Chapter VI: Part 6

"Silence! I will not hurry matters, but you may look upon this as a thing which is definitely settled. Glyddyr is coming here this morning, as I told you before. I shall tell him that we have come to an understanding, and that he may consider himself as accepted, with a long probation to go through. There, you see, I am quite calm, for I make that concession to you--plenty of time."

"Father, dear, listen to me," cried Claude passionately.

"No! I'll listen to no more. You can go now and think. You will come to your senses by-and-by, I have no doubt, even if it takes time."

Claude caught his hand in hers, but he withdrew his own with an angry gesture, and she shrank back for a moment. There was that, though, in his face which made her hesitate about saying more, and reaching up, and kissing him hurriedly, she left the room, thinking that he would calm down.

He stood watching her as she left, and then, grinding his teeth with rage, his face flushing and his temples beating hard, he strode across to the door, locked it securely, and drew a curtain across.

"The scoundrel! He has poisoned her mind. But I'd sooner kill him--I'd sooner--Oh, it's maddening," he cried, as he went to a drawer, fumbled with the key on a bunch he drew from his pocket, and had some difficulty in opening it, for his hand trembled with suppressed passion.

Then he drew open the receptacle, and from the back took out a ring with three curiously formed keys. These clinked together with the involuntary movements of his hands as he crossed to a bookcase, took out a couple of books, opened a little door behind them, and thrust another key in at the side. There was a sharp click, and he started back, withdrawing the key, and stood and gave his head a shake as if to clear it.

"How I do hate to be put out like this," he muttered, as he laid his hand in a particular way upon the end of the bookcase, which slowly revolved on a pivot, and laid bare a large iron door.

"I don't feel at all myself," he continued, as he used the third and largest key, which opened the great door of his safe, and exposed a massive-looking closet built in the wall with blocks of granite, at the back of which were half-a-dozen iron shelves.

"Hah!" he exclaimed, as he stood in the opening, reaching forward and taking down a small square box, which was heavy. "He'd like to have the pleasure of spending you, no doubt, but I can checkmate him. Now," he continued, "let's finish counting."

He carried the box to the table, set it down, and then took out, one by one, five canvas bags, one of which he untied, and poured out a little heap of sovereigns. This done, he went back to the safe and took a small, thick ledger from another shelf, walked back to the table, opened the book, and made an entry of the date therein, then, leaving the pen in the opening, seated himself once again to count the coins into little piles of twenty-five.

"No," he murmured; "I haven't worked all these years to have my money swallowed up by a fortune-hunter. No, Master Chris Lisle."

He started from his seat, overturning a pile of sovereigns, for at that moment, sweet and clear, came the song of a robin seated upon a tamarisk just outside the window.

"Good heavens! I must be mad," he cried. "Who opened that window? Yes; Claude, I remember," he muttered; and he was in the act of crossing to close it when he stopped short, threw out his hands, and fell with a heavy thud upon the thick Turkey carpet, to lie there with his face distorted, struggling violently, and striking his hands against a chair.

Volume Two, Chapter II.

CHRIS VISITS THE MUSEUM.

Racing did not agree with Chris Lisle, for the morning after his return from town he rose with a bad headache; and as he lived one of the most regular lives, he knew that it could not be caused by errors of diet. It would have been easy enough to have attributed it to the true cause-- constant worry--but he was not going to own to that, as it seemed weak, so he set it down to his hair being too long.

"No wonder my head's hot," he said to himself; and, acting upon impulse, he hurried out of the room, and walked straight along the cliff road toward where, a few minutes before, Michael Wimble had had his head out of his door, looking for customers, after the fashion in which a magpie looks about for something to secrete.

He was a dry, yellow-looking man, thin, quick and sharp in action as the above-named bird, one to which his long nose and quick black eyes gave him no little resemblance; and this he enhanced by his habit of thrusting his head out of his door, laying his ear on his shoulder, and looking sidewise in one direction, then changing the motion by laying his other ear upon the fellow shoulder, and looking out in the opposite direction.

The Danmouth people, as a rule, always looked straight out to sea in a contemplative fashion, in search of something which might benefit them-- fish, a ship in distress, flotsam and jetsam; but Michael Wimble looked for his benefits from the shore, and seldom gazed out to sea.

His place of business was called generally "the shop," in spite of an oval board bearing upon it, in faded yellow letters upon a drab green ground, the word "_Museum_" as an attraction to any strangers who might visit the place, and be enticed by curiosity to see what the museum might contain, as well as by a printed notice pasted on each door-post, "Free admission." Once within, they might become customers for shaving, haircutting, a peculiar yellow preparation which Michael Wimble called "pomehard," or some of the sundries he kept in stock, which included walking-sticks, prawn nets, fishing lines, and white fish hooks, made of soft tinned iron, so that, if they caught in the rough rocky bottom, or some stem of extra tough seaweed, a good tug would pull them through it--bending without breaking--a great advantage and saving, so long as they did not behave in this way with a large fish.

Michael Wimble was very proud of his museum, and took pleasure in telling the seaside visitors that he had collected all his curiosities himself, and very much resented upon one occasion its being called a "Marine store" by a gentleman from town.

