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23 chapters
PERSONS OF THE STORY
PERSONS OF THE STORY
Women: Lady Lydiard (Widow of Lord Lydiard) Isabel Miller (her Adopted Daughter) Miss Pink (of South Morden) The Hon. Mrs. Drumblade (Sister to the Hon. A. Hardyman) Men The Hon. Alfred Hardyman (of the Stud Farm) Mr. Felix Sweetsir (Lady Lydiard’s Nephew) Robert Moody (Lady Lydiard’s Steward) Mr. Troy (Lady Lydiard’s Lawyer) Old Sharon (in the Byways of Legal Bohemia) Animal Tommie (Lady Lydiard’s Dog)...
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
OLD Lady Lydiard sat meditating by the fireside, with three letters lying open on her lap. Time had discolored the paper, and had turned the ink to a brownish hue. The letters were all addressed to the same person—“THE RT. HON. LORD LYDIARD”—and were all signed in the same way—“Your affectionate cousin, James Tollmidge.” Judged by these specimens of his correspondence, Mr. Tollmidge must have possessed one great merit as a letter-writer—the merit of brevity. He will weary nobody’s patience, if h
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
ROBERT MOODY was at this time nearly forty years of age. He was a shy, quiet, dark person, with a pale, closely-shaven face, agreeably animated by large black eyes, set deep in their orbits. His mouth was perhaps his best feature; he had firm, well-shaped lips, which softened on rare occasions into a particularly winning smile. The whole look of the man, in spite of his habitual reserve, declared him to be eminently trustworthy. His position in Lady Lydiard’s household was in no sense of the men
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
“MY nephew!” Lady Lydiard exclaimed in a tone which expressed astonishment, but certainly not pleasure as well. “How many years is it since you and I last met?” she asked, in her abruptly straightforward way, as Mr. Felix Sweetsir approached her writing-table. The visitor was not a person easily discouraged. He took Lady Lydiard’s hand, and kissed it with easy grace. A shade of irony was in his manner, agreeably relieved by a playful flash of tenderness. “Years, my dear aunt?” he said. “Look in
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
LEFT alone in the drawing-room, Moody looked at the unfastened envelope on the table. Considering the value of the inclosure, might he feel justified in wetting the gum and securing the envelope for safety’s sake? After thinking it over, Moody decided that he was not justified in meddling with the letter. On reflection, her Ladyship might have changes to make in it or might have a postscript to add to what she had already written. Apart too, from these considerations, was it reasonable to act as
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
“WELL?” asked Isabel eagerly, “what does Mr. Hardyman say? Does he think he can cure Tommie?” Moody answered a little coldly and stiffly. His dark, deeply-set eyes rested on Isabel with an uneasy look. “Mr. Hardyman seems to understand animals,” he said. “He lifted the dog’s eyelid and looked at his eyes, and then he told us the bath was useless.” “Go on!” said Isabel impatiently. “He did something, I suppose, besides telling you that the bath was useless?” “He took a knife out of his pocket, wi
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
FOR a quarter of an hour the drawing-room remained empty. At the end of that time the council in the boudoir broke up. Lady Lydiard led the way back into the drawing-room, followed by Hardyman, Isabel being left to look after the dog. Before the door closed behind him, Hardyman turned round to reiterate his last medical directions—or, in plainer words, to take a last look at Isabel. “Plenty of water, Miss Isabel, for the dog to lap, and a little bread or biscuit, if he wants something to eat. No
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THE sight that met Moody’s view wrung him to the heart.
THE sight that met Moody’s view wrung him to the heart.
Isabel and the dog were at play together. Among the varied accomplishments possessed by Tommie, the capacity to take his part at a game of hide-and-seek was one. His playfellow for the time being put a shawl or a handkerchief over his head, so as to prevent him from seeing, and then hid among the furniture a pocketbook, or a cigar-case, or a purse, or anything else that happened to be at hand, leaving the dog to find it, with his keen sense of smell to guide him. Doubly relieved by the fit and t
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
ON the day after Isabel’s departure, diligent Mr. Troy set forth for the Head Office in Whitehall to consult the police on the question of the missing money. He had previously sent information of the robbery to the Bank of England, and had also advertised the loss in the daily newspapers. The air was so pleasant, and the sun was so bright, that he determined on proceeding to his destination on foot. He was hardly out of sight of his own offices when he was overtaken by a friend, who was also wal
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CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
THE next day, Mr. Troy (taking Robert Moody with him as a valuable witness) rang the bell at the mean and dirty lodging-house in which Old Sharon received the clients who stood in need of his advice. They were led up stairs to a back room on the second floor of the house. Entering the room, they discovered through a thick cloud of tobacco smoke, a small, fat, bald-headed, dirty, old man, in an arm-chair, robed in a tattered flannel dressing-gown, with a short pipe in his mouth, a pug-dog on his
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
RETURNING to his office, Mr. Troy discovered, among the correspondence that was waiting for him, a letter from the very person whose welfare was still the uppermost subject in his mind. Isabel Miller wrote in these terms: “Dear Sir—My aunt, Miss Pink, is very desirous of consulting you professionally at the earliest opportunity. Although South Morden is within little more than half an hour’s railway ride from London, Miss Pink does not presume to ask you to visit her, being well aware of the val
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
THE trim little maid-servant ran upstairs from her modest little kitchen, trembling at the terrible prospect of having to open the door. Miss Pink, deafened by the barking, had just time to say, “What a very ill-behaved dog!” when a sound of small objects overthrown in the hall, and a scurrying of furious claws across the oil-cloth, announced that Tommie had invaded the house. As the servant appeared, introducing Lady Lydiard, the dog ran in. He made one frantic leap at Isabel, which would certa
