Tales of Terror and Mystery
And yet all that he had to impress upon me might have been said in a
sentence, for it was that I was to remember that I was there as a
protection to himself, and that I was not on any consideration to leave
him for an instant. This he repeated again and again as our journey
drew to a close, with an insistence which showed that his nerves were
thoroughly shaken.
"Yes," he said at last, in answer to my looks rather than to my words,
"I AM nervous, Dr. Hamilton. I have always been a timid man, and my
timidity depends upon my frail physical health. But my soul is firm,
and I can bring myself up to face a danger which a less-nervous man
might shrink from. What I am doing now is done from no compulsion, but
entirely from a sense of duty, and yet it is, beyond doubt, a desperate
risk. If things should go wrong, I will have some claims to the title
of martyr."
This eternal reading of riddles was too much for me. I felt that I
must put a term to it.
"I think it would very much better, sir, if you were to trust me
entirely," said I. "It is impossible for me to act effectively, when I
do not know what are the objects which we have in view, or even where
we are going."
"Oh, as to where we are going, there need be no mystery about that,"
said he; "we are going to Delamere Court, the residence of Sir Thomas
Rossiter, with whose work you are so conversant. As to the exact
object of our visit, I do not know that at this stage of the
proceedings anything would be gained, Dr. Hamilton, by taking you into
my complete confidence. I may tell you that we are acting--I say 'we,'
because my sister, Lady Rossiter, takes the same view as myself--with
the one object of preventing anything in the nature of a family
scandal. That being so, you can understand that I am loath to give any
explanations which are not absolutely necessary. It would be a
different matter, Dr. Hamilton, if I were asking your advice. As
matters stand, it is only your active help which I need, and I will
indicate to you from time to time how you can best give it."
There was nothing more to be said, and a poor man can put up with a
good deal for twenty pounds a day, but I felt none the less that Lord
Linchmere was acting rather scurvily towards me. He wished to convert
me into a passive tool, like the blackthorn in his hand. With his
sensitive disposition I could imagine, however, that scandal would be
abhorrent to him, and I realized that he would not take me into his
confidence until no other course was open to him. I must trust to my
own eyes and ears to solve the mystery, but I had every confidence that
I should not trust to them in vain.
Delamere Court lies a good five miles from Pangbourne Station, and we
drove for that distance in an open fly. Lord Linchmere sat in deep
thought during the time, and he never opened his mouth until we were
close to our destination. When he did speak it was to give me a piece
of information which surprised me.
"Perhaps you are not aware," said he, "that I am a medical man like
yourself?"
"No, sir, I did not know it."
"Yes, I qualified in my younger days, when there were several lives
between me and the peerage. I have not had occasion to practise, but I
have found it a useful education, all the same. I never regretted the
years which I devoted to medical study. These are the gates of
Delamere Court."
We had come to two high pillars crowned with heraldic monsters which
flanked the opening of a winding avenue. Over the laurel bushes and
rhododendrons, I could see a long, many-gabled mansion, girdled with
ivy, and toned to the warm, cheery, mellow glow of old brick-work. My
eyes were still fixed in admiration upon this delightful house when my
companion plucked nervously at my sleeve.
"Here's Sir Thomas," he whispered. "Please talk beetle all you can."
A tall, thin figure, curiously angular and bony, had emerged through a
gap in the hedge of laurels. In his hand he held a spud, and he wore
gauntleted gardener's gloves. A broad-brimmed, grey hat cast his face
into shadow, but it struck me as exceedingly austere, with an
ill-nourished beard and harsh, irregular features. The fly pulled up
and Lord Linchmere sprang out.
"My dear Thomas, how are you?" said he, heartily.
But the heartiness was by no means reciprocal. The owner of the
grounds glared at me over his brother-in-law's shoulder, and I caught
broken scraps of sentences--"well-known wishes ... hatred of
strangers ... unjustifiable intrusion ... perfectly inexcusable."
Then there was a muttered explanation, and the two of them came over
together to the side of the fly.
"Let me present you to Sir Thomas Rossiter, Dr. Hamilton," said Lord
Linchmere. "You will find that you have a strong community of tastes."
I bowed. Sir Thomas stood very stiffly, looking at me severely from
under the broad brim of his hat.
"Lord Linchmere tells me that you know something about beetles," said
he. "What do you know about beetles?"
"I know what I have learned from your work upon the coleoptera, Sir
Thomas," I answered.
"Give me the names of the better-known species of the British
scarabaei," said he.
I had not expected an examination, but fortunately I was ready for one.
My answers seemed to please him, for his stern features relaxed.
"You appear to have read my book with some profit, sir," said he. "It
is a rare thing for me to meet anyone who takes an intelligent interest
in such matters. People can find time for such trivialities as sport
or society, and yet the beetles are overlooked. I can assure you that
the greater part of the idiots in this part of the country are unaware
that I have ever written a book at all--I, the first man who ever
described the true function of the elytra. I am glad to see you, sir,
and I have no doubt that I can show you some specimens which will
interest you." He stepped into the fly and drove up with us to the
house, expounding to me as we went some recent researches which he had
made into the anatomy of the lady-bird.
