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Page 93
It was a slim ray of hope, but Sir Lucius took some comfort from it. He
put on his hat, took his stick, and marched down stairs. As he passed
through the office, a clerk handed him a letter that had just been
brought in. He waited until he was outside to open it, and with the
utmost amazement he read the contents:
"Pentonville Prison.
"My Dear Sir Lucius--I see by the papers that you are in town
temporarily, so I address you at Morley's instead of Priory Court. A very
curious thing has happened. A few days ago a prisoner who was arrested
for a breach of the police-supervision rules, but who was really wanted
for a much more serious affair, was put in my charge. This man, Noah
Hawker by name, sent for me and made a secret communication. He stated
that in his room in Kentish Town, where he was arrested, he had hidden
some papers of the greatest importance to yourself. He told me how to
find them, and yesterday I got them and brought them here. They are in a
sealed parcel, and the prisoner begs that they shall not be opened except
in your presence, as he wishes to tell you the whole story. So I thought
it best to send for you, and if convenient I should like to see you about
noon to-day. I am posting this early in the morning, and hope you will
receive it in good time.
"Sincerely your old friend,
"Major Hugh Wyatt."
"I don't understand it," thought Sir Lucius. "It is certainly most
perplexing. What can it mean? I haven't seen Wyatt for years, but I
remember now that he was appointed Governor of Pentonville some time
ago. But who the deuce is the man Hawker? I never heard the name. Papers
of importance to me? What could they be, and how did the fellow get
them? There must be some mistake. And yet--"
He read the letter a second time, and it turned his curiosity into a
desire to probe the mystery. He concluded to put off the interview with
his nephew, and see him later in the day. He hailed a cab, and told the
driver to take him to Pentonville.
CHAPTER XXXI.
NOAH HAWKER'S DISCLOSURE.
True to his word, Mr. Tenby set the machinery of the law in motion as
speedily as possible. About the time when Sir Lucius entered the dreary
prison that lies Islington way, Gilbert Morris was brought to the court
in Great Marlborough street. Jack was present--a warder had driven him
from Holloway--and he promptly identified the prisoner as the man he had
seen coming out of the Beak street house on the night of the murder.
Other evidence was given by the police, and by Doctor Bent, the
proprietor of the Surrey madhouse, and the lunatic was remanded for a
week; he boasted of his crime while in the dock. Then a brief formality
ensued. Mr. Tenby applied for the discharge of his client, and the
magistrate granted it without delay.
A free man again! The words seemed to ring in Jack's ears as he left the
court, but they meant little to him, so broken was he in spirit, so
ashamed of his unmerited disgrace. Jimmie was waiting for him, and
congratulated him fervently. The two shook hands with the solicitor, and
thanked him for what he had done, and they went quickly off in a cab.
They drove to the Albany, and Jimmie ordered a lunch to be sent in from
a Piccadilly restaurant. Jack ate listlessly, but a bottle of prime
claret made him slightly more cheerful and brought some color to his
bleached features. He listened to all that Jimmie had to tell him--sat
with stern eyes and compressed lips while the black tale of Victor
Nevill's treachery was recounted. He could not doubt when he had read
the murdered woman's statement; it breathed truth in every word. He
crushed the letter in his hand, as though he wished it had been the
throat of his enemy.
"Nevill, of all men!" he said, hoarsely. "A creeping serpent, masked as
a friend, who struck in the dark! And he was Diane's seducer! The night
he stole her from me we were drinking together in a _brasserie_ in the
Latin Quarter! And, as if that was not deep enough injury, he brought
her to England, years afterwards, to ruin my new-found happiness. There
was never such perfidy! I was not even aware that he knew Madge, much
less that he loved her. But she surely won't marry him now."
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