CHAPTER XIV
ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE
The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavoryneighborhood. Laverick, who had once visited his partner's somewhatextensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully.The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a younglady who was obviously expecting him. Before he could open his lipsto frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him.
"Will you please come this way?" she said timidly.
Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat,and with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certainundeniable traces of some cultured presence. The girl who hadfollowed him stood with her back to the door, a little out of breath.Laverick contemplated her in surprise. She was under medium height,with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes. Her brown hair wasparted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, takinginto account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was achild. When she spoke, however, he knew that for some reason shewas afraid. Her voice was soft and low, but it was the voice of awoman.
"It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?" she asked, looking at him eagerly.
"My name is Stephen Laverick," he admitted. "I understood that Ishould find Mr. Arthur Morrison here."
"Yes," the girl answered, "he sent for you. The note was from him.He is here."
She made no movement to summon him. She still stood, in fact, withher back to the door. Laverick was distinctly puzzled. He felthimself unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with herterrified face and beautiful eyes. He had never heard Morrisonspeak of having any relations. His presence in such a locality,indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident.Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell witha "W" rather than Heaven E. C.
"I am afraid," Laverick said, "that for some reason or other youare afraid of me. I can assure you that I am quite harmless," headded smiling. "Won't you sit down and tell me what is the matter?Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?"
"Yes," she answered, "he is. As for me, I am terrified."
She came a little away from the door. Laverick was a man whoinspired trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind. He had theprotective instinct of a big man toward a small woman.
"Come and tell me all about it," he suggested. "I expected to hearthat he had gone abroad."
"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking up at him tremulously. "I washoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him."
"Well, that rather depends," Laverick answered. "We certainly hada terribly anxious time yesterday. Our business has been mostunfortunate--"
"Yes, yes!" the girl interrupted. "Please go on. There have beenbusiness troubles, then."
"Rather," Laverick continued. "Last night they reached such apitch that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that heshould leave the firm and try his luck somewhere else. I quiteunderstood that he was going abroad."
The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved.
"There was something, then," she said, half to herself. "There wassomething. Oh, I am glad of that! You were angry with him, perhaps,Mr. Laverick?"
Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with hishands behind him--a commanding figure in the tiny room full offeminine trifles. He looked a great deal more at his ease thanhe really was.
"Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered," he admitted. "Yousee, to be frank with you, the department of our business that wasgoing wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control.He had entered into certain speculations which I consideredunjustifiable. To-day, however, matters took an unexpected turnfor the better."
Almost as he spoke his face clouded. Morrison, of course, would betriumphant. Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated. Formany reasons, this was a thing which Laverick did not desire.
"Now tell me," he continued, "what is the matter with Morrison, andwhy has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, whyis he here instead of in his own rooms?"
"I will explain," she began softly.
"You will please explain sitting down," he said firmly. "And don'tlook so terrified," he added, with a little laugh. "I can assureyou that I am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort. Youmake me feel quite uncomfortable."
She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he hadnever seen anything so wonderful as the change in her features. Thestrained rigidity passed away. An altogether softer light gleamedin her wonderful eyes. She was certainly by far the prettiest childhe had ever seen. As yet he could not take her altogether seriously.
"Thank you," she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair."first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother."
"Your brother!" Laverick repeated wonderingly.
Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations.Besides, this meant that she must be of his race. There was nothingin her face to denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and thatnameless charm of manner, a sort of ultra-sensitiveness, whichbelongs sometimes to the highest type of Jews. It was not a quality,Laverick thought, which he should have associated with Morrison'ssister.
"My brother, in a way," she resumed. "Arthur's father was a widowerand my mother was a widow when they were married. You are surprised?"
"There is no reason why I should be," he answered, curiously relievedat her last statement. "Your brother and I have been connected inbusiness for some years. We have seen very little of one anotheroutside."
"I dare say," she continued, still timidly, "that Arthur's friendswould not be your friends, and that he wouldn't care for the samesort of things. You see, my mother is dead and also his father, andas we aren't really related at all, I cannot expect that he wouldcome to see me very often. Last night, though, quite late--longafter I had gone to bed--he rang the bell here. I was frightened,for just now I am all alone, and my servant only comes in themorning. So I looked out of the window and I saw him on thepavement, huddled up against the door. I hurried down and let himin. Mr. Laverick," she went on, with an appealing glance at him,"I have never seen any one look like it. He was terrified to death.Something seemed to have happened which had taken away from himeven the power of speech. He pushed past me into this room, threwhimself into that chair," she added, pointing across the room, "andhe sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he were awoman in a fit of hysterics. His clothes were all untidy, he wasas pale as death, and his eyes looked as though they were readyto start out of his head."
"You must indeed have been frightened," Laverick said softly.
"Frightened! I shall never forget it! I did not sleep all night.He would tell me nothing--he has scarcely spoken a sensible word.Early this morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made himlie down. He has taken two draughts which I bought from the chemist,but he has not slept. Every now and then he tries to get up, butin a minute or two he throws himself down on the bed again and hideshis face. If any one rings at the bell, he shrieks. If he hears afootfall in the street, even, he calls out for me. Mr. Laverick, Ihave never been so frightened in my life. I didn't know whom tosend for or what to do. When he wrote that note to you I was sorelieved. You can't imagine how glad I am to think you have come!"
