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- Herausgeber: Fred M White
- Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
- Sprache: Englisch
As Lady Letty Stanborough stood in the garden listening to the rustle of silken skirts and the ripple of laughter, she was faintly conscious of the fragrance of the early May evening. The trees were touched with their spring greenery and in the air was the scent of violets. The grounds beyond the house in Dorchester Gardens were filled with guests gathered in honour of the engagement between Lady Letty and Stephen Du Cros, the South African millionaire.
It was a marriage of convenience, of course—everybody recognised that. The Earl, her father, sorely needed money; indeed there were some who said that but for the weight of Du Cros's influence his lordship might have found himself face to face with a judge and jury. It was impossible, too, that Lady Letty should care for her wealthy admirer—that cold, proud beauty seemed to indicate a nature incapable of caring for anything or anybody.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
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Fred M White
A Royal Wrong
Table of contents
CHAPTER I.—The Altar of Sacrifice.
CHAPTER II.—"Little Kate."
CHAPTER III.—A Desperate Venture.
CHAPTER IV.—The Venture is Successful.
CHAPTER V.—A Sporting Chance.
CHAPTER VI.—In the Name of the Law.
CHAPTER VII.—Through the Night.
CHAPTER VIII.—The Morse Code.
CHAPTER IX.—A Friend at Court.
CHAPTER X.—The Ghost of a Chance.
CHAPTER XI.—Gaining Time.
CHAPTER XII.—Reprieved!
CHAPTER XIII.—A Reckless Ride.
CHAPTER XIV.—Safe—So Far!
CHAPTER XV.—Liston's Bright Idea.
CHAPTER XVI.—The Chance Accepted.
CHAPTER XVII.—Behind His Back.
CHAPTER XVIII.—The Panic.
CHAPTER XIX.—The Dreadful Unexpected.
CHAPTER XX.—An Old Acquaintance.
CHAPTER XXI.—The House in Stanmore Street.
CHAPTER XXII.—The Finding of the Belt.
CHAPTER XXIII.—Down on His Luck.
CHAPTER XXIV.—A Silent Witness.
CHAPTER XXV.—Kate Mayfield at Home.
CHAPTER XXVI.—A Helping Hand.
CHAPTER XXVII.—The Mirror.
CHAPTER XXVIII.—Branded!
CHAPTER XXIX.—"A Woman's Crown of Glory."
CHAPTER XXX.—Coward Conscience.
CHAPTER XXXI.—Confession.
CHAPTER XXXII.—Followed Up.
CHAPTER XXXIII.—The Nobler Part.
CHAPTER XXXIV.—On His Knees.
CHAPTER XXXV.—The Right Man.
CHAPTER XXXVI.—The Best Way Out.
CHAPTER I.—The Altar of Sacrifice.
CHAPTER II.—"Little Kate."
The hard expression left Lady Letty's face at the sight of her visitor.
"Little Kate Mayfield!" she exclaimed. "It seems hardly possible. But what is wrong? You are younger than I am. It isn't that you really look old, but there is a——"
"Oh, I know," Kate interrupted. "It is what I have been through—what I am going through now. I shall get young again when I have time to enjoy peace. But that will not be till I have exposed Stephen Du Cros and driven him out of every honest man's house."
Lady Letty stared haughtily at the speaker. Had the girl taken leave of her senses?
"I make every allowance for you," she said. "I cannot forget that your father used to be one of our tenants at Stanford. We were children together——"
"Ah! you were more than kind to me before my father had to give up everything and go to the Cape. As if I could ever forget! I would do anything for a Stanborough. That is why I am here to-night, that is why I have forced myself upon you. That is why I speak of Stephen Du Cros as an adventurer and a scoundrel."
The words came in a suppressed whisper from Kate Mayfield's lips. She was under the stress of some great emotion. That she was seeking nothing for herself was evident. She was too well dressed and had too real a stamp of prosperity for that.
