<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></SPAN>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
<h3>CLEARED AT LAST.</h3>
<p>Reginald Carne was laid down on the table in the gardener's cottage. The
doctor could now examine him, and whispered to the clergyman that both
his legs were broken, and that he had no doubt whatever he had received
terrible internal injuries. "I don't think he will live till morning."</p>
<p>Presently there was a knock at the door. "Can I come in?" Mr. Volkes
asked, when the doctor opened it. "I have known the poor fellow from the
time he was a child. Is he sensible?"</p>
<p>"He is sensible in a way," the doctor said. "That is, I believe he knows
perfectly well what we are saying, but he has several times laughed that
strange, cunning laugh that is almost peculiar to the insane."</p>
<p>"Well, at any rate, I will speak to him," said Mr. Volkes.</p>
<p>"Do you know me, Reginald?" he went on in a clear voice as he came up to
the side of the table.</p>
<p>Reginald Carne nodded, and again a low mocking laugh came from his lips.
"You thought you were very clever, Volkes, mighty clever; but I tricked
you."</p>
<p>"You tricked me, did you?" the magistrate said, cheerfully. "How did you
trick me?"</p>
<p>"You thought, and they all thought, the dull-headed fools, that Ronald
Mervyn killed Margaret. Ho! ho! I cheated you all nicely."</p>
<p>A glance of surprise passed between his listeners. Mr. Volkes signed to
the others not to speak, and then went on:</p>
<p>"So he did, Reginald, so he did—though we couldn't prove it; you did
not trick us there."</p>
<p>"I did," Reginald Carne said, angrily. "I killed her myself."</p>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus8.jpg" alt=""/></div>
<h3>"'<i>I did,' Reginald Carne said, angrily—'I killed her myself.</i>'"</h3>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<p>An exclamation of horror broke from the three listeners. Mr. Volkes was
the first to recover himself.</p>
<p>"Nonsense, Reginald, you are dreaming."</p>
<p>"I am not," he said, vehemently. "I had thought it all out over and over
again. I was always thinking of it. I wanted to put an end to this
curse. It's been going on too long, and it troubled me. I had made up my
mind to kill her long before; but I might not have done it when I did if
I had not heard Ronald threatening her, and another man heard it too.
This was a grand opportunity, you see. It was as much as I could do to
sit quietly at dinner with that naval fellow, and to know that it was
all right. It was glorious, for it would be killing two birds with one
stone. I wanted to get rid of Ronald as much as I did of her, so that
the curse might come to an end, and now it was all so easy. I had only
to drop the glove he had left behind him on the grass close below her
window, and after that quarrel he would be suspected and hung. Nothing
could have worked better for me; and then, too, I thought it would
puzzle them to give them another scent to work on. There was another man
had a grudge against Margaret; that was Forester, the poacher. I had
picked up his knife in the wood just where he had killed my keeper, and
afterwards I heard him telling his sweetheart, who was Margaret's maid,
that he would kill Margaret for persuading her to give him up; so I
dropped the knife by the side of the bed, and I thought that one or
other of them would be sure to be hung; but somehow that didn't come
right. I believe the girl hid the knife, only I didn't dare question her
about it. But that didn't matter; the fellow would be hung one way or
the other for killing my keeper. But the other was a glorious thing, and
I chuckled over it. It was hard to look calm and grave when I was giving
evidence against Ronald, and when all the fools were thinking that he
did it, when it was me all the time. Didn't I do it cleverly, Volkes? I
hid her things where the gardener was sure to find them the first time
he dug up the bed. They let Ronald off, but he will not come back again,
and I don't suppose he will ever marry; so there is an end of the curse
as far as he's concerned. Then I waited a bit, but the devil was always
at my elbow, telling me to finish the good work, and last night I did
it. I put the candle to the curtains in all the rooms downstairs, and
stood and watched them blaze up until it got too hot to stay any longer.
