19 - Ashiel Mystery - A Detective Story by Mrs. Charles Bryce

When Juliet Byrne, an adopted child, finally uncovers the truth about her familys mysterious past, her father is shockingly murdered. Its up to the brilliant and eccentric Detective Gimblet, with his penchant for chocolate, to untangle the enigmatic Ashiel Mystery.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter nineteen of The AshEL Mystery. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to find out how you can volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Don W. Jenkins. The

(00:21):
Ashyl Mystery by Missus Charles Bryce, Chapter nineteen. When Juliet,
incensed and indignant at the Russian's behavior, discovered the door
in the clock and was on the point of opening
it and making her presence known, a noise of steps
in the passage made her pause. As she listened, there

(00:43):
was the sound of a key turning in the lock.
The library door was thrown suddenly open, and Mark stepped
into the room. Juliet saw Julia's expression as she sprang
round to face the newcomer. She saw it change swift
as lightning, from a look of horror, rified dismay to
one of sudden, transforming tenderness as the girl recognized the

(01:05):
intruder that the hand already in the act of pushing
open the door of the clock, fell inert and limped
to her side, and if she had been able to move,
she would have lost no time in retreating. She knew
instinctively that she was seeing a secret laid bare which
she had no right to spy upon. And yet though
her impulse was to fly from the place in embarrassment

(01:27):
and confusion, something stronger than her natural discretion and delicacy
held her where she stood. For Julia had not come
here for the purpose of meeting Mark. She had come
with a purpose less, personal something Juliet felt convinced that
was in some way vaguely discreditable and at the same
time menacing. It could be for no harmless reason that

(01:50):
she had taken this secret, dangerous way into the castle,
And so Juliet kept her ground, blushing at her roll
of spy and averting her eyes. As Juliet dropped the
book she was holding and ran forward to meet Mark
with that tall tale look upon her face. But Mark
did not show the same pleasure. He stood holding the

(02:10):
handle of the door, which he had closed gently behind him,
and looking with a certain sternness at the girl Julia.
He said, you here, What are you doing? Oh Mark,
She cried, not answering his question. Aren't you glad to
see me? It is so long, Oh, it is so
long since I saw you. She threw her arms round

(02:32):
his neck with a happy laugh, and drew his face
down to hers. Darling, Darling, she murmured, how can we
live without each other? For one single day? She spoke
in a low, soft voice to Juliet, to whom every
purling syllable was painfully audible. It sounded cooingly like the
voice of doves, to the surprise of the girl to

(02:54):
whom Mark had proposed marriage two days before, when she
ventured to peep through her spy window. Mark's arms were
round Julia, and he was kissing her ardently. But after
a moment he released himself gently. You haven't told me, dear,
he said, what you are doing here? His voice held
a note of authority, before which Julia's assurance vanished. I

(03:17):
I wasn't doing anything, she muttered, Julia, he remonstrated, well,
she said, with some show of defiance. I suppose any
one may take a book from the library. Of course,
he said, you may take anything of mine you want,
still as you are not staying in the house. In short,
it seems to me that the more obvious course would

(03:39):
have been to have said something to me about it.
And besides, he added, struck by a sudden thought, how
in the world did you get in? The door was
locked and the key is on the outside. Oh, if
you're going to make such a fuss about nothing, she
exclaimed petulantly, her toe beginning to tap the boards, It's
not worth explaining anything to you. She turned away and

(04:00):
walked toward the fireplace. I'm not making a fuss, Mark
said quietly, but you must tell me, Julia, what you
are doing here and how you came to speak plainly,
I don't believe you came for a book. If you
don't believe me, what's the good of my saying anything.
She retorted, Oh, how horrid you are to day, Mark,
I don't believe you love me a bit any more,

(04:22):
and leaning her head against the mantelpiece, she burst into tears.
You know it isn't that, Julia, he said, looking at
her fixedly. Don't cry. There's a dear good girl. You
know that I love you why you're the only thing
in the whole world that I really want. But you
must tell me how you came here. Tell me, he repeated,
taking her hands from her face and forcing her to

(04:42):
look at him. What you want in the library? Tell me, Julia?
I want to know. She seemed to struggle to keep silence,
but to be unable to resist his questioning eyes. I
suppose I must tell you, she murmured. It's not that
I don't want to, but they would kill me if
they need. Oh, Mark, I ought not to tell you,
But how can I keep anything secret from my beloved?

