THE GREY LADY
Was it a spectre?
For days I could not answer this question. I am no believer in spiritualmanifestations, yet----But let me tell my story.
I was lodging with my wife on the first floor of a house inTwenty-seventh Street. I had taken the apartments for three months, andwe had already lived in them two and found them sufficientlycomfortable. The back room we used as a bedroom, and as we received butfew friends, the two great leaves of old mahogany connecting the rooms,usually stood wide open.
One morning, my wife being ill, I left her lying in bed and stepped intothe parlour preparatory to going out for breakfast. It was late--nineo'clock probably--and I was hastening to leave, when I heard a soundbehind me--or did I merely feel a presence?--and, turning, saw a strangeand totally unknown woman coming toward me from my wife's room.
As I had just left that room, and as there was no other way of entrancesave through a door we always kept locked, I was so overpowered by myastonishment that I never thought of speaking or moving until she hadpassed me. Then I found voice, and calling out "Madam!" endeavoured tostop her.
But the madam, if madam she was, passed on as quietly, as mechanicallyeven, as if I had not raised my voice, and before I could grasp the factthat she was melting from before me flitted through the hall to thefront door and so out, leaving behind on the palm of my hand the "feel"of her wool dress, which I had just managed to touch.
Not understanding her or myself or the strange thrill awakened by thiscontact, I tore open the front door and looked out, expecting, ofcourse, to see her on the steps or on the sidewalk in front. But therewas no one of her appearance visible, and I came back questioningwhether I was the victim of a hallucination or just an everyday fool. Tosatisfy myself on this important question I looked about for thehallboy, with the intention of asking him if he had seen any such persongo out, but that young and inconsequent scamp was missing from his postas usual and there was no one within sight to appeal to.
There was nothing to do but to re-enter my rooms, where my attention wasimmediately arrested by the sight of my wife sitting up in bed andsurveying me with a look of unmistakable astonishment.
"Who was that woman?" she asked. "And how came she in here?"
So she had seen her too.
"What woman, Lydia? I have not let in any woman. Did you think there wasa woman in this room?"
"Not in that room," she answered hoarsely, "but in this one. I saw herjust now passing through the folding doors. Wilbur, I am frightened.See how my hands shake. Do you think I am sick enough to imaginethings?"
I knew she was not, but I did not say so. I thought it would be betterfor her to think herself under some such delusion.
"You were dozing," said I. "If you had seen a woman here you could tellme how she looked."
"And I can," my wife broke in excitedly. "She was like the ghosts weread of, only that her dress and the veil or drapery she wore were allgrey. Didn't you see her? You must have seen her. She went right byyou--a grey woman, all grey; a lady, Wilbur, and slightly lame. Could Ihave dreamed all that?"
"You must have!" I protested, shaking the door leading directly into thehall so she might see it was locked, and even showing her the key to itlying in its accustomed place behind the bureau cushion. Yet I was in nosatisfied condition myself, for she had described with the greatestaccuracy the very person I had myself seen. Had we been alike thevictims of a spiritual manifestation?
This was Tuesday. On Friday my question seemed to receive an answer. Ihad been downtown, as usual, and on returning found a crowd assembled infront of my lodging-house. A woman had been run over and was beingcarried into our rooms. In the glimpse I caught of her I saw that shewas middle-aged and was wrapped in a long black cloak. Later this cloakfell off, as her hat had done long before, and I perceived that herdress was black and decent.
She was laid on our bed and every attention paid her. But she had beengrievously injured about the head and gradually but surely sank beforeour eyes. Suddenly she roused and gave a look about her. It was aremarkable one--a look of recognition and almost of delight. Then sheraised one hand and, pointing with a significant gesture into the emptyspace before her, sank back and died.
It was a sudden ending, and, anxious to see its effect upon my wife, whowas standing on the other side of the bed, I glanced her way with somemisgiving. She showed more feeling than I had anticipated. Indeed hercountenance was a study, and when, under the influence of my scrutiny,she glanced my way, I saw that something of deeper import than thisunexpected death in our rooms lay at the bottom of her uneasy look.
What that was I was soon to know, for catching up from amid the folds ofthe woman's grey-lined cloak a long grey veil which had fallen at thebedside, she disposed it softly about the woman's face, darting me alook full of significance.
"You remember the vision I had the morning when I was sick?" shewhispered softly in my ear.
