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the park to

the shrubberies near the house, so that if you are met people

would think you were taking a near cut to the village. I will

meet you in the shrubbery on the house side of the little

footbridge. The gatesā€”ā€™ā€

 

Pratt suddenly paused, and before proceeding looked hard at his visitor.

 

ā€œNow listen to what followsā€”and bear in mind what your mother knew, and

had done, at the time she wrote this letter. This is how the letter goes

onā€“let every word fix itself in your mind, Miss Mallathorpe!ā€

 

ā€œā€˜The gates of the footbridge are locked, but the enclosed keys

will open them. I will meet you amongst the trees on the further

side. Be sure to come and to bring that documentā€”I have

something to say about it on seeing it again.ā€™ā€

 

Pratt turned to the drawer from which he had taken the letter and took

out two small keys, evidently belonging to patent padlocks. He held them

up before Nesta.

 

ā€œThere they are!ā€ he said triumphantly. ā€œBeen in my possession ever

sinceā€”and will remain there. Nowā€”do you wish to read the letter? Iā€™ve

read it to you word for word. You donā€™t? Very goodā€”back it goes in

there, with these keys. And now then,ā€ he continued, having replaced

letter and keys in his drawer, and turned to her again, ā€œnow then, you

see what a diabolical scheme it was that was in your motherā€™s mind

against me. She meant me to meet with the fate which overtook her own

son! She meant me to fall through that bridge. Why? She hoped that I

should break my neckā€”as he did! She wanted to silence meā€”but she also

wanted moreā€”she wanted to take from my dead body, or my unconscious

body, the certain something which she was so anxious I should bring with

me, which she referred to as that document. She was willing to risk

anythingā€”even to murder!ā€”to get hold of that. And now you know why I

went to Normandale Grange that Saturdayā€”you know, now, the real reason.

I told a deliberate lie at the inquest, for your motherā€™s sakeā€”for your

sake, if you know it. I did not go there to hand in my application for

the stewardshipā€”I went in response to the letter Iā€™ve just read. Is all

this clear to you?ā€

 

Nesta could only move her head in silent acquiescence. She was already

convinced, that whether all this was entirely true or not, there was

truth of some degree in what Pratt had told her. And she was thinking of

her motherā€”and of the trap which she certainly appeared to have

laidā€”and of her brotherā€™s fateā€”and for the moment she felt sick and

beaten. But Pratt went on in that cold, calculating voice, telling his

story point by point.

 

ā€œNow I come to what happened that Saturday afternoon,ā€ he said. ā€œI may

as well tell you that in my own interest I have carefully collected

certain evidence which never came out at the inquestā€”which, indeed, has

nothing to do with the exact matter of the inquest. Now, that Saturday,

your mother and you had lunch togetherā€”your brother, as we shall see in

a moment, being awayā€”at your lunch timeā€”a quarter to two. About twenty

minutes past two your mother left the house. She went out into the

gardens. She left the gardens for the shubberies. And at twenty-five

minutes to three, she was seen by one of your gardeners, Featherstone,

in what was, of course, hiding, amongst the trees at the end of the

north shrubbery. What was she doing there, Miss Mallathorpe? She was

waiting!ā€”waiting until a certain hoped-for accident happenedā€”to me.

Then she would come out of her hiding-place in the hope of getting that

document from my pocket! Do you see how cleverly sheā€™d laid her

plansā€”murderous plans?ā€

 

Nesta was making a great effort to be calm. She knew now that she was

face to face with some awful mystery which could only be solved by

patience and strenuous endeavour. She knew, too, that she must show no

sign of fear before this man!

 

ā€œWill you finish your story, if you please?ā€ she asked.

 

ā€œIn my own wayā€”in my own time,ā€ answered Pratt. ā€œI now come toā€”your

mother. On the Friday noon, the late Mr. Harper Mallathorpe went to

Barford to visit a friendā€”young Stemthwaite, at the Hollies. He was to

stay the night there, and was not expected home until Saturday evening.

He did stay the night, and remained in Barford until noon on Saturday;

but heā€”unexpectedlyā€”returned to the house at half past two. And almost

as soon as heā€™d got in, he picked up a gun and strolled outā€”into the

gardens and the north shrubbery. And, as you know, he went to the

footbridge. You see, Miss Mallathorpe, your mother, clever as she was,

had forgotten one detailā€”the gates of that footbridge were merely low,

four-barred things, and there was nothing to prevent an active young man

from climbing them. She forgot another thing, tooā€”that warning had not

been given at the house that the bridge was dangerous. And, of course,

sheā€™d never, never calculated that your brother would return sooner than

he was expected, or that, on his return, heā€™d go where he did. And

soā€”but Iā€™ll spare you any reference to what happened. Onlyā€”you know

now how it was that Mrs. Mallathorpe was found by her sonā€™s body. Sheā€™d

been waiting aboutā€”for me! Butā€”the fate sheā€™d meant for me was dealt

out toā€”him!ā€

 

In spite of herself Nesta gave way to a slight cry.

 

ā€œI canā€™t bear any more of that!ā€ she said. ā€œHave you finished?ā€

 

ā€œThereā€™s not much more to sayā€”now at any rate,ā€ replied Pratt. ā€œAnd

what I have to say shall be to the point. Iā€™m sorry enough to have been

obliged to say all that I have said. But, you know, you forced me to it!

You threatened me. The real truth, Miss Mallathorpe, is just thisā€”you

donā€™t understand me at all. You come hereā€”excuse my plain

speechā€”hectoring and bullying me with talk about the police, and

blackmail, and I donā€™t know what! Itā€™s I who ought to go to the police!

I could have your mother arrested, and put in the dock, on a charge of

attempted murder, this very day! Iā€™ve got all the proofs.ā€

 

ā€œI suppose you held that out as a threat to her when you forced her to

sign that power of attorney?ā€ observed Nesta.

