CHAPTER XXXI.

FROM BEYOND.

No seeming evil comes to any But may be fraught with good to many. AYAH.

With a defeated joy. SHAKESPEARE.

Net was trembling all over with excitement.

Her two companions gazed on her in expectation.

“This letter was directed to my home in Miston, and forwarded thence to Castle Montjoie. It appears to come from a lodging-house keeper with whom our poor Kit lived—”

“News of Kit!” exclaimed Antoinette.

“Ah!” ejaculated Adrian.

Both became deeply attentive.

“Yes, of course, news of poor Kit Ken, which gives the key to the whole mystery of her murder. Listen,” said Net, and she read:

“CHURCH LANE, CHELSEA, LONDON, } “December the —, 18—. }

“TO MRS. ADRIAN FLEMING.—_My Dear Madam_: You will be surprised at receiving a letter from a total stranger; but you will pardon me for taking the liberty to write to you when you know why I am obliged to do it. Though in such a flutter of my spirits, from what I have just found out, as hardly to know which end I am standing on, much less what I am writing about. Excuse me, madam, but I have had a great shock this day, in hearing promiscuous news about her death, for I never take the papers, having no time to read them.

“But if anybody murdered her in that cruel way, which there is no denying that somebody _did_, it was _him_ that done it and nobody else, which she had a foreshadowing of some wickedness intended, though not as bad as that, as you will see by her letter, which I put up with this of mine to send to you, according to her own request that same day before she went away from me.

“And, madam, he treated of her scandalous, while she lived with me, and never came to see her above once or twice a week, and despised her and called her a lunatic.

“So she got into her poor head, because he called her so and because he threatened to put her into a lunatic asylum if she did not keep quiet, that he would do so some day, so as to get her out of the way and let him marry some great lady up to the North.

“So that identical day he came to take her away he popped in upon us all of a sudden in the forenoon, and told her to get ready to go with him in the afternoon, and he looked as if he had the—well, madam, you understand what I mean—in him!

“He left to do some business down in the city, and then she began to pack up, gay as a lark, for she thought he was going to take her to his own grand home and acknowledge her as his wife.

“But after she had done her packing her good spirits all of a sudden give way, and it seems she first sat down and wrote that letter to you, (which you will find inclosed,) and when she had finished it she brings it down to me, and she tells me how she mistrusted him because he had deceived her so many times, and how she feared he was not agoing to take her to his own home, and that he might be agoing to clap her into a mad-house, where she never would be heard of again, and leave her there, while he should go off and marry the great lady he was after.

“I tried to quiet her fears, but she said she could not trust him. And then she gave me this letter, and told me to keep it until I heard from _her_; but if I did not get news of her within ten days I might know that he had clapped her into a mad-house or some out-of-the-way prison, and _then_ I must post this letter to _you_; she said that you had known her as Christelle Ken and would see her delivered from bondage.

“Ah, madam! her doubts and fears never touched on the terrible truth that she was going to be murdered that same night.

“I promised to do all that she wished, and I put the letter away carefully.

“In the afternoon he came after her, in a cab. I happen to know the number of the cab. It was E 003, and the name of the cabman was Nott. He told me afterwards, the cabman did, that he took them to Paddington Station.

“I kept the letter safe as safe, intending to send it if I did not hear from her in ten days; and to burn it if I did.

“But this morning, madam, something happened which made me change my mind and send it immediate.

“A neighbor came in to bid me good-bye before going a journey, and says she:

“‘I travel by the third class. You don’t ketch me traveling alone in first or second class after this—no, I will travel in third class, where you can see all the people from one end to t’ other of the car and they can all see you. That poor Christelle Ken’s death ought to be a warning to us all.’

“‘Christelle Ken!’ says I, a thinking of my lodger; ‘what about her?’

“‘Eh—don’t you know? She as was murdered in the railway carriage last Thursday a week ago!’

“‘Christelle Ken murdered in a railway carriage a week ago?’ says I, with the marrow a curdling in my backbone.

“‘Where have you been living, woman,’ says she, ‘not to have heard of that?’

“‘Tell me all about it,’ says I, as soon as I could speak again.

“And she did tell me all that was published in the papers about it; and, moreover, she went to the news-agent’s at the corner and bought an old _Times_ with the full account in it, which I read.

“And, madam, I am sorry to the bottom of my heart for that poor young woman! It is worse than she feared? It is not the mad-house, but murder, that has been her fate. And he did it, and nobody else but him; and not that young gent as they took up for it. Let his friends, whoever they be, call me for a witness, and also my servant, Mary Mossop, and likewise Nott, the cabman, No. E 003, who took the party from here to Paddington. I would like to see that guilty man punished, and that poor simple girl avenged, and wouldn’t mind taking a journey up to Yockley myself to see it done, madam. And I remain

“Yours to serve, DEBORAH PERKINS.”

“There!” exclaimed Net. “There is the landlady’s letter.”

“She will be a most important witness for the defense; so will the cabman, Nott. They must both be subpœnaed immediately. What an extraordinary story!” exclaimed Adrian Fleming.

