<h2 id="id01121" style="margin-top: 4em">CHAPTER XXV</h2>
<h5 id="id01122">AN ACT OF CHARITY</h5>
<p id="id01123" style="margin-top: 2em">Fenwick looked at the speaker as if he did not exactly comprehend what he
had said. The man's mind was apparently dazed, as if the accumulation of
his troubles had been too much for him. He passed his hand across his
forehead, striving to collect his thoughts and to find some way of facing
this new and unexpected peril.</p>
<p id="id01124">"Say that again," he faltered. "I don't quite understand. Surely Egan and<br/>
Grady are in New York."<br/></p>
<p id="id01125">"They are both down in the hall," the man said, vehemently. "And, what's
more, they know that you are here. If you don't want to spend the night
in gaol, get away without any further delay."</p>
<p id="id01126">Fenwick could only look about him helplessly. It seemed to him futile to
make further effort. Turn which way he would, there was no avenue open to
him. He looked imploringly in the direction of Charles Evors.</p>
<p id="id01127">"I think I can manage it," the latter said. "Now, you fellow, whatever
your name is, leave the room at once and go downstairs and close the
door behind you."</p>
<p id="id01128">The man slunk away, and, at a sign from Le Fenu, Evors closed the door.
Evors jumped to his feet and crossed the room to where a picture was let
into the panelling. He pushed this aside and disclosed a dark opening
beyond to Fenwick's astonished gaze. The latter stared about him.</p>
<p id="id01129">"Now get through there," Evors said. "It is a good thing for you that I
know all the secrets of the old house. There are many panels and passages
here, for this used to be a favorite hiding-place for the fugitive
cavaliers in the time of Cromwell."</p>
<p id="id01130">"But where does it go to?" Fenwick stammered.</p>
<p id="id01131">Evors explained that the passage terminated in a bedroom a little
distance away. He went on to say that Fenwick would only have to press
his hand upon the wall and that the corresponding panel of the bedroom
would yield to his touch.</p>
<p id="id01132">"It is the Blue Room," he said, "in which you will find yourself
presently. Wait there and I'll see what I can do for you. I fancy that I
shall be able to convey you outside the walls of the house without
anybody being the wiser."</p>
<p id="id01133">Fenwick crept through the hole, and Evors pulled the panel across,
leaving the room exactly as it had been a few minutes before. He had
hardly done so when there was a sound of footsteps outside, and without
ceremony the American detectives came in. The occupants of the room had
had ample time to recover their self-possession, so that they could look
coolly at the intruders and demand to know what this outrage meant. The
Americans were clearly puzzled.</p>
<p id="id01134">"I am sure I beg your pardon," Egan said, "but I understand that Mr.<br/>
Fenwick is the tenant of the house."<br/></p>
<p id="id01135">"That is so," Evors said. "Do you generally come into a gentleman's house
in this unceremonious fashion?"</p>
<p id="id01136">"Perhaps I had better explain my errand," Egan said. "We are down here
with a warrant for the apprehension of Mark Fenwick, and we know that a
little time ago he was in the house. He is wanted on a charge of stealing
certain valuables in New York, and also for manufacturing counterfeit
coins. We quite expected to find him here."</p>
<p id="id01137">"In that case, of course, you have perfect liberty to do as you please,"<br/>
Evors said. "I may explain that I am the only son of Lord Merton, and<br/>
that I shall be pleased to do anything to help you that lies in my power.<br/>
By all means search the house."<br/></p>
<p id="id01138">Grady appeared as if about to say something, but Egan checked him. It was
no time for the Americans to disclose the fact that they knew all about
the murder of Mr. George Le Fenu, and how Evors had been more or less
dragged into the business. Their main object now was to get hold of
Fenwick without delay, and take him back with them to London.</p>
<p id="id01139">"Very well, sir," Egan said. "We need not trouble you any further. If
our man is anywhere about the house, we are bound to find him. Come
along, Grady."</p>
<p id="id01140">They bustled out of the room, and presently they could be heard ranging
about the house. As the two friends discussed the situation in whispers
the door was flung open and Vera came in. Her face was aflame with
indignation—she was quivering with a strange unaccustomed passion.</p>
<p id="id01141">"Charles," she cried. "I hardly expected to see you here."</p>
<p id="id01142">"Perhaps you are equally surprised to see Evors," Le Fenu said. "We have
had an explanation—"</p>
<p id="id01143">"I have already met Charles," Vera said. "But he did not tell me you were
coming down here. Still, all that is beside the point. There will be
plenty of time for full explanation later on. What I have to complain of
now is an intolerable outrage on the part of Mark Fenwick. He has
actually dared to intrude himself on the privacy of my bedroom, and
despite all I can say—"</p>
<p id="id01144">"By Jove, this is a piece of bad luck," Evors exclaimed. "My dear Vera, I
had not the slightest idea that you were occupying the Blue Room. In
fact, I did not know that it was being used at all. I managed to send