"I am engaged to Mr. Du Cros," Lady Letty said significantly. "I ought not to listen to——"
"But you must, you shall," Kate retorted vehemently. "I am trying to save you from a fate that would be worse than death. I know the words must sound cheap and tawdry in your ears, but they are true. Believe me, I have come entirely on your account, Lady Letty. You must hear me. If you refuse to do so I will force myself among your guests and confront Du Cros before them all. But if you decline to consider yourself, you must think of your brother. Don't let the man you are bent on marrying ruin Lord Amsted body and soul."
"The man I am bent on marrying!" Lady Letty exclaimed. "If you only knew——"
She paused abruptly. It was impossible to speak freely before this girl. Kate thought she knew exactly what was passing through Lady Letty's mind.
"Ah!" she cried, "this is as I expected. You despise and dislike that man as much as I do. You are parting with your happiness to save the family honour. What are you getting in return? Not even riches, for Du Cros is poorer than your father. And he will soon be shown up. I know that man inside and out. For a year or more I saw him daily in South Africa. Fool that I was, I thought I cared for him. I looked upon him as a good and honest man. Instead of that, he was the friend and associate of swindlers, the arch-swindler himself. When the crash came, he left me to face the police. I was arrested and took my trial for diamond stealing. Whether I was innocent or not matters nothing. But I was the tool of that man and he abandoned me to my fate. That same fate was kind to me in the end, and I came back to England rich and prosperous. But I wanted my revenge—oh, yes, I needed that. I have waited for it. I have watched Du Cros climb out of the gutter until he is accepted as a millionaire and flattered by the great. I meant to have him arrested as he started to meet you on your wedding-day. Not one single incident of his career is concealed from me. My detectives have watched him, and one of his confederates is in my pay. Oh, I had planned a fine revenge, I promise you! But I cannot go on with it, because Lord Amsted is in danger. You know how he and Mr. Middlemass were nearly ruined over a race some time ago. Well, the whole thing was a conspiracy on the part of Du Cros and his associates to bring Lord Amsted to his knees. I don't want to recall the reason why Du Cros hates Lord Amsted so bitterly."
"They had a misunderstanding in a club," Lady Letty said with flaming cheeks.
"Lord Amsted thrashed him," Kate corrected. "Now, Du Cros never forgives an injury. His idea is to marry you; but that will not affect his scheme for ruining your brother. To a certain extent the plan has already answered. Lord Amsted was driven out of the country; he could not return for fear of arrest. Mind, you, he is more sinned against than sinning. He came back, greatly daring, to ride a certain horse that nobody else could steer to victory, and he won. Mr. Middlemass got all his money back, and Du Cros had to pay. But Lord Amsted was injured while riding and motored off directly the race was over, and also to avoid arrest. He is now lying concealed at Stanford. Du Cros knows he is there. To-morrow night or early on the following morning he will be arrested. It may be a serious matter for Lord Amsted, but if we can keep him safe the affair will be settled. I am prepared to find the money if nobody else will. But you must see Lord Amsted and arrange the details. I will tell you what to do."
"I will go and see him to-morrow."
"Ah! I thought I should move you," Kate said. "But, unfortunately, the matter cannot be arranged so easily as all that. If you leave here openly, Du Cros will suspect you and have you watched. He does not trust you, because he knows you have no liking for him. He also knows how strong is your affection for Lord Amsted. Do you know—but, of course, you don't—that your very maid is in Du Cros's pay? That is what my agents tell me. If you slip off to Stanford openly you will be followed. You must go and return secretly. That is where my suggestion is weak. Nobody can go but you; nobody but you can guide Lord Amsted to a place of safety. If you leave it to Mr. Childers he will be followed, too, although he would do anything for you."
Lady Letty's face flamed.
"You are a wonderful woman, Kate."
"I have learnt my lesson in a hard school," Kate replied. "Mr. Childers is the man you need. As a novelist he is good at plotting. Get him to work out a plan for you. Can't you take advantage of this midnight journey to Liverpool?"
"You know all about that?" Lady Letty cried. "It was only arranged on the spur of the moment a little time ago. It was quite spontaneous."
"A carefully prepared impromptu!" Kate said scornfully. "Du Cros worked that out this morning. I paid twenty pounds for the news. Du Cros's real object is to go to Liverpool on secret business, the pleasure part is only a blind. He will insist upon your going; in fact, he will take no refusal. So long as you accompany this expedition, he will have you under his eye. He will take extraordinary pains to see that you do not hold any communication with Lord Amsted."
