ormskirk closed the door; then he turned, "i lack words," the duke said. "oh, believe me, speech fails before this spectacle. to find you, here, at this hour! to find you—my betrothed wife's kinswoman and life-long associate,—here, in this garb! a slain man at your feet, his blood yet reeking upon that stolen sword! his papers—pardon me!"
ormskirk sprang forward and caught the despatch-box from her grasp as she strove to empty its contents into the fire. "pardon me," he repeated; "you have unsexed yourself; do not add high treason to the list of your misdemeanors. mr. vanringham's papers, as i have previously had the honor to inform you, are the state's property."
she stood with void and inefficient hands that groped vaguely. "i could trust no one," she said. "i have fenced so often with gerald. i was not afraid—at least, i was not very much afraid.. and 'twas so difficult to draw him into a quarrel,—he wanted to live, because at last he had the money his dirty little soul had craved. ah, i had sacrificed so many things to get these papers, my lord duke,—and now you rob me of them. you!"
the duke bent pitiless brows upon her. "i rob you of them," he said,—"ay, i am discourteous and i rob, but not for myself alone. for your confusion tells me that i hold here between my hands the salvation of england. child, child!" he cried, in sudden tenderness, "i trusted you to-day, and could you not trust me? i promised you the life of the man you love. i promised you—" he broke off, as if in a rivalry of rage and horror. "and you betrayed me! you came hither, trousered and shameless, to save these hare-brained traitors! well, but at worst your treachery has very happily released me from my promise to meddle in the fate of this audaine. i shall not lift a finger now. and i warn you that within the week your precious captain will have become the associate of seraphim."
she had heard him, with defiant eyes; her head was flung back and she laughed. "you thought i had come to destroy the jacobite petition! heavens, what had i to do with all such nonsense? you had promised me frank's pardon, and the other men i had never seen. harkee, my lord duke, do all you politicians jump so wildly in your guess work? did you in truth believe that the poor fool who lies dead below would have entrusted the paper which meant life and wealth to the keeping of a flimsy despatch-box?"
"indeed, no," his grace of ormskirk replied, and appeared a thought abashed; "i was certain it would be concealed somewhere about his person, and i have already given benyon orders to search for it. still, i confess that for the moment your agitation misled me into believing these were the important papers; and i admit, my dear creature, that unless you came hither prompted by a mad design somehow to destroy the incriminating documents and thereby to ensure your lover's life—why, otherwise, i repeat, i am quite unable to divine your motive."
she was silent for a while. presently, "you told me this afternoon," she began, in a dull voice, "that you anticipated much amusement from your perusal of mr. vanringham's correspondence. all his papers were to be seized, you said; and they all were to be brought to you, you said. and so many love-sick misses write to actors, you said."
"as i recall the conversation," his grace conceded, "that which you have stated is quite true." he spoke with admirable languor, but his countenance was vaguely troubled.
and now the girl came to him and laid her finger-tips ever so lightly upon his. "trust me," she pleaded. "give me again the trust i have not merited. ay, in spite of reason, my lord duke, restore to me these papers unread, that i may destroy them. for otherwise, i swear to you that without gain to yourself—without gain, o god!—you wreck alike the happiness of an innocent woman and of an honest gentleman. and otherwise—o infatuate!" she wailed, and wrung impotent hands.
but ormskirk shook his head. "i cannot leap in the dark."
she found no comfort in his face, and presently lowered her eyes. he remained motionless. the girl went to the farther end of the apartment, and then, her form straightening on a sudden, turned and came back toward him.
"i think god has some grudge against you," dorothy said, without any emotion, "and—hardens your heart, as of old he hardened pharaoh's heart, to your own destruction. i have done my utmost to save you. my woman's modesty i have put aside, and death and worse than death i have dared to encounter to-night,—ah, my lord, i have walked through hell this night for your sake and another's. and in the end 'tis yourself who rob me of what i had so nearly gained. beyond doubt god has some grudge against you. take your fate, then."
"integer vitæ—" said the duke of ormskirk; and with more acerbity, "go on!" for momentarily she had paused.
"the man who lies dead below was loved by many women. god pity them! but women are not sensible like men, you know. and always the footlights made a halo about him; and when you saw him as castalio or romeo, all beauty and love and vigor and nobility, how was a woman to understand his splendor was a sham, taken off with his wig, removed with his pinchbeck jewelry, and as false? no, they thought it native, poor wretches. yet one of them at least, my lord—a young girl—found out her error before it was too late. the man was a villain through and through. god grant he sups in hell to-night!"
"go on," said ormskirk. but by this time he knew all that she had to tell.
"afterward he demanded money of her. he had letters, you understand—mad, foolish letters,—and these he offered to sell back to her at his own price. and their publicity meant ruin. and, my lord, we had so nearly saved the money—pinching day by day, a little by a little, for his price was very high, and it was necessary the sum be got in secrecy,—and that in the end they should be read by you—" her voice broke.
