The place was locked, but Holmes removed a circle of glass and turnedthe key from the inside. An instant afterwards he had closed the doorbehind us, and we had become felons in the eyes of the law. The thick,warm air of the conservatory and the rich, choking fragrance of exoticplants took us by the throat. He seized my hand in the darkness and ledme swiftly past banks of shrubs which brushed against our faces. Holmeshad remarkable powers, carefully cultivated, of seeing in the dark.Still holding my hand in one of his he opened a door, and I was vaguelyconscious that we had entered a large room in which a cigar had beensmoked not long before. He felt his way among the furniture, openedanother door, and closed it behind us. Putting out my hand I feltseveral coats hanging from the wall, and I understood that I was in apassage. We passed along it, and Holmes very gently opened a door uponthe right-hand side. Something rushed out at us and my heart sprang intomy mouth, but I could have laughed when I realized that it was the cat.A fire was burning in this new room, and again the air was heavy withtobacco smoke. Holmes entered on tiptoe, waited for me to follow, andthen very gently closed the door. We were in Milverton's study, and aPORTIERE at the farther side showed the entrance to his bedroom.
It was a good fire, and the room was illuminated by it. Near the door Isaw the gleam of an electric switch, but it was unnecessary, even if ithad been safe, to turn it on. At one side of the fireplace was a heavycurtain, which covered the bay window we had seen from outside. On theother side was the door which communicated with the veranda. A deskstood in the centre, with a turning chair of shining red leather.Opposite was a large bookcase, with a marble bust of Athene on the top.In the corner between the bookcase and the wall there stood a tall greensafe, the firelight flashing back from the polished brass knobs upon itsface. Holmes stole across and looked at it. Then he crept to the door ofthe bedroom, and stood with slanting head listening intently. No soundcame from within. Meanwhile it had struck me that it would be wiseto secure our retreat through the outer door, so I examined it. To myamazement it was neither locked nor bolted! I touched Holmes on the arm,and he turned his masked face in that direction. I saw him start, and hewas evidently as surprised as I.
"I don't like it," he whispered, putting his lips to my very ear. "Ican't quite make it out. Anyhow, we have no time to lose."
"Can I do anything?"
"Yes; stand by the door. If you hear anyone come, bolt it on the inside,and we can get away as we came. If they come the other way, we canget through the door if our job is done, or hide behind these windowcurtains if it is not. Do you understand?"
I nodded and stood by the door. My first feeling of fear had passedaway, and I thrilled now with a keener zest than I had ever enjoyed whenwe were the defenders of the law instead of its defiers. The high objectof our mission, the consciousness that it was unselfish and chivalrous,the villainous character of our opponent, all added to the sportinginterest of the adventure. Far from feeling guilty, I rejoiced andexulted in our dangers. With a glow of admiration I watched Holmesunrolling his case of instruments and choosing his tool with the calm,scientific accuracy of a surgeon who performs a delicate operation. Iknew that the opening of safes was a particular hobby with him, and Iunderstood the joy which it gave him to be confronted with this greenand gold monster, the dragon which held in its maw the reputations ofmany fair ladies. Turning up the cuffs of his dress-coat--he had placedhis overcoat on a chair--Holmes laid out two drills, a jemmy, andseveral skeleton keys. I stood at the centre door with my eyes glancingat each of the others, ready for any emergency; though, indeed, my planswere somewhat vague as to what I should do if we were interrupted. Forhalf an hour Holmes worked with concentrated energy, laying down onetool, picking up another, handling each with the strength and delicacyof the trained mechanic. Finally I heard a click, the broad green doorswung open, and inside I had a glimpse of a number of paper packets,each tied, sealed, and inscribed. Holmes picked one out, but it was hardto read by the flickering fire, and he drew out his little dark lantern,for it was too dangerous, with Milverton in the next room, to switch onthe electric light. Suddenly I saw him halt, listen intently, and thenin an instant he had swung the door of the safe to, picked up hiscoat, stuffed his tools into the pockets, and darted behind the windowcurtain, motioning me to do the same.
