CHAPTER VIII
On the 14th the Directors and their legal advisers met for the readingof the report, with closed doors. These were the terms in which theCommissioners related the results of their inquiry: 'Private andconfidential.
'We have the honour to inform our Directors that we arrived in Veniceon December 6, 1860. On the same day we proceeded to the palaceinhabited by Lord Montbarry at the time of his last illness and death.
'We were received with all possible courtesy by Lady Montbarry'sbrother, Baron Rivar. "My sister was her husband's only attendantthroughout his illness," the Baron informed us. "She is overwhelmed bygrief and fatigue--or she would have been here to receive youpersonally. What are your wishes, gentlemen? and what can I do for youin her ladyship's place?"
'In accordance with our instructions, we answered that the death andburial of Lord Montbarry abroad made it desirable to obtain morecomplete information relating to his illness, and to the circumstanceswhich had attended it, than could be conveyed in writing. We explainedthat the law provided for the lapse of a certain interval of timebefore the payment of the sum assured, and we expressed our wish toconduct the inquiry with the most respectful consideration for herladyship's feelings, and for the convenience of any other members ofthe family inhabiting the house.
'To this the Baron replied, "I am the only member of the family livinghere, and I and the palace are entirely at your disposal." From firstto last we found this gentleman perfectly straightforward, and mostamiably willing to assist us.
'With the one exception of her ladyship's room, we went over the wholeof the palace the same day. It is an immense place only partiallyfurnished. The first floor and part of the second floor were theportions of it that had been inhabited by Lord Montbarry and themembers of the household. We saw the bedchamber, at one extremity ofthe palace, in which his lordship died, and the small roomcommunicating with it, which he used as a study. Next to this was alarge apartment or hall, the doors of which he habitually kept locked,his object being (as we were informed) to pursue his studiesuninterruptedly in perfect solitude. On the other side of the largehall were the bedchamber occupied by her ladyship, and thedressing-room in which the maid slept previous to her departure forEngland. Beyond these were the dining and reception rooms, openinginto an antechamber, which gave access to the grand staircase of thepalace.
'The only inhabited rooms on the second floor were the sitting-room andbedroom occupied by Baron Rivar, and another room at some distance fromit, which had been the bedroom of the courier Ferrari.
'The rooms on the third floor and on the basement were completelyunfurnished, and in a condition of great neglect. We inquired if therewas anything to be seen below the basement--and we were at onceinformed that there were vaults beneath, which we were at perfectliberty to visit.
'We went down, so as to leave no part of the palace unexplored. Thevaults were, it was believed, used as dungeons in the old times--say,some centuries since. Air and light were only partially admitted tothese dismal places by two long shafts of winding construction, whichcommunicated with the back yard of the palace, and the openings ofwhich, high above the ground, were protected by iron gratings. Thestone stairs leading down into the vaults could be closed at will by aheavy trap-door in the back hall, which we found open. The Baronhimself led the way down the stairs. We remarked that it might beawkward if that trap-door fell down and closed the opening behind us.The Baron smiled at the idea. "Don't be alarmed, gentlemen," he said;"the door is safe. I had an interest in seeing to it myself, when wefirst inhabited the palace. My favourite study is the study ofexperimental chemistry--and my workshop, since we have been in Venice,is down here."
'These last words explained a curious smell in the vaults, which wenoticed the moment we entered them. We can only describe the smell bysaying that it was of a twofold sort--faintly aromatic, as it were, inits first effect, but with some after-odour very sickening in ournostrils. The Baron's furnaces and retorts, and other things, were allthere to speak for themselves, together with some packages ofchemicals, having the name and address of the person who had suppliedthem plainly visible on their labels. "Not a pleasant place forstudy," Baron Rivar observed, "but my sister is timid. She has ahorror of chemical smells and explosions--and she has banished me tothese lower regions, so that my experiments may neither be smelt norheard." He held out his hands, on which we had noticed that he woregloves in the house. "Accidents will happen sometimes," he said, "nomatter how careful a man may be. I burnt my hands severely in trying anew combination the other day, and they are only recovering now."
'We mention these otherwise unimportant incidents, in order to showthat our exploration of the palace was not impeded by any attempt atconcealment. We were even admitted to her ladyship's own room--on asubsequent occasion, when she went out to take the air. Ourinstructions recommended us to examine his lordship's residence,because the extreme privacy of his life at Venice, and the remarkabledeparture of the only two servants in the house, might have somesuspicious connection with the nature of his death. We found nothingto justify suspicion.
