Time, The Avenger

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 426, 30 December 1911, Page 2

Time, The Avenger

{All Rights Reserved.)

+ THE UNRAVELLING OF A STRANGE WILL MYSTERY,

By HEDLEY RICHARDS, Author of "The Haighs of Hillcrest," "From Mill to Mansion," "Diana's Inheritance," Etc., Etc.

THIRTY-SIXTH INSTALMENT. " Will Miss Hudspith see me ? she asked ; and the butler ushered her into the drawing room, saying he would inquire. In a few minutes he returned, saying his mistress would see her, and requested Lady Dalrymple to follow him to Miss Hudspith's sitting room.

Her ladyship rose, and followed him up the stairs, and along the darkened corridors as all the blinds were closely drawn. Presently he opened a door and she entered a cosy sitting room where Nina Hudspith was seated vainly trying to read ; but on seeing Lady Dalrymple she rose, and her white face became scarlet.

" Nina, my poor child ! " and her ladyship folded her arms round her. Something in the motherly tone touched Nina's heart and she burst into tears. Lady Dalrymple soothed her tenderly. . "It hasn't made you hate me ? " Nina said, as they seated themselves on a couch. " Nothing any one else did could make me hate you. I loved you when you were a little girl and I shall always love you," said Lady Dalrymple. " But I am my father's child, and he wronged your husband and and you know what they say," she said, with a sob. "You are your mother's .child and I loved her Nina. Don't think I will blame you for what your father has done. ,;

Nina shuddered slightly. She could not forget that night she had seen her father stealing along the corridor, and in the light of what had been revealed she knew that he was then returning from his fatal interview with Joe Dutton. '* My husband told me that I was to tell you that we feel the deepest sympathy for you," said Lady Dalrymple ; then she added : "I hear Hugh has married madame's daughter. If she is like her mother I should say he has done well. Madame is a lady. Circumstances have forced her to work for her living, but she is still a gentlewoman." " Louise is not like her mother. It seems so little of me to notice her conduct at such a time, but it has made these few days even more trying than they would otherwise have been," said Nina. " The mere presence of a stranger would do that. How does Hugh bear it all ? " " He has not said much, but I can see that he is troubled about it altogether. But Louise will not let him do what she calls mope. Do you know I think it is in some ways a suitable marriage. She can manage him as no one else can and I am quite sure she will not let him do anything foolish. She is very keen."

"I am glad you have that grain of comfort," said Lady Dalrymple, rising as there was a tap at the door, and the butler entered, bearing a card on a tray.

Nina's face flushed as she read Lord Ovingham's name, and written underneath were the words, " With deepest sympathy." "My friends are very kind," she said, as she passed it to Lady Dalrymple.

" Lord Ovingham is a good man," replied her ladyship. " I shall come to see you soon, unless you will come to Housesteads," she added. " I don't, think I shall be here long. I haven't quite made my plans but I have some- thoughts of training for a hospital nurse. I feel that I should try to do as much good as I can to atone for what has passed," said Nina.

"My dear, that is foolish. You cannot sacrifice your life, even for the wrong-doing of your own father. There is one sacrifice for all the world," said Lady Dalrymple ; and Sissing Nina she left her going slowly along the corridor and down stairs. At the foot of the stairs she met Louise, who held out her hand, saying, with a grand air :

"I am pleased to see you, Lady Dalrymple. Will you come into the drawing room ? For a second her ladyship hesitated whether to take the proffered hand ; then she remembered what madame had done for her husband, so she took the girl's hand as she said, coldly : " Thank you, 1" must go home. I came to see Miss Hudspith."

" Oh, Nina ! " and Louise shrug ged her shoulders as Lady Dalrympk passed out of the house. " I wonder whom madamc mar ried ? Whoever ho was he has hcevery different from her and tliei; daughter takes after him, or I arr much mistaken/' she thought as she drove home. CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE STATEMENTS. The day after Marcus Hudspith'? funeral nearly all the imports n' daily papers contained the fcllowin; announcement : "THE INNOCENCE OP MR, LIONET HUDSPITH PROVED AFTEI-. THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS. " It is an old sai ing that ' miirde; will out,' and it seems the same wil' hold good with regard to othei crimes, as the forgery case which re

suited in the conviction of the wrong man has now been made plain, with the result that Mr. Lionel Hudspitt stands before the world as a deeplyinjured and innocent man. Many old er people will remember the case, which at the time attracted universal attention on account of the position of the accused, the apparent want of motive, and the open way in which the forged cheque was cashed. Briefly the case was this : Mr. Lionel Hudspith, only sou and heir of Mr. Randolph Hudspith, of Gelder Hall, one day cashed a cheque for threethousand pounds, and with it paid several debts. When Mr. Hudspith iooked over his bank-book, he denied all knowledge of the cheque, and in his rage forced the bank to prosecute.

