第43章

“Shewasn’twhere？“ “Hergracewasn’tinthecarriage，yourgrace。“ “Whatonearthdoyoumean？“ “Hergracedidgetintothecarriage；youshutthedoor，didn’tyou？“ BarnesturnedtoMoysey。Moyseybroughthishanduptohisbrowinasortofmilitarysalute——hehadbeenasoldierintheregimentinwhich，onceuponatime，thedukehadbeenasubaltern。 “Shedid。Theduchesscameoutoftheshop。Sheseemedratherinahurry，Ithought。Shegotintothecarriage，andshesaid，’Home，Moysey！’Ishutthedoor，andBarnesdrovestraighthome。 Weneverstoppedanywhere，andwenevernoticednothinghappenontheway；andyetwhenwegothomethecarriagewasempty。“ Thedukestarted。 “Doyoumeantotellmethattheduchessgotoutofthecarriagewhileyouweredrivingfullpeltthroughthestreetswithoutsayinganythingtoyou，andwithoutyounoticingit？“ “Thecarriagewasemptywhenwegothome，yourgrace。“ “Waseitherofthedoorsopen？“ “No，yourgrace。“ “Youfellowshavebeenuptosomeinfernalmischief。Youhavemadeamessofit。Youneverpickeduptheduchess，andyou’retryingtopalmthistaleoffonmetosaveyourselves。“ Barneswasmovedtoadjuration: “I’lltakemyBibleoath，yourgrace，thattheduchessgotintothecarriageoutsideCaneandWilson’s。“ Moyseysecondedhiscolleague。 “Iwillsweartothat，yourgrace。Shegotintothatcarriage，andIshutthedoor，andshesaid，’Home，Moysey！’“ Thedukelookedasifhedidnotknowwhattomakeofthestoryanditstellers。 “Whatcarriagedidyouhave？“ “Hergrace’sbrougham，yourgrace。“ Knowlesinterposed: “ThebroughamwasorderedbecauseIunderstoodthattheduchesswasnotfeelingverywell，andthere’sratherahighwind，yourgrace。“ Thedukesnappedathim: “Whathasthattodowithit？Areyousuggestingthattheduchesswasmorelikelytojumpoutofabroughamwhileitwasdashingthroughthestreetsthanoutofanyotherkindofvehicle？“ Theduke’sglancefellontheletterwhichKnowleshadbroughthimwhenhefirsthadentered。Hehadplaceditonhiswritingtable。 Nowhetookitup。Itwas，addressed: “ToHisGracetheDukeofDatchet。 Private！ VERYPRESSING！！！“ Thenamewaswritteninafine，clear，almostfemininehand。Thewordsintheleft-handcorneroftheenvelopewerewritteninadifferenthand。Theywerelargeandbold；almostasthoughtheyhadbeenpaintedwiththeendofthepenholderinsteadofbeingwrittenwiththepen。Theenvelopeitselfwasofanunusualsize，andbulgedoutasthoughitcontainedsomethingelsebesidesaletter。 Theduketoretheenvelopeopen。Ashedidsosomethingfelloutofitontothewritingtable。Itlookedasthoughitwasalockofawoman’shair。Asheglancedatitthedukeseemedtobeatriflestartled。Thedukereadtheletter: “YourgracewillbesogoodastobringfivehundredpoundsingoldtothePiccadillyendoftheBurlingtonArcadewithinanhourofthereceiptofthis。TheDuchessofDatchethasbeenkidnaped。Animitationduchessgotintothecarriage，whichwaswaitingoutsideCaneandWilson’s，andshealightedontheroad。Unlessyourgracedoesasyouarerequested，theDuchessofDatchet’sleft-handlittlefingerwillbeatoncecutoff，andsenthomeintimetoreceivetheprincetodinner。Otherportionsofhergracewillfollow。Alockofhergrace’shairisinclosedwiththisasanearnestofourgoodintentions。 “BEFORE5:30P。M。