CHAPTER XIX
A STORY OF THE PAST
Half-an-hour later and Lord Kilspindie was back in the Vicarage librarywith Janet Grant, or, as it may be more convenient to call her, MrsJeal. Mr Tempest was present, together with Leo and Mr Raston, and theyhad assembled to force the truth out of Mrs Jeal. This was no easymatter. All the evil in the woman was uppermost, and with her shawlwrapped round her tightly she sat there and defied them all.
"You may burn me, you may put me in prison," said Mrs Jeal, savagely,"but I won't open my mouth."
"I'll have you arrested unless you tell the truth," said LordKilspindie.
"Arrest me, then," snarled Mrs Jeal. "There's a policeman handy, mylord."
"Why are you behaving like this, woman?" asked the vicar, sternly.
"Why!" she retorted violently. "Because I was badly treated by my lordthere. I served him faithfully for many years, yet, in place of givingme the position to which I was entitled, he set another woman--a woman Ihated--over my head. But I paid him out," she said revengefully. "Oh!many a sad hour you have had, my lord! And many more you will have. Iknow where your son is; but I won't tell. You have got back the cup, butthe son, my Lord Morven," she sneered, "will remain in the humbleposition in which I have placed him."
"Something is gained," said Kilspindie. "You have revealed that my sonis alive and well. I'll get the rest out of you."
"Never!" Mrs Jeal shut her mouth with a snap and shook herself. "I'llnot speak another word!"
"What a wicked woman you are," said the vicar, sadly. Mrs Jeal's eyesflashed a wicked glance at him, but, true to her determination, she heldher peace. It seemed impossible to do anything with so pronounced avixen.
Hitherto Raston had been silent. Now he came forward. "I am able to dealwith this matter," he said quietly, "and I have a way of making thewoman speak."
Mrs Jeal shook her head and glared. The vicar and Kilspindie both lookedat the curate. So did Leo. He was beginning to have a faint hope thatthe scene would end in the discovery that he was the rightful son ofLord Kilspindie. With an anxious face he sat in the corner and drank ineagerly every word which fell from Raston's lips. Mrs Jeal maintainedher self-imposed silence.
"Mr Tempest," said Raston, "when I asked you if I might go to London, Idid not tell you my errand. I tell it to you now. It was to see the manknown as Pratt."
"What!" exclaimed the vicar. "You saw that man!"
"Two days ago. He wrote asking me to see him, hinting that he hadsomething to tell about the cup."
"Which he stole," said Kilspindie.
"No, my lord. Pratt did not steal the cup. He took the blame uponhimself, so as to clear the name of my friend Haverleigh."
Both the old men looked at Leo, who winced.
"Are you sure of that?" asked the vicar. "Pratt wrote to Marton,remember."
"To take the blame upon himself. Quite so. But he was not guilty for allthat. His record was so black when Marton unmasked him that he thought acrime more or less would not matter."
"But why should he shield Haverleigh?" asked Mr Tempest.
Leo started forward. He saw that the time had come for him to speak out."I can answer that," he said. "Pratt told me that I was his son."
Tempest uttered an exclamation. "You must be mistaken," he said; "MrsGabriel informed me that you were illegitimate."
"That would not have made any difference," said Leo, bitterly. "I mightas well be the illegitimate son of Pratt as of anyone else. At a matterof fact, however, he told me that I was born in wedlock. His wife--mymother--died, and he placed me with Mrs Gabriel to bring up. Shebelieved that I was a nameless orphan, and what she told you, MrTempest, was true so far as she knew. Her telling was none the lessspiteful, however. It was that which made you unwilling that I shouldmarry Sybil."
"Yes," said the vicar, with a flush. "I did not like to think that adaughter of mine should marry a nameless man."
"And you visit the sins of the parents on the head of their innocentoffspring," said Leo. "You have not treated me well, Mr Tempest. Youthought me guilty of theft; scorned me because I was nameless! Is thisthe conduct of a minister of the Gospel?"