"It was proved that Lionel Hudspith had cashed the cheque and the servants declared on oath that they had seen him leave the house, yet his defence was that he had slept the whole afternoon on a couch in the Blue Room. This was contradicted by his cousin, Mr. Marcus Dewhirst. The result of the trial was that Lionel Hudspith was sentenced to four years' penal servitude. When his sentence expired he came out of prison and all trace of him was lost. Six years later Mr. Hudspith died, and left a most peculiar will, which also suggested that he had begun to doubt his son's guilt. The will was to the effect that if at any time during the forty years from the testator's death the innocence of his son was proved, he was to inherit the Gelder estate, the coal-pit, and all the invested and accumulated money, save fifty thousand pounds, which was left absolutely to the testator's nephew, Marcus Dewhirst. Until the innocence of Lionel Hudspith was proved, Marcus Dewhirst was to reside at the Hall, and have half the revenues of the estate and pit. If that innocence' Was not proved within forty years, then Marcus Dewhirst or his heirs were to inherit all, and were to take the name of Hudspith. The last clause Mr. Dewhirst fulfilled within a month of his uncle's death, as he then tooh the name of Hudspith in addition to his own. " Now it appears that Randolph Hudspith left certain papers in charge of his housekeeper, to be delivered to his son, and they have been in her keeping for many years, as she did not know where to find Lionel Hudspith. These papers were stolen and about five or six weeks ago they were received through the post by that gentleman, who had been living for years in the neighbourhood of Wittonbury as Mr. Dalrymple, of Housesteads. When Lionel Hudspith left prison he proceeded to Australia where he was adopted by a gentleman who passed under the name of Hesketh, but who was in

realitj Viscount Gelder, and second cousin of Lionel Hudspith. Hearing the whole story his cousin believed him innocent, and at his death left him all his fortune, telling him to come to England as Richard Hesketh and take his proper place in society and try to prove his innocence. " Lionel Hudspith came to England and under the name of Hesketh he married Lord Dalrymple's only child who succeeded to the title and estate and her husband took her name. For years he has lived near his old home but until he received the paper left by his father for him he had little hopes of proving his innocence. By whom it was sent he has not the slightest idea, but it gave the first clue to the mystery and he placed the matter in the hands of Detective Hughes, who was. gathering proofs of his client's innocence. Last week a startling event occurred, viz., the suicide of Marcus Dewhirst Hudspith, and a paper was found which bore the words ' The Truth About the Forged Cheque,' and read as follows:

" ' Thirty-eight years ago my cousin, Lionel Richard Hudspith, was sentenced to four years' penal servitude for having forged and uttered a cheque on the County Bank, the cheque purporting to have been signed by his father. " That cheque I—who have always been an adept at imitating the writing of others—forged, and forced him to present it. I say forced him, advisedly, though it was a subtle kind of force I used. Some time before the forging cf the cheque, I spent a couple of months in Germany, and I became intimate with a man who possessed what was then called mesmeric power, and I saw him mesmerize several people. Nowadays it is sailed hypnotism. I believe it is claimed that the science has advanced. I do not see much progress. At

my rate I learned sufficient to enable me to exert a wonderful influence over some young Germans. I returned to my own country and determined to try my newly-gained power on my cousin. Unknown to him I several times threw him into a, trance-like state in which he did whatever I told him. I may say I had always been jealous of him and it was my secret ambition to stand in his place. In order to do that it was necessary that he should become estranged from his father. I knew that he was in debt but I did not know that he had arranged to borrow money enough to clear his debts so I forged the cheque for three thousand pounds. I knew my uncle kept a keen eye on his bank-book ; but I took advantage of his going to London to carry out my scheme. Soon after luncheon on that eventful afternoon we went into the Blue Room, and my first act was to bring my mind to bear on my cousin's, sc that, in accordance with my wishes, though not expressed, he threw himself on the couch ; then I went and stood behind him and ' made a few passes. Very soon he became unconscious and perfectly amenable to my wishes. I willed that he should walk into Wittonbury and cash the cheque. He did it, and handed me the notes which I enclosed in briel

