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- Herausgeber: Fred M White
- Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
- Sprache: Englisch
The colours were dancing before John Lethbridge's eyes in dots and splashes. The place was so hot that beads of perspiration were standing out on his forehead, and his dark hair was wet and dank. He lifted his head from the tray in front of him and stretched himself wearily. This thing was a long time in doing, and patience was not one of his virtues. He glanced at the thermometer, which registered almost a hundred degrees. It was nearly as hot outside, for a thunderstorm was coming up from the south, and the night was dark and tepid.
Lethbridge lifted the lights of the little greenhouse higher, but he was conscious of no change in the temperature. Even the fresh mesh of muslin thrown over the ventilators seemed to keep out what air was there.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
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Fred M White
The Golden Rose
Table of contents
I - A MAKER OF FLOWERS
II - THE FOOTPRINTS
III - FLOWERS OF FATE
IV - JASPER PAYN
V - THE GOLDEN ROSE
VI - TEMPTATION
VII - THE FINGER OF FATE
VII - ON THE BRINK
IX - AN ORDEAL BY FAITH
X - A SCRAP OF SILK
XI - A CLUE IN CALF
XII - A LITERARY TREASURE
XIII - ON THE TRACK
XIV - THE SAME MAN
XV - A WAITING GAME
XVI - RAM MURSHEE
XVII - THE WARNING
XVIII - A NOTE OF WARNING
XIX - THE UNSEEN HAND
XX - THE MYSTERY DEEPENS
XXI - THE POST OF DANGER
XXII - THE SHADES OF NIGHT
XXIII - THE OUTLINE OF THE STORY
XXIV - A BID FOR FREEDOM
XXV - A WORLD ON WHEELS
XXVI - A BROKEN TYRE
XXVII - "VAVA."
XXVII - A BROKEN THREAD
XXIX - A PETAL FROM THE ROSE
XXX - A FRESH ALLY
XXXI - FOLLOW MY LEADER
XXXII - MURSHEE IS ALARMED
XXXIII - WARD'S STORY
XXXIV - THE UNDER-STUDY
XXXV - PERSONAL EXPLANATION
XXXVI - THE SCENE OF THE TROUBLE
XXXVII - OUT OF THE WORLD
XXXVIII - THE FLIGHT
XXXIX - IN PURSUIT
XL - THE BEST OF THE GAME
XLI - FRIEND OR FOE?
XLII - IN TIME
XLIII - THE LAST GRASP
XLIV - BEYOND PURSUIT
XLV - THE WAY IT WAS DONE
I - A MAKER OF FLOWERS
II - THE FOOTPRINTS
It was growing so hot and close now, that Lethbridge could bear it no longer. He was uneasy in his mind, too, for during the past few days he could not rid himself of the idea that he was being spied upon. This was all the more inexplicable because he did not know a soul in the neighbourhood. Still, Manchester was a noted place for horticulturists and cultivators of the finer kinds of flowers, and perhaps his fame had preceded him. It had not occurred to him to take precautions to guard his secret until something had happened which gave him a rude awakening. Of course he knew that there was a distinct commercial side to his enterprise, and that the possession of anything novel in his line meant a considerable sum to the owner. It might have been a coincidence that a firm in America had simultaneously put upon the market a striped carnation which Lethbridge had discovered himself; on the other hand, it was possible that a seedling or too had been stolen, and that Lethbridge had been anticipated. For several evenings he had heard strange noises as if some one were prowling round his cottage. He had found footprints in the soil where no footprints should be. Strangely, enough, these marks had not been made by a man's tread. They were small and well-formed, and the heel marks were evidently those of a woman. Lethbridge was thinking about this now as he drew the hood over his electric light and carefully locked the greenhouse door behind him.