The grey head of the vicar drooped. "I admit that I have been wrong,Leo," he said in a faltering tone. "You have vindicated your character.I ask your pardon. And more," said he, when Leo grasped his hand, "evenalthough there is a stain on your birth--"
"No," said Leo, "I don't want you to bind yourself to anything. Waittill this mystery is cleared up. At present, so far as I know, I am theson of a criminal. If that is true, I should refuse to marry Sybil."
Here Mrs Jeal burst out into a taunting laugh. Lord Kilspindie frownedupon her, and took Leo's disengaged hand. The vicar held the other. "Youare a good man, Haverleigh," said his lordship, far from suspecting thetruth. "I wish I had you for a son," and Mrs Jeal laughed again.
When quiet was restored, Raston went on with his story. "First," hesaid, "I must tell you how I recovered the cup. I went up and met Pratt.As I promised not to deliver him into the hands of the law, much as hedeserved punishment, he spoke to me freely and I was with him threehours. I do not know if I was right in letting such a dangerouscriminal escape," said the curate, looking round, "but if I had giveninformation to the police I should never have heard the truth about Leo,nor should I have secured the cup."
"Then I am not his son?" cried Leo, eagerly.
"No. Pratt gave me his word for that. Who you are you shall hearpresently." Here Raston gave a glance at Mrs Jeal, who was moving herhands restlessly and seemed to be ill at ease. "Meantime I must go onwith the story of the cup. It seemed that Pratt knew the pawnbrokerPenny, and having learnt from Mrs Jeal's story that he had the cup, hewent to get it back and to learn who had pawned it."
"And who did?" asked the vicar, sharply.
Raston gave the answer he least expected. "Mrs Jeal pawned it," said he.
The woman sprang to her feet and found her tongue. "It is a lie!" sheshouted, furious with rage; then she made a rush for the door. LordKilspindie put his hand on her shoulder and forced her back into thechair.
"I am beginning to suspect the truth," he said sternly. "Sit still or Iwill have you punished."
She scowled and relapsed into a dogged silence. Raston went on to tellhow the cup had been stolen. "It seems that when Pearl Darry was ill,"he said, "this woman watched by her bed. The poor, mad creature wasdelirious and raved about the cup. Mrs Jeal persuaded her that she wouldbe eternally punished, what for Heaven only knows--"
"She is a child of sin," groaned Mrs Jeal.
"She is as pure and good as an angel," cried the curate, frowning. "Itis you who are the evil doer, Mrs Jeal! Well, Mr Tempest, the girlthought in her half-delirious state that she would test the goodness ofGod. She proposed to take the cup out of the chapel and place it on analtar of turf which she had prepared on the moor. It was her idea thatif God wished to save her, He would take the cup up to Heaven, and thenreplace it at a later date on the altar. She, therefore, while Mrs Jealwas absent, dressed herself and ran out of the house. She went to thehouse of old Barker the sexton. His door was not locked--he told a lieabout that to save himself--and she knew where the key of the churchhung. It was in her hand in a moment, and she went to the churchsometime about ten o'clock. She entered and took the cup. Then shereplaced the key on its nail after relocking the door."
"One moment," interrupted Mr Tempest; "those scratches on the lepers'window--we thought, if you remember, that the robber had entered thatway."
"I shrewdly suspect that old Barker made those scratches to save his ownskin," said Raston. "You had better ask him." And it may here bementioned that the vicar did, and learned that what Raston said wastrue. The old sexton, finding the cup gone, feared lest he might beaccused of the robbery, and so conceived the idea of making marks asthough someone had entered at a window which his fat body could notpossibly have squeezed through. It was a clever idea and misled all.But old Barker was punished by being sent to Portfron
t after he hadconfessed.
