The Golden Web Part 36

"That's all right," said the man. "The only thing was that as I was one of the people you came to, to ask about Deane, I felt that if it was still on I ought to tell you that things aren't supposed to be just the same as they were."

"Do you mean about Deane?" asked Lord Nunneley.

His friend nodded. "There are some very curious rumors going about," he said. "You remember, of course, his charging a man named Hefferom--a South African--with an attempt at blackmail the other day? The man was committed for trial, and there was not much came out in the evidence before the magistrates. Since then, however, people have been talking.

They say that Hefferom had actual knowledge of doc.u.ments proving that Deane's t.i.tle to the Little Anna Gold-Mine was a false one, and that the mine in reality belonged to Hefferom himself and a partner."

"That sounds like a very curious story," Lord Nunneley remarked. "If it is true, why doesn't Hefferom produce his doc.u.ment and have done with it?"

"Because it has been stolen," the other answered. "There are all sorts of stories going about, too, concerning the theft. The point remains, however, that there is a strong feeling that the doc.u.ment in question does exist, and that it may turn up. If so, of course, it would ruin Deane. I see that the shares of his corporation have had a most tremendous drop, so it seems as though there might be something in it.

Buy a special edition this afternoon, and you'll know more about it."

Lord Nunneley nodded. "Thank you," he said, "I will do so."

Lord Nunneley walked slowly along Pall Mall. After all, there was no need to buy a paper. On the placards which the boys were displaying as he neared Trafalgar Square were great headlines,--

EXTRAORDINARY DROP OF SHARES IN THE GOLD-MINES a.s.sOCIATION.

PANIC IN THE CITY.

Lord Nunneley bought a paper, and stood for a few minutes reading it.

Then he called a taxicab, and gave the man the address of Deane's offices. He was well known there, and Deane's confidential man at once came forward.

"Mr. Deane will see you, of course, my lord," he said. "He is really disengaged now, but we are obliged to deny him to everybody because of these interviewers. Will you come with me, my lord?"

Lord Nunneley found himself ushered into Deane's private room. Deane was dictating rapidly to his secretary. As usual he was calm, self-possessed, carefully groomed and dressed. There was nothing about his appearance in any way to suggest a panic. He heard his visitor's name, however, with surprise.

"Nunneley!" he exclaimed, rising to his feet.

Lord Nunneley nodded, and held out his hand. "I was in the city and thought I'd look you up, Deane," he said. "Can I have a word or two with you?"

"Certainly," Deane answered. "Give us five minutes, Ellison,--or stay away until I ring," he added to his secretary.

Lord Nunneley accepted an easy-chair and also a cigarette, but he seemed in no great hurry to explain his business. "I was very sorry, Deane," he said at last, "to see the papers this evening. I hope the trouble isn't very serious."

"Do you hold any of our shares?" Deane asked.

"If I did," said the other, coloring a little, "I should not have come here."

Deane accepted the reproof. "I beg your pardon."

"I daresay," continued Lord Nunneley, "my coming seems to you, under the circ.u.mstances, a little superfluous. However, what I wanted to say is this. You see Olive is our only child, and that made us very anxious about anything to do with her. I am sure that you yourself must feel now, when you are under so much anxiety, that it is better not to have the added responsibility of your engagement upon your shoulders."

"I have never questioned your wisdom in breaking it off," Deane said quietly. "Under the circ.u.mstances, I agree with you that it is a very good thing."

"That's all right," Lord Nunneley continued, a little hastily. "Of course, neither you nor Olive are children, and you are not the sort to wear your hearts upon your sleeve. In short," he added, somewhat abruptly, "you'll both get over it. There's no doubt about that. I didn't come to revert to this matter at all. I simply wanted to say that though our relations are changed, I still do feel a considerable amount of friendship for you, Deane, and I wanted to come and just tell you I was sorry. And look here," he went on, a little awkwardly, "I've between seven and eight thousand pounds for which I am looking for an investment, and if the money's any use to you, Deane, why say the word, and I'll write you a cheque on the spot."

Deane looked at his visitor for a moment in an astonishment which triumphed over the natural impa.s.sivity of his expression. Then a little flush rose in his cheeks. He got to his feet and held out his hand.

"Nunneley," he said, "this is awfully good of you. I shall not forget it. Believe that. If we wanted money, or if I did personally, I'd accept your offer like a shot."

"Too much of a drop in the bucket, I suppose," Lord Nunneley remarked.

