SECESSION IN THE RANKS
When Ralph Mainwaring and Mr. Whitney arrived at the club they found
young Mainwaring already awaiting them at their private table, but
it was far from a social group which sat down to dinner that evening.
The elder Mainwaring still preserved an ominous silence, and in his
dark, glowering face few would have recognized the urbane guest whom
Hugh Mainwaring had introduced to his small coterie of friends less
than three months before. The younger man, though holding a
desultory conversation with the attorney, yet looked decidedly
bored, while from time to time he regarded his father with a cynical
expression entirely new to his hitherto ingenuous face. Mr. Whitney,
always keenly alert to his surroundings, became quickly conscious
of a sudden lack of harmony between father and son, and feeling
himself in rather a delicate position, carefully refrained in his
remarks from touching upon any but the most neutral ground.
A couple of hours later, as the three with a box of cigars were
gathered around an open fire in Ralph Mainwaring's apartments, it
was noticeable that young Mainwaring was unusually silent. In a
few moments, however, his father's long pent-up wrath burst forth.
Addressing the attorney in no very pleasant tone, he demanded, "Well,
sir, what do you now propose to do about this matter?"
"It is to be a fight, then, is it?" Mr. Whitney asked with a smile,
knocking the ashes from his cigar.
"Yes, by my soul, and a fight to the finish. Understand, I will
have no time lost. This farce has got to be quashed at once, and
the sooner the better, so you may enter protest and file an
application for hearing, or whatever your mode of procedure is in
this country, at the earliest possible moment. Meanwhile, I'll
secure the best legal talent that money can get to help you. I've
a longer purse than that old Australian sheep-herder thinks, and
when the time for contest comes, I'll meet him on his own ground."
"If you are going to employ additional counsel," interposed Mr.
Whitney, "allow me to suggest the name of P. B. Hunnewell, of this
city; he is one of the ablest attorneys in the United States,
particularly in matters of this kind. His fees are somewhat
exorbitant, but money is no object with you in this case."
"None whatever," the other interrupted, impatiently; "we will retain
this Hunnewell upon your recommendation, but in the morning I shall
cable for Upham & Blackwell, of London. They rank right in the
same line with Barton & Barton; they have conducted considerable
business for me, and I am satisfied," he added, with peculiar
emphasis, "they could not be tampered with or bought at any price.
I shall also cable for Graham, the expert on chirography and on all
kinds of forgeries, and we will have his decision upon that will.
I am going, first of all, understand, to have that document proven
a forgery. That done, the whole fabrication of this cunning impostor
falls to the ground, and then, when I have him completely floored
in that direction, he will find that I have only just begun with him."
"How is that?" questioned the attorney. "You surely do not intend
to dispute his identity after the unmistakable proofs submitted?"
"I care nothing about his identity," Mainwaring retorted, with a
sneer. "Whether he is the son of Harold Mainwaring or of Frederick
Scott, matters little; both were renegades and outcasts from their
homes. No, sir," and there was a ring of exultation in his tone,
while his steel-gray eyes glittered, "I have a surprise in store
for the young man; when he gets through with this contest, he will
find himself under arrest as the murderer of Hugh Mainwaring."
Young Mainwaring rose suddenly and began pacing the room, while
Mr. Whitney exclaimed,--
"Mr. Mainwaring, you astonish me! I certainly fail to see how you
can connect the young man with that terrible affair."
"What else could be expected of a man who acknowledges that for
years he has been dogging the steps of Hugh Mainwaring and acting
the part of a spy, not only in his private offices, but even in
his own home, stooping to any means, no matter how contemptible,
to further his nefarious designs? Would such a man, when his
schemes were finally matured, have any scruples about taking the
life of the one who stood in the way of their fulfilment?"
"But, sir," protested the attorney, "such a deed would be wholly
unnecessary. Admitting all that you have said regarding the means
employed by him, would it not be much more reasonable to suppose
that he would attempt to bring his man to terms either through a
personal interview or by bringing suit against him, rather than
by resorting to brutal crime?"
"And supposing he did have a personal interview for the purpose of
setting forth his claims, do you think that Hugh Mainwaring would
be bamboozled by any of his cheap trickery? No, sir, not for one
moment. He would simply pronounce the whole thing a sham. Well,
sir, if you will recall some of the testimony at the inquest, you
will see that is precisely what occurred. Hugh Mainwaring, within
twenty or thirty minutes preceding his death, was heard to denounce
some one as a 'liar' and an 'impostor.' An 'impostor,' mark you!
Very applicable to the case we are now supposing. And in the
altercation which followed, the other party called him a 'thief,'
and made some allusion--I do not recall the exact words--to his
being 'transported to the wilds of Australia.' Now, sir, there is
no doubt in the mind of any sane man that those words were spoken
by the murderer of Hugh Mainwaring, and I think now we have a
pretty good clue to his identity."
"But the young man stated emphatically this morning that he made
no mention of the will to Hugh Mainwaring."
