Force and Fraud (13 page)

“My dear Miss McAlpin,” replied her visitor in his mildest tone, “Mr O'Twig is but a medium of the law in this instance, and–”

“Don't talk to me, sir, of mediums of law, or any such nonsense!” interrupted Flora. “Somebody has thrown a suspicion against an innocent man, and I demand his instant release!”

Mr Lovelaw, who had often hinted that his wife's hysterics were very tiresome, now repented his injustice towards that injured female. What are
hysterics
compared to
such
passion?

At this juncture, Mr Silverton and Harry Saunders entered, both of whom thought almost that McAlpin lived again in his daughter.

The likeness between father and child had been observed by certain individuals; but were few as, in order to trace the resemblance, it was necessary to see Flora greatly excited; a most rare occurrence. Her usual appearance was calm as a summer lake, but was now wild as a stormy sea; and there she stood, her brow contracted, her nostrils dilated, and her chest heaving with passion. But, on perceiving Silverton, her manner changed and, approaching him, she asked if he had heard
of that infamous transaction.

He took her hands in his, and replied mournfully, “With the greatest regret; but I still hope he may establish his innocence.”

“You
hope! You,
his friend! And do you mean to say that you
doubt?
That you
dare
to doubt?”

“I do not doubt his innocence, Miss McAlpin, and trust that
the jury
may not at the trial.”

“The jury! The trial! Will it come to this?”

Mr Lovelaw here interposed, saying that he had come to break the intelligence to Miss McAlpin, but she was so excited that he could not explain.

“It is an infamous transaction!” she exclaimed. “Commit an honourable man to prison! But that insolent O'Twig shall pay dearly for this; and I request that you gentlemen will immediately affect the release of Mr Lindsey.”

“My dear Miss McAlpin,” replied Mr Lovelaw, “are you so ignorant of the law as to imagine that, in the present state of the case,
we
can do anything. Mr Lindsey must stand trial; when, as I trust, he will be honourably acquitted by a jury of his countrymen.”

“Yes, yes;
of that
I am sure; but
then
for revenge on his enemies!” The highland spirit her father flashed forth, and her listeners quailed beneath her fiery glance.

Mr Lovelaw thought he had better go, and
went.
Mr Silverton
stayed
and trembled; and Harry Saunders whispered, “Well, I thought those women at
The Southern Cross
could get into a passion, but
she
beats them all to pieces.”

 

“Has Miss McAlpin left her room, Margaret?” asked Mr Silverton of a maid-servant in the morning after the event recorded in the previous chapter.

“No, sir,” replied the girl; “but I think she is up, for the window is open.”

“I am very anxious about her; just knock at the door and enquire how she is, there's a good girl.”

Margaret was spared the trouble, as, at that moment. Miss McAlpin's voice was heard calling her. The girl obeyed the summons, and soon returned, saying to Mr Silverton, “Miss Flora seems very well, sir; she told me to take her a cup of coffee, and to say she would like to speak to you in the drawing-room, in a few minutes.”

Pierce Silverton, a good deal relieved from his anxiety, sent word that he would wait the convenience of Miss McAlpin, and turned towards the drawing-room, where he was soon followed by the young lady. Holding out her hand kindly, she said she wanted to speak on a matter of importance.

Mr Silverton offered his services; and Flora, motioning him to a chair, seated herself on the sofa, at the same time placing a large desk by her side.

Excepting that she was a little paler than usual, her countenance bore no trace of recent agitation. Pierce Silverton thought he detected a glance of pride in her eye; a tone of authority in her voice, as she said, “It will be necessary to take steps for the defence of Mr Lindsey without delay.”

“Yes, I intend calling on him to ask what counsel he will like.”

“He would propose Mr Argueville, I know. I have often heard Mr Lindsey speak favourably of that gentleman's talents.”

“Poor Lindsey! What message shall I take from you, Miss McAlpin? I will go to him in an hour or two.”