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
THE conference between Lady Lydiard and Mr. Troy, on the way back to London, led to some practical results. Hearing from her legal adviser that the inquiry after the missing money was for a moment at a standstill, Lady Lydiard made one of those bold suggestions with which she was accustomed to startle her friends in cases of emergency. She had heard favorable reports of the extraordinary ingenuity of the French police; and she now proposed sending to Paris for assistance, after first consulting
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
WHILE the strange proceedings of the steward were the subject of conversation between Lady Lydiard and Mr. Troy, Moody was alone in his room, occupied in writing to Isabel. Being unwilling that any eyes but his own should see the address, he had himself posted his letter; the time that he had chosen for leaving the house proving, unfortunately, to be also the time proposed by her Ladyship for his interview with the lawyer. In ten minutes after the footman had reported his absence, Moody returned
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE instant Isabel was out of hearing, Old Sharon slapped Moody on the shoulder to rouse his attention. “I’ve got her out of the way,” he said, “now listen to me. My business with the young angel is done—I may go back to London.” Moody looked at him with astonishment. “Lord! how little you know of thieves!” exclaimed Old Sharon. “Why, man alive, I have tried her with two plain tests! If you wanted a proof of her innocence, there it was, as plain as the nose in your face. Did you hear me ask her
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CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
ISABEL looked down at the letter in her hand—considered it in silence—and turned to Moody. “I feel tempted to open it already,” she said. “After giving your promise?” Moody gently remonstrated. Isabel met that objection with a woman’s logic. “Does a promise matter?” she asked, “when one gives it to a dirty, disreputable, presuming old wretch like Mr. Sharon? It’s a wonder to me that you trust such a creature. I wouldn’t!” “I doubted him just as you do,” Moody answered, “when I first saw him in c
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CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
PAYING his court to the ex-schoolmistress on the next day, Hardyman made such excellent use of his opportunities that the visit to the stud-farm took place on the day after. His own carriage was placed at the disposal of Isabel and her aunt; and his own sister was present to confer special distinction on the reception of Miss Pink. In a country like England, which annually suspends the sitting of its Legislature in honor of a horse-race, it is only natural and proper that the comfort of the hors
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CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
EVENTS succeeded each other rapidly, after the memorable day to Isabel of the luncheon at the farm. On the next day (the ninth of the month) Lady Lydiard sent for her steward, and requested him to explain his conduct in repeatedly leaving the house without assigning any reason for his absence. She did not dispute his claims to a freedom of action which would not be permitted to an ordinary servant. Her objection to his present course of proceeding related entirely to the mystery in which it was
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CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SHARON’S news was not of an encouraging character. He had met with serious difficulties, and had spent the last farthing of Moody’s money in attempting to overcome them. One discovery of importance he had certainly made. A horse withdrawn from the sale was the only horse that had met with Hardyman’s approval. He had secured the animal at the high reserved price of twelve thousand francs—being four hundred and eighty pounds in English money; and he had paid with an English bank-note. The seller (
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CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE narrative returns to South Morden, and follows the events which attended Isabel’s marriage engagement. To say that Miss Pink, inflated by the triumph, rose, morally speaking, from the earth and floated among the clouds, is to indicate faintly the effect produced on the ex-schoolmistress when her niece first informed her of what had happened at the farm. Attacked on one side by her aunt, and on the other by Hardyman, and feebly defended, at the best, by her own doubts and misgivings, Isabel e
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CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XX.
THE day of the garden party arrived. There was no rain; but the air was heavy, and the sky was overcast by lowering clouds. Some hours before the guests were expected, Isabel arrived alone at the farm, bearing the apologies of unfortunate Miss Pink, still kept a prisoner in her bed-chamber by the asthma. In the confusion produced at the cottage by the preparations for entertaining the company, the one room in which Hardyman could receive Isabel with the certainty of not being interrupted was the
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CHAPTER XXI.
CHAPTER XXI.
HARDYMAN went on to the cottage. He found Isabel in some agitation. And there, by her side, with his tail wagging slowly, and his eye on Hardyman in expectation of a possible kick—there was the lost Tommie! “Has Lady Lydiard gone?” Isabel asked eagerly. “Yes,” said Hardyman. “Where did you find the dog?” As events had ordered it, the dog had found Isabel, under these circumstances. The appearance of Lady Lydiard’s card in the smoking-room had been an alarming event for Lady Lydiard’s adopted dau
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POSTSCRIPT.
POSTSCRIPT.
Persons of a speculative turn of mind are informed that the following document is for sale, and are requested to mention what sum they will give for it. “IOU, Lady Lydiard, five hundred pounds (L500), Felix Sweetsir.” Her Ladyship became possessed of this pecuniary remittance under circumstances which surround it with a halo of romantic interest. It was the last communication she was destined to receive from her accomplished nephew. There was a Note attached to it, which cannot fail to enhance i
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