Wilfrid Cumbermede

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THE SWORD IN THE SCALE.

The next morning Charley and I went as usual to the library, where, later in the day, we were joined by the two ladies. It was long before our eyes once met, but when at last they did, Mary allowed hers to rest on mine for just one moment with an expression of dove-like beseeching, which I dared to interpret as meaning--'Be just to me.' If she read mine, surely she read there that she was safe with my thoughts as with those of her mother.

Charley and I worked late in the afternoon, and went away in the last of the twilight. As we approached the gate of the park, however, I remembered I had left behind me a book I had intended to carry home for comparison with a copy in my possession, of which the title-page was gone. I asked Charley, therefore, to walk on and give my man some directions about Lilith, seeing I had it in my mind to propose a ride on the morrow, while I went back to fetch it.

Finding the door at the foot of the stair leading to the open gallery ajar, and knowing that none of the rooms at either end of it were occupied, I went the nearest way, and thus entered the library at the point furthest from the more public parts of the house. The book I sought was, however, at the other end of the suite, for I had laid it on the window-sill of the room next the armoury.

As I entered that room, and while I crossed it towards the glimmering window, I heard voices in the armoury, and soon distinguished Clara's. It never entered my mind that possibly I ought not to hear what might be said. Just as I reached the window I was arrested, and stood stock still: the other voice was that of Geoffrey Brotherton. Before my self-possession returned, I had heard what follows.

'I am certain he took it,' said Clara. 'I didn't see him, of course; but if you call at the Moat to-morrow, ten to one you will find it hanging on the wall.'

'I knew him for a sneak, but never took him for a thief. I would have lost anything out of the house rather than that sword!'

'Don't you mention my name in it. If you do, I shall think you--well, I will never speak to you again.'

'And if I don't, what then?'

Before I heard her answer, I had come to myself. I had no time for indignation yet. I must meet Geoffrey at once. I would not, however, have him know I had overheard any of their talk. It would have been more straightforward to allow the fact to be understood, but I shrunk from giving him occasion for accusing me of an eavesdropping of which I was innocent. Besides, I had no wish to encounter Clara before I understood her game, which I need not say was a mystery to me. What end could she have in such duplicity? I had had unpleasant suspicions of the truth of her nature before, but could never have suspected her of baseness.

I stepped quietly into the further room, whence I returned, making a noise with the door-handle, and saying,

'Are you there, Miss Coningham? Could you help me to find a book I left here?'

There was silence; but after the briefest pause I heard the sound of her dress as she swept hurriedly out into the gallery. I advanced. On the top of the steps, filling the doorway of the armoury in the faint light from the window, appeared the dim form of Brotherton.

'I beg your pardon,' I said. 'I heard a lady's voice, and thought it was Miss Coningham's.'

'I cannot compliment your ear,' he answered. 'It was one of the maids. I had just rung for a light. I presume you are Mr Cumbermede?'

'Yes,' I answered. 'I returned to fetch a book I forgot to take with me. I suppose you have heard what we've been about in the library here?'

'I have been partially informed of it,' he answered, stiffly. 'But I have heard also that you contemplate a raid upon the armoury. I beg you will let the weapons alone.'

I had said something of the sort to Clara that very morning.

'I have a special regard for them,' he went on; 'and I don't want them meddled with. It's not every one knows how to handle them. Some amongst them I would not have injured for their weight in diamonds. One in particular I should like to give you the history of--just to show you that I am right in being careful over them.--Here comes the light.'

I presume it had been hurriedly arranged between them as Clara left him that she should send one of the maids, who in consequence now made her appearance with a candle. Brotherton took it from her and approached the wall.

'Why! What the devil! Some one has been meddling already, I find! The very sword I speak of is gone! There's the sheath hanging empty! What can it mean? Do you know anything of this, Mr Cumbermede?'

'I do, Mr Brotherton. The sword to which that sheath belongs is mine. I have it.'

