LE CONSEIL DE FAMILLE
'Checkley,' said Mr. Dering on Monday morning, 'here is a note from Miss
Elsie Arundel. She makes an appointment with me at four o'clock this
afternoon. Keep me free for that hour. Her brother Athelstan is coming
with her.--What's the matter, man?'
'It's coming, then. I knew it would come,' Checkley groaned. 'It's all
over at last.'
'What is all over?'
'Everything. But don't you believe it. Tell 'em it's a lie made up to
screen themselves. They can't prove it. Nobody can prove it. I'll back
you up. Only don't you believe it. Mind--it is a lie--a made-up lie.'
'I don't know what has been the matter with you for the last day or two,
Checkley. What am I not to believe? What is a lie? Who is making up a
lie which cannot be proved?'
'Oh! I can't say the word--I can't. It's all over at last--at last.' He
ran out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
* * * * *
'My dear mother'--Hilda drove to Pembridge Square directly after
breakfast--'I have had a most curious letter from Elsie. What does it
mean? She orders--she does not invite--she positively orders--Sir
Samuel--actually orders Sir Samuel!--and myself to attend at Mr.
Dering's office at four. We are ordered to assist, she says, at the
demolition of the structure we have so carefully erected.--What
structure? What does she mean? Here is the letter.'
'I too, dear, have had a letter from her. She says that at four o'clock
this afternoon all the wrongful and injurious suspicions will be cleared
away, and that if I value the affection of my son and herself--the
affection of herself--I must be present.--Hilda, what does this mean? I
am very much troubled about the letter. On Saturday, she came here and
informed me that the wedding would be held on Wednesday just as if
nothing had happened; and she foretold that we should all be present,
and that Athelstan would give her away--Athelstan. It is a very
disquieting letter, because, my dear, do you think we could all of
us--could we possibly be wrong, have been wrong from the very
beginning--in Athelstan's case? Could Sir Samuel be wrong in George's
case?'
'My dear mother, it is impossible. The case, unhappily, is too clear to
admit of any doubt. Sir Samuel, with his long experience, could not be
wrong.'
'Then, Hilda dear, what can Elsie mean?'
'We have been talking about it all through breakfast. The only
conclusion we can come to is, that there is going to be a smothering up
of the whole business. Mr. Dering, who has been terribly put out with
the case, must have consented to smother up the matter. We think that
the papers have been returned with the money received on dividends and
coupons; and that Mr. Dering has agreed to take no further proceedings.
Now, if he would do that, Athelstan of course would come under a kind of
Act of Indemnity; and as the notes were never used by him, but were
returned to their owner, it becomes as easy to recognise his innocence
as that of the other man.--Do you see?'
'Yes. But that will not make them innocent.'
'Certainly not. But it makes all the difference in the world. Oh! there
are families everywhere who have had to smother up things in order to
escape a scandal. Well, I hope you will agree with us, and accept the
invitation.'
'I suppose I must.--But how about removing all the suspicions?'
'Oh! that is only Elsie's enthusiastic way. She will go on, if she
likes, believing that George had nothing to do with it. He will have
every inducement to live honestly for the future. We can easily pretend
to believe that Athelstan was always innocent, and we can persuade
him--at least I hope we can persuade him--to go abroad. Sir Samuel
kindly says that he will advance a hundred pounds in order to get rid of
him. Then there will be no scandal, and everybody will be satisfied. As
for our relations with Elsie and her husband, we can arrange them
afterwards. Perhaps they will agree to live in a distant suburb--say
Redhill, or Chislehurst, or Walthamstow--so that there may be a good
excuse for never having them to the house. Because--smothering or no
smothering--I can no longer have the same feelings towards Elsie as
before. Her obstinate infatuation for that man exasperates me only to
think of it. Nor have I the least intention of being on intimate
relations with a forger who has only just escaped being a convict. Sir
Samuel entirely agrees with me.'
The mother sighed. 'I could have wished that we were mistaken. Perhaps,
after all, there may be something that Elsie has found out, some
unexpected----'
'Say a miracle at once, my dear mother. It is just as likely to happen.'
