A Girl of the Commune

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XX.

  "Apoplexy!" Dr. Edwardes exclaimed, as soon as he entered. "Cut hissleeve open, Cuthbert. Fetch a basin, sir, and some water," he added tothe clerk.

  He took a lancet from his pocket and opened a vein in the arm. At firstonly a few drops of dark-colored blood issued out.

  "Dip a cloth in cold water and wrap it round his head; and do you, lad,run down to Miggleton, the confectioner, and get some ice, quick; it isa matter of life or death!"

  At last the blood began to flow more freely.

  "I think he will do now," the doctor said, "it is his first seizure. Ihave told him a good many times that he was too fond of good living anddid not take exercise enough. What brought this about, Cuthbert?"

  "We had an unpleasant interview, Doctor. I had some ugly truths to tellhim and did not spare him."

  "Then I think you had better go before he comes to his senses again.Tell my man to bring down a mattress, pillows, and blankets. He won't befit to be moved to-day, and we must make him up a bed here. Directly Isee that he is out of immediate danger, I will send over to Fairclose tobreak the news to his wife. Yes, I will come round and let you know howhe is going on as soon as I can leave him."

  Cuthbert nodded and put on his hat and went out. James Harford wasstanding a few paces from the door.

  "He has had a fit," Cuthbert said, as he joined him.

  "I thought that was it when I saw the clerk run down the street withouta hat and come back with the doctor two or three minutes later. Will heget over it?"

  "The doctor thinks so, and I am sure I most sincerely hope he will doso--it would be a bad business in all ways if he did not. Now, Mr.Harford, I don't think there is any occasion to detain you here longer;it may be days before I can see him again, and I don't think it will beneedful for you to confirm my statements. I fancy the fight is all outof him--it came upon him too suddenly--if he had known that I was herehe might have braced himself up, but coming down like an avalanche uponhim it stunned him. Now, Mr. Harford, you must permit me to draw a checkfor ten pounds for your expenses down here; when I come to my own againI shall be able properly to show my gratitude for the inestimableservices you have rendered me."

  "I will take the money for my expenses, Mr. Hartington, but I can assureyou that I have no thought or wish for payment of any kind for my sharein this business, and am only too glad to have been able to give somelittle aid towards righting the grievous harm you have suffered, to saynothing of paying off my old score against Brander."

  Half an hour later Dr. Edwardes returned home.

  "He is conscious now," he said to Cuthbert. "That is to say, vaguelyconscious. I have not let him speak a word, but simply told him he hadhad a fit and must remain absolutely quiet. I don't suppose he has asyet any recollection whatever of what preceded it. I am going to write anote and send it up to Fairclose. I must keep a close watch over him fora bit, for I have taken a good deal of blood from him."

  "I would rather you did not mention to anyone, Doctor, that I waspresent at the time he had the fit, as things may happen ere long thatwill set people talking, and if it was known that it was during aninterview with me that he had this apoplectic stroke it might give riseto unpleasant surmises--unpleasant not only to him but to me, for--thisis also a secret at present--I am going to marry his eldest daughter!"

  "You don't say so, Cuthbert. Well, I congratulate you, for she is acharming girl. I need not say that you can rely upon my keeping it quietuntil you choose to have it published."

  "Well, Doctor, as it may be some days before I can see Brander again, Iwill go back to town this evening. I did not see anyone I knew as I wentto his office, and I would rather that it should not be known that I amdown here. As you are going back there now you might ask Levison to comeround here to see me. I will then tell him that neither Brander normyself would wish it mentioned that I was with him at the time he hadthat seizure."

  "Then I suppose the fact is, Cuthbert, that while I have been flatteringmyself your visit was to me, you really came down to see Brander?"

  "I am rather afraid, Doctor, that had some influence in bringing medown, but you must forgive me this time."

  "All right, lad, I am glad to have had a glimpse of you again, whateveryour motive was in coming down."

  It was ten days before Cuthbert received a letter from the doctor sayingthat Mr. Brander was now strong enough to see him.