"In that case I shall be utterly powerless."
"On the face of it, yes," Kate said. "This thing must be done at once or the consequences will be serious. We cannot appeal to Lady Amsted, seeing that nobody knows that they are married. Lady Amsted's people will be furious when they know—but we need not go into that. We do not know the extent of Lord Amsted's injuries. They may be slight, they may be serious. That he should be left alone is out of the question. There is nobody but you to help him, and time is short. What I had in my mind was how you could leave the express and go to Stanford by motor. You might join the train at a later stage without anybody being any the wiser. A fast motor could manage it if you had an accomplice on the train—say Mr. Childers. You would have the best part of an hour at Stanford, where Lord Amsted could remain and laugh at his pursuers. You used to boast that nobody knew of so many hiding-places as yourself. Do you remember how Lord Amsted and you once put me in the Monk's Parlour, and how frightened I was when I could not get out? You discovered the secret of the room after it had been forgotten for ages. If you could explain this on paper and give it me——"
"I am afraid that would be impossible."
"Yes, I was certain you would say that. But if you are bold and resolute, you can turn our childish pastimes to good effect so far as Lord Amsted is concerned. I will give you my address in town where you can come and see me to-morrow if I can be of any service to you. If you don't call before night, I shall understand that Mr. Childers and you have found a way. Remember, you are not to say a word of this to anybody but Mr. Childers, who worships the ground you tread on and would go through fire and water for you. Also, not a whisper to Stephen Du Cros. If he hears my name so much as mentioned everything will be lost. I shall know how to deal with him when the time comes. To think of the audacity of that man—that he should dare to lift his eyes to you."
Lady Letty smiled unsteadily. She felt no anger and resentment against the girl who had spoken of her future husband in this way. She was not surprised to hear that the envied millionaire was only an adventurer.
"It is good of you to come and see me," she said.
"Is it?" Kate answered with a strange look. "I am afraid that I am not quite so disinterested as you imagine. I would do anything to save one of your family, but the spirit of revenge is at the back of it all. Still, we need not go into that. Now, go and discuss this matter with Mr. Childers and see if he can find a way. If you will shake hands with me——"
Lady Letty stooped and kissed Kate Mayfield on the lips.
CHAPTER III.—A Desperate Venture.
Lady Letty passed through the house into the garden again. She stopped for a moment to glance at herself in a long gilt mirror. She was wondering if the racking agony of her mind found expression in her face. But the features were cold and set; no hint of pain lay in the clear eyes. She had been brought up in too hard a school for that. She could still smile when her heart was breaking. Yet there were those who envied her and regarded her as one of the most fortunate of mortals! If they only knew; if they could only realise how things were!
Then why did she do it? Why did she lend herself to this scheme? She was keenly alive to the fact that her father was not worth the sacrifice. The name of Stanborough was tainted beyond recall. She might break away from her moorings and start life on her own account. She had enough for a cottage in the country, and had only to say the word and Hugh Childers would come to her side. It had needed no words of Kate Mayfield's to tell her that much. His earnings were not great, but they would have sufficed. But Hugh, with all his cleverness, clung to the same futile traditions, growing old before his time in the insane attempt to swim with the tide. What sickening folly it was! How happy they might have been together!
Lady Letty had half a mind to throw down the glove of open revolt. She wanted to tell Stephen Du Cros how she hated and despised him; she wanted to inform her father that she could not go on with this hideous sacrifice. Hugh would come to her eagerly. They might be married quietly and the others could look to themselves. But even as these thoughts came uppermost in Lady Letty's mind, she knew that they could not be. She would have to go on to the bitter end; the chains of fashion were too strong for her. In any case, she had a duty to perform. Kate Mayfield's startling and dramatic story could not be ignored. There was truth stamped all over it; there was absolutely no chance of outside assistance, and Lady Letty would have to act for herself. Come what may, she must go as far as Stanford, and nobody must be any the wiser. The trouble and risk must be entirely hers. Least of all dared she mention the matter to Stephen Du Cros. If she told him that she could not go to Liverpool, his suspicions would be aroused at once. If she feigned illness he would have her watched. She had just been told that he had bribed the servants. To get away from London for a whole day and back again without anybody at Dorchester Gardens being any the wiser seemed out of the question. Yet it had to be done. Lady Letty had to achieve the impossible. The only man who could help her was Hugh Childers.