"To the devil with his statements! There is evidence enough against
him that he will be ruined when I get through with him. He has
dared to try to thwart me in the plans of a lifetime, and I'll make
it the worst piece of business he ever undertook. Understand, I
want you to institute proceedings against him at once!"
"Governor," said young Mainwaring, quietly, before Mr. Whitney could
respond to this tirade, "in whose name will these proceedings be
instituted, yours or mine?"
"Well," replied his father, with a sneer, "I don't know that it
makes any particular difference to you in whose name it is done,
so long as it is for your benefit."
"Begging your pardon, sir, I believe it does make considerable
difference. And I will say right here that I will have no
proceedings entered, either in my name or for my benefit, for two
reasons: first, Harold Scott Mainwaring is no impostor; we had
abundant proof to-day that, under the terms of that will, he is the
sole claimant to the property; and second, you know, sir, as well
as I, that years ago, your own servant, John Wilson, told you that
such a will had existed, and there is every ground for believing
that this document is genuine. I just begin to understand your
little game, governor, and, by Jove! I will not be a party to it."
Up to this point, astonishment at his son's audacity seemed to have
bereft Ralph Mainwaring of the power of speech, but now he demanded
in thunderous tones, while his face grew purple with rage, "What do
you mean, sir, by daring to address such language to me? You
impudent upstart! let me tell you that you had best attend to your
own business!"
"This is the second time you have told me that today," said the
young man, calmly, though the hot blood was fast rising; "allow me
to inform you, governor, with all due respect, that henceforth I
will attend to my own business, and will not trouble you to attend
to it for me. If you had any just or tenable grounds for the
proceedings you are about to institute, I would have nothing to say;
but, begging your pardon, you have none whatever; it is simply a
piece of dirty work with which I will have nothing to do."
"You ungrateful dog! This is your return for my care and
forethought for you, is it? Do you retract every word which you
have said, or I'll cut you off without a penny," and with a fearful
oath he swung himself around in his chair with such violence as to
overturn the small onyx table upon which the cigars were standing,
shattering it to fragments.
The young man paused directly in front of his father. "I retract
nothing," he said, quietly but firmly. "You are at liberty to
follow the example of old Ralph Maxwell Mainwaring if you wish, but
you may regret it later, as he did."
"And do you think Edith Thornton will marry a penniless beggar, a
pauper? Or do you propose to live upon her fortune?"
"No; I will not touch a penny of her fortune," he replied, his cheek
flushing; "and I am not quite a pauper, for I have the money left
me by Uncle Tom years ago; and if Edith is the girl to be turned
from me under the circumstances, why, the sooner I find it out the
better."
"A paltry twenty thousand pounds! a fine fortune!" sneered his
father, ignoring his last remark.
"Many a fortune has been made from a much smaller start; but it is
useless to waste words further. You understand my position, and that
is enough. Mr. Whitney," he continued, addressing the attorney,
"according to the terms of Hugh Mainwaring's will, I, and not my
father, am heir to the property, and therefore the one to contest
the claim of Harold Mainwaring if it is contested at all. I wish to
state to you here and now, distinctly, that I will not contest the
case, nor will I authorize any one to do so for me; and now,
gentlemen, I bid you both good-evening!" and he quietly left the
room.
"Zounds!" exclaimed the elder man, as the door closed upon his son,
"I didn't suppose the boy had so much spirit! I've often wished he
and Isabel could change places, because she was so much more like
myself and what I would like a son to be."
"He has the Mainwaring blood all right," replied the attorney, with
more inward admiration for the young man than he dared to express.
"Not if he will throw away a fortune in this manner; it is probably
some boyish whim, however and the young fool will look at it in a
different light to-morrow."
"I think not, Mr. Mainwaring," said the attorney, quietly; "he is
enough like Hugh Mainwaring, and like yourself, that when he decides
upon a certain line of action, he will not be easily turned aside.
You may rest assured that he will have nothing whatever to do with
this contest, and that if you wish to carry on the fight, you will
have to do so under your own colors."
"I'll do it, too," he replied, fiercely; "I'll enter proceedings in
my own name, as the nearest heir after Hugh Mainwaring."
"In that case, your brother must be notified, as he will be entitled
to share the estate with you; that may cause us some little delay,
but--"
"Curse it all!" the other interrupted, angrily; "I had not thought
of that; he will have to come in for a share; confound that boy's
foolishness! I'll get hold of him tomorrow morning and see if I
cannot talk some reason into him," and Ralph Mainwaring relapsed
into sullen silence. It was a new experience for him to meet with
opposition in his own family, least of all from his son, and he felt
the first step must be to quell it, though decidedly at loss just
how to proceed.
A little later, Mr. Whitney, finding his client disinclined to
further conversation, after making an appointment for the next
morning, excused himself and took his departure for his own
apartments at the club.
As he passed down the stairway into the spacious hall, what was his
surprise to see Mr. Merrick comfortably ensconced in a large leather
chair, reading the evening papers.
The two men shook hands warmly, and together passed out into the
cool, starlit night.
