august seemed determined to justify her claim to be numbered amongst the summer months before making her exit. apparently she had repented her of having recently veiled the country in a mist that might have been regarded as a very creditable effort even on the part of november, for to-day the sun was blazing down out of a cloudless sky and scarcely a breath of wind swayed the nodding cornstalks, heavy with golden grain.
jean, her strained ankle now practically recovered, was tramping along the narrow footpath through the cornfield, following in blaise’s footsteps, while nick brought up the rear of the procession. she had not seen claire since her engagement had become an actual fact, though a characteristically warm-hearted little note from the latter had found its way to staple, and this morning jean had declared her inability to exist another day “without a ‘heart-to-heart’ talk with claire.”
hence the afternoon’s pilgrimage across the cornfield which formed part of a short cut between staple and chamwood.
at first jean had feared lest her new-found happiness might raise a barrier of sorts betwixt herself and claire. the contrast between the respective hands that fate had dealt them was so glaring, and the rose and gold with which love had suddenly decked jean’s own life seemed to make the bleak tragedy which enveloped claire’s appear ever darker than before.
but claire’s letter, full of a quiet, unselfish rejoicing in the happiness which had fallen to the lot of her friend, had somehow smoothed away the little uncomfortable feeling which, to anyone as sensitive as jean, had been a very real embarrassment. nick’s felicitations, too, had been tendered with frank cordiality and affection, and with a delicate perception that had successfully concealed the sting of individual pain which the contrast could hardly fail to have induced.
so that it was with a considerably lightened heart that jean, with her escort of two, passed between the great gates of charnwood and, avoiding the lengthy walk entailed by following the windings of the drive, struck off across the velvety lawns—smooth stretches of close-cropped sward which, broken only by branching trees and shrubbery, and undefaced by the dreadful formality of symmetrical flower-beds, swept right up to the gravelled terrace fronting the windows of the house itself.
the two men loitered to discuss the points of a couple of young spaniels rollicking together on the grass, but jean, eager to see claire, smilingly declined to wait for them, and, speeding on ahead, she mounted the short flight of steps leading to the terrace from the lower level of the lawns.
facing her, as she reached the topmost step was a glass door, giving entrance to claire’s own particular sanctum, which usually, in summer, stood wide open to admit the soft, warm air and the fragrant scents breathed out from a border of old-fashioned flowers, sweet and prim and quaint, which encircled the base of the house.
but to-day the door was shut and forbidding-looking, and jean experienced a sudden sense of misgiving. supposing claire chanced to be out just when she had arrived brimming over with the hundred little feminine confidences that were to have formed part of the “heart-to-heart” talk! it would be too aggravating!
her eager glance flew ahead, searching the room’s interior, clearly visible through the wide glass panel of the door. then, with a startled cry, she halted, her hand clapped against her lips to stifle the involuntary exclamation of dismay and terror that had leapt to them.
the afternoon sunshine slanted in upon a picture of grotesque horror—-a nightmare conception that could only have sprung from the macabre imagination of a madman.
in the middle of the room claire sat bound to a high-backed chair, secured by cords which cut cruelly across her slender body. her face had assumed a curious ashen shade, and her eyes were fixed in a numbed look of fascinated terror upon the tall, angular figure of her husband, which pranced in front of her jerkily, like a marionette, while he threatened her with a revolver, his thin lips, smiling cruelly, drawn back from his teeth like those of a snarling animal.
he was addressing her in queer, high-pitched tones that had something inhuman about them—the echoing, empty sound of a voice no longer controlled by a reasoning brain.