Fortunately, Du Cros had no jealousy of him. It was absurd he should have anything to fear from a penniless scribbler. In this way he ignored the one individual in the world who had touched Lady Letty's heart. She must find Hugh at once. He came to her by a kind of instinct. He knew she had had bad news.
"You are in trouble," he said. "Tell me and see if I can help you."
Lady Letty looked up with a startled expression on her face.
"Do I show it so plainly?" she asked.
"No; I don't suppose anybody else would notice. They would probably say that you looked just as usual. But, you see, I know you so well, dear."
"Utterly cold, utterly heartless," Lady Letty laughed bitterly. "That is my reputation. I suppose that I have tried to live up to it. It just shows how wrong it is to judge by appearances. I am in terrible trouble, Hugh. It came to me unexpectedly, as worry of this kind always does. Let me tell you the details of a strange interview I have just had with Kate Mayfield. You remember her at Stanford?"
"Really! Where does little Kate come in? But tell me, and if I can help——"
Lady Letty went rapidly over the points of the story.
"Now you know exactly how I am situated," she said. "Hugh, I must go. It is imperative to save Amsted. Stanford is empty except for an aged caretaker who is devoted to us all. I mean Beaton. There is hardly any furniture. My father's creditors took everything. You know what a desolate, dreary old place it is!"
"A capital spot to hide in," Childers reminded her. "I knew the house quite well as a boy. Do you recollect the day when I nearly got drowned in the moat? And so poor old Amsted is hiding there, or going to be hidden there when you reach Stanford."
Lady Letty glanced round her before she replied. Nobody was apparently within earshot; the giddy throng of well-dressed men and women passed across the lawns and filled the refreshment tents or sat idly listening to the Red Geneva band. How hollow the whole thing was, Lady Letty thought. And how dishonest! It was all so unnecessary in their position; it was never in the least likely to be paid for. They were not far removed from fraudulent bankrupts.
"Amsted's danger is great," she whispered. "You already know how he got mixed up in a turf scandal. It was a disgraceful business, and I believe it is in the hands of the police. Stephen Du Cros knows all about it. Kate Mayfield has told me that he laid a trap for my headstrong brother. Amsted is a perfect fool where sport is concerned. There is no folly he will not commit where a horse is in question."
Childers nodded. He knew all this. Lord Amsted, Lord Stanborough's eldest son, was one of the most famous cross-country riders of the day. He had been brought up in the atmosphere of the stable, and his friends were all of the racecourse. Even in the days of his neglected youth at Eton he was implicated in some racing trouble.
"But he is not really bad," Lady Letty went on, as if reading her companion's thoughts. "He is good-natured and generous, and will take any risk to help a friend. But he is so easily led. Now there is something that cannot be hushed up. I don't know what it is, but Stephen Du Cros does. I had to go down to his office some days ago for my father on business, and he was talking to a man about Amsted. I did not like the look of the fellow at all, but many of Stephen's friends repel me. I tremble sometimes when I think of the future. Oh, was ever a girl so tried as I am?"
Hugh murmured his sympathy. It was very hard to listen and retain his self-possession.
"I am ready to do anything for you," he said.
"Oh, I know, I know. You are the one man I can trust. Well, Amsted is at Stanford in hiding; he has met with an accident. I must go and see him."
"There is no reason why you should not," Childers said. "It is not very difficult for you to——"
"My dear boy, it is the most difficult thing in the world. I must be there to-morrow and return the same day. I have promised to accompany those people to Liverpool to Madame Regnier's concert. I can't get out of it. We start at midnight. At one point the train passes within ten miles of Stanford. If I could only leave the train for an hour and rejoin it before it reaches Liverpool! But what nonsense I am talking."
"Can't you plead illness and remain in London? If you could trust your maid!"
