London's Heart: A Novel

"What!" exclaims Mr. Sheldrake, a white fury gathering about his lips.

"It is true, nevertheless," says the old man.

"She shall answer with her own lips," cries Mr. Sheldrake, with a menacing gesture.

"She will never again open her lips to you. I speak for her."

"Old dotard! But she shall answer!"

The arm he raises to put the old man aside is seized by a stronger hand than his, and he is thrust back violently.

"O!" he sneers, as he recognises Felix. "Are there any more of you?"

"One other," replies Felix, with a smile. "You shall see him presently."

For a moment Mr. Sheldrake measures himself with Felix; the conclusion he arrives at in this hasty glance is not assuring. Felix stands before him as firm as a rock, and with a kindling light in his eyes, which warns him to be careful of himself. He heeds the warning, and says in as calm a voice as he can command,

"This is a plot, then!"

"If you please to call it so," is the answer. "Plot against plot, we will say. Yours has failed."

"We shall see."

"We shall."

Felix is supremely calm; Mr. Sheldrake's passion breaks against him as the sea breaks against a rook and recoils upon itself.

"And you came here, I suppose, to play the hero, and to trick that young lady with fine speeches. But if she knows what is good for her, she'll be wise in time."

"I hope she will. Lily!"

She does not answer in words, but creeps into his arms. Then Mr. Sheldrake shows his full meanness. "Take her!" he says, with a toss of the hand, as discarding a worthless thing. "She came with me from the old man's house last night. How many hours ago? Ah, thirteen! Take her. I have done with her!"

Felix laughs cheerily, and holds Lily closer to his breast.

"It was a lucky chance," he says, not addressing Mr. Sheldrake, "that caused us to put up at the Myrtle Inn; for going into the stable to look after my horse, I saw another horse which had been put up but a very short time before we arrived. I have driven that horse more than once, and I know the livery-stables to which it belonged. It was by another lucky chance that I inquired of the ostler at the Myrtle whether a man of the name of Thompson, a man with a crooked nose and a hare-lip, had driven that horse down. But it was by the luckiest chance of all that we found Thompson in bed at that very inn, and that we induced him, without much trouble, to tell all about the pleasant drive he had had, and where he had set his passengers down."

"You have been very lucky," sneers Mr. Sheldrake, "but all your luck will not avail you to save Master Alfred from the hulks. It is my mission now to assist him to that desirable retreat for fools and thieves. I have you there, my lucky hero."

"I think not. You have not heard all our luck yet. A friend of mine, a detective-O yes, I have detective friends, as well as you! – has in his possession certain letters and documents concerning transactions in which the names of Sheldrake, Staveley, and half a dozen aliases assumed by each to serve his turn, suspiciously occur. I think the law is not inclined to treat with leniency the miserable tricksters whose knavery leads many poor creatures to ruin. Some public attention has been drawn to the class to which Mr. Sheldrake and Mr. Staveley belong, as you may have observed. The law hitherto has been comparatively powerless, because of the want of sufficiently direct evidence; the rascals are a cunning set. But I and my detective friend have in our possession documents by which we shall be able to prove distinct fraud; and as those who administer the law wait but for the opportunity to convict, you may depend that the punishment will not be light. Nay, we have not only documents; we have witnesses. Knowing what kind of man we had to deal with, knowing what kind of knavery we had to expose, we set traps, not yesterday, nor last week, but months ago, and the evidence we can bring forward will be sufficient. Temptation has proved too strong for you in one or two instances, and you have overstepped the mark, as we shall prove to you to your cost."

Inwardly disturbed as he is-for he does not know what proofs may be in Felix's hands, and whether Felix is speaking truth or gasconading-Mr. Sheldrake snaps his fingers scornfully.

"That for your evidence and witnesses!" he says. "You can do your best and your worst!"

But he begins to lose courage when Felix plays his next move.

"You asked me when I came in whether there were any more of us. I told you there was one more, and that you should see him presently."