It was good to be in the open air again, though the night was close and stifling. It was pitch dark, too, with a low sky that seemed to be resting on the tops of the trees. Ever and again there came a growl of distant thunder, followed by the patter of great drops of rain. Lethbridge, as he stood there, fancied that he was not alone. He had the strange, uneasy sense that some one was close by him. He believed he could hear something fluttering in the clump of rhododendrons on the lawn. Was it because his nostrils were full of the scent of flowers, or did he really inhale the peculiarly subtle perfume that always envelops some women as with an invisible cloak? Who was it, he wondered, who was paying him the compliment of keeping in touch with him in this fashion? Whilst Lethbridge was asking this question the black curtain overhead was suddenly rent with a long, zigzag flash of purple and scarlet lightning, and for the fraction of a second the whole place blazed in the full light of day. Every twig and leaf of the rhododendron stood out hard and stiff, and Lethbridge could see something of a woman's skirt. The nebulous flame glinted on a pair of polished shoes. Then the thunder crashed deafeningly overhead, and the rain came down with a hiss and a roar as loud and terrifying as the advance of cavalry. A startled voice was upraised suddenly, and a moment later Lethbridge stood inside his cottage with a girl in white by his side.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he demanded.
His voice was stern. The look on his face was forbidding. He was in no mood for politeness. The girl turned a piteous face towards him, and her big violet eyes filled with tears. She could have chosen no more serviceable weapon for disarming Lethbridge's anger. His heart smote him almost before the words were uttered. It was a beautiful face, too, so very like some of his favourite flowers. The features were rather small but exquisitely refined, and the colouring was subdued, something between old ivory and the faintest admixture of carmine. It was a good, trustworthy face, that did not at all suggest the clever and unscrupulous spy of fiction. The red lips were parted in pleading protest. The girl was young and slender, and her white dress seemed part and parcel of herself.
"I am very sorry," she stammered.
Lethbridge was muttering apologies himself by this time. He regretted he had been so precipitate. But, really, it was no night for a girl to be out alone and without any kind of protection from the weather.
"I don't know," the girl went on in the same appealing voice. "I came out because it was so hot. I was trying to make my way from the road into the fields, and I took the wrong direction. I was foolish not to tell you so at once, but when you opened the door so suddenly you startled me. But I will go now if you will tell me the way—"
"Impossible!" Lethbridge exclaimed. "Listen to the rain. I never heard such thunder. Have you far to go?"
"Oh dear, no," the girl replied. "Only to the foot of the hill. We live at the Chester Nurseries. I keep house for my uncle. At least, he is not my uncle really. I don't quite know what relationship there is between us. But he is getting old and feeble, and I look after him."
Lethbridge nodded moodily. His old suspicions were returning. He would have been more satisfied had this beautiful girl with the violet eyes and ivory and pink complexion had nothing to do with anybody interested in the propagation of flowers. Besides, her information fanned his fears. Was she deceiving him? He tried to get a glimpse of the high-heeled shoes, but the long white dress hid the view. The girl's intuition seemed to be quick, for her lips trembled and she glanced anxiously at Lethbridge.
"What have I said to offend you?" she asked.
"I don't know," Lethbridge laughed vexedly. "Perhaps I am unduly suspicious. I am new to this quarter, and I thought I should be safe here. I get my living, or rather I try to get my living, by raising new flowers. I was robbed once of a most valuable plant, and two years' work was lost. Since then, well, really, it is very awkward—"
But the girl was not heeding him. Lethbridge began to stammer and hesitate, for it was borne in upon him that he was accusing his pretty visitor of being a thief; hanging about the house with an eye upon this floral treasures. Fortunately, the girl did not seem to comprehend.
"That is very strange," she exclaimed. "My uncle does exactly the same thing. He spends all his time in his greenhouses. He lives in the hope of making a fortune by giving the world new flowers. He lives for nothing else, and has spent hundreds of pounds which he cannot afford on his hobby. This must be so, because when I first came to him we lived in a lovely house, and I had everything I could desire. Now my uncle is irritated if I ask him for a sovereign. I want him to take a partner, but he won't hear of it. Once he was robbed and his confidence abused by one in whom he trusted, since then he avoids man's society whenever he can."
"That is a curious coincidence," he murmured. "What is your uncle's name?"
"Jasper Payn; he used to live at a place called Beckenham Hall. My name is Mary Grover. As I said before, I call Mr. Payn my uncle, but he is only very distantly related to me."
