“Thank you, you have gone rather too far to stop.”
“It is quite certain that when Mrs. Barclay left the house at half-past seven she was on good terms with her husband. She was never,as I think I have said, ostentatiously affectionate, but she was heardby the coachman chatting with the colonel in a friendly fashion.
Now, it was equally certain that, immediately on her return, she hadgone to the room in which she was least likely to see her husband,had flown to tea as an agitated woman will, and finally, on hiscoming in to her, had broken into violent recriminations. Thereforesomething had occurred between seven-thirty and nine o’clockwhich had completely altered her feelings towards him. But MissMorrison had been with her during the whole of that hour and ahalf. It was absolutely certain, therefore, in spite of her denial, thatshe must know something of the matter.
“My first conjecture was, that possibly there had been somepassages between this young lady and the old soldier, which theformer had now confessed to the wife. That would account forthe angry return, and also for the girl’s denial that anything hadoccurred. Nor would it be entirely incompatible with most ofthe words overhead. But there was the reference to David, andthere was the known affection of the colonel for his wife, toweigh against it, to say nothing of the tragic intrusion of thisother man, which might, of course, be entirely disconnected withwhat had gone before. It was not easy to pick one’s steps, but,on the whole, I was inclined to dismiss the idea that there hadbeen anything between the colonel and Miss Morrison, but morethan ever convinced that the young lady held the clue as to whatit was which had turned Mrs. Barclay to hatred of her husband.
I took the obvious course, therefore, of calling upon Miss M., ofexplaining to her that I was perfectly certain that she held thefacts in her possession, and of assuring her that her friend, Mrs.
Barclay, might find herself in the dock upon a capital charge unlessthe matter were cleared up.
“Miss Morrison is a little ethereal slip of a girl, with timideyes and blond hair, but I found her by no means wanting inshrewdness and common sense. She sat thinking for some timeafter I had spoken, and then, turning to me with a brisk air ofresolution, she broke into a remarkable statement which I willcondense for your benefit.
“ ‘I promised my friend that I would say nothing of the matter,and a promise is a promise,’ said she; ‘but if I can really helpher when so serious a charge is laid against her, and when herown mouth, poor darling, is closed by illness, then I think I amabsolved from my promise. I will tell you exactly what happenedupon Monday evening.
“ ‘We were returning from the Watt Street Mission abouta quarter to nine o’clock. On our way we had to pass throughHudson Street, which is a very quiet thoroughfare. There is onlyone lamp in it, upon the left-hand side, and as we approached thislamp I saw a man coming towards us with his back very bent, andsomething like a box slung over one of his shoulders. He appearedto be deformed, for he carried his head low and walked with hisknees bent. We were passing him when he raised his face to lookat us in the circle of light thrown by the lamp, and as he did sohe stopped and screamed out in a dreadful voice; “My God, it’sNancy!” Mrs. Barclay turned as white as death, and would havefallen down had the dreadful-looking creature not caught holdof her. I was going to call for the police, but she, to my surprise,spoke quite civilly to the fellow.
“ ‘ “I thought you had been dead this thirty years, Henry,” saidshe in a shaking voice.
“ ‘ “So I have,” said he, and it was awful to hear the tones thathe said it in. He had a very dark, fearsome face, and a gleam in hiseyes that comes back to me in my dreams. His hair and whiskerswere shot with gray, and his face was all crinkled and puckered likea withered apple.
“ ‘ “Just walk on a little way, dear,” said Mrs. Barclay; “I want tohave a word with this man. There is nothing to be afraid of.” Shetried to speak boldly, but she was still deadly pale and could hardlyget her words out for the trembling of her lips.
“ ‘I did as she asked me, and they talked together for a fewminutes. Then she came down the street with her eyes blazing, andI saw the crippled wretch standing by the lamp-post and shakinghis clenched fists in the air as if he were mad with rage. She neversaid a word until we were at the door here, when she took me bythe hand and begged me to tell no one what had happened.
“ ‘ “It’s an old acquaintance of mine who has come down in theworld,” said she. When I promised her I would say nothing shekissed me, and I have never seen her since. I have told you nowthe whole truth, and if I withheld it from the police it is becauseI did not realize then the danger in which my dear friend stood. Iknow that it can only be to her advantage that everything should beknown.’
“There was her statement, Watson, and to me, as you canimagine, it was like a light on a dark night. Everything whichhad been disconnected before began at once to assume its trueplace, and I had a shadowy presentiment of the whole sequenceof events. My next step obviously was to find the man who hadproduced such a remarkable impression upon Mrs. Barclay. If hewere still in Aldershot it should not be a very difficult matter.