41 chapters
5 hour read
Selected Chapters
41 chapters
Chapter I
Chapter I
The hush of the court, which had been broken when the foreman of the jury returned their verdict, was intensified as the Judge, with a quick glance over his pince-nez at the tall prisoner, marshalled his papers with the precision and method which old men display in tense moments such as these. He gathered them together, white paper and blue and buff and stacked them in a neat heap on a tiny ledge to the left of his desk. Then he took his pen and wrote a few words on a printed paper before him. A
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter II
Chapter II
Lydia Beale gathered up the scraps of paper that littered her table, rolled them into a ball and tossed them into the fire. There was a knock at the door, and she half turned in her chair to meet with a smile her stout landlady who came in carrying a tray on which stood a large cup of tea and two thick and wholesome slices of bread and jam. "Finished, Miss Beale?" asked the landlady anxiously. "For the day, yes," said the girl with a nod, and stood up stretching herself stiffly. She was slender,
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter III
Chapter III
The man who had opened the door was a short, stoutly built person of middle age. He took the girl's arm gently, and without questioning she accompanied him to the car ahead, the man in the raincoat following. No word was spoken, and Lydia was too bewildered to ask questions until the car was on its way. Then the younger man chuckled. "Clever, Rennett!" he said. "I tell you, those people are super-humanly brilliant!" "I'm not a great admirer of villainy," said the other gruffly, and the younger m
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter IV
Chapter IV
All night long she had sat in the little bedroom to which Mrs. Rennett had led her, thinking and thinking and thinking. She could not sleep, although she had tried hard, and most of the night she spent pacing up and down from window to door turning over the amazing situation in which she found herself. She had never thought of marriage seriously, and really a marriage such as this presented no terrors and might, had the prelude been a little less exciting, been accepted by her with relief. The p
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter V
Chapter V
Jack Glover heard footsteps coming down the path, and turned to meet a man who had "detective" written largely all over him. Jack turned and looked down again at the body as the man came up. "Who is this?" asked the officer sharply. "It is James Meredith," said Jack simply. "Dead?" said the officer, startled. "He has committed suicide!" Jack did not reply, and watched the inspector as he made his brief, quick examination of the body. A bullet had entered just below the left temple, and there was
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VI
Chapter VI
The police search of the house and grounds at Dulwich Grange, Mr. Rennett's residence, occupied the whole of the morning, and neither Rennett's nor Jack's assistance was invited or offered. Before luncheon Inspector Colhead came to the study. "We've had a good look round your place, Mr. Rennett," he said, "and I think we know where the deceased hid himself." "Indeed!" said Mr. Rennett. "That hut of yours in the garden is used, I suppose, for a tool house. There are no tools there now, and one of
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VII
Chapter VII
Miss Jean Briggerland reached her home in Berkeley Street soon after nine o'clock. She did not ring, but let herself in with a key and went straight to the dining-room, where her father sat eating his breakfast, with a newspaper propped up before him. He was the dark-skinned man whom Lydia had seen at the theatre, and he looked up over his gold-rimmed spectacles as the girl came in. "You have been out very early," he said. She did not reply, but slowly divesting herself of her sable coat she thr
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VIII
Chapter VIII
"And now, Mrs. Meredith," said Jack Glover, "what are you going to do?" He had spent the greater part of the morning with the new heiress, and Lydia had listened, speechless, as he recited a long and meaningless list of securities, of estates, of ground rents, balances and the like, which she had inherited. "What am I going to do?" she said, shaking her head, hopelessly. "I don't know. I haven't the slightest idea, Mr. Glover. It is so bewildering. Do I understand that all this property is mine?
