It was at half-past ten in the forenoon of a Saturday in July that Mr.
Cooper Silwood, precise in attire, composed in appearance, and punctual
as usual to the minute, walked into his room on the first floor of 176
New Square, Lincoln's Inn, where were the offices of Eversleigh, Silwood
and Eversleigh, the well-known and long-established firm of solicitors
of which he was a partner.
He was met, as was customary, on his entrance by the head-clerk, John
Williamson, who had already opened and sorted out methodically the
letters received over-night. An admirable specimen of his class,
Williamson generally wore an air of great imperturbability, but this
morning his face had a troubled expression.
"Anything special, Mr. Williamson?" asked Silwood quietly, putting away
his hat and gloves.
"There are two or three important matters to attend to, sir," replied
the man quickly. "The most important is a letter from Mr. Morris
Thornton," he continued, but in a markedly different tone; at the same
time, he looked at his principal with an anxiety he tried hard but just
failed to dissemble.
"From Mr. Thornton," observed Silwood, calmly; he noticed, but was in no
wise disconcerted by, the head-clerk's manner.
"Yes, sir; he writes from Vancouver."
"And what does he say?" inquired Silwood.
"He states that he is coming home immediately," answered Williamson, and
now there was unmistakable anxiety in his voice as well as in his face.
"Indeed!" exclaimed Silwood, who had given a slight yet perceptible
start on hearing the news. "It's surely very sudden," he went on after a
pause of a few seconds. "In his last letter--let me see; we got it about
a fortnight ago--he said nothing about returning soon to England."
"He did not mention it at all, sir, I am certain. But you will see from
this last letter of his that he has a very strong reason for leaving
British Columbia; he is seriously ill--so ill that he has been warned by
his doctor to set his affairs in order. One knows what that means--he is
in a critical condition."
And again Williamson scanned his master's face apprehensively.
"Ah, very sad," said Silwood, but he spoke in a strange, hollow tone,
glancing the while at Williamson with a curious glittering light in his
eyes that was sinister and menacing. It suddenly faded away, however,
and he asked quite evenly, "Does he say when he is coming?"
"Oddly enough, sir, he gives no precise date. But here is his letter,"
said Williamson, picking it out from the pile on Silwood's table.
Silwood, knowing Williamson was watching him narrowly, and conscious
that it was necessary to preserve an aspect of calmness, read Thornton's
letter with the utmost deliberation and with no more concern than was
natural in the pitiful circumstances of the case.
"Very sad, very sad," he said, when he had perused the letter, which he
put down in front of him with elaborate carelessness; "very
distressing!" he added, shaking his head.
There was a moment of silence, and then Silwood remarked to Williamson
that he might go, but as the head-clerk was withdrawing he called him
back.
"Has Mr. Eversleigh come in yet?" he asked.
"Yes, sir; a few minutes ago."
"Have you told him about this letter from Mr. Thornton?"
"No, sir."
"That's right, Mr. Williamson. I'll tell him about it myself."
Silwood nodded Williamson's dismissal, and the clerk, who had
undoubtedly been studying his principal intently and wonderingly during
their conversation, bowed and went out.
"It's plain that Williamson has his suspicions," said Silwood to
himself, after the door had closed upon the head-clerk. "He is inclined
to think there's something wrong--I could see it in his manner--it
suggested he was afraid there was some trouble impending. But he knows
nothing--he can know nothing."
He assured himself, however, that what Williamson knew or suspected did
not matter much.
But what did matter, what did matter enormously, was this letter of
Thornton's.
Taking it up again, he read it over very carefully twice or thrice;
then, still holding it in his hand, he walked up and down the floor many
times, absorbed in thought. His small, hard, keen eyes gleamed angrily,
the lines of his cold, pale, clean-shaven face seemed to become deeper,
and his hands opened and shut convulsively as he paced his room. Now and
again he looked at a large japanned box which stood in one corner. With
a quick, nervous movement peculiar to him in moments of doubt, he
stopped and pushed up the heavy brown wig which he always wore by day,
and sat down at his table. Once more he re-read Thornton's letter.
"Thornton's coming back in this unexpected way," he said to himself,
"upsets my plan--that is quite clear; my hand is forced. What is to be
done now? The worst of it is that Thornton does not say when he is
coming--which is more than a little strange. He is well on his way, no
doubt, by this time; he may drop in upon us any day. I must prepare for
it. I never looked for his return--at least, not for a long time. His
coming precipitates the crisis. Well, it was bound to come sooner or
later. I must consider my position coolly."
He knew he would not be disturbed for an hour, as it was a fixed rule of
the office that no one was to be shown in to him till half-past eleven.
He thought best, pen in hand, seated at his table, and there he sat, a
still, immovable figure, save when he jotted something on his
blotting-pad, for several minutes. But his was a nimble brain, and his
mind was soon made up.