It was a grand sight, and I could hear the Spanish woman laughing and
shouting. She has had her way with us for a long time, but now it's all
over; the curse of the Carnes is played out. There, didn't I cheat you
nicely, Volkes, you and all the others? You never suspected me, not one
of you. I used to keep grave all day, but at night when I was in my
room alone I laughed for hours to think of all the dogs on the wrong
scent."</p>
<p>His three listeners looked at each other silently.</p>
<p>"It was a grand thing to put an end to the curse," Reginald Carne
rambled on. "It was no pain to her; and if she had lived, the trouble
would have come upon her children."</p>
<p>"You know that you are hurt beyond chance of recovery, Carne," the
magistrate said, gravely. "It is a terrible story that you have told us.
I think that you ought to put it down on paper, so that other people may
know how it was done; because, you see, at present, an innocent man is
suspected."</p>
<p>"What do I care? That is nothing to me one way or the other. I am glad I
have succeeded in frightening Ronald Mervyn away, and I hope he will
never come back again. You don't suppose I am going to help to bring him
home!"</p>
<p>Mr. Volkes saw that he had made a mistake. "Yes, I quite understand you
don't want him back," he said, soothingly. "I thought, perhaps, that you
would like people to know how you had sacrificed yourself to put an end
to the curse, and how cleverly you had managed to deceive every one.
People would never believe us if we were to tell them. They would say
either that you did not know what you were talking about, or that it was
empty boasting on your part."</p>
<p>"They may think what they like," he said, sullenly; "it is nothing to me
what they think."</p>
<p>There was a change in the tone of his voice that caused the doctor to
put his hand on his wrist again.</p>
<p>"Let me give you a few drops more of brandy, Carne."</p>
<p>"No, I will not," the dying man said. "I suppose you want to keep me
alive to get some more out of me, but you won't. I won't speak again."</p>
<p>The others held a whispered conversation in the corner.</p>
<p>"He is going fast," the doctor said. "It is a marvel that his voice is
as strong as it is. He certainly won't live till morning. It is likely
he may die within an hour."</p>
<p>"I will ask him another question or two," Mr. Volkes said. "If we could
but get something to corroborate his story, it would be invaluable."</p>
<p>But Reginald Carne spoke no more.</p>
<p>He heard what was said to him, for he laughed the same malicious laugh
that had thrilled the crowd as he stood on the parapet, but it was low
and feeble now. In hopes that he might yet change his mind, Mr. Volkes
and the clergyman remained with Dr. Arrowsmith for another hour. At the
end of that time Reginald Carne startled them by speaking again, clearly
and distinctly:</p>
<p>"I tell you it's all over, you witch; you have done us harm enough, but
I have beaten you. It was you against me, and I have won. There is
nothing more for you to do here, and you can go to your place. Carne's
Hold is down, and the curse is broken."</p>
<p>As he ceased speaking the doctor moved quietly up to the side of the
stretcher, put his finger on his wrist, and stood there for a minute,
then he bent down and listened.</p>
<p>"He is gone," he said, "the poor fellow is dead." The three gentlemen
went outside the cottage; some of the people were standing near waiting
for news of Reginald Carne's state. "Mr. Carne has just died," the
doctor said, as he went up to them. "Will one of you find Mrs. Wilson
and tell her to bring another woman with her and see to him? In the
morning I will make arrangements to have him taken down to the village."</p>
<p>"What do you think we had better do about this, Dr. Arrowsmith?" Mr.
