CHAPTER XII
When Mr. Screw called at Claudius's hotel the next day, the Doctor hadgone out. Mr. Screw said he would wait, and sat down with a book to passthe time, for he was fond of reading in his leisure moments, few as theywere. Claudius had left the house early in the morning, and had gone tofind the spot where his uncle had been buried--no easy matter, in thevast cemetery where the dead men lie in hundreds of thousands, instately avenues and imposing squares, in houses grand and humble, highand low, but all closed and silent with the grandeur of a great waiting.Claudius was not sentimental in this pilgrimage; it was with him amatter of course, a duty which he performed naturally for thesatisfaction of his conscience. He could not have told any other reason,though, if he had been called upon to analyse the feeling which impelsmost men to do the same thing, under the same circumstances, he wouldhave replied that a scientific explanation of the fact could only befound in the ancient practices of "ancestor worship," of which sometrace remains unto this day. But he would have added that it was aproper mark of reverence and respect for the dead, and that mannaturally inclines to fulfil such obligations, unless deterred byindolence or the fear of ridicule. At any rate, he went alone; and itwas late in the afternoon before he came back.
When at last he returned, he was not surprised to find Mr. Screwawaiting him. He had not found that gentleman on his first visit to PineStreet; and it seemed very natural that his uncle's executor should callupon him. He was cordial and courteous to his visitor, who took theDoctor's measure, and looked into his honest eyes, and realised thatthis claimant to Lindstrand's money was undoubtedly a very fine fellowindeed. Mr. Screw felt that it would be hard to tell such a man to hisface that he was not altogether satisfied of his identity. But then, asthe lawyer reflected, swindlers are generally fine fellows; indeed,their imposing appearance is often their whole capital andstock-in-trade. Mr. Screw had a profound knowledge of mankind, and heimmediately determined upon his course of action, which should becautious, but at the same time honest and straightforward. After apreliminary exchange of civilities, he opened fire.
"I have come on very delicate business, Dr. Claudius," said he; and hehooked one leg behind the other as he sat and ran his hands through hishair. Claudius settled himself in his chair and waited, not having anyidea what the business might be.
"You will readily understand," continued Mr. Screw, "that in my positionI feel obliged to take every conceivable precaution in administering theestate of the late Mr. Lindstrand. You will, therefore, not be offendedat what I am going to say. My personality has nothing to do with it, norcan any personal impression you produce upon me, no matter howfavourable, be considered in the light of evidence. I have never seenyou before, and I am bound to say that the little I know of you,although perfectly satisfactory as far as it goes, is not sufficient toprove in a court that you are really the person indicated in Mr.Lindstrand's will." Here Mr. Screw paused to see how Claudius would takethe hint that more evidence was required.
But Claudius, the embodiment of calm strength, intellectual andphysical, was not to be moved by such trifles. He showed not theslightest emotion, nor did he betray any especial interest in what thelawyer was saying. His attitude was that of attention to a matter whichit was his duty to understand and to elucidate. But that was all. Hewished Mr. Screw would talk a little faster, and say what he requiredand go; but he was too courteous to hurry him.
"My dear sir," he answered, "I fully understand your position, and anyapology from you would be out of place. Pray proceed."
"I have nothing more to say," said Mr. Screw, astonished at so muchindifference where a great fortune was concerned. "I like to be brief insuch matters. I have nothing more to say, sir, excepting that I would begreatly obliged if you would put into my hands such documents as you maythink proper for the full establishing of your rights."
"Very well," said Claudius. "If you will tell me what evidence yourequire I will procure it immediately." With that he rose, and lighteda cigarette.
"A properly-attested certificate of your birth would be all-sufficient,"said Mr. Screw, who began to feel relieved by the conduct of the Doctor.The latter, however, suddenly stood still with the match in his fingers,and looked at the lawyer with a curious scrutiny.
"I would prefer," he said, "to give some other evidence of my identitythan that, if it is the same to you."
"If you prefer it, of course," said the lawyer coldly. His suspicionswere immediately roused, for he had named the simplest description ofdocument he could think of, and it seemed odd that the Doctor should beso evidently disinclined to produce it.