  "He has asked to see you several times," he said, "but I have told himthat I could not permit him to talk. However, he is a good dealstronger now and is downstairs, again, and as I am sure some worry orother is preying on his mind and keeping him back, I told him thismorning that I would send for you."

  Cuthbert went down by the next train and was driven over in the doctor'sgig to Fairclose. It was strange to him to enter the familiar house as avisitor, and he looked round the library into which he was shown upongiving his name, with a sort of doubt whether the last two years had notbeen a dream.

  He had not much time for thought for the door opened and Mr. Branderentered. Cuthbert was shocked at his appearance. He looked a mere wreckof himself. He walked feebly and uncertainly. His face was pale and theflesh on the cheeks and chin was loose and flabby. He made his way to anarmchair and sank wearily into it.

  "What are you going to do with me, Cuthbert Hartington?" he asked in aweak voice. "Does all the world know that I am a forger and a swindler?"

  "No one knows it, Mr. Brander, nor need anyone know it. If you makerestitution as far as is in your power, the matter may rest entirelybetween us. With the evidence in my possession I am in a position toobtain a judge's order striking out my father's name from the list ofshareholders of the bank and annulling the sale of Fairclose, ofregaining my own, and of securing your punishment for the offences youhave committed. The latter part, as I have said, I have no desire topress. I consider that you have been punished sufficiently already, butI must insist upon the restoration of the estates of which I have beenwrongfully deprived."

  "And you will say nothing of what I have done?"

  "Nothing whatever; it will be for you to offer any reason you choose forresigning Fairclose to me, but there is one other point that I mustinsist on, namely, that you leave Abchester. Your illness will be avalid excuse for retiring altogether from an active share in thebusiness and of relinquishing the part you have taken in the affairs ofthe town. As the senior partner you will doubtless receive a sufficientincome from your business to enable you to live in comfort elsewhere,and it will be for your own benefit as much as mine for you to leavethe place, for it will be painful for both of us to meet."

  "I cannot give up Fairclose altogether unburdened," the lawyer said."L15,000 of the purchase money I found myself. The other L20,000 Iraised on mortgages of the estate, and although that mortgage would beinvalidated by the proof that I had no power to give it, the mortgageewould, of course, fight the question, and the whole matter would be madepublic."

  Cuthbert was silent for a minute, not from any great doubt orhesitation, but he did not wish the man to see that he was eager to maketerms, for he would at once think that he was not in the position toprove the statement he had made.

  "It is a large sum," he said, "a very large sum to lose, and then thereare two years' rents that you have received."

  "These I could repay, Mr. Harrington," the lawyer said, eagerly. "I havesix thousand pounds invested in securities I could realize at once."

  Cuthbert was silent again.

  "Mr. Brander," he said at last, "I feel, and I think naturally, verysore at the cruel wrong that has been inflicted upon me, but I cannotforget that in my boyhood I was always received with kindness by yourwife, and for her sake, and that of your daughters, I am most anxiousyour reputation should remain untarnished. I am willing to believe thatthis crime was the result of a sudden impulse, and that in otherrespects you have been an honest man. I cannot forget, too, that myfather had a great esteem for you. As to the two years' rents you havereceived, I will not c
laim them. I have done well enough without them,and in fact the necessity for working for my living has been of greatadvantage to me, and that alone makes me less inclined than I otherwisemight be to press hardly upon you. I will, therefore, make this offer.You shall sign a paper that I have drawn up confessing the share youhave taken in this business. That paper I pledge myself solemnly to keepa profound secret, unless by any subsequent actions you force me to useit in self-protection, and that you will sign a deed of gift to me ofFairclose and its estates, subject to the mortgage of L20,000. You canhand me over the deeds of the estate and I will have the deed of giftdrawn up. You will also give me your promise to leave this town andsettle elsewhere. On these conditions, I pledge you my word that thetransactions by which you obtained possession of the estates shall notbe divulged, and that the high reputation you bear shall be altogetherunsullied."

