Dick Millet became quite the military officer as he reached the
police-station with his father, and proved that, if he possessed a very
small body, it contained plenty of soul. He was staggered at the charge
brought against his brother-in-law, that of being a party to a serious
attempt at burglary on the previous night, and soon found that there was
nothing to be done till the next day. He listened to Huish's
asseverations of innocence very quietly, but said nothing till he
exclaimed:
"Why, Dick, you cannot believe me guilty of this monstrous charge!"
"I can only believe one thing just now, John Huish," he replied; "and
that is that you are my dear sister's husband, and that for her sake
everything possible must be done to help you out of this dreadful
scrape."
"Yes," cried Sir Humphrey feebly, "of course--of course. And, John, my
boy, I always liked you; it's a cursed impertinent lie, isn't it?"
"It is indeed," cried Huish earnestly; "unless--unless--"
He stopped, gazing from one to the other in a curiously bewildered
fashion.
"Unless--unless what, my boy? Why don't you speak out?"
"Let it rest to-night, sir," said Huish, in an altered voice. "I am
confused--shocked. Get me some good advice to-morrow, Dick, and when
the examination comes off, you will, of course, find bail."
Dick nodded, but did not shake hands.
"I'll do everything I can," he said sternly.
"Won't you shake hands?"
"No," replied Dick, "not till you are cleared. Huish," he said in a
whisper. "I shall work day and night to clear you, for Gerty's sake;
but I've heard some blackguardly things about you lately. This, though,
is worse than all."
Huish turned from him, looking dazed and strange, to shake hands with
Sir Humphrey, who began protesting to and scolding the inspector on
duty.
"I--I--don't believe a word of it," he cried angrily. "You--you--you
police fellows are always--yes, damme, always making mistakes of this
kind, and--and, confound me, if I don't have the matter brought before
the House of Lords. Good-night, my dear boy; make them give you
everything you want, and we'll be here first thing in the morning.--
It's--it's--it's about the most disgraceful thing I ever knew, my dear
Dick," he said as soon as they were in the street; "but if you don't
take me on to the club and give me some supper I shall faint."
"You must be sharp, then, father. Gertrude will be horribly anxious."
"Yes, yes, poor girl, she will; but it will be all right to-morrow. I'm
not so strong as I was, and this has upset me terribly."
There was no doubt about it, for the old gentleman looked very haggard.
A hearty supper, however, restored him, and he left the club in pretty
good spirits to accompany Dick to Westbourne Road, where they were met
by the announcement that "master came back a bit ago, and went away with
missus."
"What does this mean?" said Dick sternly.
"Mean, my boy? Why, that he has got bail."
"I'm afraid not," said Dick to himself, and, with the full belief that
his brother-in-law had contrived to escape, he accompanied his father
home, keeping, however, his thoughts to himself.
In the morning, however, there was the news that a message had come for
her ladyship to go to Wimpole Street, where Mrs Huish had arrived on
the previous night.
"Was John Huish there, too?" asked Dick sharply.
"I did not hear," said her ladyship haughtily. "I know nothing of such
a person, and I will not have my name sullied by mention in connection
with his."
"But you'll go and see Gertrude?"
"No," exclaimed her ladyship. "It was Gertrude's duty to come to me if
she were in trouble. If she prefers her uncle's help, let her enjoy it.
I have no more to say, except that I shall not go; and, Humphrey, I
forbid you to go there--for the present."
"And me, too," said Dick quietly.
"You have long ceased to obey me," said her ladyship austerely, "and
must take your own course. _I_ will not, however, be dragged into this
dreadful scandal."
"Humph!" said Dick. "Then you let it all out, father, after you'd gone
to bed?"
"Yes, my son, yes. Your mamma was very anxious, and I told her all."
"As you like. I'm off now to secure counsel. We'll have him out before
night."