"I suppose," said the Doctor, "that the formal attestation of myidentity by the authorities of the University of Heidelberg would besufficient?"
"Yes, I should think so," said Screw cautiously. "But will it not takesome time to procure that?"
"Well? If it does, what then?"
"Only that--you will understand that until this matter is settled Ishould not feel justified in authorising you to draw upon the estate."
Claudius's sense of logic was offended.
"My dear sir," he replied, "have I drawn upon the estate for a singledollar yet?"
"No, sir, I am bound to say you have not, although you might haveconsidered it natural to do so, and we should have put no obstacle--"Mr. Screw stopped short. He had betrayed himself, and felt extremelyembarrassed. But he said enough to give Claudius an idea of thesituation. Something had occurred, some one had spoken, to cast a doubton his identity; and Mr. Screw was the chosen emissary of that "someone."
"Then, Mr. Screw," said the Doctor in measured tones, "I would admonishyou to be more careful how you insinuate that I might do anything of thekind. You have inconvenienced me quite enough already. You had betternot inconvenience me any more. I consider your conduct a piece ofunparalleled clumsiness, and your language little short of impertinent.What you have said now you should have said in the letter whichannounced my uncle's death. Or you should have instructed Mr. Barker,who was abroad at the time and found me in Heidelberg, to make thenecessary investigations. The evidence shall be forthcoming in properseason, and until then I do not desire the advantage of your company."
Mr. Screw was so much astonished with this mode of address from a manwhom he had foolishly imagined to be good-natured that he stood a momentby the table hesitating what he should say. Claudius took up a book andbegan to read.
"Well," said he, perceiving that Mr. Screw was still in the room, "whydon't you go?"
"Really, Dr. Claudius, I am not accustomed--" he began.
"Go," said Claudius, interrupting him; "it is not of the smallestinterest to me to know what you are accustomed to. There is the door."
"Sir--"
"Do you prefer the window?" asked the Doctor, rising in great wrath andstriding towards the unhappy lawyer. Mr. Screw instantly made up hismind that the door was preferable, and disappeared. When he was goneClaudius sat down again. He was very angry; but, in his own view, hisanger was just. It was very clear to him, from the words Mr. Screw hadinadvertently let fall, that some one had, for reasons unknown,undertaken to cause him a great deal of unpleasantness. What he had saidto Screw was not to be denied. If there was any question as to hisidentity, full proof should have been required from the first. But hisautograph letter from Heidelberg, attested by a notary, had beenaccepted as sufficient; and "Screw and Scratch" had answered theletter, and Claudius had received their answer in Baden. It had neverentered his head that anything more would be required. So long as Screwhad confined himself to stating his position, merely asking for furtherevidence, the Doctor had nothing to say. But at the suggestion thatClaudius might want to draw money from the estate before his claims werefully established, he lost his temper. It was an imputation on hishonour; and, however slight it might seem to Mr. Screw, Claudius was notthe man to bear it.
Ten minutes later Mr. Barker walked in unannounced. It was naturalenough that he should call, but Claudius did not want him. The Doctorhad no
t had time to think over the situation, but he had, a vagueimpression that Barker had something to do with this sudden cloud ofannoyance that had risen to darken his path. Barker, on his side, wasprepared for storms, but he intended to play the part of confidentialfriend and consoler. Claudius, however, wanted neither friends norconsolation, and he was in the worst of tempers. Nevertheless, he roseand offered his guest a chair, and asked him how he did. Barker took thechair and said he was fairly well, on the way to recovery from thevoyage.
"What have you been doing all day, Claudius?" he asked.
"I have been to a place called Greenwood, to see where they had buriedmy uncle," answered Claudius, and relapsed into silence.
"No wonder you look so gloomy. Whatever induced you to do such a thing?"
"I was not induced," said Claudius. "He was my last relation in theworld, and I did the only thing I could to honour his memory, which wasto go and see his grave."
"Yes, very proper, I am sure," replied Barker. "If my relations wouldbegin and die, right away, I would trot around and see their graves fastenough!"
