The Talleyrand Maxim Read online

  CHAPTER XII

  THE POWER OF ATTORNEY

  Collingwood had many things to think over as he walked across NormandalePark that morning. He had deliberately given up his Indian appointmentfor Nesta's sake, so that he might be near her in case the trouble whichhe feared arose suddenly. But it was too soon yet to let her know thatshe was the cause of his altered arrangements--in any case, that was notthe time to tell her that it was on her account that he had alteredthem.

  He must make some plausible excuse: then he must settle down in Barford,according to Eldrick's suggestion. He would then be near at hand--and ifthe trouble, whatever it might be, took tangible form, he would be ableto help. But he was still utterly in the dark as to what that possibletrouble might be--yet, of one thing he felt convinced--it would havesome connection with Pratt.

  He remembered, as he walked along, that he had formed some queer, uneasysuspicion about Pratt when he first hurried down to Barford on hearingof Antony Bartle's death: that feeling, subsequently allayed to someextent, had been revived. There might be nothing in it, he said tohimself, over and over again; everything that seemed strange might beeasily explained; the evidence of Pratt at the inquest had appearedabsolutely truthful and straightforward, and yet the blunt, rough,downright question of the blacksmith, crudely voiced as it was, found aready agreement in Collingwood's mind. As he drew near the house hefound himself repeating Stringer's broad Yorkshire--"What wor thatlawyer-clerk chap fro' Barford--Pratt--doin' about theer? What reighthad he to be prowlin' round t' neighbourhood o' that bridge, and at thattime? Come, now--theer's a tickler for somebody!" And even as he smiledat the remembrance of the whole rustic conversation of the previousevening, and thought that the blacksmith's question certainly might be aticklish one--for somebody--he looked up from the frosted grass at hisfeet, and saw Pratt.

  Pratt, a professional-looking bag in his hand, a morning newspaper underthe other arm, was standing at the gate of one of the numerousshrubberies which flanked the Grange, talking to a woman who leaned overit. Collingwood recognized her as a person whom he had twice seen in thehouse during his visits on the day before---a middle-aged, slightlybuilt woman, neatly dressed in black, and wearing a sort of nurse's capwhich seemed to denote some degree of domestic servitude. She was awoman who had once been pretty, and who still retained much of her goodlooks; she was also evidently of considerable shrewdness andintelligence and possessed a pair of remarkably quick eyes--the sort ofeyes, thought Collingwood, that see everything that happens within theirrange of vision. And she had a firm chin and a mouth which expresseddetermination; he had seen all that as she exchanged some conversationwith the old butler in Collingwood's presence--a noticeable womanaltogether. She was evidently in close conference with Pratt at thatmoment--but as Collingwood drew near she turned and went slowly in thedirection of the house, while Pratt, always outwardly polite, steppedtowards the interrupter of this meeting, and lifted his hat.

  "Good morning, Mr. Collingwood," he said. "A fine, sharp morning, sir! Iwas just asking Mrs. Mallathorpe's maid how her mistress is thismorning--she was very ill when I left last night. Better, sir, I'm gladto say--Mrs. Mallathorpe has had a much better night."

  "I'm very pleased to hear it," replied Collingwood. He was going towardsthe front of the Grange, and Pratt walked at his side, evidently in thesame direction. "I am afraid she has had a great shock. You are stillhere, then?" he went on, feeling bound to make some remark, and sayingthe first obvious thing. "Still busy?"

  "Mr. Eldrick has lent me--so to speak--until the funeral's over,tomorrow," answered Pratt. "There are a lot of little things in which Ican be useful, you know, Mr. Collingwood. I suppose yourarrangements--you said you were sailing for India--won't permit of yourbeing present tomorrow, sir?"

  Collingwood was not sure if the clerk was fishing for information.Pratt's manner was always polite, his questions so innocently put, thatit was difficult to know what he was actually after. But he was notgoing to give him any information--either then, or at any time.

  "I don't quite know what my arrangements may be," he answered. And justthen they came to the front entrance, and Collingwood was taken off inone direction by a footman, while Pratt, who already seemed to be fullyacquainted with the house and its arrangements, took himself and his bagaway in another.

  Nesta came to Collingwood looking less anxious than when he had left herat his last call the night before. He had already told her what hisimpressions of the inquest were, and he was now wondering whether totell her of the things he had heard said at the village inn. Butremembering that he was now going to stay in the neighbourhood, hedecided to say nothing at that time--if there was anything in thesevague feelings and suspicions it would come out, and could be dealt withwhen it arose. At present he had need of a little diplomacy.

  "Oh!--I wanted to tell you," he said, after talking to her awhile aboutMrs. Mallathorpe. "I--there's a change in my arrangements, I'm not goingto India, after all."

