On leaving Francis Eversleigh, whose feelings at the turn events had
taken were poignant beyond description, Harry Bennet went as fast and as
straight to Surbiton as the train could carry him. As he neared Ivydene,
he was visited by some slight compunctions, but these he soon overcame
and thrust out of his mind.
On inquiring if Miss Thornton was at home, he was told by the maid, to
whom Bennet was no stranger, that Miss Thornton and Miss Helen
Eversleigh were out, but were expected in very shortly. Mrs. Eversleigh,
however, was in; would he not come in and see her? But Bennet, who had
no wish to see Mrs. Eversleigh, excused himself and withdrew. He did not
go far away, but hung about the house waiting till the two young ladies
should appear. And presently, when they came into view, Bennet at once
went to meet them.
When the girls saw him, they beheld him with very different emotions.
There was a smile of welcome on Helen's face, which showed she was glad
to see him again, and that perhaps also she still, in her heart, was not
ill disposed towards him; at the same time, she wondered why he had not
been near Ivydene for so long a time, and this imparted a certain
eagerness to her greeting of him. But Kitty received him coldly. Both
the girls were in deep mourning, and Bennet thought he had never seen
Kitty look better. The coldness of his reception he put down to the
grief she must be feeling for her father, and for an instant he was
inclined to doubt if this were the proper time to speak to her on the
subject which had brought him to Surbiton, but his hesitation was soon
over.
There was something strange and unnatural in Bennet's manner as he
saluted the girls. So marked was it that even Helen Eversleigh could not
help noticing it. Kitty observed it instantly, and she drew an augury of
evil from it. Since her rejection of the young man she had almost
forgotten his existence, so much had happened in the interval. Now, as
she looked at him, her distrust of him returned.
Yet his first words somewhat disarmed her, though the tone in which they
were uttered was hardly what she would have expected. She saw he was
labouring under some strong excitement.
"I have not seen you, Miss Thornton," he said, hoarsely, "for some time,
and I had meant to write you a note of sympathy, but--but--I was so----"
"I understand," said Kitty, as Bennet paused, embarrassed.
"It was very sad for you," remarked Bennet.
"Yes," said Kitty, simply.
The three were now close to Ivydene, and Helen Eversleigh invited him to
come in. Bennet stopped in the road, and did not at once reply; the
others stopped, too, regarding him curiously.
Then, to the surprise of the girls, Bennet said, addressing Helen
Eversleigh--
"Would you mind leaving us, Miss Eversleigh; there is something I wish
to say to Miss Thornton?" Then he turned to Kitty and observed, gruffly,
"It is something very important. Miss Thornton, or I should not trouble
you. Indeed, I have come on purpose to tell you of it."
Kitty bowed gravely, and Helen, greatly astonished, retired to the
house, saying as she went--
"Come in when you have had your talk. You won't be long, I suppose."
But neither of the others answered.
"Is it something you have to tell me about my father?" asked Kitty, who
at once supposed that Bennet had in some way or other obtained
information respecting Morris Thornton.
"No, Miss Thornton," answered Bennet, bluntly. "It is about something
quite different that I wish to speak to you."
"But if I do not wish to listen to you?" asked Kitty, suddenly alarmed.
"You must," insisted Bennet.
"Must!" cried Kitty. "You take a very strange tone. I shall not listen
to you, Mr. Bennet."
And she moved a step from him.
He strode beside her, and put his hand roughly on her arm.
"I am in earnest," he said, his eyes gleaming balefully. "You must hear
me unless you wish the worst to happen to those people in there."
He waved his hand toward Ivydene.
"Miss Thornton," Bennet went on, more calmly when he saw the girl gave
heed to him, "it is in your power, and in yours alone, to save your
friends, the Eversleighs, from the gravest disaster."
Kitty stared at him, thinking the man must have gone mad.
"I repeat," Bennet continued, "that it is in your power. Miss
Thornton--do you understand?--in your power, to avert a great danger, a
terrible disaster, from the Eversleighs."
"I do not understand you in the least," said Kitty. "Will you please
explain yourself?"
"You will listen, then?" asked Bennet, tauntingly. "And you will do well
to listen, if you have any regard for these people."
"Will you explain, please?" asked Kitty, impatiently.
"Yes; but I shall have to trouble you to hear rather a long story, but
without it you would not understand."
"Go on," Kitty answered.
"I must commence by speaking of myself," said Bennet. "I had need of a
sum of money--ten thousand pounds, and I directed my solicitors,
Eversleigh, Silwood and Eversleigh, to get it for me by selling a
property in Kensington called Beauclerk Mansions, which belonged to
me--at least, I believed it belonged to me. I knew that the sale of the
property was not likely to be effected immediately; it had to be
advertised, and so on. But I did want that ten thousand in a hurry. So I
wrote the Eversleighs, and, knowing the Mansions were worth far more
than the sum I asked, requested them to make or procure me an advance of
the money, and to repay the loan from the proceeds of the sale. Do you
understand, Miss Thornton?"
"Perfectly; though I do not see why you should imagine it is interesting
or important to me," replied Kitty.
"I am coming very quickly now to that," returned Bennet. "I wrote the
firm as I have told you, and received a communication in reply from Mr.
Eversleigh, Mr. Francis Eversleigh, who said that he could not get me
the money at once, but would do so in the course of a few days. But
there were reasons for my having it without delay, so I went to see Mr.
Eversleigh, and I saw him this morning."
Bennet paused, and looked meaningly at Kitty; he saw that she was
following him closely.
"You saw Mr. Eversleigh, you were saying," she observed.
