In the ante-room communicating with Lord Ostermore's bedroom the countess was in consultation with Rotherby, who had been summoned by his mother when my lord was stricken.
Her ladyship occupied the window-seat; Rotherby stood beside her, leaning slightly against the frame of the open window.
Their conversation was earnest and conducted in a low key, and one would naturally have conjectured that it had for subject the dangerous condition of the earl. And so it had - the dangerous condition of the earl's political, if not physical, affairs. To her ladyship and her son, the matter of their own future was of greater gravity than the matter of whether his lordship lived or died - which, whatever it may be, is not unreasonable. Since the impeachment of my lord and the coming of the messengers to arrest him, the danger of ruin and beggary were become more imminent - indeed, they impended, and measures must be concerted to avert these evils. By comparison with that, the earl's succumbing or surviving was a trivial matter; and the concern they had manifested in Sir James' news - when the important, well-nourished physician who had bled his lordship came to inform them that there was hope - was outward only, and assumed for pure decorum's sake.
"Whether he lives or dies," said the viscount pertinently, after the doctor had departed to return to his patient, "the measures to be taken are the same." And he repeated the substance of their earlier discussions upon this same topic.
"If we can but secure the evidence of his treason with Caryll," he wound up, "I shall be able to make terms with Lord Carteret to arrest the proceedings the government may intend, and thus avert the restitution it would otherwise enforce.""But if he were to die," said her ladyship, as coldly, horribly calculating as though he were none of hers, "there would be an end to this danger. They could not demand restitution of the dead, nor impose fines upon him."Rotherby shook his head. "Believe not that, madam," said he.
"They can demand restitution of his heirs and impose their fines upon the estate. 'Twas done in the case of Chancellor Craggs, though he shot himself."She raised a haggard face to his. "And do you dream that Lord Carteret would make terms with you?""If I can show him - by actual proof - that a conspiracy does exist, that the Stuart supporters are plotting a rising.
Proof of that should be of value to Lord Carteret, of sufficient value to the government to warrant the payment of the paltry price I ask - that the impeachment against my father for his dealings with the South Sea Company shall not be allowed.
"But it might involve the worse betrayal of your father, Charles, and if he were to live - ""'Sdeath, mother, why must you harp on that? I a'n't the fool you think me," he cried. "I shall make it a further condition that my father have immunity. There will be no lack of victims once the plot is disclosed; and they may begin upon that coxcomb Caryll - the damned meddler who is at the bottom of all this garboil."She sat bemused, her eyes upon the sunlit gardens below, where a faint breeze was stirring the shrub tops.
"There is," she said presently, "a secret drawer somewhere in his desk. If he has papers they will, no doubt, be there.
Had you not best be making search for them?"
He smiled darkly. "I have seen to that already," he replied.
"How?" excitedly. "You have got the papers?""No; but I have set an experienced hand to find them, and one, moreover, who has the right by virtue of his warrant - the messenger of the secretary of state."She sat up, rigid. "'Sdeath! What is't ye mean?""No need for alarm," he reassured her. "This fellow Green is in my pay, as well as in the secretary's, and it will profit him most to keep faith with me. He's a self-seeking dog, content to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, so that there be profit in it, and he'd sacrifice his ears to bring Mr. Caryll to the gallows. I have promised him that and a thousand pounds if we save the estates from confiscation."She looked at him, between wonder and fear. "Can ye trust him?" she asked breathlessly.
He laughed softly and confidently. "I can trust him to earn a thousand pounds," he answered. "When he heard of the impeachment, he used such influence as he has to be entrusted with the arrest of his lordship; and having obtained his warrant, he came first to me to tell me of it. A thousand pounds is the price of him, body and soul. I bade him seek not only evidence of my lord's having received that plaguey stock, but also papers relating to this Jacobite plot into which his lordship has been drawn by our friend Caryll. He is at his work at present. And I shall hear from him when it is accomplished."She nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "You have very well disposed, Charles," she approved him. "If your father lives, it should not be a difficult matter - "She checked suddenly and turned, while Rotherby, too, looked up and stepped quickly from the window-embrasure where he had stood.
The door of the bedroom had been suddenly pulled open, and Sir James came out, very pale and discomposed.
"Madam - your ladyship - my lord!" he gasped, his mouth working, his hands waving foolishly.
The countess rose to confront him, tall, severe and harsh.
The viscount scowled a question. Sir James quailed before them, evidently in affliction.
"Madam - his lordship," he said, and by his eloquent gesture of dejection announced what he had some difficulty in putting into words.
She stepped forward, and took him by the wrist. "Is he dying?" she inquired.
"Have courage, madam," the doctor besought her.
The apparent irrelevancy of the request at such a moment, angered her. Her mood was dangerously testy. And had the doctor but known it, sympathy was a thing she had not borne well these many years.
"I asked you was he dying," she reminded him, with a cold sternness that beat aside all his attempts at subterfuge.
"Your ladyship - he is dead," he faltered, with lowered eyes.