Lethbridge nodded in an absentminded fashion. He was not half so surprised at this stupendous statement as he had expected. It was all part of the cruel fate that had been pursuing him for years. No doubt the girl had heard of him. No doubt Jasper Payn had told her the whole story. He began to remember that Payn had had some relations called Grover whom no one had ever seen. Possibly he had sent for this girl when John Lethbridge had left him. It was Lethbridge's duty at once to proclaim his kinmanship with Payn, but just at the moment he hesitated. The girl fascinated him, attracted him in some subtle manner, and, besides, Lethbridge had not passed an hour in woman's company for the last three years. He could not very well turn the girl out into the drenching, blinding storm. It would be embarrassing to her if he told her his name, and left her to draw her own conclusions. No doubt she had been taught to look upon him as an ungrateful thief. He pictured to himself the expression on her charming face if he told the truth. He temporised, as many a better man than he might have done in similar circumstances.
"There is an unfortunate parallel between your uncle and myself," he said. "We have both suffered at the hands of false friends. We are both engaged in the same unusual occupation. I suppose you are interested in the hybridisation of flowers?"
"I should love it," the girl exclaimed, "if I were allowed to. I am passionately fond of flowers, but know nothing of the mysteries behind them. My uncle does not think that a girl has brains enough to understand such things. All I know is that at certain times of the year no bee must be allowed in the greenhouses. I wonder why."
"That is easily explained," Lethbridge smiled. "Bees have their uses from our point of view, and by carrying the pollen from one flower to another have frequently been the means of producing fresh hybrids. But that is mere luck on the part of the nurseryman. You can imagine what damage a few bees would do if a greenhouse when one's novelties were coming into bloom. But I am talking rather over your head. I am afraid."
"Perhaps so," the girl said dubiously. "There are certain things I should like to know. I wonder if you would mind allowing me some of your flowers. I dare not look into our greenhouses unless I go in with my uncle."
Again Lethbridge paused. Again he was weighed down by haunting suspicion. The girl was beautiful to look upon. She seemed fair and innocent. But Lethbridge remembered that he had promised never to trust a human being again. He was, perhaps, weaker than he thought, for a moment later he was leading the way into the stifling heat of the greenhouse where the great white flare of the electric light was playing full upon the trays of seedlings.
"I never thought to show anybody these," he said. "I am trusting you, a stranger, with my most cherished secrets. Look at that carnation in the corner there, you can see that already two of the buds are shaping into bloom. When they come out in a few days I shall be bitterly disappointed if they are not a perfect blue. Just try to imagine a blue carnation. But you can't imagine the years of care and toil and hope deferred which have led up to the perfection of that little flower. Did you ever see a carnation with alternate yellow and crimson stripes?"
"We have some," the girl said. "I understood that only three people in the kingdom possessed them. Do you grow them?"
III - FLOWERS OF FATE
"I invented them," Lethbridge said curtly. "They were the first success which encouraged me. The idea came to me nearly four years ago, and it took me a year to bring it to a successful issue. At that time I knew a man who was more or less interested in my researches; indeed, he was going to finance me, only he changed his mind and went to America instead. I don't know whether he was a rascal or not because I can never prove it. But he got the best of me and managed to place the striped carnation on the American market. I think if you ask your uncle he will tell you that the seeds of his striped Dianthus came from the States."
"I believe that is so," Mary Grover replied.