Claudius was silent.
"What on earth is the matter with you, Claudius? Have you got aheadache, or are you going to be married?"
Claudius roused himself, and offered Barker a cigar.
"There is nothing the matter," he said; "I suppose my excursion has mademe a little gloomy; but I shall soon get over that. There are matches onthe mantelpiece."
"Thanks. Why did you not come down town to-day? Oh! of course you wereaway. It was very good fun. We had a regular bear garden."
"It looked like something of that sort yesterday when I was there."
"Yesterday? Oh! you had never been there before. Yes, it is always likethat. I say, come and take a drive in the park before dinner."
"No, thanks. I am very sorry, but I have an appointment in a fewminutes. I would like to go very much; you are very kind."
"Business?" asked the inquisitive Mr. Barker.
"Well--yes, if you like, business."
"Oh!" said Barker. "By the by, have you seen any of your lawyer peopleto-day?" Barker had expected that Claudius would confide to him thetrouble Screw was raising. But as Claudius did not begin, Barker askedthe question.
"Yes," answered the Doctor, "Screw has been here. In fact he is justgone."
"Anything wrong?" inquired the tormentor.
"No, nothing wrong that I know of," said Claudius. Then he suddenlyturned sharply on Barker, and looked straight at him. "Did you expect tohear that there was anything wrong?" he asked quickly. Claudius had avery unpleasant way of turning upon his antagonist just a minute beforethe enemy was ready for him. Barker had found this out before, and,being now directly interrogated, he winced perceptibly.
"Oh dear, no," he hastened to say. "But lawyers are great boressometimes, especially where wills are concerned. And I thought perhapsScrew might be wearying you with his formalities."
"No," said Claudius indifferently, "nothing to--" he was interrupted bya knock at the door. It was the Duke's servant, a quiet man in grayclothes and gray whiskers. He had a bald head and bright eyes.
"His Grace's compliments, sir, and can you see him now, sir?"
"Yes, I will come in a moment," said Claudius.
"I think, sir," said the man, "that his Grace is coming to your rooms."
"Very good. My compliments, and I shall be glad to see him." The grayservant vanished.
Barker rose to go; but Claudius was begging him not to hurry, when therewas another knock, and the Duke entered. He shook hands with Claudius,and spoke rather coldly to Barker. The latter was uneasy, and felt thathe was in the way. He was. Barker had fallen into a singular error ofjudgment in regard to the relations existing between the Duke andClaudius. He had imagined it in his power to influence the Duke'sopinion, whereas in trying to effect that object he had roused theEnglishman's animosity. Besides, Mr. Barker was to the Duke a caprice.He found the quick-thinking man of business amusing and even useful, butfor steady companionship he did not want him. A passage across theAtlantic was more than enough to satisfy his desire for Mr. Barker'ssociety, even if Barker had not managed to excite his indignation. ButClaudius was different. The honest nobleman could not tell why it was,but it was true, nevertheless. He looked upon the Doctor more as anequal than Barker. The Duke was a very great man in his own country, andit was singular indeed that he should find a man to his liking, a manwho seemed of his own caste and calibre, in the simple _privat-docent_of a German university. Perhaps Barker felt it too. At all events, whenthe Duke sat himself down in Claudius's room, after begging permissionto ring for lights, and made himself most evidently at home, Mr. Barkerfelt that he was in the way; and so, promising to call on Claudius againin the morning, he departed. Claudius stood by the mantelpiece while theservant lit the gas.
"I am very glad to see you," he said, when the man had gone.
"I am glad of that, for I want your society. The Countess Margaret has aheadache, and Lady Victoria has gone to dine in her rooms, and to spendthe evening with her."
"I am very sorry to hear that the Countess is not well," said Claudius,"but I am very glad of anything that brings you here to-night. I am introuble--that is, I have been very much annoyed."
"Ah, very sorry," said the Duke.
"It so happens that you are the only person in America, as far as Iknow, who can help me."
"I?" The Duke opened his eyes wide. Then he reflected that it might besomething concerning the Countess, and waited.