"When did you arrive, Merrick? and from what point of the compass?"
inquired the attorney.
"Got in on the 9.30 train," the detective replied, seeming not to
have heard the second question; "learned you were at Mainwaring's,
so I stopped in, but told the butler not to disturb you, as I was
in no hurry."
"I noticed you were looking over the evening papers, did you read
the account of this morning's proceedings in court?"
"I did."
"What do you think of them?"
"I am not in the least surprised."
"Not surprised!" echoed the attorney. "Do you mean to say that the
reappearance of the missing secretary as the heir to the Mainwaring
estate is no surprise to you?"
"None whatever," Merrick replied, with the most exasperating
coolness, adding, as he noted the other's incredulous smile, "you
may recall a hint given you at Fair Oaks, one evening, of the
possible existence of claimants, perhaps not far distant, whose
rights superseded those of Hugh Mainwaring himself."
Mr. Whitney started involuntarily as the detective's words of a few
weeks before were thus recalled, then looking his companion squarely
in the face, he exclaimed, half playfully, half indignantly, "I
don't suppose you will go so far as to claim any familiarity with
that old will which has just been resurrected."
"Well," said Merrick, deliberately stopping to relight his cigar, "I
was aware that there was such a will in existence, or at least that
it had existed up to the time of Hugh Mainwaring's death, and I
supposed all along that it was in the possession of Harold Scott
Mainwaring, otherwise known as Harry Scott, secretary."
"By George! when and how did you get hold of all this?" questioned
the attorney, in a tone of bewilderment.
"I was pretty well conversant with the facts in the case a few days
before the young man took passage for England, in the 'Campania.'"
"The 'Campania!' Heavens and earth, man! Do you mean to say that
he went over on the same boat with Miss--with the ladies from
Fair Oaks?"
"Certainly; and I don't think," Merrick continued, watching the
attorney shrewdly, "that Miss--the ladies from Fair Oaks--objected
to him as a fellow-traveller, either."
Mr. Whitney changed the subject. "Then you know that will to be
genuine, do you?"
"H'm! am I on the witness stand?"
"No; but I think I ought to subpoena you to keep the other side
from getting your testimony; you might make a troublesome witness
against us."
"My testimony might be worth much or little; I am not giving it to
either side at present."
"Well, I would not have it go out, of course; but for my part, I am
inclined, to believe not only that the will is genuine, but also
that Ralph Mainwaring knows that it is."
"He will fight it all the same."
"Yes, but on rather different grounds from what he first anticipated,"
and Mr. Whitney gave Merrick an account of young Mainwaring's
defection. "In my private opinion," concluded the attorney, "Ralph
Mainwaring is a fool, for he has got a pretty hard combination to go
against; they've evidently got a strong case, splendid legal talent,
and plenty of money to back it all. However, I'm making a good
thing out of it."
"Yes," said Merrick, enigmatically, "Barton & Barton are undoubtedly
men of great ability in their professions but that 'clerk' of theirs
who has come over with the party," with peculiar emphasis, "is the
smartest man in the whole crowd!"
"The clerk! why I thought he seemed rather an insignificant sort
of a fellow; what do you know about him?"
For reply the detective only gave a short, unpleasant laugh, and,
touching his cap, turned abruptly down another street.
"Hold on!" cried the attorney; "you haven't told me anything about
yourself yet. What have you been doing? and how long are you going
to be in town?"
"A day or two, perhaps, possibly a week; I cannot say."
"How are you getting on?"
But the detective was lost in thought and apparently did not hear
the question. "I suppose you read of the arrest of Brown, the
coachman?" he remarked, abstractedly, after a moment's silence.
"The coachman? No! you don't say that he was really concerned in
that affair?" the attorney exclaimed, excitedly.
"What affair, the Mainwaring murder? I don't know that I have
said that he was concerned in that," Merrick answered, suddenly
coming to himself and evidently enjoying the attorney's expression
of blank perplexity; "he was mixed up in a shooting affair, however,
which occurred about that time, and by holding him in custody we
hope to get on to the principals. Oh," he added, carelessly,
anticipating another inquiry from Mr. Whitney, "I'm getting there
all right, if that is what you want to know; but I won't have
somebody else dogging my tracks and then claiming the game by and by."
"Man alive! what in the dickens are you driving at? You are in one
of your moods to-night."
"Perhaps so," Merrick replied, indifferently, then added quickly,
"There is a sensation of some sort in there; see the crowd of
reporters!"
They were standing on a street corner, near a large hotel, and
glancing through the windows in the direction indicated by the
detective, Mr. Whitney saw, as he had said, a crowd of reporters in
the office and lobbies, some writing, some talking excitedly, and
others coming and going. Just then one who was leaving the building
passed them, and Merrick stopped him.
"What is going on? What's the excitement?"
"Suicide!" the young man replied, hastily. "That woman who was
mixed up in the Mainwaring case has suicided by poison."
The attorney and the detective exchanged startled glances, then
both entered the hotel.