CHAPTER XI
When the last of the guests had driven away, I went back into the innerhall and found Samuel at the side-table, presiding over the brandyand soda-water. My lady and Miss Rachel came out of the drawing-room,followed by the two gentlemen. Mr. Godfrey had some brandy andsoda-water, Mr. Franklin took nothing. He sat down, looking dead tired;the talking on this birthday occasion had, I suppose, been too much forhim.
My lady, turning round to wish them good-night, looked hard at thewicked Colonel's legacy shining in her daughter's dress.
"Rachel," she asked, "where are you going to put your Diamond to-night?"
Miss Rachel was in high good spirits, just in that humour for talkingnonsense, and perversely persisting in it as if it was sense, which youmay sometimes have observed in young girls, when they are highly wroughtup, at the end of an exciting day. First, she declared she didn't knowwhere to put the Diamond. Then she said, "on her dressing-table, ofcourse, along with her other things." Then she remembered that theDiamond might take to shining of itself, with its awful moony lightin the dark--and that would terrify her in the dead of night. Then shebethought herself of an Indian cabinet which stood in her sitting-room;and instantly made up her mind to put the Indian diamond in the Indiancabinet, for the purpose of permitting two beautiful native productionsto admire each other. Having let her little flow of nonsense run on asfar as that point, her mother interposed and stopped her.
"My dear! your Indian cabinet has no lock to it," says my lady.
"Good Heavens, mamma!" cried Miss Rachel, "is this an hotel? Are therethieves in the house?"
Without taking notice of this fantastic way of talking, my lady wishedthe gentlemen good-night. She next turned to Miss Rachel, and kissedher. "Why not let ME keep the Diamond for you to-night?" she asked.
Miss Rachel received that proposal as she might, ten years since, havereceived a proposal to part her from a new doll. My lady saw there wasno reasoning with her that night. "Come into my room, Rachel, the firstthing to-morrow morning," she said. "I shall have something to sayto you." With those last words she left us slowly; thinking her ownthoughts, and, to all appearance, not best pleased with the way by whichthey were leading her.
Miss Rachel was the next to say good-night. She shook hands first withMr. Godfrey, who was standing at the other end of the hall, looking ata picture. Then she turned back to Mr. Franklin, still sitting weary andsilent in a corner.
What words passed between them I can't say. But standing near the oldoak frame which holds our large looking-glass, I saw her reflected init, slyly slipping the locket which Mr. Franklin had given to her, outof the bosom of her dress, and showing it to him for a moment, witha smile which certainly meant something out of the common, before shetripped off to bed. This incident staggered me a little in the relianceI had previously felt on my own judgment. I began to think that Penelopemight be right about the state of her young lady's affections, afterall.
As soon as Miss Rachel left him eyes to see with, Mr. Franklin noticedme. His variable humour, shifting about everything, had shifted aboutthe Indians already.
"Betteredge," he said, "I'm half inclined to think I took Mr. Murthwaitetoo seriously, when we had that talk in the shrubbery. I wonder whetherhe has been trying any of his traveller's tales on us? Do you reallymean to let the dogs loose?"
"I'll relieve them of their collars, sir," I answered, "and leave themfree to take a turn in the night, if they smell a reason for it."
"All right," says Mr. Franklin. "We'll see what is to be done to-morrow.I am not at all disposed to alarm my aunt, Betteredge, without a verypressing reason for it. Good-night."
He looked so worn and pale as he nodded to me, and took his candle togo up-stairs, that I ventured to advise his having a drop ofbrandy-and-water, by way of night-cap. Mr. Godfrey, walking towards usfrom the other end of the hall, backed me. He pressed Mr. Franklin, inthe friendliest manner, to take something, before he went to bed.
I only note these trifling circumstances, because, after all I had seenand heard, that day, it pleased me to observe that our two gentlemenwere on just as good terms as ever. Their warfare of words (heard byPenelope in the drawing-room), and their rivalry for the best placein Miss Rachel's good graces, seemed to have set no serious differencebetween them. But there! they were both good-tempered, and both men ofthe world. And there is certainly this merit in people of station, thatthey are not nearly so quarrelsome among each other as people of nostation at all.
Mr. Franklin declined the brandy-and-water, and went up-stairs withMr. Godfrey, their rooms being next door to each other. On the landing,however, either his cousin persuaded him, or he veered about and changedhis mind as usual. "Perhaps I may want it in the night," he called downto me. "Send up some brandy-and-water into my room."
I sent up Samuel with the brandy-and-water; and then went outand unbuckled the dogs' collars. They both lost their heads withastonishment on being set loose at that time of night, and jumped uponme like a couple of puppies! However, the rain soon cooled them downagain: they lapped a drop of water each, and crept back into theirkennels. As I went into the house I noticed signs in the sky whichbetokened a break in the weather for the better. For the present, itstill poured heavily, and the ground was in a perfect sop.