'As to his lordship's retired way of life, we have conversed on thesubject with the consul and the banker--the only two strangers who heldany communication with him. He called once at the bank to obtain moneyon his letter of credit, and excused himself from accepting aninvitation to visit the banker at his private residence, on the groundof delicate health. His lordship wrote to the same effect on sendinghis card to the consul, to excuse himself from personally returningthat gentleman's visit to the palace. We have seen the letter, and webeg to offer the following copy of it. "Many years passed in Indiahave injured my constitution. I have ceased to go into society; theone occupation of my life now is the study of Oriental literature. Theair of Italy is better for me than the air of England, or I shouldnever have left home. Pray accept the apologies of a student and aninvalid. The active part of my life is at an end." The self-seclusionof his lordship seems to us to be explained in these brief lines. Wehave not, however, on that account spared our inquiries in otherdirections. Nothing to excite a suspicion of anything wrong has cometo our knowledge.
'As to the departure of the lady's maid, we have seen the woman'sreceipt for her wages, in which it is expressly stated that she leftLady Montbarry's service because she disliked the Continent, and wishedto get back to her own country. This is not an uncommon result oftaking English servants to foreign parts. Lady Montbarry has informedus that she abstained from engaging another maid in consequence of theextreme dislike which his lordship expressed to having strangers in thehouse, in the state of his health at that time.
'The disappearance of the courier Ferrari is, in itself, unquestionablya suspicious circumstance. Neither her ladyship nor the Baron canexplain it; and no investigation that we could make has thrown thesmallest light on this event, or has justified us in associating it,directly or indirectly, with the object of our inquiry. We have evengone the length of examining the portmanteau which Ferrari left behindhim. It contains nothing but clothes and linen--no money, and not evena scrap of paper in the pockets of the clothes. The portmanteauremains in charge of the police.
'We have also found opportunities of speaking privately to the oldwoman who attends to the rooms occupied by her ladyship and the Baron.She was recommended to fill this situation by the keeper of therestaurant who has supplied the meals to the family throughout theperiod of their residence at the palace. Her character is mostfavourably spoken of. Unfortunately, her limited intelligence makesher of no value as a witness. We were patient and careful inquestioning her, and we found her perfectly willing to answer us; butwe could elicit nothing which is worth including in the present report.
'On the second day of our inquiries, we had the honour of an interviewwith Lady Montbarry. Her ladyship looked miserably worn and ill, andseemed to be quite at a loss to understand what we wanted with her.Baron Rivar, who introduced us, explained the nature of our errand inVenice, and took pains to assure her t
hat it was a purely formal dutyon which we were engaged. Having satisfied her ladyship on this point,he discreetly left the room.
'The questions which we addressed to Lady Montbarry related mainly, ofcourse, to his lordship's illness. The answers, given with greatnervousness of manner, but without the slightest appearance of reserve,informed us of the facts that follow:
'Lord Montbarry had been out of order for some time past--nervous andirritable. He first complained of having taken cold on November 13last; he passed a wakeful and feverish night, and remained in bed thenext day. Her ladyship proposed sending for medical advice. Herefused to allow her to do this, saying that he could quite easily behis own doctor in such a trifling matter as a cold. Some hot lemonadewas made at his request, with a view to producing perspiration. LadyMontbarry's maid having left her at that time, the courier Ferrari(then the only servant in the house) went out to buy the lemons. Herladyship made the drink with her own hands. It was successful inproducing perspiration--and Lord Montbarry had some hours of sleepafterwards. Later in the day, having need of Ferrari's services, LadyMontbarry rang for him. The bell was not answered. Baron Rivarsearched for the man, in the palace and out of it, in vain. From thattime forth not a trace of Ferrari could be discovered. This happenedon November 14.
'On the night of the 14th, the feverish symptoms accompanying hislordship's cold returned. They were in part perhaps attributable tothe annoyance and alarm caused by Ferrari's mysterious disappearance.It had been impossible to conceal the circumstance, as his lordshiprang repeatedly for the courier; insisting that the man should relieveLady Montbarry and the Baron by taking their places during the night athis bedside.
'On the 15th (the day on which the old woman first came to do thehousework), his lordship complained of sore throat, and of a feeling ofoppression on the chest. On this day, and again on the 16th, herladyship and the Baron entreated him to see a doctor. He stillrefused. "I don't want strange faces about me; my cold will run itscourse, in spite of the doctor,"--that was his answer. On the 17th hewas so much worse that it was decided to send for medical help whetherhe liked it or not. Baron Rivar, after inquiry at the consul's,secured the services of Doctor Bruno, well known as an eminentphysician in Venice; with the additional recommendation of havingresided in England, and having made himself acquainted with Englishforms of medical practice.