The Markenmore Mystery/Chapter 16

Early in the morning of that day, Mr. Fransemmery, in common with the rest of the Markenmore people, heard of the strange disappearance of Baron von Eckhardstein, and like many of them, he joined in a search for the missing man. Since his coming to The Warren, Mr. Fransemmery had become minutely acquainted with his immediate surroundings, and he knew of many nooks and corners of the woods and downs wherein a stranger might easily have met with an accident. There were queer places in that neighbourhood; two thousand years ago, the folk who were here before the Romans had quarried the hill-sides, scooped out caves and pit-dwellings, and made long lines of fortifications and trenches. These primeval works, grown over in course of time, were danger-traps for the unwary who wandered through the backwoods or crossed the rough, unfrequented parts of the uplands; more than once, in Mr. Fransemmery's short experience of Markenmore, he had known of man or horse falling into some unexpected cavity. Some such accident as this he conceived to have been possible in the present instance, and when he heard of von Eckhardstein's disappearance, he took his stoutest walking-stick, some lunch in his pocket, and a small flask of brandy and water, and set out to prospect. In the course of the day he met many folk who were similarly engaged. Mrs. Tretheroe was so much concerned about the fate of her guest, and so convinced that evil had befallen him, that she had pressed into service every villager who could be spared from his proper and usual labours, and had offered a handsome reward for success. But when eventide came again, and Mr. Fransemmery, weary with tramping up hill and down dale, returned to his own fireside, no success had materialized; Baron von Eckhardstein, as far as Markenmore folk were concerned, had vanished.

Mr. Fransemmery sat down to his solitary dinner, puzzled and wondering. He had thought of little else than the Markenmore problem since it was first presented to him, and the more he thought, the more he was bewildered. He had listened with care and patience, and, he hoped, with understanding, to the evidence put before himself and his fellow-jurymen, and he was bound to confess that he had made little out of it. What seemed to him much the most important fact of that evidence was the affair of the briar-wood pipe. There was no doubt that that pipe had been left on the supper-table at the Sceptre by one of the two men who were there with Guy Markenmore. There was no doubt that Grimsdale produced it at the inquest, passed it round, and left it lying on the table; there was no doubt—none whatever—that it was abstracted from that table between the moment of adjoining and the moment wherein the officious newspaper reporter asked to see it. What was to be deduced from that? In Mr. Fransemmery's opinion one certain conclusion—the owner of that pipe, the man who had left it at the Sceptre, was present at the inquest, and had kept silence. Who was he? Mr. Fransemmery had asked himself that question a hundred times, and got no answer. He was unaware of Blick's doings and discoveries, and had only his own knowledge to go on. But he felt sure of one thing—the owner of the pipe had purloined it from the solicitors' table of the temporary court in the old dining-hall so that it could not be used in evidence against him. Once more—who was he?

Mr. Fransemmery was still puzzling about this and various other collateral questions when his bachelor dinner came to its end. He rose from his chair and meditated a little; then, remembering that he had had a very hard and trying day, he went to his modest cellar, found a bottle of his best good old port, and carefully decanting it, carried the decanter and a brightly polished glass or two into his library. With bis slippered feet on the padded fender-rail, the decanter of port at his elbow, and a cheery fire of beech-logs in front of him, Mr. Fransemmery proceeded to do more thinking. But he had not followed his train of thought very far when his trim parlourmaid entered to his presence, and informed him that Mr. Harborough was in the hall, and would be obliged if Mr. Fransemmery would see him for a few minutes.

Mr. Fransemmery rose from his deep chair with alacrity. He had never had speech with Harborough before the occasion on which they met at Markenmore Court on the morning of the murder, but he knew all about him as the wealthy owner of Greycloister; he regarded him as a wrongly accused man, and he was sorry that his home-coming should have been marred by so much unpleasantness. Moreover, Mr. Fransemmery was the sort of man who is always glad of a chat with anybody—and just now, in spite of the Coroner's admonition to him and his fellow-jurymen, he felt that he had plenty to talk about. He accordingly hastened into the hall with open hand and welcoming smile.

