Rollo’s voice became gloomier still.
“And in front of us, always, there was the risk of an inevitable exposure. We had to avoid the Government valuers in the matter of Death Duties. We could do that only by transferring the Talisman from hand to hand. My father made it over to me when I was twenty-one; I gave it to Eric when he came of age. It has never been subject to Death Duties yet. But there is always the chance of accident. If Eric died before me the whole thing would have been exposed when they came to value his estate. That possible Nemesis has been imminent for the holders of the Talisman.”
He seemed to brood for a time on his retrospect. When he spoke again, both his voice and manner had altered. It was as if at last he had emerged from the shadows.
“And now, after a century of deceit, we’ve come out into the light again, thanks to you both! And to think that the Talisman was here all the time, within the walls of Friocksheim. Of course we had puzzled over the Corinthian’s cypher; but we’d never taken it seriously, because we believed all along that he had sold the armlet and the jewellery. It never occurred to any of us that the thing was within our grasp, under our very roof. Even his own man of affairs believed that, and it never crossed our minds that anything else could have happened.”
“I think it was very natural,” said Eileen.
Westenhanger made no comment. He had been touched, like the girl, by the story of the Dangerfield Secret as it was now revealed. By his candid narrative old Rollo had enlisted their sympathy without having directly besought it from them; and they could understand the feelings which his position had stirred in him through fifty long years.
“No wonder he often looked as if he’d grown sick of life,” was the younger man’s unspoken comment.
“Well, it’s all right now, isn’t it?” he said aloud. “The Talisman’s come back for the last time.”
Eileen broke in, before the old man could reply.
“You’ve no idea how glad I am that we are able to help, Mr. Dangerfield. Less than a week ago, I felt that Friocksheim was a place I’d never want to visit again; it had such miserable associations in my mind, in more ways than one. But now, somehow, it’s all different. We can all be happy here; there’s nothing hanging over any of us any more. You understand, don’t you?”