The Middle of Things Page 18

  CHAPTER XVIII

  LET HIM APPEAR!

  The meeting between the solicitors suggested to Viner and to LordEllingham, who looked on curiously while they exchanged formal greetingsand explanations, a certain solemnity--each of them seemed to imply inlook and manner that this was an unusually grave occasion. And Mr.Carless, assuming the direction of things, became almost judicial in hisdeportment.

  "Well, gentlemen," he said, when they had all gathered about his desk."Lord Ellingham has informed me of what passed between you and himself athis house yesterday. In plain language, the client whom you representclaims to be the Lord Marketstoke who disappeared so completely manyyears ago, and therefore the rightful Earl of Ellingham. Now, a firstquestion--do you, as his legal advisers, believe in his claim?"

  "Judging by the proofs with which he has furnished us, yes," answeredMethley. "There seems to be no doubt of it."

  "We'll ask for these proofs presently," remarked Mr. Carless. "But now afurther question: Your client--whom we'll now call the claimant--had, Iunderstand, no desire to take up his rightful position, and suggeststhat the secret shall remain a secret, and that he shall be paid ahundred thousand pounds to hold his tongue?"

  "If you put it that way--yes," replied Methley.

  "I don't know in what other way it could be put," said Mr. Carlessgrimly. "It's the plain truth. But now, if Lord Ellingham refuses thatoffer, does your client intend to commence proceedings?"

  "Our instructions are--yes," answered Methley.

  "Very good," said Mr. Carless. "Now, then--what are these proofs?"

  Methley turned to his partner, who immediately thrust a hand in hisbreastpocket and produced a long envelope.

  "I have them here," said Woodlesford. "Our client intrusted them to us sothat we might show them to Lord Ellingham, if necessary. There are notmany documents--they all relate to the period of our client's life beforehe left England. There are one or two important letters from his father,the seventh Earl, two or three from his mother; there is also hismother's will. There is one letter from his younger brother, to whom hehad evidently, more than once, announced his determination of leavinghome for a considerable time. There are two letters from your own firm,relating to some property which Lord Marketstoke disposed of before heleft London. There is a schedule or memorandum of certain personaleffects which he left in his rooms at Ellingham Hall: there is also areceipt from his bankers for a quantity of plate and jewellery which hehad deposited with them before leaving--these things had been left him byhis mother. There are also two documents which he seems to haveconsidered it worth while to preserve all these years," concludedWoodlesford with a smile. "One is a letter informing him that he had beenelected a member of the M.C.C.; the other is his commission as a justiceof the peace for the county of Buckinghamshire."

  As he detailed these things, Woodlesford laid each specified paper beforeMr. Carless, and then they all gathered round, and examined each exhibit.The various documents were somewhat faded with age, and the edges of somewere worn as if from long folding and keeping in a pocketbook. Mr.Carless hastily ran his eye over them.

  "Very interesting, gentlemen," he remarked. "But you know, as well as Ido, that these things don't prove your client to be the missing LordMarketstoke. A judge and jury would want a lot more evidence than that.The mere fact that your man is in possession of all these documentsproves nothing whatever. He may have stolen them!"

  "From what we have seen of our client, Mr. Carless," observed Methley,with some stiffness of manner, "there is no need for such a suggestion."

  "I dare say we shall all see a good deal of your client before thismatter is settled, Mr. Methley," retorted Mr. Carless. "And even when Ihave seen a lot of him, I should still say the same--he _may_ have stolenthem! What else has he to prove that he's what he says he is?"

  "He is fully conversant with his family history," said Woodlesford. "Hecan give a perfectly full and--so far as we can judge--accurate accountof his early life and of his subsequent doings. He evidently knows allabout Ellingham Hall, Marketstoke and the surroundings. I think if youwere to examine him on these points, you would find that his memory issurprisingly fresh."

  "I have no doubt that it will come to his being examined on a great manypoints and in much detail," said Mr. Carless with a dry smile. "Ofcourse, I shall be much interested in seeing him. You see, I remember themissing Lord Marketstoke very well indeed--he was often in here when I,as a lad of nineteen or twenty, was articled to my own father. And now,gentlemen, I'll ask you a question and commend it to your intelligenceand common sense: if your client is this man he claims to be, why didn'the come straight to Carless and Driver, whom he would remember wellenough, instead of going to Methley and Woodlesford? Come, now?"