The museum began as a labour of love, for Michael had cast his eyes upon the fair elderly motherly widow, Chriss landlady, and, since the commencement of his collection, he had laboured on, in the belief that, as it increased in importance, so would the woman soften toward him; and that some day all his four-roomed dwelling would become museum and business place, while he would go and reside at the widow's house--widow no longer, but Mrs Wimble--his own.

The beginning of the museum was a star-fish, with four small rays and one of enormous size, that he picked up during his regular morning walk along the sea shore, wet or dry, summer or winter, at six o'clock, as near to the edge of the water as he could get, returning close under the cliffs in time to have his place of business opened by eight.

The star-fish was duly dried and admired, and talked about by his regular customers; and this seemed so satisfactory that it was soon supplemented by a cuttlefish bone.

A piece of wood well bored by teredoes followed. Then a good-sized chump of ship timber, with a cluster of barnacles attached, was carried in one morning to commence the fine, fusty, saline, sea-weedy odour which smothered completely the best hair oil, the pomade and the scented soap.

The museum grew rapidly: hanks of seaweed, more cuttlefish bones, native sponges, shells of all sorts and sizes, some perfect, and some ground thin and white by long chafing in the shingle. Stones of all kinds, from spar to serpentine, and grey and ruddy granite; sharks' teeth, pieces of mineral of metallic lustre, fragments of spar, and fossils, including great ammonites, chipped out of a bed of rock which presented its water-washed face to the advancing tide.

There was always something to bring home to suspend from the wall, arrange on shelf, or give a place of honour in one or other of the glass cases, which by degrees were purchased; and as Wimble's museum increased, so it became of local celebrity.

Michael Wimble had been peering out when a customer appeared, and after due soaping and softening with hot water, the barber was operating with a thin razor, which scraped off the harsh bristles off the fisherman with a peculiar metallic ring.

The final triumphant upper scrape was being given when Chris entered the museum, and the barber's eyes twinkled, for there were signs about Chris which suggested a new customer, one who was in the habit of getting his professional aid in the county town.

"At liberty in a moment, sir," said the barber obsequiously; and he rapidly wrung out a sponge, removed the unscraped-off soap from the fisherman's face, and threw a towel at him with a look which seemed to say, "Take that and be off."

"Nyste mornin' this, Mis' Lisle, sir," said the fisherman, wiping his face slowly. "Long time since you've had a run after the bahss."

"Yes, 'tis," said Chris shortly.

"Ay, 'tis as you say, sir, that it is; but when you feel in the right mind you've only got to say so, and I'm your man, punt and all."

"Cut or shave, sir?" said the little barber, with a look at his regular customer which seemed to say, "Go." And he went.

"Cut," said Chris laconically; and he took his seat in the operating chair.

The barber looked disappointed as he drew his professional print cloth round his customer, giving it a shake, and then securing it about his neck like a Thug with a new victim.

"Much or little off, sir?" continued Wimble, with a preliminary snip in the air.

"Much; but don't make it a confounded crop," said Chris sourly; for he had a natural dislike to the barber, and was vexed with himself for not having had his hair cut in London.

"Much, but not too much," said Wimble thoughtfully; and then, with the customary chatter of his profession, he started a topic.

"Been up to the quarry, sir, lately?"

"No."

That was a negative strong enough to have crushed some men, but it only acted as a spur on the proprietor of the museum.

"Then I should advise you to go up, sir. I was there this morning, just casting an eye round for spars and crystals, and natural hist'ry specimens in general, and Mr Gartram's men have blasted out some of the finest stones I think I ever saw."

Wimble waited for an answer, but none came; and, after a little snipping, which was all done with the operator's head very much on one side, he continued--

"Fine property, that of Mr Gartram's, sir. Grand estate."

Chris felt as if he would have liked to gag the barber with his own lather brush. But he sat still, holding his breath while the man prattled on.

"You said much off, sir? yes, sir; very good plan, sir; keeps the head cool, and after a wash or a shampoo, just a rub with the towel and there you are. I often admire our visitor, Mr Glyddyr, for that, sir."

Chris flinched.

"Don't be alarmed, sir; only the scissors touched the skin; cold steel, sir. Keeps his hair very short, sir; quite like a Frenchman. Wonderfully fond of our town, sir. His yacht's always here."

Chris grunted, and wished he had not come to have his hair cut, as the man innocently prattled on.

"If I might take the liberty of saying so, why don't you take to a yacht?"

"Can't afford it," said Chris bluntly.

Wimble uttered a little laugh that suggested disbelief.

"They do say, sir, as this Mr Glyddyr is making up to Miss Gartram, sir."

Chris set his teeth hard. He could not jump up and run out of the place with his hair half cut.

"And that Mr Gartram is set upon it, sir. Well, it's a fine opening for any young man, I'm sure. Mr Gartram must have a deal of money up yonder. I often wonder he has never been robbed--that's it, sir. The other side, please: thank you. Stone walls and bolts and bars are all very well, but, as I said to Doctor Asher when I was cutting him the other day--If a man wants to commit a robbery, stone walls and iron bars is no use. `No, sir,' I says, `there's sure to be times when doors is open and iron bars undone, and those are the times that a thief and a robber would choose.'"

"Humph!" ejaculated Chris. "So you think there are times when a man might easily rob Mr Gartram?"

