 Chapter 32 of Aurora Floyd. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reading done by Jules Harlock of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Bratton. Chapter 32 on the watch. Very soon after breakfast upon that happy Sabbath of reunion and contentment, John Mellish drove Aurora to Felden Woods. It was necessary that Archibald Floyd should hear the story of the trainer's death from the lips of his own children before newspaper paragraphs terrified him with some imperfect outline of the truth. The dashing phaton in which Mr. Bolstroyd was in the habit of driving his wife was brought to the door as the church bells were calling devout citizens to their mourning duties and at that unseemly hour John Mellish smacked his whip and dashed off in the direction of Westminster Bridge. Talbot Bolstroyd's horses soon left London behind them and before long the Phaethon was driving upon the trim park-like roads overshadowed by luxuriant foliage and boarded here and there by exquisitely ordered gardens and rustic villas that glittered whitely in the sunshine. The holy piece of the quiet Sabbath was upon every object that they passed, even upon the leaves and flowers as it seemed to Aurora. The birds sang subdued and murmuring harmonies. The light summer breeze scarcely stirred the deep grass on which the lazy cattle stood to watch the Phaethon dash by. How happy Aurora was seated by the side of the man whose love had outlasted every trial. How happy now that the dark wall that had divided them was shattered and they were indeed united. John Mellish was as tender and pitting toward her as a mother to her forgiven child. He asked no explanations. He sought to know nothing of the past. He was content to believe that she had been foolish and mistaken and that the mistake and folly of her life would be buried in the grave of the murdered trainer. The lodgekeeper at Felden Woods exclaimed as he opened the gates to his master's daughter. He was an old man and he had opened the same gates more than 20 years before when the banker's dark-eyed bride had first entered her husband's mansion. Archibald Floyd welcomed his children heartily. How could he ever be otherwise than unutterably happy in the presence of his darling? However often she might come with whatever eccentricity she might time her visits. Mrs. Mellish led her father into his study. I must speak to you alone Papa she said but John knows all I have to say there are no secrets between us now there never will be again. Aurora had a painful story to tell her father for she had to confess to him that she had deceived him upon the occasion of her return to Felden after her parting with James Conyers. I told you a story father she said when I told you that my husband was dead but heaven knows I believe that I should be forgiven the sin of that falsehood for I thought that it would spare your grief and trouble of mind and surely anything would have been justifiable that could have done that. I suppose good never can come out of evil for I have been bitterly punished for my sin. I received a newspaper within a few months of my return in which there was a paragraph describing the death of James Conyers. The paragraph was not correct for the man had escaped with his life and when I married John Mellish my first husband was alive. Archibald Floyd uttered a cry of despair and half rose from his easy chair but Aurora knelt upon the floor by his side with her arms about him soothing and comforting him. It is all over now dear father she said it is all over the man is dead I will tell you how he died by and by it is all over John knows all and I have to marry him again Talbot Bolstrow says that it is necessary as our marriage was not legal my own dear father there is to be no more secrecy no more unhappiness only love and peace and union for all of us she told the old man the story of the trainer's death dwelling very little upon the particulars and telling nothing of her own doings that night except that she had been in the wood at the time of the murder and that she had heard the pistol fired it was not a pleasant story this story of murder and violence and treachery within the boundary of his daughter's home even amid Aurora's assurances that all sorrow was passed that doubt and uncertainty were to vanish away before security and peace Archibald Floyd could not control this feeling he was restless and uneasy in spite of himself he took John Mellish out upon the terrace in the afternoon sunshine while Aurora lay asleep upon one of the sofas in the long drawing room and talked to him of the trainer's death as they walked up and down there was nothing to be elicited from the young squire that threw any light upon the catastrophe and Archibald Floyd tried in vain to find any issue out of the darkness of the mystery can you imagine anyone having any motive for getting rid of this man the banker asked John shrugged his shoulders he had been asked this question so often before and had been always obliged to give the same reply no he knew of no motive which anyone about Mellish could be likely to have had the man any money about him asked mr. Floyd goodness knows whether he had or not John answered carelessly but I should think it wasn't likely he had much he had been out of a situation I believe for some time before he came to me and he had spent a good many months in a Prussian hospital I don't suppose he was worth robbing the banker remembered the 2,000 pounds which he had given to his daughter what had Aurora done with that money had she known of the trainer's existence when she asked for it and had she wanted it for him she had not explained this in her hurried story of the murder and how could he press her upon so painful a subject why should he not accept her own assurance that all was over and that nothing remained but peace Archibald Floyd and his children spent a tranquil day together not talking much for Aurora was completely worn out by the fatigue and excitement she had undergone what had her life been but agitation and terror since the day upon which mr. John pastor's letter had come to Mellish to tell her of the existence of her first husband she slept through the best part of the day lying upon a sofa and with John Mellish sitting by her side keeping watch over her she slept while the bells of Bellingham Church summoned the parishioners to afternoon service and while her father went to assist in those quiet devotions and to kneel on his assack in the old square pew and pray for the peace of his beloved child heaven knows how earnestly the old man prayed for his daughter's happiness and how she filled his thoughts not distracting him for more sacred thoughts but blending her image with his worship in alternate prayer and thanksgiving those who watched him as he sat with the sunshine on his gray head listening reverentially to the sermon little knew how much trouble had been mingled with the great prosperity of his life they pointed him out respectfully to strangers as a man whose signature across a slip of paper could make that oblong morsel of beaten rag into an incalculable sum of money a man who stood upon a golden pinnacle with the Rothschilds and Montefiore's and the Coots's who could afford to pay the national debt any morning that the whim seized him and who was yet a plain man and as simple as a child as anybody might see the admiring parishioners would add as the banker came out of church shaking hands right and left and nodding to the charity children I'm afraid the children dropped lower curtsies in the pathway of mr. Floyd than even before the vicar of Bickingham for they had learned to associate the image of the banker with buns and tea with six pence's and oranges gambles on the smooth lawn at Felden and jovial feasts in a monster tense to the music of clashing brass bands and with even greater treats in the way of excursions to a crystal palace on a hill an enchanted fairyland of wonders from which it was delicious to return in the dewy evening singing hymns of rejoicing that shook the vans in which they traveled the banker had distributed happiness right and left but the money which might have paid the national debt had been impotent to save the life of the dark eyed woman he had loved so tenderly or to spare him one pang of uneasiness about his idolized child had not that all-powerful wealth been rather the primary cause of his daughter's trouble since it had cast her young inexperienced and trusting a prey into the mercenary hands of a bad man who would not have cared to persecute her but for the money that had made her such a golden prize for any adventurer who might please to essay the hazard of winning her with the memory of these things always in his mind it was scarcely strange that Archival Floyd should bear the burden of his riches meekly and fearfully knowing that whatever he might be in the stock exchange he was in the sight of heaven only a feeble old man very assailable by suffering very liable to sorrow and humbly dependent on the mercy of the hand that is alone powerful to spare or to reflect or seem it's good to him who guides it Aurora awoke out of her long sleep while her father was at church she woke to find her husband watching her the Sunday papers lying forgotten on his knee and his honest eyes fixed on the face he loved my own dear John she said as she lifted her head from the pillows supporting herself upon her elbow and stretching out one hand to Mr. Melish my own dear boy how happy we are together now will anything ever come to break our happiness again my dear can heaven be so cruel