The New Magdalen - Page 169/209

"Don't say a word. Tell me what I can do."

He turned his face toward Julian for the first time.

"Just look at me," he said. "Does it strike you that I am at all wrong

in my mind? Tell me the truth, old fellow."

"Your nerves are a little shaken, Horace. Nothing more."

He considered again after that reply, his eyes remaining anxiously fixed

on Julian's face.

"My nerves are a little shaken," he repeated. "That is true; I feel they

are shaken. I should like, if you don't mind, to make sure that it's no

worse. Will you help me to try if my memory is all right?"

"I will do anything you like."

"Ah! you are a good fellow, Julian--and a clear-headed fellow too, which

is very important just now. Look here! I say it's about a week since the

troubles began in this house. Do you say so too?"

"Yes."

"The troubles came in with the coming of a woman from Germany, a

stranger to us, who behaved very violently in the dining-room there. Am

I right, so far?"

"Quite right."

"The woman carried matters with a high hand. She claimed Colonel

Roseberry--I wish to be strictly accurate--she claimed _the late_

Colonel Roseberry as her father. She told a tiresome story about her

having been robbed of her papers and her name by an impostor who had

personated her. She said the name of the impostor was Mercy Merrick. And

she afterward put the climax to it all: she pointed to the lady who is

engaged to be my wife, and declared that _she_ was Mercy Merrick. Tell

me again, is that right or wrong?"

Julian answered him as before. He went on, speaking more confidently and

more excitedly than he had spoken yet.

"Now attend to this, Julian. I am going to pass from my memory of what

happened a week ago to my memory of what happened five minutes since.

You were present; I want to know if you heard it too." He paused, and,

without taking his eyes off Julian, pointed backward to Mercy. "There is

the lady who is engaged to marry me," he resumed. "Did I, or did I not,

hear her say that she had come out of a Refuge, and that she was going

back to a Refuge? Did I, or did I not, hear her own to my face that her

name was Mercy Merrick? Answer me, Julian. My good friend, answer me,

for the sake of old times."

His voice faltered as he spoke those imploring words. Under the dull

blank of his face there appeared the first signs of emotion slowly

forcing its way outward. The stunned mind was reviving faintly. Julian

saw his opportunity of aiding the recovery, and seized it. He took

Horace gently by the arm, and pointed to Mercy.