Dead Man's Love

Then it was that I came to my resolution; then it was that, to the astonishment of everyone, I began to get noisy. I had all my wits about me, for I had drunk but little, and my head was clear; but at my end of the table it was impossible for them to tell how much I had really taken. I made a pretence of staggering to my feet and proposing a toast, only to be pushed down into my seat again by Harvey Scoffold.

"Be careful," he whispered, with a laugh. "You're not used to this sort of drink; you've taken too much already."

I staggered to my feet again, demanding to know what he meant by it, and asserting my ability, drunkenly, to carry as much as any gentleman. I saw Debora, with a distressed face, rise from the table and go, and desperately enough I longed to be able to explain to her what I was doing.

I insisted, with threats, upon having more wine, until at last the doctor and Scoffold got up and made their way upstairs. There, in the study, Scoffold said that he had a walk before him, and must be going.

"Well, we'll have Debora in, and you shall wish her many happy returns of the day once more before you go," said the doctor, as he rang the bell. "John looks as if he were asleep."

I was not asleep by any means; but I was sunk all of a heap in an arm-chair, snoring, and with my eyes apparently shut. It did not escape me that, on the ringing of that bell, Martha Leach appeared at once, with a bottle and glasses on a tray; and once again I saw that meaning glance flash from her to the doctor, and back again.

Then, very slowly, the door opened, and Debora came in, looking about her. And I lay in that apparent drunken sleep, with every sense attuned to what was about to happen, and with my eyes watching through their half-closed lids.

CHAPTER VII.

IN THE CAMP OF THE ENEMY

As I lay huddled up in that deep arm-chair, watching what was going on, I noticed with satisfaction that they took no more notice of me than if I had really been in the drunken slumber in which they assumed me to be – which was well for my purpose. So carefully and deliberately had I thought the matter out, that I had even arranged my position in the room with a view to the proving of my suspicions; for I had seen, in the bringing of this quite unnecessary bottle of wine, something about to be done which should concern the girl. And everything in the attitude of the doctor and Martha Leach seemed to scream "Danger" to my ears.

The position I had chosen was such that I could see not only the room in which Harvey Scoffold, the doctor, and Debora were standing grouped about the table, but also behind the screen which hid the many bottles in that part of the room I have called the surgery. The better to keep up the illusion of my drunkenness, I now began feebly to wave my arms, and to croon a song, as I lay doubled up with my chin sunk on my breast; and I saw the doctor look at me with some contempt, and shrug his shoulders, and then glance at Martha Leach, who had remained waiting as though to assist with the bottle and glasses. The glance he gave her spoke as plainly as words could do his satisfaction in my condition – Debora's protector was inert and useless.

What now happened was this. Harvey Scoffold, who I am convinced had nothing whatever to do with the business in hand, had engaged the girl in conversation, and had interposed his broad bulk between her and the doctor and Leach. He had his legs set wide apart, and his hands were clasped behind his back, and he was talking in a loud tone to Debora, who seemed somewhat mystified by the whole proceedings. And the doctor and Martha Leach had drawn close together, and while the doctor watched the broad back of Harvey Scoffold, he covertly whispered to the woman.

"And so, my dear young lady, I am to have the pleasure of toasting you in a special glass before I retire to my humble bachelor quarters – eh?" Harvey Scoffold was saying in his loud tones. "This is a new experience for me – bright eyes – sparkling wine – merry hearts!"

"I don't think anyone wants any more wine to-night," I heard Debora say quickly. "One, at least, of us has had more than enough."

I knew that was meant for me, and my heart was bitter at the thought of what she must be thinking of the man who had called himself her friend. But there was no help for it; I had to play the game out to the end, for her sake.

The doctor had made a quick sign to Leach, and she had gone behind the screen. From where I lay, with my hands foolishly and feebly waving, and my lips crooning out the song, I could see her distinctly; and what I saw caused my heart almost to stand still. She picked up a small phial from the corner of a shelf, and slipped it within the folds of her dress; and the next moment was standing beside the doctor again. I saw their hands meet, and I saw the phial pass from the one to the other. Then the doctor slipped both hands into his pockets, and moved towards the table, which, as it happened, stood between him and Harvey Scoffold.

