A Search For A Secret: A Novel. Vol. 2

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER X.

  ALLIES FROM ALSATIA.

  And so things went on with the Gregorys through the summer months, andon into the autumn. Still the firm of Gregory and Fielding flourished,and still Sophy wrote their letters for them. Robert remained moody andsullen, staying at home of an evening, but saddening Sophy by hiscontinued indulgence in the bottle, and by his moody sullen temper,which, however, was hardly ever turned against herself. Robert Gregorystill tried hard to keep to the resolve he had made. This little girlwho loved him so fondly, who had ruined herself for his sake, and whobore so patiently with his faults, he was determined should in additionto her other troubles, have at any rate no unkindness to bear from him;he strove hard for that; he would at least in that respect not be a badhusband to her. He did not love her with the passionate love which hemight have given to some women; his feelings towards her were a mixtureof love and compassion, mingled with admiration at the unflinchingcourage and equanimity with which she endured the great change which hadbefallen her.

  Late in the autumn the good fortune which had so steadily accompaniedthe operations of the firm seemed all at once to desert them, and on theCambridgeshire and the Cesarewitch, the two last great races of theseason, they lost very heavily. For the one, relying upon informationthey had received from a lad in the stable, they had continued to layheavily against the favourite, who, when the day came, not only won, butwon in a canter. The other, an outsider against whom they had severaltimes laid fifty to one--believing his chance to be worth nothing--wonby a neck, defeating a horse on whom they stood to win heavily. Thesetwo races were a very severe blow to them, but still they held up theirheads. Their previous winnings had been so large that they were able todraw from their bankers sufficient to meet their creditors on settlingday, and still to have two hundred pounds remaining in the bank. Heavyas their loss was, it had one good effect--it gave them the bestpossible name, and, as Fielding said, it secured them a certainty ofincreased connection and business in the ensuing year.

  Throughout the season they had never been a day behind in theirpayments, nor once asked for time; and their character asstraight-forward honest men stood so high, that Fielding was resolvedduring the winter to enter as a member of Tattersall's, which wouldsecure them a larger business, and give them a better position andincreased opportunity for managing the commission part of theirbusiness.

  On Robert Gregory, however, the loss had one good effect, that of makinghim determine more than ever that he would give up the business andstart for Australia in the spring, unless in the meantime he could findthe will; and to this point all his thoughts now turned. He would sit ofan evening musing over it for hours, and hardly speaking a word. Sophy,too, was now less able to endeavour to cheer or rouse him, for she, too,had her anxieties--she was expecting very shortly to be confined. Oneevening after sitting thus for an unusually long time, he rose, andsaying that his head ached, and that he should go out for an hour or sofor a walk, he got up and went out. He did not walk far, only to thecorner of the street, and stood there for some little time smoking hispipe and looking out on the busy road. Then he turned round, and cameslowly back to the house, walking in the road so that his tread on thepavement might not be heard. When he came opposite his own door, hepaused, then went in at the gate and into the little patch of garden,and knocked at the kitchen door under the steps. Mr. Billow who wasdozing at the fire woke up and opened the door, and was astonished intoa state more approaching perfect wakefulness than he had been for many amonth before, on seeing his lodger from upstairs applying for admissionat this door.

  "It is all right, Mr. Billow," Robert said, entering and shutting thedoor behind him. "Just fasten the other door, will you; I don't wish mywife, and therefore I don't wish yours, to know that I am here. I wanthalf an hour's chat with you."

  Mr. Billow fastened the kitchen door in silence, and then sat downagain, motioning to Robert, whom he was regarding with great suspicion,to do the same.

  "What are you drinking?" Robert asked, taking up a black bottle whichwas standing on the table, and smelling the contents. "Ah, whisky; thatwill do;" so saying he took down a glass from the shelf, poured somespirits into it from the bottle, and some hot water from a kettle on thefire, and then putting in a lump of sugar from a basin on the table,took his seat. Mr. Billow imitated his guest's proceedings as far asmixing himself a strong glass of spirits and water, and then waited forRobert to commence the conversation. He had seen so many unexpectedthings in his trade, that it took a good deal to surprise him. Robertlit his pipe again, swallowed half the contents of his tumbler, and thenbegan.

  "My wife, Mr. Billow, as you may suppose by what you have heard, and bywhat you may remember of her pony carriage and piano which came up whenwe first came here fifteen months ago, was brought up a lady, and notaccustomed to live in such a miserable little den as this."

  Mr. Billow here interrupted, "that if it was not good enough for them,why did they stop there?"