* * * * *
The first to arrive at the office in the afternoon was Elsie herself,
carrying a handbag.
'You were going to bring your brother, Elsie,' said Mr. Dering. 'Where
is he? And what is your important business with me? I suppose it is
something about this wretched forgery, which really seems destined to
finish me off. I have heard of nothing else--I think of nothing
else--ever since it happened.'
'First, has anything new been discovered?'
'I hardly know,' Mr. Dering replied wearily. 'They seem to have found
the man Edmund Gray; but Checkley has suddenly cooled. Formerly, he
clamoured perpetually that we must lose no time in getting a warrant for
his arrest; he now wants to put it off and put it off. He was going on
very strangely this morning. My dear, I sometimes think that my old
clerk is off his head.'
'And you yourself--have you had any return of your forgetfulness?'
'Worse--worse.--Every day, worse. I now know when to look for a return
of these fits. Every morning I ask myself what I did the day before.
Always there are the same hours of forgetfulness--the morning and the
evening. Last night, where was I? Perhaps somebody will find out for
me--for I cannot remember.'
'Shall I find out for you, Mr. Dering? If I were to tell you where you
spent the evening yesterday, would you--would you?----'
'What? How can you find out?'
Elsie bent her head. The moment had almost arrived, and she was afraid.
She had come with the intention of clearing her brother and her lover at
the cost of letting her guardian know that he was insane. A dreadful
price to pay for their honour. But it had to be paid. And it must be
done in the sight of all, so that there should be no possible margin
left for malignity or suspicion.
'This business,' she said, 'concerns the honour of the two men who are
dearer to me than all the world beside. Remember that--nothing short of
that would make me do what I have been doing--what I am now doing. Their
honour--oh! their honour. Think what it means to them. Self-respect,
dignity, everything: the happiness of their homes: the pride of their
children. Compared with one man's honour, what matters another man's
humiliation? What matters the loss of that man's self-respect? What
matters his loss of dignity? Their honour, Mr. Dering, think of
that--their honour!'
He bowed his head gravely, wondering what was to follow.
'A man's honour, as you say, Elsie, is the greatest thing in the world
to him. Compared with that, another man's self-respect need not, I
should say, as a general principle, be considered at all. Self-respect
may be regained unless honour is lost.'
'Remember that, then, Mr. Dering, when you hear what I have to say.
Promise me to remember that. Oh! if there were a thousand reasons,
formerly, why I would not pain you by a single word, there are ten
thousand now--although you understand them not.'
'Why, Elsie, you are troubling your little head about trifles. You will
not offend me whatever you say.'
'It is so important a thing,' she went on, 'that I have asked my mother
and sister and Sir Samuel to meet us here at four o'clock, in order that
they, too, may hear as well as you. Athelstan is with George. They have
one or two persons to introduce to you.'
'All this seems to promise a meeting of some interest, and so far as one
may judge from the preamble, of more than common importance. Well,
Elsie, I am quite in your hands. If you and your brother between you
will kindly produce the forger and give me back my property, I shall be
truly grateful.'
'You shall see, Mr. Dering. But as for the gratitude----Oh! here is Sir
Samuel.'
The City knight appeared, large and important. He shook hands with Elsie
and his brother, and took up his position on the hearth-rug, behind his
brother's chair. 'Well, Elsie,' he said, 'we are to hear something very
important indeed, if one may judge by the tone of your letter, which was
imperative.'
'Very important indeed, Sir Samuel.'
The next to arrive were Mrs. Arundel and Hilda. They wore thick veils,
and Hilda was dressed in a kind of half-mourning. They took chairs at
the open window, between the historic safe and the equally historic
small table. Lastly, George and Athelstan walked in. They received no
greetings.
Mr. Dering rose. 'Athelstan,' he said, 'it is eight years since you left
us.' He held out his hand.
