Book: Uncle Max

R >> Rosa Nouchette Carey >> Uncle Max




'Yes, thank you. I did not mean to be so foolish, but it was dark, and
I got frightened and nervous; and oh, Mr. Hamilton, I must not lose time,
or they will be coming in.'

'Who will be coming in?' he asked, rather bewildered at this. 'There is
no one out, is there?'

'Yes, Miss Darrell and Leah. I heard them talking in "Conspiracy Corner";
you know that seat in the asphalt walk?'

'Well?' regarding me with an astonished air.

'Mr. Hamilton, I am better now. I am not frightened any longer now I am
with you. Will you please call Leah when she comes in from the garden? I
want to speak to her in your presence. I have a most serious charge to
make against her and against your cousin Miss Darrell. It relates,' and
here I felt my lips getting white again,--'it relates to your brother
Eric.'

He started, and an expression of pain crossed his face,--a sudden look
of fear, as though he dreaded what I might have to tell him; but the next
moment he was thinking only of me.

'You shall speak to Leah to-morrow,' he said gently; 'it is late
now,--nearly ten o'clock,--and you are ill, and had better go to bed
and rest yourself. I can wait until to-morrow,' taking my cold hand.

But I would not be silenced. I implored him earnestly to do this for
me,--to summon Leah into the study, but not to let Miss Darrell know.

'I suppose you think you could not sleep until you had relieved your
mind,' he said, looking at me attentively. 'Well, they are coming in now.
Leah is fastening the door. Finish that sal volatile while I fetch her.'

I took it at a draught. But Mr. Hamilton's kindness had been my best
restorative: I was no longer faint or miserable: he had cheered and
comforted me.

I heard Leah's voice approaching the study door with perfect calmness.

'Miss Etta has gone up to bed, sir,' I heard her say; 'she has a
headache: that is what makes her eyes so weak.'

'I should have said myself that she was crying,' returned Mr. Hamilton
drily. 'Come in here a moment, Leah; I want to speak to you.'

She did not see me until the door was closed behind her, and then I saw
her glance at me uneasily. Mr. Hamilton had evidently not prepared her
for my presence in the study.

'Did you or Miss Garston wish to speak to me, sir?' she asked, with a
veiled insolence of manner that she had shown to me lately; but I could
see that no suspicion of the truth had dawned on her.

'It is I who wish to speak to you, Leah,' I returned severely; 'and
I have asked your master to send for you that I might speak in his
presence. Mr. Hamilton, I am going to repeat the conversation that I have
just overheard between Leah and her mistress when they were in the seat
in the asphalt walk: you shall hear it from my lips word for word.'

I never saw a countenance change as Leah's did that moment: her ordinary
sallow complexion became a sort of dead-white; from insolence, her manner
grew cringing, almost abject; the shock deprived her of all power of
speech; only directly I began she caught hold of my gown with both hands,
as though to implore me to stop; but Mr. Hamilton shook off her touch
angrily, and asked her if it looked as though she were an honest woman to
be so afraid of her own words. And then the sullen look came back to her
face and never left it again.

I repeated every word. I do not believe I omitted a sentence, except
that part that referred to Uncle Max. I could see Leah shrink and
collapse as I mentioned her convict-brother, and such a gleam of fierce
concentrated hatred shot from beneath her drooping lids that Mr. Hamilton
instinctively moved to my side; but a low groan escaped him when I
repeated Leah's words about the cheque. 'Good heavens! do you mean that
Eric never took it?' he exclaimed, in a horror-stricken tone; but the
woman merely raised her eyes and looked at him, and he was silent again
until I had finished.

There was a moment's ominous silence after that: perhaps Mr. Hamilton was
praying for self-control; he had grown frightfully pale, and yet he was a
man who rarely changed colour: the veins on his forehead were swollen,
and when he spoke his voice was hoarse with repressed passion.

'What have you to say for yourself, Leah? Do you know I could indict you
for conspiracy and conniving at theft?'

'I know that very well,' returned the woman, trying to brave it out; but
she could not meet his indignant look. 'But it is your own flesh and
blood that is in fault here. Miss Etta is more to blame than I.'

Mr. Hamilton crossed the room and locked the door, putting the key coolly
in his pocket; then he made me sit down,--for I had been standing all
this time,--and, as though to enforce obedience, he kept his hand on my
arm. I could see Leah looking about her as though she were caught in a
trap: her light-coloured eyes had a scintillating look of fear in them.