(05:05):
Swear to me that you will never repeat it or
try to hinder me in what I have to do.
He bent and kissed her, Julie, He said, can't you
trust me? I do? I do? She cried, While you
love me, I trust you. But if you left off,
what then? What is the nightmare that haunts me? Mark? Mark?
What would become of me if you were to change

(05:25):
towards me? He kissed her again, murmuring reassuring words that
did not reach Juliet's ears. So tell me now, he ended,
What you were doing here? Mark, She said nervously. You
know where my childhood was passed? In Saint Petersburg. He
replied wonderingly, Yes, in Petersburg, and you know how things

(05:45):
are there. It is so different from your England, my England,
for I am English, really, Mark, Although that thought always
seems so strange to me, since during so many years
I believed myself to be a Russian. I am the
daughter of English parents. My father was a very respectable
London plumber of the name of Hardston, whose business went
to the bad and who died, leaving my mother to

(06:07):
face ruin and starvation with a family of five small children,
of whom I was the last. When a lady who
took an interest in the parish in which we lived
suggested that a friend of hers should adopt one of
the children, my mother was only too thankful to accept
the proposal, and I was the one from whom she
chose to be parted. I have never seen her since,
but she is still alive, and I send her money

(06:29):
from time to time. The lady who adopted me was
Countess Romaninov, and I believed myself to be her child
till a day or two before she died, when she
told me to my lasting regret the true story of
my origin. But I was brought up a Russian, and
I shall never feel myself to be English. Somehow, the
soil you live on in your childhood seems to get

(06:50):
into your bones. As you say here, it is true
that I speak your language easily, but it was Russian,
that my baby lips first learned my sympathies, my point
of view. My friends, all except yourself, are Russian, and
I have one essentially Russian attribute. I am a member
of what you would call a nihilist society. Mark interrupted

(07:10):
her with an interjection of surprise, but she nodded her
head defiantly and continued, All my life, all my private
ends and desires, must be governed by the needs of
my country. First and foremost, I exist that the rule
of the tyrant may be abolished, and the slav be
free to work out his own salvation. He shall be
saved from the fate that now overwhelms and crushes him,

(07:32):
dragged bodily from under the heel of the oppressor. I
am not the only one. We are many who think
as one mind, And the day is not far distant
when our sacrifices shall bear fruit. Ah, Mark, what a
great cause, What a noble purpose is this of ours?
Perhaps I shall be able to convert you to fire
your cold British blood with my enthusiasm. She stopped and

(07:54):
looked at him inquiringly, but he made no reply, and
after a moment she continued, placing her hand fondly upon
on his shoulder as she spoke. Our plan is to
terrify the rulers into submission. We must not shrink from
killing and killing suddenly and unexpectedly, till they abandon the
wickedness of their ways. They must never know what it
is to feel safe, and we see to it that

(08:15):
they do not. Death waits for them at the street corner,
on their travels, at their own doorsteps. They never know
at what moment the bomb may not be thrown or
the pistol fired. It is sad that explosives are so unreliable.
There are many difficulties. You would not believe the obstacles
that we find placed in our path at every turning.

