THE MISSING HEIR.
Not till a fortnight had gone by did Nell hear from Mr. Piljoy. Then
he wrote as follows:--
"Dear Miss Baynard,--Before parting from you last I told you that on
getting back home I would lose no time in minutely questioning my
clerk Tew with regard to all that passed between Mr. Cortelyon and
himself at the signing of the will. As you may remember, the chief
point that wanted clearing up was whether there was any possibility of
the unsigned will having been substituted for the signed one during
the two or three minutes Andry Luce was absent from the room. Tew is
positive no such substitution took place. His words are: 'The signed
will was never out of my keeping from the moment the witnesses left
the room till Andry Luce's return, when, by Mr. Cortelyon's direction,
I gave the will to him to be enclosed and sealed up.' So we remain
just as wise as we were before.
"I believe I told you that, for a little while to come, I thought it
would be advisable to remain quiescent in the affair while awaiting
the first move on the part of Mrs. Bullivant's solicitors, provided
they thought it advisable to move at all. Well, a couple of days ago I
was waited upon by Mr. Cotwell, the junior partner in a firm of
Lanchester lawyers. He met me in a by no means hostile spirit, the
main object of his visit being to obtain my permission to put to Tew
the very question I had put to him already. Of course Tew could only
give Mr. Cotwell the same answer that he had given me, and, so far as
Mrs. Bullivant was concerned, there was no satisfaction to be got out
of that.
"Cotwell and I had a long confabulation before he left. From certain
hints he let fall, I judge that Mrs. B. has not scrupled to give
expression to her belief that she was designedly tricked by Mr.
C.--that of set purpose he caused the signed will to be burnt and left
the unsigned one in existence; all which is an absolute contradiction
of what Tew is prepared to swear to. But what strange beliefs will not
a disappointed woman cherish, more especially when she sees cause for
imagining that she has been hoodwinked into the bargain!
"After all, it seems to be very doubtful whether Mrs. B. will go to
law. In my opinion it would be sheer madness on her part to do so, and
I have very little doubt that, privately, Cotwell thinks the same,
only, of course, he is bound to bark at the bidding of his client; but
when it comes to biting--we shall see.
"At any rate, I shall wait no longer, but at once proceed to take the
necessary steps for legalizing the rights of the youthful heir, as if
no such person as Mrs. B. were in existence.
"Will you be good enough to inform me at your convenience under whose
care the child is now living, and where he may be found, provided, of
course, that his present address is known to you?"
Nell's reply was sent by the next post. It was on a Friday morning
that Mr. Piljoy's letter came to hand, and had she not been suffering
from a cold which had reduced her voice to a mere whisper, she would
have set out for London within a few hours of her receipt of it. But,
although she was hungering to see the child, a delay of a few days
would not matter greatly, and doubtless she would be well enough to
travel (it was a matter of between two hundred and fifty and three
hundred miles, and all by coach) by the following Tuesday or Wednesday
at the latest.
Tuesday morning came, and found Nell's few preparations made. Her
impatience would brook no further delay. Places for herself and her
maid had been secured in the London coach, which passed through
Tuxford shortly after midday. But a surprise was in store for her.
[Illustration: "Evan has been missing since yesterday."]
The postman's time for arriving at Stanbrook was ten o'clock or
thereabouts. This morning he brought a letter for Miss Baynard, which
she knew by the address, before opening it, to be from Mrs. Mardin.
One of those intuitions which come to us we know not how or whence
whispered to her that it was a bringer of ill tidings. Her fingers
trembled as she opened it. All it had to tell was told in little more
than a dozen words:--
"Evan has been missing since yesterday, and cannot be found anywhere.
Come at once.
"Harriet Mardin."
Never had the journey to London seemed so long and tedious to Nell as
it did on this occasion. From the coach office she drove to Lady
Carradine's, where, although she had not advised her ladyship of her
coming, she knew that she was sure of a welcome. Half an hour later
she was on her way to Chelsea.
Mrs. Mardin received her with a burst of tears; indeed, the good soul
had done little else than cry since the child had been missed. Her
story did not take long in the telling.
It was a fine afternoon, and Evan had been playing, as he was often
allowed to do, with some neighbors' children in a field not more than
a couple of hundred yards from the house. Mrs. Mardin had been on the
point of going to call him in to tea, when one of his playmates came
to tell her that Evan had gone off with a tall, dark gentleman, who
went up to him in the field, and, telling him that "a pretty lady" had
sent for him, led him away to a carriage which was waiting in the lane
close by, into which they both got and were at once driven away. From
the first Mrs. Mardin had felt convinced in her own mind that the boy
had been abducted by means of a ruse, and that there was no intention
of bringing him back.