"Hope I am not disturbing you?" said Harborough, as his host led him into the cosy library. "An odd time to call—but I had a reason."

"My dear sir, I am only too delighted!" exclaimed Mr. Fransemmery hospitably. "Try that chair—and a glass of my port. I can recommend both."

"You are very good," responded Harborough. "I'm no great judge of wines," he added, taking the glass which his host handed him with old-fashioned courtesy, "and as to easy-chairs, I haven't had much acquaintance with them of late years—a camp-stool has been more in my line, Mr. Fransemmery! Well," he continued, as Mr. Fransemmery resumed his own seat, "I came to ask your advice about something; I rather formed the opinion, when I met you the other day, that you were the most likely man round here to take a common-sense view of things."

"Flattered, I'm sure!" said Mr. Fransemmery. "I hope I am a common-sense person."

"Well, you know what I mean," observed Harborough. "You're not likely to let local prejudices and gossip affect you. Now, I want to ask your advice—as I said just now. Tomorrow, Sir Anthony and his elder son are to be buried in Markenmore churchyard. I, of course, have known the Markenmore family ever since I knew anything. Guy Markenmore and I were close friends as boys and young men, until the estrangement happened, of which you heard the other day. Now, do you think it would be proper if I attended the funeral—having regard to present circumstances?"

Mr. Fransemmery fell into a naturally judicial attitude. His face became thoughtful, and, at first, a little doubtful. But suddenly it cleared.

"My dear sir!" he said. "It is, I believe, within my recollection that, when you were giving evidence before myself and my fellow-jurymen the other morning, you said, clearly, plainly distinctly, without any apparent mental reserve that your one-time feeling of anger and resentment against the late Guy Markenmore had completely died out years ago, and that, had you met him again, you would have offered him your hand. Am I right?"

"Quite!" replied Harborough. "On all points."

"Then I see no reason why you should not attend the funeral ceremonies," said Mr. Fransemmery. "None!"

"Well—one's got to remember that there are people—close at hand—who believe I killed Guy Markenmore," said Harborough.

"Um!" remarked Mr. Fransemmery dryly. "But—are there? I mean—seriously?"

"Mrs. Tretheroe—and her following," suggested Harborough.

"Has she any following?" asked Mr. Fransemmery, more dryly. "And as for herself—temper, my dear sir, temper! I don't believe the woman thinks anything of the sort, if you could really get at her mind—if she has one."

"I think she did—at first," said Harborough, after a moment's reflection. "Natural, perhaps."

"Natural, perhaps, if one is foolish enough to believe that people cherish resentment indefinitely," said Mr. Fransemmery. "She must know that her accusation was ridiculous! I do not think I should attach the slightest importance to Mrs. Tretheroe's opinion. But," he added, as if struck by a sudden happy thought, "I know what I should do!—I should just ask the two young people at Markenmore Court what their wishes are. My opinion is that they would be glad of your presence."

"Hadn't thought of that," said Harborough. "Bit slow, I think. I'm sorry enough for them, God knows! And I think they know that whatever I once felt about their brother I—well, I got over it long since."

Mr. Fransemmery gave his visitor a keen, sidelong glance. "I suppose Guy Markenmore really did treat you badly?" he suggested.

"Yes!" answered Harborough, with simple directness. "But—I've forgotten it. And—not all his fault, either. As I say—I've forgotten it."

"Queer business, this murder!" remarked Mr. Fransemmery. "And now here's a second mystery. You've heard, of course, about this Baron von Eckhardstein?"

"No," replied Harborough. "I've heard nothing. I've been away from Greycloister since very early this morning until just now—came straight to see you as soon as I got back. What about von Eckhardstein?"

"Disappeared!" exclaimed Mr. Fransemmery. "Last night. Clean gone!—no one knows where." He proceeded to give his guest a circumstantial account of the day's doings, and of his own share in them. "What do you think of that?" he asked in conclusion. "Odd, isn't it?"

"The whole affair's odd," asserted Harborough. "It looks to me as if—but, really, I think that's impossible!"

"What's impossible?" demanded Mr. Fransemmery.

