Beck Center English Dept. University Libraries Emory University
Emory Women Writers Resource Project Collections:
Women's Genre Fiction Project

An Adventuress, an electronic edition

by L.T. Meade [ Meade, L.T., 1854-1914]

date: 1899
source publisher: Chatto & Windus
collection: Genre Fiction

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CHAPTER XXIX

DR. THORNTON, who was leaving the house in his brougham just as Kate dashed out by a side entrance, was somewhat astonished to see Henley's wife running wildly in the direction of the shrubbery.

"What is that excitable young woman up to now?" he said to himself; but being much absorbed in several anxious cases, he did not trouble himself to pursue this train of thought any further. He knew that Henley was about to have a severe tussle for life, and he thought it extremely doubtful what the final issues would be.

"I hope Bennett Shaw will he able to come down this evening," he said to himself; "of course the treatment is more or less straightforward, but in a case like the present it is well to have a higher authority than one's own."

He desired his coachman to stop at the nearest telegraph office, and when there, sent an urgent message to the great specialist.

Meanwhile, Kate, her heart beating in great throbs, her eyes almost dizzy, ran in the direction of the shrubbery. She was thankful when she found herself under its shade. She looked around her, there was no one in sight. Oh, how fearful if she were to meet Ethel now! But Ethel had gone to town with her sister, and Mrs. Hume would scarcely leave the house. Yes, she was comparatively safe. She saw | | 290 Marryat slowly returning to the house. Marryat's whole attitude was that of a woman who was watching. She stood quite still when she saw Kate; she raised her hand and beckoned to her mistress.

"I have taken the lady to the summer-house," she said. "You will be safe there--no one will overhear."

Kate nodded, and running up a path which led to the top of a little incline, soon found herself standing before the rustic summer-house.

A lady, neatly dressed in black, was seated on one of the rustic chairs. She had her veil down and the veil was a somewhat thick one. She rose when she saw Kate, came a step forward, and held out her hand.

"It is well to be careful," she said. "How do you do, Mrs. Henley?"

"How do you do?" answered Kate. She did not take the proffered hand--she stood panting by the doorway.

"You want to speak to me," she said, then.

The little woman raised her veil for a moment, and favoured Kate with a piercing glance.

"Not having heard from you this morning, as I fully expected," she said, "I called at the Métropole. I was there informed that you had come here. I came down, thinking you would rather have a personal interview than a letter."

"Oh yes, of course, a personal interview is best," said Kate.

"Quite so, that was what I felt. When do you go to Australia?"

Kate was about to reply, when the woman darted forward and laid her hand on her arm.

"Stay," she said, "it is not safe for us to talk | | 291 here; you don't want your maid to know all about this."

"My maid! What do you mean?

"I mean that any one standing at the back of this little summer-house might overhear some of our words. We are safer in the open. Where can we go where we can be quite undisturbed?"

"Oh, thank you," said Kate, "but Marryat would not be so mean. All the same, perhaps you are right. Come this way." She held out her hand, took that of Mrs. Johnson, and walked rapidly down the hill in the direction of the outer edge of the plantation. There they found themselves in a field--a sort of paddock. Mary's brown pony was grazing at the farther end; there was not another creature within sight.

"We are safe here," said Kate.

"Safe," said the little woman; "perhaps so, but in a case of this kind it is well to make doubly sure. We will walk in the middle of the field."

"Then some one may see us," said Kate.

"Better to be seen than to be overheard, and why should you not walk with me and talk to me--what is there in it? At the worst only the vaguest suspicion would be aroused by such a fact, but to be overheard just now=="

"Then you think," said Kate, with a weary smile, "that I do carry a very dangerous secret?"

"I have ceased to think about a patent fact, but your secret is not my affair, except in as far as I can use it for my own purposes. I mean, however, to be straight with you. You have done something wrong; what, I have not the slightest idea; but, if you keep your part of the bargain I will keep mine."

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"Of course," said Kate, " I never wanted to back out of my bargain. You did me a good turn that day last week. I am extremely grateful to you."

"We managed it well, did we not?" said the false Dr. Stevenson with a sort of chuckle.

"Splendidly; you are very clever--it was wonderful of you to think all this out."

