the last words in the last chapter were spoken by mr apjohn to his confidential clerk in a tone of triumph. he had picked up something further, and, conscious that he had done so by his own ingenuity, was for a moment triumphant. but when he came to think over it all alone,—and he spent many hours just at present in thinking of this matter,—he was less inclined to be self-satisfied. he felt that a great responsibility rested with him, and that this weighed upon him peculiarly at the present moment. he was quite sure not only that a later will had been made, but that it was in existence. it was concealed somewhere, and cousin henry knew the secret of its hiding-place. it had existed, at any rate, that morning; but now came the terrible question whether the man, driven to his last gasp in his misery, would not destroy it. not only had mr apjohn discovered the secret, but he was well aware that cousin henry was conscious that he had done so, and yet not a word had been spoken between them which, should the will now be destroyed, could be taken as evidence that it had ever existed. let the paper be once burnt, and cousin henry would be safe in possession of the property. mr cheekey might torment his victim, but certainly would not extract from him a confession such as that. the hiding of the will, the very place in which it was hidden, might possibly be extracted. it was conceivable that ingenuity on one side and abject terror on the other might lead a poor wretch to betray the secret; but a man who has committed a felony will hardly confess the deed in a court of law. something of all this would, thought mr apjohn, occur to cousin henry himself, and by this very addition to his fears he might be driven to destroy the will. the great object now should be to preserve a document which had lived as it were a charmed life through so many dangers. if anything were to be done with this object,—anything new,—it must be done at once. even now, while he was thinking of it, cousin henry was being taken slowly home in mr powell's fly, and might do the deed as soon as he found himself alone in the book-room. mr apjohn was almost sure that the will was concealed somewhere in the book-room. that long-continued sojourn in the chamber, of which the whole country had heard so much, told him that it was so. he was there always, watching the hiding-place. would it be well that searchers should again be sent out, and that they should be instructed never to leave that room till after cousin henry's examination should be over? if so, it would be right that a man should be sent off instantly on horseback, so as to prevent immediate destruction. but then he had no power to take such a step in reference to another man's house. it was a question whether any magistrate would give him such a warrant, seeing that search had already been made, and that, on the failure of such search, that squire's will had already been proved. a man's house is his castle, let the suspicion against him be what it may, unless there be evidence to support it. were he to apply to a magistrate, he could only say that the man's own manner and mode of speech had been evidence of his guilt. and yet how much was there hanging, perhaps, on the decision of the moment! whether the property should go to the hands of her who was entitled to enjoy it, or remain in the possession of a thief such as this, might so probably depend on the action which should be taken, now, at this very instant!
mr ricketts, his confidential clerk, was the only person with whom he had fully discussed all the details of the case,—the only person to whom he had expressed his own thoughts as they had occurred to him. he had said a word to the clerk in triumph as cousin henry left him, but a few minutes afterwards recalled him with an altered tone. "ricketts," he said, "the man has got that will with him in the book-room at llanfeare."
"or in his pocket, sir," suggested ricketts.
"i don't think it. wherever it be at this moment, he has not placed it there himself. the squire put it somewhere, and he has found it."
"the squire was very weak when he made that will, sir," said the clerk. "just at that time he was only coming down to the dining-room, when the sun shone in just for an hour or two in the day. if he put the will anywhere, it would probably be in his bed-room."
"the man occupies another chamber?" asked the attorney.
"yes, sir; the same room he had before his uncle died."
"it's in the book-room," repeated mr apjohn.
"then he must have put it there."
"but he didn't. from his manner, and from a word or two that he spoke, i feel sure that the paper has been placed where it is by other hands."
"the old man never went into the book-room. i heard every detail of his latter life from mrs griffith when the search was going on. he hadn't been there for more than a month. if he wanted anything out of the book-room, after the young lady went away, he sent mrs griffith for it."
"what did he send for?" asked mr apjohn.
"he used to read a little sometimes," said the clerk.
"sermons?" suggested mr apjohn. "for many years past he has read sermons to himself whenever he has failed in going to church. i have seen the volumes there on the table in the parlour when i have been with him. did they search the books?"
