CHAPTER XVIII
Upon the Eversleighs the verdict at the inquest had various effects.
Mrs. Eversleigh had been completely upset by the discovery of the bodyof Morris Thornton in the private rooms of Silwood, her husband'spartner, but she recovered quickly after the verdict, which dispelled agreat multitude of nameless fears that had sprung up within her mind.
The presence of Kitty at the inquest had been entirely her own idea, andit had required courage of an almost desperate sort to carry it out. Herlover, seeing the strain the girl was putting on herself, tried todissuade her from going, but she bravely persisted. When the verdict wasgiven, and she witnessed the relief it afforded her friends, she feltfar more than repaid. At the same time, the tragedy which closed herfather's life lay heavy upon her. What helped her most to bear it wasGilbert's love and unfailing sympathy. And on the girl herself all thesestrange and painful events resulted in materially deepening andstrengthening her character. Hitherto anything of the kind had been farremoved from her.
With regard to Gilbert Eversleigh, he knew not what to conclude, as allattempts on his part to reason out the mystery of Stone Buildingsinvariably ended in confusion. He told himself that the secret of theaffair was never likely to be revealed, and was not sure if he were glador sorry this should be the case. Yet at times he had an uneasy feelingthat perhaps, after all, there was more to come.
On the benumbed mind, on the half-paralyzed faculties, of FrancisEversleigh the verdict for a while acted like a charm; for a short timeits effect on him was little short of magical.
He had believed that Cooper Silwood had murdered Morris Thornton; whathe alone knew made the deed only too probable. To find, then, that therehad been no murder was a relief to him beyond all words to describe. Fora few days it nearly made a man of him. He saw that much was darkregarding the death of his old friend and client, and he was absolutelycertain that in some way or other Silwood was mixed up in it; but toknow that his partner had not actually been guilty of the blackest crimein the calendar had a beneficial influence on him.
The sanguine side of his nature, long overshadowed, now began to assertitself; he even whispered to himself that it was possible his ruin mightbe averted after all.
At first he feared that the standing of the firm might be so gravelycompromised by the events which had taken place that its position wouldbe rendered hopeless by the withdrawal of their business by its clients;but, when then they took no steps in this direction, the elasticity ofhis mind asserted itself more and more. As a matter of fact, a greatdeal of sympathy was expressed for him; several of his clients, indeed,went out of their way to assure him of their undiminished confidenceand regard. No one for an instant suspected there was anything wrongwith the firm. The death of Thornton was looked upon as an inexplicablefatality, that of Silwood as another.
In these reassuring circumstances he took heart of grace, plucked upcourage, and said to himself that he must make a decided change in hisown habits and methods, and must no longer be easy-going, careless, andunsystematic, but must work doubly hard, and do whatever lay in hispower to save the situation. But a man's character is not changed in aday, and Francis Eversleigh, despite his brave resolutions, was, atbottom, the same Francis Eversleigh. And with all the heart in the worldto retrieve lost ground, it was hardly possible for him to do it, evenif his affairs had been in a different position.
His most pressing duty, he knew, was to make that examination into thebusiness of his firm which he had purposed making earlier. One morningtowards the end of the week in which the verdict was given, he came tohis office determined to commence a thorough overhauling of hisaccounts, but his innate weakness prevented him from persevering. And,in addition to the slackness habitual to him, there was another reasonthat kept him back. And this reason was Williamson.
Had Eversleigh been a strong man, he would have made the death of hispartner an excuse for this examination--so natural an excuse, in truth,that Williamson would have thought nothing of it. But he had not gotvery far in examining the books when he became aware that the head-clerkwas following all he did with suspicious interest. The mere fact thatEversleigh was manifesting unusual activity was enough to excitesurprise in Williamson. The first shock which the returning complacencyof the solicitor received came from the thought that perhaps Williamsonhad a glimmering of the truth.
Then Eversleigh could not do much in the way of investigation withoutreferring to Williamson for information. In any case, Eversleigh sawwith fatal distinctness, that if this process were continued, the resultcould be no other than to put Williamson in possession of the wholecircumstances of the firm. Conscious of this, his good resolves sufferedeclipse, and he once more fell back on the desperate policy of lettingthings drift whither they would. But, for a week or two, matters at 176,New Square, Lincoln's Inn, went on as if nothing out of the common hadhappened, or was likely to happen. Francis Eversleigh, his son Ernest,the head-clerk Williamson, and the other clerks, occupied theiraccustomed seats in their accustomed rooms. People came and went asusual; deeds were prepared, documents drawn up, and all the machinery ofthe office seemed to be in excellent running order. No shadow ofapproaching doom darkened the firm's doors.
Still, Eversleigh knew that he could not continue his policy of driftingbeyond a certain point. It was part of his unescapable misfortune thatthe severest pressure on him came in one way or another from members ofhis own unsuspecting family.
In the first place, it was necessary to get another partner in place ofSilwood. This, on various pretexts, which gave him delay, he put off. Heknew that Ernest must expect to be taken into partnership at thisjuncture when a suitable opportunity presented itself. But to makeErnest a partner meant involving the young man in the ruin of thefirm--if ruin came, and Eversleigh in his heart now believed that it wasinevitable--and he was minded not to do this if it could be helped. Butit was difficult for him to resist the pressure brought to bear uponhim. His wife spoke to him of Ernest, but he managed to quiet her withthe promise that before long the matter would be satisfactorilyarranged. And this was the easier, inasmuch as the poor lady, who hadseen the improvement in her husband's state of health after the verdict,believed Ernest had only to wait a few weeks and all would be well.