"go on," said ormskirk.
but her composure was shattered. "i would have given my life to save her," the girl babbled. "ah, you know that i have tried to save her. i was not very much afraid. and it seemed the only way. so i came hither, my lord, as you see me, to get back the letters before you, too, had come."
"there is but one woman in the world," the duke said, quietly, "for whom you would have done this thing. you and marian were reared together. always you have been inseparable, always you have been to each other as sisters. is this not what you are about to tell me?"
"yes," she answered.
"well, you may spare yourself the pains of such unprofitable lying. that marian heleigh should have been guilty of a vulgar liaison with, an actor is to me, who know her, unthinkable. no, madam! it was fear, not love, which drove you hither to-night, and now a baser terror urges you to screen yourself by vilifying her. the woman of whom you speak is yourself. the letters were written by you."
she raised one arm as though a physical blow impended. "no, no!" she cried.
"madam," the duke said, "let us have done with these dexterities. i have the vanity to believe i am not unreasonably obtuse—nor, i submit, unreasonably self-righteous. love is a monstrous force, as irrational, i sometimes think, as the force of the thunderbolt; it appears neither to select nor to eschew, but merely to strike; and it is not my duty to asperse or to commend its victims. you have loved unworthily. from the bottom of my heart i pity you, and i would that you had trusted me—had trusted me enough—" his voice was not quite steady. "ah, my dear," said ormskirk, "you should have confided all to me this afternoon. it hurts me that you did not, for i am no pharisee and—god knows!—my own past is not immaculate. i would have understood, i think. yet as it is, take back your letters, child,—nay, in heaven's name, take them in pledge of an old man's love for dorothy allonby."
the girl obeyed, turning them in her hands, the while that her eyes were riveted to ormskirk's face. and in aprilian fashion she began to smile through her tears. "you are superb, my lord duke. you comprehend that marian wrote these letters, and that if you read them—and i knew of it,—your pride would force you to break off the match, because your notions as to what is befitting in a duchess of ormskirk are precise. but you want marian, you want her even more than i had feared. therefore, you give me all these letters, because you know that i will destroy them, and thus an inconvenient knowledge will be spared you. oh, beyond doubt, you are superb."
"i give them to you," ormskirk answered, "because i have seen through your cowardly and clumsy lie, and have only pity for a thing so base as you. i give them to you because to read one syllable of their contents would be to admit i had some faith in your preposterous fabrication."
but she shook her head. "words, words, my lord duke! i understand you to the marrow. and, in part, i think that i admire you."
he was angry now. "eh! for the love of god," cried the duke of ormskirk, "let us burn the accursed things and have no more verbiage!" he seized the papers and flung them into the fire.
then these two watched the papers consume to ashes, and stood a while in silence, the gaze of neither lifting higher than the andirons; and presently there was a tapping at the door.
"that will be benyon," the duke said, with careful modulations. "enter, man! what news is there of this vanringham?"
"he will recover, your grace, though he has lost much blood. mr. vanringham has regained consciousness and took occasion to whisper me your grace would find the needful papers in his escritoire, in the brown despatch-box."
"that is well," the duke retorted, "you may go, benyon." and when the door had closed, he began, incuriously: "then you are not a murderess at least, miss allonby. at least—" he made a queer noise as he gazed, at the despatch-box in his hand. "the brown box!" it fell to the floor. ormskirk drew near to her, staring, moving stiffly like a hinged toy, "i must have the truth," he said, without a trace of any human passion. this was the ormskirk men had known in scotland.
"yes," she answered, "they were the jacobite papers. you burned them."
"i!" said the duke.
presently he said: "do you not understand what this farce has cost? thanks to you, i have no iota of proof against these men. i cannot touch these rebels. o madam, i pray heaven that you have not by this night's trickery destroyed england!"
"i did it to save the man i love," she proudly said.
"i had promised you his life."
"but would you have kept that promise?"
"no," he answered, simply.
"then are we quits, my lord. you lied to me, and i to you. oh, i know that were i a man you would kill me within the moment. but you respect my womanhood. ah, goodness!" the girl cried, shrilly, "what very edifying respect for womanhood have you, who burned those papers because you believed my dearest marian had stooped to a painted mountebank!"
"i burned them—yes, in the belief that i was saving you."
she laughed in his face. "you never believed that,—not for an instant."
but by this time ormskirk had regained his composure. "the hour is somewhat late, and the discussion—if you will pardon the suggestion,—not likely to be profitable. the upshot of the whole matter is that i am now powerless to harm anybody—i submit the simile of the fangless snake,—and that captain audaine will have his release in the morning. accordingly you will now permit me to wish you a pleasant night's rest. benyon!" he called, "you will escort mr. osric allonby homeward. i remain to clear up this affair."
he held open the door for her, and, bowing, stood aside that she might pass.
