mr. norcot and his kinsman, the clergyman, were walking together upon a broad terrace before the wool-stapler's dwelling-house. they had dined, and now they smoked their pipes out of doors, for the spring night was mild and clear.
not twenty yards distant, behind the lattice of a little summer-house, a man lay concealed; and it chanced that both speakers came within earshot of him, for the minister, feeling his dinner, proposed to enter the summer-house and sit down there awhile.
"'tis your port wine," he said. "what has a poor priest to do with such liquor?"
"he shall have much to do with it, and be a poor priest no more after to-morrow."
they sat down within two yards of john lee. convinced that grace must be hidden here in norcot's house, john was endeavouring to learn her apartment, that when nightfall came he might communicate with her. through four-and-twenty hours, since his last interview with cecil stark, he had toiled without success to find her; to-night he was determined to succeed, for early on the morrow the wedding would take place, if stark spoke the truth.
and now kindly chance threw to him information more valuable than the hiding-place of grace malherb. a wedding, indeed, was to be celebrated; but peter norcot, not the american, would be bridegroom.
the first words that fell upon lee's ear were spoken by the clergyman.
"'tis a very subtle piece of work; a wonderful stroke; yet i wish you had broke it to any man but me, peter."
"my dear relton, you're not in an after-dinner humour. 'twas not that you drank too much port, but too little. i've a hundred dozen of that vintage—put down by a loving father thirty years ago. well, how like you the thought of five-and-twenty dozen? 'tis emphatically a clergyman's wine. what potential tone—what tolerance—what breadth of view—what a fine literary flavour to your discourses all lie there!"
"to do evil that good may come—a parlous doctrine."
"most true. i'll go further and say a damnable doctrine. i'm asking you to attempt no such thing. you are invited to marry me to a woman in the dark—a literal, not a spiritual darkness. she refuses to marry me in the daylight; therefore it is proposed to put this trick upon her for her own welfare. the young fellow from prince town comes to help us with his presence. he is sent, as the ram was sent to save isaac's life. but i do not sacrifice him: i merely send him back whence he came. this girl of ours thinks that she loves him; and she believes that she will marry him to-morrow. well, you know better."
"my part is a dastard's part."
"what? to say 'cecil stark' in the marriage service when you mean 'peter norcot'! what nonsense! as soon as the daylight bursts in upon our little ceremony, you have only to forget your error."
"i fear the issue."
"then you fear a handsome income—a sum which to a man of your abilities and ambitions should mean power. by assisting at this pious fraud, you assure the welfare of a good but headstrong girl, and you oblige me. from being a penniless parson you rise to wealth and dignity. you——"
"what of cecil stark?"
"mr. stark broke prison very improperly, and to-morrow morning, as he quits the matrimonial chamber, a file of soldiers will be waiting to take him back again. his subsequent story of a cock and bull no one will heed. leave that. have you the service by heart? 'tis a great feat."
"i know it well enough."
"there can be no prompting, recollect. the darkness of egypt was light compared to the darkness in my study to-morrow. the grave is not darker. both he and she are prepared for that. she thinks that his eyes suffered in an explosion of gunpowder at prince town; he believes that she was seriously injured while coming here. by a closely shrouded way they enter the room. gertrude will bring grace; i follow with stark. you are already there to meet us. in the pitchy dark i hold grace's hand and stand beside her; stark holds gertrude's hand and thinks that she is grace. you'll do your part as fast as may be. then stark, believing himself married, comes out into the daylight with me, and is packed off to prince town in a jiffy, while, soon afterwards, grace and i bowl off to exeter in a barouche and four. she will think i am taking her home; and then for the first time she will learn that she is my wife."
"may it so fall out!"
"it cannot fail. i've forgot nothing. there are, of course, a thousand minor problems and subordinate possibilities; but all have been provided for."
"you and your wife vanish; stark returns to prison; and i am left. how if an infuriated father comes to challenge me?"
"tut, tut! you are too poor a thing for this business. well, what then? you have but to say that at my desire you conducted a legal and proper service; you have but to show the marriage license that i leave behind me. you speak of a straight-forward wedding in honest daylight, and the bride willing. concerning cecil stark you know nothing. gertrude and my man, mason, the other witness, substantiate you; and soon there will come a dutiful letter from grace——"
"you believe that?"
"once married all is well. the honeymoon will throw a genial light upon duty. she forgives me in a week and even begins to understand me. there's only one cloud: i couldn't get what i wanted out of old lovey—a certain amphora. she's much too clever for me. your pipe is out."
john lee had heard every syllable of this conversation; and he had forgotten himself so completely that now, dead to danger, he was as close to the speakers as he could get, with his face pressed to the lattice of the summer-house. suddenly relton norcot struck a light, and before lee could duck his head the flame had touched his eyes and revealed him. peter was quick, but the other man had the advantage. there was a crash in the shrubbery, then a figure broke cover, sped into the grass-lands below, and vanished.
"we are undone!" cried the clergyman. "i knew this could not come to good. oh, peter, my reputation!"
"peace, you silly sheep, this is no time for babble! all's yet well. i marked the man and know him. 'tis the gipsy, john lee, and i can deal with him. the problem's simple. he runs to get at stark; but that can be prevented."
"for god's sake, let us go in. i'm struck with an ague."