  "God bless you, Mr. Hartington," the lawyer said, in a broken voice,"for your generosity in sparing my wife and children from the shame anddisgrace that would have fallen upon them had you insisted on yourrights. It is more than I deserve. I have never had a day's happinesssince I came here; it seemed to me that all danger of detection hadpassed, and yet it was ever before me. I was ever dreading that in someway I had not provided against, it would come out."

  "May I ask what income you will draw from your business?"

  "The business is worth between four and five thousand a year, and by mydeed of partnership I was to receive two-thirds of that as long as Imyself chose to take a share in the management, and one-third when Ilike to retire altogether. A thousand a year is to be paid to my widowafter my death, and two hundred apiece to my daughters at her death."

  "So you will have some fifteen hundred a year, Mr. Brander, and withthat and the six thousand you have invested you will not do badly. Ishall return to town this evening again and will bring down the deed assoon as it is prepared."

  "The papers connected with the estate are in a tin box at my office, Mr.Hartington," Mr. Brander said, in a voice more like his own than he hadhitherto used. "I will write an order to Levison to hand it over to you.I feel a different man already," he went on, as he got up and took aseat at the table; "before, it seemed to me, there was nothing butdisgrace and ruin staring me in the face. Now, I may hope that, thanksto your forbearance, I may enjoy in peace what remains to me of life.You may not believe me, Mr. Hartington, there is no reason why youshould--but I swear to you I have been a miserable man ever since yourfather's death. It was not that I was afraid of detection--it seemed tome in that respect I had nothing to fear--and yet I was miserable.Before, I was proud of the respect in which I was held in the town, andfelt to some extent I deserved it, for I had given up well nigh everymoment of my spare time to its service. Since then I have known that thepoorest man in the town would draw aside from me did he but know what Iwas. To my family it has been a terrible disappointment that the countyhas turned its back on us. To me it has been a relief. I have felt asort of satisfaction at finding that, in this respect at least, I hadsinned in vain. Were it not for my wife and girls I would even nowprefer that all should be known and that I should take the punishmentthat I deserve. I could bear prison-life better than to go about and mixwith other men, knowing what I know of myself and feeling always whatthey would think of me did they know it also----" and he broke down andburied his face in his hands.

  Cuthbert put his hand on his shoulder.

  "You have done wrong, Mr. Brander, but as you have repented of it, youmay fairly hope it will be forgiven you as freely and as fully as Iforgive you. You may take it from me that I feel I have been greatlybenefited by what has taken place, and that I have reason to bless thenecessity that fell upon me for working for my living. I was spending avery useless and indolent life, and had nothing occurred to rouse me,should probably have led it to the end. Now I have worked hard for twoyears, and my masters tell me that I have every prospect of rising toeminence as an artist. There will be no occasion for me to rely uponthat as a profession now, but the good the necessity for work has doneme will remain, and at any rate I shall continue to work at it untilthis mortgage is paid off. It has in another way brought happiness intomy life. Therefore, on my account at least, you need not regret what hashappened. I should say nothing at present as to your intention ofleaving here. Possibly we may hit upon some reason for your doing sothat will be accepted as a natural one. I can assure you I am as anxiousas you are yourself, indeed more so, that no shadow of suspicion ofanything wrong should rest upon you. So do not worry yourself about it.You can safely leave it in my hands. Now I will say good-bye. I hopethat when I return I shall find you stronger and better. I do not knowthat there is any occasion for you to sign this paper I have brought."

  "I would rather do so," the lawyer said, firmly. "It will be a relief tome to know that I have at least made a full confession."

  He took the document Cuthbert had drawn up, read it through carefully,then took a pen and added at the bottom--

  "The fifteen thousand pounds mentioned above as having been drawn by mefrom my bank for the purpose of the mortgage, was really used for thepayment of calls on shares held by me in the Oakhurst Mining Company.This can be established by a reference to the accounts of that companyin the hands of the liquidator."

  He then signed his name and handed the paper to Cuthbert.