as to afflict us anymore the banker's daughter in the sovereign vitality of her nature had rebelled against sorrow as a strange and unnatural part of her life she had demanded happiness almost as a right she had wondered at her afflictions and had been unable to understand why she should be thus afflicted there are natures which accept suffering with patient meekness and acknowledge the justice by which they suffer but Aurora had never done this her joyous soul had revolted against sorrow and she arose now in the intense relief which she felt in her release from the bonds that had been so hateful to her and challenged Providence with her claim to be happy forevermore John Melish thought very seriously upon this matter he could not forget the night of the murder the night upon which he had sat alone in his wife chamber pondering upon his unworthiness do you think we deserve to be happy lolly he said presently don't mistake me my darling I know that you're the best and brightest of living creatures tender-hearted loving generous and true but do you think we take life quite seriously enough lolly dear I'm sometimes afraid they were too much like the careless children in the pretty childish allergy who played about among the flowers on the smooth grass in the beautiful garden until it was too late to set out upon the long journey on the dark road which would have led them to paradise what shall we do my darling to deserve the blessings God has given us so freely the blessings of youth and strength and love and wealth what shall we do dear I don't want to turn Melish into a philanthropy exactly nor to give up my racing stead if I can help it John said reflectively but I want to do something lolly to prove that I am grateful to Providence shall we build a lot of schools or a church or a alms house or something of that sort loft house would like me to put up a painted window in Melish church and a new pulpit with a patent sounding board but I can't see that painted windows and sounding boards do much good in a general way I want to do something Aurora to prove my gratitude to the Providence that has given me the loveliest and the best of women for my true-hearted wife the banker's daughter smiled almost mournfully upon her devoted husband have I been such a blessing to you John she said that you should be grateful for me have I not brought you far more sorrow than happiness my poor dear no shouted Melish emphatically the sorrow you have brought me has been nothing to the joy I have felt in your love my own dearest girl to be sitting here by your side today and to hear you tell me that you love me is enough happiness to set against all the trouble of mine that I have endured since the man that is dead came to Melish I hope my poor John Melish will be forgiven if he talked a great deal of nonsense to the wife he loved he had been her lover from the first moment in which he had seen her darkly beautiful upon the gusty Brighton parade and he was her lover still no shadow of contempt had ever grown out of his familiarity with her and indeed I am disposed to take objection to that old proverb or at least to believe that contempt is only engendered of familiarity with things which are in themselves base and spurious the priest who is familiar with the altar learns to no contempt for its sacred images but it is rather the ignorant neophyte who sneers and sniggers at things which he cannot understand the artist becomes only more reverent as toil and study make him more familiar with his art it's eternal sublimity grows upon him and he worships the faraway goddess of perfection as humbly when he drops his brush or his chisel after a life of patient labor as he did when first he ground color or pointed rough blocks of marble first master and I cannot believe that a good man's respect for the woman he loves can be lessened by that sweet and everyday familiarity in which a hundred household virtues and gentle beauties never dreamed of in the ballrooms where he first dance with an unknown idol in gauzy robes and glimmering jewels grow upon him until he confesses that the wife of 10 years standing is even 10 times dear than the bride of a week's honeymoon archibald Floyd came back from church and found his two children sitting side by side in one of the broad windows watching for his arrival and whispering together like lovers as I said they were they dined pleasantly together later in the evening and a little after dark the phaton was brought around to the terrorist steps and Aurora kissed her father as she wished him good night you will come up to town and be present at the marriage sir I know John whispered as he took his father-in-law's hand Talbot bull strode will arrange all about it it is to take place at some out-of-the-way little church in the city nobody will be any wiser and Aurora and I will go back to Mellish as quietly as possible there's only loft house and Hayward know the secret of the certificate and they John Mellish stopped suddenly he remembered Mrs. Powell's parting sting she knew the secret but how could she have come by that knowledge it was impossible that either loft house or Hayward could have told her they were both honorable men and they had pledged themselves to be silent archibald Floyd did not observe his son-laws embarrassment and the phaton drove away leaving the old man standing on the terrorist steps looking after his daughter I must shut up this place he thought and go to Mellish to finish my days I cannot endure these separations I cannot bear this suspense it is a pitiful sham my keeping house and living in all this dreary grandeur I'll shut up the place and ask my daughter to give me a quiet corner in her Yorkshire home and a grave in the parish churchyard the lodgekeeper turned out of his comfortable Gothic habitation to open the clanking iron gates for the phaton but John drew up his horses before they dashed into the road for he saw that the man wanted to speak to him what is it Forbes he asked oh it's nothing particular sir said the man and perhaps I ought to know troubled you about it but did you expect anyone today sir expect anyone here no exclaimed John there's been a person in quarencer this afternoon two persons I may say in a shake heart but one of them asked in particular if you were here sir and if Mrs. Mellish was here and when I said yes you was the gents says it wasn't worth troubling you about the business as he'd come upon and as he'd call another time and he asked me what time you'd likely be leaving the woods and I said I made no doubt you'd stay to dinner up at the house so he says all right and drives off he left no messages then no sir he said nothing more than what I've told you then his business could have been of no great importance Forbes answered John laughing so we needn't worry our heads about him good night Mr. Mellish dropped a five shilling piece into the lodgekeeper's hand gave Talbot's horses their heads and the phaton rolled off London Ward over the crisp gravel of the well-kept Beckingham roads who could the man have been Aurora asked as they left the gates goodness knows my dear John answered carelessly somebody on racing business perhaps racing business seemed to be in itself such a mysterious business that it is no strange thing for mysterious people to be always turning up in relation to it Aurora therefore was content to accept this explanation but not without some degree of wonderment I can't understand the man coming to Felden after you John she said how could he know that you were to be there today oh how indeed lolly returned Mr. Mellish he chanced it I suppose a sharp customer no doubt wants to sell a horse I dare say and heard I didn't mind giving a good price for a good thing Mr. Mellish might have gone even farther than this for there were many horsey gentlemen in his neighborhood past masters in the art they practiced who were want to say that the unsquire judiciously manipulated might be induced to give a remarkably good price for a very bad thing and there were many broken down slim legged horses in the Mellish stables that bore witness to the same fact those needy cheveliers de spree who think that berks landed gentry were created by providence and endowed with the goods of this world for their is special benefit just as pigeons are made plump and nice eating for the delectation of hawks drove a wholesale trade upon a young man's frank simplicity and hearty belief in his fellow creatures I think it is Eliza Cook who says it is better to trust and be deceived than own the mean poor spirit that betrays and if there is any happiness in being done poor John enjoyed that fleeting delight pretty frequently there was a turn in the road between Beckenham and Norwood and as the Phaeton swept round a she's or a dog cart a shabby vehicle enough with a rakish looking horse drove close up and the man who was driving asked the squire to put him in the nearest way to London the vehicle had been behind them all the way from Felden but had kept at a very respectable distance until now do you want to get to the city or the West End John asked the West End then you can't do better than follow us answered Mr. Melisch the roads clean enough and your horse seems a good one to go you can keep us in sight I suppose yes sir and thank you all right then Talbot bullstroids thoroughbreds dashed off but the rakish looking horse kept his ground behind them he had something of the insolent offhand assurance of a butcher's horse a custom to whirl a bareheaded blue-coated master through the sharp morning air I was right lolly Mr. Millish