"Ah, I am certain of it. Perhaps you would like to hear the story of the way in which the inventor of a new flower was deprived of the fruits of his industry. It won't take many minutes. I need not tell you what my feelings were when I found that no fewer than four of my carnations were new striped hybrids. You will recollect that they are marked all across in straight bands of colour like a coat of arms. When I showed those plants to my friend he was deeply interested. He told me, however, that the colours would be likely to fade and would have no permanent value. He knew what he was talking about, and I was profoundly impressed by what he said. I did not allow more than three blooms to each plant, for naturally I wanted their heads to be as fine as possible. You can imagine my dismay next morning when I found that the yellow bands had entirely disappeared, and that each bloom had become a washed-out crimson. My friend was in town, but when he came back I showed him what had happened. I told him I felt certain that in the course of time I could remove this extraordinary blemish, but he did not seem disposed to echo my enthusiasm. At any rate, he made some excuse for not giving me the money he had promised. I was so disgusted that I tore up my carnations and threw them on the rubbish heap. I turned my attention to something else, but you can imagine my surprise when, a few months later, the very flower I had invented was introduced into this country from America. Oh, don't ask me to explain how it came about. All I know is that I was deceived, and that my false friend was reaping the product of my brain. Since then I have never heard from him, but if we do meet—"
Lethbridge paused and drew a long breath. The girl's eyes were turned upon him sympathetically.
"Did your friend know you had thrown those plants away?" she asked. "Did he see you do it? I understand that carnations are hardy things and stand any amount of transplanting."
"My word! I never thought of that," Lethbridge exclaimed energetically. "And yet I have brooded over this mystery till the thing has haunted me. And you have solved it by a single question. But I am afraid that make my position little better than it was before."
"Isn't there another point of view which you have overlooked?" the girl asked. "Of course, it is possible your friend deceived you and made use of the plants you had thrown away, but that would not account for the blooms changing colour."
"I hadn't thought of that," Lethbridge replied. "What a strange thing it is I should be talking to you like this when an hour ago I was not aware of your existence!"
Mary Grover smiled brightly. She was frankly enjoying the conversation, the more because her life with Jasper Payn was dull and monotonous. It was the first time for years that she had had an opportunity of talking to a man of her own age and station, for Jasper Payn kept himself rigidly to himself; indeed, the only man who saw him at all was a local inspector of police, an enthusiastic amateur gardener, whose acquaintance Payn had cultivated more for his own protection than anything else, for the old man had never lost his haunting fears, and lived in constant dread of being robbed of his discoveries as he had been on the occasion which led to the quarrel between himself and John Lethbridge.
These things Mary chattered about idly enough. She saw that her companion was interested, and she grew vivacious. She could not know why Lethbridge was so eager to discover her life's history. He would tell her the truth presently, and then this little episode would be finished. But he would not tell her yet; he would get every possible enjoyment out of the interview first. It was so pleasant to stand chatting there, watching the play of expression upon that beautiful face, and observing how the shadows changed in her eyes. Then, with an effort, John Lethbridge braced himself to the inevitable. The rain had ceased to beat upon the roof of the greenhouse, and the wind had died away in the trees.
"I think it is fine now," Lethbridge suggested.
"Oh, is it?" the girl asked half-regretfully. "In that case I must he getting back home. My uncle will wonder what has become of me. But what have you here?"
She pointed to a small doorway at the end of the greenhouse which led into a compartment beyond, where another electric light was burning soft and subdued behind a pink shade. The girl laid her hand upon the door-knob when Lethbridge came to her side. His face had suddenly grown severe.
"Not there," he said shortly. "I have shown you a good deal, but there are certain things I cannot tell you. Some day, perhaps—. But I beg your pardon. I fear I have annoyed you."
Mary Grover's face flushed crimson and her lips trembled. Perhaps Lethbridge was not aware of the note of sternness which had crept into his voice.
"I don't want to be curious," the girl said coldly.
"Of course not," Lethbridge replied eagerly. "I quite understand. Still, there are certain matters which one cannot speak of."
A constraint seemed to fall upon them and Mary moved towards the door. The rain had ceased; a few heavy drops were dripping from the trees; the whole air was fragrant with the smell of fresh flowers. Mary hesitated for a moment, and then held out her hand timidly.
"You must let me come with you as far as your garden gate," Lethbridge replied. "I don't like the idea of your going alone. You mistook your way before, and you might do it again."
Lethbridge was not to be denied. He strode along by her side quieter and more subdued than he had been, for he had something on his mind. He would have to tell the girl who he was; he was too proud to make her acquaintance under false pretences. She would probably regard him from the same standpoint as his uncle had. She would look upon him as a man without honour or integrity. Possibly if they met again she would decline to speak to him. But this alternative had to be faced.