'Now, Leah,' observed her master, in a terrible voice, 'if you are to
expect any mercy at my hand you will make a clean breast; but first you
will answer my question: Has Miss Garston repeated the conversation
between you and Miss Etta correctly?'

'Yes, I believe so,' very sullenly.

'You saw Miss Etta take the cheque with your own eyes the night before
Mr. Eric left home?'

'Yes.' Then, as though these questions tortured her, she said doggedly--

'Look here, sir; I am caught in a trap, and there is no getting
out of it. I have lost my place and my character, thanks to Miss
Garston,'--another vindictive look at me. 'If you will promise like
a gentleman not to take advantage of my evidence, I will tell you all
about it.'

'I will make no promises,' he returned, in the same stern voice; 'but
if you do not speak I will send for the police at once, and have you up
before a magistrate. You have connived at theft; that will be sufficient
to criminate you.'

'I know all about that,' was the unflinching answer; 'and I know for the
old mistress's sake you will be glad to hush it all up: it would not be
pleasant to bring your own cousin before a magistrate, especially after
promising the old mistress on her death-bed to be as good to Miss Etta as
though she were your own sister.'

I saw the shadow of some sorrowful recollection cross his face as she
said this. I had heard from Max how dearly he had loved his aunt
Margaret: though her daughter had wrought such evil in his life, he would
still seek to shield her. Leah knew this too, and took advantage of her
knowledge in her crafty manner.

'It would be best to tell you all, for Mr. Eric's sake. I know Miss Etta
will be safe with you. She has done a deal of mischief since she has been
under your roof. Somehow crooked ways come natural to her: the old
mistress knew that, for she once said to me towards the last, "Leah, I am
afraid my poor child has got some twist or warp in her nature; but I hope
my nephew will never find out her want of straightforwardness." And she
begged me, with tears in her eyes, to watch over her and try to influence
her, although I was only a servant; and for a little while I tried, only
the devil tempted me, for the sake of poor Bob.'

'Bob is the name of your brother who is at Millbank?' asked Mr. Hamilton,
in the same hard voice.

'Yes, sir; he got into a bit of trouble through mixing with bad
companions. But there,'--with a sudden fierce light in her eyes that
reminded me of a tigress protecting her young,--'I am not going to
talk of Bob: lads will get into trouble sometimes. If Mr. Eric had
not been so interfering at that time, ordering Bob off the premises
whenever he caught sight of him, and calling him a good-for-nothing
loafer and all sorts of hard names,--why, he gave Bob a black eye one
day when he was doing nothing but shying stones at the birds in the
kitchen-garden,--if it had not been for Mr. Eric's treatment of Bob
I might have acted better by him.'

'Will you keep to the subject, Leah?' observed her master, in a warning
voice. 'I wish to hear how that cheque was taken from my study that
night.'

'Well, sir, if you must know,' returned Leah reluctantly, 'Miss Etta was
in a bit of a worry about money just then: she had got the accounts wrong
somehow, and there was a heavy butcher's bill to be paid. She had let it
run on too long, and all the time you believed it was settled every week:
it was partly your fault, because you so seldom looked at the accounts,
and was always trusting her with large sums of money. Miss Etta did not
mean to be dishonest, but she was extravagant, and sometimes her
dressmaker refused to wait for the money, and sometimes her milliner
threatened to dun her; but she would quiet them a bit with a five- or
ten-pound note filched from the housekeeping, always meaning, as she
said, to pay it back when she drew her quarterly allowance.

'I used to know of these doings of hers, for often and often she has sent
me to pacify them with promises. I told her sometimes that she would do
it once too often, but she always said it was for the last time.

'She got afraid to tell me at last, but I knew all about the butcher's
bill, for Mr. Dryden had been up to the house asking to see you, as he
wanted his account settled. You were out when he called, but I never saw
Miss Etta in such a fright: she had a fit of hysterics in her own room
after he had left the house, and I had trouble enough to pacify her. She
said if you found out that Dryden's account had not been settled for
three months that you would never trust her again; that she was afraid
Mr. Eric suspected her, and that she did not feel safe with him, and a
great deal more that I cannot remember.

'It ended with her making up her mind to pawn most of her jewellery, and
we arranged that Bob should manage the business. He was up at the cottage
for a night or two, though no one was aware of that fact, for he kept
close, for fear Mr. Eric should spy upon him.

'He slept at the cottage the very night the cheque was stolen from the
study'; but as Leah paused here Mr. Hamilton lifted his head from his
hands and bade her impatiently go on with the history of that night.




