SOLVING THE MYSTERY
At the sight of the master of Durley Dene, Squire Carrington seemed
dumfounded. At first he looked as though he fancied the new-comer would
suddenly vanish into air.
"Good-afternoon, Major Carrington," remarked the visitor, with the
utmost coolness; "you seem surprised to see me."
"Good heavens, Lestrange, I thought you were dead!"
"So did the whole world, and does now," responded the owner of the Dene.
So saying, he walked up to the bedside, and shook hands heartily with
the Squire.
"Who'd have thought we should have met under these circumstances?"
observed Sir Bromley.
"Ay, sir, in the hour of my joy. You are very welcome."
"Then he is dead? I congratulate you, Carrington, from the bottom of my
heart."
He turned to Lena and bowed, shook hands with Laurence, then took a
seat by his old friend's bedside.
"Lestrange," said Mr. Carrington, "you look younger than you did
twenty-five years ago."
"And I feel it now, though I didn't when these young people were trying
to corner me, connecting me for some reason or other with these attempts
on your life. So the--you know--is dead?"
And, without hesitation, the Squire, prompted where necessary by Lena
and Laurence, commenced to relate the whole story of his career since he
had left India, never stopping until he was able to announce that his
merciless enemy was dead.
Laurence and the girl had heard the whole story before, except that part
of it concerning the second attempt to murder the old gentleman. It
appeared that the Squire was undressing on the eventful night, when,
turning by chance, he saw the wall suddenly open and a terrible
apparition enter. Then he fainted, and knew no more until he found Mrs.
Featherston bending over him two days later. This announcement proved
that, as Laurence and Lestrange believed, the secret passage under the
barn led from Durley Dene into the Squire's bedroom.
Afterwards they explored the passage, and further proved that such was
the case.
The Squire's narrative concluded, Sir Bromley turned to the two young
people, and with a smile informed them that the moment had now come when
he could reveal his secret.
By this time, though, the Squire was quite tired out by his exertions,
and, as he had but little interest in the secrets of Durley Dene, the
party withdrew, Sir Bromley bidding his old friend a hearty "au revoir,"
and expressing a hope that he might see the Squire again ere long.
Once seated in the drawing-room, he seemed unwilling to relate the
promised story, but, with a little persuasion from Lena, he gave way,
and proceeded with a narrative that entirely cleared up the mysteries of
the little Yorkshire village and its two largest houses.
"I am by no means sure, even now," he began, "whether I am doing right
in divulging for your benefit the secret which I have been at such pains
to keep unrevealed, and which you have tried so hard to unravel. At any
rate, I have promised to tell you the whole story, and I am going to do
so. But I must ask you to let it go no farther--never to refer to it
even in conversation between yourselves. You promise? That is right.
Then the Princess H---- need have no fear----"
"The Princess H----!" exclaimed Lena.
"The Princess H----" repeated the gentleman slowly; "and, if you will
forgive me for saying so, I shall be unable to tell my story if I have
any interruptions, as I have much to do to-day.
"Well, as I say, my name is Bromley Lestrange, and further, I am, as you
may see for yourselves, very far from being dead.
"To explain things intelligibly, I must go back five-and-twenty years.
At that remote period, as your father, Laurence, has told you in the
excellent synopsis of his career, I was commanding the 'Red Herrings'
(as the old regiment was then nicknamed) at Madras. I was young for my
post, but then I had good influence with the authorities. In passing, I
may say that my looks are not a good indication of my age, which is--but
what matter?
"As you know, I was able to assist Major Carrington in the unhappy
affair connected with the Thug opium den. It was I, as you know, who
first caused him to realise that the enmity of the Thugs was not to be
thought lightly of. I had heard strange tales of the hideous vengeances
of these human fiends. When Carrington left India, I did all that was in
my power to learn the whereabouts of the girl Lilla, but failed.
However, her death was reported soon after the Squire's return to
England, and I hastened to acquaint my old friend with the news. Then,
as things do, the matter passed from my mind, and, except very
occasionally, was not brought under my notice, until you," turning to
Laurence, "told me your name on the occasion of your first visit to the
Dene.
"After leaving the army and Madras, which I did soon after Carrington, I
connected myself with the Court of the Rajah of Punneoda for a short
period, then spent a number of years travelling. After which--it would
be about the time Carrington took this house, sixteen or seventeen years
ago--I returned to England, where I was able to be of some slight
service to the Princess H----, who had then lately married.
"It is necessary for you to know the circumstances of this august lady's
marriage. She was forced into a union with the late Prince H---- of
R----, though, as the busybodies said, she was pledged to another man--a
man without the necessary amount of blue blood in his veins.
"She married Prince H----, who, however, died shortly after, leaving her
the mother of an infant prince, who, as you will recollect, would, had
he lived, be now, with the exception of two lives, heir-apparent to the
British throne. You may also recall the fact that the circumstances of
Prince H----'s death, and likewise that of his son, were, to say the
least of it, remarkable. In the first instance, you may take it from me
that the prince did not succumb to the illness specified by the two
Royal physicians. He was afflicted with a far more terrible complaint
than that of apoplexy. When I reach the end of the story you may judge
for yourself what it was.
"Concerning the young prince there were also sinister rumours about the
time of his birth. Some said he was born blind, others that he was
deformed, a few that he had died and another infant been substituted
without the mother's knowledge; but all these reports were incorrect,
though there was, indeed, something peculiar about the Royal infant. In
fact, the child from its birth was blind, deaf, and dumb!
"Very wisely, this terrible state of affairs was withheld from the
world, but the difficulties to be overcome to ensure the secret being
kept were very great. As you know, the Princess H----, until the death
of her child, at the age of four, resided in the country, where she kept
up a small establishment, and lived a remarkably quiet life. The papers
stated that the Royal child had died of a severe chill, which had caused
a relapse of bronchitis--an ailment to which the boy was supposed to be
a martyr. The funeral was necessarily a public affair, but it was
noticed that remarkably few Royal personages were present. Why?
"Because," and when Sir Bromley said the words, it was in a whisper,
"because the funeral was a sham one--because the child was not dead!" He
paused, wiped his forehead with his silk handkerchief, then resumed--
"It was at this time that the newspapers were requested by his sorrowing
relatives (all of whom were actually deceived) to announce the death of
Sir Bromley Lestrange from cholera. 'The deceased gentleman,' it was
said, 'had succumbed to the fell disease while spending a short holiday
in Shanghai.'
"Two or three weeks later, an elderly merchant, named Goode, bought a
small house in the Highlands of Scotland, where he spent a number of
years in the most retiring fashion, the only other inmate of the house
being apparently his sister. As a matter of fact, there was a
comfortably furnished room in the house in which a small child passed
its miserable existence, but not a soul in the neighbourhood, beyond the
worthy merchant and his sister, knew of the existence of the child. Need
I say that Mr. Goode was Sir Bromley Lestrange, Miss Goode a Miss
Lestrange, and the child the 'dead son' and heir of the Princess H----?
"Years passed, and the child became more and more unmanageable. There
were occasions when he seemed to be possessed of the strength of a
Hercules. It required a second man to look after him. A young doctor was
heavily paid to live in the house, and Miss Goode disappeared--to
reappear in the world of society, after 'travelling on the Continent'
for several years, as Miss Lestrange, 'younger sister of the late Sir
Bromley Lestrange, Kt.,' the _Court Gazettes_ mentioned in their
'chit-chat.'
"The young doctor made a discovery when he first examined the child in
Mr. Goode's country residence, which, had it been noised abroad, would
have explained the mystery of the father's (Prince H----) death.
"The boy was a raving maniac of the most dangerous kind."