Time, The Avenger

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXI, Issue 2727, 5 December 1910, Page 4

Time, The Avenger

(All Rights Reserved.)

THE UNRAVELLING OF A STRANGE WILL MYSTERY.

By HEDLEY RICHARDS,

Author of "The Haighs of Hillcrest," "From Mill to Mansion,," "Diana's Inheritance," Etc., Etc.

TWENTY-SIXTH INSTALMENT. Madame seated herself beside tlie bed, and gazed at the face of the man she loved.' He lay with his eyes closed, looking so death-like that she feared he would never recover. Then she told herself that must not be. He must live to prove his innocence and take his place as master of Gelder Hall. And as she sat there she prayed that Heaven would spare him and help him to clear his name.

Vaguely she wondered how the accident had happened. Had it been an accident at all ? Was it not Marcus Hudspith's way of preventing his cousin proving his innocence? In her -heart madame believed it was. Had not the man who had perished in _Dead Man's Pool told him the truth about Mr. Dalrymple ? Yes, it must have been so, and this was the result; she told herself. But if God would only help her—and she believed He would —the injured man would rise from his bed strong and well, and she would warn Mm. It .would be easy to send an anonymous letter.

;Meanwhile a consultation was being held, in Miss Holmes's little dining-room, between the doctor, Lord Ovingham, Gar Hatton and Mr. Hudspith, who had joined the others and waited for the doctor's opinion.

" Yes, I think I shall pull him through. If the shot had veered so much as a quarter of an inch to the left he would have been a dead man now. I should think that's the best bit of news you've heard for a long time, Mr. Hudspith," he said, looking at that gentleman.

"It is a great relief to me. Of course accidents will happen ; but I am glad this is not likely to have serious consequences," he replied.

"He'll be on his back for weeks," said the doctor, rather sharply.

" It's a pity, if that's the case, that he cannot be moved to the Hall. He could have twice the attention," said Mr. Hudspith.

"It would kill him. to move Mm, and I shall not allow it," said Dr. Bowers, decidedly. " I don't know what's to be done about letting Lady Dalrymple know. It will be a great shock to her and Miss Dalrymple."

" Doctor, you mustn't telegraph. I'm going. I shall leave here by the first' suitable train, and travel all night; and you'll let me know how Mr. Dalrymple as just before I start," said Gar Hatton.

" I'll come to the station. It's the best thing that could be done. I

shouldn't like Lady Dalrymple to re-

ceive the news by telegram," said the and the matter having been "iafctted satisfactorily he left the roomy followed by the others, pausing inVthe hall to let Miss Holmes know tfeat his patient was in maflame's care "and would do well.

At the gate there was a pause, and Mr. Hudspith invited Lord Ovingham to dinner, but the invitation was rather curtly declined ; and wishing them " Good afternoon," Mr. Hudspith went towards the Hall, while the others proceeded to Wittonbury, where Lord Ovingham's trap was waiting, and his lordship drove Gar as far as the Knowle, then went on Home. " I don't understand how Mr. Hudspith shot so wide of his mark. He is reckoned a crack shot," said Gar Hatton, as he got out. " Yes ; but did he shoot wide of bis mark ? " Lord Ovingham asked himself as he drove leisurelj along. Rather had he not missed by that quarter of an inch which would have made Mr. Dalrymple a dead man. Yet what motive had Mr. Hudspith for wishing the other man dead ? And Lord Ovingham told himself that as far as he knew, there was not any motive, yet he had seen Mr. Hudspith deliberately aim at Mr. Dalrymple ; the rest of the party were in front and the master of Gelder Hall had lingered apparently to fasten his bootlace, unconscious that Lord Ovingham was behind, near enough to see, but not to prevent the mischief; but, thank God, Mr. Dalrymple had' not been, killed and need not be told what he had seen. Of course, Mr. Hudspith might suspect, but he should never know. For Nina's sake he would hold his peace —Nina, whom he was learning to love, as Mona Dalrymple had told him he would one day love. She had looked very sad of late. Was it because she knew her father was not what he appeared to be ? Then a sudden dread took hold of him as he reflected that it was possible Mr. Hudspith was insane and JSfina might know it. He seemed very rational, but cases had been known of madrrien who appeared, except at intervals, as sane as any one. Finally, by the time Lord Ovingham had reached home, he was convinced that Mr. Hudspith was insane, and that Nina had - discovered the truth and was trying to shield him, and he Loved her more than ever.