  "You hold your tongue," Robert said, savagely, "and don't interrupt me,if you value that miserable old neck of yours. She was brought up alady," he continued, "and was to have come into a large fortune. Theperson who had left her the fortune died, and the will has been hiddenaway by his sisters,--two old women who live in a lonely house in thecountry. Of course, there are servants, and that sort of thing; but theysleep in a distant part of the building, and would not be likely to hearanything that went on. There is no other house within call. One of thesewomen, I understand, is as hard as a rock; there would be no getting herto say a word she did not want to say, if it was to save her life. Theother one is made of different stuff. Now I want to get hold of a coupleof determined fellows, accustomed to that sort of business, to make anentrance there with me at night--to get hold of this old woman, and tofrighten her into telling us where this will is hidden. If I can get it,I am safe, because the house is part of the property; and besides, Ishould have them under my thumb for hiding the will. If it had not beenmy own house I was going to break into, I would rather do the job bymyself than take any one with me, to give them the opportunity of livingon me all the rest of my life. As it is, I am safe both from the law andfrom extortion. If we are interrupted, and things go wrong, we can getoff easily enough, so that there is no great risk either for me or themen who go with me. What do you think, Mr. Billow--this is all in yourline? Could you put your hand on a couple of such men as I want?"

  "There are such men to be found in London, no doubt," Mr. Billow said,cautiously. "The question is, would it be worth any one's while to findthem, and would it be worth their while to go?"

  "If from any bad luck we should fail," Robert Gregory answered, "I couldonly afford to pay a ten-pound note each; if I succeed, I will give thema couple of hundred apiece, which would make it the best night's workthey have done for a long time, and I will give you the same I do them."

  "I can find the men," Mr. Billow said readily; "they shall be here--letme see, by this time the day after to-morrow."

  "No, no," Robert said hastily; "not here. You take me to some place youmay appoint to meet them; and your part of the agreement is that you onno account tell them my name, or anything about me. If the plansucceeds, I don't care, for I shall only have broken into my own house.At any rate, if I were punished I should care very little, for I shouldbe a rich man; and I question if the old women dare prosecute me for anyviolence I may have to use, when they will be themselves liable toimprisonment for hiding the will; but in the case of its failing, Idon't want to be in the power of any man. I don't mind you, because Icould break up your place here in return; but I intend to go abroad verysoon if it fails, and I don't want anything known against me. So make anappointment for me to meet them where you like, and call me RobertBrown."

  Two days afterwards, Mr. Billow informed Robert that he had made anappointment for him to meet two first-rate hands that evening, at aquiet place, where they could talk things over without beinginterrupted. Accordingly, at nine o'clock, Robert Grego
ry made someexcuse to Sophy, and went out. He found Mr. Billow waiting for him atthe corner of the street; and although for once he was sober, and hadevidently taken some pains with his personal appearance, Robert couldnot help thinking what a dirty, disreputable old man he looked, andfeeling quite ashamed of him as he kept close to his heels along thebusy Westminster Bridge Road. They crossed the bridge, kept on in frontof the old Abbey, and entered the network of miserable lanes and alleyswhich lie almost beneath the shadow of its towers. Into this labyrinththey plunged, and went on their way through lanes of squalid houses,with still more squalid courts leading from them, reeking with close,foul smells, which sickened the mere passer-by, and told their tales ofcholera and typhus; miserable dens, where honest labour and unsuccessfulvice herd and die together; hotbeds of pestilence and fever, needingonly a spark to burst into a flame of disease, and spread the plaguearound--a fitting judgment on the great, rich city which permits theirexistence within it. Through several of these they passed, and thenemerged into a wider street, where the gaslight streamed out from nearlyevery house, and where the doors were ever on the swing. By the sides ofthe pavements were stalls with candles in paper lanterns, with hawkersproclaiming the goodness of the wares which they sold; stale vegetables,the refuse of the fish at the public sales at Billingsgate, and strange,unwholesome-looking meats, which would puzzle any one to define theanimals from which they were taken, or the joints which they weresupposed to represent. Round them were numbers of eager, haggling women;and the noise, the light, and bustle, formed a strange contrast to thesilent, ill-lighted lanes through which they had just passed. In arather wider lane than usual, leading off this sort of market, was aquiet-looking public-house, offering a strong contrast to its brilliantrivals close by, with their bright lamps, and plate-glass, and gaudyfittings. Into this Mr. Billow entered, followed by Robert Gregory. Twoor three men were lounging at the bar, who looked up rather curiously asthe new comers entered. Mr. Billow spoke a word or two to the landlord,to whom he was evidently known, and then passed along a passage into asmall room, where two men were sitting with glasses before them, smokinglong pipes. They rose when Robert and his conductor entered, with a sortof half bow, half nod. Mr. Billow closed the door carefully behind him,and then said to Robert,--

  "These are the parties I was speaking to you of; both first-class intheir lines. I have had a good deal to do with them in my time, and havealways found them there when wanted."

