Complete Works of Wilkie Collins (1345 page)

“Yes.”

“Well, that was one of the signals agreed on between us. When he sent me away, we were certain of what he had it in his mind to do.”

“And when you looked at Miss Cristel, and she was too busy with her brooch to notice you, was that another signal?”

“It was, sir. When she handled her silver ornament, she told me that I might depend on her to forget nothing, and to be afraid of nothing.”

I remembered the quiet firmness in her face, after the prayer that she had said in her own room. Her steady resolution no longer surprised me.

“Did you wonder, sir, what possessed her,” Gloody went on, “when she burst out singing? That was a signal to me. We wanted him out of our way, while you were made to drink what he had drunk out of the jug.”

“How did you know that he would not drink the whole contents of the jug?”

“You forget, sir, that I had seen the dog revived by two doses, given with a space of time between them.”

I ought to have remembered this, after what he had already told me. My intelligence brightened a little as I went on.

“And your accident in the next room was planned, of course?” I said. “Do you think he saw through it? I should say, No; judging by his looks. He turned pale when he felt the floor shaken by your fall. For once in a way, he was honest — honestly frightened.”

“I noticed the same thing, sir, when he picked me up, off the floor. A man who can change his complexion, at will, is a man we hav’n’t heard of yet, Mr. Roylake.”

I had been dressing for some time past; longing to see Cristel, it is needless to say.

“Is there anything more,” I asked, “that I ought to know?”

“Only one thing, Mr. Roylake, that I can think of,” Gloody replied. “I’m afraid it’s Miss Cristel’s turn next.”

“What do you mean?”

“While the deaf man lodges at the cottage, he means mischief, and his eye is on Miss Cristel. Early this morning, sir, I happened to be at the boat-house. Somebody (I leave you to guess who it is) has stolen the oars.”

I was dressed by this time, and so eager to get to the cottage, that I had already opened my door. What I had just heard brought me back into the room. As a matter of course, we both suspected the same person of stealing the oars. Had we any proof to justify us?

Gloody at once acknowledged that we had no proof. “I happened to look at the boat,” he said, “and I missed the oars. Oh, yes; I searched the boat-house. No oars! no oars!”

“And nothing more that you have forgotten, and ought to tell me?”

“Nothing, sir.”

I left Gloody to wait my return; being careful to place him under the protection of the upper servants — who would see that he was treated with respect by the household generally.

CHAPTER XV

THE MILLER’S HOSPITALITY

On the way to Toller’s cottage, my fears for Cristel weighed heavily on my mind.

That the man who had tried to poison me was capable of committing any other outrage, provided he saw a prospect of escaping with impunity, no sane person could hesitate to conclude. But the cause of my alarm was not to be traced to this conviction. It was a doubt that made me tremble.

After what I had myself seen, and what Gloody had told me, could I hope to match my penetration, or the penetration of any person about me whom I could trust, against the fathomless cunning, the Satanic wickedness, of the villain who was still an inmate with Cristel, under her father’s roof?

I have spoken of his fathomless cunning, and his Satanic wickedness. The manner in which the crime had been prepared and carried out would justify stronger expressions still. Such was the deliberate opinion of the lawyer whom I privately consulted, under circumstances still to be related.

“Let us arrive at a just appreciation of the dangerous scoundrel whom we have to deal with,” this gentleman said. “His preliminary experiment with the dog; his resolution to make suspicion an impossibility, by drinking from the same tea which he had made ready for you; his skilled preparation of an antidote, the colour of which might court appearances by imitating water — are there many poisoners clever enough to provide themselves beforehand with such a defence as this? How are you to set the circumstances in their true light, on your side? You may say that you threw out the calculations, on which he had relied for securing his own safety, by drinking his second dose of the antidote while he was out of the room; and you can appeal to the fainting-fits from which you and he suffered on the same evening, as a proof that the action of the poison was partially successful; in your case and in his, because you and he were insufficiently protected by half doses only of the antidote. A bench of Jesuits would understand these refinements. A bench of British magistrates would look at each other, and say: Where is the medical evidence? No, Mr. Roylake, we must wait. You can’t even turn him out of the cottage before he has had the customary notice to quit. The one thing to take care of — in case some other suspicions of ours turn out to be well founded — is that our man shall not give us the slip. One of my clerks, and one of your gamekeepers shall keep watch on his lodgings, turn and turn about, till his time is up. Go where he may after that, he shall not escape us.”

I may now take up the chain of events again.

On reaching Toller’s cottage, I was distressed (but hardly surprised) to hear that Cristel, exhausted after a wakeful night, still kept her bed, in the hope of getting some sleep. I was so anxious to know if she was at rest, that her father went upstairs to look at her.

I followed him — and saw Ponto watching on the mat outside her door. Did this indicate a wise distrust of the Cur? “A guardian I can trust, sir,” the old man whispered, “while I’m at the mill.”

He looked into Cristel’s room, and permitted me to look over his shoulder. My poor darling was peacefully asleep. Judging by the miller’s manner, which was as cool and composed as usual, I gathered that Cristel had wisely kept him in ignorance of what had happened on the previous evening.