said as he left the dog cart behind how do you mean dear asked Aurora the man who spoke to us just now is the man who has been inquiring for me at Felden he's a Yorkshire man a Yorkshire man yes didn't you hear the North Country twang no she had not listened to the man nor heeded him how should she think of anything but her newborn happiness the newborn confidence between herself and the husband she loved do not think her hard-hearted or cruel if she forgot that it was the death of a fellow creature a sinful man stricken down in the prime of youth and health that had just given her this welcome release she had suffered so much that the release could not be otherwise than welcome let it come now how it might her nature frank and open as the day had been dwarfed and crippled by the secret that had blighted her life can it be wondered then that she rejoiced now that all need of secrecy was over and this generous spirit might expand as it pleased it was past ten when the fate on turned into Half Moon Street the man in the dog cart had followed John's directions to the letter for it was only in Piccadilly that Mr. Melish had lost sight of them among other vehicles traveling backward and forward on the lamp lit thoroughfare Talbot and Lucy received their visitors in one of the pretty little drawing rooms the young husband and wife had spent a quiet day together going to church in the morning and afternoon dining alone and sitting in the twilight talking happily and confidentially Mr. Ball Stroward was no Sabbath breaker and John Melish had reason to consider himself a particularly privileged person in as much as the thoroughbreds had been permitted to leave their stable for his service to say nothing of the groom who had been absent from his hard seat in the servants pew at the fashionable chapel in order that he might accompany John and Aurora to Felden the little party sat up rather late Aurora and Lucy talking affectionately together side by side upon a sofa in the shadow of the room while the two men lounged in the open window John told his host the history of the day and in doing so casually mentioned the man who had asked him the way to London strange to say Talbot bullstroke seemed especially interested in this part of the story he asked several questions about the men he asked what they were like what was said by either of them and made many other inquiries which seemed equally trivial then they followed you into town John he said finally yes I only lost sight of them in Piccadilly five minutes before I turned the corner of the street do you think they had any motive in following you asked Talbot well I fancy so they're on the lookout for information I expect the man who spoke to me looked something like a tout I've heard that Lord Stanford's rather anxious about my West Australian colt the pork butcher perhaps his people have set these men to work to find out if I'm going to run him in the ledger Talbot bullstroke smiled bitterly almost mournfully at the vanity of horse flesh it was painful to see this light-hearted young squire looking in such ignorant hopefulness toward a horizon upon which graver and more thoughtful men could see a dreadful shadow lowering mr. bullstrode's was standing close to the balcony he stepped out among the china boxes of mignonette and looked down into the quiet street a man was leaning against the lamp posts some few paces from Talbot's house smoking a cigar and with his face turned toward the balcony he finished his cigar deliberately through the end into the road and walked away while Talbot kept watch but mr. bullstrode did not leave his post of observation and about a quarter of an hour afterward he saw the same man lounging slowly along the pavement upon the other side of the street John who sat within the shadow of the window curtains lolling against them increasing their delicate folds with the heavy pressure of his broad back was utterly unconscious of all this early the next morning mr. bullstrode and mr. melish took a handsome cab and rattled down to doctors commons where for the second time in his life John gave himself up to be fought for by white aprid ecclesiastical touts and eventually obtained the Archbishop of Canterbury's gracious sanction of his marriage with Aurora widow of James Connors only daughter of Archibald Floyd banker from doctors commons the two gentlemen drove to a certain quiet out-of-the-way church within the sound of bow bells but so completely hidden among piles of warehouses top heavy chimneys sloping roofs and other eccentricities of masonry that any unhappy bridegroom who had appointed to be married there was likely enough to spend the whole of the wedding day in futile endeavors to find the church door here John discovered a moldy clerk who was fetched from some habitation in the neighborhood with considerable difficulty by a boy who volunteered to accomplish anything under heaven for a certain copper consideration and to this clerk mr. melish gave notice of a marriage which was to take place upon the following day by special license I'll take my second marriage certificate back with me John said as he left the church and then I should like to see who dare to look me in the face and tell me that my darling is not my own lawfully wedded wife he was thinking of mrs. Powell as he said this he was thinking of the pale spiteful eyes that had looked at him and of the woman's tongue that had stabbed him with all a little nature's great capacity of hate he would be able to defy her now he would be able to defy every creature in the world who dared to breathe a syllable against his beloved wife early the next morning the marriage took place archival Floyd Talbot bull strode and Lucy were the only witnesses that is to say the only witnesses with the exception of the clerk and the pew opener and a couple of men who lounged in the church when the ceremony was half over and slouched about one of the side aisles looking at monuments and talking to each other and whispers until the person took off his surplice and John came out of the vestry with his wife upon his arm Mr. and Mrs. melish did not return to half moon street they drove straight to the great northern station once they started by the afternoon express for Don caster John was anxious to return for remember that he had left his household under very peculiar circumstances and strange reports might have arisen in his absence the young squire would perhaps scarcely have thought of this had not the idea been suggested to him by Talbot bull strode who particularly urged upon him the expediency of returning immediately go back John said Mr. bull strode without an hours unnecessary delay if by any chance there should be some farther disturbance about this murder it will be much better for you and Aurora to to be on the spot I will come down to melish myself in a day or two and will bring Lucy with me if you will allow me allow you my dear Talbot I will come then goodbye and God bless you take care of your wife and of chapter 32 on the watch chapter 33 of Aurora Floyd this is a Libra box recording all Libra box recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Libra box org reading done by Jules Harlech of Mississauga Ontario Canada Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braden chapter 33 captain prodder goes back to Don Caster Mr. Samuel prodder returning to London after having played his insignificant part in the tragedy at Felden Woods found that city singularly dull and gloomy he put up at some dismal boarding house situated amid a mazy labyrinth of brick and mortar between the tower and whopping and having relations with another boarding house in Liverpool he took up his abode at this place in which he was known and respected he drank rum and water and played cribbage with other semen made after the same pattern as himself he even went to an East End theatre upon the Saturday night after the murder and set out the representation of a nautical drama which he would have been glad to have believed in had it not promulgated such wild theories in the science of navigation and exhibited such extraordinary experiments in the maneuvering of the man of war upon which the action of the plate took place as to cause the captain's hair to stand on end in the intensity of his wonder the things people did upon that ship curdled Samuel prodder's blood as he sat in the lonely grandeur of the 18 penny boxes it was quite a common thing for them to walk unhesitatingly through the bulwarks and disappear in what ought to have been the sea the extent of brow beating and humiliation born by the captain of that noble vessel the amount of authority exercised by a sailor with loose legs the agonies of sea sickness represented by a comic countrymen who had no particular business on board the gallant bark the proportion of hornpipe dancing and nautical ballad singing gone through as compared to the work that was done all combined to impress poor Samuel with such a novel view of her majesty's naval service that he was very glad when the captain who had been browbeat and suddenly repented of all his sins not without a sharp reminder from the prompter who informed the dramatist person a that it was parse 12 and they'd better cut it short join the hands of the contumatious sailor and young lady in white muslin and beg them to be happy it was in vain that the captain sought distraction from the one idea upon which he had perpetually brooded since the night of his visit to Melish Park he would be wanted in Yorkshire to tell what he knew of the dark history of that fatal night he would