Volkes asked as he rejoined them. "Do you believe this story?"</p>
<p>"Unquestionably I do," the doctor replied. "I believe every word of it."</p>
<p>"But the man was mad, doctor."</p>
<p>"Yes, he was mad and has been so for a long time in my opinion, but that
makes no difference whatever in my confidence that he was speaking
truly. Confessions of this kind from a madman are generally true; their
cunning is prodigious, and as long as they wish to conceal a fact it is
next to impossible to get it from them; but when, as in the present
case, they are proud of their cleverness and of the success with which
they have fooled other people, they will tell everything. You see their
ideas of right and wrong are entirely upset; the real lunatic is
unconscious of having committed a crime, and is inclined even to glory
in it."</p>
<p>"I wish we could have got him to sign," the magistrate said.</p>
<p>"I am sure he could not have held the pen," Dr. Arrowsmith replied. "I
will certify to that effect, and as we three all heard the confession, I
think that if you draw it out and we sign it as witnesses, it will have
just as good an effect as if he had written it himself."</p>
<p>"There was one part, doctor, that surprised me even more than the
rest—that was the part relating to the man Forester. I don't believe a
soul suspected him of being in any way connected with the crime. At
least we heard nothing of a knife being found, nor, of course, of the
quarrel between Forester and the girl; Ruth Powlett, was it not?"</p>
<p>"No; that is all new to us," the doctor said.</p>
<p>"I think the best way would be to see her in the morning. She may not
like to confess that she concealed the knife, if she did so. Of course,
if she does, it will be an invaluable confirmation of his story, and
will show conclusively that his confession was not a mere delusion of a
madman's brain."</p>
<p>"Yes, indeed," the doctor agreed, "that would clench the matter
altogether, and I am almost certain you will find that what he has said
is true. The girl was in my hands a short time before Miss Carne's
death. They said she had had a fall, but to my mind it seemed more like
a severe mental shock. Then after Miss Carne's death she was very ill
again, and there was something about her that puzzled me a good deal.
For instance, she insisted upon remaining in court until the verdict was
given, and that at a time when she was so ill she could scarcely stand.
She was so obstinate over the matter that it completely puzzled me; but
if what Carne said was true, and she had the knowledge of something that
would have gone very far to prove Ronald Mervyn's innocence, the matter
is explained. The only difficulty before us is to get her to speak,
because, of course, she cannot do so without laying herself open to a
charge—I don't mean a criminal charge, but a moral one—of having
suppressed evidence in a manner that concerned a man's life. I think the
best plan will be for us to meet at your house, Mr. Volkes, at eleven
o'clock to-morrow. I will go into the village before that, and will
bring Ruth Powlett up in my gig, and if you will allow me I will do the
talking to her. I have had her a good deal in my hands for the last
year, and I think she has confidence in me, and will perhaps answer me
more freely than she would you as a magistrate."</p>
<p>"Very likely she would, doctor. Let the arrangement stand as you
propose."</p>
<p>The next morning, at half-past ten, Dr. Arrowsmith drove up in his gig
to the mill. Ruth came to the door.</p>
<p>"Ruth," he said, "I want you to put on your bonnet and shawl and let me
drive you a short distance. I have something particular that I want to
talk to you about, and want to have you to myself for a bit."</p>
<p>A good deal surprised, Ruth went into the house and reappeared in two or
three minutes warmly wrapped up.</p>
<p>"That's right," the doctor said; "jump in."</p>
<p>Ruth Powlett was the first to speak.</p>
<p>"I suppose it is true, sir, that poor Mr. Carne is dead?"</p>
<p>"Yes, he died at two o'clock. Ruth, I have a curious thing to tell you
about him; but I will wait until we get through the village; I have no
doubt that it will surprise you as much as it surprised me."</p>
<p>Ruth said nothing until they had crossed the bridge over the Dare.</p>
<p>"What is it?" she asked at last.</p>
<p>"Well, Ruth, at present it is only known to Mr. Vickery, Mr. Volkes, and
myself, and, whatever happens, I want you to say nothing about it until
I give you leave. Now, Ruth, I have some sort of idea that what I am
going to tell you will relieve your mind of a burden."</p>
<p>Ruth turned pale.</p>
<p>"Relieve my mind, sir!" she repeated.</p>
<p>"Yes, Ruth; I may be wrong, and if I am I can only say beforehand that I
am sorry; but I have an idea that you suspect, and have for a long time
suspected, that George Forester murdered Miss Carne."</p>
<p>Ruth did not speak, but looking down, the doctor saw by the pallor of
her cheeks and the expression of her face that his supposition was
correct.</p>
<p>"I think, Ruth, that has been your idea. If so, I can relieve your mind.