"It was when Pearl left Barker's cottage with the cup that Mrs Jeal mether," went on the curate. "She had missed her out of bed, and thinkingthat the mad girl had gone to the chapel, followed. She met her at thedoor of the cottage and saw that she had the cup. It was then that theidea came into her wicked head to steal the cup."
"It's a lie!" cried Mrs Jeal again.
"It is what you told Old Penny, anyhow, as he is prepared to swear incourt," said the curate, coolly. "He would not give you what you askedfor the cup until you told him where you got it. For a wonder, you toldthe truth. Yes, Mrs Jeal, you followed Pearl on to the moor and saw herset the cup on the turf altar. Waiting till she got back to yourcottage, you took the cup and concealed it under your shawl. You took ithome, and found the girl back again in bed, very ill from the effects ofexposure. For a time you nursed her while the hue and cry was being madeabout the cup. Then you made the excuse that your father was ill andwent to London. You have no father, Mrs Jeal, and Old Penny, in answerto a letter of yours, sent the wire. You told him you had something forhim, and so he aided you with your plot. You took the cup to London,pawned it to Old Penny after telling him the story, and got five hundredpounds for it."
"I did not--I did not!" Mrs Jeal tried again to rise, and again had toremain; Lord Kilspindie kept his heavy grip on her shoulder. In hisrage at her duplicity he could have slain her, but he spared her for themoment that he might learn the truth. After many years of darkness dawnwas breaking. Mrs Jeal saw that the end was in sight and began to sob.
"Then," continued Raston, "you banked the money and came down to tellthat wicked lie about Leo Haverleigh. You know that he was never nearthe place--that he was innocent and that you were guilty. However, Prattgot all this out of Old Penny, and then gave him the five hundred poundsfor the cup. He took it to his own place, and when I was with him hehanded it to me."
"Come," said Kilspindie, "there is some good in the man."
"He has to make reparation to you, my lord," said Raston, solemnly, "forhe is this woman's husband, and it was by his direction that your sonwas stolen. Yes," here the curate pointed to Leo, "and there is yourson."
Leo rose slowly, as pale as a corpse. He had expected this, yet when itcame the thing was too much for him. He could only look at hisnewly-found father in silence. Lord Kilspindie gasped and he too turnedpale. Then he made one stride forward, and grasping Leo's hands staredinto his face. "Yes," he muttered, "I believe. You have her--her--" Heturned on Mrs Jeal. "Woman, is this true?" he demanded. But Mrs Jeal,with a cruel smile on her fat, puffy face, still sat silent. "I couldstrangle you," muttered Lord Kilspindie, exasperated by her obstinacy.
"I can make her speak," said Raston, taking an envelope out of hispocket, "and here is the means of doing so."
Still holding Leo's hand, Lord Kilspindie looked at the curate. Mrs Jealremained quiet, a contemptuous smile on her lips and her eyes on thefloor. Tempest, much interested in this strange scene, sat waiting forthe end. It would seem that the result was in Raston's hands.
"After I had received the cup and had heard its story," the curatecontinued, "I began to question Pratt about Leo. At Portfront Leo hadalready told me of the claim Pratt had made to being his father. I didnot believe it, for I know Haverleigh's upright nature and could notthink that he was the child of such a bad man. At first Pratt insistedthat he was the father. I then appealed to his better instincts and toldhim how Leo had made up his mind to give up Miss Tempest rather thanmake her the wife of a man with such antecedents as his. I think Prattreally loves you, Leo, for after a time he yielded to my entreaties andtold the truth."
"I am sure he likes me," said Haverleigh, quietly; "he was always verykind to me. Bad as he is, I at least have no reason to complain of histreatment."
"But what did he say?" asked Lord Kilspindie, anxiously.
"I shall leave Mrs Jeal to tell. She can repeat to you the story Pratttold me."
"I'll not say a word," muttered the woman, resolutely.
"I can compel you!" replied Raston, sternly.
"Try!" was Mrs Jeal's disdainful retort.