"You are a gentleman," said Claudius reflectively, and hardly addressinghis visitor as he said it.
"Quite so," said the Duke. "It's a very fine word that."
"And a man of honour," continued Claudius in a meditative tone.
"The deuce and all, it's the same thing," said the Duke, rather puzzled.
"Yes; in some countries it is. Now, what I want to ask you is this.Could you, as a gentleman and a man of honour, swear in a court of lawthat you know me, and that I am the person I represent myself to be?That is the question."
The Duke was too much surprised to answer directly. He made a great fussover his cigar, and got up and shut the window. Then he sat down inanother chair.
"I don't know what you mean," he said at last, to gain time.
"I mean what I say," said Claudius. "Could you swear, before the SupremeCourt of the United States, for instance, that I am Claudius, sometimestudent, now Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Heidelberg inGermany? Could you swear that?"
"My dear boy," said the other, "what in the world are you driving at?"The Duke realised that he could not conscientiously swear to any suchstatement as that proposed by Claudius; and, liking him as he did, hewas much distressed at being put into such a corner.
"I will tell you afterwards what it is about, Duke," said Claudius. "Iam serious, and I would like you to answer the question, though Iforesee that you will say you could not swear to anything of the kind."
"Honestly, Claudius, though there is not the slightest doubt in my mindthat you are what you appear to be, I could not conscientiously swear itin evidence. I do not know anything about you. But Barker could."
"No, he could not. He knows no more about me than you do, saving that hemet me two or three days sooner. He met me in Heidelberg, it is true,but he made no inquiries whatever concerning me. It never entered hishead that I could be anything but what I professed to be."
"I should think not, indeed," said the Duke warmly.
"But now that I am here in the flesh, these lawyers are making trouble.One of them was here a little while since, and he wanted documentaryevidence of my identity."
"Who was the lawyer?"
"A Mr. Screw, one of the executors of the will."
"Who is the other executor?" asked the Duke quickly.
"Barker's father."
The Englishman's face darkened, and he puffed savagely at his cigar. Hehad been angry with Barker the day before. Now he began to suspect himof making
trouble.
"What sort of evidence did the man want?" he asked at length.
"Any sort of documentary evidence would do. He asked me for mycertificate of birth, and I told him he could not have it. And then hewent so far as to remark in a very disagreeable way that he could notauthorise me to draw upon the estate until I produced evidence."
"Well, that is natural enough."
"It would have been so at first. But they had accepted the meresignature to my letter from Heidelberg as proof of my existence, and Igot word in Baden in July that I might draw as much as I pleased. Andnow they turn upon me and say I am not myself. Something has happened.Fortunately I have not touched the money, in spite of their kindpermission."
"There is something very odd about this, Claudius. Have you got such athing as a birth certificate to show?"
"Yes," answered Claudius, after a pause. "I have everything in perfectorder, my mother's marriage and all."
"Then why, in Heaven's name, can you not show it, and put all theserascally lawyers to flight?"
"Because--" Claudius began, but he hesitated and stopped. "It is acurious story," he said, "and it is precisely what I want to talk to youabout."
"Is it very long?" asked the Duke; "I have not dined yet."
"No, it will not take long, and if you have nothing better to do we willdine together afterwards. But first there are two things I want to say.If I prove to you that I am the son of my uncle's sister, will you tellMr. Screw that you know it for a fact, that is, that if it had to besworn to, you would be willing to swear to it?"
"If you prove it to me so that I am legally sure of it, of course Iwill."
"The other thing I will ask you is, not to divulge what I shall tellyou, or show you. You may imagine from my being unwilling to show thesepapers, even to a lawyer, when my own fortune is concerned, that Iattach some importance to secrecy."
"You may trust me," said the Duke; "you have my word," he added, as ifreluctantly. People whose word is to be trusted are generally slow togive it. Claudius bowed his head courteously, in acknowledgment of theplighted promise. Then he opened a trunk that stood in a corner of theroom, and took from it the iron box in which he had deposited thelawyer's letter on that evening three months before, when his destinyhad roused itself from its thirty years' slumber. He set the box on thetable, and having locked the door of the room sat down opposite hisguest. He took a key from his pocket.
