CHAPTER XVIII
Mr. Singleton had gone out for a stroll after breakfast with Dorothy andAda Fortescue. Mrs. Fortescue was with Clara, who had come down tobreakfast for the first time and was now lying down for a bit as apreparation for going for a short drive later on. Mr. Hawtrey wassmoking a cigar in front of the hotel with Mr. Fortescue, intending tofollow the girls and Mr. Singleton after the post came in. After half anhour's waiting the bag for the hotel was brought in.
'They are principally yours, Fortescue,' Mr. Hawtrey said, as the clerksorted them over. 'The inquiries after Clara's health must havematerially benefited the postal revenue. As you are not coming I willput those four for Ada in my pocket. There is nothing for either of theothers, and only one for me. I know what its contents are withoutopening it.'
Putting the five letters into his pocket, he strolled down the village.He knew exactly where he should find the others, as they almost alwaystook their seat in a nook sheltered completely from the wind and exposedto the full rays of the sun.
'I suppose I had better look at the letter,' he said to himself. 'Iwould rather Danvers did not write so often. Dorothy looks upinquiringly whenever the post comes in, and I would rather say "Noletter to-day," than to have to say, "There is a letter from Danvers,Dorothy, but he sends no news whatever." It comes to the same thing, nodoubt, but no letter might mean that they had got some little clue andmeant following it up. At any rate, she does not look so disappointed aswhen I tell her that there is a letter with nothing in it.'
'Hulloa!' he exclaimed, as he opened it, 'this is a much more lengthyepistle.' The first line or two were sufficient to cause him to burstinto something like a shout of joy. They ran:--'I am delighted to beable to give you the good news that the existence and whereabouts of theman and the counterfeit of Miss Hawtrey have been ascertained without adoubt. Hampton was right when he considered they would probably havemade off to the United States directly they had secured their plunder. Ireceived a letter from him this morning. Unfortunately I have been awayshooting for a week, and it has been lying unopened since the day Ileft.' Then followed a copy of Captain Hampton's letter, together withcopies of the various affidavits.
'These prove practically all we require. I have been round with them toCharles Levine. He is very much gratified, and says that he considersthis testimony should be ample to enable us to defend any action on thepart of Gilliat. He thinks the best plan will be to place CaptainHampton's letter and the depositions before Gilliat and say that we areprepared to defend the action and to bring over all these people aswitnesses. Of course, it would be more satisfactory to have theadventuress and her accomplice in the dock or to produce their writtenconfession. Such is evidently Hampton's opinion also. You see he hasstarted for New Orleans and says he shall follow them if he has to crossthe continent. This, however, I have not copied, as he has put that on aseparate piece of paper and marked it private and confidential. Fromsomething he said to me the day before he started I imagine he has forsome reason or other an objection to Miss Hawtrey's knowing that he isworking on her behalf.
'You see, in the early part of the letter, which he thought would besent to you, and doubtless shown to her, he treats the discovery he hasmade as a purely accidental matter, although he told me that he intendedto make it his sole business to hunt them down, if it took him sixmonths to do so. However, when he wrote he was certainly on the point ofstarting for New Orleans, and I own that I consider his undertaking tobe a somewhat perilous one. This fellow must be a thorough-pacedruffian, and he will find no difficulty in getting together any numberof reckless men who would, if they found he was in danger of arrest,hesitate at nothing. Of course, if he goes farther west his errand willbe still more difficult. Hampton is so thoroughly good a fellow that Ishould feel grieved indeed did anything befall him.'
Mr. Hawtrey thrust the letter and enclosure into his pocket and hurriedon; he hesitated for a moment, as he remembered that Ada Fortescue waswith his daughter, but he said to himself, 'She is a good girl and agreat friend of Dorothy's; we can trust her to hold her tongue--besides,we need not go much into the past.'
'Why, you've been running, father?'
'No, my dear, no; but I am a little excited over a letter I have justreceived. It is a family matter, Ada, but I know Dorothy will not wishyou to go away, for I am sure we can trust you with our little secret.'
'Have you news, father?' Dorothy asked, springing to her feet. 'Newsabout that?'
'Yes, dear; but first I must tell your friend that some tradesmen havebeen robbed by a person so strongly resembling you that she deceivedeven those that knew you well. The matter was so serious that we havehad a number of detectives searching for this woman, as only by herbeing found could we prove that the orders for these goods were notgiven by you. Having told her that much I can go on with my news.