He kept his eyes fixed on Scoffold and the girl, and very quietly and very stealthily drew the phial from his pocket, and opened it. Moving his hand a little to the right, he dropped the contents of the phial into the glass nearest to me. It was a mere colourless liquid, and would not have been noticed in the bottom of the glass. Then the phial was slipped back into his pocket, and somewhat boisterously he picked up the bottle and proceeded to open it. Martha Leach, with one long glance at the girl, passed silently out of the room, and closed the door.

"Come – just one glass of wine before this merry party separates!" cried Bardolph Just as the cork popped out. "And we'll have no heel-taps; we'll drain our glasses. I insist!"

Harvey Scoffold turned round and advanced to the table. Bardolph Just had filled that glass into which he had dropped the contents of the phial, and was filling the second glass. I felt that the time for action had arrived. Just as he got to the third glass I staggered to my feet, apparently tripped on the carpet, and went headlong against him and the table. I heard him splutter out an oath as the table went over and the glasses fell with a crash to the floor.

He swung round upon me menacingly, but before he could do anything I had wrenched the bottle from his hand, and with a wild laugh had swung it round my head, spilling the wine over me as I did so. Then, with a last drunken hiccough, I flung the bottle clean against the window, and heard it crash through, and fall to the ground below.

"To the devil with all drink!" I exclaimed thickly, and dropped back into my chair again.

For a moment the two men stared blankly at each other, and at the wreck of glass and wine upon the carpet. I was waiting for an attack from the doctor, and bracing myself for it; but the attack did not come. True, he made one step towards me, and then drew himself up, and turned with a smile to Debora.

"I'm sorry, my child," he said, in his most winning tones. "I did not mean to have had your pleasure spoilt like this. If you will go to your room, I will try to get rid of this fellow. Harvey," he added in a lower tone to Scoffold, "give an eye to him for a moment."

He followed Debora out of the room, closing the door behind him. I had determined by this time to show my hand, and Harvey Scoffold gave me the opportunity. He strode across to me, and took me by the shoulder, and shook me violently.

"Come, pull yourself together; it's time you were in bed," he said.

I sprang to my feet, and thrust him aside. I think I never saw a man so astonished in all his life as he was, to see me alert and quick and clear-eyed. "That's all you know about the business," I said. "I'm more sober than either of you. Now, hold your tongue, and wait; I've a word to say to Bardolph Just, and it won't keep."

Bardolph Just opened the door at that moment, and came in. By that time I was standing, with my hands in my pockets, watching him, and something in my face and in my attitude seemed to give him pause; he stopped just inside the door, staring at me. Harvey Scoffold looked from one to the other of us, as though wondering what game was afoot.

"Now, Dr. Bardolph Just," I said, "I'll trouble you for that phial. It's in your right-hand trouser pocket. Pass it over."

Instead of complying with that request, he suddenly sucked in a deep breath, and made a rush at me. But he had mistaken his man; I caught him squarely on the jaw with my fist, and he went down at my feet. After a moment or two he looked up at me, sitting there foolishly enough on the floor, and began to tell me what he thought of me.

"You dog! So this is the way you repay my kindness to you, is it?" he muttered. "You scum of a jail! – this is what I get for befriending you."

"Never mind about me," I retorted, "we'll come to my case presently. Just now I want to talk about Miss Debora Matchwick, and I want to know exactly what it was you put into the wine destined for her to-night."

"You're mad!" he said, getting slowly to his feet, and looking at me in a frightened way.

"No, I'm not mad; nor am I drunk," I retorted. "You and the woman Leach thought you were safe enough; look at me now, and tell me how much you think I have seen. Your fine words mean nothing; murder's your game, and you know it!"

All this time Harvey Scoffold had said nothing; he had merely looked from one to the other of us, with something like a growing alarm in his face. But now he stepped forward as though he would understand the matter better, or would at least put an end to the scene.