CHAPTER XLIV

LEAH'S CONFESSION


'You know what happened that day, sir,' observed Leah, hesitating a
moment, for even her hard nature felt some compunction at the look of
suffering on her master's face. She had eaten his bread for years, and
had deceived and duped him; but she must have felt remorse stirring in
her as she saw him drop his head on his clasped hands again, as though
he were compelling himself to listen without interruption.

'You had been talking to Mr. Eric a long time in the study, Miss Etta
told me; he had been going on like mad about Mr. Edgar Brown, and having
to go to Mr. Armstrong's office; but you had been very firm, and had
refused to hear any more, and he had flung off to his own room in one of
his passions. Miss Gladys had followed him, and I heard him telling her
that he had forgotten himself and struck you, and that you had turned
him out of the study, and that he was in difficulties and must have
money, for Mr. Edgar had got him into some trouble.'

'You heard this by listening at Mr. Eric's door, for Miss Gladys saw
you,' I observed, not willing to let this pass.

'What has that got to do with it?' she returned rudely. 'I am speaking
to the master, not you': but she grew a shade paler as I spoke. 'You
were up late that night, sir; I was waiting to speak to Miss Etta, and
encountered you in the passage. I went back to my own room for a little
while, and then I knocked at her door; but there was no answer. I could
see the room was dark, but I could hardly believe she was asleep: so I
went to the bed and called Miss Etta, but I very soon found she was not
there: her gown was on the couch and her dressing-gown missing from its
place.

'I had a notion that I might as well follow her, for somehow I guessed
that she had gone to the study; but I was certainly not prepared to see
Mr. Eric stooping over your desk. He had a letter in his hand, and had
just put down his chamber candlestick. All at once it flashed upon my
mind that Miss Etta had told me that you had received a large cheque that
night, and that you were going up to London the next day to cash it, and
she hoped Dryden would not call again before you went. She said it quite
casually, and I am sure then she had not thought of helping herself. Then
the thought must have come to her all of a sudden.

'I remembered the cheque, and for an instant I suspected Mr. Eric. But as
I was watching him I saw the curtain of one of the windows move, and I
had a glimpse of yellow embroidery that certainly belonged to Miss Etta's
dressing-gown. In a moment I grasped the truth: she had taken the cheque
to settle Dryden's bill. But I must make myself certain of the fact: so
I asked Mr. Eric, rather roughly, what he was doing, and he retorted by
bidding me mind my own business.

'He had laid his letter on the desk, but when he had gone I walked up
straight to the window, and nearly frightened Miss Etta into a fit by
asking her what she had done with the cheque. She was grovelling on her
knees before me in a moment, calling me her dear Leah and imploring me to
shield her. I was very fierce with her at first, and was for putting it
back again, until she told me, trembling all over, that she had endorsed
it. She had copied your writing, and only an expert could have told the
difference.

'"It is too late, Leah," she kept saying; "we cannot hide it from Giles
now, and I must have the money, and you must help me to get it." And then
she whispered that I should have some of it for Bob.

'"It is a nasty bit of business, Miss Etta," I replied, for I did not
want to spare her; "it is forgery, that is what they would call it in a
court of law"; but she would not let me finish, but flung herself upon me
with a suppressed scream, and I could not shake her off. She kept saying
that she would destroy herself if I would not help her: so I turned it
over in my mind. I wanted money for Bob, and--well, sir, the devil had a
deal to do with that night's business. I had settled it all before an
hour was over. Bob would go up to London with the cheque, and cash it at
the bank: he was tall and fair, and a suit of Mr. Eric's old clothes
would make him quite the gentleman, and no one would notice the scar;
when he was safely off and you missed the cheque there would be little
trouble in casting the blame on Mr. Eric. I had taken care to place the
letter in the desk, and I had plenty of circumstantial evidence to offer.

'Well, you know the rest, sir,--how you called Miss Etta into your study,
and how she begged you to send for me. I had my story all ready,--my fear
of thieves, and how I saw Mr. Eric standing with his hand in your desk.
Of course the cheque could not be found: no one believed the poor young
gentleman's ravings, especially after his talk with Miss Gladys. We took
care that the telegram should not be sent too soon. Bob was on his way
back by then, and before evening Dryden had his money, and Bob was safe
in Clerkenwell. What is the good of my repeating it all? I shielded Miss
Etta at Mr. Eric's expense; and, though I was sorry enough to drive him
away from his home, we had to look to our own safety, and Miss Etta was
nearly out of her mind with remorse and terror.' But here Mr. Hamilton's
voice interrupted her harshly.

