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CHECKMATE




BY THE SAME AUTHOR


  GUY DEVERELL
  ALL IN THE DARK
  THE WYVERN MYSTERY
  THE COCK AND ANCHOR
  WYLDER'S HAND
  THE WATCHER
  CHECKMATE
  ROSE AND THE KEY
  TENANTS OF MALLORY
  WILLING TO DIE
  GOLDEN FRIARS
  THE EVIL GUEST




  Checkmate

  BY
  J. S. LE FANU

  Downey & Co.
  12 York St.
  Covent Garden.




CONTENTS.


   CHAPTER                                                   PAGE

        I. MORTLAKE HALL,                                       1

       II. MARTHA TANSEY,                                       7

      III. MR. LONGCLUSE OPENS HIS HEART,                      13

       IV. MONSIEUR LEBAS,                                     17

        V. A CATASTROPHE,                                      22

       VI. TO BED,                                             26

      VII. FAST FRIENDS,                                       31

     VIII. CONCERNING A BOOT,                                  38

       IX. THE MAN WITHOUT A NAME,                             43

        X. THE ROYAL OAK,                                      48

       XI. THE TELEGRAM ARRIVES,                               55

      XII. SIR REGINALD ARDEN,                                 62

     XIII. ON THE ROAD,                                        68

      XIV. MR. LONGCLUSE'S BOOT FINDS A TEMPORARY ASYLUM,      72

       XV. FATHER AND SON,                                     79

      XVI. A MIDNIGHT MEETING,                                 84

     XVII. MR. LONGCLUSE AT MORTLAKE HALL,                     91

    XVIII. THE PARTY IN THE DINING-ROOM,                       96

      XIX. IN MRS. TANSEY'S ROOM,                             103

       XX. MRS. TANSEY'S STORY,                               108

      XXI. A WALK BY MOONLIGHT,                               115

     XXII. MR. LONGCLUSE MAKES AN ODD CONFIDENCE,             120

    XXIII. THE MEETING,                                       125

     XXIV. MR. LONGCLUSE FOLLOWS A SHADOW,                    129

      XXV. A TETE-A-TETE,                                     133

     XXVI. THE GARDEN AT MORTLAKE,                            137

    XXVII. WINGED WORDS,                                      141

   XXVIII. STORIES ABOUT MR. LONGCLUSE,                       147

     XXIX. THE GARDEN PARTY,                                  153

      XXX. HE SEES HER,                                       158

     XXXI. ABOUT THE GROUNDS,                                 161

    XXXII. UNDER THE LIME-TREES,                              167

   XXXIII. THE DERBY,                                         171

    XXXIV. A SHARP COLLOQUY,                                  174

     XXXV. DINNER AT MORTLAKE,                                179

    XXXVI. MR. LONGCLUSE SEES A LADY'S NOTE,                  183

   XXXVII. WHAT ALICE COULD SAY,                              188

  XXXVIII. GENTLEMEN IN TROUBLE,                              192

    XXXIX. BETWEEN FRIENDS,                                   196

       XL. AN INTERVIEW IN THE STUDY,                         199

      XLI. VAN APPOINTS HIMSELF TO A DIPLOMATIC POST,         203

     XLII. DIPLOMACY,                                         206

    XLIII. A LETTER AND A SUMMONS,                            209

     XLIV. THE REASON OF ALICE'S NOTE,                        213

      XLV. COLLISION,                                         219

     XLVI. AN UNKNOWN FRIEND,                                 224

    XLVII. BY THE RIVER,                                      229

   XLVIII. SUDDEN NEWS,                                       232

     XLIX. VOWS FOR THE FUTURE,                               236

        L. UNCLE DAVID'S SUSPICIONS,                          239

       LI. THE SILHOUETTE,                                    244

      LII. MR. LONGCLUSE EMPLOYED,                            248

     LIII. THE NIGHT OF THE FUNERAL,                          252

      LIV. AMONG THE TREES,                                   258

       LV. MR. LONGCLUSE SEES A FRIEND,                       262

      LVI. A HOPE EXPIRES,                                    266

     LVII. LEVI'S APOLOGUE,                                   272

