barmouth could see a little speck of foam like a white feather on the lips of his companion. he saw anstruther throw up his head, and the apple of his throat moved as if in the act of swallowing. the whole thing had been so swift and unexpected, that barmouth could not blame himself for what had happened. there was no occasion to tell him that the pearl had contained some deadly poison, for already the effect of it was apparent on anstruther's features. he gasped painfully as if some terrible pain had gripped him by the heart, his features twitched horribly, yet he smiled with the air of a man who is by no means displeased with himself.
"yes," he said quite naturally, "i think it will be just as well if you called in the warder who is watching us through that grating in the door, and tell him everything that has happened."
barmouth lost no time in doing so. there was a great tramping and commotion in the corridor outside, and presently bates and the prison doctor rushed in. by this time anstruther was seated on the only chair in the cell; there was a heavy bead of moisture on his face. he smiled faintly at bates.
"it is exactly as lord barmouth has said," he explained. "when your people deprived me of everything that i possessed they forgot to remove a tiny pearl-headed pin from my scarf. it was only a very small pearl--you could have bought the thing in any west-end shop for a sovereign; but the gem was not so innocent as it appeared to be. inside i had caused to be placed one spot of deadly poison no larger than a pin's head. i have had it there for years in case of an emergency. i have always had a presentiment that sooner or later the end would be thus, and i am much too active-minded a man to dare to pass years in jail. i should have gone mad under treatment like that. therefore, you see i was quite ready for you. i had only to take that pin from my tie, and make the tiniest puncture in the tip of my tongue, then all i had to do was to crush the pearl within my teeth, and the thing was done. there need be no inquest; the poison in question was one spot from the fang of a cobra. see, the end is very near."
anstruther staggered to his feet, threw his hands above his head, and collapsed in a heap on the floor. there was one fearful shuddering contortion of the muscles, and after that a rigid stillness. the prison doctor bent down, and examined the silent form carefully. he shook his head gravely.
"my services here are absolutely useless," he said. "the man is dead. i only wonder that he lived so long. it was a sad ending to what might have been a brilliant career."
"it was a brilliant career," bates muttered. "we never had a detective in the force as clever as mr. anstruther. shall i call a cab for you, my lord? there is nothing to gain by your waiting any longer."
barmouth nodded in an abstracted kind of way; he hardly appeared to heed what bates was saying. in the same dreamy fashion he was driven homewards. on reaching belgrave square he found that benin had gone off on some business, leaving jack and rigby behind him. in a few words he told the others what had happened. there was nothing more to be said on the matter, and no great feeling was expressed, seeing that anstruther had never been anything else but an enemy to all of them.
"he seemed desirous of making amends at the last," barmouth said. "for instance, he has shown us a way whereby my wife's unfortunate sister can be forever free of padini. also he informed me that miss claire helmsley's fortune is absolutely intact. he was cynical to the last, and suggested that jack here should marry the lady of his choice without delay."
"that is very good of him," jack said drily. "but as far as i am concerned, i shall not be in the least sorry to hear that claire has nothing. i do not want the suggestion made that i am in any way a fortune hunter. it is not a pleasant idea."
"what is the good of talking that nonsense," rigby exclaimed. "my dear fellow, you are getting on splendidly with your literary work, and in a year or so from now your income will be quite equal to miss helmsley's. besides, nobody who knew you would think of accusing you of fortune hunting. and so long as miss helmsley shares the opinions of your friends, i don't see that it in the least matters to anybody else."
lady barmouth came into the room at the same moment with an intimation that claire was up in the drawing-room, and would like to see jack as soon as he was at liberty. jack went off with alacrity. there was a soothing feeling now that no obstacle any longer stood in his path. he had no fear of the future, so far as claire was concerned, anstruther being once out of the way. it was only at this moment, with the knowledge of a placid future before him, that jack realized how great the mental strain had been.
he found claire waiting for him in the drawing-room. she advanced with a smile upon her face, and he took her in his arms and kissed her, feeling at last that she was his own, and that there was no shadow of further crime between them. he was just a little grave and silent, and love's quick eyes were there to detect the sombre shade on his face. very quietly jack told claire all that had happened. it was some little time before either spoke.
"i am glad to find that your fortune is intact, my dearest girl," jack said. "i shall have to work hard now, so that when the good time comes i shall be able to marry you, feeling that my position is equal to your own. it must not be said----"
"it is not going to be said," claire replied, looking up into her lover's face with a winning smile. "jack dear, i know exactly what is running in that silly head of yours. i can see i shall have to be very severe with you. now answer me a question, sir."
"a dozen if you like," jack replied. "what is it?"
"well, about the time we first met, and you were so foolish as to fall in love with me. confess it now: did not you regard me as a poor dependent of mr. anstruther's, without so much as a penny of my own? i knew that you loved me long before you told me so--i felt it here at my heart. and yet when you asked me to be your wife, not so many weeks ago, and suggested we should keep the matter a secret as we were too poor to marry, you did not know then that i was an heiress in a small way."