  He was not prepared for the sudden flush that came over the girl's face.It took him aback. It also told him a good deal that he was glad toknow--and it was only by a strong effort of will that he kept himselffrom taking her hands and telling her the truth. But he affected not tosee anything, and he went on talking rapidly. "Complete change in thearrangements at the last minute," he said. "I've just been writing aboutit. So--as that's off, I think I shall follow Eldrick's advice, and takechambers in Barford for a time, and see how things turn out. I'm goinginto Barford now, to see Eldrick about all that."

  Nesta, who was conscious of her betrayal of more than she cared to showjust then, tried to speak calmly.

  "But--isn't it an awful disappointment?" she said. "You were lookingforward so to going there, weren't you?"

  "Can't be helped," replied Collingwood. "All these affairsare--provisional. I thought I'd tell you at once, however--so thatyou'll know--if you ever want me--that I shall be somewhere round about.In fact, as it's quite comfortable there, I shall stop at the inn untilI've got rooms in the town."

  Then, not trusting himself to remain longer, he went off to Barford,certain that he was now definitely pledged in his own mind to NestaMallathorpe, and not much less that when the right time came she wouldnot be irresponsive to him. And on that, like a cold douche, came theremembrance of her actual circumstances--she was what Eldrick had said,one of the wealthiest young women in Yorkshire. The thought of herriches made Collingwood melancholy for a while--he possessed a curioussort of pride which made him hate and loathe the notion of being takenfor a fortune-hunter. But suddenly, and with a laugh, he remembered thathe had certain possessions of his own--ability, knowledge, andperseverance. Before he reached Eldrick's office, he had had a vision ofthe Woolsack.

  Eldrick received Collingwood's news with evident gratification. Heimmediately suggested certain chambers in an adjacent building; hevolunteered information as to where the best rooms in the town were tobe had. And in proof of his practical interest in Collingwood's career,he there and then engaged his professional services for two cases whichwere to be heard at a local court within the following week.

  "Pratt shall deliver the papers to you at once," he said. "That is, assoon as he's back from Normandale this afternoon. I sent him there againto make himself useful."

  "I saw him this morning," remarked Collingwood. "He appears to be a veryuseful person."

  "Clever chap," asserted Eldrick, carelessly. "I don't know what'll bedone about that stewardship that he was going to apply for. Everythingwill be altered now that young Mallathorpe's dead. Of course, I,personally, shouldn't have thought that Pratt would have done for a joblike that, but Pratt has enough self-assurance and self-confidence for adozen men, and he thought he would do, and I couldn't refuse him atestimonial. And as he's made himself very useful out there, it may bethat if this steward business goes forward, Pratt will get theappointment. As I say, he's a smart chap."

  Collingwood offered no comment. But he was conscious that it would notbe at all
pleasing to him to know that Linford Pratt held any officialposition at Normandale. Foolish as it might be, mere inspiration thoughit probably was, he could not get over his impression that Eldrick'sclerk was not precisely trustworthy. And yet, he reflected, he himselfcould do nothing--it would be utter presumption on his part to offer anygratuitous advice to Nesta Mallathorpe in business matters. He was verycertain of what he eventually meant to say to her about his own personalhopes, some time hence, when all the present trouble was over, but inthe meantime, as regarded anything else, he could only wait and watch,and be of service to her if she asked him to render any.

  Some time went by before Collingwood was asked to render service of anysort. At Normandale Grange, events progressed in apparently ordinary andnormal fashion. Harper Mallathorpe was buried; his mother began to makesome recovery from the shock of his death; the legal folk were busied inputting Nesta in possession of the estate, and herself and her mother inproprietorship of the mill and the personal property. In Barford, thingswent on as usual, too. Pratt continued his round of duties at Eldrick &Pascoe's; no more was heard--by outsiders, at any rate--of thestewardship at Normandale. As for Collingwood, he settled down inchambers and lodgings and, as Eldrick had predicted, found plenty ofwork. And he constantly went out to Normandale Grange, and often metNesta elsewhere, and their knowledge of each other increased, and as thewinter passed away and spring began to show on the Normandale woods andmoors, Collingwood felt that the time was coming when he might speak. Hewas professionally engaged in London for nearly three weeks in the earlypart of that spring--when he returned, he had made up his mind to tellNesta the truth, at once. He had faced it for himself--he was by thattime so much in love with her that he was not going to let monetaryconsiderations prevent him from telling her so.

  But Collingwood found something else than love to talk about when hepresented himself at Normandale Grange on the morning after his arrivalfrom his three weeks' absence in town. As soon as he met her, he sawthat Nesta was not only upset and troubled, but angry.

  "I am glad you have come," she said, when they were alone. "I want someadvice. Something has happened--something that bothers--and puzzles--mevery, very much! I'm dreadfully bothered."

  "Tell me," suggested Collingwood.

  Nesta frowned--at some recollection or thought.