letters that I had written and envelof his writing that it was impossible to detect the difference. Those: letters he himself placed in the postbag ; then returning lie lay down on the couch, and I made the passes again and left the room. A few minutes later my cousin was wide awake but without any recollection of what he had done. Later the scheme proved a perfect success ; my cousin was safe in prison And I stood a fair chance of inheriting Randolph Hudspith's great fortune. But there was one flaw—there generally is in the best-laid plans—and this flaw arose through a crack in the panelling between the Blue Room and the next. One of the housemaids was on the steps in the next room dusting, and through this crack she was an interested observer of what passed. Needless to say she traded on her knowledge and having obtained a sum of money married a guileless footman, and they secured the Gelder Inn. During their married life Jane Hayes never told her husband the secret, which she shared with me ; but the time has come when I know she will no longer remain silent, so I have decided to mahs the path smooth for the new master of Gelder Hall b$ adding my testimony to hers. " ' Oh, the humour of it ! For years Lionel Hudspith has been in our midst, known as Richard Dalrymple, of Housesteads. Until latelj I did not know this ; when I did I could not fail to see the amusing side of the matter. Am I writing this statement because I have repented of the sins of my youth ? No, I am telling the truth because my son has been a fool, and I mean to let him pay for his folly by making sure that he shall never inherit the estate and the home from which I am making a hasty exit. "' I think I will say that I did my best to bring my uncle during his last illness under my power in order that he might execute a will quite in accordance with my wishes; but Randolph Hudspith's strength of will was too great to be dominated, and I got the worst of it. " ' Marcus Dcwhirst Hudspith.'

" The papers that were sent to Lionel Hudspith were contained in a parchment envelope which bore the following inscription : ' For my son, Lionel Richard Hudspith.' and the contents were as follows :

" 'My dear Son,—For some time I have been inclined to think I did you a great wrong when I believed you guilty of having forged that cheque. It was this feeling that prompted me to niake the will I have done, and though to-day I am morally certain of your innocence, I will not alter that will, even though it gives a loophole for your cousin or his heirs to inherit the Gelder estate. My reason for acting thus is because your guilt has been proclaimed far and wide ; therefore I wish your innocence to be established before all the world. I would not wish my son to be master of Gelder Hall while any could point the linger of scorn at him.

v• I am on my death-bed ; I may live a few weeks, but I shall never rise from it. I regret—bitterly regret—the part I took in bringing about jour condemnation. I should regret it if I still thought you guilty ; but believing in your innocence, I cannot tell you how much I sorrow that I should have been the one to bring the accusation against my own son.

"' I repeat, I believe you are absolutely innocent of the crime for which you have suffered imprisonment, but I also believe you will find it hard to prove your innocence. I will tell you what has caused me to change my opinion. At the beginning of my illness I made the will that will take effect at my death. I had, as I told you, begun to have grave doubts of your guilt, and I resolved you should inherit the estate if you could prove yourself innocent. " ' The more I had seen of your cousin the less I had cared for him, and I particularly disliked the round about way in which he had tried to get to know the contents of my will, and I let him think they were less favourable to him than was the case.

" ' Last night I lay in bed awake and perfectly conscious that the nurse had fallen asleep some t imr ago ; in fact she had lain on the couch which she had never done hitherto. I could see that her slumber was very heavy and I rather wondered at it, as she had previously always been alert and attentive. O! course, she did not take the day duty. I was watching her when I became conscious of a drowsy son of feeling, and some instinct told mo all was not right. 1 fought airainst ike stupor that seemed to he ereening over me, and .stretching out m; hand I grasped the bell-rope and pulled if desperately. At the same time 1" heard a slight movement a I Ihe back of the bed which stood a lit tic way from the wall, and I reached across the bed, pulling away the curtains at the other side, just in lime to see your cousin Marcus vanishing through the door into the dressing room. " ' While I was doing this r had not ceased to pul! the hell a>:d v-.vy soon help arrived. Then. whan I was sure there was im danger o; his reappearing, as the other nnrse- and my valet remained in the r.'.'in, I thought the matter over and remembered that, it was at your co-i----sm's suggestion the bed had ber-r, moved from the wall. He it would allow a free current. ,-,[ a.i: up the hack ; and I knew Teat, was not his reason, aw I had, when I raised myself to ring the. hell seen two hands passed up and down my head. I had seen and read enough to know that my nephew had been trying to mesmerize me. (To be Coni inued.)