be called upon to declare at what hour he had entered the wood whom he had met there what he had seen and heard there they would extort from him that which he would have died rather than tell they would cross examine and bewilder and torment him until he told them everything until he repeated syllable by syllable the passionate words that had been said until he told them how within a quarter of an hour of the firing of the pistol he had been the witness of a desperate scene between his niece and the murdered man a scene in which concentrated hate vengeful fury elimitable disdain and detestation had been expressed by her by her alone the man had been calm and moderate enough it was she who had been angry it was she who had given loud utterance to her hate now by reason of one of those strange inconsistencies common to weak human nature the captain though possessed night and day by a blind terror of being suddenly pounced upon by the minions of the law and compelled to betray his niece's secret could not rest in his safe retreat amid the labyrinths of warping but must needs pine to return to the scene of the murder he wanted to know the result of the inquest the Sunday papers gave a very meager account only hinting darkly at suspected parties he wanted to ascertain for himself what had happened at the inquest and whether his absence had given rise to suspicion he wanted to see his niece again to see her in the daylight undisturbed by passion he wanted to see this beautiful Tigris in her calmer moods if she ever had any calmer moods heaven knows the simple merchant captain was well my distracted as he thought of his sister Eliza's child and the awful circumstances of his first and only meeting with her was she that which he feared people might be led to think her if they heard the story of that scene in the wood no no no she was his sister's child the child of that merry impetuous little girl who had worn a pinafore and played hopscotch he remembered his sister flying into a rage with one Tommy Barnes for unfair practices in that very game and unbraiding him almost as passionately as Aurora had up braided the dead man but if Tommy Barnes had been found strangled by a skipping rope or shot dead from a pea shooter in the next street a quarter of an hour afterward would Eliza's brother have thought that she must needs be guilty of the boys murder the captain had gone so far as to reason thus in his trouble of mind his sister Eliza's child would be likely to be passionate and impetuous but his sister Eliza's child would be a generous warmhearted creature incapable of any cruelty in either thought or deed he remembered his sister Eliza boxing his ears on the occasion of his gouging out the eyes of her wax doll but he remembered the same dark eyed sister sobbing piteously at the spectacle of a lamb that a heartless butcher was dragging to the slaughterhouse but the more seriously captain Prada revolved this question in his mind the more decidedly his inclination pointed to Don Caster and early upon that very morning on which the quiet marriage had taken place in the obscure city church he repaired to a magnificent Israeli ish temple of fashion in the minorities and they're ordered a suit of such clothes as were most affected by elegant landsmen the Israeli ish salesman recommended something light and lively in the fancy check line and Mr. Prada submitting to that authority as beyond all question invested himself in a suit which he had contemplated solemnly at sort of vast expense of plate glass before entering the temple of the graces it was our aristocratic tourist at 77 shillings and six pence and was made a fleecy and rather powdery looking cloth in which the hues of baked and unbaked bricks predominated over a more delicate hearthstone tent which later the shopman had declared to be the color that West End tailors had vainly striven to emulate the captain dressed in our aristocratic tourist which suit was of the ultra cutaway and peg toppy order and with his sleeves and trousers inflated by any chance summer's breeze had perhaps more of the appearance of a tumbola than is quite in accordance with a strictly artistic view of the human figure in his desire to make himself more utterly irrecognizable as the seafaring man who had carried the tidings of the murder to melis park the captain had tortured himself by substituting a tight circular collar and a wisp of purple ribbon for the honest half yard of snowy linen which had had been his habit to wear turned over the loose collar of his blue coat he suffered acute agonies from this modern device but he bore them bravely and he went straight from the tailors to the great northern railway station where he took his ticket for Don Caster he meant to visit that town as an aristocratic tourist he would keep himself aloof from the neighborhood of melis park but he would be sure to hear the results of the inquest and he would be able to ascertain for himself whether any trouble had come upon his sister's child the sea captain did not travel by that express which carried mr and mrs melis to Don Caster but by an earlier and a slower train which lumbered quietly along the road conveying inferior persons to whom time was not measured by a golden standard and who smoked and slept and ate and drank resignedly enough through the eight or nine hours journey it was dusk when samuel prodder reached the quiet racing town from which he had fled away in the dead of night so short a time before he left the station and made his way to the marketplace and from the marketplace he struck into a narrow lane that led him to an obscure street upon the outskirts of the town he had a great terror of being led by some unhappy accident into the neighborhood of the reindeer lest he should be recognized by some hanger on of that hotel halfway between the beginning of the straggling street and the point at which it dwindled and shrank away into the country lane the captain found a little public house called the crooked rabbit such an obscure and out of the way place of entertainment that poor samuel thought himself safe in seeking for rest and refreshment within its dingy walls there was a framed and glazed legend of good beds hanging behind an opaque window pane beds for which the landlord of the crooked rabbit was in the habit of asking and receiving almost fabulous prices during the great ledger week but there seemed little enough doing at the humble tavern just now and captain prodder walked boldly in ordered a steak and a pint of ale with a glass of rum and water hot to follow at the bar and engaged one of the good beds for his accommodation the landlord who was a fat man lounged with his back against the bar reading the sporting news in the manchester guardian and it was the landlady who took mr prodder's orders and showed him the way into an awkwardly shaped parlor which was much below the rest of the house and into which the uninitiated visitor was apt to precipitate himself had foremost as into a well or pit there were several small mahogany tables in this room all adorned with sticky aberrasques formed by the wet impressions of the bottom rooms of pewter pots there were so many spittoons that it was almost impossible to walk from one end of the room to the other without taking unintentional foot baths of sawdust there was an old bagatelle table the cloth of which had changed from green to dingy yellow and was frayed and tattered like a poor man's coat and there was a low window the sill of which was almost on a level with the pavement of the street the merchant captain threw off his hat loosened the slip of ribbon and the torturing circular collar supplied him by the israelitish outfitter and cast himself into a shiny mahogany armchair close to this window the lower panes were shrouded by a crimson curtain and he lifted this very cautiously and peered for a few moments into the street it was lonely enough and quiet enough in the dusky summer evening here and there lights twinkled in a shop window and upon one threshold a man stood talking to his neighbor with one thought always paramount in his mind it is scarcely strange that samuel potter should fancy these people must necessarily be talking of the murder the landlady brought the captain the steak he had ordered and the tired traveler seated himself at one of the tables and discussed his simple meal he had eaten nothing since seven o'clock that morning and he made very short work of the three quarters of a pound of meat that had been cooked for him he finished his beer drank his rum and water smoked a pipe and then as he had the room still to himself he made an impromptu couch of Windsor chairs arranged in a roll and in his own parlance turn in upon this rough hammock to take a brief stretch he might have set his mind at rest perhaps before this had he chosen he could have questioned the landlady about the murder at melish park she was likely to know as much as anyone else he might meet at the crooked rabbit but he had refrained from doing this because he did not wish to draw attention to himself in any way as a person in the smallest degree interested in the murder how did he know what inquiries had possibly been made for the missing witness there was perhaps some enormous reward offered for his apprehension and a word or a look might betray him to the greedy eyes of those upon the watch to obtain it remember that this broad-shouldered seafaring man was as ignorant as a child of all things beyond the deck of his own vessel and the watery high roads he had been want to navigate life along shore was a solemn