"I saw him, told him I must have the money, and he put me off, but said
there would be as little delay as possible. With that I had to be
content, though I was disappointed. I had nothing particular to do for
the rest of the day, and it occurred to me to go to Beauclerk Mansions,
and take a last look at them. I was in a bad humour, and the thing fell
in with my mood. When I got to the Mansions, can you guess what I
discovered?"
"How can I?" inquired Kitty, wonderingly.
"The discovery was an accidental one," Bennet resumed, "but there was no
room for doubt about the matter. I found out that Beauclerk Mansions no
longer belonged to me. They had been sold some twelve months before to a
company named 'Modern Mansions, Limited.'"
And now Kitty began to see something of what Bennet was about to tell
her, and she gazed at him apprehensively.
"The property had been sold!" she exclaimed.
"Yes; without my authority, and by my own solicitors, Eversleigh,
Silwood and Eversleigh."
"Surely, there was some mistake," suggested the girl.
"I thought so myself, at first," responded Bennet, "and I promptly went
to Mr. Eversleigh and asked for an explanation. But, Miss Thornton," he
went on, impressively, "there was no mistake. Mr. Eversleigh put the
blame of the sale on his dead partner, Silwood--that may be true, or it
may not, in either case it is nothing to me--but he confessed that the
property had been sold. No account was ever rendered to me--in a word,
the sale was a fraudulent one. Out of his own mouth, Eversleigh stood
convicted of fraud."
"I cannot believe it!" cried Kitty, "there must be some dreadful
mistake."
"The law, Miss Thornton, will not call it a mistake. It will call it a
crime. I have but to say the word, and Francis Eversleigh will be
arrested, in due course, tried, and convicted."
Kitty stood and faced the man, her eyes full of indignation.
"Mr. Bennet," she said, "I have known Mr. Eversleigh for years, and I
cannot credit what you say."
"It is quite natural for you to say so. I could hardly take the thing in
myself at first, but there is not the slightest doubt of the truth of
what I have told you. Francis Eversleigh is in my power, and I make no
scruple in telling you so."
Bennet's air, Kitty acknowledged to herself, was not that of a man who
spoke falsely, whatever else it was; she was afraid that he did in very
deed speak the truth.
"You do not scruple to tell me this," she said; "why do you tell me
about it at all?"
Bennet looked at the beautiful girl, and her beauty maddened him.
"It is because I love you," he said boldly.
"Because you love me! You take a strange way of showing your love. What
do you mean?"
"I said that Eversleigh's fate was in my hands; I should have said it
was in yours, Kitty."
"In mine?"
"Yes, in yours, in your pretty hands, Kitty. You have but to command me,
and, so far as I am concerned, Eversleigh remains a free man. I will not
seek to have him arrested if you tell me not to do so."
"And what more, Mr. Bennet? Is it that your love for me dictates this
generosity? Oh, if that be so, I thank you with all my heart."
"I do not want your gratitude, Kitty. I want you. I will only stay my
hand on condition that you promise to marry me. There, is that plain
enough?"
"To marry you!" exclaimed Kitty. "You know very well that I am engaged
to Gilbert Eversleigh."
"Oh, Gilbert!" said Bennet, contemptuously. "After what I have told you
about his father you would never dream of marrying him!"
Kitty's eyes suddenly blazed.
"Take care what you say!" she cried.
The passion in her eyes did not daunt him; on the contrary, he admired
her spirit, and his desire to marry her waxed stronger.
"Am I to understand, then," he asked deliberately, "that you prefer to
see Gilbert Eversleigh disgraced, for disgraced he will be when his
father is a convicted felon?"
Kitty started; she felt as if she were in a trap.
Bennet saw he had at last made an impression.
"You can ruin Gilbert, too, if you like," he continued; "the fate of
both father and son rests with you."
He thought he had said enough, and so was silent. The girl walking by
his side was also silent. If what this man said was true, and she was
afraid it was, what a frightful calamity had suddenly come upon her! Her
heart sank within her, all the sweetness of life and love were on the
instant turned to bitterness and gall.
"You can ruin Gilbert," Bennet had said; she could ruin the man she
loved! And Francis Eversleigh, the kindly man, who had been a father to
her! And Mrs. Eversleigh and the others! She could ruin them or save
them--so Bennet had said. Her word would save them!
Bennet fancied he knew the debate which was going on within the girl's
breast. At length Kitty came to a decision.
"Do you want an answer now?" she asked.
"At once; yes or no?"
"You know that I do not love you?"
"I love you, and you will come to love me."
"Never, never!" she cried wildly.
Bennet frowned heavily.
"You will, you shall, you must," he vowed.
"You cannot force love," said the girl.
"Now, Miss Kitty," said Bennet, roughly; "I do not wish to discuss that
with you. Give me your answer! Will you marry me, yes or no? Or is
Francis Eversleigh to go to prison?"
"If I marry you, how will that protect Mr. Eversleigh?"
"I will give him a receipt in full for whatever his firm owes me. I
will give you the receipt, if you like, and you can give it to him."
"Mr. Bennet," said Kitty, "I shall tell you what I am willing to do. You
have told me some strange things; they are so strange that I find a
difficulty in believing them. Yet I am afraid," went on the girl,
honestly, "that they are true. But surely I have a right to ask that
these statements of yours be confirmed. If you will give me till
to-morrow--if you will come then, I will give you my answer."
"And pray what will you do in the mean time?"
"I shall speak to Mr. Eversleigh."
"Very well," said Bennet, after a moment's thought. "He will not deny
the truth of what I have told you. I agree. I will be here at noon
to-morrow for your decision. Only remember that the fate of the
Eversleighs is in your hands, as I have said, and in yours alone."
And he turned and left her.