The inquiry which I had next in my mind was forestalled by old Toller.

“Our deaf-devil, Mr. Gerard, has done a thing this morning which puzzles me,” he began; “and I should like to hear what you think of it. For the first time since we have had him here, he has opened his door to a visitor. And — what a surprise for you! — it’s the other devil with the hat and feather who got at my Cristy, and made her cry.”

That this meeting would be only too likely to happen, in due course of time, I had never doubted. That it had happened, now, confirmed me in my resolution to keep guard over Cristel at the cottage, till the Cur left it.

I asked, of course, how those two enemies of mine had first seen each other.

“She was just going to knock at our door, Mr. Gerard, when she happened to look up. There he was, airing himself at his window as usual. Do you think she was too much staggered at the sight of him to speak? At any rate, he got the start of her. ‘Wait till I come down,’ says he — and there he was, almost as soon as he said it. They went into his place together; and for best part of an hour they were in each other’s company. Every man has his failings; I don’t deny that I’m a little inquisitive by nature. Between ourselves, I got under the open window and listened. At a great disadvantage, I needn’t tell you; for she was obliged to write what she had to say. But
he
talked. I was too late for the cream of it; I only heard him wish her good-bye. ‘If your ladyship telegraphs this morning,’ says he, ‘when will the man come to me?’ Now what do you say to that?”

“More than I have time to say now, Mr. Toller. Can you find me a messenger to take a note to Trimley Deen?”

“We have no messengers in this lonesome place, sir.”

“Very well. Then I must take my own message. You will see me again, as soon as I can get back.”

Mr. Toller’s ready curiosity was roused in a moment.

“Perhaps, you wish to have a look at the repairs?” he suggested in his most insinuating manner.

“I wish to see what her ladyship’s telegram brings forth,” I said; “and mean to be here when ‘the man’ arrives.”

My venerable tenant was delighted. “Turn him inside out, sir, and get at his secrets. I’ll help you.”

Returning to Trimley Deen, I ordered the pony-chaise to be got ready, and a small portmanteau to be packed — speaking in the hall. The sound of my voice brought Mrs. Roylake out of the morning-room. She was followed by Lady Rachel. If I could only have heard their private conference, I should have seen the dangerous side of the Cur’s character under a new aspect.

“Gerard!” cried my stepmother, “what did I hear just now? You can’t be going back to Germany!”

“Certainly not,” I answered.

“Going to stay with some friends perhaps?” Lady Rachel suggested. “I wonder whether I know them?”

It was spitefully done — but, in respect of tone and manner, done to perfection.

The pony-chaise drew up at the door. This was another of the rare occasions in my life on which I acted discreetly. It was necessary for me to say something. I said, “Good morning.”

Nothing had happened at the cottage, during the interval of my absence. Clever as he was, old Toller had never suspected that I should return to him (with luggage!) in the character of a self-invited guest. His jaw dropped, and his wicked little eyes appealed to the sky. Merciful Providence! what have I done to deserve this? There, as I read him, was the thought in the miller’s mind, expressed in my best English.

“Have you got a spare bed in the house?” I asked.

Mr. Toller forgot the respect due to the person who could stop the repairs at a moment’s notice. He answered in the tone of a man who had been grossly insulted: “No!”

But for the anxieties that oppressed me, I should have only perceived the humorous side of old Toller’s outbreak of temper. He had chosen his time badly, and he got a serious reply.

“Understand this,” I said: “either you receive me civilly — or you make up your mind to find a flour-mill on some other property than mine.”

This had its effect. The miller’s servility more than equalled his insolence. With profuse apologies, he offered me his own bedroom. I preferred a large old-fashioned armchair which stood in a corner of the kitchen. Listening in a state of profound bewilderment — longing to put inquisitive questions, and afraid to do so — Toller silently appealed to my compassion. I had nothing to conceal; I mentioned my motive. Without intending it, I had wounded him in one of his most tender places; the place occupied by his good opinion of himself. He said with sulky submission:

“Much obliged, Mr. Gerard. My girl is safe under my protection. Leave it to me, sir — leave it to me.”

I had just reminded old Toller of his age, and of the infirmities which age brings with it, when his daughter — pale and languid, with signs of recent tears in her eyes — entered the kitchen. When I approached her, she trembled and drew back; apparently designing to leave the room. Her father stopped her. “Mr. Gerard has something to tell you,” he said. “I’m off to the mill.” He took up his hat, and left us.

Submitting sadly, she let me take her in my arms, and try to cheer her. But when I alluded to what I owed to her admirable devotion and courage, she entreated me to be silent. “Don’t bring it all back!” she cried, shuddering at the remembrances which I had awakened, “Father said you had something to tell me. What is it?”

I repeated (in language more gentle and more considerate) what I had already said to her father. She took my hand, and kissed it gratefully. “You have your mother’s face, and your mother’s heart,” she said; “you are always good, you are never selfish. But it mustn’t be. How can I let you suffer the discomfort of staying here? Indeed, I am in no danger; you are alarming yourself without a cause.”

“How can you be sure of that?” I asked.