the next week was one of considerable perturbation, trouble, and excitement at bullhampton, and in the neighbourhood of warminster and heytesbury. it soon became known generally that jack the grinder and lawrence acorn were in salisbury gaol, and that sam brattle—was wanted. the perturbation and excitement at bullhampton were, of course, greater than elsewhere. it was necessary that the old miller should be told,—necessary also that the people at the mill should be asked as to sam’s present whereabouts. if they did not know it, they might assist the vicar in discovering it. fenwick went to the mill, taking the squire with him; but they could obtain no information. the miller was very silent, and betrayed hardly any emotion when he was told that the police again wanted his son.
“they can come and search,” he said. “they can come and search.” and then he walked slowly away into the mill. there was a scene, of course, with mrs. brattle and fanny, and the two women were in a sad way.
“poor boy,—wretched boy!” said the unfortunate mother, who sat sobbing with her apron over her face.
“we know nothing of him, mr. gilmore, or we would tell at once,” said fanny.
“i’m sure you would,” said the vicar. “and you may remember this, mrs. brattle; i do not for one moment believe that sam had any more to do with the murder than you or i. you may tell his father that i say so, if you please.”
for saying this the squire rebuked him as soon as they had left the mill. “i think you go too far in giving such assurance as that,” he said.
“surely you would have me say what i think?”
“not on such a matter as this, in which any false encouragement may produce so much increased suffering. you, yourself, are so prone to take your own views in opposition to those of others that you should be specially on your guard when you may do so much harm.”
“i feel quite sure that he had nothing to do with it.”
“you see that you have the police against you after a most minute and prolonged investigation.”
“the police are asses,” insisted the vicar.
“just so. that is, you prefer your own opinion to theirs in regard to a murder. i should prefer yours to theirs on a question of scriptural evidence, but not in such an affair as this. i don’t want to talk you over, but i wish to make you careful with other people who are so closely concerned. in dealing with others you have no right to throw over the ordinary rules of evidence.”
the vicar accepted the rebuke and promised to be more careful,—repeating, however, his own opinion about sam, to which he declared his intention of adhering in regard to his own conduct, let the police and magistrates say what they might. he almost went so far as to declare that he should do so even in opposition to the verdict of a jury; but gilmore understood that this was simply the natural obstinacy of the man, showing itself in its natural form.
at this moment, which was certainly one of gloom to the parish at large, and of great sorrow at the vicarage, the squire moved about with a new life which was evident to all who saw him. he went about his farm, and talked about his trees, and looked at his horses and had come to life again. no doubt many guesses as to the cause of this were made throughout his establishment, and some of them, probably, very near the truth. but, for the fenwicks there was no need of guessing. gilmore had been told that mary lowther was coming to bullhampton in the early summer, and had at once thrown off the cloak of his sadness. he had asked no further questions; mrs. fenwick had found herself unable to express a caution; but the extent of her friend’s elation almost frightened her.
“i don’t look at it,” she said to her husband, “quite as he does.”
“she’ll have him now,” he answered, and then mrs. fenwick said nothing further.
to fenwick himself, this change was one of infinite comfort. the squire was his old friend and almost his only near neighbour. in all his troubles, whether inside or outside of the parish, he naturally went to gilmore; and, although he was a man not very prone to walk by the advice of friends, still it had been a great thing to him to have a friend who would give an opinion, and perhaps the more so, as the friend was one who did not insist on having his opinion taken. during the past winter gilmore had been of no use whatever to his friend. his opinions on all matters had gone so vitally astray, that they had not been worth having. and he had become so morose, that the vicar had found it to be almost absolutely necessary to leave him alone as far as ordinary life was concerned. but now the squire was himself again, and on this exciting topic of trumbull’s murder, the prisoners in salisbury gaol, and the necessity for sam’s reappearance, could talk sensibly and usefully.
it was certainly very expedient that sam should be made to reappear as soon as possible. the idea was general in the parish that the vicar knew all about him. george brattle, who had become bail for his brother’s reappearance, had given his name on the clear understanding that the vicar would be responsible. some half-sustained tidings of carry’s presence in salisbury and of the vicar’s various visits to the city were current in bullhampton, and with these were mingled an idea that carry and sam were in league together. that fenwick was chivalrous, perhaps quixotic, in his friendships for those whom he regarded, had long been felt, and this feeling was now stronger than ever. he certainly could bring up sam brattle if he pleased;—or, if he pleased, as might, some said, not improbably be the case, he could keep him away. there would be ￡400 to pay for the bail-bond, but the vicar was known to be rich as well as quixotic, and,—so said the puddlehamites,—would care very little about that, if he might thus secure for himself his own way.
he was constrained to go over again to salisbury in order that he might, if possible, learn from carry how to find some trace to her brother, and of this visit the puddlehamites also informed themselves. there were men and women in bullhampton who knew exactly how often the vicar had visited the young woman at salisbury, how long he had been with her on each occasion, and how much he paid mrs. stiggs for the accommodation. gentlemen who are quixotic in their kindness to young women are liable to have their goings and comings chronicled with much exactitude, if not always with accuracy.
his interview with carry on this occasion was very sad. he could not save himself from telling her in part the cause of his inquiries. “they haven’t taken the two men, have they?” she asked, with an eagerness that seemed to imply that she possessed knowledge on the matter which could hardly not be guilty.
