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Page 23
"Was his description of the dreams always the same?"
"No; never were they twice alike, save in the one particular of the
unseen assassin."
"Hum!, Did the impression of these dreams remain long with him?"
"He never recovered from it, and each dream only accentuated his
assurance that the experience was prophetic. When once I tried to
dissuade him from this view, he said to me: 'Gwen, it is useless;
I am making no mistake. When I am gone you will know why I am now
so sure--I cannot tell you now, it would only '--here he stopped
short, and, turning abruptly to me, said with a fierceness entirely
alien to his disposition: 'Hatred is foreign to my nature, but I
hate that man with a perfect hell of loathing! Have I been a kind
father to you, Gwen? If so, promise me '--and he seized me by the
wrist--' promise me if I'm murdered--I may as well say when I'm
murdered--you will look upon the man who brings my assassin to
justice--the thought that he may escape is damning--as your dearest
friend on earth! You will deny him nothing. You will learn later
that I have taken care to reward him. My child, you will owe this
man a debt you can never repay, for he will have enabled your
father's soul to find repose. I dreamed last night that I came back
from the dead, and heard my avenger ask you to be his wife. You
refused, and at your ingratitude my restless soul returned to torment
everlasting. Swear to me, Gwen, that you'll deny him nothing,
nothing, nothing!' I promised him, and he seemed much reassured.
'I am satisfied,' he said, 'and now can die in peace, for you are
an anomaly, Gwen,--a woman who fully knows the nature of a covenant,'
and he put his arm about me, and drew me to him. His fierceness
had subsided as quickly as it had appeared, and he was now all
tenderness."
Maitland, who appeared somewhat agitated by her recital, said to
her: "After the exaction of such a promise you have, of course, no
doubt that your father was the victim of a mental malady--at least,
at such times as those of which you speak?"
Gwen replied deliberately: "Indeed, I have grave doubts. My father
was possessed by a strange conviction, but I never saw anything
which impressed me as indicating an unsound mind. I am, of course,
scarcely fitted to judge in such matters."
Maitland's face darkened as he asked: "You would not have me infer
that you would consider your promise in any sense binding?"
"And why not?" she ejaculated in astonishment.
"Because," he continued, "the request is so unnatural as to be in
itself sufficient evidence that it was not made by a man in his
right mind."
"I cannot agree with you as to my father's condition," Gwen replied
firmly; "yet you may be right; I only know that I, at least, was
in my right mind, and that I promised. If it cost me my life to
keep that pledge, I shall not hesitate a moment. Have you forgotten
that my father's last words were, 'remember your promise'?" She
glanced up at Maitland as she said this, and started a little as she
saw the expression of pain upon his face. "I seem to you foolishly
deluded," she said apologetically; "and you are displeased to see
that my purpose is not shaken. Think of all my father was to me,
and then ask yourself if I could betray his faith. The contemplation
of the subject is painful at best; its realisation may, from the
standpoint of a sensitive woman, be fraught with unspeakable horror,
--I dare not think of it! May we not change the subject?"
For a long time Maitland did not speak, and I forbore to break the
silence. At last he said: "Let us hope, if the supposed assassin
be taken, the discovery may be made by someone worthy the name of
man--someone who will not permit you to sacrifice either yourself
or your money." Gwen glanced at him quickly, for his voice was
strangely heavy and inelastic, and an unmistakable gloom had settled
upon him. I thought she was a little startled, and I was considering
if I had not better call her aside and explain that he was subject
to these moods, when he continued, apparently unaware of the
impression he had made: "Do you realise how strong a case of suicide
the authorities have made out? Like all of their work it has weak
places. We must search these in order to overthrow their conclusion.
The insurance policies they were 'too busy' to read we must peruse.
Then, judging from your story, there seems little doubt that your
father has left some explanation of affairs hitherto not confided to
you--some document which he has reserved for your perusal after his
death. No time should be lost in settling this question. The papers
may be here, or in the hands of his attorney. Let us search here
first."
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