A LITTLE more than four months had passed, since the return of Iris to her father’s house.
Among other events which occurred, during the earlier part of that interval, the course adopted by Hugh Mountjoy, when Miss Henley’s suspicions of the Irish lord were first communicated to him, claims a foremost place.
It was impossible that the devoted friend of Iris could look at her, when they met again on their way to the station, without perceiving the signs of serious agitation. Only waiting until they were alone in the railway-carriage, she opened her heart unreservedly to the man in whose clear intellect and true sympathy she could repose implicit trust. He listened to what she could repeat of Lord Harry’s language with but little appearance of surprise. Iris had only reminded him of one, among the disclosures which had escaped Mr. Vimpany at the inn. Under the irresistible influence of good wine, the doctor had revealed the Irish lord’s motive for remaining in his own country, after the assassination of Arthur Mountjoy. Hugh met the only difficulty in his way, without shrinking from it. He resolved to clear his mind of its natural prejudice against the rival who had been preferred to him, before he assumed the responsibility of guiding Iris by his advice.
When he had in some degree recovered confidence in his own unbiased judgment, he entered on the question of Lord Harry’s purpose in leaving England.
Without attempting to dispute the conclusion at which Iris had arrived, he did his best to alleviate her distress. In his opinion, he was careful to tell her, a discovery of the destination to which Lord Harry proposed to betake himself, might be achieved. The Irish lord’s allusion to a new adventure, which would occupy him in searching for diamonds or gold, might indicate a contemplated pursuit of the assassin, as well as a plausible excuse to satisfy Iris. It was at least possible that the murderer might have been warned of his danger if he remained in England, and that he might have contemplated directing his flight to a distant country, which would not only offer a safe refuge, but also hold out (in its mineral treasures) a hope of gain. Assuming that these circumstances had really happened, it was in Lord Harry’s character to make sure of his revenge, by embarking in the steamship by which the assassin of Arthur Mountjoy was a passenger.
Wild as this guess at the truth undoubtedly was, it had one merit: it might easily be put to the test.
Hugh had bought the day’s newspaper at the station. He proposed to consult the shipping advertisements relating, in the first place, to communication with the diamond-mines and the goldfields of South Africa.
This course of proceeding at once informed him that the first steamer, bound for that destination, would sail from London in two days’ time. The obvious precaution to take was to have the Dock watched; and Mountjoy’s steady old servant, who knew Lord Harry by sight, was the man to employ.
Iris naturally inquired what good end could be attained, if the anticipated discovery actually took place.
To this Mountjoy answered, that the one hope — a faint hope, he must needs confess — of inducing Lord Harry to reconsider his desperate purpose, lay in the influence of Iris herself. She must address a letter to him, announcing that his secret had been betrayed by his own language and conduct, and declaring that she would never again see him, or hold any communication with him, if he persisted in his savage resolution of revenge. Such was the desperate experiment which Mountjoy’s generous and unselfish devotion to Iris now proposed to try.
The servant (duly entrusted with Miss Henley’s letter) was placed on the watch — and the event which had been regarded as little better than a forlorn hope, proved to be the event that really took place. Lord Harry was a passenger by the steamship.
Mountjoy’s man presented the letter entrusted to him, and asked respectfully if there was any answer. The wild lord read it — looked (to use the messenger’s own words) like a man cut to the heart — seemed at a loss what to say or do — and only gave a verbal answer: “I sincerely thank Miss Henley, and I promise to write when the ship touches at Madeira.” The servant continued to watch him when he went on board the steamer; saw him cast a look backwards, as if suspecting that he might have been followed; and then lost sight of him in the cabin. The vessel sailed after a long interval of delay, but he never reappeared on the deck.
The ambiguous message sent to her aroused the resentment of Iris; she thought it cruel. For some weeks perhaps to come, she was condemned to remain in doubt, and was left to endure the trial of her patience, without having Mountjoy at hand to encourage and console her. He had been called away to the south of France by the illness of his father.
But the fortunes of Miss Henley, at this period of her life, had their brighter side. She found reason to congratulate herself on the reconciliation which had brought her back to her father. Mr. Henley had received her, not perhaps with affection, but certainly with kindness. “If we don’t get in each other’s way, we shall do very well; I am glad to see you again.” That was all he had said to her, but it meant much from a soured and selfish man.
Her only domestic anxiety was caused by another failure in the health of her maid.
The Doctor declared that medical help would be of no avail, while Rhoda Bennet remained in London. In the country she had been born and bred, and to the country she must return. Mr. Henley’s large landed property, on the north of London, happened to include a farm in the neighbourhood of Muswell Hill. Wisely waiting for a favourable opportunity, Iris alluded to the good qualities which had made Rhoda almost as much her friend as her servant, and asked leave to remove the invalid to the healthy air of the farm.
Her anxiety about the recovery of a servant so astonished Mr. Henley, that he was hurried (as he afterwards declared) into granting his daughter’s request. After this concession, the necessary arrangements were easily made. The influence of Iris won the goodwill of the farmer and his wife; Rhoda, as an expert and willing needlewoman, being sure of a welcome, for her own sake, in a family which included a number of young children. Miss Henley had only to order her carriage, and to be within reach of the farm. A week seldom passed without a meeting between the mistress and the maid.
In the meantime, Mountjoy (absent in France) did not forget to write to Iris.
His letters offered little hope of a speedy return. The doctors had not concealed from him that his father’s illness would end fatally; but there were reserves of vital power still left, which might prolong the struggle. Under these melancholy circumstances, he begged that Iris would write to him. The oftener she could tell him of the little events of her life at home, the more kindly she would brighten the days of a dreary life.
Eager to show, even in a trifling matter, how gratefully she appreciated Mountjoy’s past kindness, Iris related the simple story of her life at home, in weekly letters addressed to her good friend. After telling Hugh (among other things) of Rhoda’s establishment at the farm, she had some unexpected results to relate, which had followed the attempt to provide herself with a new maid.
Two young women had been successively engaged — each recommended, by the lady whom she had last served, with that utter disregard of moral obligation which appears to be shamelessly on the increase in the England of our day.............