Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 April 1906 — The Yellow Holly [ARTICLE]

The Yellow Holly

Author of "The Mystery of a Hatuom Csb.” Etc.

SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. CHAPTER I—George Brendon, a young Londoner, vixita bls friend. Leonard Train, who hu* lodging* in the boarding house kept by Mr*. Jersey. Among the boarders Is an elderly maiden lady. Miss Bull. Mrs. Jersey is startled by a piece of yellow holly worn by GeorgT. 11-George, whose real name is Vane, tells Train the story of his life. lie is an orphan and the grandson of Lord Derrington, but the latter refuses to recognize the marriage of George's father (Lord Derrington's son), who had eloped. Brendon desires to establish his position as Lord Derrington’s heir in order to marry Dorothy Ward. The place of marriage of George's parents is known only to Mrs. Jersey, formerly maid to George's mother. His mother died nt his birth, and his father had been murdered in San Remo, Italy, years before. Ill—ln the night Mrs. Jersey is killed with a stilleto by an unknown person. IV— Miss Bull takes charge of the house in behalf of Margery, neice of the murdered woman. The house has been leased from Lord Derrington. V—Mrs. Ward, a heartless society woman, mother of Dorothy, is opposed to Dorothy's marriage to Brendon. The yellow holly had been given to Dorothy by her mother and by the girl to George. Vl—Mr. Ireland, George's former guardian, tells him of his mother's marriage and death and his father’s murder. The latter was killed after leaving a masked ball in company with a woman—a blue domino—who wore a sprig of yellow holly. VII — George, seeking a confession known to have been left by Mrs. Jersey, visits Miss Bull and learns that the dead woman received an annuity from Lord Derrington. George saves a Mr. Bawdsey from death and learns that the latter live* in the Jersey house. Vlll—Lola Velez. a dancer, is in love with George and is loved by Bawdsey. Lola's parents lived in Sun Remo at the time of the murder of Brendon's father. IX and X—Mrs. Ward invites Train to dinner. He meets Lord Derriington. George visits Dorothy anil makes a favorable impression on his grandfather. Mrs. Ward learns from Train that the latter found a yellow holly berry near the body of Mrs. Jersey. XI George visits Bawdsey, who is employed by Lord Derrington to watch tlie young man. Bawdsey wards him that he is suspected of Mrs. Jersey’s murder. XH—Lord Derrington is visited by Brendon, who tells his {grandfather that he saw him in Mrs. Jersey s house on the night'of of the murder. Brendon demands that his f randfather silence Mrs. Ward. Xlll—Lord •errington visits Mrs. Ward and forces her to keep silence concerning the yellow holly berry found by Train, telling her that the berry was dropped by George at the finding of the body. Dorothy and her mother see Lola Velez dance. Lola later tells Dorothy that the latter will be forced to give up her lover. XlV—Lola disappears. Bawdsey tells George that Mr. Ireland knows something about his father’s death. Lord Derrington's power over Mrs. Ward is due to the fact of hi* knowledge of her cheating at cards. Mrs. Ward produces the weapon with which Mrs. Jersey was killed, having found it in Lord Derrington's coat. Lord Derrington confiscates the stilleto. Mr. Ireland tells him that Mrs. Ward was with George's father at the San Remo ball. Another blue domino there was Mrs. Ward’s sister, now known as Miss Bull.

CHAPTER XVII.

