CONSTANCE AT BAY.
"It is impossible, sir! utterly impossible! and, pardon me for saying
it, most absurd! This matter has been dragged on too long already. And
on such evidence I utterly refuse to follow up the case. You have done
well, undoubtedly, but it was only at the urgent request of Mr. Lamotte
that I have allowed it to continue, and now I wash my hands of the whole
affair."
It is Constance Wardour who speaks, standing very straight and with head
very firmly poised, and wearing upon her face what Mrs. Aliston would
have called her "obstinate look." Her words were addressed to a well
dressed, gentlemanly looking personage, who is neither young nor yet
middle aged, and who might pass for a solicitor with a good run of
clients, or a bank cashier out on special business. He is looking
somewhat disconcerted just now, but recovers his composure almost as she
ceases speaking.
"But, madam," he expostulates mildly, "this is unheard of, really. You
employ me upon a case which, just now, has reached a crisis, and when
success seems almost certain you tell me to drop the case. I never like
to drag forward my own personality, Miss Wardour, but really this is a
blow aimed directly at my professional honor."
There is an ominous flash in the eye of the heiress, but her voice is
smooth and tranquil, as she replies:
"I am sorry if this should injure _you_, Mr. Belknap, but, pardon me, I
scarcely see how it can; you, as I understand, are a '_private
detective_,' answerable to no one save yourself and the one employing
you. I, as that one, pronounce myself satisfied to drop the case. I
decline to use the circumstantial evidence you have brought against a
man who is above suspicion, in my mind, at least. Let the Wardour
diamonds rest in oblivion. Mr. Belknap, I am ready to honor your draft
for any sum that you may deem sufficient to compensate you for the
trouble you have taken, as well as for the _hurt_ done your professional
pride."
Private Detective Belknap stood for a moment, pondering, then he lifted
his head and said, with an air of injured virtue beautiful to
contemplate:
"Miss Wardour, of course there is no appeal from your decision. In my
profession it often happens that we are compelled to unmask fraud and
deceit in high places, and to wound the feelings of some we profoundly
respect. While in your employ, I was bound to work for your interest; I
owed a duty to you. Being dismissed from your service, I owe a duty
still to society. As an officer of the law, it becomes my duty, being no
longer under your commands, to make known to the proper authorities the
facts in my possession. I do not know this Doctor Heath, consequently
can have no object in hunting him down; but, believing him guilty, and
holding the proof that I do, I must make known the truth, otherwise I
should be compromising myself, and compounding a felony." Here Mr.
Belknap took up his hat. "I will send in my statement of expenses, etc.,
to-morrow, Miss Wardour. This withdrawal of the case has been so sudden,
so unexpected, that I am not prepared for a settlement of accounts." And
Mr. Belknap turned slowly toward the door.
But the heiress stopped him by a gesture.
"Stay a moment, sir," she said, and the ominous gleam was intensified
into a look of absolute hatred, for an instant. "I hope I do not quite
understand your meaning. Did you intend to tell me that if I dismiss you
from my service, you will still continue the search for my diamonds?"
[Illustration: "Stay a moment, sir."]
"No, madam: I will simply place the facts I have gathered before the
town authorities, and leave them to use the knowledge as they see fit. I
then withdraw from the field, unless called upon as a witness, when, of
course, I must do my duty."
Miss Wardour stood for some moments in silent thought, one small foot
tapping nervously the while, a sure sign of irritation with her. At last
she said, slowly, and with an undertone of sarcasm, that she made a
futile effort to conceal:
"I think I comprehend you Mr. Belknap, and I withdraw my dismissal. You
are still retained on the Wardour robbery case; I suppose, therefore,
you are subject to my orders."
Mr. Belknap laid down his hat, and returned to his former position.
Without a trace of triumph or satisfaction in his face or manner, he
said:
"I am subject to your commands, certainly, Miss Wardour; but I beg that
you will not misapprehend me."
