نیکوکار مرموز

Chapter five

A Mysterious Benefactor

Francis Scrymgeour worked in a bank in the centre of Edinburgh. He was twenty-five and lived with his father. His mother died when Francis was a young child. Francis did not come from a rich family, but he was lucky to have a very sensible father. Francis’s father made sure his son received an excellent education.

Francis had a very normal life. He liked his job and he was very affectionate to his father. Nothing extraordinary ever happened to him, but he was happy. So Francis was very surprised when he received a letter from a lawyer in Edinburgh.

Francis was curious to find out why the lawyer was writing to him. So he went to the lawyer’s office immediately. There he discovered that he had a mysterious benefactor. His benefactor wanted to give him a lot of money: five hundred pounds a year.

To receive the money, Francis had to do just two things. The first thing he had to do was go to a play at the theatre in Paris the following Sunday. The other was that he marry someone his benefactor chose for him. Francis was very confused!

‘But I don’t understand. It’s all so strange,’ said Francis. He was quiet for a moment; then he added, ‘Why does he want to choose my wife? What importance is it to him?’

‘Believe me, your future wife will be very important to him,’ answered the lawyer.

He felt sorry for Francis because he saw how confused the young man was. This news was obviously shocking. Both men were silent for a few seconds. Finally Francis said, ‘I’ll accept my benefactor’s offer. But only if you tell me who he is.’

‘I can’t tell you his name. But I can tell you what he has to do with you,’ answered the lawyer. ‘Your benefactor is your real father,’ said the lawyer quietly.

Francis did not know what to say. It was all so confusing. ‘Father isn’t my real father,’ he thought over and over again. The lawyer gave Francis his first cheque from his real father and he left the office. Francis left for Paris the next day. He stayed in a small hotel and, to start a new life, he bought fine new clothes and began taking French lessons. On Saturday afternoon he went to the theatre to pick up the ticket for Sunday’s play.

A person at the ticket office gave Francis his ticket. Then he said, ‘That’s strange. A man just gave me this ticket a minute ago.’

‘What did he look like,’ asked Francis.

‘He was about 70 years old, I think, with long white hair. He has a scar across his face,’ replied the clerk.

Francis went away immediately and ran into the middle of the street. He looked around in all directions and then he saw the person he was looking for. He saw two men sitting on a bench. They were talking very seriously. The younger one seemed to be a priest, but the other was an old man with long white hair.

Francis walked towards them. He saw the old man had a scar across his face. His heart started to beat fast. He sat on a bench behind the two men as he did not want them to see him.

He tried to listen to what the two men were saying.

‘Your suspicions are starting to make me angry,’ said the older man.

‘But I’m sure you want to keep the diamond for yourself.’

‘That’s enough! We will meet on Tuesday at seven o’clock, Mr Rolles, not an hour sooner,’ cried the old man angrily.

The old man got up and hurried down the street. Francis followed him quietly, but quickly.

‘So this is probably my benefactor and real father,’ thought Francis, ‘But why is he so angry with that young man? And what was that business about a diamond?’ Francis felt very confused.

The old man’s house was in Rue Lepic and had a beautiful view of Paris. He went into this large house, which had green shutters, and Francis was left outside alone.

‘What am I going to do now? I need to find a room near here,’ thought Francis. Luckily, he saw a sign outside a tall house next to the one with the green shutters. The sign said, ‘Rooms Available’. Francis went inside and asked for a room. He was lucky to get one that had a view of the old man’s garden.

‘That man may be my real father. But I’m going to find out what he and that young theology student are doing. I think there’s something dishonest going on with that diamond,’ thought Francis.

He got up and looked out of the window into the old man’s garden which had a tall chestnut tree. It was evening now and the sky was getting dark. Nothing moved. Francis looked through the leaves of the chestnut tree and saw that the old man was sitting in the garden. A young woman’s voice broke the silence. It came from inside the house.

‘In a moment,’ the old man answered.

A few minutes later, he disappeared into the house for the night.