Middletown transcript., 1904-06-11
THAT MYSTERIOUS MAJOR
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so he is taking it up to London in the
morning, she added, giving the necessary
explanation as tersely as possible, and
then turning away quickly, as though
she could not trust herself to utter an
other syllable.
Luttrell, you canLot mean il ! Surely
you have never been so foolish as to
allow such thing! gasped Falkland,
starting forward, his face livid, an ex-
preston of absolute incredulity in his
eyes.
A faint nod-a very different one from
that with which she had favored him a
moment before-was Evelyn's only reply.
Oh, Miss Luttrell, this is worse than
madness Falkland passed his hand
across his forehead with gesture of de-
spair, OF dazed indescribable bewilder-
ment. Did not instinct, your own COM
mon sense, tell you the truth II moth
ing else, the very fact of his anxiety to
secure that cheque should have reused
your suspicious. You might have guessed
whose handiwork it is
Guessed!z repeated Lady Howard.
Good gracious, Mr.. Falkland, you do not
mean to say that you have found clue
to this affair already?
Yes, Lady Howard I belieye-he gave
triumphant glance towards Evelyn
our suspicions-with very decided en-
phasis on the plural pronoun-are correct.
That fellow Brown is the forger
That fellow Brown is the forger! Falk-
lands voice sounded miles and miles
away yet how the words reverberated in
Eyelyn's ears-with what clear distinct
ness they seemed to ring through the
silent air, to echo round the dusky lawn I!
A moment before a horrible fear had
possessed her, fear which had sent all
the blood coursing wildly through her
veins; and then Oh, impossible
Major Brown forger! 1t was too abb
surd Mr.. Falkland always had dis
liked him. From the very first he had
been prejudiced about him, and had done
his utmost to make both Lady Howard
and herself share his suspicious.
1t was too terrible In that one mo-
ment it seemed as though she lived
through all the past fortnight again. One
after another the various events of the
well-remembered days passed in rapid
succession through her mind, whilst
above all, as climax, crowning point
to the whole, certain afternoon, scarcely
thirty-six hours before, stood out clear
and defined from the confusion Of the
various occurrences. Every syllable
which had been spoken, every subject
which had been broached, came back
to her as vividly as though once more
she was sitting in the forsaken library,
pen in hand, with Major Brown standing
attentively by her side.
Oh, why had she been SO dense, SO
blind as to see neither through his evil
dent maneuvres nor the strange yet pal
pable eagerness of his manner? If moth
ing else had reused her suspicious, she
ought at least to have realized that Major
Brown was not at all the kind of man to
waste his energies upon simple birth
day book. A birthday-book How
could she have allowed herself to be so
| easily taken in? She had certainly ex-
| pressed some astonishment upon the
occasion-she was undoubtedly somewhat
dubious at first-but how quickly he had
overruled her Without appearing the
least perturbed, he had explained away
everything everything He had
even been able to find an excuse for tile
blankness of the pages, and she had
actually believed him, had Believed the
whole of his fabrications, though in
reality that horrible book had been pur-
chased simply as means for securing
her signature
You hear what Mr.. Falkland is saying,
Eve?
How far her thoughts had carried her,
or how long she had been standing with
her hands clasped tightly together, gazing
out straight before her at the shadows
growing deeper and deeper, Evelyn had
no idea.
Did she hear what Mr.. Falkland was
saying? No, she had not heard word,
and, what was more, she was utterly
Indifferent as to what it might be; yet it
was with gesture suggestive rather of
acquiescence that she sat down on the
low bamboo chair and waited resignedly
for anything further that had to come.
You see, Miss Luttrell-it was Falk-
land himself who claimed her attention
this time-we can do nothing without
the cheque we have no proofs whatever
as to the forgery. Brown is as safe as if
he had never put pen to paper at all.
Is he? observed Evelyn calmly. His
words seemed to Undue her with a sense
of strange undefinable relief. Ah, yes-I
suppose that would have been the only
evidence against him But OF course it
does not matter. 1t is really not of
much Importance, she added in a voice
particularly free from any suspicion Of
regret
1t does not matter! Why, Miss Lut-
trell, l have just been pointing out to
you the great Importance of this affair,
and have been saying how easily the
whole thing can be managed But no
time must be lost You ought to ask the
Major for the cheque this evening with
out fail.
I ask him Do you dream for one
moment that l shall ask him for it?
Evelyn opened her eyes in amazement.
She began to think she had perhaps
made mistake in pretending she had
been an interested listener to the recent
conversation.
Certainly Did you not understand
me? You have merely to say you wish |
for the cheque in order to compare it |
with your own signature, and the rest |
becomes easy. Lady Howard, you quite |
agree with me?4