“and you needn’t worry that mr. brennan will be overwhelmed with grief at your early demise. he won’t—te-he-he!”—he gave a foolish, cackling laugh—“he won’t have time to miss you much! i’ll attend to that—i’ll attend to that! there’ll be a second bullet for your dear friend, mr. brennan.” ... crack! the sharp report of a revolver shattered the summer silence as jean sprang forward and wrenched at the handle of the door. but it refused to yield. it had been locked upon the inside!
then, as the smoke cleared away, she saw that claire was unhurt. sir adrian had deliberately fired above her head and was now rocking his long, lean body to and fro in a paroxysm of horrible, noiseless mirth. evidently he purposed to amuse himself by inflicting the torture of suspense upon his victim before he actually murdered her, for latimer had been at one time an expert revolver shot, and, even drug-ridden as he had since become, he could not well have missed his helpless target by accident.
claire’s head had fallen back, but no merciful oblivion of unconsciousness had come to her relief. her mouth was a little open and the breath came in short, quick gasps between her grey lips. her face looked like a mask, set in a blank stupor of horror.
the sound of the shot brought blaise and nick racing to jean’s side. one glance through the glass door sufficed them.
“god in heaven! he’s gone mad!” nick’s voice was quick with fear for the woman he loved.
“get tucker here at once!”
blaise’s swift command, flung at her as he and nick leaped forward, sent jean flying along the terrace as fast as feet winged with unutterable terror could carry her. as she ran, she heard the crash of splintering glass as the two men she had left behind smashed in the panel of the locked door, and, almost simultaneously, sir adrian’s pistol barked again—another shot, and then a third in quick succession.
the sound seemed to wring every nerve in her body... had that madman shot him?
with sobbing breath she rushed blindly on into the house and met the butler, running too, white faced and horror-stricken.
“my god, miss! sir adrian’s murdering her ladyship—and the room door’s locked!”
the man almost babbled out the words in his extremity of fear.
“the terrace door... quick, tucker!”—jean gasped out the order. “mr. brennan’s there they’ve broken in the glass...”
not waiting to hear the end of the sentence, tucker bolted out of the hall and along the terrace, while jean leaned up against the doorway drawing long, shuddering breaths that seemed actually to tear their way through her throat and yet brought no relief to the agonised thudding of her heart. for the moment she was physically unable to run another yard.
but her mind was working with abnormal clarity and swiftness. this was her doing—hers! if she had not dissuaded nick that day when he had proposed taking claire away with him, all this would never have happened.... claire would have been safe—safe! but she had interfered, clinging to her belief that no real good ever came by doing wrong, and now her creed had failed her utterly. nick’s resistance of temptation was culminating in a ghastly tragedy that might have been avoided. to jean it seemed in that moment as if her world were falling in ruins about her.
sick with apprehension, she almost reeled out again into the mocking summer sunlight, and, running as fast as the convulsive throbbing of her heart would let her, regained the far end of the terrace and peered through the door that led into claire’s room.
its great panes were shattered. jagged teeth and spites of glass stuck out from the wooden framework, while here and there, dependent from them, were bits of cloth tom from the men’s coats as they had scrambled through.
within the room jean could discern a confused hurly-burly of swaying, writhing figures—blaise and nick and the butler struggling to overpower sir adrian, who was fighting them with all the cunning and the amazing strength of madness. from beyond came the clamour of people battering uselessly at the door, the shrill, excited voices of the frightened servants who had collected in the hall outside the room.
for a few breathless seconds jean was in doubt—wondered wildly whether sir adrian would succeed in breaking away from his captors. then she saw nick’s foot shoot out suddenly like the piston-rod of an engine, and sir adrian staggered and came crashing down on to his knees. the other two closed in upon him swiftly, and a minute later he was lying prone on his back with the three men holding him down by main force.
with difficulty avoiding the protruding pieces of glass, jean stepped into the room. her first thought was for claire, who now hung helpless and unconscious against the bonds that held her. but blaise very speedily directed her attention to something of more urgent importance for the moment.
“unlock that door,” he called to her. “quick!” he was still panting from the exertion of the recent struggle. “get a rope of some sort!”
jean turned the key and tore open the door leading into the hall. the little flock of servants gathered outside it overflowed into the room, frightened and excitedly inquisitive.
“get some cord, one of you,” commanded jean authoratively. “anything will do if it’s strong.”
two or three of the servants broke away from the main body and ran frantically in search of the required cord, glad to be of use, and very soon sir adrian, bound as humanely as his struggles rendered possible, was borne to his own room and laid upon his bed.
