She had been bending over the body, with her handkerchief to her eyes,and now she turned upon me with the face of a fury. Oh, what an actressthat woman was!
“Yes, yes, it is the very man,” she cried. “Oh, you villain, you cruelvillain, to treat an old man so!”
There was a man there who seemed to be a village constable. He laid hishand upon my shoulder.
“What do you say to that?” said he.
“It was she who did it,” I cried, pointing at the woman, whose eyesnever flinched before mine.
“Come! come! Try another!” said the constable, and one of themen-servants struck at me with his fist.
“I tell you that I saw her do it. She stabbed him twice with a knife.She first helped me to rob him, and then she murdered him.”
The footman tried to strike me again, but she held up her hand.
“Do not hurt him,” said she. “I think that his punishment may safely beleft to the law.”
“I’ll see to that, your Ladyship,” said the constable. “Your Ladyshipactually saw the crime committed, did you not?”
“Yes, yes, I saw it with my own eyes. It was horrible. We heard thenoise and we came down. My poor husband was in front. The man had one ofthe cases open, and was filling a black leather bag which he held in hishand. He rushed past us, and my husband seized him. There was astruggle, and he stabbed him twice. There you can see the blood upon hishands. If I am not mistaken, his knife is still in Lord Mannering’sbody.”
“Look at the blood upon her hands!” I cried.
“She has been holding up his Lordship’s head, you lying rascal,” saidthe butler.
“And here’s the very sack her Ladyship spoke of,” said the constable, asa groom came in with the one which I had dropped in my flight. “And hereare the medals inside it. That’s good enough for me. We will keep himsafe here to-night, and to-morrow the inspector and I can take him intoSalisbury.”
“Poor creature,” said the woman. “For my own part, I forgive him anyinjury which he has done me. Who knows what temptation may have drivenhim to crime? His conscience and the law will give him punishment enoughwithout any reproach of mine rendering it more bitter.”
I could not answer—I tell you, sir, I could not answer, so taken abackwas I by the assurance of the woman. And so, seeming by my silence toagree to all that she had said, I was dragged away by the butler and theconstable into the cellar, in which they locked me for the night.
There, sir, I have told you the whole story of the events which led upto the murder of Lord Mannering by his wife upon the night of Septemberthe 14th, in the year 1894. Perhaps you will put my statement on oneside as the constable did at Mannering Towers, or the judge afterwardsat the county assizes. Or perhaps you will see that there is the ring oftruth in what I say, and you will follow it up, and so make your namefor ever as a man who does not grudge personal trouble where justice isto be done. I have only you to look to, sir, and if you will clear myname of this false accusation, then I will worship you as one man neveryet worshipped another. But if you fail me, then I give you my solemnpromise that I will rope myself up, this day month, to the bar of mywindow, and from that time on I will come to plague you in your dreamsif ever yet one man was able to come back and to haunt another. What Iask you to do is very simple. Make inquiries about this woman, watchher, learn her past history, find out what use she is making of themoney which has come to her, and whether there is not a man Edward as Ihave stated. If from all this you learn anything which shows you herreal character, or which seems to you to corroborate the story which Ihave told you, then I am sure that I can rely upon your goodness ofheart to come to the rescue of an innocent man.
THE END