    LVIII. THE BARON COMES TO TOWN,                           276

      LIX. TWO OLD FRIENDS MEET AND PART,                     281

       LX. "SAUL,"                                            286

      LXI. A WAKING DREAM,                                    290

     LXII. LOVE AND PLAY,                                     295

    LXIII. PLANS,                                             300

     LXIV. FROM FLOWER TO FLOWER,                             304

      LXV. BEHIND THE ARRAS,                                  311

     LXVI. A BUBBLE BROKEN,                                   313

    LXVII. BOND AND DEED,                                     317

   LXVIII. SIR RICHARD'S RESOLUTION,                          322

     LXIX. THE MEETING,                                       326

      LXX. MR. LONGCLUSE PROPOSES,                            329

     LXXI. NIGHT,                                             332

    LXXII. MEASURES,                                          336

   LXXIII. AT THE BAR OF THE "GUY OF WARWICK,"                341

    LXXIV. A LETTER,                                          346

     LXXV. BLIGHT AND CHANGE,                                 351

    LXXVI. PHOEBE CHIFFINCH,                                  356

   LXXVII. MORE NEWS OF PAUL DAVIES,                          360

  LXXVIII. THE CATACOMBS,                                     364

    LXXIX. RESURRECTIONS,                                     371

     LXXX. ANOTHER,                                           376

    LXXXI. BROKEN,                                            379

   LXXXII. DOPPELGANGER,                                      384

  LXXXIII. A SHORT PARTING,                                   388

   LXXXIV. AT MORTLAKE,                                       393

    LXXXV. THE CRISIS,                                        399

   LXXXVI. PURSUIT,                                           406

  LXXXVII. CONCLUSION,                                        412




CHECKMATE.




CHAPTER I.

MORTLAKE HALL.


There stands about a mile and a half beyond Islington, unless it has
come down within the last two years, a singular and grand old house. It
belonged to the family of Arden, once distinguished in the Northumbrian
counties. About fifty acres of ground, rich with noble clumps and masses
of old timber, surround it; old-world fish-ponds, with swans sailing
upon them, tall yew hedges, quincunxes, leaden fauns and goddesses, and
other obsolete splendours surround it. It rises, tall, florid, built of
Caen stone, with a palatial flight of steps, and something of the grace
and dignity of the genius of Inigo Jones, to whom it is ascribed, with
the shadows of ancestral trees and the stains of two centuries upon it,
and a vague character of gloom and melancholy, not improved by some
indications not actually of decay, but of something too like neglect.

It is now evening, and a dusky glow envelopes the scene. The setting sun
throws its level beams, through tall drawing-room windows, ruddily upon
the Dutch tapestry on the opposite walls, and not unbecomingly lights up
the little party assembled there.

Good-natured, fat Lady May Penrose, in her bonnet, sips her tea and
chats agreeably. Her carriage waits outside. You will ask who is that
extremely beautiful girl who sits opposite, her large soft grey eyes
gazing towards the western sky with a look of abstraction, too forgetful
for a time of her company, leaning upon the slender hand she has placed
under her cheek. How silken and golden-tinted the dark brown hair that
grows so near her brows, making her forehead low, and marking with its
broad line the beautiful oval of her face! Is there carmine anywhere to
match her brilliant lips? And when, recollecting something to tell Lady
May, she turns on a sudden, smiling, how soft and pretty the dimples,
and how even the little row of pearls she discloses!

This is Alice Arden, whose singularly handsome brother Richard, with
some of her tints and outlines translated into masculine beauty, stands
leaning on the back of a prie-dieu chair, and chatting gaily.

But who is the thin, tall man--the only sinister figure in the
group--with one hand in his breast