"that such a worm should have power to wield the sacraments of god! come you in, and hasten to my sister. bid gertrude summon mason and go down to the factory at once. grace malherb must be under this roof as quickly as possible. let them fetch her now. i cannot trust her there longer, with that rogue on the prowl. i'll deal with lee once for all. hasten, hasten, my bold jellyfish; your fortune depends on't!"
relton norcot, trembling in every limb, entered the house, while peter, familiar with the land, and well knowing that he could reach the lodge where cecil stark lay, much more quickly and directly than was possible for john lee, now proceeded thither, knocked at the window of the little room in which the american resided, mounted the sill and soon stood beside his guest. stark was already impatient.
"but eight hours, friend. then your pearl is yours—the wealth of ind! and you'll lunch at fox tor farm with your stepfather! i wonder a little what wine malherb will bring out of his cellar!"
"eight hours—eight hours."
"when the stable clock beats six and the pheasants call in the pine-woods yonder, we shall expect you at the house. farewell until morning. and one word of caution. lie very low to-night. they're hunting for you. they have set a price upon you. a file of soldiers is in chagford. it seems that they much resent your departure at the prison, for many of the americans cry that you were slain when the soldiers fired, and the authorities cannot easily disprove it since your disappearance."
"i'll disprove it instantly after that i am married."
"until then bury yourself. john lee's responsible for this, i fear. he means us both mischief now. poor devil—he dared to love her too."
norcot departed, whistled for a woodman, and was presently placing his servants all round his lodge, with injunctions to prevent any meeting between cecil stark and a stranger. he had offered a handsome reward for the capture of lee, and was about to return to his house, when from the stables came unexpected news.
a groom with a broken head appeared roaring for his master; and, confronted with peter, he explained that sudden noises had brought him into the stable-yard, to find a strange man hastening out of it on norcot's own black horse, 'victor.'
"i knowed un in the dark by his white stocking, an' i said, 'be that you, maister?' but the man made no answer, so i got in the way an' axed him who the dowl he was, an' wheer he might be off to. with that he fetched me such a whisterpoop 'pon the side of the head that i went down like a man shot, an' afore i could get up again he was off."
"so much the better," said mr. norcot. "keep quiet about it for the present. i know the rascal, and i know where he has gone. he'll come back in the morning."
then, confident that lee was safe for the present, peter hastened off to the wool factory, that he might assist to bring grace to his house.
lee, indeed, was far away. he had guessed that norcot would forestall his approach to stark, and though john tried hard to get to the lodge, he knew nothing of the nearest way, and after running a roundabout course of a mile, finally found himself in the stable-yard. this accident inspired him to another action, and he determined to take a horse and ride over to fox tor farm for maurice malherb. it yet wanted two hours of midnight, and it might be possible to get malherb to chagford by dawn. lee himself hoped to perform his journey and be back again while it was yet dark. he carried his plan out instantly, to the detriment of the stableman who attempted to stop him, and soon, with a bridle, but bare-backed, he sped over the nightly moor, while a glory of rapid motion brought joy to his heart under the darkness. it was long since he had felt a good horse between his legs.
grace malherb meantime, suspecting nothing, entered the web of the spider and longed for her marriage hour to come. she beamed upon the house party assembled, was the soul of graciousness to peter norcot, counted the hours that still kept her from her father and mother, and mourned only one circumstance; that her sweetheart's wounded eyes would never see the sun shine upon his wedding day. it was understood by poor grace that cecil stark must remain at chagford until well again; while as soon as the marriage ceremony was ended, peter had promised to escort her home. she was marvellously reconciled to the wool-stapler. from her first indignation and passion he had weaned her day by day, and as with the subtlest ingenuity he had developed his fairy story and lent to it the colours of reality, grace at last believed and blessed his name. the natural desire of the lovers that they should meet, norcot overruled by many pleas. each continued to believe the other blind; each had seen the forgery; for the rest, oral messages passed between them and were carefully garbled to fit the pretended circumstances. with hyperbolical gleam and glitter did peter do his work, and throw an enchanted mantle of verity over his enterprise. actual genius marked his operations; he made the fantastic solid, the imaginary real. his masterpiece rang true; it was enduring and full of vitality. he had, of course, to do with a man and a woman plunged deep in love; and his deception was absolute.
now there remained to settle with john lee, and norcot prepared to undertake that task himself. very accurately he gauged john's intentions, guessed his destination, and calculated the hour of his return. once back again, he would risk all things to communicate with stark; but he might be met upon the way, and stopped once for ever before he did further mischief. peter planned his operations to an hour; saw grace settled with his sister; prepared his study so that no ray of light could penetrate it; directed relton norcot exactly where to take his place; said a final word to his man, mason; and then returned into the darkness.
"he will come much faster than malherb," reflected the wool-stapler, "and, yes—it may be necessary."
he went back into the house, visited his dressing-room, and brought from it a double-barrelled pistol.
there was but one way by which john lee would return: down a narrow lane which separated norcot's estate from the domains of the manor; and here the wool-stapler stationed himself. it was still dark, and after a patient hour, the night wind quickened peter's wits. upon the first glimmer of dawn, he asked himself a question.
why wait a moment longer? why not escape this simple difficulty by a little haste?
in an instant he determined to call up cecil stark and precipitate the marriage. but his intention came too late. a horse's hoofs already clattered down the lane, and the shadowy figure of a mounted man approached. whereupon peter norcot leapt into the path from a high hedge, where he had taken his position. he lifted up his voice and called to the horse; and 'victor,' knowing his master's tones, stood still.
john lee had fulfilled his task, and was now returning from fox tor farm; while, many miles behind him, followed maurice malherb with thomas putt and mark bickford, at the best pace they could command. all three were mounted, and all three were well armed.
