As he could not trust himself to write an answer to Lady Carbury's letter he determined that he would go to London. If he must tell the story he could tell it better face to face than by any written words. So he made the journey, arrived in town late in the evening, and knocked at the door in Welbeck Street between ten and eleven on the morning after the unfortunate meeting which took place between Sir Felix and John Crumb. The page when he opened the door looked as a page should look when the family to which he is attached is suffering from some terrible calamity. 'My lady' had been summoned to the hospital to see Sir Felix who was,--as the page reported,--in a very bad way indeed. The page did not exactly know what had happened, but supposed that Sir Felix had lost most of his limbs by this time. Yes; Miss Carbury was upstairs; and would no doubt see her cousin, though she, too, was in a very bad condition; and dreadfully put about. That poor Hetta should be 'put about' with her brother in the hospital and her lover in the toils of an abominable American woman was natural enough.
'What's this about Felix?' asked Roger. The new trouble always has precedence over those which are of earlier date.
'Oh Roger, I am so glad to see you. Felix did not come home last night, and this morning there came a man from the hospital in the city to say that he is there.'
'What has happened to him?'
'Somebody,--somebody has,--beaten him,' said Hetta whimpering. Then she told the story as far as she knew it. The messenger from the hospital had declared that the young man was in no danger and that none of his bones were broken, but that he was terribly bruised about the face, that his eyes were in a frightful condition, sundry of his teeth knocked out, and his lips cut open. But, the messenger had gone on to say, the house surgeon had seen no reason why the young gentleman should not be taken home. 'And mamma has gone to fetch him,' said Hetta.
'That's John Crumb,' said Roger. Hetta had never heard of John Crumb, and simply stared into her cousin's face. 'You have not been told about John Crumb? No;--you would not hear of him.'
'Why should John Crumb beat Felix like that?'
'They say, Hetta, that women are the cause of most troubles that occur in the world.' The girl blushed up to her eyes, as though the whole story of Felix's sin and folly had been told to her. 'If it be as I suppose,' continued Roger, 'John Crumb has considered himself to be aggrieved and has thus avenged himself.'