  "That's true, governor," one of the men said; "no man can say thateither of us ever did what was not right and straight-forward."

  "And now, Mr. Brown," Mr. Billow said, "that I have brought youtogether, I shall leave you to talk things over. I don't want to knowanything about the matter. The fewer that are in these things thebetter. I shall go out for half an hour to see some friends, and afterthat you will find me in the bar. Shall I order anything in for you?"

  "Yes," Robert Gregory said; "tell them to send in a bottle of brandy,and a kettle with hot water."

  Mr. Billow accordingly went out, and the two men instinctively finishedthe glasses before them, in order that they might be in readiness forthe arrival of the fresh ingredients. While they were waiting for thecoming of them, Robert Gregory had time to examine narrowly hisassociates in his enterprise. The younger, although there was not muchdifference in their ages, was a man of from thirty to thirty-five--alittle active man. The lower part of his face was, contrary to usualcustom, the better. He had a well-shaped mouth and chin, with agood-natured smile upon his lips; but his eyes were sharp and watchful,with a restless, furtive look about them, and his hair was cut quiteshort, which gave him an unpleasant jail-bird appearance. He was a manof some education and considerable natural abilities. He was known amonghis comrades by the soubriquet of The Schoolmaster. The other was a muchbigger and more powerful man; a heavy, beetle-browed, high-cheekedruffian, with a flat nose, and thick, coarse lips. He was a much morecommon and lower scoundrel than The Schoolmaster; but they usuallyworked together: one was the head and the other the hand. Both wereexpert house-breakers, and had passed a considerable portion of theirtime in prison. When the bottle of spirits was brought, the kettleplaced upon the fire, the glasses filled, and they were again alone,Robert Gregory began,--

  "I suppose you know what I want you for?"

  "Thereabout," The Schoolmaster said. "The old one told us all about it.The long and short of it is, two old women have hid a paper, which youwant, and our game is to go in and frighten one of them into tellingwhere it is hid."

  "Yes, that is about it," Robert answered.

  "You know the house well?"

  "I have only been in it once, but it has been so exactly described to methat I could find the right room with my eyes shut. She is a timid oldwoman, and I think a pistol pointed at her head will get the secret outof her at once."

  "I don't know," the schoolmaster said, "some of these old women areuncommon cantankerous and obstinate. Suppose she should not, what then?"

  "She must," Gregory said, with a deep oath. "I must have the will; sheshall tell where it is."

  "You see, master, if she is hurt we shall get hauled up for it, even ifyou do get the paper."

  "She is liable to imprisonment," Robert said, "for hiding it, so shewould hardly dare to take steps against us; but if she did, you are safeenough. They may suspect me, they may prove it against me, but I don'tcare even if I am sent across the sea for it. The property would be mywife's, and she would come out to me, and in a year or two I should geta ticket-of-leave. I have thought it all over, and am ready to risk it,and you are all right enough."

  "And the pay is ten pounds each down, and two hundred pounds each if weget it?"

  Robert nodded.

  "We are ready to do it, then," The Schoolmaster said; "there's my handon it;" and the two men shook hands with Robert Gregory on the bargain."And now let us talk it over. Of course she must be gagged at once, andthe pistol tried first. If that does not do--and old women are veryobstinate--I should say a piece of whipcord round her arm, with a stickthrough it, and twisted pretty sharply, would get a secret out of anyone that ever lived."

  "I don't wish to hurt the old woman if I can help it," Gregory said,moodily; "besides, it would make it so much the worse for me afterwards.But the will I must have, and if she brings it upon herself by hercursed obstinacy, it is her fault, not mine."

  They then went into a number of details on the subject, and arrangedeverything, and it was settled that they should start on that day week;but that if any delay were necessary, that Robert should call at thesame place on the evening before the start. If they heard nothing fromhim, they were to meet at the railway station at nine o'clock on themorning named. Robert then took leave of them, and returned home withMr. Billow.

  This delay for a week was because Sophy was daily expecting to beconfined, and Robert was determined to wait till that was over. However,on the very next day a son was born to Sophy, who, as she received it,thanked God that now at least she had a comfort who would be always withher, and which nothing but death could take away. She felt that her dayswould be no longer long and joyless, for she would have a truepleasure--something she could constantly pet and care for.