 

For the first time since her arrival Pratt looked at his visitor in an

unfriendly fashion. His expression changed and his face flushed a

little.

 

ā€œYou think that, do you?ā€ he said. ā€œWell, youā€™re wrong. Iā€™m not a fool.

I held out no such threat. I didnā€™t even tell your mother what Iā€™d found

out. I wasnā€™t going to show her my hand all at onceā€”though Iā€™ve shown

you a good deal of it.ā€

 

ā€œNot all?ā€ she asked quickly.

 

ā€œNot all,ā€ answered Pratt with a meaning glance. ā€œTo use more

metaphorsā€”Iā€™ve several cards up my sleeve, Miss Mallathorpe. But youā€™re

utterly wrong about the threats. Iā€™ll tell youā€”I donā€™t mind thatā€”how I

got the authority youā€™re speaking about. Your mother had promised me

that stewardshipā€”for life. Iā€™d have been a good steward. But we

recognized that your brotherā€™s death had altered thingsā€”that you,

being, as she said, a self-willed young womanā€”you see how plain I

amā€”would insist on looking after your own affairs. So she gave

meā€”another post. Iā€™ll discharge its duties honestly.ā€

 

ā€œYes,ā€ said Nesta, ā€œbut youā€™ve already told me that youā€™d a hold on my

mother before any of these recent events happened, and that you possess

some document which she was anxious to get into her hands. So it comes

to thisā€”youā€™ve a double hold on her, according to your story.ā€

 

ā€œJust so,ā€ agreed Pratt. ā€œYouā€™re right, I haveā€”a double hold.ā€

 

Nesta looked at him silently for a while: Pratt looked at her.

 

ā€œVery well,ā€ she said at last. ā€œHow much do you wantā€”to be bought out?ā€

 

Pratt laughed.

 

ā€œI thought that would be the end of it!ā€ he remarked. ā€œYesā€”I thought

so!ā€

 

ā€œName your price!ā€ said Nesta.

 

ā€œMiss Mallathorpe!ā€ answered Pratt, bending forward and speaking with a

new earnestness. ā€œJust listen to me. Itā€™s no good. Iā€™m not to be bought

out. Your mother tried that game with me before. She offered me first

five, then ten thousand poundsā€”cash downā€”for that document, when she

came to see me at my rooms. I dare say sheā€™d have gone to twenty

thousandā€”and found the money there and then. But I said no thenā€”and I

say no to you! Iā€™m not to be purchased in that way. Iā€™ve my own ideas,

my own plans, my own ambitions, my ownā€”hopes. Itā€™s not any use at all

for you to dangle your money before me. Butā€”Iā€™ll suggest something

elseā€”that you can do.ā€

 

Nesta made no answer. She continued to look steadily at the man who

evidently had her mother in his power, and Pratt, who was watching her

intently, went on speaking quietly but with some intensity of tone.

 

ā€œYou can do this,ā€ he said. ā€œTo start withā€”and itā€™ll go a long

wayā€”just try and think better of me. I told you, you donā€™t understand

me. Try to! Iā€™m not a bad lot. Iā€™ve great abilities. Iā€™m a hard worker.

Eldrick & Pascoe could tell you that Iā€™m scrupulously honest in money

matters. Youā€™ll see that Iā€™ll look after your motherā€™s affairs in a

fashion thatā€™ll commend itself to any firm of auditors and accountants

who may look into my accounts every year. Iā€™m only taking the salary

from her that I was to have had for the stewardship. Soā€”why not leave

it at that? Let things be! Perhapsā€”in time youā€™ll come to see thatā€”Iā€™m

to be trusted.ā€

 

ā€œHow can I trust a man who deliberately tells me that he holds a secret

and a document over a womanā€™s head?ā€ demanded Nesta. ā€œYouā€™ve admitted a

previous hold on my mother. You say youā€™re in possession of a secret

that would ruin herā€”quite apart from recent events. Is that honest?ā€

 

ā€œIt was none of my seeking,ā€ retorted Pratt. ā€œI gained the knowledge by

accident.ā€

 

ā€œYouā€™re giving yourself away,ā€ said Nesta. ā€œOr youā€™ve some mental twist

or defect which prevents you from seeing things straight. Itā€™s not how

you got your knowledge, but the use youā€™re making of it thatā€™s the

important thing! Youā€™re using it to force my mother toā€“-ā€

 

ā€œExcuse me!ā€ interrupted Pratt with a queer smile. ā€œItā€™s you who donā€™t

see things straight. Iā€™m using my knowledge to protectā€”all of you. Let

your mind go back to what was said at firstā€”to what I said at first. I

said that Iā€™d discovered a secret which, if revealed, would ruin your

mother and injureā€”you! So it wouldā€”more than ever, now. So, you see,

in keeping it, Iā€™m taking care, not only of her interests, but

ofā€”yours!ā€

 

Nesta rose. She realized that there was no more to be saidā€”or done. And

Pratt rose, too, and looked at her almost appealingly.

 

ā€œI wish youā€™d try to see things as Iā€™ve put them, Miss Mallathorpe,ā€ he

said. ā€œI donā€™t bear malice against your mother for that scheme she

contrivedā€”Iā€™m willing to put it clear out of my head. Why not accept

things as they are? Iā€™ll keep that secret for everā€”no one shall ever

know about it. Why not be friends, nowā€”why not shake hands?ā€

 

He held out his hand as he spoke. But Nesta drew back.

 

ā€œNo!ā€ she said. ā€œMy opinion is just what it was when I came here.ā€

 

Before Pratt could move she had turned swiftly to the door and let

herself out, and in another minute she was amongst the crowds in

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