Still, there was no occasion to hurry it. The truth would keep to the last moment, and Mary Grover was chatting freely and easily. She had forgotten her curiosity and the incident of the green house. The garden gate of Jasper Payn's establishment was close at hand. The girl paused at length, and turned a bright face to her companion.
"Let me thank you once more," she said. "I should like to ask you to come in, but I'm afraid my uncle would not like it. He is so suspicious of strangers."
Here was Lethbridge's opening, and he took it lest his courage should fail him.
"Perhaps your uncle is right," he said, not without a touch of bitterness in his tone. "Probably he would be less than pleased to see me when he recognised—"
The speaker paused abruptly, for all of a sudden a loud outcry broke on the startled air. There was a noise of broken glass, followed by the rustle of some object in the bushes close by. What the object was Lethbridge could not make out, for it was very dark and the foliage was thick. Before Lethbridge could make up his mind what it was the outcry broke forth again.
"That is my uncle," Mary said in a startled voice. "I fear he has met with some accident, or worse. Won't you come with me, please? I dare not go alone."
For Lethbridge had hesitated. He had not had the slightest intention of meeting his eccentric relative again. He had merely made up his mind to tell the girl who he was and go his way, leaving her to decide whether or not she would continue the acquaintance. But now he had no alternative. It would have been cowardly to allow the girl to face the unseen danger alone, and whatever Lethbridge's faults lack of courage was not one of them.
"What is the matter?" the girl asked impatiently. "Why do you stand there when my poor uncle—"
"Say no more," Lethbridge replied. "You will know presently why I hesitated. Lead the way, please. Is not this the path that goes up to the house?"
IV - JASPER PAYN
Mary Grover flew along the narrow path closely followed by her companion. She came at length to the open door of the house: a cheap lamp burned on the table in the hall. Lethbridge had noticed that the place was meanly furnished, and showed every sign of poverty, though scrupulously neat and clean and profusely adorned with flowers. On the left-hand side of the doorway was the dining-room, and beyond it a range of greenhouses out of all proportion to the size of the cottage. Hence the noise had come, and here a man was standing in all attitude of rage and fear, his hands uplifted and his head nodding towards one side of the greenhouse, where two or three large panes of glass had been displaced. There were broken pots upon the floor, and a confusion of trampled flowers spoke eloquently of a struggle.
The man was tall and thin. He had a white hatchet face and a profusion of grey hair on his head and chin. He resembled some prophet of old with the spirit of invective strong upon him. He had ceased to call out, but his jaws were working as if he were scolding in an inaudible voice. He appeared to be unconscious that he was no longer alone, even after Mary Grover had addressed him two or three times.
"I tell you he went that way," the old man cried. "I don't know how the rascal got in, but when I turned round he was hiding beyond the flowers yonder."
"What sort of a man?" Mary asked soothingly.
"I don't know. I couldn't see his face. But I am sure it was the same, because of his boots. Little tiny feet he had, like a woman's, encased in patent leather shoes. I saw them as he broke the glass yonder and got away. It is the same man. I tell you I am sure it is the same man. And he comes here like a thief in the night to steal my secrets, to deprive me of all that I have left. Oh, the scoundrel, the scoundrel! To think that a poor old man like myself can't work in peace and comfort without being spied on and robbed in this fashion! But he shall be found, if I have all Scotland Yard here to help me. Go and fetch Wilkinson at once. He laughs at me and says it's all imagination, but it isn't true, Mary; it isn't true. There is a plot to rob me of my beautiful new flowers, as that rascally nephew of mine robbed me years ago."
Jasper Payn was speaking now with fixed look and glazed eyes. He was ignorant that his niece had a companion. The old man's mind was concentrated entirely upon the outrage. He was trembling from head to foot with helpless rage and indignation. Every hair of his long grey beard bristled. And despite the awkwardness of the situation, despite the trick that Fate had played upon him, John Lethbridge could not help being interested, for he, too, had evidently come under the observation of the clever thief who was down here with the intention of robbing Jasper Payn of the fruit of his genius. Surely there could not be two men trespassing and spying, both of whom possessed natty little feet and patent leather shoes. The same man must have spent the dark hours of the night prowling about Lethbridge's greenhouses.