I have said that Sir Thomas Rossiter wore a large hat drawn down over
his brows. As he entered the hall he uncovered himself, and I was at
once aware of a singular characteristic which the hat had concealed.
His forehead, which was naturally high, and higher still on account of
receding hair, was in a continual state of movement. Some nervous
weakness kept the muscles in a constant spasm, which sometimes produced
a mere twitching and sometimes a curious rotary movement unlike
anything which I had ever seen before. It was strikingly visible as he
turned towards us after entering the study, and seemed the more
singular from the contrast with the hard, steady, grey eyes which
looked out from underneath those palpitating brows.
"I am sorry," said he, "that Lady Rossiter is not here to help me to
welcome you. By the way, Charles, did Evelyn say anything about the
date of her return?"
"She wished to stay in town for a few more days," said Lord Linchmere.
"You know how ladies' social duties accumulate if they have been for
some time in the country. My sister has many old friends in London at
present."
"Well, she is her own mistress, and I should not wish to alter her
plans, but I shall be glad when I see her again. It is very lonely
here without her company."
"I was afraid that you might find it so, and that was partly why I ran
down. My young friend, Dr. Hamilton, is so much interested in the
subject which you have made your own, that I thought you would not mind
his accompanying me."
"I lead a retired life, Dr. Hamilton, and my aversion to strangers
grows upon me," said our host. "I have sometimes thought that my
nerves are not so good as they were. My travels in search of beetles
in my younger days took me into many malarious and unhealthy places.
But a brother coleopterist like yourself is always a welcome guest, and
I shall be delighted if you will look over my collection, which I think
that I may without exaggeration describe as the best in Europe."
And so no doubt it was. He had a huge, oaken cabinet arranged in
shallow drawers, and here, neatly ticketed and classified, were beetles
from every corner of the earth, black, brown, blue, green, and mottled.
Every now and then as he swept his hand over the lines and lines of
impaled insects he would catch up some rare specimen, and, handling it
with as much delicacy and reverence as if it were a precious relic, he
would hold forth upon its peculiarities and the circumstances under
which it came into his possession. It was evidently an unusual thing
for him to meet with a sympathetic listener, and he talked and talked
until the spring evening had deepened into night, and the gong
announced that it was time to dress for dinner. All the time Lord
Linchmere said nothing, but he stood at his brother-in-law's elbow, and
I caught him continually shooting curious little, questioning glances
into his face. And his own features expressed some strong emotion,
apprehension, sympathy, expectation: I seemed to read them all. I was
sure that Lord Linchmere was fearing something and awaiting something,
but what that something might be I could not imagine.
The evening passed quietly but pleasantly, and I should have been
entirely at my ease if it had not been for that continual sense of
tension upon the part of Lord Linchmere. As to our host, I found that
he improved upon acquaintance. He spoke constantly with affection of
his absent wife, and also of his little son, who had recently been sent
to school. The house, he said, was not the same without them. If it
were not for his scientific studies, he did not know how he could get
through the days. After dinner we smoked for some time in the
billiard-room, and finally went early to bed.
And then it was that, for the first time, the suspicion that Lord
Linchmere was a lunatic crossed my mind. He followed me into my
bedroom, when our host had retired.
"Doctor," said he, speaking in a low, hurried voice, "you must come
with me. You must spend the night in my bedroom."
"What do you mean?"
"I prefer not to explain. But this is part of your duties. My room is
close by, and you can return to your own before the servant calls you
in the morning."
"But why?" I asked.
"Because I am nervous of being alone," said he. "That's the reason,
since you must have a reason."
It seemed rank lunacy, but the argument of those twenty pounds would
overcome many objections. I followed him to his room.
"Well," said I, "there's only room for one in that bed."
"Only one shall occupy it," said he.
"And the other?"
"Must remain on watch."
"Why?" said I. "One would think you expected to be attacked."
"Perhaps I do."
"In that case, why not lock your door?"
"Perhaps I WANT to be attacked."
It looked more and more like lunacy. However, there was nothing for it
but to submit. I shrugged my shoulders and sat down in the arm-chair
beside the empty fireplace.
"I am to remain on watch, then?" said I, ruefully.
"We will divide the night. If you will watch until two, I will watch
the remainder."
"Very good."
"Call me at two o'clock, then."
"I will do so."
"Keep your ears open, and if you hear any sounds wake me
instantly--instantly, you hear?"
"You can rely upon it." I tried to look as solemn as he did.
"And for God's sake don't go to sleep," said he, and so, taking off
only his coat, he threw the coverlet over him and settled down for the
night.
It was a melancholy vigil, and made more so by my own sense of its
folly. Supposing that by any chance Lord Linchmere had cause to
suspect that he was subject to danger in the house of Sir Thomas
Rossiter, why on earth could he not lock his door and so protect