mystery to him the law of the british dominions a complication of inscrutable enigmas only to be spoken of and thought of in a spirit of reverence and wonder if anybody had told him that he was likely to be seized upon as an accessory before the fact and hung out of hand for his passive part in the mellish catastrophe he would have believed them implicitly how did he know how many acts of parliament his conduct and leaving don kaster without giving his evidence might come under it might be high treason lezzie majesty anything in the world that is unpronounceable and awful fraught this simple sailor new to the contrary but in all this it was not his own safety that captain prodder thought of that was a very little moment to this lighthearted easygoing sailor he had periled his life too often on the high seas to set any exaggerated value upon it ashore if they chose to hang an innocent man they must do their worst it would be their mistake not his and he had a simple semen like faith rather vague perhaps and not very reducible to anything like 39 articles that told him that there were sweet little cherubs sitting up aloft who would take good care that any such subluminary mistake should be rectified in a certain supernal logbook upon whose pages samuel prodder hoped to find himself set down as an honest and active sailor always humbly obedient to the signals of his commander it was for his niece's sake then that the sailor dreaded any discovery of his whereabouts and it was for her sake that he resolved upon exercising the greatest degree of caution of which his simple nature was capable i won't ask a single question he thought there's sure to be a pack of lubbers dropping in here by and by and i shall hear him talking about the business as likely as not these country folks would have nothing to talk about if they didn't overhaul the ship's books of their betters the captain slept soundly for upward of an hour and was awakened at the end of that time by the sound of voices in the room and the fumes of tobacco the gas was flaring high in the low roof parlor when he opened his eyes and at first he could scarcely distinguish the occupants of the room for the blinding glare of light i won't get up he thought i'll shams asleep for a bit and see whether they happen to talk about the business there were only three men in the room one of them was the landlord whom samuel plotter had seen reading in the bar and the other two were shabby looking men with by no means too respectable a stamp either upon their persons or their manners one of them wore a velveteen cutaway coat with big brass buttons knee breeches blue stockings and high lows the other was a pale faced man with mutton chopped whiskers and dressed in a shabby genteel costume that gave indication of general vagabondage rather than of any particular occupation they were talking of horses when captain prodder awoke and the sailor lay for some time listening to a jargon that was utterly unintelligible to him the men talked of lord zetlin's lot of lord glasgow's lot and the ledger and the cup and made offers to bet with each other and quarreled about the terms and never came to an agreement in a manner that was utterly bewildering to poor samuel but he waited patiently still feigning to be asleep and not in any way disturbed by the men who did not condescend to take any notice of him they'll talk of the other business presently he thought they're safe to talk of it mr prodder was right after discussing the conflicting merits of half the horses in the racing calendar the three men abandoned the fascinating subject and the landlord re-entering the room after having left it to fetch a supply of beer for his guests asked if either of them had heard if anything new had turned up about that business at mellish there's a letter in today's guardian he added before receiving any reply to his question and a pretty strong one it tries to fix the murder upon someone in the house but it don't exactly name the party it wouldn't be safe to do that yet a while i suppose upon the request of the two men the landlord of the crooked rabbit read the letter in the manchester daily paper it was a very clever letter and a spirited one giving a synopsis of the proceedings at the inquest and commenting very severely upon the manner in which that investigation had been conducted mr prodder quailed until the Windsor chairs trembled beneath him as the landlord read one passage in which it was remarked that the stranger who carried the news of the murder to the house of the victim's employer the man who had heard the report of the pistol and had been chiefly instrumental in the finding of the body had not yet been forthcoming at the inquest he had disappeared mysteriously and abruptly and no efforts were made to find him wrote the correspondent of the guardian what assurance can be given for the safety of any man's life when such a crime as the melas park murder is investigated in this loose and indifferent manner the catastrophe occurred within the boundary of the park fence let it be discovered whether any person in the melas household had a motive for the destruction of james conures the man was a stranger to the neighborhood he was not likely therefore to have made enemies outside the boundary of his employer's estate but he may have had some secret foe within that limit who was he where did he come from what were his antecedents and associations let each one of these questions be fully sifted and let a cordon be drawn around the house and let every creature living in it to be held under the surveillance of the law until patient investigation has done its work and such evidence has been collected as must lead to the detection of the guilty person to this effect was the letter which the landlord read in a loud and didactic manner that was very imposing though not without a few stumbles over some hard words and a good deal of slap dashing jumping at others samuel prodder could make very little of the composition except that it was perfectly clear that he had been been missed at the inquest and his absence commented upon the landlord and the shabby gentile man talked long and discursively upon the matter the man in the velveteen coat who was evidently a thoroughbred cockney and only newly arrived in doncaster required to be told the whole story before he was upon a footing with the other two he was very quiet and generally spoke between his teeth rarely taking the unnecessary trouble of removing his short clay pipe from his mouth except when it required refilling he listened to the story of the murder very intently keeping one eye upon the speaker and the other upon his pipe and nodding approvingly now and then in the course of the narrative he took his pipe from his mouth when the story was finished and filled it from a gutta percha pouch which had to be turned inside out in some mysterious manner before the tobacco could be extricated from it while he was packing the loose fragments of shag or bird's eye neatly into the bowl of the pipe with his stumpy little finger he said with supreme carelessness i'd knowed Jim Conyers did you now exclaim the landlord opening his eyes very wide i'd knowed him repeated the man as intimate as i'd knowed my own mother and when i read of the murder in the newspaper last sunday you might have knocked me down with a feather Jim's got it at last i said for he was one of them coves that goes through the world cockadoodling over other people to sitch an extent that when they do drop in for it there's not many particular sorry for him he was one of your selfish chaps this here and when a chap goes through this life making it his leading principle to care for nobody he mustn't be surprised if it ends by nobody caring for him yes i'd knowed Jim Conyers added the man slowly and thoughtfully and i'd knowed him under rather peculiar circumstances the landlord and the other man perked up their ears at the point of this conversation the trainer at millish part had as we know risen to popularity from the hour in which he had fallen upon the dewy turf in the wood shot through the heart if there wasn't any particular objections the landlord of the crooked rabbits said presently i should uncommonly like to hear anything you've got to tell about the poor chap there's a deal of interest took about the matter in doncaster and my customers have scarcely talked of anything else since the inquest the man in the velveteen coat rubbed his chin and smoked his pipe reflectively he was evidently not a very communicative man but it was also evident that he was rather gratified by the distinction of his position in the little public house parlor this man was no other than Mr. Matthew Harrison the dog fancier auroras pensioner the man who had traded upon her secret and made himself the last link between herself and the low-born husband she had abandoned samuel prodder lifted himself from the Windsor chairs at this juncture he was too much interested in the conversation to be able to simulate sleep any longer he got up stretched his legs and arms made an elaborate show of having just awakened from a profound and refreshing slumber and asked the landlord of the crooked rabbit to mix him another glass of that pineapple rum grog the captain lighted his pipe while his host departed upon this errand the semen glanced rather inquisitively at mr. Harrison but he was feigned to wait until the conversation took its own course and offered him a safe opportunity of asking a few questions the peculiar circumstances under which i'd known James Conyers pursued the dog fancier