GEORGE was rather puzzled to reconcile the apparent contradiction in Derrington~s speech. The old gentleman saw his bewilderment, and before the young man could speak he anticipated his question. ~You are perplexed,~ he said quietly. ~I thought you would be. To explain myself clearly it will be better to tell you the whole story from the beginning." ~What story?" ~The story of your mother~s marriage and of my quarrel with your father. Do not be afraid. I shall say nothing to hurt your pride. But I fear Percy was not overburdened with brains. He was gay and thoughtless and thriftless. Your talents, George, come from your mother. She must have been a remarkable woman. ~However, to continue,~ pursued Derrington, pushing away his empty cup, ~Percy saw Miss Lockwood, he fell in love with her, and finally he eloped. I wrote hipi a letter saying he was to return or I would never see him again. He declined to return and remained on the continent with his wife. I never did see him again,~ added Derrington quietly, ~for three years later he was murdered at San Remo.~ ~ln his letter to you did my father say he was married?~ ~He did, but at the time, as he'did not say where the marriage was celebrated, I thought he mentioned it out of obstinacy.~ George colored. ~I don~t see why you should have so misjudged, my mother,~ he said hotly. that she was not born In the purple, she was in a good position and had no reason to run away with my father.~ ~She was In love with him, I believe.~ "Even then she would not have eloped unless It was to be married.~ Derrington nodded. ~You are perfectly right,~ he said. ~I tried to disbelieve in the marriage, but in my own heart I knew there was one. I have behaved very badly, George.~ ~You have, sir. But as we are now reconciled the less said about the thing the better. You are quite sure you do not know where the marriage was celebrated ?~ e ~No, George, I do not. After the death of your father I tried to find out, but it was impossible. Had I really seen the register of the marriage 1 should have acknowledged you as my heir. As a matter of fact,~ added Derrington, with a burst of candor, "1 did not trouble much to search, as I feared lest the marriage should be verified.~ George wriggled in his seat. ~Let us say no more,~ he said. ~Very good. I have confessed my sins, and I have received absolution from you. At the present moment we will leave the murder of your father at San Remo alone and come to the appearance of Mrs. Jersey in ray life. You were with your grandfather Lockwood in Amelia square. I had constituted my second son my heir, and 1 had relegated to obscurity the escapade of my son Percy. All was nicely settled, in my humble opinion, when Mrs. Jersey appeared to make trouble. That was eight years after your father~s deat.f,~ '

“Where was she in the meantime?” “I cannot say. She told me nothing of her history, but from a word or two which she let slip I believe she must have been in the United States. Why she went there from San Remo or for what reason I cannot say. She came here to see me-we had an interview in this very room—to demand money." “What threat did she make?” “She said that she knew where the marriage was celebrated, adding that if I did not give her an annuity she would go to Lockwood and help him to prove that you were my legitimate grandson and heir.” _ “Did she say if the marriage was celebrated in England or abroad?" “No, sir. Mrs. Jersey was a remarkably clever woman, and If my son Percy had married her she would have made a man of him.” “Then she really was in love with my father?" * “Very deeply in love—as she told me herself. But she did not regard his memory with such veneration as to desire to aid his son. She was content that you should lose your rights, provided that I paid her an annuity. I tried in vain to learn from her where the marriage had been celebratpd. She refused to open liopmouih. so I allowed her an annuity of live hundred, a year. I arranged that the money should be paid through my lawyers, and she vanished.” “Where to?’’ “I can't say. She might have gone to rejoin Mr. Jersey if there ever was such a person. She sent a messenger regularly to the office of my lawyers for the money, but did not trouble me in any way. Her next appearance was shortly after the death of your grandfather.” “What did she want this time?” “To set up a boarding house in Amelia square. She said that her life was lonely—a remark which made me think Mr. Jersey was a myth—and that she wanted company. I expect she learned in some way that I was buying old Lockwood's house.” “Why did you buy it?” “I have a lot of property In that district, and I wanted to round it off with this house. Ireland, in his rage at me for my treatment of your mother, would not have sold it to me. I bought the house through an agent. Mrs. Jersey must have heard of the purchase, for it was then that she came to me and asked me to set her up In the house as a landlady.” “I wonder why she did that?” said George thoughtfully. “She was lonely, I understand.” George looked at his shoes. "As Eliza Stokes she lived In that house along with my mother previous to the elopement. I expect she had a kind of affection for it.”

