Carfax had hurried forward, shaken hands with Brereton, and turned to Avice while Brereton was making this rapid inspection.
“So here you are, Brereton—and this young lady, I suppose, is Miss Harborough?” he said, drawing a chair forward. “Glad you’ve come—and I daresay you’re wondering why you’ve been sent for? Well—all in good time, but first—this gentleman is Mr. John Wraythwaite.”
The big man started forward, shook hands hastily with Brereton, and turned more leisurely to Avice.
“My dear young lady!” he said. “I—I—the fact is, I’m an old friend of your father’s, and—and it will be very soon now that he’s all right—and all that sort of thing, you know! You don’t know me, of course.”
Avice looked up at the big, bearded figure and from it to Brereton.
“No!” she said. “But—I think it was you who sent that money to Mr. Brereton.”
“Ah! you’re anticipating, young lady!” exclaimed Carfax. “Yes—we’ve a lot of talking to do. And we’d better all sit down and do it comfortably. One moment,” he continued, and turned away to the two men in the window, who, after a few words with him, left the room. “Now then—we’ll do our first part of the business, Brereton!” he went on, as they all took seats at a table near the fire. “You, of course, don’t know who this gentleman is?”
“Not at all,” replied Brereton.
“Very good!” continued Carfax, rubbing his hands as if in enjoyment of the situation. “Then you’ve some interesting facts to hear about him. To begin with, he’s the man who, when your client, this young lady’s father, is brought up at these coming Assizes, will prove a complete alibi on his behalf. In other words, he’s the man with whom Harborough was in company during the evening and the greater part of the night on which Kitely was murdered.”
“I thought so,” said Brereton. He looked reflectively at Mr. Wraythwaite. “But why did you not come forward at once?” he asked.
“My advice—my advice!” exclaimed Carfax hastily. “I’m going to explain the reasons. Now, you won’t understand, Brereton, but Miss Harborough, I think, will know what I mean, or she’ll have some idea, when I say that this gentleman is now—now, mind you!—Mr. Wraythwaite of Wraye.”
Avice looked up quickly with evident comprehension, and the solicitor nodded.
“You see—she knows,” he went on, turning to Brereton. “At least, that conveys something to her. But it doesn’t to you. Well, my dear sir, if you were a native of these parts it would. Wraye is one of the oldest and most historic estates between here and the Tweed—everybody knows Wraye. And everybody knows too that there has been quite a romance about Wraye for some time—since the last Wraythwaite died, in fact. That Wraythwaite was a confirmed old bachelor. He lived to a great age—he outlived all his brothers and sisters, of whom he’d had several. He left quite a tribe of nephews and nieces, who were distributed all over the world. Needless to say, there was vast bother and trouble. Finally, one of the nephews made a strong claim to the estate, as being the eldest known heir. And he was until recently in good trim for establishing his claim, when my client here arrived on the scene. For he is the eldest nephew—he is the rightful heir—and I am thankful to say that—only within this last day or two—his claim has been definitely recognized and established, and all without litigation. Everything,” continued Carfax, again rubbing his hands with great satisfaction, “everything is now all right, and Mr. Wraythwaite of Wraye will take his proper and rightful place amongst his own people.”
“I’m exceedingly glad to hear it,” said Brereton, with a smile at the big man, who continued to watch Avice as if his thoughts were with her rather than with his solicitor’s story. “But—you’ll understand that I’d like to know how all this affects my client?”
“Ye—yes!” said Mr. Wraythwaite, hastily. “Tell Mr. Brereton, Carfax—never mind me and my affairs—get on to poor Harborough.”
“Your affair and Harborough’s are inextricably mixed, my dear sir,” retorted Carfax, good-humouredly. “I’m coming to the mingling of them. Well,” he continued, addressing himself again to Brereton. “This is how things are—or were. I must tell you that the eldest brother of the late Squire of Wraye married John Harborough’s aunt—secretly. They had not been married long before the husband emigrated. He went off to Australia, leaving his wife behind until he had established himself—there had been differences between him and his family, and he was straitened in means. In his absence our friend here was born—and at the same time, sad to say, his mother died. The child was brought up by Harborough’s mother—Mr. Wraythwaite and Harborough are foster-brothers. It remained in the care of Harborough’s mother—who kept the secret of the marriage—until it was seven years old. Then, opportunity occurring, it was taken to its father in Australia. The father, Matthew Wraythwaite, made a big fortune in Australia, sheep-farming. He never married again, and the fortune, of course, came at his death to his only son—our friend. Now, he had been told of the secret marriage of his father, but, being possessed of an ample fortune himself, he concerned himself little about the rest of the old family. However, a year or so ago, happening to read in the newspapers about the death of the old Squire, his uncle, and the difficulty of definitely deciding the real heirship, he came over to England. But he had no papers relating to his father’s marriage, and he did not know where it had taken place. At that time he had not consulted me—in fact, he had consulted no one. If he had consulted me,” continued Carfax, with a knowing wink at Brereton, “we should have put him right in a few hours. But he kept off lawyers—and he sought out the only man he could
