CHAPTER XXVI
THE OTHER MAN'S WIFE
As soon as Lucian arrived back in his rooms he sat down at his desk andwrote a long letter to Diana, giving a full account of his extraordinarydiscovery of her father in Jorce's asylum, and advising her to come upat once to London.
When he posted this--which he did the same night--he sighed to think itwas not a love letter. He could have covered reams of paper with wordsof passion and adoration; he could have poured out his whole soul at thefeet of his divinity, telling her of his love, his aspirations, hishopes and fears. No doubt, from a common-sense view, the letter wouldhave been silly enough, but it would have relieved his mind andcompleted his happiness of knowing that he loved and was beloved.
But in place of writing thus, he was compelled by his promise to Dianato pen a description of his late discovery, and interesting as the casewas now growing, he found it irksome to detail the incident of theafternoon. He wished to be a lover, not a detective.
So absent-minded and distraught was Lucian, that Miss Greeb, who hadlong suspected something was wrong with him, spoke that very eveningabout himself. She declared that Lucian was working too hard, that heneeded another rest, although he had just returned from the country, andrecommended a sleeping draught. Finally she produced a letter which hadjust arrived, and as it was in a female hand, Miss Greeb watched itseffect on her admired lodger with the keen eyes of a jealous woman. Whenshe saw him flush and seize it eagerly, casting, meanwhile, an impatientlook on her to leave the room, she knew the truth at once, and retiredhurriedly to the kitchen, where she shed floods of tears.
"I might have guessed it," gasped Miss Greeb to a comfortable cat whichlay selfishly before the fire. "He's far too good-looking not to besnapped up. He'll be leaving me and setting up house with that otherwoman. I only hope she'll do for him as well as I have done. I wonder ifshe's beautiful and rich. Oh, how dreadful it all is!" But the cat madeno comment on this tearful address--not as much as a mew. It rolled overinto a warmer place and went to sleep again. Cats are particularlyselfish animals.
Two days afterwards Miss Greeb opened the door to a tall and beautifullady, who asked for Mr. Denzil, and was shown into his sitting-room.With keen instinct, Miss Greeb decided that this was the woman who hadtaken possession of Lucian's heart, and being a just little creature, inspite of her jealousy, was obliged to admit that the visitor was ashandsome as a picture. Then, seeing that there was no chance for herbeside this splendid lady, she consoled herself with a dismal littleproverb, and looked forward to the time when it would be necessary toput a ticket in the parlour window. Meanwhile, to have some one on whosebosom she could weep, Miss Greeb went round to see Mrs. Bensusan,leaving Diana in possession of Lucian, and the cat sole occupant of thekitchen.
In the drawing-room, on the front floor, Diana, with her eyes shininglike two stars, was talking to Lucian. She had come up at once onreceipt of his letter; she had been to Hampstead, she had seen herfather, and now she was telling Lucian about the visit.
"He knew me at once, poor dear," she said rapidly, "and asked me if Ihad been out, just as if I'd left the house for a visit and come back.Ah!"--she shook her head and sighed--"I am afraid he'll never be quitehimself again."
"What does Jorce think?"
"He says that father can be discharged as cured, and is going to seeabout it for me. Of course, he will never be quite sane, but he willnever be violent so long as morphia and drugs of that sort are kept fromhim. As soon as he is discharged I shall take him back to Bath, and puthim in charge of Miss Barbar; then I shall return to town, and we mustexpose the whole conspiracy!"
"Conspiracy?"
"What else do you call it, Lucian? That woman and Ferruci have plannedand carried it out between them. They put my father into the asylum, andmade another man pass as him, in order to get the assurance money. Astheir tool did not die quickly enough, they killed him."
"No, Diana. Both Lydia and Ferruci have proved beyond all doubt thatthey were not in Pimlico at the hour of the death. I believe theycontrived this conspiracy, but I don't believe they murdered Clear."
"Well, we shall see what defence they make. But one thing is certain,Lucian--Lydia will have to disgorge the assurance money."
"Yes, she certainly will, and I've no doubt the Assurance Company willprosecute her for fraud in obtaining it. I shall see Ferruci to-morrowand force him to confess his putting your father in the asylum."
"No!" said Diana, shaking her head. "Don't do that until you have moreevidence against him."
"I think the evidence of Jorce is strong enough. I suppose you mean theevidence of Mrs. Clear?"
"Yes; although for her own sake I don't suppose she will speak."
Lucian nodded. "I thought of that also," he said, "and yesterday I wentto St. Bertha Street, Bayswater, to see her. But I found that she hadmoved, and no one knew where she was. I expect, having received herprice for the conspiracy, she has left London. However, I put anadvertisement in the papers, saying if she called on me here she wouldhear of something to her advantage. It is in the papers this morning."