"My dear Just, and you, Norton Hyde, what does all this mean? Can't you be reasonable, and talk over the matter like gentlemen. What's this talk of phials and stuff put into wine, and murder, and what not?"

"It's true!" I exclaimed passionately. "This is the second time that man has tried to kill her, but it shall be the last. The thing is too bare-faced – too outrageous!"

"Well, my fine jail-bird, and what are you going to do?" demanded the doctor, having now regained the mastery over himself. "Fine words and high sentiments; but they never broke any bones yet. Tell me your accusation clearly, and I shall know how to meet it."

So I gave it them then and there, in chapter and verse; thus letting Harvey Scoffold know, for the first time, of that business of the eastern corridor, and of the mysterious door that opened only once to the road to death; moreover, I put it plainly now, that I had seen the woman Martha Leach take the phial and hand it to him; that I had pretended drunkenness to lull his suspicions of me, and to be ready when he least expected me to upset his plot.

He listened in silence, with his teeth set firmly, and his dark eyes glittering at me; then he nodded slowly, and spoke.

"And the man you accuse is one holding a big position in the world – a man against whom no breath of scandal or suspicion has ever been sent forth," he said. "A man known in many countries of the world – member of learned societies – a man with a name to conjure with. And what of his accuser?"

I knew that he would say that; I knew before-hand the helplessness of my position. But I was reckless, and I did not care what I said or what I did.

"Your accuser is a fugitive from the law; a man who lives under an assumed name, and who has taken advantage of the death of an innocent man to begin life again on his own account. You need not remind me of that," I went on, "because I admit it all. So far, I am in your power; but my position, as something outside the pale of ordinary society, gives me a greater power than you think. I have everything to win; I have nothing to lose. If you had chosen a better man, and had given him the chance to pry into your secrets, you might have had some hold upon him. So far as I am concerned, I am utterly reckless, and utterly determined to save this girl."

"Brave words – very brave words!" he said, with a sneer. "And how do you propose to set about it?"

"I intend to get her out of this house. I intend to look after her, if I have to steal to do it. I'm an adept at that, you will remember," I said bitterly, "only this time I shall do it in a good cause. I mean to get her out of this house, and it will go ill with you if you try to prevent me."

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders; then he turned to Scoffold. "If he were not so mad he would be amusing, this fellow," he said. But Harvey Scoffold, somewhat to my surprise, was silent, and did not look at him. I saw a frown come quickly upon the face of Bardolph Just.

"And pray what's the matter with you?" snapped the doctor at him.

"Nothing – nothing at all!" said Scoffold, in a constrained tone. "I'll say good-night!" He turned towards the door, and I noticed that his head was bowed, and that he looked at the carpet as he moved.

Bardolph Just stepped suddenly in front of him. "Look here, you're not going like that?" he said. "I'll have some word from you about this affair before you leave my house."

Harvey Scoffold looked up quickly. "Then here's the word," he said aggressively. "I'm rather inclined to believe your friend here, and I don't like the business. It's a dirty business, and I've seen enough of it, and of you. Good-night!"

He thrust his way past the other man, and swaggered out of the room. I was so surprised and so relieved that I was in a mood to run after him, and hug him, in sheer joy at finding an honest man; but I refrained.

With the closing of the door the doctor stood for a moment, dazed; then he opened the door again, and ran out after the other. I pitied him for his weakness in doing that, because I felt absolutely certain in my own mind that he would not change Harvey Scoffold's opinion of him. I had hated Harvey Scoffold pretty cordially on my own account, and by reason of my misfortunes; now I began to see (as, alas! I had seen so often with other men, and all to my own undoing) that I had cruelly misjudged him. However, I had said all I wanted to say to the doctor, and I started off to my room.

Now, had I been of a suspicious nature, I must have been disturbed at the sight of the doctor and Harvey Scoffold engaged in earnest talk at the end of the corridor which led from the study; but as, the moment I appeared, Scoffold shook himself angrily free of the other's clutch, and burst out with a shout, I was more than ever convinced that the doctor had been pleading with him in vain.

