Levallion's Heir.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 153, 28 June 1907, Page 6

Levallion 's Heir.

!. . CHAPTER XXXTV. ' •'• "EALSE AS A PACK OF CARDS." Mrs. Murray and her story 'were a thunderbolt in society. , 'It; chanced that the only person who * did-not hear of, it was Eady Annesley, whom "fate had afflicted with a sharp attack of neuralgia in the eyes—real this. Time —-and her doctor consigned to a rest-cure at Horrogate, where newspapers and the outside world, did .not exist. The duchess sent for Tommy at Valehampton, and aired' her views on the character of Mrs. Murray. . But the boy cared very little. The conversation turned soon enough to the topmost thing .in both minds—Ravenel in jail, and the precious days that ivere flying. by and bringing out nothing to help her. "I'll help her if I have to choke the home secretary," theduchess cried, tearful and. regardless. "Oh, Tommy,, it breaks my heart to see. her! She's never cried/never broken'down, they tell mc. But I know she's past all hoping. I think she's just waiting to die." Sir Thomas opened his mouth and shut it again. After all, he had nothing to tell the duchess;-his thought that night in the garden''had" come to nothing. He had played secret police on the boot-boy in vain; .had 'questioned him uselessly. Wide-eyed, frightened, almost idiotic, Towers had stared at him; what answers he did make were "not what Tommy Annesley -wanted.. ; "Will she- talk to. you?" he said. : The duchess could only nod. All that pitiful, childish story of Adrian Gordon's letters and ring nad Lady L'evallion told her—and even .the duchess could see that it -would make Levallion's death look'black enough—to a jury. "Captain Gordon has never been near her. I suppose he dare not," she said heavily,. a s' she wiped'her eyes. ."Where is he?"

"Nobody knows," and Tommy could have .killed the man who, instead of moving heaven and earth to set Ravenel free, had seen fit to vanish and leave her to her fate: The whole world, except the duchess and her lawyers, was doing that. Surely Gordon could not mean to do' nothing at- all! "I must get home," he said, and got up to go. Not-all the duchess could say -tftmld keep "him away, from Levallion Castle.. . The .due was there, if it were anywhere on, tiiW's earth. Night after night, while .the "house was asleep, the boy examined eveiy. inch ;of. if, and looked and -wandered And.hoped in .vain. :If-.there had. been,,any one in tweed clothes.- on ; the -other side' of LevaJlion's door; when Mr. Jacobs banged it—-and was forced,for his pains to run back through a passage, and Lady Leval'lion's suite of Tooms before he could get out into the corridor again—that man.would not haye .dared to go into any of the ■guests'iropms, wiere the 4°g, might keep -•him besieged. Not would he have had ■time to .gain "the kitchen, where Jacobs had rushed. The only place he could have got. to would be the .housekeeper's room, which was up two steps as,■ you went to the kitohen. And that was out of. the question, because the housekeeper., had .been in- there, and Carrousel, top. . No man . bouncing into a quiet N room to get away from a dog .could dp it without disturbing its occupants. The hcusekeeper had not heard a sounH. And the theory of Carrousel having a hand in. the poisoning did not hold water. A cook, dressed in. white,-could not tear tweed clothes on the latch of a door;, nor if he had would have had time to i change them. Mr. AUington looked up-as they were at dinner, a lovely, pair in. a desolate house. • The new development anent Mrs.-Murray had nearly driven the good man- frantic, for -he . had little doubt that her-story was. true. Most of it was, to his own knowledge. And, as for Lady Levallion,;he had never for one moment ;imagmed her guilty. Perhaps Tommy's watch on the servants was not the only, one in.that house that so far had been fruitless. • "Can. you eat nothing, either? he said precisely. "It seems .to, mc our dinner is ,not "so good as usual." "Carrousel is out, sir," the butler put in respectfully. "The.steward gave him leave to.go.at.luncheon-tune. He will be back to-jrigbt." "Ah!" said Allington, too much onnoyed to utter. If any servant left the house hc-hadbeen able, so far, to ascertain just where he or she went. This was unbearable! "Has he friends in the neighbourhood?" • , 'fHerwent to take Towers, the bootboy, to. a new place in London, sir! Towers was frightened to go alone." Sir , Thomas nearly "leaped off his chair. Not for one moment did he ever imagine Carrousel-would be back to-night or any other night. "Tommy!" said Allington, quietly, and his eyes flashed warning, "let mc advise- you; at least, to driak your claret:" He knew nothing about the boot-boy, but he knew that Sir Thomas' mind was running in the same channel as Ms OWDv 'Til have some beef;' said Tommy to the butler, waving away a proffered dish. It was quite right to keep up 'appearances, but every minute might be precious. And then it came over him with a flat, deadly sinking that he was imagining nonsense; because a cook chose to beat a boy and take a day's outing. Strung up, tense, he felt-as if every trivial word might mean something tonight. ■ As.he cut up his beef he grew suddenly. rigid in his chair. . A footman was handing -Allington a telegram, the pinky envelope seemed to swim .on the silver tray to the boy's- excited eves. Was this something—at last—from the detective's?

