Assuming that these circumstances had really happened, it was in
Lord Harry's character to make sure of his revenge, by embarking in the
steamship by which the assassin of Arthur Mountjoy was a passenger.
Wild as this guess at the truth undoubtedly was, it had one merit: it
might easily be put to the test.
Hugh had bought the day's newspaper at the station. He proposed to
consult the shipping advertisements relating, in the first place, to
communication with the diamond-mines and the goldfields of South
Africa.
This course of proceeding at once informed him that the first steamer,
bound for that destination, would sail from London in two days' time.
The obvious precaution to take was to have the Dock watched; and
Mountjoy's steady old servant, who knew Lord Harry by sight, was the
man to employ.
Iris naturally inquired what good end could be attained, if the
anticipated discovery actually took place.
To this Mountjoy answered, that the one hope--a faint hope, he must
needs confess--of inducing Lord Harry to reconsider his desperate
purpose, lay in the influence of Iris herself. She must address a
letter to him, announcing that his secret had been betrayed by his own
language and conduct, and declaring that she would never again see him,
or hold any communication with him, if he persisted in his savage
resolution of revenge.
Pages:
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177