"My maid is in the pay of Stephen Du Cros. The situation is perfectly hopeless. All I have thought of is that mad notion of leaving the special for an hour and rejoining it later. Then I should be absolutely safe. Please don't laugh at me, Hugh. Kate Mayfield suggested that I should ask you. She said a novelist should have a certain sympathy with the situation. I have read of unlikely schemes in books."
"Not more wonderful than that," Childers said. "We leave at twelve o'clock and shall take four hours getting to Liverpool. It is a very rambling route, and it would be possible to set you down in a certain spot in such circumstances that you could spend some time at Stanford and cut across the country to join the train again at Stoneleigh Cross. A motor at sixty miles an hour would do the trick. If we can hit upon an excuse for stopping the train twice, the thing will be easy."
"Oh, it would be easy enough if Stephen Du Cros were not of the company," Lady Letty said. "He would suspect at once what I was going to do, for he is aware my brother is at Stanford. I was not dreaming of any conventional or commonplace plan. It wants some wild, ingenious, out-of-the-way scheme, whereby I may get away and all shall suppose that I am still in the train. If you can think that out for me!"
Childers sat pondering deeply. The suggestion appealed to him for more reasons than one. In the course of his stories he liked to handle complicated situations. Here was one calculated to tax his power of invention to the uttermost.
"Well?" Lady Letty asked after a long pause. "Are you laughing at me?"
"Nothing was farther from my thoughts," Childers said gravely. "On the contrary, the suggestion fascinates me. But it is impossible to think it out in the midst of this noise and frivolity. But I have the germ of an idea. Have you some friend you can trust? I mean some woman friend of good position. All she has to do is to express a desire at the last moment to join the party at Stoneleigh Cross. She might send a telegram late to-morrow evening. But she must be a person of consequence. She can be coached for her part by telephone. If she lives or is staying in the North so much the better."
Lady Letty ruminated quietly for a little time.
"Yes," she said by and bye, "Violet Ringwood could help me, I fancy. Lord Ringwood is away. She does not live far from Stoneleigh Cross. What am I to do?"
"Nothing to-night," Childers said as he rose. "I'll call to see you after breakfast. It maybe a desperate chance, but I believe you can cheat them yet."
CHAPTER IV.—The Venture is Successful.
Lady Letty was not sorry to be alone. She had a number of intricate problems to consider, and their solution threatened almost to be beyond her. She had no ready cash, nor could she command the assistance of friends with money. Otherwise, the thing had been easy. But now it was possible to do nothing but hide Amsted. And there was nobody but she who could do the hiding successfully. The situation was desperate, brimful of anxiety, one long vista of fear and danger. And the man she had most to dread was the man she had agreed to marry!
She could see him flitting about amongst the trees from one group to another, welcomed everywhere with flattering smiles. What a farce it all was! How promptly and contemptuously they would turn their backs on him should fortune frown on him to-morrow. But apparently no doubts of this kind assailed Stephen Du Cros. Presently some visitor engaged him in earnest conversation. The man's appearance was oddly familiar to Lady Letty. It occurred to her that he was the person she had seen in Du Cros's office, the man who had discussed her brother. Involuntarily, she drew nearer to them. The stranger was talking excitedly. She could catch Amsted's name.
"No," Du Cros said curtly. "Nothing of the kind. Please understand that this thing must be done in my way. I leave for Liverpool to-morrow night and shall not be back till the day after. You are not to go near Stanford in the meantime."
Lady Letty dropped into the shadows. She had learnt something. Amsted was free for the next four-and-twenty hours at any rate. If she could only accomplish her project so far as the special train was concerned! But that was out of the question. Hugh Childers might be sanguine, but this task was beyond his power. An irresistible impulse to know the best or worst came upon Lady Letty as she stood there. It was still with her after the guests had gone and she was alone in her room.
It was not far to Childers's flat; he could not have retired yet. There was no reason why Lucy Childers should not share the secret. The scheme would cost money, and she must be prepared for emergencies. Lady Letty had a few jewels she could dispose of, and these she hastily slipped into the pocket of her wrap. She went quietly down the stairs and out into the stillness of the night. Her step faltered a little and her cheeks flamed as she knocked.