"Who is Wilkinson?" he whispered to Mary.
"That is the local inspector of police I told you about," the girl murmured, "He is an enthusiastic gardener, and is only too pleased to come here whenever my uncle asks him. I think it was more a matter of policy than anything else that has led up to the acquaintanceship."
A word or two seemed to penetrate to the brain of Jasper Payn. He appeared to be conscious for the first time that a stranger was present. He turned his white suspicious face towards Lethbridge. Gradually his whole expression changed to one of mingled surprise and hatred and contempt.
"So you are here," he cried. "Strange that you should come at a time like this! How did that man get into the house, Mary?"
"He came with me," the girl stammered. "I was caught in a thunderstorm, and this gentleman was good enough to give me shelter. He was so kind as to walk home with me. We were just saying good-night when we heard you call out, and, of course—"
"Oh, of course," the old man sneered. "Do you want me to believe this? Do you think that I am so old and feeble that I have lost all control of my faculties? The whole thing was arranged. It is a vile conspiracy—"
"Stop," John Lethbridge cried. "Stop before you have said too much. You are at liberty to think what you please about me. You may call me a thief and swindler if you like; it would not be the first time. But this lady has nothing to do with it. When I came here a short time ago I had not the least idea that you had left Beckenham Hall. Like yourself, I came here because I was told that the climate would suit my experiments. Your niece has told no more than the truth. Do you suppose I would intrude upon your privacy if I had not imagined that something serious had happened?"
Jasper Payn made no reply. He was glancing at his young relative now with a sort of moody hatred from under the thick bush of his white eyebrows.
"I don't understand," Mary faltered. "It is plain that you two have met before. If you are—"
"Oh, I am," Lethbridge said bitterly. "I have the honour to be Mr. Jasper Payn's nephew. I am the John Lethbridge whom he turned out of his house without proof, under the impression that I had robbed him of one of his discoveries. I am the nephew whom he brought up to do nothing, and whom he sent into the world to get a living with no equipment except a knowledge of flowers. I did not tell you this before. Well, to be honest, I did not tell you for sentimental reasons. It was a treat to me to talk to a lady again. It was a great surprise, too, to find that in a way we were relations. But I hope you will believe that I did not mean to leave you in ignorance of my identity. I was just going to tell you when we heard the outcry, and I followed you here. But I fear that I am intruding. The best thing I can do is to go away and leave you to yourselves. But I want you, Miss Grover, to try to believe that my uncle is mistaken, and that I am not the contemptible thief that he takes me for."
The colour came and went in the girl's cheeks. She cast down her eyes in evident embarrassment. It was obvious that she was struggling with two sets of feelings. She had been accustomed at intervals during the whole time she had been with Jasper Payn to hear him denounce his nephew with bitter invective. She had come to believe from the bottom of her heart that Lethbridge was an ungrateful scoundrel, and owed to his uncle everything in life which was worth having. She had heard the story over and over again till the conviction was firmly rooted.
And yet this young man with the steadfast face and square jaw and resolute eyes did not look in the least like a thief. It began to be borne in upon Mary's mind that there was something wrong, but she was too confused to weigh the issue logically and clearly. The suggestion of a sad smile trembled on the corners of John Lethbridge's lips.
"It is not easy to remove fixed impressions," he said. "And after all, what does it matter? Good-night, Miss Grover, and try to think as well of me as you can."
The old man stepped forward unsteadily.
"Don't go yet," he whispered hoarsely. "I can't be left alone. That thief might come back. I am a very old man. Perhaps I have made a mistake."
V - THE GOLDEN ROSE
In spite of himself Lethbridge hesitated. He cared little or nothing for his uncle's fears or effusions, but was anxious to rehabilitate himself in the girl's eyes. And, besides, it was his duty to do all he could to prevent a recurrence of the recent outrage.