Fenwick that way for the simple reason that there are two American
detectives downstairs with a warrant for his arrest. It was your
brother's idea to get him away—"</p>
<p id="id01145">"What for?" Vera asked, passionately.</p>
<p id="id01146">"Why should we trouble ourselves for the safety of an abandoned wretch
like that? He is the cause of all our troubles and sorrows. For the last
three years he has blighted the lives of all of us, and there is worse
than that—for, as sure as I am speaking to you now, the blood of our
dear father is upon his head."</p>
<p id="id01147">"Yes, and mine might have been also, but for a mere miracle," Le Fenu
said. "He tried to do away with me—he would have done away with all of
us if he had only dared. But one thing do not forget—he is our mother's
only brother."</p>
<p id="id01148">Vera started and bit her lips. It was easy to see that the appeal was not
lost upon her, and that she was ready now to fall in with her brother's
idea. She waited quite humbly for him to speak.</p>
<p id="id01149">"I am glad you understand," he said. "It would never do for us to hand
that man over to justice, richly as he deserves his sentence. And you can
help us if you will. Those men will search every room in the house,
including yours. If you are in there when they come and show a certain
amount of indignation—"</p>
<p id="id01150">"Oh, I quite understand," Vera responded.</p>
<p id="id01151">"And I will do what I can for that wretched creature."</p>
<p id="id01152">"What is he doing now?" Le Fenu asked.</p>
<p id="id01153">"He has huddled himself up in a wardrobe," Vera explained. "He seems so
paralysed with fear that I could not get anything like a coherent account
of what had happened. Anyway, I will go back to my room now. You need not
be afraid for me."</p>
<p id="id01154">As matters turned out, Vera had no time to spare, for she was hardly back
in her room before the detectives were at the door. She came out to them,
coldly indignant, and demanded to know what this conduct meant. As was
only natural, the Americans were profoundly regretful and almost abjectly
polite, but they had their duty to perform, and they would be glad to
know if Vera had seen anything of Mark Fenwick, for whose apprehension
they held a warrant.</p>
<p id="id01155">"Well," Vera said, loftily, "you don't expect to find him in here, I
suppose? Of course, if your duty carries you so far as to ransack a
lady's room, I will not prevent you."</p>
<p id="id01156">The absolute iciness of the whole thing profoundly impressed the
listeners. Astute as they were, it never occurred to them that the girl
was acting a part; furthermore, with their intimate knowledge of
Fenwick's past, they knew well enough that Vera had no cause to shield
the man of whom they were in search.</p>
<p id="id01157">"We will not trouble you," Egan stammered. "It is a mere matter of form,
and it would be absurd to suppose that our man is concealed in your room.
In all probability he received news of our coming and got away without
warning his companions. It is just the sort of thing that a man of his
type would do. We have the rest of the gang all safe, but we shall
certainly have to look elsewhere for their chief. Will you please accept
our apologies?"</p>
<p id="id01158">Vera waved the men aside haughtily. She was glad to turn her back upon
them, so that they could not see the expression of her face. She was
trembling violently now, for her courage had suddenly deserted her. For
some long time she stood there in the corridor, until, presently, she
heard the noise of wheels as two vehicles drove away. Then, with a great
sigh of relief, she recognised the fact that the detectives had left the
house. She opened the door of her room and called aloud to Fenwick. She
called again and again without response.</p>
<p id="id01159">"You can come out," she said, contemptuously. "There is no cause to fear,
for those men have gone."</p>
<p id="id01160">A moment later the yellow, fear-distorted face of Mark Fenwick peeped out
into the corridor. He came shambling along on tottering limbs, and his
coarse mouth twitched horribly. It seemed to Vera as if she were looking
at a mere travesty of the man who so short a time ago had been so strong
and masterful and courageous.</p>
<p id="id01161">"They gave me a rare fright," Fenwick said in a senile way. He seemed to
have aged twenty years in the last few minutes. "That—that—was very
cool and courageous of you, my dear. I couldn't have done any better
myself. You dear, kind girl. He advanced now and would have taken Vera's
hands in his, but she turned from him with loathing. She was wondering
which she disliked most—the cold, cruel, determined criminal, or this
miserable wreck of a man glad to lean on anyone for support.</p>
<p id="id01162">"Don't touch me," she said, with a shudder. "Don't thank me for anything
for I should have handed you over to those men gladly, I was ready and
willing to do so, only my brother recalled to me the fact that the same
blood runs in the veins of both of us. It was the remembrance of this
that made me lie just now, that caused me to run the risk of a criminal
charge myself. For I understand that anybody who harbors a thief for
whose arrest a warrant has been issued, runs the risk of going to gaol.