"It isn't much, I know."

"It isn't that," Deane interrupted. "The situation is simply that our shares have had a big drop because of certain rumors about our t.i.tle to the Little Anna Gold-Mine. If those rumors were confirmed, five or six hundred thousand pounds wouldn't help us. If they are not confirmed, and if they die a natural death, as I imagine they must, our shares will recover themselves and we shall not need money."

"You don't believe in the existence of any such doc.u.ment, then?" Lord Nunneley asked.

"I do not believe that it will be produced," Deane answered, "and if it were produced," he went on, "I do not believe in its validity. I would not say as much, even, as this to the reporters, but the doc.u.ment about which people have been talking is simply an original claim to the Little Anna Gold-Mine, which was deserted by the very man who put me on to it, and in whose name the claim stands. You see, therefore, that any attempt to establish a legal claim is more or less a swindle."

Lord Nunneley rose to his feet. "You are really not so very much alarmed, then?"

Deane shook his head. "This drop in shares, after all," he said, "does not affect us particularly, except for the time. It simply means that the market declares that we are a few hundred thousand pounds poorer to-day than we were yesterday. Whether the market is right or not remains to be proved."

"Well, I am glad to have seen you, at any rate, Deane, and remember, if there is anything I can do--"

"You have already," Deane said, "done a great deal, Lord Nunneley. I shall not forget your visit or your offer."

"That's all right," Lord Nunneley declared. "Olive did not know I was coming, but I'm sure if she had known she would have sent her love.

Don't bother to ring. I can find my way out."

The visit of his projected father-in-law seemed to Deane like a pleasant little oasis in the middle of a long, dreary day. These rumors of which Lord Nunneley had heard seemed to have come into existence during the last few hours. There had been some large failures lately, and investors were all nervous. The country was short of money. In ordinary times, an attack upon the stability of such a corporation as his would have been impossible. To-day, nothing seemed impossible. In his heart, Deane knew or felt that the situation was safe. Yet the very fact that these rumors had sprung into being seemed to denote the line of defence which Hefferom's lawyers were prepared to offer in the coming trial. He would be accused everywhere--if not in words, in suggestion--of complicity in the murder of Sinclair. The existence of that doc.u.ment would be believed in. It would be said openly, perhaps, that he was responsible himself for its suppression. It was not the fact that on paper he was nearly a quarter of a million poorer than he had been a week ago that troubled him. It was the reflection that bold though his words had been, it was within the power of the man who lay awaiting his trial practically to ruin him. The question of the whereabouts of the doc.u.ment might be, in a few weeks, the most discussed matter in London.

Deane, acting upon a sudden impulse, left his office by the back entrance and drove to the small hotel where Winifred was staying. Miss Rowan was at home, he was told, and after a few minutes' delay he was shown into her sitting-room.

"Miss Rowan will be with you in a moment," her maid announced, coming through from the bedroom. "She is with her dressmaker at present."

Deane nodded, and took up the newspaper mechanically from the table. The room seemed to him almost faint with the perfume of flowers. He glanced around carelessly, and suddenly found his attention riveted upon her writing-table. In a little silver vase, standing by itself, was the red rose which he had bought for her two days since!

CHAPTER XVI

Pa.s.sION

She came to him in a few moments, dressed in a fascinating negligee gown,--came to him with a rustle of silk and a faint expression of surprise upon her upraised eyebrows.

"I did not expect you until this evening," she remarked.

He nodded. "I took the liberty of coming here to ask you a question."

She smiled as she sat down upon the sofa. "Oh, the paper is quite safe."

"How did you know what I came for?" he asked, a little startled.

"My dear friend," she said, shrugging her shoulders, "as I have decided that it is to my interests to link my future with yours, you cannot wonder that I have found such details as those"--she pointed to an evening paper which he noticed now lying upon her writing-table--"interesting. I have been trying to understand how matters stand. Tell me if I am right! It seems to me that so long as that doc.u.ment remains an imagined thing, so long as it is not produced or sworn to definitely, you are safe."

"The corporation is safe," answered Deane, "and in a measure, I suppose, I am. On the other hand, I shall be accused, naturally, of suppressing it, and probably of complicity in Sinclair's murder. There is Hefferom, you see, prepared to swear that Sinclair came to London with that paper in his possession. Sinclair is known to have come to my office. He has certainly been murdered. The paper cannot be found, and the corporation remains in possession of the mine. People will certainly put these things together."