  "Yesterday afternoon," she answered, "I was obliged to go into Barford,on business. I left my mother fairly well---she has been recovering fastlately, and she only has one nurse now. Unfortunately, she, too, was outfor the afternoon. I came back to find my mother ill and muchupset---and there's no use denying it--she'd all the symptoms of havingbeen--well, frightened. I can't think of any other term thanthat--frightened. And then I learned that, in my absence, Mr. Eldrick'sclerk, Mr. Pratt--you know him--had been here, and had been with her forquite an hour. I am furiously angry!"

  Collingwood had expected this announcement as soon as she began toexplain. So--the trouble was beginning!

  "How came Pratt to be admitted to your mother?" he asked.

  "That makes me angry, too," answered Nesta. "Though I confess I ought tobe angry with myself for not giving stricter orders. I left the houseabout two--he came about three, and asked to see my mother's maid,Esther Mawson. He told her that it was absolutely necessary for him tosee my mother on business, and she told my mother he was there. Mymother consented to see him--and he was taken up. And as I say, I foundher ill--and frightened--and that's not the worst of it!"

  "What is the worst of it?" asked Collingwood, anxiously. "Better tellme!--I may be able to do something."

  "The worst of it," she said, "is just this--my mother won't tell me whatthat man came about! She flatly refuses to tell me anything! She willonly say that it was business of her own. She won't trust me with it,you see!--her own daughter! What business can that man have withher?--or she with him? Eldrick & Pascoe are not our solicitors! There'ssome secret and----"

  "Will you answer one or two questions?" said Collingwood quietly. He hadnever seen Nesta angry before, and he now realized that she had certainpossibilities of temper and determination which would be formidable whenroused. "First of all, is that maid you speak of, Esther Mawson,reliable?"

  "I don't know!" answered Nesta. "My mother has had her two years--she'sa Barford woman. Sometimes I think she's sly and cunning. But I've givenher such strict orders now that she'll never dare to let any one see mymother again without my consent."

  "The other question's this," said Collingwood. "Have you any idea, anysuspicion of why Pratt wanted to see your mother?"

  "Not unless it was about that stewardship," replied Nesta. "But--howcould that frighten her? Besides, all that's over. Normandale ismine!--and if I have a steward, or an estate agent, I shall see to theappointment myself. No!--I do not know why he should have come here!But--there's some mystery. The curious thing is----"

  "What?" asked Collingwood, as she paused.

  "Why," she said, shaking her head wonderingly, "that I'm absolutelycertain that my mother never even knew this man Pratt--I don't I thinkshe even knew his name--until quite recently. I know when she got toknow him, too. It was just about the time that you first called here--atthe time of Mr. Bartle's death. Our butler told me this morning thatPratt came here late one evening--just about that time!--and asked tosee my mother, and was with her for some time in the study. Oh! what isit all about?--and why doesn't she tell me?"

  Collingwood stood silently staring out of the window. At the time ofAntony Bartle's death? An evening visit?--evidently of a secret nature.And why paid to Mrs. Mallathorpe at that particular time? He suddenlyturned to Nesta.

  "What do you wish me to do?" he asked.

  "Will you speak to Mr. Eldrick?" she said. "Tell him that his clerk mustnot call upon, or attempt to see, my mother. I will not have it!"

  Collingwood went off to Barford, and straight to Eldrick's office. Henoticed as he passed through the outer rooms that Pratt was not in hisaccustomed place--as a rule, it was impossible to get at either Eldrickor Pascoe without first seeing Pratt.

  "Hullo!" said Eldrick. "Just got in from town? That's lucky--I've got abig case for you."

  "I got in last night," replied Collingwood. "But I went out toNormandale first thing this morning: I've just come back from there. Isay, Eldrick, here's an unpleasant matter to tell you of"; and he toldthe solicitor all that Nesta had just told him, and also of Pratt'svisit to Mrs. Mallathorpe about the time of Antony Bartle's death."Whatever it is," he concluded sternly, "it's got to stop! If you've anyinfluence over your clerk----"

  Eldrick made a grimace and waved his hand.

  "He's our clerk no longer!" he said. "He left us the week after you wentup to town, Collingwood. He was only a weekly servant, and he tookadvantage of that to give me a week's notice. Now, what game is MasterPratt playing? He's smart, and he's deep, too. He----"

  Just then an office-boy announced Mr. Robson, the Mallathorpe familysolicitor, a bustling, rather rough-and-ready type of man, who came intoEldrick's room looking not only angry but astonished. He nodded toCollingwood, and flung himself into a chair at the side of Eldrick'sdesk.

  "Look here, Eldrick!" he exclaimed. "What on earth has that clerk ofyours, Pratt, got to do with Mrs. Mallathorpe? Do you know what Mrs.Mallathorpe has done? Hang it, she must be out of her senses,--or--orthere's something I can't fathom. She's given your clerk, Linford Pratt,a power of attorney to deal with all her affairs and all her property!Oh, it's all right, I tell you! Pratt's been to my office, and exhibitedit to me as if--as if he were the Lord Chancellor!"

  Eldrick turned to Collingwood, and Collingwood to Eldrick--and then bothturned to Robson.