CHAPTER XV.

COMING EVENTS.

The Colmers, mother and daughter, dwelt at the further end of the village in a cottage adjoining the shop. The former was small, but the latter was quite an imposing structure for so sparsely-populated a neighbourhood. Indeed its owners made an excellent income out of the dressmaking business; and they were fairly comfortable in the position of life into which they had been forced by circumstances. They employed five or six girls in the workroom and three in the shop, so that Anne found her hands full in looking after these underlings, and in supervising the general run of the business. She was an admirable administratrix.

As may be guessed from the nature of her complaint, Mrs. Colmer was a mere cypher in the domestic economy of Briar Cottage--for so the house was named. The old woman usually sat in a wheeled chair beside a bow window, looking out on to the back garden. This latter sloped down to the river banks, and was prettily laid out, with a summerhouse at the lower end. From her window the paralytic could see the passing of boats and steamers, and enjoy the brightness of the aquatic life. She viewed this panorama from morn to eve; read on occasions, and meditated on her past life, which had been none of the happiest.

A mild and placid woman, she was of a singularly sweet disposition; and although she was chained to her chair by her affliction, she never complained. The paralysis extended only to her limbs, but her brain was still active, and she could give, and did give, her daughter excellent advice in connection with the business. The sorrowful expression on her face showed how keenly she had felt the loss of Emma. But that was not the only melancholy event in her life; there were others which will be spoken of in due course. Mrs. Colmer was not without her troubles, but she had her consolations also, and of these the love of Anne was the greatest.

On the day of Fanks' arrival the old lady was seated in her usual place, between five and six, waiting for Anne. Tea was ready for the girl, but Mrs. Colmer had already been fed by her nurse, and was looking forward to the usual conversation which took place at this time. All day Anne was busy in the shop, and Mrs. Colmer was left to her own devices; but when the labours of the day were ended, mother and daughter met to converse. To Mrs. Colmer this had been the happiest hour of the day--but that was before Emma went to London. She still talked to Anne, and took an interest in domestic and local affairs; but she was haunted by a feeling of impending evil, and she clung despairingly to her remaining child, dreading lest she should meet with the fate of her sister. An atmosphere of apprehension existed in Briar Cottage.

In due course Anne entered, and, having kissed her mother, sat down to tea. She was as beautiful as ever, but there was a haggard look on her face which accorded but ill with her youth. It would seem as though she dreaded the future also, and was expecting the happening of some terrible misfortune. After a short discussion of domestic matters the conversation languished, for, wrapped in her own thoughts, Anne did not seem inclined to talk. Mrs. Colmer noticed this, and commented thereon with affectionate solicitude, bent on knowing what made Anne so absentminded.

"Is there anything wrong, my dear?" she asked nervously.

"Nothing, mother; I am a little tired, that is all."

"There is more than that, Anne. For some days you have not been at all like yourself."

"Can you wonder at that, mother?" replied Anne, bitterly. "Think of all that has happened this last month."

An angry light came into the faded eyes of the old woman. "You should be glad of what has happened," she said in a stern voice; "that wicked man has been punished for his evil courses. He drove my Emma to her death, and himself has perished by violence. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; that is Scripture."

"All the same, mother, I wish that he had not been murdered. Gregory was a brute, I know, and the death of poor Emma lies at his door; but murder--" she shuddered. "It is so terrible to think that he should have been cut off in the midst of his wickedness."

"He has gone down into the pit, child. Let us talk no more of him. It is said that we must forgive our enemies, but it is hard for me to forgive him, even though he is dead. My beautiful Emma, she should have lived as Lady Fellenger, instead of dying through his cruelty. I hope, Anne, that your marriage will turn out happier than that of your poor sister."

"Ted will be the best of husbands," said Anne, in a tone of conviction. "He loves me as dearly as I love him. I wonder when he is coming down to see me again? I have so much to tell him."

"About your visit to Half-Moon Street?"

"That and other things," was Anne's answer; then, after a pause, "though indeed he may not be so ignorant of that visit as you think."

"Who could tell him but yourself?"

"That detective, mother. He saw me when I entered the room, and he followed me also. If I had not escaped him in the manner I told you, I should have been in trouble."

"You need not be anxious about that now, Anne. The detective can never find you----"

"I am not so sure about that," said Anne, in parenthesis.

"And as to Mr. Hersham knowing about your visit to Half-Moon Street," Mrs. Colmer continued, "I do not see how this detective you speak of can possibly tell him."

"I can see, mother. Mr. Hersham knows this detective--a Mr. Fanks; and he will probably see him about the case in the interests of the 'Morning Planet.' Should they meet--as they are almost sure to do--my name will certainly be mentioned. Then the story of my visit will come out, with the result that Fanks will find me here."

Mrs. Colmer turned slightly pale. "Are you afraid to meet him," she asked.

Anne shrugged her shoulders. "I can't say that I am overpleased," was her reply. "He is a clever man, and I shall have considerable difficulty in keeping my own counsel."

"You must tell him nothing--nothing."

"You can be sure of that, mother. Should Mr. Fanks come here he will go away as wise as he came. I know when to hold my tongue as on this occasion. Matters are too serious to be spoken of openly."

