Читать книгу A Royal Wrong - Fred M. White - Страница 4

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The hard expression left Lady Letty's face at the sight of her visitor.

"Little Kate Mayfield!" she exclaimed. "It seems hardly possible. But what is wrong? You are younger than I am. It isn't that you really look old, but there is a——"

"Oh, I know," Kate interrupted. "It is what I have been through—what I am going through now. I shall get young again when I have time to enjoy peace. But that will not be till I have exposed Stephen Du Cros and driven him out of every honest man's house."

Lady Letty stared haughtily at the speaker. Had the girl taken leave of her senses?

"I make every allowance for you," she said. "I cannot forget that your father used to be one of our tenants at Stanford. We were children together——"

"Ah! you were more than kind to me before my father had to give up everything and go to the Cape. As if I could ever forget! I would do anything for a Stanborough. That is why I am here to-night, that is why I have forced myself upon you. That is why I speak of Stephen Du Cros as an adventurer and a scoundrel."

The words came in a suppressed whisper from Kate Mayfield's lips. She was under the stress of some great emotion. That she was seeking nothing for herself was evident. She was too well dressed and had too real a stamp of prosperity for that.

"I am engaged to Mr. Du Cros," Lady Letty said significantly. "I ought not to listen to——"

"But you must, you shall," Kate retorted vehemently. "I am trying to save you from a fate that would be worse than death. I know the words must sound cheap and tawdry in your ears, but they are true. Believe me, I have come entirely on your account, Lady Letty. You must hear me. If you refuse to do so I will force myself among your guests and confront Du Cros before them all. But if you decline to consider yourself, you must think of your brother. Don't let the man you are bent on marrying ruin Lord Amsted body and soul."

"The man I am bent on marrying!" Lady Letty exclaimed. "If you only knew——"

She paused abruptly. It was impossible to speak freely before this girl. Kate thought she knew exactly what was passing through Lady Letty's mind.

"Ah!" she cried, "this is as I expected. You despise and dislike that man as much as I do. You are parting with your happiness to save the family honour. What are you getting in return? Not even riches, for Du Cros is poorer than your father. And he will soon be shown up. I know that man inside and out. For a year or more I saw him daily in South Africa. Fool that I was, I thought I cared for him. I looked upon him as a good and honest man. Instead of that, he was the friend and associate of swindlers, the arch-swindler himself. When the crash came, he left me to face the police. I was arrested and took my trial for diamond stealing. Whether I was innocent or not matters nothing. But I was the tool of that man and he abandoned me to my fate. That same fate was kind to me in the end, and I came back to England rich and prosperous. But I wanted my revenge—oh, yes, I needed that. I have waited for it. I have watched Du Cros climb out of the gutter until he is accepted as a millionaire and flattered by the great. I meant to have him arrested as he started to meet you on your wedding-day. Not one single incident of his career is concealed from me. My detectives have watched him, and one of his confederates is in my pay. Oh, I had planned a fine revenge, I promise you! But I cannot go on with it, because Lord Amsted is in danger. You know how he and Mr. Middlemass were nearly ruined over a race some time ago. Well, the whole thing was a conspiracy on the part of Du Cros and his associates to bring Lord Amsted to his knees. I don't want to recall the reason why Du Cros hates Lord Amsted so bitterly."

"They had a misunderstanding in a club," Lady Letty said with flaming cheeks.

"Lord Amsted thrashed him," Kate corrected. "Now, Du Cros never forgives an injury. His idea is to marry you; but that will not affect his scheme for ruining your brother. To a certain extent the plan has already answered. Lord Amsted was driven out of the country; he could not return for fear of arrest. Mind, you, he is more sinned against than sinning. He came back, greatly daring, to ride a certain horse that nobody else could steer to victory, and he won. Mr. Middlemass got all his money back, and Du Cros had to pay. But Lord Amsted was injured while riding and motored off directly the race was over, and also to avoid arrest. He is now lying concealed at Stanford. Du Cros knows he is there. To-morrow night or early on the following morning he will be arrested. It may be a serious matter for Lord Amsted, but if we can keep him safe the affair will be settled. I am prepared to find the money if nobody else will. But you must see Lord Amsted and arrange the details. I will tell you what to do."

