The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Part 3 (2/2)
”In that case I shall come out to-morrow and talk it over with you Good-by; and, above all, do not fret until you know that you really have a cause for it”
”I am afraid that this is a bad business, Watson,” saidMr Grant Munro to the door ”What do you ly sound,” I answered
”Yes There's blackmail in it, or I am much mistaken”
”And who is the blackmailer?”
”Well, it must be the creature who lives in the only coraph above his fireplace Uponvery attractive about that livid face at the , and I would not have missed the case for worlds”
”You have a theory?”
”Yes, a provisional one But I shall be surprised if it does not turn out to be correct This woe”
”Why do you think so?”
”How else can we explain her frenzied anxiety that her second one should not enter it? The facts, as I read the like this: This woman was married in America Her husband developed some hateful qualities; or shall we say that he contracted some loathsome disease, and became a leper or an ies her name, and starts her life, as she thinks, afresh She has been married three years, and believes that her position is quite secure, having shown her husband the death certificate of some man whose name she has assumed, when suddenly her whereabouts is discovered by her first husband; or, we may suppose, by some unscrupulous woman who has attached herself to the invalid They write to the wife, and threaten to come and expose her She asks for a hundred pounds, and endeavors to buy them off They come in spite of it, and when the husband mentions casually to the wife that there are new-coe, she knows in some way that they are her pursuers She waits until her husband is asleep, and then she rushes down to endeavor to persuade theain next , and her husband meets her, as he has told us, as she coain, but two days afterwards the hope of getting rid of those dreadful neighbors was too strong for her, and she raph which had probably been demanded from her In the midst of this interview the maid rushed in to say that thethat he would coe, hurried the inrove of fir-trees, probably, which wasnear In this way he found the place deserted I shall be very much surprised, however, if it is still so when he reconnoitres it this evening What do you think of my theory?”
”It is all surmise”
”But at least it covers all the facts When new facts coe which cannot be covered by it, it will be ti e fro time to wait for that It cae is still tenanted,” it said ”Have seen the face again at theWill meet the seven o'clock train, and will take no steps until you arrive”
He aiting on the platforht of the station laitation
”They are still there, Mr Hol his hand hard upon e as I came down We shall settle it now once and for all”
”What is your plan, then?” asked Holoing to force my way in and see for myself who is in the house I wish you both to be there as witnesses”
”You are quite deter that it is better that you should not solve the mystery?”
”Yes, I aht Any truth is better than indefinite doubt We had better go up at once Of course, legally, we are putting ourselves hopelessly in the wrong; but I think that it is worth it”
It was a very dark night, and a thin rain began to fall as we turned froes on either side Mr Grant Munro pushed impatiently forward, however, and we stuhts ofthe trees ”And here is the cottage which I a to enter”
We turned a corner in the lane as he spoke, and there was the building close beside us A yellow bar falling across the black foreground showed that the door was not quite closed, and onein the upper story was brightly illu across the blind
”There is that creature!” cried Grant Munro ”You can see for yourselves that some one is there Now follow me, and we shall soon know all”
We approached the door; but suddenly a woolden track of the laht I could not see her face in the darkness, but her arms were thrown out in an attitude of entreaty
”For God's sake, don't Jack!” she cried ”I had a presenti Think better of it, dear! Trust ret it”
”I have trusted you too long, Effie,” he cried, sternly ”Leave go ofto settle this matter once and forever!” He pushed her to one side, and we followed closely after him As he threw the door open an old woe, but he thrust her back, and an instant afterwards ere all upon the stairs Grant Munro rushed into the lighted room at the top, and we entered at his heels
It was a cosey, well-furnished apart upon the table and two upon theover a desk, there sat what appeared to be a little girl Her face was turned away as we entered, but we could see that she was dressed in a red frock, and that she had long white gloves on As she whisked round to us, I gave a cry of surprise and horror The face which she turned towards us was of the strangest livid tint, and the features were absolutely devoid of any expression An instant later the h, passed his hand behind the child's ear, a mask peeled off froress, with all her white teeth flashi+ng in a, out of sy, with his hand clutching his throat
”My God!” he cried ”What can be theof it,” cried the lady, sweeping into the rooainst ment, to tell you, and noe must both make the best of it My husband died at Atlanta My child survived”
”Your child?”
She drew a large silver locket from her bosom ”You have never seen this open”
”I understood that it did not open”
She touched a spring, and the front hinged back There was a portrait within of aunns upon his features of his African descent
”That is John Hebron, of Atlanta,” said the lady, ”and a nobler man never walked the earth I cut myself off from my race in order to wed hiret it It was our misfortune that our only child took after his people rather than mine It is often so in such matches, and little Lucy is darker far than ever her father was But dark or fair, she is irlie, and her mother's pet” The little creature ran across at the words and nestled up against the lady's dress ”When I left her in America,” she continued, ”it was only because her health eak, and the change iven to the care of a faithful Scotch woman who had once been our servant Never for an instant did I drea her as my child But when chance threw you in my way, Jack, and I learned to love you, I feared to tell you about ive e to tell you I had to choose between you, and in irl For three years I have kept her existence a secret from you, but I heard from the nurse, and I knew that all ith her At last, however, there caled against it, but in vain Though I knew the danger, I determined to have the child over, if it were but for a feeeks I sent a hundred pounds to the nurse, and I gave her instructions about this cottage, so that sheto be in any way connected with her I pushed my precautions so far as to order her to keep the child in the house during the daytime, and to cover up her little face and hands so that even those who ossip about there being a black child in the neighborhood If I had been less cautious I ht have been more wise, but I was half crazy with fear that you should learn the truth
”It was you who told e was occupied I should have waited for the , but I could not sleep for excite how difficult it is to awake you But you sawof my troubles Next day you had my secret at your e Three days later, however, the nurse and child only just escaped from the back door as you rushed in at the front one And now to-night you at last know all, and I ask you what is to become of us, my child and me?” She clasped her hands and waited for an answer
It was a long ten minutes before Grant Munro broke the silence, and when his answer came it was one of which I love to think He lifted the little child, kissed her, and then, still carrying her, he held his other hand out to his wife and turned towards the door
”We can talk it over ood iven ”
Holmes and I followed them down the lane, and my friend plucked at my sleeve as we came out
”I think,” said he, ”that we shall be of more use in London than in Norbury”
Not another word did he say of the case until late that night, when he was turning aith his lighted candle, for his bedroom
”Watson,” said he, ”if it should ever strike you that I a less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper 'Norbury' in ed to you”
Adventure III
The Stock-Broker's Clerk