'Presently, Mr. Dering,' said Athelstan. He looked round the room. His
mother trembled, dropped her head, and put her handkerchief to her eyes,
but said nothing. His sister looked out of window. Sir Samuel took no
notice of him at all. Athelstan took a chair--the clients' chair--and
placed it so as to have his mother and sister at the side. He was not
therefore compelled to look at them across the table. He sat down, and
remained in silence and motionless.
The Court was now complete. Mr. Dering sat in his chair before his
table, expectant, judicial. Sir Samuel stood behind him. Mrs. Arundel
and Hilda, the two ladies, sat at the open window. Elsie stood opposite
to Mr. Dering, on the other side of the table, her handbag before her.
She looked like Counsel about to open the case for plaintiff.
Athelstan--or plaintiff--naturally occupied the clients' chair on Mr.
Dering's left; and George, as naturally--the other plaintiff--stood
behind him.
'Now, Elsie, if you please,' Mr. Dering began.
'I shall want your clerk, Checkley, to be present, if you please.'
Mr. Dering touched his bell. The clerk appeared. He stood before them
like a criminal, pale and trembling. He looked at his master
appealingly. His hands hung beside him. Yet not a word of accusation had
been brought against him.
'Lord! Man alive!' cried Sir Samuel, 'what on earth has come over you?'
Checkley shook his head sadly, but made no reply.
'I want to ask you a question or two, Checkley,' said Elsie, quietly.
'You have told Mr. Dering--you have told Sir Samuel--that you saw my
brother furtively put a parcel--presumably the stolen notes--into the
safe at the very moment when you were charging him with forgery. Now,
consider. That was a very serious thing to say. It was a direct
statement of fact. Before, the charge rested on suspicion alone; but
this is fact. Consider carefully. You may have been mistaken. Any of us
may make a mistake.'
'It was true--Gospel truth--I see him place a parcel--along sideways--in
the safe. The parcel we found afterwards in the safe containing all the
notes.' The words were confident; but the manner was halting.
'Very well. Next, you told Sir Samuel that my brother had been living in
some low suburb of London with profligate companions, and that he had
been even going about in rags and tatters.'
'Yes, I did. I told Sir Samuel what I heard. Mr. Carstone told me. You'd
better ask him. I only told what I heard.'
George went out, and returned, bringing with him Mr. Freddy Carstone. He
looked round the room and stared with surprise at Mr. Dering, but said
nothing. He had been warned to say nothing, except in answer to
questions.
'Now, Mr. Carstone,' Elsie asked him, 'how long is it since you met my
brother after his return to England?'
'About three weeks ago I met him. It was in Holborn. I invited him into
the _Salutation_ Tavern.'
'Did you tell Mr. Checkley here anything about his way of living?'
'I remember saying, foolishly, that he looked too respectable to have
come from America; and I said in joke that I believed he had been in
Camberwell all the time.'
'Nothing about profligacy?'
'Nothing at all.'
'Nothing about rags and tatters?'
'Certainly not. In fact, I knew nothing at all about Athelstan's life
during the eight years that he has been away.'
'Have you anything to say, Checkley? You still stick to the parcel
story, do you? Very well, and to the Camberwell and profligacy story?'
Checkley made no answer.
'Now, then. There is another question. You made a great point about
certain imitations of Mr. Dering's writing found in a drawer of
Athelstan's table?'
'Well, they were there, in your brother's hand.'
'George, you have something to say on this point.'
'Only this. I was not long articled at that time. The table was taken
from the room in which I sat, and placed here for some special work.
Now, the imitations of Mr. Dering's handwriting were made by myself and
another clerk in joke. I remember them perfectly. They were written at
the back of a letter addressed to me.'
Mr. Dering went to the safe and produced the bundle containing all the
papers in the case. He unrolled the bundle and placed the contents on
the table.
Everybody was now serious. Lady Dering looked out of the window no
longer. Mrs. Arundel had drawn her chair to the table.
Elsie picked out the paper containing the imitations. 'Tell me,' she
said, 'if you remember--mind--everybody--this bundle of papers has never
been shown to George--tell me the name of your correspondent?'
'It was Leonard Henryson.'
She gave the paper to Mr. Dering. 'You see,' she said.
