A Novel in a Nutshell.

Evening Post, Volume XLVII, Issue 82, 7 April 1894, Page 1 (Supplement)

A Novel in a Nutshell.

Tho circumstances that led to Ernest Mursdeit'a withdrawal from London have iiovor been propeily expluiued. His disappearance excited some comment, for he was a well-known political organiser and speaker, as well as an occasional contributor upon economic quest ionB to the monthly reviewfi. By day he was employed at an office in Coriihill. It was there that I made his acquaintance. Our duties brought us a good deal together, and a considerable intimacy sprung up between us. Marsden's rulatioim w ere all dead, and he was once good enough to say that I waa the only friend he po<mpi>Mud in the whole world. Thing* were in thid condition when I called (Jim night at my employer's private house on a business matter that had been overlooked. 1 waa shown into tho draw-ing-room. Fiom an adjoining apartment I could hear at intervals the voices of two men in violent altercation. After a time Mr. Henderson appeared in the drawingroom, and asked me to accompany him into the other room. Ernest Marsden, the only occupant, received me with a grateful Hinile. ■" i haro ut-lccd you tv take part in this conversation," said my employer, "because I believe you to be a friend of Mr. Marsdeu's, and likely to advise him helpfully at a very critical moment in his career. You were away this afternoon from the office, and are, therefore, ignorant of whut has occurred. I have been robbed, uud your friei.d is the only possible culprit. At half -past twelve this morning an amouut of j£GO was paid to me personally in gold and notes. Before going out I locked it up in the safe in my private room, a safe to which you and Mr. Marsden have the only other keys. Mr. Marsden, whom I left at work in my room, went out about ten minutes later. lam uhtured by the clerks in the outor office that no one else entered the room during my ab.souco. I returned in half-uu-hour. The safo won locked; but whtu I opened it I found that the gold (£4O) had disappeared. I hare toW Mr. Marsdeu that it' he will make a clean breast of everything uud lestore the money he may retire from my employment quietly and without scandal." This statement upset me a good deal. I hoped, of course, that my friend could clear himself of the accusation . My own position in the matter was none too pleasant. Although I had hud leave of absence for the day, I had been obb'gtd to come back for my purse, which by a btrange oversight I hod left in the pocket of my offioe jacket. Unfortunately, 1 had returned to the office itbout hulf-past twelve o'clock. Fiuding the door of Mr. Honder»on*B sanctum unlocked—the door, 1 mean, opening directly into the passage— I had slipped iv and out without, apparently, those in the outer office having noticed my return. Marsdeu, however, hud met me upon the stairs. To roako matters more ugly, I hud that very day come into the possession of a sum of money uuder circumetanees thitt could not have been made public. To my great relief Marsden made no reference to our meeting, although aware,, no doubt, of the effect it would have in diverting suspicion from himself, Tho sceno that followed was a very painful one. Murtideu insisted upon his innocence, aud bitter speeches pubscd on both sides. 1 fancied at one time duriug a lull iv tho storm that I caught the sound of some one weeping in the next room. The conference broke up, having come to no conclusion. Mr. Henderson, whom contradiction always lushed into a fury, followed Mars-den into tho hall, threatening him with exposure and imprisonment. Suddenly the drawing-room door burst opeu, und a tall, proud-looking girl swept into tho hall. I will not attempt to repeat verbatim whut she said. Some of it has escaped me, and the re^t, without her dark eyes and impassioned bearing, seems ordinary enough. Marsden had proposed to hor a year previously, and had been refused. -His constancy in the face of every discouragement had touched her deeply, and lately she hud come to realise that her feelings towards him were completely changed. Under ordinary circumstances she would hare waited for him to address her again. Of his continued devotion he had given her many eloquent, if silent, demonstrations, and now that his fortunes were at the lowest she asked as a favour to be allowed to stand by his Bide, and to fight his battle against all the world. At the end of this speech, which was delivered with an inconceivable elevation of manner, the girl would hare flung herself upon her lovti's breast, but he repulsed her with a strange gesture. "Don't touch me, Lucy!" he cried, passionately; "I Stole it." Two hours later I went round to Marsdeu's lodgings, for in spite of his confession I felt sure that my friend was not guilty of this base thing. I found him busily engaged putting his belongings together, "lam glad you have come," he said, after an embarrauing silence. Other people may think what they like, hut I could not bejr that you should consider me a thief." ™ But the confession ?" I stammered. "Sit down," Marsden replied, "and I will explain everything." His explanation was briefly thi* : — Twelve months before he had made Miss Henderson an offer of marriage, under the impression that the girl whs madly devoted to him. Whether he loved her, he was not at that time suie Within a week of his rejection —he had been refused— he knew for certain that ho did not. After that be bad met Lucy Henderson frequently, and had found the mixture of friendliness and pity with which she treated him exactly to his fancy, fie knew that the girl thought she had darkened bj/j existence for ever, and he had (encouraged her in this notion. He felt that he was acting the part of a glorified Major Dobbin, and play jng it uncommonly well. On one occasion he had sung "The Devout Lover" in her presence with so much feeling as to have affected even himself. That he waa doing a great evil by bis posing he had never reflected. He hod not even dreamed that Miss Hendeison's feelings towards him were undergoing any change. When she had proclaimed her love for him that night he had been for a second dizzy at the chasm that had opened before him. " And now you know," he concluded, "why I confessed to the robbery." "But what the d has all this to dp with it ?" I replied, angrily. " What would you have done in my place P" < • I—lI — I " — progress was by no means rapid <<I suppose you couldn't have told her Straight out that yon no longer loved her P" " Insult her at the moment she was standing up for me so magnificently !" " Well, then, have married her P r> "Quite out of the question. Impos- " As it is," he said, " the connection has teen severed, and her maidenly pride has not been wounded. As for me, I can go to another town and start afresh. Henderson has accepted th* fofty pounds I have sent him, and you, he, and fas daughter are all who will know anything of this affair. " X took up my hat to leave. «« Xou won't let this interfere witb onr friendship ?" said Marsden, holding out his hand. „ _ ... „ " Ernest Marsdefl," I replied, " you are oither the greatest saint in creation .or the meanest hound. I will write to you when I have ascertained which." Since then Marsden has written to me once or twice, but I have never replied to him. I cannot make up my mind about his behaviour. That he was wrong to have followed Miss Henderson when he knew that he did not love her is beyond question. This being so, it is clear to me Rometimes that he ought to have married bnr, and his subsequent conduct appears mean beyond crcdeuce. To escape hr unpleasant duty he dishonoured his own name. At other times it is equally obvious to me that he ought not to havo married her- a return of her affection was not to be expected —and that he chose a Quixotically heroic method of sparing her self-pride. As I have said, I am as far from a decision as ever, and all this while Marsden, my old chum, is suffering aoutely from my neglect. There is one question that demands an answer. How was it that, iv Bpite of his confession, I at no time believed in my friend's guilt P I had stolen the money myself.