"Ah, my dear, the only capital I possess is what is stored up behind this forehead of mine. If I had not acute and clever brains I should long have ceased to exist in this world. There is no place in the world nowadays for fools, Mrs. Henley; it is only the wise ones who enact the part of the survival of the fittest."

Kate clenched her hands.

"Let us to business," she said; "I am in great trouble to-day."

"I am sorry to hear it." Mrs. Johnson did not ask what the trouble was. She stood quiet for a moment, then she said: "The day fixed for your departure for Australia is Thursday morning, the fifth of this month, is it not?"

"Yes, but--"

"There are no buts in the matter, Mrs. Henley. I have come for my money. You paid me two hundred pounds last week, I have come for my thousand pounds to-day."

"I can give you a cheque for the amount."

"I should prefer the money in gold and notes."

"I cannot give you gold and notes, I do not possess them. Won't you take a cheque?"

"No, thank you, cheques may be traced. Can you not come with me to the bank? If we catch the very next train there is still time."

"I cannot, my husband is very ill--at death's door."

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"Your husband ill? Then you are not going away on Thursday?"

"Yes--no, no--of course not. How could I go when my husband is so ill?" But Kate thought, with a sudden pang of comfort, that she still possessed the tickets which entitled her to two berths on board the Hydra.

"Everything has been postponed, everything is changed," she said.

"Then the greater reason why I should have my money, and not in a cheque, please. You must come with me to the bank at once."

"It is impossible, Mrs. Johnson; you ask me what I cannot do; my husband is terribly ill."

"Are you nursing him?"

"No, we have got nurses, of course--professional nurses--but I must be there."

"It would be better for you to come with me; I cannot take a denial. The arrangement was that I was to be paid that money on the third of October. The day and hour have come. I want my money; you must come with me, and at once."

"I cannot, I cannot."

"Then I have no alternative."

"But what?"

"To tell Mr. Hume what I did last week."

"You--you dare not; you will get into trouble yourself."

"That is my affair--I shall not be uneasy. Mr. Hume will pay me a still larger sum for the information I can give him. Or stay, I have been gathering much information; there is a young lady who lives here who suspects you, Mrs. Henley."

"What do you mean? How do you know?"

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"Never mind how I know. Once a case has been put into my hands it is my bounden duty to learn all the side issues, to travel along the by-roads which branch out to right, to left, in every direction. If my clients are true to me I never give them away, but if they break their word, then I have no mercy. I told you that at the beginning."

"You did. Do you really mean that I must go to town with you now--now? But the bank will be closed at four o'clock."

"It is not more than half-past two. A train leaves for town in ten minutes; we are not five minutes from the station, we shall get up to London in three-quarters of an hour; a cab will take us to the bank, we shall reach it at a quarter to four-time enough to draw the thousand pounds. It can be done. I know it is hard on you, but as I said before I have no mercy."

"Oh, God help me! this, indeed, will drive me mad," said Kate. "Well, if I must I must, but I shall have to go back to the house."

"No, you have not an instant to lose. Have you gloves? Your hat is on and your jacket--you can come as you are."

"I have not even a pair of gloves."

"That is bad, but I have an odd pair in my bag, perhaps they will fit you; yes, of course they will you have small hands for your height--put them on. Come, there is not a moment to lose."

Kate never knew afterwards how it was that Mrs. Johnson got such complete control over her. Her husband was in danger, perhaps he would die. Anyhow he was ill, very ill indeed, and there was this woman dragging her away.

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They rushed along the dusty high-road. Kate panted as she ran. Mrs. Johnson's quick firm foot-steps kept pace with hers. They reached the station.

"I have no money," said Kate, then.

"That does not matter, I will pay for both; you can give me a little more from your bank to make up for it."

"Oh, what a cruel, cruel woman! Why did I ever put myself into her power?" thought poor Kate. "I am sinking deeper and deeper. Why did I do it? Was there ever a more miserable creature in all the world than I am? and Ralph--oh, if Ralph really leaves me I shall kill myself."

Mrs. Johnson took tickets for both--they travelled third-class to town. Kate had no veil; she pushed her hat well forward and sat with her eyes glued to her lap. Mrs. Johnson provided herself with a newspaper and read contentedly until they reached Victoria. As soon as they got there she jumped out excitedly.

"Come," she said, "the train kept excellent time--it is only a little past half-past three; we shall do it splendidly." She held up her parasol to a hansom driver. A moment later the pair were whirling through the streets. Kate had given the direction of her bank. They reached it.