Samuel and I went all over the house, and shut up as usual. I examinedeverything myself, and trusted nothing to my deputy on this occasion.All was safe and fast when I rested my old bones in bed, betweenmidnight and one in the morning.
The worries of the day had been a little too much for me, I suppose.At any rate, I had a touch of Mr. Franklin's malady that night. It wassunrise before I fell off at last into a sleep. All the time I lay awakethe house was as quiet as the grave. Not a sound stirred but the splashof the rain, and the sighing of the wind among the trees as a breezesprang up with the morning.
About half-past seven I woke, and opened my window on a fine sunshinyday. The clock had struck eight, and I was just going out to chain upthe dogs again, when I heard a sudden whisking of petticoats on thestairs behind me.
I turned about, and there was Penelope flying down after me like mad."Father!" she screamed, "come up-stairs, for God's sake! THE DIAMOND ISGONE!"
"Are you out of your mind?" I asked her.
"Gone!" says Penelope. "Gone, nobody knows how! Come up and see."
She dragged me after her into our young lady's sitting-room, whichopened into her bedroom. There, on the threshold of her bedroom door,stood Miss Rachel, almost as white in the face as the white dressing-gownthat clothed her. There also stood the two doors of the Indian cabinet,wide open. One, of the drawers inside was pulled out as far as it wouldgo.
"Look!" says Penelope. "I myself saw Miss Rachel put the Diamond intothat drawer last night." I went to the cabinet. The drawer was empty.
"Is this true, miss?" I asked.
With a look that was not like herself, with a voice that was not likeher own, Miss Rachel answered as my daughter had answered: "The Diamondis gone!" Having said those words, she withdrew into her bedroom, andshut and locked the door.
Before we knew which way to turn next, my lady came in, hearing my voicein her daughter's sitting-room, and wondering what had happened. The newsof the loss of the Diamond seemed to petrify her. She went straight toMiss Rachel's bedroom, and insisted on being admitted. Miss Rachel lether in.
The alarm, running through the house like fire, caught the two gentlemennext.
Mr. Godfrey was the first to come out of his room. All he did whenhe heard what had happened was to hold up his hands in a state ofbewilderment, which didn't say much for his natural strength of mind.Mr. Franklin, whose clear head I had confidently counted on to adviseus, seemed to be as helpless as his cousin when he heard the news inhis turn. For a wonder, he had had a good night's rest at last; andthe unaccustomed luxury of sleep had, as he said himself, apparentlystupefied him. However, when he had swallowed his cup of coffee--whichhe always took, on the foreign plan, some hours
before he ate anybreakfast--his brains brightened; the clear-headed side of him turnedup, and he took the matter in hand, resolutely and cleverly, much asfollows:
He first sent for the servants, and told them to leave all the lowerdoors and windows (with the exception of the front door, which I hadopened) exactly as they had been left when we locked up over night. Henext proposed to his cousin and to me to make quite sure, before wetook any further steps, that the Diamond had not accidentally droppedsomewhere out of sight--say at the back of the cabinet, or down behindthe table on which the cabinet stood. Having searched in both places,and found nothing--having also questioned Penelope, and discoveredfrom her no more than the little she had already told me--Mr. Franklinsuggested next extending our inquiries to Miss Rachel, and sent Penelopeto knock at her bed-room door.
My lady answered the knock, and closed the door behind her. The momentafter we heard it locked inside by Miss Rachel. My mistress came outamong us, looking sorely puzzled and distressed. "The loss of theDiamond seems to have quite overwhelmed Rachel," she said, in reply toMr. Franklin. "She shrinks, in the strangest manner, from speakingof it, even to ME. It is impossible you can see her for the present."Having added to our perplexities by this account of Miss Rachel, mylady, after a little effort, recovered her usual composure, and actedwith her usual decision.
"I suppose there is no help for it?" she said, quietly. "I suppose Ihave no alternative but to send for the police?"
"And the first thing for the police to do," added Mr. Franklin, catchingher up, "is to lay hands on the Indian jugglers who performed here lastnight."
My lady and Mr. Godfrey (not knowing what Mr. Franklin and I knew) bothstarted, and both looked surprised.
"I can't stop to explain myself now," Mr. Franklin went on. "I can onlytell you that the Indians have certainly stolen the Diamond. Give mea letter of introduction," says he, addressing my lady, "to one of themagistrates at Frizinghall--merely telling him that I represent yourinterests and wishes, and let me ride off with it instantly. Our chanceof catching the thieves may depend on our not wasting one unnecessaryminute." (Nota bene: Whether it was the French side or the English, theright side of Mr. Franklin seemed to be uppermost now. The only questionwas, How long would it last?)