"I do, sir, indeed; and if you'll believe me there, I wouldn't have his money and live as he does for anything."

"Ah, well, I won't believe you," said Chris drily.

"But you may, sir. Yes, sir, it isn't safe to live with so much money in your house."

"Well, I'll tell Mr Gartram what you say."

The scissors dropped on the floor with a crash, and Wimble stood, wide-eyed, and harrowing his thin whiskers with his comb.

"What's the matter?"

"I beg pardon, sir," faltered the barber; "you said--"

"That I'd tell Mr Gartram."

"I--I--I beg your pardon, Mr Lisle, sir; don't do that. Mr Gartram's my landlord--a hard man, sir, in paint and repairs; and if he knew that I'd said such a thing about him being robbed or murdered, why, I do believe, sir, he'd turn me out of house and home."

"I shouldn't wonder," said Chris gruffly. "Lesson to you to hold your tongue."

This was so decided a rebuff that Wimble frowned, picked up his scissors, and went on snipping in silence for nearly half a minute, when the desire to talk, or habit of using his jaws in concert with the opening and shutting of his scissors, mastered him again.

"If I might be so bold as ask, sir, Mrs Sarson quite well?"

"Yes, quite well."

"Most amiable woman, sir," said the barber, "Her house always seems to me as if it might take a prize--so beautifully kept, sir--so delicately clean."

"Yes."

"I often wonder she hasn't married again."

Chris had heard hints from his landlady about an offer of marriage from the owner of the museum, but it had slipped from his memory till now, when the suggestive remark brought it all back, and a mischievous spirit seemed to enter into him.

He could not find it in his heart to bully the man, whose prattling gossip was a part of his trade, but he could vex him and revenge himself in another way for the annoyance Wimble was inflicting, and with boyish love of mischief he replied--

"Yes; so do I. But perhaps it is probable."

Wimble checked his scissors as they were half-way through a tuft of hair.

"Indeed, sir?" he said, as he went on snipping. "Yes; of course you, being, as you may say, one of the family, and living on the premises, would know."

"Yes," said Chris, in a tone suggestive of much knowledge; and then there was an interval of snipping, and Wimble coughed.

"If one might say so, sir," he said, "that was a most gallant act of yours the other day."

"Eh? What was?"

"Swimming out after that handsome French lady, and saving her life."

"Pooh! Nonsense!" said Chris pettishly.

"But it was, sir. People talk about it a deal."

"More fools they."

"Yes, sir; but people will talk."

"Yes," said Chris meaningly; "they will."

"Yes, sir; and it's wonderful what a man will go through for a woman's sake--I mean a gentleman for a lady."

"You miserable little pump," muttered Chris to himself.

"Elderly gentleman, or young, sir?" said Wimble insinuatingly.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"What you said, sir, about Mrs Sarson, sir--her future, sir."

"Oh, you mustn't ask me, Mr Wimble. It would be very much out of place for me to say anything. Done?"

"One minute, sir. Anything on, sir? Lime cream?"

"No; just a brush.--Thanks; that will do.--Good morning."

Trifling words do a great deal of mischief sometimes, and Chris Lisle's had the effect of making the owner of the museum stand at his door with his head sidewise, watching his last client till he was out of sight, and as he went down the street, dark thoughts entered his mind about age and good looks and opportunity; of the result of his own observations in life as to the weakness of elderly ladies for youth; and one by one ideas came into his mind such as had never been there before.

"If it does turn out so," he muttered, as he slowly went back into his place of business, and apostrophised the head of a huge dog-fish which had been preserved and furnished with two glass eyes, asquint, and whose drying had resulted in a peculiar one-sided smile; "yes, if it does turn out so, I hope, for his sake and mine, he will not come here to be shaved."

His thoughts had such a terrible effect upon Michael Wimble, that he took a razor from where it reposed in one of a series of leather loops against the wall, opened it, seized a leather strap which hung by one end from a table, and began to whet the implement with a degree of savage energy that was startling.

Chris had his hair cut, and his head felt easier, but the barber's did not.

Volume Two, Chapter III.

GLYDDYR SEES THE GOLDEN CAVE.

Faithful to his time of tryst with Gartram, Glyddyr made his way up to the Fort that morning, thinking deeply of his position, and wondering whether Gartram had good news to report.

He reached the frowning gateway, went along the granite-paved passage, and was passing the end of the terrace walk which ran along the front of the house, when he caught sight of a dress just as the wearer passed round the corner of the house to the garden formed at the end.

"Claude or Mary," he said to himself. "Shall I? The old man likes me to make myself at home, and it may mean a _tete-a-tete_ there, overlooking the sea. I will."

With a sinister smile he turned off to the left, instead of going up to the door. He went by the bay window of the dining-room, and was in the act of passing that of Gartram's study when the robin flew out of the feathery tamarisk, and as he was looking at the flight of the bird, he turned sharply, for a curious, gasping cry came from the room on the right.

He ran into the room, instinctively feeling what was wrong, and in nowise surprised to find that Gartram was struggling in a fit upon the carpet.

His first act was to drag away the chairs nearest to the suffering man, and then to try and place him in a position so that he would not be likely to suffer from strangulation.