(08:36):
And for those who are suspected, there is Siberia and
the mines. But it is worth it. It is worth
anything to feel that one is working and risking all
for one's country and one's fellow countrymen. It is an
honor to belong to a band of such noble men
and women. But now and then one is admitted who
turns out to be unworthy. Yes, even such a cause

(08:57):
as ours has traitors to contend with. And your uncle
Lord Asheyle, was one of them, What said Mark, incredulously,
Uncle Douglas a nihilist nonsense, It's impossible. He was really
for he joined the Friends of Man when he was
at the British embassy at Petersburg long years ago, And
no sooner had he been initiated than he turned round

(09:19):
and denounced the Society and all its works. Worse still,
he declared his intention of hindering it from carrying out
its program. He would have been got rid of there
and then, But as ill luck would have it, he had,
by an unheard of chain of accidents, become possessed of
an important document belonging to the Society. It was, indeed
a list of the principal people on the executive Committee

(09:42):
that fell into his hands, and he took the precaution
of sending it to England, with instructions that if anything
happened to him, it should be forwarded to the Russian
police before he made known his ridiculous objections to our program. Here,
as you will understand, was a most imposing situation with
which there was a apparently no means of coping. For

(10:02):
years that one man hampered and frustrated our entire organization.
He was practically able to dictate his own terms, For
he announced his intention of publishing the list of names
if we carried out any important project, and no device
could be contrived to stop his. Being as good as
his word, the tyrant has walked unscathed except by mere

(10:23):
private enterprise, and the government we could have caused to
crumble to the ground has flourished and continued to work
evil As before. We have been crippled, paralyzed in every direction.
It was only last year that there seemed reason to
think that Lord Ashele had removed the document from the
Bank of England, where it had for so long been guarded,
and there appeared to be a possibility that he now

(10:44):
kept it in his own house. If that were so,
there seemed a good chance of getting hold of it.
And how proud I am marked to think that it
was I who was chosen to make the attempt. I
came to England with the best introductions into society, and
had no difficulty in making friends with your aunt and
obtaining an invitation to stay here. Last year I did
not succeed in gaining any information. Your uncle, for some reason,

(11:08):
seemed rather to avoid me, and I did not make
any headway toward gaining his confidence. I never could be
sure if he suspected me. This year, there was a
question of replacing me by some one else, but it
was judged that Lord Ashele's suspicions would be certainly awakened
by the appearance of another Russian, so in the hope
that I was not associated in his mind with the

(11:28):
people to which he had behaved so basely, I was
ordered to try again. A member of the Society, who
occupies a high and responsible position on the Council, accompanied
me to the neighborhood, and from time to time I
report to him and receive his advice and instructions. He
stays in Creanan so that I have some one within
reach to go to for advice. At least, so I

(11:50):
am officially informed. But I know very well he is
really there to keep watch on me, for it is
not the habit of the Society to trust its members
more than is unavoidable. If it is as possible, I
go once a week to Kreanan and make my report,
but I can't always manage to go, And then he
rows across the loch after dark and I go out
and meet him. He was to come on the night
of the murder, and my first thought when I heard

(12:12):
of it was that he might be caught in the
shrubberies and mistaken for the murderer. But it appears that
he had already taken alarm, and I am thankful to
say he was able to escape in good time. So
did David really see some one wandering about that night?
Mark commented thoughtfully, Ah, Julia, if you'd told me all
this earlier, everything might have been different. Poor old David
never need have been dragged into it at all. She

(12:34):
looked at him a moment, as if puzzled, then continued
her story. It was thought that I might be able
to bring about your uncle's death by some means that
should have all the appearance of an accident, and so
perhaps not involve action on the part of those who
hold the document, that is, if it should prove not
to be in his own keeping, for he had always
assured the counsel that no decisive step would be taken

(12:55):
except as a retort to signs of violence on our part,
whether directed toward himself or others. I have not been
able to find any trace of the list I thought
I had it one day in London when I followed
Lord Ashell to a detective's office and managed to gain
possession of an envelope given him by Lord Ashell. But
as far as I could make out, it contained nothing
of any importance. It was a bitter disappointment. You can

(13:17):
imagine the consternation into which we were thrown by the murder.
It seemed certain that his death would be attributed to
our organization, and if anyone held the list for him,
it would be published immediately. Four days have passed, however,
and my superior has received a cable saying that so
far all as well. It looks more and more as
if the list had been kept here. But I have