It was only when I had joined him there that I heard what had alarmedhis quicker senses. There was a noise somewhere within the house. A doorslammed in the distance. Then a confused, dull murmur broke itself intothe measured thud of heavy footsteps rapidly approaching. They were inthe passage outside the room. They paused at the door. The door opened.There was a sharp snick as the electric light was turned on. The doorclosed once more, and the pungent reek of a strong cigar was borneto our nostrils. Then the footsteps continued backwards and forwards,backwards and forwards, within a few yards of us. Finally, there was acreak from a chair, and the footsteps ceased. Then a key clicked in alock and I heard the rustle of papers.
So far I had not dared to look out, but now I gently parted the divisionof the curtains in front of me and peeped through. From the pressureof Holmes's shoulder against mine I knew that he was sharing myobservations. Right in front of us, and almost within our reach, was thebroad, rounded back of Milverton. It was evident that we had entirelymiscalculated his movements, that he had never been to his bedroom,but that he had been sitting up in some smoking or billiard room in thefarther wing of the house, the windows of which we had not seen. Hisbroad, grizzled head, with its shining patch of baldness, was in theimmediate foreground of our vision. He was leaning far back in the redleather chair, his legs outstretched, a long black cigar projectingat an angle from his mouth. He wore a semi-military smoking jacket,claret-coloured, with a black velvet collar. In his hand he held a longlegal document, which he was reading in an indolent fashion, blowingrings of tobacco smoke from his lips as he did so. There was no promiseof a speedy departure in his composed bearing and his comfortableattitude.
I felt Holmes's hand st
eal into mine and give me a reassuring shake, asif to say that the situation was within his powers and that he waseasy in his mind. I was not sure whether he had seen what was only tooobvious from my position, that the door of the safe was imperfectlyclosed, and that Milverton might at any moment observe it. In my ownmind I had determined that if I were sure, from the rigidity of hisgaze, that it had caught his eye, I would at once spring out, throw mygreat-coat over his head, pinion him, and leave the rest to Holmes. ButMilverton never looked up. He was languidly interested by the papers inhis hand, and page after page was turned as he followed the argument ofthe lawyer. At least, I thought, when he has finished the document andthe cigar he will go to his room; but before he had reached the end ofeither there came a remarkable development which turned our thoughtsinto quite another channel.
Several times I had observed that Milverton looked at his watch, andonce he had risen and sat down again, with a gesture of impatience. Theidea, however, that he might have an appointment at so strange anhour never occurred to me until a faint sound reached my ears fromthe veranda outside. Milverton dropped his papers and sat rigid in hischair. The sound was repeated, and then there came a gentle tap at thedoor. Milverton rose and opened it.
"Well," said he, curtly, "you are nearly half an hour late."
So this was the explanation of the unlocked door and of the nocturnalvigil of Milverton. There was the gentle rustle of a woman's dress. Ihad closed the slit between the curtains as Milverton's face had turnedin our direction, but now I ventured very carefully to open it oncemore. He had resumed his seat, the cigar still projecting at an insolentangle from the corner of his mouth. In front of him, in the full glareof the electric light, there stood a tall, slim, dark woman, a veil overher face, a mantle drawn round her chin. Her breath came quick and fast,and every inch of the lithe figure was quivering with strong emotion.
"Well," said Milverton, "you've made me lose a good night's rest,my dear. I hope you'll prove worth it. You couldn't come any othertime--eh?"
The woman shook her head.
"Well, if you couldn't you couldn't. If the Countess is a hard mistressyou have your chance to get level with her now. Bless the girl, what areyou shivering about? That's right! Pull yourself together! Now, let usget down to business." He took a note from the drawer of his desk. "Yousay that you have five letters which compromise the Countess d'Albert.You want to sell them. I want to buy them. So far so good. It onlyremains to fix a price. I should want to inspect the letters, of course.If they are really good specimens--Great heavens, is it you?"
The woman without a word had raised her veil and dropped the mantlefrom her chin. It was a dark, handsome, clear-cut face which confrontedMilverton, a face with a curved nose, strong, dark eyebrows shadinghard, glittering eyes, and a straight, thin-lipped mouth set in adangerous smile.
"It is I," she said; "the woman whose life you have ruined."