I nodded, secretly thrilled to my very heart's core.
"Well, it was a vision of this woman. If she were living and on her feetand wrapped, as I have shown you, in this veil, you would behold aliving picture of the person I saw passing out of this room thatmorning."
"I shall not dispute you," I answered. Alas! I had myself perceived thelikeness the instant the veil had fallen about the pinched but handsomefeatures!
"A forewarning," whispered my wife; "a forewarning of what has this dayhappened under our roof. It was a wraith we saw. Wilbur, I shall notspend another night in these rooms."
And we did not. I was as anxious to leave as she was. Yet I am not asuperstitious man. As proof of it, after the first effect of theseevents had left me I began to question my first impressions and feeltolerably ashamed of my past credulity. Though the phenomenon we hadobserved could not to all appearance be explained by any naturalhypothesis; though I had seen, and my wife had seen, a strange womansuddenly become visible in a room which a moment before had held no onebut ourselves, and into which no live woman could have entered withoutour knowledge, something--was it my natural good sense?--recoiled beforea supernatural explanation of this, and I found myself forced to believethat our first visitor had been as real as the last; in other words, thesame woman.
But could I prove it? Could the seemingly impossible be made possibleand the unexplainable receive a solution satisfying to a rational mind?I determined to make an effort to accomplish this, if only to relievethe mind of my wife, who had not recovered her equanimity as readily asmyself.
Starting with the assumption above mentioned--that the woman who haddied in our presence was the same who had previously found anunexplainable entrance into our rooms--I first inquired if the blackcloak lined with grey did not offer a solution to some of my previousdifficulties. It was a long cloak, enveloping her completely. When wornwith the black side out she would present an inconspicuous appearance,but with the grey side out and the effect of this heightened by a longgrey veil hung over her hat, she would look like the grey lady I hadfirst seen. Now, a cloak can be turned in an instant, and if she hadchosen to do this in flitting through my door I would naturally findonly a sedate, black-clothed woman passing up the street, when, rousingfrom the apathy into which her appearance had thrown me, I rushed to thefront door and looked out. Had I seen such a woman? I seemed to rememberthat I had.
Thus much, then, was satisfactory, but to account for her entrance intoour rooms was not so easy. Had she slipped by me in coming in as she hadon going out? The parlour door was open, for I had been out to get thepaper. Could she have glided in by me unperceived and thus found her wayinto the bedroom from which I afterward saw her issue? No, for I hadstood facing the front hall door all the time. Through the bedroom door,then? But that was, as I have said, locked. Here, then, was a mystery;but it was one worth solving.
My first step was to recall all that I had heard of the actual woman whohad been buried from our rooms. Her name, as ascertained in the cheapboarding-house to which she was traced, was Helm
uth, and she was, so faras any one knew, without friends or relatives in the city. To those whosaw her daily she was a harmless, slightly demented woman with moneyenough to live above want, but not enough to warrant her boasting talkabout the rich things she was going to buy some day and the beautifulpresents she would soon be in a position to give away. The money foundon her person was sufficient to bury her, but no papers were in herpossession nor any letters calculated to throw light upon her past life.
Her lameness had been caused by paralysis, but the date of her attackwas not known.
Finding no clue in this to what I wished to learn, I went back to ourold rooms, which had not been let since our departure, and sought forone there, and, strangely enough, found it. I thought I knew everythingthere was to be known about the apartment we had lived in two months,but one little fact had escaped me which, under the scrutiny that I nowgave it, became apparent. This was simply that the key which opened thehall door of the bedroom and which we had seldom if ever used was not asold a key as that of the corresponding door in the parlour, and thisfact, small as it was, led me to make inquiries.
The result was that I learned something about the couple who hadpreceded us in the use of these rooms. They were of middle age and ofgreat personal elegance but uncertain pay, the husband being nothingmore nor less than a professional gambler. Their name was L'Hommedieu.
When I first heard of them I thought that Mrs. L'Hommedieu might be theMrs. Helmuth in whose history I was so interested, but from all I couldlearn she was a very different sort of person. Mrs. L'Hommedieu was gay,dashing, and capable of making a show out of flimsy silk a shopgirlwould hesitate to wear. Yet she looked distinguished and wore her cheapjewelry with more grace than many a woman her diamonds. I would,consequently, have dropped this inquiry if some one had not remarkedupon her having had a paralytic stroke after leaving the house. This,together with the fact that the key to the rear door, which I had foundreplaced by a new one, had been taken away by her and never returned,connected her so indubitably with my mysterious visitor that I resolvedto pursue my investigations into Mrs. L'Hommedieu's past.