(13:39):
hunted everywhere and found nothing. Oh, I have searched without
ceasing since the moment I heard of his death. I
came here even on the very night of the murder
and moved the body with my own hands in order
to get at the bureau drawers. There is a secret
way into the room through that old clock there, which
leads into the grounds. I found it long ago one
day when I was exploring outside in the shrubbery. I

(14:00):
have often been here and searched, and searched again. Do
you know anything of this document, Mark. If you do,
I beg and implore you to give it to me.
Otherwise I cannot answer for your life. And as for
our marriage, that is out of the question unless I
am successful in my undertaking. It may be imagine with
what amazement and growing horror Juliet listened to this avowal

(14:21):
that Julia, the girl with whom she had associated on
terms of easy familiarity which had been near to becoming
something like intimacy in the close contact and companionship of
a country house life, that this girl, an honored guest
in Lord Ashell's house, should have gained her footing there
for her own treacherous ends, or at the bidding of
a band of political assassins. Juliet could scarcely believe her

(14:44):
ears as she heard the calm, indifferent tone in which
Julius spoke of the drawbacks to getting rid of Lord
Ashell under the contemplated accident which was to have befallen him.
She would have fled from where she stood if mingled,
fear and curiosity to hear more had not rooted her
to the spot. Her alarm was tempered by the presence
of Mark. If this girl should discover her hiding there

(15:07):
and show signs of the violence that might be expected
from such a character. Mark would be there to protect her.
She could trust him to know how to deal with
the Russian whose true nature must now be apparent to him.
But Mark, to her astonishment, had not drawn away from
Julia with the repugnance and disgust that were to be expected. Instead,
he was looking at her strangely, indeed, but almost eagerly.

(15:31):
It was you, then, who moved the body. To think
that I never guessed, he murmured, half to himself. If
I had known, I might have spared myself the trouble
to Then, more loudly, he reproached his companion, And you
have never said a word to me, Oh Julia, you
didn't trust me, he shook his head at her, mournfully.
Trust you, she retorted, Did you trust me? But I

(15:51):
would have trusted you, she added, gazing fondly into his eyes,
if I had dared risk the punishment that will surely
be meted out to me if it is known I
have done so. You don't know how rigid the rules
of our society are. But you haven't told me yet.
If you have the list, not I he said, I
never heard of its existence. I suppose that anonymous letter
that came addressed to Uncle Douglas after his death had

(16:14):
something to do with that. Did a letter come from Paris?
They sent them to him from time to time. It
prevented his suspecting me. But you will give me the
list if you find it, won't you? It means everything
to me. Of course I will, he promised. It is
no earthly good to me so far as I know.
But you, when you were looking for it, did you,
among all the papers you examined, ever come across such

(16:36):
a thing as a will? No? Never, she replied, missus
Clutson told me it could not be found. You may
be sure if I had discovered one which did not
leave you everything, I should have destroyed it. Dear little Julia.
Mark drew her to him and kissed her. How sweet
you are. There is no one like you. Really? Do
you really love me, Mark, Darling? Of course I do?

(16:59):
Will you always? Are you quite quite sure that I
am the one girl in all the world for you,
as you are the one man for me? Darling? You
are the only one in the world I have ever
so much as looked at. Would you never never forget
me or marry any one else, no matter what happened. Never,
he assured her. Never. She sighed contentedly. What should I

(17:20):
do if you forgot me? Mark? I should die? But
she added, in a different tone, I think I should
kill you first. Mark laughed a little uneasily. Hush, hush,
he said, you mustn't talk so much about killing. A
minute ago you were talking of killing my poor old uncle.
If I took you seriously, what should I think? It
is lucky I love you as I do. Otherwise, doesn't

(17:40):
it occur to you that it might get you into
trouble to talk in this wild way. You can take
me as seriously as you like, she answered gravely. I
am serious enough, God knows, but I shouldn't talk about it,
even to you if I didn't know it was safe.
You see, I know you are like me, like you.
I'm dashed if I am. How do you mean I
am like you? She looked at him squarely and nodded, yes,

