Part 38 (1/2)
”I'll do as you advise. I'll see Mr. Ormsby to-day. You are quite sure, Mr. Jevons, that you've made no mistake about my mother's money. Oh, it's too wonderful--too amazing!”
”I am quite sure. I went thoroughly into the matter at the time, and it will give me the greatest pleasure to act for you against Mr. Herresford.
If it should come to a suit, there can only be one issue.”
”I will see father myself,” observed Mrs. Swinton, with her teeth set and an ugly light in her eyes. ”Mr. Jevons, you will come down to-morrow to see us, or next day?”
”To-morrow, at your pleasure. I'll bring a copy of the will, and prepare an exact calculation of the amount of your claim. Good-morning, Mrs.
Swinton. I am pleased to have brought the color back to your cheeks. You looked very pale when you came in.”
”It's the forgery--the dreadful business at the bank that frightens me.”
”Do your best alone. I am sure your power of persuasion cannot fail to melt the hardest heart,” the lawyer protested, with his most courtly air.
”The circ.u.mstances are peculiar. But I will try.”
Mrs. Swinton reentered her cab with a strange mixture of emotions. As she drove through the crowded thoroughfares, her feelings were divided between indignant rage against her father and joy at the thought of John Swinton's troubles ended, the luxury and independence of the future, Netty no longer a dowerless bride, d.i.c.k a man of wealth without dependence upon his grandfather.
It is astonis.h.i.+ng how soon one gets accustomed to a sudden change of fortune. The novelty of the situation had worn off by the time the home journey was finished. She was again in the grip of overwhelming fear. The horrible dread of a prosecution stood like a spectre in her path.
On her arrival at the bank, she found the doors closed; but she rang the bell so insistently that, at last, a porter appeared. And she even persuaded that grim person to violate all rules, and take her card to Vivian Ormsby, who was conferring with Mr. Barnby. In the end, she triumphed, and was admitted to the banker's private room.
CHAPTER XXVII
ORMSBY REFUSES
Ormsby greeted d.i.c.k's mother with marked coldness. He extended to her the politeness accorded to an enemy before a duel. He motioned her to a seat near his desk, and took up a position on the hearthrug. His pale face was hard set, and his dark eyes gleamed. His hands were clenched behind his back, and his whole att.i.tude was that of a man holding himself in check.
The very mention of the name of Swinton was enough to fill his brain with madness.
”I have come to pay you some money,” said Mrs. Swinton quietly, as she unfastened the catch of her m.u.f.f bag. ”Here is a check for seven thousand dollars. It is the sum required by you to make good the discrepancy in my father's account with your bank. He is an old man in his dotage; and, as he repudiates his checks, you must not be the loser.” She spoke in a dull voice--a monotone--as though repeating a lesson learnt by heart.
Ormsby was rather staggered. How Mrs. Swinton could raise seven thousand dollars without getting it from Herresford was a mystery, and he had never expected the miser to disgorge.
”May I ask you why you bring this money?” he demanded, at last.
”I have explained.”
”I hope you don't think, Mrs. Swinton, that we are going to compound a felony, just because the criminal's family pursues the proper course, and reimburses our bank.”
”Of course I do. When the money is paid, my family affairs are no business of yours.”
”A warrant is out for your son's arrest, Mrs. Swinton, and we shall have him to-night. It pains me exceedingly to have to take this course, but--”
”You hypocrite!” she cried, starting up. ”You are taking an unfair advantage of your position. You are playing a mean, contemptible trick.
You are jealous of my son. Your action is not that of a man, but of a coward. Are you not satisfied with having robbed him of his wife that you must hound him down?”
”On the contrary, your son has robbed me of the woman I love,” said Ormsby, with cutting emphasis, ”and he shall not have her. She may not marry me, but she shall not mate with a felon.”