CHAPTER XXVI--FACE TO FACE
Mimi was greatly distressed when she saw her cousin lying prone.
She had a few times in her life seen Lilla on the verge of fainting,
but never senseless; and now she was frightened. She threw herself
on her knees beside Lilla, and tried, by rubbing her hands and other
measures commonly known, to restore her. But all her efforts were
unavailing. Lilla still lay white and senseless. In fact, each
moment she looked worse; her breast, that had been heaving with the
stress, became still, and the pallor of her face grew like marble.
At these succeeding changes Mimi's fright grew, till it altogether
mastered her. She succeeded in controlling herself only to the
extent that she did not scream.
Lady Arabella had followed Caswall, when he had recovered
sufficiently to get up and walk--though stumblingly--in the
direction of Castra Regis. When Mimi was quite alone with Lilla and
the need for effort had ceased, she felt weak and trembled. In her
own mind, she attributed it to a sudden change in the weather--it
was momentarily becoming apparent that a storm was coming on.
She raised Lilla's head and laid it on her warm young breast, but
all in vain. The cold of the white features thrilled through her,
and she utterly collapsed when it was borne in on her that Lilla had
passed away.
The dusk gradually deepened and the shades of evening closed in, but
Mimi did not seem to notice or to care. She sat on the floor with
her arms round the body of the girl whom she loved. Darker and
blacker grew the sky as the coming storm and the closing night
joined forces. Still she sat on--alone--tearless--unable to think.
Mimi did not know how long she sat there. Though it seemed to her
that ages had passed, it could not have been more than half-an-hour.
She suddenly came to herself, and was surprised to find that her
grandfather had not returned. For a while she lay quiet, thinking
of the immediate past. Lilla's hand was still in hers, and to her
surprise it was still warm. Somehow this helped her consciousness,
and without any special act of will she stood up. She lit a lamp
and looked at her cousin. There was no doubt that Lilla was dead;
but when the lamp-light fell on her eyes, they seemed to look at
Mimi with intent--with meaning. In this state of dark isolation a
new resolution came to her, and grew and grew until it became a
fixed definite purpose. She would face Caswall and call him to
account for his murder of Lilla--that was what she called it to
herself. She would also take steps--she knew not what or how--to
avenge the part taken by Lady Arabella.
In this frame of mind she lit all the lamps in the room, got water
and linen from her room, and set about the decent ordering of
Lilla's body. This took some time; but when it was finished, she
put on her hat and cloak, put out the lights, and set out quietly
for Castra Regis.
As Mimi drew near the Castle, she saw no lights except those in and
around the tower room. The lights showed her that Mr. Caswall was
there, so she entered by the hall door, which as usual was open, and
felt her way in the darkness up the staircase to the lobby of the
room. The door was ajar, and the light from within showed
brilliantly through the opening. She saw Edgar Caswall walking
restlessly to and fro in the room, with his hands clasped behind his
back. She opened the door without knocking, and walked right into
the room. As she entered, he ceased walking, and stared at her in
surprise. She made no remark, no comment, but continued the fixed
look which he had seen on her entrance.
For a time silence reigned, and the two stood looking fixedly at
each other. Mimi was the first to speak.
"You murderer! Lilla is dead!"
"Dead! Good God! When did she die?"
"She died this afternoon, just after you left her."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes--and so are you--or you ought to be. You killed her!"
"I killed her! Be careful what you say!"
"As God sees us, it is true; and you know it. You came to Mercy
Farm on purpose to break her--if you could. And the accomplice of
your guilt, Lady Arabella March, came for the same purpose."
"Be careful, woman," he said hotly. "Do not use such names in that
way, or you shall suffer for it."
"I am suffering for it--have suffered for it--shall suffer for it.
Not for speaking the truth as I have done, but because you two, with
devilish malignity, did my darling to death. It is you and your
accomplice who have to dread punishment, not I."
"Take care!" he said again.
"Oh, I am not afraid of you or your accomplice," she answered
spiritedly. "I am content to stand by every word I have said, every
act I have done. Moreover, I believe in God's justice. I fear not
the grinding of His mills; if necessary I shall set the wheels in
motion myself. But you don't care for God, or believe in Him. Your
god is your great kite, which cows the birds of a whole district.
But be sure that His hand, when it rises, always falls at the
appointed time. It may be that your name is being called even at
this very moment at the Great Assize. Repent while there is still
time. Happy you, if you may be allowed to enter those mighty halls
in the company of the pure-souled angel whose voice has only to
whisper one word of justice, and you disappear for ever into
everlasting torment."
