CHAPTER XXXI. CONCLUSION
Three months had passed, and in a quiet little cottage on the outskirtsof a small country town, situated in one of the most beautiful andpeaceful vales of the south-west country, Ella was slowly recoveringfrom the shock of the dreadful experiences through which she had passed.
She had been ill for some weeks, but her mother, fussily incompetentat most times, was always at her best when sickness came, and she hadnursed her daughter devotedly and successfully.
As soon as possible they had come to this quiet little place wherepeople, busy with their own affairs and the important progress of thetown, had scarcely heard of what the newspapers of the day called "TheGreat Chobham Sensation."
But, in fact, very much to Rupert's relief, comparatively little hadbeen made known publicly, and the whole affair had attracted wonderfullylittle attention.
The one public proceeding had been the inquest of Deede Dawson, and thatthe coroner, at the request of the police eagerly searching for WalterDunsmore, had made as brief and formal as possible. Under his directionthe jury had returned a verdict of "justifiable homicide," and Ella'sillness had had at least one good result of making it impossible for herto attend to give her evidence in person.
At a trial, of course, everything would have had to be told in full,but both Allen, Deede Dawson's accomplice, and Walter Dunsmore, hisinstigator and employer, had vanished utterly.
For Walter the search was very hot, but so far entirely without result.Now could Allen be found. He was identified with a fair degree ofcertainty as an old criminal well known to the authorities, and it wasthought almost certain that he had had previous dealings with DeedeDawson, and knew enough about him to be able to force himself intoBittermeads.
Of the actual plot in operation there he most likely knew little ornothing, but probably Deede Dawson thought he might be useful, andthe store of silver found in the attic that Ella had been employed inpacking ready for removal was identified as part of the plunder from arecent burglary in a northern town.
It was thought, therefore, that both Allen and Deede Dawson might havebeen concerned in that affair, that Deede Dawson had managed to securethe greater share of the booty, and that Allen, on the night when Rupertfound him breaking into Bittermeads, was endeavouring to get hold of thesilver for himself.
But the actual facts are not likely now ever to be known, for from thatday to this nothing has been heard of Allen. His old haunts know himno more, and to his record, carefully preserved at Scotland Yard, therehave been no recent additions.
One theory is that Deede Dawson, finding him troublesome, took effectualsteps to dispose of him. Another is that Deede Dawson got him away byeither bribes or threats, and that, not knowing of Deede Dawson's death,he does not venture to return.
In any case, he was a commonplace criminal, and his fate is of littleinterest to any one but himself.
It was Walter for whom the police hunted with diligence and effort, butwith a total lack of success, so that they began to think at the end ofthree months that he must somehow have succeeded in making his way outof the country.
During the first portion of this time Rupert had been very busy with agreat many things that needed his attention. And then Lord Chobham, hishealth affected by the crimes and treachery of a kinsman whom he hadknown and trusted as he had known and trusted Walter, was attacked byacute bronchitis which affected his heart and carried him off within theweek. The title and estates passed, therefore, to General Dunsmore, andRupert became the Honourable Rupert Dunsmore and the direct heir. Allthis meant for him a great deal more to see to and arrange, for thehealth of the new Lord Chobham had also been affected and he leftpractically everything in his son's hands, so that, except for theletters which came regularly but had been often written in great haste,Ella knew and heard little of Rupert.
But today he was to come, for everything was finally in order, and,though this she did not know till later, Walter Dunsmore had at lastbeen discovered, dead from poison self-administered, in a wretchedlodging in an East End slum. Rupert had been called to identify the bodyand he had been able to arrange it so that very little was said atthe inquest, where the customary verdict of "Suicide during temporaryinsanity" was duly returned by a quite uninterested jury.
That the last had been heard of the tragedy that had so nearlyoverwhelmed his life, Rupert was able now to feel fairly well assured,and it was therefore in a mood more cheerful than he had known of latethat he started on his journey to Ella's new residence.
He had sent a wire to confirm his letter, and it was in a mood thatwas more than a little nervous that she busied herself with herpreparations.
She chose her very simplest gown, and when there was absolutely nothingmore to do she went into their little sitting-room to wait alone by thefire she had built up there, for it was winter now and today was coldand inclined to be stormy.
Rupert had not said exactly when she was to expect him, and she sat fora long time by the fire, starting at every sound and imagining at everymoment that she heard the front-door bell ring.
"I shall not let him feel himself bound," she said to herself with greatdecision. "I shall tell him I hope we shall always be friends but that'sall; and if he wants anything more, I shall say No. But most likelyhe won't say a word about all that nonsense, it would be silly to takeseriously what he said--there."
To Ella, now, Bittermeads was always "there," and though she toldherself several times that probably Rupert had not the least idea ofrepeating what he had said to her--there--and that most likely he wascoming today merely to make a friendly call, and that it would never dofor either of them to think again of what they had said when they wereboth so excited and overwrought, yet in her heart she knew a great dealbetter than all that.
But she said to herself very often:
"Anyhow, I shall certainly refuse him."
And on this point her mind was irrevocably made up since, after all,whether Rupert would accept refusal or not would still remain entirelyfor him to decide.
At half-past three she heard the garden-gate creak, and when she ran tothe window to peep, she saw with a kind of chill surprise that there wasa stranger coming through.
"Some one he's sent," she said to herself. "He doesn't want to comehimself and so he has sent some one else instead. I am glad."
Having said this and repeated again the last three words, and havinggulped down a sob--presumably of joy--that unexpectedly fluttered intoher throat, she went quickly to open the door.
The newly-arrived stranger smiled at her as she showed herself but didnot speak. He was a man of middle height, quite young, and wrapped ina big, loose overcoat that very completely hid his figure. His face,clean-shaven, showed clear, strongly-marked well-shaped features with afirm mouth round which at this moment played a very gentle and winningsmile, a square-cut chin, and extremely bright, clear kindly eyes thatwere just now smiling too.
When he took off his hat she saw that his hair was cut rather closely,and very neatly brushed and combed, and she found his smile socompelling and so winning that in spite of her disappointment she foundherself returning it.
It occurred to her that she had some time or another seen some one likethis stranger, but when or where she could not imagine.
Still he did not speak, but his eyes were very tender and kind as theyrested on her so that she wondered a little.
"Yes?" she said inquiringly. "Yes?"
"Don't you know me, Ella?" he said then, very softly, and in a voicethat she recognized instantly.
"Is it you--you?" she breathed.
Instinctively she lifted her hands to greet him, and at once she foundherself caught up and held, pressed passionately to his strongly-beatingheart.
*****
An hour later, by the fire in the sitting-room, Ella suddenly rememberedtea.
"Good gracious! You must be starving," she cried, smitten with remorse."And there's poor mother waiting upstairs all this tim
e. Oh, Rupert, areyou very hungry?"
"Starving," he asserted, but held her to him as closely as ever.
"I must get the tea," she protested. She put one cheek against his andsighed contentedly.
"It's nice to see the real you," she murmured. "But oh, Rupert, I domiss your dear bristly beard."
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