"I will go and see him to-morrow."

"Ah! I thought I should move you," Kate said. "But, unfortunately, the matter cannot be arranged so easily as all that. If you leave here openly, Du Cros will suspect you and have you watched. He does not trust you, because he knows you have no liking for him. He also knows how strong is your affection for Lord Amsted. Do you know—but, of course, you don't—that your very maid is in Du Cros's pay? That is what my agents tell me. If you slip off to Stanford openly you will be followed. You must go and return secretly. That is where my suggestion is weak. Nobody can go but you; nobody but you can guide Lord Amsted to a place of safety. If you leave it to Mr. Childers he will be followed, too, although he would do anything for you."

Lady Letty's face flamed.

"You are a wonderful woman, Kate."

"I have learnt my lesson in a hard school," Kate replied. "Mr. Childers is the man you need. As a novelist he is good at plotting. Get him to work out a plan for you. Can't you take advantage of this midnight journey to Liverpool?"

"You know all about that?" Lady Letty cried. "It was only arranged on the spur of the moment a little time ago. It was quite spontaneous."

"A carefully prepared impromptu!" Kate said scornfully. "Du Cros worked that out this morning. I paid twenty pounds for the news. Du Cros's real object is to go to Liverpool on secret business, the pleasure part is only a blind. He will insist upon your going; in fact, he will take no refusal. So long as you accompany this expedition, he will have you under his eye. He will take extraordinary pains to see that you do not hold any communication with Lord Amsted."

"In that case I shall be utterly powerless."

"On the face of it, yes," Kate said. "This thing must be done at once or the consequences will be serious. We cannot appeal to Lady Amsted, seeing that nobody knows that they are married. Lady Amsted's people will be furious when they know—but we need not go into that. We do not know the extent of Lord Amsted's injuries. They may be slight, they may be serious. That he should be left alone is out of the question. There is nobody but you to help him, and time is short. What I had in my mind was how you could leave the express and go to Stanford by motor. You might join the train at a later stage without anybody being any the wiser. A fast motor could manage it if you had an accomplice on the train—say Mr. Childers. You would have the best part of an hour at Stanford, where Lord Amsted could remain and laugh at his pursuers. You used to boast that nobody knew of so many hiding-places as yourself. Do you remember how Lord Amsted and you once put me in the Monk's Parlour, and how frightened I was when I could not get out? You discovered the secret of the room after it had been forgotten for ages. If you could explain this on paper and give it me——"

"I am afraid that would be impossible."

"Yes, I was certain you would say that. But if you are bold and resolute, you can turn our childish pastimes to good effect so far as Lord Amsted is concerned. I will give you my address in town where you can come and see me to-morrow if I can be of any service to you. If you don't call before night, I shall understand that Mr. Childers and you have found a way. Remember, you are not to say a word of this to anybody but Mr. Childers, who worships the ground you tread on and would go through fire and water for you. Also, not a whisper to Stephen Du Cros. If he hears my name so much as mentioned everything will be lost. I shall know how to deal with him when the time comes. To think of the audacity of that man—that he should dare to lift his eyes to you."

Lady Letty smiled unsteadily. She felt no anger and resentment against the girl who had spoken of her future husband in this way. She was not surprised to hear that the envied millionaire was only an adventurer.

"It is good of you to come and see me," she said.

"Is it?" Kate answered with a strange look. "I am afraid that I am not quite so disinterested as you imagine. I would do anything to save one of your family, but the spirit of revenge is at the back of it all. Still, we need not go into that. Now, go and discuss this matter with Mr. Childers and see if he can find a way. If you will shake hands with me——"

Lady Letty stooped and kissed Kate Mayfield on the lips.