“Read poor Kit’s letter!” impatiently demanded Antoinette.

“Yes, here it is,” said Net. And she unfolded the second letter, and read:

“CHURCH LANE CHELSEA LONDON,} “december the — 18—. }

“MI DEAR MISTRESS NET.—I no I hevint got enny rite to rite to yo after behavin so bad to yo, but aint as bad as looks. mistress Net, I didn’t brake mi prommis to yo when I cum away. I prommissed not to go away with him until he took me away to his own fowke and owned me for his lawfull wife.

“Yo mind the last nite I stade at yore house when I was so loe in mi mind with somethink hevvy, hevvy hangging over mi poor head? Well mistress Net it was so tho I diddent know it then.

“It was him wot was hangging over my poore hed all unbenonst to yo or me.

“I wasn’t expectin to se him no more than the eevil one himself, whol he stole in upon me that nite as I set all alone in the kitchen and tolde me he hed kum to take me home to his fowke, and I must kum rite off. Mistress net I begged and preyed of him to let me go and tell yo but he wuddent. He tolde me he had kum to kepe his prommis and take me to his fowkes but if I diddent kum with him then he wud nevver aske me agane.

“And so he bullyded me until I goed with him.

“But mistress he nevver kept no prommiss with me, but browt me to Lunnun town to a lodgement house with a Mistress Purkkings, a good woman, I will say that for her, where I have lived for all this time and he only kumming to see me once in a whyle and skolding and threttening of me till I am fair crazy which he sed, himself that he wud clap me into a lunacy sylum if I wasn’t quiet. And now mistress net to the pint—

“To-day he kum to see me lukking so black he skeered the life out of me most but he tolde me to get reddy to go with him home to Kavelande as because his uncle Old mister Chrystofer Corle was dedd and he was marster now and I shud be mistress.

“And fust I was glad mistress net but now my harrt misgives me like it did once before and hevvy, hevvy hangs over mi poore head, ah! hevvy more hevvy as it hung that nite!

“I mebby doin of him a gret wrong mistress net and if I am I beg his pardon; but I do misdoubt him and fear him and I feel like somethink was going to happen to me.

“Ime thinking mebby insted of taking me home to Kavelande he will be clapping of me into a lunacy sylum where I will nevver be herd of no more. And now mistress net I rite this letter for mi safety. If he keeps his prommiss to me and takes me to Kavelande and make a leddy of me I will rite to yo and all my friends to let yo know I am well, and hoping yo the same; but if he don’t take me home and claps me into a lunacy, then yo wont hear nothink from me after that, but yo will get this letter sent to yo by the goode woman I live with, because I will leave it with her and make her prommiss to send it to yo if as how _she_ dont get a letter from me dated at Kavelande to tell her I am well and happy in ten days.

“So if yo shud get _this_ letter mistress net yo may know that he hazzent kep his prommiss to me to take me to Kavelande but has shet we up in a lunacy or med way with me sommers.

“Eh, mistress net wot a wicked gel I be not to trust my owne husbande wot I prommissed and wowed to luv, onner and bay, when it was redd over us in the church; but I cannt help it; he hev tuk all the trust out of me he hev.

“Eh, then if he keeps faith with me this time, I will try my best to luv, onner, and bay him according to the lines red over us all the rest of my life.

“Oh, mistress net how I wish I hed nevver seen him though. How I wish I was back with yo and the bairns in the little cottage, where I was so safe and happy.

“Eh, it was hevven there it was.

“Sometimes I dreeme I am back with yo, washing up the dishes with my sleeves rolled up and I am so happy until I wake and find it all a dreeme and then I cry fit to brake my harrt I do.

“I dunnot think I evver luvved enny body rale tru but my own home fowke and yo and the bairns.

“But I wanted to be a leddy like a fule and this is wot I hev got for it.

“Now mistress net I no yo will forgive and forget and if this letter cums to yo, to tell yo I hevvent been herd of since I left this place on this Thursday afternoon of December the —, please see to it that Mister Brendon Corle is tukked up and med to tell where he hev poked me to, and so I be tuk to the judges to say whedder I be lunacy or not.

“And Lord forgive me for doubting of my owne husbande which hev killed all the faith in me, and med me feele like as if I was a helpless, friendless sinner given up to the power of the deevil himself.

“Dear mistress net forgive me and prey for me and believe me, with all my fawlts yor lovving humble servant to kummand.

“CHRISTELLE KEN by rites mi leddy BRENDON CORLE.”

As Net finished this strange epistle, there came a strong reaction over her nerves, and she burst into tears and wept long and bitterly.

“Poor Kit! Poor Kit Ken!” she sobbed. “Going to her death with that dark foreshadowing of fate over her simple, childish mind!”

“Ah! but she had cunning enough to write that letter! Heavens! what a Nemesis! what an avenging agent that woman has been to her own destroyer! Her first letter saved Lady Arielle Montjoie, and dashed _him_ down suddenly from the pinnacle of his ambitious hopes. He compassed her murder in the spirit of hatred and revenge, and now, from her grave, she exerts a power that will crush him. That letter, supported by the corroborative testimony of the lodging-house keeper and the cabman, will be enough to vindicate Valdimir Desparde and to hang Brandon Coyle,” said Adrian Fleming.

