THE BEGINNING OF THE END
There was silence for a few moments when the end of the Squire's story
was reached. Then Laurence said--
"The mystery is well-nigh solved. We can now see what blunders we have
made, how we have unjustly suspected 'Doctor Meadows' (or whatever his
name is), and been led a dance by the freaks of coincidence. Our
suspect, Meadows, has proved to be not only innocent of the charges we
brought against him, but the man who, by some means we have yet to
learn, has been able to put into our hands the key to the mystery. But
for him I should not have obtained access to this book, and without it
we might have gone on blundering in the dark for months, or even years.
Take my word for it, Miss Scott, we are neither of us born to be
investigators of mystery."
"How dare you say so!" replied the girl, with pretended anger, "when I
have this very day made a most startling discovery, which may lead to
the revelation of 'Doctor Meadows'' secret."
"Oh," cried Laurence, "is that so? Of course, I mean that I am the poor
hand at detective work, and you----"
"A poorer," Lena ended the sentence. "But for all that I really have
made a strange discovery."
"Well, and what is it, if it is not criminal to ask?"
"You remember the envelope addressed to Major Jones-Farnell that we
found in the garden?"
"Certainly. It was addressed in a lady's hand, from somewhere abroad;
or, rather, from either Scotland, Wales, or Ireland, since it bore a
penny stamp, and was marked 'England' in the address."
"Well, I have found out the name of the person who addressed that
envelope to 'Doctor Meadows.'"
"And her name is that of someone I know well. I am convinced of that.
Don't keep me in suspense any longer, please."
"Her name is that of someone you know very well--someone, though, that
you know no better than I or auntie or--well, Kingsford does."
"What do you mean? Tell me, or I shall succumb to my anxiety." Laurence
spoke in jest, but he was really more than interested to learn the
identity of the "doctor's" fair correspondent.
"Well, then, the unknown lady is none other than the Princess H----!"
"The Princess H----! No; you must be mistaken. It cannot be!"
"Two people do not write the same 'fist,'" Lena responded, warmly.
"Where have you seen that writing before?" she added, taking up a
magazine from a table. Opening it at a page the corner of which had been
turned down, she pointed to a facsimile autograph letter by Princess
H----, the wife of Prince H----, whose death, under mysterious
circumstances, had caused much gossip some years before, and who, as the
mother of a little prince who, had he lived, would in due course have
ruled over Queen Victoria's dominions, was one of the Royal celebrities
of the day.
"Well, do you doubt your own eyes?" asked Lena quietly.
"No; I apologise," Laurence replied. "I agree with you that the
'doctor's' lady correspondent is Princess H----. The writings are
precisely alike. There can be no doubt about it. You have made a most
important discovery."
"Further, I can prove my theory, if proof is required. The Princess was
residing at Dublin up to a few days ago. That was why she wrote
'England' at the end of 'Major Jones-Farnell's' address. What her
connection is with this gentleman of aliases I cannot guess. The
discovery, however, tells us one thing--that what the 'doctor' said
about the nature of his secret was true."
"You mean that----"
"That he said if his secret was revealed to the world it would cause a
general sensation--that it would do great harm to the world. The secret
concerns the mysterious death of Prince H----!"
"But who, then, is 'Meadows'? What has he to do with secrets of such
great importance?"
"That I cannot say, but I believe your father may know. Note this,
though: your father denies the fact that he confided his secret to
'Doctor Meadows.' We have discovered that Meadows not only holds his
secret, but has been bound by your father not to reveal it. If your
father denies this, and is, nevertheless, really connected in some way
with the 'doctor,' but will not confess to the fact, is it not possible
that he, in his turn, knows something about Meadows' secret? I grant you
that it does not follow that such is the case, but it is a distinct
probability, to my mind."
Laurence could not reply. The argument was a fair one, but Lena's former
hypothesis concerning Horncastle's connection with the attacks on the
Squire's life had seemed so ingenious and probable a one and yet had
been proved to be wrong in every particular.
"At any rate," he remarked, after a pause, "you will agree that we have
reached the beginning of the end of this mystery?"
"Certainly; but we have yet much to learn. I doubt not but that the
secret of 'Doctor Meadows' will prove less easy to solve than that of
your father. I agree with Meadows that much of the mystery we have
almost solved should have been explained long ago. The discovery that
the Squire had been an Indian officer, coupled with the fact of the
unknown assailant's agility, etcetera, should have suggested to us the
possibility of the creature being a Thug. The Squire's story has
revealed one thing--the reason why he fainted at my mention of the woman
in coloured skirts. He thought the avenger had come in the person of
Lilla herself (whom he believed to be dead), when what I had seen was
this Indian, whose clothing must certainly be somewhat similar to that
we associate with a female. Now we know, too, that the 'robbery' of the
gardener's coat was effected in order that the assassin might be less
recognisable. One thing, though, strikes me as strange. How did this
creature learn to ride a bicycle?"
"You mustn't forget that India, like all other countries, is advancing
with the times. No doubt the Thugs encourage such a form of athletics
among their children. Why he did not return the bicycle to the shed,
though, seems difficult to understand; and what is another mystery to me
is why he used a pistol on the first occasion, when that weapon is
little known among the Thugs."
"Perhaps, finding it so difficult to get into the house and murder your
father, he cast caution and his usual weapon to the winds, and essayed
the attack on the moor. By chance he discovered the secret passages and
room when lurking in that splendid hiding-place, the barn. Then, having
lost his pistol, he entered the Squire's room by means of the secret
door in the wall, and would have murdered the old man had it not been
for the bat."
"But how do you know that the unexplored secret passage does lead to the
Squire's room, as Meadows suggested that it might?"
"Because," replied Lena triumphantly, "I noticed that the wardrobe in
that room had been shifted since the Squire's return to consciousness,
and for no apparent reason. Mrs. Featherston, moreover, informed me that
it was moved at the Squire's particular request."