And to think that Le Fenu should do a thing of that kind for such a
creature as yourself—it is too amazing."</p>
<p id="id01163">"I suppose it is, my dear," Fenwick said in the same carneying voice. "I
never expected to find myself shielded behind a woman. But I have lost
all my nerve lately, and the more I drink to drown my troubles, the worse
I get. But you must not think too badly of me, for I am not so black as
I am painted."</p>
<p id="id01164">"Could you be any blacker?" Vera asked. "Could any human being have
descended lower than you have descended? I think not. You imagine because
I threw in my lot with you three years ago that I knew nothing of your
crimes. As a matter of fact, I knew everything. I knew how you had
shifted the responsibility of that dastardly murder on to the shoulders
of the man who is in love with my sister Beth. It was for her sake that I
pretended ignorance, for her sake that I came with you to try to get to
the bottom of your designs. What I have endured in the time nobody but
myself can know. But it has all come out now, and here am I to-day trying
to shield you from the very vengeance that I have been plotting for you
all this time. Oh, don't say anything, don't deny it, don't add more
useless lies to the catalogue of your vices. Go now. Let us see the last
of you, and never intrude upon us again."</p>
<p id="id01165">All this outburst of indignation had apparently been wasted on Fenwick
for he did not appear to be listening at all. He had enough troubles of
his own, and, despite the fact that his nerve had failed him, it was no
feeling of remorse that left him stricken and trembling and broken down
before Vera's scornful eyes. He could only whine and protest that he was
absolutely helpless.</p>
<p id="id01166">"But what can I do?" he murmured, with tears in his eyes. "I am not so
young as I was, indeed I am much older than people take me for. I have no
money and no friends, there is not a place I can go to. Don't turn me
out—let me stay here, where I shall be safe."</p>
<p id="id01167">"It is impossible," Vera said, coldly. "We have done enough, and more
than enough for you. Now come this way, and I will hand you over to
my brother and Mr. Evors. They are cleverer than I am, and may be
able to devise some means for getting you out of the country. Why
don't you come?"</p>
<p id="id01168">"I can't," Fenwick almost sobbed. "There is something in my limbs that
renders them powerless. If you will give me your arm, I daresay I shall
be able to get as far as the little room."</p>
<p id="id01169">The touch of the man was pollution, yet Vera bravely endured it. She
could hear the excited servants talking in whispers downstairs, and one
of them might appear at any moment. It would be far better for the
domestic staff to assume that the culprit had vanished, otherwise their
gossip would assuredly bring the detectives back again without delay.
Vera was glad enough when her task was finished and the trembling form of
Mark Fenwick was lowered into a seat. The cunning look was still in his
eyes; the born criminal would never get rid of that expression, though
for the rest he was an object now more for pity than fear.</p>
<p id="id01170">"It is very good of you," he said. "It is far better than I deserve. You
will say I can't stay here—"</p>
<p id="id01171">"That is absolutely certain," Le Fenu said, coldly. "Most assuredly you
can't remain here. You may remain for the night, and Mr. Evors and myself
will try and think of a plan between us."</p>
<p id="id01172">"And Zary," Fenwick whispered. The mention of that dreaded name set him
trembling again. "Keep me away from Zary. I am afraid of a good many
things, but the mere mention of that man's name stops my heart beating
and suffocates me."</p>
<p id="id01173">"You had better go away," Le Fenu said to Vera, "and leave the wretched
creature to us. There will be no trouble in hiding him here for a bit.
There are two rooms here that nobody knows anything about except Evors
and his father."</p>
<p id="id01174">Vera was only too glad to get away into the open air, glad to feel that
at last this nerve-destroying mystery was coming to an end. She wanted to
see Venner, too, and tell him all that had happened. In all probability
he was waiting at the accustomed spot. With a light heart and a feeling
of youthfulness upon her that she had not felt for some time, she set out
on her journey.</p>
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