Dennis Wheatley - The Shadow of Tyburn Tree

A BID FOR LIFE

ROGERwas kneeling on the left side of the corpse; Georgina on its right. Neither of them moved. White-faced and stunned they continued to stare at one another across it.

Suddenly Georgina broke the silence in a frightened whisper.

"Roger—in the crystal yesterday! Your—your heavy loss at cards!"

He nodded. "And for you—the treachery through a letter writ in a foreign hand!"

Again there flashed into both their minds the third picture she had conjured up from the depths of the water-filled goblet; the court­room scene—the judge in his red robe—the gallows tree.

Georgina's mouth opened wide to give forth a terrified scream. At the sight something clicked in Roger's brain. From a scared youngster with a mind numbed by shock and fright, he became in an instant a clear-headed man of action. Reaching out he slapped her smartly across the face.

Her scream was cut short in her throat. She blinked her eyes and tears welled up into them; but her nerves steadied as she felt Roger's hand grasp hers and heard him speaking in a swift low voice.

"If we would save our necks 'tis imperative that you should quell your hysteria, and disregard that ugly portent. To count it a glimpse of a future definitely ordained is to admit defeat and invite conviction. 'Twould be as sensible to surrender ourselves to the sheriff's officers within the hour, and confess to murder. If God grants us a little time we may yet concoct a story; and save ourselves by con­vincing the authorities that he died by an accident."

As she did not reply, he added urgently: "Speak, Georgina; speak! Say you understand me!"

She nodded dumbly, then threw an anxious glance over her shoulder towards the door, and muttered, "After the noise he made 'tis a wonder that the household is not already upon us."

Roger too, had feared that the dead man's shouting would have brought guests and servants running; but as the early morning quiet of the house remained unbroken he said softly: "I've a feeling now that God has granted us a respite. The walls of the house are thick and the rooms on either side of this unoccupied. Across the corridor lie only your clothes-closets; and. the servants would not yet be moving about this part of the house. Our worst danger is that old Barney may have seen him come upstairs, and followed. He may be listening outside the door, there."

Georgina shook her head. "Even were that so, he would allow him­self to be cut in pieces rather than say aught hurtful to me. But, 'tis most unlikely. At this hour he will be tending to the fires."

As her glance fell again upon her husband's body, fresh tears started to her eyes, and she exclaimed: "Oh, poor Humphrey! To think that he was once a fine handsome fellow; see the ruin he has made of himself these past few years. And worse! To meet so sudden and terrible an end all through my wickedness."

"Cease talking nonsense!" said Roger, with sudden brutality. He knew that at all costs he must prevent her from breaking down, and went on ruthlessly. " 'Twas no fault of yours that excessive drink first coarsened all his appetites, then robbed him of the power to enjoy the wives of stable-hands, and the like, that he took for his mistresses. He condoned your infidelities and laughed at them until recent months, when the liquor began to affect his brain. His behaviour but five minutes since was that of a lunatic, and he is better dead. I've no regrets at having rid you of him."

"Thou did'st not do so, Roger. 'Twas the scent-bottle I flung catching him on the temple that killed him."

"Nay, 'twas my blow upon his heart. Had I not been half-crazed myself from seeing him strike you I should have remembered the type of life he led, and had the sense to pull my punch."

"You seek to take the blame upon yourself. 'Tis like your chivalry; but, whatever the rights of it, I'll not allow you to say that the blow upon his head was also yours. I'd sooner be driven to Tyburn in a cart."

"My brave Georgina," he squeezed her hand as they stood up. "Maintain that spirit for an hour or two and we will cheat the gallows yet. But all will depend on the first account given as to how he met his death. No jury could fail to be prejudiced against you from the out­set if 'tis known that your husband came upon you in flagrante delicto . Therefore I must leave the revealing of his death to you. 'Twill be your worst ordeal. But once 'tis over I shall be by your side again; and, should things go ill, nothing you can say will stop me from coming forward to reveal that 'twas my blow that caused him to be seized with an apoplexy. Now, thinkest thou that thy courage is equal to telling convincingly the story we will invent?"

"Aye!" she agreed, passing her tongue over her dry lips. "I'll not fail thee in a gamble that may mean the saving of both our lives. And thou art right that I must play this first scene of it out alone. Any other course would spell disaster. But what story shall I tell? How account for his unheralded arrival here at such a godless hour; his sudden attack, and the cut upon his head?"

"The last is simple, you can say that as he fell he struck his head on the corner post of the bed. As for his stroke, that might have been brought on from his riding twenty-five miles at topmost speed. Such an arduous feat demands considerable fitness. 'Twould prove a far greater strain than riding in a single race or the hunting to which he is accustomed, for in a day out there are always frequent checks and pauses.

"He raved about having ridden twenty-five miles, but how can you be certain that he did so at topmost speed? If he left Goodwood after dinner, or even after midnight, 'twould have been mere hacking to reach here by dawn."

"Damme! Do you not realise whom we have to thank for bringing us to this evil pass?"

"Humphrey spoke of a note from some Frenchman, with whom he did not appear to be acquainted. But what Frenchman has the ill-will to denounce me, or could possibly know. . . ."

" 'Twas not a Frenchman, but a man who habitually uses French. Vorontzoff, and no other. 'Tis thus he has avenged himself on us for our treatment of him last night."

"Oh, the dastard!" Georgia breathed. "How could any man bring himself to play so mean a trick?"

"You told me that you judged him to be a man of few scruples; and his provocation was considerable. I've not a doubt now but that he listened at the door to our laughing together over his discomfiture. He must then have gambled on my remaining with you till morning, and despatched one of his outriders post haste to Goodwood."

She nodded. "My mind has been so mazed since Humphrey's discovery of us that I have lacked the wits to put two and two together; but it must be so. The Russian understands more English than he pretends. He heard Charles Fox both speak with me yesterday of Humphrey s morbid spying upon me, and say that after the point-to-point at Goodwood he would be lying there to-night."

"I know it. I was standing but a yard behind you at the time. Vorontzoff then remarked that he had once been at Goodwood. He knew where it lay and would have had no difficulty in giving his messenger directions how to find it."

"But how could the man have done the journey and Humphrey returned here in so short a time?"

"You make my very point. 'Twas near a quarter to one before I joined you. The Russian would then have had to scribble his note, get old Barney to rout out one of his servants, and give the fellow his instructions. The courier could not have left much before half-past one; thus leaving no more than five hours for the double journey, including the rousing of Sir Humphrey from his bed and his dressing to set out. Nine-tenths of the way lies along the Portsmouth Road, where remounts are readily obtainable. Even so, he must have ridden hell for leather the whole distance to get here by dawn; and in his con­dition placing so great a tax upon himself might well have proved too much for him." —