  Neither visitor answered this question, and Mr. Pawle suddenly turned onthem with another.

  "Did your client mention to you that he knew Carless and Driver as thefamily solicitors?" he asked.

  "No, I can't say that he did," admitted Methley. "After all, thirty-fiveyears' absence, you know--"

  "You said just now that his memory was surprisingly fresh," interruptedMr. Pawle.

  "Surely," replied Woodlesford, "surely you can't expect a man who hasbeen away from England all that time to remember everything!"

  "I should have expected Lord Marketstoke to have gone straight to thefamily solicitors, anyway," retorted Mr. Pawle. "Obvious thing to do--ifhis story is a true one."

  Woodlesford glanced at his partner, and repossessing himself of thedocuments, began to arrange them in the envelope from which he haddrawn them.

  "We cannot, of course, say positively who our client is or who he isnot," he said. "All we can say is that he came to us with an introductionfrom an old client of ours whom we knew very well, and that his storyseems to us to be quite credible. No doubt he can bring further proof.That he did not come here in the first instance--"

  "I'll tell you why I, personally, am very much surprised that he didn't,"interrupted Mr. Carless. "You told Lord Ellingham yesterday that yourclient saw no end of advertisements for him at the time of his father'sdeath. Now, we, Carless and Driver, sent out those advertisements--ourname was appended to every one of them, wherever they appeared. Why,then, when this man--if he is the real man--returned home, did he notcome to us? For there are three persons in this office who--but wait!"

  He touched a bell; the clerk who had announced Methley and Woodlesfordput his head in at the door.

  "Ask Mr. Portlethwaite to come here," commanded Mr. Carless. "And justfind out if Mr. Driver is in his room. Portlethwaite can tell me whenhe comes."

  An elderly, grey-haired man presently appeared and closed the door behindhim as if aware of the sacred nature of the proceedings.

  "Mr. Driver is out, Mr. Carless," he said. "You wanted me, I think?"

  "Our senior clerk," observed Mr. Carless, by way of introduction."Portlethwaite, you remember the Lord Marketstoke who disappeared somethirty-five years ago?"

  Mr. Portlethwaite smiled.

  "Quite well, Mr. Carless!" he answered. "As if it were yesterday. He usedto come here a good deal, you know."

  "Do you think you'd know him again, Portlethwaite, after all theseyears?" asked Mr. Carless. "Thirty-five years, mind!"

  The elderly clerk smiled--more assuredly than before. Then he lookedsignificantly at a corner of the room, and Mr. Carless took the hint, andrising from his chair, went aside with him. Portlethwaite whisperedsomething in his employer's ear, and Carless suddenly laughed and nodded.

  "To be sure--to be sure--I remember now!" he said aloud. "Thank you,Portlethwaite: that's all. Well, gentlemen," he continued, returning tohis desk when the clerk had gone. "I think the best thing you can do isto bring your client here--if he is the real and genuine article, hewill, I am sure, be very glad indeed to meet three persons who knew himquite intimately in the old days--Mr. Driver, Mr. Portlethwaite andmyself. And I really don't know that there's any more to do or say."

  The
two visitors rose, and Methley looked at Mr. Carless in aquestioning fashion.

  "Am I to go away with the impression that you believe our client to be animpostor?" he said quietly.

  "Frankly I do!" answered Mr. Carless.

  "So do I!" exclaimed Mr. Pawle. "Emphatically so!"

  "In that case," said Methley, "I see no advantage in bringing him here."

  "Not even anything to your own advantage?" suggested Mr. Carless, with akeen glance which passed from one partner to the other. "You, asreputable practitioners of our profession, don't want to be mixed up withan impostor?"

  "We should be very sorry to be mixed up in any way with an impostor, Mr.Carless!" said Methley.

  Mr. Carless pursed his lips for a moment as if he were never going toopen them again; then he suddenly relaxed them.