He put pen, ink, and paper before his aunt, who (as it appeared to me)wrote the letter he wanted a little unwillingly. If it had been possibleto overlook such an event as the loss of a jewel worth twenty thousandpounds, I believe--with my lady's opinion of her late brother, and herdistrust of his birthday-gift--it would have been privately a relief toher to let the thieves get off with the Moonstone scot free.
I went out with Mr. Franklin to the stables, and took the opportunity ofasking him how the Indians (whom I suspected, of course, as shrewdly ashe did) could possibly have got into the house.
"One of them might have slipped into the hall, in the confusion, whenthe dinner company were going away," says Mr. Franklin. "The fellow mayhave been under the sofa while my aunt and Rachel were talking aboutwhere the Diamond was to be put for the night. He would only have towait till the house was quiet, and there it would be in the cabinet, tobe had for the taking." With those words, he called to the groom to openthe gate, and galloped off.
This seemed certainly to be the only rational explanation. But how hadthe thief contrived to make his escape from the house? I had found thefront door locked and bolted, as I had left it at night, when I wentto open it, after getting up. As for the other doors and windows, therethey were still, all safe and fast, to speak for themselves. The dogs,too? Suppose the thief had got away by dropping from one of the upperwindows, how had he escaped the dogs? Had he come provided for them withdrugged meat? As the doubt crossed my mind, the dogs themselves camegalloping at me round a corner, rolling each other over on the wetgrass, in such lively health and spirits that it was with no smalldifficulty I brought them to reason, and chained them up again. Themore I turned it over in my mind, the less satisfactory Mr. Franklin'sexplanation appeared to be.
We had our breakfasts--whatever happens in a house, robbery or murder,it doesn't matter, you must have your breakfast. When we had done, mylady sent for me; and I found myself compelled to tell her all that Ihad hitherto concealed, relating to the Indians and their plot. Being awoman of a high courage, she soon got over the first startling effectof what I had to communicate. Her mind seemed to be far more perturbedabout her daughter than about the heathen rogues and their conspiracy."You know how odd Rachel is, and how differently she behaves sometimesfrom other girls," my lady said to me. "But I have never, in all myexperience, seen her so strange and so reserved as she is now. Theloss of her jewel seems almost to have turned her brain. Who would havethought that horrible Diamond could have laid such a hold on her in soshort a time?"
It was certainly strange. Taking toys and trinkets in general, MissRachel was nothing like so mad after them as most young girls. Yet thereshe was, still locked up inconsolably in her bedroom. It is but fair toadd that she was not the only one of us in the house who was thrown outof the regular groove. Mr. Godfrey, for instance--though professionallya sort of consoler-general--seemed to be at a loss where to look for hisown resources. Having no company to amuse him, and getting no chanceof trying what his experience of women in distress could do towardscomforting Miss Rachel, he wandered hither and thither about the houseand gardens in an aimless uneasy way. He was in two different mindsabout what it became him to do, after the misfortune that had happenedto us. Ought he to relieve the family, in their present situation, ofthe responsibility of him as a guest, or ought he to stay on thechance that even his humble services might be of some use? He decidedultimately that the last course was perhaps the most customary andconsiderate course to take, in such a very peculiar case of familydistress as this was. Circumstances try the metal a man is really madeof. Mr. Godfrey, tried by circumstances, showed himself of weakermetal than I had thought him to be. As for the women-servants exceptingRosanna Spearman, who kept by herself--they took to whispering togetherin corners, and staring at nothing suspiciously, as is the mannerof that weaker half of the human family, when anything extraordinaryhappens in a house. I myself acknowledge to have been fidgety andill-tempered. The cursed Moonstone had turned us all upside down.
A little before eleven Mr. Franklin came back. The resolute side of himhad, to all appearance, given way, in the interval since his departure,under the stress that had been laid on it. He had left us at a gallop;he came back to us at a walk. When he went away, he was made of iron.When he returned, he was stuffed with cotton, as limp as limp could be.
"Well," says my lady, "are the police coming?"
"Yes," says Mr. Franklin; "they said they would follow me in a fly.Superintendent Seegrave, of your local police force, and two of his men.A mere form! The case is hopeless."
"What! have the Indians escaped, sir?" I asked.
"The poor ill-used Indians have been most unjustly put in prison," saysMr. Franklin. "They are as innocent as the babe unborn. My idea thatone of them was hidden in the house has ended, like all the rest of myideas, in smoke. It's been proved," says Mr. Franklin, dwelling withgreat relish on his own incapacity, "to be simply impossible."
After astonishing us by announcing this totally new turn in the matterof the Moonstone, our young gentleman, at his aunt's request, took aseat, and explained himself.
