Once more his eyes dropped before mine.
'Does Mrs Parley know what you have done?' I inquired.
'She shall know,' he answered loudly, almost insolently, 'when I return home.'
'I am obliged to you for coming here, Mr Parley. Don't let me detain you any longer.'
'Does that mean, sir, that you disapprove of what I have done?'
'I pronounce no opinion.'
'Does it mean that you doubt the governess's character?'
'It means that I regret having troubled you to come here -- and that I have no more to say.'
He walked to the door -- opened it -- hesitated -- and came back to me.
'I ask your pardon, sir, if I have been in any way rough in speaking to you. You will understand perhaps that I am a little troubled in my mind.' He considered with himself, and took from his pocket the snuff-box to which his wife had alluded. 'I've given up the habit, sir, of taking snuff. It's slovenly, and -- and not good for the health. But I don't feel the less honoured by your gift. I shall prize it gratefully, as long as I live.'
He turned his head away -- but not quickly enough to hide the tears that filled his eyes. For a moment all that was best and truest in the nature of Benjamin Parley had forced its way to expression. But the devil in possession of him was not to be cast out. He became basely ashamed of the good impulse that did him honour. 'The sun is very bright this morning,' he muttered confusedly; 'my eyes are rather weak, sir. I wish you good morning.'
IV Left by myself I rang the bell, and gave the servant his instructions. If Mr or Mrs Parley called again at the house they were to be told that I was not able to see them.
Was this a harsh act on my part? Let us look the matter fairly in the face and see.
It is possible that some persons, not having had my experience of the worst aspects of human nature, might have been inclined to attribute Mrs Parley's suspicions to her jealous temper, and might have been not unwilling to believe that her husband had engaged a governess for his children in perfect good faith. No such merciful view of the matter presented itself to my mind. Nothing could be plainer to me than that Parley was an instrument in the hands of a bold and wicked woman; who had induced him, for reasons of her own, to commit an act which was nothing less than an outrage on his wife. To what purpose could I interfere? The one person who could help poor Mrs Parley must be armed with the authority of a relation. And, even in this case, what good result could be anticipated if the woman played her part as governess discreetly, and if Parley held firm? A more hopeless domestic prospect, so far, had never presented itself to my view. It vexed and humiliated me to find myself waiting helplessly for events. What else could I do?
On the next day Mrs Parley called, and the servant followed his instructions.
On the day after (with the pardonable pertinacity of a woman in despair), she wrote to me.
The letter has been long since destroyed; but the substance of it remains in my memory. It informed me that the governess was actually established in the house; and described her, it is needless to say, as the most shameless wretch that had ever breathed the breath of life. Asked if he had obtained a reference to her character, Parley had replied that he was old enough to know how to engage a governess: that he refused to answer impertinent questions; and that he had instructed 'Miss Beaumont' (this was the lady's well-sounding name) to follow his example. She had already contrived to steal her way into the confidence of her two innocent pupils, and to produce a favourable impression on a visitor who had called at the house that morning. In one word, Mrs Parley's position was, on her own showing, beyond the reach of help. As I had anticipated, the false governess played her part with discretion, and the infatuated husband asserted his authority.
Ten days later, I happened to be driving through the suburb of our city, and I discovered Mrs Parley in close conversation with one of the younger members of the detective police force, named Butler. They were walking slowly along a retired path which led out of the high-road; so interested apparently in what they had to say to each other that they failed to notice me, though I passed close by them.
The next morning Butler presented himself at my office, and asked leave to speak to me. Being busy that day, I sent a message back, inquiring if the matter was of any importance. The answer was, 'Of most serious importance.' He was immediately admitted to my private room.
V The little I had heard of this young police officer represented him to be 'a rising man,' resolute and clever, and not very scrupulous in finding his way to his own ends. 'Thoroughly useful, but wants looking after.' There was the superintendent's brief description of Mr Butler.
I warned him at the outset that I had but little time to spare. 'Say what is necessary, but put it in few words. What is your business with me?'
'My business relates, sir, to something that has happened in the house of Benjamin Parley.