Mr. Carne before his death confessed that he murdered his sister." Ruth
gave a start and a cry. She reeled in her seat, and would have fallen
had not the doctor thrown his arm round her. "Steady, my child, steady,"
he said; "this is a surprise to you, I have no doubt, and, whatever it
is to others, probably a joyful one."</p>
<p>Ruth broke into a violent fit of sobbing. The doctor did not attempt to
check her, but when she gradually recovered he said, "That is strange
news, is it not, Ruth?"</p>
<p>"But did he mean it, sir?" she asked. "Did he know what he was saying
when he said so?"</p>
<p>"He knew perfectly well, Ruth; he told us a long story, but I will not
tell you what it is now. We shall be at Mr. Volkes's in a minute, and we
shall find Mr. Vickery there, and I want you to tell us what you know
about it before you hear what Mr. Carne's story was. I do hope that you
will tell us everything you know. Only in that way can we clear Captain
Mervyn."</p>
<p>"I will tell you everything I know, sir," Ruth said, quietly; "I told
Miss Armstrong five weeks ago, and was only waiting till she heard from
some one she has written to before telling it to every one."</p>
<p>The gig now drew up at the door of the magistrate's house, and Dr.
Arrowsmith led Ruth into the sitting-room, where Mr. Volkes and the
clergyman were awaiting her.</p>
<p>"Sit down here, Ruth," the doctor said, handing her a chair. "Now,
gentlemen, I may tell you first that I have told Miss Powlett that Mr.
Carne has confessed that he killed his sister. I have not told her a
single word more. It was, of course, of the highest importance that she
should not know the nature of his story before telling you her own. She
has expressed her willingness to tell you all she knows. Now, Miss
Powlett, will you please begin in your own way."</p>
<p>Quietly and steadily Ruth Powlett told her story, beginning with the
conversation that she had had with Margaret Carne relative to her
breaking off the engagement; she described her interview with George
Forester, his threats against Miss Carne and his attack on herself; and
then told how she had found his knife by the bedside on the morning of
the murder. She said she knew now that she had done very wrong to
conceal it, but that she had done it for the sake of George Forester's
father. Lastly, she told how she had gone to the trial taking the knife
with her, firmly resolved that in case a verdict of guilty should be
returned against Captain Mervyn, she would come forward, produce the
knife, and tell all that she knew.</p>
<p>Her three hearers exchanged many looks of satisfaction as she went on.</p>
<p>When she had finished, Mr. Volkes said: "We are very much obliged to you
for your story, Miss Powlett. Happily it agrees precisely with that told
us by Mr. Carne. It seems that he was in the wood and overheard your
quarrel with Forester, and the threats against Miss Carne suggested to
him the idea of throwing the blame upon Forester, and to do this he
placed the knife that he had found on the scene of the poaching affray a
short time before, in his sister's room. After this confirmation given
by your story, there can be no doubt at all that Mr. Carne's confession
was genuine, and that it will completely clear Captain Mervyn of the
suspicion of having caused his cousin's death. We shall be obliged, I am
afraid, to make your story public also, in order to confirm his
statement. This will naturally cause you much pain and some
unpleasantness, and I hope you will accept that as the inevitable
consequence of the course—which you yourself see has been a very
mistaken one—you pursued in this affair."</p>
<p>"I am prepared for that, sir," Ruth said, quietly; "I had already told
Miss Armstrong about it, and was ready to come here to tell you the
story even when I thought that by so doing I should have to denounce
George Forester as a murderer. I am so rejoiced that he is now proved to
be innocent, I can very well bear what may be said about me."</p>
<p>"But why not have come and told me at once when you made up your mind to
do so?" Mr. Volkes asked. "Why delay it?"</p>
<p>"I was waiting, sir; I was waiting—but——" and she paused, "that
secret is not my own; but I think, sir, that if you will go to Mr.