"It's very horrid," he muttered, "and will frighten the poor girl almost to death; but I must ring--no: I'll go for help."

He stopped short, for his eyes lit upon the bags and loose coin upon the table, and then upon the open safe, towards which he seemed drawn, as if fascinated.

"By George!" he muttered, after glancing back at where Gartram lay, perfectly insensible to what went on around him. "Monte Christo, and--"

He paused, and looked stealthily about, feeling giddy the while, as a great temptation assailed him, making him turn pale.

But he mastered the feeling directly, and after a moments thought swept the money back into the receptacle, and carried it and the book to the safe.

"Poor old chap!" he thought. "I needn't stoop to steal when he is so ready to give it all."

He closed the door quickly, and locked it, then drew back and grasped the idea of how it was hidden directly, turning the great panel of the bookcase on its pivot, and closing in the iron door.

He had just finished this and relocked the place, which he was able to do after a little puzzling, when he saw that the fit was growing more severe, and at the same time noted the open drawer in the table.

"Keep the keys there," he said to himself, as he replaced them and closed the drawer. "There, that's what he would have wished his son-in-law elect to do for him, so now for help."

He bent over Gartram for a moment, and shrank slightly from the distorted face and rolling eyes. Then, going to the door, he turned the handle.

"Locked!" he exclaimed, "to keep out interruption and prying eyes. Well, old fellow, I am in your secret, and know the open sesame of the golden cave, so we shall see."

He turned the key, threw open the door, and hurried into the hall, but ran back directly, and, glancing at Gartram as he did so, pulled the bell sharply.

Almost as he reached the door, Sarah Woodham and one of the servants entered the hall.

"Here, you," he said quickly to the dark, stern-looking woman, "send at once for the doctor; your master is in a fit."

Sarah turned to her fellow-servant, gave her the required instructions, and followed Glyddyr back into the study.

"Where are the young ladies?" he said. "Don't let them come."

"They must know, sir," said the woman, going down on one knee to place Gartram's head in a more natural position. "Miss Claude would not forgive me if she was not told."

Almost at the same moment, a step was heard on the terrace outside. Mary came by, humming a tune to herself, glanced in, and, seeing what was wrong, darted away.

The next minute she and Claude were there, aiding in every possible way till the doctor's step was heard in the hall.

He came in directly, and gave two or three short, quick orders, almost the first being to dismiss every one but Sarah Woodham.

"Go into the drawing-room," he said. "I'll call if I want any help. He'll soon come round now. What has been the matter; some fresh excitement?"

Claude's countenance was full of trouble, but she made no reply. Still, she could not help glancing at Glyddyr, and to her shame and annoyance found that he was looking at her in an eager, imploring way, as he held open the door for her to pass out, and then followed.

"He's coming into the drawing-room, Mary," Claude whispered. "I cannot speak. Pray say something to send him away."

There was no need for Mary to speak. Glyddyr came up to Claude at once, and took her hand.

"I cannot tell you how grieved I am, Miss Gartram," he whispered, in a voice full of sympathy. "Your father invited me to call upon him this morning, and when I came I found him lying in his room as you saw."

He did not explain which way he entered, and for the time no one thought it strange.

Then there was silence, and Claude, after a vain attempt to control her emotion and speech, tried to withdraw her hand, but it was held fast.

"I am on the horns of a dilemma," continued Glyddyr--"puzzled. I want to show my sympathy, and to be of help, but I cannot see in which way I can be of most service--by staying or by leaving at once."

"By going, Mr Glyddyr. Pray leave us now. You can indeed do nothing."

"I will obey your lightest wish," he said eagerly. "You have only to speak."

"Then, pray, go."

He raised the hand he held to his lips, and pressed it long and tenderly, till it was hastily withdrawn, and then, bowing only to Mary, he went quickly from the room.

"Bless the fit!" he said to himself. "Brought me a bit nearer to her haughty ladyship. Bah! it's only a question of time."

It was in Claude's heart to relate her interview with her father that morning, but she shrank from speaking; and her attention was taken up by the entrance of the doctor.

"Better," he said; "decidedly better."

"Can I go to him?"

"If you wish it. But your entrance might disturb him now, as he has just sunk into a peaceful sleep. Mrs Woodham is watching him, and will call you if there is any need. But, believe me, there will be none. He'll sleep for some hours, and then wake quite himself; but, of course, very irritable and strange. You will then see that he has the medicine I have left for him, and after an hour that which I shall send on."

"Yes, doctor."

"Either administer it yourself, or let that woman give it to him. Don't trust Mr Gartram."

"Not trust him?"

"No; he will neglect it, and then take a double dose to make up for it, and that will not do. Regularity, and keeping himself under the influence of the drug, is what we want."

"I will attend to it myself," said Claude.

"And when you are going to be away, let Mrs Woodham administer it. Perhaps it would be better to leave it entirely to her."

"Oh, no; I would rather keep it under my own eye. You will come in again soon?"

"I begin to be ashamed of coming so often," said the doctor, smiling, "and ask myself whether my treatment is right."

"Oh, I have perfect faith in that," said Claude, "and so has my father."

"Thank you," he said smiling.

"Now, please, tell me, Doctor Asher, the simple truth."

"Why, of course."