"had every volume off the shelves, sir."
"and opened every one of them?"
"that i can't tell. i wasn't there."
"every volume should have been shaken," said mr apjohn.
"it's not too late yet, sir," said the clerk.
"but how are we to get in and do it? i have no right to go into his house, or any man's, to search it."
"he wouldn't dare to hinder you, sir."
then there was a pause before anything further was said.
"the step is such a strong one to take," said the lawyer, "when one is guided only by one's own inner conviction. i have no tittle of evidence in my favour to prove anything beyond the fact that the old squire in the latter days of his life did make a will which has not been found. for that we have searched, and, not finding it, have been forced to admit to probate the last will which we ourselves made. since that nothing has come to my knowledge. guided partly by the man's ways while he has been at llanfeare, and partly by his own manner and hesitation, i have come to a conclusion in my own mind; but it is one which i would hardly dare to propose to a magistrate as a ground for action."
"but if he consented, sir?"
"still, i should be hardly able to justify myself for such intrusion if nothing were found. we have no right to crush the poor creature because he is so easily crushable. i feel already pricks of conscience because i am bringing down jack cheekey upon him. if it all be as i have suggested,—that the will is hidden, let us say in some volume of sermons there,—what probability is there that he will destroy it now?"
"he would before the trial, i think."
"but not at once? i think not. he will not allow himself to be driven to the great crime till the last moment. it is quite on the cards that his conscience will even at last be too strong for it."
"we owe him something, sir, for not destroying it when he first found it."
"not a doubt! if we are right in all this, we do owe him something,—at any rate, charity enough to suppose that the doing of such a deed must be very distasteful to him. when i think of it i doubt whether he'll do it at all."
"he asked me why they didn't come and search again."
"did he? i shouldn't wonder if the poor devil would be glad enough to be relieved from it all. i'll tell you what i'll do, ricketts. i'll write to miss brodrick's father, and ask him to come over here before the trial. he is much more concerned in the matter than i am, and should know as well what ought to be done."
the letter was written urging mr brodrick to come at once. "i have no right to tell you," mr apjohn said in his letter, "that there is ground for believing that such a document as that i have described is still existing. i might too probably be raising false hope were i to do so. i can only tell you of my own suspicion, explaining to you at the same time on what ground it is founded. i think it would be well that you should come over and consult with me whether further steps should be taken. if so, come at once. the trial is fixed for friday the 30th." this was written on thursday the 22nd. there was, therefore, not much more than a week's interval.
"you will come with me," said mr brodrick to the rev. william owen, after showing to him the letter from the attorney at hereford.
"why should i go with you?"
"i would wish you to do so—on isabel's behalf."
"isabel and i are nothing to each other."
"i am sorry to hear you say that. it was but the other day that you declared that she should be your wife in spite of herself."
"so she shall, if mr henry jones be firmly established at llanfeare. it was explained to me before why your daughter, as owner of llanfeare, ought not to marry me, and, as i altogether agreed with the reason given, it would not become me to take any step in this matter. as owner of llanfeare she will be nothing to me. it cannot therefore be right that i should look after her interests in that direction. on any other subject i would do anything for her."
the father no doubt felt that the two young people were self-willed, obstinate, and contradictory. his daughter wouldn't marry the clergyman because she had been deprived of her property. the clergyman now refused to marry his daughter because it was presumed that her property might be restored to her. as, however, he could not induce mr owen to go with him to carmarthen, he determined to go alone. he did not give much weight to this new story. it seemed to him certain that the man would destroy the will,—or would already have destroyed it,—if in the first instance he was wicked enough to conceal it. still the matter was so great and the question so important to his daughter's interest that he felt himself compelled to do as mr apjohn had proposed. but he did not do it altogether as mr apjohn had proposed. he allowed other matters to interfere, and postponed his journey till tuesday the 27th of the month. late on that evening he reached carmarthen, and at once went to mr apjohn's house.