Armstrong, he will be able to tell you something you will be glad to
know."</p>
<p>"Who is Mr. Armstrong?" Mr. Volkes asked, in some surprise.</p>
<p>"He is a gentleman who has been living in the village for the last four
or five months, sir. I do not think there can be any harm in my telling
you that he knows where Captain Mervyn is to be found."</p>
<p>"That is the very information we want at present. We must get Ronald
Mervyn back among us as soon as we can; he has indeed been very hardly
treated in the matter. I think, Miss Powlett, we will get you to put
your story into the form of a sworn information. We may as well draw it
up at once, and that will save you the trouble of coming up here again."</p>
<p>This was accordingly done, and Ruth Powlett walked back to the village,
leaving Mr. Volkes and the two other gentlemen to draw up a formal
report of the confession made by Reginald Carne.</p>
<p>Ruth Powlett went straight to the cottage occupied by the Armstrongs.</p>
<p>"What is your news, Ruth?" Mary said, as she entered. "I can see by your
face that you have something important to tell us."</p>
<p>"I have, indeed," Ruth replied. "I have just been up to Mr. Volkes, the
magistrate, and have told him all I knew."</p>
<p>"What induced you to do that, Ruth?" Mary asked, in surprise. "I thought
you had quite settled to say nothing about it until we heard from
Captain Mervyn."</p>
<p>"They knew all about it before I told them, and only sent for me to
confirm the story. Mr. Carne, before he died last night, made a full
confession before Mr. Volkes, Dr. Arrowsmith, and Mr. Vickery. It was he
who in his madness killed his sister, and who placed George Forester's
knife by the bedside, and Captain Mervyn's glove on the grass, to throw
suspicion on them. Captain Mervyn and George Forester are both
innocent."</p>
<p>The news was so sudden and unexpected that it was some time before Mary
Armstrong could sufficiently recover herself to ask questions. The news
that Ronald was proved to be innocent was not so startling as it would
have been had she not previously believed that they were already in a
position to clear him; but the knowledge that his innocence would now be
publicly proclaimed in a day or two, filled her with happiness. She was
glad, too, for Ruth's sake that George Forester had not committed this
terrible crime; and yet there was a slight feeling of disappointment
that she herself had had no hand in clearing her lover, and that this
had come about in an entirely different way to what she had expected.</p>
<p>Mr. Volkes and the clergyman called that afternoon, and had a long talk
with Mr. Armstrong, and the following day a thrill of excitement was
caused throughout the country by the publication in the papers of the
confession of Reginald Carne. Dr. Arrowsmith certified that, although
Reginald Carne was unquestionably insane, and probably had been so for
some years, he had no hesitation in saying that he was perfectly
conscious at the time he made the confession, and that the statement
might be believed as implicitly as if made by a wholly sane man. In
addition to this certificate and the confession, the three gentlemen
signed a joint declaration to the effect that the narrative was
absolutely confirmed by other facts, especially by the statement made by
Miss Powlett, without her being in any way aware of the confession of
Reginald Carne. This, they pointed out, fully confirmed his story on all
points, and could leave no shadow of doubt in the minds of any one that
Reginald Carne had, under the influence of madness, taken his sister's
life, and had then, with the cunning so commonly present in insanity,
thrown suspicion upon two wholly innocent persons.</p>
<p>The newspapers, commenting on the story, remarked strongly upon the
cruel injustice that had been inflicted upon Captain Mervyn, and
expressed the hope that he would soon return to take his place again in
the county, uniting in his person the estate of the Mervyns and the
Carnes. There were some expressions of strong reprobation at the
concealment by Ruth Powlett of the knife she had found in Miss Carne's
room. One of the papers, however, admitted that "Perhaps altogether it
is fortunate now that the girl concealed them. Had the facts now
published in her statement been given, they would at once have convinced
every one that Captain Mervyn did not commit the crime with which he was
charged, but at the same time they might have brought another innocent