  In spite of the efforts the latter made to hurry on Messrs. Barringtonand Smiles, it was nearly three weeks before the deed of gift wasprepared. It had, in the first place, been sketched out by Cuthbert,with the assistance of James Harford, and recited "That Mr. Brander, ofFairclose, handed back that estate, together with the house and allappurtenances appertaining thereto, to Cuthbert Hartington as a dowrywith his daughter Mary upon her marriage with the said CuthbertHartington, being moved thereto partly by his love and affection for hisdaughter, partly by the desire to restore to the said CuthbertHartington the family estates of which he had been deprived, partly fromthe want of care of the said Jeremiah Brander in failing to represent tothe late J. W. Hartington, father of the said Cuthbert Hartington, thegrievous nature of the liability he would incur by taking shares in theAbchester and County Bank."

  Cuthbert was the more anxious to get the affair arranged, as theinsurrection in Paris had broken out, and he was eager to return there.At last the deed was drawn up and he returned to Abchester, and taking afly at the station drove straight to Fairclose.

  He had written several times to Mary lamenting that business haddetained him longer than he expected, and suggesting that it would bebetter for her to leave Paris at once, but she had replied that shewould rather remain there, at any rate, until his return. As he did notwish her to come to Abchester at present, he abstained from pressing thepoint, believing that McMahon would speedily collect a sufficient forceat Versailles to suppress the insurrection.

  He found Mr. Brander looking much more himself. It was a very subduedlikeness, but he had evidently gained strength greatly.

  "I have been longing for your return," he said, as soon as Cuthbertentered the library. "I am eager to get out of this and to go away. Haveyou brought down the deed?"

  "Here it is; it is all stamped and in due form, and needs only yoursignature and that of two witnesses."

  Mr. Brander rang the bell.

  "John, call Gardener in. I want you both to witness my signature." Thecoachman came in.

  "Glad to see you again, Mr. Cuthbert," he said, touching an imaginaryhat.

  "I am glad to see you, Gardener. I knew you were still here."

  All was ready for the signature. While waiting for the men's entryCuthbert had said--

  "I would rather you did not read this deed until you have signed it, Mr.Brander. I know it is a most unbusiness-like thing for you to do, but Ithink you may feel sure you can trust me."

  "I have no intention of reading it," the lawyer said. "Whatever theconditions of that paper I am ready to comply with them."

  After the signatures had been affixed, and the w
itnesses had retired,Cuthbert said--

  "Now, Mr. Brander, you are at liberty to read the deed. I think you willfind its provisions satisfactory."

  Mr. Brander, with a slight shrug of his shoulders that signified thathe was indifferent as to the details of the arrangement, took the paperand began to run his eyes carelessly through it. Suddenly his expressionchanged. He gave a start of surprise, read a few lines farther, and thenexclaimed--

  "Can this be true, are you really going to marry Mary?"

  "It is quite true," Cuthbert said, quietly. "I first asked her a fewweeks before my father's death when I met her down at Newquay. Sherefused me at that time, but we have both changed since then. I saw agreat deal of her in Paris and she worked as a nurse in the Americanambulance during the siege. I was one of her patients, having been shotthrough the body and brought in there insensible. Having assisted insaving my life she finally came to the conclusion that she could not dobetter than make that life a happy one. She had refused me because sheconsidered, and rightly, that I was a useless member of society, and thefact that I was heir to Fairclose had no influence whatever with her,but finding that I had amended my ways and was leading an earnest andhard-working life, she accepted me, small though my income was."

  "God bless her!" Mr. Brander said, fervently. "We never got on welltogether, Mr. Hartington. I had always an uneasy consciousness that shedisapproved of me, and that she regarded me as a humbug, and as I wasconscious of the fact myself this was not pleasant. So I was rather gladthan otherwise that she should choose her own path. But I am indeeddelighted at this. She is honesty and truth itself, and I pray she maymake up to you for wrongs you have suffered at my hands."

  "She will do much more than that, Mr. Brander, and you see I have goodreason for what I said when I was here before, that the change in myfortune had been a benefit, since it had forced me to take up aprofession and work at it. Had it not been for that I should never havewon Mary. My being once again master of Fairclose would not have weighedwith her in the slightest. She would not have married a mere idler, hadhe been a duke. Now you had better finish reading the deed."

