Complete Works of Wilkie Collins (2077 page)

Mr. Candy.
And you know absolutely nothing about it yourself?

Franklin.
Absolutely nothing. (MR. CANDY
pauses and considers with himself.
BETTEREDGE
addresses him.
)

Betteredge.
What do you say to
that,
sir? Solomon himself would be at a loss to put the pieces of the puzzle together!

Mr. Candy
(
to
BETTEREDGE). Was Mr. Blake at all anxious about the safe keeping of the diamond before he went to bed?

Betteredge.
Anxious isn’t the word, sir. Bothered is the word. Impossible to persuade him that the diamond was safe in the cabinet drawer.

Mr. Candy
(
suddenly turning to
FRANKLIN). Are you composed enough to hear me patiently, Mr. Blake, if I venture on a bold guess?

Franklin
(
despondently
). Say what you like!

Mr. Candy.
I say this. You were dreaming of the Moonstone last night, and you took the diamond while you were walking in your sleep.

Franklin
(
starting up
). Walking in my sleep!!!

Betteredge
(
indignantly
). He never did such a thing in his life!

Mr. Candy
(
quietly
). He did it for the first time last night, Mr. Betteredge. I defy you to explain what has happened in any other way.

Franklin.
Have you any reason for what you say?

Mr. Candy.
I have three reasons. First, the disordered condition of your nervous system. Second, your supper and your grog. Third, a case of somnambulism in my practice, which is in many respects like your case — as I believe it to be.

Franklin.
Suppose you are right. What then?

Mr. Candy.
If you will assist me, sir, I think I can
prove
that I am right.

Franklin.
Can you find the lost diamond? Can you prove that I took it without knowing what I was about at the time? I am disgraced for life, and through no fault of mine. Betteredge! pack my portmanteau, I shall leave by the night express.

Betteredge.
Don’t say that, sir! What’s the use of leaving us? Where are you going to?

Franklin
(
irritably
). I am going to the devil!

Betteredge.
God bless you, sir, go where you may!

Mr. Candy
(
to
FRANKLIN). Decide nothing rashly, Mr. Blake. Let me say to Miss Rachel what I have just said to you. And let her tell us if she saw anything strange in your looks and your movements last night.

Betteredge.
I’ll fetch her, Master Franklin! She’s only giving some orders in the servants’-hall. (
He attempts to go out at the back.
FRANKLIN
stops him.
)

Franklin.
Rachel has deliberately charged me with stealing her diamond. Nothing will induce me to see her again until my innocence of the theft is a proved fact.

Betteredge.
Leave it to me, sir, to tell her what Mr. Candy has said. Let me be the first to ease my dear young mistress’s mind!

Franklin
(
impatiently
). Tell your mistress what I have just said, and tell her anything else you like.

Betteredge.
Thank you, sir, thank you. (
Aside to
MR. CANDY.) Make the most of your time with him before Miss Rachel comes in. (
He goes out by the hall door.
)

Mr. Candy.
Your position is not so hopeless as you seem to think it, sir. Will you hear what I have to say?

Franklin.
Tell me one thing first. What am I to expect in the future? Am I never to sleep quietly in my bed for the rest of my life?

Mr. Candy.
You have only to recover your health, and I will answer for your sleeping as quietly as any man living. Let us return to the other question, which you put to me just now. You have asked if I can find the lost diamond?

Franklin.
Yes.

Mr. Candy.
You have asked if I can prove your innocence of the theft?

Franklin.
Well!

Mr. Candy.
I may be able to do both the one and the other, if you will consent to be guided by
me.
(RACHEL’S
voice is heard outside.
)

Rachel
(
speaking in great agitation
). I don’t want to hear any more! I insist on seeing him!

Franklin
(
quietly to
MR. CANDY). If you wish to speak further with me, you will find me in my room. (
He ascends the stairs deliberately, careless whether
RACHEL
sees him or not.
)

Mr. Candy
(
following and remonstrating with him
). Mr. Blake — !

