The Ace of Hearts.

‘So you are going to London — to-morrow, is not it?’ said Captain Lake, when on the green of Gylingden where visitors were promenading, and the militia bands playing lusty polkas, he met Mr. Jos. Larkin, in lavender trousers and kid gloves, new hat, metropolitan black frock-coat, and shining French boots — the most elegant as well as the most Christian of provincial attorneys.

‘Ah, yes — I think — should my engagements permit — of starting early to-morrow. The fact is, Captain Lake, our poor friend the vicar, you know, the Rev. William Wylder, has pressing occasion for some money, and I can’t leave him absolutely in the hands of Burlington and Smith.’

‘No, of course — quite so,’ said Lake, with that sly smile which made every fellow on whom it lighted somehow fancy that the captain had divined his secret. ‘Very honest fellows, with good looking after — eh?’

The attorney laughed a little awkwardly, with his pretty pink blush over his long face.

‘Well, I’m far from saying that, but it is their business, you know, to take care of their client; and it would not do to give them the handling of mine. Can I do anything, Captain Lake, for you while in town?’

‘Nothing on earth, thank you very much. But I am thinking of doing something for you. You’ve interested yourself a great deal about Mark Wylder’s movements.’

‘Not more than my duty clearly imposed.’

‘Yes; but notwithstanding it will operate, I’m afraid, as you will presently see, rather to his prejudice. For to prevent your conjectural interference from doing him a more serious mischief, I will now, and here, if you please, divulge the true and only cause of his absconding. It is fair to mention, however, that your knowing it will make you fully as odious to him as I am — and that, I assure you, is very odious indeed. There were four witnesses beside myself — Lieutenant–Colonel Jermyn, Sir James Carter, Lord George Vanbrugh, and Ned Clinton.

‘Witnesses! Captain Lake. Do you allude to a legal matter?’ enquired Larkin, with his look of insinuating concern and enquiry.

‘Quite the contrary — a very lawless matter, indeed. These four gentlemen, beside myself, were present at the occurrence. But perhaps you’ve heard of it?’ said the captain, ‘though that’s not likely.’

‘Not that I recollect, Captain Lake,’ answered Jos. Larkin.

‘Well, it is not a thing you’d forget easily — and indeed it was a very well kept secret, as well as an ugly one,’ and Lake smiled in his sly quizzical way.

‘And where, Captain Lake, did it occur, may I enquire?’ said Larkin, with his charming insinuation.

‘You may, and you shall hear — in fact, I’ll tell you the whole thing. It was at Gray’s Club, in Pall Mall. The whist party were old Jermyn, Carter, Vanbrugh, and Wylder. Clinton and I were at piquet, and were disturbed by a precious row the old boys kicked up. Jermyn and Carter were charging Mark Wylder, in so many words, with not playing fairly — there was an ace of hearts on the table played by him, and before three minutes they brought it home — and in fact it was quite clear that poor dear Mark had helped himself to it in quite an irregular way.’

‘Oh, dear, Captain Lake, oh, dear, how shocking — how inexpressibly shocking! Is not it melancholy?’ said Larkin, in his finest and most pathetic horror.

‘Yes; but don’t cry till I’ve done,’ said Lake, tranquilly. ‘Mark tried to bully, but the cool old heads were too much for him, and he threw himself at last entirely on our mercy — and very abject he became, poor thing.’

‘How well the mountains look! I am afraid we shall have rain to-morrow.’

Larkin uttered a short groan.

‘So they sent him into the small card-room, next that we were playing in. I think we were about the last in the club — it was past three o’clock — and so the old boys deliberated on their sentence. To bring the matter before the committee were utter ruin to Mark, and they let him off, on these conditions — he was to retire forthwith from the club; he was never to play any game of cards again; and, lastly, he was never more to address any one of the gentlemen who were present at his detection. Poor dear devil! — how he did jump at the conditions; — and provided they were each and all strictly observed, it was intimated that the occurrence should be kept secret. Well, you know, that was letting poor old Mark off in a coach; and I do assure you, though we had never liked one another, I really was very glad they did not move his expulsion — which would have involved his quitting the service — and I positively don’t know how he could have lived if that had occurred.’

‘I do solemnly assure you, Captain Lake, what you have told me has beyond expression amazed, and I will say, horrified me,’ said the attorney, with a slow and melancholy vehemence. ‘Better men might have suspected something of it — I do solemnly pledge my honour that nothing of the kind so much as crossed my mind — not naturally suspicious, I believe, but all the more shocked, Captain Lake, on that account’

‘He was poor then, you see, and a few pounds were everything to him, and the temptation immense; but clumsy fellows ought not to try that sort of thing. There’s the highway — Mark would have made a capital garrotter.’

The attorney groaned, and turned up his eyes. The band was playing ‘Pop goes the weasel,’ and old Jackson, very well dressed and buckled up, with a splendid smile upon his waggish, military countenance, cried, as he passed, with a wave of his hand, ‘How do, Lake — how do, Mr. Larkin — beautiful day!’

‘I’ve no wish to injure Mark; but it is better that you should know at once, than go about poking everywhere for information.’

‘I do assure you ——’

‘And having really no wish to hurt him,’ pursued the captain, ‘and also making it, as I do, a point that you shall repeat this conversation as little as possible, I don’t choose to appear singular, as your sole informant, and I’ve given you here a line to Sir James Carter — he’s member, you know, for Huddlesbury. I mention, that Mark, having broken his promise, and played for heavy stakes, too, both on board his ship, and at Plymouth and Napl............