At the sound of his voice the footman fell back as white as a sheet.
Mr. Paget rose, walked over to him, took him by the shoulders, and
pushed him out of the room. He locked the door behind him. Then he
turned, and backing step by step almost as far as the window, raised
his hands, and looked at his forbidden visitor with a frozen expression
of horror.
Wyndham took his hat off and laid it on the table. Mr. Paget raised his
hands, covered his face with them, and groaned.
"Spirit!" he said. "Spirit, why have you come to torment me before the
time?"
"I am no spirit," replied Wyndham, "I am a living man--a defrauded and
injured man--but as much alive as you are."
"It is false--don't touch me--don't come a step nearer--you are
dead--you have been dead for the last three years. On the 25th April,
18--, you committed suicide by jumping into the sea; you did it on
purpose to revenge yourself, and since then you have haunted me, and
made my life as hell. I always said, Wyndham, you would make an awful
ghost--you do, you do."
"I am not a ghost," said Wyndham. "Touch me, and you will see. This
wrist and hand are thin enough, but they are alive. I fell into the
sea, but I was rescued. I came to you to-night--I troubled you to-night
because you have broken our contract, because----What is the matter?
Touch me, you will see I am no ghost."
Wyndham came nearer; Mr. Paget uttered a piercing shriek.
"Don't--don't!" he implored. "You are a lying spirit; you have often
lied--often--to me. You want to take me with you; you know if you touch
me I shall have to go. Don't--oh, I beseech of you, leave me the little
time longer that I've got to live. Don't torment me before the time."
He dropped on his knees; his streaming white hair fell behind him, his
hands were raised in supplication.
"Don't," said Wyndham, terribly distressed. "You have wronged me
bitterly, but I, too, am a sinner; I would not willingly hurt mortal on
this earth. Get up, don't degrade yourself. I am a living man like
yourself. I have come to speak to you of my wife--of Valentine."
"Don't breathe her name. I lost her through you. No, you are dead--I
have murdered you--your blood is on my soul--but I won't go with you
yet, not yet. Ha! ha! I'll outwit you. Don't touch me!"
He gave another scream, an awful scream, half of triumph, half of
despair, sprang to the door, unlocked it and vanished.
Wyndham took up his violin and left the house.
"Mad, poor fellow!" he muttered to himself. "Who'd have thought it?
Even from a worldly point of view what fools people are to sin! What
luck does it ever bring them? He made me his accomplice, his victim, in
order to keep his daughter's love, in order to escape dishonor and
penal servitude. He told me the whole story of that trust money--to be
his if there was no child--to be kept for a child if there was. He was
a good fellow before he got the trust money I have no doubt. The friend
died, and soon afterwards Paget learned that he had left a son behind
him. Mr. Paget told me--how well I remember his face when he told me
how he felt about the son, who was then only an infant, but to whom he
must deliver the trust money when he came of age. 'I wanted that money
badly,' he said, 'and I resolved to suppress the trust papers and use
the money. I thought the chances were that the child would never
know.'"
The chances, however, were against Mr. Paget. The friend who had left
him the money in trust had not so absolutely believed in him as he
supposed. He had left duplicate papers, and these papers were in the
boy's possession. One day Mr. Paget learned this fact. When he knew
this he knew also that when his friend's son came of age he should have
to repay the trust with interest; in short, he would have to give the
young man the enormous sum of eighty thousand pounds or be branded as a
thief and a criminal.
"I remember the night he told me this story," concluded Wyndham with a
sigh.
He was walking slowly now in the direction of the Embankment.
"So the plot was made up," he continued. "The insurance on my life was
to pay back the trust. Valentine would never know her father's
dishonor. She would continue to love him best of all men, and he would
escape shame, ruin--penal servitude. How have matters turned out? For
the love of a woman I performed my part: for the love of a woman and
self combined, he performed his. How has he fared? The woman ceases to
love him, and he is mad. I--how have matters fared with me? How? The
wages of sin are hard. I saw a sight to-night which might well turn a
stronger brain than mine. I saw my wife, and the man who may soon be
her husband. I must not dwell on that, I dare not."