'_Yours!_' he shouted; then restraining himself, added in a tone of utter contempt--'This is rather too much. Pray, sir, on what grounds do you lay claim to the smallest atom of property within these walls? My father ought to have known what he was about when he let you have the run of the house! And the old books, too! By heaven, it's too much! I always thought--'

'It matters little to me what you think, Mr Brotherton--so little that I do not care to take any notice of your insolence--'

'Insolence!' he roared, striding towards me, as if he would have knocked me down.

I was not his match in strength, for he was at least two inches taller than I, and of a coarse-built, powerful frame. I caught a light rapier from the wall, and stood on my defence.

'Coward!' he cried.

'There are more where this came from,' I answered, pointing to the wall.

He made no move towards arming himself, but stood glaring at me in a white rage.

'I am prepared to prove,' I answered as calmly as I could, 'that the sword to which you allude is mine. But I will give you no explanation. If you will oblige me by asking your father to join us, I will tell him the whole story.'

'I will have a warrant out against you.'

'As you please. I am obliged to you for mentioning it. I shall be ready. I have the sword, and intend to keep it. And by the way, I had better secure the scabbard as well,' I added, as with a sudden spring I caught it also from the wall, and again stood prepared.

He ground his teeth with rage. He was one of those who, trusting to their superior strength, are not much afraid of a row, but cannot face cold steel: soldier as he had been, it made him nervous.

'Insulted in my own house!' he snarled from between his teeth.

'Your father's house,' I corrected. 'Call him, and I will give explanations.'

'Damn your explanations! Get out of the house, you puppy; or I'll have the servants up, and have you ducked in the horse-pond.'

'Bah!' I said. 'There's not one of them would lay hands on me at your bidding. Call your father, I say, or I will go and find him myself.'

He broke out in a succession of oaths, using language I had heard in the streets of London, but nowhere else. I stood perfectly still, and watchful. All at once he turned and went into the gallery, over the balustrade of which he shouted,

'Martin! Go and tell my father to come here--to the armoury--at once. Tell him there's a fellow here out of his mind.'

I remained quiet, with my scabbard in one hand, and the rapier in the other--a dangerous weapon enough, for it was, though slight, as sharp as a needle, and I knew it for a bit of excellent temper. Brotherton stood outside waiting for his father. In a few moments I heard the voice of the old man.

'Boys! boys!' he cried; 'what is all this to do?'

'Why, sir,' answered Geoffrey, trying to be calm, 'here's that fellow Cumbermede confesses to have stolen the most valuable of the swords out of the armoury--one that's been in the family for two hundred years, and says he means to keep it.'

I just caught the word liar ere it escaped my lips: I would spare the son in his father's presence.

'Tut! tut!' said Sir Giles. 'What does it all mean? You're at your old quarrelsome tricks, my boy! Really you ought to be wiser by this time!'

As he spoke, he entered panting, and with the rubicund glow beginning to return upon a face from which the message had evidently banished it.

'Tut! tut!' he said again, half starting back as he caught sight of me with the weapon in my hand--'What is it all about, Mr Cumbermede? I thought you had more sense!'

'Sir Giles,' I said, 'I have not confessed to having stolen the sword--only to having taken it.'

'A very different thing,' he returned, trying to laugh. 'But come now; tell me all about it. We can't have quarrelling like this, you know. We can't have pot-house work here.'

'That is just why I sent for you, Sir Giles,' I answered, replacing the rapier on the wall. 'I want to tell you the whole story.'

'Let's have it, then.'

'Mind, I don't believe a word of it,' said Geoffrey.

'Hold your tongue, sir,' said his father, sharply.

'Mr Brotherton,' I said, 'I offered to tell the story to Sir Giles--not to you.'

'You offered!' he sneered. 'You may be compelled--under different circumstances by-and-by, if you don't mind what you're about.'

'Come now--no more of this!' said Sir Giles.