(18:04):
She said, you are like me. You would not hesitate
to kill if you thought it necessary. You think just
the same as me on that subject. Only you have
gone farther than I have yet, Julia. He cried, what
do you mean? I mean that I know all about you, Mark,
She replied gravely, I know what you think you have
kept secret from me. I know it was you who

(18:25):
killed your uncle. With a muffled cry, Mark shook himself
free and sprang away from her. What are you saying,
he whispered hoarsely. You are mad, girl. But I won't
have such lies. Uttered, I won't have it, I tell you.
With terrified amazement, Juliet saw his face change become ugly distorted,
but Julia showed no sign of alarm. Why get so excited,

(18:46):
she asked, calmly, what does it matter? Do you imagine
I would betray you? I who would sell my soul
for you? I know you did it. It is no
use keeping up this pretense of innocence to me who
had more right to kill him than you? Why shouldn't
you kill who you wish? But don't you say you
didn't do it? It is foolish. I saw you. It

(19:07):
is a lie. You can't have seen me, Mark declared again,
but with less assurance. You were in the drawing room
all the time. Lady Ruth and Maisie Tarveror both said
so the drawing room doesn't even look out on the garden.
There is no room that does except the library, and
you weren't there then. Anyhow. I didn't see you fire
the shot, said Julia. But I saw you afterwards when

(19:27):
you went to put your rifle back in the gun room.
I told you that after the first search in the
ground was over and everyone had gone up to bed,
I slipped out of the house by the door near
the gun room and came round to the library to
see if Lord Ashell had carried the list on him.
When I came back, I let myself in quietly by
the door which I had left unbolded, and had just
got half way up the back stairs when I heard

(19:49):
footsteps in the passage below, and crouched down behind the banisters.
I saw you come along the passage, carrying an electric
lantern in one hand and your rifle in the other.
I saw you look round anxiously before opening the gun
room door and going in. When you had vanished, I
hurried on up to my room, for it was not
the time or place to tell you what I had seen.
But I left a crack of my door open, and

(20:11):
after a long while I saw you pass along the
passage to your own room, this time without your gun.
I knew, of course, that you had been cleaning it
and putting it away. She spoke with the indifference with
which one may refer to a regrettable but uncontrovertible fact,
and Mark seemed to feel it useless to deny what
she said. You had no right to spy on me,

(20:31):
he exclaimed angrily when she had done. Oh Mark, she cried, dismayed,
I wasn't spying. It was the merest accident, and I
think it's horrid of you to mind my knowing. Why
didn't you tell me all about it before? I might
have helped you, I'm sure, But he would have none
of her endearments, and threw off the hand she laid
upon his arm with a rough gesture. Mark, Oh Mark,

(20:53):
she wailed, don't be angry with me. You know I
can't bear it. I can bear anything but that. Don't
don't be angry with me. She had but one thought
it was for him, and he who ran might read
it shining in the depths of her great eyes. After
a few minutes of sulking, Mark relented. No one can
be angry with you for long, Julia, He declared. Instantly,

(21:15):
she was once more all smiles. Don't ever be angry
with me again, she urged her hand in his. And
now that you have forgiven me, tell me all about it.
What made you do such a dreadful thing? Mark? You
must have had some good reason. I know I never
would doubt that. There's nothing much to tell, he said unwillingly.
I had a good reason. Yes, I must have money.

(21:36):
It is for your sake, darling, that I must get it.
I can't marry you without it. I hadn't meant to
kill him if I could get it without. He was
ill and had left his fortune to me. I thought
I should get it in time by letting nature take
her course. It was that a ruin, and I really
had to do it for your sake, darling. I didn't
want to hurt the old boy. Why should I. It's
not a pleasant thing to have to do. But I

(21:57):
had no choice. There was no other way of getting
enough money. I simply had to get it. It was
his life or mine. You don't understand. I can't explain.
It just had to be done. And there's an end
of it. Everything was going wrong that girl, that burn girl.
I imagine he was going to marry her. You know,
we all did. That would have spoilt everything. At first
I thought she could be got out of the way,

(22:19):
but she seemed to bear a charmed life. What cried Julia,
Did you try to kill her too? Why if anyone
had to be got rid of, he admitted defiantly, it
seemed better to go for a stranger like her than
for my own uncle. Come, you must see that surely
she was nothing to me, and anyhow my hand was forced.
It's very hard that I should have been put in

(22:40):
such a position. I'm the last person to do harm
to a fly, But one must think of one's self.
Since it was no use denying the murder, he seemed
to find some sort of satisfaction in telling Julia of
his other crimes. And yet though he tried hard to
speak with an affectation of indifference, it was plain that
he kept a watchful eye upon his listener, and was
ready to fat and resentfully upon the first sign of

(23:02):
horror or even disapproval for all his efforts. The tone
of his disclosures was at once swaggering and suspicious, but
he need have had no anxiety as to the spirit
in which they would be received. It was clear that
Julia brought to his judgment no remembrance of ordinary human
standards of conduct. To her, he was above such criticisms

(23:22):
as the immortals might be supposed to be above the
rules that applied to dwellers upon earth. What he did
was right in her eyes, because he did it, and
she admired his brutality as she adored the rest of
him wholeheartedly, without reservation. I had a shot at her,
he went on one day on the moor when she
was with David, but I missed her. It was our

(23:43):
rotten shot. I can't think how I came to do it.
That's when she fell into the river. I saw her
standing by it as I came home from stocking. I
had walked on ahead, and where the path runs along
above the waterfall pool, I happened to go to the
edge and look over there. She was on a stone,
right at the edge, by the deepest part. It looked
as if she'd been put there on purpose. And I
should have been a fool to miss such a chance.

(24:05):
It's no good going against fate. As a matter of fact,
I thought i'd got her sitting this time. I caught
up the nearest piece of rock and dropped it down
on her. That was a good shot, though I say it,
but it hit her on the shoulder instead of the head,
as luck would have it, which was bad luck for me. However,
in she went, and I thought all was well and
lost no time in getting away from the place if
it hadn't been for that meddling fool Andy Well. Then

(24:28):
at dinner, Uncle Douglas came out with the news that
she was his daughter, not as intended, and everything looked
worse than ever. Afterwards, when she went to talk to
him in the library and passed through the billiard room
where I was knocking the balls about and feeling pretty savage,
I can tell you I happened via Fluke to ask
her if she knew where David was. She said he'd
gone into the garden. Then I saw my chance, and

(24:50):
it seemed too good to miss. Why should I let
my inheritance be stolen from me? I ran off to
the gun room for a gun. I meant to take
David's rifle, but I found he hadn't cleaned it, so
I left it alone and took mine, as the thing
was really too important to risk. Using a strange gun
unless it was absolutely necessary, and his is a little
shorter in the stock than I like. I nipped back

(25:10):
and let myself out of the passage door into the
enclosed garden. It was a black night, though I knew
my way blindfolded about there, but the curtains of the
library were drawn and I couldn't see between them without
stepping on the flower bed. I knew too much to
leave my footmarks all over them, but I had to
get on to the bed to have a chance of
getting a shot, so I got the long plank the

(25:32):
gardeners used to avoid stepping on the flower beds when
they are bedding out from the two house behind the
holly hedge, where I knew it was kept, and put
it down near the hedge. It is held up clear
of the ground by two cross pieces of wood, one
at each end, you know, so there will be no
marks left to identify me by. When I walked to
the end of the plank, I could see straight into

(25:52):
the middle of the room, but they must have been
sitting near the fire, for no one was in sight.
I could see the riding bureau and the chair in
front of it, and dimly in the back of the room.
I could make out the face of the clock, but
that was all well. I stood there for what seemed
a long while. You've no idea how cramping it is
to stand on a narrow plank with no room to
take a step forward or back for a long time.