"Is there anybody I can send for?" he asked. "Can I go for assistance? Miss Grover was speaking of Inspector Wilkinson, who is a friend of yours. Would you let me inform him what has taken place?"
"No, no," the old man said eagerly. "At any rate, not yet. Give me an opportunity to recover myself. A month ago it would not have mattered; a few weeks hence all the thieves in England may come here so far as I care, but not now, not now."
As Jasper Payne spoke he turned his head towards a corner of the greenhouse screened off from the rest by a thin canvas petition. He had something there which he desired to keep secret. Then he turned swiftly round towards his niece and bade her see after his supper.
"I did not expect this," he said after Mary had gone. "I hoped that I might never see you again."
"I assure you the feeling is mutual," Lethbridge said bitterly. "Had I thought it worth while I could have easily proved to you that I was no thief. But I was too proud for that; I was too proud to stay under your roof when you intimated to me that you were mistaken in my character. I can see now how cruelly you wronged me. You had no right to bring me up in expectation of a fortune. You had no right to turn me on the world almost as helpless as a child and with nothing but my good health behind me. And all the while there never had been any fortune. It was wrong of you to act like a rich man when you were nearly as poor as myself."
"Oh, I had money then," Jasper Payn said moodily. "I was rich enough when you left me, but it is all gone now, all gone. For years I have been pursuing a will o' the wisp and have frittered thousands away upon a shadow. But it is coming back to me in my old age. I shall be able to provide for my niece yet. I am foolish to tell you these things. I never meant to trust anybody."
"As you will," Lethbridge said coldly. "Please understand that this interview is none of my seeking. I must in time have found out that you were here, but I should never have come near the place. Still, Fate has been too strong for me, and I am here against my will. Let me go and fetch Wilkinson."
Jasper Payn held out a feeble restraining hand.
"Not yet," he said unsteadily, "not yet. Don't be so impulsive. Perhaps I was wrong to condemn you without a hearing. But all my life I have been surrounded with enemies. People have conspired to rob me. Why can't they leave me alone? I have no money to give them. And yet when I invent a new flower they cheat me of all the fruits of my labour. And they are so wicked and mischievous, too. Look there, do you see what that is? I killed four of them only yesterday. Yet they cannot get in here without human agency."
Lethbridge thought the old man had taken leave of his senses. Payn pointed with trembling hand to the whitewashed roof of the greenhouse, much as a man might do who is suffering all the horrible delusions of delirium tremens. But surely enough two or three dark specks were crawling on the frosted panes, and Lethbridge saw what they were.
"I'll kill them for you," he said soothingly. "You find the bees as great a nuisance as I do. A little time ago they spoilt a whole set of seedlings which were coming into bloom."
The intruding bees were killed and Jasper Payn grew easier in mind.
"They didn't come themselves," he muttered. "Some rascal brought them here. They are the plague of my life. If they once get behind that canvas screen the work of three years will be undone. Don't you want to know what it is?"
"No," Lethbridge said, "I don't. I am in no mood to share your confidences. It would be better if you kept your secrets to yourself."
The old man was not offended. He smiled and chuckled to himself. A shade of cunning crept into his eyes.
"Ah, that is because you don't know," he said in a croaking voice. "Have you forgotten the one matter we used always to talk about in the smoking-room late at night over our cigars? In the days of the astrologers, dreamers turned their thoughts to perpetual motion, or the Philosopher's Stone which was going to change everything into gold. Ay, and we had our Philosopher's Stone, too, though ours was going to come to a blaze of glory and startle the world by its beauty and fragrance. We were going to make a fortune out of that. Surely you have not forgotten our visions!"
"I remember," Lethbridge said indifferently. "The Golden Rose. It was the flower of the poets, the flower which the old travellers used to talk about who visited the Vale of Kashmir. The whole thing was a fairy tale, but it was none the less fascinating for that. The flower was to be a single rose of the colour of gold, with calyx and stamen of the darkest purple. There were bars of pink on the petals, and the whole was frilled with white and blue like some gorgeous butterfly. In addition, it was to be perfumed with such a scent as the world had never known before."
The old man's eyes were gleaming and his slender frame wa [...]