“what two men?” he asked, looking full into her face. then she was silent and he was unwilling to catch her in a trap, to cross-examine her as a lawyer would do, or to press out of her any communication which she would not make willingly and of her own free action. “i am told,” he said, “that two men have been taken for the murder.”
“where did they find ’em, sir?”
“they had escaped to america, and the police have brought them back. did you know them, carry?” she was again silent. the men had not been named, and it was not for her to betray them. hitherto, in their interviews, she had hardly ever looked him in the face, but now she turned her blue eyes full upon him. “you told me before at the old woman’s cottage,” he said, “that you knew them both,—had known one too well.”
“if you please, sir, i won’t say nothing about ’em.”
“i will not ask you, carry. but you would tell me about your brother, if you knew?”
“indeed i would, sir;—anything. he hadn’t no more to do with farmer trumbull’s murder nor you had. they can’t touch a hair of his head along of that.”
“such is my belief;—but who can prove it?” again she was silent. “can you prove it? if speaking could save your brother, surely you would speak out. would you hesitate, carry, in doing anything for your brother’s sake? whatever may be his faults, he has not been hard to you like the others.”
“oh, sir, i wish i was dead.”
“you must not wish that, carry. and if you know ought of this you will be bound to speak. if you could bring yourself to tell me what you know, i think it might be good for both of you.”
“it was they who had the money. sam never seed a shilling of it.”
“who is ‘they’?”
“jack burrows and larry acorn. and it wasn’t larry acorn neither, sir. i know very well who did it. it was jack burrows who did it.”
“that is he they call the grinder?”
“but larry was with him then,” said the girl, sobbing.
“you are sure of that?”
“i ain’t sure of nothing, mr. fenwick, only that sam wasn’t there at all. of that i am quite, quite, quite sure. but when you asks me, what am i to say?”
then he left her without speaking to her on this occasion a word about herself. he had nothing to say that would give her any comfort. he had almost made up his mind that he would take her over with him to the mill, and try what might be done by the meeting between the father, mother, and daughter, but all this new matter about the police and the arrest, and sam’s absence, made it almost impossible for him to take such a step at present. as he went, he again interrogated mrs. stiggs, and was warned by her that words fell daily from her lodger which made her think that the young woman would not remain much longer with her. in the meantime there was nothing of which she could complain. carry insisted on her liberty to go out and about the city alone; but the woman was of opinion that she did this simply with the object of asserting her independence. after that the necessary payment was made, and the vicar returned to the railway station. of sam he had learned nothing, and now he did not know where to go for tidings. he still believed that the young man would come of his own accord, if the demand for his appearance were made so public as to reach his ear.
on that same day there was a meeting of the magistrates at heytesbury, and the two men who had been so cruelly fetched back from san francisco were brought before it. mr. gilmore was on the bench, along with sir thomas charleys, who was the chairman, and three other gentlemen. lord trowbridge was in the court house, and sat upon the bench, but gave it out that he was not sitting there as a magistrate. samuel brattle was called upon to answer to his bail, and jones, the attorney appearing for him, explained that he had gone from home to seek work elsewhere, alluded to the length of time that had elapsed, and to the injustice of presuming that a man against whom no evidence had been adduced, should be bound to remain always in one parish,—and expressed himself without any doubt that mr. fenwick and mr. george brattle, who were his bailsmen, would cause him to be found and brought forward. as neither the clergyman nor the farmer were in court, nothing further could be done at once; and the magistrates were quite ready to admit that time must be allowed. nor was the case at all ready against the two men who were in custody. indeed, against them the evidence was so little substantial that a lawyer from devizes, who attended on their behalf, expressed his amazement that the american authorities should have given them up, and suggested that it must have been done with some view to a settlement of the alabama claims. evidence, however, was brought up to show that the two men had been convicted before, the one for burglary, and the other for horse-stealing; that the former, john burrows, known as the grinder, was a man from devizes with whom the police about that town, and at chippenham, bath, and wells, were well acquainted; that the other, acorn, was a young man who had been respectable, as a partner in a livery stable at birmingham, but who had taken to betting, and had for a year past been living by evil courses, having previously undergone two years of imprisonment with hard labour. it was proved that they had been seen in the neighbourhood both before and after the murder; that boots found in the cottage at pycroft common fitted certain footmarks in the mud of the farmer’s yard; that burrows had been supplied with a certain poison at a county chemist’s at lavington, and that the dog bone’m had been poisoned with the like. many other matters were proved, all of which were declared by the lawyer from devizes to amount to nothing, and by the police authorities, who were prosecutors, to be very much. the magistrates of course ordered a remand, and ordered also that on the day named sam brattle should appear. it was understood that that day week was only named pro forma, the constables having explained that at least a fortnight would be required for the collection of further evidence. this took place on tuesday, the 25th of april, and it was understood that time up to the 8th of may would be given to the police to complete their case.
