wilfrid mercer's modest establishment was situated in high street, oldborough. a shining brass plate on the front door proclaimed him physician and surgeon, but as yet he had done little more than publish his name in the town. it had been rather a venture to settle in a conservative old place like oldborough, where, by dint of struggling and scraping, he had managed to buy a small practice. by the time this was done and his house furnished, he would have been hard put to it to lay his hands on fifty pounds. as so frequently happens, the value of the practice had been exaggerated; the man he had succeeded had not been particularly popular, and some of the older patients took the opportunity of going elsewhere.
it was not a pleasant prospect, as mercer admitted, as he sat in his consulting-room that wintry afternoon. he began to be sorry that he had given up his occupation of ship's doctor. the work was hard and occasionally dangerous, but the pay had been regular and the chance of seeing the world alluring. but for his mother, who had come to keep house for him, perhaps wilfrid mercer would not have abandoned the sea. however, they had few friends, and mrs. mercer was growing old and the change appeared to be prudent. up to the present wilfrid had kept most of his troubles to himself, and his mother little knew how desperately near the wind he was sailing in money matters. unfortunately he had been obliged to borrow, and before long one of his repayments would be falling due. sorely against his will he had gone to a money-lender, and he knew that he could expect no quarter if he failed to meet his obligations.
while he sat gazing idly into the growing darkness, watching the thin traffic trickle by, he heard the sound of a motor horn and a moment later a big mercedes car stopped before his door. there was an imperative ring at the bell, which wilfrid answered in person.
"i believe you are dr. mercer," the driver said. "if so, i shall be glad if you will come at once to maldon grange. my master has met with an accident, and if you cannot come immediately i must find somebody else."
"i believe i can manage it," wilfrid said with assumed indifference. he was wondering who the man's master was and where maldon grange might be. a stranger in the neighbourhood, there were many large houses of which he knew nothing. it would be well, however, to keep his ignorance to himself. "if you'll wait a moment i'll put a few things into my bag."
few words were spoken as the car dashed along the road till the lodge gates at maldon grange were passed and the car pulled up in front of the house. a footman came to the door and relieved wilfrid of his bag. he speedily found himself in a morning room where he waited till beatrice galloway came in. she advanced with a smile.
"it is very good of you to come so promptly," she said. "i did not quite catch your name."
"surely you have not forgotten me?" wilfrid said.
"wilfrid—dr. mercer!" beatrice exclaimed. "fancy seeing you here. when we last met in london six months ago i thought you were going abroad. i have heard several times from our friend, mrs. hope, and as she never mentioned your name, i concluded you were out of england. and all this time you have been practising in oldborough."
"well, not quite that," wilfrid smiled. "i have only been in oldborough about a month or so. i had to settle down for my mother's sake. to meet you here is a great surprise. are you staying in the house?"
"didn't you know?" beatrice asked. "well perhaps you could not. you see, when i was staying with mrs. hope my uncle was abroad, and i don't think his name was ever mentioned. i suppose you have heard of samuel flower?"
wilfrid started slightly. there were few men who knew more of flower and his methods than the young doctor. he had been surgeon on board the notorious guelder rose on which there had been a mutiny resulting in the death of one of the ship's officers. the guelder rose was one of the flower line, and ugly stories were still whispered of the cause of that mutiny, and why samuel flower had never brought the ring-leaders to justice. wilfrid could have confirmed those stories and more. he could have told of men driven desperate by cruelty and want of food. he could have told of the part that he himself had played in the outbreak, and how he had brought himself within reach of the law. at one time he had been prepared to see the thing through. he had been eager to stand in the witness-box and tell his story. but by chance or design most of the malcontent crew had deserted at foreign ports, and had samuel flower chosen to be vindictive, mercer might have found himself in a serious position. and now, here he was, under the roof of this designing scoundrel, and before him was the one girl in all the world whom he cared for, and she was nearly related to the man whom he most hated and feared and despised.
all these things flashed through his mind in a moment. he would have to go through with it now. he would have to meet samuel flower face to face and trust to luck. it was lucky he had never met the man whom he regarded as the author of his greatest misfortunes, and no doubt a busy man like flower would have already forgotten the name of mercer. it was a comfort, too, that beatrice galloway knew nothing of the antecedents of her uncle. else she would not have been under his roof.
"it is all very strange," he murmured. "you can understand how taken aback i was when i met you just now."
"not disappointed, i hope," beatrice smiled.
"i don't think there is any occasion to ask that question," wilfrid said meaningly. "but i must confess that i am disappointed in a sense. you see, i did not know you were the probable heiress of a rich man like mr. flower. i thought you were poor like myself, and i hoped that in time—well, i think you know what my hopes were."
it was a bold, almost audacious, thing to say in the circumstances, and wilfrid trembled at his own temerity. but, saving a slight flush on the girl's cheeks, she showed no sign of disapproval or anger. there was something in her eyes which was not displeasing to wilfrid.
"i am afraid we are wasting time," she said. "my uncle has had a fall and cut his hand badly with some glass. he is resting in the conservatory, and i had better take you to him."
mercer followed obediently. samuel flower looked up with a curt nod, as beatrice proceeded to explain. apparently the name of mercer conveyed nothing to him, for he held out his hand in his prompt, business-like fashion and demanded whether anything was seriously wrong.
"this comes of listening to a woman," flower muttered. "my niece got it into her head that a tramp was trying to break into the house, and in searching for him i slipped and came to grief. of course i found nobody as i might have known at first."
"but, uncle," beatrice protested. "i saw the man's hand through the glass. you can see for yourself where the pane has been removed, and there, lying on the floor, is the very piece of string he was using."
beatrice pointed almost in triumph to the knotted string lying on the floor, but flower shook his head impatiently and signified that the sooner mercer went on with his treatment the better. as it happened, there was little the matter, and in a quarter of an hour the wounded hand was skilfully bandaged and showed only a few strips of plaster.
"you did that very neatly," flower said in his ungracious way. "i suppose there are no tendons cut or anything of that kind? one hears of lockjaw following cut fingers. i suppose there's no risk of that?"
"for a strong man my uncle is terribly afraid of illness," beatrice smiled. "i see he owes me a grudge for being the cause of his accident. and yet, indeed, i am certain that a man attempted to enter into the conservatory. fortunately for me, i am in a position to prove it. you won't accuse me of imagining that there is a piece of string lying on the floor by the door. i will pick it up and convince you."
beatrice raised the cord in her hand. it was about a foot in length, exceedingly fine and silky in texture, and containing at intervals five strangely complicated knots of most intricate pattern. with a smile of triumph on her face beatrice handed the fragment to her uncle.
"there!" she cried. "see for yourself."
flower made no reply. he held the string in his hand, gazing at it with eyes dark and dilated.
"great heavens!" he exclaimed. the words seemed to be literally torn from him. "is it possible——"