Thereupon I began at the beginning, and told him the story of the sword, as I have already given it to my reader. He fidgeted a little, but Geoffrey kept himself stock-still during the whole of the narrative. As soon as I had ended Sir Giles said,

'And you think poor old Close actually carried off your sword!--Well, he was an odd creature, and had a passion for everything that could kill. The poor little atomy used to carry a poniard in the breast-pocket of his black coat--as if anybody would ever have thought of attacking his small carcass! Ha! ha! ha! He was simply a monomaniac in regard of swords and daggers. There, Geoffrey! The sword is plainly his. He is the wronged party in the matter, and we owe him an apology.'

'I believe the whole to be a pure invention,' said Geoffrey, who now appeared perfectly calm.

'Mr Brotherton!' I began, but Sir Giles interposed.

'Hush! hush!' he said, and turned to his son. 'My boy, you insult your father's guest.'

'I will at once prove to you, sir, how unworthy he is of any forbearance, not to say protection from you. Excuse me for one moment.'

He took up the candle, and opening the little door at the foot of the winding stair, disappeared. Sir Giles and I sat in silence and darkness until he returned, carrying in his hand an old vellum-bound book.

'I dare say you don't know this manuscript, sir,' he said, turning to his father.

'I know nothing about it,' answered Sir Giles. 'What is it? Or what has it to do with the matter in hand?'

'Mr Close found it in some corner or other, and used to read it to me when I was a little fellow. It is a description, and in most cases a history as well, of every weapon in the armoury. They had been much neglected, and a great many of the labels were gone, but those which were left referred to numbers in the book-heading descriptions which corresponded exactly to the weapons on which they were found. With a little trouble he had succeeded in supplying the numbers where they were missing, for the descriptions are very minute.'

He spoke in a tone of perfect self-possession.

'Well, Geoffrey, I ask again, what has all this to do with it?' said his father.

'If Mr Cumbermede will allow you to look at the label attached to the sheath in his hand--for fortunately it was a rule with Mr Close to put a label on both sword and sheath--and if you will read me the number, I will read you the description in the book.'

I handed the sheath to Sir Giles, who began to decipher the number on the ivory ticket.

'The label is quite a new one,' I said.

'I have already accounted for that,' said Brotherton. 'I will leave it to yourself to decide whether the description corresponds.'

Sir Giles read out the number figure by figure, adding--

'But how are we to test the description? I don't know the thing, and it's not here.'

'It is at the Moat,' I replied; 'but its future place is at Sir Giles's decision.'

'Part of the description belongs to the scabbard you have in your hand, sir,' said Brotherton. 'The description of the sword itself I submit to Mr Cumbermede.'

'Till the other day I never saw the blade,' I said.

'Likely enough,' he retorted dryly, and proceeding, read the description of the half-basket hilt, inlaid with gold, and the broad blade, channeled near the hilt, and inlaid with ornaments and initials in gold.

'There is nothing in all that about the scabbard,' said his father.

'Stop till we come to the history,' he replied, and read on, as nearly as I can recall, to the following effect. I have never had an opportunity of copying the words themselves.

'"This sword seems to have been expressly forged for Sir [----] [----],"' (He read it Sir So and So.) '"whose initials are to be found on the blade. According to tradition, it was worn by him, for the first and only time, at the battle of Naseby, where he fought in the

cavalry led by Sir Marmaduke Langdale. From some accident or other, Sir
[----] [----] found, just as the order to charge was given, that he
could not draw his sword, and had to charge with only a pistol in his
hand. In the flight which followed he pulled up, and unbuckled his
sword, but while attempting to ease it, a rush of the enemy startled
him, and, looking about, he saw a Roundhead riding straight at Sir
Marmaduke, who that moment passed in the rear of his retiring
troops--giving some directions to an officer by his side, and unaware
of the nearness of danger. Sir [----] [----] put spurs to his charger,
rode at the trooper, and dealt him a downright blow on the pot-helmet
with his sheathed weapon. The fellow tumbled from his horse, and Sir
[----] [----] found his scabbard split halfway up, but the edge of his
weapon unturned. It is said he vowed it should remain sheathed for
ever."--The person who has now unsheathed it has done a great wrong to
the memory of a loyal cavalier.'