'Wait a moment, woman: have you ever since that day heard anything of
that unfortunate boy?'

To my surprise Leah hesitated. 'Miss Etta believes that he is dead, sir;
but I can't help differing from her, though I never told her the reason;
but I have fancied more than once,--indeed I am speaking the truth now,
sir,' as he darted a meaning look at her, 'I have no motive to do
otherwise.--I have fancied that I have seen some one very like Mr. Eric
lurking about the road on a dark night. Once I was nearly sure it was Mr.
Eric, though he wore a workman's dress as a disguise. He was looking at
the windows; the blind was up in the study, and Miss Gladys was there
with Mr. Cunliffe; he had made her laugh about something. It was a warm
night, and rather wet, and the window was open; I was just shutting it
when I caught sight of him, and nearly called out; but he turned away
quickly, and hid himself in the shrubbery, and though I went out to look
for him I was too late, for I could see him walking down the road.'

'You are sure it was Mr. Eric.' Oh, the look of intense relief on Mr.
Hamilton's face! He must have believed him dead all this time.

'I am nearly sure, sir. I saw him again in town. I was passing the Albert
Memorial when I looked up at one of the fine houses opposite, and saw a
young workman on the balcony with a painter's brush in his hand: the sun
was shining full on his face. I saw him plainly then.'

Mr. Hamilton started from his seat. 'If this be true!--my father's son
gaining his bread as a house-painter!'

'It is true,' I whispered; 'for I saw him myself, and told Gladys.'

'You saw him!--you!' with an air of utter incredulity.

'Yes; and I tried to speak to him. He was so like the picture in Gladys's
room, I thought it must be Eric. But he would not hear me, and in a
moment he was gone. The men called him Jack Poynter, and said he was a
gentleman, but no one knew where he lived. Oh, I have tried so hard to
find him for you, but he will not be found.'

'And you did not tell me of this,' very reproachfully.

'Gladys would not let me tell you,' I returned: 'we could not be sure,
and--' But he put up his hand to stop me.

'That will do,' in a tone of suppressed grief that went to my heart. 'I
will not wrong you if I can help it; no doubt you did it for the best;
you did not willingly deceive me.'

'Never! I have never deceived you, Mr. Hamilton.'

'Not intentionally. I will do you justice even now; but, oh,'--and here
he clinched his right hand, and I saw the veins on it stand out like
whip-cord,--'how I have been betrayed! Those I have trusted have brought
trouble and confusion in my household; and, good God! they are women, and
I cannot curse them.'

I saw Leah quail beneath this burst of most righteous indignation.
The blinding tears rushed to my eyes as I heard him: in spite of his
sternness, he had been so simple and so unsuspicious. He trusted people
so fully, he was so generous in his confidence, and yet the woman he
loved had played him false, and the pitiful creatures he had sheltered
under his roof had hatched this conspiracy against his peace.

'You can leave me now,' he continued harshly, turning to Leah. 'I will
not trust myself to say more to you. If you receive mercy and not justice
at my hands, it is because your confederate is even more guilty than you.
I cannot spare the one without letting the other go unpunished. To-morrow
morning, before the household is up, you and everything belonging to you
shall leave this house. If you ever set foot in Heathfield again it will
be at your own peril. Go up to your own room now and pack your boxes; I
shall take the precaution of turning the key in your door to prevent your
holding communication with any member of my household.'

'I give you my word, sir--' began Leah, turning visibly pale at the idea
of finding herself a prisoner.

'Your word!' was the disdainful reply; and then he pointed to the door.
'Go at once!' But she still lingered. There was a spark of good even in
this woman. She was unwilling to quit our presence without knowing what
was to become of her mistress.

'You will not be hard on Miss Etta, sir? She has done wrong, but she is
a poor creature, and--' But Mr. Hamilton walked to the door and threw it
open with a gesture that compelled obedience.

The next moment, however, he recoiled with a low exclamation of horror;
for there, drawn up against the wall, in a strange half-crouching
attitude, as though petrified with terror, was his miserable cousin.

I heard Leah's shocked 'Miss Etta! How could you be so mad?' And then Mr.
Hamilton put out his hand, as though to forbid approach; but with a cry
of despair Miss Darrell seemed to sink to the ground, and held him
convulsively round the knees, so that he could not free himself.