The curate turned towards Kilspindie. "Pratt's story had a great deal todo with his wife, my lord, and on several points he referred me to her.I told him that she would never speak, for I well know how obstinate sheis. Pratt then agreed to help me, 'for Leo's sake,' he said. He wroteout something and placed what he had written in this envelope. I did notsee what it was and I do not know now. The envelope is sealed as yousee. Now," added the curate, looking at Mrs Jeal, who was beginning toshow signs of uneasiness, "if you tell the story of how you stole thechild and prove that Mr Haverleigh is really Lord Morven, I will handthis letter to you with the seal unbroken. If you refuse, I will openthe envelope now and act on the contents. Pratt assured me that what iscontained herein would cost you much more than your liberty!"
The three men looked at the woman. Her face was livid, and theperspiration beaded her forehead. Twice she tried to speak, but hermouth opened and shut without a sound.
"Will you speak?" asked Raston, quietly.
"Give it to me," she muttered in a husky tone, and stretching out herhand for the envelope Raston withdrew it beyond her reach.
"Not until you have told us the story," he said.
"If I do, will you give me the letter?"
"Yes--with the seal unbroken. I do not know what iniquity you have beenguilty of; but we are all willing not to know so long as you inform usof your minor fault."
"I have your promise to give me the letter as it is?" asked Mrs Jeal.
"Yes," said Raston, and the other three men echoed his response. MrsJeal nodded, well satisfied, and wiped her pale face with the end of hershawl. She then took a key out of her pocket.
"Will one of you gentlemen go to my cottage," she said, "and open thethird drawer in the chest of drawers in my bedroom standing opposite tothe door? There you will find a parcel wrapped up in brown paper. I wantit brought here immediately."
"Shall I go?" said Leo, rising.
"No," said Lord Kilspindie. "I have you and I mean to keep you. MrTempest, no doubt, has a servant whom he can trust."
Tempest nodded and touched the bell. The old butler, who had been withthe vicar for over twenty years, appeared. "Take this key," said hismaster, handing it to him. "Mrs Jeal will give you directions how to useit. Lose no time in coming back."
Mrs Jeal repeated her instructions and the servant departed on hiserrand. Then the woman rose to her feet and began to talk with anassumption of courage which would have been ludicrous had it not been sopitiful. Still, she fought well, and was game to the last.
"You have got the better of me," she said, "or, rather, that brute of aTony Angel has peached. If he had held his tongue I could have defiedthe lot of you. As it is--" She shrugged her fat shoulders and paused."Ask me what questions you like," she said, "I am in your power. I_must_ reply."
"Is this my son?" asked Kilspindie, his hand on Leo's shoulder.
"Yes. That is Lord Morven!"
Leo uttered a cry and looked at his father with moist eyes. Therevulsion of feeling was too much for Kilspindie, and he sank down intoa chair. Leo held his hand, and there was silence for a few moments. "Iam thankful to God that he has spared me to see my son again!" saidKilspindie, solemnly, and the vicar added a solemn "Amen."
"And thank God that I have a father and an unsullied name!" said Leo,almost too moved to speak. Nor was this emotion unmanly on the part offather and son. The least sentimental person must grant this much.
Kilspindie remained seated in his chair and holding the hand of hisnewly-recovered son. Both men fixed their eyes on Mrs Jeal, who in acold and unemotional way continued her confession.
"I was brought up on your estate, my lord," she said, "and there I metwith Pratt--or, rather, with Tony Angel. He came on a visit to thevillage to get away from the police. He was a handsome and fascinatingman and I fell in love with him. Whether he loved me or not I cannotsay
. At all events, he pretended to. I left your service and marriedhim. We went to London, and then I discovered that my husband was athief. At first I was horrified. In those days, my lord, I was not thehardened sinner you see me now. But after a time Pratt--as I may callhim--made me as bad as himself. He taught me to love fine things andcomfort, and as he always made plenty of money by stealing I had a gaylife. Oh! we had fine times I can tell you! He--"
"Go on with your story, Mrs Jeal," said the vicar, sternly.
