"I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "Itis so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what Ishould do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me."
"Pray tell us what has happened to you."
"I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr.Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come intotown this morning, though he little knew for what purpose."
"Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his longthin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen.
"In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole,with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It isonly fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, andI am not easy in my mind about them."
"What can you not understand?"
"Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all justas it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here anddrove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as hesaid, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself,for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but allstained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are groundsround it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field whichslopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past abouta hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongsto the house, but the woods all round are part of LordSoutherton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately infront of the hall door has given its name to the place.
"I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever,and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child.There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed tous to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle isnot mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, muchyounger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think,while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From theirconversation I have gathered that they have been married aboutseven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child bythe first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr.Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left themwas that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. Asthe daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quiteimagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with herfather's young wife.
"Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well asin feature. She impressed me
neither favourably nor the reverse.She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionatelydevoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light greyeyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting everylittle want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to heralso in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole theyseemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow,this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with thesaddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised herin tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition ofher child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met soutterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is smallfor his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large.His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation betweensavage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Givingpain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one ideaof amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planningthe capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I wouldrather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, hehas little to do with my story."
"I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether theyseem to you to be relevant or not."
"I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The oneunpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, wasthe appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, aman and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough,uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetualsmell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has beenquite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it.His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, assilent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a mostunpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in thenursery and my own room, which are next to each other in onecorner of the building.
"For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life wasvery quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just afterbreakfast and whispered something to her husband.
"'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged toyou, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cutyour hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniestiota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-bluedress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed inyour room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we shouldboth be extremely obliged.'
"The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shadeof blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but itbore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could nothave been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr.and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, whichseemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting forme in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretchingalong the entire front of the house, with three long windowsreaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to thecentral window, with its back turned towards it. In this I wasasked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on theother side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funnieststories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine howcomical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs.Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never somuch as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad,anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastlesuddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of theday, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward inthe nursery.
"Two days later this same performance was gone through underexactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again Isat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funnystories of which my employer had an immense repertoire, and whichhe told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, andmoving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might notfall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read forabout ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and thensuddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease andto change my dress.
"You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as towhat the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possiblybe. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my faceaway from the window, so that I became consumed with the desireto see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to beimpossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had beenbroken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece ofthe glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midstof my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was ablewith a little management to see all that there was behind me. Iconfess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least thatwas my first impression. At the second glance, however, Iperceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road,a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking inmy direction. The road is an important highway, and there areusually people there. This man, however, was leaning against therailings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. Ilowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find hereyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing,but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in myhand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once.
"'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon theroad there who stares up at Miss Hunter.'
"'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked.
"'No, I know no one in these parts.'
"'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion tohim to go away.'
"'Surely it would be better to take no notice.'
"'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turnround and wave him away like that.'
"I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drewdown the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I havenot sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, norseen the man in the road."
"Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be amost interesting one."
"You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there mayprove to be little relation between the different incidents ofwhich I speak. On the very first day that I was at the CopperBeeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which standsnear the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharprattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal movingabout.
"'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between twoplanks. 'Is he not a beauty?'
"I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of avague figure huddled up in the darkness.
"'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the startwhich I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine,but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can doanything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then,so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him looseevery night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangsupon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set yourfoot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your lifeis worth.'
"The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened tolook out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning.It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of thehouse was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I wasstanding, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I wasaware that something was moving under the shadow of the copperbeeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. Itwas a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hangingjowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowlyacross the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side.That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do notthink that any burglar could have done.