CHAPTER XLV.
A FEW WORDS BY SPENSER TAIT.
WHEN the case has been stated, when the witnesses for and against havegiven their evidence, when the counsel on both sides have deliveredtheir speeches, it is then customary for the judge to sum up the entirematter for the direction of the jury. In this instance I am the judge,and here is the Larcher affair summed up for the understanding of thepublic. It has fallen to my share to wind up the story, so here I setdown such results as happened from the confession of Mrs. Hilliston.
The immediate result of her death was the marriage of the widower toMrs. Bezel, which took place, so to speak, when the latter was on herdeathbed. She lingered out another two months, and died in the arms ofher husband, at peace with all the world. Denis heartily forgave her,and the only bitter drop in her cup was the absence of her child. Yetwhen Captain Larcher suggested that Jenny should be told the truth, andbrought to say good-by to her mother, Mrs. Bezel, with a self-denial forwhich I hardly gave her credit, refused to permit such a thing. Shethought that Jenny would be happier if she was ignorant of the truth,and moreover, Mrs. Bezel shrank from letting her child know how she hadlived during these many years. At all events Jenny never learned thetruth, and Mrs. Bezel died without seeing her daughter. That she forgaveHilliston for having deprived her of the child is, I think, a proof ofher goodness of heart, for there is no doubt that he acted selfishly andcruelly in doing so. But enough of Mrs. Bezel, her faults and virtues.She lies in Hampstead Cemetery under a plain stone of rose-coloredgranite, inscribed "To the memory of Mona Hilliston." So she had herwish at last, and died an honest woman.
Captain Larcher returned with Kerry to the cottage in Nightingale Lane,as he could not make up his mind to resume his own name, or tear himselfaway from the bookworm life of twenty-five years. No one knew the truthsave Claude, Jenny, and myself, for Hilliston being absent from Englanddoes not count. The vicar was also enlightened on the subject, andexpressed much astonishment at the strange series of events which hadculminated in the death and confession of Mrs. Hilliston. Unwilling tolose his old crony he heartily approved of Larcher's determination toresume his usual life, and so the matter was settled. Captain Larcherwill remain Mr. Ferdinand Paynton to the end of his days, and will stillbe a mystery to the gossips of Thorston; how great a one they can neverguess.
But a notable change has taken place in his habits. He is no longer arecluse, a misanthrope. When I am at the Manor House he visits me there;he is a constant guest at the vicarage, and may be seen frequentlyfishing beside Kerry on the banks of the Lax. Following the example ofhis master, Denis Bantry also renounced his name, which hesuperstitiously regarded as one of ill-omen, and called himself Kerryfor the rest of his life. If he was grieved for his unhappy sister, herlife and her death, he finds consolation in the society of Mrs. ClaudeLarcher, who conducts herself toward him as a niece should do. But therelationship is not known beyond the walls of Rose Cottage, lest itmight lead to inquiries, and Jenny is still known as the daughter of Mr.Paynton.
That Claude should call Mr. Paynton "father" is of course only regardedas natural by the village. Has he not married Jenny, and does he notstand in the relation of a son to the old man? Thorston gossips think heis a most perfect son-in-law, and never guess that any nearerrelationship exists between them.
Of course Jenny and Claude were married as speedily as possible, and Ido not know a happier couple. Mrs. Larcher has quite converted me withregard to the fair sex, and plumes herself on her victory. She has theaudacity to say that she will yet succeed in getting me married, but Ithink that is beyond her powers. Mr. Linton married them, and they spenttheir honeymoon at the Manor House, which I lent them for the occasion.Indeed, while at Thorston they invariably live with me, and I should beoffended did they take up their quarters anywhere else. Not that theyhave any desire to do so, for Rose Cottage is rather small, and,besides, the Manor is within easy distance of it, so that Jenny can seeher father--or, rather, her father-in-law--as often as she chooses.