The sudden death of Lilla caused consternation among Mimi's friends
and well-wishers. Such a tragedy was totally unexpected, as Adam
and Sir Nathaniel had been expecting the White Worm's vengeance to
fall upon themselves.
Adam, leaving his wife free to follow her own desires with regard to
Lilla and her grandfather, busied himself with filling the well-hole
with the fine sand prepared for the purpose, taking care to have
lowered at stated intervals quantities of the store of dynamite, so
as to be ready for the final explosion. He had under his immediate
supervision a corps of workmen, and was assisted by Sir Nathaniel,
who had come over for the purpose, and all were now staying at
Lesser Hill.
Mr. Salton, too, showed much interest in the job, and was constantly
coming in and out, nothing escaping his observation.
Since her marriage to Adam and their coming to stay at Doom Tower,
Mimi had been fettered by fear of the horrible monster at Diana's
Grove. But now she dreaded it no longer. She accepted the fact of
its assuming at will the form of Lady Arabella. She had still to
tax and upbraid her for her part in the unhappiness which had been
wrought on Lilla, and for her share in causing her death.
One evening, when Mimi entered her own room, she went to the window
and threw an eager look round the whole circle of sight. A single
glance satisfied her that the White Worm in PROPRIA PERSONA was not
visible. So she sat down in the window-seat and enjoyed the
pleasure of a full view, from which she had been so long cut off.
The maid who waited on her had told her that Mr. Salton had not yet
returned home, so she felt free to enjoy the luxury of peace and
quiet.
As she looked out of the window, she saw something thin and white
move along the avenue. She thought she recognised the figure of
Lady Arabella, and instinctively drew back behind the curtain. When
she had ascertained, by peeping out several times, that the lady had
not seen her, she watched more carefully, all her instinctive hatred
flooding back at the sight of her. Lady Arabella was moving swiftly
and stealthily, looking back and around her at intervals, as if she
feared to be followed. This gave Mimi an idea that she was up to no
good, so she determined to seize the occasion for watching her in
more detail.
Hastily putting on a dark cloak and hat, she ran downstairs and out
into the avenue. Lady Arabella had moved, but the sheen of her
white dress was still to be seen among the young oaks around the
gateway. Keeping in shadow, Mimi followed, taking care not to come
so close as to awake the other's suspicion, and watched her quarry
pass along the road in the direction of Castra Regis.
She followed on steadily through the gloom of the trees, depending
on the glint of the white dress to keep her right. The wood began
to thicken, and presently, when the road widened and the trees grew
farther back, she lost sight of any indication of her whereabouts.
Under the present conditions it was impossible for her to do any
more, so, after waiting for a while, still hidden in the shadow to
see if she could catch another glimpse of the white frock, she
determined to go on slowly towards Castra Regis, and trust to the
chapter of accidents to pick up the trail again. She went on
slowly, taking advantage of every obstacle and shadow to keep
herself concealed.
At last she entered on the grounds of the Castle, at a spot from
which the windows of the turret were dimly visible, without having
seen again any sign of Lady Arabella.
Meanwhile, during most of the time that Mimi Salton had been moving
warily along in the gloom, she was in reality being followed by Lady
Arabella, who had caught sight of her leaving the house and had
never again lost touch with her. It was a case of the hunter being
hunted. For a time Mimi's many turnings, with the natural obstacles
that were perpetually intervening, caused Lady Arabella some
trouble; but when she was close to Castra Regis, there was no more
possibility of concealment, and the strange double following went
swiftly on.
When she saw Mimi close to the hall door of Castra Regis and
ascending the steps, she followed. When Mimi entered the dark hall
and felt her way up the staircase, still, as she believed, following
Lady Arabella, the latter kept on her way. When they reached the
lobby of the turret-rooms, Mimi believed that the object of her
search was ahead of her.
Edgar Caswall sat in the gloom of the great room, occasionally
stirred to curiosity when the drifting clouds allowed a little light
to fall from the storm-swept sky. But nothing really interested him
now. Since he had heard of Lilla's death, the gloom of his remorse,
emphasised by Mimi's upbraiding, had made more hopeless his cruel,
selfish, saturnine nature. He heard no sound, for his normal
faculties seemed benumbed.
Mimi, when she came to the door, which stood ajar, gave a light tap.
So light was it that it did not reach Caswall's ears. Then, taking
her courage in both hands, she boldly pushed the door and entered.
As she did so, her heart sank, for now she was face to face with a
difficulty which had not, in her state of mental perturbation,
occurred to her.