after having taken his own time and smoked out half a pipe full of tobacco to the acute aggravation of his auditory was a woman and a stunner she was to one of your regular spitfires that'll knock you into the middle of next week if you so much as ask her how she does in a manner she don't approve of she was a woman she was and a handsome one too but she was more than a match for james with all his brass why i've seen her great black eyes flash fire upon him said mr. Harrison looking dreamily before him as if he could even at that moment see the flashing eyes of which he spoke i've seen her look at him as if she'd wither him up from off the ground he trod upon with that contempt she felt for him samuel prodder grew strangely uneasy as he listened to this man's talk of flashing black eyes and angry looks directed at james Conyers had he not seen his nieces shining orbs flame fire upon the dead man only a quarter of an hour before he received his death wound only so long heaven helped that wretched girl only so long before the man for whom she had expressed unmitigated hate had fallen by the hand of an unknown murderer she must have been a tartar this young woman of yours the landlord observed to mr. Harrison she was a tartar answered the dog fancier but she was the right sort too for all that and what's more she was a kind friend to me there's never a quarter day goes by that i don't have cause to say so he poured out a fresh glass of beer as he spoke and tossed the liquor down his capacious throat with the muttered sentiment here's toward her another man had entered the room while mr. prodder had sat smoking his pipe and drinking his rum and water a humpbacked white-faced man who sneaked into the public house parlor as if he had no right to be there and seated himself noiselessly at one of the tables samuel prodder remembered this man he had seen him through the window in the lighted parlor of the north lodge when the body of james conures had been carried into the cottage it was not likely however that the man had seen the captain why if it isn't steve hargraves from the park exclaimed the landlord as he looked round and recognized the softee he'll be able to tell plenty i dare say we've been talking of the murder steve he added in a conciliatory manner mr hargraves rubbed his clumsy hands about his head and looked furtively yet searchingly at each member of the little assembly i sure he said folks don't seem to me to talk about odd else it was bad enough up at the park but it seems worse and don caster are you staying up town steve asked the landlord who seemed to be upon pretty intimate terms with the late hanger on of melish park yes i'm staying up town for a bit i've been out of place since the business oop there you know how i was turned out of the house that had sheltered me ever since i was a boy and you know who did it never mind that i'm out of place now but you may draw me a mug of ale i've money enough for that samuel prodder looked at the softee with considerable interest he had played a small part in the great catastrophe yet it was scarcely likely that he should be able to throw any light upon the mystery what was he but a poor half-witted hanger on of the murdered man who had lost all by his patrons untimely death the softee drank his beer and sat silent ungainly and disagreeable to look upon among the other men there's a regular stirrer in the manchester papers about this murder steve the landlord said by way of opening a conversation it don't seem to me as if the business was going to be let drop over quietly there'll be a second inquest i reckon or an examination or a memorial to the secretary of state or somewhat of that sort before long the softee's face expressionless almost always expressed nothing now but stolid indifference the stupid indifference of a half-witted ignoramus to whose impenetrable intellect even the murder of his own master was a far away an obscure event not powerful enough to awaken any effort of attention yes i'll lay there'll be a stir about it before long the landlord continued the papers put it down very strong that the murder must have been done by someone in the house by someone as had more knowledge of the man and more reason to be angry against him than strangers could have now you hargraves were living at the place you must have seen and heard things that other people haven't had the opportunity to hear what do you think about it mr hargraves scratched his head reflectively the papers are clever nor me he said at last it wouldn't do for a poor fawn chap like me to go again such as them i think what they think i think it was someone about the place did it someone that had good reason to be spiteful against him that's dead an imperceptible shudder passed over the softee's frame as he alluded to the murdered man it was strange with what gusto the other three men discussed the ghastly subject returning to it persistently in spite of every interruption and in a manner licking their lips over its gloomiest details it was surely more strange that they should do this than that steven hargraves should exhibit some reluctance to talk freely upon the dismal topic and who do you think had caused to be spiteful against him steve asked the landlord had him and mr fellish fell out about the management of the stable him and mr millish had never had an angry word passed between them as i've heard of answered the softee he laid such a singular emphasis upon the word mister that the three men looked at him wonderingly and captain prodder took his pipe from his mouth and grasped the back of the neighboring chair as firmly as if he had entertained serious thoughts of flinging that trifle of furniture at the softee's head who else could it have been then as had a spite against the man asked someone samuel prodder scarcely knew who it was who spoke for his attention was concentrated upon steven hargraves and he had never once removed his gaze from the white face and dull blinking eyes who was it that went to meet him late at night in the north lodge who whispered the softee who was it that couldn't find words that was bad enough for him or looks that was angry enough for him who was it that wrote him a letter i've got it and i mean to keep it too asking of him to be in the wood at such and such a time upon the very night of the murder who was it that met him there in the dark as others could tell as well as me who was it that did this no one answered the men looked at each other and at the softee with open mouths but said nothing samuel prodder grasped the topmost bar of the wooden chair still more tightly and his broad bosom rose and fell beneath his tourist waistcoat like a raging sea but he sat in the shadow of the queerly shaped room and no one noticed him who was it that ran away from her own home and hid herself after the inquest whispered the softee who was it that was afraid to stop in her own house but must run away to london without leaving word where she was gone for anybody who was it that was seen upon the morning before the murder meddling with her husband's guns and pistols and was seen by more than me as them that saw her will testify when the time comes who was this again there was no answer the raging sea labored still more heavily under captain prodder's waistcoat and his grasp tightened if it could tighten on the rail of the chair but he uttered no word there was more to come perhaps yet and he might want every chair in the room as instruments with which to appease his vengeance he was talking when i just came in a while ago of a young woman in connection with mr james conure sir said the softee turning to matthew harrison a black eyed woman who said might she have been his wife the dog fancier started and deliberated for a few moments before he answered well in a manner of speaking she was his wife he said at last rather reluctantly she was a bit above him like wasn't she asked the softee she had more money than she knew what to do with eh the dog fancier stared at the questioner you know who she was i suppose he said suspiciously i think i do whispered steven hargraves she was the daughter of mr floyd the rich banker up in london and she married james conures and she got tired of him and she married our squire while her first husband was alive and she wrote a letter to him that's dead asking of him to meet her upon the night of the murder captain prodder flung aside the chair it was too poor a weapon with which to wreak his wrath and with one bounty sprang upon the softee seizing the astonish wretch by the throat and overturning a table with a heap of crashing glasses and pewter pots that rolled away into the corners of the room it's a lie roared the sailor you foul mouth hound you know that it's a lie give me something cried captain prodder give me something somebody and give it quick that i may pound this man into a mash as soft as a soaked ship's biscuit for if i use my fists to him i shall murder him as sure as i stand here it's my sister eliza's child you want to slander is it you'd better have kept your mouth shut while you was in her own uncle's company i meant to have kept quiet here cried the captain with a vague recollection that he had betrayed himself and his purpose but was i to keep quiet and hear lies told of my own niece take care he added shaking the softee till mr hargrave's teeth shattered in his head or i'll knock those crooked teeth of yours down your ugly throat to hinder you from telling any more lies of my dead sister's only child they weren't lies gasped the softee doggedly i said i've got the letter and i