(26:13):
And I don't mind telling you I got a bit
jumpy waiting there. If any one chanced to come along,
What could I say by way of explanation. I couldn't
think of anything the least likely to wash, And somehow,
in the dark one begins to imagine things. I saw
David coming at me across the lawn every other minute,
and it seemed so hideously likely that he should come.

(26:33):
I knew he was somewhere out in the grounds. By jove,
if he had, he'd have got the bullet instead of
Uncle Douglas. But he didn't come. Bo's beastly shadows and
shapes and whisperings and rustlings that seemed to be all
around me hiding in the night turned out to be
nothing after all. But when I didn't fancy him at
my elbow, I imagined he was in the gun room,
wondering where the dickens my rifle had got to. Oh,

(26:56):
I had a happy half hour among the roses. I
tell you a rifle as a heavy thing too. I
leaned it up against a rose bush and tried to
sit down on the plank, but it wouldn't do, and
I saw I must bear it standing or Uncle Douglas
might cross in front of the slit between the curtains
without my having time to get a shot. You must
remember I'd been on the hill all day, so that
I was very stiff to begin with. It got so

(27:18):
bad that I began to think it was hardly worth
the candle at last, And it's a wonder I didn't
miss him clean when just as I was on the
point of giving the whole thing up and going in again,
he came suddenly into my field of vision and actually
sat down at the table. I took a careful aim
and fired. I saw him fall forward, and then I
jumped off the plank and hurled it back under the hedge.
Before I ran for the house, I had left the

(27:39):
door ajar, and I just stayed close to it, and
then darted into the empty billiard room and thrust my
rifle under a sofa. It was a quick bit of work.
I had counted on Juliet Byrne, waiting a moment or
two to see if she could do anything to help
him before she roused the house or it roused itself.
And she was rather longer than I expected. I don't
mind owning. I got into a panic when minutes passed

(28:02):
and no one appeared, and I began to think I
must have missed the old boy altogether. I was within
an ace of going to make certain when the door
opened and in she came, Oh, well, you know all
the rest that silly old ass. David was still mooning
about in the garden thinking of her, I suppose, which
was very lucky for me. Julia had listened with absorbed interest.

(28:23):
I think it's wonderful. She said that you should have
gone through all that for my sake. I shall always
try to deserve it, My dear, Was it all all
for me that you did it? Truly? Yes, Mark assured her,
gruffly monosyllabic. But how was it? She asked, caressingly, that
sir David's footprints were found all over the rose bed.

(28:45):
What was he doing there? That was an afterthought? Mark
admitted it was a top whole idea. After everyone had
gone upstairs, I crept down and got my man liquor
from where I had hidden it, and took it to
the gun room, where I cleaned it put it in
its usual place. It was lucky for me that David
had left his weapon dirty. It was jolly unlike him

(29:05):
to do it. I was thinking what a good thing
it was, and how well things looked like turning out
for I thought I could manage the girl if she
was able to prove that she really wasn't a Conahan.
And it struck me I ought to be able to
contrive that the business should look a bit blacker against
poor old David. Everyone knew he'd had a row with
Uncle Douglas about his beastly dog, and if I could

(29:25):
only manufacture a little more evidence against him, I knew
I should be pretty safe one way or another. I
was going back to the garden to put by the
gardener's plank when I thought of using his boots. It
didn't take long to find them among all the boots
used that day by the household, which were ranged in
a row in the place where they cleaned them in
the back premises. His boot maker's name was in them.

(29:47):
I took them, and when I got to the garden door.
I put them on and went out and trampled out
among the roses till I was pretty sure that even
the blindest country booby couldn't fail to notice the tracks
I'd left, though of course I couldn't see them myself
in the dark. Then I got the plank out of
the hedge and put it away where i'd found it.
After that, I took the boots back and went to bed.
I'm very glad I was to get there. Now you've

(30:08):
heard the whole story. How clever you are, murmured the girl.
There's no one like you, she said, no one. Mark
smiled rather fatuously. He evidently shared her opinion that his
brains were something slightly out of the way, and everything
happened just as you'd planned, she went on, admiringly. They
suspected Sir David from the first. I should have myself

