第46章 CHAPTER IX.(2)

The change indeed was marked and significant.Whether from relief at knowing the worst,or whether he was experiencing the same reaction from the utter falsity of this last accusation that he had felt when Grant had unintentionally wronged him in his previous recollection,certain it is that some unknown reserve of strength in his own nature,of which he knew nothing before,suddenly came to his aid in this extremity.It invested him with an uncouth dignity that for the first time excited Grant's respect.

"I beg your pardon,Grant,for the hasty way I spoke to you a moment ago,for I thank you,and appreciate thoroughly and sincerely what you have done.You are right;it is a matter for fighting and not fussing over.But I must have a head to hit.

Whose is it?"

"The man who holds himself legally responsible is Fletcher,--the proprietor of the 'Clarion,'and a man of property.""The 'Clarion'?That is the paper which began the attack?"said Harcourt.

"Yes,and it is only fair to tell you here that your son threw up his place on it in consequence of its attack upon you."There was perhaps the slightest possible shrinking in Harcourt's eyelids--the one congenital likeness to his discarded son--but his otherwise calm demeanor did not change.Grant went on more cheerfully:"I've told you all I know.When I spoke of an unknown WORST,I did not refer to any further accusation,but to whatever evidence they might have fabricated or suborned to prove any one of them.It is only the strength and fairness of the hands they hold that is uncertain.Against that you have your certain uncontested possession,the peculiar character and antecedents of this 'Lige Curtis,which would make his evidence untrustworthy and even make it difficult for them to establish his identity.I am told that his failure to contest your appropriation of his property is explained by the fact of his being absent from the country most of the time;but again,this would not account for their silence until within the last six months,unless they have been waiting for further evidence to establish it.But even then they must have known that the time of recovery had passed.You are a practical man,Harcourt;I needn't tell you therefore what your lawyer will probably tell you,that practically,so far as your rights are concerned,you remain as before these calumnies;that a cause of action unprosecuted or in abeyance is practically no cause,and that it is not for you to anticipate one.BUT"--He paused and looked steadily at Harcourt.Harcourt met his look with a dull,ox-like stolidity."I shall begin the suit at once,"he said.

"And I,"said Grant,holding out his hand,"will stand by you.But tell me now what you knew of this man Curtis,--his character and disposition;it may be some clue as to what are his methods and his intentions."Harcourt briefly sketched 'Lige Curtis as he knew him and understood him.It was another indication of his reserved power that the description was so singularly clear,practical,unprejudiced,and impartial that it impressed Grant with its truthfulness.

"I can't make him out,"he said;"you have drawn a weak,but neither a dishonest nor malignant man.There must have been somebody behind him.Can you think of any personal enemy?""I have been subjected to the usual jealousy and envy of my old neighbors,I suppose,but nothing more.I have harmed no one knowingly."Grant was silent;it had flashed across him that Rice might have harbored revenge for his father-in-law's interference in his brief matrimonial experience.He had also suddenly recalled his conversation with Billings on the day that he first arrived at Tasajara.It would not be strange if this man had some intimation of the secret.He would try to find him that evening.He rose.

"You will stay to dinner?My wife and Clementina will expect you.""Not to-night;I am dining at the hotel,"said Grant,smilingly;"but I will come in later in the evening if I may."He paused hesitatingly for a moment."Have your wife and daughter ever expressed any opinion on this matter?""No,"said Harcourt."Mrs.Harcourt knows nothing of anything that does not happen IN the house;Euphemia knows only the things that happen out of it where she is visiting--and I suppose that young men prefer to talk to her about other things than the slanders of her father.And Clementina--well,you know how calm and superior to these things SHE is.""For that very reason I thought that perhaps she might be able to see them more clearly,--but no matter!I dare say you are quite right in not discussing them at home."This was the fact,although Grant had not forgotten that Harcourt had put forward his daughters as a reason for stopping the scandal some weeks before,--a reason which,however,seemed never to have been borne out by any apparent sensitiveness of the girls themselves.