"You smile, and you say that out of mere politeness, and to make me comfortable. I want to know the truth."

"Now, my dear child--"

"But I am not a child, Doctor Asher. Once a child to you is to be always a child. Can you not see that I am a grown woman, full of a woman's trouble's?"

"I beg your pardon, Miss Gartram. You shall not complain again."

"Then tell me without any disguise--is my father's life in danger?"

"Rest assured that it is not."

"Thank heaven!"

"But I must tell you this--I can do nothing to arrest these fits--"

"These terrible fits!" sighed Claude.

"--Without I have his co-operation, for so much depends upon his living a quiet, peaceful life, without throwing himself into these violent fits of temper. You force me to speak plainly, but, of course, it is between us. If he knew that I said what I do, it would have a bad effect upon him, and send him into another passion."

"But what can I do?" said Claude her eyes filling with tears.

"Use your woman's wit. I can give you no better counsel. You must be the cooling oil to stop the friction when you see it arising; and, above all, never thwart him in anything upon which he has set his mind."

A great sob struggled for exit in Claude's breast as she heard the doctor's words, which were more full of meaning to her than he realised, and she glanced round, to see that her cousin was watching her closely.

"I will do my best," she said.

"That's well," said Asher, giving his white hands a soft rub together as he smiled from one to the other. "`What can't be cured must be endured,' young ladies; but I do not say that this cannot be cured. We will do our best, but the patient must be made to help. Does he take his medicine regularly?"

Claude shook her head.

"I thought not. Flies to it, I suppose, when he feels bad, and neglects it at other times."

"But that other medicine, doctor--the chloral which he takes--is it good for him?"

Asher shook his head.

"Then why do you let him have it?"

"My dear young lady, is not that rather unreasonable? Now, look here; supposing I were to say, `Mr Gartram, chloral is ruining your system,' what would he reply?"

Claude shook her head.

"I appeal to you, Miss Dillon; what do you think your uncle would say?"

"Go to the devil!" said Mary quietly.

"Mary!"

"Well, he would, Claudie, and you know it."

"Miss Dillon is quite right," said the doctor, rubbing his hands. "Strong but truthful; chloral he will have, and if he keeps to it as I prescribe--in moderation--it will not do him much harm, but tend to calm him. There, I'll look in again. He is going on as well as can be."

"Shall we go and sit with him?"

"N-no; I hardly think it necessary. You can do no good. I have given Sarah Woodham the fullest instructions, and I'll come in again this evening."

The doctor left, and as soon as he was gone, Mary Dillon shook her head.

"Poor Claudie!" she whispered. "Mustn't thwart uncle in any of his wishes. And it means so much, doesn't it?"

"Master would like to see you, Miss Claude," said Sarah Woodham, coming to the door.

"Not worse, Sarah?"

"No, miss; better, I think."

Claude followed her into the passage on her way to her father's room, but the woman arrested her.

"Miss Claude, may I say a word to you?"

"Yes, certainly. What is it?"

"I've been thinking this all over, my dear, and after giving it a fair trial, I want you to let me go again."

"Now, Sarah--"

"Pray listen to me, miss. Master does not like me, for I make him think of poor Woodham; and I'm a bad nurse, and I feel sometimes as if I couldn't bear it."

"You are not a bad nurse," said Claude, taking the woman's hand; "but you feel it hard work to settle down again--that is all."

"No, no, miss, it isn't only that," said the woman wildly. "But let me speak to you again, my dear; he wants you now."

Claude nodded to her smilingly, and hurried into her father's room, leaving the woman standing with knitted brow, and hands clasped.

She looked fixedly at the door, uttered a sigh, and went to her room, to sit thinking deeply of the duty she was called upon to perform, just as her love for Claude was fast growing.

Volume Two, Chapter IV.

IN THE SHADOW.

"Don't you think papa seems much better, Sarah?" said Claude one day.

She was busy in the store-room, playing the part of mistress at the Fort, and giving out sundry and domestic necessaries to the old servant, who was watching her intently, and leaning over her with a singularly intent look in her eyes which seemed to soften her hard countenance.

"Yes, my dear; it is some time since he has had a fit."

"Let me see; you will want rice and more coffee."

"And maccaroni," said Sarah quietly.

"No; don't have rice and maccaroni. Tell cook not to send up two farinaceous puddings the same day. It annoys papa."

"Because they are good for him," said Sarah drily.

"Ah!" said Claude, turning upon her sharply, but with a playful manner; "you must not censure sick people. Why, Sarah, what makes you watch me so intently?"

There were tears in the woman's eyes, as, with a hysterical catching of the breath, she took hold of the hand which was passing her a package, and pressed it passionately to her lips, kissing it again and again.

"Sarah!"

"Don't be angry with me, my dear. I'm not the same as I used to be. Trouble has changed me; I couldn't help it. When I see you grown up into such a beautiful woman, so calm and quiet and ladylike, quite the mistress of the house, and talking as you do, it gives me a catching in the throat."

"You are not well."

"Yes, my dear, quite well; but it makes me think of the tiny girl who used to love me so, and whose pretty little arms were thrown about my neck, and who kissed me every night when she went to bed."

"Yes; but I was a little girl then."