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with you!" exclaimed Scoffold. "I wish I'd never come into the house. Not another word; I've done with you!"

I heard the great hall door bang, and I knew that Scoffold was gone; the doctor, retracing his steps, favoured me with a scowl as he went past, but said never a word; while I, greatly elated at having found a friend in this business, went off to my room, determined that in some vague fashion I would put matters right in the morning, and defy Bardolph Just to do his worst.

As ill luck would have it, I had forgotten one important point. In the eyes of Debora I had disgraced myself; she had every reason to believe me the drunken madman who had hurled bottles, and broken windows, and upset furniture the night before. I had forgotten that when I entered the breakfast-room in the morning, and found her standing by the window. I made my way eagerly to her. To my momentary surprise, she drew back, as though fearing contact with me.

"Debora!" I began eagerly; but she drew herself up and looked at me haughtily.

"Mr. New, your memory is a poor one," she said. "I'm afraid you don't remember what happened last night."

"My dear Debora," I exclaimed eagerly, "I can explain all that – I can show you – "

I heard the door open behind me, and I stopped. Bardolph Just came into the room, and stopped on seeing me, looking at me frowningly. It was with a very virtuous air that he addressed me.

"I'm glad to see you are striving to make your peace with Miss Matchwick," he said. "She has been in the habit of dealing with gentlemen, and is not used to such scenes as she witnessed last night."

I gave him a look which showed him I understood his drift; he was silent for the moment or two that it took us to get to our places at the table. But he evidently felt that he must labour the point, for he was at me again before ever I had tasted a mouthful.

"I expect you'll have but a poor appetite this morning, John New," he said, "therefore I won't trouble you with food. Take Mr. New a cup of tea," he added to Martha Leach, who stood behind him.

I felt that that was rather petty, but somehow worthy of the man. I drank my tea, and went without the substantial breakfast I should have been glad to have eaten. After all, I felt that the game was in my hands, and that I could well afford to let him wreak such petty vengeance as this upon me. I waited eagerly until the meal was finished; I meant to get speech with the girl, by hook or by crook, at the earliest opportunity. I knew how pressing was the need; I knew how relentless the man at the head of the table and the apparently docile woman behind him would be in regard to Debora, and how powerless I, a creature of no real name or position, would be in the matter, unless I could win the girl to believe me.

I found that a more difficult task even than I had anticipated. Indeed, she avoided me for some time, and when at last I came in touch with her, she drew herself up, with that pretty little lift of her chin I had noticed before, and warned me away.

"I want nothing to do with you, Mr. New," she began. But I was not to be repulsed; the matter was much too urgent for that. I walked close up to her, determined that I would have the matter out then and there.

"You must let me explain," I said. "If you don't you will regret it all your life. You thought I was drunk last night, but I was not."

I waited for some response from her, but she said nothing. I went on again eagerly.

"I was shamming, and with a purpose. Only by that means – only by making the doctor think that I was practically unconscious of what he was doing, was I able to observe him clearly. They tried to poison you last night."

I suppose she saw the truth in my face; she came suddenly to me, and laid her hands on my arm, and looked at me with startled eyes. "To poison me?" she echoed breathlessly.

"Yes, the doctor and Martha Leach. That was why I upset the table and flung the wine away. If you had seen me five minutes after you left the room, you would have known what my real condition was. The doctor knew it, I can assure you!" I laughed at the recollection.

Debora looked quickly all round about her, with the frightened air of one who would escape, but sees no way; there was a hunted look in her eyes that appalled me. "What shall I do?" she whispered. "I am more frightened than I care to say, because I know Dr. Just, and I know how relentless he can be. Don't you understand, John," she went on piteously, "how utterly powerless I am? Anything may happen to me in this dreadful house. I may be killed in any one of a dozen ways; and this well-known physician and scientist, against whom no word of suspicion would be spoken, can give an easy account of my death. What am I to do?"

"I can't for the life of me understand why he should wish to kill you," I said, "unless it be a mere matter of revenge."