"I doubt if she will call," said Diana seriously. "What about thepromised revelation of Rhoda?"
"I believe that girl is deceiving me," cried Lucian angrily. "I wentround to Jersey Street, as she asked me, and only saw Mrs. Bensusan, whosaid that Rhoda was out and would not be back for some time. Then I hadto wait for you here and tell you all about your father, so the thingslipped my memory. I have not been near the place since, but I'll goround there to-night. Whatever is Miss Greeb thinking of?" cried Lucian,breaking off quickly. "That front door bell has been ringing for atleast five minutes!"
To Diana's amusement, Lucian went and shouted down the stairs to MissGreeb, but as no reply came, and the bell was still ringing furiously,he was obliged to open the door himself. On the step there stood alittle woman in a tailor-made brown frock, a plainly trimmed brown strawhat with a black gauze velvet-spotted veil. At once Denzil guessed whoshe was.
"You are Mrs. Clear?" he said, delighted that she had replied so quicklyto his advertisement, for it had only that morning appeared in thenewspapers.
"Yes, I am," answered the woman, in a quick, sharp voice. "Are you theL. D. who advertised for me?"
"Yes. Come upstairs. I have much to say to you."
"Diana," said Lucian, on entering the room with his prize, "let meintroduce you to Mrs. Clear."
"Mrs. Clear! Are you the wife of the man who was murdered in the houseopposite?"
Mrs. Clear uttered a cry of astonishment, and turned as if to retreat.But Denzil was between her and the door, so she saw that there wasnothing for it but to outface the situation. As though she found itdifficult to breathe, she threw up her veil, and Diana beheld a thinwhite face with two brilliant black eyes.
"This is a trap," said Mrs. Clear, hoarsely, looking from the one to theother. "Who are you?"
"I," said Lucian, politely, "I am the man who met your husbandbefore----"
"My husband! I have my husband in an asylum. You can't have met him!"
"You are telling a falsehood," said Diana fiercely. "The gentleman inthe asylum of Dr. Jorce is not your husband, but my father!"
"Your father? And who are you?"
"I am Diana Vrain."
Mrs. Clear gave a screech, and dropped back on to the sofa, staring atDiana with wide-open and terrified eyes.
"And now, Mrs. Clear, I see you realise the situation," Lucian saidcoldly. "You must confess your share in this conspiracy."
"What conspiracy?" she interrupted furiously.
"The putting of Mr. Vrain into an asylum, and the passing off of yourhusband, Michael Clear, as him."
"I don't know anything about it."
"Come, now, you talk nonsense! If you refuse to speak I'll have youarrested at once."
"Arrest me!" She bounded off the sofa with flashing eyes.
"Yes, on a charge of conspiracy. It is no use your getting angry, Mrs.Clear, for it won't improve yo
ur position. We--that is, this lady andmyself--wish to know, firstly, how your husband came to be masqueradingas Mr. Vrain; secondly, where we can find the man called Wrent, whoemployed your husband; and thirdly, Mrs. Clear, we wish to know, and thelaw wishes to know, who killed your husband."
"I don't know who killed him," said the woman, looking rather afraid,"but I believe Wrent did."
"Who is Wrent?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know many things," said Diana, taking part in theconversation, "but you must tell us what you do know, otherwise I shallcall in a policeman and have you arrested."
"You can't prove anything against me."
"I think I can," said Lucian in the most cheerful manner. "I can provethat you were in No. 13 of this Square, seeing your husband, for I foundon the fence dividing the back yard of that house from one in JerseyStreet a scrap of a veil such as you wear. Also the landlady and servantcan prove that you called on Mr. Wrent several times, and were with himon the night of the murder. Then there is the evidence of your cloak,which you left behind, and which Wrent gave to the servant Rhoda. Alsothe evidence of Signor Ferruci----"
"Ferruci! What has he said about me?"
Lucian saw that revenge might make the woman speak, so he lied in thecalmest manner to get at the truth. "Ferruci says that he contrived thewhole conspiracy."
"So he did," said Mrs. Clear, with a nod.
"And took you to 'The Haven,' at Hampstead, on Christmas Eve."
"That's true. He took me from Wrent's house in Jersey Street. You neednot go on, Mr. L. D. I admit the whole business."
"You do?" cried Lucian and Diana together.
"Yes, if only to spite that old villain Wrent, who has not paid me themoney he promised."
Before Lucian and Miss Vrain could express their pleasure at Mrs. Clearcoming to this sensible conclusion, the door opened suddenly, and littleMiss Greeb, in a wonderful state of agitation, tripped in.
"Oh, Mr. Denzil! I've just been to Mrs. Bensusan's, and Rhoda's runaway!"
"Run away!"
"Yes! She hasn't been back all day, and left a note for Mrs. Bensusansaying she was going to hide, because she was afraid."