“ring up the doctor,” ordered blaise, as he assisted in the rather difficult process of conveying sir adrian upstairs. “tell him to come to charnwood as quickly as he can get here.” and another eager little detachment of domestics flew off to carry out his bidding. the under-footman won the race for the telephone by a good half-yard, and, in a voice which fairly twittered with the agitating and amazing news he had to impart, transmitted the message to the doctor’s parlour-maid at the other end of the wire, adding a few picturesque and stimulating details concerning the struggle which had just taken place—and which, apparently, he had perceived with the eye of faith through the wooden panels of the locked door.
meanwhile nick and jean had turned their attention towards releasing claire, who, as the last of her bonds was cut, toppled forward in a dead faint into the former’s arms.
a second procession wended its way upstairs, nick bearing the slight, unconscious figure in his arms while jean and a kindly-faced housemaid followed.
“her ladyship’s maid is out, miss,” volunteered the girl. “but perhaps i can help?”
jean smiled at her, the frank, friendly smile that always won for her the eager, willing service of man and maid alike.
“i’m sure you can,” she said gently. “as soon as we can bring her ladyship round, you shall help me undress her and put her to bed.”
in a few minutes claire recovered consciousness, but she was horribly shaken and distraught, crying and clinging to jean or to the housemaid—who was almost crying, too, out of sympathy—like a child frightened by the dark.
jean, understanding just what was needed, shepherded nick to the door of the room, where he lingered unhappily, his anxious gaze still fixed on the slender, shrinking figure upon the couch.
“don’t worry, nick,” she said reassuringly. “she’ll he all right; it’s only reaction. but i know what she wants—she wants a real mother-person. go down and ring up lady anne, will you, and ask her to come over in the car as quickly as she can.”
nick nodded; the idea commended itself to him. his “pale golden narcissus,” so nearly broken, would be safe indeed with the kind, comforting arms of his mother about her.
it was an intense relief to jean when lady anne arrived and quietly and efficiently took command of affairs. and there was sore need for her unruffled poise and capability throughout the night that followed.
claire, nervous and utterly unstrung, slept but little, waking constantly with a cry of terror as in imagination she relived the ordeal of the afternoon, while in the big bedroom across the landing, where her husband lay, the grim shadow of death itself was drawing momentarily closer.
by the time the doctor had arrived in answer to the summons sent, there seemed small need for the strong cords with which sir adrian’s limbs were bound. the wild fury of the afternoon’s struggle had thoroughly exhausted him, and he lay, propped up with pillows, apparently in a state of stupor, breathing very feebly.
“heart,” the doctor told tormarin after he had made a swift examination. “i’ve known for months that sir adrian might go out at any moment. his heart was already impaired, and, of course, he’s drugged for years. he may recover a little, but if, as i think is highly probable, there’s any recurrence of the brain disturbance—why, he’ll not live out a second paroxysm. the heart won’t stand it.”
tormarin endeavoured to look appropriately shocked. but the doctor was a man and an honest one, and not even professional etiquette prevented his adding, with a jerk of his head in the direction of claire’s bedroom:
“it would be a merciful deliverance for that poor little woman. there’s a strain of madness in the latimer’s you know. and”—with a shrug—“naturally sir adrian’s habits have accentuated it in his own case.”
but the doctor was mistaken in his calculations. sir adrian’s constitution was stronger than he estimated. as nick had once bitterly commented to jean, the man was like a piece of steel wire, and two dreadful outbreaks of maniacal fury had to be endured before the wire began to weaken.
during the course of the first paroxysm it was all the four men could do to restrain him from leaping from the bed and rushing out of the room, since, during the period of quiescence which had preceded the doctor’s arrival, a mistaken feeling of humanity had dictated the loosening of the cords which bound him.
he fought and screamed, uttering the most horrible imprecations, and his evil intent towards the woman who was his wife was unmistakable. with her husband free to work his will, claire’s life would not have been worth a moment’s purchase.
in the period of coma that succeeded this outbreak sir adrian, was again secured, as mercifully as possible, from any possibility of doing his wife a mischief, and the second paroxysm which convulsed the bound and shackled madman was very terrible to witness.
