CHAPTER XXIX
LINK SETS A TRAP
In the course of their acquaintance, Diana had put up with a great dealfrom the little American adventuress, owing to her position ofstepmother, but when she heard her accusing the man she had ruined ofmurder, the patience of Miss Vrain gave way. She rose quickly, andwalking over to where Lydia was shrinking in her chair, towered inrighteous indignation above the shameless little woman.
"You lie, Mrs. Vrain!" she said in a low, distinct voice, with a flushedface and indignation in her eyes. "You know you lie!"
"I--I only repeat what Ferruci told me," whimpered Lydia, rather alarmedby the attitude of her stepdaughter. "I'm sure I hope Mark didn't killthe man, but Ercole said that he was in Jersey Street for that purpose."
"It is not true! My father was in the asylum at Hampstead!"
"Indeed he wasn't--not at the time Clear was killed!" protested Lydia."He was not put into the asylum until at least two weeks afterChristmas. Is that not so, Mr. Denzil?"
"It is so," assented Lucian gravely, "but even admitting so much, it isimpossible to believe that Mr. Vrain was in Jersey Street. For manymonths before Christmas he was in charge of Mrs. Clear, at Bayswater."
"So Ercole said," replied Lydia, "but he used to get away from Mrs.Clear at times, and had to be brought back."
"He wandered when he got the chance," said Lucian, with hesitation. "Iadmit as much."
"Well, then, when he was not at Bayswater he used to live in JerseyStreet as Wrent. Ferruci found him out there, and tried to get him to goback, and he took Mrs. Clear several times to the same place in order topersuade him to return to Bayswater. That was why Mrs. Clear visitedJersey Street. Oh, Mark played his part there as Mr. Wrent, I guess;there ain't no two questions about that," finished Lydia triumphantly."He is the assassin, you bet!"
"I don't believe it!" cried Diana furiously. "Why, my father is too weakin the head to have the will, let alone the courage, to masquerade likethat. He is like a child in leading-strings."
"That's his cunning, Diana. He's 'cute enough to pretend madness, sothat he won't be hanged!"
"It is impossible that Vrain can be Wrent," said Lucian decidedly. "Iagree with Miss Vrain; he is too weak and irresponsible to carry outsuch a deed. Besides, I don't see how you prove him guilty of themurder; you do not even know that he could enter the Silent House by thesecret way."
"I don't know anything about it, except what Count Ferruci told me,"said Lydia obstinately. "And he said that Vrain, as Wrent, killed Clear.But you can easily prove if it's true or not."
"How can we prove it?" asked Diana coldly.
"By laying a trap for Mark. You know--at least Ercole told me, and Isuppose Mrs. Clear told you--that she corresponded with Mark--Wrent, Imean--in the agony column of the _Daily Telegraph_.
"By means of a cypher? Yes, I know that, but she hasn't received anyanswer yet."
"Of course not," replied Lydia, with triumph, "because Wrent--that'sMark, you know--is in the asylum, and can't answer her."
"This is all nonsense!" broke in Lucian, impatient of this cobwebspinning. "I don't believe a word of Ferruci's story. If Vrain lived inJersey Street as Wrent, why should Mrs. Clear visit him?"
"To get him back to Bayswater."
"Nonsense! nonsense! And even admitting as much, why should Mrs. Clear,in the newspapers, correspond in cypher with a man whom she not onlyknows is in an asylum as her husband, but who can be seen by her at anytime?"
"I quite agree with you, Lucian," cried Diana emphatically. "CountFerruci told a pack of falsehoods to Mrs. Vrain! The thing is utterlyabsurd!"
"Oh, I guess I'm not so easily made a fool of as all that!" cried Lydia,firing up. "If you don't believe me, lay the trap I told you of. LetMark go free out of the asylum; get Mrs. Clear, with her cypher andnewspapers, to ask him to meet her in the house where Clear wasmurdered, and then you'll see if Mark won't turn up in his character ofWrent."
"He will not!" cried Diana vehemently. "He will not!"