'The sheath halfway split was as familiar to my eyes as the face of my uncle,' I said, turning to Sir Giles. 'And in the only reference I ever heard my great-grandmother make to it, she mentioned the name of Sir Marmaduke. I recollect that much perfectly.'

'But how could the sword be there and here at one and the same time?' said Sir Giles.

'_That_ I do not pretend to explain,' I said.

'Here at least is written testimony to our possession of it,' said Brotherton in a conclusive tone.

'How, then, are we to explain Mr Cumbermede's story?' said Sir Giles, evidently in good faith.

'With that I cannot consent to allow myself concerned.--Mr Cumbermede is, I am told, a writer of fiction.'

'Geoffrey,' said Sir Giles, 'behave yourself like a gentleman.'

'I endeavour to do so,' he returned with a sneer.

I kept silence.

'How can you suppose,' the old man went on, 'that Mr Cumbermede would invent such a story? What object could he have?'

'He may have a mania for weapons, like old Close--as well as for old books,' he replied.

I thought of my precious folio. But I did not yet know how much additional force his insinuation with regard to the motive of my labours in the library would gain if it should be discovered that such a volume was in my possession.

'You may have remarked, sir,' he went on, 'that I did not read the name of the owner of the sword in any place where it occurred in the manuscript.'

'I did. And I beg to know why you kept it back,' answered Sir Giles.

'What do you think the name might be, sir?'

'How should I know? I am not an antiquarian.'

'Sir Wilfrid Cumbermede. You will find the initials on the blade.--Does that throw any light on the matter, do you think, sir?'

'Why, that is your very own name!' cried Sir Giles, turning to me.

I bowed.

'It is a pity the sword shouldn't be yours.'

'It is mine, Sir Giles--though, as I said, I am prepared to abide by your decision.'

'And now I remember;--the old man resumed, after a moment's thought--'the other evening Mr Alderforge--a man of great learning, Mr Cumbermede--told us that the name of Cumbermede had at one time belonged to our family. It is all very strange. I confess I am utterly bewildered.'

'At least you can understand, sir, how a man of imagination, like Mr Cumbermede here, might desire to possess himself of a weapon which bears his initials, and belonged two hundred years ago to a baronet of the same name as himself--a circumstance which, notwithstanding it is by no means a common name, is not quite so strange as at first sight appears--that is, if all reports are true.'

I did not in the least understand his drift; neither did I care to inquire into it now.

'Were you aware of this, Mr Cumbermede?' asked his father.

'No, Sir Giles,' I answered.

'Mr Cumbermede has had the run of the place for weeks. I am sorry I was not at home. This book was lying all the time on the table in the room above, where poor old Close's work-bench and polishing-wheel are still standing.'

'Mr Brotherton, this gets beyond bearing,' I cried. 'Nothing but the presence of your father, to whom I am indebted for much kindness, protects you.'

'Tut! tut!' said Sir Giles.

'Protects me, indeed!' exclaimed Brotherton. 'Do you dream I should be by any code bound to accept a challenge from you?--Not, at least, I presume to think, before a jury had decided on the merits of the case.'

My blood was boiling, but what could I do or say? Sir Giles rose, and was about to leave the room, remarking only--

'I don't know what to make of it.'

'At all events, Sir Giles,' I said hurriedly, 'you will allow me to prove the truth of what I have asserted. I cannot, unfortunately, call my uncle or aunt, for they are gone; and I do not know where the servant who was with us when I took the sword away is now. But, if you will allow me, I will call Mrs Wilson--to prove that I had the sword when I came to visit her on that occasion, and that on the morning after sleeping here I complained of its loss to her, and went away without it.'

'It would but serve to show the hallucination was early developed. We should probably find that even then you were much attracted by the armoury,' said Brotherton, with a judicial air, as if I were a culprit before a magistrate.