Claude still goes to different parts of the world to build bridges andconstruct railways. Sometimes his wife goes with him, but she does notlike to be so long away from Thorston. Paynton is now an old man, andcannot live long, so Mrs. Larcher wishes to be near him as much aspossible. Besides, the cares of the nursery take up her attention, so Ithink that in a few months Claude will settle down to business inLondon, and make his home at Thorston, as he always intended to do.There is a pleasant little place not far from the Manor which I havebeen commissioned to buy for him, so I really think that next yearClaude and Jenny will take up their residence among us.
The only person who disapproved of the marriage was Frank Linton, whoaccused Jenny of jilting him. This was utter nonsense, as she never hadany intention of becoming his wife. However, the author considershimself badly treated, and has taken up his quarters in London, where hewrites books, and poses in Chelsea circles. But I do not think he willever write so excellent a book as "A Whim of Fate," perhaps because Mrs.Claude Larcher refuses to tell him any more plots. She has a good reasonfor so doing, as the troubles which arose out of her finding the murderpapers in the garret of Rose Cottage have startled her in no smalldegree. Still, as I tell her, she must look on such troubles as ablessing in disguise, for, after all, they led to her marriage andpresent happiness. But Mrs. Claude does not see the matter in so amiablea light.
Finally, Hilliston! It is hard to say what has become of that gentleman.After the death of his second wife, he withdrew from business and wentabroad. There I believe he is still, and from what I hear of him at oddtimes he seems to have developed into a kind of Wandering Jew. France,Italy, Austria, Germany, Russia, he has seen all these places, and isconstantly traveling about, no doubt trying to live down the past.Whether he will succeed in doing so it is hard to say.
After some consideration I have come to the conclusion that we have beenrather hard on Hilliston. He did not love Mrs. Larcher, in spite of hiswife's insane jealousy on the point, and I believe he was sincerelyattached to Mona Bantry. The blot on his character is that he did notmarry her when she first came to London, and seeing that he was in lovewith her, I profess my inability to explain why he did not do so.Perhaps it was on account of her low birth, or the circumstances whichconnected her with Jeringham, but at all events he did not marry hertill it was too late for the poor creature's happiness. Otherwise I donot see how he could have acted differently. Louisa Sinclair was guiltyof the murder, but as she did it on his account, and was wildly in lovewith him, it was to his honor that he protected her as he did. Whetherhe would have told the truth had Mrs. Larcher been convicted I do notknow, but as Louisa Sinclair did not leave for America till Mrs. Larcherwas released, I think Hilliston would have persuaded her to confessopenly in the event of a conviction.
It is true that he married her for her money, but I think he was touchedby her devotion, and gave her some love. No doubt it was Mrs.Hilliston's remorse for condemning his father to lifelong seclusion thatmade her so kind to Claude when he was a lad. Now it is easy to see whyHilliston was reluctant that Claude and I should investigate the case.He was afraid lest the truth should be found out, and his wife arrested.I was wrong in my surmise. Hilliston was not afraid for himself, but forthe unhappy woman who had killed Jeringham in mistake for him. The wholemystery would have been solved years ago had Dicky Pental spoken out ashe should have done. But the fear of being shut up in an asylum closedhis mouth, and so the case was at a standstill for five-and-twenty longyears.
It was strange that Jenny, who set the ball rolling, should have beenthe indirect means of avenging her father's murder--or rather of solvingthe mystery which concealed it. Had she not discovered those papers inthe garret, she would not have been able to give Frank Linton the plotof "A Whim of Fate." Had that novel not been written and published, Mrs.Bezel would not have read it, and thereby have been induced to write toClaude. Had she not done so, Hilliston would not have
told Claude thetruth, thence we would not have taken up the investigation and solvedthe mystery. It was Jenny who was responsible for the whole. Afterfive-and-twenty years the child of the murdered man unconsciouslyenlightened us as to the person who had slain him. Fate works in strangeways.
