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Page 25
"I cannot think so," Gwen interrupted. "He was so rational in
everything else."
"That is quite possible," I replied. "I have known people to be
monomaniacs upon the subject of water, and to go nowhere without a
glass of it in their hands. There is also a well-authenticated case
of a man who was as sane as you or I until he heard the words 'real
estate.' One day while quietly carving the meat at a dinner to
which he had invited several guests, a gentleman opposite him
inadvertently spoke the fatal words, when, without a word of warning,
he sprang at him across the table, using the carving-knife with all
the fury of the most violent maniac; and yet, under all other
conditions, he was perfectly rational."
"If, on the other hand," said Maitland, continuing his remarks as if
unaware of our interruption, "Mr. Darrow's suspicions had any
foundation in fact, it is almost certain they must have been directed
against some specific person or persons. If so, why did he not name
them?--but, stay--how do we know that he did not? Let us proceed
with our examination of the papers," and he began perusing the
insurance policies. Neither Gwen nor I spoke till he had finished
and thrown them down, when we both turned expectantly toward him.
"All in Osborne's favour so far," he said. "Principal to be held in
trust by Miss Darrow under the terms of a will which we have yet to
find; the income, until the discharge of the trust, to go to Miss
Darrow. Now for this," and he passed Gwen the sealed envelope
addressed to her.
She broke the seal with much agitation. "Shall I read it aloud?"
she asked.
We signified our desire to hear it, and she read as follows:
MY DEAR GWEN:
My forebodings have seemed to you strange and uncalled for, but when
this comes to your hand you will know whether or not they were
groundless. Of one episode in my career which shook the structure
of my being to its foundation stone, you have been carefully kept
in ignorance. It is necessary that you should know it when I am
gone, and I have accordingly committed it to this paper, which will
then fall into your hands. My early life, until two years after I
married your mother, was spent in India, the adult portion thereof
being devoted to the service of the East India Company. I had charge
of a department in their depot at Bombay. You have seen Naples.
Add to the beauties of that city the interesting and motley
population of Cairo and you can form some idea of the attractions of
Bombay. I was very happy there until the occurrence of the event I
am about to narrate.
One morning, my duties calling me to one of the wharves, my attention
was attracted by a young girl dancing upon the flags by the water's
edge. The ordinary bayadere is so common an object in India as to
attract but little notice from anyone of refined tastes, but this
girl, judging from the chaste beauty of her movements, was of a very
different type. As my curiosity drew me nearer to her she turned her
face toward me, and in that instant I knew my hour had come.
Though many years her senior she was still my first love,--the one
great passion of my life.
I do not attempt to describe her ineffable loveliness, for, like the
beauty of a flower, it was incapable of analysis. Nothing that I
could write would give you any adequate idea of this girl's seraphic
face, for she was like unto no one you have ever seen in this cold
Western world. I watched in a wild, nervous transport, I know not
how long--time and space had no part in this new ecstasy of mine!
I could think of nothing, do nothing--only feel,--feel the hot
blood deluge my brain only to fall back in scalding torrents upon
my heart with a pain that was exquisite pleasure.
Suddenly she changed her step and executed a quick backward movement
toward the water, stopping just as her heels touched the curb at the
edge of the wharf; then forward, and again a quick return to the
backward movement, but this time she mistook the distance, her heels
struck the curb forcibly, and she was precipitated backward into the
water. For a moment I stood as one petrified, unable to reason,
much less to act; then the excited voices of the crowd recalled me.
They had thrown a rope into the water and were waiting for her to
come to the surface and grasp it. The wall from which she had fallen
must have been at least fifteen feet above the water, which was
littered with broken spars, pieces of timber, and other odd bits of
wood. It seemed as if she would never come to the surface, and when
at length she did, she did not attempt to seize the rope thrown to
her, but sank without a movement. The truth flashed upon me in an
instant. She had struck her head against some of the floating drift
and was unconscious! Something must be done at once. I seized the
rope and sprang in after her, taking good care to avoid obstructions,
and although, as you know, I never learned to swim, I succeeded in
reaching her, and we were drawn up together. I bore her in my arms
into one of the storerooms close by, and, laying her upon a bale of
cotton, used such restoratives as could be quickly procured.
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