Laverick's eyes were full of sympathy. One could see that thescene of last night had risen up again before her eyes. She wasshrinking back, and the terror was upon her once more. He movedover to her side, and with an impulse which, when he thought of itafterwards, amazed him, laid his hand gently upon her shoulder.
"Don't worry yourself thinking about it," he said. "I will talk toyour brother. We did have words, I'll admit, last night, but therewasn't the slightest reason why it should have upset him in thisway. Things in the city were shocking yesterday, but they haveimproved a great deal to-day. Let me go upstairs and I'll try andpump some courage into him."
"You are so kind," she murmured, suddenly dropp
ing her hands frombefore her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, "so verykind. Will you come, then?"
She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, andinto a tiny bedroom. Laverick had no time to look around, but itseemed to him, notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and veryordinary appointments, that the same note of dainty femininitypervaded this little apartment as the one below.
"It is my room," she said shyly. "There is no other properlyfurnished, and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed."
"Perhaps he is asleep now," Laverick whispered.
Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets spranginto a sitting posture. Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock.It was Morrison, still wearing the clothes in which he had left theoffice, his collar crushed out of all shape, his tie vanished. Hisblack hair, usually so shiny and perfectly arranged, was alldisordered. Out of his staring eyes flashed an expression which onesees seldom in life,--an expression of real and mortal terror.
"Who is it?" he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable."Who is that? What do you want?"
"It is I--Laverick," Laverick answered. "What on earth is thematter with you, man?"
Morrison drew a quick breath. Some part of the terror seemed toleave his face, but he was still an alarming-looking object.Laverick quietly opened the door and laid his hand upon the girl'sshoulder.
"Will you leave us alone?" he asked. "I will come and talk toyou afterwards, if I may."
She nodded understandingly, and passed out. Laverick closed thedoor and came up to the bedside.
"What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?" he said."Are you ill, or what is it?"
Morrison opened his lips--opened them twice--without any sort ofsound issuing.
"This is absurd!" Laverick exclaimed protestingly. "I have beenfeeling worried myself, but there's nothing so terrifying in losingone's money, after all. As a matter of fact, things are altogetherbetter in the city to-day. You made a big mistake in taking us outof our depth, but we are going to pull through, after all. 'Unions'have been going up all day."
Laverick's presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone,seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner. He made noreference, however, to Laverick's words.
"You got my note?" he asked hoarsely.
"Naturally I got it," Laverick answered impatiently, "and I came atonce. Try and pull yourself together. Sit up and tell me what youare doing here, frightening your sister out of her life."
Morrison groaned.
"I came here," he muttered, "because I dared not go to my own rooms.I was afraid!"
Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt.
"Man alive," he exclaimed, "what was there to be afraid of?"
"You don't know!" Morrison faltered. "You don't know!"
Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps thefinancial crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which hadreduced his late partner to this hopeless state. He looked at himnarrowly.
"Where did you go last night," he asked, "when you left me?"
"Nowhere," Morrison gasped. "I came here."
Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and satdown.
"Look here," he said, "it's no use sending for me unless you meanto tell me everything. Have you been getting yourself into anytrouble apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connectionwith them which I don't know?"
Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other,he remained speechless. Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick.There was something in Morrison's state which was in itselfterrifying.
"You had better tell me all about it," Laverick persisted, "whateverit is. I will help you if I can."
Morrison shook his head. There was a glass of water by his side.He thrust his finger into it and passed it across his lips. Theywere dry, almost cracking.
"Look here," he said, "I've got a breakdown--that's what's thematter with me. My nerves were never good. I'm afraid of goingmad. The anxiety of the last few weeks has been too much for me.I want to get out of the country quickly, and I don't know how tomanage it. I can't think. Directly I try to think my head goesround."
"There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away," Laverickanswered. "It is the simplest matter possible. Even if we had goneunder to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever youchose to go. Ruin, even if it had been ruin,--and I told you justnow that business was better,--is not a crime. Pull yourselftogether, for Heaven's sake, man! You should be ashamed to comehere and frighten that poor little girl downstairs almost to death."
Morrison gripped his partner's arm.
"You must do as I ask," he declared hoarsely. "It doesn't matterabout prices being better. I want to get away. You must help me."
Laverick looked at him steadily. Morrison was an ordinary youngman of his type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart acoward. But this was no ordinary fear--not even the ordinary fearof a coward. Laverick's face became graver. There was somethingelse, then!
"I will get you out of the country if I can," said he. "There isno difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing somethingfrom me. You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for SouthAfrica or New York, but before I make any definite plans, hadn'tyou better tell me exactly what happened last night?"
Once more Morrison's lips parted without the ability to frame words.Then a feeble moan escaped him. He threw up his hands and his headfell back. The ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips,and he sank back among the pillows. Laverick strode across theroom to the door.
"Are you anywhere about?" he called out.
The girl was by his side in a moment.
"There is nothing to be alarmed at," he said, "but your brother hasfainted. Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I thinkthat you had better run out and get a doctor. I will stay with him.I know exactly what to do."
She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle wasstanding, and ran downstairs without a word. Laverick mixed someof the spirit, and moved over to the side of the fainting man.