How Claudia managed to leave the office of Sergeant Purse and reach
homo she never clearly knew. In some extraordinary way she contrived
to keep from fainting and maintain her composure, so that the officer
suspected nothing. After a time she complained that the room was
close, and she felt that the fresh air would do her good. Purse, quite
ignorant of the true cause of this unexpected nervousness, accompanied
her outside and helped her to mount her bicycle in a most amiable way.
As she rode off he thanked her for the suggestion she had made, and
declared his intention of following the clue of the knife. All the way
to Hedgerton Claudia thought over what she had done, and reached the
Rectory in quite a fainting condition. Little Mrs. Craver met her at
the door and ascribed her pale looks and nerveless limbs to the long
ride. Claudia gladly accepted the excuse and the scolding and the
order that she should lie down, as she wished to avert suspicion, and
also to be alone to think over matters. Never in after years did the
girl forget that next hour.
Lying on her bed, with her face pressed against the pillow, Claudia
kept assuring herself that she was mistaken. It was sinful of her to
suspect her father of such wickedness, and she deserved to be punished
for even thinking of such a thing. But the question which agonised her
was: What did this particular knife mean in relation to Wyke's death?
There was only one answer to the question. The knife had been found
sticking in Wyke's heart, and the man who thrust it into that same
heart was the criminal. Her father was the man--her father was the
criminal. Claudia remained all that evening in bed, and again Mrs.
Craver ascribed the weakness to the exhausting ride on the bicycle to
Redleigh.
All the long night she pondered and thought and reasoned, and cried
out against her reason. When the dawn came she rose and took a cold
bath, which refreshed her. There was no excuse for her to remain in
bed for the day, so Claudia, wan and haggard, went down to breakfast.
There she heard news which cheered her up.
"Edwin is coming here to-day in his aeroplane, my dear," said Mr.
Craver, who was reading his letters. "He will be here at two o'clock
this afternoon. What excitement this will cause in Hedgerton."
"I only hope Edwin won't break his neck," cried Mrs. Craver,
wrathfully. "Oh, how foolish the rising generation is! There's nothing
to hold on by in one of these airships, and if he falls he will be
killed."
Naturally, the Rector, wishing to give the villagers pleasure, did not
keep the news to himself. He told his wife to tell the servants, and
the servants told everyone that came on that morning to the Rectory.
By noon the whole of Hedgerton knew that Master Edwin was arriving in
an airship, and great was the excitement. From what the young man had
said in his letter it was known that he would alight on the cliffs,
where there were vast spaces along which the aeroplane could run when
it settled down like a bird. Consequently, long before two o'clock the
coastguard station was surrounded by crowds people. In their anxiety
to see the latest invention of science and to witness the conquest of
the air by man, the whole population of the little village assembled
on the cliffs. Claudia came also with the Rector and Mrs. Craver, who
were both very anxious and very proud of the coming event. The girl
glanced round to see if Lady Wyke was present, but could not see her.
She did not even catch a glimpse of Neddy, and learnt later from his
mother that the boy had returned to town on the previous day. Claudia
drew a deep breath of relief at the news. She knew very well that
Neddy could be trusted to be silent; yet it was a comfort to know that
he was absent. Miss Lemby could not explain to herself why it was a
comfort; but somehow she felt more at ease without this Puck in an
Eton suit hovering round. And, as Lady Wyke was also conspicuous by
her absence, Claudia abandoned herself to the general excitement of
the coming arrival of Edwin from the skies.
"I do wish Edwin would come," said Mrs. Craver again and again as the
hour drew near. "Do you think he has met with an accident, George?"
"Let us hope he hasn't, my dear," answered the Rector, who was
likewise anxious. "But he is not due yet, so we have no reason to
think that anything sad has happened!"
"There he is! There he is!" shouted a keen-sighted coastguard, who had
a spyglass at his eye. "Yonder he comes."
"Where? Where? Where?" shouted everyone, much excited, and looked
north, south, east and west without seeing anything.
