CHARLES PEACE IS CHECKMATED.
The pale dauntless woman, with her haughty delicate face, and her
loops of brown hair falling over robes of white, stood erect and
motionless, confronting the levelled weapon of the burglar without the
slightest fear.
To his exclamation she made no reply.
He had never before set eyes on such a sight as this in circus nor
music-hall, nor gallery of a metropolitan theatre.
For a moment he lost his heart――for a moment he hesitated.
In that moment his companion was equal to the occasion.
Quick as thought she made one step to the window, pushed the ladder
outwards with all her force, and shut down the sash.
As it closed, the ladder, poising for an instant, fell with a crash on
the ground below.
“Now,” she said, quietly, “you are trapped and taken. Better make no
resistance, for the man servant can be summoned if I choose, and I
have no wish to see you ill-treated.”
Peace was aghast. What could it all mean? Was he awake or dreaming?
“She must be well backed,” he said to himself, “to assume such a
position as this, and she looked so firm and resolute.”
Nevertheless, instinctively, rather than of intention, he mattered
hoarsely――
“Drop it, let’s have no more of this. One word out loud and I’ll shoot
you as you stand there.”
“Fire away,” she answered, with perfect composure. “You will save me
the trouble of giving an alarm. They expect it, and are waiting for it
every moment below stairs. Light those candles and let me see what
damage you have done before you return the plunder.”
A pair of wax candles stood on the chimneypiece, and he obeyed,
mechanically wondering to himself the while.
His cunning, however, had not quite deserted him, and he left his
pistol lying on the table ready to snatch it away if she tried to take
possession.
It was thus he gauged her confidence, and seeing she scarcely noticed
the weapon, argued that powerful assistance must be near at hand to
render this brave woman so arbitrary and so unconcerned.
His admiration burst out in spite of his discomfiture and critical
position――
“Well, you’re a cool one!” he exclaimed, in accents of mingled
vexation and approval. “A cool one and a stunner――I’m blest if you
aint!”
“I am not afraid of you, Charles Peace,” she returned――“why should I
be? You are now in my power.”
“Are you, then, mistress of this establishment?” inquired our hero.
“I am, and have been so for some years. What more do you desire to
know?”
Peace seemed all of a sudden to be under a spell, and while he
acknowledged its strength had no power――nay, had no wish to resist its
influence. What had come over him?
He felt almost pleased to know he was at her mercy, and yet she
treated him like the dirt under her feet.
“The mistress of this princely establishment――why, Bessie?”
“Don’t call me Bessie, if you please, sir. It is my husband and my
intimates who have the privilege of addressing me by my Christian
name.”
“Well, I’m knocked silly,” exclaimed our hero. “I’m sure I beg your
pardon.”
“That is the very least you ought to do. You must understand most
clearly that I cannot permit you to rob this establishment. Return my
jewellery at once, if you please.”
“I did not know it was yours, or I should not have taken it.”
“Much obliged to you for your consideration,” said the lady.
“But I say,” observed Peace, in a wheedling tone, “don’t be so grand
and distant. We’ve not met for years, and at one time you knew well
enough that I doated on you.”
“Don’t talk like that,” she cried, holding up her hand in a
deprecating manner. “We have not met for years. I only wish we had not
done so to-night, because it only causes me pain and sorrow.”
“Oh, I dare say it does, but I’m knocked over. Hang it all, do tell me
something about your past life――I mean that portion of it since you
left Bradford, when you were――――”
“Cease, sir. If you do not behave yourself in an orderly and
respectful manner I solemnly declare that I will show you no mercy,
but will hand you over to the officers of the law without pity or
remorse.”
“I do not desire to say anything that may offend you――indeed I do
not.”
“My husband would never forgive me if he knew I held parley with a
burglar and a convicted criminal.”
Peace hung down his head.
“Your husband!” he ejaculated. “Then you are married?”
“Of course I am, to as good and kind a husband as ever woman could
wish to have. He’s very rich, of a good family, and has not a blemish
on his escutcheon.”
“I’m knocked silly. There’s no mistake about it――you might double me
up with the blow of a mere straw. This beats all. I’ve heard of
sorcery, and I’m blowed if there must not be something of the sort
here.”
“Before you proceed with your agreeable discourse,” said the lady,
“you had better put every one of my trinkets in its place.”
Peace at once proceeded to replace the jewels in the case. The other
articles he had possessed himself of were also rendered up to their
owner without hesitation.
“There, will that satisfy you? It is not at all likely that I should
attempt to rob you. I have returned everything.”
“That is well, and now――――” she hesitated.
“Well you have thrown down the ladder, but I can get clear off.”
“Do so then at once.”
“Ah, but you must tell me how all this has been brought about. I
promise never to molest you again――never to trouble you, but how, in
the name of all that’s wonderful, have you managed to become a lady of
fashion, for such I presume you are?”
“Your surmise is a correct one.”
“How has it been done? That’s what I want to know.”
“By moving in good society in the first place, and in the next
becoming the wife of an honourable and wealthy gentleman.”
“Good society――how was that managed?”
“Easily enough. We had a good introduction.”
“We. Who do you allude to besides yourself?”
“Mrs. Bristow, to be sure.”
“What! John Bristow’s wife?”
“Certainly――none other. She came into a fortune.”
“Oh, came into a fortune, did she? I see, that accounts for it in some
measure. And what has become of her?”
“She is all right.”
“And has she got a worthy and honourable gentleman for a husband?”
“She has.”
“And now before I go――we shan’t see each other again, I expect, not
this side of the grave――do answer one or two other questions. How did
John’s wife become possessed of a fortune? Did she inherit it?”
