Part 37 (1/2)
”I speak the truth in order to save from your merciless clutches one woman whose fair name has never been besmirched. I speak for Liane's sake.”
Zertho turned from him with a fierce imprecation on his lips, declaring that the whole story was a tissue of falsehoods, and denouncing his companion Brooker as the actual a.s.sa.s.sin.
”You forget,” said Richards, ”that in addition to myself there was a second witness, Nelly Bridson, the girl with whom your victim had carried on a mild and harmless flirtation prior to meeting Mariette.
You forget that she was with me, and actually saw you commit the deed.”
This truth rendered him voiceless.
”May I, in future, enjoy an absolutely clear conscience that I had no hand in the actual crime?” the Captain asked earnestly, turning to Richards.
”Certainly,” he answered, quickly. ”Both Nelly and myself saw every movement clearly, for the moon was s.h.i.+ning bright as day. We heard you shout in horror and dismay to the a.s.sa.s.sin; we saw the blow struck; we saw the theft committed, and watched you pick up the knife, which you threw down again instantly at the moment when I rushed forward.”
”I was, alas, only half-conscious of my actions,” he answered. ”But the enormity of the crime must have sobered me instantly, for I remember a man approaching--who it was I was not aware until this moment--and knowing that we had been discovered and were in peril, flew for my life back to the Promenade, reaching home by a circuitous route about midnight.”
”You need have no further fear of this man,” Richards a.s.sured him. ”His plan was ingenious, to s.h.i.+ft the crime from his own shoulders to yours, and at the same time to marry Liane, but fortunately his own actions convict him. Liane has shown bravery and self-denial, which should further endear her to the heart of the man who loves her, and if the truth I have told brings back her happiness and peace of mind I shall not have spoken in vain.”
”I have much to thank you for,” Liane faltered, her face bright with a new-born happiness. ”You have indeed revived within me hope, life and love. I knew this man was crafty and cruel, but I never dreamed that he himself had committed the crime with which he charged my father. I saw that he was inexorable and relentless, and was compelled to wrench myself from George, whom I loved, and promise to become the wife of--of this a.s.sa.s.sin.”
”a.s.sa.s.sin!” cried Zertho. ”No, the prospect of becoming Princess d'Auzac proved too attractive for you! It was because both you and your father wanted money and position, that you were ready to become my wife.”
”We desired nothing from you,” she answered proudly. ”Both of us detested you when you found us in England, and thrust yourself upon us.
Upon the gold of the guilty there always lies a curse.”
But shrugging his shoulders contemptuously, he said nothing. He fidgetted, anxious to escape, for although he preserved a calm, insolent, almost indifferent manner, he nevertheless knew that concealment of the truth was now no longer possible. At the very instant when he had felt his position the most secure, his perfidy, his cunning, and his crime had been laid bare before them all.
He clenched his hands, muttering an oath behind his set teeth, while his dark eyes, with a glance of hatred in them, flashed with an unnatural brilliance.
For a few moments no one spoke. The silence was complete save for the roar of the waves on the rocks outside and the sobs that now and then escaped Liane. She clung to George, burying her beautiful head upon his shoulder.
At last Mariette spoke, saying,--
”There is yet another fact which is, in itself, sufficient proof of this man's unscrupulousness. One witness of his crime still lives; the other, Nelly Bridson, is dead. Nelly was once my friend. Unknown to Captain Brooker I knew her intimately as a bright girl months before Charles Holroyde met and admired her. Indeed, it was by her that I was introduced to the man who afterwards loved me, and was so brutally done to death. When at last she became aware that her lover had forsaken her some ill-feeling arose between us. I knew that she must hate me, but I treated her jealousy with unconcern, and remained towards her the same as before. In my heart, however, I envied her her youth and good looks, and feared that Charles Holroyde might return to his first love. But, alas! he was murdered mysteriously--by whom I knew not, until three days ago, when Max Richards divulged to me the truth. Then I resolved that punishment should fall upon the guilty. Well, I hated Nelly because I knew that Holroyde had admired her, and I likewise hated Liane, entertaining a suspicion that because she always avoided me she had spoken of me detrimentally to the man whom I loved. After Holroyde's death I left the Riviera and went to Paris, to Wiesbaden, to Vienna, caring little whither I went, until at last, about a year afterwards, I returned to Monte Carlo, and heard from one of Captain Brooker's friends that he and the girls had left long ago for England, where they had resolved to live in the future. Immediately after my lover's death luck had forsaken me entirely, and I pa.s.sed a spurious bank-note for a large amount at Ma.r.s.eilles. The police were endeavouring to find me, and it was to avoid arrest that I was travelling. I wrote several times to Nelly and received replies, stating how happy they were in their country home in England, and how much more peaceful and enjoyable it was than at Nice. Still there was one matter upon which I desired to see her, a matter connected with the family of the man who was dead. He had, I believed, told her of his relations in England, but he had spoken no word of them to me. I had in my possession a Cosway miniature he had one day left at my house, an antique portrait of an elderly lady, beautifully painted on ivory and set round with brilliants. He had mentioned to me that it was an heirloom, and I desired to return it to the family if I could find them. With that object I went to England, and one summer's evening met Nelly by appointment in a country lane a short distance from Stratfield Mortimer.”
”You met her?” Captain Brooker exclaimed. ”She never told me so.”
”She had, alas, no opportunity,” Mariette answered. ”For it was on that evening she met with her death. She had ridden her cycle, and I found her resting in the gateway she had indicated in her letter. She seemed unusually nervous, I noticed, nevertheless I attributed it to the fact that she regarded me as her rival, even though the man we both loved was dead. For nearly an hour we remained together chatting, until the sunset faded and dusk crept on. I asked her what the man had told her regarding his family, and showed her the antique miniature. Then she told me a fact which held me speechless in amazement. Charles Holroyde was no other than the son of a man living close by that spot, Sir John Stratfield.”
”My brother!” cried George. ”Impossible!”
”It was the truth. He had told her everything. The father of Charles Holroyde was actually living within a mile of that spot, and the portrait was one of Lady Anne Stratfield, a noted beauty, which was painted by the fas.h.i.+onable miniaturist, Cosway, shortly before his death. At first I could not credit that he was actually Sir John's son, but she brought proof positive to show that what she said was correct, and at her request I gave her the miniature to return to Sir John. She promised to call next day and give it into his hands, saying that it came from a person who desired to remain anonymous.”
”Why did you not come to the Court yourself?” George asked quickly.
”I had no desire to meet the father of my dead lover,” she replied.
”But he must have been acquainted with you, because he mentioned you in his will.”
”Yes,” she answered reflectively, ”he must, I suppose, have known of me.”
”Then what occurred afterwards?” Brooker eagerly inquired. ”Tell us the events of that night in their proper sequence.”