"It isn't that," she answered me slowly. "You see, my poor father trusted him so completely, and believed in him so much, that in addition to placing me under his guardianship he put a clause in his will which, in the event of my death, leaves the whole of my property to Dr. Bardolph Just."

Now, for the first time, I saw into the heart of this amazing business; I had probed the motive. He would have secured the girl if he could; failing that, he would secure her property. As he knew that she might, in any ordinary event, pass out of his life, if only by the common gate of marriage, he had determined to get rid of her, and so secure easily what was hers. The whole thing was explained now clearly enough.

"What you must do," I answered steadily, wondering a little at my own bravery in suggesting it, "is to come away from this house with me. You must trust me to look after you."

I realise now how mad a proposition that was; but I did not see it in that light then. I loved her, and I dreaded what might happen to her; more than all else, I saw no greater happiness than in gaining for myself the dear privilege of watching over her. You may imagine what my feelings were when I heard her glad and eager assent.

"Yes, yes, I will come willingly," she said. "Where will you take me?"

"I don't know," I said a little ruefully, "but we can settle that matter afterwards. Far better for us to tramp the roads, side by side, in safety, than for you to remain in this place a day longer. Now listen to me, while I tell you what my plan is."

We were pacing up and down a grass-grown walk while we talked; we were well out of sight of the house. While I write this I seem to see again her glowing face turned towards mine; to feel the touch of her hands in mine; to hear the quick, eager whisper with which she answered me. I had cause to remember that afterwards, with bitterness, as you shall presently hear.

"The chances are that we shall be watched," I began, "because I was foolish enough last night to tell the doctor of my intention. Consequently, we must not be seen together during the day; we must escape under cover of darkness. At ten o'clock to-night walk quietly out of the house, as though you were going for a stroll in the grounds; when you come to the gate, go out into the road, where I shall be waiting. After that we must leave the rest to whatever good or ill fortune awaits us. At some convenient time during the day put whatever you need to take with you in the old summer-house where we first met; no one visits that, and you can easily take the things from there when you finally leave the house."

So it was settled; and for that time I knew that we should both wait eagerly. I laughed a little ruefully to myself at the thought of how little money I had in my pocket; but that matter did not greatly trouble me. The future must take care of itself; I liked to think that Debora and I were two waifs, setting out alone together, to explore a great unknown world in which as yet we had neither of us had any real chance of living. I painted a wholly impossible future for us both; for my own part, I think I felt capable of conquering worlds, and carving out a position for myself and for her.

The doctor chose to shut himself up in his study during the day, and although Debora and I had lunch and dinner together in the big dining-room, the woman Martha Leach never left us for a moment, and our conversation was, perforce, confined to the most trivial things. To any outside observer Martha Leach would have appeared to be merely a highly-trained servant, devoted to us, and anxious to anticipate our every want; to my clearer understanding she was a spy, eager to bring about that which the doctor wished, at all costs. I seemed to see her again slipping the phial into the doctor's hand.

So closely were we watched during the progress of those meals, and so careful did we deem it necessary to be in our behaviour towards each other, that I had no opportunity of learning whether Debora had succeeded in getting her hat and coat and such things as she might need, into the safe shelter of the summer-house. Therefore I determined, about an hour before the time arranged for the girl to meet me, that I would saunter down to the place, to see for myself that all was well. My preparations were soon made; I had merely to put my cap in my pocket, and so saunter out of the house, as though about to stroll in the grounds.

So I came to the summer-house, and, walking quickly into it quite unsuspiciously, came face to face with Mr. Harvey Scoffold, seated on the bench, with his head leaning back against the wall, and his eyes closed. He had a cigar between his lips, at which he was lazily puffing. And beside him on the seat was a little bag, and Debora's hat and coat.

Here, I felt, was an end of the game – so far, at least, as that day was concerned. How he had contrived to blunder upon the affair I could not tell; I only knew that the mere presence of those things there at his side must have given away the little plot at once. While I stared at him he opened his eyes, and looked at me with a smile.