AllingtbD, with an impassive countenance, crumpled' the 3 sheet and put it in his pocket. " , "The Duchess of Avonmore* would" like to "see you the first thing in. the morning,' , he said.' 7 'What for——" Tommy, stopped; himself. ' "Why didn't she wire mc, I wonder?" '' : ; ' : '•■

■ "That I don't know/ , said AUington. "If you ' don't : want - any more of an inferior' dinner, suppose we adjourn. It seems 'to mc," turning to the tratler, "that the : same-sort, of meal was served two-..days ago.- Kindly • giye' my. com?; pliments-to;the steward, and say I dp not wish, it to occur again." '•Yes, sir. But Carrousel went out without last time. .He is rather, above-himself, you -■ know, sir/'vthe but- ; ier ex£laiaed ,

,>;.;., By ADELAIDE STIRLING, - Anth«r of "Above All Thing*," " When Lore Davos," " A Sacri- ' • ~'~j ','■■. ■' ■ '■. t ,ficetD.Lofe," etc; " ■

Allington made no answer: But as he and Tommy reached the morning-room he shut tne door, and his face, jyas that. of a different man. "Read that," he said. "Tell mc what you think of it." Tommy smoothed out the crumpled telegram and saw the duchess' message was fiction. "Wire .to ■ Atkinson, 14,,. Starirstreet, Paddington," he read, "who, if 1 any, of the' servants had been in'town during the week. . ' .."A; Gordon." "What does if mean?" ' He shook like a leaf. ....;. < .-• .. . "I hope it means.a.cliie. Why, did you jump, so, about the .boot-Tjoy;. and the cook?, .I hearJhe; takes 'a great interest inhiml" , ■"' ..,.■■' Sir Thomas agreed with hearsay, ( but, his tale showed the interest Carrousel took was peculiar. , I "I believe Carrousel did the poisoning," he said, below his breath.' "I think the boot-boy caught him at it! And • we've lost fchem. I don't think we'll see either of them again." ■ Carrousel had a good alibi. It isn't possible/ Allington returned. '""Yet I don't like this business of the boy. ; What sort of a place do you suppose .— —" thoughtfully. * » "No place," Tommy • cut-in short. "He's going to put that boy out of the way. He;knows something. Does this thing," tapping the telegram, '"mean Gordon's in Stafr-street? What wouldhe be there for? And what made him think any of the servants were in London?" . . "That I don't know. But I might have guessed he was in Starr-street," absently. "I'm afraid he's wasting time. There's no hope there." '"So are we," sharply. "Aren't you going to answer that wire?" "Yes! But I don't want the servants to know there is' an answer. Will you go out the back way, and send'one?" "What'U I say?" breathless. For it seemed for the first time as if someone were doing something. "Say, 'The artist. Day before yesterday and to-day. Answer.' Sign your He handed Sir Thomas some money and a stray cap from a , table. He had never eeemed so human before. But as Tommy disappeared through the French window the lawyer, closing the shutters behind him, gave a hopeless sigh. Captain Gordon was in Starr-street because of .Mrs. Murray—as if a woman with so much at stake would bo so mad as "to. entangle herself in the. death of the man whose widow she wished to prove hereelf. "I don't, know -what he means about the-servants," he thought. "If he's trying -to mix up ■ one of them with- Mrs Murray, he's .in a mare's nest. But if Monsieur Carrousel does not return I'll 'get - a warrant-put for him, on the pretext of that rbby." It was ' three -miles to the telegraph office; he allowed two hours for-Tommy, to come-and-go; but when three had gone,. and :four,.»he began 4p wonder if in this house of horror there was still mpre to come. The'night was dark as.a wolf's .mouth, outside. After one giance without, Mr Allingham opened the door into the deserted hall. The -house was abso-. lutely silent, for it was after twelve, and the servants had gone to bed. The lawyer- slipped off his boots, and vanished down the passage to the kitchen. When he returned there was a strange look on his face, though until to-night what he liad discovered would have meant absolutely nothing to him. As he stood once more in the morningroom a light rap came on the window. With instinctive, reasonless caution, he extinguished the light before he opened the wooden shutters and let Sir Thomas in. '•'What kept you?" he said. "Hush!" said Tommy- "Carrousel's going by outside." In the dark, Allington, the imperturbable, started.! "He's come back, then!" he whispered. "He's cleverer than I thought—or innocent/,' "Why shouldn't he be innocent?" cried Tommy hysterically. "light a. candle; it's so beastly dark here.* I waited for an answer, and I saw Carrousel get out of the train." "Was the boy with him?" "It doesn't matter whether he was or wasn't. Read that;" as the candle'burnr ed blue and then yellow he.flung a, telegram to Allington, and hid his weary face on his arms. "We're all wrong.". "Not my man at all," Allington read, and the badly written lines sickened him with 7 disappointment. "I was mistaken. Am ■ doing no good here. Will be down to-morrow to-consult. Unless you know something, am worse than when I started.—A. G." Allington's discovery of the eveningdwindled away to nothing again. He had no heart to speak of.it since Carrousel was evidently not concerned in it. "Don't despair till we find out what this means," he said slowly. But in his soul he know that they had been led away, by -a will-o'-the-wisp made of suspicion, coincidence,; and the ill-treat-ment of a bootboy. Their supposed, due was false as a pack of cards! (To be continued daily.)!