They went in. It still wanted ten minutes to four. Kate had not personally visited her bank before. She felt queer and strange. Her bewilderment seemed to shine out of her eyes. A handsome-looking clerk who was standing behind the glass partition looked at her with some interest.

Mrs. Johnson remained quietly in the background; from her appearance the man thought she was Kate's maid. Kate asked for a cheque-book.

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"I want one for myself," she said. "You have an account of mine here. My name is Kate Henley."

The man immediately went away, made some inquiries, came back, and presented Kate with a cheque-book.

"Yes," he said, "we have your account, Mrs. Henley." He spoke in a respectful tone. Kate Henley, the great heiress, was not unknown to some of the clerks in the bank.

"I want," said Kate, looking up now and speaking desperately, "to draw a thousand pounds from my account. I suppose I can have the money immediately?"

"It is a somewhat large order," said the clerk in a dubious tone. In reality it was nothing very special, but for a young lady to come just before the closing hour and ask for a thousand pounds in gold and notes was sufficiently out of the common to make him anxious to speak to one of the managers.

"I will let you know in a moment," he said. He went away. Kate stood moody and silent by the counter--she was excited. The agony she had gone through was leaving her, however.

It was now Mrs. Johnson's turn to feel her heart palpitating, and every nerve in a high state of tension. She had been calm enough up to the present, but at this juncture she and Kate seemed to change places.

"I wish they would be quick," she said, pulling Kate's sleeve. "The time is flying. It is against the rules to draw money from the bank after four o'clock--it wants five minutes to four now. What is that foolish clerk lingering about?"

Kate made no answer. She was thinking of the next train back to the Grange--how soon she could catch it, how soon she could be by her husband's | | 297 side again. The thousand pounds did not matter at all to her. Presently a grave voice spoke in her ear. She looked up--a grey-haired man of about sixty was bending towards her.

"How do you do, Mrs. Henley?" he said. "You want a somewhat large sum. Will you take it in gold or notes?"

Partly gold, partly notes," whispered Mrs. Johnson in Kate's ear.

"I don't really very much care," answered Kate. "I suppose you had better give me part of it in gold."

The grey-haired man was looking her all over. He observed the pallor of her face, and the heavy lines under her eyes. He noticed her shaking hand, her general look of misery. She was also dressed in a somewhat slovenly way for so rich a lady. It was a moment before he replied, then he said cheerfully--

"You had better take a hundred pounds in sovereigns, and the rest in notes. You could not take away more gold conveniently--it would be too heavy to carry."

"As you please," answered Kate.

The required sum was made out, and given to her in a little brown paper parcel, which the manager, after counting the notes carefully over in her presence, took the precaution of sealing.

"This is a large sum for a young lady to carry," he said. "Would you like one of my clerks to accompany you to the railway station?"

"Oh no, there is not the slightest need," replied Kate with a smile. She took the packet, and, as though it were not of the slightest consequence, slipped it into her pocket. She did not hear the manager as he said good evening.

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As soon as she had left the bank, this man turned to the clerk who had first drawn his attention to Kate's case.

"There is something wrong here. You are sure you have taken the number of all the notes?"

"Yes, sir, certainly."

"Well, of course, Mrs. Henley had a right to her own money, but there is something in the wind which I do not quite like. Keep the numbers, Hudson, and now it is time to close."

The moment they got into the street Mrs. Johnson turned to Kate.

If you will let me have that brown paper parcel," she said, "I will say good-bye to you. You have kept your contract, and I shall not trouble you again. May I see you into a hansom?"

"Here is your money," said Kate. "Good-bye."

Mrs. Johnson held out her hand. Kate gave her the parcel. She whipped it into a little bag which she held in her hand.

"Good-bye," she said, holding out her own hand. Kate pretended not to see it.

"I will not trouble you to call a hansom for me," she said, "I see an omnibus passing which I think will take me in the direction of Victoria. Good-bye."

Mrs. Johnson walked down the street.

"I have got it," she said to herself, "and I shall take the precaution to leave London to-night. I didn't care for that manager's look, and beyond doubt he has taken the number of the notes, but I know how to get rid of them, and when all is said and done I have come by the money honestly. It is young Madam who will get into a scrape--her secret won't be hers much longer."

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