"Well, I was thinking—I was going to say—it almost looks as though this might be a second murder!" answered Harborough diffidently. "I've been wondering—but, as I said, I'm a bit slow at the thinking game, sometimes—if von Eckhardstein wasn't the man who turned up at the Sceptre at two o'clock in the morning?" In that case"

Mr. Fransemmery started.

"Ah!" he said. "When you came in, I was just getting to some such conclusion myself! If he was that man, then that accounts for something else. But—supposing he was—you were going to say."

"I was going to say that in that case, it looks as if he and Guy Markenmore had been mixed up in business matters," replied Harborough. "And if so, business matters—some big money deal—may be at the bottom of this. For instance, somebody may have wanted to get rid of both of 'em? Heard of cases of that sort myself—not in this country, though."

"It may be, it may be!" assented Mr. Fransemmery. "The whole thing is a mystery which seems difficult of solution, and"

What more Mr. Fransemmery was going to say was never said. At that moment the door opened, the trim parlour-maid murmured something indistinctly, stepped aside, vanished, and gave place to Valencia Markenmore, who came into the room so rapidly that she failed to see Harborough, whose tall figure was hidden from her by a screen.

"Oh, Mr. Fransemmery!" she exclaimed, as she entered. "Do forgive me for rushing in on you so unceremoniously, but I'm in an awful lot of trouble, and I want your help, and—oh!"

She had rounded the screen by that time, and had caught sight of Harborough. Harborough got to his feet, looking uncertain and awkward.

"I'll go!" he said.

"No, indeed!" protested Valencia. "Not a bit of it—I'd—I'd just as soon tell you as Mr. Fransemmery—I'll tell you both. You're men—you'll know what to do."

Mr. Fransemmery signed to Harborough to stay where he was and drew a chair forward to the hearth.

"What is it, my dear?" he enquired, as Valencia seated herself. "Anything that we can do, I am quite sure will be done—if it's within our power."

"I don't know that it's in anybody's power to do," answered Valencia. "Nothing, I should think! The thing's done, and can't be undone!"

"And what is done?" asked Mr. Fransemmery softly.

Valencia looked from one man to the other. Each was watching her attentively; each saw that she was somewhat excited and vexed, and probably angry.

"I may as well blurt it straight out!" she said suddenly. "My brother Harry is married to Poppy Wrenne!"

Again she glanced at the two men—this time enquiringly. Harborough became Sphinx-like expression; Mr. Fransemmery took off his spectacles and began to polish them.

"Um!" he said, in still softer accents. "A secret marriage?"

"Of course!" exclaimed Valencia. "Three months ago—in London."

"And known, until now, to nobody?" enquired Mr. Fransemmery.

"Yes, it was known!" said Valencia. "It was known to Mrs. Braxfield!"

"The bride's mother!" remarked Mr. Fransemmery slowly. "Dear me! Really! And so—Poppy Wrenne is really Lady Markenmore?"

"Of course!" snapped Valencia.

"There's no doubt about the marriage?—its legality, I mean?" asked Mr. Fransemmery.

"None!" declared Valencia, as curtly as before, "whatever!"

Mr. Fransemmery remained silent a moment. Then he looked past Valencia, towards Harborough. Harborough, rubbing his chin, stared at the fire. Mr. Fransemmery turned to Valencia.

"And what is the trouble?" he enquired. "As you say, my dear, since the thing is done—why, it is done!"

"The trouble's this, Mr. Fransemmery," replied Valencia. "Harry came and told me this an hour ago. He said that he and Poppy Wrenne had been in love with each other ever since she left that boarding-school that her mother sent her to, and lately Mrs. Braxfield had been in the secret, and she had consented, not only to their engagement, but to their marriage in London, when Poppy was staying there three months since. It was when Harry went up to town for a holiday—he was away quite a month. Well, now—now that things are as they are—you both know what I mean—Mrs. Braxfield insists that the time has come for this to be made public; she insists that her daughter shall take her rightful place at—at the funeral tomorrow, as Lady Markenmore, and she has threatened Harry that unless this is done, she will—well, I suppose she'll make a scene!"