Madame was bending over her patient who seemed restless. Once or twice -he had uttered incoherent words, and she was beginning to feel anxious, when the door was quietly opened, and Dr. Bowers entered, and came to tbe bedside and looked at the patient. /

'• Feverish," he said, in a low tone; then placing his arm on madame's he drew -her to the .other r.ml at the

room. " I cannot get a nurse ir Carlisle or Castleton ; there is so much sickness about they could dc with double the number. So, inadame I shall have to fall back on you. Do you think- you could keep awake through the night?"

Madame smiled at the question. " Did she think she could keep awake through the night ? It would be impossible to 'sleep," she thought; but aloud, she said, " I shall not sleep at my post. Your patient is safe with me, doctor." There was a quiet firmness in her tone that told she had confidence in herself, and made him trust her. " All right. Give him the medicine regularly, and don't be surprised i! the fever increases. I shall look w again about midnight. By the way, have you had tea ? " "" Yes, thank you. Miss Holmes brought my tea to me." " That's good. You must have a substantial supper. I shall tell Miss Holmes to take your place for hall an hour. If you've any arrangements to make I will stay with my patient," said the doctor.

"Thank you. I should like to speak to my daughter," and madame left the room, going to the dining room where she found Louise talking to Miss Holmes.

" Louise, you had better go home. I am going to stay here and nurse Mr. Dalrymple, so you will have to manage the business," said madame, quietly.

" Mdn Dieu ! Why; should you make yourself into one sick nurse?" said the girl, who evidently did not relish the idea of the extra work.

" Because it is my dnty to do what I can, and I thank God that I have had some experience in such nursing" said madame in a tone she seldom used, but when she did Louise knew better than to argue. " I understand Dr. Bowers cannot get a nurse anywhere," said Miss Holmes. " That is so ; but I shall try not to let him feel that it is a loss," said madame, as she left the room. Half an hour later. Louise took her departure, and as she came through the gate into the lane a gentlemanly man stopped her, saying : " Excuse me, but perhaps you can tell me how the injured gentleman is going on ? " " Monsieur Dalrymple is doing well but one little bit feverish," said Louise not indisposed to talk to a goodlooking man, even if he was past his Brst youth. " I suppose they have got a nurse to wait on him ! " " The nurses are in demand, and there is no one to come, so ma mere is waiting on him. She has had what you call experience. Mon pere was a terrible man. He did fight duels, and sometimes he got the worst ; then he did get into trouble of all sorts and ma mere did nurse him well, till one day he took cold, and then the trouble was over. Ma mere was one widow, but poor."

The stranger had listened with interest.

" You are French, I see, mademoiselle "— and he paused.

" Mademoiselle Louise. Yes, monsieur, I belong to la belle France, and I do not like your cold country. But there is one good thing here, and that is'much money."

" You like money ? " he said, in a questioning tone.

" Who does not, monsieur ? But I am poor, though well-born. Ma is one milliner and while she nurses this sick man I shall be worked to one shadow."

" I hope not. Mademoiselle Louise. What a pretty name ! I suppose you are called after your mother ?J' " No, monsieur. Ma mere's name is Julie. I like it not," she replied. "Perhaps Mademoiselle will allow me to see her safely home. I am an artist staring at the Gelder Inn." "Monsieur can accompany me," said Louise, always willing to have a fresh admirer. That he was an admirer she never doubted, and believed* all the compliments he paid her, though some of them were most exaggerated, and so adroitly did he flatter her that she was not aware that he was extracting the life she and her mother led, both before they came to Wittonbury and afterwards. At the door of the little shop in Market-street they parted, and as the detective—for it was he—walked back to the Gelder Inn he congratulated 'himself on the information, he had obtained. Madame was Julie, the woman whom Dalrymple had married years ago. Now it was easy to see who had stolen the paper and sent it to his client. Miss Holmes had told aim that madame knew about the missing paper. The old lady had taken her into her confidence, but madame had kept her own counsel, and, Miss Holmes never thought of connecting her with the past.

"She is a splendid actress," he mused. "She listened to Miss Holmes telling me' that she was above suspicion, and all the time she was the midnight thief."

Suddenly it flashed across him that a woman had been seen to enter the wood on the night the man was drowned in the pool, and he wondered if madame had also been a witness of the murder, and thought it better to hold her tongue.