'Get up, Etta!' he said indignantly. 'It is not to me you have to kneel';
for he thought her attitude one of supplication. But I knew better. She
had not strength to stand or support herself, and I passed behind him
quickly and went to her help.

'You cannot speak to him like that, Miss Darrell. He will not hear you.'
But, though Leah assisted me, we had some difficulty in inducing her to
relax her frantic grip. And even when we placed her in a chair she seemed
as though she would sink again on the ground. She was trembling all over,
her teeth chattering; the muscles of her face worked convulsively.

'Giles, Giles,' she screamed, as he seemed about to leave her, 'you may
kill me if you like, but you shall not look at me like this.' But,
without vouchsafing her any answer, he turned to me.

'Will you wait with my cousin a moment? I will be back directly.' I
nodded assent. I knew he wished to see Leah safely in her room, but as
he closed the door Miss Darrell clutched my arm. She seemed really beside
herself.

'Where has he gone? Will he fetch the police, Miss Garston? Will they put
me in prison for it?'

'No,' I returned sternly. 'You know you are safe with him. He will not
hurt a hair of your head, because you are a woman, and his own flesh and
blood.'

'But he will banish me from his house!' she moaned. 'He will never
forgive me or let me see his face again. He will tell--oh, I cannot bear
it!'--her words strangled by a hoarse scream. 'I cannot and will not bear
it.'

I put my hand on her shoulder. 'You must control yourself,' I said
coldly. 'Would you wish Mr. Hamilton to treat you as a mad woman? Listen
to me, Miss Darrell. One part of your secret is safe with me. Try and
restrain yourself, and I will promise you that it shall never pass my
lips.'

Even in her hysterical excitement she understood me, and a more human
expression came into her hard, glaring eyes. 'Say it again; promise me,'
she moaned. 'I hate you, but I know you are to be trusted.'

'If you behave yourself and try to control your feelings a little,' I
returned slowly, 'I will say nothing about Uncle Max.' But at the name
she covered her face with her hands and rocked herself in agony. In spite
of all her sins I pitied her then.

At that moment Mr. Hamilton returned; but before he could speak I said
quickly--

'Your cousin is not in a condition to listen to you to-night, and it is
very late: I am going to take her up to her room and do what I can to
help her. Will you allow us to go?'

He looked at her and then at me. His face was hard and sombre; there was
no relenting there. 'Perhaps it will be better,' he returned slowly.
'Yes, you may go, but do not stay long with her. I may want to speak
to you again.'

'Not to-night,' I remonstrated; for I could see he was oblivious of the
time, and it was near midnight. 'To-morrow morning, as early as you like;
but I cannot come down again.'

'Oh, I see,' the meaning of my words dawning upon him. 'To-morrow
morning, then. Take her away now.' And, without another glance, he walked
away to his study table.

'Come, Miss Darrell,' I whispered, touching her; and she rose
reluctantly. 'Giles,--let me say one word to him,' said she, trying to
follow him feebly, but I recalled her sternly and made her follow me. I
had no fear of her now. Leah, whom I dreaded, was locked safely in her
room, and this poor miserable woman was harmless enough.

She broke into hysterical sobs and moans when I got her into her own
room. I was afraid Gladys might hear her, and I insisted on her showing
more self-control. My sharp words had their effect after a time, but it
was impossible to induce her to undress or go to bed. She had flung
herself across the foot and lay crouched up in a heap, with all the
delicate embroidery of her French dressing-gown crushed under her. When
she was quieter I put pillows under her head and covered her up warmly,
and then sat down to watch her.

I was about to leave the room once to fetch something I wanted, when she
suddenly struggled into a sitting posture, and begged me, in a voice of
horror, not to leave her.

'Leah will murder me if you do!' she cried. 'She has frightened me
often,--she says such things,--oh, you do not know! I should never have
been so bad but for Leah!'

'I shall not be long; and Leah is locked in her room; Mr. Hamilton has
the key,' I returned quietly. But it was with difficulty that she would
let me go. I suppose even criminals feel the need of sympathy. Miss
Darrell hated me in her heart, had always hated me, but the sight of even
an unloved human face was better than solitude. No wonder with such
thoughts people go mad sometimes.

I was surprised to see Mr. Hamilton walking up and down the long passage,
as though he were keeping guard. He was going to let me pass him without
a word, but I stopped and asked what he was doing.

'I was waiting until you were safe in your own room,' was the reply.
'What has kept you so long?'

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