She tossed her head, but obeyed. "After a time things got bad. Pratt wasso well known to the police that he was not so successful as he hadbeen. I used to tell him about Kilspindie Castle and the cup. Pratt, wholoved beautiful things, wanted to get the cup. He proposed that I shouldgo back and steal it. I was already known in the castle, so there wouldbe a better opportunity for me to get it than himself. As I wanted moneyI agreed, and I came back to the castle."
"Did you re-enter my service in order to steal the cup?" asked LordKilspindie.
"Yes," replied Mrs Jeal, defiantly, "you had plenty without it. Ientered as an under-nursemaid, and as I was comfortable I thought Iwould stay for a while. Pratt came up and urged me to steal the cup atonce. I refused, as I did not wish to leave my good situation. Then anidea came into his head that if I could obtain the child of a noblemanhe could hold it as a hostage."
"What do you mean?" asked Raston.
"The meaning is not difficult," said Mrs Jeal, coolly. "Pratt was alwaysin danger of being taken by the police, and his record was so bad thathe would have been shown no mercy. He thought if he had LordKilspindie's son, that when he got into trouble he could promise torestore the child on condition that he was set free."
"A clever idea," muttered the vicar.
"And a very wild one," said his lordship. "What influence could I bringto bear towards helping a criminal?"
"What, indeed?" sneered Mrs Jeal. "I assured Pratt that your lordshiphad no power. But the idea of getting the child as a hostage fascinatedhim, and he commanded me to steal the boy. For a time I refused. Thenthe head nurse died and another woman was set over my head. My ladytreated me badly--she insulted me; she showed that she mistrusted me. Iwas angry and I determined to be revenged. I was revenged by obeyingPratt. I took the cup and the child and went away. How I--"
"I know how you stole both the child and the cup," said Lord Kilspindie.
"Very good, my lord. Well, I went to London with Pratt. He pawned thecup, and on the money we lived for a time. Then he insisted that, as hemight some day have to restore the child--we called him Leo," said MrsJeal, with a glance at the young man, "it was necessary that he shouldbe brought up as a gentleman. He knew Mrs Gabriel, whom he had metabroad. He had some power over her--"
"And what _is_ the power?" asked Leo.
Mrs Jeal shook her head. "That has nothing to do with you or with therestoration of your rights, Lord Morven," she said. "I keep that secretto myself. Pratt had a power over her and used it. He brought the childto her and said he was a natural child. He insisted that she shouldbring him up as the son of her brother who had just died abroad. HowPratt knew this I do not know; but then he knew everything. Well, it wasdone, and Leo was established at the castle. Mrs Gabriel brought himup."
"Yes," said Leo, bitterly, "she brought me up." And he looked back onthe long life of petty worry and contemptible tyranny that had been his."I know all this. But yourself, Mrs Jeal?"
"I remained with Pratt. I was only too glad to get rid of you. I hatedyou for your mother's sake--"
"Stop that!" cried Lord Kilspindie, and Mrs Jeal dropped a mockingcurtsey.
"At your lordship's service! However, I found out that Pratt wastreating me badly. He went about with other women. He even struck me. Imade up my mind to leave him, and I did. I went from one place toanother, and finally I came to settle in Colester."
"Why did you come here?" asked the vicar.
"Oh, your reverence can understand that I wanted to keep an eye on theyoung lord!" said Mrs Jeal, obsequiously. "He was my property as well asPratt's, and when the day came to give him up to his father I wanted myshare of the spoil."
"You shall have nothing," said Lord Kilspindie, sternly. "You ought tobe glad that I do not hand you over to the police!"