yourgraceisrequestedtobeatthePiccadillyendoftheBurlingtonArcadewithfivehundredpoundsingold。Youwilltherebeaccostedbyanindividualinawhitetophat，andwithagardeniainhisbuttonhole。Youwillbeentirelyatlibertytogivehimintocustody，ortohavehimfollowedbythepolice，inwhichcasetheduchess’sleftarm，cutoffattheshoulder，willbesenthomefordinner——nottomentionotherextremelypossiblecontingencies。ButyouareADVISEDtogivetheindividualinquestionthefivehundredpoundsingold，becauseinthatcasetheduchessherselfwillhehomeintimetoreceivetheprincetodinner，andwithoneofthebeststorieswithwhichtoentertainyourdistinguishedgueststheyeverheard。 “Remember！NOTLATERTHAN5:30，unlessyouwishtoreceivehergrace’slittlefinger。“ Thedukestaredatthisamazingepistlewhenhehadreaditasthoughhefounditdifficulttobelievetheevidenceofhiseyes。 Hewasnotademonstrativeperson，asarule，butthislittlecommunicationastonishedevenhim。Hereaditagain。Thenhishandsdroppedtohissides，andheswore。 Hetookupthelockofhairwhichhadfallenoutoftheenvelope。 Wasitpossiblethatitcouldbehiswife’s，theduchess？WasitpossiblethataDuchessofDatchetcouldbekidnaped，inbroaddaylight，intheheartofLondon，andbesenthome，asitwere，inpieces？Hadsacrilegioushandsalreadybeenplayingprankswiththatgreatlady’shair？Certainly，THAThairwassolikeHERhairthatthemereresemblancemadehisgrace’sbloodruncold。HeturnedonMessrs。BarnesandMoyseyasthoughhewouldhavelikedtorendthem。 “Youscoundrels！“ Hemovedforwardasthoughtheintentionhadenteredhisducalhearttoknockhisservantsdown。But，ifthatwereso，hedidnotactquiteuptohisintention。Instead，hestretchedouthisarm，pointingatthemasifhewereanaccusingspirit: “WillyouswearthatitwastheduchesswhogotintothecarriageoutsideCaneandWilson’s？“ Barnesbegantostammer: “I’llswear，yourgrace，thatI——Ithought——“ Thedukestormedaninterruption: “Idon’taskwhatyouthought。Iaskyou，willyouswearitwas？“ Theduke’sangerwasmorethanBarnescouldface。Hewassilent。 Moyseyshowedalargercourage。 “Icouldhaveswornthatitwasatthetime，yourgrace。Butnowitseemstomethatit’sarummygo。“ “Arummygo！“Thepeculiarityofthephrasedidnotseemtostrikethedukejustthen——atleast，heechoeditasifitdidn’t。“Youcallitarummygo！DoyouknowthatIamtoldinthisletterthatthewomanwhoenteredthecarriagewasnottheduchess？Whatyouwerethinkingabout，orwhatcaseyouwillbeabletomakeoutforyourselves，youknowbetterthanI；butIcantellyouthis——thatinanhouryouwillleavemyservice，andyoumayesteemyourselvesfortunateif，to-night，youarenotbothofyousleepinginjail。“ Onemightalmosthavesuspectedthatthewordswerespokeninirony。Butbeforetheycouldanswer，anotherservantentered，whoalsobroughtaletterfortheduke。Whenhisgrace’sglancefellonitheutteredanexclamation。Thewritingontheenvelopewasthesamewritingthathadbeenontheenvelopewhichhadcontainedtheverysingularcommunication——likeitinallrespects，downtothebroomstick-endthicknessofthe“Private！“and“Verypressing！！！“inthecorner。 “Whobroughtthis？“stormedtheduke。 Theservantappearedtobealittlestartledbytheviolenceofhisgrace’smanner。 “Alady——or，atleast，yourgrace，sheseemedtobealady。“ “Whereisshe？“ “Shecameinahansom，yourgrace。Shegavemethatletter，andsaid，’GivethattotheDukeofDatchetatonce——withoutamoment’sdelay！’Thenshegotintothehansomagain，anddroveaway。“ “Whydidn’tyoustopher？“ “Yourgrace！“ Themanseemedsurprised，asthoughtheideaofstoppingchancevisitorstotheducalmansionvietarmishadnot，untilthatmoment，enteredintohisphilosophy。Thedukecontinuedtoregardthemanasifhecouldsayagooddeal，ifhechose。Thenhepointedtothedoor。Hislipssaidnothing，buthisgesturemuch。 Theservantvanished。 “Anotherhoax！“thedukesaidgrimly，ashetoretheenvelopeopen。 Thistimetheenvelopecontainedasheetofpaper，andinthesheetofpaperanotherenvelope。Thedukeunfoldedthesheetofpaper。 Onitsomewordswerewritten。These: “Theduchessappearssoparticularlyanxioustodropyoualine，thatonereallyhasn’tthehearttorefuseher。 “Hergrace’scommunication——writtenamidstblindingtears！——youwillfindinclosedwiththis。“ “Knowles，“saidtheduke，inavoicewhichactuallytrembled，“Knowles，hoaxornohoax，Iwillbeevenwiththegentlemanwhowrotethat。“ HandingthesheetofpapertoMr。Knowles，hisgraceturnedhisattentiontotheenvelopewhichhadbeeninclosed。Itwasasmall，squareenvelope，ofthefinestquality，anditreekedwithperfume。 Theduke’scountenanceassumedanaddedfrown——hehadnofondnessforenvelopeswhichwerescented。Inthecenteroftheenvelopewerethewords，“TotheDukeofDatchet，“writteninthebig，bold，sprawlinghandwhichheknewsowell。 “Mabel’swriting，“hesaid，halftohimself，as，withshakingfingers，hetoretheenvelopeopen。 Thesheetofpaperwhichhetookoutwasalmostasstiffascardboard。It，too，emittedwhathisgracedeemedthenauseousodorsoftheperfumer’sshop。Onitwaswrittenthisletter: “MYDEARHEREWARD——ForHeaven’ssakedowhatthesepeoplerequire！ Idon’tknowwhathashappenedorwhereIam，butIamnearlydistracted！Theyhavealreadycutoffsomeofmyhair，andtheytellmethat，ifyoudon’tletthemhavefivehundredpoundsingoldbyhalf-pastfive，theywillcutoffmylittlefingertoo。I wouldsoonerdiethanlosemylittlefinger——and——Idon’tknowwhatelsebesides。 “BythetokenwhichIsendyou，andwhichhasnever，untilnow，beenoffmybreast，Iconjureyoutohelpme。 “Hereward——HELPME！“ Whenhereadthatlettertheduketurnedwhite——verywhite，aswhiteasthepaperonwhichitwaswritten。HepassedtheepistleontoKnowles。 “Isupposethatalsoisahoax？“ Mr。Knowleswassilent。Hestillyieldedtohisconstitutionaldisrelishtocommithimself。Atlastheasked: “Whatisitthatyourgraceproposestodo？“ ThedukespokewithabitternesswhichalmostsuggestedapersonalanimositytowardtheinoffensiveMr。Knowles。 “Ipropose，withyourpermission，toreleasetheduchessfromthecustodyofmyestimablecorrespondent。Ipropose——alwayswithyourpermission——tocomplywithhismodestrequest，andtotakehimhisfivehundredpoundsingold。“Hepaused，thencontinuedinatonewhich，comingfromhim，meantvolumes:“Afterwards，Iproposetocryquitswiththeconcocterofthisprettylittlehoax，evenifitcostsmeeverypennyIpossess。Heshallpaymoreforthatfivehundredpoundsthanhesupposes。“