?"
"None, sir, with the exception of the foreign doctor."
"Can you tell me his name?"
"I do not know it, but a doctor of his learning would not have been a
young man when Mr. Carew consulted him, and it is hardly likely he
would be now living."
"True," I said.
"Besides," she added, "his experience of Mrs. Carew could have been
but slight. Almost immediately after he gave Mr. Carew his opinion of
my mistress, they left for England, as I have told you."
"Yes," I remarked, "and he may, after all, have been mistaken."
She shrank a little, I fancied, but she said firmly, "He may have
been, I was not."
"I am not doubting you, Mrs. Fortress," I said.
She interposed here by saying, "It is immaterial whether you are or
not. The facts are as I have stated them."
"I understand, of course, that you have spoken honestly, but is it not
possible you may have judged wrongly?"
"I cannot admit it, sir," she replied with calm dignity. "It is not
possible."
Certainly she maintained her ground. I continued my inquiry.
"Before Mr. Carew came into his second fortune he lived humbly in
London?"
"Yes; in poor lodgings."
"Did the house contain other lodgers?"
"Yes."
"And did not any of them suspect or discover the mystery so close to
them?"
"In my belief not another person in the house had any suspicion."
"You lived for many years in Rosemullion?"
"Yes."
"Did not Mrs. Carew have a medical adviser?"
"A doctor called and saw her from time to time."
"Was he not aware of her condition?"
"He was not. His visits were a mere matter of form, and he frequently
called at the house without seeing my mistress."
"By whose directions was she denied to him?"
"By mine. It was part of my duty to preserve my master's secret."
"I am sure you did your duty, Mrs. Fortress."
Her lip curled. She did not thank me.
"Did this doctor ever see Mrs. Carew alone?"
"Never. I took care always to be present, and I always prepared my
mistress for his visits, warning her to be careful."
"Did she never rebel?"
"With respect to the doctor, never. I had my difficult days with her,
but that was my business, and mine alone."
"He must have been a careful and conscientious man," I said somewhat
sarcastically.
She capped me by replying, "His accounts were regularly paid. Perhaps
that was sufficient for him."
"Perhaps," I said, and I could not avoid a smile, though I was really
indignant. "Can you tell me anything more to guide me? Do you think it
was Mr. Carew's intention to keep his son in complete ignorance of
this misfortune, even after the death of your mistress?"
"I am not positive. My master died during a visit to Wales, while my
mistress was still living. It is probable, had he survived his wife,
that he would have spoken to his son on the subject. I cannot say for
certain, but, from certain words he once used I believe he left some
record behind him."
This suggestion aroused me.
"Some written record?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Where would he have deposited it?"
"In Rosemullion my master had his private room, into which no one was
allowed to enter. There are large safes built in the walls of that
room. If the record I believe my master made is found anywhere, it
will be in that room. I have nothing more to say, sir. I have told you
all I know. Whether you believe me or not does not concern me. When
you see Mr. Gabriel, sir, give him my humble duty."