Rachel
(
outside
). Let me go! How dare you stand between me and the door. (
She appears at the hall door, hurriedly entering the room
). Where is he? (MR. CANDY
returns to
RACHEL. FRANKLIN
reaches the top of the stairs.
) Mr. Candy, I
must
see him! I must ask his pardon on my knees!

Mr. Candy.
You can’t see him now, Miss Rachel. He has just gone upstairs.

Rachel
(
seeing
FRANKLIN
open his bedroom door
). To avoid me! (
She calls entreatingly.
) Franklin! (FRANKLIN
enters his room, and closes the door.
RACHEL
turns in tears to
MR. CANDY.) Not a word of answer! Not even a look! I deserve it.

Mr. Candy
(
surprised
). You deserve it?

Rachel
(
with the keenest self-reproach
). I was alone in the hall last night, when the house was shut up, and there was no light but the moon. I saw him take the diamond, and I put the vilest construction on what I saw!

Mr. Candy.
My dear young lady, how could you possibly suspect that he was sleeping and dreaming, when you couldn’t see him plainly, and when you never heard of such a thing as his walking in his sleep?

Rachel.
I don’t care! I have treated him cruelly — I who love him with all my heart and soul! Oh Mr. Candy, I have lost him! He will never forgive me — he will never forget what I said to him!

Mr. Candy
(
earnestly
). Miss Rachel, he may yet forgive and forget! He may yet be nearer and dearer to you than ever! (RACHEL
starts.
) Compose yourself, and tell me one thing. After he had taken the Moonstone, what did he do with it?

Rachel.
He took it upstairs with him to his own room.

Mr. Candy.
It is at least possible that he has hidden it there in his sleep — dreaming, of course, that he was putting it in a place of safety. You follow me, so far?

Rachel.
I don’t follow you at all! I want to hear about the happy time you have promised me — the time when Franklin is to be nearer and dearer to me than ever. Get on to that!

Mr. Candy.
A moment’s patience, Miss Rachel. I am getting to it now. (BETTEREDGE
enters by the hall door.
)

Rachel
(
to
BETTEREDGE). What do you want? Don’t interrupt us! Go away!

Betteredge.
I beg your pardon, miss. I have got a message for you, and I must indeed deliver it.

Rachel.
Go away!

Mr. Candy
(
to
RACHEL). One moment! (
to
BETTEREDGE.) Does your message relate to the Moonstone?

Betteredge.
Knowing the person who gave me the message, sir, I haven’t a doubt of it.

Mr. Candy.
Let him speak, Miss Rachel. (RACHEL
signs to
BETTEREDGE
to speak.
)

Betteredge.
I won’t be long, miss. Since you left me I have been having a little talk with a person in the grounds.

Rachel.
Who is the person?

Betteredge.
You will be angry if I mention his name.

Rachel.
Sergeant Cuff?

Betteredge.
Right, miss, at the first guess.

Rachel.
That man still in the house! What does he mean? What is he doing? What does he want?

Betteredge.
That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you, miss, ever since I came into the room. As to what he means, he keeps it to himself. As to what he is doing, he has just had a long private conversation behind the stables with a strange gentleman who came from the railway in a fly. As to what he wants, he wants two minutes’ talk immediately, Miss Rachel, with you.

Rachel.
I refuse to see him! I insist on his leaving the house. (CUFF
appears at the hall door.
RACHEL
points to him indignantly.
) Mr. Candy! Betteredge! do you see that man? This is a downright insult. I appeal to your protection.

Betteredge.
Don’t be angry, miss. I’ll take him away. (
He attempts to approach
CUFF,
and is stopped by
MR. CANDY.)

Mr. Candy.
Wait a minute! (
to
CUFF.) You will find pen and ink in the servants’ hall. Tell Miss Rachel, in writing, what you want.

Cuff.
Might I whisper one word in your ear, sir? (
He whispers.
MR. CANDY
starts back with a cry of astonishment.
)

Rachel
(
observing him
). What is it?

Mr. Candy
(
excitedly
). Something that you
must
hear, Miss Rachel! Something that makes the Sergeant’s presence at our conference indispensable. Take a seat, Sergeant Cuff.