  The lawyer read it through to the end.

  "You have indeed made it easy for me," he said, when he had laid itdown.

  "You see, I have an object in doing so, Mr. Brander. I told you that myinterest in your reputation was as great as your own. I hope that in anycase I should not have made a harsh use of the power I possessed. I amsure that I should not, especially as I felt how much I had benefited bythe two years of work, but perhaps I might not have felt quite soanxious that no breath of suspicion should fall upon you had it not beenfor Mary."

  "Does she know?" Mr. Brander asked.

  "She does not know and will never hear it from me. She may have vaguesuspicions when she hears that you have made over Fairclose to me, butthese will never be more than suspicions. Nor need your other daughtersknow. They may wonder, perhaps, that Mary should have so large a shareof your property, but it will be easy for you to make some sort ofexplanation, as is given in this deed, of your reason for restoringFairclose to me with her."

  "They will be too glad to get away from here, to care much how it wasbrought about, and if afterwards they come to ask any questions aboutit, I can tell them so much of the truth that it had been found the saleof the property to me had been altogether illegal and irregular, andthat in point of fact you had a right not only to the estate but to theL20,000 for which I mortgaged it to raise the purchase money, and to thetwo-years' rents.

  "That is what I shall tell my wife. I think she has always had a vaguesuspicion that there was something shady about the transaction, and Ishall tell her that, so far from regarding the loss of Fairclose as ahardship, I consider you have behaved with extreme generosity andkindness in the matter. Women do not understand business. I am sure itwon't be necessary to go into details. She, too, will be heartily gladto leave Fairclose."

  "Shall we go in and see them, Mr. Brander? You can tell them as much oras little of the news as you think fit, and after that you can give mesome lunch. I want it badly."

  "Thank you," Mr. Brander said, gratefully. "I did not like to ask you,but it will make matters easier."

  He led the way into the drawing-room. Mrs. Brander was sitting at thewindow with an anxious look on her face. She knew of Cuthbert's formervisit, and that he was again closeted with her husband, and had a strongfeeling that something was wrong. The girls were sitting listlessly ineasy-chairs, not even pretending to read the books that lay in theirlaps. They rose with a look of bright surprise on their faces asCuthbert entered with their father.

  "Why, Mr. Hartington, it is ages since we saw you."

  "It is indeed--it is over two years."

  "I have two surprising pieces of news to give you, Eliza. In the firstplace it has been discovered that there was a very serious flaw in thetitle to Fairclose, and that the sale to me was altogether illegal. Mr.Hartington has behaved most kindly and generously in the matter, but theresult is he comes back to Fairclose and we move out."

  The three ladies uttered an exclamation of pleasure. Fairclose hadbecome hateful to them all, and at this moment it mattered little tothem how it had come about that they were going to leave it.

  "You don't mean to go back to the High Street, father?" Julia, the elderof the girls, asked anxiously.

  "No, my dear; it will be a question to be settled between us where wewill go, but I have decided to leave Abchester altogether. I feel that Irequire rest and quiet and shall give up business and go right out ofit."

  The girls both clapped their hands.

  "And now for my second piece of news which will surprise you as much asthe first. Your sister Mary is going to marry Mr. Hartington. The matterwas settled in Paris, where they have both been shut up during thesiege."

  "That is, indeed, good news," Mrs. Brander said cordially, foreseeing atonce the advantage of such a marriage.

  The girls took their cue from her, and professed great pleasure at thenews which, however, was not altogether welcome to them.

  Mary, whom they had never liked, was to be mistress of Fairclose, andwas to gain all the advantages that they had expected but had neverobtained. The thought was not pleasant, but it was speedily forgotten inthe excitement of the other news. Her mother, however, seeing thepleasure that her husband unmistakably felt at the thought of themarriage, was genuinely pleased. Not only might the connection be usefulto the girls, but it might be invaluable in covering their retirementfrom Fairclose. There might be something more about that than herhusband had said. At any rate this would silence all tongues and put anend to the vague anxiety that she had long felt. She had always likedCuthbert, and had long ago cherished a faint hope that he might some daytake to Mary.