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter IX
Chapter IX
Mrs. Cole-Mortimer was a representative of a numerous class of women who live so close to the border-line which separates good society from society which is not quite as good, that the members of either set thought she was in the other. She had a small house where she gave big parties, and nobody quite knew how this widow of an Indian colonel made both ends meet. It was the fact that her menage was an expensive one to maintain; she had a car, she entertained in London in the season, and disappea
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter X
Chapter X
Jack Glover listened gravely to the story which the girl told. He had called at her lodgings on the following morning to secure her signature to some documents, and breathlessly and a little shamefacedly, she told him what had happened. "Of course it was an accident," she insisted, "in fact, Mr. and Miss Briggerland were almost knocked down by the car. But you don't know how thankful I am your Mr. Jaggs was on the spot." "Where is he now?" asked Jack. "I don't know," replied the girl. "He just l
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XI
Chapter XI
Jean Briggerland had spent a very busy afternoon. There had been a string of callers at the handsome house in Berkeley Street. Mr. Briggerland was of a philanthropic bent, and had instituted a club in the East End of London which was intended to raise the moral tone of Limehouse, Wapping, Poplar and the adjacent districts. It was started without ostentation with a man named Faire as general manager. Mr. Faire had had in his lifetime several hectic contests with the police, in which he had been i
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XII
Chapter XII
Mr. Briggerland, it seemed, had some other object in life than the regeneration of the criminal classes. He was a sociologist—a loose title which covers a great deal of inquisitive investigation into other people's affairs. Moreover, he had published a book on the subject. His name was on the title page and the book had been reviewed to his credit; though in truth he did no more than suggest the title, the work in question having been carried out by a writer on the subject who, for a considerati
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIII
There was one thing which rather puzzled and almost piqued Lydia Meredith, and that was the failure of Jean Briggerland's prophecy to materialise. Jean had said half jestingly that Jack Glover would be a frequent visitor at the flat; in point of fact, he did not come at all. Even when she visited the offices of Rennett, Glover and Simpson, it was Mr. Rennett who attended to her, and Jack was invisible. Mr. Rennett sometimes explained that he was at the courts, for Jack did all the court work, so
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIV
Chapter XIV
That night the "grisly Jaggs" was later than usual. Lydia heard him shuffling along the passage, and presently the door of his room closed with a click. She was sitting at the piano, and had stopped playing at the sound of his knock, and when Mrs. Morgan came in to announce his arrival, she closed the piano and swung round on the music stool, a look of determination on her delicate face. "He's come, miss." "And for the last time," said Lydia ominously. "Mrs. Morgan, I can't stand that weird old
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XV
Chapter XV
A TRAGIC AFFAIR IN THE WEST END. Mad Doctor Wounds a Burglar in a Society Woman's Bedroom. "There was an extraordinary and tragic sequel to the escape of Dr. Thun from Norwood Asylum, particulars of which appeared in our early edition of yesterday. This morning at four o'clock, in answer to a telephone call, Detective-Sergeant Miller, accompanied by another officer, went to 84, Cavendish Mansions, a flat occupied by Mrs. Meredith, and there found and took into custody Dr. Algernon Thun, who had
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVI
Lydia had promised to go to the theatre that night with Mrs. Cole-Mortimer, and she was glad of the excuse to leave her tragic home. Mrs. Cole-Mortimer, who was not lavish in the matter of entertainments that cost money, had a box, and although Lydia had seen the piece before (it was in fact the very play she had attended to sketch dresses on the night of her adventure) it was a relief to sit in silence, which her hostess, with singular discretion, did not attempt to disturb. It was during the l
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVII
Lydia had plenty to occupy her days. The house in Curzon Street had been bought and she had been a round of furnishers, paper-hangers and fitters of all variety. The trip to the Riviera came at the right moment. She could leave Mrs. Morgan in charge and come back to her new home, which was to be ready in two months. Amongst other things, the problem of the watchful Mr. Jaggs would be settled automatically. She spoke to him that night when he came. "By the way, Mr. Jaggs, I am going to the South
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XVIII
Jean Briggerland waited until she heard the sound of the departing car sink to a faint hum, then she went up to her room, opened the bureau and took out a long and tightly fitting dust-coat that she wore when she was motoring. She had seen a large bottle of peroxide in Mrs. Cole-Mortimer's room. It probably contributed to the dazzling glories of Mrs. Cole-Mortimer's hair, but it was also a powerful germicide. She soaked a big silk handkerchief in a basin of water, to which she added a generous q
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIX
Chapter XIX
Her maid woke Jean Briggerland at eight o'clock the next morning. "Oh, miss," she said, as she drew up the table for the chocolate, "have you heard about Mrs. Meredith?" Jean blinked open her eyes, slipped into her dressing jacket and sat up with a yawn. "Have I heard about Mrs. Meredith? Many times," she said. "But what somebody did last night, miss?" Jean was wide awake now. "What has happened to Mrs. Meredith?" she asked. "Why, miss, somebody played a practical joke on her. Her bed's sopping.