“Say that I am well; but I sent off Saunders with a letter to him at six o'clock this morning; and have since despatched a retaining fee to the barrister.”

“Already?”

“There is no time to lose. I hope you will obtain all the information in your power, Mr Silverton, which may lead to the detection of the real murderer.”

“I will do all I can to shield my friend.”

“His innocence will prove his shield, Mr Silverton.”

“God grant it!”

On Flora's countenance was written,
do not dare to doubt,
but she remained silent.

“Will you excuse a remark, Miss McAlpin?” asked Silverton.

“Yes; what is it?” was her careless reply.

“The world is ill-natured, and if you should appear
very
eager in the defence of your father's mur– of the person committed to await his trial for your father's murder, you will be exposed to censure.”

“If the world should suspect
him,
I can believe any other rumour, and despise those who listen to such.”

“But how will it look to employ the fortune your father left you in this manner? I am as anxious as yourself to establish the innocence of Lindsey, but the conduct we ought to pursue should be–”

“Straightforward;
nevertheless, my father's money shall not be spent in the defence of the man who is wrongfully accused. I have other means: the fortune left by my mother, and
that
cannot be better directed than in saving the life of the man she acknowledged as her friend; and as the future husband of her child.”

There was another pause. Then, Mr Silverton, gazing with admiration on Flora, said, “Although I respect your resolution, I would venture to suggest that this business should be left to your friends; the more so, that being a minor–”

Flora rose from her seat, and looking with determination at her companion, said, “Mr Silverton, I am legally mistress of my mother's property;
I was of age yesterday
!”

 

Pierce Silverton must either have fancied Flora to have been younger, or the time had slipped imperceptibly away, so he merely replied, “Indeed!”

“Yes,” she answered. “And this desk contains the certificate of my mother's marriage, as well as that of my birth. It was my father's desk,” she added, in a solemn tone, as she raised her eyes to heaven. “God knows that, in seeking to defend Herbert, I truly and religiously believe him innocent of the deed with which he is charged; my resolution is
fixed
.”

The desk was unlocked, and the two certificates discovered. Under the place where they lay, was a folded paper, which Flora opened and read. It was headed thus: “This is the last Will and Testament of me, Angus McAlpin.”

Flora was surprised, as her father had expressed great unwillingness to make a will, (but obstinate people are not always firm). She read on, and found that she was to be disinherited if she married Herbert Lindsey, and only to receive half her father's property
unless she married Pierce Silverton
.

The will, which was duly signed and witnessed, bore the date of some six months back.

Flora looked neither pleased nor angry; neither blushed nor turned pale, as Silverton read the document at the same time with herself.

“Dear Miss McAlpin, I beg you to believe that I was ignorant of
this
,” said Pierce in a soft low tone.

“I do not suppose that you knew anything of it, but it will make no difference to my proceedings; whatever it may do to my circumstances hereafter. Ah! I see papa has left you a legacy. I'm glad of that. What's the rest about? Churches or hospitals, or what? Papa didn't care much about building them. Well, I declare! Some old tumble-down place in Scotland!

“Those who like, may administer to the will. I have still my mother's property, which I shall spend as I choose. But won't you go to see Herbert? I shall not visit him
at present;
so you see I have some regard for appearances; but you may say that I am with him in spirit; that my heart and soul are his, and he
shall be acquitted.”

So saying, Flora retired, leaving the will in the possession of Pierce Silverton. He scarcely seemed to heed it, although the legacy left him was something considerable, for he muttered to himself, “It is valueless without her.”

Then burying his face between his hands, a few tears trickled between his thin white fingers. Half an hour later he left the house, telling the maidservant to inform her mistress that he had gone to visit Mr Lindsey.

