CHAPTER XXXI.

THE SECRET IS REVEALED.

On receipt of Mr. Hersham's letter, Fanks sought out Sir Louis, and showed him the communication. He had told the baronet all that he had heard from Mrs. Prisom; for, without permission, he could not hope to examine the desk of the late Sir Francis. If he did not do so, he would not be able to discover the secret of the tattooed cross; therefore, for the gaining of his ends, and also with a belief in Fellenger's good sense, he made him his confidant, and finally placed the letter in his hands. Louis read it carefully; and, knowing all that had gone before, he understood it partially. Nevertheless, he was puzzled as to the real meaning of the affair; and looked to Fanks for an explanation.

"What do you think of that?" asked Fanks, when the baronet gave back the letter in silence. "Can you understand it?"

"I do not think it is very difficult to understand," said Fellenger, with a shrug of his shoulders, "Madeline Garry went from the Isle of Wight; she was starving, and she met with a good Samaritan, who took her in. Afterwards, she sought London, and left her child behind to be adopted. That child is your friend, Edward Hersham. The story is plain enough."

"It is so far as you have related it. But Hersham has the cross of St. Catherine tattooed on his arm. Why should the child of Madaline Garry be marked in that way?"

"Perhaps my uncle marked the child. He seemed to have had a passion for tattooing."

"Why should Sir Francis mark the child of Fielding?"

There was something so significant in the tone of the detective that Sir Louis looked at him intently. What he saw in his face prompted his next remark. "You don't think Hersham is illegitimate, do you?" he asked.

"Indeed, that is my opinion," returned Fanks. "Why was Sir Francis afraid of Madaline Garry? Because he had done her a wrong. Why did she marry Fielding, almost on the same day that your uncle married Miss Darmer? Why did Sir Francis tattoo the child with his favourite cross? The answer to all these questions is--to my mind--to be found in the fact that the child of Madaline Garry was also the child of Sir Francis Fellenger. I feel convinced that Hersham is the half-brother of the man who was murdered at Tooley's Alley."

"It seems likely," assented Louis, nursing his chin with his hand. "But how can you establish the truth of your statement?"

"There are two ways. One is by asking Binjoy. He may know as he was in attendance both at the birth of Gregory, and at that of Hersham. He may tell the truth; but as he is delirious, there is no chance of getting any information from him. The second way is to find out Madaline Garry, and force her to own up. But the only person who knows where she is, is Mrs. Jerusalem, who has vanished. If I find Mrs. Jerusalem, I may find the other woman. But at present that is impossible also."

"Quite impossible. I do not see what you can do."

"Do you remember what Mrs. Prisom said about the desk in the study of your late uncle?"

"Yes. She alluded to some secret in connection with the desk, which was to be used for the benefit of Gregory, should Madaline Garry attempt to revenge herself."

"Exactly. Well, we must examine the desk. I fancy that Sir Francis, dreading the anger of the woman whom he had wronged, wrote out a full account of his sin; and of the reason why he tattooed the cross on the arm of the child. If we can find that paper--which Sir Francis plainly hinted was in the desk, we may discover why your cousin was murdered."

"I cannot conceive what you mean."

"You will know soon enough," replied Fanks, a trifle sadly. "I have a very shrewd idea of what will be the outcome of my search. If things are as I think, it will not be long before I run down the assassin of Sir Gregory. I have an instinct--and more than an instinct--that the clue to the mystery which has eluded me so long, is about to be placed in my hand. I shall be pleased for my own sake; I shall be sorry for yours."

"Why. What do you mean? I do not understand. Explain yourself, Mr. Fanks."

"No," replied Fanks, shaking his head. "I may be wrong, and I do not wish to cause you unnecessary pain. Let me examine the desk. If I am wrong, all the better for you; all the worse for the case. If am right, I had rather you learned the truth without my intervention. Come, Sir Louis, let us seek the study of your late uncle. Do you know where it is?"

"Oh, yes," said Sir Louis, leading the way. "It has been shut up since his death. You know my cousin was not a man of books, so he did not use it. As for myself, I am always in my laboratory in the old wing. If Sir Francis left any secret paper in his desk, it will be there still. Unless," added Louis, with an afterthought, "unless it was taken away by the woman he feared."

"No. If the paper had given Madaline Garry power to revenge herself on the heir of her old lover, she would have used that power; and then Mrs. Prisom might have interfered by acting on the last request of Sir Francis. Nothing of this has happened; so I am sure that if the paper is in that desk, we shall find it; if we find it we shall learn the truth about this tattooed cross; and, consequently, discover the motive which prompted the murder of your cousin."

After which speech, the detective went with Sir Louis to the study of the late Sir Francis Fellenger.

Sir Louis unlocked the door; and they entered into the long-disused room. It had been shut up for many years, the atmosphere was dusty and musty, with a chill smell of decay. Fanks opened the shutters, and the strong sunlight poured into the apartment; it illumined the dusty carpet on which their feet made marks; it gleamed on the old-fashioned furniture, cumbersome and comfortless, such as was used in the early days of the Victorian era; and--to the satisfaction of the detective--it revealed a mahogany escritoire, all drawers and pigeon-holes, and brass handles. The key, massive and rusty, was still in the lock; and Louis, turning it over with, a harsh creak, threw open the heavy sheet of mahogany which covered the writing cloth. This was lined with dingy green cloth, ink-stained and dusty, but on it there rested no papers nor pens nor ink. Evidently the papers had been arranged before the desk had been closed, and left to its many years' solitude.