It appeared that the resolute side of him had held out as far asFrizinghall. He had put the whole case plainly before the magistrate,and the magistrate had at once sent for the police. The first inquiriesinstituted about the Indians showed that they had not so much asattempted to leave the town. Further questions addressed to the police,proved that all three had been seen returning to Frizinghall with theirboy, on the previous night between ten and eleven--which (regard beinghad to hours and distances) also proved that they had walked straightback after performing on our terrace. Later still, at midnight, thepolice, having occasion to search the common lodging-house where theylived, had s
een them all three again, and their little boy with them,as usual. Soon after midnight I myself had safely shut up the house.Plainer evidence than this, in favour of the Indians, there could notwell be. The magistrate said there was not even a case of suspicionagainst them so far. But, as it was just possible, when the police cameto investigate the matter, that discoveries affecting the jugglers mightbe made, he would contrive, by committing them as rogues and vagabonds,to keep them at our disposal, under lock and key, for a week. They hadignorantly done something (I forget what) in the town, which barelybrought them within the operation of the law. Every human institution(justice included) will stretch a little, if you only pull it the rightway. The worthy magistrate was an old friend of my lady's, and theIndians were "committed" for a week, as soon as the court opened thatmorning.
Such was Mr. Franklin's narrative of events at Frizinghall. The Indianclue to the mystery of the lost jewel was now, to all appearance, a cluethat had broken in our hands. If the jugglers were innocent, who, in thename of wonder, had taken the Moonstone out of Miss Rachel's drawer?
Ten minutes later, to our infinite relief; Superintendent Seegravearrived at the house. He reported passing Mr. Franklin on the terrace,sitting in the sun (I suppose with the Italian side of him uppermost),and warning the police, as they went by, that the investigation washopeless, before the investigation had begun.
For a family in our situation, the Superintendent of the Frizinghallpolice was the most comforting officer you could wish to see. Mr.Seegrave was tall and portly, and military in his manners. He had afine commanding voice, and a mighty resolute eye, and a grand frock-coatwhich buttoned beautifully up to his leather stock. "I'm the man youwant!" was written all over his face; and he ordered his two inferiorpolice men about with a severity which convinced us all that there wasno trifling with HIM.
He began by going round the premises, outside and in; the result of thatinvestigation proving to him that no thieves had broken in upon us fromoutside, and that the robbery, consequently, must have been committed bysome person in the house. I leave you to imagine the state the servantswere in when this official announcement first reached their ears. TheSuperintendent decided to begin by examining the boudoir, and, thatdone, to examine the servants next. At the same time, he posted oneof his men on the staircase which led to the servants' bedrooms, withinstructions to let nobody in the house pass him, till further orders.
At this latter proceeding, the weaker half of the human family wentdistracted on the spot. They bounced out of their corners, whiskedup-stairs in a body to Miss Rachel's room (Rosanna Spearman beingcarried away among them this time), burst in on Superintendent Seegrave,and, all looking equally guilty, summoned him to say which of them hesuspected, at once.
Mr. Superintendent proved equal to the occasion; he looked at them withhis resolute eye, and he cowed them with his military voice.
"Now, then, you women, go down-stairs again, every one of you; I won'thave you here. Look!" says Mr. Superintendent, suddenly pointing to alittle smear of the decorative painting on Miss Rachel's door, at theouter edge, just under the lock. "Look what mischief the petticoats ofsome of you have done already. Clear out! clear out!" Rosanna Spearman,who was nearest to him, and nearest to the little smear on the door,set the example of obedience, and slipped off instantly to her work. Therest followed her out. The Superintendent finished his examination ofthe room, and, making nothing of it, asked me who had first discoveredthe robbery. My daughter had first discovered it. My daughter was sentfor.
Mr. Superintendent proved to be a little too sharp with Penelope atstarting. "Now, young woman, attend to me, and mind you speak thetruth." Penelope fired up instantly. "I've never been taught to telllies Mr. Policeman!--and if father can stand there and hear me accusedof falsehood and thieving, and my own bed-room shut against me, and mycharacter taken away, which is all a poor girl has left, he's not thegood father I take him for!" A timely word from me put Justice andPenelope on a pleasanter footing together. The questions and answerswent swimmingly, and ended in nothing worth mentioning. My daughter hadseen Miss Rachel put the Diamond in the drawer of the cabinet the lastthing at night. She had gone in with Miss Rachel's cup of tea at eightthe next morning, and had found the drawer open and empty. Upon that,she had alarmed the house--and there was an end of Penelope's evidence.