And now we must pause to ask: what were the sentiments that Flora and Pierce entertained for each other? Some time before the arrival of Miss McAlpin in the colony, Mr Silverton had acted as her father's agent, occasionally residing in Melbourne, but quite as often at Mount Alpin; and thus when she came he was frequently thrown into her society. She was glad of this, his manners being agreeable, and his conversation greatly superior to that of most persons in the neighbourhood. He was her chief companion, for there was not another station within twenty miles – the township itself being at least half that distance from her father's house. Therefore, without the society of Mr Silverton, Flora would have felt almost isolated. It was
Pierce
who accompanied her on horseback through the tangled forest and over the lonely plain;
Pierce
who planted her garden with luxuriant flowers, and
Pierce
who read poetry or played the flute whilst she sat at work.

Always dangerous is this unreserved intimacy between a young man and a beautiful girl, but in this instance
he
was the only sufferer; for, if he did not actually fall in love at first sight, a very short period had elapsed after the arrival of Flora ere Pierce Silverton felt that he scarcely existed but in her presence.

Perhaps, with woman's clear sightedness, she perceived the impression she had made, and to prevent an avowal on his part, with the consequent refusal on hers, she told him of the engagement existing between herself and Herbert Lindsey.

Notwithstanding her resolution to fulfil this contract, Flora felt most intensely pained, that, in order to do so, she must disobey her father; and Pierce Silverton, conscious of the moral struggle, sometimes thought that filial duty might ultimately vanquish love.

The two young men occasionally met in Melbourne, as well as in the little township to which we have referred; they had also been slightly acquainted in England – a circumstance that generally leads to a close intimacy when the parties again meet so far from their native land. The position of Pierce Silverton, as confidant, was one of extreme delicacy; he could neither tear himself away from Flora, nor cease to love her; and to
love
is, with some persons, to
hope.
It is true that he saw no indication of inconstancy in her character, but he knew that she was friendly disposed towards himself, and having obtained the goodwill of the father, he fancied that the daughter might hereafter be won.

Why
McAlpin became induced to select his agent for his son-in-law may appear somewhat strange, as he could easily have found a more ambitious alliance. But McAlpin, although invested with great ideas of his own importance, was not exactly an ambitious man, and perhaps, on account of that very self-importance, he imagined that nothing could add to the dignity of a McAlpin. But he liked
power
in his youth he had been at the head of his clan – commanding and hectoring all his kin; and he was resolved never to call that man his son-in-law who would not submit to be commanded and hectored too.

To such treatment the free spirit of Herbert Lindsey would not long submit, although the pliant disposition of Pierce Silverton yielded, or affected to do so; but not always without an attempt at insubordination – just as a vassal in the feudal times might rebel against his tyrannical liege. A relic of the feudal ages indeed was Angus McAlpin, and although merely the owner of a station in one of the youngest lands of the New World, he was as arbitrary as if he had been a Kaiser of old, commanding some half score of petty princes. And to one of
these
Pierce may rather be likened, than to a vassal as, instead of defying his lord, he murmured, and – we shall see what else.

Fancy might also trace another resemblance to ancient usages in McAlpin's treatment of his daughter, whom he loved in a peculiar way. And though he could not institute tournaments in her honour, he got up highland sports and, moreover, bought her everything the colony could produce, or the mother country export; in short, allowing her every indulgence, save that of being happy in her own way.

But, although he forbade her marriage with Lindsey, he had not thought it necessary to inform her that he had planned her union with someone else.

It is evident that the inmates of Mount Alpin did not at all times live in the most perfect harmony, though the young people sympathised with each other whenever their tyrant was more than usually stern. If a letter from Herbert had been intercepted, Silverton pleaded for Flora's forgiveness; and when the bush fires had been prevalent, or the wool sales not gone off well, and the unreasonable squatter vented his anger on his agent, Flora would say, “Dear papa, it is not
his
fault.”

Since the death of McAlpin, though Silverton had been prevented from seeing Flora on account of her illness, he had surrounded her with numerous attentions, and she was now sure that he would assist her in the present difficulty. Perhaps she thought he might have been more enthusiastic in the cause of Herbert Lindsey, but the character of Silverton was not so much of an
enthusiastic
as of a
reflective
turn.