With a chill in her heart--for the harshness of her husband's voicewas new to her--she crept back to bed and lay there trembling, toofrightened to cry, and listened to every sound. There was a long pauseof silence, and then the sound of some iron implement striking muffledblows! Then there came a clang of a heavy stone falling, followed by amuffled curse. Then a dragging sound, and then more noise of stone onstone. She lay all the while in an agony of fear, and her heart beatdreadfully. She heard a curious sort of scraping sound; and then therewas silence. Presently the door opened gently, and Geoffrey appeared.His wife pretended to be asleep; but through her eyelashes she saw himwash from his hands something white that looked like lime.
In the morning he made no allusion to the previous night, and she wasafraid to ask any question.
From that day there seemed some shadow over Geoffrey Brent. He neitherate nor slept as he had been accustomed, and his former habit ofturning suddenly as though someone were speaking from behind himrevived. The old hall seemed to have some kind of fascination for him.He used to go there many times in the day, but grew impatient ifanyone, even his wife, entered it. When the builder's foreman came toinquire about continuing his work Geoffrey was out driving; the manwent into the hall, and when Geoffrey returned the servant told him ofhis arrival and where he was. With a frightful oath he pushed theservant aside and hurried up to the old hall. The workman met himalmost at the door; and as Geoffrey burst into the room he ran againsthim. The man apologised:
'Beg pardon, sir, but I was just going out to make some enquiries. Idirected twelve sacks of lime to be sent here, but I see there areonly ten.'
'Damn the ten sacks and the twelve too!' was the ungracious andincomprehensible rejoinder.
The workman looked surprised, and tried to turn the conversation.
'I see, sir, there is a little matter which our people must have done;but the governor will of course see it set right at his own cost.'
'What do you mean?'
'That 'ere 'arth-stone, sir: Some idiot must have put a scaffold poleon it and cracked it right down the middle, and it's thick enoughyou'd think to stand hanythink.' Geoffrey was silent for quite aminute, and then said in a constrained voice and with much gentlermanner:
'Tell your people that I am not going on with the work in the hall atpresent. I want to leave it as it is for a while longer.'
'All right sir. I'll send up a few of our chaps to take away thesepoles and lime bags and tidy the place up a bit.'
'No! No!' said Geoffrey, 'leave them where they are. I shall send andtell you when you are to get on with the work.' So the foreman wentaway, and his comment to his master was:
'I'd send in the bill, sir, for the work already done. 'Pears to methat money's a little shaky in that quarter.'
Once or twice Delandre tried to stop Brent on the road, and, at last,finding that he could not attain his object rode after the carriage,calling out:
'What has become of my sister, your wife?' Geoffrey lashed his horsesinto a gallop, and the other, seeing from his white face and from hiswife's collapse almost into a faint that his object was attained, rodeaway with a scowl and a laugh.
That night when Geoffrey went into the hall he passed over to thegreat fireplace, and all at once started back with a smothered cry.Then with an effort he pulled himself together and went away,returning with a light. He bent down over the broken hearth-stone tosee if the moonlight falling through the storied window had in any waydeceived him. Then with a groan of anguish he sank to his knees.
There, sure enough, through the crack in the broken stone wereprotruding a multitude of threads of golden hair just tinged withgrey!
He was disturbed by a noise at the door, and looking round, saw hiswife standing in the doorway. In the desperation of the moment he tookaction to prevent discovery, and lighting a match at the lamp, stoopeddown and burned away the hair that rose through the broken stone. Thenrising nonchalantly as he could, he pretended surprise at seeing hiswife beside him.
For the next week he lived in an agony; for, whether by accident ordesign, he could not find himself alone in the hall for any length oftime. At each visit the hair had grown afresh through the crack, andhe had to watch it carefully lest his terrible secret should bediscovered. He tried to find a receptacle for the body of the murderedwoman outside the house, but someone always interrupted him; and once,when he was coming out of the private doorway, he was met by his wife,who began to question him about it, and manifested surprise that sheshould not have before noticed the key which he now reluctantly showedher. Geoffrey dearly and passionately loved his wife, so that anypossibility of her discovering his dread secrets, or even of doubtinghim, filled him with anguish; and after a couple of days had passed,he could not help coming to the conclusion that, at least, shesuspected something.
That very evening she came into the hall after her drive and found himthere sitting moodily by the deserted fireplace. She spoke to himdirectly.
'Geoffrey, I have been spoken to by that fellow Delandre, and he sayshorrible things. He tells to me that a week ago his sister returned tohis house, the wreck and ruin of her former self, with only her goldenhair as of old, and announced some fell intention. He asked me whereshe is--and oh, Geoffrey, she is dead, she is dead! So how can shehave returned? Oh! I am in dread, and I know not where to turn!'
For answer, Geoffrey burst into a torrent of blasphemy which made hershudder. He cursed Delandre and his sister and all their kind, and inespecial he hurled curse after curse on her golden hair.
'Oh, hush! hush!' she said, and was then silent, for she feared herhusband when she saw the evil effect of his humour. Geoffrey in thetorrent of his anger stood up and moved away from the hearth; butsuddenly stopped as he saw a new look of terror in his wife's eyes. Hefollowed their glance, and then he too, shuddered--for there on thebroken hearth-stone lay a golden streak as the point of the hair rosethough the crack.
'Look, look!' she shrieked. 'Is it some ghost of the dead! Comeaway--come away!' and seizing her husband by the wrist with the frenzyof madness, she pulled him from the room.
That night she was in a raging fever. The doctor of the districtattended her at once, and special aid was telegraphed for to London.Geoffrey was in despair, and in his anguish at the danger of his youngwife almost forgot his own crime and its consequences. In the eveningthe doctor had to leave to attend to others; but he left Geoffrey incharge of his wife. His last words were:
'Remember, you must humour her till I come in the morning, or tillsome other doctor has her case in hand. What you have to dread isanother attack of emotion. See that she is kept warm. Nothing more canbe done.'
Late in the evening, when the rest of the household had retired,Geoffrey's wife got up from her bed and called to her husband.
'Come!' she said. 'Come to the old hall! I know where the gold comesfrom! I want to see it grow!'
Geoffrey would fain have stopped her, but he feared for her life orreason on the one hand, and lest in a paroxysm she should shriek outher terrible suspicion, and seeing that it was useless to try toprevent her, wrapped a warm rug around her and went with her to theold hall. When they entered, she turned and shut the door and lockedit.
'We want no s