England -- Fiction; Mystery fiction; Trials (Murder) -- Fiction
"Good-by," said Jen, and as the door closed behind the doctor he
muttered, "and may the devil go with you, for a greater scoundrel does
not exist."
Later on in the day Jen sent a letter to "The Wigwam," asking Mrs.
Dallas to come with her daughter the next morning at eleven o'clock.
He did not explain that Dr. Etwald would be present, as he knew the
temper of Mrs. Dallas. Whatever might be at stake, even if it was to
her own interest, she would refuse to meet the man toward whom she
bore so strong a hatred. Therefore, Jen decided to be diplomatic, and
keep silent as to the visit of Etwald. During the afternoon a note was
brought to Jen, in which Mrs. Dallas promised to come and to bring
Isabella.
"Very good," said Jen to himself. "That matter is settled, and
Etwald--confound him!--will obtain his desire. I wonder what he wants
to see us all about."
In spite of all his conjecturing, the major found himself unable to
answer this question. Therefore, like a wise man, he possessed himself
in patience until the next morning. Most of the night he passed in the
room where poor David was laid out, for he was determined that this
time the body should not be stolen. As he pondered during the long and
silent hours, he reflected that he had lost the opportunity of forcing
Dr. Etwald to say what he had done with the body of Maurice. It had
not been found in his house, and, notwithstanding all questioning,
Etwald--with his changeless smile--had refused to state where it was.
"I should have wrung the truth from the villain to-day," thought Jen,
as he paced the room. "But to-morrow! To-morrow! He shan't leave this
house until he confesses what he has done with the remains of my poor
boy. Ghoul that he is, wretch and scoundrel."
Toward the morning Jen slept for an hour or so, and when he rose and
had taken his bath he felt much refreshed, and ready to face Etwald at
this final interview. At eleven o'clock Mrs. Dallas arrived with
Isabella, the latter looking wan and ill. Even had the major not
promised to be silent, he could not have brought himself to tell the
poor girl the truth at that moment. After all, she was perfectly
innocent, and had committed the crime unwittingly. Dido was the
culprit, not Isabella; and the major felt a profound pity for the
miserable girl, who had been made a tool of by the unscrupulous
negress and the evil-minded Etwald.
"Well, major," said Mrs. Dallas, after the first greetings were over,
"what did that wicked man say to you yesterday?"
"He explained how my poor Maurice was killed."
"Ah," said Isabella, clasping her hands, "I am sure that it was that
terrible man who made David kill Maurice. Oh, if I had only met
Maurice on that night, I might have prevented the quarrel."
"Did you not meet Maurice, my dear?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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