so far all went on quietly at heytesbury; but before the magistrates left the little town there was a row. sir thomas charleys, in speaking to his brother magistrate, mr. gilmore, about the whole affair and about the brattles in particular, had alluded to “mr. fenwick’s unfortunate connexion with carry brattle” at salisbury. gilmore fired up at once, and demanded to know the meaning of this. sir thomas, who was not the wisest man in the world, but who had ideas of justice, and as to whom, in giving him his due, it must be owned that he was afraid of no one, after some hesitation, acknowledged that what he had heard respecting mr. fenwick had fallen from lord trowbridge. he had heard from lord trowbridge that the vicar of bullhampton was * * *. gilmore on the occasion became full of energy, and pressed the baronet very hard. sir thomas hoped that mr. gilmore was not going to make mischief. mr. gilmore declared that he would not submit to the injury done to his friend, and that he would question lord trowbridge on the subject. he did question lord trowbridge, whom he found waiting for his carriage, in the parlour of the bull inn, sir thomas having accompanied him in the search. the marquis was quite outspoken. he had heard, he said, from what he did not doubt to be good authority, that mr. fenwick was in the habit of visiting alone a young woman who had lived in his parish, but whom he now maintained in lodgings in a low alley in the suburbs of salisbury. he had said so much as that. in so saying, had he spoken truth or falsehood? if he had said anything untrue, he would be the first to acknowledge his own error.
then there had come to be very hot words. “my lord,” said mr. gilmore, “your insinuation is untrue. whatever your words may have been, in the impression which they have made, they are slanderous.”
“who are you, sir,” said the marquis, looking at him from head to foot, “to talk to me of the impression of my words?”
but mr. gilmore’s blood was up. “you intended to convey to sir thomas charleys, my lord, that mr. fenwick’s visits were of a disgraceful nature. if your words did not convey that, they conveyed nothing.”
“who are you, sir, that you should interpret my words? i did no more than my duty in conveying to sir thomas charleys my conviction,—my well-grounded conviction,—as to the gentleman’s conduct. what i said to him i will say aloud to the whole county. it is notorious that the vicar of bullhampton is in the habit of visiting a profligate young woman in a low part of the city. that i say is disgraceful to him, to his cloth, and to the parish, and i shall give my opinion to the bishop to that effect. who are you, sir, that you should question my words?” and again the marquis eyed the squire from head to foot, leaving the room with a majestic strut as gilmore went on to assert that the allegation made, with the sense implied by it, contained a wicked and a malicious slander. then there were some words, much quieter than those preceding them, between mr. gilmore and sir thomas, in which the squire pledged himself to,—he hardly knew what, and sir thomas promised to hold his tongue,—for the present. but, as a matter of course, the quarrel flew all over the little town. it was out of the question that such a man as the marquis of trowbridge should keep his wrath confined. before he had left the inn-yard he had expressed his opinion very plainly to half-a-dozen persons, both as to the immorality of the vicar and the impudence of the squire; and as he was taken home his hand was itching for pen and paper in order that he might write to the bishop. sir thomas shrugged his shoulders, and did not tell the story to more than three or four confidential friends, to all of whom he remarked that on the matter of the visits made to the girl, there never was smoke without fire. gilmore’s voice, too, had been loud, and all the servants about the inn had heard him. he knew that the quarrel was already public, and felt that he had no alternative but to tell his friend what had passed.
on that same evening he saw the vicar. fenwick had returned from salisbury, tired, dispirited, and ill at ease, and was just going in to dress for dinner, when gilmore met him at his own stable-door, and told him what had occurred.
“then, after all, my wife was right and i was wrong,” said fenwick.
“right about what?” gilmore asked.
“she said that lord trowbridge would spread these very lies. i confess that i made the mistake of believing him to be a gentleman. of course i may use your information?”
“use it just as you please,” said gilmore. then they parted, and gilmore, who was on horseback, rode home.
