so this was the end of it all. the criminal, guilty of the two crimes which had agitated melbourne for so many months, turned out to be the respected manager of the never-say-die insurance company. after the discovery of his guilt, the affairs of the company were examined, and found to be in a terrible state of confusion. fenton, aided by malton, had embezzled large sums of money, and so carefully manipulated the accounts that their defalcations had never been noticed.
it was true that once they were on the verge of discovery unless some of the money was paid back, and this had been accomplished by the robbery of kitty marchurst's diamonds. as the two guilty men were dead, the only man who knew anything about the affair was mr. villiers, who soon found things made so warm for him that he confessed all he knew about the crime.
it appeared that, on the night of the supper, fenton was in great straits for want of money to replace that embezzled by himself and malton. hearing kitty state where she kept her diamonds, he determined to steal them if he could do so with safety. in going to the drawing-room, he saw stewart descending the stairs, and, as the young man told him he had been in kitty's room putting the child to bed, he thought he could steal the jewels on that night, and let stewart bear the blame.
with this idea, he went upstairs, took the diamonds from their place, and, in order to make things doubly secure, should his idea of implicating stewart fail, he got out of the window, and clambered down, so as to show that the house had been burglariously entered.
in stealing round to the front of the house, he met villiers, who had seen all, and, in order to make him hold his tongue, had given him the small diamond crescent which naball secured in little bourke street. of course, kitty would not prosecute keith, as he had saved her child's life; and it was his security in this belief that caused fenton to urge on the detective.
about the murder, villiers, as a matter of fact, knew very little; but when naball said that the man who stole the diamonds also committed the crime, he went to fenton, and taxed him with it. fenton, at first, indignantly denied the accusation, but ultimately confessed to villiers that he had done so. after giving back keith his knife at the club, he had seen him hang up his coat, and dexterously extracted the weapon therefrom unknown to the owner. then he went to russell street and committed the crime, in reality to gain possession of the diamonds, thinking they were in the safe, as he did not know that lazarus had sent them to amsterdam.
therefore, the whole mystery was cleared up; and after making his confession, villiers found public opinion so much against him, that he left the colony, and disappeared, no one knew where.
the dead bodies of the american and malton were found on the railway line, and, after an inquiry had been made, were duly buried. mrs. malton went back to live with her father, and shortly afterwards married again.
stewart was released from prison and became quite the hero of the hour, as every one sympathised with him for the way in which he had been treated. eugénie told him all about her accession to fortune, and they agreed to get married and go to europe. ezra, also, now that he was wealthy, turned benedict, and was united to rachel a short time after his father's death.
"faust upset" ran for some time, but was ultimately withdrawn, as the part of miss mephistopheles was taken by another woman, and she failed to draw the public.
but caprice?
ah! poor woman, she was dying. in the struggle with fenton, she had fallen in a perilous position, and had so injured her spine, that there was no hope of recovery.
it was on a tuesday evening, and poor, wicked kitty was lying in bed, with her weary eyes fixed on meg, who was seated on eugénie's lap, rather puzzled by the whole affair. keith and ezra were also present, in deference to kitty's desire, as she wanted to formally give meg over to eugénie to bring her up. all the legal formalities had been gone through, and now they were waiting for the end--alas! it was not very far off.
"do you feel easier, dear?" asked eugénie, gently bending over the bed.
"yes," replied kitty in a slow, tired voice. "better now; it will soon be over. you--you will look after my child?"
"i promise you, i will," said eugénie fervently. "would you like to see a minister?"
kitty smiled with a touch of her old cynicism, and then her eyes filled with tears.
"a minister, yes," she said in a faltering voice. "god help me! and i was a minister's daughter. look at me now, fallen and degraded, dying, with my life before me, and glad--yes, glad to die."
in obedience to a sign from eugénie, keith had slipped out of the room in order to bring the clergyman, and kitty lay quiet, with the clear light of the evening shining on her pale face.
"give me my child," she said at length, and then, as she took meg to her breast and kissed her, she wept bitterly.
"god bless you, my darling," she sobbed; "think of me with pity. eugénie, never--never let her know what i was. let her believe me to have been a good woman. if i have sinned, see how i was tempted--see how i have suffered--let my child think her mother was a good woman."
eugénie, crying bitterly, promised this, and then tried to take meg away.
"mumsey," said meg, clinging to her mother, "why do you cry? where are you going?"
"i'm dying, meg, darling."
"dying!" said meg, to whom the word conveyed no idea, "dying!"
"yes, dear; going away."
"i'll go, too."
"no, dear, no. you must stay here, and be a good girl. mumsey is going far away--to the sky," finished poor kitty, in a faltering voice.
"to the sky--then you'll see god," said meg.
at this kitty could bear no more, but burst into tears, and meg was taken out of the room, being pacified with difficulty. then keith entered with the clergyman, who was left alone with the dying woman for some time.
when they all returned, they saw she was sinking rapidly, but she smiled faintly as eugénie approached.
"i've told him all," she said in a low voice, "and he says god will forgive me."
"i'm sure he will, dear," said eugénie in a faltering voice.
"strange," said the dying woman, in a dreamy voice, "i, who never cared for religion, should want it now. i'm glad to die, for there was nothing to live for; but this terrible death--i fear it. i don't know where i'm going--where am i going?" she asked piteously.
"to heaven, dear," said eugénie.
"heaven!" repeated kitty, her memory going back to her childhood; "that is where there is neither sun nor moon--the glory of god is there. oh, i'll never go there--never--never!"
the room w t as now filled with floating shadows, and all present were kneeling by the bed. meg, who had been brought back, and held by eugénie, was beside her mother, awed by the solemnity of the scene. a pale shaft of clear light came through the window, and shone on the disordered white clothes of the bed and the still face of the dying woman.
no sound save the sighing of the wind outside, the sobs of eugénie, and the grave tones of the clergyman's voice, reading the sermon on the mount, which in former days had been a great favourite with kitty.
" blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see god."
poor soul, she that had not been pure was now dying, and dreaded lest her impurity should be brought up against her.
" blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
ah, kitty marchurst, what mercy did you ever show? the inward voice came to her like an accusing spirit, and she shrank back in the bed. then she opened her eyes.
"i would have been a good woman," she said pathetically; "but i--i was so young when i met gaston."
her voice became inarticulate, and with an effort she kissed her child, while the clergyman said the lord's prayer.
" our father which art in heaven."
"meg, meg," she murmured, "meg--god bless my little child!" and those were the last words of kitty marchurst, for when the prayer was ended she was lying back, with her pure, childlike face stilled in death.
so she went into the outer darkness laden with sins, but surely god in his mercy pardoned this woman, whose impurity was more the result of circumstances than anything else.
let us not deny to others the mercy which we ourselves will need some day. kitty was dead, with all her frailties and passions; and as the clergyman arose from his knees, he repeated reverently the words of his master,--
"he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