The lawyer gave it to his brother, who passed it on to his wife, who
gave it to her mother. Mrs. Arundel laid it on the table and raised her
veil.
'The next point,' said Elsie, 'is about Athelstan's whereabouts during
the last eight years. One letter was received by you, Mr. Dering, four
years ago. You have already shown it to me. Will you let me read this
letter aloud for all to hear?' It was in the bundle with the stopped
notes. He bowed assent--and she read it.
'Twelve thousand pounds!' cried Sir Samuel--'twelve thousand pounds! All
he had! Good Heavens?'
'All he had in the world,' said Elsie. 'And all for a child who refused
to believe that her brother could be a villain! All he had in the
world?' Her eyes filled with tears--but she dashed them aside and went
on.
'He was in the States four years ago. That, I suppose, will no longer be
denied. The next question is--when did he return to this country?'
George left the room again, and returned with a young gentleman.
'This gentleman,' Elsie continued, 'comes from Messrs. Chenery & Sons,
bankers, of New York and London. He has brought a letter with him. Will
you kindly let me see it, sir?--It is,' she explained, 'a letter of
credit brought over by my brother from California. You see the
date--June 20th of this year.'
Mr. Dering read it, and gave it to his brother, who gave it to his wife,
as before.
'It says that Mr. Athelstan Arundel, one of the staff of a certain
Californian paper, will leave New York on June the 21st by the
_Shannon_, and that he is authorised to draw on Messrs. Chenery & Sons
for so much.--Thank you.' The young gentleman retired.
'Now, Mr. Dering, are you satisfied that Athelstan was in America four
years ago--that he left America two months ago, and that he was then on
the staff of a Californian paper?'
'There seems no reason to doubt these facts.--But'--he put his
forefinger on the cheque payable to the order of Edmund Gray--'are we
any nearer to the forger of this cheque?'
'I am coming to that presently. I am going to show you all, so that
there shall be no doubt whatever, who is the forger--the one hand--in
the business. Wait a little.'
Strangely enough, every eye fell upon Checkley, who now trembled and
shook with every sign of terror.
'Sit down, Checkley,' said his master.--'Elsie, do we want this
gentleman any longer? His name I have not the pleasure of knowing.'
'Oh! come,' said Mr. Carstone, who was nearest. 'You know my name,
surely.'
George warned him with a look, and he subsided into silence.
'I think I shall want you, Mr. Carstone,' Elsie replied, 'if you will
kindly take a chair and wait.--Now, Sir Samuel, I think I am right in
saying that your belief in the guilt of George rested entirely on the
supposed complicity of Athelstan. That gone, what becomes of your
charge? Also, there is no doubt, I believe, that one hand, and one hand
alone, has committed the whole long list of letters and forgeries. If,
therefore, Athelstan could not execute the second business, how could he
do the first? But I have more than arguments for you.'
Sir Samuel coughed. Mrs. Arundel sighed.
'As regards the charge against George, apart from his supposed intimacy
with an imaginary criminal, the only suspicious thing is that he may
have had access to the open safe. Well, Checkley also may have had
access.--Don't be afraid, Checkley--we are not going to charge you with
the thing at all. You are not the forger. In fact, there was a third
person who had access to the safe.'
She opened her handbag and took out a packet of papers.
Then she sat down, with these in her hand, and leaning over the table,
she looked straight and full into Mr. Dering's eyes, and began to talk
slowly in a low and murmuring voice. And now, indeed, everybody
understood that something very serious indeed was going to be said and
done. At the last moment a way had occurred to Elsie. She would let them
all see for themselves what had happened, and she would spare her
guardian the bitter shame and pain of being exposed in the presence of
all this company.
'Mr. Dering,' she began, 'you have strangely forgotten that you know Mr.
Edmund Gray. How could you come to forget that? Why, it is ten years at
least since you made his acquaintance. He knows you very well. He does
not pretend to have forgotten you. You are his solicitor. You have the
management of his property--his large private fortune--in your hands.