like its predecessor, this attack was followed by a stupor, during which sir adrian appeared more dead than alive.
he was palpably weaker, restoratives failing to produce any appreciable effect, and towards morning, in those chill, small hours when the powers of the body languish and fail, the crazed and self-tormented spirit of adrian latimer quitted a world in which he had been able to perceive none of those things that are just and pure and lovely and of good report, but only distrust and malice and, finally, black hatred.
a fortnight had come and gone. sir adrian’s body had been laid to rest in coombe eavie churchyard, and claire, in the simplest of widow’s weeds, went about once more, looking rather frail and worn-out but with a fugitive light of happiness on her face that was a source of rejoicing to those who loved her.
she made no pretence at mourning the man who had turned her life into a living hell for nearly three years and who stood like a gaoler betwixt her and the happiness which might have been hers had she been free. but the conventions, as well as her own feelings, dictated that a decent interval must elapse before she and nick could be married, and this would be for her a quiet period dedicated to the readjustment of her whole attitude towards life.
the length of that period was the subject of considerable discussion. nick protested that six months was amply long enough to wait—too long indeed!—but claire herself seemed disposed to prolong her widowhood into a year.
“it isn’t in the least because i feel i owe it to adrian,” she said in answer to nick’s protest. “i don’t consider that i owe him anything at all. but i feel so battered, nick, so utterly tired and weary after the perpetual struggle of the last three years that i don’t want to plunge suddenly into the new duties of a new life—not even into new happiness. it’s difficult to make you understand, but i feel just like a sponge which has soaked up all it can and simply can’t absorb any more of anything. you must let me have time for the past to evaporate a bit.”
but it required the addition of a few common-sense observations on the part of lady anne to drive the nail home.
“claire is quite right, nick,” she told him. “she is temporarily worn out—mentally, physically and spiritually spent. her nerves have been kept at their utmost stretch off and on for years, and now that release has come they’ve collapsed like a fiddle-string when the peg that holds it taut is loosened. you must give her time to recover, to key herself up to normal pitch again. at present she isn’t fit to face even the demands that big happiness brings in its train.”
so nick had perforce to bow to claire’s decision, and it was settled that for the first month of two, at least, of her widowhood jean should remove herself and her belongings from staple and bear her company at chamwood. and meanwhile nick and claire would spend many peaceful hours together of quiet happiness and companionship, while claire, as she herself expressed it, “rebuilt her soul.”
to jean the issue of events had brought nothing but pure joy. her belief had been justified, and the grim gateway of death had become for these two friends of hers the gateway to happiness.
she had neither seen nor heard anything from burke since the day she had fled from him on the moor, although indirectly she had discovered that he had quitted the bungalow the day following that of her flight from it and had gone to london.
judith sent her a brief, rather formal letter of congratulation upon her engagement, but in it she made no reference to him nor did she endeavour to explain away or palliate her own share in his scheme to force jean’s hand. probably? an odd kind of loyalty to her brother prevented her from clearing herself at his expense, added to a certain dogged pride which refused to let her extenuate any action of hers; to the daughter of glyn peterson.
but none of these things had any power to hurt jean now. in her new-born happiness she felt that she could find it in her heart to forgive anybody anything! she was even conscious of a certain tentative understanding and indulgence for burke himself. he had only used the “primitive man” methods his temperament dictated in his effort to win the woman he wanted for his wife. and he had failed. just now, jean could not help sympathising with anybody who had failed to find the happiness that love bestows.
she reflected that the old gipsy on the moor had been wonderfully correct in her prophecy concerning nick and claire. the sun was “shin’ butivul” for them at last, just as she had assured them that it would.
and, with the same, came a sudden little clutch of fear at jean’s heart, like the touch of a strange hand. the gipsy had had other words for her—harsher, less sweet-sounding.
“for there’s darkness comin’... black darkness.”
she shivered a little. she felt as though a breath of cold air had passed over her, chilling the warm blood that ran so joyously in her veins.