But I do not wish to figure further as a detective. This one experiencehas been quite enough for me. The thought, the anguish, the trouble istoo worrying. The next criminal case in the Larcher family can lookafter itself. I abandon the role of detective, and thus put the lastword to my only criminal case.
THE END.
A SELECTED LIST OF NOVELS AND TALES PUBLISHED BY THE CASSELL PUBLISHING CO., _31 E. 17th St._ (_Union Square_), _New York_. Alphabetically arranged by Authors.
Cloth Paper
ABOUT, EDMOND. Mother of a Marquise $0 75 $0 50ADEE, DAVID G. No. 19 State Street 75 50ALARCON, P. A. DE. Moors and Christians 75 50 " " The Child of the Ball 75 50 " " The Three-Cornered Hat 75 50ALLEN, GRANT. Blood Royal 75 50 " The Scallywag 1 00 ..ALEXANDER, MRS. Broken Links. A Love Story 1 00 .. " The Snare of the Fowler 1 00 50BAIN, R. N. Pretty Michal 75 50BARR, ROBT. In a Steamer Chair 75 50BARRETT, FRANK. Out of the Jaws of Death 1 00 50 " The Admirable Lady Biddy Fane 75 50BARRIE, J. M. Auld Licht Idylls 1 00 .. " A Window in Thrums 1 00 25 " My Lady Nicotine 1 00 25BAZAN, EMILIA PARDO. A Christian Woman 75 50 " " A Wedding Trip 75 50 " " Morrina 1 00 .. " " Swan of Vilamorta 75 50 " " The Angular Stone 75 50BAZIN, RENE. A Blot of Ink 75 50BECKETT, C. H. Who is John Noman? 75 50BETHUNE, J. G. The Third Man 75 50BIERCE, AMBROSE. Can Such Things Be? 75 50BRADDON, M. E. All Along the River 1 00 ..BREHET, ALFRED. Bras d'Acier 75 50BRYCE, LLOYD. Friends in Exile 1 00 ..BUCHANAN, ROBERT. The Wedding Ring 75 50CLIFFORD, MRS. W. K. A Wild Proxy 1 00 ..COBB, JR., SYLVANUS. Bion, the Wanderer 75 50 " " Gunmaker of Moscow 75 50 " " Karmel, the Scout 75 50 " " Orion, the Goldbeater 75 50 " " Painter of Parma 75 50 " " Smuggler of King's Cove 75 50DAUDET, ALPHONSE. Rose and Ninette 75 50DALE, DARLEY. Lottie's Wooing 1 00 ..DANE, DANIEL. Vengeance is Mine 1 00 50DEBANS, CAMILLE. Gabriel's Vocation 75 50ELIOT, ANNIE. An Hour's Promise 75 50FARJEON, B. L. A Fair Jewess 1 00 .. " The Last Tenant 1 00 ..FAWCETT, EDGAR. A New York Family 1 00 50FENN, G. MANVILLE. Commodore Junk 75 50 " Nurse Elisia 1 00 .. " Witness to the Deed 1 00 ..FEUILLET, OCTAVE. An Artist's Honor 75 50FLAMMARION, CAMILLE. Lumen 75 50 " " Uranie 75 50FLOYD, ISOBEL HENDERSON. Stolen America 75 50FRANCKE, PAUL M. A Blot of Ink 75 50GAUTIER, THEOPHILE. Juancho the Bull-Fighter 75 50GORDON, JULIEN. His Letters 1 00 .. " Marionettes 1 00 50GRAND, SARAH. The Heavenly Twins 1 00 ..GREVILLE, MME. HENRI. A Mystery 75 50GRIGOROVITCH, DIMITRY. The Cruel City 75 50HAKE, THOS. ST. E. Within Sound of the Weir 75 50HALE, EDWARD EVERETT. A New England Boyhood 1 00 .. " " East and West 1 00 .. " " Sybil Knox 1 00 ..HANNAN, CHARLES. A Swallow's Wing 75 50HARBEN, W. N. White Marie 75 50HARLAND, HENRY. As it was Written 1 00 50 " Grandison Mather 1 25 50 " Latin-Quarter Courtship 75 50 " Mrs. Peixada 1 00 50 " The Two Voices 50 .. " Two Women or One? 75 .. " Yoke of the Thorah 1 00 