Roland Cashel Volume Ii Part 51

"Who's there?"

"We want you, Mr. Cashel," said the judge, in an accent which all the instincts of his habit had not rendered free from a slight tremor.

The door was immediately thrown wide, and Roland stood before them. He had not changed his dress since his arrival, and his torn sleeve and blood-stained trousers at once caught every eye that was fixed upon him.

The disorder, too, was not confined to his own haggard look; the room itself was littered with papers and letters, with clothes strewn carelessly in every direction; and conspicuously amid all, an open pistol-case was seen, from which one of the weapons was missing. A ma.s.s of charred paper lay within the fender, and a great heap of paper lay, as it were, ready for burning, beside the hearth. There was full time for those who stood there to notice all these particulars, since neither spoke, but each gazed on the other in terrible uncertainty. Cashel was the first to break the silence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 304]

"Well, sirs," said he, in a voice that only an effort made calm, "are my friends so very impatient at my absence that they come to seek me in my dressing-room?"

"The dreadful event that has just occurred, sir," said the judge, "makes apology for our intrusion unnecessary. We are here from duty, Mr.

Cashel, not inclination, still less caprice."

The solemnity of manner in which he spoke, and the grave faces around him on every side, seemed to apprise Roland that bad tidings awaited him, and he looked eagerly to each for an explanation. At length, as none spoke, he said,--

"Will no one vouchsafe to put an end to this mystification? What, I pray, is this event that has happened?"

"Mr. Kennyf.e.c.k has been murdered," said the judge.

Roland staggered backwards, and grasped a chair for support.

"When?--How?--Where?" said he, in a low voice, every accent of which trembled.

"All as yet is hidden in mystery, sir. We know nothing beyond the fact that his dead body was discovered in the Gap of Ennismore, and that a pistol-shot had penetrated his brain." Sir Andrew grasped the weapon more tightly as these words were uttered.

"You left this in his company, Mr. Cashel?" asked Goring.

"Yes; we set out at daybreak for Drumcoologan, where an affair of business required our presence. We spent the whole of the day together, and as evening drew nigh, and our business had not been completed, I resolved to hasten back here, leaving him to follow whenever he could."

"You have been on the best terms together, I believe?" said Goring.

"Stay--I cannot permit this," interposed the Chief Justice, authoritatively. "There must be nothing done here which is not strictly honorable as well as legal. It is right that Mr. Cashel should understand that when an event of this nature has occurred, no one, however high his station, or umblemished his fame, can claim exemption from that scrutiny which the course of justice demands; and the persons latest in the company of the deceased are more peculiarly those exposed to such inquiry. I would, therefore, caution him against answering any questions here, which may be prejudicial hereafter."

"Do I understand you aright, my Lord?" said Cashel, whose whole frame trembled with agitation as he spoke. "Do your words imply that I stand here in the light of a suspected party?"

"I mean to say, sir," replied the judge, "that so long as doubt and obscurity veil the history of a crime, the accusation hangs over the community at large among whom it was enacted, and that those who were last seen in the presence of the victim have the greatest obligation to disconnect themselves with the sad event."

"But you stopped me while about to do so," cried Roland, angrily.

"I cautioned you, rather, against any disclosures which, whatever your innocence, might augment suspicion against you," said the judge, mildly.

"These distinctions are too subtle for me, my Lord. The insult of such an accusation ought to be enough, without the aggravation of chicanery."

Then, turning to Meek, Roland went on: "You, at least, are above this meanness, and will listen to me patiently. Look here." He took a sheet of paper as he spoke, and proceeded with a pen to mark out the direction of the two roads from Drumcoologan to Tubbermore. "Here stands the village; the road by which we travelled in the morning takes this line, skirting the base of the mountain towards the north: the path by which I returned follows a shorter course, and after crossing a little rivulet here, comes out at Ennismore, somewhere about this point."

Just as Roland's description reached thus far, a large drop of blood oozed from his wounded hand, and fell heavily upon the paper. There seemed something so terribly significant in its falling exactly on the very spot where the murdered body was found, that each looked at the other in anxious dread; and then, as if with a common impulse, every eye was bent on Cashel, who, heart-sick with indignant anger, stood unable to utter a word.