I had begun to see that, although the old man was desirous of being just, he was a little afraid of his son. He rose as the latter spoke, however, and going into the gallery, shouted over the balustrade--

'Some one send Mrs Wilson to the library!'

We removed to the reading-room, I carrying the scabbard which Sir Giles had returned to me as soon as he had read the label. Brotherton followed, having first gone up the little turn-pike stair, doubtless to replace the manuscript.

Mrs Wilson came, looking more pinched than ever, and stood before Sir Giles with her arms straight by her sides, like one of the ladies of Noah's ark. I will not weary my reader with a full report of the examination. She had seen me with a sword, but had taken no notice of its appearance. I might have taken it from the armoury, for I was in the library all the afternoon. She had left me there thinking I was a 'gentlemany' boy. I had said I had lost it, but she was sure she did not know how that could be. She was very sorry she had caused any trouble by asking me to the house, but Sir Giles would be pleased to remember that he had himself introduced the boy to her notice. Little she thought, &c., &c.

In fact, the spiteful creature, propitiating her natural sense of justice by hinting instead of plainly suggesting injurious conclusions, was paying me back for my imagined participation in the impertinences of Clara. She had besides, as I learned afterwards, greatly resented the trouble I had caused of late.

Brotherton struck in as soon as his father had ceased questioning her.

'At all events, if he believed the sword was his, why did he not go and represent the case to you, sir, and request justice from you? Since then he has had opportunity enough. His tale has taken too long to hatch.'

'This is all very paltry,' I said.

'Not so paltry as your contriving to sleep in the house in order to carry off your host's property in the morning--after studying the place to discover which room would suit your purpose best!'

Here I lost my presence of mind. A horror shook me lest something might come out to injure Mary, and I shivered at the thought of her name being once mentioned along with mine. If I had taken a moment to reflect, I must have seen that I should only add to the danger by what I was about to say. But her form was so inextricably associated in my mind with all that had happened then, that it seemed as if the slightest allusion to any event of that night would inevitably betray her; and in the tremor which, like an electric shock, passed through me from head to foot, I blurted out words importing that I had never slept in the house in my life.

'Your room was got ready for you, anyhow, Master Cumbermede,' said Mrs Wilson.

'It does not follow that I occupied it,' I returned.

'I can prove that false,' said Brotherton; but, probably lest he should be required to produce his witness, only added,--'At all events, he was seen in the morning, carrying the sword across the court before any one had been admitted.'

I was silent; for I now saw too clearly that I had made a dreadful blunder, and that any attempt to carry assertion further, or even to explain away my words, might be to challenge the very discovery I would have given my life to ward off.

As I continued silent, steeling myself to endure, and saying to myself that disgrace was not dishonour, Sir Giles again rose, and turned to leave the room. Evidently he was now satisfied that I was unworthy of confidence.

'One moment, if you please, Sir Giles,' I said. 'It is plain to me there is some mystery about this affair, and it does not seem as if I should be able to clear it up. The time may come, however, when I can. I did wrong, I see now, in attempting to right myself, instead of representing my case to you. But that does not alter the fact that the sword was and is mine, however appearances may be to the contrary. In the mean time, I restore you the scabbard, and as soon as I reach home, I shall send my man with the disputed weapon.'

'It will be your better way,' he said, as he took the sheath from my hand.

Without another word, he left the room. Mrs Wilson also retired. Brotherton alone remained. I took no further notice of him, but followed Sir Giles through the armoury. He came after me, step for step, at a little distance, and as I stepped out into the gallery, said, in a tone of insulting politeness:

'You will send the sword as soon as may be quite convenient, Mr Cumbermede? Or shall I send and fetch it?'

I turned and faced him in the dim light which came up from the hall.

'Mr Brotherton, if you knew that book and those weapons as early as you have just said, you cannot help knowing that at that time the sword was not there.'

'I decline to re-open the question,' he said.

A fierce word leaped to my lips, but repressing it I turned away once more, and walked slowly down the stair, across the hall, and out of the house.

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