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His right hand was but partially disabled, and with that he tried to scribble something which proved indecipherable. And so he died, and those who attended him at his last moments say that if ever a soul had a taste of future punishment before it left this earth, it was the soul of Lord Rantremly as it shone through those terror-stricken eyes.
He seated himself before I had time to offer him a chair, and kept on his hat in my presence, which he would not have done if he had either been a genuine nobleman or a courteous business man. 'I am Lord Rantremly, he announced pompously, which announcement was quite unnecessary, because I held his card in my hand. 'Quite so, my lord.
'In that refusal, madam, I think you are wrong. If you take my advice, you will accept the annuity. The woman rose slowly to her feet. 'It is not money I am after, she said, 'although, God knows, I have often been in sore need of it. But I am the Countess of Rantremly, and I wish my right to that name acknowledged. My character has been under an impalpable shadow for ten years.
'Would it not be well, I suggested, 'to lay the facts before the present Lord Rantremly? 'I have done so, she answered simply. 'With what result? 'His lordship said my story was preposterous. In examining the late lord's private papers, he discovered the letter which I typed and signed.
'Madam, I said politely, 'in what may I have the pleasure of serving you? The poor woman seemed for the moment confused, and was, I feared, on the verge of tears, but at last she spoke, and said, 'Perhaps you have read in the newspapers of the tragedy at Rantremly Castle? 'The name, madam, remains in my memory, associated elusively with some hint of seriousness.
So far as coincidence is concerned, there was first the arrival of the newspaper clipping, then the coming of Sophia Brooks, and when that much-injured woman left my flat I wrote down this sentence on a sheet of paper: 'Before the week is out, I predict that Lord Rantremly himself will call to see me. Next day my servant brought in the card of Lord Rantremly.
The British nation, sir, is too sensible a people to object to the removal of an antiquated structure that has long outlived its usefulness, and the erection of a mansion replete with all modern improvements would be a distinct addition to the country, sir. A few impertinent busybodies protest against the demolition of Rantremly Castle, but that is all.
'You have been very kind to listen for so long, she said, and then, with a curt 'Good-day! turned and left the room. On the sheet of paper underneath her address, I wrote this prophecy: 'Before the week is out, I predict that Lord Rantremly himself will call to see me.
'Oh no, she exclaimed; 'I mean the death of the eleventh Lord Rantremly about six weeks ago. For ten years Lord Rantremly lived practically alone in the castle. Servants would not remain there because the place was haunted, and well it may be, for a terrible family the Rantremlys have been, and a cruel, as I shall be able to tell you.
I shall do him the justice to say that he drove the very best bargain he could with me, and I, on my part, very deftly concealed from him the fact that I was so much interested in the affair that I should have gone down to Rantremly for nothing rather than forgo the privilege of ransacking Rantremly Castle.
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