50HARLAND, MARION. Mr. Wayt's Wife's Sister 1 00 ..HARRIS, A. L. The Fatal Request 75 50HARRISON, MRS. BURTON. A Daughter of the South 1 00 .. " Flower de Hundred 1 00 50 " The Anglomaniacs 1 00 50HATTON, JOSEPH. Under the Great Seal 1 00 ..HAWTHORNE, JULIAN. John Parmelee's Curse 75 50HOPE, ANTHONY. Father Stafford 75 50HORNUNG, E. Tiny Luttrell 1 00 ..HUDSON, W. C. Jack Gordon, Knight-Errant 75 50 " On the Rack 75 50 " The Diamond Button 75 50 " The Dugdale Millions 75 50 " The Man with a Thumb 75 50 " Vivier 75 50INCA-PANCHA-OZOLLO. The Lost Inca 75 50JOKAI, MAURUS. Dr. Dumany's Wife 75 50 " Pretty Michal 75 50KEELING, ELSA D'ESTERRE. Orchardscroft 1 00 ..KEENAN, HENRY F. Trajan 1 50 50KEITH, LESLIE. 'Lisbeth 1 00 ..LA FOREST, DEBUT. Renee and Colette 75 50LANDON, MELVILLE D. Thirty Years of Wit, etc 1 50 50LATHROP, GEO. PARSONS. Two Sides of a Story 75 50LEMAITRE, JULES. Prince Hermann, Regent 75 50LE QUEUX, WM. Strange Tales of a Nihilist 75 50LOTI, PIERRE. The Book of Pity and of Death 75 50 " Jean Berny, Sailor 1 00 ..MAIRET, MME. JEANNE. An Artist 75 50MALLOCK, W. H. A Human Document 75 50MARRYAT, FLORENCE. Parson Jones 1 00 ..MARY, JULES. The Shadow of Roger Laroque 75 50MCCLELLAND, M. G. Burkett's Lock 75 50MCCLELLAND, M. G. Madame Silva 75 50MCDOUGALL, W. H. The Hidden City 75 50MEADE, L. T. Out of the Fashion 1 00 .. " The Medicine Lady 1 00 ..MEREDITH, WM. T. Not of Her Father's Race 75 50MITFORD, BERTRAND. 'Tween Snow and Fire
75 50MOLESWORTH, MRS. Leona 1 00 ..MONTAGUE, C. H., and C. W. DYAR. Written in Red 75 50MOORE, FRANK F. I Forbid the Banns 1 00 ..MOURIOT, MLLE. V. Madame Rosely 1 00 ..OHNET, GEORGES. A Debt of Hatred 75 50 " Nimrod & Co 75 50 " The Soul of Pierre 75 50PAGE, ANNA DYER. An Artist 75 50 " " A Mystery 75 50PARR, MRS. The Squire 1 00 50POTAPEEKO, N. E. A Russian Priest 75 50 " The General's Daughter 75 50QUILLER-COUCH, A. T. ("Q"). A Blot of Ink 75 50 " " Blue Pavilions 75 50QUILLER-COUCH, A. T. ("Q"). Dead Man's Rock 75 50 " " I Saw Three Ships 75 50 " " Noughts and Crosses 75 50 " " The Splendid Spur 75 50 " " The Astonishing History of Troy Town 75 50QUIGG, L. E. Tin Types 1 50 50RICKETT, J. COMPTON. The Quickening of Caliban 1 00 ..RICHEBOURG, EMILE. Old Raclot's Million 75 50ROBERTS, MORLEY. Mate of the Vancouver 75 50RUSSELL, W. CLARK. List, Ye Landsmen 1 00 .. " Romance of a Transport 1 00 .. " The Emigrant Ship 1 00 ..SACHER-MASOCH, L. VON. The New Job 75 50SALE, PIERRE. The Price of a Coronet 75 50SHAPCOTT, REUBEN. Auto. of Mark Rutherford 1 00 .. " Mark Rutherford's Deliverance 1 00 .. " Revolution in Tanner's Lane 1 00 ..SHERARD, R. H. By Right, Not Law 75 50SOUVESTRE, EMILE. Man and Money 75 50SPENCER, MRS. G. E. A Plucky One 75 50STERNE, STUART. The Story of Two Lives 75 50STODDARD, ELIZABETH. Two Men 75 50 " Temple House 75 50 " The Morgesons 75 50STRETTON, HESBA. Half-Brothers 1 00 ..SYLVA, CARMEN. Edleen Vaughan 75 ..THOMAS, ANNIE. Utterly Mistaken 1 00 ..THOMPSON, MAURICE. At Love's Extremes 75 50 " A Banker of Bankersville 75 50TOMPKINS, E. S. DE G. An Honest Hypocrite 75 50VALDES, A. P. Faith 75 50VALENTINE, JANE. Time's Scythe 75 50VAN ZILE, EDWARD S. Last of the Van Slacks 75 50 " " Don Miguel, etc. 75 50VERNE, JULES. Caesar Cascabel 1 00 50 " Mistress Branican 1 00 50WALWORTH, MRS. J. H. Baldy's Point 75 50 " " Bar Sinister 75 50 " " New Man at Rossmere 75 50 " " Without Blemish 75 50WEYMAN, S. J. Story of Francis Cludde 1 00 50 " The Man in Black 1 00 ..WOOLF, PHILIP, M. D. Who is Guilty? 75 50WOOD, J. S. An Old Beau 1 00 ..ZOLA, EMILE. Doctor Pascal 1 00 50 " The Downfall 1 50 50
Transcriber Notes:
Passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_.
Passages in bold were indicated by =equal signs=.
Small caps were replaced with ALL CAPS.
Throughout the document, the oe ligature was replaced with "oe".
Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of thespeakers. Those words were retained as-is.
Errors in punctuation and inconsistent hyphenation were not correctedunless otherwise noted.
On page 31, "Nevertheles" was replaced with "Nevertheless".
On page 51, the comma after "John Parver herself" was replaced with aperiod.
On page 53, "Hillison" was replaced with "Hilliston".
On page 73, the period after "valued this spendor" was replaced with aquestion mark.
On page 82, "fufilled" was replaced with "fulfilled/".
On page 102, "CHAPER" was replaced with "CHAPTER".
On page 107, "the the" was replaced with "the".
On page 116, "was" was added before "by no means".
On page 122, "Jerringham" was replaced with "Jeringham".
On page 125, a quotation mark as added after "That's strange.".
On page 127, "Hillston" was replaced with "Hilliston".
On page 136, "was" was added before "now perfectly composed".
On page 145, the period after "description of the scarfpin" was replacedwith a question mark.
On page 150, "bundle old newspapers" was replaced with "bundle of oldnewspapers".
On page 162, "clever conversation that" was replaced with "cleverconversation than".
On page 162, "and like to" was replaced with "and liked to".
On page 208, "idylic" was replaced with "idyllic".
On page 210, the quotation mark was removed after "to theiraccomplishment.".
On page 212, a comma was added after "he said".
On page 224, the period after "only be Jeringham" was replaced with acomma.
On page 267, "Jerringham" was replaced with "Jeringham".
On page 280, the period after "with the case" was replaced with a comma.
On page 284, a comma was added after "into the garden".
On page 311, the period after "we ought to proceed" was replaced with aquestion mark.
On page 323, the quotation mark after "not tended to improve it." wasremoved.
On the first page of Selected List of Novels and Tales, a period wasadded after "Edmond".
On the second page of Selected List of Novels and Tales, ".." was addedin the line for "Farjeon, B. L."
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