You are his most intimate friend. It is not well to forget old friends,
is it? You must not say that you forget Edmund Gray.'
Mr. Dering changed colour. His eyes expressed bewilderment. He made no
reply.
'You know that Edmund Gray leaves this room every evening on his way to
Gray's Inn: you remember that. And that he comes here every morning, but
not till eleven or twelve--two hours after the time that you yourself
used to come. His head is always so full of his thoughts and his
teaching, that he forgets the time between twelve and four, just as you
forget the evening and the morning. You are both so much absorbed that
you cannot remember each other.'
Mr. Dering sat upright, the tips of his fingers touching. He listened at
first gravely--though anxiously. Presently a remarkable change passed
over his face; he became full of anxiety. He listened as if he was
trying to remember; as if he was trying to understand.
'Edmund Gray,' he said, speaking slowly. 'Yes, I remember my client
Edmund Gray. I have a letter to write for him. What is it? Excuse me a
moment; I must write that note for him.' He took pen and paper and
hastily wrote a note, which Elsie took from him, read, and gave to Sir
Samuel.
'You want to tell the banker that Mr. Edmund Gray has returned you the
transfers.--Yes.--Thank you. I thought you could not forget that client,
of all others.'
He leaned back smiling--his expression no longer anxious, but pleased
and happy. The change transformed him. He was not Mr. Dering, but
another.
'Go on, child.'
'The rooms of Gray's Inn are quiet all day long. It is a peaceful place
for study, is it not? You sit there, your books before you, the world
forgotten.'
'Quite forgotten,' said Mr. Dering.
'No--no,' cried Checkley, springing to his feet. 'I won't have it done.
I----'
'Sit down.' George pushed him back into his chair. 'Another word, and
you leave the room.'
'It is a peaceful day,' Elsie continued, 'that you pass--for the most
part alone--you with your books. Sometimes you come here to call upon
your old friend and solicitor, Mr. Dering.'
'Sometimes,' he replied. 'We are very old friends. Though his views are
narrow.--Where is he?' He looked about the room. 'You are all waiting to
see him? He will be here directly. He is always here about this time.'
'Yes, directly. You remember what I said to you on Sunday concerning
certain transactions? I told you how important it was to have the exact
truth about them.'
'Certainly. I remember. I wrote an account of them for you.'
'You did. Are these papers what you wrote?'
He looked at them for a moment. 'These are my papers,' he said. 'They
are what I wrote at your request. They contain a perfectly true account
of what happened.'
'Now, before I go on, you will not mind--these people here do not know
Mr. Edmund Gray--you will not mind my asking a few persons to testify
that you are really Mr. Edmund Gray?'
'My dear child, ask all the world if you wish; though I do not
understand why my identity should be doubted.'
'Not quite all the world.--Mr. Carstone, will you tell us the name of
this gentleman?'
'He is Mr. Edmund Gray, my neighbour at No. 22 South Square, Gray's
Inn.'
Mr. Edmund Gray inclined his head and smiled.
George went outside and returned, followed by a small company, who, in
answer to Elsie, stepped forward one after the other and made answer.
Said one: 'I am the landlord of the rooms at 22 South Square tenanted by
Mr. Edmund Gray. He has held the rooms for ten years. This gentleman is
Mr. Edmund Gray, my tenant.'
Said another: 'I am a barrister, and the tenant of the rooms above those
held by Mr. Edmund Gray. I have known him--more or less--for ten years.
This gentleman is Mr. Edmund Gray.'
Said a third: 'I am a commissionaire. I remember this gentleman very
well, though it is eight years since he employed me, and only for one
job then. I went from an hotel in Arundel Street, Strand, to a bank with
a cheque which I was to cash for him in ten-pound notes. He gave me half
a sovereign.'
'Quite so,' said Mr. Edmund Gray. 'I remember you, too. It was a cheque
for seven hundred and twenty pounds, the particulars of which you have
in my statement, Elsie. I well remember this one-armed commissionaire.'
And a fourth: 'I am the laundress who does for Mr. Edmund Gray. I have
done for him for ten years. This gentleman is Mr. Edmund Gray.'