“I suppose so.”
“But all her relatives were poor――so I always understood.”
“Most of them were, but that’s not to the purpose. Mrs. Bristow, as I
have already intimated, had enough to support an establishment at the
west end of the town. She did not like living by herself, and I became
her companion. Is your curiosity now satisfied?”
“Yes. Where is she now?”
“Who?”
“Mrs. Bristow.”
“I do not deem it expedient to answer that query, for I am perfectly
satisfied that she has no desire to see you. Oh, Charles Peace, let me
beg and entreat of you to alter your course of life. What will be your
end if you don’t――think of that? Have you no thought of the future?”
“Have you ever had any thought about me?” cried Peace.
“Certainly I have. I sent a remittance to you to be handed to you at
the expiration of your term of imprisonment.”
“Did you send that?”
“Yes, and would most gladly, most cheerfully, assist you if you would
become a respectable member of the community.”
“Oh, gammon and all, I’ve tried the respectable dodge, but didn’t find
it pay.”
“I’ll say no more. Go your way. You will never be wise or discreet, I
suppose. Are you in want of money at the present time?” she said,
drawing out her purse, and opening it. “Because if you are――――”
“If I am I should not accept anything from you,” he cried, with some
asperity. “Put back your money and keep it to serve a better purpose.
I can be as proud as you when I choose.”
“Enough, sir, we will say no more upon the subject, then.”
“This appears to me to be more like a dream than an actual reality.
You mistress of this grand establishment, assuming all the airs and
graces of a lady of fashion. Confound it all, I am knocked completely
silly――there’s no mistake about it, I’m dead beat. You Bessie Dalton!”
“I am not Bessie Dalton, Mr. Peace, and I must request you to be more
guarded in your observations. A wide gulph now separates us――a gulph
which nothing can bridge over. Go your ways, and leave me for evermore
unmolested.”
“I am done, there’s no denying that――a gone coon, but after all I see
no reason for regret, none whatever. I am pleased to think that you
have been so fortunate, madam――that the sun of prosperity shines upon
you,” said Peace, with something like sarcasm in his tone. “We are
separated, and a wide gulph, as you very properly observe, lies
between us, but for old acquaintance sake――――”
“For old acquaintance sake I would do anything that lies in my power
to serve you,” said she――“anything to turn you from your evil
courses,” she added, after a pause.
“Rubbish! Don’t preach morality to me,” cried the burglar, “because I
aint in a mood to listen to it――certainly not from you――or from anyone
else, for the matter of that.”
“As you please. I do not desire to hold further parley with you; and
now――――”
“Well, what?”
“I must devise some means of getting you away without attracting the
notice of any of the servants.”
“You devise? I’ll act for myself,” cried Peace. “There will not be
much difficulty in the matter.”
He made towards the window, threw it open, and passed through. He hung
for a moment by his hands from the window sill, and then dropped on
the gravel walk below.
Bessie Dalton, or, more properly speaking, Mrs. Metcalf, looked out in
some alarm, for she feared the burglar’s daring escape would be
attended with serious consequences.
In this, however, she was mistaken. She observed Charles Peace safe
and sound in the grounds at the rear of the house.
He did not speak, but waved an adieu with his hand, and in another
minute was lost to sight.
All this had taken place in a much shorter time than we have taken in
describing it. Mrs. Metcalf closed the window, fastened it, and then
stood irresolute for some little time.
She was aroused from her reverie by the entrance of her maid, Ethel.
“Goodness me, ma’am, how pale and troubled you look,” cried the girl.
“Whatever is the matter?”
“What has kept you all this time?” said her mistress, in a tone of
anger. “I’ve been waiting anxiously for your return, you giddy,
thoughtless girl.”
“If you please, ma’am, it aint my fault. As I was coming home, Mrs.
Fowler’s servant stopped me, and said her mistress was so ill that she
was going for the doctor.”
“Well, what has that to do with the matter?”
“I just looked in, and saw Mrs. Fowler, who would not let me go till
Ann came back.”
“You had no right to look in there. You could be of no use in such a
case, besides you know perfectly well that you were keeping me
waiting. I want to retire to rest. A pretty time of night truly for
you to be gallivanting about――you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
The girl had not confined herself strictly to the truth. Female
domestics who hold midnight audiences with life guardsmen seldom do;
but part of her story was correct enough.
She had called at Mrs. Fowler’s house and seen that lady, but she did
not remain with her for more than five minutes at the outside.
Ethel, who was a cunning little puss, sought to change the subject,
and an admirable opportunity occurred for her doing so.
She caught sight of the shattered jewel-box, and immediately uttered a
faint scream.
“Oh, missis, something’s amiss. What has happened?”
“A burglar has entered the house,” returned her mistress, “and I might
have been robbed and murdered.”
“A burglar!” cried the girl. “Oh, mercy upon us, and what has become
of him?”
“He has made his escape. I caught him in the act of abstracting the
jewels from the case, and at the sight of me he sprang through the
window and made off. I have reason to be thankful that no worse has
happened.”
“Well, I never heard of such audacity!” exclaimed Ethel. “The daring
scoundrel!”
“That will do. I don’t require any further remarks. I am weary, and
shall be glad to seek repose. When you are ready I am.”
“Oh, dear me, ma’am, of course I am at your service now. Dear me, my
heart’s in my mouth, and I come all over with a cold shiver. A
burglar! I never heard of such audacity. I am so sorry, ma’am.”
“Hold your tongue, do,” said Mrs. Metcalf. “I will go to bed at once,
if you please.”