The amazement of Forde at beholding the ladies was only equalled by the surprise of Sir Hannibal when he saw Polwin sullenly standing in the grip of the barrister.
‘How did you come here?’ he asked with nervous haste; ‘what do you want of me?’
‘Ask Mr. Forde that,’ whined the steward in a fawning manner, belied by the ferocious glitter of his usually meek eyes; ‘he made me come.’
Trevick faced round. ‘Well?’ he asked the young man apprehensively.
Forde did not reply immediately to the question. Forcing Polwin to his knees, he stood over him with the revolver, ready to fire should the man attempt to escape.
‘Keep still,’ said Oswald as the steward snapped and snarled like the mongrel dog he was. ‘You want to settle accounts with Sir Hannibal; here he is, settle them.’
Trevick’s knees shook under him, and he would have fallen but that Anne put her arm within his. Dericka was the first person to break a somewhat oppressive silence:
‘Why did you bring this man here, Oswald?’ she asked sharply.
‘I’ll explain, and so will he,’ said the barrister, ‘but first tell me how you come to be in the mine with Miss Stretton?’
‘I brought her early this morning,’ said Anne quickly. ‘When I reached St. Ewalds last night I went at once to the Dower House and found Miss Trevick waiting up for her father. I explained, and she came on this morning with me to see what could be done.’
‘But that awful shaft, how did you get down?’
‘We came by the other,’ explained Dericka swiftly; ‘it is only a little distance away from this very spot.’
‘But it is so difficult to get down.’
‘No,’ said Trevick, trying to appear cool; ‘the other shaft is both difficult and dangerous, but the one these girls came by is easy. A ten-foot ladder took them down to a slope which descends to this level. Miss Stretton and myself found this easy way one day when we explored the mine. There is no difficulty in getting either out or in, Forde. But if you —’
‘Then I hope Morgan won’t come that way,’ said Oswald to himself.
Dericka overheard. ‘What’s that you say?’ she asked.
‘Mrs. Carney told me that Morgan knows all the mines of this district, and therefore he must be aware of this second way, and will come by that probably,’ and he looked at the sullen Polwin, who shuddered with apprehension.
‘Why should Morgan come at all?’ asked Anne quickly.
‘Because he overheard Polwin, here, say last night to Mrs. Krent that he ought to be locked up for setting the Grange on fire. Morgan is terrified at the idea, and is mad enough to kill this man if he can get at him. We left him on the high road struggling with Anak, but if he escapes he will certainly come here, and then —’ Forde looked at Polwin again.
That individual spoke harshly and to the point. ‘In that case you had better let me settle accounts with Sir Hannibal, as you say, and then I can hide myself in the recesses of the mine before that madman arrives.’
‘Are you afraid of him?’ asked Dericka with contempt.
Polwin raised his wounded hand. ‘I can’t fight against a lunatic with an axe, hampered by this wound,’ he said coolly.
‘Who hurt you, Polwin?’ asked Trevick anxiously.
‘I did,’ said Forde readily, ‘but not before he had tried to stab me. Also,’ he flourished the revolver, ‘this weapon belongs to our friend. I took it from him and intend to use it against him unless he explains how he killed Bowring.’
‘What?’ cried all three in a breath; ‘did —’
‘No, I did not,’ said Polwin loudly, and would have struggled to his feet but that Forde’s hand on his shoulder kept him on his knees.
‘You did,’ said the barrister sternly; ‘Mrs. Carney — your wife — hinted as much, and —’
‘Oh,’ interrupted Sir Hannibal, ‘is Mrs. Carney aware of —’
Forde interrupted in his turn. ‘I believe she knows everything, and only held her tongue because she did not know until an hour or two ago that Polwin was her husband. But you knew it, Trevick?’
‘Yes,’ said Sir Hannibal, unsteadily, ‘I knew it, but I was forced to hold my tongue.’
‘And you’ll hold it still,’ threatened the steward, ‘else it will be the worse for you.’
‘There can be nothing worse than this, Polwin.’
‘Oh, yes; the gallows.’