And a fifth: 'I am a news-agent, and I have a shop at the entrance of
Gray's Inn. This gentleman is Mr. Edmund Gray, of 22 South Square. I
have known him in the Inn for ten years.'
To each in turn Mr. Dering nodded with a kindly smile.
'Athelstan,' said Elsie, 'will you tell us when and where you have met
Mr. Edmund Gray?'
'I met him last week in Carstone's rooms on the same landing. He sat
with us for an hour or more.'
'It is quite true,' said Mr. Dering. 'I have had the pleasure of meeting
Mr. Arundel on that occasion.'
'I also saw him,' Athelstan continued, 'at a small Lecture Hall at
Kentish Town on Sunday evening--yesterday.'
'To complete the evidence,' said Elsie, 'I have myself spent many hours
almost daily with Mr. Edmund Gray during the last fortnight or so.--Is
not that true, dear Master?'
'Quite true, my Scholar.'
'Brother--brother'--Sir Samuel touched his arm--'I implore you--rouse
yourself. Shake off this fancy.'
'Let him alone, Sir Samuel,' said George--'let him alone. We have not
done with him yet.'
'Yes,' cried Mrs. Arundel, who had now left her seat and was leaning
over the table, following what was said with breathless interest--'let
us finish out this comedy or tragedy--as the case may be. Let no one
interrupt.'
'I have also met you, sir'--Mr. Dering addressed Checkley, who only
groaned and shook. 'It was outside a tavern. You took me in and offered
me a drink.'
Checkley shook his head, either in sadness or in denial--but replied
not, and at the thought of offering Mr. Dering a drink, everybody
laughed, which was a relief.
'Dear Master,' Elsie went on in her soft voice, 'I am so glad that you
remember all these things. It makes one's task so much easier. Why, your
memory is as strong as ever, in spite of all your work.--Now, I am going
to read the two statements you wrote down yesterday afternoon. Then you
may recall anything else you might like to add. Remember, that as
regards this first affair, the cheque for seven hundred and twenty
pounds, my brother was charged, on suspicion only, with having forged
it. Now listen.' She read the brief statement which you have already
seen concerning the business of the first cheque. 'That is your history
of the affair.'
'Quite so. Dering drew the cheque at my request. I cashed it. I found
that I had no need of the notes, and I returned them. That is very
simple.'
'It is all so simple that nobody ever guessed it before.--Now we come to
the transfers made in the spring of the present year. You wrote a second
statement regarding them. I will read that as well. Please listen very
carefully.'
She read the other statement, which you have also seen already. She read
it very slowly, so that there should be no mistake possible. During the
reading of these documents Sir Samuel's face expressed every possible
shade of surprise. Mrs. Arundel, leaning over the table, followed every
line. Hilda wept--her head gracefully inclined over her
pocket-handkerchief, as if it was an urn.
'This is your account of the business?'
'Certainly. There is nothing more to be added. It is a plain statement
of the facts. I do not understand how they could be in any way doubted
or misrepresented.'
'Would you, Sir Samuel, like to ask Mr. Edmund Gray any question?'
'I don't understand. He says that Mr. Dering wrote a letter for him.'
Elsie showed him the letter they had seen Mr. Dering write, which he was
passing from one to the other.
'Where are the transfers?' Sir Samuel went on. 'He says they were placed
by himself in the safe.'
Mr. Edmund Gray rose and walked to the safe. He laid his hands upon a
packet and took it out. 'These are the papers,' he said.
Sir Samuel opened the roll and looked them over. 'They seem all right,'
he said. 'This is very wonderful.'
'Wonderful--and sad--most lamentable,' whispered Lady Dering.
'Wonderful, indeed!' Mrs. Arundel echoed. 'Most wonderful! most
unexpected!'
'A moment more, and I have done.' Elsie again took up the tale. 'Here is
a cheque to the order of Mr. Dering signed by Mr. Edmund Gray for the
whole of the money lying in his name at the Bank.--You agree, Master,
that it is best for the future that all your affairs should be in the
hands of your solicitor?'