For this purpose I sought out a quaint little maiden lady living on thetop floor who, I was told, knew more about the L'Hommedieus than any onein the building. Miss Winterburn, whose acquaintance I had failed tomake while residing in the house, was a fluttering, eager, affableperson whose one delight was, as I soon found, to talk about theL'Hommedieus. Of the story she related I give as much of it as possiblein her own words.
"I was never their equal," said she, "but Mrs. L'Hommedieu was lonely,and, having no friends in town, was good enough to admit me to herparlour now and then and even to allow me to accompany her to thetheatre when her husband was away on one of his mysterious visits. Inever liked Mr. L'Hommedieu, but I did like her. She was so differentfrom me, and, when I first knew her, so gay and so full of conversation.But after a while she changed and was either feverishly cheerful ormorbidly sad, so that my visits caused me more pain than pleasure. Thereason for these changes in her was patent to everybody. Though herhusband was a handsome man, he was as unprincipled as he wasunfortunate. He gambled. This she once admitted to me, and while at longintervals he met with some luck he more often returned dispirited andwith that hungry, ravaging look you expect to see in a wolf cheated ofits prey.
"I used to be afraid he would strike her after some one of thesedisappointments, but I do not think he ever did. She had a determinedcharacter of her own, and there have been times when I have thought hewas as much afraid of her as she was of him. I became sure of this afterone night. Mrs. L'Hommedieu and myself were having a little suppertogether in the front parlour you have so lately occupied. It was a veryordinary supper, for the L'Hommedieus' purse had run low, and Mrs.L'Hommedieu was not the woman to spend much at any time on her eating.It was palatable, however, and I would have enjoyed it greatly, if Mrs.L'Hommedieu had shown more appetite. But she ate scarcely anything andseemed very anxious and unhappy, though she laughed now and then withsudden gusts of mirth too hysterical to be real. It was not late, andyet we were both very much surprised when there came a knock at thedoor, followed by the entrance of a visitor.
"Mrs. L'Hommedieu, who was always _la grande dame_, rose withoutapparent embarrassment to meet the gentleman who entered, though I knewshe could not help but feel keenly the niggardly appearance of the boardshe left with such grace. The stranger--he was certainly a stranger;this I could see by the formality of her manner--was a gentleman ofurbane bearing and a general air of prosperity.
"I remember every word that passed.
"'My name is Lafarge,' said he. 'I am, or rather have been, under greatobligations to your husband, and I have come to discharge my debt. Is heat home?'
"Mrs. L'Hommedieu's eye, which had sparkled at his name, droppedsuddenly as he put the final question.
"'I am sorry,' she returned after a moment of embarrassment, 'but myhusband is very seldom home evenings. If you will come about noon someday----'
"'Thank you,' said he, with a bright smile, 'but I will finish mybusiness now and with you, seeing that Mr. L'Hommedieu is not at home.Years ago--I am sure you have heard your husband mention my name--Iborrowed quite a sum of money from him, which I have never paid. Yourecall the amount, no doubt?'
"'I have heard Mr. L'Hommedieu say it was a thousand dollars,' shereplied, with a sudden fluttering of her hands indicative of greatexcitement.
"'That is the sum,' he allowed, either not noticing me or thinking metoo insignificant to be considered. 'I regret to have kept him so longout of it, but I have not forgotten to add the interest in making outthis statement of my indebtedness, and if you will look over this paperand acknowledge its correctness I will leave the equivalent of my debthere and now, for I sail for Europe to-morrow morning and wish to haveall my affairs in order before leaving.'
"Mrs. L'Hommedieu, who looked ready to faint from excess of feeling,summoned up her whole strength, looking so beautiful as she did so thatone forgot the ribbons on her sleeves were no longer fresh and that thesilk dress she wore hung in the very limpest of folds.
"'I am obliged to you,' she said in a tone from which she strove in vainto suppress all eagerness. 'And if I can speak for Mr. L'Hommedieu hewill be as grateful for your remembrance of us as for the money you sokindly offer to return to him.'
"The stranger bowed low and took out a folded paper, which he handed toher. He was not deceived, I am sure, by her grand airs, and knew as wellas I did that no woman ever stood in greater need of money. But nothingin his manner betrayed this knowledge.