Milverton laughed, but fear vibrated in his voice. "You were so veryobstinate," said he. "Why did you drive me to such extremities? Iassure you I wouldn't hurt a fly of my own accord, but every man has hisbusiness, and what was I to do? I put the price well within your means.You would not pay."
"So you sent the letters to my husband, and he--the noblest gentlemanthat ever lived, a man whose boots I was never worthy to lace--he brokehis gallant heart and died. You remember that last night when I camethrough that door I begged and prayed you for mercy, and you laughed inmy face as you are trying to laugh now, only your coward heart cannotkeep your lips from twitching? Yes, you never thought to see me hereagain, but it was that night which taught me how I could meet you faceto face, and alone. Well, Charles Milverton, what have you to say?"
"Don't imagine that you can bully me," said he, rising to his feet. "Ihave only to raise my voice, and I could call my servants and have youarrested. But I will make allowance for your natural anger. Leave theroom at once as you came, and I will say no more."
The woman stood with her hand buried in her bosom, and the same deadlysmile on her thin lips.
"You will ruin no more lives as you ruined mine. You will wring no morehearts as you wrung mine. I will free the world of a poisonous thing.Take that, you hound, and that!--and that!--and that!"
She had drawn a little, gleaming revolver, and emptied barrel afterbarrel into Milverton's body, the muzzle within two feet of his shirtfront. He shrank away and then fell forward upon the table, coughingfuriously and clawing among the papers. Then he staggered to his feet,received another shot, and rolled upon the floor. "You've done me," hecried, and lay still. The woman looked at him intently and ground herheel into his upturned face. She looked again, but there was no soundor movement. I heard a sharp rustle, the night air blew into the heatedroom, and the avenger was gone.
No interference upon our part could have saved the man from his fate;but as the woman poured bullet after bullet into Milverton's shrinkingbody I was about to spring out, when I felt Holmes's cold, strong graspupon my wrist. I understood the whole argument of that firm, restraininggrip--that it was no affair of ours; that justice had overtaken avillain; that we had our own duties and our own objects which were notto be lost sight of. But hardly had the woman rushed from the room whenHolmes, with swift, silent steps, was over at the other door. He turnedthe key in the lock. At the same instant we heard voices in the houseand the sound of hurrying feet. The revolver shots had roused thehousehold. With perfect coolness Holmes slipped across to the safe,filled his two arms with bundles of letters, and poured them all intothe fire. Again and again he did it, until the safe was empty. Someoneturned the handle and beat upon the outside of the door. Holmes lookedswiftly round. The letter which had been the messenger of death forMilverton lay, all mottled with his blood, upon the table. Holmes tossedit in among the blazing papers. Then he drew the key from the outerdoor, passed through after me, and locked it on the outside. "This way,Watson," said he; "we can scale the garden wall in this direction."
I could not have believed that an alarm could have spread so swiftly.Looking back, the huge house was one blaze of light. The front doorwas open, and figures were rushing down the drive. The whole garden wasalive with people, and one fellow raised a view-halloa as we emergedfrom the veranda and followed hard at our heels. Holmes seemed to knowthe ground perfectly, and he threaded his way swiftly among a plantationof small trees, I close at his heels, and our foremost pursuer pantingbehind us. It was a six-foot wall which barred our path, but he sprangto the top and over. As I did the same I felt the hand of the man behindme grab at my ankle; but I kicked myself free and scrambled over aglass-strewn coping. I fell upon my face among some bushes; but Holmeshad me on my feet in an instant, and together we dashed away across thehuge expanse of Hampstead Heath. We had run two miles, I suppose, beforeHolmes at last halted and listened intently. All was absolute silencebehind us. We had shaken off our pursuers and were safe.
We had breakfasted and were smoking our morning pipe on the day afterthe remarkable experience which I have recorded when Mr. Lestrade, ofScotland Yard, very solemn and impressive, was ushered into our modestsitting-room.
"Good morning, Mr. Holmes," said he; "good morning. May I ask if you arevery busy just now?"
"Not too busy to listen to you."
"I thought that, perhaps, if you had nothing particular on hand, youmight care to assist us in a most remarkable case which occurred onlylast night at Hampstead."