"I must see Eversleigh," he told himself, "and acquaint him
with--everything." As he thought this, he half smiled, and his eyes for
an instant had in them the same threatening gleam that had flashed upon
Williamson.
Next he went to the large japanned box that stood in the corner, and
touching a spring cleverly concealed in the moulding round its base,
gained access to a narrow, shelf-like cavity at the bottom, which was
stuffed with papers. From this secret place he extracted a folio sheet
covered with figures, against which were various initials, "M.T." being
conspicuous from their frequency amongst them.
He went over this document very carefully, added up the figures opposite
the "M.T."s, and put down the total on his pad.
"A quarter of a million," he whispered almost aloud. "It's an immense
sum. What a thing to have to tell Eversleigh!"
Then he folded up and replaced the sheet of figures in the receptacle
hidden at the bottom of the big box, but when he tried to close up the
aperture he experienced great difficulty in getting the spring to act;
finally, however, he succeeded.
"I ought to see to that at once," he said with decision, "but I dare
not."
He now proceeded to skim over the rest of his correspondence with
extraordinary rapidity but with little real attention; at the back of
his mind he was still occupied with the return of Morris Thornton.
All at once a thought struck him.
"I wonder if Kitty Thornton has heard from her father by the same post?
If so, she may know the date on which to expect him," was what he said
to himself, adding, "if she knows, Eversleigh will know." For Miss
Kitty Thornton lived practically as a member of the family of Francis
Eversleigh, the senior partner of the firm.
Silwood went to the door of his room, opened it quietly, and looked out.
A young and handsome man was springing lightly up the stairs; the two
men exchanged somewhat cold nods.
"Good morning, Gilbert," said Silwood, but without much cordiality.
"Good morning," returned the other, with a distant air.
"Going up to see your father, I suppose?" asked Silwood.
"Yes. Mr. Williamson, whom I met in the square, told me he was in,"
replied Gilbert Eversleigh, and with another nod went on upstairs.
"I'll just give you five minutes," said Silwood, under his breath,
addressing the back of the unconscious Gilbert, who knocked at a door on
the second floor and was admitted.
"I thought I'd look in, sir, to ask how they all are at home," said
Gilbert to his father, Francis Eversleigh. Gilbert had his own chambers
in the Temple, of which he was a member, and for the past three years
had not lived at his father's house in Surbiton.
Francis Eversleigh gazed at his son before answering the implied
question, and a father's pride expressed itself clearly in his face. The
son was dear to the father's heart.
"They're all very well at home--your mother and your sister and Kitty,"
responded Francis Eversleigh, lingering somewhat on the last word.
Glancing away from his son to the window, he remarked casually,
"Really, I think Miss Kitty grows prettier and more charming every day."
"She is lovely," cried Gilbert, with rising colour.
"By the way," observed the father, pointedly, "Harry Bennet came in last
evening, and it was not hard to see the attraction."
"Miss Kitty?"
"Yes."
"But Harry Bennet!" said Gilbert, in a voice of protest.
"Yes. He stayed quite late."
"But you know, sir," objected Gilbert, with a frown, "that Harry is said
to be going the pace--making the sparks fly furiously."
Francis Eversleigh did not reply. He thought he had given his son a
plain enough hint; besides, Bennet was a client of his own, and he did
not wish to pursue the subject further. Gilbert walked over to the
window and stood there, while his father covertly watched him. Presently
he faced round; the frown had disappeared; his expression was confident
and eager.
Father and son looked at each other. Seen thus together, the family
likeness between them was pronounced; seen apart, the differences became
prominent.
Francis Eversleigh was a tall, stout, florid, handsome man; genial,
easy-going, unsuspicious, self-indulgent--not a typical solicitor in
appearance or character. Inheriting early in life a fine business, he
had gradually allowed himself to give way to a constitutional indolence,
a fatality of temperament which Gilbert happily had escaped. Gilbert was
tall and fair and good-looking, but he was more slimly made than his
father, and was charged with far more vitality and force. He was alert,
active, resolute. In brief, he was strong and keen where his father was
weak and slack.
"It's a glorious day, sir," said Gilbert, "and as it's a Saturday and I
have nothing on of importance, I think I'll run over to Surbiton and
spend the afternoon and evening. I'll wire mother I'm coming."
"What! No work to do!" the father made laughing demur. But he
immediately followed with the words, "Well, well, my boy, go and enjoy
yourself. It's fine to be young!"
What he really meant, of course, was, "Go and see Kitty, you lucky young
dog, and good fortune go with you." He knew that Gilbert loved the girl,
and there was nothing in all the world he desired more than that Gilbert
should succeed in his court to her.
As Gilbert turned to leave the room, Cooper Silwood entered it, carrying
an open letter in his hand. After Gilbert had withdrawn, Silwood took
care to see the door was shut.