"Mark, when he left me," went on the angry Lydia, "had plenty of hair,and was clean shaven. Now--as Ferruci told me, for I haven't seenhim--he is bald, and wears a skull-cap of black velvet, and a whitebeard. After Ercole told me about Jersey Street I went there to ask thatfat woman about Mark; she said he had gone away two days afterChristmas, and described him as an old man with a skull-cap and a whitebeard."
"Oh!" cried Lucian, for he recollected that Rhoda gave the samedescription.
"Ah! you know I speak the truth!" said Lydia, rising, "but I've hadenough of all this. I've lost my money, and I don't suppose I'll go backto Mark. I've been treated badly all round, and I don't know what poppawill say. But I'm going out of London to meet him."
"You said you did not know where your father was!" cried Dianascornfully.
"I don't tell you everything, Diana," retorted Lydia, looking verywicked, "but, if you must know, poppa went over to Paris last week, andI'm going over there to meet him. He'll raise Cain for the way I've beentreated."
"Well," said Lucian, as she prepared to take her leave, "I hope you'llget away."
"Do you intend to stop me, Mr. Denzil?" flashed out Mrs. Vrain,furiously.
"Not I; but I'll give you a hint--the railway stations will be watchedby the police."
"For me?" said Lydia, with a scared expression. "Oh, sakes! it's awful!and I've done nothing. It's not my fault if I got the assurance money. Ireally thought that Mark was dead. But I'll try and get away to poppa;he'll put things right. Good-bye, Mr. Denzil, and Diana; you've done mea heap of harm, but I don't bear malice," and Mrs. Vrain rushed out ofthe room in a great hurry to escape the chance of arrest hinted at byLucian. She had a sharp eye to her own safety.
Diana waited until the cab which Lydia had kept waiting was drivingaway, and then turned with an anxious expression on her face to look atLucian. "My dear," she said, taking his arm, "what do you think ofLydia's accusation?"
"Against your father?" said Lucian. "Why, I don't believe it!"
"Nor do I; but it will be as well to set the trap she suggests; for ifmy father does not fall into it--and as he is not Wrent, I don't believehe will--the real man may keep the appointment with Mrs. Clear."
"Whosoever Wrent is, I don't think he'll come again to the SilentHouse," replied the barrister, shaking his head. "It would be thrustinghis head into the lion's jaws. If he is in London he'll see the deathof Ferruci described in the papers, and no doubt will guess that thegame is up; so he'll keep away."
"Nevertheless, we'll do as Lydia suggests," said Diana obstinately. "Yousee Mr. Link and Mrs. Clear, and arrange about the cypher. Then myfather is to be discharged as cured to-morrow, and I'll let him go outif he pleases. Of course, I'll follow him; then I'll be able to see ifhe goes to Pimlico."
"But, Diana, suppose he does go to the Silent House, and proves to beWrent?"
"He won't do that, my dear. My father is no more Wrent than you are. Ibelieve Lydia speaks in the full belief that he is; but Ferruci, for hisown ends, lied to her. However, to trap the real man, let us do as Lydiasuggests. The idea is a good one."
"Well, we'll try," said Lucian, with a sigh. "But I do hope, Diana, thatthis case will end soon. Every week there is some fresh development in anew direction, and I am getting quite bewildered over it."
"It will end with the capture of Wrent, the assassin."
"I hope so; and God grant Wrent does not prove to be your father!"
"There is no fear of that," said Diana gravely. "My father is insanemore or less, but he is not a murderer. I am quite content to risk thetrap suggested by that woman."
Lucian did not at once adopt the plan to net Wrent--whosoever he mightbe--invented by Lydia, and approved of by Diana. On the whole, he couldnot bring himself to believe that a weak-headed, foolish old creaturelike Vrain had masqueraded in Jersey Street as Wrent. Still there werecertain suspicious incidents which fitted in very neatly with Ferruci'sstory. Mrs. Clear had stated that Vrain, when under her charge,
escapedseveral times, and had remained away for several days, until broughtback again by the Count. Again, the appearance of Wrent, as described byRhoda, was precisely the same as the looks of Vrain when Lucian saw himin the Hampstead asylum; so it seemed that there might be some truth inthe story.
