"I was careful to make no discovery, till I thought they would be safe on board the Calais boat. Once landed safely in England, and steaming to London, it would be next to impossible to track them. In London, they drove to the Great Northern, and thence, late in the evening, to the South-Western; from that to a lady's school at Clapham, kept by a cousin of Mrs. Kellett's, where Elsie was to go as a teacher without salary.
"I made up my mind to do without letters for months; only one I must have, to say she was safe; that was sent to a false name at Marseilles, where I journeyed to get it. I had given Mrs. Kellett a certain set of advertisements to be inserted week after week in the Daily News, on Wednesdays and Fridays, which informed me that all was well; and one which was only to be inserted if my presence was required,—a danger signal, in fact. I knew the shrewd devils I had to deal with; the money power that Deering wielded. Nothing gave me a chance but the eight or nine hours' start before the police were on the track.
"So I waited and waited, never writing to England except to Mrs. Kellett now and again, letters composed for inspection; never remitting money; waiting, watching for a chance of seeming to go back to America; really, of joining my jewel, and I found it at last; but there, I can't say another word. If it hadn't been for this unlucky illness, we'd have been on our way to Australia. There, give me some more."
He lay back profoundly exhausted. Glynn held the glass to his lips, while he exchanged a look of wonder and sympathy with Lady Gethin.
[CHAPTER X.]
A TRUE LOVER'S KNOT.
Lambert's hearers were silent for a few minutes. Both perceived the danger and difficulty of his situation. If Deering stuck to his text, and could trust Vincent to show equal pertinacity, all probabilities were on the side of the man of high character, fortune, and position.
Lady Gethin and Glynn might believe his story, from the internal evidence of sympathy and sentiment, but to the legal mind that would not be worth a straw.
If Deering chose, he might obtain Lambert's condemnation as a robber and murderer, and purchase revenge by the sacrifice of his estate. Thus a blow—a fatal blow—would be dealt to Elsie, whose tender, faithful nature would suffer intensely from the shock of such knowledge.
To Glynn there seemed but one means of security to both—one he was most ready to adopt. As his wife, Elsie would be out of Deering's reach, and with such a champion of her rights, he could not hope to make very favorable terms; still, for character's sake, he was almost bound to support his assertions should a whisper of them reach any ears save Vincent's and Lambert's. While he thought, Lambert seemed to revive.