"Oh, dear, dear," said Mrs. Colmer in an agitated tone. "Into what difficulties have we not been led. I wish I had never let Emma go to London."

"Rather wish that she had never met with Herbert Vaud, mother."

"But, Anne, she loved Herbert."

"I do not think so, else she would never have married Sir Gregory. But you know she always was ambitious and impulsive; look where her ambitions have led her. If she had not met with Herbert she would not have become the wife of that wicked man; if she had not been his wife she would not have been driven to her death; and if she had not died, we should not have been involved in all this trouble."

"Trouble, trouble!" moaned Mrs. Colmer. "What troubles we have had, and more will come."

"Do not be afraid, mother," said Anne, kissing her. "You have always me to stand between you and danger. I may never meet with this detective; I may never be questioned by him, and so all will be well. But should he come, why--I shall know how to answer him."

"You will say nothing."

"On the contrary, I shall say a great deal," replied Anne. "But such things as will mislead Mr. Fanks. He shall never be set on the right path by my telling; be sure of that."

"I wish I could see you married to Ted, my dear," said her mother, comforted by these assurances. "It would be such a relief to my mind."

"I am afraid we will not be able to marry for some considerable time. My dear Ted is very clever, but he cannot earn enough for us both to live on; and I do not wish to be a drag on him. No, no, mother, we must wait until things mend, and the outlook is brighter."

"You could have married Dr. Binjoy."

"I would not marry Dr. Binjoy if there was not another man in the world," said Anne, with supreme contempt. "He is a self-indulgent sensualist. My Ted is worth a dozen of him."

"Still he is well-off," sighed Mrs. Colmer.

"I do not see how you make that out, mother. He was, and is, entirely dependent on Sir Louis Fellenger for his money; and I want to have nothing to do with the Fellengers. Their family have cost us dear enough already."

This reference to the dead Emma made Mrs. Colmer weep, and Anne had considerable difficulty in quietening her. However, she succeeded in the end, and left her mother to her own thoughts, while she herself went out into the garden for a breath of fresh air. Moreover, she wanted to be alone, for the purpose of thinking over the position of things. Anne could not but recognise that if certain contingencies arose, she and her mother would find themselves very awkwardly placed.

The evening was warm, and the sky was filled with a mellow light, which rendered languid the atmosphere. Against this, the trees stood out in bold relief, every twig and leaf being sharply outlined against the amber sky. The sound of distant laughter, and the musical splash of oars came to the ears of the girl as she walked slowly down the path towards the summerhouse. A low, redbrick wall ran along the bank of the river, and as she leaned over this low parapet, Anne could see some considerable distance to right and left. Before a boating house on the opposite shore a number of people were collected; and every now and then a boat would shoot out into the gleaming waters bearing two or three of them away. Someone musically inclined had brought a banjo, and Anne could hear the thrumming of the strings, and the echo of the latest music-hall ditty. Altogether, the scene was not without its charm; but she was too much taken up with her own troubles to pay much attention to the pleasant picture spread out before her. The quiet of the evening brought no peace to her.

"How foolishly I have acted," she thought, with a shiver. "If I had been wise I would have left these matters alone. I feel certain that Mr. Fanks recognised me as the woman he saw in Tooley's Alley. If he finds me out, he will ask me what I was doing there on the night of the murder. What can I say. I dare not tell him the truth, and he may refuse to believe what I say to him. I acted for the best, it is true, but my good intentions have led me into a position of danger. But I may be wrong--I may be quite safe. That man may never find me. If he does,"--she shivered again, and looked up the river.

Under the glow of the sunset sky, the waters rolled, a broad sheet of gold flecked here and there with the dark forms of boats. To the left Anne saw a skiff containing one oarsman, coming swiftly down the stream. In a half dreamy moment she calculated that he would pass almost immediately under the wall. Then she returned to her self-communings.

"If Ted were only here," she thought. "I should like to tell him all that I have done, and ask him how to act. For his own sake he must keep silent; and for the sake of my mother I must hold my tongue. Oh, it is terrible--terrible to know what I know, and yet remain dumb. And I am afraid of that detective. His eyes seemed to pierce me through on that day. Should he find me out he may compel me to speak. And if I speak--oh, the disgrace and shame of it. Why, why are such things permitted in this world. Oh, Ted! Ted, I wish you were here to comfort me."

She leaned her head on the wall and burst into tears. Anne was not easily moved; and it was an unusual thing for her to thus give way to her emotions. But she was only a girl after all, and her system was strung up and nervously excited by the knowledge of the secret she knew. She would like to have confided in someone, if only to relieve her overburdened mind; but she shrank from the consequences of such a step. A word from her, and the murder in Tooley's Alley--but, no, she put the thought out of her mind, and, still leaning her head on her arms, she wept bitterly.

Meanwhile the single oarsman rowed steadily towards the red brick wall, which was evidently the point for which he was making. Soon he came abreast of it; shortly he came under it, and Anne raised her head at the sound of the splash of oars, to behold the very man of whom she had been thinking. It was Ted Hersham.