‘Hold your tongue, you beast,’ said Oswald, giving him a shake as Dericka uttered a faint shriek; ‘now, then, tell the truth.’
‘It won’t be what you expect,’ snapped the steward; ‘I did not kill Bowring, though I had every reason to do so.’
‘Then who is the criminal?’
‘If I tell you and can prove the guilt will you let me go?’
‘Yes. You will only run into Morgan’s arms, and if he kills you so much the better, you grey rat.’
‘I think,’ said Anne Stretton, who had been listening intently, ‘that it will be best for Sir Hannibal to tell us of his relations to this man Polwin.’
‘His real name is Carney,’ said the baronet readily. ‘I knew him and Bowring when we were boys together. We met again in Africa, and there we formed a firm to buy diamonds. This man,’ he pointed to the heap at Forde’s feet, ‘cheated both Bowring and myself, so we kicked him out of the firm.’
‘I went on my own accord,’ said Polwin, ‘leaving you and Bowring to swindle.’
‘You were kicked out by Bowring for trying to blackmail him in connection with those forged bills.’
‘And they were forged?’
‘I don’t deny that,’ retorted Trevick quickly. ‘Bowring forged my name to do a deal and intended to swindle me; I said that I had signed the bills so that you should not make trouble. Then you went away and spread the report that Bowring killed Moolu’s son.’
‘You ought to have been glad of that,’ sneered the steward, ‘since you were the murderer.’
‘I don’t believe that,’ said Dericka, who was leaning against the wall.
‘Thank you, my dear,’ said her father mildly. ‘No, I was quite innocent. But this scoundrel spread a report about me also, and in order not to come into collision with the colonial authorities I was forced to return to England. Bowring, left behind, saw a chance of cheating me. Consequently, when he returned some years later to England he was a millionaire while I was comparatively poor. However, when I threatened him he agreed to take the Grange and to leave me his money — or, rather, my share of it — by will.’
‘He gave you all,’ said Polwin sulkily, ‘and a third of it was mine by the terms of our partnership.’
‘You were not a partner then, Polwin; we had kicked you out. And the money was left on condition that Dericka married Morgan.’
‘You have not fulfilled that condition.’
‘I could not. In the first place it was not laid down in the will and I could have evaded it; in the second Mrs. Krent — your wife — said that Morgan had already married Jenny.’
‘Mrs. Carney is the man’s wife,’ said Forde quickly. ‘Mrs. Krent is really Mrs. Ward.’
‘Yes, I know that, Forde, and have known it all along, but this man made me hold my tongue, since he threatened to tell of my doings in South Africa.’
‘Your swindling,’ snapped Polwin triumphantly, ‘and when I go free I’ll tell how you smuggled diamonds.’
‘I was led into bad ways by you and Bowring,’ said Sir Hannibal in an angry tone; ‘all the business of the firm was shady. I don’t attempt to exculpate myself, Polwin, but Heaven knows that I have paid for my folly.’
‘It’s all over now, dear,’ whispered Anne softly; ‘say no more.’
‘Yes, I will,’ declared Sir Hannibal; ‘it is only right, Anne, that you should know the kind of man you have promised to marry. What our firm did in Africa won’t bear the light of day. I don’t think we were ever criminal, but we certainly sailed very near the wind.’
‘Not a criminal!’ scoffed the steward; ‘what about the murder of that Zulu for the big diamond you sold?’
‘Bowring killed him, as you well know,’ said Trevick immediately, ‘and Moolu knew also. It was Bowring that he threatened with the red skull, not me. But you chose to place the blame on me also for your own ends. However, there will be an end to all this. When I leave this mine I’ll give myself up and face the worst. I have sinned —; it is only right that I should be punished.’
‘When you leave this mine,’ said Forde determinedly, ‘you will know who killed Bowring and thus be absolutely free.’
‘And a pauper,’ cried Polwin; ‘what about that second will?’
‘A forgery by you,’ said the barrister quickly. ‘I have the will in my pocket at this moment. You got into the Grange and placed it in the desk and s............