  "This all comes very suddenly upon us, Mr. Hartington. I suppose I oughtto call you Cuthbert again, now."

  "It would certainly sound more like old times, Mrs. Brander."

  "Only think, my dear," the lawyer put in, "he proposed to Mary more thantwo years ago and she refused him. I suppose she never told you?"

  "She never said a word on the subject," Mrs. Brander said, almostindignantly. "Why, it must have been before----" and she stopped.

  "Before my short reign here as master, Mrs. Brander. Yes, I was down atNewquay sketching, when she was staying with her friend, Miss Treadwyn,and Mary was at the time too much occupied with the idea of raisingwomankind in the scale of humanity to think of taking up with a uselessmember of society like myself."

  Mrs. Brander shook her head very gravely.

  "It was a sad trouble to her father and myself," she said; "I hope shehas got over those ideas."

  "I think she has discovered that the world is too large for her tomove," Cuthbert replied, with a smile. "At any rate she has undertakenthe task of looking after me instead of reforming the world; it may beas difficult, perhaps, but it sounds less arduous."

  At lunch the girls were engaged in an animated discussion as to wherethey woul
d like to move to, but Mrs. Brander put an end to it bysaying--

  "We shall have plenty of time to talk that over, girls--it must dependupon many things. Your father's health will, of course, be the firstconsideration. At any rate, I shall set my face against London. So youcan put that altogether out of your minds. An income that would besufficient to establish one in a good position near a country or seasidetown would be nothing in London. And now, Cuthbert, we want to hear agreat deal more about our dear Mary. She writes so seldom, and of courseshe has been cut off for so long a time from us that we scarcely knowwhat she is doing. In Germany she did not seem to be doing anythingparticular, but as she said in her letters, was studying the people andtheir language."

  "That is what she was doing in Paris--at least that is what she came todo, but the siege put a stop to her studies, and she devoted herself tothe much more practical work of nursing the wounded."

  "Dear me, what an extraordinary girl she is," Mrs. Brander said, muchshocked. "Surely there were plenty of women in Paris to nurse thewounded without her mixing herself up in such unpleasant work, of whichshe could know absolutely nothing."

  "She was a very good nurse, nevertheless," Cuthbert said, quietly. "Sheworked in the American ambulance, under an American doctor, the othernurses and assistants being all American or English."

  "How do you know she was a good nurse, Mr. Hartington?" Clara asked.

  "Simply because I was one of her patients, Miss Brander. I joined one ofthe corps of Franc-tireurs, in which most of my student-friends enrolledthemselves, and had the bad luck to get shot through the body in thesortie at Champigny, and as your sister was one of the nurses in thetent where I lay, I think that I am a pretty fair judge as to her powersof nursing. She was often there during the heaviest time for twenty-fourhours at a stretch, and completely knocked herself up by he continuedlabors. At any rate I consider I owe my life in no small degree to hercare."

  "I don't think we ever understood Mary," Mr. Brander said, in a moreperemptory tone than the girls had heard him use since his seizure."There is no doubt that it was as much our fault as it was hers. I feelproud to hear that she has done such noble work. Mr. Hartington tellsme," he said, abruptly changing the conversation, "that he has beenworking hard with the intention of making art his profession as it haslong been his amusement. He seems to think that although he will, ofcourse, be no longer obliged to look upon it as a necessary career, heintends at any rate to pursue it for a time."

  "That will be very interesting," Mrs. Brander said, "and it is quite thefashion in our days."

  "It is very nice when you haven't to live by it," Cuthbert said. "Whenyou are obliged to do that, and instead of painting what you like, haveto paint things that will sell, it is up-hill work, and none but men ofreal talent can push their way up out of the crowd. I shall be morehappily situated, and shall therefore be able to devote an amount ofcare and time to a picture that would be impossible to a man who had hisdaily bread and cheese to earn by his brush. And now, Mr. Brander, wewill have a few more words together and then I must be off. I shall mostlikely return to town this evening."