'I quite agree.'
'Here is a letter to the manager of the Bank, requesting him to pay over
Edmund Gray's dividends to the account of Mr. Dering.--And now I think I
have proved my case. Here in the safe were the ten-pound notes received
by Mr. Edmund Gray, and placed there by him. Here were the transfers and
certificates placed there by him: you have heard half-a-dozen people
testify to the fact that you have Edmund Gray before you. His statement
of the business has been read to you. It shows, what no other theory of
the case could show, how the thing was really done. Lastly, it shows the
absolute and complete innocence of my brother and of George.--Have you
anything more to say, Sir Samuel?'
'Nothing--except that I was misled by a statement concerning a
profligate life among low companions, without which no suspicion could
have fallen upon either of you gentlemen. It was'--he pointed to the
unhappy Checkley-'a vile and malignant falsehood. Do you hear, sir? Vile
and malignant. It only remains for us all to make such reparation as we
may--nothing would suffice, I know, but such reparation as we can--by
the expression of the shame and regret that we all feel.'
'Athelstan,' said his mother, 'what can I say? Oh! what can I say?'
Athelstan rose--during the long business he had sat motionless in the
clients' chair, his head in his hand. Now he rose and stepped over to
his mother. 'Hush!' he said. 'Not a word. It is all forgotten--all
forgiven.'
But Hilda sank upon her knees and caught his hands.
'George,' said Sir Samuel, 'forgive me. The case looked black against
you at one time. It did indeed. Forgive me.' He held out his hand.
Then there was great hand-shaking, embracing, and many tears. As for
Checkley, he crept out and vanished in the retreat of his own room. 'It
is all over,' he murmured--'all over. I've lost four hundred pounds a
year. That's gone. All over--all over!'
Mr. Edmund Gray looked on this happy scene of family reconciliation with
benevolence and smiles.
Family reconciliations must not be prolonged; you cannot sit over a
family reconciliation as over a bottle of port. It must be quickly
despatched. Sir Samuel whispered to Hilda that they had better go.
'Come,' said Lady Dering. 'We will all meet again this evening at
Pembridge Square--and to-morrow evening--and on Wednesday
afternoon.--Elsie, you are a witch and a sorceress and a wise woman. You
said that Athelstan should give you away, and he will.--Brother, come
with us. Leave Elsie to George.--Oh! how handsome you are looking, my
poor ill-used brother. Try to forgive us if you can.'
She turned to Mr. Edmund Gray. 'Sir,' she said, 'we ought to be very
grateful to you--indeed, we are--for enabling us to clear away the
odious cloud of suspicion which had rolled over our heads. It was very
good of you to draw out those statements for my sister. But I do think
that if Mr. Dering had told his old friends about you--about Mr. Edmund
Gray--we should have been spared a great deal of trouble and unnecessary
shame.--Good-day, sir.'
Sir Samuel lingered a moment. He looked as if he would appeal to Mr.
Edmund Gray as to a brother. 'Don't speak to him,' Elsie whispered. 'Let
him alone. He will become himself again presently. Let him alone.'
So he went out, and the door was shut, and Edmund Gray was left alone
with George and the Scholar.
'My Master'--Elsie sat down beside him--'I fear you have been
interrupted. But indeed it was necessary. Don't ask why. Things get into
a muddle sometimes, don't they? You have gathered something of the
trouble, too. Now that is all over--past and gone.'
'I am glad for your sake, child.'
'Master--dear Master--I have a confession to make. When I found out who
you were--I mean what manner of man you were--my only thought at first
was to coax you and wheedle you and flatter you till you gave me exactly
the information that I wanted. I confess it. That was my only purpose.
Nay--more--for the sake of my lover and my brother I would do it again.
Well--I found that the only way to win your confidence was to pretend to
be your Scholar and to believe all you taught. So I pretended. So I won
your confidence. So I obtained all I wanted. So I have made it
impossible for even the most malignant creature in the world to pretend
that these two men had anything to do with what they called a forgery.