Lady Millet sighed and wiped her eyes, but no one paid any heed to her,
so she consoled her injured feelings with a good breakfast.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meantime, John Huish sat through the night, thinking, and calling up
from the past all the strange things that had been laid to his charge.
"What does it mean?" he said aloud. "Am I a madman or a somnambulist,
or do I lead a double life?"
It was terrible, that being shut up in such a place; for when the other
prisoners were silent, there was a dreadful clock close by, which seemed
in its cold, harsh, brazen way to goad him to distraction. It was a
hurried clock, that always seemed manifesting itself and warning people
of the flight of time, so that every quarter of an hour it fired off a
vicious "ting-tang" in the two discordant notes that made a bad
descending third, repeating itself at the half-hours, tripling at the
third quarter, and at the hour snapping as it were at the world four
times before allowing the hammer on another bell to rapidly go off
_slam--slam--slam_! till its duty was done. "Clocks are bad enough," he
thought, "from the warnings they give of how short our lives are
growing; but when a man is in trouble and bells are added, the effect is
maddening indeed."
He sat trying to think till he was bewildered, and at last, in a
complete maze, he sat listening to the noisy singing of a woman in the
next cell, and the drunken howlings of a man on the other side.
"My poor darling!" he cried at last; "it will almost break her heart. A
burglary! and if they should prove that I was guilty--oh, it is
monstrous!"
He tried to pace his cell, but it was too narrow, and he sat down again
with his hands pressed to his forehead, with the mental darkness coming
down upon him thicker than that of his cell.
"It's like some nightmare," he said at last, "and as if in some way my
brain were unhinged. Absence--absence of mind! My God! will a judge
believe me if I say for defence that I committed a robbery in a fit of
absence of mind? One has read of strange things in people's lives," he
thought after a time--"how they have been totally unconscious of what
took place in one half of their existence. Is it possible that my life
is divided into two parts, in each of which I am ignorant of what passes
in the other? But who would believe it! I'll have Stonor here first
thing to-morrow."
He sat with his mind growing darker and darker, and vainly struggling
against the black oppression; and at last, with a weary wail; he
exclaimed unconsciously:
"My poor darling, what a night for you! Last night happy and admired--
to-night--oh, thank God--thank God!"
For the light had come.
The police declared that the burglary had taken place the previous night
about nine o'clock at a City house, and that he was seen and nearly
captured. Why, a dozen people could prove that he was at Dr Stonor's
the whole evening.
He rose and tapped sharply at his cell door.
"Now then," said a rough voice. "What is it?"
"Kindly ask the inspector to come here for a moment," said Huish.
The officer on night duty came from his desk where he had been entering
the last charge. "Well, sir?" he said, with official brevity.
"Sorry to trouble you," said Huish, "but that burglary--when was it?"
"Nine o'clock last night--that is, the night before last, for it is now
four o'clock."
"Thank God," said Huish, and he lay down upon that peculiarly soft bed
provided by a humane Government at police-stations for arrested people,
and slept soundly for hours.
"Precious eager to know when, the crack was done," said the officer, as
he looked in at the cell. "Clever dodge--going to try an _alibi_?"
What was intended for a preliminary examination took place in the course
of the afternoon, and the officer in charge of the case brought forward
two or three witnesses to give a sufficiency of evidence to justify a
remand, informing the magistrate that he believed that he should be able
to produce a long catalogue of crime against the prisoner, who had
succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the police for some time past.
On the other side, however, the services of the rising young counsel,
Mr Douglas, had been secured. He made a brief and indignant address to
the magistrate on the way in which the sanctity of Mr Huish's home had
been invaded, and a gentleman dragged off to answer this disgraceful
trumped-up charge. In conclusion, Mr Douglas said he should bring
forward witnesses whose social position was such that their testimony
must be taken as unimpeachable, and they would prove on oath that at the
time when this gentleman--the defendant; he would not insult him by
calling him the prisoner--was stated to have been seen by the police in
company with some notorious scoundrels engaged in a burglary--his
worship would excuse him for smiling, the charge was so absurd--Mr
Huish was partaking of the hospitality of a well-known physician at his
house at Highgate.
"Call Dr Stonor."
Dr Stonor stepped into the witness-box, was sworn, and stated that Mr
John Huish often dined with him at Highgate, and was there on the night
in question, that he arrived there about seven, and did not leave till
twelve, and was never out of his sight the whole time.
Daniel Repson, Dr Stonor's confidential servant, testified to the same
effect.
Then Sir Humphrey Millet was sworn, and stated that he called at his
son-in-law's at six o'clock, and went up with him in the carriage to
Highgate, and was set down at Grosvenor Square on the return. He
certainly did have a nap after dinner, for about half an hour, but not
for more.
Mr Richard Millet gave similar testimony, and lastly Miss Stonor was
sworn, and stated that, saving the interval between leaving the table
and tea-time, she saw Mr Huish the whole evening.
Mr Douglas was of opinion that after the evidence of these witnesses
his worship would dismiss the contemptible charge, and tell his client
that he left the court without a stain upon his character. At the same
time, he hoped the police would be more careful, for he was informed
that Mrs Huish had been most terribly alarmed, and that the
consequences might be serious.
The police-sergeant was checkmated, and the prisoner was discharged at
once, leaving the police court in the company of his friends.
"Yes," said the sergeant grimly, "he has done us this time; but if we
don't put salt on his tail yet, I'll leave the force."
John Huish shook hands heartily with the doctor, who eyed him rather
curiously, and then turned to Dick, who was, however, very distant.
"You'll come home with me," he said; but Dick shook his head.
"Not now," he said coldly; "another time. Come, father."
The old man shook hands heartily with his son-in-law, and whispered:
"Dick's a bit put out, my dear John; but it's all right. I'll put it
all straight. I'll bring him on to-night."
Huish nodded, and shook hands then with the doctor and Miss Stonor.
"Good-bye, doctor; a thousand thanks! Miss Stonor, you'll excuse me. I
am most anxious to get home."
Miss Stonor nodded and smiled, and Huish was turning away, when the
doctor said:
"Run up and see me again soon."
Huish nodded assent and turned away, hailed the first hansom, and jumped
in, the man smiling at him in a friendly way.
"Home, sir?" he said.
"Yes, quick. West--"
"All right, sir--I know," cried the man, and away went the cab.
"Driven me before," thought Huish, as he sank back in the cab. "Poor
little darling! how she has been upset!"
He lit a cigar and smoked it, to settle his nerves as he termed it, and
then his thoughts turned to the affairs of the past night.
"And suppose I had not been able to bring all those witnesses to prove
my innocence," he thought. "How horrible!"
He moved about uneasily in his seat, for he was not satisfied. This
was, after all, but another link in the strange chain of circumstances
that had troubled him, and he shuddered and threw away his cigar, for
his nerves refused to be settled. Somehow, a strange uneasy feeling
kept increasing upon him, and at last he raised the little trap and
shouted to the man to go faster.
"Suppose she is ill!" he muttered. "Poor darling! what she must have
suffered!"
At last the cab was pulled up at the door, and Huish leaped out and ran
up the steps without paying the man, who waited, while, not finding his
latch-key, he rang sharply, and the cook answered the door.
"Where is your mistress?" he said sharply.
"Missus, sir? I haven't seen her since last night."
"What, has she gone home?"
"Home, sir? I don't know, sir--I mean, since you fetched her, sir."
"Since I fetched her, woman! Are you mad?"
"Not as I knows on, sir," said the woman, with the asperity of one in
her profession. "You ast me where missus was, and I says as I ain't
seen her since you fetched her last night."
"Since I fetched her last night! You mean the night before, to go out
to dinner--Dr Stonor's."
"No, sir, I don't; I mean the very last night as is, 'bout half an hour
after you was took."
"Yes, yes; go on," said Huish, turning ghastly pale.