Lucy Childers looked at Lady Letty in surprise.
"What has happened?" she asked. "Is there anything wrong at home?"
"Nothing worse than usual," Lady Letty said. "I waited till everybody had gone to bed and then came round to see Hugh. I had to see him before I slept. Perhaps he has told you."
Lucy Childers smiled. There were no secrets between her brother and herself. She knew many things that Lady Letty merely suspected. Hugh was in the drawing-room.
"I was just going to bed," Lucy explained. "Now, I will wait till you are ready to retire. No, I won't stay with you people. I shall be told everything afterwards."
Lucy softly withdrew. A somewhat awkward silence followed.
"I had to come," Lady Letty explained. "I was right in what I said about Stephen Du Cros and my brother. The man I told you of was at our house to-night. I overheard a few words they said. Stanford was mentioned, but they will do nothing till the day after to-morrow, which gives me some little breathing-time. Oh, Hugh, can you manage it—is there any way by which I can get to Stanford to-morrow night?"
Hugh was pacing up and down the room. He had put aside his own troubles and worries, and for the last hour had revolved Letty's perplexities in his mind. A plan was becoming more and more clear to him, until at last it was only a matter of detail.
"I believe I can do it," he said. "I have been studying the railway map. There is a point called Cranley, which is only eight miles from Stanford. Stoneleigh Cross will be reached by the special seventy minutes later than Cranley. But it is no great distance from Cranley to Stoneleigh Cross as the crow flies, and a speedy motor will give you half an hour at Stanford and allow time to get to Stoneleigh Cross, where the train will pull up for Lady Ringwood. To arrange for a motor to await you at the spot where you secretly leave the train is easy. We shall be there as soon as she is, and I'll smuggle you back again on board the train at Stoneleigh Cross. In fact, a rapid car and a chauffeur that knows the land will do all we need—if there is no delay or accident."
"That sounds promising," Lady Letty said. "There is a certain amount of danger, but with a clever head like yours it should be managed. But how about getting off the train? Do you propose to invent some excuse for my leaving openly?"
"I can't see my way to that," Childers said after a pause. "It is too risky. The great thing is to avoid arousing Du Cros's suspicion. Letty, your nerve is good? You are ready to take a risk? Your courage will not fail you at the last moment?"
Childers had dropped his voice to an impressive whisper. Lady Letty caught his excitement, and a little colour crept into her pale face.
"I fancy you may trust me," she said. "I am not afraid to ride any horse that looks through a bridle. I had to swim for my life once. When we went bird's-nesting together, I climbed the highest tree as well as you did, Hugh."
"That is perfectly true," Childers agreed. "I don't fancy there is much real danger, but it will be very horrible to contemplate in cold blood. But you won't be alone, because I mean to accompany you. On the whole I prefer to keep that part of the scheme a secret. How we shall leave the train without stopping it is a matter I would rather not discuss. I don't want you to dwell upon it; I don't wish you to realise the thing till the last moment. As to the motor, I will see to that. You can rely upon its being in readiness. You must trust me, Letty."
"Of course I trust you," Lady Letty exclaimed. "I am willing to place my life in your hands, Hugh. But there are a good many details to be settled yet."
"I have thought of most of them. We can't run the risk of telephoning to Lady Ringwood. Lucy will take an early train to see her and explain matters so far as it is possible to explain. Lady Ringwood, who is a friend of Adala Regnier, will telegraph to Stephen Du Cros, saying she has heard of the express party and asking to have the train stopped at Stoneleigh Cross so that she may join it there. As she is the wife of a peer, it is certain Du Cros will not refuse; on the contrary, he will be only too happy to oblige her. After that you will have to do what I tell you, and obey my instructions implicitly."
"It will require money," Lady Letty said.
"That is so," Childers admitted. "I have none. I suppose we shall have to pay some five or six pounds for the motor which will meet you near Cranley. That Lucy will arrange for. You had better give her the money so that she can pay in advance."
Lady Letty produced the jewels from the pocket of her wrap.
"This is all I have," she said. "Take these and pawn them. What would some of the friends that envy me say if they could see and hear me now!"