" That woman loves Dalrymple as she loved him years ago. It has been the love of a lifetime. Thank Heaven, she is looking after him ; he is safe with her. That was no chance shot. .Hudspith knows who he is and doesn't mean to give him a chance of proving his innocence," he thought. Just then his meditations were disturbed by hearing a boyish voice say : "It weer no fancy. I was behind the hedge in t'other field, and I saw Mr. Hudspith fire at him." " If you say that again I'll thrash you. I don't say it isn't true—maybe they've had a quarrel about something—but I'm not going to get into trouble. When you cet to my time

of life you'll lai.* aon't do to see no harm in folks above you," said a gruff voice. " I'll hold my tongue, but I'm not going to shut my eyes for anybody," answered the boy, surlily. " I was right. Hudspith wants him out of the way ; but he cannot injure him now, and I believe Madame Julie will nurse him back to life. It's a strange complication, and Lady Dalrymple will be here tomorrow, but madame is clever enough to prevent her suspecting anything," thought the detective.

CHAPTER XXVIII. "The doctor had seen Mr. Dalrymple again and gone away, leaving madame in sole charge of the sick room. The injured man was very restless, fever had set in, and he talked incessantly, but there was no sense in His words. Seated in an easy-chair by the bedside she did her best to soothe him, laying her cool soft hand on his forehead, and murmuring gentle, tender words that seemed to penetrate to his brain and awaken memories of 'bygone days.

" Julie, have you come back ? I tried to find you but it was no use. I shall not let you go again," he said, clasping her disengaged hand; and so he lay quiet for a few minutes ; then fell into a broken slumber. Presently he opened his eyes and called out :

" Who said I was No. 649 ? Hush, you mustn't let Mildred know."

"No one shall know. It is our secret," said madame, soothingly.

"Is that you, Julie ? Why have you been away so long ? If I could have found you we could have discovered the truth before."

" Never mind; we shall soon know all about it," she said, stroking his hand gently.

" Did you know about that letter ? I cannot remember what was in it. Do you know ? " he asked, in a puzzled tone.

" No, but you will remember in time," she answered.

" Shall I ? But you mustn't tell Mildred about that letter. She's not to know anything," he said, almost in a whisper, then fell into a doze, from which he str.rtcd, calling out : " Julie, where are you ? " " Here;" and madame gently stroked his brow. " Why didn't you meet me when I came out of prison ? You know I was sent to prison for something 1 I never did. But you mustn't tell Mildred." "Of course not. Now you must drink this," she said, pouring out a dose of medicine and bringing it to him. He pushed it away. " I don't want it. I feel strong, quite strong." " Drink it for my sake, Lionel." Without a word he drank it, and for a moment he lay quiet; then he opened his eyes which were feverishly bright and looked at her, saying, almost in a whisper : " Who called me Lionel ? I'm Richard —Richard— I cannot remember the other name. Don't let Mildred hear you call me Lionel. Promise me, Julie." She promised, and he fell asleep. Madame bent over him, trying to trace in the face of the man of sixty some likeness to the Lionel Hudspith she had , known and loved—yes, and did love then. Such a love as tiers could not be killed by time or separation, and she told herself that it didn't wrong his wife, as she songht no return. All she had desired and did desire was to help him, and Heaven had put it into her power to do so.

Looking at him as he lay slumbering fitfully, madame told herself that he had not let the trials of his youth spoil his life. It was the face of a good honourable man and she thanked Heaven that he had come unscathed out of his fiery trial. Presently he opened his eyes. " Julie, are you there ? " he asked; and receiving an answer, in the affirmative,, he dozed off. All through the night she watched aim, and when at seven in the morning Dr. Bowers appeared, he expressed himself well satisfied with his patient's condition, and offered to watch him while she had some breakfast, refusing to listen to her suggestion that she should wait until Miss Holmes could take her place, saying tie had told the maid who opened the door to get her some breakfast ; so madame went into the dining room and was surprised to find that she could eat a good breakfast, and she returned to the sick room feeling much better. As she entered, the doctor rose and came towards her, saying : . "He keeps calling out for Julio. Has he named her during the night?" " Yes. He seems to fancy I was Julie. There is no accounting for a sick man's fancies," she answered, quietly.

"I think he has known and loved a woman of that name. I hope he won't talk about her after Lady Dalrymple arrives," said the dqptor.

Madame went to the bedside, and smoothed the bedclothes saying, gently :

" Would you like a drink ? " And she put a glass containing liquid to liis lips.

"It is good to have you here. Why didn't you come back sooner ? " ac said, clasping her hand in his.

"You must lie still," she said, gently ; then went to the window and opened it a little wider at the top, doing all so quietly, that she won golden opinions from the doctor. " Good morning, madame. lam going to telegraph to London for a nurse, though I tell you candidly I don't expect to get a better one than you ; but Lady Dalrymple will be more satisfied if I get a trained one. But you. are a born nurse, and that is even better than one that has been trained. I shall look in again about noon." (To be Continued.)