"You come back and told missus quite sharp like to put on her things,
and took her away in a cab."
"Are you--dreaming?" faltered Huish, staggering back against the wall.
"Dreaming! no, sir, of course not. And the poor dear got ready in a
minute, and you both went off in a cab."
"This is horrible!" groaned Huish. "I never returned till now; I did
not come and fetch her."
"Begging your pardon, sir, which you've forgot," said a voice behind
him; and Huish turned round to find himself face to face with the
cabman.
"Like me to wait, sir? Didn't pay me my fare. It was me as drove you
and the lady last night."
"You!--what?--me?--the lady?"
"Of course, sir," said the man, smiling. "You hailed me in Praed
Street, outside the station, and come on here, and you told me to wait.
Five minutes arter you comes out with the lady, and I took you down to
Cannon Street."
"This is horrible!" groaned Huish again; and he clutched at the
umbrella-stand to save himself from falling.
"The gent's ill," said the cabman hoarsely.
"Yes, ill--ill," cried Huish; "no--better now. Tell me, both of you,
did I come last night and fetch my wife?"
"Course you did, sir," said the cook in an injured tone, as if insulted
at her veracity being impeached.
"If I might make so bold, sir," said the cabman. "I'd have a drop o'
short; it's nerves--that's what it is. I get a bit touched so
sometimes, after being on. Shall I drive you to--"
"A doctor's?--yes," groaned Huish. "Quick!--to Dr Stonor's, Highgate."
"Highgate, sir? Hadn't you better go to one close by?"
"Quick, man!--to Highgate," cried Huish. "Here."
He thrust a sovereign into the man's hand, and ran down the steps to the
cab.
"Right, sir," cried the cabman, running after him and climbing to his
perch. "Lor'!" he muttered as he started the horse, "how willing a suv.
do make a man, toe be sure!"
It seemed an age before the cab had climbed the long hill, and all the
time John Huish sat back hat-less, and holding his head with both his
hands, for it throbbed as though it would burst. Two or three times
over he thrust up the trap to urge the man to hasten; but during the
latter part of the journey he sat back, fighting hard to restrain
himself, for he felt that if he moved or spoke more he would begin to
shriek and utter wild drivel. He was going mad--he was sure of it--and
his mind would no longer bear the horrible strain of the bewildering
thought. There was something wrong, and he could not master it. One
sole thought now filled his mind, but in a hazy, strange way, and that
was that he, in some other state, had fetched away his wife and
destroyed her.
At last, just as they neared the top of the hill, he became aware for
the first time that the cabman was watching him, and he started angrily
as the trap was shut down.
"Poor gent! he have got it hot," muttered the cabman; and he gave his
horse a touch with the whip, which made the weary beast exert itself a
little more, and a few minutes later they were at the doctor's iron
gates.
"Shall I wait, sir?" said the man.
Huish shook his head and jumped out, to ring furiously at the bell.
Daniel came down the path to meet him.
"I thought so," he muttered, as he saw the excited looks of the visitor;
and he offered Huish his arm, for the young man staggered as the gate
swung to.
"The doctor--quick!" said Huish, with his eyes looking staring and wild.
"In his study, sir--only just back from town," said Daniel; and he
helped the tottering visitor quickly into the house, across the hall,
and at once into the doctor's room.
"Why, John--Huish, my dear boy, what is this?"
"Possessed--of a devil--doctor," cried Huish thickly. "For Heaven's
sake--help me--I'm going mad!"
He sank back into an easy-chair gasping, and his face turned blue with
the congestion of his veins; then he babbled hoarsely a few
unintelligible words, and became insensible.
"Basin--quick!" said the doctor; and as his ready _aide_ ran to a little
mahogany stand, the doctor's pocket-book was opened, a tiny steel blade
glittered for a moment, and directly after the dark stream of John
Huish's life-blood was trickling from a vein.
Volume 3, Chapter III.