"'It is a bond I give you,' he now explained. 'As you will see, it hascoupons attached to it which you can cash at any time. It will prove asvaluable to you as so much ready money and possibly more convenient.'
"And with just this hint, which I took as significant of his completeunderstanding of her position, he took her receipt and politely left thehouse.
"Once alone with me, who am nobody, her joy had full vent. I have neverseen any one so lost in delight as she was for a few minutes. To havethis money thrust upon her just at a moment when actual want seemedstaring her in the face was too much of a relief for her to concealeither the misery she had been under or the satisfaction she nowenjoyed. Under the gush of her emotions her whole history came out, butas you have often heard the like I will not repeat it, especially as itwas all contained in the cry with which a little later she thrust thebond into my hand.
"'He must not see it! He must not! It would go like all the rest, and Ishould again be left without a cent. Take it and keep it, for I have nomeans of concealing it here. He is too suspicious.'
"But this was asking more than I was willing to grant. Seeing how Ifelt, she took the paper back and concealed it in her bosom with a lookI had rather not have seen. 'You will not charge yourself with such aresponsibility,' said she. 'But I can trust you not to tell him?'
"'Yes,' I nodded, feeling sick of the whole business.
"'Then----' But her
e the door was violently flung open and Mr.L'Hommedieu burst into the room in a state of as much excitement as hiswife, only his was the excitement of desperation.
"'Gone! Gone!' he cried, ignoring me as completely as Mr. Lafarge haddone. 'Not a dollar left; not even my studs! See!' And he pointed to hisshirt-front hanging apart in a way I would never have looked for in thisreckless but fastidious gentleman. 'Yet if I had had a dollar more oreven a ring worth a dollar or so, I might have----Theresa, have you anymoney at all? A coin now might save us.'
"Mrs. L'Hommedieu, who had turned alarmingly pale, drew up her finefigure and resolutely confronted him. 'No!' said she, and shifting hergaze she turned it meaningly upon me.
"He misunderstood this movement. Thinking it simply a reminder of mypresence, he turned, with his false but impressive show of courtesy, andmade me a low bow. Then he forgot me utterly again, and, facing hiswife, growled out:
"'Where are you going to get breakfast then? You don't look like a womanwho expects to starve!'
"It was a fatal remark, for, do what she would, she could not prevent aslight smile of disdain, and, seeing it, he kept his eye riveted on herface till her uneasiness became manifest. Instantly his suspicion tookform, and, surveying her still more fixedly, he espied a corner of theprecious envelope protruding slightly above her corsage. To snatch itout, open it, and realise its value was the work of a moment. Her cry ofdismay and his shout of triumph rang out simultaneously, and never haveI seen such an ebullition of opposing passions as I was made witness toas his hand closed over this small fortune and their staring eyes met inthe moral struggle they had now entered upon for its ultimatepossession.
"She was the first to speak. 'It was given to me, it was meant for me.If I keep it both of us will profit by it, but if you----'
"He did not wait for her to finish. 'Where did you get it?' he cried. 'Ican break the bank with what I can raise on this bond at the club.Darraugh's in town. You know what that means. Luck's in the air, andwith a hundred dollars----But I've no time to talk. I came for a dollar,a fifty-cent piece, a dime even, and go back with a bond worth----'
"But she was already between him and the door. 'You will never carrythat bond out of this house,' she whispered in the tone which goesfurther than a cry. 'I have not held it in my hand to see it followevery other good thing I have had in life. I will not, Henry. Take thatbond and sink it as you have all the rest and I fall at your feet a deadwoman. I will never survive the destruction of my last hope.'
"He was cowed--for a moment, that is; she looked so superb and sodetermined. Then all that was mean and despicable in his thinly veneerednature came to the surface, and, springing forward with an oath, he wasabout to push her aside, when, without the moving of a finger on herpart, he reeled back, recovered himself, caught at a chair, missed it,and fell heavily to the floor.
"'My God, I thank thee!' was the exclamation with which she broke fromthe trance of terror into which she had been thrown by his suddenattempt to pass her; and without a glance at his face, which to melooked like the face of a dead man, she tore the paper from his hand andstood looking about her with a wild and searching gaze, in the desperatehope that somehow the walls would open and offer her a safe place ofconcealment for the precious sheet of paper.