  "It must be for you to decide, Mr. Brander," he went on, when they werealone in the study, "how this news shall be broken to the public. I amquite ready to be guided entirely by your wishes in the matter."

  "The sooner the better. I would suggest that you should see Dr. Edwardesbefore you go up to town. If you will tell him what I told them in thenext room, that it has been discovered that there is a flaw in the saleof Fairclose, and that as you are engaged to marry Mary, we have arrivedat an amicable agreement under which you will return at once toFairclose, while I intend to seek an entirely new scene and to retirealtogether from business, there will be very little more needful. Thenews will spread like wildfire over the town and county. After that Ishall have very few questions asked me. None that I shall not be able toanswer without difficulty. The state of my health will form an excusefor my cutting my farewells short. There will, no doubt, be some gossipand wonder as to how it has come about, but the county will be sopleased at your coming back again to your father's place, that they willnot be very curious as to how it occurred. I shall go off as quickly andas quietly as I can, after calling to say good-bye to those with whom Ihave been so long associated in the municipal business.

  "It matters not where we go. I can take a furnished house at someseaside watering-place. The doctor will advise which is most likely tosuit me, and we can then look round and settle on our future plans atour leisure. If I gain strength I think it likely enough we may travelon the Continent for a time. The girls have never been abroad and theprospect would go a long way towards reconciling them entirely to thechange."

  "I think that a very good plan," Cuthbert said. "I was intending to callupon the doctor on my way down and he will at once set the ballrolling."

  Mr. Brander went to the door where the fly had been waiting for twohours.

  "God bless you!" he said. "I cannot tell you how deeply grateful I am toyou for your forbearance and generosity."

  "Don't worry any more about it, Mr. Brander," Cuthbert said, as he shookhis hand, "it has been a temporary change, and good rather than bad hascome of it. Believe me, I shall put the matter out of my mindaltogether."

  "Back again, Cuthbert," the doctor said, when he was shown into theconsulting-room. "I was down just now at the station to see a man off,and the station-master said you had arrived by the 11.30 train, and thathe had seen you drive off in a fly. I could hardly believe it, but asyou are here in person I suppose that there can be no mistake about it.Of course you have been up to Brander's again?"

  "I have, Doctor, and for the last time. That is, the next time I shallgo up it will be to take possession of Fairclose."

  "My dear lad, I am delighted," the doctor said, shaking him heartily bythe hand, "how has this miracle come about?"

  "I cannot give you all the details, Doctor. I will simply give you thefacts, which, by the way, I shall be glad if you will retail to yourpatients for public consumption," and he then repeated the statementthat he had arranged with Mr. Brander that he should make.

  "And that is the tale you wish me to disseminate?" the doctor said, witha twinkle of his eye, when Cuthbert concluded.

  "That is the statement, Doctor, and it has the merit of being, as far asit goes, true. What the nature of the illegality of this sale was, I amnot at liberty to disclose, not even to you, but I have discovered thatbeyond all question it was irregular and invalid, and Brander and I havecome to a perfectly amicable understanding. I may tell you that toprevent the trouble inseparable even from a friendly lawsuit he assignsthe property to me as Mary's dowry, and as a sort of recognition of thefact that he acted without sufficient care in advising my father to takethose shares in the bank. Thus all necessity for the reopening of bygoneevents will be obviated."

  "A very sensible way, lad. You will understand, of course, that I knowenough of Jeremiah to be quite sure that he would not relinquish a fineproperty if he had a leg to stand upon. However, that is no business ofmine, and I have no doubt that the fact that he is going to be yourfather-in-law, has had no small influence in bringing about this veryadmirable arrangement. Of course the matter will make a good deal oftalk, but these things soon die out, and the county will welcome youback too heartily to care how your return has been brought about. Youcan rely upon my action in the part of town-crier, and I am sure to someof my patients the flutter of excitement the news will occasion will doa great deal more good than any medicine I could give them. Of courseyou are going to stay here?"

  "Only to dinner, Doctor. I shall run up to town again this evening."