She scowled and would have become vituperative, but Raston moved thehand which held the envelope significantly. At once a frightened lookcame over her face, and she sat down. "I stayed here," she continuedfeebly, all the strength having gone out of her, "and saved Pearl Darryfrom her father. When Pratt came I was afraid; I was always afraid ofPratt. No one knows but myself what a devil he is. He told me to hold mytongue, and I was too frightened of him to disobey. Now I'll go awayfrom here with the Hales, since Miss Sybil has promised to look afterPearl. I want to put the seas between myself and that man. He terrifiesme, and I am not a woman easily terrified."
"Why did you tell that lie about my having pawned the cup?" asked Leo.
Mrs Jeal shook her head. "I can say no more," she said. Leo would haveinsisted, but at that moment the servant entered with the parcel ofwhich the woman had spoken. When he went out Mrs Jeal opened this, andspread out the contents on the table.
"Here are the evidences your lordship wished for," she said, glancing atLord Kilspindie. "This is the dress Lord Morven wore when I took himaway, his name is marked--the underclothing is also marked. The coralnecklace which your lordship may perhaps recognise as an heirloom. Andyour lordship may perhaps remember some mark by which Lord Morven canbe recognised. There _is_ a mark, if your lordship remembers."
Kilspindie drew his hand across his forehead and thought. "My wifeshowed me the child one day and pointed out the mark. Yes, three molesin a line just above the elbow of the left arm."
Mrs Jeal nodded, and Leo, hastily stripping off his coat, drew up hissleeve to show the three moles in question. "But I don't need that toassure me that you are my son," said the old nobleman; "you have theeyes of your mother. Yes; you are my son and Lord Morven!"
"I congratulate you, Leo," said Raston, shaking his friend's hand.
"And I have to thank you with all my heart," said the new Lord Morven,"for if it had not been for you this would never have been discovered. Ishould like to know, however, how it was that Pratt claimed me as ason?"
"That was Mrs Gabriel's fault," said Raston. "She told him that youintended to denounce him to the police. When you discovered him at thecastle on that night he was afraid lest you might do so, therefore hesaid you were his son, so as to put such a betrayal out of your power."
"As if I would ever have betrayed him!" said Leo. "There was good inPratt."
"There is _no_ good in him," cried Mrs Jeal, fiercely. "How dare you sayso? He is a bad and wicked man. I hate him with all my soul! But neverwill I set eyes on him again. He might kill me as he has oftenthreatened to do. But I have told all; I have proved your identity, LordMorven, and you have the cup, my Lord Kilspindie. The--the--letter--"She hesitated. Those present looked at one another. "Should thisdangerous woman go free to be a pest to society?" said the vicar,sternly.
"You promised," said Mrs Jeal, terrified and white to the lips.
Leo looked at her for a moment, then took the letter from the hands ofRaston, and gave it to her. "We must keep our word," he said.
"And you must leave this place at once," said Mr Tempest, austerely.
But Mrs Jeal was paying no attention to them. She had torn open theletter, and was reading the few lines it contained. "I thought so," shemuttered, with a black look. "I wish I could kill him." She crushed upthe paper and put it into her pocket again. Then she walked to the door."Good-day, my Lord Morven, and good-bye, Lord Kilspindie. You are poorcreatures, both of you. Your reverence will now be glad to sell yourdaughter for a title! As to you, Mr Raston, the girl you love would havebeen sold to my husband by her mother. I wish you joy, all you menfools." And with a mocking curtsey Mrs Jeal walked out of the room.
"Let her go. We know the truth," said Lord Kilspin
die. "Leo!"
But Leo, with a nod, was making for the door. "I must tell Sybil," hesaid, and vanished.
Half-an-hour later the vicar and his father went in search of him. Theyfound him sitting hand in hand with Sybil in the drawing-room. "It'sreally wonderful, wonderful!" she was saying.
"And your father will let me marry you now, darling," said Leo.
"If you will grant him your pardon," said the voice of Mr Tempest.
Leo shook the vicar's hand, kissed Sybil, and Kilspindie smiled,well-pleased.