  "I tell you what it is, gentlemen!" he said. "I'm only anticipatingmatters in saying what I'm going to say, and I'm saying it because I feelsure you are quite sincere and genuine in this affair and are beingdeceived. If you will bring your client here, there are three of us inthis office who, as my old clerk has just reminded me, can positivelyidentify him on the instant if he is the man he claims to be. Positively,I say, and at once! There!"

  "May one ask how?" said Woodlesford.

  "No!" exclaimed Mr. Carless. "Bring him! Telephone an appointment--andwe'll settle the matter as soon as he sets foot inside that door."

  "May we tell him that?" asked Methley.

  "You can do as you like," answered Mr. Carless. "Between ourselves, Ishouldn't! But I assure you--we can tell in one glance! That's a fact!"

  The two solicitors went away; and Viner, who had closely watched Methleyduring the interview, followed them out and hailed Methley in thecorridor outside Mr. Carless' room.

  "May I have a word with you?" he asked, drawing him aside. "I don't knowif you remember, but I saw you the other night in the parlour of that oldtavern in Notting Hill--you came in while I was there?"

  "I had some idea that I remembered your face when we were introduced justnow," said Methley. "Yes, I think I do remember--you were sitting in acorner near the hearth?"

  "Just so," agreed Viner. "And I heard you ask the landlord a questionabout a gentleman whom you used to meet there sometimes--you left somespecimen cigars with the landlord for him."

  "Yes," assented Methley wonderingly.

  "You never knew that man's name?" continued Viner. "Nor who he was? Justso--so I gathered. Then I'll tell you. There was a good reason why he hadnot been to that tavern for some nights. He was John Ashton, the man whowas murdered in Lonsdale Passage!"

  Viner was watching his man with all the keenness of which he was capable,and he saw that this announcement fell on Methley as an absolutesurprise. He started as only a man can start who has astounding newsgiven to him suddenly.

  "God bless me!" he exclaimed. "You don't mean it! Of course, I know aboutthat murder--our own district. And I saw Ashton's picture in thepaper--but then there are so many elderly men of that type--broadfeatures, trimmed grey beard! Dear me, dear me! A very pleasant, genialfellow. I'm astonished, Mr. Viner."

  Viner resolved on a bold step--he would take it without consulting Mr.Pawle or anybody. He drew Methley further aside.

  "Mr. Methley," he said. "You're a man of honour, and I trust you with asecret, to be kept until I release you from the obligation of secrecy.I have reasons for getting at the truth about Ashton's murder--so hasMr. Pawle. He and I have been making investigations and inquiries, andwe are convinced, we are positive, that these papers which your partnernow has in his pocket were stolen from Ashton's dead body--that, infact, Ashton was murdered for the possession of them. And I tell you,for your own sake--find out who this client of yours is! That he wasthe actual murderer I don't believe for a second--he is probably a merecat's-paw. But--who's behind him? If you can do anything to find outthe truth, do it!"

  That Methley was astonished beyond belief was so evident that Viner wasnow absolutely convinced of his sincerity. He stood staring open-mouthedfor a moment: then he glanced at Woodlesford, who was waiting at somedistance along the corridor.

  "Mr. Viner!" he said. "You amaze me! Listen: my partner is as sound andhonest a fellow as there is in all London. Let me tell him this--I'llengage for his secrecy. If you'll consent to that, I'll see that, withouta word from us as to why, this man who claims to be the missing LordMarketstoke is brought here. If what you say is true, we are not going tobe partners to a crime. Let me tell Woodlesford--I'll answer for him."

  Viner considered this proposition for a moment.

  "Very well!" he said at last. "Tell him--I shall trust you both.Remember--it's between the three of us. I shan't say a word to Pawle, norto Carless. You know there's a man's life at stake--Hyde's! Hyde is asinnocent as I am--he's an old schoolfellow of mine."

  "I understand," said Methley. "Very well, trust to me, Mr. Viner."

  He went off with a reassuring nod, and Viner returned to Mr. Carless'room. The three men he had left there were deep in conversation, and ashe entered, Mr. Carless smote his hand on the desk before him.

  "This is certain!" he exclaimed. "We must have this Miss Avice Wickhamhere--at once!"