Mr. Superintendent next asked to see Miss Rachel herself. Penelopementioned his request through the door. The answer reached us by thesame road: "I have nothing to tell the policeman--I can't see anybody."Our experienced officer looked equally surprised and offended when heheard that reply. I told him my young lady was ill, and begged him towait a little and see her later. We thereupon went downstairs again, andwere met by Mr. Godfrey and Mr. Franklin crossing the hall.
The two gentlemen, being inmates of the house, were summoned to say ifthey could throw any light on the matter. Neither of them knew anythingabout it. Had they heard any suspicious noises during the previousnight? They had heard nothing but the pattering of the rain. Had I,lying awake longer than either of them, heard nothing either? Nothing!Released from examination, Mr. Franklin, still sticking to the helplessview of our difficulty, whispered to me: "That man will be of no earthlyuse to us. Superintendent Seegrave is an ass." Released in his turn, Mr.Godfrey whispered to me--"Evidently a most competent person. Betteredge,I have the greatest faith in him!" Many men, many opinions, as one ofthe ancients said, before my time.
Mr. Superintendent's next proceeding took him back to the "boudoir"again, with my daughter and me at his heels. His object was to discoverwhether any of the furniture had been moved, during the night, out ofits customary place--his previous investigation in the room having,apparently, not gone quite far enough to satisfy his mind on this point.
While we were still poking about among the chairs and tables, the doorof the bed-room was suddenly opened. After having denied herself toeverybody, Miss Rachel, to our astonishment, walked into the midst ofus of her own accord. She took up her garden hat from a chair, and thenwent straight to Penelope with this question:--
"Mr. Franklin Blake sent you with a message to me this morning?"
"Yes, miss."
"He wished to speak to me, didn't he?"
"Yes, miss."
"Where is he now?"
Hearing voices on the terrace below, I looked out of window, and saw thetwo gentlemen walking up and down together. Answering for my daughter, Isaid, "Mr. Franklin is on the terrace, miss."
Without another word, without heeding Mr. Superintendent, who triedto speak to her, pale as death, and wrapped up strangely in her ownthoughts, she left the room, and went down to her cousins on theterrace.
It showed a want of due respect, it showed a breach of good manners, onmy part, but, for the life of me, I couldn't help looking out of windowwhen Miss Rachel met the gentlemen outside. She went up to Mr. Franklinwithout appearing to notice Mr. Godfrey, who thereupon drew back andleft them by themselves. What she said to Mr. Franklin appeared to bespoken vehemently. It lasted but for a short time, and, judging by whatI saw of his face from the window, seemed to astonish him beyond allpower of expression. While they were still together, my lady appearedon the terrace. Miss Rachel saw her--said a few last words to Mr.Franklin--and suddenly went back into the house again, before her mothercame up with her. My lady surprised herself, and noticing Mr. Franklin'ssurprise, spoke to him. Mr. Godfrey joined them, and spoke also. Mr.Franklin walked away a little between the two, telling them what hadhappened I suppose, for they both stopped short, after taking a fewsteps, like persons struck with amazement. I had just seen as muchas this, when the door of the sitting-room was opened violently. MissRachel walked swiftly through to her bed-room, wild and angry, withfierce eyes and flaming cheeks. Mr. Superintendent once more attemptedto question her. She turned round on him at her bed-room door. "I havenot sent for you!" she cried out vehemently. "I don't want you. MyDiamond is lost. Neither you nor anybody else will ever find it!" Withthose words she went in, an
d locked the door in our faces. Penelope,standing nearest to it, heard her burst out crying the moment she wasalone again.
In a rage, one moment; in tears, the next! What did it mean?
I told the Superintendent it meant that Miss Rachel's temper was upsetby the loss of her jewel. Being anxious for the honour of the family,it distressed me to see my young lady forget herself--even with apolice-officer--and I made the best excuse I could, accordingly. Inmy own private mind I was more puzzled by Miss Rachel's extraordinarylanguage and conduct than words can tell. Taking what she had said ather bed-room door as a guide to guess by, I could only conclude thatshe was mortally offended by our sending for the police, and thatMr. Franklin's astonishment on the terrace was caused by her havingexpressed herself to him (as the person chiefly instrumental in fetchingthe police) to that effect. If this guess was right, why--having losther Diamond--should she object to the presence in the house of the verypeople whose business it was to recover it for her? And how, in Heaven'sname, could SHE know that the Moonstone would never be found again?
As things stood, at present, no answer to those questions was to behoped for from anybody in the house. Mr. Franklin appeared to think ita point of honour to forbear repeating to a servant--even to so old aservant as I was--what Miss Rachel had said to him on the terrace. Mr.Godfrey, who, as a gentleman and a relative, had been probably admittedinto Mr. Franklin's confidence, respected that confidence as he wasbound to do. My lady, who was also in the secret no doubt, and who alonehad access to Miss Rachel, owned openly that she could make nothingof her. "You madden me when you talk of the Diamond!" All her mother'sinfluence failed to extract from her a word more than that.