'They have been found, Dorothy. Thank God they have been found!'
The girl threw her arms round her father's neck and burst into a passionof tears. Hitherto she had had nothing but her consciousness ofinnocence to support her. Until the suggestion had been made by CaptainHampton that some one had impersonated her, she had been in a state ofcomplete bewilderment, and even this hypothesis seemed to her to beimprobable in the extreme. Still as her father and Mr. Singleton hadaccepted it, she, too, had clung to it, but with less real hope thanthey had entertained, that it might prove to be true.
As the weeks had passed by without any shadow of proof that such aperson existed being forthcoming, she had more than once told herselfthat she would have to pass all her life with this dark cloud over her.A few close friends might believe in her, but when the story waswhispered about, as sooner or later it would be sure to be, everyoneelse would hold aloof from her. She had been feeling that morning inlower spirits than usual. Captain Armstrong had left early, and she wasdeeply sorry for him, more sorry for him than for herself. She had sleptbut little that night, and had come to the conclusion that were thisweight ever removed and were he ever to ask her again, her life would bea happy one with him, even though she did not feel for him more than avery real liking. The sudden announcement of a fact she herself hadbegun to doubt, for a time completely upset her, and her father at lastsaid, 'I will leave you here for a few minutes with your friend,Dorothy, and will stroll away with Singleton. By the time we return youwill be able to listen calmly to the story.'
When they had gone a short distance away from the girls, he placed thecopies of the letters and depositions in Mr. Singleton's hands.
'Hampton!' the latter exclaimed, as soon as he glanced over the firstline or two; 'I am glad indeed. Let us sit down on that rock over there;the news is too pleasant to be lost by not being able to read itdistinctly.'
'Well, Hawtrey, I congratulate you,' he said, when he had finished.'Those letters are sufficient to prove to any unprejudiced person thatDorothy has been perfectly innocent throughout the whole business. It isa pity the birds had flown before Hampton arrived there. Even puttingeverything else aside, I would have given something to see that womanwho humbugged me so completely. What will our young lady say now whenshe hears that it is Hampton who has thus cleared her? By the way, hewrites as if it were a mere accident, his having discovered them.'
'I fancy he writes in that style because he has no doubt that she willsee the letter. There is the letter Danvers sent me with the enclosure.Hampton seems to be just as obstinate about the matter as Dorothy is.'
Mr. Singleton read the letter with many grunts of disapprobation.
'Why couldn't he be satisfied with what he has done?' he exclaimed, whenhe had finished the letter. 'He had got enough evidence to satisfy anyreasonable people; now he must needs go chasing them all over America,and as likely as not get shot for his pains. Why didn't he write overand ask whether that was not sufficient?'
'Because if he had done so, Singleton, he might never have been able topick up the clue again. The evidence he has got may not be absolutelyconclusive, but undoubtedly it will be very va
luable. These affidavitsprove conclusively that there was on a certain day a woman staying in aNew York Hotel who was so like Dorothy that my daughter's portrait wasbelieved by several people who had seen the woman to be hers. It couldalso be proved that she and the man with her had just come from Hamburg.But you see it does not in any way connect this woman with the robbery.There is the weak point of the business. The evidence is enough, as yousay, to convince reasonable people; but as these shopmen are all readyto swear to Dorothy, the fact that we have found a woman exactly likeher, but whom we cannot produce, is scarcely a satisfactory proof from alegal point of view that she is innocent. However, we can talk that overpresently; we had better join the others; Dorothy will be wanting tohear the news. Be careful what you say; we may both think that NedHampton's views are foolish, but we are bound to respect them.'
Mr. Singleton made no reply, and mentally resolved that if it werenecessary he would speak about it, whether or no.
'I am not going to see the young fool throw away his chances like that,'he said to himself; 'he does not know what has been going on here--thatDorothy has been within an ace of accepting some one else. All thisfoolery of his shows that he really cares for her. If he had not done sohe would simply have laughed at her nonsense.'
They met the girls coming towards them.
'You have been an unconscionable time, father, I am burning withimpatience to know how it has all come about.'
'Those papers will tell you, Dorothy. One is an extract from a letterwritten to Mr. Danvers by Ned Hampton, the others are copies ofaffidavits sworn in New York.'
Dorothy changed colour. She had been thinking of her former friend thatnight, and had very reluctantly come to the conclusion that she had beenunduly hard upon him. She had asked Captain Armstrong what he would havethought had he seen her as Ned Hampton had supposed that he had done,and in spite of his love for her and his absolute confidence in herword, Captain Armstrong had admitted that he should at first have cometo exactly the same conclusion--namely, that she had got into a scrape.