"You were, my dear; and don't you remember, when I heard you say your prayers, it was always, `Pray God, bless Sarah,' as well as those whom it was your duty to pray for. Ah, Miss Claude, you used to love me then."

"And how do you know that I do not love you now?"

"Ah, that's all changed, my dear. You are no longer a little girl."

"But I do love you now."

"No, no, my dear; not as you used to."

"And keep still to the simple old form of prayer I was taught as a child, with a word for the poor, stricken old friend who was always so tender and loving to me."

"No," said the woman sadly.

"Sarah!"

"Yes, yes, yes; you do, my own darling," she cried, as she sank upon her knees and pressed Claude's hand to her cheek. "You do, you must, and you have shown it to me by what you have done. I'm a wicked, ungrateful wretch."

"No, no, no; be calm, be calm," whispered Claude soothingly.

"No, my dear, there is no more happiness and rest for me. You do not know--you do not know."

"I know my poor old nurse is in sad trouble, and that there must be times when she feels all the past cruelly. But do you forget what we are taught about patience under affliction? Do you ever pray for help to bear all this as you should?"

"No, no," cried the woman fiercely; "I feel sometimes as if I dare not pray."

"There, there," said Claude, laying her hand tenderly upon the woman's arm, "you must not talk like that. You are ill and upset to-day. Try and be patient. Come, you are not quite alone in the world, Sarah. I am your friend."

The woman kissed her hand again passionately, as she moaned to herself in the agony of her spirit, for there before her she seemed to see her husband's reproachful eyes, and to hear his voice as he bade her be strong, and keep down all weak feelings of love for others till she had accomplished the terrible revenge.

"Come, come, come," said Claude gently. "I was in hopes that you were growing happier and more contented. Try to be. Time will soften all this pain. I know how terribly you have suffered, and that my words must sound very weak and commonplace to you; but you will be more patient, and bear all this."

The agonising emotion seemed to choke all utterance, for a fierce battle was going on within the woman's breast. Love for her young mistress strove with the feeling of duty to the dead, and the superstitious horror of breaking that vow voluntarily; and at last, excusing herself, she hurried away to her room to lock herself in, and throw herself upon her knees to pray for help--to pray that she might be forgiven, and spared from the terrible task placed upon her as a duty to fulfil.

But no comfort came, only a hard sensation of fate drawing her on till she grew feverish and restless. Red spots burned in her sallow cheeks, and she rose from her knees at last with a heavy, lowering look in her eyes, as she muttered to herself--

"Yes, it must be done. It is fate. He knew better than I, and saw with dying eyes what was right. Yes, I cannot go back now."

That night Sarah Woodham lay long awake, suffering a mental agony such as comes to the lot of few. Her woman's nature rebelled against her fate, for beneath the hard, morose shell there was an abundance of the gentle milk of human kindness; but her long married training in the hard letter of the sect to which her husband belonged had placed her self-styled duty so to the front that it had become an idol--a stern, tyrannical idol, who must at all costs be obeyed, and she shrank with horror, as at a sin of the most terrible nature, from daring to disobey the injunction laid upon her by the dead.

Religion belief and superstitious dread joined hand in hand to force her onward, and she lay shivering in her bed, reproaching herself for striving to escape from the fulfilment of her husband's last command.

Night after night she suffered a martyrdom; but upon this particular occasion it seemed to her that she was in close communication with the unseen, and, with eyes wild and strained, she kept trying to pierce the darkness, lying in anticipation of some severe reproof for tarrying so long.

Hours had passed, but sleep would not come; and at last, in a desponding voice, she moaned--

"It is too much. I am only a poor weak woman. Isaac, Isaac, husband, my burden is greater than I can bear."

The words she had uttered aloud startled her, and she lay trembling, but they seemed to have relieved her over-burdened heart, and a feeling of calm restfulness gradually stole over her, and she slept, with the tears slowly stealing from beneath her closed lids.

"Isaac, husband, for her sake don't ask me to do this thing."

The words came in a hurried whisper, telling too plainly that, even in sleep, the rest had not quite calmed her tortured brain, for the task was there, and she moaned again and again piteously, as if continuing her appeal for mercy.

But in her imagination there was none. Her eyes had hardly closed before she seemed to be back in the cottage listening to the dying man's utterances, full of bigoted intolerance and hate, bidding her avenge him; and at last she started up in bed with a cry of horror, to sit there pressing her wet dark hair back from her brow, and staring wildly into the darkest corner of the room.

"Yes, I hear," she said, in a hoarse whisper. "I have tried indeed; but you don't know. I am only a poor, weak creature, and it is so hard--so hard, but I will--I will."

She sat there for fully two hours rocking herself to and fro, weeping, praying, but finding no relief. She threw herself down at last, and for a few moments the cool pillow relieved the agony of her throbbing temples; but only for the time, and then it was as hot as her fevered head.

"If I could only sleep," she groaned; "if I could only sleep and forget."

But the sleep that gathers up the ravelled sleeve of care would not come; and at last in despair she rose, bathed her burning temples, and then hurriedly began to dress.

"I cannot bear it longer," she muttered; "I cannot bear it."