"Well, whatever her reason was, I did what she asked. She agreed to pay me a rent, and her money was as good as any one else's. Besides, I felt that as my tenant I could keep her under my own eye. When she was away I never knew but what she might die and part with the secret to some one else, who might come on me for blackmail also. I thought it best Mrs. Jersey’ should have the house, so she went into it and used the old furniture. I don't deny but what she was a good business woman and made the house pay. At all events she was never behindhand with her rent.” “I wonder she paid you any at all.” “Oh, she had her annuity and was afraid of pressing me too hard. I refused to let her the house on a seven years’ lease. She only had it from year to year, and in that way I kept a check upon her. She knew if I once lost my temper I wrauld throw’ her over and acknowledge you as my heir.” — : "I wish you had done so,” said Brendon moodily. “It would have saved a lot of trouble.” “I do so now,” replied Derrington testily. "Better late than never. Well, Mrs. Jersey lived and flourished for fifteen years. I tried to find you out, George, lest she should get at you”— “Oh, was that W’hy you offered to make me an allowance?” “It was. I intended to give you a yearly income on condition that you went to Australia. Then I could be sure that Mrs. Jersey would not seek you out. But you refused my offer and disappeared.” “1 went to college under the name of Brendon,” observed George. “And that is why Mrs. Jersey never found you and why I could not come across you until you put those advertisements about the marriage into the papers. It was that which”— “Yesf so Bawdsey told me. You had me watched.” “I did,” said Derrington, “and in that way I found out that you were going to stop in Mrs. Jersey’s house.” “How did you Idarn that, sir?” asked George in surprise. “I never told any one.” “Oh, yes; you told Lola.” “So I did," said Brendon quickly. “She bothered me to come and see her, and I said that I was going to stop in the neighborhood of Amelin square with a friend and would call on her the next day. I expect she told this to Bawdsey.!’ “ExactlyT and Bawdsey told me. I was afraid lest you should make Mrs. Jersey confess. I wrote to her and

asked' her to see me. She refused to come to my house, so I made up my mind to seek her out in Amelia square. I arranged by letter with her to call about 11 o’clock at her place and see her secretly.” “Why secretly, and why at night? Your visit could have been accounted for from the fact that she was your tenant” *Ah," said Derrington grimly, "I never thought of that. I received a note from Mrs. Jersey saying she would wait for me on Friday evening at 11 o’clock in her sitting room. It was a foggy night if you remember.” “Very foggy. I suppose you traced the house by means of the red light over the door." “I did not trace the bouse at all,” said Derrington quietly. “I did not go near the house.” "But I saw you,” Insisted George. “You saw my coat and a man with my tall figure, and, having my association with yourself in your head,, you jumped to the conclusion that the figure was me.” “Then if not you, who was the man?” “Bawdsey!” said Derrington curtly. George stared. “In your coat?” lie said incredulously. “It seems strange,” said Derrington, “but the fact is that Bawdsey is one of (ho few who have got the better of me tn my life. It was in this way that he prevented me from swing Mrs. Jersey. On that night I visited him at his rooms, which then were in Bloomsbury. I desired to tell him that I intended to see Mrs. Jersey and to warn her against revealing anything. I don’t suppose the warning ' was needed, as she knew when she ; was well off. But the fact is, Mrs. • Jersey was not in good health and I was feeling compunction about keepI Ing you out of your rights. I learned from Bawdsey- that Mrs. Jersey had i written out a confession of the whole matter and that she intended to leave this to her niece, Margery Watson, so that I might be forced to continue ■ the lease of the house.” George uttered an ejaculation. >“I ; thought from what Margery said that ; there was some such confession,” be i remarked, “but it is missing. It was not found among her papers after her death. Unless Miss Bull took it and ■ forced you to”— “No,” interrupted Derrington vigorously, “she came here quietly and put the case of the poor girl to me. She also undertook that the rent would be paid regularly and that through Miss Watson she would manage the house. I was quite satisfied with the existing arrangements, and, moreover, thought that if such a confession were found, out of gratitude Miss Watson might bring it to me.” • “If Miss Bull had told her to she would have done so, but not otherwise,” said George. “She is under Miss Bull’s thumb.” “The best place she could be, George. The girl is a born idiot, from what I saw of her. However, you know why I renewed the year by year lease. Where the confession is I have no Idea, but the person who holds it will certainly make use of it some day to extort money, and then we will learn who killed Mrs. Jersey.” [TO BE CONTINUED-!