have got it let me go and i'll show it to you the sailor released the dirty wisp of cotton nickerchief by which he had held steven hargraves but he still retained a grasp upon his coat collar shall i show you the letter as the softee yes mr hargraves fumbled in his pockets for some minutes and ultimately produced a dirty scrap of crumbled paper it was the brief scroll which aurora had written to james conures telling him to meet her in the wood the murdered man had thrown it carelessly aside after reading it and it had been picked up by steven hargraves he would not trust the precious document out of his own clumsy hands but held it before captain prodder for inspection the sailor stared at it anxious bewildered fearful he scarcely knew how to estimate the importance of the wretched scrap of circumstantial evidence there were the words certainly written in a bold scarcely feminine hand but these words in themselves proved nothing until it could be proved that his niece had written them how do i know as my sister eliza's child wrote that he asked i sure but she did though answered the softee but come let me go now will you he added with cringing civility i didn't know you was her uncle how was i to know art about it i don't want to make any mischief again mrs millish though she's been no friend to me i didn't say anything at the inquest did i though i might have said as much as i've said tonight if it comes to that and have told no lies but when folks bother me about him that's dead and ask this and that and thother and go on as if i had a right to know all about it i'm free to tell my thoughts i suppose surely i'm free to tell my thoughts i'll go straight to mr millish and tell him what you've said you scoundrel cried the captain i do whispered steven hargraves maliciously there's some of it that'll be stale news to him anyhow end of chapter 33 captain prodder goes back to don caster chapter 34 of aurora floyd this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org reading done by jules harluck of mississauga ontario canada aurora floyd by mary elizabeth bradden chapter 34 discovery of the weapon with which james conures had been slain mr and mrs millish returned to the house in which they had been so happy but it is not to be supposed that the pleasant country mansion could be again all in a moment the home that had been before the advent of james conures the trainer and the tragedy that had so abruptly concluded his brief service no every pang that aurora had felt every agony that john had endured had left a certain impress upon the scene in which it had been suffered the subtle influences of association hung heavily about the familiar place we are the slaves of such associations and we are powerless to stand against their silent force scraps of color and patches of gilding upon the walls will bear upon them as plainly as if they were covered with hieroglyphical inscriptions the shadows of the thoughts of those who have looked upon them transient and chance effects of light or shade will recall the same effects seen and observed as fagan observed the broken spike upon the guarded dock in some horrible crisis of misery and despair the commonest household goods and travels will bear mute witness of your agonies an easy chair will say to you it was upon me you cast yourself in that paroxysm of rage and grief the pattern of a dinner service may recall to you that fatal day in which you pushed your food untasted from you and turned your face like grief-stricken king david to the wall the bed you lay upon the curtains that shelter you the pattern of the paper on the walls the common everyday sounds of the household coming muffled and far away to that lonely room in which you hid yourself all these bear record of your sorrow and of that hideous double action of the mind which impresses these things most vividly upon you at the very time when it would seem they should be most indifferent but every sorrow every pain of wounded love or doubt or jealousy or despair is a fact a fact once and a fact forever to be outlived but very rarely to be forgotten leaving such an impress upon our lives as no future joys can quite wear out the murder has been done and the hands are red the sorrow has been suffered and however beautiful happiness may be to us she can never be the bright virginal creature she once was for she has passed through the valley of the shadow of death and we have discovered that she is not immortal it is not to be expected then that john millish and his wife aurora could feel quite the same in the pretty chambers of the yorkshire mansion as they had felt before the first shipwreck of their happiness they had been saved from peril and destruction and landed by the mercy of providence high and dry upon a shore that seemed to promise them pleasure and security henceforth but the memory of the tempest was yet new to them and upon the sands that were so smooth today they had seen yesterday the breakers beating with furious menace and hurrying onward to destroy them the funeral of the trainer had not yet taken place and it was scarcely a pleasant thing for mr millish to remember that the body of the murder demand still lay stark and awful in the oak coffin that stood upon trestles in the rustic chamber at the north lodge i'll pull that place down lolly said john as he turned away from the open window through which he could see the gothic chimneys of the trainer's late habitation glimmering readily above the trees i'll pull the place down my pet the gates are never used except by the stable boys i'll knock them down and the lodge too and build some loose boxes for the brood mares with the materials and we'll go away to the south of france darling and run across to idly if you like and forget all about this horrid business the funeral will take place tomorrow john will it not arora asked tomorrow dear tomorrow is wednesday you know it was upon thursday night that yes yes she answered interrupting him i know i remember she shuttered as she spoke remembering the ghastly circumstances of the night to which he alluded remembering how the dead man had stood before her strong in health and vitality and had insolently defied her hatred away from melish park she had only remembered that the burden of her life had been removed from her and that she was free but here here upon the scene of the hideous story she recollected the manner of her release and that memory oppressed her even more terribly than her old secret her only sorrow she had never seen or known in this man who had been murdered one redeeming quality one generous thought she had known him as a liar a schemer a low and poultry swindler a selfish spent thrift extravagant to wantonness upon himself but meaner than words could tell towards others a profligate a traitor a glutton a drunkard this is what she had found behind her schoolgirls fancy for a handsome face for the violet-tinted eyes and soft brown curling hair do not call her hard then if sorrow had no part in the shattering horror she felt as she conjured up the image of him in his death hour and saw the glazing eyes turned angrily upon her she was little more than 20 and it had been her faith always to take the wrong step always to be misled by the vague finger post upon life's high road and to choose the longest and crookedest and hardest way toward the goal she sought to reach had she upon the discovery of the first husband's infidelity called the law to her aid she was rich enough to command its utmost help though sir cresswell cresswell did not keep the turnpike upon such a royal road to divorce as he does now she might have freed herself from the hateful chains so foolishly linked together and might have defied this dead man to torment or assail her but she had chosen to follow the council of expediency and had led her upon the crooked way through which i have striven to follow her i feel that there is much need of apology for her her own hands had sewn the dragon's teeth from whose evil seed had sprung up armed men strong enough to rend and devour her but then if she had been faultless she could not have been the heroine of this story for i think some wise man of old remarked that the perfect women were those who left no histories behind them but went through life upon such a tranquil course of quiet well-doing as left no footprints on the sands of time only mute records hidden here and there deep in the grateful hearts of those who had been blessed by them the presence of the dead man within the boundary of melish park made itself felt throughout the household that had once been such a jovial one the excitement of the catastrophe had passed away and only the dull gloom remained a sense of oppression not to be cast aside it was felt in the servants hall as well as in aurora's luxurious apartments it was felt by the butler as well as by the master no worse deed of violence than the slaughter of an unhappy stag who had rushed for a last refuge to the melish flower garden and had been run down by furious hounds upon the velvet lawn had ever before been done within the boundary of the young squire's home the house was an old one and had stood gray and ivy shrouded through the perilous days of civil war there were secret passages in which loyal squires of melish had hidden from ferocious round heads bent upon riot and plunder there were broad hearth stones upon which sturdy blows had been given and exchanged by strong men in leather and jerkins and clumsy iron-heeled boots but the royalist melish had always ultimately escaped up a chimney or down a cellar or behind a