man to the scaffold. Upon the whole, then, although her conduct in
concealing this important news is most reprehensible, it must be
admitted that, in the interests of justice, it is fortunate she kept
silent."</p>
<p>The sensation caused in Carnesford by the publication of this news was
tremendous. Fortunately, Ruth Powlett was not there to become the centre
of talk, for she had that morning been carried off by Mr. Armstrong and
Mary to stay with them for a while in London. The cottage was shut up,
and upon the following day a cart arrived from Plymouth to carry off the
furniture, which had been only hired by the month. The evening before
leaving, Mr. Armstrong had intercepted Hiram Powlett on his way to the
snuggery, and taking him up to the cottage, where Ruth was spending the
evening with Mary, informed him on the way of the strange discovery that
had been made, and Ruth's share in it.</p>
<p>"I trust, Mr. Powlett," he said, "that you will not be angry with your
daughter. She was placed in a terrible position, having the option of
either denouncing as a murderer a man she had loved, or permitting
another to lie under the imputation of guilt. And you must remember that
she was prepared to come forward at the trial and tell the truth about
the matter had Captain Mervyn been found guilty. No doubt she acted
wrongly; but she has suffered terribly, and I think that as my daughter
has forgiven her for allowing Captain Mervyn to suffer for her silence,
you may also do so."</p>
<p>Hiram Powlett had uttered many expressions of surprise and concern as he
listened to the story. It seemed to him very terrible that his girl
should have all the time been keeping a secret of such vital importance.
He now said in a tone of surprise:</p>
<p>"I don't understand you, Mr. Armstrong, about your daughter. What has
Miss Mary to do with forgiving? How has she been injured?"</p>
<p>"I don't know that upon the whole she has been injured," Mr. Armstrong
said. "At least, I am sure she does not consider so. Still, I think she
has something to forgive, for the fact is she is engaged to be married
to Captain Mervyn, and would have been his wife a year ago had he not
been resolved never to marry so long as this cloud remained over him."</p>
<p>Hiram Powlett was so greatly surprised at this news that his thoughts
were for a moment diverted from Ruth's misdemeanours. Captain Mervyn,
the owner of the Hall, and now of the Carne estate also, was a very
great man in the eyes of the people of Carnesford, and the news that he
was engaged to be married to the girl who was a friend of his
daughter's, and who had several times taken tea at the mill, was almost
bewildering to him.</p>
<p>"I dare say you are surprised," Mr. Armstrong said, quietly, "but you
see we are not exactly what we appear. We came here somewhat under false
colours, to try and find out about this murder, and in the hope we might
discover some proofs of Captain Mervyn's innocence. Now we have been
successful we shall go up to London and there await Captain Mervyn's
return. I have been talking it over with my daughter, and if you and
Mrs. Powlett offer no opposition, we propose to take Ruth away to stay
with us for two or three months. It will be pleasant for all parties.
Your girl and mine are fond of each other, and Ruth will be a nice
companion for Mary. The change will do your daughter good. She has for a
long time been suffering greatly, and fresh scenes and objects of
interest will take her mind off the past, and lastly, by the time she
returns here, the gossip and talk that will arise when all this is
known, will have died away."</p>
<p>"It is very good of you to think of it, Mr. Armstrong," Hiram Powlett
said, "and it will be a fine thing for Ruth. Of course, she has been
wrong, very wrong; but she must have suffered very much all these
months. I told you I thought she had something on her mind, but I never
thought it was like this. Well, well, I shan't say anything to her. I
never was good at scolding her when she was a child, and I think she has
been severely punished for this already."</p>
<p>"I think so too," Mr. Armstrong agreed; "and now let us go in. I told
her that I should speak to you this evening, and she must be waiting
anxiously for you."</p>
<p>When they entered, Ruth rose timidly.</p>
<p>"Oh! father"—she began.</p>
<p>"There, don't say any more about it, Ruth," Hiram interrupted, taking
her tenderly in his arms. "My poor girl, you have had a hard time of it.