Here we were, then, at a dead-lock about Miss Rachel--and at a dead-lockabout the Moonstone. In the first case, my lady was powerless to helpus. In the second (as you shall presently judge), Mr. Seegrave was fastapproaching the condition of a superintendent at his wits' end.
Having ferreted about all over the "boudoir," without making anydiscoveries among the furniture, our experienced officer applied to meto know, whether the servants in general were or were not acquaintedwith the place in which the Diamond had been put for the night.
"I knew where it was put, sir," I said, "to begin with. Samuel, thefootman, knew also--for he was present in the hall, when they weretalking about where the Diamond was to be kept that night. My daughterknew, as she has already told you. She or Samuel may have mentioned thething to the other servants--or the other servants may have heard thetalk for themselves, through the side-door of the hall, which might havebeen open to the back staircase. For all I can tell, everybody in thehouse may have known where the jewel was, last night."
My answer presenting rather a wide field for Mr. Superintendent'ssuspicions to range over, he tried to narrow it by asking about theservants' characters next.
I thought directly of Rosanna Spearman. But it was neither my place normy wish to direct suspicion against a poor girl, whose honesty hadbeen above all doubt as long as I had known her. The matron at theReformatory had reported her to my lady as a sincerely penitent andthoroughly trustworthy girl. It was the Superintendent's business todiscover reason for suspecting her first--and then, and not till then,it would be my duty to tell him how she came into my lady's service."All our people have excellent characters," I said. "And all havedeserved the trust their mistress has placed in them." After that, therewas but one thing left for Mr. Seegrave to do--namely, to set to work,and tackle the servants' characters himself.
One after another, they were examined. One after another, they proved tohave nothing to say--and said it (so far as the women were concerned) atgreat length, and with a very angry sense of the embargo laid on theirbed-rooms. The rest of them being sent back to their places downstairs,Penelope was then summoned, and examined separately a second time.
My daughter's little outbreak of temper in the "boudoir," and herreadiness to think herself suspected, appeared to have produced anunfavourable impression on Superintendent Seegrave. It seemed also todwell a little on his mind, that she had been the last person who sawthe Diamond at night. When the second questioning was over, my girlcame back to me in a frenzy. There was no doubt of it any longer--thepolice-officer had almost as good as told her she was the thief! I couldscarcely believe him (taking Mr. Franklin's view) to be quite such anass as that. But, though he said nothing, the eye with which he lookedat my daughter was not a very pleasant eye to see. I laughed it offwith poor Penelope, as something too ridiculous to be treatedseriously--which it certainly was. Secretly, I am afraid I was foolishenough to be angry too. It was a little trying--it was, indeed. Mygirl sat down in a corner, with her apron over her head, quitebroken-hearted. Foolish of her, you will say. She might have waitedtill he openly accused her. Well, being a man of just an equal temper,I admit that. Still Mr. Superintendent might have remembered--never mindwhat he might have remembered. The devil take him!
The next and last step in the investigation brought matters, as theysay, to a crisis. The officer had an interview (at which I was present)with my lady. After informing her that the Diamond must have been takenby somebody in the house, he requested permission for himself andhis men to search the servants' rooms and boxes on the spot. My goodmistress, like the generous high-bred woman she was, refused to let usbe treated like thieves. "I will never consent to make such a returnas that," she said, "for all I owe to the faithful servants who areemployed in my house."
Mr. Superintendent made his bow, with a look in my direction, which saidplainly, "Why employ me, if you are to tie my hands in this way?" Ashead of the servants, I felt directly that we were bound, in justice toall parties, not to profit by our mistress's generosity. "We gratefullythank your ladyship," I said; "but we ask your permission to do what isright in this matter by giving up our keys. When Gabriel Betteredge setsthe example," says I, stopping Superintendent Seegrave at the door, "therest of the servants will follow, I promise you. There are my keys, tobegin with!" My lady took me by the hand, and thanked me with the tearsin her eyes. Lord! what would I not have given, at that moment, for theprivilege of knocking Superintendent Seegrave down!
As I had promised for them, the other servants followed my lead, sorelyagainst the grain, of course, but all taking the view that I took. Thewomen were a sight to see, while the police-officers were rummagingamong their things. The cook looked as if she could grill Mr.Superintendent alive on a furnace, and the other women looked as if theycould eat him when he was done.
The search over, and no Diamond or sign of a Diamond being found, ofcourse, anywhere, Superintendent Seegrave retired to my little room toconsider with himself what he was to do next. He and his men had nowbeen hours in the house, and had not advanced us one inch towards adiscovery of how the Moonstone had been taken, or of whom we were tosuspect as the thief.