curtain of tapestry and the wicked praise the lord thomsons and smiter of the philistine joneses had departed after plundering the plate chest and emptying the wine barrels there had never before been set upon the place in which john melish had first seen the light the red hand of murder it was not strange then that the servants sat long over their meals and talked in solemn whispers of the events of the past week there was more than the murder to talk about there was the flight of mrs melish from beneath her husband's roof upon the very day of the inquest it was all very well for john to give out that his wife had gone up to town upon a visit to her cousin mrs bolstrowed such ladies as mrs melish do not go upon visits without escort without a word of notice without the poorest pretense of bag and baggage no the mistress of melish park had fled away from her home under the influence of some sudden panic had not mrs powell said as much or hinted as much for when did the ladylike creature ever vulgarize her opinions by stating them plainly the matter was obvious mr melish had taken no doubt the wisest course he had pursued his wife and brought her back and had done his best to hush up the matter but aurora's departure had been a flight a sudden and unpremeditated flight the ladies made ah how many handsome dresses given to her by a generous mistress lay neatly folded in the girls boxes on the second story told how aurora had come to her room pale and wild looking and had dressed herself unassisted for that hurried journey upon the day of the inquest the girl like her mistress loved her perhaps for aurora had a wondrous and almost dangerous faculty for winning the love of those who came near her but it was so pleasant to have something to say about this all absorbing topic and to be able to make oneself a feature in the solemn conclave at first they had talked only of the murdered man speculating upon his life in history and building up a dozen theoretical views of the murder but the tide had turned now and they talked of their mistress not connecting her in any positive or openly expressed manner with the murder but commending upon the strangeness of her conduct and dwelling much upon those singular coincidences by which she had happened to be roaming in the dark upon the night of the catastrophe and to run away from her home upon the day of the inquest it was odd you know the cook said and then black eyed women are generally regular spirity ones i shouldn't like to offend master john's wife do you remember how she laid into the softy but there was not a sort between her and the trainer was there ask someone i don't know about that but softy said she hated him like poison and that there was no love lost between him but why should aurora have hated the dead man the insign's widow had left the sting of her venom behind her and had suggested to these servants by hints and innuendos something so far more base and hideous than the truth that i will not sully these pages by recording it but mrs paul had of course done this foul thing without the utterance of one ugly word that could have told against her gentility had it been repeated aloud in a crowded drawing room she had only shrugged her shoulders and lifted her straw colored eyebrows inside half regretfully half deprecatingly but she had blasted the character of the woman she hated as shamefully as if she had uttered a libel too gross for holy well street she had done a wrong that could only be undone by the exhibition of the bloodstained certificate in john's keeping and the revelation of the whole story connected with the fatal scrap of paper she had done this before packing her boxes and she had gone away from the house that had sheltered her well pleased at having done this wrong and comforting herself yet farther by the intention of doing more mischief through the medium of the penny post it is not to be supposed that the manchester paper which had caused so serious a discussion in the humble parlor of the crooked rabbit had been overlooked in the servants hall at mellish the manchester journals were regularly forwarded to the young squire from the metropolis of cotton spinning and horse racing and the mysterious letter in the guardian had been read and commented upon every creature in that household from the fat housekeeper who had kept the keys of the storeroom through nearly three generations to the rheumatic trainer langley had a certain interest in the awful question a nervous footman turned pale as that passage was read which declared that the murder had been committed by some member of the household but i think there were some younger and more adventurous spirits especially a pretty housemaid who had seen the thrilling drama of susan hopley performed at the don caster theater during the spring meeting who would have rather liked to be accused of the crime and to emerge spotless and triumphant from the judicial ordeal through the evidence of an idiot or a magpie or a ghost or some other witness common and popular in criminal courts did aurora know anything of all this no she only knew that a dull and heavy sense of oppression in her own breast made the very summer atmosphere floating in at the open windows seemed stifling and poisonous that the house which had once been so dear to her was as painfully and perpetually haunted by the ghastly presence of the murdered man as if the dead trainer had stalked palpably about the corridors wrapped in a bloodstained winding sheet she dined with her husband alone in the great dining room many people had called during the two days that mr and mrs melis had been absent among others the rector mr loft house and the corner mr hayward loft house and hayward will guess why we went away john thought as he tossed the cards over in the basket they will guess that i have taken the proper steps to make my marriage legal and to make my darling quite my own they were very silent at dinner for the presence of the servants sealed their lips upon the topic that was uppermost in their minds john looked anxiously at his wife every now and then for he saw that her face had grown paler since her arrival at melis but he waited until they were alone before he spoke my darling he said as the door closed behind the butler and his subordinate i'm sure you are ill this business has been too much for you it is the air of this house that seems to oppress me john answered aurora i had forgotten all about this dreadful business while i was away now that i come back and find that the time which has been so long to me so long in misery and anxiety and so long in joy my own dear love through you is in reality only a few days and that the murdered man still lies near us i i shall be better when when the funeral is over john my poor darling i was a fool to bring you back i should never have done so but for talbot's advice he urged me so strongly to come back directly he said that if there should be any disturbance about the murder we ought to be upon the spot disturbance what disturbance cried aurora her face blanched as she spoke and her heart sank within her what further disturbance could there be was the ghastly business as yet unfinished then she knew alas only too well that there could be no investigation of this matter which would not bring her name before the world linked with the name of the dead man how much she had endured in order to keep that shameful secret from the world how much she had sacrificed in the hope of saving her father from humiliation and now at the last when she had thought that the dark chapter of her life was finished the hateful page blotted out now at the very last there was a probability of some new disturbance which would bring her name and her history into every newspaper in england oh john john she cried bursting into a passion of hysterical sobs and covering her face with her clasped hands am i never to hear the last of this am i never never never to be released from the consequences of my miserable folly the butler entered the room as she said this she rose hurriedly and walked to one of the windows in order to conceal her face from the man i beg your pardon sir the old servant said but they found something in the park and i thought perhaps you might like to know they found something what exclaimed john utterly bewildered between his agitation at the sight of his wife's grief and his endeavor to understand the man a pistol sir one of the stable lads found it just now he went to the wood with another boy to look at the place where the the man was shot and he brought back a pistol he found there it was close against the water but hid away among the weeds and rushes whoever threw it there thought no doubt to throw it in the pond but jim that's one of the boys fancied he saw something glitter and sure enough it was the band of a pistol and i think it must be the one that the trainer was shot with mr john a pistol cried mr melish let me see it his servant handed him the weapon it was small enough for a toy but nonetheless deadly in a skillful hand it was a rich man's fancy deftly carried out by some cunning gunsmith and enriched by elaborate inlaid work of purple steel and tarnished silver it was rusty from exposure to rain and dew but mr melish knew the pistol well for it was his own it was his own one of his pet play things and it had been kept in the room which was only entered by privileged persons the room in which his wife had busied herself upon the day of the murder with the rearrangement of his guns end of chapter 34 discovery of the weapon with which james conures had been slain