The coastguard ran with his spyglass to the Rector. "Look, sir! Over
yonder--over yonder!" and he pointed seaward.
With a trembling hand, the Rector adjusted the glass, then uttered'
and ejaculation of thankfulness. "Yes. The aeroplane is coming along
like a great bird. Emma----"
"Don't ask me to look, George. I am trembling all over."
But Claudia looked and saw a black speck glowing larger as it came
nearer. In a few minutes the hum of the aeroplane was distinctly
heard, and with the naked eye everyone could see the machine swinging
towards the cliffs high in the blue. The excitement was intense. Mrs.
Craver had to be supported by Claudia, so weak did she feel at her son
soaring in space. Nearer and nearer came the black dot, louder and
louder became the burr of the aeroplane, and finally, like a great
dragonfly it swept in huge circles over the land, and settled like a
feather, running along the ground swiftly in its impetus until willing
hands laid hold of it to bring it to a standstill. Then the crowd
rushed to gather round, to cheer, to ask questions, and to examine the
first aeroplane which had ever been in this out-of-the-way parish.
Mr. Craver, with his wife on his arm, pushed his way to the front,
with his usually dreamy eyes alight with excitement. "I congratulate
you, my son."
"Oh, Edwin! Edwin!" sobbed the usually unemotional mother, and clasped
him in her arms as he alighted from the machine. "It's wonderful, but
horrid. I know you'll be killed."
"I'm safe enough now, anyhow, mother," said Edwin, cheerfully.
"Where's Claudia?"
"Here," said the girl in a low voice, for she felt faint now that the
strain was over, and all her old fears began to reassert themselves.
"Why, darling, what is the matter?" asked her lover, hastily.
"Nothing--nothing--that is, I'll tell you when you come home."
It was not easy for the hero to reach home. He had to submit to
incessant handshaking; he had to get his aeroplane under shelter; and
it had to be attended to in other ways connected with the engine and
wide-spread wings. There was an old barn on the cliffs which Edwin had
arranged to use for his machine long ago, so it was run into this, and
the doors were closed, much to the regret of the crowd anxious to
contemplate the wonder. Edwin promised to give an exhibition on the
morrow, and then walked home with his parents and Claudia.
As Mr. and Mrs. Craver were both asking questions concerning his
flight from Hendon all the way, Claudia had no opportunity of speaking
to her lover. But on arrival at the Rectory the watchful mother gave
the girl the opportunity of having a quiet moment with Edwin. Mrs.
Craver drew her husband away, saying that it was best to leave the
young people to themselves, and so the couple found themselves in the
drawing-room. Edwin at once demanded why Claudia looked so ill, and
she explained how she had bearded Lady Wyke, how Neddy had advised her
to search for the owner of the knife, and how the sight of the knife
in the Redleigh Police-office had informed her that the owner was none
other than her own father.
"Isn't it dreadful," Edwin? sobbed flic girl, when she had finished
her breathless narrative; "but father can't have murdered that poor
old man."
"Of course he didn't," said Edwin, cheerfully, although he was more
startled by the news than Claudia guessed. "We shall ask for an
explanation. I am sure he will give one."
"You don't think he is guilty, Edwin?"
"No, I don't, dear. Appearances are rather against him, as they are
against me. But I am innocent, and so is your father."
"Did you see him in London? You went up to see him, remember."
"No, I did not. He was absent when I called at Tenby Mansions."
"Oh we must see him! We must see him!" cried Claudia, wringing her
hands.
"We shall see him together," said Craver, soothing her gently. Don't
worry, my darling. I feel sure that everything will come out right.
"But Lady Wyke?"
"She won't do anything. She is not sure of her ground. All the same,
Claudia, it was a risk going."
"Yes, I know. But I wanted to hear what she knew."
"There is another person who knows more. We must see her, Claudia. If
anyone knows the truth of this crime, it is Mrs. Vence."