But the improvement in Francis Eversleigh's bodily and mental health wasonly, could be only temporary. Already drifting like a rudderless ship,he might any moment founder on the rocks. Deeply involved in a course ofequivocation and deceit, to which there could be but one end, unlesssome miracle occurred, the necessity of continuing in it, added to theother circumstances of his situation, soon changed the transientbrightness of his spirits into the gloom of that settled and terriblemelancholy which had descended upon him before. In vain he strove tofight against it, to overcome it; his efforts were utterly useless.
The most serious things he had to consider were the Thornton Estate andthe Silwood Estate.
With regard to the latter, he well knew there was no such thing as aSilwood Estate at all, but he deemed it essential for the sake ofkeeping up appearances to make a pretence that there was such anestate--at least, until it became evident there was none. Here the"law's delays," of which he took full advantage, assisted him; but thenthere was Williamson endlessly curious and prying. Some of thequestions he put to his principal were hard to answer, and droveEversleigh to the verge of madness.
Silwood's room in the office, the japanned box--always excepting thesecret cavity of which no one knew--the whole office, and finallySilwood's chambers in Stone Buildings, now free from the embargo of thelaw, had been carefully searched for the will of the dead solicitor; butno will had been found. Williamson openly said that the absence of awill in the case of a man who must have been rich, and who was a lawyerto boot, was a most singular thing. Undoubtedly it was this thatsuggested to the head-clerk something of the actual fact, namely, thatthere was a screw loose with respect to the financial position of thefirm. But, as before, he had nothing definite to go on, and
he neverdreamed that the affairs of the house were in the desperate conditionthey really were.
But it was the Thornton Estate which troubled Eversleigh most of all.
Gilbert, as the affianced husband of Kitty, spoke to his father soonafter the inquest about Morris Thornton's property, and asked him ifThornton's will was deposited in the office, or if the agents in Canadahad it.
Francis knew there was a will in the office, and was tolerably sure noother was in existence, but Gilbert's query gave him a chance ofstanding him off on the whole subject for a considerable time. Hesnatched at it eagerly.
"We have a will of his," he said to his son, "but it was executed a goodmany years ago. I am, in the circumstances in which you stand towardsKitty, betraying no confidence when I tell you that by that will heleft everything of which he was possessed to her. But it is quitepossible there may be a later will. That is a matter for inquiry. Itwill certainly be necessary for us to wait till we hear from the agentsin British Columbia. They have been apprized by cable and by letter ofMr. Thornton's death, and they must have seen something of it in thepapers--the noise of it has gone round the world. But we must not moveuntil we have heard from them. In the event of its being reasonably surethat there is no other will, we will, of course, submit the one we haveto probate as soon as may be. I don't think we can do more at present."
"I understand," said Gilbert; "you will just observe the usual routine.I suppose it will be some weeks, perhaps a month or two, before anythingfurther can be done. Still, I imagine you can get all the affairs of histhat are in your hands into the best order."
"Oh," said Eversleigh, with an attempt at lightness, "that is all right.Mr. Silwood had charge of them, and now I have."
"I have no doubt, sir, they are all right," said Gilbert,unsuspiciously.
"Yes, yes. I should say in a month or six weeks we can go to probate,but it will depend, of course, upon what we hear from Vancouver. You maybe sure there will be no unnecessary delay."
"I am certain of that," assented Gilbert, readily, unvisited by theslightest inkling of his father's state of mind.
Similar pretexts were used by Eversleigh in dealing with Ernest andWilliamson. And so a little time was gained, but it was to very smallpurpose. Once more the strain on him was fast becoming past endurance.
A fortnight, three weeks, went by, and Eversleigh had relapsedaltogether into his former condition of deepest dejection, to the alarmof his wife and relatives, who wondered what in the world could accountfor it. But though he had gained respites in the matters that disquietedhim most seriously, he knew that at most and best they were butrespites, and likely to be short ones. He saw the day of reckoningdrawing nearer and nearer; that it should come in all probabilitythrough his son Gilbert and Kitty, whom he loved as his own child, wasan aggravation of his sufferings.
It had been the custom of the Eversleighs to betake themselves to theseaside during the month of August, but this year, because of all thathad happened, it had not been observed. Francis Eversleigh was entreatedby his family to take a brief holiday, but he declined on the plea therewas too much work at the office. He, on the other hand, besought hiswife to go away for a change, but she would not, with the result thatthe Eversleighs and Kitty stayed on at Surbiton.
It was now that Kitty, more than all the rest, showed her affection forhim by devoting herself assiduously to his comfort in the most markedmanner. The girl was fond of him for his own sake, and was he notGilbert's father? In many little ways she tried to cheer him, and todrive away the dark shadow that enveloped him. And all these lovingattentions were so many fresh stabs to the miserable man.
As the days ran on, Eversleigh was a prey to constant apprehensions; hewas haunted by the dread, from moment to moment, of something happeningwhich would lead to exposure.
And come it did, but from an unexpected quarter.
It came in the form of a demand for a large sum of money, and it camefrom Harry Bennet, a man whom Eversleigh had almost forgotten,particularly as Harry had for some time been a stranger at Ivydene.
This demand meant ruin.