"You will think it strange," he said with a smile, "that I should havetaken the liberty of confiding to you my secret. But when you have seenwhat is there, you will perceive that you are the most fitting confidantin this country--for general reasons, of course; for I need not saythere is nothing in those papers which concerns you personally."Claudius unlocked the box and took out a few letters that were lying onthe top, then he pushed the casket across the table to the Duke.
"Will you please examine the contents for yourself?" he said. "There areonly three or four papers to read--the rest are letters from my fatherto my mother--you may look at them if you like; they are very old."
All this time the Duke looked very grave. He was not accustomed to havehis word of honour asked for small matters, and if this were sometrivial question of an assumed name, or the like, he was prepared to beangry with Claudius. So he silently took the little strong box, andexamined the contents. There were two packages of papers, two or threemorocco cases that might contain jewels, and there was a string ofpearls lying loose in the bottom of the casket. The Duke took the pearlscuriously in his hand and held them to the light. He had seen enough ofsuch things to know something of their value, and he knew this stringmight be worth anywhere from eight to ten thousand pounds. He lookedgraver than ever.
"Those are beautiful pearls, Dr. Claudius," he said; "too beautiful fora Heidelberg student to have lying about among his traps." He turnedthem over and added, "The Duchess has nothing like them."
"They belonged to my mother," said Claudius simply. "I know nothing oftheir value."
The Duke took the papers and untied the smaller package, which appearedto contain legal documents, while the larger seemed to be a series ofletters filed in their envelopes, as they had been received.
"My mother's name was Maria Lindstrand," said Claudius. He leaned back,smoking the eternal cigarette, and watched the Duke's face.
Before the Englishman had proceeded far he looked up at Claudius,uttering an exclamation of blank amazement. Claudius merely bent hishead as if to indorse the contents of the paper, and was silent. TheDuke read the papers carefully through, and examined one of them veryminutely by the light. Then he laid them down with a certain reverence,as things he respected.
"My dear Claudius--" he rose and extended his hand to the young man witha gesture that had in it much of dignity and something of pride. "Mydear Claudius, I shall all my life remember that you honoured me withyour confidence. I accepted it as a token of friendship, but I am nowable to look upon it as a very great distinction."
"And I, Duke, shall never forget that you believed in me on my ownmerits, before you were really able to swear that I was myself."Claudius had also risen, and their hands remained clasped a moment. ThenClaudius applied himself to rearranging the contents of his box; and theDuke walked up and down the room, glancing from time to time at theDoctor. He stopped suddenly in his walk.
"But--goodness gracious! why have you kept this a secret?" he asked, asif suddenly recollecting himself.
"My mother," said Claudius, "was too proud to come forward and claimwhat my father, but for his untimely death, would have given her in afew months. As for me, I have been contented in my life, and would havebeen unwilling to cause pain to any one by claiming my rights. My motherdied when I was a mere child, and left these papers sealed, directing menot to open them until I should be twenty-one years old. And so when Iopened them, I made up my mind to do nothing about it."
"It is not easy to understand you, Claudius; but I will swear toanything you like."
"Thank you; I am very grateful."
"Do not speak of that. I am proud to be of service. By the by, thepresent--the present incumbent is childless, I believe. He must be yourfather's brother?"
"Yes," said Claudius. "Should he die, I would not hesitate any longer."
"No indeed, I hope not. It is a shame as it is."
"By the by," said Claudius, who had put away his box; "why did you notgo to Newport to-day? I meant to go on to-morrow and meet you there.This business had put it out of my head."
"Lady Victoria and the Countess both wanted to stay another day."
"Is the Countess ill?" asked Claudius. "Or do you think she would see methis evening?"
"I do not think there is anything especial the matter. She will verylikely see you after dinner. As for me, I am hungry; I have walked allover New York this afternoon."
"Very well, let us dine. You know New York, and must select the place."
Arm-in-arm they went away together, and the Duke introduced Claudius tothe glories of Delmonico's.