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XX
Chapter XX
"Have you solved the mystery of the submerged bed?" smiled Jean. Lydia laughed. "I'm not probing too deeply into the matter," she said. "Poor Mrs. Cole-Mortimer was terribly upset." "She would be," said Jean. "It was her own eiderdown!" This was the first hint Lydia had received that the house was rented furnished. They drove into Nice that morning, and Lydia, remembering Jack Glover's remarks, looked closely at the chauffeur, and was startled to see a resemblance between him and the man who had
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXI
It seemed to Lydia that she had been abroad for years, though in reality she had been three days in Cap Martin, when Mr. Marcus Stepney became a regular caller. Even the most objectionable people improve on acquaintance, and give the lie to first impressions. Mr. Stepney never bored her. He had an inexhaustible store of anecdotes and reminiscences, none of which was in the slightest degree offensive. He was something of a sportsman, too, and he called by arrangement the next morning, after his i
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXII
Lydia Meredith only remembered swooning twice in her life, and both these occasions had happened within a few weeks. She never felt quite so unprepared to carry on as she did when, with an effort she threw herself into the water at Marcus Stepney's side and swam slowly toward the shore. She dare not let her mind dwell upon the narrowness of her escape. Whoever had fired that shot had done so deliberately, and with the intention of killing her. She had felt the wind of the bullet in her face. "Wh
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIII
So old Jaggs was in Monte Carlo! Whatever was he doing, and how was he getting on with these people who spoke nothing but French, she wondered! She had something to think about before she went to sleep. She opened her eyes singularly awake as the dawn was coming up over the grey sea. She looked at her watch; it was a quarter to six. Why she had wakened so thoroughly she could not tell, but remembered with a little shiver another occasion she had wakened, this time before the dawn, to face death
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXIV
Lydia went up to her bedroom to put away her clothes and found the maid making the bed. "Oh, madame," said the girl, "I forgot to speak to you about a matter—I hope madame will not be angry." "I'm hardly likely to be angry on a morning like this," said Lydia. "It is because of this matter," said the girl. She groped in her pocket and brought out a small shining object, and Lydia took it from her hand. "This matter" was a tiny silver cross, so small that a five-franc piece would have covered it e
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXV
Mr. Stepney had become more bearable. A week ago she would have shrunk from taking luncheon with him, but now such a prospect had no terrors. His views of things and people were more generous than she had expected. She had anticipated his attitude would be a little cynical, but to her surprise he oozed loving-kindness. Had she known Mr. Marcus Stepney as well as Jean knew him, she would have realised that he adapted his mental attitude to his audience. He was a man whose stock-in-trade was a kno
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVI
Jean Briggerland discovered a new arrival on her return to the house. Jack Glover had come unexpectedly from London, so Lydia told her, and Jack himself met her with extraordinary geniality. "You lucky people to be in this paradise!" he said. "It is raining like the dickens in London, and miserable beyond description. And you're looking brown and beautiful, Miss Briggerland." "The spirit of the warm south has got into your blood, Mr. Glover," she said sarcastically. "A course at the Riviera woul
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVII
"Who were the haughty individuals interviewing Jean in the saloon?" asked Jack Glover, as Lydia's car panted and groaned on the stiff ascent to La Turbie. Lydia was concerned, and he had already noted her seriousness. "Poor Jean is rather worried," she said. "It appears that she had a love affair with a man three or four years ago, and recently he has been bombarding her with threatening letters." "Poor soul," said Jack dryly, "but I should imagine she could have dealt with that matter without c
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXVIII
"However did you get here?" asked Lydia in surprise. "I went into Nice," said the girl carelessly. "The detectives were going there and I gave them a lift." "I see," said Jack, "so you came into Turbie by the back road? I wondered why I hadn't seen your car." "You expected me, did you?" she smiled, as she sat down at the table and selected a peach from its cotton-wool bed. "I only arrived a second ago, in fact I was opening the door when you almost knocked my head off. What a violent man you are
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXIX
It was in the evening of the next day that Lydia received a wire from Jack Glover. It was addressed from London and announced his arrival. "Doesn't it make you feel nice, Lydia," said Jean, when she saw the telegram, "to have a man in London looking after your interests—a sort of guardian angel—and another guardian angel prowling round your demesne at Cap Martin?" "You mean Jaggs? Have you seen him?" "No, I have not seen him," said the girl softly. "I should rather like to see him. Do you know w
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXX
"Desperate diseases," said Jean Briggerland, "call for desperate remedies." Mr. Briggerland looked up from his book. "What was that tale you were telling Lydia this morning," he asked, "about Glover's gambling? He was only here a day, wasn't he?" "He was here long enough to lose a lot of money," said Jean. "Of course he didn't gamble, so he did not lose. It was just a little seed-sowing on my part—one never knows how useful the right word may be in the right season." "Did you tell Lydia that he
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXI
A letter from Jack Glover arrived the next morning. He had had an easy journey, was glad to have had the opportunity of seeing Lydia, and hoped she would think over the will. Lydia was not thinking of wills, but of an excuse to get back to London. Of a sudden the loveliness of Monte Carlo had palled upon her, and she had almost forgotten the circumstances which had made the change of scene and climate so welcome. "Go back to London, my dear?" said Mrs. Cole-Mortimer, shocked. "What a—a rash noti
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXII
"Jean!" She looked round to meet the scowling gaze of Marcus Stepney. "I must say you're the limit," he said violently. "There are lots of things I imagine you'd do, but to stand there in broad daylight talking to a nigger——" "If I stand in broad daylight and talk to a card-sharper, Marcus, I think I'm just low enough to do almost anything." "A damned Moorish nigger," he spluttered, and her eyes narrowed. "Walk up the road with me, and if you possibly can, keep your voice down to the level which
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIII
"Now explain." His words were a command, his tone peremptory. Jean, who knew men, and read them without error, realised that this was not a moment to temporise. "I will explain to you, François, but I do not like the way you speak," she said. "It is not you I wish to compromise, but Madame Meredith." "In this letter I wrote for you I said I was going away. I confessed to you that I had forged a cheque for five million francs. That is a very serious document, mademoiselle, to be in the possession
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXIV
There was lying in Monaco harbour a long white boat with a stumpy mast, which delighted in the name of Jungle Queen . It was the property of an impecunious English nobleman who made a respectable income from letting the vessel on hire. Mrs. Cole-Mortimer had seemed surprised at the reasonable fee demanded for two months' use until she had seen the boat the day after her arrival at Cap Martin. She had pictured a large and commodious yacht; she found a reasonably sized motor-launch with a whale-de
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXV
Lydia was dressing for her journey when Mrs. Cole-Mortimer came into the saloon where Jean was writing. "There's a telephone call from Monte Carlo," she said. "Somebody wants to speak to Lydia." Jean jumped up. "I'll answer it," she said. The voice at the other end of the wire was harsh and unfamiliar to her. "I want to speak to Mrs. Meredith." "Who is it?" asked Jean. "It is a friend of hers," said the voice. "Will you tell her? The business is rather urgent." "I'm sorry," said Jean, "but she's
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter XXXVI
Mr. Briggerland did not enthuse over any form of sport or exercise. His hobbies were confined to the handsome motor-cycle, which not only provided him with recreation, but had, on occasion, been of assistance in the carrying out of important plans, formulated by his daughter. He stopped at Mentone for breakfast and climbed the hill to Grimaldi after passing the frontier station at Pont St. Louis. He had all the morning before him, and there was no great hurry. At Ventimille he had a second break
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter XXXVII
Probably Jean Briggerland never gave a more perfect representation of shocked surprise than when old Jaggs announced that he was Jack Glover. "Mr. Glover," she said incredulously. "If you'll be kind enough to release my hands," said Jack savagely, "I will convince you." Jean, all meekness, obeyed, and presently he stood up with a groan. "You've nearly blinded me," he said, turning to the glass. "If I'd known it was you——" "Don't make me laugh!" he snapped. "Of course you knew who it was!" He too
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXVIII
Mr. Briggerland, killing time on the quay at Monaco, saw the Jungle Queen come into harbour and watched Marcus land, carrying his lines in his hand. As Marcus came abreast of him he called and Mr. Stepney looked round with a start. "Hello, Briggerland," he said, swallowing something. "Well, have you been fishing?" asked Mr. Briggerland in his most paternal manner. "Yes," admitted Marcus. "Did you catch anything?" Stepney nodded. "Only one," he said. "Hard luck," said Mr. Briggerland, with a smil
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XXXIX
The morning for Mr. Stepney had been doubly disappointing; again and again he drew up an empty line, and at last he flung the tackle into the well of the launch. "Even the damn fish won't bite," he said, and the humour of his remark cheered him. He was ten miles from the shore, and the blue coast was a dim, ragged line on the horizon. He pulled out a big luncheon basket from the cabin and eyed it with disfavour. It had cost him two hundred francs. He opened the basket, and at the sight of its co
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XL
Chapter XL
Lydia took up her quarters in a quiet hotel in Nice and Mrs. Cole-Mortimer agreed to stay on and chaperon her. Though she had felt no effects from her terrifying experience on the first day, she found herself a nervous wreck when she woke in the morning, and wisely decided to stay in bed. Jack, who had expected the relapse, called in a doctor, but Lydia refused to see him. The next day she received the lawyer. She had only briefly outlined the part which Marcus Stepney had played in her rescue,
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLI
Chapter XLI
"That is Gibraltar," said Marcus Stepney, pointing ahead to a grey shape that loomed up from the sea. He was unshaven for he had forgotten to bring his razor and he was pinched with the cold. His overcoat was turned up to his ears, in spite of which he shivered. Jean did not seem to be affected by the sudden change of temperature. She sat on the top of the cabin, her chin in the palm of her hand, her elbow on her crossed knee. "You are not going into Gibraltar?" she asked. He shook his head. "I
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter