Cursed by a Fortune Part 38

Kate drew a deep breath, and gazed appealingly in the speaker's face.

"As a solicitor and the husband of your aunt's late sister, James Wilton naturally came to me for help in his money affairs, and I did the best I could for him. I found that he had been gambling foolishly on the Stock Exchange, instead of keeping to his farms, and was so involved that immediate payments had to be made to save him from absolute ruin."

"But my father surely did not know of this?"

"Not a word. He kept his own counsel, and of course until the will was read I had no idea of what arrangements your father had made; in fact, I was somewhat taken aback, for I thought it possible that he would have made me one of your trustees. But that by the way. I helped your uncle all I could as a monetary agent, and found clients who were willing to advance him money on his estate, which is now deeply mortgaged. These moneys are now wanted, for the interest has not been fully paid for years. In short, James Wilton is in a desperate condition, and my visits here have been to try and extricate him from his monetary tangle in which he finds himself. Now do you begin to grasp what his designs are?"

"Yes, I see," said Kate, sadly; "it is to get some of the money which should be mine, to pay his debts."

"Exactly, and the simplest way to do so is to marry you to Claud."

"No: there is a simpler way, Mr Garstang. If my uncle had come to me and told me his position I should have felt that I could not have done a more kindly deed than to help my father's brother by paying his debts."

"Very kind and generous of you, my child; but he would not believe it possible, and I must say to you that, after what has pa.s.sed, you would not be doing your duty to the dead by helping your uncle to this extent.

Kate, my dear, since I have been talking to you it has occurred to me that there is but one way out of your difficulty."

"Yes, what is it?" she cried eagerly.

"Of course, you cannot marry your cousin?"

"Mr Garstang!" she cried indignantly.

"It is impossible, of course; and if you stay here you will have to submit to endless persecution and annoyance, such as a highly strung, sensitive girl like you are will be unable to combat."

"You do not know me yet, Mr Garstang."

"Indeed? I think I do, as I have known you from a child. You are mentally strong, but you have been, and under these circ.u.mstances will be, further sapped by sickness, and it would need superhuman power to win in so cruel a fight. You must not risk it, Kate, my child. You must go."

"Yes, I feel that I know I must go, but how can I? You, as a lawyer, should know."

"A long and costly litigation, or an appeal to the Court of Chancery might save you, and a judge make an order traversing your father's will, but I should shrink from such a course; I know too well the uncertainties of the law."

"Then your idea for extricating me from my difficult position is of no value," she said, despairingly.

"You have not heard it yet," he said, "because I almost shrink from proposing such a thing to your father's child."

"Tell me what it is," she said firmly.

"You desire me to?"

"Of course."

"It is this--a simple and effective way of checkmating one who has proved himself unworthy. My idea was that you should transfer the guardians.h.i.+p to me."

"Willingly, Mr Garstang; but can it be done?"

"It must and shall be done if you are willing, my child," he said firmly, "but it would necessitate a very unusual, a bold and immediate step oh your part."

"What is that, Mr Garstang?" she said quietly.

"You would have to place yourself under my guardians.h.i.+p at once."

"At once?" she said, starting slightly.

"Yes. Think for yourself. It could not be done slowly and legally, for at the first suspicion that I was acting against him, James Wilton would place you immediately completely out of my reach, and take ample care that I had no further communication with you."

"Yes," she said quietly; "he would."

"Yes," he said, repeating her words, and speaking in a slow, pa.s.sionless, judicial way; "if the thing were deferred, or if he were besieged, he would redouble his pressure. Kate, my dear, that was my idea; but it must sound almost as mad to you as it does to me. Yes, it is impossible; I ought not to have proposed such a thing, and yet I can not find it in my heart to give up any chance of rescuing you from your terrible position."

He was silent, and she stood there gazing straight before her for a few moments before turning her eyes upon his.

"Tell me plainly what you mean, Mr Garstang."

"Simply this: I did mean that you should take the opportunity of my being here and leave at once. I have the fly waiting, and I could take you to my town house and place you in the care of my housekeeper and her daughter. It would of course be checkmating your uncle, who could be brought to his knees; and then as the price of your pardon you could do something to help him out of his difficulties. Possibly a moderate payment to his creditors might free him on easy terms. But there, my child, the project is too wild and chimerical. It must almost sound to you like a romance."

She stood there gazing full in his eyes as he ceased speaking; and at the end of a minute he said gently, "There, I must not keep you talking here in the cold night air. Your chest is still delicate; but strange as the visit may seem, I am after all glad I have come, if only to give you a little comfort--to show you that you are not quite alone in the world. There, say good-night, and, of course, you will not mention my visit to anyone. I must go now and catch the night mail at the station.

To-morrow I will see a very learned old barrister friend, and lay the matter before him so as to get his advice. He may show me some way out of the difficulty. Keep a good heart. I must show you that you have one who will act as an uncle should. But listen to me," he said, as he took her cold hand in his, "you must brace yourself up for the encounters to come. Even if I find that I can a.s.sist you, the law moves slowly, and it may be months before you can come out of prison. So no flinching; let James Wilton and that scoundrel Claud know that they have a firm, mentally strong woman to deal with; and now G.o.d bless you, my child! Good-night!"

He let her hand fall, and lowered himself a round of the ladder; but she stood as if carved in marble in the bright moonlight, without uttering a word.

"Say good-night, my dear; and come, be firm."

She made no reply.

"You are not hurt by my proposal?" he said quietly.

"No," she said at last, "I was trying to weigh it. I must have time."

"Yes, you must have time. Think it over, my child; it may strike you differently to-morrow, or you may see it in a more impossible light. So may I. You know my address: Bedford Row will find me. I am well known in London. Write to me if you require help, and at any cost I will come and see you, even if I bring police to force my way. Now, good-night, my dear. Heigho! Why did not I have a daughter such as you?"

"Let me think," said Kate gravely.

"No; this is no time for thinking, my child. Once more, good-night."

"No," said Kate firmly. "I will trust you, Mr Garstang. You must not leave me to be kept a prisoner here."

"Possibly they would not dare; and I must warn you that you are taking a very unusual step."

"Not in trusting you, sir," she said firmly. "Treat me as you have treated the daughter who might have been born to you, and save me at once from the position I am in. Wait while I go and waken Eliza. She must be with us."

"Your maid?" he said.

"Yes, I can not leave her here."

"They will not keep her a prisoner," he said quietly, "and she can join us afterwards. No, my child, if you go with me now it must be alone and at once. I will not put any pressure on you. Come or stay. You still have me to work for you as far as in me lies. Which shall it be? Your hat and cloak, or good-night?"

"Don't leave me, Mr Garstang. I am weak and hysterical still. I feel now, after the chance of freedom you have shown me, that I dare not face to-morrow alone."