Detective and mystery stories; English fiction -- 19th century
On the morning of the day succeeding that on the evening of which
he had become convinced of Rosalie's identity, we find Baron R** at
Doctors' Commons inquiring into the particulars (II., 5.) of a will
by which the sum of 25,000_l_. had been bequeathed, under certain
conditions, to the children of Lady Boleton. Under the provisions of
this will, the girl Rosalie was, after her sister and Mr. Anderton, the
heir to this legacy. We need, I think, have no difficulty in connecting
the acquisition of this intelligence with the steps by which it was
immediately followed. Mr. Anderton at once received an intimation of
the Baron's approaching departure for the continent, and at the end
of the third week from that time leave was taken, and he apparently
started upon his journey. In point of fact, however, his plans were of
a very different character. During the three weeks which intervened
between his visit to Doctors' Commons and his farewell to Mr. Anderton,
there had been advertised in the parish church of Kensington the banns
of marriage between himself and his "medium," Rosalie,--not, indeed,
in the names by which they were ordinarily known, and which would very
probably have excited attention, but in the family name--if so it
be--of the Baron and in that by which Rosalie was originally known when
with the travelling circus. By what means he prevailed upon his victim
to consent to such a step is not important to the matter in hand. The
general tenour of the subsequent evidence shows clearly that it must
have been under some form of compulsion, and, indeed, the unfortunate
girl seems to have been made by some means altogether subservient to
his will.
The marriage thus secretly effected, the Baron and his wife leave town,
not for the continent, as stated to Mr. Anderton, but for Bognor, an
out-of-the-way little watering-place on the Sussex coast, deserted save
for the week of the Goodwood races, where, at that time of the year,
he was not likely to meet with any one to whom he was known. Before
endeavouring to investigate the motive of all this mystery, it is
necessary to bear in mind one important fact:--
_Between the wife of Baron R** and Mr. Wilson's legacy of_ 25,000_l_.,
_the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Anderton now alone intervened._
The first few days of the Baron's stay in Bognor seem to have been
devoted to the search for a servant, he having insisted on the unusual
arrangement of himself providing one in the house where he lodged. It
is worthy of note that the one finally selected was in a position,
with respect to character, that placed her entirely in her master's
power. It is unfortunate that this same defect of character necessarily
lessens the value of evidence from such a source. We must, however,
take it for what it is worth, remembering at the same time, that there
is a total absence of any apparent motive, save that of telling the
truth, for the statement she has made.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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