Drawing the curtain aside, she saw that it was still night, and that her sleep, with its agonising dreams, must have been of the briefest kind, and going to her dressing-table she took her watch--the heavy silver watch that had been her husband's--from the stand where it hung to act as a little timepiece; but though she held it in various positions close to the window, the reflection of the moonlight which bathed the farther side of the house was not sufficient, and she opened the watch and trusted to her sense of touch.

Here she was more successful, for, passing her forefinger lightly over the dial, she arrived at a fairly accurate knowledge of the time-- half-past two.

Setting her teeth hard, she went on dressing, muttering the while, a word from time to time being perfectly audible, and telling the direction of her thoughts.

"I must--fought against it. Maddening--wrong or right--must--poor master--must--I must."

Each word was uttered in company with a jerk given to every button or string; and at last she stood thinking by the door, not hesitating but making up her mind as to her course.

The dread and its accompanying trembling were gone now. In their place was active determination as to the course she meant to take, and with a long-drawn breath she unfastened her door, and passed out into the utter darkness of the passage and landing.

There was something weird and spiritualised about her appearance as she passed on to the stairs, and descended, the faint light shed by the glimmering stars through a skylight just making it evident that something was moving slowly down the steps, while the faint brushing sound of her dress seemed more like the whispering of the wind than a noise made by some one passing down the hard granite flight.

She paused for a few moments by the door of Claude's room, as if listening; and again a sigh escaped her as she went on silently, awake to the fact that the slightest noise might arouse her master, who would, if not plunged in a drug-contrived stupor, be lying sleepless listening to every sound.

But she passed on down the last flight of steps, across the hall, and without hesitation laid her hand upon the handle of the study door.

"Locked!" she said to herself, the thought occurring directly that the reason was hers, for she recalled fastening the door.

There was a slight grating sound and a sharp crack as she turned the key; but they had no effect upon the woman who, now that she had determined upon her course, seemed as if she would stop at nothing.

The darkness in the study was profound; not even a gleam from the stars passing through the window, which was shuttered, and the curtains drawn. But, as if light were not needed in her mission, the woman went on across the room, avoiding the various articles of furniture in a way that was marvellous, and hardly making a sound till she turned the key of the oak cabinet, which creaked sharply as the door was thrown open.

Then came the clink of bottle against bottle, and the squeaking sound of a cork, followed by the gurgling of a liquid being poured out. The noise of the cork, the tap of the bottom of the bottle on being replaced, and then the closing and locking of the door followed.

Sarah Woodham was about to cross the room back to the door, satisfied with the successful issue of her mission, which would have been thwarted had there been no key in the lock, when the sound of the handle of the door being moved made her start towards the window. Her first idea was to throw one of the curtains round her, but there was no time, and she stood motionless in the dark, listening, under the impression that Claude had heard her come down, and had followed.

A low cough undeceived her, and a chill of horror ran through her frame as she realised the fact that it was her master.

He must have been awake and watchful, and she stood there trying to stop the beating of her heart, as she felt that she had been discovered.

But Gartram slowly crossed the room, and in imagination she saw his hands outstretched as he felt his way to avoid coming in contact with the table. The next moment her spirits began to rise, for she understood why he had come down. There was no doubt about it, for she heard his hands touch the cabinet, the lock snap, and then there was a sharp, clicking sound, and she knew that he had knocked over a bottle on the shelf.

"Confoundedly dark!" he muttered; and Sarah Woodham held her breath as she heard him move, and another sound.

She knew well enough what it meant. He had gone to a side table, and was feeling for the silver match-box which always stood beside the inkstand.

Sarah stretched out a hand behind her as she took a step backward. Then she paused, for a sudden silence in the room warned her that Gartram was listening. But the next moment the rattling of the matches was heard, and _crick, crick, crack_, the striking of one upon a metallic box, and a line of faint sparks threw up for the moment the figure of Gartram, with his back to her bending over the table--a black silhouette seen for a moment, and then all profound darkness once more.

_Crick, crick, crack_! two bright points of light, then a flash, but the curtain was drawn aside, and fell back in front of the woman as the match blazed up; and, though she could not see, Sarah Woodham felt that Gartram had turned sharply and was holding up the burning wax match to give a hasty glance round the room, before he applied it to a candle standing in the bronze inkstand.

The perspiration oozed out upon her brow, for she felt that her master must have seen the curtain quivering, and be coming to drag it aside.

"What shall I say?" she thought.

But Gartram did not come to the curtain; and, gaining courage, Sarah peered cautiously, but with her heart beating wildly, through the narrow opening between the two curtains, to see him go back to the cabinet, pick up the fallen bottle, remove the cork, pour a certain amount into a medicine glass, set it down, after he had tossed off the liquid, and then close the cabinet.

"Hah!" he ejaculated, with a sigh of satisfaction; and Sarah Woodham shivered again as the cold dank moisture gathered together, first in dew, then in the great drops of agony upon her face, and slowly trickled down.

It did not seem as if Gartram was suspicious, and likely to come toward the window; but the terror from which she suffered became so acute that she felt as if she must cry out in her alarm; for it seemed as if fate was now working with her, and that now she would be able to sleep without the haunting horror of her husband's presence always near her, always upbraiding her for the task she had left undone.

"Hah!" ejaculated Gartram again; and she heard him move, but she did not dare to stir to see if he were coming toward the curtain.