She had not felt either hurt or angry when he admitted this. Why, then,should she have been both in the case of her old playfellow? Thequestion was altogether an unwelcome one, and she had dismissed it asspeedily as possible, but the name coming upon her now so suddenly andunexpectedly had almost startled her. In some anger against herself forthe involuntary flush, she took the papers and prepared to read themmuch more deliberately than she would otherwise have done.
However, her eyes ran over the lines more rapidly as she read on, andwhen she finished she exclaimed--
'What a wonderful piece of good fortune! It seems quite providentialthat Captain Hampton should have taken a fancy to go out to America, andshould have inquired when he went through New York if this man and womanhad lately arrived. He seems to have managed wonderfully well; it waslucky he got such a clever detective as the person he speaks of. Really,father, I feel very grateful to him.'
'So I think you ought to,' Mr. Hawtrey said somewhat sharply,'considering that he has done what all the detectives in London havefailed to do, even aided by the police all over the Continent, and hasgone a long way towards lifting a cloud, which, if it had not been forhim, would have darkened your whole life.'
'I quite feel that, father; I have been thinking that over while youhave been away, and have told Ada that no words can express what arelief it is to me. Of course, I am very, very grateful to CaptainHampton; it was very good of him, indeed, to think of me, and to takesuch trouble about me. What shall we have to do next?'
'That must depend upon what the lawyers say, Dorothy; I almost wish thatwe had been going back to London, so as to talk it over with thempersonally.'
'Why shouldn't we go, father? I am feeling quite well again now, and amwanting very much to be home again. I would infinitely rather do thatthan go to Italy. The Fortescues are talking of starting in a couple ofdays, why should we not all go back together?'
'I will think it over, my dear. Now, I think you had better be gettingback to the hotel; the sun has gone in and the clouds are half-way downthe mountains. I think that we are going to have another snowstorm, soyou and Ada had better hurry. You have had experience of the suddennesswith which storms come on here.'
'I suppose this was why you would give no answer yesterday?' AdaFortescue said, as the two girls walked briskly back toward Chamounix,followed more leisurely by Mr. Hawtrey and his friend.
'Yes, partly, Ada.'
'What a pity the news did not come a day sooner.'
'I don't know, Ada, I really had not made up my mind. You see, all alongI have been feeling that I could never get engaged again, and so I hadan answer ready, and had not thought it over as I should have doneotherwise. There is a snowflake. Do let us hurry, so as to be in beforeit begins in earnest.'
Ada did not see the snowflake, but she saw that her companion wanted tochange the subject, and nothing more was said till they reached thehotel, just as the snow was really beginning to fall.
Dorothy remained for some time in her room. She was dissatisfied withherself for not feeling more elated at the discovery that had been made.It was everything to her, she told herself; the greatest event of herlife; and yet, after the first burst of joy, it had not made her ashappy as it should have done.
It was tiresome that it should have been made by Captain Hampton. Shehad requested him not to interfere farther in her affairs. He had doneso, and with success.
Certainly she would much rather that this woman had been discovered bysome one else. But this was not all. If the news had come a day earliershe supposed that she should have accepted Captain Armstrong, and therewould have been an end of it. She had promised that she would let himknow if this was ever cleared up. Now, in honour she ought to write tohim. Anyhow, there was no occasion for that to-day. He had only leftthat morning; it would look ridiculous were he to get her letter the dayhe arrived in town. If they were going back she could wait until theywere in England. It would be a difficult letter to write, mostdifficult; and she sat down for a time thinking, and ended by being asunjustly angry with Captain Armstrong as she had been with Ned Hampton.
'I believe I am getting quite idiotic,' she said, getting upimpatiently. 'I shall begin to think that storm on the glacier hasaffected my brain. When I ought to be the happiest girl possible, here Iam discontented with everything.'
The result of the conversation between Mr. Hawtrey and his friend wasthat at luncheon the former announced that a letter that he had receivedthat morning told him his presence was required in London, and asDorothy was so much better, he should give up the idea of a visit toItaly, and should go home with her at once.
'Let us all go together,' Clara said. 'I am sure that I am strong enoughto travel, and I do so long to be home.'
As it was agreed that a couple of days could make no difference to her,orders were at once given for the carriages to be ready the nextmorning, and at an early hour they started on their way down to Geneva.