While the police-officer was still pondering in solitude, I was sent forto see Mr. Franklin in the library. To my unutterable astonishment, justas my hand was on the door, it was suddenly opened from the inside, andout walked Rosanna Spearman!
After the library had been swept and cleaned in the morning, neitherfirst nor second housemaid had any business in that room at any laterperiod of the day. I stopped Rosanna Spearman, and charged her with abreach of domestic discipline on the spot.
"What might you want in the library at this time of day?" I inquired.
"Mr. Franklin Blake dropped one of his rings up-stairs," says Rosanna;"and I have been into the library to give it to him." The girl's facewas all in a flush as she made me that answer; and she walked away witha toss of her head and a look of self-importance which I was quite ata loss to account for. The proceedings in the house had doubtless upsetall the women-servants more or less; but none of them had gone clean outof their natural characters, as Rosanna, to all appearance, had now goneout of hers.
I found Mr. Franklin writing at the library-table. He asked for aconveyance to the railway station the moment I entered the room. Thefirst sound of his
voice informed me that we now had the resolute sideof him uppermost once more. The man made of cotton had disappeared; andthe man made of iron sat before me again.
"Going to London, sir?" I asked.
"Going to telegraph to London," says Mr. Franklin. "I have convinced myaunt that we must have a cleverer head than Superintendent Seegrave'sto help us; and I have got her permission to despatch a telegram to myfather. He knows the Chief Commissioner of Police, and the Commissionercan lay his hand on the right man to solve the mystery of the Diamond.Talking of mysteries, by-the-bye," says Mr. Franklin, dropping hisvoice, "I have another word to say to you before you go to the stables.Don't breathe a word of it to anybody as yet; but either RosannaSpearman's head is not quite right, or I am afraid she knows more aboutthe Moonstone than she ought to know."
I can hardly tell whether I was more startled or distressed at hearinghim say that. If I had been younger, I might have confessed as much toMr. Franklin. But when you are old, you acquire one excellent habit. Incases where you don't see your way clearly, you hold your tongue.
"She came in here with a ring I dropped in my bed-room," Mr. Franklinwent on. "When I had thanked her, of course I expected her to go.Instead of that, she stood opposite to me at the table, looking at me inthe oddest manner--half frightened, and half familiar--I couldn't makeit out. 'This is a strange thing about the Diamond, sir,' she said, in acuriously sudden, headlong way. I said, 'Yes, it was,' and wondered whatwas coming next. Upon my honour, Betteredge, I think she must be wrongin the head! She said, 'They will never find the Diamond, sir, willthey? No! nor the person who took it--I'll answer for that.' Sheactually nodded and smiled at me! Before I could ask her what she meant,we heard your step outside. I suppose she was afraid of your catchingher here. At any rate, she changed colour, and left the room. What onearth does it mean?"
I could not bring myself to tell him the girl's story, even then. Itwould have been almost as good as telling him that she was the thief.Besides, even if I had made a clean breast of it, and even supposingshe was the thief, the reason why she should let out her secret to Mr.Franklin, of all the people in the world, would have been still as farto seek as ever.
"I can't bear the idea of getting the poor girl into a scrape, merelybecause she has a flighty way with her, and talks very strangely," Mr.Franklin went on. "And yet if she had said to the Superintendent whatshe said to me, fool as he is, I'm afraid----" He stopped there, andleft the rest unspoken.
"The best way, sir," I said, "will be for me to say two words privatelyto my mistress about it at the first opportunity. My lady has a veryfriendly interest in Rosanna; and the girl may only have been forwardand foolish, after all. When there's a mess of any kind in a house, sir,the women-servants like to look at the gloomy side--it gives the poorwretches a kind of importance in their own eyes. If there's anybodyill, trust the women for prophesying that the person will die. If it'sa jewel lost, trust them for prophesying that it will never be foundagain."
This view (which I am bound to say, I thought a probable view myself,on reflection) seemed to relieve Mr. Franklin mightily: he folded up histelegram, and dismissed the subject. On my way to the stables, to orderthe pony-chaise, I looked in at the servants' hall, where they were atdinner. Rosanna Spearman was not among them. On inquiry, I found thatshe had been suddenly taken ill, and had gone up-stairs to her own roomto lie down.
"Curious! She looked well enough when I saw her last," I remarked.
Penelope followed me out. "Don't talk in that way before the rest ofthem, father," she said. "You only make them harder on Rosanna thanever. The poor thing is breaking her heart about Mr. Franklin Blake."