(30:29):
if I hadn't known it was you who had done it. Yes,
said Mark, They suspected him, the silly idiots. They might
have known. He hasn't the initiative to do a thing
like that, and the girl can't prove her relationship to
Uncle Douglas. Just as I expected, I thought there might
be some difficulty about that. But I wish I could
find the will he made in her favor. I should

(30:49):
feel safer then, for she told me he said he'd
worded it so that she should get the money, whether
she was proved his daughter or not. And who knows
what other mad clauses he may have put in it lately.
For some reason I could never make out, I felt
sure he had changed toward me. He let fall a
hint one day that his legacies to me were a
conditional on my good behavior. I don't feel easy about

(31:10):
it at all. Some one must have been telling him
things poisoning his mind. But I've hunted high and low
and found nothing. I'm sick of looking over musty old bills.
Oh we shall find it between us, now, said Julia, hopefully.
I wish I had some idea where the list I
want is, though she added, there's that detective too pursued mark,
that fellow Gimblet. I'm rather fed up with him, not

(31:33):
that he seems any use at his work, though he's
supposed to be rather first class at it. I believe
Gimblet is that who it is. Missus Clutson told me
a London detective was here, but I didn't know who
it was. I have met him before and found him
very easy to manage. I don't think you need be
afraid of anything he may do. I shall be glad
when he's off the place, anyhow, said Mark, I shall

(31:54):
be glad when the whole business is over and forgotten.
Julia rejoined. I wish we could be married once, Mark, Darling.
But why can't it be given out that we are engaged.
I don't understand why we should keep it a secret. Now.
I can't stand seeing so little of you as I
have these last few days. Be patient, Darling, wait just
a little longer. There are reasons, As I have told you,

(32:15):
I must get my financial affairs straight, for one thing,
before I allow you to tie yourself to me. Suppose
I turn out to be a beggar, I couldn't let
you marry me. Then you know, Mark, Julia's voice was
full of reproach. You know perfectly well how little I
care about your money. I would be only too glad
to marry you if you hadn't a penny. But perhaps
you mean that if you were poor, you wouldn't want

(32:37):
to burden yourself with a wife. You know how I
adore you, Julia. How can you suggest such a thing.
I couldn't even dream of a life without you. You
show how little you know me. But believe me, it
is wisest to wait a short time longer before we
are publicly engaged. You must take my word for it
and not make me unhappy by imagining such cruel things. Come,

(32:58):
let us look for this list of yours. What were
you doing searching among the books? Yes, said she, rising
as he went toward a book shelf, and following him.
I thought it might be hidden between the leaves of
one of these old volumes. One reads of such things,
I wonder, he said, absently, The will too may be here.
Is there a Bible anywhere? I believe that's a favorite

(33:19):
place of concealment. Then when the air is virtuous and
reads his Bible, he gets the legacy, you know, while
if he isn't, he doesn't. A sort of poetic justice
is meted out. If I find it in that way,
I shall take it as a sign that I am
really the virtuous one, and that Heaven absolves me from
all blame. He spoke mockingly, but Juliet answered very seriously,

(33:39):
of course you ought to have it. And if I
don't blame you, why should any one else? Well, he said,
after a pause, At all events, I mean to get it,
whether or no, if I have to pull down every
stone of the place that reminds me, he added, where
is the secret entrance she used through this old clock?
Who would have thought it? In a moment, Juliet realized

(33:59):
that she was going to be caught. She had been
so absorbed in listening to the dreadful revelations that had
been made during the last half hour that not till
now had she considered how dangerous was her position. As
he spoke, Mark threw open the door of the clockcase.
Too late. She turned to fly. He caught her by
the arm, and, with a stifled oath, dragged her into
the room. How long have you been there? He cried,

(34:21):
and fell to swearing horribly, while Julius stood by, not speaking,
but looking at Juliet with an expression which frightened her
more than all his violence. End of chapter nineteen read
by Don W. Jenkins, Rancho, San Diego, California, Shaggy Bark
dot blogspot dot com.