Wyndham walked on, a burning fever gave him false strength. He reached
the Embankment and presently sat down near a girl who looked even
poorer and more miserable than himself. There were several men and
girls occupying the same bench. It was a bitter cold, frosty night;
all the seats along the Embankment were full, some poor creatures even
lay about on the pavement. Wyndham turned to look at the slight young
creature by his side. She was very young, rather fair in appearance,
and very poorly clad.
"You are shivering," said Wyndham, in the voice which still could be
one of the kindest in the world.
The poor worn young face turned to look at him in surprise and even
confidence.
"Yes," said the girl. "I'm bitter cold, and numb, and starved. It's a
cruel world, and I hate God Almighty for having made me."
"Hush, don't say that. It does no good to speak against the one who
loves you. Lean against me. Let me put my arm round you. Think of me as
a brother for the next hour or two. I would not harm a hair of your
head."
"I believe you," said the girl, beginning to sob.
With a touching movement of absolute confidence she laid her faded face
against his shoulder.
"That is better, is it not?" said Wyndham.
"Yes, thank you, sir. I'm desperate sleepy, and I shan't slip off the
bench now. I was afraid to go to sleep before, for if I slipped off
somebody else would get my seat, and I know I'd be dead if I lay on the
pavement till morning."
"Well, go to sleep, now. I shan't let you slip off."
"Sir, how badly you are coughing."
"I am sorry if my cough disturbs you. I cannot help giving way to it
now and then."
"Oh, sir, it is not that; you seem like a good angel to me. I even love
the sound of your cough, for it is kind. But have you not a home, sir?"
"I certainly have a shelter for the night. Not a home in the true sense
of the word."
"Ought you not to go to your shelter, sir?"
"No, I shall stay here with you until you have had a good sleep. Now
shut your eyes."
The girl tried to obey. For about ten minutes she sat quiet, and
Wyndham held her close, trying to impart some of the warmth from his
own body to her frozen frame. Suddenly the girl raised her eyes, looked
him in the face, and smiled.
"Sir, you are an angel."
"You make a great mistake. On the contrary I have sinned more deeply
than most."
"Sir?"
"It is true."
"I don't want you to preach to me, sir; but I know from your face
however you have sinned you have been forgiven."
"You make another mistake; my sin is unabsolved."
"Sir?"
The girl's astonishment showed itself in her tone.
"Don't talk about me," continued Wyndham. "It is a curious fact that I
love God, although it is impossible for Him to forgive me until I do
something which I find impossible to do. I go unforgiven through life,
still I love God. I delight in His justice, I glory in the love He has
even for me, and still more for those who like you can repent and come
to Him, and be really forgiven."
He paused, he saw that he was talking over the girl's head. Presently
he resumed in a very gentle pleading voice:--
"I don't want to hear your story, but----"
The girl interrupted him with a sort of cry.
"It is the usual story, sir. There is nothing to conceal. Once I was
innocent, now I am what men and women call _lost_. Lost and fallen.
That's what they say of girls like me."
"God can say something quite different to you. He can say found and
restored. Listen. No one loves you like God. Loving He forgives. All
things are possible to love."
"Yes, sir; when you speak like that you make me weep."
"Crying will do you good. Poor little girl, we are never likely to meet
again in this world. I want you to promise me that you won't turn
against God Almighty. He is your best friend."
"Sir! And He leaves me to starve. To starve, and sin."
"He wants you not to sin. The starving, even if it must come, is only a
small matter, for there is the whole of eternity to make up for it. Now
I won't say another word, except to assure you from the lips of a dying
man, for I know I am dying, that God is your best friend, and that He
loves you. Go to sleep."
The girl smiled again, and presently dropped off into an uneasy slumber
with her head on Wyndham's shoulder.
By-and-bye a stout woman, with a basket on her arm, came up. She looked
curiously at Wyndham. He saw at a glance that she must have walked from
a long distance, and would like his seat. He beckoned her over.
"You are tired. Shall I give you my seat?"
"Eh, sir, you are kind. I have come a long way and am fair spent."
"You shall sit here, if you will let this tired girl lay her head on
your breast."
"Eh, but she don't look as good as she might be!"
"Never mind. Jesus Christ would have let her put her head on His
breast. Thank you, I knew you were a kind hearted woman. She will be
much better near you than near me. Here is a shilling. Give it her when
she wakes. Good-night."