Why didn't you tell me all at first?"</p>
<p>"I could not, father," she sobbed. "You know—you know—how you were set
against him."</p>
<p>"Well, that is so, Ruth, and I should have been still more set against
him if I had known the rights of that fall of yours upon the hill; but
there, we won't say anything more about it. You have been punished for
your fault, child, and I hope that when you come back again to us from
the jaunt that Mr. Armstrong is going to be good enough to take you,
you will be just as you were before all this trouble came upon you."</p>
<p>And so the next morning Mr. Armstrong, his daughter, and Ruth went up to
London.</p>
<p>Two months later, Mary received Ronald's letter, telling of George
Forester's death, and of his own disappointment at finding his hopes of
clearing himself dashed to the ground. Mary broke the news of Forester's
death to Ruth; she received it quietly.</p>
<p>"I am sorry," she said, "but he has been nothing to me for a long time
now, and he could never have been anything to me again. I am sorry," she
repeated, wiping her eyes, "that the boy I played with is gone, but for
the man, I think it is, perhaps, better so. He died fighting bravely,
and as a soldier should. I fear he would never have made a good man had
he lived."</p>
<p>A month later, Ronald himself returned. The war was virtually over when
he received the letters from Mary Armstrong and Mr. Volkes, telling him
that he was cleared at last, and he had no trouble in obtaining his
discharge at once. He received the heartiest congratulations from his
former officers, and a perfect ovation from the men, as he said good-bye
to them. At Plymouth he received letters telling him where Mary and her
father were staying in London, and on landing he at once proceeded to
town by train, after telegraphing to his sisters to meet him there.</p>
<p>A fortnight later a quiet wedding took place, Ronald's sisters and Ruth
Powlett acting as bridesmaids, an honour that, when Ruth returned home
immediately after the ceremony, effectually silenced the tongues of the
village gossips. Ronald Mervyn and his wife went for a month's tour on
the Continent, Mr. Armstrong joining them in Paris a few days after the
marriage; while the Miss Mervyns went down to Devonshire to prepare the
Hall for the reception of its owner. Colonel Somerset had not forgotten
his promise, and two or three days after Ronald's return, the letter
stating how Captain Mervyn had distinguished himself during the Kaffir
War under the name of Sergeant Blunt went the round of the papers.</p>
<p>The skeleton walls of Carne's Hold were at once pulled down, the garden
was rooted up, and the whole site planted with trees, and this was by
Ronald's orders carried out so expeditiously that when he returned with
his bride all trace of The Hold had vanished.</p>
<p>Never in the memory of South Devonshire had there been such rejoicings
as those that greeted Ronald Mervyn and his wife on their return home.
The tenantry of his two estates, now joined, all assembled at the
station, and scarce a man from Carnesford was absent. Triumphal arches
had been erected, and the gentry for many miles round drove in to
receive them, as an expression at once of their satisfaction that Ronald
Mervyn had been cleared from the cloud that hung over him, and, to some
extent, of their regret that they should ever for a moment have believed
him guilty.</p>
<p>Reuben Claphurst's prediction was verified. With the destruction of
Carne's Hold the curse of the Spanish lady ceased to work, and no trace
of the family scourge has ever shown itself in the blood of the somewhat
numerous family of Ronald Mervyn. The tragic story is now almost
forgotten, and it is only among the inhabitants of the village at the
foot of the hill that the story of the curse of Carne's Hold is
sometimes related.</p>
<h3>THE END.</h3>
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