"I pray you, sir, do not misconstrue my advice," said the judge, mildly, "nor resent a counsel intended for your good. Every explanation you may offer, hereafter, will be serviceable to your case; every detail you enter into, now, necessarily vague, and unsupported as it must be by other testimony, will only be injurious to you."

Cashel seated himself in a chair, and crossing his arms, seemed to be lost in thought; then, suddenly starting to his feet, he cried,--

"Is all this a deep-laid scheme against my honor and my life, or do you, indeed, desire to trace this crime to its author? If so, let us mount our horses and scour the country; let us search every cabin; let us try if some discovery of a weapon--"

"Ech, sirs, we hae the weapon!" said Sir Andrew, with a sardonic grin; "an' it's muckle like to its brither yonder," pointing to the open pistol-case.

Roland turned suddenly, and now for the first time perceived that one of his pistols was missing from the case. Up to this moment his anger at the suspicions directed towards him was mingled with a degree of contemptuous disregard of them; but now, suddenly, a terrible fear shot through his heart that he was in the meshes of some deep-laid scheme for his ruin; and his mind ran over in eager haste every circ.u.mstance that seemed to point towards guilt. His presence with Kennyf.e.c.k on the mountain; his departure from Drumcoologan alone-, his unexplained reappearance in his own chamber, disordered and littered as it stood; his torn dress; his bleeding fingers; and lastly, the missing pistol,--arose in terrible array before him; and with a heart-sick sigh, he laid his forehead on the table, and never uttered a word.

It was at this juncture that a groom, splashed and heated from a hard ride, placed a small bit of twisted paper in Mr. Goring's hand. It was written with pencil, and ran thus:--

Gap of Ennismore.

Dear G.,--It looks badly; but I fear you have no other course than to arrest him. In fact, it is too late for anything else. Consult Malone and Meek.

Yours, in great haste, T. Linton.

Goring handed the note to the Chief Justice, who, having read it, pa.s.sed it on to Meek. A nod from the latter, as he refolded the paper, seemed to accord concurrence with the counsel.

"Would it not be better to defer this till after the inquest?" he whispered.

"Are ye certain o' findin' him when ye want him?" dryly remarked Sir Andrew.

The Chief Justice conferred for a few seconds with Meek apart, and then approaching Cashel, addressed him in a tone inaudible to all but himself,--

"It would be excessively painful to us, Mr. Roland Cashel, to do anything which should subject you to vulgar remark or impertinent commentary; and as, until some further light be thrown upon this sad catastrophe, your detention is absolutely necessary, may I ask that you will submit to this rigor, without compelling us to any measures to enforce it?"

"Am I a prisoner, my Lord?" asked Roland, growing lividly pale as he spoke.

"Not precisely, sir. No warrant has been issued against you; but as it is manifestly for your advantage to disprove any suspicions that may attach to you in this unhappy affair, I hope you will see the propriety of remaining where you are until they be entirely removed."

Roland bowed coldly, and said,--

"May I ask to be left alone?"

"Of course, sir; we have neither the right nor the inclination to obtrude ourselves upon you. I ought to mention, perhaps, that if you desire to confer with any friends--"

"Friend!" echoed Cashel, in bitter derision; "such friends as I have seen around my table make the selection difficult."

"I used the phrase somewhat technically, sir, as referring to a legal adviser," said the judge, hastily.

"I thank you, my Lord," replied Roland, haughtily. "I am a plain man, and am well aware that in _your_ trade truth is no match for falsehood."

He walked to the window as he spoke, and by his gesture seemed to decline further colloquy.

The Chief Justice moved slowly away, followed by the others; Meek withdrawing last of all, and seeming to hesitate whether he should not say something as he went. At last he turned and said,--

"I sincerely trust, Mr. Cashel, that you will not connect me with this most painful suspicion; your own good sense will show you how common minds may be affected by a number of concurring circ.u.mstances; and how, in fact, truth may require the aid of ingenuity to reconcile and explain them."

"I am not certain that I understand your meaning, sir," said Cashel, sternly; "but when a number of 'concurring circ.u.mstances' seemed to point out those with whom I a.s.sociated as blacklegs, parasites, and calumniators, I gave them the benefit of a doubt, and believed them to be gentle-men; I almost expected they might return the favor when occasion offered."

For a second or two Meek seemed as if about to reply; but he moved noiselessly away at last and closed the door, leaving Roland alone with his own distracted thoughts.