"Be easy on that point," interrupted Miss Wardour, somewhat impatiently.
"Now then, Mr. Belknap, I want a little time to consider this matter,
and to consult with my aunt; also to see Mr. Lamotte. During this time I
desire you to remain passive, to make no move in the matter; above all,
to mention your suspicions to no one. You can, of course, keep as close
a watch as you may please over Doctor Heath, but it must be done
quietly, do you comprehend? You are to say nothing of this matter not
even to Mr. Lamotte."
Once more the detective took up his hat.
"I comprehend," he said, gravely; "you shall be obeyed to the letter,
Miss Wardour; for three days, then, my task will be an easy one. On
Friday morning I will call on you again."
"That is what I wish," she said; "I will have further instructions for
you then."
With the bow of a courtier, the private detective withdrew from her
presence, and for a moment the heiress stood as he had left her, gazing
at the door through which he had disappeared, as if she were seeking to
transfix an enemy with the angry fire of her eyes. Then she struck her
hands together fiercely, and began a rapid march to and fro across the
room.
"Ah!" she ejaculated; "the sleek, smooth, oily-tongued wretch! To dare
to come here and make terms with _me_; to fairly compel me to keep him
in my service! and to bring such a charge against _him_. If he had an
enemy, I should call it a wretched plot. But I'll not be outwitted by
you, Mr. Belknap; I have three day's grace."
She continued to pace the room with much energy for a few moments, and
then seating herself at a writing table, rapidly wrote as follows:
NEIL BATHURST, ESQ,
No.---- B---- street. N. Y.
_Dear Sir:_--If in your power, be in W---- in two days, without
fail. Danger menaces your friend, Dr. H----, and I only hold
detective B---- in my service to bridle his tongue. I fear a plot,
and can only stay proceedings against the innocent, by proclaiming
the truth concerning my diamonds; acting under your advice, I will
withhold my statement until you arrive.
Hastily, etc.,
CONSTANCE WARDOUR.
There was yet an hour before the departure of the eastern mail, and
Constance sealed her letter, and dispatched it by a faithful messenger;
this done, she pondered again.
The private detective had waited upon her that morning with a strange
statement. For weeks he had been working out this strange case, guided
by the fact that the chloroform administered to Constance was
scientifically meted out. He had commenced a system of shadowing the
various medical men in W----, without regard to their present or
previous standing. Nothing could be found in the past or present of any
to cause them to fall under suspicion, until he came to investigate
Doctor Heath. Here what did he find? First, that his antecedents could
be traced back only so far as his stay in W---- had extended. Nothing
could be found to prove that his career had been above reproach,
previous to his sojourn here; hence, according to the reasoning of Mr.
Belknap, it was fair to suppose that it had not been. "For," argued the
astute private detective, "where there is secresy, there is also room
for suspicion." And Constance felt a momentary sinking of the heart,
when she recalled the words she had overheard, as they fell from the
lips of Clifford Heath: "Here, I am Clifford Heath, from nowhere."
Starting with a suspicion, the private detective had made rapid headway.
He had ascertained beyond a doubt that Doctor Heath's expenses, taken
all in all, were in excess of his professional income. He might have a
private income, true; but this was not proven, and then there _was_ a
mystery that the accused had tried in vain to hide from the eyes of the
hunters. There was a correspondence that was carried on with the utmost
caution, letters received that had thrown him quite off his guard, and
that were destroyed as soon as read. Finally and lastly, there was the
bottle broken into fragments and thrown to the dust heap; but, without
doubt, the counterpart of the one found at Miss Wardour's bedside on the
morning of the robbery; while, among some cast-off garments, had been
found the _half of a handkerchief_, that matched precisely the one found
over the face of the heiress. All these facts Mr. Belknap had laid
before her with elaborate explanations, and "notes by the way," but
instead of drawing from her the expected indignant demand for the
instant arrest of the accused one, Miss Wardour had listened coldly, and
with marked impatience, and had finally declared her decision not to
move in the affair, nor to allow any one to act in her behalf.