Here was another view of the girl's conduct. If it was possible forPenelope to be right, the explanation of Rosanna's strange language andbehaviour might have been all in this--that she didn't care what shesaid, so long as she could surprise Mr. Franklin into speaking to her.Granting that to be the right reading of the riddle, it accounted,perhaps, for her flighty, self-conceited manner when she passed me inthe hall. Though he had only said three words, still she had carried herpoint, and Mr. Franklin had spoken to her.
I saw the pony harnessed myself. In the infernal network of mysteriesand uncertainties that now surrounded us, I declare it was a relief toobserve how well the buckles and straps understood each other! When youhad seen the pony backed into the shafts of the chaise, you had seensomething there was no doubt about. And that, let me tell you, wasbecoming a treat of the rarest kind in our household.
Going round with the chaise to the front door, I found not only Mr.Franklin, but Mr. Godfrey and Superintendent Seegrave also waiting forme on the steps.
Mr. Superintendent's reflections (after failing to find the Diamond inthe servants' rooms or boxes) had led him, it appeared, to an entirelynew conclusion. Still sticking to his first text, namely, that somebodyin the house had stolen the jewel, our experienced officer was now of theopinion that the thief (he was wise enough not to name poor Penelope,whatever he might privately think of her!) had been acting in concertwith the Indians; and he accordingly proposed shifting his inquiries tothe jugglers in the prison at Frizinghall. Hearing of this new move, Mr.Franklin had volunteered to take the Superintendent back to the town,from which he could telegraph to London as easily as from our station.Mr. Godfrey, still devoutly believing in Mr. Seegrave, and greatlyinterested in witnessing the examination of the Indians, had beggedleave to accompany the officer to Frizinghall. One of the two inferiorpolicemen was to be left at the house, in case anything happened. Theother was to go back with the Superintendent to the town. So the fourplaces in the pony-chaise were just filled.
Before he took the reins to drive off, Mr. Franklin walked me away a fewsteps out of hearing of the others.
"I will wait to telegraph to London," he said, "till I see what comesof our examination of the Indians. My own conviction is, that thismuddle-headed local police-officer is as much in the dark as ever, andis simply trying to gain time. The idea of any of the servants being inleague with the Indians is a preposterous absurdity, in my opinion. Keepabout the house, Betteredge, till I come back, and try what you can makeof Rosanna Spearman. I don't ask you to do anything degrading to yourown self-respect, or anything cruel towards the girl. I only ask youto exercise your observation more carefully than usual. We will makeas light of it as we can before my aunt--but this is a more importantmatter than you may suppose."
"It is a matter of twenty thousand pounds, sir," I said, thinking of thevalue of the Diamond.
"It's a matter of quieting Rachel's mind," answered Mr. Franklingravely. "I am very uneasy about her."
He left me suddenly; as if he desired to cut short any further talkbetween us. I thought I understood why. Further talk might have let meinto the secret of what Miss Rachel had said to him on the terrace.
So they drove away to Frizinghall. I was ready enough, in the girl's owninterest, to have a little talk with Rosanna in private. But the needfulopportunity failed to present itself. She only came downstairs againat tea-time. When she did appear, she was flighty and excited, had whatthey call an hysterical attack, took a dose of sal-volatile by my lady'sorder, and was sent back to her bed.
The day wore on to its end drearily and miserably enough, I can tellyou. Miss Rachel still kept her room, declaring that she was too ill tocome down to dinner that day. My lady was in such low spirits abouther daughter, that I could not bring myself to make her additionallyanxious, by reporting what Rosanna Spearman had said to Mr. Franklin.Penelope persisted in believing that she was to be forthwith tried,sentenced, and transported for theft. The other women took to theirBibles and hymn-books, and looked as sour as verjuice over theirreading--a result, which I have observed, in my sphere of life, tofollow generally on the performance of acts of piety at unaccustomedperiods of the day. As for me, I hadn't even heart enough to open myROBINSON CRUSOE. I went out into the yard, and, being hard up for alittle cheerful society, set my chair by the kennels, and talked to thedogs.
Half an hour before dinner-time, the two gentlemen came back fromFrizinghall, having arranged with Superintendent Seegrave that he was toreturn to us the next day. They had called on Mr. Murthwaite, the Indiantraveller, at his present residence, near the town. At Mr. Franklin'srequest, he had kindly given them the benefit of his knowledge of thelanguage, in dealing with those two, out of the three Indians, who knewnothing of English. The examination, conducted carefully, and atgreat length, had ended in nothing; not the shadow of a reason beingdiscovered for suspecting the jugglers of having tampered with any ofour servants. On reaching that conclusion, Mr. Franklin had sent histelegraphic message to London, and there the matter now rested tillto-morrow came.
So much for the history of the day that followed the birthday. Nota glimmer of light had broken in on us, so far. A day or two after,however, the darkness lifted a little. How, and with what result, youshall presently see.
The Moonstone Page 14