"And—your brother?" asked Mr. Fransemmery. "What does he say?"

"He would rather have postponed it until the funeral is over," replied Valencia. "Then he was going to announce it, in due form. But Mrs. Braxfield is adamant—he's seen her twice today, and she won't budge an inch! She insists that Lady Markenmore should be in her rightful place tomorrow—to be seen and known as Lady Markenmore by everybody."

Mr. Fransemmery caught his other guest's eye.

"What do you say, Harborough?" he asked.

Harborough, conscious of Valencia's sudden gaze in his direction, flushed under his brown skin.

"I—er—oh, well, I—don't think I'm much of a hand at advising in these matters," he said shyly. "I—er—don't know much about 'em, don't you know. But—er—it seems to me that it might be—I might ask, eh?—What does the young lady—Lady Markenmore—say about it?"

"Good!" muttered Mr. Fransemmery. "Excellent! Now, my dear, what does Lady Markenmore say about it?"

"Lady Markenmore, who isn't at home, but who's arriving there late tonight, writes that she would infinitely prefer to do precisely what her husband prefers and proposes to do," replied Valencia. "She agrees entirely with Harry—but as far as I can gather, Mrs. Braxfield is the sort of person who will either have her own way or make things very disagreeable if she doesn't get it! That's the situation—and don't you think, Mr. Fransemmery, that as you know all of us, you might see Mrs. Braxfield, tonight, and persuade her to listen to reason? I don 't want any scenes tomorrow."

"I will go!" said Mr. Fransemmery. "I will talk to Mrs. Braxfield. But—do I understand that your brother's intention"

"Harry's intention is to announce his marriage as soon as the funeral is over," said Valencia. "I am not going to the church—there will only be men there. When they come back to the house, there will be some legal formalities—my father's will, and so on. Mr. Chilford will be there, and others, kinsfolk, you know. He will make the announcement then."

"I will go and see Mrs. Braxfield at once," said Mr. Fransemmery. "Whether I have sufficient influence with the good lady to move her to accede to your proposition, my dear, I do not know, but I will do my utmost. But you," he continued, as all three went out into the hall, where he took down his over coat and cap, "you, my dear, cannot go back across the park alone! Harborough?"

"All right, sir," said Harborough quietly. "I'm going with her."

"Thank you—both," murmured Valencia. "Not that I'm afraid of crossing the park by myself, though."

Mr. Fransemmery opened his front door, went along a path in his garden, and whistled.

The two people behind him heard a rustle; then the rattling of a chain.

"My dog!" said Mr. Fransemmery. "I never go out at night without him. Down, Tinker!—I call him Tinker," he continued, "because I bought him, as a pup, from a disreputable fellow who came round here mending pots and pans."

"What is he?" asked Valencia. "A mongrel? of sorts?"

"No," replied Mr. Fransemmery. "He's a pure bred Airedale—the finest breed in the world for—shall we say?—police purposes. That's what I bought him for. This is a lonely situation—and we have queer folk round here sometimes."

At the gate of Mr. Fransemmery's garden the three separated; the two younger people went away across the hill-side and the park in the direction of Markenmore Court; Mr. Fransemmery took the nearest route to Woodland Cottage, his dog running a little in front of him. The dusk had come long since; the skies were dark; Mr. Fransemmery, who had gained much knowledge of weather since taking up his residence in the country, fancied that there would be rain before morning. And it was dark on the surface of the land, and in Deep Lane, into which he presently descended, it was black as a winter midnight. Down there, in the few yards which he had to traverse before climbing the opposite bank, Mr. Fransemmery's Airedale terrier left him; presently he heard him whimper amongst the thick bushes.

"Rabbits!" said Mr. Fransemmery. "Come away for this time, Tinker!"

The terrier came back, still whining, and obviously restless and unwilling. He behaved as if he wished to return to the spot he had just left, but his master called him to heel, and went forward. Just then Mr. Fransemmery's thoughts were not of rabbit-warrens and eager dogs—they were of the unexpected revelation which Valencia Markenmore had made to him, and of his coming interview with that capable and masterful woman, Mrs. Braxfield.