The Man with a Secret

a

rld calls madne

strange matters-

wisdom--ponders

l you he is m

regnant at hi

wed to her str

Munks had a hard-featured face, and an equally hard manner, and in his suit of rough grey cloth he looked like Don Juan's Commandantore out for an airing. He devoted himself

y people lived at the Grange?--Six! What were their names?--The squi

arly exhilarating, he relapsed into silence, and the stony

y of some night bird from the lonely marshes, and the steady beat of the horse's hoofs on the hard, white road. The scenery, grey and colourless under the pale light of the moon, changed with the rapidity of a kaleidoscope. First the tangled, odorous hedges that separated the road from the closely-reaped fields, afterwards a grove of beeches, casting fantastic shadows on the ground, and then, suddenly starting out of the earth as if by magic, the thick, dark wood which surrounded Garsworth Grange, as though it were the enchanted palace of the sleepi

ere, Nestley found himself alone in this ghostly white world, with the keen wind whistling shrilly in his ears, and before him a monstrous, many-pillared porch with a massive door scrolled grotesquely with ironwork, lik

distinct under the coronet of pale, golden hair, one slender arm raised aloft, holding the faintly-glimmering candle, one eloquent finger placed warningly upon the full red lips, while the supple body, clad in a loose white dress, was bent forward in a graceful poise. Not Aphrodite, this m

ctor; for she started back in astonishment when she beheld a stranger, an

tely, "but I am a medical man staying at the inn,

and her frigid man

d of you, Doct

that gentleman,

he said, in a musical voice, "and, indeed,

d the innumerable fastenings. Catching Nestley's eye, as he looked on, rat

ned round, "he wouldn't rest in his bed if he didn't think the front

Challoner," said Nestley, l

?" she ask

and Mr. P

ttle, and bowed

with me, Doctor," she sa

ho was, nevertheless, arrayed in a juvenile-looking gown of pink with the remarkable addition of a tea-cosy perched on her head which gave

ce which seemed ridiculous, coming from such a stout person. "

used to her eccentricities, evinced no surprise, but, looking d

unt, Miss Cassandra Challoner

doctor politely responded, then suddenly recollecting the tea-cosy, snatched it

and in my left eye. I'm sure it's the left, doctor. Very odd, isn't it? I wear the tea-cosy to keep the heat in my head

sible to say, but, fortunately, a third woman, bearing a candle, appea

ss Challoner quickly, "t

f wriggling movement, something like that of a dog who has done wrong and wants to curry favour with his angry master. Sh

ed out in a low,

ts of armour on either side, seemed to chill his blood, and the three candles held by the three women danced before his eyes like will-o'-the-wisps. A musty odour permeated the atmosphere, and the

ce," he said in a loud, cheerful

he stairs, followed by the wriggling Jellicks and the

toe Bough,' you know--very odd--he might die--his spirit and all that sort of thing--nerves, doctor, nothing else--chroni

ith the darkness closing densely around them. Every footfall seemed to awake an echo, and the painted face

be seen a thin streak of light. Pausing here, Una opened it, and the four passed into Squire

a candle, standing on a small round table, feebly illuminated a huge curtained bed set on a small square of carpet on which w

re outside the blankets plucking restlessly at the counterpane. Beside him stood a woman in a slate-coloured dress, with an expressionless white face and smooth black hair, drawn back over her finely shaped head. She kept her eyes on the floor and her hands folded in front of her, but, on hearing a stra

erity of a sick man, raised himself on his elbow and peered malevol

s voice, "someone to rob me; thieves a

r," said Una, co

bring?" asked the sick man, eagerl

few questions," said Nestley, st

uspicion, "not Bland. No; a stranger

coming close to him, "and cannot come,

sly, seeming to devour him with

pause, "very weak, still th

nd and grasped that of Nestley

y. "You are weak, but honest. Save

I can," replie

t, sat up in bed, and wav

must tell you what I wo'nt tell them. A physician is more of a c

s, save for the feeble glimmer of the taper by the bed, which shed its light on the pallid countenance of the old man now lying back exhausted on his pillows. It was certainly a very strange situation, and N

I am an old man, seventy-five years of age. It's a long life, but not long enough for what I want. The sword has worn out the scabbard--m

bserved Nestley, feeling hi

s. You must restore them to their normal state. Tonics, electricity, rest-

member, but I will give you some medicine that will replace the wasted tissu

re. Mad! Poor fools, my madness is their sanity. I shall be young and vigorous in my next body, and I shall be rich. All this life I have been working for the next, but I have not gain

y the doctor's orders brought some wine in a glass. This Nestley held to the sick man's lips, while the housekeeper, at the other side of the bed, held the candle for

over the squire and

ome wine whenever you feel exhausted. I will send you a sed

ious to give him some soothing draught, as every paroxysm of excitement exhausted the nerves and rendered him weaker. But even in his anxiety, as he looked at him lying so still with the candles on either side of the bed, he could not help co

ighted him downstairs, and having seen him

er, "and a strange house;" then he turned to Una an

as quiet as possible and I'll send some opiate from Garsworth; he is in a

drives you in," said Una qu

s she opened the door, and was about t

for me to-morrow--I'm so odd, I think it's the house--lonely, you know--bromide is good, isn't it? Yes, Doctor Pecks, in London, tol

art was waiting for him, and Munks, the Mute, drove him back grimly the whole way. It was quite a relief getting into the cool fres