Fanks bent down and unlocked the drawers one after the other. These contained nothing but masses of newspaper, everyone of which they examined carefully, but without finding any writing referring to the cross. There were also bundles of old letters; and musty accounts, and ancient records of ships, and stores, and divers expenses; doubtless remnants of Fellenger's naval days. In another drawer they found sea-shells, and seaweed mounted on cardboard; while some shallow repositories contained pictures, and small charts. But nowhere could they discover the paper to which Sir Francis had referred in that last long conversation with Mrs. Prisom.

"Well, it is not in any of these," said Fanks, rising with a look of disappointment. "I wonder where it can be?"

"Perhaps there is a secret drawer," suggested Sir Louis.

"It is not unlikely; and no doubt the paper would be hidden in such a receptacle out of fear of the woman.

"I believe you are right, Sir Louis; let us look for a secret drawer. If there is one I shall find it; I have been at this sort of work before; and I have an idea how to go about it."

Fanks made no vain boast, for after a hard search of an hour or more; after sounding with the knuckles and measuring with a tape, they stumbled across a hiding-place, contrived in the thickness of the wood at the back of the desk. Herein was a paper yellow with age, which Fanks drew slowly out; for it was so fragile with time that he thought it would crumble in his hand; carrying this to the strong light of the window he read carefully, while Sir Louis waited for a revelation of its contents. The face of the detective paled when he read it; and he glanced pityingly at the baronet, when he finished his perusal.

"It is the paper I hoped to find," he said, slowly, "and it clears up the most important point of the case. But I told you, Mr. Fellenger, that the contents would give you pain. Read them for yourself."

"Why do you call me Mr. Fellenger?" asked Louis, quietly.

"You will find the answer to that question in this paper," replied Fanks, and passed it to the baronet. After a pause, and a sharp glance at the detective, Fellenger took the thin yellow sheet, and read it slowly. This was what he read, in the faded handwriting of Sir Francis:

"I have deceived Madaline Garry; I am the father of the child born to her about the same time that my heir, Gregory, was born. Madaline wished me to marry her; but, for reasons which I need not explain here, I was unable to do so. She married Luke Fielding, and he is supposed to be the father of her child. This is not so; the boy is mine. When my wife died, Madaline insisted on coming to the Hall and nursing Gregory. For obvious reasons I could not refuse her; she would have revealed the truth, and have disgraced me and her family, had I not yielded to her wish. She came to the Hall with her own child and nursed that of my late wife. But I was afraid that she would change the children so that her son should enjoy what rightfully belonged to his half-brother. I was twice nearly sending her away on account of this fear; but she threatened to disgrace me by revealing the truth; so I let her stay. But, to avert the danger, I one night tattooed on the left arm of my son, Gregory, the cross of St. Catherine, which I had already tattooed on the arm of Madaline and of Nancy Prisom. Should the children be changed, and I die, the truth can be ascertained by the tattooed cross. The child marked with the cross is my son and heir, Gregory Fellenger; the other is his brother, Edward, the son of myself and Madaline Garry. I hope, in this way, that I shall prevent Madaline from revenging herself on me, as I feel sure she intends to do.

(Signed), Francis Luddham Fellenger."

On reading this extraordinary document, Louis felt the room whirl round him, and he was fain to be seated. Fanks turned silently towards him and received back the paper--the paper which robbed the young man at one sweep of title and property. Louis recovered himself, and smiled faintly. "I understand," he said, in a low tone, "Sir Gregory enjoyed the title and estates wrongfully; Hersham is the rightful heir."

"Yes. Madaline Garry fulfilled her vengeance. She put her child in the place of the real heir, after the death of Sir Francis, and took away the son of Lady Fellenger. That was why she came to the Hall to be the nurse; she wanted her child to enjoy the property. Owing to the tattooing and the father being alive, she could not change the children; but when Sir Francis was killed she did so, and therefore secured the title for her son. I now understand why she parted so readily with Hersham so that he should be adopted by the Vicar of Fairview; he was not her child, but that of her rival in the affections of Sir Francis; I can see all this; so can you; but," added Fanks, with hesitation, "can you guess how this discovery affects you?"

"Certainly," replied Louis, calmly, "I shall have to give the property up to my cousin, who now goes by the name of Hersham. I assure you, I shall not mind the loss so much as you seem to think. As I told you, I care nothing for money, and everything for science. Oh, believe me, Mr. Fanks, I am quite content to surrender title and estates, and go back to Taxton-on-Thames, as plain Louis Fellenger."

"You can contest this matter?"

"I shall not contest the matter. I believe that paper to be true. We found it together; and it proved beyond a doubt--by the evidence of the cross tattooed on Hersham's left arm, that he is the rightful Sir Gregory, and the owner of these estates. Let him have them; I shall not raise one finger to prevent his enjoying what is rightfully his own. Besides, I like Hersham--as I may still call him--he is a good fellow. I used to meet him at Taxton-on-Thames. Let him marry Anne Colmer, and take up his position; he will make a much better baronet than I."

They left the room, and went downstairs again to the library. In there Louis asked Fanks a question which had been in his mind for some time.

"I say, Mr. Fanks," he said, "what makes you say that this tattooed cross clears up the mystery of Tooley's Alley?"

"Well," said Fanks, "someone must have known this story; and have told it to Sir Gregory. That was why he allowed the cross to be tattooed on his arm."

"I don't see that."

"Why, the person who told him the story assured him that the only chance he had of keeping the property was to be tattooed with the mark, which Sir Francis said was on the arm of his real heir."

"Oh, I understand now. But who was the person who told Sir Gregory the secret of that cross and tattooed it on his arm?"

"Ah," said Fanks, "tell me the name of that person, and I'll tell you the assassin of the son of Madaline Garry, who wrongfully bore the title and name of Sir Gregory Fellenger."