"Meanwhile I had crept near the prostrate man. He was breathing, but wasperfectly unconscious.
"'Don't you mean to do something for him?' I asked. 'He may die.'
"She met my question with the dazed air of one suddenly awakened. 'No,he'll not die; but he'll not come to for some minutes, and this must behidden first. But where? where? I cannot trust it on my person or in anyplace a man like him would search. I must devise some means--ah!'
"With this final exclamation she had dashed into the other room. I didnot see where she went--I did not want to--but I soon realised she wasworking somewhere in a desperate hurry. I could hear her breath comingin quick, short pants as I bent over her husband, waiting for him torouse and hating my inaction even while I succumbed to it.
"Suddenly she was back in the parlour again, and to my surprise passedimmediately to the little table in the corner where we had sat atsupper. We had had for our simple refreshment that homeliest of alldishes, boiled milk thickened with flour. There was still some left in abowl, and taking this away with her she called back hoarsely:
"'Pray that he does not come to till I have finished. It will be thebest prayer you ever made.'
"She told me afterward that he was subject to these attacks and that shehad long ceased to be alarmed by them. But to me the sight of that manlying there so helpless was horrible, and, though I hated him and pitiedher, I scarcely knew what to wish. While battling with my desire to runand the feeling of loyalty which held me kneeling at that man's side, Iheard her speak again, this time in an even and slightly hard tone: 'Nowyou may dash a glass of cold water in his face. I am prepared to meethim now. Happily his memory fails after these attacks. I may succeed inmaking him believe that the bond he saw was one of his fancies.'
"'Had you not better throw the water yourself?' I suggested, getting upand meeting her eye very quietly.
"She looked at me in wonder, then moved calmly to the table, took theglass, and dashed a few drops of water into her husband's face.Instantly he began to stir, seeing which I arose without haste, butwithout any unnecessary delay, and quickly took my leave. I could bearno more that night.
"Next morning I awoke in a fright. I had dreamed that he had come to myroom in search of the bond. But it was only her knock at the door andher voice asking if she might enter at this early hour. It was such arelief I gladly let her in, and she entered with her best air and flungherself on my little lounge with the hysterical cry:
"'He has sent me up. I told him I ought not to intrude at such aninconvenient hour; that you would not have had your breakfast.' (Howcarelessly she spoke! How hard she tried to keep the hungry note out ofher voice!) 'But he insisted on my coming up. I know why. He searched mebefore I left the room, and now he wants to search the room itself.'
"'Then he did remember?' I began.
"'Yes, he remembers now. I saw it in his eyes as soon as he awoke. Buthe will not find the bond. That is safe, and some day when I haveescaped his vigilance long enough to get it back again I will use it soas to make him comfortable as well as myself. I am not a selfish woman.'
"I did not think she was, and felt pity for her, and so after dressingand making her a cup of tea, I sat down with her, and we chatted for anhour or so quite comfortably. Then she grew so restless and consultedthe clock so often that I tried to soothe her by remarking that it wasnot an easy task he had set himself, at which she laughed in amysterious way, but failed to grow less anxious till our suspense wascut short by the appearance of the janitor with a message from Mr.L'Hommedieu.
"'Mr. L'Hommedieu's compliments,' said he, 'and he hopes Mrs.L'Hommedieu will make herself comfortable and not think of coming down.He is doing everything that is necessary and will soon be through. Youcan rest quite easy, ma'am.'
"'What does he mean?' marvelled the poor woman as the janitordisappeared. 'Is he spending all this time ransacking the rooms? I wishI dared disobey him. I wish I dared go down.'
"But her courage was not equal to an open disregard of his wishes, andshe had to subdue her impatience and wait for a summons that did notcome till near two o'clock. Then Mr. L'Hommedieu himself appeared withher hat and mantle on his arm.
"'My dear,' said he as she rose, haggard with excitement, to meet him,'I have brought your wraps with me that you may go directly from here toour new home. Shall I assist you to put them on? You do not look as wellas usual, and that is why I have undertaken this thing all myself--tosave you, my dear; to save you each and every exertion.'
"I had flung out my arms to catch her, for I thought she was going tofaint, but she did not, though I think it would have been better for herif she had.
"'We are going to leave this house?' she asked, speaking very slowly andwith a studied lack
of emotion that imposed upon nobody.
"'I have said so,' he smiled. 'The dray has already taken away the halfof our effects, and the rest will follow at Mrs. Latimer's convenience.'