Felix goes to the door which leads to the inner room, and opens it, and Mr. Musgrave comes forward. Then, for the first time, the consideration whether it will not be advisable to make terms, occurs to Mr. Sheldrake.

"You drunken old thief!" he exclaims, with an oath. "Are you in this plot?"

"And has been for some time," answers Felix, in a pleasant voice. "We will excuse any hard words you may use. We are in confidence, and what passes between us is, as the lawyers say, without prejudice. But you have not seen all the cards in our hands yet. I speak, you see, in a language you can understand. Shall I show you another trump-card that we hold?"

"Go on."

"I heard you say before I entered that you had seen Mr. Con Staveley this morning. That is not true. But it is true that my detective friend has seen him, and we have made terms (this is without prejudice, mind) with him. If we are compelled to make this case public, he appears against you. We hold him harmless, and he is satisfied to get out of a serious scrape without a scratch. In no one instance was he your partner in any of the transactions you have had with the young gentleman whom you tried to lead to ruin. We have this down in black and white. Do you think we have trumps enough to win the game?"

"I don't know. What stakes are we playing for?"

"Those bills and acceptances you hold with Alfred's name to them, and a full quittance from you to him for all money directly or indirectly advanced to him by you and Con Staveley. We know almost to a sovereign what they amount to. You have a list in your pocket. I also have a list from Con Staveley."

"What if I refuse?"

Felix smiles.

"Why, then, I suppose, we must be quixotic enough to pay to Mr. Sheldrake such of those bills as bear his name. Those bearing Mr. Staveley's name we should be able to settle with that gentleman direct. We should pay your bills under protest."

"We pay!" interrupted Mr. Sheldrake incredulously.

"Well, say instead that I pay. I am able, I assure you; and I assure you also that I am able to prove how many of the cheques bearing Mr. Sheldrake's name for which bills were given came back to Mr. Sheldrake through Mr. Staveley, and never passed through the bank. Here is a suspicion of fraud, which it might be worth while to prosecute. But we should not want it, I believe. We shall be able to keep Alfred's name out of the proceedings. The other cases we have against you are, in my detective friend's opinion, amply sufficient. And be sure of this" – and here Felix's voice grew stern-"that unless the terms I have stated are accepted by you, I will make the name of Sheldrake famous in criminal records, and will so gibbet you in public opinion that your very friends and acquaintances shall think it prudent to know you no more. Excuse me for using strong language; all that passes is without prejudice, and we are here in private conference."

His earnestness and determined manner carry conviction with them. Mr. Sheldrake does not hesitate.

"And if I give you those bills, and the quittance, as you desire – "

"We wash our hands of you."

"You will give me back those documents and letters-you dog, you!" with a dark look at Mr. Musgrave-"which you say you have?"

"We might be prevailed upon to do as much."

"On those terms I accept; I can have my revenge another way."

"Any other way you please. This is all I stipulate for."

"Can we arrange the business now?"

"At once. I will call my detective friend in."

The next half-hour is passed in the settlement of the affair, and Felix conducts himself in so calm and business-like a manner, as to intensify the bitterness with which Mr. Sheldrake regards him. Lily and her father and grandfather do not speak, but they worship Felix with their eyes; and now and then he turns and gives them an encouraging smile, which does not escape Mr. Sheldrake's notice. But he seems more eager than Felix to conclude the affair, having something in his mind of which he is burning to deliver himself.

"On your word and honour as a gentleman," he says, as he receives certain letters and papers from Felix, "these are all that you have?"

Felix, who has been carefully examining the bills, and who has been very particular in the wording of the paper which releases Alfred from liability, places the documents in his pocket carefully, and says,

"On my word and honour as a gentleman, these are all that we have. I cannot honestly put the same form of words to you; but I am satisfied that the bills tally with the list, and that the amount is correct. Here, then, our acquaintanceship ends. I wish you good-day."