But--believe me, dear Master--while I pretended, I was punished, because
my pretence is turned to certainty.'
'Child, I knew it. You could not pretend--no woman could pretend so as
to deceive me on a point so simple.'
'Dear Master, you do not know the possibilities of feminine craft. But I
pretend no more. Oh! I care not how you make your attempt, whether you
destroy Property or not. Mr. Dering says that Property is
Civilisation--but I don't care. To me it is enough to dream--to
know--that there is an Earthly Paradise possible, if only men will
think so and will keep it before their eyes, though it be as far off as
the blue hills. It is beautiful only to think of it; the soul is lifted
up only to think that there is such a place. Keep the eyes of your
people on this glorious place, dear Master: make it impossible for
them to forget it or to let it go out of their sight. Then,
half-unconsciously, they will be running, dragging each other, forcing
each other--exhorting each other to hurry along the dusty road which
leads to that Earthly Paradise with its Four-square City of the Jasper
wall. Preach about it, Master. Write about it. Make all men talk about
it and think about it.'
She threw her arms round his neck and kissed him.
'Master, we shall be away for a month or two. Then we shall come back,
and I shall sit at your feet again. You shall come and stay with us. We
will give you love, and you shall give us hope. I have made my
confession. Forgive me.'
They left him sitting alone. Presently he arose, put all the papers back
in the safe, and walked slowly away--to Gray's Inn.
Next morning when he opened his letters he found one marked 'Private.'
It was from Sir Samuel.
'DEAR EDWARD,' it said--'We are all very glad to tell you
that the business of the shares and certificates is now
completely cleared up. Checkley is not in any way concerned
in it--nor is George Austin. And I am happy to say there is
a complete solution of the former mystery which entirely
clears Hilda's brother. Under these circumstances, we are
agreed that it is best for you not to trouble yourself about
any further investigations. You will find in the safe the
transfers, a cheque to yourself of all the money received by
Edmund Gray, and an order in the Bank concerning the
dividends. You have been the victim of a very remarkable
hallucination. I need not explain further. Mr. Edmund Gray,
however, is undoubtedly insane. I hear, and have myself
observed, that you have been greatly disturbed and
distressed by these mysterious events. Now that they are
settled finally--I may say that only a happy chance set us
on the right track--we all hope that you will be satisfied
with our assurance, and that you will not trouble yourself
any more in the matter.--Your affectionate brother,
'SAMUEL DERING.'
Mr. Dering, after reading this letter, got up and looked in the safe,
where he found the papers referred to. He rang the bell. 'Checkley, who
has been at my safe?'
'Nobody but you.'
'Don't tell lies. Who put those papers in the safe?'
'They must have been put there yesterday--you were in the room.'
'Yesterday--what happened yesterday?'
Checkley was silent.
'Who was here yesterday?--Go on, Checkley. Don't be afraid.'
'Sir Samuel was here--and Lady Dering--and Mrs. Arundel--and Miss
Elsie--and your Partner--and Mr. Athelstan. Two or three more came in
and went away.'
'That will do. You need tell me no more. I don't want to know the
particulars.--Checkley, my day's work is done. I have thought so for
some time past. Now I am certain, I shall retire.'
'No--no,' cried Checkley, the tears running down his face. 'Not to
retire--after all these years--not to retire.'
'I know now the meaning of my fits of forgetfulness. I have feared and
suspected it for a long time. While I am lost to myself, I am going
about the world, doing I know not what. And I will not ask. I may be
this Edmund Gray who preaches Socialism and gives me his precious
tracts. I may be some one else. I say, Checkley, that I know now what
has happened to me. Deny it if you can--if you can, I say.'
Checkley did not offer any denial. He hung his head. 'This is the
meaning of Elsie's strange hints and queer protestations. Half my time I
am a madman--a madman.--Checkley, ask Mr. Austin to come to me at once.
My day is done.' He closed his open blotting-pad and placed the unopened
letters beside it. Then he rose and pushed back his chair--the chair in
which he had sat for fifty years and more. 'My day is done--my day is
done.'