Then she went on to inform Nell that she had not only written to her,
but to Mr. Dare as well, who fortunately happened to be in town, and
had lost no time in making his appearance at Lawn Cottage. Further,
when told that Miss Baynard had been communicated with, and in all
likelihood would come as fast as the coach could bring her after her
receipt of the news, he had at once hired a room at an inn in the
neighborhood, thinking that she might perhaps like to see him and
consult with him in the matter as soon as possible after her arrival.
At the mention of Dare's name the wild-rose tints in Nell's cheeks
deepened till they glowed like those of a damask rose, and the thought
of so soon seeing him again sent a rush of happiness to her heart, and
caused her to tingle from head to foot with a flush of gladness which
yet had in it a touch of apprehension. It might be a fact that her
strength had failed her in her struggle against fate, and that her
heart had secretly capitulated, but the secret was her own and should
never pass her lips. Her conqueror should never know that he had
conquered; on that point she was resolved. And yet in the midst of her
happiness she trembled at the thought of meeting Dare again. Was it
because she had a fear of betraying herself in her own despite, or was
it because she was conscious that she had to guard against a traitor
who had betrayed her once already?
A question which Mrs. Mardin put to her did not tend to reassure her:
"Shall I send word to Mr. Dare that you are here, Miss, and that you
would like to see him?"
She was still hesitating over her reply when there came a ring at the
bell. "Why, that must be him!" exclaimed the widow; and so it proved
to be. He had been watching for Nell's arrival, had seen her come,
and, after waiting half-an-hour, had followed her to the cottage. But
of all this he said nothing.
Nell strung herself up, and met him without any show of embarrassment,
but not without a touch of heightened color. Dare was as easy, cool,
and as much master of himself as he always was. The only difference
that any one who knew him well might have marked in him was that his
eyes to-day were more than ordinarily brilliant. When he had shaken
hands with Nell he sat down in the chair just vacated by Mrs. Mardin.
Nell had not forgotten the return of the mask and all that was implied
thereby, and as her eyes met Dare's she could not help saying to
herself, "Does he still know me simply as Miss Baynard of Stanbrook,
or has he discovered in me the amateur highwayman to whom on a certain
occasion he behaved with such signal kindness?" But it was a question
she was no nearer being able to answer to-day than she had been the
first time she asked it.
Dare plunged at once _in medias res_, like a man who has a matter in
hand in dealing with which there must be neither delay nor hesitancy.
Before his coming Nell had felt utterly helpless in the affair; she
had neither known what to do, nor what even to suggest; but she had
not been long in his company before she felt, figuratively speaking,
as if a strong arm had been put round her from which she drew both
comfort and support. His mere presence braced and strengthened her
like a tonic.
"This is a very strange piece of business, Miss Baynard, which has
brought you and me together again," he began. "I presume that Mrs.
Mardin has made you acquainted with such scanty particulars as are
known to her. That the case is one of abduction there can, I think, be
very little doubt, if any at all. I saw the notice of Mr. Cortelyon's
death in the _Times_. Presumably the stolen boy is his grandfather's
heir. But doubtless you are in a position to inform me whether such is
or is not the case."
"That Evan is his grandfather's heir is due to a singular and wholly
inexplicable circumstance, the nature of which it may be as well that
I should explain to you."
With that Nell went on to relate to him the story of the will as
already known to the reader. He was intensely interested in the
recital. When she had come to an end he remained for some moments lost
in thought.
Then he said: "So far as I can see at present, there is only one
person who would have any motive for spiriting away the boy. That
person is Mrs. Bullivant, and the motive--revenge. But to revenge
oneself on an innocent child! It seems too mean and cowardly, for
belief. Happily, Miss Baynard, you have seen but little of the darker
side of human nature. Mean and cowardly actions are far more common
than such as you have any notion of; but, if my supposition has any
truth in it, the case we are now considering will go far to widen your
knowledge of such things. With your permission, I will go at once to
Bow Street and report the circumstances of the abduction, so far as
they are known to us, to the authorities there, but without any
mention of Mrs. Bullivant's name, leaving them to take whatever steps
may seem advisable. As regards Mrs. Bullivant, I purpose making
certain private inquiries on my own account, the result of which I
will communicate to you as early as possible. Meanwhile, I would
suggest that it would be as well for you to write to Mr. Piljoy
informing him of the disappearance of the child, as also that the case
has been reported to the proper authorities. Finally, it may be
advisable that for the present my name should be kept in the
background."
And so, after a little further talk they parted, with an agreement to
meet again at Lawn Cottage next day. A hackney coach was fetched, and
Dare saw Miss Baynard into it. She had been startled by his
announcement that he was about to go personally to Bow Street. Such a
proceeding on his part seemed to her the very acme of recklessness.
One would have thought it was the last place in the world at which
"Captain Nightshade" would have cared to show his face. She could not
help admiring him for his daring, but, all the same, she felt that she
should breathe more freely when she knew that he had gone and come in
safety.