cousin henry's journey into carmarthen had been made on the previous thursday, and since that day no new steps had been taken to unravel the mystery,—none at least which had reference to llanfeare. no further search had been made among the books. all that was known in carmarthen of cousin henry during these days was that he remained altogether within the house. were he so minded, ample time was allowed to him for the destruction of any document. in the town, preparation went on in the usual way for the assizes, at which the one case of interest was to be the indictment of mr evans for defamation of character. it was now supposed by the world at large that cousin henry would come into court; and because this was believed of him there was something of a slight turn of public opinion in his favour. it would hardly be the case that the man, if really guilty, would encounter mr cheekey.
during the days that had elapsed, even mr apjohn himself had lost something of his confidence. if any further step was to be taken, why did not the young lady's father himself come and take it? why had he been so dilatory in a matter which was of so much greater importance to himself than to any one else? but now the two attorneys were together, and it was necessary that they should decide upon doing something,—or nothing.
"i hoped you would have been here last week," said mr apjohn.
"i couldn't get away. there were things i couldn't possibly leave."
"it is so important," said mr apjohn.
"of course it is important,—of most vital importance,—if there be any hope."
"i have told you exactly what i think and feel."
"yes, yes. i know how much more than kind, how honourable you have been in all this matter. you still think that the will is hidden?"
"i did think so."
"something has changed your opinion?"
"i can hardly say that either," said mr apjohn. "there was ground on which to form my opinion, and i do not know that there is any ground for changing it. but in such a matter the mind will vacillate. i did think that he had found the will shut up in a volume of sermons, in a volume which his uncle had been reading during his illness, and that he had left the book in its place upon the shelf. that, you will say, is a conclusion too exact for man to reach without anything in the shape of absolute evidence."
"i do not say so; but then as yet i hardly know the process by which that belief has been reached."
"but i say so;—i say that is too exact. there is more of imagination in it than of true deduction. i certainly should not recommend another person to proceed far on such reasoning. you see it has been in this way." then he explained to his brother attorney the process of little circumstances by which he had arrived at his own opinion;—the dislike of the man to leave the house, his clinging to one room, his manifest possession of a secret as evinced by his conversations with farmer griffith, his continual dread of something, his very clinging to llanfeare as a residence which would not have been the case had he destroyed the will, his exaggerated fear of the coming cross-examination, his ready assertion that he had destroyed nothing and hidden nothing,—but his failure to reply when he was asked whether he was aware of any such concealment. then the fact that the books had not been searched themselves, that the old squire had never personally used the room, but had used a book or one or two books which had been taken from it; that these books had been volumes which had certainly been close to him in those days when the lost will was being written. all these and other little details known to the reader made the process by which mr apjohn had arrived at the conclusion which he now endeavoured to explain to mr brodrick.
"i grant that the chain is slight," said mr apjohn, "so slight that a feather may break it. the strongest point in it all was the look on the man's face when i asked him the last question. now i have told you everything, and you must decide what we ought to do."
but mr brodrick was a man endowed with lesser gifts than those of the other attorney. in such a matter mr apjohn was sure to lead. "what do you think yourself?"
"i would propose that we, you and i, should go together over to llanfeare to-morrow and ask him to allow us to make what further search we may please about the house. if he permitted this—"
"but would he?"
"i think he would. i am not at all sure but what he would wish to have the will found. if he did, we could begin and go through every book in the library. we would begin with the sermons, and soon know whether it be as i have suggested."
"but if he refused?"
"then i think i would make bold to insist on remaining there while you went to a magistrate. i have indeed already prepared mr evans of llancolly, who is the nearest magistrate. i would refuse to leave the room, and you would then return with a search warrant and a policeman. but as for opening the special book or books, i could do that with or without his permission. while you talk to him i will look round the room and see where they are. i don't think much of it all, mr brodrick; but when the stake is so high, it is worth playing for. if we fail in this, we can then only wait and see what the redoubtable mr cheekey may be able to do for us."
thus it was settled that mr brodrick and mr apjohn should go out to llanfeare on the following morning.