It appeared like an hour before the light was suddenly extinguished, and a heavy, dull sound of steps going over the carpet was heard; then the door handle rattled, and she felt that she was safe. But it was only for a moment; a low muttering arose, and the steps came back into the room; then there was a heavy creaking noise of springs and of stiff leather, and she knew that Gartram had thrown himself into the big easy-chair.

There was a pause, during which the listener could count the heavy, slow beating of her heart, which seemed to stop directly, as Gartram spoke aloud--

"The very sight of a bed seems to drive it away. As if there was no more rest. Rich beyond my wildest dreams, and what is it but a curse! If I could only sleep--if I could only sleep!"

There was a long, low, piteous sigh, followed by mutterings, some slow and gently uttered, others quick and angry. Then a long pause, during which, with heavily-beating heart, the woman stood listening for her masters next utterances, and thinking of how this man prayed for sleep. What then if it came now? He took these drugs for sleep; suppose that sleep were to come--the long, long, restful sleep from which there is no waking here?

Her eyes seemed to pierce the heavy cloth which hung between them, and she saw him going off into a deeper and deeper sleep, saw the day come stealing in through the cracks, and a faint and ghastly ray fall athwart the hard, stern face of the sleeping man, which she felt, as in a nightmare, compelled to watch, as it grew more grey and hard and fixed. Then there were sounds without--in the hall. She knew the step, it was Claude's, and there was a tap at the door, and a voice calling gently,--

"Father--papa. Father, dear, are you there? Are you asleep?"

"Claude, my darling," she moaned, as the girl entered and went softly to the chair to lay her hand gently upon his brow; and then there was a sigh as she bent down, kissed him, and then went softly out.

Sarah Woodham's heart seemed still and frozen within her, and the horrible feeling of dread and despair increased, so real had all this seemed. But it was a vision conjured up by a guilty brain, for it was still dark, and there was no sound in the room but a regular, heavy breathing, telling that Gartram had found at last the sleep that refused to obey him in his chamber.

Sarah listened. He was asleep, and the trembling and dread came upon her again, to be horribly emphasised, but to be followed by a sensation full of resentment, as Gartram turned suddenly in his chair, and said loudly,--

"Curse him! It was no fault of mine. He seems to haunt me. Is there never to be any peace?"

Sarah Woodham had clutched the curtain, and held it tightly in her hand as he spoke, and she stood there in the darkness gazing in the direction of the chair, resentful and fierce now; the feelings of remorse were all swept away, and the cold, stern determination with which she had received her husband's commands came back.

An hour must have passed before she attempted to move; then her hand went slowly to a bottle thrust into her breast, and she stepped slowly out from the embayment of the window to stand close by the sleeping man, listening to his heavy, stertorous breathing for some time before silently crossing the study, and passing out into the hall.

A few minutes later she was in her own room, heaving a piteous sigh as she gazed out at the faint light in the east before throwing herself, dressed, upon the bed, and sleeping heavily at once.

Volume Two, Chapter V.

APPROACHING A CRISIS.

"Here I am again, Glyddyr. How are your old chap?"

Glyddyr was seated in the cabin of his yacht, thinking over his position, and of how long it would be before Claude would consent to the marriage taking place.

He had no fear of his ultimate success, for he had seen enough of Gartram to know that his will was law, and that, even if Claude were thoroughly opposed to the match, she would be obliged to consent.

But he could not conceal from himself the fact that it might be a long time first, press it on how he might; and till then he would be the abject slave of the man in whose clutches he had placed himself.

He had not seen the boat leave the shore, where his men had gone to obtain stores, and, taking advantage of its being at the harbour, Gellow had stepped in, had himself rowed on board, and, walking along the deck giving the little crew a supercilious look, he had gone down to where Glyddyr was seated, and addressed him.

"What do you want?" was the reply, delivered in a surly voice.

"What do I want? Why, as the little ragged boy said in _Punch_, `heverythink.' In my case, specially money."

Glyddyr made an impatient movement.

"Oh, it's a fact, dear boy. Times have not been rosy lately, and I've got low in the banking account. So, as my dear old friend Glyddyr has had his little slice of luck, I said I'd run down and tap him."

"What do you mean--what slice of luck?"

"The wind that blows no one any good, dear boy; but the ill wind must have blown you a lot of good."

"What do you mean?"

"What did you put on her?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"I said nothing."

"Oh, yes. You said so, and you didn't mean it."

"I tell you I did not back the horse."

"But I sent you the last tip--one worth a hundred thousand pounds. I was thinking of sending it to the Marquis, but he's a mean cuss, and I knew you'd stump up handsome afterwards to the man who helped you. Come--between friends, you know--what did you land?"

"I tell you I did not back the horse."

"Get along with you! None of your games. Come along, old fellow, let's have it. What did you pocket?"

"Nothing."

"Glyddyr, my dear boy, don't say that you didn't get the telegram in time."

"No; I got it in time."

"Oh, come, that's right; and you did back it. Get out with your talking like that. You gave me a cold chill all down my back."

"Hang it, man, how many more times am I to speak? I tell you I did not back the horse."

"What! You let such a chance go by? You actually fooled away money like that!"

"I don't know what you mean by fooled away money."