"But it's impossible!" said Lucian to himself. "Vrain is half mad andincapable of conducting his own life, or arranging so cleverly to commita crime. Also he had no money, and, had he lived in Jersey Street, wouldnot have been able to pay Mrs. Bensusan. There is something more in thecoincidence of this similarity of looks than meets the eye. I'll seeLink and hear what he has to say on the subject. It's time he found outsomething."
The next day Lucian paid a visit to Link, but was not received veryamiably by that gentleman, who proved to be in a somewhat bad temper. Hewas not altogether pleased with Lucian finding out more about the casethan he had discovered himself, and also--to further ruffle histemper--the clever Lydia had given him the slip. He had called at herMayfair house with a warrant for her arrest, only to find outthat--having received timely warning from Ferruci's servant--she hadfled. In vain the railway stations had been watched. Lydia, taking thehint given to her by Lucian, had baffled that peril by taking the Dovertrain at a station outside London.
Lucian heard what Link had to say on the subject, but did not reveal thefact that Lydia had paid a visit to Diana, or had gone to meet herfather at Dover. He did not want to give the little woman up to justice,as he was beginning to believe her innocent; and that, in all truth, shehad known nothing of the Ferruci-Wrent conspiracy.
Therefore, giving no information to Link as to the little woman'swhereabouts, Denzil told--as coming from himself--his idea that Wrentmight fall into a trap set for him in the Pimlico House by means of Mrs.Clear's cypher. Link listened to the tale attentively, and decided toadopt the idea.
"It is a good one," he admitted generously, "and I'm not jealous enoughto cut off my nose to spite my face. You have had the better of me allthrough this case, Mr. Denzil, and we have had words over it; but I'llshow you that I can appreciate your cleverness by adopting your plan."
"I am greatly obliged to you for your good opinion," said Lucian drily,for he saw with some humour that Link was only too anxious to benefit bythe very cleverness of which he pretended to be so jealous. "And youwill see Mrs. Clear?"
"Yes; I'll see her at once, and get her to invite Wrent to Pimlico bythat cypher, with a threat that she will betray the whole plot if hedoes not come."
"I daresay he knows already that Mrs. Clear is a traitress?"
"Impossible!" replied Link quickly. "I have kept Mrs. Clear's name outof the papers. It is known that Ferruci is dead, and that Mrs. Vrain islikely to be arrested in connection with her supposed husband's murder.But the fact of Mrs. Clear putting the real Vrain into the asylum is notknown, nor, indeed, anything about the woman. If Wrent thinks she'lltell tales, he'll meet her in their own hunting grounds in GenevaSquare, to make his terms. Hitherto he has not replied to her requestsfor money, but now he'll think she is driven into a corner, and will fixher up once and for all."
"Do you think that Wrent is Vrain?"
"Good Lord! no!" replied Link, staring. "What put that into your head?"
Lucian immediately told about the supposed connection between Vrain andWrent, but, suppressing that it was Lydia's or Ferruci's idea, based hissupposition on the fact of the resemblance between the two men. Linkheard the theory with scorn, and scouted the idea that the two men couldbe one and the same.
"I've seen Vrain," said he. "The old man is as mad as a March hare andas silly as a child. He's in his dotage, and could not possibly carryout such a plan. But we can easily learn the truth."
"From whom?" asked Lucian.
"Ah, Mr. Denzil, you are not so clever as you think yourself," scoffedLink. "Why, from Mrs. Clear, to be sure. She visited at Jersey Street,and saw Wrent, and as Vrain was then with her in the character of herhusband, she'll be able to tell us if they are two men or one person."
"You are right, Link. I never thought of that."
"He! he! Then I can still teach you something," replied Link, in highgood humour at having for once scored off the too clever barrister, andforthwith went off to see Mrs. Clear.
How this interview with that lady sped, or what she told him, he refusedto reveal to Lucian; but its result was that a cypher appeared in theagony column of the _Daily Telegraph_, calling upon Wrent to meet her inthe Silent House in Pimlico, under the penalty of her telling the policeall she knew if he did not come. In the same issue of the paper in whichthis message appeared there was a paragraph stating that Mrs. Vrain hadbeen arrested at Dover.