CHAPTER V



Mr. Merton was a good deal distressed at the second postponement of
the marriage, and Lady Julia, who had already ordered her dress for
the wedding, did all in her power to make Sybil break off the match.
Dearly, however, as Sybil loved her mother, she had given her whole
life into Lord Arthur's hands, and nothing that Lady Julia could say
could make her waver in her faith. As for Lord Arthur himself, it
took him days to get over his terrible disappointment, and for a
time his nerves were completely unstrung. His excellent common
sense, however, soon asserted itself, and his sound, practical mind
did not leave him long in doubt about what to do. Poison having
proved a complete failure, dynamite, or some other form of
explosive, was obviously the proper thing to try.

He accordingly looked again over the list of his friends and
relatives, and, after careful consideration, determined to blow up
his uncle, the Dean of Chichester. The Dean, who was a man of great
culture and learning, was extremely fond of clocks, and had a
wonderful collection of timepieces, ranging from the fifteenth
century to the present day, and it seemed to Lord Arthur that this
hobby of the good Dean's offered him an excellent opportunity for
carrying out his scheme. Where to procure an explosive machine was,
of course, quite another matter. The London Directory gave him no
information on the point, and he felt that there was very little use
in going to Scotland Yard about it, as they never seemed to know
anything about the movements of the dynamite faction till after an
explosion had taken place, and not much even then.