The Story of Antony Grace Part 99

There was no love-making in the ordinary sense of the word, but when Miriam Carr and Hallett met, there would be one long earnest look, a pressure of the hand; and then--they waited. It was his wish, and she reverenced his n.o.ble pride.

One evening we were very few at Westmouth Street; only Linny, Tom Girtley, Mr Jabez, Hallett, and myself, when I found that there was a surprise for me.

Tea was over, and I was just about to propose some music, when Tom Girtley took a black bag from under one of the settees, and opening it, drew out a packet of papers.

What was going to happen? I asked myself. Was it a marriage settlement, or some deed of gift, or an arrangement by which Hallett was to be forced to take what was needful to complete his work?

Neither. For at the first words uttered by Tom Girtley, I realised that it was something to do with the half-forgotten papers brought up by Mr Peter Rowle.

"Miss Carr wished me to enter into the business matters here, Grace," he said; "and I should have talked to you more about it, only we thought it better to elucidate everything first, and to make perfectly sure."

"But--" I began.

"Wait a moment," he said, in regular legal form. "This has been a very intricate affair, and I was obliged to tread very cautiously, so as not to alarm the enemy. Before I had been at work a fortnight, I found that I needed the help of more experienced brains, so I consulted my princ.i.p.als."

"And ran up a long bill?" I said, laughing.

"Yes, a very long one," he said, "which Miss Carr, your friend and patroness, has paid."

"Oh, Miss Carr!" I exclaimed.

"Listen, Antony," she said, looking at me with a proud and loving look.

"Being sure, then, of our pay," said Tom Girtley, laughing, "we went to work with the greatest of zeal, making another long bill, and for result--after completely disentangling everything--after finding out, without his knowing it, that the enemy was well worth powder and shot-- in short, after making the ground perfectly safe under our feet, I have the pleasure of announcing to you, my dear fellow, that not only is there a sum of five hundred pounds a year belonging to you in your lawful right--"

"Five hundred!" I e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed.

"But the same amount, with interest and compound interest, due to you for the past eight or nine years, and which that scoundrel Blakeford will be obliged to refund."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, as I realised my position.

"The rascal plundered your poor father of goodness knows how much, but of that we can get no trace. This five hundred pounds a-year, though, and the acc.u.mulation, is as certainly yours as if you had inherited it at once, and no judge in England can gainsay it. Let me be the first to--"

"No!" exclaimed Miss Carr, rising; "let me, Antony, my dear boy, be the first to congratulate you, not so much because of the amount, as that it will give you a feeling of independence, and take away that sense of obligation to pay your father's debts."

She took my hands in hers, and kissed me, and then, feeling giddy with surprise, I turned away for a moment, but only to falter out something in a disconnected way.

"Peter's delighted," cried Mr Jabez; and he took a tremendous pinch of snuff, "I shall be turning out somebody's long-lost child myself before long, only we are twins, and I shall have to share it."

"I am very, very glad, Antony," said Hallett, shaking hands.

"And now, if you like, Grace," continued Tom Girtley, "we will set to work to-morrow to make that scoundrel Blakeford disgorge; and before a fortnight is pa.s.sed, if he doesn't mind, he will be cooling his heels in prison, for I have undeniable proofs of his illegal practices. At the very least he will be struck off the Rolls. It is utter professional ruin."

I did not speak, for the scene seemed to change to that wretched office once more, and I saw the black, forbidding, threatening face gazing down into mine. I heard the harsh, bitter voice reviling my poor dead father, and a shudder ran through me. The next moment, though, I was dwelling on the soft sweet face of Hetty, and as I recalled the child's many gentle, loving acts, there was a strange choking sensation at my breast, and I walked into the little drawing-room to be alone.

"Antony, dear," said a soft, sweet voice, "you seem quite overcome."

"I shall be better directly," I said. "But, dear Miss Carr, this must be stopped. You all meant so kindly by me, but if proceedings have begun they must not go on."

"They have commenced, Antony, by my wishes," she said in a low voice, as she took my hand. "Antony, my dear boy, you have always seemed to me like a younger brother whom it was my duty to protect, and I have felt quite a bitter hatred against this man for the wrongs he did you."

"Not wrongs," I said. "It was through him I came to know you and Hallett."

"Yes, but he has wronged you cruelly."

"Miss Carr," I said--"let me call you sister."

"Always," she whispered, as she laid her hand upon my shoulder. "This would be ruin and disgrace to Mr Blakeford?"

"Which he richly deserves," she said warmly.

"And it would be ruin and disgrace--"

"Yes," she said, for I had stopped--"ruin and disgrace--"

"To his poor child?"

"Hetty?"

"Yes: to the tender-hearted little girl whose bright face is the only sunny spot in that time of sorrow. I don't know," I said pa.s.sionately, "I may be wrong. I may see her now, and the fancy be driven away, but I feel as if I love little Hetty Blakeford with all my heart."

There was silence in the little drawing-room, where all was in shadow, while in the larger well-lighted room the others talked in a low voice, and as I glanced there once, and saw Linny Hallett gazing up in Tom Girtley's face, I wondered whether Hetty Blakeford would ever look as tenderly in mine.

It was a pa.s.sing fancy, and I was brought back to the present by feeling Miss Carr's warm lips brush my cheek.

"We will wait and see, Antony," she said gravely. "Miss Blakeford's feelings must be spared."

CHAPTER SIXTY.

AT LAST.

The work of two years was complete, and I stood by Hallett as he watched the trial of the machine where it was set up at our great factory; and though we tried hard to find weak points, we were compelled to declare that it was as near perfection as human hands could make it.

Hallett was very pale and quiet; he displayed no excitement, no joy; and I felt rather disappointed at his apathy.

"Well," said Mr Jabez, aside to me, "if I didn't know that the poor fellow was ill, I should have said that he didn't care _that_! whether the thing succeeded or not."

_That_! was the snap of the fingers which followed the taking of a pinch of snuff.

But he was ill. Poor fellow! He never seemed to have recovered from the shock his system had received during his late illness; and, though he had rallied and seemed strong and well, there had been times when he would turn ghastly white, and startle me by his looks.

I mentioned it more than once to Miss Carr, who begged him to see a physician; but he said it was nothing, and with a smile he used to tell her that the perfection of the machine and a change would completely restore him to health.

This we both believed;--and I can honestly say that I strove with all my might to inspire the workmen with the spirit in which I toiled.

And now the new machine was finished. All that remained was to have it removed to Mr Ruddle's place for a public inspection of its merits.