"i am prepared to admit it," jack said. "but you see, my darling, it is pretty certain that some people----"
with a pretty little imperious gesture, claire laid her hand on her lover's lips. her eyes looked sweetly into his.
"i am not going to hear another word," she cried. "oh, what does it matter to anybody as long as we are satisfied. my dearest boy, do you want me to go down on my knees, and implore you to marry me? i will do it if you like."
jack's reply was evidently suitable, and to the point, for the fond look came over claire's face again, and for some time they were silent. it was claire who broke the silence at length.
"you need me," she whispered. "we shall be none the less happy, because that dark cloud of poverty is not likely to dim our future. i have pictured to myself a dear little house in the country where we could have roses and trim lawns and old world gardens, and where you could work in a beautiful study lined with old oak and filled with blue china. i don't mind telling you, jack, that i have picked out the house, and my other guardian is now settling the purchase of it for me. think how nice it would be to be able to sit down every morning with a contented mind, and not care whether you did one page or twenty, so long as you felt sure that you were doing nothing but your best work. i always think every author ought to have a fortune of his own, and thus be without the necessity of turning out his work by the yard, so to speak."
claire might have said more, only she noted the dancing imp of mischief in jack's eyes. he kissed her tenderly again.
"i had no idea i was going to have so practical a wife," jack said. "but do not let us be altogether selfish; let us give a thought or two to other people. there is not the slightest reason why the full significance of this nostalgo business should ever be made public. and no more posters will appear; the public will marvel for a time and ask questions, then the thing will be forgotten when the next great sensation comes along. i will tell rigby that he is to mention no names when he tells his wonderful story in the planet--at least, he is not to mention the names of any of our friends. now let us go down to the dining-room, and see what they have arranged. i am very anxious to know."
meanwhile, all the arrangements had been completed by those most concerned. as lord barmouth explained, he had a very quiet country place in the neighborhood of hindhead, and there the operation upon himself and seymour was to take place.
"i want claire to come with me," lady barmouth said. "of course, serena and her boy will be with us, and i understand that arrangements are being made to rid us finally of the attentions of signor padini. the place is near enough to london for mr. masefield to run down as often as he finds it possible. my dear claire, you are looking so radiantly happy, that i need not ask you if you have settled matters with jack."
"it was not an easy task," claire laughed and blushed, "i almost had to go down on my knees to him. he said he would be accused of fortune hunting or something equally absurd."
"i am exceedingly glad to hear of it," lady barmouth said heartily. "i have set my heart upon a little programme, and i hope you will allow me to carry it out. i want the marriage to take place from our house at hindhead. lord barmouth will give you away, and we'll make quite a society affair of it."
"but not till lord barmouth is quite right," claire said. "dear lady barmouth, you are too kind to me. let me confess that i had hoped for something like this, but i did not intend to marry jack till i could have all my good friends there. in perhaps three months' time it may be possible that all this----"
"two months," lord barmouth laughed. "both my good friend seymour here, and myself, will be perfectly well by that time. i have thought it all out, and there need not be any gossip at all. it will be merely announced in the society papers that i have recovered from the painful malady which has so long afflicted me, and there will be an end of the matter. we are all going down to hindhead to-morrow, and the operation takes place on saturday. according to what dr. benin said, it is a mere matter of a fortnight in bed, and at the end of a month we shall be quite like other people. now let us have dinner in the study without the servants. it will be quite pleasant to wait upon ourselves."
very quietly and unostentatiously the little party set out for hindhead the following day. not even the servants knew what was in the wind; they merely gathered that lord barmouth was never really well, and that he was taking an invalid friend with him. dr. benin's arrival caused no sensation, the household staff being informed that a clever surgeon had come from paris, who hoped to restore their master to a normal state of health.
it was a fortnight later that barmouth and seymour came down-stairs looking a little drawn and white, but otherwise exactly like two ordinary men who had just recovered from some commonplace illness. serena was there with her boy, but not the serena of old. years seemed to have fallen from her shoulders, there was a color in her face, and a sparkle in her eyes which fairly astonished jack when he saw her. he pressed her hand silently, saying no word, and serena understood him more thoroughly than if he had been gifted with the finest eloquence in the world.
it was all ended and done with at last; the organ had pealed out its triumphal march, the cherry-cheeked children had cast their last handful of flowers at the feet of the happy bride, the wedding was over, and now the carriage stood at the door. claire recollected it all clearly afterwards, but at the moment she felt like one who dreams pleasant things. it was only when the prosaic banging of the railway carriage door struck upon her ears that she came entirely to herself again. the train was speeding through the peaceful landscape, claire leaned her head tenderly on jack's shoulder, and a sigh of happiness escaped her.
"what is that sigh for?" jack asked tenderly.
"peace and happiness," claire cried. there was just a suggestion of tears in her eyes. "it seems so strange to be with you like this, and yet only the other day--but i will not think of that. we will say no more about the dark days, but dwell entirely with the happy hours to come."
jack bent and kissed the quivering red lips. then a great content came into their hearts, and they were silent.