As Constance reviewed the arguments of the detective, a new thought came
to her. Doctor Heath, all unconscious of the danger menacing him, might
in some way, do himself an injury, and add to the chain of
circumstantial evidence that was lengthening for his overthrow. He must
be warned.
This was a delicate task, and she hesitated a little over the manner of
accomplishing it.
Finally, she seated herself once more at her desk and wrote another
letter, or rather a note.
It contained only a few lines, and was addressed to, "_Mr. Raymond
Vandyck._"
Meanwhile, private detective Belknap was driving slowly in the
light buggy, that had brought him to Wardour Place, toward the
residence of Jasper Lamotte. His features wore a look of complacent
self-satisfaction, and he hummed softly to himself, as he drove easily
over the red and brown leaves that were beginning to flutter downward
and carpet the highway.
Arriving at Mapleton; he drove leisurely up the avenue, and lifting his
eyes toward the stately edifice crowning the hill, he saw, standing on
the broad piazza, and gazing directly toward him, a beautiful woman,
clad in trailing silk, and wearing a shawl of richest crimson cashmere,
draped about her head and shoulders; as he drew nearer, he was startled
at the strange mingling of pallor and flame in her face; the temples
were like blue veined ivory, and the slender hands, clasping the folds
of crimson, seemed scarcely strong enough to retain their hold; but the
lips and cheeks were a glowing crimson, and the eyes burned and glowed
with a steady intense light.
"So," thought private detective Belknap, "I have not left all the beauty
behind me, it seems. I suppose this is the daughter of mine host."
And so thinking, he reined in his horse upon the graveled drive and,
lifting up his hat, with elaborate courtesy, said:
"I believe this is Mapleton."
The lovely brunette allowed the crimson shawl to drop from about her
head as she came slowly down the steps, never once removing her dark
searching eyes from his face.
"This is Mapleton, sir. May I ask if this is Mr. Belknap?"
Somewhat surprised, he answered in the affirmative.
"Mr. Belknap, the detective," she persisted, and then seeing that he
hesitated over his answer, she added, "I am Jasper Lamotte's daughter,
and know that he expects you."
"I am the man Mr. Lamotte expects," he said, throwing down the reins
and springing from the buggy. "Is Mr. Lamotte at home?"
"My father is in the library," she replied, coming still nearer him,
"follow me, Mr. Belknap, I will send a servant to take your horse."
He followed her up the steps, and across the broad piazza; as they
passed under the shadow of the arched doorway, she paused, looked about
her, and then, drawing close to the detective and laying one hand
lightly on his arm, she whispered:
"Mr. Belknap, I have a word for your ear alone. Can you meet me to-night
where we shall be secure from intrusion?"
Her burning eyes searched his face, and accustomed as he was to strange
situations, Mr. Belknap was startled for a moment out of his
self-possession.
"I have need of your professional services," she hurried on, "and they
must be rendered very secretly. Will you hear what I have to say?"
The beautiful face was full of wild eagerness, and Mr. Belknap was not
insensible to the piquancy of the situation.
"I am yours to command, madam. Name the place and hour," he replied
gallantly.
"Then meet me at the boat house, you can see it from here, to-night at
nine. Be sure you are not followed, and--above all, do not mention to my
father, or any one, this meeting of ours. You will be punctual?"
"As the hour itself."
"Thanks. Come in now, sir; I will send a servant to announce your
arrival."
She threw open the door of the drawing room, motioned him to enter,
inclined her head in a graceful adieu, and swept down the hall.
Two minutes later he stood in the library bowing before Jasper Lamotte
and his son Frank.
"Ah, it's you, Belknap," said the elder Lamotte. "And what news?"
"Very little, sir."
"But," interrupted Frank, "surely you have fired your train?"
"Yes, and I have run against the worst impediment that ever comes in a
detective's way."
"And what is that?"
"A woman."