"'Ah, I understand!' she replied, with a gasp of relief significant ofher fear that by some super-human cunning he had found the bond shethought so safely concealed. 'I was wondering how Mrs. Latimer came toallow us to leave.' (I tell you they always talked as if I were notpresent.) 'Our goods are left as a surety, it seems.'
"'Half of our goods,' he blandly corrected. 'Would it interest you toknow which half?'
"The cunning of this insinuation was matched by the imperturbable shrugwith which she replied, 'So a bed has been allowed us and some clothes Iam satisfied,' at which he bit his lips, vexed at her self-control andhis own failure to break it.
"'You have not asked where we are going,' he observed, as with apparentsolicitude he threw her mantle over her shoulders.
"The air of lassitude with which she replied bespoke her feeling on thatpoint. 'I have little curiosity,' she said. 'You know I can be happyanywhere.' And, turning toward me, she moved her lips in a way Iinterpreted to mean: 'Go below with me. See me out.'
"'Say what you have to say to Miss Winterburn aloud,' he drilysuggested.
"'I have nothing to say to Miss Winterburn but thanks,' was her coldreply, belied, however, by the trembling of her fingers as she essayedto fit on her gloves.
"'And those I will receive below!' I cried, with affected gaiety. 'I amgoing down with you to the door.' And resolutely ignoring his frown Itripped down before them. On the last stair I felt her steps lagging.Instantly I seemed to comprehend what was required of me, and, rushingforward, I entered the front parlour. He followed close behind me, forhow could he know I was not in collusion with her to regain the bond?This gave her one minute by herself in the rear, and in that minute shesecured the key which would give her future access to the spot where hertreasure lay hidden.
"The rest of the story I must give you mainly from hearsay. You mustunderstand by this time what Mr. L'Hommedieu's scheme was in moving sosuddenly. He knew that it would be impossible for him, by the mostminute and continuous watchfulness, to prevent his wife from recoveringthe bond while they continued to inhabit the rooms in which,notwithstanding his failure to find it, he had reason to believe itstill lay concealed. But once in other quarters it would becomparatively easy for him to subject her to a surveillance which notonly would prevent her from returning to this house without hisknowledge, but would lead her to give away her secret by the verynatural necessity she would be under of going to the exact spot whereher treasure lay hid.
"It was a cunning plot and showed him to be as able as he wasunscrupulous. How it worked I will now proceed to tell you. It must havebeen the next afternoon that the janitor came running up to me--Isuppose he had learned by this time that I had more than ordinaryinterest in these people--to say that Mrs. L'Hommedieu had been in thehouse and had been so frightened by a man who had followed her that shehad fainted dead away on the floor. Would I go down to her?
"I had rather have gone anywhere else, unless it was to prison; but dutycannot be shirked, and I followed the man down. But we were too late.Mrs. L'Hommedieu had recovered and gone away, and the person who hadfrightened her was also gone, and only the hallboy remained to give anyexplanations.
"This was what he had to say:
"'The man it was who went first. As soon as the lady fell he skippedout. I don't think he meant no good here----'
"'Did she drop here in the hall?' I asked, unable to restrain my intenseanxiety.
"'Oh, no, ma'am! They was in the back room yonder, which she got insomehow. The man followed her in, sneaking and sneaking like an eel or acop, and she fell right against----'
"'Don't tell me where!' I cried. 'I don't want to know where!' And I wasabout to return upstairs when I heard a quick, sharp voice behind meand realised that Mr. L'Hommedieu had come in and was having somedispute with the janitor.
"Common prudence led me to listen. He wanted, as was very natural, toenter the room where his wife had just been surprised, but the janitor,alarmed by the foregoing very irregular proceedings, was disposed todeny his right to do so.
"'The furniture is held as a surety,' said he, 'and I have orders----'
"But Mr. L'Hommedieu had a spare dollar, and before many minutes hadelapsed I heard him go into that room and close the door. Of the nextten minutes and the suspense I felt I need not speak. When he came outagain, he looked as if the ground would not hold him.
"'I have done some mischief, I fear,' he airily said as he passed thejanitor. 'But I'll pay for it. Don't worry. I'll pay for it and therent, too, to-morrow. You may tell Mrs. Latimer so.' And he was gone,leaving us all agape in the hallway.
