It had been his design to kill his brother secretly, and this he had attempted during the battle related in one of the foregoing chapters. For could he but remove Edgar from his path, the immense estate which he owned in England would, by the conditions of the father’s will, be inherited by himself.
However, after this should be accomplished, there was still another object he had in view, and that was to obtain the hand of Imogene Lear. It was she who had first innocently caused the feud between the two brothers.
Maurice had sought her hand when both families resided in England, but had been rejected and his brother accepted. Upon seeing himself thus supplanted by his brother Edgar in the affections of one whom he loved so passionately, his rage was unbounded, and the anger that rankled in his heart soon grew into virulent hatred, which was appeased only by deeds of bloodshed.
He had intended, therefore, after the death of Edgar to stigmatize him by casting upon his memory the odious name of Iron Hand, which he himself possessed, and thus he hoped that when his brother should have been proved a British spy and a murderer, that Imogene would renounce him.
He, in the mean time, would return to England, and after having possessed himself of the inheritance, would again sue for her hand.
Seeing how signally he had failed in both his attempt to slay Captain Sherwood and in his effort to decoy Imogene to his power by the aid of the forged letter which he had pretended to be from her betrothed, Iron Hand determined to secure her by force, and for that purpose had selected three of his band, together with Hank Putney, who at the time was serving him in the American garrison in the capacity of a spy, as their leader, while he himself assumed the role of the old man to assist in the undertaking.
It was while in this guise that he met Imogene on her return to her father’s house, and whispered those words that caused her to start back with such a look of horror and disgust. He intimated to her his knowledge of Maurice Sherwood’s whereabouts, and had proposed, as Edgar was then accused of being a traitor, to restore amicable relations between them.
Had she accepted his offer, he would have then and there revealed to her his true character, and afterward trusted to his natural tact for a reconciliation; but her answer taught him how thoroughly he was detested, and from that moment he desperately resolved to carry out his plans to the bitter end.
When Edgar Sherwood had first been arrested, he had half-suspected that it was his twin-brother Maurice who was at the bottom of the mystery, and it was to ascertain if his suspicions were correct that he had dispatched his faithful friend, War-Cloud, on his secret mission, which was so fruitful in its results, and which had succeeded in saving from an ignominious death one of America’s noblest sons, and in bringing to justice the guilty.