“It is all too much, too dreadful to think of,” shuddered Antoinette.

“Is there a train for London this evening?” inquired Net.

“One at eight, which you cannot possibly catch,” answered Adrian Fleming.

“Which is the next?” inquired Net.

“Twelve, midnight.”

“I must take that.”

“You are mad! Start alone at midnight in the train for London!” exclaimed Antoinette.

“Yes, dear, I must do so—I must not lose one hour if I can avoid it,” repeated Net. “I must take these letters at once to Yockley, and put them in the hands of Valdimir Desparde’s lawyers.”

“But at midnight—alone!”

“She shall not go alone,” said Adrian Fleming.

“Why not? I am not afraid,” said Net.

“Because I do not think it either safe or proper that you should start on that midnight journey alone,” replied Adrian.

“I have been constrained by _duty_ to do some things that _were_ not safe and _seemed_ not proper, within the last year,” quietly replied the girl.

“But those days are past and gone, Mrs. Fleming,” retorted the young husband, with the air of taking some authority upon himself.

“Have they really? And are you quite certain they will never return? I am not,” said Net, speaking very gently.

“Come, come, do not quarrel! Will you two _never_ be reconciled?” inquired Antoinette, uneasily.

“We are not at enmity,” answered Net.

“By Jove, I think you have ceased to care for me, as well as to trust in me,” muttered Adrian Fleming, in a very low voice; then, with a sudden flush, he continued: “I know that I have forfeited all claims to your consideration; but I cannot really suffer you to start on a long journey at midnight, and alone. I must attend you, but, madam, I will treat you with as much distant respect as if I were only your courier or your footman.”

Now Net’s delicate face flushed. She spoke but one word.

“Adrian,” and then her voice died away.

“You must accept my escort, Net,” he added.

“Adrian,” she recommenced, with recovered firmness, “if I hesitated, it was because I _once_ accepted your escort on a journey rather too hastily, too unadvisedly; and you know what followed.”

“Don’t speak of that time, Net. It is reminding a sane man of the acts of his madness. I do not regret that journey, Net, but I repent what followed. And now I shall go with you to Yockley.”

“I do not decline your escort, Adrian. I thank you for taking so much trouble,” she replied, gently.

All her words and tones were very gentle, yet they all betrayed that her confidence in the reality and stability of his affection for her was shaken to its foundation.

“Well, I am glad that you are going together. But, dear Net, come back to me as soon as you can,” said Antoinette with a smile.

“Indeed I shall! Oh! I regret very much to leave you, even for so short a time. I would send these letters by mail and remain here, only—only a life may depend upon their safe delivery, and I feel bound to take them myself. But just as soon as I see them secure in the hands of Mr. Stair I will hasten back to you,” said Net.

“Bede says that I am much better. I hope I shall be here when you return, Net,” said Antoinette, cheerfully.

“I hope that your improvement may be a permanent one, dear,” replied Net, raising the hand of the sick girl to her lips.

“Ah! well, ‘Hope springs eternal in the human breast,’” quoted Antoinette, in a non-committal sort of way.

“Net, it is eight o’clock. You had better see about your packing, had you not? It takes two hours to drive to the station,” said Adrian Fleming.

“I brought nothing but a valise here, and I shall take nothing but a small hand-bag back. I can be ready to start in fifteen minutes,” said Net.

“And you have two hours before it is necessary to start to catch that train. It is eight now, as Adrian says. You need not leave here until ten. So, Mr. Fleming, you may ring and order the close carriage for that hour, and then come back to take tea with us in this room,” added Antoinette, as she rang the little hand bell that stood on the stand by her side.

Adrian Fleming left the room to give orders about the journey, and a few moments later Mrs. Trimmer entered in answer to her mistress’s bell.

“Tell Hart to serve the tea in this room,” said Miss Deloraine, and the woman withdrew to obey.

Twenty minutes later the three friends were gathered around the tea table, which was pushed up close to Antoinette’s invalid chair.

Scarcely ever had Miss Deloraine seemed brighter or more cheerful than at this little social tea. No one then looking at her, in ignorance of her real condition, could have believed her to be the subject of a fatal malady. It is true that she was very much emaciated, but she was no longer pale. Pleasant excitement in the society of her two friends had brought color to her cheeks and lips, light to her eyes, and animation to her manner.

Soon after tea the nurse came in and insisted that Miss Deloraine had already sat up too long and must now retire.

Antoinette laughingly bade Adrian good-night and dismissed him, but she retained Net by her side until the latest minute, making the girl accompany her to her bed chamber, and even sit by her bed head until it was time for Net to put on her bonnet and join Mr. Fleming in the hall.

By ten o’clock Net kissed her cousin good-bye, and, escorted by Adrian, set out on her night ride to the railway station.

They drove fast, and succeeded in catching the midnight express.