"A minute later we all crept to that room and looked in. Now that he hadgot the bond I for one was determined to know where she had hid it.There was no mistaking the spot. A single glance was enough to show usthe paper ripped off from a portion of the wall, revealing a narrow gapbehind the baseboard large enough to hold the bond. It was near----"
"Wait!" I put in as I remembered where the so-called Mrs. Helmuth hadpointed just before she died. "Wasn't it at the left of the largefolding doors and midway to the wall?"
"How came you to know?" she asked. "Did Mrs. Latimer tell you?" But as Idid not answer she soon took up the thread of her narrative again, and,sighing softly, said:
"The next day came and went, but no L'Hommedieu appeared; another, and Ibegan to grow seriously uneasy; a third, and a dreadful thing happened.Late in the afternoon Mrs. L'Hommedieu, dressed very oddly, came slidingin at the front door, and with an appealing smile at the hallboy, whowished but dared not ask her for the key which made these visitspossible, glided by to her old rooms, and, finding the door unlocked,went softly in. Her appearance is worth description, for it shows thepitiful efforts she made at disguise, in the hope, I suppose, ofescaping the surveillance she was evidently conscious of being under.She was in the habit of wearing on cool days a black circular with agrey lining. This she had turned inside out so that the gray wasuppermost; while over her neat black bonnet she had flung a long veil,also grey, which not only hid her face, but gave her appearance aneccentric look as different as possible from her usual aspect. Thehallboy, who had never seen her save in showy black or bright colours,said she looked like a ghost in the daytime, but it was all done for apurpose, I am sure, and to escape the attention of the man who hadfollowed her before. Alas, he might have followed her this time withoutaddition to her suffering! Scarcely had she entered the room where hertreasure had been left than she saw the torn paper and gaping baseboard,and, uttering a cry so piercing it found its way even to the stolidheart of the hallboy, she tottered back into the hall, where she fellinto the arms of her husband, who had followed her in from the street ina state of frenzy almost equal to her own.
"The janitor, who that minute appeared on the stairway, says that henever saw two such faces. They looked at each other and were speechless.He was the first to hang his head.
"'It is gone, Henry,' she whispered, 'It is gone. You have taken it.'
"He did not answer.
"'And it is lost! You have risked it, and it is lost!'
"He uttered a groan. 'You should have given it to me that night. Therewas luck in the air then. Now the devil is in the cards and----'
"Her arms went up with a shriek. 'My curse be upon you, HenryL'Hommedieu!' And whether it was the look with which she uttered thisimprecation, or whether there was some latent love left in his heart forthis long-suffering and once beautiful woman, he shrank at her words,and, stumbling like a man in the darkness, uttered a heart-rendinggroan, and rushed from the house. We never saw him again.
"As for her, she fell this time under a paralytic attack which robbedher of her faculties. She was taken to a hospital, where I frequentlyvisited her, but either from grief or the effect of her attack she didnot know me, nor did she ever recognise any o
f us again. Mrs. Latimer,who is a just woman, sold her furniture and, after paying herself out ofthe proceeds, gave the remainder to the hospital nurses for the use ofMrs. L'Hommedieu, so that when she left them she had something withwhich to start life anew. But where she went or how she managed to getalong in her enfeebled condition I do not know. I never heard of heragain."
"Then you did not see the woman who died in these rooms?" I asked.
The effect of these words was magical and led to mutual explanations.She had not seen that woman, having encountered all the sorrow shewished to in that room. Nor was there any one else in the house at thistime likely to recognise Mrs. L'Hommedieu, the janitor and hallboy bothbeing new and Mrs. Latimer one of those proprietors who are only seen onrent day. For the rest, Mrs. L'Hommedieu's defective memory, which hadled her to haunt the house and room where the bond had once been hidden,accounted not only for her first visit, but the last, which had ended sofatally. The cunning she showed in turning her cloak and flinging a veilover her hat was the cunning of a partially clouded mind. It was areminiscence of the morning when her terrible misfortune occurred. Myhabit of taking the key out of the lock of that unused door made the useof her own key possible, and her fear of being followed caused her tolock the door behind her. My wife, who must have fallen into a doze onmy leaving her, did not see her enter, but detected her just as she wastrying to escape through the folding doors. My presence in the parlourprobably added to her embarrassment, and she fled, turning her cloak asshe did so.
How simple it seemed now that we knew the facts; but how obscure, and,to all appearance, unexplainable, before the clue was given to themystery!